SEV Biblia, Chapter 2:14
¶ Porque l es nuestra paz, que de ambos hizo uno, deshaciendo la pared intermedia de separacin;
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Ephesians 2:14
Verse 14. For he is our peace] Jesus Christ has died for both Jews and Gentiles, and has become a peace-offering, wl shalom, to reconcile both to God and to each other. Who hath made both one] Formed one Church out of the believers of both people.
The middle wall of partition] By abolishing the law of Jewish ordinances, he has removed that which kept the two parties, not only in a state of separation, but also at variance.
This expression, the middle wall, can refer only to that most marked distinction which the Jewish laws and customs made between them and all other nations whatsoever.
Some think it refers to their ancient manner of living among the Gentiles, as they always endeavoured to live in some place by themselves, and to have a river or a wall between them and their heathen neighbours. Indeed, wherever they went, their own rites, ordinances, and customs were a sufficient separation between them and others; and as Jesus Christ abolished those customs, admitting all into his Church, both Jews and Gentiles, by repentance and faith, he may be said to have broken down the middle wall of partition. When, at the death of Christ, the veil of the temple was rent from the top to the bottom, it was an emblem that the way to the holiest was laid open, and that the people at large, both Jews and Gentiles, were to have access to the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
Some think there is an allusion here to the wall called chel, which separated the court of Israel from the court of the Gentiles; but this was not broken down till the temple itself was destroyed: and to this transaction the apostle cannot be supposed to allude, as it did not take place till long after the writing of this epistle.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. For he is our peace , &c.] The author of peace between Jew and Gentile: there was a great enmity of the Jew against the Gentile, and of the Gentile against the Jew; and chiefly on account of circumcision, the one being without it, and the other insisting on it, and branding one another with nicknames on account of it; but Christ has made peace between them by abrogating the ceremonial law, which was the occasion of the difference, and by sending the Gospel of peace to them both, by converting some of each, and by granting the like privileges to them all, as may be observed in the following verses: and Christ is the author of peace between God and his people; there is naturally in man an enmity to God; sin has separated chief friends; nor can man make his peace with God; what he does, or can do, will not do it; and what will, he cannot do; Christ is the only fit and proper person for this work, being a middle person between both, and is only able to effect it, being God as well as man; and so could draw nigh to God, and treat with him about terms of peace, and agree to them, and perform them; and which he has brought about by his blood, his sufferings and death; and which is made on honourable terms, by a full satisfaction to the law and justice of God; and so is a lasting one, and attended with a train of blessings: moreover, Christ is the donor of peace, of external peace in his churches, and of internal peace of conscience, and of eternal peace in heaven: this is one of the names of the Messiah with the Jews f26 ; says R. Jose the Galilean, even the name of the Messiah is called wl , peace; as it is said, ( Isaiah 9:6) the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace; (see Micah 5:5) where it is said, and this man shall be the peace; which the Jewish writers understand of the Messiah: who hath made both one ; Jews and Gentiles, one people, one body, one church; he united them together, and caused them to agree in one, and made them to be of one mind and judgment by the above methods; as well as he gathered them together in one, in one head, himself, who represented them all: and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; the ceremonial law, which was made up of many hard and intolerable commands, and distinguished, and divided, and kept up a division between Jews and Gentiles: so the Jews call the law a wall, if she be a wall, ( Song of Solomon 8:9) hrwt wz , this is the law, say they f28 : and hence we read of hrwth tmwj , the wall of the law f29 ; and sometimes the phrase, a partition wall, is used for a division or disagreement; so R.
Benjamin says f30 , that between the Karaites and Rabbanites, who were the disciples of the wise men, there was hxyjm , a middle wall of partition; a great difference and distance; and such there was between the Jew and Gentile, by reason of the ceremonial law; but Christ removed it, and made up the difference: the allusion seems to be to the wall which divided the court of Israel from the court of the Gentiles, in the temple, and which kept them at a distance in worship.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 14-18 - Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice of himself; in every sens Christ was their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at peace with God, and of their union with the Jewish believer in one church. Through the person, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ sinners are allowed to draw near to God as a Father, and are brough with acceptance into his presence, with their worship and services under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as one with the Father and the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to come to God; and the Spirit give a heart to come, and strength to come, and then grace to serve God acceptably.
Greek Textus Receptus
αυτος 846 γαρ 1063 εστιν 2076 5748 η 3588 ειρηνη 1515 ημων 2257 ο 3588 ποιησας 4160 5660 τα 3588 αμφοτερα 297 εν 1520 και 2532 το 3588 μεσοτοιχον 3320 του 3588 φραγμου 5418 λυσας 3089 5660
Vincent's NT Word Studies
14. Our peace (h eirhnh hmwn). Christ is similarly described in abstract terms in 1 Cor. i. 30; wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. So Col. i. 27, hope of glory. Christ is thus not merely our peace-maker, but our very peace itself.
Both (ta amfotera). Lit., the both. The neuter gender shows that Jews and Gentiles are conceived by the writer merely as two facts. The masculine is used in vers. 15, 16.
Hath broken down (lusav). Lit, loosened or dissolved. Rev., giving the force of the aorist tense, brake down. The participle has an explanatory force, in that He brake down.
The middle-wall of partition (to mesotoicon tou fragmou). Lit., the middle wall of the fence or hedge. The wall which pertained to the fence; the fact of separation being emphasized in wall, and the instrument of separation in fence. The hedge was the whole Mosaic economy which separated Jew from Gentile. Some suppose a reference to the stone screen which bounded the court of the Gentiles in the temple.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
2:14 {For he is our peace} (autos gar estin he eirene hemwn). He himself, not just what he did (necessary as that was and is). He is our peace with God and so with each other (Jews and Gentiles). {Both one} (ta amfotera hen). "The both" (Jew and Gentile). Jesus had said "other sheep I have which are not of this fold" (#Joh 10:16). {One} (hen) is neuter singular (oneness, unity, identity) as in #Ga 3:28. Race and national distinctions vanish in Christ. If all men were really in Christ, war would disappear. {Brake down the middle wall of partition} (to mesotoicon tou fragmou lusas). "Having loosened (first aorist active participle of luw, see #Joh 2:19) the middle-wall (late word, only here in N.T., and very rare anywhere, one in papyri, and one inscription) of partition (fragmou, old word, fence, from frassw, to fence or hedge, as in #Mt 21:33)." In the temple courts a partition wall divided the court of the Gentiles from the court of Israel with an inscription forbidding a Gentile from going further (Josephus, _Ant_. VIII. 3, 2). See the uproar when Paul was accused of taking Trophimus beyond this wall (#Ac 21:28).
