Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ephesians 4:16

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

16. from whom ] He is the vital Source to which the whole complex organism now to be described wholly owes alike its existence and its action.

fitly joined together ] The Gr. participle is present, and indicates a process going on. The Body, vitalized from and by the Head, is evermore acquiring a deeper and truer contact of part with part, a more harmonious (“ fitly ”) inner union and action. See above on Eph 2:21, where the same Gr. word occurs.

compacted ] Again a present participle. (The same word recurs Col 2:19.) The idea of growth in harmony of structure (see last note) here merges into that of growth in solidity and strength.

by that which every joint supplieth ] Lit., by or through every joint of the supply. It is possible to render “by every contact of the supply”; i.e., as explained by St Chrysostom here, “as the Spirit touches, in order to supply grace, each limb of the Body”; or, perhaps, as each limb, each believer, touches (by faith) the source of supply. But the parallel passage Col 2:19 is decisive for the explanation “joint.” So the Latin Versions, junctura. The thought is of “supply” passing to the limbs through the nexus of each with the source of life. Each such nexus is thus a “joint of supply,” “a junction designed for, made for, conveyance” of life and power; as we speak of “a bond of union.” The metaphor must not be elaborately pressed. The essential idea is mutual coherence and common growth of the limbs through individual connexion with the Head (1Co 6:17), not through connexion with other limbs. The “joint” thus represents the man’s spiritual union with Christ, not union with church-organization, which is a thing, however sacred, of another order. The life-flow from the Head to each spiritual Limb is individual and direct. The product of this, not the cause or means of it, is the life of the Body.

according to the effectual working ] Better, simply, [the] working. The process in view takes place “according to,” in the manner and on the scale of, the life-power of the Head acting in the Limb. The original noun (whence our “energy” is derived) occurs in N. T. only in St Paul; Eph 1:19; Eph 3:7 (where see note), and here; Php 3:21; Col 1:29; Col 2:12 ; 2Th 2:9 (of the working of the Evil Power). The article is omitted before the word here, perhaps because the power referred to is unmistakable. Alford renders “according to vital working.”

in the measure of every part ] Each limb has its own conditions of larger or smaller capacity; age, circumstances, training, and the like occasion very various “measures” in the allotments of the Divine life-power which adjusts itself to each real need, while it can always fully meet that need.

maketh ] The form of the Gr. verb (middle) indicates fulness and intensity of action.

increase ] Lit., the increase, the growth contemplated as taking place.

unto the edifying of itself ] For illustration, see Eph 2:21, and notes.

in love ] The inmost condition of the whole process. All takes place “in,” under the power and after the action of, “love”; for the Source of the life-energy is “the Son of the Father’s love” (Col 1:13, Gr.), and the recipients are “rooted and grounded in the love” of the Father in Him (see above on Eph 3:17); from which “no created thing shall separate them” (Rom 8:39).

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

From whom the whole body – The church, compared with the human body. The idea is, that as the head in the human frame conveys vital influence, rigor, motion, etc., to every part of the body; so Christ is the source of life, and rigor, and energy, and increase to the church. The sense is, The whole human body is admirably arranged for growth and rigor. Every member and joint contribute to its healthful and harmonious action. One part lends vigor and beauty to another, so that the whole is finely proportioned and admirably sustained. All depend on the head with reference to the most important functions of life, and all derive their vigor from that. So it is in the church. It is as well arranged for growth and vigor as the body is. It is as beautifully organized in its various members and officers as the body is. Everything is designed to he in its proper place, and nothing by the divine arrangement is lacking in its organization, to its perfection. Its officers and its members are, in their places, what the various parts of the body are with reference to the human frame. The church depends on Christ, as the head, to sustain, invigorate, and guide it, as the body is dependent on the head See this figure carried out to greater length in 1Co 12:12-26.

Fitly joined together – The body, whose members are properly united so as to produce the most beauty and vigor. Each member is in the best place, and is properly united to the other members. Let anyone read Paleys Natural Theology, or any work on anatomy, and he will find innumerable instances of the truth of this remark; not only in the proper adjustment and placing of the members, but in the manner in which it is united to the other parts of the body. The foot, for instance, is in its proper place. It should not be where the head or the hand is. The eye is in its proper place. It should not be in the knee or the heel. The mouth, the tongue, the teeth, the lungs, the heart, are in their proper places. No other places would answer the purpose so well. The brain is in its proper place. Anywhere else in the body, it would be subject to compressions and injuries which would soon destroy life. And these parts are as admirably united to file other parts of the body, as they are admirably located. Let anyone examine, for instance, the tendons, nerves, muscles, and bones, by which the foot is secured to the body, and by which easy and graceful motion is obtained, and he will be satisfied of the wisdom by which the body is joined together. How far the knowledge of the apostle extended on this point, we have not the means of ascertaining; but all the investigations of anatomists only serve to give increased beauty and force to the general terms which he uses here. All that he says here of the human frame is strictly accurate, and is such language as may be used by an anatomist now, The word which is used here ( sunarmologeo) means properly to sew together; to fit together; to unite, to make one. It is applied often to musicians, who produce harmony of various parts of music. Passow. The idea of harmony, or appropriate union, is that in the word.

And compacted – sumbibazomenon. Tyndale renders this, knit together in every joint. The word properly means, to make to come together; to join or knit together. It means here that the different parts of the body are united and sustained in this manner.

By that which every joint supplieth – Literally, through every joint of supply; that is, which affords or ministers mutual aid. The word joint hero – haphe – (from hapto to fit) – means anything which binds, fastens, secures; find does not refer to the joint in the sense in which we commonly use it, as denoting the articulation of the limbs, or the joining of two or more bones; but rather that which unites or fastens together the different parts of the frame – the blood vessels, cords, tendons, and muscles. The meaning is, that every such means of connecting one part of the body with another ministers nourishment, and that thus the body is sustained. One part is dependent on another; one part derives nourishment from another; and thus all become mutually useful as contributing to the support and harmony of the whole. Thus, it furnishes an illustration of the connection in the members of the church, and of the aid which one can render to another.

According to the effectual working – Greek, According to the energy in the measure of each one part. Tyndale, According to the operation as every part has its measure. The meaning is, that each part contributes to the production of the whole result, or labors for this. This is in proportion to the measure of each part; that is, in proportion to its power. Every part labors to produce the great result. No one is idle; none is useless. But, none are overtaxed or overworked. The support demanded and furnished by every part is in exact proportion to its strength. This is a beautiful account of the anatomy of the human frame.

(1) Nothing is useless. Every part contributes to the general result – the health, and beauty, and vigor of the system. Not a muscle is useless; not a nerve, not an artery, not a vein. All are employed, and all have an important place, and all contribute something to the health and beauty of the whole. So numerous are the bloodvessels, that you cannot perforate the skin anywhere without piercing one; so numerous are the pores of the skin, that a grain of sand will cover thousands of them; so minute the ramifications of the nerves, that wherever the point of a needle penetrates, we feel it; and so numerous the absorbents, that million of them are employed in taking up the chyme of the food, and conveying it to the veins. And yet all are employed – all are useful – all minister life and strength to the whole.

(2) None are overtaxed. They all work according to the measure of their strength. Nothing is required of the minutest nerve or blood-vessel which it is not suited to perform; and it will work on for years without exhaustion or decay. So of the church. There is no member so obscure and feeble that he may not contribute something to the welfare of the whole; and no one is required to labor beyond his strength in order to secure the great object. Each one in his place, and laboring as he should there, will contribute to the general strength and welfare; out of his place – like nerves and arteries out of their place, and crossing and recrossing others – he will only embarrass the whole, and disarrange the harmony of the system.

Maketh increase of the body – The body grows in this manner.

Unto the edifying of itself – To building itself up that is, it grows up to a complete stature.

In love – In mutual harmony. This refers to the body. The meaning is that it seems to be made on the principle of love. There is no jar, no collision, no disturbance of one part with another. A great number of parts, composed of different substances, and with different functions – bones, and nerves, and muscles, and blood-vessels – are united in one, and live together without collision; and so it should be in the church. Learn, hence:

(1) That no member of the church need be useless, anymore than a minute nerve or blood-vessel in the body need be useless. No matter how obscure the individual may be, he may contribute to the harmony and vigor of the whole,

(2) Every member of the church should contribute something to the prosperity of the whole. He should no more be idle and unemployed than a nerve or a blood-vessel should be in the human system. What would be the effect if the minutest nerves and arteries of the body should refuse to perform their office?. Langour, disease, and death. So it is in the church. The obscurest member may do something to destroy the healthful action of the church, and to make its piety languish and die.

(3) There should be union in the church. It is made up of materials which differ much from each other, as the body is made up of bones, and nerves, and muscles. Yet, in the body these are united; and so it should be in the church. There need be no more jarring in the church than in the body; and a jar in the church produces the same effect as would be produced in the body if the nerves and muscles should resist the action of each other, or as if one should be out of its place, and impede the healthful functions of the other.

(4) Every member in the church should keep his place, just as every bone, and nerve, and muscle in the human frame should. Every member of the body should be in its right position; the heart, the lungs, the eye, the tongue, should occupy their right place; and every nerve in the system should be laid down just where it is designed to be. If so, all is well If not so, all is deformity, or disorder; just as it, is often in the church.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Eph 4:16

From whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

The Church is one body of different parts

I. The Church is a unit body. It is not meant to convey the idea that the Church is in any way a material and tangible body, presented to the senses like material substance generally. It is not a body of any earthly form and figure. Our common conception of a body is a combination of particles constituting certain qualities and forces. We understand the spiritual through the analogies and symbols of the material and earthly. The Church is a holy combination of all spiritual powers and sympathies meeting in one centre and end, proceeding from the nature of Divine law and order, the relation of moral beings to one another, and the relation in which all stand to God, the spiritual Father and wise Ruler of the universe. This is the Church in its highest and purest form; it is the Church in the body of its principles, and the sympathies of its heart.

1. The unity of the Church consists in its design and service.

2. It is a unity of sympathy.

3. It is a unity of privilege.

4. It is one in relation. The Church stands related to its source and Head, to Divine order, to all intelligent beings, to itself and all belonging to its laws and blessings, to this world and the next. These are relations of privilege and responsibility, of honour and duty.

5. It is one in life and spirit.

6. It is one in likeness. The Church, as the product of one mind, carries the same Divine image everywhere, both in its laws and members. It is intended to mould the human family into the Divine likeness.

