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Ephesians 2:17
ESV And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.
NIV He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
NASB And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
CSB He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
NLT He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near.
KJV And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.

What does Ephesians 2:17 mean?

Jesus is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), and He explicitly preached peace (John 14:27; Matthew 5:9). Notice, too, Paul's reminder that Jesus "came" to earth. He had eternally existed prior to coming to earth (John 1:1–3), yet came to offer peace to all people, Jews and Gentiles. He offered peace both to the "distant" Gentiles, as well as to the "nearby" Jewish nation. Through the apostles and early believers, Jesus offered peace to those in Israel as well as to those "far off" in realms well beyond the Promised Land (Acts 1:8).

God has always been concerned for people beyond just the nation of Israel. Examples from Jonah (God's concern for Nineveh), Daniel (the Babylonians), and Jesus Himself reveal that God's love extends to all who believe in Him. Thanks to the cross of Christ, all people have the same access to God. This message was to be spread to all nations or people groups (Matthew 28:19–20), something already taking place during Paul's ministry to Ephesus and beyond.
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