1 Corinthians 11:1
1 Corinthians 11:1. This verse belongs to the former chapter, and concludes the argument, as in ch. 1 Corinthians 4:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 11:1. This verse belongs to the former chapter, and concludes the argument, as in ch. 1 Corinthians 4:16.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Conduct and Dress of Women at the Public Services of the Church 2. _Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things_ There is no contradiction between this verse and 1 Corinthians 11:17. The ordinances which St Paul had delivered to the Corinthians had been faithfully kept; but t... [ Continue Reading ]
_But I would have you know_ According to St Paul's invariable rule, the question is argued and settled upon the first principles of the Christian Revelation. In the sight of God all men are equal; yet without distinctions of rank and office society could not exist. But equality and order are reconci... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered_ We have two propositions in this and the following verse: the first concerning the man, the second concerning the woman. "It was the custom of the Jews that they prayed not, unless first their head were veiled, and that for this reason; tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth_ This refers, of course, to the public assemblies of the Church, where the woman appears, not in her individual character, but as the member of a community. She must therefore perform her devotions in this latter character, and her attire must bear witnes... [ Continue Reading ]
_but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven_ i.e. with her hair either _cropped close or shaven_. This was considered a disgrace. It was the sign of a slave (see Aristophanes, _Birds_, 911), or of one in mourning and humiliation (Deuteronomy 21:12).... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a man indeed ought not to cover his head_ The Apostle now gives reasons for what he has just said. His _first_argument is that to appear uncovered in the congregation denotes the having no visible superior there. But woman _has_a visible superior, namely, man. To this fact, when she appears in... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the man is not of the woman Second_argument, drawn from the creation of mankind. The narrative in the book of Genesis establishes two facts, (1) that woman had her being originally through man, and not, as man, directly from God; and (2) that she was created for man's advantage, and not man for... [ Continue Reading ]
_For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head_ That is, as in the margin of our version, - _a covering in sign that she is under the power of her husband_." An _hilyng_(_hülle_, veil), Wiclif. Third argument, drawn from the presence of the angels at Christian worship. The word translated... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman_ "St Paul's teaching from 1 Corinthians 11:7 onward might possibly be misinterpreted by the men so as to lead them to despise the women, and by the women so as to lead them to underrate their own position." Meyer. He goes on, however, to treat the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as the woman is of the man_ i.e. by creation (Genesis 2:22), _even so is the man also by the woman_ By birth. _but all things of God_ We are not to dwell too much on the intermediate links in the chain of causation, but to remember that all human beings exist by God's ordinance, and that ther... [ Continue Reading ]
_Judge in yourselves_ Return to the argument in 1 Corinthians 11:10. An appeal is now made to our natural feeling of what is proper and becoming. Man, as his sphere is the world, and as he is the highest of God's creatures in it, needs no covering to hide him from the gaze of others. Woman, as being... [ Continue Reading ]
_Doth not even nature itself teach you_ This argument from nature must not be pressed too far. St Paul is speaking of the natural sense of what is fitting in those whom he addressed. In early times the Greeks and the Romans wore long hair, and the Gauls and Germans did so in St Paul's own time. So H... [ Continue Reading ]
_it is a glory to her_ The true glory of every creature of God is to fulfil the law of its being. Whatever helps woman to discharge the duties of modesty and submissiveness assigned to her by God is a glory to her. _for her hair is given her for a covering_ A _mantle_, or _cloak_. Literally, someth... [ Continue Reading ]
_But if any man seem to be contentious_ Some commentators refer these words to what follows; but it would seem best to apply them to what has gone before. The Apostle would deprecate further argument, and appeal to the custom of the Churches as decisive on a point of this kind. See note on ch. 1 Cor... [ Continue Reading ]
Disorders at the Lord's Supper 17. _Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not_ St Paul was able to praise the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 11:2) for their attention to the injunctions he had given them. He could not praise them for their irregularities in a matter on which their Christian... [ Continue Reading ]
_For first of all_ Either (1) we must take this to apply to this and the next verse, find the second cause of blame to commence with 1 Corinthians 11:20, or (2) we must regard it as applying to the whole of this chapter, and then the next cause of blame will be the abuse of spiritual gifts, which is... [ Continue Reading ]
