I N D E X
26
An illustration of the use of a word to introduce a new section of a book is provided by Daniel 2:4:
"Then spake the Chaldeans to the king IN SYRIACK".
If this simply means that the Chaldeans spoke their native tongue, there seems little reason for the information,
for generally Hebrews speak Hebrew, Chaldeans speak Syriac, Greeks speak Greek. When, however, we discover
that the remainder of the chapter, together with every chapter up to the end of chapter 7 is written not in Hebrew but
in Syriac, we realize that it was not to tell us that the Chaldeans spoke their native tongue, but that a new section of
the prophecy here commenced. So in Ephesians 3:5 "In Spirit" governs the statement that follows. That statement
we must now consider:
"That IN SPIRIT the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ
by the gospel" (Eph. 3:6 Author's translation).
We are here immediately faced with a problem of interpretation. The one prefix sun "together with" is used three
times, sunkleronoma, sussoma, summetocha, yet the A.V. translates these three words FELLOW-heirs, OF THE SAME
Body, and PARTAKERS. In one word sun is translated "fellow", in the next word it is rendered "of the same", and in
the third case it is not translated at all except it be in the prefix "part". Moffatt translates by co-heirs and
co-partners, but falls down over sussoma, rendering it "companions", which is very wide of the mark. We must
preserve the threefold emphasis upon "with", and the R.V. gets over the difficulty by rendering the three words
"fellow heirs, and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers" which while it has the merit of preserving the
three occurrences of the preposition sun, adds to the apostle's words the word "member" which is questionable.
Rotherham, in his Emphasized New Testament reads "joint-heirs and a joint-body and joint-partakers", which
translation is found also in J.N. Darby's translation. Possibly this is as near to the original as our English language
will permit, but even so, the translation sets us a problem, for WHAT IS a joint-body? The essential characteristic of a
"body" is that it has many members, each differing from the others in function and in importance. Such a body can
provide an analogy for a spiritual company, and this analogy is employed by the apostle in 1 Corinthians 12. The
ancients who were not limited to the English language, have nevertheless found a difficulty to express the Greek
word sussoma adequately. Jerome renders the word in the Latin Vulgate by concorporates and says:
"I know that in Latin it makes an ugly sentence. But because it stands in the Greek, and because every word and
syllable and stroke and point in the Divine Scriptures is full of meaning, I prefer the risks of verbal malformation
to the risk of missing the sense".
We believe all true Bereans will endorse these sentiments. One expositor has used this word "concorporate" but
the word is not in common use:
"In relation to the Body the members are "in corporate", in relation to one another they are "concorporate", that
is sharers in the one Body" (J. Armitage Robinson D.D.).
Here then, with the advent of the dispensation of the Mystery, a church came into existence, so different from
any that had gone before, as to call for the coining of a word, and the figure which that word conjures up in the mind
is that of a body never seen or known on earth. No one has ever seen a body in which every member was on
absolute equality with any other, but we have already been reminded that this body is only possible "in spirit".
*
Nothing like this can be discovered before the Middle Wall went down, and that wall was not removed until Acts
28. In the flesh, Israel can brook no peer (cf. The Olive Tree in Romans 11). Only in the Spirit can such an
equality be possible.
Another correction is called for when using the A.V. Ephesians 3:7 reads, "Whereof I was made a minister" and
the commencing of a fresh verse with these words, may prevent the reader from realizing that they are an integral
part of the preceding passage. It is not the full truth to say that in this new company the Gentiles are joint-partakers
of His promise in Christ by the Gospel, and stop there. The complete statement is that the Gentiles were
joint-partakers of His promise in Christ by the Gospel WHEREOF PAUL HAD BEEN MADE A MINISTER. When writing
later to Timothy, the apostle adds a similar rider; he does not simply say to Timothy:
*
Middle Wall - see Ephesians 2:14