Ephesians 2:1

Ephesians 2:1. καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς κ.τ.λ. The sentence is broken off to be resumed again, Ephesians 2:5, in a phrase καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν, in which the Jews are put on the same level as the Gentile Christians and the verb which was in St Paul’s mind when he began the sentence is at last expressed. The Epistle is peculiarly full on the state of the heathen before the Gospel. The figure of death to describe the present consequences of sin and the present condition of the unrepentant sinner is found in Romans 6:13; Romans 7:10, and most vividly in Romans 7:24. It is found in words of the Lord Matthew 8:22 = Luke 9:60; Luke 15:24; Luke 15:32; John 5:24 f.; cf. Revelation 3:1. It recurs naturally here and in Ephesians 5:14; Colossians 2:13; Romans 6:11-13, where the context suggests a close connexion between our Lord’s triumph over death and our own deliverance from the power of sin. It is implied in 1 Peter 1:3 ἀναγεννήσας.

τοῖς παραπτώμασιν. Cf. on Ephesians 1:7. Even the Gentiles sinned against light, Romans 2:15.