
Text -- Ephesians 2:11 (NET)




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collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)
Robertson: Eph 2:11 - -- Wherefore ( dio ).
This conjunction applies to the Gentile Christians the arguments in Eph 2:1-10.
Wherefore (
This conjunction applies to the Gentile Christians the arguments in Eph 2:1-10.

Robertson: Eph 2:11 - -- That aforetime ye ( hoti pote humeis ).
No verb is expressed, but in Eph 2:12 Paul repeats hoti en tōi kairōi ekeinōi (for pote ) "that at t...
That aforetime ye (
No verb is expressed, but in Eph 2:12 Paul repeats

Robertson: Eph 2:11 - -- Uncircumcision ( akrobustia )
, circumcision (peritomēs ). The abstract words are used to describe Gentiles and Jews as in Gal 5:6; Rom 2:27.
Vincent: Eph 2:11 - -- Uncircumcision - circumcision
Abstract for concrete terms, the uncircumcised and circumcised.
Uncircumcision - circumcision
Abstract for concrete terms, the uncircumcised and circumcised.

Which is called
Notice the irony, giving back the called of the circumcised.
Such a remembrance strengthens faith, and increases gratitude.

Neither circumcised in body nor in spirit.

Wesley: Eph 2:11 - -- By those who call themselves the circumcised, and think this a proof that they are the people of God; and who indeed have that outward circumcision wh...
By those who call themselves the circumcised, and think this a proof that they are the people of God; and who indeed have that outward circumcision which is performed by hands in the flesh.
JFB: Eph 2:11 - -- The Greek order in the oldest manuscripts is, "That in time past (literally, once) ye," &c. Such remembrance sharpens gratitude and strengthens faith ...
The Greek order in the oldest manuscripts is, "That in time past (literally, once) ye," &c. Such remembrance sharpens gratitude and strengthens faith (Eph 2:19) [BENGEL].

That is, Gentiles in respect to circumcision.

JFB: Eph 2:11 - -- The Gentiles were called (in contempt), and were, the Uncircumcision; the Jews were called, but were not truly, the Circumcision [ELLICOTT].
The Gentiles were called (in contempt), and were, the Uncircumcision; the Jews were called, but were not truly, the Circumcision [ELLICOTT].

JFB: Eph 2:11 - -- As opposed to the true "circumcision of the heart in the Spirit, and not the letter" (Rom 2:29), "made without the hands in putting off the body of th...
Clarke -> Eph 2:11
Clarke: Eph 2:11 - -- Wherefore remember - That ye may ever see and feel your obligations to live a pure and holy life, and be unfeignedly thankful to God for your salvat...
Wherefore remember - That ye may ever see and feel your obligations to live a pure and holy life, and be unfeignedly thankful to God for your salvation, remember that ye were once heathens in the flesh - without the pure doctrine, and under the influence of your corrupt nature; such as by the Jew’ s (who gloried, in consequence of their circumcision, to be in covenant with God) were called uncircumcision; i.e. persons out of the Divine covenant, and having no right or title to any blessing of God.
Calvin -> Eph 2:11
Calvin: Eph 2:11 - -- 11.Wherefore remember The apostle never once loses sight of his subject, marks it out clearly, and pursues it with increasing earnestness. He again e...
11.Wherefore remember The apostle never once loses sight of his subject, marks it out clearly, and pursues it with increasing earnestness. He again exhorts the Ephesians to remember what their character had been before they were called. This consideration was fitted to convince them that they had no reason to be proud. He afterwards points out the method of reconciliation, that they might rest with perfect satisfaction on Christ alone, and not imagine that other aids were necessary. The first clause may be thus summed up: “Remember that, when ye were uncircumcised, ye were aliens from Christ, from the hope of salvation, and from the Church and kingdom of God; so that ye had no friendly intercourse with God.” The second may run thus: “But now ingrafted into Christ, ye are at the same time reconciled to God.” What is implied in both parts of the description, and what effect the remembrance of it was fitted to produce on their minds, has been already considered.
Gentiles in the flesh. He first mentions that they had wanted the marks of God’s people. Circumcision was a token by which the people of God were marked out and distinguished from other men: Uncircumcision was the mark of a profane person. Since, therefore, God usually connects his grace with the sacraments, their want of the sacraments is taken as an evidence that neither were they partakers of his grace. The argument, indeed, does not hold universally, though it does hold as to God’s ordinary dispensations. Hence we find the following language:
“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man.”
(Gen 3:22)
Though he had devoured the whole tree, he would not, by merely eating it, have recovered the possession of life; but, by taking away the sign, the Lord took from him also life itself. Uncircumcision is thus held out to the Ephesians as a mark of pollution. By taking from the Ephesians the token of sanctification, he deprives them also of the thing signified.
Some are of opinion, that all these observations are intended to throw contempt on outward circumcision; but this is a mistake. At the same time, I acknowledge, that the qualifying clause, the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands, points out a twofold circumcision. The Jews were thus taught that they should no longer indulge in foolish boasting about the literal circumcision. The Ephesians, on the other hand, were instructed to abstain from all scruples on their own account, since the most important privilege—nay, the whole truth expressed by the outward sign—was in their possession. He calls it, Uncircumcision in the flesh, because they bore the mark of their pollution; but, at the same time, he suggests that their uncircumcision was no hinderance to their being spiritually circumcised by Christ.
The words may likewise be read in one clause, Circumcision in the flesh made by hands, or in two clauses: Circumcision in the flesh, meaning that it was carnal; made by hands, meaning that it was done by the hand of man. This kind of circumcision is contrasted with that of the Spirit, or of the heart, (Rom 2:29,) which is also called the circumcision of Christ. (Col 2:11)
===By that which is called. === Circumcision may be viewed here either as a collective noun for the Jews themselves, or literally for the thing itself; and then the meaning would be, that the Gentiles were called Uncircumcision, because they wanted the sacred symbol, that is, by way of distinction. This latter sense is countenanced by the qualifying phrase; but the substance of the argument is little affected.
TSK -> Eph 2:11
TSK: Eph 2:11 - -- remember : Eph 5:8; Deu 5:15, Deu 8:2, Deu 9:7, Deu 15:15, Deu 16:12; Isa 51:1, Isa 51:2; Eze 16:61-63, Eze 20:43; Eze 36:31; 1Co 6:11, 1Co 12:2; Gal ...
remember : Eph 5:8; Deu 5:15, Deu 8:2, Deu 9:7, Deu 15:15, Deu 16:12; Isa 51:1, Isa 51:2; Eze 16:61-63, Eze 20:43; Eze 36:31; 1Co 6:11, 1Co 12:2; Gal 4:8, Gal 4:9
Gentiles : Rom 2:29; Gal 2:15, Gal 6:12; Col 1:21, Col 2:13
Uncircumcision : 1Sa 17:26, 1Sa 17:36; Jer 9:25, Jer 9:26; Phi 3:3; Col 3:11
made : Col 2:11

