Commentary on Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians Thessalonians Timothy Titus and Philemon John Calvin
Chapter
Ephesians 2:1-3
Ephesians 2:1-3
1. And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 1. Et vos, quum essetis mortui delictis et peccatis vestris; 2. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
2. In quibus aliquando ambulastis secundum saeculum mundi hujus, secundum principem potestatis aeris, spiritus scilicet, qui nunc operatur in filiis inobedientiae;
3. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
3. Inter quos nos quoque omnes aliquando conversati sumus in concupiscentiis carnis nostrae, facientes quae carni libebant, et menti; et eramus natura filii irae, sicut et caeteri.
1. And you who were dead. This is an {ἐπεξεργασία} of the former statements, that is, an exposition accompanied by an illustration. 131 To bring home more effectually to the Ephesians the general doctrine of Divine grace, he reminds them of their former condition. This application consists of two parts. ``Ye were formerly lost; but now God, by his grace, has rescued you from destruction.'' And here we must observe, that, in laboring to give an impressive view of both of these parts, the apostle makes a break in the style by ({ὑπερβατὸν}) a transposition. There is some perplexity in the language; but, if we attend carefully to what the apostle says about those two parts, the meaning is clear. As to the first, he says that they were dead; and states, at the same time, the cause of the death --- trespasses and sins. 132 He does not mean simply that they were in danger of death; but he declares that it was a real and present death under which they labored. As spiritual death is nothing else than
131"Il expose et esclarcit ce qu'il avoit dit ci-dessus." "He explains and illustrates what he had formerly said."
132Classical writers employ the same metaphor, to denote not spiritual death, with which they were unacquainted, but the absence of moral principle, or utter ignorance of right and wrong. Thus Epictetus says, {νεκρὸς} {μὲν} {ὁ} {παιδευτὴς} {νεκροὶ} {δ} {᾿} {ὑμεῖς} {ὅτε} {χορτασθὢτε} {σήμερον}, {καθὢσθε} {κλαίοντες} {περὶ} {τὢς} {αὔριον} {πόθεν} {φάγητε}. ``The instructor is dead, and you are dead. When you are satiated to-day, you sit down and weep about to-morrow, what you shall have to eat.'' --- Ed.