1 Corinthians 4:14-21

§ 14. PAUL'S FATHERLY DISCIPLINE. All has now been said that can be concerning the Divisions at Cor [756] the causes underlying them, and the spirit they manifest and foster in the Church. In their self-complacent, ungrateful thoughts, the Cor [757] have raised themselves quite above the despised and painful condition of the App. of Christ; “imitabantur filios qui illustrati parum curant humiles parentes ex saturitate fastidium habebant, ex opulentia insolentiam, ex regno superbiam” (Bg [758]). The delineation of Paul's state and theirs in the last Section is, in truth, a bitter sarcasm upon the behaviour of the readers; yet P. wishes to admonish, not to rebuke them (1 Corinthians 4:14). He states, in a softened tone, the measures he is taking to rectify the evils complained of. His severity springs from the anxious heart of a father (1 Corinthians 4:14 f.). Yet in the father's hand, before the paragraph ends, we see again the rod (1 Corinthians 4:21).

[756] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[757] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[758] Bengel's Gnomon Novi Testamenti.