| Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Wherein in time past ye walked,.... Sins and transgressions are a road or path, in which all unconverted sinners walk; and this path is a dark, crooked, and broad one, which leads to destruction and death, and yet is their own way, which they choose, approve of, and delight to walk in; and walking in it denotes a continued series of sinning, an obstinate persisting in it, a progress in iniquity, and pleasure therein: and the time of walking in this path, being said to be in time past, shows that the elect of. God before conversion, walk in the same road that others do; and that conversion is a turning out of this way; and that when persons are converted, the course of their walking is altered, which before was continued...
Vincent's Word StudiesCourse (αἰῶνα) Lit., age. See on John 1:9. Power (ἐξουσίας) continued...
Barnes' Notes on the BibleWherein - In which sins, or in the practice of which transgressions. continued...
Clarke's Commentary on the BibleWherein in time past ye walked - There is much force in these expressions; the Ephesians had not sinned casually, or now and then, but continually; it was their continual employment; they walked in trespasses and sins: and this was not a solitary case, all the nations of the earth acted in the same way; it was the course of this world, κατα τον αιωνα του κοσμου τουτου, according to the life, mode of living, or successive ages of this world. The word αιων, the literal meaning of which is constant duration, is often applied to things which have a complete course, as the Jewish dispensation, a particular government, and the term of human life; so, here, the whole of life is a tissue of sin, from the cradle to the grave; every human soul, unsaved by Jesus Christ, continues to transgress. And the nominally Christian world is in the same state to the present day. Age after age passes on in this way and the living lay it not to heart! continued...
Geneva Study Bible{3} Wherein in time past ye walked {4} according to the course of this world, {b} according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now {5} worketh in the {c} children of disobedience: (3) He proves by the effects that all were spiritually dead. (4) He proves this evil to be universal, insomuch that all are slaves of Satan. (b) At the pleasure of the prince. (5) Men are therefore slaves to Satan, because they are willingly rebellious against God. (c) They are called the children of disobedience, who are given to disobedience.
People's New Testament 2:2 In time past ye walked according to the course of this world. You lived in trespasses and sins, in accordance with the spirit of the world. The prince of the power of the air. Called elsewhere the prince of this world (Joh 12:31 14:30 16:11), Satan. Why he is called prince of the power of the air is not certain; various explanations are given. Probably his subtle influences and whisperings pervade the air, and come upon us as unconsciously as the vital fluid we breathe. The Jews held that the atmosphere was the abode of evil angels. The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. This spirit, that of the world, of the power of the air, is the one which inspires those who live in disobedience.
Wesley's Notes 2:2 According to the course of this world - The word translated course properly means a long series of times, wherein one corrupt age follows another. According to the prince of the power of the air - The effect of which power all may perceive, though all do not understand the cause of it: a power unspeakably penetrating and widely diffused; but yet, as to its baneful influences, beneath the orb of believers. The evil spirits are united under one head, the seat of whose dominion is in the air. Here he sometimes raises storms, sometimes makes visionary representations, and is continually roving to and fro. The spirit that now worketh - With mighty power; and so he did, and doth in all ages. In the sons of disobedience - In all who do not believe and obey the gospel.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary2. the course of this world-the career (literally, "the age," compare Ga 1:4), or present system of this world (1Co 2:6, 12; 3:18, 19, as opposed to "the world to come"): alien from God, and lying in the wicked one (1Jo 5:19). "The age" (which is something more external and ethical) regulates "the world" (which is something more external). the prince of the power of the air-the unseen God who lies underneath guiding "the course of this world" (2Co 4:4); ranging through the air around us: compare Mr 4:4, "fowls of the air" (Greek, "heaven") that is, (Eph 2:15), "Satan" and his demons. Compare Eph 6:12; Joh 12:31. Christ's ascension seems to have cast Satan out of heaven (Re 12:5, 9, 10, 12, 13), where he had been heretofore the accuser of the brethren (Job 1:6-11). No longer able to accuse in heaven those justified by Christ, the ascended Saviour (Ro 8:33, 34), he assails them on earth with all trials and temptations; and "we live in an atmosphere poisonous and impregnated with deadly elements. But a mighty purification of the air will be effected by Christ's coming" [Auberlen], for Satan shall be bound (Re 12:12, 13, 15, 17; 20:2, 3). "The power" is here used collectively for the "powers of the air"; in apposition with which "powers" stand the "spirits," comprehended in the singular, "the spirit," taken also collectively: the aggregate of the "seducing spirits" (1Ti 4:1) which "work now (still; not merely, as in your case, 'in time past') in the sons of disobedience" (a Hebraism: men who are not merely by accident disobedient, but who are essentially sons of disobedience itself: compare Mt 3:7), and of which Satan is here declared to be "the prince." The Greek does not allow "the spirit" to refer to Satan, "the prince" himself, but to "the powers of the air" of which he is prince. The powers of the air are the embodiment of that evil "spirit" which is the ruling principle of unbelievers, especially the heathen (Ac 26:18), as opposed to the spirit of the children of God (Lu 4:33). The potency of that "spirit" is shown in the "disobedience" of the former. Compare De 32:20, "children in whom is no faith" (Isa 30:9; 57:4). They disobey the Gospel both in faith and practice (2Th 1:8; 2Co 2:12).
Ephesians 2:2 Parallel Commentaries
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