Ephesians 5:30
 
Ephesians 5:30
(KJV) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
(1611 KJV) For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
(1526 Tyndale) For we are members of his body of his flesshe and of his bones.
(1382 Wycliffe) And we ben membris of his bodi, of his fleisch, and of his boonys.
 
Counterfeit Versions
(NIV) for we are members of his body.
(NASV) because we are members of His body.
(THE MESSAGE) since we are part of his body.
(NLT) And we are his body.
(ESV) because we are members of his body.
(CEV) because we are each part of his body.
(1901 ASV) because we are members of his body.
(NLV) We are all a part of His body, the church.
(HCSB) since we are members of His body.
(NCV) because we are parts of his body.
(RSV) because we are members of his body.
(NAB-Roman Catholic) because we are members of his body.
(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) because we are members of his body.
 
Textus Receptus - Traditional Text
oti melh esmen tou swmatoV autou ek thV sarkoV autou kai ek twn ostewn autou
 
Hort-Westcott - Critical Text
oti melh esmen tou swmatoV autou
 
Corrupted Manuscripts
This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century (original)
A 02 - Alexandrinus - Fifth century
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century
P 46 - About 200 A.D.
33 - Ninth century (Minuscule)
 
Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse
Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)
Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Fourth century (corrected)
D 06 - Paris: Claromontanus - Sixth century
L 020 - Ninth century
P 025 - Ninth century
　
Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions
Omits “of his flesh, and of his bones”
Lachmann, Karl - 1842
Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869
Tregelles, Samuel - 1857
Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871 (in brackets or margin
Westcott and Hort - 1881
Weiss, Bernhard - 1894
Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941
Nestle-Aland - 1979 - Twenty Sixth Edition
Nestle-Aland - 1993 - Twenty Seventh Edition
United Bible Societies - 1983 - Fourth Edition
 
Affected Teaching
Now the Bible is teaching us that those who are in Christ are members of His body. This we understand, but of his flesh and bones? When the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead, He came out of the grave bodily, not a spirit. Some teach that Christ only rose in Spirit. If that is the case, then His grave would be with us today, and believe me the enemies of Christ would have definitely handed down the location of His grave to every generation, but they can’t, because where ever it was, it is now empty.
　
When Eve was formed from Adam’s rib, the Scripture teaches: (Gen 2:23 KJV) And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. God took Eve from the rib of Adam and when the church was formed, the side of the Lord Jesus was punctured by the soldier with the spear and out came water and blood. The church was formed the same way Eve was. We are one flesh with Christ as we are married to him, just as Eve was one flesh with Adam when they were married. It is the principle that we have seen in this chapter. There is such an intimacy between Christ and the church, that it is symbolized as us being a member of his physical body. Remember in John 6, when the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of eating His flesh and drinking His blood? This was also symbolic of being such an intimate part of the Lord Jesus. The church as the wife of Christ, are enjoined as one, which is symbolized by the marriage relationship.
　
When the modern versions remove the portion of the verse concerning the flesh and bones, they remove the intimacy between the believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. By ending the verse with “body” it can be made to sound like the believer is just part of a large body. That large body can be a large body of believers of which the true believer is a part, but the portion about flesh and bones explains and enhances the first portion of the verse and teaches us that we are as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as the flesh and bones of His body. Once again the King James version gives us a very thorough teaching where as the new versions make it a nebulous one.

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