CHAP. I. VER. 23. 89

belonging to him who fills all in all” But this is a signification which the word never has in itself, but only in virtue of the word with which it is at times connected. The expression πλήρωμα τῆς πόλεως May be freely rendered, the multitude af the city, because that which fills a city is a multitude. But this does not prove that the word πλήρωμα itself signifies a mul- titude. There is no good treason then for departing from the ordinary interpretation, according to which, the church is declared to be the fulness of Christ. There are two opinions as to the meaning of this phrase, between which commentators are principally divided. First, the church may be called the fulness of Christ, because it is filled by him. As the body is filled, or pervaded by the soul, so the church is filled by the Spirit of Christ. Or, as God of old dwelt in the temple, and filled it with his glory, so Christ now dwells in his church and fills it with his presence. The sense is then good and scriptural. ‘The church is filled by him, who fills all in all.’ Or secondly, the church is the fulness of Christ, because it fills him, i. e. com- pletes his mystical person. He is the head, the church is the body. It is the complement, or that which com- pletes, or renders whole. As both these interpretations give a sense that is scriptural and consistent with the context, the choice between them must be decided principally by the New Testament usage of the word πλήρωμα. The former interpretation supposes the word to have a passive signification—that which is filled. But in every other case in which it occurs in the New