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is, but as to being near and believing, great and sufficient, and has much strength. So this was the commonwealth. He did not say, Separated, but, Alienated from the commonwealth. He did not say, Not paying attention, but, Not even participating, and Strangers. Great is the emphasis of the words, showing a great separation. For Israelites also were outside the commonwealth, but not as aliens, but as indifferent, and they fell from the covenants, but not as strangers. And what were the covenants of the promise? To you and to your seed I will give this land, he says, and as many other things as he promised. Having no hope, he says, and without God. And yet they worshiped gods, but they were not; for there is no idol. But now in Christ Jesus, you, who once were far off, have become near in the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made both one, who broke down the middle wall of partition, the enmity in his flesh. Is this then a great thing, he says, that we have come into the commonwealth of the Jews? What do you say? He has summed up all things in the heavens and on the earth, and now you speak of Israelites? Yes, he says. For those things must be received by faith, but these by the deeds themselves. But now, he says, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have become near to the commonwealth. For “far off,” and “near,” is of choice only. For he is our peace who made both one. What is, Both one? He does not say this, that he brought us into that nobility, but that he brought both us and them into a greater one; except that for us the benefit is greater. For to them it was promised, and they were nearer, but to us it was not even promised, and we were farther away. Therefore he says: But that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy. For He promised to the Israelites, but they were unworthy; but to us He promised nothing, but we were also strangers; we had nothing in common with them, and he made us one, not by joining us to them, but by joining both them and us into one. I will give an example. Let us suppose there are two statues, one of silver, the other of lead, then both having been melted down, the two emerge as gold. Behold, 62.39 he made the two one. Or in another way: let one be a slave, the other adopted as a son; let both worship him, the one being a disinherited child, the other a runaway, and not even knowing the father; then let both become heirs, and legitimate children. Behold they were brought to one honor; the two have become one, the one coming from afar, the other from near, and more legitimate than before he offended. Having broken down the middle wall, he says, of the partition. What the middle wall is he explains, saying, The enmity in his flesh. Having abolished the law of commandments in ordinances. Some say that the Law is the middle wall; for this reason he said the law, because it did not permit the Jews to mix with the Greeks. But this does not seem so to me; but he says the enmity in the flesh is the middle wall, as it is a common partition walling us off from God, as the prophet says: Do not your sins separate between you and me? And reasonably so; for enmity was like a middle wall, which he had both towards the Jews and towards the Greeks. But while the law existed, it was not only not dissolved, but it even increased; For the law, he says, works wrath. Just as, therefore, when he says there, The law works wrath, he does not attribute the whole to it, but, because we transgressed, it is understood; so also here he calls it a middle wall, because being disobeyed it created enmity. The law was a hedge, but it came into being for the sake of security; which is why it was called a hedge, that it might hedge around. For hear again the prophet saying: And I set a hedge about it; and again, You have broken down her hedge, and all who pass by the way pluck her. So he means security. And again, I will take away his hedge, and it shall be for trampling; and again, He gave the law for help, and again, The Lord who does mercy and judgment made known his righteous acts to Israel. But it has become a middle wall, no longer establishing them in security, but separating

