What does "Abolish" mean in Ephesians 2:15?
Q: As I was reviewing your sermon notes from last Sunday, I have a question about Eph 2:15. Scripture says that the law was ended, abolished, etc depending on the translation. I thought I remembered it as being “fulfilled” or “completed” by Jesus. Is this just translation confusion? We still have the law to obey but out of love, not mandated by rules.
A: That's a great question, and you're on the right track about it being a translation issue. Also, it's a classic example of how important it is to read Scripture in light of other Scripture. In this case, Matthew 5:17 and Ephesians 2:15.
In most English translations, we see the word abolish because both Matthew and Ephesians have the same root word, "kata." It means "to go down from higher to the lower."
- Matthew (kata-lysai), "down to destruction."
- Ephesians (katar-gesas) "down to a point of idleness"
So, another way of stating it could be:
- Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to bring down to destruction (kata-lysai) the law..."
- Ephesians 2:15 "He...has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by bringing the law down to idleness (katar-gesas) in his flesh..."
Both words share the same root and are translated into english as "Abolish," but in the original text they have a slightly different emphasis. Without getting too far off track, you can see how various translations handle it here. For some translations (ESV) you really need to include v.14 to get the full meaning of v.15. Other translations (NASB, KJV) move phrases around so v.15 stands alone.
Whatever the translation, the message in Ephesians 2 is not to say that the law alone is abolished, but the hostility of the dividing wall caused by the law that is abolished. Furthermore, both the law and its dividing wall are now "in his flesh."
One might think of it this way: instead of us obeying 100s of different laws, we can now obey 1 single Savior. Instead of us being divided by many religious or ceremonial laws, we're united in Jesus. Once you add to that the impossibility of a Gentile ever fulfilling the Jewish law in the first place, and you get a good idea of where Ephesians 2 is coming from.
All that being said, in my opinion, going back to the Nestle-Aland Greek translation helps to clarify Ephesians 2 and shows how it is in harmony with Matthew 5. Here's my own variation of it:
- "The law of commandments in ordinances [have been] annulled in the flesh of Him, so that the two He might create in Himself into one..."
Katargesas can be translated as abolished, annulled, "make idle," or "separate from." To my ears, A leap from' annulled to fulfilled is easier to understand than a leap from abolished to fulfilled. Furthermore, if a translator emphasizes the phrase "in the flesh," it also helps to show the reader where the law now resides-- in Jesus. It also shows how OT laws eventually lead to Jesus' role as "prophet, priest, and king" in the NT.
Futher reading:
