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THE INTERPRETER'S COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 VOLUME VI 
 
 THE EPISTLES 
 
 TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 AND GALATIANS 
 
 WITH NOTES AND COMMENTS 
 BY 
 
 JOHN EDGAR McFADYEN, M.A. (Glas.), B.A. (Oxon.), 
 
 PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT LITERATURE AND EXEGESIS, KNOX COLLEGE, TORONTO 
 
 AUTHOR OF " OLD TESTAMENT CRITICISM AND THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH," " INTRODUCTION TO 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT," "THE PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 A. S. BARNES & COMPANY 
 1909 
 
THE 
 INTERPRETER'S COMMENTARY 
 
 ON THE NEW TESTAMENT 
 
 IN EIGHT VOLUMES ^^ • 
 
 WITH NOTES AND COMMENTS 
 BY 
 
 LYMAN ABBOTT, D.D., and JOHN E. McFADYEN, M.A. 
 
 By LYMAN ABBOTT 
 The Gospel according to St. Matthew 
 The Gospel according to St. Mark and St. Luke 
 The Gospel according to St. John 
 The Acts of the Apostles 
 The Epistle to the Romans 
 
 By JOHN E. McFADYEN 
 The Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians 
 
 LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two CoDles Recefved 
 
 FEB 8 1909 
 
 Copyright «vntry 
 CUSS (X. aXc No. 
 COPY a. *• 
 
 Copyright^ 1909, by A. S. Barnes & Co. 
 
DEAR AND TRUSTY FRIEND 
 
 REV. THOMAS ROWATT BROWN 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It has often seemed to me that BibUcal commentaries are not always as 
 attractive as they might be. The scattered information given in the notes 
 has to be carried back by the reader into the text with the result that the 
 interpretation often seems to suffer from a certain sense of jerkiness and 
 lack of continuity. I have sought to obviate this by weaving into the course 
 of the comment a translation of my own which stands out prominently in 
 black lettering, and which can thus be conveniently compared with the ordi- 
 nary Biblical text which is printed at the top of the page, immediately above 
 the commentary. The translation, running as it does through the con- 
 tinuous exposition, shows the reader how the words lie in the apostle's 
 mind; and they make it easy for him to follow the sequence of an argu- 
 ment or to see the force of an appeal, without passing continually from the 
 commentary to the text. 
 
 The volume does not attempt to say all that might be said, but only such 
 things as seemed really to interpret the apostle's thought. Its object is to 
 show how interesting, how vital, and how modern those ancient epistles 
 are. I desire to record my special obligations to Die Schriften des Neuen 
 Testaments, neu iihersetzt und fur die Gegenwart erkl'drt. 
 
 John E. McFadyen. 
 
 December, 1908. 
 
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE 
 CORINTHIANS. 
 
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 No book in the New Testament exhibits more graphically the magnitude 
 and variety of the problems which Christianity had to face in its effort 
 to subdue the ancient world to itself, than the first epistle of Paul to the 
 Corinthians. Corinth was, in a very real sense, the meeting place of east 
 and west, of their commerce and their thought. Of the brilliant and beau- 
 tiful city, it has been said that " in her quickly pulsing life, in her luxury 
 and vice, she may be described as the Paris of the ancient world." The 
 atmosphere of Greece lies about the epistle : the eager mind is here that 
 discusses and questions the resurrection (xv. 12), the spirit of faction is 
 here that cursed the ancient democracies, and that now threatens to rend 
 the church with party cries ; the large and tolerant outlook is here, and the 
 deep and vivid interest in life and its problems. 
 
 In this city of art and commerce, of intellect and vice, there was a 
 "church of God" (i. 2), founded by the apostle Paul (iii. 6). He claims 
 to be the father of the Corinthian Christians, and they are his beloved 
 children (iv. 14 f.). During the year and a half which he had spent at 
 Corinth (Acts xviii. 11) "teaching the word of God among them," his 
 evangelistic efforts had been crowned with a considerable measure of suc- 
 cess (i Cor. i. 4-7) ; and though there, as everywhere, he had encountered 
 bitter opposition from the Jews (Acts xviii. 6), yet not only Gentiles but 
 Jews were won for the gospel, including even a ruler of the synagogue 
 (Acts xviii. 8, i Cor. i. 14). Naturally, however, the bulk of the converts 
 were Gentile (i Cor. xii. 2). Most of them were drawn from the lower 
 classes, few were numbered among Corinth's wise or mighty or noble (i. 26) ; 
 but doubtless there were a few. The graphic description of the celebration 
 of the Lord's supper in xi. 20 ff. presupposes a variety of social condi- 
 tions, and such a man as Stephanas (i. 16, xvi. 15) would probably be well 
 off. Paul recognized the great strategic importance of Corinth. In the 
 words of the vision. Be not afraid (Acts xviii. 9), we get a glimpse into 
 the anxious emotion with which he began his labor ; but the eighteen months 
 which he spent there were rewarded by the rise of a church, whose members 
 were rich in Christian " utterance and knowledge, and came behind in no 
 gift"(i.5f.). 
 
 The work of Paul had been very ably seconded by Apollos ; what Paul 
 
 3 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 had planted, Apollos had watered (iii. 6). It is clear from i. 12 that Paul 
 and Apollos impressed the Corinthians in very different ways. Apollos was 
 a brilliant speaker, and, as an Alexandrian, no doubt a master of the alle- 
 gorical interpretation of the Old Testament (Acts xviii. 24 ff.), with which 
 he confuted the Jews and proved that Jesus was the Messiah. On his 
 arrival at Corinth, his influence began at once to tell powerfully : his elo- 
 quent and philosophic preaching would be more attractive to the average 
 Greek, who worshipped " utterance and knowledge," than the simpler and 
 more unadorned speech of Paul. To the credit of both men, however, 
 neither looked upon the other as a rival. They were both God's fellow- 
 workers (iii. 9). Paul recognizes that ''he that planteth and he that 
 watereth are one " (iii. 8) ; and Apollos, who happens to be with Paul when 
 he writes this letter to the Corinthians, refuses to take advantage of Paul's 
 earnest request that he should visit Corinth with the brethren who are about 
 to go (xvi. 12). 
 
 This letter was written from Ephesus (xvi. 8) — where Paul stayed be- 
 tween two and three years (Acts xix. 10, xx. 31) after leaving Corinth — 
 and apparently towards the conclusion of his stay (Acts xix. 21, i Cor. 
 xvi. 5). It is written at any rate before Pentecost (xvi. 8), perhaps about 
 Easter (of 57 A. D. ?). There was constant intercourse between Ephesus 
 and Corinth, and Paul is obviously thoroughly well informed of the Corin- 
 thian situation. His own letter is indeed, in part, a reply to a series of 
 questions he had received from the Corinthians (vii. iff.) regarding certain 
 matters of practical importance : e.g. marriage and divorce, the partaking 
 of the flesh of animals offered in sacrifice to idols (viii.-x.), (perhaps also 
 whether women should be unveiled in the Christian assembly, xi.) the exer- 
 cise of spiritual gifts (xii.-xiv.), the proper method of taking the collection 
 for the poor of the Jerusalem church (xvi.). But Paul had other sources 
 of information, some of which are named, others wx are left to infer. Mem- 
 bers of the household of Chloe brought him news of the divisions in the 
 Corinthian church (i. 11). Through Apollos (xvi. 12) and Stephanas with 
 his two companions (xvi. 17) he would be kept in touch with the situation. 
 He ''hears" how certain public services are being conducted (xi. 18), he 
 knows the rumors about the moral life of the church (v. i), he is aware 
 of what some people are saying about the resurrection of the dead (xv. 12). 
 His own letter is written with an intimate knowledge of the situation — the 
 first six chapters being suggested, roughly speaking, by the reports he has 
 received, the other by the letter they had sent. He liad already written a 
 letter before this one which appears to have been, perhaps wilfully, misunder- 
 stood (v. 9) : and the present situation is serious enough to justify him in 
 sending Timothy to Corinth in advance of himself (iv. 17, xvi. 10 f.), 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 though whether Timothy reached Corinth or not is uncertain (cf. xvi. lo — 
 if; and Acts xix. 22). 
 
 The two most conspicuous features of the Corinthian community were 
 contentious intellectuahsm and immoraHty, — both features specially charac- 
 teristic of decadent Greece ; and in harmony with this is the opening em- 
 phasis on the ideal sanctity and unity of the church (i. 2). The low moral- 
 ity is very intelligible when we consider that Corinth was one of the great 
 seats of the worship of Aphrodite, who had over a thousand priestesses in 
 the city devoted to her immoral cult. It was at Corinth that Paul drew 
 his dark picture of heathen morality in Rom. i. 18-32. After a terrible 
 Hst of offenders against the divine law, beginning with fornicators and 
 including thieves and drunkards, Paul goes on, '' And such were some of 
 you" (vi. 11) — a sentence which shows the tremendous task which Chris- 
 tianity had before it, and at the same time explains many of the unlovely 
 features in the life of the church. Such men had to be spoken to as babes 
 (iii. i). Equally conspicuoiis, however, with their low morality, was their 
 intellectual conceit. Greece was the home of philosophy, and to the knowl- 
 edge and wisdom of the Corinthians Paul makes many ironical allusions. 
 Their knowledge " puffs them up " (viii. i, cf. iv. 6, 18) and one effect of 
 this conceit is to create a divisive spirit in the community. One man claims 
 to belong to Paul, another to Apollos, another to Peter (i. 12; see note). 
 These watchwords no doubt represent tendencies rather than parties. The 
 eloquent Apollos would have his admirers ; Paul, with his simpler gospel, 
 would have his: the Petrine party probably represents a Palestinian type 
 of piety — led perhaps by followers of Peter — of a narrower and less liberal 
 type than that of Paul, e.g. in the matter of meat offered in sacrifice to idols. 
 But despite the differences, there is no " schism " in the modern sense of the 
 word : all together form the '' church of God in Corinth." 
 
 The epistle gives us more than one interesting glimpse into the conduct 
 of a religious service at Corinth (xi. 17 ff., xiv. 2 ff.). Here the rhetorical 
 gifts of the Greeks would have ample scope, and there must have been some 
 very effective speaking, when the secrets of the heart were manifest, and 
 unbelievers were convinced that the presence of God was in the meeting" 
 (xiv. 24 f.). Often however, an unbridled individualism must have reigned, 
 which gives point to Paul's warning that the object of a public religious 
 exercise is practically frustrated '' unless the other }nan is edified " (xiv. 
 17). The natural mobility of the Greek temperament was heightened by 
 its contact with the " spirit " of the new religion, and the most welcome 
 manifestations of the spirit were the most sensational. The scenes at the 
 services must often have been disorderly (xiv.) and sometimes disgraceful 
 (xi. 21 f.). The passionate and convincing exhortation of a prophet would 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 be interrupted by the unintelligible speech of one who had the ecstatic gift 
 of tongues. The gifts often contributed to display rather than to edifica- 
 tion, and the worship seemed to be that of a God not of peace, but of con- 
 fusion ; so much so that an ignorant or uncharitable stranger stepping into 
 the meeting would at certain moments be inclined to believe that the w^or- 
 shippers were mad (xiv. 23). Even the women, smitten with the emancipa- 
 ting spirit of the new religion, were beginning to forget the decorum which 
 every self-respecting Greek woman was expected to observe in public 
 (xi. 5 ff.)- 
 
 Only a man of unusual versatility would have been able to deal eflfectively 
 with such a situation as that presented by Corinth. The problems which 
 clamored for solution were both practical and speculative. Out of the con- 
 fusion presented by those vivid and complex elements of Greek life, a world 
 of order had to be created ; and the nimble Greek intellect would expect to 
 be satisfied with a speculative solution of its difficulties. In both these 
 directions the greatness of Paul is manifest, and he more than justifies his 
 claim to be all things to all men (ix. 22) — a Greek to the Greeks no less 
 than a Jew to the Jews. In this connection, the collocation of chs. xv. and 
 xvi. is very striking. As at Athens (Acts xvii. 32) so at Corinth, difficul- 
 ties were felt about the resurrection (i Cor. xv. 12). In an argument of 
 much power and eloquence, which shows his great constructive intellect, 
 Paul answers those difficulties, and then in the very next breath, begins to 
 deal in the most practical way with the question of the collection (xvi.). 
 The early days of Christianity needed a great organizing genius — one who 
 could organize thoughts and affairs and men — and such a man they found 
 in Paul. * 
 
 Yet he would not himself have spoken of genius, but of grace ; it was by 
 the grace of God that he was what he was, and did what he did (xv. 10). 
 In this epistle we get a few glimpses of his unique career. He thinks with 
 sorrow of the days in which he persecuted the church of God (xv. 9), but 
 by the infinite grace of that God whose church he had persecuted he is 
 now an apostle — indeed an apostle by a triple right : first, because he has 
 seen the Lord (ix. i, cf. xv. 8) ; secondly, because his work has been 
 crowned with success (ix. 2) ; lastly, because he has suffered for Jesus' sake. 
 The last argument is elaborated in the second epistle, but this epistle also 
 describes the hardships which he had to bear for the gospel's sake — hungry 
 and thirsty, naked and bruised, hunted and doomed, a spectacle to men and 
 angels (iv. 9-13). His mission in life is to preach — that is why he was 
 ** sent " (i. 17) ; and this he does with passion but with simplicity, without 
 rhetorical or philosophical devices (i. 17, ii. i), though he is well aware 
 how dear these are to the Corinthian heart. This does not mean, of course, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that Paul has no theological construction to offer of the Christian facts. 
 The facts are no doubt of unique importance (xv. i-8, xi. 23 ff.), but the 
 discussion of the resurrection shows how ready and competent Paul was 
 to present a constructive interpretation of those facts in terms of contem- 
 porary thought. There is no little irony in his disclaimer of " wisdom " on 
 his own part, and his acknowledgment of the wisdom of the Corinthians 
 (cf. iv. 10, etc.). At the same time, in the eyes of Greeks, his gospel of a 
 crucified Messiah was foolishness, and he made no attempt to commend it 
 by excusing it or by dressing it in the language of philosophy. He held 
 plainly before the eyes of the Corinthians (i. 23) as of the Galatians (GaL 
 iii. i) the figure of Christ upon the cross. That was the gospel, and "woe 
 is unto me, if I preach not the gospel" (ix. 16). The resurrection is no 
 doubt the other half of the gospel, and of no less importance (xv. 14). 
 But to Paul, neither has any meaning apart from the other: it was the 
 crucified Christ who rose. The one doctrine offended Greek pride, the 
 other Greek scepticism; but the Christian religion, as Paul understood it, 
 turns upon them, and he presses them both home in his preaching with in- 
 flexible persistency. The ambition of his life is that he may never, by any 
 word or deed of his, cause any hindrance to this gospel of Christ (ix. 12), 
 and that by all means he may save some (ix. 22). It is never his own 
 profit that he seeks, but always ** the profit of the many, that they may be 
 saved" (x. 33). 
 
 This salvation is not simply an other-worldly thing: this epistle is a fine 
 illustration of how it affects the whole range of human affairs. The great 
 principles of the gospel are here applied to the problems of ordinary life. 
 The letter has been aptly described by Findlay as " the epistle of the cross 
 in its social application," and by Sabatier as " the expansion of the Chris- 
 tian principle as it spreads into the sphere of practical affairs." Its influ- 
 ence upon society is primarily not revolutionary, but transforming: let each 
 man abide in the calling wherein he was called (vii. 20) — transformed, be- 
 cause he abides with God (vii. 24). Less directly, but hardly less power- 
 fully than the epistle to the Galatians does this epistle emphasize the liberty 
 that is ours in Christ. "All things are lawful" (vi. 12, x. 23) ; but the 
 use which may be made of this liberty will depend upon the effect it may 
 have upon others. It must not become a stumbling-block to the weak (viii. 
 9, X. 32). Conduct, whether in the church or in the world, should be gov- 
 erned by the law of edification (x. 23), which is only another name for the 
 law of love: for it is the function of love to build up (viii. i). In all 
 things, every Christian man is to seek the glory of his God (x. 31), and 
 the good of his neighbor: as a member of a corporate body, he must never 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 fail to consider '' the other man." '* Let no man seek his own good, but the 
 good of the other man" (x. 24; cf. xiv. 17). 
 
 Especially must this law of love hold in the church, among those that are 
 of the household of faith (Gal, vi. 10). They come together to worship 
 God, and to help one another — not for the worse, but for the better (xi. 
 17). The test of the value of a religious service is its power to "edify," 
 to build up the worshippers. If '' the other man is not edified " (xiv. 17) 
 by the exercise, then we may well ask what is its value and place in the 
 church. Spiritual gifts are of many kinds, but love must determine how 
 they shall be exercised (xii. 28 flf.), and in any case the most helpful are 
 the most desirable. Into his wonderful eulogy of love, which Alford de- 
 scribes as '' perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful thoughts in beau- 
 tiful language extant in this our world," the apostle pours the fulness of 
 his heart (xiii). This conception of the church as a body with members, 
 every one of which is necessary to. the welfare of the whole, and every one 
 of which needs every other, is worked out with great suggestiveness (xiv.).' 
 
 Sometimes Paul's teaching is colored by his views of the near coming of 
 Christ. The fact that the time is short, appears, for example, to influence 
 his discussion of marriage (vii. 26-29, ^f. x. 11). But in any case the 
 eschatological background of the epistle does not interfere with our direct 
 appropriation of its teaching. In its protest against discord and faction and 
 its plea for holiness and unity within the church, in its emphasis upon bodily 
 purity and the maintenance of an inexorable moral standard in matters af- 
 fecting the relations of the sexes, in its fine combination of tolerance for 
 all that is not inimical to the spirit of Christianity with practical consid- 
 eration for the brother whom that tolerance might mislead, in its lofty sense 
 of the place and power of public worship and of the obligation of each 
 member of the Christian community to contribute to the good of the whole, 
 in its emphatic assertion of the resurrection, and in the supreme place which 
 it assigns to love, the message of the epistle is immortal. The light of the 
 world to come is shed back upon the world that now is. While bracing its 
 readers to face their earthly problems and do their earthly duties, it holds 
 steadily before their eyes the great consummation of history, when all things 
 shall have been subjected to the Son, and God shall be all in all (xv. 28). 
 
THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO THE 
 CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I Paul called to he an apostle of Jesus 
 Christ through the will of God, and Sos- 
 thenes our brother. 
 
 2 Unto the church of God which is at 
 Corinth, to them that are sanctified in 
 Christ Jesus, called to he saints, with 
 all that in every place call upon the name 
 of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and 
 ours : 
 
 The Greeting (i. 1-3). 
 
 Paul, by divine vocation, an apostle of 
 Jesus Christ, 
 
 And brother Sosthenes, 
 
 To the church of God at Corinth, 
 
 Whose members ha\t been sanctified 
 through union with Christ Jesus, and 
 WHO are therefore saints by vocation : 
 
 And not to you only, but to all who 
 anywhere call upon the name of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, who is their Lord as 
 WELL as ours : 
 
 To ALL OF you be GRACE AND PEACE FROM 
 
 God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 1. Paul is an apostle of Jesus Christ, 
 
 sent by Him and sent to proclaim Him, 
 That was the work of his life from his 
 conversion, and it is in his capacity as an 
 apostle that he writes to the Corinthians, 
 But he has not sought this task of himself : 
 he was called to it by an express act of 
 the will of God. His words will there- 
 fore have special weight. There are many 
 unlovely features in the conduct of the Co- 
 rinthian church which will call for grave 
 reproof, and the claim Paul makes in these 
 words to be divinely called to his apostle- 
 ship justifies in advance the authority with 
 which he will subsequently speak. It was 
 all the more necessary to throw this well 
 into the forefront, as some of the Corin- 
 thians appear to have challenged or depre- 
 ciated his apostleship. Am I not an apostle? 
 (ix. 2), 
 
 2. And Paul associates with himself Sos- 
 thenes, whom he calls the brother. Who 
 this man was, we cannot be sure, as the 
 name was not uncommon : it is not impossi- 
 ble that he is to be identified with the ruler 
 of the synagogue mentioned in Acts xviii, 
 17, If, as has been conjectured, he was 
 converted, after the departure of Paul from 
 Corinth, by the preaching of Apollos, there 
 would be a peculiar propriety about the 
 
 mention of him here, considering the party 
 spirit which existed in Corinth, and which 
 Paul takes a very early opportunity of re- 
 buking (ver, 12), Apollos was no rival, 
 and his converts Paul regarded as friends. 
 In any case, Sosthenes must have been a 
 person of some importance, and the naming 
 of him at the beginning of the letter, rather 
 than at the end, and in immediate con- 
 junction with Paul's own name, shows that 
 he is not to be regarded as a mere aman- 
 uensis, but that he shared, if not in the com- 
 position of the letter (ist pers,, sing, is 
 used in i, 4, 10; plu. in ver. 23), at any 
 rate in its sentiments. 
 
 The letter is addressed to the church of 
 God, the ecclesia, which had been called by- 
 God out of the world, and which belonged 
 to Him, The church includes all who call 
 upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in 
 every place, but it has also local centers; 
 and the specific destination of this letter is 
 the church which existed and flourished in 
 Corinth. The church of God in Corinth! 
 the words seem like a contradiction or a 
 dream. Corinth, the home of idolatry and 
 immorality, an immorality more unblushing 
 perhaps than in any other part of Greece; 
 yet the church of God is there. Again, that 
 church is very far from being what it should 
 be : Paul has to censure repeatedly and 
 earnestly its disputatious spirit and its low 
 ideals. All the more remarkable, therefore, 
 are the chaste and lofty words in which he 
 proceeds to describe the Corinthian church. 
 It consists of men who have been sancti- 
 fied in Christ Jesus, that is, who have been 
 separated from the world, and made holy, 
 not so much by Him as in Him, that is, 
 through abiding in Him, And just as Paul 
 was called to his apostleship, so they are 
 no less really called to this life of holiness. 
 Considering the real state of the Corinthian 
 church, as disclosed by this epistle, Paul's 
 repeated emphasis on its holiness sounds 
 strange; but we have to remember that he 
 
10 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. 1 
 
 3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from 
 God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 4 I thank my God always on your be- 
 
 half, for the grace of God which is given 
 you by Jesus Christ; 
 
 5 That in every thing ye are enriched 
 by him, in all utterance, and in all knowl- 
 edge; 
 
 is speaking here of the church as a whole, 
 not of individual members, and again that 
 he is contemplating the church on its ideal 
 side. Despite its grave blemishes, it does 
 not cease to be a church, so long as its 
 members are, in some real sense, in Christ. 
 
 It is singular, but no doubt intentional, 
 that Paul should not extend his greetings 
 to the Corinthian church alone, but that he 
 associates with that church all who in any 
 place call upon the name of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. The first rebuke that Paul 
 administers is to the sectional and party 
 spirit of the Corinthians (ver. loff.). 
 Here he, as it were, admonishes them in 
 advance and by implication, gently remind- 
 ing them that the church, which they were 
 dismembering by their divisions, was a 
 great and impressive unity, with a scope 
 and a membership far beyond themselves, 
 and that it embraced all who acknowledged 
 the lordship of Jesus. To make this point 
 still more plain, he adds, theirs and ours. 
 Some take this phrase with the word place 
 — in every place, theirs and ours; but this 
 is tame. The meaning seems rather to be, 
 their Lord and ours; and the phrase is a 
 delicate reminder that the one Jesus is 
 Lord of all. 
 
 3. The names of the writers and of the 
 people addressed are followed by the greet- 
 ing proper : Grace be to you and peace 
 from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Grace is the loving favor of 
 God, which issues in peace for the men 
 who are conscious of it. To a church torn 
 by internal dissensions, this initial prayer 
 for peace would be specially appropriate. 
 The ultimate source of this grace and peace 
 is divine : it can only come from God and 
 Jesus Christ. It is very significant that 
 these two names can be thus set together 
 under the government of a single preposi- 
 tion. This co-ordination of the names is 
 a subtle, but significant evidence that Paul 
 conceived of Jesus as occupying an alto- 
 gether unique relation to God. 
 
 Incidentally, one cannot help noticing 
 
 in this section (a) the importance attached 
 to a divine call. It is the consciousness of 
 his call to be an apostle that gives to Paul's 
 career its unity, and to his words their 
 authority: similarly the life-work of any 
 man may be done with concentration and 
 
 enthusiasm if it be begun and continued in 
 the inspiration of such a call. And again 
 (b) there are here suggested the marks of 
 a true church. Its members are men who 
 are sanctified by union with Jesus Christ, 
 who acknowledge Him as Lord, and the aim 
 of whose life is holiness. 
 
 Paul expresses his gratitude for the gifts 
 of grace enjoyed by the Corinthian Chris- 
 tians (i. 4-9). 
 
 4, 5. Paul begins, as is his custom, with 
 a note of thanksgiving ; and so utterly self- 
 less is his life, that his recorded thanks- 
 givings are nearly always expressions of 
 gratitude for what God has done for others 
 — as here, I thank God continually con- 
 cerning: you (ver. 4). This introductory 
 expression of his solemn joy in the Corin- 
 thian church is peculiarly skilful and tact- 
 ful, as so much of the subsequent letter is 
 occupied with reproof of their shortcom- 
 ings : he wins their good will at the outset 
 by his frank recognition of their Christian 
 attainments. He was grateful because of 
 the grace of God which was given to you 
 in Christ Jesus — not by Jesus, as A. V. 
 reads: this is to miss the truth that the 
 grace was dependent upon union with Him. 
 What Paul precisely means by grace is 
 made plain by the next clause : (I mean), 
 that in everything ye were enriched in 
 Him (ver. 5) — union with Christ had ex- 
 panded and enriched their nature, especially 
 in utterance of every kind and knowledge 
 of every kind: that is, it had touched and 
 quickened their natural powers of expres- 
 sion and insight. The Greeks had for cen- 
 turies, been famous as speakers and 
 thinkers, and the influence' of Christ is 
 manifest in the new power that has come 
 to them in both those directions; they have 
 a richer power of apprehending truth, and 
 of expressing the truth they apprehend. Or 
 perhaps it is significant that Paul speaks 
 here in the past tense : the gift was given, 
 and they zvcre enriched. The present con- 
 dition of the church leaves much to be 
 desired, as we see from the immediate se- 
 quel ; and it is perhaps ominous that Paul 
 puts speech before knowledge. The glib- 
 tongued, nimble-witted Greeks wert ever 
 ready for an argument. 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 11 
 
 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was 
 confirmed in you : 
 
 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; 
 waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ : 
 
 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the 
 
 end, that ye may he blameless in the day of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were 
 called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. 
 
 6-8. You were enriched, says Paul, in- 
 asmuch as the testimony concerning 
 Christ, that is, the gospel, was confirmed 
 among you or in you — whether that con- 
 firmation took some external form as, e.g. 
 of miracles wrought by the spirit (cf. Gal. 
 iii. 5), or showed itself as deep inner con- 
 viction and new or quickened spiritual 
 powers : the words that follow perhaps 
 rather suggest the latter interpretation. So 
 the consequence of this confirmation was 
 that there is no endowment of grace in 
 which you feel yourselves behind. But 
 this consciousness could only be maintained 
 by fixing their hearts upon the better thing 
 beyond, upon the full unveiling of Christ 
 when He should come again : so to this 
 they earnestly looked forward, patiently 
 awaiting the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ (ver. 7). And this same Jesus Christ 
 in whom they had been sanctified and en- 
 riched in the past, is He who vail also for 
 the future confirm you, even till the end 
 of this dispensation (that is, till He comes 
 again), and will ensure that no charge be 
 laid against you in the day of our Lord 
 Jesus (Christ) when He comes in judg- 
 ment — a phrase modelled on the Old Tes- 
 tament day of the Lord or Jehovah. The 
 who at the beginning of ver. 8 has been 
 referred by some to God, on the ground 
 that, if it referred to Christ, its immediate 
 antecedent, the sentence would more nat- 
 urally end in this day instead of in the day 
 of our Lord Jesus. But against this, it has 
 to be noticed that, in these opening verses, 
 the name of the Lord Jesus occurs ten 
 times, obviously repeated with deliberate 
 and solemn emphasis : more probably there- 
 
 fore the who refers, as it most naturally 
 does, to Christ. 
 
 g. Paul is sure that Christ, till and at 
 His coming, will do all this for the Corin- 
 thian Christians, because God is faithful. 
 He is true to Himself, to His purpose, to 
 those whom He calls. It was through 
 Him ye were called. His purpose in call- 
 ing you cannot be frustrated ; and obedience 
 to the call has brought you into the fel- 
 lowship of His son, Jesus Christ our 
 Lord: that is, the fellowship established 
 by and centering in Him, so that they 
 share the life which He lives and the 
 blessings which He has procured. They, in 
 their measure, will be, like Him, sons of God 
 and heirs of heavenly glory. In part, this 
 fellowship is already realized, for are they 
 not sanctified and enriched in Him ? and 
 its full fruition is sure, because God is 
 faithful. 
 
 This is a tender and beautiful introduc- 
 tion to the earnest words of reproof which 
 are to follow. Before dealing with their 
 shortcomings, the apostle gratefully ac- 
 knowledges before God the many gifts and 
 graces which the Corinthians owe to Christ, 
 assures them of His power to keep them 
 free from charge on the great day of 
 judgment, and rests his confidence for the 
 future on the fidelity of God. His glance 
 sweeps across the years from the day when 
 they were called to be saints to that other 
 day when they shall stand unimpeached 
 and blameless. Then, from this inspiring 
 vision of the past and future, he turns 
 abruptly to the less lovely present. 
 
12 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 THE APOSTLE'S REBUKE OF THE SPIRIT OF FACTION 
 
 . (i. lo-iv. 2i). 
 
 10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
 ye all speak the same thing, and that there 
 be no divisions among you; but that ye 
 be perfectly joined together in the same 
 mind and in the same judgment. 
 
 11 For it hath been declared unto me 
 of you, my brethren, by them which are 
 of the house of Chloe, that there are con- 
 tentions among you. 
 
 12 Now this I say, that every one of 
 you saith, I am of Paul ; and I of Apol- 
 
 The Corinthian Parties (ver. 10-17). 
 
 10. But, brethren, I appeal to you. 
 
 The tone changes : a note of warning and 
 reproof begins to be struck. But in his 
 severity, Paul does not forget to be cour- 
 teous. Though the charge he is about to 
 bring against the Corinthians is a serious 
 one, they are still his brethren. But he is 
 in deadly earnest ; and he solemnly be- 
 seeches them by the name of Him in whom 
 they are sanctified, and into whose fellow- 
 ship they have been called — that august 
 name which he has already repeated ten 
 times, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 the one Lord of all who call upon Him, 
 and in whom they are all one (ver. 10). 
 They are indeed one — ideally at least — 
 but they act as if they were a group of 
 parties, each with its party sentiments and 
 party cry: so Paul exhorts them in the 
 name of their common Lord, that ye say 
 the same thing, one and all of you. As 
 it was, they were saying different things : 
 one was saying, " I am of Paul," another, 
 " And I of Apollos ;" and the unity that 
 ought to mark the church was being im- 
 perilled or destroyed by the spirit of 
 schism. The positive exhortation to say 
 the same thing is expressed negatively in 
 the next clause, and that there be no di- 
 visions among you. (Tx^<T/j.a (schism) is 
 the word used in Mark ii. 21 for a rent in 
 a piece of cloth. It is as if the fair gar- 
 ment of the church were being rent in 
 pieces. In a Christian church there ought 
 to be no rent ; or if there be, it ought to 
 be repaired and adjusted without delay. In 
 the verb KaTTjpTia/xevoi the metaphor of the 
 rent is kept up. I beseech you that there 
 be no schisms, but rather that ye be well 
 adjusted together in a common outlook 
 and a common judgment: literally, in the 
 same mind and the same judgment or 
 opinion. There should be a unity, Paul 
 urges, among the members of the church 
 both in general mental disposition, and in 
 their judgments of particular things: and 
 there will be this unity, if they give Christ, 
 
 by whose name he beseeches them, his true 
 place as Lord. 
 
 11. Paul is not making his charge 
 merely on hearsay : his sources of informa- 
 tion are reliable and he is not afraid to 
 mention them. For with regard to you 
 it has been made plain to me, my 
 brethren, by the representatives of Chloe. 
 Notice again (cf. ver. 10), the courtesy and 
 tact with which he prefaces his formal 
 charge that there are contentions among 
 you with the acknowledgment that they are 
 his brethren. The contentions explain the 
 divisions. Some such vague word as rep- 
 resentatives is necessary to translate the 
 vague Greek phrase " those of Chloe," as 
 we have no means of knowing whether 
 they were children, servants, or agents. 
 We do not even know who Chloe was or 
 to what city she belonged. Clearly she 
 was some one who carried weight with the 
 Corinthians, as Paul does not expect the 
 testimony of her representatives to be chal- 
 lenged. She appears to have been a woman 
 either of Corinth or of Ephesus, the city 
 in which Paul wrote — more probably Ephe- 
 sus, as Corinthian evidence on the state of 
 parties at Corinth would have been open 
 to suspicion. In that case, Chloe's repre- 
 sentatives, whoever they were, must have 
 spent some time in Corinth. 
 
 12. Paul at once proceeds to make his 
 meaning perfectly clear. What I mean, he 
 says, is this. Every one of you is taking 
 sides. One is saying, I belong to Paul; 
 another, I to Apollos; another, I to 
 Peter; another, I to Christ. This partisan 
 spirit in the church must have seemed to 
 Paul a matter of grav'e and even vital im- 
 portance, as he puts it in the very fore- 
 front of his letter. Many questions gather 
 round this famous verse. Were there four 
 parties in Corinth or three (omitting / am 
 of Christ as the gloss of a copyist, or even 
 an aside of Paul himself) or were there 
 only two — that of Paul and Apollos em- 
 bracing the Gentile Christians, that of 
 Peter and Christ embracing the Jewish 
 Christians? Were these groups parties at 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 13 
 
 los ; and I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. I fied for you ? or were ye baptized in the 
 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul cruci- * name of Paul? 
 
 all in the ordinary sense of the word? Did 
 they differ essentially in doctrine — that of 
 Paul and Apollos, for example — or was 
 the preference of the members personal 
 rather than doctrinal? What was the 
 Christ-party? It would be very natural for 
 converts to regard with special affection 
 the man who had brought to them the 
 knowledge of Christ, and there would be 
 a tendency to regard his presentation of the 
 gospel as exhaustive and exclusive. This 
 tendency would in certain cases become a 
 fact, the moment another presentation en- 
 tered the field. After the departure of 
 Paul from Corinth, the brilliant Apollos 
 had appeared, and there would be little 
 wonder if his eloquence, and philosophy too 
 perhaps, had dazzled a people who had 
 ever been fond of oratorical display; and 
 it would be very natural if, in the eyes of 
 some, he had overshadowed the apostle 
 whose ambition was to present his message 
 with simplicity rather than with eloquence. 
 Doubtless the average Corinthian would 
 have been more impressed by Apollos than 
 by Paul ; and while those who, under God, 
 owed their soul to Paul, would be faithful 
 to him and accept the gospel in the form 
 in which he had presented it, there would 
 be others who preferred Apollos and his 
 presentation of it. Thus the difference be- 
 tween these two groups, though probably 
 personal rather than doctrinal, was thor- 
 oughly real and bade fair to be serious. 
 
 But real as this difference was, it was 
 less radical than that between either of 
 these parties and the other two. Paul and 
 Apollos stood together for Gentile Chris- 
 tianity: the party of Peter — or Cephas, 
 as he is always (except in Gal. ii. 7, 8) 
 called in the Pauline epistles (cf. Gal. ii. 
 9) — represented rather Jewish Chris- 
 tianity : the very word Cephas on Greek lips 
 sug'gests Palestinian origin. This party 
 probably adopted a stricter attitude to the 
 law, and would include Jews and Greek 
 proselytes who had connected themselves 
 with the synagogue. The nature of the 
 Christ party is more difficult to determine. 
 Little light can be gained from 2 Cor. x. 7, 
 as those who there boast to be " of Christ " 
 are not necessarily the same as those al- 
 luded to here. The nucleus of this party 
 may have been some of those who had seen 
 the Lord (xv. S), or it may simply have 
 consisted of those whose watchword was 
 " Back to Christ," back beyond His human 
 ministers to the Lord Himself. But to 
 
 make this a party cry, to bring Him into 
 competition with Paul, Apollos and Peter, 
 to claim for a single sect the monopoly, as 
 it were, of Christ, was to be guilty of the 
 worst sectarianism of all : it was, as a 
 Greek father said, to place the Master and 
 His servants upon the same level. Christ 
 is over all and belongs to all, " their Lord 
 and ours " (ver, 2). _ 
 
 13. As Paul considers these parties, 
 whose cries are ringing in his ears, his 
 soul is stirred with holy indignation. Has 
 Christ been divided? he impetuously asks. 
 This sentence may also be translated 
 affirmatively — Christ is then divided ! — 
 but as a question it is much more vigorous 
 and dramatic, and the absence of such a 
 f^V as introduces the next question is no 
 objection, Christ belonged to the whole 
 church — ye are Christ's, iii. 23 — here He 
 was being claimed by a section of it. Or 
 It seemed as if Christ were made into 
 shares — the Christ as expounded by Paul 
 different from the Christ expounded by 
 Apollos or Peter. This partisan spirit was 
 perilous in two directions : it distracted at- 
 tention from the central facts — from 
 Christ, His work, and in particular His 
 cross, which Paul immediately mentions ; 
 and by emphasizing the church leaders, it 
 leads to glorying in men, instead of in the 
 Lord (ver. 31). 
 
 Nothing could more strikingly illustrate 
 the unique and central importance attached 
 by Paul to the cross of Christ than the 
 position he assigns it here. Immediately 
 after the mention of Christ comes the men- 
 tion of his cross. Was it Paul that was 
 CRUCIFIED for you? — and the next sec- 
 tion (vv. 18-25) is entirely devoted to a dis- 
 cussion of the cross. Of all the facts in the 
 earthly career of Christ, this was the most 
 significant ; and the thought of it, had it 
 .held the place in the Corinthian mind to 
 which it was entitled, would have rendered 
 all dissension at once unseemly and im- 
 possible. It was not a mere death, but a 
 death for them. He was crucified for you 
 — ^and Paul rejects with horror the thought 
 that he or Apollos or Peter or any one but 
 Christ could have attained the lonely dis- 
 tinction of "dying for our sins," as it is 
 put in XV. 3. 
 
 It is noteworthy that Paul here singles 
 out the cross and baptism as the two 
 things that give Christ His exclusive claim 
 to the allegiance of the Corinthian Chris- 
 tians — His being crucified for them and 
 
14 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 14 . I thank God that I baptized none 
 of you, but Crispus and Gaius ; 
 
 15 Lest any should say that I had bap- 
 tized in mine own 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 with wisdom 
 of words, lest the cross of Christ should 
 be made of none effect. 
 
 their baptism into His name : or was it 
 into the name of Paul that ye were bap- 
 tized? The name of no church leader was 
 in any way implicated in the baptismal for- 
 mula ; consequently the recognition which 
 these leaders received in the party cry was 
 absurd and scandalous. Apparently the 
 longer Trinitarian formula of Mat. xxviii. 
 19 was not yet in use, and baptism was sim- 
 ply into the name of Christ. 
 
 14-16. At this point it occurs to Paul 
 tliat it is a matter to be thankful for that 
 he has, in his ministry among them, con- 
 fined himself so strictly to preaching, and 
 that he had so seldom baptized. Thus the 
 last shred of justification for their regard- 
 ing him as a party leader vanished. I am 
 thankful, he says (some MSS. add to God) 
 that not one of you did I baptize except 
 Crispus, a former ruler of the synagogue 
 (Acts xviii. 8), and Gaius, "probably a 
 rich freedman, to whom the honorable duty 
 of entertaining the guests of the Church 
 was assigned (Rom. xvi. 23) " (Ramsay 
 in Expositor, Feby. 1900, p. loi). Ver. 15 
 — " lest any one should say, etc " — reads as 
 if Paul had deliberately refrained from 
 baptizing to prevent people from miscon- 
 struing his motive. This of course is not 
 his meaning : he is merely expressing his 
 gratitude at the Providence which, all un- 
 consciously to himself, he now sees to have 
 been watching over his ministry, keeping 
 him, as an almost invariable rule, from bap- 
 tizing his converts, so that none of you is 
 able to say that it was into my name that 
 you were baptized (ver. 15). Then as an 
 afterthought — perhaps suggested by Ste- 
 phanas himself (xvi. 15, 17) — he remem- 
 bers I also baptized the household of 
 Stephanas: if there be any other beside 
 — and he thinks there are none — I do not 
 remember them. 
 
 17. The whole tone of the references to 
 baptism shows that, though Paul regards 
 the rite as of great importance (ver. 13) he 
 does not lay any stress upon his particular 
 administration of it. For it was not to 
 baptize that Christ sent me, but to tell 
 
 the good news. The words aTre'crrctXeV ixe 
 Xptaros recall the dTroo-roXos 'Jrjcrov Xpicrrov 
 of ver. I. This then was the object of his 
 calling to the apostlcship — not to admin- 
 ister sacraments, but to preach. Here Paul 
 
 glides subtly and almost insensibly into his 
 second charge against the Corinthian 
 Church — their love of rhetorical and phi- 
 losophical displa}', which tended to make 
 them misunderstand or depreciate the mes- 
 sage of the cross. His message is to preach, 
 but the preaching has to be not in wisdom 
 of word. Probably zvisdom here refers as 
 much to the form as to the substance of 
 the pre'sentation : in either case he puts his 
 finger upon one of the weak spots in the 
 Greek nature. In preaching, he made no 
 effort to be a clever speaker, as we might 
 paraphrase the words — he was too much in 
 earnest, and had too solemn a theme in, 
 the cross for that : nor did he make any 
 attempt to philosophize — an idea also sug- 
 gested by the Greek words. His plainness 
 of speech appears even to have alienated 
 some of the expectant Corinthians (2 Cor. 
 X. 10) ; and probably in this repudiation of 
 the wisdom of word, there is a latent crit- 
 icism of the ideals of the Apollos party. 
 
 We have already seen (ver. 13) how 
 central the cross must have been in the 
 preaching of Paul : here again, and quite 
 incidentally, it is made plain that for him 
 the essence of. the gospel is the story of 
 the cross. For the reason he assigns for 
 avoiding the wisdom of words in his 
 preaching, is lest the cross of Christ be 
 deprived of its effect — literally, emptied, 
 depleted, like a vessel, of its content. The 
 " clever or subtle speaking," which is al- 
 ways deplorable in a preacher, becomes a 
 sort of blasphemy, w'hen his theme is the 
 cross ; it distracts the attention from the 
 great fact and deprives the message of its 
 power over the heart. It is also worthy of 
 note that Paul speaks here not of the cross 
 of Jesus, but of Christ: the crucified one is 
 the Messiah, " the risen and exalted Lord." 
 The phrase the cross of Christ is reserved 
 for the emphatic place at the end — "that 
 there be no etnptying of the cross of 
 Christ." 
 
 The tension under which Paul writes is 
 shown by the rapidity w'ith which he 
 plunges into the discussion of the parties 
 in the Corinthian church, and by the di- 
 rectness and impetuosity of the discussion. 
 We are not to suppose that the unity of 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 15 
 
 i8 For the preaching of the cross is 
 to them that perish, foolishness ; but unto 
 us which are saved, it is the power of God. 
 
 19 For it is written, I will destroy the 
 wisdom of the wise, and will bring to 
 nothing the understanding of the prudent. 
 
 the church was absolutely wrecked by this 
 partisan spirit; as yet it was only im- 
 perilled, though gravely imperilled. But it 
 was still possible for " the whole church " 
 to come together (xiv. 22,), so that, in a 
 real sense, though one party claims to be 
 specifically Christ's (ver. 12), they are all 
 Christ's (iii. 22,). Still this emphasis upon 
 human leadership, upon some specific and in- 
 dividual interpretation of the gospel, is ever 
 a serious menace to the unity of the church 
 of the Christ. Doubtless beneath all ec- 
 clesiastical, historical and doctrinal differ- 
 ences, there is a real unity ; but even that 
 is imperilled when these differences are 
 accentuated. So long as men are governed 
 by the Protestant impulse to think with 
 courage and independence, they will often 
 differ, especially where the evidence is 
 meagre, and capable of manifold interpre- 
 tation : but the difference must not be exag- 
 gerated, it must be accompanied by the 
 recognition of its relative unimportance, it 
 must be seen in the light of the larger 
 unity in Christ. 
 
 It is pathetic to think that even the Lord's 
 supper, which, more than anything else, is 
 fitted to be a bond of union for those who 
 love Him, should have so often proved to 
 be a point of separation. " I am of Lu- 
 ther," " I am of Zwingli " — cries like these 
 nearly jeopardied the unity of the Reforma- 
 tion ; and to-day — though this is less and 
 less the case — the names of Calvin and 
 Wesley divide large branches of the Chris- 
 tian church. There is no more important 
 lesson for the modern church, confronted 
 with the stupendous problem of the evan- 
 gelization of the world, than that which 
 Paul urges here so powerfully — to sink 
 all differences in the recognition of the 
 supreme allegiance which all alike owe to 
 Christ, who was crucified for them, and 
 into whose name they were baptized. 
 
 The Folly and the Wisdom of the Cross 
 (i. 18-25). 
 
 18. The cross, as we have seen, was 
 central to the preaching of Paul. He fears 
 and shuns subtle discourse, "wisdom of 
 word," because of its power to obscure 
 the cross (ver. 17). Yet to the great ma- 
 jority of those who first heard the gospel, 
 Jews and Greeks alike, the cross was a 
 hopelessly unintelligible riddle: it was the 
 
 crucifixion of their most cherished be- 
 liefs and hopes. For the story of the 
 cross is folly in the eyes of those 
 who are perishing (ver. 18) — not sim- 
 ply, those who are destined to perish : 
 the idea rather is that those who reject that 
 story as silly, are perishing in virtue of 
 their rejection, and will continue to perish 
 so long as they reject it. The road to de- 
 struction is to count the story of Christ's 
 cross a foolish one : but there are others 
 to whom it proves itself nothing less than 
 a divine pozver. To those who are being 
 saved — and such are we — it is the 
 power of God. There is a fine balance 
 about this sentence (rots /xev . . . rols 
 5e) : we may draw fine shades of distinction 
 between men, but ultimately and essentially 
 there are only two classes, and these are 
 determined by their attitude to Christ and 
 His cross — those who are being lost, those 
 who think the story silly, and those who 
 are being saved, those who find that it 
 speaks to them with divine power. Paul 
 speaks for this group out of the depths of 
 an experience which he knows they share 
 C to those who are being saved, even to 
 us;" rols 5e oco^ofievoLs v/hlv). The natural 
 contrast to foolishness would be zvisdom 
 (cf. ver. 25) : Paul, however, deliberately 
 uses power here to suggest that the story 
 has vindicated itself as a mighty, saving 
 fact. This is the practical proof of its 
 wisdom. 
 
 19. There is nothing unusual about this 
 issue of worldly wisdom in destruction : 
 it is part of the divine government of the 
 world and is attested by the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures. For it stands in Scripture (perf. 
 tense) : " I will cause the wisdom of the 
 wise to perish (note the echo in diroXui of 
 d-rroWv/xei'oi.s) and the discernment of the 
 discerning I will reduce to nothing " — 
 in the original passage the last word is / 
 zoill hide (Isaiah xxix. 14). This appeal 
 to the Old Testament is very characteristic : 
 this section must have been a favorite, as 
 the previous verse is quoted by our Lord 
 in Mat. xv. 8. In the original passage, 
 the reference is to the political schemes by 
 which the Jews hoped to save themselves 
 from the Assyrians. The New Testament 
 writers, as a rule, care little for the orig- 
 inal context, and they apply the passages 
 they quote more generally, or refer them 
 definitely to the situation in their own day. 
 
16 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 20 Where is the wise? where is the 
 scribe? where is the disputer of this world? 
 hath not God made foohsh the wisdom 
 of this world? 
 
 21 For after that in the wisdom of God 
 the world by wisdom knew not God, it 
 
 pleased God by the foolishness of preach- 
 ing to save them that believe. 
 
 22 For the Jews require a sign, and 
 the Greeks seek after wisdom : 
 
 2^ But we preach Christ crucified, unto 
 the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the 
 Greeks foolishness ; 
 
 20. Worldly wisdom, whether of the 
 Jews or Greeks, leads nowhere, or only to 
 destruction. For where is your philoso- 
 pher? where is your scribe? where is 
 your worldly controversialist? (literally, 
 where is the disputer of this age?) Here 
 again we have a reminiscence of Isaiah 
 xix. II f. and xxxiii. i8. Some regard 
 ao06s as a general term, which is subdi- 
 vided into the Jewish ypa/j-f^arevs (scribe) 
 and the Greek aw'^riTriT-ns. But, whether 
 the last term be an allusion to Greek or 
 Jew, — and it may equally well be Jew 
 (Acts vi. 9_) — it seems more natural in a 
 passage ridiculing the Corinthian co^ia^ to 
 refer co(j)6s to the Greek, and ypaf^fxarevs of 
 course, to the Jew. Where were these phi- 
 losophers and scribes ? asks Paul, and he 
 answers by impHcation, Nowhere. All their 
 philosophies amounted to nothing when it 
 came to an interpretation of the mind of 
 God, especially as illustrated in the cross 
 of Christ: for did God not turn the wis- 
 dom of the world into folly? Jew and 
 Greek alike failed to understand and ap- 
 preciate the most stupendous, if mysterious, 
 fact of history — the cross of Christ; there- 
 fore they and their systems stood con- 
 victed of folly. Theirs was a wisdom of 
 the world, the Koaixos, that is, the material 
 world : such worldly wisdom was incom- 
 petent to interpret the spiritual world. 
 
 21. Since then, in the wisdom of 
 God, the world, by its wisdom, had at- 
 tained no real knowledge of God: it is 
 not quite certain what is meant by in 
 the wisdom of God — whether that this 
 incompetence on the part of the world 
 is part of a wise, divine plan, or that by 
 the wisdom of God is meant the revelation 
 in the pre-Christian world, to the Jews in 
 Scripture, to the Greeks in. nature : the 
 former interpretation seems the more nat- 
 ural. But since in either case the world 
 knew not God, and He was desirous that 
 it should have a saving knowledge of Him, 
 He graciously determined, by means of 
 this foolish message of the cross (liter- 
 ally, "by the foolishness of the message") 
 to save those who believed it. With 
 much emphasis rohs Tncrevopras is reserved 
 to the end: it is those who believe it who 
 
 are saved, those who count it silly only 
 succeed in perishing. 
 
 22, 23. The Jews and the Greeks rep- 
 resent the two great outstanding attitudes 
 to the problem of life : together, in a sense, 
 they exhaust the world (ver. 21) which, by 
 its wisdom, failed to find God. Hence Paul 
 here divides the world into these two great 
 categories, and suggests why they went 
 astray in their search : Jews demand signs 
 and Greeks are in search of wisdom. 
 To both (/cat . . . /cat) the plain message 
 of the cross is unconvincing. As in the 
 time of Jesus, the Jews demanded a sign 
 (Mat. xvi. I, Mark viii. 11 f.) : then they 
 might believe. They were moving in the 
 region of externals : a spiritual message 
 needs no external authentication. The 
 Greeks, on the other hand, were animated 
 by a philosophical spirit, and this alone 
 would never lead to the cross. But in 
 contradiction to the Jews, "with their ex- 
 ternalism and the Greeks with their phi- 
 losophy, WE preach Christ as crucified.^ 
 Though Paul speaks in the context of his 
 own mission (i. 17) and method (ii. 2) no 
 doubt by zve here he means to include oth- 
 ers besides himself : he was not alone — 
 probably Apollos and others were with him 
 — • in proclaiming Christ as crucified. We 
 preach Christ: how personal this sounds as 
 against the abstractions of Greek philosophy ! 
 It is not a system, but a man, who has to be 
 presented by the preacher. And that man 
 crucified! (iffravpoj/xeuov^ perf. part. : the 
 crucifixion is not merely a historic event 
 [aor.] but an eternal fact, at any rate a 
 fact of eternal consequences) A crucified 
 Messiah! Here was the real offence, an 
 offence to both the types that exhaust the 
 world (/"f" . . . 5f') — to Jews a stum- 
 bling block, to Gentiles folly. Here Paul 
 strikes at the root of the matter. All ear- 
 nest religious men were longing, more or 
 
 ^ The grammar of vv. 22, 23 is a little diflficult. 
 Probably ver. 23 is not to be regarded as the 
 principal clause, of which ver. 22 is the subor- 
 dinate: " Since the Jews ask a sign, etc. , . . 
 we preach Christ " :" for the former fact is not 
 the reason for Paul's preaching Christ. But 
 rather vv. 22-24 are to be taken as amplifying 
 V. 21: "Since, that is, the Tews ask a sign 
 . . . while we preach Christ." 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 17 
 
 24 But unto them which are called, 
 both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power 
 of God, and the wisdom of God. 
 
 25 Because the foolishness of God is 
 wiser than men ; and the weakness of 
 God is stronger than men. 
 
 less consciously, for salvation ; but that that 
 should come through a crucified man was 
 incredible, ridiculous, to Jew and Greek 
 alike. " He that is hanged . is accursed of 
 God," said the Jew (Deut. xxi. 23) ; be- 
 sides, the Messiah was to come in regal 
 splendor and as conqueror. Little won- 
 der that a crucified Messiah was a stum- 
 bling block to the Jews. To the Gen- 
 tiles — the Greeks and the Romans — such 
 a gospel was equal folly: the horror with 
 which the Romans regarded the cross re- 
 ceives graphic expression in the words of 
 Cicero : " Away wath the very name of 
 cross, not only from the bodies of citizens 
 of Rome,, but even from their thoughts, 
 their eyes, their ears." 
 
 24, 25. To the world at large, the cross 
 might be a stumbling block and a folly : 
 but to ' those that are actually called 
 (literally, to the called themselves) — and 
 these embraced both Jews and Greeks — 
 this crucified Christ is divine power and 
 divine wisdom incarnate. "When truly un- 
 derstood, He can meet both the Jewish 
 demand for a sign, and the Greek demand 
 for wisdom. Upon His cross. He is the 
 embodiment at once of the might and the 
 wisdom of God. There is something very 
 impressive in the rhythmic repetition of 
 Qeox) (God) before 8vva/xLv (power) and 
 ao(pLav (wisdom), and in the stately balance 
 of the next sentence. The frequent repe- 
 tition of Qeov (God) in these verses is 
 designed to suggest that we are here deal- 
 ing with the inscrutable things of God. 
 For this weak and foolish policy, as it 
 m.ay seem, of salvation by the cross, (note 
 that TO iiwpov and to daOevis are concrete), 
 seeing that it is divine — it _ is God's 
 policy (twice over) — is wiser and 
 stronger than men, and all that they can 
 do or devise. 
 
 To appreciate this passage properly, it 
 must not be forgotten that it is pervaded 
 by a delicate irony. Paul hurls the shafts 
 of his fine ridicule at the Greek aocpia 
 (wisdom) ; but it would be unjust to infer 
 from this that what he calls in ver. 18 the 
 " message " or the " story of the cross " 
 is simply to be accepted as a fact, without 
 any attempt being made to correlate it with 
 other facts or to find a place for it in a 
 theological scheme. Every thoughtful man 
 
 has the impulse to relate a new fact to his 
 general view of the world ; and the more 
 important is the fact, the stronger will be 
 the impulse. Indeed the new fact is not 
 cornpletely his till he has found a place for 
 it in his mind. Paul himself, with his 
 acute and massive intellect, shared and 
 could not but share this impulse. So far 
 is he from despising philosophy that he 
 himself in other epistles, and even in parts 
 of this one, throws out suggestions and 
 more than suggestions towards a theo- 
 logical system. It would be too much to 
 say that he actually constructs a scheme ; 
 but the impulse is always there and we 
 often meet with more or less highly de- 
 veloped theological arguments (cf. xv; 
 Rom : Gal. iii. f.). 
 
 What Paul is here rebuking and ridicul- 
 ing is the superficial a-o0t'a of the Corin- 
 thians. Their Christian experience is as 
 yet very slender. There is jealousy and 
 strife among them (i. 11) and they "are 
 yet carnal" (iii. 3). They were only 
 "babes in Christ" (iii. i) who had to be 
 fed with milk, not with meat : " for ye 
 were not able to bear it; nay, not even now 
 are ye able" (iii, 2). The theology that 
 rises out of such a religious experience is 
 not likely to be a very profound one : yet 
 the Corinthians were moved by the irre- 
 pressible Greek instinct to reduce their new 
 religion to the terms of philosophy. This 
 is the real point of Paul's repeated allu- 
 sions to Greek " wisdom :" in character- 
 izing the message he has to proclaim as 
 " foolishness," there is a certain mock hu- 
 mility. Elsewhere in this epistle, notably 
 in iv. 10, Paul gives to his words an ironi- 
 cal point. 
 
 Reading between the lines we get a 
 glimpse, in this section, into the difficulties 
 under which Paul worked. The cross was 
 to him the core of his messag'e ; but it was 
 infinitely hard to find a place for it either 
 in the Greek or the Jewish mind, ihere 
 was no room for it either in Jewish hopes 
 or in Greek philosophy ; yet it was only 
 through belief in this " ioolish message " 
 that men could be saved (ver. 21). Often 
 and long must Paul have argued for the 
 cross against Jewish obstinacy and Greek 
 conceit — sometimes, unsuccessfully, some- 
 times with success ; for among '' those that 
 were called were both Jews and Greeks" 
 ( ver. 24). * 
 
18 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 €6 For ye see your calling, brethren, 
 how that not many wise men after the 
 flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, 
 are called: 
 
 27 But God hath chosen the foolish 
 things of the world to confound the wise ; 
 and God hath chosen the weak things of 
 the world to confound the things which 
 are mighty; 
 
 28 And base things of the world, and 
 things which are despised, hath God chosen, 
 yea, and things which are not, to bring 
 to nought things that are : 
 
 29 That no flesh should glory in his 
 presence. 
 
 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, 
 who of God is made unto us wisdom, and 
 
 The Recipients of the Gospel Call (i. 
 26-30) . 
 
 26. To illustrate still further the nature 
 of his gospel, Paul turns abruptly to his 
 readers whom, with earnest courtesy, he 
 addresses as brethren, and by a skilful per- 
 sonal appeal — look at YOUR calling — he 
 reminds them of the lowly place they oc- 
 cupied, for the most part, in Corinthian 
 society, and of the essential simplicity of 
 a gospel which could appeal to, and win, 
 guch men. Not many of you are philos- 
 ophers (literally, wise according to the 
 Hcsh, that is, in the world's sense), nor 
 are there many influential people among 
 you, nor many well born. The sentence 
 is elliptical: either eKXridTjaav (were called), 
 or perhaps more pointedly ^are (ye are), 
 has to be supplied. The calling is of 
 course to the Christian life (cf. i. 2). 
 Paul is speaking here of the Corinthian 
 church (your calling), but the remark 
 would no doubt be applicable to the early 
 Christian church generally. It is not im- 
 plied, however, that that church was com- 
 posed exclusively of the humbler elements 
 of the population : there were some men 
 of culture, influence, and birth among her 
 members, but not many. These would be 
 the classes most difficult to attract by the 
 story of the cross. Some idea of the com- 
 position of the church may be inferred 
 from the proper names that occur in the 
 epistle; for example, Fortunatus, Achaicus, 
 Gains, names which " probably indicate 
 freedmen." There would in all likelihood 
 be many freedmen and some slaves. Here 
 again, as in ver. 24, it is worth while to 
 note the rhythmic repetition (not many) 
 three times, a feature still more marked 
 in the threefold repetition in the next 
 two verses, and- which invests the state- 
 ments with a certain solemnity. 
 
 27, 28. Not many of those in high place 
 were called : on the contrary, it was the 
 world's foolish things that God selected, 
 when He chose you, and the reason of I lis 
 choice was that He might shame the 
 so-called v/ise men, and it was the world's 
 feeble things that God selected, that He 
 
 might shame the strong things, and it 
 was the things of the world that were 
 low and of no account that God selected, 
 the things that were as good as non- 
 existent (not TO. ovK bvTa : they did actually 
 exist, but they were as if they did not exist, 
 hence ra /xr) bvTa) that he might bring 
 down the things that exist to nothing. 
 Here are three very deliberate statements, 
 which accurately correspond to the three 
 types alluded to in ver. 26 — the wise, the 
 powerful, and the highborn. The impres- 
 sive repetition of the words God chose is 
 well calculated to call attention to the 
 paradox of the divine method. God's ways 
 are not our ways : the divine standards and 
 methods are the antipodes of the human. 
 It is the foolish, the feeble, the obscure, 
 that are the peculiar objects of the divine 
 choice. The neuter form of the adjectives 
 (rd Aiwpd, TO. dcdevri, etc.) gives an imper- 
 sonal turn to the whole sentence, which 
 thus becomes a statement of the general 
 principles of the divine operation : but the 
 statement is suggested to Paul's mind by 
 the Corinthian situation, and, though in 
 form impersonal, it is in reality, personal : 
 He selected the foolish things that He 
 might shame the wise men {rovs aocpovs). 
 His choice of the foolish was the most 
 effective way of shaming the wise (*»'«) : 
 their wisdom did not commend them to 
 Him (cf. a similar utterance of our Lord 
 in Mat. xi. 25). The method of the divine 
 choice changes the aspect of the world : 
 the things that are {to. ovra), the things 
 which seem to have solidity and reality, 
 it not only puts to shame, but annihilates. 
 It is perhaps not unfair to see a fine irony 
 in this ringing of the changes on the phi- 
 losophical phrases ^d bura and to. firj opra. 
 
 29. The ultimate object of this strange 
 choice of God is that in His presence 
 there be no glorying on the part of any 
 mortal man. Man is but Ucsli. frail and 
 sinful ; the wisdom and the power, in which 
 he glories, give him no standing in the 
 sight of God who ignores these things in 
 His choice of men, that there be no place 
 for boasting. 
 
 30. Any standing that wc have, there- 
 
€h. I] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 19 
 
 righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
 demption : 
 
 31 That, according as it is written, He 
 that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 
 
 fore, we owe to Him, not to anything that 
 we, of ourselves, are or have or know ; 
 and the only standing for which the 
 Christian greatly cares is that which he 
 has in Christ. Consequently you owe it 
 to Him (God), says Paul to the Corin- 
 thians, that you are in union with Christ 
 Jesus. It is also possible to translate : 
 from Him ye are, or have your being, 
 that is, ye are His children — in Christ. 
 But the context, which throws its stress 
 repeatedly upon the work of God, makes 
 the former translation the more probable : 
 it is from God, i.e. by His origination, that 
 you {vjxeis^ emphatic, the obscure Corin- 
 thians) are in Christ. Nothing but the 
 power and the goodness of God could have 
 brought such as they into that blessed com- 
 munion. Blessed indeed! for what have 
 we not in Him? For He, by the gracious 
 purpose of God, o-irb Qeov, from God as 
 origin) became (or was made) Wisdom 
 to us. 
 
 In a few trenchant words, Paul is about 
 to bring the discussion to a close. The 
 divine <To<pia (wisdom) which he has been 
 discussing is completed, gathered up and 
 presented to Christians (not only to you, 
 iifxels of the first clause, but to us, Vf^^^) 
 in the historical figure (iyevridr] aor.) of 
 Christ Jesus : in Him can be read the mind 
 and the purpose of God. This wisdom 
 which is incarnate in Christ, manifests 
 itself especially in two ways, as Justifica- 
 tion-and-Sanctification, which, connected 
 by T€ Kai^ (both-and) are to be considered 
 in close combination, and also complete 
 Redemption. These three substantives are 
 better taken as explanatory of o-o0ta than 
 as co-ordinate with it. Through Christ, who 
 is the embodiment of God's wise purpose, 
 comes diKaLoavvT]^ which blends the meanings 
 of justification and righteousness: in Him we 
 are justified and regarded as ideally right- 
 eous. Intimately connected with this is 
 ayiaafios, sanctification, separation to a holy 
 life (cf. i. 2). The last term dTroXurpwo-ts, is 
 the most comprehensive of all, redemption in 
 the largest sense, ransom {XvTpov) from 
 (dTTo) sin and misery, deliverance from 
 sin and death and ultimate entrance into 
 glory. Jesus Christ did not merely bring 
 these things to us : He incarnates them 
 (os iyevrjerj), and they are ours in Him. 
 
 31. Of ourselves, then, we are nothing. 
 What we have — our acquittal, our holiness, 
 our redemption — we have only in Christ, 
 and this standing in Him we owe to God 
 
 (e| avTov). Clearly, then, there is no room 
 for boasting ; and the final purpose of God 
 in bringing us into this blessed and fruit- 
 ful union with Christ is that, as it stands 
 in Scripture (Jer. ix. 24), he who glories 
 should glory in the Lord. The grammar 
 is somewhat irregular : as tVa cannot go 
 directly with the imperative, we may as- 
 sume an ellipse: that (it might be or come 
 to pass), as the Scripture has it, "Let him 
 that glorieth, glory in the Lord." (In 
 LXX, as in the Hebrew of Jer. ix. 24, 
 ev rovTio^ in this, that . . . ). It is diffi- 
 cult to determine precisely here whether by 
 the Lord Paul means Christ or God. The 
 word is equally applicable to both, and 
 only the context can decide. The imme- 
 diate context, however, has given great 
 prominence to both. On the one hand, it 
 is God who chooses men, and " it is of Him 
 that ye are in Christ;" on the other hand, 
 Christ is the divine wisdom, and redemp- 
 tion ; it is His cross that saves, and into 
 His name that we are baptized. The point 
 is not of great importance : for whether the 
 Lord be Christ or God, at any rate it is in 
 one or other of these that we are to glory, 
 and not in men or in earthly distinctions. 
 The Corinthians, with their hero-worship 
 of Paul, ApoUos, and Peter, and with their 
 tendency to excessive regard for wisdom, 
 influence, and high birth (vv. 27 f.), had 
 forgotten this. This quotation is more than 
 usually appropriate. The original passage 
 in Jeremiah furnishes the very same con- 
 trast, and almost in the very same terms, 
 as Paul's admonition here. " Let not the 
 wise man (0 <jo<p6s) glory in his wisdom (e*' 
 TTj aocpia avTov) neither let the mighty man 
 (6 iaxvpos) glory in his might, nor let the 
 rich man glory in his riches." 
 
 This section (vv. 26-31) serves the 
 double purpose of illustrating the principle 
 that governs the divine choice of men, and 
 of rebuking the conceit of the Corinthians. 
 God does not choose those who stand high 
 as tried by the standards of the world : 
 the very reverse. He chooses the foolish, 
 the feeble, the base-born : and such — 
 Paul very plainly hints — were most of 
 them. Had His choice fallen upon the 
 wise, the influential, the high-born, then 
 not many of them would have been so 
 honored. He thus forces them back, in a 
 spirit very similar to that of Jeremiah, to 
 a recognition of their own utter insig- 
 
20 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 ■ I And I, brethren, when I came to you, 
 came not with excellency of speech or of 
 wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony 
 of God. 
 2 For I determined not to know any 
 
 thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
 him crucified. 
 
 3 And I was with you in weakness, 
 and in fear, and in much trembling. 
 
 4 And my speech and my preaching 
 was not with enticing words of man's wis- 
 dom, but in demonstration of the Spirit 
 and of power : 
 
 nificance — they were ^a firj 'dpra^ as good 
 as non-existent — forces them to recognize 
 that, for the marvel of their redemption, 
 they are altogether indebted to God in 
 Christ. Thus boasting is excluded, ?ind hu- 
 mility is the only true wisdom. 
 
 Paul's Manner of Preaching at Corinth (ii. 
 
 1-5). 
 
 1. Paul has just been urging upon the 
 Corinthians the recognition of their own 
 utter insignificance, and the wisdom of 
 glorying in the Lord alone. This, he 
 goes on to say, has been his own practice. 
 He preached under an overwhelming sense 
 of his own weakness, and he made no ef- 
 fort to commend his message to his au- 
 diences by rhetorical (\6yov) or philo- 
 sophical (o-o0tas) devices. As for me, 
 brethren — note again the courteous ad- 
 dress (i. 10, ii) — whatever may have 
 been the practice of others — when I came 
 to you, I came — the repetition concen- 
 trates attention forcibly upon his arrival — 
 proclaiming the gospel, which he here 
 calls the testimony of God, as in i. 6, he 
 had called it the testimony of_ Christ, 
 simply and not with any striking rhe- 
 torical or philosophical display, ixaprvpiov 
 seems better than fivarriptov, which may 
 have crept in from ver. 7. The fx-apTvpiov 
 Toil deov^ is probably the testimony to God, 
 that is, to His purpose in Christ — in short, 
 the gospel. 
 
 2. Doubtless, had Paul used these 
 devices which he despised, his message 
 would at first have commended itself to 
 a wider circle of Corinthans; but his 
 refusal to avail himself of them was part 
 of a deliberate purpose. Perhaps his ex- 
 perience at Athens from which he had 
 come (Acts xviii. i) had contributed to 
 this: it may also partly explain his fear 
 and trembVuiii,. For I did not decide to 
 know anything among you, except Jesus 
 Christ, and Him too — though I knew 
 well how great the offence would be — 
 as crucified. There is a slight, but ap- 
 preciable difference, between " I decided 
 not to know " and " I did not decide to 
 
 know." The C-orinthians, with their argu- 
 mentative instincts, are fond of airing their 
 own knowledge (cf. viii. i) and of meet- 
 ing any one who claimed. " to have some 
 knowledge " {eiUpai n) : Paul resolves 
 that, at any rate so long as he is among 
 them (ep vfiiv) he will severely restrict his 
 knowledge to one theme. Not only will he 
 preach about nothing else ; but, for the 
 time being, nothing else will be in his mind. 
 The theme that fills it is Jesus Christ. 
 He will not let his speech among the Co- 
 rinthians drift into abstractions : it will be 
 glowingly personal, gathered about the per- 
 son Jesus who to him is the Messiah, 
 Christ. In particular will it gather about 
 that fact in the career of Jesus which was 
 central — His crucifixion. Such a gospel 
 would be anything but popular among 
 Greeks — salvation by one who had died 
 a malefactor's death (i. 23) — but that is 
 the fact which Paul will supremely and 
 continually hold both before his own mind 
 and theirs. 
 
 3, 4. He is fully conscious, not only of 
 the unpopularity of the message, but of 
 the insufiiciency of the preacher. As for 
 me, it was in weakness and in fear, a 
 fear so great as to result in much trem- 
 bling, that I came before you (ver. 3). 
 Here we get an interesting glimpse into 
 Paul's public appearance: he was just the 
 very reverse of the cool, self-confident, 
 ready orator. On the contrary, he was 
 overcome by a sense of his feebleness, in 
 the face of the mighty task that devolved 
 upon him as a preacher of Jesus Christ : 
 he had a sense of terror which expressed 
 itself in violent trembling. And, tried by 
 Corinthian standards, his speech was as 
 feeble as himself (cf. 2 Cor. x. 10. xi. 6) : 
 my speech, and in particular my message, 
 did not consist in plausible words of 
 philosophy. There was no n'isdom in it, 
 no such perstiasiz'e power, as the Greek 
 mind delighted in. But here again we may" 
 suspect a little touch of irony: for though 
 his preaching lacked these elements which 
 the Greeks thought so important, yet its 
 real power was incontrovertihly attested 
 by its (miraculous, cf. 2 Cor. xii. 12) effects, 
 for it came in the shape of eft'ects wrought 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 21 
 
 5 That your faith should not stand in 
 the wisdom of men, but in the power of 
 God. 
 
 6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among 
 them that are perfect : yet not the wisdom 
 of this world, nor of the princes of this 
 world, that come to nought : 
 
 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in 
 a mystery, even the hidden li'isdom, which 
 God ordained before the world unto our 
 glory ; 
 
 8 Which none of the princes of this 
 world knew : for had they known it, they 
 would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 
 
 upon the lives of his hearers, positive ex- 
 perimental proof, which could only come 
 from the divine spirit and the divine 
 power. His words were not merely 
 plausible, they were effective, because the 
 spirit was behind them. His proofs were 
 not skilful arguments, but living facts. 
 
 5. So the *' weak, timid, trembling " Paul 
 (ver. 3) turns out to be the mighty 
 preacher. But his might is not his own: 
 it is of the spirit (ver. 4), of God (ver. 5) ; 
 and the divine purpose (tW) in choosing 
 this man — or, it may be, his purpose in 
 preaching as he did — was that your faith 
 should not rest in the wisdom of men, 
 but in the power of God. A faith which 
 is to exist unshaken must not be built upon 
 a clever argument, but on an appreciation 
 of the demonstrated (d7ro5et'|et) power of 
 God. It is God, by His power, and not 
 man, by his eloquence or philosophy, that 
 saves the soul. 
 
 Paul offers himself here as an illustration 
 of the truth that God does his mighty work 
 through feeble instruments and by un- 
 worldly means. 
 
 The Philosophy of the Gospel (ii. 6-9). 
 
 6. Some of Paul's words have conveyed 
 the impression that he cared only for 
 facts, especially for the Fact of Christ as 
 Crucified, and refused to be drawn into the 
 temptation of regarding the gospel on what 
 we may call its philosophical side (i. 17, ii. 
 I, 4) — as a cro(pia. As we have already 
 seen (p. 17) that could hardly have been 
 his meaning ; besides, other expressions look 
 the other way — Christ, for example, is 
 called wisdom (i. 30) and God's wisdom 
 (i. 24). He has, then, a philosophy after 
 all, which is intelligible, however, only to 
 the initiated. Faith must not indeed rest 
 in human philosophy (iv aocpla dvOpiovcov) ; 
 but there is another philosophy, the apos- 
 tle goes on, a wisdom, wdiich we (he and 
 his fellow preachers) utter, not indeed 
 indiscriminately, or before all kinds of 
 audiences, but only among those who are 
 spiritually mature, those who are not babes 
 (iii. i) but are grown to their full Chris- 
 tian stature : or the word (reXei'ots) so near 
 
 fxvarrrjpiu) m ver. 7, may be intended to sug- 
 gest " those who are initiated into the Chris- 
 tian mystery." 
 
 This wisdom, however, is not of this 
 world (lit. of this age) : it does not share 
 the temper and spirit of this age, whose 
 values are in terms of things transitory 
 and external (i. 26) ; nor is it a wisdom 
 of the rulers of this world. Those wha 
 are in high place, and who ought to knozv 
 (cf. ver. 8, eypwaav) best, made the most 
 ghastly mistake of all (ver. 8). The 
 rulers of this world might conceivably be 
 angels, whom later Jewish belief (cf. Dan. 
 x-xii) regarded as presiding over the na- 
 tions. But, without further explanation, 
 it is more probable that, like the apxovres 
 of Romans xiii. 3, they are men, especially 
 as their wisdom corresponds to the wns- 
 dom of men in the preceding verse, and 
 the very same phrase, " the rulers of this 
 world," is used in ver. 8 of those who cru- 
 cified Jesus. The same word, ol dpxovres^ 
 avTuv^ is used in Acts xiii. 27 of the Jewish 
 rulers who compassed Jesus' death. The 
 similarity of this passage — where the 
 rulers act dyuorjcrauTes^ in ignorance — with 
 I Cor. ii. 8 where it is said that they did 
 not know {ovdels eyvc^Kev) puts it practically 
 beyond doubt that the rulers of this world 
 are earthly rulers, not angelic or demonic. 
 In general, it refers to the wise, influential, 
 and high-born (i. 26) : in particular, es- 
 pecially in ver. 8, to men like Pilate and 
 the high priest. 
 
 It was not such a wisdom that Paul pro- 
 claimed. The men, like their wisdom, were 
 ephemeral, men who are being brought to 
 nought: in the progressive march of the 
 divine purpose, they are gradually but 
 surely dislodged and replaced by the men 
 of another type whom they despise, but 
 whom God has chosen (i. 28). The use of 
 the same verb here as in i. 28 (Karapyeh) 
 strengthens the probability of the inter- 
 pretation given above. Caiaphas, Pilate, 
 Herod — this type of man is dying or 
 doomed. 
 
 7, 8. But it is not that sort of wisdom, 
 not a human wisdom at all (ver. 5), says 
 Paul, but a divine wisdom, God's wis- 
 dom (deov emphatic) that we utter; and 
 this we do in the form of a mystery^ 
 
22 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not 
 seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered 
 into the heart of man, the things which 
 God hath prepared for them that love him. 
 
 10 But God hath revealed them unto 
 us by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth 
 all things, yea, the deep things of God. 
 
 11 For what man knoweth the things 
 
 which, in Biblical usage, does not mean 
 an obscure or enigmatic fact, but a truth 
 which is only known because it is revealed 
 (Rom. xvi. 25 f. ). For this wisdom is 
 one which has been lying (perf. ptc.) 
 for ages (cf. Rom. xvi. 25) in conceal- 
 ment. In contrast with the futile and 
 transitory wisdom of the rulers of this 
 world, this is a wisdom deep-rooted in 
 the ancient purpose of God, one which 
 God foreordained before the ages, and 
 its ultimate aim (e's) is our glory. This 
 is not the heavenly glory exclusively: it 
 includes the state which, here and now, is 
 ours in Christ (i. 30), all that marvel- 
 lous experience which is the lot of those 
 who love Him (ii. 9) : it is admirably 
 illustrated by iii. 21, 22. Only such as 
 these can understand this divine and an- 
 cient wisdom : it is a wisdom which (^j' 
 goes with £ro0iar, not with dS^av) none of 
 the rulers of this world (cf. ver. 6) has 
 any idea of (lit. has come to know) : for 
 it was their ignorance of it that led them 
 to crucify the Lord of glory. What a 
 deadly ignorance of the divine purpose 
 must that have been which led the men in 
 authority, who ought to have been the 
 wisest, to perpetrate a deed so awful as to 
 put the Lord to the death of a slave, to 
 put the glorious Lord to the ignominious 
 death of crucifixion ! The Lord of Glory 
 is the Lord whose characteristic is glory, 
 though that glory came in so humble a 
 guise that it was hidden from the eyes of 
 the world's " wise " men. As the Lord of 
 glory, He is the guarantee of our glory 
 (86^a i)fiu)v^ ver. 7). 
 
 9. The construction of ver. 9 is not cer- 
 tain. " The things which eye saw not " 
 are governed (a) either by an implicit "we 
 speak," carried over from vv. 6, 7, or (b) 
 by " God revealed " in ver. 10. The latter 
 construction is only possible if in ver. 10 
 we read 5e' (which would then introduce 
 the apodosis) instead of T^P, which appears 
 to be more correct. Probably, therefore, 
 ver. 10 begins a new sentence, and ver. 
 9 goes with and concludes the preceding 
 paragraph. The meaning will then be: 
 but, in the words of Scripture, we utter 
 things which no eye saw and no ear 
 heard and no human mind conceived, 
 even all the things that God, in accord- 
 ance with His ancient purpose (ver. 7), 
 prepared, not indeed for the whole world, 
 
 believers and unbelievers alike, but for 
 those that love Him. No Old Testa- 
 ment passage exactly corresponds to the 
 words here cited, and it is tempting to 
 accept the tradition, attested by Origen 
 and Jerome, that the reference is to a lost 
 Apocalypse of Elijah. But it is equally 
 possible to assume that we have simply a 
 loose quotation from memory combining 
 elements of Isaiah Ixiv, 4 and Ixv. 16, 17. 
 These things which God has prepared and 
 which constitute the theme of Paul's 
 preaching, belong as much to the present 
 as to the future : they constitute the un- 
 imaginable blessings which are ours " in 
 Christ." 
 
 Paul has, then, his philosophy after all, 
 and one infinitely profounder than any wis- 
 dom of this world. Beneath his simple 
 and unadorned speech lies the deepest of 
 all mysteries, which takes its origin in an 
 ancient purpose of God, and which has for 
 its end our glory. When that purpose be- 
 came incarnate in Jesus, the world's great 
 men tragically failed to understand it : no 
 merely human sense {e.g. eye, ear) or in- 
 tellect can fathom it. How then can it be 
 known at all? To that question Paul ad- 
 dresses himself in the next section. 
 
 The Need of Revelation by the Divine 
 Spirit (ii. lo-iii. 2). 
 
 10. It can only be known by revelation. 
 For {yap rather than 5e) to us, not to the 
 rulers (vv. 6, 8), but to Paul and those 
 who are spirituallv mature (reXeioi, ver. 6) 
 like him, God REVEALED it (the wisdom, 
 or the things, a. \er. g). Such knowledge 
 can only be the result of a divine revela- 
 tion. How then is that effected ? Through 
 the spirit — the spirit of God, no doubt, 
 though probably it is better to omit the 
 avTov. Nothing is hid from it. for the 
 divine spirit moves everywhere (Ps. 
 cxxxix) and searches everything, even 
 the deep things of God; therefore it alone 
 can connnunicatc to men the profound pur- 
 poses of God, which have their center and 
 realization in Christ (ver. 16). 
 
 11. To illustrate this, says Paul, let us 
 take a human analogy — note the three- 
 fold rei)etition in this verse of the word 
 mail. For among men, who has any 
 knowledge of the inner experiences of 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 23 
 
 of a man, save the spirit of man which 
 is in him? even so the things of God 
 knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 
 
 12 Now we have received, not the spirit 
 of the world, but the Spirit which is of 
 God ; that we might know the things that 
 are freely given to us of God. 
 
 13 Which things also we speak, not 
 
 in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, 
 but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; com- 
 paring spiritual things with spiritual. 
 
 14 But the natural man receiveth not 
 the things of the Spirit of God: for they 
 are foolishness unto him : neither can he 
 know them, because they are spiritually 
 discerned. 
 
 another? (lit. the things of the man in 
 question). All the phenomena of a man's 
 inner life, his purposes, aspirations, etc., 
 are unknown, and can only be the object 
 of conjecture, until he reveals them: they 
 are known to no one except to the spirit 
 that is resident in the man himself. Ex- 
 actly so is it with God. No one has ac- 
 quired any insight (lit. has come to know) 
 into the things of God generally, to say 
 nothing of the deep things (ver. 10) ex- 
 cept the spirit of God. He apparently 
 avoids deliberately the phrase " the spirit 
 that is in God :" this might suggest rnerely 
 the divine self-consciousness, and that he 
 means something more than this by the 
 spirit is plain from ver. 12, where he de- 
 scribes it as the spirit that proceeds from 
 God. 
 
 12. God's purpose, then, if it is to be 
 known, must be communicated : and if 
 Paul understands this divine philosophy, it 
 is because he has received the spirit. Now 
 as for us, (cf. viJ-'^-v, ver. 10) it was not 
 the worldly spirit that we received, when 
 we became Christ's, but the spirit that 
 proceeds from God. It is this spirit that 
 brings assurance and illumination : it is 
 given that we might know the favors 
 that God conferred upon us in Christ, that 
 is,^ the things alluded to in ver. 9, and 
 summed up in the word *' glory " (ver. 7). 
 The spirit of the world is the spirit of the 
 worldly wise and influential, to whom the 
 cross is foolishness ; it is practically equal 
 to the worldly spirit. Obviously this can 
 throw no light upon the purposes and gifts 
 of God, but only the spirit of God Him- 
 self. 
 
 13. Paul is anxious to disclaim all 
 thought that this wisdom is of a really 
 esoteric kind : he is not afraid or unwill- 
 ing to proclaim it. The blessings conferred 
 by God in Christ are things which we also 
 utter — and again comes the now familiar 
 contrast between the divine and the human 
 — in words not taught by human wis- 
 dom, but taught by the divine spirit. 
 Not only are the thoughts which he utters 
 in speaking and preaching (X670S, Kripvy/j-a, 
 ver. 4) inspired by the spirit, but even the 
 very words. The bold claim which he here 
 
 makes, and which must be interpreted in 
 the spirit rather than in the letter, shows 
 how overwhelming was his consciousness 
 of the divine presence. The following- 
 phrase TTvev/uLaTLK-ols (or-ws) TTpevfxaTLKa. 
 avvKpivovTes is somewhat difficult to inter- 
 pret. Does (TvvKpivw mean combine, com- 
 pare, or interpret? and is irvevfiaTLKols^ if 
 this be read, masc. or neut. ? Probably 
 neut., as this verse deals with the theme 
 of the preaching — the persons are not men- 
 tioned till ver. 14. In that case, it seems 
 best to translate avvKp, by combining: the 
 two wvev/xaTLKa which are combined 
 are the thoughts and the words — both, 
 as he has just been saying, are in- 
 spired by the spirit : therefore " we utter 
 these things, combining spiritual ideas 
 with spiritual language." It is impossible 
 to reproduce in English the extraordinary 
 emphasis produced by the juxtaposition of 
 the three words implying spirit — irvev/xaTos^ 
 TTvevfiaTLKoIs^ irvevixariKd, The truth for 
 which Paul is pleading, that the Christian 
 wisdom is a revelation communicated by 
 the spirit, is gathered up here with over- 
 whelming force. 
 
 14. Now a natural man is not recep- 
 tive of the things of the spirit of God. 
 ^Pi'X'/^'os dvOpcoTros, the psychic man, is a 
 strange expression. It is used in the 
 New Testament to denote the man who 
 has only a i^vxv (soul) but no Trvevfia 
 (spirit). Of course, in one sense, every 
 man has a irvevfia (cf. ver. 12) : but where 
 it is untouched and unilluminated by the 
 divine spirit, it is as good as non-exist- 
 ent (cf. Jude ver. 19, where certain men 
 are described as psychic, not having -n-vev^a^ 
 having soul, but no spirit). In that case, 
 the man's non-physical life can only express 
 itself through his i^^xv, soul. The soul is 
 not necessarily bad, but it represents the 
 unpurified natural affections, the earthly as 
 opposed to the heavenly, the natural as 
 opposed to the spiritual and supernatural. 
 Such a man, obviously, does not ivelcome 
 the things of the divine spirit, he has no 
 appreciation of them, for to him they are 
 folly, and he can attain no knowledge 
 of them, for the simple reason that the 
 test of them is a spiritual one, and hav- 
 
24 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all 
 things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 
 
 16 For who hath known the mind of 
 the Lord, that he may instruct him? But 
 ■we have the mind of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTER 3. 
 I And I, brethren, could not speak unto 
 
 you as unto spiritual, hut as unto carnal, 
 even as unto babes in Christ. 
 
 2 I have fed you with milk, and not 
 with meat : for hitherto ye were not able 
 to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 
 
 3 For ye are yet carnal : for whereas 
 there is among you envying, and strife, 
 and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk 
 as men ? 
 
 ing no spiritual illumination, he lacks the 
 faculty to test them. 
 
 15. The spiritual man, on the other 
 hand, who possesses this faculty, has the 
 test for everything. There is a whole 
 world of experience sealed to the " psychic " 
 man, but familiar to him : but besides, in 
 virtue of his spiritual illumination, he can 
 estimate not only these things, but all 
 things at their proper value. This very 
 epistle, with its many exhibitions of Paul's 
 versatility and tact in dealing with various 
 and delicate problems, is an excellent illus- 
 tration of the power he here claims for 
 the spiritual man. But while the spiritual 
 man tests everything, he is not himself 
 capable of being tested by any one who 
 is not spiritual. The Corinthians have 
 been criticizing Paul (iv. 3, ix. 3) ; he 
 here gently hints that, so long as they re- 
 main unspiritual, they lack the power to 
 understand him, and their criticisms can 
 amount to -nothing. 
 
 16. Paul clenches his point here, as 
 often, by a quotation from the Old Testa- 
 ment (Isaiah xl. 13), though he does not 
 introduce it with a (Kadws) yeypairTat, (i. 31, 
 19). To judge the spiritual man ade- 
 quately, one must oneself be spiritual, that 
 is, be in possession of the spirit of God 
 (ver. 11), and this can be said of no 
 merely " psychic " man. The spiritual man 
 is therefore beyond the range of his crit- 
 icisms: for, in the words of Isaiah, who 
 (that is, no mere man) ever knew (aor.) 
 the mind of the Lord? NoOs not improp- 
 erly translates the Hebrew word for spirit; 
 it is the spirit on its intellectual side. 
 But WE (vfiels emphatic) are in posses- 
 sion of the spirit of the Lord, or as he here 
 calls it, the mind of Christ. In Isaiah, 
 the Lord is of course God ; the easy sub- 
 stitution of Christ for the Lord in the sec- 
 ond clause, shows how closely, for Paul, 
 Christ and God were identified (cf. i. 3) 
 
 iii. I, 2. Paul would only have been too 
 glad to have expounded to the Corinthians 
 the " mystery " of " the wisdom of God :" 
 but to men in such a condition as theirs, 
 the thing was simply impossible. And I 
 for my part, brethren, he continues, could 
 
 not speak to you as to spiritual men, 
 
 for you were nothing of the kind : on the 
 contrary, I was obliged to address you 
 as men of flesh, as babes in Christ. The 
 Corinthians were Christians, they were in 
 Christ; but they had made no progress 
 toward spiritual maturity (ii. 6), they 
 were still babes, as he tenderly (cf. brethren, 
 ver. i) and somewhat excusingly calls 
 them. They were — not indeed psychic, 
 natural men (ii. 14) — but practically on 
 the same level, in so far as they were in- 
 capable (ovK edvvaade^ ver. 2) of a truly 
 spiritual appreciation. They were, in a 
 word, odpKivoL^ men of fl.esh, men whose 
 nature is fleshly, slightly different from 
 capKLKoL of ver. 3, of fleshly instincts and 
 tendencies, carnal. And since you were 
 babes, it was with milk that I fed you, 
 not with solid food, for you were not yet 
 strong enough (ver. 2). For a similar 
 idea, cf. Hebrews v. 12-vi. 2. There is 
 nothing esoteric in Christianity, but the 
 presentation of it has to be adapted to 
 the capacities of those who are taught. 
 He was not able {o^k ■f}5vvr]d7]v) because 
 they were not able {ovk idvvaade). 
 
 Without sympathy, all criticism is wide 
 of the mark. This is the general truth, 
 which Paul here applies with great force 
 to the specific truths of Christianity. What 
 he calls "the things of the' spirit" can 
 only be understood and interpreted by one 
 who himself has the spirit, that is by one 
 who has been enlightened. Now the Co- 
 rinthians, though they were Christians (cf. 
 ver. i) because they had believed 
 (eTTio-rei-craTe, ver. 5) had not yet (avwu)) 
 reached this stage. Where the impediment 
 lay, we see in the following section. 
 
 Tlie Carnality of Partisanship: the Whole 
 
 Church is God's, her Leaders but His 
 
 Serz'ants (iii. 3-9)- 
 
 3. When I was with you, says the Apos- 
 tle, you were not strong enough for the 
 solid food I was prepared to give, and 
 your present dissensions show that the 
 
€h. Ill] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 25 
 
 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul ; 
 and another, I am of ApoUos; are ye not 
 carnal ? 
 
 5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apol- 
 los, but ministers by whom ye believed, 
 even as the Lord gave to every man? 
 
 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but 
 God gave the increase. 
 
 7 So then neither is he that planteth 
 any thing, neither he that watereth; but 
 God that giveth the increase. 
 
 8 Now he that planteth and he that 
 watereth are one : and every man shall re- 
 ceive his own reward according to his own 
 labour. 
 
 case is no better to-day. Why, even at 
 this moment you are not strong enough, 
 for you are carnal still. The context 
 shows that this word has a wide scope. 
 It is not confined to sexual, or even to 
 sensual sins, but covers those tempers and 
 dispositions that express themselves in 
 strife and dissension. Their carnality was 
 undeniable : for where there is among 
 you emulation or jealousy, and the strife 
 to which it too surely leads, are ye not 
 carnal? are ye not leading your lives 
 (lit. walking) after the fashion of unen- 
 lightened men? After strife, some MSS. 
 wrongly add " and divisions " (Kal 
 dLxodTaaiai) , following Gal. v. 20. The 
 metaphor of walking applied to a way of 
 life, is very frequent in the Bible, and 
 was very natural to an Oriental. 
 
 4, 5. Paul at once proceeds with a con- 
 crete illustration of the strife which proves 
 their carnality. I mean, When one says, 
 ** I belong to Paul," and another, " I' 
 to Apollos," are you not moving on a 
 purely human, unenlightened plane? (ver. 
 4). He does not here add Peter, as in 
 i. 12, iii. 22 : his own name and that of 
 Apollos would naturally be the most fa- 
 miliar, and the alleged differences between 
 them would be the chief cause of strife. 
 What then, he asks with rising emotion, 
 is Apollos? What, neuter, rt, much more 
 effective then ris, who : cf . eV, ver. 8 ; what 
 is there in Apollos or Paul? The question 
 is dramatically repeated: and what is 
 Paul? Not, what am IF He repeats their 
 party word. Ministers, he answers with 
 emphasis, — and not heads of parties : sim- 
 ply lowly servants, by whose agency ye 
 became believers (eTrtcrreuo-are aorist, ap- 
 propriately of the initial act of belief). 
 Clearly, then, some had been converted 
 through Apollos. Bengel happily com- 
 ments : through whom, not in whom ye 
 believed: they are but agents, not objects 
 of faith. And each ministered, according 
 as the Lord (whether Christ, or perhaps 
 God : cf . ver. 9 and especially v. 10 : and 
 for similar doubt cf. i. 31) endowed him. 
 
 6. That these men are but ministers, 
 and their powers but gifts, is illustrated 
 by the following verse : It was I (^7^ 
 
 emphatic) who planted, it was Apollos 
 who watered. The Corinthian church is 
 implicitly compared to a garden or a field 
 (cf. ver. 9) and Paul does not deny the 
 place of human agency in its cultivation, 
 for God works through (8Ld^ ver. 5) men; 
 nay, the human agents are organized and 
 differentiated, as planters and waterers. 
 But all this human effort would result 
 in nothing, were it not for the mysterious 
 divine power behind it ; it was no man, 
 but God Himself who all the time (impf.) 
 was causing it to grow. The difference 
 between the aorist and the .imperfect is 
 here aptly illustrated : the work of Paul 
 and Apollos is represented as an act, that 
 of God as a continuous process. Paul's 
 generous reference to Apollos here, as fol- 
 lowing up the work which he himself had 
 begun, is a delicate rebuke of the Corin- 
 thian party spirit, which set them up as 
 rivals. 
 
 7, 8. So then, if the real growth is 
 due to that subtle underlying power of 
 God, without which planting and watering 
 would alike be useless, the human agents 
 may be said, in one aspect, not to count at 
 all: neither planter nor waterer is any- 
 thing whatever: on the contrary it is 
 God, who causes the growth, that is all 
 in all (ver. 7). These last words must be 
 supplied : the meaning must be, not that 
 God is something (rt) but that He is 
 everything. Still, though this is true, and 
 all Christian work is swallowed up in the 
 one (ei') service of the one God, individuals 
 do count after all, and their work as in- 
 dividuals will be duly recognized and re- 
 warded. Now planter and waterer are 
 one, ^p, neuter, as if, in their capacity as 
 God's servants, their personality was lost: 
 they are, as it were, one in service, one 
 instrumentality. Again, they are one, not 
 therefore rivals, as the Corinthians had 
 been representing them. Paul's words 
 might be conceivably taken as a deprecia- 
 tion of the individual, but the last clause 
 of ver. 9 effectually removes all possibility 
 of misapprehension ; and the whole of the 
 next section (vv. 10-15) is an eloquent plea 
 for personal responsibility. Though God 
 is everything, the individual is something, 
 
26 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 9 For we are labourers together with 
 God : ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's 
 building. 
 
 10 According to the grace of God which 
 is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, 
 
 I have laid the foundation, and another 
 buildeth thereon. But let every man take 
 heed how he buildeth thereupon. 
 
 II For other foundation can no man 
 lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 
 
 yea, very much : and each man shall re- 
 ceive his own proper reward for his own 
 proper toil. This verse, with its double 
 Ibiov effectively reinstates the individual. 
 An ancient commentator, noting that the 
 apostle uses kottov^ toil, not e/3701', work, 
 quaintly remarks: "and what if he did not 
 finish the work? at any rate he toiled." 
 
 9. This truth of the relative importance 
 of the individual is, however, after all, 
 at this stage, only subsidiary : the point 
 which Paul is mainly concerned to drive 
 home is that all the church, members and 
 leaders alike, are God's, and therefore that 
 all disposition to partisanship should vanish 
 before this great unity. For it is GOD'S 
 fellow workers that we are: it is GOD'S 
 field, GOD'S building that you are. In all 
 three clauses, ©eoCi, as first word, is very 
 emphatic. This is the real shame of the 
 party spirit, that they are all God's : as 
 God's, they must be one. There must be 
 no factions : planter and waterer are " fel- 
 /ow-workers " i^ow') — not rivals, as the 
 Corinthians seemed to think ; and they were 
 God's workers — therefore, in any case, one 
 in Him. The meaning is not, " fellow- 
 workers with God," but belonging to God. 
 The church has already been described by 
 implication as a field (vv. 6-8), in the next 
 section (vv. 10-16) it is described as a 
 building ; the last clauses of ver. 9 sum- 
 marize the one section and introduce the 
 other. 
 
 The unspiritual nature of the Corin- 
 thians is shown by their church divisions, 
 and these again rest on an inadequate ap- 
 preciation of the fact that the church is 
 God's, and her leaders but His ministers. 
 The unity, which is threatened, will be as- 
 sured, when that is understood. 
 
 The Responsibility of the Church's Leaders 
 (iii. 10-15). 
 
 10. Paul now works out with some 
 elaboration the idea of the church as a 
 building, to which he has been led by the 
 last words of ver. 9. There is but one 
 building — God's, and one foundation — 
 Jesus Christ : but the builders are many 
 (ver. 11), and the materials are varied. 
 
 The foundation is laid once for all (Kei/xevos^ 
 ver. II), yet in a sense it must also be 
 laid by the particular founder of a local 
 church, such as Paul. This required skill, 
 wisdom {(ro(f)6s^ ver. 10), and this, by the 
 grace of God, he possesses; or it may be 
 that this phrase goes with edrjKa — it was 
 by the grace of God that he was privileged, 
 as an apostle by vocation (i. i) to lay a 
 foiindaliuii. Though o-ocpos may only mean 
 skilful, it is impossible, after the long dis- 
 cussion in chs. i. and ii., not also to find 
 m it an allusion to (TO(f)ia (wisdom) in 
 the more technical sense. In spite of his 
 seeming depreciation of wisdom, he claims 
 himself to be wise, as a master-builder (a 
 word which does not mean designer, but 
 chief workman) ; but his is the true wis- 
 dom that comes by the favor of God. 
 According to the grace of God which 
 was given to me, as a wise master- 
 builder I laid a foundation. That was 
 his peculiar task : it was the business of 
 others to build upon, to develop his work. 
 And another builds, or is building, upon 
 it. He can hardly be referring to Apollos, 
 who was not at Corinth, when the letter 
 was being written (xvi. 12). But let each 
 man see how, that is, with what mate- 
 rials he is building upon it. Paul's work 
 as a foundation builder is secure: here is 
 a solemn warning to the other teachers, 
 who continue his work. The reference all 
 through appears to be to teachers and 
 their teaching. 
 
