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Ephesians 2:15 YLT

the enmity in his flesh, the law of the commands in ordinances having done away, that the two he might create in himself into one new man, making peace,

Ephesians 2:15 KJV

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Ephesians 2:15 ESV

by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,

Ephesians 2:15 NIV

by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,

Which is the best translation of the text?

collen ndhlovu
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  • Reading an interlinear would be helpful. Those translation convey the same meaning. Text says enmity is broken, and the law is abolished. I don't know why NASB AND KJV are confusing here. Also the words of verse 15 are shifted to 14 in some versions for clarification. So you need to quote both verses if you're comparing properly. ESV seems better. – Michael16 Feb 15 '22 at 07:53

2 Answers2

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The word translated “abolished” [KJV/ESV] or “enmity” [YLT] is a very strong word. The Greek word translated “abolished” here is “KATARGEO,” and it means “to be (render) entirely idle (useless)” (Strong’s Concordance). The American Heritage Dictionary defines “abolish” as “to do away with; annul.” Paul was saying that the Old Testament Law, which made a division between Jew and Gentile, was entirely useless in relating to God now (Romans 3:19).

As to which rendering or translation is best? … this would or could be debatable. It needs to convey, without doubt, the removal of the Law as a barrier.

Some people proclaim that only the ceremonial parts of the Law, such as feast days, dietary laws, etc., were done away with, but that is not so. James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The O.T. Law had many ordinances, but combined they made one Law. Failure to comply with any one point of the Law was failure to comply with all of the Law. Likewise, doing away with any one point of the Law was doing away with all of the Law.

Of course, it must be understood that the O.T. Law still has a purpose. The purpose of the Law always was and continues to be showing us our sin and leading us to a Savior (Romans 3:19). When used for this purpose, the Law is good (Romans 3:31). To use the Law as a standard by which we can make ourselves worthy to receive from God is wrong.

The Law did provide justification for one man–Jesus. He kept every detail of the Law and was justified by His actions. But having obtained justification for us through the Law, He abolished that function of the Law forever and now offers justification with God on the basis of faith in His grace (Ephesians 2:8).

Dave
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  • Enmity in YLT is the word for hostility in ESV. Not the same word katargeo. For katargeo done away is used in YLT. – Michael16 Feb 20 '22 at 04:50
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To make an educated guess we need to know the context

Context:

Ephesians 2:14

For he is our peace who made the two one, and he destroyed the wall that was standing in the middle.

So we can ask what was standing in the middle ? Our options:

  1. the enmity in his flesh
  2. law/commands/regulations

We can clearly see the option 1 does not make any sense with the context and the option 2 makes perfect sense

And if you read the previous verses you will know what were the two thing he made one

Ephesians 2:11-12

Because of this, be mindful that you Gentiles from the first were of the flesh, and that you were called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision and is a work of the hands in the flesh. 12 And you were at that time without The Messiah, and you were aliens from the government of Israel and strangers to The Covenant of The Promise and you were without hope and without God in the world.

The two things are gentiles not having the law given to Moses and gentiles being from flesh, meaning they are not included in the Covenant with Abraham. And to have the Covenant gentiles needed to break the barrier of being included in the Covenant and having the Law to full fill the Covenant. Its like knowing the door and having the key , you need both; and gentiles lacked both.

How did Jesus open the door for Gentiles?

Ephesians 2:15

And he has cancelled the hatred by his flesh and the law of commands in his commandments, that for the two, he would create in his Person one new man, and he has made peace.

So he made the gentiles eligible for the Covenant by his sacrifice and nullified the laws by reforming it with his commandment he gave in the Gospel. Hence the gentiles are able to receive the Covenant because the barrier is gone .

Note: I used The Peshitta Bible(Aramaic to Plain English Version) as it translates from Aramaic and its very fluid/natural ,names are original, cultural affinity and not as rigid as the KJV which has more of English cultural bias

cpt.John
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