Charles Ellicott Commentary Ephesians 2:1

"And you [did he make alive,] when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins," — Ephesians 2:1 (ASV)

And you hath he quickened.—And you also. St. Paul here begins the particular application to the Ephesians, the main subject of this chapter, which was broken off in Ephesians 2:3-10 and resumed in Ephesians 2:11. The words “hath He quickened” (or, properly, did He quicken) are supplied here from Ephesians 2:5—rightly, as expressing the true sense and promoting greater clarity, but perhaps not necessarily.

Trespasses and sins.—These two words, more often used separately, are here brought together to form a climax. The word rendered “trespass” signifies a “swerving aside and falling”; the word rendered “sins” is generally used by St. Paul in the singular to denote “sin” in the abstract, and signifies an entire “missing of the mark” of life. Hence, even in the plural, the term “sins” denotes universal and positive principles of evildoing, while “trespass” rather points to failure in visible and specific acts by those not necessarily out of the right way.