II. The Church, as one body, possesses various parts and fit organs to perform its work and conserve its existence. It is not one clumsy mechanical piece, without either parts or joints, but a body of numerous organs for the accomplishment of different services. In its spiritual constitution it is a body of various elements, for the performance of high and gracious designs. In order that these various elements may have mediums of expression to reach their intended and fit end, there must be a befitting organization of parts and suitable quality.

1. The members of the body are intended to perform the required functions for the service of the body itself. The body has to serve itself before it can be useful to others. It is, in a sense, its own saviour or destroyer. The right use of its own functions and resources is its salvation; the rejection of this is its sure death and decay. There are some powers given for its protection, there are others for its growth and vigour; there are others for its comfort and happiness, and others, again, intended for its beauty and attraction. To have a perfect body, all these must do their own work, and cooperate for a common end; and to have a healthy and happy Church, all its functions must be active in doing their own work, and united together for one holy and high end.

2. The body has relations and duties to things besides itself. The body stands related, some way or other, to all the things of earth. All the works of this world depend upon the fitness of the members of the human body to do them; so that if these were to fail, all would stop. There could be no art without the mind and the senses; neither would there be commerce, building of houses, cultivation of the field, or any other work of any kind whatever. Such is the vast importance of the members of this small body, that all in life and society depend upon their order and efficiency. So is it in analogy with the Church; all in society morally depends upon the efficiency and the right use of its means and organs. All have their work. Unity of likeness and variety of work are the two things which demand and consume the service of the one and the whole. The head, the heart, and the hand of all have work, and that as much for their own sake as that of others; and all this diversity and force are for the needful and common service of the whole. To make these different organs complete and effective, you will see at once that there are other conditions required, which may be suggested as worthy of your respect and belief.

(1) It is needful that these organs should be in their proper position.

(2) Each organ must have its particular and proper work assigned to it.

(3) It is required that they are all regularly and faithfully exercised. Exercise is the soul of power; it is both the condition of health and usefulness.

(4) It is expected that there is a common sympathy between all the members of the body. They are coupled together. Harmony of parts in a machine, of members in the human body, of functions in society, of powers in the mind, and of graces in the soul, are analogous one to another, and are equally necessary for happy working and successful results. Sympathy in the members of the body is expressed by mutual cooperation and assistance, by subordination to and respect for one another, and constant assisting and forbearing with one another. As with the body corporeal, so is it intended to be in the body spiritual. The strongest must sympathize with the weak. Extremes are intended to meet, and do meet, in harmony here.

(5) The body must have elasticity, to act with ease, comfort, and effect. The body is not made in one piece, but of different parts. Between these there is unity, and yet there is elasticity, so that everyone can play its own part without inconvenience to itself or encumbrance to its neighbour.

(6) All are governed by one will and intelligence. The members of the body, though various and numerous, are governed by one rational will, hence their unity in operation and subject. The Church, in all its members and functions, is governed by one constant and unfailing will, and this is one source of its power and unity. Only one will governing all, through all time and in all places, and that the one and the whole! What a thought!–what a comfort!

(7) It is requisite that there should be life underlying the whole.

III. All the parts in the organization of the body abe subordinate, and intended for the increase of the whole.

1. It is to be a general and complete increase of the whole body. In order to have a well-developed and equally proportionate Church, all means must be used, all functions must be exercised; thus every part is developed, so that it becomes a true counterpart of real existence, and fit for all intended for it, and demanded of it.

2. It is a conditional increase, produced by the use of means. To secure the increase of the whole body, the law of the conditions demands that all means should be used, all powers exercised, the spirit one of faith and love, the motive true and unselfish, and the activity constant and unyielding. God gives increase according to law and order; and when these things are united, never does it fail. When our life unites with Divine order, happy results always follow, and never disappoint us.

3. It is an indefinite increase. There is neither limit nor end prescribed to it. It runs down through time and eternity; it pervades the universe of rational and responsible existence.

4. The soil and quality of the increase is love. Increase in love is one towards ourselves stud the object or objects of our desire and delight at the same time. As love is the refining power of the soul, to increase in it is to advance in all that is morally pure and beautiful. It is the sweet element of happiness, and he who grows in it increases in the thing all wish and all seek. It is one of the chief elements in which we become like God, for He is love.

IV. The Church, as a body of parts, is dependent upon its representative head for its order and resources.

1. Its laws and resources are from Him. The laws given by the Head to the Church are few and natural, proceeding from the unchangeable relations of man to man, and man to God. Love to God and love to man are the great moral laws which remain in the Church forever, without declension or change, because they are essential to the relations of moral beings, and the moral universe could not exist without them.

2. From Him it receives its symmetrical proportion and harmony. The symmetry of the Church is the harmony of all its parts with themselves, with the Divine economy of the universe, and with itself, in all times and places. This three-fold symmetry it receives from its glorious Head, who is one and unchangeable.

3. From Him it receives its oneness. This gives the Church, through all times and places, unity of purpose and character. Its oneness is not in its feet, but in its Head.

4. From Him it receives light and life. As life and light are elements in importance and value above all others, so is Christ to the Church. As He is made by God the representative Head, He is made its light and life.

5. From Him it receives its beauty and attraction. A deformed head would destroy every possible beauty and attraction of the whole body. A noble head gives beauty and nobility to the whole. We look first at the head; we form our opinion of the whole from the character of the head. In its outward form the Church may appear mean and unattractive in some of its members, but the Head makes up for the whole. The Head is never out of sight; it is visible to all from all its members.

6. Its magnitude and universality are received from the Head. His greatness becomes that of the Church, by virtue of the relation existing between them. Where the Head is, the Church is represented. In the Head, the Church of earth and heaven are united; the spirit of the Head unites the present with the future, and thus gives to the Church universality in time and space.

7. The Church is indebted for its hope and high destiny to its Head. The Head lives for the body. The exaltation of the Head will be that of the body also. The Head is above all human reach; and, in connection with its Head, the body will triumph over all foes and opposition. (T. Hughes.)

Mutual dependence

I. Observe, in the first place, that all the true members of Christ are entirely dependent on Christ. Independence is the great principle of our corrupt nature–that sinful independence, that would lead the creature not to acknowledge its entire dependence on God. But let me say to such that hear me, be assured of this; the soul in that state Never can enter the kingdom of heaven.

II. But observe now, that the members of Christ are not only dependent on Christ, but they are dependent upon each other. Look at a tree; is it not so? I see the branch dependent upon its stem, as the stem is dependent upon its root; but I see little branches dependent upon the other branches, and still smaller fibres dependent upon the smallest branches. And so is it in this figure before us: from whom the whole body, in its parts fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.

III. And now consider the great object and end, for which all this takes place. It maketh increase of the body. That is, the whole body in its parts maketh increase of the body as a whole. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)

Christian work and Christian life

Christian life in the truest sense is impossible apart from Christian activity. In other words, in the Church everyone has something to do.

I. There must be a hearty conviction that because we can therefore we ought to do so. Power, you know, is a talent down to its uttermost limit, and as long as there is something which every joint can supply, alas for that joints health and life, if it fails of its function. A Christian that does no Christian work, is an anomaly. Analogy teaches this. Nature is not receptive only: nature is a bountiful giver; rendering back again, thirty, sixty, and a hundred fold, that which man entrusts to her keeping. Social life teaches the same doctrine. We cannot, if we would, do without one another.

II. All Christians have not the same work to do. Every joint is to supply something, but every joint is not to supply the same thing. It is to be according to the measure of every part. There is something to be done by all of us; but our work varies with our position in life. (W. G. Barrett.)

An honourable vocation for all

Very little are some of the joints and fibres; but every little helps. Who shall despise the day of small things? But for the accumulated atoms, the aggregated littles, where were the body? As the author of Felix Holt says, we see human heroism broken into units, and are apt to imagine, this unit did little–might as well not have been. But in this way we might break up a great army into units; in this way we might break the sunlight into fragments, and think that this and the other might be cheaply parted with. There is a latter day apologue of a gimlet that grew exceedingly discontented with its vocation, envying all the ether tools in the carpenters basket, and thinking scorn of its own mean duty of perpetually boring and picking holes everywhere. The saw and the axe had grand work to do; and the plane got praise always; so did the chisel for its carving; and the happy hammer was always ringing merrily upon the clenching nail. But for it, a wretched, poking, paltry, gimlet its work was hidden away, and very little seemed its recognized use. But the gimlet is assured, on the best authority, that nothing could compensate for its absence, and is therefore bidden be content, nay happy; for though its work seems mean and secret, it is indispensable. To its good offices, the workman is said to look chiefly for coherence without splitting; and to its quiet influences, the neatness, the solidity, the comfort of his structure may greatly be ascribed. The apologue has, of course, its practical application. Are there not many pining gimlets in society, ambitious of the honour given to the greater-seeming tools of our Architect, but unconscious that in His hands they are quite as useful? The loving little child, the gentle woman, the patience of many a moral martyr, the diligence of many a duteous drudge, though their works may be unseen and their virtues operate in obscurity, yet are these main helpers to the very joints and bands of our body corporate, the quiet home influences whereby the great edifice, Society, is so nicely wainscoted and floored without split boards John Newton said that if two angels came down from heaven to execute a Divine command, and one was appointed to conduct an empire, and the other to sweep street in it, they would feel no inclination to change employments. So again, the same robust divine affirmed that a Christian should never plead spirituality for being a sloven; if he be but a shoe cleaner, he should be the best in the parish. As the old servant tells Ruth in Mrs. Gaskells story, Theres a right and a wrong way of setting about everything–and to my thinking, the right way is to take a thing up heartily, if it is only making a bed. Why, dear, ah me! making a bed may be done after a Christian fashion, I take it, or else whats to come of such as we in heaven, whove had little enough time on earth for clapping ourselves down on our knees for set prayers? This quaint speaker had laid to heart the lesson once for all enforced upon her, to do her duty in that state of life to which it had pleased God to call her; her station was that of a servant, and, looked at aright, as honourable as a kings: she was to help and serve others in one way, just as a king is in another. Her parting counsel to Ruth runs thus: Just try for a day to think of all the odd jobs as to be done well and truly in Gods sight, not just slurred over anyhow, and youll go through them twice as cheerfully, besides doing them more efficiently. John Brown, of Haddingten, being waited on by a lad of excitable temperament, who informed him of his desire to become a preacher, and whom the shrewd pastor saw to be as weak in intellect as he was strong in conceit, advised him to continue in his present vocation. The young man said, But I wish to preach and glorify God. The old commentator replied, My young friend, a man may glorify God making broom besoms; stick to your trade, and glorify God by your life and conversation. As it was said of Bossuet, in the seventeenth century, that he could not walk, or sit down, or even pluck a currant, without your recognizing in him the great bishop (so asserts a modern French divine, not of Bossuets Church), just so the workman and the domestic servant who are animated by their Masters spirit, distinguish themselves among their fellows by a certain air of nobility; under their blouse or their livery may be seen to shine the signal light of their aristocratic spirituelle, the image of the Most High Himself. However mean their employment, they go about it with neither disgust nor indifference; but with an intelligent interest, because, in the sight of God, and indeed in their own eyes, their occupation is on a level with that of king or emperor. (Francis Jacox.)

