1 Corinthians 14:1-25
1 Corinthians 14:1-25. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY OVER THAT OF TONGUES... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 14:1-25. THE SUPERIORITY OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY OVER THAT OF TONGUES... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΏΚΕΤΕ. _Pursue_ love, as the main object of your lives. Be anxious for other spiritual gifts as desirable, if it be God’s will to grant them. For ΖΗΛΟΥ͂ΤΕ see 1 Corinthians 12:31. The best gifts (see note there) were those that were within the reach of all. Still there was no reason why a Christia... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΛΏΣΣΗΙ. The context shews the necessity of the ‘unknown’ of the A.V. ΟΥ̓Κ�. Because the language is not the language of those to whom he is speaking, and therefore what he says is hidden from them. ἈΚΟΎΕΙ. Here in the sense of _understanding_, a sense which is by some suggested as the explanation... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟἸΚΟΔΟΜΉΝ. See note on 1 Corinthians 8:1. ΠΑΡΑΜΥΘΊΑΝ. There is little distinction between this word and παράκλησις save that the former has more of the idea of comfort, the latter of encouragement. The one gives the idea of a friend beside us speaking soothing words, the other of a comrade cheering... [ Continue Reading ]
ἙΑΥΤῸΝ ΟἸΚΟΔΟΜΕΙ͂. Not necessarily because he understands what he is saying, but because his spirit, stirred up by the Spirit of God, is led by the experience of the inward emotion to praise God. Estius. See 1 Corinthians 14:14. Ὁ ΔῈ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΎΩΝ. The profit of the brethren is ever St Paul’s object. C... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΕΊΖΩΝ ΔῈ אAB. Rec. for δέ reads γάρ with DEFG, Vetus Lat. Vulg. Peshito. 5. ΔΈ. The first δέ here is adversative, the second continuatory. The third δέ is also continuatory. The γάρ of the rec. text (see Critical Note) would make much better sense, and was probably introduced as a correction for t... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘᾺΝ ἜΛΘΩ. ‘If I _shall have_ come.’ So ἐὰν μὴ λαλήσω ‘unless I shall have spoken.’ Throughout the chapter the conditional _protasis_ is followed by the _apodosis_ in the fut. indic. See 1 Corinthians 14:8-9; 1 Corinthians 14:11; 1 Corinthians 14:16, &c. ἘΝ�. Rather more than ‘_by_ revelation.’ It s... [ Continue Reading ]
ὍΜΩΣ. Not, as A.V. ὁμῶς, equally, but NOTWITHSTANDING. Its place is properly after κιθάρα. ‘In the case of things without life, whether pipe or harp, which give out a sound, yet nevertheless, if there be no distinction in the sounds, &c.’ So Meyer and Winer, _Gr. Gram._ §§ 45, 61. ΑΥ̓ΛΌΣ. Lat. _tib... [ Continue Reading ]
ἌΔΗΛΟΝ ΦΩΝΉΝ. A sound _not distinguishable_, that which conveys no clear impression to the mind. The muster, the charge, the rally, the retreat, are each indicated by a definite order of musical intervals upon the trumpet, or they would be useless for the purpose of calling soldiers together. So wor... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕΥ̓́ΣΗΜΟΝ. Related to σῆμα, σημεῖον. Literally, WELL MARKED, i.e. intelligible. ἜΣΕΣΘΕ … ΛΑΛΟΥ͂ΝΤΕΣ. Not precisely equivalent to λαλήσετε. The condition of the persons rather than the nature of the action is indicated, ‘Ye shall be as men who are speaking into (or unto) the air.’... