Bible Strands
Ephesians 2:12
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses Gentile believers in Ephesus, calling them to recall their pre-conversion status outside the covenant community. This sits between the identification of their former alienation (v. 11) and the declaration that they have now been brought near (v. 13).
The words — χωρὶς (chōris) means "apart from" or "separate from," carrying a sense of structural separation rather than mere distance. καιρός (kairōs) marks not just "time" but a specific, bounded season — the era before Christ's work.
The thread — Colossians 1:21 echoes the alienation and hostility; Galatians 4:8 names the slavery to false gods; 1 Peter 1:3 sets "living hope" directly against the "without hope" of this verse.
Why it lands — The verse demands the reader own a former state that was not merely a feeling but an actual condition of separation from God and His promises. It refuses to let that past be softened or forgotten, because the "now" of verse 13 only has weight against this "then."
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
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:
Cross-references
- Galatians 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
- Colossians 1:21 Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds, engaging in evil deeds.
- 1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
- Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
- Ephesians 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Brothers, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope.
- Ezekiel 37:26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary among them forever.
- John 15:5 I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.
- Hebrews 6:18 Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
- Genesis 17:7 I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.