Ephesians 2:16

and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The author addresses Gentile and Jewish believers in Ephesus, explaining how Christ’s work unites them after abolishing the dividing law.

The words — ἀποκαταλλάξῃ (apokatallaxē) means “He may reconcile,” and σώματι (sōmati) means “body,” specifying the mechanism and form of this union.

The thread — The same reconciliation motif runs through Colossians 1:20, Romans 5:10, and 2 Corinthians 5:18, where Christ’s death or ministry restores broken relations with God.

Why it lands — The text states that hostility is ended and two groups become one body through the cross, requiring the reader to abandon ethnic or religious division and accept the finished work of Christ as the sole basis for unity.

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

καὶkaiand ἀποκαταλλάξῃapokatallaxēHe may reconcile τοὺςtous<the>ἀμφοτέρουςamphoterousboth ἐνenin ἑνὶhenione σώματιsōmatibody τῷtō<the>θεῷtheōto God διὰdiathrough τοῦtouthe σταυροῦstauroucross ἀποκτείναςapokteinashaving slain τὴνtēnthe ἔχθρανechthranhostility ἐνenby αὐτῷ·autōit;

King James Version

And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Cross-references

Colossians 1:20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life!
2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
Colossians 2:14 having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
1 Peter 4:1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin.
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh,
Romans 8:7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
Ephesians 2:15 by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace