Ephesians 2:12

12. at that time] Strictly, at that occasion. The Gr. word habitually marks limited periods; though this must not always be pressed. Here possibly there is a suggestion of the transient period of exclusion, opposed to the long eternity of acceptance.

without Christ] Apart from Christ; out of connexion with the Messiah. Here no Pharisaic prejudice is in view, but the mysterious fact that only through the great prophesied Redeemer is there life and acceptance for man, and that in order to contact with Him there needs “preaching,” “hearing,” “believing” (Rom_10:13; Rom_10:15). Scripture does not present this fact without any relief; but all relief leaves it a phenomenon of Revelation as mysterious as it is solid.

being aliens] Lit., having been alienated (the same word as Eph_4:18; Col_1:21); as if they had once been otherwise. So, in idea, they had been. Every human soul is (occasionally) viewed in Scripture as having been originally unfallen, and, if unfallen, then in a covenant of peace with God of which the covenant of Israel was but a type. Such a view is wholly ideal, referring not to the actual history of the individual soul, but to the Nature of which the individual is a specimen. Such popular phrases as, “we are fallen creatures,” have this truth below them. Historically, we begin prostrate; ideally, we began upright, and have fallen.

the commonwealth of Israel] Perhaps, “the citizenship.” The Gr. word occurs elsewhere, in N. T., Act_22:28 only (A. V., “this freedom;” the Roman citizenship). But the A. V. here (and so R. V.) is favoured by the word “alienated.” It is rather more natural to say “made aliens from a state,” than “made aliens from state-rights.” The two interpretations, however, perfectly coincide practically. “Israel,” (the Covenant-People with its special name of sacred dignity; see Trench, N. T. Synonyms, § 39;) is viewed as an ordered commonwealth or empire under its Divine King; and to be free of its rights is the one way to have connexion with Him.—By “Israel” the Apostle here doubtless means the inner Israel, of which the outer was as it were the husk; see Rom_9:6. But he does not emphasize a distinction. Under the Old Covenant, it was generally necessary to belong, in some sense, to the outer Israel in order to be one of the inner.

strangers] The Gr. is a word familiar in civic connexions; non-members of a state or city.

the covenants of promise] Lit., and better, of the Promise, the great Promise of Messiah, according to which those who “are of the Messiah, are Abraham’s seed, and heirs by promise” (Gal_3:29). In the light of Gal_3:18, we may say that the Promise is more specially of Justification, Acceptance, (as in Abraham’s case,) through faith, securing vital connexion with the Messiah.

“Covenants:”—for the plural cp. Rom_9:4. The reference is to the many Compacts, as with Abraham, Moses, Levi, David, Joshua; and perhaps to the New Covenant itself, as of course “connected with” the Promise.—The Promise indicated, from the first, blessings for the world, “all the families of the earth”; but these blessings were to be found only “in Abraham and his seed” (Gen_12:3; Gen_22:18); and thus to those not yet connected with Abraham and the Messiah there was no actual portion yet in the “covenants.”

having no hope] The Gr. just indicates (by its special negative particle) that this was not only so, but felt by the Gentiles to be so; “having, as you knew, no hope.” (So, precisely, 1Th_4:13.) The deep truth of this is fully attested by classical and other heathen literature, old or modern. Aspiration and conjecture there often was, but no hope, in the Scripture sense; no expectation on a firm basis. A profound uncertainty about the unseen and eternal underlies many of the strongest expressions of the classical poets and philosophers. And in the special reference of “hope” here, hope of a Redeemer and a redeemed inheritance, there was (and is) a total blank, apart from revelation.—“In Hellas, at the epoch of Alexander the Great, it was a current saying, and one profoundly felt by all the best men, that the best thing of all was not to be born, and the next best to die.” (Mommsen, Hist. of Rome, Eng. transl. Vol. iv. pt. ii. p. 586). See the thought still earlier, Sophocles, Œd. Col. 1224 (Dindorf).

without God] Lit., Godless; without true knowledge of the true God. “Gods many” were indeed, in some sense, popularly believed in; and large schools of thought recognized a One Supreme, though often with the very faintest views of personality. But this recognition, at its best and highest, lacked some essentials in the Idea of the True God, above all, the union in Him of supreme Love and awful Purity. And for the average mind of ancient heathenism He “was not, in all the thoughts,” as truly as the impersonal Brahm “is not” in the average Hindoo mind. See further, Appendix D.

in the world] Words which complete the dark picture. “In the world” of fallen humanity, with its dreadful realities of evil, they did not “know the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom He had sent” (Joh_17:3), and so lacked the one possible preservative and spiritual life-power.

D. “WITHOUT GOD.” (Ch. Eph_2:12.)

“The vulgar believed in many Gods, the philosopher believed in a Universal Cause; but neither believed in God. The philosopher only regarded the Universal Cause as the spring of the Universal machine, which was necessary to the working of all the parts, but was not thereby raised to a separate order of being from them. Theism was discussed as a philosophical not as a religious question, … as no more affecting practice than any great scientific hypothesis does now … Nothing would have astonished [the philosopher] more than, when he had proved in his lecture hall the existence of a God, to have been told to worship Him. ‘Worship whom?’ he would have exclaimed, ‘worship what? worship how?’ ”

Mozley, Lectures on Miracles, Lect. iv.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_2:12

Without Christ.

Spiritual misery

1. The head of all spiritual misery is to be without Christ.

(1) Numbers are still in this miserable condition.

(2) If you would have Him, you must take Him as Gods free gift.

2. A second degree of misery, is to be barred from communion and fellowship with the Church of God.

3. Naturally, we hate the means of salvation.

4. It is a great misery to be without the doctrine of the covenant of God.

5. The Lord left the Gentiles without the means of calling them to salvation.

6. It is a great misery to be without hope. (Paul Bayne.)

Life without Christ

The greatest event by far in the history of our world was the visit of Christ. From that moment, everything upon this earth measures itself by its relation to the Cross. Could it be otherwise? For he was the Son of God. What must that man be to God the Father, who treats that death of His dear Son as he would treat a mere matter of business? We may say of the man who is without Christ, that that man stands before God just as he is in himself, and nothing else. There is nothing to better him; there is nothing to excuse him. There is nothing to palliate or extenuate a fault. There is nothing to add any righteousness to amend. There can be no heaven for him except there be fitness; and there can be no pardon except there be a claim. Now, how would the best of us like to be dealt with on that principle? To stand before God in your own real individual character! No Intercessor to plead for you! No refuge to fly to! And consider this. A man without Christ has no motive, no motive sufficient to rule his life. The motive, the only secure and effective motive of life, is love. But you cannot love God unless you believe that God has pardoned you. You cannot love an angry God. But there is no pardon out of Christ. But, out of Christ, there can be no love because there is no forgiveness. So Christ makes the motive of life; and a man without Christ must be motiveless. Let me add another thing. All nature looks out for sympathy. Sympathy, in a degree, God has given to every man; but perfect sympathy belongs to Christ. It is His unapproachable prerogative. Therefore, if you do not know Christ, really know Him, as a believer knows Him, you do not yet know what sympathy can mean; for the rest is all very well, but it will stand you in very little stead in some dark hour. But that sympathy is perfect. You cannot find anyone else who has been, and who can be, touched with the feeling of your infirmity: always tender; always capable; always wise; true to every fibre of your being; matching all its cravings. That is not given to any creature upon earth. That is Jesus. And if you are without Jesus, you are without sympathy. And when that lonely passage comes, which is to take you out into the unknown, we must all die alone. What, if there be no arm--no companionship--no sweet voice to say, I am with you! No finished work! No Jesus in the valley! What will it be to die without Christ? An awful thing! And the more awful, the less you feel it! (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

The Christless state

I. The misery of our past estate.

1. The man who is without Christ is without any of those spiritual blessings which only Christ can bestow. Christ is the life of the believer, but the man who is without Christ is dead in trespasses and sins. So, too, Christ is the light of the world. Without Christ there is no light of true spiritual knowledge, no light of true spiritual enjoyment, no light in which the brightness of truth can be seen, or the warmth of fellowship proved. Without Christ there is no peace, no rest, no safety, no hope.

2. Without Christ, beloved, remember that all the religious acts of men are vanity. What are they but mere air bags, having nothing in them whatever that God can accept? There is the semblance of worship--the altar, the victim, the wood laid in order--and the votaries bow the knee or prostrate their bodies, but Christ alone can send the fire of heavens acceptance.

3. Without Christ implies, of course, that you are without the benefit of all those gracious offices of Christ, which are so necessary to the sons of men, you have no true prophet. Without Christ truth itself will prove a terror to you. Like Balaam, your eyes may be open while your life is alienated. Without Christ you have no priest to atone or to intercede on your behalf. Without Christ you are without a Saviour; how will you do? and without a friend in heaven you must needs be if you are without Christ. Without Christ, though you be rich as Croesus, and famous as Alexander, and wise as Socrates, yet are you naked and poor and miserable, for you lack Him by whom are all things, and for whom are all things, and who is Himself all in all.

II. The great deliverance which God has wrought for us. We are not without Christ now, but let me ask you, who are believers, where you would have been now without Christ. I think the Indians picture is a very fair one of where we should have been without Christ. When asked what Christ had done for him, he picked up a worm, put it on the ground, and made a ring of straw and wood round it, which he set alight. As the wood began to glow the poor worm began to twist and wriggle in agony, whereupon he stooped down, took it gently up with his finger, and said, That is what Jesus did for me; I was surrounded, without power to help myself, by a ring of dreadful fire that must have been my ruin, but His pierced hand lifted me out of the burning. Think of that, Christians, and as your hearts melt, come to His table, and praise Him that you are not now without Christ.

1. Then think what His blood has done for you. Take only one thing out of a thousand. It has put away your many, many sins.

2. Bethink you, too, now that you have Christ, of the way in which He came and made you partaker of Himself. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Without Christ

I. When it can be said of a man, that he is without Christ.

1. When he has no head knowledge of Him. The heathen, of course, who never yet heard the gospel, come first under this description. But unhappily they do not stand alone. There are thousands of people dying in England at this very day, who have hardly any clearer ideas about Christ than the very heathen.

2. When he has no heart faith in Him as his Saviour. Many know every article of the Belief, but make no practical use of their knowledge. They put their trust in something which is not Christ.

3. When the Holy Spirits work cannot be seen in his life. Who can avoid seeing, if he uses his eyes, that myriads of professing Christians know nothing of inward conversion of heart?

II. The actual condition of a man without Christ.

1. To be without Christ is to be without God. St. Paul told the Ephesians as much as this in plain words. He ends the famous sentence which begins, Ye were without Christ, by saying, Ye were without God in the world. And who that thinks can wonder? That man can have very low ideas of God who does not conceive Him a most pure, and holy, and glorious, and spiritual Being. How then can such a worm as man draw near to God with comfort?

2. To be without Christ is to be without peace. Every man has a conscience within him, which must be satisfied before he can be truly happy. There is only one thing can give peace to the conscience, and that is the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled on it.

3. To be without Christ is to be without hope. Hope of some sort or other almost every one thinks he possesses. There is but one hope that has roots, life, strength, and solidity, and that is the hope which is built on the great rock of Christs work and office as Redeemer.

4. To be without Christ is to be without heaven. In saying this I do not merely mean that there is no entrance into heaven, but that without Christ there could be no happiness in being there. A man without a Saviour and Redeemer could never feel at home in heaven. He would feel that he had no lawful fight or title to be there; boldness and confidence and ease of heart would be impossible. (Bishop Ryle.)