 II. It is only about the superstructure 
 that advice needs to be given : for about 
 the foundation there can be no doubt. It 
 is fixed and sure, laid already, and once 
 for all : and no one can lay another 
 foundation alongside of {-n-apd with ace.) 
 the one already laid (by God), and that 
 is Jesus Christ: -n-apd, alongside of, in com- 
 parison with, here almost = than. Jesus is 
 the foundation : the church is founded upon 
 a Person, not upon a system of truths. 
 This historical person, however, is the 
 Messiah, Christ, hope of the ancient Jew, 
 hope of the world's heart. God's own 
 anointed ; so that this name is a confes- 
 sion, — the earliest, simplest, profoundest of 
 the church. The church is foiuidod upon 
 Jesus and the recognition of HisMessiah- 
 ship : every time we speak intelligently of 
 Jesus Christ we acknowledge that. 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 I COKINTHIANS. 
 
 27 
 
 12 Now if any man build upon this 
 foundation gold, silver, precious stones, 
 wood, hay, stubble; 
 
 13 Every man's work shall be made 
 manifest: for the day shall declare it, be- 
 cause it shall be revealed by fire; and the 
 fire shall try every man's work of what 
 sort it is. 
 
 14 If any man's work abide which he 
 
 hath built thereupon, he shall receive a 
 reward. 
 
 15 If any man's work shall be burned, 
 he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall 
 be saved; yet so as by fire. 
 
 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple 
 of God, and that the Spirit of God dwell- 
 eth in you ? 
 
 17 If any man defile the temple of 
 
 12. Now those who^ accept this as the 
 foundation of the Christian church, build 
 upon it structures of very varying material 
 and value — some precious and durable, 
 such as gold, silver, and costly stones, 
 like marble; and some poor and perishable, 
 like wood, hay, and stubble. Or, to be 
 more accurate, these are not different 
 structures, but different material built into 
 one divine temple (ver. 17) God's build- 
 ing (ver. 9). The allusion is to different 
 types of teaching. If any man builds on 
 the foundation gold, silver, costly stones, 
 on the one hand, or wood, hay, stubble, 
 on the other — . 
 
 ' 13-15. Now what is to be the test of the 
 value of this material? That will be seen, 
 says Paul, in the judgment. Every indi- 
 vidual's work shall be made manifest, 
 for the judgment day shall make it 
 plain — The day, corresponding to the day 
 of Jehovah in the Old Testament is the 
 day when Christ shall appear. This day 
 would disclose the quality of every work, 
 for its light is the bright light of fire : 
 it (that is, the day) is revealed in fire. 
 According to contemporary belief, when 
 Christ came, it would be " in flaming fire " 
 (2 Thes. i. 7). And consequently the 
 quality of every individual's work will 
 be tested by the fire. o.vt6 is either nom- 
 inative " the fire itself " — of its own native 
 force ; or accusative — the fire will test 
 it. If then, in the judgment day, any 
 man's work, which he built thereon (on 
 the foundation), shall abide (^e^ei, fut., 
 not ixhei) that is, if it shall stand that 
 fiery test, he shall receive reward (ver. 
 14, cf. 8) ; if, however, any man's work 
 shall be burnt up, he shall suffer the 
 loss of his reward. The only work to 
 be rewarded is the work ' that can stand 
 the final test. The fire, that will leave the 
 stone intact, will reduce the wood and 
 stubble to ashes : it will be an effective 
 test of values. But, though his part of the 
 building will perish, the man himself will 
 escape, be saved, because he is a Chris- 
 tian. His work is flimsy, but he has at 
 least built it on the true foundation. Note 
 the rhythmic balance between these clauses 
 
 (without even a connecting particle) that 
 contrast the fate of the good and the bad 
 builder (el' tlvo% to epyoy twice). The man 
 will indeed be saved, yet so as through 
 fire; a very graphic picture of his pitiable 
 plight on the judgment day. He escapes, 
 but it is through the Hames, that leap and 
 crackle around him, and consume his work, 
 as, panting and terrified, he beats his re- 
 treat. 
 
 The real quality of the work done by 
 the teachers of the church, so hard to es- 
 timate amid the confusions of party con- 
 tention, will be revealed in the day of 
 judgment, when only that which is solid 
 and precious, will survive. This truth is 
 expressed in eschatological terms, but it 
 may legitimately be given a larger appli- 
 cation. Every crisis is a judgment; in its 
 fire quality is tested, and the fit survives. 
 
 The Responsibility of the Church's 
 Members (iii. 16, 17). 
 
 16, 17. To the warning (/SXeTreVo;, ver. 
 10) addressed to the teachers is appended 
 a warning to the members of the church. 
 Do you not know — such a question was 
 calculated to make the Corinthians wince, 
 who prided themselves on their knowledge 
 (cf. viii. i) — that you are not only God's 
 building (ver. 9), but His holy building, 
 God's temple {vaos is the inner shrine, 
 the abode of the Deity), and that God's 
 spirit dwells in you as a whole — not here, 
 as in vi. 19, in the individuals ; we might 
 therefore render "among you." And just 
 as any one guilty of the sacrilege of de- 
 stroying an earthly temple would be put 
 to death, so if any one destroys God's 
 temple, destruction shall be his fate at 
 the hands of God. The juxtaposition of 
 (pdeipei and (POepel is very impressive (cf. 
 ii. 13). For God's temple is holy, the 
 which are ye. The which (otrives) prob- 
 ably refers rather to holy than to temple, 
 which would involve a repetition of ver. 
 16. When we ask how the holiness, to 
 
28 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 God, him shall God destroy ; for the 
 temple of God is holy, which temple ye 
 are. 
 
 i8 Let no man deceive himself. If any 
 man among you seemeth to be wise in this 
 world, let him become a fool, that he may 
 be wise. 
 
 19 For the wisdom of this world is 
 foolishness with God : for it is written, 
 He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 
 
 20 And again. The Lord knoweth the 
 thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. 
 
 21 Therefore let no man glory in men: 
 for all things are yours ; 
 
 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Ce- 
 phas, or the world, or life, or death, or 
 things present, or things to come ; all 
 are yours ; 
 
 22> And ye are Christ's; and Christ is 
 God's. 
 
 which the church was called (i. 2) was 
 imperilled, we are tempted to think of such 
 immoralities as are described later in the 
 letter (cf. v. i) ; but, in this context, the 
 reference is probably to the schismatic 
 spirit, which threatened the church's unity. 
 This, as we have seen, is the real car- 
 nality (ver. 3). 
 
 Those who, whether by party strife or 
 immorality, " destroy " the church, are 
 worse than those who build badly upon the 
 true foundation, and their fate shall be 
 more terrible. The one shall escape 
 through the flames, the other shall be con- 
 sumed by them. 
 
 The Partisan Spirit Obscures the Glorious 
 Heritage (iii. 18-23). 
 
 18-20. How grievously Paul was vexed 
 by the partisan spirit of the Corinthian 
 church is shewn by the earnestness and 
 frequency with which he illustrates the 
 error of it from different points of view. 
 When party cries are abroad, it is so 
 easy for a man to take his measure 
 wrongly, to think himself wise, when he 
 is in reality a fool. But let no man de- 
 ceive himself: if any one thinks that he 
 is wise among you in this world (or age), 
 if any counts himself zvorldly wise, let 
 him at once reverse his standards, become 
 a fool in the eyes of the world, and then 
 true wisdom will begin to be possible: let 
 him become a fool, that he may become 
 wise. The conceit of wisdom is well sug- 
 gested by the need of display: wise 
 among you. The wisdom of tJiis world 
 (vv. 18, 19) is transient and its repre- 
 sentatives are doomed (ii. 6). The stand- 
 ards of the world and of God and, there- 
 fore of His church, arc diametrically op- 
 posed : for the wisdom of this world is 
 folly in the eyes of God. This contrast 
 has been frequently met with in the first 
 two chapters (cf. i. 18, 20, etc.). Tn his 
 customary way, Paul proves, or at least, 
 confirms this point, by an appeal to the 
 
 Old Testament — for it stands in Scripture 
 — 'Citing Job v. 13^ (the only citation from 
 Job in the New Testament) which speaks 
 of God as " catching the wise in their 
 cunning," and again Psalm xciv. 11, "The 
 Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise 
 (in the Psalm of man) that they are futile." 
 Their clever calculations turn out to be 
 not only idle, but ruinous, involving them 
 in destruction; and if this be the end of 
 their wisdom, it is indeed a veritable folly 
 (ver. 19a). Some interpret this section 
 simply as a rebuke of conceit ; but consid- 
 ering the close connection between vv. 20 
 and 21 (wo-re, consequently), it seems bet- 
 ter to connect the conceit with the party 
 spirit (cf. iv. 6). 
 
 21-23. Paul concludes his argument in 
 a magnificent climax. Therefore let no 
 one glory in men — an admonition which 
 he had already stated positively in i. 31 : 
 Let him glory in the Lord. It is absurd, 
 he argues, to glory in individual leaders : 
 you are only thereby obscuring the real 
 splendor of your inheritance, for all the 
 leaders are yours, indeed all things are 
 yours. A favorite maxim of the Stoics 
 was that all things belong to the wise 
 man, and the same bold claim may well 
 have been often upon the lips of Corin- 
 thian Christians. But if so, their sec- 
 tarianism showed that they did not real- 
 ize the full sweep of such a claim. All 
 the leaders belonged to the zvholc church, 
 not each to a section only. You do not 
 belong to them (" I am Paul's, I am Pe- 
 ter's '') but they to you, all of them to 
 all of you — whether Paul or Apollos or 
 Peter. Nay, not they only, but the whole 
 material world — it is your servant, con- 
 tributory to your deepest interests : nay, 
 not the material world only, but all the 
 manifold mystery of human experience, 
 life and death — life, in which we have 
 union with Christ, and death which is 
 gain (Phil. i. 21) by ushering us into 
 higher glory: nay, not the experience of 
 this life alone, but all possible experience 
 throughout the infinite ages, things pres- 
 ent and things to come. He sums up the 
 stupendous claim in the words with which 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 29 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 1 Let a man so account of us, as of 
 the ministers of Christ, and stewards of 
 the mysteries of God. 
 
 2 Moreover it is required in stewards, 
 that a man be found faithful. 
 
 3 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. 
 
 4 For I know nothing by myself; yet 
 am I not thereby justified: but he that 
 judgeth me is the Lord. 
 
 he introduced it — all things are yours 
 
 — and instantly follows it up with words 
 that fall upon Corinthian conceit like a 
 bolt from the blue : but ye are Christ's. 
 They are owners, but they are not their 
 own. The universe is theirs, but they hold 
 it under the lordship of Christ. They are 
 masters of all things, but He is master of 
 them. You, not some (i. 12), but all of 
 you, are Christ's. He does not belong to 
 you in the sense in which Paul, Apollos 
 and Peter do, hence His name is not added 
 as in i. 12 after theirs. And even Christ 
 is not His own: He is God's (ver. 23). 
 In what sense is He God's? Especially as 
 His Son. Christ is not God, He is God's, 
 belongs to Him : the head of Christ is God 
 (xi. 3, cf. XV. 28). 
 
 What a climax! How the last word 
 lights up the whole situation and shows 
 how unworthy, how indescribably foolish 
 and wrong was the party strife of the Corin- 
 thians. As there is one God over all, and 
 one Lord, Christ Jesus, so should there be 
 one church, in whose unbroken life the 
 peace of God should find itself reflected. 
 There could be no more tender or forcible 
 rebuke of that denominationalism, which, 
 when accentuated, injures the real life of 
 the Christian church, than these wonder- 
 ful words of Paul. All the saints and 
 leaders, of whatsoever communion, who, 
 by their words or deeds, have blessed the 
 lives of men, belong to the whole church. 
 They are all ours ; and it is for us not 
 to stultify, by the limitation of our sym- 
 pathies, the blessing that they are fitted to 
 be to us. Sectarianism and all its petti- 
 nesses will vanish, where it is remembered 
 that we are Christ's and Christ is God's. 
 Verse 22 illustrates what Paul meant by 
 the glory (do^a) to which God destined 
 us (ii. 7). The Christian is the real mas- 
 ter of the universe ; all things are his — 
 all things in history and experience, in 
 time and space — being wrought together 
 for his good by the God who is beneath 
 and through and above them all. 
 
 Paid Warns the Corinthians Against Judg- 
 ing Their Leaders (iv. 1-5). 
 
 Paul has just been exposing the folly 
 and the sin of party spirit by showing its 
 power to limit, and even to blight, the 
 Christian's glorious inheritance : he now 
 illustrates its evil effects from another 
 side, by showing how it encourages in the 
 church a critical and censorious spirit. 
 
 I, 2. So (not as precedes, but as fol- 
 lows) let a man {avOpw-wos, rather stronger 
 than the indefinite rts) account of us — 
 of the leaders generally; perhaps he is 
 thinking especially of himself and Apollos 
 — ^as servants {vTr-nperas, much the same 
 in meaning as Slclkovol in iii. 5) of Christ 
 and stewards of the mysteries of God. 
 The steward is the slave who dispenses the 
 stores of the house (Luke xii. 42), and the 
 stores are the mysteries, that is, truths 
 once hidden, now revealed, or to be re- 
 vealed. It is the duty of the leaders to 
 dispense these stores, to disclose these 
 truths, to the church, which is the house- 
 hold of God. Here moreover, just as in 
 a private house, so also in the household 
 of God, the first and last requirement of 
 a steward is proved fidelity. The test 
 of a true leader is not his oratorical or 
 philosophical power, his "word" or "wis- 
 dom," to use the familiar phrases of this 
 epistle, but the fidelity with which he per- 
 forms the duties of his stewardship. 
 
 3, 4. But who is to be the judge of this 
 fidelity? The only judgment worth consid- 
 ering seriously is that of Christ : human 
 judgment is of very little account, whether 
 the judgment of others or even that which 
 a man passes upon himself. From this 
 passage, and still more clearly from ix. 3, 
 we can see that Paul has been the object 
 of criticism. But to me it amounts to 
 (et's) very little that I am judged by you 
 or indeed by any human judgment (day). 
 This curious phrase human day appears to 
 be suggested by " the day of the Lord " : 
 it is the day when man judges as con- 
 trasted with the day when the Lord judges. 
 Paul was alike indifferent to their praise 
 and blame : nay — so far was he from 
 caring for human judgment that I do not 
 even judge myself. The spiritual man 
 
30 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 5 Therefore judge nothing before the 
 time, until the Lord come, who both will 
 bring to light the hidden things of dark- 
 ness, and will make manifest the counsels 
 of the hearts : and then shall every man 
 have praise of God. 
 
 6 And these things, brethren, I have 
 in a figure transferred to myself and to 
 Apollos for your sakes ; that ye might 
 learn in us not to think of men above 
 that which is written, that no one of you 
 be pufifed up for one against another. 
 
 does indeed judge all things (ii. 15), but 
 he does not forget that Christ judges him; 
 and with this ultimate infallible judgment 
 in view, he recognizes the inadequacy of 
 the judgment even of an approving con- 
 science. For though I am conscious of 
 nothing against myself, yet that does not 
 justify me (lit. not in this do I stand 
 justified, dediKaiio^ai perf.). It is a question 
 whether justify should be taken, as above, 
 in its ordinar}^ or in its more technical 
 sense. Does Paul simply mean, "I am not 
 justified by that;" — the approval of my 
 conscience is no absolute proof that I am 
 free from blame ? or does he mean " I am 
 justified" — in the technical sense — "but 
 not by that:" that is, "I owe my justifica- 
 tion to Christ, and not to my own good 
 conscience?" The order of the words (ova 
 ev TovTcp) is somewhat in favor of the 
 second interpretation, but the general con- 
 text rather supports the first. In spite of 
 his good conscience, then, Paul will not 
 judge himself: but he that judgeth me is 
 one higher even than conscience, viz. the 
 Lord. That judgment is still future and 
 will take place, when the Lord come 
 (ver. 5). 
 
 5. So then, as the true judgment is not 
 human, but divine, not that which the 
 " wase " Corinthians can pass, but that 
 which Christ alone can pass, and as it 
 belongs not to the present but to the future, 
 it is wrong of the Corinthians to anticipate 
 it by premature and necessarily shallow 
 criticisms of their own. Do not therefore 
 pass any judgment before the proper 
 time, that is, until the Lord come. His 
 coming was one of the great articles of 
 faith, and when He came. He would show 
 Himself as one who will both throw light 
 upon the hidden things of darkness and 
 make manifest the secret counsels of 
 the hearts. Here is a latent rebuke of 
 the superficiality of Corinthian criticism, 
 indeed of all human judgment. In the na- 
 ture of the case it has to be based upon 
 externals: it has to play upon surface 
 things, it cannot see in the dark, it cannot 
 pierce to the heart. But Christ, with His 
 searching light and fire (cf. iii. 13), will 
 bring out to the light the things that are 
 hidden; and THEN the fitting praise will 
 accrue to each man from God. Then 
 
 — ^and not till then, for Christ is the only 
 competent judge: the Corinthians were 
 guilty of an un-Christian impatience in 
 judging before the time. At the coming 
 of Christ, justice would be done all round: 
 each man would receive the (0) praise, 
 that is, the praise which is his due. The 
 praise would come from God. With such 
 a confidence and such an outlook, it is 
 easy to see that the praise or blame w^hich 
 men meted out meantime, as the Corin- 
 thians to their party leaders, was of very 
 little account (eXaxto-roj/, ver. 3). 
 
 Paul here addresses to the Corinthians 
 the salutary reminder that, though the 
 leaders are their servants (iii. 22), yet they 
 are also the servants of Christ (iv. i), 
 and that therefore, not they, but Christ, 
 will be the ultimate judge of their stew- 
 ardship. He rebukes at once the impa- 
 tience and the superficiality of human crit- 
 icism. 
 
 The Royal Corinthians and the Worthless 
 Apostles (iv. 6-13). 
 
 The argument against the party spirit of 
 the Corinthians is now drawing to a close. 
 The apostle condemns the distinctions in 
 which it resulted, by reminding the Corin- 
 thians that it was nothing that they had 
 done, that put them in possession of the 
 things of which they boasted. And their 
 boasting was positively outrageous ! they 
 spoke as if they had already reached the 
 goal. Perhaps they had, exclaims the apos- 
 tle ironically ; but at any rate he himself 
 had not traveled so far. He was at that 
 very moment the victim of hardships and 
 sufferings and indignities manifold. 
 
 6. The party spirit has been under dis- 
 cussion from i. 12, and more specifically 
 from iii. S. The language in which Paul 
 has attacked and condemned it is not ab- 
 stract, but concrete. What he might have 
 said in general terms, he has chosen to 
 say definitely of his own party and that of 
 Apollos, his convert and friend. If he 
 condemned the partisan spirit in this man- 
 ifestation, it went without saying that he 
 would condemn it in every other. So 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 31 
 
 7 For who maketh thee to differ from 
 another? and what hast thou that thou 
 didst not receive? now if thou didst re- 
 ceive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou 
 hadst not received it? 
 
 8 Now ye are full, now ye are rich, 
 ye have reigned as kings without us ; and 
 I would to God ye did reign, that we also 
 might reign with you. 
 
 9 For I think that God hath set forth 
 us the apostles last, as it were appointed 
 
 to death : for we are made a spectacle 
 unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 
 
 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but 
 ye are wise in Christ ; we are weak, but ye 
 are strong ; ye are honourable, but we are 
 despised. 
 
 11 Even unto this present hour we 
 both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, 
 and are buffeted, and have no certain 
 dwelling place ; 
 
 12 And labour, working with our own 
 
 these arguments, brethren, I have 
 adapted to myself and Apollos, and I have 
 done this on your account — my object is 
 your edification — that by (lit. in) us you 
 may learn the rule, never to go beyond 
 what is written. Written where? Most 
 probably in the Old Testament, quotations 
 from which are usually introduced by the 
 word yeypairraL (cf. i. 31, iii. 19). That 
 some such text as Jer. ix. 22, already 
 quoted in i. 31, may be in Paul's mind, is 
 strongly suggested by the next clause : that, 
 as individuals ye may not be puffed up 
 for the one leader and against the other 
 (ver, 6). Paul aims at destroying the 
 conceit engendered by party strife. 
 
 7. Turning in imagination to an indi- 
 vidual (o-e), Paul asks him: Who is it 
 that marks you off as Paul's man or 
 Apollos' man? Or the words rnay rnean 
 "To whom do you owe your distinction? 
 (Is it not to God?)" He goes on And 
 what do you have that you did not re- 
 ceive from God ultimately (i. 4) and 
 mediately through your teachers (iii. 6) ? 
 And if it be a fact that (Kal) you received 
 it, why do you boast, as if you had not 
 received it? 
 
 8. He touches now, in an ironical vein, 
 upon the things which they " have," all 
 the more stinging that he has already de- 
 scribed them as infants (iii. i). So you 
 are already filled full, are you? wealthy 
 already, are you? you have entered upon 
 your langdom without any help from 
 us, have you? These three clauses may 
 be read either as exclamations or as ques- 
 tions : the former is better, as heightening 
 the irony. He had spoken seriously of 
 their wealth in i. 5, here he speaks sar- 
 castically. They believed only too flip- 
 pantly that all things were theirs (iii. 21) ; 
 they took too light-hearted a view of their 
 Christian obligations, they did not realize 
 the austerity of service. The Messianic 
 kingdom had already come, and they were 
 sitting like kings upon their thrones, 
 wealthy and satisfied, v^v is very emphat- 
 ic : already! so soon! Note the perf. 
 
 KeKopeafiepoL eare, in a condition of satiety: 
 aor. eirXovTriaare^ e^aaikevaare^ points to the 
 moment when they attained their wealth 
 and kingdom. The irony of the last clause 
 is especially sad : you have become kings 
 without us ; why, you would never even 
 have been Christians but for us. Yes, he 
 goes ironically on, I only wish you had 
 been kings, that so, by virtue of our 
 fortunate association with you, we too 
 might share in your kingly rule. 
 
 9. But alas ! we are far enough from 
 sitting on thrones. You Corinthians may 
 be rich and royal, but it is very different 
 with us apostles : we are like criminals 
 doomed to die. For, methinks, God has 
 exhibited us the apostles (others as well 
 as Paul himself, though the following 
 verses 11-13 are no doubt colored by per- 
 sonal experience) last — though we ought 
 to be first (cf. xii. 28) — as men con- 
 demned to death: a cross rather than a 
 throne is before us. For we are become 
 a spectacle to the whole world, alike to 
 angels invisible and to men. The figure 
 underlying this verse may be that of a 
 public festival, at which criminals or 
 others were brought on to fight to the 
 death. It has even been suggested that 
 Paul may himself have been condemned, 
 as a criminal, to fight with wild beasts in 
 the theater at Ephesus ; cf. xv. 32, 2 Cor. 
 i. 8, 9. At the apostle's struggles and 
 sufferings the whole universe is looking 
 on — angelic eyes no less than human. 
 
 10-12. The ironical contrast between 
 you and us is further developed in three 
 brief but very pointed antitheses. As for 
 us, we are fools for Christ's sake — the 
 simple preaching of Christ and His cross 
 made them ridiculous in the eyes of the 
 wise of this world (cf. i. 23 f.) ; but ye 
 are prudent in Christ: they are indeed 
 in Christ (cf. iii. i), but the words have 
 a special sting here — he attributes to the 
 " wise " Corinthians a union with Christ, 
 of which he says nothing when speaking 
 of himself. We are weak (cf. ii. 3), but 
 ye are strong: ye are glorious, but we 
 
32 
 
 I ( ORINTHIANS. 
 
 rcH. IV 
 
 hands; being reviled, we bless; being per- 
 secuted, we suffer it : 
 
 13 Being defamed, we entreat : we are 
 made as the filth of the world, and are 
 the offscouring of all things unto this 
 day. 
 
 14 I write not these things to shame 
 you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. 
 
 15 For though ye have ten thousand 
 instructors in Christ, yet hai'e yc not many 
 
 fathers, for in Christ Jesus I ha\e be- 
 gotten you through the gospel. 
 
 16 Wherefore I beseech you, be ye fol- 
 lowers of me. 
 
 17 For this cause have I sent unto you 
 Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and 
 faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you 
 into remembrance of my ways wrhich be 
 in Christ, as I teach every where in every 
 church. 
 
 are in disgrace. The order of the pro- 
 nouns is here changed, to secure a better 
 connection with the words that follow. 
 Though Paul still uses the first person 
 plural, there can be little doubt that in 
 the following description (vv. 11-13), _ it 
 is his own experience that he has primarily 
 in view. His life as a Christian has been 
 a stern one right up to the moment of 
 writing. Up to this very hour we suffer 
 from hunger and thirst and insufficient 
 clothing and blows — kings forsooth! — 
 we have no fixed home, we work hard 
 with our own hands: cf. Acts xviii. 3; 
 XX. 34; I Thes. ii. 9. 
 
 12, 13. So much for our sufferings : in 
 what spirit do we bear them? Abuse we 
 requite — not with counter-abuse, not even 
 with silence, but — with blessing, perse- 
 cution with patience, calumny with gen- 
 tle words of entreaty, as Christ coun- 
 selled (Luke vi. 28). And for our reward 
 what have we? We are become, so to 
 say, the refuse of the world, the off- 
 scouring of all things (or men) — like 
 rinsings and scrapings, . fit only for the 
 gutter — ; and that is how we are regarded 
 and treated up to this very moment. As 
 this minute description (vv. 11-13) begins 
 and ends with the same phrase (up to the 
 present hour), it would seem as if Paul 
 was suffering from some very recent in- 
 dignity. The words in ver. 13, irepiKadapfia 
 and 7repti//7j;ua, were also applied to crim- 
 inals who were sacrificed for the public 
 weal in times of calamity; but the other 
 meaning is perhaps preferable here. 
 
 In a few burning words, Paul has made 
 clear the terrible contrast between his own 
 position and that of the pretentious Co- 
 rinthian converts — they, like kings upon 
 their thrones, wise, wealthy, and glorious, 
 he the ill-clad, homeless apostle, victim of 
 blows, calumny and insult. That was what 
 it cost to be a "faithful steward" (ver. 
 2) ; after such a recital, the Corinthians, 
 conceited and comfortable, might well 
 have misgivings as to their own fidelity. 
 
 The Fatherly Admonition (iv. 14-21). 
 
 14-16. Severe and almost bitter as were 
 these last words (vv. 8-13), the Corin- 
 thians are to understand that Paul's mo- 
 tive in writing them was the best. He 
 loves the Corinthians as a father, and these 
 words are his fatherly admonition to them. 
 He did write some things to shame them 
 (cf. vi. 5; XV. 34), but not these particular 
 words. Not by way of shaming you do 
 I write these things, but as admonition, 
 to my beloved children (ver. 14). He 
 stands in a unique relation to the Corin- 
 thian church. Other teachers had built 
 upon the foundation, but it was he who 
 had laid it (iii. 10). These teachers are 
 here called 7rat5a7aj7ot, pedagogues, the 
 name given to the slave wdio took charge 
 of a young boy (cf. iii. i. Gal. iii. 24); 
 and there may be a touch of irony in the 
 word ten-thousand, which suggests that 
 there was no dearth in the supply. For 
 though ye may have ten thousand tutors 
 in Christ, at any rate (ye have) not 
 many fathers, for in Christ Jesus, the 
 sphere in which the Corinthians were be- 
 gotten by the agency of the gospel, it 
 v/as I (h''^) who begat you. As your 
 father, therefore, I beseech you, become 
 imitators of me, not in w^ord (cf. ver. 20), 
 by claiming to be Paul's man. but in deed, 
 by being ready to suffer such pain and 
 shame as I have suffered (vv. 11-13). 
 There is not one standard of duty and 
 suffering for an apostle, and another for 
 the members of the church : they are all 
 to be imitators of him. 
 
 17. Paul was so much in earnest in 
 his desire that they should learn to imitate 
 him, that he had sent Timothy to instruct 
 them, or rather to refresh their memories. 
 That is why I have sent you Timothy, 
 who is my child, beloved and faithful 
 in the Lord (or my beloved child [cf. 
 ver. 14I and faithful in the Lord). Love 
 and fidelity reach their purest and highest 
 in the Lord: the phrase means rather 
 more than " in the sphere of Christian 
 duty." It is fitting that Paul should send 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 33 
 
 i8 Now some are puffed up, as though 
 I would not come to you. 
 
 19 But I will come to you shortly, if 
 the Lord will, and will know, not the 
 speech of them which are puffed up, but 
 the power. 
 
 20 For the kingdom of God is not in 
 word, but in power. 
 
 21 What will ye? shall I come unto 
 you with a rod, or in love, and in the 
 
 spirit of meekness? 
 
 a beloved child to his beloved children 
 (ver. 14) ; and this child is one who will 
 put you in mind of my ways that are 
 in Christ — their conduct showed that they 
 had forgotten those ways, and Timothy 
 would remind them no doubt by example 
 as well as by precept. Paul's ways, manner 
 of life, were in accordance with his teach- 
 ing; they were such as I teach not only 
 at Corinth, but everywhere in every 
 church. So the demands he makes upon, 
 and the standard he sets for, the Corin- 
 thian church, are not special and peculiar : 
 they are the ideals he holds before all the 
 churches. 
 
 18-21. Apparently Paul's sending of 
 Timothy had led some of the Corinthians 
 to believe that he was afraid to face them 
 himself: but he promptly disabuses their 
 mind of that idea. Under the impression 
 that I am not coming myself some have 
 become puffed up — a common failing of 
 the Corinthians (ver. 6) ; but come I will 
 to you, and that very soon, — though he 
 arranges to stay at Ephesus till after Pen- 
 tecost is over (xvi. 8) —if the Lord will 
 
 (cf. xvi. 7), He, on whose will all human 
 action is contingent (cf. James iv. 15). 
 It is difficult to say whether the will here 
 is that of Christ, who is the Lord in ver. 
 17, or of God (cf. i. i). And, as spiritual 
 father of the Corinthian church, with re- 
 gard to those who have been and still 
 are puffed up (perf.), I will take cog- 
 nizance not of their words — the ready 
 Greeks had always enough of these on 
 hand — but of their power, their effective- 
 ness. For it is not the talkers, but the 
 men of spiritual power who advance the 
 kingdom of God; the kingdom of God 
 does not rest or consist in talk, but in 
 power. What will ye have then? I am 
 coming in any case : it is for you to say 
 how. Is it armed with a rod of correc- 
 tion that I am to come to you, or in 
 love and a spirit of gentleness? There 
 would be love in either case, for he is 
 their father (ver. 15), and the hand that 
 wielded the rod would be a fatherly hand : 
 but the question is whether that love shall 
 express itself in chastisement or gentle- 
 ness. 
 
34 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 THE SOCIAL MORALITY OF THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH 
 
 (v-vii). 
 
 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 I It is reported commonly that there 
 is fornication among you, and such forni- 
 cation as is not so much as named among 
 
 the Gentiles, that one should have his 
 father's wife, 
 
 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not 
 rather mourned, that he that hath done 
 this deed might be taken away from among 
 you. 
 
 A Case of Incest (v. 1-8). 
 
 From the discussion of the party ques- 
 tion, which, though it had subtle effects 
 on moral life, was, on the whole, a re- 
 ligious rather than a moral question, Paul 
 now passes to the consideration of the 
 more distinctively moral life of the Corin- 
 thian church, which, on some of its levels 
 was low enough ; and the rod with which 
 in iv. 21, the apostle threatens to come to 
 them, is only too intelligible. 
 
 I. In a city so completely given over 
 as was Corinth to the worship of Aphro- 
 dite (Venus), the large place given in the 
 letter to the discussion of sexual relation- 
 ships and sins is not surprising, and it is 
 natural that this part of the letter should 
 be introduced by the discussion of a par- 
 ticularly flagrant offense. There is act- 
 ually a report of fornication among you, 
 yes (/cat) and fornication the like of 
 which does not (exist) even among the 
 Gentiles, namely, that a man should 
 have, whether as wife or concubine, his 
 father's wife. Paul is indignant that the 
 Christian church should have fallen below 
 even the low standard of the Pagan world, 
 and we may assume that this act, or at 
 any rate the indifference if not satisfaction, 
 with which it was received by the church, 
 arose from a false conception of the Chris- 
 tian liberty preached by Paul. About the 
 crime itself there is much that is obscure. 
 Was the father's wife the man's own 
 mother or his stepmother? Almost cer- 
 tainly the latter, as the word mother would 
 certainly have been chosen to point the 
 horror of the crime. But that the crime 
 was horrible enough is indicated by the 
 use of the phrase, the father's wife in 
 preference to stepmother. Again w^as the 
 woman a Christian or not? Probably not, 
 as Paul's disciplinary proposals are directed 
 exclusively against the man? Again, was 
 the father dead or not? This point is not 
 certain ; it depends upon whether he is to 
 be identified with " the man that suffered 
 the wrong " in 2 Cor. vii. 12. Again, is 
 the implication that he had this woman as 
 wife or concubine? This point is also un- 
 
 certain, as exeiv can be used of either re- 
 lationship ; and the phrases in vv. 2, 3 " he 
 that had done this deed," " he that hath 
 so _ wrought this thing," do not point de- 
 cisively in either direction. In any case, 
 the union of a man with his stepmother 
 was condemned by Greek, Roman (edveaiv) 
 and Jewish opinion (Lev. xviii. 8). The 
 translation in A. V. " not so much as 
 named'' rests upon ovo/xd^erai, which is an 
 unwarranted interpolation in the text. 
 
 2. An act which would have been an 
 offense to Pagan society, ought surely to 
 have shocked sensitive Christian opinion. 
 But the Corinthian church, whether by 
 virtue of the low moral ideals brought 
 over by the converts from paganism, or 
 of misconceptions of what was involved in 
 Christian liberty, was not easily shocked. 
 As for YOU (vfiels) ye are puffed up, in a 
 state of inflation (perf. 7re0i'o-ta>/ieVoi iore)^ 
 a state apparently chronic to the Corin- 
 thians (iv. 6, 18). Things must have been 
 bad indeed if the Corinthians were puffed 
 up because of the crime. This is not quite 
 impossible, as such a crime would be the 
 best proof that they meant what they said 
 when they claimed " liberty " for them- 
 selves as Christians. But it is not neces- 
 sary to suppose this, and the Greek tense 
 (unlike e^vaiwe-qcav, in iv. 18) is rather 
 against it. The meaning may simply be 
 that the crime was accompanied by (not 
 that it produced) a feeling of inflation on 
 the part of the church. As the next clause 
 suggests; instead of being sorry, they 
 maintained their state of inflation. And 
 ye did not rather fall to mourning (aor/) 
 and, in your penitence, take steps that the 
 man who wrought this deed be removed 
 from your midst — by themselves, as ver. 
 13 shows ; in other words that he he ex- 
 communicated. There is something im- 
 pressive and solemn about \\\<t double 
 formal allusion to the man in vv. 2, 3 as 
 " the one who had done this thing." It 
 is possible — and some argue, from the use 
 of oi''xt, more natural — to read this verse 
 interrogatively : " are ye puffed up, and did 
 ye not rather mourn?" 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 35 
 
 3 For I verily, as absent in body, but 
 present in spirit, have judged already, as 
 though I were present, concerning him 
 that hath so done this deed, 
 
 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 when ye are gathered together, and my | Lord Jesus. 
 
 spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 5 To deliver such a one unto Satan 
 for the destruction of the flesh, that the 
 spirit may be saved in the day of the 
 
 3. With the laxity of the Corinthians, 
 Paul contrasts his own decision ^7^ /J-ev : 
 for I on my part, absent in the body 
 but present in the spirit — that spirit 
 which was illuminated through association 
 with the spirit and power of the Lord Jesus 
 (ver. 4) — have already come to a de- 
 cision, as though I were actually pres- 
 ent, with regard to the man who in this 
 way perpetrated this crime (ver. 3), 
 KeKpiKa seems to combine two constructions : 
 I have judged this man, and I have de- 
 cided to deliver such a one to Satan 
 (■jrapadoiivai^ ver. 5). One would hardly 
 expect Eaul to judge a man on hearsay 
 (d/couerat, ver. i) evidence: either he re- 
 gards himself as specially enlightened 
 through his association with (avv) the 
 spirit of Jesus, or, as Ramsay says, " the 
 words 'I have judged him' do not imply 
 a legal judgment, but an expression of 
 Paul's opinion on a mere report of the 
 case." It makes little difference whether 
 we take ws irapuv to mean, " as though 
 actually present " or " as being present " 
 (that is in spirit). Does ovtus (thus) 
 mean thus shamefully, or Christian though 
 he be by profession? 
 
 4, 5. Paul's decision is given with great 
 deliberation ; clause follows clause with un- 
 usual solemnity, and the reader is held in 
 breathless suspense till the fateful word 
 irapadoiivai is reached. The judgment is, 
 in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you 
 have gathered together, and my spirit, in 
 association with the power of our Lord 
 Jesus, TO DELIVER HIM THAT IS 
 SUCH TO SATAN. The phrase in the 
 name of our Lord Jesus may grammatically 
 go either with " gathered " or " deliver " : 
 similarly the phrase zvith the power of our 
 Lord Jesus. It seems, on the whole, best 
 to take the latter phrase with " gathered," 
 and the former with " deliver." The de- 
 cision is in the name of Jesus to deliver 
 him to Satan, after the Corinthians have 
 assembled with the spirit of the absent 
 Paul in association with that of Jesus. 
 All things were to be done by Christians 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus (Col. iii. 
 17) a fortiori acts of such grave and 
 solemn importance (cf. Acts iii. 6) ; the 
 utterance of the name of Jesus was prob- 
 ably believed to summon His presence and 
 
 power (Acts iii. 16). It is not quite clear 
 whether the phrase with the pozver of 
 Jesus goes closely with my spirit, implying 
 that Paul's spirit was sustained and illu- 
 mined by association zvith the spirit of 
 Jesus, or whether it implies that the power 
 of Jesus, as a separate entity, was inde- 
 pendently present (you . . . and my spirit 
 . . . together zvith the power of Jesus). 
 It is interesting to note the importance 
 here attached to the convocation of the 
 Corinthian church : this is one of the fac- 
 tors in the decision. The constitution of 
 the church is what we might call dem- 
 ocratic ; they have, as we see in ver. 13, 
 the right and the duty to keep their mem- 
 bership pure. 
 
 5. It is worthy of note that Paul does 
 not actually say that he decides to hand 
 the culprit over to Satan; but tov tolovtov, 
 such a one, a man of this kind. What is 
 meant by " delivering a man to Satan " ? 
 We here touch a circle of ideas that forci- 
 bly remind us that we are reading an 
 ancient document. Satan is the great ad- 
 versary of God ; consequently sickness and 
 disease, as evil things, are often ascribed 
 to him. It was he who brought calamity 
 and leprosy upon Job (Job i, ii), and who 
 had " bound " the woman whom Jesus 
 healed in the synagogue on the Sabbath 
 day (Luke xiii. 16). The sinner is here 
 delivered to Satan for destruction of the 
 flesh, and these illustrations show that 
 such a work would be peculiarly congenial 
 to him. Further, the strange authority 
 claimed by ,the apostle is paralleled else- 
 where : Hymenaeus and Alexander are 
 similarly delivered {irapebwKa) to Satan, 
 that they may be disciplined (i Tim. i. 20). 
 The power of an apostle's word is illus- 
 trated by the stories of the fate of Ananias 
 and Sapphira (Acts v), and the blindness 
 that fell upon Elymas (Acts xiii. 11) ; so 
 this judgment of Paul is to be conceived 
 as carrying potency with it. Possibly, 
 however, as Ramsay suggests, the mean- 
 ing may be less terrible : the phrase may 
 be formed on the analogy of the formulae 
 by which a Greek, who had been wronged, 
 sometimes " consigned the criminal to the 
 God, and left the punishment to be in- 
 flicted by divine power ... If there sub- 
 sequently befell him any bodily suffering, 
 
36 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 6 Your glorying is not good. Know 
 ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the 
 whole lump ? 
 
 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, 
 that ye may be a new lump, as ye are 
 
 unleavened. For even Christ our pass- 
 over is sacrificed for us : 
 
 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not 
 with old leaven, neither with the leaven 
 of malice and wickedness ; but with the 
 unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 
 
 it would be regarded as the divine act, 
 to the end that he might repent and learn " 
 {Expositor 1900, pp. 212 f.). It is appro- 
 priate here that the flesh should be de- 
 stroyed, as that was at once the seat and 
 the source of the sin; but in no case 
 could flesh inherit the kingdom of God 
 (xv. 50). Probably the idea is that he is 
 to die by slow disease. Satan, though 
 now the adversary of God,' was once re- 
 garded as His servant (cf. Job i. 6) ; 
 and even now his " destructive " work is 
 overruled for good. The flesh is to be 
 destroyed that the spirit — the highest 
 part of man — may be saved in the day 
 of the Lord, in the day when Jesus comes 
 in judgment to decide the destinies of 
 men (i. 8). This solemn decision of Paul 
 has, therefore, in view the sinner's ulti- 
 mate salvation. 
 
 6. In view of so great an offense, con- 
 tinues Paul, on the. part of one of your 
 members, this glorying of yours is not 
 seemly. Do you not know — perhaps 
 another ironical allusion to their much 
 vaunted knowledge (cf. iii. 16) — that a 
 little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 
 The lump is the Christian community ; 
 what is the leaven? Is it the sin described 
 in the last paragraph, or the Corinthian 
 conceit and moral laxity (cf'.' ver. 2). If 
 the former, it would be strange to find 
 
 ^ Paul characterize so grave an offense, and 
 'one upon which he pronounces so terrible 
 a doom, as a little leaven, unless indeed 
 the word is to be taken quantitatively 
 rather than qualitatively: probably there- 
 fore the leaven is, as ver. 8 suggests, the 
 moral indifference and depravity of the Co- 
 rinthians themselves. 
 
 7, 8. Considering then the danger to the 
 lump from the leaven, it was only common 
 prudence to cleanse out the old leaven 
 completely, that ye may be a new lump, 
 feeing that (lit. even as, in accordance with 
 the fact that) ye are — not indeed really, 
 as is only too plain, but at any rate ideally 
 and by profession — free from leaven of 
 this sinful kind. The i)roof that you are. 
 or ought to be, thus unleavened is that 
 our passover lamb has been sacrificed, 
 even Christ; and just as, according to 
 the Mosaic law (Exod. xii. 15 ff, xiii. 7), 
 the sacrifice of the passover lamb was ac- 
 
 companied by complete abstinence for 
 seven days from everything leavened, so 
 among Christians, the sacrifice of Christ, 
 their passover lamb, was incompatible with 
 the leaven ^ of sin. The casual reference 
 to leaven in ver. 6 causes Paul to draw 
 out the figure to considerable length ; and 
 this alone is sufficient to account for the 
 exhortation, so then let us keep the fes- 
 tival. We need not suppose that he is 
 thinking of the celebration of the passover 
 at Corinth, though the letter may well 
 have been written about passover time 
 (cf. xvi. 8). "All time," says Chrysos- 
 tom, " is a festival season to Christians " ; 
 and this unending festival has to be kept 
 not with old leaven, brought by the Co- 
 rinthians from their old pagan life, nor 
 with leaven of evil and wickedness, like 
 the fornication on the one hand, and their 
 indifference to it on the other, but with 
 the unleavened bread of transparency 
 and truth. It has been conjectured that 
 this insistence upon sincerity, transparency, 
 is a rebuke of their possibly wilful mis- 
 understanding of his previous letter, which 
 he now proceeds to discuss. 
 
 This glimpse into the Corinthian church 
 throws a lurid light upon the moral ideals 
 and attainments of her members. The " old 
 leaven " of paganism, and their misconcep- 
 tion of the Christian calling, combined to 
 produce a caricature of the true church 
 which goes far to explain the solemn and 
 terrible earnestness with which Paul re- 
 bukes the church and especially her most 
 conspicuous sinner. 
 
 The Church and the World: a Letter Mis- 
 understood (v. 9-13). 
 
 Other letters were written by Paul to 
 the Corinthian church than those which 
 have been preserved (2 Cor. x. to) : in 
 particular one had been written before the 
 first canonical epistle, in which, as here, 
 he had given instructions to the Corin- 
 thians about the conduct of their moral 
 life. The "fornicator" must have been 
 an unhappily frequent figure on the 
 streets of Corinth. He could hardly be 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 37 
 
 9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to 
 company with fornicators : 
 
 ID Yet not altogether with the forni- 
 cators of this world, or with the covetous, 
 or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then 
 must ye needs go out of the world. 
 
 II But now I have written unto you 
 not to keep company, if any man that is 
 called a brother be a fornicator, or cov- 
 
 etous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a 
 drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such a 
 one no not to eat. 
 
 12 For what have I to do to judge 
 them also that are without? do not ye 
 judge them that are within? 
 
 13 But them that are without God 
 judgeth. Therefore put away from among 
 yourselves that wicked person. 
 
 avoided; what was to be the attitude of 
 church members to him and such as he? 
 This passage appropriately follows the last 
 which dealt with immorality within the 
 church itself. 
 
 9, 10. I wrote to you — not in this 
 letter (vv. 2, 6, for example, are not 
 specific enough to meet the case), but — 
 in the letter which I sent you before, 
 not to associate with immoral people. 
 Some have supposed that a fragment of 
 the letter alluded to survives in 2 Cor. 
 vi. 14-vii. I. In 2 Cor. vii. 8, Paul re- 
 fers apparently to i Cor. in a phrase 
 identical with that used here — in the let- 
 ter. He thought the meaning of such 
 advice was plain on the face of it : in 
 giving it (I did) not at all (mean) that 
 they were to have nothing to do with the 
 immoral people of this, that is, the non- 
 Christian, world, or with the greedy and 
 rapacious (one class, under one article 
 rocs : the apirayes are the unscrupulously 
 covetous) or with idolaters. That would 
 have been absurd, for two reasons: (i) 
 because Corinth teemed with such people, 
 and the ordinary business of life must 
 have involved perpetual contact with them ; 
 and (ii) because Christianity can only in- 
 fluence society by contact with it : here 
 again, a little leaven will, in time, leaven 
 the whole lump (cf. Mat. xiii. ^2>r Luke 
 xiii. 21). Such advice, then, would have 
 been out of the question, for in that case, 
 you would have had to leave the world. 
 
 II. But as a matter of fact, what I 
 really meant, when I wrote to you, was 
 this. The words may equally well mean ; 
 But now — to avoid all misunderstanding 
 — / zvrite to you not to, etc. (the so-called 
 epistolary aorist). In either case, what 
 Paul meant (or means) is this: if a man 
 bearing the name of Christian brother, 
 that is, a church member, be given to im- 
 morality, or greed, or idolatry, or abuse, 
 or drunkenness, or rapacity, you are not 
 to associate with that sort of man nor 
 
 even to eat with him. The purity of the 
 church must be preserved at all costs, and 
 all intercourse with men of this type, even 
 friendly acts of hospitality, were to be sus- 
 pended ; they were brothers only in name. 
 If this catalogue of sins gives us a real 
 glimpse into the composition of the Corin- 
 thian church, no measures could be too 
 drastic for its purification. 
 
 12, 13. But Paul makes it plain that he 
 claims no jurisdiction beyond the church. 
 For what business is it of mine to judge 
 those that are outside? I act just as 
 you act yourselves. Is that not your own 
 practice {i'lJ-eis) —to judge those that are 
 inside, while of those that are outside 
 neither 3^ou, nor I, but God is the judge 
 (KpbeL^ better read as present than future, 
 KpLvel). Is there a touch of irony in the 
 phrase "ye judge those that are within"? 
 In the flagrant case upon which Paul pro- 
 nounces so heavy a judgment (vv. 3-5), 
 so far were they from judging it that they 
 regarded it with indifference and even 
 conceit. Hence Paul's peremptory com- 
 mand in conclusion : Remove the wicked 
 man from your own midst (ver. 13). 
 Excommunicate all such (cf. ver. 11), — 
 in particular he is thinking of the sinner 
 who had taken his father's wife. Over 
 wncked men beyond the pale of the church 
 you have no judicial powers; but it is your 
 solemn duty (cf. Deut. xxiv. 7) to purify 
 the church. 
 
 The church must respect her ideals and 
 take practical steps to conserve them. Her 
 members must not " go out of the world " 
 which it is their duty to leaven, but she 
 must send out of her communion those 
 who, by a deliberately sinful life, have 
 betrayed her and her Lord. And the apos- 
 tle leaves it to the members of the church 
 to effect this excommunication. In Paul's 
 conception of church polity, the members 
 count for much (cf. ver. 4). 
 
38 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 1 Dare any of you, having a matter 
 against another, go to law before the 
 unjust, and not before the saints? 
 
 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall 
 judge the world? and if the world shall 
 
 be judged by you, are ye unworthy to 
 judge the smallest matters? 
 
 3 Know ye not that we shall judge 
 angels? how much more things that per- 
 tain to this life? 
 
 4 li then ye have judgments of things 
 pertaining to this life, set them to judge 
 who are least esteemed in the church. 
 
 Christian Disputes and Heathen Courts (vi. 
 i-ii). 
 
 This epistle glides easily and naturally 
 from one topic to another. The incidental 
 reference to "judging" in ch. _ v. 12, sug- 
 gests the larger question of litigation, and 
 the relation of the Corinthian Christians 
 to the ordinary legal processes and law 
 courts. Is a Christian at liberty to avail 
 himself of these, in case of a dispute be- 
 tween himself and a brother Christian? 
 In spite of the indefinite tis in ver. i, the 
 plurals in the following verses (cf. ver. 
 7, "Ye have lawsuits with one another"), 
 and the earnestness of the whole _ discus- 
 sion, strongly suggest that this point had 
 been practically raised several times. 
 
 1. Does any of you, that has a mat- 
 ter in dispute with another Christian have 
 the hardihood to go to law before (the) 
 unrighteous judges, instead of before 
 (the) saints? To do this is an act of 
 effrontery (toX/jlo.) to the brotherly spirit 
 that ought to animate the Christian 
 church (cf. vv. 6, 8), besides being, at 
 bottom, an ethical absurdity ; for why 
 should men who have been justified 
 
 (idiKaiuOrjTe) go before the unjust (adiKoi) 
 
 for justice F Christians who are called to 
 be saints (i. 2), should have any disputes 
 that may arise settled by men of their own 
 type. The characterization of the heathen 
 judges as unjust is not to be taken too 
 seriously; there may be a touch of irony 
 in it; the word is simply = unbeliever 
 (ver. 6). Paul had a real respect for 
 properly constituted authority (Rom. xiy. 
 i) and himself appealed to Caesar. The 
 disputes about which Paul is thinking arc, 
 in particular, those that concern property 
 (ver. 8) ; and the materialistic spirit, which 
 such litigation revealed, was the very con- 
 tradiction of the spirit which should be 
 theirs, as Christians. The Greeks were 
 fond of litigation, with its discussions and 
 excitements ; and it would not be easy for 
 them to shake themselves free of this dis- 
 position, even after they became Christians. 
 
 2, 3. Or, continues Paul, if you persist 
 in this practice, it must be because you 
 have forgotten that, in the divine economy, 
 
 you are the real judges of the world. Do 
 you not know — this phrase occurs six 
 times in this chapter (vv. 2, 3, 9, 15, 16, 
 19), and probably always in this letter 
 with a slightly ironical flavor : men so 
 wise as you Corinthians ought to know 
 this — that the saints shall judge {kplvovclv, 
 fut., better than KpLvovcLv, judge) the world. 
 Ramsay {Expositor, 1900, p. 279) main- 
 tains that " an undertone of sarcasm, al- 
 most of banter, is to be understood as 
 ruling throughout vi. 2-4," and that we do 
 not here have " a serious description of 
 the future powers and duties of Christians." 
 This may be : a playful thrust of this kind 
 would be quite in the manner of Paul. 
 But on the other hand, the reference can 
 be explained in terms of contemporary be- 
 lief. According to Dan. vii. 22, judgment 
 v/as to be given to the saints of the Most 
 High ; and when the Son of Man should 
 sit upon the throne of His glory, those 
 who had followed Him were also to sit 
 on thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel (Mat. xix. 28, Luke xxii. 30). The 
 privilege of judging would be theirs when 
 the Messianic kingdom had come (cf. iv. 8). 
 And if THE WORLD (0 Koaixos, emphatic) 
 appears before you {^v v/hIp, m or through 
 an assembly of yours) for judgment, are 
 ye then unworthy of sitting upon the 
 smallest tribunals — that is, tribunals 
 where petty cases arc tried. The future 
 judges of the world should surely be capa- 
 ble of judging trifles. Verse 3 repeats this 
 thought in other words : do ye not know 
 that we are to judge not only men but 
 angels — the two together make up the 
 world (iv. 9) — to say nothing at all of 
 ordinary things (lit. the things of ordi- 
 nary life: (cf. Luke xxi. 34), 
 
 4. Whatever this verse means, it is at 
 any rate spoken " to shame " the Corin- 
 thians, and this may give some clue to its 
 interpretation. The question turns (a) 
 upon whether those zvho are of no account 
 in the church are the heathen judges or 
 insignificant members of the church, and 
 (b) upon whether KaOii;eTe is indicative or 
 imperative. If then it is ordinary cases 
 (PiioTiKa.^ very emphatic: echo of last word 
 of last sentence) that you have to try, 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 39 
 
 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, 
 that there is not a wise man among you? 
 no, not one that shall be able to judge 
 between his brethren? 
 
 6 But brother goeth to law with brother, 
 and that before the unbelievers. 
 
 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault 
 among you, because ye go to law one with 
 another. Why do ye not rather take 
 wrong? Why do ye not rather suffer 
 yourselves to be defrauded? 
 
 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and 
 that your brethren. 
 
 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous 
 shall not inherit the kingdom of God? 
 Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor 
 idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, 
 nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 
 
 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
 drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
 shall inherit the kingdom of God. 
 
 what then? In that case, either (a) ap- 
 point insignificant church members to set- 
 tle such disputes, — the humblest abilities 
 will be adequate for such a task: or (b) 
 you appoint heathen judges to settle such 
 disputes. (The latter alternative may also 
 be read as a question: do you appoint?) 
 (b) seems the more vigorous interpreta- 
 tion : it is those who are of no account in 
 the church — it is these (tovtovs, emphatic) 
 whom you set on the judge's seat. Men 
 who were destined to judge angels, went 
 for the settlement of trivial affairs to 
 heathen judges: I speak to shame you. 
 There are two difficulties in this interpre- 
 tation, neither of which is insurmountable, 
 (i) Kadi^ere is inappropriate, as the Chris- 
 tians did not appoint the heathen judges: 
 but the word might well be used loosely 
 — especially as the feeling throughout is 
 tense — for the deliberate recognition of 
 the heathen judge: these are (or are 
 these?) the men you set over the decision 
 of your disputes : (ii) It is said that " those 
 who are of no account in the church " 
 would be an unlikely phrase for Paul to 
 apply to the ordinary Greek judges (cf. 
 Rom. xiii. i). But (a) it would be al- 
 most equally unlikely, on the other view, 
 to apply to a Christian brother ; and (b) it 
 is really no more objectionable than the 
 epithet " unrighteous " in ver. i. Such 
 men were of no account in the church, 
 as the members of the church were of no 
 account in the world {i^ovdevTuxeva, i. 28, 
 same word). 
 
 5, 6. If the Corinthians take their cases 
 before heathen judges, where, asks Paul 
 satirically, is their own much vaunted 
 wisdom? Is there such an utter lack of 
 wisdom among you, not a single wise 
 man who will be able to decide between 
 his brethren (lit. his brother: apparently 
 used loosely). Instead of that, however, 
 brother goes to law with brother — bad 
 enough in itself, for it is a contradiction of 
 the spirit of Christian brotherhood, but in- 
 finitely aggravated by the fact that they 
 took their cases before judges who were | 
 
 not Christians — and that before unbe- 
 lievers (ver. 6). Brethren should settle 
 disputes in a brotherly spirit — without the 
 apparatus of courts, but, at most, by arbi- 
 tration, by appealing to the " decision " of 
 some other " wise " and impartial brother. 
 The question begun in ver. 5 may also be 
 taken as continued into ver. 6; so A. R. V. 
 
 In verses 7, 8, Paul cuts to the root 
 of the matter. For Christians to take 
 their disputes before unbelievers was de- 
 plorable ; but more deplorable still was it 
 that they should have disputes of this kind 
 at all — it was nothing less then a moral 
 defect. Nay, at the outset, it is nothing 
 short of a defect on your part that you 
 have lawsuits with one another at all. 
 It shows that you do not clearly under- 
 stand what is involved in allegiance to 
 Christ ; with those who are His, the spiritual 
 must be paramount, and their life will not 
 consist in the abundance of the things that 
 they possess. In that case, why do you, 
 if you are truly His, not rather bear the 
 wrong? why not bear the robbery? But 
 — so far from that — you yourselves 
 (vfxeLs), brethren and Christ's own though 
 you profess to be, are guilty of the wrong 
 and robbery, yes, and towards brethren 
 too. 
 
 9, 10. You wise Corinthians seem to 
 have forgotten where all this wrongdoing 
 ends. You may score a paltry success in 
 the courts, but it will shut you out of a 
 title to God's kingdom. Or do you not 
 know that wrongdoers — the very word 
 (aSt/coi) he had applied in ver. i to the • 
 heathen judges; that is the level to which 
 such conduct reduces them — shall not in- 
 herit God's kingdom? It was easy for 
 the Corinthians, in their frivolous, im- 
 moral city, to forget the stern demands of 
 the religion they professed; but do not 
 deceive yourselves; for they certainly 
 shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 
 whether their wrongdoing take the form 
 of immorality or greed — for these are 
 the chief classes of sins covered by the 
 following list — neither fornicators nor 
 
40 
 
 I COKINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 II And such were some of you: but 
 ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but 
 ye are justified in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. 
 
 12 All things are lawful unto me, but 
 all things are not expedient: all things are 
 lawful for me, but I will not be brought 
 under the power of any. 
 
 idolaters (idolatry appropriately mentioned 
 at this point, as the cult of Aphrodite in 
 Corinth was immoral) nor adulterers, nor 
 those who practice or lend themselves 
 to unnatural lust, nor thieves, nor greedy 
 men, nor any given to drunkenness, re- 
 viling, or extortion. 
 
 II. And such (lit. these things), in the 
 past, were not indeed all, but some of 
 you: this goes a long way to explain the 
 facility with which the Corinthians re- 
 lapsed into lower moral ideals and prac- 
 tices, and also to illustrate the degrada- 
 tion out of which the gospel had to lift 
 men; but, as it was the power of God, it 
 had transformed them, when, in the rite 
 of baptism, they had signified their ac- 
 ceptance of it: you washed yourselves 
 (or you had yourselves washed) : the ref- 
 erence is to baptism [cf. Acts xxii. i6], 
 the aor. indicating the moment (not "ye 
 are washed," as A. V.), and the middle 
 indicating the Corinthian response to the 
 divine call. Yes (dWd^ but: repeated with 
 great emphasis) you were sanctified, yes, 
 you were justified. These words do not 
 here mean "made holy, and made right- 
 eous "— context, and (at least in the case 
 of diKaiovv) usage are against this — but 
 simply, "set apart and justified"; the same 
 act is described from two points of view, 
 in an order the reverse of the usual one. 
 These words are appropriately in the pas- 
 sive, because they indicate the result of 
 the divine action upon the Corinthian be- 
 lievers. All these three acts — baptism, 
 sanctification and justification — were ef- 
 fected in the name of the (or our) Lord 
 Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our 
 God. In particular, baptism is in the name 
 of Jesus (the Trinitarian formula is not 
 yet in use. Mat. xxviii. 19), and sanctifica- 
 tion is the work of the spirit; but more 
 generally, the last two clauses are to be 
 taken with all three verbs. The new life 
 depends both upon God and Jesus. 
 
 Here again, as in his discussion of the 
 party spirit (ch. iii), Paul, by a smiple 
 contrast between the unlovely reality and 
 the glorious Christian facts, produces an 
 effect more powerful than a direct rebuke. 
 The unbrotherly conduct of the Corin- 
 thians in wronging one another, and in 
 carrying their paltry disputes before 
 
 heathen courts, is so utterly unworthy of 
 men who have been baptized, justified and 
 sanctified, that they must have been in- 
 stantly struck by its incongruity. Indeed 
 their conduct shows how poorly they have 
 learned the lesson of Him in whose name 
 they have been baptized, and is imperilling 
 their chances of the kingdom of heaven. 
 Again we feel the tremendous moral ear- 
 nestness which breathes through the words 
 of Paul : the heirs of that kingdom must 
 be men with no taint of lust or greed upon 
 their souls. 
 
 Paul is not here pleading for ecclesiastical 
 courts, to rival the civil courts of the 
 heathen. What he desiderates is not more 
 machinery, or another organization, but 
 another spirit, the spirit of brotherliness — 
 not a Christian court, but the arbitration 
 of a wise Christian brother. This is the 
 only course worthy of men who have been 
 baptized and sanctified. 
 
 The Limit of Liberty (vi. 12-20). 
 
 The return to the subject of immorality, 
 which Paul had already discussed in the 
 preceding chapter, shows how subtly and 
 seriously Paul conceived the life of the 
 Corinthian church to be menaced by the 
 usages of ordinary society. Besides the 
 practical temptations to which the mem- 
 bers of the church were continually ex- 
 posed, they were subject to the almost 
 more dangerous temptation of justifying 
 theoretically a loose attitude to morality, 
 and even of resting their justification upon 
 words of the apostle's own. This is the 
 situation which he meets in the ensuing 
 paragraph. 
 
 12. All things are in my power These 
 are words probably borrowed by the Co- 
 rinthians from Paul himself, and were 
 probably often on their lips. cf. x. 23. 
 Plainly Paul did not literally mean that 
 everything was lawful ; such a union as 
 that of ver. 16, for example, was not only 
 the degradation, but the destruction of the 
 believer's relation to Christ. But all thmgs 
 that are morally indifferent are as lawful 
 to him as to anybody: still he will not 
 make indiscriminate use of this wide lib- 
 erty; of the things which are lawful he 
 will adopt only such as are profitable, to 
 himself or to others. There is a play on 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 41 
 
 13 Meats for the belly, and the belly 
 for meats : but God shall destroy both it 
 and them. Now the body is not for forni- 
 cation, but for the Lord; and the Lord 
 for the body. 
 
 14 And God hath both raised up the 
 Lord, and will also raise up us by his own 
 power. 
 
 15 Know ye not that your bodies are 
 the members of Christ ? shall I then take 
 the members of Christ, and make them the 
 members of a harlot? God forbid. 
 
 16 What! know ye not that he which 
 is joined to a harlot is one body? for 
 two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 
 
 the words eiecrnv and i^ovaiaadriaofxai. All 
 things are in my pozver: true, but they 
 are not all profitable. All things are in 
 my power.- true, but I, for my part {ey^) 
 will not let myself be brought under 
 the power of anything. He must not 
 only be free, he must remain free : he is 
 not free to forfeit his freedom. He must 
 be the master of all things, he must not 
 allow any of them to become his master: 
 he is not free, for example, to join himself 
 to a harlot, or to any other person or in- 
 fluence that estranges him from Christ. 
 There his freedom ends. 
 
 13. Some of the Greeks, however, ap- 
 pear to have argued that one appetite is 
 as much entitled to satisfaction as an- 
 other. The bodily appetite has its grati- 
 fication in something outside of it ; each is 
 made for, and adapted to, the other. For 
 example, meats for the belly and the 
 belly for meats; that appetite demands 
 satisfaction, and finds it legitimately in 
 food. By easy analogy it might then be 
 argued : the body for fornication, and for- 
 nication for the body — for why should 
 that appetite also, like the other, not be 
 satisfied in that way? There were two 
 errors in this reasoning, argues Paul. 
 Firstly, there is no real analogy between 
 meats and the stomach on the one hand, 
 and the body on the other ; the former 
 belonged to the eyanescent order — God 
 shall bring to nought both it and them, 
 for the fashion of this world p asset h 
 away (vii. 31) ; the body, on the other 
 hand, belongs to the eternal order — it 
 shall be raised up (ver. 14, cf. xv.). But 
 secondly, the body is NOT for fornica- 
 tion, but for the Lord; and the Lord 
 for the body. The body is an instrument 
 for the service of the Lord ; in and through 
 the body we carry out His will upon the 
 earth. And the Lord is for the body ; as 
 He needs it, so it needs Him. '"' Without 
 Him the body cannot develop into all it 
 is intended to be." Between the two there 
 is a mutual dependence ; and the only 
 argument, legitimate to a Christian, that 
 can be drawn from the wonderful adapta- 
 tion of appetites to their means of gratifi- 
 cation, is that his body is for the use of 
 
 the Lord, and the Lord for the redemption 
 of his body. 
 
 14. The correspondence between 13b 
 and 14, each beginning with 5e QeSs, is 
 very striking, and forms part of the ar- 
 gument. God will destroy it and them: 
 but us, that is, our body. He will raise 
 up, because He raised up the Lord. The 
 argument would have been clearer, as 
 Lietzmann says, if Paul had written " our 
 bodies " instead of " us." The double aai 
 is intended to connect very closely us and 
 Him, to involve us in His experience of 
 resurrection. But God both raised up 
 the Lord and He will raise us up also 
 through His power — for He is omnip- 
 otent. The body is distinguished here, as 
 usually in Paul, from the flesh, and there- 
 fore from the KOiXia (belly) ; flesh cannot 
 inherit the kingdom of God, but the body 
 is raised, spiritual and glorious (ch. xv.). 
 
 So for two reasons, the Corinthian an- 
 alogy falls to the ground; the body is not 
 for fornication, but for the Lord; and it 
 will not be reduced to nothing, but raised 
 and ''conformed to the body of His 
 glory." (Phil. iii. 21). 
 
 15. Do you not know — you ought to 
 know — that your bodies are members of 
 Christ, identified with Him as closely as 
 the hand is identified with the body. Shall 
 I then — a question all the more striking, 
 that he puts it in the first person instead 
 of in the second — take away the mem- 
 bers of my body, which, as I am Christ's, 
 are also the members of Christ, and 
 make them a harlot's members? The 
 very supposition is too awful to contem- 
 plate. God forbid: these words give the 
 flavor of f^v yevoiTo here ("let it not hap- 
 pen"). Christ and the harlot are here 
 conceived as the rival claimants of the 
 human soul : a man cannot at the same 
 time belong to both. If his members be 
 given to the harlot, they must be taken 
 (dpas) from Christ. 
 
 16. Or do you not know — the fact is 
 plain enough to one who remembers his Bible 
 — that he that cleaves to a harlot (rrj, 
 the particular woman wath whom he is 
 sinning) is one body? — not two; the act 
 constitutes a real identity of the man with 
 
42 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord 
 is one spirit. 
 
 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a 
 man doeth is without the body; but he 
 that committeth fornication sinneth against 
 his own body. 
 
 19 What ! know ye not that your body 
 
 is the temple of the Holy Ghost njhich is 
 in you, which ye have of God, and ye are 
 not your own? 
 
 20 For ye are bought with a price; 
 therefore glorify God in your body, and 
 in your spirit, which are God's. 
 
 his partner. For in Genesis ii. 24, Scrip- 
 ture (or God: in reality Adam) says, 
 the two shall become one flesh. The 
 
 original reference is to marriage ; but the 
 act that creates the identity is the same. 
 Now there is an equally real union — 
 KoWufiepos, the same word, is used — be- 
 tween the believer and the Lord, but it is 
 a spiritual one — But he that cleaveth to 
 the Lord is one — the argument almost 
 leads us to expect body; but Paul substi- 
 tutes — spirit — The Christian is moving 
 in another world altogether than that of 
 the flesh with its appetites and lusts. 
 
 18. Paul now gathers up the argument 
 in a brief, impassioned warning, the more 
 peremptory that there is no connecting par- 
 ticle : flee fornication: do not fight, but 
 flee. Victory over this sin lies in retreat. 
 In some ways it is the most deadly sin of 
 all : for every act of sin that a man may 
 commit is outside the body, but the for- 
 nicator sins against his own body. This 
 has seemed to some the language of exag- 
 geration ; for is drunkenness, even glut- 
 tony, not also a sin against a man's own 
 body ? Undoubtedly ; but not in the same 
 awful sense. To appreciate the true hei- 
 nousness of immorality, as Paul under- 
 stood it, we must remember the terrible 
 contrast in verses 16, 17. The essence of 
 it is a definite and deliberate union, by 
 means of the body, with the Tropv-q^ who is 
 the rival and enemy of Christ; the im- 
 moral man, has, by this uni^n, alienated his 
 ethical and religious personality — alienated 
 it by means of the body which was given 
 him to express that personality in the 
 service of the Lord : for the body is for 
 the Lord. Relatively speaking, then, such 
 sins as drunkenness are external, while 
 this sin cleaves to the roots of the ethical 
 being, and is a fearful and radical con- 
 tradiction of the idea of Christian person- 
 ality. 
 
 19. The body against which the im- 
 moral man sins, is his own ; therein lies 
 the folly of his sin. But it is not his 
 own, it is the Lord's, and it is God's : 
 therein lies the horror of it. Or do you 
 not know, as a Christian ought to know, 
 that your body is the temple of the 
 Holy Spirit in you? Paul has already 
 
 made use of this thought, and given a 
 collective turn to it : "ye — the church as 
 a whole — are the temple of God, and the 
 spirit of God dwells in you — as a whole" 
 (iii. 16). Here the application is personal 
 and individual. The holy spirit — what a 
 gift and what a giver! none other than 
 God Himself: it is the spirit which ye 
 have from God: and how shall this holy 
 spirit dwell in an unholy, desecrated body? 
 
 20. Besides, you are not your own at 
 all. Paul had just spoken of the man's 
 body as his own; in the deepest sense, this 
 is not true. You do not belong to your- 
 selves; for you were bought — bought by 
 God — and you therefore belong to Him 
 who bought you : the price was paid to the 
 law (Gal. iii. 13). Bought with a price; 
 the simple word is more effective than if 
 the apostle had said, " with a great price," 
 though this is the meaning; for the price 
 (ti/xt]) is the precious (rifiiov) blood of 
 Christ (i Pet. i. 19; cf. Eph. i. 7). 
 
 The negative warning of ver. 18 is now 
 followed by a positive appeal : not only 
 flee fornication, but — as your bodies are 
 not your own, but God's — glorify God 
 then, not only in your spirit, but also in 
 your body, especially by chastity. The 
 body, which is the Lord's, must be so 
 used as to contribute to the glory of God. 
 The words Kai iv tw irvev/xari v/xcip^ aTivd. 
 eaTL Tov Oeov (" and in your spirit, which 
 are God's") are a gloss. 
 
 Paul's arguments against the immoral 
 license apparently claimed by some of the 
 Corinthians are brief but very trenchant. 
 The fundamental passion of the Christian 
 should be for his Lord ; and every pas- 
 sion inconsistent with that should be " fled." 
 To indulge in immorality is to ignore the 
 fact that the body is for the Lord — His 
 instrument and servant : it is to identify 
 one's self with a principle and a person 
 alien to Christ: it is to sin even against 
 the body itself, by using it to violate the 
 Christian personality it was intended to 
 express : it is to outrage the rights of the 
 God who bought us by the precious blood 
 of His Son. 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 43 
 
 CHAPTER 7. 
 
 1 Now concerning the things whereof 
 ye wrote unto me : It is good for a man 
 not to touch a woman. 
 
 2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let 
 every man have his own wife, and let 
 every woman have her own husband. 
 
 3 Let the husband render unto the wife 
 due benevolence ; and likewise also the 
 wife unto the husband. 
 
 4 The wife hath not power of her own 
 body, but the husband : and likewise also 
 the husband hath not power of his own 
 bod}^ but the wife. 
 
 The Marriage Question (vii. 1-40). 
 
 At this point Paul begins to deal specif- 
 ically with questions raised by the Corin- 
 thian letter to which his own is a reply 
 (cf. ver. 25; viii. i) ; and the present dis- 
 cussion of marriage appropriately follows 
 the discussion of sexual morality with 
 which the previous chapter had concluded. 
 Much injustice has been done to Paul by 
 forgetting that this chapter (vii) was not 
 intended to be an exhaustive treatment 
 of the marriage question. It is a reply 
 to certain questions raised by the Corin- 
 thians; the whole discussion has to be 
 read in the light of the opening clause — 
 Now concerning the things whereof ye 
 wrote (ver. i). No doubt this chapter 
 would be much clearer, if we had the let- 
 ter to which Paul is replying. It can only 
 be reconstructed by conjecture, and with 
 regard to its contents and spirit there is 
 room for wide difference of opinion. 
 Temptations to immorality abounded in 
 Corinth : the Christian conscience was 
 practically exercised by the problem how 
 they were best to be met. Some scholars 
 hold that the Corinthians had proposed 
 celibacy as a solution ; others, that their 
 solution lay in universal marriage. How- 
 ever that may be, the incompleteness of 
 the discussion is explained by the fact that 
 it is a reply to questions raised in a let- 
 ter : and the defense of marriage as a 
 safe-guard against immorality (ver. 2) — 
 a defense so much lower than we should 
 have expected from Paul — is explained 
 by the fact that he is writing to the in- 
 habitants of a notoriously immoral city. 
 Paul's own view of marriage was much 
 more exalted than we should be inclined 
 to gather from this chapter, and receives 
 its noblest expression in Ephesians, ch. v. 
 
 It has further to be remembered that 
 when Paul wrote, he was looking for the 
 speedy coming of Christ. The time was 
 shortened (ver. 29) ; the fashion of this 
 world was passing away (ver. 31) : and 
 marriage meant new cares, distractions and 
 entanglements. The more free from care 
 (ver. 32) a man was, the more free was 
 he for the service of his Lord. Thus the 
 
 discussion is as remote as it could be from 
 an abstract treatment of the question: it 
 is governed throughout by local and tem- 
 poral considerations, and can only be 
 properly understood in the light of them. 
 
 Marriage or Celibacy? (vii. 1-7). 
 
 I, 2. Now (the 5e' passes to a new sub- 
 ject or phase of the subject) concerning 
 the things you wrote me about, I have 
 to say that it is good for a man not to 
 touch a woman, that is, to lead a celibate 
 life. He says it is good {Ka\6v), he does 
 not here say that it is best, nor even that 
 is better than something else (but see ver. 
 38) : but simply that it is good, seemly — 
 apparently as against some one who had 
 thought or' said that it was not good, but 
 bad, unseemly. Paul is not arguing against 
 marriage : he is simply defending celibacy 
 against its detractors. avdpd^Trto^ for a human 
 being, _ generalizes the statement, as the 
 following verse shows. Still, good as ce- 
 libacy is, it IS not advisable in such a 
 place as Corinth : there, on account of 
 the notorious immoralities (pi.) let each 
 man have his own wife, and let each 
 woman have her proper husband (ver, 
 2). It is not simply that each may have, 
 but in such an immoral atmosphere, he 
 ought to have a consort. There is a real, 
 but not a serious difference between ozvn 
 and proper — the husband is the head of 
 the wife : but the whole discussion shows 
 that contrary to Jewish and Greek opinion, 
 there is to be in Christianity an essential 
 equality between husband and wife. This 
 relatively low justification of marriage is ex- 
 plained by the situation at Corinth, where, 
 with the prevalent worship of Aphrodite, 
 temptations would be unusually abundant. 
 
 3, 4. To the wife — mentioned first 
 (cf. ver. 10) — let the husband pay the 
 debt of conjugal duty, and in like manner 
 also the wife to the husband. The read- 
 ing (6(peL\ofjievrip evvoiav) on which A. V. 
 {due benevolence) is based, is a gloss on 
 6(p€L\riv, which means a debt (Mat. xviii. 
 32) — here the conjugal debt. Married 
 people are not to live like celibates: each 
 
44 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 5 Defraud ye not one the other, except 
 it be with consent for a time, that ye may 
 give yourselves to fasting and prayer ; and 
 come together again, that Satan tempt 
 you not for your incontinency. 
 
 6 But I speak this by permission, and 
 not of commandment. 
 
 7 For 1 would that all men were even 
 as I myself. But every man hath his 
 proper gift of God, one after this manner, 
 and another after that. 
 
 owes the other a debt which has to be 
 paid. For the wife has no authority over 
 her own body, but the husband — it is 
 
 her own, yet not her own : and in like 
 manner also the husband has no author- 
 ity over his own body, but the wif e — 
 
 it is his own, yet not his own. Here 
 again, as in ver. 3, the balance of clauses, 
 and the use of 6/ioiws, show how com- 
 pletely the sexes are conceived by Paul as 
 on an equality. 
 
 5. Do not rob one another, then, of 
 the debt which ought to be paid — to with- 
 hold it is fraud. But while the Corinthians 
 must frankly, and without attempting an 
 unwise asceticism, acknowledge the facts, 
 they must not forget the greatest fact of 
 all — religion, and in their married life 
 provision must be made for it, though 
 Paul suggests the provision in a very 
 modest and tentative fashion — unless it 
 should be perhaps by mutual consent 
 and temporarily: the abstinence has to be 
 only for a season, to it both {(tw) parties 
 are to be agreed, and the object of it is, 
 that ye may be free for the exercise of 
 special prayer (Trpoffevxv has the article, as 
 has the corresponding plur. word in Acts 
 ii. 42). The aorist (o-xoXdo-Tjre) suggests 
 special occasions : the relations suspended 
 by these seasons of prayer have to be 
 resumed — and that ye may be together 
 again. A somewhat lurid light is cast 
 upon the excitability of the Corinthian 
 temperament by the reason assigned for 
 this special advice : it is that Satan may 
 not tempt you by reason of your incon- 
 tinence. The standing nature of the 
 temptation is suggested by the present 
 (Treipdfr?). Fasting is a later ascetic inter- 
 polation, exactly as in Mark ix. 29. 
 
 6, 7. Paul is well aware that all men 
 have not the splendid self-restraint which 
 he himself enjoys — he wishes they had; 
 and his advice is given as a concession to 
 the weakness of human nature, especially 
 of Greek nature exposed to Corinthian 
 temptations. And this — apparently em- 
 bracing all the instructions in vv. 2-5 re- 
 garding the practical necessity of marriage 
 — I say by way of concession, not by 
 way of commandment. The meaning is 
 not that Paul gave these instructions by 
 permission of, though not at the command- 
 
 ment of, the Lord; but that his own words 
 are to be understood as a concession, not 
 as an injunction to the Corinthians. Such 
 concessions would not be necessary, if men 
 were not incontinent, (cf. dnpaaia, 5 ; dia 
 TCLs TTopveias, 2), if they had Paul's purity 
 and self-control : I wish that all men 
 were like ME. The meaning may also 
 be : " Celibacy is a good thing, though, 
 considering the situation, it is well for you 
 to marry, but I wish that all men were 
 celibate like myself." But besides perhaps 
 reading too definite a meaning into words 
 which are vague, this interpretation does 
 not connect so well as the other with the 
 following verse : but each man has his 
 own peculiar endowment of grace from 
 God — one in this fashion, another in 
 that. Paul can hardly mean that he has 
 the endowment of celibacy, and another 
 man of marriage — neither of these states 
 could properly be described as a x°-P^'^f^°- — 
 but rather that he has the gift of continence 
 in this regard, while other men have other 
 gifts. 
 
 Paul's power of grappling in a practical 
 way with a difificult situation is here finely 
 illustrated. Though an idealist, his feet 
 are always on terra iirma. He knows 
 human nature through and through ; and 
 he writes with a complete understanding 
 of the average man. He makes no im- 
 possible or unnatural demands. He does 
 not expect his readers to conform their 
 lives to his, for the gifts of men differ; 
 but he expects them to shape those lives 
 with all the facts in view — the fact of 
 weakness and temptation on the one hand 
 (ver. 2), and of religion and its obliga- 
 tions on the other (ver. 5). 
 
 Marriage and Separation (vii. 8-17). 
 
 In cases where both of the married 
 people were Christians, and still more 
 where one was a Christian, while the 
 other remained pagan, there would some- 
 times arise a desire for separation: the 
 problems thus emerging are considered in 
 this paragraph. But before dealing with 
 them, the apostle briefly directs attention 
 to the case of those who have no partner, 
 whether because they have never been 
 married, or because the partner is dead. 
 
Oh. VII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 45 
 
 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and 
 widows, It is good for them if they abide 
 €ven as I. 
 
 9 But if they cannot contain, let them 
 marry : for it is better to marry than to 
 burn. 
 
 10 And unto the married I command, 
 yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife 
 depart from her husband : 
 
 11 But and if she depart, let her re- 
 
 main unmarried, or be reconciled to her 
 husband : and let not the husband put away 
 his wife. 
 
 12 But to the rest speak I, not the 
 Lord : If any brother hath a wife that 
 believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell 
 with him, let him not put her away. 
 
 13 And the woman which hath a hus- 
 band that believeth not, and if he be pleased 
 to dwell with her, let her not. leave him. 
 
 8. But I say to the unmarried and the 
 widows: it is seemly (KaXou^ same word 
 as in ver. i) for them if they remain as 
 I. This may be fairly taken to imply that 
 Paul was either a bachelor or a widower : 
 there is no proof, and no probability that 
 the yokefellow in Phil. iv. 3 was his wife. 
 As the case of widows is dealt with later 
 (ver. 39), it is possible to adopt the sug- 
 gestion that an original roh xvpois (wid- 
 owers) has been altered to the more fa- 
 miliar widows. In that case, the two mas- 
 culine words (" unmarried " and " wid- 
 owers ") might be taken to cover the 
 feminine — the general meaning be " those 
 of either sex who have (now) no part- 
 ner " ; but against that is the fact that the 
 case of " maidens " comes in for separate 
 discussion (w, 25 ff.). The text is prob- 
 ably correct as it stands. 
 
 9. If, like Paul, the unmarried can be 
 continent, koKov^ it is well : but, if they 
 have no power over themselves, let them 
 marry: not because of two evils the less 
 should be chosen, for Paul does not say 
 and does not mean that marriage is evil ; 
 but because marriage is moral, while desire 
 of this kind is at once dangerous and 
 sinful. For it is better to marry once 
 for all (aorist) than to be continually 
 consumed (pres. tense) by the flames of 
 passion (ver. 9). 
 
 10. II. He now deals with the case of 
 married Christians. Now to those who 
 liave, or (almost as w^e should say) are 
 married: as vv. 12 ff. contemplates the 
 case of mixed marriages, he is thinking 
 here of Christian couples ; I give this 
 charge. For what he is about to say, he 
 bas the direct authority of the historical 
 Jesus himself (Mat. v. 32, Mark x. 11, 
 Luke xvi. 18) • and so, it is really not I, 
 but the Lord, who gives this charge, 
 namely, that wife do not separate herself 
 from husband. The wife may be men- 
 tioned first, because she would probably 
 be the more inclined to adopt an ascetic 
 course. But if, for any reason, whether 
 in the interests of a mistaken asceticism, 
 or for some less adequate reason, she do ! 
 
 (/cat, actually) separate, let her, at any 
 rate, on no account marry again, but re- 
 main unmarried or be reconciled to her 
 husband. After this parenthesis con- 
 templating the case of separation, the apos- 
 tle goes on, and husband (I charge) not 
 to dismiss wife. According to Mat. v. 
 2>2, Jesus had prohibited dismissal " save 
 for the cause of fornication." It is very 
 possible, however, that in the original 
 form of the words, this exception was 
 not made (cf. Mark x. 11, Luke xvi. 18), 
 and that might account for the absolute 
 form of Paul's " charge " here ; but it is 
 more probable that Paul is considering 
 separations which have a less serious 
 ground than that of adultery. 
 
 12. He now passes to the remaining 
 cases — of mixed marriage. But to the 
 rest — those couples one of whom was 
 Christian and the other pagan — I say 
 (he does not use the stronger word 
 charge, as in ver. 10: he has no definite 
 word of Jesus to go on). I, not the Lord. 
 Jesus had no occasion to consider the 
 question of mixed marriages ; conse- 
 quently there is no authoritative word 
 from Him on this subject, as there w^as 
 on the other, ver. 10. Hence it is not 
 he, but Paul that speaks; but it must not 
 be forgotten that Paul is a '"' spiritual 
 man," who, as such, " tests all things " 
 (ii. 15). He is still, in that sense, inspired. 
 When, in this passage, he claims that the 
 Lord speaks, he does not mean that he 
 himself has been the recipient of a special 
 revelation, but that he rests his statements 
 upon some spoken word of Jesus : when 
 he speaks, and not the Lord, there Is no 
 such recorded word of Jesus ; nevertheless 
 his statements have all the weight of his 
 inspired personality. 
 
 12, 13. What he says is this : If any 
 Christian brother has a wife that does 
 not believe — married to him, in all prob- 
 ability, before he became a Christian (Paul 
 is opposed to mixed marriages, 2 Cor. vi. 
 14 f.) — and this woman jointly {<jvv) 
 consents to live with him, let him not 
 dismiss her. There would be every 
 
46 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanc- 
 tified by the wife, and the unbeUeving wife 
 is sanctified by the husband : else were 
 your children unclean ; but now are they 
 holy. 
 
 15 But if the unbelieving depart, let 
 him depart. A brother or a sister is not 
 
 under bondage in such cases; but God 
 hath called us to peace. 
 
 16 For what knowest thou, O wife, 
 whether thou shalt save thy husband? or 
 how knowest thou, O man, whether thou 
 shalt save thy wife? 
 
 temptation to get rid of an unbelieving 
 partner, on the plea that high Christian 
 life was impossible in union with one who 
 differed so radically on the deepest things ; 
 but even in such a case, the sanctity of 
 the marriage bond is to be upheld. The 
 first step towards separation must not be 
 taken by the Christian partner. The sexes 
 are on an equality; and therefore, a 
 woman who has a husband that is an 
 unbeliever, and this man jointly con- 
 sents to live with her, let her not dismiss 
 her husband, dcpcevai is the word com- 
 monly used for the dismissal of the woman 
 by the man : the fact that it is used 
 equally of both sexes, together with the 
 fine and studious balance of the clauses, 
 shows how absolutely, in the mind of Paul, 
 the sexes were upon a level in these deeper 
 matters. 
 
 14. The divorce of the heathen partner 
 is not to be thought of: for the unbe- 
 lieving husband has been sanctified in 
 his union with the Christian wife, and the 
 unbelieving wife has been sanctified in 
 her union with the Christian brother. 
 The Christian partner is not desecrated by 
 this union, as by the awful union of vi. 15. 
 Again note the balance and repetition of 
 the clauses. In both clauses, the emphatic 
 word is 'hyia<TTai^ and the idea is : heathen 
 though the partner be, he (or she) has a 
 certain standing _(pf.) of holiness. Of 
 course, it is not implied that there was 
 any personal holiness: that is an inner 
 state, and cannot be conferred by an out- 
 ward union. But the holiness of the one 
 partner is, by the intimacy of their union, 
 thrown about the other, and their mar- 
 riage is, in some sense, Christian marriage ; 
 for, were this not so, then it follows that 
 your children are unclean, while as a 
 matter of fact (vvv) they are holy. The 
 argument starts from the fact, which is 
 regarded as indisputable, that the children 
 must be considered " holy," even where 
 only one of the parents is a Christian — 
 the principle of family solidarity demands 
 as much; then it goes on — as the bond 
 with one Christian parent sanctifies the 
 children, so the bond with one Christian 
 partner sanctifies the other partner. No 
 
 secure inference can be drawn from this 
 passage regarding infant baptism. 
 
 15. The principle has been laid down 
 that one Christian partner must not dis- 
 miss the other : but what if the other is 
 eager to go? — a very possible case, where 
 so much of the daily life would be sub- 
 ject to a perpetual challenge, silent or 
 spoken. In that case, if the unbelieving 
 partner is for separation, let him sep- 
 arate. Binding as is the law of marriage, 
 there must be no slazery in the matter : 
 in such circumstances the Christian 
 brother or sister is not under bondage; 
 besides, it is in the sphere, or atmo>phere 
 {€v) of peace that God has called you 
 (or tis). The meaning appears to be: 
 friction wall be inevitable with a heathen 
 partner, and this will disturb the peaceful 
 atmosphere of your divine calling {K€k\7]K€v^ 
 pf.) ; therefore if the heathen partner is 
 desirous to go, let him go — his depart- 
 ure will be a contribution to Christian 
 peace. 
 
 ]\Iuch doubt hangs over the meaning of 
 ver. 16: literally, for what do you know, 
 woman, as to whether you shall save 
 your husband? or what do you know, 
 man, as to whether you shall save your 
 wife? This seems to connect naturally 
 with the last verse : as God has called you 
 in peace, and that peace will be not only 
 imperilled but disturbed by a heathen part- 
 ner, why not consent to his departure? 
 why hold him on the very problematic hope 
 of ultimately saving him ? The chief ob- 
 jections to this view are two: (i) the Co- 
 rinthians needed restraints from, rather 
 than inducements to, facile divorce ; and 
 (ii) it would be more like Paul to indulge 
 in the hope of the heathen's ultimate con- 
 version. In accordance with these objec- 
 tions, the verse might conceivably be trans- 
 lated " How do you know whether you will 
 not save him?" — in imitation of the He- 
 brew construction of Who kinKi'S = fycr- 
 haf^s. Still, the other view seems more 
 in line with the immediate context: life 
 with a person who hated Christianity, 
 would be slavery, and that must not be 
 (ver. 15) : the brother or sister is not 
 bound in such a case — let the heathen part- 
 ner go. 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 47 
 
 17 But as God hath distributed to every 
 man, as the Lord hath called every one, 
 so let him walk. And so ordain I in all 
 churches. 
 
 18 Is any man called being circumcised? 
 let him not become uncircumcised. Is any 
 
 called in uncircumcision? let him not be 
 circumcised. 
 
 19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncir- 
 cumcision is nothing, but the keeping of 
 the commandments of God. 
 
 20 Let every man abide in the same 
 calling wherein he was called. 
 
 17. It is easy to see, however, how this 
 concession of Paul's might be abused ; so, 
 to counteract the facility of separation 
 which his words might have been inter- 
 preted as encouraging, he adds the cor- 
 rection that, on the whole, one is to con- 
 tinue in the state in which one was called : 
 only in each case as the Lard (that is, 
 Christ) apportioned to him in the past 
 (aor.), in each case as God has called 
 him (pf. : the effects of the call are abid- 
 ing) so let him walk. There must indeed 
 be no bondage to an inflexible conception 
 of marriage ; still, in the main, the status 
 quo at the call should be earnestly main- 
 tained. Paul's instructions on this matter 
 to the Corinthians differ in no respect 
 from his instructions to the other churches : 
 and so do I ordain in all the churches. 
 With the assurance that they are not be- 
 ing treated exceptionally, the Corinthians 
 will do well to submit to this expression of 
 Paul's apostolic authority. 
 
 This passage again illustrates Paul's 
 practical power of dealing with concrete 
 situations. He has an exceedingly high 
 conception of the marriage obligation : a 
 Christian is not entitled to separate from 
 a heathen partner who is willing to main- 
 tain the union. On the other hand, if the 
 partner refuses to maintain it, there must 
 be no coercion : let him go. Christians are 
 not slaves. 
 
 The Heavenly Calling and the Earthly 
 Station (vii. 18-24). 
 
 The last sentence of the last paragraph, 
 leads by an easy transition to the next; 
 and the principle it enunciated of con- 
 tinuing, in the main, in the state in which 
 one was on receiving the divine call, is 
 applied to other spheres — circumcision, 
 uncircumcision, and slavery. 
 
 18-20. Was one in a condition of cir- 
 cumcision at his call? (lit. was one called 
 as a circumcised man?) In other words, 
 was he a Jew^? Let him not, by an oper- 
 ation, have the marks of his circumcision 
 destroyed. This had actually been done 
 by certain Jews in Maccabasan times, as 
 
 a symbol of their " apostasy from the holy 
 covenant" (i ^lacc. i. 15). Circumcision, 
 says Paul, is nothing: one born a Jew may 
 be a good Christian, though he remains as 
 he was at his call. The Gentile needs a 
 similar reminder. Has any one been 
 called in uncircumcision? There was 
 even less reason for him to change his 
 state than for the other. The Jew would 
 at least have been obliterating, as it were, a 
 sectarian sign : the Gentile would have been 
 reverting to such a sign : consequently let 
 him not be circumcised. These things 
 are all outward, and do not affect a man's 
 essential state. Circumcision is nothing 
 and uncircumcision is nothing — a more 
 deliberate and effective statement than 
 " neither circumcision nor uncircumcision 
 is anything " : but the keeping of the com- 
 mandments of God — that is something, 
 indeed everything. Here it might be sup- 
 posed that Paul is falling into the very 
 externalism which he is combating ; and 
 was not circumcision also a command- 
 ment? (Gen. xvii. 13). Clearly Paul is 
 thinking of other than ceremonial com- 
 mandments : his real meaning is illus- 
 trated by other two passages in which he 
 similarly depreciates circumcision and un- 
 circumcision, contrasting them, on the one 
 hand, with the new creation (Gal. vi. 15) 
 and, on the other, Vv^ith faith zvorking 
 through love (Gal. v. 6). It is God's 
 commandments we are to observe, not an 
 external service imposed on us by human 
 lords (dovXoi dvdpih-TTwv^ 23b). Therefore, 
 as these external things are of no conse- 
 quence, in every case, in whatever call- 
 ing a man was called, in that let him 
 remain. It is probably '* the calling by 
 which," rather than '' in which " he was 
 called ; for the verb iK\r]6r] makes it prac- 
 tically certain that the noun kXtjctls refers 
 to the divine call rather than the secular 
 calling. But the latter phrase adequately 
 enough expresses the real meaning, though 
 not the strict and primary sense. Whether 
 the call came to a man in circumcision or 
 uncircumcision, freedom or slaver}-, in that 
 he was to abide : this amounts practically 
 to saying that his earthly station was not 
 to be abandoned under the influence of 
 the divine call. 
 
48 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 21 Art thou called being a servant? 
 care not for it : but if thou mayest be made 
 free, use it rather. 
 
 22 For he that is called in the Lord, 
 bcincr a servant, is the Lord's freeman : 
 
 likewise also he that is called, being free, 
 is Christ's servant. 
 
 23 Ye are bought with a price; be not 
 ye the servants of men. 
 
 24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he 
 is called, therein abide with God. 
 
 21. There were undoubtedly slaves in 
 the Corinthian church, and they would 
 have felt the following apostrophe as a 
 personal appeal. Were you a slave when 
 you were called? Never mind. Slaves, 
 who were suddenly confronted with the 
 new importance assigned to them by Chris- 
 tianity, would be peculiarly tempted to de- 
 plore their lot, and Paul's steadying word 
 would be necessary: do not let it (your 
 slavery) be a care to you, never mind! 
 Unfortunately, the next clause is anything 
 but clear; and two opposite interpretations 
 are possible: But if thou ART able to 
 become free, use it rather. Use what? 
 — his opportunity for freedom or con- 
 tinuance in slavery? The answer to this 
 question depends partly on how /<^ctt is 
 taken: is it (a) "but though thou art able 
 to become free, that is, even if you have 
 a chance of liberty, continue rather in 
 slavery " — on the principle that each man 
 is to continue in the state in which he 
 was called; or (b) "but if thou canst 
 become free, if thou hast a chance of free- 
 dom, rather use this chance than continue 
 in slavery." On the whole (b) seems 
 more natural in the context — notice the 
 strong ciXXd after " never mind " — and does 
 most justice to the aorist XPV<^cii; which 
 could be employed far more naturally of 
 using an opportunity than of continuing 
 in a state. It is true that the time is 
 short, and in view of the speedily expected 
 coming of the Lord, outward states mat- 
 ter little — " never mind " ; but the free 
 man, like the unmarried (cf. ver. 32), has 
 a wider scope for service than the slave, 
 and the principle underlying ver. 15, that 
 the Christian married brother is not to be 
 bound by an inllexiblc view of his condi- 
 tion, has a certain application here. 
 
 22-24. But whether the chance of free- 
 dom has to be welcomed or rejected, the 
 real difference between the free man and 
 the slave is very little: for the slave, 
 called in the Lord, is in reality the Lord's 
 freed man — the Lord has bought him 
 from his former master, sin (Rom. vi. 18) : 
 in like manner the free man, by his 
 call, is no longer free, but becomes 
 Christ's slave. The slave is really free, 
 the free man is really a slave. Ye were 
 bought with a price — the very words 
 
 Paul had already used in arguing against 
 immorality (vi. 20) : here he means — you 
 are Christ's, whether as His freed man or 
 His slave, because He has purchased you: 
 therefore, do not become slaves of men. 
 The particular point of this warning, if it 
 has any, is not clear ; it is apparently a 
 general caution against enslaving one's self 
 to party leaders, institutions (such as cir- 
 cumcision) or to any kind of influence 
 that interferes with the " keeping of the 
 commandments of God" (ver. 19), and 
 with that loyalty which is due to Christ 
 who bought us at so great a price. To 
 sum up : In each case, in whatever state 
 a man was called, brethren — a kindly 
 touch — in that let him remain — with 
 God. As is so often the case with Paul, 
 the last phrase sheds a flood of light upon 
 the argument which it concludes. The art 
 of life consists in remaining zvith God, 
 close to the God who called us : to any 
 one who knows the peace (ver. 15) and 
 joy of that communion, the most radical 
 distinctions in the outward life will be rel- 
 atively insignificant, and he will be con- 
 tent to remain in the state in which he 
 was called. 
 
 These words of Paul, like those about 
 marriage, are easy to misinterpret, if we 
 forget the original situation. They are 
 rather a protest against the restless, rev- 
 olutionary spirit, than a plea for a passive, 
 unaspiring, contentment. The new ideas 
 which Christianity lodged in the minds of 
 men and which have subsequently changed 
 the face of society, would tend, in many 
 cases, to create a spirit of restlessness ; 
 and this spirit, had it expressed itself, for 
 example, in a rising of slaves, would have 
 indefinitely retarded the progress of the 
 new religion. No lesson was more import- 
 ant for that time than that men could 
 serve God just as they were: the only 
 bondage to be thrown oflf was that of 
 sin. The Jew, with his national mark upon 
 his body, and the slave in his slaver)', 
 could enjoy a walk with God which could 
 not be interrupted or afi'ected by external 
 signs or outward conditions. And is not 
 that a lesson which is valid for every age 
 and every man (eKaoros, vv. 20, 24), — the 
 
Ch. yii] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 49 
 
 25 Now concerning virgins I have no 
 commandment of the Lord: yet I give 
 my judgment, as one that hath obtained 
 mercy of the Lord to be faithful. 
 
 26 I suppose therefore that this is good 
 for the present distress, / say that it is 
 good for a man so to be. 
 
 27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek 
 not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from 
 a wife? seek not a wife. 
 
 28 But and if thou marry, thou hast not 
 sinned ; and if a virgin marry, she hath 
 
 not sinned. Nevertheless such shall have 
 trouble in the flesh : but I spare you. 
 
 29 But this I say, brethren, the time 
 is short : it remaineth, that both they that 
 have wives be as though they had none ; 
 
 30 And they that weep, as though they 
 wept not; and they that rejoice, as though 
 they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as 
 though they possessed not? 
 
 31 And they that use this world, as 
 not abusing it: for the fashion of this 
 world passeth away. 
 
 essentially spiritual nature of religion? 
 The spirit of Christianity must indeed try 
 to express itself and get itself embodied; 
 some institutions it will create; others, like 
 slavery, which the New Testament does 
 not attack, it will destroy. But these 
 things are only the expression, not the es- 
 sence of religion: the truly religious man 
 does not depend, for his peace or happi- 
 ness, upon the things that are without. 
 He lives with God, and with God he is 
 content. 
 
