“Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” After explaining what preachers _are not_, to show that no man should make himself dependent on them, the apostle declares _what they are_, to withdraw them from the rash judgments of the members of the Chu... [ Continue Reading ]
“Now what remains to require of stewards is, that a man be found faithful.” The meaning of the received reading (ὃ δὲ λοιπὸν ζητεῖται... ἵνα) is this: “As to what may be required moreover (λοιπόν, _for the rest_) of stewards, it is that...” According to this reading, the apostle means: the ministry... [ Continue Reading ]
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged, of you or of a human tribunal; yea, I judge not mine own self. 4. For I know nothing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified; but he that judgeth me is the Lord.” The two previous verses related to preachers in general, especially... [ Continue Reading ]
His inmost conscience does not upbraid him with any unfaithfulness; but for all that (ἐν τούτῳ), he is not yet justified, that is to say, found irreproachable, by Him who searches the hearts and reins (1 Corinthians 4:5). It is usually objected that in this so simple sense, held by Chrysostom, Calvi... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who even will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” This verse is, as it were, the full period put to the personal application whic... [ Continue Reading ]
VER. 6 is the transition from the foregoing exposition to the practical conclusion. VV. 6. “Now these things, brethren, I have presented, by way of applying them to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to go beyond this limit: that which is written; that no one of you... [ Continue Reading ]
4. PRIDE THE FIRST CAUSE OF THE EVIL. 4:6-21. Here is the final and general application of the whole first part, relating to the divisions which had arisen in the Church. The apostle, after reminding the Corinthians of the true nature of the gospel, and deducing as a consequence that of the Christi... [ Continue Reading ]
“For who maketh thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? And if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it?” Here is the standard indicated by the _It is written._ For one of the fundamental truths of Scripture is that the creature possesses n... [ Continue Reading ]
“Now ye are full; now ye are rich; ye have reigned as kings without us; and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you!” The asyndeton is a new evidence of emotion. The ἤδη, _now_, placed foremost, repeated, and that in the same place in the second proposition, well expresses th... [ Continue Reading ]
“For I think that God hath set forth us apostles, as the last, as appointed to death, for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and to men.” Most modern commentators make the irony stop here; they take the verb δοκῶ seriously: “ _I deem_ that our position is full of sufferings.” But... [ Continue Reading ]
“We are fools for Christ's sake, ye are wise in Christ; we weak, ye strong; ye honourable, we despised.” The contrast between the two situations enunciated in 1 Corinthians 4:8-9 is expressed in 1 Corinthians 4:10 in three antitheses, which are, as it were, so many blows for the proud Corinthians.... [ Continue Reading ]
“Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, are naked, buffeted, without certain dwelling - place; 12. labour, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; 13. being defamed, we intreat; we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all... [ Continue Reading ]
“I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I admonish you.” ᾿Εντρέπειν, _to turn one back upon himself_, and hence: to cause shame. The apostle no doubt spoke to them in a humiliating way; but his object was quite different from that of causing them shame; he wished to lead them... [ Continue Reading ]
are the conclusion of all the apostle has written from 1 Corinthians 1:12. He first makes an explanation about the severe manner in which he has just spoken to them. It is not resentment or enmity which has inspired his words, it is the painful solicitude he feels for them (1 Corinthians 4:14-16).... [ Continue Reading ]
“For though ye should have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16. I beseech you therefore: be ye imitators of me.” In 1 Corinthians 4:15, Paul presents the almost ridiculous figure of a flock of pupils placed under... [ Continue Reading ]
A father has a right to expect that wellborn children follow his steps; hence the _therefore._ The apostle is thinking particularly of the absence of all self-seeking and self-satisfaction, of the abnegation and humility of which they had an example in him. The νουθετεῖν (1 Corinthians 4:14) referre... [ Continue Reading ]
“For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord; he shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every Church.” We need not take the aorist ἔπεμψα in the sense of the Greek epistolary past, when the author... [ Continue Reading ]
“But some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.” The δέ is adversative: “ _But_ do not proceed to conclude therefrom that...” The present participle ὡς μὴ ἐρχομένου, “as if I were not _coming_,” has been explained by supposing that Paul here is quoting verbally the saying of his adversa... [ Continue Reading ]
“But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will; and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. 20. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” The δέ is again adversative: “But this malicious forecast will be falsified.” The γνώσομαι, _I will know_, is the la... [ Continue Reading ]
The maximum of 1 Corinthians 4:20 explains the necessity of such a judgment. It is impossible to refer the notion of the _kingdom of God_, as Meyer would have us, to the Messianic future. Paul is certainly speaking of the kingdom of God in the spiritual sense in which it already exists in the souls... [ Continue Reading ]
“What will ye? That I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and with a spirit of meekness?” It is as if Paul said to them: “Peace or war: choose!” The emotion caused by this challenge, so boldly thrown out, explains the asyndeton. The preposition ἐν, _in_, is applied in classic Greek, as here, to d... [ Continue Reading ]