ΠΑΥΛΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΥ Η ΠΡΟΣ ΚΟΡΙΝΘΙΟΥΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ ΠΡΩΤΗ. THE INTRODUCTION. § 1. _The Title and Salutation_, 1 Corinthians 1:1-3. Πρὸς Κορινθίους ᾱ (see txtl. note) is a _sub-title_, marking the ep. as part of the collection bearing the general name Ὁ ἀπόστολος. With this agrees the oldest system o... [ Continue Reading ]
Παῦλος κλητὸς ἀπόστολος (so in Rom.) not ap. by merit or human choice, but _called_ thereto διὰ θελήματος Θεοῦ (so in later epp.). _through an_ express intervention of he _Divine will_, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:16 f., Galatians 1:1; Galatians 1:15 f., Ephesians 3:2 ff., also Acts 9:15, etc. “A called a... [ Continue Reading ]
The _salutation_ is full and varied in the epp. of this group. As in Galatians and Romans, P. emphasises his apostleship (see 1 Corinthians 9:1 f.), at present in dispute. The readers are (in 1 and 2 Cor.) “the Church” and “the saints” a transition from “the ch.” of 1 and 2 Thess. (“the churches,” G... [ Continue Reading ]
τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ (in salutation of 1 and 2 Cor [39] only) gives supreme dignity to the assembly of Cor [40] addressed by the Ap. of Christ Jesus the assembled citizens of God's kingdom and commonwealth (Ephesians 2:12; Ephesians 2:19; _cf._ Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9 f.). τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Κορ., “that exi... [ Continue Reading ]
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ κ. τ. λ.: Paul's customary greeting; see note on Romans 1:7. “The occurrence of the peculiar phrase ‘grace and peace' in Paul, John, and Peter intimates that we have here the earliest Christian password or _symbolum_ ” (Ed [63]). κυρίου might grammatically be parl [64]... [ Continue Reading ]
On εὐχαριστῶ κ. τ. λ., and the form of Paul's introductory thanksgivings, see Romans 1:8. ἐπὶ τῇ χάριτι κ. τ. λ. ἐπί (at), of the _occasioning_ cause; _cf._ 1 Corinthians 13:6; 1 Corinthians 14:16, etc. τ. δοθείσῃ ὑμῖν (aor [70] ptp [71]) “the grace that was given you,” _sc._ at conversion (see 1 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 2. THE THANKSGIVING. The Pauline thanksgiving holds the place of the _captatio benevolentiœ_ in ancient speeches, with the diff [68] that it is in solemn sincerity addressed to _God_. The Ap. thanks God (1) for _the past grace_ given the Cor [69] in Christ, 1 Corinthians 1:4; (2) for _the rich int... [ Continue Reading ]
ὅτι κ. τ. λ. stands in explicative apposition to the foregoing τ. χάριτι τ. δοθείσῃ, bringing out the matter of thanksgiving eminent in the conversion of the Cor [75] “(I mean), that in everything you were enriched,” etc. For this defining ὅτι after a vbl [76] noun, _cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:26 and 2 Co... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦ Χριστοῦ is objective gen [83] to τὸ μαρτύριον “the witness to Christ,” coming from both God and man (1 Corinthians 15:3-11; 2 Thessalonians 1:10); otherwise in 1 Corinthians 2:1; _cf._ Romans 1:2, “the good news of God about His Son”. μαρτόριον indicates _the well-established truth_ of the messa... [ Continue Reading ]
describes the result of the firm establishment of the Gospel: ὥστε ὑμᾶς μὴ ὑστερεῖσθαι κ. τ. λ. (ὥστε with inf [87] of _contemplated result:_ see Bn [88] §§ 369 ff.), “causing you not to feel behindhand in any gift of grace”; the mid [89] ὑστερεῖσθαι implies _subjective reflexion_, the consciousness... [ Continue Reading ]
ὃς καὶ βεβαιώσει ὑμᾶς echoes ἐβεβαιώθη (1 Corinthians 1:6); _cf._ the thanksgiving of Philippians 1:6. ἕως τέλους (see parls.) points to a _consummation_, not a mere termination of the present order; _cf._ Romans 6:21 f. ἀνεγκλήτους, “unimpeached,” synonymous with ἀμέμπτους (unblamed), but judicial... [ Continue Reading ]
The ground of Paul's hope for the ultimate welfare of the Cor [110] is _God's fidelity_. His gifts are bestowed on a wise and settled plan (1 Corinthians 1:21; Romans 8:28 ff; Romans 11:29); His _word_, with it His character, is pledged to the salvation of those who believe in His Son: πιστὸς ὁ Θεὸς... [ Continue Reading ]
