PAUL, CALLED TO BE AN APOSTLE. — Better, _a called Apostle of Jesus Christ._ His apostolic authority, which was questioned by some in Corinth, is thus set out at the commencement of the Epistle. AND SOSTHENES OUR BROTHER. — _Sosthenes the brother,_ probably the Sosthenes (see Note on 1 Corinthians... [ Continue Reading ]
CHURCH OF GOD. — St. Chrysostom remarks how these opening words are a protest against the party-spirit prevailing at Corinth: “The Church of God — not of this or that man.” THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED IN CHRIST JESUS. — This is not another class of persons, but a description of those who compose “the... [ Continue Reading ]
GRACE BE UNTO YOU, AND PEACE. — This is the usual style of apostolic greeting (Galatians 1:3; Ephesians 1:2), and with these words the address and greeting which open the Epistle conclude.... [ Continue Reading ]
I THANK MY GOD. — Expressions of thankfulness (1 Corinthians 1:4), serving also to secure at the very outset the attention of those to whom the Apostle is writing. He thus shows that he is not blind to, or forgetful of, their good qualities, although this Epistle is specially written to rebuke their... [ Continue Reading ]
YE ARE ENRICHED. — Literally, _ye were enriched._ “Utterance” is the power of outward expression of that “knowledge” which dwells within.... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN AS THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST. — The testimony which St. Paul bore to Christ, and from Christ, was confirmed among them by this full bestowal of spiritual gifts.... [ Continue Reading ]
SO THAT YE COME. — Not exactly as in the English, “so that ye come behind” (or, _are wanting_) “in no gift,” but “the result being that ye come behind _others_ in no gift.” You have as fully as any others those spiritual gifts which sustain you and enable you to wait for the revelation (_i.e.,_ the... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO. — The use of the words “day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” instead of “His day,” has been regarded by some as a sufficient evidence that “who” does not refer to Christ. This by itself would scarcely be so, for there are examples elsewhere of St. Paul using our Lord’s name where the possessive prono... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD IS FAITHFUL. — The One who called them “unto the communion of His Son” is faithful, and therefore He will complete His work; no trials and sufferings need make them doubt that all will at last be well. The same confidence is expressed in Philippians 1:6, and 1 Thessalonians 5:24.... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW I BESEECH YOU, BRETHREN. — With these words the Apostle introduces the topic which is indeed one of the chief reasons of his writing this Epistle (see _Introduction_)_,_ viz., the PARTY-SPIRIT existing in the Corinthian Church. The treatment of this subject occupies to 1 Corinthians 4:20. It is... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF CHLOE. — Who Chloe was we cannot tell. Her name was evidently well known to the Corinthians, and some slaves of her household, probably travelling between Ephesus and Corinth, on their owner’s business, had brought to St. Paul the account of the distracted state of the church in their c... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW THIS I SAY. — Better, _What I mean is, that,_ &c. The following words, “every one of you saith,” show how party-spirit pervaded the whole Christian community. It may be well to mention here briefly what we may consider to have been the distinctive characteristics of the factions which called the... [ Continue Reading ]
IS CHRIST DIVIDED? — Better, _Christ is divided._ Christ, in the communion of the Church, is rent, torn in fragments by you. The mention of the sacred name as a party-cry makes the Apostle burst into that impassioned exclamation. Then there is a momentary pause, and the Apostle goes back from his su... [ Continue Reading ]
I THANK GOD. — “I am thankful to God that it was not so.” For if he had baptised a great many, some might have said he had created originally a party in his own name. Crispus (see Acts 18:8), a “ruler of the synagogue,” Gaius (or Caius, his Roman name), “mine host, and of the whole Church” (Romans 1... [ Continue Reading ]
STEPHANAS. — The mention of Stephanas and his household was, from the words preceding, evidently a subsequent correction by the Apostle. He had forgotten them, and was reminded of it possibly by Sosthenes, who was writing from his dictation, and would naturally have known the fact, for Stephanas was... [ Continue Reading ]
