καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον καὶ συνβιβαζόμενον
κατὰ τὰς _ἁφάς_, ὥσπερ φασί τινες, κἂν μήπω ᾖ διηρημένον, ἔσται
διηρημένον· δυνατὸν γὰρ διαιρεθῆναι: comp. [Plat.] _Axioch._ p. 365 A
συνειλεγμένον τὰς ἁφὰς καὶ τῷ σώματι ῥωμαλέον. It is quite clear from
these passages of Aristotle, more especially from the distinction of
ἁφαί and πόροι, that αἱ ἁφαί are the joinings, the junctures. When
applied to the human body they would be ‘joints,’ provided that we use
the word accurately of the relations between contiguous limbs, and not
loosely (as it is often used) of the parts of the limbs themselves in
the neighbourhood of the contact. Hippocrates indeed used ἁφαί as a
physiological term in a different sense, employing it as a synonyme for
ἅμματα i.e. the fasciculi of muscles (see Galen _Op._ XIX. p. 87), but
this use was quite exceptional and can have no place here. Thus αἱ ἁφαί
will be almost a synonyme for τὰ ἄρθρα, differing however (1) as being
more wide and comprehensive, and (2) as not emphasizing so strongly the
_adaptation_ of the contiguous parts.
The considerations just urged seem decisive as to the meaning of the
word. Some eminent modern critics however explain αἱ ἁφαί to be ‘the
senses’, following Theodoret on Ephes. iv. 16 ἁφὴν δὲ τὴν ἄισθησιν
προσηγόρευσεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ αὕτη μία τῶν πέντε αἰσθήσεων, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ
μέρους τὸ πᾶν ὠνόμασε. St Chrysostom had led the way to this
interpretation, though his language is less explicit than Theodoret’s.
To such a meaning however there are fatal objections. (1) This sense of
ἁφή is wholly unsupported. It is true that touch lies at the root of all
sensations, and that this fact was recognised by ancient physiologists:
e.g. Aristot. _de Anim._ i. 13 (p. 435) ἄνευ μὲν γὰρ ἁφῆς οὐδεμίαν
ἐνδέχεται ἄλλην ἄισθησιν ἔχειν. But here the connexion ends; and unless
more cogent examples not hitherto adduced are forthcoming, we are
justified in saying that αἱ ἁφαί could no more be used for αἱ αἰσθήσεις,
than in English ‘the touches’ could be taken as a synonyme for ‘the
senses.’ (2) The image would be seriously marred by such a meaning. The
ἁφαί and σύνδεσμοι would no longer be an exhaustive description of the
elements of union in the anatomical structure; the conjunction of things
so incongruous under the vinculum of the same article and preposition,
_διὰ τῶν_ ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων, would be unnatural; and the intrusion
of the ‘senses’ would be out of place, where the result specified is the
supply of nourishment (ἐπιχορηγούμενον) and the compacting of the parts
(συμβιβαζόμενον). (3) All the oldest versions, the Latin, the Syriac,
and the Memphitic, explain it otherwise, so as to refer in some way to
the connexion of the parts of the body; e.g. in the Old Latin it is
rendered _nexus_ here and _junctura_ in Ephes. iv. 16.
συνδέσμων] ‘_bands_,’ ‘_ligaments_.’ The Greek σύνδεσμος, like the
English ‘ligament,’ has a general and a special sense. In its general
and comprehensive meaning it denotes any of the connecting bands which
strap the body together, such as muscles or tendons or ligaments
properly so called; in its special and restricted use it is a ‘ligament’
in the technical sense; comp. Galen _Op._ IV. p. 369 σύνδεσμος γάρ
ἐστιν, ὁ γοῦν ἰδίως, οὐ κοινῶς ὀνομαζόμενος, σῶμα νευρῶδες ἐξ ὀστοῦ μὲν
ὁρμώμενον πάντως διαπεφυκὸς δὲ ἢ εἰς ὀστοῦν ἢ εἰς μῦν. Of the σύνδεσμοι
or ligaments properly so called Galen describes at length the several
functions and uses, more especially as binding and holding together the
διαρθρώσεις; _Op._ I. 236, II. 268, 739, III. 149, IV. 2, etc., comp.
Tim. Locr. _de An. Mund._ p. 557 συνδέσμοις ποττὰν κίνασιν τοῖς νεύροις
συνᾶψε τὰ ἄρθρα (_Opusc. Mythol._ etc. ed. Gale). In our text indeed
σύνδεσμοι must be taken in its comprehensive sense; but the relation of
the ἁφαί to the σύνδεσμοι in St Paul still remains the same as that of
the διαρθρώσεις to the σύνδεσμοι in Galen.
ἐπιχορηγούμενον κ.τ.λ.] The two functions performed by the ἁφαί and
σύνδεσμοι are _first_ the supply of nutriment etc. (ἐπιχορηγούμενον),
and _secondly_ the compacting of the frame (συνβιβαζόμενον). In other
words they are the communication of life and energy, and the
preservation of unity and order. The _source_ of all (ἐξ οὗ) is Christ
Himself the Head; but the _channels_ of communication (διὰ τῶν κ.τ.λ.)
are the different members of His body, in their relation one to another.
For ἐπιχορηγούμενον ‘bountifully furnished’ see the note on Gal. iii. 5.
Somewhat similarly Aristotle speaks of σῶμα κάλλιστα πεφυκὸς καὶ
κεχορηγημένον, _Pol._ iv. 1 (p. 1288). For examples of χορηγία applied
to functions of the bodily organs, see Galen _Op._ III. p. 617 ἐν ταῖς
εἰσπνοαῖς χορηγίᾳ ψυχρᾶς ποίοτητος, Alex. _Probl._ i. 81 τὸ πλεῖστον τῆς
τροφῆς ἐξυδαρούμενον χορηγεῖται πρὸς γένεσιν τοῦ πάθους. For
συνβιβαζόμενον, ‘joined together, compacted’, see the note on ii. 2. In
the parallel passage, Ephes. iv. 16, this part of the image is more
distinctly emphasized, συναρμολούμενον καὶ συνβιβαζόμενον. The
difference corresponds to the different aims of the two epistles. In the
Colossian letter the vital connexion with the Head is the main theme; in
the Ephesian, the unity in diversity among the members.
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