TRV
Jerome
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 5,299 passages across 63 books
Commentary
Ephesians 1:20
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
He demonstrates the power of God through a human image. It is not that a material throne is set up and God the Father is physically seated on it and has the Son seated above with him. Rather he communicates with this metaphor because we could not understand his role as incomparable governor and judge except in our own terms.… Being on the right or left of God is to be understood as meaning that saints are on his right but sinners on his left. … The very word sits denotes the power of kingship, through which God confers benefits on those above whom he is seated. He has reined them in and has them in his service, guiding those who had previously strayed.
Ephesians 1:21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Now we must ask where the apostle found these four names—principalities, powers, forces and dominions? From what sources did he bring them into the open? It would be dishonorable to imagine that Paul, who had been schooled in godly literature, might be quoting this from pagan sources. I therefore suggest that he has brought into the open some of the Hebrew traditions which are secret. Or better, it might have been that once he understood that the law is spiritual, he grasped a higher meaning in those things that are written in the guise of history. He could have known, for example, that there was a symbol of other powers and authorities in what is said in the books of Numbers and Kings about kings, princes, captains and leaders of tribes and ages.
Ephesians 1:22-23
· 3 passages
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
In the same way as a hand has many members subject to it, of which some are diseased and weak, so too our Lord Jesus Christ, being the head of the church, has as his members the whole congregation of the church, the saints and also the sinners. But the saints are in voluntary subjection to him, while the sinners are under compulsion.
Why “all things”? Why is it said that angels, thrones, dominions, powers and the other forces that were never opposed to God should be “put under his feet”? It seems obscure. But it could be said in reply that none is without sin. The “stars themselves are not clean in God’s sight,” and every creature dreads the advent of the Lord.… But another explanation refers the word all not to everything but only to those things that are in dispute. It is as if one says “all the citizens cried out,” not meaning that there was no one in the city who was silent but that what is said of the majority covers the minority also.
By his foreknowledge he is celebrating what is to come as though it were done already, as I explained above when he says “he has blessed us.” … Either this interpretation, or a better one might be: If we are to take account of what has gone before, we should take this to mean that even those things whose will is not subject to him serve him because of their natural condition. So demons, Gentiles and Jews all serve him. Even if they do not freely serve Christ nor are they put under his feet, yet, because they have been created by him for good, they are unwillingly subject to his power, even if they strive against him with the volition of their free judgment.
Ephesians 2:1
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
[The Greeks] speak of trespass as the first step toward sin. It is when a secret thought steals in, and, though we offer a measure of collusion, it does not yet drive us on to ruin.… But sin is something else. It is when the collusion is actually completed and reaches its goal.
Ephesians 2:3
· 2 passages
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.
So that he would not appear to have exempted himself through pride when he said “your sins in which you walked,” he now adds “in which we also lived.” However, the one who says he has lived confesses past, not present, transgressions.
There is a difference between sin of the flesh and sin of the mind. The sin of the flesh is indecency and profligacy and whatever might act as instrument to its lusts. The transgression of the mind pertains to doctrine contrary to truth and to the baseness of heretics.
Ephesians 2:5
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory that will be revealed in us. If so, we are saved by grace rather than works, for we can give God nothing in return for what he has bestowed on us.
Ephesians 2:6
· 2 passages
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Above he said that God raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand.… Some may ask how God who has saved us and raised us with him has also made us sit with Christ. A simple response would be indeed that, in the light of God’s foreknowledge, Paul is speaking of what is to come as though it had already been done.… One who understands the resurrection and the kingdom of Christ spiritually does not scruple to say that the saints already sit and reign with Christ! Just as a person may become truly holy even in the flesh, when he lives in the flesh and has his conversation in heaven, when he walks on earth and, ceasing to be flesh, is wholly converted into spirit, so he also is seated in heaven with Christ. For indeed “the kingdom of God is within us.”