 Advantages of Celibacy (vii. 25-40). 
 
 25. Now with regard to maidens. As 
 
 the cases of the married (vv. .loff.) and 
 of unmarried (men) have already been 
 disposed of (vv. 8 f.), Paul now considers 
 the case on which no doubt his advice 
 had been asked (cf. Trept Se, with regard 
 to, vii. I, viii. i) of girls who were still 
 at home, under the care of father or 
 guardian. Concerning these, command- 
 ment of the Lord I have none (cf. 
 ver. 12) — on this point Jesus had made 
 no pronouncement any more than in the 
 case of mixed marriages, but I give my 
 opinion, as one who by the mercy of 
 the Lord is worthy of trust. This ren- 
 dering of TTicrros is more appropriate than 
 " faithful." He was, of course, a faithful 
 steward (iv. 2), but his fidelity would not 
 so fittingly guarantee the " opinion " as 
 his being zvorthy of trust. 
 
 26. In the opinion which follows, he 
 passes from the immediate question of the 
 marriage of virgins to the larger ques- 
 tion of marriage in general (dpdpcbiru}) . I 
 consider, then, that this (that is, what 
 follows at the end of the verse, to ovtojs 
 ehai) is good, if not absolutely, at any 
 rate by reason of the present straits. 
 Had another infinitive followed the vwapxei-v, 
 the construction would have been, not 
 perhaps obscure, but certainly somewhat 
 awkward: this is avoided by a change of 
 
 construction to on, with the (unexpressed) 
 indicative : I consider that it is good (cf. 
 ver. i) for a person {dvOpuivw^ hardly 
 "for a man") to be thus — a somewhat 
 enigmatic phrase, but the following verse 
 shows that it must mean more than " even 
 as I am" (cf. vv. 7, 8). It must embrace 
 both states, and so must be taken to mean : 
 to he just as he is (cf. vv. 20, 24). But 
 the whole context shows that Paul is 
 really thinking more of the second alter- 
 native (27b) — of the advantage of being 
 "unencumbered" by a wife — than of the 
 first (27a). The distress is that which 
 is already upon them — therefore not the 
 hardships of life generally nor any specific 
 persecution, but the distress that was to 
 precede the coming of the Lord (Matt, 
 xxiv. 8 ff., 21, Luke xxi. 23) which was 
 believed to be in the very near future : 
 Paul himself had already drunk deep of 
 this "distress" (cf. iv. 11, 12). 
 
 27, 28. It is good to remain as you are. 
 Are you bound — possibly by betrothal, 
 but much more probably, in marriage — 
 to a woman? Do not seek to be freed. 
 Are you free, whether as a widower or a 
 bachelor, from a woman? Do not seek 
 a woman (or wife) : the present imper. 
 implies " do not' be on the search for." 
 Still, if you DO (ko.1 emphatic) marry, you 
 have not, in marrying, sinned (the aorist 
 points to the act of marrying) ; and if a 
 virgin marry, she has not sinned. But 
 marriage, though it is not a sin, will in- 
 volve suffering: tribulation (emphatic) 
 shall such as marry have in the flesh, 
 that is, " in bodily circumstances and re- 
 lations." This, more or less true of mar- 
 riage at any time, would be peculiarly true 
 of the " distress " that would precede the 
 coming of the Lord; and Paul is anxious 
 that his converts should escape such 
 trouble as could be evaded : I, with such 
 authority as I possess over you (^7'^), am 
 seeking to spare you by pointing out the 
 advantages of the single state. 
 
 29-31. But not only the inevitable sor- 
 
50 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 32 But I would have you without care- 
 fulness. He that is unmarried careth for 
 the things that belong to the Lord, how 
 he may please the Lord : 
 
 S3 But he that is married careth for 
 the things that are of the world, how 
 •he may please his wife. 
 
 34 There is difference also between a 
 wife and a virgin. The unmarried woman 
 careth for the things of the Lord, that 
 she may be holy both in body and in 
 spirit; but she that is married careth for 
 the things of the world, how she may 
 please her husband. 
 
 rows of the time, but its brevity, furnished 
 an additional argument against involving- 
 one's life in the obligations of marriage. 
 And this — what follows — I solemnly say, 
 brethren: the very same words occur in 
 a similarly solemn assertion in xv. 50 : the 
 time (not life in general, but the period 
 till the coming of Christ) is short (lit. 
 contracted) : and this solemn fact, properly 
 considered, ought to encourage in men, 
 whatever be their condition, a sense of 
 spiritual detachment. It ought to have the 
 effect that henceforth they also who have 
 wives should be as though they had 
 none, and those who weep as though 
 they wept not, and those who rejoice 
 as though they rejoiced not, and those 
 who buy as though they had no firm 
 hold of their possessions, and those who 
 use the world as not using it greedily. 
 This means that, the * Christian was to 
 preserve a sense of perspective, to distin- 
 guish between the transient and the eter- 
 nal, and while affected, as he could not 
 but be, by the sorrows and joys that come 
 to him, and by his social and business ex- 
 periences, not to allow his soul to be en- 
 grossed by these things. The tears and the 
 laughter, the life of the family and the 
 transactions of commerce, will continue ; 
 but as they belong to a world, the fashion 
 of which is swiftly passing away, the heart 
 will -not let itself be entangled by them — 
 it will keep itself as detached and serene 
 as though these things were not. It was 
 in view of the speedy coming of Christ 
 that Paul urged this mood of spiritual de- 
 tachment upon the Corinthians ; but though 
 his expectation of that coming was not 
 realized as he had expected, his words are 
 as valid to-day as when they were written. 
 We recognize indeed that we must give 
 ourselves whole-heartedly to the duties in- 
 volved in domestic, social, political and 
 professional life, yet for each man, the 
 time is always " short," and in view of the 
 end, which for every man is very near, 
 it is needful to cultivate this serenity of 
 soul which the apostle is here inculcating. 
 "Using the world" as he must, so long 
 as he is in it, he must not "abuse" it — 
 or rather (for /faraxpw/^e^oi can bear both 
 meanings)— he must not "use it to the 
 
 full " or eagerly : for the fashion of this 
 world is passing away. Christ is com- 
 ing; the world is passing, and the true 
 man will sit loose to it (to \onrbp of ver. 
 29 ought certainly not to be rendered with 
 A. V. " it remaineth " : again, to take it 
 with the four preceding words, is con- 
 siderably to impair their solemnity — "the 
 time is short henceforth " ; it is best taken 
 with the next clause, thrown forward for 
 emphasis). 
 
 32, 33. Another argument in favor of 
 the single state was its relative freedom 
 from care. Any kind of entanglement — 
 and marriage is, in certain aspects, an en- 
 tanglement — injured a man's power to 
 serve the Lord. Consequently I want you 
 to be free from anxiety. The unmar- 
 ried man is anxious about the things of 
 the Lord, and asks himself how he is to 
 please the Lord: but the man who has 
 married is anxious about the things of 
 the transitory world, whose fashion is 
 passing away (ver. 31), asks himself how 
 he is to please his wife, and in this way 
 is divided between the claims of the Lord 
 and the claims of his married life. A 
 passage like this, where the wife almost 
 appears as a rival of the Lord, though not 
 in the terrible sense of vi. 16, 17, goes a 
 long way to suggest that Paul had never 
 been married (cf. ix. 5). He expresses 
 himself paradoxically : he wishes the mem- 
 bers of the church to be " free from anx- 
 iety " (d/iiepi/xvovs) , yet the " anxious " life 
 of the unmarried is his ideal after all : 
 for their anxiety (^iepifi.vd) is for the things 
 of the Lord, while the anxiety he con- 
 demns is that also condemned by Jesus 
 (Mat. vi. 25-34) for the things of the 
 world. It would hardly be in accordance, 
 however, with modern Christian feeling to 
 concede the superiority — in point of spir- 
 itual possibility and opportunity — of the 
 maiden to the wife. True, the married 
 woman is more " distracted " ; but it ^ is 
 partly through these very distractions, in- 
 evitable to family life, that she realizes her 
 service of the Lord, and makes her con- 
 tribution to the kingdom of God. 
 
 34. The text of the opening words of 
 this verse and the manner of construing 
 them are very uncertain, though the words 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 51 
 
 35 And this I speak for your own 
 profit ; not that I may cast a snare upon 
 you, but for that which is comely, and 
 that ye may attend upon the Lord without 
 distraction. 
 
 36 But if any man think that he be- 
 haveth himself uncomely tow^ard his vir- 
 gin, if she pass the flower of her age, and 
 
 needso require, let him do what he will, 
 he sinneth not : let them marry. 
 
 ^y Nevertheless he that standeth stead- 
 fast in his heart, having no necessity, but 
 hath power over his own will, and hath 
 so decreed in his heart that he will keep 
 his virgin, doeth well. 
 
 themselves are simple enough. The first 
 question is: does (^Kal) f^efMepiarac (and 
 is divided) go with ver. 33 or 34. We 
 have taken it above with 33, but against 
 this, it might be urged that ver. 33 w^ould 
 be perfectly balanced (cf. ver. 16) if these 
 words did not belong to it. A. V. has 
 taken /j-e/mepiaraL with ver. 34, and followed | 
 the reading : jxeixepiaTai i] ywrj /cat 17 wapOevos. j 
 i] dya/xos ixepiixva ra rov Kupt'ou, translating, 
 " there is difference aho between a wife 
 and a virgin. The unmarried ' woman 
 careth for the things of the Lord." One 
 objection to that is that it assigns a rather 
 unsatisfactory meaning to the verb. 
 fxepi^eadai is the word used in Mat. xii. 25 
 (Mark iii. 24) of a kingdom being divided 
 (against itself), and in this sense, could 
 be very appropriately used of the man who 
 is the subject of ver. 33. On the whole it 
 seems best to take Kal fie/xepicxTai with ver. 
 33, and for ver. 34 to adopt the reading^ 
 Kal 7] yvvT] 7] ayafios Kal i] irapdivos /xepLfiva 
 TO. Tov Kvplov^ translating : Also, the un- 
 married woman and the virgin are anx- 
 ious about the things of the Lord. The 
 singular verb is natural enough, as the 
 two nouns embrace one idea, the '' unmar- 
 ried woman " representing the general 
 category, which is illustrated by the case 
 of '' virgins " about whom^ Paul's opinion 
 had evidently been asked. The anxiety of 
 the unmarried woman is that she should 
 be holy (alike) in body and in spirit. 
 cwfiari is not intended to cast any reflec- 
 tion on marriage, as that is also holy (ver. 
 14) ; but the phrase " body and spirit " is 
 apparently intended to signify the consecra- 
 tion of the entire person. But she who 
 is married cares for the things of the 
 world, and asks herself how she may 
 please her husband. 
 
 35. These frank statements of the spir- 
 itual disadvantages of marriage might have 
 been supposed to rest upon some ascetic 
 theor}'-, of Paul's : but this is not so, he says, 
 It is for your own good that I say this, 
 not that I may throw a noose over you, 
 lasso you, as it were, and capture you 
 to my precepts of celibacy, but with a 
 view to seemliness and undistracted de- 
 votion to the Lord. As often in Paul, 
 
 the last word sums up Ae argument. He 
 is desirous that the Corinthians should 
 "sit beside" the Lord (like Mary at the 
 feet of Jesus, Luke x. 39) that is, wait upon 
 Him, direpiairaaTcJs^ without distraction ; they 
 must not be like Martha, who zuas dis- 
 tracted (TrepieairaTQ) about much serving. 
 ]\Iarriage involves distractions, which make 
 complete devotion to the service of the 
 Lord impossible : hence it is " for their 
 own good " that Paul dissuades the Co- 
 rinthians from it. 
 
 36. In the next 3 verses (36-38) Paul 
 deals more specifically with the case he 
 set out to discuss — that of virgins (ver. 
 25), marriageable girls living with their 
 father or guardian. The situation here 
 contemplated could also occur where an 
 unmarried woman had, in consequence of 
 embracing Christianity, been expelled from 
 her home, and thus come under the care 
 of some member of the Christian com- 
 munity. Now if any one — father or 
 guardian — considers that he is acting 
 unseemly {daxvf^oj^elv^ cf. xiii. 5, appar- 
 ently suggested by the seemliness, evaxvi^ov^ 
 of the preceding verse — that decorum, 
 which Paul is trying to further) towards 
 his virgin — whether daughter or ward — 
 if she be beyond adult age (that is, ac- 
 cording to Greek ideas, probably over 
 twenty) and if so it ought to be, that is, 
 if there are good reasons for the marriage, 
 let him do what he will; he commits no 
 sin in sanctioning the marriage : let them 
 marry, that is, the girl and her suitor. The 
 " unseemliness " may be that of involving 
 the girl in the disgrace of spinsterhood, or 
 more probably in the temptation to im- 
 morality. 
 
 37. But while it is no sin for the father 
 to consent to the marriage, Paul's own 
 sympathies clearly lie on the other side, 
 providing the way is open. But he that 
 standeth in his heart, and that stead- 
 fastly (edpalos at end, emphatic), being 
 under nO' constraint, but having full 
 power regarding his own personal wish, 
 and hath determined in his own heart 
 
 to keep his own virgin as a virgin 
 
 such a man not only commits no sin (ver. 
 36), but shall do well. In thorough keep- 
 
52 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 38 So then he that giveth her in mar- 
 riage doeth well ; but he that giveth her 
 not in marriage doeth better. 
 
 39 The wife is bound by the law as 
 long as her husband liveth ; but if her 
 husband be dead, she is at liberty to be 
 
 married to whom she will ; only in the 
 Lord. 
 
 40 But she is happier if she so abide, 
 after my judgment: and I think also that 
 I have the Spirit of God. 
 
 ing with ancient conceptions, the feelings 
 of the girl are little, if at all, considered: 
 it is the father (or guardian) who deter- 
 mines whether she shall remain a _ virgin 
 or not, and the double use of tSios is very 
 striking — it is with his will, in his heart, 
 that the final decision lies. The maiden 
 is his own (tv^ iavrov irapdivov)^ and it is 
 his right to dispose of her as, under the 
 circumstances, seems best to him. It is 
 just possible that the phrase "being under 
 no constraint" leaves room for a consid- 
 eration of the girl's feelings : but it is 
 more probable that the constraint which 
 might incline him to consent is an external 
 one (cf. ver. 36). 
 
 38. So then — the words that follow 
 sum up not only this section dealing with 
 the relations of father to daughter, but 
 the whole discussion of the marriage ques- 
 tion — both he that giveth his own virgin 
 in marriage doeth well, and he that giveth 
 her not shall do better. Marriage is 
 no sin ; it is koXqv, good, honorable ; but 
 the single life is Kpelaaov, better. This is 
 perhaps the clearest and most deliberate 
 expression of opinion in the chapter. 
 
 Though the explanation just given of 
 vv. 36-38 is reasonably satisfactory, es- 
 pecially when we consider the great power 
 vested by the ancient world in the father 
 or guardian, it must be confessed that all 
 the difficulties of the passages are not re- 
 moved. The phrase " his virgin " is 
 strange, though the word may have been 
 chosen to cover the cases of daughter and 
 ward ; and the precise meaning to be at- 
 tached to the words " acting unseemly " 
 and " under no constraint " are far from 
 clear. These difficulties have suggested 
 the idea that what Paul is here discussing 
 is " spiritual marriage," an institution 
 which can be traced back at any rate to 
 the second century A. D. Christian young 
 men who had taken vows of celibacy but 
 were unwilling to dispense with the amen- 
 ities of home life, and Christian young 
 women, who stood alone and were in need 
 of protection, would agree to live together 
 in bonds of spiritual union. This would 
 give a very intelligible meaning to the 
 words " his virgin " in the passage. Tn 
 view of the moral peril which would oc- 
 casionally be involved in such a union, 
 
 Paul would be here recommending that, 
 in spite of their vows, the young man and 
 his virgin ought to marry — it is no sin. 
 If, on the other hand, tlie man is not un- 
 der the constraint of any sensuous im- 
 pulse, but has full control of his own 
 will, he ought not to marry, but to keep 
 his virgin as a virgin. What has usually 
 been felt to be the insuperable objection 
 to this interpretation is the grammatical 
 difficulty of the word yo-ixL^w^ in ver. 38. 
 As the conclusion of the argument, we 
 should expect : " Consequently he who 
 marries his virgin does well, and he who 
 does not marry her will do better." In- 
 stead of this, we get : " he who gives his 
 virgin in marriage, does well, etc." Lietz- 
 mann, however, after an interesting phil- 
 ological argument, concludes that we 
 must concede the possibility of Paul hav- 
 ing used yafxi^o: (which may, by analogy, 
 have come to mean " to celebrate mar- 
 riage") as the equivalent of yafiiu (to 
 marry). On this explanation, many of the 
 leading obscurities of the passage would 
 be removed, and a very interesting side- 
 light would be thrown upon the life of 
 the young Christian church. We cannot 
 prove that " spiritual " unions appeared so 
 early; but considering the tendency to as- 
 ceticism on the part of some of the men, 
 and the dangers to which an unmarried 
 and isolated Christian woman would be 
 exposed in such a society, it must be held 
 to be not impossible. 
 
 39. The case of widows, who, if we 
 read toIs xvpoi-^, in ver. 8, have not yet 
 been expressly mentioned, now comes in 
 for brief consideration. A woman is 
 bound (z'o/^y. ''by law," A. V. has wrongly- 
 crept in, under the influence of Rom. vii. 
 2) as long as her husband lives; but if 
 the husband fall asleep in death, she is 
 free to marry whom she will, only with 
 this limitation that she must act in the 
 Lord. This does not exf^ressly assert that 
 she must marry a Christian, though in 
 the light of 2 Cor. vi. 14. that is what it 
 practically amounts to: the words mean 
 that her action is to be governed by Chris- 
 tian motives, consistent with her Chris- 
 tian profession. 
 
 40. She may marry, but she " will do 
 better" (cf. ver. 38) not to marry: she 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 53 
 
 will be not only happier, in being free 
 from the cares and entanglements of mar- 
 riage (32-34) but she is more blessed 
 in being free for the undistracted service 
 of the Lord (ver. 35) if she so remain, 
 that is, in her widowhood. Paul is not 
 dogmatic ; he only says, '' she is more 
 blessed in my opinion" (cf. ver. 25); 
 nevertheless he lets us feel that his opin- 
 ion is to be very seriously reckoned with, 
 for it is an opinion which he himself be- 
 lieves to be inspired: and (or for) I think 
 that I also, as well as those of you who 
 may think differently on this subject, have 
 the spirit of God. The claim is modestly 
 expressed (for 5o/cc5, cf. iv. 9), but there 
 is probably no real hesitation in the mind 
 of Paul. He is a " spiritual " man, and 
 as such can test all things (ii. 15) ; he is 
 conscious of possessing the mind of Christ 
 (ii. 16). 
 
 If Paul's discussion of marriage in this 
 chapter somewhat disappoints modern ex- 
 pectations, it must not be forgotten that 
 it is governed by temporal and local con- 
 siderations. The people addressed were 
 Corinthians : and the time was believed to 
 be shortly before the coming of the Lord. 
 The phrase 5ta rT]v evearihcav avdyKfiv de- 
 termines the whole temper of the discus- 
 sion (ver. 26) ; the arguments urged are 
 natural and reasonable on account of the 
 present distress. Marriage is a good 
 thing (ver. 38), even a commendable thing 
 under the circumstances that prevailed at 
 
 Corinth (vv. 2, 9) ; but it is not the best 
 thing. The single state is better (vv. 38, 
 8) ; and one at least of the arguments 
 which the apostle urges in its favor, has 
 a certain measure of abiding validity. 
 With the coming of Christ in view, he 
 argued that the time was short, the dis- 
 tress was sore, and the distractions of 
 married life were real and serious. The 
 last argument has still its application. 
 There are certain kinds of service which 
 can only, or at any rate most completely, 
 be performed by those who are not bound 
 by the ties of wife and family. Paul 
 could hardly, as a married man, have 
 done the wonderful work for the world 
 which he did. While these ties may en- 
 large a man's sympathy, and sometimes, 
 as in certain phases of foreign mission 
 service, even his opportunity, they also, 
 in many cases, circumscribe his sphere and 
 diminish his possibilities of service. He 
 is divided (/xe^epto-rai, ver. 33) in a sense 
 in which an unmarried Christian man is 
 not, and a service of the Lord which is 
 assiduous and undistracted (dTrepiaTrdanos^ 
 ver. 35) will be very much less possible 
 to him. But while this consideration jus- 
 tifies celibacy for those who have the gift 
 of continence (iyKparevopTai^ ver. 9) and 
 the passion for service, it must not be 
 exalted — and Paul does not exalt it — 
 into an ideal for all. In the nature of 
 the case (cf. ver. 9b), those who "make 
 themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of 
 heaven's sake" .(Mat. xix. J2) will al- 
 ways be few. 
 
54 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN'S RELATION TO IDOL SACRIFICES AND 
 
 FEASTS (viii. i-xi. i). 
 
 CHAPTER 8. 
 
 I Now as touching things offered unto 
 idols, we know that we all have knowl- 
 edge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity 
 edifieth. 
 
 2 And if any man think that he know- 
 eth any thing, he knowcth nothing yet as 
 he ought to know. 
 
 3 But if any man love God, the same 
 is known of him. 
 
 We have already seen something of the 
 difficulty which the converts must have 
 experienced in maintaining Christian prin- 
 ciples and practices in a pagan environ- 
 ment like that of Corinth, The business 
 and inevitable intercourse of social life 
 brought them into contact with men whose 
 standards were immeasurably inferior to 
 the Christian standard : to escape this 
 contact, they would have had to " go out 
 of the world" altogether (v. lo). One 
 of the practical difficulties of the Chris- 
 tians, discussed in this section, was created 
 by the pervasive influence of idolatry. It 
 affected, as we shall see, the nature of 
 the club-life which must have abounded 
 in such a city as Corinth; it affected even 
 the meat which came upon the Corin- 
 thian tables. When a sacrifice was of- 
 fered in a temple, the meat was sometimes 
 eaten in one of the rooms of the temple 
 (viii. lo), at other times it would find 
 its way into the public market (x. 25), and 
 thence to the table of a private house (x. 
 2^]) . What was to be the Christian's atti- 
 tude to such meat? Was he to abstain 
 from it, on the ground that by partaking 
 cf it, he associated himself with idolatry "^ 
 or was he to eat without compunction, on 
 the ground that the idol, to whom the 
 sacrifice had been offered, was a nonentity? 
 That is the question discussed in this sec- 
 tion (viii-x), especially in viii, and x. 23- 
 xi. 
 
 Shall the Motive of Action he Knowledge 
 or Love? (viii.). 
 
 I. Now with regard to things sacri- 
 ficed to idols — another of the points on 
 which Paul's advice had clearly been 
 asked: with the Trept be of vcr. t, cf. vii. 
 I, 25. We know that we all have knowl- 
 edge. The words may also mean, " we 
 know, because we all have knowledge " ; 
 but it is almost impossible to disconnect 
 the oidafiev on of ver. i from the similar 
 words of ver. 4, where they must mean 
 
 " we know that." The meaning may be 
 that Paul, and those, in general, whom 
 he addresses, have a clear insight into the 
 fact that an idol is a nonentity, and that 
 consequently the eating of meat sacrificed 
 to an idol is morally indifferent. But it 
 seems more probable that in this verse, as 
 apparently elsewhere in this chapter, we 
 have echoes of the Corinthian letter. Paul 
 has so often said, with a touch of irony, 
 "ye know: do ye not know?" — 6 times, 
 for example, in ch. vi — that we are jus- 
 tified in suspecting oUajxev ori^ etc., to be 
 a claim of the Corinthians. We know — 
 you say — that we all have knowledge. 
 This is a "wise" church (i. 5), and is 
 often twitted by Paul for its conceit of 
 wisdom (iv. 10). The sequel shows that, 
 as a matter of fact, they did not all possess 
 this knowledge (ver. 7). 
 
 But in any case, argues Paul, knowledge 
 is not enough : that alone will not take the 
 church very far on the way to edification. 
 Knowledge puffs up, it is love — love 
 of God (ver. 3) and of the brethren (ver. 
 11) — that builds up (iii. 9). Inflation 
 
 and edification that is the contrast. 
 
 Mere knowledge makes no substantial con- 
 tribution to the church : that can only be 
 done by love. A delicate question, like 
 that under discussion, can not be decided 
 purely on its own merits : it is a question 
 that affects the "brethren" (ver. 11), and 
 only those who love them, can reach a 
 Christian decision. " Knowledge," as Ben- 
 gel remarks, " only says. * All things are 
 lawful for me'; love adds, 'but all things 
 do not edify'" (x. 23). 
 
 2, 3. If any of you Corinthians who 
 suppose that knowledge, unilluminated by 
 love, will lead you to an edifying decision 
 on such a question — if any man imagines 
 that he has complete (pf.) knowledge 
 of anything, he has not yet won the 
 proper kind of knowledge: for the proper 
 kind, the kind ho ought (8ei) to have, is 
 that for edification, and that must be in- 
 spired by love (cf. ch. xiii). But if any 
 man LOVES God, this is the man — and 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 55 
 
 4 As concerning therefore the eating of 
 those things that are offered in sacrifice 
 unto idols, we know that an idol is noth- 
 ing in the world, and that there is none 
 other God but one. 
 
 5 For though there be that are called 
 gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as 
 there be gods many, and lords many). 
 
 6 But to us there is but one God, the 
 
 Father, of whom are all things, and we 
 in him ; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by 
 whom are all things, and we by him. 
 
 7 Howbeit there is not in every man 
 that knowledge : for some with conscience 
 of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing 
 offered unto an idol ; and their conscience 
 being weak is defiled. 
 
 not the other who . . . we should ex- 
 pect the sentence to continue, " knows 
 Him," or " knows as he ought to know " : — 
 instead we have, is known by Him. The 
 implication no doubt is that the knowl- 
 edge of the man who loves, approximates 
 at least to the true knowledge: but the 
 apostle prefers, by the unexpected turn 
 he gives the sentence, rather to call at- 
 tention to the divine regard for the man, 
 as the source of any true insight the 
 man possesses. For a very similar turn of 
 expression, cf. Gal. iv. 9 " now that ye 
 have come to know God, or rather to be 
 known by God." 
 
 4, 5. The discussion of the sacrificial 
 meats, interrupted at the start b}' the elab- 
 oration of the contrast between knowledge 
 and wisdom, is now resumed. With re- 
 gard then to the eating of things sac- 
 rificed to idols, we know — in what fol- 
 lows vv. 4b-6, as in ver. i, it is possible, 
 though not certain that we have an echo 
 of, if not an extract from the Corinthian 
 letter : and the confession of faith in these 
 verses, may represent perhaps the very 
 words taught them by the apostle. We 
 know that there is no idol in the world, 
 no divine reality in the universe to which 
 the idol or image corresponds. '* Existence 
 is denied to the idol not absolutely (see 
 5, X. 19!), but relatively." (Findlay.) 
 The alternative translation that an idol is 
 nothing in the zvorld, besides failing to 
 do justice to the phrase "in the v/orld," 
 is practically negated by the second clause, 
 which is apparentl}^ intended to balance 
 it; and that there is no God — other, 
 erepos, of A. V. has apparently crept in 
 from the first commandment — but one. 
 Verse 5 appears to rob ver. 4 of part of 
 its effect by conceding the possibility, if 
 not indeed the actual existence, in some 
 sense (XeySinevoi) , of many gods: but at 
 any rate not to the Corinthian Christians 
 — to us there is but one (ver. 6). For 
 even supposing there do exist (elalv in 
 this clause and the next is, by its position, 
 emphatic) gods so-called whether in 
 heaven or on earth, just as there exist 
 many gods and many lords — Athens 
 
 1 (Acts xvii. 16-23), and no doubt, Corinth, 
 I were full of their images. If these words 
 belong to Paul rather than to the Corin- 
 thians, they may be explained by x. 20 
 where " the things which the Gentiles 
 j sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and 
 not to God." Greek and Jew alike be- 
 lieved in a multitude of demi-gods, angels 
 and demons. 
 
 6. Yet, whatever may be the truth 
 about the existence of many gods, to us 
 diristians there is but one God, whom 
 Jesus taught the world to call the Father, 
 from whom as source and creator all 
 things (lit. the system of all things) pro- 
 ceed, and we — not all men, but we Chris- 
 tians — unto Him as our goal and end : 
 and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through 
 whom as ^Mediator in creation, are all 
 things, and we through Him, as Medi- 
 ator in redemption. The one God and 
 Lord of this verse are the counterpart of 
 the many gods and lords of ver. 5. The 
 high place here assigned to Christ in 
 creation as well as in redemption prepares 
 the way for the Christology of Col. i. 15 f. : 
 He holds a similar place in John i. 3, 
 Heb. i. 2. We are ets avrov^ unto God ; 
 He is the true goal, as He is the source, 
 of our life ; and we can reach this goal 
 oiily 5i' avTov^ through Christ. It is a con- 
 sideration of these two great facts — the 
 fact of God and His absoluteness, the 
 fact of Christ and His lordship — that 
 makes idolatry ridiculous, and the eating 
 of food sacrificed to idols a matter of 
 indifference. Such was the Corinthian 
 conclusion, and such, but for the weaker 
 brother, would have been Paul's conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 7. But all had not this insight: not in 
 all is this (17) knowledge. There are 
 some who, through being accustomed, 
 up till now, to the idol, and conse- 
 quently unable to shake off the impres- 
 sion that it has a certain real existence, 
 eat the meat as a thing sacrificed to 
 idols, with the result that their con- 
 science, being weak, is stained, because 
 they feel that their partaking of such meat 
 has definitely associated them with the 
 
56 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 8 But meat commendcth us not to God: 
 for neither, if we eat, are we the better ; 
 neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. 
 
 9 But take heed lest by any means 
 this liberty of yours become a stumbling- 
 block to them that are weak. 
 
 10 For if any man see thee which hast 
 
 knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, 
 shall not the conscience of him which is 
 weak be emboldened to eat those things 
 which are offered to idols ; 
 
 II And through thy knowledge shall 
 the weak brother perish, for whom Christ 
 died? 
 
 idol. Their conscience may be weak, and 
 unenlightened: still, it is their conscience, 
 and as such, they are bound to respect 
 it — it must remain pure, unstained. In- 
 stead of (TvvT]6eia^ crvveidrjcrei (A. V. "with 
 conscience of the idol ") is read by some 
 good MSS. and preferred by some scholars 
 as the more difficult reading; but, on the 
 other hand, it may have crept in under 
 the influence of the (rvpeid-qais later in the 
 sentence. 
 
 8. This verse may be regarded as an 
 exclamation of the enlightened Corinthians. 
 What has meat to do with conscience? 
 At the judgment (hence the future 
 TrapaaTTjaei) meat will not affect our 
 standing with God. TrapiaTrjfit is a neu- 
 tral word: hence commendeth (A. V.) 
 which would require ffwiar-nfii, is too 
 strong. The meaning is : meat will not 
 bring us before God — it is not on such 
 an issue that our judgment will take 
 place. We are neither the worse for 
 abstaining nor the better for eating. 
 Some MSS. read or altered the text to ive 
 we neither the better for abstaining^ nor 
 the worse for eating. The verbs imply 
 that their position with God was neither 
 advantageous (TrepLaaevofiev) nor inferior 
 {varepovixeda) , 
 
 g. It may be, rejoins Paul, that theo- 
 retically considered food will not affect 
 our standing with God. But this is a prac- 
 tical question, not a theoretical one ; and 
 in the situation, an act, innocent in itself, 
 may have disastrous moral and religious 
 consequences. Nevertheless be careful 
 lest haply this liberty of yours, en- 
 lightened as you are, may prove a stum- 
 bling block to the weak. You have to 
 consider your neighbor's conscience, as 
 well as your own; and strength must be 
 merciful to weakness. How far this lib- 
 erty was carried and in what way it 
 might prove a stumbling block, is illus- 
 trated by ver. lo. 
 
 10. For if one of these unenlightened 
 Christians sees you, the person who is 
 in possession of knowledge — P'i"l. ap- 
 pears here to single out some individual 
 or individuals and to address them di- 
 rectly — reclining at tabic in an idol's 
 temple, shall not his conscience, weak 
 
 as he is, be edified, unto the eating of 
 the things sacrificed to idols — " edified " 
 to his destruction as the next verse shows, 
 for he is perishing. The emboldened (ofi 
 A. V. and R. V.) for olKodofi-ndTja-eTai misses 
 a delicate point. Apparently the " liberals " 
 in the Corinthian church expected that 
 such conduct would "edify" the weaker 
 brethren : they were indeed edified, replies 
 Paul, and ruined in the process, because 
 conscience had been dethroned. There can 
 be no real edification without love (ver. 
 i). The presence of a Christian reclining 
 in a pagan temple is a real surprise, after 
 making every allowance for the advanced 
 views of the enlightened Corinthians. It 
 is probably to be explained, as Professor 
 W. M. Ramsay has suggested, that these 
 Corinthians had still retained their mem- 
 bership in pagan clubs and societies {Ex- 
 positor 1900, vol. ii. 434). Though the 
 object of these clubs would be non-religious 
 — otherwise we cannot conceive a Chris- 
 tian thus definitely associating himself 
 with them — they had a certain religious 
 character : the meetings would often be 
 held in a temple, and the unity of the 
 members sealed by a common meal, of 
 which the flesh had first been offered in 
 sacrifice to the god of the temple. 
 
 II. Edified! and ruined! Your knowl- 
 edge has destroyed him. For the weak 
 man perishes through your knowledge, 
 perhaps by means of (^f) it, or more 
 literally, in the atmosphere of your knozcl- 
 edge — i.e., it is a ruinous influence for 
 him. The man of broad principles must 
 consider, in love, the conscience of his 
 narrower brother, and while he may try 
 to educate it, he will not tempt him to 
 violate it. The weak conscience " may be 
 a less enlightened, but is certainly a more 
 authoritative guide," than the advice or 
 example of another man can be. What 
 aggravates the sin of this inconsiderate 
 example is that the man who is tempted 
 by it, is not only weak, but a Christian 
 brother, one therefore to whom special 
 consideration, and even affection, is due : 
 and not only is he a brother, but the 
 brother on whose account Christ died. 
 The man is ruined, who nii.uht ha\o been 
 saved, whom Christ died to save. For his 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 57 
 
 12 But when ye sin so against the 
 brethren, and wound their weak con- 
 science, ye sin against Christ. 
 
 13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother 
 
 to offend, I will eat no flesh while the 
 world standeth, lest I make my brother 
 to offend. 
 
 salvation, Christ sacrificed Himself: the 
 champion of enlightenment will sacrifice 
 nothing. He is engaged in the futile ex- 
 periment of seeking to edify his brother 
 by knowledge without love. But knowl- 
 edge alone spells not only conceit (ver. i) 
 but destruction (ver. 11). This verse is 
 read as a question by A. V. "and through 
 thy knowledge shall the weak brother 
 perish?" {nai diroXelTat [or aTroWvTaL] in- 
 stead of dTToXXurat yap), 
 
 12. And by sinning in this way 
 against the brethren, that is (Kal explains 
 what is meant by sinning)^ by cruelly 
 smiting their conscience, in its weak 
 state, you are sinning against Christ, for 
 inasmuch as ye did it — whether a kind- 
 ness or a cruelty — unto one of the least 
 of these my brethren, ye did it unto me 
 (Mat. XXV. 40, 45) ; and elsewhere, in more 
 terrible words, " it were well," says Jesus, 
 " that the man who causes a little one to 
 stumble should be drowned in the depths 
 of the sea" (Alat. xviii. 6). To smite 
 (not wound, as A. V., R. V.) the weak 
 is cruel and cowardly : such blows may 
 destroy (diroWvTaL yap), 
 
 13. Paul closes his argument by a splen- 
 did personal pledge. He has knowledge, 
 but he has also love : wherefore, if food 
 causes my brother to stumble, I will 
 assuredly (ov fxr]) eat no flesh forever- 
 more, lest I may cause my brother to 
 stumble. Twice in this short verse, and 
 twice in the last two verses, the brother 
 is mentioned : it is this personal element 
 that turns an academic question into a 
 vital and practical one. The Corinthians 
 thought of the question : Paul thought of 
 the brother. He is free (ix. l), but he 
 
 lirnits his freedom for the brother's sake. 
 «pea, plur., of the different kinds of " food," 
 with special reference to the sacrificial 
 flesh in question. 
 
 The question of the legitimacy of eat- 
 ing the flesh of animals that had been of- 
 fered in sacrifice no longer exists for us ; 
 but we have other questions — theatre, 
 card-playing, the use of wine, etc. — which 
 present similar problems to the Christian 
 conscience, and upon which good men are 
 divided. Paul's counsel, and even his 
 words, though addressed to a very differ- 
 ent situation, still apply. In effect he 
 says that knowledge, insight, alone does 
 not settle these questions: they can only 
 be settled by insight, tempered with love. 
 Mere knowledge puffs up; it is love that 
 builds up. Such questions are never ab- 
 stract : they are questions that affect 
 brethren: and the man who would decide 
 them wisely and helpfully must not only 
 understand the problem, he must love the 
 brethren. He will not forget that his 
 brother has a conscience as well as him- 
 self, and he must respect his brother's, 
 as he respects his own. He will, in love, 
 seek to train the weak conscience, but he 
 will not smite it. He will edify it, but 
 not to its ruin ; he must see that, with 
 the broader outlook, it loses none of its 
 authority. The man who, by his example, 
 would enlighten another, must make ^ sure 
 that that example will not beget indiffer- 
 ence to moral obligation, or lower the 
 quality of the inner life. That is but a 
 poor enlightenment which ends by destroy- 
 ing the brother for whom Christ died. 
 
58 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 THE APOSTLE ILLUSTRATES HIS ARGUMENT FOR SELF- 
 DENIAL BY HIS OWN PRACTICE (ix). 
 
 CHAPTER 9. 
 
 1 Am I not an apostle? am I not free? 
 have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? 
 are not ye my work in the Lord? 
 
 2 If I be not an apostle unto others, 
 
 yet doubtless I am to you : for the seal 
 of mine apostleship are ye in the Lord. 
 
 3 Mine ansvyer to them that do ex- 
 amine me is this : 
 
 4 Have we not power to eat and to 
 drink ? 
 
 Paul the Apostle (ix. 1-3). 
 
 Paul shows in this chapter that the prin- 
 ciple of self-denial for the brother's sake 
 which he has just laid down (viii), he has 
 himself practiced by refusing to claim from 
 the Corinthian church the maintenance to 
 which, as a preacher, he was entitled. And 
 this leads him to turn aside for a moment 
 from his main argument to the defense of 
 his apostolic rights. 
 
 1. If Paul refrains from the meat that 
 had been offered to idols, it is for his 
 brother's sake, and not because he is not 
 at liberty to partake of it: for am I not 
 free? And to say nothing of my freedom 
 as a Christian man, whom Christ has re- 
 deemed from bondage (vii. 21-23) to all 
 externally imposed law, am I not an apos- 
 tle, and, as such, in possession of special 
 rights. (A. V. wrongly reverses the order 
 of these questions.) Nor can you doubt 
 my claim to apostleship, for I possess the 
 qualification that is acknowledged to be 
 essential — have I not seen Jesus our 
 Lord? Paul claims to have had mystic 
 "visions and revelations of the Lord" (2 
 Cor. xii. i), and at important crises to 
 have been addressed by Him in a vision 
 or trance (Acts xviii. 9, xxii. 17) : he 
 refers here, however, not to these expe- 
 riences, but to that vision of the Lord on 
 his way to Damascus which started him 
 on his Christian career (Acts ix. 17, xxii. 
 8-10). The apostles must be witnesses to 
 the resurrection, and this was the expe- 
 rience that pre-eminently constituted Paul 
 a witness. In the nature of the case, how- 
 ever, this proof of his apostleship, being 
 subjective, was not beyond the possibility 
 of challenge : consequently Paul directs the 
 Corinthians to a proof which is beyond 
 challenge — his own success in establishing 
 the church at Corinth: are not ye your- 
 selves (v/J-eis) my work in the Lord? 
 The work was done in the Lord (cf. iv. 
 
 2, 3. Paul's apostleship had evidently 
 
 been challenged, possibly by the party of 
 Peter or of Christ (i. 12), and he shows 
 the fatuity of the challenge. His detrac- 
 tors had not opened their eyes to the 
 facts. If to others — in the eyes of oth- 
 ers — I am no apostle, yet at any rate 
 to you I am one, for you are yourselves 
 (vfieis) the seal and guarantee of my 
 apostleship in the Lord. This is my 
 defense to those who examine me: the 
 word cLvaKpivovcnv suggests a semi-official 
 examination (used in Luke xxiii. 14 of 
 Pilate's examination of Christ) and shows 
 how seriously Paul's claims were being 
 contested. The this points rather back than 
 forward: the Corinthian church (ver. 2) 
 is itself the proof of Paul's apostleship. 
 What follows is not a defense, but a series 
 of claims. 
 
 In the following verses (4-1 5a) Paul 
 asserts his rights, as an apostle, elaborately 
 and emphatically, which makes all the 
 more impressive his deliberate refusal, for 
 the gospel's sake, to avail himself of those 
 rights (i5b-i9). 
 
 The Ministers Rights (ix. 4-153). 
 
 4. We have a right, have we not, to 
 eat and drink at the cost of the church 
 (cf. Mark vi. 10). This chapter is con- 
 nected, by its emphasis on Hovaia, with the 
 last (cf. viii. 9), but the addition of drink 
 shows that the question of sacrificial meat 
 is no longer under discussion. The con- 
 text (cf. ver. 7) makes it certain that he 
 is referring to the maintenance of the 
 ministry by the church. By ice he prob- 
 ably means, not specially himself and 
 Barnabas (ver. 6), but himself and, in 
 general, the others who assist him. He is 
 doubtless, however, thinking more partic- 
 ularly of himself; from ver. 15 to end of 
 chapter, the ist pers. sing, is used. The 
 claim of the right to eat and drink is a 
 modest one, like the petition, *' Give u? our 
 bread for the day." 
 
Ch. IX] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 59 
 
 5 Have we not power to lead about a 
 sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, 
 and as the brethren of the Lord, and 
 Cephas ? 
 
 6 Or I only and Barnabas, have not we 
 power to forbear working? 
 
 7 Who goeth a warfare any time at 
 his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, 
 and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or 
 who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the 
 milk of the flock? 
 
 8 Say I these things as a man? or 
 saith not the law the same also? 
 
 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, 
 Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the 
 ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God 
 take care for oxen? 
 
 10 Or saith he it altogether for our 
 sakes? for our sakes, no doubt, this is 
 written : that he that plougheth should 
 plough in hope ; and that he that thresheth 
 in hope should be partaker of his hope. 
 
 5. We have a right, have we not, 
 
 not only to marry, but to take about with 
 us on our missionary tours, at the expense 
 of the church, a Christian wife (lit: a 
 sister, that is, a Christian sister, as a wife), 
 as well as the rest of the apostles, most 
 of whom, accordmg to this notice, must 
 have been married, and accompanied on 
 their tours by their wives; and the 
 brothers of the Lord (]^Iark vi. 3) who 
 are certainly to be distinguished from the 
 twelve (cf. Acts. i. 14), in spite of the 
 fact that Peter, who is last mentioned be- 
 longed to that body. Of these brothers 
 the most conspicuous was James (Gal. i. 
 19, ii. 9), leader of the Jerusalem church: 
 and Peter (Cephas) separately mentioned 
 because his name was specially familiar and 
 his example no doubt frequently tiuoted in 
 Corinth (i. 12). 
 
 6. Or is it only Barnabas and myself 
 that have not the right of exemption 
 from manual toil? epydleadaL suggests 
 manual labor : it is used of vineyard work 
 (Mat. xxi. 28) and of tent making, which 
 was Paul's work (Acts xviii. 3). Paul 
 and Barnabas, now separated, are often 
 mentioned in association (Acts xi. 30, xiii. 
 2, 3, Gal. ii. 9). 
 
 7. The claims, then, which might have 
 been legitimately urged by Paul were 
 three : for his own maintenance, for the 
 maintenance and traveling expenses of his 
 wife, and for exemption from manual 
 labor. He proceeds to justify these claims 
 by several considerations, firsth', by an- 
 alogy. Who ever serves as a soldier at 
 his own expense? 6\p(l}via.^ primarily a 
 soldier's rations, then his pay. The Chris- 
 tian minister is a soldier : why should 
 he not, like any other soldier, be supported 
 by those in whose behalf he enters the 
 service? Who plants a vineyard and 
 does not eat the fruit thereof? Xobodj'. 
 Has then the apostle, who plants a church, 
 not the right to fare as well? Or who 
 shepherds a flock, and does not eat of 
 the milk of the flock? The apostle, has 
 also a flock to feed : has he not, like the 
 
 shepherd, the right to live by it? The eye 
 may suggest a share, or perhaps the source 
 of his recompense, which may have taken 
 other forms (cf. ecrdiei) besides milk: but 
 in effect the meaning dift'ers little from 
 the direct accusative napirov. The point of 
 the verse is that workmen have a right to 
 be rewarded for, or to share in the pro- 
 ceeds of, their toil : Christian ministers 
 form no exception. 
 
 8, ga. But for this view of their services, 
 there is higher warrant than human an- 
 alogy- : there is scripture. Do I say these 
 things merely as a man — with merely 
 human- authority? or does the law not 
 say this as well? An argument could al- 
 ways be clenched by a quotation from the 
 Old Testament. The lazu, which can be 
 applied to the whole of the Old Testament 
 (to psalms, e.g. in John x. 34, xv. 25, to 
 prophecy in i Cor. xiv. 21), is here specif- 
 ically the law of Moses, that is Pentateuch. 
 For in the law of Moses it stands writ- 
 ten, "Thou shalt not muzzle an ox that 
 is threshing" (Deut. xxv. 4). The thresh- 
 ing was performed chiefly in two ways, 
 either by the feet of the cattle treading out 
 the corn, or by a sledge driven over the 
 threshing floor, " The most common mode 
 of threshing is with the ordinary slab called 
 mozvrej, which is drawn over the floor by 
 a horse or yoke of oxen, until not only 
 the grain is shelled out, but the straw it- 
 self is ground into chaff . . . The com- 
 mand of Moses not to muzzle the ox that 
 treadeth out the com is literally obej'ed to 
 this day b}^ most farmers, and you often 
 see the oxen that draw the mowrej eating 
 from the floor as they revolve. There are 
 niggardly peasants, however, who do miiz- 
 zJe the ox" (Thomson, The Land and the 
 Book, p. 540). 
 
 gb, 10. Now what is the meaning of 
 such a law? Is it for the oxen that God 
 careth? or does He (God: or perhaps it, 
 the law, scripture) not clearly {-rravTcos, by 
 all means) say it on OUR account? that 
 is. not on man's account, but on account of 
 Christian ministers, such as Paul. To the 
 
60 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 11 If we have sown unto you spiritual 
 things, is it a great thing if we shall reap 
 your carnal things? 
 
 12 If others be partakers of this power 
 over you, are not we rather? Neverthe- 
 less we have not used this power ; but suf- 
 
 fer all things, lest we should hinder the 
 gospel of Christ. 
 
 13 Do ye not know that they which 
 minister about holy things live of the 
 things of the temple ? and they which wait 
 at the altar are partakers with the altar? 
 
 question, " Is it for the oxen that God 
 cares," Paul clearly expects the answer No. 
 It is just as plain that the only answer 
 that accords with the spirit of the Old Tes- 
 tament, is an affirmative. God does most 
 assuredly care for the oxen, and not only 
 on our account, but on their own. Old 
 Testament legislation was nobly merciful 
 to the beasts. A righteous man cared for 
 the life of his beast (Prov. xii. 10). God 
 caused the grass to grow for the cattle 
 (Ps. civ. 14), He gives to the beast his 
 food, and to the young ravens which cry 
 (Ps. cxlvii. 9), and he spares Nineveh, 
 with its "much cattle" (Jonah iv. 11). 
 Jesus shared this view of the dumb crea- 
 tion — the birds and the sheep. Paul's 
 question here is touched by the Rabbinism 
 in which he had been trained ; but though 
 his interpretation of the passage is hardly 
 just to the spirit of the Old Testament, 
 his application of it is singularly happy. 
 As the ox must not be muzzled, but must 
 be free to feed as he does his hard work 
 upon the threshing-floor, so must the Chris- 
 tian minister be free to " eat and drink " 
 at the cost of the church for which he 
 works. Yes, it was for our sake it was 
 written, to wit, that the plower ought 
 to plough in hope and the thresher to 
 thresh, in hope of sharing. This is by 
 some regarded as a citation from sorne 
 lost apocryphal book, but the clause is 
 rather explanatory of the preceding quota- 
 tion ("to wit that"), than causal ("be- 
 cause," as R. V. takes it). In that case 
 the plower and the thresher are primarily 
 to be understood of the ox, and secondarily 
 of the Christian teacher. The true reading 
 appears to be /cat 6 dXowv (with dXodp, gov- 
 erned by ocpeiXei, understood) ctt' e\7rt5i tov 
 fierexeiv, A. V. rests on a confused reading 
 Kal dXouJv TTJs eXiridos (xerex^i-v ctt' eXiridi 
 (and he that thresheth in hope should be 
 partaker of his hope) — a reading appar- 
 ently due to the mistake of supposing that 
 fi€T€X€tv was directly governed by ^0et\ei 
 (ought to share), a mistake which in- 
 volved further alteration and expansion. 
 The principle of the verse is that the 
 worker should be relieved from all anxiety, 
 fiepi/jiva: he must be able to cherish the 
 **hope of sharing." 
 
 II, 12. After appealing to scripture, 
 
 Paul now appeals to the common sense of 
 the Corinthians; and by an effective jux- 
 taposition of zee and you (viJ-eis vfilv ; rjfieis^ 
 v/Lwv)^ he produces a contrast which it is 
 impossible to reproduce in English. If WE 
 sowed spiritual things for YOU, is it a 
 great thing if WE shall reap YOUR car- 
 nal things? Besides the contrast between 
 zve and yon, there are the further contrasts 
 between the sowing and the reaping, and 
 between the spiritual and the carnal. The 
 sower has a right to look for a harvest : 
 surely no one would grudge him a harvest 
 of so inferior a kind as that which he 
 claims. It is no great thing if one who 
 brought them the unspeakable gift of the 
 gospel should have the paltry recompense 
 of meat and drink, especially as others, 
 with less claim, had enjoyed it; for if 
 others share in the right over you, of 
 which I speak, do not we yet more? for 
 Paul was, in a unique sense, the father 
 of the Corinthian church (iv. 15). He has 
 argued with skill and force for the right 
 to these privileges and exemptions; but, 
 he goes on, we made no use of this 
 right: instead, we put up with all sorts 
 of things, such things as he enumerates 
 in iv. II ff. — hunger, thirst, persecution, 
 the contempt of the world. And his rea- 
 son for refusing to avail himself of what 
 he could have rightly claimed is that we 
 may offer no kind of (^'J'') hindrance to 
 the gospel of Christ. His self-denial in 
 ch. viii. was for the brethren's sake, here 
 it is for the gospel's sake. Had he insisted 
 upon his rights as a Christian minister, 
 the ' good news ' might have been misun- 
 derstood : the gospel must be allowed to 
 shine in its own light, and no conduct of 
 his, however innocent, must be allowed to 
 obscure it (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 7-1 1). 
 
 13. The argument for the right of the 
 Christian minister to maintenance he now 
 strengthens still further by an appeal to 
 the practice of the priests. Do you not 
 know (cf. ver. 24), — you wise men ought 
 to know — that those who are engaged 
 in the sacred offices eat the things that 
 come from the sacred place (that is. the 
 temple), and that those who attend upon 
 (7rape5pei''Oj'res, cf. vii. 35, ^6 evndpedpoi' t<v 
 Kvpiu}) the altar have their portion with 
 the altar? That is, the fire claims part, and 
 
Ch. IX] 
 
 I COKINTHIANS. 
 
 61 
 
 14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that 
 they which preach the gospel should live 
 of the gospel. 
 
 15 But I have used none of these 
 things : neither have I written these things, 
 that it should be so done unto m.e : for it 
 were better for me to die, than that any 
 man should make my glorying void. 
 
 16 For though I preach the gospel, I 
 have nothing to glory of: for necessity is 
 
 laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I 
 preach not the gospel ! 
 
 17 For if I do this thing willingly, I 
 have a reward : but if against my will, 
 a dispensation of the gospel is committed 
 unto me. 
 
 18 What is my reward then ? Verily 
 that, when I preach the gospel, I may 
 make the gospel of Christ without charge, 
 that I abuse not my power in the gospel. 
 
 the rest goes to the priests. Some suppose 
 that the reference of the first clause is to 
 heathen practice, others to the Levites : 
 more probably, however, both clauses refer 
 to the Jewish priests. 
 
 14, 15a. The principle of this law of 
 the old covenant — that he who is engaged 
 in sacred offices should be maintained — 
 is confirmed by Jesus. So also did the 
 Lord — not God, but Jesus — ordain for 
 those who proclaim the gospel, that they 
 should live from the preaching of the 
 gospel. The workman, said Jesus, de- 
 serves his food (Mat. x. 10) or his wages 
 (Luke X. 7). Jesus, who came to "fulfil" 
 the law (Mat. v. 17) fulfilled it here also. 
 But as for me (h^), says Paul, I have 
 made no use of these things, of these 
 rights which he has so elaborately defended 
 by appeals to analogy, scripture, common 
 sense, Jewish practice, and the ordinance 
 of the Lord. This has been his settled 
 practice (KexprifiaL, pf.) to make no use of 
 them — a more comprehensive statement 
 than exp'n(Ta.ixeda (aor.) ver. 12. It is inter- 
 esting to note how a word of Jesus settles 
 the matter. With this appeal the discussion 
 is closed. 
 
 Paul's Renouncement and Reward (ix. 
 I5b-i8). 
 
 15b. Paul has argued so warmly and 
 convincingly for his rights as a Christian 
 minister that the statement of his refusal 
 to avail himself of those rights comes as a 
 sudden surprise. He has argued the case 
 for others — the minister is entitled to the 
 support of the church which he serves. 
 But the Corinthians need not be afraid 
 that he is arguing for himself; the rights 
 which he has defended he relinquishes in 
 his own case. Now my object in writing 
 this (eypaxpa, I write, epistolary aorist) is 
 not that such steps (that is, for my sup- 
 port) be taken in my case. No! I had 
 
 rather die than : he cannot bear even 
 
 to utter the thought that is in his mind — 
 "than live at the expense of a church 
 
 which contests my right to maintenance " 
 
 so he goes on : (this) boast of mine 
 
 no man shall make void — the boast, 
 namely, that he proclaimed the gospel for 
 nothing. The abrupt turn thus given to 
 the sentence is very effective, though it must 
 be_ admitted that this particular kind of 
 ellipse is very unusual, if not unparalleled. 
 It may partly be explained by the fact that 
 Paul is dictating. The great variations in 
 the MSS. show that the early transcribers 
 were perplexed. Instead of ovdels, presup- 
 posed by the above translation, tVa rts is 
 read in some, the following verb being read 
 either as Kevwarj (subj.) or Kevucret (fut. 
 ind.). li Iva ris Kevwaei (ind.) had been 
 the original reading, the irregularity of 
 the construction, though not without par- 
 allel, might easily have led to the subse- 
 quent changes : ovbeh for 't-va tls, on the 
 one hand, or Kevwarj (subj.) for Kevuaei on 
 the other hand. The translation would 
 then be: I had rather die than that any 
 one should moke void my boast — the same 
 meaning much less passionately expressed. 
 
 16, 17. This boast (lit, "matter of 
 glorying") which must on no account be 
 made void, is that Paul preaches the gos- 
 pel without cost to the church, not sim^ply 
 that ^he preaches — he cannot help that. 
 For in merely proclaiming the gospel, I 
 have no cause to boast, for it is a case 
 of must — necessity is laid upon me: yes, 
 misery is mine (lit-woe [an interjection] 
 is to me) if I do not preach. No reward, 
 he means, is due to a man who works, as 
 he worked for the gospel, under constraint. 
 For if it is of my own free vdll that I 
 am doing this (that is, preaching) — as it 
 is not, for necessity is laid upon me — 
 then I have my reward. If, on the other 
 hand, it is not of my own free will — 
 and this is the real state of affairs — I 
 
 18. Paul then, neither expects nor de- 
 have had a stewardship entrusted to me, 
 and as such, am not entitled to reward. 
 Fidelity is expected in a steward (iv. 2, 
 where the words are similar), but he is 
 not entitled to a reward for doing what it 
 was his duty to do (Luke xvii. 10). 
 
62 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 19 For though I be free from all men, 
 yet have I made myself servant unto all, 
 that I might gain the more. 
 
 20 And unto the Jews I became as a 
 
 that I might gain them that are under the 
 law ; 
 
 21 To them that are without law, as 
 without law, (being not without law to 
 
 Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them God, but under the law to Christ,) that I 
 that are under the law, as imder the law, | might gain them that are without law. 
 
 sires a reward for preaching : indeed, he 
 nobly argues that, under the terms of his 
 commission — constrained (dvayKt}) as he 
 was — it was impossible. Yet he has his 
 reward. What then is my reward? It is 
 one which could only appeal to a noble, 
 unselfish, and wholly consecrated mind — 
 the reward of dispensing with reward, of 
 preaching the gospel for nothing ; it is 
 that in preaching, I may make the gos- 
 pel message free of charge (cf. Acts xx. 
 SS), so that I might not use to the full 
 (KaTaxpv(^o.(^0<^'; cf. vii. 31) the right that 
 is mine in proclaiming the gospel. Al- 
 ford explains, " What is the prospect of 
 reward that could induce me to preach 
 the gospel gratuitously?" regarding the 
 whole verse (not simply the first clause) 
 as the question : and the answer he finds 
 in the "gaining" (Kepdrjac^j) ^ that is, the 
 "salvation" (o-wo-w, ver. 22) of the greater 
 number (ver. 19). It is certainly signifi- 
 cant, in a context which discusses reward, 
 that the word gain should be repeated no 
 less than five times. This sort of gain is 
 also thoroughly in keeping with the spirit 
 of Paul: cf. I Thes. ii. 19, 20, where he 
 speaks of the Thessalonians as, " our hope, 
 joy, glory, crown of glorying" (Kavxvf^^^s) 
 at the coming of our Lord Jesus. The 
 chief objection to this view is that with 
 ver. 19 the thought seems to take a slightly 
 different turn : vv. 18, 19 are not so inti- 
 mately connected as the above interpreta- 
 tion presupposes. 
 
 The Versatile Sclf-Abnegation of Zeal (ix. 
 19-23). 
 
 19. Paul had rights, Hovcia (ver. 18) 
 as a preacher of the gospel,, but he did 
 not make use of them (vv. 12, 15, 18) : 
 he was free (vv. i, 19), but he made no 
 use of his liberty, except to make himself 
 the slave of everybody; and this he did 
 that he might win them. For being free 
 from all, I made myself the slave of all 
 (the juxtaposition irdvTiov irdaw it is im- 
 possible to reproduce in English) — a 
 strange use of liberty, but it was that I 
 might win the greater number for Christ 
 and salvation (o-wo-w, ver. 22) — greater 
 than would have been won without this 
 
 accommodation of himself to everybody. 
 He does not say all, his only hope is to 
 win some (ver. 22). The "gain" which 
 Paul expects from his ministry is not 
 money, nor even maintenance, but souls. 
 
 20. He proceeds to illustrate the various 
 types of bondage to which he, the free 
 man, submitted, for the gospel's sake. 
 For example (Kai), I became to the Jews 
 as a Jew — as a Jew, for he was no longer 
 a Jew in the ordinary sense — that I 
 might win Jews. Though he was well 
 aware, for example, that " circumcision is 
 nothing" (vii. 19), he had Timothy cir- 
 cumcised " because of the Jens that were in 
 those parts" (Acts xvi. 3, cf. Gal. v. 11) ; 
 and he took upon him specifically Jewish 
 vows (Acts xviii. 18, cf. xxi. 23 ff.). To 
 those under the JMosaic law — not so 
 much " the Jews," who are already men- 
 tioned (unless it be a case of rhetorical 
 repetition, or the better to point the con- 
 trast with the next clause), but circum- 
 cised proselytes — I became as under the 
 law, though I am not myself under the 
 law — as a Christian, Paul is no longer 
 under the Jewish law (Gal. ii. 19) — 
 that I might win those under the law. 
 
 The clause (m^ <^v avrbs vno vouoi') was 
 accidentally omitted from the common text, 
 and so from A. V., owing to the similarity 
 of ending to that of the previous clause. 
 
 21. To those that are without the 
 Mosaic law — the heathen, as opposed to 
 the Jews, who have it — I became as one 
 without law, not of course that I am 
 really without the law of God, but within 
 the law of Christ (cf. Gal. vi. 2), that I 
 might gain them that are without law. 
 In dealing with the heathen, he accommo- 
 dated himself to their standpoint, as when 
 he pointed the people of Lystra to the rain 
 from heaven and fruitful seasons as a 
 witness to God (Acts xiv. 17), and still 
 more strikingly at Athens, where he took 
 his text from an inscription on a Greek 
 altar, and quoted in his sermon from a 
 Greek poet (Acts xvii.). Paul is specially 
 careful here to safeguard himself. He 
 adopted for the moment, and to " gain " 
 them, the standpoint of the &i'Ofioi, but he 
 was not really S.i'onos: he acknowledged 
 the great law of God which had found 
 its perfect expression in Christ, so that he 
 
Ch. IX] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 6^ 
 
 22 To the weak became I as weak, 
 that I might gain the weak : I am made 
 all things to all men, that I might by alj 
 means save some. 
 
 22, And this I do for the gospel's sake, 
 that I might be partaker thereof with 
 you. 
 
 is in law in respect of Christ. Here again 
 (cf. i. 3, iii. 23) the connection of Christ 
 and God is striking. 
 
 22. To the weak I became weak — not 
 as weak (A. V.), but really weak (cf. 2 
 Cor. xi. 29) as though he not merely un- 
 derstood but shared their weakness — that 
 I might gain the weak. The weak are 
 the scrupulous (viii. 7) ; and though 
 through knowledge, Paul rises above their 
 scruple, in love he shares it (viii. i). 
 These are but four illustrations of the 
 policy that governed his whole ministry, 
 to meet each man sympathetically on his 
 own ground: I have become all things 
 to all men (rots irdaLv^ all the men with 
 whom he had to do). This elasticity, 
 which might be interpreted as moral in- 
 difference or even as time-serving, is really 
 an anxious spiritual sympathy : its motive 
 is that by all means I may save some. 
 His efforts are abundant, but his hopes 
 are modest — for the salvation of some: 
 he knows the stern realities with which he 
 has to contend. The word save defines the 
 word gain: he gains them by saving them. 
 
 23. Not only this particular policy of 
 accommodation, but all Paul's acts, were 
 dictated by his love for the gospel. And 
 not only this but all things I do for the 
 gospel's sake, that I may become a joint 
 ((Tvv) partaker in it and its blessings — 
 especially its blessing of salvation (crujao}, 
 ver. 22). In his effort to save others, he 
 must not forget or neglect his own salva- 
 tion. These words are characterized, as 
 Bengel remarks, by great modesty : his aim 
 is to become a sharer with others. 
 
 This whole passage (ix. 1-23) is written 
 with considerable warmth, and illustrates 
 both the practical wisdom and the spiritual 
 greatness of the apostle. In eager, rapid 
 logic he argues for the maintenance of the 
 ministry by the church, and his arguments 
 are m large measure still valid. One who 
 gives his whole time to the spiritual nurture 
 of others ought himself to be . relieved of 
 sordid anxieties. Work that deeply touches 
 the mind or heart can never be adequately 
 recompensed in money, and it is surely no 
 great thing (ver. 11) if such workers have 
 their needs generously supplied by those 
 for whose highest welfare they do so much. 
 Jesus Himself said that the workman de- 
 
 serves his food (or wages) ; and the church 
 has the duty of making a reasonable and 
 not ungenerous provision for those who 
 serve her. 
 
 But Paul himself makes no use of those 
 rights (vv. 12, 15) for which he has argued 
 with such conviction. After fighting the 
 battle for others, he refuses to share in the 
 spoils of victory. And he refuses for the 
 gospel's sake; he is fearful of offering to 
 it any manner of hindrance through any 
 act of his (ver. 12). To accept even the 
 most meager remuneration for preaching 
 might, under the circumstances, have ex- 
 posed the " good news " to misrepresenta- 
 tion ; and Paul will take no risk. He 
 preaches because he cannot help it, and he 
 deserves no reward for that : the only re- 
 ward he desires is the salvation of those 
 for whose sake he denies himself. 
 
 Incidentally we get a glimpse of the 
 secret of Paul's overwhelming power as a 
 preacher : he preached under an irresisti- 
 ble impulse, and with the consciousness 
 that a divine constraint* was upon him. 
 "Woe is me if I preach not" — that is the 
 stuff of which the great preachers are 
 made, the Luthers, the Wesleys, the White- 
 fields (ver. 16). And a preacher of this 
 kind, when his authority is challenged, can 
 usually, though not perhaps invariably, 
 point to results. " Are ye not my work in 
 the Lord? " (ver. i). 
 
 But nothing better illustrates Paul's 
 greatness as a spiritual leader than his 
 power of adapting himself to all sorts and 
 conditions of men ; and it is here that many 
 who aspire to be leaders fail. Though a 
 Christian, Paul retained completely his 
 power to look at the world with the eyes 
 of the Jew ; though himself a man of 
 broad and of the broadest mind, he could 
 understand, and for practical purposes 
 share, the scruples of the narrow-minded. 
 Such he called not bigot, but brother. A 
 single illustration may be taken from the 
 situation in the church to-day. Defenders 
 of the modern view of the BilDle sometimes 
 speak of the supporters of " orthodoxy " 
 in language that is harsh, discourteous, and 
 provocative of ill-feeling ; but that is 
 surely not the way to " win some." If 
 a man is to be won, he must first be un- 
 derstood ; his standpoint must be not only 
 intelligently, but sympathetically consid- 
 ered. The weak will only be saved by one 
 
64 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 24 Know ye not that they which run 
 in a race run all, but one receiveth the 
 prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 
 
 25 And every man that striveth for the 
 mastery is temperate in all things. Now 
 they do it to obtain a corruptible crown ; 
 but we an incorruptible. 
 
 26 I therefore so run, not as uncer- 
 tainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth 
 the air : 
 
 27 But I keep under my body, and 
 bring it into subjection: lest that by any 
 means, when I have preached to others, I 
 myself should be a castaway. 
 
 who is tender to weakness. In short, the 
 man who would " save some " for Christ 
 must learn to be their friend and servant 
 (ver. 19), he must be a master in that 
 divine art of versatility which enables him 
 to " become all things to all men." 
 
 Paul's Race for Life (ix. 24-27). 
 
 The thought hinted at the close of ver. 
 23, that Paul has to consider his own sal- 
 vation as well as that of others, is worked 
 cut in this section with great and graphic 
 earnestness. 
 
 24. Do you not know — as Corinthian 
 Greeks, of course, they could not help 
 knowing — 'that of those who run in the 
 race-course — the stadium was about half 
 a quarter of a mile in length — while all 
 run, only one gets the prize, f^^v . . . de 
 well contrasts the many competitors with 
 the single winner. The Corinthians would 
 be especially familiar with the Isthmian 
 games. It is hard to win this race — all' 
 are in earnest, all are temperate (ver. 25), 
 but only one is victor — and it is equally 
 hard, or infinitely harder to win the Chris- 
 tian race ; it is not enough to enter for 
 it. Therefore run in that fashion — like 
 those earnest, temperate (ver. 25) runners, 
 or rather, like the successful competitor — 
 in order that ye may attain the prize 
 (Not "run in such a way as to attain" 
 which would rather be ^(^re KaraXa^eiu) , 
 
 25. Now at the Greek games every 
 combatant, and not the winner alone, ex- 
 ercises in all things positive self-con- 
 trol, which is more than mere negative 
 abstinence : he must be his ozvn master. 
 For ten months before the contest, the 
 competitors were under the strictest obliga- 
 tions to refrain from every indulgence 
 which might have impaired their strength. 
 Another contrast with /^eV . . . 5e' : they 
 verily, the foot-runners, that they may 
 get a corruptible crown of pine-lcavcs 
 (such at this time was the reward in the 
 Isthmian games), we Christians on the 
 other hand, an incorruptible crown of 
 eternal life (cf. i Tim. vi. 12). 
 
 26. 27. The prize of the Christian race 
 was infinitely more precious: therefore I 
 
 for my part (e7a>) so run as not uncer- 
 tainly (lit. not unclcarly) — his course was 
 clear: he saw the goal and pressed steadily 
 and strenuously on to it. He changes the 
 metaphor from running to boxing, to bring 
 out the idea of the vigor with which the 
 foe must be assailed. So (emphacic, and 
 ■almost pictorial) I box, as one beating a 
 real enemy, not air. The Christian strug- 
 gle is not a sham-fight, but a fight with 
 an enemy on whom sturdy blows must rain. 
 Paul knew whereof he spoke : he had 
 "fought with beasts at Ephesus " (xv. 32). 
 But on the contrary I beat my body — 
 his own body is the enemy — black and 
 blue, and lead it away captive like a 
 beaten antagonist, lest haply, after hav- 
 ing heralded salvation to others, I should 
 turn out to be rejected myself. The 
 imagery of the games is kept up through- 
 out the passage, vircjirid^cj^ to strike a 
 heavy blow in the face, beneath the eyes 
 (I'TTo, wi/'). It is the word used in Luke 
 xviii. 5, of the widow's continuous assault 
 Upon the unjust judge. (I'TroTridfw, a less 
 graphic word, / press under, is also read 
 in the text before us.) Krjpv^as, the regular 
 word for preaching, appears here to have a 
 flavor of its primary connotation, acting as 
 herald — nrjpv^; the herald announced the 
 conditions of the game and the names of 
 the victors: ddoKL/xos, one who is rejected 
 (from the prize). 
 
 The strenuousness of Paul's religion is 
 strikingly illustrated by this passage. The 
 self-restraint which he practises is for the 
 gospel's sake (ver. 12), for other's sake 
 (ver. 22), and not less for his own sake. 
 His work for others does not exempt 
 him from work upon himself: he faces the 
 possibility of his ultimately losing the 
 prize (ver. 27). Therefore he must fight, 
 for his soul, with grim earnestness : his 
 body is the enemy (Rom. viii. 13), and it 
 must be a fight to the finish (5oi'Xa7w7a;). 
 The "bruising" of the body must not 
 be taken, as some extremists have taken it, 
 literally: it is a figure, just like the run- 
 ning of the race. But it shows the deadly 
 earnestness with which Paul engaged in 
 this struggle with himself. The struggle 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 65 
 
 
 fathers were under the cloud, and all 
 
 CHAPTER 10. 
 
 passed through the sea; 
 
 I Moreover, brethren, I would not that 
 
 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in 
 
 ye should be ignorant, how that all our 
 
 the cloud and in the sea; 
 
 with the body and all that it stands for, 
 is not, if it be serious, a beating of the 
 air, but a wrestling with a strong, resolute, 
 and implacable foe. If Paul's own strug- 
 gle is so severe, the Corinthians and other 
 men must see to it that they do not take 
 their struggle and their race too lightly. 
 It is only by so running — like the winner 
 at the Greek games — that we can attain. 
 
 The Danger of Relapse, as Illustrated by 
 Ancient Israel (x. 1-13). 
 
 The connection between this paragraph 
 and the last, obscured by the moreover of 
 A. v., is very intimate (t^P : R. V. for). 
 Paul has just been showing the over- 
 whelming importance of self-discipline. He 
 himself practises it, not only for the sake 
 of the gospel and of others, but for his 
 own soul's sake. It is not enough to enter 
 upon the Christian race, we must run like 
 the man who wins the prize. The Chris- 
 tian conflict is no sparring contest; we 
 must lay about us till the enemy is pros- 
 trate. There is always the grim possibility 
 that one who has begun well may end 
 badly (dSo/ct^aos). Steady, strenuous vigi- 
 lance and perseverance will alone enable a 
 man to " attain." This principle is strik- 
 ingly illustrated, Paul goes on to say, in the 
 history of ancient Israel. They began 
 well, enjoyed signal privileges, and in the 
 end they were rejected : their bones bleached 
 the desert. Those who shouted and sang 
 over the victory at the Red Sea, never 
 reached the promised land. Their corpses 
 lay scattered and inglorious upon the wil- 
 derness where they had played the apostate. 
 
 Therefore let the Corinthians take heed, 
 and not become like them : let him that 
 thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 
 If Israel fell, and Paul contemplates for 
 himself at least the possibility of a fall, let 
 the Corinthians beware. 
 
 Further, this discussion of ancient Israel's 
 sacramental experiences of baptism and the 
 supper prepare the wa)^ for the discussion 
 of the Christian sacrament and what it in- 
 volved (x. 14-xi. 34). 
 
 1-5. The contrast in vv. 1-5 is between the 
 all — iravres five times repeated — who had 
 enjoyed high privilege, and the very small 
 minority (only two) — ovk iv rots irXeiocrt 
 (ver. 5), who had been saved from de- 
 
 struction. This may be brought out in 
 English by while or though . . . yet. For 
 — considering the danger, to which I 
 have just alluded, of ultimate reprobation 
 (ix. 27) — I would not have you igno- 
 rant, brethren (the kindly address before 
 the grave warning) : this phrase occurs 
 several times in Paul's epistles, usually to 
 introduce an important subject, which is 
 either not adequately known or likely to 
 be ignored' (cf. Rom. xi. 25) ; that, though 
 ALL our fathers were under the cloud 
 which guided their march (cf. Ex. xiv. 19) 
 and ALL passed through the Red Sea, 
 and ALL had themselves baptized 
 {e^diTTidavTo) unto the leadership of 
 Moses, and ALL drank the same spiritual 
 food and ALL drank the same spiritual 
 drink — for all the way they kept drink- 
 ing {e-mvov, impf.) of a spiritual rock 
 which continually followed them (and the 
 rock was Christ) : though, in short, all 
 our fathers enjoyed these privileges, yet 
 not with the greater part of them — in- 
 deed only with two, Caleb and Joshua 
 (Num. xiv. 30) — was God well-pleased: 
 so displeased was He that He destroyed 
 them — for they were laid prostrate in 
 death in the wilderness (Num. xiv. 16). 
 
 I, 2. Our fathers: they were strictly the 
 fathers of the Jews. But Paul is probably 
 not thinking of the Jews in the church of 
 Corinth, but rather of the Christian 
 church _ as one with ancient Israel. The 
 cloud i_s_ that which guided their march 
 (Ex. xiii. 21), and is specially mentioned 
 in connection with the incident of the Red 
 Sea (Exod. xiv. 19). As the cloud was 
 said to overshadow them (Ps. cv. 39), 
 they could be described as under the 
 cloud. The reference to the successful 
 crossing of the Red Sea is primarily meant 
 to illustrate the divine favor enjoyed by 
 Israel, but the context shows that it was 
 also intended to symbolize baptism: In 
 the cloud and in the sea they received or 
 gave themselves unto baptism. The middle 
 voice e^aTTTiaavTo is deliberately chosen to 
 imply their consent (cf. vi. 11), and is 
 undoubtedly to be preferred to the easier 
 i^aTTTladvcTav^ which is read by some ]\ISS. 
 By this experience they acknowledged their 
 allegiance to Moses, gave themselves over 
 to his leadership, and, in this sense zuere 
 baptized unto him, as Christians were bap- 
 tized unto Christ. The analogy between 
 
66 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 3 And did all eat the same spiritual 
 meat; 
 
 4 And did all drink the same spiritual 
 drink; for they drank of that spiritual 
 Rock that followed them : and that Rock 
 was Christ. 
 
 5 But with many of them God was not 
 
 well pleased : for they were overthrown 
 in the wilderness. 
 
 6 Now these things were our examples, 
 to the intent we should not lust after evil 
 things, as they also lusted. 
 
 7 Neither by ye idolaters, as zcere some 
 of them ; as it is written, The people sat 
 
 Israel's experience at the Red Sea and 
 baptism is. to the modern mind, certainly 
 not very close. The cloud and the sea 
 represent the water : Israel went under the 
 one and through the other on dry land — 
 that is all. But Paul is interested here in 
 detecting analogies between ancient Israel 
 and the Christian church, and in finding 
 in Israel's history anticipations of Chris- 
 tian sacraments and experiences : Christ 
 Himself was present throughout the wilder- 
 ness wanderings, according to 4c. 
 
 3, 4. All ate the same spiritual food — 
 not the same as we Christians eat ; but all 
 alike, each ate thfe same as the other, 
 though the results were so different (cf. 
 S) ; and all drank the same spiritual drink. 
 The food and the drink are the manna 
 (Exod. xvi. 13 ff.) and the water of Rephi- 
 dim (Exod. xvii. 1-6) at the one end of 
 the wanderings, and of Kadesh (Nuni. xx. 
 2ff.) at the other. But why then spiritual? 
 The manna and the water are represented 
 as miraculous : the manna, e.g. is in Ps. 
 Ixxviii. 24, food from heaven. This is 
 part of the meaning, but not the whole of 
 it. The miraculous manna was intended 
 to point men beyond itself to the creating 
 and sustaining power of God. " He fed 
 thee with manna that he might make thee 
 know that man doth not live by bread 
 alone, but by everything that proceedeth out 
 of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live " 
 (Deut. viii. 3). The manna had a spiritual 
 value: it was a testimony to a sphere be- 
 yond that of natural and sensuous expe- 
 rience (cf. ii. 14) : so also the water, 
 struck from the flinty rock (cf. Ps. Ixxviii. 
 15 f.). The food and drink vv^ere intended 
 to sustain the spirit as well as the body, 
 and to strengthen faith in a spiritual order. 
 Indeed, these things were witnesses not so 
 much to an order as to a presence — the 
 presence of Christ. The water which 
 they drank came from a spiritual rock 
 which follozved them all the way, and that 
 rock not only typified but actually was 
 Christ. This thought may have been sug- 
 gested to Paul by the Jewish tradition 
 that the Israelites were accompanied on 
 their march by a rock " globular, like a 
 bee-hive," which rolled after the camp. 
 The use of the word spiritual shows that 
 
 Paul did not himself literally adopt this 
 grotesque tradition, but he appears in this 
 passage to have adapted it. The manna 
 and the water (though only the latter is 
 specifically alluded to in this connection) 
 are manifestations of the wonder-working 
 presence not so much of God, as of Christ, 
 according to this passage. This implica- 
 tion of Christ in Israel's early history is 
 very rare in the New Testament; for an- 
 other illustration, cf. Heb. xi. 26, where 
 Moses in Egypt bears " the reproach of 
 Christ." Considering the preceding refer- 
 ence to baptism, and the subsequent allu- 
 sion to the Lord's supper (vv. 16 f.), it 
 seems highly probable that Paul regarded 
 the food and drink of the wilderness as 
 symbolic of that supper. 
 
 5. Many were called, but few were 
 chosen. All were privileged, all but two 
 were destroyed, just as in the Greek races, 
 there were many competitors, but only one 
 winner (ix. 24). 
 
 6. The situation in ancient Israel bids 
 fair to be repeated in Corinth, and that 
 story was written that we may take warn- 
 ing. Paul goes on to point the moral more 
 explicitly. Now these things — Israel's 
 initial privileges and ultimate fall — were 
 made examples for us (rather than in 
 these things they proved types of us) to 
 the end that we do not lust incessantly 
 (lit. be not lusters, iTrLdvfnjrds) after evil 
 things, as they on their part {nai) lusted. 
 History is too apt to repeat itself: they 
 and we, the fathers (ver. i) and the chil- 
 dren — and so the sin rolls on, unless we 
 allow ourselves to be taught by the fate 
 of the fathers. They lusted after the good 
 things of Egypt which they had left be- 
 hind (Num. xi. 4, 5), and the Corinthians 
 are similarly tempted by the attractions of 
 the heathen life which they had nominally 
 abandoned. 
 
 7. After this general warning, Paul now 
 enumerates the temptations in detail. First 
 and fundamental was idolatry. Do not be- 
 come idolaters, as some of them, that is, 
 the Israelites. That was their temptation 
 — as it stands in scripture (Exod. xxxii. 
 6), "The people sat down to eat and 
 drink, and rose up to play," on the occa- 
 sion of their making of the golden calf — 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 67 
 
 down to eat and drink, and rose up to 
 play. 
 
 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as 
 some of them committed, and fell in one 
 day three and twenty thousand. 
 
 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some 
 of them also tempted, and were destroyed 
 of serpents. 
 
 10 Neither murmur 3'e, as some of 
 them also murmured, and were destroyed 
 of the destroyer. 
 
 11 Now ail these things happened unto 
 
 them for ensamples :_ and they are writ- 
 ten for our admonition, upon whom the 
 ends of the world are come. 
 
 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he 
 standeth take heed lest he fall. 
 
 13 There hath no temptation taken you 
 but such as is common to man : but God 
 is faithful, who will not suffer you to be 
 tempted above that ye are able ; but will 
 with the temptation also make a way to 
 escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 
 
 and no less is it your temptation in Cor- 
 inth. The pointed reference to eating in 
 connection with idolatry recalls the broad- 
 minded brother _ who sat at table in the 
 idol's temple (viii. 10) and retrospectively 
 condemns his conduct as practical idolatry 
 (cf. ver. 21). Whether the play (dancing, 
 Exod. xxxii. 19) took a licentious form 
 or not, it is not without significance that 
 the apostle mentions fornication imme- 
 diately after idolatry (ver. 8). The wor- 
 ship of Aphrodite in Corinth certainly in- 
 volved immorality, though it is hardly 
 likely that a Christian would need to be 
 warned against participation in such a cult 
 as that. 
 
 8-10. Nor let us commit fornication, 
 as some of them did with the Moabitish 
 women, as recorded in Num. xxv. 1-3. 
 This immorality was also the result of 
 idolatry; and the end of it was that there 
 fell in one day twenty-three thousand — 
 twenty-four thousand, according to Num. 
 xxv. 9. Apparently this is either a slip 
 of memory on the part of Paul, or an error 
 of some transcriber who mistook 5' for 7'. 
 Nor let us put the patience of the Lord 
 to the test, (cf. Isaiah vii. 13) as some 
 of them did, when they complained that 
 they had been brought up out of Egypt to 
 perish in the wilderness (Num. xxi. 4-6; 
 cf. xiv. 22), and they were destroyed 
 (dTTwAXuz/To, graphic impf.) by the ser- 
 pents. This testing of the divine patience, 
 this challenging of the ways of God, is 
 akin to the murmuring, against which Paul 
 proceeds to caution the Corinthians. Nor 
 murmur, as some of them did on many 
 occasions (cf. Num. xiv. 2), but in par- 
 ticular on the occasion of the rebellion of 
 Korah (Num. xvi. 41), and they were de- 
 stroyed by the angel destroyer (Num. 
 xvi. 46-49) who destroyed the first born 
 of the Egyptians (Exod. xii. 23), many 
 Israelites after the presumptuous sin of 
 David (2 Sam. xxiv. 16) and the As- 
 syrian host in Hezekiah's time (Isaiah 
 xxxvii. 36). As the murmuring for 
 
 which Israel was thus punished was 
 against Moses and Aaron (Num. xvi. 41) 
 it> is possible, though the point should not 
 be pressed, that the murmuring against 
 which he is cautioning the Corinthians is 
 against himself and his fellow-workers — 
 such, for example, as the challenge of his 
 apostleship (ix. 1-3). In favor of this 
 view is the fact that he addresses his cau- 
 tion here, as in ver. 7, in the second per- 
 son, whereas in vv. 8, 9, he includes him- 
 self with the Corinthians. There is an 
 almost weird iteration in the Kadm rives 
 avTuJv, Time after time Israel erred and 
 was punished : similar sins and a similar 
 fate are possibilities for the Corinthians, 
 unless they allow themselves to be admon- 
 ished (vovdeaia^ ver. II ) by the past. 
 
 11-13. Now these things, one after 
 the other, (impf. Gwe^aLvev) happened to 
 those men by way of example, and they 
 were written once for all (aorisf, iypdcpri) 
 for the admonition of us, unto whom 
 the ends of the ages have reached. Each 
 age has its own end, and the end of all 
 is the age in which Paul was writing — 
 the age ushered in by Christ and preced- 
 ing His second coming. The Christian 
 church was the heir of all the past : history 
 culminated in it, and the lessons taught by 
 the past were for the church's admonition. 
 Consequently, as a fall is only too possi- 
 ble (witness the history of ancient Israel 
 just alluded to) let him that imagines 
 he stands, as the Corinthians, with their 
 proneness to conceit, imagined, beware lest 
 he fall. That is the lesson of the past. 
 But, though there is the chance of falling, 
 there is also the chance of overcoming : 
 for temptation has not overtaken you 
 except such as men can bear (lit. hu- 
 man) : and besides, God can be trusted 
 not to let you be tempted beyond your 
 strength, but with the temptation he will 
 also make the way out, so that you 
 can bear up under it. In other words, 
 there is need of vigilance (/3Xe7rerw) on the 
 part of man, and faith in the gracious 
 
68 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 14 Wherefore, my dearly 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 the communion of the blood of 
 Christ? The bread which we break, is 
 
 it not the communion of the body of 
 Christ? 
 
 17 For we being many are one bread, 
 and one body: for we are all partakers of 
 that one bread. 
 
 18 Behold Israel after the flesh : are 
 not they which eat of the sacrifices par- 
 takers of the altar? 
 
 will and the mighty power of God. God 
 will watch those who watch themselves. 
 
 Paul believed that the end of the existing 
 order of things was near (vii. 26, 31), and 
 it was partly with this in view that he 
 describes his generation as that on which 
 the ends of the ages have come. But in a 
 sense this is true of our own age and of 
 every age. History has issued in us ; the 
 past and its lessons are for us. Of the 
 events of Israel's history uniquely, but 
 more or less of the events of all history 
 it may be said: these things were exam- 
 ples for us (ver. 6) and they were written 
 for our admonition (ver. 11). This section 
 illustrates the salutary influence of a knowl- 
 edge of the past. / would not have you 
 ignorant, brethren. We are reminded of 
 the question of Jesus, Have ye not read 
 — what David did? All the past is a 
 source of instruction and warning, a reve- 
 lation of the ways of God with men. 
 
 The Lord or the Demons? (x. 14-22). 
 
 14. The previous paragraph was a gen- 
 eral warning against the danger of re- 
 lapse, and more particularly a warning 
 against idolatry. It was the idolatry of 
 Israel that led to the fornication in ver. 
 8, and the first of the four specific warn- 
 ings ran, " Do not become idolaters " 
 (ver. 7). It is natural therefore that the 
 next section should begin (or it may be, 
 as some suppose, the last section ends) 
 with the w^ords: Wherefore, my be- 
 loved, flee from idolatry. The particular 
 temptation to which the Corinthians were 
 exposed, was, as we have seen (cf. note on 
 viii. 10) probably that involved in retain- 
 ing their membership in Pagan clubs, in 
 which union was cemented by common 
 participation in a sacrificial feast. Par- 
 ticipation in such a feast is altogether in- 
 compatible with participation in the Lord"^ 
 supper, and this contrast is elaborated with 
 great earnestness throughout the section. 
 
 15, 16. I speak as to men of good 
 sense: judge of my statements for your- 
 
 selves (vfieh). As for the cup which, at 
 the institution of the supper, Jesus blessed, 
 and which is thence known as the cup of 
 blessing, the cup which we, that is, the 
 church at large, or perhaps the presiding 
 minister on its behalf — bless (that is, the 
 cup over which we offer a prayer of 
 thanksgiving: cf. ]\Iark viii. 6, evxapia-rriaas, 
 7, evXoyrjffas) : does it (this cup) not con- 
 stitute a fellowship in the blood of 
 CHRIST, with which any manner of fel- 
 lowship with demons is inconceivable? As 
 for the bread which we break, does it 
 not constitute a fellowship in the body 
 of CHRIST? The cup is mentioned before 
 the bread, as in Luke xxii. 17, 19, but cf. 
 20. It is not impossible that the cup of 
 blessing was so called from one of the 
 cups, which bore the same name, in the 
 passover feast : the old name was con- 
 firmed and transformed by the blessing of 
 Christ. Two kinds of fellowship are here 
 suggested (a) that of the members with 
 one another — by sharing something in 
 common, they are associated ; (b) that of 
 the members with Christ: that which they 
 share in common is not a thing, but a 
 Person, Christ Himself in His sacrificial 
 aspect, symbolized by the blood shed and 
 the body broken. The association of the 
 members with Christ is as real as their 
 association with each other. " The power 
 of the Saviour is imparted to them in the 
 Sacrament ; and they become a brotherhood 
 and a fellowship in virtue of their com- 
 mon relation to Him." It is not merely 
 sharing in a rite, but union with a Person. 
 17, 18. The stress of the argument lies 
 on the fellowship of the members with 
 Christ, which is incompatible with their 
 fellowship with demons : verse 17 paren- 
 thetically indicates the importance of their 
 fellowship with one another through their 
 common participation in the sacramental 
 bread. Seeing there is one bread, we, 
 many though we be (lit. the )na)iy), are 
 one body, for we all have a share from 
 (e/:) the one bread. Against the transla- 
 tion of A. V. and R. V. ('* for we being 
 many are one bread, and one body " A. V. ; 
 " seeing that we, who are many, are 
 one bread, one body," R. V.), the extreme 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 69 
 
 19 What say I then? that the idol is 
 anything, or that which is offered in sacri- 
 fice to idols is anything? 
 
 20 But / say, that the things which the 
 Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, 
 and not to God : and I would not that 
 ye should have fellowship with devils. 
 
 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the 
 Lord, and the cup of devils : ye cannot be 
 partakers of the Lord's table, and of the 
 table of devils. 
 
 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jeal- 
 ousy? are we stronger than he? 
 
 improbability of bread being used in two 
 entirely different senses in one short verse 
 
 — in the former half figuratively, in the 
 latter literally — may be decisively urged. 
 Again, e/c must have its full force : " we 
 partake (R. V.: are ^partakers, A. V.) of" 
 would require the simple genitive, e/c is 
 bold and graphic here : it has its full 
 force, and indicates the source by taking 
 from which the members hold together, 
 have in common (f^^Ta^ e'xw). That is the 
 bond which binds them. To illustrate 
 this point, Paul asks his readers to con- 
 sider the ritual practice of the Jews, Israel 
 after the flesh (as opposed to the spiritual 
 Israel: cf. Gal. vi. 16, iv. 29, Rom. ii. 29). 
 Do not those who eat the sacrifices 
 have fellowship in the altar? (lit. "are 
 they not communicants of the altar?"). 
 The Jews were firmly bound to each other 
 by the participation in a common meal 
 and to their God by the recognition of a 
 common altar, 
 
 19, 20. Paul has been arguing for the 
 reality of the communion between the 
 worshipers and the object of their wor- 
 ship established by the sacrificial meal. 
 A natural inference would be that he at- 
 tributed reality to the idols at the heathen 
 feasts, and this he has already denied (viii. 
 4, there is no idol in the world). So to 
 guard against this , false inference, he con- 
 tinues: What is it then that I affirm? 
 That a thing sacrificed to an idol is 
 anything? Certainly not: the earth and 
 all its cattle are the Lord's, and meat 
 will^ not affect our standing with God 
 (viii. 8). Or am I asserting that an idol 
 is anything? Certainly not: that I have 
 already explicitly denied (viii.- 4). But 
 what I assert isi this, that though the 
 idol, the image itself, is nothing, these 
 sacrifices do involve a real fellowship with 
 demons. Evil spirits, under the leadership 
 of Satan, had, according to a Jewish be- 
 lief which Paul shared, real existence and 
 influence, and were especially regarded as 
 the inspirers of heathen cults (2 Cor, iv. 
 4, Eph. ii. 2, vi. 12) : consequently, the 
 sacrifices which the heathen offer, they 
 offer to demons, and not, as a liberally 
 disposed person might maintain, to God, 
 
 — a quotation from Deut. xxxii. 17 (cf. 
 
 Ps. cvi. 37) — and I do not wish you 
 to have fellowship in demons. " Behind 
 the idol to which the Pagan society sac- 
 rifices is a certain demonic power ; and 
 those who participate in the sacrificial 
 feast become united in a mystic union with 
 that power and with one another" (Ram- 
 say in Expositor, 1900 vol. ii. p. 438, cf. 
 1901 vol. iii. p. 100 ff.). 
 
 21, 22. Such a mystic union was ob- 
 viously completely exclusive of union with 
 Christ. There was a spiritual incompati- 
 bility between them. No man can serve 
 two masters. Ye simply cannot drink the 
 Lord's cup and the demons' cup: ye 
 cannot share the Lord's table and the 
 demons' table. A Christian cannot bind- 
 himself by a solemn ritual to a power 
 which is the enemy of Christ (cf. the 
 TTopvTj in vi. 15). Or do we have the 
 stupidity and the audacity to provoke the 
 Lord to jealousy? (cf. Deut. xxxii. 21). 
 The Lord might be God, but coming im- 
 mediately after ver. 21 (the cup and the 
 table of the Lord), it is no doubt Christ. 
 Are we stronger than He? Surely we 
 do not suppose that we can brave with 
 impunity the righteous indignation of the 
 powerful Christ (cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 3). 
 
 The temptation for a broad-minded Co- 
 rinthian to retain his fellowship in an asso- 
 ciation which had brought him stimulus, 
 profit, or friendship must have been great. 
 He could argue that the meat partaken of 
 at the common meal was unobjectionable, 
 because the idol to which it had been sac- 
 rificed was unreal, and that conscience 
 therefore was in no way involved. Paul's 
 answer is colored by the beliefs of the 
 time : the sacrifice is offered to real demons, 
 and it throws the worshipers into real 
 association with them — an association in- 
 compatible with their fellowship with 
 Christ. The form of the argument is. 
 temporary, but the principle behind Paul's 
 statement is permanently true. A Christian 
 must not identify himself — least of all in 
 a formal and solemn manner — with in- 
 fluences which, however seemingly inno- 
 cent in expression, are anti-Christian in 
 their origin and presuppositions. The bond 
 
70 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 23 All things are lawful for me, but all 
 things are not expedient : all things are 
 lawful for me, but all things edify not. 
 
 24 Let no man seek his own, but every 
 man another's wealth. 
 
 25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, 
 that eat, asking no question for conscience' 
 sake. 
 
 26 For the earth is the Lord's, and the 
 fulness thereof. 
 
 between Christians must be a Christian 
 bond: any other bond is not only a dis- 
 loyalty, but a contradiction. In the words 
 of Professor Ramsay, " the danger which 
 Paul dreads in the Pagan societies was 
 the formation of a tie of brotherhood in- 
 consistent with and opposed to the tie of 
 Christian union. Intercourse with Pagans 
 is not forbidden ; one may mix in ordinary 
 society, even though one knows that the 
 Pagan does not obey those principles of 
 pure life which the Christians must comply 
 with. One may do business with them, ac- 
 cept their invitations, eat and drink with 
 them ; but one should not bind oneself to 
 them by the ties of a common solemn 
 ritual, which exercises a strong constrain- 
 ing force on the will and nature of man, 
 and prevents him from real devotion to 
 Christ." (Expositor, 1900, vol. ii. p. 439.) 
 
 The Limits of Liberty (x. 23-xi. i). 
 
 The last quotation will serve to introduce 
 the next section, which discusses the le- 
 gitimacy of buying in the open market or 
 eating in a private house meat that had 
 been offered in sacrifice to idols. This 
 case is essentially different from that dis- 
 cussed in the last section. The idol is 
 nothing, and the meat offered to it un- 
 objectionable, yet there to partake of it 
 was regarded as a practical denial of 
 Christ, while here such conduct is tolerable. 
 The difference is that there it was eaten 
 at the demon's table, in a way which im- 
 plied deliberate and formal association 
 with demons ; here it is bought in the 
 market or eaten in a friend's house, where 
 the formal association with demonic powers 
 is absent, and the meat can be taken for 
 what it is worth, as a gift of the Lord, 
 to whom all the earth belongs (ver. 26). 
 
 Paul has a habit of returning, as here, 
 to topics that he had discussed before (cf. 
 viii), — suggesting, what is on other grounds 
 probable, that the letter was not all com- 
 posed at one time. The cases here dis- 
 cussed would naturally be of frequent oc- 
 currence among tlic Corinthian Christians, 
 .and probably Paul had been expressly re- 
 quested in their letter to discuss them. 
 
 23, 24. All things not in themselves 
 reprehensible (such as murmuring, forni- 
 cation vv. 8, 9) are lawful: for me (fJ-oi) 
 in this clause and the next, have been 
 wrongfully inserted in the text under the 
 influence of vi. 12. There the point was 
 the restriction of a man's liberty for his 
 own sake, here for the sake of others. 
 All things are lawful, but they are not all 
 profitable, in the sense of edifying, as 
 the next clause shows. All things are 
 lawful, but they do not all build up the 
 church (iii. 9). Here again, as in vi. 12, 
 we may suppose that all things are lazi'ful 
 is said by the Corinthians, echoing per- 
 haps a frequent word of Paul : the suc- 
 ceeding clauses will then be his retort. 
 We must be prepared to limit our liberty 
 for the church's sake, especially for the 
 sake of the scrupulous brother. Liberty 
 is a trust, to be used unselfishly: let no 
 man seek merely his own good, but every 
 man also that of others (lit. the other). 
 This restriction of liberty by consideration 
 of others is illustrated in the sequel (ver. 
 28). 
 
 25, 26. As all morally neutral things 
 are possible, where no other conscience is 
 concerned, anything that is sold in the 
 market you may eat, without making any 
 investigation for conscience' sake. The 
 last clause is capable of two interpreta- 
 tions : (a) asking no questions, and that 
 for the sake of conscience, that is, to 
 keep conscience from being disturbed : or 
 (b) asking no questions that arise out of 
 conscientious scruples, (a) seems prefer- 
 able. Paul is _ seeking to discourage the 
 casuistical spirit : Bengcl happily remarks 
 " Scrupulosity is often more injurious than 
 simplicity." Paul is here thinking appar- 
 ently of the conscience of the scrupulous 
 brother (ver. 24). Where this is not in- 
 volved, the Christian has a right to claim 
 his liberty : for the earth is the Lord's 
 and the fulness thereof — an original and 
 happy application of the text Ps. xxiv. i. 
 If the earth and all that fills it is God's, 
 nothing is common or unclean, and the 
 meat sacrificed to idols, as it is really 
 God's, is as pure as any other. 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 71 
 
 27 If any of them that believe not bid 
 you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go ; 
 whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking 
 no question for conscience' sake. 
 
 28 But if any man say unto you, This 
 is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not 
 for his sake that shewed it, and for con- 
 science' sake : for the earth is the Lord's, 
 and the fulness thereof: 
 
 29 Conscience, I sa)^ not thine _ own, 
 but of the other: for why is my liberty 
 judged of another man's conscience? 
 
 30 For if I by grace be a partaker, 
 
 why am I evil spoken of for that for which 
 I give thanks? 
 
