1Co. 1:4- 9

1:4 I⁶ thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;

1:5 That in every thing ye are⁷ enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;

1:6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:⁸

1:8 Who shall also confirm⁹ you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

6. Observe how "I thank" and "my" follow immediately after "Paul and Sosthenes," showing that, though the salutation runs in the name of both, the author of the Epistle was St. Paul alone. Compare the remarks on 1Th. 1:2.

7. In this passage the aorists are here translated as aorists. But as the distinction between the aorist and perfect is by no means constantly observed in St. Paul’s Hellenistic Greek, it may be doubted whether the aorists here are not used for perfects.

8. See note on Rom. 2:5.

9. i.e. He will do His part to confirm yon unto the end. If you fall, it will not be for want of His help.

1Co. 1:10- 31

1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.¹⁰

1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas;¹¹ and I of Christ.

1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;¹²

1:15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

1:16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas:besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

1:17 For Christ sent me¹³ not to baptize, but to preach the gospel:not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.¹⁴

1:18 For the preaching of the cross¹⁵ is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved¹⁶ it is the power of God.

1:19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.¹⁷

1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?¹⁸ hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching¹⁹ to save them that believe.²⁰

1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:

1:23 But we²¹ preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

1:24 But unto them which are called,²² both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:

1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1:30 But of him are ye²³ in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,²⁴ and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.²⁵

10. "Mind" refers to the view taken by the understanding; "judgment," to the practical decision arrived at.

11. Cephas is the name by which St. Peter is called throughout this Epistle. It was the actual word used by our Lord himself, and remained the Apostle’s usual appellation among the Jewish Christians up to this time. It is strange that it should afterwards have been so entirely supplanted by its Greek equivalent, "Peter," even among the Jewish Christians. See note on Gal. 1:18. For an explanation of the parties here alluded to, see pp. 387-393.

12. Or Caius, if we use the Roman spelling:see p. 349.

13. The verb involves this.

14. Compare the use of the same verb in Rom. 4:14.

15.i.e. the tidings of a crucified Messiah.

16. For the present participle we may refer to Act. 2:47, and to 2:6, below. In rendering the participles here, "already dead," and "already saved," Prof. Stanley neglects the force of the tense. [This is corrected in the 2d edition. — H.]

17. Isa. 29:14; not quite literally quoted from LXX.

18. There are two words in the N. T. trans lated "world" in the A.V. That which is used here involves the notion of transitory duration. So in English we speak of "the notions (or spirit) of the age." Also in this expression is contained a reference to "the future age," the period of the final triumph of Christ’s kingdom.

19. [Or, more correctly, "that which we preach," viz. the Gospel, which men deem folly. — H.]

20. Observe that the participle here is present, not past.

21. We, including St. Paul and the other preachers of Christianity.

22. All who make an outward profession of Christianity are, in St. Paul’s language, "the called." They have received a message from God, which has called them to eater into His church.

23. "Of Him."

24. Literally, who became wisdom to us from God, the preposition implying "sent from."

25. Jer. 9:23, 24, from the LXX., but not literally. Quoted also 2Co. 10:17; see note there.

1Co. 2:1- 5

2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him¹ crucified.

2:3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.²

2:4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

1. i.e. Him, not exalted on the earthly throne of David, but condemned to the death of the vilest malefactor.

2. St. Paul appears, on his first coming to Corinth, to have been suffering under great depression, perhaps caused by the bodily malady to which he was subject (cf. 2Co. 12:8; see p. 235), perhaps by the ill success of his efforts at Athens. See p. 334.

The expression "fear and trembling" is peculiarly Pauline, being used in four of St. Paul’s Epistles, and by no other writer in the New Testament. It does not mean fear of personal danger, but a trembling anxiety to perform a duty. Thus in Eph. 6:5, slaves are charged to obey their masters thus, and this anxious conscientiousness is opposed to "eye-service."

1Co. 2:6- 12

2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect:³ yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:⁴

2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,⁵ even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew:for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.⁶

2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us⁷ by his Spirit:for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

3. "The perfect" is St. Paul’s expression for those who had attained the maturity of Christian wisdom. Compare 1Co. 14:20, and Php. 3:15. Such men could understand that his teaching was in truth the highest philosophy.

4. Literally, "passing away into nothingness."

5. "Wisdom in a mystery" is a wisdom revealed to the initiated, i.e. (in this case) to Christians, but hidden from the rest of the world.

6. Isa. 64:4 is the nearest passage to this in the Old Testament. The quotation is not to be found anywhere exactly.

7. Us, including all the inspired Christian teachers, and the rest of the "perfect."

1Co. 2:13- 16

2:13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual⁸ .

2:14 But the natural⁹ man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:for they are foolishness unto him:neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

2:15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him?¹⁰ But we have the mind of Christ.¹¹

8. Compare 1Co. 3:1. It should be observed that this verb is often used by LXX. for explain, interpret , as at Gen. 40:8.

9. Properly man considered as endowed with the anima (the living principle), as distinguished from the spiritual principle. Sea Juv. Sat. 15:148. Etymologically speaking, the animal man would be the best translation; but to English readers this would convey a harsher meaning than the original.

10. Isa. 40:13 (LXX), quoted also Rom. 11:34

11. The best MSS. are divided between the readings of "Christ" and "Lord" here.

1Co. 3:1- 15

3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

3:2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat:for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

3:3 For ye are yet carnal:for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

3:7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one:¹ and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.

