Ephesians 4:11

αὐτὸς is emphatic. He who descended and ascended. The stress laid on the direct action of the Ascended Lord in supplying the Church with living agents is in keeping with the whole thought of the passage, cf. Ephesians 4:7 τῆς δωρεᾶς τοῦ χριστοῦ and Ephesians 4:16 ἐξ οὖ. It carries on the reference in Ephesians 2:14 to the personal activity of Christ Jesus in the work of reconciliation, esp. Ephesians 2:15 as ‘creating the two in himself into one new man.’ In 1 Corinthians 12:28 we read καὶ οὔς μὲν ἔθετο ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, πρῶτον�. In Acts 20:28 we find ἐν ᾦ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους. It is clear that all ministry in the Church in St Paul’s view is of Divine appointment. On the other hand he gives us no hint in his Epistles of the method by which the Divine will was made known in any particular case. His own practice was to appoint officers to take charge of the Churches of his own founding (Acts 14; cf. 1 Tim. and Tit.). It has however rightly been pointed out by Robinson (cf. Westcott) that the chief forms of ministry indicated here refer to the Church as a whole, especially in its missionary aspect, e.g. Apostles, Prophets and Evangelists. It is only the Pastors and Teachers whose characteristic function would be the care of a settled congregation.

ἔδωκεν. Repeated from Ephesians 4:8. The gifts are men, members it would seem of ‘the band of captives.’ If this interpretation is accepted it would throw light on the curious use of συναιχμάλωτος in Romans 16:7 : Colossians 4:10; Philemon 1:23. For the thought of αἰχμαλωσία is of a prisoner of war, not of imprisonment for a civil offence.

τοὺς μὲν�. Cf. on Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5. It is true that the word is capable of a wide use (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:13) as the Didachç has conclusively shown. But the primacy ascribed to it both here and 1 Corinthians 12:28 seems to suggest that St Paul is here using it strictly.

τοὺς δὲ προφήτας. Cf. Ephesians 2:20; Ephesians 3:5.

τοὺς δὲ εὐαγγελιστάς. Besides ‘Philip the Evangelist,’ Acts 21:8, who was settled at Caesarea and had been ‘one of the Seven’ and had ‘evangelized’ the eunuch, Acts 8:35, Timothy is exhorted (2 Timothy 4:5) ‘to do the work of an Evangelist’ whether among the members of his own congregation or among the heathen it is not easy to say. We read also of a brother (2 Corinthians 8:18), most probably St Luke, ‘whose praise in the Gospel’ is spread through all the Churches.

τοὺς δὲ ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους. ‘Shepherds and Teachers’ constitute a single class. The functions would naturally, but (see 1 Timothy 5:17) not necessarily, be exercised by the same person. The ‘Pastoral’ ideal goes back to words of the Lord (John 10:11; John 21:16; cf. Matthew 9:36; Matthew 26:31). It is applied to the work of the Christian Ministry by St Paul (Acts 20:28; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:7) and St Peter (1 Peter 5:2); and cf. O.T.

διδασκάλους. This corresponds to the Jewish title ‘Rabbi.’ It occupies the third place in 1 Corinthians 12:28. It occurs only once in Acts of certain ‘Prophets and Teachers’ (Acts 13:1) at Antioch. St Paul twice claims the title for himself in the Pastoral Epistles side by side with κῆρυξ καὶ�. See 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11.