The Church edifying itself in love

I. The church of Christ is compared to a body.

1. The life of a body.

2. Its head.

3. The members.

4. Their unity.

5. Its nourishment.

6. The soul.

II. The imperfections of this body.

1. Its numbers.

2. Its graces.

III. The endeavours it should make for its own edifying.

IV. The fact that the more love abounds, the more will it be edified. Love–

1. Enlarges supplication.

2. Inclines to peace.

3. Produces condescension.

4. Promotes activity. (N. Vincent, M. A.)

The Church, Christs Body, a growing body

Concerning this growth, the apostle says–

I. It is from Christ. He is the causal source from which all life and power is derived.

II. It depends on the intimate union of all the parts of the body with the head, by means of appropriate bands.

III. It is symmetrical.

IV. It is a growth in love. (Dr. Hodge.)

The Body of Christ

The figure in the mind of the apostle is that of a human body, in its unity, in its symmetry, in its structural completeness, its framework of bones shielding the brain, shielding the eye, sheathing the life marrow in the spinal column; in the legs supporting the frame as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold, the whole wrapped in an enswathement of closely-knit, cunningly-knit muscles, ramified with countless nerves, furnished with eyes, ears, hands, feet, and all the rest:–The whole body fitly, etc. This is the object before the eye of the apostle as he writes of the body that grows out of Christ.

I. As a body the Church possesses visibility. For about thirty-three years, more or less, God manifest in the flesh was visible to the eyes of the world. Indeed, for that last twelvemonth of His life on earth it may be said that Palestine saw little else. Tabor in its bold isolation, Hermon with his glittering crown of snow, even Jerusalem itself, was hardly so obtrusively visible as this great, strange personage. And louder, gladder doxology never rolled up from earth to heaven than that of the whole orchestra of priests, Levites, scribes, and Pharisees, Sanhedrim, and synagogue when the body of Jesus disappeared from human view. They never for a moment questioned that this was the end all of the whole perplexity. Little did they dream that the withdrawal of this body only made way for another a thousand times more visible. It is time long ago that men understood and recognized this truth. They suppose that Christ is a purely historic Christ, while in fact He is a contemporary Christ. They fancy that the Body of the great Nazarene Reformer is gone forever from sight and time; while, in fact, the Church is His Body now visible to the eyes of millions. As a body, the Church of Christ is visible. Should the thought arise that the Church as a whole includes vast numbers of members who are not visible–that here and there in the world are members of the Body of whom the world knows nothing–we answer, Yes, and only part of the human body is visible. We do not see the lungs and the heart and the nerves and the blood, and yet the body is visible, and so is the Church, which is the Body of Christ.

II. As a body, the Church consists of a great variety of component parts. The constituents of a human body are very numerous, very various; and these constituents find their way to the body from every quarter of the globe. The whole round world has been laid under contribution to make up the body in which you live, move, and have your being. And is not this true of the Church which is the Body of Christ? Not a variety of temperament, not a grade of intellect, not a style of social life but has contributed to the building up of this Body of Christ. In that Body we find the learned professor, and by his side the child of illiteracy; the scientist discoursing of the plants, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that groweth out of the wall, of beasts, birds, and fishes, of meteors and stars, of Orion and Pleiades, and by his side one who hardly knows that the earth is round, and is right sure of very little else than that he is a poor lost sinner, and that Christ died to save him. One member of this Body dwells among Greenlands icy mountains, another on Indias coral strand; one wears the black skin of the African, another the red skin of the American Indian; one the yellow skin of the Chinese, and another the tawny skin of the Malay; another still the white skin of the Caucasian; but all alike are members of the Body of Christ.

III. As a body, the Church is also characterized by a compact organic unity. It is a body fitly framed together, etc. This unity is a unity of Life and Spirit. The vital force that gives life to, warms, propels, acts in each believer, issues from Christ. From whom, etc. In a vine, however large, the same life is in every leaf and every branch, every tendril and every grape. In the whole vine there is perfect unity of life, and that life is the one vine life. This is seen in the similarity of fruit the vine produces. On the same vine you do not find here the Malaga grape, there the Catawba, and here the Isabella; but on every branch the same fruit; for they are all the product of one life. But Jesus said, I am the vine, etc. If any leaf on the vine can say such a life dwells in me, every other leaf can say the same.

1. The Church is the Body of Christ–it is His head, His brain–an organ of thought to Him. Whatever is lofty, pure, noble in the conception of the Church, in the conceptions of the believer, is due to the Spirit of Christ acting through the mind of the Church.

2. The Church is the eyes of Christ (Mat 9:36). The Jews thought that on Calvary those pitying eyes forever closed in death. Today, after so many centuries, Jesus looks abroad through a hundred millions of compassionate eyes upon the children of men scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd.

3. The Church is the feet of Jesus. How restless were those feet (Mat 9:35). And today the Church, His Body, is going about all the cities and villages, etc.

4. And the Church is the hands of Jesus. How blessed the relation of membership in this Body of Christ, His work employing our thought, our eyes, our hands, our feet, our lips!

This being so, two consequences follow.

1. No member of this Body must do anything that Jesus would not have done when He was on the earth.

2. Every member of this Body of Christ must be ready, willing, anxious to do what Jesus would do in his, in her place. (William P. Breed, D. D.)

The vitality and development of the body

The figure is a striking one. The body derives its vitality and power of development from the head. The Church has a living connection with its living Head, and were such a union dissolved, spiritual death would be the immediate result. The body is fitly framed together, and compacted by the functional assistance of the joints. Its various members are not in isolation, like the several pieces of a marble statue. No portion is superfluous; each is in its fittest place, and the position and relations of none could be altered without positive injury. Fearfully and wonderfully made, it has its hard framework of bone so formed as to protect its vital organs in the thorax and skull, and yet so united by curiously wrought joints, as to possess freedom of motion both in its vertebral column and limbs. But it is no ghastly and repulsive skeleton, for it is clothed with flesh and fibre, which are fed from ubiquitous vessels, and interpenetrated with nerves–the spirits own sensational agents and messengers. It is a mechanism in which all is so finely adjusted, that every part helps and is helped, strengthens and is strengthened, the invisible action of the pores being as indispensable as the mass of the brain and the pulsations of the heart. When the commissioned nerve moves the muscle, the hand and foot need the vision to guide them, and the eye, therefore, occupies the elevated position of a sentinel. How this figure is applicable to the Church may be seen under a different image at 2:21. The Church enjoys a similar compacted organization–all about her, in doctrine, discipline, ordinance, and enterprize, possessing mutual adaptation, and showing harmony of structure. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

The growth of the body

The body maketh increase of itself according to the energy which is distributed, not only through it, but to every part in its own proportion. Corporeal growth is not effected by additions from without. The body itself elaborates the materials of its own development. Its stomach digests the food, and the numerous absorbents extract and assimilate its nourishment. It grows, each part according to its nature and uses. The head does not swell into the dimensions of the trunk, nor does the little finger become thicker than the loins. Each has the size that adapts it to its uses, and brings it into symmetry with the entire living organism. And every part grows. The sculptor works upon a portion only of the block at a time, and, with laborious efforts, brings out in slow succession the likeness of a feature or a limb, till the statue assume its intended aspect and attitude. But the plastic energy of nature presents no such graduated forms of operation, and needs no supplement of previous defects. Even in embryo the organization is perfect, though it is in miniature, and development only is required. For the energy is in every part at once, but in every part in due apportionment. So the Church universal has in it a Divine energy, and that in all its parts, by which its spiritual development is secured. In pastors and people, in missionaries and catechists, in instructors of youth and in the youth themselves, this Divine principle has diffused itself, and produces everywhere proportionate advancement. And no member or ordinance is superfluous. The widows mite was commended by Him who sat over against the treasury. Solomon built a temple. Joseph provided a tomb. Mary the mother gave birth to the Child, and the other Marys wrapt the Corpse in spices. Lydia entertained the apostle, and Phoebe carried an Epistle. Of old the princes and heroes went to the field, and wise-hearted women did spin. While Joshua fought, Moses prayed. The snuffers and trays were as necessary as the magnificent lamp stand. The rustic style of Amos, the herdsman, has its place in Scripture as well as the graceful paragraphs of the royal preacher. A basket was as necessary for Pauls safety at one time as his burgess ticket, and a squadron of cavalry at another. And the result is, that the Church is built up, for love is the element of spiritual progress. That love fills the renewed nature, and possesses peculiar facilities of action in edifying the mystical Body of Christ. And, lastly, the figure is intimately connected with the leading idea of the preceding paragraph, and presents a final argument on behalf of the unity of the Church. The apostle speaks of but one Body–the whole Body. Whatever parts it may have, whatever their form, uses, and position, whatever the amount of energy resident in them, still, from their connection with the one living Head, and from their own compacted union and mutual adjustment, they compose but one structure in love. (J. Eadie, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 16. From whom the whole body] Dr. Macknight has a just view of this passage, and I cannot express my own in more suitable terms: “The apostle’s meaning is, that, as the human body is formed by the union of all the members to each other, under the head, and by the fitness of each member for its own office and place in the body, so the Church is formed by the union of its members under Christ, the head. Farther, as the human body increases till it arrives at maturity by the energy of every part in performing its proper function, and by the sympathy of every part with the whole, so the body or Church of Christ grows to maturity by the proper exercise of the gifts and graces of individuals for the benefit of the whole.”

This verse is another proof of the wisdom and learning of the apostle. Not only the general ideas here are anatomical, but the whole phraseology is the same. The articulation of the bones, the composition and action of the muscles, the circulation of the fluids, carrying nourishment to every part, and depositing some in every place, the energy of the system in keeping up all the functions, being particularly introduced, and the whole terminating in the general process of nutrition, increasing the body, and supplying all the waste that had taken place in consequence of labour, &c. Let any medical man, who understands the apostle’s language, take up this verse, and he will be convinced that the apostle had all these things in view. I am surprised that some of those who have looked for the discoveries of the moderns among the ancients, have not brought in the apostle’s word , supply, from , to lead up, lead along, minister, supply, &c., as some proof that the circulation of the blood was not unknown to St. Paul!

