ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Ephesians 2.14-18

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: 17. 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.

  1. So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20. being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:12-20, 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. 17. 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.

  1. So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20. being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; (Ephesians 2:12-20, 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 17. 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.

  1. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; (Ephesians 2:12-20, 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, 17. 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.

  1. Then, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God, 20. being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being chief corner -[stone], (Ephesians 2:12-20, 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 moves from what Christ is (verse 14) to what both groups now have (verse 18), and the last verse is where its trinitarian structure becomes explicit.

Peace as a person, then as a proclamation. Verse 14 says Christ is our peace; verse 17 says He came and preached peace to those far off and those near. The order matters. He does not announce a peace He then has to arrange; He announces the peace He is. The wording of verse 17 draws on Isaiah 57:19, and possibly Isaiah 52:7, applying the prophetic peace-proclamation to the Jew-Gentile breach.

The double abolition. Verse 15 removes the ordinance-barrier and creates one new man; verse 16 reconciles both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity. Two walls come down in the same act, the one between the groups and the one between humanity and God, and the letter never presents these as separable achievements.

Verse 18 is the summary and the high point. Hoti di autou echomen tēn prosagōgēn hoi amphoteroi en heni pneumati pros ton patera. Three prepositional phrases name the three persons: through Him, in one Spirit, to the Father. Access to God is triply mediated and singly given. Prosagōgē carries the sense of being introduced or given audience, a term at home in a court setting, which sharpens what is being claimed: not merely permission to approach but presentation before the throne.

Hoi amphoteroi, "both." The word recurs through the paragraph, at verses 14, 16 and 18, and it is doing the argumentative work. Whatever access means, it is identical for the two groups. The passage offers no tiered arrangement in which one party approaches through the other.

Apologetic use. The paragraph is a compact answer to the charge that trinitarian doctrine is a later imposition on a unitarian text. Paul is not defending the doctrine here; he is using it, in passing, as the obvious grammar of Christian access to God, in a letter written within roughly three decades of the crucifixion.

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.

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Notes

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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.