to come or go (in a great variety of applications · verb — second aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
preached
εὐηγγελίσατοeuēngelisato
G2097
to announce good news ("evangelize") especially the gos… · verb — aorist middle indicative, 3rd person singular
peace
εἰρήνηνeirēnēn
G1515
peace (literally or figuratively) · noun — accusative singular feminine
you
ὑμῖνhymîn
G5213
to (with or by) you
were
τοῖςtois
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — dative plural masculine
off
μακρὰνmakran
G3112
at a distance (literally or figuratively) · adverb
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
were
τοῖςtois
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — dative plural masculine
nigh
ἐγγύς,engus
G1451
akin to the base of G43 (ἀγκάλη)) · preposition
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Isaiah 57:19-21 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all:)
Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Acts 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Deuteronomy 4:7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
Psalms 148:14 He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the…
Ephesians 2:13-14 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
Zechariah 9:10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unt…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Ephesians 2:14–end
We have now come to the last part of the chapter, which contains an account of the great and mighty privileges that converted Jews and Gentiles both receive from Christ. The apostle here shows that those who were in a state of enmity are reconciled. Between the Jews and the Gentiles there had been a great enmity; so there is between God and every unregenerate man. Now Jesus Christ is our peace, Eph 2:14. He made peace by the sacrifice of himself; and came to reconcile, 1. Jews and Gentiles to each other. He made both one, by reconciling these two divisions of men, who were wont to malign, to hate, and to reproach each other before. He broke down the middle wall of partition, the ceremonial l…
Translate, "He came and announced glad tidings of peace." "He came" of His own free love, and "announced peace" with His own mouth to the apostles (Luk 24:36; Joh 20:19, Joh 20:21, Joh 20:26); and by them to others, through His Spirit present in His Church (Joh 14:18). Act 26:23 is strictly parallel; after His resurrection "He showed light to the people ('them that were nigh') and to the Gentiles ('you that were afar off')," by His Spirit in His ministers (compare Pe1 3:19).
and to them--The oldest manuscripts insert "peace" again: "And peace to them." The repetition implies the joy with which both alike would dwell again and again upon the welcome word "peace." So Isa 57:19.
Adam Clarke on Ephesians 2:17
And came and preached peace - Proclaimed the readiness of God to forgive and save both Jews and Gentiles. See the note on Eph 2:13.
John Gill on Ephesians 2:17
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off,.... Which is to be understood not of Christ's coming in the flesh; for when he came in the flesh, he came only to the Jews that were nigh, and preached the Gospel in his own personal ministry to them, and not to the Gentiles, who are the persons afar off; Ephesians 2:12 but of his coming by his Spirit in the ministry of his apostles, to whom he gave a commission after he had made peace and reconciliation by the blood of his cross, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles in the furthest parts of the earth; and on whom he bestowed gifts, qualifying them for such service, and succeeded them in it by his power and gra…
The Church Fathers
Therefore the Spirit and the Gospel will be found in the Christ, who was foretrusted, because foretold. Again, "the Father of glory" is He whose Christ, when ascending to heaven, is celebrated as "the King of Glory" in the Psalm: "Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.
"When, therefore, He came and preached peace to them that were near and to them which were afar off," we both obtained "access to the Father," being "now no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (even of Him from whom, as we have shown above, we were aliens, and placed far off), "built upon the foundation of the apostles" -(the apostle added), "and the prophets; "these words, however, the heretic erased, forgetting that the Lord had set in His Church not only apostles, but prophets also.
He distinguishes "those who are far off" from "those who are near." This refers to the Gentiles and Jews. For the Jews are obviously close and the Gentiles far off. Yet the Savior himself has brought the gospel to the Gentiles. Paul here mentions first that Christ by his advent has truly preached peace also to those who are far off, that is, the Gentiles, as is shown by many evidences. For those who come to belief from Gentile backgrounds ironically have a greater claim to be called sons than those from Jewish backgrounds. And yet, so that it may not be denied to the latter, he adds "and those who are near."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Church — Derived probably from the Greek kuriakon (i.e., “the Lord’s house”), which was used by ancient authors for the place of worship. In the New Testament it is the translation of the Greek word ecclesia,…
Coming of Christ — (1) with reference to his first advent “in the fulness of the time” (1 John 5:20; 2 John 1:7), or (2) with reference to his coming again the second time at the last day (Acts 1:11; 3:20, 21; 1 Thess.…
Holy Ghost — The third Person of the adorable Trinity. His personality is proved (1) from the fact that the attributes of personality, as intelligence and volition, are ascribed to him (John 14:17, 26; 15:26; 1…
Anger Of God, The · Averted by Christ — Averted by Christ
Catholicity · INCUL — INCUL
Christ, The Mediator · In virtue of his atonement — In virtue of his atonement
Peace, Spiritual · Preached: By Christ — Preached: By Christ
Reconciliation · BETWEEN GOD AND MAN — BETWEEN GOD AND MAN
Reconciliation With God · Effects of: Peace of God — Effects of: Peace of God
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Ephesians 2:17-22
17. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
17. Et veniens evangelizavit pacem vobis, qui eratis procul, et pacem iis qui propinqui erant;
18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
18. Quoniam per ipsum habemus accessum ambo in uno spiritu ad Patrem.
19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
19. Ergo non amplius estis hospites et inquilini; sed cives sanctorum et domestici Dei,
20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone;
20. Superaedificat…
far away . . . near: This verse possibly alludes to Isa 57:19. • The Greek text lacks the words Gentiles and Jews, but they are implied (see Eph 2:13; see also study note on 1:12-13).