 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, 
 or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory 
 of God. 
 
 2,2 Give none offence, neither to the 
 Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the 
 church of God : 
 
 2Z Even as I please all men in all 
 things, not seeking mine own profit, but 
 the profit of many, that they may be 
 saved. 
 
 27-30. Similarly if one of the unbe- 
 lieving Corinthians invites you to din- 
 ner, and you make up your mind to go 
 
 — Paul does not forbid them (cf. v. 10), 
 but he does not encourage them — any- 
 thing that is set upon the table you 
 may eat, without making any investiga- 
 tion for conscience' sake. The food is 
 good, and if the question of its origin is 
 not raised, the Christian may eat it freely. 
 But, what if the question should be raised? 
 If some body say to you, " This has been 
 offered in sacrifice," what then? Whom 
 are we to conceive as making this remark? 
 Possibly an unbeliever who desires to em- 
 barrass the Christian; but more probably, 
 from the sequel, a scrupulous Christian 
 brother, as it is his conscience that is con- 
 sidered. It may be urged that a Christian 
 would have used the word elbuXoOvTov (a 
 thing sacrificed to idols), not lepodvTov (a 
 sacred offering) ; but he may well have 
 used the latter word out of deference to 
 his pagan host. When, then, you are defi- 
 nitely told that the meat has been offered 
 to an idol, and another conscience will be 
 affected by your conduct, do not eat it, 
 for the sake of that man who gave the 
 information and for conscience' sake, 
 practically for the sake of the conscience 
 of the man who gave the information, as 
 the next verse makes very plain : con- 
 science, I mean, not your own, but the 
 other man's. So far as your conscience 
 is concerned, you are free : for why is 
 my liberty — Paul identifies himself with 
 the liberal-minded brother, and speaks in 
 the first person — to be judged by another 
 conscience? Another conscience — a very 
 striking phrase, much stronger than the 
 conscience of another: it as it were objecti- 
 fies and personifies conscience. Another 
 conscience may affect my action, but it can- 
 not be a conscience for me : what my con- 
 science judges to be liberty, is still liberty 
 for it. And if I on my part (^7^) partake 
 of such food thankfully, that is, by saying 
 
 grace before it, why am I to be evil 
 spoken of in regard to that for which 
 I (e7w) offer thanks? " Every creature 
 of God is good, if it be received with 
 thanksgiving" (i Tim. iv. 4), and no man 
 has any right to speak evil of me, if I 
 partake of such food, after offering up a 
 prayer of gratitude. Paul is contending 
 for the principle of Christian liberty; for 
 the sake of another, I may refuse to avail 
 myself of it, but it does not cease to be 
 m.y right. As Bengel says, " His weak 
 conscience cannot deprive my conscience of 
 liberty." Findlay interprets differently : 
 " What good end will be served by my 
 eating under these circumstances, and ex- 
 posing my freedom to the censure of an 
 unsympathetic conscience?" and in the 
 next clause — if my thanksgiving leads to 
 his blasphemy, what good end is served by 
 that? tVa ri is elliptical: supply Tej/Tjrat, 
 in order that what may happen? to what 
 purpose? why? 
 
 X. 31-xi. I. The argument is concluded 
 (ovv) as often in Paul, by an exhortation. 
 Whether then ye eat food that has been 
 sacrificed to idols or any other food, or 
 drink, or do anything (practically = ic-'/zaf- 
 cver else ye do), do all things to the 
 glory of God, i.e. with that in view, with 
 that as your end (et's) : all {iravra^ first and 
 emphatic) your conduct should be a prog- 
 ress towards that, a contribution to that. 
 Give no offense either to Jews, by need- 
 lessly wounding their scruples, or to 
 Greeks, e.g. by an unrestricted use of your 
 liberty, or to the church of God by dis- 
 regarding, e.g. the prejudices of the scru- 
 pulous. All classes of men alike {Kai-Kai- 
 Kai) were to be conscientiously considered 
 — those without the church (Jews and 
 Greeks), and those within. This was 
 Paul's own practice : even as I also 
 please (that is, accommodate myself to, 
 cf. ix. 22) all men in all things, not 
 seeking my own advantage, but that of 
 the many (cf. ver. 24) that they may be 
 
72 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 I Be ve followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 
 
 saved. This being his own practice 
 (dpetr/cw) as well as principle, he could 
 afford to say, Show yourselves imita- 
 tors of me, as I on my part (Kayui) (am) 
 of Christ, who pleased not Himself, but 
 gave Himself to and for others. The 
 glory of God and the good {tva coidHaLv) 
 of men — these are the two master-mo- 
 tives of the true Christian life. 
 
 It is significant that the phrase for con- 
 science' sake, which occurs three times in 
 this passage (vv. 25, 27, 28) should refer 
 to the conscience of others {tt]v tov krepov) , 
 Christianity is ahvays considering the other 
 man; and in every delicate problem his 
 conscience is a factor as well as mine. 
 Society and the church have to be edified, 
 but they are edified, not by knowledge, but 
 
 by love (viii. i) ; and the good man will 
 be prepared to restrict his liberty for his 
 brother's sake. At the same time that lib- 
 erty remains, and (on what seems the more 
 appropriate interpretation of vv. 29, 30), 
 Paul is as anxious to defend the liberty of 
 the one man as the conscience of the other. 
 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness 
 thereof, and the more the scruples of the 
 narrow-minded brother are dispelled by 
 clearer insight and growing charity, the 
 wider will be the range of actual as well 
 as of theoretical liberty, till all morally 
 neutral things will be possible. But in the 
 meantime it is our duty, in matters that do 
 not violate principle, to accommodate our- 
 selves " in all things to all men," with the 
 hope and the aim of winning and saving 
 them. This is the true Imitatio Christi. 
 
74 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 THE CONDUCT OF PUBLIC WORSHIP (xi.-xiv), 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye 
 remember me in all things, and keep the 
 ordinances, as I delivered them to you. 
 
 3 But I would have you know, that the 
 head of every man is Christ ; and the head 
 of the woman is the man ; and the head of 
 Christ is God. 
 
 After the elaborate discussion of the 
 Christian's relation to idolatry and the 
 customs with which it was implicated, it is 
 fitting that the apostle should turn to the 
 consideration of the question of true wor- 
 ship. This was the more necessary, as 
 abuses had grown up in connection with the 
 conduct of public worship. The women 
 had claimed and enjoyed an unseemly 
 prominence, and the Lord's supper had 
 been administered in a manner not only 
 unbecoming, but disgraceful. Paul pro- 
 ceeds therefore to consider these questions, 
 and others connected with the public Hfe 
 of the church, such as the exercise of 
 spiritual gifts ; and this leads him to dis- 
 cuss the mutual dependence of the mem- 
 bers of the church, and the incomparable 
 superiority of love. 
 
 Women and the Veil (xi. 2-16). 
 
 One of the indirect results of Paul's 
 preaching was a growing assertiveness on 
 the part of the women. His great and 
 daring words were liable to misunderstand- 
 ing and abuse. The doctrine that " all 
 things are possible to me " had been in- 
 terpreted as license, and the doctrine that 
 " there can be neither Jew nor Greek, 
 there can be neither bond nor free, there 
 can he no male and female; for ye are 
 all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii. 28), 
 easily lent itself to similar misinterpretation, 
 Paul has to remind the Corinthians of 
 their duty to remain in the state in which 
 they had been called (vii. 20, 24) ; instead, 
 slaves had been yearning for liberty, and 
 Christian women, as we learn from this 
 chapter, had begun to throw off the con- 
 ventional marks of their subordination to 
 men, and to assert the equality with them 
 which they believed .themselves, as Chris- 
 tians, to possess. Paul's great doctrine of 
 equality was beginning to be practically 
 applied by them in disturbing and possibly 
 dangerous ways : and in the interests of 
 " comeliness and order," perhaps also for 
 the fair name of the gospel, Paul utters a 
 word of warning. 
 
 2. Reproof is coming ; so Paul, with his 
 customary tact (cf. i. 4) strikes a note of 
 eulogy at the beginning. Now (in 5e' he 
 passes to a new subject) I praise you 
 that in all things ye have remembered 
 and still remember me (pf. fxe/jLvnade)^ 
 and in particular that ye maintain the 
 traditions just as I delivered them to 
 you. This eulogy, as Lietzmann suggests, 
 may have been occasioned by a remark in 
 the Corinthian letter to Paul to this effect : 
 " As we are always at pains to follow your 
 instructions, we should like you to state 
 your opinion with regard to the veiling of 
 women at divine service." It is difficult to 
 reproduce in English the echo so obvious 
 in the Greek trapebuKa tols Trapadoaeis. The 
 word traditions too is somewhat mislead- 
 ing : it is simply something handed on, 
 committed to, another ; and here no doubt 
 refers to the instructions in matters of 
 discipline and doctrine expressly given 
 (aor. irapibujKa) to the Church by Paul. 
 For such a " tradition " of doctrine, cf. xv. 
 3, where the same word is used ; and of 
 practice, cf. xi. 23. It is not expressly 
 said in the passage before us, as in these 
 two passages, that Paul had himself re- 
 ceived {-rrapeXa^ov : from the Lord, xi. 23) 
 the instructions which he passed on to 
 them; and perhaps, as the matter he is 
 about to discuss, simply affects church dis- 
 cipline and order, we are to regard these 
 instructions as given simply on his own 
 initiative. Even nature herself (ver. 14) 
 should have taught the offenders the pro- 
 priety of the course he is urging. 
 
 3. But, though you have observed, as 
 you say, my instructions, there are matters 
 which still need to be amended. I desire 
 you therefore — Paul is very earnest — to 
 know: the Corinthians, despite their wis- 
 dom, had not realized that equality in es- 
 sential respects is perfectly consistent with 
 subordination in other respects, and that 
 society, including the church, is an ordered 
 system, whose mutual relationships must 
 be strictly observed. This Paul puts tersely 
 and concretely, when he sa\-s he would 
 have them know that of every man. Chris- 
 tian and Pagan alike, Christ is the head. 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 75 
 
 4 Every man praying or prophesying, 
 having his head covered, dishonoureth his 
 head. 
 
 5 But every woman that prayeth or 
 prophesieth with her head uncovered dis- 
 honoureth her head : for that is even all 
 one as if she were shaven. 
 
 6 For if the woman be not covered, let 
 
 her also be shorn : but if it be a shame for 
 a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her 
 be covered. 
 
 7 For a man indeed ought not to cover 
 his head, forasmuch as he is the image and 
 glory of God : but the woman is the glory 
 of the man. 
 
 for He is the one Lord of creation, through 
 whom are all things (viii. 6) : while the 
 man is head of woman, and God is head 
 of Christ (cf. iii. 23). In the Christian 
 sphere, woman and man are mutually de- 
 pendent, as Paul admits in ver. 11 : indeed 
 on an essential equality (Gal. iii. 28). Yet 
 in the practical relations of society and 
 church, the ordinary distinction between 
 the sexes holds ; the man is head, and the 
 true woman will not aspire _ to that 
 supremacy, any more than Christ would 
 aspire to equality with God (Phil. ii. 
 6). 
 
 4, 5. As man has no visible head or 
 superior, he must not wear a symbol of 
 submission : but as woman's head is man, 
 she must wear such a sign — in her case, 
 the veil. Any man praying or prophesy- 
 ing — the New Testament prophet is one 
 who is inspired to speak words of edifica- 
 tion and comfort to the church (xiv. 3) — 
 with (lit. having) (a veil hanging) down 
 from his head, disgraces his head, that 
 is, by wearing this token of submission. 
 But what is meant by the second reference 
 to his head? Is it Christ, as is implied by 
 the previous verse? or is " head " to be taken 
 literally, as it is earlier in the verse. 
 The former is tempting, especially after the 
 explicit definition of ver. 3, but the latter 
 is, on the whole, the more natural. The 
 same doubt gathers about the allusion to 
 the woman's head later in the verse. It 
 is not implied that any man did thus pray 
 or prophesy veiled ; but the disgrace im- 
 plied in this imaginary case illustrates the 
 womian's disgrace all the more forcibly. 
 And any woman praying or prophesying 
 with bare head (lit. with her head un- 
 covered) disgraces her head, whether man 
 (ver. 3) or her own head — ^ some MSS. 
 actually read eavTrjs, The disgrace of a 
 woman speaking in public with bare head, 
 was all the greater, as it was a disgrace 
 for her to speak in public at all : women 
 should be silent in church (xiv. 34, i Tim. 
 ii. 12). Paul, however, attacks here only 
 the immodesty involved in discarding the 
 veil, which greatly aggravated the offense 
 of their speaking at all : his protest against 
 
 this latter offense he reserves till xiv. 34. 
 In public, Greek women drew the upper 
 fold of the robe over the head like a hood. 
 The woman who prayed bare-headed had 
 disgraced her head, for she is one and the 
 same as the woman who, like slave- 
 women and adulteresses, is shaven. 
 Courtesans wore no veil : consequently a 
 Christian woman who wore none would 
 be exposing herself to the gravest misun- 
 derstanding. In her shamelessness she 
 would seem to be little better than an 
 adulteress, whose head was shaven b^ way 
 of penalty. In spite of the neuters ev and 
 TO avTo^ the participle rri i^vprjfievri^ shows 
 that we must translate she (not ii) is the 
 same ; the other would require the infinitive, 
 Toj i^vpijadai^ 
 
 6. The frequent repetition of ya.p shows 
 how closely the argument is knit. For if 
 a woman is unveiled (oj), not m, forms 
 one idea with the verb) let her take a 
 step further and cut her hair close — 
 she shows her shamelessness by removing 
 the covering prescribed by custom, she may 
 as well remove that provided by nature — 
 but if it is disgraceful for a woman to 
 have her hair cut close or shaved (and 
 even the Christian wom,en who pray bare- 
 headed would admit this) then let her 
 cover herself with a veil. 
 
 7. Another reason for his contention 
 Paul derives from the story of the creation. 
 For man (or a man) ought not to have 
 his head covered, seeing that he is, as 
 Genesis i. 26, declares him to be, " the 
 image" and glory of God: he is like God 
 in his dominion over the world, and the 
 splendor of God is visibly reflected in 
 him. He wears no symbolic veil, ,as he 
 has no visible superior. But the woman 
 is the glory — she could not strictly be 
 called_ the image — of man, reflecting the 
 qualities which give him his true worth, 
 and as such she ought to wear the veil, 
 which symbolizes her subordination. The 
 force of the argument from Scripture is 
 somewhat weakened, in substance, though 
 not in the letter, by the fact that the very 
 next v^erse after the one Paul quotes 
 (Gen. i. 27) reads: "God created man 
 
76 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 8 For the man is not of the woman ; 
 but the woman of the man. 
 
 9 Neither was the man created for the 
 woman ; but the woman for the man. 
 
 10 For this cause ought the woman to 
 have power on her head because of the 
 angels. 
 
 11 Nevertheless neither is the man 
 without the w^oman, neither the woman 
 without the man, in the Lord. 
 
 12 For as the woman is of the man, 
 
 even so is the man also by the woman, 
 but all things of God. 
 
 13 Judge in yourselves : is it comely 
 that a woman pray unto God uncovered? 
 
 14 Doth not even nature itself teach 
 you, that, if a man have long hair, it is 
 a shame unto him? 
 
 15 But if a woman have long hair, it 
 is a glory to her : for her hair is given 
 her for a covering. 
 
 16 But if any man seem to be conten- 
 
 in His own image ; male and female created 
 He them." 
 
 8-10. Two other reasons for the wear- 
 ing of the veil ; woman was created from 
 man (ver. 8) and for him (ver. 9). For, 
 referring to the creation story in Gen. ii, 
 man is not from woman, but woman 
 from man, being formed of one of his 
 ribs. For also man was not created for 
 the woman's sake, but woman for the 
 man's sake, to be his helper. First the 
 man, then the woman : man is prior to the 
 woman in time and in importance, accord- 
 ing to the argument. On this account 
 the woman ought (o0etXet, as the man 
 ought not, ovK 6(f)€i\eL, ver. 7), to have the 
 sign of the man's authority upon her 
 head, by reason of the angels, who are 
 apparently conceived (cf. Gal. iii. 19) as 
 guardians of the divine order (including 
 the relation of the sexes) established at 
 creation, and present, though unseen, at 
 the public worship of the church. In iv. 
 9, angels as well as men eagerly watch 
 the pathetic fortunes of the apostles, just 
 as here apparently they watch the conduct 
 of the worshipers. Another possible ex- 
 planation of this difficult phrase connects 
 it with the story of Gen. vi. 2, according 
 to which the angels fell in love with mortal 
 women; the implication here being that 
 women, who appear unveiled, may be the 
 cause of similar temptation. 
 
 II, 12. At this point Paul feels the ne- 
 cessity of qualifying his argument some- 
 what. Its drift has been to emphasize the 
 subordination of woman: and yet that does 
 not completely represent Paul's view : for 
 neither is woman apart from man nor 
 man apart from woman in the Lord. 
 In the Christian sphere there is a mutual 
 dependence of the sexes, in the Christian 
 order both are necessary, each is the com- 
 plement and counterpart of the other. 
 For just as the first woman was made 
 from the man, so now, in the ordinary 
 course of nature, the man enters the 
 world through the woman: the first 
 woman owed her being to man, all subse- 
 
 quent men owe their being to women; 
 and all — men, women, and things — are 
 from God, have their source (e/c) in Him, 
 and depend upon Him. Here, by one of 
 his deft touches, Paul lifts the matter out 
 of the region of controversy, and sets it in 
 a larger light (cf. iii. 23). 
 
 13-15. But altogether apart from Scrip- 
 ture, Paul feels that he may safely appeal 
 to the common sense of the Corinthians, 
 and to their instinct for the social pro- 
 prieties. Judge ye among yourselves: is 
 it becoming for a woman to be unveiled 
 when she prays to God? (the addition 
 to God heightens the unseemliness of her 
 conduct). Not only, however, does in- 
 stinct point to that conclusion, but also 
 that outward order of things which we 
 call nature. Why, does not even nature 
 itself teach you that a man's long hair 
 is a dishonor to him, while a woman's 
 is her glory? for her hair has been given 
 her, as woman's permanent gift (perf. 
 dedorat)^ instead of a covering, and to 
 serve the purpose of a veil. This appeal 
 to nature, a favorite word of Aristotle's, 
 is of peculiar interest in the pages of 
 Paul. 
 
 16. Having urged his argument from 
 the standpoint of s6cial convention, Scrip- 
 ture, common sense, and nature, Paul 
 brings the discussion to a peremptory con- 
 clusion. Now if any one presumes to be 
 contentious, WE (T?Meis. emphatic) have no 
 such custom, nor have the churches of 
 God. Some have seen in this abrupt con- 
 clusion a suspicion, on the part of Paul, 
 that his arguments were inadequate. This 
 appears to do him less than justice. He 
 has pursued the discussion as long as he 
 is accustomed to do in such cases, and 
 his arguments are similar to those he em- 
 ploys elsewhere ; for example, in his dis- 
 cussion of the maintenance of the ministry 
 (ix. 1-14). In zve liaz'e no sueh custom, 
 he does not mean the custom of being 
 contentious, but of allowing women to take 
 public part in the worship unveiled. He 
 does not believe in the custom himself, nor 
 
Oh. XI] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 77 
 
 tious, we have no such custom, neither 
 the churches of God. 
 
 17 Now in this that I declare unto you 
 
 I praise you not, that ye come together 
 not for the better, but for the worse. 
 
 is it practiced, as perhaps the Corinthians 
 think, by other churches of God: the last 
 two words lend a certain solemnity to the 
 conclusion — quite in Paul's manner. 
 
 This singularly interesting discussion of 
 the use of the veil for women when they 
 are taking, as Paul thinks they should not 
 take (xiv. 34), a prominent part in public 
 worship is both very remote from, and 
 very near to, the interests of the modern 
 world. To a modern mind, most of the 
 arguments by which Paul supports his con- 
 tention are distinctly unconvincing. His 
 description of man as the glory of God 
 while woman is only the glory of man, 
 does not commend itself to us, nor is it 
 apparently in the spirit of Gen. i. 27. Nor 
 would the use which he makes of the 
 ancient Hebrew story of the creation of 
 woman from man satisfy a modern mind, 
 nor his view that man was not made for 
 woman, but only woman for man. The 
 phraseology, like the arguments, moves in 
 another world than ours, notably ver. 10 
 (literally, "the woman ought to have au- 
 thority upon her head on account of the 
 angels"). The subordination of women 
 for which Paul is pleading, and which he 
 carries so far as to prescribe for them 
 silence, seems to move upon a lower plane 
 than the great assertion in Galatians iii. 
 28, that " there can be no male and female, 
 for all are one in Christ Jesus," and lower 
 than the admission in this very context that 
 "neither is woman without man nor man 
 without woman in the Lord." 
 
 But while the arguments of Paul may be 
 unconvincing, his conclusions we feel to be 
 right. Ideally, there is neither male nor 
 female, all are one in Christ ; but practically, 
 distinctions between the sexes subsist and 
 must be recognized. Religion does well 
 to respect the conventions, unless when the 
 conventions themselves are opposed to re- 
 ligion. Whether a woman should or should 
 not wear a veil when addressing a religious 
 meeting, may seem a very insignificant mat- 
 ter for an apostle to discuss, especially an 
 apostle who laid so little stress on external 
 things (vii. 19). But even seemingly in- 
 significant matters may, on occasion, be of 
 the gravest importance. Only women of 
 the lowest type would appear unveiled in 
 Corinth ; and a Christian woman who did 
 so would expose herself and her religion 
 
 to the certainty of misunderstanding. That 
 particular application of Christian liberty, 
 in that particular age, could only lead to 
 harm; but it does not follow that it would 
 be illegitimate under the very different cir- 
 cumstances of our own age. 
 
 Again, in spite of the essential equality 
 of the sexes, the teaching of instinct 
 {irpeirov^ what is seemly) and nature 
 (17 (pvGLs) have to be considered in questions 
 of practical conduct. Christianity may 
 have to reform convention : but if con- 
 vention be the embodiment of a principle 
 fundamental to the order of society, Chris- 
 tianity will confirm and transform it. 
 
 The Lord's Supper (xi. 17-34). 
 
 This section, dealing with the abuses 
 which characterized the Corinthian cele- 
 bration of the Lord's supper, is closely 
 connected with the previous section, dif- 
 ferent though its theme may seem to be, in 
 that they both deal with the decorum which 
 Christians are bound to observe in their 
 public assemblies. Of this decorum the 
 unseemly selfishness displayed at the Sup- 
 per was a violation in one direction, just 
 as the unveiled women were in another. 
 But there is a peculiar solemnity about 
 this discussion, manifesting itself sometimes 
 in a certain stately repetition as well as 
 in the general tone of it, which shows how 
 much more serious to Paul was the one 
 abuse than the other. The one was a vio- 
 lation of instinct and nature ; this is a 
 crime against the Lord Himself, for which 
 heavy punishment has already fallen (ver. 
 30), and there is danger of a judgment yet 
 more terrible (ver. 34). 
 
 This passage also illustrates admirably 
 the casual and occasional nature of Paul's 
 epistles. The solemn injunctions relative 
 to the Lord's supper, which have for so 
 long controlled the practice of the church, 
 really owe their origin to the scandalous 
 celebrations of the Corinthian church, 
 which Paul is here censuring. They are 
 at once a rebuke and a model ; and we 
 might never have had the model, but for 
 the need of the rebuke. 
 
 17. Now in giving this charge. It 
 is difficult to say whether Paul means the 
 charge which he has just given regarding 
 the veiling of the women, or that which 
 he is about to give, regarding the seemly 
 
78 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 i8 For first of all, when ye come to- 
 gether in the church, I hear that there be 
 divisions among you ; and I partly believe 
 
 it. 
 
 19 For there must be also heresies 
 among you, that they which are approved 
 may be made manifest among you. 
 
 20 When ye come together therefore 
 into one place, this is!not to eat the Lx)rd's 
 supper. 
 
 21 For in eating every one taketh be- 
 fore other his own supper: and one is 
 hungry and another is drunken. 
 
 celebration of the supper — that a man 
 must examine himself (ver. 28) and wait 
 for his neighbor (ver. 33) ; on the whole, 
 the former seems the more natural. The 
 first words of the new paragraph connect 
 the one charge with the other: that Paul 
 has the former paragraph in mind is plain 
 from his repetition of the word praise 
 (iraivu), ver. 17) which looks back to ver. 
 2, There were many things for which he 
 could praise the Corinthians, other things — 
 one in particular — which deserved the 
 sharpest censure; though Paul, by a polite 
 understatement, simply says that in this 
 thing I do not praise you. His implied 
 censure is relative to the conduct and re- 
 sults of their public meetings. _ He has the 
 sacrament, no doubt, specially in view, but 
 he begins with the general statement, that 
 your meetings do not tend to (els) your 
 improvement, but to your deterioration. 
 When Christians come together, the result 
 should be that they become better; instead, 
 the Corinthians become worse. They are 
 confirmed, not in brotherly feeling towards 
 one another, and in deyotion to their, com- 
 mon Lord, but in greed _ and selfishness. 
 The apostle could not praise that. 
 
 18, 19. For — the general charge Paul 
 is prepared to support by particulars, which 
 he has indeed upon hearsay (a/foOw), but 
 which he has no good reason to doubt — 
 in the first place: this phrase is not 
 followed up by any eireLra de (in the second 
 place), and possibly Paul is not thinking 
 for the moment of any second and sub- 
 sequent charge. The word may be simply 
 used to introduce the charge, and to sug- 
 gest its serious nature. Those who main- 
 tain that the phrase implies a second 
 charge, either refer the first to the schisms 
 (vv. 17-19), and the second to the abuses 
 in connection with the supper (vv. 20 ff.), 
 or the first to the whole section (vv. 17- 
 34), and the second to the abuse of spir- 
 itual gifts which he proceeds to discuss in 
 xii. However, whether a second charge_ is 
 distinctly in view or not, I hear — his in- 
 formation is apparently continuous (ct/couw) 
 and docs not rest upon a single informant 
 — that at your meetings in church (not 
 the buildino-, but the Christian assembly) 
 divisions exist among you, divisions, not 
 
 of an intellectual or dogmatic kind, though 
 they existed too (i. 10), but those more 
 hateful divisions built upon social distinc- 
 tions, which expressed themselves in prac- 
 tical contempt for the poor (ver. 22). 
 Paul has only too good reason to suspect 
 that his information is true, if not all of it, 
 at least some of it, and I partly believe 
 it. For of course, in a sense, divisions 
 are inevitable (cf. Mat. xviii. 7) and there 
 must also be parties among you: atpeo-iy 
 has not yet the developed meaning of 
 heresy, nor is it even sect (cf. Acts xxviii. 
 22). It primarily indicates choice, and its 
 use here shows how naturally it might 
 pass into the other meanings. These di- 
 visions, however, deplorable as they are, 
 serve a divine purpose : they are part of 
 the order of things, in order that the 
 reputable among you (lit. those that are 
 approved) may be shown as such. The 
 parties, while they reveal the depravity of 
 some, reveal no less the excellence of 
 others. Bousset, however, regards ver. 19 
 as ironical. " The Corinthians may have 
 suggested that these contests in the church 
 had the advantage of bringing out who 
 had right on his side. Paul contents him- 
 self with an ironical repetition of that 
 dangerous doctrine. He has already told 
 us what he believes of party contests in 
 the church, of their harm and uselessness." 
 20-21. The divisive and sectional spirit 
 of which he has just complained, is illus- 
 trated Avith special force in the conduct of 
 the Corinthians at the celebration of the 
 Lord's supper. It was conunon in the 
 Greek world of those days for guilds, 
 clubs, or societies, united by a common 
 interest, to dine together at regular inter- 
 vals ; so that the idea of a common meal 
 as the expression of a corporate spirit, 
 would be suggested to the Corinthian Chris- 
 tians as well by the usages of society as 
 by their desire to commemorate the last 
 supper of our Lord. This church-supper 
 probably took place originally once a week, 
 on the first day (Acts xx. '7). The love- 
 feast, as this common meal was called (cf. 
 Jude 12), was apparently followed (some 
 think preceded) by the celebration of the 
 Lord's supper. The supper was conducted 
 in such a way at Corinth that it was no 
 
€h. XI] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 79 
 
 22 What ! have ye not houses to eat 
 and to drink in? or despise ye the church 
 of God, and shame them that have not? 
 What shall I say to you? shall I praise you 
 in this ? I praise you not. 
 
 2S For I have received of the Lord 
 that which also I delivered unto you, That 
 the Lord Jesus, the same night in which 
 he was betrayed, took bread : 
 
 love-feast, or Lord's supper at all. It was 
 -such abuses as are censured here that later 
 led to the separation of the love-feast from 
 the Lord's supper and ultimately to the 
 abolition of the former altogether. 
 
 This section is closely connected with 
 the last (cf. ovv and the deliberate repeti- 
 tion of <Tvv€pxo[xivwv vfiuiv). The divisions 
 there deplored manifest themselves in their 
 celebration of the supper here censured. 
 In your church gatherings, then, by no 
 possibility is it the supper of THE LORD 
 that ye are eating. Either, "it is not pos- 
 sible to eat the Lord's supper " ; or " that 
 is not an eating of the Lord's supper " : 
 in either case, the accent falls on KvpiaKov, 
 Each came when he pleased, and ate by 
 himself; it was therefore a private supper, 
 ibiov deiirvov^ but not a supper of the Lord. 
 There was no sense of community about 
 it either with one another or with the 
 Lord whom it was supposed to commemo- 
 rate : not with one another — for the rich 
 showed no consideration for the poor ; and 
 not with the Lord — for the whole man- 
 ner of the celebration was a scandal, and 
 totally unzvorthy of Him (ver. 27). It 
 was no supper of the Lord, for every 
 man hurries to take his own supper at 
 the meal: that is, there was no waiting 
 for one another, such as Paul later en- 
 joins (ver. 3s), but the rich man, as soon 
 as he arrives, hastens to consume what he 
 has brought {irpoXaix^avei^ anticipates others 
 in taking it) so as to be under no obliga- 
 tion of dividing it with the poor man, who, 
 unlike the rich man, is perhaps not master 
 of his time, and so may be compelled to 
 come later. Where the meal was eaten in 
 such a straggling fashion, it is plain that 
 there can have been little place for prayer 
 ■and for the solemn words of consecration 
 which ought to have accompanied it (vv. 
 23-25), so that from every point of view, 
 the celebration M^as a scandal : and while 
 one is hungry, another is drunk, and this 
 at the most solemn meal of Christian 
 brethren ! not only brotherliness and hos- 
 pitality forgotten, but even decency thrown 
 to the winds — unless indeed we adopt a 
 milder interpretation, " drinks to satiety." 
 
 22. In the light of so shocking a scan- 
 dal, is it any wonder then the apostle 
 asks with indignant irony : So ye have 
 no houses, have ye not, for eating and 
 
 drinking in? Surely they would not bring 
 their too healthy appetites to the church 
 meeting, if they had houses, m which 
 those appetites could be satisfied. But, as 
 they^^ are in point of fact very well off 
 {ol exopTcs, pre-eminently those who have, 
 ver. 22), then their only motive appears 
 to be deliberate contempt of the church. 
 Or is it that ye despise the church, 
 which is no institution of man's founding, 
 but the great church of God? By this dig- 
 nified term the apostle sets in the more 
 glaring light the disgraceful conduct of 
 its members. And are ye affronting the 
 poor? God, to whom the church belongs, 
 Christ,^ who founded the sacrament, and the 
 poor who were chosen to be " heirs of the 
 kingdom" (James ii. 5), were all alike 
 insulted in this celebration. The poor 
 are made to feel shame by their super- 
 cilious treatment at the hands of the 
 church. Those zvho have not, the class 
 (fj-v) rather than the individuals (ov), are 
 clearly the poor; it would be jejune to 
 argue from the oZ/cias ovk exere at the be- 
 ginning of the verse, that the reference is 
 to "those who have not (houses)." Paul 
 is sorrowfully indignant, but he speaks 
 with fine self-control. What am I to say 
 to you? Am I to praise you? Deserving 
 of praise as you may be in other points 
 (ver. 2), in this point at least — and^ a 
 very serious one it is — I do not praise 
 you (cf. ver. 17), a mild, understatement : 
 he really means — so serious an offense is 
 worthy not of praise, but of rebuke. 
 
 23. He cannot commend the Corin- 
 thians ; for the tradition which he had re- 
 ceived from the Lord and handed on to 
 them was of a very different kind from 
 that to which they were conforming. For 
 as for me (eyd)) — so far as the tradition 
 is concerned, he is the connecting link be- 
 tween the Lord and them — I received 
 from the Lord that which I have also 
 delivered to you. The preposition diro 
 simply indicates in a general way source 
 or origin, and does not necessarily imply 
 the direct personal communication which 
 would have been suggested by -rrapd ; so far 
 as the preposition is concerned, Paul's 
 knowledge of the institution may have 
 rested simply upon apostolic tradition. But 
 the whole tone of the context, and the 
 verb Trape\a§ov^ which seems to point back 
 
80 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 24 And when he had given thanks, he 
 brake it, and said, Take, eat ; this is my 
 body, which is broken for you : this do 
 in remembrance of me. 
 
 25 After the same manner also he took 
 
 the cup, when he had supped, saying, This 
 cup is the new testament in my blood : 
 this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in re- 
 membrance of me. 
 
 to a definite historical occasion, rather 
 suggest that Paul had some special revela- 
 tion, as, for example, in a vision. In the 
 very similar sentence in xv. 3, Paul sim- 
 ply says he " received " (same word) certain 
 truths, without mentioning their origin. 
 The personal touch here adds a warmth 
 and solemnity to his statement. " All that 
 he heard about Jesus," says Lietzmann, 
 " before and after his conversion, appears 
 to him as a gift received at Damascus from 
 the Lord Himself." Like a Jewish rabbi, 
 Paul passed on his instruction from his 
 Master to his pupils : with a true sense of 
 the importance of such a " tradition " from 
 the Master, he not only received it, but 
 also (/cat) delivered it — delivered it, too, 
 to the very people who were now so 
 flagrantly disregarding it (i'/"t>). 
 
 23, 24. What he had received and de- 
 livered was this, that the Lord Jesus — 
 (not Christ, but Jesus: the use of His 
 earthly name carries us back to certain 
 great historical facts) — in the night on 
 which He was being betrayed, took 
 bread. The imperfect tense (TrapeSt'Sero) 
 graphically summons up the whole scene, 
 and in the mention of His betrayal, is a 
 latent rebuke of the Corinthian disorders. 
 Surely they had altogether forgotten the 
 pathetic circumstances a.ttending the origin 
 of the institution of the Supper, or they 
 could never have celebrated it with such 
 indecency. It was One who was being be- 
 trayed who desired to be remembered, and 
 this was how they were remembering Him! 
 He took bread, and having offered a 
 prayer of thanksgiving (very wonderful 
 on the night of his betrayal; thanksgiving 
 amid treachery). He brake it. The bread 
 was broken for distribution : here is an- 
 other tacit censure of the Corinthians, who 
 never thought of distribution, but took 
 each man his own supper: There could 
 be no more flagrant contrast than that be- 
 tween the Lord's supper, and the Corin- 
 thian supper. Jesus not only performed 
 the act. He explained it : He broke the 
 bread and said: This is my body which 
 is for you (see 2 Cor. v. 21). It is plain 
 that, as Jesus is standing there in the ilcsh 
 before His disciples, there can be no 
 thought of the bread being literally His 
 body; but it represents Hii body in that it 
 was broken, and broken on their behalf. 
 
 and implicitly on behalf of all who sustain 
 the relation of discipleship to Jesus, there- 
 fore on behalf of the Corinthian converts 
 and of us. True, the original text read 
 simply TO virkp v/jlwv^ which is for you ; 
 K\u[ievov (broken) is a later gloss, which, 
 however, is quite correct as an interpreta- 
 tion. The breaking of the body is a ref- 
 erence to His death, which becomes more 
 explicit in the following allusion to His 
 blood. Paul here by implication, and in 
 ver. 26 directly, reminds the selfish and 
 flippant Corinthians, that they are not only 
 celebrating a supper, but commemorating 
 a death. What Jesus had done, His disci- 
 ples were to do — take the bread, give 
 thanks and break it : this do in remem- 
 brance of me, and this they were to do 
 continually (pres. imperative) on every oc- 
 casion on which the supper was celebrated. 
 The object of it all was to keep the par- 
 ticipants in mind of Him, and especially 
 of His death for them ; the Corinthians 
 showed, by their conduct at the supper, 
 that they were far enough from remember- 
 ing Him and His death. 
 
 25. In like manner also He took the 
 cup, gave thanks and gave it to them, 
 after supper. In the original celebration, 
 the eating of the bread was apparently 
 part of the common meal : it was zchile 
 they were eating that He took bread (cf. 
 Mark xiv. 22), and at the conclusion of 
 the meal He takes the symbolic cup. say- 
 ing, " This cup is the new covenant in 
 my blood." As the bread represented the 
 body, so the wine represents the blood. 
 This is the form the statement assumes in 
 Mark xiv. 24 (Mat. xxvi. 28). "This (the 
 cup of wine) is my blood of the covenant:" 
 but the statement of Paul is practically 
 identical : " This cup is the new covenant 
 (standing or established) in my blood," 
 in accordance with the Old Testament 
 idea that in a covenant between God and 
 men the shedding of blood is necessary. 
 The nezv covenant glances back to the 
 great prophecy of Jeremiah (xxxi. 31-34) 
 who proclaimed for the coming days a 
 covenant wliich would guarantee a univer- 
 sal knowledge of God, and a complete for- 
 giveness. Jesus claims that in and through 
 His death this covenant has been estab- 
 lished. In the Greek word diaOriH-n, atten- 
 tion is directed rather to God as the ar- 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 81 
 
 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, 
 and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's 
 death till he come. 
 
 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, 
 unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and 
 blood of the Lord. 
 
 28 But let a man examine himself, and 
 so let him eat of that bread, and drink of 
 that cup. 
 
 29 For he that eateth and drinketh un- 
 worthily, eateth and drinketh damnation 
 to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. 
 
 ranger of it, than to its mutuality. This 
 do (take the cup, give thanks, and pass it 
 round) continually {pres. imperative), as 
 often as ye drink it, in remembrance of 
 me. Some, by rendering strictly, as often 
 as ye drink, refer the injunction generally, 
 to every occasion on which men drank in 
 common ; but the scope of the words is 
 clearly meant to be limited to the occasions 
 on which they met to celebrate the Lord's 
 supper. The repetition of the words This 
 do, etc., produces a very solemn effect. 
 The account in Luke xxii. 17-20 corre- 
 sponds more closely than that of Matthew 
 xxvi, 26-29 or Mark xiv. 22-25 to the ac- 
 count of Paul. It is noteworthy that the 
 .words " for you " and " this do in remem- 
 brance of me " are peculiar to Paul, and 
 are not found in the evangelists (except 
 in Luke xxii. 19, 20, where the true text 
 appears originally to have stopped at This 
 is my body in ver. 19). These words give 
 the feast, which is sacramental, a memorial 
 character. 
 
 26. The words that follow are appended 
 by Paul to the communication he had re- 
 ceived from the Lord. He wishes to make 
 it abundantly plain that it is the death of 
 the Lord that the feast is intended ^o 
 commemorate : indirectly this has the effect 
 of showing what a travesty of that solemn 
 supper the Corinthian celebration was. 
 For, as often as ye eat this bread and 
 drink the cup, it is nothing less than the 
 death of the Lord that ye are declaring. 
 The eating and drinking was a rehearsal 
 of the original scene, and was therefore in 
 itself, in one sense, an acted proclamation : 
 it is unnecessary therefore to regard 
 KarayyeWeTe as imperative ("proclaim"). 
 At the same time, the choice of this word, 
 and the analogy of the Passover, whose 
 rites the father had to explain to his son 
 (Exodus xiii. 8), render it highly probable 
 that the ceremony was accompanied by 
 some words on the part of the leader. The 
 bread and the wine were but symbols : they 
 were only necessary until He come — after 
 He came in person, they would be super- 
 fluous. The date of His coming was un- 
 known, but the coming itself was certain: 
 this is suggested by the omission of av, 
 
 27-29. If, then, the supper commemo- 
 
 rates the death of the Lord, any violation 
 of its spirit must be a peculiarly heinous 
 offense. Consequently, any one who eats 
 the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord 
 unworthily — for example, in the selfish 
 and gluttonous manner described in ver. 21 
 — shall be guilty of violating the body 
 and the blood of the Lord. A statement 
 like this lends some countenance to the 
 view that, for Paul, the bread and wine 
 were very much more than symbols, and 
 that in some mystic sense, Christ was 
 really present in them. He does not say, 
 " Such a one shall be guilty of disobedience 
 to a most solemn injunction of the Lord," 
 nor even, '' shall be guilty of dishonoring 
 His death," but " shall be guilty of His 
 body and blood," as if they were in some 
 peculiar sense identified with the emblems : 
 and the great sin which brings "judgment" 
 on a man is his failure to distinguish be- 
 tween the holy bread of the supper, which 
 is " the body " of Christ, and ordinary bread 
 (ver. 29). Such a view ought not to be 
 summarily dismissed as impossible, though 
 it certainly is not in the spirit of Jesus : 
 but there can be no question that, what- 
 ever idea underlies the particular expression 
 of Paul, his essential meaning is that the 
 death of Jesus, with all that that implied, 
 was most gravely dishonored by such an 
 unseemly celebration as that of which the 
 Corinthians had been guilty. The way to 
 avoid the guilt of such an offense was the 
 way of self-examination. But let a man 
 {avOpwTTos is more weighty than eKaaros 
 would have been) put himself to the 
 proof — test, by earnest consideration, his 
 attitude to the supper and to the death of 
 the Lord w^hich it commemorates, testing 
 himself not. once for all, but every time he 
 partakes of it (pres. imperative), and so, 
 after such a self-examination, of the bread 
 let him eat and of the cup let him drink 
 — ■ again the stately repetition which invests 
 the narrative with a solemnity of its own. 
 For he that eateth and drinketh (the 
 iinzvorthily of A. V. is a gloss from ver. 
 27) eateth and drinketh judgment to him- 
 self, if he does not distinguish the body 
 of the Lord, as represented by the food and 
 drink of the holy supper, from all other 
 food and drink. The rendering of /cpi'/tta 
 
82 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 30 For this cause many are weak and 
 sickly among you, and many sleep. 
 
 31 For if we would judge ourselves, 
 we should not be judged. 
 
 32 But when we are judged, we are 
 chastened of the Lord, that we should not 
 be condemned with the world. 
 
 Z2, Wherefore, my brethren, when ye 
 come together to eat, tarry one for an- 
 other. 
 
 34 And if any man hunger, let him cat 
 at home ; that ye come not together un:o 
 condemnation. And the rest will I set 
 in order when I come. 
 
 in A. V. by damnation is peculiarly un- 
 fortunate; final condemnation, such as that 
 which is meted out to the world (ver. 32) 
 is the very thing which such judgments as 
 are described in the next verse are designed 
 to obviate. Still, the warning is serious 
 enough; for the "judgment" has already 
 fallen, not only in the shape of sickness, 
 but of death, upon those who do not -dis- 
 cern the body, (the better texts omit tov 
 Kvpiov^ of the Lord), that is, upon those 
 who make no distinction, do not discrim- 
 inate between the holy bread and ordinary 
 bread. Roman Catholics have argued 
 from the or in ver. 27 (eats the bread or 
 drinks the cup: A. V. wrongly and) that 
 the partaking of the bread alone, com- 
 munion in one kind, is adequate ; but else- 
 where throughout the passage the eating 
 and the drinking go together (cf. vv. 26, 
 28). In any case the argument is falla- 
 cious ; it does not follow that, because 
 unworthy participation in one element is 
 a sin, worthy participation in only one ele- 
 ment would be an adequate discharge of 
 the two communion obligations, which 
 Jesus deliberately coordinated. 
 
 30-32. Some had failed to " discern the 
 body " of the Lord, in the sense above 
 described : that is why many among you 
 are sick and weak and not a few are 
 sleeping the sleep of death. This is the 
 form that the judgment took (ver. 29), and 
 it fell upon a good many. Bousset sug- 
 gests that behind this statement lies the 
 unconscious feeling that the evil conse- 
 quences were directly produced by the un- 
 worthy participation in the (miraculous) 
 food and drink : this would tend to support 
 the view that the Lord was supposed to 
 be, in some real though mystical sense, in 
 the elements. It is equally in accordance, 
 however, with Jewish belief, to regard 
 these judgments as being sent, inflicted ex- 
 ternally as it were, as a punishment for 
 sin. Sleep is used of Christian death (cf. 
 vii. 39, I Thes. iv. 13). The sin which 
 was thus punished, originated in lack of 
 discrimination along two directions ; one 
 has just been mentioned (ver. 29), the 
 other had been a failure on the part of 
 the Christians to distinguish adequately 
 between themselves and the world (ver. 
 
 32). Its ideals and its destiny (condemna- 
 tion) were different from those of the 
 Christian ; the Corinthians had not dis- 
 criminated. If they had — or rather, if we 
 had, as Paul says, by a courteous inclusion 
 — they should not have been suffering as 
 they are. Now, if we had been discrim- 
 inating ourselves from the world, we 
 should not have been suffering from 
 these judgments. But after all, these 
 judgments, terrible as some of them are, 
 are by no means tantamount to a final 
 condemnation ; they are discipline, divinely 
 designed to purify, and to save from con- 
 demnation on the great day of the Lord. 
 But when we are thus under judgment, 
 it is by the Lord we are being disci- 
 plined. These are the two consolations : 
 the punishment is discipline, and it comes 
 from the Lord (whether God, or Christ, 
 whose Supper had been so dishonored). 
 The object of the discipline, stern though 
 it may be, is that we may not be con- 
 demned with the wicked world, in the 
 day when the Lord comes in judgment. 
 
 33> 34* Paul sums up the discussion, as 
 often, with an exhortation : after the stern 
 words of the last few verses, he speaks 
 in a gentler tone, calling them his brethren. 
 So then, my brethren, when ye come 
 together (same word as in vv. 18, 20) 
 to eat the Lord's supper, do not selfishly 
 and hastil)'' eat what you have brought as 
 soon as you arrive — that is, a private sup- 
 per, not the Lord's — but wait for one 
 another. The true Christian will be pa- 
 tient ; and while he will examine himself 
 inwardly, he will not forget the seemliness 
 and order which ought always to char- 
 acterize a Christian assembly (xiv. 40), 
 but most of all the celebration of the sup- 
 per. In it, he will think of the Lord, 
 rather than of the supper , its primary ob- 
 ject is to commemorate Him, not to ap- 
 pease hunger. Therefore if a man is hun- 
 gry, let him dine at home, lest your 
 meetings issue in judgment: the sort of 
 participation which was common in Cor- 
 inth could only end in one way, in the sort 
 of judgments that had already befallen the 
 church (ver. 30). In this terrible sense, 
 they would " meet together for the worse " 
 (ver. 17). There are other matters affect- 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 I COEIXTHIANS. 
 
 83 
 
 ing public worship and possibly the com- 
 munion service, in which Paul has further 
 instructions to give ; but the rest I will 
 arrange when I may come — he hopes 
 to come soon (iv. 19). 
 
 Circumstances have so changed that the 
 particular abuses which had crept into the 
 celebration of the Lord's supper at Corinth 
 are no longer possible to-day : yet Paul's 
 warnings are not without their point even 
 for us. Every service of the church 
 should tend "to the better" (ver. 17), to 
 our edification and improvement, and most 
 of all the solemn service which commemo- 
 rates the death of our Lord. It ought to 
 
 be a communion service, communion with 
 Him' and with one another; in Corinth the 
 presence of " divisions " (ver. 18) was 
 painfully obvious, and never is the divisive 
 spirit so lamentable as in that service which 
 was designed to unite disciples in com- 
 memorating the dying work of their com- 
 mon Lord. On every occasion on which 
 the Supper is celebrated, therefore, — and 
 the implication is that it will not be infre- 
 quent (ver. 26) — there is incumbent on 
 all who participate the duty of prior self- 
 examination (ver. 28) that it may be en- 
 tered upon in a spirit of Christian fellow- 
 ship and affection towards the other par- 
 ticipants, and of humble gratitude towards 
 the Lord who gave Himself for us. 
 
84 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 SPIRITUAL GIFTS (xii-xiv). 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 
 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, breth- 
 ren, I would not have you ignorant. 
 
 2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, car- 
 ried away unto these dumb idols, even as 
 ye were led. 
 
 3 Wherefore I give you to understand, 
 that no man speaking by the Spirit of 
 God calleth Jesus accursed : and that no 
 man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but 
 by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 After the question of the women's veil 
 and the Lord's supper have been disposed 
 of, the next phase of public worship to 
 claim Paul's attention was that involved 
 in the exercise of spiritual gifts. Here, as 
 there, there had been unseemliness and dis- 
 order. The services had not always tended 
 to edification (xiv. 26, cf. xi. 17) ; all 
 things had not been done with comeliness 
 and order (xiv. 40). The reason was not 
 far to seek. The mental and spiritual rev- 
 olution which had been created by the new 
 religion expressed itself, in the excitable 
 Greek temperament, sometimes in vehement 
 and impetuous ways, which were not to 
 the general advantage (xii, 7). In their 
 ecstasy, the new converts would ejaculate 
 unintelligible sounds, " speak with tongues," 
 as the curious phrase runs (cf.' xiv. 13-16) ; 
 sometimes two or three would _ speak at 
 once (xiv, 27), and the edification which 
 is the end of public worship, would be 
 gravely imperilled. Again the great va- 
 riety of " spiritual " gifts tended to create 
 divisions between the members (xii. 25) ; 
 a highly endowed brother would despise 
 one of inferior gifts (xii. 21) while those 
 of inconspicuous attainments might look 
 upon themselves as useless, or be jealous 
 of the others. The situation called for a 
 wise word from Paul. Whether they had 
 consulted him or not, we do not know — 
 probably they had; but he clearly intends 
 this discussion of spiritual gifts to form 
 one of the great divisions of his letter 
 (for irepl dk at the beginning, cf. vii. I, 
 25, viii. i). 
 
 The Test of Possession by the Spirit of 
 God (xii. 1-3). 
 
 I. Now concerning spiritual gifts 
 
 (rather than persons, xiv. 37) brethren, 
 I do not wish you to be ignorant. 
 Knowledge pn this point might very easily 
 be obscure or confused. Spirit-possession 
 was a frequent phenomenon in Jewish 
 
 and heathen religion ; mighty words might 
 be spoken and mighty works done by 
 persons under certain spiritual infiuences: 
 the question was, how could it be deter- 
 mined whether the spirit that inspired them 
 was divine or diabolic? Jesus' own works 
 were attributed by the scribes to Beelzebub 
 (Mark iii. 22). How were phenomena so 
 similar to be distinguished? This point 
 Paul wishes to clear up for the Corin- 
 thians. 
 
 2, 3. You know — again the familiar 
 appeal to their knowledge — that when 
 you were heathen, you (were: apparently 
 we have to supply vre with d-n-ayo/jLevot) 
 led away to idols that, unlike the living 
 God, had no voice, according as you 
 might, on each occasion (impf. tense) 
 happen to be led. There was a sharp 
 bre'ach between their former and their 
 present life : then they were heathen, now 
 they are Christian. The idols which they 
 then worshipped and consulted were dumb 
 (Ps. cxv. 7), the oracles given in their 
 name were often obscure, useless, and con- 
 tradictory, and the powers which were sup- 
 posed to stand behind them were demonic, 
 not divine. That is why I make known, 
 to you that no one speaking in the power 
 and undci- the inllucnce of the spirit of 
 GOD says, " Cursed be Jesus," and no 
 one can say "Jesus is Lord," unless in 
 the holy spirit, that is, the spirit of God. 
 The true test, then, of a man's possession 
 by the spirit of God is his attitude to 
 Jesus : here again we see how intimately, 
 for Paul, Jesus is involved in the idea of 
 God. It would hardly be in a Christian 
 assembly that any one could cry out, " Jesus 
 be anathema ;" this cry must have been 
 heathen or Jewish. There were many 
 ways in which the spirit was supposed to 
 manifest itself — among others, in ecstatic, 
 unintelligible speech ; the supreme test of 
 true spirit-possession, however, was not 
 this, but humble submission to the au- 
 thority of Christ and intelligent confession 
 of Him as Lord (cf. Mark ix. 38 f.). 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 85 
 
 4 Now there are diversities of gifts, 
 but the same Spirit. 
 
 5 And there are differences of admin- 
 istrations, but the same Lord. 
 
 6 And there are diversities of opera- 
 tions, but it is the same God which work- 
 eth all in all. 
 
 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is 
 given to every man to profit withal. 
 
 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the 
 
 word of wisdom ; to another the word of 
 knowledge by the same Spirit; 
 
 9 To another faith by the same Spirit ; 
 to another the gifts of healing by the 
 same Spirit; 
 
 10 To another the working of miracles ; 
 to another prophecy ; to another discern- 
 ing of spirits ; to another divers kinds of 
 tongues ; to another the interpretation of 
 tongues : 
 
 Spiritual Gifts Many and Varied, But One 
 in Source and Purpose (xii. 4-11). 
 
 . 4-7. The supreme test of spiritual pos- 
 session has just been mentioned. There 
 are, however, divisions (rather than dif- 
 ferences: cf. the participle in ver. 11) of 
 spiritual endowments, but the same 
 spirit; and there are divisions of minis- 
 trations, but the same Lord; and there 
 are divisions of activities but the same 
 God, inspiring all these activities in all 
 the different types of Christians (vv. 4-6). 
 The Trinitarian conception seems to shine 
 through this statement, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. 
 The endowments, the ministrations, and 
 the activities, are the same thing conceived 
 from different points of view. The endow- 
 ments are gifts of the spirit, which take 
 the form of service (of many kinds: plu.) 
 prescribed by and rendered to the Lord 
 (that is, Christ), and which are, from 
 another point of view, expressions of an 
 immanent divine activity. As it worked in 
 all, even in the least gifted, there should 
 be no room for jealousy; just as, even 
 in the most gifted, there should be no 
 room for pride, for it is God that worketh. 
 But to each, to^ the least as well as to 
 the greatest, is given continuously (pres.) 
 the manifestation of the spirit, which ex- 
 presses itself in some way through every 
 Christian personality; but this manifesta- 
 tion is with a view to that which is 
 profitable, not so much to the individual 
 himself as to the whole body of which he 
 is a member, the church (xiv. 12, 26). 
 Great gifts are not to be a source of pride 
 to their possessor, but of profit to the 
 church. 
 
 8-10. Paul now proceeds to enumerate 
 the ways in which the spirit manifests it- 
 self to the advantage of the church. For 
 to one through the spirit is given 
 the word of wisdom, and to another the 
 word of knowledge according to the 
 same spirit; to a man of another type 
 faith, moving in the sphere of and in the 
 power of the same spirit, and to another 
 gifts of healing of various kinds (lafidTwp^ 
 
 plu.) in and by means of the one spirit, 
 and to another mighty miraculous activi- 
 ties, and to another prophecy, and to 
 another power to distinguish the various 
 spirits; to a man of another type, various 
 kinds of tongues, and to another inter- 
 pretation of tongues (vv. 8-10). These 
 verses afford us a very interesting glimpse 
 into the multifarious activity of the Corin- 
 thian church. The question may be raised 
 whether there is any kind of order in this 
 list. A similar list of spiritual endow- 
 ments occurs in ver. 28 ; but that list, with 
 its iirst, second, third, then, then, is clearly 
 intended to suggest order of importance. 
 Common to both lists is the placing of the 
 " tongues," at the end, and there can be 
 little doubt that that is significant of Paul's 
 real opinion. The Corinthians made much 
 of it ; Paul hints that its real place is last, 
 not first. In deciding whether any delib- 
 erate order is observed in vv. 8-10, the 
 presence of erepoj (without 5e)^ twice in 
 the midst of so many repetitions of aX\w 8e 
 has to be taken into account. It is pos- 
 sible that the change was made simply for 
 variety's sake; but it is just as probable 
 that it has a deeper meaning, especially 
 when we note that each ere'pw (a man of 
 another kind) does really introduce a 
 group that differs perceptibly from the 
 others. The case has been well put by Pro- 
 fessor Findlaj^ 'The nine (gifts) thus fell 
 into three divisions, of two, five, and two 
 members respectively, with X070S, TriVris, 
 y\(I)aaai. [speech, faith, tongues] for their 
 titles, the first of which exhibits the Spirit 
 working through the intelligence, the sec- 
 ond in distinction from the intelligence, 
 and the third in supersession of the intel- 
 ligence," cf. xiii. 8. Considering the em- 
 phasis placed by Paul earlier in the epistle 
 on Christian wisdom, it is natural to find 
 it in the first place here. The distinction 
 between zcisdoni and knozi'ledge probably 
 is that the former is insight into the 
 deep purpose of God as embodied in Christ, 
 the latter is the intellectual apprehension 
 of this. Of a different type is the group 
 in which faith predominates. As faith is 
 
86 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 11 But all these worketh that one ^nd 
 the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man 
 severally as he will. 
 
 12 For 'as the body is one, and hath 
 many members, and all the members of 
 that one body, being many, are one body : 
 so also is Christ. 
 
 13 For by one Spirit are we all bap- 
 tized unto one body, whether zee be Jews 
 or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; 
 and have been all made to drink into one 
 
 Spirit. 
 
 indispensable, whatever be a man's religious 
 type (cf. Heb. xi. 6) and is especially so 
 regarded by Paul, it may seem strange to 
 have it thus put in a category by itself: 
 but the context makes it clear that the 
 faith here intended is not that which jus- 
 tifies, but that which enables a man to do 
 mighty things (cf. Mat. xvii. 20). It may 
 take the specific form of power to heal 
 disease, or it may be power of a broader 
 and more general kind. In the sphere of 
 speech, it works ar^ prophecy. The New 
 Testament prophet is one who could speak 
 with enthusiasm, intelligence, and power, 
 able to bring his truth mightily home to 
 the conscience and to carry conviction to 
 unbelievers (xiv. 24!). There were fur- 
 ther, as we have seen (cf. vv. 1-3) many 
 kinds of spirit-possession ; and another of 
 the gifts here mentioned was the poiver to 
 distinguish the different spirits, whether 
 their source was divine or demonic. 
 
 The last group includes tongues and their 
 interpretation. Whatever may be the case 
 in Acts ii, there is no reason to suppose 
 that the reference here is to the power 
 to speak in foreign languages. In xiv. 10 f. 
 speaking with tongues is compared to 
 speaking in a foreign language, and there- 
 fore must itself have been something dif- 
 ferent ; nor in the reference to the house- 
 hold of Cornelius (Acts x. 46) or the 
 disciples at Ephesus (Acts xix. 6) is there 
 any necessity for, or propriety in, such an 
 interpretation. All the references to speak- 
 ing w^ith tongues in i Cor. xiv. go to show 
 that it was an ecstatic utterance of unin- 
 telligible sounds, which the speaker him- 
 self might (xiv. 5, 13) or might not be 
 able to interpret (xiv. 13) : the pozcer to 
 interpret the tongues was a gift of the 
 spirit. It has been suggested that the 
 strange and unintelligible utterances to 
 which men were moved under the in- 
 fluence of the new religion, may have been 
 regarded as celestial speech : this view is 
 perhaps supported by xiii. i, " Though I 
 speak with the tongues of angels." But 
 to Paul so sensational a gift is fraught 
 with much danger, and little profit, to the 
 church, and twice he deliberately puts it 
 last (vv. ID, 28). 
 
 II. The gifts, then, are many ; but the 
 
 spirit which they manifest (ver. 7) and by 
 which they are inspired, is one and the 
 same. This point, which has already been 
 incidentally made in vv. 8, 9 (where the 
 gifts are through, in accordance zvith, in 
 the one spirit) is pointedly stated in the 
 conclusion. In all these manifestations, it 
 is the one and the same spirit that is 
 active, dividing to each severally as He 
 will. If all the gifts alike have one source, 
 pride and jealousy alike are out of the 
 question. The spirit distributes an appro- 
 priate gift to each, rtiissing none : the spirit 
 of the whole is bound to manfest itself in 
 each member (ver. 7), He does this indeed 
 as He zvill, but that does not mean capri- 
 ciously: He respects the capacities of each, 
 dealing with each separately, privately 
 
 The Church is a Body With Members (xii. 
 12-31). 
 
 The one spirit with its many and varied 
 manifestations suggests to Paul the idea 
 of the body with its many members, and 
 this thought he applies to the idea of the 
 church, whose various members, like those 
 of the body, should work in harmony, each 
 contentedly in its place and contributing to 
 the welfare of the whole. 
 
 12, 13. For, as the body is one, and 
 has many members, and ALL the mem- 
 bers of the body, many as they are, con- 
 stitute ONE body, so also is — not. as we 
 should expect, the church, but — Christ, 
 regarded as the personality whose life is 
 in each and all of the members, and who 
 therefore constitutes their unity. It takes 
 all the members together to make the one 
 body. For, as a matter of fact ('^'at). ALL 
 of us were, in and under the influence of 
 ONE spirit, baptized and thus incorpo- 
 rated into ONE body, whether Jews or 
 Greeks, slaves or free men, and we were 
 thus ALL, by our ba])tism — not. as some 
 suppose, though the Lord's supper — made 
 to drink of ONE spirit. The slave is a 
 memlicr, a limb, of this body, no less than 
 the free man, the Greek no less than the 
 Jew. Each member is z'itally related to the 
 whole, and therefore from this point of 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 87 
 
 14 For the body is not one member, but 
 many. 
 
 15 If the foot shall say, Because I am 
 not the hand, I am not of the body; is it 
 therefore not of the body? 
 
 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I 
 am not the eye, I am not of the body; is 
 it therefore not of the body? 
 
 17 If the whole body zvcre an eye, 
 where were the hearing? If the whole 
 were hearing, where zvere the smelling? 
 
 18 But now hath God set the memlDers 
 every one of them in the body, as it hath 
 pleased him. 
 
 19 And if they were all one member, 
 where were the body? 
 
 20 But now are they many members, 
 yet but one body. 
 
 21 And the eye cannot say unto the 
 hand, I have no need of thee : nor again 
 the head to the feet, I have no need of 
 you. 
 
 22 Nay, much more those members of 
 the body, which seem to be more feeble, 
 are necessary : 
 
 23 And those members of the body, 
 which we think to be less honourable, upon 
 these we bestow more abundant honour ; 
 and our uncomely parts have more abund- 
 ant comeliness. 
 
 24 For our comely parts have no need : 
 but God hath tempered the body together, 
 
 view — and this is the one of supreme im- 
 portance — distinctions which may exist 
 between the members (cf. ver. 28) simply 
 do not count. Note the importance as- 
 cribed to baptism. its connection with the 
 
 spirit, and its function as incorporating into 
 the body of Christ. 
 
 14-17. For indeed the body is not one 
 member, but many. All are necessary, 
 the slaves, the feebly gifted; and the with- 
 drawal of one would be the injury of 
 all. If, for example, the foot should say, 
 under the impression that it was a rel- 
 atively unimportant member, " Because I 
 am not a hand, I am not of the body," 
 that nevertheless does not keep it from 
 being a member of the body. This is 
 more in accordance with the grammar {ov^ 
 not /W17), than to take these words as a 
 question. Similarly, if the ear, in a pet- 
 ulani and jealous mood, should say, "Be- 
 cause I am not an eye, I am not o£ 
 the body," that does not keep it from 
 being a member of the body (ver. j6). 
 Whatever these members may say, they do 
 belong to the body, and they are indispen- 
 sable to its completeness. A man must be 
 able to handle and see, but he needs also 
 to be able to walk and to hear : conse- 
 quently any discontentment with our gifts 
 or our function is out of place ; it may be 
 humble, but it is necessary. The church, 
 like the human body, needs in her mem- 
 bers number and variety : whether in the 
 church or in the body, if all had the same 
 function, the result would be a useless 
 monstrosity. If the body were altogether 
 eye, where would the hearing be? If 
 altogether hearing, where would the 
 smelling be? (ver. 17). A glance at this 
 hideous picture of a body which was all 
 eye or all ear, shows how earnest Paul is 
 to teach that all the members are necessary. 
 
 That is the divine order of things (0 Geo? 
 edero^ ver. 18). 
 
 18-20. But, as it is, God has, in ac- 
 cordance with His " original and primal 
 constitution of things" (Ellicott: aor. 
 ei9eTo), set the members, not simply a few 
 of unique importance, but EVERY SIN- 
 GLE ONE of them, in the body, as He 
 wished — not capriciously but with separate 
 I regard to the particular function each had 
 1 to fulfil (ver. 11). Now if they were all 
 one member, where would the body be? 
 One member cannot make a body. But, as 
 it is, there are many members, but one 
 body. Variety is indispensable ; but it is 
 controlled and coordinated by a unity. 
 
 21-24. For men of inconspicuous gifts, 
 the argument just led must have had the 
 effect of a consolation ; now it turns, by 
 implication, to men of more striking gifts, 
 and rebukes their pride. The eye, one of 
 the most marvelous and noble organs of 
 the body, might, for example, be tempted 
 to despise some other organ, but it cannot. 
 It cannot say, for instance, to the hand, 
 " I don't need you," nor again can the 
 head, splendid and commanding as it is, 
 say to the feet, " I don't need you." The 
 work of the body cannot be done by eye 
 and head alone ; without hands and feet 
 how impotent would it be. For one mem- 
 ber of the body to say to another, / have 
 no need of thee, would-be foolish, inasmuch 
 as no member has any independent life of 
 its own : its only meaning and value are 
 in a body, and that body is served by all 
 its members. So must it be in the church : 
 each needs every other. Nay, but much 
 rather the seemingly feebler members 
 of the body — whether he means such 
 organs as the heart and lungs, or the 
 organs alluded to by to. daxvf^opa in ver. 
 23, it is impossible to say — are necessary 
 
88 
 
 I COKINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. xn 
 
 having given more abundant honour to 
 that part which lacked : 
 
 25 That there should be no schism in 
 the body; but that the members should 
 have the same care one for another. 
 
 26 And whether one member suffer, all 
 the members suffer with it; or one mem- 
 ber be honoured, all the members rejoice 
 with it. 
 
 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and 
 members in particular. 
 
 28 And God hath set some in the 
 church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, 
 thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then 
 gifts of healings, helps, governments, di- 
 versities of tongues. 
 
 (ver. 22). What an inspiration to the 
 weak member to learn that he is not only 
 tolerated, but necessary! and what a rebuke 
 to the strong to be reminded that, as in 
 the body so in the church, the weaker 
 member is not only not to be despised, but is 
 worthy of special attention and honor ! 
 And the members of the body which 
 we fancy to be relatively less honorable, 
 we invest with more abundant honor by 
 amply clothing them, and our uncomely 
 private members similarly enjoy by cloth- 
 ing, a more abundant comeliness, while 
 our comely members have no need (ver. 
 24). Possibly all these adjectives describe 
 the same organs under different points of 
 view, as being necessary, less honorable, 
 and uncomely, daxvf^ova is well illustrated 
 by daxv/^ocrvvT] (shame) in Rev. xvi. 15. 
 
 24-27. Strictly speaking, every member 
 of the body, as it fulfils a necessary func- 
 tion (ver. 22) is honorable, and the epithets 
 uncomely and unhonored are misnomers ; 
 for the whole body is a wonderful har- 
 mony created by God Himself. Nay, but 
 God tempered the whole body together, 
 giving to the member that suffered lack 
 an honor that was more abundant (in 
 the sense explained in ver. 23), that there 
 should be no division {schism) in the 
 body, but rather that the members should 
 <:ontinually (pres., not aorist) exercise the 
 same care over one another (vv. 24, 25). 
 The word schism (ver. 25) is, in a sense, 
 the key to the whole chapter. The Corin- 
 thians were by instinct, too, prone to 
 schism (i. 10), it entered into their com- 
 munion service (xi. 18), it was even fos- 
 tered by the very gifts which should have 
 benefited the church (xii. 7). The effect 
 within the church was the same as would 
 have been that within the body had the 
 <;ye despised the hand, or the foot, in mis- 
 taken humility, refused to do its work. 
 The members must so intimately and com- 
 pletely care for one another that any ex- 
 perience of any member must be instantly 
 and inwardly shared by every other. And 
 if one member suffers, all the other 
 members must do more than sympathize : 
 this is the English word that transliterates 
 
 the Greek word used here — avvvdax^i; but 
 the passage helps us to feel how far our 
 sympathy has traveled from its original 
 meaning. Now it is little more than a 
 sort of external commiseration : the m'ean- 
 ing here is that the other members not 
 merely are sorry for, but actually suffer 
 with the afflicted member. This is true 
 enough of the physical organism — a pain 
 in one part may cause the whole body to 
 writhe — but how rare is such sympathy in 
 human fellowship; and just as rare, if not 
 more rare, is the other, where, if one 
 member is honored, all the other mem- 
 bers not merely offer congratulations, but 
 actually rejoice with the recipient of the 
 honor. These statements of sympathy be- 
 tween the members refer, of course, pri- 
 marily to the body ; but Paul is thinking 
 of that other body, whose schism-loving 
 members still so little understand their 
 function. Now YE (vfiels, emphatic) are 
 the body of Christ and members, each 
 with his allotted part. 
 
 28. The special parts allotted to the va- 
 rious members are now described in order 
 of importance ; and this allotment, like 
 that of the members of the physical body 
 (ver. 18) is divineh' ordained (eders in 
 both cases). And some — probably Paul 
 meant to continue with and others, but he 
 changes the construction to tirst, second, etc. 
 — God appointed in the church for its 
 profit (ver. 7) first apostles, though in 
 another sense, judging by their sorrowful 
 careers, it seemed if God bad appointed 
 them to be last (iv. 9). The apostles, here 
 used not in its general sense of envoys, 
 but in its highest sense, come first as '* the 
 witnesses of the living Christ, and the 
 founders of churches" (Massie), cf. ix. 
 I, 2 for some of the qualifications of an 
 apostle. Second, prophets (cf. ver. 10) 
 who proclaimed the truth in an inspiring 
 and enthusiastic way, in distinction to 
 third, teachers who temperately developed 
 the truth rather in a way that appealed to 
 the intellect. Then follows a series of 
 offices described in abstract terms, sug- 
 gesting that these gifts were not yet so 
 definitely associated with particular per- 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 89 
 
 29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? 
 are all teachers? are all workers of 
 miracles? 
 
 30 Have all the gifts of healing? do 
 
 all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 
 31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: 
 and yet shew I unto you a more excellent 
 way. 
 
 sons as the three already mentioned. Mi- 
 raculous powers, then, gifts of healing 
 
 (plu. : cf. ver. 9) helps of a more general 
 kind (in Acts xx. 35, the corresponding 
 verb avTiXafj-ISdveaGai, is used of helping the 
 sick, and brought into connection with the 
 word of Jesus that " it is more blessed to 
 give than to receive"), governments, skill 
 in directing or piloting the church, a skill 
 which later crystallized into the office of 
 elder or bishop, just as the "helps" may 
 have been the prototypes of the deacons ; 
 and last here, as in the previous list (ver. 
 10) kinds of tongues. 
 
 29-313. Paul concludes : all these gifts 
 and types are necessary. One member does 
 not make a body (ver. 19), nor does one 
 type of spiritual gift make a church : in it 
 the apostles find their place, so also those 
 who speak with tongues, humble though 
 their gift may be. The following rhetorical 
 questions are, as is natural enough, not an 
 exact repetition of the gifts just mentioned. 
 Are ALL apostles? are ALL prophets? 
 are ALL teachers? are ALL miracle- 
 workers? (or less probably, have all mirac- 
 ulous powers, reading the following €xov<nv 
 back), have ALL gifts of healing? do 
 ALL speak with tongues? do ALL inter- 
 pret? All these types are necessary; yet he 
 has just hinted in his -first, second, etc., that 
 they are not all of equal importance. Some 
 are greater than others — teaching, for ex- 
 ample, greater than tongues (cf. xiv. 19, 
 23) ; therefore he advises them to covet 
 steadily and continuously (pres. imper.) the 
 GREATER gifts. The fact that God has 
 assigned every member his place with re- 
 gard to his capacity (cf. ver. 18) is not 
 meant to be a curb upon aspiration. 
 
 The modern church must differ widely 
 from the church of Corinth : we have little 
 that corresponds to gifts of healing, and 
 nothing to the gift of tongues. Yet there 
 are great principles dominating the dis- 
 cussion in this chapter, whose applicability 
 to the church of Christ will never be ex- 
 hausted. The conception of the church as 
 a body with members is apprehended only 
 very remotely in theory, and hardly at all 
 in practice, by the average Christian church. 
 The technical sense of the phrase church 
 member has blinded us to the fact that 
 one who bears this name ought to be a 
 
 limb of his church ; without the service 
 which he is fitted to render, the church is 
 incomplete. Every member ought to per- 
 form his function — otherwise he impov- 
 erishes the life of the church — and his 
 function is determined by his capacity. 
 This obligation rests upon every member ; 
 Paul suggestively says, " Those which 
 seem relatively feeble, are necessa}'y." 
 This ought to be at once a consolation and 
 an inspiration to those of slender gifts. 
 The church needs and can assimilate every 
 variety, and every contribution tells. 
 
 And just as the mistaken humility of 
 those who are less gifted is injurious to the 
 church, still more is the pride of those who 
 are more gifted. The most fatal schism 
 (ver. 25) that can be introduced into any 
 church is created by the spirit which says, 
 " I have no need of thee." To begin with, 
 that is not true. Each needs every other, 
 and " the weak are necessary." But, apart 
 from that, the really Christian question is 
 not whether I have need of others, but 
 whether they have need of me. The gifts 
 of the mind and spirit are given, not to 
 be selfishly hoarded, but to be used to the 
 advantage of the church (ver. 7). There 
 is room and need in the church for the 
 best that we have and know and can do. 
 But penetrating the various activities of 
 all her sons, should be manifest their unity 
 of spirit. 
 
 It is not without interest that Paul puts 
 the speaking with tonguQs last : he does so 
 twice, and we must suppose that he does 
 so deliberately. This was the most sen- 
 sational gift — probably the Corinthians 
 were particularly proud of it (it has the 
 first place in xiii. i), and some of them 
 may have hardly considered a person a 
 Christian who did not possess it — but the 
 proper place for it is at the bottom. It 
 was as a rule more exciting and confusing 
 than edifying, and it was a long remove 
 from prophecy and teaching. The signifi- 
 cance of this for the modern church is 
 obvious. 
 
 The Hymn in Praise of Love (xiii.). 
 
 This wonderful hymn in praise of love 
 has for its background the disorder of the 
 Corinthian church. It was a gifted church, 
 but gifts without love are nothing. This 
 
90 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIII 
 
 CHAPTER 13. 
 
 1 Though I speak with the tongues of 
 men and of angels, and liave not charity, 
 I am become as sounding brass, or a tink- 
 ling cymbal. 
 
 2 And though I have the gift of 
 prophecy, and understand all mysteries, 
 
 and all knowledge; and though I have all 
 faith, so that I could remove mountains, 
 and have not charity, I am nothing. 
 
 3 And though I bestow all my goods to 
 feed the poor, and though I give my body 
 to be burned, and have not charity, it 
 profitcth me nothing. 
 
 is the truth that Paul wishes to bring 
 home to its members, torn as they were 
 with the spirit of jealousy, pride, and 
 schism (xiv. 25) ; but, as so often, else- 
 where in his writings (cf. Rom. viii. 31 ff.) 
 he is lifted by a turn of his argument, or 
 by a sudden emotion of his heart, into a 
 higher and serener sphere, and out of the 
 depths there rises a strain of the purest 
 poetry, in which controversy and admoni- 
 tion are alike forgotten, and we are per- 
 mitted to gaze, with undistracted eye, upon 
 the beautiful visions that filled his soul. 
 
 xii. 31b. The eulogy of love is intro- 
 duced by a statement : and besides the 
 exhortation I have just given you to covet 
 the greater gifts, I point out to you a 
 way of exceeding excellence. The love, 
 upon which the chapter insists, is not 
 here regarded as a gift, more excellent 
 than the gifts he has just enumerated, 
 and some of which he has by implication 
 specially recommended (xii. 28-31) ; it is 
 a way, in which these gifts are to be ex- 
 ercised. 
 
 xiii. I. Yet the apostle does not at once 
 describe the way itself : he begins by show- 
 ing its indefeasible necessity. If I speak 
 with the tongues of men, yes, even of 
 angels, and have not LOVE, I am be- 
 come for the want of love a sounding 
 brass or a clanging cymbal. The tongues 
 of men have sometimes been interpreted as 
 foreign languages ; but it is better to preserve 
 the meaning which the phrase undoubtedly 
 has in xii. and xiv. of ecstatic, unintelligible 
 utterances to which the speakers were im- 
 pelled under the influence of the spirit. 
 The speech of angels in paradise, as a stage 
 beyond the ecstatic speech of men, would 
 naturally also be unintelligible to mortal 
 men (cf. 2 Cor. xii. 4) under normal con- 
 ditions (cf. note on xii. 10) ; but the power 
 to speak thus ecstatically was apparently 
 regarded by the sensation-loving Corin- 
 thians as the noblest endowment of the 
 spirit, and therefore perhaps put here first 
 by Paul. But, if the man thus gifted be 
 destitute of love — the word is sprung sud- 
 denly and with great effect upon the reader, 
 fresh from the discussion of the gifts in 
 ch. xii. where it is not mentioned — he is 
 
 no better than a soulless brass instrument, 
 that gives forth loud, confused and sense- 
 less sounds when it is beaten. Here, as 
 in xii. 10, 28, we see Paul's real opinion 
 of the tongues : though he had the gift him- 
 self (xiv. 18) he did not think it of much 
 importance, and the words of xiii. i look 
 like a criticism of its essential inanity, at 
 least unless the tongues were interpreted 
 in love (xiv. 5). With his usual courtesy 
 (cf. xi. 32) Paul assumes the case of 
 deficiency in love to be his own. 
 
 2, 3. And if I have prophecy, that 
 inspiration which enables a man to present 
 Christian truth with authority and enthu- 
 siasm (cf. xii. 10), and if, in addition, I 
 know the mysteries of the Christian rev- 
 elation, every one of them (Trdj^ra, em- 
 phatic), and if I have all the (t-V) range 
 of knowledge — if, that is, besides being 
 a powerful and gifted speaker, I have not 
 merely an intuition of Christian truth, but 
 a well-articulated apprehension of it — ; 
 yes, and if I have all the wonder-working 
 faith spoken of by Jesus (]\Iat. xvii. 20, 
 xxi. 21) so as to remove mountains, not 
 one or once for all (aorist), but one after 
 the other (present, fiedL<jTdi>€Lv : mighty faith 
 in repeated operation) : if I have prophecy, 
 knowledge, and faith, and have not LOVE, 
 I am nothing — not little, but nothing. He 
 may accomplish much, but he is nothing 
 (Mat. vii. 22, 23). Besides men with the 
 gifts of prophecy and faith, there were also 
 in the church of Corinth "helps" (xii. 28) : 
 among these may have been some who, in 
 a loveless fashion, gave doles to the poor. 
 And if I dole out (as in morsels or 
 crumbs) all my substance to the needy, 
 and if I even go further, abandoning not 
 projxTty, but lite itself, and give up my 
 body to be burned like the three Hebrew 
 children (Dan. iii. 19 f.), and have not 
 LOVE, I am not a whit benefited. What 
 ever he may have hoped to gain by his 
 loveless sacrifice, he actually gains nothing. 
 An interesting alternative reading to 
 Kavdrfaofxat (or (^fiai) is /\ai'X'»70'WMat. tJiat I 
 may boast; but boasting, as the definite aim 
 of sacrifice, seems rather inappropriate 
 here, and the phrase to gi-ve up my body 
 needs amplification, though it might be de- 
 
Ch. XIII] 
 
 I COEINTHIANS. 
 
 91 
 
 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; 
 charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not 
 itself, is not puffed up. 
 
 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, 
 seeketh not her own, is not easily pro- 
 voked, thinketh no evil ; 
 
 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but re- 
 joiceth in the truth; 
 
 7 Beareth all things, believeth all 
 things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
 things. 
 
 8 Charity never faileth ; but whether 
 there be prophecies, they shall fail : 
 whether there be tongues, they shall cease; 
 
 whether there be knowledge, it shall van- 
 ish away. 
 
 9 For we know in part, and we pro- 
 phesy in part. 
 
 10 But when that which is perfect is 
 come, then that which is in part shall be 
 done away. 
 
 11 When I was a child, I spake as a 
 child, I understood as a child, I thought as 
 a child : but when I became a man, I 
 put away childish things. 
 
 12 For now we see through a glass, 
 darkly ; but then face to face : now I know 
 in part ; but then shall I know even as 
 also I am known. 
 
 fended by TrapeSt'Sero in xi. 23. Without 
 love, whatever gifts a man has or sacrifices 
 he makes, he is nothing and gains nothing. 
 But what is love? 
 
 In 4-7 Paul defines love by showing 
 positively how it behaves, and negatively, 
 how it does not behave. Negatively love is 
 slow to anger, of patient temper ; positively, 
 she is kind. The negative aspect is de- 
 veloped at length. Love is not envious 
 
 ]or jealous of others whose gifts are more 
 brilliant ; such envy is unlovely, though 
 there is another envy (not of persons, but 
 of things) which is commendable (xii. 31). 
 
 j Love does not play the braggart, is not 
 
 f puffed up, does not behave unseemly, 
 commits no breach of moral propriety, 
 does not selfishly seek the things that 
 are her own, but considers, like Paul him- 
 self (x. $3), the good of others; and, as 
 she has no selfish interests to serve, she 
 does not let herself be provoked. She 
 is often injured, but she takes no account 
 of the (to) wrong done her, all these 
 negative statements are excellently sum- 
 
 , marized in the sentence, she has no joy 
 in iniquity — the sight of wrong, whatever 
 be its nature, vexes her — but she rejoices 
 with the truth — truth in general, in par- 
 ticular Christian truth, here personified. 
 When the truth is triumphant, love is glad. 
 The four brief sentences stating positively 
 what love does, are splendidly comprehen- 
 sive, each beginning with an emphatic 
 TTCLVTa, ALL things she bears (rather than 
 covers) in the sense of tolerates, ALL 
 things she believes, ALL things she hopes, 
 ALL things she endures: there is nothing 
 which she will not bear, believe, hope, 
 endure. Her life is a struggle against hos- 
 tile influences, but love is ever true to 
 her nature : with everything to disappoint 
 her, she will believe and hope the best 
 and endure the most : love is that which 
 inspires tolerance, faith (in man), hope, 
 
 and endurance The rhythmical nature of 
 these sentences lifts them to the dignity 
 of a prose poem, to which the absence of 
 connecting particles, and the repetition of 
 7] dydirr] in ver, 4 and of Travra in ver. 7 
 add a certain solemnity. 
 
 8-10. Verses 8-13 describe, in similarly 
 rhythmical terms, the abiding nature of 
 love. Love never at any time falls, " but 
 ever remains steadfast, unshaken and un- 
 moved, abiding for ever" (Theod.) ; and in 
 this she offers a striking contrast to the 
 gifts, so often already alluded to, of 
 prophecy, tongues, and knowledge, which, 
 however they may edify the church, are 
 only temporary. But whether there be 
 prophecies, they shall be done away; or 
 tongues, they shall stop; or knowledge, 
 it shall be done away; for the reason that 
 our knowledge is but partial, and our 
 prophecy is partial — significantly enough, 
 the tongues are omitted — but when the 
 perfect is come, the partial shall be done 
 away. Paul is apparently referring to the 
 coming of Christ, the great hope of the 
 church, when aspiration would be fulfilled. 
 That coming ushered in the perfect age, 
 and everything preparatory to it Vv-as nec- 
 essarily partial and incomplete. Prophecy 
 was only valid until then ; and our present 
 knowledge would give place to perfect 
 knowledge (ver. 12). 
 
 II, 12. Paul illustrates the temporary 
 nature of these gifts of the church by the 
 analogy of childhood : when that age is 
 surmounted, its interests and activities are 
 transcended. When I was a child, my 
 speech was a child's (there is here just 
 the suspicion of an allusion to the speak- 
 ing with tongues), my mind was a child's, 
 my reasoning a child's; but now that I 
 have become a man, I have done away 
 with the things of the child, and for me 
 they are permanently abolished {KarijpyqKa^ 
 perf.). So the church, in the present age. 
 
92 
 
 I COlilNTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIV 
 
 13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, 
 these three ; but the greatest of these is 
 charity. 
 
 CHAPTER 14. 
 
 I Follow after charity, and desire 
 spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may 
 prophesy. 
 
 2 For he that speaketh in an unknown 
 tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto 
 God: for no man understandeth him; how- 
 beit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. 
 
 3 But he that prophesieth speaketh 
 unto men to edification, and exhortation, 
 and comfort. 
 
 is in its minority, and its gifts are suitable 
 to its condition ; but, in the age to come, 
 she wnll have attained, and the ways and 
 the helps of her childhood will be left for 
 ever behind. There is a great contrast be- 
 tween the now, with its partial states, and 
 the then with its perfection (ver. 10). 
 For NOW we see through (or by means 
 of) a mirror, the metallic mirror of the 
 ancients, which did not reflect well ; this 
 fact illustrates the ^p ahiy/Man, in a riddle, 
 probably in a baMing way, without clear- 
 ness or sharpness of outline : the phrase is 
 almost certainly suggested by the descrip- 
 tion of Moses in Num. xii. 8 where the 
 Septuagint uses the same word (A. R. V. 
 "in dark speeches''). The "seeing" re- 
 ferred to is, as the context suggests, more 
 particularly the union of God. But THEN, 
 when Christ comes, our face will be turned 
 directly to God's face, and our knowledge 
 of Him will be immediate, which is iin- 
 possible now: for now my knowledge is 
 gradual {-ckw) and partial, but then I 
 shall know God well, even as I was also 
 well known of Him, on the ever-memora- 
 ble day of my conversion to Christ (cf. 
 viii. 3). 
 
 13. The difference between the partial 
 and the perfect has been amply illustrated 
 by the figures of the child and the mirror. 
 Certain things pass — tongues, prophecy, 
 etc.: but, as it is, there ABIDES — not 
 merely in this world, but for ever — faith, 
 hope, love, THESE three (cf. i Thes. i. 3) 
 not the other three (prophecy, tongues, 
 knowledge, ver. 8). Faith and hope seem 
 more appropriate to this world, but they, 
 too, share the abiding destiny of love : 
 faith as trust in God, and hope as ex- 
 pectancy of blessedness to come. But the 
 greatest of these is love, because love is 
 the ground and inspiration of the other 
 two, love believcth and hopeth (ver. 7). 
 
 The lesson enforced with such beauty 
 and eloquence throughout this chapter is 
 one which the church and the individual 
 need to be ever learning "by heart" — that 
 endowments and service uninspired by love 
 
 have no moral value ; that however elo- 
 quent, learned, or charitable a man may 
 be, if love be not the soul of his action, 
 he is a moral nonentity (ver. 2) ; that, 
 without love, he has no part in the eternal 
 order. 
 
 Prophecy Better Than Speaking With ■ 
 Tongues (xiv. 1-25). 
 
 The discussion of spiritual endowments 
 which was interrupted, or rather illumi- 
 nated, by the beautiful panegyric on love, 
 is here resumed, and the hint in xii. 28, 
 that the endowments vary in importance, 
 is here developed, with special reference 
 to the gifts of prophecy and speaking with 
 tongues. The chapter gives us a glimpse 
 into a Corinthian service of public wor- 
 ship, which was so very different from 
 our own. The point upon which Paul 
 strenuously insists throughout this _ para- 
 graph is that, as its general aim is the 
 edification of the church, its various parts 
 have value according as they contribute to 
 that aim. Prophecy is, from this point of 
 view, more valuable than speaking with 
 tongues, as it contributes more. 
 
 1-3. The chapter links simply and nat- 
 urally with the last. Pursue love — the 
 love described in ch. xiii. This is not a 
 separate gift, but the spirit in which all 
 the various gifts of the church members 
 are to be exercised. Pursue — a far more 
 earnest word than simply " follow after " 
 (cf. Ps. xxiii. 6). This pursuit of love did 
 not supersede the necessity for the gifts, 
 for Paul says again, as he had said be- 
 fore (xii. 31) that these were to be cov- 
 eted — in a good sense, of course: for, in 
 the bad sense, loz'C does not covet (xiii. 
 4) — but at the same time covet the 
 spiritual (gifts), all the gifts mentioned in 
 xii. 8-10, but more than any other, that 
 ye may prophesy: he does not mean, 
 " covet spiritual gifts in order that you 
 may prophesy," but " covet most of all the 
 gift of prophecy." This emphasis on 
 prophecy at the very beginning of the dis- 
 cussion, is striking, and significant of 
 
Ch. XIV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 93 
 
 4 He that speaketh in an unknozcn 
 tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophe- 
 sieth edifieth the church. 
 
 5 I would that ye all spake with 
 tongues, but rather that ye prophesied : 
 for greater is he that prophesieth than he 
 that speaketh with tongues, except he in- 
 terpret, that the church may receive edify- 
 ing. 
 
 6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you 
 speaking with tongues, what shall I profit 
 you, except I shall speak to you either 
 
 by revelation, or by knowledge, or by 
 prophesying, or by doctrine? 
 
 7 And even things without life giving 
 sound, whether pipe or harp, except they 
 give a distinction in the sounds, how shall 
 it be known what is piped or harped? 
 
 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain 
 sound, who shall prepare himself to the 
 battle? 
 
 9 So likewise ye, except 3'e utter by 
 the tongue words easy to be understood, 
 how shall it be known what is spoken? 
 for ye shall speak into the air. 
 
 Paul's high estimate of it : it prepares us 
 to gather all the hints that the chapter 
 offers as to the nature of New Testament 
 prophecy. In point of fact, throughout the 
 discussion, the only other spiritual gift 
 with which prophecy is compared and con- 
 trasted is the gift of tongues. The rea- 
 son for the injunction to covet prophecy 
 most of all, especially more than tongues, 
 is at once given: For he that speaks 
 with a tongue does not speak to men 
 — for nobody understands (lit. hears) 
 him — but to God: if nobody understands 
 him, then obviously he has no power di- 
 rectly to edify the congregation ; but in 
 spirit only, and without the participation 
 of his understanding (cf. vv. 14, 15) he 
 speaks mysteries, which may, indeed, sub- 
 sequently be interpreted by himself (ver, 
 5) or by some one else (ver. 28) but 
 which, till they are interpreted, are unin- 
 telligible, and therefore useless to the 
 church. But, while the tongues are un- 
 edifying, he who exercises the prophetic 
 gift speaks to men — and therefore has 
 a real place in public worship — edification: 
 his speech is not merely sound (vv. 7» 8)> 
 it builds the hearers up. Besides edifica- 
 tion, his discourse is also exhortation and 
 consolation. As, in the sequel, only ed- 
 ification is mentioned (vv. 12, 26), possibly 
 these two words are intended only to de- 
 fine it more closely : by the prophet's 
 speech, the remiss are shaken up, and the 
 sorrowful comforted, and thus the church 
 is edified. 
 
 4, 5. Throughout, Paul is careful not 
 to depreciate the tongues unduly, cf. ver. 
 18, where he thanks God for them (cf. ver. 
 5) ; and he here concedes that he that 
 speaks with a tongue edifies — not of 
 course the church, to which his words are 
 unintelligible — but himself, even though 
 they may not be wholly intelligible to him- 
 self; for he feels that it is under the in- 
 fluence of the spirit that he is moved to 
 utterance. But he who exercises the 
 
 prophetic gift, seeing he speaks intelligibly, 
 edifies (the) whole church. His gift is 
 less ostentatious, but more useful, and 
 therefore more to be coveted (ver. i). 
 So far is Paul from depreciating tongues 
 that he goes on : Now I wish you spoke, 
 every one of you, with tongues: but I 
 wish still more that you prophesied. (tW 
 is not here " in order that," but practically 
 equal to preceding infin.). Besides, he 
 that exercises the gift of a prophet is a 
 greater, because more serviceable person, 
 than he who speaks with tongues, un- 
 less, as a matter of fact (ei with subj., not 
 eaj'), he interpret, in order that the 
 church may get edification. The church 
 meets to be edified, she is not edified by 
 speakers who are unintelligible; the unin- 
 telligible speech, to be edifying, will have 
 to be interpreted, {enros ei fx-i] is a pleonas- 
 tic combination of e/cros ei, except if, and 
 et fiv, unless.) 
 
 6. The truth that unintelligible speech 
 is of no use to the church, Paul brings 
 home by a pointed illustration. And now, 
 brethren. It is not quite clear whether 
 nozu is logical or temporal: either (a) this 
 being so, edification being impossible with- 
 out interpretation, or (b) now, in view of 
 your present difficulties: probably (a) is to 
 be preferred. In either case, a visit from 
 Paul would be of little use, unless he said 
 something they could understand. If I 
 come to you speaking with tongues, what 
 good shall I do you, unless I speak to 
 you either in the way of a revelation or 
 of knowledge or of prophecy or of teach- 
 ing?_ A re-relation would be a divine com- 
 munication which he would impart in 
 prophetic form ; knowledge would be the 
 intellectual apprehension of it, which he 
 would impart by way of teaching. Teach- 
 ing or prophecy, but no tongues — they 
 would help a perplexed people little. 
 
 7-9. In a series of highly significant 
 illustrations (vv. 7-11), Paul shows the 
 futility of uninterpreted tongues as only so 
 
94 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIV 
 
 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds 
 of voices in the world, and none of them 
 is without signification. 
 
 11 Therefore if I know not the mean- 
 ing of the voice, I shall be unto him that 
 speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh 
 shall be a barbarian unto me. 
 
 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are 
 zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may 
 excel to the edifying of the church. 
 
 13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in 
 an unknown tongue pray that he may in- 
 terpret. 
 
 14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, 
 
 niy spirit prayeth, but my understanding 
 is unfruitful. 
 
 15 What is it then? I will pray with 
 the spirit, and I will pray with the under- 
 standing also: I will sing with the spirit, 
 and I will sing with the understanding 
 also. 
 
 16 Else, when thou shalt bless with 
 the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the 
 room of the unlearned say Amen at thy 
 giving of thanks, seeming he understand- 
 eth not what thou sayest? 
 
 17 For thou verily givest thanks well, 
 but the other is not edified. 
 
 much sound without sense. Inanimate 
 things — pipe or harp, for example — if, 
 in giving forth voice they yet give no 
 distinction to the notes, make no clear 
 distinction between one note and another, 
 how shall the tune be known that is be- 
 ing played on the pipe or the harp? The 
 result will be bewilderment and confusion 
 — a tune which is no tune. Or for fur- 
 ther illustration, pass from the music of 
 peace to that of war: if the voice that 
 the trumpet gives forth is not clear, who 
 will get ready for battle? No real stim- 
 ulus, no informed action, can come from 
 unintelligible sounds. Your case is ex- 
 actly the same: if by means of the 
 tongue, your instrument of sound, you 
 give forth a word which has no clear 
 significance, how shall there be any 
 knowledge of what is spoken? for you 
 will be in the condition of people speaking 
 (eaeaOe with partic.) not to men (ver. 2), 
 but into (the) air — an idle enough ex- 
 ercise, and profitless withal. 
 
 10-12. From confused playing upon mu- 
 sical instruments, he passes to the seem- 
 ingly confused sounds of foreign lan- 
 guages. There are ever so many kinds 
 of voices, clearly here equal to lan- 
 guages, mayhap, in the world: ^c^val is 
 apparently preferred to yXd^aaat^ because of 
 the ambiguity of the latter in this con- 
 nection : and none of them is without 
 voice, i.e. significance — languages have a 
 voice, a meaning, for those who habitually 
 speak and hear them. Well, then, if I do 
 not know the force (dvpafiip), that is, the 
 significance of the voice, I shall be a 
 barbarian to the speaker, while the 
 speaker, in his turn, will be a barbarian, 
 in his relation to me (e" e^oi, in my case, 
 rather than in my judgment). Your case 
 is exactly the same "(ourws /cat i)^leis in 
 ver. T2 is an echo of ver. 9; cf. ttws 
 yvwad-qaerai in vv. 7, q). If you speak 
 unintelligibly, you will be as barbarians 
 
 within the church, whereas it is your duty 
 to edify it. Therefore, since ye are cov- 
 eters (cf. ver. i) of spirits, spiritual gifts 
 and forces — perhaps they had made this 
 claim in their letter — seek them with a 
 view to the edification, of the church, in 
 order that ye may abound in them. The 
 order suggests that this translation is 
 more correct than seek that ye may abound 
 to the edification of the church, though 
 the latter is not impossible. 
 
 13, 14. Therefore, since tongues, un- 
 interpreted, contribute nothing to edifica- 
 tion, let him that speaks with a tongue 
 pray that he may interpret (iVa being a 
 blend of purpose and purport, and carry- 
 ing, in such a context, the same ambiguity 
 as the English that). Some suppose that 
 pray here must be interpreted by " pray 
 zcith tongues" of the next verse, and is 
 not merely an ordinary prayer for the 
 gift of interpretation. So Alford, who 
 translates : " wherefore let him who 
 speaketh with a tongue, in his prayer (or, 
 when praying), strive that he may inter- 
 pret." Still there is no absolute necessity 
 why prayer in ver. 13 should mean pre- 
 cisely the same thing as in ver. 14 ; and, 
 in the context, the more natural explana- 
 tion of the words would be this ; consider- 
 ing the indefeasible importance of intelli- 
 gible speech, if the church is to be edified, 
 any one who has the gift of tongues, should 
 pray for the power of interpreting them. 
 For if I — with his usual tact, he makes 
 the case his own (cf. xi. 32) : you would 
 have been less courteous and skilful — 
 pray in an estatic, unintelligible tongue, 
 my spirit indeed prays — it is a real 
 prayer — but my intelligence is unfruit- 
 ful, because it yields nothing for the edifi- 
 cation of others. Fervor, if it is to be 
 practically helpful to the church, must be 
 guided by intelligence: there must be mind 
 in it. 
 
 15-17. How then does the case stand? 
 
Ch. XIV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 95 
 
 •i8 I thank my God, I speak with 
 tongues more than ye all : 
 
 19 Yet m the church I had rather 
 speak five words with my understanding, 
 that hy my voice I might teach others also, 
 
 than ten thousand words in an unknown 
 tongue. 
 