3:9 For we are laborers² together with God:ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

3:10 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.³

3:12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;⁴

3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest:for the day⁵ shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss:but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1. "And therefore cannot be set against each other" is implied.

2. This remarkable expression is used by St. Paul more than once. Compare 2Co. 6:1, and the note on 1Th. 3:2.

3. The MSS. vary here, but the same sense is virtually involved in all three readings; viz. that the Messiahship of Jesus was the foundation of the teaching of the Apostles.

4. [The image becomes much more vivid, if we remember the contrasted buildings of an ancient city, — the sumptuous edifices of granite and marble, with ornaments of gold and silver, on the one hand, and the hovels of the poor on the other, with walls of wood and roof of thatch, and interstices stuffed with straw. See the description of Rome below, Ch. XXIII. — H.]

5. "The Day of Christ’s coming." Compare 1Th. 5:4.

1Co. 3:16- 17

3:16 Know⁶ ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

3:17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;⁷ for the temple of God is holy,⁸ which temple ye are.

6. The connection with what precedes is, "In calling yon God’s building, I tell yon no new thing; you know already that you are God’s temple."

7. The verbal link is lost in the A.V.

8. Not "which temple" (A.V.).

1Co. 3:18- 23

3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.⁹

3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.¹⁰

3:21 Therefore let no man glory in men.¹¹ For all things are your’s;

3:22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your’s;

3:23 And¹² ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

9. Job. 5:13, from LXX., with an immaterial variation.

10. Psa. 94:11, from LXX., with a slight change.

11. The meaning is, "Boast not of having this man or that as your leader; for all the Apostles, nay, all things in the universe, are ordained by God to co-operate for your good."

12. All things work together for the good of Christians; all things conspire to do them service:but their work is to do Christ’s service, even as He Himself came to do the will of His Father.

1Co. 4:1- 3

4:1 Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.¹

4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.²

4:3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s³ judgment:yea, I judge not mine own self.

4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified:but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts:and then shall every man have praise⁴ of God.

1. Mysteries are secrets revealed (i.e. the Glad-tidings of Christ) to the initiated, i.e. to all Christians. See note on 1Co. 2:7. The metaphor here is, that as a steward dispensed his master’s bread to his fellow-servants, so Paul, Peter, and Apollos dispensed the knowledge of Christ to their brethren.

2. [Or rather, "Inquiry is made into a steward’s conduct, in order that he may be proved faithful." — H.]

3. This use of "day" is peculiar to St. Paul; so that Jerome calls it a Cilicism. It is connected with that above ( 1Co. 3:18), and occurs 1Th. 5:4.

4. "His praise." The error in A.V. was caused by not observing the article.

1Co. 4:6- 16

4:6 And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written,⁵ that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.⁶

4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

4:8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us:⁷ and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

4:9 For⁸ I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death:for we are made a spectacle⁹ unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised.

4:11 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

4:12 And labor, working with our own hands:being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

4:13 Being defamed, we intreat:we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

4:14 I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

4:15 For though ye have ten thousand instructers¹⁰ in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers:for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

4:16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

5. This is ambiguous; the phrase is commonly employed in reference to the Old Testament; but here it suits better with the context to take it as referring to the preceding remarks of St. Paul himself.

6. St. Paul probably means "in the cause of your party-leaders;" but speaks with intentional indistinctness.

7. "Without us."

8. The connection is, "The lot of an Apostle is no kingly lot."

9. Literally, because we have been made a theatrical spectacle. Compare Heb. 10:33. The spectacle to which St. Paul here alludes was common in those times. Criminals condemned to death were exhibited for the amusement of the populace on the arena of the amphitheatre, and forced to fight with wild beasts, or to slay one another as gladiators. These criminals were exhibited at the end of the spectacle as an exciting termination to the entertainment ("set forth last of all"). So Tertullian paraphrases the passage "Nos Deus Apostolos novissimos elegit velut bestiarios."

10. The guardian slave who led the child to school. The word is the same as in Gal. 3:24. See the note there.

4:17 For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

4:18 Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

4:21 What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

1Co. 5:1- 8

5:1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you,¹ and such fornication as is not so much as named² among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.

5:2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

5:3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,

5:4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

5:5 To deliver such an one unto Satan³ for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

5:6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? ⁴

5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. ⁵ For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1. The adverb seems most naturally joined with "among you," but it may be taken with "reported" in the sense of "universally;" so Prof. Stanley, "There is nothing heard of except this."

2. The "is named" of T. E. is omitted by the best MSS.; "is heard of," or something equivalent, must be supplied.

3. This expression appears used as equivalent to casting out of the Church:cf. 1Ti. 1:20. From the following words there seems also a reference to the doctrine that Satan is the author of bodily disease. Compare 2Co. 12:7.

4. The same proverb is quoted Gal. 5:9.

5. In spite of the opinion of some eminent modern commentators, which is countenanced by Chrysostom, we must adhere to the interpretation which considers these words as written at the Paschal season, and suggested by it. The words leaven, lump, Paschal Lamb, and feast, all agree most naturally with this view. It has been objected, that St. Paul would not address the Corinthians as engaged in a feast which he, at Ephesus, was celebrating; because it would be over before his letter could reach them. Any one who has ever written a birth-day letter to a friend in India will see the weakness of this objection. It has also been urged that he would not address a mixed church of Jews and Gentiles as engaged in the celebration of a Jewish feast. Those who urge this objection must have forgotten that St. Paul addresses the Galatians (undoubtedly a mixed church) as if they had all been formerly idolaters (Gal. 4:8); and addresses the Romans, sometimes as if they were all Jews ( Rom. 7:1), sometimes as if they were Gentiles (Rom. 11:18). If we take "as ye are unleavened" in a metaphorical sense, it is scarcely consistent with the previous "cast out the old leaven;" for the passage would then amount to saying, "Be free from leaven (metaphorically) as you are free from leaven (metaphorically);" whereas, on the other view, St. Paul says, "Be free from leaven (metaphorically) as you are free from leaven (literally)" There seems no difficulty in supposing that the Gentile Christians joined with the Jewish Christians in celebrating the Paschal feast after the Jewish manner, at least to the extent of abstaining from leaven in the love-feasts. And we see that St. Paul still observed the "days of unleavened bread" at this period of his life, from Act. 20:6. Also, from what follows, we perceive how naturally this greatest of Jewish feasts changed into the greatest of Christian festivals.