Without Christ

It is not long since that a prominent business man, when closely pressed by his pastor, who had lately come to the church, replied with a calm force which was meant to put an end to further pertinacity, I am interested in all religious matters; I am always glad to see the ministers when they call; but I have in the years past thought the subject over long and carefully, and I have come to the decision deliberately that I have no need of Jesus Christ as a Saviour in the sense you preach. Only two weeks from this interview the same man was suddenly prostrated with disease; the illness was of such a character as to forbid his conversing with anyone, and the interdict from speaking was continued until he was within an hour of death, A solemn moment was that in which a question was put to him, intimating that he might talk now if he could--nothing would harm him. The last thing, the only thing, he said, was in a melancholy and frightened whisper, Who will carry me over the fiver?

Having no hope.--

Hope abandoned

Over the huge hideous iron gates of the Prison de la Roquette, in Paris, which is set apart for criminals that are condemned to death, there is an inscription, which sends a thrill of horror through those who read it--Abandon hope, all ye who enter here!

Hopes for eternity, what they rest on

When John Wesley lay on an expected death bed (though God spared him some years longer to the world and the Church) his attendants asked him what were his hopes for eternity? And something like this was his reply--For fifty years, amid scorn and hardship, I have been wandering up and down this world, to preach Jesus Christ; and I have done what in me lay to serve my blessed Master! What he had done his life and works attest. They are recorded in his Churchs history, and shine in the crown he wears so bright with a blaze of jewels--sinners saved through his agency. Yet thus he spake,

My hope for eternity--my hopes rest only on Christ--

I the chief of sinners am But Jesus died for me.

(T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Mournful ignorance

I have seen a child in ignorance of its great loss totter across the floor to its mothers coffin, and, caught by their glitter, seize the handles, to look round and smile as it rattled them on the hollow sides. I have seen a boy, forgetting his sorrow in his dress, survey himself with evident satisfaction as he followed the bier that bore his father to the grave. And however painful such spectacles, as jarring our feelings, and out of all harmony with such sad and sombre scenes, they excite no surprise nor indignation. We only pity those who, through ignorance of their loss or inability to appreciate it, find pleasure in what should move their grief. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Having no hope

I have read of a tribe of savages that bury their dead in secret, by the hands of unconcerned officials. No grassy mound, no memorial stone guides the poor mothers steps to the quiet corner where her infant lies. The grave is levelled with the soil; and afterwards a herd of cattle is driven over and over the ground, till every trace of the burial has been obliterated by their hoofs. Anxious to forget death and its inconsolable griefs, these heathen resent any allusion to the dead. You may not speak of them. In a mothers hearing, name, however tenderly, her lost one, recall a dead father to the memory of his son, and there is no injury which they feel more deeply. From the thought of the dead their hearts recoil. How strange! How unnatural! No, not unnatural. Benighted heathen, their grief has none of the alleviations which are balm to our wounds, none of the hopes that bear us up beneath a weight of sorrows. Their dead are sweet flowers withered, never to revive; joys gone, never to return. To remember them is to keep open a rankling wound, and preserve the memory of a loss which was bitter to feel and still is bitter to think of: a loss which brought only grief to the living, and no gain to the dead. To me, says Paul, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. They know nothing of this; nothing of the hopes that associate our dead in Christ with sinless souls, and sunny skies, and shining angels, and songs seraphic, and crowns of glory, and harps of gold. (T. Guthrie, D. D.)

Hopefulness and steadfastness

A good Methodist in a prayer meeting said that when, many years since, he crossed old ocean he was much in the habit of looking over the ships side, particularly near the prow, and watching the vessel as she steadily ploughed her way through the waves. Just under the bowsprit was the image of a human face. This face to him came to be invested with a wondrous interest. Whatever the hour, whether by night or by day; whatever the weather, whether in sunshine or in storm, that face seemed ever steadfastly looking forward to port. Sometimes tempests would prevail. Great surges would rise, and for a time completely submerge the face of his friend. But as soon as the vessel recovered from its lurch, on looking again over the ships side, there the placid face of his friend was to be seen, still faithfully, steadfastly looking out for port. And so, he exclaimed, his countenance radiant with the light of the Christians hope, I humbly trust it is in my own case. Yea, whatever the trials of the past, notwithstanding all the toils and disappointments of the present, by the grace of God I am still looking out for port, and not long hence I am anticipating a joyful, triumphant, abundant entrance therein. Without God.

I am told to believe that there is no God; but, before doing so, I want to look on the world in the light of this solemn denial In giving up this idea, several sacrifices are involved. Let us see what they are.

1. I shall have to part with the most inspiring and ennobling books in my library.

2. I shall have to banish the earliest and tenderest memories which have gladdened my days.

3. I shall have to give up the hope that in the long run right will be vindicated and wrong be put to eternal shame.

4. I shall have to sacrifice my reason, my conscience--in a word, myself. My whole life is built upon the holy doctrine of Gods existence. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

Practical atheism

It is not speculative atheism that I lay to your charge; I am far from asserting or supposing that you are intellectually without God. But of practical atheism, of being virtually without God, I must and do accuse mankind and some of you. By practical atheism I mean the believing that there is a God, and yet thinking and feeling and acting just as if there were none.

1. I adduce forgetfulness of God as a proof, or rather as one form of practical atheism.

2. As an evidence of practical atheism, a neglect to worship Him and to maintain friendly and filial intercourse with Him.

3. I state as another evidence of practical atheism, the general conduct of mankind under the various dispensations of Divine providence. Does not the rich man say in his heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth? Or, if he cannot ascribe it altogether to his own industry and prudence, he divides the credit of it with fortune, and speaks of the lucky throw, the fortunate speculation, or the prosperous voyage, to the success of which many things conspired, but He whom the winds and waves obey is not supposed to have contributed anything.

4. As another proof of practical atheism, that men are in the habit of forming their plans and purposes, without respect to their dependence on God for the accomplishment of them, and without consulting Him. They resolve with themselves where they will go, what they will do, how much they will accomplish, just as if they had life in themselves, and were independent in wisdom and power.

5. The conduct of many, in seasons of affliction, evinces that they are without God in the world.

6. Finally, mankind, in their pursuit of happiness, evince their practical atheism. Whither should a creature in quest of joy go to obtain it, but straight to Him, who made, and who sustains both that which enjoys and that which is enjoyed, his Maker and Preserver, and the worlds? Yet men fly from God for happiness. Whence have you your joys and comforts now?--from your family?--it shall be broken up; from your business?--it shall be discontinued, and you shall leave the world, and the world itself shall be consumed, and nothing will be left but the soul and God. You cannot be happy in anything else; and, if you love Him not, you cannot be happy in Him. (W. Nevins, D. D.)

Without God

Three ways a man may be said to be without God.

1. By profane atheism.

2. By false worship.

3. By want of spiritual worship.

Great is the misery of those who are without God. God is a fountain of life; whoso is far from Him must perish. (Paul Bayne.)

The misery of being without God

The misery of such as have not God for their God, in how sad a condition are they, when an hour of distress comes! This was Sauls case: I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and the Lord has departed from me. A wicked man, in time of trouble, is like a vessel tossed on the sea without an anchor, it falls on rocks or sands; a sinner not having God to be his God, though he makes a shift while health and estate last, yet, when these crutches, which he leaned upon, are broken, his heart sinks. It is with a wicked man as with the old world, when the flood came; the waters at first came to the valleys, but then the people would get to the hills and mountains, but when the waters came to the mountains, then there might be some trees on the high hills, and they would climb up to them; ay, but then the waters did rise up to the tops of the trees; now all hopes of being saved were gone, their hearts failed them. So it is with a man that hath not God to be his God; if one comfort be taken away, he hath another; if he lose a child, he hath an estate; ay, but when the waters rise higher, death comes and takes away all; now he hath nothing to help himself with, no God to go to, he must needs die despairing. (T. Watson.)

Without God in the world

Without God in the world. Think!--what a description!--and applicable to individuals without number! If it had been without friends, shelter, or food, that would have been a gloomy sound. But without God! without Him (that is, in no happy relation to Him), who is the very origin, support, and life of all things; without Him who can make good flow to His creatures from an infinity of sources; without Him whose favour possessed is the best, the sublimest, of all delights, all triumphs, all glories. What do those under so sad a destitution value and seek instead of Him? What will anything, or all things, be worth in His absence? It may be instructive to consider a little to what states of mind this description is applicable; and what a wrong and, calamitous thing the condition is in all of them. We need not dwell on that condition of humanity in which there is no notion of Deity at all--some outcast, savage tribes--souls destitute of the very ideal Not one idea exalted anti resplendent above the rest casting a glory sometimes across the little intellectual field! It is as if, in the outward world of nature, they had no visible heaven--the spirit nothing to go out to, beyond its clay tenement, but the immediately surrounding elements and other creatures of the same order. The adorers of false gods may just be named as coming under the description. There is, almost throughout the race, a feeling in mens minds that belongs to the Divinity; but think how all manner of objects, real and imaginary, have been supplicated to accept and absorb this feeling, that the true God might not take it! It is too obvious almost to be worth noting, how plainly the description applies itself to those who persuade themselves that there is no God. The Divine Spirit and all spirit abolished, he is left amidst masses and systems of matter without a first cause--ruled by chance, or by a blind mechanical impulse of what he calls fate; and, as a little composition of atoms, he is himself to take his chance for a few moments of conscious being, and then be no more forever! And yet, in this infinite prostration of all things, he feels an elation of intellectual pride! But we have to consider the text in an application much more important to us, and to men in general; for, with a most settled belief of the Divine existence, they may be without God in the world. This is too truly and sadly the applicable description when this belief and its object do not maintain habitually the ascendant influence over us--over the whole system of our thoughts, feelings, purposes, and actions. Can we glance over the earth, and into the wilderness of worlds in infinite space, without the solemn thought that all this is but the sign and proof of something infinitely more glorious than itself? Are we not reminded--This is a production of His almighty power--that is an adjustment of His all-comprehending intelligence and foresight--there is a glimmer, a ray of His beauty, His glory--there an emanation of His benignity--but for Him all this would never have been; and if, for a moment, His pervading energy were by His will restrained or suspended, what would it all be then? Not to have some such perceptions and thoughts, accompanied by devout sentiments, is, so far, to be without God in the world. Again, the text is applicable to those who have no solemn recognition of Gods all-disposing government and providence--who have no thought of the course of things but as just going on--going on some way or other, just as it canto whom it appears abandoned to a strife and competition of various mortal powers; or surrendered to something they call general laws, and then blended with chance; who have, perhaps, a crude Epicurean notion of exempting the Divine Being from the infinite toil and care of such a charge. The text is a description of those who have but a slight sense of universal accountableness to God as the supreme authority who have not a conscience constantly looking and listening to Him, and testifying for Him; who proceed as if this world were a, province absolved from the strictness of His dominion and His laws; who will not apprehend that there is His will and warning affixed to everything; who will not submissively ask, What dost Thou pronounce on this? To be insensible to the Divine character as Lawgiver, rightful Authority, and Judge, is truly to be without God in the world, for thus every emotion of the soul and action of the life assumes that He is absent or does not exist. This insensibility of accountableness exists almost entire (a stupefaction of conscience) in very many minds. But in many others there is a disturbed yet inefficacious feeling; and might not some of these be disposed to say, We are not without God in the world, as an awful Authority and Judge; for we are followed, and harassed, and persecuted, sometimes quite to misery, by the thought of Him in this character. We cannot go on peacefully in the way our inclinations lead; a portentous sound alarms us, a formidable spectre encounters us, though we still persist. The cause here is that men wish to be without God in the world--would, in preference to any other prayer, implore Him to Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of His ways. They would be willing to resume the enterprise of the rebellious angels, if there were any hope. Oh, that He, with His judgment and laws, were far away! To be thus with God is in the most emphatical sense to be without Him--without Him as a friend, approver, and patron; each thought of Him tells the soul who it is that it is without, and who it is that in a very fearful sense it never can be without. The description belongs to that state of mind in which there is no communion with God maintained or even sought with cordial aspiration--no devout, ennobling converse held with Him--no conscious reception of delightful impressions, sacred influences, suggested sentiments--no pouring out of the soul in fervent desires for His illuminations, His compassion, His forgiveness, His transforming operations--no earnest, penitential, hopeful pleading in the name of the gracious Intercessor--no solemn, affectionate dedication of the whole being--no animation and vigour obtained for the labours and warfare of a Christian life. But how lamentable to be without God! Consider it in one single view only--that of the loneliness of a human soul in this destitution. All other beings are necessarily (shall we express it so?) extraneous to the soul; they may communicate with it, but they are still separate and without it; an intermediate vacancy keeps them forever asunder, so that the soul must be, in a sense, in an inseparable and eternal solitude--that is, as to all creatures. But God, on the contrary, has an all-pervading power--can interfuse, as it were, His very essence through the being of His creatures--can cause Himself to be apprehended and felt as absolutely in the soul--such an inter-communion as is, by the nature of things, impossible between created beings; and thus the interior central loneliness--the solitude of the soul--is banished by a perfectly intimate presence, which imparts the most affecting sense of society--a society, a communion, which imparts life and joy, and may continue in perpetuity. To men completely immersed in the world this might appear a very abstracted and enthusiastic notion of felicity; but to those who have in any measure attained it, the idea of its loss would give the most emphatic sense of the expression, Without God in the world. The terms are a true description also of the state of mind in which there is no habitual anticipation of the great event of going at length into the presence of God--absence of the thought of being with Him in another world--of being with Him in judgment, and whither to be with Him forever; not considering that He awaits us somewhere, that the whole movement of life is absolutely towards Him, that the course of life is deciding in what manner we shall appear in His presence; not thinking what manner of fact that will be, what experience, what consciousness, what emotion; not regarding it as the grand purpose of our present state of existence that we may attain a final dwelling in His presence. One more, and the last application we would make of the description is to those who, while professing to retain God in their thoughts with a religious regard, frame the religion in which they are to acknowledge Him according to their own speculation and fancy. Thus many rejecters of Divine revelation have professed, nevertheless, a reverential homage to the Deity; but the God of their faith was to be such as their sovereign reason chose to feign, and therefore the mode of their religion entirely arbitrary. But, if revelation be true, the simple question is, Will the Almighty acknowledge your feigned God for Himself?--and admit your religion to be equivalent to that which He has declared and defined? If He should not, you are without God in the world. (John Foster.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:12 Before their conversion, Gentiles had no part in God’s people or the covenant promises God had made to them; they were without God and without hope (see 4:18; Col 1:21).

