Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. [In all matters that were indifferent Paul pleased others, rather than himself (1 Corinthians 9:19; 1 Cor 9:22; Romans 15:2). He did not needlessly trample upon the prejudices of any, whether in the church or out, and he counseled the Corinthians t... [ Continue Reading ]
[Paul has been discussing the disorderly conduct of individual Christians. He now proceeds to discuss more general disorders; i. e., those which took place in the meetings of the congregation, and in which the whole church participated. We may conceive him as answering the question, "Ought men to ha... [ Continue Reading ]
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. [Paul settles the humblest difficulties by appealing to the loftiest principles: thus he makes the headship of Christ over man the basis, or principle, on which he de... [ Continue Reading ]
Every man praying or prophesying [speaking by divine inspiration], _having his head covered, dishonoreth his head_.... [ Continue Reading ]
But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonoreth her head [Corinth was made up of Greeks, Romans and Jews, and all these three elements of her population were found in the church to which Paul wrote. The Jew and the Roman worshipped with covered, and the Greek with uncovered... [ Continue Reading ]
For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn: but if it is a shame to a woman to be shorn [with shears] _or shaven_ [with a razor], _let her be veiled_. [Paul does not command that unveiled women be shorn, but he demands it as a logical consistency, as a scornful reductio ad absurdum. For a w... [ Continue Reading ]
For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God [Man has no created superior (Genesis 1:27; Psalms 8:6), and, in addition to the glory which is his by reason of the nature of his creation, his estate has been further dignified and glorified by the in... [ Continue Reading ]
For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man :... [ Continue Reading ]
for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man [Genesis 2:18; Genesis 2:21-22]:... [ Continue Reading ]
for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. [The argument here runs thus: The rule which I have given you rests upon symbolism--the symbol of the wife's subjection. But this symbolism is correct, for, as man proceeded from God, being fashioned as a... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord ["In the Lord" means by divine appointment.]... [ Continue Reading ]
For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God. [Lest any man should be inflated with pride by the statement in 1 Corinthians 11:7; fancying that there was some degree of proportion between the exaltation of God over man and of man over woman, Paul adds th... [ Continue Reading ]
Judge ye in yourselves [he appealed to their own sense of propriety, as governed by the light of nature]:_ is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled?_... [ Continue Reading ]
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him?... [ Continue Reading ]
But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. [Instinct should teach us that the head of a woman is more properly covered than that of a man, for nature grants it a greater abundance of hair. In Paul's time the hair of a man, unless he was under some... [ Continue Reading ]
But if any man seemeth to be [a mild way of saying, "if any man is"] _contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God_. [Knowing the argumentative spirit of the Greeks, and being conscious that it was likely that some would even yet want to dispute the matter, despite his three reas... [ Continue Reading ]
But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse. [Their church services, which were intended for their development, had become so corrupted that they tended to retard and to dwarf their natural growth. Farrar makes the words "this charge" r... [ Continue Reading ]
For first of all [Paul was not careful as to his divisions, and so his "secondly" is not clearly stated. Olshausen, Ewald, Winer and others think it begins at 1 Corinthians 11:20; and thus the apostle first censures the factions, and next the evils which resulted from the factions. But as Paul inclu... [ Continue Reading ]
For there must be [Luke 17:1; Matthew 18:7; Matthew 10:11] _also factions among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you_. [A carnal spirit tends to division (1 Corinthians 3:1-4; 1 John 2:18-19). The divisive spirit in the perverse and carnal, manifests, by contrast, the lovi... [ Continue Reading ]
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord's supper [The Lord's Supper is a spiritual feast. It is a feast of love, union and communion in and with Christ, and so can not be eaten by those who have already glutted themselves with hatred, factiousness and party... [ Continue Reading ]
for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken. [This verse is an indictment with three counts. There could be no communion supper when: 1. The parties did not eat at the same time, but some before and some after; 2. when each ate his own me... [ Continue Reading ]
What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you? In this I praise you not. [Litotes for "I condemn you." The context here makes it evident that the abuses of the Lord's Supper grew out... [ Continue Reading ]
For I received of the Lord [Paul did not receive his knowledge as to the supper from the apostles or other witnesses (comp. Galatians 1:11-12). To be truly an apostle and witness (Acts 1:8), it was fitting that Paul should have his knowledge from the fountain source. For a comparison of Paul's accou... [ Continue Reading ]
and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. [The Greek word for giving thanks is eucharistia, and from it many call the Lord's Supper the Eucharist. But the "Lord's supper" and the "Lord's table" (1 Corinthians 10:21) and the... [ Continue Reading ]
In like manner also the cup, after supper [Paul here inserts the entering wedge of reform. The Lord's Supper came after the Passover, and was no part of it; hence it was no part of the Agapæ which was substituted for the Passover. As therefore the Agapæ was fruitful of disorder, would it not be well... [ Continue Reading ]
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim [inwardly and outwardly] _the Lord's death till he come_. [Thus the supper looks forward, as well as backward. The constant observance of this feast through the centuries is one of the strongest of the external evidences of the truth... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. [It is possible to partake of either emblem unworthily, and so be guilty as to both (James 2:10). Though we may be unworthy, we may still eat worthily, i... [ Continue Reading ]
But let a man prove [test] _himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup_. [A Christian confronting the communion should first test his sincerity (2 Corinthians 13:5), his state of heart (Matthew 5:22-24), etc., to see if he can eat in a submissive spirit, and in loving remembrance... [ Continue Reading ]
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body. [The Corinthians were eating the supper in a spirit of levity, as though it were common food; not keeping in mind what it memorialized.]... [ Continue Reading ]
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few sleep. ["Not a few" indicates a larger number than the preceding "many." It is generally accepted that Paul here refers to physical weakness, ill health and death, and that he asserts that these things came upon the Corinthians as a "j... [ Continue Reading ]
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged.... [ Continue Reading ]
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. [If we examined and corrected ourselves, we would escape the correction of God; but, as it is, his judgments are visited upon us, so that we may not finally be condemned with the world (Psalms 94:12; H... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore [if you wish to remedy matters], _my brethren, when ye come together to eat, wait one for another_.... [ Continue Reading ]
If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; that your coming together be not unto judgment. [By waiting they would eat together, and eat of the same symbolic bread; by eating at home, and taking the edge off their appetites, they would not devour all, and so exclude others from the communion.] _And t... [ Continue Reading ]