1Co. 5:9- 13

5:9 I wrote unto you in an epistle⁶ not to company with fornicators:

5:10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.

5:11 But⁷ now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous,⁸ or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

5:12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?

5:13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.⁹

6. Literally, "I wrote to you in the letter," viz. the letter which I last wrote, or the letter to which you refer in your questions; for they had probably mentioned their perplexity about this direction in it. So in 2Co. 7:8 the present letter (1 Cor.) is referred to in the same phrase (I grieved you in the letter). There are two decisive reasons why these words must refer to a. previous letter, not to the letter St. Paul is actually writing.

(1.) No such direction as "Keep no company with fornicators" occurs in what has gone before. (2.) If St. Paul had meant to say "I have just written," he could not have added the words "in the letter," which would have been then worse than superfluous.

Prof. Stanley (who has recently supported the view here opposed) urges that the aorist might be used of the present epistle as at 1Co. 9:15; which is obviously true. He also urges that "the letter" may sometimes refer to the present letter; which may also be admitted in cases where the letter is referred to as a whole in its postscript; e. g. "I Tertius, who wrote the letter" (Rom. 16:22). " I charge you that the letter be read " (1Th. 5:27). " When the letter has been read among you, cause it to be read at Laodicea " (Col. 4:16). But none of these instances gives any support to the view that a writer could refer to his own words, just uttered, by such a phrase as "I wrote to you in the letter." We are forced, therefore, to conclude that these words refer to a preceding letter, which has not been preserved. And this view receives a strong confirmation from the words of St. Paul’s Corinthian opponents (spoken before 2 Corinthians was written):"His letters are weighty, &c." (2Co. 10:10.)

7. The conjunction here seems not to be ft particle of time, but of connection.

8. The Greek word has the meaning of a concupiscent man in some passages of St. Paul’s writings. Compare Eph. 5:5 (where it is coupled with unclean). So the corresponding substantive, in St Paul, almost invariably means lasciviousness . See Eph. 4:19, 5:3 (and the note), and Col. 3:5. The only places where the word is used by St. Paul in the sense covetousness are 2Co. 9:5, and 1Th. 2:5, in the latter of which passages the other meaning would not be inadmissible. How the word contracted its Pauline meaning may be inferred from the similar use of concupiscence in English. [Since the above was first published, Prof. Stanley and Prof. Jowett have both expressed their concurrence in this rendering of the word; see note in this volume on Eph. 5:3.]

9. Deut. 24:7 (LXX).

1Co. 6:1- 11

6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?¹

6:2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

6:4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

6:6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

6:7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

6:8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

6:10 Nor thieves, nor covetous,² nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

6:11 And such were some of you:but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,³ but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.⁴

1. It should be remembered that the Greek and Roman law gave its sanction to the decision pronounced in a litigated case by arbitrators privately chosen; so that the Christians might obtain a just decision of their mutual differences without resorting to the Heathen tribunals. The Jews resident in foreign parts were accustomed to refer their disputes to Jewish arbitrators. Josephus (Ant. 14:10, 17) gives a decree by which the Jews at Sardis were permitted to establish a "private court," for the purpose of deciding "their misunderstandings with one another."

2. Persons given to concupiscence. See note on v. 11.

3. Observe that the Greek verb is middle, not passive, as in A.V.:cf. Act. 22:16. If the aorist is here used in its proper sense (of which we can never be sure in St. Paul), the reference is to the time of their first conversion, or baptism.

4. The words may be paraphrased thus, "By your fellowship with the Lord Jesus, whose name you bear, and by the indwelling of the Spirit of our God."

1Co. 6:12- 20

6:12 All things are lawful unto me,⁵ but all things are not expedient:all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats:but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.⁶

6:14 And God hath both raised up the Lord, and will also raise up us by his own power.⁷

6:15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.⁸

6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

6:18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body;⁹ but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

6:20 For ye are bought with a price:¹⁰ therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.¹¹

5. See the explanation of this in Ch. XIII.; and compare (for the true side of the phrase) Gal. 5:23, "Against such there is no law." Probably St. Paul had used the very words "All things are lawful for me" in this true sense, and the immoral party at Corinth had caught them up, and used them as their watchword. It is also probable that this fact was mentioned in the letter which St. Paul had just received from Corinth ( 1Co. 7:1). Also see 1Co. 8:1 below. Prom what follows it is evident that these Corinthian freethinkers argued that the existence of bodily appetites proved the lawfulness of their gratification.

6. The body is for the Lord Jesus, to be consecrated by His indwelling to His service; and the Lord Jesus is for the body, to consecrate it by dwelling therein in the person of His Spirit.