 20 Brethren, be not children in under- 
 standing : howbeit in malice be ye children, 
 but in understanding be men. 
 
 It stands thus; that, in public worship, 
 both spirit and mind, fervor and intelli- 
 gence, are necessary. I will pray with 
 the spirit, but I will pray with the in- 
 telligence also; I will sing praise {\paX\et.v^ 
 originally of the instrumental accompani- 
 ment, then of the song itself) with the 
 spirit, but I will sing praise with the 
 intelligence also. Apparently prayer and 
 praise were the two directions in which 
 speaking with tongues chiefly manifested 
 itself. The use of the intelligence is ab- 
 solutely incumbent upon those who take 
 any leading part in public worship : for, 
 i£ you — the effect of the argument is 
 heightened by this direct, personal appeal 
 — bless God, offer your prayer or song of 
 thanksgiving to Him, in spirit only, and 
 without the application of your intelli- 
 gence, think of the man who fills the 
 place of the uninitiated (6 dvairXripibv 
 comes early in the sentence, in advance of 
 TTws). By IdLUTrjs, strictly a private person, 
 or a man with only lay and not expert 
 knowledge, we are apparently here to un- 
 derstand a Christian who has no experience 
 of tongues and no power to interpret them. 
 The word place (tottos) has been pressed 
 so as to suggest that certain seats were 
 reserved for these people in the church 
 assemblies ; more probably it is the figura- 
 tive, not the literal sense, that is here 
 meant — position. This ISmttis^ as a Chris- 
 tian, has to be considered, he comes to be 
 edified : but how is he to say the cus- 
 torriary Amen, which follows a public 
 prayer (Neh. viii. 6, cf. Rev. v. 14), at 
 your giving of thanks, since he does 
 not know what you are saying? There is 
 something almost humorously drastic about 
 the question. The Amen has no meaning, 
 unless the praj^er has been intelligently fol- 
 lowed ; and that in the case assumed is 
 impossible, as the prayer was dictated by 
 spirit only, without the active exercise of 
 intelligence. For, so far as you are con- 
 cerned (o-i' iJ.y), your thanksgiving is all 
 very well, but, when the church meets, 
 you are not the only person to consider : 
 there is the other man as well, and he is 
 not edified. What you do is koKov, unob- 
 jectionable, even good, but not edifying, 
 and the church meets for edification. 
 
 18-20. Again and again the argument 
 
 has seemed to tend towards an absolute 
 depreciation of the gift of tongues, but it 
 is not so: Paul has the gift himself, and 
 thanks God for it. I thank God, I speak 
 with tongues more than all of you; here 
 we get a glimpse of the powerfully ecstatic 
 element in the nature of Paul. But, though 
 a man may speak to God (ver. 2) in 
 tongues, as he is moved, they are of no 
 use in the church: tliere, says Paul, I 
 would rather speak five words with my 
 intelligence, that I might instruct others 
 also — the others are always in Paul's 
 mind (cf. ver. 17) — than ten thousand 
 words in a tongue. Speaking in the 
 church should be governed by the desire, 
 not to create a sensation, but to produce 
 an effect, an instructive effect ; rather a 
 sentence that helps, than an oration that 
 merely excites. This confession shows us 
 the splendid balance of Paul. He had a 
 deeply ecstatic element in his nature, and 
 ecstatic experiences are acknowledged in 
 2 Cor. V. 13, xii. 1-4; but he was well 
 aware that the active exercise of intelli- 
 gence was the higher manifestation of the 
 spirit, and this was one of his invaluable 
 contributions to religion. He set himself 
 resolutely against the contemporary tend- 
 ency to identify the spirit with the extraor- 
 dinary, the violent, the abnormal, and 
 proclaimed that its noblest manifestation 
 was in the ordinary and normal exercise 
 of intelligent powers — not as a wonder- 
 working, but rather as an ethicizing force 
 (cf. Gal. V. 22). The Corinthian passion 
 for the ostentatious in spiritual things he 
 gently (d§e\0ot, brethren, ver. 20) but 
 deliberately characterizes as childish. 
 Brethren, do not show yourselves chil- 
 dren in mind, but — if you are to be 
 children, let it be in ■ another sphere — in 
 wickedness be as babies; in mind, how- 
 ever, show yourselves full-grown (cf. ii. 
 6, iii. i), by preferring, like the z^ise men 
 they claimed to be, intelligence in worship 
 to unintelligible and unedifying fervor. 
 
 Another aspect of the question is briefly 
 discussed in vv. 21-25, namely, the eifect 
 of tongues and prophecy upon those who 
 stand without the pale of Christianity, 
 whether as unacquainted with it or hostile 
 to it : here again the superiority of 
 prophecy to tongues is demonstrated. 
 
96 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIV 
 
 21 In the law it is written, With men 
 of other tongues and other hps will I 
 speak unto this people; and yet for all 
 that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. 
 
 22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, 
 not to them that believe, but to them that 
 believe not : but prophesying serveth not 
 for them that believe not, but for them 
 which believe. 
 
 23 If therefore the whole church be 
 come together into one place, and all speak 
 
 with tongues, and there come in those 
 that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they 
 not say that ye are mad? 
 
 24 But if all prophesy, and there come 
 in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, 
 he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: 
 
 25 And thus are the secrets of his 
 heart made manifest; and so falling down 
 on his face he will worship God, and re- 
 port that God is in you of a truth. 
 
 21. In the law, that is, in the Old Tes- 
 tament (Isaiah xxviii. 11, 12), it stands 
 ■written: "Surely in men of strange 
 tongue and in lips of strangers will I 
 speak to this people, and not even so 
 will they give heed unto me, saith the 
 Lord." The term the law, primarily the 
 Pentateuch, came to be applied to the 
 whole of the Old Testament : in John x. 
 34, it is used of Ps. Ixxxii. 6. In Isaiah 
 there is, of course, no reference to such 
 speaking with tongues as was practised in 
 Corinth. The prophet's contemporaries 
 scoffingly rejected his instruction, which 
 seemed to them puerile ; and he warns 
 them that the next divine message would 
 come to them from Assyrian lips — the 
 conquerors with their foreign speech would 
 be upon them, though even so terrible an 
 experience would not bring the frivolous 
 Israelites to listen to their God. 
 
 22-25. And so — this is the inference — 
 the tongues are for a sign not to those 
 who believe, but to the unbelievers, not 
 apparently a sign which would induce them 
 to repent and be saved, but one which 
 would confirm them still more in their 
 obstinacy or indifference; for ii:ill they not 
 say that you are mad (ver. 23), just as 
 Israel zvonld not hearken (Is. xxviii. 12). 
 The citation has the value only of illus- 
 tration, not of proof: there is, of course, 
 in Isaiah, no prophecy of the Corinthian 
 situation. Tongues are, then, in this sense, 
 an ominous sign to unbelievers, while 
 prophecy, on the other hand, is not for 
 the unbelievers, but for those who be- 
 lieve. If then the whole church assem- 
 bles together, and all talk unceasingly, 
 (prcs.) with tongues, and persons should 
 come in to the meeting who are either 
 without knowledge (of Christianity) or 
 positively unbelieving, what will the effect 
 be? will they not say that you are mad? 
 If speaking with tongues were the only 
 public religious exercise, not only would 
 the conversion of outsiders be impossible, 
 but they would suppose that they had 
 stumbled into a lunatic asylum. On the 
 
 other hand, if all prophesy, and one 
 comes in to the meeting, an unbeliever 
 even or one simply without knowledge 
 (of Christianity), the effect is far-reach- 
 ing, a conviction is produced which may 
 end in conversion ; he is convicted (cf. 
 John xvi. 8) by all — every fresh speaker 
 distresses his conscience anew, and deepens 
 his sense of guilt — he is sifted by all, 
 every new speech brings him before an 
 inner tribunal, the secrets of his heart 
 grow manifest, as the search-light is 
 flashed upon them by the divinely illumi- 
 nated speakers : and so, under the over- 
 whelming impression of the presence of 
 God produced by these inspired and search- 
 ing speeches, he, even though an unbe- 
 liever before, will humbly fall upon his 
 face prostrate, and worship God, declar- 
 ing, in that act and afterwards by speech, 
 that God is among you in reality: such 
 impressions can have only one source. 
 This description of the effect of prophecy 
 is not strictly consistent with ver. 22 where 
 it is a sign to the believing : it supplements 
 that statement, by insisting upon its power 
 not only to edify the believing, but to 
 search, convict, and convert the unbe- 
 liever, here (unlike ver, 23) mentioned be- 
 fore the IdiuTvs, as its effect upon him is 
 more wonderful. 
 
 These last verses give a very welcome 
 description of the nature of prophecy in 
 the early church. It does not seem to 
 have differed essentially from preaching 
 upon its higher levels. It is a mode of 
 speech governed by intelligence, and ad- 
 dressing itself to intelligence; but still 
 more than to the mind was its appeal to 
 tlie conscience, which it searched and con- 
 victed so powerfully that God Himself was 
 felt to be behind it. Its result or at least 
 its aim was the conversion of unbelievers 
 and the edification of the church assembled. 
 
 Very different was the speaking with 
 tongues. This chapter puts it beyond all 
 possible doubt that this speech had noth- 
 
Ch. XIV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 97 
 
 26 How is it then, brethren? when ye 
 come together, every one of you hath a 
 psahn, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath 
 a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let 
 all things be done unto edifying. 
 
 2.^ If any man speak in an unknown 
 tongue, let it be by two, or at the most 
 
 by three, and that by course; and let one 
 interpret. 
 
 28 But if there be no interpreter, let 
 him keep silence in the church; and let 
 him speak to himself, and to God. 
 
 29 Let the prophets speak two or three, 
 and let the other judge. 
 
 ing whatever to do with foreign languages. 
 It is compared to foreign speech (vv. 10, 
 11) in its unintelligibility to those who 
 have no means of interpreting it: it must 
 therefore have been a different thing. It 
 produced the same kind of effect as a 
 tune incoherently played upon a musical 
 instrument : it was noisy, but, for the un- 
 initiated, senseless, and those who spoke it 
 would seem to an outsider to be behaving 
 like madmen. What a curious light the 
 passage throws upon ancient Christian 
 worship ! The prominence given to the 
 discussion of tongues shows that the phe- 
 nomenon was by no means infrequent ; and 
 it was a singular Providence that so sane 
 a thinker as Paul appeared to direct the 
 exuberant emotion and activity of the 
 church into more profitable channels. 
 
 Directions for the Conduct of Public 
 Worship (xiv. 26-36). 
 
 The general principle has already been 
 suggested that edification is to be the cri- 
 terion of the value of spiritual gifts, and 
 the supreme end of their exercise in the 
 church assembly. This principle is now 
 applied more particularly, and takes the 
 form of specific injunction. 
 
 26. How does the case stand, then, 
 brethren? (cf. v. 15). Every time ye as- 
 semble (pres., different from (rwiXdrj^ aor., 
 in ver. 23) every member has a distinct 
 contribution to make : each one has a 
 psalm, perhaps from the Old Testament 
 (interpreted of course in the Christian 
 sense), or just as probably a hymn com- 
 posed under the new inspiration created 
 by Christianity, such as those in Luke i, 
 ii, and scattered throughout Revelation. 
 Praise "with tongues" (cf. ver. 15) is not 
 here contemplated, as the tongues are men- 
 tioned afterwards. Another man has a 
 teaching, instruction, but hardly yet dog- 
 matic teaching (ver. 6) ; another has a rev- 
 elation, a divine communication, which he 
 will set forth prophetically (ver. 6) ; an- 
 other has a tongue, offers prayer or praise 
 ecstatically, another has interpretation (cf. 
 xii. 8-10, 28-31), and so can edify the 
 church by explaining these strange utter- 
 
 ances. The emphatic repetition of the 
 ex^t suggestively illustrates the individuality 
 of the gifts ; each man has something to 
 contribute, and the assembled church has 
 at her disposal a great variety of spiritual 
 gifts. The question naturally arises : how 
 are they to be utilized, and in what spirit? 
 The answer is illuminating : Let all 
 things be carried on with a view to 
 edification. This principle affords the 
 practical solution of all the problems that 
 may arise. It will decide, for example, 
 that an utterance with tongues, for which 
 there is no interpreter, will be repressed ; 
 it will decide how many prophets should 
 be allowed to speak at one service ; it will 
 impose silence upon a speaker, when a new 
 revelation has been made to some other 
 member. 
 
 27-29. The principle of edification is ap- 
 plied in detail. First, not in importance, 
 but in immediate interest to the Corin- 
 thians, is ecstatic utterance ; in the case o£ 
 speaking with tongues, let it be to the 
 number of two, or at most three — at 
 one* meeting, of course — and by turn, 
 not all at one time, as we may reasonably 
 hifer from this injunction the Corinthians 
 had occasionally, if not frequently, done; 
 another glimpse into the tumultuous na- 
 ture of their worship, and the need for 
 regulating it. And, as interpretation is in- 
 dispensable for edification, let one, but not 
 more than one, interpret: should there be 
 no interpreter, however, either in the 
 person of the speaker himself (ver. 5) or 
 of any other, let him who speaks with 
 tongues keep silence (pres.) in (the) 
 church {i.e. the assembly, not the build- 
 ing), and, as he cannot ' speak edifyingly 
 to men (ver. 2), let him speak to him- 
 self and to God. That will practically 
 mean at home or in private; for ^akelv 
 could hardly be used of inaudible speech 
 to himself in the public assembly. There 
 is no real place for unintelligible speech in 
 the church. In the case of prophets who, 
 in spite of the many spiritual gifts repre- 
 sented in the church (ver. 26) divide the 
 interest, throughout this discussion, with 
 the ecstatic speakers, let two or three 
 speak in the course of a service, and let 
 the others, who have the gift of dis- 
 
98 
 
 I £)ORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIV 
 
 30 If any thing be revealed to another 
 that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. 
 
 31, For ye may all prophesy one by one, 
 that all may learn, and all may be com- 
 forted. 
 
 32 And the spirits of the prophets are 
 subject to the prophets. 
 
 33 For God is not the author of con- 
 fusion, but of peace, as in all churches of 
 the saints. 
 
 34 Let your women keep silence in the 
 churches; for it is not permitted unto them 
 to speak; but they are commanded to be 
 under obedience, as also saith the law. 
 
 35 And if they will learn any thing, let 
 them ask their husbands at home: for it is 
 a shame for woman to speak in the church. 
 
 36 What ! came the word of God out 
 from you? or came it unto you only? 
 
 criminating the spirits (ver. 10) discrim- 
 inate, and decide whether these prophetic 
 utterances really have their source in God. 
 30-33. If, however, while a prophet is 
 speaking, a revelation be made to an- 
 other who is sitting by (the speaker 
 stands, the people sit), let the first keep 
 silence, bring his speech to a close in 
 deference to the new revelation. This 
 shows that the injunctions here laid down 
 are elastic, not mechanical. How the pres- 
 ence of a new message in the assembly 
 might be indicated, we are not told ; but 
 it is significant that the speaker, inspired 
 though he is conceived to be, has in such 
 a case to stop, and resume his seat. It 
 might be urged that it was simply impos- 
 sible for an eager, earnest, prophet, thus to 
 repress himself at a moment's notice. Not so, 
 says Paul : for you have ALL the power 
 to prophesy, if you do so one by one 
 • — and if due self-restraint is exercised, 
 even assuming that they all possessed the 
 prophetic gift (ver. 24), they would thus 
 all in course of time, have the opportunity 
 — in order that in this way ALL the mem- 
 bers of tne church may learn, and ALL 
 be stimulated: if all such gifts are exer- 
 cised, all the members will be spiritually 
 furthered. And this self-repression is per- 
 fectly possible, for (the) spirits of 
 prophets are subject to (the) prophets 
 in whom they reside : a prophet is an i)i- 
 telligent person, he has vovs, and ought to 
 be able to master his emotion : he must 
 not be the victim of his own fervid elo- 
 quence, but must promptly and willingly 
 give place to another inspired speaker, 
 with a new message. There ought to be 
 no confusion or disorder within the church ; 
 for she is God's (i. 2) and her life ought 
 to reflect the peace and order of His: for 
 God is a God, not of disorder, but of 
 peace. The next clause, as in all the 
 churches of the saints, seems better taken 
 as an appendage to ver. 33 (A. V.) than 
 as introduction to ver. 34. On the latter 
 assumption, the repetition of in the churches 
 would be rather awkward ; a similar phrase 
 occurs in xi. 16 as the end of a paragraph, 
 
 and the imperatival clause has more force 
 as the first clause than it would have as 
 second. The meaning will then be, that 
 the Corinthians are to beware of violating 
 that divine order which is maintained in 
 the other churches. Westcott and Hort, 
 by bracketing 32, 33a, connect this clause 
 with ver, 31. 
 
 34-36. The question of church order nat- 
 urally suggests the place of women in the 
 church. On the principle of the equality of 
 the sexes in Christ (Gal. iii. 28), there is 
 no reason why women should not have 
 spiritual endowments equally with men ; 
 nor, theoretically considered, is there any 
 reason why such gifts as they had should 
 not be used for the edification of the 
 church. But we have already seen the 
 practical difficulties involved (xi. 1-16) in 
 the new position secured for women, at 
 least in principle, by the new religion. A 
 restraint had to be imposed upon their un- 
 womanly use of the: liberty which was 
 theirs and here (vv. 34-36) we find that 
 restraint carried still further. Let the 
 women keep silence in the churches, for 
 they are not permitted to speak: as the 
 more emotional sex, they would probably 
 have been especially apt to " speak with 
 tongues." But let them be in subjection, 
 as the law, that is, the passage in Gen. 
 iii. 15, says also. It is not easy to recon- 
 cile this passage with xi. 5, where women 
 do speak and pray, clearly in public ; and 
 one is tempted to adopt the drastic sug- 
 gestion that vv. 34, 35 are a later inter- 
 polation, (a) Their place, Bousset argues, 
 in the MSS. varies ; in one group they ap- 
 pear after ver. 40; (b) they are not nec- 
 essary to the connection — ver. 36 joins 
 well to 33b; (c) The verses contradict xi. 
 5, 13; (d) they seem to be dependent on 
 I Tim. ii. iif. If the verses are genuine, 
 we may suppose with Lietzmann. that " in 
 ch. xi. the praying and prophesying of 
 women is unwillingly conceded (the veil 
 however being unconditionally demanded) 
 but here the apostle's real opinion comes 
 out. that women ought to be altogether 
 silent;" or with Findlay, that Paul is here 
 
Ch. XIV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 99 
 
 37 If any man think himself to be a 
 prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge 
 that the things that I write mito you are 
 the commandments of the Lord. 
 
 38 But if any man be ignorant, let him 
 be ignorant. 
 
 39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to proph- 
 esy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 
 
 40 Let all things be done decently and 
 in order. 
 
 *' thinking of church-teaching and authorita- 
 tive direction as a role unfit for women ;" 
 Teaching is out of the question: if, how- 
 ever, they wish to LEARN anything, they 
 are not to put their questions in public, 
 but at home; there let them ask their 
 own husbands (he is clearly therefore 
 thinking of married women), and no other 
 men — there, at home, for it is a disgrace 
 for a woman to speak in church assembly. 
 The Corinthians, by the license they have 
 given their women, are acting as if, in 
 somie sense, they were a special church. 
 Paul sharply disabuses them of this idea, 
 if they entertained it, by an ironical ques- 
 tion. It was from you, perhaps, was it, 
 that the word of God, the truth of the 
 gospel, came forth, or was it you only to 
 whom it reached? You were not the 
 first to publish it, nor are you the only 
 ones to enjoy it. Some refer this question 
 not exclusively to the behaviour of the 
 women, but to all the points of public wor- 
 ship that have come up for discussion. 
 
 Paul's Claim of Inspiration (xiv. S7i 38)- 
 
 37, 38. If any one thinks himself to 
 be a prophet, or endowed with spiritual 
 (gifts), let him take knowledge that what 
 I am writing to you, on this question of 
 public worship and spiritual endowments, 
 is the commandment of the Lord Jesus 
 Himself. This is a bold claim to make, 
 which finds its best justification in the 
 sanity of the commands, in the insistence 
 upon edification as a criterion of the gifts, 
 and upon love as the spirit in which they 
 should be exercised. Paul is quite pre- 
 pared, however, to find his claim disputed : 
 but he will not discuss the point, he simply 
 leaves the objector to the enjoyment of 
 his ignorance. But if anyone is ignorant 
 of this, that my instructions are inspired 
 by the Lord Himself, let him remain in 
 his ignorance (pres.). To o.yvo€t.Tio (imper.) 
 there is an alternative reading, dyvoeirai, 
 he is ignored (by God: cf. Mat. vii. 23, xxv. 
 12), his fate will be condemnation; but the 
 other translation, presupposing no ellipse, 
 is more natural, and makes a very appro- 
 priate conclusion. 
 
 Summary of the Discussion (xiv. 39, 40). 
 
 39, 40. The whole discussion is admira- 
 bly summarized (were, cf. xv. 58), in the 
 two concluding verses. So then, my 
 brethren, covet prophesying, for it is one 
 of the great spiritual gifts (cf. xii. 31, xiv. i 
 where f^AoOre is also used), and speaking 
 with tongues — do not encourage, for it is 
 not edifying, but — do not prevent, for it 
 is, after all, a spiritual exercise ; only, of 
 course, if an interpreter can be found, will 
 such speech have a place in the church (ver. 
 28). But let all things, prophesying, 
 tongues, and all the other exercises of wor- 
 ship (ver. 26) be carried on with seemli- 
 ness and in order: there must be no im- 
 propriety and no confusion, such as where 
 speakers spoke at the same time, or the 
 number was unlimited (ver. 27), for these 
 render true edification impossible (ver. 26). 
 
 This ancient discussion of public worship 
 is most instructive and suggestive. There 
 was a spontaneity about the early Christian 
 service which hardly marks the worship of 
 to-day — an ebullition of feehng inevitable 
 to men to whom Christianity meant an in- 
 tellectual and spiritual revolution. In this 
 exuberant emotion, when it was uncon- 
 trolled, Paul saw a menace to the true 
 spirit of worship : and he insists upon the 
 supreme need of intelligence, mind, in pub- 
 lic worship. Spiritual fervor is not enough 
 — that alone may create the impression 
 that the church is a gathering of madmen : 
 prayer, praise, preaching, must be engaged 
 in« " with the understanding also." There 
 must be seemliness and order, every part in 
 its proper place, every speaker possessed 
 of the spirit, yet also master of his own 
 spirit, the whole service pervaded by the 
 beauty and serenity of God Himself (ver. 
 2S). And all this will be secured, if it be 
 remembered that the true end of the church- 
 assembly is edification. This is a great and 
 fruitful saying, and Paul repeatedly insists 
 upon it. The church meets to be built up, 
 and all the exercises are useful, only in 
 proportion as they contribute to that. 
 
 The modern church service is undoubt- 
 edly inferior to the ancient in affording 
 
100 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIV 
 
 less scope for the various gifts and capaci- 
 ties of its members. Doubtless there are 
 other spheres where most of these gifts 
 may be exercised, yet it is to the loss of 
 the church that this great opportunity is 
 made so little of. Bengel quaintly re- 
 marks, " The public assembly was at that 
 time more fruitful than in the present day, 
 wherein one individual, whatever may be 
 the state of his mind, must fill up the time 
 with a sermon." In those days every man 
 came prepared with a contribution, psalm, 
 
 teaching, revelation, or whatever it might 
 be (ver. 26) ; and, though this very cir- 
 cumstance led to confusion, and created 
 the necessity for appointments which 
 would bring " secmlincss and order " into 
 church worship, the stateliness which gov- 
 erns our worship, combined with other rea- 
 sons, has had the indirect, though perhaps 
 not inevitable effect, of suppressing gifts of 
 the most diverse kinds, which would have 
 been capable of contributing not a little to 
 the edification of the church. 
 
102 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 THE RESURRECTION (xv), 
 
 CHAPTER 15. 
 
 I Moreover, brethren, I declare unto 
 you the gospel which I preached unto you, 
 
 which also ye have received, and wherein 
 ye stand. 
 
 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep 
 in memory what I preached unto you, un- 
 less ye have believed in vain. 
 
 The discussion of the resurrection is more 
 doctrinal than any other in the epistle, yet 
 the interest in it is not theoretical, but in- 
 tensely practical, and the discussion is de- 
 signed to meet a specific situation in the 
 Corinthian church. Some had denied the 
 resurrection (ver. 12), which to Paul was 
 one of the most vital elements in Christian 
 belief: if this were taken away, there was 
 nothing left for the Christian but sorrow 
 in this life, unredeemed by hope for the 
 life to come (ver. 19). The denial of the 
 resurrection could only end in a practical 
 Epicureanism (ver. 32) : life would be 
 robbed of its nobleness, and, with a dead 
 redeemer, redemption from sin would be 
 an idle dream (ver. 17). It is probable 
 that those who denied the resurrection of 
 the body did so in the interests of a spir- 
 itual view of the world : what they denied 
 was probably not the continuance of per- 
 sonality, but the rising again of the^ body 
 from the dead — they were antimaterialists. 
 But Paul feels that in this denial of the 
 resurrection, everything is at stake — the 
 truth of the gospel, the honor of the apos- 
 tles, the reality of redemption ; and he sets 
 himself with superb earnestness to combat 
 this dangerous heresy with arguments of 
 various kinds. 
 
 The Place of the Resurrection in the Gos- 
 pel, and the Historical Evidence for 
 it (xv. i-ii). 
 
 I, 2. Paul begins by reminding his 
 readers of the nature of the gospel which 
 he had preached and they had believed, and 
 of the fundamental place held in that gos- 
 pel by the resurrection. Now — passing 
 (5e) from the question of worship to that 
 ol creed (probably suggested to Paul by the 
 letter of the Corinthians, cf. vii. i, viii. i, 
 xii. I, xvi. i) — I regret that I have to 
 make known to you, again, brethren (for 
 on this matter you ought to be perfectly 
 well informed), the gospel which I 
 preached to you. He had proclaimed it to 
 receptive cars and hearts. It was a gospel, 
 not only which he had preached, but 
 which you on your part received, and 
 
 received to some purpose : it had made 
 them steadfast, and started them on the 
 way of salvation, being a gospel in which 
 moreover ye stand, through which fur- 
 ther ye are being saved. The gospel 
 swept the whole compass of their past, 
 present and future, from the day on which 
 they had believed and received it to the 
 day on which the process of their salva- 
 tion, then begun, would be completely 
 realized. This gospel which had so sig- 
 nally proved its power, Paul feels the need 
 of declaring to the Corinthians again, as 
 some of them had deliberately abandoned 
 or denied one of its most vital tenets. The 
 meaning of the remaining clauses of ver. 
 2 is doubtful, though the words themselves 
 are simple enough: literally, with what 
 word I preached (it) to you, if ye hold 
 it fast, unless ye became believers (aor.) 
 heedlessly. Any translation must be inade- 
 quate which makes the interrogative rivi 
 co-ordinate with the four preceding rela- 
 tives ; but it is not clear whether the clause 
 zi'ith zvhat word I preached to you goes 
 with / make known or, as A. V. and A. 
 R. V. take it, or with if ye hold fast. 
 In the latter case the inversion of the 
 clauses is awkward ; though, if the inver- 
 sion be allowed, the connection with the 
 previous sentence is good ; " through which 
 ye are being saved, if ye hold fast with 
 what word I preached to you." In the 
 former case, " I make known," . . . " if 
 ye hold fast " do not go well together : 
 Paul's announcement of the gospel did not 
 depend upon the Corinthians holding it 
 fast. Nevertheless this construction seems, 
 on the whole, preferable to the other : un- 
 der the influence of the four intervening 
 relative clauses, the introductory yviapl^u 
 is half forgotten ; and the ;/ clause is prac- 
 tically =" if perchance (i.e. I hope) you 
 are holding it fast." The meaning of the 
 last clause (for the redundancy in e/croj 
 el fj.Ti, cf. xiv. 5) is also disputed: unless 
 ye belicz'ed idly. Does this moan : unless 
 your faith zvas vain (subjective) or unless 
 the thing you believed was vain (objec- 
 t'vc) ? Later (ver. 14) the possibility of 
 the gospel message being an idle tale is 
 contemplated, but such a thought at this 
 
Ch. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 103 
 
 3 For I delivered unto you first of all 
 that which I also received, how that Christ 
 died for our sins according to the Scrip- 
 tures ; 
 
 4 And that he was buried, and that he 
 rose again the third day according to the 
 Scriptures : 
 
 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then 
 of the twelve : 
 
 6 After that, he was seen of above five 
 hundred brethren at once ; of whom the 
 greater part remain unto this present, but 
 some are fallen asleep. 
 
 7 After that, he was seen of James ; 
 then of all the apostles. 
 
 stage would be an anticipation. The gospel 
 is powerful : it is the adequacy of their 
 faith in it that he doubts. It cannot itself 
 be a vain thing, for in it they stand, and 
 through it they are saved. 
 
 3. This verse, with ver. 4, explains (yo-p) 
 the contents of the gospel which had before 
 been proclaimed to them. For I delivered 
 to you as among the most important 
 things — irpdjTOLs first, not in point of time, 
 but of importance — that which also I 
 received. This phrase forcibly recalls xi. 
 2^, and suggests, like it, the duty of trans- 
 mitting what was committed. Unlike it; 
 the source of the communication is not 
 mentioned. The absence of the phrase from 
 the Lord leaves it open to us to suppose 
 that the statements which follow came to 
 Paul through ordinary oral communication 
 from the leaders of the church ; but con- 
 sidering the emphasis which he immediately 
 lays upon Christ's appearing to him (ver. 
 8) it is possible that something more inti- 
 mate is here implied. Then follows a sum- 
 mary Christian creed, invaluable as reveal- 
 ing what, to Paul, constituted the essence 
 of the "gospel:" that Christ died. It 
 is true that Paul is preparing the way for 
 his statement of the resurrection ; but it is 
 none the less interesting and significant that 
 he passes over all the activities of His 
 life, and begins with mention of His death 
 for our sins, that is to atone for sin and 
 " to take it out of the world." Paul never 
 regards the death of Christ as the mere 
 result of the historical forces to which, 
 humanly speaking, it was due : it is the 
 consummation of a great divine purpose by 
 which " He was delivered up for our tres- 
 passes" (Rom. iv. 25: cf. 2 Cor. v. 18 ff.) 
 — a purpose of which ancient men had had 
 glimpses (cf. i Pet. i. 11) and which there- 
 fore was fulfilled according to the Scrip- 
 tures. The early church (Acts xvii. 3, etc.) 
 followed the practice of Jesus (Luke xxii. 
 27, xxiv. 46 f.) in connecting His suffer- 
 ings with Old Testament prophecy. Prob- 
 ably Isaiah liii. was the passage which hov- 
 ered most frequently before their minds 
 (cf. Luke xxii. 37) : and, whatever was its 
 original application, nothing was more nat- 
 
 ural than that from Christians it should 
 receive a Messianic interpretation. 
 
 4. The creed, then, is that Christ died, 
 and th^t He was buried — this touch is 
 perhaps added to suggest how really, if 
 only temporarily, He came under the power 
 of the grave, from which He rose tri- 
 umphant — and that He has been raised 
 on the third day. The tenses are very 
 carefully chosen : the death and the burial 
 are historic facts (aor.), the effect of the 
 resurrection is abiding (hence perf.) : He 
 is a risen One. It is not said that Christ 
 rose, but that He was raised. His resur- 
 rection is the work of God (cf. ver. 15), 
 the divine seal upon the work of Christ. 
 This, too, like the passion, took place, ac- 
 cording to the Scriptures. The passage 
 in which the resurrection on the third day 
 was believed to have been predicted, appears 
 to have been Hosea vi. 2. " After two 
 days will He revive us ; on the third day 
 He will raise us up." In Hosea, it is 
 Israel who expects to be raised up on the 
 third day. The passage has nothing to do 
 with the Messiah : it is not a prediction of 
 His resurrection, but the people's expression 
 of hope in the national resurrection. But, 
 like so many other passages in the Old 
 Testament, it came to have a Messianic in- 
 terpretation (cf. Book of Acts passim) ; in 
 JMat. xii. 40, the resurrection is connected 
 with Jonah ii, i, 2. These N. T. allu- 
 sions to O. T. prophecy, though not always 
 justified by strict exegesis, suggest a fine 
 conception of history, according to which 
 a divine purpose, in part revealed to and 
 interpreted by men of prophetic instinct, 
 was being worked out throughout the ages, 
 and found its consummation in Christ. 
 
 5-7. The truth on which Paul is here 
 insisting as vital to the gospel, and almost 
 synonymous with it, is that of the resur- 
 rection : he therefore proceeds to establish 
 it beyond all doubt by adducing historical 
 evidence for it. As this evidence, and not 
 the fact alone, is part of the trust he com- 
 mitted to the Corinthians, he proceeds, and 
 that: and the witnesses he adduces are 
 either those who Avere very conspicuous in 
 the church, like Peter and James, and 
 
104 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 8 And last of all he was seen of me 
 also, as of one born out of due time. 
 
 9 For I am the least of the apostles, 
 that am not meet to be called an apostle, 
 because, I persecuted the church of God. 
 
 ID But by the grace of God I am what 
 
 I am : and his grace which zcas bestowed 
 upon me was not in vain ; but I laboured 
 more abundantly than they all ; yet not I, 
 but the grace of God which was with me. 
 II Therefore whether it z\.'ere I or they, 
 so we preach, and so ye believed. 
 
 whose evidence is above all suspicion (cf. 
 ver. 15) ; or witnesses who were accessi- 
 ble, like the survivors of the five hundred. 
 And that he appeared to Cephas (Luke 
 xxiv. 34), the usual designation of Peter 
 in Paul's epistles (cf. i. 12), then to the 
 twelve disciples, or apostles as they were 
 now called (Luke xxiv. 36) : there were 
 really only ten, Judas and Thomas being 
 absent — the twelve is the semi-official des- 
 ignation of the group. The repeated use 
 of ^Ira or cTretra shows that the order is 
 chronological. Though the following sen- 
 tences (vv. 6, 7) appear as independent 
 statements, and are not, like vv. 3-5 for- 
 mally introduced by that, they are no doubt 
 part of Paul's " commission " to the Corin- 
 thians, as he is making the case for the 
 resurrection as strong as possible. Then 
 He appeared to above five hundred 
 brethren at once (on an occasion supposed 
 to be alluded to in Mat. xxviii. 17) of 
 whom the majority survive to this day 
 and are therefore competent to give evi- 
 dence at first hand, though some have 
 fallen asleep (Christian euphemism for 
 died, cf. xi. 30: aorist, lit. fell asleep), 
 consequently their evidence cannot be ad- 
 duced ; yet, as Bengel finely says, " It was 
 not of less importance to bring forward 
 these as witnesses. They had died in this 
 belief." They had fallen asleep in Christ 
 (cf. ver. 18). Then, on an occasion not 
 'recorded in our Gospels, he appeared to 
 James, the brother of the Lord (Gal. i. 
 19), worthy of special mention here as the 
 leader of the Jerusalem church ; then to 
 all the apostles. The preceding mention 
 of " the twelve " makes it possible that 
 apostles must here be taken in a wider 
 sense : the meaning may be, however, that 
 on this occasion (whether that of John 
 XX. 26, or more probably Acts i. 2-4) all 
 (irdaLv at end, emphatic) the apostles were 
 present. It is remarkable that, although 
 Paul is summarizing the most conclusive 
 facts for the resurrection of Christ, he 
 says nothing of the empty grave, nor of 
 the testimony of the women : he does not 
 however profess to give all the evidence, 
 and the testimony of the women might 
 have been challenged by the sceptically 
 minded. It is also remarkable that, of 
 the evidence adduced, so little is known 
 
 from the gospels : the appearance to Peter 
 is mentioned quite incidentally, and that 
 to James not at all. The gospels tell much, 
 but much is left untold. 
 
 8. And last of all, last in time and 
 last in dignity (for he is the least of the 
 apostles, ver. 9), as to the one untimely 
 born, He appeared to ME ALSO (em- 
 phatic, at end). When Paul insists upon 
 the truth of the resurrection, he knows 
 whereof he speaks, for the risen Christ 
 was actually seen (w0^?j) by him on the 
 ever-memorable day of his journey to 
 Damascus. He calls himself the abortion 
 (the abortion perhaps suggests that this 
 was a nickname) possibly on account of 
 the strangeness and suddenness of his 
 Christian birth. " What an abortion is 
 among children, that am I among the 
 apostles" (Bengel). In his description of 
 Christ's appearance to Himself, Paul uses 
 the same word co^drj (was seen) as he had 
 used of the other appearances ; his vision 
 of the risen Christ was as real as theirs. 
 He and they alike had seen Christ, and 
 therefore were bound to believe in His 
 resurrection, not merely in His continued 
 personality. 
 
 9-11. For as for me (h<^, emphatic), 
 abortion as they called me, and as I am, 
 I am the least of the apostles, indeed I 
 am not fit to be called apostle, because 
 I persecuted the church of God: he 
 shudders as he thinks how fierce an oppo- 
 nent he had been of God and His church. 
 Remorse for the misguided zeal of those 
 days ever haunted" and humiliated him; 
 but it is tempered by the thought of the 
 infinite grace of God, which had checked 
 him, saved him, and honored him by a 
 place of conspicuous toil (eKowiaca) , Then 
 he was less than nothing, now he is some- 
 thing; the grace of God has made him 
 something. The three-fold repetition of 
 the grace of God within one verse shows 
 how overwhelming he feels his debt to God 
 to be for his present state. But by the 
 grace of God I am what I am, not an 
 abortion (only) but an apostle, and the 
 most active apostle of all : for His grace 
 extended towards me did not prove 
 empty, but, on the contrary, it called and 
 equipped me for abundant toil — Paul re- 
 sponds to the grace of God by a life of 
 
€h. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 105 
 
 12 Now if Christ be preached that he 
 rose from the dead, how say some among 
 you that there is no resurrection of the 
 dead? 
 
 13 But if there be no resurrection of 
 the dead, then is Christ not risen: 
 
 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is 
 our preaching vain, and your faith is also 
 vain. 
 
 15 Yea, and we are found false wit- 
 nesses of God ; because we have testified 
 of God that he raised up Christ: whom 
 he raised not up, if so be that the dead 
 rise not. 
 
 16 For if the dead rise not, then is not 
 Christ raised : 
 
 17 And if Christ be not raised, your 
 faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. 
 
 unusual toil, which is itself a gift of 
 grace — I toiled (e/coTrmo-a suggests hard 
 work) more abundantly than all of them 
 together (or, if this be considered too 
 strong an assertion, we may perhaps trans- 
 late, than any of them). The life of labor 
 and persecution which his apostleship in- 
 volved has already been suggested by iv. 
 9-13. Paul almost seems to regret the 
 comparison into which he has been led by 
 reflecting upon what the grace of God has 
 made of him ; and at once he checks him- 
 self: yet not I, but the grace of God 
 accompanying me. It rather than he, it 
 through and with him, had done the work. 
 But Paul will not let himself be drawn 
 into a discussion irrelevant to his main 
 theme, therefore he abruptly concludes : It 
 matters not then, whether I or they, who 
 had the vision and did the work, this is 
 how we preach, and this is how ye then 
 believed: this — the statement he had com- 
 mitted to them about the death and espe- 
 cially the resurrection of Christ (vv. 3, 4). 
 On this crucial point, Peter, James, Paul, 
 were absolutely unanimous. 
 
 The Consequences of Denying the Resurrec- 
 tion (xv. 12-19). 
 
 12. In the preceding paragraph, Paul 
 has established the resurrection of Christ 
 as a fact, by evidence ample, irreproachable, 
 and irrefutable. In spite of this, however, 
 there are some at Corinth who deny, in 
 general, the possibility of resurrection. 
 Paul with great earnestness proceeds to 
 show how utterly disastrous to Christian 
 faith and hope such a denial wo.uld be. 
 Now (5e marks the transition to the real 
 question which was in Paul's mind when 
 he started the discussion) if Christ is 
 preached that He is risen from (the) 
 dead: this translation preserves the flavor 
 of the passive voice which must not be 
 lost sight of in eyrjyeprai. (see ver. 4; 
 therefore not "has risen"), and also of 
 the perfect tense. Till we reach ver. 29, 
 the Greek word is simply dead (veKpoi) 
 not the dead : it calls up the dead as per- 
 
 sons rather than as a class, and is conse- 
 quently more graphic than the English 
 phrase ; but it is almost impossible to repro- 
 duce this touch in English. Paul's sentence 
 is more significant than if he had written, 
 " If it is preached that Christ is risen." 
 The theme of the preaching is not a truth, 
 but a Person, Christ, either crucified (i. 23, 
 where K-npvaaoixev is also used), or risen — 
 to Paul these two aspects are vitally con- 
 nected (cf. Rom. iv, 24, 25). If then, the 
 preaching of Christ involves the preaching 
 of His resurrection, how is it that among 
 you some maintain that there is no such 
 thing as a resurrection of dead men? 
 Those who so maintained were some, per- 
 haps not many; but against such a deadly 
 heresy a heavy blow must be struck at 
 once. The resurrection of the body would 
 offer a peculiar stumbling block to the 
 philosophically minded Greeks (cf. Acts 
 xvii. 18, 32), some of whom while be- 
 lieving in the immortality of the soul, re- 
 garded the body but as the prison of the 
 soul, neither capable nor worthy of hold- 
 ing any place in the world beyond death. 
 A spiritual body was to them a meaningless 
 phrase (cf. ver. 35). They may also have 
 been encouraged in their opinions by Paul's 
 preaching of a mystical death and resur- 
 rection with Christ. Apparently they did 
 not deny the resurrection of Christ Himself 
 — • Paul's argument assumes that they ac- 
 cept it — but they may have regarded that 
 as unique, Paul at once shows them that 
 to accept the one and deny the other is 
 illogical. 
 
 13-17. Now if there is no such thing as 
 a resurrection of dead men, then neither 
 is Christ risen: if there can be no risen 
 men, there can be no risen Christ, for 
 Christ belongs to humanity. And if Christ 
 is not risen, then our preaching is utterly 
 empty {Kevov^ emphatic), for the risen 
 Christ is the core of it, empty too, is our 
 (or your) faith. There is no real sub- 
 stance in our message, and a faith resting 
 upon such a message must be equally hol- 
 low : we have nothing to preach, and there 
 is nothing worth believing. And not only 
 so, but we, who are prepared to offer the 
 
106 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 i8 Then they also which are fallen 
 asleep in Christ are perished. 
 
 19 If in this life only we have hope in 
 Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 
 
 20 But now is Christ risen from the 
 dead, and become the firstfruits of them 
 that slept. 
 
 21 For since by man came death, by 
 man came also the resurrection of the 
 dead. 
 
 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive. 
 
 most circumstantial evidence for our asser- 
 tions (vv. 5-8), are further discovered to 
 be lying witnesses for God, in that we 
 wronged God by witnessing that He 
 raised Christ, whereas He did not raise 
 Him, if so be then that dead men are 
 not raised. Literally, " in that we testified 
 against (rather than concerning) God," i.e. 
 wronged Him in testifying. If the resur- 
 rection is not true, the apostles, who tes- 
 tify to it, are liars, and that, too, in the 
 highest relationship conceivable — their re- 
 lationship to God. An impossible supposi- 
 tion surely ! Here the thought is very 
 expHcit, which everywhere is implied : 
 Christ does not rise. He is raised: God 
 raises Him. The thought of ver. 13 is 
 repeated with renewed emphasis : for, if 
 dead men are not raised, then neither is 
 Christ risen. The consequences of this 
 would be terrible: and if Christ is not 
 risen, then your faith, which is empty 
 (ver. 14), as it is faith in nothing, is 
 further fruitless, it produces no effect in 
 your essentially sinful condition. Ye are 
 yet within the sphere of your sins, from 
 which you had supposed you were justified 
 by the resurrection of Christ (Rom. iv. 25). 
 There can be no redemption with a dead 
 redeemer. 
 
 18, 19. So it is with the living. The 
 destiny of the dead Christian is equally 
 pathetic. Then also those who were laid to 
 sleep (cf. ver. 6) in communion with a 
 dead Christ perished, by passing — some 
 suppose — into that misery in Hades which, 
 in the pictorial language of Luke xvi. 23, 
 is the lot of those who die "yet in their 
 sins." This is perhaps to overpress the 
 words : the reference may simply be to an- 
 nihilation (cf. Ps. i. 6). If then in this 
 life we have had only hope in Christ — 
 no real redemption here, and no realiza- 
 tion of the hope hereafter — then we are 
 more to be pitied than all men, for our 
 life here is one of ceaseless toil, extreme 
 privation, and bitter persecution (iv. 9-13). 
 This sentiment comes strangely from Paul, 
 whom we should rather have expected to 
 admit that a life lived in the spirit of 
 Christ was, under any circumstances, pref- 
 erable to every other. Perhaps, at bottom, 
 in spite of his formal disclaimer, that was 
 his real opinion : this utterance but em- 
 
 bodies his passionate conviction that the^ 
 hope he has cherished in Christ in this' 
 life must be justified and fulfilled in the 
 life to come. That can only be, if Christ 
 is risen: but of this he is sure (ver. 20). 
 
 The Far-reaching Significance of Christ's 
 Resurrection (xv. 20-28). 
 
 20-22. The previous paragraph had con- 
 templated the terrible consequences for hu- 
 manity, if the resurrection of Christ were 
 not a fact. But it is a fact : as it is, Christ 
 is risen (lit. hath been raised) from (the) 
 dead, and from that fact the most momen- 
 tous consequences flow. He is the founder 
 of a new humanity, and His experience 
 of resurrection will and must be shared 
 by all who are united with Him. This 
 thought is expressed under the imagery of 
 a harvest: Christ is the first fruits of 
 them that have fallen asleep — not nec- 
 essarily all men, but the Christian dead, 
 according to the ordinary usage of Koifiaadai 
 (xi. 30) — their resurrection is guaranteed 
 in His, as surely as the harvest in the 
 first fruits (Lev. xxiii. 10 f.). Resurrec- 
 tion comes as inevitably to those who are 
 united to Him, as death to those who are 
 united, as all men are, to Adam. To Paul, 
 Christ and Adam are the two supreme Per- 
 sons in the world's spiritual history — 
 Adam, with whom came sin and death, 
 and Christ who brought deliverance from 
 both (Rom. v. 12 ff.). It is Man against 
 Man. For since through (a) man there 
 is death, through (a) man also there is 
 the resurrection of the dead: for, as in 
 (through their union with) Adam all die, 
 so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 
 Are we to understand that the latter all 
 is universal, like the former? Docs Christ's 
 resurrection guarantee the resurrection of 
 all, or only of Christians^ In favor of 
 the larger reference is the parallel form of 
 the sentence : in that case, all would be 
 raised to life, but only Christians to the 
 final salvation. Probably, however, the ref- 
 erence is really narrower : all /"// Adam, 
 in union with and dependence upon him — 
 that is, all men — die ; similarly all m 
 Christ, in union with Him. live. The order 
 of the Greek words may indeed be said 
 
Ch. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 107 
 
 23 But every man in his own order: 
 Christ the firstfruits ; afterward they that 
 are Christ's at his coming. 
 
 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall 
 have delivered up the kingdom to God, 
 even the Father ; when he shall have put 
 down all rule, and all authority and power. 
 
 25 For he must reign, till he hath put 
 all enemies under his feet. 
 
 26 The last enemy that shall be de- 
 stroyed is death. 
 
 27 For he hath put all things under his 
 feet. But when he saith. All things are 
 put under him, it is manifest that he is 
 excepted, which did' put all things under 
 him. 
 
 28 And when all things shall be sub- 
 dued unto him, then shall the Son also 
 himself be subject unto him that put all 
 things under him, that God may be all 
 in all. 
 
 to be against this interpretation ; but the 
 preposition ^v seems to involve it, and the 
 phrase in the next verse they that are 
 Christ's almost settles the matter. The 
 identity suggested between Christ and the 
 " sleepers " by the word iirst fruits here 
 becomes an even more inward thing: they 
 are not merely like Him, but in Him, and 
 His. 
 
 23-26. But, because they are His, and 
 in Him, they are in a sense separate 
 from Him, in a different rank; therefore 
 each in his own proper rank: as the 
 first fruits Christ, then those that are 
 Christ's will be made alive at His coming 
 — their quickening is involved in (ev) His 
 coming, and this probably Paul expected 
 in the near future. Then is the end: when? 
 and the end of what? Then (elra) appar- 
 ently indicates a third stage, as the previous 
 then (eireLTa) indicated the second, so that 
 an interval is conceived as elapsing be- 
 tween Christ's coming and the end. In 
 Rev. XX. 4-6, this interval is filled up by 
 the thousand year reign of Christ and be- 
 lievers, and a similar thought, less definite, 
 perhaps, may have been in Paul's mind 
 here. The end is the end of history, when 
 God's purpose shall have been consummated 
 by the triumph of Christ, and He delivers 
 the kingdom to Him who is God and 
 Father — this is due to the Father from 
 the Son — and has done away with (same 
 word in xiii. 8 of prophecies and knowl- 
 edge) every rule and every authority 
 and power; especially perhaps is Paul here 
 thinking of demonic powers. The goal of 
 history is the absolute and undisputed 
 triumph of Christ : for He must reign 
 until He has, in the words of Ps. ex. i, 
 put all enemies under His feet. The 
 apostle clinches the Psalmist's words by 
 the addition of all: even death, that most 
 terrible enemy, must not escape (ver. 26). 
 "Until He has put" — who? In the Psalm, 
 God ; but not necessarily also here. The 
 subject of the immediate context is Christ, 
 so probably here : He is Conqueror and 
 King. Death is the most redoubtable foe 
 of humanity : it too must be conquered, if 
 
 Christ's triumph is to be complete. He 
 must not be king of a dead world. There- 
 fore (as the) last enemy death is done 
 away: the verb is in the present tense 
 because the destruction of death, though 
 future, is a certain fact. For, He (God) 
 put ALL things, therefore death included, 
 in subjection under His (Christ's) feet. 
 In Psalm viii. 6, by w^hich these words 
 are suggested, it is man, humanity, that 
 is represented as having dominion over the 
 world : the passage is here interpreted Mes- 
 sianically, and applied to Christ. He is 
 the son of man (Ps. viii. 4), and unchal- 
 lenged dominion must be His. 
 
 27, 28. Christ's triumph must indeed 
 be absolute, " over every rule, authority, and 
 power," but not over God. The goal of the 
 great redemptive process is that God may 
 be all in all; and therefore the Son, after 
 subjecting all things to Himself, performs 
 His crowding act by subjecting Himself to 
 the Father. He subjected all things : but the 
 words, " all things have been subjected,'* 
 obviously do not include Him (God) 
 who subjected all those things to Him. 
 It is unfortunate that in so impassioned a 
 context, the meaning should be disputed. 
 The words mean literally: zuhen He (or 
 it) says (or has said) (that) "all things 
 hare been subjected," etc. Some refer the 
 He to Christ, and regard the words all 
 things have been subjected as solemnly ut- 
 tered by Christ before handing over the 
 kingdom to His Father, and crowning His 
 work by subjecting Himself. This w^ould 
 be a magnificent thought ; but more prob- 
 ably the meaning is, " when God (that is, 
 in the Psalm) or Scripture says, 'all things, 
 etc' that is not meant to imply that God 
 Himself is subjected." And when all 
 things have been subjected to Him, then 
 shall the Son (also), of His own accord 
 (avTos) subject Himself to Him (i.e. to 
 God) who subjected all things to Him. 
 The triumph of Christ is for the glory of 
 God. This is the real goal of histor}^ and 
 therefore even Christ the Son must be 
 subject to Him who is at once God and 
 Father: but He subjects Himself volun- 
 
108 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 29 Else what shall they do which are 
 baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not 
 at all? why are they then baptized for the 
 dead? 
 
 30 And why stand we in jeopardy every 
 hour? 
 
 31 I protest by your rejoicing which I 
 have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. 
 
 32 If after the manner of men I have 
 fought with beasts at Ephesus, what ad- 
 vantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us 
 eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. 
 
 33 Be not deceived : evil communica- 
 tions corrupt good manners. 
 
 34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; 
 
 tarily, and this in order that GOD may be 
 
 all in all (lit. all things in all either things 
 or persons), that is, that His dominion may 
 pervade and interpenetrate everything. 
 
 The argument here reaches an impas- 
 sioned climax. Strict logic is left behind, 
 and Paul is swept impetuously along by 
 his exalted emotion, as he contemplates 
 the risen Christ, victorious over every foe, 
 consummating the great process of re- 
 demption by the restoration of His people 
 from death, and then Himself bowing in 
 voluntary submission before the great God 
 and Father, that He might be all in all. 
 It is a most majestic conception of his- 
 tory, upon which one instinctively pauses 
 before the resumption of the more formal 
 argument. 
 
 The Resurrection Alone Explains Christian 
 Practice and Conduct (xv. 29-34). 
 
 29. Else — if there be no such thing as 
 resurrection — what shall those do who 
 receive baptism on behalf of the dead? 
 
 This curious phrase has received a mul- 
 titude of explanations; but the most ob- 
 vious, and probably the correct one, ^ is 
 that the reference is to a custom of having 
 one's self baptized for the benefit of be- 
 lievers who, for whatever reason, had died 
 without baptism. The objection to this is 
 that it seems to imply practically a magical 
 conception of baptism, as though its effects 
 could extend to and be appropriated by 
 the dead ; and further it is argued that 
 Paul could hardly have supported such a 
 conception. In answer it may be said that 
 there is no positive proof that Paul him- 
 self did share this belief. He speaks in the 
 third person: "what will they do?" — it 
 is an argumentum ad hominem — he may 
 even be said in ver. 30 by the emphatic zve 
 (rifiels) to dissociate himself from the prac- 
 tice alluded to in ver. 29. But it is per- 
 haps hardly necessary to maintain even 
 this. In the rite of baptism for the dead, 
 the Christians appear to have been but 
 imitating a similar Greek practice, in con- 
 nection with the " mysteries," of initiation 
 on behalf of the uninitiated dead, and Paul 
 may have believed in the efficacy of such 
 baptism by proxy. At any rate the practice 
 
 of the Corinthians implies a belief in the 
 resurrection, and is absurd if there is none : 
 if dead men are not raised at all, why 
 do they actually («at) receive baptism 
 on their behalf? 
 
 30-32a. Again, only the resurrection ex- 
 plains the fidelity with which Paul daily 
 faces danger and death. If there be no 
 resurrection, why do we on our part incur 
 danger every hour? and not only danger, 
 but risk death : for I undergo a daily 
 death, — we have already had a glimpse of 
 the hardship and sorrows with which his 
 career was replete (iv. 11-13: the apostles 
 were as men doomed to death, iv. 9 : cf. 2 
 Cor. xi. 23-27). He swears by the thing 
 that is dearest to him, by the pride in 
 you, brethren, which I have in (the 
 sphere of) Christ Jesus our Lord. Some 
 MSS. read "by my (v/neTepav, our) pride, 
 vv^hich, etc." i.e., by my pride as a Chris- 
 tian ; but the other (pride in their con- 
 version), seems more effective. Were 
 there no prospect of resurrection and future 
 reward, what reason would there be for 
 him, or any man. facing the terrors which 
 he had faced? If in human fashion, im- 
 pelled by no other desire than that of 
 transient reward and glory, I fought vdth 
 wild beasts at Ephesus, what is the profit 
 to me? Unfortunately the reference can 
 not be fixed with precision. It is hardly 
 likely that he literally fought in the am- 
 phitheatre as an armed gladiator with wild 
 beasts : this would have been incompatible 
 with his Roman citizenship, and such an 
 episode would almost certainly have been 
 mentioned in the book of Acts. More 
 probably it refers to some danger to Avhich 
 he was exposed from the mob, such as in 
 the riot described in Acts xix, and per- 
 haps in the enumeration of his sufferings 
 in 2 Cor. xi. 23-29. He had certainly some 
 terrible experiences at Ephesus (2 Cor. i. 
 8f.), but of what nature we do not know. 
 The poem quoted in Titus i. 12 calls the 
 Cretans wild beasts. 
 
 32b-34. There is no reward here but 
 hardship and sorrow : if there be no reward 
 hereafter, in other words, if the dead are 
 not raised, then the all but universal in- 
 ference will be, " Let us eat and drink, 
 for to-morrow we die." — a quotation 
 from Isaiah xxii. 13. If this were Paul's 
 
Ch. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 109 
 
 for some have not the knowledge of God : 
 I speak this to your shame. 
 
 35 But some man will say, How are the 
 dead raised up? and with what body do 
 they come? 
 
 36 Thou fool, that which thou sowest 
 is not quickened, except it die : 
 
 S7 And that which thou sowest, thou 
 sowest not that body that shall be, but bare 
 grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
 other grain; 
 
 38 But God giveth it a body as it hath 
 pleased him, and to every seed his own 
 body. 
 
 39 All flesh is not the same flesh : but 
 
 there is one kind of flesh of men, another 
 flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and an- 
 other of birds. 
 
 40 There are also celestial bodies, and 
 bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the 
 celestial is one, and the glory of the ter- 
 restrial is another. 
 
 41 There is one glory of the sun, and 
 another glory of the moon, and another 
 glory of the stars; for one star differeth 
 from another star in glory. 
 
 42 So also is the resurrection of the 
 dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised 
 in incorruption : 
 
 own conclusion, it would be open to the 
 same criticism as ver. 19; for even if 
 there were no resurrection, the sensual life 
 would still be a tragic mistake. But prob- 
 ably Paul would not himself have adopted 
 this Epicurean conclusion. He is simply 
 illustrating the influence of creed upon 
 character. The creed of the Corinthians 
 was affected by their heathen associations. 
 They may have thought that mattered lit- 
 tle : but do not be misled, for it matters 
 much, it leads to the deterioration of char- 
 acter — evil associations corrupt good dis- 
 positions — an iambic Hne (with xP'n<^T'^ 
 read as XPVO'^') of the comic poet Menan- 
 der, which would not however prove that 
 Paul was famihar with Greek literature, as 
 the line would be in general circulation as 
 a proverb. He concludes the argument, as 
 often, with an exhortation, appealing to 
 them, as intoxicated men, to awake (^k) 
 to soberness (aor., of the moment) in true 
 and proper fashion, and cease from sin 
 (pres., of continued abstinence) — sins of 
 unbelief and sensuality (ver. 32), whose 
 ultimate root is ignorance of God: for 
 despite the wisdom on which the Corin- 
 thians pride themselves, some (nves) — 
 those, for example, who deny the resur- 
 rection (ver. 12; also rives) — are involved 
 in (exovaiv) ignorance of God, especially 
 of His power to quicken the dead (cf. Mat. 
 xxii. 29). I speak to move you wise Co- 
 rinthians to shame. 
 
 The Nature of the Resurrection Body (xv. 
 35-49)- 
 
 Paul is well aware that his passionate 
 argument may yet be inadequate to satisfy 
 the deep-rooted scepticism of some of the 
 Corinthians, to whom both the manner 
 (ttws) of the resurrection, and the nature 
 of the resurrection body (ttoioj) were alike 
 inconceivable ; and he devotes this para- 
 graph to a removal of these difficulties. 
 
 showing that ordinary experience (crv) fur- 
 nishes analogies to the resurrection body. 
 
 35-38. But some objector will say, 
 " How are the dead raised?" — his partic- 
 ular difficulty centering in the nature of 
 the resurrection — hence he asks, "With 
 what sort of body do they come " upon 
 the scene — with the body which was laid 
 in the grave, or some other? The Greeks 
 believed in a survival of personality, but 
 not in a bodily resurrection at all: the 
 Pharisees believed that the earthly body 
 would be raised again. Paul assails both 
 beliefs: there is a bodily resurrection, but 
 it is not this body of tlesh and blood (ver. 
 50) that is raised. And to stumble at the 
 difficulties involved is foolish, and betrays 
 one's incompetence to observe analogies. 
 Foolish one, the thing that YOU sow — 
 it lies within your own (o-v) experience, if 
 you had only the wisdom (dcppcov) to read 
 it — is not made alive unless it die: 
 every sowing of seed involves the faith 
 that life will issue out of death, so the 
 resurrection need occasion no surprise. 
 And the resurrection body, which is incon- 
 ceivable to the objector, has its analogue 
 also in the experience of the seed. As for 
 what you sow, it is not the body that 
 is to be that you sow, but something very 
 different, a bare grain — naked, not yet 
 clothed with the body that is to be — per- 
 haps (for el Tvxoi, cf. xiv. 10) of wheat, 
 or some of the other seeds. But GOD 
 gives it in every case (pres.) a body. 
 The nature of this body is determined by 
 tht divine will at creation (rjdeXrjaep^ aor.). 
 Gen. i. 11, it is as He willed, and it is 
 in every case appropriate (i'Stoz^), to each 
 seed a body of its own. The God who 
 finds a body for the dead (ver. 36) seed, 
 may surely be trusted to find an appropriate 
 body for the dead man. 
 
 39-42. The point is now elaborated, that 
 the body is appropriate to the nature. 
 Animals are alike in being flesh ; but all 
 
110 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 43 It is sown in dishonour, it is raised 
 in glory : it is sown in weakness, it is 
 raised in power : * 
 
 44 It is sown a natural body, it is 
 raised a spiritual body. There is a natural 
 body, and there is a spiritual body. 
 
 45 And so it is written, The first man 
 
 Adam was made a living soul; the last 
 Adam zuas made a quickening spirit. 
 
 46 Howbeit that was not first which is 
 spiritual, but that which is natural ; and 
 afterward that which is spiritual. 
 
 47 The first man is of the earth, earthy : 
 the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
 
 flesh is not the same flesh, it differs as 
 does the animal. But there is one flesh 
 of men, another flesh of beasts, another 
 flesh of birds, another of fishes. And 
 this appropriateness of body to nature ex- 
 tends throughout the universe : it is mani- 
 fested in the Jieavens as well as on the 
 earth. Celestial bodies also there are, 
 and terrestrial bodies. It is doubtful 
 whether the celestial bodies are to be ex- 
 plained as the sun, moon, and stars (as 
 in next verse), or whether we are to 
 think of the bodies of angels (ver. 47, the 
 man from heaven) ; the former seems the 
 more probable. But the glory of the ce- 
 lestial is of one kind, that of the terres- 
 trial another — again the law of propriety. 
 And within each sphere this law holds : as 
 animals differ in Hesh, so do the heavenly 
 bodies in glory, splendor : there is one 
 glory of the sun, and another glory of 
 the moon, and another glory of the 
 stars, for star differs from star in glory. 
 SO ALSO is the resurrection of the 
 dead. This is the climax of the argument 
 at this point. Everywhere throughout the 
 universe the law of propriety reigns : it is 
 this that explains nature's infinite Variety : 
 so also is it in the resurrection, which 
 the Corinthians find so hard to under- 
 stand. The resurrection body .will be 
 different from this body, and will be ap- 
 propriate to the resurrection state, which 
 he soon explains as a spiritual 9»tate 
 (^TTPevfiariKov) , 
 
 42-44. The contrast between the two 
 states is now strikingly stated in a sort 
 of rhythmical form : 
 
 It is sown in corruption, it is assuredly 
 (prcs.) raised in incorruption; 
 
 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in 
 glory: 
 
 It is sown in weakness, it is raised in 
 power. 
 
 From the reference to the glory of 
 the resurrection body, it is clear that Paul 
 is dealing only with " those that are 
 Christ's" (ver. 23). The present and the 
 future state are trenchantly characterized 
 each by three epithets. If the sozving be 
 taken to refer to burial (cf. ver. 36) then 
 the first three concentrate pathetic atten- 
 tion upon the dead body. Others, how- 
 
 ever, have referred the Sowing to birth. 
 Though this is improbable, the reference 
 is perhaps not exclusively to burial : the 
 epithets suggest the law of weakness and 
 corruption to which all our earthly life is 
 subject. The resurrection body is ever 
 fresh and fair and strong. The pith of 
 the contrast is contained in the last state- 
 ment : 
 
 It is sown a natural (or animal) body, 
 it is raised a spiritual body. A similar 
 contrast between the natural and spiritual 
 has already been drawn in ii, 14, 15. We 
 have unfortunately no word which exactly 
 corresponds to ^vxi-xov. The psychic body 
 is one which is governed by the "^^XV, the 
 principle of " the sensuous and transitory 
 life." It is the " inner side of the flesh " 
 (Bousset), and is opposed to the spiritual 
 body, which is governed by the irpeOfia^ the 
 supernatural principle, and the guarantee of 
 eternal life. The contrast is roughly that 
 between our material and spiritual, natural 
 and supernatural. This then is the answer 
 to the sceptical question raised in ver. 35. 
 The body in which the dead come is not 
 their earthly body, but a spiritual, super- 
 natural bod}^, appropriate to the future state. 
 If (reading el) there exists a natural 
 body (a body adapted to the i^^'xv), there 
 exists also a spiritual body (a body 
 adapted to the trveviia) \ tlie law of cor- 
 respondence makes the one as credible as 
 the other. 
 
 45-47. Paul finds the contrast upon 
 which he is insisting, anticipated or at least 
 suggested, by Gen. ii. 7 — and man became 
 a living soul; for the sake of his contrast 
 between Adam and Christ, he adds to man 
 " first " and " Adam." So also it stands 
 written, " The first man Adam became 
 a living soul;" the last Adam a life- 
 giving spirit. Adam and Christ as the 
 leaders of the two humanities have al- 
 ready been contrasted (ver. 22). Paul 
 reads his own meaning into the Greek 
 word 4^1'XV ; Adam is the representative, 
 the inaugurator, of life on its psychic, ma- 
 terial side. And just as surely is Christ 
 the inaugurator of spiritual life. He be- 
 came not soul, but spirit, and not simply 
 a living spirit, but a life-gii'ing spirit (ver. 
 36) : " in Him shall all be made alive '* 
 
Ch. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 48 As is the earthy, such are they also 
 that are earthy : and as is the heavenly, 
 such are they also that are heavenly. 
 
 49 And as we have borne the image of 
 the earthy, we shall also bear the image 
 of the heavenly. 
 
 50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh 
 and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of 
 God ; neither doth corruption inherit in- 
 corruption. 
 
 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We 
 shall not all sleep, but we shall all be 
 changed. 
 
 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an 
 eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet 
 shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 
 
 53 For this corruptible must put on in- 
 corruption, and this mortal must put on 
 immortality. 
 
 (ver. 22). The whole drift of the argu- 
 ment suggests that Christ attained this 
 power at and by His resurrection. But 
 this relation of Christ to Adam is in ac- 
 cordance with the general principle that 
 the spiritual is not first, but the natural, 
 and then the spiritual. And as Adam and 
 Christ dififer thus in nature, so do they 
 differ in body. The first man is of the 
 earth, made of the dust: the translation 
 *'of the earth, earthy" suggests to the 
 English reader that the Greek noun and 
 adjective are cognate. This is not so: 
 XOLKos is meant to recall xo^J" (dust) of 
 Gen. ii. 7. In contrast with the man " of 
 the dust," the second man is of heaven. 
 Strictly speaking, the conception here is 
 local (cf. e|), but the context seems to 
 necessitate the larger reference to Christ's 
 heavenly nature : He has a heavenly, imma- 
 terial, spiritual body. 
 
 48-49. Those two Men are the repre- 
 sentatives of types ; and as is the man of 
 the dust, such are also the men of the 
 dust; and as is the heavenly man, such 
 also are the heavenly men. The types 
 share the nature of their leader. And as 
 we wore the image, the outward and 
 bodily form, of the man of dust, we shall 
 also wear the glorious image of the 
 heavenly Christ. Instead of (popiao^iev^ 
 many good MSS. read (popeacvfxev, let us 
 wear; but the moral appeal is rather irrele- 
 vant here. Paul is here concluding and 
 summarizing his argument for the possi- 
 bility and nature of the resurrection body. 
 
 Death is Szvallowed up in Victory (xv. 
 50-58). 
 
 50. One question remains. Analogies 
 have been offered to show that the resur- 
 rection body will differ from the earthly 
 body : how will the change be effected ? 
 Before this question is touched, however, 
 the argument thus far is briefly summarized. 
 Now this I affirm (cf. vii. 29), brethren, 
 that flesh and blood, that is, our animal, 
 material bodies, cannot inherit the king- 
 
 dom of God, which is a spiritual realm ; 
 nor, in the nature of things (pres. ind.), 
 does corruption (ver. 42) inherit incor- 
 ruption. The material has no claim by 
 inheritance upon the spiritual : the two 
 spheres are different. And not only is an- 
 other body conceivable (w. 35 f.), it is 
 necessary, 
 
 5I-53* Paul's understanding of the tran- 
 sition from the one body to the other, he 
 claims to have received through revela- 
 tion. Behold — what he is about to say 
 deserves special attention — I tell you a 
 mystery, dark to the uninitiated, revealed 
 to him: we shall not all sleep (i.e. die, 
 cf. xi. 30), but we shall all be changed. 
 In imagining that some would be alive 
 (not all asleep) at the coming of Christ, 
 Paul clearly expects that coming soon : but 
 as that expectation was not fulfilled, the 
 negative is found transferred in some MSS. 
 from the first clause to the second, thus 
 turning Trdvres {fJiev) ov Koi/ji,T]67](T6fj.€da, TrdvTes 
 5e dWayrjaS/xeda into irdi^res (fxef) KOL/jLTjO-rjao/xeda^ 
 ov TT. 8. d\\, (life shall all die, but we 
 shall not all be changed). As the present 
 body is not fit for the future world, all 
 — not only_ the dead (as is natural), but 
 also the living — shall be changed in a mo- 
 ment so brief as to be indivisible (drSfxu)) ^ 
 in the twinkling of an eye, at (lit. in, to 
 the accompaniment of) the last trumpet 
 (cf. I Thes. iv. 16), the trumpet (asso- 
 ciated with the divine appearance in Exod. 
 xix. 16) which brings history to an end 
 (cf. Mat. xxiv. 31). For the trumpet 
 shalL sound, and the dead shall be raised 
 incorruptible and therefore fit for the eter- 
 nal world, and we w^ho are alive shall be 
 changed. And change is necessary ; for, 
 because there is no place there for flesh 
 and blood, this corruptible must put on 
 incorruption and this mortal must put on 
 immortality. The change is a putting on, 
 as of a garment. In the double tovto 
 (this), Paul may be thinking of his own 
 poor body, daily exposed to hardship (iv. 
 9^13) and death (xv. 31). For the glory 
 of the blessed, cf. Dan. xii. 3, and for their 
 fair robes. Rev. iii. 4, vi. 11, vii. 9. 
 
112 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XV 
 
 54 So when this corruptible shall have 
 put on incorruption, and this mortal shall 
 have put on immortality, then shall be 
 brought to pass the sayii^g that is written, 
 Death is swallowed up in victory. 
 
 55 O death, where is thy sting? O 
 grave, where is thy victory? 
 
 56 The sting of death is sin ; and the 
 strength of sin is the law. 
 
 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth 
 us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be 
 ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye 
 know that your labour is not in vain in 
 the Lord. 
 
 54. Already, in ver. 53, Paul's words 
 have begun to take on a rhythmic and 
 poetic swing, which develops in the next 
 four verses into a triumphant hymn of 
 praise. But when this corruptible shall 
 have put on incorruption (this clause is 
 rejected from the text of Westcott and 
 Hort, and may be a conformation to ver. 
 53 ; but its attestation is good, and its echo 
 of ver. 53 adds to the solemnity of the 
 passage) and this mortal shall have put 
 on immortality — in the moment of that 
 swift and solemn change — then shall come 
 to pass the ancient prophetic word that is 
 written in Isaiah xxv. 8, " Death was 
 swallowed up so as to issue in (els) vic- 
 tory." The words in Isaiah, as now 
 pointed, read " He hath swallowed up death 
 for ever." The Greek translation unto vic- 
 tory put the Aramaic meaning upon the 
 Hebrew words forever: but the essential 
 meaning is not altered — death is utterly 
 destroyed. 
 
 55. The thought of the destruction of 
 death by the victory of Christ kindles Paul 
 to the most exalted enthusiasm. He turns 
 defiantly to death, and asks, in an adapta- 
 tion of the words of Hosea (xiii. 14). 
 " O Death, where is thy victory? O 
 Death, where is thy sting?" In their 
 original context in Hosea, the words ap- 
 pear to have a very different meaning : 
 the powers of death are summoned to 
 crush impenitent Israel. " Hither, O 
 death, with thy plagues ! Hither, O Sheol 
 (so in some- MSS. of Cor. Hades in sec- 
 ond clause) with thy destruction; for pity 
 is hidden from mine eyes." Paul is here 
 guided as usual (though not always: the 
 Greek version of Is. xxv. 8, just quoted, 
 reads, " death has prevailed and swallowed 
 [men] up") by the Septuagint. 
 
 56. 57. Death is like a giant scorpion 
 with a sting: now the sting of death is 
 sin — it was this that brought death into 
 the world (Rom. v. 12 ff.), and the fear 
 of judgment for sin increases the sting 
 and the horror of death — and the power 
 of sin is the law, for through the law 
 came the knowledge of sin, in all its por- 
 tentous power, as disobedience (cf. Rom. 
 
 vii. 7 ff.. Gal. iii. 19). But the power of 
 the law, sin, and death are broken by the 
 resurrection victory of Christ, and that vic- 
 tory is shared by those that are His. 
 Thanks be unto God who giveth us the 
 victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Our victory over death is a gift, of God, 
 won through Christ; and though yet en- 
 joyed only in foretaste, it is sure (hence 
 pres. didopTi), The great Victor is sol- 
 emnly named in full — our Lord Jesus 
 Christ — and with this shout of triumphant 
 gratitude the splendid argument closes. 
 
 58. But to Paul Christian hope is an 
 inspiration to duty, and it is highly char- 
 acteristic and significant that he draws 
 from his great argument a practical con- 
 clusion. So then, my beloved brethren, 
 show yourselves steadfast, immovable, 
 unshaken by sceptical assaults upon the res- 
 urrection (vv. 12, 35) — for it is sure — 
 and not only in belief unshaken, but in con- 
 duct also fruitful, abounding evermore in 
 the work of the Lord, that which He 
 gives His servants to do (cf. xvi. i), inas- 
 much as ye are fully aware (especially 
 after Paul's long and persuasive argument), 
 that your toil is not empty in the Lord, 
 as it would be if there were no resurrection 
 (cf. vv. 19, 32). Work done /;/ the Lord, 
 in fellowship with the risen and triumphant 
 Christ, cannot be vain, it has a sure place in 
 the eternal world (cf. ver. 22b). 
 
 The long, sustained, and glowing argu- 
 ment of Paul for the resurrection shows 
 how vital he felt it to be to Christian faith 
 and life (cf. vv. 14, 17), and it is worthy 
 of note that he begins his argument by 
 building it upon evidence. The Christian 
 faith is not a pious imagination, it rises 
 out of the facts ; and though certain phases 
 of Christianity have tried to shake them- 
 selves free of history, the Christianity of 
 the New Testament rests upon facts, and 
 could not have been, if they had never been. 
 The belief in the resurrection rests upon 
 the fact. He was seen (ver. 5). 
 
 We to-day still share the curiosity of the 
 Corinthians who asked: how are the dead 
 
Ch. XV] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 113 
 
 raised? and Paul's answer, though not ex- 
 haustive, is still suggestive. What a spir- 
 itual body is, we may not be able to im- 
 agine; but, at any rate, it remains true that 
 our future condition, like our present, will 
 be adapted to our environment. That is 
 the essence of Paul's argument. The future 
 body will not be this earthly one, but an- 
 other : we shall he changed. 
 
 Again, the power of creed to influence 
 conduct is several times suggested in the 
 course of the discussion. Behef in the res- 
 
 urrection nerves a man to fight with wild 
 beasts (ver. 32) and to abound in all good 
 and beneficent work (ver. 58). Persecution 
 may be bravely borne, and work greatly 
 done by one, who has, like Paul, the 
 glorious vision of Christ victorious over 
 death, appearing to dehver the kingdom 
 into His Father's hands (ver. 24), secur- 
 ing, by His victory, a like victory for us 
 (ver. 57), and for our work a permanent 
 place in the eternal order (ver. 58). 
 
114 
 
 I COEINTHIANS, 
 
 [Ch. XVI 
 
 CONCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS, SALUTATIONS, AND 
 BENEDICTION (xvi). 
 
 CHAPTER i6. 
 
 1 Now concerning the collection for the 
 saints, as I have given order to the 
 churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 
 
 2 Upon the first day of the week let 
 every one of you lay by him in store, as 
 God hath prospered him, that there be no 
 gatherings when I come. 
 
 3 And when I come, whomsoever ye 
 shall approve by your letters, them will I 
 send to bring your liberality unto ^Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 4 And if it be meet that I go also, they 
 shall go with me. 
 
 5 Now I will come unto you, when I 
 shall pass through Macedonia : for I do 
 pass through Macedonia. 
 
 6 And it may be that I will abide, yea, 
 and winter with you, that ye may bring me 
 on my journey whithersoever I go. 
 
 7 For I will not see you now by the 
 way ; but I trust to tarry a while with you, 
 if the Lord permit. 
 
 8 But I will tarry at Ephesus until 
 Pentecost. 
 
 9 For a great door and effectual is 
 opened unto me, and there are many ad- 
 versaries. 
 
 The Collection for the Jerusalem Poor 
 (xvi. -1-4). 
 
 I, 2. Fresh from his great argument for 
 the resurrection, Paul immediately enjoins 
 upon the Corinthians the practical duty of 
 contributing to the financial support of the 
 poor Christians at Jerusalem (cf. Rom. 
 XV. 26, 31) Now concerning the collec- 
 tion for the saints (rrepl 5e, cf. vii. i, viii. 
 I, xii. I : Paul's advice on this point had 
 probably been asked). This seems a violent 
 transition from the exalted theme of ch. 
 XV. but the connection is most intimate : 
 This is part of the zvork of the Lord (xv. 
 58), which is to be done, like all Christian 
 work, in the inspiration of the resurrection 
 hope. The church at Jerusalem seems to 
 have been particularly poor, and the burden 
 of their support was largely laid upon the 
 Gentile churches (cf. Gal. ii. 10). Under 
 the stimulus of Paul, contributions were 
 organized among these churches (cf. Rom. 
 XV. 26), which were perhaps intended 
 partly to strengthen the bond between the 
 Gentile and the Jewish churches (cf. 2 Cor. 
 ix. 12-14). As I gave order to the 
 churches of Galatia — of this order we 
 have no record — so also do ye. The plan 
 suggested is a revelation of Paul's instinct 
 for practical affairs. On every (Kara) 
 first day of the week, not yet regularly 
 known as the Lord's day (Rev. i. 10), let 
 each of you lay something by him, mak- 
 ing a store of it, whatever he may be 
 prospered in, that, when I come, there 
 may not THEN be collections going on. 
 In Acts XX. 7, the church mect,^ on the 
 first day of the week: from the injunction 
 here to each man to lay up by himself, we 
 may infer that there was then no collec- 
 
 tion at the church services. The advice is 
 pointed and practical : each one, poor as 
 well as rich ; regularly, on every first day 
 of the week, the day when the thought 
 of the resurrection of Christ (xv.) should 
 touch men's hearts to peculiar gratitude : 
 the regular accumulation of even a small 
 weekly sum would make a store: and the 
 gift was to be a reasonable one, in propor- 
 tion to the prosperity which God had 
 granted a man. The collection is to be 
 ready when Paul arrived — his precious 
 time must be given to other matters. 
 
 3, 4. The collection was to be taken to 
 Jerusalem by approved Corinthian dele- 
 gates. And on my arrival, those dele- 
 gates whom you may approve, I shall 
 send with (lit. by means of) letters to 
 carry your gift to Jerusalem. Paul 
 wishes to be free of even the shadow of 
 suspicion (2 Cor. viii. 20) ; hence his sug- 
 gestion of delegates. Westcott and Hort 
 put a comma after 5t' evicrToXuiv, — " ivhom 
 ye approve by letters " rather than " / will 
 send with letters :" but there would be lit- 
 tle point in the approval by letter, after 
 Paul had already arrived. But if it is 
 worth my while to go too, they shall 
 go with me: if the gift is a creditable 
 one, — but not unless — Paul will accompany 
 the deputation, or rather they him. In 
 both clauses he gently, but firmly, asserts 
 his dignity — dignity without pride. 
 
 Plans for Travelling (xvi. 5-<)). 
 
 5-9. But I will come to you, when I 
 shall have passed through Macedonia, 
 for T am to pass through Macedonia, but 
 with you people of Corinth I shall per- 
 
Ch. XVI] 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 115 
 
 10 Now if Timotheus come, see that he 
 may be with you without fear : for he 
 worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. 
 
 11 Let no man therefore despise him: 
 but conduct him forth in peace, that he may 
 come unto m^e : for I look for him with the 
 brethren. 
 
 12 As touching our brother Apollos, I 
 greatly desired him to come unto you with 
 the brethren : but his will was not at all to 
 come at this time ; but he will come when 
 he shall have convenient time. 
 
 13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, 
 quit you like men, be strong. 
 
 14 Let all your things be done with 
 charity. 
 
 15 I beseech you, brethren, (ye know 
 the house of Stephanas, that it is the first- 
 fruits of Achaia, and that they have ad- 
 dicted themselves to the ministry of the 
 saints,) 
 
 16 That ye submit yourselves unto such, 
 and to every one that helpeth with us, and 
 laboureth. 
 
 17 I am glad of the coming of Steph- 
 anas and Fortunatus and Achaicus : for 
 that which was lacking on your part they 
 have supplied. 
 
 18 For they have refreshed my spirit 
 and yours : therefore acknowledge ye 
 them that are such. 
 
 haps stay, or even spend the winter, — 
 
 in point of fact he spent three months in 
 Greece (Acts xx. 3) — that YOU may 
 send me off upon any journey that I may 
 take — Jerusalem and even Rome were at 
 this time in his thoughts (Acts xix. 21). 
 He does not go direct by the sea route 
 from Ephesus to Corinth, but first to 
 Macedonia, and then south. Yoii, is in both 
 cases emphatic : he honors the Corinthians 
 by looking to them for his " send-off." 
 For I do not wish to see you now merely 
 in passing, as I should were I to go to 
 Macedonia via Corinth; for I am hoping 
 to stay with you some length of time, 
 should th& Lord (probably Christ, rather 
 than God) permit (cf. iv. 19). But I 
 shall stay on in Ephesus till Pentecost 
 — Whitsuntide : he is writing probably in 
 early spring. For a door — an opportunity 
 for preaching the gospel (Col. iv. 3 ; 2 Cor. 
 ii. 12) — great and effectual, is open to 
 me, and opponents there are many. 
 Paul's reasons for remaining on are char- 
 acteristic, — a great opportunity and great 
 opposition : how great the opposition may 
 be measured by the riot which compelled 
 him to leave (Acts xix). 
 
 Concerning Timothy and Apollos (xvi. 10^ 
 ' 12). 
 
 lo-ii. If Timothy, whom Paul had 
 sent to Corinth (iv. 17) by way of Mace- 
 donia (Acts xix. 22) with Erastus, should 
 come, see that he be with you without 
 fear — he was young and may have been 
 timid, especially in view of the Corinthian 
 factions and turbulence — for he is doing 
 the work of the Lord (xv. 58) like my- 
 self. Let no man therefore despise him, 
 but send him off in peace, without strife 
 and contention, that he may come to me, 
 
 for I am expecting him with the brethren 
 
 — either the brethren (some besides Eras- 
 tus, Acts xix. 22) with Timothy, or " I 
 with the brethren," i.e. the Corinthian 
 delegates. 
 
 12. But concerning Apollos whom he 
 finely recognizes as the brother, not a 
 rival (i. 12), I earnestly entreated him to 
 come to you with the brethren who 
 would carry Paul's letter to Corinth (cf. 
 ver. 17) : but ApoUos's delicate feeling, in 
 view of the partisan spirit in Corinth, de- 
 terred him: and there was no will' at all 
 on his part to come now: he will come, 
 however, when he has a good oppor- 
 tunity. This verse reflects the utmost 
 credit on both Paul and Apollos, who, 
 despite the Corinthian party cries, were on 
 the best of terms. 
 
 Injunction, Entreaty, and Thanksgiving 
 (xvi. 13-18). 
 
 13-14. The abrupt admonitions that fol- 
 low have a startling effect, and serve to 
 remind the Corinthians of their besetting 
 weaknesses. Watch — they were careless, 
 asleep : stand in the faith (cf. xv. 58) — 
 their faith, e.g. in the resurrection had been 
 unsettled (xv. 12, 35) : play the man, not 
 the baby (xiv. 20) : show yourselves vig- 
 orous, not flabby; let all your (doings) 
 be done in love — that is to be the atmos- 
 phere and inspiration of all activity (xiii). 
 
 15-18. Now I beseech you, brethren: 
 ye know the house of Stephanas — which 
 Paul had baptized _(i. 16) —that (disre- 
 garding one or two isolated converts, Acts 
 xvii. 34) it is the first fruits of Achaea 
 (as Epaenetus was of Asia, Rom. xvi. 5), 
 and that they set themselves to minister 
 to the saints — apparently the family was 
 well to do : I beseech you, then, that you 
 
116 
 
 I CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XVI 
 
 19 The churches of Asia salute you. | 22 If any man love not the Lord Jesus 
 Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in ! Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran atha. 
 the Lord, with the church that is in their 23 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 
 house. 
 
 20 All the brethren greet you. Greet 
 ye one another with a holy kiss. 
 
 21 The salutation of me Paul with mine 
 own hand. 
 
 be with you. 
 
 24 My love be with you all in Christ 
 Jesus. Amen. 
 
 on your part (Kai) subject yourselves to 
 such — there was little organization as yet 
 (cf. xii. 28), but such were the men who 
 deserved to be recognized as leaders (here 
 we may find the office of deacon in em- 
 bryo, cf. Rom. xvi. i) — and to every one 
 that joins in the work and toils. And I 
 rejoice at the presence of Stephanas and 
 Fortunatus. and Achaicus (of whom we 
 know nothing), because the lack of you 
 these brethren supplied, for they re- 
 freshed my spirit and yours. The Corin- 
 thians will themselves be refreshed to hear 
 that their delegates have refreshed Paul. 
 " That which was lacking on your part " 
 does not seem so relevant here for to vjx, 
 vaT€pr]/j.a as the lack of you, i.e. your so- 
 ciety (on my part). Acknowledge then 
 and honor men like these. 
 
 Parting Salutations (xvi. 19-24). 
 
 19-20. The churches of Asia — the 
 
 lands on the western shores of Asia Minor 
 — salute you. " All who call on the name 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ " (i. 2) are 
 brethren. Aquila and Prisca (cf. Rom. 
 xvi. 3) or Priscilla, whom Paul had first 
 met at Corinth (Acts xviii. 2), and with 
 whom he had subsequently gone to Ephesus 
 (Acts xviii. 18 f.), salute you earnestly 
 in the Lord, with the church that is at 
 their house, which they had put at the 
 disposal of the Christians for their meet- 
 ings. All the brethren in Ephesus salute 
 you. Salute one another with a holy 
 
 kiss, llie kiss of friendship was specially 
 appropriate among Christians : to them it 
 has a sacred meaning, it is a holy kiss. It 
 came in course of time to be abused. 
 
 21-24. Paul now takes the pen from his 
 amanuensis (cf. Rom. xvi. 22) and adds a 
 brief, but impassioned postscript (cf. 2 
 Thes. iii. 17, Gal. vi. 11). The salutation 
 of me Paul, with my own hand. If any 
 man has no affection for the Lord, let 
 him be anathema, devoted to destruction ; 
 for without love to Christ there can be no 
 true or fruitful Christian activity of any 
 kind. Marana tha, i.e. O (or our) Lord, 
 come: this seems better than to read 
 " Maran atha," The (or our) Lord has 
 come (i.e. in the flesh : but better inter- 
 preted as prophetic perf : will assuredly 
 come). The prayer Lord, come would be 
 common (cf. Rev. xxii. 20) among those 
 who hoped for and believed in the speedy 
 advent of Jesus. Like Abba the Aramaic 
 words may have been caught from the 
 early disciples, and would probably be fa- 
 miliar to Greeks. The prayer here adds a 
 terrible earnestness to the preceding im- 
 precation ; and by the removal of the 
 enemies of Christ, the way is prepared for 
 the benediction — the grace of the Lord 
 Jesus be with you. And as censure and 
 reproof had necessarily formed a large part 
 of this epistle, Paul tactfully and tenderly 
 adds: my love be (or is) with you all 
 — not with the Pauline or any other party 
 only (i. 12) — in Christ Jesus; his love 
 for the Cor. is not merely natural affection, 
 Christ is its foundation and sphere. 
 
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE 
 CORINTHIANS. 
 
 117 
 
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 It is unfortunate that the epistle which is in many ways the most interest- 
 ing, as it is the most biographical, of all the epistles of Paul, should be 
 beset by numerous problems which, with the meager data at our disposal, 
 are practically insoluble. In the New Testament as in the Old, we suffer 
 from the fragmicntary nature of our sources. Histories, prophecies, gospels, 
 epistles were written primarily for ancient readers, not for us who are afar 
 off both in time and place ; and what to us, in our ignorance of the con- 
 temporary situation, is and must for ever remain obscure or uncertain, to 
 them, with their knowledge of that situation, must have been often not 
 only intelligible, but obvious. But, by its very constitution, the human mind 
 is governed by the desire to ascertain the sequences of history, to discover 
 the interrelations of recorded facts ; and where the records are meager, 
 there is a natural impulse to fill up, by conjecture or by the use of the 
 historical imagination, the gaps which the scanty material at our disposal 
 permits us to fill up in no other way. We must only beware of assuming 
 that our conjecture has the value of certainty. 
 
 In the interval between the despatch of the first and second epistles of 
 Paul to the Corinthians, many things of grave importance must have 
 happened ; but these we are left to infer mostly from the data furnished 
 by the epistles themselves ; and, as is proved by the perplexing variety of 
 opinion among scholars who have given the epistles the most minute and 
 careful attention, and even by the modifications which some have been 
 constrained to make upon their own earlier opinions, those data are capable 
 of widely different interpretations. The one thing that stands out clear 
 and indisputable is that the situation implied by the second epistle is much 
 more intense than that of the first. The first is relatively calm, the second 
 is tempestuous. There are hints in the first that Paul's authority and 
 apostleship have been challenged (ix. i f.) : in the second, the denials of 
 that authority have become explicit and vehement (x.-xiii.), and are sup- 
 ported by the basest insinuations (xii. i6 ff.). In the first, he is criticized 
 (iv. 3), in the second, he is attacked. The spirit of faction has grown in 
 the interval to enormous proportions, but it has changed its form. The 
 watchwords " I am of Cephas, I am of Apollos," are no longer heard ; but 
 
 118 
 
INTEODUCTIOK 119 
 
 men who claim to be Christ's (cf. i Cor. i. 12) have set themselves with 
 virulence to undermine the apostle's influence (2 Cor. x. 7). 
 
 This party, whose leaders at any rate with their letters of recommenda- 
 tion (iii. i) no doubt hailed from Jerusalem, were the propagandists of an 
 intense and narrow Judaistic Christianity. Their methods were different 
 from those of the propagandists in Galatia, for they have nothing to say 
 about circumcision — perhaps they felt the irrelevance of this in the free 
 atmosphere of Greece — but, for that very reason, their assault was all the 
 more plausible, and, judging from the vehemence with which Paul repels 
 it, it is clear that he recognized in it a grave menace to his own work. 
 Everywhere he went, his steps were dogged by these men, who refused to 
 do any pioneer missionary work of their own, but who stepped in to appro- 
 priate results ready to their hand (x. 16) wrought by the indefatigable 
 toil of Paul, and then to pervert those results in the interests of their small 
 and bigoted views of Christianity. 
 
 This development between the two epistles is as good as certain, but 
 was there anything else? The letter begins with great emotion, in which 
 we may see reflected some of the perilous and crucial experiences through 
 which Paul has been recently passing. At Ephesus, which he had left not 
 long before, he had been face to face with death (i. 8) ; the situation, 
 whatever it was, had been a desperate one, and it was only by the miracu- 
 lous deliverance of God that he had come out of it alive. He had pushed 
 on to Troas ; and eager as he was to win men for the gospel in season 
 and out of season, and splendid as was the opportunity afforded by Troas 
 (ii. 12), he was so nervous and excited because he did not, as he had 
 hoped, meet Titus there, that he could not wait in Troas, but hastened 
 on to meet him in Macedonia, from one of whose cities — possibly Thes- 
 salonica — he despatched this letter to Corinth (cf. ix. 2). The news which 
 Titus brought him was so reassuring that he bursts into a song of triumph 
 at the very recollection of it (ii. 14 ff.). His torn soul was comforted and 
 gladdened not only by the presence of Titus, but by the story he had to 
 tell of the penitence and zeal of the Corinthians (vii. 6 f.). 
 
 Now why was Paul filled with such trepidation at the approach of Titus, 
 so anxious about the news he would bring from Corinth? Clearly the sit- 
 uation in Corinth was specially critical: to what was it due? In vii. 8 f. 
 it is connected with a letter of Paul's, couched apparently in terms so severe, 
 that afterwards he regretted having written it, though his regret was turned 
 into joy when he saw how effective it had been in leading the Corinthians 
 to repentance. This letter is described in ii. 4 as having been written out 
 of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears. The question 
 is, Where are we to look for this letter and what were its contents? 
 
120 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Perhaps the natural impulse is at once to identify it with the first canonical 
 epistle to the Corinthians ; but as against this, it must not be forgotten that 
 in all probability, several letters would pass between Paul and the Corin- 
 thians. One, which has not been preserved, is alluded to in i Cor. v. 9 ; and 
 his opponents admit that his letters are impressive (2 Cor. x. 10). The real 
 question is, whether the first epistle answers to the description given in chs. 
 ii. and vii. As this is absolutely denied by some scholars, and maintained 
 by others to be perfectly possible, the question comes to be largely one of 
 our conception of probability. Would Paul, we have to ask, be likely to 
 regret having written so noble a letter as the first epistle ? and is it reasonable 
 to suppose that that letter could have been written with anguish and tears? 
 These terms certainly seem strong, if used of the first epistle ; but are they 
 too strong? While there is much in that epistle that could be described 
 as " calm and kindly," there are passages which so ethically sensitive a man 
 as Paul must have written with keen emotion, especially those which deal 
 with the incestuous man, with the carrying of cases before the heathen courts, 
 and wath the heinousness of immorality (v., vi : cf. xv. 34). With regard 
 to the other point, perhaps we ought not to press too vigorously the statement 
 that Paul regretted having written it; such words rise readily to his open, 
 afifectionate heart (2 Cor. vi. 11) especially now that he has been cheered 
 by the news of their repentance, and he may mean no more than that he 
 regretted the pain his letter had given them. It cannot be said, however, 
 that, so far as these allusions go, the case for the identification of the letter 
 with First Corinthians is overwhelmingly convincing. At most, it is possible ; 
 before we can say whether it is probable or not, we shall have to consider 
 the contents of the letter. 
 
 On the strength of the letter, the Corinthians, at least the majority of 
 them (ii. 6), appear to have severely punished some one who had done wrong 
 (vii. II, 12) — so severely indeed that Paul now interposes on his behalf, 
 asks them to forgive and comfort him, and confirm their love towards 
 him (ii. 7, 8). Who can the offender be? If the letter written with tears 
 be the first epistle to the Corinthians, then the offender will naturally be 
 the incestuous man of ch. v. In that chapter, Paul in the severest terms 
 (cf. ver. 5) had insisted upon his excommunication. But, as there was 
 already disaffection in the air, fomented still further by the malevolence 
 of his Judaistic opponents, he may well have cherished the gravest doubts 
 as to the readiness of the Corinthians to acknowledge his authority and 
 comply with his request; and, now that Titus brings back the news of 
 tlieir quickened moral sense, and of their zeal for the purity of the church 
 as shown by the punishment of the offender: now that they have proved 
 themselves to be pure in the matter (vii. 11), and obedient to him in all 
 
INTRODUCTION. 121 
 
 things (ii. 9), he is more than overjoyed, and, as the offender himself has 
 shown signs of the deepest contrition (ii. 7), Paul is as eager now to have 
 him reinstated as he formerly was to have him excommunicated. 
 
 But the identification of the offender of 2 Cor. with the incestuous per- 
 son of I Cor. becomes less certain when we look more closely at the 
 description of him. Paul declares in vii. 12 that he wrote the letter " not 
 for the sake of him who did the wrong," whereas, according to i Cor. v. 
 5, it was precisely for his sake — " that the spirit may be saved in the day 
 of the Lord Jesus." The references to the offender in ii. 5-10 make it 
 at least possible that it is Paul whom he has offended : Paul and not the 
 father, whose wife he had taken, would be the man who has " suffered the 
 wrong" (vii. 12). Paul apparently has good reason to feel specially ag- 
 grieved (ii. 5), but though most deeply wounded, he has already most 
 freely and fully forgiven. This has given rise to the idea that on some 
 recent visit to Corinth (to be discussed afterwards) Paul had been grossly 
 insulted by some one, and had afterwards demanded reparation in a letter 
 written with anguish and tears ; the demand had been so zealously acceded 
 to by the now penitent congregation that Paul prays for clemency for the 
 offender, and offers him his own forgiveness. In favor of this view, it is 
 urged that Paul could not have spoken of the offender as leniently as he 
 does, had his crime been that of incest : the stern and solemn sentence of 
 excommunication appropriate to such a crime could not have been so 
 swiftly and completely reversed. But the argument is hasty. The sinner 
 was clearly not indifferent to the verdict pronounced upon him, there is a 
 danger that he may be *' swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow " (ii. 7) ; 
 and sincere penitence would most naturally be met by complete forgive- 
 ness, which Paul bestows as ''in the presence of Christ" (ii. 10). In a 
 true sense, the real object of the excommunication was "neither for the 
 sake of him that did or suffered wrong" (vii. 12), but the preservation 
 or rather the rehabiHtation of the purity of the church (vii. 11, i Cor. v. 7), 
 the deepening of the consciousness of its spiritual obligations. It cannot 
 be said then that the allusions to the offender are altogether inconsistent 
 with the idea that he is the incestuous person of i Cor. v, and this again 
 would greatly heighten the probability that the letter written with tears 
 was the first epistle to the Corinthians. 
 
 The complicated questions raised by the allusions to the " letter " are 
 still more gravely complicated by allusions to his visits to Corinth. In spite 
 of the slender doubt that attaches to the somewhat ambiguous phrase " this 
 is the third time / am ready to come to you" (xii. 14) — it is reasonably 
 certain that before he wrote the second epistle he had already been in 
 Corinth twice, and is now contemplating a third visit (xiii. i), which he 
 
122 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 carried out (Acts xx. 2 f.), — indeed he writes this epistle on the way (ix. 2, 
 Acts XX. I ) . He says expressly — the language is capable of no other nat- 
 ural interpretation — that he had been present (in Corinth) the second 
 time (xiii. 2). That visit, — the one contemplated, as some suppose, in 
 I Cor. iv. 18-21, — had been a very painful one — (2 Cor. ii. i) : he had 
 been completely humiliated by the unchastity and impenitence of many (xii. 
 21). Where are we to place this visit and has it any connection with the 
 letter written in anguish and tears? 
 
