α.  And you [direct object...]†, while being dead in trespasses and sins — (2:1)

β.  in which sins previously ye walked according to the course of this age, 

according to the prince of the authority of the air, 

Α.                      χ.  the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience, (2:2)

ο.  among which sons also we all had our conversation previously  

ω.  in the desires of our flesh, fulfilling the impulses of the flesh and of the understanding; 

 and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others — (2:3)

God [...subject...]† nevertheless,

α.  who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (2:4)

(even when we were dead in sins,) 

β.  hath quickened together [...verb]†

with the Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (2:5)

Β.                                χ.  and hath raised you up together,  

ο.  and made you sit together in heavenly places

in Christ Jesus: (2:6)

 that in the ages to come

ω.  he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us

 through Christ Jesus. (2:7)

α.  For by grace are ye saved through faithfulness; 

and that not of yourselves: 

β.       it is the gift of God: (2:8)

not of works, 

Ξ.                                ξ.  lest any man should boast. (2:9)

ο.  For we are his making, 

 created in Christ Jesus 

ω.       unto good works, 

 which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (2:10)

α.  Wherefore remember, that ye being previously Gentiles in the flesh,

β.  who are those called Uncircumcision 

by her who is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; (2:11)

Ο.                           χ.  that at that time ye were without Christ,

ο.  being foreigners from the citizenship of Israel, 

and strangers from the covenants of promise, 

ω.  having no hope, and godless in the world: (2:12)

but now in Christ Jesus 

α.       ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh 

by the blood of the Christ. (2:13)

For he is our peace, 

β.       who hath made both one,

having broken down the middle wall of partition; (2:14)

 τὴν ἔχθραν – the enmity, 

 ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ – in/by his flesh, 

Ω.                                                χ.             τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν – the Torah of commandments, 

 ἐν δόγμασι – in/by decrees 

 καταργήσας – having done away with;‡ 

so as, of twain, 

ο.       to create in himself one new man,

making peace; (2:15)

and that he might reconcile both, in one body, unto God by the cross,

having slain the enmity thereby: (2:16)

ω.      and came and preached peace

to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. (2:17)

For through him we both have access 

by one Spirit unto the Father. (2:18)

α. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,

β. but fellowcitizens with the saints,

Ϛ.                      χ. and of the household of God; (2:19)

ο. and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 

ω. the chief corner stone being Jesus Christ himself; (2:20)

ς. in whom all the building fitly framed together

Ζ.           ζ. groweth unto an holy temple

η. in the Lord: (2:21)

ς. in whom ye also are builded together 

Η.           ζ. for an habitation of God 

η. in the Spirit. (2:22)

† The first sentence of chapter two spans seven verses. The subject of the sentence, “God,” does not appear until verse four.
The predicate is compound: its first verb, “hath quickened together,” appears in verse 5; secondary and tertiary verbs appear
in verse 6. The object of the predicate, “you,” is what the sentence opens with in verse 1. Hence, removing all the clauses and
simplifying the predicate: “You [Gentile sinners] God hath quickened together with the Christ.”

‡ That is to say, “having, by his flesh, done away with the enmity; having, by decrees, done away with the
Torah of commandments” (the preposition ἐν being translatable as “in” or “by”). Controversy exists over the interpreta-
tion of this verse’s grammar, and my formalistic examination sides with the patristic reading of St. John Chrysostom and
Blessed Theophylact over against what is reflected in all English translations that I’ve checked, including the Orthodox Study
Bible and the paraphrastic rendition of Fr. Stephen De Young (see Saint Paul the Pharisee [Ancient Faith Publishing, 2024],
p. 287). Nineteenth-century German scholar Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer, in his Critical and Exegetical Commentary
on the New Testament: The Epistle to Ephesians and The Epistle to Philemon (T. & T. Clark, 1880), pp. 130–32, surveys the
controversy and argues the latter position, and St. John Chrysostom’s Protestant translator cites Meyer with authority when
contradicting that father’s teaching in a footnote (Homilies on Ephesians 5, td. by Rev. Gross Alexander, Nicene and Post-
Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume 13 (The Christian Literature Company, 1889), p. 72). 

