GOT ■ 1924 
 
 Division SS 4^ 
 Section • -H 3 B 
 
 4-^ 
 
EPISTLES 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
^n^g^ 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DAIXAS 
 ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 MACMILLAN & CO.. Limited 
 
 LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA 
 MELBOURNE 
 
 THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA. Ltd. 
 
 TORONTO 
 
EPISTLES 
 TO THE CORINT _,,„,__ 
 
 OCT 'A 1924 
 
 I CORINTHIANS BY\ /^ 
 
 Professor JAMES s/rI(3 ^6ICHL %V^ 
 
 AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 II CORINTHIANS BY 
 
 Professor HARRY LATHROP REED 
 
 AUBURN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 1922 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 Copyright, 1922, 
 By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and printed. Published November, 1922. 
 
 Press of 
 J. J. Little & Ives Company 
 New York, U. S. A. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Owing to peculiar and unavoidable circumstances it be- 
 came necessary for me to ask to be relieved of the inter- 
 pretation of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. It 
 was my earnest desire that Dr. Reed, my colleague at 
 Auburn, should take over this task. Having secured the 
 kindly consent of the Editor and Publishers to this 
 change, Dr. Reed graciously set himself to work. As the 
 result of his analytic power, spiritual insight and clear- 
 ness of expression we have an interpretation which, I am 
 sure, will prove itself greatly helpful toward the under- 
 standing of this complex epistle. 
 
 J. S. RiGGS. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction i 
 
 The First Epistle 21 
 
 Introduction 151 
 
 The Second Epistle 180 
 
EPISTLES 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
I. EPISTLE 
 To THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 I. Corinth 
 
 There is no one of Paul's letters which reveals so fully 
 the reaction of the life of the city upon the church as 
 does I Corinthians. It is well, therefore, to know some- 
 thing of the city itself. Located on the southwestern side 
 of the isthmus of the same name, it was on the direct 
 line of trade and travel between the East and the West. 
 It had two ports — Lechaeum, one and one-half miles 
 distant on the Corinthian gulf, to which came the ship- 
 ping of Italy, Sicily, and Spain, and Cenchreae, eight and 
 one-half miles from the city on the Saronic gulf, where 
 ships from places all about the eastern part of the 
 Mediterranean found anchorage. The way across the 
 isthmus shortened the route to the west by many miles 
 and obviated the perilous sail around Cape MaJea, on 
 the southern coast of Greece. Arriving at either port, 
 large ships transhipped their cargoes across the narrow 
 neck of land for further transport. Small vessels were 
 often hauled across the isthmus on a tramway about five 
 miles long. The value of this shortened trade route is 
 evident from the fact that plans were made in Paul's time 
 to cut a canal through the isthmus. Nero actually began 
 to dig one, but found the undertaking too difficult, and it 
 is only in recent times (1893) that the two gulfs have 
 been thus united. Corinth was thus, as Horace described 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 it, "the city of two seas." Nor was it only on the 
 shortest way from the East to the West, but as the 
 isthmus was the "bridge of the sea," Corinth was like- 
 wise on the direct road from the Peloponnesus to the 
 northern parts of Greece and profited also by reason of 
 this position. In fact, its highly advantageous commer- 
 cial situation lay at the foundation of the greatness of 
 both Old Corinth and New Corinth and did much to 
 give both of them their peculiar character. It is with 
 New Corinth, however, that we are now concerned. The 
 old city was utterly destroyed by the Romans in 146 
 B.C. and the site was desolate for about one hundred 
 years. In 46 b.c. the new city was founded by Julius 
 Caesar, who established a colony of Roman veterans and 
 freedmen near the Acrocorinthus, the great protective 
 rock of the old city. By the time Paul came to visit it 
 the new foundation had become a very large city with 
 a mixed population of Italians (descendants from the 
 early colonists), Greeks, Jews, and orientals from all 
 parts of the East. The Greek influence was dominant 
 in the life of the city. Because of its importance it had 
 been made the capital of the Roman province of Achaia 
 and the seat of the Roman Proconsul. The commercial 
 greatness of the old city, which, during the period of 
 desolation, had been given to Delos, was rapidly re- 
 gained. New Corinth became the most prominent and 
 the richest city of Greece. Its chief business was again 
 the transport of goods. 
 
 Like most cities that have become great commercial 
 centers, it was a place of sharp contrasts. Poverty and 
 squalor had their abode in wretched huts; wealth and 
 luxury in costly palaces. Beautiful temples enriched by 
 columns of marble and porphyry and ornamented with 
 gold and silver adorned its streets. The gods of Greece, 
 Rome, and Egypt had their shrines not far from each 
 other. Luxurious living characterized often by gross 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 self-indulgence brought about debasement of character. 
 Two elements of the population contributed especially 
 to the maintenance of the desperate profligacy for which 
 Corinth was noted, viz., the sailors found constantly in 
 her streets and the numerous slaves who had their miser- 
 able existence within her confines. Even religion gave 
 sanction to immorality by its cult of sexual indulgence. 
 To live like a Corinthian was synonymous with de- 
 bauchery. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans from 
 Corinth, and it was from her life that he got the descrip- 
 tion of paganism which is found in Rom. 1:21-32. 
 Drunkenness was common and dishonesty notorious. It 
 would be unfair, however, to leave the impression that 
 business and profligacy were the only characteristics of 
 the city. 
 
 There were intellectual interests both in art and phi- 
 losophy. No Greek city was without interest in philoso- 
 phy and schools of philosophy were to be found in 
 Corinth. Her citizens were proud of their mental acute- 
 ness; so much so that in their conceit they criticized all 
 men and questioned anything and everything. They 
 loved disputation, but all their intellectual activity re- 
 sulted in nothing of much value. The wisdom of the 
 schools took little hold upon the earnest realities of life. 
 They dabbled in philosophy. The knowledge that 
 ^^puffeth up" was a consequence. Indeed, 'Hhe arti- 
 ficiality and flowing rhetoric of the sophists" were quite 
 satisfying. Far-reaching fame came to the city from the 
 Isthmian games which were under the supervision of the 
 Corinthians and which brought together every third year 
 many contestants and visitors from all parts of the world. 
 In the markets of the world Corinthian wares of fine 
 clay, tapestries, and vessels of bronze were well known. 
 New Corinth, in brief, was a busy, keen-witted, pleasure- 
 loving, grossly immoral city, given over to idolatry and 
 superstition and exerting a wide-reaching influence by 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 reason of the streams of travel constantly passing through 
 it. "The merchant toiling upward by all possible means, 
 the glutton yielding to every desire, the athlete steeled 
 by exercise and bidding defiance to every power — these 
 were the real Corinthian types; in a word, the man whom 
 none surpasses, to whom nothing is impossible and noth- 
 ing denied" — Dobschiitz. The one place of any moral 
 illumination at all amid the surrounding darkness was 
 the humble synagogue of the Jews. Until the church 
 of Christ was established it was probably the only refuge 
 for any Gentile who longed for better things than either 
 the idolatry of the temples or the philosophy of the 
 schools could give him. Such was the Corinth to which 
 Paul came as a Missionary of the Cross. Only unwaver- 
 ing faith in the power of God could have nerved him for 
 his task. 
 
 II. The Founding of the Church 
 
 It was on his second missionary journey that Paul 
 crossed into Europe for the first time. Sailing from Troas 
 he landed at Neapolis in Macedonia, and took Philippi, 
 "the foremost town of the district of Macedonia" (Acts 
 16:12), as the starting point of his labors. There, at 
 Thessalonica, at Bercea, and in all likelihood in neighbor- 
 ing places, he accomplished an extensive and important 
 work which he was compelled to leave because of the 
 determined hostility of the Jews. Very reluctantly he 
 gave up Macedonia, for he felt that his work there had 
 not been finished. There was no alternative but to get 
 away, at least for a time, so his friends escorted him as 
 far as Athens (Acts 17:15). Here he was to await the 
 coming of Timothy and Silas, who were expected to join 
 him as soon as possible. Timothy came bringing un- 
 favorable news, and was immediately sent back to 
 Thessalonica to strengthen and encourage those who had 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 been faithful. Though Silas is not mentioned, he also 
 came to Athens and was given, in all probability, a like 
 mission to Philippi. Paul with his mind and heart still 
 fixed upon Macedonia, was left alone in Athens. It was 
 during his wanderings about its streets that he became 
 oppressed and saddened by the idolatry of this university 
 city. As was his custom, he argued with the Jews in their 
 synagogue, but with no success. The impressive event 
 of his brief stay was his address on the Areopagus, 
 wherein with "words of wisdom" he sought to win his 
 hearers, who responded only with sneers and ridicule. 
 Three converts were the result of this brief ministry in 
 Athens. Dispirited, lonely, half sick (i Cor. 2:3), he 
 resolved to go on to Corinth. Upon his arrival he natu- 
 rally sought out the Jews' quarter, and in order to sup- 
 port himself, the bazaar of the tentmakers. Here he 
 came across Aquila, a fellow craftsman, who had re- 
 cently come with his wife, Priscilla, from Italy, both of 
 them having been driven out by the anti- Jewish edict 
 of the Emperor, Claudius (Acts 18:2). Cheered by these 
 friends, who were, in all probability. Christians, he began 
 to preach in the 'Jewish synagogue. How he preached is 
 set forth in i Cor. 2:1-4. He sought to convince the 
 Jews that the Messiah was Jesus, but he met with little 
 success. They opposed and abused him as they had 
 done in Macedonia. Paul, however, had been nerved by 
 the good news from Macedonia (i Thess. 3:6-9), and 
 from the same source freed from the burden of daily 
 toil by the contribution of funds towards his support; 
 in consequence, he made up his mind that he would 
 not be driven out again by the Jews, but would turn to 
 the Gentiles (Acts 18:6). The house of Titus Justus, 
 a Roman proselyte, was offered him as a center for work 
 and gladly accepted. It was a critical moment in the 
 mission of the Apostle. The Jews were now embittered ; 
 the city was in spirit a foe to his message. Could he 
 
 5 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 make any impression upon it? Luke tells us of a vision 
 given him at this time by the Lord, who said to him, 
 ''Have no fear, speak on and never stop, for I am with 
 you, and no one will attack and injure you. I have 
 many people in this city" (Acts i8:io). This com- 
 pletely settled the matter, and Paul "sat down," as the 
 original expresses it, resolved to stay and give himself 
 wholly to his ministry. The brief record is that "many 
 of the Corinthians listened, believed and were baptized" 
 (Acts i8:8). The Jews made one more attempt to get 
 him put away. They brought him up before the Pro- 
 consul Gallio, with the charge that he was inciting men 
 "to worship God contrary to the Law," i.e., that Paul 
 was interfering with their religion and by implication 
 establishing a new religion, which was not allowed by 
 Roman law, as was Judaism. Gallio refused to see the 
 matter in this light, and not only dismissed the charge 
 but winked at the beating which the populace gave the 
 Jewish leader (Acts 18:17). Thus was fulfilled the 
 promise that "no one will attack and injure." Paul 
 continued his work for sixteen months, and then left for 
 Syria. 
 
 "The church of God in Corinth" (i Cor. 1:2). How 
 suggestive of earnest, effective spiritual labor the state- 
 ment is! Also how pregnant with contrasts it is! There 
 is good reason to believe that a large Christian church 
 was built up in this wicked city. From what Paul says 
 in I Cor. 1:27-28, viz., that God hath chosen what is 
 foolish, what is weak, what is mean and despised — those 
 who are so insignificant as to be considered nonentities, it 
 has been concluded that only the poor and ignorant 
 were persuaded to accept Christ. The majority perhaps 
 were poor, but there are evidences from the letter itself 
 that a goodly number of the better class had also become 
 members. We know of Crispus, "the ruler of the syna- 
 gogue" (Acts 18:8); of Erastus, the city treasurer (Rom. 
 
 6 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 16:23); and of Gaius, who was "hospitable to the whole 
 church" (Rom. 16:23). While no one in the church 
 could "plume himself in his advanced education or in 
 his long descent from an old family," yet there were, 
 doubtless, freedmen who were men of ability and had 
 to some degree prospered in business. Even the slaves 
 were not of the most degraded kind, for household slaves 
 and town slaves enjoyed many privileges. The congre- 
 gation was a mixture not only of people of different 
 races, but also of different social classes. There was 
 ample opportunity for the exercise of charity and toler- 
 ance. It is notable from the epistle itself "that moral 
 transformation had been accompanied by mental quick- 
 ening" and this latter slipped easily into manifestations 
 of itself that were characteristic of the intellectual life 
 of the city, such as, e.g., a fondness for "words of wis- 
 dom," pretensions to knowledge, love of disputation, or 
 some form of mental display. All of this points to a 
 level of social position quite above the lowest. The 
 "saints" of the Corinthian church were for the most 
 part an eager, mentally undisciplined company who 
 needed much instruction both as regards the way and 
 the spirit of true Christian living. Withal it was a 
 matter of deepest thanksgiving that he had been enabled 
 to gather into a new unity such a group from the pagan- 
 ism of Corinth. 
 
 III. The Place, Date and Occasion of the Writing 
 OF THE Epistle 
 
 I. The Place 
 
 This was Ephesus. Near the close of the letter Paul 
 writes: "I am staying on for the present at Ephesus 
 until Pentecost" (i Cor. 16:8). 
 
 7 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 2. The Date 
 
 Owing to the insufficiency of the data of the New 
 Testament for constructing a precise chronology of the 
 life and letters of Paul there is considerable variation 
 in the chronological schemes of different scholars. This 
 letter has thus been dated by each year from 53 to 57 a.d. 
 Recently an inscription was discovered at Delphi which 
 throws some light upon the problem. This inscription 
 contains part of a letter written by the Roman Emperor 
 Claudius to the city seemingly confirming some of its 
 privileges, and in it he mentions Gallio as "his friend 
 and proconsul of Achaia." It is the dating of the in- 
 scription which helps us to the time of the proconsulship. 
 The date is the twenty-sixth acclamatio imperatoria, i.e., 
 the twenty-sixth public approbation given to the Emperor 
 for some great accomplishment. By comparing this with 
 two other inscriptions — one found in the Carian city of 
 Cys and the other in Rome, commemorating the com- 
 pletion of the Claudian Aqueduct, we are able to get the 
 year of the twenty-sixth acclamation. The time of the 
 dedication of the Arch of the Aqueduct was August i, 52. 
 The twenty-seventh acclamation was just before this date. 
 As the proconsul took office on July i, a.d. 52, this was 
 in the time of the twenty-sixth acclamation. It was 
 probably soon after Gallio 's arrival in Corinth that the 
 Jews brought Paul before him. He had already been 
 at work in the city about a year. After his release he 
 remained some time and then started for Syria (Acts 
 18:18). It is not needful to give here the stages in 
 the journey which brought him via Jerusalem, Antioch 
 and Galatia around to Ephesus. The journey was some- 
 what protracted and Paul was in Ephesus three years, 
 near the close of which period this was written — probably 
 in the spring of 56 a.d. 
 
 8 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 3. The Occasion of the Epistle 
 
 Two equally important reasons impelled Paul to write 
 
 1 Corinthians. One was the disturbed condition of the 
 church reported to him by "Chloe's people" (i Cor. 
 II :i) and by others coming from Corinth. Contentions 
 had arisen' and the church was split up into cliques as- 
 serting adherence respectively to Paul, Apollos, Cephas 
 or Christ. Apollo, the brilliant Alexandrian, was con- 
 trasted with plain and unassuming Paul. Cephas was 
 extolled by those who were mainly inspired by a strong 
 prejudice against the broad teaching of Paul, and along 
 with these came the party of Christ who tried to re- 
 pudiate all party names and yet after all made the name 
 of Christ a badge of their destructive position. These 
 parties had not come to an open breach, but they were on 
 the way to it. Discord and confusion were fast be- 
 coming the atmosphere of the church. The same factious 
 spirit was also manifest in their resort to heathen courts 
 for the settlement of their disputes. Furthermore, the 
 sin of impurity had manifested itself in a desperate form 
 among them and had not received the stern treatment 
 it deserved. He had already written to them upon this 
 general subject (see i Cor. 5:9 ^). How could they go on 
 in ''windy pride" and with no sign of grief over the mat- 
 ter? There were disorders connected with worship and 
 denials of the resurrection of the dead. All these called 
 for earnest, searching words from Paul and gave him 
 ample reason to write. But another reason called for the 
 use of his pen, and that was a letter sent by the Corin- 
 thians to Paul requesting instruction upon several matters 
 which were perplexing the church and causing anxiety. 
 This letter is referred to in 7:1. "Now about the ques- 
 
 ^ By several commentators a part of this lost letter is found iq 
 
 2 Cor. 6:14 — 7:1. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 tions in your letter." — In all likelihood Stephanus, For- 
 tunatus and Achaicus were the bearers of this letter as 
 well as of other information not included in the letter. 
 The questions in the Corinthian letter may be surmised 
 from the recurring formula "Now concerning, etc.," which 
 is found in 7:25, 8:1, 12:1, 16:1, 16:12 — which marks 
 the beginning of Paul's treatment of a given subject. 
 Several ingenious reproductions of this letter have been 
 made, but we have not space to give one here.^ The whole 
 of I Corinthians, after the introduction, may be roughly 
 divided into two parts: 1:10 — 6:20 based upon informa- 
 tion brought by Chloe's people, and 7:1 — 16:24 based 
 upon the letter of inquiry and the information of its 
 bearers. The portion 7:1 — 11 :i is immediately con- 
 cerned with the reply to the Corinthian letter. It is 
 from these questions and problems arising out of the 
 experience of the church and from Paul's answers rich 
 in insight and comprehensive in grasp that this epistle 
 has gained its practical character. In this respect no 
 other epistle in the New Testament is quite like it. 
 
 IV. Plan of the Epistle 
 Introduction 
 
 1. Salutation; 1:1-3. 
 
 2. Thanksgiving; 1:4-9. 
 
 I. Concerning Matters Needing Censure, 
 1:10 — 6:20 
 
 I. Party Spirit in the Light of the Gospel and Its 
 Ministry, 1 : i o — 4 : 2 1 . 
 a. The situation in the church and an exhortation 
 to unity; 1:10-17. 
 
 ^ An excellent speculative reproduction of it by Dr. Findlay is 
 found in the Expositor for the year 1900. 
 
 10 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 b. The true nature of the Gospel ; i : 1 8—3 : 4. 
 
 (i) It is not a wisdom but a power; 1:18 — 2:5. 
 This is shown: 
 {a) by the experience of those to whom it 
 
 came; 1:18-25. 
 (6) by the make-up of the church; 1:26- 
 
 31. 
 {c) by Paul's attitude when he came to 
 
 them; 2:1-5. 
 (2) The Gospel contains a wisdom; 2:6 — 3:4. 
 {a) This wisdom described; 2:6-13. 
 \b) Who alone can describe it and why; 
 
 2:14—3:4. 
 
 c. The true conception of Christian Teachers ; 3 : 5 — 
 
 4:23. 
 (i) They are but husbandmen — God gives the 
 increase; 3:6-8. 
 
 (2) They are builders and must build with care; 
 
 3:10-15. 
 
 (3) They are (by implication) conservers of the 
 
 Temple, for whosoever destroys it by 
 party strife shall be destroyed; 3:16- 
 
 17. 
 
 (4) The true teacher renounces the wisdom of 
 
 the world; 3:18-20. 
 Conclusion; 3:21-23. 
 
 (5) They are to be accounted stewards of God's 
 
 secret truths; 4:1-5. 
 
 (6) Personal application of truth with an attack 
 
 upon the pride of the Corinthians; 
 4:6-13. 
 
 (7) As their father in the faith he appeals to 
 
 them to follow him. The test he will 
 apply when he comes; 4:14-21. 
 
 The Case of Incest, 5:1-13. 
 
 a. The offender to be expelled; 5:1-8. 
 II 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 b. Explanation of a former command relating to 
 fornication; 9-13. 
 
 3 . Their Litigious Spirit, 6:1-11. 
 
 4. Impurity y 6:12-20. 
 
 II. Questions Regarding Marriage and the Chris- 
 tian's Relation to Idol Sacrifices and Feasts — 
 THE Reply to the Corinthian Letter, 
 7:1 — II :i 
 
 1. Questions Regarding Marriage, 7:1-40. 
 
 a. Marriage or Celibacy? 7:1-9. 
 
 b. Shall those who are married separate? 7:10-16. 
 
 c. The Christian life and one's earthly station; 
 
 17-24. 
 
 d. The marriage of virgins, 7:26-40. 
 
 2. Questions Regarding Meat Offered to Idols, 8:1 — 
 
 ii:i. 
 
 a. How the strong must act in view of the weak. 
 
 Personal liberty must be restricted by 
 the spirit of love; 8:1-13. 
 
 b. Paul's example of self-denial for the sake of 
 
 others; 9:1-22. 
 
 c. The value of voluntary restriction of personal 
 
 liberty to the strong themselves; 
 9:23-27. 
 
 d. The rejection of ancient Israel and its warning 
 
 to them; 10:1-14. 
 
 e. The inconsistency of going to the Lord's table and 
 
 also to idol feasts; 10:15-22. 
 /. General principles and specific directions; 10:23 
 — ii:i. 
 
 12 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 III. Disorders in Connection with Public Worship 
 
 1. The Unveiling of the Head by Women in Public 
 
 Worship y 11:2-16. 
 
 2. The Profanation of the Lord's Supper, 11:17-34. 
 
 3. The Misuse of Spiritual Gifts, 12:1 — 14:40. 
 
 a. The test, variety, unity and purpose of spiritual 
 
 gifts; 12:1-11. 
 
 b. The analogy between the Church and the human 
 
 body; 12:12-31. 
 
 c. The indispensability of love, its characteristics 
 
 and its durability; 13:1-13. 
 
 d. The superiority of prophesying to speaking with 
 
 tongues; 14:1-25. 
 
 e. Regulations for the orderly exercise of gifts in 
 
 Public Worship; 14:26-33. 
 /. Women are to keep silent in the churches; 
 
 14:34-36. 
 g. Paul's assertion of authority; 14:37-38. 
 h. Conclusion of the whole matter; 14:39-40. 
 
 IV. Teaching Concerning the Resurrection of the 
 
 Dead, 15:1-58 
 
 1. The Creed which the Church had accepted and a 
 
 Summary of the Witnesses of the Risen 
 Lord, 15:1-11. 
 
 2. Four reductio ad absurdum Arguments from the As- 
 
 sertion of some that ''dead men do not 
 rise," 15:12-34. 
 
 a. If dead men do not rise, Christ is not risen and 
 
 our preaching and your faith are empty; 
 
 15:13-15- 
 
 b. If dead men do not rise, Christ is not risen then 
 
 {a) your faith is futile, (b) the Chris- 
 tian dead have perished, (c) we who 
 
 13 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 have hoped in Christ in this life are of 
 all men to be pitied most; 16-19. Paul 
 passes, at verse 20, from argument to a 
 prophetic utterance whose theme is 
 Christ is risen from the dead 
 hence 
 (i) Those who belong to Him shall rise in the 
 Parousia; 22-23. 
 
 (2) When He shall have brought all enemies, 
 
 even death itself, to naught; 24-26. 
 
 (3) And He shall give up the Kingdom that God 
 
 may be all in all; 27-28. 
 
 c. If dead men do not rise Baptism for the dead is 
 
 of no avail; 29. 
 
 d. If dead men do not rise, daily risk and danger 
 
 have no meaning; 30-34. 
 
 3. Objectors Answered — The Body of the Risen, 35-49. 
 
 a. Analogy from nature — to the seed sown and 
 
 through death (disorganization) ap- 
 pearing again above the ground God 
 giveth a body (so in the resurrection) ; 
 
 35-38. 
 
 b. The great variety of bodies shows that God can 
 
 easily provide another body for the 
 resurrection life; 39-41. 
 
 c. This mortal body is during life sown in corrup- 
 
 tion, dishonor, weakness and as an ani- 
 mate body. That body which God shall 
 give shall be incorruptible, glorious, 
 powerful, spiritual; 42-44. 
 
 d. The promise and pledge of this is in the fact that 
 
 the Risen Lord is a quickening spirit; 
 
 45-49. 
 
 4. What shall Happen to those who shall be Alive 
 
 When the Lord Comes, 
 a. In an instant they shall be changed — the mortal 
 shall put on immortality; 50-53. 
 
 14 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 b. Death shall be vanquished; they shall be victori- 
 ous through the Lord Jesus Christ; 
 
 54-57. 
 Conclusion: Be stedfast, abounding in the work 
 of the Lord; 58. 
 
 V. Practical and Personal Matters and the Con- 
 clusion, 16:1-24. 
 
 The collection for the poor at Jerusalem, 16:1-4. 
 The Apostle's intention to visit Corinth, 16:5-9. 
 Commendation of Timothy and Apollos, 16:10-12. 
 Directions about Stephanas and others, 16:15-18. 
 Salutations, warning, benediction, 16:19-24. 
 
 V. Authorship 
 
 It is only in recent years that any doubt has been 
 cast upon Paul's authorship of the Corinthian epistles. 
 All attacks, however, have failed, for the testimony to 
 the genuineness of both epistles is really irrefutable. 
 Especially for i Corinthians has the attestation of 
 Paul's authorship been sure and widespread. Clement 
 of Rome (90-100 a.d.) writing to the Corinthians near 
 the close of the first century calls upon them to "take up 
 the epistle of the blessed Paul the Apostle. Of a truth 
 he enjoined you spiritually concerning himself and 
 Cephas and Apollos because even then you had begun 
 to show partialities" (i Epis. to Cor., ch. 47). Polycarp 
 (140-155 A.D.) quotes I Cor. 6:2 as the words of Paul 
 (Epis. to Phil., ch. 11). Irenaeus (140-202 a.d.), the dis- 
 ciple of Polycarp, also quotes from Corinthians and at- 
 tributes it to Paul (Bk. III. Against Heresies, ch. 11:9, 
 18:2). Clement of Alexandria (189-219 a.d.) and Tertul- 
 lian (160-220 A.D.) of Northwest Africa do the same. 
 These names are of men not only prominent in the church, 
 
 15 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 but representative of widely separated parts of it. Other 
 writers of this early time have many echoes of the 
 thoughts and quotations of the words of i Corinthians, 
 showing their familiarity with it but taking for granted 
 Paul's authorship. The evidence is continuous and clear 
 from within a comparatively short time of its origin to 
 the beginning of the second century. From that time 
 onward it is unquestioned. In addition to the witness 
 of early Christian writers the fact is to be noted that the 
 epistle is found in the early Syriac, Coptic and Latin 
 versions. In several important ancient manuscripts the 
 letter is found in its entirety. 
 
 This external evidence is seconded by the witness of 
 the epistle itself. It not only fits into the account of 
 Paul's work in Corinth given in the Acts, but also to the 
 historical situation from which it is supposed to come. 
 The enthusiasms, defects and aberrations of the Corin- 
 thians are justly accounted for by their training and en- 
 vironment. Who but Paul could have met the perplexi- 
 ties of the time, with the spiritual insight, firmness and 
 tenderness which the letter displays! It all thoroughly 
 accords with his character as made known to us in the 
 Acts and in his other epistles. 
 
 VI. The Distinctive Value of First Corinthians 
 
 Before turning to the study of the epistle itself it will 
 be helpful to emphasize some of its features which should 
 be kept in mind as one studies. 
 
 I. Its picture of life in the early church. Undoubt- 
 edly among its members were those who had passed 
 from the outer circle of the synagogue, i.e., from the 
 proselytes to Judaism. They had come under the influ- 
 ence of its strong demands for purity of Hfe and ideals 
 of conduct far above those of paganism. The Corinthian 
 church was not singular in this — all the Pauline churches 
 
 i6 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 had accessions of this kind. Others in the church had 
 separated themselves directly from a heathen mode of 
 life. It was a sharp change and those who experienced 
 it faced a steep and difficult path away from old habits 
 and customs toward new and exalted ideals. No epistle 
 exhibits more fully the need and struggle for readjust- 
 ment to another order of life. Paul addresses them all 
 as '^Saints" and thanks God for the "grace that has been 
 bestowed upon them in Christ Jesus" (i-4),, but we 
 soon realize as we go on in the epistle that "saints" has 
 a different meaning from that which we ordinarily give 
 to the word and that "grace" has much to do to shape 
 life in accordance with the spirit of the Gospel. Strong 
 contrasts are brought out within this community of saints. 
 Individualism asserts itself again and again against the 
 bond of the spirit which holds them together. They own 
 one Lord, indeed, but how much they have to learn of 
 His spirit. Some fall easily into the old ways to which 
 they had been accustomed; others react with such rigor 
 that they are ready for rather extreme forms of asceticism. 
 They go as brethren to a common meal and manifest a 
 selfishness that virtually denies all brotherliness. The 
 pressure of social custom in regard to guilds, clubs, or 
 temple feasts is put upon them and "the strong" lose all 
 consideration of "the weak." "Pride of knowledge" is 
 impatient with unclear and hesitating conceptions. Inde- 
 pendence is almost eager to break with habits of decorum 
 in public worship. Skepticism questions the truth of 
 great Christian verities. There is manifest in the church 
 in more than one direction a sad lack of a clear church 
 consciousness. And yet that heterogeneous body of 
 slaves, artisans, slave-owners, city officials from different 
 races, is, after all, held together by allegiance to Christ 
 and by the Spirit of God. It is all this that makes the 
 epistle a fascinating study. It is calculated to destroy 
 all illusions about an ideal church in the apostolic age. 
 
 17 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 These men were human as men in the church today are — 
 very human, and this epistle lets us see the fact. It also 
 shows the eagerness of the church to learn the way of Hfe. 
 Part of the reason of the letter's existence is the ques- 
 tioning earnestness as to how its perplexities and difficul- 
 ties can be solved. First Corinthians might be described 
 as Lessons in the Education of the Early Church. This 
 brings us to the second distinctive feature of the epistle. 
 
 2. The application of great principles to the problems 
 of Christian, social life. It is this feature that has made 
 this letter of abiding worth. Factional spirit, compromise 
 with the world, careless assertion of Christian liberty and 
 the pride of intellectualism have not been peculiar to any 
 one age of the church. We, alas! know too much about 
 them in our own day. Again and again the church has 
 come back to the principles which the Apostle gave to 
 the Corinthians. We have no problem about eating 
 meat offered to idols, nor of the pride of "speaking with 
 tongues," but the spirit which needed rebuke or instruc- 
 tion yet appears. Paul's spiritual insight and his pro- 
 found understanding of the spirit of his Master enabled 
 him to give answers which are yet applicable. He sug- 
 gested no superficial remedies; rather, he met the spirit 
 of selfishness in any and every form with the spirit of 
 devotion to Christ and forgetfulness of self, embodying 
 them in a principle which was a sure solution of the 
 problem to which it was applied. It is these principles 
 that virtually constitute the Bible for us as far as i 
 Corinthians is concerned. In them we have the soul 
 of this epistle. It were well to gather them out of one's 
 study of their setting. The peculiar form of the setting 
 has in more than one instance passed away. The prin- 
 ciples abide. 
 
 3. Another feature of this epistle is its great chapter 
 on Love. The twelfth and thirteenth chapters have been 
 called the heart of the epistle. Certainly in the thir- 
 
 18 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 teenth chapter we reach the climactic expression of that 
 spirit which Paul in some way set over against all the 
 sins of the church. The church was marked by the 
 possession of the Spirit, but it had but a faint concep- 
 tion of the truth that the "spirit worketh by love." Its 
 "knowledge" was not what it should be, because of the 
 want of love. Its liberty was not guided and restrained 
 by it. Its pride was untouched by it. In an exalted 
 utterance which Paul would describe as "a prophecy" he 
 sets forth the indispensability, the characteristics, and the 
 durability of Christian love. No chapter in the epistle 
 deserves closer study. It is a study of the Spirit of 
 Jesus Himself. Held up before the preceding chapters 
 of the epistle it reveals, as would a fine mirror, the 
 distortions and defects of the unlovely spirit that appears 
 in them. The one other part of the epistle that stands 
 out with prominence is 
 
 4. The Teaching about the Resurrection of the Dead. 
 There is a triumphant note in it that is often missed in 
 the way it is read at the burial of our dead. The remark- 
 able feature in it, however, is in its way of correcting 
 the misapprehensions of both the Jews and the Greeks re- 
 garding this great subject. It does not speak of "the 
 resurrection of the body," though it defends bodily 
 resurrection; it teaches that there will be "a spiritual 
 body," but is silent about the substance of that body; 
 it is confident of the "resurrection of believers," but has 
 no doctrine regarding the resurrection of those who have 
 not felt the quickening Spirit of the Risen Christ. Wise 
 in its silences, it is also careful in its utterances. It is 
 emphatic in its assertion of the vital connection of the 
 resurrection of Jesus with His life and death in the 
 accomplishment of redemption. If He did not rise, then 
 the whole Christian message of salvation is emptied of its 
 content and Christian faith and hope are futile. The 
 chapters rank with the greatest in the New Testament. 
 
 19 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 VII. Helps to the Study of the Epistle 
 
 I. TRANSLATIONS 
 
 Moffat's A New Translation of the New Testament. 
 Weymouth's The New Testament in Modern Speech. 
 A. S. Way's The Letters of Paul— A Translation. 
 
 n. commentaries 
 
 Edwards. Independent and highly valuable. 
 
 FiNDLAY {Expositor's Grk. Test.). Thorough, clear, and very 
 able. 
 
 Evans {Speaker's Commentary). Scholarly and vivid in presen- 
 tation. 
 
 GoDET. Distinguished by spiritual insight and clearness of style. 
 
 Stanley. Rich in illustration. 
 
 Robertson & Plummer {International Crit. Com.). Scholarly, 
 full, and very helpful. 
 
 GouDGE {Westminster Commentaries). Helpful. 
 
 Beet. Concise and scholarly. 
 
 Parry {Cambridge Bible for Schools, New Edition). Concise 
 and scholarly. 
 
 Massie {The New-Century Bible). Concise and helpful. 
 
 DoDS {Expositor's Bible). An attractive and able homiletic 
 presentation. 
 
 Robertson (F. W.) — Lectures on i and 2 Corinthians. Full of 
 spiritual insight and practical applications. 
 
 m. GENERAL BOOKS 
 
 Knowling. Witness of the Epistles. 
 
 CoHN. St. Paul in the Light of Modern Research. 
 
 Smith (David). The Life and Letters of Paid. 
 
 Lake. The Earlier Epistles of Paul. 
 
 Ramsay. St. Paul the Traveler. 
 
 Historical Commentary in Expositor, 6th Series, Vols. I 
 and II. 
 
 Patdine and Other Studies. 
 Chadwick. The Pastoral Teaching of Paul. 
 Thackeray. The Relation of Paul to Contemporary Thought. 
 Kennedy. St. Paul and the Mystery Religions. 
 MiLLiGAN. The Resurrection of the Body. Exposition of Chap. 
 
 IS. 
 Hastings. Dictionary of Apostolic Church: Articles on the 
 Epistles and on various subjects, such as "Eucharist," 
 "Gifts," "Resurrection," etc. 
 
 20 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE 
 CORINTHIANS 
 
 Salutation and Thanksgiving, i : 1-9 
 
 1. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ 
 through the will of God, and Sosthenes our ^ brother: 
 
 2. To the Church of God which is at Corinth, even 
 them that are ^ sanctified in Christ Jesus, called 
 to be Saints, with all that call upon the name of 
 
 * Or., the brother. ^ Consecrated, set apart. 
 
 The Salutation (1-3). Paul using the customary polite form 
 of Greek letters sends a salutation and an expression of thanks. 
 Both are modified by Christian forms of thought. The thanks- 
 giving is to God for the spiritual enrichment of the Church. 
 
 1. Through the Will of God, Paul emphasized always the 
 directness of his call from God to be an apostle. Cf. Gal. 1:1. 
 Sosthenes the brother. He is associated with Paul in the 
 salutation, not as joint author of the epistle but rather as one 
 who, well-known to the Corinthians and honored by them, 
 approves the views and counsels of the letter. It is not certain 
 that he was the Sosthenes of Acts 18:17. 
 
 2. The Church of God at Corinth. All that was actual 
 in the contrast between the pagan, corrupt city and the little 
 body of Christians is gathered up in this expression. Sanctified 
 in Christ Jesus. Sanctified does not mean holy in our common 
 use of that term but "consecrated," "set apart." Their consecra- 
 tion by faith to Jesus Christ had in it the promise of ultimate 
 holmess. The same is true of the word "saints" immediately 
 following. In the clause attached to the word saints, viz., with 
 all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, the writer 
 wishes to remind the Corinthians of their unity with all Chris- 
 tians who have as their common distinctive mark, prayer to 
 Christ. There was sad need of emphasis upon this conception of 
 
 21 
 
1 :3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 3. our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord 
 and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our 
 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. I thank my God always concerning you, for the 
 grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus; 
 
 5. that in everything ye were enriched in him, in all 
 
 6. utterance and all knowledge; even as the testimony 
 
 Christian unity for the Church was disturbed by factions. In 
 this brief, compact salutation Paul gives the marks of a true 
 church (i) it is called of God, (2) it is consecrated by faith in 
 Jesus Christ to a holy life, (3) it is one in worship of Jesus as 
 Lord. 
 
 3. Grace and peace. A combination of Greek and Jewish 
 forms of salutation with a spiritual meaning given to both. 
 Grace is the loving favor of God to men, and peace the outcome 
 of it. "The two together comprehend all the gifts of the Spirit." 
 
 The Thanksgiving (4-9) . There is considerable variety in the 
 thanksgivings prefixed to the various letters of Paul, since each 
 one singles out that which is noteworthy in the history or state 
 of the Church addressed (see Phil., Thess., Rom.). Here the 
 cause of thanksgiving is the enrichment "in all utterance and all 
 knowledge" which had issued from the gift of God's grace. 
 Despite the sins concerning which the letter is to speak the 
 Corinthians had shown clearly the presence and power of the 
 Spirit. Paul is careful to remember this and thus in a con- 
 ciliatory way prepares for dealing with their inconsistencies. 
 
 4. Paul's gratitude is for the grace of God which was given 
 to them at conversion and which, in virtue of their union with 
 Christ maintained by devotion to Him, had brought about 
 
 5. that enrichment of their nature which was manifested in 
 all utterance and in all knowledge. By this is meant that 
 their spiritual experience had quickened' and expanded their 
 natural powers. The Greeks were noted as thinkers and speakers. 
 These talents the Spirit used for the understanding and procla- 
 mation of the Gospel and the Church had revealed a peculiar 
 power in apprehending truth and conveying it to men. The 
 ability to throw light upon the meanmg of the Christian life was 
 no small enrichment. TTemptations came in connection with the 
 use of these gifts, but they had hitherto nobly served the cause 
 of Christ. 
 
 6. Even as. This introduces an explanation. It was because 
 of, and in proportion to their firm conviction regarding the 
 
 22 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:9 
 
 7. of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come be- 
 hind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our 
 
 8. Lord Jesus Christ; who shall also confirm you unto 
 the end, that ye be unreprovable in the day of our 
 
 9. Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom 
 ye were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 Gospel message concerning Christ that their natural powers had 
 been quickened. 
 
 7. The result was that they felt themselves in no way inferior 
 to other churches in any gift of grace. "No other church ex- 
 celled the Corinthian in the variety of its endowments." Wait- 
 ing for the revelation. The consciousness of their com- 
 plete enrichment was kept clear by that spiritual attitude 
 which earnestly looked forward to the end of the age when Jesus 
 should again appear. The hope of the Second Coming was very 
 vivid in the Early Church. 
 
 8. Confirm you. Toward that great day they might look 
 with abiding comfort for their Master would keep them stedfast 
 so that they might be free from charge at its august judgment. 
 
 9. God is faithful. This is the ultimate ground for what 
 has just been said. He who has called them into a fellowship 
 founded by His Son Jesus Christ and drawing thence all its 
 blessings will not fail in His promises. 
 
 23 
 
i:io 
 
 I. Concerning Matters Needing Censure, 
 i:io — 6:20 
 
 I. Party Spirit in the Light of the Gospel and its 
 Ministry, 1:10 — 4:21 
 
 10, Now I beseech you, brethren, through 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 perfected together in the same mind 
 and in the same judgment. 
 
 11. For it hath been signified unto me concerning you, 
 
 a. The situation in the Church and exhortation to unity, 1:10-17 
 
 It is somewhat surprising to pass from the commendation of 
 the introduction to this first section which has to deal with fac- 
 tion. The whole introduction keeps prominent the relationship 
 of God and His grace to all that had been achieved. The coop- 
 eration and devotion of the Church itself are, of course, supposed, 
 but the Church was human, and despite all there was to praise 
 there were at the time of writing sad instances of shortcoming. 
 One of the marked characteristics of the Greeks was their readi- 
 ness to criticize and argue. Opportunity for its exercise came as 
 different teachers came to them. The whole tendency of critical 
 comparison was to put greater emphasis upon the manner of 
 the presentation of the gospel rather than upon the gospel itself. 
 From this it passed to questions of authorities, hence their dis- 
 sensions. There had been no actual rupture in the Church but 
 the condition was troubled and threatening. It demanded serious 
 attention. 
 
 10. Speak the same thing. Earnestly he begs of them to 
 make up their differences; to do away with their factions by 
 coming to the same frame of mind and opinion. The figure of 
 the latter part of the verse is that of repairing a rent in a garment. 
 
 11. Chloe. Nothing is known of her beyond this reference to 
 her household. She was probably a resident of Ephesus; her 
 
 24 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:14 
 
 my brethren, by them which are of the household of 
 
 12. Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now 
 this I mean, that each one of you saith I am of 
 Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of 
 
 13. Christ. Is ^ Christ divided? was Paul crucified for 
 you? or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? 
 
 14. -I thank God that I baptized none of you save 
 
 » Or, Christ is divided. Was Paul crucified for you? 
 2 Some ancient manuscripts read: I give thanks that. 
 
 "people" had been to Corinth and returned to Ephesus bringing 
 reports of the Church. 
 
 12. I am of Paul. Much discussion has been given to the 
 questions regarding the number and characteristics of these 
 parties. There were probably four. Comparison and dispute 
 may have begun after Apollos had preached in Corinth. Ulti- 
 mately the whole church was involved. Each one of you saith, 
 etc. Apollos was a learned and eloquent man. His manner of 
 preaching the truth drew many to him to the disparagement of 
 Paul. Those who had come into the church under the apostle's 
 preaching stood for him. The question as to who was the most 
 attractive preacher passed over into the more significant one, 
 "Who is our authority?" This brought to the front the Jewish 
 element in the church which, with its stricter adherence to the 
 law, took the name of Cephas or Peter as its watchword. Finally, 
 as over against them all a Christ party asserted itself. What- 
 ever the basis of its claim, whether personal knowledge of our 
 Lord while on earth or pretension that it best understood his 
 mind, its sin lay in making the name of Christ the rallying cry 
 of a sectarian spirit and bringing Him into rivalry with Paul and 
 Apollos and Peter. 
 
 13. Is Christ divided? Christ belonged to the whole church. 
 Does he belong to one section of it? Does the Christ as inter- 
 preted by Paul differ from the Christ interpreted by Apollos? 
 The parties were virtually saying "Yes," and thus bringing 
 about difference and division. Was Paul crucified for you 
 or were ye baptized into the name of Paul? The cross 
 and baptism both should have emphasized in the thought of the 
 Corinthians the exclusive supremacy of Christ. He alone had 
 died for them; they were all baptized into His name. The re- 
 membrance of these facts would show the folly of magnifying 
 the names of leaders as they were doing. 
 
 14. I thank God. The tendency to rally about and glorify 
 
 25 
 
i:i5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 15. Crispus and Gains; lest any man should say that 
 ye were baptized into my name. 
 
 16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas; 
 besides I know not whether I baptized any other. 
 
 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach 
 the Gospel: not in the wisdom of words, lest the cross 
 of Christ should be made void. 
 
 18. For the word of the Cross is to them that are 
 perishing foolishness; but unto us who are being 
 saved it is the power of God. 
 
 leaders makes Paul thankful that he has done so little baptizing. 
 Thus he had destroyed every pretext for regarding him as a 
 party leader. It was for exceptional reasons that he had bap- 
 tized Crispus, a former ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:8) and 
 Gaius (Rom. 16:23) and the household of Stephanas (cf. 16:15, 
 
 17). 
 
 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize. Paul had in no way 
 failed to do his duty in not baptizing nor does he mean to dis- 
 parage baptism. He simply makes it subordinate to the great com- 
 mission which he had received, viz., to preach the good news of 
 salvation. Not in the wisdom of words. He would make 
 no effort to captivate them by fine speaking or philosophical argu- 
 ment. Nothing must divert attention from the cross and its 
 significance, lest it be emptied of its power. With these words 
 Paul turns to explain further why he preached to them as he did. 
 In this explanation he sets forth (i) the true nature of the 
 Gospel (1:18 — 3:4) and (2) the true position of the Christian 
 teacher (3:5 — 4:5). In considering the true nature of the Gospel 
 he shows in the first place that it is not a religious speculation 
 (wisdom) but a power unto salvation. His argument is based 
 upon the experience of those who heard it (1:18-25); upon the 
 make-up of the Corinthian Church (1:26-31) and upon the 
 manner of his coming to them (2:1-5). 
 
 I. The True Nature of the Gospel, 1:18—3:4 
 
 I. It is not a wisdom but a power, 1:18 — 2:5. This is shown 
 (a) by the experience of those to whom it came, 1:18-25. 
 
 18. For the word of the Cross is to them that are perish- 
 ing foolishness. As the fact of the Cross was set before men 
 they separated into two classes. Some seeing in it no wisdom, 
 i.e., no attractive exposition of a consistent system of thought, 
 
 26 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:21 
 
 19. For it is written: 
 
 I will destroy the wisdom of the wise 
 
 And the prudence of the prudent will I reject. 
 
 20. Where is the wise? Where is the Scribe? Where 
 is the disputer of this ^ world? Hath not God made 
 foolish the wisdom of the world? 
 
 21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world 
 
 ^Age. 
 
 considered it silly that it should be a means of salvation; others, 
 accepting it, found it a veritable power in their lives for the 
 transformation of character. This latter result confirmed the 
 Apostle in his determination to know nothing but "Jesus and 
 him crucified" among them. To be sure, those turned away who 
 were looking for intellectual gratification but intellectual satis- 
 faction is often far removed from spiritual consecration. No 
 merely human wisdom can secure that penitence and that faith 
 which the direct vision of the cross awakens. 
 
 19. For it is written. See Is. 29:14. The substitution of 
 the power of God for worldly cleverness is just what God had 
 prophesied He would in time accomplish. The prophecy is now 
 fulfilled. The wise man, whether Greek philosopher or Jewish 
 Scribe, no matter how able to argue, has had his wisdom con- 
 founded. See Is. 19:11 and 33:18. 
 
 21. For seeing that in the wisdom of God, Mark 
 how closely Paul joins his statements through verses 18-21. 
 Each is connected with the preceding by a "for" giving the 
 basis or reason of what has been said. Verse 21 thus explains 
 what has been said in verses 19-20. Two interpretations have 
 been given to the words in the wisdom of God. One refers it 
 to those works of creation and providence by which God seeks 
 to make Himself known (see Rom. 1:19 ff.) and then the reason 
 would be "since the world did not come to know God as He 
 was manifested in creation, it pleased God, etc." According to 
 the other and preferable interpretation "the wisdom of God" 
 means God's wise plan that He was not to be known through 
 human philosophizing. The best Greek philosophy had gained 
 but vague and indefinite conceptions regarding Him. It was 
 also a way over which few could go. How little the people 
 knew! God was virtually an unknown God to them. Now 
 by a method which in comparison was simplicity itself men 
 were to have revealed to them the very heart of the Father. 
 Through the foolishness of preaching they were brought to 
 
 27 
 
1 122 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good 
 pleasure through the ^ foolishness of preaching to 
 
 22. save them that believe. Seeing that Jews ask for 
 
 23. signs and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach 
 2 Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling block and 
 
 24. unto Gentiles foolishness; but unto ^ them that are 
 called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of 
 
 1 The thing preached. ^ A Messiah. ^ The called themselves. 
 
 2l saving knowledge. Paul speaks of the foolishness of preach- 
 ing from the point of view of the Greeks. That could not be 
 really foolishness which was the means through which was 
 expressed the power of God (see vs. 18) to those who believed. 
 
 22. Seeing that Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek after 
 wisdom. Herein was the reason why the message of the Cross 
 appeared "foolishness"; why, too, the world knew not God. 
 The Jew and the Greek typified the attitudes of the world in 
 that day. The characteristic of the one was a demand for 
 external proofs, signs, miracles as confirmation of one's right 
 to the claim of being a teacher sent from God. Above all, the 
 hoped for Messiah of the Jews must exhibit such signs. They 
 repeatedly asked for these from Jesus. "Except ye see signs 
 and wonders, ye will not believe" (Jn. 4:48). The Greek mind 
 on the other hand sought for something subtle and brilliant. It 
 is not surprising that the message of a crucified Messiah be- 
 came to the Jewish nation a stumbling block and to the Greeks 
 appeared as foolishness. 
 
 23. The externality of the religious life of the one had blunted 
 the sense of sin; the optimism of the philosophy of the other 
 had never felt it. Christ's death for sinners was the vital, divine 
 message which alone could awaken men to the sense of their 
 true position and save them through faith. Hence the emphatic 
 antithesis in which Paul puts his Gospel. 
 
 24. We preach Christ crucified. To those who have ac- 
 cepted him, whether Jews or Greeks, he has proved to be the 
 power of God and the wisdom of God. In the forgiveness 
 of their sins and the transformation of their lives they have 
 had evidence of God's power clearer and surer than any exter- 
 nal signs, while in the truth which He revealed they have a 
 wisdom above all earthly wisdom. 
 
 25. Because the foolishness of God. What the Greeks 
 looked upon as a foolish policy and the Jews as weak, is wiser 
 and stronger than anything either could devise or do. 
 
 28 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:29 
 
 25. God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolish- 
 ness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of 
 God is stronger than men. 
 
 26. For behold your calling, brethren, how that not 
 many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
 
 27. many noble ^ are called; but God chose the foolish 
 things of the world, that He might put to shame 
 them that are wise; and God chose the weak things 
 of the world, that He might put to shame the things 
 
 28. that are strong; and the base things of the world 
 and the things that are despised did God choose, 
 yea, and the things that are not, that He might 
 
 29. bring to naught the things that are; that no flesh 
 
 ^ Or, have part therein. 
 
 b. It is confirmed by the Make-up of the Corinthian Church, 
 1:26-31 
 
 26. For behold your calling. The word "calling" does not 
 refer to one's vocation in life. It refers to their summons to 
 the Christian Hfe. Paul asks them to consider "the principle 
 God has followed in calling them" (Beza) to be Christians. 
 The great majority of them were from the humble class. Not 
 many philosophers (wise according to the flesh), not many 
 socially influential men (powerful), not many well-born men 
 among their number. Had the Gospel made its appeal through 
 human wisdom or in some form of external power it would 
 have won such a constituency. On the contrary, God has 
 
 27-28. chosen the uneducated, the foolish things (simpletons 
 in the world's estimate), those having no influence (weak 
 things), those of ignoble birth (the base things), those who 
 are despised, yea, those who are so insignificant as vir- 
 tually to be counted not existing at all (nonentities). What 
 a confirmation it all is of the fact that the Gospel is not "a clever 
 dialectic" but a power! 
 
 29. And God has acted upon this principle of putting to shame 
 those who esteemed themselves wise or powerful and of bring- 
 ing to naught those who are recognized as of importance, in 
 order that no man should boast of his own wisdom or power 
 in His presence. "The one party are humiliated because with 
 
 29 
 
1 :30 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 30. should glory before God. But of Him are ye in 
 Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from 
 God, and righteousness and sanctification and re- 
 
 31. demption; that according as it is written, He that 
 glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 
 
 2. I. And I brethren, when I came unto you, came not 
 with excellency of ^ speech or of wisdom, proclaiming 
 
 2. to you the ^ mystery of God. For I determined not 
 to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and 
 
 ^ Or, word. ^ SV. With many ancient authorities read testimony. 
 
 all their wisdom and might they have not obtained what it 
 concerned them to reach, salvation; the other because if they 
 have obtained it, it is impossible for them to imagine that it is 
 by their own natural resources that they have come to it." — 
 Hofmann. 
 
 30. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. It is to God alone 
 that they owed their union with Christ who by God's gracious 
 purpose became wisdom to us, — i.e., in Christ we can discern 
 the revelation of God's mind with reference to our salvation. 
 This wisdom is manifested in our justification which means our 
 being brought into right relation with God through the forgive- 
 ness of our sins and by the impartation to us of His Spirit; our 
 sanctification or our growth in holiness and our redemption or 
 our final and complete deliverance from sin and death and 
 entrance into heaven. Christ is the means under God to our 
 realization of all these high issues. Surely, then, there is no 
 room for boasting in regard to any man or his work. "He who 
 glories, let him glory in the Lord." 
 
 c. It is shown by his attitude when he came to them, 2:1-5 
 
 1. The Apostle has given his readers two confirmations of the 
 truth that the Gospel is not a wisdom but a power. He now 
 recalls his manner of preaching to them as a further proof of 
 the same fact. He did not attempt any oratorical display 
 (excellency of speech) or philosophic depth (wisdom) in 
 proclaiming the testimony of God, i.e., the Gospel, 
 
 2. For I determined not to know, etc. He restricted him- 
 self with deliberate purpose to the one theme that Jesus was 
 the Messiah and that the Messiah had been crucified. It was 
 an unpopular subject. 
 
 30 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:6 
 
 3. Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and 
 
 4. in fear, and in much trembling. And my ^ speech 
 and my - preaching were not in persuasive words of 
 
 5. wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of 
 power; that your faith should not ^ stand in the 
 wisdom of men but in the power of God. 
 
 6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among the ^ perfect, 
 yet a wisdom not of this ^ world nor of the rulers of 
 this ^ world who are coming to naught ; but we 
 
 ^ Or, word. "^ Gr., thing preached. ' Gr., he. * SV, fully grown. 
 "Or, age: and so in vss. 7, 8, but not in v. 12. 
 
 3. And I was with you in weakness. Not only was his 
 theme unpopular but he preached to them with none of the 
 self-confidence of their orators. On the contrary he was 
 
 4. timid and anxious as he realized his own insufficiency. De- 
 spite all this, his plain, earnest setting forth of the doctrine of 
 the Cross proved mighty, for the Spirit's power accompanied 
 it and wrought upon the minds of those who heard. 
 
 5. That your faith should stand. The purpose of the 
 Apostle's method of preaching was to have their faith placed 
 upon that which could not be shaken. It had not been won by 
 specious arguments; it could not be overthrown by them. It 
 came to be through the power of God. This brings to a con- 
 clusion that part of the letter which shows that the Gospel is 
 not a wisdom but a power. But while it is not a wisdom in the 
 sense in which the Greeks might have wished it to be, neverthe- 
 less it contained a wisdom. This is the main thought of the next 
 section of the second chapter. 
 
 (2) The Gospel contains a wisdom, 2:6 — 3:4 
 
 6. Wisdom. While Paul and his fellow-preachers (we) in 
 Corinth had set forth the facts of the Cross in plain speech 
 and unmixed with human philosophizing it was not therefore to 
 be understood that Christianity had no wisdom of its own. On 
 the contrary, in the Gospel there are treasures of wisdom; there 
 is a philosophy of redemption, divine, profound and abiding. 
 Only he who has "the power of insight into things Divine re- 
 vealed to faith" can understand it. He must be a mature (per- 
 fect) Christian. The Epistle to the Romans is an unfolding of 
 this wisdom. Mere secular knowledge or intellectual power will 
 not give one this insight, for this wisdom is not of this age nor 
 
 31 
 
2 7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 7. speak God's wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom 
 that hath been hidden, which God foreordained 
 before the ^ worlds unto our glory : which none of the 
 
 8. rulers of this ^ world knoweth: for had they known 
 it, they would not have crucified the Lord of 
 
 9. glory: but as it is written, 
 
 Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not 
 And which entered not into the heart of man. 
 Whatsoever things God prepared for them that 
 love him. 
 
 10, ^ But unto us God revealed ^ them through the 
 Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the 
 
 11. deep things of God. For who among men knoweth 
 
 1 Or, age: and so in vss. 7, 8, but not in v. 12. 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities read for. ^ Or, it. 
 
 of those rulers of this age who dominate it by their mental 
 power or political position. It is God's wisdom. 
 
 7. Mystery. This denotes that which cannot be known 
 unless revealed. This wisdom of God, this philosophy of re- 
 demption has been in the mind of God from all eternity and 
 He has revealed it in and through Christ. 
 
 8. Which no one of the princes of this world knew. It 
 is a striking example of the calamitous ignorance concerning this 
 wisdom of God that Caiaphas, the Scribes and Pharisees and 
 Pilate — men, all of them, of high position — put to a shameful 
 death the Lord of Glory. 
 
 9. But, as it is written. The construction of the relative 
 clause "the things which eye saw not" is best accounted for by 
 making it the object of "we speak" understood. It is then in 
 antithesis to the clause "which none of the rulers of this world 
 knoweth" (vs. 8). The quotation is loosely given from Is. 64:4 
 and 65:17. This verse is often quoted as referring to the glories 
 awaiting the Christian in heaven. The context shows us that it 
 is the treasures of divine wisdom that are in the Apostle's mind 
 for he goes on to tell us how they have been revealed. 
 
 10. But. The preferable reading is for and gives the reason 
 of their ability to tell of the things "which eye saw not," etc. 
 The Spirit of God had revealed these things to them — that Spirit 
 who knoweth the whole mind of God, being everywhere active. 
 
 11. The argument in this verse is from analogy. No one 
 knows the thoughts, imaginations, purposes of a man's spirit 
 
 32 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:14 
 
 the things of a man save the spirit of the men 
 which is in him? Even so the things of God none 
 
 12. knoweth save the Spirit of God. But we 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 by God. Which things also we 
 
 13. speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth 
 but which the Spirit teacheth ; comparing ^ spiritual 
 
 14. things with spiritual. Now the ^ natural man re- 
 ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for 
 
 ^ Or, interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men; SV, combining 
 spiritual tilings u-iih spiritual words. 
 2 Or, unspiritual; Gr., psychical. 
 
 except that spirit itself. "Nor even the dearest soul, and next 
 our own, knows half the reasons why we smile or sigh." God's 
 Spirit alone in like manner knows the mind of God. 
 
 12. The spirit of the world. This is the spirit to which the 
 cross was foolishness; the spirit of those who crucified the Lord; 
 the spirit of that wisdom which God had Himself made folly. 
 From it could come no light upon the purposes of God. It was 
 not this spirit which the Apostles received when they became 
 Christians, but rather the Spirit of God. Verses 11 and 12 may 
 be stated succinctly in this form: Only the Spirit of God knows 
 the things of God. We received the Spirit of God, therefore, we 
 know what is given us by God. 
 
 13. Paul now passes from the substance of his preaching to 
 the manner of it. His utterances are inspired by the Spirit. 
 They are not in the rhetoric of human wisdom, but in expres- 
 sions taught by the Spirit. This statement is not to be pressed 
 into the service of a theory of verbal inspiration. As Meyer 
 says, "the term 'taught' excludes all mechanical representation of 
 the fact and implies in the person inspired a living assimilation 
 of the truth expressed." Comparing spiritual things with 
 spiritual. There are two possible interpretations of these words: 
 (a) combining spiritual ideas with spiritual language, or {b) 
 suiting- spiritual truths to spiritual minds. The latter opens the 
 way to what follows in verse 14, and is, on the whole, to be 
 preferred. 
 
 14. Natural. This adjective describes man as he is before he 
 opens his life to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He is one 
 whose aims, ambitions, and desires do not rise above earthly 
 
 33 
 
2:i5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know 
 them, because they are spiritually ^ judged. But 
 
 15. he that is spiritual ^ judge th all things and he him- 
 
 16. self is ^judged of no man. For who hath known 
 the mind of the Lord that he should instruct him? 
 But we have the mind of Christ. 
 
 3. I. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto 
 
 ^ Or, examined. - Or, examineth. 
 
 horizons. He may be a man of culture and refinement on the 
 one side, or coarse and degraded on the other, but he has not 
 committed his way unto God. The Holy Spirit is shut out of 
 his life. Such an one rejects the things of the Spirit of God as 
 foolish; what is more, he is utterly unable to appreciate them, 
 for insight into their meaning and worth comes only from the 
 indwelling Spirit, i.e., they are spiritually discerned. Spiritual 
 discernment comes not so much through investigation and argu- 
 ment as through humility, love, and self -discipline, under God's 
 Spirit. 
 
 15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things. He stands 
 upon the highest plane of judgment. The Spirit within him 
 helps him to estimate the moral worth of men and measures. 
 He is enlightened and quickened to sift everything that comes 
 before him. Paul's treatment of the matters which come up in 
 this letter illustrates just this right and power of the Spiritual 
 man. And he himself is judged of no man, i.e., of no un- 
 spiritual man. This does not mean that a Christian is above 
 criticism, except as his deep spiritual-mindedness exempts him. 
 
 16. For who hath known the mind of the Lord. This 
 verse gives the proof of what has just been set forth. It is a 
 quotation from Is. 40:13 with the omission of the middle clause. 
 Jehovah addressing ignorant man asks "Who hath measured the 
 Spirit of the Lord? Who being His counsellor hath taught Him?" 
 The answer is of course, "No one." The fact that, by the in- 
 dwelling Spirit the believer has the mind of Christ and is thereby 
 put over against the unspiritual man as is the Lord Himself, 
 renders him also superior to the judgment of the world. Note 
 that Paul substitutes "mind" for Spirit in the quotation. "Mind" 
 is spirit on its intellectual side. Also that Christ is put in the 
 place of Lord, a substitution which points to a close identifica- 
 tion of the two. 
 
 3. Carnal as unto babes in Christ. With this verse begins 
 
 34 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 3:4 
 
 spiritual but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. 
 I fed you with milk, not with meat: for ye were not 
 yet able to bear it; nay, not even now are ye able; 
 for ye are yet carnal; for whereas there is among 
 you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal and walk 
 after the manner of men? For when one saith, I 
 am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye 
 not men? 
 
 the application to the Church of all that he has just written. 
 The wisdom which could be unfolded to those who were mature 
 in the Christian life could not be spoken to them. They were 
 not ready for it. "He had preached to them the Gospel as power 
 (2:1-5); he could not preach it to them as wisdom (3:1-4)." 
 The reason was that they were yet "carnal, babes in Christ." 
 The close conjunction of the words "carnal, babes" helps to 
 interpretation. By the word "carnal" Paul does not mean to 
 say that the Corinthians were entirely without the Spirit. In 
 that case they would be "natural" (cf. 2:14). They were rather 
 hindering their development m spiritual things by giving place 
 to their natural instincts. They were prolonging their babyhood, 
 hence he says 
 
 2. I fed you with milk. The strong meat, which is a figu- 
 rative expression for that wisdom of which he has written, he 
 could not give them. 
 
 3. For ye are yet carnal. In this judgment Paul uses in 
 the original another word to express the conception "carnal." 
 In verse the word signifies "fleshy" made of flesh and points 
 to that "natural state" which, as suggested by the word "babes" 
 immediately following, indicates the period of natural instincts 
 "not culpable in itself, but only so if unduly prolonged." Here 
 the word is the equivalent of our English word "fleshly" and 
 sets forth their willful conformity to worldly motives. It is 
 further defined by the last clause of the verse "walk after the 
 manner of men?" i.e., they were conducting themselves as 
 unspiritual men do. Their carnality was all too evident in the 
 jealousy and strife which centered in their party cries and in 
 party support. 
 
 Inasmuch as the formation of these parties had its source in 
 a misconception of the position and function of their teachers 
 as well as in a wrong idea of the Gospel, Paul now turns to con- 
 sider the position of the Christian ministry, 
 
 35 
 
3:5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 5. What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Minis- 
 ters through whom ye believed ; and each as the Lord 
 
 6. gave to him. I planted, Apollos watered; but God 
 
 7. gave the increase. So then neither is he that plant- 
 eth anything, neither he that watereth; but God 
 
 8. that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and 
 he that watereth are one; but each shall receive his 
 own reward according to his own labor. For we 
 
 9. are God's fellow-workers; ye are God's ^ husbandry, 
 God's building. 
 
 1 Gr., tilled land. 
 
 II. The True Conception of Their Christian Teachers, 3:5-4:21. 
 
 (i) They are but the servants of God whose power alone brings 
 forth increase (3:5-9); (2) builders upon God's building 
 whose one foundation is Jesus Christ (3:10-15); (3) con- 
 servers of the temple of God (3:16-17; (4) those who re- 
 nounce the wisdom of this world (3:18-23); (5) stewards 
 of the mysteries of God (4:1-5). 
 
 5. Ministers, i.e., servants, not heads of parties. The verse 
 implies that some were converted through the instrumentality of 
 Apollos. The Lord here signifies God. 
 
 6. Under the figure of a garden the Church is viewed as planted 
 by Paul and watered by Apollos (cf. Acts chs. 18 and 19). The 
 emphatic consideration is, however, that God is the efficient 
 cause of growth. 
 
 7. As growth is the vital matter, so in comparison with Him 
 who causes it human workers are as nothing. Certainly they 
 are not rivals. 
 
 8. They are one thing (neuter in the Greek) i.e., one instru- 
 mentality. They come under one category. This does not mean 
 that they all do exactly the same thing or accompHsh just the 
 same amount of work. They may differ in capacity for service 
 and in the amount of service rendered and so each shall receive 
 his own reward according to his own labor. Both facts 
 are true, viz., that all men as related to God, are but servants, 
 instruments; and that as they differ from each other in capacity 
 and accomplishment, they shall be rewarded. 
 
 9. For we are all God's fellow-workers. The emphasis 
 in this verse is upon the word "God." We are God's fellow- 
 
 36 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 3:14 
 
 10. According to the grace of God which was given 
 unto me, as a wise master-builder I laid a founda- 
 tion; and another buildeth thereon. But let each 
 man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other 
 
 11. foundation can no man lay than that which is laid 
 
 12. which is Jesus Christ. But if any man buildeth 
 on the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, wood, 
 
 13. hay, stubble; each man's work shall be made mani- 
 fest: for the day shall declare it, because it is re- 
 vealed in fire ; ^ and the fire itself shall prove each 
 
 14. man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work 
 
 * Or, and each man's work, of what sort it is, the fire shall prove it. 
 
 workers. It is honor enough to be called to this high relation- 
 ship. It ought to shame all thought of rivalry. The workers, 
 the field, the building, all belong to God. How, then, can one 
 say "I belong to Paul" or another "I belong to Apollos"? 
 
 10. The figure now changes to that of a building in the course 
 of construction. Jesus Christ is its foundation and it belongs to 
 God. The teacher's work, continuing the figure, is to build the 
 superstructure and his one concern is to be careful how he 
 builds, for there is a possibility of putting in poor as well as 
 good materials and a day is coming when the character of the 
 work will be tested and the workman be judged according to 
 the issue of the test. 
 
 11. Wise Master-builder. Wise in the method he had used 
 and the foundation he had laid. 
 
 12. Gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. 
 The distinction in materials is clear. To what do they refer? 
 Not to doctrines wholly dissociated from persons, since in verse 
 9 the Apostle writes "ye are God's building" but, as Evans sug- 
 gests, the figure seems, as in a dissolving view, to change from 
 an edifice of persons molded by doctrine to one of doctrines 
 molding persons. It is this latter edifice that shall be destroyed, 
 if made of "wood, hay, stubble." It is, however, to be under- 
 stood that the inferior construction does not represent teaching 
 that is intentionally false; otherwise the workman could not 
 himself be saved (vs. 15). 
 
 13. The day shall declare it. The Day of Judgment which 
 shall be when Christ comes (ch. 4:5). Because it (i.e., the Day) 
 is revealed in fire. Fire is here symbolic of a searching, test- 
 ing judgment. 
 
 37 
 
3:15 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 15. shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a 
 reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall 
 suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved; yet so as 
 
 16. through fire. Know ye not that ye are a ^ temple of 
 
 17. God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If 
 any man destroyeth the ^ temple of God him shall 
 God destroy ; for the ^ temple of God is holy ^ which 
 
 18. temple ye are. Let no man deceive himself. If any 
 man thinketh that he is wise among you in this 
 ^ world, let him become a fool, that he may become 
 
 19. wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness 
 with God. For it is written. He that taketh the 
 wise in their craftiness ; and again, the Lord knoweth 
 
 20. the reasonings of the wise that they are vain. 
 
 21. Wherefore let no one glory in men. For all things 
 
 ^ Or, sanctuary. - Or, and such are ye. ' Or, age. 
 
 15. But he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. The 
 picture is of one escaping from a burning building. He shall be 
 saved as out of the flames. He has built on the true foundation 
 and has not intentionally put up inferior work. His teachings 
 shrivel up in the fire of judgment; he is saved. 
 
 16. Paul passes in this verse from the consideration of the 
 responsibiUty of teachers in their relation to the Church as 
 builders to their responsibility as preservers of the Chuch itself 
 — the temple of God. The word for temple points to the inner 
 shrine or holiest place where the deity dwelt. 
 
 17. If any man destroyeth the temple of God. The local 
 church is here pictured as the temple of God and the destroying 
 that is referred to is that which was being brought about by 
 the spirit of faction. He who seeks to destroy God's Church 
 by a factious spirit, shall himself be destroyed. 
 
 18. If any man thinketh he is wise among you. The 
 thought here reverts again to that wisdom which has been 
 spoken of in 1:17 — 2:5. It is the wisdom of this world — that 
 worldly knowledge and intellectual self-sufficiency which allows 
 a man to think that he can further these divisions. He is self- 
 deceived, and must become a fool, i.e., rid himself of all that 
 which in the world is regarded as wisdom in order to be wise. 
 
 19. It is written. See Job 5:13 and Ps. 94:11. 
 
 21-23. AH things are yours. All your teachers, all good 
 
 38 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4^3 
 
 22. are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or 
 the world, or life, or death, or things present, or 
 things to come, all are yours; and ye are Christ's 
 
 23. and Christ's is God's. 
 
 4. I . Let a man so account of us as of ministers of Christ 
 
 2. and stewards of the mysteries of God. Here, more- 
 over, it is required in stewards that a man be found 
 
 3. faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that 
 I should be ^ judged of you or of man's ' judgment; 
 yea I ^ judge not mine own self. For I know noth- 
 ing against myself; yet am I not hereby justified; 
 
 1 Or, examined. ^ Gr., day. ^ Or, examine. 
 
 things of the world, life in all its divine meaning and death in 
 all its gain, the present and the future with all their possibilities 
 for the Christian— all these are yours, i.e., they exist to serve 
 you; but you belong to Christ as Christ belongs to God, is His 
 Son. With such truth does Paul seek to sweep away all party 
 spirit. 
 
 1. In the previous chapter Paul has set forth the true position 
 of the Christian ministry. The teachers in the Corinthian Church 
 were to be regarded servants, fellow-workers of God, builders 
 upon God's building. He now considers them from another point 
 of view as 
 
 2. Stewards of the mysteries of God. The ancient steward 
 (he might be either a freed-man or slave) was the one to whom 
 the head of the house intrusted the management of his affairs. 
 It was his duty among other things to deal out the proper por- 
 tion to every servant of the house and even to children not yet 
 of age.— Thayer. The Christian teacher was thus instructed 
 with the revealed truths of the Gospel which he was to give to 
 the household of God. The one test of such service was fidelity. 
 
 3. It is a very small thing that I should be judged of 
 you. The test being fidelity, who can apply it? Certainly not 
 the Corinthians, for they by reason of their very party spirit 
 were incompetent; "I judge not mine own self." His own 
 conscience was incompetent to examine the matter fully. Even 
 though it in no way reproached him, that would not be the 
 equivalent of saying that he was irreproachable. 
 
 4. There is only one competent judge— the Lord Himself. 
 Hence we are to wait until He comes. His revelation of hidden 
 
 39 
 
4:4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 but he that ^ judgeth me is the Lord. Wherefore 
 
 4. judge nothing before the time until the Lord come 
 who will both bring to light the hidden things of 
 darkness and make manifest the counsels of the 
 hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from 
 God. 
 
 6. Now these things brethren I have in a figure trans- 
 ferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in 
 us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which 
 are written; that no one of you be puffed up for 
 
 7. the one against the other. For who maketh thee to 
 differ? and what hast thou that thou didst not re- 
 ceive? but if thou didst receive it why dost thou 
 glory as if thou hadst not received it? Already are 
 
 ^ Or, examineth. 
 
 acts and the motives of the heart will give the only adequate 
 basis for an exact judgment of fidelity. 
 
 5. Praise from God, i.e., the praise which he really merited. 
 All other praise, or blame, was of small account. 
 
 (6) Personal application of what he has written (3:5 — 4:5) with 
 an earnest rebuke of their pride (6-16). 
 
 6. In a figure transferred to myself and Apollos. What 
 
 was true of the whole class of teachers is illustrated by the case 
 of Apollos and himself. In this concrete way he has set forth 
 the principles regarding the ministry which he wishes them to 
 understand. Not to go beyond the things which are writ- 
 ten. As this clause appears in the Greek it is equivalent to a 
 quotation "Not beyond the things that are written." It is per- 
 haps a rabbinical maxim and has in view such passages as 1:19, 
 31; 3:19-20. A proper conception of man as given in the Old 
 Testament would save them from such pride as they were 
 exhibiting in this or that teacher to the disparagement of others. 
 
 7. For who maketh thee to differ? Nothing but the man's 
 own imagination. The force of the following question may be 
 brought out by the paraphrase: Suppose thou hast some su- 
 periority to others? "What hast thou that thou dost not re- 
 ceive?" Then why boast as if what thou hast which, in any 
 way, distinguishes you were not God's gift? The "for" intro- 
 
 40 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS S'l 
 
 8. ye filled, already ye are become rich, ye have reigned 
 without us: yea and I would that ye did reign that 
 we also might reign with you. For I think God 
 
 9. hath set forth us the Apostles last of all, as men 
 doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto 
 the world and to ^ angels and to men. We are fools 
 
 10. for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we 
 are weak, but ye are strong; ye have glory, but we 
 
 1 1 . have dishonor. Even unto this present hour we both 
 hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted 
 and have no certain dwelling place; and we toil, 
 
 12. working with our hands: being reviled we bless; 
 
 13. being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we 
 
 ^ Or, both to angels and men. 
 
 ducing these questions makes the right answers to them show 
 the baselessness of party pride. 
 
 8. The contemplation of the conceit and calamity of this party- 
 spirit in the Church so stirs the heart of the Apostle that he 
 breaks forth into an apostrophe full of irony and indignation 
 (8-13). Already ye are filled. In their pride they were sat- 
 isfied as if they were already in possession of the blessings of 
 the Kingdom of God. "They had got a private millennium of 
 their own" and so had far outstripped the Apostles. They were 
 full, rich, and on thrones, while their teachers "were doonied to 
 death" and made a spectacle unto the world. The irony in the 
 contrast which runs through the whole section must be kept in 
 mind. 
 
 9. For, I think, God hath set forth us the Apostles last 
 of all, as men doomed to death. "For" gives the reason for 
 the wish in verse 8. The figure is suggested by the experiences 
 of a public festival whose closing hours witnessed the exposure 
 of criminals to the wild beasts in the arena. Instead of "reign- 
 ing" the Apostles were in their sufferings a spectacle to both 
 angels and men. 
 
 10. Fools in the sense that they preach a message which to 
 the world is foolishness; weak— helpless amid hardship and 
 trials; have dishonor,— the order here is changed that verses 
 11-13 may be brought into close connection with this adjective, 
 whose meaning they set forth. Want, ill-treatment and con- 
 tempt constitute the dishonor which the Apostles experience. 
 
 41 
 
4:14 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 intreat: we are made as ^ the filth of the world, the 
 offscouring of all things, even until now. I write 
 
 14. not these things to shame you, but to admonish you 
 
 15. as my beloved children. For though ye should have 
 ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many 
 fathers: for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the 
 
 16. Gospel. I beseech you therefore, be ye imitators of 
 me. 
 
 ^ Or, refuse. 
 
 13. Filth of the world, the offscouring of all things (or, 
 men). The words "filth" and "offscouring" have reference to 
 that which has been "scraped off" or "wiped off" from any- 
 thing in making it clean, — hence "scrapings," "refuse." They 
 were both used to describe the men who were thrown by the 
 Greeks into the sea as a propitiation to the gods in the time of 
 plague. It is probably in the former sense that they are to be 
 taken here. They express the climax of humiliation 
 
 (7) As their father in the faith he appeals to them to follow him. 
 The test to be applied when he comes, 4:14-21 
 
 14. With verse 13 the indignant strain has spent itself and 
 once more a tone of tenderness appears. Plain speaking and 
 strong feeling had not been primarily to put them to shame. 
 That it might well do, but his purpose was rather to give them 
 fatherly admonition. 
 
 15. His Pedagogues. Pedagogues were trusted slaves who 
 cared for the children of the household, escorting them to and 
 from school. The word is here qualified by the regimen in 
 Christ. Though many might, as tutors or guardians care for 
 them in the Christian life, they surely could not have many 
 fathers. They had only one Christian father. Paul does not 
 use the word father here but it is implied in his use of the word 
 "children" and its justification is given in the statement "in 
 Jesus Christ I begat you through the Gospel." Note how 
 the words "I begat" are carefully guarded from any human 
 assumptions by the phrases accompanying them. "Call no man 
 your father on the earth," said Jesus (Matt. 23:9), i.e., do not 
 use the term "in such a spirit as to forget Him from whom all 
 being proceeds." 
 
 16. Be ye imitators of me in self-denial and self-sacrifice. 
 The right of his appeal was in his fatherly relation to them. 
 
 42 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i:5 
 
 17. For this cause have I sent unto you Timothy, who 
 is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, who 
 shall put you in remembrance of my ways which ^ be 
 in Christ, even as I teach everywhere in every 
 
 18. church. Now some are puffed up as though I were 
 
 19. not coming to you. But I will- come to you shortly 
 
 20. if the Lord will; and I will know not the word of 
 
 21. them which are puffed up, but the power. For the 
 Kingdom of God is not in word but in power. What 
 will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod or in 
 love and a spirit of meekness? 
 
 2. The Second Matter Needing Censure — A Case of 
 Incest y 5:1-12 
 
 5. I. It is actually reported that there is fornication 
 among you and such fornication as is not even 
 among the Gentiles that one of you hath his father's 
 
 1 SV, are. 
 
 17. Timothy. It was to help them to the right course that 
 he had sent "this beloved child" to them. Timothy at the 
 time of the writing of the letter was probably in Macedonia and 
 would arrive in Corinth later than the letter itself (cf. Acts 
 19:22). My ways. See 1:17, 2:1-5, 4:11-13, 9:15, 22, 27. 
 
