| The Berean Expositor
Volume 30 - Page 168 of 179 Index | Zoom | |
such as the Bride, without intruding into the peculiar blessings that attach to the Church
of the Mystery. And when we turn to Eph. 2:, where the expression "the new man" is
used, we find that this "new man" is composed of "the both", or "the twain".
In the LXX the word "man" in Gen. 1: 26, 27 is anthropos, including both "male and
female". This usage is parallel with that of Eph. 2: where the anthropos, or "new man"
is composed of "the both" or "the twain", and in contrast with that of Gen. 2: 23, where
the LXX uses the restricted word aner: "She was taken out of man." The man Adam
himself was aner, while the man in whom there could be both male and female was
anthropos, and we observe that these distinctions are maintained by the Apostle in
writing to the Ephesians.
We must now ask the reader to exercise a little patience while we endeavour to draw
attention to the usage of other terms.
The A.V. rendering: "To make in Himself of twain one new man" (Eph. 2: 15), needs
amending in one or two points. The words "to make" should read "to create", the article
should be read before the word "twain", and the preposition eis should appear before the
words "one new man".
The word eis means "unto", and in many places where it is used it suggests a goal
towards which something moves. The following occurrences taken from Ephesians itself
will show that this is so:
"Until the redemption of the purchased possession" (Eph. 1: 14).
"That ye may know what is the hope" (Eph. 1: 18).
"With all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3: 19).
"Throughout all ages, world without end" (Eph. 3: 21).
"Until we all come in the unity of the faith . . . . . unto a perfect man" (Eph. 4: 13).
"Sealed unto the day of redemption" (Eph. 4: 30).
It can readily be seen that something future is introduced by the word eis in each of
the instances cited above. The day of redemption, in the first passage, is obviously
future, and the knowledge as to what was the hope, in the second, was contingent upon
acknowledgment and therefore also future.
The "unity of the faith" and the "perfect man" were also future with respect to the
gifts given by the ascended Christ. And so, when we read in Eph. 2: 15: "To create in
Himself of the twain unto one new man", the "one new man" is not necessarily to be
regarded as being already in existence, but rather as the goal towards which this creative
act was directed. The recognition of this untranslated preposition becomes even more
important when we discover that there is another untranslated eis in Eph. 5: 31, to which
The Companion Bible draws attention. Translated literally, Eph. 5: 31 reads: "And they
shall be, the two, unto one flesh."
"Unto one new man"--"unto one flesh". The "new man" is the goal of this act of
creating, and the "one flesh" is the goal of this act of being joined together.