Albert Barnes Commentary Ephesians 4:16

"from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through that which every joint supplieth, according to the working in [due] measure of each several part, maketh the increase of the body unto the building up of itself in love." — Ephesians 4:16 (ASV)

From whom the whole body. The church is compared with the human body. The idea is that as the head in the human frame conveys vital influences, vigor, motion, etc., to every part of the body, so Christ is the source of life, vigor, energy, and increase to the church.

The meaning is, "The whole human body is admirably arranged for growth and vigor. Every member and joint contributes to its healthful and harmonious action. One part lends vigor and beauty to another, so that the whole is finely proportioned and admirably sustained. All depend on the head with reference to the most important functions of life, and all derive their vigor from that."

So it is in the church. It is as well arranged for growth and vigor as the body is. It is as beautifully organized in its various members and officers as the body is. Everything is designed to be in its proper place, and by the Divine arrangement, nothing is lacking in its organization for its perfection. Its officers and its members are, in their places, what the various parts of the body are with reference to the human frame. The church depends on Christ, as the head, to sustain, invigorate, and guide it, as the body is dependent on the head. See this figure carried out to greater length in 1 Corinthians 12:12–26.

Fitly joined together. This refers to the body, whose members are properly united so as to produce the most beauty and vigor. Each member is in the best place and is properly united to the other members. Let anyone read Paley's Natural Theology, or any work on anatomy, and he will find innumerable instances of the truth of this remark—not only in the proper adjustment and placing of the members but also in the manner in which each is united to the other parts of the body.

The foot, for instance, is in its proper place—it should not be where the head or the hand is. The eye is in its proper place—it should not be in the knee or the heel. The mouth, the tongue, the teeth, the lungs, and the heart are in their proper places; no other places would answer the purpose so well.

The brain is in its proper place; anywhere else in the body, it would be subject to compressions and injuries that would soon destroy life. These parts are as admirably united to the other parts of the body as they are admirably located. Let anyone examine, for instance, the tendons, nerves, muscles, and bones by which the foot is secured to the body, and by which easy and graceful motion is obtained, and he will be satisfied of the wisdom by which the body is "joined together."

How far the knowledge of the apostle extended on this point we do not have the means of ascertaining; but all the investigations of anatomists only serve to give increased beauty and force to the general terms which he uses here. All that he says here of the human frame is strictly accurate and is such language as may be used by an anatomist now.

The word used here (sunarmologew) properly means to sew together, to fit together, to unite, or to make one. It is often applied to musicians who produce harmony from various parts of music (Passow). The idea of harmony, or appropriate union, is central to the word.

And compacted (sumbibazomenon). Tyndale renders this, "knit together in every joint." The word properly means to make to come together, to join, or to knit together. It means here that the different parts of the body are united and sustained in this manner.

By that which every joint supplies. This is literally, "through every joint of supply;" that is, which affords or ministers mutual aid. The word joint here—aphē (from aptō, to fit)—means anything that binds, fastens, or secures. It does not refer to the joint in the sense in which we commonly use it, as denoting the articulation of the limbs or the joining of two or more bones, but rather that which unites or fastens together the different parts of the frame: the blood-vessels, cords, tendons, and muscles.

The meaning is that every such means of connecting one part of the body with another ministers nourishment, and thus the body is sustained. One part is dependent on another; one part derives nourishment from another, and thus all become mutually useful, contributing to the support and harmony of the whole. This furnishes an illustration of the connection in the members of the church and of the aid that one can render to another.

According to the effectual working. Greek: "According to the energy in the measure of each one part." Tyndale: "According to the operation as every part has its measure." The meaning is that each part contributes to the production of the whole result, or labors for this. This is in proportion to the "measure" of each part; that is, in proportion to its power, every part labors to produce the great result.

No one is idle; none is useless. But none are overtaxed or overworked. The support demanded and furnished by every part is in exact proportion to its strength. This is a beautiful account of the anatomy of the human frame.

1. Nothing is useless. Every part contributes to the general result—the health, beauty, and vigor of the system. Not a muscle is useless; not a nerve, not an artery, not a vein. All are employed, all have an important place, and all contribute something to the health and beauty of the whole.

   So numerous are the blood-vessels that you cannot perforate the skin anywhere without piercing one. So numerous are the pores of the skin that a gram of sand will cover thousands of them. So minute are the ramifications of the nerves that wherever the point of a needle penetrates, we feel it. And so numerous are the absorbents that millions of them are employed in taking up the chyme of the food and conveying it to the veins. And yet all are employed—all are useful, all minister life and strength to the whole.

2. None are overtaxed. They all work according to the "measure" of their strength. Nothing is required of the minutest nerve or blood-vessel that it is not fitted to perform, and it will work on for years without exhaustion or decay.

   So it is with the church. There is no member so obscure and feeble that he may not contribute something to the welfare of the whole; and no one is required to labor beyond his strength to secure the great object. Each one in his place, and laboring as he should there, will contribute to the general strength and welfare; out of his place—like nerves and arteries out of their place, crossing and recrossing others—he will only embarrass the whole and disarrange the harmony of the system.

Makes increase of the body. The body grows in this manner.

Unto the edifying of itself. This means building itself up—that is, it grows up to a complete stature.

In love. This means in mutual harmony. This refers to the body. The meaning is that it seems to be made on the principle of love. There is no jar, no collision, no disturbance of one part with another.

A great number of parts, composed of different substances and with different functions—bones, nerves, muscles, and blood-vessels—are united in one and live together without collision; and so it should be in the church. Learn from this:

1. That no member of the church needs to be useless, any more than a minute nerve or blood-vessel in the body needs to be useless. No matter how obscure the individual may be, he may contribute to the harmony and vigor of the whole.

2. Every member of the church should contribute something to the prosperity of the whole. He should no more be idle and unemployed than a nerve or a blood-vessel should be in the human system.

   What would be the effect if the minutest nerves and arteries of the body should refuse to perform their office? Languor, disease, and death. So it is in the church. The obscurest member may do something to destroy the healthful action of the church and to make its piety languish and die.

3. There should be union in the church. It is made up of materials that differ much from each other, as the body is made up of bones, nerves, and muscles. Yet, in the body these are united; and so it should be in the church.

   There needs to be no more jarring in the church than in the body; and a jar in the church produces the same effect as would be produced in the body if the nerves and muscles should resist the action of each other, or as if one should be out of its place and impede the healthful functions of the other.

4. Every member in the church should keep his place, just as every bone, nerve, and muscle in the human frame should. Every member of the body should be in its right position; the heart, the lungs, the eye, and the tongue should occupy their right place; and every nerve in the system should be laid down just where it is designed to be.

   If so, all is well. If not, all is deformity or disorder, just as it often is in the church.