A new paragraph begins at this point. This is denied indeed by some, who would connect the καὶ ὑμᾶς of Ephesians 2:1 immediately with the ἡμᾶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας of Ephesians 1:19 (Knatchbull), the ἐνήργησεν of Ephesians 1:20 (Bengel), or the καὶ αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν, etc., of Ephesians 1:22 (Lachm., Harl.).... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκρούς : _and you, being dead_. The construction is broken, the writer turning off into two relative sentences (Ephesians 2:2-3) before he introduces his leading verb. His original statement is taken up again, as some think, at the καὶ ὄντας νεκρούς of Ephesians 2:5 (Griesb., Rück.,... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν αἶς ποτὲ περιεπατήσατε : _wherein in time past_ (RV, “aforetime”) _ye walked_. The αἷς takes the gender of the nearer noun, but refers to both the παραπτώμασι and the ἁμαρτίαις. Trespasses and sins were the domain in which they had their habitual course of life in their former heathen days. κατὰ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε : _among whom also we all had our life and walk aforetime_. The AV gives “also we all”; Tynd., Cov., Gen., “we also had”; Bish., “we all had”; RV, “we also all”. The ἐν οἷς cannot mean “in which _trespasses_ ” (so Syr., Jer., Beng., etc.); for the ὑμῶν of Ep... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ δὲ Θεὸς, πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει : _but God_ (or, God, however), _being rich in mercy_. A return is now made to the statement which was interrupted at Ephesians 2:2. The resumption might have been made by οὖν. The adversative δέ, however, is the more appropriate, as the other side of our case is now... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν : _even when we were dead by our trespasses_. The condition of death in which we are by nature is now reaffirmed, and in a still more emphatic way than in Ephesians 2:1. The καί is not the copula, simply attaching one statement to another (Mey.), nor a mere r... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ συνήγειρεν : _and raised us with Him_. That is, to life now, in a present spiritual renewal. The συνήγειρεν expresses the definite idea of _resurrection_, and primarily that of the physical resurrection. The introduction of this term and the following makes it not improbable that both ideas, tha... [ Continue Reading ]
ἵνα ἐνδείξηται ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ : _that He might shew forth in the ages that are coming the exceeding riches of His grace_. For the τὸν ὑπερβάλλοντα πλοῦτον of the TR the neuter form τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος is preferred by most editors (LTTrWH... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσωσμένοι : _for by grace have ye been saved_. More exactly “by the grace,” _i.e._, by this grace, the grace already mentioned. _Grace_ is the explanation of their own salvation, and how surpassingly rich the grace must be that could effect that! διὰ τῆς πίστεως : _through faith_... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται : _not of works, that no one should glory_. The OT protest against glorying in any but the Lord and the prophet's jealousy for the honour of God (Jeremiah 9:23-24; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 42:14, etc.) burn with a yet intenser flame in Paul, most of all when he touches... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα : _for we are His workmanship_ (or, handiwork). The αὐτοῦ is emphatic “ _His_ handiwork are we”. The word ποίημα occurs only once again in the NT (Romans 1:20, with reference to the works of nature). Here, as the following clause shows, it expresses not _appointment_ to someth... [ Continue Reading ]
The second half of this chapter makes a paragraph by itself. Its subject is the case of those Gentile believers whom Paul has immediately in view their heathen past and their Christian present. They are reminded of what they once were outside Christ, outside the special privilege of Israel, without... [ Continue Reading ]
Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ὑμεῖς ποτὲ : _Wherefore remember that aforetime ye_. The order of the TR, ὑμεῖς ποτέ, is supported by such authorities as [141] 3 [142] 3 [143] (with οἱ before ποτέ), Syr.-Harcl., etc. Some authorities place the ποτέ after the ἔθνη (Syr.-P., Boh.). But ποτὲ ὑμεῖς is the order of... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι ἧτε ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ : _that ye were at that time apart from Christ_. The sentence interrupted by the description of those addressed as τὰ ἔθνη κ. τ. λ. is now resumed _Remember, I say, that ye were_. The τῷ καιρῷ, corresponding to the previous ποτέ, refers to their pre-Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
νυνὶ δὲ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ὑμεῖς οἵ ποτε ὄντες μακρὰν ἐγγὺς ἐγενηθητε : _but now in Christ Jesus ye that aforetime were far off are become nigh_. In classical Greek νυνί is used only of _time_, mostly with _present_ tenses, rarely with the future, and means _at this very moment_. In the NT it is used m... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν : _for He is our Peace_. As most commentators notice, the emphasis is on the αὐτός “He and no other”. But there is probably more in it than that. The selection of the abstract εἰρήνη, instead of the simple εἰρηνοποιός, suggests that the point of the αὐτός is not only “H... [ Continue Reading ]
τὴν ἔχθραν : _to wit the enmity_. Many (Luth., Calv., De Wette, etc.) take this to be a figure for the Mosaic Law. But the ἔχθρα is in antithesis to the εἰρήνη of Ephesians 2:14, and the specification of the Law comes in later. It is better, therefore, to take the ἔχθρα here in the abstract sense of... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἀποκαταλλάξῃ τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους : _and that He might reconcile them both_. Further statement of object, the καί continuing and extending it. Only at this point is the prior and larger idea of the reconciliation _to God_ introduced, and even now it is in connection with the idea of the reconciliatio... [ Continue Reading ]
καὶ ἐλθὼν εὐηγγελίσατο εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην τοῖς ἐγγύς : _and He came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh_. The TR reads simply καὶ τοῖς ἐγγύς (with [168] [169], the mass of cursives, the Syr., etc.). The primary uncials and other important a... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι διʼ αὐτοῦ ἔχομεν τὴν προσαγωγὴν οἱ ἀμφότεροι ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι πρὸς τὸν πατέρα : _for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father_. Some take ὅτι as = _that_, the mention of the common access being taken as the _contents_ of the εὐηγγελίσατο. But the subject of the preaching... [ Continue Reading ]
ἄρα οὖν οὐκέτι ἐστὲ ξένοι καὶ πάροικο : _So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners_. At this point Paul brings to their conclusion the statements made in Ephesians 2:14-18, and draws from them the natural, comforting inference. The conclusive ἄρα is one of Paul's favourable particles. In his w... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ : _being built upon the foundation_. From the idea of the _house_ or _household_ of God contained in the οἰκεῖοι Paul passes by an easy transition to that of the _building_ of the spiritual οἶκος. The ἐπι - in the comp. verb probably expresses the notion of building _... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομὴ συναρμολογουμένη αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν Κυρίῳ : _in whom each several building_ (RV text; “every building,” RV marg.), _fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord_. The relative refers naturally to the nearest subject, what is also the leading subject, Χριστῷ... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς συνοικοδομεῖσθε εἰς κατοικητήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν πνεύματι : _in whom ye also are being built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit_. The relative refers again, as in Ephesians 2:21, to _Christ_, the Κυρίῳ just named, not to the ναόν. The καί (= _also_, not _even_) points to the... [ Continue Reading ]