7. St. Paul’s argument here is, that sins of unchastity, though bodily acts, yet injure a part of our nature (compare the phrase "spiritual body," 1Co. 15:44) which will not be destroyed by death, and which is closely connected with our moral well-being. And it is a fact no less certain than mysterious, that moral and spiritual ruin is caused by such sins; which human wisdom (when untaught by Revelation) held to be actions as blameless as eating and drinking.

8. Gen. 2:24 (LXX.), quoted by our Lord, Mat. 19:5.

9. Literally, "every sin which a man commits is without (external to) the body." The Corinthian freethinkers probably used this argument also, and perhaps availed themselves of our Lord’s words, Mar. 7:18: "Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth not into his heart?" &c. (See the whole passage.)

10. The price is the Mood of Christ. Compare Act. 20:28, and Col. 1:14.

11. The latter part of this verse, though not in the best MSS., yet is implied in the sense.

1Co. 7:1- 11

7:1 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me:It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

7:2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,¹ let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.

7:3 Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence:and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

7:4 The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband:and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting² and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

7:6 But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment.

7:7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

7:8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I.

7:9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry:for it is better to marry than to burn.

7:10 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord,³ Let not the wife depart from her husband:

7:11 But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband:and let not the husband put away his wife.

1. The plural in the Greek perhaps means (as Prof. Stanley takes it) "because of the general prevalence of fornication," with special reference to the profligacy of Corinth, where every unmarried person would be liable to spe cial temptation.

2. "Fasting" is an interpolation, not found in the best MSS.

3. This commandment is recorded Mar. 10:11, 12: Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, the committeth adultery.

1Co. 7:12- 16

7:12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord:If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

7:13 And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband:else were your children unclean;⁴ but now are they holy.

7:15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases:but God hath called⁵ us to peace.⁶

7:16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?

4. The terms means literally "unclean," and is used in its Jewish sense, to denote that which is beyond the hallowed pale of God’s people: the antithesis to "holy," which applied to all within the consecrated limits. On the inferences from this verse, with respect to infant baptism, see Ch. XIII.

5. This verb, in St. Paul’s writings, means "to call into fellowship with Christ;" "to call from the unbelieving World into the Church."

6. The inference is, "therefore the profession of Christianity ought not to lead the believer to quarrel with the unbelieving members of his family."

1Co. 7:17- 24

7:17 But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called⁷ every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches.

7:18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called⁸ in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.

7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

7:20 Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

7:21 Art thou called being a servant? care not for it:but if thou mayest be made free,⁹ use it rather.

7:22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman:likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.

7:23 Ye are bought with a price;¹⁰ be not ye the servants of men.¹¹

7:24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.

7. Literally, only, as God allotted to each, as the Lord has called each, so let him walk.

8. The past tense is mistranslated "it called" in A.V. throughout this chapter.

9. The Greek here is ambiguous, and might be so rendered as to give directly opposite precepts; but the version given in the text (which is that advocated by Chrysostom, Meyer, and De Wette) agrees best with the order of the Greek words, and also with the context. We must remember, with regard to this and other precepts here given, that they were given under the immediate anticipation of our Lord’s coming.

10. There is a change here in the Greek from singular to plural. For the "price," see 1Co. 6:20.

11. Alluding to their servile adherence to party leaders. Compare 2Co. 11:20.

1Co. 7:25- 38

7:25 Now concerning virgins¹² I have no commandment of the Lord:yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy¹³ of the Lord to be faithful.

7:26 I suppose therefore that this is good for the present¹⁴ distress, I say, that it is good for a man so to be.¹⁵

7:27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.

7:28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned.¹⁶ Nevertheless such shall have trouble in the flesh:but I spare you.¹⁷

7:29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short:¹⁸ it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

7:30 And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;

7:31 And they that use this world, as not abusing¹⁹ it: for the fashion of this world passeth²⁰ away.

7:32 But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord:

7:33 But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife.

7:34 There is difference²¹ also between a wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit:but she that is married careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

7:35 And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

7:36 But if any man think that he behaveth himself uncomely toward his virgin, if she pass the

flower of her age, and need so require, let him do what he will, he sinneth not: let them²² marry.

7:37 Nevertheless he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so decreed in his heart that he will keep his virgin, doeth well.

7:38 So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth well; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth better.

12. We cannot help remarking, that the manner in which a recent infidel writer has spoken of this passage is one of the most striking proofs how far a candid and acute mind may be warped by a strong bias. In this case the desire of the writer is to disparage the moral teaching of Christianity; and he brings forward this passage to prove his case, and blames St. Paul because he assumes these Corinthian daughters to be disposable in marriage at the will of their father; as if any other assumption had been possible in the case of Greek or Jewish daughters in that age. We must suppose that this writer would (on the same grounds) require a modern missionary to Persia to preach the absolute incompatibility of despotic government with sound morality. A similar ignoratio elenchi runs through all his remarks upon this chapter.

13. Compare "I obtained mercy," 1Ti. 1:18.

14. The participle here can only mean present . See the note on 2Th. 2:2. The word was mistranslated in this passage in the first edition.

15. "So," namely "as virgins."

16. Literally, though thou shalt have married, thou hast not sinned; the aorist used for the perfect, as constantly by St. Paul.

17. I is emphatic, I, if you followed my advice; also observe the present, "I am sparing you [by this advice]," or, in other words, "I would spare you."

18. We adopt Lachmann’s reading. "The object of this contraction of your earthly life is, that you may henceforth set your affections on things above."

19. Literally, the verb appears to mean to use up, as distinguished from to use. Compare ix 18. It thus acquired the sense of to abuse, in which it is sometimes employed by Demosthenes and by the grammarians.

