EPH 2:20 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

UST You are like stones that God has put together into a building, and the apostles and prophets are like the foundation stones of that building. You depend on what they have taught, just as building stones depend on the foundation stones below them to form a wall that is upright and strong. The Messiah Jesus himself is like the cornerstone, which is the most important stone of the building.

BLB having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone,

AICNT built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with {Christ Jesus}[fn] himself as the cornerstone,

2:20, Christ Jesus: Later manuscripts read “Jesus Christ.” BYZ TR

OEB You have been built up on the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.

WEBBE being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone;

WMBB being built on the foundation of the emissaries and prophets, Messiah Yeshua himself being the chief cornerstone;

NET because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.

LSV being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being chief corner-[stone],

FBV that's being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

TCNT built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with [fn]Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.

2:20 Jesus Christ ¦ Christ Jesus CT

T4T Just like a building is built {as someone builds a building} on a foundation, God has joined you into one group that originated/began from what the apostles and prophets taught. Christ Jesus is the most important one in that group, just like a cornerstone is the most important part of a building. And

LEB built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,[fn]

2:20 Or perhaps “capstone”

BBE Resting on the base of the Apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief keystone,

Moff you are a building that rests on the apostles and prophets as its foundation, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone;

Wymth You are a building which has been reared on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, the cornerstone being Christ Jesus Himself,

ASV being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

DRA Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone:

YLT being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being chief corner -[stone],

Drby being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner-stone,

RV being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone;

SLT Built upon the foundation of the sent, and of the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the corner stone;

Wbstr And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner -stone ;

KJB-1769 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;

KJB-1611 And are built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from capitalisation and punctuation)

Bshps And are built vpon the foundation of the apostles and prophetes, Iesus Christe hym selfe beyng the head corner stone,
(And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Yesus/Yeshua Christ himself being the head corner stone,)

Gnva And are built vpon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Iesus Christ himselfe being the chiefe corner stone,
(And are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Yesus/Yeshua Christ himself being the chief corner stone, )

Cvdl buylded vpon ye foundacion of ye Apostles and prophetes where Iesus Christ is ye heade corner stone
(built upon ye/you_all foundation of ye/you_all Apostles and prophets where Yesus/Yeshua Christ is ye/you_all head corner stone)

TNT and are bilt apon the foundacion of the apostles and prophetes Iesus Christ beynge the heed corner stone
(and are bilt upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets Yesus/Yeshua Christ being the head corner stone )

Wycl aboue bildid on the foundement of apostlis and of profetis, vpon that hiyeste corner stoon, Crist Jhesu;
(above built on the foundation of apostles and of prophets, upon that highest corner stone, Christ Yhesu;)

Luth erbauet auf den Grund der Apostel und Propheten, da JEsus Christus der Eckstein ist
(built on/in/to the Grund the/of_the apostles and prophet(s), there Yesus Christ the/of_the Eckstein ist)

ClVg superædificati super fundamentum apostolorum, et prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu:[fn]
(superædificati over foundation of_the_apostles, and of_the_prophets, himself top angulari stone to_Christ/Messiah Yesu: )

2.20 Ipso summo angulari, etc. AUG., in Psal. 86. Ne Apostoli vel prophetæ (in quibus fundata est civitas) se tenerent, in se secutus ait: Ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu; etenim in Christo totum innititur ædificium velut in primo fundamento: quod fundamentum in summo est, non in imo, ut in corporali fabrica.

2.20 Ipso top angulari, etc. AUG., in/into/on Psal. 86. Don't Apostles or the_prophets (in to_whom fundata it_is city) himself they_would_hold, in/into/on himself followed he_said: Ipso top angulari stone to_Christ/Messiah Yesu; in_fact in/into/on to_Christ/Messiah whole innititur building like/as in/into/on at_first fundamento: that foundation in/into/on top it_is, not/no in/into/on rather, as in/into/on bodily carpentersca.

