1 Corinthians 11:33-34

1 Corinthians 11:33-34 a. The “charge” (1 Corinthians 11:17) proceeds from inward to outward, from self-examination (1 Corinthians 11:28) to mutual accommodation respecting the Lord's Supper. Religious decorum depends on two conditions, a becoming spirit associated with fitting external arrangements, such as good sense and reverence dictate: “And so, my brothers, when you meet for the meal, wait for one another ”. ἀδελφοί μου adds a touch of affection to what has been severely said. συνερχόμενοι carries us back to 1 Corinthians 11:17; 1 Corinthians 11:20; the same train of admonition throughout. τὸ φαγεῖν embraces the entire Church Supper; see notes on 1 Corinthians 11:20 f.; the order ἀλλήλους ἐκδέχεσθε (invicem expectate, Vg [1800]) forbids the hasty and schismatic τὸ ἴδιον δεῖπνον προλαβεῖν (1 Corinthians 11:21); no one must begin supper till the Church is gathered, so that all may commence together and share alike. To wait for others presumes waiting to feast with them. ἐκδέχομαι never means excipio (receive : so Hf [1801], and a few others), but always exspecto in the N.T.; with the former sense in cl [1802] Gr [1803], it signifies to receive (a person) from some particular quarter. Some might object that hunger is pressing, and they cannot wait; to these Paul says, “If any one is hungry, let him eat at home ” staying his appetite before he comes to the meeting; cf. 1 Corinthians 11:21-22 a. The Church Supper is for good-fellowship, not for bodily need; to eat there like a famished man, absorbed in one's food if nothing worse happen is to exclude Christian and religious thoughts. ἐν οἴκῳ, not ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ (1 Corinthians 11:18 : note the absence of the art [1804]). “Coming together εἰς κρίμα ” (for a judgment) defines the “coming together εἰς ἧσσον ” of 1 Corinthians 11:17 in terms of 1 Corinthians 11:29-32. συνέρχησθε, pr [1805] sbj [1806], of the stated meetings, as in 1 Corinthians 11:18, etc. This warning (ἵνα μή) closes the παραγγελία introduced in 1 Corinthians 11:17. For a clear and impartial account of the various doctrines of the Lord's Supper connected with this passage, see Bt [1807], pp. 206 ff.

[1800] Latin Vulgate Translation.

[1801] J. C. K. von Hofmann's Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[1802] classical.

[1803] Greek, or Grotius' Annotationes in N.T.

[1804] grammatical article.

[1805] present tense.

[1806] subjunctive mood.

[1807] J. A. Beet's St. Paul's Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).

1 Corinthians 11:34 b. τὰ λοιπά, an etcetera appended to the charge “other matters,” probably of detail connected with the Church Supper and the κοινωνία. Ed [1808] takes this as the antithesis to the πρῶτον μὲν of 1 Corinthians 11:18 (see note), and supposes λοιπὰ to refer to other different matters, of which P. would postpone discussion till his arrival addressing himself notwithstanding to one of the principal of these λοιπὰ in 1 Corinthians 12:1 ff. ὡς ἄν ἔλθω, “according as I may come”: the Ap. is uncertain when and under what circumstances he may next visit Cor [1809] (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:5-9); his intention to set matters in order is subject to this contingency. διατάξομαι (see parls.) refers, presumably, to points of external order, such as those just dealt with. Romanists (see Est.) justify by this text their alleged unwritten apostolic traditions respecting the Eucharist: fasting communion, e.g., is placed amongst the unspecified λοιπά.

[1808] T. C. Edwards' Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians. 2

[1809] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.