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

From whom; Christ the Head, Eph 4:15.

The whole body; the mystical body, or church of believers, whereof every true saint is a member, Rom 12:4,5.

Fitly joined together; viz. in the right place and order, both in respect of Christ the Head, and of the members respectively. Some are eyes, some ears, some hands, some feet, 1Co 12:15,16.

And compacted; firmly knit, so as not to be separated.

By that which every joint supplieth; or, by every joint or juncture of administration; i.e. whose office is to administer spirits and nourishment to the body. Bands are added to joints, Col 2:19, which signifies the ligaments by which the joints are tied one to another, as well as the joints in which they touch.

Question. What are those joints and bands in the mystical body?

Answer. Every thing whereby believers are joined to Christ, or to each other as Christians; especially the Spirit of Christ, which is the same in the Head and all the members; the gifts of the Spirit, chiefly faith, whereby they are united to Christ, and love, whereby they are knit to each other; the sacraments, likewise, church officers, Eph 4:11, &c.

According to the effectual working; either the power of Christ, who, as a Head, influenceth and enliveneth every member; or the effectual working of every member, in communicating to others the gifts it hath received.

In the measure of every part; according to the state, condition, and exigence of every part, nourishment is conveyed to it meet for it; yet more to one and less to another, according as more is required for one and less for the other, and so to all in their proportion. Or else as each part hath received, so it communicates to others; all have their use and helpfulness to others, but not all alike, or in the same degree.

Maketh increase of the body: either body here redounds by a Hebraism, and the sense is, the body (mentioned in the beginning of the verse) maketh increase of itself; or, without that redundancy, increase of the body is an increase meet and convenient for the body.

Unto the edifying of itself: the apostle here changeth the metaphor from that of a body to this of a house, but to the same sense, and shows the end of this nourishment they ministered from one member to another, viz. not its own private good, but the good of the whole body, for the benefit of which each part receives its gifts from Christ the Head.

In love; either by the offices of love, or it denotes the impulsive cause, whereby the members are moved thus to promote the common increase of the body, viz. love to the Head and each other.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

16. (Col2:19).

fitly joined together“beingfitly framed together,” as in Eph2:21; all the parts being in their proper position, and in mutualrelation.

compactedimplying firmconsolidation.

by that which every jointsuppliethGreek, “by means of every joint of thesupply”; joined with “maketh increase of the body,”not with “compacted.” “By every ministering(supplying) joint.” The joints are the points of union where thesupply passes to the different members, furnishing the body with thematerials of its growth.

effectual working(Eph 1:19; Eph 3:7).According to the effectual working of grace in each member (orelse, rather, “according to each several member’s working“),proportioned to the measure of its need of supply.

every partGreek,“each one part”; each individual part.

maketh increaseTranslate,as the Greek is the same as Eph4:15, “maketh (carrieth on) the growth of the body.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

From whom the whole body fitly joined gether,…. By which is meant, the church; see Eph 1:23 sometimes it designs all the elect of God in heaven and in earth, but here the church militant, which only can admit of an increase; this body is from Christ, as an head, and the phrase denotes the rise and origin of the church from Christ, her dependence upon him, and union to him, and of its members one to another; she has her being and form, from him, and all her blessings, as her life and light, righteousness and holiness, her grace and strength, her joy, peace, and comfort, her fruitfulness and final perseverance; and her dependence is upon him for subsistence, sustenance, protection and safety, and for grace and glory; and her union to him is very near, strict and close, and indissoluble; and the union between the several members is also very close, and both are very beautiful:

and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. The Alexandrian copy reads, “of every member”; and so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions; the author of the union of the members of Christ’s body to one another is the Spirit of God, by him they are baptized into one body; the cement or bond of this union is the grace of love wrought in their souls by him; and the means are the word and ordinances, and these convey a supply from Christ the head to every member, suitable to the part it bears in the body, according to the energy of the Spirit, who makes all effectual: and so

maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love; the increase of the body the church, is either in numbers, when persons are converted and added to it; or in the exercise of grace, under the influence of the Spirit, through the ministration of the word and ordinances; and both these tend to the edifying or building of it up; and nothing is of a more edifying nature to the church than love, which bears the infirmities of the weak, and seeks for, and follows after those things which make for peace and godly edification, 1Co 8:1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

From which ( ). Out of which as the source of energy and direction.

Fitly framed (). See 2:21 for this verb.

Through that which every joint supplieth ( ). Literally, “through every joint of the supply.” See Col 2:19 for and Php 1:19 for the late word (only two examples in N.T.) from , to supply (Col 2:19).

In due measure ( ). Just “in measure” in the Greek, but the assumption is that each part of the body functions properly in its own sphere.

Unto the building up of itself ( ). Modern knowledge of cell life in the human body greatly strengthens the force of Paul’s metaphor. This is the way the body grows by cooperation under the control of the head and all “in love” ( ).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Fitly joined – compacted [ – ] . The present participles denote present, continuous progress. The two participles represent respectively the ideas of harmony or adaptation and compactness or solidity. See on Act 9:22, and Col 2:2.

By that which every joint supplieth [ ] . Lit., through every joint of the supply. For joint, see on Col 2:19; for supply, see on 2Pe 1:5. The supply specifies it as peculiarly Christ ‘s. The phrase joint of the supply signifies joint whose office or purpose it is to supply. Construe with the two participles, as Col 2:19.

According to the working. Construe with maketh increase.

In the measure of every part. According as each part works in its own proper measure.

Maketh. Notice the peculiar phrase; the whole body maketh increase of the body. It is a living organism, and its growth is produced by vital power within itself.

In love. As the element in which the upbuilding takes place. Compare ch. 3 17 – 19.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1) “From whom the whole body” (eks ou pan to soma) “Out of whom the whole body (congregation),” church or assembly. From or “out of whom” Christ, the source of growth and fruitbearing, Joh 15:5.

2) “Fitly joined together” (sunarmologoumenon) Being fitted or knitted together,” actively, progressively by Jesus Christ, through the vice-gerency of the Holy Spirit, Eph 2:21-22; 1Co 6:19-20.

3) “And compacted by that which every join supplieth (kai sunbibazomenon dia pases aphes tes epichoregias) “And being brought together (in cohesion) through every bond of supply,” Col 2:19; Php_1:19.

4) “According to the effectual working in the measure of every part” (kat energion en metro enos eksstou merous) “According to the operation (an efficiency) in measure of each one apart,” or proportion, Eph 4:12; 1Co 12:12-13.

5) “Maketh increase of the body,” (ten auksesin tou somatos) “Makes the growth of the body (church assembly),” Gal 5:22; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 12:4-8.

6) “Unto the edifying of itself in love” (eis oikodomen heautou en agape) “With relationship to the building up itself in love,” Act 20:32.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

16. From whom the whole body. All our increase should tend to exalt more highly the glory of Christ. This is now proved by the best possible reason. It is he who supplies all our wants, and without whose protection we cannot be safe. As the root conveys sap to the whole tree, so all the vigor which we possess must flow to us from Christ. There are three things here which deserve our attention. The first is what has now been stated. All the life or health which is diffused through the members flows from the head; so that the members occupy a subordinate rank. The second is, that, by the distribution made, the limited share of each renders the communication between all the members absolutely necessary. The third is, that, without mutual love, the health of the body cannot be maintained. Through the members, as canals, is conveyed from the head all that is necessary for the nourishment of the body. While this connection is upheld, the body is alive and healthy. Each member, too, has its own proper share, — according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.

Lastly, he shows that by love the church is edified, — to the edifying of itself in love. This means that no increase is advantageous, which does not bear a just proportion to the whole body. That man is mistaken who desires his own separate growth. If a leg or arm should grow to a prodigious size, or the mouth be more fully distended, would the undue enlargement of those parts be otherwise than injurious to the whole frame? In like manner, if we wish to be considered members of Christ, let no man be anything for himself, but let us all be whatever we are for the benefit of each other. This is accomplished by love; and where it does not reign, there is no “edification,” but an absolute scattering of the church.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(16) From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted.The word rendered fitly joined together is the same used in Eph. 2:21, with more technical accuracy, of a buildingclamped or bonded together. Here the two words are applied to the union of the limbs of the body, as being jointed, and so brought into close contact. The latter word is used in Col. 2:19.

By that which every joint supplieth.A paraphrastic and inaccurate rendering. It should be, by every contact with the supply (of nutriment) from the head. The word employed has commonly the meaning of joint (as in the parallel passage, Col. 2:19), and is so used by Greek physiologists; but its original sense is abstractthe joining or touchingand this appears the simplest here. The supply (comp. Php. 1:19, the supply of the Spirit) is again almost a technical word for the abundant outflow of strength and nervous energy from the head. (The corresponding verb is used in 2Co. 9:10; Gal. 3:5; Col. 2:19; 2Pe. 1:5; 2Pe. 1:11.) Hence the phrase seems to stand in closer connection with the maketh increase below than the compacted together above. The body grows, in every part of its complex unity, through contact with the divine supply of grace through the head.

According to the effectual working in the measure of every part.In these words is described the method, as in the preceding word the source, of the growth. The effectiveness of every part in measure (according, that is, to its right capacity and function) is the condition of corporate growth. Such effectiveness comes from direct contact with the central energy.