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Eph 2:12. Ὅτι, that) On this word, you were [Eph 2:12], and you are made [Eph 2:13], depend; but the particle is repeated from Eph 2:11.—χωρὶς, without) The antithesis is in Christ, Eph 2:13. Their misery is detailed under these three heads: without, and strangers—and without God [ἄθεοι, atheists]: you were without Christ, without the Holy Spirit, without God; comp. Eph 2:18 and the following verses; ch. Eph 3:6, Eph 4:4-5, notes.—χωρὶς Χριστοῦ, without Christ) He proves this in the following clause, being alienated from (ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι); nor does he say, aliens (ἀλλότριοι):[27] comp. note at Eph 4:18.—τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ, from the polity of Israel) The whole commonwealth of Israel had respect to Christ.—καὶ ξένοι, and strangers) destitute of share in.—τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, the covenants of promise) God, the gift of Christ being presupposed, had above all promised the Holy Spirit; Eph 1:13; Gal 3:14, note; Luk 24:49; Acts 2; and the covenants had been subservient to that promise, Rom 9:4. This clause is proved by the following, having no hope; for if they had had a promise, they would have had the hope corresponding to it; but they had no hope; and therefore they had not even a promise.—ἄθεοι, atheists) They had not come to the fixed opinion, that there were no gods; for they had even Diana and Jupiter, Act 19:35: but, so far were they from having the true God, 1Th 4:5, they were even ignorant of Him, who He was. He says first, you were out of [without] Christ; afterwards he infers, you were without God.—ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, in the world) Paul proves the latter also, that they were without God; and he does so on the ground, that they wandered in the world, which is wide (2Co 1:12), and vain (Luk 12:30; Joh 1:10, at the end), serving the creatures, enjoying the things, that perish, removed far off [from God].

[27] Engl. Vers. loses this point by its rendering, aliens from.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_2:12. As regards the construction, see on Eph_2:11.

τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ] takes the place of the ποτέ, Eph_2:11, and means the pre-Christian, heathen period of the readers. On the dative of time without ἐν, see Winer, p. 195 f. [E. T. 273 f.].

χωρὶς Χριστοῦ] aloof from connection with Christ; for χωρίς ad subjectum, quod ab objecto sejunctum est, refertur, Tittmann, Synon. p. 94. It is dependent on ἦτε as its first sad predicate, and does not belong, as a more precise definition, to the subject (when ye were as yet without Christ, Bleek), in which case it would in fact be entirely self-evident and superfluous. In how far the readers as Gentiles were without Christ, we are told in the sequel. They stood afar off and aloof from the theocratic bond, in which Christ would have been to them, in accordance with the promise, the object of their faith and ground of their salvation. If Paul had wished to express merely the negation of the Christian relation (ye were without knowledge of Christ; comp. Anselm, Calovius, Flatt), how tame and idle would this in itself have been! and, moreover, not in keeping with the connection of that which follows, according to which, as is already clear from Eph_2:11, Paul wishes to bring out the disadvantage at which the readers, as Gentiles, had been placed in contradistinction to the Jews. Hence Grotius rightly indicates the relation as to contrast of Eph_2:12 to Eph_2:13 : Nunc eum (Christum) non minus possidetis vos quam ii, quibus promissus fuerat. Rückert refers χωρὶς Χ. to the activity of Christ under the O. T. previous to His incarnation, with an appeal to 1Co_10:4. Comp. Olshausen (the immanence of Christ as regards His divinity in Israel). But τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, in fact, applies to the pre-Christian lifetime of the readers, and thus comprises a time which was subsequent to the incarnation. Χριστοῦ means the historical Christ, so far as He was the very promised Messiah. The relation χωρὶς Χριστοῦ is described from the standpoint of the apostle, for whom the bond with the Messiah was the bond with Christ.

The charge that the author here makes an un-Pauline concession to Judaism (Schwegler, i.e. p. 388 f.) is incorrect, since the concession concerns only the pre-Christian relation. Comp. Rom_9:4-5. A superiority of Judaism, in respect of the pre-Christian relation to Christianity, Paul could not but necessarily teach (comp. Act_3:25 f.; Rom_1:16; Rom_3:1 f.; Gal_3:13 f.); but that Christianity as to its essential contents was Judaism itself, merely extended through the death of Christ to the Gentiles also, he has not taught either here or elsewhere; in fact, the doing away of the law taught by him in this very passage is the very opposite thereof (in opposition to Baur, Paulus, p. 545; Christenth. der drei ersten Jahrh. p. 107).

ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι κ.τ.λ.] Comp. on ἀπαλλοτριόω, Dem. 255, 3; Polyb. i. 79. 6, i. 82. 9; often in the LXX. (Schleusner, Thesaur. I. p. 325) and Josephus, Krebs, Obss. p. 326. The notion of alien does not here (comp. also Eph_6:18; Col_1:21) presuppose the existence of an earlier fellowship, but it was their status ethnicus itself,[146] by which the readers were at one time placed apart from connection with the πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, i.e. whereby this ἀλλοτριότης took place. The opposite: ἼΔΙΟΙ, ΟἸΚΕῖΟΙ, ΣΥΜΠΟΛῖΤΑΙ (Eph_2:19). ΠΟΛΙΤΕΊΑ signifies as well political constitution (Thuc. ii. 36; Plato, Polit. vii p. 520 B; Legg. iv. p. 712 E; Arist. Polit. iii. 4. 1; Isoc. Evag. viii. 10; Xen. Ages. i. 37; 2Ma_4:11; 2Ma_8:17) as right of citizenship (Herod, ix. 34; Dem. 161, 11; Thuc. vi. 104. 3; Diod. Sic. xii. 51; 3Ma_3:21; Act_22:28; Joseph. Antt. xii. 3. 1). The latter signification is assumed by Erasmus, Luther, Beza, Bullinger, Michaelis, and others. But the idea of right of citizenship was for the apostle, himself a Roman citizen, as well as for the readers, a secular privilege, and one therefore foreign to the connection of our passage, where everything points to the theocracy, and this was the political constitution of the Israelites.

τοῦ Ἰσραήλ] The divine name of Jacob (Gen_32:28; Gen_35:10) is, according to the traditionally hallowed usage of the O. T., the theocratic name of his posterity, the Jewish people, Rom_9:6; 1Co_10:18; Gal_6:16, al. The genitive, however, is not to be explained like ἄστυ Ἀθηνῶν (Harless); for Ὁ ἸΣΡΑΉΛ is the people, which has the polity.

καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγ.] and foreign to the covenants of the promise (not belonging thereto); these words are to be taken together (in opposition to Ambrosiaster, Cornelius a Lapide, Morus, Rosenmüller, and others, who attach τῆς ἐπαγγ. to what follows); for only thus do the two elements belonging to each other and connected by ΚΑΊ, which serve for the elucidation of ΧΩΡῚς ΧΡΙΣΤΟῦ, stand in harmonious symmetry; only in this way, likewise, is similar justice done to the two last particulars connected by ΚΑΊ,

ἘΛΠΊΔΑ ΜῊ ἜΧΟΝΤΕς ΚΑῚ ἌΘΕΟΙ ἘΝ Τῷ ΚΌΣΜῼwhich in their very generality and brevity carry the description of the Gentile misery to the uttermost point; only in this way, lastly, does ΞΈΝΟΙ ΤῶΝ ΔΙΑΘΗΚῶΝ acquire the characteristic colouring which it needs, in order not to appear tame after ἈΠΗΛΛΟΤΡ. Τ. ΠΟΛ. Τ. ἸΣΡ., for precisely in the characteristic Τῆς ἘΠΑΓΓ. lies the sad significance of the being apart from the πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. The covenants of the promise, i.e. the covenants with which the promise κατʼ ἐξοχήν, namely, that of the Messianic salvation (Rom_9:4; Galatians 3), was connected, are the covenants made with Abraham (Gen_12:2 f., Gen_12:7, Gen_13:15, Gen_15:18, Gen_17:20, Gen_22:17 ff.) and repeated with the other patriarchs (Gen_26:2 ff; Gen_28:13 ff.), as also the covenant formed with the people through Moses. The latter is here (it is otherwise at Rom_9:4, where there specially follows ἡ νομοθεσία) neither excluded (Rückert, Harless, Olshausen, and others), seeing that this covenant also had the promise of Messianic life (Ὁ ΠΟΙΉΣΑς ΑὐΤᾺ ΖΉΣΕΤΑΙ ἘΝ ΑὐΤΟῖς, Gal_3:12), nor exclusively meant (Elsner and Wolf, as was already suggested by Beza). Either is arbitrary, and against the latter there may be urged specially the plural, as well as the eminent importance which Paul must have attributed to the patriarchal covenants in particular. On ΞΈΝΟς with a genitive (Kühner, II. p. 163), comp. Xen. Cyr. vi. 2. 1; Soph. Oed. R. 219; Plato, Apol. p. 17 D, al.

ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχ. κ. ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κ.] consequence of the preceding ἈΠΗΛΛΟΤΡ.… ἘΠΑΓΓ., and in what a tragic climax! The very generality of the expressions, inasmuch as it is not merely a definite hope (Paul did not write τὴν ἐλπίδα) and a definite relation to God that are denied, renders these last traits of the picture so dark!