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣῚΝ אABDEFG. Rec. ἐστιν. [αὐτῶν] after ΟΥ̓ΔῈΝ rec. with E and Peshito. Text אABDFG, Vulg. 10. ΤΟΣΑΥ͂ΤΑ. ‘So many,’ i. e. a certain definite number, how much soever it may be, but _all_ that number, however great, has its own proper signification. ἌΦΩΝΟΝ. Literally, WITHOUT SOUND, DUMB. Cf. Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΎΝΑΜΙΝ. The _force_, as we say, of the sound. That is, THE impression it was intended to convey. ΒΆΡΒΑΡΟΣ. This word is here used in its original signification of _one whose speech is unintelligible_. ἘΝ ἘΜΟΊ. IN ME, i.e. in my estimation.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΝΕΥΜΆΤΩΝ. SPIRITS, standing here for the _gifts_ of the Spirit. ἽΝΑ ΠΕΡΙΣΣΕΎΗΤΕ. For ἵνα see note on 1 Corinthians 14:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΈΣΘΩ ἽΝΑ ΔΙΕΡΜΗΝΕΎΗΙ. Cf. 1 Corinthians 14:1; 1 Corinthians 14:5. This passage may mean (1) pray that he may receive the faculty of interpretation, or (2) pray in such a language as he has the power of interpreting. Winer would give the telic sense to ἵνα here. But though it is doctrinally un... [ Continue Reading ]
Ὁ ΔῈ ΝΟΥ͂Σ ΜΟΥ ἌΚΑΡΠΌΣ ἘΣΤΙΝ. The _afflatus_ of the Spirit suggests the words of prayer to the possessor of the gift. He is conscious that he is fervently addressing the Giver of all good in a spirit of supplication. But his consciousness goes no further. He does not know what he is saying.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ΟΥ̓͂Ν ἘΣΤΊΝ; ΠΡΟΣΕΎΞΟΜΑΙ. ‘What then is my condition if I seek for the gift of interpretation? This, that I shall pray with the spirit and pray also with the understanding.’ The _will_ of the A.V. changes the tense from the simple future to the exercise of the speaker’s volition.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕΥ̓ΛΟΓΗ͂Σ אABDE. Rec. εὐλογήσῃς FG Vulg. and most copies of the Vetus Lat. 16. ἘΠΕῚ ἘΆΝ. Not ‘else when,’ as A.V., but ‘since if,’ a further extension of the argument. ‘If what I have urged be carried out, the result will be the edification of those who are uninstructed in Christian doctrine.’ ΕΥ̓... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΛΩ͂Σ. WORTHILY, in a proper spirit. Or it may mean ‘thou doest well to give thanks.’ Some would translate εὐχαριστεῖς, ‘celebratest the Eucharist.’ But see last note and ch. 1 Corinthians 11:24. Ὁ ἝΤΕΡΟΣ. The ἰδιώτης. See note on 1 Corinthians 14:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΛΏΣΣΗΙ ΛΑΛΩ͂. So אDEFG, Vetus Lat. Vulg. B and Peshito have γλώσσαις λαλῶ. A has γλώσσῃ, and omits λαλῶ. Rec. γλώσσαις λαλῶν. 18. ΠΆΝΤΩΝ ὙΜΩ͂Ν ΜΑ͂ΛΛΟΝ. St Paul, no doubt, had the gift of interpretation. Yet apparently he did not often exercise in public, whatever he may have done in private, the g... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΩ͂Ι ΝΟΪ́ אABDEFG, Vulg. Peshito. Rec. διὰ τοῦ νοός with some copies of the Vetus Lat. 19. ἈΛΛᾺ ἘΝ ἘΚΚΛΗΣΊΑΙ. ‘Whatever I may do in private, I should desire my public ministrations to be for the instruction and edification of the flock, and not for my own individual glorification.’ See note on 1 C... [ Continue Reading ]