collapse allCommentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)
Barnes -> Eph 2:11
Barnes: Eph 2:11 - -- Wherefore remember - The design of this evidently is, to excite a sense of gratitude in their bosoms for that mercy which had called them from ...
Wherefore remember - The design of this evidently is, to excite a sense of gratitude in their bosoms for that mercy which had called them from the errors and sins of their former lives, to the privileges of Christians. It is a good thing for Christians to "remember"what they were. No faculty of the mind can be better employed to produce humility, penitence, gratitude, and love, than the memory. It is well to recall the recollection of our former sins; to dwell upon our hardness of heart, our alienation, and our unbelief; and to remember our wanderings and our guilt, until the heart be affected, and we are made to feel. The converted Ephesians had much guilt to recollect and to mourn over in their former life; and so have all who are converted to the Christian faith.
That ye being in time past - Formerly - (
Gentiles in the flesh - You were Gentiles "in the flesh,"i. e., under the dominion of the flesh, subject to the control of carnal appetites and pleasures.
Who are called Uncircumcision - That is, who are called "the uncircumcised."This was a term similar to that which we use when we speak of "the unbaptized."It meant that they were without the pale of the people of God; that they enjoyed none of the ordinances and privileges of the true religion; and was commonly a term of reproach; compare Jdg 14:3; Jdg 15:18; 1Sa 14:6; 1Sa 17:26; 1Sa 31:4; Eze 31:18.
By that which is called the Circumcision - By those who are circumcised, i. e., by the Jews.
In the flesh made by hands - In contradistinction from the circumcision of the heart; see the notes at Rom 2:28-29. They had externally adopted the rites of the true religion, though it did not follow that they had the circumcision of the heart, or that they were the true children of God.
Poole -> Eph 2:11
Poole: Eph 2:11 - -- In the flesh either:
1. Carnal, unregenerate, as Rom 8:8,9 . Or rather:
2. Uncircumcised in the flesh, as well as in heart, Eze 44:7 ; such as neit...
In the flesh either:
1. Carnal, unregenerate, as Rom 8:8,9 . Or rather:
2. Uncircumcised in the flesh, as well as in heart, Eze 44:7 ; such as neither had the grace signified, nor the sign representing it.
Who are called Uncircumcision by way of reproach; to be uncircumcised being the badge of them that were not Israelites, and so were not in the number of God’ s people.
By that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands i.e. by those that are circumcised; the abstract here, as in the former clause, being put for the concrete. He means the carnal Jews, who had the circumcision of the flesh which was made with hands, but not that of the heart, Rom 2:29 , made without hands, Col 2:11 .
Haydock -> Eph 2:11-12
Haydock: Eph 2:11-12 - -- Be mindful that as for you, who are Gentiles, who were called an uncircumcised people by the circumcised Jews, that you were without Christ, with...
Be mindful that as for you, who are Gentiles, who were called an uncircumcised people by the circumcised Jews, that you were without Christ, without the hopes or expectation of the Messias, alienated from the conversation of those who were God's elect people, and from the promises particularly made to them, that the Messias should be of their race: without God in this world, i.e. without the knowledge and the worship of God. But now by Christ, by believing in him, you who seemed to be far off, are made near by his blood, (ver. 13) by him who died for all; for he hath brought peace to all men, breaking down by his incarnation and death that wall of partition, that enmity betwixt the Jews and Gentiles, making them but one; abolishing that former law, of so many ordinances, [1] precepts, and ceremonies, by decrees, (which may signify by his divine decrees; or rather, as St. Jerome expounds it by the Greek, abolishing the old law and its precepts by the precepts and doctrine of the new law) that he might reconcile to God both the Jews and Gentiles, that now they might be one mystical body, to wit, the Church of Christ, of which he is the head. Remember then that you are no longer strangers and foreigners, as you wer when the Jews were the only elect people of God: now, by faith and hope, you are fellow-citizens with the saints and with all the elect people of God: you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, (ver. 20) who, by their prophecies concerning the Messias, and by their teaching and preaching of the gospel, are as it were subordinate foundation-stones under Christ, the chief founder and the chief corner-stone of his Church; in whom you also (Christians, at Ephesus, and all the faithful) are built up together, (ver. 22) as parts of a spiritual edifice or temple, where God inhabits. (Witham)
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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]
Legem mandatorum decretis evacuans, Greek: ton nomon ton entolon dogmasi (dogmatibus) katargesas; i.e. says St. Jerome, (p. 344) præcepta legalia Evangelicis dogmatibus commutavit. See St. John Chrysostom, p. 879. Lat. edit. in Savil. p. 787.
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Gill -> Eph 2:11
Gill: Eph 2:11 - -- Wherefore remember, that ye be in time past Gentiles in the flesh,.... This, with what follows in the next verse, the apostle puts the converted Ephes...
Wherefore remember, that ye be in time past Gentiles in the flesh,.... This, with what follows in the next verse, the apostle puts the converted Ephesians in mind of, in order to magnify the grace of God in their conversion; and to humble them in a view of their former state and condition; and to teach them that they could never be saved by any works of theirs: particularly he would have them call to mind, that they were in "time past Gentiles"; which does not so much regard the nation and country they were of, for in that sense they were Gentiles still; but their state and condition; they had been very blind and ignorant, were Gentiles that knew not God; they had been very wicked and profligate sinners of the Gentiles; and they had been "Gentiles in the flesh": not according to the flesh, or by birth, for so they were then; but in the time of their unregeneracy they were carnal, and minded the things of the flesh, walked after it, and fulfilled the lusts, and did the works of it; particular respect seems to be had to their uncircumcision in the flesh, to which circumcision in the flesh is opposed in the next clause:
who are called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands; that is, they were by way of reproach and contempt called uncircumcised persons; than whom none were more abominable to the Jews, and hated by them, who were called circumcised persons from that circumcision which is outward, in the flesh, in a particular part of the body; and which is done by the hands of a man, who was called

expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

expand allCommentary -- Verse Range Notes
TSK Synopsis -> Eph 2:1-22
TSK Synopsis: Eph 2:1-22 - --1 By comparing what we were by nature, with what we are by grace,10 he declares that we are made for good works: and being brought near by Christ, sh...
Combined Bible -> Eph 2:11
Combined Bible: Eph 2:11 - --former state
(2:11) Those believers in Ephesus were primarily Gentiles. Though they are now joined to Christ, they had ne...
MHCC -> Eph 2:11-13
MHCC: Eph 2:11-13 - --Christ and his covenant are the foundation of all the Christian's hopes. A sad and terrible description is here; but who is able to remove himself out...
Matthew Henry -> Eph 2:11-13
Matthew Henry: Eph 2:11-13 - -- In these verses the apostle proceeds in his account of the miserable condition of these Ephesians by nature. Wherefore remember, etc., Eph 2:11. A...
Barclay -> Eph 2:11-12; Eph 2:11-12
Barclay: Eph 2:11-12 - --Paul speaks of the condition of the Gentiles before Christ came. Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, but he never forgot the unique place of the J...

Barclay: Eph 2:11-12 - --(iii) The Gentiles were aliens from the society of Israel. What does that mean) The name for the people of Israel was ho hagios laos (2992), the hol...
Constable: Eph 1:3--4:1 - --II. THE CHRISTIAN'S CALLING 1:3--3:21
". . . the first three chapters are one long prayer, culminating in the gr...

Constable: Eph 1:3--2:11 - --A. Individual calling 1:3-2:10
Paul began the body of his letter by revealing the spiritual blessings th...

Constable: Eph 2:11--3:20 - --B. Corporate calling 2:11-3:19
New spiritual life does not just mean that we have experienced regenerati...

Constable: Eph 2:11-22 - --1. Present ministry 2:11-22
The apostle first stated the reality of the union of all believers i...