 There is a large body of opinion in favor of the idea that the second visit 
 falls between the first and second epistles. With more or less modification, 
 the general situation is usually then reconstructed, as follows. After send- 
 ing the first letter, Paul determines to visit Corinth personally, whether 
 because of an unfavorable account which Timothy (i Cor. iv. 17, xvi. 10) 
 may have brought him (though it is not certain that Timothy actually 
 reached Corinth, Acts xix. 22), or because he intended to prolong his stay 
 in Ephesus a little beyond his original plan. On reaching Corinth, he finds 
 the prevalent mood anything but friendly, the church seriously disturbed, 
 his influence undermined and his authority challenged by his Judaizing 
 opponents. This would then be the visit which he had made in pain, the 
 occasion upon which his God had humiliated him. The air was rife with 
 calumny and insult, as in any case we gather from x.-xiii., and some one, 
 more daring or virulent than the rest, publicly insulted him (this would 
 then be the man " who did the wrong"). In any case, for whatever reason 
 — Paul's malady has been suggested as a reason (xii. 7, Gal. iv. 14) — his 
 appearance was altogether ineffective, and went to justify the taunts of his 
 adversaries (x. 10). He left in sorrow and indignation, and afterwards 
 wrote the letter whose severity he was inclined to regret. Titus, appar- 
 ently the most energetic and diplomatic of Paul's coadjutors, went to Cor- 
 inth either with or soon after the letter, with the result that the attitude of 
 the Corinthians towards Paul was changed from rebellion to penitence and 
 apology. Titus returned with the good news, meeting Paul in Macedonia, 
 whereupon Paul, his feverish anxiety now at rest, wrote his second epistle 
 amid conflicting emotions of gratitude at the restoration of confidence be- 
 tween himself and the Corinthian church, and indignation at the unworthy 
 attempts of his opponents to injure his reputation and ruin his influence. 
 
 On this view the letter would not be First Corinthians, but one inter- 
 mediate between the first and second epistles. The proposal has been made 
 to identify this letter with the last four chapters of the second epistle 
 (x.-xiii.) which undoubtedly form a compact section by themselves, and 
 which are written with an irony, an incisiveness, and a severity which 
 answer not unaptly to his descriptions of the letter. But practically fatal 
 to this view is the fact that there is in these chapters no allusion, as there 
 
INTRODUCTION. 123 
 
 must have been in the letter, to the offender; and there is in reality no 
 valid reason for separating- chs. x.-xiii. from the rest of the epistle. 
 
 There can be no doubt that, on this scheme of events, the futile inter- 
 mediate visit, followed by the severe but successful letter, presents a very 
 plausible combination; but it cannot be said to be absolutely necessary. If 
 the letter which was written in sorrow and productive of sorrow may fairly 
 be identified with the first epistle — and Bernard is certainly within the 
 truth when he says that '' it has not been proved that the ' Painful Letter ' 
 of 2 Cor. ii. 4, vii. 8, cannot have been the First Epistle " — then one link in 
 the chain is weak, if not broken. And, as there were certainly two visits, 
 and no evidence but that of inference for an intermediate visit, the possi- 
 biHty must be admitted that both visits fell before the first epistle. 
 
 The second epistle was probably written a few months after the first, 
 somewhere in the early winter of the same year ( ? 57 A.D.). We find 
 Paul in Acts xx. 3 leaving Greece, after his third and last visit, for Jerusa- 
 lem. As this was about Easter, and he had spent three months in Greece 
 (Acts XX. 3, 6) we may conjecture that he arrived there from Ephesus 
 about the end of the preceding year. As we have no reason to believe 
 that his journey from Ephesus to Corinth by Macedonia (Acts xx. i, 2) 
 occupied any considerable length of time, we may fairly assume that Paul 
 left Ephesus in the autumn — later therefore than he had originally planned, 
 as he had intended to stay in Ephesus only till Pentecost (i Cor. xvi. 8). 
 This letter, which was written from Alacedonia (2 Cor. ix. 2) would fall 
 a little later. With this agrees the statement that the Corinthians had since 
 last year begun to make preparations for the collection for the Judaean poor 
 (ix. 2, viii. 10) ; it is clear that the matter had already been in their mJnds 
 and that they had written to ask Paul's advice about the best manner of 
 raising the money (i Cor. xvi. i). 
 
 The letter falls naturally into three parts: (a) chs. i.-vii., which, while 
 embracing a variety of personal matters, deal in general with the glory of 
 the new dispensation as contrasted with the old; (b) chs. viii.-ix. constitute 
 a plea for a liberal collection for the Judsean poor; (c) chs. x.-xiii. are a 
 very spirited vindication of himself and assault upon his opponents. His dis- 
 position of the letter, as Heinrici points out, is very skilful. The passage 
 dealing with the collection for the Judsean poor, placed as it is midway 
 between the other two, on the one hand seals the claim to authority which 
 Paul has made or impHed in the first section, and prepares for the polemic 
 against his Judaistic opponents in the third, besides suggesting incidentally, 
 by his affectionate solicitude for the Judsean poor, that, whatever open 
 charges or covert insinuations his opponents may make, there is no quarrel 
 between himself and the leaders of the Jerusalem church. 
 
 The presence of the opponents, who occupy the' foreground in the last 
 
124 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 division of the epistle, is even in the first division not unfelt. It is they who 
 deal with the word of God in the spirit of a dishonest tradesman (ii. 17), 
 it is they who come to Corinth with letters of recommendation (iii. i) and 
 the contrast between the permanence of the new dispensation and the 
 transience of the old (iii) is in one aspect an indirect polemic against them. 
 Even after making every allowance for the sarcasm and the vehemence into 
 which Paul's righteous indignation betrays him, his charges show that some 
 of their methods were as odious as their gospel was false. It was another 
 gospel, different from Paul's, a gospel with another spirit, that they preached 
 (xi. 4) ; and with their different gospel went a different and lower moral 
 standard. Indeed they have no standard beyond themselves, and so are 
 guilty of ridiculous and immoderate boasting (x. 12). When Paul has done 
 the pioneer work, they come tipon the scene like evil spirits (xi. 15) at 
 once appropriating and perverting the results of his labors (x. 16), but 
 taking good care to break no new ground for the gospel on their own ac- 
 count. In xi. 13-15 the indictment takes a form of unusual severity; he 
 calls them there " false apostles, crafty workers, transforming themselves 
 into apostles of Christ. And no wonder; for even Satan transforms himself 
 into an angel of light. It is nothing remarkable, then, if his ministers also 
 fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness." Those *' Hebrews, Israel- 
 ites, of the seed of Abraham" (xi. 23) are rninisters of Satan! Clearly it 
 is a case of war to the knife. 
 
 Let us see now what they had said or done to provoke so vehement a 
 retort from Paul. They roundly accuse him of determining his life and 
 conduct by unspiritual motives, of " walking according to the flesh " (x. 2). 
 They admitted that his letters were impressive (x. 10), but used this very 
 circumstance as a foil to disparage him : impressive on paper, but ineffective 
 face to face (x. 10), a hero at a distance, but a coward at close quarters 
 (x. i). His escape from Damascus over the wall was apparently used to 
 make him ridiculous (xi. 31 f.). Yet, coward as he was, he liked to play 
 the tyrant (i. 24). They taunted him with his lack of rhetorical skill of 
 which Greeks made so much (xi. 6). He could be no apostle this, they 
 argued, for he refused to accept support in return for his services (xi. 7). 
 Did not this very refusal betray an uneasy consciousness that he was no 
 apostle ? Nay, worse : they were mean enough to insinuate that he knew 
 how to compensate himself for any lack he might suft'er through his self- 
 denying policy; he was not above helping himself to the collection — if not 
 directly, at any rate through his agents (xii. 16 f.). Ineffective, avaricious, 
 cunning, a tyrant, a coward, a cheat — as such did his opponents choose to 
 picture Paul ; and when we see how venomous was their caricature, we can 
 hardly be surprised at the indignant vehemence of his reply. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 125 
 
 How very different is the real Paul ! It is a dishonor to human nature 
 that such a man as he should ever have been accused of crooked dealing. 
 Every one feels that his words palpitate with sincerity : they are spoken 
 as in the sight of God (ii. 17, xii. 19), and he expects them to appeal to the 
 unsophisticated conscience (iv. 2, v. 11). If he modifies or reverses a plan 
 which he has formed, there is, we may be sure, a deep and satisfactory 
 reason for the change : however capable his conduct may be of miscon- 
 struction, however liable to the charge of vacillation, his life, like his Mas- 
 ter's, is marked by an unswerving inner consistency. He is not a man who 
 has Yes and No upon his lips or in his heart at the same time ; he is a man 
 of honor and decision (i. 15-19). And of courage, too, in spite of the 
 mean insinuations of his opponents. In spite of his manifold sufferings and 
 sorrows, he does not lose heart : his sense of the glory of the dispensation 
 of which he is a minister, and of the yet brighter glory that awaits him, 
 bears him up. He claims to be always of good courage (v. 6, 8), and the 
 varied and terrible dangers that he had faced without flinching for the gos- 
 pel's sake would more than justify the most extravagant claims — dangers on 
 land, on rivers and on seas (xi. 25, 26). Only a man of almost superhuman 
 devotion to the cause which he embraced would have voluntarily suffered 
 for it hardships so numerous and terrible — hunger, thirst, cold, imprison- 
 ment, stripes, stoning, shipwreck (xi. 23 ff.) to say nothing of the continual 
 exposure to misunderstanding, treachery, and the subtler, but not less cruel, 
 forms of persecution (cf. vi. 4 ff.)- He can truthfully describe his life as a 
 continual companying with death (iv. 10 f.). In another aspect, it is a 
 warfare: with the mighty weapons of the spirit he fearlessly faces those 
 " high things," in which both Hellenism and Judaism alike abounded, that 
 are exalted against the knowledge of God, and leads them captive (x. 4 f.). 
 
 In all this high enterprise, he was sustained by a profound sense of his 
 mission as "an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God" (i. i). 
 His God-given '' line " was to carry the gospel to the Gentiles, to Syria, to 
 Greece, and beyond Greece (x. 16) to the farthest western confines of the 
 world (Rom. xv. 24). He moves from place to place on his triumphant 
 missionary career (ii. 14), conscious that he has been enabled by the grace of 
 God to be a competent minister of Christ (iii. 5 f.), and he sees the success 
 of his work with a deep and humble satisfaction. " You are our epistle," 
 he says to the Corinthians, " known and read of all men " (iii. 2) ; he needs 
 and asks for no higher recommendation than that. He is proud of his 
 Corinthian converts, he trusts them, he has not hesitated to boast about 
 them (vii. 4, 14, ix. 3) and he is overjoyed when, by their exhibition of true 
 Christian feeling and conduct on a critical occasion, they have shown to 
 the world that he but spoke the truth (vii. 4, 14). 
 
126 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 He is a man of the intensest sympathy. He shares the weakness of the 
 weak, and burns with indignant shame when a brother is caught in the 
 snare of sin (xi. 29). He loves his converts (xi. 11), he will most gladly 
 spend and be spent for their souls (xii. 15) ; and never was there a baser 
 slander than when it was hinted that he had helped himself to money which 
 they had collected for the poor (xii. 16 f.)^*' it is not yours," he says, '' but 
 you, that I seek" (xii. 14). The wonderful delicacy of his mind comes out 
 in the plea which he makes for a liberal collection for the poor of Judaea. 
 Money is never once mentioned: The contribution he solicits is set in the 
 bright light of Christian privilege (viii. ix.), its spiritual value is glorified 
 as a subtle bond of union between distant churches (ix. 12-14), and Corin- 
 thian liberality is stimulated by being brought into comparison with the in- 
 finite condescension of Christ in exchanging for their sakes, the heavenly 
 riches for the poverty of an earthly career (viii. 9). 
 
 He speaks to his friends out of the fulness of his warm, open heart (vi. 
 11): but where the occasion demands it, he is a master of irony. Disap- 
 pointed at the ease with which the Corinthians have allowed themselves 
 to be imposed upon by his opponents, he ironically bespeaks an indulgent 
 hearing for himself as, like a fool, he recounts his claims ; their patience 
 with his opponents shows that they tolerate fools with pleasure, and well 
 they may, as they are so wise themselves! (xi. 16-19). He is a brave man, 
 he admits elsewhere, but he has not the courage to compare himself with his 
 opponents; in boasting he knows well that he is no match for them (x. 12 f.). 
 He sarcastically suggests that he was perhaps guilty of a sin in accepting 
 no remuneration from the Corinthians for his services as an evangelist (xi. 7), 
 and asks them to forgive him this wrong (xii. 13). 
 
 It is clear from expressions like these that the tension between Paul and 
 the Corinthian church must in the recent past have been very great. Any 
 resentment of his authority that may have been created by his peremptory 
 order in the first epistle (ch. v.) regarding the incestuous man, would be 
 deeply intensified by the Judaistic agitators, and this accounts for the large 
 space devoted to them in the second epistle (x.-xiii). He has, as with the 
 Galatians, to assert vigorously and unambiguously that apostolic authority, 
 which had been conferred upon him by the Lord Himself, and whose ultimate 
 object was the ''edification," the up-building of the church (x. 8. xiii. 10). 
 He had no alternative but to deal severely with his opponents, for the honor 
 and the safety of the gospel were at stake. They were preaching another 
 gospel (xi. 4) which was no gospel (cf. Gal. i. 6, 7) ; and the deep contrast 
 between the two dispensations represented respectively by himself and them, 
 is ever present to his mind, and stings him into an assault upon all who 
 would wantonly rob Christianity of its freedom and its glory (iii.)- He 
 
INTRODUCTION. 127 
 
 speaks with plainness, with fearlessness, and with power, as a minister of 
 the new covenant (iii. 6), and an ambassador on behalf of Christ (v. 20). 
 The love of Christ constrains him (v. 14) — Christ who is the great incarna- 
 tion and reahzation of the promises of God (i. 20), Christ who, though He 
 was rich, yet for our sakes became poor (viii. 9), Christ, the sinless One 
 (v. 21) who died for all (v. 14), Christ, in whom the old things are passed 
 away, and behold! they become new (v. 17), Christ the Emancipator, the 
 Redeemer, the Transformer, the glorious Lord (iii. 18). It is this sublime 
 conception of Christ that explains at once the earnestness of Paul's propa- 
 ganda, his solicitude for the churches that were threatened by the insidious 
 sophistries of the Judaistic agitators, and his uncompromising assault upon 
 them. 
 
 The contrast must have been very remarkable between the physical weak- 
 ness and the spiritual power of Paul. The precious treasure, as he said, was 
 contained in an earthen vessel (iv. 7). Beaten and bruised as he had been 
 by land and on the sea, worn down by his ceaseless anxiety for the churches 
 he had founded (xi. 28), suffering from an incurable infirmity which impeded 
 the progress of his work (xii. 7 ff.), he literally was dying daily, and often 
 may even have looked, as has been suggested, like a dying man. Yet what 
 a superb impression the epistle leaves upon us of spiritual power. He can 
 accept with joy the refusal of an answer to one of the most deeply earnest 
 prayers of his life, because his unremoved infirmity will give the more 
 abundant scope to the operation of the grace of Christ within him (xii. 8-10). 
 He enjoys unique spiritual experiences, in which the other world is as 
 close and real to him as this, and the songs of Paradise are as vivid as the 
 thorn that torments his flesh (xii. iff.): but he is fully conscious of the 
 special temptations to pride that accompany special gifts and experiences, 
 and he has the grace to interpret his infirmity as a gift of God, sent to 
 prevent him from being "exalted over-much" (xii. 7). He feels that 
 though the outward man is decaying, the inward man is being renewed 
 day by day (iv. 16), and he learns to face the prospect of his own death 
 with quietness and confidence. Only a few months before he appears to 
 have expected the coming of Christ during his own lifetime (i Cor. xv. 51, 
 cf. I Thes. iv. 17) ; but the terrible experience at Ephesus which had inter- 
 vened (2 Cor. i. 8), and possibly others, had convinced him of the high 
 possibility of his own death before that coming. The keen disappointment 
 which this conviction must at first have given him gradually melted before 
 the thought that death would but usher him into the nearer presence of his 
 Lord. In face of death, then, as of danger, he is always of good courage 
 (v. 6, 8). He sees beyond the light affliction to the eternal weight of glory 
 (iv. 17). 
 
THE SECOND EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CORINTHIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by 
 the will of God, and Timothy ou)'- brother, 
 unto the church of God which is at Cor- 
 inth, with all the saints which are in all 
 Achaia : 
 
 2 Grace be to you, and peace, from God 
 our Father, and from the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 3 Blessed be God, even the Father of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
 mercies, and the God of all comfort ; 
 
 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribu- 
 lation, that we may be able to comfort 
 them which are in any trouble, by the 
 
 comfort wherewith we ourselves are com- 
 forted of God. 
 
 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound 
 in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by 
 Christ. 
 
 6 And whether we be afflicted, it is for 
 your consolation and salvation, which is 
 effectual in the enduring of the same suf- 
 ferings which we also suffer ; or whether 
 we be comforted, it is for your consolation 
 and salvation. 
 
 7 And our hope of you is steadfast, 
 knowing, that as ye are partakers of the 
 sufferings, so shall ye be also of the con- 
 solation. 
 
 The Greeting (i. i, 2). 
 
 I, 2. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, 
 
 — the assertion of his apostleship, though 
 customary in the introduction (cf. i Cor. 
 i. i), was rendered peculiarly necessary 
 by the disrespectful criticism of the Cor. 
 Cx. 10 f.) — through the will of God, and 
 Timothy the brother, for whose recep- 
 tion by the Corinthians Paul had enter- 
 tained reasonable fears (i Cor. xvi. 10) : 
 this association of Timothy with himself 
 has the incidental effect of honoring Tim- 
 othy in the eyes of the Corinthians. Unto 
 the church of God which exists at Cor- 
 inth (i Cor. i. 2), together with all the 
 saints that are in the whole of Achaea: 
 whether by Achcca Greece is meant (cf. i 
 Cor. xvi. 15) or merely the district in the 
 neighborhood of Corinth, the contents of 
 the letter show that it is chiefly intended 
 for the Corinthians. Grace to you and 
 peace from God our Father and the 
 Lord Jesus Christ (cf. i Cor. i. 1-3) . 
 
 Paul's Thanksgiving for the Divine Con- 
 solation in Distress (i. 3-11). 
 
 3-5. The letter opens with the customary 
 thanksgiving — this time, however, not for 
 the condition and progress of his converts 
 (i Cor. i. 4ff.), which furnished little 
 ground for gratitude, but for blessing be- 
 stowed upon himself. Blessed is (or be) 
 
 the God and Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ (cf. Eph. i. 3), the Father of com- 
 passions and God of all comfort. This 
 emotional beginning rises out of recent ex- 
 periences of danger and sorrow which had 
 given Paul a vivid revelation of God as a 
 compassionate Father (Father of repeated 
 compassions: pi.) and Comforter, one who 
 continually (pres. ptc.) comforts us (him- 
 self and Timothy ; or perhaps here only 
 himself) in all our affliction (not general, 
 but definite, rij). But, as every spiritual 
 experience that comes to Paul is for the 
 benefit of the churches, this divine con- 
 solation is given that WE may be able to 
 comfort those that are in any affliction 
 through the comfort with which we on 
 our part are comforted by God: the true 
 comforter is he whose own sorrow has 
 been divinely comforted. For, as the suf- 
 ferings of Christ abound unto us, seeing 
 that the Christian is united to his Lord, and 
 must share his experience of sorrow (Mat. 
 X. 24 f. John XV. 20, Col. i. 24). so through 
 Christ our comfort also abounds: it is 
 through Christ, mediated by Him to those 
 in union with Him. The true Christian 
 shares alike in the suffering and the con- 
 solation — in the one as surely as the 
 other, 
 
 6, 7. Now if we are afflicted, it is for 
 your comfort and salvation — my expe- 
 rience enables me to comfort you (ver. 4), 
 and this makes for your salvation : and 
 if we are comforted, it is for your com- 
 
 128 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 129 
 
 8 For we would not, brethren, have you 
 ignorant of our trouble which came to us 
 in Asia, that we were pressed out of meas- 
 ure, above strength, insomuch that we de- 
 spaired even of life : 
 
 9 But we had the sentence of death in 
 ourselves, that we should not trust in our- 
 selves, but in God which raiseth the dead : 
 
 10 Who delivered us from so great a 
 death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust 
 that he will yet deliver tis; 
 
 11 Ye also helping together by prayer 
 for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us 
 by the means of many persons thanks may 
 be given by many on our behalf. 
 
 fort, which shows itself effective (mid. 
 not pass.) in the endurance of the same 
 sufferings as we also suffer. Whatever 
 the nature of the Corinthian sufferings 
 may have been, they were, in a sense, the 
 same as Paul's, as they were sufferings 
 of Christ, which came to them through 
 their union with Him. The sense of the 
 divine consolation enables sufferers to en- 
 dure. And our hope for you is steadfast, 
 knowing, as we do, that, as ye are 
 partakers of the sufferings, so also 
 are ye of the comfort. In both expe- 
 riences, there is a real communion of the 
 saints. The received text on which the 
 translation of A. V. in ver. 6 rests has no 
 manuscript authority but rests on a con- 
 jecture of Erasmus. Some MSS. place 
 the words " which shows itself effective, 
 etc. : and our hope for you is steadfast," 
 after the comfort (or salvation) in the first 
 clause : others after the comfort in the 
 second clause. R. V. (so Westcott and 
 Hort), which follows the second alterna- 
 tive, seems preferable. 
 
 The Distress and the Deliverance (i. 8-ii). 
 
 8, g. The general reference to his suffer- 
 ings Paul now makes more specific, though 
 not so specific as we could have wished. 
 He is anxious that the Corinthians should 
 adequately realize how great his peril had 
 been. For we would not have you ig- 
 norant, brethren, concerning our affliction 
 which befel in Asia. Unhappily we have 
 no means of knowing what this was — 
 whether, as some suppose, a dangerous ill- 
 ness (but could that have been classed as 
 one of the " sufferings of Christ," ver. 
 5?), or a shipwreck (cf. xi. 25), or some 
 incident in the riot at Ephesus (Acts xix). 
 The narrative in Acts does not assert that 
 Paul's life was in danger, but it is certain 
 that he was the object of malignant op- 
 position and even persecution (i Cor. xv. 
 32, xvi. 9), and it has been suggested with 
 some probability that a plot had been 
 formed against his life. In any case the 
 situation into which he had been brought 
 
 must have been very desperate, to have 
 been described in such words as that we 
 — though elsewhere he claims to be able 
 to do all things in Christ (Phil. iv. 13) — 
 were yet weighed down exceedingly be- 
 yond (our) power, with the result that 
 we, whose motto was " Never despair " 
 (iv. 8), actually despaired of life: nay, 
 we ourselves have had the sentence of 
 death within ourselves — we were as good 
 as condemned to death. But man's ex- 
 tremity is God's opportunity: the divine 
 object of this grim discipline was to drive 
 Paul back upon a sense of his own im- 
 potence and the divine omnipotence ; it was 
 that we might have no confidence in 
 ourselves, but only in the omnipotent 
 God who raises the dead, and so can 
 perform the lesser wonder of delivering 
 him from so deadly a peril. The ter- 
 rible experience had been a great spiritual 
 gain (cf. xii. 7-10). 
 
 10, II. This miraculous interposition of 
 God in his behalf was the symbol of a 
 mighty love which would further shield 
 him from all future danger, being the love 
 of a God who delivered us out of the 
 jaws of (e/c) so great a death, and will 
 in the future deliver (or is delivering, acr 
 cording to some MSS : others omit the 
 words altogether : before the following 
 clause they seem somewhat superfluous), 
 towards whom we have set our hope 
 (pf.) (that) He will also still deliver us. 
 Especially probable is this deliverance, as 
 Paul is supported by Corinthian prayers — 
 you also helping together on our be- 
 half by your supplication, that, from 
 many persons, thanks may be offered 
 through many, on our behalf, for the 
 divine favor of deliverance shown to us. 
 This translation is undoubtedly somewhat 
 tautological ; but the order of the Greek 
 words hardly supports the translation 
 either of A. V. or A. R. V.— " the gift 
 bestowed upon us by means of many (per- 
 sons)," i.e. by means of their pra3'ers — 
 though this gives correctly enough the 
 general sense, that the Corinthians pray for 
 and will rejoice over the deliverance of 
 Paul. 
 
130 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 PAUL'S DEFENSE AGAINST CORINTHIAN CHARGES 
 
 (i. i2-ii. 17). 
 
 12 For our rejoicing is this, the testi- 
 mony of our conscience, that in simpHcity 
 and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wis- 
 dom, but by the grace of God, we have had 
 our conversation in the world, and more 
 abundantly to you-ward. 
 
 13 For we write none other things unto 
 you, than what ye read or acknowledge; 
 and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to 
 the end ; 
 
 14 As also ye have acknowledged us in 
 
 part, that we are your rejoicing, even as 
 ye also are ours in the day of the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 15 And in this confidence I was minded 
 to come unto you before, that ye might 
 have a second benefit : 
 
 16 And to pass by you into Macedonia, 
 and to come again out of Macedonia unto 
 you, and of you to be brought on my way 
 toward Judea. 
 
 His General Sincerity (i. 12-14). 
 
 The intensely personal tone of the in- 
 troductory verses of the Epistle is here 
 heightened by the fact that certain insin- 
 uations and accusations on the part of the 
 Corinthians have thrown Paul upon his 
 defense. He had been accused of a time- 
 serving insincerity in his correspondence 
 and vacillation in his conduct, and he 
 repudiates the charge with dignity and 
 much feehng. 
 
 12. The 7ap connects this paragraph 
 closely with the last : he still looks to the 
 Corinthians for the support of their 
 prayers, for all his life has upon it the 
 stamp of transparent sincerity. For our 
 boasting is this, the testimony of our 
 conscience — a conscience rendered spe- 
 cially sensitive by his relation to Christ, 
 (ver. 19) — that in holiness (the rare 
 dyioTTjTL is more probable than airXoTrjTi^ 
 simplicity, singleness) and sincerity be- 
 fore God (lit. of God: either imparted by 
 God, as a gift of His grace, cf. next clause ; 
 or such as can stand in the presence of 
 God) (and) not in an atmosphere of 
 worldly (lit. Hcshly) wisdom, but in the 
 grace of God, the atmosphere in which 
 Paul habitually lived, did we behave our- 
 selves in the world with which his mis- 
 sionary activities had so extensively ac- 
 quainted him, but more especially in my 
 relations to you — because through his 
 long stay in Corinth, the Corinthians had 
 larger opportunities of witnessing his sin- 
 cerity. 
 
 13, 14. For we write nothing else to you 
 but what ye read or even acknowledge — 
 in my letters to you there are no studied 
 ambiguities, the surface meaning is the true 
 meaning. The word-play, common in Paul 
 (cf. I Cor. xi. 31, 32, Kpivu}, diaKfiivcj 
 KaraKpiuu}) upon duayiucbaKu} and eTriyiPuaKu}^ 
 can hardly be reproduced in English. 
 
 And I hope that ye will acknowledge 
 to the end, i.e. to the great day of Christ's 
 appearing, — as in point of fact you have 
 acknowledged us in part — that we are 
 your boast, and (he delicately adds) you 
 ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus, the 
 great day when He appears, and the truth 
 about human character and motive will 
 be finally and clearly revealed. Only a 
 good conscience could contemplate so fear- 
 lessly the judgments of such a day (cf. i 
 Cor. iii.. 13). Some (aTro /xepovs) of the 
 Corinthians already acknowledge Paul's 
 sincerity. They are proud of him, and he 
 is proud of them (cf. vii. 14, ix. 2) — a 
 tactful and generous acknowledgment, 
 which shows how real was the communion 
 between Paul and his converts. A. V. 
 and A. R. V. punctuate differently, but the 
 general sense is the same. 
 
 Paul's Sincerity in Abandoning His 
 Original Plan (i. 15-22). 
 
 15, 16. After affirming the general sin- 
 cerity of his life (dfeaTpdcpTHJ-ey, ver. 12), 
 Paul proceeds to establish his particular 
 sincerity in changing his original plan to 
 go direct from Ephcsus to Corinth. He 
 begins with fine irony: all his plans depend 
 upon the assumption that they have con- 
 fidence in his sincerity. ^ And in this con- 
 fidence my original intention was to 
 come to you direct before going to 
 Macedonia : instead of this, he had gone 
 first to Macedonia (i Cor. xvi. 5), and 
 would thus see Corinth only once, on his 
 way south, whereas had he gone first to 
 Corirth, he would have paid them a 
 double visit at this time — on his way to 
 as well as from Macedonia. This was his 
 intention — in order that ye might have 
 a second experience of the divine favor 
 (xaptJ', rather than x^pa", joy) wiiich 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 131 
 
 17 When I therefore was thus minded,^ 
 did I use Hghtness ? or the things that I ' 
 purpose, do I purpose according to the 
 flesh, that with me there should be yea, 
 yea, and nay, nay. 
 
 18 But as God is true, our word toward 
 you was not yea and nay, 
 
 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, 
 who was preached among you by us, even 
 by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was 
 
 not yea and nay, but in him was yea. 
 
 20 For all the promises of God in him 
 are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory 
 of God by us. 
 
 21 Now he which stablisheth us with 
 you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is 
 God; 
 
 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given 
 the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 
 
 Paul's visits always signified to the 
 churches. And after first visiting Corinth, 
 his plan was by you to pass through into 
 Macedonia, and again on my way back 
 from Macedonia to come to you, and to 
 be sent on my way by you to Judaea 
 (i Cor. xvi. 3, 4). 
 
 17, 18. Paul's failure to carry out this 
 plan led to all sorts of ungenerous mis- 
 construction, which throws a lurid light 
 on the suspicious mood of the Corinthians. 
 He must, they argued, be a fickle man, 
 guided in his plans by personal and worldly 
 cons^iderations. Paul repudiates the charge 
 with solemn vehemence. In this intention 
 of mine, then, surely I was not guilty 
 of levity, was I? (aor. expwaixtjv) , They 
 had insinuated that this change of plan 
 was only part of a general temporizing 
 policy (pres., jSovXevofiai) , Or are my 
 plans dictated by worldly (fleshly, as op- 
 posed to spiritual) considerations, that 
 there may be in the background of my 
 mind the (t6) " Yes, yes " and the " No, 
 no " of which you accuse me. Instead of 
 generously assuming that he had an hon- 
 orable reason for his change of plan, they 
 accused him of being a Yes and No man, 
 saying yes to-day and no to-morrow, ac- 
 cording as it suited his carnal convenience. 
 Paul is indignant at their unworthy sus- 
 picion, and solemnly repudiates the charge 
 on oath. But, as God is faithful, our 
 speech to you is not Yes and No. (The 
 sentence has apparently the force of an 
 oath, though the literal meaning is, '' God 
 is faithful in that our speech to you is 
 not yes and no"). In Paul's words, there 
 is no clever trimming, no indecision, com- 
 promise, or inconsistency; they are yes or 
 no, not yes and no. 
 
 19, 20. And the thought of the sincerity 
 of his words in general leads him to the 
 thought of the greatest of his words — 
 his words as a preacher of Christ — and 
 the inalienable obligation to complete sin- 
 cerity which so exalted a theme involved. 
 For the Son of God (yap is put late, that 
 Tov Qeov may appear in the emphatic place : 
 the obligation to sincerity is divine), even 
 
 Jesus Christ, who was preached among 
 you through us, not through me only, 
 but through Silvanus (i.e. Silas, Acts xv. 
 22) and Timothy as well, who had 
 preached with Paul at Corinth (Acts xviii. 
 5) and whose testimony therefore adds 
 weight to Paul's, was not Yes and No 
 — • no vacillation or compromise in Jesus 
 Christ — but in Him is Yes incarnate. 
 Here the thought changes its complexion 
 slightly: Paul thinks of Christ not as the 
 great embodiment of an uncompromising 
 " yes or no " principle, but as the great 
 Affirmation, the permanent and everlast- 
 ing Yes, — a daring and splendid thought, 
 worked grandly out in relation to the past. 
 Christ is the complete and eternal satis- 
 faction of (Old Testament) aspiration, the 
 fulfilment of (O. T.) promise and prophecy. 
 For of all the promises of God made in 
 the Old Testament (or elsewhere) the 
 Affirmation, the Yes, the consummation and 
 satisfaction, is in Him: all that God pur- 
 poses to do is forever (pf.) done in Christ: 
 wherefore also through Him (not and in 
 Him, as A. V. following some MSS.) is 
 the responsive Amen (i Cor. xiv. 16) on 
 the part of the church, to the glory of 
 God, through us His ministers. Christ, 
 the great Affirmation, is gratefully and be- 
 lievingly appropriated by the church in her 
 Amen; in this response to and appropria- 
 tion of Christ, God is glorified; and on its 
 human side, this wonderful result is me- 
 diated by us, through the preaching of the 
 gospel ministers. 
 
 21, 22. But, as in i Cor. iii. 23, xv. 24- 
 28, the apostle passes, as it were, behind 
 or beyond Christ, to God. His steadfast- 
 ness of speech, and hfe is rooted in God. 
 Now He that evermore (pres. ptc.) stab- 
 lisheth us with you — a beautiful recog- 
 nition of his spiritual kinship with the 
 Corinthians — into steadfast loyalty to 
 Christ, and anointed us (like Christ, 
 XptVas), i,e. consecrated to our office, is 
 GOD, who also sealed us for His own 
 (mid.) in baptism, thus imprinting His 
 image upon us, and gave, in connection 
 with our baptism (Acts ii. 38, x. 38) the 
 
132 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 23 Moreover I call God for a record 
 upon my soul, that to spare you I came 
 not as yet unto Corinth. 
 
 24 Not for that we have dominion over 
 your faith, but are helpers of your joy: 
 for by faith ye stand. 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 I But I determined this w'ith myself, 
 
 that I would not come again to you in 
 heaviness. 
 
 2 For if I make you sorrj-, who is he 
 then that maketh me glad, but the same 
 which is made sorry by me ? 
 
 3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, 
 when I came, I should have sorrow from 
 them of whom I ought to rejoice; having 
 confidence in you all, that my joy is the 
 joy of you all. 
 
 4 For out of much affliction and an- 
 
 pledge which consists of the spirit, in 
 our hearts, the first installment, as it were, 
 of the glorious inheritance which will be 
 ours in the world to come. 
 
 The turn which the argument takes in 
 this paragraph gives us a glimpse of the 
 heights upon which Paul was habitually 
 living. He is repelling a charge of insin- 
 cerity; and he repels it by showing how 
 impossible it is in one whose life was a 
 convinced and unswerving service of Him 
 who was the Truth itself. The minister 
 of Christ surely cannot be insincere ! And 
 for a moment he loses sight of himself 
 and his pain at the Corinthian suspicions 
 in the contemplation of Christ as the ever- 
 lasting Yea, the eternal affirmation and in- 
 carnation of all that pure hearts have hoped 
 for, of all that God, by poets and prophets, 
 has promised to do. He stands for all 
 time as the finished realization of the di- 
 vine purpose, as dreamt by or revealed to 
 man; and God's glory is complete, when 
 grateful humanity respond to Him with 
 their loud Amen. 
 
 Paul's Reason for Abandoning His 
 Original Plan (i. 23-ii. 4). 
 
 23, 24. Paul has rebutted the charge of 
 insincerity or fickleness, nevertheless the 
 fact remains that he had changed his plan. 
 Leaving the larger thoughts into which 
 his argument had led him, he now^ gives 
 the specific reason for the change — it was 
 essentially his affection for them. But I 
 for my part (^T'^'), whatever misconstruc- 
 tions you put upon my conduct, call God 
 over my soul to witness — to take my 
 life if I lie — that it was with the object 
 of sparing you, that I forbore to corne 
 to Corinth. Under the deplorable cir- 
 cumstances, of which I Cor. gives us sev- 
 eral glimpses, if he had come at the time 
 determined by the original plan, it would 
 have been with a rod (i Cor. iv. 21). his 
 visit would have given pain both to him- 
 
 self and them : to spare them, and give 
 them time for amendment, he visits them 
 later, on his way south from Macedonia. 
 No sooner has Paul said this than he 
 perceives that the touchy Corinthians may 
 resent his explanation, as if it assumed 
 that he claimed authority over their faith ; 
 and he instantly guards against misunder- 
 standing — for in the region of faith there 
 must be independence. I do not mean 
 that we are masters of your faith, I am 
 no tyrant — far from it, our task is to 
 help in furthering your joy ( this is paren- 
 thetical) — for it is by faith that you 
 stand. A less appropriate rendering is 
 " for in point of faith, you stand," i.e. 
 your position is unobjectionable. 
 
 ii. I, 2. These verses furnish still more 
 detail. For I made up my own mind on 
 this point, not again to come to you 
 with (lit. in) sorrow, either suft'ering or 
 inflicting it. The order of the Greek wards 
 again in sorrow raises tlfe presumption 
 that a painful visit had already been paid. 
 As his first visit to Corinth (Acts xviii.) 
 could not be so described, it is difficult to 
 find a place for this other implied visit. 
 It was not necessarily in the interval be- 
 tween the first and second epistles,, and it 
 is therefore open to suppose that it fell 
 before the first epistle (see Introduction). 
 If, however, the order of the' Greek words 
 be not pressed, they might be rendered : 
 " I determined not again to come to you 
 — in sorrow " : i.e. he did not wish his 
 second visit to be in sorrow. Two previous 
 visits, however, seem to be implied by xii. 
 14, xiii. I. In our ignorance of the situa- 
 tion, it is impossible to be dogmatic. The 
 idea of sorrow is carried into ver. 2. For 
 if I (h(^) make you (/ and you both 
 emphatic) sorry, then who is there to 
 gladden (lit. that gladdens) me? I have 
 noliody but those whom I must make 
 sorry (lit. but him zcJio is niade sorry 
 from me) — probably a general, rather than 
 a particular (i Cor. v.) reference. Paul's 
 visit at this time can only cause pniu. 
 
 3, 4. And I wrote this very thing, in 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 133 
 
 guish of heart I wrote unto you with many 
 tears ; not that ye should be grieved, but 
 that ye might know the love which I have 
 more abundantly unto you. 
 
 5 But if any have caused grief, he hath 
 not grieved me, but in part : that I may not 
 overcharge you all. 
 
 6 Sufficient to such a man is this pun- 
 ishment, which was inflicted of many. 
 
 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather 
 to forgive him, and comfort hiui, lest per- 
 haps such a one should be swallowed up 
 with overmuch sorrow. 
 
 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye 
 would confirm your love toward him. 
 
 9 For to this end also did I write, that 
 I might know the proof of you, whether ye 
 be obedient in all things. 
 
 order that, when I came, I should not 
 have sorrow from those who ought to 
 cause me joy, confident as I am in you 
 all that my joy is the joy of you all 
 
 • — another fine acknowledgment of his in- 
 timate spiritual union with the Corinthians 
 (cf. i. 21 ), wnth all of them, and not any 
 one party. For out of much affliction 
 and anguish of heart I wrote to you 
 through many tears — Paul was a man of 
 rich emotional nature (Acts xx. 19) — not 
 that ye might be made sorry, but that 
 ye might Imow THE LOVE (dyd7r7]v in 
 emphatic position) which I have most 
 abundantly towards you. What was 
 " this very thing " which Paul wrote in 
 the anguish of a loving heart with stream- 
 ing tears t Some suppose the reference is 
 to a letter which has not been preserved : 
 possibly, however, the allusion is simply 
 to I Cor. in wdiole, or in part. The par- 
 ticular reference in ver. 3 may be to his 
 change of plan, announced in i Cor, xvi. 
 5 : others, with more probability, suppose, 
 to the passage dealing with the immoral 
 person (i Cor. v.), which may well have 
 been written with tears. But the letter as 
 a whole, with its rebukes of Corinthian 
 conceit, faction, lovelessness, scepticism 
 (xv.), etc., answers at least tolerably well 
 to the description in ver. 4. (See Intro- 
 duction.) 
 
 The Restoration of the Offender (ii. S-ii). 
 
 5, 6. The sorrow of ii. 1-4 reappears 
 in this paragraph, but this time in more 
 particular shape, though with much delicacy 
 Paul refrains from definitely naming (tls, 
 6 TOLovTos) the offender who had caused it. 
 So general indeed is his allusion that it 
 is disputed whether he was some one who 
 had offered a personal insult to Paul (cf. 
 ver. 9), or the incestuous person of i 
 Cor. V. : the latter seems, on the whole, 
 more probable, but the point is very un- 
 certain (see Introduction). But if any 
 one has caused sorrow, it is not to me 
 as an individual that he has caused it, 
 but in part — not to be too hard upon 
 him — to you all. If Paul had described 
 
 the sorrow as prostrating the whole church, 
 the offender might have been " swallowed 
 up by excess of sorrow " ; so, not to press 
 (upon him) too heavily, he qualifies his 
 statement by in part. In point of fact, 
 there appears to have been in this matter 
 a minority opposed to Paul, perhaps mis- 
 taken champions of Christian " liberty," 
 who felt little or none of the general sor- 
 row. Sufficient (a legal term, cf. Mark 
 XV. 15, Acts xvii. 9) to such a one (cf. 
 I Cor. V. 5) is this penalty of excom- 
 munication (i Cor. V. 13) inflicted by the 
 majority — ^ clearly some were opposed to 
 it — so that you (should) no longer per- 
 sist in abandoning him to his fate, but 
 on the contrary, forgive and comfort 
 (him), lest perchance such a one (o 
 TOLOVTOS with pathetic effect at the end) 
 be swallowed up (as completely as Death 
 is swallowed up by the victory of Christ, 
 I Cor. XV. 54) by increasing sorrow — 
 not "overmuch" (A. V., A. R. V.) but 
 " abounding more and more," till at last 
 it brought him to despair. There was 
 nothing vindictive, or even purely punitive, 
 about the excommunication ; it had in view 
 the good not only of the church, but of 
 the offender himself (cf. i Cor. v. 5). 
 It was to bring him to his right mind, to 
 a true appreciation of the holiness he had 
 violated. The excess of his grief at the 
 attitude of the church speaks eloquently 
 both for him and for it: the Christian con- 
 science of Corinth was more sensitive than 
 many passages of i Cor. would lead us to 
 suppose. 
 
 8, 9. Paul is anxious to have the erring 
 penitent reinstated. When the church dis- 
 ciplines her offenders, it must be with 
 sorrow and with hope, the hope of their 
 ultimate restoration. Wherefore I entreat 
 you to ratify practically, and perhaps even 
 by a formal decree, your love towards 
 him — they are to show for him the love 
 which Paul shows for them (dyaTn]^ ver. 
 4) : for this was the object of my letter 
 (apparently i Cor. v.), to ascertain the 
 proof of you, whether in all respects you 
 are obedient. Considering the energy 
 with which Paul deprecates the thought 
 that he tyrannizes over the church (i. 24), 
 
134 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I 
 forgive also : for if I forgave any thing, to 
 whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave 
 I it in the person of Christ ; 
 
 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage 
 of us : for we are not ignorant of his 
 devices. 
 
 12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas 
 to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was 
 opened unto me of the Lord,- 
 
 13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I 
 found not Titus my brother ; but taking 
 my leave of them, I went from thence into 
 Macedonia. 
 
 14 Now thanks be unto God, which al- 
 ways causeth us to triumph in Christ, and 
 maketh manifest the savour of his knowl- 
 edge by us in every place. 
 
 it is just possible that obedience here is 
 not that due to him, but to Christ. 
 
 10, II. But to whom you forgive any- 
 thing, I forgive also. These words apply 
 to the specific situation ; they are hardly 
 here the statement of a general principle. 
 Paul was one with the church in her sor- 
 row, and he would be one with her in 
 her forgiveness of the sinner. He almost 
 speaks here as if he but followed the 
 church's lead. Though he speaks with 
 apostolic authority, he recognizes and even 
 encourages the authority of the church, 
 entreating them to reinstate the erring 
 brother. For what I on my part (^7^) 
 have forgiven (his forgiveness is a set- 
 tled fact: perf.), if indeed I have forgiven 
 anything — he makes light of his forgive- 
 ness, it is not the principal thing — it is 
 for your sakes that (I have forgiven it) 
 {i.e. for the sake of the unity and welfare 
 of the church). Nor is the forgiveness 
 due to a gust of sentimental compassion : 
 it is a complete and solemn restoration 
 made in the presence of Christ and wit- 
 nessed by Him. This seems distinctly 
 preferable to A. V., and A. R. V. (marg.) 
 " in the person of Christ," i.e. as His dele- 
 gate. The ultimate reason for the forgive- 
 ness is that no advantage be gained over 
 us by Satan (cf. i Cor. v. 5), as would 
 be gained if the sinner's excessive grief 
 drove him to despair: that would be the 
 church's loss and the Adversary's gain. 
 For of HIS devices, to ruin souls and 
 rob the church, we are not ignorant. 
 (There is a word-play here hard to repro- 
 duce, " of his knozving devices we are not 
 unknowing"). Christians, who have "the 
 mind of Christ" (i Cor. ii. 16) have a 
 keen eye for the wiles of the adversary of 
 Christ. 
 
 Paul's Thanksgiving at the Good News 
 From Corinth (ii. 12-17). 
 
 12, 13. After the digression on the sor- 
 row occasioned by the sinner, Paul resumes 
 the story of his plans to visit Corinth (i. 
 
 23 f.). Now when I came to Troas pn 
 my way to Corinth via Macedonia, for 
 the preaching of the gospel of Christ, 
 and a door (cf. i Cor. xvi. 9), an oppor- 
 tunity for preaching, was open to me in 
 the Lord, the sphere of all Paul's activity 
 — a door through which he would other- 
 wise gladly have entered — I had no rest 
 for my spirit because I did not find 
 Titus my brother. He expects Titus with 
 news from Corinth : but, so excited is he 
 by the failure of Titus to appear that, 
 great missionary and preacher as he is, 
 he has to abandon an excellent oppor- 
 tunity for preaching at Troas, and pushes 
 on in the hope of meeting Titus : a fine 
 testimony to his solicitude for the Corin- 
 thians : I bade them good-bye, and went 
 out of Asia into Europe, Macedonia. 
 
 14. Now to God be thanks. Nothing 
 could be more abrupt or startling than this 
 joyful cry which breaks, unmediated and 
 unexplained, into a narrative of travel — 
 the more startling as it immediately fol- 
 lows a confession of anxiety and unrest. 
 As Paul writes, the whole scene flashes 
 again upon him, and his soul kindles with 
 the memory of it — of how, with beating 
 heart, he had longed for a sight of Titus; 
 how finally he had come with the best of 
 good news from Corinth, news which com- 
 forted, reassured and rejoiced him. The 
 story is told in vii. 5 f. : but at the mo- 
 ment Paul is not thinking so much of the 
 meeting itself, and the news Titus brought, 
 as of the overwhelming evidence it fur- 
 nished of the irresistible power of the gos- 
 pel, and of his own success, under God, 
 as its minister. Hence thanks be to God 
 who always and everywhere (in every 
 place comes at the end of the second par- 
 ticipial clause : but the effect of its em- 
 phatic position is perhaps best rendered as 
 above) leads us in triumph in Christ. 
 The meaning of Opiafi^evio is. in this con- 
 text, a little difficult to fix. On the analogy 
 of fiadrjrevu}^ "to make a disciple" (Mat. 
 xxviii. 19), it might mean "to cause to 
 triumph"; and this fits in admirably with 
 the sense. Paul is restless and anxious, 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 135 
 
 15 For we are unto God a sweet savour 
 
 death unto death; and 
 
 to the other the 
 
 of Christ, in them that are saved, and in 
 
 savour of life unto Hfe. 
 
 And who is suf- 
 
 them that perish : 
 
 ficient for these things? 
 
 
 16 To the one we are the savour of 
 
 
 
 yet now (as the sequel shows) and ever, 
 the victory is his. This is the view taken 
 by A. V. " Thanks be unto God which 
 always cause th us to triumph." The seem- 
 ing defeat is transformed into a victory. 
 The word Opca/nlSevco^ however, happens also 
 to occur in Col. ii. 15, where its meaning 
 is, beyond dispute, to " triumph over." In 
 a doubtful passage, the proved meaning of 
 a word ought always to be given a fair 
 trial: is this meaning, then, possible here? 
 " Thanks be unto God, who triumphs over 
 us, or leads us in triumph," as a Roman 
 general his captives. The first impression 
 is that this thought at this point, is some- 
 what irrelevant ; this would draw attention 
 to Paul as the captive, whereas is he not 
 thinking of himself as victor — of his own 
 triumph, amid seeming defeat? True: but 
 nothing is commoner in Paul than unex- 
 pected turns of thought (cf, i. 17-19), 
 and, retaining the proved meaning of the 
 verb, a subtle, but altogether relevant 
 thought emerges. He is, humanly speak- 
 ing, the victor; but the real Victor is the 
 power by which he is driven, the God by 
 whom He is inspired (ws e/c GeoO, ver, 17). 
 Paul, the evangelist, like Amos the prophet 
 (Amos iii. 8), is swept along by this irre- 
 sistible power; it is no more he that 
 speaks, but the spirit that speaks in him. 
 His victory is God's victory : he conquers 
 men because God has conquered him. As 
 the triumphal procession of the gospel 
 moves about the world, Paul moves with 
 it as the prisoner of God. That is the 
 wonderful setting which Paul gives to his 
 missionary journeys; and such a striking 
 and' original turn of thought is altogether 
 worthy of Him. He moves as a missionary, 
 often lonely, misunderstood, persecuted, 
 from place to place ; he seems often to 
 meet with disappointment and defeat. But 
 in him the gospel is marching on to ever 
 fresh conquests ; he has the eyes to see 
 it as a triumphal procession, with the in- 
 visible God as the conquering general, and 
 himself as a glad captive. But this cap- 
 tive shares the General's triumph, he 
 triumphs indeed in Him. This meaning 
 has much the same issue as the other, but 
 it is far more characteristic of the daring 
 mind of Paul. God leads Paul in triumph 
 in Christ — the triumph of God is effected 
 through Christ ; outside of Him there is 
 no divine triumph, but only in Him. 
 
 The metaphor of the triumphal procession 
 is probably maintained in the second clause, 
 though it seems to change. He leads us 
 in triumph and manifests the savor of 
 His knowledge through us (in every 
 place). These words sound foreign to our 
 ears, but they conveyed a brilliant and 
 suggestive picture to the readers of Paul. 
 The reference appears to be to the clouds 
 of incense which rose from a multitude of 
 altars as the triumphal procession moved 
 on its way. The gospel procession has 
 also its incense : wherever it goes, the air 
 is redolent with the knowledge of Him, 
 whether by Him we are to understand 
 Christ (cf. ver. 15) or God — two pos- 
 sibilities which blend in" the idea that the 
 knowledge of God comes through Christ. 
 This savor is manifested through us and 
 wherever we go: the presence of Paul and 
 of Christians as devoted as he, is the sim- 
 plest thing in the world to detect. They 
 bear about with them an atmosphere ; 
 everywhere they go, the air is fragrant 
 with Christ; and when we are near them, 
 we fear sure that the gospel procession 
 is moving on, that the Power which is 
 victorious in them is advancing to fresh 
 victories through them. 
 
 15, 16. There is here a gentle, but almost 
 imperceptible transition of thought. In 
 ver. 14 the knowledge was the savor : here 
 it is the apostle himself, and those who, 
 like him, preach the word in sincerity 
 (ver. 17). The neutral word savor (oafirj) 
 here becomes szveet savor (ei-wSta), which 
 again is naturally replaced (before death, 
 ver. 16) by the neutral word. For in the 
 eyes of God, to God, we are a sweet savor 
 of Christ; that is, they are redolent of 
 Christ, and God is well pleased with them. 
 God, but not all men — only some ; there 
 are some whom it repels. This fragrant 
 influence operates among, or in them that 
 are being saved and in them that are 
 perishing (for the contrast, cf. i Cor. i. 
 18). In both cases the apostolic preacher 
 is a sweet savor to God. Men decide 
 their inner quality and therefore their 
 destiny, by their attitude to the gospel and 
 to the men from whose Hfe streams the 
 fragrance of Christ : to the one it is a 
 savor of life unto life, to the other a 
 savor of death unto death. These phrases 
 again sound remote to us ; and to com- 
 plicate the case, the text is uncertain, some 
 
136 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 17 For we are not as many, which cor- but as of God, in the sight of God speak 
 rupt the word of God : but as of sincerity, we in Christ. 
 
 MSS. reading the simple genitive (savor 
 of Hfe, of death), others adding e/f (savor 
 from Hfe). If the preposition e/c be taken 
 at its full value, it is hard to explain. One 
 can see how for the two great groups of 
 men (m^J' . . . 5e) the savor issues in (et's) 
 life and death, has these for its goal : one 
 can also see how the savor might be said 
 to originate in (^k) life, but how could it 
 also originate in death ? Unless these be 
 general phrases for altogether vital, and 
 altogether deadly, it seems better to read 
 the simple genitive, " a savor of life unto 
 life," i.e. whose element is life and whose 
 issue is life, as opposed to the savor with 
 death for its element and death for its end. 
 The phrase suggests the fearful contrast 
 between the destinies of men, according as 
 they accept or reject gospel. Despite its 
 " fragrance " and beauty, it does not ab- 
 solutely compel : it can be resisted, though 
 the end of resistance is death. 
 
 17. And for these things, asks Paul — 
 for a ministry with responsibilities and 
 issues so awful, nothing less than life and 
 death — who is sufficient? We are, is the 
 implied answer — though not indeed of our- 
 selves, our sufficiency is from God (iii, 5). 
 For we do all our evangelic work in sin- 
 cerity, and as in the presence of God Him- 
 self: we are not as the many (ol ttoXXoi: 
 some MSS. read oi \0t7r0t', the rest) who 
 adulterate the word of God for their 
 own profit, as a tavern-keeper adulterates 
 his wine, but as out of a heart of trans- 
 parent sincerity, yes, as under prompting 
 from God and in the presence of God 
 we speak in Christ, i.e. in fellowship with 
 Him : our speech moves within the sphere 
 determined by our relation to Him, 
 /caTTT/Xeuw is to act Hke a small shop-keeper, 
 to sell retail, then to make a profit by 
 adulterating one's wares. In this word he 
 appears to be glancing at his Judaistic op- 
 ponents, judging by the discussion of the 
 Mosaic dispensation which immediately 
 follows (iii.). 
 
 This sentence furnishes a suggestive de- 
 scription of the ideal preacher. The only 
 man who is sufficient for the ministry of 
 Jesus Christ is one who refuses to dilute 
 the gospel he proclaims, but who pro- 
 claims it in its entirety with candor and 
 sincerity. Behind 4iim is God, and it is in 
 His inspiration (f«) that he speaks. He 
 carries about with him a high and purify- 
 
 ing sense of responsibility, for he never 
 allows himself to forget that his work is 
 being witnessed by the unseen God, that 
 it is done in His presence: and Christ is 
 the atmosphere, as he is the theme, of all 
 his proclamation. 
 
 There are few things more wonderful in 
 Paul than the mighty emotion by which 
 his soul was swept as he contemplated 
 certain simple facts. He meets Titus and 
 hears from him good news of Corinth ; 
 and, without even waiting to tell us that 
 he met him, he bursts into a hymn of 
 jubilation. This was because he saw 
 through the fact to the God whose triumph 
 in the world it illustrated. Paul had all 
 the old Hebrew genius for detecting the 
 spiritual significance of historic fact. He 
 can read his experience, and he rejoices 
 with joy unspeakable, because he finds God 
 there. To his enlightened eyes, his check- 
 ered missionary career is in realit}' an un- 
 broken triumph of God, always and every- 
 where. 
 
 The preacher or the missionary, whose 
 heart was sustained by the vision that Paul 
 saw, could go on, amid weakness and dis- 
 appointment, from strength to strength, 
 hoping and daring the bravest things. 
 Paul's own travels from point to point 
 throughout the world, preaching here, 
 founding a church there, he interpreted as 
 the triumphal procession of the gospel and 
 of the God whose captive he was. Here 
 and there men were won for Jesus, a 
 church of God existed even in immoral 
 Corinth (i Cor. i. 2, 2 Cor. i. i), and that 
 church, by the news Titus brought, had 
 clearly caught something of the spirit of 
 Jesus, and was growing into His likeness. 
 In all this Paul read the triumph of the 
 gospel, of Christ, of God ; and, in his 
 splendid paradox, he, their captive, shared 
 their victory. 
 
 Suggestive, too, is his comparison of the 
 influence exerted by the servants of Christ 
 to a savor. It is true of all His servants 
 no less than of the preacher. Wherever 
 they are, there should be fragrance — per- 
 vasive, undeniable, irresistible. A Chris- 
 tian without this redolence is as impossible 
 as incense whose presence is unfclt by 
 those who come near it. It penetrates the 
 atmosphere and compels attention : so must 
 it be with those who arc in Christ. United 
 with Him, and secure in Him. they must 
 also be redolent of Him — so plainly and 
 unmistakably that their presence is, as it 
 
€h. II] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 137 
 
 were, a perpetual challenge to their en- 
 vironment, repelling some, attracting 
 others. They constitute a living standard, 
 which compels men involuntarily to ex- 
 pose the inner quality of their life. It is 
 the manner of their attitude and response 
 
 to that " sweet savor of Christ " which 
 streams from His servants, that determines 
 whether men are " among those that are 
 being saved " or " among those that are 
 perishing." 
 
138 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE (iii. i 
 
 vi. 
 
 0) 
 
 CHAPTER 3. 
 
 I Do we begin again to commend our- 
 selves? or need we, as some others, epistles 
 of commendation to you, or letters of com- 
 mendation from you? 
 
 2 Ye are our epistle written in our 
 hearts, known and read of all men : 
 
 3. Forasmuch as ye arc manifestly de- 
 clared to be the 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 fleshly tables of the heart. 
 
 The Corinthians are Paul's Living Letter 
 of Recommendation (iii. 1-3). 
 
 The tone of triumphant confidence with 
 which the apostle had closed the last para- 
 graph (ii. 14-17), reminds him of the chal- 
 lenge which it is sure to call forth from 
 his opponents, who have a keen scent for 
 anything that looks like self-commendation 
 on the part of the apostle ; and this leads 
 him to launch into his great defense of the 
 glory of the apostolic office. As " an apos- 
 tle of Christ Jesus" (i. i), he is the min- 
 ister of a new dispensation, whose intrinsic 
 glory is greatly heightened by comparison 
 with the old Mosaic dispensation. The 
 glory of the one is swallowed up in the 
 exceeding glory of the other, and Paul 
 writes with the insight of one who under- 
 stood both dispensations thoroughly — for 
 he had been a faithful and zealous servant 
 of both — and with the enthusiasm of 
 one who had found peace, joy, and finality 
 in the new spiritual order created by 
 Jesus Christ. The peculiar point of the 
 comparison depends on the circumstance 
 that the opponents he is here combating, 
 belong to the Jewish party (cf. xi. 22). 
 
 I. Are we beginning — in the preced- 
 ing verse (ii. 17) he had laid himself open 
 to this charge, and he continues in ver. 6, 
 where he declares that he is a competent 
 minister of the new covenant — again to 
 commend ourselves? — apparently a fav- 
 orite charge against the apostle, to which 
 some expressions in i Cor. (cf. ix. 15, xiv. 
 18, XV. 10) lent a colorable excuse, hence 
 again. But his opponents had altogether 
 misunderstood the tone of these references ; 
 no one knew better than Paul that " not he 
 that commendeth himself is app'^oved. but 
 he whom the Lord commendeth." Pie dges 
 not need to commend himself, for he has 
 the approval of the Lord: it is "writ 
 large " in the success of his ministry at 
 Corinth. For the same reason he needs no 
 commendation from them : the very exist- 
 ence of the Corinthian church, which owes 
 its origin to him, was commendation 
 
 enough (cf. i Cor. ix. 2). Or do we 
 need, as some do — a glance probably at 
 his opponents (ii. 17) — letters of recom- 
 mendation to you? Surely not: they 
 have good reason to know him well; but 
 for him, would there have been a Corin- 
 thian church at all? If to others he was 
 not an apostle, at any rate he was to 
 them ; they were the Seal of his apostleship 
 (i Cor. ix. 2). Letters of recommendation 
 were frequently given Christians to the 
 church of the district to which they were 
 going: such a letter was given Apollos 
 when he left Ephesus for Corinth (Acts 
 xviii. 27). Paul's opponents had probably 
 brought such letters from the Jerusalem 
 church. Or do we need letters of recom- 
 mendation from you? As little as he 
 needed letters of recommendation to them, 
 did he need such letters from them to 
 others. The credentials which he could 
 everywhere present with confidence were 
 the Corinthians themselves and his well- 
 known success among them. 
 
 2, 3. YE are cur letter of commen- 
 dation, a more convincing testimonial than 
 any written with ink on paper : when I 
 am asked for my credentials, I point to 
 you, liz'ing epistles. This testimonial is 
 open for the inspection of all the world, 
 knoivn and read by all men, but it is also 
 written in our hearts. The figure sug- 
 gested by the " letter " is not worked out 
 with strict consistency : at one time it is 
 written upon Paul's heart, at another by 
 Christ (ver. 3) upon the hearts of the 
 Corinthians themselves (ver. 3). But the 
 meaning is perfectly clear. Paul bears about 
 with him, graven upon his heart, the mem- 
 ory of his fruitful ministry at Corinth — a 
 ministry which was at once a consolation 
 to himself, and a testimony to the world; 
 for the Corinthian converts were an epis- 
 tle, known and read (yiuwaKofievt] Kal 
 dvayLvwaKofievt)) ; for a similar word-plav. 
 cf. i. 13) by all men — the founding and 
 the progress of the church in immoral Cor- 
 inth would be a matter of wide, almost uni- 
 versal interest. The testimony borne by the 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 II COKINTHIANS. 
 
 139 
 
 4 And such trust have we through 
 Christ to God-ward : 
 
 5 Not that we are sufficient of our- 
 selves to think any thing as of ourselves ; 
 but our sufficiency is of God. 
 
 6 Who also hath made us able min- 
 isters of the new testament ; not of the 
 letter, but of the spirit : for the letter 
 killeth, but the spirit giveth life. 
 
 Corinthian church is plain ((pavepov^Mevoi) : 
 Paul speaks of its members as manifestly 
 being an epistle of Christ, i.e. written 
 by Christ, ministered by us. • The human 
 amanuensis of this living epistle was Paul, 
 but the real author of it was Christ. The 
 transformation in Corinthian character 
 was effected by the ministry of Paul, but 
 he was the minister of Christ: he wrote 
 but as he was prompted by Christ. And 
 this letter was written not, like ordinary 
 human testimonials, with ink: such were 
 the letters of recommendation brought by 
 Paul's opponents from Jerusalem, written 
 with ink upon paper, and of themselves 
 impotent to prove anything. Not such 
 were Paul's credentials, but written with 
 the spirit of the living God: this letter 
 was • convincing, because behind it was 
 spirit, power, life, God. The man who 
 was in possession of such a letter of com- 
 mendation needed no documentary attesta- 
 tion from anybody, he was attested by the 
 mighty spiritual results that accompanied 
 and followed his ministry. The letter to 
 which he appealed was convincing because 
 of the material upon which, as well as the 
 instrument by which, it was written : for 
 it was written not upon paper or tablets 
 of stone, but upon the impressible fleshly 
 tablets of the heart. The letters that 
 carry real persuasion or conviction must 
 be written there. In this connection the 
 stone tablets come as a surprise, as the 
 context is dealing with letters written with 
 ink and necessarily upon a very different 
 surface ; but Paul is preparing the way 
 here for the great contrast, which he is 
 about to elaborate, between the Mosaic 
 dispensation, represented by the tablets of 
 stone, and the Christian dispensation, 
 wdiose impulse and atmosphere is the 
 spirit. Jhe contrast had already been sug- 
 gested in the great prophecy of Jeremiah 
 (xxxi. 31-34) who, realizing the inade- 
 quacy of the older dispensation, comforted 
 his heart with the vision of a day when 
 the law would be no more a series of ex- 
 ternal ordinances, but an inward thing, 
 written upon the heart. 
 
 The most convincing proof of a man's 
 competence in any sphere is the work he 
 has done. Written statements, whether 
 
 drawn up by himself or by others, regard- 
 ing his power, must be ultimately referred 
 to that practical test, which is both fair 
 and final : his worth is best attested not 
 in ink, but in experience. Paul was not 
 afraid of this test. He had changed the 
 face of the world, and he needed no " cer- 
 tificate " from any man. The men whom 
 his ministry had transformed were his 
 credentials. 
 
 But letters are written to be read, and 
 a Christian epistle is no exception. The 
 Corinthians were Paul's living epistle, and 
 they were continually being read (pres. 
 ptc.) by all men. The church is the let- 
 ter, and the world is the reader. And 
 herein lies an obligation which the church 
 as a whole, and Christian men in par- 
 ticular, can never afford to forget. They 
 are being read: they must see to it, there- 
 fore, that the thing that is being daily, 
 scrupulously, read is worth reading, — that 
 it is in truth an epistle of Christ, an 
 epistle which He would not be ashamed 
 to own. 
 
 A Competent Minister (iii. 4-6). 
 
 The confident tone (Treiroidrjais) which 
 ran throughout the last paragraph Paul 
 now proceeds to explain and justify. His 
 competence as an evangelist is undeniable, 
 it is written in unmistakable characters in 
 the success of his work ; but, though it is 
 his own (^7 iKavoTTjs ijixcov) it is not his own, 
 its source is in God (e/c tov Qeov) ; and 
 therefore, though his success is frankly as- 
 serted and even insisted upon, boasting is 
 excluded. 
 
 4-6. And such confidence in his apos- 
 tolic success as animated the last para- 
 graph we have, not through any innate 
 power of our own, but through Christ, 
 and in relation to God. It is God who 
 has made Paul competent and successful 
 (vv. 5, 6), and his confidence therefore 
 takes a God-ward direction. Paul has al- 
 ways to fear malicious misconstructions of 
 such assertions, therefore he adds at once: 
 I do not mean that of ourselves we are 
 competent to form any judgment as 
 from ourselves, e/c {out of ourselves) in- 
 dicates the origin even more distinctly than 
 a-TTo {from) : both together suggest how 
 
140 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 7 But if the ministration of death, writ- 
 ten and engraven in stones, was glorious, 
 so that the children of Israel could not 
 steadfastly behold the face of Moses for 
 
 the glory of his countenance ; which glory 
 was to be done away; 
 
 8 How shall not the ministration of the 
 spirit be rather glorious ? 
 
 utterly Paul disclaims the competence, on 
 the basis of his own native resources, to 
 reach decisions, to devise ways and means, 
 affecting his apostolic activity. But, on 
 the contrary, our competence,' which is a 
 real and undoubted fact, is from God: it 
 is indeed mine, but He is its source : for 
 it is He who, at our conversion once for 
 all (iKdpojaev, aor.) made us competent 
 to be ministers of the NEW covenant. 
 To appreciate the real force of the pas- 
 sage, we must remember that the opponents 
 whom Paul has here specially in view, are 
 Judaizers (xi. 22) who championed the 
 old Mosaic covenant. With Jesus,^ a new 
 order, constitution, covenant, came into the 
 world : no one apprehended more clearly 
 or forcibly than Paul the tremendous, the 
 infinite difference that Jesus made to his- 
 tory (cf. I Cor. XV. 22). And as he thinks 
 of this difference, brief sharp words leap 
 from his pen, that cut right into the heart 
 of the contrast, and lay it bare. In being 
 enabled to be a minister of this new cove- 
 nant, he becomes a minister not of the 
 letter, but of the spirit. Here is the 
 first startling antithesis : letter and spirit. 
 We commonly use these words to suggest 
 the difference between an interpretation 
 which looks to the bare words and one 
 which looks rather to their intention : this, 
 however, is not the meaning of the passage 
 here. The letter has been suggested to 
 Paul by the reference to the stone tablets 
 (ver. 3), or rather perhaps that reference 
 had in view the contrast, which Paul is here 
 beginning to develop, between the two dis- 
 pensations. In either case, the letter is the 
 Jaw, which found its most characteristic 
 expression in the commandments (or 
 rather prohibitions, for the most part) 
 graven upon the tablets of stone : while, 
 in contrast with this, is the spirit, the 
 source of that new order or constitution 
 of things, which was established by and 
 in Jesus Christ. The contrast is not be- 
 tween word and intention, but between law 
 and gospel, between Moses and Christ, be- 
 tween laws imposed from without, and 
 spirit operating freely (ver. 17) and spon- 
 taneously from within (cf. Rom. vii. 6, 
 ii. 29). 
 
 God did not make Paul a minister of 
 the letter, but of the spirit, for the reason 
 that the letter (i.e. the lazv) killeth, while 
 the spirit maketh alive. The difference 
 
 between law and gospel is nothing less 
 than the difference between life and death. 
 The contrast is, for the purposes of the 
 argument, made as absolute as it can be 
 made, and more absolute than Paul has 
 made it in other passages, e.g. in Rom. 
 vii. 14, where the law is even described as 
 spiritual (Trvev /xar inos ) . In one aspect, the 
 law is holy (Rom. vii. 12), and even 
 glorious (2 Cor. iii. 9-11) ; but, on the 
 whole, its work was negative. It imposed 
 a command to which men were not equal, 
 it virtually therefore condemned them 
 (ver. 9) — condemned them to death. As 
 men could only disobey the law, and life 
 lay alone in obedience, the law could only 
 lead to death (cf. Rom. vii. 9-11). In 
 this sense, therefore, the letter kills. But 
 the spirit — not simply a vague contrast 
 with the letter, but the definite spirit of 
 the Lord Jesus (ver. 17) — maketh alive. 
 The soul that was slain — shut up to de- 
 spair and death — by the law, is quickened 
 into life when touched by the spirit of 
 Jesus. These words are a vivid summary 
 of Paul's experience under the two dispen- 
 sations, both of which he knew so well. 
 
 The Greater Glory of the New Dispensa- 
 tion (iii. 7-1 1). 
 
 Paul has been drawn, by his defense of 
 himself as a competent minister of the 
 gospel, into a comparison of the two dis- 
 pensations. This comparison he now elab- 
 orates, admitting the glory of the older 
 dispensation, but insisting upon the more 
 exceeding glory of that of which he is now 
 minister. 
 
 7, 8. But if the ministration of death 
 (that is, the law — of which Moses was 
 minister — whose issue was death, for it 
 kills, ver. 6), which consisted in letters, 
 and was engraved on stones, was con- 
 stituted in glory, a glory which, as the 
 context suggests, found symbolic expres- 
 sion upon the shining face of Moses, and 
 which was yet so striking that, for fear 
 (cf. Exod. xxxiv. 30), the children of 
 Israel could not look steadfastly upon 
 the face of Moses because of the glory 
 of his face, though that was a glory 
 which, even as they gazed, was passing 
 away (for KaTapyovfxevT)v, cf. I Cor. xiii. 
 8, 10) : — if the ministry of death was so ' 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 141 
 
 9 For if the ministration of condernna- 
 tion be glory, much more doth the minis- 
 tration of righteousness exceed in glory. 
 
 10 For even that which was made glori- 
 ous had no glory in this respect, by reason 
 of the glory that excelleth. 
 
 glorious, surely still more will the min- 
 istration of the SPIRIT be in glory. 
 
 For the spirit giveth life (ver. 6) ; and as 
 stupendous as is the difference between 
 life and death, so stupendous is the differ- 
 ence between the glory of the one covenant 
 and that of the other. The ^ phrase iv 
 ypd/xfjiacLv, applied to the " ministration of 
 death," means much more than written 
 (cf. A. v., and A. R. V. text) : it is in- 
 tended to recall the ypdfi/xa (letter) of 
 the preceding verse (as in A. R. V. marg. 
 in letters). The old covenant consisted of 
 lifeless, isolated letters, carved on stone: 
 the new is a life-giving spirit. The old 
 was made (iyeprjdr]) in glory, its inception 
 was glorious — witness the face of Moses : 
 the new shall be ie<TTai) in glory, glory 
 is its permanent element. The use of the 
 future tense is not intended to suggest 
 that the glory of the new dispensation is a 
 thing of the future — to be revealed, for 
 example, at the coming of Christ : it is the 
 future of argument, and is equal to, " It 
 follows that the ministration of the spirit 
 is more glorious." The glory is already 
 here, since Christ has come, and especially 
 since He has risen: Paul kindles at the 
 contemplation of it. Throughout this sec- 
 tion, the words _" ministration " and " glory," 
 though they primarily refer to experiences 
 of Moses, insensibly glide into a larger 
 meaning, and practically suggest the whole 
 range of the older dispensation. The sense 
 in which the glory upon the face of Moses 
 was transient, becomes more plain in ver. 
 
 g. The new dispensation must be far 
 more glorious than the old : for if the 
 ministration of condemnation — the law 
 which condemned to death (ver. 7) — 
 (was) glory, the ministration of justi- 
 fication (lit. righteousness) is necessarily 
 far more abundant in glory: the one 
 transcends the other as much as justifica- 
 tion transcends condemnation. (If the 
 reading rfj diaKovia, instead of "h dtaKovia^ 
 be accepted, the meaning will be, " If the 
 ministration of condemnation had glory." 
 The other is more striking and emphatic.) 
 The new dispensation, and by implication 
 its ministers (like Paul) are superior to 
 the old, for by acceptance of the gospel, 
 a man, instead of being condemned, be- 
 comes "righteous, justified, acquitted," be- 
 fore God (cf. Rom. iii. 22 ff.). This verse 
 practically repeats the thought of vv. 7, 8, 
 
 but characterizes the two dispensations by 
 fresh, incisive, names. 
 
 10, II. In the exuberance of his enthu- 
 siasm for the new dispensation, the apostle 
 almost seems in this verse to deny to the 
 old the glory which he had already con- 
 ceded to it. It had a glory of its own, 
 but its glory is as nothing in comparison 
 with the exceeding glory of the other. 
 For indeed that old dispensation glorious 
 as it is, has no real glory in comparison 
 with the surpassing glory of the other 
 (lit. in this respect, on account of the sur- 
 passing glory, the latter phrase defining the 
 former). For if the passing, the transient, 
 was accompanied by glory, much more 
 is (not shall be: see note on ver. 8) the 
 permanent established in glory. The 
 prepositions 5ta and ej/ appear here to be 
 intentionally used to suggest respectively 
 the temporary glory of the one dispensa- 
 tion, and the inherent and abiding glory 
 of the other. The Mosaic dispensation 
 transitory, yet not without glory: the 
 Christian dispensation eternal, therefore es- 
 sentially far more glorious. 
 
 A paragraph like this enables us to see 
 how profoundly, how overwhelmingly, Paul 
 was impressed by the consciousness of the 
 difference that Jesus had made. He gave a 
 new (ver. 6) turn to the spiritual history 
 of the race, so that the world of rehgious 
 possibility and reality after Him (and of 
 course in Him) was different from, and 
 far more glorious than, the world which 
 had preceded Him. He speaks of its sur- 
 passing glory (ver. 10) — it is more glori- 
 ous (ver. 8), twice he calls it far more 
 (ttoXXw fidWov) glorious. And it is so, 
 because, while the law was bound up with 
 ideas of condemnation and death (vv. 9, 
 7), the gospel was a message of acquittal 
 and life. Whatever the future might have 
 in store, life in Christ, and especially life 
 as a preacher of the gospel, was even here 
 and now glorious : it was glorious to be 
 free from condemnation (ver. 9), glorious 
 to be secure against death (ver. 7). This 
 assuredly was the hfe indeed. 
 
 It would be a happy day for the church 
 and for the world, if those who name the 
 name of Christ were stirred, as Paul was, 
 by the thought of the glorious world into 
 which Christ has ushered them. Our es- 
 cape to Christ is not, as was Paul's, from 
 
142 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 11 For if that which is done away was 
 glorious, much more that which remaineth 
 is glorious. 
 
 12 Seeing then that we have such hope, 
 we use great plainness of speech : 
 
 13 And not as Moses, ivliich put a vail 
 over his face, that the children of Israel 
 could not steadfastly look to the end of 
 that which is abolished : 
 
 14 But their minds were blinded : for 
 until this day remaineth the same vail 
 untaken away in the reading of the old 
 testament ; which vail is done away in 
 Christ. 
 
 15 But even unto this day, when Moses 
 is read, the vail is upon their heart. 
 
 the burden of the Jewish law: our servi- 
 tude is, in form, different from his. But 
 in spirit it is much the same. We, like 
 him, are in bondage to the transient, to 
 that zuhich is passing away (ver. 11) : 
 Christ brings us, if we let Him, into the 
 eternal order (to fievov) , And the man who 
 stands within that order, serene and secure, 
 may well feel that he is already living in 
 a world of " surpassing glory." 
 
 The Veil Removed (iii. 12-18). 
 
 12, 13. The two dispensations are still 
 further contrasted, this time with special 
 emphasis upon the frankness and freedom 
 characteristic of those who are " in Christ." 
 Paul appears to have been accused of ob- 
 scuring the gospel (cf. iv. 3) ; no accusa- 
 tion, he hints, could be wider of the mark. 
 Openness is the genius of the new dispen- 
 sation ; and, having nothing to conceal, he 
 can speak plainly and even boldly. Hav- 
 ing, then, such a hope of abiding glory 
 (ver. 11), we adopt great boldness of 
 speech towards all with whom our minr 
 istry brings us into contact — he can afford 
 to be, and is even bound to be, frank. 
 And we do not put a veil upon our face, 
 as Moses put a veil upon his face (Exod. 
 xxxiv. 2)2))^ to keep the children of Israel 
 from looking steadfastly upon the end 
 o£ that which was passing away. The 
 narrative in Exodus (xxxiv. 29-35) as- 
 signs no reason for the action of Moses 
 in putting a veil on his face ; the reason 
 here assigned by Paul is peculiar, and, as 
 Professor Denney {Expositor's Bible, 2 
 Cor. p. 129) says, perhaps not to be taken 
 too seriously. According to Exodus, 
 Moses appeared without the veil before 
 Jehovah and before the people, while he 
 w^as delivering Jehovah's message to them : 
 when the message had been delivered, he 
 put the veil on (a point misrepresented in 
 A. V. which in ver. 2>Z wrongly reads till 
 for zchen). And, as the delivery of the 
 divine message was accompanied by the 
 shining face, Paul infers from the donning 
 of the veil immediately afterwards, that the 
 
 glory began thereafter gradually to vanish, 
 and that the veil was to hide its evanes- 
 cence. The real point of the passage, how- 
 ever, is, in any case, not the intention of 
 Moses, but the transience of the glory, 
 and the inability of the Israelites to recog- 
 nize this transience. The vanishing glory 
 was symbolic of the transient dispensa- 
 tion. Israel did not see this, but because 
 of the veil, thought of it as permanent; 
 their understandings were hardened. 
 
 14, 15. For up to the present day, at 
 the reading of the old covenant — Paul 
 is thinking chiefly of the law (cf. Moses 
 in ver. 15), but the application to prophecy 
 is quite legitimate (cf. i. 20) — the same 
 veil (not, of course, Moses' veil, but the 
 veil of their inability to recognize the tem- 
 porary nature of the Mosaic dispensation) 
 remains unlifted (for only in Christ is 
 it done away), but till to-day, whenever 
 Moses (the law, the Pentateuch) is read, 
 a veil lies upon their heart. There is 
 the same slight change in the zr //-metaphor, 
 as there was in the epistle of vv. 2, 3 : 
 the veil, once on the face of Aloses, is now 
 on their heart. The transitory nature of 
 the old covenant is hidden from them as it 
 was from their fathers; but the implication 
 is that they are more culpable — the veil 
 is on their heart, and it lies with them to 
 repent and return (ver. 16). Considerable 
 difficulty attaches to the construction of 
 fiT] CLvaKoKinrToixevov in ver. 14. A, R. V. 
 takes it as an accus. absolute, — " it not 
 being revealed (to them) that it is done 
 away in Christ." But besides the compara- 
 tive infrequency of this participial construc- 
 tion, it would seem much more natural to 
 take the word with its cognate KaXv/xfia 
 earlier in the sentence, and thus to assign 
 it to the concrete sense which it has in 
 ver. 18 (dvaKeKaXv/x/jLevip Trpoffuiru)^ with un- 
 veiled face). A. V. is probably therefore 
 right in translating " the veil remaineth 
 untaken away," though apparently wrong in 
 rendering '' zchich (veil) is done away in 
 Christ," as '0, ri is not equivalent to 3, 
 On any view of the verse, however, the 
 great utterance remains that "the veil (or 
 the old covenant) is done away in Christ/* 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 143 
 
 i6 Nevertheless, when it shall turn to 
 the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 
 
 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit : and 
 were the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
 liberty. 
 
 18 But we all, with open face beholding 
 as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image from glory 
 to glory, evc7i as by the Spirit of the Lord. 
 
 His appearance at once fulfills and abolishes 
 the old covenant; it is abolished at least 
 for those in Him. This leads to the 
 thought of ver. 16. 
 
 16. But whensoever it shall turn to 
 the Lord, away the veil is taken — the 
 present is graphically used for the future, 
 and the verb (Treptatpeirat) put first for 
 emphasis, though on the latter point too 
 much stress ought not to be laid, as the 
 w^ords are practically a quotation from 
 Exod. xxxiv. 34. There the reference is 
 to Aloses, here it must be wider — whether 
 to the heart, upon which the veil lies, or to 
 Israel, collectively (cf. Rom. xi. 12) or in- 
 dividually (Tts, one). In any case, to turn 
 to the Lord, by w^hom Paul must here mean 
 Christ, is to have the veil removed and 
 to behold the exceeding glory of His fin- 
 ished and abiding work, which not only 
 transcends, but supersedes the dispensation 
 that had gone before. 
 
 17. Paul had spoken earlier of the new 
 dispensation as the dispensation of the 
 spirit (ver. 8) : men enter into by turning 
 to the Lord (ver. 16). Between the spirit 
 and the Lord there must therefore be an 
 intimate connection : they are indeed to be 
 distinguished (xiii. 14), but Paul asserts 
 here a practical identity — now the Lord 
 is the spirit. The spirit which animated 
 believers, and brought forth in them its 
 marvelous fruits (Gal. v. 22) was the 
 Lord's spirit : the particular characteristic 
 of it which Paul here selects, is its free- 
 dom — and where the spirit of the Lord 
 is, there is liberty of all kinds : freedom, 
 as we have seen, from condemnation and 
 death (vv. 6, 8), freedom from the literal 
 and statutory temper created by the old 
 covenant, deliverance into the untrammeled 
 life of the spirit. Here, more particularly, 
 it is the spirit of the man whose vision 
 is not obscured by any veil, — who gazes 
 with open face (ver. 18) and who declares 
 frankly and fearlessly what he sees (ver. 
 12). 
 
 18. But we all — not preachers alone 
 but all Christians — unlike the Jews (ver. 
 15) with face unveiled, beholding as in a 
 mirror the glory of the Lord, are being 
 transformed while we gaze (pres. ptc.) 
 into the same image, from glory to glory. 
 The gospel is the mirror in which the 
 glory of Christ is reflected. The word 
 
 KaTOTTTpi^ofxevoL has been the subject of much 
 dispute : the two possible meanings are 
 given in A. R. V., text and margin re- 
 spectively — beholding and reflecting (as in 
 a mirror). The active voice means "to 
 show in a mirror," and the precise force 
 of the middle must be determined by the 
 context. This seems undoubtedly to favor 
 the rendering " beholding." The Jews had 
 looked, but had not seen the glory ; a veil 
 had hidden it from them — for the earlier 
 Jews, the veil on Moses' face, and, for 
 the later, the veil upon their own hearts. 
 But the veil is done away in Christ (ver. 
 14). We Christians look upon the Lord, 
 and we really see His glory, for there is 
 no veil upon our hearts. There is no veil 
 upon Christ's face, nor is there any upon 
 ours : " we behold zdth face unveiled the 
 glory of the Lord." Behold fits the pas- 
 sage admirably, and brings out the thought 
 of liberty in ver. 17 much more forcibly 
 than reflecting would do : it happily ex- 
 presses the frank, clear gaze at the glorious 
 reality. What is meant by the glory of 
 the Lord must be gathered from the con- 
 text. His glory is in part revealed by 
 bringing men out of a state of condemna- 
 tion and death into acquittal and hfe, but 
 it is a more comprehensive thing than 
 that. He is altogether glorious, and His 
 crowning glory is His resurrection (i Cor. 
 XV.). It is the glory of the risen and 
 triumDhant Lord upon which the Chris- 
 tian gazes, and as he gazes, he is trans- 
 formed into the same image and becomes 
 like his risen Lord. As the process is a 
 gradual one, from glory to glory (and 
 this is also suggested by the present tenses, 
 as we behold, lue are being transformed), 
 the reference is essentially to a transforma- 
 tion of character. The glory is an inward 
 glory,_just as Christ's glory, however strik- 
 ing might be its external manifestation at His 
 second coming, was essentially His trium- 
 phant work. We are transformed from 
 glory to glory, from one glory to another and 
 a higher, until we reach the highest (i Cor. 
 XV. 51-54) . This gradual and glorious trans- 
 formation is just such as one would expect, 
 coming as it does from the Lord the 
 spirit. Ver. 17 ("the Lord is the spirit") 
 shows that this is the true rendering of 
 dirb KvpLov TTvevfiaTos, and not either of the 
 other theoretically possible renderings — 
 
144 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 1 Therefore, seeing we have this min- 
 istry, as we have received mercy, we faint 
 not; 
 
 2 But have renounced the hidden things 
 
 of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, 
 nor handling the word of God deceitfully; 
 but, by manifestation of the truth, com- 
 mending ourselves to every man's con- 
 science in the sight of God. 
 
 "from the spirit of the Lord" or (still 
 less) " from the Lord of the spirit." This 
 transformation is natural, as it has its 
 source (dwo) in Him. It is the spirit, 
 Christ, the spirit of Christ that transforms. 
 
 This little paragraph glows with great 
 thought and culminates in a vision of un- 
 usual beauty and power. The pathos of the 
 Jewish position was that it mistook the 
 temporary for the eternal. And when that 
 mistake is repeated to-day, the explanation 
 is often now, as it was then, a moral one 
 — a veil is upon the heart, whether that 
 veil be woven by prejudice (as was the 
 case with Paul before his conversion) or 
 of sin. 
 
 That veil is removed when men frankly 
 face Christ. " When men turn to the 
 Lord, the veil is taken away." In Him 
 they confront the eternal order, and, united 
 with Him, they stand within it. In Him 
 they are delivered from' the restrictions 
 that strangle spontaneity and all true life : 
 ''where His spirit is, there is hberty " — 
 one of those great words of Paul, which 
 goes right to the heart of the gospel. 
 Christ makes men free (Gal. v. i), free 
 from the incubus of tradition and all ex- 
 ternally imposed authority, free to think 
 and speak and act in accordance with the 
 impulse of the spirit within. 
 
 But that spirit must be a Christian spirit, 
 it is the spirit of the Lord. It is by 
 obeying its impulses that we are trans- 
 formed : the glorious change proceeds from 
 it (airo)^ from Him. That is one aspect 
 of the matter: the other is that the trans- 
 formation is effected as we gaze.^ We 
 learn of Him and His spirit by looking at 
 Him; and as we steadily behold His glory, 
 silently but surely docs the quality of His 
 life pass over into ours, till we actually 
 become the very image of the Lord whom 
 we gaze upon. Without the steady gaze, 
 there can be no transformation. It is a 
 daring arid wonderful picture — the servant 
 of Christ looking with unveiled face upon 
 his exalted Lord, and being transformed, 
 as he gazes, from glory to glory, till finally 
 he wears His very image. 
 
 The Apostle's Frankness and Sincerity as a 
 Preacher (iv. 1-6). 
 
 1. Underlying Paul's exhibition of the 
 glory and liberty of the new dispensation 
 (iii. 7-18) was of course his own particular 
 experience of it; it is fitting therefore that 
 he should now express this experience in 
 more personal terms. Therefore — i.e. con- 
 sidering the glory and the liberty of the 
 new dispensation, of which he is a mitt- 
 ister — seeing that we are in possession 
 of this ministry, not through any assump- 
 tion or claim of our own, but in accord- 
 ance with the mercy which has been 
 shown us by God when He called us to it 
 {ri\e7]driix€v^ aorist), we show no weakness, 
 or faintness. The minister of such a dis- 
 pensation, glorious and free, can be no 
 coward. He is bound to speak sincerely, 
 frankly, boldly, as he has already claimed 
 to do (iii. 12). 
 
 2. Timidity or cowardice leads to 
 crookedness and subterfuge ; as Paul is no 
 coward, he needs no subterfuge. He 
 scorns all secret, underhand ways — such as 
 probably his opponents employed — as dis- 
 graceful; he repudiates, once for all, all 
 connection with them. But, so far are we 
 from indulging in the crooked methods to 
 which timidity leads, that we have repu- 
 diated (without, however, implying that he 
 had ever used them) the hidden things 
 of shame: whether rris aiaxi'^vs is ob- 
 jective, "hidden things of disho)iesty;' or 
 subjective, the things which a sense of 
 shame leads a man to conceal, the phrase 
 practically means " disgraceful secrecies." 
 The particular crookedness which Paul 
 here repudiates is craftiness in his life 
 and especially in his preaching: he is not 
 walking in craftiness nor adulterating 
 the word of God, that is, the gospel, by 
 blending with it, from whatever motive, 
 elements that did not properly belong to it 
 (cf. ii. 17). His Judaistic opponents did 
 so adulterate it, by insisting upon the con- 
 comitant validity of the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion. Not so Paul — his only methods are 
 those of absolute sincerity and candor. 
 He had been accused of " commending " 
 himself (cf. iii. i). It is true, he says; 
 but he owes his commendation not to let- 
 ters, nor to any plausible adulteration of 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 II COKINTHIANS. 
 
 145 
 
 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to 
 them that are lost: 
 
 4 In whom the god of this world hath 
 bhnded the minds of them which believe 
 
 not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of 
 Christ, who is the image of God, should 
 shine unto them. 
 
 his message, but simply and solely to his 
 sincerity, a sincerity which is admitted by 
 even an unsophisticated conscience, and upon 
 which he does not fear the scrutiny of the 
 divine eye. In our preaching there is no 
 deception; on the contrary, it is by mak- 
 ing the truth, the real gospel, plain that 
 we commend ourselves in relation to 
 every human conscience in the sight of 
 God. As the minister of a free and 
 glorious dispensation, Paul is bound ' not 
 to adulterate his message or to mystify 
 his audiences. The truth must not be 
 handled deceitfully or even obscurely : 
 Paul's title to commendation is that he 
 makes it plain {(jiavepwaei) — with great 
 effect this phrase, " by the manifestation of 
 the truth," is put first. His frank and 
 fearless presentation of the gospel is re- 
 lated to (tt/oos), appeals to, the conscience: 
 if there be a conscience which resists the 
 appeal, so much the worse for that con- 
 science : it is clearly that of a man who 
 is perishing (ver. 3). But from the stand- 
 point of the preacher, the appeal, being 
 as honest as it is earnest, is triumphantly 
 made to every (irdaav) human conscience. 
 And lest the appeal to a human {dvOpojTrwv) 
 conscience should not be an absolute test 
 of integrity and sincerity, Paul reminds 
 his hearers that he is conscious of utter- 
 ing it in the sight of GOD (cf. ii. 17). 
 Beyond this, there is no appeal. One who 
 is not afraid to appeal to every human 
 conscience, and even to God Himself, has 
 surely vindicated himself amply of any 
 charge of cowardice or duplicity. 
 
 3, 4. Still, brave and sincere as was 
 Paul's presentation of _ the gospel, there 
 were some by whom it was repudiated, 
 some to whom _ it was veiled: how could 
 that be? But if our gospel — the gospel 
 preached so plainly (ver. 2) by us — IS 
 (Acai emphasizes €<jtlv) veiled, it is in the 
 case of the perishing that it is veiled. 
 Those who repudiate the gospel as preached 
 by Paul ivi^^v) stand self-condemned: the 
 veil, of which they complain, is on their 
 hearts (iii. 15), and they are on the way 
 to destruction {dwoWv fievo ts) . They con- 
 stitute the class unaffected by " the sweet 
 savor of Christ" (ii. 15), and for whom 
 it will prove itself a savor of death. They 
 are those whose unbelieving minds (lit. 
 thoughts) the god of this world (i.e. 
 Satan) has blinded; literally "in whom 
 
 the god of this age, blinded the thoughts 
 of the unbeheving." Grammatically, the 
 sentence is overloaded : we expect, " whose 
 thoughts the god . . . blinded," or if the 
 sentence had been made independent, " but 
 he blinded the thoughts of the unbelieving." 
 In its present form, the last clause, " of 
 the unbelieving," is unnecessary, and even 
 redundant, as the blinded thoughts are 
 clearly those of " them that are perishing," 
 and the grammatical awkwardness of the 
 clause has suggested to one scholar that 
 it is a gloss. Too much grammatical pro- 
 priety, however, should not be expected in 
 the swift epistolary style of St. Paul. The 
 words have a propriety of their own. 
 They help to fix the responsibility for 
 the ruin of " them that are perishing " 
 upon the men themselves and their own 
 unbelief, as well as upon the devil who 
 blinds them. It is such men, unbelievers, 
 men with the veil upon their hearts, whom 
 the devil blinds : and his blinding of them 
 is more dreadfully effective than the veil. 
 Unbelief (of the heart) is the road to 
 blindness and ultimate destruction. The 
 "god of this age" (aicjv) — that is, the 
 age till Christ comes again, when the true 
 God shall be "all in all" (i Cor. xv. 28) 
 — is Satan ; a remarkable utterance for 
 one whose monotheism was so thorough- 
 going as was Paul's : he is expressing him- 
 self in accordance with the conceptions of 
 his time, cf. Eph. ii. 2, " the prince of the 
 powers of the air"; in John xii. 31 (cf. 
 xiv. 30) he is called " the prince of this 
 world." The phrase suggests a deadly or- 
 ganized opposition to the gospel on the 
 part of unseen demonic forces, to prevent 
 the dawning of the light (lit. illumina- 
 tion) of the gospel of the glory of Christ, 
 who must indeed be very glorious, as He 
 is the image of God. A. V. somewhat 
 misses the point in its rendering " the 
 glorious gospel of Christ " : more correct 
 would be " the gospel of the glorious 
 Christ," the Christ who ushered in the 
 new and glorious dispensation (iii.)j 
 though doubtless the gospel which reflects 
 Him (iii. 18) is glorious too. Most of 
 the best MSS. omit avrols (unto them) 
 after avydaat ; the omission perhaps more 
 effectively suggests the deadliness of the 
 opposition organized by the " god of this 
 age " to the progress of the gospel — his 
 aim is to keep it not only from shining 
 
146 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 5 For we preach not ourselves, but 
 Christ Jesus the Lord ; and ourselves your 
 servants for Jesus' sake. 
 
 6 For God, who commanded the light 
 
 to shine out of darkness, hath shined in 
 our hearts, to giz'c the light of the knowl- 
 edge of the glory of God in the face of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 upon them (those whom he has blinded) 
 but from shining at all. The exceeding 
 glory of Christ is powerfully suggested 
 by the words " who is the image of God," 
 the visible image of the invisible God. The 
 light that streams from His glory, brilliant 
 as it is, remains unseen by those whom 
 unbelief has blinded. 
 
 5. Paul has been accused by his oppo- 
 nents of preaching " himself." How im- 
 possible and absurd this charge must have 
 sounded to one who was conscious of 
 standing evermore within such a blaze of 
 heavenly glory, and whose whole ambition 
 in life was to interpret that glory to 
 others, and to bring them within its illu- 
 minating power. One whose theme was 
 no less than the exalted and glorious Christ 
 — the very image of God Himself, surely 
 could not be guilty of preaching himself. 
 Those who made the charge may have 
 meant, that, as Paul had not known the 
 earthly Jesus, his preaching of Him rested 
 only on his imagination, not on objective 
 fact — that therefore he preached himself, 
 his own ideas, speculations, etc ; but this is 
 not so. For it is not ourselves that we 
 preach, but the glorious Christ Jesus; 
 and we preach Him (as) Lord, so that 
 you need have no fear, as you seem to 
 hafe, of owr t3^rannizing (Kvpievo/nev^ i. 24) 
 over you. On the contrary, we preach 
 Him as Lord, and ourselves (as) your 
 servants, for Jesus' sake: it is for His 
 sake that we serve you — that you may be 
 brought within the glorious dispensation 
 which He created, and that through the 
 proclamation of His gospel the knowledge 
 of the glory of God may illuminate your 
 hearts. 
 
 6. This verse explains ver. 5. As it 
 is God who gave Paul the illumination, 
 and gave it to him for the illumination 
 of others (to serve them in the gospel for 
 Jesus' sake) how can he possibly preach 
 himself? For the God, who said at 
 creation (cf. Gen. i. 3) "Out of darkness 
 shall shine light," (He it is) who shone 
 in our hearts. The MSS. waver between 
 Xafixf/ei (as translated above) and Xa^'/'at 
 (infin.) which would mean, "God who 
 commanded the light to shine out of dark- 
 ness." There is a fine contrast here be- 
 tween the work of God and that of the 
 devil: the latter blinds men. the former 
 shines in upon their hearts, and illumines 
 
 them. Human hearts are dark, till they 
 are thus illumined ; a veil is upon them, 
 till it is removed by conversion to Christ 
 (iii. 15, 16). Conversion is like creation; 
 it is indeed a new and greater creation — 
 for while, at creation, God commanded 
 the light to shine, in conversion it is He 
 Himself who shines. Behind this broad 
 statement lie's the particular experience of 
 Paul's own conversion. There he was 
 smitten by a light of overwhelming glory, 
 and the face from which the glory shone 
 was the face of Christ, a steady and abid- 
 ing glory, which Paul from that hour had 
 never ceased to see, and which would 
 shine for ever — unlike the transient glory 
 which lit the face of His great antitype 
 Moses (iii. 7). It is not quite clear 
 whether the last clause ^pos (pcoTiafiov , , . 
 XptaToO ("with a view to the illumination 
 of the knowledge, etc.") is intended to 
 elaborate the idea of shining (He shone 
 in wv heart to give light to me of the 
 knowledge, etc.) or whether it adds to the 
 simple thought of shining the idea that the 
 light must be diffused (He shone in my 
 heart to give light to others). Something 
 can be said for both views. On the one 
 hand, it was on the shining face of Christ 
 at his conversion that Paul saw and became 
 aquainted with the glory of God. On the 
 other hand, the previous verse had ended 
 by representing Paul as the servant of the 
 Corinthians for Jesus' sake; that is, he 
 must preach among them, that the light 
 which shines in his heart may arise and 
 shine in thejrs. The possibilities are so 
 evenly balanced that it is hard to decide 
 lietwecn them. In either case. God shone 
 in Paul's heart to bring the light (whether 
 to himself, or. through him, to others) of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 the face of Christ. 
 
 Paul claims to be a man who abhors sub- 
 terfuge and compromise, all crooked and 
 diplomatic dealing, especially in his life as 
 a preacher. He is a man of uncompro- 
 mising sincerity, who feels the holy obliga- 
 tion to Dioke the truth plain, and who 
 speaks straight home to the consciences of 
 men. This openness of speech and conduct 
 he has, because he is conscious of standinjBf 
 within the liglit. The glorious light which 
 broke upon him in the way to Damascus, 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 147 
 
 7 But we have this treasure in earthen 
 vessels, that the excellency of the power 
 may be of God, and not of us. 
 
 8 We are troubled on every side, yet 
 
 not distressed ; we are perplexed, but not 
 in despair; 
 
 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken ; cast 
 down, but not destroyed ; 
 
 the shining face of Christ upon which he 
 saw the unutterable glory of God, have 
 continued not only to haunt him but to 
 shine upon him ; and, as he walks in that 
 lightj conscious of its illumination and ob- 
 ligation, his life becomes transparent as 
 the day. To such a man artifice, diplomacy, 
 and self-laudation, are an impossibility, and 
 he repudiates the charge with earnestness 
 and sorrow (cf. i. 17 ff.). 
 
