1 Corinthians 14:16

εὐλογῆς אABDE. Rec. εὐλογήσῃς FG Vulg. and most copies of the Vetus Lat.

16. ἐπεὶ ἐάν. Not ‘else when,’ as A.V., but ‘since if,’ a further extension of the argument. ‘If what I have urged be carried out, the result will be the edification of those who are uninstructed in Christian doctrine.’

εὐλογῇς. ‘If thou art in the act of blessing.’ This is the force of the present. The rec. ‘when thou shalt bless’ refers to the response at the end of the prayer of blessing.

πνεύματι. Under the spiritual influence, i. e. in an unknown tongue. See 1 Corinthians 14:12, note.

τόπον. The A.V. room here, as in Matthew 23:6; Luke 14:7-8, &c., stands for place. Wiclif renders it here by place. Cf. ‘office and roome,’ Hollinshed’s Scotland.

ἰδιώτου. This word signifies (1) a private person, layman, one who holds no office. Hence (2) it comes to signify a man who has no special or technical knowledge of any particular art or science, as in Acts 4:13; 2 Corinthians 11:6, just as a lawyer calls those laymen who are not versed in law. So Aristotle opposes it (Nic. Eth. III. 8) to ἀθληταί, and Xenophon (Oec. III. 9) uses it of one unskilled in managing horses. Epictetus, Ench. c. 16, opposes it to philosopher, and in ch. 17 to ruler. In his fragments it seems to be opposed to ἀγαθός. Marcus Aurelius (Medit. IV. 3) uses ἰδιωτικώτατος of the extreme of uninstructed folly. τόπος may be used either (1) of place, or (2) of rank or condition. See Clement of Rome to the Corinthians c. 40, καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἴδιος ὁ τόπος προστέτακται, ‘and to the priests their own proper position is ordained.’ He is giving a paraphrase of this passage, and thus fixes the meaning St Paul’s language here conveyed to his mind. ὁ τόπος τοῦ ἰδιώτου here therefore will be best explained of the condition of those who are unacquainted with Christian doctrine and practice.

τὸ�. Literally, the Amen, the well-known response, either optative, ‘So be it,’ or affirmative, ‘So it is,’ as common in the synagogue as in the Christian Church at the end of any prayer or thanksgiving. See Nehemiah 3:13; Revelation 5:14. Justin Martyr (circa 150) uses the same language concerning the response to the Eucharistic prayer in his day.

εὐχαριστίᾳ. Thanksgiving. The translation Eucharist, suggested by some, is inadmissible, from the fact that the term Eucharist applies to the whole rite, and not to the Consecration Prayer. And it is a question whether the word εὐχαριστία had as yet acquired its technical theological signification. See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 1:10; 1 Corinthians 4:1; 1 Corinthians 11:18-19.