Ephesians Chapter 4 verse 12 Holy Bible

ASV Ephesians 4:12

for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ:
read chapter 4 in ASV

BBE Ephesians 4:12

For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ:
read chapter 4 in BBE

DARBY Ephesians 4:12

for the perfecting of the saints; with a view to [the] work of [the] ministry, with a view to the edifying of the body of Christ;
read chapter 4 in DARBY

KJV Ephesians 4:12

For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
read chapter 4 in KJV

WBT Ephesians 4:12


read chapter 4 in WBT

WEB Ephesians 4:12

for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;
read chapter 4 in WEB

YLT Ephesians 4:12

unto the perfecting of the saints, for a work of ministration, for a building up of the body of the Christ,
read chapter 4 in YLT

Ephesians 4 : 12 Bible Verse Songs

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 12. - In order to the perfecting of the saints. The ultimate end for which the gifts bestowed (comp. Hebrews 12:1). A work of completion is in hand, which must be fulfilled (see ver. 13): the saints, now compassed about with infirmity, have to be freed from all stain (Ephesians 5:26, 27), and as instruments towards this end, the ministers of the Church are given by Christ; they are not mere promoters of civilization, men of culture planted among the rude, but instruments for advancing men to complete holiness. For the work of the ministry. The preposition is changed from πρὸς to εἰς πρὸς denoting the ultimate end, εἰς the immediate object (comp. Romans 15:2); the office of the Church officers is not lords, but διακονοί, servants, as Christ himself was (Matthew 20:28). For the building up of the body of Christ. Bringing bone to its bone and sinew to its sinew, increasing the number of believers, and promoting the spiritual life of each; carrying on all their work as Christ's servants and with a definite eye to the promotion of the great work which he undertook when he came to seek and to save the lost.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(12) For the perfecting . . .--The parallelism of the three clauses of our version of this verse does not exactly correspond to the original, though we notice that Chrysostom supports it, and therefore evidently saw nothing in the Greek to contradict it. The preposition (eis) used in the two latter clauses (which should be unto work of ministration, unto edification of the body of Christ) properly signifies "contact with a thing," and the preposition (pros) used in the first clause, "direction towards a thing." The two are often apparently interchanged; but in close juxtaposition here can hardly be intended to be identical or exactly parallel; and, if distinction is to be drawn, the former must signify immediate consequence, and the other the remoter object to which such immediate consequence is designed to minister. The construction would be greatly simplified, if inversion of the first two clauses could be allowed. For it would then run, "unto work of ministration with a view to perfecting of saints, unto building up of the body of Christ;" and so would plainly represent the two-fold operation of the ministry: first, its work in its various offices for the perfecting of individual souls; and next, its general direction to the building up of the whole body. But whether this construction be grammatically possible or not, this appears to be in any case the general sense of the passage.The perfecting of the saints.--The word rendered "perfecting" (akin to the "perfection" of 2Corinthians 13:9) is derived from a root which signifies either to "mend" what is broken (as in Matthew 4:21), or to "complete" what is unfinished (as in Luke 6:40; Romans 9:22); and hence is used spiritually for to "restore" the fallen (Galatians 6:1), or to "perfect" the imperfect Christian (Hebrews 13:21; 1Thessalonians 3:10). Both processes are necessarily implied in that perfection of the individual saints here spoken of, and more fully described in the next verses. . . .