[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Ephesians 4:12-13


> 
> Jeff Smelser here, to all-
> 
> ...
> 
> 
> (2) In terms of punctuation: in verse 12, should we read a break, i.e., a
> comma following "the saints"?
> 
> (3) Suppose the answer to the previous question is "no", and the passage is
> to be read, "for the equipping of the saints unto a work of ministry," does
> the singular DIAKONIAS seem a little difficult given that the saints,
> plural, were mentioned, and given that the passage stresses the contribution
> of the individual saints to the body rather than the collective contribution
> of the whole (vs. 16)?
> 
Let me offer a rationale on punctuating verse 12.  The idea is
that when we want to string together like ideas we either use
a connective such as "and" (or KAI in KOINE), or we use a
common introductory form -- participle, for example, or a 
preposition.

In this case, it appears to me that the two EIS's are stringing
together like ideas, while PROS is distinct.  Then by a rule
of proximity, I'd tend to put the EIS as a modifier
to the PROS TON KATARTISMON, and thus get

   "And he gave [us] not only the apostles, but also the prophets,
   and the evangelists, and the shepherds and teachers, for the 
   fine-tuning of the saints to an activity of service, to building
   up the body of the Messiah"

I think of KATARTISMOS (here rendered as fine-tuning) as a process
of ongoing adjustment (such as mending nets) rather than an (initial)
equipping.

As read this way, it does indeed emphasize a common and shared
activity.  v. 16 talks, I think, about the contribution of
"each individual part", but it is the body as a whole, working
through the contributions of each part, that is producing its
own growth as a whole:

   PAN TO SWMA .... THN AUXHSIN TOU SWMATOS POIEITAI ...
   all the body .... produces the growth of the body ...

Regards,
Jim V.

James H. Vellenga                 |           jvellenga@viewlogic.com
Viewlogic Systems, Inc.         __|__         508-303-5491
293 Boston Post Road West         |           FAX: 508-460-8213
Marlboro, MA 01752-4615           |
http://www.viewlogic.com

"We all work with partial information."