Ephesians 2:19-22

2:19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 2:20 because you have been built ¹  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ²  with Christ Jesus himself as ³  the cornerstone. ⁴  2:21 In him ⁵  the whole building, ⁶  being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 2:22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ⁷  dead ⁸  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 3:15

3:15 from ⁹  whom every family ¹⁰  in heaven and on the earth is named.

Hebrews 3:6

3:6 But Christ ¹¹  is faithful as a son over God’s ¹²  house. We are of his house, ¹³  if in fact we hold firmly ¹⁴  to our confidence and the hope we take pride in. ¹⁵ 

Hebrews 3:1

Jesus and Moses

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, ¹⁶  partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, ¹⁷ 

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ¹⁸  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

[2:20]  ¹ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ² sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ³ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ⁴ tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[2:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “in whom” (v. 21 is a relative clause, subordinate to v. 20).

[2:21]  ⁶ tc Although several important witnesses (א¹ A C P 6 81 326 1739^c 1881) have πᾶσα ἡ οἰκοδομή (pasa Jh oikodomh), instead of πᾶσα οἰκοδομή (the reading of א* B D F G Ψ 33 1739* Ï), the article is almost surely a scribal addition intended to clarify the meaning of the text, for with the article the meaning is unambiguously “the whole building.”

[2:1]  ⁷ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁸ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Or “by.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the whole family.”

[3:6]  ¹¹ sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.

[3:6]  ¹² tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:6]  ¹³ tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.

[3:6]  ¹⁴ tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mecri telou" bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.

[3:6]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”

[3:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 2:11.

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “of our confession.”

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “let us fear.”