“But I exhort (appeal to) you, brothers:” the reproof to be given stands in painful contrast (δέ) with the Thanksgiving. It is administered “through the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” which the Ap. has invoked so often (see note on 8); all the authority and grace of the Name reinforce his appeal, “... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 1:10-17 a. § 3. THE REPORT ABOUT THE PARTIES, AND PAUL'S EXPOSTULATION. Without further preface, the Apostle warns the Cor [121] solemnly against their schisms (1 Corinthians 1:10), stating the testimony on which his admonition is based (1 Corinthians 1:11). The four parties are define... [ Continue Reading ]
The appeal above made implies a serious _charge;_ now the authority for it: “For it has been signified to me about you, my brothers, by the (people) of Chloç”. ἐδηλώθη (see parls.) implies definite information, the disclosure of facts. οἱ Χλόης, “persons of Chloç's household” children, companions, o... [ Continue Reading ]
“But I mean this (τοῦτο δὲ λέγω), that each one of you is saying (instead of your all saying the same thing, 10), ‘I am of Paul (am Paul's man),' ‘But I of Apollos,' ‘But I of Cephas,' ‘But I of Christ'!” ἕκαστος, distributive, as in 1 Corinthians 14:26 : _each_ is saying one or other of these thing... [ Continue Reading ]
In his expostulation P. uses, with telling contrast, the first and last only of the party names: “Is _the Christ_ divided? Was _Paul_ crucified on your behalf? or into the name of _Paul_ were you baptised?” Lachmann, W.H [176], Mr [177], Bt [178], read μεμέρισται ὁ Χ. as an exclamation: “The Christ... [ Continue Reading ]
In fact, P. had himself baptised very few of the Cor [181] He sees a providence in this; otherwise he might have seemed wishful to stamp his own name upon his converts, and some colour would have been lent to the action of the Paulinists “lest any one should say that you were baptised into _my_ name... [ Continue Reading ]
a justifies Paul's thanking God that he had baptised so few: “For Christ did not send me to baptise, but _to evangelise_ ”. The infs. (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 2:1 f., 1 Corinthians 9:16; 1 Corinthians 15:11; Romans 15:17-21) are epexegetical (of _purpose_); and pres., of continued action (_function_), ο... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 4. THE TRUE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. To “preach the gospel” meant, above all, to proclaim the cross of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:17 b). In Cor [189] “the wisdom of the world” scouted this message as sheer folly (1 Corinthians 1:18). To use “wisdom of word” in meeting such antagonism would have been for... [ Continue Reading ]
What P. asserted in 1 Corinthians 1:17 as intrinsically true, he supports by experience (1 Corinthians 1:18) and by Scripture (1 Corinthians 1:19), combining their testimony in 1 Corinthians 1:20. ὁ λόγος γάρ, ὁ τοῦ σταύρου, “For the word, namely that of the cross”. ὁ λόγος (distinguish from the ana... [ Continue Reading ]
As concerns “the perishing,” the above sentence agrees with God's ways of judgment as revealed in Scripture: γέγραπται γάρ κ. τ. λ. The quotation Ἀπολῶ κ. τ. λ. (suggested by τ. ἀπολλυμένοις) belongs to the cycle of Isaiah's prophecies against the worldly-wise politicians of Jerus. in Assyrian times... [ Continue Reading ]
τοῦ σοφός; ποῦ γραμματεύς; and (possibly) ἐμώρανεν … τήν σοφίαν, are also Isaianic allusions to Isaiah 19:11 f. (mocking the vain wisdom of Pharaoh's counsellors), and Isaiah 33:18 (predicting the disappearance of Sennacherib's revenue clerks and army scouts, as a sign of his defeat). The LXX γραμμα... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐπειδὴ γάρ (_quoniam enim_, Cv [219]) introduces the _when_ and _how_ of God's stultifying the world's wisdom by the λόγος τοῦ σταύρου : “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased,” etc. οὐκ ἔγνω … διὰ τ. σοφίας τ. Θεὸν records Paul's experience,... [ Continue Reading ]
