Ephesians

2:19-22

2. The mystery and the church - we are all one in Christ, 2:1-22

ii] The results: b) Members of God's house

In the second major section of Paul's letter to the Ephesians, 2:1-22, Paul writes concerning the "mystery" and the incorporation of the Gentiles into Israel. In 2:19-22 Paul explains how the Gentiles are full members in the House of God, full members of God's family. "No one is a stranger or sojourner any more in Christ Jesus. Rather, all are 'fellow citizens of the saints and the household of God'", Caudill.

ara oun "consequently" - then therefore. Establishing logical connection. "As a result / consequently."

xenoi (oV) "foreigners" - foreigners, strangers. paroikoi (oV) "aliens" - one who lives in a place that is not their home. "You are no longer outsiders or aliens", Phillips.

alla "but" - Contrastive.

sumpolitai (hV) "fellow citizens" - a fellow member of a sociopolitical unit*. Gentiles could rightly be called "saints". Paul often had to argue, against his Jewish brothers and sisters, that the Gentiles were "fellow citizens" to the Jews.

epoikodomhqenteV (epoikodomew) aor. pas. part. "built" - having been built [upon]. The participle is adjectival, "fellow citizens .... who have been built upon ..." Possibly a divine passive.

tw/ qemiliw/ (oV) "foundation" - that on which a structure is built*.

twn apostolwn kai profhtwn "of the apostles and prophets" - These two genitive nouns are probably appositional in that they further define the noun "foundation"; "the foundation that consists of ....." It is possible that the genitives are a genitive of source, "the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets", NEB. For example, the foundation of the gospel laid by the apostles. None-the-less, we are safer with, "the foundation consisting of the apostles and prophets", O'Brien.

profhtwn (hV ou) "prophets" - The missing article has prompted the suggestion that Paul intends "apostles who prophecy", Grudem.

akrogwniaiou (oV) "cornerstone" - the cornerstone or capstone of a building, essential to its construction*. The "chief cornerstone" of the building is "Jesus himself". When it was finally clear that God's purposes for humanity could no longer be worked out through the nation of Israel, the prophets began to speak of the creation of a new building, a new Israel. This new community would evolve out of the faithful remnant of the old through the intervention of God's messiah, his anointed one. The messiah was described in different ways. One description used in the Old Testament was that of a "stone" - a building stone within a new building. It was a "precious" stone, but a "stone of stumbling". Sometimes it was described as a "foundation" stone - the new building would be built on it. It was a "cornerstone" - defining and holding the building together. It was also described as a "cap-stone" (key or top stone) - the final top stone which held the top arch of the building together. Here in Ephesians the stone is probably the cornerstone - Christ defines and ties the building together.

en wJ/ "in him" - in whom. "In Jesus."

pasa oikodomh "the whole building" - all, every building. The noun, being anarthrous (without an article), would imply "every building", ie. "every gathered congregation", but the whole edifice built on Christ is the obvious intention. Some variant manuscripts have an article, but this was probably added to better convey the likely intended meaning of an entire construction being presently built upon Christ, the new divine community built upon Christ, the kingdom of God, the new eternal Jerusalem, the heavenly city. We are tempted to see this image as depicting the universal church, but the depiction is of the heavenly assembly within which every believer is now taking their seat with Christ and within which the dividing wall of hostility is no more. It is though valid to see the local congregation as an earthly representation of this heavenly assembly. "The whole building", Barclay, etc, better than "every structure", NJB, etc.

sunarmologoumenh (sunarmologew) aor. pas. part. "is joined together" - being fitly joined together. The participle is adjectival, "in whom the whole building, which is fitly joined together, grows ...." Again, a divine passive, God is doing the building work. The present tense indicating the ongoing building action, and the prefix sun making the point that the building work is a joining "together."

aJgion adj. "a holy [temple]" - The building is holy because God is present.

sunoikodomeisqe (sunoikodomew) pres. pas. "are being built together" - Again the present tense indicating ongoing building work and the prefix sun underlining togetherness. Not in the sense of built up spiritually, ie. "encouraged", rather of the gathering together of believers in the heavenly assembly. "You are being built in as a part with all his other people", Barclay.

en "by [the Spirit]" - [a dwelling place of God] in [spirit]. The preposition here is probably instrumental in that it is through the active agency of the Spirit that God dwells within his assembled people, both the eternal gathering, ie. the temple of the Lord, and the local assembly of worshipping believers, the church. Not "spiritual dwelling for God", REB, but "a dwelling for God through the Spirit", Williams.

Ephesians Introduction

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