 18. Now some are puffed up. There was probably some 
 uncertainty regarding Paul's coming to Corinth. This had been 
 doubtless wrongly construed as not daring to come and had led 
 to all the boastful self-assertion which had split up the Church, 
 
 19. Not the word . . . but the power. He will pay little 
 attention to their fine addresses and high-flown pretensions, but 
 test their effectiveness in winning men to a true Christian life 
 and advancing them therein. The Kingdom of God is not in 
 abundance of clever speech but in spiritual power. 
 
 20. Rod. The emblem of rebuke and discipline; meekness, 
 the opposite of harshness, i. e., gentleness. 
 
 (a) The offender to be expelled, 5:1-8 
 
 t se 
 tolei 
 
 43 
 
 I. Fornication. Any illicit sexual intercourse. A specially 
 revolting kind of it was being tolerated in the Church, viz.: that 
 
5:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2 . wife. And ^ ye are puffed up and ^ did not rather 
 mourn that he that had done this deed might be 
 
 3. taken away from among you. For I verily, being 
 absent in body but present in spirit, have already as 
 
 4. though I were present judged him that hath so 
 wrought this thing in the name of our Lord Jesus, ye 
 being gathered together and my spirit, with the 
 
 ^ Or, are ye puffed up? ^ Qr, did ye not rather mourn . . . youf 
 
 of a man having as his wife or concubine his stepmother, or, as 
 the text more vividly puts it, his father's wife. Such forni- 
 cation as is not even among the Gentiles. It is an evidence 
 of the low moral tone in Corinth that this relationship made 
 no stir in the Church. The instances that may be cited to sup- 
 port the legitimacy of such a marriage are so few that it can 
 be said that virtually the sin did not exist. Roman law forbade 
 it as did also Jewish (Lev. 18:8). From the passage as a whole 
 it seems correct to infer that the woman in the case was not a 
 Christian since all proposals of discipline are directed against 
 the man. The man's action may be one of those instances of 
 the false conceptions of Christian liberty regarding which Paul 
 had more than once to warn his Gentile converts. Whatever its 
 ground, its flagrancy was pitiful. All the more so since the 
 Church was "puffed up," i.e., in a state of serene satisfaction 
 with itself, not directly, of course, in view of this one matter, 
 but in spite of it. The reasons of their inflation have been given 
 in the preceding chapters. 
 
 2. That ... he might be taken away. The conjunction 
 sets forth the contemplated effect of the mourning. The re- 
 moval of the wrongdoer would be the result of the sorrow and 
 shame over his misdeed. 
 
 3. For, I verily. Paul sets his earnest determination to act 
 over against their laxity. Though absent he was with them in 
 spirit and in mind and as though present, had already pronounced 
 judgment. 
 
 4. 5. The factors and nature of this judgment. The best 
 possible arrangement of the clauses in verse four is that which 
 connects the first one, in the name of our Lord Jesus, with 
 the infinitive "to deliver" (vs. 5) and the others with "being 
 gathered together." Three factors are to enter into the grave 
 pronouncement of judgment. The assembled Church, the spirit 
 of the Apostle (his unseen but directing influence) and the power 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was to be a solemn meeting full 
 
 44 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5:6 
 
 5. power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one unto 
 Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit 
 may be saved in the day of the Lord ^ Jesus. Your 
 
 6. glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little 
 leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out the old 
 
 7. leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are 
 unleavened. For our passover also hath been sacri- 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities omit Jesus. 
 
 of instruction and warning for all taking part in it. To deliver 
 such a one unto Satan. The clew to the meaning of this judg- 
 ment is in its purpose. Clearly the man was not given up to 
 the devil in order that all the enticing or propelling forces of 
 sin might have unhindered play upon him. That were not the 
 way to insure the saving of his spirit. It is rather to that 
 physically punitive power of Satan that reference is here made 
 (cf. Lk. 13:16). Sickness and death are often ascribed to him. 
 Job's experience (chs. i and 4) illustrates what is meant. The 
 slow progress of a disease issuing in death was to show this man 
 the folly of his sin and bring him to repentance. Satan, work- 
 ing in a way congenial to him in that he brings suffering, is yet 
 an instrument in God's hands to the accomplishment of the 
 divine Will. The Greeks were not strangers to an analogous 
 custom according to which a person having been wronged and 
 without means for retaliation "consigned the criminal to a god 
 and left the punishment to be inflicted by divine power." — 
 Ramsay, Hist. Com. on Corinthians. 
 
 6. "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." The "little 
 leaven" can hardly be the sin which has been so solemnly 
 judged. It is rather that "inclination to fornication" which had 
 made the Church indifferent through a vitiation of public opin- 
 ion. In view of this all boasting was indeed unseemly. 
 
 7. Purge out therefore the old leaven. The word "old" 
 confirms the above interpretation. They were to go further 
 than removing the sinful man from the Church. It must be 
 cleansed from all trace of this evil propensity. The Jews were 
 accustomed on the eve of the first and great day of the Passover 
 to remove every particle of leavened bread from their houses; 
 hence the figure. A new lump, as ye are unleavened. A new 
 lump signifies a mass of dough freshly kneaded with sweet 
 water instead of leaven. Such bread was used during the Pass- 
 over. The Church was to make a fresh start unmixed with sin. 
 
 45 
 
5:8 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 8. ficed even Christ: wherefore 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. 
 
 9. I wrote unto you in my epistle to have no company 
 
 10. with fornicators; ^ not altogether with the forni- 
 cators of this world, or with the covetous and extor- 
 tioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs 
 
 11. go out of the world : but ^ now I write unto you 
 
 ^ Gr., keep festival. ^ SV, not at all meaning. 
 
 ^ SV, as it is, I wrote. 
 
 Ideally it was "unleavened" (cf, Jn. 15:3) ; let it become so 
 in fact. 
 
 8. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. An 
 
 extension of the figure of the leaven to confirm what has been 
 said. After the Jews had eaten the passover they were to 
 abstain from all leavened bread for seven days. Christ is our 
 passover. He is the lamb slain for us. We are, therefore, to 
 keep, not a seven-days' festival, but perpetual festival of a new 
 life from which the leaven of wickedness and wrongdoing have 
 been put away and in which are manifest "the unleavened bread" 
 of transparency and truth. 
 
 (b) Explanation of a former command relating to 
 fornicators, 9-13. 
 
 9. I wrote unto you in my epistle. In a previous letter, 
 now lost (some find a part of it in 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1) Paul had told 
 them not to associate with immoral people. In some way this had 
 been misunderstood. With the case of discipline just considered 
 in point Paul explains his statement. 
 
 10. Not altogether. (I did) not at all mean that you were 
 not to associate with immoral people of the world, i.e., with 
 fornicators, with the covetous and extortionate, and with 
 idolaters outside the church. Since the streets of Corinth were 
 full of them it would virtually mean going out of the world. It 
 would put a stop to all the business of life and, what is of more 
 importance, prevent all contact of Christian hfe with society, 
 
 11. But now I write. The marginal reading "but, as it is, 
 I wrote" is preferable for it is not likely that the two past tenses 
 (vs. 9 and vs. 11) are to be taken, one as a past, the other as a 
 present. Now is logical and means "now you understand," "as 
 
 46 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:2 
 
 not to keep company, if any man that is named a 
 brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, 
 
 12. or a reviler, or a drunkard or an extortioner; with 
 such a one no, not to eat. For what have I to do 
 with judging them that are without? Do not ye 
 
 13. judge them that are within, ' whereas them that are 
 without God judgeth? Put away the wicked man 
 from among yourselves. 
 
 3. The Third Matter for Censure— Their Litigious Spirit, 
 6:1-11 
 
 6. I. Dare any of you, having a matter against ^ his 
 
 neighbor go to law before the unrighteous, and not 
 
 2. before the saints? Or know ye not that the saints 
 
 • Gr., the other. ' SV, but ^^^ 
 
 it is." I meant, when I wrote, this: if a brother, so named, be 
 immoral you are not to associate with him; no not to eat with 
 him. You are not to share his hospitaUty; nor he yours. 
 
 12. For gives the reason why they should never have supposed 
 he was referring to the immorality of the world. God is the 
 world's judge. Our jurisdiction is within the church, as your 
 own practice has shown. There is only one thing to do, "Cast 
 out the evil one." 
 
 1. Twice in the previous chapter Paul has joined the forni- 
 cator and the covetous man (5:10, 11); also he asked if the 
 sphere of judgment for Christians was not within the Church 
 (5:12). Both points were suggestive of the matter which he is 
 now to consider. The Greeks were great sticklers for their 
 rights. This led them into frequent disputes for the settlement 
 of which they had made appeal to those outside of the Church. 
 
 Dare. In view of the majesty of the Church, the seal of the 
 Holy Spirit. The unrighteous. The word is really the equiva- 
 lent of "unbelievers." It is not to be pushed so far as to imply 
 that "outsiders" could not give justice. The "cases" brought to 
 judgment were not serious crimes but in all probability, com- 
 monplace matters which had been magnified by their quarrel- 
 some spirit. It was the unchristian spirit, the utter lack of 
 brotherly love which was the serious defect. 
 
 2. Know ye not. Paul is appealing to an expectation fa- 
 miliar to the Jews and one which Paul had taught the Corin- 
 
 47 
 
6:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 shall judge the world? And if the world is judged 
 by you are ye unworthy ^ to judge the smallest 
 
 3. matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? 
 
 4. How much more things that pertain to this life? If 
 then ye have ^ to judge things pertaining to this life, 
 ^ do ye set them to judge who are of no account in 
 
 5. the church? I say this to move you to shame. * Is 
 it so, that there cannot be jound among you one 
 wise man, who shall be able to decide between his 
 
 6. brethren, but brother goeth to law with brother and 
 
 7. that before unbelievers? Nay, already it is alto- 
 
 ^ Gr., of the smallest tribunals. ^ Gr., tribunals pertaining to. 
 ^ Or, set them . . . church. * SV, what, cannot there be, etc. 
 
 thians but which they had apparently lost sight of, viz.: that 
 the saints were ultimately to judge the world, for they were, 
 with the Messiah, to rule the nations at the Messiah's coming 
 (see Dan. 7:22; Wis. 3:8). Jesus had promised this to the 
 apostles (Matt. 19:28; Lk. 22:30) and the promise had been 
 widened. It is part of the office of a ruler to judge and, in shar- 
 ing with Christ his final glory, his followers shall share in the 
 judgment of the world. The argument is from the greater to the 
 less. If as saints you are to have such an exalted prerogative, 
 "are you incompetent to adjudicate upon trifles?" 
 
 3. That you shall judge angels? This question carries the 
 previous argument a step further and heightens the contrast 
 between their future position and their present dereliction. If 
 they are to judge such exalted beings as angels, it would follow, 
 as a matter of course, that they could decide upon matters per- 
 taining to ordinary life. Though angels are not characterized as 
 good or bad, the implication is of bad angels. 
 
 4. If then they were to have courts for such matters it were 
 better for them to set up as judges those who were of no account 
 among them than to go to heathen judges. The least esteemed 
 would be competent to settle such insignificant matters. 
 
 5. I say this to move you to shame. His sarcastic words 
 are to shame them. He turns to ask them seriously if no wise 
 man can be found among them to arbitrate their disputes. 
 
 6. But. The sharp contrast introduced is practically their own 
 answer to the question of verse 5. In their lack of wisdom they 
 quarrel, hurry to litigation, and worst of all, before unbelievers. 
 
 7. Paul now turns to the cause of the whole trouble. Nay, 
 
 48 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:ii 
 
 gether ^ a defect in you that ye have lawsuits one 
 with another. Why not rather take wrong? Why 
 
 8. not rather be defrauded? Nay, but ye yourselves 
 do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Or 
 
 9. know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit 
 the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither 
 fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ef- 
 feminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor 
 
 10. thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, 
 nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God. 
 
 11. And such were some of you: but ye ^ were washed, 
 but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit 
 of our God. 
 
 ^ Or, c loss to you. ^ Or, washed yourselves. 
 
 already it is altogether a defect. Leaving aside, for a mo- 
 ment, the question of the judges, he seems to mean it is, under 
 any circumstances, a spiritual defect that you have lawsuits with 
 one another. They reveal, at bottom, a lack of genuine Christian 
 spirit, or, it may be, a defect of that spirit by quarrelsome ten- 
 dencies. They might better suffer wrong and even deprivation. 
 
 8-10. Nay, ye do wrong and defraud. On the contrary, 
 they were inflicting wrong and that, too, upon brethren, for- 
 getting that by such conduct they were identifying themselves 
 with wrongdoers who shall not inherit God's Kingdom. 
 Neither fornicators — nor thieves. It will be noted that this 
 enumeration of sinners is made with pointed reference to the 
 prevailing evils of Corinth — uncleanness and greed. 
 
 II. Ye were washed — sanctified — justified. The first verb 
 refers to baptism which symbolized the fact that the Corinthians 
 had voluntarily turned their backs upon the sins first men- 
 tioned and had by God's grace been "set apart" (sanctified) and 
 declared to be in right relation to Him (justified). The two 
 verbs sanctified and justified refer to the same gracious act of 
 God. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The clause 
 belongs to all three verbs. "Baptism in the name carries with it 
 an acknowledgment of Jesus as Lord and Messiah; in the 
 Spirit, recognition of the power which effectuates a separated and 
 holy life. 
 
 49 
 
6:i2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 4. The Fourth Matter for Censure — Impurity, 6:12-20 
 
 12. All things are lawful for me; but not all things are 
 expedient. All things are lawful for me; but I will 
 not be brought under the power of any. Meats for the 
 
 13. belly and the belly for meats; but God shall bring to 
 naught both it and them. But the body is not for 
 fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the 
 
 14. body; and God both raised the Lord and will raise 
 
 12. All things are lawful to me, i.e., all things that are not 
 in themselves wrong. But, in reference to this wide range of 
 things, morally indifferent, two limitations are to be noted (a) 
 when the doing of them may have an ill effect upon others. One 
 must at times abridge his own liberty when it is not expedient 
 or advantageous for others and {b) when the doing of them 
 weakens the power of self-control. Whatever gains the mastery 
 over a man, even though in itself it be not wrong, becomes 
 unlawful in so far as it masters him. The misuse of Christian 
 freedom was easily possible in Corinth. Pagan society had 
 accepted fully the doctrine that every requirement of the body 
 was natural and right and ought to be satisfied. Sexual appe- 
 tite was on the same level with appetite for food. It was to 
 cover just this view that the Corinthians probably used the 
 maxim "all things are lawful." Paul now seeks to show how 
 fundamentally different these appetites are when morally con- 
 sidered. 
 
 13. Meats for the belly. Food is, indeed, meant to satisfy 
 the needs of the stomach, but, in two significant particulars the 
 body and fornication differ from the stomach and food, (i) 
 The latter belong to an order that passes away. God shall 
 bring to naught both it and them. "Flesh and blood shall 
 not inherit the Kingdom of God." Physical upbuilding through 
 material food ends with man's earthly career. The body, how- 
 ever, raised and glorified, is to abide forever. (2) The body is 
 for the Lord and not for the gratification of sexual appetite. It 
 is meant to be the instrument through which the will of the 
 Lord is executed. As thus the Christian is to serve the Lord 
 through the body so the Lord is to redeem the body. Jesus 
 Christ and the body are reciprocally for each other. 
 
 14. And God both raised the Lord and will raise us up 
 through His power. Jesus in his resurrection set forth the 
 resurrection of the whole man — soul and body. Hence Paul 
 
 50 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:i8 
 
 15. up us through His power. Know ye not that your 
 bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take 
 away the members of Christ and make them mem- 
 
 16. bers of a harlot? God forbid. Or know ye not that 
 he that is joined to a harlot is one body? for, The 
 
 17. twain, saith He, shall become one flesh. But he 
 that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee 
 
 18. fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without 
 the body; but he that committeth fornication sin- 
 says "us" instead of "our bodies." Christ is the "first fruits" of 
 the resurrection in which God shall ultimately include all who 
 believe. Verse 14 is not parallel to 13b, but antithetic. In one 
 case God destroys; in the other He raises up. All through Paul 
 is using the word "body" with emphasis upon the fact that it is 
 a part of man's personality. Here it is material; there it shall 
 be spiritual. 
 
 15. Members of Christ. As Christ dwells within the be- 
 liever his bodily members are virtually members of Christ. The 
 infamy of the sin of fornication is that it robs Christ of his 
 members and then debases them by "making them members of 
 a harlot." 
 
 16. This is a corroboration of the last statement of verse 15. 
 Carnal connection with a harlot makes the two one body, for, as 
 God says, "the twain shall be one flesh" (Gen. 2:14). These 
 words referred originally to marriage. They imply that in carnal 
 connection is established a oneness which was meant to be as 
 sacred as it was profound. Fornication in a sinful way brings 
 about this mysterious oneness. 
 
 17. One Spirit. Faith brings about a "oneness" with Christ 
 that is spiritual. How antagonistic are these two conditionsr— 
 "oneness with a harlot" and oneness with Christ, is fully evident. 
 There is consequently only one thing to do and that is to "flee 
 fornication." 
 
 18. The clew to the interpretation of this difficult verse lies 
 in the declaration "shall become one flesh" (vs. 16). The excep- 
 tional character of fornication is that it at once robs Christ of 
 the body which belongs to Him and joins it to a harlot. The 
 contrast between "without the body" and "against his own 
 body" is not to be pressed too far. In 5:11 the apostle enume- 
 rates other sins that will shut out men from the Kingdom of 
 God. Fornication acts more directly and swiftly — "It is a fear- 
 ful and radical contradiction of the idea of Christian personality." 
 
 51 
 
6i:9 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 19. neth against his own body. Or know ye not that 
 your body is a ^ temple of the ^ Holy Ghost which 
 is in you which ye have from God? And ye are not 
 
 20. your own; for ye were bought with a price; glorify 
 God therefore in your body. 
 
 ^ Or, sanctuary. * SV, Holy Spirit. 
 
 "It is a contradiction of the truth of the body wronght within 
 itself."— Alford. 
 
 19. Temple of the Holy Spirit. If they could not feel the 
 force of what he had just wiitten, then let them remember that 
 the body is the shrine of the Holy Spirit. Fornication is profa- 
 nation, desecration. 
 
 20. Bought with a price. A third reason why they should 
 flee fornication. They were really not the owners of themselves 
 — soul or body — for they had been bought with a price, even the 
 life-blood of Jesus. 
 
 20. Therefore. Rather "be sure" to glorify God in your 
 body by chastity and all other ways. The whole section lays 
 weighty emphasis upon the dignity of the human body. 
 
 52 
 
7:2 
 
 II. Questions Regarding Marriage and the Chris- 
 tian's Relation to Idol Sacrifices and 
 Feasts, 7:1 — ii:i. 
 
 I. Questions regarding Marriage, 7:1-40 
 
 7. I. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote: It 
 2. is good for a man not to touch a woman. But, be- 
 cause of fornications, let each man have his own 
 
 a. Marriage or celibacy? 7:1-9 
 
 I. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote. With 
 
 this chapter Paul begins to deal with the questions put to him 
 by the letter from the Corinthians. His answers are shaped by the 
 conditions and needs of the Corinthian church. Some in the 
 church were altogether opposed to marriage while others who 
 were married wished to ignore all sexual relations pertainmg 
 thereto. The former may have defended their position by the 
 belief that the Kingdom of God was for those who did not marry 
 but were "as the angels in heaven" (Lk. 20:34). The latter 
 regarded sexual relations as incompatible with a strict sense of 
 holiness. These and other perplexities existing in the church 
 rnust be borne in mind for they explain why the view of mar- 
 riage set forth is not as exalted as that found in the fifth chapter 
 of Ephesians— It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 
 Note that this is not a comparative statement. Celibacy is good, 
 honorable, if a man can maintain it in purity. It would appear 
 from the form and directness of the assertion that in the letter 
 from the Corinthians this had been denied. Marriage they thought 
 must be universal in order to reform society. It is against this 
 sweeping panacea with its implied condemnation of a pure single 
 hfe that Paul thus defends celibacy. 
 
 2. Nevertheless. However good a single life might be, the 
 temptations of such a city as Corinth made safeguards neces- 
 sary and, therefore, let each man have his own wife, etc. 
 Two things are to be noted in this direction, (a) the words his 
 own forbid polygamy and {b) that the woman is to be as care- 
 
 53 
 
7:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 
 
 3. Let the husband render unto the wife her due; and 
 
 4. Hkewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife 
 hath not power over her own body, but the husband : 
 and likewise also the husband hath not power over 
 
 5. his own body but the wife. Defraud ye not one 
 the other, except it be by consent for a season, that 
 ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be 
 together again, that Satan tempt you not because 
 
 6. of your incontinency. But this I say by way of 
 permission, not of commandment. ^ Yet I would 
 
 7. that all men were even as I myself. Howbeit each 
 man hath his own gift from God, one after this man- 
 ner, and another after that. But I say to the unmar- 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read jor. 
 
 ful as the man. The recommendation of marriage as a means 
 of avoiding fornication has been criticized as unworthy, but it is 
 to be remembered, as said above, that it was made in view of 
 the needs of Corinth. 
 
 3-5. But there was more needed than simply marriage; there 
 must be recognition of the rights of each in marriage. They 
 must not hve like celibates. Each has rights in regard to the 
 other. Marital intercourse is due on the part of each and only 
 by common consent should they refrain from it for a time in 
 the interest of higher things. Prolonged restraint, or refusal of 
 one's right in the matter would simply open the way for the 
 temptation of Satan. This is the substance of the teaching of 
 these verses. "It defends marital intercourse against rigorists, as 
 verse i commends celibacy against sensualists." 
 
 6. This I say. "This" covers not simply some single clause 
 in verse 5 but all that is said in 2-5. 
 
 By permission, i.e., in the way of concession to the gen- 
 eral circumstances in Corinth. It was personal advice, rather 
 than a divine command. 
 
 7. Yet I would, etc. While he urges marriage in view of the 
 temptations of a licentious city, he would, rather, that men, if 
 they have the gift of continence, should be as he was, i.e., 
 unmarried. But men differ in this regard. Each man is dif- 
 ferently constituted; one can be continent, the other not. No 
 absolute rule, therefore, can be laid down. 
 
 54 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7:13 
 
 ried and to widows, it is good for them if they abide 
 even as I. But if they have not continency, let them 
 marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. 
 
 10. But unto the married I give charge, yea not I, 
 but the Lord, That the wife depart not from her 
 
 11. husband (but and if she depart let her remain un- 
 married, or else be reconciled to her husband); and 
 that the husband leave not his wife. 
 
 12. But to the rest say I, not the Lord: If any brother 
 hath an unbelieving wife, and she is content to 
 
 13. dwell with him, let him not leave her. And the 
 woman which hath an unbelieving husband and he 
 is content to dwell with her, let her not leave her 
 
 8-9. To the unmarried and widows. Bachelors and 
 widows. If they have not the power of self-control, it is wiser 
 for these to marry than to be compelled to fight the fire of 
 inward lust. Young unmarried girls are considered later. 
 
 b. Shall those wha are married separate? 7:10-16 
 
 10. Not I, but the Lord. The command of the Lord is 
 given in Mk. 10:9; Lk. 16:18. The distinction here made is not 
 between private views of the apostle and inspired utterances. 
 Paul claimed the authority of the Spirit for his own directions 
 to this church. In this matter he has an express command of 
 Christ and that is authoritative everywhere in the church. The 
 wife depart not. The woman is mentioned first because she 
 would be the more likely, perhaps, through ill-treatment or 
 aversion to marital relations to seek separation. Separation, 
 however, was all she had a right to; if she could not be satisfied 
 with that, she must be reconciled to her husband. She must not 
 marry again. It is probable that "Paul is here considering sepa- 
 rations which have a less serious ground than that of adultery." 
 
 12-13. But to the rest. With this verse he turns to the cases 
 of mixed marriages in which one of the parties had become a 
 Christian after marriage and the other not. For these he had 
 no express command from his Master. He writes, however, 
 under the conviction that he is guided by the Spirit (see vs. 
 40). The substance of his teaching is that if the unbelieving 
 wife or the unbelieving husband is content to abide in the mar- 
 
 55 
 
7:14 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 14. husband. For the unbelieving husband is sancti- 
 fied in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sancti- 
 fied in the brother: else were your children unclean; 
 
 15. but now are they holy. Yet if the unbelieving de- 
 parteth, let him depart: the brother or the sister is 
 not under bondage in such cases: but God hath 
 
 16. called ^ us in peace. For how knowest thou, O wife, 
 whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how 
 knowest thou, O husband, whether thou shalt save 
 thy wife? 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read you. 
 
 riage relation with the one who has become a Christian, the 
 Christian should not seek separation. 
 
 14. For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the 
 wife. The word "sanctified" does not of course refer to per- 
 sonal holiness. That cannot be conferred. The conception is 
 that the faith which in conversion "sets apart" or "conse- 
 crates" the husband or wife gives to the other a sort of holy 
 status. "He (or she) stands upon the threshold of the church: 
 his (or her) surroundings are hallowed." "United to a saintly 
 consort he (or she) is in daily contact with saintly conduct: 
 holy association may become holy assimilation and the sanctity 
 which ever environs may at last penetrate." — Evans. 
 
 Else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 
 This is meant to confirm the statement that the unbelieving 
 spouse is consecrated in the one who believes. In a Christian 
 mother's or father's thought a child is a gift of God and de- 
 voted to Him. It is a holy thing. The "consecration" which 
 thus enfolds within itself the offspring of marriage extends also 
 to an unbelieving husband or wife. The solidarity of the family 
 sanctifies the bond between parent and child; husband and wife. 
 This fact should stand in the way of seeking separation. The 
 verse gives no secure help toward the setthng of the question 
 of infant baptism. 
 
 15. Peace. A Christian is not to seek separation from an 
 unbehever, simply because he is an unbeliever. If, however, the 
 unbeliever insists upon separation he is to be allowed to depart. 
 Marriage is not to be a form of slavery. Life in such conditions 
 will sadly interfere with Christian peace. 
 
 16. For how knowest thou, etc. A reason for allowing the 
 unbelieving spouse to depart if separation is insisted upon. 
 
 56 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7:21 
 
 17. Only as the Lord hath distributed to each man, 
 as God hath called each, so let him walk. And so 
 
 18. ordain I in all the churches. Was any man called 
 being circumcised? Let him not become uncircum- 
 cised. 
 
 19. Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is 
 
 20. nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of 
 God. Let each man abide in that calling wherein he 
 
 21. was called. Wast thou called being a bond servant? 
 care not for it : ^ but if thou canst become free, use 
 
 ' Or, nay, even if. 
 
 Peace is not to be imperiled by the uncertain hope that the 
 unbeliever may be won to faith. 
 
 c. The Christian life and one's earthly station, 7:17-24 
 
 17. This verse is both a summary of what immediately pre- 
 cedes it and a preface to what follows. It gives the general 
 principle, "it is best for each man to abide in the condition in 
 which the divine call came to him" and applies this principle to 
 circumcision and slavery. 
 
 18-20. Was any man called being circumcised? The dis- 
 tinction between Jew and Gentile was not to be effaced. Rene- 
 gade Jews had at times in order to avoid ridicule attempted 
 this effacement by means of a surgical operation (i Mace. 1:15; 
 Josef. Ant. xii:5, i; Celsus vii:2S, 5). No more was a Gen- 
 tile to be circumcised (see Acts 15:1, S, 19). Christianity being 
 essentially a spiritual matter, circumcision or uncircumcision were 
 comparatively of no importance (see Gal. 5:6; 6:15). The 
 essential thing is to "keep the commandments of God." Calling 
 (vs. 20) signifies not "vocation" but "condition of life" which 
 is part of the divine act of calling in that it may be the occa- 
 sion of it and determine the manner of it. 
 
 21. The new dignity given to life in becoming Christians un- 
 doubtedly brought to those in slavery added restlessness and dis- 
 content. Was the principle of abiding in that condition of life 
 in which the call came to be applied here? Yes, a slave could 
 be a worthy Christian. But if thou canst become free use it 
 rather. The critical question in the interpretation of this clause 
 is the reference of "it" in "use it rather." Does it stand for 
 "freedom" or "slavery"? If a slave can be free, is he to take 
 
 57 
 
7:22 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 22. it rather. For he that was called in the Lord, being 
 a bond servant, is the Lord's freedman: likewise he 
 that was called, being free, is Christ's bond servant. 
 
 23. Ye were bought with a price; become not bond 
 
 24. servants of men. Brethren, let each man, wherein 
 he was called, therein abide with God. 
 
 25. Now concerning virgins I have no commandment 
 of the Lord: but I give my judgment, as one that 
 hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful. I 
 
 freedom, or is he to remain a slave? Regarding the interpreta- 
 tion of ,this clause Dean Stanley says that "it is one of the most 
 evenly balanced questions in the New Testament." It seems 
 best, therefore, to give the two interpretations and leave the 
 reader to choose, (i) Use it, i.e., slavery. Remain a slave and 
 honor Christ in the condition of slavery. Even though a slave, 
 you are the Lord's freeman. This interpretation accords with the 
 principle "abide in that calling wherein he was called" and 
 seems to be confirmed by the first clause of verse 22. (2) Use 
 it, i.e., freedom. By this interpretation the clause "but if also 
 — rather" is made parenthetic. The adversative "but" is strong 
 and the verb "use" is more naturally employed in reference to 
 a new opportunity than of a continuing state. Furthermore it 
 would be more consistent with Paul's mind to recommend "free- 
 dom" if it were legitimately possible. See Epistle of Philemon. 
 
 22. Inasmuch as the new relation to Christ frees a man from 
 the bondage of sin his condition in life, whether a slave or a 
 freeman, can be maintained without harm. In either case he 
 obeys a Master whose service is spiritual freedom. 
 
 23. Become not bond servants of men. The words are 
 addressed to the whole Church. Bought, as all have been, with 
 the blood of Jesus, they are not to allow evil advisers or public 
 opinion to bring them into any kind of bondage to men, 
 
 d. Regarding the Marriage af Virgins, 7:25-40 
 
 25. Paul now turns to consider the third question about which 
 the Corinthians had asked advice, viz.: what to do in the case 
 of girls who were still at home under the care of father or 
 guardian. Before treating specifically of this matter he lays 
 down a general principle in view of the "present distress" and 
 of the belief that "the time is shortened." 
 
 I give my judgment. As one "worthy of trust" he gives an 
 
 58 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7^30 
 
 26. think, therefore, that this is good by reason of the 
 present distress, namely, that it is good for a man 
 
 27. Ho be as he is. Art thou bound unto a wife? seek 
 not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? 
 
 28. seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast 
 not sinned; and if a virgin marry, she hath not 
 sinned. Yet such shall have tribulation in the flesh: 
 
 29. and I would spare you. But this I say, brethren, 
 the time ^ is shortened, that henceforth both those 
 
 30. that have wives may be as though they had none; 
 and those that weep, as though they wept not; and 
 those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and 
 
 * Gr., so to he. 
 
 " Or, is shortened henceforth, that both those, etc. 
 
 opinion which is not to be taken as a fixed rule, but which, in 
 their conditions, should have careful attention. Those conditions 
 are covered by the description 
 
 26. The present distress, which refers to the troublous 
 times preceding the Lord's coming (see Lk. 21:23-28). Paul 
 and the early church generally believed in the nearness of the 
 Lord's second advent. In view of this crisis it is good for any- 
 one (not merely virgins) to be as he is, i.e., to remain with- 
 out change of condition. Verse 27 explains this last statement. 
 
 28. Marriage, while discouraged because of existing circum- 
 stances, is not to be looked upon as sinful. It is simply that it 
 shall bring tribulation in the flesh. "He that hath wife and 
 children hath given hostages to fortune." Persecutions might 
 come. 
 
 29-32. But this I say, rather, I declare. This earnest 
 utterance is antithetic to what he has advised about remaining 
 in the condition in which each one was, especially in the unmar- 
 ried condition. All are urged to change their attitude toward 
 earthly things, in view of the fact that the time is shortened. 
 The Lord's coming is nigh. They must live as those who at any 
 moment may be called to leave earthly relations and interests. 
 This does not mean that they were to be neglectful of present 
 duty. Family obligations were not to be ignored nor business 
 interests abandoned, but they must keep in mind the great 
 expectation of their faith. They must maintain that spiritual 
 detachment which would save them from becoming entangled 
 in the affairs of this world and encumbered by them. Sorrow and 
 
 59 
 
7:31 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 31. those that buy, as though they possessed not; and 
 those that use the world, as not ^abusing it: for 
 
 32. the fashion of this world passeth away. But I would 
 have you to be free from cares. He that is unmar- 
 ried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he 
 
 33. may please the Lord: but he that is married is care- 
 ful for the things of the world, how he may please 
 
 34. his ^ wife. And there is a difference also between 
 the wife and the virgin. She that is unmarried is 
 careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be 
 holy both in body and in spirit : but she that is mar- 
 ried is careful for the things of the world, how she 
 
 35. may please her husband. And this I say for your 
 
 1 SV, using it to the full. 
 
 ^ SV, wife, and is divided. So also the woman that is unmarried 
 and the virgin is careful, etc. 
 
 joy are both to be tempered by the thought of the coming of 
 the Lord. What one buys he will not hold with too keen a 
 sense of possession; he will use the world but not to excess 
 for the fashion, i.e., its external state, "the world of marry- 
 ings and marketings, of feasts and funerals" is passing away. 
 In this section the writer has turned, as in 17-24, from con- 
 sidering wedlock to other earthly conditions involving engage- 
 ments which might fetter the Spirit. He now returns to the 
 subject of wedlock and in verses 32-34 gives another reason 
 for abstention from marriage, viz., freedom of mind for devo- 
 tion to Christ's work. This reason is enforced by all that he has 
 written regarding the "shortened time." 
 
 32-35. I would have you free from cares. The unmarried 
 man is "anxious" to devote himself wholly to the work of the 
 Lord; the married man is "anxious" to please his wife as well 
 as to serve the Lord. His care has in it, therefore, an element 
 of distraction. Care for the earthly circumstances of married 
 life is identified with care for the things of the world. Not that 
 I may cast a snare upon you. The figure is that of a halter 
 or lasso, not a trap, and means that he does not wish to deprive 
 them of freedom to marry. He is rather advising that which, 
 in view of the exigencies of the times, is "seemly" and may 
 allow attendance upon the Lord without distraction. Lk. 10:39- 
 41 illustrates the force of the last clause of verse 35. 
 
 60 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7^37 
 
 own profit; not that I may cast a ^ snare upon you, 
 but for that which is seemly, and that ye may attend 
 
 36. upon the Lord without distraction. But if any 
 thinketh that he behaveth unseemly toward his ^ vir- 
 gin daughter, if she be past the flower of her age, 
 and if need so requireth, let him do what he will; 
 
 37. he sinneth not; let them marry. But he that 
 standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, 
 but hath power as touching his own will, and hath 
 determined this in his own heart, to keep his own 
 
 ^ Or, constraint; Gr., noose. "Or, virgin (omitting daughter). 
 
 36-37. The specific question as to what a father ought to do 
 with a daughter of age to marry is now considered. In accord 
 with ancient custom the advice is given to parents who decide 
 on the marriage of their children. Two cases are supposed in 
 giving the advice which the Corinthians were seeking: (i) That 
 in which a daughter is past the flower of her age, i.e., over 
 twent}' years old, and there are good reasons for the marriage 
 (if need so requireth) . The father then is to give his consent 
 and let his daughter and her suitor marry. He commits no sin 
 in so doing. (2) That in which the father is firmly convinced 
 in his own mind (standeth stedfast in his heart) as against 
 social pressure that it is better for his daughter to remain single; 
 is under no constraint (having no necessity) from peculiar 
 circumstances but can act freely according to his own will. In 
 such a case he does well if he keep her at home unmarried. 
 There is no fixed rule according to which a father must always 
 act. Marriage is honorable but in the general situation, as Paul 
 viewed it, the 'single life was preferable. 
 
 Another interpretation of this difficult section (7:36-37) is 
 to-day meeting with favor * and merits attention. It requires 
 some modifications in the translation of the section. This is, 
 therefore, given below: 
 
 "If anyone considers he is not behaving properly to the maid 
 who is his spiritual bride, if his passions are strong and if it 
 must be so, then let him do what he wants — let them be mar- 
 
 * See Moflfat's translation of i Cor. 7:36-38; David Smith, The Life 
 and Letters of St. Paid, pp. 266-268; Lake, The Earlier Epistles of 
 Paul, pp. 184-19 1 ; Peake, Commentarv on the Bible, pp. 839-840. 
 
 61 
 
7:38 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 $8. ^ virgin daughter, shall do well. So then both he 
 that giveth his own ^ virgin daughter in marriage 
 doeth well; and he that giveth her not in marriage, 
 
 ^ Or, virgin (omitting daughter). 
 
 ried; it is no sin for him. But the man of firm purpose who 
 has made up his mind, who instead of being forced against his 
 will, has determined to himself to keep his maid a spiritual 
 bride — that man will be doing the right thing. Thus both are 
 right alike in marrying and in refraining from marriage, but he 
 who does not marry will be found to have done better." 
 
 According to this interpretation Paul is not writing about the 
 duties of a father in reference to unmarried daughters, but of a 
 husband toward his "spiritual bride." A spiritual bride was one 
 who was pledged to share the spiritual life of a given man to 
 whom she was not married but with whom she was to live in 
 spiritual fellowship. 
 
 The specific question touching upon the relation of a man to 
 his spiritual bride is now considered. "What shall he do if he 
 finds himself unequal to the abstinence he has attempted?" or 
 to put the question in the words of the text, "If he thinketh he 
 behaveth unseemly * toward his spiritual bride" and if he 
 be overpassionate and his nature demands marriage. 
 What then? The course is clear — "let them marry." As second- 
 ing this rendering the following points are to be noted: (a) In 
 the original (Greek) neither the word "father" nor "daughter" 
 occurs. It reads "if anyone behaveth unseemly toward his vir- 
 gin." (b) The phrase "act unseemly" is not strictly appropriate 
 to a father's conduct toward his daughter, (c) Let them marry 
 naturally applies to the husband and his spiritual bride, (d) A 
 more natural sense is given to the whole section, (e) The trans- 
 lation "exceedingly lusty" or "overpassionate" instead of "past 
 the flower of her age" is justifiable since found elsewhere. In 
 the Apostolic Constitutions (III, 2) it is rendered "overpassion- 
 ate." It is appHed here to the man. 
 
 Two difficulties confront this interpretation, (i) The verb 
 rendered in the Revised Version "give in marriage" (28) must 
 be changed to "marry." The word is not found outside the New 
 Testament and is there translated "give in marriage." On the 
 analogy, however, of like formations the verb can mean "to prac- 
 tice marriage" or "to celebrate marriage," either of which would 
 fit into the above interpretation. (2) The custom of spiritual 
 
 * The word has a sexual reference in Rom. i :27. 
 62 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7 -40 
 
 39 
 
 shall do better. A wife is bound for so long time 
 as her husband liveth; but if the husband be ^ dead, 
 she is free to be married to whom she will; only in 
 40. the Lord. But she is happier if she abide as she 
 is, after my judgment: and I think that I also have 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 2. On Eating Meat Offered to Idols, 8:i— ii:i 
 
 It was the intimate relation of idolatrous worship to 
 social life which gave rise to the questions connected 
 with this subject. The temples in a city like Cormth 
 were often closely identified with social festivities. The 
 sacrifice was the center of worship, and, as the greater 
 part of the animal offered (only the legs and entrails 
 were burned) reverted to the worshipers, the occasion 
 for sacrifice was also the occasion for a banquet either 
 
 1 Or, fallen asleep. 
 
 marriage cannot be traced back of the second century. It is, 
 however, possible that owing to the emphasis Paul put upon the 
 value of celibacy as well as to an ascetic reaction against the 
 impurity of Corinth that this exceptional expedient arose. If 
 the expedient in any case became too severe, it might be ended 
 by marriage. , , , ,. 
 
 39-40 To the same import is the appended word regardmg 
 the remarriage of widows. It is perfectly right for them to 
 marry again if they marry in the Lord, i.e., with those who are 
 believers, but a widow is more blessed if she remain a widow 
 in order that she may give undivided devotion to the Lord. In 
 all his advice upon the question of marriage or remarriage Paul 
 believes that he is guided by the Spirit and not from mere per- 
 'lonal inclination. It is to be remembered, however, that he is 
 speaking to Corinthians and at a time when the expectation of 
 the Lord's speedy coming was emphasized. These considerations 
 have done much to determine the character of the teaching. 
 Nevertheless, it is well to note that the marriage of Christians 
 is in any circumstances honorable. Exceptional conditions may 
 make celibacy preferable but only for those who are continent 
 and eagerly desire to serve the Lord. Paul does not exalt celibacy 
 as an ideal for all. 
 
 63 
 
7:40 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 in the temple itself or at the home. To this relatives and 
 friends were invited. Such an invitation has come to 
 light in an Egyptian papyrus: "Chairemon invites you 
 to dinner at the table of the Lord Serapis in the Sera- 
 paeum, to-morrow, i.e., the fifteenth" (Pap. Oxy. i, no). 
 These gatherings were by no means always religious. 
 Associations and clubs of various kinds, though organ- 
 ized for nonreligious purposes, were usually united by a 
 bond of devotion to some deity in whose temple they held 
 social feasts. The god himself was supposed to be the 
 host. What should a Christian do in case he were in- 
 vited? Furthermore, much of the meat for sale in the 
 public markets came from sacrificial altars. Had it be- 
 come thereby polluted? What was a Christian's duty 
 in regard to this? Must he carefully inquire about it 
 before buying it, or partaking of it, if he sat down at 
 the table of a non-Christian friend? Apparently there 
 were two opinions upon the subject in the Corinthian 
 Church. Some, sure in their judgment that the idols 
 of the city represented merely imaginary things and, 
 therefore, really had no significance, claimed full liberty 
 in the matter. "We have knowledge," they boasted, "all 
 things are lawful" for us; we may eat wherever and 
 whenever idol-meats are put before us. Others, having 
 no such firm conviction regarding the nothingness of 
 idols were troubled with scruples, — survivals from their 
 habits of idolatrous worship. They had so long revered 
 the deities whom the idols represented that they could 
 not free themselves completely from a sense of their 
 reality. In partaking of these meats they were fearful 
 lest they take part again in the worship they had given 
 up. Their consciences would then be defiled. "The 
 strong" saw no reason for any breach of social friendli- 
 ness; "the weak," desiring to keep alive friendly rela- 
 tions with former friends, could do so only with spiritual 
 peril to themselves. 
 
 64 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:3 
 
 Such was the situation and Paul meets it by showing 
 (i) how "the strong" must act in view of the weak. 
 Personal liberty must be restricted by the spirit of love 
 (8:1-13). This he illustrates and enforces by his own 
 practice (9:1-22). He then considers (2) the value of 
 voluntary restriction of personal liberty to the strong 
 themselves. Without it they may in the end fail 
 (9:23-27). A confirmatory example of this is the experi- 
 ence of Israel in the wilderness (10:1-14). Finally he 
 dwells upon the inconsistency of Christians attending 
 idol -feasts. These feasts imply fellowship with demons. 
 Can a Christian who has fellowship with Christ have 
 fellowship with demons (10:15-22)? The whole sec- 
 tion concludes with a summary statement of the rules 
 which should regulate one's action (10:23—11:1). 
 
 8. I. Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: we 
 know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth 
 
 2. up but love ^ edifieth. If any man thinketh that he 
 knoweth anything, he knoweth not yet as he ought 
 to know; but if any man loveth God, the same is 
 
 3- 
 
 1 Gr., buildeth up. 
 
 a. How the Strong Must Act in View of the Weak; Personal 
 Liberty Must Be Restricted by the Spirit of Love, 8:1-13. 
 
 8:1. We know that we all have knowledge. This is quite 
 likely a quotation from the Corinthian letter and is made with 
 a touch of irony. There is a bit of conceit in the assertion. At 
 any rate the enlightenment which they claimed seems to have 
 been of that purely intellectual kind which easily fosters pride. 
 They might clearly know that an idol is nothing and yet work 
 harm through their knowledge. Only love can save one from 
 this for it is love that "buildeth up" (edifieth) a church. 2. In- 
 deed, if any man thinks that he has come to know anything but 
 knows it simply with his head, he does not know as he ought to 
 know. Knowledge which is devoid of love is really not a 
 true knowledge. 3. The real way to the knowledge of God is to 
 love Him (i Jn. 4:7-8). Spiritual knowledge has in it the ale- 
 
 6s 
 
8':4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 4. known of him. Concerning therefore the eating of 
 things sacrificed to idols we know that no idol is 
 anything in the world, and that there is no God but 
 
 5. one. For though there be that are called gods, 
 whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods 
 
 6. many, and lords many; yet to us there is one God, 
 the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto 
 him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are 
 
 7. all things, and we through him. Howbeit in all men 
 there is not that knowledge: but some, being used 
 
 ment of appropriation. He who knows God in this way is 
 known of Him which guarantees the fact that the man himself 
 has true knowledge. In this way before coming to the answer 
 of the question itself regarding idol-meats Paul calls upon the 
 Corinthians to reflect upon the worth for real Christian service 
 of the knowledge which they claimed. 
 
 4. No idol is anything. The better translation is there is 
 no idol in the world as the structure is parallel with the next 
 clause "and that there is no God." It may be a statue; it cannot 
 be the image of a god who does not exist. 
 
 5-6. Over against the polytheistic faith of the Greek who 
 believed "in gods many" is set the clear enlightened creed of the 
 Corinthian Church: — "one God, the Father — the source of all 
 created things and the One to whom we Christians are conse- 
 crated; one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things came 
 into being (the Messianic stamp is upon all creation) and through 
 whom we Christians are what we are because He has redeemed 
 us." If this creed was part of the Corinthian letter addressed to 
 Paul, which is not at all improbable, it shows what an emanci- 
 pation from the superstitions of heathendom had come to many 
 in the church. Such a creed surely made meats sacrificed to 
 idols things morally indifferent and opened the way to freedom. 
 It is to be noted also how early the higher doctrine of the Lord's 
 person existed in the faith of the church. Paul would undoubt- 
 edly have encouraged the freedom which this "knowledge" 
 brought had it not been for the "weaker brothers." Because of 
 them, the spirit of love lays restriction upon the exercise of 
 freedom. 
 
 7. Howbeit in all men there is not that knowledge. In 
 some there was not the clear insight of the creed given above. 
 Weakness of understanding or the easy habit of heathen worship 
 made it impossible for them to get rid of the impression that an 
 
 66 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:12 
 
 until now to the idol, eat as of a thing sacrificed to 
 an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. 
 
 8. But meat will not commend us to God: neither, if 
 we eat not, ^ are we the worse ; nor, if we eat, ^ are 
 
 9. we the better. But take heed lest by any means 
 this ^ liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to 
 
 10. the weak. For if a man see thee which hast knowl- 
 edge sitting at meat in an idol's temple, will not 
 his conscience, if he is weak, * be emboldened to eat 
 
 11. things sacrificed to idols? For ^ through thy knowl- 
 edge he that is weak perisheth, the brother for whose 
 
 12. sake Christ died. And thus sinning against the 
 brethren, and wounding their conscience when it is 
 
 ^ Gr., do we lack. ' Gr., do we abound. ' Or, power. 
 
 * Gr., be builded up. " Gr., in. 
 
 idol is a reality and therefore, in eating the idol sacrifices, they 
 felt that they were doing wrong. And so their conscience, 
 being weak, is defiled. It is defiled by doing something which, 
 through want of insight, it considers idolatrous, thus bringing a 
 sense of guilt. It is to be noted that Paul has not in mind 
 censorious and narrow-minded people. "Weak brethren" are not 
 those who wish to make others fit to their whims or demand 
 certain restrictions upon freedom because they have different 
 and decided conceptions of duty. It is rather one who, troubled 
 by unfounded scruples, is quietly emboldened to do violence to 
 them through the example of others. It is one thing to use 
 freedom in the maintenance of right principles; it is quite 
 another to embolden a scrupulous conscience to be untrue to 
 itself. 
 
 8. But meat will not commend us to God. As that 
 "which goeth into the mouth cannot defile a man" the eating 
 of meats offered to idols can in no way affect our relation to 
 God, Whether a Christian of insight exercises his freedom or 
 restricts it, he in no way, changes his position toward God as 
 far as the food is concerned. The serious question to be con- 
 sidered in the whole matter is the effect of our action upon 
 others. That possible effect is shown in the next verses. 
 
 9-12. An "enlightened" Christian goes to a banquet. A "weak 
 brother" in the same company sees him partake of the feast. 
 What follows? He is emboldened to join in the feast. Paul 
 
 67 
 
8:i3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 13. weak, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore if meat 
 maketh my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh 
 for evermore, that I make not my brother to stumble. 
 
 9. I. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not 
 seen Jesus our Lord? Are ye not my work in the 
 
 2. Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least 
 I am to you: for the seal of mine apostleship are ye 
 
 uses ironically the word "edified" — edified to the weakening of 
 his conscience ! The very "enlightenment" which takes the one 
 freely to the feast becomes the means of the other's entering upon 
 the road to ruin. "Through thy knowledge he that is weak 
 perisheth." Furthermore the weak Christian is a "brother"; 
 Christ died for him. The sin, therefore, is not alone against a 
 fellow-disciple, weak though he be. It is against Christ. This 
 is the climax of the tragedy. The loveless exercise of freedom 
 could not be more clearly condemned. 
 
 13. Wherefore. Note in this personal pledge the recurrence 
 of the word "brother." "It is this personal element that turns 
 an academic question into a vital and personal one." Note also 
 that the pledge is conditional. If there is no danger of offense 
 to a "brother" then the freedom which enlightenment gives is 
 unrestricted. 
 
 b. Paul's Example of Self-denial for the Sake of Others, 9:1-27 
 
 In setting forth his own practice of restricting personal liberty 
 for the highest interests of others Paul's thought moves as fol- 
 lows: There are indisputable proofs of his apostleship (vss. 
 1-2) and that apostleship has certain rights which he was free 
 to claim (vss. 4-11). These rights he had foregone in the sacred 
 interests of the gospel. He had not only made no claim for 
 material support, but he had brought himself under bondage to 
 all — Jew and Gentile, that he might win them for Christ, 
 
 1. Am I not free? Have I not the freedom of one who is 
 Christian? Am I not an apostle? While the main purpose 
 of this latter question is to lead up to the thought of the rights 
 which he is willing to forego for the sake of others, there is also 
 an emphasis upon the validity of his apostleship. 
 
 2. The two credentials of his apostleship are (i) that he has 
 seen Jesus our Lord. Paul rarely uses this combination of 
 names: generally he has Christ Jesus or Jesus Christ. The name 
 Jesus stands for the earthly life of the Master. "Jesus our 
 
 68 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9:6 
 
 3. in the Lord. My defence to them that examine me 
 
 4. is this. Have we no right to eat and drink? Have 
 
 5. we no right to lead about a wife that is a ^ beUever, 
 even as the rest of the apostles and the brethren of 
 
 6. the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, 
 
 ^ Gr., sister. 
 
 Lord" signifies the risen Jesus. The reference of the whole state- 
 ment is to the experience on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3-51 
 17). (2) The Corinthian Church. That under the power of 
 God he had established a Christian church in Corinth was in 
 itself ample vindication of his claim to be "sent" of the Lord 
 (2 Cor. 3:2). 
 
 3. This refers to what has just been set forth. His apostle- 
 ship had evidently been challenged in Corinth, but we are to 
 bear in mind in this chapter, that the main consideration is not 
 so much the defense of his apostleship as it is his unwillingness 
 to press his rights as an apostle to the offense of others. 
 
 4. With this verse begins the section (4-1 5a) setting forth 
 the rights of those who minister to the church in spiritual things. 
 As an apostle Paul claims that at the expense of the church he 
 is entitled to (a) material support {b) to take a wife with him 
 on his journeys (c) to be freed from the necessity of manual 
 labor. The last is really the first claim stated in negative form. 
 
 5. A wife that is a believer. The Greek reads, "a sister — 
 a wife." The question in substance is: "Have we not the right 
 to take a Christian sister to wife and to have her go with us 
 on our journeys?" As the rest of the apostles. An indica- 
 tion that most of the apostles were married and took their wives 
 with them on their missionary tours. The brethren of the 
 Lord. Mentioned because of their preeminence in the church. 
 They, too, had claimed and used this right of taking their wives 
 with them at the expense of the church. See Matt. 13:55 for 
 their names. Their relationship to the Lord has been much dis- 
 puted and is still undecided. Were they (i) actual brothers, 
 (2) half brothers, or (3) cousins? There is no decisive reason 
 against (i), (2) is possible, (3) is improbable. Cephas is 
 especially mentioned because his name and example were well 
 known in Corinth. 
 
 6. Or I only and Barnabas. Barnabas, who, from the man- 
 ner of the use of his name, was apparently widely known, had 
 joined Paul in the work of self -maintenance. 
 
 69 
 
9 7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 7. have we not a right to forbear working? What 
 soldier ever serveth at his own charges? Who 
 planteth a vineyard and eateth not the fruit thereof? 
 or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk 
 
 8. of the flock? Do I speak these things after the 
 manner of men? or saith not the law also the same? 
 
 9. For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt 
 not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. 
 Is it for the oxen that God careth, or ^ saith he it 
 
 10. altogether for our sake? Yea, for our sake it was 
 written: because he that ploweth ought to plow in 
 hope and he that thresheth, to thresh in hope of par- 
 
 11. taking. If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it 
 
 * Or, saith he it, as he doubtless doth, for our sake; SV, assuredly 
 for our sake. 
 
 7. Having set forth his parity with the apostles and other 
 eminent servants of the church in his claim for material support 
 he now adduces five distinct reasons for the defense of this claim, 
 (i) Analogy. The soldier is paid for his services; the planter 
 eats of his vineyard; the shepherd partakes of the milk from the 
 flock which he feeds. 
 
 8. (2) The teaching of the Law. This is higher than 
 human judgment ("after the manner of men") ; the Law (Deut. 
 25:4) yields the same principle when understood in its full 
 import. "Thou shalt not muzzle a threshing ox." As he tramples 
 out the grain upon the threshing floor he is allowed to eat. 
 This custom is continued in Palestine to this day. 
 
 9. Is it for the oxen that God careth? The form of the 
 question in Greek "it is not for the oxen, is it, etc." plainly 
 expects the answer "No" — but this can mean only that it is not 
 primarily for the oxen. The law was for man's moral good. 
 It was to be secured in this case by his humanity toward his 
 beasts. 
 
 10. Altogether — assuredly. For our sake. The principle 
 involved was originally for the Jewish nation, but Paul makes 
 especial application of it to Christian teachers. Because (that). 
 Better, "to show that." The force is explanatory rather than 
 casual. They should work in the hope of partaking of the 
 products of their spiritual labor. 
 
 11-12. This gives the third reason in defense of his claim for 
 support, viz., the intrinsic justice of it. He had brought to 
 
 70 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9:18 
 
 a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things? 
 
 12. If others partake of this right over you, do we not 
 yet more? Nevertheless we did not use this right; 
 but we bear all things that we may cause no hin- 
 
 13. drance to the gospel of Christ. Know ye not that 
 they which minister about sacred things eat oj the 
 things of the temple and they which wait upon the 
 
 14. altar have their portion with the altar? Even so 
 did the Lord ordain that they which proclaim the 
 
 15. gospel should live of the gospel. But I have used 
 none of these things: and I write not these things 
 that it may be so done in my case: for it were good 
 for me rather to die than that any man should make 
 
 16. my glorying void. For if I preach the gos- 
 pel, I have nothing to glory of; for neces- 
 sity is laid upon me; for woe is unto me, 
 
 17. if I preach not the gospel. For if I do this of 
 mine own will, I have a reward: but if not of mine 
 own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. 
 
 18. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the 
 
 them rich spiritual blessings. Should they not in return, give him 
 enough of their earthly gains upon which to live? This reason 
 was further sustained by the fact that they had already sup- 
 ported other teachers. We bear all things. The verb indi- 
 cates a patient endurance of all the consequences that came 
 to him from not availing himself of the right of support. 
 
 13. Again the practice of the priests confirmed his claim. A 
 portion of every sacrifice was always reserved for them (see 
 Numb. 18:8-20). 
 
 i4-i5a. His last reason is the word of Jesus himself, "The 
 laborer is worthy of his food" (Matt. 10:10; Lk. 10:7). 
 
 After thus giving reasons in defense of "the righteousness of a 
 minister's claim to support he turns to declare that he will make 
 no use of the privileges to which he is entitled and to explain 
 why he takes this stand. It is for the gospel's sake (23) (vss. 
 iSb-23). My glorying. His boast is that he preaches the gos- 
 pel without cost to the church. 
 
 16-18. Preaching itself is no ground for glorying. He was 
 obliged to do this. The duty, the necessity to preach, was laid 
 
 71 
 
grig EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 gospel, I may make the gospel without charge, so 
 
 19. as not to use to the full my right in the gospel. For 
 though I was free from all men, I brought myself 
 under bondage to all that I might gain the more. 
 
 20. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might 
 gain Jews; to them that are under the law, as under 
 the law, not being myself under the law, that I 
 
 21. might gain them that are under the law; to them 
 that are without law, as without law, not being with- 
 out law to God, but under law to Christ, that I 
 
 upon him by the commission given him on the way to Damascus 
 (see Acts 9:15; 13:2; 22:21). He was "laid hold on by Christ 
 Jesus" (Phil. 3:12). Hence his position was not that of one 
 who of his own free will had taken up the service; he was rather 
 like a steward whose work was chosen for him and of whom 
 fidelity was expected (4:2). He was not to be rewarded for 
 simply doing his duty (Lk. 17:10). And yet he had a reward 
 in that he had determined to preach without pay for thereby 
 he had the satisfaction which comes to a generous mind from 
 unpaid service. Note the succession of "fors" in verses 16-17. 
 
 19. For though I was free from all men. Turning back 
 again to the thought of "freedom" with its implied rights Paul 
 sets forth other ways in which he gave up his rights in the 
 interests of others and for the furtherance of the gospel. 
 
 20. To the Jews I became as a Jew. The word Jew has 
 here "a religious, not a racial meaning." Paul, of course, re- 
 mained a Jew by race. Illustrations of the way in which he 
 "became as a Jew" are found in Acts 16:3; 18:18; 21:26; 23:6; 
 26:22. To them that are under the law. These were in all 
 probability circumcised proselytes. They were "under the Mosaic 
 law, and the above illustrations from the Acts explain also how 
 he became "as under the law." The death of Christ had freed 
 him from subjection to the law of Moses but he was bound by 
 the law of Christ, i.e., by the law of love. It was love which 
 constrained him to waive his rights that he might win the 
 greater number. 
 
 21. To them that are without law. These are the heathen. 
 Paul often accommodated himself to their prejudices (Gal. 2:3, 
 12, 14). He quoted their poets and once used as a text an 
 inscription from one of their altars. Acts 17:23, 28. As with- 
 out law. This is not the equivalent of our English "Outlaw" 
 
 72 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9:25 
 
 22. might gain them that are without law. To the weak 
 I became weak that I might gain the weak. I am 
 become all things to all men, that I may by all 
 
 23. means save some. And I do all things for the gos- 
 pel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof. 
 
 24. Know ye not that they which run in a ' race run 
 all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run that 
 
 25. ye may attain. And every man that striveth in the 
 games is temperate in all things. Now they do it to 
 receive a corruptible crown ; but we an incorruptible. 
 
 ^ Gr., race-course. 
 
 (Evans) which is too strong. It means rather that he took 
 the heathen point of view as opposed to the Jewish who were 
 under law. The limitation upon this is in the words that follow. 
 The law of love (Christ's law) saved him from the violation of 
 Christian principle, while it gave him, through sympathetic ac- 
 commodation, the greater power to win men to the gospel. 
 
 22. To the weak I became weak. He respected their 
 scruples and refrained from doing what seemed to them wrong. 
 I am become all things, i.e., all things possible to sympathetic 
 accommodation but not contrary to Christian principles. His 
 purpose was to save men; his motive was Christian love ex- 
 hibiting itself wherever needful in self-denial. 
 
 c. The Value of Voluntary Restriction of Personal Liberty to the 
 Strong Themselves, 9:23-27 
 
 23. Hitherto Paul has been urging self-denial for the salvation 
 of others. Now he presses its claim as a means of achieving 
 one's own salvation. Without it he might fail to be a partaker 
 therein with those for whom he had labored. In other words, 
 self-denial was of the very spirit of the gospel itself. It were 
 tragic indeed, because of a lack of it to preach to others about 
 it and in the end be rejected. 
 
 24. So run that ye may obtain. The Isthmian games cele- 
 brated every third year not far from the city were familiar to 
 all his readers. Two oT the five — boxing, racing, wrestling, leap- 
 ing and throwing of the discus — he selects for illustration of his 
 meaning. 
 
 25. Temperate in all things. Those who took part in the 
 games were required to abstain for ten months from all physical 
 indulgence. The points in both illustrations ^re self-discipline 
 
 73 
 
9:26 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 26. I therefore so run, as not uncertainly; so ^ fight I, 
 
 27. as not beating the air: but I ^buffet my body ^nd 
 bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that 
 I have preached to others I myself should be re- 
 jected. 
 
 10. I. For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant 
 how that our fathers were all under the cloud and 
 
 2. all passed through the sea; and were all baptized 
 
 3. ^ unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did 
 
 ^ Gr., box. 2 Qj.,^ bruise. ^ Gr., into. 
 
 and definiteness of aim. The application to the earnest endeavor 
 of winning eternal life is patent, 
 
 27. Rejected. A term from the games, "rejected by the um- 
 pire." Such rejection was no imaginary danger, as an illustra- 
 tion from the history of Israel will show. 
 
 d. The Rejection of Ancient Israel and its Warning to them, 
 10:1-14 
 
 1. For refers back to "rejected" (9:27) and introduces an 
 illustration corroborating the danger referred to. Our fathers, 
 i.e., our spiritual fathers. The Gentiles have through faith be- 
 come members of the spiritual Israel (Rom. 4:11). All. Five 
 times attention is called to the fact that all shared the blessings 
 of God, but yet with most of them (really only two were excep- 
 tions) God was not pleased (vs. S). 
 
 2. Baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea 
 (Ex. 13:21, 22; 14:22). They gave themselves in loyalty to 
 Moses in those experiences which attended their deliverance from 
 Egypt — the baptism in the cloud and in the sea. Not only were 
 they delivered from bondage but they were given daily sus- 
 tenance. 
 
 3. Spiritual meat. . . . Spiritual drink. The manna (Ex. 
 16:14) and the water from the rock (Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11) 
 were material in substance but spiritual in the sense that for 
 those who partook of them with discernment they had spiritual 
 power. "They were intended to convince the covenant people 
 of God's special relation to them" and so to strengthen their 
 faith. Such divinely ordered sustenance was clear evidence of a 
 redeeming purpose. 
 
 74 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 10:7 
 
 4. all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink 
 the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual 
 
 5. rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ. 
 Howbeit with most of them God was not well 
 pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilder- 
 
 6. ness. ^ Now these things were our examples to the 
 intent we should not lust after evil things as they 
 
 7. also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some 
 of them; as it is written, The people sat down to 
 
 ^ Or, in these things they became figures of us. 
 
 4. A spiritual rock that followed them. As explaining "the 
 spiritual drink" two statements are made (i) that it came from 
 a spiritual rock which followed them, and (2) that this rock 
 was Christ. A Rabbinical legend traceable back to the first 
 century a. d. is to the effect that a well (later a rock) followed 
 the Israelites and gave them drink. It may be that this legend 
 suggested to Paul the form of presentation of his teaching, but 
 the adjective "spiritual" dismisses entirely any literal acceptance 
 of the story. He is thinking of the preexistent Christ through 
 whom God's redemptive purpose had expression in the old as 
 well as in the new dispensation. This "expression" of God in 
 Old Testament times is described in the Book of Wisdom 10:16 
 as Wisdom; in Philo, as the Word. For the preexistence of 
 Christ see Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 8:9; Gal. 4:4; Phil. 2:5-6. 
 
 5. All had the blessings, nevertheless only two — Caleb and 
 Joshua — entered the promised land (Num. 14:16, 29-30). Here- 
 in was the stern warning against a careless, unspiritual use of 
 God's blessings. 
 
 6. These things. The misuse of divine blessings and the 
 consequent rejection. Examples for us (not types of us) show- 
 ing us that we should not lust after evil things (Num. 11:34). 
 Four examples of sins springing from this lust after evil things 
 are selected from the history of Israel because of the parallel 
 situation of the Corinthians. The first of these is 
 
 7. Idolatry. The incident in the Old Testament is the wor- 
 ship of the molten calf (Ex. 32:6). In connection with this 
 worship there was a feast in honor of the new God. Neither 
 be ye idolaters. Attending the feasts in idol-temples might be 
 playing with temptation. Rose up to play — to take part in 
 frolicking and dancing. 
 
 75 
 
10 :8 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 8. eat and rose up to play. Neither let us commit 
 fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in 
 
 9. one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us 
 tempt the ^ Lord, as some of them tempted, and 
 
 10. perished by the serpents. Neither murmur ye as 
 some of them murmured, and perished by the de- 
 
 1 1 . stroyer. Now these things happened unto them ^ by 
 way of example; and they were written for our 
 admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are 
 
 12. come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth 
 
 13. take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities read Christ. ^ Gr., by way of figure. 
 
 8. Fornication. Israel's sin is recounted in Num. 25:1-9. 
 Because of it 24,000 perished. The number given in the text is 
 probably due to a lapse of memory. Idolatry and fornication 
 were closely associated at Corinth. The priestesses in the temple 
 of Aphrodite were courtesans. 
 
 9. Tempt the Lord. To test God to the utmost limit by 
 "the sin of mingled unbelief, impatience and presumptuousness." 
 The incident in the Old Testament to which reference is made 
 is found in Num. 21:4-9. The Corinthians were tempting God 
 by trifling with idolatry. 
 
 10. Murmur. The Israelites exhibited a spirit of rebellious 
 discontent with Moses and Aaron for their severe punishment 
 of Korah and his followers (Num. 16:41). This was being 
 paralleled in Corinth by the irritation over the rigid teaching of 
 Paul regarding self-denial in the matter of idol-festivities. 
 Destroyer. Not Satan but the destroying angel sent by God 
 Himself (Ex. 12:23). 
 
 11. The ends of the ages. "The ages are the successive 
 periods in the development of the world's history." The Cor- 
 inthians were living in the final age, and were the inheritors of 
 all God's teaching in the previous ages. It behooved them in 
 the light of Christ's revelation to interpret aright and fully the 
 meaning of past disciplines and judgment. 
 
 12. Thinketh he standeth. The strong, enlightened, self- 
 confident Corinthian who is sure he can go to the idol-feasts 
 with impunity. Lest he fall as the Israelites did. Overconfi- 
 dence begets carelessness. The only safety is in the watchfulness 
 of discipline and self-restraint. 
 
 13. While one must be watchful, on one side he is not, on 
 
 76 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS io:i6 
 
 taken you but such as man can bear; but God is 
 faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
 that ye are able; but will with the temptation make 
 also the way of escape that ye may be able to endure 
 
 14. it. Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 
 
 15. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 
 
 16. The cup of blessing which we bless is it not a ^ com- 
 munion of the blood of Christ? The ^ bread which 
 we break is it not a ^ communion of the body of 
 
 ' Or, participation in. * Or, loaf. 
 
 the other, to be afraid or distrustful. In the trying experience 
 which the breach with his old heathen life would bring about 
 his temptations would not be beyond the power of endurance. 
 Others had resisted like temptations. Moreover, God is faithful 
 to His promise to keep and will make a way of escape. 
 
 e. The Inconsistency of going to the Lord's Table and also to 
 Idol- feasts, 10:15-22 
 
 15. Ye (emphatic) yourselves. I say, I "declare" or 1 
 "admit." Judge yourselves what I admit. In order to a clear 
 understanding of this section several points must be kept in 
 mind, (i) While Paul denied the existence of the heathen divini- 
 ties he held that evil powers were at work behind the idols. 
 There is but one God in the world; an idol, therefore, is nothing 
 as the representation of a god. Malignant and degrading powers, 
 however, used idol- worship for their own ends. (2) The Lord's 
 supper and Jewish sacrificial meals are used as analogies. The 
 chief subject is the idol-feast. It is only as it bears upon this 
 that the Lord's supper is referred to. (3) The cup is mentioned 
 first probably because of its importance in the pagan ceremony. 
 The worshipers drank out of the same cup but they did not 
 partake of the same bread (Hastings, DB., p. 132). Wise 
 men, — men of good sense. 
 
 16. The cup of blessing, i.e., the cup which was consecrated 
 by the prayer of thanksgiving said over it and to which the 
 congregation said "Amen" (which we bless) . The word 
 "communion" is the key word of the whole section. It has to 
 do with personal relationship and means fellowship. Through 
 partaking of the cup and of the bread they have fellowship both 
 with Christ and with each other. The blood of Christ . . . 
 the body of Christ. These words do not imply that in the 
 
 77 
 
io:i7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 17. Christ? ^seeing that we, who are many, are one 
 2 bread, one body: for we all partake ^ of the one 
 
 18. 2 bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they 
 which eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? 
 
 19. What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols 
 
 20. is anything, or that an idol is anything? But I say 
 that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they 
 sacrifice to * devils, and not to God: and I would not 
 
 1 Or, seeing that there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body. 
 
 2 Or, loaf. ^ Gr., from. * demons. 
 
 Lord's supper we partake somehow of the substance of the 
 Lord's blood and body as really present in the elements. "Com- 
 munion of the body and blood is communion with the personal 
 Christ through appropriation of the fruits of that sacrifice which 
 is represented by the broken bread and the wine." It is a spiritual 
 communion or fellowship. 
 
 17. Seeing that we who are many, etc. The thought of 
 the verse is that as we all partake of one bread, we all belong 
 to one body. As the Lord's supper evidences our fellowship with 
 Christ, so it does our fellowship with one another, for we all 
 partake of the one bread. This fellowship should not be lightly 
 looked upon and broken by going to idolatrous feasts. 
 
 18. Israel after the flesh. Israel as a nation. Communion 
 with the altar. In eating of the sacrifices offered upon the 
 altar they came into fellowship with Him to whom the sacrifices 
 were offered. "An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me and 
 shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offer- 
 ings, thy sheep, and thy oxen and I will bless thee" (Ex. 20:24). 
 In both the Lord's supper and in the Jewish sacrificial feasts 
 there is fellowship with an unseen Divine power. Can the idol- 
 feasts be without fellowship with an unseen power? The answer 
 to this is prepared for by guarding himself against any incon- 
 sistency with what he has said in 8:4. Meat offered to idols 
 is not different from meat not so offered; neither has an idol in 
 itself any reality. Certainly not. 
 
 20. They sacrifice to demonic Powers. These constitute 
 the unseen powers with whom the worshipers in an idol temple 
 come into fellowship. The evidence of it is in the riot and de- 
 bauch which so often attended these feasts. Paul shared the 
 widespread contemporary belief in demonic Powers and their 
 evil influence upon men. His language here is reminiscent of 
 
 78 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 10:23 
 
 21. that ye should have communion with devils. Ye 
 cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of 
 ^ devils: ye cannot partake of the table of the 
 
 22. Lord and of the table of Mevils. Or do we pro- 
 voke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than 
 he? 
 
 23. All things are lawful; but all things are not ex- 
 pedient. All things are lawful but all things ^ edify 
 
 ' demons. - Gr., build not up. 
 
 the Greek version of Deut. 32:17. In this verse the real danger 
 of attendance upon idol-feasts is brought to light. 
 
 21. Ye cannot — a moral impossibility if one has real fellow- 
 ship with Christ. 
 
 22. Provoke the Lord to jealousy (Deut. 32:21). Drive 
 Him to the assertion and vindication of His exclusive claim. 
 The figure is taken from the marriage relation and has a good 
 sense. Stronger. There is a note of irony in this. 
 
 /. Conclusion — Containing some General Principles and Specific 
 Directions, 10:23 — 11 :i 
 
 The whole subject of eating meat offered to idols has, as the 
 Apostle has considered it, two distinct phases. One has to do 
 with it from the point of view the weak Christian (8:1 — 9:22) 
 and one's own highest interests (9:23 — 10:14) and urges the 
 limitation which must be put upon personal freedom. The 
 other, centering attention upon feasts connected with idola- 
 trous worship whereby those who partake are brought into 
 communion with demonic powers, makes clear the moral impos- 
 sibility of any earnest Christian taking part in them (10:15-22). 
 It is regarding only the first phase that expediency has any 
 place. The single and only line of action in regard to the 
 second is to keep away, "to flee from idolatry." These closing 
 admonitions have to do with the first phase of the matter and 
 touch upon (i) the eating of sacrificial meat bought in the 
 market; (2) eating such meat upon the table of a heathen host. 
 
 23. All things not wrong in themselves (see 6:12). Expedi- 
 ent — profitably, advantageous to one's own self (see 9:24 — 
 10:13) or to others. Edify not, do not help others in their 
 Christian Ufe; do not build up the Church. 
 
 79 
 
10 124 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 24. not. Let no man seek his own, but each his neigh- 
 
 25. bor's good. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, 
 
 26. asking no question for conscience sake; for the earth 
 
 27. is the Lord's and the fulness thereof. If one of 
 them that believe not biddeth you to a jeast, and 
 ye are disposed to go; whatsoever is set before 
 you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 
 
 28. But if any man say unto you. This hath been 
 offered in sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that shewed 
 
 29. it, and for conscience sake: conscience, I say, not 
 thine own, but the other's; jor why is my liberty 
 
 24. Our aim should be in all our social relations to look to 
 the bearing of our conduct upon the good of others. This sums 
 up 8:7 — 9:22. 
 
 25. In the case of meat bought in the public market for his 
 own table an enlightened Christian is to eat asking no question 
 for conscience sake, i.e., stating no inquiries with a view to 
 making it a matter of conscience. 
 
 26. He knows that to the Lord belongs the earth (Ps. 24:1) 
 hence that all meat is good whether offered to idols or not 
 (i Tim. 4:4; Mk. 7:15). 
 
 27. If a non-Christian friend asks some of you to a meal in 
 his home and you are disposed to go {i.e., to go after reflecting 
 upon the matter) follow the same course you would at your 
 own table, if nobody raises a question regarding the meat. Paul's 
 whole line of advice here shows that he has not in mind a 
 ceremonial feast in an idol-temple. 
 
 28. If any man say. Any scrupulous or "weak" Christian 
 (see 8:7) offered in sacrifice. The word in the original here 
 is peculiar (hierothuton) . A pagan Greek would have used it 
 to show that the sacrifice was sacred to the gods. Something 
 of this notion, perhaps, lingered in the mind of the informant. 
 At once the question altered the situation and the strong Chris- 
 tian was to refrain from eating. The principle in verse 24 came 
 into play. The scrupulous brother must not by example be in- 
 duced to violate his conscience. 
 
 29. By two rhetorical questions he justifies his refusing to eat. 
 "For v(^hy is my liberty judged by another conscience?" 
 The "for" points back to the command "do not eat" (28). 
 "Why" means not "for what reason," nor "with what right," but 
 "what worthy purpose," "what good end." The question then 
 
 80 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS ii:i 
 
 30. judged by another conscience? ^ If I by grace par- 
 take, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I 
 
 31. give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat or drink or 
 
 32. whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give 
 no occasion of stumbling, either to Jews or to Greeks, 
 
 7,7,. or to the Church of God: even as I also please all 
 men in all things not seeking mine own profit, but 
 
 II. I. the profit of the many, that they may be saved. 
 Be ye imitators of me as I also am of Christ. 
 
 ^ SV, If I partake with thankfulness. 
 
 is virtually: what good end will be served if by eating I assert 
 my liberty and that liberty is condemned by the conscience of 
 another? (see Rom. 14:16). 
 
 30. The second question is to this effect: If I, with thanks 
 to God, partake of the meat and by this assertion of my right 
 and liberty call forth conscientious condemnation from those who 
 are scrupulous what advantage is there in such an assertion? 
 Both questions imply the right, as far as the enlightened Chris- 
 tian is concerned, to eat of the food; both of them justify his 
 self-denial for another's good. 
 
 31. The great principle for guidance is this: do all for the 
 glory of God. The glory of a thing is in its manifestation. We 
 glorify God when we manifest His character; notably so when 
 we show forth that spirit of love which is always considerate 
 of the good of those about us. Whatsoever ye do widens the 
 scope of the application of the principle to all relations of life. 
 
 32. To Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God. The 
 first two are outside the church and "the church of God" con- 
 tains those who need such consideration as he has been urging 
 all along. To each and all they must be offenseless. "An ill- 
 advised exhibition of Christian freedom might shock Jews and 
 an ill-advised rigor about matters indifferent might excite the 
 derision of the Greeks." Those without they must not hinder 
 from coming in; those within they must not alienate. 
 
 33. Please. The meaning of this word is not so much to 
 curry favor with all as to accommodate himself to them with 
 the stedfast purpose of saving them (that they may be saved). 
 See 9:19-23. 
 
 I. As I also am of Christ. The pattern of Christ's un- 
 selfishness is in the immeasurable sacrifice He made to redeem 
 us (Phil. 2:5-8) and His self-denying life of love (Rom. 15:3). 
 
 81 
 
II :2 
 
 III. Concerning Disorders Which Had Arisen in 
 Public Worship, 11:2 — 14:40 
 
 I. The Unveiling of the Head by Women in Public 
 Worship, 11:2-16 
 
 2. Now I praise you that ye remember me in all 
 things and hold fast the traditions, even as I de- 
 
 These disorders were the unveiling of the head by women 
 (11:2-16); the profanation of the Lord's Supper (11:17-34); 
 the misuse of spiritual gifts (12:1 — 14:40). In treating the third 
 subject the analogy of the church to the body with its unity of 
 life and variety of members is set forth (12:12-21) as is also 
 the supremacy of love (ch. 13). 
 
