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it is to the Gentiles, as such, as aliens, that "Ephesian truth" is addressed, this limitation
to the seed of Abraham in the epistle to the Hebrews cannot but indicate that that epistle
does not contain or comprehend the distinctive calling of Ephesians: it would rather
exclude the far-off Gentiles.
The zenith of Hebrews is in chapter 10:, where, in direct contrast with every other
priest, Christ is said to have "sat down" (Heb. 10: 12), but He sat down ALONE, and it is
here, where Hebrews ends, that Ephesian truth begins, for in Eph. 2: the astounding
revelation is made that the Gentile believer, under the terms of this new dispensation, is
not only "raised up together, but made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"
(Eph. 2: 6). THIS is Ephesian truth, a truth entirely foreign to the epistle to the Hebrews.
A great deal that it will not bear has been made of the word translated "the same
body" in Eph. 3: 6. This passage is not the only one in Ephesians that uses the prefix
"sun", translated in that verse "fellow" heirs, and "same" body. Fourteen such
combinations occur in that epistle, and it is impossible to attain to a true rendering of the
three found in chapter 3: 6 if we ignore the remaining occurrences and their bearing
upon the meaning intended by the Apostle.
Here are the passages, each one being consonant with the word that is sometimes
translated "joint body" and which our correspondent would make to mean "joint body
together with the members of the heavenly calling".
Eph. 2: 5 . . .
Suzoopoieo, "quickened together" ("jointly quickened").
Eph. 2: 6 . . .
Sunegeiro, "raised together" ("jointly raised").
Eph. 2: 6 . . .
Sugkathizo, "sit together" ("jointly seated").
Eph. 2: 19 . . .
Sumpolites, "fellow citizens" ("joint citizens").
Eph. 2: 21 . . .
Sunarmologeomai, "fitly framed together" ("jointly framed").
Eph. 4: 16 . . .
- same -
"fitly joined together" ("jointly framed").
Eph. 2: 22 . . .
Sunoikodomeomai, "builded together" ("jointly builded").
Eph. 3: 6 . . .
Sugkleronomos, "fellow heirs" ("joint heirs").
Eph. 3: 6 . . .
Sussoma, "the same body" ("joint body").
Eph. 3: 6 . . .
Summetochos, "partakers" ("joint partakers").
Eph. 3: 18 . . .
Sun katalambano, "comprehend with" ("jointly comprehend").
Eph. 4: 3 . . .
Sundesmos, "the bond" ("joint bond").
Eph. 4: 16 . . .
Sumbibazo, "compacted" ("jointly knit").
Eph. 5: 11 . . .
Sugkoinoneo, "fellowship" ("joint holding").
In the brackets we have retained the word "joint" or "jointly", but we do not intend
this as a serious interpretation. While it makes good sense in some passages, in others it
is cumbersome. The great objection to using the term "a joint body" is that it tends to
create in the mind the necessity of the presence of some other company of believers, in
this case, for example, the heavenly calling of Heb. 3: 1, with which the members of
the Body of Christ can be "joined". Seeing, however, that the emphasis on the prefix sun,
"together", in the words listed from Ephesians, is not so much a union with some outside
body, as a deep seated equality within, such an interpretation is an error. The words
"fitly joined together" of Eph. 4: 16 can refer only to members within, not to any
relationship without.