EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ephesians 2:12
12At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help.
Ephesians 2:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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:
- New International Version (NIV)remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- English Standard Version (ESV)remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
- New King James Version (NKJV)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.
Context of Ephesians 2:12
10It is God who has worked in us to make us what we are. He has given us a new life because we are united with Christ Jesus. He saved us so that now we can do good things in our lives. Those are good things that he has already prepared for us to do. 11So you who were born as Gentiles should remember what you were like before. Jews insulted you because nobody has circumcised you. They themselves are proud that men have circumcised them as God's people. At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help. 13You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ's death on the cross as a sacrifice. 14It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies.
Read all of Ephesians 2Ephesians 2:12 word by word
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·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- Thatὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
- atἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- thatἐκεῖνοςekeinos · thatG1565
- timeκαιρόςkairos · time/right timeG2540
- ye wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
- withoutχωρίςchōris · withoutG5565
- ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
- being aliensἀπαλλοτριόωapallotrioō · to alienateG526
- from the commonwealthπολιτείαpoliteia · citizenshipG4174
- of IsraelἸσραήλIsraēl · IsraelG2474
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- strangersξένοςxenos · foreignG3581
- from the covenantsδιαθήκηdiathēkē · covenantG1242
- of promiseἐπαγγελίαepaggelia · promiseG1860
- havingἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
- noμήmē · notG3361
- hopeἐλπίςelpis · hopeG1680
- without Godἄθεοςatheos · without GodG112
- the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
Cross-references for Ephesians 2:12
- John 10:16I also have other sheep, and I must bring them too. They do not belong to this group of sheep. But they also will listen to my voice. So all the sheep will become one group, and they will have one shepherd.
- John 15:5I am the vine, and you are the branches. You must continue to live in me and I must continue to live in you. Only if you do that will you make plenty of fruit. That is because you can do nothing without me.
- Colossians 1:21As for you, you were far away from God at one time. You thought bad things and you did bad things. As a result, you were God's enemies.
- Ephesians 4:18They cannot understand God's true message because their minds are in the dark. They have not accepted the life that God gives. They have decided that they do not want to know about God. They do not even try to understand.
- Ezra 4:3But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the other leaders of Israel's people said, ‘No. You cannot help us to build the temple for our God. We must build it by ourselves for the Lord, Israel's God. That is what Cyrus, king of Persia, has commanded us to do.’
- Isaiah 61:5The Lord says to his people, ‘Foreign people will take care of your sheep for you. They will work on your farms, and they will take care of your vines.
- Ezekiel 13:9I will punish the prophets who see false visions and who tell lies. They will not be among the leaders of my people. They will not be on the list of people who are true Israelites. They will not even return to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Almighty Lord.
- Hebrews 11:34Some of them put out fires that were burning very strongly. Some of them got away from people who wanted to kill them with a sword. Other people who were weak became strong. They became powerful to fight wars. They won against foreign armies so that those armies ran away.
- Genesis 15:18On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. The Lord promised, ‘I give this land to your descendants. The land starts from the river of Egypt and continues as far as the River Euphrates.
- Genesis 17:7My covenant with you is very strong. I am making it with you and with your descendants. It will continue for generation after generation of your descendants, for all time. I will be your God. I will also be the God of all your descendants.
- Exodus 24:3Moses went and he told the people all the Lord's commands and his teaching. The people answered together, ‘We will do everything that the Lord has told us.’
- Numbers 18:19I have given all the gifts that the Israelites offer to the Lord to you, your sons and your daughters. That is a rule for all time. That is the Lord's special promise to you and to your descendants for all time.’
- Psalms 89:3The Lord has said, ‘I have made a covenant with the king that I chose. I have made this strong promise to my servant David:
- Jeremiah 31:31The Lord says, ‘A time will soon come when I make a new covenant with Israel's people and with Judah's people.
- Jeremiah 33:20‘I, the Lord, say to you, “The day and the night will always come at their proper times. I have made that agreement with them, and nobody can stop it.
- Ezekiel 37:26I will make a covenant with them to give them peace. It is a promise to my people that will continue for ever. I will cause them to live safely in their land. I will cause them to grow in number. I will put my temple among them, to be with them for ever.
Commentaries on Ephesians 2:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12That at that time ye were without Christ - Not only were not Christians, but had no knowledge of the Christ or Messiah, and no title to the blessings which were to proceed from him. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel - Ye were by your birth, idolatry, etc., alienated from the commonwealth of Israel - from the civil and religious privileges of the Jewish people. Strangers from the covenants of promise - Having no part in the promise of the covenant…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12Ye were without Christ - You were without the knowledge of the Messiah. You had not heard of him; of course you had not embraced him. You were living without any of the hopes and consolations which you now have, from having embraced him. The object of the apostle is to remind them of the deplorable condition in which they were by nature; and nothing would better express it than to say they were “without Christ,” or that they had no knowledge of a Saviour…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-13Verses 11-13 Christ and his covenant are the foundation of all the Christian's hopes. A sad and terrible description is here; but who is able to remove himself out of it? Would that this were not a true description of many baptized in the name of Christ. Who can, without trembling, reflect upon the misery of a person, separated for ever from the people of God, cut off from the body of Christ, fallen from the covenant of promise, having no hope, no…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Before non-Jewish people (Gentiles) became believers in Jesus Christ, they had no part in God’s people or the covenant promises God had made to them. They were without God and without hope (see 4:18; Colossians 1:21).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. without Christ--Greek, "separate from Christ"; having no part in Him; far from Him. A different Greek word (aneu) would be required to express, "Christ was not present with you" [Tittmann]. aliens--Greek, "alienated from," not merely "separated from." The Israelites were cut off from the commonwealth of God, but it was as being self-righteous, indolent, and unworthy, not as aliens and strangers [Chrysostom]. The expression, "alienated from," takes it…Read the comment
Topics related to Ephesians 2:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ephesians 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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