This verse is parenthetical, and introduced to guard against misunderstanding. οὐχ ὅτι κυριεύομεν ὑμῶν τῆς πίστεως : not that we have lordship over your faith. This is not the department of his Apostolic authority (cf. Luke 22:25; 1 Peter 5:3). ἀλλὰ συνεργοί κ. τ. λ.: but we are (only) fellow-workers in (producing) your joy; a parenthesis within a parenthesis, not necessary to the sense, but added to emphasise once more his sense of the common ties between him and the Corinthians (cf. Romans 16:3, chap. 2 Corinthians 8:23; Colossians 4:11). τῇ γὰρ πίστει ἑστήκατε : for by your faith ye stand. If it were dominated by the authority of another, it would not be thus the instrument of their steadfastness. Another (inferior) interpretation is, “As regards your faith ye stand,” i.e., “I have no fault to find with you so far as your faith is concerned”; but the parallel, Romans 11:20, seems to fix the dative as instrumental.

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Old Testament