 This is the only passage in the New Testament which has to 
 do with this particular trouble. The atmosphere and spirit of 
 Corinth were, in all likelihood, the reason for its appearance 
 in the Corinthian church. On the part of the upper middle 
 classes, the privacy and honor of mothers and daughters were 
 carefully guarded in public by means of the veil. It was a 
 necessity in a city where hundreds of shameless women went 
 about unveiled. Then, too, there were women of unconventional 
 life — the hetaerai — who were allowed much freedom and equality 
 with men in public life. Paul's own description of the charac- 
 ter of the church (1:26-29) makes it quite possible to think that 
 there were those in its membership who favored this liberty on 
 the part of the women. Moreover, they could claim that the 
 gospel recognized the complete equality of man and woman in 
 regard to religion. Why, then, should those women who wished 
 to do away with it, be compelled to put on the veil? Paul 
 answers this question very decidedly.* The conventions of 
 
 * "The veiling of women was practised more closely and completely 
 in Tarsus than in any other Greek or Graeco-Asiatic city, and Paul, 
 who had grown up to regard veiling as a duty incumbent on all women, 
 now presents it to the Corinthians as a moral and religious obligation." 
 Ramsay, The Teaching of Paul in< Terms of the Present Day, p. 214. 
 
 82 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:4 
 
 3. livered them to you. 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 
 
 4. God. Every man praying or prophesying having his 
 
 well-ordered society must be respected. Furthermore, the whole 
 Christian and natural order alike as far as man and woman are 
 concerned, seconded this demand. Woman is subordinate to man. 
 This fact is not inconsistent with her equality with man in re- 
 gard to religion, but it is a fact, nevertheless, and warrants no 
 breach with those customs of the self-respecting society of the 
 time which recognize it. Paul argues the subordination of woman 
 to man (i) From the Christian order in the world (3-5) ; (2) 
 from the order established by creation (6-12); (3) from the 
 teaching of nature herself (14-15). 
 
 2. I praise you. The words that immediately follow these 
 are the reason of the praise. They were probably statements 
 from the letter of the Corinthians to Paul "we remember you 
 . . . and hold fast," etc. The traditions — Christian instruction 
 and rules current in the churches (2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6). 
 
 3. But I would have you know. The phrase calls their 
 attention to something new which they either had not known 
 or had not fully understood (cf. 10:1) and introduces the 
 principles which should be regulative of their action. The head 
 of every man is Christ. The Christian order is: Christ is 
 the head of man, man is the head of woman, God is the head 
 of Christ. The head is in close vital union with the body and 
 has dominion over it. Both of these realities are connoted in the 
 metaphysical meaning of "head" which may be interpreted: 
 Dominion based upon vital union. Man united to Christ by 
 faith accepts his authority over him; woman joined to man in 
 marriage accepts his authority over her; Christ as the Son is sub- 
 ordinate to the authority of God (Evans) . It is to be under- 
 stood, of course, that it is in view of the distinction of sexes 
 and of social relations that the subordination of woman is 
 spoken of. "The husband is not between a Christian wife and 
 her Lord; she is subordinate to him in the Lord and it is by 
 aiding him that she lives for the Lord." — Godet. 
 
 4. Every man praying or prophesying. This is not meant 
 to imply that such cases of disorder were taking place in the 
 church. The case is instanced only to give force by way of con- 
 trast to the proper conduct of women. Prophesying. Speak- 
 ing truth under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. 
 Dishonoreth his head. While primarily the reference is to his 
 
 83 
 
II :5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 5. head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every 
 woman praying or prophesying with her head un- 
 veiled dishonoreth her head: for it is one and the 
 
 6. same thing thing as if she were shaven. For if a 
 woman is not veiled let her also be shorn: but if it is 
 a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven let her be 
 
 7. veiled. For a man indeed ought not to have his head 
 veiled, for as much as he is the image and glory of 
 
 8. God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For 
 
 own head, indirectly, in view of the immediate context, it may 
 refer to Christ. The veil is the badge of subordination. By 
 wearing it man shames himself by denying his superiority to 
 woman and shames Christ by denying his proper relation to Him. 
 
 5. Every woman, etc. By being unveiled, while in prayer 
 or prophesying a woman dishonors her head not only in refusing 
 to acknowledge her subordination to her husband (a divinely 
 ordered relationship, — see vs. 3) but in ignoring the demand of 
 decorum, as if she were shaven. Public women went about 
 unveiled. Slave women had the head shaven. Among the Jews 
 an adulterer was thus punished. A woman who insisted upon 
 being unveiled in public worship put herself on a level with 
 these. 
 
 6. If she insists in this way also upon social equality with 
 men, let her cut her hair short like a man. As that would be 
 a mark of disgrace, let her keep her veil on. 
 
 7. Up to this point Paul has had in mind the "divine law of 
 subordination" set forth in verse 3. This law is confirmed by 
 the facts which appear in the creation of man and woman. The 
 divine order is seconded by the natural. To this attention is 
 now directed. The image and glory of God. In Gen. 1:26 
 it reads "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." 
 Paul substitutes "glory" for likeness and centers his thought upon 
 the dominion which was given to man immediately after he was 
 created. So like God was he, as compared with all the rest of 
 creation, that to him was given dominion. This was his "glory." 
 Two distinctions are made between man and woman, (i) He 
 is both the image and glory of God which she is not. (2) Man 
 is the glory of God; woman is the glory of man. Both of these 
 distinctions are reasons why the man ought not to veil his head 
 in public worship and why the woman should. 
 
 8-9. These verses contain the proofs or confirmations of the 
 fact that "woman is the glory of man." (i) That she was de- 
 
 84 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:14 
 
 the man is not of the woman; but the woman of 
 9. the man: for neither was the man created for the 
 
 10. woman; but the woman for the man: For this cause 
 ought the woman to ^ have a sign of authority on her 
 
 11. head, because of the angels. ^ Howbeit neither is the 
 woman without the man, nor the man without the 
 
 12. woman, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the 
 
 13. man so is the man also by the woman; but all things 
 are of God. Judge ye ^ in yourselves: is it seemly 
 
 14. that a woman pray unto God unveiled? Doth not 
 even nature itself teach you that, if a man have long 
 
 ^ Or, have autliority over. - SV, nevertheless. ^ Or, among. 
 
 rived from the man (Gen. 2:21-23). (2) She was created for 
 man, i.e., to be a helpmeet for him (Gen. 2:18). Man, under 
 God, is the source and aim of her being. All this is based upon 
 a Hteral acceptance of the account of the creation of woman as 
 given in Genesis. 
 
 10. For this cause, f.e., because of all that is set forth in 
 7b-9. A sign of authority. The marginal reading is better 
 "to have authority over her head," i.e., control over her head. 
 See Rev. 11:6, 14:18, 20:6; Rom. 9:21, where the same form of 
 expression appears. The veil gives a woman this control. By 
 reason of it she is not exposed to evil gaze nor insulting word. 
 Her privacy is respected and honored. In veiling herself to all 
 but her husband she acknowledges her subordination. Because 
 of the angels. The expression "the angels" in the New Testa- 
 ment always refers to holy angels. They were thought of as 
 present at public worship and would be shocked by the irrever- 
 ence and insubordination. 
 
 11-12. These words are to guard against a one-sided emphasis 
 upon woman's subordination and a possible contempt for it. In 
 the Lord. Man and woman are indispensable to each other in 
 their common life and service. Woman was taken from man, 
 but man also is born of woman, and both with their compen- 
 sating interrelations are of God. 
 
 13. The Apostle now appeals to social sentiment and natural 
 feeling. Unto God, i.e., unto God in public worship where 
 earnest prayer should be accompanied by holy modesty. 
 
 14. Nature. This means the natural feeling that had been 
 established by custom and so came to be nature. Greek, Roman, 
 and Jewish men wore their hair short. Long hair for them 
 
 85 
 
ii:i5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 15. hair, it is a dishonor to him? But if a woman have 
 long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given 
 
 16. her for a covering. But if any man seemeth to be 
 contentious, we have no such custom, neither the 
 churches of God. 
 
 2. The Profanation of the Lord's Supper, 11:17-34 
 
 17. But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that 
 ye come together not for the better but for the 
 
 was unmanly. Woman's long hair, on the contrary, was her 
 glory. Nature thus teaches that woman whose hair was "given 
 her for a covering" (vs. 15) was meant for a life of modesty 
 and retirement. The veil is but in line with this and should 
 therefore be always worn in public. Customs have changed and 
 no one would to-day argue that a woman should be veiled in 
 pubhc as symbolizing her subordination to man but the essential 
 fact of the physical subordination of woman to man remains. 
 
 16. The section ends rather sharply. If after all, these argu- 
 ments someone is determined to be contentious, disputatious, — 
 bound to argue, all that need be said is that we have no such 
 custom, i.e., of woman praying unveiled, nor do other churches. 
 That ends the matter. 
 
 Through the report of Stephanas and his companions Paul 
 had learned of the profanation of the Lord's Table (for I hear, 
 etc. [18]). It was a serious matter indeed not only in itself, 
 but in its consequences (30) and he gives it most earnest atten- 
 tion. From the very beginning of the history of the church, the 
 spirit of brotherhood had manifested itself in a common meal, 
 with which, in some way, the Eucharist was associated. It is 
 not improbable that at first every meal at which Christians met 
 was hallowed in this way. Later, it became customary for the 
 Church to assemble — perhaps every Sunday — for the common 
 Eucharistic meal. The Corinthians before they became Chris- 
 tians were not strangers to a like custom for the guilds of a 
 city like Corinth had such common feasts, at which rich and 
 poor met together. In the Greek guilds the cost of the meal 
 was paid out of the guild's treasury. The Christian custom was 
 that each one bring his own portion, as a gift to the Lord and 
 for the common repast. This custom opened the way for the 
 evils which had made the meal an occasion for the manifesta- 
 
 86 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:19 
 
 18. worse. For first of all, when ye come together Mn 
 the church I hear that -divisions exist among you; 
 
 19. and I partly believe it. For there must be also 
 
 ^ Or, in the congregation. " Gr., schisms. 
 
 s . 
 
 tion of such selfishness and irreverence as had well-nigh oblit- 
 erated all true sense of the observance of the Lord's supper 
 connected with it. As a rebuke Paul reminds them of the 
 original institution of the supper, in the night in which Jesus 
 was betrayed, showing them, by reproducing the Lord's words 
 and actions, that it was a solemn service prefiguring His sacri- 
 ficial death, and intended, in its repeated observance, to be a 
 memorial of that death. If for any reason that purpose became 
 lost from sight there was danger of "eating and drinking judg- 
 ment" to oneself (29). The emphasis in this passage (11:23-25) 
 is upon the memorial character of the Lord's supper; in 10:15-22 
 it is upon it as a means of communion or spiritual fellowship 
 with the Lord. Both passages are essential to a full interpreta- 
 tion of this sacred rite. In the section now before us, Paul com- 
 ments upon their unchristian conduct, as reported to him 17-22, 
 brings to mind the scene in the upper room in the night of the 
 Lord's betrayal, showing its solemn character (23-26), sets be- 
 fore them the seriousness of eating and drinking unworthily (27, 
 29, 30), urges them to self-examination before partaking (28, 31, 
 32) and bids them forestall the temptations to selfishness and 
 greed (33-34)- 
 
 17. This charge. The reference of the this is formally am- 
 biguous, but, in view of the structure of the original, it is better 
 to refer it to the instruction which follows regarding the Lord's 
 supper. Way's translation marks well the transition to this new 
 subject. "While I am on this subject of your church-meetings, 
 there is one feature with respect to which I cannot say well done. 
 I understand that your gatherings are so conducted as to tend, 
 not to your improvement but to your deterioration." 
 
 18. Church does not refer to a building but to the congrega- 
 tion. This is the meaning of the word in the New Testament. 
 Divisions — cliques. 
 
 19. For there must be also heresies. The general moral 
 condition of the church was such that cliques would tend to 
 crystallize into parties and the necessity (must be) for these is 
 in the providential purpose which they serve, viz., of bringing 
 to the front "approved men," men of sterling character, who 
 
 87 
 
11120 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 ^ heresies among you, that they which are approved 
 
 2 0. may be manifest among you. When therefore ye 
 
 assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to 
 
 21. eat the Lord's supper: for in your eating each one 
 taketh before other his own supper; and one is 
 
 22. hungry, and another is drunken. What? have ye 
 not houses to eat and drink in? or despise ye the 
 2 church of God, and put them to shame that ^ have 
 not? What shall I say to you? * Shall I praise you 
 
 23. in this? I praise you not. For I received of the 
 
 ^ SV, factions. _ - Or, congregation. _ ^ Or, have n-othing. 
 
 * Or, Shall I praise yon? In this I praise you not. 
 
 will either seek to establish unity or keep away from these 
 lamentable divisions. 
 
 20. In view of these divisions, it was not possible for them 
 when they gathered together to eat the Lord's supper. The 
 emphasis is upon the word "Lord's." His supper was meant to 
 inculcate brotherly love and fellowship. They were emphasizing 
 social distinctions and selfish satisfactions. Verse 21 shows how. 
 
 21. No one waited for another. Those who had abundant sup- 
 plies hurried to eat them without regard to those who had little. 
 It was really a "private supper" for each one with the disagree- 
 able qualities of greed and unconcern for others' need character- 
 izing it. The result was that one went home hungry, while 
 another had drunk to excess. Even decency was forgotten. 
 
 22. This verse is full of indignant emotion. Its full force may 
 be given in this way: "Surely you do not mean to say that 
 you have no homes in which to eat and drink? If, then, that is 
 not true (as it is not) the only alternative is that you despise 
 the church of God and put them to shame that have not. There 
 is no praise for such conduct." It sadly revealed the fact that 
 they had no true comprehension of the meaning of the supper 
 which the Lord had instituted. To give them that meaning and 
 thereby show its wide difference from a feast for satisfying physi- 
 cal appetites, Paul recounts the institution of the supper. 
 
 23. For gives the reason why he cannot praise them and points 
 to the contrast between the supper which had come to be through 
 their selfishness and the supper whose institution he had received 
 from the Lord. This does not mean that what he is to give, in 
 the words which follow regarding the supper, is a direct revela- 
 tion from the Lord, but rather that he had received them through 
 
 88 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:24 
 
 Lord that which also I delivered unto you, how the 
 
 Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed 
 
 24. took bread; and when he had given thanks, he 
 
 brake it, and said. This is my body, which ^ is for 
 
 ' Many ancient authorities read is broken for you. 
 
 tradition. They had been communicated to him by his fellow- 
 Apostles and could be followed up to Jesus himself. Paul had 
 received them and in earler days had delivered them into the 
 Corinthian church. In which he was betrayed. "There is an 
 appearance of fixed order, especially in these opening words, which 
 indicates that this had already become a familiar formula." — 
 Stanley. Took bread. Bread was then made usually in the form 
 of a thin round cake and broken for eating. This is my body. 
 As Jesus was present at the table these words could not refer 
 literally to his earthly body. The bread represents his body. 
 The symbolic use of the word "body" is confirmed also by the 
 statement regarding the cup. "This cup is the new covenant in 
 my blood." An insistence upon a literal understanding of these 
 words is impossible. "The idea that the language implies a 
 miraculous transformation of the elements of bread and wine 
 into Christ's veritable body and blood, or the equally miracu- 
 lous presence in these elements of two substances, is a develop- 
 ment of sacramentarian theology" unwarranted by a just 
 interpretation of this passage. Which is for you — for your 
 spiritual life and your salvation. The emphasis is, in all likeli- 
 hood, upon the thought of His sacrificial death, hence has crept 
 into some texts the interpretation "broken" (which is broken 
 for you), but the statement as in our text is wide enough to 
 include the whole incarnate life as well — the sacrificial death. 
 This do in remembrance of me. These words are not found 
 in the accounts of the supper given by Mark or Matthew; though 
 Luke has them, they are in disputed verses (Lk. 22:i9b-2o). 
 These facts have led some interpreters to the conclusion that 
 Paul instituted the repeated celebration of the Eucharist. This 
 is adequately refuted (i) by the fact that in the early church 
 the supper had been repeatedly observed. Could that have hap- 
 pened without an express command of Jesus? (2) Paul expressly 
 declares that he is delivering to them what he had received (see 
 vs. 23). (3) Nothing less than the authority of Christ were 
 sufficient to account for the widespread observance of the rite. 
 The Lord's supper in its repeated celebration is to be a direct 
 and constant reminder of the Lord as their and our Savior. 
 
 89 
 
ii:25 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 25. you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner 
 also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the 
 new ^ covenant in my blood : this do, as oft as ye 
 
 26. drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye 
 eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the 
 
 27. Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever 
 
 ^ Or, testament. 
 
 25. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. The wine 
 in the cup represents his blood as the bread represented his body. 
 In Mk. 14:23-24 it reads: He gave it (the cup) to them and 
 said, "This is my blood of the covenant." Paul inserts the word 
 "new" or "fresh" before covenant and Luke follows him in this. 
 The account of the ratification of the old covenant of the Law 
 is found in Ex. 24:6-8. The blood of the covenant victims was 
 sprinkled, half of it on the altar, for reconciliation; half of it on 
 the people for purification. The covenant itself promised upon 
 God's side protection and blessing; on the side of the people, 
 obedience. This old covenant was broken by the disobedience 
 of Israel. The promise of a new covenant is in Jer. 31:31, 
 where these words "new covenant" appear for the only time in 
 the Old Testament. This new covenant promised a universal 
 knowledge of God and a complete forgiveness (Heb. 8:8). Par- 
 don and life from God in response to faith from man. This is 
 the covenant which Jesus ratifies with His blood (Eph. 1:7). 
 It was sealed by His death. It is well just here to bear in 
 mind "that the center of the symbolism of sacrifice lies not in 
 the death of the victim, but in the offering of its life" (Heb. 
 9:14); also that in the New Testament the Blood of Christ 
 always "includes the thought of life preserved and active beyond 
 death." As oft as ye drink it, i.e., the cup. However frequent 
 the occasion they must remember its significance as connected 
 with Him. These words are a rebuke of their pathetic for- 
 getting. 
 
 26. For as often as ye eat, etc. This is the Apostle's ex- 
 planation of the command in the verse 25. Their eating and 
 drinking were an acted proclamation of the Lord's death. Till 
 he come. Then all need of remembrance will be over. The 
 hope of the Lord's return was very vivid in the early church. 
 Having now set forth the solemn significance of the supper, by 
 giving the words connected with its original institution Paul 
 turns to warn them about partaking unworthily. 
 
 27. Unworthily. The word is not interpreted unless it be in 
 
 90 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:31 
 
 shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and the blood 
 
 28. of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so 
 
 29. let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For 
 he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh 
 judgment unto himself, if he ^ discern not the body. 
 
 30. For this cause many among you are weak and sickly 
 
 31. and not a few sleep. But if we ^ discerned ourselves, 
 
 ^ Gr., discriminate. ^ Gr., discriminated. 
 
 "not discerning the body" (vs. 29) but the general conduct of 
 the Corinthians throws light upon it. Partaking of these sym- 
 bols of the Redeemer's sacrifice in a selfish, unloving spirit; 
 treating them with irreverence, or with little thought of that 
 which they were intended to bring to mind ; making them the 
 means of greed or excess — all these were unworthy. It is to 
 be noted that a profanation of either symbol — "eat the bread" 
 or "drink the cup"— makes one guilty. Guilty of the body and 
 the blood. They are chargeable with insulting the memorials 
 of Christ's death and so virtually the sacrificial death itself; on 
 the same principle that he who insults his country's flag 
 insults his country and is a traitor. Irreverence could go no 
 further. 
 
 28. Prove himself. The word means to prove in order to 
 approve, i.e., he is to test himself to see whether he is in a right 
 frame of mind to partake, and in case of finding himself not 
 right, to put himself right. 
 
 29. For. The solemn reason for testing himself. He may 
 eat and drink judgment unto himself, i.e., he may bring upon 
 himself chastisement such as is indicated in verse 30. If he dis- 
 cern not the body, i.e., if he judge not rightly the symbolic sig- 
 nificance of the bread as representing the body of the incarnate 
 and crucified Lord, but looks upon it as common bread. 
 
 30. For this cause — this inability to judge rightly. Weak 
 and sickly. These are not spiritual troubles but physical inflic- 
 tions. Paul attributes them directly to the misuse of the symbols 
 without indicating any intermediate causes such as, e.g., excess 
 in drinking. It was in accord with Jewish belief that they were 
 sent as punishments for sin. Sleep — a euphemism for death. 
 
 31. If we discerned ourselves, i.e., judged ourselves rightly 
 we should escape the judgment. 
 
 91 
 
11:32 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 32. we should not be judged. But ^ when we are judged 
 we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be 
 
 7,^. condemned with the world. Wherefore, my breth- 
 ren, when ye come together to eat, wait for one 
 
 34. another. If any man is hungry, let him eat at home; 
 that your coming together be not unto judgment. 
 And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come. 
 
 3. The Misuse of Spiritual Gifts, 12:1 — 14:40 
 
 12. I. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would 
 2. not have you ignorant. Ye know that when ye were 
 
 ^ Or, when we are judged of the Lord we are chastened. 
 
 32. Chastened. This is the consolation. Judgment is the 
 discipline of the Lord and it is meant to save us from being 
 condemned with the world in the day of judgment. 
 
 33. Wherefore. Summing up the whole matter let me urge 
 upon you, brethren, two rules of conduct. When you come 
 together for a common meal which has a spiritual purpose wait 
 for one another. Do not let the occasion descend to the level 
 of a merely carnal feast. 
 
 34. Avoid that by eating at home if any of you are hungry. 
 Save your gatherings together from that exhibition of self- 
 indulgence which is fatal to true fellowship and leads to judg- 
 ment. The rest. Other details regarding this whole matter I 
 will arrange when I come. 
 
 In the previous chapter we have seen how the Lord's supper 
 was profaned through its association with the weekly common 
 meal which, originally intended to foster the spirit of brother- 
 hood, had degenerated into an occasion for the exhibition of a 
 most unlovely spirit. In this chapter we are to look upon the 
 church assembled for the purpose of edification. In some private 
 house the people met together, the men sitting, in all probability, 
 on one side of the room and the women on the other. It is no 
 indifferent congregation, as Paul pictures it, but one full of unre- 
 strained enthusiasm. Each one came with something to con- 
 tribute — a song of praise, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation 
 (vs. 26). We have no account of any order of service; indeed, 
 there seems to have been an almost untrammeled liberty of wor- 
 ship. In this lay the possibility of the disorder which soon de- 
 veloped. There seems also to have been no such recognized 
 
 92 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:2 
 
 leadership as could firmly control the ongoing of the service. 
 Paul appeals to a spirit or a principle of action rather than to a 
 given leader, to maintain order and secure edification. There was 
 much to stimulate disorder. There were those who loved to 
 speak, especially if they were convinced that the Spirit was urging 
 them. Anything in the way of the ecstatic was especially valued. 
 We use the word "spiritual" to-day to mark a man whose life 
 has been refined and uplifted by the presence of God within him. 
 The "spiritual" of the Corinthian church, as well as among the 
 Jews and Pagans, were those who were possessed by a spirit not 
 their own who used them as instruments. The cleverest sign of 
 the presence of the Spirit (good or bad; in the church or out of 
 it) was ecstasy. In the church it should of course be a good 
 spirit but even there a test had to be applied, viz.: whether its 
 possessor recognized Jesus as Lord or called Him accursed. It is 
 only in a clear grasp of this distinction between our present inter- 
 pretation of the word "spiritual" and that applicable to the 
 Corinthian church that we can fully understand the situation 
 pictured in this chapter. As the ecstatic was proof positive of 
 spirit possession, so it was a showy gift and eagerly desired. It 
 had little social value, as it did not minister to edification. 
 
 Prophecy also was an exalted form of utterance akin to the 
 ecstatic. It is distinguished, as we shall see later, from the 
 ecstatic gift of tongues, by its intelligibility. Much after the 
 manner of those who in recent days "get the power" in a religious 
 meeting, these ecstatics would break forth in their unintelligible 
 utterances. A prophet under like constraint might do the same, 
 and confusion would be the result. How imperatively instruction 
 was needed. God could not be the author of confusion. Social, 
 not individual value, must be the standard of estimate, the guide 
 to action. No gifts could be rightly exercised unless under the 
 control of love. Paul in no way underrates the power of the 
 Spirit. He rejoices in its manifest presence in the church. His 
 task is to open the minds of those who had their conceptions of 
 spirit possession so largely from heathen manifestation of it and 
 who needed to learn with what different aims the Spirit of God 
 came upon them. "The presence of the Holy Spirit is not pri- 
 marily a gift to the individual, but a gift to the church," 
 
 a. The Test (1-3), Source and Purpose (4-ii) of Spiritual Gifts, 
 12:1-11 
 
 I. Now concerning spiritual gifts. This formula (Now 
 concerning, etc.) is found in 7:1, 7:25, 8:1, 16:1, 16:22 and in- 
 
 93 
 
12:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, 
 3. however ye might be led. Wherefore ^ I give you 
 
 ^ SV, I make knozvn unto you. 
 
 troduces, in each case, an answer to a question supposedly in a 
 letter of the Corinthians to Paul asking for special information 
 and guidance. The words I would not have you ignorant, 
 expresses Paul's desire to clear up some points regarding spiritual 
 gifts about which they were either confused or in the dark. The 
 Greek word for "spiritual gifts" can be masculine and be trans- 
 lated "spiritual men." A number of modern interpreters so 
 render it, but the emphasis is rather upon the operations of the 
 spirit than upon the position of spiritual persons. Both ideas, 
 however, are closely associated. 
 
 2. Ye were led away. Their idols were dumb, incapable of 
 inspiring them, hence no impulse came from them; they were 
 rather "under control" of some demonic, capricious influence 
 which, as occasion happened (howsoever ye might be led), 
 carried them away into heathen ecstasies in connection with idol 
 worship. These ecstatic experiences had often been witnessed in 
 their former idolatry.* They knew that men could thus be 
 "carried away" by supernatural power. How were they to be 
 sure that the same evil power was not present in like experi- 
 ences within the Church? Was a demonic spirit in control or 
 the Spirit of God? 
 
 3. Paul in his answer includes not only "ecstatic utterances" 
 which were the subject of the Corinthian questioning, but other 
 operations of the Spirit, about which they as heathen had known 
 nothing, and regarding which they now needed instruction. The 
 mark of the inspiration of the Spirit of God is that it exalts and 
 honors Jesus. If a Jew were suddenly to cry out in public 
 worship "Jesus is anathema (accursed) !" they could assuredly 
 know that such an utterance came not from the Spirit of God, 
 On the other hand no one could cry out in rapture "Jesus is 
 Lord!" except he were possessed by the Spirit (Jn. 16:14). In 
 either case, the mere saying or crying out is not meant, but 
 
 * "In Greece the excited shoutings of the Dionysos ecstatic had 
 long been a familiar spectacle. And of the mystery cults ecstasy in its 
 various manifestations formed a constant feature. The god (as was 
 thought) descended upon the mystic, filled him with his spirit, made 
 him a prophet, and gave him revelations. We have the Apostle himself 
 for a witness that it was no easy task to distinguish between a 
 glossalia and prophecy that were spirit-inspired and such as were devil- 
 inspired." — Morgan, Religion and Theology of Paul, p. 176. 
 
 94 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:6 
 
 to understand that no man speaking in the spirit 
 of God saith, 'Jesus is anathema; and no man can 
 say Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. 
 
 4. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same 
 
 5. Spirit. And there are diversities of ministrations, 
 
 6. and the same Lord. And there are diversities of 
 workings, but the same God, who worketh all things 
 
 the saying as an expression of a genuine heart attitude behind it; 
 in one, of hatred and unbelief; in the other, of faith and loyalty. 
 
 4. Diversities. The word has two meanings, an active: 
 "apportionings," "distributings"; a passive: "differences," "varie- 
 ties." The active is preferable here (see vs. 11) but the passive 
 meaning is involved and the whole significance is: apportionings 
 of Himself (the Spirit) in diverse endowments. Gifts (Charis- 
 mata). A Pauline word (elsewhere only i Pet. 4:10) meaning 
 "Individual capacities or excellences laid hold on, strength- 
 ened, vivified and applied by the Spirit to service within the 
 community. They are the natural capacities which men 
 possess apart from their own power of acquiring them and 
 which come from the free bounty of God the Creator. Men 
 are not all alike; their capacities and natural powers differ; 
 and thus when the Spirit works through these powers there is 
 nothing mechanical in the activities set in motion." — Lindsay. 
 
 5-7. Three things in these verses deserve attention: (i) The 
 descriptions diversities of ministrations (vs. 5) and diversi- 
 ties of workings (vs. 6). These are not to be distinguished 
 from the gifts of vs. 4. They denote the same thing from differ- 
 ent points of view. As "ministrations" the gifts are viewed 
 from the point of service (of which there are many kinds) and 
 they are all appointed by the one Lord and are for His glory ; 
 as "workings" they are thought of from the side of immanent 
 power originating in God. (2) These verses suggest a Trini- 
 tarian conception. Spirit, Lord and God act together in the 
 bestowal of spiritual gifts. Paul nowhere attempts to set forth 
 the inner relations of the Trinity, but he gives once and again 
 a "functional" Trinity (cf. Eph. 4:6; 2 Cor. 13:14; Rom. 8:9-10). 
 (3) All these gifts are for the good of the Church. To each 
 one is given the manifestation of the Spirit to profit withal. 
 Whatever his special gift, or kind of service, he is to make mani- 
 fest through it the Spirit, for the advantage of all. It would 
 appear that very few, if any, of the members of the church were 
 "giftless." 
 
 95 
 
12.7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 7. in all. But to each one is given the manifestation 
 
 8. of the Spirit to profit withal. For to one is given 
 through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to an- 
 other the word of knowledge, according to the same 
 
 9. Spirit: to another faith in the same Spirit; and to 
 10. another gifts of healings, in the one Spirit; and to 
 
 another workings of ^ miracles; and to another 
 prophecy; and to another discemings of spirits: to 
 another divers kinds of tongues; and to another the 
 
 ^ Gr., powers. 
 
 8. For. This connects with "to each one is given" and nine 
 classes of gifts are cited as illustrations of the general statement 
 of verse 7. Various attempts have been made to classify these 
 gifts. A classification is suggested by the Greek text which 
 divides them into 3 groups: (i) Two connected with "word" 
 (speech) — the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge; (2) 
 five connected with faith — faith itself, gifts of healings, working of 
 miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits; (3) two concerned 
 with tongues — divers kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues. 
 The word of Wisdom is the gift of discoursing about the 
 deep things of God and of His ways in His dealings with men 
 (cf. 2:6). These can be known only through the Spirit. The 
 word of Knowledge. The speech of Knowledge is that which 
 sets forth the grounds and interrelations of the truths of faith. 
 It is a reasoned presentation of truth. When it is according to 
 the Spirit and for the help of others, it is a "gift." These are 
 the endowments of the teacher. 
 
 9. Faith. This is not the faith which marks the beginning of 
 the Christian life; — the trustful reliance upon God which under- 
 lies daily Christian living. In this aspect of it faith conditions 
 all the gifts. Here it is a wonder-working faith, a faith of 
 "heroic daring" which brings great things to pass (cf. Matt. 
 17:20-21). It may be, and probably is, a generic term covering 
 the four succeeding gifts, all of which are the fruits of this 
 potent gift. Gifts of healings. The plural suggests different 
 classes of diseases to be cured (cf. Acts 19:12; 28:8-9). 
 
 10. Workings of Miracles, i.e., acts of power. Instances of 
 these are casting out of demons and inflicting supernatural judg- 
 ments (see 5:5; Acts 13:11; i Tim. 1-20). Prophecy. It is at 
 first surprising that this gift should be placed where it is in the 
 
 96 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:11 
 
 II. interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh the 
 one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one sev- 
 erally as he will. 
 
 list of gifts. It seems to be allied rather with "the word of wis- 
 dom" and "the word of knowledge." Two reasons may be 
 given for its present position. It is a gift which is realized 
 through intensity of faith, and it stands, in certain of its as- 
 pects, in vivid contrast to the gift of tongues. Prophecy pre- 
 supposed revelation; it might be based upon visions. Prediction 
 was a subordinate part of it. It was such an inspired utterance 
 of revealed truth as effected "edification, comfort and consola- 
 tion" (14:3) in its hearers. It might be attended with ecstasy 
 but it was always intelligible and, in this respect, was in sharp 
 contrast with the gift of tongues. There were those who claimed 
 the prophetic gift who were really false prophets. To detect and 
 expose such was the peculiar business of those who were gifted 
 with the discernings of spirits. These were probably prophets 
 themselves, already known and approved in the Church (cf. 
 14:29). Divers kinds of tongues. This strange gift seems 
 to have been coveted eagerly by the Corinthians. Its sensa- 
 tional and strong character appealed to their vanity. These 
 tongues were ecstatic utterances which were unintelligible unless 
 interpreted, and hence of little service to the Church. The will 
 of the speaker was overmastered by his emotions; intelligent 
 thought had no part in what was uttered. The different kinds 
 of tongue-speech may have been in their different forms of 
 utterance — disconnected sentences, disconnected words, or single 
 sounds, making by their general tone the impression of prayer, 
 or of praise. In no case ... are we to understand by "tongues" 
 foreign languages. "For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh 
 not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth" 
 (14:2), This could not be said of any man speaking in a 
 foreign language. Whatever profit was to be had from these 
 ecstatic powers could come only to the subject of them himself, 
 unless an interpreter were present. If no interpreter was at hand 
 the gift were best exercised in soHtude. The whole subject has 
 gained new interest from the modern study of psychology.* 
 
 II. The rich endowment of the Corinthian Church is seen in 
 this list of spiritual gifts. They all have a common origin — the 
 Spirit — and He distributes them as He will, but that does not 
 mean arbitrarily; He considers the capacity of each one. 
 
 * See Lake: The Earlier Epistles of Paul, p. 241. 
 
 97 
 
I2:i2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 12. For as the body is one and hath many members, 
 and all the members of the body, being many, are 
 
 13. one body; so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were 
 we all baptized into one body whether Jews or 
 Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to 
 
 b. The Analogy Between the Church and the Human Body, 
 12:12-31 
 
 Thus far the Apostle has made emphatic the one source of 
 the diverse gifts of the Spirit and the one purpose for which 
 they are given, viz., service. This unity in diversity is like that 
 of the human body. One life moves its different members all 
 of which have as their common purpose its preservation and 
 well-being. This analogy of the Church and the human body 
 is particularized in five points, (i) The Church, like the body, 
 is a unity (12-13). (2) The Church, like the body, has many 
 members (14-16). (3) The various members are needful to the 
 completeness of the body, indeed, to the very idea of the body 
 (17-20). (4) All the members, whether conspicuous or other- 
 wise, are needful to each other (21-25). (5) All the members 
 suffer or rejoice with one member in suffering or in joy (26). 
 Having thus fully drawn out the analogy, he makes direct appli- 
 cation of it to the Church (27-30). 
 
 12. So also is Christ. The "body" as a figurative descrip- 
 tion of the Church is a favorite of Paul. "In Ephesians and 
 Colossians it becomes a fixed title for the Christian community." 
 Why "Christ" in this clause and not "Church"? Because Christ 
 is not regarded here as the head of the body, the Church (see 
 vs. 21), but rather as the unifying life of the whole body — the 
 Church. Church, in this connection, must not be limited in 
 thought to the Corinthian church "except as each Christian com- 
 munity is the universal church in miniature." 
 
 13. For gives the reason for the last clause of verse 12. In 
 one spirit. The Spirit is the means by which, through bap- 
 tism, they were incorporated into one body. How widely sepa- 
 rated originally were those who were brought into a spiritual 
 unity — Jews, Greeks, freemen, slaves (cf. Gal. 3:28). Baptism 
 has "social significance." Made to drink of one spirit. This 
 does not refer to the Eucharist. The figure is of plants drenched 
 with water, or of irrigated fields. The reference is probably to 
 baptism. Godet refers it to spiritual gifts. 
 
 98 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:21 
 
 14. drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one mem- 
 
 15. ber, but many. If the foot shall say Because I am 
 not the hand, I am not of the body; it is not there- 
 
 16. fore not of the body. And if the ear shall say, Be- 
 cause I am not the eye I am not of the body; it is 
 
 17. not therefore not of the body. If the whole body 
 were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole 
 
 18. were hearing, where were the smelling? But now 
 hath God set the members, each one of them in the 
 
 19. body even as it pleased him. And if they were all 
 
 20. one member, where were the body? But now they 
 
 21. are many members, but one body. And the eye 
 cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee: or 
 again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 
 
 15-16. These verses have in mind those who, because their 
 gifts were of the less noticeable kind, were disposed to deny 
 virtually that they were members of the body — the Church — by 
 keeping aloof, dissatisfied or discouraged because they were not 
 more important. "If the foot shall say, Because I am not the 
 hand, I am not of the body ; that does not make it no part of 
 the body." The point is that the humble members as well as the 
 more honored are all members of the body. Each, because of 
 this fact, must perform his function to the best of his ability. 
 
 17-20. The membership of all is further argued from the fact 
 that multiformity is of the essence of organic life. Varied mem- 
 bers with varied functions are essential not only to the complete- 
 ness of the body ("If the whole body were an eye, or the 
 whole hearing," etc.) but also to the very idea of body as God 
 made it for He it is who "set the members, each one of them, 
 in the body even as it pleased Him (18). How unchristian, 
 then, is jealousy or discouragement! On the contrary, what 
 comfort there is in the realization that one's gift and place are 
 God's allotment for one's contribution to service ! 
 
 21-25. Thus far Paul has considered the humbler members. 
 Now he writes with the more gifted ones in view. As there was 
 no reason for jealousy and aloofness on one side, so was there 
 no ground for pride and contempt on the other. 
 
 21. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of 
 thee, etc. One member cannot do the work of another, nor can 
 it be completely independent. It functions in a body whose 
 
 99 
 
12 122 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 22. Nay, much rather, these members of the body which 
 
 23. seem to be more feeble are necessary: And those 
 parts of the body which we think to be less honor- 
 able, upon these we ^ bestow more abundant honor; 
 and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeli- 
 
 24. ness; whereas our comely parts have no need: but 
 God tempered the body together giving more abun- 
 
 25. dant honor to that part which lacked; that there 
 should be no schism in the body; but that the mem- 
 bers should have the same care one for another. 
 
 26. And whether one member suffereth all the members 
 
 ^ Or, put on. 
 
 parts are all closely interrelated. The parts may not be equal 
 in importance, but no one of them can isolate itself. What 
 would the feet do if the eyes were not at their service? 
 
 22. If it can be said of the eye and the ear and the hand that 
 they are necessary, with stronger reason (much rather) may it 
 be said of those that are feeble. 
 
 23. Paul does not name these necessary feeble members, nor 
 those which he speaks of as "less honorable" or "uncomely" 
 (23). All three adjectives may refer to the same parts under 
 different points of view. Whatever they were, the emphasis is 
 upon the fact that they all are necessary to the body and we 
 compensate them for their "less honorable" relation or their 
 "uncomeliness" by bestowing upon them "more abundant 
 honor" in the care and protection given them by proper cloth- 
 ing. They are thus shown exceptional respect. 
 
 24. It was God who tempered the body together, i.e., 
 blended its parts into one organic whole, by giving more abun- 
 dant honor to that part which lacked. By this is meant that 
 the instincts of decency and self-respect, shown in the clothing 
 of the body, were implanted by God. 
 
 25. In this His purpose was that there should be no divided 
 interests in the body but that all its members should have ma- 
 terial concern for each other's welfare. 
 
 26. And so (as a result of blending the parts into one organic 
 whole) the suffering of one involves the suffering of all; the 
 honoring of one, the joy of all. While all the statements made 
 in 24-26 refer primarily to the physical body it is evident that 
 Paul's language is colored by the thought of the spiritual body 
 — the Corinthian membership. 
 
 100 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:28 
 
 suffer with it; or one member is ^honored, all the 
 
 27. members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of 
 
 28. Christ and =^ severally members thereof. And God 
 hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondly 
 
 1 Or, glorified. ' Or, members each in his part. 
 
 27. The body of Christ. Collectively they are Christ's body 
 "in the sense that each Christian community is the universal 
 church in miniature" (see vs. 12); severally, i.e., individually 
 they are apportioned members of His body. With this verse 
 begins the application of the figure (developed in vss. 14-26) in 
 detail to the Church. ^ , . t. 
 
 28 The Church. The church universal. God hath set. 
 Hath placed for His own use. In the list which follows two 
 particulars are to be noted: (i) The eight functions of 8-10 are 
 replaced by eight which are partly identical, partly different.* 
 "Discernings of spirits" and "interpretations of tongues" are 
 wanting (though see 30) and "helps and governments" are added. 
 Persons are named rather than function in i, 2, 3. (2) The 
 functions are given in the order of their rank and value. Apostles 
 are first, tongues last. The Corinthian estimate was just the 
 opposite. They glorified the ecstatic rather than the rational. 
 
 Apostles. Not simply the Twelve, but all those who had 
 been witnesses of the living Christ and who had, under a com- 
 mission from Him, given themselves to be Missionary preachers 
 of His gospel (cf. Acts 14:14. Rom. 16:7, Gal. 1:9; and see 
 Lightfoot, Galatians, p. 92). . , . , r-u • 
 
 Prophets. The prophets found their sphere within the Chris- 
 tian communities which the Apostles had founded. Their in- 
 spired utterances regarding "the divine counsels and hidden mys- 
 
 • 1. Cor. 12:8 I- Cor. 12:28 
 
 Word I- Apostles 
 
 3. leachers 
 
 1. Word of Wisdom 
 
 2. Word of Knowledge 5. Gifts of Healings 
 _ .^, 4. Miracles 
 
 ^31**^ 2. Prophets 
 
 3. Gifts of Healing 
 
 4. Workings of Miracles 6. Helps 
 
 7 Proohecv 7- Governments 
 
 6. Discernings of Spirit 8. Divers Kinds of Tongues 
 
 Tongues 
 
 7. Divers Kinds of Tongues 
 
 8. Interpretation of Tongues 
 
 lOI 
 
12 129 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 prophets, thirdly teachers, then ^ miracles, then gifts 
 
 29. of healings, helps, ^ governments, divers kinds of 
 tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are 
 
 30. all teachers? Are all workers of ^ miracles? Have 
 all gifts of healings? Do all speak with tongues? 
 
 31. Do all interpret? But desire earnestly the greater 
 
 1 Gr., pozuers. ^ Or, wise counsels. 
 
 teries of faith" were effective, in bringing edification. They were 
 listened to as men who spoke in the name of God and with His 
 authority. A prophet might not be an Apostle, generally was 
 not, but an Apostle was almost of necessity a prophet (cf. vs. 
 10). 
 
 Teachers. Their "gift" was to instruct their fellow-believers, 
 not through immediate revelations, as did the prophets, but by 
 explaining what had been revealed, grounding the Church in the 
 principles of Christian faith and life and training the young in 
 ways of Christian righteousness and service. The teacher's work 
 was local. No hard and fast line can be drawn between the 
 functions of Apostle, prophet, and teacher. An Apostle was 
 gifted in all three ways. A prophet could be a teacher and a 
 teacher at times might manifest the gift of prophecy. 
 
 Miracles. It is noteworthy that these are placed after teach- 
 ers. The Corinthians would have estimated them more highly on 
 account of their striking character. Gifts of healings. Helps. 
 Various ways of assisting the sick or the poor of the Church. The 
 word is found often in petitions to the Ptolemies. It suggests here 
 assistance given by those who were appointed for this purpose. 
 Aptitude for this service was the gift. Governments. The word 
 originally signified "piloting a ship," hence points to those who 
 were skilled in administration. This function became, later, that 
 of the ecclesiastical Bishop, as did "helps" that of the ecclesiastical 
 diaconate. "We are dealing, here, with gifts rather than with the 
 offices which grew out of the gifts." Divers kinds of tongues. 
 They are placed last, as of least value. The principle of order 
 Paul here follows in enumerating the gifts is that of their im- 
 portance. 
 
 29-30. All these questions expect the answer "No," and are 
 meant to indicate that no one is by himself sufficient for the life 
 of the Church. "The body is not one member but many" 
 (14). "Ye are the body of Christ and severally members 
 thereof" (27). The questions have these two statements in view, 
 
 31. Desire earnestly the greater gifts. Continue earnestly 
 
 102 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:31 
 
 gift: and ^ a still more excellent way shew I unto 
 you. 
 
 ' SV, and moreover a most excellent way. 
 
 to desire the greater gifts. But has not "the Spirit divided to 
 each one severally as he will (11)? Yes, but the "greater gifts" 
 to which Paul refers have to do "with the inspired exercise of 
 conscious faculties." These conscious faculties might be trained 
 through prayer and discipline for the higher gift. No selfish de- 
 sire, however, must prompt the training but only a self-forgetful 
 longing to serve the Church. Such longing with its attending 
 culture might be the condition of the bestowal of the greater 
 gifts. And a still more excellent way I show unto you. 
 The connection here is somewhat difficult. This last sentence 
 were best taken with chapter 13. It is a "way," "a super- 
 excellent way," that is now spoken of, not a gift, though love is, 
 of course, the direct fruitage of the presence of the Holy Spirit 
 in the heart (Gal. 5:22; Rom. 5:5; 15:30; 2 Cor. 5:14). This 
 "way" is set forth not simply as a means for securing the greater 
 gifts, but rather as that whereby all gifts will truly become a 
 blessing. It is higher and better than all gifts. It is a spirit or 
 temper impelling and controlling the exercise of all gifts. As 
 such "it shuts out from the earnest desiring of the best gifts all 
 unworthy passions and insures the good of the Church in the 
 exercise of every gift." — Heinrici. 
 
 13. Before entering upon our study of this chapter it 
 will be helpful to note several characteristics of the eulogy 
 as a whole. ( i ) It is not written in plain prose. There 
 is a stately movement in it and a certain rhythm. This 
 is more clearly seen in some of the modern renderings of 
 it, e.g., Way's, Moffett's, Harnack's. It is the outcome of 
 exalted emotion and is in itself a veritable "prophecy." 
 An illustration of the poetic form will be seen in the 
 following rendering of verses 1-3 by Arthur S. Way (The 
 Letters of St. Paul and Hebrews, p. 50) : 
 
 Though with all tongues of men I speak, yea of Angels, 
 
 And have not Love 
 
 I have become clanging brass or clashing cymbal. 
 
 Yea though I have utterance inspired. 
 Though I fathom all mystic secrets, have full illumination, 
 
 103 
 
13:1 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 Though I have utter faith, such as might move mountains from 
 their seats, 
 
 And have not Love 
 
 Nothing am I. 
 And though I dole away in charity all my goods, 
 And though I yield up my body to a death of fire 
 
 And have not Love 
 
 Nothing it availeth me. 
 
 Again, (2) The chapter is marked by fine delicacy 
 and courtesy. It was the loveless character of so much 
 of the life of the Corinthian church that impressed upon 
 the mind of Paul their fundamental need and yet, as Pro- 
 fessor Ramsay remarks, "By a skilful use of the first and 
 the third person he avoids suggesting either that the 
 Corinthians are lacking in love or that he himself pos- 
 sesses it." — The Teaching of Paid in Terms of the Pres- 
 ent Day, p. 333. (3) The only adequate accounting 
 for the exalted features of love here presented is in 
 Jesus Himself. He alone of all mortals fills out the char- 
 acter of love as set forth in verses 4-7. Virtually they 
 give a portrait of him. Paul's epistles have been searched 
 for evidence of his knowledge of the earthly life of our 
 Lord. This section of this chapter should certainly have 
 its place in that evidence. (4) The chapter may be 
 divided into three parts: (i) The Indispensability of 
 Love (1-3), (2) Its Characteristics (4-7), (3) Its Dura- 
 bility (8-13). 
 
 The Indispensability of Love, its Characteristics and its 
 Durability, 13:1-13 
 
 13. I. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels 
 but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a 
 
 I. Tongues of men and angels. The gift of ecstatic 
 utterance which the Corinthians so highly prized. He adds 
 "angels" in order to include the highest form of rapturous ex- 
 pression. No power of ecstatic utterance, no matter how exalted, 
 is of any value without love. It is like the senseless noise made 
 by sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Gongs and cym- 
 
 104 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:3 
 
 2. clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy 
 and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I 
 have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have 
 
 3. not love, I am nothing. And if I bestow all my 
 
 bals were much used in pagan worship in Paul's day. Love. 
 This word has a broad meaning. It includes the "love of the 
 will" as well as the love of the affections, and thus connotes 
 "moral affection," expressed in deeds of kindness and good will. 
 Love of the affections cannot be commanded; this can. We 
 can, in this way, love even our enemies (Matt. 5:44). "It is no 
 mere sentiment or excitement of feeling, but is connected in 
 both Testaments with an obedient will." Charity, because of its 
 limited meaning, no longer gives adequate interpretation of the 
 original. 
 
 2. Prophecy. The gift of inspired utterance which edifies. 
 Mysteries. The word "mystery" is a favorite of Paul and de- 
 notes a plan or counsel of God which remains secret until He 
 reveals it. The reference here is to the mysteries (the purposes 
 of God revealed) regarding redemption (cf. 2:7-10). All knowl- 
 edge, which comes from investigation and thought and brings 
 an understanding of redemption. All faith, i.e., faith in its in- 
 tensest form — capable of removing mountains (cf. 12:9; Matt. 
 17:20; 21:21). 
 
 Prophecy was in Paul's judgment the highest gift. Teaching 
 ranked next to it and such a faith as removed difficulties could 
 justly be held in high honor, but without love cooperating with 
 and in them, he who exercised the gift or gifts was spiritually 
 nil (cf. Matt. 7:22-23). The possible misuse of such high en- 
 dowments should cause earnest reflection. 
 
 3. In this verse Paul passes to the administrative gifts. 
 Bestow, more vividly, dole out my possessions to help the 
 poor. To be burned.* This cannot refer to martyrdom at 
 
 * The other reading "that I may glory" is supported by such 
 strong textual authority and is accepted by so many interpreters, that 
 it is but just to give its meaning. The following points will give in 
 brief the notable points of the interpretation: (i) The clause belongs 
 to both suppositions of verse 3. (2) The thought of "glorying" in 
 reference to "the day of the Lord" when all shall stand before Him. 
 (3) The distributions of one's possessions and the sacrifice of one's life 
 may be true reasons for glorying in the prtsence of God. (4) Even 
 such glorying, like prophesying and knowing all mysteries, may be 
 profitless when love is wanting. The verse, with this understanding 
 of its parts, may be given in this way: "If I should give all my 
 goods, piece by piece, and even if I were to offer my body, that I 
 might glory, — that is, that I might have a ground for glorying in the 
 day of God — but had not love, it would profit me nothing." — Harnack. 
 
13:4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body ^ to be 
 burned but have not love, it profiteth me nothing. 
 
 4. Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; 
 
 5. love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not 
 behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not 
 
 6. provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read that I may glory. 
 
 the stake for that came later than the time of Paul's writing. 
 The supposition of such an extreme form of sacriiSce may have 
 been suggested by the remembrance of instances of it in the 
 history of the Jews (see Dan. 3:28; 2 Mac. 7:5 ff.). It profiteth 
 me nothing. To speak with tongues, without love, is to bring 
 forth nothing; to have prophecy and to know all mysteries, 
 without love, is to be nothing; to give up possessions or life, 
 without love, is to gain nothing. One's gifts may be of value 
 to others; spiritually valueless to himself. 
 
 4. Love is now personified and its characteristics here set 
 forth are not chosen at random, but suggested by the state of 
 the church. Suffereth long, is patient under provocation, slow 
 to anger, and controls resentment. Kind. Only here in the New 
 Testament. It marks love as always ready to be of service to 
 others; "it is the victory over idle selfishness and comfortable 
 self-pleasing." Love envieth not — is neither envious nor jeal- 
 ous. The verb has both meanings. Envy, always a base pas- 
 sion, is aroused by seeing another have that which it wants it- 
 self. Jealousy is awakened by fear of losing what it has. 
 Vaunteth not itself. Keeps away from ostentation, makes no 
 display. Is not puffed up, — is not swollen with self-conceit, 
 does not strut about in false pride. 
 
 5. Doth not behave itself unseemly. This word has a range 
 of meaning from simple thoughtlessness in conduct to the worst 
 forms of impurity (Rom. 1:27). In all of it there is a selfish 
 element and also a lack of wisdom. Women praying unveiled in 
 public worship (11:5), eating one's own supper at the common 
 meal regardless of others (11:21) are instances of such unseemly 
 conduct. Its corrective is found in Eph. 5:15. Provoked to 
 anger, exasperated. 
 
 6. Taketh not account of evil by storing it up in the 
 memory as a debt in an account book. Rejoiceth not in un- 
 righteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth. The wrong- 
 doing of others, even if it bring gain, can never be a matter of 
 joy to Love; her rejoicing is with the Truth (here personified), 
 
 106 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:11 
 
 7. in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; 
 1 beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all 
 
 8. things, endureth all things. Love never faileth: but 
 whether there be prophecies, they shall be done 
 away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; 
 whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away. 
 
 9. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but 
 
 10. when that which is perfect is come, that which is 
 
 11. in part shall be done away. When I was a child 
 
 ^ Or, covereth. 
 
 i.e., with truth as realized in human conduct; in other words, 
 with right conduct. . 
 
 7. Beareth, i.e., in patient self-control it puts up with all 
 those things which might awaken anger or sorrow. Believeth. 
 This is the opposite of being suspicious of men's motives and 
 purposes. Love credits them good intentions until it is clear 
 that they are otherwise. It trusts. When the evidence pre- 
 vents it from "believing the best," then it hopes for the best. 
 Hopeth all things. If these hopes fail, then it holds courage- 
 ously on against disappointment or ingratitude or whatever it 
 may be that affronts it; it endureth all things. 
 
 8. Love never faileth. Verse 7 leads up naturally to this 
 statement. Its everlasting nature is now contrasted with the 
 temporary character of spiritual gifts. Prophecies shall be 
 "done away," knowledge shall be done away and tongues shall 
 stop. Why? 
 
 9-10. (i) Because our prophesyings and knowledge are par- 
 tial (in part) and limited. They are all that we can hope to 
 have in our immaturity and imperfection. (2) Because when 
 the Lord comes and shall usher in the perfection of the other 
 world, "the partial" shall be done away. Fragmentary revela- 
 tions and fragmentary understandings of truth will be super- 
 seded by truth in its completeness. The gift of tongues is 
 omitted from verse 9. Speaking with tongues cannot, like 
 prophecy and knowledge, give place to something higher of a 
 like kind. It simply ceases. . .„ . . j 
 
 II. This change from the partial to the perfect is illustrated 
 by the contrast between childhood and manhood. The thought 
 is not of the development from one stage into the other but of 
 the antithesis between them. When I was a child, I spake, felt 
 and thought as a child. Now that I am become a man I have 
 
 107 
 
13:12 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a 
 child: now that I am become a man, I have put 
 
 12. away childish things. For now we see in a mirror 
 ^darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in 
 part ; but then shall I ^ know even as also I have 
 
 13. been ^ known. But now abideth faith, hope, love, 
 these three ; * and the ^ greatest of these is love. 
 
 ^ Gr., in a riddle. ^ Gr. and SV, know fully. ^ Gr. and SV, 
 
 * Or, but greater than these. ' Gr., greater. 
 
 put away childish things. That period of life was brought to 
 an end. 
 
 12. A second illustration is from the use of the polished, metal 
 mirrors for which Corinth was noted. They were made of bronze 
 or silver. The art of silvering glass was a discovery of the 
 thirteenth century. A cheap bronze mirror could give but a poor 
 reflection of the face of a friend; not comparable in satisfactori- 
 ness with looking directly into his face. In this world we can 
 know of God and His ways only through the imperfect medium 
 of human life and history. We cannot look directly upon spir- 
 itual realities. Our present knowledge of Him as compared with 
 that which we shall have "when that which is perfect is come" 
 is like the dim, baffling reflections of the mirror (margin, in a 
 riddle*). The emphasis of the illustration is again upon con- 
 trast — the contrast between the present and the future. Paul is 
 not denying the value of prophesyings and knowledge, partial 
 though they may be. He is simply viewing them from another 
 point of view. As also I have been known, i.e., intuitively, 
 directly, fully, so shall I know in that blessed future. It has 
 been truly said that "Paul lives much in the problem that is 
 presented by the relation of our knowledge of God to God's 
 knowledge of us" (cf. 8:2-3). 
 
 13. Now, logical, not temporal — "as the fact is" (cf. 12:18, 20). 
 In contrast to spiritual gifts which shall be done away, faith, 
 hope and love shall go on into the endless perfect future. These 
 three, i.e., only these three, abide forever. Faith here is to be 
 understood as self-commitment to God in holy trust; hope, as 
 that anticipation inseparable from growth and progress in the 
 life beyond where the mind shall ever "catch new perspectives 
 
 * In Num. 12:8 God declares that He will speak with Moses mouth 
 to mouth plainly and not in riddles. If this be the origin of Paul's 
 figure he has applied it to sight rather than to speech and its force 
 may be given by the word "baffling." 
 
 108 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14 '.2 
 
 CHAPTER 14 
 
 In the previous chapter the indispensability of love as 
 the governing principle in connection with spiritual gifts 
 has been set forth. Love thinks not of self-glorification 
 but of service, hence it will not only use each gift to this 
 end, but will desire those which best meet it. It thus is 
 a criterion for estimating the relative value of gifts, and 
 should be the means of guarding against all disorder in 
 their use in public assemblies. All the gifts mentioned 
 in Chapter 12, except that of tongues, suggest their serv- 
 iceability to the Church. But, as we have seen, it was 
 just the gift of tongues which made strong appeal to the 
 Corinthians. It is, therefore, to a comparison of that 
 with prophecy that the Apostle now turns after his eulogy 
 of love. The chapter may be divided into five parts: (i) 
 Showing the superiority of prophesying to speaking with 
 tongues (1-25). (2) Giving regulations for the orderly 
 exercise of gifts in public worship (26-33). (3) For- 
 bidding women to speak in church (34-36). (4) Paul's 
 assertion of authority (37-38). Conclusions (39-40). 
 
 I. Superiority of Prophesying to Speaking with Tongues, 
 14:1-25 
 I. Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual 
 2. gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that 
 
 of glory" ; love, as that spirit which binds all hearts together and 
 expresses itself in innumerable heavenly ways of word and deed. 
 No nobler conception of the other life can be found in the New 
 Testament than is implied in "these three" graces. And the 
 greatest of these is love. Because love is the very life of God, 
 while faith and hope are human ; because love inspires faith and 
 hope and keeps them from self-centered aims. 
 
 I. Follow after love. With eager effort they are to seek to 
 realize this wonderful grace by resisting temptations to any 
 course of conduct which hinders it and by using every opportu- 
 nity to further it. Meanwhile, however, they are to continue 
 their earnest desire for spiritual gifts, more than all for the gift 
 
 109 
 
14:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but 
 unto God; for no man ^ understandeth ; but in the 
 
 ^ Gr., heareth. 
 
 of prophecy. The exaltation of love is no disparagement of 
 spiritual gifts. Rather to "pursue" love is to deepen the desire 
 for those gifts which shall be of effective service to others. In 
 his treatment of spiritual gifts, hitherto, Paul has given the 
 lowest place in his lists of gifts to the gift of tongues (12:9, 28). 
 That is a hint at his estimate of their relative worth. Now he 
 comes to a direct treatment of the matter for two reasons: (i) 
 Many of the Corinthians had given "tongues" the highest place 
 because of the sensational, showy character of the gift. (2) 
 The more sober-minded had been led to ask the Apostle specifi- 
 cally which of the two — prophecy or tongues, should have prece- 
 dence in the meetings of the church.* 
 
 2. For connects this verse with the last clause of verse i, 
 and opens the section showing why prophecy is to be especially 
 desired as compared with "tongues." In a word it is because 
 prophecy edifies the church and tongues do not, since they are 
 unintelligible. No man understandeth. "The man who speak- 
 eth in a tongue speaketh not unto men but unto God"; also "in 
 the spirit he speaketh mysteries." This gift, so strange to us 
 and therefore so difficult for us to appreciate, had a real worth 
 in the mind of Paul. It was to him a supernatural elevation of 
 soul, producing a state of ecstasy in which ordinary language 
 was incapable of adequately expressing what was felt. Robertson 
 compares the experience to "the many unmeaning shouts of boy- 
 hood, getting rid of the exuberance of life, uttering in sound a 
 joy which boyhood only knows and for which manhood has no 
 words." The ecstatic cries and exclamations or inarticulate mut- 
 terings were indicative of exalted communion with God, of the 
 rapture of adoration, of the unutterable intensity of prayer and 
 thanksgiving. Paul himself knew by experience all these "trans- 
 ports of ecstasy and raptures of worship." He had spoken 
 mysteries, i.e., Divine secrets, which the church could not under- 
 stand and, for this reason, he makes no sweeping condemnation 
 of this singular gift. He goes so far as to say that he would 
 that they "all spake with tongues" (5). Nevertheless, the 
 
 * This second reason is an inference from the allusions to the 
 subject in the chapter. There were those who wished to forbid tongues 
 altogether (14:39). Strangers were unfavorably affected by them 
 (14:23). These, together with Paul's specific treatment of prophecy, 
 lead to the conclusion that a specific question regarding these two was 
 in the letter to Paul. 
 
 1 10 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14:6 
 
 3. spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophe- 
 sieth speaketh unto men edification and ^ comfort 
 
 4. and consolation. He that speaketh in a tongue 
 -edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth ^ edifieth 
 the church. 
 
 5. Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but 
 rather that ye should prophesy: and greater is he 
 that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, 
 except he interpret, that the church may receive 
 
 6. edifying. But now, brethren, if I come unto you 
 
 1 SV, exhortation. ^ Gr., buildeth up. 
 
 very unintelligibility to the church of the speaking, unless per- 
 chance someone "in the same key of feeling" were present to 
 interpret, made the gift inferior to prophecy as far as the church 
 was concerned. There was no edification in it, except to the 
 man possessing it. 
 
 3. Not so with prophesying. That was making known the 
 will of God. It was inspired preaching of such intelligibility, 
 insight and power as to build up character, quicken the will and 
 comfort those who were weak or were in sorrow or in fear, 
 
 4. He that speaketh with a tongue edifieth himself. The 
 blessing centers in himself and ends there, unless an interpreter 
 be found. He that prophesieth edifieth the community by all 
 the truth and inspiration to progress in the Christian life, to 
 duty, and to cheer which come through his enlightening and 
 persuasive speech. 
 
 5. Lest he might appear through jealousy or envy to disparage 
 the gift of tongues, he wishes that all might have it (for each 
 one's own sake) but there is a wish that he would rather see 
 fulfilled, viz., that th3y might prophesy. Besides, he that prophe- 
 sieth is greater, because more helpful, than he that speaketh with 
 tongues, unless he interprets his utterance in order that the church 
 may be edified. In this case he stands on the level with the 
 prophet. 
 
 6. To bring the matter home to them Paul calls attention to 
 his coming visit (4:19-21, 16:5). How much they expected 
 from him in the way of edification may be gathered from what 
 they had already asked of him in the letter they had written to 
 him. He makes the following appeal to their common sense. 
 "But, this being so" (that edification is impossible without 
 interpretation) "if I should come to you with (merely) the gift 
 
 III 
 
14 7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, un- 
 less I speak to you either by way of revelation, or 
 of knowledge, or of prophesying, or of teaching? 
 
 7. Even things without life, giving a voice, whether 
 fife or harp, if they give not a distinction in the 
 sounds, how shall it be known what is fifed or 
 
 8. harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain voice, 
 
 9. who shall prepare himself for war? So also ye, 
 unless ye utter by the tongue speech easy to be 
 understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? 
 
 10. for ye will be speaking into the air. There are, it 
 may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and 
 
 11. ^ no kind is without signification. If then I know 
 
 ^ Or, nothing is without voice. 
 
 of tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I should speak as a 
 prophet who had had a revelation or as a teacher who had 
 acquired a knowledge of the truth. Revelation and knowledge 
 are in this verse the inward Divine gifts; prophecy and teach- 
 ing their outward expression. 
 
 7. To confirm his general contention he now adduces two 
 illustrations — one from musical instruments (7-9), the other from 
 foreign languages. Pipe (flute), harp. These are representative 
 respectively of wind and stringed instruments. Distinction — in 
 the notes. What is piped or harped, i.e., the tune or melody. 
 Inanimate musical instruments are of little use unless they can 
 produce an intelligible and significant melody. 
 
 8. Uncertain sound, i.e., a sound which is not an understood 
 military signal. War: better, battle. 
 
 9. So also in your case, if, through the tongue (your instru- 
 ment of speech) you do not give speech easy to be understood, 
 how is any meaning to be attached to what you say? You 
 might as well be "talking to the winds." 
 
 10. Another illustration from the many languages in the world. 
 Voices, languages, not "natural sounds"; "tongues" is ordinarily 
 the word used to designate languages, but the word "voices" is 
 chosen to avoid ambiguity. Incidentally it confirms the judg- 
 ment that the gift of tongues is not the gift of languages. With- 
 out signification. The word in the original is "voiceless," which 
 signifies not "dumb" but meaningless. Every language is in- 
 telligible to those who use it. 
 
 11. If I cannot understand his language we are to each other 
 
 112 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14:14 
 
 not the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him that 
 speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh will be 
 
 12. a barbarian ^ unto me. So also ye, since ye are zeal- 
 ous of - spiritual gifts, seek that ye may abound 
 
 13. unto the edifying of the church. Wherefore let him 
 that speaketh in a tdngue pray that he may inter- 
 
 14. pret. For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prayeth, 
 
 ^ Or, in my case. * Gr., spirits. 
 
 as barbarians. "The Greeks used the word barbarian of any 
 foreigner ignorant of the Greek language and the Greek cul- 
 ture." — Thayer. Our word "gibberish" conveys to us the same 
 idea of unintelligible sounds. Corinth was a city in which as 
 many different languages were spoken as in modern Constanti- 
 nople. The force of the illustration was very clear to his 
 readers. 
 
 12. The eagerness of the Corinthians for showy spiritual mani- 
 festations needed constantly the sobering corrective of "the good 
 of others" pressed home upon them, as here. 
 
 13. Wherefore. Introducing an exhortation based upon all 
 that is said in 6-12; also another series of arguments in 14-19. 
 Pray that he may interpret. Either before or after speaking 
 in a tongue he is to pray that the gift of interpretation be given 
 to him. This is preferable to the interpretation "pray while in 
 ecstasy." 
 
 14. The key to the interpretation of this verse, as well as of 
 verse 15, is in a clear distinction between "spirit" and "under- 
 standing." Both words are qualified by the possessive "my"; 
 "my spirit" refers, therefore, to the human spirit. The inner 
 life of man is spoken of in the New Testament as "spirit" and 
 "soul," "Spirit" marks the higher aspect of that inner life. 
 Following the Old Testament, it denotes it as derived from God 
 and related to God. It is the term used, then, whenever the 
 contact of God with man is thought of. Here it denotes the 
 human spirit "permeated by the divine Spirit ecstatically." The 
 human spirit is filled and moved by the Spirit of God and yields 
 itself to the divine impulse. The "understanding," on the other 
 hand, is the thinking faculty "which apprehends, works upon 
 and reflects and reproduces in its own forms the contents given 
 to it." The "spirit," in this connection, is the sphere of intense, 
 exalted, unutterable feeling; the "understanding," the means of 
 clear, intelligible thought. To pray or sing with the spirit, there- 
 US 
 
14:15 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 15. but my understanding is unfruitful. 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. 
 
 16. Else if thou bless with the spirit, how shall he that 
 filleth the place of the ^ unlearned say the Amen at 
 thy giving of thanks, seeing he knoweth not what 
 
 17. thou sayest? For thou verily givest thanks well, 
 
 ^ Or, him that is without gifts: and so in ver. 23, 24. 
 
 fore, is to leave the understanding unfruitful, i.e., barren of 
 edification to others. 
 
 15. What is it then? How, then, does the case stand? In 
 this way: Mere ecstatic emotionalism is not enough. I will pray 
 and chant with the Spirit's rapture, yes, but I also will pray and 
 sing with the reason. To unintelligible praying and inarticulate 
 rhapsodical chanting, I will add praying and singing, in which, 
 being expressive of definite, clear thought, others can join. This 
 concludes the first of the second series of reasons for the in- 
 feriority of tongues. 
 
 16. The second reason is that Tongues are an embarrassment 
 to the unlearned who, not understanding what is said when the 
 speaker, in ecstatic utterances, is praising God for His goodness, 
 is unable to say "Amen." Two questions arise: Who is he that 
 filleth the place of the unlearned and what is meant by the 
 place? These questions have had various answers. The word 
 translated "unlearned" means primarily "a private person" as 
 opposed to one who has official position; secondarily, one who 
 has lay, and not expert knowledge about any given matter. The 
 second meaning applies here and to those who came to the 
 Christian assemblies but were not yet baptized and gave no evi- 
 dence of having received the Spirit. Theodoret called them "the 
 uninitiated." These may have had a separate place in the as- 
 sembly but it is better to interpret place as "position." The 
 whole would then read: "How shall one who has the position of 
 the uninitiated say Amen ?" The Amen — meaning "so let it be" — 
 came over from the Synagogue to the Christian Church. 
 
 17. Your thanksgiving is all very well, but then — the man is 
 not edified. It is questionable whether there is a touch of irony 
 in the first clause of this verse since Paul believed in the worth 
 of Tongues to the one gifted with them. 
 
 114 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14:21 
 
 18. but the other is not ^ edified. I thank God, I speak 
 
 19. with tongues more than you all: howbeit in the 
 church I had rather speak five words with my under- 
 standing that I might instruct others also, than ten 
 thousand words in a tongue. 
 
 20. Brethren, be not children in mind: howbeit in 
 
 21. malice be ye babes, but in mind be ye -men. In 
 
 1 Gr., builded up. ^ Gr., of full age. 
 
 18. Paul adduces his own experience and judgment as a third 
 argument. He was no stranger to this gift. He thanks God, 
 rather, that he excels in it. Doubtless it has often been to him 
 in private a means of exalted communion with God, but in the 
 Church assembly he would give it small place. 
 
 19. In the Church he would rather speak five words with the 
 understanding for the mstruction of others than ten thousand 
 words in a tongue. This same judgment reveals the fine balance 
 of the Apostle. Over against the ecstatic element in himself and 
 in others he resolutely set his deeply ethical understanding of 
 the Spirit's purpose and of the Christian life. 
 
 20. Be not children in mind. The child loves that which is 
 showy and attracts attention and in the Corinthian's love of 
 tongues Paul discerned a sort of childishness. In malice be ye 
 babes, i.e., if you will be children, let it be in reference to a 
 malicious disposition, but in intelligent discernment be men. 
 Softened as this rebuke is by the affectionate address "brethren," 
 it nevertheless must have been humbling to those who prided 
 themselves upon their knowledge. 
 
 21. Thus far the whole discussion has been in reference to the 
 usefulness of gifts — particularly of tongues and prophecy— to 
 the church. Now he turns to consider the bearing of these two 
 upon the outsider who finds his way into the assembly. To 
 him tongues could be a sign of judgment, whereas prophesying 
 might issue in his conversion. Again in this way the inferiority 
 of tongues to prophecy is set forth. The argument begins in 
 citing an instance from the law. This name was given to the 
 Old Testament as a whole from the fact that the law was the 
 more important part (cf. Rom. 3:19; Jn. 10:34)- The quota- 
 tion is from Is. 28:11-12* and is to this effect. The scoffing 
 Jews in Jerusalem treat with scorn God's method of dealing 
 
 * The quotation is not exactly in accord with the Septuagint or 
 with the Hebrew. It is more like the Greek version of Aquila. 
 
14:22 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 the law it is written, By men of strange tongues 
 and by the lip of strangers will I speak unto this peo- 
 ple; and not even thus will they hear me, saith the 
 
 22. Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to 
 them that believe, but to the unbelieving: but 
 prophesying is for a sign not to the unbelieving, but 
 
 23. to them that believe. If therefore the whole church 
 be assembled together and all speak with tongues, 
 and there come in men unlearned or unbelieving, 
 
 24. will they not say that ye are mad? But if all 
 
 with them and His warnings to them through His prophets. 
 "He treats us as children," they said, "with line upon line, 
 precept upon precept." God, through the prophet, in reply 
 threatens them that since they refused to listen to His simple, 
 clear commands, He would speak to them by the strange tongues 
 of the Assyrians, their captors. The passage is in no sense a 
 prediction regarding speaking with tongues. It is simply an 
 illustration which in some features finds a parallel in the Corin- 
 thian situation. The striking feature is that the strange Assyrian 
 tongue by which 
 
 22. God spoke to Israel was in retribution. Just so (where- 
 fore) speaking with tongues was to the outsider who would 
 not listen to the call of the Gospel an ominous sign. Its abnor- 
 mality did not commend it, rather it confirmed his unbelief. In 
 brief, "tongues do not convince those who are not convinced 
 already." Compare a like situation in the case of the parables 
 of Jesus in Mk. .4:11-12. Prophesying, on the other hand, is 
 for a sign. The words "is for a sign" are not in the Greek. 
 The text gives a good sense without them. If they are kept, the 
 sign in this case is not of judgment but of grace. 
 
 23. To bring out the force of what has just been said a sup- 
 position is made of the church gathering together in one place 
 and the whole service being given up to speaking with tongues, 
 not necessarily all speaking at the same time, but probably so, 
 addmg confusion to unintelhgibility. Into this gathering come 
 unlearned men (see vs. 16) and those who are positively unbe- 
 lieving. Will they not say "You are insane"? 
 
 24. But if, on the other hand, all prophesy (in turn since 
 prophesying implies self-possession and aims at edification — see 
 vs. 32) and one does not believe or one who is yet uninitiated 
 (vs. 16) comes in and listens to the inspired searching words of 
 
 116 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14 -.27 
 
 prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving or un- 
 learned, he is ' reproved by all, he is judged by all; 
 
 25. the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so 
 he will fall down on his face and worship God, de- 
 
 2. Regulations for the Orderly Exercise of Gifts in 
 Public Worship, 14:26-36 
 
 26. daring that God is ^ among you indeed. What is 
 it then, brethren? when ye come together each one 
 hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, 
 hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all 
 
 27. things be done unto edifying. If any man speaketh 
 in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, 
 
 1 Or, coniicted. ^ Or, in. 
 
 truth, he is convicted of sin (by each in turn), his thoughts are 
 probed (as each prophet speaks). 
 
 25. And the secrets of his heart are laid bare: and so, falling 
 upon his face he will worship God announcing (by that act and 
 afterwards by word) that God is really among you. The two 
 suppositions make again clear the superior value of prophecy, 
 and the whole chapter, thus far, make evident the fact that in 
 dealing with the gift of tongues we have nothing to do with 
 foreign languages. 
 
 26. What is it then? Cf. verse iS. How then does the case 
 stand? i.e., how are these gifts to be exercised? The principle 
 governing their exercise is edification. This principle is now 
 applied to the orderly exercise, particularly of the gift of tongues 
 and prophecy. A graphic picture is given of the assembling 
 church, eager to contribute, each his part, to the service. One 
 has a psalm, either his own composition or an Old Testament 
 psalm with a Christian application. Regarding this psalmody of 
 the early church we know very Uttle. Another has a word of 
 instruction, another a revelation, i.e., an inspired setting forth 
 of the revealed will of God, another breaks forth in the rap- 
 turous utterances of a tongue, and another gives an interpreta- 
 tion of these utterances. The spontaneity of the offerings and 
 variety of forms made necessary some definite regulations. 
 
 27. As regards those having the gift of tongues — only two, at 
 most three, were to speak at a service and these in turn. One 
 and only one was to interpret, probably on account of time and 
 
 117 
 
14:28 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 28. and that in turn; and let one interpret: but if there 
 be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church ; 
 
 29. and let him speak to himself, and to God. And let 
 the prophets speak by two or three, and let the 
 
 30. others ^ discern. But if a revelation be made to 
 
 31. another sitting by, let the first keep silence. For ye 
 all can prophesy, one by one, that all may learn, 
 
 32. and all may be - comforted; and the spirits of the 
 
 ^ Gr., discriminate. " SV, exhorted. 
 
 28. to prevent discussion. If no interpreter be present then 
 "let the rhapsodist be silent in the assembly." He must com- 
 mune with God in this way in soHtude, i.e., at home. 
 
 29. As regards prophets there was also to be a limited number, 
 two or three, naturally, in succession. Discern. The gift of 
 discernment, probably exercised by those who were themselves 
 prophets, was to determine whether the spirit was of God. 
 
 30. If while one prophet is speaking, another sitting in the 
 audience has a revelation it shall be an indication to the speaker 
 that he is to bring his address to a close. The wording does not 
 signify an abrupt stop on the part of the speaker nor an abrupt 
 beginning on the part of his successor. Courtesy as well as order 
 should have place. It does signify that one prophet must not 
 occupy the whole time of the meeting, if others felt called upon 
 to speak. 
 
 31. For. This verse gives a reason for the direction in 30. 
 If one prophet gives way to another, it would be possible for all 
 the prophets in successive meetings to be heard and all the mem- 
 bers of the congregation to be instructed and comforted. The 
 varied speakers with their varied revelations would compass the 
 needs of the congregation. The listening prophets would, of 
 course, share in the blessings of instruction and comfort. 
 
 32. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the 
 prophets. And connects this verse with the preceding and gives 
 another reason for the regulation in verse 30. One can become 
 silent if another has a revelation, for a prophet is not under the 
 power of a spirit he cannot control. He is not helplessly driven 
 to talk on and on. He is master of the spirit which speaks 
 through him. "The very ideal of prophecy is to receive the 
 Divine communication unperturbed by the nearness of the Divine 
 and to deliver it with a calm confidence in its truthfulness and 
 its certainty to prevail." — Davidson, O. T. Prophecy. 
 
 118 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14:34 
 
 33. prophets are subject to the prophets; for God is not 
 a God of confusion, but of peace; as in all the 
 churches of the saints. 
 
 J. Forbidding Women to Speak in Church 
 
 34. Let the women keep silence in the churches: for 
 it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them 
 
 33. This is a proof of the maxim of verse 32. God is not a 
 God of disorder and confusion. His Spirit therefore cannot be 
 the breeder of turbulence. He cannot inspire men to make them 
 unruly. That would mean unseemly contention in the church, 
 but God is a God of peace. As in all the churches of the 
 saints. It is not clear whether this clause should go with verse 
 33 or with 34. In either case supply the words "is the custom." 
 If taken with 33 it refers to the custom of reverent orderliness. 
 If connected with 34, it would read "as is the custom in all the 
 churches of the saints let the women keep silence in the churches." 
 Saints — those set apart to God, believers. 
 
