>Here's another interesting question, perhaps one that is more easily
>answered (which would be gratifying!): Is KEFALH in Eph 4:15 really to be
>understood in the sense "source?" Isn't KEFALH here used in the same way as
>consistently in Ephesians and Colossians, where Christ is always "head" of
>the "body," which is the Church? I'm curious about this and I think there
>must be a substantial body of scholarship on the subject: where DOES this
>analogy come from? I have the impression that it is altogether unrelated to
>the analogy of the body in Romans 12 or the Platonic analogy of parts of
>the PSUXH as the governing structure of a living organism. Is it
>astrological mysticism? Does it bear any relationship to the Kabbalah's
>cosmic man (isn't ROSH used there in a specific sense?)? Somehow it seems
>to me that the source of this language more likely lies in the eastern
>Hellenistic world, whence it has entered into Hellenistic Judaism and early
>Christianity. Can anyone shed light on this?
Carl, as usual, is on target. The scholarship on this SWMA CRISTOY is
immense. A good place to start is the article by Eduard Schweizer on SWMA
in Kittel-Friedrich, TDNT 7.1024-1094. He also has three significant
articles in his collected essays titled NEOTESTAMENTICA (Stuttgart: Zwingli
Verlag, 1963).
One of the classic studies is Stig Hanson, THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH IN THE
NEW TESTAMENT: COLOSSIANS AND EPHESIANS (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiuksell,
1946).
Add to that the study of two relatively recent commentaries: Petr Pokorny,
COLOSSIANS: A COMMENTARY (Peabody: Hendricksen, 1991), and Rudolf
Schnackenburg, EPHESIANS: A COMMENTARY (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1991.
Edgar Krentz, New Testament
emkrentz@mcs.com OR ***** ekrentz@lstc.edu
Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
1100 East 55th Street
CHICAGO IL 60615
TEL.: 773-256-0752 FAX: 773-256-0782