ἘΛΠΊΔΑ] Bengel: Si promissionem habuissent, spem habuissent illi respondentem. But in this way Paul must have written ΤῊΝ ἘΛΠΊΔΑ. No, those shut out from the promise are for the apostle men without hope at all; they have nothing to hope for, just because they have not to hope for the promised salvation. Comp. 1Th_4:13. Every explanation of a definite hope (of the resurrection and life everlasting, Bullinger, Grotius, and many; of the promised blessings, Estius; of deliverance, Harless; comp. Erasmus and others) conflicts with the absence of the article, and weakens the force of the picture.

μὴ ἔχοντες] μή is not to be explained from the dependence of the thought on what immediately precedes (foreign to the covenants of the promise, without having hope, as Harless would take it), by which the independence of the element ἐλπ. μὴ ἔχ. would be sacrificed to the injury of the symmetry and force of the passage; but the subjectivity of the negation results from ΜΝΗΜΟΝΕΎΕΤΕ, ὍΤΙ … ἮΤΕ, in accordance with which ΜῊ ἜΧΟΝΤΕς is a fact now conceived in the recollection of the readers (comp. Kühner, II. § 715, 3). The μή refers the ἘΛΠ. ΜῊ ἜΧ. to the conception of the subject of the governing verbum sentiendi (μνημονεύετε).

ἄθεοι] the lowest stage of Gentile misery. We may explain the word (see, generally, Diog. Laert. vii. 119; Sturz in the Comm. soc. phil. Lips. II. p. 65 ff.; Meier in the Hall. Encykl. I. 24, p. 466 ff.), which occurs only here in the N.T., and not at all in the LXX. or Apocrypha, either: not believing in God, atheists (Plato, Apol. p. 26 C; Lucian, Alex. 25; Aelian, V. H. ii. 31; comp. Ignat. ad Trall. 10: ἄθεοι ὄντες, τουτέστιν ἄπιστοι), or godless, impii, reprobate (Plato, Legg. xii. p. 966 E; Xen. Anab. ii. 5. 39; Pindar, Pyth. iv. 288), or: without God, sine Deo (Vulgate), i.e. without divine help, without the protection and assistance of God (Soph. Oed. R. 633: ἄθεος, ἌΦΙΛΟς, comp. 254). The last-mentioned sense, as yielding the saddest closing predicate (comp. ἀθεεί, Hom. Od. xviii. 352; Mosch. ii. 148), is here to be preferred. The Gentiles had gods, which, however, were no gods (Act_19:26; Act_14:15; Gal_4:8); but, on the contrary, what they worshipped and honoured as divinities, since the forsaking of the natural knowledge of God (Rom_1:19 ff.), were demons (1Co_10:20); so that for them with all their δεισιδαιμονία (Act_17:22) God was really wanting, and they apart from connection with Gods grace and help lived on in a God-forsaken state. Paul might have written θεοστυγεῖς, as at Rom_1:30, but he continues in the stream of negative designations, which gives to his picture an elegiac colouring.

ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ] is referred by Calovius and Koppe to the preceding elements as a whole. But in this way it would have something of a dragging effect, whereas it attaches itself with force and suggestiveness to the bare ἌΘΕΟΙ, whose tragical effect it serves to deepen. Only it must not be explained, even when so connected, with Koppe: inter ceteros homines, in his terris, in which sense it would be devoid of significance. Nay rather, profane humanity (observe the contrast to the πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ), the Gentile world, was the unhallowed domain, in which the readers in former time existed without God. It adds to the ungodly How the ungodly Where. Olshausen explains: in this evil world, in which one has such urgent need of a sure hope, a fast hold to the living God; but this is imported, since no predicate stands beside κόσμῳ. According to Rückert, it is to form a contrast to ἌΘΕΟΙ, and that in the sense: in the world, of which the earth is a part, and which stands under Gods government.[147] But Paul must have said this, if he had meant it (by ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, or something similar). Oecumenius and Meier: ἘΝ Τῇ ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῸΝ ΠΑΡΌΝΤΑ ΒΊΟΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΊᾼ, etc. This would be expressed by ΚΑΤᾺ ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ.

The question, we may add, whether the ἘΛΠΊΔΑ … ΚΌΣΜῼ applies to all Gentiles, not even a Socrates or a Plato excepted, is, in the view of the apostle, to be answered affirmatively, at all events in general (Rom_3:10 ff; Rom_11:16 ff.; 1Co_1:19 ff.), but has only an indirect application here, since the apostle is speaking of his readers, whom he describes as to their category. That, if the subject of his discourse had called for it, he would have known how to set limitations to his general judgment, may be assumed of itself, and in accordance with Rom_2:14 f. Comp. Act_17:28.

[146] Not, as Grotius would have it (whom Rosenmüller follows): the diversity of political institutions: In illa republica a Deo instituta non modo honores non poteratis capere, sed nec pro civibus haberi; adeo distabant instituta.

[147] So in substance also Grotius: per omnes terrarum oras verum Deum, mundi sc. opificem, aut ignorabatis, aut certe non colebatis, sed pro eo Deos ab hominibus fictos.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph 2:12 . ὅτι ἧτε ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ : that ye were at that time apart from Christ . The sentence interrupted by the description of those addressed as τὰ ἔθνη κ . τ . λ . is now resumed Remember, I say, that ye were . The τῷ καιρῷ , corresponding to the previous ποτέ , refers to their pre-Christian days. In such phrases it is usual to insert ἐν (Donald., Greek Gram. , p. 487), and it is inserted by the TR (following [149] [150] [151] [152] , etc.). But time when is also often enough expressed by the simple dat. (Win.-Moult., pp. 273, 274), and the balance of evidence is largely against the presence of the prep. here. The χωρὶς Χριστοῦ is the predicate to ἦτε , and is not a defining clause = “being at that time without Christ” (De Wette, Bleek). It describes their former condition as one in which they had no connection with Christ; in which respect they were in a position sadly inferior to that of the Jews whose attitude was one of hoping and waiting for Christ, the Messiah. Their apartness from Christ, their lack of all relation to Him this is the first stroke in the dark picture of their former heathen life, and the four to which the eye is directed in the subsequent clauses all follow from that. ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραήλ : alienated from the commonwealth of Israel . The alienation is expressed by ἀπαλλοτριοῦσθαι , a strong verb, common enough in classical Greek (at least from Plato’s time), corresponding to the OT זוּר ( cf. Psa 58:4 ), and used again in Eph 4:18 ; Col 1:21 . It does not necessarily imply a lapse from a former condition of attachment or fellowship, but expresses generally the idea of being a stranger as contrasted with one who is at home with a person or an object. The term πολιτεία has two main senses a state or commonwealth ( e.g. , 2Ma 4:11 ; 2Ma 8:17 ), and citizenship or the rights of a citizen (Act 22:28 ). The first of these is most in harmony with the theocratic term τοῦ Ἰσραήλ , and so it is understood by most. These Ephesians, therefore, had no part in the theocracy, the OT constitution under which God made Himself known to the Jew and entered into relation with him. καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας : and strangers from the covenants of the Promise . The τῶν διαθηκῶν is probably the gen. of separation or removal . That idea is usually expressed by a prep., but with verbs like ὑποχωρεῖν , διαφέρειν , ἀποστερεῖσθαι , and with some adjectives, it is also expressed by the simple gen. (Win.-Moult., pp. 243, 244). The word ξένος , which has the particular meaning of one who is not a member of a state or city, is used here in the general sense of foreign to a thing, having no share in it. The διαθῆκαι are the covenants with Abraham and the patriarchs ( cf. Wis 18:22 ; 2Ma 8:15 ). It is obviously the covenants of Messianic significance that are in view. That the Mosaic Law or the Sinaitic Covenant is not in view seems to follow from the mention of the ἐπαγγελία ; for that Covenant was not distinctively of the Promise, but is described by Paul as coming in after it and provisionally (Gal 3:17-19 ). The ἐπαγγελία is the Promise, the one distinctively so called, the great Messianic Promise given to the fathers of the Hebrew people (Gen 13:15 ; Gen 15:18 ; Gen 17:8 , etc.). The defining τῆς ἐπαγγελίας is attached by some (Rosenmüller, etc.) to the following ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες . But the covenants and the promise are kindred ideas, and make one thought here. ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες : having no hope . With participles the subjective negative is much more frequently used than οὐ . In cases like the present, where the participle does not belong to the class of those expressing command, purpose, condition or the like, the use of μή is due to the aspect in which the matter in question presents itself to the writer to the fact, e.g. , that he has a genus , not the individual, in view; cf. Ell. on 1Th 2:15 , and Win.-Moult., p. 606. The statement here is absolute ἐλπίδα , not τὴν ἐλπίδα . It is not only that they had not the hope, the Messianic hope which was one of the distinctions of the Israelite, but that they were utterly without hope. Ignorant of the Divine salvation and of Christ in whom it was found, they had nothing to hope for beyond this world. καὶ ἄθεοι ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ : and without God in the world . The last element in the darkness and misery of their former life. The adj. ἄθεος , which is never found in the LXX or in the Apocrypha, and only this once in the NT, in classical Greek means impious in the sense of denying or neglecting the gods of the State; but it is also used occasionally in the sense of knowing or worshipping no God (Æl., V. h., 2, 31), or in that of abandoned by God (Soph., Œd. R. , 633). Three renderings are possible here ignorant of God, denying God, forsaken of God. The third is preferred by many (Mey., Ell., etc.), who think that the darkest colour is given to the picture of their old heathen condition by this mention of the fact that they were without the help and protection of God. The first of the three senses, however, seems even more in harmony with the preceding negations. As they were without Christ, and without hope, so were they without God without the knowledge of the one true and living and thus destitute of any God. So in Gal 4:8 Paul speaks of Gentiles like these as knowing not God and doing service unto them which by nature are no gods . The clause ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ is connected by some with the whole preceding description (Koppe, etc.); by others with the two last sentences in the description the ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες and the ἄθεοι (Abb.). But it rather makes one idea with the immediately preceding term ἄθεοι . It is difficult to say in what particular sense the κόσμος is used here whether in the simple, non-ethical sense, or in the deeper sense which it has in John and also at times in some degree in Paul (1Co 1:21 ; 1Co 6:2 ; 1Co 11:32 ; 2Co 7:10 ). Whichever is preferred whether “without God in the world of men,” or “without God in this evil world” an appropriate idea results. But the implied contrast with the previous πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ leads most to decide for the latter. The domain of their life was this present evil world, and in it, alienated as it was from God, they had no God.

[149] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[150] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[151] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[152] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis ( δ ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eph_2:12

The sentence begun in Eph_2:11 is here resumed. Remember, ὅτι ἦτε τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς Χριστοῦ, that at that time ye were without Christ. This means more than that they were as heathen, destitute of the knowledge and expectation of the Messiah. As Christ is the only redeemer of men, and the only mediator between God and man, to be without Christ, was to be without redemption and without access to God. To possess Christ, to be in Him, is the sum of all blessedness; to be without Christ includes all evil.

What follows is a confirmation of what precedes. They were without Christ because aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. The idea of separation and estrangement is strongly expressed by the word ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι. They stood as ἄλλοι, as others, distinguished as a separate class from the people of God. The word πολιτεία means

l. Citizenship.

2. The order or constitution of the state.

3. The community or state itself.

The last signification best suits the connection. Ἰσραὴλ means the theocratical people; and πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ is that community or commonwealth which was Israel. This includes the other senses, for in being aliens from the community of Gods people, they were of course destitute of citizenship among them, and outside of the theocratical constitution.