 34. Let the women keep silence in the churches. The 
 prohibition is positive and is grounded upon Gen. 3:16. The 
 difficulty which it presents is its apparent contradiction with 
 11:5, 13, where women are spoken of as praying and prophesy- 
 ing. "Every woman who, while praying or prophesying in pub- 
 lic, keeps her head uncovered, etc." The simplest solution is 
 that in 11:5 his whole thought is upon the "wearing of the veil" 
 in public assemblies and the matter of "praying and prophesying 
 or speaking with tongues" is left untouched. That has his atten- 
 tion now under the general theme — decorum and edification in 
 speaking in the church gatherings. Women are to keep silent.* 
 The ground of this is in the words of Gen. 3:16, "thy desire 
 shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee." They are 
 to be in subjection or, perhaps better, in subordination in accord- 
 ance with the nature of the sexes and the word of God. In I. 
 Tim. 2:12 a more specific prohibition is given, "I do not allow 
 a woman to teach, nor to lord it over a man," i.e., Findlay sug- 
 gests that these two functions — "church-teaching and authorita- 
 tive-direction," as unfit for women, may have been what was 
 
 * Other solutions are: (i) that the speaking is defined by verse 36 
 as "asking questions" and has nothing to do with prophesying (Hein- 
 rici); (2) that verses 34-35 are an interpolation coming into the text 
 from the margin and placed there by a much later hand (Weinel) ; 
 (3) that women might pray and prophesy in more private meetings 
 consisting chiefly of women (Beet). Each explanation raises other 
 difficulties in trying to solve the one of the text. 
 
 119 
 
14:35 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 35. be in subjection, as also saith the law. And if they 
 would learn anything, let them ask their own hus- 
 bands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to 
 
 36. speak in the church. What? was it from you that 
 the word of God went forth? or came it unto you 
 alone? 
 
 4. Paul's Assertion of Authority, 14:37-38 
 
 37. If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet or 
 spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which 
 I write unto you, that they are the commandment 
 
 38. of the Lord. ^ But if any man is ignorant, let him 
 be ignorant. 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read Biit if any man knoweth not, he 
 is not known. 
 
 here in the mind of Paul. It is well in this connection to remem- 
 ber that "the attitude of Apostolic Christianity toward women 
 is largely due to the interaction of two distinct principles — the 
 fundamental Christian assertion of the intrinsic worth of human 
 personality and the eschatological foreshortening of the time 
 which could not fail to hinder the social application of the 
 former principle." — Robinson. Our day has applied this "former 
 principle" and given women larger liberty. 
 
 35. And if — better, "and, moreover, if," showing that verse 35 
 is not an explanation of verse 34, but adds something to it. It 
 may be rendered "And even if they would learn something they 
 must not speak in church but carry their questions home to 
 their husbands, or, if not married, to their fathers or brothers." 
 It might look Uke heeding the injunction to be "in subjection" 
 if they merely asked questions, but even this could not be 
 allowed, as it might serve as a pretext for gaining some larger 
 privilege. Shameful — because a violation of the modesty re- 
 quired by ancient custom. 
 
 36. A sharp rebuke. The questions are ironical. Pray, did 
 God's word start from you? Are you the only people it has 
 reached? So you seem to think, in view of the authority you 
 claim and the right you assert to be independent regarding such 
 disorders in public worship as I have condemned. 
 
 37. The commandment of the Lord. Paul is sure of the 
 source of the directions he has been giving them. Whoever is 
 
 120 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 14:40 
 
 5. Conclusion of the Whole Matter, 14:39-40 
 
 39. Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to 
 prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues. 
 
 40. But let all things be done decently and in order. 
 
 moved by the Spirit will recognize that they are from the Lord 
 and will acknowledge their authority. 
 
 38. If any says "I fail to see it" that does not alter the facts, 
 he must rest in his ignorance. Paul will have no contention 
 with him. 
 
 39. The whole discussion is summed up in three exhortations 
 to seek earnestly to be inspired preachers of the revealed truth 
 of God; to allow the exercise of the gift of tongues under such 
 restrictions, of course, as he had given them, and to carry on 
 their public worship in a seemly manner and in order. The 
 peculiar phrase translated "in order" applies, perhaps, solely to 
 the exercise of public gifts; while "seemliness" bears upon woman's 
 dress and the profanation of the Lord's table. 
 
 121 
 
15 :i 
 
 IV. Teaching Concerning the Resurrection of the 
 Dead, 15:1-58 
 
 I. The Creed which the Church had accepted and the 
 
 summary of evidence for the Resurrection with 
 
 which they were familiar, 15:1-11 
 
 15. I. Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gos- 
 pel which I preached unto you, which also ye re- 
 Paul's gospel was principally the gospel of the cross and the 
 Resurrection. This does not mean that the earthly life of Jesus 
 before the crucifixion was of no importance to him. On the 
 contrary, all that preceded Calvary's hour was a preparation for 
 it. It was the climactic expression of the spirit and purpose of 
 all that Jesus said and did. By that supreme sacrifice redemption 
 from sin was provided for all who would accept it. But had 
 death been victorious over Jesus and there had been no Resur- 
 rection there would have been wanting a vital element in the 
 Apostle's message. It is to show this that a part of this chapter 
 is written. The triumph of Jesus over the grave is the guarantee 
 of the same triumph for those who believe in him. As this chap- 
 ter is the great chapter of the New Testament upon the subject 
 of the resurrection of the dead, it merits close attention. The 
 reasoning of the chapter is concise and sometimes intricate. Be- 
 fore entering upon a detailed study of it it will be of advantage 
 to get at the situation in the Corinthian church which called it 
 forth, to mark the postulates with which Paul begins it, and to 
 have a general outline of his argument. 
 
 Belief in a future life was accepted alike by Jew and Greek. 
 The point in question was whether it was reached by the way of 
 resurrection. To the Jew the resurrection of the body was the 
 completion of salvation, an essential element of future, heavenly 
 existence. To the Greek, on the contrary, with his conception of 
 matter as the source of evil and with the evidence that the body 
 in the grave was dissolved into its original elements, the thought 
 of a resurrection of the body was both impossible and undesir- 
 able. There were some in the church who held this latter view. 
 
 122 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15 '-i 
 
 It seems illogical that they could admit that Jesus had risen 
 from the dead, for he was a man and had a mortal body. But 
 so they did believe, and their belief was of great apologetic value 
 to Paul. They were perhaps willing to accept the fact because 
 of the uniqueness of Jesus and in view of the sure witness of 
 many that they had seen the Risen Lord. They could not, how- 
 ever, see in the fact any guarantee of the resurrection of his 
 followers. There may have been in their attitude a touch of that 
 boasted "enlightenment" (rationalism, we would call it) which 
 based denial upon the impossibility of forming any human con- 
 ception of what resurrection is— or "affecting 'the wisdom of 
 this world' they cherished the rooted prejudice of Greek culture 
 against the idea of bodily resurrection." At any rate, their 
 assertion was that "Dead persons do not live again" (vs. 12) and 
 it is this assertion which engages Paul's attention through seventy- 
 two verses of this chapter. His whole effort is to make clear to 
 these dangerous doubters how illogical their position is. He 
 argues with these postulates in mind: (a) that Christ has risen, 
 (b) that those who believe in him shall also rise from the dead. 
 It is to be noted that the chapter has nothing to do with the 
 resurrection of unbelievers and that it does not once use the 
 expression "the resurrection of the body." It proclaims "bodily 
 resurrection," which is quite a different thing from "resurrection 
 of the body"; it also shows how central and vital the doctrine is 
 to complete Christian salvation. A brief analysis of the chapter 
 is as follows: He first calls their attention to the gospel which he 
 had preached to them and which they had received, together with 
 the traditional summary of witnesses to the fact of the Resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus (2-11). Then he takes up the general denial which 
 doubters made, viz.: "Dead men do not rise again," and by a 
 reduction ad absurdum form of argument shows the inconsistency 
 or falsity of it. There are four of these arguments, beginning 
 respectively at verses 13, 16, 29, 32. The first, accepting the 
 strictly logical conclusion that if dead men do not rise, Christ 
 also Himself did not rise, since he was a man, shows that his 
 (Paul's) preaching and their faith were without content, empty, 
 and they and all other believers were false witnesses (13-15). 
 The second argument, accepting the same conclusion as the first, 
 concludes that (a) faith is futile "Ye are yet in your sins." 
 (b) That all Christians, who have died, have perished, (c) That 
 those in this Ufe who have hoped in Christ are of men most 
 pitiable (16-19). The mere statement of such conclusions would 
 seem to be their refutation. Paul meets them, however, by turn- 
 ing from argument to prophecy, one of those exalted spirit-inspired 
 utterances in which he sets forth with exultant assurance the 
 
 123 
 
15:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. ceived, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are 
 ^ saved ; / make known, I say, in what words I 
 
 ^ Or, saved, if ye hold fast what I preached unto ye. SV, if ye hold 
 
 fast the word which, 
 
 outcome of Christ's resurrection. Risen he is, yes! And he is 
 the first fruits of them who have fallen asleep in him. At his 
 coming they shall arise and then shall be the end, when Death's 
 defeat shall mark the close of his triumph over all opposing 
 forces, the placing of all enemies under his feet and the giving up 
 of the Kingdom to God (20-28). The third argument (29) and 
 the fourth (30-32) are thrown into the form of questions imply- 
 ing that there is no satisfactory answer to either except in the 
 hope of a future life with which the hope of resurrection is prac- 
 tically identified. After a warning against association with those 
 who hold materialistic views of life (33) and an exhortation to 
 get back to a sober mind (34), Paul turns to the consideration of 
 the intellectual problem of the Resurrection — the problem of the 
 body. The difficulties before the minds of the Corinthians are set 
 forth in the two questions: How are the dead raised? With 
 what kind of a body do they come? Shall we have the same 
 bodies that we put aside when we die? If not, what will be the 
 nature of the body? Paul begins his answer with an analogy of 
 the sowing of the seed, out of which can be drawn the two 
 teachings — the continuity of life between the old and the new 
 body and identity — God giveth each seed a body after its kind 
 (wheat, barley, etc.), 37-41. As preparatory to the application 
 of this to the resurrection the Apostle calls attention to the great 
 diversity of bodies which God has provided on earth, in the sea, 
 and in the sky. Surely He can furnish one suitable for the life 
 beyond. Whatever its substance, that body shall have marked 
 contrasts in quality from our earthly body. It will be immortal, 
 glorious, powerful, spiritual (42-44). As we have had a fleshly 
 body so we shall have a spiritual body, and the basis of this sure 
 hope is in the fact that the resurrected Jesus has become a life- 
 giving Spirit whence shall come that body suited to a spiritual 
 environment. The secret, the mystery of the Resurrection is just 
 this (45-49). If we live to the time of the Lord's coming, to the 
 great day of resurrection, we shall have this "spiritual body" as 
 the result of a sudden transformation, and so "Death shall be 
 swallowed up in victory." In view of it all, let us be steadfast 
 for earthly toil is not in vain, if it be in the Lord (50-51). 
 
 15. I make known unto you. There is a suggestion of re- 
 gret and mild reproach in these words. He had preached the 
 Gospel to them and they had received it and were being saved by 
 
 124 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:5 
 
 preached it unto you, if ye hold it fast, except ye be- 
 
 3. lieved ^ in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all 
 that which also I received, how that Christ died for 
 
 4. our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was 
 
 buried and that he hath been raised on the third 
 
 5. day according to the Scriptures; and that he ap- 
 
 ^ Or, without cause. 
 
 it, but some of them had become skeptical about one of its vital 
 doctrines — the Resurrection. He must therefore make it known 
 again to them, i.e., explain its nature and import. 
 
 2. What word. This expression takes the place of "the Gos- 
 pel" in the previous verse. It lays stress upon "form" rather 
 than substance. The story of the Gospel as told is what it points 
 to. Paul is making "a challenge to memory and faith" and the 
 verse may be rendered "I make known unto you, I say, again 
 my account of the Gospel and you will remember it, if you are 
 holding (it) fast, unless your faith was haphazard." 
 
 3. For — introducing verses 3-4 which explain the contents of 
 the Gospel which had been proclaimed to them. First of all in 
 importance, not time. I received from the Apostles and others 
 with the added illumination of the Spirit. Here follows a virtual 
 Christian creed. Christ died for sins. There is a real connec- 
 tion between Christ's death and the forgiveness of our sins. His 
 death has an atoning purpose (Rom. 4:25). According to the 
 Scriptures. Is. 53 is the main prophecy concerning it. It was 
 the Resurrection itself which threw light upon this word (cf. 
 Acts 8:29-35). 
 
 4. He was buried. The importance of this statement is in 
 its witness to the fact that Jesus came under the power of the 
 grave. It certifies His death and implies an "empty tomb" in 
 connection with the Resurrection. Hath been raised. The 
 Greek form signifies not only that He rose from the dead, but 
 also that He is now living. "His resurrection is not merely an 
 event of history but a condition and a power of life present and 
 future." The third day. From the first this detail has been 
 accepted by the church. A resurrection so mysterious as that of 
 Jesus could have taken place at any moment after the body was 
 placed in the grave. The belief "in the day" goes back ultimately 
 to the word of Jesus (Matt. 16:21, 17:23; Lk. 9:22) and was 
 confirmed by the first appearance on the third day. 
 
 5. Here begins the list of witnesses, not of the resurrection 
 itself, for that no one saw, but of the risen Lord. And that. 
 
 125 
 
15:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 6. peared to Cephas; then to the twelve; then he ap- 
 peared to above five hundred brethren at once, of 
 whom the greater part remain until now; but some 
 
 7. are fallen asleep; then he appeared to James; then 
 
 8. to all the Apostles; and last of all, as ^ unto one 
 
 9. born out of due time, he appeared to me also. For 
 I am the least of the Apostles and am not meet to 
 be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church 
 
 ^ SV, to the child untimely bom. 
 
 This indicates that the evidence is part of that which he had 
 received and delivered to them. Cephas — cf. Lk. 24:34. Paul 
 uses this Aramaic name for Peter always in this letter and all 
 but twice in Galatians. The Twelve — an official title, for there 
 were but really eleven Apostles at the time of the resurrection. 
 
 6. Above five hundred at once. The occasion is unknown 
 but it is usually identified with Matt. 28:18-20; see also Matt. 
 28:10. The fact that many of these were living when Paul wrote 
 made it possible still to get full evidence at first hand. Fallen 
 asleep: euphemism for death. 
 
 7. James. This is James the Lord's brother (Gal. 1:19) who 
 became prominent as a leader of the church in Jerusalem. 
 
 8. All the Apostles. This refers to the original band of 
 Apostles. The term cannot be widened, as it is elsewhere in the 
 New Testament, for a larger number of Apostles than the twelve 
 was not possible until after Pentecost. It means all who were 
 then really Apostles. In regard to this list it is to be noted 
 that, with the exception of the group of five hundred, it is of 
 men of the highest importance in the church whose witness 
 would be unquestioned. Furthermore, Paul's knowledge, much 
 of it, regarding the resurrection came to him doubtless during 
 his visit to Jerusalem when he had intercourse with Peter and 
 James (Gal. 1:18). Last of all. The appearance to Paul 
 closed the appearances of our Lord. Born out of due time 
 — a violent and premature birth. The other Apostles, when the 
 Lord appeared to them, were already children of the household 
 of faith. It has been suggested that the Jews gave Paul the 
 nickname of "the Abortion." 
 
 9. For I, this untimely child, because as such I was imper- 
 fectly developed and really unfit to be called an Apostle and 
 because I persecuted the Church of God, am the least of the 
 Apostles. Remorse for this fanatical activity against 
 
 126 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:12 
 
 10. of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: 
 and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not 
 found ^vain; but I labored more abundantly than 
 
 11. they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was 
 with me. Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, 
 and so ye believed. 
 
 2. Four reductio ad absurdum arguments from the 
 
 assertion of some that ''dead men do not 
 
 rise," 15:12-34 
 
 12. Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised 
 from the dead, how say some among you that there 
 
 ^ Or, ineffectual. 
 
 10. the church never left Paul. What he had been in himself 
 and what he yet was, set over against what he had become 
 through God's grace, and what, by that same grace, he was 
 enabled to do, was the source of his deep humility on one side 
 and of his just pride on the other. He attributed all that he 
 accomplished to the power of God working through him and 
 with him (with me). Thus he had toiled more abundantly 
 than all the other Apostles together. 
 
 11. "Yet not I," he says, but the grace of God which was with 
 me," and the case is the same whether "I or they" (the Twelve 
 or James) are the preachers, for they preached the risen Lord 
 whom they had seen, and you believed their witness and its 
 import. 
 
 12. Paul has shown upon what a solid, reliable basis rests the 
 belief of the church in the resurrection of Jesus. All the Apostles 
 and many others had been eye witnesses of the Risen Lord, and 
 they had been preaching the fact and its significance with telling 
 power. Furthermore, this doctrine had been accepted by them. 
 They believed that Christ had risen from the dead. How could 
 they, then, say that "there is no such thing as a resurrection of 
 dead (men) ? This we are to remember was not the equivalent 
 of their saying that they had no belief in a future life. It bears 
 wholly upon bodily resurrection. It was not immortality of the 
 soul that was in question, but resurrection of the body. Of 
 course, if this sweeping denial had any truth in it, then Christ 
 had not been raised. 
 
 127 
 
15:13 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 13. is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no 
 resurrection of the dead neither has Christ been 
 
 14. raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, then is 
 our preaching ^ vain, ^ your faith also is ^ vain. 
 
 15. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; be- 
 cause we witnessed of God that he raised up ^ Christ: 
 whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are 
 
 16. not raised. For if the dead are not raised neither 
 
 ^ Or, void. ^ Some ancient authorities read our. ^ Qr., the Christ. 
 
 a. First argument: If dead men do not rise, Christ is not risen 
 
 and our preaching and your faith are empty, 
 15:13-15 
 
 13. Two consequences of such an issue are now set forth, (i) 
 Their preaching of the doctrine is void and they are made liars 
 (14) (2) Their faith is empty (14). 
 
 14. Our preaching is vain. The word translated vain sig- 
 nifies "empty," "void." If Christ had not been raised, then they 
 had been preaching an empty gospel. And what was that gos- 
 pel? Weinel gives it as follows: "That there had come forth a 
 man out of Nazareth mighty in deed and in word, that the Jews 
 had killed him, that they made him die the ignominious death 
 of a criminal, that this man was the Son of God, that His death 
 had taken place on account of sin, that God had manifested Him 
 as His Son beyond and after death by raising Him from the 
 dead and that this resurrection was known by experience to His 
 disciples." All this was void, if Christ had not been raised. 
 
 15. What is more, their faith is also void. There is nothing 
 left for them to believe. They have no risen Christ upon whom 
 salvation depends. 
 
 b. Second argument: If dead m^n do not rise, Christ is not 
 risen, (a) your faith is futile, (b) the Christian dead have 
 perished, (c) we who have hoped in Christ in this life are 
 of all men to be pitied most. A prophecy, 15:16-28. 
 
 Preaching what is not true, we are beginning to be found 
 out as false witnesses of God, lit. against God, because we 
 have declared once and again that God raised Christ from the 
 dead. Either He did, or we have lied in saying that He did. 
 Paul hints at no self-deception or hallucination in the matter, 
 
 128 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:19 
 
 17 
 
 hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been 
 raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 
 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ 
 have perished. ' If in this life only we have hope 
 in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. 
 
 Or, If we have only hoped in Christ in this lifi 
 
 Neither one entered his thought. The alternative was fact, or 
 deliberate lying. , ^ , , r » • .. 
 
 17. (a) Faith is vain. The word in the Greek here for vain 
 is not the same as in verse 14. Here it means without effect or 
 results, hence, ye are yet in your sins. Why? Because jus- 
 tification depends upon His resurrection. Only through His 
 risen life can Christ come into such living union with men that 
 their sins are forgiven. Furthermore, through His risen life He 
 becomes a "life-creating spirit" in purifying us from sin and 
 strengthening us in goodness (see Rom. 4:25, 6:4-11). _ 
 
 18 (6) Then, too, those who have "fallen asleep" m Christ 
 have perished. They were yet in their sins if Christ has not 
 been raised from the dead. "The sense of His presence and the 
 promises of His gospel turned their death into sleep." But they 
 awoke in perdition! . •, • r-u • * 
 
 19 (c) "If all we have done is merely having hoped m Lnrist 
 in this life" (Alford) and there it ends with nothing to look for 
 bevond, then we are most to be pitied. The Christian life itself 
 is 'a monstrous delusion! Magnificent hopes end in blank dis- 
 appointment! Paul is not thinking here of goodness which is 
 looking simply for reward— a form of selfishness— but of that 
 desire for a nobler, higher life with God and in God for ends 
 outside of self which our few years here are all too brief to 
 attain. t^ , . 
 
 A review of these arguments will show that Paul is not argu- 
 ing primarily with unbelievers but with inconsistent Christians. 
 He appeals both to fact (17) and to rational feeling (18-19). 
 What he says about being "yet in their sins if Christ had 
 not risen" the members of the church understood from experi- 
 ence It was the risen Christ who had brought them out 
 of their pagan, sinful living and they could not but feel the 
 force of the arguments of verses 18-19. A doctrine which m- 
 volved such monstrous conclusions could not be true. It is not 
 true. Christ is risen! And the Apostle turns to consider the 
 effect of this great fact. In so doing he passes from argument to 
 
 129 
 
15:20 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 20. But now hath Christ been raised from the dead the 
 
 21. first fruits of them that are asleep. For since by 
 man came death, by man came also the resurrection 
 
 22. of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in 
 
 23. ^ Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his 
 own order: Christ the first fruits; then they that are 
 
 ^ Gr., the Christ. 
 
 prophecy (spirit-inspired, exalted teaching), the theme of which 
 is the outcome of the Resurrection of Jesus, summed up, — 
 (i) The resurrection of all believers "at His coming"; 
 
 (2) The bringing to naught of all that opposes Him, even 
 death itself; 
 
 (3) The giving up the Kingdom to the Father that God may be 
 all in all (20-28). 
 
 20. Christ . . . the first fruits of them that are asleep. 
 The figure is from Lev. 23:10-12. As the harvest in ancient 
 Israel was ready to be gathered, the priest was to take a sheaf 
 from it and wave it before the Lord, a pledge that the whole 
 harvest belonged to the Lord. The first fruits were, of course, 
 in kind like the harvest. The resurrected Jesus was by analogy 
 a pledge of that harvest of resurrection which should include all 
 believers. 
 
 21. As between the sheaf and the harvest there is likeness of 
 nature, so Jesus as man, risen from the dead, is the pledge of the 
 resurrection of believing men. As through man came death, so 
 through man cometh resurrection of dead men. 
 
 22. For — confirming and explaining verse 21. All in Adam 
 die. This is universal since all men are descended from Adam. 
 All in the Christ (in the Messiah) shall be made alive. This 
 is limited to believers and for the following reasons: (i) in 
 Christ according to Paul means in vital relationship with Christ, 
 i.e., a spiritual relationship. Only believers have this. (2) The 
 expressions used in the text on each side of this verse indicate 
 the same limitation in the Apostle's thought. See "those who 
 have fallen asleep" in verses 18, 20 and "they that are Christ's 
 at his coming. (3) Otherwise the thought of universal resur- 
 rection is introduced into a chapter devoted to the fact and 
 significance of the resurrection of believers. 
 
 23. But each in his own order. Order signifies company, 
 troop, division. It is military metaphor. Christ constitutes the 
 first; all who belong to Christ, the second. The time of the 
 
 130 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:26 
 
 24. Christ's at his ^ coming. Then cometh the end, 
 when he shall deliver up the kingdom to ^ God, even 
 the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule 
 
 25. and all authority and power. For he must reign, 
 
 26. till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The 
 
 ^ Gr., presence. ^ Gr., the God and Father. 
 
 resurrection of this second division is at his coming. To Paul 
 this was the great "second coming" (as it is named by us) of 
 the Lord (cf. i Thess. 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 2 Thess. 2:1; i Cor. 
 1:7-8). 
 
 24. Then cometh the end. The end of what? Not of res- 
 urrection as though there were a third "division," but the abso- 
 lute end — the conclusion of the world's history. The following 
 reasons are given for this interpretation of "the end": (i) The 
 figure "first fruits" calls for only two divisions of resurrection. 
 (2) That there is to be understood the word "resurrection" after 
 "the end" is an assumption. Such an important word is not 
 usually left out of a Greek sentence. (3) Paul nowhere else 
 gives countenance to the doctrine of two resurrections (of men) 
 separated by an interval. (4) The definition which follows the 
 words "the end" suits better the absolute end than the end of 
 resurrection. When he shall deliver up the Kingdom. This 
 is simultaneous with the end and means that Christ's mediatorial 
 work will be accomplished. The reign of sin and death will have 
 come to an end. Christ will give up His mediatorial function. 
 "Now we see God and experience His action through the God- 
 man who represents Him to us; then Christ will have brought 
 us to the Father; we shall enjoy Beatific Vision and immediate 
 union with God Himself." The English is framed like the Greek 
 to show that before this giving up of the Kingdom, at the end, 
 he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. 
 This denotes all opposition, whether heavenly or on earth — 
 Angelic, demonic, human. 
 
 25. For he must reign — explanatory and confirmatory of what 
 is just declared in verse 24. The time of this "reigning" is now 
 and continues until "the end." 
 
 26. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. This 
 is accomplished in the resurrection of "those who belong to 
 Christ" (vs. 23). Towards this goal Paul's thought moves, in 
 setting for it the meaning of the Lord's coming at the end. 
 Christ hath been raised. He now reigns and shall continue so 
 
15:27 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 27. last enemy that shall be abolished is death. For, 
 he hath put all things in subjection under his feet. 
 ^ But when he saith all things are put in subjection, 
 it is evident that he is excepted who did subject all 
 
 28. things unto him. And when all things have been 
 subjected unto him, then shall the Son also himself 
 be subjected to him that did subject all things unto 
 him, that God may be all in all. 
 
 ^ Or, But when^ he shall have said, All things are put in subjection 
 {evidently excepting him that did subject all things unto him) when, 
 I say all things, etc. 
 
 to do until every enemy is put under His feet. His coming at 
 the end shall be the time of the conquest of His last enemy, 
 Death (death is personified), and the evidence of it shall be the 
 resurrection of those who belong to Him. Then He shall give 
 up His mediatorial position for His work shall be accomplished. 
 Death and sin shall have been vanquished. 
 
 27. The insertion of names in the place of the somewhat con- 
 fusing pronouns will facilitate the understanding of this verse. 
 When God (or Christ) shall have announced: "All things (see 
 above) are in subjection" it is evident that God is excepted Who 
 did subject all things unto Christ and when all things have 
 been subjected to Christ then shall He (the Son) also Himself 
 be subjected * to God (the Father) Who subjected all things to 
 Christ (the Son) that God may be all in all. 
 
 In Paul's thought creation is intimately related to redemption 
 (Col. 1:16). It has the Messianic stamp upon it, as the stage 
 upon which the great drama of the world's redemption is enacted. 
 In the end the purpose of it will be fulfilled. The emphasis in 
 the passage is upon subjection, or, perhaps better, subordina- 
 tion. Whether it is the equivalent of reconciliation as far as 
 "all things" are concerned is one of the earnest questions of 
 modern thought. In considering it, it is well to remember what 
 Paul says in Phil. 2:9-11. These verses (24-28) are, like Chapter 
 13, an instance of exalted prophecy. Much in them passes our 
 comprehension. God will be all in all in the realm which Christ 
 delivers up to Him. The note in it all is one of triumph. 
 
 * The subordination of Christ is a distinct teaching of Paul (Gal. 
 4:4; Col. 1:19). It is a subordination of office or function rather 
 than of nature. The sovereignty of Christ did not cease with the 
 delivering up of the Kiagdom, only His function as Mediator (see 
 Eph. 5:5). 
 
 132 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:30 
 
 29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for 
 the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why 
 then are they baptized for them? 
 
 30. Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour? I 
 
 c. Third argument: If dead men do not rise, Baptism for the 
 dead is of no avail, 15:29 
 
 In offering further support of the resurrection Paul now brings 
 forward arguments which are virtually ad hominem. Baptism 
 for the dead is futile if there be no resurrection. 
 
 29. Else {i.e., if there be no resurrection of the dead) what 
 shall they do who are baptized for the dead? As helpful 
 in leading to a just interpretation of this perplexing question 
 several points must be noted, (i) The words "they who are 
 baptized," without further definition, refer to those who have 
 received Christian baptism. It is not, therefore, probable that 
 Paul is here alluding to any rite of substitutionary baptism con- 
 nected with pagan mystery-religions. (2) For the dead refers 
 not to the dead in general but to those who were in some way 
 connected with "those who were baptized," i.e., with Christians. 
 It implies that "the dead"' were Christians. (3) Vicarious bap- 
 tism, i.e., the baptism of a living Christian as a proxy for anyone 
 who had died unbaptized, is so foreign to Paul's ethical concep- 
 tion of baptism that such a magical view deserves no more 
 than a passing notice. There is no evidence that vicarious bap- 
 tism was practiced anywhere in the church in Paul's time. 
 Keeping these points in view, the most natural interpretation is 
 that through affection for one who had died and who had prayed 
 for those who were dear to him, they had been led to Christ and 
 were baptized in the hope of reunion with him who had gone. 
 Findlay, to whose exposition of this verse I am indebted, illus- 
 trates by the case of a dying mother who wins her son by the 
 appeal "Meet me in heaven!" Futile would be any such hope 
 if there were no resurrection. 
 
 d. Fourth argument: If dead men do not rise, daily risk and 
 danger have no meaning, 15:30-34 
 
 30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour (Rom. 
 8-36; 2 Cor. 4:10-12). The list of perils found in 2 Cor. 
 11:23-27 will amply confirm this fact of "jeopardy every hour" 
 as far as Paul is concerned. Silas and Timothy, doubtless, had 
 like risks. 
 
15:31 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 31. protest by ^ that glorying in you brethren, which I 
 
 32. have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after 
 the manner of men I fought with beasts at Ephesus, 
 ^ what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, 
 
 ^T,. let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Be not 
 deceived ; ^ evil company doth corrupt good man- 
 
 34. ners. * Awake up righteously, and sin not; for 
 some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to 
 move you to shame. 
 
 ^ Or, your glorying. 
 
 * Or, what doth it profit me, if the dead are not raised? Let us 
 eat, etc. ^ SV, Evil companionships corrupt good morals. 
 
 * Gr., awake out of drunkenness righteously. SV, awake to sober- 
 ness righteously. 
 
 31. I die daily. Death menaced him every day. That is as 
 true, he assures them, as his pride in them "in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord." 
 
 32. After the manner of men. Looking at the matter as 
 any ordinary man would who is without the incentives and hopes 
 of Christian faith. What profit would I have if I fought with 
 the beasts at Ephesus? None whatever. "The beasts of 
 Ephesus" are not to be taken literally. As a Roman citizen 
 Paul could not be compelled to fight in the arena. His con- 
 flict was with infuriated men. The tumult caused by Demetrius 
 (Acts 19) was probably later. Let us eat and drink for to- 
 morrow we die (cf. Is. 22:13). This is not Paul's conclu- 
 sion. It is what men generally say who have no belief in a 
 future life and seek their satisfactions in the present (cf. Wisd. 
 
 2:5-9). 
 
 33. Be not deceived. Let no one captivate you with such 
 immoral teachings. "Evil companionships corrupt good morals" 
 — and the doubts and laxity which some of you exhibit, mark a 
 moral torpor. The quotation is from Menander, an Athenian 
 poet (who died in 291 b.c). It is here in the form of a proverb. 
 
 34. Awake. The verb originally means "to recover from 
 drunkenness"; metaphorically, "to get a sober mind," "to get 
 back to one's sober senses." Righteously, as is right, as one 
 ought to do. And sin not. Stop going wrong in evil com- 
 panionship. Some of you have an ignorance of God. This 
 expression is stronger than "do not know God." It marks a 
 culpable ignorance, a moral defect rather than an intellectual. 
 It was the root of their disbelief in the resurrection. Surely 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:36 
 
 3. Objectors answered; the Body of the risen, 15:35-49 
 
 35. But someone will say, How are the dead raised? 
 
 36. and with what manner of body do they come? Thou 
 
 they had been corrupted by evil company. They were really 
 worse than the heathen about them for they had stifled what 
 knowledge of God they once had. With right could Paul say 
 "I speak to move you to shame." 
 
 3. Objectors Amwered: The Body of the Risen, 15:35-49 
 
 Thus far Paul has sought to make clear to the Corinthians that 
 the Resurrection which he had preached to them and which the 
 Old Testament had predicted was an historical fact witnessed 
 to by the Apostles and himself (i-ii) ; that the denial of the 
 fact emptied the Gospel of its substance and made faith futile 
 (12-19) ; that the acceptance of the fact gave a basis for the 
 assurance of the resurrection of all Christ's followers and of the 
 completion of his mediatorial work (20-28). After an appeal to 
 Christian practice and conduct as confirming all he had claimed 
 and after rebuking some of them for their willingness to be led 
 astray by their evil companionship, he turns to consider the real 
 crux of the whole subject, so far as the Corinthians were con- 
 cerned, — the matter of the "body" in reference to resurrection. 
 This was the stumbling block, due to the possible influence of 
 Greek thought and to their materialistic conceptions. "With 
 what manner of body do they come?" is asked. The answer to 
 this question is another example of prophecy and it constitutes 
 the central section of this great chapter. He begins with an 
 analogy from nature. In sowing a seed, it is only through the 
 process of disorganization that you get a new seed with its new 
 body which God has given to it, each seed (whether of wheat, 
 barley, etc.) having its own body (36-38) . Nature is not shut 
 up to one kind of body. Men, beasts, birds and fishes have each 
 a different kind. There are celestial bodies and terrestrial, each 
 having its own glory. The sun, moon, and the stars differ, yes, 
 one star differeth from another. Just so the resurrection shall 
 reveal a different body for man — with characteristics quite op- 
 posed to his present body (39-44). He shall have a "spiritual 
 body" and that shall be because of his relation to Christ, who is 
 a life-giving Spirit. As Adam is the type of one form of embodied 
 life — so Christ is the type of the other — the one of the earth, 
 earthy; the other of heaven, heavenly. As we have borne the 
 
 135 
 
15:37 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 foolish one, that which thou thyself sowest is not 
 
 37. quickened, except it die: and that which thou sow- 
 est, thou sowest not the body that shall be, but a 
 bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other 
 
 38. kind: but God giveth it a body even as it pleased 
 
 39. him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh 
 is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, 
 and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of 
 
 40. birds, and another of fishes. There are also celes- 
 
 image of the earthy, so we shall bear the image of the heavenly 
 (48-49) . 
 
 35. The two questions of this verse have a different bearing. 
 The first, "How are the dead raised up?" implies the impossi- 
 bility of resurrection; the second, "with what manner of body 
 do they come?" the inconceivability of it. The second question 
 is considered first and answered by analogy. 
 
 36. Life is perpetuated through disorganization of the seed. 
 The shell is broken and the life assimilates what is needful for 
 its new form. 
 
 37. The bare seed (stripped of all covering) put into the 
 ground is not the same as that which appears above the earth 
 on the stalk, — a grain or seed of wheat, or barley. 
 
 38. Each seed develops its own kind, we say; "God giveth it 
 a body as He will, but to each seed a body of its own," says 
 Paul. Each, from a different point of view, is true. The 
 analogy establishes two relationships between the seed in the 
 ground and the one springing from it in the process of growth 
 — continuity of Ufe and identity — these we may carry over to 
 the resurrection. The mystery of growth is not touched in this 
 analogy — only the manner. 
 
 39. As preparatory to the declaration that the spirit will have 
 in the resurrection life a body fitted to its environment there, 
 attention is called to the wealth of variety there is in "bodies" 
 in the universe. Flesh is differently organized in men, beasts, 
 birds and fish. What a difference between the body of a bird 
 organized for flight in the air, and of a fish for moving in the 
 water ! 
 
 40. Celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial. It is not cer- 
 tain whether by "celestial bodies" is meant the sun, moon, stars, 
 or the bodies of heavenly beings like angels. Paul's use of the 
 word body as the "organism" which results from life, would 
 
 136 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:43 
 
 tial bodies and bodies terrestrial : but the glory of the 
 celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is 
 
 41. another. There is one glory of the sun, and an- 
 other glory of the moon, and another glory of the 
 stars; for one star differeth from another star in 
 
 42. glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is 
 sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: 
 
 43. it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is 
 
 argue for the latter meaning. This is the more probable inter- 
 pretation (see vs. 48). Angels were represented in the form of 
 men, but with their own especial glory. The difference of their 
 embodiment from ours is indicated in the words of Jesus — Lk. 
 20:34-36. Glory is manifestation — of "being, character or 
 merely presence." The manifestation of earthly bodies is in 
 earthly ways. The swift flight of a bird or its brilliant plumage 
 is its glory. The strength and intelligence of a horse are its 
 glory. 
 
 41. The brilliant light of the sun; the paler silvery light of 
 the moon, and the radiance of the stars — all these are different 
 forms of manifestation or of glory. Even one star differeth from 
 another. How bright is the planet as compared with a fixed 
 star ! 
 
 42. In view of all this, is it strange that there should be a 
 body for the resurrection life? On the contrary, a body suitable 
 for the new glorious life into which the spirit is to go is what 
 we may and should expect. So is the resurrection of the 
 dead. 
 
 43. The characteristics of that "suitable" body are now given 
 — in contrast with those which mark our present body. It is 
 sown. This also may be rendered "there is a sowing." The 
 figure is of the seed and the sowing is not to be restricted to the 
 act of burial. The seed is sown before it dies (vs. 36) . All 
 our earthly course is the time of "sowing." Corruption. 
 ("The moment we begin to live, we begin to die.") Dishonor 
 — caused by the many and varied humiliating conditions of 
 earthly Hfe. Weakness. Often we are incapable of executing 
 our purposes or desires through frailty, weariness, or infirmity 
 (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9). Over against these are set the attributes of 
 the body of the resurrected life, incorruptible, glorious, power- 
 ful. These characteristics of the glorified body are drawn from 
 that of the Lord about which Paul and the Corinthians knew 
 
15:44 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 44. sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a 
 ^natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If 
 there is a ^ natural body, there is also a spiritual 
 
 45. body. So also it is written, The first man Adam 
 became a living soul. The last Adam became a 
 
 ^ Gr., psychical. 
 
 more than the opening verses of the chapter make evident. The 
 contrast given in the next verse needs more extended interpre- 
 tation. 
 
 44. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
 body. A psychical (sensuous is our nearest equivalent) body 
 is one adapted to the needs of the soul in a material environ- 
 ment; a spiritual body, to the activity of the spirit in a heavenly 
 environment. In neither case does the adjective tell us what 
 the body is made of; it simply marks its suitability. The sen- 
 suous body is the body ruled by sense; the spiritual body, by 
 spirit. A spiritual body, for all we know, may be constituted 
 of refined forms of matter. We know nothing about its sub- 
 stance. Our faith is that it will be "formed to be the organ" 
 of an immortal, tireless spirit. How did Paul come to this? 
 It sounds like a mere assumption to say "if there is a natural 
 body, there is also a spiritual body." The conclusion rests in 
 part upon the revelation made by Christ's resurrection and in 
 part upon the principle that "when God gives the inward He 
 gives also its appropriate outward garb or frame." God hath 
 given us His Spirit — the source and means of our spirit-life — 
 and it is the "pledge" that we shall have "a house from heaven" 
 (2 Cor. 5:5). Not only does the principle in the light of Christ's 
 resurrection justify our faith regarding "a spiritual body" but 
 God's plan calls for it. This is opened up in the next verse. 
 
 45. So also it is written, The first man Adam became a 
 living soul: the last Adam a life-giving spirit. Note regard- 
 ing the text (i) that the quotation from the Old Testament 
 (Gen. 2:7) stops with the words "living soul." Paul himself 
 adds the last clause. In the nature of the case this could not 
 come from the Old Testament; (2) that in Gen. 2:7 the words 
 "first" and "Adam" are not found. They are, however, both 
 implied. In Paul's mind Adam and Christ are the heads of two 
 lines of descendants (cf. Rom. 5:12; i Cor. 15:22), hence he 
 uses Adam metaphorically for Christ and names him "the last 
 Adam," meaning that there will be no other. In the divine 
 plan with reference to man there are two stages. Gen, 2:7 gives 
 
 138 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:48 
 
 46. life-giving spirit. Howbeit that is not first which is 
 spiritual but that which is natural; then that which 
 
 47. is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: 
 
 48. the second man is of heaven. As is the earthy, such 
 are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, 
 
 us the first stage. In this stage God breathed the vital prin- 
 ciple into the lifeless body which had been formed from the 
 dust of the ground, and man became "a living soul." To put 
 it in another way, the result was a soul-governed body. He 
 became man "as nature presents him to our experience." The 
 goal of this first stage was reached when man stood forth perfect 
 in his physical organization. He was, however, of the earth, 
 earthy (vs. 47). His body was a natural (psychical) body 
 encasing a soul that was capable of the spiritual. That capa- 
 bility of the spiritual points forward to the second and higher 
 stage. It is well to bear in mind that the thought of the Apostle 
 is limited to the consideration of body. The second stage de- 
 pendent, not upon spiritual development in man, but upon 
 Christ, the last Adam, who is a life-giving spirit, will reveal 
 man not only as spiritual within, but as furnished with a spir- 
 itual body. And when did Christ become a "life-giving spirit"? 
 When, through the resurrection, He became the risen and glori- 
 fied Lord. Then, leaving the fettering form of psychical ex- 
 istence, He entered upon the Spiritual form and "was installed 
 as Son of God with power by the Spirit of holiness" (Rom. 
 1:4) — "a Being above nature who had life and was capable of 
 communicating it" (cf. Jn. 17:1-3). See verse 2. 
 
 46. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual. A state- 
 ment of the law of progress but with special bearing upon the 
 matter of the body. Man was not created morally perfect. 
 He must progress from the natural to the spiritual. The spir- 
 itual body can come only to one who has accepted and lived in 
 the life of the Spirit. 
 
 47. The first man is of the earth and of the dust. This 
 describes his origin and substance. "And the Lord formed man 
 of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7). Of heaven. These 
 words refer to the Risen Lord. It is thence comes the life-giving 
 spirit (2 Cor. 3:17-18). From His resurrection onward Christ 
 is "the heavenly man" through whose spiritual quickening shall 
 come not only a transformed spirit but a spiritual body (Rom. 
 8:10-11). 
 
 48. And is the earthy. Adam and Christ are representatives 
 
15 49 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 49. such are they also that are heavenly. And as we 
 have borne the image of the earthly ^ we shall bear 
 the image of the heavenly. 
 
 4. The change that shall come to those who are alive 
 when Christ comes; Conclusion, 15:50-58 
 
 50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can- 
 not inherit the Kingdom of God; neither doth cor- 
 ruption inherit incorruption. 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read let us also hear. 
 
 of two types. The emphasis is still upon body. As long as 
 men, whetlier Christians or not, are in the physical body, they 
 are subject to the liabilities of the earthly body — corruption, 
 dishonor, weakness. In the heavenly state those who belong to 
 Christ shall have the glorified body as he now has (Phil. 3:21). 
 49. As we have borne the image, i.e., the outward and 
 bodily form of the man of dust, we shall bear the likeness of 
 the heavenly man. Many ancient manuscripts read "let us bear," 
 but a moral appeal is not in line with Paul's thinking here. The 
 main subject all through these verses (35-49) is the spiritual 
 body. We cannot be exhorted to bear that. That comes, if we 
 are faithful to our Lord. 
 
 4. The change that shall come to those who are alive when Christ 
 comes; Conclusion, 15:50-58 
 
 The questions "How are the dead raised up?" more specifi- 
 cally, "With what kind of a body do they come?" have been 
 answered. One other remains to be answered, "What about 
 those who are alive when the great time of resurrection ar- 
 rives?" Shall they too be changed from the psychical to the 
 spiritual? This brief section has to do mainly with this ques- 
 tion. The expectation of the early church that the Lord's re- 
 turn to earth would be soon is very evident in the New Testa- 
 ment. No one looked forward more earnestly and with more 
 eager expectation to it than did Paul. It was to him a living 
 hope and he preached it with all its implied stimulus, cheer and 
 comfort. Then would be the day of resurrection, of the in- 
 coming consummated Kingdom of God, and of the blessedness 
 of the redeemed. What would it mean to those who, at its 
 sudden appearing, were still in bodies of flesh and blood? Paul's 
 
 140 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:53 
 
 51. Behold I tell you a mystery: we ^ shall not all 
 
 52. sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, m 
 the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the 
 trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised 
 
 53. incorruptible and we shall be changed. For this 
 corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mor- 
 
 1 Or, IVe all shall not sleep, so SV. 
 
 answer is that "flesh and blood" cannot inherit the Kingdom of 
 God (50). The living must be suddenly changed (51-53) • 
 Death shall end in complete overthrow. God shall give victory 
 through the Lord Jesus Christ (54-57)- Therefore let all be 
 steadfast, overflowing with zeal in the Lord's work, knowmg that 
 v/ork will not be in vain in the Lord (58). 
 
 50 Flesh and blood. The characteristic substance of our 
 earthv, perishable bodies. They are subject to decay. ^ The 
 terms here refer to those who are living, and smce decay is m- 
 herent in our mortal bodies, the word "corruption" m the second 
 clause of the verse likewise refers to the "livmg. The lull 
 expression then is "our corruptible bodies of flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the Kingdom of God." Inherit signifies have a 
 right to entrance. The Kingdom of God. This in its full 
 glory will be ushered in by the coming of the Lord. 
 
 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. A secret of God revealed 
 to Paul (cf. Rom. 16:25-26). We shall not all sleep, i.e., only 
 some of us may die. The words imply that Paul and most ot 
 those to whom he is writing expected to be alive when the Lord 
 came (cf. i Thess. 4:15; Phil. 4:5). But we shall all be 
 changed. This is the secret which is revealed. Their bodies 
 shall be changed from the weak, perishable and inglorious nature 
 which they now have, to be immortal and fit for the glorious 
 activity of the Spirit. ., ^ 1 
 
 52 This change will be instantaneous and at that solemn, 
 final moment when the last trump shall sound. The figure 
 is taken from Jewish apocalyptic and is not to be interpreted 
 literally. As though obeying some divine signal, the dead shall 
 be raised incorruptible and we (who are alive) shall be changed. 
 
 53 For this corruptible must put on. The verse explains 
 why the change must be, depending upon the statement in verse 
 50. The figure is that of putting on of a garment, in the act ot 
 which the corruptible and the mortal disappear. Note, however, 
 that it is the same spirit which is newly clothed. 
 
 141 
 
15:54 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 54. tal must put on immortality. But when ^ this cor- 
 ruptible shall have put on incorruption and this 
 mortal shall have put on immortality then shall 
 come to pass the saying that is written, Death is 
 
 55. swallowed up ^ in victory. O death, where is thy 
 
 56. victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting 
 
 57. of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: but 
 thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 
 
 58. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, my 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities omit this corruptible shall have put on 
 incorruption, and. ^ Or, victoriously. 
 
 54. Then shall the word of Isaiah (25:8) have its widest ful- 
 fillment: "Death is swallowed up in victory!" "Death is ab- 
 sorbed in unperishable life" (Godet) (2 Cor. 5:4). In the 
 thought of it all Paul breaks forth into a song of triumph. 
 
 55. Freely adapting the words of Hosea 13:44 (as given in the 
 Septuagint) death is represented first as a conqueror, O Death, 
 where is that victory of thine! and then the figure is changed 
 to that of a venemous serpent, "O death, where is thy sting?" 
 
 56. The sting of death is sin. The consciousness of sin 
 and the fear of judgment are what give to death its terror. 
 The power of sin is the law, both in provoking us to sin 
 (Rom. 7:8, 13) and deepening our consciousness of sin (Rom. 
 
 7:1, 9). 
 
 57. Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. It is in and through Christ, i.e., in 
 Uving union with Him, that the guilt and power of sin are taken 
 away, the bitterness of death is destroyed, and the assurance 
 of a blessed resurrection established. So certain is all this that 
 the Apostle says "giveth" us the victory. That day shall reveal 
 it all when we rise to be with Him, clothed with the spiritual 
 body. 
 
 58. Wherefore, in view of all the resurrection means, be stead- 
 fast, unmoved by skeptical speculations and evil companionship. 
 Throw yourself earnestly and enthusiastically into the Lord's 
 work at all times, knowing, as you do, that your labor is not 
 fruitless in result either now or hereafter, if done under the 
 Lord's inspiration and with His divine help. 
 
 Several facts regarding the chapter as a whole are worthy of 
 notice, (i) It is wise in its silences. It goes only so far as 
 the facts gained from the appearances of the Lord after His 
 
 142 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:58 
 
 beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, al- 
 ways abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much 
 as ye know that your labor is not ^ vain in the Lord. 
 
 Or, z'oid. 
 
 resurrection and the facts of spiritual experience will warrant 
 There are no speculations about the substance of the "spiritual 
 body" or about the process of resurrection. Just where specu- 
 lation is likelv to push its questions, the chapter is silent. (2) 
 It makes the bodily resurrection of Jesus essential to the 
 belief in the divinity of the Lord and to our resurrection. 
 Why were it not enough to believe that He continued to hve on 
 in the spiritual world and let the bodily resurrection go? Is not 
 the answer that had there been no bodily appearances of the 
 Lord there could not have come to the Apostles any sure con- 
 sciousness of His survival of death? As far as Christ is con- 
 cerned conceptions of His survival of death would have been 
 left vague and indefinite. It was just this element of a bodily 
 resurrection which was unique in their experience. It assured 
 them of His triumph over death and that triumph threw a flood 
 of light upon the meaning of His death as regards sin. And 
 this taken together with the promises which Christ Himself 
 had made and thus had fulfilled opened their eyes to the true, 
 full meaning of His Messiahship. It is after the resurrection 
 and because of it that the exalted Christology of the New Testa- 
 ment appears. (3) The third fact to be noted is that this chap- 
 ter, like the thirteenth, gives us instances of that prophecy which 
 Paid so highly praised in his discussion of spiritual gifts. Its 
 exalted feeling breaks forth in the same rhythmic expression (see 
 20-28, 42-44, 45-49, 52-57). A note of triumph characterizes 
 the whole chapter. It is one of the great chapters of our New 
 Testament. 
 
 143 
 
i6:i 
 
 V. Practical and Personal Matters and the Con- 
 clusion, 16:1-24 
 
 I. Concerning the Collection for the Jerusalem Church, 
 16:1-4 
 
 16. I. Now concerning the collection for the saints, as 
 I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do 
 
 An analysis of the chapter yields the following divisions: i. 
 Concerning the collection for the Jerusalem church (1-4). 2. 
 The Apostle's intention to visit Corinth (5-9)- 3- Regarding the 
 coming of Timothy and Apollos to Corinth (10-12). 4, An 
 exhortation to steadfastness, manly conduct, and loving action 
 (13-14). S. A commendation of Stephanas and others to their 
 kindly consideration (15-18). 6. Salutations (19-21). 7, Warn- 
 ing, benediction and message of love (24). 
 
 Before considering each verse in detail it will be well to get 
 some general idea of the collection here spoken of. The follow- 
 ing points are to be noted regarding it: (i) It was being gradu- 
 ally gathered from all the groups of churches in Asia, Galatia, 
 Macedonia and Achaia. (2) It was an act of policy rather than 
 a call to meet any exceptional distress in Palestine though for 
 several reasons the need there was serious and constant. No 
 great haste was urged in the gathering of funds. Corinth had 
 had the matter in hand for some time. (3) Its main purpose 
 was to show how genuine and close was the interest of the 
 Gentile churches in the Mother Church in Jerusalem. It was to 
 serve as a bond of sympathy between the Pauline churches and 
 the Jewish Christians in Palestine. Delegates from the differ- 
 ent churches were to carry the funds to Jerusalem and thus 
 give the benefactions a personal touch. So earnestly had Paul 
 laid the accomplishment of this great purpose to heart that, 
 despite great risk, he personally conducted the delegates. "I 
 go constrained by the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing what 
 shall befall me there, save that the Holy Spirit testified unto 
 me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me" 
 (Acts 20:22-23). 
 
 144 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 16:5 
 
 2. ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of 
 you lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no 
 
 3. collections be made when I come. And when I 
 arrive, ^whomsoever ye shall approve by letters, 
 them will I send to carry your bounty unto Jeru- 
 
 4. salem: and if it be meet for me to go also, they 
 shall go with me. 
 
 2. The Apostle's Intention to Visit Corinth, 16:5-9 
 
 5. But I will come unto you, when I shall have 
 passed through M acedonia; for I do pass through 
 
 1 SV, Whomsoever ye shall approve th em unll I send with letters. 
 
 I Now concerning the collection. This indicates that 
 the Corinthians had asked Paul for directions (cf. 12:1). Saints 
 ie believers. The word has a broader meaning than our word 
 "saint." Churches of Galatia, in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, 
 Lystra and Derbe. 
 
 2. First day of the week. Hebraistic expression. Jesus rose 
 from the dead "on the third day." This corresponds to the "first 
 day of the week" (see Lk. 24:1) and here we have the earliest 
 evidence that this day had especial consecration on the part 
 of the early church. It was not yet regularly known as "the 
 Lord's day." Lay by him in store. The money was to be 
 "laid by" at home. As he may prosper, i.e., in proportion to 
 weekly gains. No definite proportion is required, nor is any 
 pressure to be put upon jut 
 
 3. them by himself, i.e., no collections be made when 1 
 come. Whomsoever ye shall approve by letters. Creden- 
 tials given to the delegates who were to carry the funds to 
 Jerusalem. On all sides Paul wishes to guard against any sus- 
 picion of misuse of the funds. The word "approve means 
 tested and satisfying the test. , . ^ . ., 
 
 4. and if it be meet, i.e., if the contribution is sufficiently 
 large. It should be worthy of an apostolic mission. Respect 
 for his apostleship, not personal pride, is to be considered. 
 
 His visit will be preceded by a trip through Macedonia, but 
 when he comes to them he plans to be with them for quite a 
 time. He hopes for their hearty forwarding of his plans and 
 purposes when the time comes for him to leave them. His 
 present plan is to remain in Ephesus until Pentecost. This 
 because of opportunity for service and because enemies were active. 
 
i6:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 6. Macedonia; but with you it may be that I shall 
 abide, or even winter, that ye may set me for- 
 ward on my journey whithersoever I go. For 
 
 7. I do not wish to see you now by the way; for I 
 hope to tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit. 
 
 8, 9. But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost; for a 
 great door and effectual is opened unto me and there 
 are many adversaries. 
 
 3. Regarding the coming of Timothy and Apollos to 
 Corinth, 16:10-12 
 
 ID. Now if Timothy come, see that he be with you 
 
 5. When I shall have passed through Macedonia. "Pass- 
 ing through" is Paul's "technical term for making a missionary 
 tour through a district." — Ramsay. Our word for it is "itin- 
 erating." Luke in describing Paul's work uses the same word. 
 
 6. Paul did spend three months in Corinth (Acts 20:3). Navi- 
 gation was dangerous after September 14, and ceased after about 
 the middle of November until the opening days of April. Set 
 me forward on my journey. This setting forward might 
 include a generous gift for the Jerusalem saints if he should go 
 thither, provision for his journey, and certainly their prayers 
 and good wishes. 
 
 7. By the way, just in passing. 
 
 8-9. At Ephesus. Showing that the letter was written there. 
 Pentecost. The great Jewish festival which took place on the 
 fiftieth day after the offering of the barley sheaf at the pass- 
 over, now named Whitsuntide. Owing to its importance in the 
 early church (Acts, ch. 2) it was probably remembered annually. 
 The letter was written some weeks before this. The reason of 
 his stay was "the standing open of a door, great and effective," 
 i.e., a large opportunity for rendering telling service in preaching 
 the truth and in meeting opponents who were trying to gainsay 
 it. "The superstition of all Asia was concentrated in Ephesus. 
 Throughout the early centuries the city mob, superstitious, un- 
 educated, frivolous, swayed by the most commonplace motives, 
 was everywhere the most dangerous and unfailing enemy of 
 Christianity, and often carried the imperial officials further than 
 they wished in the way of persecution." — Ramsay, St. Paul, 
 p. 277. 
 
 10. In 4:17 Paul speaks of having sent Timothy to them. His 
 
 146 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 16:14 
 
 without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, 
 
 11. as I also do: let no man therefore despise him. But 
 set him forward on his journey in peace that he may 
 
 12. come unto me; for I expect him with the brethren. 
 But as touching Apollos, the brother, I besought him 
 much to come unto you with the brethren: and it 
 was not at all ^ his will to come now; but he will 
 come when he shall have opportunity. 
 
 13. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like 
 
 14. men, be strong. Let all that ye do be done in love. 
 
 1 Or, God's will that He should come now (cf. Rom. 2:18, marg.). 
 
 letter, if sent directly across the sea, would arrive before Timothy, 
 who went by the way of Macedonia (Acts 19:22). Paul be- 
 speaks for Timothy, comparatively young and apparently some- 
 what timid (i Tim. 4:12; 2 Tim. 1:6-7), kindly treatment and 
 respect. 
 
 11. They were also to see to it that he came away without 
 leaving any bad feeling behind him. With the brethren. The 
 same is in verse 12. They were the bearers of the Corinthian 
 letter to Paul. The phrase then is to be joined with "I expect." 
 "I, with the brethren" (who are here in Ephesus waiting for my 
 reply) "expect him." In this letter of the Corinthians it is not 
 unlikely that an invitation was sent to Apollos to come to 
 Corinth. 
 
 12. Paul, to show that there was no rivalry between him and 
 Apollos, urges Apollos to go back with the brethren; but, feel- 
 ing sure that his presence at this time might still further inflame 
 party spirit, Apollos decidedly declined to go. 
 
 13-14. As though he were ready to close up the epistle, he sums 
 up its great teachings in five terse injunctions. Be watchful 
 against enemies. There was too much carnal security in the 
 church; also, they were to watch for the Lord's coming. Stand 
 fast in the faith. Their faith in the atonement and in the 
 Resurrection had wavered (see chs. i and 15). Play the part 
 of men. In their love of display (14:20) and in their petty 
 jealousies and rivalries they had acted like children. Be strong, 
 i.e., be vigorous, get the mastery. An insecure faith had be- 
 gotten a moral flabbiness. They were too easily the victims of 
 temptation. Let all that ye do be done in love. Another way 
 
 147 
 
i6:i5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 4. A Commendation of Stephanas and others to their 
 kindly consideration, 16:15-18 
 
 15. Now I beseech you, brethren (ye know the house 
 of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and 
 that they have set themselves to minister unto the 
 
 16. saints), that ye also be in subjection unto such, 
 and to every one that helpeth in the work and 
 
 17. laboreth. And I rejoice at the ^ coming of Stephanas 
 and Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was 
 
 18. lacking on your part they supplied. For they re- 
 
 ^ Gr., presence. 
 
 of urging upon them the spirit which breathes through Chapter 
 13. The radical fault of the church was its want of love. In 
 this the Corinthian Church did not stand alone. 
 
 15. A word now follows regarding the delegates from Corinth 
 who were with him and who were awaiting his reply. Stephanas 
 and his house were among the first fruits of Achaia. Paul, 
 contrary to his usual custom, baptized them, because, perhaps, 
 there was nobody else to do it. The family, being of independent 
 means (no others could do it), devoted itself to the service of 
 fellow Christians — the sick, the needy, those requiring hospitality, 
 and those in sorrow. 
 
 16. On account of their noble, self-imposed, and helpful min- 
 istrations, Paul asks of the Corinthians deference and respect 
 toward them, indeed, toward everyone who, like them, makes 
 himself helpful and works hard. In a word, his exhortation 
 was to follow earnestly such leadership. 
 
 17. Fortunatus and Achaicus. Nothing is known of them 
 beyond what is here given. For that which was lacking on 
 your part. By their presence they filled up the gap in his life 
 which was made by his absence from them all in Corinth. 
 
 18. For they refreshed. This explains what he means by 
 "filling up the gap." They relieved his anxieties by telling him 
 of the love of the church and giving him the brighter side of 
 the whole situation in Corinth. And yours is anticipatory of 
 their return to Corinth, when they will do for the Corinthians 
 what had been done for him. Acknowledge ye therefore 
 them, i.e., recognize them for what they are and give them their 
 due. 
 
 148 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 16:22 
 
 freshed my spirit and yours: acknowledge ye there- 
 fore them that are such. 
 
 5. Salutations y 16:19-24 
 
 19. The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and 
 Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the 
 
 20. church that is in their house. All the brethren 
 salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss. 
 
 21. 22. The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. 
 
 If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be Anath- 
 ema ^ Maranatha. The grace of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ be with you. My love be with you all in 
 24. Christ Jesus. Amen. 
 
 * That is, Our Lord cotneth. 
 
 19. Asia = proconsular Asia. Ephesus was the seat of the gov- 
 ernment. Paul made this city his strategic center and carried 
 on his work in neighboring cities (cf. Acts 19:10, 26; Col. 2:1), 
 While he had not visited all of them he was undoubtedly in 
 close touch with them. Aquila and Prisca (Priscilla in the 
 Acts). Their house in Ephesus was one of the gathering places 
 for worship and work. They entertained Paul when he first 
 came to Corinth (Acts 18:1); had risked their lives for him 
 (Rom. 16:3-4) and, not only for their devotion to Christian 
 service, but also by reason of their intimate personal relations, 
 were very dear to him. Their salutations were hearty and full 
 (much) but in recognition of their common bond of service 
 (in the Lord). 
 
 20. The third salutation was from all the brethren of the 
 Ephesian church. A holy kiss. If the "kiss of peace" was 
 taken over from the Jewish synagogue and made in the church 
 the token of Christian brotherhood, it is unlikely that it was 
 promiscuous. Men would kiss men; women, women. It became 
 later part of the ritual of public worship. 
 
 21. Paul takes the pen from the hand of the amenuensis and 
 writes. It authenticates the letter as coming from him (Gal. 
 6:11 ; 2 Thess. 3:17). 
 
 22. If any man loveth not the Lord. An unusual word 
 is used here for love. The exact sense can better be given "if 
 any man is no friend of the Lord"; is virtually heartless toward 
 
 149 
 
i6:24 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 him, let him be accursed. Maranatha, Aramaic, meaning either 
 "our Lord has come," or "our Lord cometh," or "Our Lord, 
 come." The translation is doubtful. It is, however, in any one 
 of the forms, monitory. It may have been a sort of watch- 
 word current in the churches, calling to mind the possibility of 
 being obliged to face judgment at any moment. Also, the 
 second or third meaning given above would be preferable. 
 
 150 
 
II. EPISTLE 
 To THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 I. The Interval Between i and 2 Corinthians 
 
 I. Its Extent 
 
 It is impossible to be certain with regard to any dates 
 in the life of the Apostle Paul. Almost every writer 
 on the subject has his own arrangement of the chronology, 
 and no two chronologies are alike. 
 
 The most probable date of the writing of both i and 2 
 Corinthians seems to be the year 56. The length of 
 the interval between the two letters is even more uncer- 
 tain than the date. Probably i Corinthians was written 
 in the spring of 56 and 2 Corinthians in the autumn 
 of the same year. 
 
 "I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost," Paul writes 
 in I Cor. 16:8. He was then writing sometime previous 
 to that Feast. It may have been winter; it may have 
 been early spring. After writing 2 Corinthians Paul 
 pays a visit of three months to, Corinth (Acts 20:3). 
 How soon after sending 2 Corinthians he followed the 
 letter it is impossible to say. According to Acts he left 
 Corinth not long before the Passover. If this was the 
 year 57 the Passover fell on Thursday, April seventh. 
 He spent the Passover week at Philippi in Macedonia 
 (Acts 20:6). The end of his three months in Corinth 
 must have been in March, and the beginning must have 
 
 151 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 been in December. Sometime previous to December he 
 wrote 2 Corinthians. The interval between the two 
 letters to Corinth then was not more than nine months 
 (April to December) and it may have been much less. 
 Because very much happened during that interval, of 
 which we have only the most fragmentary notices, it has 
 been thought necessary by some to add a whole year to 
 the interval. It would then continue from before Pen- 
 tecost of one year till before December of the succeed- 
 ing year. This is unnecessary and unlikely. The age 
 was noted for the ease, opportunity and rapidity of 
 travel. The log of Paul's journey from Troas to Tyre 
 (Acts, chs. 20-21) is an illustration. The long voyage 
 was made in less than two weeks, including a stop of 
 two or three days at Miletus. A good many round trips 
 could have been made between Ephesus and Corinth in 
 six months, even if some of them took the route via 
 Troas and Macedonia. 
 
 2. Its Events 
 
 (i) Timothy is sent from Ephesus to Corinth. 
 
 (2) Serious trouble arises in the Corinthian church. 
 
 (3) Paul pays Corinth a short unexpected visit. 
 
 (4) He returns to Ephesus hurt and heart-sick. 
 
 (5) He writes a scathing letter. 
 
 (6) Titus takes the letter to Corinth. 
 
 (7) Paul anxiously awaits Titus' delayed return. 
 
 (8) He goes to meet Titus, as far as Troas and then 
 
 Macedonia. 
 
 (9) Titus returns with good news. 
 
 (10) Paul, overjoyed, writes 2 Corinthians. 
 
 (i) Timothy was sent to Corinth either at the time 
 that I Corinthians was despatched, or previous to its 
 sending (i Cor. 16:10). His errand was important and 
 seems to have some connection with the bitter party strife 
 
 152 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 in the Corinthian church (i Cor. 4:17). He was to 
 represent Paul, and was to return to Paul (i Cor. 16:11). 
 Later, but certainly not before Pentecost, Paul plans to 
 go himself to Corinth. He will take the route through 
 Macedonia. It will not be a flying trip, as it would 
 have to be if he interrupted his work to go at once. He 
 hopes for a long stay at Corinth, perhaps the whole 
 winter (i Cor. 16:5-7). A reference to this same plan 
 is apparently made in Acts 19:21-22. Whether Timothy 
 ever reached Corinth, and, if he did, whether his mission 
 was a success or failure, is not known. He is with Paul 
 some months later when 2 Corinthians is written. 
 
 (2) The silence in regard to Timothy's success or 
 failure, and the fact that Paul did change his plan and 
 pay a hurried visit to Corinth, is evidence that the 
 trouble with the church was too much for Timothy's 
 diplomacy and authority as Paul's representative. The 
 probability is that he returned from Corinth in haste, 
 with a report that determined Paul to drop everything 
 and go himself to the seat of trouble. A hint that he 
 had feared this might be necessary is found in i Cor. 
 4:21. 
 
 (3) The visit was "with sorrow." All that is known 
 of it is found in the few vague references in 2 Cor. 2 : i-ii 
 and chapters 10-13. The "sorrow" had its ground chiefly 
 in some personal encounter. The person — "any," "such 
 a one" (2 Cor. 2:5-6) — had "caused sorrow" to Paul; 
 and then, or by Paul's next letter, or both, he had been 
 "made sorry" by Paul (2:2). It was a venomous, per- 
 sonal insult or injury. Later the majority in the church 
 recognized its enormity and the offender was punished so 
 severely that Paul pleads for his forgiveness (2:7). 
 ]\Iany gratuitous insults were offered to Paul, perhaps by 
 this individual as spokesman for a party. They included 
 accusations of fickleness and broken promises (1:17-18) ; 
 and of cowardice and hypocrisy (10:1-2; 10). This stay 
 
 153 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 in Corinth seems to have been short as well as heart- 
 breaking. 
 
 (4) It was from Ephesus that Paul went to Corinth, 
 and to Ephesus that with a heavy heart he returned. It 
 is not necessary in a chronology to crowd this all in before 
 Pentecost. Although Paul's intention seems to have been 
 to leave Ephesus soon after Pentecost (i Cor. 16:8), 
 there is no certainty that he did so. The narrative in 
 Acts 19:21-23 implies that he was delayed in carrying 
 out his intention. If this is true the visit to Corinth 
 'Vith sorrow" probably took place in the summer of 56, 
 not earlier than June or July. 
 
 (5) On his return Paul sits down and ^'out of much 
 affliction and anguish of heart . . . with many tears" 
 (2:4) writes to the church at Corinth a letter, of which 
 he could say (7:8): "Though I made you sorry with 
 my epistle I do not regret it, though I did regret." It was 
 very severe. It was personal. It may have contained 
 an explanation of his sudden appearance in Corinth, when 
 he had written them previously that his route would be 
 via Macedonia. It certainly contained not only a con- 
 demnation of the individual and the party who opposed 
 him but a vindication of his own authority. 
 
 The part of this letter which deals with the individual 
 is lost. The church did not preserve it for public read- 
 ing in the Lord's Day services. Possibly the whole letter 
 is lost. But a fairly satisfactory, working theory finds 
 in chapters 10-13 of 2 Corinthians a part of the severe 
 letter. 
 
 (6) The bearer of this letter is not Timothy but Titus. 
 With much misgiving Paul entrusts to him not only the 
 letter but the mission of reading to the Corinthians its 
 heart-message from himself. It would be Titus' part to 
 see that the letter was not misunderstood and that the 
 readers did not read into it anything that was not there. 
 It was a mission requiring the greatest wisdom, patience 
 
 154 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 and tact. Titus was not unknown at Corinth. He had 
 been the adviser of the church when it began its plans 
 for the contribution for the Christians of the mother 
 church in Jerusalem. The references to Titus and his 
 previous relation to the Contribution (8:6; 12:18) are 
 much better taken as of an earlier visit to Corinth than 
 of the visit when he bears this letter. 
 
 (7) So delicate was Titus' mission and so important 
 was the letter he carried that Paul passed the time of 
 waiting for his return in great restlessness of spirit. He 
 even regretted having written the letter (7:8). 
 
 (8) For some reason Titus' return journey was to be 
 by the longer route through Macedonia. Long as it might 
 be expected to take, it took longer than Paul hoped. 
 As the time drew near for Titus' return his restlessness 
 increased. He could not work. He had left Ephesus 
 for Troas, and hoped to meet Titus there. "Now when 
 I came to Troas," he said, "I had no relief for my spirit 
 because I found not Titus, my brother; but taking my 
 leave of them I went forth into Macedonia." Although 
 there was an open door in Troas, and work to be done, 
 Paul had no heart for his work. He could not rest till 
 he had heard from his letter. Corinth was written on 
 his heart. 
 
 (9) In Macedonia, possibly at Philippi, Paul and the 
 returning Titus meet. What the effect upon Paul of Titus' 
 report was is found in the expressions of joy in 2:14-17 
 and 7:4-16. It is summed up in this: 'T rejoice that in 
 everything I am of good courage concerning you" (7:16). 
 The letter and Titus had won the hoped for result. The 
 church was sorry. The majority (2:6) had inflicted 
 punishment upon the person who had caused the trouble; 
 and the minority seems to have been in favor, not of no 
 punishment, but of a still severer penalty. The whole 
 church was reconciled to Paul and renewed its pledges 
 of loyalty and fideHty to him. 
 
 155 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 (lo) And hence 2 Corinthians. In an outburst of 
 gratitude to God and joy in the outcome He has granted, 
 Paul begins and continues and (if chapters 1-9 are the 
 letter) concludes his epistle. Instructions and encourage- 
 ment in regard to the Contribution are included, and 
 Titus, accompanied by two others (8:17-23), is dis- 
 patched again to Corinth. He bears a very different 
 letter, and he goes on a much easier mission. This was 
 in the early autumn, perhaps September or October. 
 In December Paul follows, as he had said he would 
 (9:4-5) and the three winter months are spent with the 
 Corinthian church. 
 
 II. The Integrity of 2 Corinthians 
 
 Integrity must not be confused with genuineness or 
 trustworthiness. It sometimes is. The genuineness of 
 2 Corinthians is unquestioned. It was all written by the 
 Apostle Paul, and it was all written to the church at 
 Corinth. There is practically no difference of opinion 
 in regard to that. Was it written at one sitting, or on 
 one occasion, and sent to Corinth as we have it today? 
 Is it a perfect whole, or is it two or more letters or 
 fragments of letters incorporated into one? 
 
 There is little doubt that i Corinthians is a single 
 letter. Though it deals with many very different sub- 
 jects, it bears the marks of integrity. It is a unit. The 
 case is quite different with 2 Corinthians. A careful 
 reading of the epistle impresses every reader with the 
 strange inconsistencies of tone and manner, and with 
 certain almost inexplicable breaks in the style and subject 
 matter. These have never gone unnoticed on the part of 
 students, but they have been variously accounted for. 
 
 The epistle is divided into three clearly marked sec- 
 tions, (i) chapters 1-7; (2) chapters 8-9; (3) chapters 
 10-13. This in itself is nothing strange. Paul's letters 
 
 156 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 nearly always have such cleavage. But usually the 
 cleavage is not marked by startling changes in tone. In 
 addition there are two passages for the existence of which 
 in their context it is difficult to find an explanation. These 
 are 6:14—7:1; 11:32-33. Many theories, some wild, 
 some plausible, have been invented to explain these pe- 
 culiarities in 2 Corinthians. Even allowing for the 
 emotion under which Paul wrote, some explanation is 
 clearly demanded. -. u 1 • 
 
 Between chapters 1-7 and chapters 8-9 the break is 
 no more than is natural when the author passes to a 
 new subject. To this transition and to possible ex- 
 planations of the difficulties involved in the sections 6:14 
 —7:1 and 11:32-33, reference will be found in the com- 
 ment on the text at those points. The theory that there 
 are in them evidences of fragments of various letters 
 involves much difficulty and affords little relief. 
 
 The break between chapters 1-9 and 10-13 calls for 
 special consideration. The two sections are separated by 
 a wide gulf. This separation has given rise to several 
 theories, and careful study has resulted in radically differ- 
 ent conclusions. 
 
 I. The Difference in Tone Between Chapters 1-9 and 
 10-13 
 
 In the first nine chapters of the epistle the tone is 
 unmistakably that of joy, hope, and confidence in the 
 readers. Titus' report, on his return from Corinth, gives 
 Paul the keenest pleasure and satisfaction. His gladness 
 is colored here and there with the memory of his former 
 anxiety and sorrow, but his relief is genuine and unmis- 
 takable, his assurance is unfeigned and his joy knows no 
 bounds. Titus' errand has been eminently successful, 
 the church at Corinth has asserted its better self, and 
 relations of mutual affection between it and Paul have 
 
 157 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 been reestablished. The Introduction (1:3-11), the con- 
 clusion to the first section (7:2-16), and other outbursts 
 of gratitude (2:14-17; 9:15) show how happy and how 
 much relieved and encouraged Paul is. 
 
 In the closing section, on the other hand, chapters 
 10-13, all this is lacking. The difference is very notice- 
 able. Paul is on the defensive; he lacks confidence in 
 his readers; he finds threats necessary; he is under great 
 constraint. There is a real pathos in much that he says, 
 brightened at times with a flicker of humor. He is almost 
 fierce in some of his statements; he speaks with a tone of 
 authority and severity; there is no trace of the happy, 
 confident feeling of chapters 1-9. 
 
 2. Possible Explanations of the Change of Tone 
 
 (i) A change of circumstances. If the letter was 
 written at one time and sent to Corinth just as we have 
 it, then the sudden change of tone must have been due 
 to some change in Paul as he wrote. This might be ac- 
 counted for by: 
 
 {a) A change of mood. Sometimes an author writes 
 himself out of one humor into another. Paul's first feeling 
 was that of joy and satisfaction in Titus' report. But 
 later, perhaps the next day, there is a reaction. He 
 cannot forget the past. Memories of the wrong done to 
 him and to others still rankle in his heart, and he is not 
 so certain that all is well. Often a letter has a very 
 different sound to the reader from that intended by the 
 writer. If the readers could have seen Paul's face or 
 heard his voice it would not have seemed so harsh. 
 
 {b) A change of readers. The difference in tone is 
 sometimes explained by the hypothesis that the latter part 
 of the letter was written to those who were hostile to 
 Paul in the church. Perhaps not all the members of the 
 church had become reconciled. In chapters 1-9 he is 
 
 158 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 addressing those who are friendly to him; in chapters 
 10-13 he is addressing his opponents. 
 
 (c) A change of news. It has been suggested that be- 
 fore Paul had finished his letter, or before it was ready to 
 be dispatched, a further report had come from Corinth 
 which was not so rosy as that of Titus. It paints con- 
 ditions in quite a different light; and in view of new 
 information Paul adds to his letter the severe message 
 of chapters 10-13. 
 
 None of these explanations has ever been found quite 
 satisfactory. It is not likely that Paul's mood could 
 change so suddenly; there is not the slightest indication 
 in the letter that two different sets of readers, friends 
 and opponents, are addressed; he includes them all in 
 both sections in the word "you"; it is not probable that 
 Titus brought a biased or colored report, and that later 
 returns showed him to be wrong in his estimate of the 
 situation. These suggestions have been made only as 
 possible explanations of a serious problem. 
 
 (2) Two letters in one. The change of tone is ac- 
 counted for by the hypothesis that in 2 Corinthians we 
 have not one letter but two. The letters were written at 
 different times and under very different circumstances, and 
 very early came to be welded into one letter as we have 
 it. The closing section of the epistle, chapters 10-13, was 
 written at a time prior to that of chapters 1-9. 
 
 {a) Probability. It is not inherently improbable that 
 two letters of Paul's, or parts of them, might have come 
 into circulation as one letter. There is no external evi- 
 dence that they did ; but it is easily possible. The letters 
 of the Apostle Paul were cherished by the churches to 
 which he wrote, and they were copied and sent to other 
 churches, in order that they might be read and re-read 
 at the Lord's Day service, usually in the place of the 
 sermon or address. Written on papyrus the copies 
 through much rolling and unrolling were soon worn to 
 
 159 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 shreds. The re-copying process began almost imme- 
 diately, and each copy was made for the convenience of 
 church readers. It would be quite natural that parts of 
 two letters should be copied on the same papyrus roll 
 and that ultimately they should lose their identity as 
 two separate letters. All the more is this likely if there 
 were parts of one or both letters which for some reason 
 (as, for example, that they were too personal and in- 
 timate), the church thought it better and more tactful 
 to omit from public reading. It is therefore not improb- 
 able that such a welding of letters took place. There is a 
 possible example in Rom. i6. 
 
 (b) Theories. Granted the possibiHty that there are 
 in 2 Corinthians two letters, or parts of two, the question 
 at once arises, what letters are they? The letter found in 
 chapters 1-9 of course identifies and locates itself. It 
 was written from Macedonia after Titus' return from 
 Corinth in the autumn of the year 56. But what of the 
 letter in chapters 10-13? Two theories are suggested: 
 (i) It is a letter of which nothing else is known; (2) 
 It is the "lost letter," so-called, referred to by Paul in 
 2 Cor. 2:4 and 7:8-12. 
 