Maketh increase of the body unto the edifying (the building up) of itself in love.Here, lastly, we have the function of the body itself. It is knit together by its divine organisation; it is sustained by the supply from the head; its several parts are kept in life by that supply; but it grows as a whole and builds itself up by the uniting and vivifying power of love, which is the bond of perfectness. (Just so St. Paul says of the individual, in 1Co. 8:1, Charity edifieth.) Truth is, no doubt, the basis of unity; but love is its vital power, at once keeping together all who are united, and drawing in those who are as yet separated.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

16. From this head, Christ, the whole body (as in Eph 1:22-23) is organized and made to grow. This is now expressed very anatomically and complexly. The word body is repeated in the first and last part of the verse. The body makes the body grow into a complete self-building in love. It does this by three things: 1. A very compact organism, which is effected by, 2. Matter of supply, and, 3. Both in proportion to the vital energy of every proportional part. To analyze these three more fully: 1. From the vitality in the head we have an organism fitly joined together and compacted. This is a very tersely expressed image of a true Church unity, to which it is of vital importance that every Church should aspire. 2. This is effected by (to change the translation) every joint of supply. This of supply qualifies the joint, and means that every joint is a supplier of strength, as if it read every strength-supplying joint. 3. And this according to the efficient vital energy in the measure or proportion of every part. Paul traces these successive points, because each presents a topic and a lesson. 1. From our Head is all our life and vigour. 2. From Him we should be a bodily unit. 3. That unit supposes a powerful jointing of part to part, and part to whole. 4. To all this efficient compactness every member, however minute or obscure, should contribute. The model Church is vital in every part. Not one can say, I am of no use, am nothing. 5. And all this is an upbuilding in love. The love of Christ is the fountain; the love to each other is the unity; the love to the surrounding world is the stream, pouring itself forth in benevolence, purities, truths, and missions of gospel power. Were St. Paul’s ideal realized, what all-conquering gospel Churches we should have! Having thus far pictured his Church in itself, Paul will now illustrate its purity by contrasts with the opposite Church of the world, of Satan, and the anti-church of Gentilism. The contrast is twofold; touching sins of the spirit and sins of the flesh.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Eph 4:16. From whom the whole body The sum of this whole figurative discourse is, that all real Christians, as members of one body, whereof Christ is the head, should, each in his proper sphere, according to the gifts bestowed upon him, labour with concern, good-will, and zeal, for the benefit and increase of the whole, till it be grown up to that fulness which is to complete it in Christ Jesus. This sense of the exhortation carries with it a strong insinuation (especially if we take in the rest of the admonitions to the end of the Epistle) that the Mosaical observances were no part of the business or character of a Christian, but were wholly to be declined and laid aside by the subjects of Christ’s kingdom. The Apostle considers Christ in the allusion before us, not only as the head, but likewise as the heart of the church; whence the blood and spirits are derived, through many canals and tubes which communicate together, to the extreme parts, where the increase and nourishment of those parts which want it is produced. Bengelius translates this verse as follows: In whom the whole frame, joined together and compacted, receives increase of the body from every connection of supply, by an operation proportionate to each part, or member, for the building up of itself in love.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Eph 4:16 . Harmony of what is said, Eph 4:15 , for all individuals , with the objective relation of Christ to the whole as the organism growing by way of unity out of Christ. Comp. Col 2:19 .

From whom the whole body, becoming fitly framed together and compacted ( becomes compacted and ), by means of each sensation of the supply (of Christ), according to an operation proportionate to the measure of each several part, bringeth about the growth of the body, to the edifying of itself in love .

] is equivalent neither to (Koppe), nor to per quem (Morus, Flatt, Holzhausen), but denotes the causal going forth , as Col. l.c. ; 1Co 8:6 ; 2Co 5:1 ; 2Co 13:4 ; and frequently. See Bernhardy, p. 225.

] has the emphasis: the whole body, thus no member being excepted; it glances back to , Eph 4:13 .

. . .] Present participle, expressing what was continuously in actu. As to ., comp. on Eph 2:21 ; is employed by classical writers of men or of single parts of things, which one brings together into an alliance, to reconciliation, to a unity (Herod, i. 74; Thuc. ii. 29. 5; Plato, Rep. p. 504 A; comp. Col 2:2 ), and might be employed here the more aptly, inasmuch as the single parts of which the collective mass designated by consists, are the different Christian individuals. A distinction in the notion of the two words, such as is asserted by Bengel ( . denotes the fitting together, and . the fastening together) and Grotius (the latter denotes a closer union than the former), is arbitrarily assumed. The distinction consists only in this, that . corresponds to the figure , and . to the thing figuratively represented. With regard to the former, observe that also, with the Greeks often denotes the harmonious relation of unity between the body and its parts. See Jacobs, Delect. epigr. vii. 3.

The verb to . . . is . , in which the repetition of is neither negligence (Rckert) nor a Hebraism (Grotius), but is introduced for the sake of perspicuity on account of the intervening definitions, as is often the case with classical writers (see Bornemann, Schol. in Luc . p. xxxv.; Krger, Anab. p. 27; Ellendt, ad Arrian. Exp. Al . i. 55).

.] belongs not to . (so ordinarily ), to which connection the erroneous interpretation of as band (see below) led, but to (Zanchius, Bengel, and others). It is not the union that is brought about by the ., but the growth , inasmuch as Christ, from whom as Head the union proceeds, bestows the for the growth. is usually explained junctura (Vulgate), commissura, means of connection, joint , and the like. But without any support from linguistic usage. It may signify, as in Lucian, de luctu 9, and often in Plutarch, contact , also holding fast, adhesion , and the like [229] (comp. Augustine, de civ. Dei , xxii. 18: “ tactum subministrationis ,” and see Oecumenius: ), but it never means vinculum ( ). Rightly Chrysostom and Theodoret have already explained it by , feeling, perception . See Plato, Locr . p. 100 D, E; Pol . vii. p. 523 E; and the passages in Wetstein. So also Col 2:19 . Hofmann, Schriftbew . II. 2, p. 132, prefers the signification: contact , and understands the connection of the several parts of the body, whereby the one supplies to the other that which is necessary to growth, which supply in the case of the recipient takes place by means of contact with it. In this way . would be every contact which serves for supplying , and the would be the communication of the requisites for growth by one part of the body to the other . But the former Paul would have very indistinctly expressed by the mere genitive (instead of . he might have written ), and the latter is imported, since the reader after could only understand the proceeding from Christ . If we were to take in the sense of contact , the above explanation of Oecumenius would be the simplest (every contact, which the body experiences through the of Christ); but there may be urged against it, that the expression instead of the mere would be only diffuse and circumstantial without special reason, while the expression: “ sensation of the ,” very appropriately points to the growth through the influence of Christ from within outward .

.] Genit. objecti : every feeling in which the supply is perceived, experienced. What supply is meant by the with the article becomes certain from the context, namely, that which is afforded by Christ (through the Holy Spirit), i.e. the influence of Christ, by which He supplies to His body the powers of life and development necessary to a growth in keeping with its destiny ( , 2Co 9:10 ; Gal 3:5 , exhibet ; the substantive occurs only further at Phi 1:19 , not in Greek writers). Those who understand as bond , take ., partly correctly in this same sense (Rckert, Harless, Olshausen), save that they explain the genitive as a genitive of apposition , partly (so Luther and most expositors, including Matthies, Meier, Baumgarten-Crusius, de Wette) of the reciprocal service-rendering of the members , an explanation which, [230] originating in the erroneous interpretation of , introduces into the context something heterogeneous. Beza transmutes . into an unmeaning participle: “per omnes suppeditatas commissuras.”

. . .] belongs neither to . (Koppe, Meier, de Wette, and many), in which case, it is true, the non-repetition of the article, might be justified on the ground of a blending of . . . into one conception, but on the other hand may be urged the fact that . . ., as a specification of measure , points of itself to the growth , not to the ; nor to . (Harless), to which even what precedes did not belong, but: after Paul has stated whereby the body grows ( . .), he now also adds the relation in which it brings about its growth, namely, according to an efficacy in keeping with the measure of each several part , i.e. so that the growing body in its growth follows an activity of development in keeping with the measure peculiar to each several part of the body, consequently no disproportioned monstrous growth results, but one which is pursuant to proportion , adapted to the varied measure of the several parts (so that, e.g. , the hand does not grow disproportionately larger than the foot, etc.). Without figure : From Christ the church accomplishes its progressive development according to an efficacy, which is not equal in all individuals, but appropriate to the degree of development appointed for each several individual. Rckert and Bretschneider take adverbially: after a powerful manner . But in itself does not denote powerful working, but efficacy, activity in general, so that it would need a more precise definition for the sense supposed (Eph 1:19 , Eph 3:7 ; Phi 3:21 ; Col 1:20 ; Col 2:12 ; 2Th 2:9 ; 2Th 2:11 ).

] according to measure, pro mensura ; see Bernhardy, p. 211; Winer, p. 345 [E. T. 483].

] is held by Harless to denote the several parts, which again in their turn appear as having the control of the other members (pastors, etc., Eph 4:11 ). Against this is . It denotes, according to the context, in contradistinction to the whole of the body each part of the body , whether this part may be a whole member or in turn only a portion of a member (comp. Luk 11:36 ), and is hence of wider meaning than .

] in the N.T. only further at Col 2:19 , often with Greek writers, [231] also 2Ma 5:16 .

] produces for itself ( sibi ), hence the middle ; comp. subsequently . .

The sense: for the perfecting of itself (aim of . ), is expressed, as at Eph 4:12 , in another, dissimilar , but likewise very familiar figure, by . .

] Love of all one to another is the ethical sphere, within which the . on the part of the whole body proceeds outside of which this cannot take place. Comp. Eph 4:15 . On account of Eph 4:15 , the connection with . is more in keeping with the context than the usual one with the mere . .

We may add, that the mode of regarding the church in our passage is not “genuinely Gnostic,” as Baur pronounces, but genuinely Pauline. Comp. especially 1Co 12:14-27 .

[229] In virtue of this signification there was denoted by also the fine sand with which the oiled athletes sprinkled each other, in order to be able to take a firm grasp (see Steph. Thesaur. s.v .). Thence Bengel derives the interpretation: ansae ad mutuum auxilium . An arbitrary abstraction from a conception entirely foreign to the context.

[230] In which case the genitive . would have to be taken, with Grotius, de Wette, Baumgarten-Crusius, and others, as genitive of definition ( on behalf of ). But see above, in opposition to Hofmann.

[231] More classic, however, is . See Stallbaum, ad Plat. Rep. vi. p. 509 B.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Ver. 16. Compacted by that, &c. ] The saints are knit unto Christ by his Spirit, as fast as the sinews of his blessed body to the bones, the flesh to the sinews, the skin to the flesh. The erroneous are like a bone out of joint; it will cost many a hearty groan before they be reduced to their right place.