And strangers from the covenants of promise, καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. The word covenant is in the plural because God entered repeatedly into covenant with his people. It is called a covenant of promise, or rather of the promise, because the promise of redemption was connected therewith. That the promise meant is that great promise of a redeemer made to Abraham, and so often afterwards repeated, is plain not only from the context, but from other passages of Scripture. The promise made to the fathers, says the apostle, in Act_13:32, hath God fulfilled in that he hath raised up Jesus. Compare Rom_4:14-16; Gal_3:16. As the heathen were not included in the covenant God made with his people, they had no interest in the promise, the execution of which that covenant secured. Their condition was therefore most deplorable. They were without hope ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες καὶ, not having hope. They had nothing to hope, because shut out of the covenant of promise. The promise of God is the only foundation of hope, and therefore those to whom there is no promise, have no hope. And having no hope of redemption, the great blessing promised, they were, in the widest sense of the word, hopeless. They were moreover without God, ἄθεοι. This may mean that they were atheists, in so far that they were destitute of the knowledge of the true God, and served those who by nature were no gods. Jehovah was not their God; they had no interest in him, they were without him. This includes the idea that they were forsaken of him he had left them in the world. They stood outside of that community which belonged to God, who knew and worshipped him, to whom his promises were made, and in the midst of whom he dwelt. In every point, therefore, their condition as heathen afforded a melancholy contrast to that of the true people of God, and to that into which they had been introduced by the Gospel. Their alienation from the theocracy or church involved in it, or implied, a like alienation from God and his covenant.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He beginneth first with Christ, who was the end of all the promises.

You had no right or title, to the common wealth of Israel.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

without Christ--Greek, "separate from Christ"; having no part in Him; far from Him. A different Greek word (aneu) would be required to express, "Christ was not present with you" [TITTMANN].

aliens--Greek, "alienated from," not merely "separated from." The Israelites were cut off from the commonwealth of God, but it was as being self-righteous, indolent, and unworthy, not as aliens and strangers [CHRYSOSTOM]. The expression, "alienated from," takes it for granted that the Gentiles, before they had apostatized from the primitive truth, had been sharers in light and life (compare Eph 4:18, Eph 4:23). The hope of redemption through the Messiah, on their subsequent apostasy, was embodied into a definite "commonwealth" or polity, namely, that "of Israel," from which the Gentiles were alienated. Contrast Eph 2:13; Eph 3:6; Eph 4:4-5, with Psa 147:20.

covenants of promise--rather, ". . . of the promise," namely, "to thee and thy seed will I give this land" (Rom 9:4; Gal 3:16). The plural implies the several renewals of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and with the whole people at Sinai [ALFORD]. "The promise" is singular, to signify that the covenant, in reality, and substantially, is one and the same at all times, but only different in its accidents and external circumstances (compare Heb 1:1, "at sundry times and in divers manners").

having no . . . hope--beyond this life (Co1 15:19). The CONJECTURES of heathen philosophers as to a future life were at best vague and utterly unsatisfactory. They had no divine "promise," and therefore no sure ground of "hope." Epicurus and Aristotle did not believe in it at all. The Platonists believed the soul passed through perpetual changes, now happy, and then again miserable; the Stoics, that it existed no longer than till the time of the general burning up of all things.

without God--Greek, "atheists," that is, they had not "God" in the sense we use the word, the Eternal Being who made and governs all things (compare Act 14:15, "Turn from these vanities unto the living God who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things therein"), whereas the Jews had distinct ideas of God and immortality. Compare also Gal 4:8, "Ye knew not God . . . ye did service unto them which are no gods" (Th1 4:5). So also pantheists are atheists, for an impersonal God is NO GOD, and an ideal immortality no immortality [THOLUCK].

in the world--in contrast to belonging to "the commonwealth of Israel." Having their portion and their all in this godless vain world (Psa 17:14), from which Christ delivers His people (Joh 15:19; Joh 17:14; Gal 1:4).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. That at that time ye were without Christ] Not only were not Christians, but had no knowledge of the Christ or Messiah, and no title to the blessings which were to proceed from him.

Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel] Ye were by your birth, idolatry, c., alienated from the commonwealth of Israel-from the civil and religious privileges of the Jewish people.

Strangers from the covenants of promise] Having no part in the promise of the covenant made with Abraham, whether considered as relating to his natural or spiritual seed and no part in that of the covenant made at Horeb with the Israelites, when a holy law was given them, and God condescended to dwell among them, and to lead them to the promised land.

Having no hope] Either of the pardon of sin or of the resurrection of the body, nor indeed of the immortality of the soul. Of all these things the Gentiles had no rational or well-grounded hope.

Without God in the world] They had gods many, and lords many; but in no Gentile nation was the true God known: nor indeed had they any correct notion of the Divine nature. Their idols were by nature no gods-they could neither do evil nor good, and therefore they were properly without God, having no true object of worship, and no source of comfort. He who has neither God nor Christ is in a most deplorable state; he has neither a God to worship, nor a Christ to justify him. And this is the state of every man who is living without the grace and Spirit of Christ. All such, whatever they may profess, are no better than practical atheists.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. That at that time ye were without Christ. He now declares that the Ephesians had been excluded, not only from the outward badge, but from everything necessary to the salvation and happiness of men. As Christ is the foundation of hope and of all the promises, he mentions, first of all, that they were without Christ. But for him that is without Christ, there remains nothing but destruction. On Him the commonwealth of Israel was founded; and in whom, but in Himself, could the people of God be collected into one holy society?

A similar observation might be made as to the tables of the promise On one great promise made to Abraham all the others hang, and without it they lose all their value:

“In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 22:18.)

Hence our apostle says elsewhere,

“All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen.” (2 Corinthians 1:20.)

Take away the covenant of salvation, and there remains no hope. I have translated τῶν διαθηκῶν by the tables, or, in ordinary legal phrase, the instruments. By solemn ritual did God sanction His covenant with Abraham and his posterity, that he would be their God for ever and ever. (Genesis 15:9.) Tables of this covenant were ratified by the hand of Moses, and intrusted, as a peculiar treasure, to the people of Israel, to whom, and not to the Gentiles, “pertain the covenants.” (Romans 9:4.)

And without God in the world. But at no period were the Ephesians, or any other Gentiles, destitute of all religion. Why, then, are they styled (ἄθεοι) Atheists? for (ἄθεος) an Atheist, strictly speaking, is one who does not believe, and who absolutely ridicules, the being of a God. That appellation, certainly, is not usually given to superstitious persons, but to those who have no feeling of religion, and who desire to see it utterly destroyed. I answer, Paul was right in giving them this name, for he treated all the notions entertained respecting false gods as nothing; and with the utmost propriety do godly persons regard all idols as “nothing in the world.” (1 Corinthians 8:4.) Those who do not worship the true God, whatever may be the variety of their worship, or the multitude of laborious ceremonies which they perform, are without God: they adore what they know not. (Acts 17:23.) Let it be carefully observed, that the Ephesians are not charged with (ἀθεϊσμὸς) Atheism, in the same degree as Diagoras, and others of the same stamp, who were subjected to that reproach. Persons who imagined themselves to be very religious are charged with that crime; for an idol is a forgery, an imposition, not a Divinity.

From what has been said, the conclusion will be easily drawn, that out of Christ there are none but idols. Those who were formerly declared to be without Christ, are now declared to be without God; as John says,

“Whosoever hath not the Son, hath not the Father,” (1 John 2:23;)

and again,

“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.” (2 John 1:9.)

Let us know, therefore, that all who do not keep this way wander from the true God. We shall next be asked, Did God never reveal himself to any of the Gentiles? I answer, no manifestation of God without Christ was ever made among the Gentiles, any more than among the Jews. It is not to one age only, or to one nation, that the saying of our Lord applies,

“I am the way;” for he adds, “no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” (John 14:6.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(12) This verse gives a dark and terrible picture of the former heathen condition of the Ephesians, intentionally contrasted in every point with the description of Christian privilege in Eph_2:19-20. That condition is first summed up in one expression. They were “separate from Christ.” Then from this are drawn two gloomy consequences: first (1), that they had no part in God’s special covenant, “alienated from the commonwealth of Israel,” and so “strangers to the (often repeated) covenants of the promise” of the Messiah; next (2), that, thus left in “the world,” they had “no hope” of spiritual life and immortality, and were “godless” in thought and act. For Christ is at once the end and substance of the covenant of Israel, and the Revealer of God, and therefore of spiritual life in man, to all mankind. To be without Him is to lose both covenant and light. On (1) it is to be noted that the word used is not “aliens,” but “alienated.” implying—what is again and again declared to us—that the covenant with Israel, as it was held in trust for the blessing of “all families of the earth,” so also was simply the true birthright of humanity, from which mankind had fallen. The first “covenant” in scripture (Gen_9:8-17) is with the whole of the post-diluvian race, and is expressly connected with the reality of “the image of God” in man (Gen_9:6). The succeeding covenants (as with Abraham, Moses, and David) all contain a promise concerning the whole race of man. Hence the Gentiles (as the utterances of prophecy showed more and more clearly while the ages rolled on) were exiles from what should have been their home; and their call into the Church of Christ was a restoration of God’s wandering children. In relation to (2) it is impossible not to observe, even in the highest forms of heathen philosophy, how their comparative “godlessness”—the absence of any clear notion of a real spiritual tie of nature between God and man—made their “hope” of life and immortality, though still cherished, shadowy and uncertain, always stronger in itself than in its grounds. But St. Paul’s description ought to be applied strictly, not to heathen life in its nobler and purer forms, but to the heathen life of Asia Minor in his days. What that was in moral degradation and in loss of all spiritual religion, ill compensated by the inevitable proneness to various superstitions, all contemporary literature testifies. From it came, as the Romans declared, the corruption which overspread the whole empire, and which St. Paul describes so terribly in Rom_1:18-32.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That at that time ye were without Christ,.... Or separate from him: they were chosen in him and were preserved in him, and were redeemed by him before; but they were without any knowledge of him, faith in him, love to him, communion with him, or subjection to him, his Gospel, government, laws, and ordinances; and particularly they were without any promises of him, or prophecies concerning him, which were peculiar to the Jews; hence the Messiah is called , "the Christ of Israel" (w), and who as he was promised, so he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house, of Israel: hence it follows,

being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; both from their civil and church state; the Gentiles might not dwell among them, nor have any dealings with them in things civil, unless they conformed to certain laws; nor might the Jews go into any, nor eat or converse with any, that were uncircumcised; so great an alienation and distance were there between these two people; and much less might they eat the passover and join with them in religious worship; the word for "commonwealth" here used, Harpocratian says (x), is commonly used by Greek writers for a "democracy" though the original constitution of the Israelites was properly a "theocracy":

strangers to the covenants of promise; to the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham; and to the covenant at Mount Sinai, made with Israel; and to the dispensation of the covenant of grace to that people, sometimes called the first covenant and the old covenant, and which peculiarly belonged to them, Rom 9:4 one copy reads, "strangers to the promises of the covenant"; which is natural enough; the Vulgate Latin version joins the word "promise" to the next clause, and reads,

having no hope of the promise of the promised Messiah: "having no hope"; of the Messiah and salvation by him, of the resurrection of the dead, of a future state, and of eternal life; none that is sure and steadfast, that is purifying, and makes not ashamed; or which is a good hope through grace, is the gift of God, the fruit of his love, and the effect of his power; and this is to be in a miserable condition: Philo, the Jew (y), observes, that

"the Chaldeans call a man Enos, as if he only was truly a man that expects good things, and supports himself with good hopes; and adds, hence it is manifest that one without hope is not reckoned a man, but a beast in an human form; since he is destitute of hope, which is the property of the human soul;''

and without God in the world; without the knowledge of God in Christ; without the image of God, which was defaced by sin; without the grace and fear of God; and without communion with him, and the worship of him; and while they were so they were in the world, among the men of it, and were a part of it, not being yet called out of it: the word signifies "atheists": so some of the Gentiles were in "theory", as they all were in practice; and they were by the Jews reckoned no other than "atheists"; it is a common saying with them (z) that

"he that dwells without the land (of Israel) is like one , "who has no God":''

(w) Targum in Isa. xvi. 1. 5. (x) Lex. Decem Orator. p. 246. (y) De Abrahamo, p. 350, 351. (z) T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 110. 2. Zohar in Exod. fol. 33. 1. Cosri, par. 2. sect. 22. fol. 85. 2. Tzeror Hammor, fol. 129. 4. & 135. 2. & 153. 3. & 168. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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:

Ver. 12. Strangers from the covenant] The saints only are heirs to the promises; but the devil sweeps all the wicked, as being out of the covenant. They stuff themselves with promises, till they have made them a pillow for sin, Deu 29:19. Sed praesumendo sperant, et sperando pereunt.