 The former of the two theories is very simple and so is 
 fairly satisfactory. The difficulty with it lies in its un- 
 certainty. When was such an unknown letter written 
 and under what circumstances and from what place? 
 The answers are left to the merest guesswork. 
 
 The second theory has very much in its favor, and 
 deserves very careful consideration. It solves many very 
 interesting problems; and, like all theories, it is open to 
 objections. 
 
 3. Is 2 Cor. 10-13 the ''Lost Letter"? 
 
 (a) Identity of the "lost letter." Twice in 2 Corinth- 
 ians Paul refers to a letter written by him to Corinth 
 
 160 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 which caused sorrow to the writer and to the readers. 
 The passages are 2:3-4 and 7:8-12. It is usually re- 
 ferred to, along with the letter mentioned in i Cor. 5:9, 
 as a "lost letter." But a number of attempts have been 
 made to find it, and to identify it either with i Corinth- 
 ians, in whole or in part, or with a part of 2 Corinthians. 
 There are certain severe passages in i Corinthians (chs. 
 5-6) which might possibly deserve such phrases as these 
 applied to the ''lost letter," viz., "out of much affliction 
 and anguish of heart I wrote unto you" (2 Cor. 2:4); 
 or, "though I made you sorry with my epistle, I do not 
 regret it" (2 Cor. 7:8). These phrases are applicable, 
 if at all, to only a small part of i Corinthians. 
 
 Much more plausible is the discovery of this "lost 
 letter" in 2 Cor. 10-13. The hypothesis takes this form. 
 In chapters 10-13 we have not the whole, but a part of 
 the letter which Paul wrote with "many tears," and 
 which was sent to Corinth by Titus from Ephesus in the 
 summer of 56, (See Order of Events between i and 2 
 Corinthians.) The most personal and possibly the sever- 
 est part of the letter, that which referred to the offender 
 and his punishment, is actually "lost." With it has 
 gone the introduction of the letter. There is no intima- 
 tion of the beginning of a letter at 2 Cor. 10:1. But that 
 part of the severe letter which was best adapted to reading 
 in the church service, and least apt to give constant 
 personal pain and mortification to individuals, is found in 
 2 Cor. 10-13. 
 
 (b) Arguments for identifying with chapters 10-13. 
 The evidence in favor of this identification is purely in- 
 ternal. It is negative rather than positive; but it is fairly 
 conclusive. , 
 
 ( I ) In the first place it answers to the brief references 
 which Paul makes in chapters 1-9 to another letter. Sup- 
 pose, for the sake of the argument, that chapters 10-13 
 are the letter to which he refers, and see how well cer- 
 
 161 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 tain phrases fit it: "Out of much affliction and anguish 
 of heart I wrote unto you with many tears" (2:4); "I 
 wrote . . . lest when I came I should have sorrow from 
 them of whom I ought to rejoice" (2:3); "Though I 
 made you sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it, 
 though I did regret" (7:8). These all fit the tone and 
 style of chapters 10-13. 
 
 (2) There are certain other general references which, 
 if chapters 10-13 are the former letter, find in those 
 chapters their basis. For example, in 1:23 Paul writes: 
 "But I call God for a witness upon my soul that to 
 spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth." While in 
 13:2 he had written: "if I come again I will not spare." 
 
 Much of chapters 10-13 is given to a kind of self-com- 
 mendation which Paul diffidently calls "glorying" or 
 "boasting" (11:5; 11:18; 12:1). In chapters 1-9 he 
 several times refers to self-commendation: "Are we be- 
 ginning again to commend ourselves?" (3:1). "We are 
 not again commending ourselves unto you" (5:12). Such 
 references multiply when the two parts of 2 Corinthians 
 are read with this inverted order of sequence in mind. 
 
 (3) In the closing chapters Paul expresses his "fear 
 lest" there be need of great severity at Corinth because of 
 sin and unrepentance (11:3; 12:20-21). In the earlier 
 chapters he is "confident" and "encouraged" and "com- 
 forted" in his thought of the church at Corinth (7:4, 6, 
 9, II, 13, 16; 8:22). In the closing chapters Paul mag- 
 nifies his authority because he |ears their disobedience 
 (10:2-6; 8-11). In the earlier chapters he rejoices in 
 their obedience and loyalty (2:5-10; 7:11). 
 
 In the order in which these occur in 2 Corinthians they 
 are with difficulty reconciled. If the closing chapters 
 were the earlier letter the change is most natural. From 
 disobedience the church has changed to obedience; from 
 fear and misgiving Paul has changed to confidence and 
 encouragement. 
 
 162 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 (c) Objections. To the identification of 2 Cor. 10-13 
 with the letter referred to in 2:4 and 7:8 certain objec- 
 tions naturally present themselves. They must be given 
 full weight. 
 
 (i) There is absolutely no external evidence for any 
 such division of 2 Corinthians. In the earliest manu- 
 scripts which we have, and, so far as is known, in the 
 manuscript copies used by the early church, the epistle 
 stands just as it is, with no evidence of cleavage of any 
 sort. 
 
 (2) ''With many tears" does not seem a very true 
 description of chapters 10-13. "Anguish of heart" there 
 is, severity of tone and word, indignation, threat; but 
 hardly "tears." 
 
 (3) It is implied in 1:23 — 2:4 that the severe letter 
 took the place of an expected visit by Paul to Corinth, a 
 visit which Paul decided would have been most unpleasant 
 for all concerned. The letter, therefore, should explain 
 Paul's failure to go to Corinth in person and should ex- 
 cuse him. There is no such excuse in chapters 10-13. 
 
 (4) It is made very plain in 2:5-11 and 7:12 that the 
 severe letter had to do, at least in part, with certain 
 individuals, he "that did the wrong" and he "that suffered 
 the wrong." There is no direct reference to these persons 
 in chapters 10-13. 
 
 In answer to the objections it may be said again that 
 the hypothesis suggests only that we have in chapters 
 10-13 a part of the severe letter. The strictly personal 
 matter was allowed to be "lost." It was too harrowing 
 for public reading in church. The "lost" part might 
 easily have cost Paul "many tears" in the writing, and 
 it might have contained an explanation of his abandoned 
 visit. That there is no external evidence for such a 
 theory is significant but not conclusive. 
 
 As a working hypothesis it is quite satisfactory to 
 think of chapters 10-13, and to read them, as a part 
 
 163 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 of the letter which Titus carried to Corinth on his mis- 
 sion of reconciliation, written several weeks or months 
 before chapters 1-9, and responsible, together with the 
 good judgment, wisdom and tact of Titus, for the change 
 in the Corinthians from disobedience and insult to obedi- 
 ence and loyalty, and for the change in Paul from sorrow 
 and apprehension to joy and comfort. 
 
 III. The Trouble-makers at Corinth 
 
 There were certain persons at Corinth who had been 
 responsible for an enormous amount of trouble. Who 
 they were and exactly what the trouble was it is impos- 
 sible to determine in detail or with full satisfaction. It 
 was not necessary for Paul in writing to be specific, for all 
 his readers knew the precise meaning of each veiled 
 reference. Paul's short visit to Corinth had been a most 
 serious occasion for him and for the church. Things 
 were said and done that scorched and scarred, and 
 probably none of the witnesses of those church scenes 
 ever forgot them. But the readers in these later days 
 find themselves very much in the dark. They are left 
 to a general knowledge of the times and to their own 
 ingenuity in piecing together the story. 
 
 A few facts seem assured. There was an individual 
 and there was a group or party. The two as mischief- 
 makers may or may not have been connected. Probably 
 they were. 
 
 In the first nine chapters it is the individual who figures 
 prominently. In the last four chapters it is the group. 
 If the last four chapters were part of an earlier letter 
 than the first nine, this difference between the individual 
 and the group forms one of the separating contrasts. 
 
 I. In chapters 1-9 an individual is twice mentioned, 
 not by name but by a very pointed reference. 'Tf any 
 hath caused sorrow . . . sufficient to such a one is this 
 
 164 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 punishment which was inflicted by the many; so that 
 contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort 
 him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed 
 up with his overmuch sorrow" (2:5-7). And again: "So, 
 although I wrote unto you, I wrote not for his cause 
 that did the v^rrong, nor for his cause that suffered the 
 wrong, but . . ." (7:12). 
 
 Further than this there is nothing. Most of this sec- 
 tion, chapters 1-9, is devoted to Paul's ministry, and to 
 his joy at Titus' report from Corinth. The references to a 
 group or party which causes trouble are few, if any. 
 Possibly they are found in: ''We are not as the many, 
 corrupting the word of God" (2:17); and, "that ye may 
 have wherewith to answer them that glory in appear- 
 ance and not in heart" (5:12); and, "need we, as do 
 some, epistles of commendation to you or from you" 
 (3:1). Thes^ are all, and these do not at all certainly 
 point to any party. They may be quite general. 
 
 Things that Paul's opponents may have said of him 
 are found in echoes throughout the section; that he was 
 fickle ; that he was a yea nay man (1:17); that he was 
 beside himself (5:13); that he wronged or took ad- 
 vantage of men (7:2). But if these are references to 
 the storm, they are but heat lightnings and not angry 
 flashes. The storm has passed. 
 
 2. In the second section, however, chapters 10-13, it 
 is quite different. Here no individual is mentioned at all. 
 But there are many references to a group, and the storm 
 has not passed, it is raging. (If chapters 10-13 are a part 
 of the "lost letter," the references to the individual were 
 in the other part which is still "lost.") 
 
 Note their number and variety: "I count to be bold 
 against some which count of us as if we walked accord- 
 ing to the flesh" (10:2); "His letters, they say, are 
 weighty . . ." (10:10); "We are not bold to number or 
 compare ourselves with certain of them that commend 
 
 165 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 themselves, but they ..." (10:12); "if he that 
 cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we did not 
 preach" (11:4) ; "I reckon that I am not a whit behind 
 those pre-eminent apostles" (11:5); ". . . that I may 
 cut off occasion from them which desire an occasion, that 
 wherein they glory they may be found even as we. 
 For such men are false apostles" ( 1 1 : 12-13) ; "Satan's 
 minister" (11:14-15); "Seeing that many glory after 
 the flesh . . ." (11:18) ; "Are they Hebrews? So am I 
 . . . Are they ministers of Christ? . . ." (11:22-23). 
 
 Who were "they"? The road to the answer seems 
 to lie along these signposts: (a) Their mission in Cor- 
 rinth: (i) They were traveling missionaries, or, at 
 least, had, like Paul, come to Corinth from a distance 
 (11:4); (2) they prided themselves on being Hebrews, 
 Israelites, seed of Abraham (11:22); (3) they were 
 Christian ministers (11:23); (4) they claimed some 
 special, spiritual relationship to Christ (10:7); (5) 
 they claimed to be apostles (11:5). (The word apostle 
 is, of course, equivalent to missionary. It is possible 
 that their claim had nothing to do with "the apostles," 
 as Jesus named the twelve, but only with the general 
 term for commissioned messengers) ; (6) they claimed a 
 special ministry of righteousness (11:15). 
 
 ( b ) Their estimate of Paul. It is possible to read into 
 Paul's words a great deal that is not there, and some of 
 the seeming quotations of his opponents' slurs and abuse 
 may not be justified. Nevertheless they certainly looked 
 upon Paul with contempt and spoke of him with innu- 
 endoes, (i) They said he "walked according to the 
 flesh," i.e., he was unspiritual. This was perhaps to 
 Paul the worst of all their charges (10:2) ; (2) that Paul 
 did not have the same intimate relation to Christ which 
 they had (10:7); (3) that he was not prepossessing: 
 "his bodily presence is weak and his speech of no ac- 
 count" (10:10); that he thundered when at a safe dis- 
 
 166 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 tance, but whispered when face to face (io:i, ii); (4) 
 that he was no real apostle; he did not have the marks of 
 an apostle; he did not work miracles (12:11-12); he 
 did not receive his support from his converts (12:13-14) ; 
 but he took advantage of them in some indirect way, 
 by his agents, and "caught them with guile" (12:16-18); 
 (5) that he "overreached" himself, and trespassed on the 
 territory that belonged to someone else, and had no 
 right in Corinth (10:14). 
 
 (c) Paul's estimate of them, (i) They are conceited 
 and ignorant (10:12) ; (2) it is they who are trespassing, 
 not he (10:15-16); (3) they are "false apostles," hypo- 
 critical and presumptuous (11:13); (4) they "preach an- 
 other Jesus," "a different spirit," "a different gospel" 
 from Paul (11:4); (5) they are "Satan's ministers" 
 
 (11:15). 
 
 These phrases characterize the trouble-makers, but 
 they do not clearly identify them. They are Jewish 
 Christian teachers, but there is nothing to indicate that 
 they were such "Judaizers" as came to Antioch or the 
 churches of Galatia and caused trouble for Paul by 
 preaching: "Except ye be circumcised after the custom 
 of Moses, ye cannot be saved" (Acts 15:1, 5; Gal. 
 2:12-14). There is nothing in the epistle anywhere 
 to indicate that they were that kind of propagan- 
 dists. There is nothing about the Law or about cir- 
 cumcision. 
 
 However, they were Jews, and prided themselves on 
 their pure Jewish ancestry (11:22-23). They were not 
 reactionary "Judaizers" but belonged to a liberal party, 
 who in their relation to Christ believed themselves to be 
 far superior to Paul, and to be so "spiritual" that he, 
 by comparison, "walked according to the flesh." They 
 were probably, therefore, not Jerusalem Jews but Greek- 
 speaking Jews from the provinces, and the term "Juda- 
 izer," if used at all, should be used in this sense. They 
 
 167 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 had apparently won to themselves many of those who 
 previously had been Paul's loyal and devoted supporters 
 (11:2-3), and he is quite excusable if he pictures them 
 in the blackest terms. 
 
 If chapters 10-13 are an earlier letter than chapters 
 1-9, then, after Titus' return to Paul, the heart and 
 mind of the Apostle are set at rest, not only in regard 
 to the offending individual, but also in regard to the 
 trouble-making "false apostles." 
 
 One other question arises. Is there any connection 
 between the party-strife of i Corinthians, chapters 1-3, 
 and the trouble-makers of 2 Corinthians, chapters 10-13? 
 The letters which deal with them are not many months 
 apart in time of writing and in time of conditions de- 
 scribed. In spite of this fact there is nothing in 2 
 Corinthians which positively identifies any of the trouble- 
 makers in the church with either of the parties of i 
 Corinthians. One phrase has sometimes been used as a 
 mark of identification with the "I am of Christ" party. 
 It is 10:7, "If any man trusteth in himself that he is 
 Christ's, let him consider this again with himself, that, 
 even as he is Christ's, so also are we." This is scanty 
 evidence on which to base a theory. The probability is 
 that there is no reference here to a Christ-party. On the 
 other hand there is every probability that the "Judaizer" 
 missionaries made a greater appeal to some of the parties 
 than to others, and that those who had adopted the slogan 
 'T am of Cephas," or 'T am of Apollos," or "I am of 
 Christ," were more easily influenced against Paul by 
 newly-arrived claimants to apostleship than those who 
 had stoutly maintained 'T am of Paul." 
 
 IV. The Contribution 
 
 Two chapters in 2 Corinthians are devoted to a sub- 
 ject which has no immediate connection with what 
 
 168 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 precedes or with what follows it in the letter. ''Minis- 
 tering to the saints" is the title Paul gives it (8:4; 9-0, 
 and it has to do with one of those many interests and 
 activities which filled his life full. "That which presseth 
 upon me daily, anxiety for all the churches" (11:28) 
 is the way in which he refers to this part of his busy 
 life. His several letters and hurried visit to Corinth 
 illustrate one form of this anxious care. His letters to 
 the Thessalonians, the Galatian churches, the Romans 
 are typical of another. A third is barely hinted at in 
 the phrase, "All they which dwelt in Asia heard the 
 word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks" (Acts 19:10). 
 During his three years at Ephesus Paul organized and 
 conducted an evangelistic campaign which covered the 
 whole province of Asia. Doubtless his ever-enlarging 
 band of energetic helpers did most of the field work, as, 
 for example, Epaphras at Colossae (Col. 1:7; 4:12-13); 
 but Paul was the directing head and inspiring genius of 
 it all. 
 
 Another illustration of Paul's incessant and versatile 
 "care for all the churches" is found in the elaborate 
 plan which he originated and executed for a large money 
 contribution from his Gentile churches to the Jewish 
 mother-church at Jerusalem. 
 
 All that we know of this plan and its working is 
 gleaned from a few brief references. Nowhere is there 
 any full account. The passages from which the story 
 is derived are i Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8 and 9; Rom. 
 15:22-29. In Acts the only mention of it is in 24:17, 
 where Paul says of his last journey to Jerusalem, "I 
 came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings." Except 
 for this vague reference Luke makes not the slightest 
 mention of the plan or of its outcome. 
 
 The reason for Luke's silence is not known. From 
 innumerable incidents in Paul's life and ministry Luke 
 necessarily made choice of but very few. The omissions 
 
 169 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 must have far outnumbered the incidents chosen. The 
 "Contribution" is one of the omissions. Possibly it was 
 a ''subhme failure." Paul had his misgivings with regard 
 to its outcome (Rom. 15:31). Possibly Luke's part and 
 that of Titus in raising the funds was so prominent that 
 the author of Acts could not give the narrative of the 
 Contribution without bringing himself into prominence. 
 Nowhere in Acts is either Luke or Titus mentioned by 
 name. The omission of these two names must have been 
 intentional on the part of the author. He had some good 
 reason for leaving them out. 
 
 I. The Origin of the Idea 
 
 There can be no doubt that the idea of the Con- 
 tribution originated in Paul's fertile mind and warm 
 heart. Back of the idea, however, were two facts of 
 serious import. One was the poverty of the Jerusalem 
 church; the other was the natural suspicion and antago- 
 nism which the Jerusalem church felt toward the Gentile 
 Christians of the churches of Asia Minor and Europe. 
 
 The apostles James, Peter and John, when, at the 
 private interview in Jerusalem about ten years before 
 this, they gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of 
 fellowship (Gal. 2:9-10), urged them to remember the 
 poor. Although the injunction is general it is almost 
 certainly a request for the poor of the Jerusalem church. 
 Paul never forgot the injunction. 
 
 Why the Jerusalem church was poor, or whether it 
 was really poorer than many Gentile churches, no one 
 knows. No Christian community was likely to have 
 many rich men or women in its membership (Jas, 2:5). 
 The early persecution and constant oppression by the 
 Jewish authorities aggravated the conditions of poverty. 
 At any rate, the church at Jerusalem was poor, and Paul 
 was eager to help it with alms and offerings (Acts 
 
 170 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 24:17), just as he had been eager to relieve the strenuous 
 famine conditions long before when he conducted a 
 famine-relief expedition from Antioch to Jerusalem 
 (Acts 11:29-30). 
 
 But there was another and stronger reason back 0; 
 his project. No one felt more keenly than Paul the 
 suspicion and antipathy which the mother-church felt 
 for the far away Gentile churches. Rumors that Paul 
 had gone so far as to urge Jewish Christians to re- 
 nounce Moses, circumcision and all the old sacred Jewish 
 customs, were in circulation everywhere (Acts 21:21). 
 Paul cherished the hope, not without misgivings, that 
 generous and kindly recognition of the Jerusalem church 
 on the part of the Gentile churches, and acknowledgment 
 of the debt (Rom. 15:27) that all Gentile Christians owed 
 to the mother-church, might possibly win the Jewish 
 Christians in Jerusalem to a better understanding of his 
 Gentile work, and to more sympathy with Gentile Chris- 
 tians; and that all suspicion and jealousy might be re- 
 moved. It was the proposition and hope of a magnani- 
 mous man. 
 
 2. The Givers 
 
 The churches of four provinces united in the proposed 
 Contribution. They were (i) Galatia; "As I gave order 
 to the churches of Galatia, so also do ye" (i Cor. 16:1). 
 No mention is made of the Contribution in the letter to 
 the Galatians, and Paul "gave order" to them either in a 
 special letter; or, more probably, when he passed through 
 Galatia on his way to Ephesus three years before this 
 (Acts 18:23). The churches of Galatia are the churches 
 of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. Other 
 churches in the province of Galatia, whose names have 
 not come down to us, may have been included. (2) 
 Macedonia (2 Cor. 8:1; Rom. 15:26). (3) Achaia (2 
 
 171 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Cor., chs. 8-9; Rom. 15:26). (4) Asia. No mention is 
 made by name of the part the churches of Asia had in 
 the Contribution, but the fact that delegates went with 
 Paul from Ephesus to Jerusalem ("and of Asia, Tychicus 
 and Trophimus," Acts 20:4; see also Acts 21:29) is 
 conclusive evidence that they had a part. That Paul in 
 Rom. 15:26 mentions only Macedonia and Achaia is 
 testimony only to the fact that those two provinces had 
 the largest part. When Paul wrote his letter to the 
 Romans he was in Achaia (Corinth) and he had just 
 come from Macedonia. 
 
 3. The Method of Collecting 
 
 "As I gave order to the churches of Galatia, so also do 
 ye. Upon the first day of the week let each one of you 
 lay by him in store, as he may prosper, that no collec- 
 tions be made when I come" (i Cor. 16:1-2). This was 
 genuine systematic giving. It was an individual matter. 
 It was a weekly offering, made on the first day of each 
 week. It was proportionate giving, proportional accord- 
 ing to each man's ability to give (2 Cor. 8:11-12). It 
 was purely voluntary (2 Cor. 9:7). It was, at least in 
 the case of Macedonia, surprisingly generous (2 Cor. 
 8:3-4). It covered a long period, at least a year, prob- 
 ably longer (2 Cor. 8:10; 9:2). 
 
 Paul stimulated a friendly rivalry between Macedonia 
 and Achaia. He told the churches of Achaia how gener- 
 ous Macedonia had been (8:2). He boasted to Mace- 
 donia that Achaia had been ready for a year (9:2). But 
 the rivalry was not to be carried to the extreme. It was 
 long-distance rivalry. Paul disapproved of a spectacular 
 finish at the end of the campaign with a whirlwind drive 
 as the climax. There were to be no "collections" at 
 Corinth after he arrived (i Cor. 16:2). 
 
 172 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 4. The Method of Transmitting 
 
 The sum of money collected during the year and more 
 of weekly offerings must have been relatively a large 
 one. Paul was unwilling to handle this money himself. 
 He was eager to avoid all danger of suspicion that any 
 of it stuck to his fingers. This was true while the money 
 was being collected. "The brother whose praise is spread 
 through all the churches (generally supposed to be Luke) 
 . . . was appointed by the churches to travel with us in 
 the matter of this grace . . . avoiding this, that any 
 man should blame us in the matter of this bounty which 
 is ministered by us; for we take thought for things hon- 
 orable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the 
 sight of men" (2 Cor. 8:18-21). 
 
 And it was true when it came to transmittting the 
 total contribution to Jerusalem. "When I arrive, whom- 
 soever ye shall approve by letters, them will I send to 
 carry your bounty unto Jerusalem; and if it be meet 
 for me to go also, they shall go with me" (i Cor. 16:3-4). 
 It was therefore a part of the plan that delegates equipped 
 with proper credentials should be the bearers of this 
 "bounty." It did prove to "be meet" for Paul "to go 
 also," and so the delegates went with him. 
 
 No mention of the delegates as such is anywhere made. 
 But the companions of Paul when he goes to Jerusalem 
 are significant. 
 
 Expecting to sail from Achaia direct to Syria, Paul 
 suddenly changed his plan and went north via Macedonia 
 to Troas (Acts 20:3). A plot against his life had been 
 discovered. Probably he was to have been "lost over- 
 board" from the crowded transport bearing pilgrims to 
 the Passover at Jerusalem. The change of plan involved 
 considerable delay. He would reach Jerusalem not for 
 the Passover but for Pentecost. The Passover was spent 
 
 173 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 at Philippi (20:6). The change also involved changes 
 in the plan for meeting the delegates, who ''were waiting 
 for us at Troas" (20:5). The names of some of these 
 delegates are given by the author of Acts, and the fact 
 that they were representatives of churches is emphasized 
 by the identification of each one (20:4). "There ac- 
 companied him: 
 
 Sopater of Beroea 1 
 
 Aristarchus of Thessalonica ^Macedonia 
 Secundus of Thessalonica J 
 
 Gaius of Derbe \n ^ ■ 
 
 Timothy (of Lystra) f<^alatia 
 
 Tychicus of Asia \ . . 
 
 Trophimus (of Ephesus) J ^^^^ 
 
 The delegates from Achaia would have left Corinth 
 with Paul and so are not included in the account in Acts 
 with those who made Troas their meeting place. 
 
 Whether all these men went to Jerusalem, we do not 
 know. Presumably they did. Mention is made of Troph- 
 imus in Jerusalem (Acts 21:29). Probably the others 
 were there too. Certainly they all met at Troas, even 
 if they there delegated their authority to a smaller 
 number. 
 
 5. The Receipt of the Gift 
 
 That Paul had misgivings as to the reception that the 
 delegates and their gift would be accorded in Jerusalem 
 is seen in his letter to the Romans (15:30-31) 'T be- 
 seech you . . . that ye strive together with me in your 
 prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from 
 them that are disobedient in Judea, and that my ministra- 
 tion which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the 
 saints." 
 
 174 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that we have not the slightest 
 intimation of the result or the effect of the Contribution. 
 The author of Acts seems studiously to avoid all mention 
 of it; and Paul falls into trouble soon after his arrival 
 in Jerusalem, in another attempt to bring about harmony 
 between the two factions. It is from Paul's letters that 
 our meager information of this notable effort at recon- 
 ciliation is drawn; and no letter of his written at this time 
 has survived. 
 
 V. The Outline of the Epistle 
 
 A somewhat different method of outline has been fol- 
 lowed for 2 Corinthians from that which is usually pur- 
 sued. The purpose has been not only to give a careful 
 outline of the epistle itself, but also to illustrate a method 
 of Bible study by outline which is profitable in the school 
 or in the home. 
 
 It is as applicable of course to any literary work as 
 it is to the Bible; and especially is it usable and helpful 
 when the thought of the writer is not easily gained at 
 the first reading, or where there is so much thought 
 that each new reading opens new doors of entrance into 
 its depths. 
 
 The quest of the Bible interpreter is for the exact 
 meaning of the author— the meaning that he intended his 
 first readers to get. Few of the New Testament writers 
 wrote for a distant posterity. Some of them did not 
 expect that there would be any posterity. They wrote, 
 without thought of coming generations, for the immediate 
 attention of men and women of their own generation. 
 The application, therefore, can be neglected by the inter- 
 preter, at least until he is sure that he has mastered 
 the writer's exact meaning to his first readers. 
 
 In seeking that exact and primary meaning there are 
 two questions that in theory, and usually in practice, 
 
 175 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 may be asked. They should be asked not only of the 
 writing as a whole, but of each separate paragraph. They 
 are exceedingly simple and elementary, but they are not 
 always easy to answer. The questions are, first: What is 
 the author talking about? Second: What does he say 
 about it? 
 
 The answers should be in exact and concrete form, not 
 merely a paraphrase of the writer's words. The answer 
 to the first should give a short, concise subject; the 
 answer to the second should give the subordinate heads 
 under that subject. It can be carried out so as to include 
 every word the author has written, and when the answers 
 have been given the result is of course a complete logical 
 outline of each paragraph. It may be cumbersome and 
 often overbalanced, but the result justifies the method. 
 
 This outline is naturally not the author's outline. He 
 may have had no outline as he wrote. It may not be the 
 outline of any other interpreter. A literary work is often 
 like a beautiful piece of architecture, seen from different 
 points of view it presents very different faces; but it is the 
 same edifice. 
 
 But it is the thought of the author arranged in 
 orderly manner as that particular student of the author 
 sees it. And it is the assurance to his own mind that 
 he does understand the author's message even to the least 
 emphasis. If he cannot so order the thought he has no 
 such assurance. 
 
 It is often arbitrary. It is sometimes most difficult 
 to name the thing the author is talking about, or to fasten 
 upon and characterize by name or epithet the thing 
 he says about it. But the fascination of the mental 
 processes in attempting it, and the satisfaction in success 
 are both profitable and enjoyable. 
 
 The attempt has been made in the outlines which 
 follow to pursue that method. The results are often 
 clumsy and inadequate, but they will at least serve as an 
 
 176 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 example of a form of Bible study which is possible for 
 the individual student or for the group, and which lends 
 intense interest to the search for the message which the 
 Bible writers had for those to whom they wrote. It is 
 applicable to all the forms of Biblical literature, and to 
 none more so than to the epistles of Paul. 
 
 The following is the general outline of 2 Corinthians 
 which has been developed more in detail just preceding 
 the comment on the successive paragraphs: 
 
 Salutation, 1:1-2 
 
 Introduction: Paul's Encouragement in Trouble, 
 1:3-11 
 
 1. Its source; 1:3-5. 
 
 2. Its effect; 1:6-7. 
 
 3. A special instance; 1:8-11. 
 
 I. Paul's Sincerity of Heart and Life, 1:12 — 2:17. 
 
 1. Attested by his own conscience; 1:12. 
 
 2. Attested by those who know him; 1:13-14. 
 
 3. Attested by his relation to Christ and God; 1:15-22. 
 
 4. Attested by the jacts; 1:23 — 2:13. 
 
 Conclusion: God's Triumphal Procession; 2:14-17. 
 
 II. Paul's Ministry of the Nev^ Covenant, 
 3:1 — 6:10 
 
 Introduction: His Letters of Introduction; 3:1-3. 
 
 1. The Character of the Ministry; 3:4-18. 
 
 2. The Conduct of the Ministry; 4:1-6. 
 
 3. The Limitations of the Ministry; 4:7 — 5:12. 
 
 4. The Secret of the Ministry; 5:13 — 6:10. 
 
 177 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 III. Paul's Joy in the Corinthians, 6:ii — 7:16. 
 
 1. The Ways in which it finds expression; 6:11 — 7:4. 
 
 2. The Immediate Cause; 7:5-6. 
 
 3. The Underlying Cause; 7:7-13. 
 
 4. An Additional Cause; 7:13-16. 
 
 IV. The Grace of Giving (to the Saints at Jeru- 
 salem), 8:1 — 9:15 
 
 1. Illustrated in the Churches of Macedonia; 8:1-7. 
 
 2. Desired in the Churches of Achaia; 8:7-15. 
 
 3. Administered efficiently in both provinces; 8:16 — 9:5 
 
 4. Regulated by the Law of the Harvest; 9:6-15. 
 
 V. Paul's ''Glorying", 10:1 — 12:13. 
 
 1. The Boldness which characterizes it; 10:1-18. 
 
 2. The Grounds which excuse it; ii:i — 12:13. 
 
 Intro. His excuse for talking about the grounds; 
 11:1-6. 
 
 a. His gratuitous preaching at Corinth; 11:7-15. 
 
 b. His honor "in the flesh"; 11:16 — 12:13. 
 Intro.; 11:16-21. 
 
 (i) In his ancestry and race; 11:22. 
 
 (2) As a minister of Christ; 11:23-31. 
 
 (3) In his visions and revelations; 12:1-10. 
 Conclusion; 12:11-13. 
 
 VI. Paul's Intended Visit to Corinth, 12:14 — 
 13:10 
 
 1. Its Number — the third; 12:14. 
 
 2. Its Object; 12:14-19. 
 
 178 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 3. Its possible disappointment to Paul; 12:20-21, 
 
 4. Its possible disappointment to them; 13:1-9. 
 Conclusion; 13:10. 
 
 Conclusion, 13:11. 
 
 Salutations, 13:12-13. 
 
 Benediction, 13:14. 
 
 179 
 
i:i 
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 Salutation 1:1-2 
 
 I. I. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will 
 of God, and Timothy ^ our brother, unto the church 
 of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which 
 
 ^ Gr., the brother. 
 
 Salutation 
 
 I. The Authors introduced. 
 
 1. Paul. 
 
 (i) Authority: Apostle of Christ Jesus. 
 (2) Appointment: through God's will. 
 
 2. Timothy, the Christian brother. 
 II. The Readers, to whom introduced. 
 
 1. The Church of God at Corinth. 
 
 2. All Christians in the Province of Achaia. 
 III. The Prayer of Salutation. 
 
 Content of petition: Grace, Peace. 
 
 1. Source: 
 
 (i) God our Father. 
 
 (2) The Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 2. Destination — "you"; all the readers. 
 
 No two of Paul's salutations are alike. They are so varied 
 and so significant that each deserves careful study. Though the 
 similarities are marked, there is in the salutation of each letter 
 something that is peculiar to itself. 
 
 In its simplest terms the formal salutation in common use 
 would have made this letter begin: Paul to the Church at 
 Corinth, Greeting. The Epistle of James comes the nearest of 
 the New Testament letters to the stereotyped forms of salutation. 
 But most of the New Testament writers, and Paul in particular, 
 
 180 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i :i 
 
 vary the form and lengthen it. The author is introduced with 
 a statement of his rank or authority as well as his identity; 
 the reader or readers are given some descriptive or complimen- 
 tary phrase; and the simple "Greeting" is enlarged into a prayer, 
 the favorite petitions in which ask for grace, and peace for the 
 readers. The two epistles to Timothy add "mercy" between 
 "grace" and "peace." 
 
 i:i. An Apostle. This is Paul's title of authority, and in 
 all but four of his letters he uses it. Twice he precedes it with 
 the designation "slave (servant) of Christ," or "slave of God." 
 To the Philippians he uses only the title "slaves of Christ Jesus" 
 for himself and Timothy. To the Thessalonians there is no 
 title of authority given. To Philemon he calls himself a "pris- 
 oner of Christ Jesus." If there is any question of his authority 
 Paul lays strong emphasis on his apostleship. Jesus chose twelve 
 "whom also He named apostles" (Lk. 6:13). The name is 
 nearly the equivalent of "Missionary." They were sent forth 
 by Jesus on the business of the Kingdom. Though not one of the 
 twelve, Paul claimed an equal right to the title apostle and to 
 its authority. He was chosen and sent forth by Christ Jesus 
 no less than they. On this he insists with great emphasis. In 
 Corinth certain church workers had been opposing Paul's au- 
 thority. He calls them "false apostles, deceitful workers, fashion- 
 ing themselves into apostles of Christ." Because of them, in 
 this letter, as in the letter to the Galatians, he lays great stress 
 on his credentials. He is an apostle of Christ Jesus, not self- 
 appointed, but under appointment of God — through God's will. 
 
 Timothy our brother. The brother, i.e., your brother. 
 Timothy was well known at Corinth. He was with Paul during 
 part at least of the eighteen months spent there when the church 
 was organized (Acts 18:5). "Timothy the brother" is sufficient 
 reference to one so well known. He is not, however, like Paul, 
 an "Apostle." 
 
 In most of Paul's letters some friend or friends of the readers 
 are associated with the author in the salutation. In i Corin- 
 thians it was Sosthenes "the brother." In six of the letters it is 
 Timothy. It is an evidence of Timothy's close relationship to 
 Paul and his great influence among his "brother" Christians 
 everywhere. This letter, like all of Paul's letters, is nevertheless 
 strictly his own message. He does not share the responsibility 
 for it with anyone. After the salutation it would be difficult 
 to discover any part that Timothy has in the letter. Even when 
 the first person plural is used it does not as a rule, and probably 
 not once, include Timothy. It is Paul's letter. 
 
 181 
 
I :i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 The Church of God which is at Corinth. Once (Rom. 
 i6:i6) Paul uses the phrase "churches of Christ." That is the 
 only use of the term in the New Testament. Elsewhere it is 
 always the church of God, or the churches of God. It is God's 
 church, but, figuratively, it is Christ's body. Although Paul 
 often uses the plural, "churches of God," he thought of the 
 church of God as being one great whole. Just as one might 
 speak of the Atlantic Ocean at New York, or at Boston, he 
 spoke of the church of God at Corinth. Just as the ocean is 
 not at its best and purest at every point, so the church of God 
 at Corinth was not at its purest or its best . But it was the 
 church of God. It could be purified. 
 
 All the saints. "Christians" would be a better rendering, 
 though not a translation. "Saints" in our vocabulary is likely 
 to be misleading . They were "saints" because they were called 
 to be saints, to be holy, to be separated as God's people; not 
 because they had reached any advanced stage of Christian per- 
 fection. It is a tribute to Paul's optimism and hope that, in 
 spite of their moral deficiencies he calls the Corinthian Chris- 
 tians "holy," "saints." Though the term "saints" impUes that 
 they had been separated, sanctified, — there is nothing of the 
 sanctimonious in it. 
 
 The whole of Achaia. Paul always spoke geographically in 
 terms of Roman Provinces. Achaia was a Roman senatorial 
 province, governed by a proconsul whose residence was at 
 Corinth. During a part of Paul's first long stay in Corinth, 
 September, 51 a.d. to March, 53 a.d., GalUo, the brother of 
 Seneca, was proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12). 
 
 One of Paul's methods of evangeUzation, which developed with 
 his increasing experience, was to reach the surrounding country 
 from some city as a strategic center. As early as at Pisidian 
 Antioch, 47 a.d., it could be said, "The word of the Lord 
 was spread abroad throughout all the region," i.e., all Phrygia 
 (Acts 13:49). Doubtless all Achaia in a similar way had heard 
 the gospel, and there were many Christians. Athens was in 
 Achaia, and so was Cenchreae, the harbor of Corinth on the 
 -^gean side of the peninsula. There were Christians at Athens 
 (Acts 17:34) ; and there was a church at Cenchreae (Rom. 16:1). 
 Although the letter is addressed to the church in the city of 
 Corinth Paul graciously includes in the salutation all the Chris- 
 tians in the province of which Corinth was the capital. They 
 were certainly associated with the church in Corinth in some 
 intimate way and must have known something of the difficulties 
 that had arisen there. 
 
 182 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i :3 
 
 2. are in the whole of Achaia: Grace to you and peace 
 from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 Introduction: Paul's Encouragement in Trouble, 
 1:3-11 
 
 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all com- 
 
 2. Grace to you and peace. Paul's two favorite words in 
 the salutation of his letters. In their choice he may possibly 
 have been influenced slightly by the similarity of sound in the 
 Greek language between these two words on the one hand, and 
 the formal word "Greeting," on the other. They sound very 
 much alike. But besides that, grace and peace are to Paul the 
 most comprehensive words in his Christian vocabulary. They 
 are rich in historical associations. The priestly benediction 
 (Num. 6:22-26) was similar in thought. But they had been 
 wonderfully enriched by Christian use. To Paul grace includes 
 all of God's gracious giving. It has its consummation in Christ, 
 God's "unspeakable gift" (9:15), and in all the blessings that 
 come to men and women through Jesus Christ. On the other 
 hand, peace is the harmony and satisfaction which come into a 
 life that has accepted God's grace, is reconciled to God, and rests 
 in the assurance of forgiven sin. In this sense Jesus was the 
 great />eace-maker. He was the Son of God; and so, "Blessed 
 are the makers of peace for they shall be called God's Sons" 
 (Matt. 5:9). Grace and peace sum up, for Paul, all the bless- 
 ings of Christianity, the wealth of God's gracious giving, the re- 
 sults in man's full acceptance. In every letter Paul begins with 
 a prayer that his readers may have these blessings. 
 
 Paul's Encouragement in Trouble, 1:3-11 
 
 I. Its source is in God, vs. 3. 
 
 a. His Identity— The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 b. His Nature: — 
 
 (i) The Father, whose characteristic is mercy. 
 
 (2) The God, whose characteristic is encouragement. 
 
 c. His Expression of his nature— keeps Paul encouraged, vs. 4- 
 (i) Occasion— in his every trouble; 
 
 (2) End (purposed and actual) —ability to encourage 
 others ; 
 
 183 
 
i:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 ■ (a) Occasion — in their every trouble; 
 
 (b) Means — by his own personal experience. 
 (3) Agent — Christ, vs. 5: 
 
 (a) Measure of his encouragement — abundant; 
 
 (b) Comparison — as abundant as his sufferings for 
 
 Christ. 
 
 2. Its effect (designed and actual) — the encouragement of the 
 
 Corinthians, vs. 6. 
 
 a. Method: 
 
 (i) Through his trouble, inspiration to patience; 
 
 (2) Through his encouragement, inspiration to courage. 
 
 b. Surety — a hope well grounded in his knowledge of them, 
 
 vs. 7. 
 
 3. A special instance — Paul's trouble in Asia, vs. 8. 
 
 a. Severity — a trouble almost too heavy to bear. 
 
 b. Extent — Death's door, 
 (i) Utter despair of Ufe; 
 
 (2) Death sentence passed on himself, vs. 9. 
 
 c. End — (designed result) perfect trust, not in self, but in God. 
 
 d. Outcome — rescue and confidence, vs. 10. 
 
 e. Result — encouragement; assurance of rescue always, in God. 
 Grounds — the prayers of the Corinthians for him, vs. 11. 
 (i) Effectiveness — a subtle help; 
 
 (2) Desired end — many expressions of thanks to God. 
 
 This introduction is not a thanksgiving, but it springs out of 
 Paul's overflowing thankfulness. He is not uttering a thanksgiv- 
 ing to God, but tells his readers how much he has to be thankful 
 for, and what it is. He begins nearly every letter he writes with 
 a thanksgiving or with a statement of his thankfulness. Its 
 absence in the letter to the Galatians is therefore noteworthy. 
 Usually Paul's introduction begins "I thank my God," or "We 
 give thanks to God." Here he uses an equivalent phrase. The 
 "blessing" and the "thanksgiving" are almost synonymous. He 
 blesses God for his encouragement. The return of Titus from 
 Corinth with a message to Paul of the renewed loyalty of the 
 church gives the apostle new cause for rejoicing and hope. He 
 thanks God and takes courage. 
 
 His thought in the introduction is this: My heart is full of 
 gratitude to God, for again, as always. He has given me the 
 encouragement I needed in trouble. He is an unfailing source 
 of such encouragement, supplying it as often as I need it. As 
 my sufferings are for the sake of Christ, so Christ is the agent 
 of my encouragement. And this constant supply of encourage- 
 ment in trouble gives me the opportunity, through my own ex- 
 
 184 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i 'A 
 
 4. fort; who comforteth us in all our affliction, that we 
 may be able to comfort them that are in any afflic- 
 
 perience, to be a source of encouragement to you and to others. 
 There has been one notable instance recently in Asia. I wish 
 you knew all about it. It was a trouble that brought me to 
 death's door, and I despaired of life. But God raised me up and 
 saved me, and I have learned never to despair, trusting in God's 
 care for me, and in the effectiveness of your prayers on my 
 behalf. And one further result of such prayers and such rescues, 
 is that thanksgivings in great abundance rise to God from many 
 hearts. The more thanksgiving we can have the better. 
 
 3. Blessed. Used in the New Testament only of God or 
 Christ; the equivalent of "worthy to be praised." Hence it is 
 almost an alternative expression for "deserving of gratitude, or 
 thanks." 
 
 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul does 
 not hesitate to speak of God as both the God and Father of 
 Jesus Christ (see also Eph. 1:17). It is first of all in his relation 
 to Jesus Christ that God is known by Paul to be a God whose 
 characteristic is encouragement, and a Father whose characteristic 
 is compassion. 
 
 Mercies. Not the equivalent of favors, but of feelings of 
 compassion. It is that emotion which seeks expression when, in 
 the presence of suffering or need or sin, one is moved with a 
 desire to help. 
 
 Comfort. As there is in this word comfort the idea of exhor- 
 tation, inspiration to courage and hope, as well as the idea of 
 consolation, it is helpful to read the passages, substituting 
 encourage or encouragement for comfort. The word, as noun 
 or verb, occurs ten times in these five verses. It is the chief 
 burden of Paul's thought and of his gratitude, and it is the 
 theme of his introduction — encouragement in trouble. It is one 
 of the key-words to this letter, and is found nineteen times after 
 the introduction in the body of the letter— almost as many times 
 as in all the rest of Paul's letters put together. The return of 
 Titus from Corinth with good news has greatly encouraged Paul, 
 and he is reminded that always in his experience encouragement 
 and comfort follow trouble. He thinks of one remarkable in- 
 stance not long before in Asia. And so, quite naturally, this is 
 the burden of his thankfulness. 
 
 4. Affliction. Trouble gives the meaning better. It includes 
 any stress under outside pressure, mental anxiety, spiritual dis- 
 couragement, accident, danger, physical pain or disability. 
 
 185 
 
1 :5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 tion, through the comfort wherewith we ourselves are 
 
 5. comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ 
 abound unto us, even so our comfort also aboundeth 
 
 6. through Christ. But whether we be afflicted, it is 
 for your comfort and salvation; or whether we be 
 comforted, it is for your comfort, which worketh in 
 
 7. the patient enduring of the same sufferings which 
 
 5. The sufferings of Christ abound unto us. The em- 
 phasis here is on Christ as the agent through whom Paul's en- 
 couragement has come. To are comforted of God (vs. 4), verse 
 5 adds abundantly through Christ. Paul says that this encourage- 
 ment that God gives him through Christ is always as abundant 
 as the sufferings which come into his life because he is Christ's 
 follower. It is unnecessary to find anything more subtle than 
 that in his words. The sufferings of Christ which were abundant 
 in his life are the afflictions of which he has just spoken. 
 Abundant as they are, they are no more abundant than the en- 
 couragement that meets them. That encouragement comes to 
 him through Jesus Christ. God is its source; Christ is its agent. 
 Elsewhere (e.g., Col. 1:24) Paul uses the figure of the church as 
 the body of Christ, and draws a parallel between the sufferings 
 of Christ's physical body and the sufferings of Christ's figurative 
 body, the church. As a member of the church which is His body 
 Paul suffered the sufferings of Christ's body. There seems, how- 
 ever, to be nothing of that metaphor here. It is best to take 
 it in its simplest meaning. 
 
 6. It is for your comfort. One effect, designed and actual, 
 of Paul's troubles, as the effect of his encouragement also, is the 
 examp>le it sets his readers and the inspiration it gives them to 
 endure patiently and hopefully similar troubles. To think of 
 troubles in that way helps him. He adds to the first clause. 
 Salvation, for always he thinks of his troubles as having their 
 chief purpose in making him an efficient minister of salvation to 
 men. (A great uncertainty as to the exact order of the words 
 in the original at this point, is responsible for the difficult ren- 
 dering here and in the A. V. This order is probably correct.) 
 
 7. Our hope for you is stedfast; knowing, i.e., now that 
 I know. This seems to be a more personal reference. It is 
 veiled, but the readers would understand it. Paul had almost 
 despaired of them. Now his hope for them is confident and sure. 
 It is grounded on the information that they have shared not 
 
 186 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i :8 
 
 we also suffer: and our hope for you is stedfast; 
 knowing that, as ye are partakers of the sufferings, 
 8. so also are ye of the comfort. For we would not 
 have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction 
 which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down 
 exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we 
 
 only in this particular trouble with his church at Corinth, but 
 that they have shared in his encouragement. Titus had brought 
 Paul word that the majority of the church had suffered in this 
 very troublesome matter just as Paul had suffered, and that they 
 had found their source of encouragement where Paul found his, 
 in God through Christ. 
 
 8. Our affliction which befell us in Asia. It is impossible 
 to think that the plurals our and ics and we refer to Paul and 
 Timothy or to Paul and any other, while the singulars / and 
 me and my are reserved for the Apostle alone. He turns so 
 easily and so often from singular to plural and back to singular 
 again {e.g., 1:13; 1:23-24) and it is often so difficult to find any 
 second person associated with him in the plural that it is better 
 to take all of these plurals as being the "editorial we." Timothy 
 is in all probability not included in our affliction. 
 
 What this special affliction, or trouble, was the readers of the 
 letter at Corinth knew. They may not have known how severe 
 it was, but a reference to it is all that is necessary. It is im- 
 possible for Paul's later readers to discover any clew by which 
 to identify the affliction. There have been many guesses. It 
 befell him in Asia. Asia of course means Ephesus. It was recent, 
 and of sufficient importance to be thought of as outstanding, 
 towering above all his other troubles in Asia. He writes as if 
 there were only one affliction in Asia. It brought him to death's 
 door. He despaired even of life. A severe illness best ex- 
 plains his description of the affliction. Some form of persecu- 
 tion or of mob violence might also explain it. It is not likely 
 that a man of Paul's faith and strength would be brought to 
 death's door by the anxiety that a defiant church gave him. 
 But that is sometimes suggested as an explanation. In great 
 variety afflictions are mentioned in chapter 11, and they include 
 in deaths oft (11:23). This is but one of them. Paul refers to 
 it because it was recent, known to his readers, severe, and because 
 it illustrated his many troubles and the unfailing encouragement 
 he received. At Corinth they had evidently prayed for his re- 
 covery and for his encouragement (vs. 11). 
 
 187 
 
irg EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 9. despaired even of life: ^ yea, we ourselves have had 
 the ^ answer of death within ourselves, that we 
 should not trust in ourselves, but in God which 
 
 10. raiseth the dead: who delivered us out of so great 
 a death, and will deliver: on whom we have ^ set 
 
 11. our hope that he will also still deliver us; ye also 
 
 ^ Or, but we ourselves. * Or, sentence. 
 
 2 Some ancient authorities read, set our hope; and still will he 
 deliver us. 
 
 9. The answer of death. Or, sentence of death within our- 
 selves. Death had seemed the inevitable outcome. He faced 
 death, and asked himself this question, "Must I die?" And he 
 answered it, "Yes." The sentence was pronounced by himself. 
 He really thought he could not survive. And so it seemed to 
 him a veritable resurrection, when he was given back to life 
 out of so great a death. 
 
 That we should not trust in ourselves. One purpose which 
 Paul found in his varied afflictions was the resulting effect on 
 his churches. They were encouraged and strengthened. Here 
 is another purpose. This illness gave him a new sense of trust 
 in God, a new lesson that trust in self for rescue was useless, 
 and a vivid experience of God's power to raise the dead. 
 
 10. On whom we have set our hope. As always, the com- 
 fort that came to him in this experience helped him to face the 
 future with new courage. It was genuine encouragement. ^ No 
 matter what may be in store for him God will also still deliver 
 us. 
 
 11. Ye also helping. Very tactfully Paul implies that his 
 readers had a part in his recovery, because they had prayed 
 earnestly for it. Or if their supplication was not offered for his 
 previous rescue, then he tactfully suggests that in the future they 
 will be found also helping. This expectation is another factor in 
 his encouragement. 
 
 For the gift bestowed upon us. The deliverance is a special 
 gift of God, a special favor bestowed upon Paul, in answer to 
 the prayers of his many friends. 
 
 Thanks may be given. Here is another purpose in affliction 
 and encouragement, the thanksgivings that are sure to result. 
 No one ever had more of the spirit of gratitude than Paul. He 
 is always interrupting himself to exclaim thanks be to God (Rom. 
 6:17; 7:2s; I Cor. 15:57; 2 Cor. 2:14; 8:16; 9:15). And it 
 seemed to him a result very much to be desired that a chorus of 
 
 188 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS i:ii 
 
 helping together on our behalf by your supplication; 
 that, for the gift bestowed upon us by means of 
 many, thanks may be given by many persons on 
 our behalf. 
 
 thanksgivings should be ascending constantly to God. Anything 
 that accomplished that end gave him great joy. He counted on 
 the fact that all those who had prayed for his deliverance would 
 return thanks for his deliverance. So the chorus would be swelled, 
 and another worthy outcome of his troubles would be achieved. 
 
 189 
 
i:i2 
 
 I. Paul's Sincerity of Heart and Life, 1:12 — 2:17. 
 
 12. For our glorying is this, the testimony of our 
 conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, 
 not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we 
 
 This is the subject about which Paul feels impelled first to 
 write. It touches him at a vital point. It has to do with his 
 honor. He has been accused of insincerity and fickleness. Titus' 
 return has greatly cheered Paul's heart, because he brings the news 
 that the majority at least of the church at Corinth believe in him 
 and are loyal to him. Nevertheless he cannot help but say a few 
 things in defense of his absolute sincerity, not only of heart, but 
 also of words and plans and actions. It is a difficult thing to 
 prove one's own sincerity. Talking about it will not do it. In- 
 sisting that one is sincere does not prove it. But to those who 
 are inclined to believe in Paul the arguments will seem conclusive. 
 
 It is possible to gather from what he writes in his own defense 
 some of the charges which have been made against him. They are 
 vague references, but these are some of the malicious accusations: 
 he is insincere (12) ; fickle (17) ; a "yea and nay" man (18) ; 
 writes his own credentials (3:1, 5:12); is "beside himself," i.e., 
 unbalanced (5:13). And to these can be added a few gleanings 
 from chapters 10-13: "his letters are weighty, his presence puny" 
 (10:10); he shakes his fist when he is at a safe distance, but 
 when he is close to them he only shakes his finger (10:1); he 
 walks "according to the flesh," i.e., he is very human for a man 
 who pretends to be spiritual (10:2) ; he is a great boaster (10:8 
 and often). It is because such things as these have been said 
 about him that Paul defends his own sincerity. His argument 
 seems to fall under this outline. His sincerity is attested by fou/ 
 kinds of witness: 
 
 Paul's Sincerity of Heart and Life 
 
 I. Attested by his own conscience; vs. 12. 
 
 a. As to its genuineness — Godlike. 
 
 b. As to its sphere of expression. 
 
 (i) Negative: not in worldly wisdom; 
 (2) Positive: but in divine grace. 
 
 190 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:14 
 
 behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly 
 to you-ward. 
 
 13. For we write none other things unto you, than 
 what ye read or even acknowledge, and I hope 
 
 14. ye will acknowledge unto the end: as also ye did 
 
 c. As to its sphere of influence, 
 (i) The whole world in general; 
 (2) The Corinthians in particular. 
 
 12. For. The transition from the Introduction to this proof 
 of his sincerity. He can count on their prayers for him and his 
 constant encouragement in trouble jot he is absolutely sincere, 
 he glories in his consciousness of sincerity in all that he is and 
 all that he does. Our glorying. This is one of Paul's words. 
 It seems to be reminiscent of one of the accusations against him. 
 Perhaps they misused his own expression and turned it upon him. 
 Only four times, in James (3) and in Hebrews (i), is glorying 
 in any of its forms found outside of Paul's letters in the New 
 Testament. But Paul uses it nearly fifty times. Especially in 
 chapters 10-12 is it frequent. There it is one of the key-words 
 to his letter. It is rendered rejoicing in the authorized version. 
 The word is inadequate. Boasting is too strong. It is better to 
 use the uniform rendering glorying. He glories in his conscious- 
 ness of sincerity. Sincerity of God, i.e., a sincerity that is holy 
 and Godlike. It is God's sincerity, a striking phrase. The word 
 in is used in this verse with three phrases, each giving a different 
 emphasis to the attestation of his conscience. It is in God's 
 smcerity; in the sphere of God's grace; in the world. In the 
 Grace of God is contrasted with fleshly wisdom. The latter is 
 human wisdom, man wisdom, worldly wisdom, contrasted with 
 spiritual wisdom. Paul lived his whole life in the sphere, or 
 atmosphere, of God's grace, i.e., of God's gracious, lavish giving. 
 Living m that atmosphere his sincerity partakes of it. It is God- 
 like sincerity. In the world. Toward the whole world he knows 
 he is sincere; how much more toward the Church at Corinth 
 which is in the same realm, or sphere, of God's grace. 
 
 2. Attested by those who understand him; vss. 13, 14. 
 
 a. Who they are: The Corinthians themselves, 
 (i) Who all understand him now; 
 
 (2) Who will continue to understand him, he hopes; 
 
 (3) Who, in part, always have understood him. 
 
 b. What their understanding signifies: they appreciate that he 
 
 is their object of glorying, as they are his. 
 
 191 
 
i:i4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 13, 14. The difficulty in these two verses is no fault of Paul's. 
 It is the difficulty of transferring a play upon words from one 
 language into another. There seems to be no way of reproducing 
 it in English. The play is upon the word read and the word 
 acknowledge, which are very much alike. Paul's thought is this: 
 What I say about my sincerity is acknowledged and understood 
 by you all. There is nothing that must be read between the lines. 
 You all now understand my letters and me — and I hope you 
 always will — as some of you always have understood. When 
 the Lord comes I shall be as much to you as you are to me. 
 Acknowledge. It is well to read these two verses substituting 
 for acknowledge first the word understand and then the word 
 recognize, both of which help to reproduce Paul's meaning. He 
 is confident now that they will read his letters without reading 
 into them what is not there, and that they will read him without 
 reading into him any insincerity. They understand him; they 
 recognize his sincerity; they acknowledge it. Unto the end. 
 He hopes there will never again be a wwunderstanding. Ye did 
 acknowledge us in part. The in part may mean that part of 
 the church always did understand him; or that the church never 
 wholly misunderstood him. In the day of our Lord Jesus. 
 This is not so much a reference to time as to a state of clear 
 perceptions of things as they are. Paul looked forward to the 
 coming of the Lord. When he comes things will be seen as they 
 are. So, in the day of our Lord Jesus is here almost equivalent 
 to as Christ sees it. As Christ sees it, the Corinthians are finding 
 that Paul is an object of pride on their part, just as they are 
 his source of pride. In the day of the Lord Jesus there are no 
 misunderstandings. 
 
 3, Attested by his relation to Christ and God; 1:15-22. 
 
 a. The statement to be proved: He is not insincere. 
 Specifications: 
 
 (i) He did not practice the supposed fickleness; vs. 17. 
 (2) His word is not "yea and nay"; vs. 18. 
 
 Particular instance called in question. 
 
 (a) His plan, Macedonia via Corinth; then Judea 
 via Corinth; vs. 15. 
 
 (6) His change of plan (implied) ; vs. 17. 
 
 (c) His motive, sincere; vs. 18. 
 
 b. The Proof: 
 
 (i) The Son of God is true, Jesus Christ; vs. 19. 
 
 (a) Identity — The Christ preached to them by Paul. 
 
 (b) Proof — All God's promises have come true in 
 
 him; vs. 20. 
 
 192 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1:15 
 
 acknowledge us in part, that we are your glory- 
 ing, even as ye also are ours, in the day of our 
 Lord Jesus. 
 15. And in this confidence I was minded to come be- 
 fore unto you, that ye might have a second ' benefit; 
 
 ^ Or, g race. Some ancient authorities read joy. 
 
 (2) Paul's relation to Christ is one of identity (w 
 
 Christ) ; vs. 21. 
 
 (a) Agent, who confirms it, is God. 
 
 (b) Evidence, found in anointing and sealing and in 
 
 the earnest of the Spirit; vs. 22. 
 
 (3) Conclusion: Therefore Paul must be true. 
 
 This is Paul's real proof of his sincerity. It is an actual demon- 
 stration. First the theorem to be proved: He is not fickle, or 
 insincere. Then the argument: The Son of God is true; Paul is 
 identified with the Son of God, the evidence is complete. There- 
 fore Paul cannot be untrue. 
 
 15. In this confidence. The confidence that his own con- 
 science and the judgment of those who understood him bore 
 witness to his honesty of purpose. This would seem to refer 
 to a time when the relations between Paul and the Church at 
 Corinth were not strained. A second benefit. The word 
 usually rendered grace is here rendered benefit. The margin sug- 
 gests that Paul may have written joy, not grace. It is his con- 
 sciousness of a God-given authority as an Apostle, not any pride 
 in his personal attractions, that leads Paul to speak of his visits 
 as benefits, or as joys. He did it in all humility. And yet it may 
 have been expressions such as these that led to some of the charges 
 against him of boastfulness. 
 
 It is impossible to determine just what he meant by a second 
 benefit, but most probably he refers to the two proposed visits 
 of which he goes on to speak in the following verses. The only 
 promised visit of which we know is that of i Cor. 16:5-9. It 
 was his purpose then (also Acts 19:21-22) to go from Ephesus 
 first to Macedonia and afterward to Corinth for a long visit, 
 spending the winter there. He did not wish to go first to Corinth^ 
 for if he did it would be for a short visit only. There is no 
 evidence that he had before the writing of 2 Corinthians even 
 mentioned a change of plans, but it is quite possible that he 
 may have done so in the "lost" letter, or by messenger. At any 
 rate his plans had been changed. He hoped to visit them on his 
 
I :i6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 1 6. and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from 
 Macedonia to come unto you, and of you to be set 
 
 17. forward on my journey unto Judaea. When I there- 
 fore was thus minded, did I shew fickleness? or the 
 things that I purpose, do I purpose according to 
 the flesh, that with me there should be the yea yea 
 
 18. and the nay nay? But as God is faithful, our word 
 
 19. toward you is not yea and nay. For the Son of God, 
 Jesus Christ, who was preached among you ^ by us, 
 even ^ by me and Silvanus and Timothy, was not 
 
 20. yea and nay, but in him is yea. For how many 
 
 ^ Gr., through. 
 
 way to Macedonia, both going and returning. And this he had 
 not done. He is now writing from Macedonia, and is following 
 the original plan of i Cor, 16:5. This change of plans, either 
 from two visits to one, or from one to two and back to one 
 again, had given the disloyal members of the Church at Corinth 
 another occasion to complain of him. They said one never could 
 tell what Paul was going to do from what he said. In special 
 reference to this Paul argues that his relation to Christ and God 
 proves that he is true, even if he does change his plans. 
 
 17. The yea yea and the nay nay. One of the many 
 accusations made against Paul in this change of plans was that 
 he was a "yea and nay" man. It implied that he answered ques- 
 tions with both a yes and a no, and left the questioner guessing 
 as to what his intention really was; his word couldn't be trusted. 
 
 18. As God is faithful. This is probably not an asseveration, 
 calling God's faithfulness as a witness to Paul's sincerity. He 
 grounds his own sincerity in the faithfulness of God, and he 
 goes on to show that because he is identified with Christ his 
 truth and sincerity are identified with Christ's. 
 
 19. For begins the explanation of what he means in verse 18 
 by linking his own sincerity to God's. God's Son, Jesus Christ, 
 had been the theme of the three evangelists, Paul, Silvanus 
 (Silas) and Timothy, when they labored in Corinth for 
 eighteen months (Acts' 18:5, 11), and Jesus Christ is not a "yea 
 and nay" man. Yea is personified in him. 
 
 20. For. Again an explanation of the preceding verss. Yea 
 is personified in God's Son, because He has proved to be the 
 affirmation and fulfillment of all God's promises. He is God's 
 
 194 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 1 122 
 
 soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: 
 wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the 
 
 21. glory of God through us. Now he that stablisheth us 
 with you ^ in Christ, and anointed us, is God; ^ who 
 
 22. also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit 
 in our hearts. 
 
 ' Gr., into. * Or, seeing that he both sealed us. 
 
 yea to all the promises God has made. If God's yea has been 
 the theme of Paul's preaching, and if Paul has been identified 
 with God's yea, how can his own promises be yea and nay. 
 Through him is the Amen. The Amen is the yes of assent at 
 the close of the prayer or the doxology in public worship (i Cor. 
 14:16). In the Revelation (3:14) the "one like unto a son of 
 man" calls himself the Amen, and its use as the yea of assent is 
 indicated in Rev. 22:20, and elsewhere. The members of the 
 Corinthian Church in their every repetition of the Amen in public 
 worship had testified to their belief that the Son of God whom 
 Paul preached was God's yea, the incarnation of the truth and 
 sincerity of a promise-keeping God. Paul cannot put in any 
 stronger way his conception of the inviolable faithfulness and 
 sincerity of God. 
 
 21. Now. Here is the second step in his proof. It is the 
 assertion that God has identified Paul with Christ and has set 
 the seal of His approval upon that intimate and living relation, 
 in Christ. Stablisheth us with you in Christ. In Christ 
 is one of Paul's most used expressions. It defines one of his 
 most characteristic thoughts, the relation of intimacy, of identity, 
 which the follower of Christ has with his Lord. It is parallel 
 to Jesus' metaphor, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." Some- 
 thing like seventy-five times in Christ is found in Paul's letters. 
 Very gracefully he includes his readers in this relation to Christ. 
 They no less than he are in Christ. This relation to Christ is 
 not only intimate but it is sure, indissoluble. And it is God who 
 makes it so; He stablisheth it. And anointed us. The 
 stablishing is continual; it is always going on. But the anoint- 
 ing, the seal and the earnest were once for all. He was anointed 
 by the Spirit for service as Jesus was (Acts 10:38) ; he was sealed 
 by the Spirit as Jesus was (Mk. 1:10-11) ; and the Spirit in his 
 heart was given him as an earnest. 
 
 22. Sealed us. A seal guarantees genuineness and proclaims 
 ownership. After Jesus' baptism the Spirit descended upon Him 
 and a voice testified to the seal: 'Thou art my beloved Son," 
 
I .-23 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 23. But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that 
 
 24. to spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth. Not 
 
 The Spirit was the seal of his relationship to God. He was God's 
 Son. So Paul looks upon the Spirit as the seal that marked 
 him as God's and Christ's. The earnest of the Spirit. The 
 earnest is the part payment in a contract or bargain which is 
 the pledge that the whole will be paid in full. So it is both a 
 payment and a pledge. It is a word that is found three times 
 in Paul's letters (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:14) and nowhere 
 else in the New Testament; but it was a familiar word in the 
 business world, just as stahlish and seal were also business terms. 
 Paul thought of the gift of the Spirit in his heart as the first 
 installment of God's endless giving, and as the pledge and 
 guaranty that all God's promises would be fully kept. God has 
 made absolutely sure Paul's relation as Christ's own, by the 
 anointing, the seal, and the earnest of the Spirit. 
 
 4. Attested by the facts — The change of plan. 1:23 — 2:13. 
 
 a. Reasons (for the change), 
 (i) To spare them; vs. 23. 
 
 (a) Asseveration — I call God for a witness. 
 ib) Explantion (parenthetical) of the authority im- 
 plied in spare; vs. 24. 
 
 1. Neg. Not as lord of their faith. 
 
 2. Pos. But as partners in promoting their joy. 
 (2) To spare himself sorrow; 2:1, 2. 
 
 b. Nature (of the change) from a visit to a letter; vs. 3. 
 (i) Purpose: to save sorrow. 
 
 (2) Expected outcome: their joy equal to his. 
 
 (3) Character {i.e., kind of letter), heavy-hearted, tearful; 
 
 vs. 4. 
 
 (4) Reason (for such a letter) . 
 
 {a) Neg. Not to cause sorrow. 
 
 {b) Pos. But to show his exceeding love. 
 
 c. Result (of the change) which justifies it; the author of the 
 
 sorrow ("such a one," i.e., someone) ; vs. $. 
 (i) Has caused sorrow. 
 
 (a) Neg. Not to Paul only. 
 
 {b) Pos. But to them all. 
 (2) Has been punished enough; vs. 6. 
 
 {a) Consequence: forgiveness; encouragement; vs. 7. 
 
 \b) Reason: More might engulf him in sorrow. 
 
 196 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:1 
 
 that we have lordship over your faith, but are helpers 
 2. I. of your joy: for by ^ faith ye stand. ^ But I de- 
 
 ' Or, your faith. * Some ancient authorities read For. 
 
 (c) End (further result) : Public confirmation of love ; 
 vss. 8, 9. 
 (3) Has been forgiven by Paul; vs. 10. 
 
 {a) Condition: Provided they forgive too. 
 {b) Reason: For their sakes. 
 (c) Sphere: Christ's presence, 
 (cf) Purpose: To thwart Satan's plans; vs. 11. 
 d. Effect on Paul — a restless, heavy heart (owing to the de- 
 lay) ; vs. 13. 
 (i) Time: When he came to Troas; vs. 12. 
 
 (2) Severity: Could not enter an open door; vs. 13. 
 
 (3) Ground Titus' delay. 
 
 (4) Extent: Left the open door and went to meet Titus. 
 
 23. To spare you I forbare to come unto Corinth. Now, 
 
 Hsten to the facts, Paul says. If a man has good and sufficient 
 reasons for changing his plans he is not fickle. The facts of 
 the case bear witness to his sincerity. Instead of paying a visit 
 to Corinth, as the Corinthian church had expected him to do, he 
 sent a letter. Those who were disloyal in the church made this 
 the ground for harsh criticism of Paul. 
 
 There are two very simple and evident explanations of his 
 change of plans: namely, to spare them and to spare himself. 
 (In 13:2 he says, ij I come again I will not spare. This is one 
 of the important phrases in the evidence that chapters 10-13 
 are a part of the "lost letter.") 
 
 24. The abrupt change again from first person singular to first 
 person plural, and then back again in the following verse is to 
 be explained as one of Paul's mannerisms. It is impossible to 
 think that with each use of the plural he includes Timothy and 
 Silvanus, or others, with himself. Lordship over your faith. 
 This is much more conciliatory than the thirteenth chapter. Evi- 
 dently the word spare sounds to Paul, after he has said it, to 
 imply more of authority and lordship over his readers than he 
 intends. He hastens to qualify it. He wishes to exercise no 
 tyranny over their faith. It is sorrow and mortification he 
 would spare them, for he is specially interested in promoting 
 their joy. As to their faith, they now stand firmly on their own 
 feet. By faith ye stand is better rendered in your faith ye 
 stand. (This too seems in strong contrast with 13:5, "try your 
 own selves whether ye be in the faith.") 
 
 197 
 
212 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 termined this for myself, that I would not come 
 
 2. again to you with sorrow. For if I make you sorry, 
 who then is he that maketh me glad, but he that is 
 
 3. made sorry by me? And I wrote this very thing, 
 lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them 
 of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in 
 
 4. you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For out 
 
 2:1. There should of course be no paragraph or chapter di- 
 vision between the preceding verse and this. But is preferable 
 to the marginal reading for. This is his second reason for his 
 change of plans. And further would be better than but. Again 
 to you in sorrow. The simple and very evident meaning is 
 that he had made them one visit with sorrow, and deliberately 
 determined not to make another. The sorrow seems to be his 
 own. The for myself indicates this. There is no record else- 
 where of this visit to Corinth, but it is supposedly the second of 
 the three (13:1), when he writes, this is tJie third time I am 
 coming to you. 
 
 2. For. The explanation introduced by for is, in our English 
 version, a little incoherent. It is the incoherence of great emotion. 
 To his readers it was perfectly intelligible. They knew what he 
 had written in the previous letter. The explanation is of the 
 double paradox that to make them joyful he made them sorry, 
 and that making another sorry made Paul glad. He that is 
 made sorry. No definite person is referred to here. The per- 
 sonal reference begins at verse 5. His visit and his letter had 
 both caused sorrow to himself and to the church. But the sor- 
 row had resulted in repentance, and so, at last, in their joy and 
 in Paul's joy. The end had justified the means. 
 
 3. I wrote this very thing. This is a reference to a letter 
 written between i Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, which, in part, 
 may be found in 2 Cor. 10-13. In this letter he had written 
 this very thing, namely, that he had changed his plan from a visit 
 to a letter in order to spare them and himself the sorrow which 
 a visit would surely cause. It seemed to him better to write, 
 and he had told them why. Having confidence in you alL 
 Paul knew that at heart they and he were one, and that they 
 rejoiced in the same spiritual results which gave him joy. He 
 was confident that in the end they would be found mutually glad 
 because of the outcome of the trouble. His confidence had 
 proved to be well placed. 
 
 4. I wrote unto you with many tears. It had been no 
 
 198 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:5 
 
 of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto 
 you with many tears; not that ye should be made 
 sorry, but that ye might know the love which I have 
 more abundantly unto you. 
 
 But if any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sor- 
 row not to me, but in part (that I press not too 
 
 easy task to write them, even though that seemed easier and 
 better than to visit them. The letter cost Paul anguish of heart 
 and many tears. One of the difficulties in finding this letter 
 in chapters 10-13, is the difficulty of finding the tears in those 
 chapters. That they were written under great emotion, and even 
 anguish of heart is evident, but hardly tears. Possibly the tears 
 were in that part of the letter which is lost. The cost to Paul 
 bears witness that his purpose wa^ not to cause them sorrow, 
 but in the end to show how much he loved them. 
 
 5. If any hath caused sorrow. No name is mentioned, but 
 here is the person who was most responsible for the trouble. 
 Who or what he was there is no means of determining. He cer- 
 tainly was not the offender mentioned in i Cor. 5:1-8. His 
 offense was in part at least personal and directed toward Paul. 
 He seems to have defied and insulted the Apostle. It is pos- 
 sible that it began in a defiance of Timothy, Paul's messenger 
 (i Cor. 16:10; Acts 19:22) ; but there is no certain evidence that 
 Timothy actually made the proposed visit of i Cor. 16:10. Titus 
 has now returned from Corinth with the good news that Paul's 
 letter had proved a wise substitute for a visit. The offender 
 had been summarily punished by the majority in the church, 
 and the punishment had resulted in his penitence. There was 
 a possibility that the punishment might now go too far; that 
 even the majority might not know when to stop. And so Paul 
 urges his forgiveness by the church, announces that he himself 
 forgives him freely, and pleads that he be restored and en- 
 couraged. Not to me. Paul declines to consider it any longer 
 as a personal matter. The church has taken it into its own hands 
 and has made it its own. Paul is too big to cherish any personal 
 resentment. In part to you all — that is, to a part of you all, to 
 most of you. He adds, parenthetically, that I press not too 
 heavily. He would not add another straw to the burden of 
 punishment upon the offender, even by implying that every one 
 in the church was against him. It was only a part, but it was 
 the majority, as he states in the next verse. 
 
 199 
 
2:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 6. heavily) to you all. Sufficient to such a one is this 
 
 7. punishment which was inflicted by ^ the many; so 
 that contrariwise ye should - rather forgive him and 
 comfort him, lest by any means such a one should 
 
 8. be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow. Where- 
 fore I beseech you to confirm your love toward him. 
 
 9. For to this end also did I write, that I might know 
 the proof of you, ^ whether ye are obedient in all 
 
 ^ Gr., the more. - Some ancient authorities omit rather. 
 
 * Some ancient authorities read whereby. 
 
 6. To such a one. The offender, of course; but Paul tact- 
 fully and with real delicacy omits his name. By the many. 
 The margin suggests the more accurate reading, the more. It 
 was a majority who had taken his punishment in hand. Evi- 
 dently there was at least a small minority. But there is no 
 evidence that they had condoned the offender's insults, nor that 
 they were still opposed to Paul. Possibly they demanded a 
 severer punishment than that which the majority had fixed. 
 
 7. Ye should rather forgive' him. The rather should prob- 
 ably be omitted, as the margin suggests. He has been punished 
 enough; now forgive. And comfort. As in the introduction, 
 so here, encourage is a better word than comfort. It was not 
 petting that the offender needed, but encouragement to take up 
 his life again as a humble, penitent, forgiven christian man. 
 Overmuch sorrow. His penitence is genuine. It is possible 
 to push the punishment too far and overwhelm such a one with 
 sorrow. 
 
 8. Wherefore I beseech. The word rendered beseech here 
 is the word rendered comfort above. It would not be out of 
 place to do as Paul did and in our translation use the same 
 word for both. Wherefore I encourage you to confirm your love 
 toward him. The expressions of love to him ought to be as 
 public and as unmistakable as the expressions of disapproval and 
 condemnation. Confirm here signifies public ratification. The 
 same word is used in Gal. 3:15 of a covenant. 
 
 9. For to this end also did I write. Verse 9 is a paren- 
 thetical explanation. The for, as often with Paul, gives an ex- 
 planation of something implied but not expressed. In urging 
 that the offender from now on should be loved, not punished, 
 Paul implies that the object of his severe letter has been accom- 
 plished, for one of the objects of that letter was to test their 
 
 200 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:12 
 
 10. things. But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive 
 also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven 
 anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it in the 
 
 11. ^person of Christ; that no advantage may be 
 gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant 
 of his devices. 
 
 12. Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of 
 Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the 
 
 ^ Or, presence. 
 
 loyalty to himself and their willingness to follow his advice 
 {to obey) in everything. They have proved their loyalty and 
 obedience. Whether is to be preferred to the suggestion of the 
 margin, whereby. 
 
 10. I forgive also. This is the third effect or result of the 
 change from a visit to a letter. All three justify the change. 
 The church has been made sorry; the offender has been ade- 
 quately punished; Paul freely forgives him for their sakes. 
 The offense was in part at least personal. If the church will 
 forgive the offender, Paul will cherish no grievance. He makes 
 light of it {ij I have forgiven anything) but the evidence all 
 points to the fact that it was a most grievous insult. It took 
 a christian spirit to forgive it, and so he adds in the presence of 
 Christ (using the rendering of the margin) . Paul lived in the 
 presence of Christ; he practiced the presence of Christ. He felt 
 Christ's face turned toward him. His eye upon him. Remem- 
 bering Christ's forgiving spirit the christian of course forgives. 
 
 11. Satan — his devices. Paul seems to see Satan still skulk- 
 ing around this church trouble. He has been defeated in his 
 main purpose by the summary action of the church against the 
 offender. He is nevertheless plotting to get some advantage out 
 of it yet. An unforgiving spirit in Paul or in the church would 
 be greatly to Satan's advantage. With something of a playful 
 touch Paul serves notice on Satan that his devices are known; 
 he is watched. Full and frank forgiveness now thwarts Satan 
 once more. 
 
 12. When I came to Troas. Briefly Paul tells the effect 
 that this change from a visit to a letter had upon himself, owing 
 to the delay which was necessary in getting a reply to his 
 letter. He was so nervous and anxious that he could not enter 
 an open door of service when it swung wide to him in Troas. 
 
 For the gospel of Christ. After writing the letter Paul left 
 
 201 
 
2:i3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 13. Lord, I had no relief for my spirit, because I found 
 not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, 
 I went forth into Macedonia. 
 
 14. But thanks be unto God, which always leadeth 
 us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through 
 
 Ephesus and went north to Troas. It was primarily the business 
 of the gospel of Christ which took him there. During the 
 three years spent by Paul at Ephesus "all they which dwelt in 
 Asia heard the word of the Lord" (Acts 19:10). Many calls 
 to other cities must have come to him in such an extensive cam- 
 paign. This was one of them. He answered this the more 
 readily, however, because it led him toward Titus, who was re- 
 turning from Corinth by way of Macedonia and Troas. A door 
 was opened. A door of opportunity for gospel ministry in the 
 Lord. The figure of the opened door is found in i Cor. 16:9 and 
 Col. 4:3. It was not Paul's habit to turn from an open door. 
 That he did decline to enter this door is proof of the intensity 
 of his restlessness. 
 
