Ephesians 4
Ephesians 4:1
על־כן אזהירכם אני האסור באדון להתהלך כאשר יאתה למשמרתכם אשר נקראתם לה׃
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,
Ephesians 4:2
בכל־נמיכות וענוה ובארך רוח לשאת איש את־רעהו באהבה׃
with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love;
Ephesians 4:3
ושקדו לשמר את־אחדות הרוח באגדת השלום׃
being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:4
גוף אחד ורוח אחד כאשר גם־נקראתם בתקות משמרתכם האחת׃
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you also were called in one hope of your calling;
Ephesians 4:5
אדון אחד אמונה אחת טבילה אחת׃
one Lord, one faith, one immersion,
Ephesians 4:6
אל ואב אחד לכל שהוא על־כל ואת־כל ובתוך כל׃
one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in us all.
“Hear O Israel, HaShem our God, HaShem is one.”
Deuteronomy 6:4
Ephesians 4:7
אבל לכל־אחד ואחד ממנו נתן החסד כמדת מתנת המשיח׃
But to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Messiah.
Ephesians 4:8
על־כן הוא אומר עלה למרום שבה שבי ויתן מתנות לאדם׃
Therefore he says, ‘When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.
Ephesians 4:9
ועלה שאמר מה־הוא אם־לא שירד מקדם לתחתיות ארץ׃
Now this, He ascended, what is it but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?
Ephesians 4:10
הוא הירד והוא העלה למעלה מכל־השמים למען ימלא את־הכל׃
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
Ephesians 4:11
והוא נתן את־אלה שליחים ואת־אלה נביאים ואת־אלה מבשרים ואת־אלה רעים ומלמדים׃
He gave some to be emissaries; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers;
Ephesians 4:12
להשלים את־הקדשים למעשה העבודה לבנין גוף המשיח׃
for the perfecting of the holy ones, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Messiah;
Ephesians 4:13
עד כי־נגיע כלנו לאחדות האמונה ודעת בן־האלהים כאיש אחד שלם לשעור קומת מלוא המשיח׃
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah;
One of the Hebrew translations of Ephesians renders “to a perfect man” by the words “HaAdam HaShalem.” The words “the measure of the statue” are the words “Shiur Komah.” This has a very deep significance among Jewish mystics, who wrote a treatise called Shiur Komah, The Measure of the Stature, which portrays HaShem in an anthropomorphic way, detailing the enormous size of his limbs, feet, beard, eyes, etc. In truth, HaShem has no body, He is infinite, without boundaries. These details are describing spiritual dimensions. The Baal Shem Tov, R’ Israel ben Eliezer (1698 – 1760CE) comments,
“Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the part of the Messiah (Komat HaMashiach) that relates to his own soul. As is known, the word “Adam” is an acronym for “Adam, David, Messiah.” Adam’s size was from one end of the earth to the other, and included in it all the souls of Israel (Chagiga 12a). After the sin, however, his stature was diminished. Likewise, the Messiah’s soul will made up of all the 600,000 souls of Israel, as it was before Adam’s sin. Therefore, every Jew must make ready that portion of the Messiah that corresponds to his own, until the entire structure is fixed and established. Then there will be universal Unification, without end. May it be soon in our days!”
Baal Shem Tov, Me’or Einayim, Pinchas, Ki Savo, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, translated by R’ Eliezer Shore, BST Publishing, pg. 164-165
The commentary says,
“Commentary: Komat HaMoshiach – literally, the “structure of the Messiah.” The soul of the Messiah, like that of Adam, incorporates all the souls of the Jewish people, from the forefathers until the last generation. Every Jew has his place in the soul of the Messiah. By working to refine one’s own soul, the collective soul of the Messiah is built, and the redemption draws nearer.”
This seems to be in exact accord with what Paul is saying, to the point of using the same words, with the Baal Shem Tov using “Komat HaMashiach” (Stature of Mashiach) and Paul’s “Shiur Komah m’lo Mashiach.” (the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah).
Ephesians 4:14
ולא־נהיה עוד ילדים נגרשים ונדפים בכל־רוח הלמוד בתרמית בני אדם ומקשותם אשר שתו להתעות׃
that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
Ephesians 4:15
כי אם־נדבר האמת באהבה ונגדלה בכל־דבר לו למשיח אשר הוא הראש׃
but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Messiah;
Ephesians 4:16
אשר ממנו כל־הגוף המרכב ומדבק בכל־חבור השמוש כמדת הכח הנתון לכל־אבר ואבר ירבה ויגדל להשלמת בנינו באהבה׃
from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:17
והנה זאת אני אמר ומעיד באדון כי מעתה לא־תלכו עוד כיתר הגוים ההלכים בהבלי שכלם׃
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,
Ephesians 4:18
חשכי הדעת ומוזרים לחיי אלהים מפני אולתם אשר בהם כי־טח מהשכיל לבבם׃
being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;
Ephesians 4:19
אשר השמינו ויתנו את־נפשם לזמה לעשות כל־תועבה לבצע בצע׃
who having become callous gave themselves up to lust, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
Ephesians 4:20
ואתם לא כן למדתם את־המשיח׃
But you did not learn Messiah that way;
Ephesians 4:21
אם־אמנם שמעתם אתו ובו למדתם כפי האמת אשר בישוע׃
if indeed you heard him, and were taught in him, even as truth is in Yeshua:
Ephesians 4:22
לסור מדרכיכם הראשנים ולפשט את־האדם הישן הנשחת בתאות רמיה׃
that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man, that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit;
Ephesians 4:23
להתחדש ברוח שכלכם׃
and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
Ephesians 4:24
וללבש את־האדם החדש הנברא כדמות אלהים בצדקה וקדשת האמת׃
and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth.
Ha’Adam Ha’Chadash. The New Adam.
Ephesians 4:25
על־כן הסירו מכם את־השקר ודברו אמת איש את־רעהו כי אברים אנחנו איש לאחיו׃
Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
Ephesians 4:26
רגזו ואל־תחטאו ולא תבא השמש על־רגזכם׃
Be angry, and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath,
Ephesians 4:27
ואל־תתנו מקום לשטן׃
neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:28
מי שגנב אל־יסף לגנב כי אם־ייגע ובידיו יעשה את־הטוב למען יהיה־לו לתת לאיש מחסור׃
Let him who stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, that he may have something to give to him who has need.
Ephesians 4:29
ולא־יצא מפיכם כל־דבר נבול כי אם־הטוב והמועיל לבנות לפי הצרך למען יתן חן לשמעיו׃
Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your mouth, but such as is good for building up as the need may be, that it may give grace to those who hear.
According to the Gemara (Pesachim 3a), the Torah goes out of its way to speak in a clean manner. We should learn from this to avoid all manner of evil speech, nivul peh, rechilut, lashon hara, etc. See the book of James, Shaarei Teshuva 3:229, Mesilat Yesharim, Chapter 11 and especially the teachings of the Chofetz Chaim.
