4:16a

From Him: The pronoun Him refers to Christ in 4:15b.

the whole body: Paul again used the picture of a body to describe the church. Just as the ligaments/muscles hold together the different parts of the body, so it is Christ who holds together his body, which is the church (all believers).

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

He makes the whole body (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The whole body depends on Christ (New Century Version)
-or-
Like the whole body depends ⌊on the head⌋ ⌊so all we believers depend⌋ on Christ

See how you translated body in 4:4a and 4:12b.

4:16b

fitted and held together: The phrase fitted and held together refers to the different parts of the body of Christ (members of the church) that work together just as the different parts of a body are held together by its ligaments/muscles. See the note below on “ligament” for more information.

by every supporting ligament: The Greek phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as by every supporting ligament is literally “through every joint of the supply.” A ligament refers to one of the strong bands of tough fibrous tissue that joins bones or holds some part of the body in position. In this context, the word ligament includes all those things that connect the different parts of the body together, that is, joints, tendons and muscles.

Here are some other ways to translate 4:16a:

He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
He makes the whole body fit together and unites it through the support of every joint (God’s Word)

If the people will not understand that this is a metaphor about the group of believers then you may want to translate the meaning directly. Here is an example of how to translate the meaning directly:

He causes all the believers to work together harmoniously as they support each other.

Another option is to put in a footnote. For example:

Paul is continuing to use a metaphor here. He compares the ligaments of a person’s body that holds the body together to the individual believers helping and supporting each other by Christ’s power. The following is an example of the metaphor with its meaning. “As God causes the whole body to be held together by its ligaments so Christ causes all his believers to work together harmoniously by their support of each other.”

4:16c

grows and builds itself up: The phrase grows and builds itself up means “cause to grow large and strong” or “make complete and mature.”

Here is another way to translate this phrase:

grows and becomes strong (Good News Translation)

in love: The phrase in love means that the members of the body will grow in their love for each other. This phrase also occurred in 4:15a.

through the work of each individual part: This is a continuation of Paul’s comparison between a human body and the church. If all the parts of a person’s body function as they should, the body will be healthy and grow. So it is with the church: if all believers use the special gifts God has given them, then the church will become strong. For example:

As each and every part does its job (God’s Word)

General Comment on 4:16c

In your translation it may be better to reorder this clause. You could first explain the figure of speech (“If each part of a body does its work…”) and then explain how believers are compared to the body (“In the same way…”). This has been done in the second meaning line of the Display for 4:16c.

General Comment on 4:16a–c

Here is another way to translate this verse:

He would be like our head, and we would be each of his arms, legs and sinews/ligaments. And if/when we would love each other, we would grow up to be strong and each of us do our own/individual works faithfully.

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