Ephesians 2:1-2

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ephesians 2:1-3

The miserable condition of the Ephesians by nature is here in part described. Observed, 1. Unregenerate souls are dead in trespasses and sins. All those who are in their sins, are dead in sins; yea, in trespasses and sins, which may signify all sorts of sins, habitual and actual, sins of heart and of life. Sin is the death of the soul. Wherever that prevails there is a privation of all spiritual life. Sinners are dead in state, being destitute of the principles, and powers of spiritual life;... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Ephesians 2:1-10

2:1-10 When you were dead in your sins and trespasses, those sins and trespasses in which once you walked, living life in the way in which this present age of this world lives it, living life as the ruler of the power of the air dictates it, that spirit who now operates in the children of disobedience--and once all we too lived the same kind of life as these children of disobedience do, a life in which we were at the mercy of the desires of our lower nature, a life in which we followed the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ephesians 2:1

And you hath he quickened ,.... The design of the apostle in this and some following verses, is to show the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and to set forth the sad estate and condition of man by nature, and to magnify the riches of the grace of God, and represent the exceeding greatness of his power in conversion: the phrase hath he quickened , is not in the original text, but is supplied from Ephesians 2:5 , where it will be met with and explained: here those who are quickened with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ephesians 2:2

Wherein in time past ye walked ,.... Sins and transgressions are a road or path, in which all unconverted sinners walk; and this path is a dark, crooked, and broad one, which leads to destruction and death, and yet is their own way, which they choose, approve of, and delight to walk in; and walking in it denotes a continued series of sinning, an obstinate persisting in it, a progress in iniquity, and pleasure therein: and the time of walking in this path, being said to be in time past, shows... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ephesians 2:1

And you hath he quickened - This chapter should not have been separated from the preceding, with which it is most intimately connected. As Christ fills the whole body of Christian believers with his fullness, ( Ephesians 1:23 ;), so had he dealt with the converted Ephesians, who before were dead in trespasses, and dead in sins. Death is often used by all writers, and in all nations, to express a state of extreme misery. The Ephesians, by trespassing and sinning, had brought themselves into... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ephesians 2:2

Wherein in time past ye walked - There is much force in these expressions; the Ephesians had not sinned casually, or now and then, but continually; it was their continual employment; they walked in trespasses and sins: and this was not a solitary case, all the nations of the earth acted in the same way; it was the course of this world, κατα τον αιωνα του κοσμου τουτου , according to the life, mode of living, or successive ages of this world. The word αιων , the literal meaning of which... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ephesians 2:1

Verse 1 1.And you who were dead. This is an ἐπεξεργασία of the former statements, that is, an exposition accompanied by an illustration. (118) 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... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ephesians 2:2

Verse 2 2.In which for some time ye walked. From the effects or fruits, he draws a proof that sin formerly reigned in them; for, until sin displays itself in outward acts, men are not sufficiently aware of its power. When he adds, according to the course of this world, (120) he intimates that the death which he had mentioned rages in the nature of man, and is a universal disease. He does not mean that course of the world which God has ordained, nor the elements, such as the heaven, and earth,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 2:1

You also, who were dead in your trespasses and your sins. The apostle returns from his digression, in which he had shown the marvelous working of the Divine power on Christ, to show the working of the same power on the Ephesian converts themselves. The ὑμἀς is not governed by any verb going before; it manifestly depends on the συνεζωοποίησεν of Ephesians 2:5 , but it is separated from it by a new digression ( Ephesians 2:2 , Ephesians 2:3 ), on which the apostle immediately... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ephesians 2:1

Spiritual death. The apostle sets forth the greatness of Divine power in man's salvation by setting forth the greatness of his sin and misery, represented under the aspect of spiritual death. Let us understand the nature of this death. I. MARK THE EXPRESSIVENESS OF THE TERM . It is strange to find it applied to living men. But there are certain suggestive points of similarity between natural and spiritual death. 1. The dealt have all the organs of sense , but no... read more

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