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ἐστι, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἐγγὺς εἶναι καὶ πιστεῦσαι, μέγα καὶ ἱκανὸν, καὶ πολλὴν ἔχει τὴν ἰσχύν. Ἄρα τοῦτο ἦν τὸ πολιτεύεσθαι. Οὐκ εἶπε, Κεχωρισμένοι, ἀλλ', Ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς πολιτείας. Οὐκ εἶπεν, Οὐ προσέχοντες, ἀλλ', Οὐδὲ μετέχοντες, καὶ Ξένοι. Πολλὴ τῶν ῥημάτων ἡ ἔμφασις, πολὺν δεικνῦσα τὸν χωρισμόν. Ἐπεὶ καὶ Ἰσραηλῖται τῆς πολιτείας ἦσαν ἐκτὸς, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ἀλλότριοι, ἀλλ' ὡς ῥᾴθυμοι, καὶ τῶν διαθηκῶν ἐξέπεσον, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ξένοι. Τίνες δὲ ἦσαν αἱ διαθῆκαι τῆς ἐπαγγελίας; Σοὶ καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου δώσω, φησὶ, τὴν γῆν ταύτην, καὶ ὅσα ἕτερα ἐπηγγείλατο. Ἐλπίδα, φησὶ, μὴ ἔχοντες, καὶ ἄθεοι. Καίτοι θεοὺς προσεκύνουν, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἦσαν· οὐ γάρ ἐστί τι εἴδωλον. Νυνὶ δὲ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὑμεῖς, οἱ ποτὲ ὄντες μακρὰν, ἐγγὺς ἐγενήθητε ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἓν, ὁ τὸ μεσότοιχον τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας, τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὑτοῦ. Τοῦτο οὖν ἐστι μέγα, φησὶ, τὸ ὅτι εἰς τὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων πολιτείαν ἤλθομεν; Τί λέγεις; ἀνεκεφαλαιώσατο τὰ πάντα τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ νῦν περὶ Ἰσραηλιτῶν λέγεις; Ναὶ, φησίν. Ἐκεῖνα μὲν γὰρ τῇ πίστει χρὴ παραλαμβάνειν, ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῖς. Νυνὶ δὲ, φησὶν, ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ὑμεῖς, οἱ ποτὲ ὄντες μακρὰν, ἐγγὺς ἐγενήθητε πρὸς τὴν πολιτείαν. Τὸ γὰρ, μακρὰν, καὶ τὸ, ἐγγὺς, προαιρέσεώς ἐστι μόνης. Αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἡ εἰρήνη ἡμῶν ὁ ποιήσας τὰ ἀμφότερα ἕν. Τί ἐστι, Τὰ ἀμφότερα ἕν; Οὐ τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν εὐγένειαν ἡμᾶς ἤγαγεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἡμᾶς, κἀκείνους εἰς μείζονα· πλὴν ἡμῶν μείζων ἡ εὐεργεσία. Τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἐπήγγελτο, καὶ ἐγγύτεροι ἦσαν, ἡμῖν δὲ οὐδὲ ἐπήγγελτο, καὶ ποῤῥωτέρω ἦμεν. ∆ιό φησι· Τὰ δὲ ἔθνη ὑπὲρ ἐλέους δοξάσαι τὸν Θεόν. Ἐπηγγείλατο μὲν γὰρ τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις, ἀλλὰ ἀνάξιοι ἦσαν· ἡμῖν δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπηγγείλατο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ξένοι ἦμεν· οὐδὲν κοινὸν εἴχομεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἓν, οὐχ ἡμᾶς ἐκείνοις συνάψας, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκείνους καὶ ἡμᾶς εἰς ἓν συνάψας. Ὑπόδειγμα δὲ ἐρῶ· Ὑποθώμεθα εἶναι ἀνδριάντας δύο, τὸν μὲν ἐξ ἀργύρου, τὸν δὲ ἐκ μολίβδου, εἶτα ἀμφοτέρους καταχωνευθέντας, ἀνελθεῖν χρυσοῦς τοὺς δύο. Ἰδοὺ 62.39 τοὺς δύο ἓν ἐποίησεν. Ἢ καὶ ἑτέρως· ἔστω ὁ μὲν δοῦλος, ὁ δὲ υἱοποίητος· ἀμφότεροι δὲ αὐτὸν προσκυνείτωσαν, ὁ μὲν ἀποκήρυκτος ὢν παῖς, ὁ δὲ δραπέτης, καὶ οὐδὲ ἐγνωκὼς τὸν πατέρα· εἶτα ἀμφότεροι γινέσθωσαν κληρονόμοι, καὶ γνήσιοι παῖδες. Ἰδοὺ εἰς μίαν ἤχθησαν τὴν τιμήν· οἱ δύο γεγόνασιν ἓν, ὁ μὲν πόῤῥωθεν ἐλθὼν, ὁ δὲ ἐγγύθεν, καὶ μᾶλλον ἢ πρὶν ἢ προσκροῦσαι γνησιώτερος. Τὸ μεσότοιχον, φησὶ, τοῦ φραγμοῦ λύσας. Ποῖόν ἐστι τὸ μεσότοιχον ἑρμηνεύει, Τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ, λέγων. Τὸν νόμον τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐν δόγμασι καταργήσας. Τινὲς μέν φασιν, ὅτι Ὁ νόμος μεσότοιχον· διὰ τοῦτο τὸν νόμον εἶπεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἠφίει τοὺς Ἰουδαίους πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀναμίγνυσθαι. Ἐμοὶ δὲ οὐ τοῦτο δοκεῖ· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἔχθραν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ μεσότοιχον λέγει, τῷ κοινὸν εἶναι διάφραγμα ἀπὸ Θεοῦ διατειχίζον ἡμᾶς, καθὼς ὁ προφήτης φησίν· Οὐχὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἐμοῦ; Καὶ εἰκότως· ὡς μεσότοιχον γὰρ ἦν ἔχθρα, ἣν καὶ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους εἶχε καὶ πρὸς Ἕλληνας. Τοῦ δὲ νόμου ὄντος, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐλύετο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ηὔξετο· Ὁ γὰρ νόμος, φησὶν, ὀργὴν κατεργάζεται. Ὥσπερ οὖν ἐκεῖ λέγων, Ὁ νόμος ὀργὴν κατεργάζεται, οὐκ αὐτῷ τὸ πᾶν ἐπιγράφει, ἀλλ', ἐπειδὴ παρέβημεν, προσυπακούεται· οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα μεσότοιχον αὐτόν φησιν, ἐπειδὴ παρακουόμενος ἔχθραν ἐποίει. Φραγμὸς ὁ νόμος ἦν, ἀλλ' οὗτος ἐγένετο μὲν ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκεν· διὸ καὶ φραγμὸς ὠνόμαστο, ἵνα περιφράττῃ. Ἄκουε γὰρ πάλιν τοῦ προφήτου λέγοντος· Καὶ φραγμὸν αὐτῷ περιέθηκα· καὶ πάλιν, Καθεῖλες τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτῆς, καὶ τρυγῶσιν αὐτὴν πάντες οἱ παραπορευόμενοι τὴν ὁδόν. Οὐκοῦν τὴν ἀσφάλειάν φησι. Καὶ πάλιν, Καθελῶ τὸν φραγμὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔσται εἰς καταπάτημα· καὶ πάλιν, Νόμον εἰς βοήθειαν ἔδωκε, καὶ πάλιν, Ποιῶν ἐλεημοσύνην καὶ κρίσιν ὁ Κύριος ἐγνώρισε τὰ δικαιώματα αὐτοῦ τῷ Ἰσραήλ. Γέγονε δὲ μεσότοιχον, οὐκέτι αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀσφαλείᾳ καθιστῶν, ἀλλὰ χωρίζον