14. Our peace (7 eipnvn av). Christ is similarly described in abstract terms in 1 Cor. i. 830; wisdom, righteousness, sanc- tification, redemption. So Col. i. 27, hope of glory. Christ is thus not merely our peace-maker, but our very peace itself.
Both (7a duddrepa). Lit., the both. The neuter gender shows that Jews and Gentiles are conceived by the writer merely as two facts. ‘The masculine is used in vv. 15, 16.
Hath broken down (Avaas). Lit., loosened or dissolved. Rey., giving the force of the aorist tense, brake down. The participle has an explanatory force, in that He brake down.
The middle-wall of partition (ro wecotovyov tod pparyyod). Lit., the middle wall of the fence or hedge. The wall which pertained to the fence; the fact of separation being emphasized in wall, and the znstrwment of separation in fence. The hedge was the whole Mosaic economy which separated Jew from Gentile. Some suppose a reference to the stone screen which bounded the court of the Gentiles in the temple.
15. Having abolished in His flesh the enmity (rj éy- Spav év Th capkl avtov Katapyjcas). The enmity immediately follows the middle wall of partition, and should be rendered in apposition with and as defining it, and as dependent on brake down, not on abolished: the middle wall which was the en- mity. It is used abstractly, as peace in ver. 14. The enmity was the result and working of the law regarded as a separative system ; as it separated Jew from Gentile, and both from God. See Rom. ili. 20; iv. 153 v.20; vii. 7-11. For abolished, see on cumbereth, Luke xiii. 7, and make without effect, Rom. iii. 8.
The law of commandments contained in ordinances (rov vowov THY evToAav év Sdywacw). The law, etc., depends in construction on having abolished, and is not in apposition with the enmity, as A. V. The middle wall of partition, the enmity, was dissolved by the abolition of the law of command-
Cu. IL] THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS. 379
ments. Construe én His flesh with having abolished. Law is general, and its contents are defined by commandments, special injunctions, which injunctions in turn were formulated in de- finite decrees. Tender the entire passage: brake down the middle-wall of partition, even the enmity, by abolishing in His Jlesh the law of commandments contained in ordinances.
For to make (iva xtion). Rev., that He might create. See on created, ver.10. The work was to be a new creation on a new foundation.
In Himself. As the medium of reconciliation.
Of the twain one new man (rods dvo els Eva Kawov dvIpo- mov). The Greek is livelier: make the two into one new man. Kawov new, emphasizes the new quality ; not newness in point of time. See on Matt. xxvi. 29.
16. Might reconcile (dzroxatadAdén). Only here and Col. i. 20, 21. See on Col. i. 20. The new man precedes the re- conciling in Paul’s statement, though, as a fact, the order is the reverse. The verb contains a hint of restoration to a primal unity. See on ver. 12.
Thereby (év airé). Or upon it—the cross. 17. You which were afar off. Gentiles.
Them that were nigh. Jews. See on Rom. iii. 30. As children of the messianic covenant. See on ver. 12. Compare Isa. lvii. 9, where the Septuagint reads, peace upon peace to those who are far and to those who are near.
18. Access (rpocaywyiv). See on Rom. v. 2. Notice the three persons of the Godhead: through //im (Christ); one Spirit, the Father.
19. Foreigners (adpouxor). See on Luke xxiv. 18. Rev., better, sojourners. Without rights of citizenship.
20. Of the apostles and prophets. The foundation laid by them. Prophets are New-Testament prophets. See ch. iil. 5; iv. 11. See oni Cor. xii. 10.
3880 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. ITI.