Having no hope] But such as will one day hop headless; such as will serve them as Absalom’s mule served her master, when she left him hanging by the head between heaven and earth, as rejected of both.

Without God in the world] Because without a teaching priest, and without law, 2Ch 15:3. As it is said of the poor Brazilians at this day, that they are sine fide, sine rege, sine lege, without faith, without a king, without law. This was the case of our pagan predecessors.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ye were without Christ - You were without the knowledge of the Messiah. You had not heard of him; of course you had not embraced him. You were living without any of the hopes and consolations which you now have, from having embraced him. The object of the apostle is to remind them of the deplorable condition in which they were by nature; and nothing would better express it than to say they were “without Christ,” or that they had no knowledge of a Saviour. They knew of no atonement for sin. They had no assurance of pardon. They had no well-founded hope of eternal life. They were in a state of darkness and condemnation, from which nothing but a knowledge of Christ could deliver them. All Christians may in like manner be reminded of the fact that, before their conversion, they were “without Christ.” Though they had heard of him, and were constantly under the instruction which reminded them of him, yet they were without any true knowledge of him, and without any of the hopes which result from having embraced him. Many were infidels. Many were scoffers. Many were profane, sensual, corrupt. Many rejected Christ with scorn; many, by simple neglect. All were without any true knowledge of him; all were destitute of the peace and hope which result from a saving acquaintance with him. We may add, that there is no more affecting description of the state of man by nature than to say, he is without a Saviour. Sad would be the condition of the world without a Redeemer - sad is the state of that portion of mankind who reject him. Reader, are you without Christ?

Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel - This is the second characteristic of their state before their conversion to Christianity. This means more than that they were not Jews. It means that they were strangers to that “polity” - πολιτεία politeia - or arrangement by which the worship of the true God had been kept up in the world, and of course were strangers to the true religion The arrangements for the public worship of Yahweh were made among the Jews. They had his law, his temple, his sabbaths, and the ordinances of his religion; see the notes at Rom 3:2. To all these the pagans had been strangers, and of course they were deprived of all the privileges which resulted from having the true religion. The word rendered here as “commonwealth” - πολιτεία politeia - means properly citizenship, or the right of citizenship, and then a community, or state. It means here that arrangement or organization by which the worship of the true God was maintained. The word “aliens” - ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι apēllotriōmenoi - here means merely that they were strangers to. It does not denote, of necessity, that they were hostile to it; but that they were ignorant of it, and were, therefore, deprived of the benefits which they might have derived from it, if they had been acquainted with it.

And strangers - This word - ξένος xenos - means properly a guest, or a stranger, who is hospitably entertained; then a foreigner, or one from a distant country; and here means that they did not belong to the community where the covenants of promise were enjoyed; that is, they were strangers to the privileges of the people of God.

The covenants of promise - see the notes at Rom 9:4. The covenants of promise were those various arrangements which God made with his people, by which he promised them future blessings, and especially by which he promised that the Messiah should come. To be in possession of them was regarded as a high honor and privilege; and Paul refers to it here to show that, though the Ephesians had been by nature without these, yet they had now been brought to enjoy all the benefits of them. On the word covenant, see the notes on Gal 3:15. It may be remarked, that Walton (Polyglott) and Rosenmuller unite the word “promise” here with the word “hope” - “having no hope of the promise.” But the more obvious and usual interpretation is that in our common version, meaning that they were not by nature favored with the covenants made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc., by which there was a promise of future blessings under the Messiah.

Having no hope - The apostle does not mean to affirm that they did not cherish any hope, for this is scarcely true of any man; but that they were without any proper ground of hope. It is true of perhaps nearly all people that they cherish some hope of future happiness. But the ground on which they do this is not well understood by themselves, nor do they in general regard it as a matter worth particular inquiry. Some rely on morality; some on forms of religion; some on the doctrine of universal salvation; all who are impenitent believe that they do not “deserve” eternal death, and expect to be saved by “justice.” Such hopes, however, must be unfounded. No hope of life in a future world can be founded on a proper basis which does not rest on some promise of God, or some assurance that he will save us; and these hopes, therefore, which people take up they know not why, are delusive and vain.

And without God in the world - Greek ἄθεοι atheoi - “atheists;” that is, those who had no knowledge of the true God. This is the last specification of their miserable condition before they were converted; and it is an appropriate crowning of the climax. What an expression! To be without God - without God in his own world, and where he is all around us! To have no evidence of his favor, no assurance of his love, no hope of dwelling with him! The meaning, as applied to the pagan Ephesians, was, that they had no knowledge of the true God. This was true of the pagan, and in an important sense also it is true of all impenitent sinners, and was once true of all who are now Christians. They had no God. They did not worship him, or love him, or serve him, or seek his favors, or act with reference to him and his glory. Nothing can be a more appropriate and striking description of a sinner now than to say that he is “without God in the world.”

He lives, and feels, and acts, as if there were no God. He neither worships him in secret, nor in his family, nor in public. He acts with no reference to his will. He puts no confidence in his promises, and fears not when he threatens; and were it announced to him that there “is no God,” it would produce no change in his plan of life, or in his emotions. The announcement that the emperor of China, or the king of Siam, or the sultan of Constantinople, was dead, would produce some emotion, and might change some of his commercial arrangements; but the announcement that there is no God would interfere with none of his plans, and demand no change of life. And, if so, what is man in this beautiful world without a God? A traveler to eternity without a God! Standing over the grave without a God! An immortal being without a God! A man - fallen, sunk, ruined, with no God to praise, to love, to confide in; with no altar, no sacrifice, no worship, no hope; with no Father in trial, no counselor in perplexity, no support in death! Such is the state of man by nature. Such are the effects of sin.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

That at that time ye were without Christ; i.e. without knowledge of him, or interest in him. This is the foundation of all other miseries, as Christ is the foundation of all saving good, and therefore the apostle begins with this.

Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; the church of God, confined formerly to the Israelites: their church and state was the same body, and God the founder of and lawgiver to them in both respects.

And strangers from the covenants of promise; those covenants in which the great promise of Christ and salvation by him was made. The covenants were several, as that with Abraham, and that by Moses, and differ in some accidents, but the promise in them was one and the same, which was the substance of each.

Having no hope; viz. beyond this life; as they could not but be who were without Christ, and without the promises.

And without God; not without some general knowledge of a God, but without any saving knowledge of him, as not knowing him in Christ: or they lived as without God, neglecting him, and being neglected by him, and suffered to walk in their own ways.

In the world; which is the congregation of the wicked, and is here opposed to the church.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

12. Without Christ—This description of their heathen condition differs from that in Eph_2:1-3, in that the latter details dark, active wickedness, exciting abhorrence; whilst this presents details of destitution and unhappiness, touching the heart with pity. Without Christ, they were without every other blessedness; without holy citizenship, without the covenants, without hope, and without God—only in the world.

Aliens… Israel—Literally, Foreigners from the polity of Israel. They had no rights in the spiritual realm; no citizenship in the city of God, in the Jerusalem below, or the Jerusalem above.

Strangers… promise—In those blessed covenants in the archives of the holy city they, as unnaturalized foreigners, had no share and no knowledge. The Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, and including both, Christ’s covenant of promise, conditioned on faith, had no promise for them.

No hope—There was in those covenants a blessed hope of pardon of sin, of immortality, and eternal life; but no hope therefrom for them. Dim hopes from nature there were, but nothing that Christianity could call a hope.

Without God—There was a God in Israel, revealed in the covenants, incarnate in Christ; but no God for them. They had a great fancy goddess. Artemis, (Diana;) but she was nothing but a many-breasted pantheistic conception. Notes, Act_19:22-28. They were without God in all the world. They were solitaires, orphans, godless, and wanderers in the world, that was full of a father God. But the precise meaning of the clause in the world, (which has been something of a puzzle to commentators,) may be best seen by reversing the order of the clauses: In the world, without God, without hope. Its emphasis may thus appear; without hope, without God, yet—in the world! In an existence rendered by sin worse than non-existence!

Such is the picture, drawn with deep pathos by a tender yet true hand, of unregenerate heathendom! Well may Meyer query whether such a picture makes any allowance for the salvable heathen. It supposes no Socrates, Plato, or Aristides. But doubtless, in fact, there were among the pagan converts from Artemis too few such relieving exceptions to suggest any brightening of the picture. See notes, Act_18:19. Perhaps he would have drawn a milder portraiture of the barbarians of Melita. Act_28:1-6. Notes, Rom_2:14-15.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That at that time ye were without Christ. Very comprehensive description, having no knowledge of Christ, no interest in him, no life or blessing from him. Being aliens (or, alienated) from the commonwealth of Israel; the politeia, or citizenship condition, including a country, a constitution, a divinely appointed and divinely administered economy, rich in blessing. And strangers to the covenants of the promise. The promise of Christ, of which circumcision was the seal. The "covenants" (plural) substantially the same, but renewed to various persons and at various times in which God promised, "I will bless him that blesseth thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." In respect of these they were strangers, not embraced in their provisions, not, therefore, in a state of encouragement to expect a great blessing. Having no hope; no ground for looking forward to better times, no reasonable expectation of improvement in your religious condition. And without God in the world; aqeoi, atheists; but not in the active sense of denying God, rather in the passive sense of unconnected with God; without any friendly and beneficial relation to him, without any vital nexus that would bring into their soul the fullness of God. The words "in the world" intensify without God." It were bad enough to be without God (without his holy fellowship and blessed influence) anywhere, but it is worse to be without him in the world, in "this present evil world", (Gal_1:4) in a world dominated by so subtle and evil a god. (ver. 2 and 2Co_4:4) The fivefold negative description of this verse has a cumulative effect; the situation becomes graver and more terrible, and the last clause is the climax.

The religious position of the heathen.

The apostle does not speak of the distinguished place of the heathen as to art and science, culture, and worldly civilization in which they far surpassed Israel but he describes the utter destitution of their religious life by contrast mainly with the privileged superiority of Judaism. The points of contrast are six in number.

I THEY WERE UNCIRCUMCISED were "Gentiles in the flesh." Circumcision, according to the apostle, might mean very little or very much. It might mean very much, in so far as it was a "seal of the righteousness of faith" (Rom_4:11) and was a spiritual thing circumcision of the heart", (Rom_2:29) involving the worship of God in the Spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and having no confidence in the flesh". (Php_3:3) But it might mean "the circumcision in the letter," after the habit of those Jews who ascribed objective power to the mere external rite, regarding it as a channel of grace, irrespective of the subjective condition of the recipient. It was only in the spiritual sense of the rite that the Gentiles were disadvantaged by their want of it, not only because it meant the obligation of withdrawing all the relations of life from the dominion of nature, but because it implied a covenant union with God, involving the blessings of redemption itself.

II THEY WERE WITHOUT CHRIST. The Jews were not without him; for "salvation was of the Jews;" Abraham, the first Jew, saw the day of Christ afar off, "and was glad"; (Joh_8:56) the Jews drank, in the wilderness, of the "Rock which was Christ". (1Co_10:4) But the Gentiles were without him, because

(1) they had no knowledge of him;

(2) they had no faith in him;

(3) they had no union with him;

(4) they were therefore

Without pardon, life, grace, hope, and comfort. How dark and cheerless was heathenism even under its reign of culture! It had no experience of the threefold blessing of the gospel for us, Christ in us, Christ with us the grand totality of Christianity.