 13. I had no relief for my spirit. He had hoped that Titus 
 might have speeded his return so that he should arrive in Troas 
 when Paul did. Because Titus did not come Paul had no heart 
 for his work. He turned away from the open door and crossed 
 to Macedonia, the sooner to meet Titus and get his message. 
 Somewhere in Macedonia, probably at Philippi, Paul and Titus 
 met. It is not till the seventh chapter (7:6) that the statement 
 of their meeting is made. An exclamation of thanksgiving, most 
 characteristic of Paul, interrupts his narrative and argument in 
 chapter 2 at this point, implying that in Macedonia his anxiety 
 was relieved by Titus' arrival, but in reality furnishing a pic- 
 turesque metaphor which is a digression, a conclusion, and a 
 transition to his next subject. 
 
 Conclusion: God's Triumphal Procession (a burst of thanks- 
 giving) ; 2:14-17. 
 
 a. Length: Continuous {always) ; vs. 14. 
 
 b. Captive: Paul. 
 
 c. Significance: Making known everywhere the knowledge of 
 
 Christ. 
 
 d. Incense: Offered by Christ to God; vs. 15. 
 
 e. Spectators: Those being saved; those perishing. 
 
 /. Effect: (on the spectators of the odor of the incense) ; 
 vs. 16. 
 
 202 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:15 
 
 15. us the savour of his knowledge in every place. For 
 we are a sweet savour of Christ unto God, in them 
 
 (i) On those being saved, an odor of life. 
 (2) On those perishing, an odor of death. 
 g. Meaning — (of metaphor) ; vs. 17. 
 
 (i) The honor of the captive — no one is equal to it. 
 (2) A testimony to his sincerity: 
 
 (a) No adulterator of God's Word; 
 
 lb) But one who speaks sincerely as in God's sight. 
 
 14. But thanks be unto God. This burst of thanksgiving is 
 very characteristic of Paul. He does not finish his story, telling 
 where and when he found Titus, but lets this ebullition of grati- 
 tude imply the meeting and its glad result. 
 
 It is a significant fact that in Paul's language the same word 
 is used for grace and for thanks. In English we speak of God's 
 grace, and of grace at table. Grace and gratitude are twin 
 sisters. God's gracious giving is grace; Paul's gracious receiving 
 is thanks. The words are identical. 
 
 God which (who) always leadeth us in triumph. A vivid 
 metaphor of an imperial triumphal procession. The returning 
 victorious general brought with him his captives to be led in 
 triumph in the great procession through the streets of Rome. 
 Incense was burned along the route and its fragrance filled the 
 air. Paul had never seen such a triumphal parade in Rome. He 
 may have seen similar processions elsewhere. But in the Roman 
 empire everyone knew what the triumphal procession was. Paul 
 does not carry out the figure with accuracy enough to make it 
 an allegory, but there is no mistaking his picture. It is God's 
 triumphal procession. Paul is his captive. Everywhere he is 
 led and exhibited as God's captive in Christ. All along the way 
 there rises a fragrance of incense. Christ is offering it to God. 
 It is the knowledge of Christ and of God which because of 
 Paul's captivity and through it is filling the world. Its odor 
 reaches all the spectators, and it has for them differing effects. 
 To those who are on the way of salvation it is a fragrance of 
 life, whose source is life, whose end is life. But to those who 
 are on the way to destruction it is a bad odor, an odor that seems 
 to have its source in death and to prophesy the end of death. 
 Paul glories in a captivity which brings such results. In Christ. 
 Not only Paul's liberty, honor, activity are in Christ, but his 
 captivity. All that he was or had or did he conceived of as in 
 that sphere in which Christ was dominant and regnant. So this 
 
 203 
 
2:i6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 1 6. that are being saved, and in them that are perishing; 
 to the one a savour from death unto death; to the 
 
 17. other a savour from life unto life. And who is suf- 
 ficient for these things? For we are not as the many, 
 ^corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, 
 
 ^ Or, making merchandise of the Word of God. 
 
 triumphal procession is in Christ. His knowledge, i.e., the 
 knowledge of Christ. The his might refer to God. But Paul's 
 thought is always that knowledge of God comes through knowl- 
 edge of Christ (see 4:6). 
 
 15. We are a sweet savor. Here as elsewhere the plurals 
 we and us must have their personal reference to Paul. Only in 
 a vague way do they embrace other apostles or Christian evan- 
 gelists. He is thinking of himself. Because he is the captive, 
 the chief exhibit in the triumph, he can be said to be the cause 
 of the incense of the knowledge of Christ filling the world; and 
 Christ is offering that incense to God. 
 
 16. To the one ... to the other. The spectators who 
 witness the procession are all those to whom Paul goes. He 
 divides them into two classes. See also 4:4. They are those 
 who are being saved, and those who are perishing. They are 
 on the way or at the entrance, facing the narrow gate or the 
 wide gate (Matt. 7:13). The appeal to them of the gospel in 
 the person of Paul confirms their direction and destination. The 
 triumphal procession proves to be the crisis of their lives. This 
 seems to be Paul's thought. And so, while rejoicing in his cap- 
 tivity, he magnifies the mission that it gives him. If his mis- 
 sion means so much to the world, then who is sufficient for 
 these things. The expected answer is not no one is sufficient, 
 but we are sufficient; no one is sufficient in himself, but we are 
 sufficient in Christ. 
 
 17. For gives the explanation of the implied answer to his 
 question; we are sufficient, for we are not as the many. The 
 many, a reference to the troublesome propagandists at Corinth, 
 were peddlers, hucksters of the Word of God, retailing it for 
 pay. As such peddlers were apt to adulterate their wares the 
 word is translated corrupting. The marginal reading is prefer- 
 able. No huckster could be sufficient for such a mission as Paul's. 
 As of sincerity. He closes, as he began, with sincerity (1:12). 
 He multiplies descriptive words: We are sufficient for these 
 things only because we speak out of absolute sincerity; we speak 
 as those whose message has its source in God — as of God; we 
 
 204 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 2:17 
 
 but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in 
 Christ. 
 
 speak as those who stand always in the sight of God; we speak 
 as those who are in Christ. 
 
 In this way, with striking emphasis and vivid imagery, he 
 closes his argument about his sincerity and leads to the larger 
 subject of his ministry. 
 
 205 
 
3:i 
 
 II. Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant; 
 3:1—6:10 
 
 Introduction: His Letters of Introdtcction ; 3:1-3 
 
 3. I. Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? 
 or need we, as do some, epistles of commendation to 
 
 Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant 
 
 Introduction: Paul's Letters of Introduction; 3:1-3. 
 
 a. Not ordinary credentials; vs. i. 
 
 (i) Neither written by Paul himself. 
 (2) Nor by others, to or from Corinth. 
 
 b. But those of heart and life; vs. 2. 
 
 (i) His letters to the Church at Corinth, 
 (a) Nature: written on Paul's heart. 
 {h) Legibility: known and read by all men. 
 (2) His letters from the Church at Corinth; vs. 3. 
 (a) Author: Christ. 
 (6) Amanuensis: Paul, 
 (c) Instrument of vi^riting: 
 
 (i) Neg. Not pen and ink. 
 
 (2) Pos. The spirit of the living God. 
 ((f) Tablets: 
 
 (i) Neg. Not stone. 
 
 (2) Pos Human hearts. 
 
 It is impossible for Paul, when he stops to think of the mag- 
 nitude and importance of the mission that God has entrusted 
 to him, to refrain from expressions of wonder and praise and 
 thanksgiving. These give an opening to those not in sympathy 
 with him for accusations of boastfulness. They say he writes 
 his own credentials. He is very sensitive to the charge and par- 
 ries their thrust whenever he feels that he may seem to have 
 given occasion for it. Even to imply that he is sufficient for these 
 things gives another occasion, and besides that he is going on 
 to talk about himself and his ministry, and so he prefaces his 
 next subject with these very tactful words about letters of in- 
 troduction. 
 
 Peddlers, who make merchandise of the Word of God, may 
 
 206 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 3'-3 
 
 2. you or from you? Ye are our epistle, written in our 
 
 3. hearts, known and read of all men; being made mani- 
 fest that ye are an epistle of Christ, ministered by 
 us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the 
 living God; not in tables of stone, but in tables 
 that are hearts of flesh. 
 
 need letters to the Church at Corinth or, when they leave, let- 
 ters from them. Paul has such letters, he says, and they are 
 always in evidence. His letters to them are written on his heart. 
 Anyone can see that Corinth is written there. He comes to them 
 with his heart open to them to read his love for them. He has 
 also letters jrom them. Christ wrote the letters, using Paul as 
 his amanuensis. They are the hearts, the spirit-touched lives 
 of the members of the church. Away from Corinth, if any one 
 asks him for his credentials he refers him to the affectionate 
 hearts and devoted lives of the Corinthians, saying, these are 
 my letters of introduction. 
 
 3:1 Are we beginning again. Paul has suffered under the 
 taunt that he wrote his own letters of commendation. He fore- 
 stalls another such insult by the graceful metaphor that follows. 
 
 As do some. It is not necessary to find in the some the 
 many of 2:17, or the false teachers or Judaizers who are the chief 
 opponents of Paul at Corinth. It may be that he has in mind 
 a special group who came to Corinth with letters and who, when 
 they left, asked for letters. It was a usual custom then as now 
 to carry letters of introduction, and this may be merely a state- 
 ment of a general fact. To you or from you. Two kinds of 
 letters are mentioned here, and it is much simpler in the figure 
 which follows to think that Paul still has the two kinds of letters 
 in mind, than to think that he mixes his metaphor or bungles his 
 figure. He too has letters to them and jrom them. 
 
 2. Ye are our epistle. This is his letter to them. It is per- 
 fectly legible. Any one can read that Corinth is written on his 
 heart. With this letter he comes to them. 
 
 3. Ye are an epistle of Christ. This is his letter jrom them. 
 If any one asks him for his letter from Corinth he points to the 
 church and its devoted members, their hearts written upon by 
 the Spirit of Christ under Paul as amanuensis. He needs no other 
 letter of commendation than that. Here, as often in this letter, 
 Paul parries a thrust or answers an insult with a most gracious, 
 delicate and tactful compliment. 
 
 207 
 
3:4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 I. The Character of the Ministry; 3:4-18 
 
 4. And such confidence have we through Christ to 
 
 5. Godward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to 
 
 I. The Character of Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant; 
 3:4-18. 
 
 a. Its sufficiency has its source; vs. 4. 
 (i) Neg. Not in himself; vs. 5. 
 (2) Pos. But in God, who (vs. 6): 
 
 (a) Is the author of all his sufficiency; 
 {b) Has made him sufficient as minister of a new 
 covenant, 
 (i) Neg. Not of the letter (law, death). 
 (2) Pos. But of the spirit (promise, life). 
 h. Its glory far surpasses that of the old; vs. 7. 
 Proof: The comparative glory of each, 
 (i) The glory of the old ministry is: 
 
 (a) Characterized by death, letter, stones, condem- 
 nation. 
 (&) Dazzling: children of Israel could not look at 
 
 Moses' face, 
 (c) But fading, transient; vs. 11. 
 {d) Not glorious at all by comparison; vs. 10. 
 (e) A means. 
 (2) TTie glory of the new ministry is (vs. 8) : 
 
 (a) Characterized by life, spirit, righteousness; vs. 9. 
 ib) Much more brilliant, 
 (c) Abiding; vs. 11. 
 id) Excelling in glory; vs. 9. 
 (e) An end, a sphere; vs. 11. 
 c. Its freedom and confidence surpass the old; vs. 12, 
 Proof: The comparative freedom of each. 
 (i) The old, lacking in confidence (vs. 13): 
 
 (a) Illustrated by Moses veiling his face. 
 
 [b) Illustrated by the Synagogue reading; vs. 14. 
 (2) The new, a spirit of great boldness, liberty; vss. 
 
 12, 17. 
 (o) Ground, the veil is taken away; vs. 16. 
 (6) Illustrated, an unveiled look at the glory of 
 God; vs. 18. 
 
 208 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 3:6 
 
 account anything as from ourselves; but our suffi- 
 6. ciency is from God; who also made us sufficient as 
 
 (i) Manner, looking at the Lord, who mirrors 
 
 God's glory. 
 (2) Results, gradual transformation into the 
 
 same image. 
 
 Paul has much to say to the church at Corinth about his 
 ministry. The subject, begun with this chapter, continues, in- 
 cluding some natural digressions, to 6:10. What he says first 
 about his ministry has to do with its character; with the source 
 from which it derives its power, and with the splendor which 
 marks it as a ministry of the new dispensation in contrast with 
 the old. The emphasis on this contrast between the new and 
 the old is doubtless due to the fact that Judaizers, who magni- 
 fied the old covenant and sought to minimize Paul and his min- 
 istry of the new, had done much effective proselytizing in Corinth. 
 
 Ministry is suggested in verse 3. The letter written by Christ 
 on the hearts of the Corinthians was ministered by us. Christ 
 had used Paul's ministry to write it. Thus he introduces the sub- 
 ject on which he has so much to say. 
 
 4. Such confidence — confidence that he needs no letters be- 
 cause his work speaks for itself. But it is a confidence that is 
 not grounded in his own ability, but in his use by Christ as an 
 amanuensis. So his confidence is not through self-appreciation 
 but through Christ. It is also to God-ward. The idea is not 
 that his confidence is in God, but that it is in himself and his 
 ministry because he is always looking toward God, is always 
 face to face with God, and feels sure of God's direction and 
 approval. 
 
 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves. This is the 
 sufficient of 2:16, taken up again. It shows that the answer to 
 his question there was. We are sufficient. Here he explains his 
 sufficiency as God's captive making Christ known to the world. 
 It is grounded in no sense in himself, but only in God who uses 
 him. 
 
 6. Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new 
 covenant. The also turns from the these things of the trium- 
 phal procession to the notable and unique mission of Paul, 
 minister of a new covenant. For this great and responsible 
 calling also God makes him sufficient. New covenant introduces 
 the contrast with the old covenant. The emphasis is on new. 
 It is new not merely in the sense of more recent, but in the 
 
 209 
 
3:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 sense of fresher and better than an outworn old. For the word 
 covenant the margin suggests the alternative testament. Covenant 
 is the better word, but neither is adequate to the meaning. 
 Covenant is an Old Testament word used repeatedly for that close 
 relationship which God entered into with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, 
 Jacob, Moses, but especially with Abraham (Gen. 6:i8; 15:18; 
 17:2; 17:21; Lev. 26:42; Deut. 5:2). It was an arrangement by 
 which God promised great blessings conditioned only on obedi- 
 ence. In the literal sense it was not a covenant form of agree- 
 ment between equals. It was a conditional promise. It was a 
 divine arrangement. 
 
 The word rendered in the Old Testament covenant came be- 
 tween the Old Testament and New Testament periods to have 
 enlarged meanings of special application. One of them, in the 
 Greek world, was will or testament, where it defined that ar- 
 rangement or provision which a man made for his children and 
 for the honor and continuity of his family. It differed in many 
 ways from a modern will. In this sense it was in common use 
 when Paul wrote. Something of this later meaning is in Paul's 
 mind when he uses covenant (Gal. 3:15, 17), but its Old Testa- 
 ment significance predominates. 
 
 The covenant with Abraham was God's arrangement by which 
 Abraham and his descendants were to receive promised blessings 
 conditioned on their obedience. It was confirmed to Moses and 
 the children of Israel. The tables of stone contained the law of 
 the covenant (Ex. 34:28). The ark of the covenant held the 
 tables of stone (Ex. 40:20; Deut. 31:25-26). That was the old 
 arrangement or dispensation. With this Paul contrasts what he 
 calls the new covenant of which he was a minister. God's gra- 
 cious promises are still the covenant. But in the new covenant 
 Gentiles as well as Jews are included, and Christ takes the place 
 of the old Law. 
 
 It is often helpful to try substituting for covenant one of the 
 other words, arrangement, dispensation, disposition, or even 
 promise. But no word is quite adequate to the concept. 
 
 Paul's contrast is not between the two covenants or dispensa- 
 tions, but between the ministry of the two covenants. Moses is 
 the representative minister of the old, Paul of the new. He does 
 not contrast himself with Moses to the disparagement of the 
 latter as a person, but only in their representative capacities as 
 ministers. 
 
 Not of the letter but of the spirit. In the epistle to the 
 Romans (2:29; 7:6) Paul later amplifies this contrast. Letter 
 is the written Law of Moses with all its old authority. Paul 
 knew from experience how it killed hope and faith and love 
 
 210 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 3 7 
 
 ministers of a new ^ covenant; not of the letter, but of 
 the spirit; for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth 
 7. life. But if the ministration of death, ^ written, and 
 engraven on stones, came ^ with glory, so that the chil- 
 dren of Israel could not look stedfastly upon the face 
 of Moses for the glory of his face; which glory * was 
 
 ^ Or, testament. ^ Gr., in letters. ^ Gr., in. 
 
 * Or, was being done away. 
 
 (Rom., ch. 7). Spirit is the authority and power of Christ in 
 the new covenant, which inspires and makes alive. 
 
 7. The ministration of death. That is the ministry of the 
 old covenant — Moses' ministry. If it kills, it is not too strong 
 language to call it the ministration of death. It is better to read 
 ministry for ministration, as in 4:1. With glory. Here begins 
 the comparison of glories, the glory of the ministry of the old 
 covenant with that of the new. Glory is one of Paul's most 
 characteristic words. It is found everywhere in his writings. 
 Reading Paul's epistles one is fairly sailing on a sea of glory. 
 The word is found eighteen times in the first eight chapters of 
 this letter. It is the best field of all Paul's letters for a study 
 of the word 
 
 {Glory is of course entirely unconnected in origin or meaning 
 with the glorying of 1:12, 14; or the verb glory found fourteen 
 times in chapters 10-12. It is a pity that our translators could 
 not have found unrelated English equivalents for these two out- 
 standing words in the two sections of the letter.) 
 
 As in English, so with Paul, glory has two meanings. The one 
 is praise, honor, fame; the other is splendor. In 1:20, unto the 
 glory of God, it is the former — God's honor. Here in verse 7 it 
 is the latter. It is a splendor like that of a sunset or a sunrise, 
 only it is figurative and Paul applies it to a ministry, to a man, 
 to Christ, to God. The splendor of God is all the goodness and 
 greatness which Paul knows as God's attributes. It is therefore 
 God's character, and often character, or splendid character would 
 be a satisfactory substitute for glory when appUed to God or 
 Christ or a man or a ministry. The glory of his face. In the 
 case of Moses the glory of God wj.3 reflected in his face when 
 he descended from the mount (Ex. 34:29-35). Paul uses this 
 as a figurative description of the glory of Moses' ministry. So 
 dazzling was the glory in Moses' face when he came from God's 
 presence that Aaron and the people were afraid to come near 
 him (Ex. 34:30). Paul says they coidd not look stedfastly upon 
 
 211 
 
3:8 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 8. passing away: how shall not rather the ministration 
 
 9. of the spirit be with glory? ^ For if the ministration 
 of condemnation is glory, much rather doth the min- 
 
 10. istration of righteousness exceed in glory. For verily 
 that which hath been made glorious hath not been 
 made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory 
 
 11. that surpasseth. For if that which ^ passe th away 
 was ^ with glory, much more that which remaineth 
 is in glory. 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read, For if to the ministration of con- 
 demnation there is glory. ^ Or, is being done away. ^ Gr,, through. 
 
 the face of Moses. But that glory faded. Moses veiled his face 
 after speaking with the people until he again entered the pres- 
 ence of God (Ex. 34:33-35). Paul says the veil was to hide the 
 fact that the glory faded, or to prevent the fading from being 
 seen (13). It was, nevertheless, while it lasted, a dazzling splen- 
 dor, but it was transient. So it symboUzed the splendor of 
 Moses' ministration. 
 
 8. The outline seeks to bring out the comparisons in these 
 verses. Splendid as was the ministration of death, that of the 
 spirit must of necessity be more splendid. 
 
 9. Ministration of condemnation — another characterization 
 of the old covenant. Its law of condemnation led to death. But 
 the righteousness through Christ led to life. So the new is called 
 the ministration of righteousness. 
 
 10. By reason of the glory that surpasseth. When the 
 sun rises the candle light that served to pierce the darkness and 
 seemed bright then, now casts a shadow in the sunshine. So 
 much more glorious is the ministration of the new that the old 
 seems to have had no glory at all. It casts a shadow in the light 
 of the new. 
 
 11. Much more that which remaineth. The ministry of 
 Moses and the law was temporary, like the reflected glory in 
 Moses' face. But the new covenant and its ministry is forever. 
 A continuing glory outshines a passing glory. 
 
 12. Here begins the third feature of Paul's ministry: its free- 
 dom and confidence surpass those of the old. This too, is a com- 
 parison and a contrast. Having therefore such a hope. Paul 
 has not previously spoken of any hope. It has been absolute 
 assurance. His hope is nothing uncertain, but a confident expec- 
 tation that the splendor of the ministry of the new covenant is 
 
 212 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS S'-M 
 
 12. Having therefore such a hope, we use great bold- 
 
 13. ness of speech, and are not as Moses, who put a 
 veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should 
 not look stedfastly ^ on the end of that which - was 
 
 14. passing away: but their ^ minds were hardened: for 
 until this very day at the reading of the old "* cove- 
 nant the same veil ^ remaineth unlifted; which veil 
 
 ' Or, unto. ^ Or, was being done away. * Gr., thoughts. * Or, testament. 
 * Or, remaineth, it not being revealed that it is done away. 
 
 an abiding glory. We use great boldness of speech. Paul 
 confesses to his boldness. He is unafraid and unashamed. It is 
 his certainty about his ministry and its surpassing splendor which 
 makes him so. It is an evident defense of his outspoken message 
 and his assumption of authority against his opponents, the Ju- 
 daizers, in Corinth. 
 
 13. Not as Moses. He takes up again the figure. It is not 
 that Moses was meek, lacking in boldness, but that it was nec- 
 essary for him to place a veil between himself and his people. 
 He reflected God's glory in his face, but he could not come with 
 that glory directly to the children of Israel. They could not 
 endure it. On the end of that which was passing away. 
 That is, should not watch the fading glory fade, till it vanished 
 and the end of the glory came. It is figurative of course. How 
 could Moses be bold if he knew that the people were watching 
 the gradual disappearance of the evidence that he had been face 
 to face with God. 
 
 14. But their minds were hardened. Dulled, or blunted is 
 better than hardened. Paul carries the figure from Moses and 
 the children of Israel over into the present, including all the 
 past history, and says that this veil between the glory of God in 
 Moses' face and the Jews has always remained. When Moses, 
 i.e., the Law, is read, even to-day, the veil is still there. Now it 
 is on the readers' hearts. But it is still there. At the reading 
 of the old covenant. Only here in the New Testament is old 
 covenant found. The marginal reading makes it Old Testament, 
 which phrase has come down through the ages for our use as the 
 title of the Jewish Scriptures. Paul may have originated it. 
 Which veil is done away in Christ. There is no veil on 
 Christ's face, and nothing between him and his people, and he, 
 too, reflects the glory of God. Therefore all who are in Christ, 
 in the realm in which Christ is supreme, see with unveiled faces. 
 
 213 
 
3:15 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 15. is done away in Christ. But unto this day, whenso- 
 
 16. ever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. But 
 whensoever ^ it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is 
 
 17. taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where 
 
 18. the Spirit of the Lord is, ^/?ere is liberty. But we all, 
 
 ^ Or, a man shall turn. 
 
 Paul changes the figure insofar as to put Christ, from this point 
 on, in Moses' place. 
 
 15, 16. The thought is repeated in slightly different form. 
 Whensoever it shall turn to the Lord. The it of course re- 
 fers to their heart. The marginal reading, whensoever a man shall 
 turn to the Lord, is simpler. In Ex. 34:34 the story of Moses and 
 the veil closes with the words: "But when Moses went in before 
 the Lord ... he took the veil off. . . ." The phrase is so 
 similar to this that it is probable Paul is quoting loosely from 
 the story. If so, it is possible that the passage should read, as 
 a quotation, whensoever he (Moses) shall turn to the Lord, the 
 veil is taken away. The Lord is here, however, Christ. Paul 
 remembers his own experience at Damascus (Acts 22:13). When 
 a man turns to Christ the veil that kept him from seeing God's 
 glory in the face of Moses is taken away. In 4:6 he speaks of 
 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There is no veil 
 there. 
 
 17. This verse is parenthetical but important. It has been 
 interpreted in various ways. Probably there is no specific refer- 
 ence to the Holy Spirit. It would be better not to print spirit 
 with a capital. Where spirit is last mentioned (vss. 6, 8) it is 
 in contrast with letter. So here: a man turns from Moses to the 
 Lord; he turns from the letter to the spirit. And so Paul adds: 
 Now the Lord (Christ, to whom he turns) is the spirit (of which 
 I spoke above) : and where the spirit of the Lord (the Christ 
 spirit, as opposed to the Moses letter) is, there is liberty. It is 
 one of Paul's favorite figures of speech that the bondage of the 
 law is exchanged for the freedom of Christ (Gal. 5:1; Rom. 8:2 
 and often). This is the ground of the liberty or boldness of 
 which he spoke in verse 12. A ministry of the spirit is of course 
 a ministry of liberty and confidence. 
 
 18. We all with unveiled face. Often Paul's most trans- 
 cendent thoughts are found in a place very subordinate in the 
 outline of his subject. This is one of his master thoughts. The 
 all shows that he is now speaking not only of himself. He is 
 putting himself with all Christians in contrast to the children of 
 
 214 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4:2 
 
 with unveiled face ^ reflecting as a mirror the glory 
 of the Lord, are transformed into the same image 
 from glory to glory, even as from ^ the Lord the 
 Spirit. 
 
 2. The Conduct of the Ministry; 4:1-6 
 
 4. I. Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as 
 2. we obtained mercy, we faint not: but we have re- 
 nounced the hidden things of shame, not walking 
 in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceit- 
 
 ^ Or, beholding as in a mirror. 
 
 * Or, the Spirit which is the Lord. 
 
 Israel — or the Jews. For us there is no veil. It is taken away 
 in Christ. 
 
 Reflecting as a mirror. The marginal reading is more ac- 
 curate and better. It carries out the changed figure. If the 
 figure had been consistent from the beginning the text-reading 
 would be preferable. The contrast is now not between Paul and 
 Moses as ministers of two covenants, but between Christ and 
 Moses as reflecting the glory of God. So Paul says, The splen- 
 dor of the character of God is reflected in Christ as in a mirror. 
 When we look at Christ there is no veil; we are looking at the 
 mirrored glory of God. Living in that glory we are gradually 
 transformed into the same image, Godlikeness, Christlikeness. 
 Christ is a mirror. In Him we see the splendor of God's char- 
 acter. Our gradual transformation follows. The glory of the 
 Lord, i.e., the glory of Christ; but because he is a mirror it is 
 the reflected glory of God. This is one of Paul's glory passages 
 in which to substitute for glory, splendor of character, helps the 
 interpretation. From glory to glory. There is no fading 
 glory here. It is a process of transformation. There are always 
 heights of character still to be gained. There is never a time 
 when we all have not come short of the glory of God. 
 
 Even as from the Lord the spirit; i.e., as is inevitable 
 when the glory comes from the Lord the spirit. The text-reading 
 is to be preferred to the marginal suggestion. Paul is simply 
 laying the emphasis again on the Lord (Christ) the spirit as 
 contrasted with Moses the letter. From Moses the letter it was 
 a decreasing not an increasing glory. 
 
 215 
 
4:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. The Conduct of Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant; 
 4:1-6. 
 
 a. Its persistence — he faints not; vs. i. 
 
 (i) Incentive: his freedom and confidence (therefore). 
 (2) Incentive: the mercy involved in God's choice of 
 him. 
 
 b. Its frankness, — repudiation of all secret methods of 
 
 which one ought to be ashamed; vs. 2. 
 (i) Manner, Neg. 
 
 (a) No practice of cunning. 
 
 (b) No tricks (corruption) of God's Word. 
 
 (2) Manner, Pos. commending himself to every man's 
 conscience, 
 (a) Means: throwing light on the truth. 
 ib) Check: in the sight of God. 
 
 c. Its apparent failure {i.e., obscurity, veiling) ; vs. 3. 
 
 (i) Condition: Provided it has failed of illumination. 
 (2) Explanation: Its failure is in his hearers who are 
 being lost; vs. 4. 
 (a) Their unfortunate state — blind men. 
 (i) Figure: Blind in their minds. 
 
 (2) Agent: The God of this age. 
 
 (3) Effect: Unbelief. 
 
 (4) Result: The "illumination" does not light 
 
 up. 
 (6) Proof: (that they must be mentally blind), 
 (i) Paul has preached not self but Christ; vs. 5. 
 
 (2) Christ became Paul's illumination, giving 
 
 the light of the knowledge of the glory 
 of God; vs. 6. 
 
 (3) Therefore: if the illumination does not 
 
 light up it must be the fault of blinded 
 minds, not of the illumination. 
 
 4:1. Therefore. Because of the liberty and confidence he has 
 as a minister of the new covenant. 
 
 This next short paragraph of the letter tells of the conduct of 
 Paul's ministry. It says three things about it: It is persistent; 
 it is open and frank; its apparent failure is a failure only with 
 blinded minds. 
 
 This ministry. Paul uses the same word here that he uses 
 in 3:7, 8, 9. It is rendered in those verses ministration. Uni- 
 formity would render them all by the word ministry, as here. 
 He is on the same subject as in the precedmg chapter; it is his 
 ministry of the new covenant. 
 
 216 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4:3 
 
 fully; but by the manifestation of the truth com- 
 mending ourselves to every man's conscience in the 
 3. sight of God. But and if our gospel is veiled, it is 
 
 Even as we obtained mercy. Paul thought of his own con- 
 version and of his choice for special ministry as being specific 
 acts of God's mercy (i Cor. 7:25; see also, i Tim. 1:13, 16). 
 With Paul mercy is the outreaching of God's heart to help in 
 the presence of the sin or the misery or the need of His chil- 
 dren. It is compassion. In God's mercy to him Paul sees both a 
 reason for great humility and an incentive to courage and per- 
 sistence. In view of it he faints not; does not lose courage; 
 does not flag in his zeal. 
 
 2. In the background of Paul's thought are two things: the 
 accusations of fickleness or untrustworthiness made against him- 
 self; and the false methods and untruthfulness of the Judaizers. 
 Both are responsible for this verse, but it is difficult to separate 
 the two influences. 
 
 He makes a negative and a positive statement of the open- 
 ne?s and frankness of the conduct of his ministry. 
 
 Renounced the hidden things of shame. He has repudi- 
 ated all secret or tricky methods of which a man ought to be 
 ashamed. He specifies two ways in which such methods find 
 expression: not walking in craftiness. Craftiness is the word 
 used of those who attempted to catch Jesus in His words (Lk. 
 20:23). Jesus perceived their craftiness. It is the opposite of 
 straightforwardness. Walking is applied to his whole life, in- 
 cluding his speech. That is the first way. The second has to do 
 with his interpretation of God's Word: Nor handling the Word 
 of God deceitfully. One of the remarkable things about Paul's 
 use of Scripture is that he is so free from the methods of the 
 scribes in whose school he was trained. Only here and there do 
 we find any evidence of that training. There is no juggling with 
 words and meanings. Here he says that it is one of his prin- 
 ciples of ministry to be fair in his methods of interpretation of 
 Scripture. (This is a specially appropriate verse for Bible 
 teachers.) Having put his principles twice in the negative form, 
 he puts them third in the positive, and says that he tries to 
 commend his interpretation of the truth to every kind of con- 
 science, as if always in the presence of God. Every man's 
 conscience is literally every conscience of mankind. 
 
 3. Verses 3 to 6 speak of the apparent failure, at times, of 
 his ministry. If it ever is veiled, like Moses' ministry, it is the 
 fault not of the ministry nor of the gospel. There is no veil over 
 
 217 
 
4:4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 4. veiled in them that are perishing: in whom the god 
 of this ^ world hath blinded the ^ minds of the un- 
 believing, ^ that the * light of the gospel of the glory 
 of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn 
 
 5. up07i them. For we preach not ourselves, but 
 
 1 Or, age. 2 Qj-^ thoughts. 
 
 3 Or, that they should not see the light- . . . image of God. 
 
 * Gr., illumination. 
 
 that. Its glory is undimmed. The fault Ues in the blindness of 
 those on whom the glory shines. 
 
 If our gospel is veiled. Paul's ministry did have its fail- 
 ures. The light was so brilliant and beautiful to him that he 
 found it difficult to understand why it was not the same to 
 every one. But there were some who did not see. 
 
 In them that are perishing. It is the same phrase that 
 was used in 2:15 of the spectators of the triumphal procession. 
 They are the unbelieving. 
 
 4. The God of this age. Age is better than world, though the 
 meaning is not different. Only here in the New Testament is 
 this phrase found — the God of this age. But the prince of this 
 world is found in Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11. The reference is to 
 Satan. Paul uses age more frequently than world in referring to 
 the realm of evil over which Satan has authority. Once (Eph. 
 2:2) he uses the two words together. Age has in it the time 
 element, which is not so prominent in world. Satan has made 
 the minds of the unbelieving blind, and they cannot see. That 
 the light of the gospel . . . should not dawn. The alterna- 
 tive reading is better: that they should not see the illumination. 
 Upon Paul on the road to Damascus God "turned on the light." 
 Paul thought of it as a brilliant illumination. It was like turning 
 on the electric illumination at a great exposition. Paul's min- 
 istry consisted after that in turning on the illumination for 
 others. He calls it the illumination of the good news {gospel) 
 of the glory of Christ wlw is the image of God. It is very much 
 the same thought as in 3:18. The splendor of the character of 
 Christ, which is the reflected splendor of God, is the illumina- 
 tion. In his gospel ministry Paul simply tries to turn on that 
 light. If there are any who cannot see it, it is because they are 
 blind. 
 
 5. For we preach not ourselves. The for gives the proof 
 that they must be blind. If he had preached himself there would 
 have been no illumination. But his whole message had been and 
 is Christ Jesus as Lord. He has been accused of preaching 
 
 218 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 47 
 
 Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your ^ servants 
 
 6. 2 for Jesus' sake. Seeing it is God, that said. Light 
 shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, 
 to give the ^ light of the knowledge of the glory of 
 God in the face of Jesus Christ. 
 
 3. The Limitations of the Ministry; 4:7 — 5:12 
 
 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that 
 the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, 
 
 ^ Gr., bondservants. 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities read through Jesus. ' Gr., illumination. 
 
 himself, because he claimed so much for his ministry. He does 
 preach himself to this extent, he is their slave for Jesus' sake. 
 Servant and bondservant are euphemisms of translation. Slave is 
 the word Paul uses. 
 
 6. Seeing it is God. A further explanation or proof that only 
 blindness can fail to see the illumination. It is a further and 
 more specific reference to his personal experience on the road 
 to Damascus (Acts 9:3; 22:6; 26:13). Till that time he had not 
 seen the light. But the same God who, at the creation, said, 
 Let there he light, lighted up Paul's life; and in the face of Jesus 
 Christ (as in a mirror, 3:18) he saw the illumination of the 
 splendor of the character of God. It is always God who says, 
 let there be light. It is God, through Paul, who, when Christ is 
 preached, turns on the illumination of his own glory. 
 
 Light shall shine out of darkness — a paraphrase of Genesis 
 1:3, Let there be light. 
 
 Who shined in our hearts. Paul's continual use of the 
 plural must not obscure his very personal references. First his 
 own heart received the illumination, and now it is his ministry 
 to be God's agent in bringing the illumination to other hearts. 
 
 In the face of Jesus Christ. The contrast between the 
 veiled face of Moses and the unveiled face of Christ is still in 
 Paul's mind. In Christ's face he sees the splendor of God's 
 character. 
 
 3. The Limitations of Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant 
 because of his Body; 4:7 — 5:12. 
 a. The Nature: A cheap and fragile jar; vs. 7. 
 
 Reason: That there may be no mistake about the 
 source of power. 
 
 219 
 
4:7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 b. The all but unbearable trouble it brings; vs. 8. 
 
 (i) Frequency: Continual. 
 
 (2) Characteristics: (Figure changes to contest; war 
 or games.) 
 
 (a) Hard pressed — but not crushed. 
 
 (b) At a loss — but not utterly at a loss. 
 
 (c) Pursued — but not abandoned in the flight; vs. 9. 
 
 (d) Struck down — but not killed. 
 
 c. The continuous burden it imposes; vs. 10. 
 
 (i) Nature: Like carrying about the daily killing of 
 Jesus. 
 
 (2) Explanation: Always handed over to death for 
 
 Jesus' sake; vs. 11. 
 
 (3) Purpose: To make known Jesus' life. 
 
 (4) Motive for enduring: Jesus' sake. 
 
 (5) Result (immediate) life in them; death in himself; 
 
 vs. 12. 
 
 (6) Inspiration: Hope of a resurrection. 
 
 (a) Ground: The Psalmist's spirit of faith; vs. 13. 
 
 (b) Assurance: Jesus' resurrection; vs. 14. 
 
 (c) Satisfaction: Presentation with you. 
 
 (7) Motive (a second) for enduring: The good of the 
 
 Corinthians. 
 
 (a) End: Thanksgiving abounding; vs. 15. 
 
 (b) Effect: Encouragement of Paul; vs. 16. 
 
 (8) Result (progressive and final) : An eternal weight 
 
 of glory; vs. 17. 
 
 (a) Process: Renewal of inner man through decay 
 
 of outer. 
 
 (b) Condition: Fixed attention; vs. 18. 
 
 (i) Neg. Not on the things that are seen. 
 (2) Pos. But on the unseen. 
 
 Reason: One is temporal, the other 
 eternal. 
 
 d. The change of bodies which it necessitates; vs. i. 
 (i) The character of the change. 
 
 (a) From a tent on earth to an edifice in heaven. 
 
 (b) From temporal to eternal. 
 
 (2) The natural attitude toward the change: frequent 
 sighing; vs. 2. 
 (a) Reason: The desire to put the heavenly on over 
 {i.e., to be changed at Christ's coming) . 
 Condition: Provided that we are to be 
 found clothed, not naked; vs. 3. 
 
 220 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4:8 
 
 8. and not from ourselves; we are pressed on every side, 
 yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair; 
 
 {b) Reason: The depression that the dread of dying 
 brings; vs. 4. 
 
 (3) God's attitude toward the change: It is best; vs. 5. 
 (a) Reason: He fashioned us with this in view. 
 (6) Guarantee: He gave the Spirit as earnest. 
 
 (4) The consequent attitude of Paul toward the change 
 
 and toward life in view of it; vs. 6. 
 (a) He tries to keep up courage always; vss. 7, 8. 
 Ground: Knowing that: 
 (i) At home in the body is absence from the 
 
 Lord. 
 (2) To be with the Lord is preferable. 
 (6) He tries to be ambitious to do what is pleas- 
 ing to Christ; vs. 9. 
 (i) Incentive: The judgment seat of Christ; 
 
 vs. 10. 
 (2) Result in Paul's ministry: 
 
 (a) Continued attempt to persuade men; 
 
 vs. II. 
 
 (i) Encouragement: God sees clearly. 
 (2) Confidence: Others see clearly too. 
 (6) Continued offer to them (vs. 12): 
 
 (i) Neg. Not self -written credentials. 
 (2) Pos. But resources for glorying. 
 
 7. Beginning with verse 7 Paul speaks of the limitations laid 
 upon his ministry because of his physical body, which he calls 
 an earthen vessel. After speaking of the nature of the body, and 
 the troubles which it undergoes, and the continuous burden which 
 it imposes upon himself and his ministry, he indulges in a natural 
 and ingenuous digression. The thought of his physical body and 
 the rough use it has had and the disabilities it suffers leads to 
 the thought of the expected loss of that body and of the new 
 body for which it will be exchanged. With the use of very 
 striking figures (5:1-12) Paul expresses his hope that he may 
 not need to die, but that the coming of Christ will bring to him 
 his new heavenly body which can be put on over the outworn 
 physical body. Nevertheless he is ready to accept whatever the 
 Lord has in store for him, whether death or translation. 
 
 Just where the digression ends it is difficult to say, for it moves 
 smoothly into his next thought. In 5:18 and 6:3-4 he is again 
 
 221 
 
4:9 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 9. pursued, yet not ^forsaken; smitten down, yet not 
 
 10. destroyed; always bearing about in the body the 
 
 2 dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be 
 
 iQr, left behind. 2 Gr., putting to death. 
 
 writing of his ministry, and it is perhaps best to place the para- 
 graph division between verses 12 and 13. 
 
 We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Again the 
 plural for the singular. Paul is thinking of his own body and 
 his personal sufferings. By this treasure is meant his ministry, 
 but it is his ministry as pictured in the preceding paragraph, a 
 ministry of illumination — of turning on the light of the knowl- 
 edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Treasures 
 of money or jewels were often kept in earthenware jars, and the 
 use of the word treasure for his glorious ministry leads to the 
 use of earthen vessel for himself. The jar made of clay was both 
 cheap and fragile, rather a poor receptacle for treasure. Any 
 human body is an unworthy receptacle for so glorious a min- 
 istry. And Paul's body, racked and wrecked by all it had suf- 
 fered (11:23-27), seemed to him especially unworthy. That he 
 has chiefly his own body and its limitations in mind is shown by 
 his reference to his physical body in 5:1-10; but it is his whole 
 personal presence of which he uses the figure earthen vessel. His 
 outward appearance seems physically not to have been very pre- 
 possessing (10:1, 10), and his thorn in the flesh (12:7) and his 
 many hardships and sufferings had not made it more so. 
 
 The power. There was no doubt about the results of Paul's 
 ministry. They had been evidences of power. The frailty of his 
 body made it all the more evident that the source of the power 
 was not in himself but in God. 
 
 8-10. With four antitheses, vigorous and in poetic form, Paul 
 characterizes the all but unendurable trouble which the limita- 
 tions of his frail body bring to him. But he changes completely 
 his figure. He is a master of the mixed, or changed metaphor. 
 No longer is he an earthen vessel but a hard pressed soldier. 
 The figures are partly applicable to an athlete in the games, and 
 Paul may have both athlete and soldier in mind. 
 
 In everything, — 
 Pressed hard — but not in hopeless straits. 
 At a loss — but not utterly at a loss. 
 Pursued — but not left to the mercy of pursuer. 
 Struck down — but not put out. 
 
 222 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4:13 
 
 11. manifested in our body. For we which live are al- 
 way delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the 
 life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal 
 
 12. flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. 
 
 13. But having the same spirit of faith, according to that 
 which is written, I believed, and therefore did I 
 
 lo-ii. Verse 11 repeats the thought of 10 and explains it. 
 
 The dying of Jesus, i.e., the killing of Jesus. The marginal 
 putting to death is better. Very seldom, perhaps only six or 
 eight times outside of these two verses, does Paul use the name 
 Jesus without another title, Christ or Lord. It is the narrative 
 use in the gospels; and it is quite possible that unconsciously 
 Paul adopts the use of the narrative name, because he is refer- 
 ring to the story of Jesus' life as he had often told it. Paul's 
 life was one long series of deaths. This is "hyperbole, but 11:23-27 
 shows how much truth there was in the figure. As his sufferings 
 and deaths are all in Jesus' service and for Jesus' sake, he has 
 no hesitancy in saying that it is the putting to death of Jesus 
 which is the burden his body always imposes upon him. He 
 identifies himself with Jesus and his sufferings, here and else- 
 where (i Cor. 15:31; Rom. 8:36; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24). And 
 just as Jesus' sufferings and death had as their purpose life, so 
 Paul thinks of his suffering as serving the purpose of making 
 known, manifesting, the Ufe which Jesus lived and which He 
 gave. And that of course was Paul's ministry. 
 
 12. Death worketh in us but life in you. Eventually this 
 always being put to death would result to Paul in the actual 
 death of his body. He knew the progress of its working. But 
 as long as spiritual life was working correspondingly in the Corin- 
 thians he was content. Of course the same kind of life was 
 working in Paul too — spiritual life. But he uses the paradox to 
 show their life is dependent on his death. 
 
 13. Spirit of faith. This introduces his hope of resurrection. 
 In his life of dying he finds inspiration from his faith in God's 
 power to raise him up. 
 
 That which is written. The quotation is from Psalm 116:10. 
 Paul quotes accurately from the Greek version of the Psalm. 
 Our English version of Psalm 116 is from the Hebrew and varies 
 from this. The emphasis is on believing. Like the Psalmist who 
 spoke because he believed, Paul is encouraged to continue his 
 ministry because of his faith that resurrection is stronger than 
 death. He quotes, and then applies the quotation to himself. 
 
 223 
 
4:14 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak; 
 
 14. knowing that he which raised up ^ the Lord Jesus 
 shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present 
 
 15. us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that 
 the grace, being multiplied through ^ the many, may 
 cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory 
 of God. 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities omit the Lord. ^ Gr., the more. 
 
 14. Knowing. This explains his believing, or gives the ground 
 for it. The believing and the knowing are practically the same. 
 Christ Jesus had abolished death (2 Tim. 1:10), and so, forget- 
 ting death, Paul derives his encouragement from the knowledge 
 that the God who raised Jesus will not leave the followers of 
 Jesus dead. 
 
 With Jesus. That is, with the same power that raised Jesus, 
 and so associated in Jesus' resurrection. Paul seems to be uncer- 
 tain as to his future. Once (i Thess. 4:17) he did not expect 
 to die. He expected the coming of the Lord before the coming 
 of death. But here, and below (5:1-10), he shows his expecta- 
 tion of death. His near approach to death (1:8) was not easy 
 to forget. 
 
 Shall present us with you. His readers, in whom life is 
 working, and he himself, in whom death is working, are to be all 
 together at the presentation. He does not say at what or to what 
 they shall be presented. In Rom. 14:10 Paul uses the same word 
 in its reflexive sense: we shall all stand {present ourselves) be- 
 fore the judgment seat of God. In 2 Cor. 11:2 and in Eph. 5:27 
 the presentation is of the church as a bride to Christ. In the 
 former Paul would present the church to Christ; in the latter 
 Christ presents it to Himself. This is the probable meaning here, 
 only, it is God who is to present them all to Christ. 
 
 15. For introduces another motive for enduring his life of 
 dying. Not only is it all for Jesus' sake (vs. 11), but for the 
 Corinthians' sake also. And these motives in Paul's mind always 
 include another. He mentioned it in 1:10-11. The more he 
 suffers, the more God's grace is made known, and consequently 
 the more thanksgivings will be offered to God. Anything that 
 causes thanksgiving to God is to Paul worth all it costs. 
 
 In grace and thanksgiving there is a play on words. See note 
 on 2:14. 
 
 224 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 4:18 
 
 16. Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward 
 man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day 
 
 17. by day. For our light affliction, which is for the 
 moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly 
 
 18. an eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the 
 
 16. Wherefore. Here is his conclusion. He ends as he began 
 (4:1) we faint not. The wherefore covers in its reference all 
 that he has said about his hope and inspiration (vs. 13-iS) but 
 it is particularly the thought of verse 15, that all his sufferings are 
 for the sake of others, and multiply thanksgivings to God, that 
 has its sequence in wherefore we never lose courage. 
 
 Then he adds what the real result is to himself. In verse 12 he 
 told the immediate result of his continuous burden, life working 
 in them, death in him, i.e., in his body. Here he gives the greater 
 result to himself, an eternal weight of glory. 
 
 Outward man. A reference to his physical body, in contrast 
 to the inward man, which is his real self, his spirit life. Out- 
 ward man is found only here in the New Testament; but inward 
 man is found in Rom. 7:22; Eph. 3:16. Though my physical 
 self, the earthen vessel, is fast going to pieces, my real self makes 
 new growth every day. 
 
 17. For gives another explanation of what he means. The 
 contrasts are vivid and emphatic. Affliction works out glory. 
 Heavy as his afflictions seem they are a very light weight when 
 compared with the heavy weight of glory. Unending as the af- 
 flictions seem they are momentary as compared with the eternity 
 of glory. 
 
 Weight of glory. Here again glory is best interpreted by 
 splendor of character, Godlikeness or Christlikeness. Compare 
 Heb. 2:10, where glory is the destination toward which God is 
 bringing his sons. Undoubtedly Paul's eye is fixed on the future 
 and the things God hath prepared for them that love him, which 
 eye saw not, and ear heard not (i Cor. 2:9). But this weight of 
 glory is not all a distant future hope; it is a continuous present 
 process of growth. Day by day it is going on. The end is not 
 yet, but mrore and more exceedingly the affliction worketh the 
 glory. See Phil. 3:12-14. 
 
 18. While we look. Just as in 3:18 the transformation comes 
 by beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, so here the 
 only condition laid upon Paul by himself is to keep his attention 
 fixed on the things which are not physical, visible and temporary, 
 but spiritual, unseen, eternal; not affliction and body, but glory 
 
 225 
 
5:i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 things which are seen, but at the things which are not 
 seen : for the things which are seen are temporal ; but 
 the things which are not seen are eternal. 
 5. I. For we know that if the earthly house of our 
 ^ tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from 
 
 " Or, bodily frame. 
 
 and spirit. The affliction will bring about the glory if he keeps 
 his eyes in the right direction. It is Paul's philosophy of life 
 and suffering so far as he himself is concerned. He says very 
 little anywhere about his conception of the future life. It is 
 found in such poetic references as 2 Cor. 5:6; i Cor. 13:12; 
 Phil. 1:23. Evidently he hoped to keep on growing in glory. 
 
 5:1 For. The word eternal (4:17, 18) and its rather vague 
 reference to the future life leads Paul off onto a short digression. 
 It has nothing immediately to do with his ministry, but it lets 
 us into his heart. No matter how much limitation his body 
 caused his ministry he did not want to lose it by death; he did 
 not want to die. The greatness of Paul's character is enhanced 
 by this ingenuous expression of his fear and hope. Although he 
 knew that his light affliction was but for a moment, he did not 
 look forward with the greatest satisfaction to its end, if the end 
 meant death. The for adds an explanation to what is implied in 
 for the moment (4:17). 
 
 The earthly house of our tabernacle. Our house on earth 
 which is a tent is a better rendering. The reference is to the 
 physical body. The passage should be studied with i Cor, 
 15:35-58 in mind. 
 
 Be dissolved. This rendering obscures the figure. Tents are 
 not dissolved. Taken down is the correct translation. Possibly 
 it is as strong a word as demolish. A tent might be blown down 
 by a storm. 
 
 Paul's thought is this: My present body in which I live is 
 only a tent. Soon it will be taken down. Then I shall have a 
 permanent edifice, a spiritual body to live in (see i Cor, 15:44), 
 But will there be a period between the two residences when I 
 shall be without any body? I often sigh when I think about it, 
 for I should so much prefer not to die, but to have my new per- 
 manent body, at Christ's coming, put on over my physical body 
 and absorb it, so that there may be no period when I am without 
 a body. Nevertheless, God knows best, and I am perfectly will- 
 ing to accept whatever He has in store for me. 
 
 A building from God. Not a tent but an edifice, a perma- 
 
 226 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5:4 
 
 God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the 
 
 2. heavens. For verily in this we groan, longing to be 
 clothed upon with our habitation which is from 
 
 3. heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be 
 
 4. found naked. For indeed we that are in this ^ taber- 
 
 ^ Or, bodily frame. 
 
 nent dwelling, not made by human hands, but God-given. Paul 
 thinks of himself as living in his body. He will always need a 
 body of some sort in which to live. 
 
 Eternal, in the heavens. There will never be the need of 
 another change of residence. The new body will be permanent 
 because spiritual. In the heavens is the figurative way of refer- 
 ring to the spiritual life after death. It is a figurative contrast 
 with on the earth. There is no reference to heaven as a place. 
 
 2. In this we groan. In this tent-body we keep sighing. 
 Longing to be clothed upon. This is the explanation of the 
 
 frequent sighing. Paul longs for that expected change which will 
 come with the return of Christ, when those who are living will 
 get their spiritual body at once, without the necessity of the 
 death of the physical body (i Thess. 4:17). He mixes his meta- 
 phors again, but his thought is all the more luminous. He 
 thinks of the new body as a dwelling, not one into which he 
 shall enter, but one which like an overcoat could be put on 
 over his tent-body. That is the force of clothed upon. 
 
 Which is from heaven is equivalent to the eternal in the 
 heavens of verse i. 
 
 3. If so be. This verse is parenthetical. Paul's meaning is 
 not perfectly clear. Naked of course means without either a 
 tent-body or an edifice-body, without either the garment of a 
 physical body or the overgarment of the spiritual. But when is 
 he to be found? The simplest meaning seems to be, provided 
 that, or if only, we shall be found with a body when Christ 
 comes, not without a body, i.e., be found by Christ's coming 
 still alive. If he had put off his tent-body he could not put the 
 new body on over, could not be clothed upon. So verse 3 be- 
 comes merely the parenthetical statement, provided only that we 
 are allowed to live till Christ comes. The text should then read, 
 if so be that, because we are clothed, we shall not be found 
 naked. 
 
 4. For. As often with Paul the for introduces an explanation 
 that is a confirmation of what he has just said. He repeats his 
 thought, and makes it simpler. See 4:10-11. 
 
 Do groan, being burdened. There is a slight difference in 
 2.2J 
 
5:5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 nacle do groan, ^ being burdened ; not for that we 
 would be unclothed, but that we would be clothed 
 upon, that what is mortal may be swallowed up 
 5. of life. Now he that wrought us for this very- 
 thing is God, who gave unto us the earnest of the 
 
 * Or, being burdened, in that we would not be unclothed, but would 
 be clothed upon. 
 
 the reason given for his groaning or sighing. In verse 2 it was 
 a longing to have the new body put on over the old; here it is 
 a burden of depression because of the fear that it may not be 
 possible. Not for that we would be unclothed — clothed 
 upon. The alternative reading of the margin is better — burdened 
 because we do not wish to be unclothed (lose our tent-body by 
 death) but to be clothed upon (have our edifice-body put on 
 over the tent-body). 
 
 Mortal may be swallowed up of life. In that way the 
 tent-body which is mortal would be absorbed by the spiritual 
 body which is eternal and which never dies. There would be no 
 death, and no period when the tenant of the bodies would be 
 houseless, naked. 
 
 5. Now. But would be preferable. There is a distinct antith- 
 esis. Paul has been speaking of his natural attitude toward 
 the change, now he turns to God's attitude and his own con- 
 sequent attitude. 
 
 For this very thing. For what thing? Paul does not make 
 it plain and there is great difference of opinion. But, as the 
 whole paragraph thus far has been about the change of bodies, 
 it seems most natural to take "this very thing" as referring to 
 that change. It is a part of God's plan for us, Paul says. He 
 fashioned us for this change. Life in the spirit body is his 
 destiny for us. We can leave it to him whether we get there 
 through the taking down of the tent or by putting the edifice 
 on over the tent. 
 
 Who gave unto us the earnest of the Spirit. God can be 
 trusted to do what is best, for He has already given us in the 
 gift of the Spirit a part of His promised blessings and a pledge 
 of all that is to follow. Earnest as a business term is that part 
 of a purchase or contract price which is paid down as a part 
 payment and as a pledge that the whole will be paid. The 
 Spirit is God's earnest — is "both the foretaste and the pledge of 
 future blessedness." 
 
 228 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5^9 
 
 6. Spirit. Being therefore always of good courage, 
 and knowing that, whilst we are at home in the 
 
 7. body, we are absent from the Lord (for we walk by 
 
 8. faith, not by ^ sight) ; we are of good courage, I say, 
 and are willing rather to be absent from the body, 
 
 9. and to be at home with the Lord. Wherefore also 
 
 ^ Gr., appearance. 
 
 6. Therefore. This is the conclusion. Paul's natural attitude 
 toward the change is one of sighing. God's attitude is that it 
 is best. Therefore Paul's consequent attitude is one of good 
 courage and eagerness to accept whatever God has in store for 
 him. 
 
 At home in the body . . . absent from the Lord. Only 
 here in the New Testament are these phrases found. One is 
 used of a person who stays at home, does not travel; the other 
 of one who leaves his home to travel in other places. They are 
 vivid figures as Paul uses them. While I am a stay-at-home in 
 my tent-body, he says, I am an absentee from home with Christ. 
 To die meant to depart and be with Christ (Phil. 1:23). Then, 
 lest his readers misunderstand him, he adds parenthetically 
 verse 7. Did not his close relation to Christ, even in his tent- 
 body, make him at home with Christ? 
 
 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. He is not now at 
 home with Christ, because his relation is one of faith, not of 
 sight. But when that which is perfect is come (i Cor. 13:10-12) 
 he shall see face to face and shall know even as also he has been 
 known. That will be at home. The rendering sight is better 
 than appearance, though the latter is more literal — we walk by 
 faith not by form. 
 
 8. The sentence begun in verse 6 is not finished. If it had 
 been finished grammatically verse 8 would have begun, we are 
 willing to be absent, i.e., to die. The parenthesis (vs. 7) inter- 
 rupts his sentence, and he begins again at verse 8. 
 
 Are willing rather — deem it better to die in order to be with 
 Christ. To die is gain (Phil. 1:21). Nothing is said about any 
 spiritual body, and apparently Paul means to say that it is better 
 to be at home with Christ, even though he has no body, neither 
 tent nor edifice, but is a naked spirit waiting for his new body 
 to be given him when Christ comes again. There is no emphasis 
 on that, however. The emphasis is on the fact that he is ready 
 for anything that God thinks best. 
 
 9. Wherefore also we make it our aim. This is the sec- 
 
 229 
 
5:io EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 we ^ make it our aim, whether at home or absent, 
 
 10. to be well-pleasing unto him. For we must all be 
 
 made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; 
 
 that each one may receive the things done - in the 
 
 ^ Gr., are ambitious. ^ Gr., through, 
 
 ond way, wherefore also, in which his consequent attitude finds 
 expression. Not only does he keep up courage, but he tries to 
 be ambitioiis (better than make it our aim) to be well-pleasing 
 to Christ. Paul's use of tense is perhaps rendered best by in- 
 serting the word try. 
 
 Whether at home or absent. Supply body from the con- 
 text above: whether at home in the body or absent from the 
 body; whether at His coming the Lord shall find him still living 
 in his tent-body or having struck his tent. But the emphasis is 
 on the last clause; no matter what happens to his body, to be 
 well-pleasing unto Him is his lasting ambition. 
 
 lo. For introduces the explanation of Paul's ambition to be 
 well-pleasing to the Lord, now, in the body. The bodily experi- 
 ence is necessary to the heavenly. The body has that much to 
 its credit at any rate, no matter how fragile a vessel it is, it 
 lends the condition which makes possible the heavenly experience. 
 Paul cannot get the latter without the former. 
 
 We must all be made manifest. He is not speaking of a 
 general judgment. We all are Christians, with a hope of glory. 
 It is not merely an appearance before the judgment seat which 
 is a necessity for all, but that disclosure or manifestation of each 
 man's character which Christ's judgment seat will assure. 
 
 The judgment seat of Christ. In Rom. 14:10 Paul speaks 
 of the judgment seat of God. The raised platform on which was 
 the seat of the presiding officer at any trial, military or civil, 
 was known as the Bema, which is usually rendered judgment 
 seat. In the presence of Christ we all shall be made manifest. 
 
 That each one may receive. The end or purpose of the 
 manifesting is the getting of that which is one's own. Receive is 
 not merely get, but get back that which is one's own. Each one, 
 figuratively, gets back the things done in the body, or liter- 
 ally, the things through the body, i.e., the body has been the 
 agent through which the experience or character comes which 
 one gets back, as it were, before Christ's Bema. 
 
 According to what he has done. Not merely done, but 
 tried to do, practiced, been busy with. 
 
 Whether good or bad — bad in the sense of cheap — whether 
 
 230 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5:12 
 
 body, according to what he hath done, whether it be 
 good or bad. 
 
 11. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord, we per- 
 suade men, but we are made manifest unto God; 
 and I hope that we are made manifest also in your 
 
 12. consciences. We are not again commending ourselves 
 unto you, but speak as giving you occasion of glory- 
 
 worth while or worUiless. The body is of real importance after 
 all if It IS the agent of that character which the Christian gets 
 back before Christ's judgment seat. 
 
 11. Knowing therefore. With verses 11 and 12 Paul seems 
 to come back again to the main track of his thought after tak- 
 mg the side-track at verse i. These are transition verses. The 
 therefore might be called a resumptive therefore, by which he 
 resumes his former line of thought. He has not forgotten that 
 he was talking about his ministry. We get the word again in 
 verse 18. 
 
 In the outline it seems best to include these two verses with 
 what precedes, making them a conclusion in which he says that 
 the effect of this attitude toward life and death and God's will, 
 is to keep him true (a) to his attempt to convince men of his 
 mmistry and its gospel, and (b) to offer them resources of glory- 
 ing on his behalf. 
 
 The fear of the Lord. The awe, the reverent fear which 
 comes from the thought of the judgment seat of Christ and its 
 meaning. 
 
 We persuade men of the sincerity and reality of our min- 
 istry. The context shows that he does not use persuade in an 
 evangelistic sense, but in reference to his own ministry. And 
 he adds, but to God we have been and continue to be thorougJdy 
 understood {made manifest). It is the same word he used in verse 
 10, for our manifestation before Christ's judgment seat. 
 
 And I hope (see 1:13) that also to you in your inner con- 
 sciousness of what is right and true I have been and continue 
 to be thoroughly understood (see 4:2). 
 
 12. We are not again commending ourselves. How sen- 
 sitive Paul was to the accusations made against him of com- 
 mending himself is shown by his repeated references to it, and 
 by his use of the word again (3:1). In this epistle the word 
 rendered commend is found nine times. It is found, with vary- 
 ing meanings, only seven times in all the rest of the New Testa- 
 ment. As he is beginning again after his short digression to 
 
 231 
 
5:i3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 ing on our behalf, that ye may have wherewith to 
 answer them that glory in appearance, and not in 
 heart. 
 
 4. The Secret of the Ministry; 5:13 — 6:10 
 
 13. For whether we ^ are beside ourselves, it is unto 
 
 14. God; or whether we are of sober mind, it is unto 
 
 ^ Or, were. 
 
 speak of his ministry, he feels compelled to say once more that 
 he does it in no spirit of boasting. Then he adds that what he 
 does say about his ministry offers the loyal Corinthians ample 
 opportunity and resources to do the commending for him if 
 they wish. 
 
 To answer them that glory in appearance. A reference 
 to his opponents, probably Judaizers, in Corinth, who boasted 
 of external things, religious observances, ancestral privilege and 
 the like (11:18, 21-23). The word appearance is literally face. 
 Face and heart are contrasted, externals, with genuine inner 
 worth. What Paul says of himself and his ministry will furnish 
 his readers, he says ingenuously and with a dry humor, with a 
 base of supplies {occasion) from which they can on his behalf 
 out-glory those whose glorying is only in externals. 
 
 4. The Secret of Paul's Ministry of the New Covenant — Self- 
 Devotion; vs. 13-16. 
 a. Its constraining power: Love of Christ; vs. 14. 
 
 (i) Its Manifestation, for God, for the Corinthians, 
 vs. 13. 
 
 (2) Its explanation: Christ's death for all; vs. 15. 
 (fl) Immediate consequence, all died. 
 
 lb) End in view: Life, which shall be: 
 (i) Neg. Not selfish, 
 
 (2) Pos. but devoted to Christ who died for 
 them. 
 
 (3) Its effect on Paul's attitude toward men in Christ; 
 
 vs. 16. 
 (o) He sees anyone in Christ as a new creation; 
 vs. 17. 
 (i) Explanation (Neg.) He does not think of 
 him from the point of view of the flesh. 
 
 232 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5^13 
 
 (2) Explanation (Pos.) but as in Christ, whom 
 he thinks of as spirit, not flesh. 
 (b) He sees everything become new. 
 
 b. Its fundamental purpose: Reconciliation to God; vs. 18, 
 (i) Source: God. 
 
 (2) Reason: Paul's own reconciliation to God. 
 
 (3) Content: God in Christ reconciling the world to 
 
 Himself; vs 19. 
 
 (a) Manner (Neg.) — No calculation of transgres- 
 
 sions, 
 
 (b) Means (Pos.) but the message of reconcilia- 
 
 tion in us. 
 
 c. Its outward expression: A spokesman for God; vs. 20. 
 (i) In his plea for reconciliation. 
 
 (a) Authority: Christ's representative. 
 
 (b) Inducement offered: God made Christ to be 
 
 sin for us; vs. 21. 
 End: That we might become God's righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 (2) In his exhortation to the Corinthians not to re- 
 
 ceive God's grace in vain; vs. i. 
 
 (a) Authority: Working with God. 
 
 (b) Argument: Do it now; vs. 2. 
 Illustration: Scriptural (Is. 49:8). 
 
 (3) In his life, in every way commending God's min- 
 
 ister; vs. 4. 
 (a) Method: Giving no offense to any one; vs. 3. 
 (6) Manner (ideals of life which he sets himself) ; 
 vss. 4-7. 
 
 (c) Means (arms he uses) ; vss. 7, 8. 
 
 (d) Condition (paradoxes of conditions) ; vss. 9, 10. 
 
 13. For. With this explanatory for Paul passes to the fourth 
 and last characteristic of his ministry, its secret. He does not 
 call it "its secret," but speaks of its constraining power, its fun- 
 damental purpose, and his conception of himself as spokesman 
 for God; and these are its real secret. It is found in his self- 
 devotion, his absorption in Christ's love and God's redemptive 
 work. He tries to lose himself in his ministry. 
 
 Unto God . . . unto you are the key-words to the secret of 
 his ministry. 
 
 Whether we are beside ourselves . . . whether sober. 
 This may, and probably does, refer to another set of charges 
 made against Paul, that he was unbalanced. The same was 
 said of Jesus (Mk. 3:21) by His friends when He lost Himself in 
 
5:i4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 you. For the love of Christ constraineth us; because 
 we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all 
 
 the greatness of His ministry. In the case of Paul his experiences 
 of visions and revelations (12:1) may have given grounds for the 
 charge. Or, as in the case of Felix (Acts 26:24), the enthusiasm 
 of Paul's delivery of his message and his self-forgetfulness may 
 have led to the slur that he was mad. Sober mind is the oppo- 
 site. Whichever he is, it is his devotion to God and to his fellow 
 men that is the mainspring of his ministry. 
 
 14. For. Another for. It is most natural to think that by it 
 Paul confirms and explains what he has just said. His whole 
 Ufe is unto God and unto you, and his love for Christ is the link 
 that binds him to God and to the Corinthians. 
 
 The love of Christ constraineth us. So far as the form 
 of words is concerned love of Christ may mean either Paul's love 
 for Christ or Christ's love for Paul. It would be quite in keep- 
 ing with the context if he meant the former. The for in its rela- 
 tion to verse 13, and the idea of self-devotion in verse 15 and 
 elsewhere — should no longer live unto themselves — would make 
 that interpretation consistent. Paul's love for Christ is the real 
 secret of his ministry. The objection to this rendering — and it 
 is all but conclusive — is that Paul seems everywhere else to 
 have the other, the subjective meaning, in mind, when he speaks 
 of love of God or love of Christ (2 Thess. 3:5; 2 Cor. 13:14; 
 Eph. 3:19; Rom. 5:5). The thought is not very different, which- 
 ever interpretation holds, for constrain seems to have in it the 
 idea of restrain and impel. Like a canalized river whose artifi- 
 cial banks serve to keep the stream within its course and so 
 send it more swiftly and easily on its way, the love of Christ* 
 restrains Paul from selfishness of purpose and impels him to a 
 life of unselfish ministry. 
 
 Because we thus judge. This is the explanation, as Paul 
 understands it, of the way in which the love of Christ constrains 
 him: Christ's love found its utmost expression in his death for 
 others (Jn. 15:13; i Jn. 3:16). In that death they died to sin 
 and selfishness, that they might be raised, made alive, to a Christ- 
 like, unselfish life (Rom. 6:8; Col. 3:1-3). If they are alive, i.e., 
 raised with Christ to the highest life, they cannot live to them- 
 selves any more; they live for Christ. So it is Christ's love that 
 constrains them to lives of unselfishness. 
 
 One died for all, therefore all died. Paul is not giving a 
 discourse on the atonement. He is simply explaining how he 
 looks at the constraining influence of Christ's love. Christ's 
 
 234 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5:16 
 
 15. died; and he died for all, that they which live 
 should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him 
 
 16. who for their sakes died and rose again. Where- 
 fore we henceforth know no man after the flesh: 
 
 death is a supreme act of love. It is for all. For means here on 
 behalf of, not instead of. By this act of love Christ made it pos- 
 sible for the all, for whom he died, to die with him to selfishness, 
 and to live with him in unselfishness. It is one of Paul's fa- 
 vorite figures. 
 
 15. That they which live. That those who have been raised 
 with him to the highest life, i.e., to Christlikeness, and so live, 
 may live not to self but to Christ. All selfishness is low. Self- 
 lessness is high. "If ye were raised together with Christ seek 
 the things that are above" (Col. 3:1). If one is raised with 
 Christ, he will be above all selfishness. Low things will be be- 
 neath him. It is in the light of such figures as Col. 1:1-3 that 
 this is to be understood. 
 
 16. Wherefore. In view of the constraining love of Christ 
 and Paul's explanation of it. We henceforth. The we is em- 
 phatic. There are those who still live unto themselves. Pos- 
 sibly he has the Judaizers in mind. The henceforth seems to 
 mean from the time he began to live unto Christ. 
 
 Know no man after the flesh. The phrase after the flesh 
 or according to the flesh, is a favorite figure in Paul's letters. 
 He uses it twenty times (in Romans eight times; in 2 Cor. six 
 times) . Only once is it found in the New Testament outside of 
 Paul's letters (Jn. 8:15), and that once differs slightly from Paul's 
 use. After the flesh is Paul's phrase. He uses it either as equiva- 
 lent to natural; Abraham our forefather according to the flesh 
 (Rom. 4:1) or as contrasted with spiritual; who walk not after the 
 flesh but after the spirit (Rom. 8:4). Any word that brings out 
 that contrast will serve as a paraphrase for after the flesh. Some- 
 times carnal will serve. But here the idea of spiritual in verses 
 14-15, i.e., of one who has died to sin and no longer lives to him- 
 self, but is constrained by Christ's love, finds its contrast in the old 
 or unchanged man, who has not been touched by Christ's love and 
 who still lives to himself. In that sense he is old (see vs. 17), he 
 is natural, he is after the flesh (Rom. 8:13). So, Paul says, I 
 think of every one in the terms of what he is or may be in 
 Christ, what he is potentially as a Christian, not apart from 
 Christ, after the flesh. 
 
 And then, parenthetically, he adds: once I knew Christ after 
 the flesh, not of course as a sinful man, but as a man untouched 
 
 235 
 
5:17 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 even though we have known Christ after the flesh, 
 
 17. yet now we know him so no more. Wherefore if 
 any man is in Christ, ^ he is sl new creature : the 
 old things are passed away; behold, they are be- 
 
 18. come new. But all things are of God, who reconciled 
 
 ^ Or, there is a new creation. 
 
 by the power of the resurrection; perhaps as the Jesus of 
 Nazareth who died. But now I know him as the Christ who 
 was raised from the dead. The reference may be to Paul's esti- 
 mate of Jesus before his arrest by him on the road to Damascus, 
 or to his thought of him in his earliest Christian experience be- 
 fore he came to know him as a risen Christ. It does not seem 
 probable that there is any refernce to any personal acquaintance 
 with Jesus in the flesh, nor to any accusation on the part of 
 Paul's opponents of a change of view with regard to Jesus. 
 
 (Verse 16 has always puzzled interpreters, and there have been 
 many interpretations. One of them, which is possible, is that 
 after the flesh corresponds to in appearance contrasted with w 
 heart [vs. 12]. We know no man according to externals of 
 rank, race or appearance, but only according to what he is.) 
 
 17. But the sequence of thought is better preserved by the 
 former, for he goes on to say Wherefore, i.e., in view of what 
 Christ is, who died and rose again (15), and whom we know, 
 not after the flesh, but according to the power of His resurrec- 
 tion (16), any man who is in Christ, any Christian no longer 
 living to himself, is new, a new creature, or (marginal), a new 
 creation. Paul speaks out of his own experience; once in Christ 
 the old things are passed away, the old selfish life, the after the 
 flesh life; everything is new. For in Christ, see note on 1:21. 
 
 18. But. The antithesis is not strong, but Paul turns to a 
 second thought in regard to the secret of his ministry. Further- 
 more or again would be better than but. Furthermore it is a 
 ministry of reconciliation. Its fundamental purpose is recon- 
 ciliation to God. He begins by saying that Christ is the agent, 
 through Christ, but the source of all good, of all new creations, 
 is God. Paul often pauses to make plain that God is the source 
 from which all goodness in the world springs. Christ is the agent 
 whom God used to reconcile Paul to Himself. Again the refer- 
 ence is personal. The us refers to Paul's own experience. Once 
 he was out of harmony with God. Through Christ he was 
 brought into harmony. That resulting state is what Paul calls 
 peace (see note on 1:2). Reconciled is another of Paul's words. 
 
 236 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 5:20 
 
 us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us 
 
 19. the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was 
 in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not 
 reckoning unto them their trespasses, and having 
 1 committeed unto us the word of reconciliation. 
 
 20. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, 
 
 Or, placed in us. 
 
 It is found only in Paul's letters in the New Testament, though 
 a similar word is translated reconciled in Matt. 5:24. (See Rom. 
 5:10-11; 11:15; I Cor. 7:11; 2 Cor. 5:18-20. These are all the 
 instances of its use.) In every instance reconciled signifies the 
 bringing of someone into harmony with another, and usually of 
 bringing those who have been hostile to God into a relation of 
 harmony with him (Rom. 5:10-11). Paul was called through 
 Christ to a ministry of reconciliation, to be a peacemaker (Matt, 
 5:9), to devote his life to the purpose of bringing men into a 
 relation of harmony with God. 
 
 19. To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world 
 unto himself. This explains the ministry of reconciliation. 
 Paul was reconciled to God through Christ. Now he adds that 
 in Christ God is working out His plan of bringing the world into 
 harmony with Himself. It should not be read God was in Christ, 
 reconciling the world, but as punctuated in the text. And it was 
 Paul's particular message that it was the world that in Christ 
 was being reconciled, not merely Jews. 
 
 Not reckoning unto them their trespasses. Not counting 
 up, calculating, their lapses from truth and righteousness. It 
 was not tabulating sins that God was concerned with, but 
 getting all men out of enmity into harmony with him. 
 
 And having committed unto us. This is the ministry part 
 of the ministry of reconciliation. The means which God devised 
 for making known his word, or message, of reconciliation was 
 human agency. To Paul he committed this ministry. It was 
 peculiarly Paul's, for it was a gospel for the world and not only 
 for his Jewish race. 
 
 20. We are ambassadors therefore. The therefore intro- 
 duces a third characteristic of the secret of his ministry, con- 
 necting it by natural sequence with the preceding. Because God 
 is reconciling the world unto himself in Christ and has committed 
 unto Paul the word of reconciliation, therefore Paul becomes a 
 spokesman for God. It is the outward expression of the secret 
 of his ministry. He is not on his own business. He is Christ's 
 
5:21 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 as though God were intreating by us: we beseech you 
 
 21. on behalf of Christ, be ye reconciled to God. Him 
 
 who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; 
 
 that we might become the righteousness of God in 
 
 ambassador. In Paul's world the ambassador was the Emperor's 
 personal messenger. 
 
 On behalf of Christ. This is specially emphatic. It would 
 be better to begin the sentence: On behalf of Christ therefore 
 we are ambassadors. 
 
 As though God were entreating by us. Paul is God's 
 spokesman, but only on behalf of Christ. God's entreaty to 
 harmony with him is through Christ and in Christ. Christ is the 
 great peacemaker. And Paul is his ambassador bringing to men 
 God's entreaty which is made possible and intelligible only in 
 Christ. 
 
 Be ye reconciled to God. Not, may God be reconciled to 
 you. The enmity is on man's part, not God's. This is Paul's 
 emphasis always. 
 
 21. Here is the inducement which Paul offers in his plea for 
 reconciliation; it is the ground on which he makes the plea; 
 God's wonderful gift of His Son, who died that men might gain 
 God's righteousness. 
 
 Him who knew no sin, i.e., who consciously had no personal 
 acquaintance with sin; who was sinless. "Which of you con- 
 victeth me of sin?" (Jn. 8:46), Jesus said of himself. He made 
 to be sin on our behalf. This of course is figurative. One 
 can be a sinner, but cannot be sin. Paul does not say that God 
 made Christ a sinner, but made him to be sin. It is his figura- 
 tive way of saying that Jesus died for us sinners. The reference 
 is to his death. The cross was the death penalty for sin. Paul 
 could best illustrate his thought of Jesus' death by saying that 
 in his death he identified himself with sin, so that men, dying 
 with him to sin, might be raised with him to life. It of course 
 had to be illustrated with figurative language. Paul had many 
 figures which he used for Christ's redemptive work — redemptive 
 is one of them. But it is all on our behalf, because of God's 
 great love and desire to reconcile the world unto himself. 
 
 That we might become the righteousness of God in him. 
 This is the purpose of it all. As Paul used sin in the abstract, 
 made to be sin, so here he uses righteousness in the abstract. To 
 becoms God's righteousness is also figurative. It is to become an 
 example or representative of God's righteous character. It is 
 
 238 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:2 
 
 6. I. him. And working together with him we intreat 
 2. also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain (for 
 he saith, 
 
 At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, 
 And in a day of salvation did I succour thee: 
 behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is 
 
 God's whole purpose for human life. It is to be transformed into 
 the same image from glory to glory (3:18); only, that is the 
 process, this is the end, as God plans it. And it is all in him, 
 i.e., in Christ. To draw from these words involved theories of 
 the atonement or of justification is to run the risk of reading 
 into Paul's language what was not in his thought. 
 
 6:1. Chapter 6 continues the thought. There is no para- 
 graph break. The ye is now emphatic. It was not emphatic in 
 5:20. There his message was general; here it is particular. As 
 spokesman for God Paul entreats (exhorts or encourages) the 
 Corinthians that they receive not the grace of God in vain. Not 
 only is the emphasis on ye but it is on God's grace, i.e., on God's 
 love expressed in giving. Grace interprets the preceding verse. 
 This is the second item in Paul's message as God's spokesman. 
 
 Working together with him, i.e., with God. This gives 
 Paul his authority. He is fellow worker because he is spokesman 
 for God._ 
 
 In vain. It was possible for the Corinthians to make a public 
 declaration of their acceptance of God's grace, and yet have it 
 in vain. It was possible to profess to receive God's grace, and 
 have it an empty profession because there was no result. 
 
