Ephesians 2
You were dead in trespasses and sins — walking according to the age of this world and the ruler of the authority of the air; we all lived in the desires of the flesh, children of wrath by nature. But God, rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ, raised us together, seated us together — by grace you are saved, through faith; not from you, not from works: God’s gift; we are what he has made, created for good works. Remember — once the nations in flesh, apart from Christ, estranged from the citizenship, strangers to the covenants, without hope, without God; you who were far have become near in the blood of Christ. He is our peace — he made both one, destroyed the middle wall of the hedge, abolished the law, created one new man, reconciled both in one body to God, and preached peace to far and near. So you are no longer strangers and sojourners but fellow citizens and God’s household — built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus the cornerstone, growing into a holy sanctuary, built together into a dwelling place of God.
Why this rendering
Eph.2.1 Observation
Syntactic observation
Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, ἐν αἷς ποτε περιεπατήσατε κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας· ἐν οἷς καὶ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημέν ποτε … καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί — And you, being dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all also once conducted ourselves … and we were by nature children of wrath, as also the rest. Verses 1-3 begin with an object (ὑμᾶς) and break off without a verb — the verb comes only at v.5, συνεζωοποίησεν; this edition lets v.1 stand as ‘you … were dead’ and v.5 take it up, ‘us, being dead’. τοῖς παραπτώμασιν is a bare dative — ‘dead in trespasses’ (cause or sphere, the text does not say). κατά twice — according to the age, according to the ruler. ἄρχων is the word of John 12:31, ‘the ruler of this world’; the two genitives τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος are left unresolved. τοῦ πνεύματος is in a different case from ἄρχοντα (genitive) — what it hangs on the text leaves open. υἱοὶ τῆς ἀπειθείας (Rom 11:30 ‘disobedience’) ↔ τέκνα ὀργῆς — sons / children, two words. Verse 2 ὑμεῖς → v.3 ἡμεῖς πάντες — from ‘you’ to ‘we all’.
Rendering options · 3
Basis English can hold the object across three verses, as the Greek does, until v.5; Korean cannot and closes v.1 with a predicate, letting v.5 ‘us, being dead’ show the resumption.
Basis The familiar smoothing of the anacoluthon.
Rejected It erases the break and turns vv.2-3 into subordinate clauses.
Basis John 12:31 ἄρχων ‘ruler’ by site rule; ‘the prince of the power of the air’ smooths the genitives into a title.
Lost in translation
The anacoluthon of vv.1-5 — English keeps the object hanging to v.5.
The bare dative τοῖς παραπτώμασιν — ‘in trespasses’ closes toward sphere.
υἱοί / τέκνα — ‘sons / children’ keep two words.
ἄρχων (2:2) ↔ John 12:31 — one ‘ruler’.
Why this rendering
Eph.2.4 Observation
Syntactic observation
ὁ δὲ θεὸς πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει … συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ — χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι — καὶ συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις … τῇ γὰρ χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως· καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον· οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων … αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς οἷς προητοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν — but God, being rich in mercy … made us alive together with the Christ — by grace you are saved — and raised us together and seated us together in the heavenlies … For by grace you are saved through faith; and this is not from you, it is God’s gift — not from works … For we are what he has made, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Three συν- verbs — συνεζωοποίησεν (made alive together, with Col 2:13 two places) · συνήγειρεν (raised together) · συνεκάθισεν (seated together — the transitive of Luke 22:55 ‘sat down together’) — the ἐγείρας and καθίσας of 1:20 return wearing συν-. χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι twice, vv.5 and 8 — a periphrastic perfect, ‘you are saved’ (1 Cor 15:2 ‘are being saved’ is present). In v.8 τοῦτο is neuter — neither ‘faith’ nor ‘grace’ (both feminine) but the whole sentence. δῶρον is the word of Matt 5:23 ‘offering’ — here God gives, so ‘gift’ (site-bound; the overlap with δωρεά recorded). ἔργα (v.9, works) ↔ ἔργα ἀγαθά (v.10, good works). ποίημα is Rom 1:20 ‘things made’; κτίζω ‘create’; προετοιμάζω Rom 9:23 ‘prepare beforehand’; περιπατήσωμεν takes up περιεπατήσατε of v.2.