Unto the edifying of itself in love ] Our souls thrive and are edified as love is continued and increased. Nothing more furthereth growth in grace and power of godliness in any place or person, observe it where and when you will.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

16 .] from whom (see Col 2:19 , an almost exact parallel, from which it is clear that belongs to He being the source of all growth) all the body (see on Col.), ( which is ) being closely framed together (note the present participle the framing is not complete but still proceeding. For the word, see on ch. Eph 2:21 ) and compounded (‘notat simul firmitudinem et consolidationem,’ Bengel), by means of every joint (to be joined, not with the participles preceding, but (see below) with . . ., as Chr., Thdrt., Beng., Mey., except that they understand to mean the perception of the vital energy imparted from the head ( . , ), which is the cause of all growth to the body. But it seems hardly controvertible that does signify ‘ joint ’ ( ) in the parallel Col 2:19 ; it is there (see note) joined with so closely, as necessarily to fall into the same class of anatomical arrangements, and cannot mean . Also in Damoxenus in Athenus, iii. 102 E, we have it in this sense . Indeed the meaning Berhrung , ‘ point d’appui ,’ would naturally lead to that of joint ) of the (article just as . above: see note there) supply (the joints are the points of union where the supply passes to the different members, and by means of which the body derives the supply by which it grows. , : “a kind of genitive definitivus , by which the predominant use, purpose, or destination of the is specified and characterized.” Ellic.), according to vital working in the measure of each individual part, carries on (remark the intensive middle , denoting that the is not carried on ab extra, but by functional energy within the body itself) the growth of the body (I thus render, preferring to join as well . . . . as . . . with . . rather than with the preceding participles, 1) to avoid the very long awkward clause encumbered with qualifications, . . . . . . . . . . : 2) because the repetition of is much more natural in a cumbrous apodosis, than in a simple apodosis after a cumbrous protasis: 3) for perspicuity: the whole instrumentality and modality here described belonging to the growth ( . , . , ), and not merely to the compaction of the body. is repeated, rather than used, perhaps for solemnity, perhaps (which is more likely) to call back the attention to the subject after so long a description of its means and measure of growth) for the building up of itself in love (Meyer would join . with . . . . . as suiting better Eph 4:15 . This is hardly necessary, and encumbers still further the already sufficiently qualified . . Love is just as much the element in which the edification, as that in which the growth, takes place).

[B] (See on Eph 4:1 .) Eph 4:17 to Eph 6:9 .] Exhortations to a course of walking and conversation, derived from the ground just laid down , and herein ( Eph 4:17 to Eph 5:21 ) general duties of Christians as united to Christ their Head .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Eph 4:16 . : from whom the whole body . Statement of the relation of the whole , following that already made regarding the several members. looks back on the . The has its proper force of origin ( cf. 1Co 8:6 ; 2Co 5:1 ; 2Co 13:4 , and especially the precise parallel in Col 2:19 ), and cannot be reduced to mean per quem (Morus., etc.). All growth in the body has its source in Christ, the Head. : being fitly framed together and compacted . Or, as RV, “fitly framed and knit together”. The participles are presents, as expressing a process that is going on. For the former see on chap. Eph 2:21 above. The latter, to which TWH give the form , expresses the general idea of putting together , but with various shades of meaning, e.g. , reconciling one to another (Herod., i., 74); considering or concluding (Act 16:10 ); demonstrating (Act 9:22 ); instructing (1Co 2:16 ); and (as here and in Col 2:19 ) compacting or knitting together into one whole. Distinctions have been drawn between the two terms; e.g. , by Bengel, who took the to express specially the harmony of the building and the its solidity; and by Ellicott, who thinks the idea of the former is that of the aggregation of the parts, and of the latter that of their inter-adaption . But at the most the difference does not seem to go beyond the notions of joining ( = a joint ) and compacting or making to coalesce . : by means of every joint of the supply . Here the AV and the RV are in substantial agreement, the former giving “by that which every joint supplieth”; the latter, “through that which every joint supplieth,” with the marginal rendering “through every joint of the supply”. The Vulgate gives per omnem juncturam . The old English Versions vary, e.g. , Wicl., “by each jointure of under serving”; Tynd., “in every joint wherewith one ministereth to another”; Cov., “every joint of subministration”; Gen., “by every joint for the furniture thereof”; Bish., “by every joint yielding nourishment”. The clause is one of much difficulty, especially as regards the . The word occurs only twice in the NT, here and in Col 2:19 . The question is whether it means joint, contact , or sensation . In classical Greek it has a variety of meanings, e.g., touch (Aeschyl., Prom. , 850), the sense of touch (Plato, Rep. , 523 E), grasp (Plut., 2, 86 F), a junction or joint in the body (Arist., De Gen. et Corr. , i., 8, 24), and also, it is contended, feeling (Plato, Locr. , p. 100 D, E; Pol. , vii., p. 523 E, etc.). In the present passage Chrys. and Theod. give it this last sense, , feeling, perception ; and among others Mey. follows this, rendering the clause “by means of such sensation of the supply” and denying indeed that ever has the sense of , vinculum . But it seems clear that in the passage in Aristotle referred to above and in others, ( e.g. , Arist., De Coelo , i., 11; Plato, Axioch. , p. 365 A) it has the sense of joining, juncture, joint . It is also clear that it has the sense of adhesion, contact (Arist., Metaphys. , iv., 4, x., 3; Phys. Ausc. , iv., 6; De Gen. et Corr. , i., 6). The meaning indeed for which Mey. contends seems to have little or no foundation in ancient Greek use. The choice lies between the other two. The sense of contact is preferred by some ( e.g. , Oec, von Hofm.), the idea then being “by means of every contact which serves for supplying,” or “by means of every contact of each member of the body with the power which Christ supplies”. But most prefer the sense of “joint,” both because all the most ancient Versions understand the clause to have the members of the body and their relation one to another in view, and because in the parallel passage (Col 2:19 ) is coupled with . If the sense of feeling is adopted the clause will naturally be attached to the following , and will specify the way in which the growth is to be made. With the sense of joint the clause will be best attached to the participles preceding it (especially in view of the clause in Col 2:19 ), and will define the means by which the framing and compacting are effected. (See especially Light. on Col 2:19 .) The term , which occurs again in Phi 1:19 , means supply , perhaps with something of the idea of the large and liberal , as Ell. suggests, belonging to the primary use of . The points to the particular supply that comes from Christ, and the gen. may be taken as that of inner relation or destination ( cf. , Heb 9:21 ; see Win.-Moult., p. 235). The idea, therefore, appears to be that the body is fitly framed and knit together by means of the joints, every one of them in its own place and function, as the points of connection between member and member and the points of communication between the different parts and the supply which comes from the Head. The joints are the constituents of union in the body and the media of the impartation of the life drawn by the members from the head. Precisely so in Col 2:19 the joints and ligaments are mentioned together and are described as the parts by which the body receives its supplies ( ) and is kept compact together ( ). : according to an efficiency in the measure of each individual part . For some good MSS., etc., read (AC, Syr., Boh., Vulg., etc.), and WH give it a place in their margin. But is to be preferred, as supported by such authorities as [418] [419] [420] [421] [422] [423] [424] , Arm., etc. = energy in the sense of activity, working . = in the measure, i.e., proportionate to, in keeping with (Mey.), or commensurate with (Ell.). can never have the sense of . But it is used occasionally like the Heb. , in phrases expressing the proportion or law in accordance with which something is done (Thuc., i., 77, 8:89; Heb 4:11 ; see Win.-Moult., p. 483). The clause is connected by some (de Wette, etc.) with ; by others (Harl., etc.) with the ; but it is best attached to the . So it defines the nature, law , or order of the growth, describing it as proceeding in accordance with an inward operation that adapts itself to the nature and function of each several part and gives to each its proper measure. It is a growth that is neither monstrous nor disproportioned, but normal, harmonious, careful of the capacity and suited to the service of each individual member of Christ’s body. : maketh the growth of the body . , common enough, together with , in classical Greek, occurs only twice in the NT, here and Col 2:19 . The Mid. conveys the idea of making for oneself ; or it may rather strengthen the sense, suggesting “the energy with which the process is carried on” (Ell.). See especially Donaldson, Greek Gram. , p. 438, for the use of the appropriative and intensive Middle. The repetition of the , “the whole body makes the increase of the body,” is due probably to the desire to avoid ambiguity, as the pronoun might have been taken to refer to the . : unto the building up of itself in love . expresses the object and end of the carrying on of the growth, viz. , the completion of the body. The might qualify the (so Mey.); but it is more fitly connected with the , as denoting the ethical element or condition of that consummation and completion of the Church which is the object of the long-continued process of growth.

[418] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[419] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[420] Codex Claromontanus (sc. vi.), a Grco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[421] Codex Boernerianus (sc. ix.), a Grco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthi in 1791. Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis ( ) of the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.

[422] Codex Mosquensis (sc. ix.), edited by Matthi in 1782.

[423] Codex Angelicus (sc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[424] Codex Porphyrianus (sc. ix.), at St. Petersburg, collated by Tischendorf. Its text is deficient for chap. Eph 2:13-16 .

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

From. App-104.

fitly joined together = being perfectly fitted together. Only here and Eph 2:21.

compacted = knit together. Greek. sumbibazo. See Act 9:22. Occurs: Col 2:2.

joint = ligament. Greek. haphe; only here and Col 2:19. Here the ligament is “the bond of peace” (Eph 4:3).

supplieth = of the supply, i.e. from the Head. Greek. epichoregia; only here and Php 1:19. Genitive of relation. App-17.

the = an.

effectual working. Gr. energeia. See Eph 1:19.

every = each several.

increase. Greek. auxesis. Only here and Col 2:19.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

16.] from whom (see Col 2:19, an almost exact parallel, from which it is clear that belongs to -He being the source of all growth) all the body (see on Col.), (which is) being closely framed together (note the present participle-the framing is not complete but still proceeding. For the word, see on ch. Eph 2:21) and compounded (notat simul firmitudinem et consolidationem, Bengel),-by means of every joint (to be joined, not with the participles preceding, but (see below) with . . ., as Chr., Thdrt., Beng., Mey., except that they understand to mean -the perception of the vital energy imparted from the head ( . , ), which is the cause of all growth to the body. But it seems hardly controvertible that does signify joint () in the parallel Col 2:19; it is there (see note) joined with so closely, as necessarily to fall into the same class of anatomical arrangements, and cannot mean . Also in Damoxenus in Athenus, iii. 102 E, we have it in this sense- . Indeed the meaning Berhrung, point dappui, would naturally lead to that of joint) of the (article just as . above: see note there) supply (the joints are the points of union where the supply passes to the different members, and by means of which the body derives the supply by which it grows. , : a kind of genitive definitivus, by which the predominant use, purpose, or destination of the is specified and characterized. Ellic.),-according to vital working in the measure of each individual part,-carries on (remark the intensive middle , denoting that the is not carried on ab extra, but by functional energy within the body itself) the growth of the body (I thus render, preferring to join as well . . . . as . .. with . . rather than with the preceding participles, 1) to avoid the very long awkward clause encumbered with qualifications, . . . . . . . . . . : 2) because the repetition of is much more natural in a cumbrous apodosis, than in a simple apodosis after a cumbrous protasis: 3) for perspicuity: the whole instrumentality and modality here described belonging to the growth (., ., ), and not merely to the compaction of the body. is repeated, rather than used, perhaps for solemnity, perhaps (which is more likely) to call back the attention to the subject after so long a description of its means and measure of growth) for the building up of itself in love (Meyer would join . with . . . . . as suiting better Eph 4:15. This is hardly necessary, and encumbers still further the already sufficiently qualified . . Love is just as much the element in which the edification, as that in which the growth, takes place).

