1 Corinthians 16:8-24

8 Paul's delay in going to Corinth is fully explained in the second epistle. He wished to give them time for repentance. Besides, he was meeting with much success, for even his enemies acknowledged that "not only in Ephesus, but in almost the entire [province of] Asia this Paul influences a considerable throng...".

10 Timothy had been sent to Macedonia (Act_19:22). He was young for such a mission (1Ti_4:12) and could not command the respect which age inspires.

12 It is evident that Paul was not jealous of ApoIlos, though some in Corinth had made him the head of their faction. Neither was ApoIlos inclined to take advantage of their schism. He was a scholarly man (rather than eloquent) who had been taught by Paul's friends, PriscilIa and Aquila, and had gone to Corinth after Paul had left, being especiaIly successful in confuting the Jews, publicly exhibiting, through the Scriptures, that Jesus is the Christ (Act_18:24).

23 Maran atha is usuaIly interpreted as "the (or our) Lord cometh" in accord with the Syriac version. But it seems far fetched to find a foreign expression here, whether it be Chaldee or Syriac, when the Hebrew furnishes a simpler and more agreeable solution. The Hebrew as in Mal_3:9, "Cursed are you! " was probably the common phrase in which the anathema or doom was pronounced. The change of m into n is of frequent occurrence when Hebrew is turned into Greek. The Syriac version may simply insert the Hebrew without translating, in which case it should not receive a Syriac signification. The Hebrew ghahram and the Greek anathema are used for one another in the Septuagint and Hebrew Scriptures. Both mean to devote to destruction, to doom (Lev_27:21-29. Jos_7:1-15; 1Sa_15:1-20). In these passages it is rendered destroy, devote, accursed, etc. The same form of expression, a repetition in a familiar tongue, is found in the phrase "Abba, Father". (Mar_14:36; Rom_8:15; Gal_4:6). Moreover, the coming of the Lord is never set before us as an act of judgment, but as the culmination of grace. That blessed expectation could never be used as an imprecation. It brings grace, not judgment.

23 Notwithstanding all their failures and their many shortcomings, Paul invokes the grace of Christ and assures them of his own love, which he poured out on them in lavish measure, as we find in the next epistle. He was a living example of the love which does not lapse.