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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Eph 4 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32
OET (OET-LV) with the completing of_the holy ones for the_work of_service, because/for the_building of_the body of_the chosen_one/messiah,
OET (OET-RV) so as to complete the dedicated ones for the work of service—for building the body of the messiah
In the previous sections, Paul taught the important truths of the Christian faith. In this section, Paul showed how those truths should affect the way we live. He urged the Ephesian Christians to behave in the way that would keep their unity. He explained in detail the basis of this unity. He also explained that Christ gives believers power to do different tasks so that the church may become strong and mature. Mature believers should no longer be influenced by false teaching. Instead, they will proclaim the truth, and the church, with Christ as its head, will grow as it should and become strong.
Here are some other examples for a heading for this section:
Unity of the body of Christ
Christ’s gifts to the church
Live in unity, using God’s gifting to strengthen believers
Paul urges the Ephesians to live a life of unity in Christ
Believers in Christ should live in unity, strengthening each other
In 4:4–6 Paul talked about the things that unite Christians. These are things that we have in common. But in 4:7 he talked about special abilities that some Christians have and that others do not have. We all have the same Spirit, we all worship the same Lord, and so on. But to each of us, Christ has given different special abilities.
This verse explains the purpose of Christ giving some of his people these special abilities that Paul mentioned in 4:11. The purpose is to give the ability to all God’s people to work for him, so that they all may grow and become stronger in their faith.
to equip the saints for works of ministry
He did this so that these people would prepare God’s people to serve him,
He gave people these abilities so that they could make the rest of God’s people ready to work for him.
to equip: The phrase to equip means to “make able and adequate” to a task. Paul intended that they would be up to the task and fit to serve God’s people.
Here is another way to translate this:
to equip God’s people to do his work (NLT)
the saints: A literal English translation of the Greek is “holy ones.” It means “people set apart for God.” This Greek word refers to every believer.
See how you translated the saints in 3:8a. See Holy, Meaning 1, special use in the Glossary for more information.
for works of ministry: The phrase works of ministry means “to work serving God.” Notice that Paul did not say that the apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors are the ones who are equipped to work for God. He says that the apostles and others are to prepare “the saints” to work for God. All of God’s people are to work for him.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
the work of serving (NCV)
would learn to serve (CEV)
and to build up the body of Christ,
so that believers, who are the body of Christ, may grow strong.
He did it so that all of God’s people will become stronger in their faith and more mature.
and to build up the body of Christ: This clause begins with and to. It tells why Christ appointed some people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastors and teachers (4:11). He appointed people to these positions so that they could prepare all of God’s people to work for him (4:12a).
Here are some other ways to translate the phrase and to:
for (REB)
He did that so
build up the body of Christ: The body of Christ is a metaphor that refers to all Christians. To build up the body of Christ means to cause all Christians to become strong in their relationship with Christ (the head of the body) and with each other (other members of the body). If it is not clear what the body of Christ refers to, you can make it explicit. For example:
and build up the church, the body of Christ (NLT)
build up: The Greek word that the BSB translates as build up is a verb meaning “to construct (a house).” He uses the same word in 2:22a and 4:16b. Paul is using the word in a figurative sense that means “cause to grow strong” or “make complete and mature.”
Here are some other ways to translate this clause:
and his body would grow strong (CEV)
make the body of Christ stronger (NCV)
cause the assembly of Christians/believers to be more mature
πρὸς τὸν καταρτισμὸν τῶν ἁγίων
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πρός τόν καταρτισμόν τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ἔργον διακονίας εἰς οἰκοδομήν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ)
Alternate translation: [to prepare the people whom he has set apart] or [to provide the believers with what they need]
εἰς ἔργον διακονίας
for ˓the˒_work ˱of˲_service
Alternate translation: [so that they can serve others]
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
εἰς οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
for for (Some words not found in SR-GNT: πρός τόν καταρτισμόν τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ἔργον διακονίας εἰς οἰκοδομήν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ)
Paul is speaking of people who grow spiritually as if they were doing exercises to increase the strength of their physical bodies.
οἰκοδομὴν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: πρός τόν καταρτισμόν τῶν ἁγίων εἰς ἔργον διακονίας εἰς οἰκοδομήν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ)
Alternate translation: [the improvement]
τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ
˱of˲_the body ˱of˲_the Messiah
Alternate translation: [all of the members of Christ’s church] or [all those who are believers in Christ]
OET (OET-LV) with the completing of_the holy ones for the_work of_service, because/for the_building of_the body of_the chosen_one/messiah,
OET (OET-RV) so as to complete the dedicated ones for the work of service—for building the body of the messiah
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.