Rendering options · 3
Basis ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι is present + perfect participle — neither aorist ‘were saved’ nor the present ‘are being saved’ of 1 Cor 15:2.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected Korean ‘받았다’ would coincide with the aorist; English ‘are saved’ is chosen because the text leads with the state (ἐστε).
Basis Matt 5:23 ‘offering’ is what people bring; here God gives, and ‘offering’ would reverse the direction — the overlap with δωρεά ‘gift’ (John 4:10) is recorded.
Lost in translation
συν- ×3 — ‘made alive together · raised together · seated together’ carry all three.
χάριτί ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι ×2 (v.5, v.8) — the same words.
The neuter τοῦτο — ‘this’ takes the whole sentence, kept in both.
δῶρον / δωρεά — ‘gift’ covers two words (the thread of Matt 5:23 ‘offering’ breaks here).
Why this rendering
Eph.2.11 Observation
Syntactic observation
Διὸ μνημονεύετε ὅτι ποτὲ ὑμεῖς τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, οἱ λεγόμενοι ἀκροβυστία ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης περιτομῆς ἐν σαρκὶ χειροποιήτου, ὅτι ἦτε τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ, ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. νυνὶ δὲ … ὑμεῖς οἵ ποτε ὄντες μακρὰν ἐγενήθητε ἐγγὺς ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ — remember that you were once the nations in flesh, those called foreskin by what is called circumcision, made by hands in flesh, that at that time you were apart from Christ, estranged from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now … you who were once far have become near in the blood of the Christ. λεγόμενοι / λεγομένης — foreskin and circumcision alike are names ‘called’; χειροποίητος (Mark 14:58 ‘made by hands’) qualifies the circumcision. Verse 12 is a list of five lacks — χωρίς · ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι (three places with Eph 4:18, Col 1:21) · ξένοι · μὴ ἔχοντες · ἄθεοι (once in the New Testament). πολιτεία is the ‘citizenship’ of Acts 22:28. ξένος is the word of Matt 25:35 ‘stranger’ — in v.19 it stands beside πάροικος (sojourner), so in this letter it is ‘stranger’ against ‘sojourner’. μακράν / ἐγγύς are the two words of Isa 57:19, returning in the quotation of v.17. ⸀ἦτε · ⸂ποτὲ ὑμεῖς⸃ · ⸂ἐγενήθητε ἐγγύς⸃ (order).
Rendering options · 3
Basis The word once said of the sanctuary is said of circumcision — ‘physical’ would lose the transfer.
Basis The familiar gloss.
Rejected The ‘hands’ in χειροποίητος vanish, and the tie to Acts 7:48, 17:24 is cut.
Basis Not raised to ‘atheists’ — the negative prefix is the whole word.
Lost in translation
λεγόμενοι / λεγομένης — ‘called / called’ keep the two names alike.
The privative of ἄθεος — ‘without God’ spells the prefix out.
μακράν / ἐγγύς (v.13, v.17) — ‘far / near’ in the same words twice.
ἐν σαρκί ×2 (v.11) — ‘in flesh / in flesh’ kept alike.
Why this rendering
Eph.2.14 Observation
Syntactic observation
αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν καὶ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ, τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασιν καταργήσας, ἵνα τοὺς δύο κτίσῃ ἐν αὑτῷ εἰς ἕνα καινὸν ἄνθρωπον ποιῶν εἰρήνην, καὶ ἀποκαταλλάξῃ τοὺς ἀμφοτέρους ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἀποκτείνας τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐλθὼν εὐηγγελίσατο εἰρήνην ὑμῖν τοῖς μακρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην τοῖς ἐγγύς — For he is our peace, who made both one and destroyed the middle wall of the hedge, the enmity, in his flesh, having abolished the law of the commandments in decrees, so that he might create the two in himself into one new man, making peace, and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross … he brought the good news of peace to you who were far and peace to those who were near. εἰρήνη four times in vv.14-17 — in v.14 a person ‘is’ peace. ἀμφότεροι twice (vv.14, 16) · δύο (v.15) · ἕν · ἕνα · ἑνί — the arithmetic of two and one carries the sentence. μεσότοιχον occurs once in the New Testament — ‘middle wall’; φραγμός is the ‘hedge’ of Matt 21:33; λύω the ‘destroy’ of John 2:19. ἔχθρα in v.14 and v.16 — what is destroyed and what is killed is enmity. δόγμα is the word of Acts 16:4 ‘decrees’ and Luke 2:1 ‘decree’. ἀποκαταλλάσσω, three places with Col 1:20, 22 — καταλλάσσω (reconcile) with ἀπο-, a prefix neither Korean nor English carries. Verse 17 is Isa 57:19 — μακράν / ἐγγύς came early in vv.12-13. ⸀αὑτῷ (the Received Text ἑαυτῷ) · ⸀εἰρήνην (the second ‘peace’ — the Received Text has one).
