1 Corinthians 11:17

Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. IN THIS - which follows. I DECLARE - rather, 'I enjoin,' as the Greek [ parangelloo (G3853)] is always used. A B C f, Vulgate, read 'this I enjoin (you), not praising (you). 'Aleph (') G g support the Received Text. THAT - in that you, etc. Here he qualifies his praise (1 Corinthians 11:2). 'I said I praised you for keeping the ordinances delivered to you; BUT (so the Greek for "now") I must authoritatively enjoin you on a matter in which I praise you not-namely, as to the Lord's supper (1 Corinthia...

His reproof of the fault previously noticed was but a mild and gentle admonition, because the Corinthians sinned in ignorance, so that it was proper that they should readily be forgiven. Paul, too, had praised them in the outset, because they had faithfully _kept his enactments_. (1 Corinthians 11:2.) Now he begins to reprove them more sharply, because they offended more grievously in some things, and not through ignorance. 17. _But, in warning you as to this, I do not praise. _(644) For I translate it in this way, because Paul appears to have made the participle and the verb change places. (645) I am also not satisfied with the interpretation of Erasmus, who takes παραγγέλλειν as meaning to _command _The verb to _warn _would suit better, but as to this I do not contend. There is an antithesis

17-22 The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord's supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse. If the use of them does not mend, it will harden. Upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schisms. Christians may separate from each other's communion, yet be charitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, yet be uncharitable. This last is schism, rather than the former. There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord's supper, which adds to guilt. Many rich Corinthians seem to have acted very wrong at the Lord's table, or at the love-feasts, which took place at the same time as the supper. The rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. What should have been a...

Verse 17. _NOW IN THIS - I PRAISE YOU NOT_] In the beginning of this epistle the apostle did _praise_ them for their attention in general to the rules he had laid down, see 1 Corinthians 11:2; but here he is obliged to _condemn_ certain irregularities which had crept in among them, particularly relative to the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Through some false teaching which they had received, in the absence of the apostle, they appear to have celebrated it precisely in the same way the Jews did their _passover_. That, we know, was a regular meal, only accompanied with certain peculiar circumstances and ceremonies: two of these ceremonies were, eating bread, solemnly broken, and drinking a cup of wine called the cup of blessing. Now, it is certain that our Lord has taken these two things, and made them expressive of the _crucifixion_ of his body...

NOW IN THIS THAT I DECLARE - In this that I am about to state to you; to wit, your conduct in regard to the Lord’s Supper. Why this subject is introduced here is not very apparent. The connection may be this. In the subjects immediately preceding he had seen much to commend, and he was desirous of commending them as far as it could be done. In 1 Corinthians 11:2 of this chapter he commends them in general for their regard to the ordinances which he had appointed when he was with them. But while he thus commended them, he takes occasion to observe that there was one subject on which he could not employ the language of approval or praise. Of their irregularities in regard to the Lord’s supper he had probably heard by rumor, and as the subject was of great importance, and their irregularities gross and deplorable, he takes occasion to state to them again

EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 11:1 FOLLOWERS OF ME; rather, _imitators of me; _follow herein my example, as I follow Christ's. What Christ's example was, in that he too "pleased not himself," he sets forth in Romans 15:1; and the general principle of self abnegation for the sake of others in Philippians 2:4. This verse ought to be included in ch. 10. It sums up the whole argument, and explains the long digression of ch. 9. AS I ALSO AM OF CHRIST. This limits the reference to his own example. I only ask you to imitate me in points in which I imitate Christ....

NOW IN THIS THAT I DECLARE UNTO YOU,.... The Syriac version reads, "this is what I command"; which some refer to what he had been discoursing of, adding to his arguments, and the examples of the church, his own orders and command, that men should worship God publicly, uncovered, and women covered; though it seems rather to respect what follows, what the apostle was about to declare unto them; concerning which he says, I PRAISE YOU NOT; as he did in 1 Corinthians 11:2 that they were mindful of him, remembered his doctrines, and kept the ordinances in the manner he had delivered them to them: and it should seem by this, that the greater part of them were not to be blamed, though some few were, for their irregular and indecent appearance in public worship, men with a covering on their heads, and women without one; but in what he was about to say, he could not prai

The members of the church at Corinth abounded in gifts, and therefore they thought it meet for each one to speak to edification. They had no pastoral oversight whatever; acting, in this respect, like certain brethren whom we know nowadays. The result, however, was very deplorable. They do not appear to have been able even to conduct the Lord's supper without the most disorderly proceedings. Church discipline was utterly forgotten or neglected; and it seems as if the two Epistles to the Corinthians are given to us as beacons to warn us against that form of worship, seeing that it produces such mischievous and sad results. 1 Corinthians 11:17. _Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse._ It is a very bad state of things when we meet for worship, and separate without any improvement, o

II. THE CHURCH, THE BODY OF CHRIST: CHAPTER S 11-14 1. Headship, and the Position of Woman. The Lord's Supper. CHAPTER 11. _ 1. The Headship of Christ and of the Man; Position of Woman. (1 Corinthians 11:1 .)_ 2. The Lord's Supper. (1 Corinthians 11:17 .) The opening verse belongs to the preceding chapter. And now after the church in relation to the world had been treated by the Apostle in the first part of the epistle, he takes up next the affairs of the church itself. Here, too, much had to be corrected into which the Corinthian assembly had drifted. After the brief and excellent word of praise by which he expressed his confidence in them ((1 Corint

1 Corinthians 11:7. THE DESECRATION OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. Paul feels that in one respect he must restrict his praise. Their meetings damage rather than profit them. He cannot help believing part of what he hears about their divisions. To be sure they must have their factions, or their best men would get no chance of displaying their qualities! When they meet they have supper, it is true, but it is out of the question to eat the Lord's Supper. Possibly the poorer members could not come early being detained by their work. The wealthier members could therefore eat and drink all they had brought, so that the poor, who could bring little, and that perhaps coarse food, had insufficient for a meal and had to eat this under the critical stare of the well-to-do. So that some were hungry, and naturally discontented and envious, while others became intoxicated. What a religious atmosphere