Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 16 Holy Bible

ASV Ephesians 2:16

and might reconcile them both in one body unto God through the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
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BBE Ephesians 2:16

And that the two might come into agreement with God in one body through the cross, so putting an end to that division.
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DARBY Ephesians 2:16

and might reconcile both in one body to God by the cross, having by it slain the enmity;
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KJV Ephesians 2:16

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
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WBT Ephesians 2:16


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WEB Ephesians 2:16

and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, having killed the hostility thereby.
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YLT Ephesians 2:16

and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity in it,
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Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 16. - And that he might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross. Exegetical of preceding statements, and making emphatic the fact of reconciliation to God on the same footing and by the same means; both were to be reconciled in, one body (see Ephesians 4:4) and by the cross. No preference was to be given to the Jew facilitating his union to Christ: the Gentile was to be taken into Christ's body as readily as the Jew. In reference to the sense in which reconciliation was effected by the cross of Jesus, some say it was only as the cross demonstrated to men the love of God and his willingness to bless them; while others maintain very strongly that it was as providing a satisfaction to God's justice for their guilt, and thus enabling him to receive and bless the sinner. Not only the analogy of other passages of Scripture as well as of this Epistle justifies the latter view, but preeminently the words, "by the cross." If Christ had only to proclaim God's friendship toward sinners, why should he have suffered on the cross? The cross as a mere pulpit is hideous; as an altar it is glorious. The love of God is ill revealed, if it subjected Jesus to unnecessary agony. The love of both Father and Son is indeed commended, if the agony was voluntarily borne by the Son, and permitted by the Father, as being indispensable for the pardon of the sinner. 'Αποκαταλλάξῃ denotes the whole process of reconciliation (see Eadie). Having slain the enmity thereby (or, thereon). "The enmity" is the same as at the beginning of ver. 15 - the enmity of man to God. The destruction of this enmity is one of the effects of the cross, though not the only effect; it is necessary to root out the enmity of the carnal mind. That this is the meaning here seems plain from Romans 5:10, "If, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." The apostle there makes no allusion to the enmity of Jew and Gentile to each other, but to this wider fact - τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς ἔχθρα εἰς Θεόν. If any words can denote the result of a propitiatory sacrifice, it is surely "reconciled to God by the death of his Son."

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(16) And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body.--In this verse the latter subject opens--the reconciliation of all to God. On the reconciliation of man to God, see the great passage 2Corinthians 5:18-21. But it should be noted that in the original the word used here and in Colossians 1:20-21 (and nowhere else) is a compound signifying not simply to "conciliate," but properly to "reconcile,"--that is to reunite those who were originally united, but afterwards separated by the sin of man. This brings out the profound idea, which so especially characterises these Epistles, of a primeval unity of all created being in Christ, marred and broken by sin, and restored by His manifestation in human flesh. Note that the passage in the Colossians (on which see Notes) has a far wider scope than this passage--"having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things to Himself; by Him (I say), whether they be things on earth or things in heaven." On the other hand, this passage characteristically still lays stress on the idea "in one body"--that is, as throughout, His mystical body, the Church--although probably the phrase is suggested here by the thought of the natural body of the Lord offered on the cross, which is clearly referred to in Colossians 1:21. There is a similar connection of thought in 1Corinthians 10:16-17, "The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we are all one bread, and one body."By the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.--In this verse (in accordance with the context) "the enmity," which by His death He "slew," is the barrier between God and man, created by sin, but brought out by the Law, as hard and rigid law, "in ordinances" of which St. Paul does not hesitate to say that "sin took occasion by it," and "by it slew" man (Romans 7:11). This is illustrated by the cognate, though different, metaphor of Colossians 2:14, where it is said of Christ that He "blotted out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us, which was contrary unto us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Compare also, in Galatians 2:19-20, the connection of spiritual "death to the Law" with our partaking of our Lord's crucifixion: "I, through the Law, am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. . . . by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." By His death Christ has both redeemed us from sin, and also "redeemed (properly, bought) us from the curse of the Law" (Galatians 3:13). . . .