Rendering options · 3
Basis ‘The dividing wall’ merges two words; μεσότοιχον and φραγμός stay two.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It cuts φραγμός from Matt 21:33 and absorbs ‘the enmity’ as a modifier.
Basis As fixed for καταλλάσσω at 2 Cor 5:18 — the ἀπο- is a recorded loss.
Lost in translation
The ἀπο- of ἀποκαταλλάσσω — ‘reconcile’ carries no prefix.
ἀμφότεροι ×2 · δύο · ἕν/ἕνα/ἑνί — the count ‘both · two · one’ stands.
εἰρήνη ×4 — one ‘peace’.
ἐν αὐτῷ (v.16) — ‘in it’ closes toward the cross.
Why this rendering
Eph.2.19 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἄρα οὖν οὐκέτι ἐστὲ ξένοι καὶ πάροικοι, ἀλλὰ ἐστὲ συμπολῖται τῶν ἁγίων καὶ οἰκεῖοι τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐν ᾧ πᾶσα οἰκοδομὴ συναρμολογουμένη αὔξει εἰς ναὸν ἅγιον ἐν κυρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ καὶ ὑμεῖς συνοικοδομεῖσθε εἰς κατοικητήριον τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν πνεύματι — you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens of the holy ones and the household of God, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom every building, being fitted together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Two pairs — ξένοι καὶ πάροικοι (strangers and sojourners) ↔ συμπολῖται καὶ οἰκεῖοι (fellow citizens and household); συμπολίτης occurs once in the New Testament. Six words of the house in vv.20-22 — ἐποικοδομέω (build upon, 1 Cor 3:10) · θεμέλιος (foundation) · ἀκρογωνιαῖος (cornerstone, with 1 Pet 2:6 two places — a different word from Matt 21:42 ‘head of the corner’) · οἰκοδομή (building) · συναρμολογέομαι (be fitted together, with Eph 4:16 two places) · συνοικοδομέω (be built together, once) · κατοικητήριον (dwelling place, with Rev 18:2 two places). οἰκεῖος (household) · οἰκοδομή · συνοικοδομέω share οἶκος (house). ⸀πᾶσα οἰκοδομή has no article — ‘every building’ (‘the whole building’ would need the article; the Received Text is likewise anarthrous). αὔξει, ‘grows’ — a building with the verb of plants. ναός is the ‘sanctuary’ of John 2:19; the ‘without God’ of v.12 closes into ‘a dwelling place of God’ in v.22.
Rendering options · 3
Basis Anarthrous πᾶσα is ‘every’; ‘the whole building’ reads an article in. οἰκοδομή ‘building’ as fixed at 1 Cor 3:9.
Basis The familiar rendering.
Rejected It reads an article the text lacks — though the context speaks of one sanctuary, so the openness is recorded here.
Basis Matt 25:35 ‘stranger’ (ξένος) and Acts 7:6 ‘sojourner’ (πάροικος) meet in one verse; Korean gives ξένος ‘낯선 이’ here (the ‘strange’ of Acts 17:18).
Lost in translation
οἰκεῖος · οἰκοδομή · συνοικοδομέω — ‘household · building · built together’: the house shows in the first, the building in the rest.
ξένοι καὶ πάροικοι ↔ συμπολῖται καὶ οἰκεῖοι — two pairs as two pairs.
The anarthrous πᾶσα οἰκοδομή — ‘every building’ carries the absence.
αὔξει — a building ‘grows’, the plant’s verb kept.