I’ll continue hearing with faith¹ the dramatic contrast of the truth of the Gospel (Ephesians 2:1-10 ESV):

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [Table] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind [Table]. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [Table]. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God [Table], not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The Greek is: Καὶ ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς, And you “are” dead, τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, in the trespasses and sins (or “by means of your trespasses and sins” or “to your trespasses and sins”). There is a lot going on here.

First, ὄντας is a plural participle of the verb εἰμί in the present tense, active voice and accusative case, the latter being a function of nouns rather than verbs. It corresponds to the plural pronoun ὑμᾶς and the plural adjective νεκροὺς, both in the accusative case as well. “You were dead” might imply ἦτε, another form of εἰμί in the imperfect tense (1 Corinthians 12:2 ESV).

You know that when² you were (ἦτε, another form of εἰμί) pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.

Be that as it may, of the eleven occurrences of ὄντας in the New Testament (see Table below), five others are translated were in the ESV. Three of those were clearly a nod to the convention of writing narrative prose in English in the past tense. Two of them follow (Acts 16:3; 22:5 ESV):

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were (ὄντας, a form of εἰμί) in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek [Table].

…as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were (ὄντας, a form of εἰμί) there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul circumcised Timothy for the sake of Jews who are there presently rather than Jews who had lived there at some time in his past. And he went to Damascus to arrest those who are there presently rather than those who had been there at some time in his past. I’ll address the third example (Ephesians 2:5) as I come to it. A fourth example is pivotal and may have been used as justification for the past tense in Ephesians 2:1 (Colossians 1:21-23 ESV):

And you, who once were (ὄντας, a form of εἰμί) alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation³ under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister [Table].

The Greek is: Καὶ ὑμᾶς ποτε ὄντας, And you once were, ἀπηλλοτριωμένους καὶ ἐχθροὺς τῇ διανοίᾳ, alienated and hostile in mind (or “an outsider and hostile by means of your understanding”), ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς, doing evil deeds (or “by means of evil deeds”), νυνὶ δὲ, now (or “but now”), ἀποκατήλλαξεν, he has reconciled, ἐν τῷ σώματι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, in his body of flesh by his death (or “by means of the body of his flesh by his death”), παραστῆσαι ὑμᾶς, to present you, ἁγίους καὶ ἀμώμους καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ, holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

It’s not too difficult to see why one might prefer to understand this as a contrast between one’s past and present, but νυνὶ and ὄντας both represent the present tense. And ἀπηλλοτριωμένους (ESV: alienated) is a middle/passive participle of ἀπαλλοτριόω in the perfect tense.

The basic thought of the perfect tense is that the progress of an action has been completed and the results of the action are continuing on, in full effect. In other words, the progress of the action has reached its culmination and the finished results are now in existence.⁴

Though once is a possible translation of ποτε, it is probably more obfuscating than illuminating here: And you at any time are an outsider and hostile by means of your understanding by means of evil deeds, but now he has reconciled by means of the body of his flesh by his death to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, εἴ γε, if indeed, ἐπιμένετε τῇ πίστει, you continue in the faith (or “you stay by means of faith”), τεθεμελιωμένοι καὶ ἑδραῖοι, stable and steadfast, καὶ μὴ μετακινούμενοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὗ ἠκούσατε, “and” not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, τοῦ κηρυχθέντος ἐν πάσῃ κτίσει τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven (or “which is being proclaimed to all creation, to the one under the authority of heaven”), οὗ ἐγενόμην ἐγὼ Παῦλος διάκονος, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

David wrote of the Lord’s mercy:

Translating מִ֖זְרָח (mizrāḥ) the eastern horizon prompts a question: Has the Lord removed our transgressions (ἀφ᾽ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν) the finite distance of a conceptual flat earth or the infinite distance of the cardinal direction conventions of this planet? By convention I can only travel north so far before I travel south, but I can travel east infinitely. Paul favored an infinite distance: Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.⁵ If I turn around, however, and travel west I am as alienated and hostile in mind from the east as I if I had never traveled east (Ezekiel 18). Paul recognized his proximity to evil deeds as well (Romans 7:21-24 ESV):

