§ 27. PAUL'S APOSTOLIC STATUS. The Ap. is ready to forego his right to use the idolothyta, wherever this claim hurts the susceptibilities of any brother (1 Corinthians 8:13). He is “free” as any man in Cor [1274] in such respects; more than this, he is “an apostle” (1 Corinthians 9:1), and the Churc... [ Continue Reading ]
οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐλεύθερος; This question, arising out of the foregoing §, properly comes first. The freedom supposed is that of principle; in 1 Corinthians 9:19 it will take a personal complexion. P. is no longer bound by Mosaic restrictions in the matters under dispute (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:21; 1 Corinth... [ Continue Reading ]
If not at Corinth amongst those who cried “I am of Cephas,” elsewhere Paul's apostleship was denied by the Judaistic party, against whom he had afterwards to write 2 Corinthians 10. ff. In this trial he counts on the Cor [1278] standing by him: “If to others I am no apostle, at any rate (ἀλλά γε, _a... [ Continue Reading ]
The rights P. vindicates for himself and his fellow-labourers in the Gospel, are (_a_) the right _to maintenance;_ (_b_) _to marriage;_ (_c_) _to release from manual labour_. (_a_) μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν; “Is it that we have not?” ironical question, as in 1 Corinthians 11:22 “Of course we have”. P. writes in... [ Continue Reading ]
puts the question under three figures virtual arguments from nature drawn from the _camp_, the _vineyard_, the _flock_. These figures had been similarly used by our Lord: (1) in Luke 11:21 f., 1 Corinthians 14:31; (2) in Matthew 20:1 ff; Matthew 21:28 ff.; (3) in Luke 12:32; John 10, and John 21:15... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 9:7-15 _a_. § 28. THE CLAIM OF MINISTERS TO PUBLIC MAINTENANCE. Paul asserts his right to live at the charge of the Christian community, in order to show the Cor [1295] how he has waived this prerogative (1 Corinthians 9:15 _b_, etc.). But before doing this, he will further vindicate t... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 9:8-10 _a_. μὴ κατὰ ἄνθρωπον κ. τ. λ.; “Am I saying these things as any man might do” in accordance with human practice (as just seen in 7)? κατὰ ἄνθρ., in contrast with what ὁ νόμος λέγει; _cf._ Galatians 3:15 ff. This dialectic use of μή, ἢ or ἢ καί, in a train of questions, is very... [ Continue Reading ]
1 Corinthians 9:11-12 _a_ appeal to the sense of justice in the Cor [1311]; τὸ δίκαιον δείκνυσιν τοῦ πράγματος (Thp [1312]): _cf._ Galatians 6:6. μέγα εἰ …; “Is it a great thing if …?” = “Is it a great thing to ask (_or_ look for) that …?” _cf._ 2 Corinthians 11:15; the construction is akin to that... [ Continue Reading ]
After the personal “aside” of 1 Corinthians 9:11 f., Paul returns to his main proof, deriving a further reason for the disputed ἐξουσία from the Temple service. “Do you not know” you men of knowledge (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 3:16) ὅτι οἱ τὰ ἱερὰ ἐργαζόμενοι ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἐσθίουσιν; “that those employed i... [ Continue Reading ]
_a_. “But for my part, I have used none of these things:” does Paul mean “none of the privileges” included in the above ἐξουσία ? or “none of the reasons” by which they have been enforced (so Hf [1335], Hn [1336], the former with exclusive ref [1337] to 13 f.)? The parl [1338] sentence of 1 Corinthi... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 29. PAUL'S RENOUNCEMENT OF RIGHT FOR THE GOSPEL'S SAKE. The Ap. has been insisting all this time on the right of Christ's ministers to material support from those they serve, in order that for his own part he may explicitly renounce it. This renunciation is his “boast,” and his “reward”; of his of... [ Continue Reading ]