20. Literally, "passing by," flitting past, like the shadows in Plato’s Cavern (Repub. 7:1), or the figures in some moving phantasmagoria.

21. The reading of Lachmann makes a considerable difference in the translation, which would thus run:"The husband strives to please his wife, and is divided [in mind]. Both the unmarried wife [i. e. the widow] and the virgin care for the things of the Lord," &c. This reading gives a more natural sense to "divided" (cf. 1Co. 1:13, so Stanley); but on the other hand, the use of "unmarried wife" for widow is unprecedented; and in this very chapter (verse 8) the word widows is opposed to unmarried.

22. "Them," viz. the daughter and the suitor.

1Co. 7:39- 40

7:39 The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.²³

7:40 But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment:and I think also²⁴ that I have the Spirit of God.

23. Literally, provided it be in the Lord.

24. The "also" in "I also" has this meaning.

1Co. 8:1- 13

8:1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

8:2 And if any man think that he knoweth¹ any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

8:3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.²

8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

8:5 For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.³

8:7 Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge:for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

8:8 But meat commendeth us not to God:for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

8:9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of your’s⁴ become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

8:10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak⁵ be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

8:11 And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?⁶

8:12 But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.⁷

1. It is necessary, for the understanding of this Epistle, that we should remember that it is an answer to a letter received from the Corinthian Church (1Co. 7:1), and therefore constantly alludes to topics in that letter. It seems probable, from the way in which they are introduced, that these words, "We all have knowledge," are quoted from that letter.

2. That is, God acknowledges him; compare Gal. 4:9.

3. That is, by whom the life of all things, and our life also, is originated and sustained. So Col. 1:16: "By Him and for Him were all created, and in Him all things subsist;" where it should be remarked that the "for Him" is predicated of the Son, as in the present passage of the Father. Both passages show how fully St. Paul taught the doctrine of the [greek word].

4. "This liberty of yours." Observe again the reference to the language of the self-styled Pauline party at Corinth. Compare "all things are lawful for me" (1Co. 6:12). The decrees of the "Council of Jerusalem" might seem to have a direct bearing on the question discussed by St. Paul in this passage; but he does not refer to them as deciding the points in dispute, either here or elsewhere. Probably the reason of this is, that the decrees were meant only to be of temporary application; and in their terms they applied originally only to the, churches of Syria and Cilicia (see Act. 15:23; also Chap. VII.).

5. Literally, the possessor of knowledge; in allusion to the previous "We all have knowledge."

6. Literally, will not the conscience of him, though he is weak, be, &c.

7. The whole of this eighth chapter is parallel to Romans 14.

1Co. 9:1- 27

9:1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free?¹ have I not seen Jesus Christ² our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

9:2 If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you:for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord.

9:3 Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

9:4 Have we not power to eat and to drink?³

9:5 Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord,⁴ and Cephas?

9:6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

9:7 Who⁵ goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?

9:8 Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also?

9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn.⁶ Doth God take care for oxen?

9:10 Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written:that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.

9:11 If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?

9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power;⁷ but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister⁸ about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained⁹ that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

9:15 But I have used none of these things:neither have I written¹⁰ these things, that it should be so done unto me:for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:for necessity¹¹ is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!

9:17 For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward:but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.¹²

9:18 What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

9:19 For though I be free from all men,¹³ yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain¹⁴ the more.

9:20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;

9:21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,)¹⁵ that I might gain them that are without law.¹⁶

9:22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak:I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.¹⁷

9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown;¹⁸ but we an incorruptible.

9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:¹⁹

9:27 But I keep under my body,²⁰ and bring it into subjection:lest that by any means,²¹ when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

1. "Free." Compare verse 19 and Gal 1:1, "an Apostle not of men."

2. "Christ" here is omitted by the best MSS.

3. This was a point much insisted on by the Judaizers (see 2Co. 12:13-16). They argued that St. Paul, by not availing himself of this undoubted apostolic right, betrayed his own consciousness that he was no true Apostle.

4. "The brothers of the Lord." It is a very doubtful question whether these were the sons of our Lord’s mother’s sister, viz. the Apostles James and Judas, the sons of Alphaeus (Luk. 6:15, 16) (for cousins were called brothers), or whether they were sons of Joseph by a former marriage, or actually sons of the mother of our Lord.

5. He means to say that, to have this right of maintenance, a man need be no Apostle.

6. Deu. 25:4 (LXX), quoted also 1Ti. 5:18

7. The proper meaning of the verb used here is to hold out against, as a fortress against assault, or ice against superincumbent weight. Compare 13:7, and 1Th. 3:1.

8. Numbers 7, and Deuteronomy 18

9. (Mat. 10:9, 10.) Provide neither gold nor silver nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for four journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves:for the workman is worthy of his meat.

10. The aorist is the epistolary tense. There is considerable difference of reading in this verse, but not materially affecting the sense.

11. "Necessity" here is the compulsion exercised by a master over a slave. In calling his service compulsory, St. Paul refers to the miraculous character of his conversion.

12. This "stewardship" consisted in dispensing his Master’s goods to his fellow-slaves. See 1Co. 4:1. 3.

13. Literally, that I may not fully use. See note on 1Co. 7:31. The perplexity which commentators have found in this passage is partly due to the construction of the Greek, but principally to the oxymoron; St. Paul virtually says that his wage is the refusal of wages. The passage may he literally rendered, "It is, that I should, while Evangelizing, make the Evangel free of cost, that I may not fully use my right at an Evangelist."