How abundant is his grace and how multi-faceted is the glory in which God has caused us to be seated and reign with Christ, after freeing us from the tribulations of the age! This is shown above all by the fact that in the ages to come he will shed his glory upon us in the sight not of some but of all rational creatures.… But an attentive reader might inquire: “Are you saying then that the human arena is greater than the angels and all the heavenly powers?” No.… Some might conceivably argue that “he made us sit with him in heavenly places” refers not to the good angels but to the bad angels, the banished angels and the prince of this world, and Lucifer who rises in the morning, over whom the saints will be enthroned with Christ.… But a better argument will translate [the reference to Christ’s grace] as meaning that we are saved not by our own merit but by his grace and that it is a proof of greater goodness to die for sinners rather than for the just.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Paul says this in case the secret thought should steal upon us that “if we are not saved by our own works, at least we are saved by our own faith, and so in another way our salvation is of ourselves.” Thus he added the statement that faith too is not in our own will but in God’s gift. Not that he means to take away free choice from humanity … but that even this very freedom of choice has God as its author, and all things are to be referred to his generosity, in that he has even allowed us to will the good.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are his creation. This means that it is from him that we live, breathe, understand and are able to believe, because he is the One who made us. And note carefully that he did not say “we are his fashioning and molding” but “we are his creation.” Molding starts with the mud of the earth, but creation from the outset is “according to the image and likeness of God.”
Ephesians 2:11
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
By calling the Ephesians “Gentiles in the flesh,” he shows that in the spirit they are not Gentiles, just as conversely the Jews are Gentiles in spirit and Israelites in the flesh. Therefore the Jews and Gentiles are subject to a fourfold division: Some are circumcised in spirit and flesh, as were Moses and Aaron.… Some have been circumcised neither in spirit nor in flesh, as were Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh.… A third group are circumcised only in the flesh.… Lastly come those of whom he now speaks, … believers such as today we see in the whole host of believing Gentiles around the world.
Ephesians 2:12
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:
When he says “having no hope, without God in the world,” he does not deny that the Ephesians had many gods before they believed in Christ. His point is that one who is without the true God has no god worthy of the name. And the next phrase, “without God in the world,” is significant: The Gentiles in a sense already had God indeed in the form of anticipation, because God knew beforehand that he would have them. In God’s foreknowledge they were never without God. But enmeshed in the world they were without God.
Ephesians 2:13
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
God in his entirety is everywhere. Who can be separated from him when all things are in him?… He is, however, said to be far away from the unrighteous, according to Proverbs [15:29].… Just as far as the unrighteous are away from him, so close is he to the saints. Just when God seemed to be furthest from the Ephesians, he was coming close to them by the blood of Jesus.
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
However, it should not be thought possible to achieve perfect and complete reconciliation in this world.… The making of the new person in Christ will be fully consummated when earthly and heavenly things have been reconciled, when we come to the Father in one Spirit and with one affection and understanding.
Ephesians 2:21
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
It is maintained by some that the whole edifice built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets comprises not only human souls but also angelic powers, so that all equally will become the abode of God. They argue that it would be absurd if angels and all the blessed forces who serve God in heaven would have no part in this blessedness. For in this is a building, put together harmoniously, that is growing into a holy temple of God to be an abode of God in the Spirit.
Ephesians 3:1
· 2 passages
For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
We often read that the body is called the prison of the soul. The soul is confined as if in a cage. Paul, for example, was constrained by the ties of the body and did not return to be with Christ so that the preaching to the Gentiles might be perfectly accomplished through him. But I grant that there are some who introduce another meaning here: Paul before his birth was predestined and sanctified from his mother’s womb for the purpose of preaching to the Gentiles. For this vocation he took on the bonds of flesh.
After a diligent search I have found nothing that answers to his prior clause.… For he does not say, “For this reason I, Paul, have done this or that or have taught this or that.” Instead, leaving the thought in suspense, he goes on to other matters. Perhaps we ought to pardon him for what he himself has admitted when he said, “if unschooled in speech, at least not in knowledge,” and look for order in his meaning rather than in his words. This can be rendered as follows: “I, Paul, in the chains of Jesus Christ and in chains for you Gentiles, have learned the mystery so that I may hand it on to you.”