350 EPHESIANS,

the sake of the last words, they shall be one flesh. The meaning and the connection then are, ‘As Eve was formed out of the body of Adam, and therefore, it is said, a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. So, since we are members of Christ’s body, therefore, Christ and his church are one flesh.’ This view is, 1. In entire accordance with the context. 2. It avoids the forced and unnatural interpretations which are un- avoidable if the former part of the 31st verse be under- stood in reference to Christ. 3. It satisfies the demands of the 32d verse, which asserts that the words one flesh do refer to Christ and the church. And 4. It is in accordance with the usage of the apostles in quoting the language of the Old Testament. They often recite a passage of Scripture as it stands in the Old Testa- ment, for the sake of some one clause or expression in it, without intending to apply to the case before them, any other portion of the passage quoted. In Heb. 2, 13, the whole stress and argument rest on the single word children ; see also Gal. 3,16. Very frequently the particles indicating the grammatical or logical connection of the passage in its position in the Old Testament, are included in the quotation, although entirely unsuited to the connection in which the pas- sage is introduced. ‘This is so frequently done as to be almost the rule. It is, therefore, not an arbitrary pro- ceeding to make the last words of this verse refer to Christ, while the former part of it is made to refer to the context of the passage as it stands in Genesis.