ro—II,
329
μὲν " ἀποστόλους, τοὺς δὲ " προφήτας, τοὺς δὲ ᾿ εὐαγγελιστὰς, τοὺς k Ch. iii. 5 . το δὲ ™ ποιμένας καὶ " διδασκάλους, 12. πρὸς Tov! “ καταρτισμὸν τῶν | Acts xxi.
iv. 5.
Τὴ John x. 2, εἴς.» but=here only; see Jer. iii. 15; Ezek. xxxiv. passim. 1 Cor, xii, 28, 29; 2 Tim. iv. 3; Heb. v. 12; James iii. 1.
8; 2 Tim. n Acts xiii. 1 o Here only.
1Qmit τον I, 10g, 114, 121, 178.
filling the whole universe” (Mey.). But the case appears to be less involved than that, and to turn simply on the identifica- tion of the Person who is the source of the gifts. Paul has spoken of the grace as given (ἐδόθη, ver. 7), and he has quoted the words of the Psalm which say that “the gave gifts” (ἔδωκεν δόματα, ver. 8). But he has not named the Giver. Now he explains that the Giver is Christ; and that this is indicated by the Psalm itself, because it sings of One who went up on high, and of an ascent which pre- supposed a previous descent. Thus he identifies the subject of the Psalm with Christ; as elsewhere the Jehovah of the Prophets and the Psalms is identified with the Christ of the Apostles, and what _is affirmed of the former in the OT is ascribed to the latter in the NT.
Ver. 11. καὶ αὐτὸς ἔδωκε τοὺς μὲν ἀποστόλους : and He gave some Apostles. That is, ‘‘ He gave some as Apostles,” or (with RV) ‘‘some to be Apostles”. At this point Paul reverts to the statement in ver. 7, and having shown that the declaration in Ps, Ixviii. applies to Christ, he proceeds to set forth the purpose (ver. 12) with which the gifts of the exalted Giver are bestowed and His grace given to such. But before he explains that purpose he specifies a series of gifts given with that in view. We have a somewhat similar enumeration in 1 Cor, xii. 28. But while the ruling idea there is that of appointments (ἔθετο) and the subject is God, here the particular idea is that of gifts (ἔδωκε) and the subject is Christ. Further, while the list in Ephesians be- gins with Apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and continues in terms of per- sons, the statement in 1 Cor. takes note indeed of Apostles, prophets, and teachers, but thereafter passes from persons to gifts or ministries—miracles, healings, helps, governments, tongues. This has its sig- nificance, as we shall see. The αὐτός is again emphatic, =“ he himself,” “Πα and no other’. The ἔδωκε is not to be taken as = ἔθετο, appointed or set. Thatit has its proper sense of gave is clear from its relation to the preceding ἔδωκε δόματα. The “giving” refers to the call of the Church’s Head, the point being the gift
of Christ to the Church in the form of certain men chosen by Him and equipped by Him to do service toward the building up of His body and the bringing of all its members to the measure of the stature of His fulness. Further, the exhortation to unity (ver. 3) is still in view, Christ having given these ‘Apostles ” and others in order that all His disciples may come to the unity of the faith (ver. 13). All through the statement, too, the primary thing is the fersons, not the offices. Nothing is said of any special order or orders in the Church possessing excep- tional prerogatives, or any office or rank to which peculiar or exclusive powers of grace were attached. The men are Christ’s gifts to the Church and to every member of it; and they are given to do a certain work looking to a great end, viz., to furnish His people and every individual believer among them (vv. 7, 16) for their particular service and their particular contribution to the building up of Christ’s body. Nothing is said of the time when these gifts were given. But as they are the gifts of the exalted Christ, it is plain that the ἀποστόλους are not to be restricted to the original Twelve, but are to be taken in the wider sense, in- cluding not only Paul, but Barnabas (Acts xiv. 4, 14), probably James (1 Cor. xv. 7; Gal. i. το), Silvanus (1 Thess. ii. 6), perhaps also Andronicus and Junias (Rom. xvi. 7). The ‘ Apostle” is de- scribed as one called by Christ (Gal. i. 1); one who has seen Christ and been a witness of His resurrection (1 Cor. ix. 1, 2; Acts i. 8, 21-23); one whose “signs” were “wrought . . . by signs, and won- ders, and mighty works” (2 Cor. xii. 12) ; whose office also was not limited to a single church or locality, but was related to the world generally and to all the churches (Matt. xxviii. 10; 1 Cor. xi. 28). See also on chap. i. 1.---τοὺς δὲ προφή- τας: and some as prophets. These are referred to along with the Apostles also in ii. 20, ili, 5, and in 1 Cor. xii. 28. With NT prophets we have also NT prophetesses. Agabus, those of Antioch Judas and Silas, the four daughters o Philip, are mentioned as having the gift of prophecy. As in the case of Agabus