82 JUAN MANUEL GRANADOS ROJAS modern translations (NRS, NAB, NIV); however some scholars have asked if this interpretation results from exegetical insights or rather reflects a democratic view prevalent in the churches after World War II 3. A. T. Lincoln, for example, adopts the traditional view, arguing that the change of preposition cannot be considered a grammatical or lin- guistic ground for relating the first phrase to the second. He thinks that each one of the prepositional phrases depends on the giving (edwken) of ¶ the ministries and suspects that the “revisionist” reading supports a “demo- cratic ” model of the church 4. On the contrary, E. Best holds that the change of preposition indicates a movement from the work of the minis- tries to the work of the whole church. This change suggests a separation between 12a and 12bc 5. W. Hoehner summarizes four different ways to interpret the inter- relationship of the three prepositional phrases 6 : (a) “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (KJV). The phrases are coor- dinated modifying the main verb edwken, and each one is separate ¶ from the other by a comma 7. (b) “for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of the ministry, unto the building up of the body of Christ” (ASV). The first prepositional phrase depends on the main verb edwken, while the second and the ¶ third phrases are coordinated to one another and depend on the first 8. J.J. DAVIS, “Ephesians 4:12 Once More: ‘Equipping the Saints for the 3 Work of Ministry?”, Evangelical Review of Theology 24 (2000) 170; see also H.P. HAMMAN, “The Translation of Ephesians 4:12 — A Necessary Revi- sion ”, Concordia Journal 14 (1988) 48. A.T. LINCOLN, Ephesians (WBC ; Dallas TX 1990) 253. 4 E. BEST, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Ephesians (ICC ; 5 Edinburgh 1998) 398. H.W. HOEHNER, Ephesians. An Exegetical Commentary (Grand Rapids 6 MI 2002) 547-551; see also P.T. TANTIONO, Speaking the Truth in Christ. An Exegetico-theological Study of Galatians 4,12-20 and Ephesians 4,12-16 (Tesi Gregoriana. Serie Teologia 164; Roma 2008) 144-149. H A M M A N , “ T h e Translation ” , 43 ; LINCOLN, E p h e s i a n s , 253 ; 7 T.D. GORDON, “‘Equipping’ Ministry in Ephesians 4?”, JETS 37 (1994) 71-72 ; DAVIS, “Ephesians 4:12”, 174; J.C. O’NEILL, “‘The Work of Ministry’ in Ephesians 4:12 and the New Testament”, ExpTim 112 (2001) 338; M.Y. MACDONALD, Colossians and Ephesians (Sacra Pagina; Collegeville, MN 2000) 292; S.H.T PAGE, “Whose Ministry? A Re-Appraisal of Ephesians 4 :12 ”, NT 47 (2005) 31.46. See also RSV . S. HANSON, The Unity of the Church in the New Testament: Colossians 8 and Ephesians (ASNU ; Uppsala 1946) 157; F.F. BRUCE, The Epistles to the