21. Glory to him in the church and in the Messiah Jesus. This statement is puzzling and hard to explain for two reasons. Two widely different terms: “the church” and “the Messiah” are accorded parallel, if not equal, dignity. Both are mentioned in the same place as the locus or the means of God’s glorification—as if no sharp distinction were made elsewhere between the people of God and their head! The sequence of the terms “in the church” and “in the Messiah Jesus” is also startling. Why is the Messiah not mentioned before his people? Unequivocal readings of 3:21 found in third-, fourth-, and fifth-century MSS (the Ch. Beatty Papyrus and the Codices Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Ephraemi) follow this perplexing coordination and sequence. However, the variant readings of the Koine Group, the ninth-century Codices Angelicus and Porfirianus, and other MSS as well as Oecumenius and Theophylact omit the conjunction “and” between “the church” and “the Messiah.” They suggest the version, “in the church through Christ.” The first script of the sixth-century Codex Claramontanus, the ninth-century Boernerianus, also Ambrosiaster and other fathers, reverse the order of “the church” and “Christ.” The Vulgate, by inserting a comma after “the church,” perhaps intends to indicate that temporal praise is given to God “in the church,” while eternal praise is offered “in Christ.” (Markus Barth, Ephesians: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary on Chapters 1-3 [AYB 34; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 375, emphasis added)
