1 Corinthians 1:10

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” The δέ is not adversative: it is the transition particle by which Paul passes from thanksgiving to rebuke. By the address ἀδελφοί, brethren, he puts himself by the side of his readers, and appeals to their affection in view of the serious censure which he has to pass on them. He rests his exhortation on the revelation made to him and the knowledge which they have of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ; such is the meaning of the term ὄνομα, the name. The word Lord implies His authority; the name Jesus Christ calls up the memory of all the tender proofs of Divine love displayed in Him who bore the name. It is the eleventh time that the name Jesus Christ appears, and we are at the tenth verse!

The following exhortation bears on three points. The first, τὸ αὐτὸ λέγειν, to speak the same thing, is the most external. The phrase includes an allusion to the different formulas enumerated 1 Corinthians 1:12.

The two other points relate to the inward conditions of community of language; the first is negative: that there be no schisms, divisions into different camps, bringing with them opposing watchwords. What a view is here of a Church divided into distinct parties! The other condition is of a positive nature: it is the perfect incorporation of all the members of the Church in a single spiritual organism. The term καταρτίζειν denotes, in the first place, the act of adjusting the pieces of a machine with a view to its normal action; hence the equipment of a workman for his work (Ephesians 4:12); then, in the second place, the rectification of a disorganized state of things, such as the reestablishment of social order after a revolution, or the repairing of an instrument (Mark 1:19: fishing-nets). Order being disturbed at Corinth, we might here apply the latter meaning. But in this case Paul would rather have used the aor. κατηρτίσθητε δέ than the perfect which denotes the stable condition. The first signification is also somewhat more delicate. Paul does not mean, “that ye be reconstituted,” as if he thought them already disorganized, but, “that ye may be in the state of a well-ordered assembly.” How so? He indicates this in the two following terms: by the agreement of the νοῦς and that of the γνώμη. These two words are often distinguished by making the first apply to knowledge, the second to practical life. This distinction, without being false, is not however sufficiently precise; the νοῦς, as is shown in 1 Corinthians 2:16, denotes the Christian way of thinking in general, the conception of the gospel in its entirety; the γνώμη, according to 1 Corinthians 7:25, refers rather to the manner of deciding a particular point, what we call opinion, judgment. The apostle therefore desires that there should be among them, in the first place, full harmony of view in regard to Christian truth, and then perfect agreement in the way of resolving particular questions. The conjunction ἵνα shows that in his mind the matter in question is rather an object to be attained than a duty which he expects to be immediately realized; it is the state to be aspired after, for the honour of the name of Jesus Christ, whatever may be the sacrifices of self-love and of interest which such an aim may demand of each. After this introduction the apostle comes to the fact which gives rise to this exhortation.