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right (τὸ καλόν), evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members [Table]. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

This validation of believers’ experience (not vindication of evil deeds) seems more likely an understanding of Colossians 1:21-23 than a temporal separation that is actually denied by ὄντας in the present tense. Paul alluded here to believers’ dwelling in earthly bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-58), which host both an old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,⁶ and a new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.⁷ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, Jesus said, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.⁸

In a similar way, ὄντας indicates the present tense in And you are dead.⁹ But how should the dative case be handled here: in the trespasses and sins or “by means of your trespasses and sins” or “to your trespasses and sins”?

The Greek continued: ἐν αἷς ποτε περιεπατήσατε, in which once¹⁰ you walked (or “by means of which once you walked”), κατὰ τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, following the course of this world (literally, “according to the course of this world”), κατὰ τὸν ἄρχοντα τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος, following the prince of the power of the air (literally, “according to the prince of the power of the air”), τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ νῦν ἐνεργοῦντος ἐν τοῖς υἱοῖς τῆς ἀπειθείας, the spirit now at work in the sons of disobedience (or, “the spirit now at work by means of the sons of disobedience” or “the spirit now at work by means of the sons of unbelief” or “the spirit now at work by means of the sons of disbelief”).

Though Paul continued to address the saints who are in Ephesus, the grammar at the beginning of the second chapter indicates that he wrote about them rather than about their activity regarding them as the subject of any particular verb: ὑμᾶς ὄντας νεκροὺς, “you are dead,” is in the accusative case rather than the nominative:

The accusative case is the case of the direct object, receiving the action of the verb.¹¹
A noun or pronoun that is the subject of the sentence is always in the nominative case.¹²

The Greek construction indicates that this section is Paul’s description of the saints as the object of God’s activity. And I can’t imagine a better way of expressing this in English apart from knowing that this is the accusative case in Greek. It is possible, however, to clarify some whether τοῖς παραπτώμασιν καὶ ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν should be understood as in the trespasses and sins or “by means of your trespasses and sins” or “to your trespasses and sins.”

I noticed that both τοῖς in verse 1 and ἐν τοῖς in verse 2 were translated in the. This may be ESV code for “by means of.” I had understood in the as something more like club membership, which requires behavior change but—aside from its rules, punishments (up to and including expulsion), rewards, praise and peer pressure—is powerless to produce that change in any individual member (e.g., each individual club member being perfected by the flesh if at all). So, the three options may be reduced to two: “by means of (in) your trespasses and sins” and “to your trespasses and sins.”

Though “according to” is a more literal translation of κατὰ followed by τὸν αἰῶνα or τὸν ἄρχοντα in the accusative case, following is not wrong and offers a strong contrast to following the Lord Jesus. And “by means of the sons of disbelief” highlights the very real possibility that this is an unholy spirit’s only mode of operation in a world where Christ has come; Christ has died; Christ is risen…

The understanding on the left side of the table above corresponds to (Romans 8:10, 11 ESV):

But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you [Table].

The right side of the table corresponds to (Romans 6:1-4 ESV):

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? [Table] By no means! How can we who died (ἀπεθάνομεν, a form of ἀποθνήσκω) to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Paul continued: ἐν οἷς καὶ, among whom “also,” ἡμεῖς πάντες ἀνεστράφημεν ποτε, we all lived once, ἐν ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις τῆς σαρκὸς ἡμῶν, in the passions of our flesh (or “by means of the passions of our flesh”), ποιοῦντες τὰ θελήματα τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῶν διανοιῶν, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind (or “doing the desires of the flesh and the understanding”), καὶ ἤμεθα τέκνα φύσει ὀργῆς, and were children by “means of” nature of wrath, ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποί, like “also” the rest.