 2. In Old Testament Scripture language verse 2 says, "do it 
 now." The quotation is from Is. 49:8. In the Greek it is an 
 exact quotation from the Greek of the Old Testament. The 
 English version shows a slight variation. Either the word receive 
 (vs. i) suggested the quotation to Paul, or, less likely, he thought 
 of his own mission as similar to that of the Servant in Is. 49. 
 Whichever suggested to him the words, verse 2 is parenthetical 
 and its Scripture comment on Paul's thought is rather vague. 
 Tlie acceptable time, the day of salvation of Is. 49:8, Paul says 
 is the present time, not the present, passing moment, but the 
 present period which is represented by Paul's ministry of the 
 new covenant. This is the day of God's grace — receive it not in 
 vain. In effect the illustration is an injunction to receive that 
 grace now. 
 
6:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 3. the day of salvation): giving no occasion of stum- 
 bling in anything, that our ministration be not 
 
 4. blamed ; but in everything commending ourselves, as 
 ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in 
 
 3. As spokesman for God this is the third item in Paul's mes- 
 sage: In his life, in every way, he seeks to commend God's 
 minister and his ministry. 
 
 Giving no occasion of stumbling — a figure which Paul uses 
 often, but with different words for stumbling. The word he 
 uses here is found only here in the New Testament. Other words 
 are rendered stumbling block, occasion of falling, offense, etc. 
 Paul tries to live in such a way that nothing in his ministry 
 may prove an obstruction or a snare in the path of any one who 
 is seeking God, causing him to get a fall. 
 
 Ministration. Ministry would be better. It is the same word 
 he has used before (4:1; 5:18). There is no reason for changing 
 the English word to ministration, the word used in 3:7, 8, 9. 
 
 4. Commending ourselves. This is the phrase he has used 
 several times (3:1; 4:2; 5:12). He does not commend himself. 
 It is God's minister he seeks to commend. To his readers' con- 
 sciences he commends himself as a minister of God, 
 
 There follows a carefully thought out and poetically worded 
 enumeration of the ways, means and conditions which charac- 
 terize his daily life as a message of commendation for his min- 
 istry. 
 
 The richness of his thought is best illustrated by a careful 
 outline. The preposition in introduces eighteen words and 
 phrases. The first, in much patience, is followed by three groups 
 of three circumstances each, in which his patience is exercised. 
 Then follow eight further ideals of life which he sets himself, 
 coordinate with in much patience, nine in all. 
 
 Then the preposition is changed to by (margin, through). By 
 means of his integrity he fights his way through two sets of cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 A group of seven paradoxes follows, giving the reported con- 
 dition and the true condition of his life and ministry. Most, if 
 not all, represent the things which men say about him (or might 
 say about him) and the actual truth as he sees it. Each of the 
 seven is introduced by as. An outline of verses 3-10 is a com- 
 mentary. (See (3) of outline on page 233). 
 
 (a) Method: Giving no offense to any one. 
 
 (b) Manner (ideals of life which as minister he sets himself) : 
 
 240 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINtHIANS 6:6 
 
 5. necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, 
 
 6. in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; in 
 
 1. Much patience: 
 
 (i) In general, in trying experiences: 
 
 (a) afflictions: trials, suffering. 
 
 (b) necessities: unavoidable troubles. 
 
 (c) distresses: desperate situations. 
 
 (2) In particular, in abuse from his opponents: 
 (a) stripes: blows, by rod or scourge. 
 
 (6) imprisonments. 
 
 (c) tumults: riots, mob violence. 
 
 (3) In particular, in the hardships of his work: 
 (a) labors: fatiguing toil. 
 
 (6) watchings: sleeplessness, from work or worry, 
 (c) fastings: hunger, voluntary or involuntary. 
 
 2. Pureness: a clean heart and a clean life. 
 
 3. Knowledge: intimate acquaintance with Christian truth. 
 
 4. Longsufferi-ng: not easily provoked. 
 
 5. Kindness: kindly, gentlemanly. 
 
 6. The Holy Ghost: a spirit of holiness, reverence. 
 
 7. Love unfeigned: sincere, straightforward love. 
 
 8. The Word of Truth: speech whose characteristic is truth. 
 
 9. Power of God: God-given effectiveness. 
 
 (c) Means (weapons or instruments he uses) : 
 
 Armor of righteousness — integrity, his sword and shield. 
 
 1. Through glory and dishonor; 
 
 2. Through evil report and good report. 
 
 (d) Condition (paradoxes of conditions) : 
 
 1. Deceivers and yet true — called "imposters," but genuine. 
 
 2. Unknown and well known — called "obscure," but well 
 
 known. 
 
 3. Dying . . . we live — reported dying, but very much alive. 
 
 4. Chastened and not killed — scourged, but not fatally. 
 
 5. Sorrowful . . . rejoicing — reason for sorrow, but joyful. 
 
 6. Poor . . making many rich — reputed poor, but with 
 
 much to give. 
 
 7. Having nothing . . . all things — penniless, but with large 
 
 possessions. 
 
 4. In denotes manner as used with much patience and with the 
 eight other graces beginning with pureness. With the nine kinds 
 of experiences, beginning with afflictions, in gives the sphere in 
 which the nine graces must be practiced, especially the patience. 
 
 241 
 
6:7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering, in kindness, 
 
 7. in the ^ Holy Ghost, in love unfeigned, in the word 
 of truth, in the power of God ; ^ by the armour of 
 
 8. righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by 
 glory and dishonour, by evil report and good re- 
 
 9. port; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and 
 yet well known; as dying, and behold, we Hve; as 
 
 10. chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway 
 rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having 
 nothing, and yet possessing all things. 
 
 ^ Or, Holy Spirit and so throughout this book. ^ Qj.., through. 
 
 6. In the Holy Ghost. Holy Spirit is the better translation 
 always used in the American Revised Version. But here in a 
 spirit of holiness gives Paul's meaning better than in the Holy 
 Spirit, and corresponds better to the companion graces. 
 
 7. By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and 
 on the left. Just as above there was a difference in the use of 
 in, so here there is a difference in by. With armor it denotes 
 means or instrument. His integrity is his sword and his shield, 
 the sword is the armor of the right hand, the shield is the 
 armor of the left hand. With this offensive and defensive armor 
 he goes unscathed through (here the by should be rendered 
 through) glory and dishonor, evil report and good report. No 
 matter whether he is surrounded with the praise, compliments, 
 adulations of his friends, or the abuse, complaints, discrediting 
 of his opponents, his integrity takes him through. 
 
 8. As deceivers and yet true. Each of these seven para- 
 doxes is introduced by as. Since some of them give the contrast 
 between what is said of Paul and what he actually is, it is best 
 to take them all in that way. They are not seven charges 
 against him by his opponents, but each represents either what 
 they said or what they might naturally have thought. 
 
 This closes, with a striking climax, what Paul has to say about 
 his ministry. It would be impossible to find anywhere a loftier 
 statement of a minister's ideals for his life and his ministry. 
 
 242 
 
6:i2 
 
 III. Paul's Joy in the Corinthians; 6:ii — 7:16. 
 
 11. Our mouth is open unto you, O Corinthians, our 
 
 12. heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye 
 
 Paul's Joy in the Corinthians 
 I. The ways in which it finds expression: 
 
 a. His frank speech; vs. 11, 4. 
 
 b. His wide open heart. 
 
 (i) The narrow quarters of constraint are not in Paul. 
 (2) They are found in the Corinthians' feelings. 
 
 c. His yearning for a reciprocal affectionate frankness; vs. 13. 
 
 Parenthesis, suggested by enlarged and its association with 
 
 Deut. 11:16; 6:14 — 7:1. 
 Being wide open to unbelievers; vs. 14. 
 
 1. Its incongruity — seen in: 
 
 a. The incompatibility of righteousness and sin. 
 
 b. " " of light and darkness. 
 
 c. " " of Christ and Belial; vs. 15. 
 
 d. " " of faith and unfaith. 
 
 e. " " of God's temple and idols; vs. 
 
 16. 
 Explanation: 
 
 Christians are God's temple. 
 Proof: Scripture; vs. 16. 
 
 2. Its sinfulness — it disobeys God's commandments. 
 
 Proof: Scripture; vss. 17, 18. 
 Conclusion: Therefore: 
 
 1. be pure. 
 
 2. be separate. 
 
 d. His yearning for expressions of affection; vs. 2. 
 
 Justification; his attitude toward them: 
 (i) Neg. He has wronged, hurt, taken advantage of no 
 
 man. 
 (2) Pos. They are his heart's life; vs. 3. 
 
 e. His confidence and pride in them; vs. 4. 
 
 /. His bubbling over with encouragement and gladness in spite 
 of all his trouble. 
 
 243 
 
6:i2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. The Immediate Cause: Titus' return. 
 
 a. The anxiety preceding it; vs. 5. 
 
 b. The Author, who brought it about, God; vs. 6. 
 
 3. The Underlying Cause: Titus' encouraging message; vs. 7. 
 
 a. Content of message: Their longing, mourning, zeal for Paul. 
 
 b. Significance (to Paul), (vs. 8): 
 
 (i) Neg. Not their being hurt by the letter, which he had 
 
 almost repented sending. 
 (2) Pos. But that they were hurt unto repentance; vs. 9. 
 
 c. Significance (for the church) : It was a God-sent hurt, 
 
 which justified it. 
 (i) Proof (in general), vs. 10: 
 
 (a) A God-sent hurt worketh repentance. 
 lb) A world-sent hurt worketh death. 
 (2) Proof (in particular): The result in the Corinthians: 
 (a) Their eagerness to make good the wrong; vs. 11. 
 {b) Their discovery of how much they cared for Paul; 
 vs. 12. 
 Conclusion: Paul's consequent encouragement; vs. 13. 
 
 4. An Additional Cause: Titus' personal joy; vs. 13. 
 
 a. Its ground: The refreshing of his spirit by the Corinthians. 
 
 b. Its effect on Titus: His heart went out to them; vs. 15. 
 Cause: His memory of: 
 
 (a) Their obedience. 
 
 {b) Their reception of him with fear and trembling. 
 
 c. Its effect on Paul: Satisfaction that he had truthfully 
 
 boasted of them to Titus; vs. 14. 
 Comparison: As truthfully as he has always spoken to 
 them. 
 Conclusion (Summary ; in a word) : 
 
 It is a joy to have confidence in them in everything; vs. 16. 
 
 II. At this point Paul turns from the subject of his ministry 
 to his personal relation to the church at Corinth. The passage is 
 full of emotion. Affection, joy, pathos, humor all blend. He is 
 unspeakably happy over the result of Titus' mission to Corinth 
 and the removal of all constraint, or nearly all, between himself 
 and the Corinthians. 
 
 The words comfort, i.e., encouragement, and joy or rejoice are 
 repeated many times in the paragraph, especially in chapter seven. 
 Under the subject, Paul's joy in the Corinthians, it is possible to 
 gather in outline form all that he says, in spite of its emotional 
 character. The section 6:14 — 7:1 is parenthetical, no matter what 
 the subject of the paragraph as a whole. 
 
 Our mouth is open unto you. The reference is not only to 
 
 244 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:13 
 
 13. are straitened in your own affections. Now for a 
 recompense in like kind (I speak as unto my chil- 
 dren), be ye also enlarged. 
 
 what he is about to say, of which this section (6:11 — 7:4) is 
 the Introduction, but to what he has just been writing in regard 
 to his ministry. He has spoken very frankly. There have been 
 no tight closed lips, indicative of concealment and suppressed 
 bitterness. 
 
 O Corinthians. Paul seldom in the body of his letter addresses 
 his readers by name. It is an indication of his great emotion. 
 See Gal. 3:1; Phil. 4:15. 
 
 Our heart is enlarged. I have thrown wide open to you the 
 doors of my heart. There could hardly be a more winsome or 
 irresistible confession of affection. 
 
 12 Ye are not straitened in us. Straitened is contrasted 
 with enlarged, narrow with wide. If there is still any feeling of 
 constramt on their part, any sense of closed doors or quarters 
 too narrow for them and Paul, the constraint must be in them, 
 for Paul has thrown reserve and diffidence to the winds. 
 
 13. Now for a recompense in like kind, i.e., pay me back 
 in the same coin by opening your hearts wide to me. You are 
 my own children, and I ask it as your father. 
 
 With 7:2 Paul takes up the thought of 6:11-13. Make 
 room in your hearts jar us, he says. If 6:14 — 7:1 were omitted 
 his thought would be continuous and logical. How shall this 
 parenthetical paragraph be explained? The simplest, but least 
 satisfactory explanation, is that it is an interpolation here, in 
 some way dropped into the letter by a copyist who was copying 
 an early manuscript of the letter. It is from Paul's correspond- 
 ence with the church at Corinth, but does not belong at this 
 point. At best this is a guess. There is no evidence to substan- 
 tiate it. 
 
 The most probable suggestion is based on Paul's familiarity 
 with Old Testament language. In the phrases our heart is en- 
 larged, be ye also enlarged, he uses a word whose most familiar 
 association is with the Old Testament. Enlarged is better ren- 
 dered opened wide. It is found in the New Testament only here 
 and in Matt. 23:5. But in Deut. 11:16 is this familiar injunc- 
 tion: "Take heed to yourselves lest your heart be opened wide 
 (R. v., deceived) and ye turn aside and serve other gods. . . ." 
 Having used this word, the association of ideas leads Paul on to 
 say: Do not open wide your hearts to let in unbelief, iniquity, 
 darkness, Belial, idols of any sort . . . make room for us. 
 
 245 
 
6:i4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 14. Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what 
 fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what 
 
 15. communion hath light with darkness? And what 
 concord hath Christ with ^ Belial? or what portion 
 
 16. hath a believer with an unbeliever? And what agree- 
 ment hath a ^ temple of God with idols? for we are 
 a 2 temple of the living God; even as God said, I 
 will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be 
 
 ^ Or, Beliar. ^ Or, Sanctuary. 
 
 This explanation is only plausible. It is not altogether satis- 
 factory, but it is in line with a habit of Paul's to let Old Testa- 
 ment quotations take him a little out of his course. It is given 
 probability by the use of such words as Belial and idols, which 
 indicate that he is thinking in Old Testament terms; and also 
 by his emphatic and pointed change (7:2) to another word for 
 open. The marginal reading makes this plain. Make room for 
 us is better than open, which should have been used for enlarged 
 (11, 13). If we knew more of the conditions in Corinth we might 
 find easier of explanation this digression about the danger of too 
 intimate association with the heathen. 
 
 14. Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers. In Deut. 
 22:10 is the injunction: "Thou shalt not plow with an ox and 
 an ass together." This seems to be the metaphor in unequally 
 yoked. Unbelievers are non-Christians, and the reference is to 
 the idolatrous and sensual heathen of Corinth, from whose num- 
 ber they had come, and from wide open associations with whom 
 Christians must be separate (17)- 
 
 What fellowship have righteousness and iniquity. The 
 incongruity and the absurdity of a Christian being ivide open 
 to, or unequally yoked with, unbelievers, is illustrated in five 
 epigrammatic antitheses, the incompatibility of (i) righteousness 
 and iniquity (they are not good yoke-fellows); (2) light and 
 darkness; (3) Christ and Belial (Belial is a name for Satan. He 
 is the personification of utter wickedness. Christ is the light of 
 the world and Belial the prince of darkness) ; (4) a believer and 
 an unbeliever; (5) a temple of God and idols. 
 
 Five well-chosen words, all different, all vigorous, are used 
 to characterize the incompatibility. Between these opposites 
 there can be no fellowship (partnership), communion (intimacy), 
 concord (harmony), portion (sharing), agreement (compact). 
 
 16. For we are a temple of the living God. The we and 
 246 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7:1 
 
 17. their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore 
 
 Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, 
 saith the Lord, 
 
 And touch no unclean thing; 
 And I will receive you, 
 
 18. And will be to you a Father, 
 
 And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, 
 7. I. saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these 
 promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all 
 
 the living are emphatic. The we is not Paul's plural for the 
 singular, but we Christians, i.e., the church, are a temple of a God 
 who is living. Idols are not alive. 
 The statement is confirmed by a quotation from Lev. 26:11-12. 
 
 17. Wherefore introduces Old Testament phrases which prove 
 that an intimacy of Christians with heathen is not only incon- 
 gruous but is sinful. Christians are commanded to be separate. 
 The quotations are from several sources (Is. 52:11; Ez. 20:34; 
 2 Sam. 7:14). They are at best only quoted phrases as Paul 
 remembers and adopts Scripture language. But the quotation is 
 much more evident in the Greek than in our English translation. 
 This Old Testament language is an indication that it was the 
 Old Testament phrase open wide which was responsible for this 
 digression. 
 
 18. Sons and daughters. In Is. 43:6 daughters as well as 
 sons of God are mentioned, but it was not a usual form of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 7:1. Therefore introduces the conclusion to the digression, 
 or parenthesis. Because of the commands and promises of God, 
 let us be pure, let us be separate. 
 
 Let us cleanse ourselves. Paul associates himself with his 
 readers in the exhortation and tactfully calls them beloved, a 
 form of address which he uses seldom, only once again in this 
 letter (12:19). Idolatry and impurity were the two heathen sins, 
 most besetting, and to the Jewish and Christian thought most 
 revolting. In the defilement of flesh and spirit Paul has these 
 in mind. They are heathen practices and from them the Chris- 
 tian must cleanse himself. 
 
 Perfecting holiness. Holiness in its very essence means 
 separation, a setting apart for God. It is the climax of the digres- 
 sion. To the heathen and heathen practices of idolatry and 
 impurity the Christian cannot open his heart wide. Perfect 
 
 247 
 
7:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
 the fear of God. 
 
 2. ^ Open your hearts to us: we wronged no man, we 
 
 3. corrupted no man, we took advantage of no man. I 
 say it not to condemn you\ for I have said before, 
 that ye are in our hearts to die together and live to- 
 
 ^ Gr., Make room for us. 
 
 holiness means perfect separation from sin to God. Then, choos- 
 ing another word than open wide, Paul returns to his thought of 
 6:13, Make room for us in your hearts. 
 
 2. We wronged no man. Paul yearns for expressions of 
 affection on their part. He justifies his yearning by his own 
 personal relation to them, negative and positive: he has not 
 wronged, hurt, taken advantage of one of them; on the other 
 hand they are a part of his heart's life; they are in his heart 
 whether he dies or lives. 
 
 3. I say it not to condemn you, for. By insisting so ear- 
 nestly that they ought to be equally frank and affectionate toward 
 him he may seem to be condemning them for coldness or heart- 
 lessness. He is not condemning them; he could not, for they are 
 his very heart. Where there is such a wealth of affection there 
 is no room for condemnation. 
 
 I have said before. Probably he refers to 3:2, written in our 
 hearts. 
 
 4. Great is my boldness. Frank confidence is better than 
 boldness of speech. Great is my confidence in you, great is my 
 glorying over you, i.e., I am very proud of you, I sound your 
 praises. 
 
 I am filled with comfort. Again encouragement is a better 
 word than comfort. His thought is once more where it was in 
 1:3-7. In all our affliction. The same phrase that he used in 
 1:4. In spite of his trouble (literally upon all our affliction) en- 
 couragement and gladness fill his heart full till it runs over. 
 
 5. For. By for is introduced the first of the three grounds or 
 causes for Paul's special joy. The immediate cause is Titus' 
 return from Corinth. 
 
 That Paul had met Titus somewhere in Macedonia is implied 
 but not stated in 2:13 ff., where Paul speaks of leaving Troas 
 because he was so eager to hear from Titus, and of going across 
 to Macedonia. His outburst of thanksgiving to God for his Tri- 
 umphal Procession interrupts his story there. It is taken up in 
 7:5 just where it was broken off at 2:13. Titus came at last. 
 
 248 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7:7 
 
 4. gether. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, 
 great is my glorying on your behalf: I am tilled with 
 comfort, I overflow with joy in all our affliction. 
 
 5. For even when we were come into Macedonia, our 
 flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every 
 side; without were fightings, within were fears. 
 
 6. Nevertheless he that comforteth the lowly, even 
 
 7. God, comforted us by the ^ coming of Titus; and 
 not by his ^ coming only, but also by the comfort 
 
 ^ Gr., presence. 
 
 Our flesh had no relief. In Troas he had no relief for his 
 spirit (2:13). In Macedonia his fiesh had no relief. The two 
 phrases cannot be very different in meaning. Usually Paul con- 
 trasts strongly spirit and flesh. But here flesh is not the seat of 
 sin but the seat of natural emotions, dread, anxiety, fears. Even 
 in Macedonia he had a hard time till at last Titus reached him. 
 
 Afflicted on every side. What he says of affliction and 
 comfort here helps to interpret what he meant when he used 
 these words repeatedly in the first chapter (1:3-11). What the 
 troubles were which surrounded him in Macedonia he does not 
 say. But he implies that they were of two kinds. 
 
 Without were fightings, within were fears. The fears 
 from within are easily understood. Paul feared lest the delay 
 of Titus meant the failure of his mission to Corinth. He feared 
 that his letter, written with many tears, had not had the desired 
 effect. What the fightings from without were no one can deter- 
 mine. Possibly he was beset with opponents. But why should 
 he have had contests with them in Macedonia? More likely the 
 reference is to the fight which he is having with the church at 
 Corinth. Not till Titus comes and announces peace is the struggle 
 over. 
 
 6. He that comforteth the lowly. He that encourageth 
 those who are depressed, those who are discouraged. As in 1:3 
 Paul lays strong emphasis on the fact that God is the author and 
 source of all encouragement. 
 
 The coming of Titus. The marginal rendering presence is 
 not preferable. It adds a meaning that is in the word coming. 
 
 It was the arrival and presence of Titus that occasioned the 
 joy. 
 
 7. And not by his coming only. There was a still deeper 
 meaning to Paul's joy. It was Titus' message that was the 
 
 249 
 
7:8 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 wherewith he was comforted in you, while he told 
 us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so 
 
 8. that I rejoiced yet more. For though I made you 
 sorry with my epistle, I do not regret it, though I 
 did regret ; ^ f or I see that that epistle made you 
 
 9. sorry, though but for a season. Now I rejoice, not 
 that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made 
 sorry unto repentance: for ye were made sorry after 
 a godly sort, that ye might suffer loss by us in 
 
 10. nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities omit for. 
 
 underlying cause. Titus' feeling of encouragement and optimism 
 as he made his report caused Paul to rejoice yet more. 
 
 Your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me. These 
 were the three special points in Titus' report. They were eager 
 to see Paul; they were sorry for what they had said and done; 
 they were ardent, not half-hearted or lukewarm, but intensely 
 in earnest. 
 
 8. For, explanatory of Paul's rejoicing at their sorrow. The 
 significance to Paul of this report from Titus that they were 
 sorry was not in the fact of their hurt, but in the fact of their 
 repentance. His letter, in spite of his fears, had produced the 
 desired effect. 
 
 Though I did regret. The latter part of verse 8 should be 
 read as a parenthesis inserted between though I did regret and 
 now I rejoice, and these two should be brought together. The 
 punctuation in the text is not the most satisfactory. It might 
 be rendered in this way: For though I made you sorry with my 
 epistle I do not regret it. Even though I did begin to regret it, 
 when I saw that the epistle, though only for a season, had made 
 you sorry, yet now I rejoice . . . 
 
 9. Sorry after a godly sort. A second significance of Titus' 
 encouraging report is that the hurt has proved to be God-sent 
 and so has been justified. After a godly sort is equivalent to 
 according to God's plan. If the letter of Paul caused a God-sent 
 hurt, then the hurt cannot be laid to Paul's account as damage 
 or loss which he has caused. God's purpose turns what might 
 have been loss into gain. 
 
 10. The proof, in general, that it was a God-sent hurt is found 
 in its result. When God sends a hurt it results in a repentance 
 
 250 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7^11 
 
 ^ unto salvation, a repentance which bringeth no 
 regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
 II. For behold, this selfsame thing, that ye were made 
 sorry after a godly sort, what earnest care it wrought 
 in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what 
 indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what longing, yea, 
 what zeal, yea, what avenging! In everything ye 
 
 ^ Or, unto a salvation which bringeth no regret. 
 
 which ends in a joyful salvation. A world- sent hurt never stops 
 hurting till it has wrought out its natural end, death. 
 
 Salvation — which bringeth no regret. The rendering of 
 the margin is preferable. The salvation in which the hurt results 
 had its beginning in repentance (regret) and has its end in a state 
 never to be regretted (repented of). 
 
 Sorrow of the world. Not a parallel phrase with godly 
 sorrow, but almost parallel in its meaning. It is not a worldly 
 (i.e., an insincere or superficial) sorrow, but a sorrow which be- 
 longs to the world as opposed to God. If pain or hurt is used 
 instead of sorrow Paul's meaning is clearer. If he had written his 
 severe letter in any but a Christian spirit it would have proved 
 not a godly sorrow but a sorrow of the world, and it would not 
 have stopped till it had wrought out a condition the opposite of 
 salvation — death. 
 
 II. A second proof, in particular, is the actual effect of this 
 God-sent sorrow on the Corinthians. It takes two avenues of 
 expression. The one is their discovery of how much they really 
 cared for Paul; and the other is their eagerness to make good 
 the wrong. 
 
 What earnest care. As the same words are used again in 
 the next verse, where it is earnest care for us, that is probably 
 his meaning here. Titus, in his report, has laid great emphasis 
 on the fact that the church at Corinth has discovered that it 
 really does care very much for Paul. 
 
 What clearing of yourselves. The six descriptive words of 
 which clearing is the first are summarized by the last clause, in 
 everything ye approved yourselves to be pure in the matter. 
 This is the second effect of the letter and the godly sorrow it 
 caused, an eagerness to make good the wrong. Clearing of your- 
 selves; i.e., of participation in the wrong. Indignation, at those 
 who had wronged Paul. Fear, genuine alarm at the probable 
 consequences. Longing, to have the wrong righted and win 
 
7:i2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 12. approved yourselves to be pure in the matter. So 
 although I wrote unto you, / wrote not for his cause 
 that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered 
 the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be 
 
 13. made manifest unto you in the sight of God. There- 
 fore we have been comforted: and in our comfort we 
 joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, be- 
 
 14. cause his spirit hath been refreshed by you all. For 
 if in anything I have gloried to him on your behalf, 
 
 Paul's forgiveness. Zeal, ardor, fervor, in their resolve to make 
 good. Avenging, insistence on the punishment of the offender. 
 
 12. So. A repetition in a little different form of the thought 
 of the preceding verse. The effect of the letter justifies and 
 proves Paul's real purpose in writing it. Primarily it was not to 
 secure the punishment of the one who did the wrong; it was 
 not to secure reparation for the one who suffered the wrong; it 
 was to reveal the Corinthians to themselves, and bring them to 
 see how closely they were bound to Paul. 
 
 In the sight of God — that is, as God sees it; as in His pres- 
 ence. Their vision of things and relations, especially of their 
 relations to Paul, had been obscured. Paul's letter has cleared it. 
 In the sight of God things are seen as they are. 
 
 13. Therefore. The conclusion to the preceding paragraph. 
 Because of Titus' encouraging report we were and are en- 
 couraged. 
 
 And in our comfort we joyed the more. This introduces 
 the fourth fact which Paul states about his joy in the Corinthians; 
 an additional cause for his joy is the personal joy of Titus. Titus 
 had returned from Corinth so happy over the outcome of his 
 mission and so buoyant of spirit, so refreshed, that Paul's joy 
 was greatly increased just by observing Titus' joy. 
 
 14. For introduces an explanation of Paul's special pleasure 
 that Titus is so happy over his mission to Corinth. Titus had 
 not been so sanguine in advance as to its probable outcome. Paul 
 had assured him that the Corinthians would prove true. He 
 had gloried to him on their behalf, had boasted a little about 
 them. And now he can say to Titus, "I told you so," / was not 
 put to shame. 
 
 But as we spake all things to you in truth. Paul takes 
 this tactful and playful way of adding another proof of his sin- 
 cerity and truth. "Another instance," he says, "of my truth- 
 
 252 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 7^16 
 
 I was not put to shame; but as we spake all things 
 to you in truth, so our glorying also, which I made 
 
 15. before Titus, was found to be truth. And his inward 
 affection is more abundantly toward you, whilst he 
 remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear 
 
 16. and trembling ye received him. I rejoice that in 
 everything I am of good courage concerning you. 
 
 fulness ! What I said to Titus about you, boasting of you, proved 
 to be just as true as what I have said to you about myself, 
 'boastingly.' " 
 
 15. His inward affection is more abundantly toward you. 
 Titus' heart goes out to the church at Corinth every time he 
 thinks of the reception which the church gave him. 
 
 Obedience . . . fear and trembling. Evidently Titus went 
 to Corinth with something like an ultimatum from Paul. The 
 Apostle magnified his authority and the authority of his office. 
 He did not hesitate to command. To Titus' surprise and joy 
 the Corinthians obeyed. They recognized the right of Paul to 
 enjoin them (see Philem. 8). And they received Paul's repre- 
 sentative with fear and trembling. The phrase is peculiarly Paul's. 
 It is found four times only m the New Testament, and these four 
 times in Paul's letters (i Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:15; Eph. 6:5; Phil. 
 2:12). A study of these four indicates that Paul uses fear and 
 trembling to mean an eager desire to do the right, fairly quiver- 
 ing with the excitement and gravity of it. 
 
 16. I rejoice. Here is the summary of the whole paragraph 
 from 6:11 to 7:16. It is a fitting conclusion to this section and 
 to all the epistle to this point. "In a word," he says, "it makes 
 me very happy to feel that I have absolute confidence in you." 
 
 With this chapter ends the first and longest division of the 
 epistle. It begins and ends with almost ecstatic expressions of 
 joy and encouragement because of Titus' report of the church 
 at Corinth. Between the beginning and end there is a defense 
 of his sincerity and of his ministry. All seven chapters glow 
 with an electric charge of intense emotion. With the possible 
 exception of 6:14 — 7:1 it is a unity in thought and style. 
 
 It is followed by a totally different subject, chapters 7 and 8. 
 
 253 
 
8:i 
 
 IV. The Grace of Giving (to the Saints at Jeru- 
 salem) ; 8: 1 — 9:15 
 
 8. I. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the 
 grace of God which hath been given in the churches 
 
 The Grace of Giving 
 
 1. Illustrated in the Churches of Macedonia. 
 
 a. Its source: God; vs. i. 
 
 b. Its wealth of generosity; vss. 2, 4. 
 
 (i) Origin: A combination of joy and poverty. 
 (2) Sphere: Trouble's testing. 
 
 c. Its spontaneity. 
 
 (i) Measure: To the top of their ability and beyond; 
 
 vs. 3. 
 (2) Form it took: Begging the favor of giving; vs. 4. 
 
 d. Its accompanying devotion — first offered themselves; vs. 5. 
 (i) Object (indirect) to the Lord and to Paul, 
 
 (2) Measure: Beyond expectation. 
 
 (3) Influence: God's will. 
 
 (4) Result: Titus' mission — encouraging Paul to send 
 
 Titus to Corinth; vs. 6. 
 
 e. Its worthiness of imitation — abound in this grace also; vs. 7. 
 (i) By whom? The Corinthians. 
 
 (2) To what extent? The abounding of their other graces, 
 faith . . . love. 
 
 2. Desired in the Churches of Achaia. 
 
 a. Its significance: A proof of genuine love; vss. 7, 8. 
 
 Illustration: The grace of Jesus. He became poor; vs. 9. 
 (i) The wonder of it: Though he was rich. 
 
 (2) The reason for it: Their need. 
 
 (3) The purpose of it: That they might be rich. 
 
 h. Its expediency: It would be to their credit; vs. 10. 
 (i) Proof: Only Paul's opinion. 
 (2) Reason: Their reputation is at stake. 
 
 Proof: 
 
 {a) They were first to begin. 
 
 1. Time: Last year. 
 
 2. Object: Plan and accomplishment. 
 
 254 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:i 
 
 (b) They ought to carry it through; vs. ii, 
 
 1. Time: Now. 
 
 2. Extent: Their ability. 
 
 Explanation: No one is asked to do more than 
 he can; vs. 12. 
 c. Its obligation: Mere Christian reciprocity; vs. 13. 
 (i) Explanation: 
 
 (a) Negative: Not an exchange of poverty. 
 (6) Positive: but a fair division, 
 
 (i) Now — their own abundance helps others. 
 (2) Another time — they are helped by others; vs. 
 14. 
 (2) Illustration: (Scripture) the manna-gathering; vs. 15. 
 3. Administered efficiently in both provinces; vs. 19. 
 
 a. Manner: With every precaution against occasion for sus- 
 
 picion, 
 (i) Not only in fact; vs. 20. 
 (2) But also in appearances; vs. 21. 
 
 b. Agents: Honest, well-accredited men. 
 (i) Their identity: 
 
 (a) Titus — v/ho has a zeal for them like Paul's; vs. 16. 
 (i) Source: God-given. 
 (2) Proof; vs. 17: 
 
 (a) He welcomed Paul's exhortation. 
 
 (b) He volunteered for the mission. 
 
 (6) The brother whose praise is in all the churches; 
 vs. 18. 
 (i) Appointment: By Paul. 
 (2) Election: By vote of churches, 
 (a) Purpose: To travel with Paul. 
 (5) Object: Ministration of this grace. 
 
 (c) End: Furthering God's glory and Paul's 
 
 plan. 
 
 (c) Our brother, tried and found true; vs. 22. 
 (i) Extent: In many things, many times. 
 
 (2) Manner: Especially now by his great confi- 
 dence in the Corinthians. 
 
 (d) All of them, as to credentials; vs. 23. 
 (i) Titus — Paul's partner. 
 
 (2) The other two. 
 
 (a) Missionaries of churches. 
 
 (b) The glory of Christ. 
 
 (2) Their reception at Corinth — what it should be; vs. 24. 
 
 (a) A proof of Corinth's love, before the churches. 
 
 (b) A confirmation of Paul's boast. 
 
 255 
 
8:i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 (3) Reasons for sending them in advance; vss. 3, 5. 
 
 (a) Negative: Not lack of interest at Corinth; vs. i. 
 Proof: 
 
 (i) Paul's boast of their f orehandedness ; vs. 2, 
 (2) The inspiration of their zeal. 
 
 (b) Positive: But to avoid the possibility of; vs. 3: 
 (i) Their being surprised in unreadiness. 
 
 (2) Their shame, and Paul's, at the discovery; vs. 4, 
 
 (c) Positive: To assist in prearrangements; vs. 5. 
 (i) Specification: The before-promised benefit. 
 (2) Reason: That the readiness may be 
 
 (a) Neg. Not an expression of selfishness. 
 
 (b) Pos. But a real blessing. 
 
 4. Regulated (governed) by the Law of the Harvest. 
 
 a. The Law in Nature — its two principles; vs. 6: 
 (i) Sow sparingly, reap sparingly; 
 
 (2) Sow liberally, reap liberally (with blessings). 
 
 b. The law in Christian life: 
 (i) Sow liberally; vs. 7. 
 
 (a) Method: With deliberate purpose. 
 (6) Manner: With cheerfulness, not grudgingly. 
 Incentive: God loves a cheerful giver. 
 (2) Reap liberally — God will make all grace abound; vs. 8. 
 
 (a) Intended result — Twofold; 
 
 (i) Contentment, because of sufficient for the 
 
 givers' needs; 
 (2) Opportunity to abound in every good work. 
 
 (b) Proof (from Scripture, Ps. 112:9): 
 
 The man who gives liberally prospers forever; 
 vs. 9. 
 Application: The Lord of the Harvest will supply 
 seed and fruit; vs. 10. 
 
 (c) Effect — upon the Jerusalem Christians: 
 
 (i) Many thanksgivings to God; vss. 11, 12. 
 Ground: 
 
 (a) Their needs are supplied. 
 
 (b) The proof of the givers' faith; vs. 13. 
 (2) Many prayers for the givers; vs. 14. 
 
 Conclusion: Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift; vs. 15. 
 
 Chapters 8 and 9 take up the subject of the contribution for 
 the Jerusalem Christians which was being made, under Paul's 
 direction, by the churches of the four Roman provinces, Galatia, 
 Asia, Macedonia and Achaia. A reference to the subject The 
 Contribution, in the Introduction, and to the outline of these 
 
 256 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:2 
 
 of Macedonia; how that in much proof of affliction 
 the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty 
 
 two chapters which is easily discovered from the text, makes 
 detailed comment almost unnecessary. Paul takes occasion not 
 only to urge upon the church at Corinth to be ready with their 
 quota of the contribution, but also to lay down for them some 
 ver>' fundamental principles underlying the grace of liberality. 
 
 He begins by using the generosity of the churches of Macedonia 
 as a glorious example, worthy of imitation by the churches of 
 Achaia. Paul's tact in the use of praise and the stimulus of 
 rivalry is beautifully illustrated in the two chapters. 
 
 8:1. Moreover, brethren, marks the transition to a totally 
 different subject 
 
 The grace of God which hath been given in the churches 
 of Macedonia. The giving of the churches of Macedonia has in 
 its unselfishness and in its lavish generosity been like God's giv- 
 ing. God's grace is His gracious giving. It has found an expres- 
 sion in the giving of these churches. So Paul can speak of their 
 generosity as being the grace of God exhibited in them. 
 
 As always, Paul speaks in terms geographical of Roman prov- 
 inces. Macedonia was such a province. The churches in Mace- 
 donia of which Acts makes mention as Paul's churches are those 
 of Philippi, Thessalonica and Beroea (Acts 16-17). 
 
 2. In much proof of affliction, i.e., in spite of the fact that 
 they were being tested by serious troubles. Joy and . . . pov- 
 erty. Out of that combination of great joy and deep poverty 
 springs a lavish generosity. Poverty was one of the afflictions 
 by which they were being tested. 
 
 Liberality. The marginal rendering singleness is not to be 
 preferred to liberality, but it throws light on the real significance 
 of the word. The same word is rendered liberality (9:11, 13; 
 Rom. 12:8), simplicity (11:3), singleness (Eph. 6:5; Col. 3:22), 
 and these are its only occurrences in the New Testament. In 
 the Sermon on the Mount Jesus uses the adjective single. Let 
 thine eye be single; where the meaning is that the eyes of the 
 heart, like the eyes in the head, must focus and see like a single 
 eye, if the vision is to be perfect. The eyes must not attempt 
 to look in two directions at the same time. So singleness is the 
 faculty of undivided attention; it is the faculty of seeing straight. 
 As applied to giving, singleness is that liberality which gives with- 
 out grudging (9:7) and gives disinterestedly. It does not look 
 in two directions at the same time. 
 
8:3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 3. abounded unto the riches of their ^ liberality. For 
 according to their power, I bear witness, yea and 
 beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, 
 
 4. beseeching us with much intreaty in regard of this 
 grace and the fellowship in the ministering to the 
 
 5. saints: and this, not as we had hoped, but first they 
 gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us by the 
 
 6. will of God. Insomuch that we exhorted Titus, that 
 as he had made a beginning before, so he would also 
 
 ^ Gr., singleness. 
 
 3. According to their power. Better than power would be 
 ability, i.e., ability to give. To the top of their financial ability 
 and beyond it they gave. The awkwardness of the long sentence 
 (vss. 3-5), which by the use of italics in the English version is 
 somewhat lessened, is more than counterbalanced by the graceful- 
 ness of the tribute Paul pays to the Macedonian churches. Their 
 spontaneity takes the form of requesting the privilege of a part 
 in this contribution. And much as Paul had expected of them 
 they passed beyond his expectations, voluntarily offering to him 
 themselves as well as their money for whatever part in the 
 Lord's service they might be permitted to take. 
 
 4. This grace and the fellowship. Fellowship means shar- 
 ing. It might be paraphrased: begging us with much urgency 
 for the opportunity of giving {grace), i.e., for their share (fel- 
 lowship) in being of service (ministering) to their fellow Chris- 
 tians. Possibly Paul, on account of their poverty, had tried to 
 dissuade them from taking any large part in the contribution. 
 
 5. Not as we had hoped, i.e., beyond Paul's expectation. 
 But first, i.e., most important of all. To the Lord and to us. 
 They offered themselves to the service of Christ, and then put 
 themselves at Paul's disposal for whatever part in Christ's service 
 he might suggest. 
 
 By the will of God. This may be Paul's explanation of the 
 influence back of such devotion. He referred every good influ- 
 ence to God's will. Or it may be the answer which the Mace- 
 donian churches gave to any protest on his part that they were 
 giving beyond their ability, or that they ought not to put them- 
 selves without any reservation under his direction. 
 
 6. Insomuch. This introduces the result of the devotion and 
 generosity of the Macedonian churches. By them Paul has been 
 encouraged to urge upon Titus that he return to Corinth where 
 
 258 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:9 
 
 7. complete in you this grace also. But as ye abound in 
 everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, 
 and in all earnestness, and in ^ your love to us, see 
 
 8. that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by 
 way of commandment, but as proving through the 
 earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. 
 
 9. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, 
 though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became 
 
 ^ Some ancient authorities read our love to you. 
 
 at some previous time, not on his recent visit, he had laid the 
 foundations for the Corinthians' part in the contribution, and 
 bring the matter to a successful conclusion. 
 
 This grace also. The grace of giving to the Jerusalem Chris- 
 tians. By the also Paul tactfully implies that this is not the 
 only grace of his Corinthian readers, and then he goes on to 
 make specifications. 
 
 7. But as ye abound in everything. Paul chooses his words 
 very carefully. He is tactful but discriminating. There are 
 graces to which he does not refer, and which his readers lacked. 
 In I Cor. 1:5 he mentions utterance and knowhdge as the gifts 
 in which they are enriched. To these he here adds faith, earnest- 
 ness and love to us. (The reading of the text is much to be pre- 
 ferred to that of the margin.) In all of these he can honestly 
 say that the Corinthians abound. 
 
 8. With verses 7 and 8 Paul turns from the illustration to the 
 application, from Macedonia to Achaia. What Macedonia has 
 done Achaia ought to do. He does not use the name of the 
 province Achaia until 9:2, but there is no doubt that he is stimu- 
 lating a generous rivalry between two provinces. He does it 
 not by way of commandment. Though he often waived the 
 right to command, he always insisted that as an apostle he had 
 the authority (Philem. 8, 9). 
 
 The sincerity also of your love. Although he has just 
 spoken of their love for him (vs. 7) in which they abound, 
 verse 8 shows that it is not their personal loyalty to him that 
 he wishes to bring to the proof, but their love for their fellow 
 Christians who are in need. Generous giving is sufficient evidence 
 of the sincerity of Christian love (see i Jn. 3:17-18). There is 
 no doubt about Macedonia. Paul expects the same results when 
 Achaia's love is put to the test. 
 
 9. For introduces the illustration which explains what he 
 
 259 
 
8:io EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. 
 10. And herein I give my judgement: for this is expedi- 
 ent for you, who were the first to make a beginning 
 
 means. Love which not only gives but gives up may be stamped 
 as sterling. It stands the test. 
 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This favorite phrase 
 of Paul's has become specially familiar from his use of it as a 
 closing benediction to his letters (i Cor. 16:23; 2 Cor. 13:14; 
 Gal. 6:18; Phil. 4:23; I Thess. 5:28; 2 Thess. 3:18; Philem. 
 25). Its use here may help to make his benedictions more vivid. 
 The gracious giving (grace) of Christ they well knew. It was 
 Paul's one great theme. The emphatic phrase is for your 
 sakes. Because of his love for the Corinthians Christ gave him- 
 self and gave up his rich estate. It is the supreme example of 
 genuine love (see i Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8). 
 
 He became poor. Paul's thought is almost surely of the 
 riches that Christ had before the incarnation, which he gave up 
 in order to become a man (Phil. 2:6-8). But neither here nor 
 elsewhere does he elaborate this thought. His references to the 
 preexistent Christ are always vague and always to point another 
 truth. The reference here is not to the poverty of the Nazareth 
 home and the carpenter shop in particular, but to the eternal 
 choice which Christ made of the glory of the cross instead of 
 the glory of riches, honor and reputation. The temptation scene 
 in his life illustrates that choice. Even in Col. 1:16-17 it is 
 the preeminence rather than the preexistence of Christ which is 
 Paul's emphasis. 
 
 10. Verse 9 is parenthetical in its explanation. Verse 10 takes 
 up the thought of verse 8. Paul does not command, but he gives 
 his judgment. This is expedient. Their reputation is at stake. 
 They cannot afford to let a good beginning end in a failure, not 
 merely because of what others may think, but because of their 
 own moral character. 
 
 A year ago, i.e., last year; not necessarily twelve months ago. 
 It was, however, some time before this, or there would be no 
 point to his boast in 9:2. 
 
 Not only to do but also to will. It would seem more 
 natural to say "not only to will but also to do." But Paul uses 
 the other order intentionally. The Corinthians began their plans 
 before the churches of any other province got started, and their 
 beginning was not only a single act (to do) but a continued 
 purpose (to will) to persist. Probably the doing had been in- 
 terrupted by the church troubles through which the Corinthians 
 
 260 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:14 
 
 11. a year ago, not only to do, but also to will. But now 
 complete the doing also; that as there was the readi- 
 ness to will, so there may be the completion also out 
 
 12. of your ability. For if the readiness is there, it is 
 acceptable according as a man hath, not according as 
 
 13. he hath not. For / say not this, that others may be 
 
 14. eased, and ye distressed: but by equality; your 
 
 had just passed, but the purpose to do was still present. To this 
 Paul appeals. Verse 11 makes this evident. 
 
 11. Out of your ability, i.e., according to your means. The 
 following verse explains the phrase. Paul is not insisting that 
 they should give beyond their power as the Macedonians had 
 done (vs. 3). 
 
 12. For. Again for introduces an explanation of that which 
 is implied but not actually expressed. It is indirect. The implied 
 thought is: I do not ask you to give beyond your ability — jor 
 it is the spirit of willingness that makes the giving acceptable, 
 no matter whether a man has much to give or little. 
 
 According as a man hath. It is not necessary to supply 
 the subject in italics a man. The readiness might be the subject. 
 Then it would read: if the spirit of willingness is in evidence it 
 is acceptable according as it hath, not according as it hath not. 
 The latter phrase is awkward, but its meaning is plain. A tactful 
 person receives a gift from a poor man graciously, thinking of 
 what the man has to give, much or little, not thinking of his 
 poverty. He accepts it with gratitude; he does not protest that 
 the poor man cannot afford it. 
 
 13. For. Another explanatory for. It may be coordinate 
 with the for of verse 12, and give another explanation for asking 
 them to give only according to their means. But it is better to 
 carry its explanation back to the plea for the contribution, 
 abound in this grace also (vs. 7), for it carries the obligation of 
 Christian reciprocity— egwo/ffy he calls it. It has its negative and 
 positive side. It does not mean an exchange of poverties, but 
 only that those Christians who have are under obligation to help 
 those who have not. Sometime the tables may be turned. Then 
 the obligation will rest upon the Jerusalem Christians to send a 
 contribution to Corinth. 
 
 14. But by equality. This is vague. It is better to drop the 
 semicolon which follows it and render it something like this: 
 But on the principle of fairness (equalization, equity, equality) 
 your abundance . . . 
 
 261 
 
8:i5 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 abundance being a supply at this present time for 
 their want, that their abundance also may become 
 a supply for your want; that there may be equality: 
 
 15. as it is written, He that gathered much had noth- 
 ing over; and he that gathered little had no lack. 
 
 16. But thanks be to God, which putteth the same 
 
 That their abundance also. How the tables could be turned 
 so that Jerusalem would have the privilege and duty of sending 
 help to Corinth Paul does not say. It is simply a possible 
 hypothesis to illustrate what he means by equality or fairness. 
 In Rom. 15:27 Paul speaks of the Gentiles paying their spiritual 
 mdebtedness to Jerusalem with carnal coin. He is there referring 
 to this same contribution. But that thought is entirely lacking 
 here. He does not ask the Corinthians to pay debts, but to be 
 generous and fair. 
 
 15. As it is written. An illustration taken from the manna- 
 gathering of Ex. 16:18. The point of the illustration has nothing 
 to do with generous giving, but only with a fair proportion of 
 food for every man. It suggests itself to Paul as an Old Testa- 
 ment instance, not of a community of goods, but of a principle 
 of equality in the supply of the necessities of life. Each m-an 
 bad just what, and only what he needed. 
 
 16. Abruptly Paul turns from the exhortation for a generous 
 contribution on the part of Corinth, to a statement of the 
 efficiency and honesty with which such a financial experiment has 
 been and must be administered. Paul had good business prin- 
 ciples. He was not careless in money matters. He took every 
 precaution that there should be no suspicion that some of the 
 money stuck to his fingers. Verses 8:16—9:5 have to do with 
 this matter of efficient administration. They take up the manner 
 and the agents. Verses 20-21 speak briefly of the manner. All 
 the rest is about the agents. 
 
 Thanks be to God. The transition to the new thought is 
 made by another of Paul's exclamations of gratitude. Again his 
 word thanks is identified with his word grace. It is unfortunate 
 that the English cannot reproduce the identity (see note on 
 2:14). Five times already in chapter 8 he has used grace for 
 gracious giving. Here he uses the same word for gracious accept- 
 ing, viz., thanks. 
 
 Titus is the first of the three agents and the only one men- 
 tioned by name. Paul refers to him as one who had the same 
 earnest care for the Cormthians that he himself had. Earnest 
 
 262 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:19 
 
 17. earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. For in- 
 deed he accepted our exhortation; but being himself 
 very earnest, he went forth unto you of his own 
 
 18. accord. And we have sent together with him the 
 brother whose praise in the gospel is spread through 
 
 19. all the churches; and not only so, but who was also 
 
 care is the word that is rendered earnestness as one of Corinth's 
 graces (vs. 7). This whole paragraph is an opportunity for the 
 study of Paul's tact. He is graceful and generous in introducing 
 his friends. 
 
 17. Titus needs no introduction to Corinth, but he receives 
 a few words of well-deserved commendation. 
 
 For introduces an explanation that is only a conj&rmation of 
 Titus' earnest care. He had accepted Paul's exhortation to go to 
 Corinth, but nevertheless it was of his own volition and because 
 of his great personal interest in the Corinthians that he went. 
 
 He went forth unto you. The reference is not to a former 
 visit, but to the coming visit as bearer of this letter. A better 
 reading would be, he has gone forth, or he goes forth unto you. 
 
 18. The brother whose praise in the gospel is spread 
 through all the churches. The second of the agents is name- 
 less. Not only is he appointed by Paul to accompany Titus 
 to Corinth, but he had previously been elected by the churches 
 to travel with Paul in the interests of this contribution. At 
 least twelve different companions of Paul have been suggested as 
 the brother whom Paul leaves unnamed. In the list are such 
 names as Barnabas, Silas, Mark and Luke. There can be no 
 certainty, but Luke is altogether the most probable. A strange 
 silence in the Acts covers not only Luke but Titus, and also the 
 whole matter of the contribution. Luke seems nevertheless to 
 have been the closest of Paul's companions when the contribu- 
 tion was taken to Jerusalem as well as in the following years, 
 and no one so well fits the requirements for this unnamed dele- 
 gate as he. No reference of course is made to the Gospel accord- 
 ing to Luke in the phrase in the gospel, for that gospel had not 
 yet been written. 
 
 19. Appointed by the churches. What churches, Paul does 
 not say. Possibly the churches of Asia and especially Ephesus, 
 where Paul was located when the plans for the contribution were 
 being made; but more probably the churches of Macedonia from 
 among which he is now writing. 
 
 To travel with us. Most of the arrangements for the con- 
 
 263 
 
8:2o EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 appointed by the churches to travel with us in the 
 matter of this grace, which is ministered by us to the 
 
 20. glory of the Lord, and to shew our readiness: avoid- 
 ing this, that any man should blame us in the matter 
 
 21. oj this bounty which is ministered by us: for we take 
 thought for things honourable, not only in the sight 
 
 22. of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we 
 have sent with them our brother, whom we have 
 
 tribution seem to have been carried out by letter or by mes- 
 senger. The travel was doubtless the voyage which would finally 
 take the accumulated funds to Jerusalem. Other delegates are 
 elected by the churches for the same purpose. 
 
 And to shew our readiness, i.e., our earnest intention. This 
 second delegate was chosen by the churches to travel with Paul 
 for this purpose, viz., the furtherance of God's glory and Paul's 
 plan. 
 
 20. Verses 20 and 21 give an insight into Paul's business 
 methods. He has asked the churches to appoint someone to 
 travel with him in the matter oj this grace in order to avoid any 
 occasion of suspicion that he might himself have been careless in 
 the handling of the money. There is always danger in being the 
 sole administrator of trust funds. It is much to Paul's credit 
 that he realized it. 
 
 This bounty, i.e., this big sum of money which is being con- 
 tributed. 
 
 21. For we take thought for things honorable. Paul 
 adapts a quotation from Prov. .^:4. He was not satisfied merely 
 to have a clear conscience; he was careful about appearances also. 
 He made it a point to be honest not only as God saw him, but 
 even as men saw him. 
 
 22. Our brother. The third member of the party. He too 
 is unnamed. It is even more impossible to identify him than the 
 brother of verse 18. Fewer guesses have been made, and with 
 less general agreement. It is better to leave him, as Paul does, 
 distinguished only by his sterling qualities. 
 
 Proved earnest. Earnest is a favorite word of Paul's in this 
 epistle. It has in it the idea of haste, alacrity, eagerness, as well 
 as earnestness. Many times and in many things Paul has tested 
 this brother and found him eager and efficient. He knows the 
 story of Corinth, though he may never have been there, he be- 
 lieves in the Corinthians, and he is specially eager to have a part 
 in this mission. 
 
 264 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 8:24 
 
 many times proved earnest in many things, but now 
 much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence 
 
 23. which he hath in you. Whether any inquire about 
 Titus, he is my partner and my fellow-worker to you- 
 ward ; or our brethren, they are the ^ messengers of 
 
 24. the churches, they are the glory of Christ. '^ Shew ye 
 therefore unto them in the face of the churches the 
 proof of your love, and of our glorying on your 
 behalf. 
 
 ^ Gr., Apostles. 
 
 'Or, Shew ye therefore in the face . . . on your behalf unto them. 
 
 23. Whether any inquire about Titus. Paul had a gift for 
 recommendation. He is at his best in this verse. The bearers 
 of this letter will lose nothing of prestige when the readers have 
 finished reading it. Titus should be well known in Corinth by 
 this time for his own services, but Paul puts his commendation 
 in this form. He is Paul's partner and associate in all that con- 
 cerns the church at Corinth. 
 
 Or our brethren. Of the two nameless envoys Paul uses two 
 memorable descriptive phrases: They are the messengers of 
 the churches. The word Paul used was apostles. As he was 
 an apostle of Jesus Christ, these two men are apostles of the 
 churches. Missionaries would perhaps be better than messengers. 
 An apostle is one who is sent out on a special mission. 
 
 They are the glory of Christ. Not, they are an honor to 
 Christ, but they are the splendor of Christ. Where they go, 
 there goes the splendor of the character of Jesus Christ; they are 
 glorious men. Nothing more genuinely complimentary was ever 
 by way of introduction said of anyone. 
 
 24. In the face of the churches, i.e., just as if the churches 
 which they represent were there in person to witness the demon- 
 stration. 
 
 The proof. A literal rendering would be demonstrate the 
 demonstration of your love. Paul wanted them to be demon- 
 strative in its real sense. 
 
 Our glorying on your behalf. The reading of the margin 
 is to be preferred. The Corinthians are urged to prove by actual 
 demonstration that their love for Paul was genuine, and that 
 all the boasts regarding them which Paul had made to the three 
 delegates were warranted. 
 
 265 
 
9:i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 9. I. For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is 
 
 2 . superfluous for me to write to you : for I know your 
 readiness, of which I glory on your behalf to them of 
 Macedonia, that Achaia hath been prepared for a 
 year past ; and ^ your zeal hath stirred up ^ very 
 
 3. many of them. But I have sent the brethren, that 
 
 ^ Or, emulation of you. ^ Gr., the more part. 
 
 9:1. With the beginning of chapter 9 Paul turns to the reasons 
 for sending these three men in advance of his own coming. It 
 is the third thing he says about these agents of the Contribution 
 plan. He has spoken of the identity of the men, who and what 
 they were; of their expected reception at Corinth; and now of 
 the reasons for their going on at once, without waiting for him 
 to go with them. There are three reasons; the first is negative, 
 the other two are positive. First, it is not lack of interest at 
 Corinth. 
 
 For. A study of Paul's use of for is always profitable. This 
 for shows the close connection which chapter 9 has with chapter 
 8. It gives the reason for the confident tone of the preceding 
 verse; as if he said: Prove to the churches that our glorying 
 on your behalf is warranted. I know you will, for I am so sure 
 of your readiness that it is superfluous for me to keep writing 
 to you about the contribution. 
 
 The ministering to the saints, i.e., the contribution for the 
 aid of the Jerusalem Christians. 
 
 2. For I know your readiness. This for gives the proof 
 that it is superfluous to keep writing. Having urged the example 
 of the generosity of Macedonia (8:1-5) Paul now very tactfully 
 confesses that he has been using the readiness of Achaia to spur 
 on the Macedonians, boasting that Achaia had her preparations 
 all made last year. He confesses also that the ardor of Achaia, 
 as he had pictured it, had been largely instrumental in spurring 
 on the Macedonians to their splendid liberality. 
 
 Achaia. The Roman province of which Corinth was the 
 capital. Paul as usual speaks in terms of Roman provinces when 
 using geographical terms. For a year past. See note on 8:10. 
 
 Your zeal, i.e., your fire, your ardor, as Paul had pictured it 
 to Macedonia. The reading of the text is to be preferred to the 
 alternative reading of the margin, both here and in the case of 
 very many of them. 
 
 3. But I have sent the brethren. This is the first positive 
 
 266 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9^5 
 
 our glorying on your behalf may not be made void in 
 this respect; that, even as I said, ye may be pre- 
 
 4. pared: lest by any means, if there come with me any 
 of Macedonia, and find you unprepared, we (that 
 we say not, ye) should be put to shame in this 
 
 5. confidence. I thought it necessary therefore to in- 
 treat the brethren, that they would go before unto 
 you, and make up beforehand your aforepromised 
 ^ bounty, that the same might be ready, as a matter 
 of bounty, and not of ^ extortion. 
 
 ^ Gr., blessing. ^ Or, covetousness. 
 
 reason for sending the brethren, Titus and his two companions, 
 in advance. It is to avoid two possibilities, the possibility that 
 after all Achaia might be surprised in unreadiness; and the possi- 
 biUty that both Achaia and Paul might be embarrassed in con- 
 sequence. 
 
 That, even as I said, ye may be prepared. That they had 
 been ready last year did not necessarily prove that they were 
 ready now. Such readiness needs to be progressive and con- 
 tinuous. 
 
 4. If there come with me any of Macedonia. Paul is still 
 planning to make his visit to Corinth. He will go from Mace- 
 donia, and some of those to whom he has been boasting about 
 Achaia's readiness may accompany him. 
 
 Put to shame in this confidence, i.e., embarrassed because 
 of Paul's confidence in their readiness. 
 
 5. The second positive reason for sending the brethren in 
 advance is that they may assist in the prearrangements. 
 
 That they would go before. This is the first mention of 
 the purpose to send these three brethren in advance, although it 
 is implied in verse 4. Here it is made very emphatic. 
 
 Make up beforehand, i.e., before Paul comes to Corinth. 
 Paul did not desire to use any money-getting expedients after 
 he arrived. The three agents of the fund could be of use in a 
 business way in helping to make up, not merely any deficiency, 
 but all the accounts. 
 
 Your aforepromised bounty. Bounty is another word for 
 the contribution. Paul has already called it a grace (8:4), a 
 fellowship in ministering (8:4), a bounty (8:20, meaning big 
 contribution), and in 9:12 he calls it a service. But here his 
 
 267 
 
9:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 6. But this / say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap 
 also sparingly; and he that soweth ^ bountifully shall 
 
 7. reap also ^ bountifully. Let each man do according 
 as he hath purposed in his heart; not ^ grudgingly, or 
 
 1 Gr., with blessings. * Gr., of sorrow. 
 
 word is blessing. Bounty does not give his meaning and the 
 alternative reading is better. It is called benefit, a benediction, a 
 blessing, and it ought to be made so in fact. The word blessing 
 (benediction) originally refers to spoken praise or petition; then 
 the spoken blessing finds more adequate expression in deeds. 
 
 And not of extortion. The rendering of the A. V. and of 
 the margin is better, covetousness. Extortion would seem to 
 imply that if they were not ready when Paul came he would 
 resort to strenuous measures. But it is not a threat. Paul hopes 
 that the three envoys will succeed in making this gift what it is 
 meant to be, a real blessing, and not an expression of a spirit 
 of selfishness. Covetousness is a better rendering than extortion 
 only as it means a greedy desire to have more, and so to keep 
 more, for oneself. 
 
 6. But this I say. Here begins the conclusion to what Paul 
 has to say about this grace. It is governed by the law of the 
 harvest. 
 
 He that soweth bountifully. The word bountifully makes 
 a good contrast to sparingly, and it links the thought to the 
 bounty of the preceding verse, but it misses the figure in Paul's 
 words. The alternative reading with blessings gives the figure 
 but is not quite accurate. A literal rendering would be upon 
 blessings, and the picture in the phrase is of a sower who sows 
 on tlie theory of blessings, with the purpose or intention of bless- 
 ings, and hence generously. It is a picturesque metaphor, re- 
 peated in shall reap also bountifully. The only difference is 
 that the sowing is on the theory of giving blessings, while the 
 reaping will be on the theory of blessings deservedly received. 
 
 7. Here begins the application of Nature's law of the harvest 
 to Christian life. Sowing upon the theory of giving blessings 
 involves method, deliberate, purposeful, intelligent. As he hath 
 purposed in his heart means as he hath deliberately chosen in 
 advance to do. It is not impulsive or spasmodic. It also in- 
 volves a cheerful manner, not grudgingly, or of necessity. 
 Grudgingly is literally out of sorrow; of necessity is out of com- 
 pulsion. 
 
 God loveth a cheerful giver. Cheerful in Paul's Greek is 
 
 268 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9:10 
 
 8. of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And 
 God is able to make all grace abound unto you ; that 
 ye, having always all sufficiency in everything, may 
 
 9. abound unto every good work: as it is written, 
 
 He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the 
 
 poor; 
 His righteousness abideth for ever. 
 10. And he that supplieth seed to the sower and bread for 
 food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, 
 
 a very emphatic word. He quotes rather loosely from Prov. 
 22:8, where the thought is about sowing and reaping, and where, 
 in the Greek version of the Old Testament, there is added to 
 what is found in our English version, "A cheerful man and a 
 giver God blesses." 
 
 8. To make all grace abound unto you. This is the Chris- 
 tian's reaping with blessings. Grace may mean every Christian 
 grace, of which the grace of liberality is one; or, more probably, 
 it means God's grace, God's gracious giving, including both 
 spiritual and temporal gifts. The context favors the latter mean- 
 ing. The intended result, the proof and the effect of this harvest 
 of God's grace follow in the concluding verses. 
 
 That ye, having . . . may abound. It is a twofold result 
 that God purposes. His gifts will result first in the contentment 
 of the giver because he has sufficient for his own needs always, 
 in everything (see Phil. 4:19). This may be actual or psychologi- 
 cal. The man who gives liberally often loses any exaggerated 
 idea of his own needs. And then second, he will abound unto 
 every good work; he will have larger opportunity for giving. 
 
 9. As it is written. A quotation from Ps. 112:9, which is a 
 description of the man who feareth the Lord. He hath scat- 
 tered abroad is suggested to Paul's mind by the metaphor of 
 the sower, and he uses the quotation as a Scripture proof that 
 the liberal man has enough for himself and to give to others. 
 
 His righteousness in the Psalm means either prosperity, or 
 else (see Matt. 6:1) almsgiving, generosity. These are not the 
 usual meanings of righteo-usness with Paul; but this is a quota- 
 tion. 
 
 10. And he that supplieth seed. Using Old Testament 
 phrases Paul puts the personal application to the Scripture proof 
 of verse 9. Is. 55:10 and Hos. 10:12 seem to be the sources 
 of his language, but they are not quoted accurately. It is 
 
 269 
 
grii EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 11. and increase the fruits of your righteousness: ye be- 
 ing enriched in everything unto all ^ liberality, which 
 
 12. worketh through us thanksgiving to God. For the 
 ministration of this service not only filleth up the 
 measure of the wants of the saints, but aboundeth 
 
 13. also through many thanksgivings unto God; seeing 
 
 ^ Gr., singleness. 
 
 especially the word righteousness, which again means bountiful 
 giving, that links this verse to verse 9. The Lord of the harvest 
 who supplies the seed to the sower and gives the harvested grain 
 as bread for eating, will also supply seed to the giver and increase 
 the fruits of his bountiful giving. 
 
 11. Verses 9 and 10 are parenthetical. Verses 11 to 14 con- 
 tinue the thought of verse 8, and enumerate certain of the results 
 that the bountiful grace of God will accomplish. But these re- 
 sults are in the receivers of the contribution instead of the givers. 
 The effect on the Jerusalem Christians will be twofold; they will 
 overflow with thanksgivings to God, and they will pray for 
 their benefactors with earnest solicitation. 
 
 Ye being enriched. The ye goes back in its reference to the 
 ye of verse 8, and the thought of verse 8 is repeated; enriched 
 in everything by God's grace they will abound unto every good 
 work, i.e., unto all liberality. But Paul repeats the thought in 
 order to bring out the resultant effect on the Jerusalem Chris- ' 
 tians. It will be that which seemed to Paul always the result 
 most to be desired — many thanksgivings unto God (cf. i:ii). 
 
 Through us, i.e., through Paul, who is the agent of the con- 
 tribution. 
 
 Thanksgiving to God. This is the subject of verses 11-13. 
 It is one of the very greatest of the anticipated results of the 
 contribution. Verse 12 merely amplifies the thought. 
 
 12. For introduces an explanation which is merely confirma- 
 tory. It repeats the thought with additions for emphasis. 
 
 The ministration of this service. Another phrase to char- 
 acterize the contribution. This word service has in it the idea 
 of a public or community service rendered as an offering to God. 
 
 Not only filleth up. This is of course its main purpose, it 
 goes without saying. Conditions of poverty at Jerusalem are to 
 be alleviated. But of this part of the result Paul says very little. 
 The chorus of thanksgivings which will ascend to God is his chief 
 cause of gratitude. 
 
 270 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 9:15 
 
 that through the proving of you by this ministration 
 they glorify God for the obedience of your confession 
 unto the gospel of Christ, and for the ^ liberality of 
 
 14. your contribution unto them and unto all; while they 
 themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, 
 long after you by reason of the exceeding grace of 
 
 15. God in you. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable 
 gift. 
 
 ^ Gr., singleness. 
 
 13. Seeing that . . . they glorify God. This is the ground 
 of their thanksgivings. It is twofold. It is for the evidence of 
 true Christian faith in these Gentile benefactors as well as for 
 the liberality of their contribution. They glorify God is 
 equivalent to thanksgivings unto God. 
 
 The obedience of your confession unto the gospel of 
 Christ. It is an elaborate phrase, equivalent to "your loyalty 
 to Christ." The Jerusalem Christians were always suspicious 
 of the Gentile converts in distant provinces. It is Paul's earnest 
 hope, not altogether unwavering (see Rom. 15:30-31), that in 
 this contribution Jerusalem will see an evidence that Gentiles 
 becoftie loyal and devoted Christians, obedient to every require- 
 ment of the Christ whom they have confessed. 
 
 Unto them and unto all. There is an implication here that 
 the Jerusalem Christians were not the only subjects of the Co- 
 rinthians' generosity, and that they were aware of it, or would 
 learn of it. 
 
 14. With supplication on your behalf. This is the second 
 anticipated result in the recipients of the contribution. They 
 will make the contributors the object of their earnest prayer, 
 with a genuine affection and longing for them which will lend 
 effectiveness to their petitions. It will be one of the blessings 
 accruing to the liberal givers. 
 
 The exceeding grace of God in you. And so Paul ends 
 this section as he began it (8:1), with the grace of God. His 
 conclusion lets us into the secret of his tremendous interest in 
 this great undertaking. He hoped to see the Jewish Christians 
 of Jerusalem praising God for the genuineness and generosity 
 of the Gentile Christians in the provinces, and earnestly making 
 request to God on their behalf. 
 
 15. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift. A typical 
 conclusion ! Another of Paul's spontaneous bursts of thanksgiv- 
 ing. See 1:3; 2:14; 8:16. Again his word for thanks is his word 
 
 271 
 
9:15 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 for grace. Coming so close together he must have associated 
 them in his thought. 
 
 By unspeakable gift he means a gift beyond all power of 
 language adequately to describe. The gift is Christ; but it is 
 Christ through whom God is bringing together, by bringmg to 
 himself, both Gentile and Jew. To Paul it was a wonderful 
 vision of God's gracious love finding expression in giving. He 
 could not put his thought of it into words. It was ineffable, 
 unspeakable. 
 
 272 
 
io:i 
 
 V. Paul's Glorying; io:i — 12:13 
 
 I. The Boldness Which Characterizes it; 10:1-18 
 
 10. I. Now I Paul myself intreat you by the meekness 
 and gentleness of Christ, I who in your presence am 
 
 Paul's Glorying 
 
 I. The "boldness" which characterizes it. 
 
 a. Its caricature by his opponents. 
 The forms it takes: 
 
 (i) He looks meek when present, is bold when absent; vs. i. 
 
 (2) His letters are fierce, his speech of no account; vs. 10. 
 
 (3) He walks very humanly; no spiritual power; vs. 2. 
 
 b. Its genuineness: 
 
 What he is in word and letter that he is in deed; vs. 11. 
 
 c. Its proof (test): Not a thing to be desired; vs. 2. 
 (i) Reason: Paul's estimate of its effect. 
 
 (2) Reason: It is no human warfare he wages; vs. 3. 
 (o) Concession: Though he is human. 
 
 (b) Evidence: His weapons are not human; vs. 4. 
 
 (c) Evidence: The nature of the warfare; vs. $. 
 (i) Casting down self -exalted things. 
 
 (2) Taking captive thoughts. 
 
 (3) Holding reserves for discipline; vs. 6. 
 
 (3) Reason: No one looks or is any more Christ's than 
 
 Paul looks and is; vs. 7. 
 
 (4) Reason: His authority is genuine; vs. 8: 
 
 (a) Equal to any boast he makes of it. 
 
 (b) No mere scarecrow; vs. 9. 
 
 (5) Reason: The sort of "glorying" to which it leads him; 
 
 vs. 12. 
 
 (a) Negative: Not that of those who commend them- 
 
 selves, 
 (i) Measure: Using themselves as measure. 
 (2) Estimate: They are anything but wise. 
 
 (b) Negative: Not a "glorying" which leaps bounds; 
 
 vs. 13. 
 (i) Manner: By overreaching itself; vs. 14; 
 
10 :i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 (2) Manner: By appropriating others' labors; 
 
 vs. is; 
 
 (3) Manner: By trespassing on others' grounds; 
 
 vs. 16. 
 (c) Positive: but a "measured" glorying; vs. 13. 
 (i) Measure: God's measuring-rod. 
 
 (2) Field: Even Corinth. 
 
 (3) Future anticipations: The parts beyond; 
 
 vs. 16. 
 Conclusion: Whom the Lord commends is approved; vs. 18. 
 Proof: (Scripture) Jer. 9:24. 
 
 With chapter 10 begins another subject. Chapters 10-13 form 
 a separate section of the epistle, quite distinct from all that has 
 preceded it. For a full statement of the difference and the prob- 
 able inference the Introduction should be consulted. 
 
 It is assumed here that these four chapters were not a part 
 of the original letter. They were written of course by Paul to 
 Corinth, but they were a separate letter or a part of a separate 
 letter. This separate letter may or may not have been the letter 
 referred to in 2:4. If it is that letter, then it can be only a part 
 of it, not the whole of it. This is the easiest hypothesis by which 
 to explain the great difficulties which arise. It is not altogether 
 satisfactory but it is workable. 
 
 The outline of this section of the epistle is made to follow in 
 sequence the outline of chapters 1-9, for there is no evidence that 
 anyone ever knew of the epistle being divided into parts. It 
 could hardly be outlined as a separate letter for it lacks so much 
 that an entire letter would necessarily have. That Paul had no 
 very clear outline of his own in mind when he wrote the letter 
 is proved by the difficulty of making a satisfactory outline for 
 him. His thought is occasionally involved, and his language, 
 always vigorous, is sometimes vague. Much of the vagueness is 
 due to his veiled use of quoted words and phrases, references 
 which must have been perfectly clear to his readers, but are not 
 to us. They may have been used of Paul to his face when he 
 was recently in Corinth. Some of them may have been reported 
 to him. It is impossible to be sure of them all, but the following 
 list includes most of them, the words "bold" and "boast" 
 ("glory") being the chief est: 
 
 10: I "being absent he is of good courage"; 
 "when present he is meek enough." 
 2 walks very humanly (according to the flesh). 
 8 considerable of a boaster (glory somewhat abun- 
 dantly) . 
 
 274 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS io:i 
 
 9 terrifying in his letters, 
 lo his letters are strong but his presence is weak. 
 
 12 very daring (bold) in commending himself. 
 
 13 a measureless boaster. 
 
 14 outreaches himself. 
 
 15-16 trespasses on other men's preserves; uses a private 
 measuring-rod. 
 II :i; 16-19 folly; foolishness; foolish; fool. 
 6 rude in speech. 
 12:14 a heavy burden on the churches. 
 16 being tricky he caught them. 
 19 always defending himself. 
 
 As Paul uses these phrases and rings the changes on them his 
 emotions are varied and deep. There is much of pathos and 
 sorrow; there is grim humor and playful humor; there is indig- 
 nation; there is some bitterness; at times he is very stern, and 
 again he is almost plaintive in his pleading. It is very difficult 
 to see how he could have written in this way from Macedonia 
 after Titus' arrival and after the receipt of his good news. It is 
 not altogether easy, on the other hand, to find a description of 
 this letter in the "I wrote unto you with many tears," of 2:4. 
 
 10:1. Now I Paul myself intreat you. This certainly 
 sounds like the heart of one of Paul's letters. The now is not 
 the introductory word of the beginning of a letter, and the 
 / Paid is one of Paul's mannerisms. It is found five times, as 
 here, in the heart of a letter (Gal. 5:2; Eph. 3:1; Col. 1:23; 
 I Thess. 2:18; Philem. 19). In addition he three times names 
 himself at the close of a letter, the salutation of me Paul with my 
 own hand (i Cor. 16:21; Col. 4:18; 2 Thess. 3:17)- If this 
 section was written at a different time from chapters 1-9 the 
 letter can scarcely have begun at this point. Something has been 
 lost. 
 
 Intreat is the same word that in 1:3-7 was rendered so often 
 comfort. The idea of intreaty is of course paramount here, 
 though admonish or call on you would give the tone better. The 
 change of tone from the preceding part of the letter is very 
 noticeable, and it comes with absolute abruptness. By the 
 meekness and gentleness of Christ. This is one of the few 
 references in Paul's letters to the earthly life and character of 
 Jesus. There can be no doubt that it is to the life of Jesus he 
 refers. Jesus was at times most stern and outspoken in his 
 denunciations. Paul calls on his readers by the gentleness of 
 Christ not to force him to use the stern denunciations of his 
 Christ-given authority. 
 
 275 
 
10 :2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 lowly among you, but being absent am of good cour- 
 
 2. age toward you: yea, I beseech you, that I may not 
 when present shew courage with the confidence 
 wherewith I count to be bold against some, which 
 count of us as if we walked according to the flesh. 
 
 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war 
 
 4. according to the flesh (for the weapons of our 
 warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God 
 
 I who. Here follows a quotation. This is what had been 
 said of him in Corinth. "When he is among us he is abject; 
 when he is far away he is courageous against us." It is difficult 
 to decide whether this should be read with the tone of one 
 deeply pained and hurt but yearning, or of one indulging in 
 bold irony and threat. 
 
 2. Yea, I beseech you. Without finishing his first sentence 
 he changes his verb from intreat (admonish) to beseech (beg 
 of you) and completes it with the phrase used in quoting their 
 insults, and with another. It is not a graceful sentence but it is 
 vigorous. "Do not compel me, I beg of you, to be courageous 
 the next time I am among you with the kind of daring I can 
 count on myself to display against some who count on me to 
 display low, human motives and conduct." Against some. 
 These some are the cause of the whole trouble. There are to be 
 many references to them between this and the end of the epistle. 
 They reckon Paul to be one who is governed not by spiritual 
 principles and high ideals, but by low, worldly, unspiritual 
 motives. According to the flesh is the opposite of according 
 to the spirit. Here it seems to mean humanly, weakly, without 
 spiritual power or moral courage. The very mention of the 
 some and their "count of us" rouses Paul to eloquent indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 3. For. The test of Paul's courage, or boldness is not a thing 
 to be desired, for — then follows a second reason. Though we 
 walk in the flesh. He changes the phrase and the thought but 
 keeps the word. In the flesh is not according to the flesh. He 
 does not walk according to the flesh; he does walk in the flesh. 
 He is human, but he is not under human leadership; it is no 
 human war that he is engaged in. 
 
 4. For introduces a parenthetical explanation of what he means 
 by a war not according to the flesh. 
 
 The weapons — are not of the flesh. It is the weakness of 
 
 276 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS io:6 
 
 5. to the casting down of strong holds) ; casting down 
 ^ imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted 
 against the knowledge of God, and bringing every 
 thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; 
 
 6. and being in readiness to avenge all disobedience, 
 
 ^ Or, reasonings. 
 
 the flesh that is emphatic here. They are not human weapons, 
 weak and ineffective, but mighty before God. The phrase is 
 equivalent to exceeding mighty, i.e., mighty as God sees might. 
 Mighty is in contrast with the weakness implied in of the flesh. 
 The contrast of spiritual weapons with weapons of the flesh is 
 not lacking. To the casting down of strongholds. Although 
 verse 4 is parenthetical its thought of offensive weapons power- 
 ful enough to demolish castles and fortresses leads to the details 
 of the weapon in verse 5. 
 
 5. Casting down imaginations. The casting down agrees 
 grammatically with the we of verse 3 (note Paul's return to the 
 plural we after being so emphatic with the singular /), not with 
 the weapons of verse 4. 
 
 Paul keeps the military figure. There are three phases of his 
 military strategy: (i) He assaults strongholds; (2) he takes 
 captives; (3) he holds reserves for emergencies. He seems to 
 have definitely in mind the situation at Corinth, what he has 
 tried to do to meet it, and what he plans to do. He does not 
 mention persons as his opponents but theories and systems. 
 These were the views of the authors of much of the trouble at 
 Corinth. They seem to have been of the "Judaizing" party, but 
 nothing very definite can be discovered from Paul's figurative 
 language here. 
 
