There are a large number of different kinds of ellipses. We use it in ordinary speech every day in greeting one another, saying “Evening!” instead of “Good evening.” An ellipsis can be an omission of any word or phrase in the sentence. The most important point to remember is that the omitted words are what are emphasized. This becomes important in specific passages, because it is often not totally clear what the words are that are to be supplied.
John 8:37:
I know that you [are] the seed of Abraham, but you are seeking to kill me, because you do not empty yourselves [to make room] for my word.
Note that the emphasis is not on “seeking to kill me” but on making room for Jesus’ word. The Pharisees were so full of their own doctrine and teaching, that they had no room for anything different.
The student should seek to find the appropriate words that are missing from the context of the passage and not only the immediate sentence.
Here is an excerpt from Bullinger’s article on ellipsis that I think is aptly stated.
El-lip’-sis. This is the Greek word ἔλλειψις, a leaving in, from ἐν (en) in, and λείπειν (leipein) to leave.
The figure is so called, because some gap is left in the sentence, which means that a word or words are left out or omitted. The English name of the figure would therefore be Omission.
The figure is a peculiar form given to a passage when a word or words are omitted; words which are necessary for the grammar, but are not necessary for the sense.
The laws of geometry declare that there must be at least three straight lines to enclose a space. So the laws of syntax declare that there must be at least three words to make complete sense, or the simplest complete sentence. These three words are variously named by grammarians. In the sentence “Thy word is truth,” “Thy word” is the subject spoken of, “truth” is what is said of it (the predicate), and the verb “is” (the copula) connects it.
But any of these three may be dispensed with; and this law of syntax may be legitimately broken by Ellipsis.
The omission arises not from want of thought, or lack of care, or from accident,
but from design, in order that we may not stop to think of, or lay stress on, the word omitted, but may dwell on the other words which are thus emphasized by the omission. For instance, in Matt. 14:19, we read that the Lord Jesus “gave the loaves to His disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”
There is no sense in the latter sentence, which is incomplete, “the disciples to the multitude,” because there is no verb. The verb “gave” is omitted by the figure of Ellipsis for some purpose. If we read the last sentence as it stands, it reads as though Jesus gave the disciples to the multitude!
This at once serves to arrest our attention; it causes us to note the figure employed; we observe the emphasis; we learn the intended lesson. What is it? Why, this; we are asked to dwell on the fact that the disciples gave the bread, but only instrumentally, not really. The Lord Jesus Himself was the alone Giver of that bread. Our thoughts are thus, at once, centered on Him and not on the disciples.
These Ellipses are variously dealt with in the English Versions, (both Authorized and Revised). In many cases they are correctly supplied by italics. In some cases the sentences are very erroneously completed. Sometimes an Ellipsis in the Text is not seen, and therefore is not taken into account in the Translation. Sometimes an Ellipsis is imagined and supplied where none really exists in the original. Where an Ellipsis is wrongly supplied, or not supplied at all, the words of the Text have to be very freely translated in order to make sense, and their literal meaning is sometimes widely departed from.
But on the other hand, where we correctly supply the Ellipsis (one word, it may be) it at once enables us to take all the other words of the passage in their literal signification. This is in itself an enormous gain, to say nothing of the wonderful light that may be thus thrown upon the Scripture.
These Ellipses must not be arbitrarily supplied according to our own individual views; we are not at liberty to insert any words, according to our own fancies: but they are all scientifically arranged and classified, and each must therefore be filled up, according to definite principles which are well ascertained, and in obedience to laws which are carefully laid down.