Ephesians 2:12

“That at that time ye were without Christ, &c.] Or separate from him: they were chosen in him and were preserved in him, and were redeemed by him before; but they were without any knowledge of him, faith in him, love to him, communion with him, or subjection to him, his Gospel, government, laws, and ordinances; and particularly they were without any promises of him, or prophecies concerning him, which were peculiar to the Jews; hence the Messiah is called larçyd ajyçm, “the Christ of Israel” f21, and who as he was promised, so he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house, of Israel: hence it follows, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; both from their civil and church state; the…”

“without Christ--Greek, "separate from Christ"; having no part in Him; far from Him. A different Greek word (aneu) would be required to express, "Christ was not present with you" [TITTMANN]. aliens--Greek, "alienated from," not merely "separated from." The Israelites were cut off from the commonwealth of God, but it was as being self-righteous, indolent, and unworthy, not as aliens and strangers [CHRYSOSTOM]. The expression, "alienated from," takes it for granted that the Gentiles, before they had apostatized from the primitive truth, had been sharers in light and life (compare Eph 4:18, Eph 4:23). The hope of redemption through the Messiah, on their subsequent apostasy, was embodied into a…”

“Ye were without Christ - You were without the knowledge of the Messiah. You had not heard of him; of course you had not embraced him. You were living without any of the hopes and consolations which you now have, from having embraced him. The object of the apostle is to remind them of the deplorable condition in which they were by nature; and nothing would better express it than to say they were “without Christ,” or that they had no knowledge of a Saviour. They knew of no atonement for sin. They had no assurance of pardon. They had no well-founded hope of eternal life. They were in a state of darkness and condemnation, from which nothing but a knowledge of Christ could deliver them. All…”

“Were at that time without Christ - Having no faith in, or knowledge of, him. Being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel - Both as to their temporal privileges and spiritual blessings. And strangers to the covenants of promise - The great promise in both the Jewish and Christian covenant was the Messiah. Having no hope - Because they had no promise whereon to ground their hope. And being without God - Wholly ignorant of the true God, and so in effect atheists. Such in truth are, more or less, all men, in all ages, till they know God by the teaching of his own Spirit. In the world - The wide, vain world, wherein ye wandered up and down, unholy and unhappy. Ephesians 2:13”

“2:12 Before their conversion, Gentiles had no part in God’s people or the covenant promises God had made to them; they were without God and without hope (see 4:18; Col 1:21).”

“without: Joh 10:16, Joh 15:5; Col 1:21 aliens: Eph 4:18; Ezr 4:3; Isa 61:5; Eze 13:9; Heb 11:34 the covenants: Gen 15:18, Gen 17:7-9; Exo 24:3-11; Num 18:19; Psa. 89:3-18; Jer 31:31-34; Jer 33:20-26; Eze 37:26; Luk 1:72; Act 3:25; Rom 9:4, Rom 9:5, Rom 9:8; Gal 3:16, Gal 3:17 having: Jer 14:8, Jer 17:13; Joh 4:22; Act 28:20; Col 1:5, Col 1:27; Th1 4:13; Th2 2:16; Ti1 1:1; Heb 6:18; Pe1 1:3, Pe1 1:21, Pe1 3:15; Jo1 3:3 without: Ch2 15:3; Isa 44:6, Isa 45:20; Hos 3:4; Act 14:15, Act 14:16; Rom 1:28-32; Co1 8:4-6, Co1 10:19, Co1 10:20; Gal 4:8; Th1 4:5 Ephesians 2:13”