2:21a
In Him: Here the phrase In Him means “because of Christ.” It has the same meaning as “through him” in 2:18. It first occurred in 1:7a. It means that Christ is doing the work of joining and building the building.
whole building: The phrase whole building is part of the apostle Paul’s metaphor comparing the church to a building or house. See the above note on 2:20–22 for more information.
fitted together: The Greek verb that the Berean Standard Bible translates as fitted together is a technical building term. It refers to cutting or shaping stones so that they fit exactly together in the building, then fastening together the cut stones with metal pegs. (This verb occurs only here and in 4:16.) This metaphor refers to the Jews and Gentiles being joined or united together in the church.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
He is the one who holds the whole building together (Good News Translation)
-or-
In him all the parts of the building fit together (God’s Word)
2:21b
grows into a holy temple in the Lord: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible literally translates as grows means “to get larger.” In some languages the word “grow” may not be appropriate to describe a building becoming larger. Use a natural way to describe this in your language.
Here are some other ways to translate this word:
becoming a holy temple (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
He builds a holy temple
In some languages it may be necessary to indicate what causes the building to become larger. If this is true in your language you may indicate that Christ is the one who causes the temple to get larger.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
makes it grow into a holy temple for the Lord (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
⌊Christ⌋ builds it into a holy temple for the Lord
holy temple: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as temple specifically refers to the Holy of Holies. It was the room in the temple where God’s presence lived. The word holy means that this temple is dedicated/set apart for God. In some languages, there is no special word for temple or sanctuary. Instead a phrase like “worship place” or “God’s house” is used. See holy, Meaning 1 in the Glossary for more information.
Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:
a place set apart ⌊for God⌋ ⌊where God resides⌋
-or-
⌊like⌋ a temple, wholly dedicated ⌊to God⌋ ⌊and filled with his presence⌋
-or-
⌊God’s big holy house⌋
in the Lord: By using the word Lord, Paul probably meant the Lord Jesus, but some commentators think Paul means Lord God. If possible, leave this ambiguous in your translation. If this is impossible then choose “the Lord Jesus” as the majority of the commentaries consulted favor this view.
The phrase in the Lord means that the temple is “for the Lord” (see the New Living Translation (2004)) or “dedicated to the Lord” (see Good News Translation).
© 1999, 2019 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.