Section 119
138Gk. αὒξεɩ τὴν αὴξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ, cognate or internal accusative. Cf. Eph. 4:15-16 (pp. 352-53).
139Gk. διὰ τѽν ἁφѽν ϰαὶ υνδέσμων. Cf. Eph. 4:16, διὰ πάσης ἁφῆς. In both places Paul may be developing a conception of the interlinking of bodily joints and ligaments which had already begun to take shape in his mind as a figure of the mutual dependence and harmonious cooperation of believers as members of the body of Christ. For σύνδεσμος cf. Col. 3:14; Eph. 4:3.
140An die Kolosser, ad loc, and on v. 10 above. Dibelius’s view is cited with apparent approval by C. L. Mitton, The Epistle to the Ephesians (Oxford, 1951), p. 84.
141Cf. Col. 3:15, “in one body.” See C. F. D. Moule, “A Note on Eph. 1:22, 23,” ExT 60 (1948-49), 224: “I very much doubt whether there is any essential difference between the two uses” (i.e., of σѽμα in Eph. 4:16 and Col. 2:19 respectively).
142After εἰ;ℵ 2 and a number of cursives insert οὖν (perhaps on the model of Col. 3:1).