To live “by means of the passions of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and the understanding” seems to me to be what is meant by, and defended as, free will, what Jesus called a slave to sin. Does this help to clarify whether Paul meant that the saints’ bodies were dead by means of their trespasses and sins or their new selves were dead to their trespasses and sins?

I don’t see anything yet that favors one truth over another. The Greek continued: ὁ δὲ θεὸς, But God, πλούσιος ὢν ἐν ἐλέει, being rich in mercy (or “being rich by means of mercy”), διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ, because of “his” great love, ἣν ἠγάπησεν ἡμᾶς, “who” loved us (e.g., a reference to Christ, the Father’s “great love”; Matthew 3:17; Luke 9:35; John 10:17, 18), καὶ ὄντας ἡμᾶς, “in spite of being us,” νεκροὺς τοῖς παραπτώμασιν, dead in our trespasses (or “dead by means of trespasses”), συνεζωοποίησεν τῷ Χριστῷ, made us alive together with Christ (or “made alive by means of Christ”), χάριτι ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι, by grace you were saved (or, “by means of grace you are, were and continue to be¹⁹ saved”), καὶ συνήγειρεν καὶ συνεκάθισεν ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (or “and raised up and seated by means of the heavenly by means of Christ Jesus”), ἵνα, so that, ἐνδείξηται, he might show,²⁰ ἐν τοῖς αἰῶσιν τοῖς ἐπερχομένοις, in the coming ages (or “by means of the ages to come”), τὸ ὑπερβάλλον πλοῦτος τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ, the immeasurable riches of his grace, ἐν χρηστότητι ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (or “by means of kindness toward us by means of Christ Jesus”).

Here Paul’s meaning becomes clearer as a description of the saints’ bodies that were dead by means of their trespasses and sins, without negating the truth that their new selves were dead to their trespasses and sins.

This multiplexing of truth is interesting. I won’t do much more than comment on it here. The demultiplexing of telephone communications, for instance, occurs at the receiving end. Paul wrote to Timothy (1 Timothy 1:8-11 ESV):

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers [Table], the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

Recalling the Greek verbs in Galatians 5 (στήκετε,²⁴ δουλεύετε,²⁵ βλέπετε,²⁶ περιπατεῖτε²⁷) which could be understood in either the indicative or imperative moods, I wonder if the lawless would have demultiplexed the truth as laws in the imperative mood even as the just (by means of grace through faith in Jesus Christ) heard promises to receive in the indicative mood. The opportunity for such demultiplexing is utterly lost in English translation, since translators choose for the reader.

Paul continued: Τῇ γὰρ χάριτι, For by grace (or “For by means of grace”), ἐστε σεσῳσμένοι διὰ πίστεως, you “are, were and continue to be” saved through faith, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐξ ὑμῶν, And this is not your own doing (literally, “and this not from within you”), θεοῦ τὸ δῶρον, it is the gift of God (literally, “God’s gift”), οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων, not a result of works (literally, “not out from works”), ἵνα μή τις καυχήσηται, so that no one may boast “about oneself,” αὐτοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν ποίημα, For we are his workmanship, κτισθέντες ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, created in Christ Jesus for good works (or “created by means of Christ Jesus to good works”), οἷς προητοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς, which God prepared beforehand, ἵνα ἐν αὐτοῖς περιπατήσωμεν, that we should walk in them (or “so that by means of them we may walk”).

I added “about oneself” to καυχήσηται (ESV: may boast) to highlight the middle voice. The conjunction ἵνα indicates that περιπατήσωμεν, a form of περιπατέω in the subjunctive mood is in a purpose or result clause and “should be viewed as a definite outcome that will happen as a result of another stated action”; namely, For we are his workmanship, “created by means of Christ Jesus to good works” which God prepared beforehand.

The multiplexed truths to be hearing with faith are:

I’ll pick this up in another essay.

Tables comparing Psalm 103:11 and 103:12 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing the Greek of Psalm 103:11 (102:11) and 103:12 (102:12) in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor), and a table comparing 1 Corinthians 12:2 in the KJV and NET follow.