UGNT ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ,
(epoikodomaʸthentes epi tōi themeliōi tōn apostolōn kai profaʸtōn, ontos akrogōniaiou autou Ⱪristou Yaʸsou,)

SBL-GNT ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ ⸂Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ⸃,
(epoikodomaʸthentes epi tōi themeliōi tōn apostolōn kai profaʸtōn, ontos akrogōniaiou autou ⸂Ⱪristou Yaʸsou⸃,)

RP-GNT ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ χριστοῦ,
(epoikodomaʸthentes epi tōi themeliōi tōn apostolōn kai profaʸtōn, ontos akrogōniaiou autou Yaʸsou ⱪristou,)

TC-GNT ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν, ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου αὐτοῦ [fn]Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ,
(epoikodomaʸthentes epi tōi themeliōi tōn apostolōn kai profaʸtōn, ontos akrogōniaiou autou Yaʸsou Ⱪristou, )

2:20 ιησου χριστου ¦ χριστου ιησου CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 2:11–22: God has united Jews and non-Jews through Christ

In 2:11–22, Paul described another aspect of God’s salvation. Previously Jews and Gentiles were enemies. But Christ, by his death on the cross, has made peace between both groups of people and God. Because of this, there is peace between the two groups also. So the Gentile Christians now belong to the family of God just like Jewish Christians do.

Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:

Christ has united all people

All people are one in Christ

Paragraph 2:19–22

In this next paragraph, Paul used three comparisons to describe the unity of Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ. He said that they are like:

citizens of the same country (19a–b)
members of the same family (19c)
bricks of one building (20–21)

2:20–22

In 2:20–22, Paul used the idea of a house or building as a metaphor for the Church/believers. There are three parts of this metaphor:

Believers are the bricks (or boards or sticks) of the house.
The apostles and prophets are the foundation.
Christ is the cornerstone.

You should keep this figure of speech in your translation. You may want to change it to a simile, for example, “Christ is like a cornerstone.”

Also, think about what houses are like in your area. You may want to adapt Paul’s figure of speech so that it will communicate clearly in your language. Perhaps you can say that Christ is like the rock on which the house posts stand and the apostles and prophets are like the house posts. Or perhaps you can say that Christ is the big central post, and the apostles and prophets are the main horizontal beams.

2:20a

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,

You are built on the foundation composed/made of the apostles and prophets.
You are also like a house. The apostles and prophets are like the foundation/solid footing on which that house is built,
You are like the bricks/stones of a house. The apostles and the prophets are like the solid base/footing of that house,

foundation of the apostles and prophets: There are different views about the meaning of this phrase. This phrase could mean that:

the foundation is composed of the apostles and prophets. For example:
You are like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation (CEV) (CEV, JBP)
the foundation has been laid by the apostles and prophets. This means that the work that the apostles and prophets did is the foundation. For example:
You, too, are built upon the foundation laid by the apostles and prophets (GNT)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). Most English versions translate the Greek literally, and it is not possible to tell which interpretation they follow. In some languages, a literal translation would mean that the apostles and prophets owned the foundations, so be careful to avoid such a meaning.

foundation: In New Testament times the houses were built on rocks to make them solid. These rocks were called the foundation. If your language has no word for foundation, you may need to say something like this:

rocks that they build the house on

apostles: The apostles are the twelve disciples plus Paul and perhaps a few other men. See how you translated “apostle” in 1:1b. See apostle in the Glossary if you want more information.

prophets: In this context, prophets were people in the church to whom God gave a spiritual gift. This gift enabled the person to speak a message from God. Most commentators think that the prophets Paul was talking about were New Testament prophets rather than Old Testament prophets. (See Acts 13:1, Ephesians 3:5, Ephesians 4:11.)

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

spokesmen for God

men who speak God’s words

God’s message-speakers

See prophet in the Glossary for more information.

2:20b

with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

And Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone.
And Christ Jesus himself is like the main stone support for the house.

cornerstone: The Greek word the BSB translates as cornerstone was the largest and most important stone in the building. It was a large stone placed in the corner of the foundation. It made the building solid and helped hold the foundation and walls together.

If your readers will not understand a word like cornerstone, you may need to use a word for the most important part of your buildings. For example:

the most important stone (CEV)

the central post of the house

Parallel EPH 2:20

Section 2:11–22: God has united Jews and non-Jews through Christ

Paragraph 2:19–22

2:20–22

2:20a

2:20b