NOT TO BAPTIZE. — Preaching was eminently the work of the Apostles. The deacons used to baptise (Acts 10:48). The mention of “the preaching of the glad tidings” affords an opportunity for the Apostle stating in vindication of himself why that, and not philosophy, was the subject of his preaching, _“... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE PREACHING. — In the original the contrast comes out more strongly between this and the previous statement, the same phrase being repeated, thus, “For the _word_ of the cross,” in contrast to “the wisdom of more _words_” above. This is the word of real power. THEM THAT PERISH. — Better, _tho... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IT IS WRITTEN. — This is a further explanation of why the word of the gospel, and not the word of merely human wisdom, is “the power of God.” The quotation which follows consists of two passages in Isaiah, and is taken from the LXX., one word being altered. We have here “bring to nothing,” inste... [ Continue Reading ]
To the second quotation, which was originally a song of triumph over the enemies of Israel, the Apostle gives a general application. THE WISE. — The general reference in this word is to those who would exalt human knowledge, while “the scribe” indicates the Jew, and the “disputer” the Greek, who di... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — This is an explanation and evidence of Low God made the wisdom of the world to be only “folly.” AFTER THAT (better, _inasmuch as_) is not here a note of time, but of causal relation. IN THE WISDOM OF GOD. — These words can scarcely be taken as an expression of a kind of approval of God’s wi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — This is a further unfolding of the fact of the simplicity of the preaching of the Cross. It pandered neither to Jewish-minded persons (not in the Greek “_the_ Jews,” _“the_ Gentiles,” but simply “Jews,” “Gentiles”) who desired visible portents to support the teaching, nor to those of Greek ta... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WE PREACH. — The gospel of Christ crucified made its way by those very qualities which they regarded as “weakness and folly,” vindicating itself as “the power of God,” more mighty than any “sign” a Jew might ask for; and “the wisdom of God” surpassing any merely intellectual “wisdom” which a Gre... [ Continue Reading ]
THEM WHICH ARE CALLED. — St. Paul always speaks of all Christians as “the called,” not using that word in the narrower sense to which some modern religious sects have restricted it.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE. — This introduces the reason why Christ, as being crucified, is the power and wisdom of God, viz., because God’s folly (as they call it) is wiser, not “than the wisdom of men,” as some understand this passage, but than men themselves — embracing in that word all that men can know or hope ev... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE SEE YOUR CALLING. — Better, imperative (as in 1 Corinthians 8:9; 1 Corinthians 10:18; 1 Corinthians 16:10), _For see your calling._ The Apostle directs them to look at the facts regarding their own calling to Christianity, as an illustration of the truth of what he has just written, viz., tha... [ Continue Reading ]
FOOLISH THINGS. — The neuter is used probably for the purpose of generalising, and it expresses the qualities of the men whom God has chosen — “the wise” is masculine in the Greek, showing that it is still of “persons” the Apostle is speaking.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THINGS WHICH ARE NOT. — This climax loses somewhat of its force by the insertion of the word “and,” which is not in some of the best MSS., and “yea,” which is not in any MS. Omitting the word “and,” the sentence is not an addition to the things already mentioned, but a general and emphatic summa... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT. — So far from boasting in His presence, we all owe all to Him. He is the author of the spiritual life of us who are in union with Christ, “who _was_ (not “is”) made wisdom unto us _from_ God.” The past tense here refers us back to the fact of the Incarnation; in it Christ became to us God’s rev... [ Continue Reading ]
THAT. — So that it might be as the prophet wrote, “He that boasteth, let him boast in the Lord.” This is not a literal quotation, but only an adaptation and paraphrase from the LXX. of Jeremiah 9:23. Our only true boasting before God is that we are in Christ, that all we have we owe entirely to Him;... [ Continue Reading ]