[B] (See on Eph 4:1.) Eph 4:17 to Eph 6:9.] Exhortations to a course of walking and conversation, derived from the ground just laid down, and herein (Eph 4:17 to Eph 5:21) general duties of Christians as united to Christ their Head.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Eph 4:16. , from) The source of growth.- ) the body fitly joined together and compacted; the concrete for the abstract; i.e. the compacting and joining together of the body by right conformation and solid compacting together: refers to what is according to rule, so that all the parts may be rightly fitted in their proper position and in mutual relation; denotes at once firmness and consolidation.- ) [By every handle of mutual assistance. Engl. Vers. By that which every joint supplieth]. In the wrestling ground the are the means by which the antagonist to be assailed is laid hold of; for the opponents threw over each other dust and sand, so that each might be able to seize his adversary, even though the latter was anointed with oil. Here the means [handles] of mutual assistance are called . , by, construed with , makes.[63]- , according to the working) The power ought also to be put into active exercise; comp. , ch. Eph 1:19, Eph 3:7. But the article is wanting in this place; because he is speaking of the particular efficacy of single members.[64]- , of each one) To be construed with .- , of the body) The noun for the reciprocal pronoun [viz. increase of itself, ]; therefore is used, not .[65]- , in love) Construe with the edifying of itself.

[63] Makes increase by every handle of mutual assistance. But Engl. V. joins it with , compacted by that which every joint supplieth.-ED.

[64] Whereas in ch. Eph 1:19 he speaks of the general working of Gods power.-ED.

[65] The middle being reflexive, i.e. the object relating to the same person as the subject.-ED.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Eph 4:16

Eph 4:16

from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together-The human body is used to illustrate the church. Jesus is the head, and from him, as the head, the church, as the body, is fitly joined together and compacted by being knit together. The truth is the means that Christ and the Spirit use. Then the body grows up into Christ the head. Just as the human body is connected with the head by joints and ligatures, so the spiritual body is united and grows up into the head by spiritual joints. With that head all the members are united.

through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in due measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love.-By every member working effectually in his place and sphere, they all make increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love. The point is emphasized here that every member has his work to do, his office to fill. By this joint and harmonious working of all the parts, the body grows into the well-proportioned body of Christ, all moved and governed by him as the living head. This union is, of course, a spiritual union, as Christ is Spirit, and the union with him is a spiritual union. The church is a spiritual body. The only manifestation of the church is where the Spirit controls the bodies of men and brings them into obedience to the gospel; so the physical bodies under the control of the Spirit separate themselves from the world as servants of Christ. The apostle says: But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel. (Heb 12:22-24). These are the associations into which the entrance into Christ brings man. These are all spirits; the relation is a spiritual one; and when the spirits of men become subjects of this kingdom or members of this body, these spirits control the bodies they inhabit and separate them from the world and bring them into subjection to Jesus Christ. These bodies of men, controlled by the Spirit of God, are the only manifestations of the church visible to men in the flesh. This shows the close relation that the church and every individual member bears to Christ the head. This relation is a spiritual one and is regulated by the Spirit of the head permeating all the members of the body. But the Spirit does this through the truths he presents. Spiritual influences are directed to the spirit of man that thinks, considers, wills, purposes, and acts in accord with that will.

The evil in the church is that we lay too exclusive stress on certain offices and work, too little in that universal work of each and every member of the body. The welfare and development of the whole body is dependent upon the proper workings of each and every member. In the human body there can be no proxy work. One member cannot do the work of all or any other member without injury to the other members and to the whole body. It is even so in the spiritual body of Christ,

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

whom: Eph 4:12, Joh 15:5

fitly: Job 10:10, Job 10:11, Psa 139:15, Psa 139:16, 1Co 12:12-28, Col 2:19

the effectual: Eph 3:7, 1Th 2:13

edifying: Eph 4:15, Eph 1:4, Eph 3:17, 1Co 8:1, 1Co 13:4-9, 1Co 13:13, 1Co 14:1, Gal 5:6, Gal 5:13, Gal 5:14, Gal 5:22, Phi 1:9, Col 2:2, 1Th 1:3, 1Th 3:12, 1Th 4:9, 1Th 4:10, 2Th 1:3, 1Ti 1:5, 1Pe 1:22, 1Jo 4:16

Reciprocal: Exo 26:3 – coupled together Exo 26:6 – one tabernacle Exo 26:26 – bars of shittim wood Exo 36:29 – coupled Son 4:4 – neck Son 7:1 – the joints Son 7:5 – head Act 9:31 – were edified Act 20:32 – to build Rom 12:3 – according Rom 12:4 – General 1Co 6:15 – your 1Co 14:26 – Let Gal 3:16 – which Gal 3:28 – for Eph 1:22 – gave Eph 2:14 – both Eph 2:15 – one Eph 3:6 – the same Eph 4:29 – to the use of edifying Col 1:18 – he is Col 1:23 – grounded Col 2:10 – the head Col 3:15 – to the 1Th 3:8 – if 1Th 5:11 – and edify 1Ti 4:6 – nourished

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

(Eph 4:16.) We would not say with. Chrysostom, that the apostle expresses himself here with great obscurity, from his wish to utter all at once- ; but we may say that the language of this verse is as compacted as the body which it describes.

-from whom, that is, from Christ as the Head. This phrase does not and cannot mean to whom, as Koppe gives it, nor by whom, as Morus, Holzhausen, and Flatt maintain. The preposition marks the source. From whom, as its source of growth, the body maketh increase. The body without the head is but a lifeless trunk. It was in the previous verse, and now it is . The growth is to Him, and the growth is from Him-Himself its origin and Himself its end. The life that springs from Him as the source of its existence, is ever seeking and flowing back to Him as the source of its enjoyment. The anatomical figure is as follows-

-all the body being fitly framed together and put together. The verb connected with as its nominative is . The first participle occurs at Eph 2:21, and is there explained. It denotes-being composed of parts fitted closely to each other. The second participle is used in a tropical sense in the New Testament (Act 9:22; Act 16:10; 1Co 2:16), but here it has its original signification-brought and held together. The two participles express the idea that the body is of many parts, which have such mutual adaptation in position and function, that it is a firm and solid structure-

-by means of every joint of the supply. This clause has originated no little difference of opinion. We take it as closely connected by with the two preceding participles, and as expressing the instrumentality by which this symmetry and compactness are secured. Meyer, Stier, and Alford, following Bengel, and contrary to its position, join the phrase to the verb . The Greek fathers, followed by Meyer, render by -touch, sense of touch; tactum subministrationis is found in Augustine, De Civ. Dei, 22.18, and similarly Wycliffe-bi eche joynture of undir seruynge. But, with the majority of expositors, we take the word as explained by the parallel passage in Col 2:19, and as the Vulgate renders it-junctura. denotes aid or assistance, and is taken by Flatt, Rckert, Harless, and Olshausen, as the genitive of apposition, and as referring to the Holy Spirit. The Greek fathers, and Meyer, render-through our feeling of divine assistance. Chrysostom says-that spirit which is supplied to the members from the head, touches, or communicates itself to each single member, and thus actuates it. Their idea is, through the joint or bond of union, which is the supply or aid of the Holy Spirit. We prefer taking as the genitive of use-compacted together by every joint which serves for supply. Joh 5:29; Heb 9:21; Winer, 30, 2 . is thus the assistance which the joints give in compacting and organizing the body. So in Col 2:19 – . Such is also the general view of Grotius, Zanchius, Calvin, Matthies, Baumgarten-Crusius, and Ellicott. We understand it thus-From whom all the body, mutually adapted in all its parts, and closely compacted by means of every joint whose function it is to afford such aid-

-according to energy in the measure of each individual part. The MSS. A and C, with others of less note, along with the Vulgate, Coptic, and Syriac versions, and Chrysostom, Jerome, and Pelagius, read , which fits the passage so well as an explanation of , that we can easily conceive how it was introduced. Rckert and Bretschneider take as an adverbial phrase, but without any real ground. The noun has been explained under Eph 1:19, Eph 3:7. It signifies inworking-effectual influence or operation, and is a modal explanation attached to the following verb. No article is between it and the following noun indicating unity of conception. -in the measure of every one part, a plain reference to Eph 4:7. Bernhardy, p. 211. The connection has been variously supposed:-1. Harless takes the phrase in connection with the participle . Such a connection is, we think, fallacious, for the compactness and the union of the body depend upon the functional assistance of the joints, not merely on the energy which pervades each part of the body, and which to each part is apportioned. But the growth depends on this , or distributed vital power, and so we prefer to connect the clause with the following verb-maketh increase. And it puzzles us to discover any reason why Harless should understand by the parts of the body, the pastors and teachers mentioned in Eph 4:11. Such an idea wholly mars the unity of the figure. 2. Others, among whom are Stier, Flatt, and Matthies, join the phrase to , as if the assistance given by the joints were according to this energy. To this we have similar objection, and we would naturally have expected the repetition of the article, though it is n ot indispensable. Energy, measure, part, belong rather to the idea of growth than to stability. This energy is supposed by some, such as Theophylact, Grotius, and Beza, to be that of Christ, and Zanchius takes along with this the reflex operation of grace among the members of the church. The whole body-

-carries on the increase of the body. Col 2:19. Though was the nominative, is repeated in the genitive-the body maketh increase of the body, even of itself. Luk 3:19; Joh 9:5; Winer, 22, 2; Bornemann, Scholia in Luc. xxx. p. 5. The sentence being so long, the noun is repeated, especially as occurs in the subsequent clause. The use of the middle voice indicates either that the growth is of internal origin, and is especially its own-it makes growth for itself, or a special intensity of idea is intended. See under Eph 3:18; Krger, 52, 8, 4. The middle voice in this verb often seems to have little more than the active signification (Passow, sub voce), but the proper sense of the middle is here to be acknowledged, signifying either that the growth is produced from vital power within the body, or denoting the spiritual energy with which the process is carried on. Winer, 38, 5, note. The body, so organized and compacted, developes the body’s growth according to the vital energy which is measured out to each one of its parts. The purpose of this growth is now stated-

-for the building up of itself in love. The phrase , however, plainly connects this verse with the preceding one. Meyer errs in connecting with the verb or the whole clause. The words are the solemn close, and the verb has been twice conditioned already. Love is regarded still as the element in which growth is made. And it is not to be taken here in any restricted aspect, for it is the Christian grace viewed in its widest relations-the fulfilment of the law. Such we conceive to be the general meaning of the verse.

