Ephesians 2 is the second chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...

of the Christian

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. Traditionally, it is believed to have been written by Apostle Paul while he was in prison in Rome (around AD 62), but more recently it has been suggested that it was written between AD 80 and 100 by another writer using Paul's name and style. The 1599 Geneva Bible summarises the contents of this chapter: :''The better to set out the grace of Christ, he (Paul) useth a comparison, calling them to mind, that they were altogether castaways and aliants, that they are saved by grace, and brought near, by reconciliation through Christ, published by the Gospel.'' This chapter contains the well-known verse ''For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith: and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God''.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 22 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: * Papyrus 46 (~AD 200) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325-350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330-360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400-440) * Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450; extant verses 19-22) *

Codex Freerianus Codex Freerianus, designated by I or 016 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1041 ( von Soden), also called the ''Washington Manuscript of the Pauline Epistles'', is a 5th-century manuscript in an uncial hand on vellum in Greek. It is named afte ...

(~450; extant verses 15-18) * Codex Claromontanus (~550)

Reminder of God's Grace (2:1–10)

According to theologian James Dunn, this section contains "one of the most forceful statements in the Bible" about the

human condition The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed f ...

when separated from God's grace and the work of God's grace for salvation.

Verse 1

:''And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin.'' "And you hath he quickened …" in the

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

. The verb is missing from the text, supplied by inference from verse 5 (" emade us alive").Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Ephesians 2
accessed 8 February 2018 Some translations decline to add a form of words on mankind being made alive: the

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.air The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing f ...

" or "the ruler of the power of the air", is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. * "Prince of the power of the air?" in Mark 4: ''The birds fly over the air. They have control over the air.'' The Bible says Satan is likened to that. So, the atmosphere is Satan’s domain and territory. Mark 2:2: ''And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.''

Verse 3

: '' ...among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.'' The verse describes that before being saved, converts were just as bad as those outside the faith - that they gave in to their baser thoughts and impulses. There is debate about the phrase "children of wrath". Some indicate it refers to Original Sin, in which God was angered by

Adam and Eve Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...

for disobeying him. Others believe it refers to the descendants of Cain, who slew

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...

in his anger and brought murder into the world.

Verse 8

:''For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,'' *"Gift of God": emphasizing that salvation is completely and solely a 'gift'.

Verse 9

: ''...not of works, lest anyone should boast.'' *"Works" here means 'any product of human effort'.

Verse 10

: ''For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.'' *"His workmanship": Not only as human beings, but also as

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, new creatures; pertaining to the persons described in Ephesians 2:1-3 and include both Jews and Gentiles. *"Created in Christ Jesus for good works": the grace of God is an act of creation, that is, an infusion of new creatures, which are created in Christ. A person who has become a new creature, is visibly in Christ, ready to perform good works. *"God prepared beforehand" (KJV: "God has before ordained") or has "before prepared": the preparation of good works to be performed by believers, and the preparation of the believers for performing the works, both are from the Lord. God has appointed good works to be done by his people, but the intention is not that they should be saved by them, but that they should walk in them; and this being God's pre-ordination, as it shows that predestination is not according to good works, since good works are the effects of it.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'', Ephesians 2:10
/ref>

The New Humanity (2:11–22)

This is another review of the believers' transition from the past life to the "new humanity" (verse 15), from the perspective of the saving work of God through Israel which is now open to all through Christ.

Verses 11-12

:''11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.''

Verse 13

:''But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.'' The image of the

gentile Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym fo ...

s as being "far off" and "brought near" is also used in the Acts of the Apostles, where

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

speaks to the Pentecost crowds in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

saying: :''The promise is to you (Jews) and to your children, and to all who are afar off.'' The

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

notes that "nigh” and “far” were also familiar

rabbinical Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

terms in the sense of having or not having part in the covenant. "

Johann Jakob Wettstein Johann Jakob Wettstein (also Wetstein; 5 March 1693 – 23 March 1754) was a Swiss theologian, best known as a New Testament critic. Biography Youth and study Johann Jakob Wettstein was born in Basel. Among his tutors in theology was Samuel Wer ...

on this verse quotes, 'inter alia', the following from the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

: :“A woman came to

Rabbi Eliezer Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Hyrcanus ( he, אליעזר בן הורקנוס) was one of the most prominent Sages (tannaim) of the 1st and 2nd centuries in Judea, disciple of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai Avot of Rabbi Natan 14:5 and colleague of Gamalie ...

, to be made a proselyte; saying to him, 'Rabbi, make me nigh'. He refused her, and she went to

Rabbi Joshua Joshua ben Hananiah ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ ben Ḥánanyāh''; d. 131 CE), also known as Rabbi Yehoshua, was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Second Temple. He is the seventh-most-frequently mentioned sage i ...

, who received her. The scholars of Rabbi Joshua therefore said, 'Did R. Eliezer put her far off, and dost thou make her nigh?'”"

Verses 14–16

:''For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.'' *"

e has E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plura ...

created in Himself one new man from the two":

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

theologian George Stoeckhardt argues that "the Christian Church is ''de facto'' the one new man formed from Jews and Gentiles in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek".

Verses 19–22

:'' Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the entire building, tightly framed together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God through the Spirit.'' *"

Cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

" (Greek: , '; cf. he, אֶבֶן פִּנַּ֤ת, '' ''Hebrew Text Analysis: Isaiah 28:16
Biblehub in Isaiah 28:16) is also applied to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

in 1 Peter 2:6 (cf. Romans 9:33).Expositor's Greek Testament. Ephesians 2
Accessed 24 April 2019.

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Epistle to the Ephesians 02