1 Corinthians 11:17

“Now in this that I command you I praise you not, that ye come together, not for the better, but for the worse.”

There is evidently a contrast between this preface and the preamble to the foregoing passage (1 Corinthians 11:2). There the apostle praised the Corinthians for their general fidelity to the ecclesiastical institutions he had transmitted to them; there was, however, an exception to be made of the special subject which he was about to treat, 1 Corinthians 11:4-16. Here the tone becomes that of positive blame. This blame is not in contradiction to the preceding eulogium; for it does not bear on their neglect or corruption of an institution, but on the profane spirit brought to the celebration of one of the most important acts of worship. Of the four readings given in the note, two may be set aside without hesitation, that of B, which puts the two verbs in the participle, and that of D, which puts them both in the indicative; these readings have no meaning. That of four Mjj.: “This I command you while not praising you for that...,” can only be maintained by referring τοῦτο, this, to what follows, and in particular, as Heinrici thinks, to the historical proof which is about to be given of the importance of the Holy Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-24). But the principal idea is the contrast between the blame now expressed and the eulogium of 1 Corinthians 11:2, and this contrast leads us more naturally to make the verb praise the principal verb (οὐκ ἐπαινῶ, I do not praise), and the verb command the secondary verb (participle παραγγέλλων, commanding you); thus the meaning is: “While simply recommending you to take account of the direction I have just given (1 Corinthians 11:1-16), I cannot praise you in the matter of which I am about to speak.” Holsten objects that we should in this case require the aor. παραγγείλας, after having enjoined this on you; and he is disposed to make the word παραγγέλλων an interpolation, which is wholly arbitrary, for all the MSS. read the two verbs. And why could not Paul use the present when speaking of the injunction which he has just given at that very time? Does it not remain in his letter for the moment when it shall be read at Corinth? We must therefore also refer τοῦτο, this, not to 1 Corinthians 11:16, as Edwards will have it, but to the important command contained in the preceding passage, in regard to women, and to translate nearly as Reuss does: “While giving you this warning, I cannot praise you in the matter of which I now proceed to speak.”

The apostle thus characterizes the transition from a simple recommendation to positive blame: I do not praise you. This is an evident litotes, as in 1 Corinthians 11:22.

Then comes a rebuke which relates to all the meetings for worship held by the Church of Corinth: “In general your assemblies are not blessed; from the way in which you hold them, they throw you back rather than help you forward; they are the opposite of what they should be.”