 Reasonings is a little nearer the meaning than imaginations, 
 for the strongholds he will cast down. The word means calcu- 
 lations, reckonings . It may include lofty flights of imagination 
 as among the high things that exalt themselves against the knowl- 
 edge of God. It is some teaching that does not find its knowledge 
 of God in the face of Jesus Christ (4:6). Paul's spiritual 
 weapons can knock down any fortress heights that are not built 
 on that foundation. Bringing every thought into captivity, 
 i.e., capturing for Christ every device and purpose that opposed 
 Christ's full and complete authority. Christ, by these Judaizers 
 and their followers, was not given His proper place. 
 
 6. And being in readiness. This implies that most of the 
 church will give themselves up when Paul turns his weapons 
 
 277 
 
io;7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 7. when your obedience shall be fulfilled. ^ Ye look 
 at the things that are before your face. If any 
 man trusteth in himself that he is Christ's, let him 
 consider this again with himself, that, even as he 
 
 8. is Christ's, so also are we. For though I should 
 glory somewhat abundantly concerning our authority 
 (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not 
 
 ^ Or, Do ye look . . . face? 
 
 against them. But there will be some, the leaders, who will not. 
 For them Paul will have reserves for administering the punish- 
 ment due to disobedience. Can this be the situation that Titus 
 left at Corinth, and over which Paul so greatly rejoiced when 
 Titus brought him news of it? 
 
 7. Ye look at the things that are before your face. The 
 declarative form is better than the imperative, or than the 
 interrogative which is suggested in the marginal alternative. 
 Each of the three is possible. The phrase before your face is 
 the same that was rendered in verse i in your presence. The 
 reference probably is to their estimate of Paul when he was with 
 them. You are quick with your judgments of those who are in 
 your presence, Paul says, and you find some to be Christ's be- 
 cause they are emphatic in their assurance that they are his. 
 (These are perhaps men who had had some personal touch with 
 Jesus during his life, or with apostles who had, and who dis- 
 credited Paul because he had not.) Understand that I am 
 Christ's just as much as they are. If any man. Another ref- 
 erence to the some of verse 2 ; any one of his opponents. 
 
 8. For. Verse 7 gave a third reason why the church at 
 Corinth will find it wiser not to put Paul's "boldness" to the 
 test. Verse 8 with its for introduces another, a fourth. These 
 "reasons," as seen in the outline, follow the various "forms" that 
 the caricature of Paul's boldness takes. See the Outline. Rea- 
 son (2) takes up form (3) ; reason (3) takes up form (i) ; reason 
 (4) takes up form (2). 
 
 Though I should glory somewhat abundantly (or, more 
 abundantly than I have as yet) concerning our authority 
 ... I shall not be put to shame. No matter how much 
 importance he attaches to his authority, when it comes to the 
 test he will have no ground for embarrassment. Paul adds, 
 parenthetically, that his authority was given him by the Lord 
 not to demohsh, as he is threatening to do, but to build up. 
 
 278 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 10:12 
 
 for casting you down), I shall not be put to shame: 
 9. that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by 
 
 10. my letters. For, His letters, they say, are weighty 
 and strong; but his bodily presence is weak, and his 
 
 11. speech of no account. Let such a one reckon this, 
 that, what we are in word by letters when we are 
 absent, such are we also in deed when we are present. 
 
 12. For we are not bold ^ to number or compare ourselves 
 
 * Gr., to judge ourselves among, or to judge ourselves with. 
 
 9. By my letters. The authority to which he refers has been 
 exercised so far chiefly in letters. To what epistles he refers 
 it is impossible to say. It does not necessarily refer to any 
 particular letter, but possibly to his reputation as a letter-writer. 
 Paul is evidently quoting a charge made against him that he 
 tried by his letters to terrify, or to frighten them out of their 
 wits. Of course if 2 Corinthians is all one letter, this might be 
 a reference to the letter of 2:4. 
 
 10. For. This jor merely introduces a further quotation from 
 his opponents' charges, to illustrate what he means by his "terri- 
 fying letters." They said his authority was a sort of paper 
 authority, but when he got face to face with them it had all 
 oozed out; neither his looks nor his speech were prepossessing. 
 They say makes the quotation very clear. 
 
 11. Let such a one reckon, i.e., one of the they who say 
 such things. The boldness of authority which his opponents 
 caricatured is genuine and well grounded and will be found to 
 prove its genuineness if put to the test. 
 
 12. For. With this jor is introduced one of the most involved 
 and obscure paragraphs in the epistle. The connection, how- 
 ever, is evident. The jor gives an added explanation of the 
 statement that it is not desirable to put his boldness to the test 
 (vs. 2). It is not desirable for his boldness is not like that of 
 his opponents, founded on conceit, but founded on his God- 
 given authority. The word bold in verse 2 is repeated only in 
 verse 12. Paul says that the sort of glorying to which his bold- 
 ness leads him is (i) not like that of his opponents; it is not 
 a glorying of self-commendation, nor one which overreaches itself 
 and trespasses on the fields and the labors of others; but (2) 
 it is a "measured" glorying, measured by God's measuring-rod, 
 and glorying only in what God's measurements permit him to 
 be and do. It is therefore a glorying in the Lord. We are not 
 
 279 
 
io:i3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 with certain of them that commend themselves: but 
 they themselves, measuring themselves by themselves, 
 and comparing themselves with themselves, are with- 
 
 13. out understanding. But we will not glory beyond 
 our measure, but according to the measure of the 
 ^ province which God apportioned to us as a measure, 
 
 14. to reach even unto you. For we stretch not our- 
 selves overmuch, as though we reached not unto you: 
 for we ^ came even as far as unto you in the gospel of 
 
 ^ Or, limit. Gr., measuring-rod. ^ Or, were the first to come. 
 
 bold. This is sarcasm; we have not the courage, do not dare: 
 To number or compare ourselves with certain. There is a 
 play on words in the Greek in number or compare. It has some- 
 times been rendered into English to pair or compare ourselves 
 with certain. The rendering of the margin is literal, but not as 
 satisfactory as that of the text. Paul has not the "daring" to 
 class himself with those "bold" men, his opponents, (certain of 
 them), whose whole standard of measurement and comparison 
 for themselves is to be found in themselves. Are without under- 
 standing. He cannot help adding that they have no sense. 
 
 13. But we will not glory beyond our measure. Evi- 
 dently his opponents in Corinth had accused Paul of doing just 
 that, of being "off his beat," trespassing on someone's else "pre- 
 serve," and so glorying beyond his measure. What business had 
 he in Corinth anyway? His answer is that God did the measur- 
 ing for him, laying out his field, and that, since he came to 
 Corinth first, his opponents are the trespassers. The measure 
 of the province. The word province is literally measuring-rod. 
 It is something like the English word "rule" in its various uses. 
 From being the measuring-stick it comes to mean the length or 
 area measured, and so limits (as in the margin) or field or 
 province. God measured his province for him, and it included 
 Corinth. 
 
 14. He did not overreach himself or overstep his boundaries 
 when he preached the gospel of Christ to Corinthians. Came 
 even as far as unto you. The alternative rendering of the 
 margin is preferable, were tlie first to come. He was first on the 
 field; it was therefore his "province," not only by right of dis- 
 covery, as it were, but because God had drawn, to include 
 Corinth, the line that marked the boundary of Paul's field for 
 gospel preaching. 
 
 280 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS io:i8 
 
 15. Christ: not glorying beyond our measure, that is, 
 in other men's labours; but having hope that, as your 
 faith groweth, we shall be magnified in you according 
 
 16. to our ^ province unto further abundance, so as to 
 preach the gospel even unto the parts beyond you, 
 and not to glory in another's ^ province in regard of 
 
 17. things ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let 
 
 18. him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth 
 himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. 
 
 ^ Or, limit. Gr., measuring -rod. 
 
 15. Verse 14 is parenthetical. Verse 15 takes up and repeats 
 the thought of verse 13, not glorying beyond our measure. He 
 adds as an explanation of beyond our measure, in other men's 
 labours. These Judaizing opponents might accuse him of tres- 
 passing, or of glorying in the work that they, not he, had done. 
 When he wrote letters and paid visits to Corinth from his head- 
 quarters in Ephesus, he might seem to them to be trespassing. 
 But he had appropriated Corinth as his "province" years before. 
 But having hope. An involved sentence, the simple meaning 
 of which seems to be that he hoped when the Corinth field had 
 been sufficiently tilled, his "province" might be again enlarged, 
 God's measuring-rod circumscribing for him still more distant 
 and unoccupied fields like Italy or even Spain. We shall be 
 magnified in you. It rests with the Corinthians, Paul thinks, 
 whether and when his "province" becomes enlarged. 
 
 16. If their faith grows to maturity there will be no further 
 need of the one who planted (i Cor. 3:6). He can be released 
 to plant another garden further to the west, even unto the parts 
 beyond you. Things ready to our hand, i.e., a "province" 
 of another, already tilled — plowed and planted. Paul had no 
 desire to occupy another man's field. He was by nature a 
 pioneer. 
 
 17. But he that glorieth. Once before to the Corinthians 
 (i Cor. 1:31) Paul has used this Scripture quotation. It seems 
 to be suggested by the language of Jer. 9:23-24, though the quo- 
 tation is not exact. He justifies his own glorying as being a 
 glorying in the Lord, because to the Lord he ascribes all the 
 direction of his work and all his success. The glorying of his 
 opponents is in themselves (vs. 12). 
 
 18. Is approved, i.e., as coins or metals are accepted as genu- 
 ine. Not self-commendation but God's commendation marks a 
 man as sterling (cf. 3:1; 4:2; 5:12; 6:4; 10:12). 
 
 281 
 
II :i EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. The Grounds Which Excicse It; ii:i — 12:13 
 
 II. I. Would that ye could bear with me in a little fool- 
 2. ishness: ^ nay indeed bear with me. For I am jealous 
 
 ^ Or, hut indeed ye do hear with me. 
 
 2. The grounds which excuse it; 11 :i — 12:13. 
 
 Intro. His excuse for "this little folly" (i.e., for talking 
 about the grounds) ; vs. i. 
 (i) His jealousy for them; vs. 2. 
 
 (a) Genuineness: God's jealousy. 
 {b) Reason: Their betrothal to Christ and their ten- 
 dency to prove false; agent: the same 
 old serpent; vs. 3. 
 (2) His jealousy for his apostleship. 
 
 (a) Its rival with them — one who, vs. 4: 
 (i) Preaches another Jesus than Paul's. 
 
 (2) Gives another spirit than Paul's. 
 
 (3) Brings another Gospel than Paul's. 
 
 (4) Is put up with beautifully by them (ironical). 
 (6) Its exalted character (worth guarding) ; vs. $• 
 
 By comparison — not a whit behind the "preemi- 
 nent" apostles, 
 (i) Exception — oratory; vs. 6. 
 (2) Specification — knowledge. 
 a. His gratuitous preaching at Corinth. 
 
 (i) The form it took — a free "good news" of God; vss. 
 7, 10. 
 
 (2) The cost it involved — "robbing" other churches; vs. 8. 
 (a) Manner — when absent, taking wages (rations). 
 
 Reason — to minister to Corinth. 
 (6) Manner — when present, receiving gifts from Mace- 
 donia; vs. 9. 
 Reason — to keep from being a burden. 
 
 (3) The ground of its expediency. 
 
 (a) Negative: Not lack of love — God knows; vs. 11. 
 (6) Positive: but to checkmate false boasters; vs. 12. 
 (i) Their identity — false apostles, dishonest work- 
 men, masqueraders ; vs. 13. 
 (2) Their authority — ministers of Satan; vs. 15, 
 whose example they follow: 
 
 282 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS ii:i 
 
 (a) He, an angel of light; vs. 14. 
 ib) They, ministers of righteousness; vs. 15. 
 (3) Their end— according to their works. 
 His honor in the flesh (as a man) ; vs. 18. 
 Intro. Leniency toward "a little folly." 
 (i) Due because of its nature; vs. 16. 
 (a) Not really foolishness. 
 (5) Yet not inspired wisdom; vs. 17. 
 (c) Just boasting. 
 
 (2) Due because of their superior wisdom, vs. 19, 
 
 witnessed by their putting up with anyone, vs. 20: 
 (a) who makes a tool of them. 
 lb) who lives off them, 
 (c) who dupes them ("gets" them). 
 Id) who takes on airs, 
 (e) who "skins" them to their face. 
 
 (3) Due because Paul is not equal to such wisdom; vs. 21. 
 (i) In his ancestry and race— a Hebrew, an Israelite, seed 
 
 of Abraham, as much as they; vs. 22. 
 (2) As a minister of Christ; vs. 23. 
 
 (a) Degree: Beyond them (speaking in madness). 
 lb) Proof: Attested by his experiences of suffering, 
 (i) At the hands of magistrates and mobs. 
 
 (a) In general: 
 (i) Prisoner. 
 
 (2) Lashes. 
 
 (3) "Deaths." 
 
 (b) In particular: 
 
 (i) From Jews— stripes— five times; vs. 
 
 24. 
 
 (2) From Romans— rods— three times; 
 
 vs. 25. 
 
 (3) Stoned— once. 
 
 (2) From travel, danger, toil and exposure, 
 (a) Shipwrecks — three times. 
 
 lb) In the sea— twenty-four hours. 
 
 (c) Perils of rivers, sea, wilderness, city; vs. 26. 
 Id) Perils of men; robbers, Jews, Gentiles, 
 
 false brethren, 
 (e) Exposure and toil; exhaustion, sleepless- 
 ness, hunger, thirst, cold; vs. 27. 
 
 (3) From care and anxiety for all the churches; 
 
 vs. 28. 
 (a) Sympathy for the weak; vs. 29. 
 lb) Indignation at wilful injuries. 
 
 283 
 
II : 2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 (4) One special incident (ludicrous weakness) — 
 over a wall in a basket. 
 
 (a) Place: Damascus. 
 
 (b) Occasion: Search made for him. 
 
 (c) Officer: Ethnarch of Aretas. 
 
 (d) Escape: Through a window. 
 
 (c) Asseveration of truthfulness — God knows; vs. 31. 
 (3) In his visions and revelations; vs. i. 
 
 Intro. The necessity and unfitness of glorying: 
 (i) A particular instance: 
 
 (a) Time: Fourteen years ago. 
 
 (b) Condition: A man in Christ; vss. 2, 3. 
 (i) Either in the body 
 
 (2) or out of the body, God knows. 
 
 (c) Attending circumstances: 
 
 Caught up to the third heaven, Paradise; 
 vs. 4. 
 
 (d) Nature of revelation — secrets; words that 
 
 man cannot utter. 
 
 (e) Result: A real cause for glorying. 
 
 (i) Ground: Not self, but such a man of 
 visions; vs. 5. 
 
 (2) Specification: Just the plain truth would 
 
 be no "folly." It is so big a thing; 
 vs. 6. 
 
 (3) Treatment — unused. 
 
 Reason: lest he be estimated by revela- 
 tions, not character. 
 (2) The weakness that counterbalances — a thorn in the 
 flesh; vs. 7. 
 
 (a) Nature: Satan's messenger to buffet him. 
 
 (b) Purpose: That he may not be exalted too 
 
 much. 
 
 (c) Permanence: He must keep it; vs. 8. 
 Proof: 
 
 (i) He prayed three times for its removal. 
 (2) The answer was "No." 
 
 Reason: God's grace is sufficient. 
 
 Con. He keeps it. 
 
 (d) Effect on Paul: He glories in it. 
 
 (i) End: That Christ's power may cover 
 
 him; vs. 9. 
 (2) Resulting attitude: He chooses, vs. 10: 
 (a) Item: Weaknesses; insults, etc., for 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 284 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:2 
 
 (6) Reason: When he is weak he is 
 strong. 
 Conclusion: The excuses for this "folly" of glorying; vs. 11: 
 (i) Compulsion — They drove him to it. 
 (2) The truth about his apostleship; vs. 12. 
 
 (a) Rank: Not behind the "preeminent" apostles. 
 (6) Evidence: The signs of apostleship wrought among 
 them, 
 (i) In general: Signs, wonders, powers. 
 (2) In particular: The church at Corinth — in no 
 way inferior to others; vs. 13. 
 One exception — he was not a "burden." 
 
 11: 1. With the beginning of chapter 11 Paul's tone changes a 
 little. The cause of the change is that his thought focuses now 
 on the church that he loves, rather than on the persons in the 
 church who have caused so much trouble. He has them still in 
 mind, but he addresses the whole church. His tone is gentler, 
 more tender. Though the current of his emotion still runs swift 
 and deep, its surface ripples with an occasional smile. There is 
 much playful humor in his words, as well as intense seriousness 
 and occasional irony. 
 
 The word "glorying" is always uppermost. That is what he is 
 talking about. In chapter 10 it was "boldness" which character- 
 ized his glorying . Now he turns to the grounds which excuse it. 
 After a few words about the excuse he has for talking about it 
 at all — he calls it "this little piece of folly" — he gives two grounds: 
 the first (8-15) is his gratuitous preaching. He had worked for 
 nothing. The second is his honor according to the flesh, i.e., as 
 a man, what he is, what he has done, what he has received and 
 what he has suffered. Would that ye could bear with me. 
 With a tone tender in its fatherliness and almost childlike in its 
 plaintiveness he turns to the church as a whole, the church which 
 is his child, his daughter, whom he has betrothed to Christ, and 
 begs her to be patient with a little piece of folly (nonsense) on 
 his part. Nay indeed bear with me. The rendering of the 
 margin is preferable (the indicative), but indeed ye do bear with 
 me. 
 
 2. A godly jealousy. It is literally a jealousy of God, or 
 God's jealousy. Probably he means a God-like jealousy, pure 
 and without sinful human motives. To the Old Testament reader 
 God's jealousy was a familiar phrase (Ex. 20:5; 34:14). For I 
 espoused you to one husband. Paul uses a figure for the 
 relation of the church to Christ which was used in a veiled way 
 by Jesus (Matt. 25:1-3; 9:15); and in Jn. 3:29; and one which 
 
 285 
 
1113 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 over you with ^ a godly jealousy: for I espoused you 
 to one husband, that I might present you as a pure 
 
 3. virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as 
 the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your 
 ^ minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and 
 
 4. the purity that is toward Christ. For if he that 
 
 ^ Gr., a jealousy of God. ^ Gn, thoughts. 
 
 came to be a very popular metaphor (Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 
 21:2; 22:17). In Eph. 5:25 Paul speaks of Christ presenting 
 the church to himself as a bride. But here his figure is of him- 
 self as a father arranging the betrothal of the church to Christ. 
 Like a father he has a noble jealousy that his daughter shall be 
 worthy of her husband in all purity and love. 
 
 3. But I fear. The great anxiety Paul felt for the church at 
 Corinth was lest teachers with false motives and a false message 
 should so influence the church that it should be neither simple 
 (i.e., single) in its love, nor pure in its loyalty to Christ. They 
 were Satan's agents of infidelity. As the serpent beguiled 
 Eve. There is no reason for finding in the illustration anything 
 more than a reference to the story of Gen. 3:1-13. (It is barely 
 possible that there is a reference to a Rabbinical legend that the 
 serpent disguised as an angel seduced Eve from her faithfulness 
 to Adam. Apocalypse of Moses.) Not until the period of the 
 Wisdom Literature was the serpent identified with Satan, Paul 
 seems to associate them here. Nowhere else in the New Testa- 
 ment is there mention of Eve. 
 
 4. For if he that cometh. Here is Paul's second excuse for 
 his little foolishness. Not only is he jealous for the church as 
 Christ's bride, but he is jealous for his own office and message, 
 his apostleship and his gospel. First he speaks of his rival, 
 the preacher of another gospel (vs. 4) ; and then of the exalted 
 character of his own office and gospel (vss. 5, 6). He that 
 cometh can scarcely refer to any one individual. Paul uses 
 this general term to refer to the group of teachers who were re- 
 actionaries and who are called Judaizers. What Paul puts ironi- 
 cally into the form of a conditional sentence is really a statement 
 of fact. Another Jesus. He does not say another Christ (see 
 note on 4:10-14). Only there and in this verse is the name 
 Jesus found in this epistle without the accompanying title Christ 
 or Lord. A different spirit. Paul's preaching of Jesus and the 
 reception by his converts of the spirit were a part of the "gospel" 
 
 286 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS ii:6 
 
 cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we did not 
 preach, or // ye receive a different spirit, which ye 
 did not receive, or a different gospel, which ye did 
 
 5. not accept, ye do well to bear with him. For I 
 reckon that I am not a whit behind ^ the very chief- 
 
 6. est apostles. But though / be rude in speech, yet 
 am I not in knowledge; nay, in everything we have 
 
 ^ Or, those preeminent apostles. 
 
 which was peculiarly his own. It was a proclamation of the 
 good news that the cross of Christ and all the gifts of God's 
 grace were for Gentiles as much as for Jews. Against the whole 
 world Paul was willing to defend that thesis, and he burned 
 with indignation against those who substituted for it any other 
 kind of spirit or gospel. See Gal. 1:8-9; Col. 1:26-28. Ye do 
 well to bear with him. It is literally, ye bear with him beau- 
 tifully. The statement is of course ironical. Like the Galatians 
 they were inclined to follow any new and fascinating propa- 
 ganda, and quickly to turn their backs on their first teacher. 
 This was true of at least a strong element in the church. 
 
 5. For. The jor gives the reason for the negative statement 
 implied in the irony of verse 4. It is not a beautiful thing to 
 turn their backs on the Jesus, spirit and gospel which Paul had 
 preached jor the self-styled apostles to whom they have turned 
 are in no way superior to Paul. The very chiefest apostles. 
 If this is the correct rendering it is a reference of course to Peter, 
 James and John, and Paul is maintaining the authority of his 
 office as equal to theirs. The marginal rendering those preemi- 
 nent apostles is, however, the better. Very chiefest means 
 literally "over much" or "more than too much," and is far more 
 likely an ironical designation of the Judaizing leaders to whom 
 he has already referred, and whom he characterizes as false- 
 apostles (vs. 13). In 12:11 the same phrase is repeated — over 
 much apostles, and with the same reference. These men must 
 have assumed the title apostle. 
 
 6. But though I be rude in speech. This seems to be the 
 one exception Paul makes. The "over much" apostles may be 
 more eloquent orators than he. But in knowledge they are 
 not superior. For the proof of this he calls on his record to 
 bear witness. His teaching has been public. Those who have 
 listened to him can judge of his intimate knowledge of the truth 
 he teaches. 
 
 287 
 
II :7 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 7. made it manifest among all men to you-ward. Or did 
 I commit a sin in abasing myself that ye might be 
 exalted, because I preached to you the gospel of 
 
 8. God for nought? I robbed other churches, taking 
 
 9. wages of them that I might minister unto you; and 
 
 7. I preached to you the gospel of God for nought. It 
 
 is quite possible that those hostile to Paul used to his discredit 
 his principle of gratuitous preaching. And, if so, this paragraph 
 may be a defense of another trait in which he was declared to 
 be inferior to the self-styled apostles. But what he says of it 
 in verse 10, no man shall stop me of this glorying, shows that it 
 was one of the things in his ministry of which he was proud. 
 In the outline it is best to make this the former of two grounds 
 which excuse his "glorying." There is still the irony in his tone 
 as he says, did I commit a sin in humiliating myself for your 
 elevation. Slavery in the large cities of the empire had made 
 manual labor by a freeman not only a disgrace but almost an 
 impossibility. It was not so among the Jews in general, but in 
 the eyes of Gentiles Paul humiliated himself by working with his 
 hands as he did at Corinth, Thessalonica and Ephesus (Acts 
 18:3; I Thess. 2:9; Acts 20:34). Though Paul emphasizes the 
 support he received from other churches rather than from his 
 tent-making, there is a distinct reference to the latter in the 
 word abasing. The "over much" apostles said of him that a 
 teacher who would teach for nothing was worth just about what 
 he charged — he was no worthy apostle. 
 
 8. I robbed other churches. Robbed is a strong word and 
 primarily a military word. So is wages, which means literally 
 rations. Paul says he pillaged other churches to get the rations 
 which were due him in Corinth. The Macedonian churches were 
 generous, but not rich. See 8:1-2. In accepting their generosity 
 Paul felt as if he robbed them. 
 
 It is possible that the reference here is to the church in Syrian 
 Antioch. Paul's missionary campaigns started from Antioch and 
 ended at Antioch. Very likely something of the financial burden 
 was borne by Antioch. 
 
 g. And when I was present with you. The emphasis on 
 when I was present implies that verse 8 refers to when he was 
 absent. The reference is either to supplies he brought with him 
 when he came to Corinth, or to the more remote financing of 
 his campaigns by Antioch or by other churches. I was not a 
 burden on any man. Paul uses a rare word. It is either a 
 
 288 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:12 
 
 when I was present with you and was in want, I was 
 not a burden on any man; for the brethren, when 
 they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of 
 my want; and in everything I kept myself from being 
 
 10. burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. As 
 the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of 
 
 11. this glorying in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? 
 
 12. because I love you not? God knoweth. But what I 
 
 technical word, perhaps medical, or a colloquial word with a 
 slang meaning. It seems to mean to reduce to a state of torpor; 
 perhaps to squeeze into numbness (the English "narcotic" is de- 
 rived from its stem) ; and so possibly it is the equivalent of "to 
 sponge on." The brethren. Probably Silas and Timothy (see 
 Acts 18:5). 
 
 10. As the truth of Christ is in me. This is not strictly 
 an asseveration but its force is equivalent to one. Literally it 
 should be rendered the truth of Christ is in me that this glorying 
 of mine shall not be stopped, i.e., it is Christ's spirit of truth in 
 me which affirms that — (cf. 1:18). 
 
 This glorying, i.e., in his gratuitous preaching. He glories in 
 it and nothing can make him ashamed of it or sorry for it. In 
 the regions of Achaia. Regions is a word peculiar to Paul 
 (cf. Rom. 15:23; Gal. 1:21). Achaia, the Roman province, is in 
 contrast with Macedonia (vs. 9) . It is not to the Macedonians 
 that he boasts of gratuitous preaching in Achaia. 
 
 11. Wherefore? "Why do I insist on preaching without 
 remuneration? God knows it is not because I do not love you." 
 It is a mark of real friendship and affection to be willing to 
 accept favors. His opponents in Corinth had said that if Paul 
 really cared for the church as he said he did he would have 
 accepted his support from it. 
 
 12. But. Here is the real ground for its expediency as Paul 
 sees it. It is to checkmate those who are seeking an opening 
 through which to injure his influence. Occasion. Better the 
 occasion, i.e., the point of attack from which they hoped to hurt 
 him. That . . . they may be found even as we. It is much 
 better to read this as the occasion which they desire. Omit the 
 semicolon after occasion, and let it read: An opportunity ta be 
 found, in the matter in which they glory, just like us. The mean- 
 ing is uncertain, but this rendering would explain it in this way: 
 The "over-much" apostles considered it a sign of apostolic au- 
 thority to let the church carry the burden of their support, 
 
 289 
 
ii:i3 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 do, that I will do, that I may cut off ^ occasion from 
 them which desire an occasion; that wherein they 
 
 13. glory, they may be found even as we. For such men 
 are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning them- 
 
 14. selves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for 
 even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. 
 
 15. It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also 
 fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; 
 whose end shall be according to their works. 
 
 16. I say again, Let no man think me foolish; but if 
 
 Gr., the occasion of them. 
 
 Although they tried to discredit Paul's apostleship because he 
 did not follow their example, they nevertheless felt the strength 
 of his position of independence and chafed under it. If they 
 could ridicule or abuse Paul into accepting support then they 
 would be found even as he. Paul understood their motive and 
 checkmated it. As Paul seems never to have accepted support 
 at Corinth, this ground for its expediency has to do only with 
 recent conditions. He will not be stopped in this glorying by 
 the recent opposition: What I do that I will do. 
 
 13. Three things Paul says about those who desire an occasion: 
 (a) Their identity. They are false apostles; dishonest workers; 
 masqueraders, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. 
 This is direct, personal and unequivocal. There is no dodging of 
 the issue. He will not give such men any opportunity to put 
 their apostleship on an equal footing with his own. 
 
 14. And no marvel. This introduces {b) Their authority. 
 They are ministers of Satan, whose example they follow. Even 
 Satan masquerades as an angel of light. Satan was the Prince 
 of Darkness (Eph. 6:12; Col. 1:13). When he masqueraded it 
 was as an angel of light. If Paul had any particular tradition m 
 mind we cannot locate it. 
 
 15. His ministers. Another very definite statement as to 
 what these false apostles are. They are Satan's ministers mas- 
 querading, like their master, as ministers of righteousness. 
 Whose end. This is the third thing, (c), their end; it shall be 
 according to their works, i.e., not according to their masquer- 
 admg costume, the thing they pretend to be, but according to 
 what they actually are. 
 
 16. I say again. In verse i, to which the again refers, he 
 
 290 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:19 
 
 ye do, yet as foolish receive me, that I also may 
 
 17. glory a little. That which I speak, I speak not after 
 the Lord, but as in foolishness, in this confidence of 
 
 18. glorying. Seeing that many glory after the flesh, I 
 
 19. will glory also. For ye bear with the foolish gladly, 
 
 had asked the readers to bear with him in a little foolishness. 
 He is even there looking forward to this recital of his grounds 
 m the flesh for glorying. Paul's extreme reluctance in making 
 this recital is very evident from the difficulty he finds in getting 
 started. Verse 16 introduces, in the outline, the second of the 
 grounds which excuse his "glorying." This second ground is his 
 honor in the flesh. Verses 16-21, however, are an introduction 
 to this recital. They contain a plea for leniency toward his 
 "little folly." Let no man think me foolish. This is not 
 exactly what he said before (vs. i), but his plea is not very 
 different. If they must think him foolish, as he himself feels, yet 
 they can be lenient in their judgment and listen to his foolishness. 
 That I also may glory a little. It is the "glorying" of others 
 that has driven him to talk this way about his own claims. He 
 did not begin it. 
 
 17. Not after the Lord. In most that Paul had to say he 
 spoke after the Lord. But for this glorying that is to follow he 
 takes, in his own human capacity, the full responsibility. It 
 seems so foolish, that he does not wish to compromise his Lord 
 and his message by charging this up to him. In this confidence 
 of glorying, i.e., in this confident glorying. If he must boast 
 he will boast just as confidently, with just as much assurance, as 
 his boasting opponents. 
 
 18. After the fiesh. Here for the first time he tells just what 
 line his glorying is to take. It is not now his authority as an 
 apostle or his spiritual power of which he speaks. It is his claim 
 to honor as a man. It includes his ancestry, his endurance of 
 physical hardships in his ministry, and the special visions and 
 revelations which have been granted him. These are not the 
 highest grounds for glorying; they are rather low; they are 
 after the flesh. But as the Judaizers boast of such things, Paul 
 will descend to their level and show that he is not a whit be- 
 hind those "preeminent" apostles even in such things. 
 
 19. For ye bear with the foolish gladly, being wise. 
 This of course is a keen sarcasm. He goes on to show how 
 "wise" they have been. Only the foolish will be impatient with 
 foolishness. Wise men can afford to be patient. 
 
 291 
 
ii:2o EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2 0. being wise yourselves. For ye bear with a man, if he 
 bringeth you into bondage, if he devoureth you, if 
 he taketh you captive, if he exalteth himself, if he 
 
 21. smiteth you on the face. I speak by way of dis- 
 paragement, as though we had been weak. Yet 
 whereinsoever any is bold (I speak in foolishness), I 
 
 22. am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they 
 
 20. For. The explanation of their "wise" patience with the 
 foolish, i.e., with his boasting rivals. Ye bear with a man if. 
 Then follow five very vigorous descriptions of the way in which 
 these false apostles have treated the Corinthian church. Paul 
 
 puts them into the form of a hypothesis, if he bringeth They 
 
 are patient with (i) one who makes a tool of them (Uterally, 
 enslaves) ; (2) one who lives off of them; (3) one who dupes 
 them (literally "gets" them) ; (4) one who takes on airs; (5) 
 one who insults them (literally "skins" them to their face). All 
 of these are doubtless figurative, and all refer to the heavy 
 burden laid by the false apostles on the church. If he smiteth 
 you. The word smite is used constantly for a blow either of the 
 hand or of a rod (Jn. 18:23; i Cor. 9:26). Its primary mean- 
 ing, however, is to skin, or to flay. From the effect of blows 
 on the skin the word came to denote merely a blow, but it 
 retains something of its original meaning always. Cf. the English 
 colloquialisms "to flay," "to hide," "to skin." The Greek had 
 plenty of other words for a blow with the fist, had Paul cared 
 to use them. 
 
 21. I speak by way of disparagement. There is irony in 
 this too. By referring to the great strength of these false apostles, 
 Paul says, I throw discredit on myself and make myself out to 
 be weak by comparison, for I have not been strong with you in 
 the way they have. Then his tone changes. The irony is gone. 
 And he leads at last directly to his subject with the words: 
 "speaking still in foolishness, I am as bold as the boldest. What- 
 ever any one of them dares, I dare also." This launches him on 
 a most remarkable biographical sketch. 
 
 22. First, in Jewish ancestry and race his honor is second to 
 none. Hebrews. Aramaic speaking Jews; Jews who had not 
 forgotten the mother tongue; usually Jews of Palestine. A term 
 of great honor. Israelites. Members of the nation which 
 traced its origin to Jacob (Israel) and which had, through all 
 its history, been theocratic, a nation whose God was the Lord. 
 A term of still greater honor. See Jn. 1:47. Seed of Abraham. 
 
 292 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:24 
 
 Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? 
 
 23. so am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as 
 one beside himself) I more; in labours more abun- 
 dantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above 
 
 24. measure, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times re- 
 
 Heirs of all the promises made to Abraham, the father of the 
 race. A term of the greatest honor. If the false apostles could 
 boast of any or all of these honors, so could Paul. 
 
 23. Second, as a minister of Christ. Paul has called them 
 fcUse apostles and Satan's ministers. They call themselves 
 apostles and ministers of Christ. This defines fairly accurately 
 who they were. They were Christians, and they were Jews. 
 They claimed to be more genuinely ministers of Christ than Paul 
 and more worthy Jews. That is, they were Judaizers, seeking 
 to ground all Christian faith first of all in Jewish form and 
 ceremony. As one beside himself. This is a stronger word 
 than foolish, but from the same root. The words might be ren- 
 dered "without sense" and "out of my senses." If it was "with- 
 out sense" to glory, he is "out of his senses" to claim to be more 
 than a minister of Christ. I more. If they are ministers of 
 Christ, Paul says, though it be madness to say it, / am more. 
 Their ministry of Christ has meant ease. They have fattened 
 themselves on the Corinthians. Paul's ministry of Christ had 
 meant something far beyond that. In labours more abun- 
 dantly. Paul's list of his experiences of hardship, trial and suffer- 
 ing is exceedingly brief and compact. It tells much more than is 
 given in the narrative in Acts, and shows how far from exag- 
 geration that record is. This list may be outlined under four 
 heads: First, hardships at the hands of magistrates and mobs. 
 At first he speaks in general terms, labors, prisons, stripes, deaths. 
 Then he particularizes. He was human enough to have counted 
 the times. He uses the comparative twice, more abundantly, 
 i.e., more abundantly than they. Then he forgets the compari- 
 son entirely and speaks only of his own experience. Labours is 
 the most general word. Possibly it includes all that follows. 
 It means troubles. In prisons more abundantly. Of only one 
 imprisonment up to this point has Acts told us, that at Philippi 
 (Acts 16:23-40). In stripes above measure. Of this he gives 
 the details and the count below. Except for this our account is 
 as meager as for the prisons. In deaths oft. As, e.g., the nar- 
 row escape referred to in 1:8-9. 
 
 24. Forty stripes save one. The Jewish law (Deut. 25:1-3) 
 
 293 
 
11125 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 25. ceived I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten 
 with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered ship- 
 
 26. wreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in 
 joumeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of rob- 
 bers, in perils from my ^ countrymen, in perils from 
 the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the 
 wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
 
 27. brethren; in labour and travail, in watchings often, in 
 
 ^ Gr., race, 
 
 allowed forty stripes, no more. For fear of a miscount and so 
 of exceeding the number the executioner always stopped at one 
 short of forty. These were lashes with a scourge, and were 
 administered in the Synagogue. Acts mentions none of the five 
 times. 
 
 25. Thrice was I beaten with rods. This was the Roman 
 method of punishment. Luke records one instance of the three 
 (Acts 16:23). His Roman citizenship should have saved Paul 
 from this form of punishment. Once was I stoned. See Acts 
 14:19. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. Here begins the second 
 group of experiences — hardships from travel, danger and ex- 
 posure. Of the shipwrecks previous to this time we have no 
 other information, nor of the twenty-four hours in the deep. 
 
 26. In journeyings often. Paul turns again to the general 
 and uses often instead of the actual number of hardships. Jour- 
 neyings seems to introduce the various forms of perils, just as 
 labors introduced the experiences with magistrates and mobs. 
 In perils. There are eight of these — four are local, four are 
 personal. There are perils of rivers, sea, wilderness, city; and 
 there are perils of robbers, Jews, Gentiles, even Christians — false 
 brethren. Paul does not arrange them in their order. My coun- 
 trymen (or literally my race) is contrasted with Gentiles; and 
 wilderness with sea. In the others contrast is lacking. They are 
 memories which spring up in his mind as he thinks of the two 
 campaigns which we call "journeys," which covered the ten years 
 from 47 to 57 A.D. It is possible that some of the dangers, like 
 that of verses 32-33, occurred during the fourteen years after his 
 conversion, of which so little is known (Gal. 2:1). 
 
 27. In labour and travail. There is still a fifth group which 
 has to do chiefly with conditions of exposure. It is introduced 
 by the word labor, as he introduced the whole series with the 
 plural of the same word, labors (vs. 23). Labor and travail, 
 
 294 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 11:29 
 
 hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
 
 28. nakedness. ^ Beside those things that are without, 
 there is that which presseth upon me daily, anxiety 
 
 29. for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not 
 
 ' Or, Beside the things which I omit. Or, Beside the things that 
 come out of course. 
 
 i.e., toil and trouble, may refer to his continued hard work wher- 
 ever he preached. In that case the following experiences may be 
 descriptive of his hardships even when he was not in imminent 
 danger. In watchings often, i.e., sleeplessness, long vigils made 
 necessary by his work. He did not spare himself. In fastings 
 often. Probably not ceremonial fastings, but, Uke his watchings, 
 periods when he was too busy or too preoccupied to eat. In 
 hunger and thirst ... in cold and nakedness. These were 
 involuntary hardship and exposure incurred during the course of 
 his arduous tasks. How little the narrative in Acts tells of the 
 cost to Paul of his apostleship and ministry ! 
 
 28. Beside those things that are without. If this rendering 
 is correct, then he contrasts his external troubles with the 
 anxieties of his mind and heart. The exact meaning is uncer- 
 tain. Either of the alternative readings in the margin may be 
 the right one. The former of the two seems the more probable, 
 beside the things which I omit, which is equivalent to saying, 
 not to mention the pressure upon me every day, anxiety for all 
 the churches. We know a Uttle of his anxiety over the church 
 at Corinth. There were at least eight other cities where Paul 
 had personally organized churches, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, 
 Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, and Ephesus. But this 
 gives only Luke's brief account. Not only were there others 
 that Paul had personally established, but he counted as his own 
 those which his band of assistants had founded. The number of 
 these can be inferred from such phrases as the whole of Achaia 
 (1:1); all they which dwelt in Asia (Acts 19:10); throughout 
 all the region (Acts 13:49). If Paul bore the problems of all 
 the churches on his heart it is no wonder that he spent sleepless 
 nights and days of fastings. 
 
 29. Who is weak and I am not weak? He gives two ex- 
 amples of his anxiety for all the churches. But these are ex- 
 amples not of church problems but of the problems of individual 
 men and women. Weak is explained by i Cor. 8:9-13. Made 
 to stumble is the result to some weak brother of the ruthless 
 action of one who was stronger. By such action Paul's indigna- 
 
 295 
 
11:30 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 weak? who is made to stumble, and I bum not? 
 
 30. If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things 
 
 31. that concern my weakness. The God and Father 
 of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed ^ for evermore, 
 
 32. knoweth that I lie not. In Damascus the governor 
 under Aretas the king guarded the city of the Dam- 
 
 33. ascenes, in order to take me: and through a win- 
 dow was I let down in a basket by the wall, and 
 escaped his hands. 
 
 ^ Gr., unto the ages. 
 
 tion is roused. Doubtless the brief reference in the letter would 
 bring to his readers many memories of instances at Corinth when 
 Paul burned with shame and righteous anger. 
 
 30. The word weak brings him back to the thought of his 
 glorying, and from this point on it is his weakness which he 
 makes the object of that glorying (12:6, 9, 10). Of this he is 
 willing to boast. 
 
 31. Paul interrupts himself with a very strong asseveration 
 that he is telling the truth. He occasionally in his letters does 
 this (see Gal. 1:20; Rom. 9:1). It is not very clear just what 
 the need here of such an asseveration is. The simplest explana- 
 tion is to refer it back to all he has said since verse 16, but 
 especially the conclusion to the paragraph (vs. 30) where he 
 affirms that his real glorying is in his weakness. It is not easy 
 to convince anyone that a man can really take pleasure in weak- 
 nesses, as Paul affirms of himself (12:10). The asseveration looks 
 forward only as Paul reiterates his glorying in the things that 
 concern his weakness. 
 
 32. In Damascus . . . Here is a tremendous anti-climax. A 
 wonderful series of hardships in groups in which not a single 
 incident is given in detail, is followed by a very ludicrous inci- 
 dent which antedated them all. Why should Paul spoil in this 
 way an eloquent and most effective recital of hardships? Cer- 
 tainly it was not because it was the earliest of them all, and 
 so made the most impression; certainly not because he thought 
 it the best illustrative instance of all his troubles, or of his 
 weaknesses. The only adequate explanation is that he could 
 never think of himself as descending down a wall in a basket 
 without seeing in it its ludicrous side, and he purposely uses it 
 for an anti-climax. He has been writing under a strong nervous 
 tension. He breaks the tension with this Damascus picture. He 
 
 296 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:1 
 
 12. I. ^ I must needs glory, though it is not expedient; 
 but I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. 
 
 1 Some ancient authorities read Now to glory is not expedient, but I 
 will come, etc. 
 
 comes down from his high pitch of exalted emotion by way of 
 a humorous anecdote of himself, a window, a basket and an 
 escape. There is no reason why Paul's humor should not have 
 given relief to his other intense emotions. This makes it easy 
 for him to go on with his glorying in less tense style. 
 
 There can be no doubt that this is a reference to the incident 
 of Acts 9:25, where the wall and the basket and the escape are 
 mentioned. But Paul adds the historical fact, otherwise un- 
 known, that Aretas IV, king of the Arab Nabataeans (b.c. 9 to 
 A.D. 39) held Damascus under his control. The governor of 
 Damascus was under Aretas. 
 
 12:1. The climax of Paul's recital of his experiences was 
 reached with the asseveration of 11:31. The twelfth chapter 
 continues his glorying, but the tense strain is for the moment 
 relieved. He comes now to his third point under "his honor in 
 the flesh," viz., his visions and revelations. 
 
 I must needs glory. The text is uncertain, as the rendering 
 in the margin indicates. The meaning is not very different if 
 the alternative translation is accepted. It is another apology for 
 glorying. It is not expedient, i.e., it does not help matters 
 much, but it is forced upon me. Visions and revelations of 
 the Lord, i.e., granted by the Lord. Just what Paul means is 
 to be discovered in the illustration of a vision which follows. 
 He was a man of visions, but this particular word for vision 
 occurs rarely in the New Testament. It is used of Zacharias' 
 vision (Lk. 1:22); of the women at the tomb (Lk. 24:23) and 
 of Paul's experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 26:19) ; no- 
 where else. But another word is used several times of Paul's 
 visions in dreams (Acts 16:9; 18:9) which were frequent (see 
 also Acts 23:11; 27:23). As to revelations, Paul felt that his 
 whole life was guided by revelations of the Lord (see Gal. 1:12; 
 2:2; Eph. 3:3). Nowhere have we any more details in regard 
 to the nature of visions and revelations than are given us here. 
 Some were in dreams at night; one occurred in the Temple when 
 he was praying, and is called a trance (Acts 22:17); the cir- 
 cumstances attending his conversion he calls a "vision" (Acts 
 26:19). But he can speak of the exceeding greatness of the reve- 
 lations, and look upon them as affording a reason for his being 
 exalted overmuch (vs. 7). 
 
 297 
 
12 12 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether 
 in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, 
 I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up 
 
 3. even to the third heaven. And I know such a man 
 (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know 
 
 4. not; God knoweth), how that he was caught up into 
 
 2. I know a man in Christ. The man of course is Paul 
 himself. Verse 7 makes that plain, if there could be any doubt. 
 In Christ is the equivalent of Christian in its largest and 
 noblest sense. A man in Christ is one whose life is lived in 
 that sphere, or realm, in which Christ is absolutely dominant. 
 When Paul is glorying of a man in Christ he is glorying in the 
 Lord, not in himself. Fourteen years ago. If the date of this 
 letter is 57 a.d., the vision occurred in the year 44. Paul can 
 locate it exactly. It was not long before Barnabas went to 
 Tarsus to get Paul and bring him to Antioch. It is therefore 
 just at the threshold of Paul's active Gentile work. Possibly 
 his vision gave him a look into the future, not only of his own 
 life, but of the world-wide gospel he was to preach. Whether 
 in the body. The experience Paul well remembers. The con- 
 ditions which made it possible he does not know, and he is 
 willing to leave the knowledge of all that to God. He felt 
 caught up, carried off, to the third heaven. Paul has very 
 little to say in his epistles about heaven as a place. It is rather 
 remarkable in view of the fact that contemporary Jewish litera- 
 ture was very minute in its description of a seven-fold heaven, 
 like a great seven-story apartment, each floor with its own par- 
 ticular occupants. The probability is that Paul is writing figura- 
 tively here. He is not counting heavens. The third heaven 
 means simply to the highest point of spiritual exaltation. 
 
 3. And I know such a man. There is no sufficient reason 
 to think that this is a second experience of ecstasy. It is a 
 poetic repetition of verse 2. There is but one experience. 
 
 4. Caught up into Paradise. There is nothing in the words 
 Paul used to imply that Paradise was up. He was "carried off 
 to Paradise." Probably, however, Paradise is another term 
 for the third heaven. It is not a common word in the New 
 Testament (found only in Lk. 23:43; Rev. 2:7; 2 Cor. 12:4). 
 Originally meaning a hunting park, then a pleasure park, it was 
 used in Genesis for the Garden of Eden, and came in later 
 Jewish thought to be applied to the abode of the righteous after 
 death. It was located variously. In Paul's use it is figurative. 
 
 298 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:7 
 
 Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is 
 
 5. not lawful for a man to utter. On behalf of such a 
 one will I glory: but on mine own behalf I will not 
 
 6. glory, save in my weaknesses. For if I should desire 
 to glory, I shall not be foolish ; for I shall speak the 
 truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of 
 me above that which he seeth me to be, or heareth 
 
 7. from me. And by reason of the exceeding greatness 
 
 And heard unspeakable words. The following clause ex- 
 plains his meaning. Unspeakable, or unutterable, words is a 
 contradiction. He heard what it is not possible (better than 
 lazvful) for a man to utter. The description could scarcely be 
 more vague. Paul got an indelible impression of spiritual sig- 
 nificance, but he could not repeat it in words. It was one of the 
 great impressions of his life, but he is able to give his readers 
 only a veiled description of what it was like. 
 
 5. On behalf of such a one. It is not glorying on his own 
 behalf to glory in a man in Christ who was given such visions 
 of the Lord. Save in my weaknesses. With this he comes 
 back to the thought of 11:30. So far as he himself is concerned 
 all his glorying shall be only in his weaknesses. 
 
 6. For. The connection of thought seems to be: "I refuse 
 to glor>' in anything but my weaknesses, for if I should desire to 
 glory in my privileges and honors the plain unvarnished truth 
 would prove so big a thing that the terms 'fool' and 'foolishness' 
 would have no significance at all." When Paul boasts of in- 
 significant things he might be open to the charge of foolish- 
 ness; not so if he should begin to glory in his visions and reve- 
 lations. But I forbear lest. Paul prefers to be known by what 
 he is and does and says, not by an exaggerated estimate which 
 a long story about his visions and other honors might create. 
 
 7. Some texts place the first clause of verse 7 with the last of 
 verse 6. The original reading is uncertain. The thought is not 
 changed very much by the change in punctuation. It is the 
 exceeding greatness of the revelations, by which he does not wish 
 to be estimated, and it is the exceeding greatness of the revela- 
 tions which, in his judgment, made necessary a thorn in the 
 flesh. This thorn is the weakness that counterbalances the over 
 much exaltation. The thorn in the flesh lifts again the veil, 
 which in all this recital of personal experiences Paul has lifted 
 a few times only — the veil that so completely hides his personal 
 
 299 
 
12:8 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 of the revelations — wherefore, that I should not be 
 exalted overmuch, there was given to me a ^ thorn in 
 the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I 
 
 8. should not be exalted overmuch. Concerning this 
 thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might de- 
 
 9. part from me. And he hath said unto me. My grace 
 
 ^ Or, stake. 
 
 life. The lifting of the veil gives only the briefest and most 
 unsatisfactory glimpse into the inner life of the man Paul. No 
 one knows what the thorn in the flesh was. From the earliest 
 interpreters down to the present the attempts at its identifica- 
 tion have been many and varied. And when the interpreter 
 had any special physical or temperamental disability he was quite 
 likely to guess that his thorn and Paul's were the same. In the 
 early church headache, earache, persecutions, a personal enemy, 
 were suggested; the Middle Ages were quite unanimous in guess- 
 ing carnal temptations; the reformers thought it was spiritual 
 doubts; in recent times epilepsy, ophthalmia, m^alarial fever, 
 hysteria, have had their advocates. Paul left his readers' curi- 
 osity unsatisfied. A stake for the flesh is possibly a more accu- 
 rate rendering than a thorn in the flesh, but it throws no light 
 on the metaphor. It was chiefly physical or nervous, and it was 
 painful. More than that is only conjecture. Paul considered it 
 a messenger of Satan, whose purpose was to buffet (hit with 
 the fist) and to keep him humble. 
 
 8. I iDesought the Lord thrice. There may have been three 
 periods in his Ufe, or three special occasions when it seemed 
 unbearable. 
 
 9. My grace is sufficient for thee. There seems to be a 
 parallel in Jesus' prayer in Gethsemane. The apparent answer 
 was "No"; yet Paul got, not what he asked, but what he needed 
 and really desired. He received a sufficient supply of Christ's 
 gracious favor and a gift of strength such that the thorn was 
 made not only bearable but enjoyable. For explains the answer. 
 It is a paradox of the spiritual world. There is no power like 
 human weakness touched by the strength of Christ. Most 
 gladly. The answer to his repeated prayer gives him all that 
 he hoped for. He is glad at the result, and has another ground 
 for glorying in his weaknesses. The strength of Christ. This 
 indicates that by the Lord, in verse 8, he meant Christ. May 
 rest upon me. The alternative reading in the margin, spread 
 a tabernacle over me, is more literal and more picturesque. 
 
 300 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:11 
 
 is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in 
 weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory 
 in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ m.ay 
 
 10. ^ rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in weak- 
 nesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in 
 distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, 
 then am I strong. 
 
 11. I am become foolish: ye compelled me; for I 
 
 * Or. cover me; Gr., spread a tabernacle over me. 
 
 10. Wherefore introduces his final summary. It is an elab- 
 orated repetition of what has just preceded. I take pleasure in. 
 "I welcome," "I deem best," or "I am pleased with" are nearer 
 Paul's thought than / take pleasure in. In weaknesses. 
 Weaknesses is the general word he has used (11:30; 12:5, 9), of 
 which he now gives four specifications. It is used to include all 
 that weakens his physical or mental efficiency and power, or all 
 that would naturally tend to do so. Its repetition emphasizes 
 two things, that he has been called "weak" instead of "bold" or 
 "strong," and that he is glorying, like his opponents, "in the 
 flesh." Injuries. The word is found in the New Testament 
 only here and in Acts 27:10, 21, where it is used of injury to the 
 ship. While it may include reproaches (A. V.) its chief refer- 
 ence is to insolent and intentional bodily harm. Necessities 
 . . . distresses (cf. 6:4), persecutions; i.e., any form of hostile 
 pursuit and attack. For Christ's sake. This should be read 
 with / take pleasure in. For when I am weak, then am I 
 strong. A striking paradox, giving the explanation of his atti- 
 tude toward "weaknesses," and giving a climax to his conclusion. 
 Whenever (better than when) he is "weak" in his own estima- 
 tion and that of others, then, experience has taught him, God's 
 power has its opportunity in him. 
 
 11. I am become foolish. Verses 11-13 are a transition 
 to what Paul has to say about his intended visit to Corinth. It 
 is better to make them the conclusion to the preceding paragraph 
 rather than the introduction to the following. Paul stops to 
 read over, or think over, what he has just been writing, and 
 reiterates what he said at the beginning (11 :i, 16, 17, 21), that 
 he is foolish to have written as he has. There are two excuses 
 for it; they drove him to it; and the truth about his apostle- 
 ship seemed to warrant it. The very chiefest apostles. Again 
 the margin is better (see note on 11:5). Though I am noth- 
 
 301 
 
I2:i2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 ought to have been commended of you: for in noth- 
 ing was I behind ^ the very chiefest apostles, though 
 
 12. I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were 
 wrought among you in all patience, by signs and 
 
 13. wonders and ^ mighty works. For what is there 
 wherein ye were made inferior to the rest of the 
 churches, except it be that I myself was not a burden 
 to you? forgive me this wrong. 
 
 ^ Or, those preeminent apostles. ^ Gr., powers. 
 
 ing. This is more than an expression of humility. It is a reflec- 
 tion on the "over much" apostles, to whom he was in nothing 
 inferior, 
 
 12. The signs of an apostle were wrought, i.e., by God's 
 power. Paul does not say that he wrought the signs; the patience 
 was his, i.e., the stedfastness and the endurance; the power was 
 God's, He characterizes the signs of an apostle with three words, 
 signs, wonders, mighty works. Signs is repeated with a different 
 use. One of the accepted marks of apostolic authority is 
 "signs." Signs and wonders are often coupled together in New 
 Testament use, and twice these three words are associated, as 
 here (Acts 2:22; Heb, 2:4). In the former instance the refer- 
 ence is to Jesus, and there can be no doubt that they are meant 
 to include supernatural proofs, such as miracles of healing. The 
 marginal powers is more literal than mighty works but not more 
 intelligible. The three words should be taken as giving the 
 accepted signs of an apostle, and not as specifying three distinct 
 kinds of signs. It is one of the very brief references on Paul's 
 part to his possession of special powers. See also Gal. 3:5; 
 I Cor. 14:18-19; Rom. 15:18-19. 
 
 13. For what is there. Paul closes with a playful reference 
 to the one thing in which he has wronged the church at Corinth. 
 It is a mild sarcasm without a sting. No church had received 
 more from Paul's ministry than had the church at Corinth. The 
 only difference he can think of is that he has not given the 
 Corinthians the favor of being burdened by his financial support. 
 For this omission, this wrong, he craves their forgiveness. This 
 is not pure irony. Paul seems to have felt that in some ways 
 it was an actual wrong. The church might have thought more 
 of Paul if he had cost it more. 
 
 302 
 
I2:i4 
 
 VI. Paul's Intended Visit to Corinth; 12:14 — 13:10 
 
 14. Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come 
 to you; and I will not be a burden to you: for I seek 
 
 Paul's Intended Visit to Corinth 
 
 1. Its number — the third; vss. 14, i. 
 
 2. Its object. 
 
 a. Pos. To seek them. 
 
 b. Neg. Not to seek theirs, 
 (i) Explanation: 
 
 (a) Pos. He will spend and be spent for their lives; 
 
 vs. 15. 
 (i) Reason: Parents ought to lay up for children. 
 (2) Reason: He loves them so much. 
 
 (b) Neg. He will not be a burden on them. 
 (i) Directly — by his coming; vs. 14. 
 
 (2) Indirectly — through others; vs. 15. 
 
 (a) Explanation: They charged him with 
 
 "catching them with guile"; vs. 16. 
 (6) Proof: The charge is false, vs. 17: 
 (i) Titus made nothing out of them 
 
 (2) Nor the brother. 
 
 (3) All walked the same track; vs. 18, 
 (2) Asseveration: This is no "excuse," but truth as God 
 
 sees it; vs. 19. 
 
 3. Its possible disappointment to Paid; vs. 20. 
 
 a. Nature: That he find them not what he desires. 
 
 b. Specifications: That there be among them: 
 
 (i) quarreling, (2) jealousy, (3) bad tempers, (4) rivalries, 
 (5) slanders, (6) gossiping, (7) airs, 
 (8) dissensions. 
 
 c. Result: Another humbling of Paul before them; vs. 21. 
 
 d. Result: Another mourning by Paul for those who: 
 (i) In general — have sinned and not repented. 
 
 (2) In particular — are grossly immoral. 
 
 4. Its possible disappointment to them; vss. 20-13:2, 2. 
 a. Nature: He will spare no one who sins; vs. 2. 
 
 (i) Witness: His previous and present warning. 
 
 303 
 
I2:i4 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 (2) Reason: Their demand of proof that Christ speaks in 
 him; vs. 3. 
 
 b. Effect: Knowledge of the kind of Christ who speaks 
 
 through him. 
 (i) Neg. No weakling. 
 (2) Pos, But a Christ of power, who: 
 
 (a) was crucified as a result of "weakness," vs. 4, 
 
 (b) but lives as a result of God's power. 
 
 (c) expresses himself in Paul's "weakness"' and power. 
 
 c. Safeguard (i.e., the way to prevent it) testing themselves; 
 
 vs. 5. 
 (i) Nature of test: Proof that they are in the faith. 
 
 Explanation: Either Christ is in them or they are 
 failures. 
 
 (2) Result of test: They will come to know that Paul is 
 
 not a failure; vs. 6. 
 
 (3) Aid of test: Paul's continual prayer for them; vs. 7. 
 (a) End: 
 
 (i) Neg. Not Paul's vindication. 
 (2) Pos. but their perfecting, no matter what 
 the estimate of Paul; vss. 7, 9. 
 (6) Grounds (of Paul's prayer) : 
 
 (i) His loyalty to the truth; vs. 8. 
 (2) His eagerness for their strength, even at the 
 expense of his weakness; vs. g. 
 Conclusion: The object of the letter — to make unnecessary the 
 exercise of Paul's authority; vs. 10. 
 
 14. Behold this is the third time I am ready to come to 
 you. With a change in tone Paul turns to his intended visit 
 to Corinth. He is making his plans and it will be his third visit. 
 The translation is unfortunate in that it reads as if it were a 
 third readiness to come rather than a third coming for which he 
 is ready. Undoubtedly the first visit was his eighteen months' 
 stay (Acts 18:11) ; the second was the visit "with sorrow' (2:1). 
 It is difficult to see how he could have written as he does about 
 this third visit if Titus had brought him the report that caused 
 the joy of 7:7, 13. It is with much anxiety and misgiving that 
 Paul looks forward to this third visit. I will not be a burden 
 to you. It is this thought of the "burden" that is the transition 
 from the preceding section (vs. 13) to this closing section. Even 
 though it may be in a certain sense a "wrong" to fail in being 
 a burden upon them, he will not change his habit. He will come 
 at his own expense. For I seek not yours but you. This 
 gives the reason which of course is back of his consistent habit of 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 12:18 
 
 not yours, but you : for the children ought not to lay 
 up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 
 
 15. And I will most gladly spend and be ^ spent for your 
 souls. If I love you more abundantly, am I lovtd 
 
 16. the less? But be it so, I did not myself burden you; 
 
 17. but, being crafty, I caught you with guile. Did I 
 take advantage of you by any one of them whom I 
 
 18. have sent unto you? I exhorted Titus, and I sent 
 
 ^ Gr., spent out. 
 
 independence. He wants no misunderstanding of his object. He 
 is after them, not after their money. He feels toward them like 
 a parent. Parents do not find it easy to be supported by their 
 children. Paul does not say support, but lay up for the parents. 
 
 15. Be spent. The marginal be spent out is more literal. It 
 means be used up. Souls. Lives is better than souls, and so 
 usually (see 1:23). The word rendered soul here is variously 
 translated. Soul, life, and self are all satisfactory renderings of 
 the original word; but sometimes one is much more appropriate 
 than another. It is well to try each of the three renderings 
 whenever the word soul occurs, adopting the one that seems most 
 apt. If I love you more abundantly am I loved the less? 
 It is not certain that this is a question. At best it is an awkward 
 expression. Another reading, which is perhaps better, renders 
 the verse in this way: "I will most gladly spend and be spent 
 out for your lives even if the more I love you the less I am 
 loved by you." Even if his love meets with no reciprocal love 
 from them he will nevertheless spend himself on them till he is 
 exhausted — used up. This is in keeping with the parental tone of 
 all of verses 14-15. 
 
 16. But be it so. This introduces another insinuation which 
 had been made against Paul. "Granted," they said, "that you 
 yourself were not a burden, nevertheless you were naturally clever 
 and caught us by a trick. You sent your representatives and 
 they took advantage of us." 
 
 17. Did I take advantage of you . . . ? The question ex- 
 pects a negative answer. "I did not take advantage of you, did 
 I?" It is equivalent to a denial of the insinuation. 
 
 18. I exhorted Titus and I sent the brother with him. 
 Apparently this is a reference to the part these two had in 
 starting the campaign for the contribution to the Jerusalem 
 church. When they visited Corinth cannot be determined. A 
 
12 119 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 the brother with him. Did Titus take any advantage 
 of you? walked we not by the same Spirit? walked 
 we not in the same steps? 
 
 19. ^ Ye think all this time that we are excusing our- 
 selves unto you. In the sight of God speak we in 
 Christ. But all things, beloved, are for your edify- 
 
 20. ing. For I fear, lest by any means, when I come, I 
 
 ^ Or, Think ye . . . you? 
 
 reference to this visit is probably found in 8:6, "as he had made 
 a beginning before." It certainly is not a reference to Titus' 
 visit in company with two others on the business of the con- 
 tribution (8:17, 18, 22), for no arrangement of Paul's letters 
 can be made to place the visit earlier than this writing. It is 
 not probable that it was the visit (2:13; 7:6, 13) on which Titus 
 accomplished the reconciliation, even if these last four chapters 
 are a part of the whole letter. We have no hint of any other 
 visit by Titus to Corinth, though of course there may have been 
 one. Who the brother was we do not know. Did Titus take 
 any advantage of you? Again the question expects a negative 
 answer. Its form implies that no one ever had any suspicions 
 of Titus' sincerity and honesty. By the same spirit. The ren- 
 dering of the A. V. in the same spirit is here preferable. It is 
 the spirit of the parent who desires to spend and be spent for 
 the child. In the same steps — this refers to their methods. 
 In spirit and in method Titus and Paul have been one. 
 
 19. Ye think. It is better to put it, as the margm suggests, 
 into interrogative form, think ye? All this time, i.e., during 
 all this "glorying" (chs. 10-12). 
 
 Excusing ourselves, i.e., defending ourselves. It may have 
 sounded like an excuse or a defense, but its real object has been 
 the edifying, i.e., the building up, the helpful instruction, of the 
 readers. In the sight of God speak we in Christ. Not the 
 Corinthian church, but God, is the judge, in whose presence Paul 
 speaks, and whose approval he seeks. In all he has written he 
 has not forgotten God's presence nor that he himself is in Christ. 
 This is in effect an asseveration of his truthfulness. 
 
 20. For introduces the explanation of their implied need of 
 edifying. It is found in the two disappointments which Paul 
 fears are in store for him and for the church. How could he 
 have feared these disappointments after Titus' joyful message 
 unless Titus had at first kept something serious back? Lest 
 
 306 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:1 
 
 should find you not such as I would, and should my- 
 self be found of you such as ye would not; lest 
 by any means there should be strife, jealousy, 
 wraths, factions, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, 
 
 21. ^ tumults; lest, when I come again, my God should 
 humble me before you, and I should mourn for many 
 of them that have sinned heretofore, and repented 
 not of the uncleanness and fornication and lascivious- 
 ness which they committed. 
 
 13. I. This is the third time I am coming to you. At the 
 mouth of two witnesses or three shall every word be 
 
 ^ Or, disorders. 
 
 by any means there should be. Paul is fond of lists, both 
 of virtues and of vices. There are many examples (Gal. 5:19-23; 
 Col. 3:5-9). Usually the lists seem to be not haphazard but 
 carefully thought out. Here he uses eight specific dangers. They 
 seem to be arranged in pairs. The first two are singular, the 
 others plural. Possibly the first two, a jealous, quarrelsome 
 spirit, are thought of as the general characteristics out of which 
 six particulars spring (see outline). In i Cor. 3:3 he uses these 
 first two words, "whereas there is among you jealousy and 
 strife," and applies it to the existence in the church of rival 
 parties. Tumults is not as satisfactory a rendering as dissen- 
 sions, or the marginal disorders. 
 
 21. Lest, when I come again. A better reading is, "lest, 
 when I come, my God should humble me again." Again is 
 emphatic. He had been humbled before them during his recent 
 visit. And I should mourn for many. By common usage 
 mourn signifies mourn as dead. There is possibly a concealed 
 threat in the word. Either that, or else the mourning will be 
 for the offenders as lost forever to the church. Such mourning 
 will be a part of his humiliation, and a result of what he finds 
 them to be. If the church were not so full of jealousy and 
 quarreling there would be less sensual sin unrepented of. Them 
 that have sinned heretofore, i.e., those who on Paul's recent 
 painful visit to Corinth were found in a state of shameless 
 heathen sin, and did not repent. He fears there may be many 
 of them. Lasciviousness, i.e., unbridled licentiousness. 
 
 13:1. This is the third time. The repetition of this state- 
 ment (12:14) shows that verse 14 above was the beginning of 
 
13:2 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 2. established. I have said ^beforehand, and I do say 
 ^ beforehand, ^ as when I was present the second time, 
 so now, being absent, to them that have sinned here- 
 tofore, and to all the rest, that, if I come again, I 
 
 3. will not spare; seeing that ye seek a proof of Christ 
 
 ^ Or, plainly. 
 
 ^ Or, as if I were present the second time, even though I am now 
 absent. 
 
 this last paragraph, even though he again went back to the 
 thought of being a burden. At the mouth of two witnesses 
 or three. This Old Testament injunction (Deut. 19:15) seems 
 to have become almost a proverb (cf. Matt. 18:16). Paul's use 
 of it here has given rise to various explanations: e.g., that he 
 means to assure them that when he comes all the culprits will 
 have a legal trial; or, that his three visits are the three wit- 
 nesses. Neither of these is satisfactory. It seems as if his use 
 of third suggested the three. He is going on at once to explain 
 how his visit may be a disappointment to the church (12:20) 
 as well as to himself. His treatment of the offenders will be 
 final. He will not spare them. But just as he has several times 
 softened his tone by a lighter, almost playful touch, so here he 
 softens the threat to come by a playful use of a proverb which 
 is perhaps equivalent to our "three times and out." 
 
 2. I have said beforehand. There is no sufficient reason 
 for the marginal rendering plainly instead of beforehand. Still 
 less is there reason for the rendering given the next clause by 
 the margin. The sentence is awkward but the text gives the 
 meaning. Just as on his second visit Paul gave warning in per- 
 son that he would not spare them, so now he repeats from a 
 distance the same warning. The repeated warning includes those 
 to whom it was first given and all the rest, i.e., all who since 
 then may have similarly sinned. 
 
 3. Seeing that ye seek. A comma is sufficient to separate 
 this from the preceding. This is the reason that he cannot spare 
 them; they have challenged him to proof that Christ speaks in 
 him. He must furnish the proof. Who to you-ward is not 
 weak. No matter what they may think of Paul's weakness they 
 cannot consider Christ's relation to them as that of a weakling. 
 There had been evidences enough, even in the church at Corinth, 
 that God's power was unmistakably in Christ. These evidences 
 were chiefly those of Christian character, developed by the power 
 of Christ. 
 
 308 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:5 
 
 that speaketh in me; who to you-ward is not weak, 
 
 4. but is powerful in you: for he was crucified through 
 weakness, yet he liveth through the power of God. 
 For we also are weak ^ in him^ but we shall live with 
 
 5. him through the power of God toward you. Try your 
 own selves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your 
 
 ^ Many ancient authorities read with. 
 
 4. The effect of Paul's third visit to Corinth, if it is to be a 
 "disappointment" to the church, will be to show them the kind 
 of Christ who does speak through him. He is not weak, but a 
 Christ of power. The evidence of the power is found in verse 4. 
 For he was crucified through weakness. Through gives the 
 origin, as a result of "weakness." Paul's thought can be ren- 
 dered by putting quotation marks about weakness. It was as 
 a result of that thing called "weakness," when it was said of 
 him, "he saved others, himself he cannot save" (Mk. 15:31), 
 that he was crucified. As a result of (through) the power of 
 God he lives. For we also are weak in him. The for adds 
 a further explanation of Christ as a power, and it is Paul's 
 special point. In him is probably better than the with him of 
 the margin. Closely identified with Christ, Paul too is "weak," 
 in the same sense that Christ is "weak," but, just because he 
 has died with him, he has been raised together with him to a 
 life in which God's power is everywhere expressed. See Col. 
 3:1-4. It is that power which they shall witness when Paul 
 comes again and does not spare them. Note the change from 
 "I" to "we." 
 
 5. Try your own selves. In this way they can prevent the 
 disappointment that he fears his third visit will cause them. 
 If they stop trying Paul and try themselves as to whether they 
 are really Christians or not, the special exercise of his power 
 will be unnecessary. Whether ye be in the faith, i.e., whether 
 ye be Christians. The faith is the Christian life of the faithful, 
 or the principles on which that life is founded. Prove your 
 own selves. The pronouns are very emphatic. They have spent 
 too much time trying to prove Paul. He changes from try to 
 prove, and that leads to his play on words in reprobate. Or, 
 know ye not. The object of their proof is to test whether or 
 not they are Christians, i.e., whether Christ is in them. If he 
 is not in them, then they fail of the test, and are reprobate. 
 Reprobate is not the best word to render the thought. It is 
 kindred with the word prove, but it has an acquired alien sig- 
 
13:6 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 own selves. Or know ye not as to your own selves, 
 that Jesus Christ is in you? unless indeed ye be 
 
 6. reprobate. But I hope that ye shall know that we 
 
 7. are not reprobate. Now we pray to God that ye do 
 no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that 
 ye may do that which is honourable, ^ though we be 
 
 8. as reprobate. For we can do nothing against the 
 
 9. truth, but for the truth. For we rejoice, when we are 
 weak, and ye are strong: this we also pray for, even 
 
 1 Gr., and that. 
 
 nificance. Failures in the test, or, simply j allures would carry 
 the meaning better. 
 
 6. But I hope that ye shall know, i.e., I hope that your 
 test of yourselves will show you what it means to be in the 
 faith, and then you will come to know that I too have stood 
 the proof and have not failed in the test — am not reprobate. 
 
 7. Now we pray to God. But would be better than now. 
 His prayer is like the expression of another hope. The thought 
 is this: "My prayer is, not that I and my power may be vindi- 
 cated, but that you may give up the wrong and do the right, 
 whether I am vindicated or not." Though we be as reprobate. 
 The marginal reading and that is literal, but it is not better than 
 though. Paul prays that they may stand the test (appear 
 approved) even though it leave him and his claims without proof 
 {reprobate) . If the Corinthians must continue sinful and re- 
 bellious in order to put his authority to the test, he prays that 
 he may go as it were untested, unproved. 
 
 8. For we can do nothing against the truth. Paul finds 
 it difficult to stop. For introduces the explanation of verse 7. 
 His relationship to the truth would make it impossible for him 
 to desire to be vindicated at the expense of the Corinthians' 
 inconsistent lives, if it can possibly be avoided. He is for the 
 truth first, last and all the time. 
 
 9. For we rejoice when we are weak and ye are strong. 
 Still another for. It is coordinate with the explanation of verse 
 7, and adds an example of what he means. He rejoices — it is no 
 mere passive acceptance of the truth — he rejoices to be weak, 
 to continue to appear weak, if only they can be proved and 
 found strong Christians. This we also pray for, even your 
 perfecting. Perfecting is what he means by strong, i.e., strong, 
 growing Christians, His prayer is not only that they may do no 
 
 310 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:10 
 
 10. your perfecting. For this cause I write these things 
 while absent, that I may not when present deal 
 sharply, according to the authority which the Lord 
 gave me for building up, and not for casting down. 
 
 evil, or may do that which is honorable (vs. 7) but that they 
 may be everything which they ought to be. 
 
 10. For this cause I write these things. Here is Paul's 
 ultimate reason for writing all that he has. These things in- 
 cludes 10:1 — 13:9. By letter, by warnings, by threats, by his 
 extended "glorying," he hopes to prevent the necessity of dealing 
 sharply when he makes the third visit. According to the au- 
 thority. After all, his God-given authority has but one end; 
 it is building up, not casting down. And therefore whatever 
 casting down may be necessary finds its justification only when 
 it is a preparation for building up. 
 
 And thus ends this strenuous, heart-breaking letter (chs. 10-13). 
 Except for the final conclusion there is little to relieve its con- 
 tinued strain. Here and there Paul seeks to relieve it by a play- 
 ful touch in lighter vein. But the attempts serve only to show 
 how deep his feeling is and how serious the conditions in Corinth. 
 Can Paul have written this after writing the joyful, hopeful, 
 encouraged letter of chapters 1-9? 
 
 3" 
 
13:11 
 
 Conclusion; 13:11-14 
 
 II. Finally, brethren, ^farewell. Be perfected; be 
 comforted; be of the same mind; live in peace: and 
 
 ^ Or, rejoice: be perfected. 
 
 Conclusion — The Farewell Summary 
 what the corinthians should be and have: 
 
 1. Content, vs. 11: 
 
 a. Be mended. 
 
 b. Be encouraged. 
 
 c. Have harmony. 
 
 d. Cultivate peace. 
 
 2. Result, vs. 12: 
 
 The God of love and peace shall be with them. 
 
 SALUTATIONS : 
 
 1. Salute one another with a holy kiss; vs. 12. 
 
 2. All the saints salute you; vs. 13. 
 
 BENEDICTION, VS. I4: 
 
 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 The love of God, 
 
 The fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. 
 
 II. Finally. The conclusion is brief and in milder tone. No 
 words are wasted; there are no personal greetings; no names are 
 mentioned. It is dignified, almost solemn; but it is not lacking 
 in friendliness or affection. It is a fitting close to such a letter 
 as chapters 10-13. Farewell. The marginal suggestion rejoice 
 gives the literal meaning of the word Paul used. It was the 
 stereotyped form of salutation in a letter, usually translated 
 "greeting" (Acts 15:23; 23:26; Jas. 1:1), and about equivalent 
 to "dear sir." At the close of a letter it is just as formal, and 
 farewell is the better rendering. Be perfected, i.e., become what 
 a church ought to be. Of broken things the same word is used 
 
 312 
 
EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 13:14 
 
 12. the God of love and peace shall be with you. Salute 
 one another with a holy kiss. 
 
 13. All the saints salute you. 
 
 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love 
 of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be 
 with you all. 
 
 for mend. The church at Corinth needed mending, improvement, 
 perfecting (cf. "to mend one's ways"). 
 
 Be comforted, i.e., be encouraged (see note on 1:3-4)- The 
 word has been used several times in the letter for exhort, and 
 here be exhorted, listen to our exhortations, is a possible render- 
 ing. Be of the same mind, i.e., think the same thing; think 
 alike; have harmony of purpose and of thought. Lack of such 
 harmony was the cause of most of the trouble at Corinth. Live 
 in peace. Better, cidtivate peace. Paul uses four carefully 
 chosen and very comprehensive words. They cover his whole 
 message to this broken and distraught church. And the God of 
 love and peace shall be with you. The God whose charac- 
 teristics are love and peace. If they are the church of God (1:1) 
 they must covet for themselves the characteristics of God. Only 
 here in the New Testament is the phrase "God of love" found. 
 "God of peace" is used a number of times (i Cor. 14:33; Rom. 
 16:20; Heb. 13:20). 
 
 12. Salute one another with a holy kiss (cf. i Cor. 16:20; 
 
 1 Thess. 5:26; Rom. 16:16). The kiss was not only an expres- 
 sion of friendship and affection but of respect or reverence. In 
 the early church it was adopted as a token of Christian brother- 
 hood and unity. It had a religious significance and hence was a 
 holy kiss. 
 
 13. All the saints salute you, i.e., all the Christians with 
 whom Paul is now associated in Macedonia; possibly the church 
 at Philippi. 
 
 14. It is noteworthy that the most familiar benediction in the 
 church today is the benediction with which Paul closes this letter. 
 Nowhere else in Paul's letters or in the New Testament is it 
 found in this form. 
 
 Paul's benedictions, like his salutations, are worthy of very 
 careful study. In every benediction he uses the word grace. 
 In four letters (Col., i Tim., 2 Tim., Titus) it is simply "grace 
 he with you." In seven letters (Rom., i Cor., Gal., Phil., i, 
 
 2 Thess., Philem.) he uses the form The grace of our (the) 
 Lord Jesus Christ, adding either be with you, or be with your 
 
13:14 EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 spirit. Ephesians he closes with Grace be with all them that 
 love our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 In this benediction, after beginning as is his custom, Paul 
 adds, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost. That these are an addition to his usual form explains 
 their order. Otherwise we should expect the love of God to 
 come first. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, i.e., Christ's 
 gracious giving of himself and of all good gifts (see 8:9). By 
 his giving he became the reflexion and pattern of God's grace, 
 both God's "unspeakable gift," and the type of God's unstinted 
 giving. The love of God, i.e., God's love for them. Grace is 
 Gods love expressed in giving. The communion of the Holy 
 Ghost, i.e., the fellowship or companionship which the Holy 
 Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord (3:17-18), makes possible for the 
 Christian to have with God, with Christ and with his fellow 
 Christians; hence Christian fellowship. In Eph. 4:3 the "unity 
 of the Spirit" is the unity of fellowship which binds the church 
 as a body of Christ. In the thought of i Jn. 1:3 fellowship with 
 God, with Christ and with fellow Christians is all one fellowship. 
 So Paul's benediction is not a mere stereotyped phrase for a 
 formal ending of a letter or of worship, but an earnest petition 
 for God's best blessings to rest through Christ and His spirit 
 upon the church. 
 
 314 
 
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