 In verses 4-6 there is a suggestive view 
 — just indicated, not elaborated — of history 
 as a Titanic conflict between the powers 
 of light and of darkness. There are forces, 
 organized, as it were, under some " god 
 of this world," conspiring to intensify the 
 unbelief of men who reject Jesus and to 
 blind them altogether : forces whose dia- 
 boHcal and deliberate aim is " to prevent 
 the dawning of the gospel of the glory 
 of Christ," and to set men on the road to 
 destruction. But against them evermore 
 fights the great God of Hght, who out of 
 the deepest darkness can command light 
 to arise. Into veiled and blinded hearts, 
 when they turn to the Lord (iii. 16), a 
 great light streams from His shining face, 
 and it is day. Those who have the light 
 are divinely summoned to diffuse it : this 
 is their share in the conflict with dark- 
 ness. " We are 3^our servants for Jesus' 
 sake." 
 
 The Fragile Vessel and the Glorious 
 Treasure (iv. 7-15). 
 
 In the preceding sections, Paul has been 
 speaking much of glory. The dispensation, 
 of which he is a minister, is one of exceed- 
 ing glory. ^ The Lord of it is a Lord of 
 glory. It is, in one aspect, His glory that 
 is the theme of the gospel. From His 
 resplendent face it is the glory of God Him- 
 self that shines. And those who behold 
 the glory of the Lord are themselves trans- 
 formed into the same image from glory 
 to glory. God, Christ, the new dispensa- 
 tion and its ministers, all alike are glorious. 
 
 To the opponents of Paul there may 
 have seemed something incongruous, and 
 almost ridiculous, in these bold claims of 
 his to glory. So far from advancing from 
 glory to glory (iii. 18) "his bodily pres- 
 ence, they say, is weak and his speech of 
 no account" (x. 10). The external ap- 
 
 pearance of Paul did not at all suggest 
 the glory by which the man within was 
 illuminated. Besides, the anxieties and 
 dangers by which he was continually be- 
 set had worn him out before his time : 
 they were killing him, as this paragraph 
 expressively hints ; and there are some who 
 even believe that his opponents regarded 
 his sufferings as divine chastisement. The 
 contrast between his appearance and his 
 claims was indeed glaring : how could they 
 be reconciled? This contrast and recon- 
 ciliation we now proceed to consider. 
 
 7. But we have this treasure, that is, 
 the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 the face of Jesus Christ (ver. 6), and 
 perhaps, in a larger sense, the glorious 
 ministry of the gospel, in earthen vessels, 
 that is, in bodies mortal (ver. 11) and 
 therefore frail, and exposed, as was Paul, 
 to special dangers, assaults, and harassing 
 experiences. But that such a treasure 
 should reside in such a body was really 
 no more astonishing than that gold or 
 silver should be deposited, as was some- 
 times done, in vessels of earthenware. It 
 is never safe to argue from the vessel to 
 the _ treasure. Indeed, this very incon- 
 gruity between vessel and treasure serves 
 a divine purpose : it is in order that the 
 excess of the power, the apostle's extraor- 
 dinary and triumphant activity, altogether 
 in excess of anything that one would nat- 
 urally have expected from one so worn as 
 he, ^ should be recognized to be God's 
 (tov Qeov) and not to have its source 
 (e|) in us. How could such a man ac- 
 complish such an exceeding mighty work? 
 Clearly, answers the apostle, as the power 
 displayed is out of all proportion to the 
 rnan himself, it can not have come from 
 him, it can therefore only be God's (cf. 
 xii. 9). 
 
 8, 9. These verses elaborate the con- 
 trast between the frail body, vexed and 
 harassed on all sides, and the divine power 
 which not only sustains him, but evermore 
 enables him to rise fresh (ver. 16) and 
 triumphant. In every (direction) pressed 
 but not inextricably (lit. nez'er driven 
 info a place so narrozc that there is no es- 
 cape from it), perplexed but not to des- 
 peration (for this word play, dTropovfxevoL 
 and e^a-rropovfievoi, impossible to render ade- 
 quately in English, cf. note on i. 13) pur- 
 sued, but never forsaken by God, thrown 
 
148 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 10 Always bearing about in the body 
 the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life 
 also of Jesus might be made manifest in 
 our body. 
 
 11 For we which live are alway deliv- 
 ered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the 
 life also of Jesus might be made manifest 
 in our mortal flesh. 
 
 12 So then death worketh in us, but 
 life in you. 
 
 13 We having the same spirit of faith, 
 according as it is written, I believed, and 
 therefore have I spoken ; we also believe, 
 and therefore speak; 
 
 down to the ground, but never to perish. 
 This swift succession of passive participles, 
 shows how fierce were the circumstances 
 with which Paul had to contend, and which, 
 but for the sustaining grace of God, would 
 inevitably have brought him to despair and 
 destruction. There is no real contradiction 
 between the statement in i. 8 that he had 
 actually despaired of life, and the " never 
 despairing" of ver. 8 here. The former 
 phrase illustrates the unusual peril to 
 which Paul was on that occasion exposed, 
 the latter his general attitude (pres. ptc.) 
 to all peril. 
 
 10. The varied experiences suggested by 
 vv. 8, 9 are summed up and illuminated 
 in ver. 10: evermore (rravTOTe corresponds 
 to e" TTOj'Tt, ver. 8) in my missionary 
 travels (Trepi) bearing about in the body 
 the dying of Jesus. The fierceness of 
 the experiences with which Paul was being 
 continually confronted, already plain enough 
 from vv. 8, 9, are pathetically illustrated 
 by the word veKpwais : they constituted a 
 continual process of death. They were 
 gradually killing him, and would one day 
 kill him. But his consolation and his joy 
 was that he shared this experience with 
 Jesus. He, too, and in similar ways, had 
 been subjected to a gradual dying, which 
 had culminated in His death on the cross ; 
 and the disciple is content and even glad 
 to be as his master. The word Jesus re- 
 calls his earthly, historical, experiences of 
 suffering. This continual experience of 
 dying, this daily facing of death and daily 
 triumph over it — for Paul is still alive 
 and working mightily (ver. 7) — has for 
 its object that the life also of Jesus may 
 be made manifest in our body. The 
 body which was the seat of the dying, 
 must also be the seat of the triumph over 
 the menace of death : and the triumph was 
 effected by the living Jesus. It was tJie 
 life of Jesus, of the risen and exalted 
 Jesus, that was made manifest in him. 
 He shared alike the dying and the life 
 of Jesus. Paul saw in his daily deliver- 
 ance from death not only a witness to 
 the power of his living Lord, but an iden- 
 tity of his own life with that of his Lord. 
 It was actually the life of Jesus Himself 
 
 that was coming to visibility in him, and 
 it so came because he was willing to die 
 continually for Jesus' sake. As Professor 
 Denney says, " To wear life out in the 
 service of Jesus is to open it to the en- 
 trance of Jesus' life " {Expositor's Bible, 
 2 Cor. p. 163). 
 
 II, 12. The thought which ver. 10 had 
 expressed mystically, ver. 11 expresses 
 more definitely. For we, who are alive, 
 are being continually delivered over 
 unto death — alive indeed, but with this 
 continual menace of death — for Jesus' 
 sake, in order that the life also of Jesus 
 may be made manifest in our mortal 
 flesh. This sentence corresponds to and 
 elucidates ver. 10: cf. a", iravTore: the 
 rare and difficult phrase " the dying of 
 Jesus " is replaced by the simpler and less 
 profound " delivered to death for Jesus' 
 sake," and the " body " becomes the " mor- 
 tal flesh." The exhibition of the life of 
 Jesus in bodies of frail and mortal flesh 
 is peculiarly wonderful ; and this is the 
 divine purpose of the apostle's daily ex- 
 posure to death. Not all such exposure 
 manifests the life of Jesus, but only such 
 as is undergone for Jesus' sake. The suf- 
 fering which is for His sake, is conceived 
 in ver. 10 as shared with Him — the true 
 counterpart, and, as it were, the contin- 
 uation of His own. There is something 
 unusually tender and impressive about the 
 fourfold repetition of the name Jesus in 
 this passage. It is charged with the 
 memory of His earthly sufferings, which 
 are repeated and perpetuated in those that 
 are His. Consequently death works in 
 us, but life in you. Paul, though yet 
 alive (cf. ol fwj/res, ver. 11) is slowly, but 
 surely dying — dying, however, for Jesus* 
 sake; it is part of his ministry of Jesus, 
 and by that ministry, by the gospel of 
 Jesus which he proclaims, life is operative 
 in the Corinthians. Their lii-ing flows 
 from his dying: the life that is operative 
 in them is the life that is manifested in 
 him — the life of Jesus. 
 
 13. Paul has just spoken of the death 
 which is working in him : meantime, how- 
 ever, he might say, with the Psalmist 
 (cxviii. 17) he is not dead, but lives, and 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 149 
 
 14 Knowing that he which raised up the 
 Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, 
 and shall present us with you. 
 
 15 For all things are for your sakes, 
 
 that the abundant grace might through the 
 thanksgiving of many redound to the glory 
 of God. 
 
 declares the works of the Lord. Withm 
 him works the mighty spirit of faith, giv- 
 ing him both vision and confidence : and 
 in this strength and inspiration he fear- 
 lesslv proclaims the gospel. But we, pos- 
 sessing as we do the same spirit of faith 
 as the ancient Psalmist — in accordance 
 with that which is written in Ps. cxvi. 
 10, namely, "I had faith, therefore I 
 spoke"— we also have faith, therefore 
 we also speak. He recognizes his spiritual 
 kinship with one of Israel's ancient singers, 
 whose faith impelled him to utterance : he, 
 too, — (xai vfiels, for the ages are linked 
 each to each by the bond of faith)— in- 
 spired by the same spirit of faith, boldly 
 proclaims the gospel. The meaning of the 
 Hebrew words, of which Paul quotes the 
 Septuagint translation, is rather uncertain 
 — perhaps "I believe (my faith is fixed) 
 when I speak"; but the main point, the 
 connection of faith with utterance, is un- 
 ambiguous. TJie spirit of faith is the spirit 
 connected with faith, the spirit which 
 manifests itself where faith is present. 
 True faith is not silent, but brave and 
 vocal. It impels Paul to preach the gos- 
 pel, though it is gradually costing him his 
 Hfe, that the Hfe of Jesus may be operative 
 in others. The obvious connection in 
 Greek between ttiVtis and TTLarevo/xev is 
 somewhat obscured by the English " faith " 
 and "we beheve"; hence the rendering 
 " we have faith." 
 
 14. Paul's persistency and courage in 
 preaching the gospel are due, in part, to 
 his mighty faith in the future — ^^in par- 
 ticular to his faith in the resurrection. He 
 is sustained by his vision of the day when 
 he would be " raised up " and " presented " 
 in company with his Corinthian converts. 
 Or it would be more correct to say that 
 this is to the apostle not so much matter 
 of faith as of knozi^ledge: he speaks know- 
 ing that He (that is, God), who raised 
 up (the Lord: omitted in some MSS.) 
 Jesus will raise up us also with Jesus 
 and present (us) with you. He is sure of 
 the resurrection (cf. v. i), and he can 
 afford to be brave. Instead of crvv, some 
 MSS. read 5ta 'Ivo-ov — so A. V. (by, 
 through Jesus). But (tvj^ (zvith), besides 
 being better attested, is more profound, 
 and finely suggests the fellozcship of Paul 
 in the resurrection experience of Jesus, as 
 before in His "dying" (ver. 10). Jesus, 
 
 of course, has already been raised, and 
 the zvith has led some scholars to inter- 
 pret the " raising " which Paul here has 
 in view for himself, as the daily resur- 
 rection from the menaces of death (cf. 
 vv. 10, 11) which prove that the resur- 
 rection life of Jesus is in Him. But the 
 " presentation " shows that Paul has in view 
 the final and literal resurrection. This pas- 
 sage seems to be cast in a different mold 
 from others in which he expects to be alive 
 at the coming of Christ (cf. i Thes. iv. 15) ; 
 but he had already, once at least (2 Cor. i. 
 8) drawn so near the gates of death that 
 he contemplates his death before that con- 
 summation as altogether possible. But he 
 knozi'S that he will rise (or, to be more 
 correct, "be raised") zvith Jesus — not of 
 course, in point of time, but that he will 
 sJiare Jesus' resurrection experience. The 
 precise idea to be attached to the word 
 " He will present " is somewhat uncertain : 
 it is usually interpreted of appearing " be- 
 fore the judgment-seat of Christ" (cf. v. 
 10). If that be so, at any rate the asso- 
 ciations of that presentation are, for Paul 
 and his converts, not stern but kindly. 
 It is the thought of this great consumma- 
 tion that sustains and emboldens Paul amid 
 danger and persecution, and when face to 
 face with death. Very tender and affec- 
 tionate are the concluding words z^ith you, 
 which_ are given the place of emphasis. 
 He will be presented in company with his 
 beloved converts ; and this is the vision 
 that heartens him. 
 
 ^ 15. Yes : his converts are uppermost in 
 his thoughts. For all those things that 
 I have done and suffered (vv. 8-1 1) (are) 
 for your sakes, that, in this world " life 
 may be operative in them " (ver. 12) and 
 that, in the world to come, they may be 
 " raised " and " presented " ; in particular, 
 that the divine favor, which was mul- 
 tiplied by being diffused among many 
 (lit. the more), should render the thanks- 
 giving abundant unto the glory of God. 
 The meaning appears to be that the grace 
 shown to Paul, through which his life has 
 been spared and his strength sustained, 
 may, through his ministry, diffuse its 
 blessed and quickening (ver. 12) influence 
 over a wider area, thus multiplying itself; 
 this grace then ought to be gratefully and 
 abundantly acknowledged, and thus God 
 will be glorified. There is an obvious 
 
150 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 i6 For which cause we faint not; but 
 though our outward man perish, yet the 
 inward man is renewed day by day. 
 
 17 For our hght affliction, which is but 
 for a moment, worketh for us a far more 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory ; 
 
 word play (cf. ver. 8) in irXeopdaaaa, 
 irXeLovcjv (" rendered manifold through the 
 many"), and in X^P's, evxap^f^rla {grace, 
 gratitude). There are several other ways, 
 however, of construing this sentence, ac- 
 cording as we regard (a) irXeovdaaaa as 
 transitive (governing evxaptaTiav, " having, 
 through the greater number, multiplied the 
 thanksgiving") or intransitive (as above) ; 
 (b) 5ta as governing tCov irXeiouwv (as 
 above) or ttjv evxapLo-riai' ("on account of 
 the thanksgiving of the greater number " ; 
 so A. V.) ; (c) ireptaaevav as transitive (as 
 above) or intransitive (as A. V. redound 
 to the glory ,of God). Stanley explains, 
 " in order that God's goodness, which, 
 through the prayers of the greater part of 
 you, has become greater to me, may make 
 your thanksgiving greater, and so God's 
 glory greater also." The passage strongly 
 recalls i. 11. Just as faith should find ut- 
 terance (ver. 13), so grace should elicit 
 gratitude. 
 
 What a harassed and tempestuous life 
 Paul must ^ have had! The participles in 
 verses 8 and 9 are charged with a mul- 
 titude of vexatious experiences, which, 
 would have driven a smaller man to de- 
 spondency, if not to despair (ver. 8). But 
 in all things he is more than conqueror, 
 because he is conscious of being sustai-ned 
 by a strength not his own. The indomita- 
 ble will which he threw into his missionary 
 work, the iron energy with which he pros- 
 ecuted it, were clearly not his own. How 
 could so frail and slender a body have 
 carried on a warfare so tremendous in its 
 own strength ? The power that shines so 
 triumphantly through the bodily weakness 
 is not his, but God's. The life that bids 
 daily defiance to death is the life of Jesus, 
 that is expressing and revealing itself in 
 him. 
 
 Therein lies the secret of his power — 
 in his consciousness of union with {cvv) 
 Jesus: us too with Jesus — that is his 
 motto (ver. 14). He suffers not only for 
 Jesus' sake (ver. 11), but as Jesus suffered 
 (ver. 10) ; and as he shares His suffering, 
 so will he also share His resurrection. It 
 is upon this glorious hope, or rather cer- 
 tainty (eidores, ver. 14) that he sustains 
 his harassed soul. The life of Jesus is 
 indeed in him, but the resurrection is be- 
 fore him. His faith gives him at once 
 
 vision and courage — a courage born in 
 part of the vision. Well might a man, be 
 he preacher or other, do his work with 
 fearless enthusiasm amid persecution and 
 opposition, whose eyes were steadfastly 
 fixed upon the day, when he and those 
 for whom he had successfully labored 
 would be raised and presented to Christ. 
 
 A. fine sense of the spiritual kinship sub- 
 sisting between men of faith, breathes 
 throughout the paragraph. Paul looks back 
 across the centuries and feels himself one 
 with the psalmist who had spoken, because 
 he had believed. He is one with his con- 
 verts, and looks forward to the glad day 
 when he will be " presented " with them. 
 And he is one with Jesus — one in suffer- 
 ing and death, and one in the resurrection- 
 life. 
 
 The Glorious Hope (iv. i6-v. 5). 
 
 The secret of the apostle's invincible 
 courage he has already made plain : he is 
 sustained by the life of Jesus which is 
 daily manifesting itself in him, amid weak- 
 ness and distress, and he is sustained by 
 the sure hope of the resurrection. This 
 hope he now proceeds to illustrate more 
 fully. 
 
 16. On this account, sustained as we 
 are by the life of Jesus, and by the hope 
 of resurrection, we show no weakness. 
 For a similar claim and a similar reason, 
 cf. ver. I. How could one who was in 
 possession of such a ministry (ver. i) and 
 such a hope, play the coward? But, 
 though, as a matter of fact (indie.) our 
 outward man — the frail, mortal body, 
 which, though sustained by the life of 
 Jesus, is nevertheless on the way to death 
 (vv. 8-11) —is being gradually destroyed, 
 nevertheless our inward man (his moral 
 and spiritual personality) is being re- 
 newed day and day. Every morning Paul 
 feels a new accession of strength and joy, 
 as he faces afresh the work God had given 
 him to do. His spirit knew no weakness 
 or weariness: it is not subject to the law 
 of decay and death. 
 
 17. Verse 17 shows what Paul means 
 by the daily renewal of the inward man. 
 For the lightness of our affliction, which 
 is for the moment, that is. wiiich lasts 
 only till (loath or the coming of Christ, 
 is working out for us, more and more 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 151 
 
 i8 While we look not at the 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. 
 
 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 I For we know that, if our earthly- 
 house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we 
 have a building of God, a house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens. 
 
 exceedingly, an eternal weight of glory 
 
 (cf. Rom. viii. i8). The glory is accom- 
 plished by the suffering — its natural fruit. 
 The phrase ^ad' virepPoXriv els virepPoXrjv 
 (lit. "in exceeding measure and unto an 
 exceeding issue ") must go with the verb, 
 as it cannot go with the noun (so A. V.) 
 nor yet with the adjective: that which is 
 eternal cannot be more so. The affliction 
 is real — so real, as we have seen, that it 
 is gradually killing Paul (ver. lo) ; but to 
 eyes fixed upon the glory, it is light. If 
 the one were weighed against the other, 
 the glory would be beyond all comparison, 
 the heavier — there is a very weight of 
 glory. Again, in duration, as in weight, 
 there is no comparison; the affliction will 
 last onlv till death or Jesus comes, the 
 glory will last for ever. The glory is 
 more than moral and spiritual, it is all 
 the glory of the new age which is ushered 
 in with the coming of Christ. 
 
 i8. It is those who have eyes 
 {cKoirovvTOJv) for the unseen glories, that 
 experience the daily renewal (ver. i6). 
 The passing affliction works out the eternal 
 glory, because we look not at the things 
 whiclj are seen, but at the things which 
 are not seen; for the things which are 
 seen are but for a season — temporary 
 rather than temporal — but the things 
 which are not seen are eternal. The 
 phrase " the things which are seen " is 
 capable of a large interpretation, nor 
 would this interpretation be illegitimate : 
 but its immediate application is to the af- 
 fliction (ver. 17) and sufferings which came 
 upon Paul in the discharge of his evangelic 
 ministry.^ Pie does not fix his eyes upon 
 these things ; he looks through them to 
 the glory beyond. They are temporary; 
 they will cease at death, or perhaps even 
 before death, if Christ, whom Paul is ex- 
 pecting, should come. The " things which 
 are not seen " are his aim, his goal 
 (<r/co7r6s). Perhaps this phrase is not to be 
 interpreted in too severely spiritual a 
 sense. As Bengel has pointed out, Paul 
 does not say " the invisible things " ; and 
 his meaning may be, " the things which 
 are not yet seen " — the as yet unseen 
 glories of the world to come, upon which 
 one day the eye will rest with quiet joy. 
 
 V. I. Paul has just spoken (iv. 17) of 
 
 the eternal weight of glory which is to 
 be the issue and crown of his earthly af- 
 fliction. Of this glory he has no doubt; 
 for he knozis that the earthly body which, 
 like a tent, will be taken down at death, 
 will be replaced — whether then or at the 
 coming of Christ — by another, a heavenly 
 body. For we know that if our earthly 
 tent-house be broken up, as it will be 
 by death, we have not merely a tent but 
 a building from God — He is its source 
 (e/c) and creator — a house not made with 
 hands (that is, supernatural), eternal (un- 
 hke the tem.porary tent), in the heavens. 
 The comparison — familiar to Pythagorean 
 philosophy — of the earthly body to a tent, 
 would be peculiarly natural to one who 
 had himself been a tent-maker (Acts xviii. 
 3). The earthly body shares the frailty 
 and temporariness of the tent, the heavenly 
 body partakes of the stability and per- 
 manence of a building, especially as it is 
 a building whose maker is God. The 
 contrast recalls that between the tent and 
 the city in Hebrews xi. 9, 10. The house 
 to which Paul looks forward is not heaven 
 itself, it is in heaven : it is the heavenly 
 body not made with hands. The same 
 epithet could also be fairly applied to the 
 natural body, and this too is from God 
 (i Cor. xii. 24) ; but the resurrection body 
 is divine in a special sense (cf. i Cor. xv. 
 38), and the epithet here is something like 
 our " supernatural." This body is eternal, 
 the tent-body upon the earth {eiriyeLos : not 
 "made of earth") is transient, dissolved 
 at death. How has Paul this definite as- 
 surance {oUafiev^ cf. iv. 14) of the heavenly 
 body? If, in spite of the plural number, 
 he is speaking merely for himself, his as- 
 surance may be a gift of the spirit (cf. 
 ver. 5), it is an inward certainty. If, how- 
 ever, the words " we know " have to be 
 interpreted generally, they may, as Bousset 
 suggests, be taken to refer to " apocalyptic 
 teachings and traditions, well-known to him 
 and his readers," but no longer known to 
 us. The other interpretation, however, 
 seems the more natural (cf. iv. 14). 
 
 Simple as the words of this verse are, 
 its precise meaning is very difficult to de- 
 termine. One thing is certain — Paul dis- 
 tinctly contemplates the possibility of his 
 own death before the coming of Christ. 
 
152 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desir- 
 ing to be clothed upon with our house 
 which is from heaven: 
 
 3 If so be that being clothed we shall 
 not be found naked. 
 
 He longs indeed to be among those who 
 will not die but be changed (i Cor. xv. 
 51) ; but recent experience has brought him 
 so close to death (2 Cor. i. 8), that he 
 feels that his "daily deliverance unto 
 death for Jesus' sake" (iv. 11) may well 
 issue in death itself. If so, what then? 
 His answer is that, instead of the fallen 
 tent, we have — and we are sure of it — a 
 divine house, that is, a celestial, supernat- 
 ural body. What does he mean by "we 
 have it?" Does he mean: we have it now, 
 it is ours already, laid up for us "in the 
 heavens ? " And if so, how are we to con- 
 ceive the relation of this body to the 
 earthly body? would there be any strict 
 and necessary relation at all, as, e.g. be- 
 tween the seed and the grain (i Cor. xv 
 38) ? Or does the apostle mean we shall 
 have a heavenly body, using the present 
 tense C^xof^^^) to indicate the vividness 
 with which he realizes it? And if he 
 means "we sJiall have," is that body to 
 be given immediately at death, or not till 
 the coming of Christ? 
 
 Some scholars prefer to believe that this 
 body is given at death — the frail tent- 
 body, at its dissolution, being instantly re- 
 placed by the divine eternal body; in that 
 case, the dead Christian enters at once 
 and fully equipped upon his heavenly life. 
 A general resurrection and judgment would, 
 from this point of view, be superfluous; 
 the soul's destiny has already been finally 
 determined, and it has entered upon its 
 new life in its appropriate celestial body. 
 We have further to remember that the 
 thought which Paul is here expressing is 
 a consolatory thought, and any postpone- 
 ment beyond death of the investiture with 
 the heavenly body, would proportionally 
 seem to deprive his thought of its consola- 
 tion. At the same time, attractive as is 
 the idea that the new body instantly re- 
 places the old one at death, that is probably 
 not Paul's meaning. His words must be 
 compatible with the general resurrection 
 and the judgment, both of which happen 
 to be mentioned in the immediate context, 
 the former in iv. 12, the latter in ver. 10. 
 As these facts, especially perhaps the for- 
 mer, would be depleted of their meaning, if 
 the heavenly body were given immediately 
 after death, it seems more reasonable to 
 suppose that that body is regarded as be- 
 ing given at the coming of Christ. In that 
 case, between death and His coming, the 
 
 believer would be in a bodiless state, the 
 earthly body having perished and the 
 heavenly having not yet been conferred. 
 The apostle, however, did not regard this 
 state as comfortless, or contemplate it 
 with a shudder. Far from it ; for in it 
 he could be at home with Christ (ver. 8), 
 in an even more real sense than he could 
 be in the body, real as was to him the 
 presence of Christ in the body (iv. 10, 11). 
 Even " Death shall not be able to separate 
 us from the love of God, which is in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord" (Rom. viii. 38!). The 
 stages may then be conceived as follows. 
 When the believer dies, he departs to be 
 with Christ (cf. Phil. i. 23) ; when Christ 
 comes again, he is clothed with his celestial 
 body. 
 
 2, 3. Paul is sure of receiving the 
 heavenly body, therefore all the more does 
 he sigh with longing for it. Best of all 
 will it be, if the Lord comes while he is 
 yet alive, so that he wall be spared the 
 grim necessity of dying, of having the 
 " tent " taken down, and thus the immortal 
 body will be put, like a robe as it were, 
 over {eirevbvcracdai) his mortal body. (No- 
 tice the change of metaphor from a house 
 to a garment.) To those who die, a body 
 will be given, but those who are alive 
 when He comes will be changed (i Cor. 
 XV. 51), that which is mortal being szval- 
 lowcd lip by the immortal which, as it were, 
 descends upon it (ver. 4) ; and this is the 
 happier consummation for which Paul 
 longs. For indeed on this account — pos- 
 sessing, as we do, so bright and sure a 
 hope, cf. ver. i (this is better than to inter- 
 pret ^v TovTw as "in this tabernacle": 
 a-K-nvos, would be an awkward word to 
 supply, as it is altogether subordinate in 
 ver. I ; and there is no other word with 
 which TovTO} can go) — we sigh (lit. 
 groan) longing as \ve do to put on our 
 habitation which is from heaven over 
 (e7r) our mortal bodies, seeing that, when 
 we have put it on, we shall not be found 
 naked (that is, without a body, i Cor. xv. 
 37). If Christ should come before Paul's 
 death, he will have no naked, bodiless con- 
 dition to undergo, as, according to the 
 argument of ver. i (which see) he other- 
 wise would. The variant readings etvep 
 and e'Te, and still more evdvadfievot and 
 eKdvadfievoi ("having put off/' i.e. the 
 earthly body) attest the difficulty which 
 from the beginning was felt to inhere in 
 these verses. 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 153 
 
 4 For we that are in this tabernacle do 
 groan, being burdened : not for that we 
 would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that 
 mortality might be swallowed up of life. 
 
 5 Now he that hath wrought us for the 
 
 selfsame thing is God, who also hath given 
 unto us the earnest of the Spirit. 
 
 6 Therefore we are always confident, 
 knowing that, whilst we are at home in the 
 body, we are absent from the Lord : 
 
 7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) 
 
 4. Indeed we who are in the tent of 
 the 'iarthly body sigh, burdened as we 
 are with our desire — not to put it off 
 
 but to put the heavenly body on over it, 
 in order that that which is mortal might 
 be swallowed up by the (r^s) immortal 
 life. His desire is not simply to die : to put 
 the earthly body off will be the highest 
 pleasure only if the heavenly body be at 
 once put on over (eirev) it, — if the mortal 
 be absorbed, as it were, through its investi- 
 ture with the heavenly body, the life; and 
 this change is possible only to those who 
 are alive at the coming of Christ (i Cor. 
 XV. 51). ^ , 
 
 5. Now what is the guarantee of these 
 splendid hopes? The deep longing for 
 them — (TT€pd^o/j.€v (we groan) occurs twice 
 — may powerfully suggest, but it cannot 
 absolutely prove their ultimate fulfilment. 
 Their guarantee, however, is no other and 
 no less than God Himself (6e6s, at end, 
 emphatic). Now He who wrought us for 
 this very thing, this investiture with the 
 heavenly body, is God, and we may be 
 confident (ver. 6) that the divine purpose 
 will not be frustrated : the future is made 
 certain by the pledge of it which we already 
 possess and enjoy in the spirit. He is the 
 God who gave us the pledge which con- 
 sists in the spirit (cf. i. 22). 
 
 Present or Absent, Well-pleasing to the 
 Lord (6-10). 
 
 One of the dominant notes of the last 
 section had been sighing (vv. 2, 4) ; the 
 key note of this is courage (vv. 6, 7). 
 Pressed as Paul was on every side, pur- 
 sued, and smitten down (iv. 8, 9), he 
 would long unspeakably for the eternal 
 weight of glory : but the possibility of his 
 dying before Christ came, though it did 
 not make that prospect any less certain, 
 pushed it further away, and raised for him 
 a new problem as to what would become 
 of him and where he would be between 
 death and the resurrection? Where are 
 those who have "fallen asleep?" (cf. i 
 Thes. iv. 14, i Cor. xi. 30, xv. 51). It is 
 this situation that Paul looks bravely in 
 the face, as he remembers that even death 
 
 cannot separate him from the love of God 
 in Christ, and that to die, to be absent 
 from the body, is to be at home with Christ. 
 The abruptness of the Greek in vv. 6, 7, 
 and the double assertion of his confidence 
 {dappovvT€s, dappoviiev) show how deeply 
 moved was the soul of Paul as he faced 
 the possibility of his death, and with what 
 triumphant confidence he was prepared to 
 meet it. 
 
 6, 7. Being, then, courageous (cf. 
 Acts xxiii. 11) at all times, as became one 
 whose soul was sustained by so glorious a 
 prospect, eind knowing that, so long as 
 we are at home in the body, we are 
 away from our home in the Lord — an 
 utterance obviously not to be taken too 
 strictly. Emphatically Paul has already 
 said, or at least implied, that the life of 
 the risen Jesus was being daily manifested 
 in his own life (iv. 10, 11) : the presence 
 of Jesus must have been to him a great 
 and continuous reality. In the passage be- 
 fore us, however, there appears to be 
 something of the Greek notion that the 
 body fetters the spirit; it belongs to a 
 different order of being from the exalted 
 Lord, and to be in it is, in a sense, to be 
 away from Him; for it is through a realm 
 of faith that we walk here below, not 
 through a realm of actual appearance. 
 The_ glory (iv. 17), and especially the 
 glorious Lord we do not here see face to 
 face. We trust them, we believe in them 
 (TTt'o-rews), we are sure of them (iv. 14), 
 but we do not actually see them, nor shall 
 we until, after death, we enter that other 
 order of being to which they belong. So 
 here, in a sense, we must be content to 
 be pilgrims and strangers: to be in the 
 body is to be away from the Lord ; and 
 as He, not it, is the soul's true home, the 
 believer is only, in the profoundest sense 
 at home with Him when he has left the 
 body. But precisely therein lies the con- 
 solation and the confidence of Paul — that 
 then he is at home with the Lord, even 
 before that Lord's final coming, and before 
 he has been invested with the heavenly 
 body. So, with the presence of Christ as- 
 sured to the apostle, death has lost its terror 
 and its chill. 
 
154 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 8 We are confident, / say, and willing 
 rather to be absent from the body, and to 
 be present with the Lord. 
 
 9 Wherefore w^e labour, that, whether 
 present or absent, we may be accepted of 
 him. 
 
 10 For we must all appear before the 
 judgment seat of Christ; that every one 
 may receive the things done in his body, 
 according to that he hath done, whether it 
 be good or bad. 
 
 8, g. Yes, we are courageous and well 
 pleased, in spite of the natural shrinking 
 from the bodiless condition which super- 
 venes upon death, rather to be away from 
 our home in the body and at home with 
 (Trpos, in relation to) the Lord. Though 
 the apostle sighs (vv. 2-4) for the swift 
 and painless transformation which would 
 be his, were the Lord to come suddenly 
 before he died, he is able to contemplate 
 his death with calm and fearless confidence, 
 because it will only bring him into closer 
 fellowship with Christ. Wherefore also, 
 solaced and strengthened by the prospect 
 of being at home with Him, it is our 
 ambition, whether present in or absent 
 from our home in the body, to be well- 
 pleasing to Him. The thought of the 
 Lord, into whose nearer fellowship death 
 will bring us, ought to be not only a con- 
 solation, but an inspiration and a stimulus 
 to duty. With that fellowship in view, all 
 life will be so ordered as to be well-pleas- 
 ing to Him. This is the supreme ambition 
 of all who believe in Him; and the impli- 
 cation is that, it will be possible, so to 
 please Him even after death (when we 
 are "absent" from the body). 
 
 10. The ambition to lead a life that 
 will be w^ell-pleasing to Christ is strength- 
 ened, if it needs any strengthening, by the 
 solemn thought of His judgment-seat, be- 
 fore which we shall ultimately have to 
 stand. Well-pleasing to Him, for we must, 
 all of us, be revealed in our true char- 
 acter before the judgment-seat of Christ, 
 in order that each individual man may 
 receive exact requital for the things 
 (done) through the medium of (5ta) the 
 body, according to what he did (enpa^ev, 
 aorist) when he was alive, whether good 
 or bad. It is not simply that we shall 
 have to appear (A. V.) before the judg- 
 ment-scat, hut we shall there be manifested 
 {(f)avepo}6rivai) , shown in our essential char- 
 acter, stripped of all accident and dis- 
 guise ; what we are will, in that august 
 moment, be made plain, and each man of 
 us {'^Kaaros) will carry off (Kofilartrai) his 
 exact (Trp6s) deserts. The judgment will 
 be a revelation. We are indeed saved by 
 faith, yet the principle of retribution is not 
 lost sight of, and the deeds done in this 
 world by the agency of (5ta) the body, 
 
 \w\\\ receive exact compensation before that 
 great tribunal. In Rom. xiv. 10 " we shall 
 all stand before the judgment-seat of God." 
 The easy substitution of Christ here (also 
 found in some inferior MSS. in Rom.) 
 for God in Romans, shows the unique and 
 divine authority with which, for Paul, 
 Christ was invested. The expression is 
 " taken from the tribunal of the Roman 
 magistrate as the most august representa- 
 tion of justice which the world then ex- 
 hibited. The ' Bema ' was a lofty seat, 
 raised on an elevated platform, usually at 
 the end of the Basilica, so that the figure 
 of the judge must have been seen tower- 
 ing above the crowd which thronged the 
 long nave of the building. So sacred and 
 solemn did this seat appear in the eyes, not 
 only of the heathen, but of the Christian 
 society of the Roman empire, that when, 
 two centuries later, the Basilica became 
 the model of the Christian place of worship, 
 the name of jS^/ua (or tribunal) was trans- 
 ferred to the chair of the bishop ; and this 
 chair occupied in the apse the place of the 
 judgment-seat of the praetor." (Stanley.) 
 
 Nothing is more characteristic of this 
 section than Paul's clear and steadying 
 vision of the future. He faces it as one 
 who knows (v. I, cf. iv. 14), and he finds 
 in it his consolation and inspiration. We 
 have no means of ascertaining the details 
 of Paul's situation at this time, but we 
 know that he must have drawn very near 
 the gates of death (i. 8). He had drunk 
 deep of sorrow. Perplexity and persecu- 
 tion were his constant companions, and he 
 was slowly being killed for Jesus' sake (iv. 
 9-11). He sighs for the end. earnestly and 
 often (ver. 2, 4) ; y^i he shrinks from it. 
 He shares the universal horror of dissolu- 
 tion, and he is none the less dear to us 
 for that : he would rather be spared the 
 stroke of death, and the bodiless state 
 which followed it. 
 
 Nevertheless, he endures the present and 
 faces the future bravely. He says to his 
 heart, courage. " We do not grow faint- 
 liearted, we are courageous and confident 
 at all times" (iv. 16, v. 6, 8V And his 
 courage comes from his vision of the 
 future. He has the same sure grasp of un- 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 155 
 
 II Knowing therefore the terror of the 
 Lord, we persuade men ; but we are made 
 
 manifest unto God; and I trust also are 
 made manifest in your consciences. 
 
 12 For we commend not ourselves again 
 
 seen realities as the writer of Psalm xci. 
 and like him, too, he found in his faith a 
 solace and a joy when his life was assailed 
 by those subtle and powerful forces that 
 threaten the peace and welfare of the soul. 
 At the worst, he could but die before the 
 coming of Christ. And, however strange 
 might be the state into which death would 
 usher him, it would at any rate bring him 
 nearer to his Lord. Indeed, in a true sense, 
 . death w^ould take him home. This life was 
 after all but a pilgrimage — a pilgrimage 
 towards the Lord. The hfe of Jesus was 
 manifested no doubt even here, in his 
 mortal flesh ; but beyond death, in an even 
 more real sense, he would be with Him, — 
 he would be at home. 
 
 Then again there was always the possi- 
 bility that he might be "taken" — that the 
 Lord would come, and that he would sim- 
 ply undergo that glorious change whereby 
 that W'hich was mortal would be swallowed 
 up of immortality. That is the transforma- 
 tion for which he sighs. But whether that 
 destiny is in store for him or not, he knows 
 that in the heavens he has an everlasting 
 house, he knows that he will wear the 
 celestial' body ; and with that, amid all his 
 sorrow and pain, he is content. He has 
 eyes for the unseen things (iv. i8) ; he 
 sees them as clearly as the affliction by 
 which he is buffeted. His eye is upon the 
 " eternal w^eight of glory," and already he 
 lives with the quiet joy of eternity in his 
 heart. Part of that glory is reflected back 
 from the future into the dark and dis- 
 heartening present ; and the two worlds 
 are linked together by the service of Christ. 
 How Christ may be served beyond death, 
 when we are absent from the body, we do 
 not know ; but it is my ambition, says 
 Paul, whether present in or absent from 
 the body," to be well-pleasing to Him. 
 Such an ambition might well fill a troubled 
 life with peace and joy. 
 
 But the thought of the future was sol- 
 emnizing as well as consoling. That future 
 held a judgment-seat as well as a throne 
 of glory. And before that seat all would 
 have to appear, and the inner quality of 
 their life w^ould be exposed to a white and 
 searching light. There every man's real 
 worth would be laid bare, and his reward 
 would be in exact proportion to his worth. 
 It is interesting to find Paul end this part 
 of his argument with the thought of the 
 judgment: it helps us to feel how bracing 
 
 and strenuous a thing his religion was. 
 It is not only or even chiefly a consolation, 
 but an incentive to duty. The contempla- 
 tion of the glory may lift a man over his 
 afflictions, and enable him to regard them 
 as a light thing; but the contemplation of 
 the_ judgment-seat sobers, humbles, and 
 purifies. 
 
 The Constraining Love of Christ (v. 11-15). 
 
 The passage that follows is involved in 
 much difficulty, and the precise connection 
 between the verses is often anything but 
 obvious. In general, however, they contain 
 a reassertion of the apostle's sincerity, and 
 of his unselfish devotion to the welfare of 
 the Corinthian church. 
 
 II. This paragraph is intimately con- 
 nected with the last {ovv) by the solemn 
 and purifying thought of the judgment- 
 seat. Knowing, then, as we have just ad- 
 mitted, the fear of Christ, the Lord, at 
 whose judgment-bar we shall have to 
 stand to receive our deserts, and in whose 
 presence the real secrets and quality of our 
 life^ will be transparent, we persuade men. 
 It is not clear whether, in this somewhat 
 general phrase, Paul means that he per- 
 suades men to embrace the gospel, or that 
 he persuades them of his own sincerity; 
 both are perhaps involved. But whether 
 he is preaching or defending his motives, 
 he always speaks with the solemn con- 
 sciousness of his final accountability. In- 
 deed, without waiting till he stands before 
 the judgment-seat of Christ, he knows that 
 his life is already searched, open, and trans- 
 parent ; in his efforts to persuade me^^ 
 {dvepwTTovs) he knows that he has to reckon 
 with a present God (©ew) — hence he adds, 
 and to God we are already permanently 
 (perf.) manifest (cf. ver. 10). The future 
 judgment, and the present consciousness of 
 God, would be an effective deterrent to in- 
 sincerity, did such exist. And I tmst, he 
 adds, that the sincerity of my motives is 
 manifest also in your individual (plur.) 
 consciences. There were elements, perhaps, 
 in Paul's demeanor to which a superficial or 
 unsympathetic criticism might well have 
 taken exception; but he appeals with hope- 
 fulness (eXiri^io) to the deeper judgment 
 of their conscience (cf. iv. 2). 
 
 12. This solemn and emphatic asser- 
 tion of his sincerity may look as if he 
 
156 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 unto you, but give you occasion to glory on 
 our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to 
 answer them w^hich glory in appearance, 
 and not in heart. 
 
 13 For whether we be beside ourselves, 
 it is to God : or whether we be sober, it is 
 for your cause. 
 
 14 For the love of Christ constraineth 
 us; because we thus judge, that if one died 
 for all, then were all dead: 
 
 15 And that he died for all, that they 
 which live should not henceforth live unto 
 themselves, but unto him which died for 
 them, and rose again. 
 
 were guilty of self -commendation — appar- 
 ently a frequent charge against the apostle 
 (cf. iii. i). But the truth is, we are not 
 again commending ourselves to you: he 
 was simply asserting himself against the 
 depreciation of his opponents, who were 
 fond of emphasizing their own external 
 and irrelevant advantages. But we make 
 this assertion of our absolute sincerity, 
 simply by way of giving you an occasion 
 of boasting on our behalf, in order that 
 you may have an answer to offer those 
 who boast in surface appearances and 
 not in heart. The contrast between the 
 face (irpoaoiTTov) and the heai't (Kap8ia) is 
 suggestive, but does not enable us to as- 
 certain precisely the grounds on which 
 Paul's detractors rested their claims to su- 
 periority — probably, however, their con- 
 nection with the Jerusalem church and the 
 apostles, possibly even their acquaintance 
 with Jesus : in any case, upon things which 
 touched only the surface, not the heat^t of 
 Christianity. 
 
 13. It is difficult to connect this verse 
 with the preceding verses. Paul has just 
 been asserting his sincerity: he now seems 
 to say, more specifically, that his action has 
 been controlled by a pure and unselfish re- 
 gard for the welfare of the Corinthian 
 church. His conduct had been subjected to 
 a double criticism. On the one hand, his 
 ecstatic (e^earyjfiev) moods appear to have 
 been made by some the subject of re- 
 proach ; and his moderation and sobriety 
 (ao}(f)povovfi€v) may have been interpreted 
 as craft and worldly wisdom. Both these 
 charges ignore the singleness and purity of 
 his motive. For, if we indulged in ec- 
 static moods, it was to God — that was a 
 matter between God and myself; if on the 
 other hand, we exercise sobriety, it is 
 for you — in your interests. My conduct, 
 whether of one kind or another, is never 
 dictated by selfish interests : it looks out 
 upon God or you, but never upon self. It 
 is quite possible that i^earrjixev refers to 
 the consmning enthusiasm which character- 
 ized all Paul's work, and secured for him, as 
 for his Master (Mark iii. 21, H^cttv) the 
 reputation of being " beside himself " ; in 
 that case, the words may be translated, as 
 in A. R. V. "whether we arc beside our- 
 
 selves"; but the choice of the aorist tense, 
 which appears to be deliberately contrasted 
 with the present <T03(})povovpLev^ rather points 
 to a particular manifestation, in the past, 
 of the ecstatic temper — possibly in a vision 
 (cf. xii. I f¥.) possibly through speaking 
 with tongues, in which Paul excelled ( i 
 Cor. xiv. 18). His sobriety, shown in his 
 tender regard for the idiosyncrasies of the 
 individual and in his desire to meet them 
 temperately, may have been interpreted as 
 a cunningly obsequious attempt to " please 
 all men in all things " ; but he implies now, 
 what he had plainly said before, that he 
 was " not seeking his own interest, but 
 that of the many, that they might be 
 saved" (i Cor. x. ^z) ■ Or the meaning 
 may be, that though gifted with the power 
 of speaking with tongues, he yet in a 
 spirit of Christian sobriety, refused to ex- 
 ercise that gift, because it contributed 
 nothing to the edification of the church ; 
 he restrained his ecstatic gift, and spoke in 
 the church not with tongues, but " with 
 the understanding." The exercise of the 
 gift he indulged in only in private. — in 
 such a way as concerned only God and him- 
 self. 
 
 14, 15. This verse lets us into the se- 
 cret of Paul's unselfish devotion to God 
 and to the church. He is kept in the straight 
 and narrow way of unselfishness by the 
 constraining love of Christ. For the love 
 of Christ, that is, the love of Christ to 
 him and to the world, not primarily his 
 love to Christ, constrains us, hems me in 
 (as a man is hemmed in by a crowd : same 
 word in Luke viii. 45, awexovatv) and 
 urges me on. Unselfishness is impossible 
 to a man who knows and lives under this 
 constraint: he will always have in view 
 " not his own interest, but that of the 
 many" (r Cor. x. 33V This constraint 
 continually (pres. a-wexei) holds him, and 
 it dates back to the time of his conversion, 
 having then (aorist Kpivavras : not "because 
 we thus judge. E. V.. A. R. V.) reached 
 this decision that one died for all, there- 
 fore they all (ol Tvavres^ died. Some MSS. 
 insert d before «*? (this is the text fol- 
 lowed by A. V. — if one died for all): 
 the best omit it, tliough, if original, it 
 might easily have fallen out before cts. 
 
Oh. V] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 157 
 
 i6 Wherefore henceforth know we no known .Christ after the flesh, yet now 
 man after the flesh : yea, though we have henceforth know we hi}ii no more. 
 
 In any case, the stress falls upon the sec- 
 ond clause, introduced by apa, not on the 
 first ; and the meaning in both cases is 
 practically identical. The constraining 
 power of the love of Christ over Paul 
 goes back to the decision that " all (among 
 whom is Paul) died " — died in the death 
 of Christ for them. His death was the 
 supreme proof of His love (John xv. 13) ; 
 He died for all, and all — at any rate all 
 who appropriate His death — died in Him, 
 died to their old self and its interests ; 
 and for all such, dead to their former self, 
 and constrained by the love of Christ, sel- 
 fishness is for ever impossible. One for 
 all: Christ is unique, the head of a new 
 humanity, which, dying in His death, 
 rises to a new life. " For all " does 
 not quite mean instead of all, as vT^ep 
 is not equivalent to avri: rather it means, 
 for the advantage of all, ^ that is, for 
 the forgiveness of their sin, and their rec- 
 oncihation to God (ver. 19). And He 
 died for all, in order that those who live 
 should live no more to themselves, but 
 to Him who for them died and was 
 raised. Here is explicitly stated the object 
 of His death, that men should die to self 
 and live to Him. His death is not only 
 the supreme rebuke of selfishness, but its 
 annihilation, oi fw^res (those who live) is 
 not a circumlocution for " all men," it 
 means those who are now living the new 
 life that followed their death with Christ. 
 This life is for Him, and not for them- 
 selves : they live for Him who died for 
 them. Did He also rise again for them? 
 In other words, is nal eyepOevrt added sim- 
 ply to complete the picture of the risen, 
 living Lord, to whom the service of the 
 redeemed is due? or is vTrep avruiv to be 
 taken with these words as well as with 
 Tw d-TTodavovTi — to Him who for their sakes 
 both died and rose again? Rom. iv. 25 
 seems to look in the latter direction, ac- 
 cording to which " He was raised for our 
 justification." 
 
 It says very little for human nature that 
 such a man as Paul should have had to 
 defend himself against the imputations of a 
 selfish policy. If ever a man forgot and 
 denied himself in the effort to serve and 
 assert his Master, that man was Paul. 
 Here he urges two motives, either of which 
 would render any other conduct on his 
 part altogether inconceivable. One is the 
 
 thought of the judgment-seat of Christ, 
 at the end, and the ever-present scrutiny 
 of God here and now, before whom all 
 his inner life is bare; the other is the 
 thought of the infinite love of Christ, su- 
 premelv manifested in His death. That 
 love left him no alternative but to hve for 
 Him who had died for him; and he lived 
 for Him when he hved for those others 
 for whom He had also died. This love 
 was the destruction of every seed of selfish- 
 ness ; it grasped his life round and round, 
 it constrained him. Henceforth he can 
 only live " no longer for himself, but for 
 Him who died for all " and therefore for 
 him; in another aspect, he lives vfilv {to 
 you; ver. 13). It is the advantage, the sal- 
 vation (tW awdoxjLv^ I Cor. X. 33) of 
 others, that he now unintermittently con- 
 siders. No other course is possible, for 
 self is dead. 
 
 The Nezv World (ver. 16, 17). 
 
 16. These two verses powerfully elab- 
 orate the idea, suggested by the last two, 
 of the infinitely far-reaching effects of the 
 death of Christ. In His death all died, 
 and all the external distinctions that sep- 
 arate men are annihilated. So that as for 
 us (Vf^eis), however much stress my oppo- 
 nents may lay upon their connection with 
 the Jerusalem church and the apostles, or 
 perhaps upon their acquaintance with Jesus 
 Himself, from henceforth (that is, from 
 the moment in which Paul saw the real 
 meaning of the death of Christ, ver. 14), 
 we refuse, in our estimate of men in gen- 
 eral and even of Christ in particular, to 
 give any weight to such external and ac- 
 cidental things — we know no man after 
 the flesh, not even Christ : though we 
 have known Christ after the flesh, yet 
 now we know Him so no more. To 
 know a man after the Hesh is to attach 
 importance, in our estimate of him, to that 
 which is, truly considered, but superficial ; 
 it is to look at the face, not the heart (ver. 
 12) : it is to see the gentile as a gentile, 
 the Jew as a Jew, the slave as a slave, and 
 to fail to recognize their deep common 
 humanity, their oneness when seen in re- 
 lation to Christ. External distinctions, 
 when seen in this light, become irrelevant. 
 Nay, so little weight do externals now 
 carry for Paul that he makes no excep- 
 tion even in the case of Christ : " we 
 
158 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, passed away; behold, all things are become 
 he is a new creature : old things are new. 
 
 know Him after the flesh no more." The 
 words " though we have known Christ after 
 the flesh " certainly seem at first sight to 
 imply that there was a time in Paul's life 
 when he did so know Him, and when per- 
 haps he laid the same kind of stress upon 
 his acquaintance with the external facts of 
 Jesus' life as his opponents are now doing. 
 But it is difficult to find any period in 
 Paul's hfe which such a confession nat- 
 urally fits. It can hardly be referred to 
 the period before his conversion (though 
 he may not impossibly have seen Jesus in 
 Jerusalem), for in that case he would 
 probably have mentioned it in xi. 22-33, 
 where for the moment he " glories a little 
 after the flesh." Nor is it easy to suppose 
 that the allusion is to the period imme- 
 diately after his conversion, for there is no 
 trace that Paul's thoughts of Christ ever 
 essentially changed, nor is it probable that 
 they underwent a change in this respect. 
 It has been suggested that the way out of 
 the difficulty is to interpret Xpia-rov as the 
 Messiah rather than as the historical Christ ; 
 the meaning would then be that formerly, 
 before his conversion, his thoughts of the 
 Messiah were carnal, centering, for exam- 
 ple, round his Jewish origin, his Davidic 
 descent, etc., but that these imaginations 
 were destroyed by his vision of Jesus, the 
 true Messiah, and especially of the univer- 
 sal bearing of His death. But considering 
 that in the very next verse, the word 
 " Christ " unmistakably refers to the his- 
 torical Saviour, this explanation must be 
 pronounced quite impossible. There seems 
 no other alternative than to suppose that 
 Paul is stating his case hypothetically — 
 he repudiates appeals to externals, even 
 in the case of Christ; the assertion be- 
 comes all the more pointed, when we re- 
 member that this was just the appeal which 
 his opponents were fond of making. 
 
 17. In many ways, and especially by His 
 death (ver. 15), Christ had transformed 
 the world for Paul. Old distinctions were 
 annihilated; externals, which once bulked, 
 now became irrelevant; the man in Christ 
 was new, and the world upon which he 
 looked was new. So that if any one is 
 in Christ, he is a new creation (cf. Gal. 
 vi. 15) ; the old things passed (Traprj\&ev, 
 aorist), the moment he came to be in 
 Christ, see! they have become NEW. It 
 is one thing to be of Christ (cf. i Cbr. 
 i. 12), to belong to the Christ-party; it is 
 another and a very different thing to be in 
 
 Christ. One might have heard Him preach, 
 and watched His cures, and touched the 
 hem of His garment, and yet be far enough 
 from the kingdom of heaven, far enough 
 from being a " new creation " ; to be this, 
 one must be in Him. But the moment one 
 is in Him (cf. Kpivavras Toi/To, ver. 14), 
 then the man and his world are trans- 
 formed: he is new {Kaivr]) ^ it is new 
 {Kaivd) ; and the abounding surprise and 
 joy, as the new man looks out upon his 
 new world, are graphically depicted, in true 
 Hebraic fashion, by the word t'Soi', behold! 
 see I There is a fine compreHensiveness 
 about the neut. plur. adj. apxala — old 
 habits, customs, sins, old estimates of men 
 and of Jesus, have all passed away for 
 the man who is in Christ. Ttie following 
 verses suggest that there is here a backward 
 glance at the elaborate contrast Paul had 
 drawn in ch. iii. between the Jewish and 
 the Christian dispensation. 
 
 To Paul history is divided in two by 
 the death of Christ. By that event the 
 distinctions upon which the world loves to 
 lay stress, were obliterated, and, in the 
 light of that, the external things that sep- 
 arate man from man became an irrelevance. 
 Nay, even the external things of Christ's 
 own life, Paul seems to say, are to receive 
 no emphasis : one may accentuate these, 
 and be far enough from Christ after all. 
 The real importance attaches not to the 
 facts of Christ's life, but to the fact of 
 Christ Himself, as a risen (iyepdevTi, ver. 
 15) living Lord, operating in the life that 
 yields to Him. Of course it would be pos- 
 sible to make too absolute the distinction 
 between the risen Christ and the historical 
 Jesus ; if, in the complete absence of the 
 historical records of His life, we knew 
 nothing whatever of Jesus, how much 
 should we know of the living Christ? At 
 the same time, there is a knowledge of the 
 facts which has no Christian value : it is 
 possible to know them, without being 
 touched by the power within them — such 
 is knowledge " after the flesh." Paul cer- 
 tainly must have been thoroughly familiar 
 with the facts of Jesus' life and teaching: 
 the story would, from the beginning, be 
 the common property of all the churches. 
 He had not probably been personally ac- 
 quainted with Jesus, but he understood 
 Him infinitely better than many of those 
 who had been. The fact that our gospels 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 159 
 
 i8 And all things are of God, who hath 
 reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, 
 and hath given to us the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation ; 
 
 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, rec- 
 onciling the world unto himself, not im- 
 puting their trespasses unto them; and 
 
 hath committed unto us the word of recon- 
 ciliation. 
 
 20 Now then we are ambassadors for 
 Christ, as though God did beseech you by 
 us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 
 reconciled to God. 
 
 satisfy to so comparatively slender a de- 
 gree our curiosity about the external facts 
 of the life of Jesus, shows that the feeling 
 to which Paul here gives expression was 
 beginning to be widely prevalent — the 
 feeling that only those facts were of value 
 which revealed the spirit and power and 
 purpose of Jesus Himself : other knowledge 
 was "' after the flesh." 
 
 The Reconciliation (v. 18-21). 
 
 The key-note of this section is the 
 thought of reconciliation, a word which 
 occurs, whether as a noun or as a verb, no 
 less than four times. The passage is writ- 
 ten in a state of exuberant feeling, as Paul 
 contemplates the new world (ver. 17) 
 which has been created and into which 
 he has been brought by the reconciliation 
 of God manifested in and effected through 
 Christ. Christ is indeed the medium (did, 
 ver. 18) but God is the ultimate agent and 
 source (ca:) of the reconciliation. 
 
 18. But all those new things, of which 
 Paul has just sooken, proceed from God, 
 who reconciled us to Himself through 
 Christ, and, that others might learn the 
 good news, gave us the ministry of recon- 
 ciliation. A reconciliation was necessary, 
 because without it and before it, men are 
 "enemies" of God (Rom. v. 10). But, ac- 
 cording to Paul, the obstacle to be over- 
 come consists not only in the enmity of 
 man; there is also something to be over- 
 come on the side of God. When he says 
 that, in Christ, God was reconciling the 
 world to Himself, he does not only mean 
 that the goodness of God, as manifested in 
 Christ, disarmed men's hostility, and in- 
 spired them with trust and confidence in 
 Himself, but that in Christ, who " for us was 
 made sin" (ver. 21), and who, as such, 
 *' died for us all" (ver. 14), Clod's con- 
 demnation of sin was put away. The rec- 
 onciliation is not one which we offer or 
 which we work out for ourselves ; it is one 
 which we " receive " (ttiv KaraWayijv 
 €\d^o/x€v, Rom. V. 11). It is interesting to 
 note the blend of general and particular 
 expressions throughout this paragraph : 
 God was reconcihng the world, He recon- 
 
 ciled us; He does not reckon into them 
 their trespasses, He gave us the ministry of 
 reconciliation. Paul has an overwhelming 
 consciousness of personally sharing in the 
 reconciliation accomplished by God through 
 Christ, but he has an equally glad con- 
 sciousness of the special honor that is his, 
 in having entrusted to him the ministry of 
 reconciliation, that is, in being called to the 
 service of preaching {\6yov^ ver. 20) 
 through which the knowledge of this recon- 
 ciliation is communicated to men. 
 
 19. Christ is the medium of reconciha • 
 tion, but God is its ultimate source, just as 
 the consummation of history is that God 
 is to be all in all (i Cor. xv. 28). In 
 verse 19, therefore, 6e6s in the emphatic 
 position, points suggestively back to e/c rov 
 GeoO (from God) : the combination of ws 
 OTL is very unusual, and it has been sug- 
 gestive that OTL (that) is really a gloss 
 added to explain ws (because) — probably, 
 however, the words simply mean " seeing; 
 that." The reconciliation and the appoint- 
 ment to the ministry thereof (ver. 18) 
 were God's doing, seeing that it was God 
 who, in Christ, was in the act of recon- 
 ciling (pres. partic.) the world to Him- 
 self. The punctuation of A. V. with a 
 comma after Christ, creates a false im- 
 pression. The riv (was) goes not with iv 
 XpL(TT(^^ but with KaTa\\d(jao3v (reconcihng), 
 and is more graphic than the simple im- 
 perfect KaTTfKXacraev would have been; it 
 emphasizes not the fact of the reconcilia- 
 tion, but the activity of God in it, the 
 reconciling process. As before, Christ was 
 said to die for all (ver. 14), so here it is 
 the whole world that was being reconciled 
 in Him. The effect of the reconciliation 
 and the practical proof of it are two-fold; 
 in reconciling men to Himself, He is not 
 reckoning unto them their trespasses — 
 there is the perpetual forgiveness of sins 
 (present partic.) ; and again God revealed 
 the reconcihation in having put in our 
 hands (lit. in us) the word of recon- 
 ciliation (the aorist partic. de/xevos, like 
 86vTos in ver. 18 suggests the definite ap- 
 pointment of Paul to proclaim the recon- 
 ciliation). 
 
 20. The thought of his commission to 
 proclaim (\6yov) the reconciliation suggests 
 
160 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 rCH. VI 
 
 21 For he hath made him to be sin for 
 ns, who knew no sin ; that we might be 
 made the righteousness of God in him. 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 I We then, as workers together with 
 him, beseech you also that ye receive not 
 the grace of God in vain. 
 
 to Paul the idea that he is Christ's am- 
 bassador. We are ambassadors therefore 
 for Christ, — on His behalf — the same 
 preposition (virep) as above (ver, 14), 
 where Christ died for all, on their behalf. 
 The reconciliation of the world to God is 
 wrought through and in Christ, so that it 
 is Christ and His cause that Paul, in his 
 apostolic capacity, represents ; but as it is 
 God who has entrusted him with the word 
 of reconcihation, in a sense it is God who 
 is speaking through him, it is as though 
 God were entreating by us. There is 
 here the same consciousness as that of the 
 old Hebrew prophets, when they prefaced 
 their messages with " Thus saith the Lord." 
 We beseech you on behalf of Christ, that 
 is, that the work of Christ be not frus- 
 trated by your failure to appropriate it. 
 The burden of Paul's message as Christ's 
 ambassador is, Be reconciled to God. 
 This does not mean : As you look at the 
 reconciling love of God as manifested in 
 Christ, cleanse your hearts of all hostility 
 and distrust. The reconciliation is one ef- 
 fected by God Himself (vers. 18, 19), 
 one which we receive (Rom. v. 11). The 
 phrase therefore means. Accept the recon- 
 ciliation provided by God : those who ac- 
 cept it are reconciled to God, and their 
 hostility and distrust are disarmed as a 
 consequence. This appeal of Paul's is more 
 than a general appeal to the unconverted 
 world (Koafioy^ ver. 19) ; it had no doubt 
 a specific application within the Corinthian 
 church (cf, vi. i, xi, 3). 
 
 21. Some MSS. connect this verse with 
 the preceding by 7«P (for; cf. A. V.) : the 
 omission of 7«P, however, gives a much 
 more impressive sentence, it makes the 
 contents of the verse stand boldly out as 
 an independent summary of Paul's evan- 
 gelical message. Him who knew not sin 
 He made to be sin on our behalf (v-n-ep, 
 f. ver. 14) that WE (17/^^15) might become 
 the righteousness of God in Him. Both 
 in point of style and of thought, this sen- 
 tence is extremely bold. Paul does not 
 say that Jesus was made a sinner nor even 
 a sin-offering, nor does he say that we be- 
 come righteous ; he says something much 
 profounder — Jesus was made sin, and we 
 become righteousness. He was not and 
 could not have been made a sinner, but He 
 was completely identified with human sin ; 
 
 and with the same completeness as He was 
 identified with human sin are we identified 
 with the divine righteousness — only of 
 course in Him, in union with Him ; with- 
 out Him we could never attain to it — it 
 is ours, we become it, in Him. These strik- 
 ing and original words show that Paul 
 means much more than the imputation of 
 hurnan sin to Christ, and the imputation of 
 divine righteousness to men : the sin is not 
 rnerely regarded as laid on Him, nor the 
 righteousness as conferred on us, but there 
 is in both cases an inner identification, as 
 it were, — of Him with sin, and of us with 
 righteousness. This, then, is the heart of 
 the gospel, according to Paul, this explains 
 the reconciliation on which throughout the 
 paragraph he has so frequently and ear- 
 nestly insisted. We are acquitted, justified, 
 in Christ; JDut, in order to this. He had to 
 be made sin. We could never have been 
 identified with Him and His righteousness, 
 had He not first been identified with us 
 and our sin. We climb the heights, be- 
 cause He descended to the depths. 
 
 A Ministry Without Offense (vi. i-io). 
 
 As one to whom reconciliation is every- 
 thing, Paul is peculiarly anxious that the 
 Corinthians should not render it ineffective, 
 in their case, by their apathetic acceptance 
 of it. He warns them against this dan- 
 ger, shows how careful he has himself been 
 to live worthily of the grace bestowed upon 
 him and to preserve his ministry from re- 
 proach^ or suspicion, and he thus gradually 
 drifts into a noble and eloquent statement 
 of his conduct amid the sufferings, per- 
 secutions, and misunderstandings, incidental 
 to his ministry. 
 
 I. Paul is not only an ambassador (v. 
 20) but a worker, though his work takes 
 the form largely of entreaty. And work- 
 ing together we also entreat YOU (iV^s, 
 in emphatic position at end of sentence; 
 this is a direct and special appeal to the 
 Corinthians; cf. ver. 11, where they are 
 directly addressed) not to receive the 
 grace of God, as manifested in the recon- 
 ciliation of which Paul has just spoken, 
 in vain. It is offered freely, but it is re- 
 ceived in vain, unless the recipient allows 
 it to control, inspire, and fructify his life, 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 161 
 
 2 (For he saith, I have heard thee in a 
 time accepted, and in the day of salvation 
 have I succoured thee : behold, now is the 
 accepted time; behold, now is the day of 
 salvation.) 
 
 3 Giving no offence in any thing, that 
 the ministry be not blamed : 
 
 4 But in all things approving ourselves 
 as the ministers of God, in much patience, 
 in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. 
 
 as Paul shows himself to have done in 
 the verses that follow, where he claims to 
 " give no offense in anything." The proof 
 that he had not received that grace in vain 
 was written large in the steadfast patience 
 with which he had borne his hardships, in 
 his purity, love, etc. Where these or sim- 
 ilar fruits are absent, the grace of God 
 has been received in vain. It is not quite 
 clear whom Paul claims in avi^epyoyures to 
 be workilig with — perhaps the Corinthians, 
 but more probably God Himself (cf. i Cor. 
 iii. 9), as here Paul does what in ver. 20 
 God is said to do through him (TrapaKaXelv, 
 entreat, in both cases). 
 
 2. Parenthetically Paul inserts a quota- 
 tion from Isaiah xHx. 8 (suggested per- 
 haps by the verb he has just used de^acrdai, 
 cf. 6e/cTw) designed to remind his readers 
 of the folly of delay, and the importance 
 of a sincere acceptance of the grace of 
 God now. For He saith (God or Scrip- 
 ture) 
 
 At an acceptable time I hearkened unto 
 
 thee, 
 And on the day of salvation I helped 
 
 thee. 
 
 In Isaiah, these words are addressed to 
 the servant of Jehovah. It is not necessary 
 to suppose that Paul regarded them as 
 prophetic ; he avails himself of the ancient 
 words probably only because they happily 
 express his meaning. The tension of Paul's 
 feeling, as he writes, is dramatically sug- 
 gested by the abrupt and repeated ISov 
 (behold; cf. a few verses before, v. 17). 
 Behold, NOW is the "acceptable time"; 
 behold, NOW is the day of salvation. 
 Salvation has been brought by Christ, and 
 now is the Christian dispensation, rather 
 than "to-day"; (cf. Heb. iii. 7 ff.) but 
 the word has the moral effect of to-day, 
 because, till the coming again of Christ as 
 judge (cf. V. 10) the time is short (i Cor. 
 vii. 29). 
 
 3, 4. After the parenthesis emphasizing 
 the importance of an immediate and sin- 
 cere acceptance of the grace of God, Paul 
 goes on to indicate the temper of his own 
 ministry, the spirit in which he " co-op- 
 erated " with God: giving no cause at all 
 for stumbling in anything, that the (i.e. 
 my) ministry be not exposed to reproach. 
 Paul knows that there are critical and un- 
 
 friendly eyes upon him, which would re- 
 joice to see something in his conduct incon- 
 sistent with his profession ; he also knows 
 the Christian ministry is a very honorable 
 office, and must be jealously guarded from 
 even the possibility of reproach. He is 
 scrupulously careful so to live that the 
 Corinthians will find no reason, in his con- 
 duct at any rate, for shaking off their 
 obligation to accept his gospel. But not 
 only, negatively, is he careful to avoid 
 giving offense in anything (/x-qdevi) ^ but, 
 on the positive side he is equally earnest 
 and careful to advance the cause of Christ, 
 whose ambassador he is (v. 20), by 
 every means in his power, in everything 
 (iravTi; he is as thorough on the positive 
 as on the negative side) commending our- 
 selves, as God's ministers should-— not 
 commending ourselves as God's ministers 
 (which would be StaKoz^ous, accusative), but 
 commending ourselves, as ministers 
 (diaKovoL^ nomin.) of God ought to commend 
 themselves. The ministry and the minister 
 must alike be above reproach : noblesse 
 oblige. 
 
 4. In proceeding to show the many 
 ways in which he *' commends " himself, 
 Paul develops, with simple eloquence, a 
 graphic sketch of the conditions under 
 which and the spirit in which he does his 
 apostolic work — a sketch which reminds 
 us of the cognate description in iv. 8-1 1 
 (cf. I Cor. iv. 9-13), and which is more 
 highly elaborated in xi. 22-33. The cir- 
 cumstances of the work, the opposition, 
 persecution, pain, hardships, and privations 
 he had to encounter are dealt with in 
 verses 4 and 5 in a series of phrases, each 
 introduced by ei/; these were met in a 
 spirit of patience and heroic steadfastness 
 {inrofjLovr]) , which is therefore appropriately 
 mentioned first. It was by ^ this that he 
 commended his ministry, without this it 
 would have been exposed to reproach 
 (fiwfMTjeii^ ver. 3). In much steadfastness; 
 this idea governs the nine phrases that 
 follow, which fall naturally into groups 
 of three: (a) in tribulations (lit, crush- 
 ings), in necessities, in distresses — 
 words suggesting the pressure and con- 
 straint of circumstances, in virtue of which 
 he was sometimes driven into a " narrow 
 place." " The prevailing idea," as Stanley 
 says, "is of pressure and confinement; 
 
162 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tu- 
 mults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings ; 
 
 6 By pureness, by knowledge, by long- 
 suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, 
 by love unfeigned, 
 
 7 By the word of truth, by the power 
 of God, by the armour of righteousness on 
 the right hand and on the left. 
 
 each stage being narrower than the one 
 before, so that no room is left for move- 
 ment or escape." 
 
 5. The next group (b) is more specific 
 and definite ; in three graphic words we see 
 how keen and cruel was the opposition 
 Paul had to encounter, and what it cost to 
 be an apostle. In stripes, such as were 
 administered to Paul and Silas at Philippi 
 (Acts xvi. 23), in imprisonments, such as 
 he had also to endure at Philippi after 
 the stripes (both these words occur together 
 in Acts xvi. 23 — ^" when they had laid 
 many stripes upon them, they cast them 
 into prison''), in tumults, such as that 
 stirred up against Paul and Barnabas at 
 Antioch in Pisidia (Acts xiii. 50). 
 d/carao-r ao-t'at has been understood of Paul's 
 unsettled life ; a certain color is given to 
 this explanation by the use of the verb 
 da-rarovfiep in I Cor. iv. il, which is coupled 
 as here, with the idea of " toil " {KoiriQixev^ 
 €v KOTTois) ; but the general usage of the 
 noun in the New Testament (confusion, as 
 in I Cor. xiv. 33 ; tumult, as in Luke xxi. 
 9) is not favorable to this interpretation. 
 
 As the second group (b) dealt with the 
 sufferings Paul had to endure from deter- 
 mined opponents, the third (c) deals with 
 the bodily hardships which he voluntarily 
 took upon himself: in labors — hard work, 
 perhaps manual (Acts xviii. 3) but more 
 probably the reference is to all the stren- 
 uous work the apostle undertook for the 
 gospel's sake : in watchings, probably not 
 vigils, but suggesting, in a large way, all 
 the night-toil, which was involved for Paul 
 in his ministry of the gospel (Acts xx. 
 31) ; in fastings. Though it has been 
 argued on the basis of xi. 27 that a dis- 
 tinction must be drawn between fasting 
 and hunger, and that in the passage be- 
 fore us voluntary fasting, as a self-imposed 
 discipline, is intended, it is more probable 
 that the word here (as probably also in xi. 
 27) is practically equivalent to " hunger." 
 Note that each of the nine nouns in all 
 three groups is in the plural ; the impli- 
 cation is that these hard experiences were 
 not isolated, but frequent and familiar. 
 
 6, 7. The next eight phrases, like the 
 preceding ten, are introduced by ^j/; but 
 they are of a different nature. They indi- 
 cate not the circumstances of his ministry, 
 but its spirit. Those hardships, which would 
 
 have crushed the life out of many a man, but 
 furnished Paul with an opportunity to display 
 the transcendent quality of his inner life. It 
 is by this that he chiefly " commends him- 
 self as a minister of God" — in his general 
 inward purity, though there may not im- 
 possibly be a latent reference to his chas- 
 tity — in this case there would be a subtle 
 rebuke of the moral laxity of the Corin- 
 thians; in his knowledge, peculiarly in- 
 timate and profound, of the gospej and the 
 gracious will of God; in the long-suffer- 
 ing which he manifested amid persecution 
 and insult; in his gentle kindness; in the 
 holy spirit, in love unfeigned, in the 
 word of truth, in the power of God. 
 The Twentieth Century New Testament 
 neatly renders the last four phrases thus ; 
 ''(We recommend ourselves also) by a 
 spirit which is holy, a love which is sin- 
 cere, a teaching which is true, and an 
 energy which is divine." But it may be 
 doubted whether the words ^v Trpevfian 
 ayiu} ought not to be rendered " in the 
 holy spirit." Considering the preceding 
 words, which express qualities of Paul's 
 own inner life, there is certainly a strong 
 temptation to translate " by a holy spirit " 
 — that is, his ministry was characterized 
 by a holiness of spirit. But it is perhaps, 
 on the whole, more natural to regard the 
 holy spirit as the source of the moral 
 qualities just enumerated, and in particular 
 of the love unfeigned, the greatest of the 
 virtues (i Cor. xiii.) which immediately 
 follows. There was no hypocrisy 
 (dj/i/TTOA-piVw) about Paul's love: it was not 
 a mask to hide other feelings. He com- 
 mends himself " in the word of truth ;" 
 this has been taken to mean "by speaking 
 what is true " (cf. Twent. Cent. New Test. 
 just quoted) ; but there is nothing in the 
 grammar to keep it from meaning simply 
 in the gospel: this is the word of truth, 
 it is also the power of God._ The latter 
 phrase, however {^v dwdfiei Beoi") may refer 
 to the power with which Paul proclaims his 
 truth — a power which has its source in 
 God. 
 
 The eighteen phrases introduced by ^v 
 now give place to three, prefaced by 5td, 
 which furtlier illustrate the way in which 
 Paul " commends " himself and his min- 
 istry — not only in hardships, not only by 
 the inner quality of his life, but by means 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 163 
 
 8 By honour and dishonour, by evil re- 
 port and good report : as deceivers, and yet 
 true; 
 
 9 As unknown, and yet well known; as 
 
 dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, 
 and not killed ; 
 
 10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; 
 as poor, yet making many rich ; as having 
 nothing, and yet possessing all things. 
 
 of (5ia) the weapons of righteousness 
 on the right hand and on the left. Paul's 
 Christian life is a struggle, a battle, and 
 for this he needs armor — an idea much 
 more fully elaborated in Eph. vi. 10-17. 
 His weapons are weapons of righteousness, 
 that is, supplied by righteousness, or per- 
 haps consisting in righteousness. His good 
 character (flowing, of course, from the 
 holy spirit, ver. 6) is his equipment : it fur- 
 nishes him with weapons offensive, like the 
 sword and the spear, on the right hand, 
 and defensive, like the shield, on the left. 
 
 8. The 5ia of the next two clauses has 
 hardly the same sense as in the first clause ; 
 not so much " by means of," but rather 
 through, that is, amid, glory and dis- 
 honor, through evil and good repute, Paul 
 commends himself and his ministry. 
 "Whether men judge well of thee, or ill," 
 says Thomas a Kempis, " thou art not on 
 that account other than thyself." So 
 whether men spoke well (eixprjfiia) of Paul 
 or ill, he always commended himself as a 
 minister of God. Their words were a 
 criticism not of him but of themselves : 
 they revealed not the truth about Paul, 
 but their own attitude to the gospel. 
 Through glory and dishonor, through good 
 and evil repute, he went steadily on his 
 way, commending his gospel by his patience 
 and purity, by his fidelity and love un- 
 feigned, by the righteousness which girded 
 him on the right hand and on the left. 
 
 9, 10. The remaining clauses, which are 
 seven in number, take an antithetic form, 
 and are each introduced by ws. This group 
 concludes the description of the way in 
 which Paul and those like-minded with 
 him commended themselves. Each of the 
 clauses contrasts the appearance with the 
 deeper reality. As deceivers — he had been 
 charged with handhng the word of God 
 deceitfully (iv. 2, cf. ii. 17) — and yet 
 true; as being, in the spiteful judgment 
 of his opponents, unknown and obscure, 
 " without proper credentials," and yet, as a 
 matter of fact, well known, and acknowl- 
 edged, among all true believers, by " the 
 power of God " (ver. 7) which wrought 
 and spoke (v. 20) so manifestly though 
 him. As dying, and BEHOLD (cf. v. 17, 
 vi. 2), far from dying, we live (cf. Ps. 
 cxviii. 17). We have already seen how 
 the hazards of the apostle's career turned 
 
 his life hterally into a continual process of 
 dying (iv. 10, 11) even bringing him some- 
 times to the point of death (i. 8). He 
 looked like {<^s) a man marked for death, 
 and his enemies would have wished him 
 dead, but, behold! he lives, by virtue of 
 the invincible " life of Jesus " which was 
 in him (iv. 10). As being chastised, and 
 yet not killed. His opponents may have 
 pointed to his afflictions and hardships as 
 proof that he was under the heavy hand 
 of God. Paul does not deny the divine 
 discipline (cf. xii. 21) — this is as real as 
 the " dying " of the previous clause — but, 
 in words suggested by Psalm cxviii. 18, — 
 he maintains that " he is not being delivered 
 over to death." As being grieved not 
 only_ in the estimation of his opponents, 
 but in reality, yet rejoicing evermore; as 
 paupers, yet enriching many; as having 
 nothing, yet having firm (Karexovres) pos- 
 session of all things. It is the literal truth 
 that Paul was "poor," and ''had nothing;" 
 he even refused to avail himself of the sup- 
 port which he had a right to demand from 
 the Corinthian church (i Cor. ix. 12-18) ; 
 yet in him there was a wealth of inner 
 resource (cf. vv. 6, 7), and with these 
 spiritual gifts he was able to enrich others. 
 And ^ though he had nothing, he yet held 
 (Karexca stronger than e'xw) all things: all 
 things were his, for he was Christ's (i 
 Cor. iii. 22, 22). 
 
 It is wonderful to watch the heights to 
 which Paul gradually rises from the simple 
 statement that, for the sake of his ministry, he 
 is careful to " give no offense in anything." 
 From this modest and negative utterance 
 he passes to the positive statement that he 
 makes a point of commending himself in 
 everything, as a minister of God should do. 
 Then there flashes upon him his whole 
 apostolic career, with its infinite variety of 
 experience : he surveys it, in rapid and 
 breathless eloquence, touching on the 
 fierceness of the opposition he had to en- 
 counter, and the keenness of the hardships 
 he had to endure, then on the spirit in 
 which he had encountered, and endured, 
 and achieved it all, then upon the paradoxes 
 — death and life, impotence and power, 
 sorrow and joy, poverty and wealth — 
 which were so marvellously reconciled in 
 
164 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 his own person. He who had been put 
 in prison after receiving many stripes, 
 he who had suffered hunger and sleep- 
 lessness and hardship of every kind, is 
 conscious that his hfe is, despite all seem- 
 ing, one of power and triumph, and ends 
 by describing himself as the possessor of 
 all things. Truly here is one who has over- 
 come the world. 
 
 It is to be noted, too, that we owe this 
 splendid statement of Paul's apostolic 
 career, in its outward and inward aspects, 
 to his simple desire to show how he has 
 sought to commend himself as a servant 
 of God, and to preserve his ministry from 
 
 reproach. In everything he commended 
 that ministry. Every new experience, 
 whether of persecution or hunger or 
 calumny, gave him a fresh opportunity to 
 show the patience, the purity, and the un- 
 feigned love which inspired all his service 
 of men in the gospel. This was his re- 
 sponse to the reconciliation wrought out in 
 Christ (v. 19) — that supreme exhibition 
 of the " grace of God," which Paul as- 
 suredly had not " received in vain " (ver. 
 i). And upon all, whether, like Paul, am- 
 bassadors for Christ and preachers of the 
 gospel or not, the same unfeigned and en- 
 thusiastic response is obligatory. 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 165 
 
 THE RESTORATION OF CONFIDENCE BETWEEN PAUL AND 
 THE CORINTHIANS (vi. ii-vii. i6). 
 
 11 O ye Corinthians, onr mouth is open 
 unto you, onr heart is enlarged. 
 
 12 Ye are not straitened in us, but ye 
 are straitened in your own bowels. 
 
 13 Now for a recompense in the same, 
 unto my children,) be ye also 
 
 (I speak as 
 enlarged. 
 
 Paul's Affectionate Appeal (vi. 11-13)- 
 
 In the passage we have just been con- 
 sidering, Paul had been led, almost insen- 
 sibly, to open his heart with unusual fulness 
 to the Corinthians. He had given them 
 a real glimpse into the nature and the 
 secret of his ministry ; and he now appeals 
 to them to treat him with the same candor, 
 warmth, and open-heartedness as he had 
 treated them. The strong and tender feel- 
 ing by which he is m.oved, as he writes, 
 comes out in his use of the very unusual 
 personal address "Corinthians" — the only 
 occasion in the two epistles in which he ad- 
 dresses them by name (cf. Gal. iii. i, Phil. 
 iv. 15). 
 
 II -13. Our mouth is open unto you, 
 O Corinthians. The phrase is more than 
 a synonym^ for " we have spoken to you ;" 
 in this context it suggests the great warmth 
 and frankness with which the last para- 
 graph had been written, and by which the 
 apostle's heart is still moved (note the 
 perfect tense, dvicoyev), A true man's 
 words are, of course, an index to his 
 heart, for out of the heart the mouth 
 speaketh : hence the open candid mouth 
 has, as its counterpart, the large warm 
 heart — our heart is enlarged, has been, 
 so to speak, enlarged (perf. ireirXdTWTaL) 
 as he wrote the last paragraph ; not that 
 he loves them any more dearly than he 
 did — that would be impossible — but his 
 emotion has broken forth into exuberant 
 expression, and he takes the opportunity 
 to assure them of the great place they 
 have in his heart. His converts are al- 
 ways in his heart (vii. 3, cf. Phil. i. 7) ; 
 he assures them that they have plenty of 
 room there — his is a large broad heart. 
 And if there is any sense of constraint in 
 their relations with him, they may rest as- 
 sured that it is altogether ^on their ^ side, 
 and not at all on his. For it is not in us 
 that you are cramped, it is in your own 
 hearts, in j^our own affections, that you 
 are cramped; my heart is broad, it is yours 
 that is narrow {(TTevox<^p€l(T6e)^ and so 
 warm, generous, and affectionate a nature 
 
 as Paul's is hurt, when its candor is re- 
 ceived with reserve or suspicion. He ex- 
 pects from them the same {rrjv avrrju) 
 openness which he has shown them : it is 
 his due {dfTL/xLadiav), especially as they 
 stand to him as children (re'/cz/ots) to a 
 father, rrjv avTT]v avrt/xLadiav^ a sort of ac- 
 cusative of the remoter object, combines 
 the ideas of " in the same way " and " by 
 way of recompense " — he expects to be 
 rezvarded with the same affection as he 
 has shown them. Now recompense me 
 similarly — I speak as to children from 
 whom I, as a father, have the right to ex- 
 pect this recompense — by YOUR {koI 
 vixels) enlargement (of heart) (literally, 
 " in the same way, as compensation, be ye 
 also enlarged "). The repetition of the verb 
 enlarge is very effective : in his heart there 
 is room for them, in theirs there ought also 
 (/cat) to be room for him. Nor is this 
 unreasonable, it is no unjust or heavy bur- 
 den that he lays upon them. He is not 
 their tyrant (cf. i. 24) but their father, 
 and asks no more from them than that 
 candor and love which, as his children, 
 they should be glad to give. 
 
 These few brief words show how human 
 and friendly the apostle was, how deeply 
 pained he was by misunderstanding and 
 reserve on the part of those w^hom he 
 loved, and how sorely he hungered for their 
 affection. He gave them a great place in 
 his own heart, and he could not bear to 
 have but a little place in theirs. He needed 
 from others the affection which he lavished 
 upon others. 
 
 The Duty of Separation From Anti- 
 
 christian Influences 
 
 (vi. 14-vii. i). 
 
 The least critical reader can hardly fail 
 to be surprised by this paragraph in its 
 present context. Its theme is the duty of 
 the Corinthians to separate themselves 
 from the unclean heathen influences by 
 
166 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together 
 with unbelievers ; for what fellowship hath 
 righteousness with unrighteousness? and 
 what communion hath light with dark- 
 ness? 
 
 15 And what concord hath Christ with 
 Belial? or what part hath he that believeth 
 with an infidel? 
 
 16 And what agreement hath the temple 
 of God with idols? for ye are the temple 
 of the living God ; as God hath said, I will 
 dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I 
 will be their God, and they shall be my 
 people. 
 
 which they are surrounded. But imme- 
 diately before Paul has been earnestly 
 pleading for a larger place in the affec- 
 tions of the Corinthians, and in the para- 
 graph that follows (vii. 2ff.) this general 
 thought is continued, and the opening met- 
 aphor is thoroughly cognate to those in 
 verses 11-13 {"make room for us"). 
 Even if the passage vi. 14-vii. i be Paul's, 
 it is difficult to suppose that, interrupting 
 as it does the continuity Of the context on 
 both sides, this was its original place. 
 But let us first examine the passage more 
 closely. 
 
 14. Do not become unevenly yoked 
 with unbelievers. The present tense 
 (ylveade) and the use of the word become 
 instead of be, yields a much more graphic 
 sense than that supolied by the English 
 versions — " do not let yourselves become 
 entangled with incongruous alliances." 
 The abruptness of this sudden injunction 
 is very striking, and, in the context, ex- 
 ceedingly difficult to explain. It is just 
 possible that there may be a backward 
 glance at vi. i, in which the apostle had 
 entreated his converts to see that they did 
 not receive the grace of God in vain : 
 this would happen if they deliberately allied 
 themselves with their heathen neighbors. 
 The word erepo^vyovvTes^ yoked with one 
 of another and different kind, recalls 
 Leviticus xix. 19 (the more so as there is 
 a direct quotation from Lev. in ver. 16) 
 — " Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender 
 with a diverse kind," where the Septuagint 
 uses the corresponding adjective erepof 1^70) ; 
 the idea of the verse, though not its lan- 
 guage, recalls Deuteronomy xxii. 10 " Thou 
 shalt net plough with an ox and an ass 
 together." The aTricrrot, unbelievers, are the 
 heathen who do not believe the Christian 
 gospel; for a Christian to be associated 
 with them would be an incongruity of the 
 same sort as when animals of different 
 kinds are yoked together. No specific al- 
 liance is suggested by the passage. In i 
 Cor. v. 10, vii. 12, x. 27, it is admitted that 
 in Corinth the breach with heathen society 
 could not be absolute; and this passage 
 has consequently been interpreted as an in- 
 junction to avoid deliberate association with 
 
 heathenism.— such, for example, as would 
 be involved in marrying a heathen woman, 
 or m taking part in heathen sacrificial 
 meals, say at club-meetings. On the other 
 hand, verse 17 seems to imply that the 
 breach with heathen society must be ab- 
 solute. 
 
 14-16. There follows a series of five 
 questions, in which the great contrasts of 
 the moral life are rhetorically stated with 
 much power and variety. FoV what part- 
 nership has righteousness and lawless- 
 ness? Sin is defined in i John iii. 4 as 
 dpofila, lawlessness, disregard of the divine 
 law, a disregard which often expresses it- 
 self practically as " uncleanness " (Rom. vi. 
 19, dKadapa-La; cf. here ver. 17, aKaOdpTov^ 
 primarily ceremonial, but also moral un- 
 cleanness). The Christian's life is clean, 
 moral, righteous. Or what communion is 
 there between the hght in which the 
 Christian walks, and the darkness in which 
 unbelievers live, and which, being evil, they 
 love? These abstract expressions are now 
 replaced by concrete ; the principles of good 
 and evil, light and darkness, are embodied 
 in persons, most conspicuously in the two 
 great protagonists of the moral struggle — 
 Christ and Satan, here called Belial, or 
 rather Beliar (by a not unexampled change 
 of / for r). And what harmony has 
 Christ with BeHal? The original mean- 
 ing of the word Belial is obscure. In the 
 Greek version of the Old Testament, it is 
 never rendered by a proper noun, always 
 by some common noun : Psalm xviii. 4, 5, 
 however, makes it probable that Belial was 
 originally conceived personally (as in our 
 passage) —apparently as a god of death 
 or of the underworld. He is regarded here 
 as the great antagonist of Christ. The 
 contrast between the two great leaders, 
 Christ and Belial, now passes into a con- 
 trast between their human representatives, 
 the believer and the unbeliever: or what 
 portion has a believer with an unbe- 
 liever? what do they sJiare in common? 
 Nothing. And what agreement has the 
 (rather than a) temple of God with idols? 
 The moment the idol appears in the tem- 
 ple, it ceases to be a temnle of_ God: the 
 lifeless idol and the living (fwiroj) God 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 167 
 
 17 Wherefore come out from among 
 them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, 
 and touch not the unclean thing; and I will 
 receive you. 
 
 18 And will be a Father unto you, and 
 ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith 
 the Lord Almighty. 
 
 CHAPTER 7- 
 
 I Having therefore these promises, 
 dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves 
 from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
 perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 
 
 are incompatible. The holiness of the tem- 
 ple must be maintained; then he clinches 
 his argument by adding " zve are the tem- 
 ple," it is therefore our holiness that must 
 be maintained and preserved from pollu- 
 tion. 
 
 16-17. For WE (vfj-els) Christians are 
 the temple of the LIVING God; the posi- 
 tion of ^oji^Tos (living) shows that an em- 
 phatic contrast is suggested with the lifeless 
 idols. SomeMSS. (followed by A. V. ) read 
 vfiels . . . eare {you are) ; cf. i Cor. iii. 
 16 for the same idea, and i Cor. vi. 19, 
 where impurity desecrates the temple of 
 the body. The Christian church is the 
 true temple of God ; in it God dwells, it 
 must therefore be holy as He is holy. This 
 point is now elaborated by several apposite 
 quotations from different parts of the Old 
 Testament, and into the ancient words a 
 richer meaning is poured than that which 
 they originally contained. The quotations 
 are separated by introductory formulae, 
 " God said," " saith the Lord Almighty," 
 etc. As God said (that), "I will dwell 
 in them and walk in them, and I will be 
 their God and they shall be my people." 
 This is a quotation from Lev. xxvi. (11) 
 12 (affected perhaps slightly by Ezek, 
 xxxvii. 27), according to which Jehovah 
 is to dwell among His people on condition 
 of obedience ; but characteristically His 
 presence is locally associated with the 
 tabernacle. In the use made of the quota- 
 tion, this local hmitation falls away. 
 Wherefore, that is, because the people must 
 be holy, as their Giod is holy, " Come out 
 from among them, and separate your- 
 selves," saith the Lord, and touch no un- 
 clean thing at all (notice present, dirTeade), 
 This is a free citation of Isaiah Hi. 11, in 
 which the prophet appeals to the people, 
 more particularly to the priests as those 
 " who bear the vessels of Jehovah," to go 
 forth from Babylon, being careful to pre- 
 serve their sanctity from pollution by con- 
 tact with ceremonially unclean things. 
 Here again the scope of the quotation is 
 widened ; it is an appeal to abandon all 
 heathen associations, and to preserve them- 
 selves from moral uncleanness. The de- 
 cisiveness of the departure (HeXdare) and 
 of the rupture with their polluted environ- 
 
 ment (a0op.) is well suggested by the 
 aorist, just as the present {airreade) brings 
 out the continual avoidance of contact with 
 unclean things. 
 
 17, 18. But the divine life is not a priva- 
 tion and a negation. If there is a call to 
 separate ourselves from one fellowship, 
 there is also a promise that we shall be 
 adopted into another : and I will receive 
 you — to sonship, as the next clause shows. 
 These words might be a loose reproduction 
 of the idea in Isaiah Iii. 12, but it is more 
 probable that they are a reminiscence of 
 Ezekiel xx. 34, where, in the Septuagint, 
 the very same words occur C'/ za'ill wel- 
 come you out of the countries, wherein ye 
 are scattered"). And I will be to you 
 a father, and as for you (vfj^els) ye shall 
 be to me sons and daughters, saith the 
 Lord Almighty. This passage is modelled 
 on 2 Sam. vii. 14. There it is a divine 
 promise concerning the offspring of David 
 ("I will be his father, and he shall be my 
 son ") ; here it is widened to include all 
 believer^ (ver. 15) who make an absolute 
 break with heathendom — men and 
 zi'omen alike: the addition of and daughters 
 (cf. Isaiah xliii. 6) shows how wide is the 
 sweep of this new society, whose members 
 are brethren and sisters, and whose father 
 is God. The concluding words " saith the 
 Lord Almighty " = " the Lord of Hosts " of 
 the Old Testament), are used in 2 Sam. 
 vii. 8 to introduce the speech from which 
 the last quotation is taken. Coming at the 
 end of this great series of promises, they 
 make a very powerful impression. (}od is 
 the Lord Almighty, the Lord of Hosts, and 
 the infinite resources of which He is mas- 
 ter are a sufficient guarantee for the ful- 
 filment of the promises, daring as they are. 
 
 vii. I. If God has called men to separa- 
 tion, he has also pledged Himself to be 
 their Father, and has called them into a 
 glorious fellowship with His other sons 
 and daughters. The writer's heart is 
 deeply moved, as he thinks of the wonder 
 of those promises ; in the strength of them, 
 it should surely be no hard thing to shake 
 oneself definitely free, once and for all, from 
 all polluting associations, and to move 
 steadily and unreluctantly on in the path 
 of holiness. Seeing then, beloved (for the 
 
168 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 tender word, cf. above ver. ii, "Corin- 
 thians ") that we have promises like 
 THESE (ravras emphatic) let us cleanse 
 ourselves — it is worthy of note that the 
 writer, as a Christian brother, includes 
 himself in his exhortation — from every 
 pollution of flesh and spirit, carrying 
 holiness to completion in the fear of God. 
 As before (see ver. 17) the decisive breach 
 with the things that pollute is suggestively 
 expressed by the aorist {Kadapiau^ixev) ^ and 
 the long continuity of the process of sancti- 
 fication is brought out by the present 
 (iTTireXovvTes) . The moral life is positive 
 as well as negative. It demands not only 
 a cleansing from pollution, but the ceaseless 
 practice of holiness ; and this effort, alike 
 on its negative and its positive side, can only 
 be effectively made in the atmosphere of 
 the fear of God (cf. v. i). 
 
 The genuineness of this whole passage 
 has been frequently and seriously contested. 
 As we have already seen, it can scarcely 
 be denied that it breaks into the context 
 in a rather inexplicable way. It is also 
 maintained that the rhetorical accumula- 
 tion of practically synonymous phrases in 
 verses 14, 15 is quite unlike Paul; still 
 more serious is the obiection that the in- 
 junction to the Corinthians in vii. i to 
 cleanse themselves from every pollution of 
 flesh and spirit is not in the manner of 
 Paul. " In other places," says Bousset 
 (who, however, in spite of the difficulties, 
 decides on the whole for the Pauline au- 
 thorship of the section), "where Paul 
 names flesh and spirit together, he under- 
 stands by flesh the radically sinful sen- 
 suousness, which therefore, in the strict 
 sense, can not be cleansed from pollution ; 
 and by spirit the divine spirit, which is 
 not exposed to the danger of pollution." 
 Professor Denney seems to hit the truth, 
 when he says that though those words " un- 
 doubtedly tend to become technical in his 
 mind, yet words so universally and so 
 vaguely used could never become simply 
 technical. If any contemporary of Paul 
 could have written, ' let us cleanse our- 
 selves from all defilement of flesh and 
 spirit,' then Paul himself could have written 
 it." (Expositor's Bible, 2nd Corinthians, 
 P- 239). 
 
 Every candid scholar feels that the diffi- 
 culties of the passage are serious, but they 
 do not seem to be so overwhelming- as to 
 preclude altogether the possibility of a 
 Pauline origin. The difference in theme 
 between this and the surrounding context 
 
 could be explained by assuming that Paul 
 had been interrupted when he had finished 
 ver. 13, and that something had happened 
 before he resumed his letter which made 
 the introduction of such an appeal apposite. 
 Or he may have added this passage for a 
 similar reason, after re-reading his com- 
 pleted letter. It has also been acutely sug- 
 gested that this passage may have been a 
 fragment of the letter alluded to in i Cor. 
 v. 9. Probably the real truth will never 
 be known. 
 
 Whether Paul's or not, the passage sets 
 before us some of the fundamental truths 
 of the Bible. One is the infinite difference 
 between good and evil, and the impossi- 
 bility of compromise. On this point the 
 teaching of the Bible is very stern and un- 
 mistakable. As in the first Psalm, there 
 are only two classes, the righteous and 
 the^ wicked ; and the infinite difference in 
 their characters will be matched by an in- 
 finite difference in their destinies (Ps. i. 6). 
 The man who thinks he is neutral is really 
 on the wrong side. As Martineau has said, 
 " At first sight, nothing can well appear 
 more unnatural and defiant of all fact than 
 this classification [of men into good and 
 bad, friends and enemies of God]. The 
 moment you attempt to apply it to actual 
 persons, , and to walk through the world 
 parting, as you go, the sheep from the 
 goats, you perceive how little it answers 
 to any apparent reality, and how shocking 
 the effect would be of running it sharply 
 throug-h life." Yet, as he points out, this 
 is a doctrine " which has had the most 
 powerful hold of minds capacious, philo- 
 sophical, harmonious, devout, and has 
 rarely failed to throw its awful shadow 
 across the holiest souls." The difficulty is 
 resolved when we turn " from the outward 
 to the inward look of moral evil." It 
 would be impossible to imagine any kind 
 of compromise between the two great an- 
 tagonists in this awful struggle — "what 
 harmony has Christ with Belial ? " And 
 compromise ought to be just as inconceiv- 
 able between their human representatives, 
 " the believer and the unbeliever." The su- 
 preme duty is to " come out from among 
 them " : he who does not do this, remains 
 with them, and is therefore in practice, 
 whatever he may be in profession, on their 
 side. 
 
 But to those who separate, the reward is 
 exceeding great. They " go out " from 
 Babylon, from heathenism, ;from evil asso- 
 ciations, of whatever kind they be; but 
 they enter into a divine and gracious fel- 
 lowship, into the heavenly family, into the 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 169 
 
 2 Receive us ; we have wronged no 
 man, we have corrupted no man, we have 
 defrauded no man. 
 
 3 I speak not this to condemn you: for 
 
 I have said before, that ye are in our 
 hearts to die and live with you. 
 