ΦΡΕΣΊΝ. Here only in N.T. Originally signifying the diaphragm, this word came to mean the seat, first of the affections and then of the understanding. Arist., _De Part. Anim._ III. 10, reverses the process: ὅταν γὰρ διὰ τὴν γειτνίασιν ἑλκύσωσιν ὑγρότητα θερμὴν καὶ περιττωματικήν, εὐθὺς ἐπιδήλως ταρά... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΝ ΤΩ͂Ι ΝΌΜΩΙ. The law here stands for the whole Old Testament, as we might naturally expect from St Paul’s habit of regarding the whole of the Mosaic dispensation as a progressive order of things having its completion in Christ. See Romans 3:19; Galatians 3:23-24; Galatians 4:5. St John uses the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
ΕἸΣ ΣΗΜΕΙ͂ΟΝ. The passage here quoted has been regarded as a prophecy either (1) of the Day of Pentecost, or (2) of the Babylonish captivity. The latter is more probable, and in that case it becomes not an argument, but an illustration. The occupation of Judaea by the Assyrian and Babylonian troops... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΠῚ ΤῸ ΑΥ̓ΤΌ. The usual word for the place of assembly, as in ch. 1 Corinthians 11:20; Acts 2:1. However well calculated the gift of tongues might be to arrest and compel attention when used properly, it is clear, says the Apostle, that its introduction at the public assemblies of the Church was not... [ Continue Reading ]
ἌΠΙΣΤΟΣ Ἢ ἸΔΙΏΤΗΣ. The distinction here is between active unbelief in Christianity and the absence of any information on the subject. ἘΛΈΓΧΕΤΑΙ ὙΠῸ ΠΆΝΤΩΝ. He is CONVICTED in his own conscience by ALL of the speakers. The word ἐλέγχω signifies (1) to prove by argument, and comes therefore to be use... [ Continue Reading ]
[καὶ οὕτω] rec. at beginning of verse. Text אABDFG, Vetus Lat. Vulg. Peshito. 25. ΤᾺ ΚΡΥΠΤᾺ ΤΗ͂Σ ΚΑΡΔΊΑΣ. The nature of Christian _prophecy_ is here plainly shewn. See note on 1 Corinthians 14:1. ἘΠῚ ΠΡΌΣΩΠΟΝ. See note on 1 Corinthians 14:4, and Luke 5:12; Luke 17:16. ὌΝΤΩΣ Ὁ ΘΕῸΣ ἘΝ ὙΜΙ͂Ν. Litera... [ Continue Reading ]
ΤΊ ΟΥ̓͂Ν ἘΣΤΊΝ; Not ‘how is it,’ as A.V., but (see 1 Corinthians 14:15 and note) _what_ is it? what then is the state of the case? i.e. to what condition has your self-seeking brought you? ΨΑΛΜῸΝ ἜΧΕΙ. The Apostle here reproves another fault. Not only are the Corinthians ambitious rather of the gift... [ Continue Reading ]
REGULATIONS TO INSURE DECENCY AND ORDER... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΤᾺ ΔΎΟ. There must not be more than two, or at the utmost three discourses, because the long utterance in an unknown tongue would weary the Church without a sufficient corresponding benefit. ὈΝᾺ ΜΈΡΟΣ. Literally, IN TURN. ΕἿΣ ΔΙΕΡΜΗΝΕΥΈΤΩ. Let there be one, and only one, interpreter of each spee... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΙΕΡΜΗΝΕΥΤΉΣ אAE. ἑρμηνευτής Lachmann, Tregelles, with B. 28. ἘΝ ἘΚΚΛΗΣΊΑΙ. These words imply that the utterance was to be reserved until the speaker found himself in private, since in the Church it could only serve for an opportunity of useless display. See note on 1 Corinthians 14:18.... [ Continue Reading ]
ΠΡΟΦΗ͂ΤΑΙ ΔῈ ΔΎΟ Ἢ ΤΡΕΙ͂Σ. The same rule was to hold good of preaching. Those who felt that they had something to communicate must notwithstanding be governed by the desire to edify their brethren. The Church was not to be wearied out by an endless succession of discourses, good indeed in themselves... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘᾺΝ ΔῈ … ἈΠΟΚΑΛΥΦΘΗ͂Ι. If it should appear that some special message from God had been sent to one of the prophets during the discourse of another, the first was to bring his discourse to an end as soon as might be, in an orderly manner, so as to give the other an opportunity of saying what had occu... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑΘ' ἝΝΑ. Not necessarily at _the same_ meeting of the Church, which would be in contradiction to what has just been said (1 Corinthians 14:29), nor that the permission was extended to the whole Christian body. _All_ were not prophets, the Apostle tells us (ch. 1 Corinthians 12:29), and it is clear... [ Continue Reading ]
