1 Corinthians 4:1-7. The true estimation of Christ's ministers and the true criterion of their work After having pointed out the light in which the teachers of Christianity should be regarded, the Apostle in this chapter goes on to point out the practical difference between those who preach themsel... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let a man so account of us_ -Of the things of which we have spoken this is the sum." We are not to be regarded for any qualifications we may have of our own, but simply as -the servants of the Most High God." _and stewards of the mysteries of God_ Literally, HOUSE-RULER, or HOUSE FEEDER. Cf. German... [ Continue Reading ]
_Moreover it is required in stewards_ The majority of MSS. and versions read _here_at the beginning of this verse. The sense would then be, "in this world, moreover, it is customary to make diligent inquiry for a trustworthy man.... [ Continue Reading ]
_But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment_ Faithfulness is no doubt more urgently required in the discharge of this duty than of any other. But it is not man's province to make the inquiry, but God's. The word translated _judged_is the same which is u... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified -I know nothing by myself"_(_I know nought by myself_, Tyndale) signifies I know nothing _against_myself, like the Latin "_nil conscire sibi_" in Hor. _Ep_. 61, or the _nil mihi conscius sum_of the Vulgate here. The expression "I know noth... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore judge nothing before the time_ The precept is here applied to the relation of teacher and taught which is laid down generally in St Matthew 7:1 and Romans 2:1. It is our duty to listen to the teaching of God's ministers, test it humbly yet candidly and sincerely, by the aid of God's word,... [ Continue Reading ]
_And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred_ The word in the Greek translated _in a figure transferred_signifies to _change the shape of_. The Vulgate renders _transfiguravi_, Wiclif _transfigured_, Tyndale _described in mine own person_, the Geneva version, _I have figuratively desc... [ Continue Reading ]
_For who maketh thee to differ from another_ Cf. St John 3:27; James 1:17. All the gifts they had received were of God, and this fact excluded as a matter of course all boasting or self-satisfaction. The Vulgate translates -maketh thee to differ" by _discerno_, with the signification given above. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Contrast between the Corinthian Teachers and St Paul 8. _Now ye are full, now ye are rich_ Here we have one of the sudden turns of feeling so remarkable in the Apostle's style. Abruptly breaking off at the word -boast," he dashes off into an animated and ironical apostrophe. -I may well say -boast... [ Continue Reading ]
_For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were approved to death_ So the original version of 1611. Our modern Bibles read _appointed_with Tyndale and Cranmer. Cf. ch. 1 Corinthians 15:31; Psalms 44:22; Rom 8:36; 2 Corinthians 4:11. It is possible that we have here, as in 1 The... [ Continue Reading ]
_We are fools for Christ's sake_ Rather, ON ACCOUNT OF CHRIST, i.e. on account of His doctrine, which was looked upon as folly (ch. 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14). _ye are wise in Christ Prudent_, Wiclif; _prudentes_, Vulgate. It is scarcely necessary to explain that this language is ironi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst_ The Apostle would point out to his converts the true glory of the Christian minister. Labour and suffering for Christ's sake are the marks of the servants of God, not self-conceit and self-praise.... [ Continue Reading ]
_and labour, working with our own hands_ Consult Paley, _Horae Paulinae_, 1st Ep. to Corinthians, No. vi, for a full discussion of the remarkable coincidence between this passage and the speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:34, where, though the words were spoken on a different occasion, and are... [ Continue Reading ]
_we are made as the filth of the world_ The word here translated _filth_means (1) _that which is removed by cleansing_and (2) an _expiatory sacrifice_, one who is delivered up to destruction, like Jonah, to save others as guilty as himself. St Paul does not assert that he _is_such a sacrifice, but t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you_ The object of the foregoing passage might be mistaken, and therefore the Apostle refers to the mutual relation between himself and the Corinthian Church. His object is not reproach, but the amendment of their lives. It is the... [ Continue Reading ]
_yet have ye not many fathers_ We have here an interesting example of the fact that the _spirit_rather than the letter of Christ's commands is to be observed, and that one passage of Scripture is not to be strained so as to contradict another. -Call no man your father on earth," says Christ (St Matt... [ Continue Reading ]
_be ye followers of me_ Literally, IMITATORS. Vulgate, _imitatores_. St Paul's was no spurious humility, such as has too often taken the place of real gospel humility in the Christian Church. He could venture to refer to his own example, where his conscience told him he had honestly striven to carry... [ Continue Reading ]
Mission of Timothy, to be followed, if ineffectual, by strong measures on the part of St Paul himself 17. _For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus_ Literally, I SENT, i.e. before this epistle was written, see note on ch. 1 Corinthians 16:10. St Paul's affection for the gentle and somewhat timi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you_ See note below, ch. 1 Corinthians 5:2. As the whole of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians shews (see for instance, ch. 1 Corinthians 10:2), there were those at Corinth who depreciated St Paul's authority. Such persons persuaded themselve... [ Continue Reading ]
_if the Lord will_ See James 4:13-15, who "justly derides that rashness among men, in that they plan what they shall do ten years hence, when they are not certain that they shall live another hour." Calvin _in loc_. The Roman Catholic commentator, Estius, makes a similar observation. _not the speech... [ Continue Reading ]
_not in word, but in power_ See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 1:5, where the word here used is translated _utterance_. In the last verse it is translated _speech_. Like our words _sermon_and _discourse_, it contains within itself the notion of matter and oral delivery. Of what the Apostle meant by _powe... [ Continue Reading ]
_with a rod_ That is either (1) with some commentators, e.g. Chrysostom, the resolution to deliver the rebellious over to Satan (see next chapter). If this be the case, the word -power" in the last verse must include power to do harm. But it is better (2) to refer the expression to the severity of l... [ Continue Reading ]