2:17a

preached peace: The word preached means publicly told or announced a message.

peace: The word peace here has a more general meaning than in 2:14–15. In this context it refers to the message of salvation. Christ came into the world and preached that there is now peace between man and God. Some English versions make this association with the message of salvation explicit.

Here are some other ways to translate the phrase “preached peace”:

So Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all (Good News Translation)
-or-
He brought this Good News of peace to you (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
He announced that his death would do away with that hostility/hatred between the two

you who were far away: The pronoun you refers to the Ephesians who were Gentiles. This is stating their condition before they believed in Christ.

far away: As in 2:13a–b, the phrase far away is a figure of speech that means that they were “far away ⌊from God⌋.” They did not have a close relationship with God.

If this figure of speech is not clear in your language, you may want to use different words, such as:

you who had no relationship with God
-or-
you who were spiritually separated from God

See how you translated far away in 2:13a–b.

2:17b

peace: The Greek text repeats the word peace in 2:17a and 2:17b. If it is not natural to repeat this word in your language, here is a way you can translate this:

Christ came and preached peace to you who were far away from God, and to those who were near to God. (New Century Version)

to those who were near: The phrase those who were near refers to the Jews. Since Paul was also a Jew, it is possible to translate this clause using a first person plural pronoun (us). For example:

to us ⌊Jews⌋ who were near

near: The word near (like the expression “far away” in 2:17a) is a figure of speech here. The Jews were near to God because they had a special relationship with him. He had chosen them to be his special people. It does not mean that they were physically near or close to God.

If this figure of speech is not clear in your language, you may want to use different words, such as:

those people who had a close relationship with him
-or-
the ⌊Jews⌋ who are his chosen/special people

Here is another way to translate 2:17:

To you non-Jews who are far and to you Jews who are near, he came and said this, “Live in peace ⌊together⌋.”

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