Ephesians 2:21

In whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord.

Each several building ... There is no compelling reason to follow the English Revised Version (1885) in this rendition. The RSV has "the whole structure"; the New English Bible (1961) has "the whole building"; and the KJV has "all the building." F. F. Bruce discussed this variation thus:

The evidence for and against the omission of the article is rather evenly balanced, although on the whole the case appears to be stronger for its omission. But there is some New Testament authority for the meaning "all," even when the article is absent, so that the rendering "all the building" would be possible whichever reading be preferred.[47]

On the basis of the context, it seems to this writer that the preferable view is presented in KJV, RSV, and New English Bible. After all, it is the unity of all things in Christ which Paul stressed; and the holy temple of the Lord would therefore seem more logically represented under the figure of a whole building, rather than as a conglomeration of many buildings, as in "each several building." If the English Revised Version (1885) has accurately translated for us Paul's true meaning, on the other hand, then the words of David Lipscomb would appear to be the best understanding of them:

The New Testament clearly recognizes each separate congregation as the body of Christ. God through his Spirit dwells in each distinct and separate church (in the sense of congregation). The church is the body of Christ in the community where it exists. It is not a foot in Corinth, an arm in Ephesus, an eye in Philippi, or an ear in Antioch .... A child of God in a strange land has only to worship God himself and multiply the word of God in the hearts of others; and the result is a church of the living God, complete without reference to any other organization in the world.[48]

[47] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 105.

[48] David Lipscomb, op. cit., p. 54.