The figure is a striking one. The body derives its vitality and power of development from the head. See under Eph 1:22-23. The church has a living connection with its living Head, and were such a union dissolved, spiritual death would be the immediate result. The body is fitly framed together and compacted by the functional assistance of the joints. Its various members are not in mere juxtaposition, like the several pieces of a marble statue. No portion is superfluous; each is in its fittest place, and the position and relations of none could be altered without positive injury. Fearfully and wonderfully made, it has its hard framework of bone so formed as to protect its vital organs in the thorax and skull, and yet so united by curiously wrought joints, as to possess freedom of motion both in its vertebral column and limbs. But it is no ghastly and repulsive skeleton, for it is clothed with flesh and fibre, which are fed from ubiquitous vessels, and interpenetrated with nerves-the Spirit’s own sensational agents and messengers. It is a mechanism in which all is so finely adjusted, that every part helps and is helped, strengthens and is strengthened, the invisible action of the pores being as indispensable as the mass of the brain and the pulsations of the heart. When the commissioned nerve moves the muscle, the hand and foot need the vision to guide them, and the eye, therefore, occupies the elevated position of a sentinel. How this figure is applicable to the church may be seen under a different image at Eph 2:21. The church enjoys a similar compacted organization-all about her, in doctrine, discipline, ordinance, and enterprise, possessing mutual adaptation, and showing harmony of structure and power of increase.

The body maketh increase of the body according to the energy which is distributed to every part in its own proportion. Corporeal growth is not effected by additions from without. The body itself elaborates the materials of its own development. Its stomach digests the food, and the numerous absorbents extract and assimilate its nourishment. It grows, each part according to its nature and uses. The head does not swell into the dimensions of the trunk, nor does the little finger become thicker than the loins. Each has the size that adapts it to its uses, and brings it into symmetry with the entire living organism. And every part grows. The sculptor works upon a portion only of the block at a time, and, with laborious effort, brings out in slow succession the likeness of a feature or a limb, till the statue assumes its intended aspect and attitude. But the plastic energy of nature presents no such graduated forms of operation, and needs no supplement of previous defects. Even in the embryo the organization is perfect, though it is in miniature, and harmonious growth only is required. For the energy is in every part at once, but in every part in due apportionment. So the church universal has in it a Divine energy, and that in all its parts, by which its spiritual development is secured. In pastors and people, in missionaries and catechists, in instructors of youth and in the youth themselves, this Divine principle has diffused itself, and produces everywhere proportionate advancement. And no ordinance or member is superfluous. Blessing is invoked on the word preached, and the eucharist is the complement of baptism. Praise is the result of prayer, and the keys are made alike to open and to shut. Of old the princes and heroes went to the field, and wise-hearted women did spin. While Joshua fought, Moses prayed. The snuffers and trays were as necessary as the magnificent la mp-stand. The rustic style of Amos the herdsman has its place in Scripture, as well as the polished paragraphs of the royal preacher. The widow’s mite was commended by Him who sat over against the treasury. Solomon built a temple. Joseph provided a tomb. Mary the mother gave birth to the child, and the other Maries wrapt the corpse in spices. Lydia entertained the apostle, and Phoebe carried an epistle. A basket was as necessary for Paul’s safety at one time as his burgess ticket and a troop of cavalry at another. And the result is, that the church is built up, for love is the element of spiritual progress. That love fills the renewed nature, and possesses peculiar facilities of action in edifying the mystical body of Christ. And, lastly, the figure is intimately connected with the leading idea of the preceding paragraph, and presents a final argument on behalf of the unity of the church. The apostle speaks of but one body- . Whatever parts it may have, whatever their form, uses, and position, whatever the amount of energy resident in them, still, from their connection with the one living Head, and from their own compacted union and mutual adjustment, they compose but one growing structure in love:-

I’m apt to think, the man

That could surround the sum of things, and spy

The heart of God and secrets of His empire,

Would speak but love. With him the bright result

Would change the hue of intermediate scenes,

And make one thing of all theology.

Fuente: Commentary on the Greek Text of Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians and Phillipians

Eph 4:16. This verse as a whole may be regarded as a compound-complex sentence, but the central thought is expressed by the words the whole body maketh increase. All the rest of the verse is related to these words, enlarging and explaining how the body (the church) makes this increase. It is one of the most informative passages in the apostolic writings on the subject of “mutual edification,” otherwise and more accurately termed mutual ministry; let us analyze the verse very carefully. From whom means from Christ who was named in the preceding verse as the head of the body. The whole body. If any part of a human body is thrown out of connection with the head, a state of ill health will result. Likewise the entire body or church must be subject to Christ the head, or spiritual illness will develop. Fitly joined together. In 1Co 12:18 Paul is using the fleshly body as an illustration where he says: “But now bath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” The same is true of the spiritual body or church, of which he is writing in this verse. Compacted is similar in meaning to the last italicized phrase, only it is a stronger term. The phrase means the members are so constructed that they fit each other, while the word compacted denotes a closer knitting of the parts as if they were welded together to compose this body of which Christ is the head. Every joint sup-plieth. The joints are the members of the body, and the phrase clearly teaches that each member of the church is expected to contribute something toward the edification of it. Any discrimination that is made against a member of the body is wrong, and any member who fails to contribute whatever he can to the advancement of the church is a dead joint that is a detriment to the body of Christ. This effectual working must be according to the measure or ability of the parts, since the members do not all have the same talents. When all of this process is observed, it will result in the increase or growth of the body, and it will be edified or built up in love for the Head and for each other as members.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Eph 4:16. From whom, as the Personal source and cause of unity and growth, all the body (as in Col 2:19), including every member of it. The whole body suggests a slightly different idea.

Fitly framed together and compacted. The participles point to a present continuous progress; the former denotes the fitting together of the parts of a building, the latter the gathering together of persons into a compact society; the two ideas being adaptation and solidity.

By means of every joint of the supply. Joint is a figure taken from the human body, referring to the nerves or more generally to all those points of contact through which the common life passes to the different members; comp. Col 2:19. The explanation sensation is not a natural one. The word rendered supply is one which passed from the sense of leading a chorus to contribution for public service in general. The supply is not that rendered by the individual members, but rather that furnished by Christ, the source of life, passing through every joint, which is therefore defined as a joint of the supply. It is not necessary, and perhaps unsafe, to refer the phrase exclusively to the official persons spoken of in Eph 4:2. The most difficult question is that of connection. The E. V. joins the phrase with the participles. In favor of this may be urged, the position of the phrase and the parallel passage in Col 2:19. But to join it with the verb maketh the growth is equally allowable, and gives more perspicuity to the passage. The participles do not necessarily involve this notion of vital con-tact and supply.

According to the working, etc. Not effectual working, since the reference is not directly to Gods energy, but to the vital energy of each part of the body. As each several part is spoken of, all the members of the body are included, not the officials only. Some join this clause with what precedes, as an explanation of the supply; others connect it with the verb. The former seems preferable, the whole compound phrase, however, belonging to the predicate.

Maketh the growth of the body. The repetition of body gives distinctness to the involved statement, but may also indicate the body as a whole over against each several part The verb maketh is intensive. All the body possesses, by means of the adaptation, compacting, supply, and energy of each part, contributes to this organic, symmetrical, growth.

Unto the building up of itself in love. This is the aim of the growth: Self-edification, and that in love, as its element. It is unnecessary to connect the last phrase with the verb. The view taken of this complicated verse may be thus stated: From whom (Christ) all the body (each and every member) fitly framed (jointed) together and compacted (so as to form one whole) grows (as by its own organic life) by means of every joint (every special adaptation in gift and office) of the supply (which Christ grants) according to the working in the measure of each several part (the growth being not only from Him, but symmetrical and organic) unto (this end) the building up of the body itself in love (as the element of edification). We have here nothing about the ministry constituting the Church, but enough to show the necessity for the ministry; nothing about the necessity of maintaining the succession through fixed forms, but the promise that Christ will give real pastors and teachers, if the Church will be careful to receive these and only these: nothing about the external polity of the Church, but much about the means of her advancement toward unity of faith and knowledge, through edifying in love.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 16

From whom; by whose power.–According to, &c.; that is, each part performing its own special and proper function.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

And all this is so that we become a body – a unit that can serve Christ properly. As we become a body, we will act as one, we will follow the head, and we will not be going fifteen hundred directions on our own.

What an imperative for the church today. This is not the norm that I have observed in so many churches today. Many pastors/teachers are teaching the feel good philosophy of our day. We are taught to do what will build our esteem, we are being taught to fulfill ourselves, and we are being taught by default to concentrate on the things of this world rather than the next. (If we aren’t being taught of the next world and our obligation to live for it, we are by default being taught to follow the world and all that it offers.

Question yourself? When is the last time you have heard or taught theology? When is the last time you have heard or taught the dispensational belief system? When is the last time you have heard or taught the pre-tribulation rapture system? When is the last time you have heard or taught the Millennium coming system of belief? When is the last time you have heard or taught Christology, theology, pneumatology, hamartiology, soteriology, ecclesiology or eschatology?

Suffice it to say that we are in a real war in this age, and if we don’t get our act together the church is going to be buried in the world so far only Christ will be able to dig it out. We are not producing Christians that can go to the world and give proper defense of their beliefs, so many do not even open their mouth for their Lord.

Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson

4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the {u} effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh {x} increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in {y} love.

(u) Of Christ, who with regard to the soul, empowers all the members.

(x) Such increase as is fit for the body to have.

(y) Charity is the knitting of the limbs together.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Jesus Christ is both the One into whom we grow (Eph 4:15) and the One out of whom we grow as a whole church. The whole body grows as each part carries out its proper function. All parts of the body alluded to in this verse are Christians, except the Head, Jesus Christ. [Note: See Ronald Y. K. Fung, "The Nature of the Ministry according to Paul," Evangelical Quarterly 54 (1982):139-44.]

The church then is a diverse body composed of many different people who must give attention to preserving their unity (Eph 4:7-16). Paul’s emphasis was on body growth more than on individual growth in this passage. Each believer contributes to body growth as he or she exercises his or her particular gifts (abilities) in the service of Christ.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)