          So the issue is that all English translations (that I’ve checked) take the prepositional phrase “in/by decrees” to be
modifying “the Torah of commandments,” either simplifying it as “the Torah of commandments and decrees” or
paraphrastically rendering it “the Torah of commandments contained in decrees.” In either case the decrees are to suffer the
same fate as the Torah commandments, to be done away with for the Gentiles by the Messiah. When I was equipped only
with this reading, though, I struggled to understand the formal shape of the text. 

          Blessed Theophylact, following St. John Chrysostom in offering an alternate reading, loosens the knot for me: “By the
[Torah] of commandments, the Apostle is referring to the old law, which regulated the life of men. The decrees refer to the
faith in Christ, which in turn is confirmed by these decrees concerning God. It is as if he were saying that God has decreed
for us the rule of faith, in place of the laws of civic polity.” He also specifies, “The decrees are the categorical precepts of the
Lord, such as: I say unto you, swear not at all, and resist not evil, and love your enemies (Matt. 5:34, 39, 44)” (Blessed
Theophylact, The Explanation of the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, td. by Fr. Christopher Stade [Chrysostom Press,
2013], p. 39. Indeed St. John Chrysostom says St. Paul “makes a wide distinction between ‘commandments’ and ‘decrees.’
He either then means ‘faith,’ calling that a ‘decree’ (for by faith alone He saved us), or he means ‘precept,’ such as Christ
gave, when He said, ‘But I say unto you, that you are not to be angry at all’ (Matt. 5:22). That is to say, ‘If you shall believe
that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved’ (Rom. 10:9)” (op. cit.).

          This interpretation is confirmed by my chiastic understanding of the syntax. Every other translation I’ve checked
agrees that “the enmity” and “the Torah of commandments,” both in the accusative case, are objects of the participle
“having done away with,” and moreover that the prepositional phrase in dative “in his flesh” modifies the participle not the
object (“the enmity”). No other translation, however, agrees with what the parallel structure indicates, which is, as the avail-
able Church Fathers also have it, that the other prepositional phrase in dative, “in decrees,” also modifies the participle not
the object. Just as “his flesh” is the means of doing away with the enmity (and Fr. Stephen De Young renders “his flesh” as
“his humanity,” which I think is correct and helpful), so the “decrees” are the means of doing away with the Torah of com-
mandments — the “of commandments,” of course, being an operative modifier, as St. Paul here is talking about doing away
with the corporeal, practical aspects of Mosaic nomos, not the spiritual meaning, which is nothing but upheld by Christ’s
decrees. Here, I believe, St. Paul is distinguishing between decrees and commandments the same way elsewhere he distin-
guishes between the spirit and the letter. It is also necessary to remember, in the context of “doing away with the Torah of
commandments,” that this chapter addresses solely the Gentiles. With those contextual guardrails in place, I see no cause to
side with Meyer’s reasoning or any other English translation of the text.

I beseech you, therefore, 

I the prisoner of the Lord, 

α.            that ye walk worthy 

of the calling 

wherewith ye are called, (4:1)

β.  with all lowliness and meekness, 

Α.                           χ.  with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (4:2)

ο.  endeavouring to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the bond of peace — (4:3)

one body and one Spirit, 

even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (4:4)

ω.           one Lord, one faithfulness, one baptism, (4:5)

one God and Father of all, 

who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (4:6)

α.  But unto every one of us is given grace

 according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. (4:7)

Wherefore it saith,

ASCENDING UP ON HIGH, 

β.      HE LED CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE, 

AND gave GIFTS to MEN [Ps. 67:19]. (4:8)

(Now, that he ascended, what is it 

but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? (4:9)

Β.                                      χ.             He that descended is the same also 

that ascended far above all heavens, 

that he might fill all things.) (4:10)  

And he gave some, apostles; 

but some, prophets; some, evangelists; some, pastors and teachers; (4:11)

ο.            for the perfecting of the saints, 

for the work of the ministry, 

for the edifying of the body of the Christ: (4:12)