ΚΑῚ ΠΝΕΎΜΑΤΑ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΩ͂Ν ΠΡΟΦΉΤΑΙΣ ὙΠΟΤΆΣΣΕΤΑΙ. The possession of a special gift from on high has, from Montanus in the second century down to our own times, been supposed to confer on its possessor an immunity from all control, whether exercised by himself or others, and to entitle him to immediate a... [ Continue Reading ]
ΟΥ̓ ΓΆΡ ἘΣΤΙΝ�. Literally, FOR GOD IS NOT (a God) OF UNSETTLEMENT. Cf. James 3:16. Also Luke 21:9, where ἀκαταστασία is rendered _commotion_. As in the natural, so in the moral and spiritual world, God is a God of order. The forces of nature operate by laws which are implicitly obeyed. If it be othe... [ Continue Reading ]
[ὑμῶν] after ΓΥΝΑΙ͂ΚΕΣ DEFG Peshito. Text אAB, Vulg. ἘΠΙΤΡΈΠΕΤΑΙ אABDEFG, Vetus Lat. Vulg. Rec. ἐπιτέτραπται with Peshito. ὙΠΟΤΑΣΣΈΣΘΩΣΑΝ אAB Peshito. ὑποτάσσεσθαι DFG, Vetus Lat. Vulg. 34. ΑἹ ΓΥΝΑΙ͂ΚΕΣ. The position of women in Christian assemblies is now decided on the principles laid down in c... [ Continue Reading ]
ΓΥΝΑΙΚῚ אAB, Vulg. γυναιξίν DEFG, Peshito and most copies of the Vetus Lat. 35. ΘΈΛΟΥΣΙΝ. The ‘will’ of the A.V. is here not the sign of the simple future. ‘If they _want_ to learn anything, let them &c.’ ΤΟῪΣ ἸΔΊΟΥΣ ἌΝΔΡΑΣ. THEIR OWN HUSBANDS. The women were not only not permitted to teach (see 1... [ Continue Reading ]
Ἢ�' ὙΜΩ͂Ν Ὁ ΛΌΓΟΣ. The emphasis is upon ἀφ' ὑμῶν. ‘Was it _from you_ that the Word of God originally came,’ that you take upon yourselves the task of setting an example to other Churches? Ἢ ΕἸΣ ὙΜΑ͂Σ ΜΌΝΟΥΣ ΚΑΤΉΝΤΗΣΕΝ; OR DID IT REACH YOU ALONE? so that you have no concern with what is the custom e... [ Continue Reading ]
ἘΣΤῚΝ ἘΝΤΟΛΉ. So Lachmann and Tregelles, and Westcott and Hort, with אAB. Tischendorf omits ἐντολή with DEFG, most copies of the Vetus Lat. and Origen. Rec. reads εἰσὶν ἐντολαί with Vulg. Peshito. 37. ΕἼ ΤΙΣ ΔΟΚΕΙ͂ ΠΡΟΦΉΤΗΣ ΕἾΝΑΙ. Not, as A.V., ‘if any _man_,’ but ‘if any _one_.’ See note on 1 Corin... [ Continue Reading ]
ἈΓΝΟΕΊΤΩ BE, Peshito. ἀγνοεῖται אADFG Vulg. Tischendorf thinks that ἀγνοείτω, as the easier reading, has been introduced as a correction. He cites Origen in favour of his reading, but Origen’s text is doubtful. 38. ἈΓΝΟΕΊΤΩ. The explanation of this passage is to be sought in Galatians 4:9. If any ma... [ Continue Reading ]
ΜΟΥ. אAB Peshito. Rec. om. with DEFG Vetus Lat. Vulg. 39. ὭΣΤΕ, ἈΔΕΛΦΟΊ. The Apostle, as is his wont, sums up the whole section in a few concluding words. Prophecy is a gift to be earnestly sought (see for ζηλοῦτε the note on ch. 1 Corinthians 12:31). Speaking with tongues is a gift not to be disco... [ Continue Reading ]
ΔΈ. So אABDEFG, Vetus Lat. Peshito, Vulg. Rec. om. 40. ΠΆΝΤΑ ΔῈ ΕΥ̓ΣΧΗΜΌΝΩΣ ΚΑῚ ΚΑΤᾺ ΤΆΞΙΝ. ‘ONLY LET,’ &c. For εὐσχημόνως, see notes on 1 Corinthians 7:35-36. For κατὰ τάξιν, cf. 1 Corinthians 14:33. The Christian assembly should be a reflection of the universe, where _form_ and _order_ reign supr... [ Continue Reading ]