God’s Economy: recovered by Witness Lee, enjoyed by local churches

The Definition of Economy

Bible Translations

Bible translators have employed a variety of English words in their attempts to translate the term oikonomia. In some instances, such as 1 Timothy 1:4 and Ephesians 1:10 and 3:9, oikonomia denotes God’s overall plan (see Wuest’s Word Studies); in such cases it is more precisely rendered economy or dispensation. Other verses, such as 1 Corinthians 9:17, Ephesians 3:2, and Colossians 1:25, refer not to God’s economy in a general sense, but to man’s participation and service in God’s economy. In such cases, oikonomia is more accurately described as stewardship. The following tables compare variant English translations of the word oikonomia in each of the six verses mentioned above.

Key:	NIV	New International Version	JER	The Jerusalem Bible
	RSV	Revised Standard Version	NASB	New American Standard Bible
	KJV	King James Version	NAB	New American Bible
	NKJV	New King James Version	AMP	Amplified Bible
	DBY	Darby Version	WST	Wuest’s Expanded Translation
	YLT	Young’s Literal Translation	RCV	Recovery Version

oikonomia: economy
Translation	1 Timothy 1:4	Ephesians 1:10	Ephesians 3:9
NIV	work	put into effect	administration
RSV	training	plan	plan
KJV	edifying*	dispensation	fellowship
NKJV	edification*	dispensation	fellowship
DBY	dispensation	administration	administration
YLT	building up	dispensation	fellowship

JER	design	to act upon	to be dispensed
NASB	administration	administration	administration
NAB	training	to be carried out	design
AMP	administration	planned	plan
WST	administration	administration	administration
RCV	economy	economy	economy

Economy Chart | Stewardship Chart

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