Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 4:13

περικαθάρματα. The word means (1) that which is removed by cleansing, (2) that which is cast away to make something else clean, and hence (3) an expiation. κάθαρμα and καθαρμός are more often used in this sense in earlier Greek, as in Herod. VII. 197 διότι καθρμὸν τῆς χώρης ποιευμένων Ἀχαιῶυ ἐκ θεοπροπίου Ἀθάμαντα τὸν Αἰόλου, καὶ μελλόντων μιν θύειν. See also Proverbs 21:18 (LXX.), περικάθαρμα (Heb. copher) δὲ δικαίου ἄνομος, καὶ�. The expiatory sense must not be pressed here. St Paul seems simply to mean that he suffers ignominy in order that the Corinthians may escape it.

ἐγενήθημεν. We became or were made, i.e. from our being called as Apostles onward.

πἀντων. Of all men, rather than with the English versions, ‘of all things.’

περίψημα. The precise synonym of περικάθαρμα, according to the laws of Hebrew parallelism, here introduced to emphasize St Paul’s meaning. ψάω signifies to rub or wipe περίψημα is therefore something wiped off. The patriarch Photius gives an elaborate explanation of the phrase. He says, τὸ παλαιὸν ἐπειδάν τινων ἄνωθεν μηνιμάτων εἰς πείραν ἐνέπιπτον, καὶ ποινὰς αὐτοὺς τῶν τετολμημένων�, ἀθρόοι περιστάντες τὸ ὁμόφυλον ἑνί τινι αὐτῶν, ὅς ἔμελλεν ἢ κλήρῳ�, ἢ τῷ προθύμῳ τῆς γνώμης ἑκούσιος ὑπὲρ πάντων προθύεσθαι, καὶ καθάρσιον αὐτῶν γένεσθαι· τοῦτον χερσὶ περιψῶντες καὶ ἐφαψάμενοι, Περίψημα ἡμῶν, ἔλεγον, γενοῦ. Ex Amphilochianis Quaestionibus, 155. He explains it by καθάρσιον and ἱερεῖον, one who delivered himself up to all kinds of indignities, like his Master, for those to whom he was sent. Suidas (s. v.) adds that the victim was cast into the sea as a sacrifice to Poseidon, with the words quoted by Photius. See also Tob 5:18, ἀργύριον τῷ�, ἀλλὰ περίψημα τοῦ παιδίου ἡμῶν γένοιτο. And Ignat. Ep. to Eph. ch. 8 (with which compare Barnabas Epist. ch. 6), περίψημα ὑμῶν, καὶ ἁγνίζομαι ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν Ἐφεσίων.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 4:13

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