14. "Gain" alludes to "wage." The souls whom he gained were his wage.

15. The best MSS. here insert a clause which is not in the Textus Receptus.

16. For "without law" in the sense of "heathen," compare Rom. 2:12.

17. For a description of the severe training required, see notes at the beginning of Ch. XX.

18. This was the crown made of the leaves of the pine, groves of which surrounded the Isthmian Stadium:the same tree still grows plentifully on the Isthmus of Corinth. It was the prize of the great Isthmian games. Throughout the passage, St. Paul alludes to these contests, which were so dear to the pride and patriotism of the Corinthians. Compare also 2Ti. 2:5. And see the beginning of Ch. XX. on the same subject.

19. Literally, I run as one not uncertain [of the goal]: I fight as one not striking the air.

20. This is the literal meaning of the pugilistic term which the Apostle here employs.

21. "As a herald." See the second note on Ch. XX.

1Co. 10:1- 13

10:1 Moreover,¹ brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink:for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them:² and that Rock was Christ.

10:5 But with many of them God was not well pleased:for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.³

10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.⁴

10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.⁵

10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.⁶

10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.⁷

10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples:and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.⁸

10:12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

1. The reading of the best MSS. is "for." The connection with what precedes is the possibility of failure even in those who had received the greatest advantages.

2. St. Paul’s meaning is, that, under the allegorical representation of the Manna, the Water and the Bock are shadowed forth spiritual realities:for the Rock is Christ, the only source of living water (John 4.), and the Manna also is Christ, the true bread from Heaven (John 6.). For the Rabbinical traditions about the rock, see Schottgen; and on the whole verse, see Prof. Stanley’s excellent note.

3. Viz. after the flesh-pots of Egypt.

4. Exo. 32:6 (LXX)

5. Num. 25:9, where twenty-four thousand is the number given. See the remarks on p. 157, n. 2, on the speech at Antioch, and also the note on Gal. 3:17.

6. Num. 21:6

7. See Num. 16:41. The murmuring of the Corinthians against the Apostle is compared to the murmuring of Koran against Moses.

8. The coming of Christ was "the end of the ages," i.e. the commencement of a new period of the world’s existence. So nearly the same phrase is used Heb. 9:26. A similar expression occurs five times in St. Matthew, signifying the coming of Christ to judgment.

1Co. 10:14- 22

10:14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

10:15 I speak as to wise men;⁹ judge ye what I say.

10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?¹⁰

10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body:for we are all partakers of that one bread.

10:18 Behold Israel after the flesh:are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

10:19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God:¹¹ and I would not that ye should have fellowship¹² with devils.

10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils:ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

10:22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

9. "Wise men," the character peculiarly affected by the Corinthians. The word is perhaps used with a mixture of irony, as at 1Co. 4:10, and 2Co. 11:19.

10. Literally, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a common participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a common participation in the body of Christ?

11. Deu. 32:17:"They sacrificed to demons, not to God" (LXX).

12. This is addressed to those who were in the habit of accepting invitations to feasts celebrated in the temples of the heathen gods "sitting in the idol’s temple" (1Co. 8:10). These feasts were, in fact, acts of idolatrous worship; the wine was poured in libation to the gods ("the cup of demons," v. 21), and the feast was given in honor of the gods.

1Co. 10:23- 30

10:23 All things are lawful for me,¹³ but all things are not expedient:all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

10:24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.

10:25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:

10:26 For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.¹⁴

10:27 If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.

10:28 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake:for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:¹⁵

10:29 Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other:for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?

10:30 For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?¹⁶

13. See 1Co. 6:12 and note.

14. Psa. 24:1 (LXX)

15. The repeated quotation is omitted in the best MSS.

16. Compare Rom. 14:16:"Let not your good be evil spoken of." Here, again, the hypothesis that St. Paul is quoting from the letter of the Corinthians removes all difficulty.

1Co. 10:31- 33

10:31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.¹⁷

10:32 Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

10:33 Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many,¹⁸ that they may be saved.

17. i.e. that the glory of God may be manifested to men.

18. The phrase denotes not many, but the many, the whole mass of mankind.

1Co. 11:1- 16

11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

11:2 Now I praise you, brethren,¹ that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

11:3 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.

11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head.²

11:5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head:for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

11:6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn:but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.³

11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God:but the woman is the glory of the man.

11:8 For the man is not of the woman:but the woman of the man.

11:9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

11:10 For this cause ought the woman to have power⁴ on her head because of the angels.⁵

11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.⁶

11:12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

11:13 Judge in yourselves:is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

11:15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her:for her hair is given her for a covering.

11:16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom,⁷ neither the churches of God.

1. This statement was probably made in the letter sent by the Corinthian Church to St. Paul.

2. It appears from this passage that the Tallith which the Jews put over their heads when they enter their synagogues (see p. 154) was in the apostolic age removed by them when they officiated in the public worship. Otherwise St. Paul could not, while writing to a church containing so many born Jews as the Corinthian, assume it as evidently disgraceful to a man to officiate in the congregation with veiled head. It is true that the Greek practice was to keep the head uncovered at their religious rites (as Grotius and Wetstein have remarked), but this custom would not have affected the Corinthian synagogue, nor have influenced the feelings of its members.

3. For the character of this veil (or hood), see Canon Stanley’s note in loco.

4. The word is often used for the dominion exercised by those in lawful authority over their subordinates (see Luk. 7:8.) Here it is used to signify the sign of that dominion.

