Ephesians 1:22

καὶ πάντα ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ : and He put all things under His feet. The ὑπέταξεν is coordinate with the previous ἐνήργησε. These two things God did: He wrought His mighty power in raising and exalting Christ and He subjected all things to Him. The idea expressed by the ὑπέταξεν here is not the limited idea of a subjection of opposing objects, which we have in 1 Corinthians 15:27, but the wider idea of placing all created things under the sovereignty of Christ. The words recall those of Psalms 8:7, but do not give these in the form of a quotation. That Psalm speaks of Man as he was meant by God to be, with dominion over all the creatures. Here that ideal is presented as made real in Christ, the exalted, sovereign Christ. The act referred to, therefore, by the aor. ὑπέταξεν may be the definite gift of absolute dominion consequent on the exaltation. The raising of Christ to God's right hand was followed by the placing of all things under His feet and making Him, de facto, sovereign over all. καὶ αὐτὸν ἔδωκεν κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ : and gave Him as head over all things to the Church. The RV agrees with the AV and the Bishops' Bible in rendering it “and gave Him to be head”. Tynd. and Cran. have “hath made Him above all things the head”; the Rhemish, “hath made Him head over all the Church”. The two ideas of Christ's Headship over all things and His Headship over the Church appear to be in the statement. The question is how they are related, and what is the precise idea attaching to each of the significant terms. The ἔδωκεν is not to be taken in the technical sense of appointed, installed (as expressed by נָתַן, τιθέναι), but, as is indicated by the simple dat. ἐκκλησίᾳ, in its ordinary sense of gave. Christ in the capacity or position here ascribed to Him is presented as a gift of God to the Church. Having exalted Him to the highest and invested Him with supreme dominion, God gives Him to the Church. The πάντα in ὑπὲρ πάντα must have the sense it has in πάντα ὑπέταξεν, not “all authorities,” but “all things ”. The κεφαλή, therefore, must express an absolute headship over all the created world, visible and invisible, not a particular, higher headship over other subordinate headships, Apostles, Bishops, etc., in the Church. Further, as the subsequent statement about the σῶμα shows, it must have the full sense of head, organic head, and neither that of sum nor that of highest dignity only. The term ἐκκλησία, again, obviously has here its widest Christian sense. Used by the Greeks to designate an assembly of the people called for deliberation (cf. Acts 19:39), and by the LXX as the equivalent of the Hebrew קָהָל, the congregation of Israel, especially when called in religious convention (Deuteronomy 31:30, etc.), it expresses in the NT the idea of the fellowship or assembly of believers meeting for worship or for administration. And it expresses this in various degrees of extension, ranging from the small company gathering for worship in one's house (the ἐκκλησία κατʼ οἶκον, Romans 16:5; 1 Corinthians 16:19, etc.), or the single congregation of village or city (Acts 5:11; Acts 8:3; 1 Corinthians 4:17, etc.), to the larger Christian communities of provinces and countries (τῆς Ἀσίας, Γαλατίας, Ἰουδαίας, 1Co 16:1; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Corinthians 8:1; Galatians 1:2; Galatians 1:22), and finally to the Church universal, the Church collectively, the whole fellowship of believers throughout the world (Mat 16:18; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Philippians 3:6; Colossians 1:18; Colossians 1:24, etc.). Here and in the other occurrences in this Epistle the word has this largest extension of meaning, with the further mystical idea of a unity vitally related to Christ, incorporated in Him, and having His life in it. If the terms then are to be so understood, how is their connection in the sentence to be construed? The τῇ ἐκκλησία is immediately dependent on ἔδωκεν, and cannot well be taken as a dat. commodi =“for the good of the Church” (De Wette), as if it were attached immediately to the ὑπὲρ πάντα. The κεφαλὴν ὑπὲρ πάντα may then be taken either as in apposition to αὐτόν “gave Him, head over all things, to the Church,” i.e., gave Him, this head over all things, to the Church (Chrys., Stier, etc.); or as having a predicative force “gave Him as head overall things” (Ell., etc.). The latter is to be preferred both as the easier construction and as more congruous with the anarthrous κεφαλήν. Thus the purport of the clause is that God, in giving Christ to the Church, gave Him in the capacity of Head over all things. There is no distinction or comparison, therefore, between two headships, as if one were over the world or over the state, and the other over the Church. Christ's Headship over the Church, so far as this clause is concerned, is rather implied than expressed. The idea of the Headship over the Church is more distinctly conveyed by the sentence which follows, with the further description of the Church as the σῶμα Χριστου. Here the great idea is still that of the Headship of Christ over all things. Having that supremacy He is given by God to the Church, and as given in the capacity of universal Head He is given to the Church as her Head also.