Eadie on Ephesians

I recognize that Eadie is a somewhat (1883) dated commentary.  Nevertheless, I find that his interaction with the Greek text is extensive.

While reading his comments on 2:1, I came across this gem.

The ‘trespasses and sins’ do not merely indicate the cause of death, as Zanchius, Meier, Ellicott, and Harless maintain, but they are descriptive also of the state of death.  They represent not simply the instrument, but at the same time the condition of death.  The dative may signify sphere….The very illustration used by Alford, ‘sick in fever,’ represents a condition, while it points to a cause.  Sin has killed men, and they remain in that dead state, which is a criminal one.

This idea is supported by the fact that verse two continues to say that we once walked according to the age of the world and the prince of the age.  Not only has sin brought about death, it is also the characteristic of our spiritual state.

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