ω.  till we all come in the oneness of faithfulness, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

 unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ: (4:13)

that we be no more infants, 

α.    tossed to and fro and carried about  

with every wind of doctrine, 

by the sleight of men, 

β.    by craftiness, 

unto the wiles of deception; (4:14)

 but speaking the truth in love, 

Χ.                                        χ/ξ.    may grow into him in all things, 

 who is the head, the Christ: (4:15)

from whom the whole body 

ο.    joined and knit together by every joint of its supply,

according to the activity proper to each and every part, 

 causeth growth of the body 

ω.    unto the edifying of itself 

 by love. (4:16)

This I say therefore, 

α.       and testify in the Lord, 

that ye no longer walk

as even the rest of the Gentiles walk,

in the vanity of their mind, (4:17) 

having the understanding darkened, 

β.            being alienated from the life of God 

through the ignorance that is in them, 

because of the blindness of their heart: (4:18)

who being callous to grief 

Ο.                                     ξ.       have given themselves over to incontinence, 

to work all impurity with covetousness. (4:19)

But ye have not so learned the Christ; (4:20) 

ο.       if so be that ye have heard him, 

and have been taught in him, 

as the truth is in Jesus: (4:21)

that ye put off (concerning former behavior) the old man, 

which is corrupt according to deceitful desires; (4:22) 

ω.            and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind; (4:23) 

and that ye put on the new man, 

which in accordance with God is created in true righteousness and piety. (4:24)

Wherefore putting away lying, 

α.    SPEAK EVERY MAN TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOUR [Zech. 8:16]: 

for we are members one of another. (4:25)

BE YE ANGRY, AND SIN NOT [Ps. 4:5]: 

β.    let not the sun go down upon your wrath: (4:26)

neither give place to the devil. (4:27)

  Let him that stole steal no more:  

Ω.                                       ξ.    but rather let him labour, working good with his hands, 

  that he may have to give to him that needeth. (4:28)

Let proceed out of your mouth no rotten word,

ο.    but that which is good, to the use of edifying,

that it may give grace to the hearers. (4:29)

 And sorrow not the Holy Spirit of God, 

ω.    in whom ye are sealed 

 unto the day of redemption. (4:30)

Let all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and outcry, and blasphemy, 

ς.    be put away from you, 

with all evil: (4:31)

and be ye kind one to another, 

ζ.    tenderhearted, 

being gracious to one another, 

even as God, 

η.    in Christ, 

hath been gracious to you. (4:32)

 Be ye therefore followers of God, as beloved children; (5:1)

 and walk in love, 

ς.             as the Christ also hath loved us, 

 and hath given himself for us as

 an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. (5:2)

   But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, 

ς.   let it not at all be named among you, 

   as becometh holy ones; (5:3)

   neither shamefulness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, 

Ϛ.            ζ.             ζ.   which are not befitting: 

but rather thanksgiving. (5:4)

   For this ye know, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, 

η.    who is an idolater, 

 hath any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God. (5:5)

Let no one deceive you with vain words: 

for because of these things 

η.            cometh the wrath of God 

upon the sons of disobedience; (5:6)

be not ye therefore partakers with them. (5:7)

   For once ye were darkness, 

α.   but are now light in the Lord:

 walk as children of light: (5:8)

β.  (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) (5:9)

Ζ.                                χ. discerning what is acceptable to the Lord. (5:10)

ο.  And share no fellowship with, but rather reprove, the unfruitful works of darkness. (5:11)

      For the secret things done among them are a shame even to speak of. (5:12) 

 ω.     But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: 

for that which doth make manifest is light. (5:13)

Wherefore it saith, “Awake thou that sleepest,

α.    and arise from the dead, 

and the Christ shall give thee light.” (5:14)

See then that ye walk circumspectly, 

β.    not as unwise, but as wise, (5:15) 

redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (5:16)

Wherefore be ye not mindless,
but understanding what is the will of the Lord. (5:17)

Η.                           χ.    And be not drunk with wine,
                                       wherein is profligacy; 

but be filled with the Spirit; (5:18) 

speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs, 

ο.    singing and making psalmody 

in your heart to the Lord; (5:19)

 giving thanks always for all things, 

ω.    in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto God, even the Father; (5:20)

 submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ. (5:21)