5. The meaning of this very difficult expression seems to be as follows:— The angels are sent as ministering servants to attend upon Christians, and are especially present when the church assembles for public worship; and they would be offended by any violation of decency or order. For other explanations, and a full discussion of the subject, the reader is referred to Prof. Stanley’s note.

6. In their relation to Christ, man and woman are not to be severed the one from the other. Compare Gal. 3:28. St. Paul means to say that the distinction between the sexes is one which only belongs to this life.

7. Literally, that neither I, nor the churches of God, admit of such a custom.

1Co. 11:17- 34

11:17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

11:18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you;⁸ and I partly believe it.

11:19 For⁹ there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

11:20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

11:21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper:and one is hungry, and another is drunken.¹⁰

11:22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not?¹¹ What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

11:23 For I¹² have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

11:24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat:this is my body, which is broken for you:this do in remembrance of me.

11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

11:26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

11:27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.¹³

11:30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

11:31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

11:32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

11:33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

11:34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

8. "There must be also, &c."

9. The second subject of rebuke is introduced here.

10. For the explanation of this, see Chap. XIII. It should be observed that a common meal, to which each of the guests contributed his own share of the provisions, was a form of entertainment of frequent occurrence among the Greeks, and known by the name of [greek word].

11. Literally, Those who have not houses to eat in, and who therefore ought to have received their portion at the love-feasts from their wealthier brethren.

12. The "I" is emphatic.

13. If in this verse we omit, with the majority of MSS., the words "unworthily" and "of the Lord," it will stand as follows: He who eats and drinks of it, not duly judging of [or discerning] the Body, eats and drinks judgment against himself. The "not discerning" is explained by Canon Stanley, "if he does not discern that the body of the Lord is in himself and in the Christian society;" but the more usual and perhaps more natural explanation is, "if he does not distinguish between the Eucharistic elements and a common meal."

1Co. 12:1- 31

12:1 Now concerning¹ spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

12:2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. ²

12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed:and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.³

12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.⁴

12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

12:8 For to one⁵ is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge⁶ by the same Spirit;

12:9 To another faith⁷ by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;⁸

12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues;⁹ to another the interpretation of tongues:

12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many,¹⁰ are one body:so also is Christ.

12:13 For by one Spirit are we all¹¹ baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,¹² whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

12:14 For the body is not one member, but many.

12:15 If¹³ the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

12:17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

12:19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

12:20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

12:21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee:nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

12:22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

12:23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

12:24 For our comely parts have no need:but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked.

12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

12:28 And God hath set some in the church,¹⁴ first¹⁵ apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

12:29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

12:31 But covet earnestly¹⁶ the best gifts:¹⁷ and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

1. The adjective is here taken as masculine, because this agrees best with the context, and also because another word is used in this chapter for spiritual gifts.

2. As ye chanced to be led at the will of your leaders, i.e. blindly.

3. i.e. the mere outward profession of Christianity is (so far as it goes) a proof of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Therefore the extraordinary spiritual gifts which followed Christian baptism in that age proceeded in all cases from the Spirit of God, and not from the Spirit of Evil. This is St. Paul’s answer to a difficulty apparently felt by the Corinthians (and mentioned in their letter to him), whether some of these gifts might not be given by the Author of Evil to confuse the Church. Prof. Stanley observes that the words Jesus is accursed and Jesus is the Lord (according to the reading of some of the best MSS., which produces a much livelier sense) "were probably well-known forms of speech; the first for renouncing Christianity (compare maledicere Christo, Plin. Ep. 10:97), the second for professing allegiance to Christ at baptism."

4. It should be observed that the 4th, 5th, and 6th verses imply the doctrine of the Trinity.

5. On this classification of spiritual gifts, see p. 334, note.

6. Knowledge (gnosis) is the term used throughout this Epistle for a deep insight into divine truth; Wisdom is a more general term, but here (as being opposed to gnosis) probably means practical wisdom.

7. That is, wonder-working faith. See Ch. XIII.

8. See Ch. XIII.

9. See Ch. XIII. for remarks on this and the other gifts mentioned in this passage.

10. Some words of the Received Text are omitted here by the best MSS.

11. The past tense is mistranslated in A.V. as present.

12. See note on Rom. 1:16.

13. The resemblance between this passage and the well-known fable of Menenius Agrippa (Liv. 2:32) can scarcely be accidental; and may perhaps be considered another proof that St. Paul was not unacquainted with

14. The omission of the answering clause in the Greek renders it necessary to complete the sense by this interpolation.

15. On this classification, see p. 334, note 1; on the particular charisms and offices mentioned in it, see pp. 334-340.

16. The verb means originally to feel intense eagerness about a person or thing:hence its different senses of love, jealousy, &c., are derived. Here the wish expressed is, that the Corinthians should take that delight in the exercise of the more useful gifts, which hitherto they had taken in the more wonderful, not that individuals should "covet earnestly" for themselves gifts which God had not given them. Compare 1Co. 14:39, and observe that the verb is a different one in 1Co. 14:1.

17. This seems the meaning here. The phrase can scarcely be taken as an adjective with "path," as in A.V. Such an instance as Rom. 7:13 is not parallel. In English the use of the words exceedingly sinful would not explain the expression an exceedingly path.

1Co. 13:1- 13

13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith,¹ so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

13:3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,² and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

13:4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;³

13:6 Rejoiceth not in⁴ iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;⁵

13:7 Beareth all things,⁶ believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

13:8 Charity never faileth:but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child:but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

13:12 For now we see through a glass,⁷ darkly;⁸ but then face to face:now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am⁹ known.

