[wittneben]

Since no forum exists for Ephesians, I thought it best to post this comment here. I really want feedback to show me where I am off track.

A. Literal translation
...and He gave the some apostles the and prophets, the and good-newscasters the and shepherds and teachers towards the equipage of the holy into a work of service (attending aid or service), into an edification (a building) of the body of Christ...

B. Paraphrase
...and it is He that gave some apostles, some prophets, some good-newscasters, some shepherds and teachers to proceed towards the equipage (the complete furnishing and equipping) of the holy ones, which in turn leads to a work of attending service, an edification of the body of Christ...

C. Explanation of paraphrase
The word “towards” exists once followed by two occurrences of “into” without a conjunction. He gave the gifts to have a direct function upon the holy ones. This function will ultimately lead the holy ones to an attending service, which is an edification of the body of Christ. Without a conjunction between “a work of service” and “an edification,” this implies that the second is a restatement of the other. Thus, “a work of service” is the same thing as “an edification.”
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The Kingdom of the Living God

[Obadiah]

Wittneben:

First, toss the 'literal' part. It's not helpful to translate Greek into English in exact word order.

Second, 'equipage' is, at best, archaic in English. My dictionary says that it means 'equipment for a particular purpose' (noting this is an archaic usage) or a horse-drawn carriage.

Third, I would take the syntax of προς τον καταρτισμον των αγιων εις εργον διακονιας εις οικοδομην του σωματος του χριστου as indicating successive levels of purpose:
• the giving of the ministering individuals (I believe the individuals themselves are the gifts) is for the purpose of equipping the saints
• the equipping of the saints by the gifts is for the purpose of facilitating the work of ministry
• the work of ministry facilitated by the equipping of the saints is for the purpose of building up the body of Christ

But I don't know that the Greek syntax is unambiguous on this point.