The fact of his preaching supplies in itself no καύχημα : “For if I be preaching the good news (εὐαγγελίζωμαι), it is no (matter of) boasting to me; for necessity is imposed on me”. For ἀνάγκη, see notes on 1 Corinthians 7:26; 1 Corinthians 7:37; also Philemon 1:14, where it contrasts with κατὰ ἑκού... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul goes on to explain, by two contrasted suppositions (in _actual_ and _conceivable_ matter), that this is a point of honour with him. Forced as he had been into the service of the Gospel, in a manner so diff [1353] from the other App., unless he might serve gratuitously his position would be too... [ Continue Reading ]
completes a chain of four explanatory γάρ s (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:17-21). To make his position clearer, P. puts two further contrasted hypotheses, the former imaginary, the latter suggesting the fact: (_a_) “For if I am engaged on this (work) of my own free will (ἑκών), I have reward (_mercedem hab... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet, after all, Paul has his reward: “What then (οὖν, things being so) _is_ my reward?” ὁ μισθός “the reward” proper to such a case, is simply to take no pay: “that, while I preach the good news, I may make the good news free charge” (ἀδάπανον θήσω, _gratuitum constituam_, Bz [1364]). No thought of... [ Continue Reading ]
ἐλεύθερος γὰρ ὤν κ. τ. λ. serves further to explain, not εἰς τ. μὴ καταχρήσ. (the impropriety of a grasping use of such right is manifest), but Paul's general policy of self-abnegation (1 Corinthians 9:15-18). The real aim of this long discussion of ministerial ἐξουσία comes into view; the Ap. shows... [ Continue Reading ]
This gain of his calling P. sought (1) _among the Fews, and those_ who with them were _under law_ (1 Corinthians 9:20); (2) amongst the body of _the Gentiles, without law_ (1 Corinthians 9:21); (3) amongst _the weak believers_, who were imperilled by the inconsiderate use of liberty on the part of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Paul's course in its chameleon-like changes is governed by a simple practical aim: “But all things I do for the gospel's sake”. His one purpose is to fulfil his Gospel stewardship (1 Corinthians 9:17; 1 Corinthians 4:1 ff., etc., Acts 20:24); Philippians 3:7-14 presents the inner side of the “one th... [ Continue Reading ]
Οὐκ οἴδατε …; _cf._ 1 Corinthians 9:13, etc. οἱ ἐν σταδίῳ τρέχοντες, πάντες μὲν τρέχουσιν, εἶς δὲ κ. τ. f1λ.: “Those that run in the stadium, run _all_ (of them), but _one_ receives the prize”. As much as to say, “Entering the race is not winning it; do not be satisfied with running, but make sure o... [ Continue Reading ]
§ 30. PAUL'S ASCETICISM. The last words of § 29 indicate that the writer feels his own salvation to be bound up in his mission to his fellowmen. The self-denial practised for the latter of these objects is necessary, in point of fact, _for both_. His example should teach the Cor [1383] the need of s... [ Continue Reading ]
πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἀγωνιζόμενος κ. τ. λ.: “But every combatant is temperate in everything they, to be sure, that they may win a perishable garland; but we an imperishable.” The stress in the first clause lies on πᾶς, πάντα no competitor can afford to be self-indulgent in anything; in the second on ἐκεῖνοι, ἡμ... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore I _so_ run, in no uncertain fashion; _so_ I ply my fists, not like one that beats the air.” “ _So_ as the context describes, and as you see me (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 15:32)”; the Ap. feels himself, while he writes, to be straining every nerve like the racer, striking home like the trained p... [ Continue Reading ]
The fully-attested reading ὑπωπιάζω (from ὑπὸ and ὤψ, to hit _under the eye_) continues the pugilistic metaphor and suits Paul's vehemence; “contundo corpus meum” (Bz [1400]), “lividum facio” (Cod. Claromontanus), “I beat my body black and blue”: a vivid picture of the corporal discipline to which P... [ Continue Reading ]