_heresies Sects_, Tyndale. _Rotten_(i.e. factions), Luther. This word is variously translated in our version. In the Acts (Acts 5:17; Acts 15:5; Acts 24:5; Acts 28:22) it is usually translated _sect_. But in Acts 24:14 and in Galatians 5:20. so and 2 Peter 2:1, it is rendered, as here, by the word _... [ Continue Reading ]
_into one place_ Literally, TO (or AT) THE SAME PLACE. See Acts 1:15; Acts 2:1; Acts 3:1, and ch. 1 Corinthians 7:5 of this Epistle. It is the only phrase which we find applied to the _place_of the Christian assembly. See note on 1 Corinthians 11:18. _this is not to eat the Lord's supper_ Better, pe... [ Continue Reading ]
_For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper_ Rather, _for in_ THE _eating_, i.e. _when ye eat_. Every passage relating to the Eucharist in the N. T. leads to the conclusion that it took place at the end of a social meal, such as the Last Supper itself. See Acts 2:42; Acts 2:46; Acts... [ Continue Reading ]
_have ye not houses to eat and to drink in?_ i.e. If all you came together for were to satisfy your own hunger, you might just as well eat and drink at home. But the Lord's Supper was instituted for a threefold purpose. It was (1) a practice intended to bind Christian people together in mutual love... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I have received of the Lord_ Literally, FOR I RECEIVED OF THE LORD. Reason why St Paul could not praise the Corinthians. Their conduct was a gross profanation of a rite which had been so solemnly instituted by Christ. These words, especially if we notice the emphatic use of the pronoun, seem to... [ Continue Reading ]
_and when he had given thanks_ St Mark has -blessed," St Matthew, according to some copies, -blessed," to others, -gave thanks." St Luke agrees with St Paul. From the Greek word used here this sacrament derives its name of _Eucharist_, or _thanksgiving_. _and said_ Inasmuch as the words of instituti... [ Continue Reading ]
_After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped_ The words in the original, though translated differently, are precisely the same as those of St Luke, and seem to imply (see also St Luke 22:17) that while the bread was administered at supper, the cup was administered _after_it. _sayi... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as often as ye eat_ These words are not those of Christ, but of St Paul. St John 3:31-36, and Galatians 2:15-21 are somewhat similar instances, but in them it is by no means certain that we have a commentary by the writer on the speech he records, but quite possible that the passage forms part... [ Continue Reading ]
_and drink this cup_ Literally, OR DRINK THE CUP. Many Protestant translators have evaded the force of the _or_, from a fear lest they should thereby be countenancing the denial of the Cup to the laity. See Alford, Stanley, Meyer, De Wette, who, while rejecting a rendering clearly incorrect, point o... [ Continue Reading ]
_examine himself Preve_, Wiclif. _Probet_, Vulgate. That is, _test_himself, ascertain his own condition (Galatians 6:4). The same word is used of the weather, and of God's times and seasons (St Luke 12:56); of beasts of burden (St Luke 14:19); of moral questions (Romans 2:18); of the Will of God (Ro... [ Continue Reading ]
_damnation_ Rather JUDGMENT, as in the margin. Wiclif, _dome_(as in ch. 1 Corinthians 6:4). Luther, _gericht_. Vulgate, _judicium_, "The mistranslation in our version has, says Dean Alford, "done infinite mischief." Olshausen reminds us how in Germany a translation (see above) less strong than this,... [ Continue Reading ]
_For this cause many are weak and sickly among you_ If the body be the temple of the Lord (ch. 1 Corinthians 6:19), we can well understand how a crime against His Body and Blood (1 Corinthians 11:27) would deprive the body of any Christian who committed it of His presence, and predispose it to sickn... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if we would judge ourselves_ Perhaps better, with Dean Stanley, _if we had judged ourselves, these judgments_(i.e. weakness, sickness, death) _would not have fallen upon us_(though the rendering in the text is grammatically accurate). Such consequences are surely serious enough to make any one... [ Continue Reading ]
_chastened_ Cf. Psalms 94:12; Proverbs 3:11-12; Hebrews 12:5-11. _that we should not be condemned with the world_ A clear proof that _damnation_is an incorrect translation in 1 Corinthians 11:29. -The world" here is not the Divine order of things as established by God's ordinance, as in ch. 1 Corint... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore, my brethren_ The conclusion of the whole subject Every one is to _wait_till a fair and orderly distribution of the food has been made; and each is to remember that this is not an ordinary meal for the purpose of satisfying hunger, but the solemn commemoration of the Lord's Death. A meal... [ Continue Reading ]
_that ye come not together unto condemnation_ Rather, as margin, JUDGMENT. The same word is used here as in 1 Corinthians 11:29. _And the rest will I set in order when I come_ Great changes in the order of administration of Holy Communion were rendered necessary by the abuses which so soon sprang up... [ Continue Reading ]