Ephesians 3:8

ἐμοὶ τῷ ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ πάντων τῶν ἁγίων ἐδόθη ἡ χάρις αὕτη : to me, who am less then the least of all saints, was given this grace. The τῶν inserted by the TR, on slender documentary evidence, before ἁγίων must be omitted as wanting in [256] [257] [258] [259] [260] [261] [262] [263], etc. The thought of the dignity of the office he had received at the cost of such grace and power at once evokes the sense of his own utter unworthiness, to which he gives stronger expression here than even in 1 Corinthians 15:9, or 2 Corinthians 12:11. The form ἐλαχιστότερος, a comparative of the superlative ἔλαχιστος, is found only here. It belongs to a class of double comparisons which had a place probably in the popular modes of speech, but of which a considerable number are found in later literature, especially in poetry. The only other example in the NT is the double comparative μειζότερος in 3 John 1:4; cf. Buttm., Gram. of NT Greek, p. 28. ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν εὐαγγελίσασθαι τὸν ἀνεξιχνίαστον πλοῦτον τοῦ Χριστοῦ : to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. The TR inserts ἐν before τοῖς ἔθνεσιν with) [264] [265] [266] [267], etc.); but it is not found in [268] [269] [270] [271], etc., and is best omitted. The former reading would define the sphere assigned to Paul in his ministry; the latter, the subjects of that ministry. For τὸν πλοῦτον the better accredited form is τὸ πλοῦτος. The τοῦ Χριστοῦ is prob. the gen. of possess., = the riches that Christ has, or that are in Him. The πλοῦτος thus contained in Christ is the whole wealth of the salvation He bestows; and this is “unsearchable,” i.e., not in the sense of inexhaustible, but rather in that of unfathomable, “past finding out,” such as cannot be fully comprehended by man; cf. Romans 11:33, the only other NT occurrence of ἀνεξιχνίαστον; also Job 5:9; Job 9:10; Job 34:24, the only occurrences in the LXX. It is a picturesque and suggestive word, meaning literally such as cannot be traced out by footprints.

[256] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[257] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[258] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[259] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.

[260] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[261] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[262] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[263] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[264] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[265] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[266] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[267] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[268] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[269] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[270] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[271] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.