III THEY WERE ALIENS FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF ISRAEL. They were so civilly as well as spiritually, for the Jews had no dealings with Gentiles.

1. The word aliens" points in the original to a lapse from a former unity or fellowship. Universalism characterized the first dispensation of the race of man: deliverance was to come through the Seed of the woman; but when the race took a direction contrary to the will of God and fundamentally wrong, the circle was narrowed into particularism, which in its turn tended toward a universalistic goal, for all nations of the earth are to be blessed in Abraham"s seed. Jew and Gentile thus stood apart for ages, till, in the fullness of times," they met at last round the cross of Christ in an act of supreme rebellion, only to be united in Christ forever in the future development of the kingdom of God.

2. Their estrangement from the Israelitish commonwealth was an immense spiritual loss; for to it belonged the oracles of God, (Rom_3:2) and the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises". (Rom_9:4) It was a privilege to belong to a people expecting nothing from their own power or wisdom, but everything from the interposition of their God. It is a great blessing to be born within the pale of the visible Church, so as to partake of her privileges. The Gentiles were outside the whole apparatus of religious instruction provided for the special guidance of the Jews.

IV THEY WERE STRANGERS TO THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE.

1. The plural reference is to the successive renewals of the covenant with the patriarchs. It was but the one covenant of promise promise made to the fathers" which God fulfilled in "raising up Jesus". (Act_13:32) The word covenant" occurs two hundred and thirty-six times in our English Bible, and in more than two hundred instances it is a Divine covenant. The covenant with Abraham was the Magna Charta of Israel; the covenant with David rests upon this earlier covenant, marking out mere clearly the line in which the Divine purpose of blessing would be fulfilled to Jews and eventually to all nations. The new covenant of the New Testament, which has in Christ a Mediator greater than Moses and is "established upon better promises," is no other than the ancient covenant made with Abraham. (Gal_3:14)

2. Thus we can see how the Gentiles were strangers to the covenant in all its historic developments. They had no national covenant with God, and no land of promise in the present world. As Gentiles, the covenant had never been revealed to them, and, except so far as they may have been included in the Israelitish commonwealth, it could bring them no blessing.

V THEY WERE WITHOUT HOPE. They had no covenanted hope no hope of the Messiah and of salvation by him, of a future state of eternal life. Such as are Christless must be hopeless; such as are without faith must needs be without hope; and such as are without the promise must necessarily be without faith; for the promise is the ground of faith, and faith is the ground of hope." It is a miserable state to be without hope. "If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable." The future to the heathen was a night without a star. In the Roman catacombs hope is the commonest inscription. There is no such word on the tombs of the heathen dead.

VI THEY WERE WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD. This marks the climax of their misery. They were without God, though they were not atheists, for they had a thousand gods that were no gods. And they were not bold deniers of God, for many of them were "feeling after the Lord." But

(1) they were without the knowledge of the true God;

(2) they had no faith in him;

(3) they lived without relation to him; and

(4) they had no consciousness of his presence to bless and guide and comfort them.

They were without God "in the world in contrast with the position of the Jews entrenched within their commonwealth privileges and were thus homeless and forsaken in that world which had Satan for its prince. This is the picture of the heathen world given by the apostle without Christ, without Church, without covenant, without hope, without God. At the period to which he refers, religion had outlived itself, unbelief mocked at the superstitions of the vulgar, and skepticism gradually became the sole wisdom of the cultured classes. Along with the power of truth the power of morality was irrecoverably lost; and yet there was a deep yearning at the heart of paganism for the God unknown whom it was the high destiny of Christianity to make known to the Gentiles. They were without God, yet were not outcast from his favor, for those Ephesian Gentiles were in due time called by his grace. T.C.

Dark depths.

Step by step descending into darker and darker depths, St. Paul describes the awful condition out of which heathens had been rescued when they became Christians. Regarded from a Jewish point of view, this condition is seen to consist in the loss of all the high privileges of Israel, and the salvation of the Gentiles appears as an adoption into the circle of those privileges. But larger things of more general import are covered by the description, so that it applies virtually to all who are outside the pale of the gospel. Let us go through the descending and darkening series and observe the several woeful characteristics.

I CHRISTLESS. The Gentile world had no Messiah. Worldly interests business, pleasure, culture have their advantages; but they bring no Savior, no Physician of sick souls. As Christ is the Foundation-stone of the new temple, to be without Christ is to have nothing on which to erect subsequent Christian blessings. If we have the doctrine and discipline of the New Testament without the Christ, we have nothing of real profit. The dumb, pathetic helplessness of spiritual hunger in the finer inquiring and doubting minds of our day is a proof that to be without the light and life and love of Christ is as great a loss to us as it was to any in old times.

II CHURCHLESS. "Alienated from the commonwealth of Israel." The Church is now what Israel was in pro-Christian times the home and family of the people of God. Only it is not marked by the visible boundaries of any "Holy Land." The true Church, the fellowship of kindred followers of Christ, contains many a choice soul that has been accounted a schismatic and cut off from the organized communities of Christendom. Real excommunication comes not by the fulmination of an anathema, but by the breach of spiritual sympathy. Without the union that comes through our relation to Christ we voyage in solitude over lonely seas of thought.

III UNEVANGELIZED. "Strangers from the covenants of the promise." The Jew had a gospel in Messianic prophecy. The Christian has his in New Testament history. What covenant is there in science? What promise in art? What gospel in commerce? We may discover laws and hers of the universe, and create works of skill and beauty, and accumulate treasures of wealth. But still stricken souls cry, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" for all this brings no peace to the weary and the brokenhearted.

IV PESSIMIST. "Having no hope." Pagan Rome and Greece were verging towards pessimism in the days of St. Paul, when philosophers advised suicide and historians taught contempt of mankind. Pagan Europe now manifests the same tendency. Culture fails to convert the Philistine. Science dwarfs humanity before nature, and discovers no soul and no heaven. Business, politics, and society drive man to a weariness that sees no rest.

V ATHEISTIC. Speculative atheism is rare, if it ever exists. Practical atheism is more common and more disastrous. It is worse to believe in God and to live as if there were no God, than to doubt his existence. To be without God is not to look for his help nor to obey his will. This is death, since in God we live and move and have our being. Glorious must be the gospel that redeems us from such a depth of ruin. W.F.A.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Were at that time without Christ - Having no faith in, or knowledge of, him. Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel - Both as to their temporal privileges and spiritual blessings. And strangers to the covenants of promise - The great promise in both the Jewish and Christian covenant was the Messiah. Having no hope - Because they had no promise whereon to ground their hope. And being without God - Wholly ignorant of the true God, and so in effect atheists. Such in truth are, more or less, all men, in all ages, till they know God by the teaching of his own Spirit. In the world - The wide, vain world, wherein ye wandered up and down, unholy and unhappy.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Without Christ. The past state of the Gentile Christians is described when they had no knowledge of Christ. Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel. Not being of the race of Abraham, who were in covenant relation with God. Strangers from the covenants. The various covenants made with the patriarchs which contained the promise of Christ, of which they were ignorant, and hence not partakers of the hope.

Having no hope. No hope in the promise or in Christ. Without God. Walking without the knowledge of the true God.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

12. τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ. Dative of time (Rom 16:25; 1Ti 2:6).

χωρὶς Χριστοῦ. The isolation of the Gentiles is defined in three relations: first, to the centre of unity: ‘apart from,’ ‘out of conscious communion with’; the natural antithesis to ἐν Χριστῷ; cf. Joh 15:5 χωρὶς ἐμοῦ in contrast with μείνατε ἐν ἐμοί. Cf. the complementary statements with regard to creation in Joh 1:3 f. It is true that Christ is the Light that lighteth every man (Joh 1:9) and that the head of every man is Christ (1Co 11:3), and that the revelation to St Paul which transformed his whole Theology and made him the Apostle of the Gentiles was the vision of ‘Christ in you (Gentiles), the hope of glory’; yet the relationship remained unfruitful; it was as though it was not, until it was made known and accepted. To the Jews the door had been opened from the beginning of their national existence; they partook from the first of the root of the fatness of the olive; the Gentile was a branch of a wild olive needing to be grafted in (Rom 11:17); he was out of conscious connexion with the Root till then. This separation from the Christ implied in the second place separation from the historic People of God.

ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι. In Eph 4:18 (cf. Col 1:21) the alienation is from God. Here it is from fellowship with God’s People. Cf. Psalms 68(69):9 ἀπηλλοτριωμένος ἐγενήθην τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου καὶ ξένος τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς μητρός μου; Sir 11:24 (26). Nothing is said as to the responsibility for this estrangement. The fact is clear. Jew and Gentile had drifted far apart.

τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ. Cf. συμπολῖται (Eph 2:19); Act 23:1; Php 1:27; Php 3:20; Heb 8:11, &c. Religious life can only find its full expression in an organized society. This idea is implicit in one side of the conception of ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ or τῶν οὐρανῶν in the Gospels; cf. on Eph 5:5. In βασιλεία however the thought is primarily of the sovereignty of the head, in πολιτεία the stress is on the rights and responsibilities of the members of the community. Ἰσραήλ. The title describes the nation in the light of the Divine election.

ξένοι. Strangers as such were excluded from the covenants.

τῶν διαθηκῶν. Genit. of separation. For the plur. cf. Rom 9:4. In O.T. covenants are recorded with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Aaron, Phinehas and David, but plur. only in Sir 44:11; Sir 44:18; Sir 45:17; Wis 18:22. These covenants were a pledge of a present communion and an earnest of deeper blessings to come. τῆς ἐπ. Cf. Eph 1:13.

ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες κ.τ.λ. The third stage of their isolation is marked by spiritual exhaustion. Cf. 1Th 4:13. Μὴ, not οὐ, as describing not merely a fact of history but the characteristic of a class. ἐλπίδα. Anarthrous; not merely with no hold on the hope of Israel, but with hope itself dead. Cf. 1Pe 1:3 (Hort’s note).

ἄθεοι. Not ‘atheists’ in our popular use of the term, but as ‘out of touch with God,’ with no sense of His presence. So 1Th 4:5 = Jer 10:25 τὰ ἔθνη τὰ μὴ εἰδότα τὸν θεόν, and Gal 4:8. Cf. Orig. c. Cels. i:1, τῆς ἀθέου πολυθεότητος.

ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. This may (as in Eph 2:2; 1Pe 5:9; 2Pe 1:4; Joh 2:15) describe an environment in itself unfavourable to the service of God. The addition of the phrase would then heighten the impression of loneliness. On the other hand St Paul, as we know from Rom 1:20; Act 14:17; Act 17:24, felt that the world rightly understood was a constant revelation of the power and wisdom and love of God, so that the words may reflect on the blindness of those who lived without God though surrounded on all hands by the evidence of His works. See Hort on Jas 1:27.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12.] that ye were (the ὅτι takes up again the ὅτι in ver. 11, after the relative clause,—and the τῷ κ. ἐκείνῳ takes up the ποτέ there. It is not a broken construction, but only a repetition; ‘that, I say.…’) at that time (when ye were,—not τὰ ἔθνη ἐν σαρκί, which ye are now, and which is carefully divided from ποτέ above by ὑμεῖς,—but that which is implied in ποτέ,—heathens, before your conversion to Christ. On the dative of time without the preposition ἐν, see Kühner, vol. ii. § 569, and remarks on its difference from the genitive and accusative) without Christ (separate from, having no part in, the promised Messiah. That this is the sense, is evident from ver. 13: see below. The words χωρ. χρ. are not a defining clause to ἦτε ἀπηλ λοτρ., as Lachmann points them, and De W. and Eadie render: ‘that ye were, being without Christ, &c.’ The arrangement would thus be harsh and clumsy beyond all precedent) alienated from (οὐκ εἶπε, κεχωρισμένοι … πολλὴ τῶν ῥημάτων ἡ ἔμφασις, πολὺν δεικνῦσα τὸν χωρισμόν. ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἰσραηλῖται τῆς πολιτείας ἦσαν ἐκτός, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὡς ἀλλότριοι ἀλλʼ ὡς ῥᾴθυμοι, κ. τῶν διαθηκῶν ἐξέπεσον, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὡς ξένοι, ἀλλ ὡς ἀνάξιοι, Chr. Gentiles and Jews were once united in the hope of redemption—this was constituted, on the apostasy of the nations, into a definite πολιτεία for the Jews, from which and its blessings the Gentiles were alienated) the commonwealth (πολιτεία is both polity, state (objective),—τῶν τὴν πόλιν οἰκούντων τάξις τις, Aristot. Polit. iii. 1,—and right of citizenship, ref. Acts. The former appears best here, on account of ἀπηλλοτρ., which seems to require as its reference an objective external reality) of Israel (either as synonymous genitive, ‘that commonwealth which is designated by the term Israel,’ or possessive (as Ellic.) ‘that commonwealth which Israel possessed.’ I prefer the former, as more simple) and strangers from (so Soph. Œd. Tyr. 219, ἃʼγὼ ξένος μὲν τοῦ λόγου τοῦδʼ ἐξερῶ, ξένος δὲ τοῦ πραχθέντος. The genitive may be explained either 1) as one of the quality, as in μέλεος ἥβης, εὐδαίμων μοίρας,—or as 2) one of privation = negative of possession, ξένος being resolved into οὐ μέτοχος. This latter is perhaps the best. See Bernhardy, p. 171 ff.; Kühner, ii. 163) the covenants of the promise (τίνες ἦσαν αἱ δ. τ. ἐπ.; “Σοὶ κ. τῷ σπέρματί σου δώσω τ. γῆν ταύτην,” κ. ὅσα ἕτερα ἐπηγγείλατο, Chrys. See note on Rom 9:4. The meaning here, as there, has been mistaken (Calv. al.) to be ‘the two tables of the law.’ Cf. Wisd. 18:22; Sir. 44:11), not having (μή on account of the subjective colouring given to the whole sentence by μνημονεύετε. So in ἀπιστοῦντες αὐτὸν μὴ ἥξειν, Thuc. ii. 101: ὃ ἂν γνῶσι δυνάμενον μὲν χάριν ἀποδιδόναι, μὴ ἀποδιδόντα δέ, Xen. Cyr. i. 2. 7: ψυχὴν σκοπῶν φιλόσοφόν τε καὶ μή, Plato, Rep. p. 486 b. See Winer, § 55. 5; Kühner, ii. § 715. 3) hope (not ‘covenanted hope’ (τὴν ἐλπ.),—but ‘hope’ at all. The emphatic position of ἐλπίδα makes this the more necessary) and without God (this is the best rendering, as it leaves ἄθεος in its latitude of meaning. It may be taken either 1) actively, ‘denying God,’ ‘atheist,’ 2) in a neuter sense (see Ellic.)—‘ignorant of God’ (ἔρημοι θεογνωσίας, Thdrt.: see Gal 4:8; 1Th 4:5, where the Gentiles are described as οὐκ εἰδότες τ. θεόν), or 3) passively, ‘forsaken of God’ (so Soph. Œd. Tyr. 661, ἐπεὶ ἄθεος ἄφιλος ὅ τι πύματον ὀλοίμαν: ib. 254, τῆσδέ τε γῆς, ὧδʼ ἀκάρπως κἀθέως ἐφθαρμένης). This latter meaning is best here, on account of the passive character of the other descriptive clauses) in the world (contrast to the πολιτεία τοῦ Ἰσρ. “He subjoins to the godless ‘How,’ the godless ‘Where,’ ” Mey. Olsh. understands, ‘in this wicked world, in which we have so much need of divine guidance,’ which is hardly in the simple words: Rück., ‘in God’s world,’ contrast to ἄθεοι. These words must not be separated, as some, from ἄθεοι).

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. ὅτι ἦτε τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ χωρὶς χριστοῦ. Rec. has ἐν before τῷ καιρῷ. It is omitted by א A B D G.

ὅτι resumes the former ὅτι. “Remember, I say, that.”

χωρίς χριστοῦ is taken by De Wette and Bleek as, not a predicate, but a circumstantial addition, “being at that time without Christ.” It would thus correspond with ἐν Χριστῷ, ver. 13, and would give the reason of their alienation from the commonwealth of Israel. But, considering the position of the words, this is a harsh construction, and would deprive the words of the emphasis which belongs to them as the opposite of the frequent ἐν Χρ. in this Epistle. χωρὶς Χρ. is, as Meyer says, the first tragic predicate. χωρίς is distinguished from ἄνευ by Tittmann as follows: “χωρίς ad subjectum quod ab objecto sejunctum est refertur, ἄνευ ad objectum quod a subjecto abesse cogitandum est.” According to this, χωρίς Χρ. would mean “ye were far from Christ”; ἄνευ Χρ. would be “Christ was not with you.” But this must be received with hesitation, seeing that χωρίς occurs in the N.T. forty times, and ἄνευ only thrice (Ellicott), viz. Mat 10:29; 1Pe 3:1, 1Pe 4:9. In the last quoted passage ἄνευ γογγυσμοῦ is equivalent to χωρὶς γογγυσμῶν, Php 2:14.

Schwegler sees here a concession to Judaism which is unlike St. Paul; but without reason, since the concession only relates to pre-Christian times, and the advantage possessed by the Jews in this respect is, as it must be, fully admitted by St. Paul (Rom 3:1 ff.).

What is meant by χωρὶς Χριστοῦ is explained in the following words:—

ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. The verb ἀπαλλοτριόω occurs also in 4:18, ἀπ. τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ, and Col 1:21, without a genitive. In Eze 14:5, Eze 14:7 we have ἀπ. ἀπʼ ἐμοῦ; in 3 Macc. 1:4, τῶν πατρίων δογμάτων. The active verb occurs in Eccles. 11:34, ἀπ. σε τῶν ἰδίων σου.

The verb always means to estrange; here therefore “estranged from” as opposed to “being at home in.”

πολιτεία was interpreted by the ancients in the sense “manner of life,” “conversatio,” Vulg., a meaning which the word frequently has in Christian writers, and not in these alone; see Athen. 1. p. 19 A. But to take it so here would be contrary to ver. 19, where the opposite of ἀπ. κ.τ.λ. is συμπολῖται. It may mean either citizenship, or state, commonwealth. Many commentators have taken it in the former sense. It is questionable whether it could be so used with a genitive of the nation or city. Nor does the verb ἀπηλλ. suggest such a meaning. Besides, the Greek and Roman conception of citizenship would not be appropriate here, and further, we should have to explain the exclusion from citizenship as arising from exclusion from the commonwealth. Naturally it is the theocratic constitution from which they were excluded; and the name Israel implies this, since this was the name of the people in their theocratic relation. Yet Chrysostom refers the words to the exclusion of the Gentiles from the temporal glories of Israel, εἷπε περὶ τῶν οὐρανίων πραγμάτων, λέγει καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐπειδὴ μεγάλην δόξαν εἶχον περὶ αὐτῶν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, in which he was followed by some moderns (as by Grotius). As if any Roman citizen or subject could regard as a misfortune the exclusion from a State which was an object of contempt!

Many commentators suppose that ἀπηλλ. implies a previous unity. Thus Bengel: “Abalienati, non alieni; participia praesupponunt gentes ante defectionem suam a fide patrum into potius ante lapsum Adami fuisse participes lucis et vitae.” However attractive this view may be in itself, the conception is too new and important to be introduced here on so slight a ground. If it had been in the apostle’s mind, he would doubtless have referred to it more explicitly in some part of his writings. It is not hinted at in ver. 14, where we might have expected “again made” or the like. For an instance of the verb being used without reference to a previous state, see Psa_57(58):3, ἀπηλλοτριώθησαν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀπὸ μήτρας. Olshausen’s view is that the exclusion referred to is that which resulted from God’s restriction of His peculiar operations of grace to Israel. As far as alienation from God is referred to, however, it is true that men are regarded as originally, and from an ideal point of view, at one with God.

καὶ ξένοι τῶν διαθηκῶν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. A further specification of what is meant by the preceding clause. ξένος is followed by a genitive, not of “the point of view” (“extraneos quod ad pactorum promissiones attinet,” Beza), but simply of separation or privation. So Soph. Oed. R. 219, ξένος λόγου τοῦδʼ ἐξερῶ, ξένος δὲ τοῦ πραχθέντος. Plato, Apol. 1., ξέως (ἔχειν) τῆς ἔνθαδε λεξεως.

“The covenants of the promise.” ἐπαγγ. is connected with διαθηκῶν, not with ἐλπίδα, as the position of the word shows. The covenants were characterised by the promise of the Messiah (cf. Act 13:32). The plural is used with reference to the covenants with the patriarchs, but the Mosaic covenant is not excluded, although it was primarily νομοθεσία.

ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες. The absence of the article shows that it is not the definite hope of the Messiah that is meant, but hope in the widest sense, so that the expression is so much the stronger, “having no hope.” μή is used, not because the thought is dependent on what precedes, but because it is their own consciousness that is referred to. οὐκ ἔχοντες would express only the writer’s judgment of their state. Cf. οὐκ εἰδότες Θεόν, Gal 4:8.

καὶ ἄθεοι. “The deepest stage of heathen misery,” Meyer. The word ἄθεος is not found in the Sept. or Apocrypha, and only here in the N.T. In Greek writers it occurs in three senses, “not believing in God, atheist” (Plato, Apol. p. 26 C). Secondly, “impious, godless” (Plato, Legg. p. 966 E), or “without God, without God’s help,” Soph. Oed. R., ἐπεὶ ἄθεος ἄφιλος ὅ τι πύματον ὀλοίμαν. To understand it here as “forsaken by God” would be to introduce a conception not warranted by the expressions in the text. They were truly “without God,” as not knowing Him. Notwithstanding their many gods, they had no conception of a Creator and Governor to be loved and trusted. So far as their consciousness was concerned, they had no God. But God had not left Himself without a witness amongst them. The description is general, of the class to which the readers belonged. This was not the occasion for referring to the noble exceptions to the moral degradation of heathenism. It was, indeed, in Asia Minor that this degradation was lowest, so that the Romans traced to it the corruption which spread to the whole empire.

ἐν τῷ κοσμῷ, to be joined both with ἐλπίδα μὴ ἔχ. and with ἄθεοι, “in the world,” with all its troubles, trials, and uncertainties, ye were without Divine help; generally understood as contrasted with πολιτεία.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Being aliens [απηλλοτριωμενοι] . Rev., better, giving the force of the verb, alienated. As they had once been otherwise. Paul speaks ideally of a spiritual commonwealth in which Jew and Gentile were together at peace with God, and of which the commonwealth of Israel is a type.

Israel. Selecting the most honorable title to describe the Jew. See on Act 3:12. The reference is to the spiritual rather than to the national distinction. In being separated from Christ, they were separated from that commonwealth in which, according to the promise, Christ would have been to them, as to the faithful Israelites, the object of their faith and the ground of their salvation.

Covenants. The several renewals of God 's covenant with the patriarchs.

Of promise [της επαγγελιας] . Better, the promise. The messianic promise, which was the basis of all the covenants.

Without God [αθεοι] . God - forsaken. It might also mean godless or impious. The gentile gods were no gods.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.