ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Ephesians 2.14-16

Book: Ephesians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

12. that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye that once were far off are made nigh in the blood of Christ.

14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and brake down the middle wall of partition, 15. having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; that he might create in himself of the two one new man, so making peace; 16. and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

  1. and he came and preached peace to you that were far off, and peace to them that were nigh: 18. for through him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:12-18, ASV)
WEB

12. that you were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off are made near in the blood of Christ.

14. For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition, 15. having abolished in his flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man of the two, making peace; 16. and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.

  1. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. 18. For through him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:12-18, WEB)
KJV

12. That at that time ye 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: 13. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

14. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: thereby: or, in himself

  1. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:12-18, KJV)
YLT

12. that ye were at that time apart from Christ, having been alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope, and without God, in the world; 13. and now, in Christ Jesus, ye being once afar off became nigh in the blood of the Christ,

14. for he is our peace, who did make both one, and the middle wall of the enclosure did break down, 15. the enmity in his flesh, the law of the commands in ordinances having done away, that the two he might create in himself into one new man, making peace, 16. and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity in it,

  1. and having come, he did proclaim good news, peace to you, the far-off and the nigh, 18. because through him we have the access, we both, in one Spirit unto the Father. (Ephesians 2:12-18, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle.
  • Audience: Believers at Ephesus. Several of the earliest witnesses, including P46 and the original hands of Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, lack the words "in Ephesus" at 1:1, which has long suggested the letter circulated among the churches of the Roman province of Asia rather than addressing one congregation alone.
  • Location: Written from imprisonment. Paul calls himself "the prisoner of Christ Jesus" (Eph 3:1, 4:1) and "an ambassador in chains" (Eph 6:20); the traditional identification is the Roman custody of Acts 28.
  • Time period: c. AD 60-62 on the traditional Roman-imprisonment dating.

Theological reading

The unit runs the argument to its end. Having said that Christ is our peace and that the ordinance-barrier is abolished, Paul states the purpose: kai apokatallaxē tous amphoterous en heni sōmati tō theō dia tou staurou, "and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross."

Two reconciliations, one act. The passage holds together what is usually separated. The horizontal breach, Jew and Gentile, and the vertical breach, humanity and God, are healed by a single event and inside a single clause. The verb apokatallassō is a double compound intensifying the ordinary katallassō, and Paul uses it only here and at Colossians 1:20 and 1:22, both times for a thorough and completed reconciliation. That the horizontal and the vertical are not offered as two projects is the structural point: a gospel that reconciles a person to God while leaving them at enmity with the reconciled is not the gospel of this text.

"In one body." En heni sōmati is disputed between the body of Christ crucified and the church as His body, and the ambiguity may be deliberate, since verse 16 moves immediately to "through the cross" while the letter has already introduced the church as His body at 1:23. Either reading yields the same result: the site of reconciliation is not a negotiated settlement but a body.

"Having put to death the enmity." Apokteinas tēn echthran en autō. The object of the killing is the hostility itself, not a party to it. This is the sharpest formulation in the paragraph. Reconciliation is not achieved by one side defeating the other; the thing that dies at the cross is the enmity, which is why neither Jew nor Gentile emerges from the passage as the victor.

Apologetic use. The unit answers the charge that Christianity is inherently sectarian, built on exclusion. It also constrains Christian conduct, since a text that names the killing of enmity as an achievement of the cross leaves no room for the community formed by it to rebuild the wall on other grounds.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Guides:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.