The ἐπειδὴ of 1 Corinthians 1:21 and that of 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 are parl [218], the second restating and expanding the first (_cf._ the double ὅταν in 1 Corinthians 15:24, and in 1 Corinthians 15:27 f.: see notes), rather than proving it; together they justify the assertion implied in 1 Corinthia... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἰουδαῖοι … Ἕλληνες anarthrous; “Jews” _qua_ Jews, etc.: in this “asking” and “seeking” the characteristics of each race are “hit off to perfection” (Ed [231] : see his interesting note); αἰτεῖν expresses “the importunity of the Jews,” ζητεῖν “the curious, speculative turn of the Greeks” (Lt [232]).... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 1:22-25 open out the thought of 1 Corinthians 1:21 : “the world” is parted into “Jews” and “Greeks”; μωρία becomes σκάνδαλον and μωρία; the κήρυγμα is defined as that of Χριστὸς ἐσταυρωμένος; and the πιστεύοντες reappear as the κλητοί. Both Mr [229] and Al [230] make this a new sentenc... [ Continue Reading ]
Instead of working miracles to satisfy the Jews, or propounding a philosophy to entertain the Greeks, “we, on the other hand, proclaim a crucified Christ” Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, _i.e._, _Christ as crucified_ (predicative adjunct), not “Christ the crucified,” nor, strictly, “Christ crucified”; _cf._,... [ Continue Reading ]
αὐτοῖς δὲ τοῖς κλητοῖς, _ipsis autem vocatis_ (Vg [239]): for the emphatic prefixed αὐτοῖς, _cf._ 2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Corinthians 11:1 Thess. 16, etc.; it “marks off those alluded to from the classes to which they nationally belonged” (El [240]) “to the called however upon their part, both Jews a... [ Continue Reading ]
What has been proved in point of fact, viz., the stultification by the cross of man's wisdom, the Ap. (as in Romans 3:30; Romans 11:29; Galatians 2:6) grounds upon an axiomatic religious principle, that of the absolute superiority of the Divine to the human. That God should thus confound the world o... [ Continue Reading ]
Βλέπετε γὰρ τὴν κλῆσιν ὑμῶν, ἀδελφοί, “For look at _your_ calling, brothers”: God has called _you_ into the fellowship of His Son (1 Corinthians 1:9); if His Gospel had been a grand philosophy, would He have addressed it to fools, weaklings, base-born, like most of you? P.'s experience in this respe... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 5. THE OBJECTS OF THE GOSPEL CALL. § 4 has shown that the Gospel does not come ἐν σοφίᾳ λόγου (1 Corinthians 1:17 b) by _the method of its operation;_ this will further be evidenced by _the status of its recipients_. If it were, humanly speaking, a σοφία, it would have addressed itself to σοφοί, a... [ Continue Reading ]
“Nay, but (ἀλλά, the _but_ of exclusion) the foolish … the weak … the base-born things of the world God did choose out (when He chose you).” ἐξελέξατο (_selected, picked out for Himself_) is equivalent to ἐκάλεσεν (1Co 1:2; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 Corinthians 1:26), εὐδόκησεν … σῶσαι (1 Corinthians 1:2... [ Continue Reading ]
God's purposes in choosing the refuse of society are gathered up into the general and salutary design, revealed in Scripture (see parls.), “that so no flesh may glory in God's presence” (a condens quotation) = πάντα εἰς δόξαν Θεοῦ (1 Corinthians 10:31). For ὅπως, which carries to larger issue the in... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐξ αὐτοῦ δὲ ὑμεῖς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ : is ἐν Χ. Ἰησοῦ or ἐξ αὐτοῦ (_sc._ τοῦ Θεοῦ) the predicate to ἐστέ ? Does P. mean, “It comes of Him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus” _i.e._, “Your Christian status is due to God” (so Mr [256], Hn [257], Bt [258], Ed [259], Gd [260], El [261])? or, “It is in... [ Continue Reading ]
“In order that, as it stands written, he who glories, _in the Lord_ let him glory;” by “the Lord” the readers could only understand _Christ_, already five times thus titled; so, manifestly, in 2 Corinthians 10:17 f., where the citation reappears. Paul quotes the passage as a general Scriptural princ... [ Continue Reading ]