13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

1. i.e. the charism of wonder-working faith. See Ch. XIII. The "removal of mountains" alludes to the words of our Lord, recorded Mat. 17:20.

2. Some MSS. have "give my body that I may boast," which gives a satisfactory sense.

3. Literally, does not reckon the evil [against the evil-doer]. Compare 2Co. 5:19: "not reckoning their sins." The Authorized Version here, "thinketh no evil," is so beautiful that one cannot but wish it had been a correct translation. The same disposition, however, is implied by the "believes all things" below.

4. This verb sometimes means to rejoice in the misfortune of another, and the characteristic of love here mentioned may mean that it does not exult in the punishment of iniquity; or may simply mean that it does net delight in the contemplation of wickedness.

5. Literally, rejoices when the Truth rejoices.

6. For the meaning, see note on 1Co. 9:12.

7. Not "through a glass," but by meant of a mirror.

8. Literally, in an enigma; thus we see God (e. g.) in nature, while even revelation only shows us His reflected likeness. There is, no doubt, an allusion to Num. 12:8.

9. Literally, "I was known," i.e. when in this world, by God. The tense used retrospectively; unless it may be better to take it as the aorist used in a perfect sense, which is not uncommon in St. Paul’s

1Co. 14:1- 33

14:1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

14:2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God:for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

14:3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

14:4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

14:5 I would that ye all spake with tongues but rather that ye prophesied:for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

14:6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

14:7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

14:9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

14:10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.

14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.

14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

14:13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.

14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue,¹ my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also:I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.

14:16 Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned² say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?

14:17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.

14:18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:³

14:19 Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.

14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding:howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.

14:21 In the law it is written,⁴ With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.

14:22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign,⁵ not to them that believe, but to them that believe not:but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.

14:23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?⁶

14:24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:

14:25 And⁷ thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation,⁸ hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

14:27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.

14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

14:29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other⁹ judge.

14:30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

14:31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.

14:32 And the spirits of the prophets¹⁰ are subject to the prophets.

14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

1. This verse distinctly proves that the gift of Tongues was not a knowledge of foreign languages, as is often supposed. See Ch. XIII.

2. Not the unlearned (A.V.), but him who takes no part in the particular matter in hand.

3. This is evidently the meaning of the verse. Compare verse 2, "He who speaks in a tongue speaks not to himself but to God," and verse 28, "Let him speak in private to himself and God alone."

4. Isa. 28:11. Not exactly according to the Hebrew or LXX.

5. That is, a condemnatory sign.

6. We must not be led, from any apparent analogy, to confound the exercise of the gift of Tongues in the primitive Church with modern exhibitions of fanaticism, which bear a superficial resemblance to it. We must remember that such modern pretensions to this gift must of course resemble the manifestations of the original gift in external features, because these very features have been the objects of intentional imitation. If, however, the inarticulate utterances of ecstatic joy are followed (as they were in some of "Wesley’s converts) by a life of devoted holiness, we should hesitate to say that they might not bear some analogy to those of the Corinthian Christians.

7. The word for "so" is omitted in best MSS.

8. This would be an exercise of the gift of "prophecy."

9. i.e. let the rest of the prophets judge whether those who stand up to exercise the gift have really received it. This is parallel to the direction in 1Th. 5:21.

10. Literally, "the spirits of the prophets are under the control of the prophets." This is a reason why the rule given above can easily be observed. [This seems to modify what is said on p. 375. — H.]

1Co. 14:34- 40

14:34 ¹¹ Let your women keep silence in the churches:for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.¹²

14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home:for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

14:36 What? came the word of God out from you?¹³ or came it unto you only?

14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual,¹⁴ let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

14:38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

14:39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

11. This translation places a full-stop in the middle of the 33d verse, and a comma at the end of it.

12. Gen. 3:16:"Thy husband shall have the dominion over thee."

13. The sentence in brackets, or something equivalent, is implied in the h] which begins the next. "OR was it from you," — i.e. "Or if you set up your judgment against that of other Churches, was it from you, &c."

14. "Spiritual," the epithet on which the party of Apollos (the ultra-Pauline party) especially prided themselves. See 1Co. 3:1-3 and Gal. 6:1.

1Co. 15:1- 11

15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;

15:2 By which also ye are saved,¹ if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;²

15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose³ again the third day according to the scriptures:⁴

15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:

15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.⁵

15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.

15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am:and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all:yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

15:11 Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

1. Literally, you are in the way of salvation. The words which follow (the words wherein, &c.) were joined (in our first edition) with preached in the preceding verse, according to Billroth’s view. But further consideration has led us to think that they may be more naturally made dependent on hold fast, as they are taken by De Wette, Alford, and others.

2. So our Lord quotes Isa. 53:12, in Luk. 22:37.

3. In the original it is the perfect, not the aorist:"He is risen," not "He was raised," or (more literally) He is awakened, not He was awakened; because Christ, being once risen, dieth no more. But this present-perfect cannot here be retained in the English.

4. Among the "Scriptures" here referred to by St. Paul, one is the prophecy which he himself quoted in the speech at Antioch from Psa. 16:10.

5. Can we imagine it possible that St. Paul should have said this without knowing it to be true? or without himself having seen some of these "five hundred brethren," of whom "the greater part" were alive when he wrote these words? The sceptical (but candid and honest) De Wette acknowledges this testimony as conclusive.

1Co. 15:12- 28

15:12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

15:13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

15:14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

15:15 Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ:whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

15:16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

15:17 And if Christ⁶ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet⁷ in your sins.

15:18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits⁸ of them that slept. <