 4 Great is my boldness of speech to- 
 ward you, great is my glorying of you : I 
 
 house of God. The contaminating associa- 
 tions are replaced by pure and uplifting 
 relationships, in which it becomes increas- 
 ingly easy to advance on the path of holi- 
 ness. The fear of God is the atmosphere 
 in which the whole life is bathed; and the 
 separation is rewarded with an eternal 
 weight of glory. 
 
 Paul's Affectionate Appeal and Confession 
 (vii. 2-4). 
 
 2. However the previous section (vi, 14- 
 vii. i) is to be explained, it is obvious that 
 this paragraph continues the thought and 
 even the imagery of vi. 11-13. There he 
 had pled that whatever constraint may 
 have existed between the Corinthians and 
 him, it had been altogether on their side, 
 not on his. There was room, ample room, 
 in his heart for them ; and he pled with 
 them to accord him a similar place in their 
 heart. In the same strain he now con- 
 tinues ; make room for us in j^our heart. 
 He deserves this, for he has not wronged 
 any one of them {ovUva) in any way — a 
 very modest claim for the apostle to make, 
 who had spent his strength and risked his 
 life for the gospel's sake. We wronged 
 nobody, we corrupted (or destroyed) no- 
 body, we took advantage of noljody. 
 These accusations had been made against 
 Paul (cf. xii. 17-19), and the energy with 
 which he repudiates the charge is power- 
 fully suggested by these abrupt sentences, 
 with the three fold repetition of ovdiva 
 (no one) : not a man has he wronged or 
 imposed upon. It is difficult to determine 
 precisely what concrete meaning is to be 
 attached to the' words wrong and destroy 
 (or corrupt) — it is very improbable that 
 there is any allusion to corruption through 
 false doctrine. It is more likely that these 
 more general words are to be explained by 
 the more specific irXeoveKrelv (to take advan- 
 tage of), which may well have reference 
 to Paul's earnestness in securing money 
 collections for the Judsean churches (cf. 
 viii. ix.) ; the disaffected may have char- 
 acterized this as extortion (cf. xii. 16, 17). 
 " In many ways unknown to us," says 
 Meyer, " the apostle and his fellow-workers 
 might be charged with thus ruining others. 
 How easily might the severity of his moral 
 demands, his strictness in punishing, his 
 
 zeal in collecting money, his habit of lodging 
 with members of the churches, be vilified 
 by malicious and misguided persons ! " 
 
 3. Pleading as he is for a place in the 
 heart of the Corinthians, Paul is scru- 
 pulously careful to avoid anything that may 
 seem like harshness or censure : so he adds. 
 It is not to condemn you (lit. not with a 
 viezv to condemnation) that I speak — the 
 warmth of his previous words (vi. 11-13) 
 ought already to have convinced them on 
 that score — for I have said before — in 
 vi. II, 12 — that you are in our hearts 
 (cf. Phil. i. 7) to die and live together. 
 The general sense is plain — Paul is indi- 
 cating the profound intimacy which sub- 
 sists between himself and them — but the 
 precise reference is not so plain. Does 
 Paul mean that he is ready to hve and 
 die with them, or they with him? In 
 strict grammar, the latter explanation 
 would seem the more plausible, as you is 
 the subject of the sentence. Paul really 
 means, however, that he has them in his 
 heart, and the concluding phrase may easily 
 mean, that he would be willing to live or 
 die with them. On the whole this is per- 
 haps the more appropriate. The ambiguity 
 of the _ Greek phrase might be thus repro- 
 duced in English : " You are in our hearts, 
 so that we are one (crw) in life and death." 
 Or rather death and life, for it is signifi- 
 cant that death comes first. This may be 
 because Paul regards his life as a continual 
 process of dying (cf. iv. 11, vi. 9) — his 
 dying is a more prominent fact than his 
 living. It has also been suggested, with 
 less probability, that the dying precedes the 
 living, because the reference is to dying 
 with Christ in faith, in order to live with 
 Him (cf. V. 15). 
 
 4. The affectionate nature of Paul 
 shines through his eager words. He is in 
 no mood to condemn the Corinthians (ver. 
 3). He is proud of them, he boasts of 
 them: their conduct in the matter he is 
 now about to discuss has not only com- 
 forted him, it has made him very happy. 
 Notice the rhythm into which his sentences 
 fall (woWri fioi . . . TToWrj fiot . . . ; 
 ■KeTr\r)pu}(jiai . . . virepwepLaaevofjiaL) . Great 
 is my confidence in (lit. in relation to, 
 ■n-pos) you (in such a context Trapp-rjala can 
 hardly mean " liberty of speech ") ; and his 
 confidence is not ashamed to express itself 
 — great is my boasting on your behalf. 
 
170 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 am filled with comfort, I am exceeding 
 joyful in all our tribulation. 
 
 5 For, when we were come into Mace- 
 donia, our flesh had no rest, but we were 
 troubled on every side ; without were fight- 
 ings, within zvcre fears. 
 
 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth 
 
 those that are cast down, comforted us by 
 the coming of Titus ; 
 
 7 And not by his coming only, but by 
 the consolation wherewith he was com- 
 forted in you, when he told us your earnest 
 desire, your mourning, your fervent mind 
 toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 
 
 I am filled (was then, and am still: perf.) 
 with comfort, and not only with comfort, 
 but with abounding joy, I experience an 
 overflowing joy, amid all this affliction 
 of ours. The transition from the first 
 pers. plur. (ver. 2) to the sing, in 3, 4 
 suggests that we have here a peculiarly in- 
 timate and personal confession of feeling. 
 The occasion of this comfort and happiness 
 becomes clear in the next paragraph. 
 
 Titus and His Comforting News (vii. 5- 
 12). 
 
 Paul now writes with great interest and 
 particularity of the '* distress " to which he 
 has just alluded, and of the manner in 
 which he had been comforted. He was 
 anxious about his converts, especially 
 anxious about the impression made upon 
 them by his letter deahng with the case of 
 the incestuous man. It had certainly vexed 
 them, but had it done more? had it borne 
 fruit? On all these points his mind had 
 been put at rest by the coming of Titus, 
 who brought news very much more reas- 
 suring than Paul had dared to expect. 
 
 5. In ii. 12, 13, we were informed of the 
 restless anxiety by which Paul was con- 
 sumed at Troas, where he had been dis- 
 appointed at not finding Titus. With this 
 restlessness in his heart, he had started for 
 Macedonia, and there it was only relieved 
 by the coming of Titus — or, as Paul puts 
 it, God comforted him by the coming of 
 Titus. For, not only in Troas (ii. 12), 
 but also after we had come to Macedonia 
 and were again among Christian friends 
 and churches, even then our flesh {i.e. 
 " our poor human nature ") had no rest 
 (the perfect, ecrxv'i^i', vividly expresses the 
 continuity of the unrest, up to that mo- 
 ment: the aorist, 'ecrx^^, is also read by 
 some MSS.) In ii. 13, it is his spirit that 
 is said to have had no rest, here his flesh: 
 there is little practical difference between 
 the two statements, except that the former 
 is more inner than the latter. Flesh sug- 
 gests human nature, on the side of its 
 weakness and frailty. But in every direc- 
 tion (we were) afflicted: the distress was 
 both external and inzcard — battles with- 
 
 out against adversaries, of whom so earnest 
 and daring a man would have no lack, 
 and fears within — fears for the spiritual 
 condition of his converts, for their attitude 
 tc vards his letter, etc. These abrupt pairs 
 of words, without verb or connecting par- 
 ticle, are very impressive. 
 
 6. But his distress was relieved by the 
 coming of Titus, and the coming of Titus 
 was itself the gift of God. It was no 
 accident, but a divine providence, a divine 
 consolation. The real comforter was not 
 Titus, but God. The opening passage in 
 the epistle (i. 3ff.) had dwelt much upon 
 the divine consolation experienced by the 
 apostle in all his affliction, and the passage 
 we are now considering furnishes us with 
 a vivid concrete instance of it ; for He 
 who comforts the downcast (this, rather 
 than lozvly, humble, is the meaning of 
 Tairetvovs here) — no less than GOD Him- 
 self — comforted us by the coming of 
 Titus: strictly in (^f), the coming was 
 the element in which the consolation was 
 manifested: the word (Trapovaia) is the 
 same as that used for the coming (pres- 
 ence) of Christ. How much the coming of 
 Titus meant to Paul at this juncture, and 
 how directly he regarded it as an expres- 
 sion of the divine goodness to him, we have 
 already seen in ii. 14 fif. where the very 
 thought of it inspires him to a sudden 
 burst of grateful praise. 
 
 7. But it was not merely the sight of 
 Titus' face that comforted him, welcome 
 though that would be, but the reassuring 
 message which Titus brought of the Co- 
 rinthian situation — of their penitent grief, 
 of their zealous interest in Paul and their 
 fidelity to his instructions. And God com- 
 forted us not by his coming only, but 
 also by the comfort which he himself 
 received from you (lit. "the comfort with 
 which he was comforted in respect of you, 
 in your case"). Titus passes on to Paul 
 the comfort which he had himself expe- 
 rienced when he saw the changed spir- 
 itual condition of the Corinthian church. 
 Titus' nczi's comforted Paul, as he 
 told us the story {hres. ptc. dvayyeWcor) 
 of YOUR longing to sec me, of YOUR 
 mourning at the irregularities in the 
 church and at your toleration of the offen- 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 171 
 
 8 For though I made you sorry with a 
 letter, I do not repent, though I did re- 
 pent : for I perceive that the same epistle 
 Hath made you sorry, though it were but 
 for a season. 
 
 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made 
 sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance : 
 
 for ye were made sorry after a godly man- 
 ner, that ye might receive damage by us in 
 nothing. 
 
 ID For godly sorrow worketh repent- 
 ance to salvation not to be repented of: 
 but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 
 
 der (cf. I Cor. v.), and of YOUR zeal on 
 my behalf, your earnest desire to obey me 
 and maintain my authority : so that, by the 
 story Titus had to tell me, I was made 
 (even) more glad than by his mere visit, 
 glad as that made me. You (vfiojv) thrice 
 repeated, is in latent contrast to the de- 
 sire, sorrow and zeal which Paul had 
 shown on their behalf. A response is now 
 forthcoming from them. 
 
 8. Paul now reverts definitely and ex- 
 plicitly to the subject of the letter (appar- 
 ently I Corinthians ; and, for the specific 
 incident, cf. i Cor. v), which he had rea- 
 son to fear might have merely vexed the 
 Corinthian church, without producing the 
 spiritual results which he intended it to 
 produce. For, though I grieved you in 
 the letter which I wrote — the first epistle 
 certainly contains some severe writing, 
 which may well have humiliated and 
 grieved the proud Corinthians — I do not 
 regret it. A. V. takes the next clause e^ 
 Kai /x€T€/u.eX6/ji7]v with this one — " I do not 
 repent, though I did repent." It seems 
 much better with A. R. V. to take it with 
 the following clause, where it makes a 
 telHng contrast to J^vv xat'pw, " now I am 
 glad." Though I WAS inclined to regret 
 it (this appears to be the delicate shade 
 of meaning implied by the imperfect terse) 
 — for, he adds parenthetically, I see, from 
 the news Titus has brought me, that that 
 letter grieved you, though but for a sea- 
 son — NOW that I know the whole truth, 
 I am glad {x^<-P<^, cf. x^-privai, ver. 7). 
 The reading in ver. 8 is uncertain, but the 
 general sense is not affected. Some MSS. 
 (followed by Westcott and Hort) omit 
 7«P after jSXeTrw — simply "I see that . . ." 
 Westcott and Hort go further and suggest 
 that jQXeTTw is " probably a primitive error " 
 for fiXeircov (partic.) — "though I repented, 
 seeing that that letter grieved you." But 
 the impression created by the parenthesis 
 of the ordinary text is much more lively. 
 
 9. Of course Paul is not glad that they 
 were grieved : to one who in life and death 
 was one with his converts (ver. 3), the 
 grief of his converts would be a grief to 
 him. It is the fact that their grief bears 
 spiritual fruit, and issues in (et's) a change 
 of mental (fierdpoiav) and spiritual atti- 
 
 tude, that rejoices his heart. I am glad 
 not because you were grieved, but be- 
 cause your grief issued in repentance. 
 
 Their grief was not barren, but fruitful, 
 because it took God into account, it was 
 in accordance with the divine will, it con- 
 sidered the situation in relation to God 
 (Kara Qeop) ; for you were grieved in a 
 godly manner, that in no respect might 
 you suffer loss, in particular, in regard 
 to your salvation (ver. 10) from us. Again 
 we find the same modest understatement 
 as in ver. 2. The divine object (iVa) of 
 their godly sorrow Paul represents as that 
 they might suffer no loss from him, such 
 as they would have suffered had their sor- 
 row been of a worldly nature : in point of 
 fact, not only no loss, but the profoundest 
 gain — as he proceeds to show in verses 
 10, ii_ — had come to them through Paul 
 and his stern and candid letter. 
 
 10. He now contrasts the sorrow which 
 they felt, blessedly issuing as it did in 
 repentance and salvation, with that other 
 sorrow, which he had feared was all they 
 felt — that spiritually barren sorrow, which 
 issues in despair and death. For godly 
 grief — the sorrow which relates itself to 
 God — works, effects, repentance which 
 issues in (e/s) salvation that is not to be 
 regretted. It is very difficult to say 
 whether the last adjective (d/xeTafieXrjTov) 
 should be taken with the word repentance 
 or salvation: so far as the order of the 
 M^ords is concerned, either would be pos- 
 sible and normal to Greek usage. A. V. 
 suggests a play upon the words which is 
 very familiar in Greek — "repentance to 
 salvation not to be repented of" — appar- 
 ently a repentance which would never 
 need to be repented of. But this play is 
 not suggested by the Greek, which uses 
 two different words — ixerdvoLav^ dfxeTafj.€Xr]TOV, 
 On the other hand, " not to be repented 
 of " might seem a somewhat tame epithet 
 to apply to salvation ; but such understate- 
 ments are common and frequently expres- 
 sive — cf. "a citizen of no mean city," — 
 hence a salvation which no one will ever 
 regret having attained, however hard to 
 reach, and however dearly bought (see 
 citation in Alford). On the whole, how- 
 ever, it seems more appropriate to connect 
 
172 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 II For behold this selfsame thing, that 
 ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what care- 
 fulness it wrought in you, yea, what clear- 
 ing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, 
 yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, 
 yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge ! In all 
 
 things ye have approved yourselves to be 
 clear in this matter. 
 
 12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, 
 I did it not for his cause that had done the 
 wrong, nor for his cause that suffered 
 wrong, but that our care for you in the 
 sight of God might appear unto you. 
 
 the adjective with the word "repentance." 
 But the grief of the world works out, 
 results in, death. The grief of the world 
 is such as is felt by those who belong to 
 the world, and not to the kingdom of God 
 — grief in which the thought of God is 
 not present, grief which is not Kara Qeov, 
 which has no relation to God, grief which 
 thinks only of its own humiliation, and 
 which is not accepted as discipline (xii. 21) 
 and as a means of spiritual progress. Such 
 grief, having no outlook upon God and 
 hope, can only consume, wither, deaden 
 the soul, bring it to despair and death: 
 salvation is impossible. 
 
 II. In corroboration of what he has 
 just said about the effect of godly grief, 
 he appeals to their own recent experience. 
 It was this very thing {avro tovto) and 
 not something else, that produced the mar- 
 velous change in the Corinthians which he 
 proceeds to describe in detail. For see! 
 ■ — they cannot deny the evidence of their 
 own eyes — this very thing, your godly 
 grief, I mean — what earnestness it 
 wrought for you, so unlike your previous 
 indifference; nay, not only earnestness, but 
 (dXXa) also what self-vindication, as you 
 maintained your innocence before Titus, in 
 the matter of the transgressor (i Cor. v.) : 
 nay, not only self-vindication, but indigna- 
 tion at the transgressor ; nay, not only in- 
 dignation, but alarm, lest, if the situation 
 should not improve, " I should come with 
 a rod" (i Cor. iv. 21); nay, not only 
 alarm, but longing for me to come; nay, 
 not only longing for me, but zeal against 
 the offender; nay, a zeal which was not 
 a mere unproductive emotion, but which 
 expressed itself in the infliction of just 
 punishment. With characteristic gener- 
 osity Paul here says nothing of their former 
 indifference (i Cor. v. 2, 6) to their 
 brother's disgrace, which had pained him 
 so much, and evoked from him some very 
 stern words : there had at least been no 
 positive participation on their part, and 
 Paul, in the exuberance of his joy at their 
 fruitful repentance, is content to say that 
 they have " approved themselves in cirry- 
 thing." In everything you commended 
 yourselves, and showed yourselves to be 
 pure in the matter — the disgraceful mat- 
 
 ter to which Paul does not wish to allude 
 more specifically (tw Trpdy/xaTi), 
 
 12. Paul admirably concludes (apa) this 
 description of the effect of his letter upon 
 the Corinthians with the assertion that the 
 real object of that letter was that they 
 might learn how much they cared for him. 
 They did not properly know this till their 
 practical response to his letter had revealed 
 ((papepcodij vai) it to them. Certainly one of 
 the objects of that letter had been to have 
 the " wrong-doer " solemnly condemned ( i 
 Cor. v. 3-5), but this was for the church's 
 sake (i Cor. v. 7) as well as for his own: 
 the great object of the letter, however, de- 
 signed by Providence if not by Paul, could 
 only be read in the sequel, which revealed in 
 them an earnest loyalty to him deeper than 
 they had dreamed of. So then, though I 
 did write to you (it was) not for the sake 
 of the incestuous man that did the wrong, 
 nor yet for the sake of him, the father, 
 that suffered the wrong, but that your 
 earnestness on our behalf might be made 
 plain among you (irpos, not "to you") 
 in the sight of God, in whose presence, 
 when men are conscious of it, only sincere 
 conduct is possible (iv. 2). Some I\ISS. 
 (followed by A. V.) read tv^' (nrov8r]p rj/idv 
 TT]v virep v/Awj/, " our care for you." This 
 is commonplace ; the other is much more 
 subtle and delicate, and quite in the skilful 
 conciliatory vein that runs through the 
 whole paragraph. That is why we have 
 been comforted, because the object of the 
 letter, as just defined, has been attained. 
 
 The Joy of Titus at the News He Brought 
 (vii. 13-16). 
 
 The news of the changed situation in 
 Corinth, which had so comforted and glad- 
 dened Paul (vv. 6, 7) had been brought 
 to him by Titus : in a few additional words 
 he lets the Corinthians feel how much that 
 news had meant to Titus, as well as to him- 
 self. Titus, too, had been refreshed and 
 cheered by what he had seen in Corinth, 
 and his heart went out to the people, as he 
 thought of the welcome they had extended 
 to him. It was the more important for 
 Paul to reassure the Corinthians of the 
 
Ch. VII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 173 
 
 13 Therefore we were comforted in 
 your comfort : yea, and exceedingly the 
 more joyed we for the joy of Titus, be- 
 cause his spirit was refreshed by you all. 
 
 14 For if I have boasted any thing to 
 him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we 
 spake all things to you in truth, even so 
 
 our boasting, which I made before Titus, 
 is found a truth. 
 
 15 And his inward affection is more 
 abundant toward you, whilst he remem- 
 bereth the obedience of you all, how with 
 fear and trembhng ye received him. 
 
 16 I rejoice therefore that I have con- 
 fidence in you in all things. 
 
 great place they had in the heart of Titus, 
 as he was returning to Corinth in connec- 
 tion with the collection to be discussed in 
 the next two chapters (viii. 6, 16, 23). 
 
 13. Paul has just spoken of the com- 
 fort he had experienced at the successful 
 issue of his letter. But there was more 
 than comfort, there was delight. Paul re- 
 joiced with those who rejoiced, and the 
 manifest happiness of Titus, as he came 
 back with his good news, had provoked 
 Paul also to happiness, indeed to a trans- 
 port which he can only describe by the 
 somewhat unusual device of two compara- 
 tive adverbs (Trepto-o-ore'/aws /xdWop) , And 
 in addition to (or possibly simply in) our 
 comfort, we were made the more exceed- 
 ingly glad by the gladness of Titus — 
 his gladness being because refreshment 
 (dvaireiravTai comes first, and is emphatic) 
 
 has come to his spirit from all of you 
 (dTTo, from: they are the source of the 
 refreshing). Titus may well have started 
 for Corinth with misgivings, but he found 
 there a reception as unanimous (■jrdi'Tujp) 
 as it was surprising. It is his spirit that 
 was refreshed, just as it was Paul's spirit 
 (ii. 13; fiesh, vii. 5) that was troubled. 
 
 14. Despite the strained relations be- 
 tween Paul and the Corinthians — on their 
 part at least, though not on his (vi. 11- 
 13) — he yet believed in them, and was 
 not afraid even to boast of them to Titus — 
 (cf. ix. 2, where he boasts of their lib- 
 erality). Paul's confidence may have 
 helped to allay Titus's misgivings, when he 
 started ; and Paul relates here with evident 
 pleasure that his confidence in the Corin- 
 thians had been more than justified by their 
 treatment of his emissary. He had spoken 
 the truth, as indeed he always speaks the 
 truth. For if I have made any boast to 
 him about you, I was not ashamed — you 
 showed the qualities which I had told Titus 
 you would show. On the contrary, so far 
 from having any occasion to be ashamed, 
 this boasting of mine about you (some 
 MSS. read ^(^(^v — this boasting about you) 
 "before Titus proved true, just as all my 
 words to you were true. The apostle 
 cannot help glancing here at the charge of 
 ambiguity and insincerity, which seems to 
 
 have vexed him deeply (i. 16-18, ii. 17, 
 iv. 2). He had spoken the truth about 
 them — Titus can certify to that: he gently 
 reminds them that all his words to them 
 (the reference is not to his teaching) were 
 just as true as his commendation of them. 
 
 15, 16. And Titus is as happy as I am. 
 His heart (airXdyxva, cf. vi. 12) goes out 
 to (lit. is towards) you the more abun- 
 dantly, as he recalls the obedience of you 
 all (to the message sent by Paul) — how 
 with fear and trembling you welcomed 
 him. These words might be taken hterally, 
 as the message was a stern one, involving 
 a solemn condemnation of the evil-doer (i 
 Cor. V. 3-5) ; but they may imply no more 
 than that high and scrupulous seriousness 
 with which the relations between a people 
 and its minister (or, as here, his representa- 
 tive) should be sustained. Here, as before 
 (ver. 13) the respect and welcome offered 
 by the Corinthians to Titus are unanimous 
 (irdyrup)^ and, for the moment, Paul's cup 
 of happiness is full : I am glad that in 
 every respect I am of good confidence 
 through you — not "I am confident in 
 you," but " I am confident, courageous, and 
 this feeling of mine reposes in (ev) you — 
 you are the source of my confidence." 
 Courage was one of Paul's watchwords (v. 
 6, 8), and he pays his Corinthian converts 
 a great compliment in regarding them as 
 the inspiration of his confidence. Stanley 
 gives the sense well — " I am bold through 
 your encouragement." 
 
 This whole chapter (together with vi. 11- 
 13) is an interesting revelation of Paul's 
 large humanitv, and of his great capacity 
 for, and need of, friendship. The joy that 
 shines upon the face of Titus is reflected 
 upon the face of Paul. He is comforted 
 by the sight of him (ver. 6) ; he is made 
 happy by the story he brings of the fine 
 Christian feeling displayed by his distant 
 Corinthian friends. He cannot bear to 
 think that there is any misunderstanding or 
 estrangement ; it is a deep necessity of his 
 nature that they make room for him in their 
 hearts (ver. 2) ; they are in his heart for 
 life and death (ver. 3). 
 
174 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VII 
 
 And though their errors had been neither 
 few nor trivial, he frankly recognizes their 
 admirable qualities, even when the tension 
 was keen ; and he speaks of them to his 
 friend Titus with pride, knowing that his 
 confidence in them will not be put to shame. 
 He is vexed when they are vexed; but 
 he is too true a friend to say Peace, when 
 there is no peace. It is his duty to write 
 the letter which will grieve them, but he 
 writes it, in the faith that it will bring them 
 to a better mind; and he can hardly find 
 words to express the consolation and the 
 happiness with which his soul was flooded 
 
 at the news of their Christian reception of 
 Titus and their obedience to his message. 
 The words comfort and joy chase each other 
 throughout the paragraph. One can feel 
 the passion of the friend and the orator 
 beating behind the swift and breathless 
 references to their longing, their tears, their 
 zeal, their earnestness, their self-vindica- 
 tion, their indignation, their terror. They 
 are the impassioned words of one who 
 loved the men to whom he preached, of 
 one who felt that he was indebted to them 
 for no small measure of his happiness and 
 courage. 
 
176 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 COLLECTION FOR THE POOR AT JERUSALEM (viii.-ix) 
 
 CHAPTER 8. 
 
 I Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit 
 of the grace of God bestowed on the 
 
 churches of Macedonia ; 
 
 2 How that in a great trial of affliction, 
 the abundance of their joy and their deep 
 poverty abounded unto the riches of their 
 liberality. 
 
 Paul now addresses himself to the ques- 
 tion of the collection for the poor at Jeru- 
 salem, and his treatment of this question 
 is so full as to justify us in regarding 
 these chapters as constituting one of the 
 great divisions of the epistle. Paul had 
 good reason for regarding this collection as 
 a matter of peculiar importance. He rec- 
 ognized that the attitude of the Corinthians 
 to it would be no unfair test of their re- 
 ligion : it would show how well they had 
 learned the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 who, though He was rich, yet for their 
 sakes, had become poor (ver. 9). But, 
 apart from this, Paul had been commis- 
 sioned by the leaders of the Jerusalem 
 church, when they gave him the right hand 
 of fellowship and acknowledged him as 
 missionary to the Gentiles, to " remember 
 the poor," and this naturally he was 
 "zealous to do" (Gal. ii. 10). The im- 
 portance of the subject to Paul justifies 
 his relatively elaborate treatment of it, and 
 the Christian wisdom and tact with which 
 he handled men and affairs are nowhere 
 more conspicuous than in this discussion. 
 
 The Example of the Macedonian Churches 
 (viii. 1-7). 
 
 I. The passage opens skilfully. Paul is 
 about to appeal to the liberality of the 
 Corinthians, to urge upon them to show 
 themselves as strong in this virtue as they 
 were in others (ver. 7) ; he has already 
 prepared the way by expressing, at the end 
 of the last chapter, his joy and confidence 
 in them. Noblesse oblige; they cannot af- 
 ford to disappoint the confidence which 
 their own noble conduct has raised in the 
 bosom of the apostle (vii. 15). Of course 
 he has arguments to advance — the exam- 
 ple of the impoverished Corinthians, most 
 of all the example of Jesus ; but before 
 he starts the discussion at all, he lets them 
 feel that he is conscious of dealing with 
 men, who have already gladdened his heart 
 and raised his hopes high. Thus illiberal 
 objections are almost disarmed by antici- 
 pation, especially as he addresses them 
 
 afifectionately as brethren. Now (5e starts 
 a new subject), brethren, we should like 
 to inform you of the grace of God. 
 He is about to speak of money, but he 
 never once mentions it : it would even 
 seem as if he deliberately avoided the word. 
 He lets the light of religion play about it, 
 and in that light it is transfigured. If 
 men give, it is of the grace of God, who 
 has endowed them at once with the power 
 and the desire to give. So the liberality 
 of the Macedonians Paul characteristically 
 describes not so much as their gift to the 
 Jerusalem poor, but as God's gift to them; 
 given in (or among: practically almost 
 equal to to) the churches of Macedonia, 
 such as Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, 
 which Paul had visited (Acts xvi. xvii). 
 In ascribing the Macedonian liberality to 
 the grace of God, Paul makes it plain 
 that he has no desire to praise the Mace- 
 donians at the expense of the Corinthians ; 
 it is God who work-eth in them (Phil. ii. 
 
 2. The divine grace bestowed upon the 
 Macedonians was manifest in this that, 
 sorely put to the test as they were by 
 affliction, so far were they from repining 
 or succumbing that they rejoiced — they 
 triumphantly stood the test of affliction: 
 and the abundance of their joy and their 
 deep (lit. reaching doi^'n to the depth) 
 poverty abounded and overflowed into a 
 stream of liberality, — here effectively de- 
 scribed, in contrast with their poverty, as 
 the RICHES of their liberaHty. Besides 
 the general poverty from which Macedonia 
 was suffering at that period, partly as the 
 result of the Roman civil wars, the Chris- 
 tians M^ould be subjected to special perse- 
 cution (i Thes. ii. 14 i., cf. Acts xvi. 20); 
 but in (ev) it their joy abounded; and, 
 poor as they were, they expressed it in a 
 zueallhy liberality. The thing was so re- 
 markable that the language takes the form 
 of paradox ; notice, too, the repetition of 
 the strong word abound. Their airXorris 
 (simplicity; then, simple liberality) was the 
 combined result (els) of their joy and their 
 poverty; like the widow's mite (Luke xxi. 
 3 f.). Her poverty too was deep (/card 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 177 
 
 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, 
 and beyond their power they were willing 
 of themselves ; 
 
 4 Praying us with much entreaty that 
 we would receive the gift, and take upon 
 us the fellowship of ministering to the 
 saints. 
 
 5 And this they did, not as we hoped, 
 
 but first gave their own selves to the Lord, 
 and unto us by the will of God. 
 
 6 Insomuch that we desired Titus, that 
 as he had begun, so he would also finish 
 in you the same grace also. 
 
 7 Therefore, as ye abound in every 
 thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowl- 
 edge, and in all diligence, and in your love 
 to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 
 
 ^ddovs), but her Hberality was abundant — 
 she " cast in more than they all." 
 
 3, 4. How eager and energetic the 
 Macedonian liberahty was we see from the 
 following breathless sentences (verses 3- 
 5). For according to their power, I bear 
 witness, yes, and beyond their power, 
 they gave of their own accord — not only 
 without solicitation from us, but actually 
 soliciting us with much entreaty for the 
 privilege of sharing in the ministration 
 to the saints (lit. for the grace [or favour] 
 and fellowship [or participation] in minis- 
 tering etc.). To the Macedonian alacrity 
 the hesitation of the rich young man forms 
 a pathetic contrast (Mat. xix. 16 f.). The 
 same word x^pis is here used as in ver. i ; 
 their gift to others is, in another aspect, 
 God's gift to them. The construction is 
 somewhat obscure : probably the words 
 " grace " and " fellowship " are governed 
 by the idea of edo:Kav (gave) which follows 
 in ver. 5 ; though grammatically, their gov- 
 ernment by deofievoL (beseeching) is not ab- 
 solutely excluded : in either case, the essen- 
 tial meaning is as above. There was more 
 than spontaneity (avOalpeToi) on the part 
 of the Macedonians, there was enthusiasm ; 
 they counted giving as a privilege — espe- 
 cially giving to the saints, distant though 
 they were, for they were brethren in Christ 
 — and they were so eager to secure this 
 privilege that they actually begged for it 
 earnestly, Paul perhaps being at first un- 
 willing to take much from men so poor. 
 They gave of their own accord, that is, 
 without human solicitation, but the divine 
 will was acting on their wills (ver. 5). 
 (The words de^aadat rifxas, " that we would 
 receive (the gift)" A. V. are not found 
 in the great MSS. : they are simply a gloss, 
 and are rightly omitted in A. R. V.). 
 
 5, 6. And their giving was not as we 
 had expected — from poor and persecuted 
 people not much was to be expected — 
 but they gave THEMSELVES to the 
 Lord first and to us His ministers ; and the 
 impulse to this exuberant and self-denying 
 liberality came, as it only could come, 
 through the will of God. His was the will 
 that touched their wills and inspired them 
 
 to give so lavishly out of their poverty. 
 The idea is not that they gave, first them- 
 selves, and then their money, but that they 
 had poured themselves into their gift. 
 They had made the great renunciation of 
 self : consequently, with their resources they 
 served not themselves, but the Lord. Stan- 
 ley and Bernard, however, take the refer- 
 ence to be " the devotion of personal service 
 in the work of spreading the gospel, such 
 as was given by Sopater of Beroea, Aris- 
 tarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica 
 (Acts XX. 4) and Epaphroditus of Philippi 
 (Phil. ii. 25)";— they gave "not merely 
 their money, but ' themselves ' to his service 
 as constant companions." And the result 
 or effect («s to ...) of their unselfish 
 generosity was that we urged upon Titus 
 that, as he had made a beginning before 
 with the collection, during his former stay 
 at Corinth, so he should also go on to 
 complete among you («'? vij^cls, lit. "in 
 regard of you " : his activity was to be di- 
 rected tozcards them) this grace of lib- 
 erality also (xapts, cf. note on vers, i and 
 3). The grace of Hberality is not here 
 contrasted, as in ver. 7, with other graces, 
 e.g. zeal and repentance (vii. 11, 13 f.); 
 the Kai refers not to this grace, as opposed 
 to others, but to the whole clause : besides 
 the other Avork which Titus had to do, he 
 was also to attend to this. 
 
 7. But enough of this: Paul breaks off 
 the appeal to the Macedonian example, and 
 throws them, as it were upon their honor. 
 Men whose other graces were so conspic- 
 uous, will surely not fail in the grace of 
 liberality. As ye abound in EVERY- 
 THING — faith, utterance, knowledge, 
 earnestness of every kind, your love to 
 me (lit. rising from you, and reposing in 
 me, as its object) — (see) that ye abound 
 in this grace also. In the last clause 
 there is an elhpse of some such verb as 
 " see," " I entreat you " ; probably the in- 
 fluence of_ irapaKoXeaai (exhort) in ver. 6 
 is unconsciously felt. Instead of ttj i^ vi.(.u)v 
 kv riixlv dydirr], Westcott and Hort read r. 
 e| rj/xcav ev vfxlv ay, (my love to you) ; but 
 to regard Paul's love for the Corinthians 
 as a grace of theirs, is distinctly artificial. 
 
178 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 8 I speak not by commandment, but by 
 occasion of the forwardness of others, and 
 to prove the sincerity 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 poor, that ye 
 through his poverty might be rich. 
 
 The context demands the mention of a gift 
 which they themselves exercise, compara- 
 ble to faith, utterance, etc. : hence " your 
 love to me." These words of Paul are not 
 an idle compliment. In point of fact, the 
 Corinthians did .possess these graces: the 
 first epistle opens with a grateful acknowl- 
 edgment to God that this is so (i Cor. i. 4, 
 5: cf. xii.). And Paul, with his keen 
 knowledge of human nature, commends 
 them for this in order to stimulate them 
 to something harder still. But one can 
 hardly fail to detect, beneath the praise, a 
 gentle note of irony. They abounded in 
 everything, in spiritual gifts of no mean 
 order ; but what of their attitude to ma- 
 terial things? were they ready to make a 
 Christian use of money f They had many 
 graces ; had they grace enough to part with 
 their money in the interest of their needy 
 brethren in a distant land? Paul's is an 
 eminently practical gospel, which does not 
 lose itself in speculation, but which bravely 
 faces the tests and demands of ordinary 
 life. 
 
 Another Plea for Liberality (viii. 8-15). 
 
 8. The Macedonian example was won- 
 derful. Deep as was their poverty, they 
 yet begged for the privilege of giving, and 
 their generosity surpassed all reasonable 
 hopes. But there was another example 
 higher still, that of " our Lord Jesus 
 Christ;" and incidentally Paul illumines the 
 whole question of Christian giving, by let- 
 ting the light of that radiant Example fall 
 upon it. This is the plea he prefers ; for he 
 fears even the appearance of being dicta- 
 torial in a matter of this kind. It is not 
 by way of command that I speak; if he 
 has mentioned the example of the Mace- 
 donians, it is simply because this will enable 
 him to test the sincerity of their love to 
 their distant brethren in Christ. But by 
 holding forth before you the earnestness of 
 OTHERS, I am (supply Xe'Tw) testing the 
 sincerity of YOUR love also. The exam- 
 ple of the Macedonian earnestness is the 
 means by zvhich {^<-o- with genitive) the 
 sincerity of the Corinthians is tested. 
 erepcjv (others) and iffierepas (your) are 
 emphatic. 
 
 9. Paul has no desire to command the 
 Corinthians to go and do likewise. Nor 
 
 has he any need ; for they have the peren- 
 nial inspiration of the supreme Example. 
 Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 (Christ) — the grace manifested bv Him, 
 and which showed itself in this that for 
 YOUR sakes He became poor, though 
 He was rich, in order that YOU, through 
 HIS poverty, might become rich. It is 
 very significant of the grandeur of the 
 thoughts by which Paul was habitually 
 haunted, that he introduces this great ut- 
 terance quite incidentally as a reason for 
 his not urging the Corinthians to liberality 
 in a tone of command. The great example 
 of Jesus ought to be a sufficient stimulus 
 to those who believe in Him. In the 
 w^ords being rich Paul is clearly thinking 
 of the pre-existent Christ, and the riches 
 are the glory which He had with the 
 Father "before the world was" (John xvii. 
 5). The classic elaboration of the thought 
 here simply presented is the great passage 
 in Phil. ii. 6-8. The word i-rrTuxeixre, while 
 grammatically it might refer to the poverty 
 of Christ's earthly life, much more natu- 
 rally refers to His entrance upon that life, 
 to His " taking the form of a servant." 
 The incarnation is the supreme manifesta- 
 tion of " grace," and the incomparable in- 
 centive to liberality. How far removed 
 this doctrine is from being an abstraction 
 to Paul is shown by the altogether nat- 
 ural and even incidental way in which it 
 is introduced as the great motive to lib- 
 erahty ; and almost more by the very per- 
 sonal turn the statement of that doctrine 
 takes : " Christ, being rich, became poor, 
 not merely for the w^hole world, but for 
 you Corinthians." The impact of the doc- 
 trine is definite and particular, it is a 
 Corinthian affair; Christ, being rich, be- 
 came poor, " that you, through His pov- 
 erty, might become rich " with the heav- 
 enly riches, e.g. reconciliation to God 
 which comes through Christ (v. 18) liberty 
 (iii. 18), life (iv. 11). You (vfj-els) and 
 His (eKeivov) are very emphatic. Christ 
 and the incarnation furnish the most over- 
 whelming exhibition of " grace," to a 
 Christian the greatest conceivable inspira- 
 tion to liberality; but this last clause sug- 
 gests, though it does not directly state. 
 that Christ is more than an example : the 
 wealth that He brings us. is only ours in 
 Him. He is the source of the liberal life 
 as well as its pattern. 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 179 
 
 10 And herein I give my advice : for 
 this is expedient for you, who have begun 
 before, not only to do, but also to be for- 
 ward a year ago. 
 
 11 Now therefore perform the doing of 
 it; that as there was a readiness to will, so 
 there may he a performance also out of that 
 which ye have. 
 
 12 For if there be first a willing mind, 
 it is accepted according to that a man hath, 
 and not according to that he hath not. 
 
 13 For I mean not that other men be 
 eased, and ye burdened : 
 
 14 But by an equality, that now at this 
 time your abundance may be a supply for 
 their want, that their abundance also may 
 be a supply for your want ; but there may 
 be equality: 
 
 15 As it is written. He that had gath- 
 ered much had nothing over ; and he that 
 had gathered little had no lack. 
 
 10, II. However, it is only an opinion, 
 not a command (ver. 8) that I give in 
 this matter. His sentence points back to 
 ver. 8, showing conclusively that the great 
 utterance in ver. 9 is quite parenthetical. 
 For this is for your good, seeing that 
 not only in the matter of doing but also 
 of willing you made a beginning last 
 year before the Macedonians (cf. i Cor. 
 xvi. i). ''This is expedient for you:" 
 what? Perhaps that Paul offers them an 
 opinion, rather than a command — for peo- 
 ple who had shown themselves so eager in 
 willing and doing, the tone of command 
 would be unseemly; but more probably this 
 refers to the grace of liberality in which 
 they are to abound (ver. 7). Let them 
 continue as they had begun. Much doubt 
 hangs over the interpretation of the phrase 
 " not only to do, but also to will." As the 
 will must precede the deed, the reverse 
 order would seem the more natural, and 
 is indeed read by the Syriac version (not 
 only to will, but to do). With the present 
 order, OeXeiv has been interpreted as " to 
 be willing to do," and the sentence would 
 run " not only to do, but to do it willingly." 
 The word, however, cannot bear that mean- 
 ing. Heinrici explains it as a climax point- 
 inp" backwards ; " you were before the 
 Macedonians not only in carrying out the 
 collection, but also in desiring it" (note 
 the difference between the present OeXeLv, 
 and the aorist Troiijaai), That the subject 
 of the collection was already in their minds 
 is shown by. their question which Paul 
 answers in i Cor. xvi. i ff. Bousset sug- 
 gests (without, however, any textual war- 
 rant), that the original meaning was: 
 " not indeed with the doing, but at any 
 rate with the willing." It is difficult to 
 see how so simple and natural a reading 
 could ever have been transformed into our 
 present text; but_ there can be no doubt 
 that, besides making good sense in itself, 
 it joins admirably to the following sen- 
 tence. But now, seeing that you were first 
 in willing, go on to complete the doing 
 also — crown (eTrt) the will with the deed 
 
 — that, as the readiness to will (was 
 there), there may also be the comple- 
 tion according to (your) means (not, as 
 A. V. "out of that which ye have"). En- 
 thusiasm is worth little, especially to 
 starving men, unless it accomplishes some- 
 thing. 
 
 12. But Paul is ever reasonable and 
 practical. The gift is to be in proportion 
 to the means of the giver, li men give 
 "beyond their power" (ver. 3) the heart of 
 the apostle is exceeding glad, but he does 
 not expect that (ovk . . . rjXiriaafiev^ ver. 
 5); he is content if they give "according 
 to their power" (ver. 3). Men are not 
 expected to give what they do not have. 
 The spiritual value of the gift depends not 
 on its amount, but on its inner quality: the 
 great question is whether it be the gift of 
 those who have " first given themselves " 
 (ver. 5). It may be much or little, but 
 it ought to be given with readiness, and 
 it ought to be in proportion to the means : 
 for if the readiness is there, it is accepta- 
 ble according to what a man may, in 
 any given circumstances, have (ea*' '^XV, 
 subj.) not according to what, as a matter 
 of fact (e'xei, indie.) he does not have. 
 
 13-15. The idea of the collection, Paul 
 now points out, is not to ease the one party 
 at the expense of the other, but to restore 
 that relative equality (ottojs yev-qrai laorrjs) 
 which is the ideal condition of things, and 
 which is suggested by the story of the 
 manna. For it (my object: or, the pur- 
 pose of the collection) is not that others 
 may have relief (and) you trouble. 
 But, on the principle of equality, YOUR 
 abundance at the present juncture is for 
 the supply of THEIR deficiency, that 
 THEIR abundance may perhaps on some 
 other occasion be for. the supply of YOUR 
 deficiency, in order that there may re- 
 sult equality. The meaning of the sen- 
 tence is plain, but its punctuation and di- 
 vision are not so certain. The first clause 
 may be taken, as above, independently, as- 
 suming an ellipse, and a colon put at 
 " equahty," as in A. R. V. ; but it is also 
 
180 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 possible to regard the two verses as one 
 continuous sentence, thus : " For not in 
 order that there may be relief to others, 
 and distress to you, but on the principle 
 of equality, your abundance in the present 
 juncture is to supply their defect, etc." 
 The last clause probably does not mean 
 " that their spiritual wealth may supply 
 your deficiency," but simply that, if ever 
 the tables should be turned, they rich, and 
 you poor, then their superfluity would re- 
 lieve your distress, as yours may now re- 
 lieve theirs. The prominent word in the 
 verses is equality: the liberality which Paul 
 urges is to produce that equality and bal- 
 ance of resources which is only just and 
 fair, especially among brethren; and this 
 point he illustrates — it is hardly intended 
 as a proof — by a reference to the manna 
 story in Exodus xvi. i8 according to which 
 this equality was providentially secured. 
 In the words of scripture, " He that 
 (gathered) much had nothing over, and 
 he that (gathered) little had no lack." 
 With 0, we have to supply <yv\\e^as (gath- 
 ered) from the cvveXe^av of Exodus xvi. 17. 
 
 The question considered in these para- 
 graphs — the place of giving — is one of the 
 most delicate that confronts the members or 
 the minister of a Christian church, and Paul 
 shows his customary tact in refusing to be 
 dictatorial. He will only hazard an opin- 
 ion ; but his opinion is presented so per- 
 suasively and supported by examnles of 
 such overwhelming cogency that it has the 
 practical effect of a command for the un- 
 sophisticated conscience. 
 
 He wishes to inspire his Corinthian 
 "brethren" with a Christian view of 
 money, and in this connection his frequent 
 use of the word grace (x'^P'^^) is ex- 
 tremely significant. The liberality which 
 the Macedonians showed (ver. 4) and 
 which he entreats and expects the Corin- 
 thians to show (ver. 7) is described by the 
 very same word as describes the spirit 
 which prompted Christ to exchange His 
 state of heavenly glory for the humility 
 and poverty of an earthly career (ver. 9). 
 If any man gives to the needy, it is only 
 because God has first given to him the re- 
 sources and the will to use them. So 
 liberality itself is a gift of God, a grace, a 
 manifestation of the "grace of God" (ver. 
 i). And not by any means the least im- 
 portant ; many who shine in other walks 
 of virtue, are ignominious failures here. 
 It is possible to be a man of eloquence and 
 even faith, and yet to be mean (ver. 7). 
 P)Ut the practical Paul is not content with 
 the graces of faith and utterance and 
 knowledge and earnestness ; his converts 
 
 must abound in this other grace of liber- 
 ality also. The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ was supremely manifested when He 
 divested Himself of His heavenly Trepiaaevfia 
 (superfluity; ver. 14), abandoning it to en- 
 rich a needy world — or, as Paul more 
 trenchantly and personally puts it, " to en- 
 rich you''— and the followers of the Lord 
 are most like Him when they too give of 
 their abundance to supply the needs of 
 others. And it is not enough that they 
 intend or will to do it, they must do it (ver. 
 11); their zeal must be concentrated in 
 action, it must get itself translated into ac- 
 complished fact. 
 
 Liberality, however, must be rational. It 
 must be enthusiastic — " if the zeal be there, 
 it is acceptable" — but yet it must soberly 
 take all the facts into account. It must 
 not give what it does not have : it must 
 not wilfully throw away its resources. The 
 gift is to be given with readiness, but also 
 with a sense of proportion. It has to bear 
 some relation to a man's means. Much or 
 little, it will be acceptable, if it be '* accord- 
 ing to what he has." It is not the amount 
 that matters, but its spiritual quality, the 
 amount of " readiness " it represents. If 
 this is as it should be, then a just and 
 even generous proportion will be guaran- 
 teed. Niggardliness will be impossible to 
 the redeemed, to those who " know the 
 grace of Christ" (ver. 9). This is only 
 another way of saying that the gift will 
 be at least proportionate, and more prob- 
 ably generous, if the giver has first of all 
 given himself. Men who have " first given 
 themselves to the Lord " will not be mean 
 in their gifts to His needy brethren. As 
 brethren, they should share alike ; approx- 
 imate equality should prevail (ver. 14) ; and 
 if one has abundance and another lack, the 
 Christian instinct is to right the balance at 
 once : for ye know the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Great is the force of example, and the 
 example of the poor and persecuted Mace- 
 donians was a source of peculiar joy to 
 Paul. Their liberality surprised him; he 
 expected them no doubt, as Christian men, 
 to give according to their means (ver. 11). 
 but they did more ; they gave even beyond 
 their power, willingly, enthusiastically, with- 
 out solicitation, even vehemently impor- 
 tuning Paul, who may well have hesitated 
 to accept gifts so lavish from men so poor. 
 These were the gifts of men who had 
 given themselves, and Paul holds up their 
 example as a spur to the Corinthians, 
 though he will use no word of command. 
 Why should he to men who are already 
 acquainted with the grace of Christ? 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 181 
 
 i6 But thanks he to God, which put the 
 same earnest care into the heart of Titus 
 for you. 
 
 17 For indeed he accepted the exhorta- 
 tion ; but being more forward, of his own 
 accord he went unto you. 
 
 ' For here after all is the supreme Exam- 
 ple. No human liberality, however affec- 
 tionate and generous, could be compared 
 to the grace of Him who " for your sakes " 
 deliberately descended from the heavenly 
 heights to the valley of humiliation in- 
 volved in an earthly career. To bring the 
 incarnation into connection with so mun- 
 dane a matter as a collection of money for 
 some poor strangers is very daring, but al- 
 together in the manner of Paul. He rein- 
 forces the humblest duties by the most 
 powerful inspirations: we see the way best 
 when the light is brightest. A heart con- 
 trolled by the thought of the incarnation 
 and all that it involved, could not be other 
 than generous to the needy, especially to 
 the needy "saints" (ver. 4). But the 
 Christ whose grace is so resplendent and 
 persuasive in the incarnation, wins His 
 true place and wields His true power 
 among those who love Him, not so much 
 because He is their example, but rather 
 because He is their Lord. They long for 
 a share in ministering to others, according 
 to their means, because they have first given 
 themselves to the Lord (ver. 5). 
 
 On this passage, Stanley has some sug- 
 gestive remarks. "This text," he says, al- 
 luding to viii. 9, " from bringing forward 
 prominently the fact of our Lord's poverty 
 as an example, gave rise to the mendicant 
 orders, as founded by St. Francis of Assisi, 
 who in this respect believed himself to be 
 following the model of our Saviour's life. 
 Such a result is doubly curious.^ It shows 
 how a parenthesis, incidentally introduced, 
 in an appeal, for a temporary purpose, to 
 the generosity of the Corinthian church, 
 has given birth to an immense institution, 
 at one time spread over the whole of Eu- 
 rope. It shows how much of the extrava- 
 gance of that institution might have been 
 checked by acting less on the letter, and 
 more on the spirit, of the passage in which 
 the- text occurs: a passage of which the 
 general tendency is the very opposite to 
 that which could reduce the feelings of 
 generosity to a definite and uniform sys- 
 tem." 
 
 Arrangements for the Supervision of the 
 Collection (viii. 16-24). 
 
 The management of a _collection,_ as^ of 
 every other work involving organization, 
 
 demands not only spiritual enthusiasm, 
 but business capacity. Practical details 
 have to be attended to, suitable officers have 
 to be appointed, every suggestion of sus- 
 picious methods and motives has to be 
 sedulously avoided, so that while the work 
 advances the glory of the Lord (ver. 19) 
 and must be able to bear the scrutiny of 
 His eye (ver. 21), it must be no less honest 
 and honorable in the sight of men. In ar- 
 ranging for the collection destined for the 
 poor Christians, Paul shows his customary 
 sagacity. There are always mean men 
 ready to assume the worst of any one 
 who has money to administer ; so, to avoid 
 even the appearance of suspicion, Paul as- 
 sociates with his colleague Titus other two 
 Christian brethren, one whose fame had 
 already run through all the churches, and 
 another whose earnestness Paul had re- 
 peatedly proved ; and the Corinthians are 
 charged to show their liberality in the 
 face of the churches as represented by 
 these their delegates. 
 
 16, 17. Now thanks be to God — (the 
 word x«P's has been in Paul's mind all 
 through the chapter ; here it is used in a 
 new sense) — who continually (SiSoj/n 
 pres. ptc.) puts into the heart of Titus 
 the same earnestness on your behalf as 
 I myself have. Earnestness (a-irovdr]) is 
 one of the Christian graces : the Corin- 
 thians have it (ver. 7), and Titus has it. 
 Paul sees in Titus' zeal a gift of God, 
 which he himself is impelled to acknowl- 
 edge with gratitude. The thought is char- 
 acteristically Christian that Titus's earnest- 
 ness in furthering the collection for the 
 Jerusalem poor was really earnestness in 
 behalf of the Corinthians (vTrep) : their 
 spiritual welfare would be advanced by 
 their liberality. There are two proofs 
 (fiev . . . de) of the earnestness of Titus ; 
 firstly, because he accepted the exhorta- 
 tion to which Paul alludes in ver. 6 
 (^iTap6.K\r,(nv^ wapaKaKeaai) ^ thereby at once 
 showing his humility, and receiving his 
 authentication from Paul ; and secondly, in 
 his great earnestness (lit. being by nature 
 more earnest than to need an exhortation), 
 he is actually going forth to you of his 
 own accord (for aveaiperos, cf. ver. 4). 
 The past tenses in this passage are epis- 
 tolary; by the time the Corinthians read 
 the letter, the fact will be that Titus n'ent 
 forth, and Paul sent with him the brother, 
 etc. 
 
182 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VIII 
 
 i8 And we have sent with him the 
 brother, whose praise is in the gospel 
 throughout all the churches ; 
 
 19 And not that only, but who was also 
 chosen of the churches to travel with us 
 with this grace, which is administered by 
 us to the glory of the same Lord, and 
 declaration of your ready mind : 
 
 20 Avoidmg this, that no man should 
 blame us in this abundance which is ad- 
 ministered by us : 
 
 21 Providing for honest things, not only 
 in the sight of the Lord, but also in the 
 sight of men. 
 
 22 And we have sent with them our 
 brother, whom we have oftentimes proved 
 
 18, 19. And we are sending along 
 with him — why he does not allow him to 
 go alone we see in ver. 20 — the unnamed 
 brother whose praise in the matter of 
 the gospel is through all the churches, 
 a phrase which shows the unity of spirit 
 that, even at this early date, already bound 
 the Christian churches together. Many 
 guesses have been hazarded as to the 
 identity of this brother, but certainty is 
 quite unattainable. As " brethren " means 
 Christian brethren in ver. 23, " brother " is 
 likely to mean the same here, so that he is 
 probably not the brother of Titus. On the 
 strength of the reference to " the gospel," 
 he has been identified with Luke ; but 
 *' gospel " could hardly have been used so 
 early of the written gospel, besides Luke's 
 gospel was not yet written. Who the brother 
 was we do not know, , though he was al- 
 ready famous '" in the matter of the gos- 
 pel" (probably in preaching it) throughout 
 the churches — a fact which incidentally 
 shows us how great and lamentable are 
 the gaps in our knowledge of the early 
 Church. He is referred to again in xii. 
 18. And not only is he praised throughout 
 the churches, but also (he has been) 
 definitely elected by the Macedonian (ver. 
 i) churches (to be) our fellow-traveller 
 in connection with this gift (lit. grace, i.e. 
 the collection) which is being adminis- 
 tered by us, to the glory of the Lord 
 and to show our readiness. Elsewhere 
 (cf. ver. II, and esp. ix. 2) Paul uses the 
 last word -n-poOvfiia of the readiness of the 
 Corinthians, and it is tempting here to 
 read, with A. V. vfxwv {your ready mind) ; 
 but the chief uncials read vi^^v {our) ; as 
 A. R. v.). It is difficult to say with what 
 word the phrase " to the glory of the Lord 
 and to show our readiness " should be 
 connected. Either the collection is admin- 
 istered " to the glory of the Lord, etc " : or 
 the other brother was associated with 
 Titus " to tlie glory of the Lord, etc." In 
 the one case, the meaning will be that the 
 Lord is glorified in the brotherly spirit that 
 animates the churches ; in the other, that 
 the association of the two will allay sus- 
 picion of misappropriation of the funds, 
 and thus contribute to the glory of the 
 
 Lord. The former seems the more natural. 
 The collection also gives Paul occasion to 
 show his zealous interest in the poor 
 Christians of Judaea, in accordance with the 
 charge laid upon him (Gal. ii. 10). How 
 the brother referred to was elected we do 
 not know; the word {x^i-porovelv) suggests 
 primarily a show of hands. The choice of 
 a man who was not only favorably known 
 throughout the whole of the then Christian 
 world, but who had been definitely elected 
 by the churches, would be a guarantee to 
 the meanly sceptical that Paul was prepared 
 to welcome their challenge or scrutiny of 
 his arrangement, in the matter of the col- 
 lection. 
 
 20, 21. It is a pity that such precautions 
 should be necessary; but Paul knew human 
 nature, and he did not think it beneath his 
 dignity to take the precautions necessary 
 to safeguard his honor, \\n\h which was 
 involved the " glory of the Lord." So he 
 associated with Titus this unnamed brother, 
 avoiding this, that any one should blame 
 us — as a matter of fact, the sequel shows 
 us that his precautions were not unneces- 
 sary (xii. 17 f.) — in the matter of this 
 liberal collection which is being admin- 
 istered by us. Throughout the section, the 
 word " money '' is significantly avoided. 
 The collection, which in ver. 19 is described 
 as a gift or grace, is now a aSpoTTjs. The 
 adjective abpos means solid, and the noun 
 implies, in this context, a substantial con- 
 tribution — an indirect compliment and 
 stimulus in one. Paul thinks it incumbent 
 upon himself to take precautionary meas- 
 ures, because the life which he lives before 
 the Lord is equally lived before men. and 
 he must not expose himself and the cause 
 he represents to unnecessary misunder- 
 standings. For we are careful for good 
 (appearances) not only in the Lord's 
 sight but also in men's. This is a rem- 
 iniscence of the Septuagint of Prov. iii. 
 4 which does not quite represent the 
 Hebrew (" Thou shalt find favor and good 
 understanding in the sight of God and 
 men "). 
 
 22. And with them — with Titus and 
 the brother elected — we are sending (epis- 
 tolary aorist, avv€irefi\f/afj.ei') our brother — 
 
Ch. VIII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 183 
 
 diligent in many things, but now much 
 more dihgent, upon the great confidence 
 which / have in vou. 
 
 23 Whether any do inquire of Titus, he 
 is- my partner and fellow helper concern- 
 ing you : or our brethren be inquired of, 
 they are the messengers of the churches, 
 and the glory of Christ. 
 
 24 Wherefore shew ye to them, and be- 
 fore the churches, the proof of your love, 
 and of our boasting on your behalf. 
 
 CHAPTER 9. 
 
 1 For as touching the ministering to the 
 saints, it is superfluous for me to write to 
 you : 
 
 2 For I know the forwardness of your 
 mind, for which I boast of you to them of 
 Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year 
 ago ; and your zeal hath provoked very 
 many. 
 
 not Paul's brother, but some Christian 
 brother — whom many times in many 
 matters we have proved to be earnest 
 — earnestness is an indispensable virtue 
 (ver. 16) — but now far more earnest 
 through the great confidence he has been 
 led to place in you by the encouraging re- 
 port of you that Titus has brought back, 
 A. V.'s " the confidence which / have in 
 you " is hardly correct. This brother was 
 well known to Paul, and recommended by 
 him with as much confidence as the other 
 more famous " brother " of ver. 19. Paul 
 is ready to stand by every member of the 
 delegation. If (questions are asked) 
 about Titus, he is my colleague and 
 fellow- worker in relation to you: if our 
 brethren — the two whom he has just men- 
 tioned — (are in question), they are emis- 
 saries of churches, the glory of Christ. 
 Titus was certificated by Paul, the other 
 two by the churches: only one is expressly 
 mentioned as having been elected, but the 
 churches no doubt approved, whether form- 
 ally or informally, Paul's choice of the 
 second brother. The word diroaToXos is 
 here used in its more general and literal 
 sense, of one sent forth. Coming from 
 such a man as Paul, with his keen insight 
 into character and his magnificent concep- 
 tion of the Christian ideal, the last two 
 words are an extraordinary eulogy of the 
 two delegates ; for they surely mean more 
 than that these were " men whose work 
 tends to Christ's glorv" (Alford). In 
 their face the glory of Christ Himself was 
 in some measure visible, as in His face the 
 glory of God (cf. iv. 6). 
 
 24. Practical exhortation by way of con- 
 clusion {oiiv). Now then in the face of 
 the churches as represented by these their 
 delegates, offer them a practical proof, by 
 a generous contribution, of your love 
 (whether to me, cf. ver. 7, or to the poor 
 Christians in Judea), and thus a verifica- 
 tion of our boasting on your behalf, 
 boasting to which Paul several times alludes 
 (vii. 4, 14, ix. 2). The Corinthians must, 
 by their liberal conduct, show that he had 
 
 spoken the truth about them. The churches 
 were watching what the Corinthians would 
 do, and the Corinthians must rise to 
 the occasion. Instead of the smoother 
 evdei^aade (imper. shozv) some good MSS. 
 read evdeLKvvfievoi (showing) in which case 
 the sentence would be unfinished. 
 
 Paul's Earnest Hope That the Collection 
 
 Will be Ready When He Comes 
 
 (ix. I-S). 
 
 The subject of the collection might seem 
 to have been already presented with rea- 
 sonable adequacy. Paul has directed the 
 thoughts of the Corinthians to the stimulus 
 of the Macedonian example, and to the un- 
 faihng inspiration that hes in the incarna- 
 tion. He has pointed out that the gift 
 ought to be in proportion to their means, 
 and urged upon them the duty of com- 
 pleting what they have begun ; and finally 
 he has taken steps to secure the fund from 
 any suspicion of misappropriation. Yet, in 
 spite of all his arrangements and exhorta- 
 tions, he has still some misgiving; not in- 
 deed that the money will not be forthcom- 
 ing — he can trust them for that, for he 
 knows their "readiness" of mind — but 
 that it will not be forthcoming in time. 
 He has boasted of their hberality to the 
 Macedonians ; and if the collection is not 
 ready when he arrives, he will be affronted. 
 That, then, is one reason for sending the 
 delegates in advance — to have it ready 
 against his arrival. 
 
 ix. I, 2. For with regard to the minis- 
 tration (that is the collection by which they 
 are to be served) to the Jerusalem poor, 
 whom here, as in viii. 4, he calls the saints, 
 it is superfluous for me to be writing 
 (ypd(f)eip, pres., not aor.) to you, for the 
 reason he is now about to give. For I 
 know your readiness (cf. viii. 11) of 
 which I am in the habit of boasting on 
 your behalf to the Macedonians — Paul 
 is writing from Macedonia — and the 
 words of his boast were that Achaia has 
 
184 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 3 Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our 
 boasting of you should be in vain in this 
 behalf ; that, as I said, ye may be ready : 
 
 4 Lest haply if they of Macedonia come 
 with me, and find you unprepared, we (that 
 we say not, ye) should be ashamed in this 
 same confident boasting. 
 
 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to 
 exhort the brethren, that they would go 
 before unto you, and make up beforehand 
 your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, 
 
 that the same might be ready, as a matter 
 of bounty, and not as of covetousness. 
 
 6 But this I say, He which soweth 
 sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
 which soweth bountifully shall "reap also 
 bountifully. 
 
 7 Every man according as he purposeth 
 in his heart, so let him give; not grudg- 
 ingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a 
 cheerful giver. 
 
 been prepared to make its contribution 
 since last year (same phrase in viii. lo). 
 On Achaia, cf. i. i : he says Achaia rather 
 than you, partly because he is quoting the 
 words of his boast, partly because the Co- 
 rinthian Christians were not the only ones 
 involved (cf. i. i). And your zeal stirred 
 up the greater number of them. The 
 Macedonian liberality, regarded in viii. i 
 as a gift of God, is here ascribed to the 
 spur of the Corinthian example. There is 
 no incompatibility between these reasons, 
 the former is the more profound, 
 
 3, 4. Paul is so sure of the Corinthians 
 and their enthusiasm that he has not hes- 
 itated to boast about them to the Mace- 
 donians. He does not need to remind them 
 further, by letter, of their duty. But he is 
 anxious to make sure that their enthusiasm 
 will be crowned by action (viii. 10 f.) and 
 that the money will be there when he ar- 
 rives. To this end I am sending {eirefi^a 
 epistolary aorist ; cf. viii. 18) the brethren 
 — Titus and his two colleagues (viii. 16- 
 24) that our boast about you be not, 
 by your lethargy, made void in THIS re- 
 spect. He had boasted frequently of the 
 Corinthians (vii. 4, 14), and they had many 
 qualities of which he might well be proud 
 (viii. 7), including the ready zuill to con- 
 tribute (viii. 11); but libera.! deeds (vni. 
 11) were needed as well as liberal inten- 
 tions, and Paul was anxious that his boast 
 should not prove to be an idle one in this 
 very important respect. So he sends the 
 delegates in advance, in order that, as I 
 repeatedly (eXeyop impf.) said to the Mace- 
 donians, you may be prepared with the 
 contribution; lest by any means, if any 
 Macedonians should come with me and 
 find you unprepared, we (not to say 
 YOU) should be put to shame in the 
 matter of this confidence (t'Trocrrao-is, cf. 
 xi, 17, literally, standing ground; then 
 ground of hope, confidence). It is before 
 Macedonians that Paul has made his boast 
 (ver. 2) ; if Macedonians should see that 
 it was an empty (Keviodfl) boast, he will 
 be disgraced. The Corinthians, no doubt. 
 
 even more than he, as it is they who are 
 the cause of his disgrace ; but he chooses 
 to appeal to their sense of honor by con- 
 centrating their attention upon his own dis- 
 grace. His reputation (as well as theirs) 
 is at stake in the collection, for he has 
 boasted about their liberality. 
 
 5. Therefore, to avoid this disgrace 
 (ver. 4), I thought it necessary to ex- 
 hort or entreat the brethren (ver. 3) to 
 go to you in advance, and to make up 
 in advance your bounty promised in ad- 
 vance (so that; ^<tt€ is understood) it 
 might be ready as a real bounty (lit. so 
 as, exactly as a bounty) and not as a nig- 
 gardly gift. The three verbs compounded 
 with Trpo (before) are very noticeable ; ar- 
 rangements must be made before Paul's 
 arrival, so^ that all will be ready when he 
 arrives. evXoyia^ a blessing, usually in 
 words, here in deeds — another name for 
 the collection (cf. pcapt's, ddpoTrjs, viii. 19, 
 20) ; TrXeove^ia is the greedy, grasping, un- 
 generous spirit which keeps all it can. If 
 the collection is not to have this appear- 
 ance, it must be given without delay. 
 
 The Rewards of Liberality (ix. 6-11). 
 
 6, 7. Paul now turns to the spirit in 
 which the contribution must be made, and 
 the sure rewards of liberalit3^ Now (mark) 
 this — the great principle which Paul is 
 about to enunciate, that he who sows 
 sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and 
 he who sows bountifully (lit. on the prin- 
 ciple of blcssini::s, i.e. bountiful gifts, cf. 
 ver. 5 : the plural suggests the rich variety) 
 shall also reap bountifully. By bounti- 
 fully and spari)igly, Paul docs not neces- 
 sarily mean much and little — the amount, 
 great or small, has to be proportional to 
 the means (viii. 11, 12) ; its acceptability- 
 depends upon the readiness {-rrpoOvfxia, viii. 
 12), the cheerfulness, hilarity {IXapSr-ns, cf. 
 ix. 7) with which it is given. The gifts 
 are compared to a scattering of seed, which 
 has its inevitable harvest ; when or how the 
 
Ch. IX] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 185 
 
 8 And God is able to make all grace 
 abound toward you ; that ye, always having 
 all sufficiency in all things, may abound to 
 every good work : 
 
 9 (As it is written, He hath dispersed 
 abroad; he hath given to the poor: his 
 righteousness remaineth for ever. 
 
 ID Now he that ministereth seed to the 
 sower both minister bread for your food, 
 and multiply your seed sown, and increase 
 the fruits of your righteousness:) 
 
 II Being enriched in every thing to all 
 bountifulness, which causeth through us 
 thanksgiving to God. 
 
 harvest is gathered, it is not said. The 
 situation contemplated in viii. 14 suggests 
 that the advantages to be reaped are ma- 
 terial ; in truth they are both material 
 and spiritual (ix. 12), liberality produces 
 gratitude and thanksgiving to God (ver. 
 11). The principle is one on which Paul 
 elsewhere insists (cf. Gal. vi. 7, 8), that 
 the reaping is unalterably conditioned by 
 the sowing. And the money must be given 
 not only quickly, but gladly, with a purpose 
 that is deliberate (Trpo^prjTai) as well as 
 sincere : let each one (give) as he has 
 freely determined with the heart, not 
 with (lit. out of) a feeling of regret or 
 pain at having to part with his money, or 
 under compulsion, constrained, for exam- 
 ple, by appearance, public opinion, etc. : 
 for it is a CHEERFUL giver that God 
 loves. This last sentence is a quotation 
 from the Greek version (quite unlike the 
 Hebrew) of Prov. xxii. 8, whose evXoyel 
 (God blesses a cheerful giver) has been 
 changed into dyaird (loves). God's eyes, 
 no less than the eyes of the churches (viii. 
 24) are upon the givers and their gift. 
 The good collection must be the outcome 
 of a good spirit: it must be, to reverse the 
 language of viii. 21, comely not only in the 
 sight of men, but of God. 
 
 8, 9. But where is the money to come 
 from? the Corinthians might ask. An an- 
 swer has already been suggested by viii. 2 ; 
 even a church that is persecuted and in 
 deep poverty has contrived to give with 
 astonishing liberality. Here the point is 
 that God is the master of the world's re- 
 sources, and He can bless the liberally dis- 
 posed with the means to liberality. He can 
 (8, 9) and He ivill (10, 11). In all finan- 
 cial efforts, and philanthropic aspirations. 
 He must never be lost sight of (0 0e6s at 
 end of ver. 7 and near beginning of ver. 8). 
 God is able {bwarel, first and emphatic — 
 all povc'er is with Him) to make all grace, 
 gifts of every kind — here especially in the 
 material sense — to abound unto you, in 
 order that you, having always in every- 
 thing all sufficiency, may not only have 
 enough, but to spare for every good, i.e. 
 charitable, work. avrdpKeia might mean 
 contentment, but in this context, it more 
 naturally means sufficiency of material re- 
 
 sources. The four-fold repetition of Trdv 
 is very impressive. The sufficiency is en- 
 tire, continuous, and covers every depart- 
 ment of life : and as God can make His 
 grace, expressed in material things, abound 
 (Trepto-o-eOo-at) to them, it is that they in 
 turn may abound {■KepiaaeviqTe) in charity to 
 others. The Lord of the world can give 
 them enough for their own needs, and 
 something over for the needs of others. 
 In the words of scripture: "He scat- 
 tered " — a fine expression for open-handed 
 liberality — "he gave to the poor, his 
 righteousness abideth for ever'* — a cita- 
 tion from_ Psalm cxii. 9. In the psalm, this 
 liberality is one of the features of " the man 
 who fears the Lord" (ver. i) ; and so it 
 may be here, illustrating the last phrase 
 " abounding unto every charitable work." 
 It may be taken, however, perhaps rather 
 less naturally, to refer to God, the subject 
 of the preceding sentence, as illustrating 
 His liberality : He makes His grace 
 abound, He scatters, gives to the poor, etc. 
 It would be no objection to this view that 
 it is against the original sense of the psalm. 
 It is certain that, among the later Jews, 
 dLKaioavpr] (righteousness) was often prac- 
 tically equivalent to iXevfioavvr] (alms), cf. 
 Mat. vi. I, where the textus receptus reads 
 eX. for the more correct Slk. ; and that this 
 may also be the case here is suggested by 
 the third verse of the psalm where " right- 
 eousness " is parallel with " wealth and 
 riches." Even if the word have here its 
 more general meaning of " righteousness," 
 the particular expression of that character 
 under consideration is, for the moment, lib- 
 erality; so that we might almost render 
 " his liberality abides for ever." 
 
 10, II. God not only has the power 
 (dvvarel^ 8, 9) but the will to give. And 
 He (in Isaiah Iv. 10, the rain) who sup-, 
 plies seed to the sower and so blesses 
 the seed as to turn it into bread for eat- I 
 ing (A. V. connects this wrongly with the i 
 next verb) will supply and multiply the ' 
 seed for your sowing ((Twopos, not <nrep/j.a, 
 as before), i.e. will furnish you abundantly 
 with means to sow broad-cast your liber- 
 ality; and as the seed, blessed by God, 
 comes back in the form of bread, so will 
 He bless your liberality, biKaioavvT] ^ here 
 
186 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IX 
 
 12 For the administration of this service 
 not only supplieth the want of the saints, 
 but is abundant also by many thanksgivings 
 unto God ; 
 
 13 While by the experiment of this 
 ministration they glorify God for your pro- 
 fessed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, 
 
 and for your liberal distribution unto them, 
 and unto all men; 
 
 14 And by their prayer for you, which 
 long after you for the exceeding grace of 
 God in you. 
 
 15 Thanks be unto God for his un- 
 speakable gift. 
 
 regarded as seed, and cause it, too, to bring 
 forth fruit increasingly — He will increase 
 the fruits of your righteousness (i.e. lib- 
 erality). The fruits of hberality are de- 
 scribed more particularly in ver. 12 as 
 partly material, partly spiritual. The 
 phrase fruits of righteousness comes from 
 the Greek version of Hosea x. 12 (not sup- 
 ported by our present Hebrew text, which 
 probably, however, should be emended). 
 Verse 11 is attached to ver. 10 without any 
 strict grammatical connection, the participle 
 irXovTt^ofievoL^ which hangs by itself, refers to 
 the you of the preceding verse : (you) 
 who in ver. 8 were described as having in 
 everything enough, are now described as 
 being in everything enriched, that is, in 
 material resources ; but these riches are to 
 be further expressed in all liberality. By 
 His gifts (x«P'5, ver. 8) God makes liber- 
 ality possible ; this liberality is rewarded by 
 the power to be more liberal, and it in- 
 creases among those who enjoy its gifts a 
 temper of devout gratitude, for it is of a 
 kind (vTLs) which works out, through 
 our mediation as we distribute it, thanks- 
 giving to God. 
 
 The Results of Liberality (ix, 12-15). 
 
 12. This passage (12-15), whose gen- 
 eral meaning is plain, though its construc- 
 tions are rather complicated and uncertain, 
 deals with some of the " fruits of right- 
 eousness " (ver. 10). The collection is here 
 called a Xeirovpyia (liturgy), a word em- 
 ployed in classical Greek to describe some 
 public service which the richer citizens dis- 
 charged at their own expense : here it is a 
 service to the saints (ver. i, 12, viii. 4). In 
 viii. 19, 20 the collection is said to be ad- 
 ministered (diaKovovfievT]) by Paul, and 
 some have supposed that the ministration 
 (diaKovia), to which he here (ver. 12) re- 
 fers, is also his own : but verse 13, where 
 the meaning is unambiguous, makes it 
 practically certain that he means the min- 
 istration of the Corinthians. For the (i.e. 
 your) ministration of this charitable 
 service to the poor Christians is one 
 which not only supplies (earl with ptc.) 
 the needs (vaTepvfjLara cf. viii. 14) of the 
 saints, but further results in abundant 
 thanksgivings (lit. "abounds by means of 
 
 many thanksgivings ") to God. The results 
 are both material and spiritual ; not only 
 are the hungry fed, but a new spiritual at- 
 mosphere is created among them. As Den- 
 ney aptly says, " It is something to fill up 
 further the measure of a brother's needs 
 by a timely gift, but how much more it is 
 to change the tune of his spirit, and whereas 
 w^e found him cheerless or weak in faith, 
 to leave him gratefully praising God." 
 
 13. Verse 13, like ver. 11, is loosely 
 attached to the preceding verse : the nom- 
 inative participle do^d^ovres refers to the 
 saints of ver. 12 who will be helped by 
 the collection. The collection, or ministra- 
 tion, diaKopia, is a test (doKifirf) of the Co- 
 rinthians, just as affliction was a test of 
 the Macedonians (viii. 2). Through the 
 proving of your Christian character af- 
 forded by this charitable ministration, 
 they, the poor saints of Judea, glorify 
 God for two reasons ; firstly, for the sub- 
 jection of your confession with regard to 
 the gospel of Christ, and secondly (for) 
 the liberality of (your) contribution to 
 them and to all. Their 6/xo\oyia was not, 
 of course, the objective standard of their 
 faith, but their subjective confession of it 
 — here almost equal to " profession." This 
 was in a state of subjection with regard to 
 ("'5: the construction is not, "in subjection 
 to") the gospel of Christ: they submitted 
 to its ideals, especially to its obligation to 
 manifest practically the grace of God as 
 proclaimed in the gospel of Christ. What- 
 ever doubts had been entertained of the 
 Corinthian church by the Judean Chris- 
 tians, were now answered by this lib- 
 erality, which was surely a very practical 
 confession of faith, working by love. The 
 " Twentieth Century New Testament " 
 gives the general sense well : " for your 
 fidelity to your profession of faith in the 
 Good News of the Christ." This practical 
 love of Gentile (Corinthian) Christians to 
 Jewish Christians showed that the bonds 
 of racial and religious difference had been 
 broken, and the liberality the Corinthians 
 had shown to the Judeans they would 
 certainly be ready to show to all, but of 
 such other charitable cfi^orts we have no 
 positive knowledge. 
 
 14, IS. Again the connection is loose. 
 eiriirodovvTwv js a gcnit. absol., although it 
 
Ch. IX] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 ' 187 
 
 refers to the same persons as the nomin. 
 do^d^ovres (ver. 13) : deiqaei, with prayed', is 
 the dative of accompaniment. And they, 
 the poor saints, would be so much touched 
 by the Corinthian collection that, with in- 
 tercessory prayer for you, they will long 
 for closer intercourse with you, because of 
 the abundant grace of God which has 
 been poured upon you. The generous col- 
 lection was to them the symbol of the 
 grace of God, and they yearned to see 
 those in whom such grace was manifest ; 
 and if they could not see them, at least they 
 commended them to God in grateful prayer. 
 How mighty a force must this gospel have 
 been which thus brought Jew and Gentile 
 together! yet it manifests itself in the 
 sphere of money. Paul saw the collection 
 in its far-reaching spiritual effects, not 
 merely as a relief of destitution ; and as 
 he contemplates it all, he is almost over- 
 whelmed by the wonder of it — riot of the 
 contribution itself, as some suppose, of the 
 Christian generosity which inspired it, the 
 devout gratitude with which it was re- 
 ceived, the sense of Christian brotherhood 
 which it deepened and strengthened — but 
 by the wonder of the redemption wrought 
 by Christ, that mighty force which created 
 all these things. And, as in i Cor. xv. 57 
 he concludes his consideration of the resur- 
 rection, so here he concludes his discussion 
 of the collection, with a spontaneous burst 
 of praise : Thanks be to God for His 
 unspeakable gift. The epithet unspeak- 
 able here (like unsearchable in Rom. xi. 
 Z2>), can be fittingly referred to nothing less 
 than God's supreme gift in Christ, the per- 
 fect exhibition of His grace, the source and 
 
 inspiration of every human grace. The 
 gifts of the Corinthians, of the Mace- 
 donians, all human gifts, are small in com- 
 parison with that unspeakable gift — but 
 rays of that infinite light. 
 
 The whole difficult subject of the col- 
 lection is handled by Paul with a delicacy 
 that is only equalled by its earnestness. 
 In the contribution of the Corinthians, 
 Paul's own honor is at stake, for he has 
 spoken to others with pride about them ; 
 and still more, their own honor as Chris- 
 tian men. The eyes of the churches are 
 upon them (viii. 24), the eyes of God are 
 upon them (ix. 7). Their own material 
 and spiritual future will depend upon their 
 response to his appeal. Ex nihilo nihil fit. 
 They will reap exactly as they sow — no 
 less and no more. 
 
 Further, they ought to give not only gen- 
 erously but cheerfully; and how can they 
 fail to do this — when they see what the 
 fruits of their gift will be? It will not 
 only relieve distress, but it will create a 
 new spiritual atmosphere for the men re- 
 heved. It will fill their hearts with grat- 
 itude, it will disarm suspicion, it will be a 
 practical proof of the reality and power of 
 the gospel, it will strengthen the sense of 
 brotherhood, it will turn distant strangers 
 into earnest, eager friends, who pray for 
 their benefactors and long for a sight of 
 their face. Was it not natural that, as 
 Paul thought of all this, and of Him 
 whose redeeming love had made it all pos- 
 sible, he should cry "' Thanks be unto God 
 for His unspeakable gift?" 
 
188 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 PAUL'S VINDICATION OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY 
 
 (x.-xiii). 
 
 CHAPTER lo. 
 I Now I Paul myself beseech you by 
 
 the meekness and gentleness of Christ, 
 who in presence am base among you, but 
 being absent am bold toward you : 
 
 The most cursory reader cannot fail to 
 perceive an abrupt difference in tone, as he 
 passes from ch. viii. to ch. x. The former 
 chapters were comphmentary and affec- 
 tionate ; this and the following chapters 
 are heated, polemical, and in part ironical. 
 There, the Corinthians were his beloved 
 " brethren," of whom he was proud, and of 
 whose generosity he was not afraid to 
 boast ; here there are enemies in the camp 
 — enemies who have been challenging his 
 authorit}^, and detracting from his credit, 
 and who will therefore have to be sum- 
 marily dealt with. They will have to be 
 convinced, by its impact upon themselves, 
 that Paul's authority is a very real thing, 
 and that he is just as capable of exercising 
 it before their eyes as he is by means of 
 correspondence. 
 
 Indeed so striking is the difference of 
 tone between this section and the preceding 
 that some scholars have felt themselves 
 obhged to regard this as a separate letter. 
 Such a supposition, however, hardly seems 
 to be necessary. Paul had just been urg- 
 ing the Corinthians to show that generosity 
 for which he had given them credit. But 
 what is the use of urging appeal or counsel 
 of any kind upon a people among whom 
 his authority is being boldly challenged? 
 There is a spirited and venomous opposition 
 to him in the Corinthian church, which is 
 not only undermining his authority, but 
 imperilling the peace, unity and spiritual 
 progress of the church. It is not unnat- 
 ural, then, that in the closing chapters he 
 should turn to deal with this opposition, 
 and to vindicate, with dignity but empha- 
 sis, his challenged authority. 
 
 Paul's Reply to the Charge of Cozvardice 
 (X. 1-6). 
 
 I. The very first words show that Paul 
 is writing with unusual emotion. He docs 
 not say simply / entreat (TrapaKaXw) you, 
 but I (the emphatic ^7^) Paul (for the em- 
 phatic combination / Paul cf. Gnl. v. 2. Eph. 
 iii. I, Philemon 19) myself (avros) entreat 
 you. Perhaps from this emphatic introduc- 
 
 tion, it may be inferred that he wrote this 
 passage with his own hand (cf. Philemon 
 19, I Cor. xvi. 21, Gal. vi. 11); or simply, 
 that as he has already used the first pers. 
 plu. so much, he now distinctly wishes to 
 dissociate Timothy (i. i) from what he is 
 about to say. In either case, the words in- 
 dicate that the passage to follow is of an 
 intensely personal nature: it concerns him- 
 self. It is his authority that has been 
 challenged; and with great boldness he 
 puts his personality into the very forefront 
 of the discussion. There is no time when 
 a man is apt to speak with more heat than 
 in defending himself; and Paul guards 
 himself at the beginning, by reminding 
 himself, that the appeal must be made by 
 the meekness and gentleness of Christ. 
 The language which follows is very strong, 
 but Paul reminds the Corinthians that the 
 motive which inspires it is the highest; he 
 speaks in the name and in the spirit of 
 the Christ who claimed to be meek and 
 lowly (Mat. xi. 29). eTriei/ct'a is equitable- 
 ness, the kindly spirit which does not nar- 
 rowly insist upon its rights. The brunt of 
 the charge against him is at once intro- 
 duced: / beseech you (I) who, as you say, 
 to (your) face, am humble among you 
 but courageous toward you when I am 
 away. A coward at close quarters, a 
 brave man at a distance; one who can 
 write bold letters, but who lacks authority 
 and courage, when he comes in person — 
 such is their description of Paul. We 
 have already seen that Paul was accused 
 of fickleness and indecision (i. 17) ; his 
 conduct was easily misinterpreted by those 
 who did not understand its inspiring mo- 
 tives. His caution and his tenderness were 
 mistaken for cowardice: he is raweivos 
 " lowly " in a bad sense, he has no power 
 of self-assertion. It is significant that the 
 epithet with which the Corinthians reproach 
 Paul is used by Jesus in Mat. xi. 29 to 
 characterize Himself — lozcly of heart. 
 For Paul's opponents there is no Christian 
 aroma about the word. Courage was 
 Paul's motto (iv. 16, v. 6, 7). and his 
 courageous life is the best answer to this 
 charge of cowardice : cf. Acts xxiv. 25 (the 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 189 
 
 2 But I beseech you, that I may not be 
 bold when I am present with that conjfi- 
 dence, wherewith I think to be bold against 
 some, which think of us as if we walked 
 according to the flesh. 
 
 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we 
 do not war after the flesh : 
 
 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are 
 not carnal, but mighty through God to the 
 pulling down of strong holds;) 
 
 5 Casting down imaginations, and every 
 high thing that exalteth itself against the 
 knowledge of God, and bringing into cap- 
 tivity every thought to the obedience of 
 Christ ; 
 
 6 And having in a readiness to revenge 
 all disobedience, when your obedience is 
 fulfilled. 
 
 scene before Felix), Acts xxi. 13 (where 
 he professes himself ready to die at Jeru- 
 salem). 
 
 2. What Paul entreated the Corinthians 
 to do in ver. i is not said, it becomes plain 
 in ver. 2 where the request is introduced 
 by another and stronger word, Seo/xat,; this 
 point is obscured by A. V. which renders 
 both verbs by beseech. Yes, I beseech 
 (you) that I may not, when I come, 
 have to show my courage with the con- 
 fidence with which I count on being 
 bold against some who count us as walk- 
 ing after the flesh. He refers to his 
 enemies allusively as some; their charge is 
 that he walks after the flesh, i.e. that his 
 conduct is guided by unspiritual motives. 
 The particular meaning of this general 
 phrase must be determined by the context ; 
 here, apparently, the implication is that he 
 is timid, complaisant, afraid of offending, 
 has no divine courage or initiative. Paul 
 only hopes it will not be necessary for 
 him to show his courage. He can do more 
 than write effective letters ; if need be, he 
 is prepared to come to them with his " rod " 
 (i Cor. iv. 21), and he is thoroughly con- 
 fident (ireTToidriaei) that he will be more than 
 a match for them. Note how 'Koyi^ofiaL 
 (and \oyL(Tfji6s, ver. 5) echoes through the 
 passage (cf. vv. 7, 11) ; he has a calcula- 
 tion which meets and matches theirs. 
 
 3, 4. Into his defense Paul introduces 
 military metaphors. His life is not only a 
 walk {irepLTTaTovvTas) , it is a warfare 
 ((TTparevofieda) , not only against the evil 
 that is in the world, but within the church 
 itself, as proved by the assaults he is at 
 present repelHng. Of course, so long as 
 he is a mortal man, he must walk in the 
 flesh, subject to its limitations, which pre- 
 vent him from doing and being all that he 
 would ; but he does not walk after, accord- 
 ing to (Kara) the flesh; the principles 
 on which he conducts his campaign 
 {cTparevoixeda) are determined purely by 
 spiritual, not by natural, carnal considera- 
 tions. For, walking as we do and as we 
 must in the flesh, we do not war accord- 
 ing to the flesh. Paul is no coward, as 
 
 his opponents say (ver. i), he is a warrior, 
 and his campaign is not only courageous 
 but successful. For the weapons of our 
 warfare, fully described in Eph. vi. 11-17, 
 are not fleshly but — here we expect him 
 to say spiritual, but, as that is implicit in 
 the contrast, he calls attention rather to 
 their power, their invincible effectiveness — 
 divinely powerful to the demolition of 
 strongholds, i.e. of all the entrenched and 
 mighty influences that defy the gospel. The 
 weapons are dwara tw Gew, not, as in A. V. 
 mighty through (by means of) God," but, 
 as in A. R. V. "mighty before God" (in 
 His eyes), practically equal to "divinely, 
 supernaturally," as in the description of the 
 beauty of Moses (Acts vii. 20), and the 
 size of Nineveh (Jonah iii. 3). 
 
 5, 6. Verse 4 is parenthetical, ver. 5 
 connects with ver. 3; we zcar, demolishing 
 subtle imaginations, sophistical calculations 
 (Xoyta-fMovs is an echo of Xoyi^o/neuovs, ver. 2), 
 and every high thing that lifts itself up 
 against the gospel, through the proclama- 
 tion of which comes the knowledge of 
 God. The military metaphors are still 
 kept up. The high things which rise in 
 opposition to the gospel are, in general, 
 those moral and intellectual tempers, habits, 
 attitudes, which make one callous to the 
 Christian appeal. An indication of what 
 is meant will be found in the word XoyLcr/jLovs, 
 which perhaps suggests primarily the soph- 
 istries, or at least the arguments, by which 
 the Greeks resisted the gospel. The 
 weapons by which Paul demolished these 
 arguments were not "persuasive words of 
 wisdom," but weapons of the spirit and 
 power (i Cor. ii. 4, dvpd/xeujs, as here Sward) , 
 Still the militarv metaphors are main- 
 tained ; we war, demolishing every strong- 
 hold of opposition, and taking" captive 
 every thought or device of the mind 
 (p6T]f/.a), leading it into the land of (els) 
 obedience to Christ. The mind that 
 formerly defied and resisted Christ and His 
 gospel, is now by these mighty weapons 
 of Paul the evangelist, reduced to obedience. 
 The completeness of his triumph is sug- 
 gested by the repetition of -rrdu; the gospel 
 
190 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 7 Do ye look on things after the out- 
 ward appearance? If any man trust to 
 himself that he is Christ's, let him of him- 
 self think this again, that, as he is Christ's, 
 even so are we Christ's. 
 
 8 For though I should boast somewhat 
 
 more of our authority, which the Lord 
 hath given us for edification, and not for 
 your destruction, I should not be ashamed : 
 9 That I may not seem as if I would 
 terrify you by letters. 
 
 weapons are powerful to reduce every 
 stronghold; alike in the heathen and in 
 the Jewish world Paul has many a time 
 seen this surrender to Christ. Paul is a 
 soldier, his campaign is successful, and he 
 is ready to punish the rebels, or, as he 
 says, to avenge every disobedience 
 
 {trapaKOT) opposed to vrraKori). He is not 
 the coward they think he is, and he will 
 show them that, if need be, when he comes. 
 How he will assert his authority against 
 the recalcitrants, he does not say — per- 
 haps as in I Cor. v. 5 ; but clearly it is 
 no idle threat, he only hopes he will not 
 have to put it into execution (ver. 2). In 
 any case, he will only do it when YOUR 
 obedience shall be fulfilled. Paul deals 
 in love and with a tender regard for the 
 church as a whole, from which he care- 
 fully distinguishes the recalcitrant minority ; 
 and he will only discipline the offenders, 
 when the full obedience of the church, as 
 a whole, has been demonstrated. 
 
 Paul is clearly stung by the reproach 
 that he is at heart a coward and brave 
 only on paper. But the reproach draws 
 from him a noble defense in which he 
 significantly compares his life to a war- 
 fare — one however in which the weapons 
 he wields are invincible, and the campaign 
 one long triumph. He knows from expe- 
 rience how proud and powerful is the op- 
 position to the gospel ; but he knows, too, 
 the power of the gospel to overcome it, 
 to demolish it (note Kadaipeaiv^ Kadaipovpres) , 
 A warrior like Paul, with such a record 
 of successes behind him, is not likely to be 
 terrified by the slanders of his opponents ; 
 he will come and meet them face to face, 
 and discipline, in some stern way, their re- 
 bellious spirit. 
 
 Paul's Authority and Mission Have Been 
 
 Divinely Entrusted to Him 
 
 (x. 7-18). 
 
 7. The connection between this para- 
 graph and the preceding depends upon the 
 manner in which the first sentence is con- 
 strued. There are three possibilities. It 
 may be taken (a) as in A. V. interroga- 
 
 tively, " Do ye look on things after the out- 
 ward appearance?" or (b) as in A. R. V. 
 affirmatively, " Ye look at the things that 
 are before your face;" or (c) imperatively; 
 " Look at what is before your face." The 
 choice seems really to lie between (b) and 
 (c). The objection to (c), though it is 
 far from fatal, is that the verb (^XeTrere), 
 if imperative, would more naturally have 
 come first than last. If imperative, it will 
 be Paul's appeal to the Corinthians to open 
 their eyes to facts, to contrast his claims 
 and his achievements with those of his op- 
 ponents. If (b) is adopted, Paul reproaches 
 his opponents with seeing only the things 
 before their eyes — their tests are external. 
 Their claim to be Christ's is based prob- 
 ably upon some external and religiously 
 indifferent fact, such as their having seen 
 the earthly Jesus, or their having been 
 acquainted with the leaders of the Jeru- 
 salem church (cf. i Cor. i. 12). It is clear 
 at any rate from xi. 22 that Paul's oppo- 
 nents are Judaizers. Perhaps, on the whole 
 (c) is preferable. Look at the facts be- 
 fore your face. If any one has confi- 
 dence in himself that he is Christ's, let 
 him think again (not on the other hand) 
 and consider {'KoyL^eadw, cf. ver. 2) this 
 carefully in his own mind that we too 
 are Christ's just as he is. At this point 
 Paul only claims bare equality; as the ar- 
 gument advances, he advances his claims. 
 He does not here prove his claims as in 
 I Cor. ix. I f. by pointing to his success 
 at Corinth, or to his vision of the risen 
 Christ, as in i Cor. xv. 9; the proof, which 
 he adduces later (xi. 21-30) lies in what 
 he has suffered for the gospel's sake. 
 
 8, 9. Paul's claim to be Christ's then, is 
 at least as valid as theirs. But more : he 
 possesses, as he has just claimed invv. 
 2-6, an authority which has been given 
 him by the Lord Himself. Yes, and if 
 I boast (not, as A. V. "though I should 
 boast :" he has already boasted in 2-6) 
 somewhat extravagantly about our au- 
 thority, which THE LORD gave me for 
 your upbuilding and not for your demol- 
 ition (cf. the similar statement of the 
 source and function of his authority in xiii. 
 10), I shall not be put to shame — when 
 next he comes to Corinth, they will find 
 that he knows how to exercise his au- 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 191 
 
 10 For his letters, say they, are weighty 
 and powerful ; but his bodily presence is 
 weak, and his speech contemptible. 
 
 11 Let such a one think this, that, such 
 as we are in word by letters when we are 
 absent, such will we be also in deed when 
 we are present. 
 
 12 For we dare not make ourselves of 
 the number, or compare ourselves with 
 
 some that commend themselves : but they, 
 measuring themselves by themselves, and 
 comparing themselves among themselves, 
 are not wise. 
 
 13 But we will not boast of things with- 
 out our measure, but according to the 
 measure of the- rule which God' hath dis- 
 tributed to us, a measure to reach even 
 unto you. 
 
 thority • and this he says, that I may not 
 give the impression of scaring you, as 
 it were, out of your wits by my letters, 
 
 of which he had at least written two — 
 I Cor. and that referred to in i Cor. v. 9. 
 The impression they get from his letters 
 will be confirmed, as he tells them in ver. 
 II, by the impression they will get when 
 he comes in person. The authority which 
 his opponents dispute was given to Paul 
 by the Lord Himself, their authority has no 
 such source; and its object was the edifi- 
 cation, and not the destruction of the Co- 
 rinthian church, unlike the authority of 
 his opponents, such as it was, which was 
 exercised not to the edification of the 
 church but to its destruction. In modern 
 Greek ws av, has degenerated into <yo.v, as, 
 like : <yo.v irpodor-ns^ like a traitor. Verse 9 
 has a fine definition of the function of 
 authority — "to build up and not to pull 
 down." The strongholds of opposition to 
 the gospel have indeed to be pulled down 
 (same word, Kadaipeaiv, ver. 4), but this in 
 order that the men themselves may be built 
 up. 
 
 10, II. Those who had accused Paul of 
 being courageous at a distance (ver. i) 
 meant that he could write bold and vigor- 
 ous letters. For his letters, they say, are 
 weighty and powerful, but his bodily 
 presence is weak, and his speaking con- 
 temptible (lit. despised as of no account). 
 " This passage," says Stanley, is the only 
 instance of the very words used by St. 
 Paul's opponents. It thus gives a con- 
 temporary judgment on his Epistles, and 
 a contemporary description of himself." 
 Whether 0ri<^iv (one says, or he says, with 
 reference to the tls of ver. 7, or the such 
 a one of ver. 11) or (paaiv (they say) is 
 read, the meaning is the same. The effect 
 produced by Paul's letters, admitted here, 
 is attested in the striking description of 
 vii. 8-1 1. The depreciatory reference to 
 himself, however, is capable of various in- 
 terpretations. Tradition describes him as 
 insignificant and awkward in appearance ; 
 and it is Barnabas, and not he, who is 
 worshipped by the people of Lystra as Zeus 
 (Jupiter, Acts xiv. 12). He had the tem- 
 
 perament of the ecstatic (i Cor. xiv. 18, 2 
 Cor. xii. i), and no doubt that highly 
 strung nervous nature which accompanies 
 it (i Cor. ii. 3) ; and it is altogether prob- 
 able that his public appearances were not 
 impressive to Greeks who loved poise and 
 beauty of body. Nor can his speaking, if 
 we may_ judge by his letters, have satisfied 
 the fastidious taste of the Greeks, though 
 his overwhelming earnestness must always 
 have been imoressive (Acts xiv. 12). It is 
 possible, however, that the reference here 
 is to neither of these things. We are apt 
 to interpret " bodily presence " as if it 
 meant " bodily appearance ;" but in reality, 
 presence here points back to the present 
 of ver. 2, a verse which helps in the in- 
 terpretation of this one. When Paul is 
 bodily present, he is weak — in the lan- 
 guage of ver. 2, not bold, courageous : in 
 other words, ineffective. His words, which 
 were not persuasive words of wisdom ( i 
 Cor. ii. 4) would not impress the subtle 
 Greeks with their love of eloquence. His 
 words and his presence alike were inef- 
 fective, they came to nothing. Such is the 
 charge, and Paul replies; Let such a one 
 consider this (they are so fond of such 
 considerations, calculations ; Xoyi^eadco is in- 
 tended to recall the use of the word in 
 vv. 2, 5, etc.) that our conduct, when 
 we are present, will correspond exactly 
 with the words of our letters when we 
 are absent. Paul plays here on the fa- 
 miliar Greek contrast between 'Koyos and 
 epyov, word and deed. He will show them 
 how slanderous is their charge that he is 
 a hero at a distance and on paper, but a 
 coward at close quarters. Everywhere and 
 always he is a brave man. If that is the 
 impression of him they get from his letters, 
 it is a true impression, as they will find 
 when they see him. The specific applica- 
 tion, in the context, is ; " as we are by 
 letter, so (shall we be) in deed " ; but 
 probably the word to be supplied is rather 
 we are than we shall be. Paul is always 
 the same: as he writes, so is he (and this 
 they will discover in the near future). 
 
 12, 13. We now enter upon a passage 
 (12-16) bristling with difficulties. Paul has 
 
192 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. X 
 
 14 For we stretch not ourselves beyond 
 our measure, as though we reached not 
 
 unto you ; for we are come as far as to you 
 also in preaching the gospel of Christ: 
 
 jr.st claimed to be a courageous man, as 
 brave in d^eed as he is in word. But, he 
 ironically continues, there is a certain kind 
 of courage he does not profess to have. 
 For we have not the boldness (ToXfxcjfiev, 
 cf. ToXfxrjaat^ ( vcr. 2) to rank ourselves 
 among or compare ourselves with some 
 of those who commend themselves. 
 This charge of self-commendation they had 
 levelled at Paul (iii. i, v. 12), whereas it 
 was they themselves who were guilty of 
 the practice. By a word-play which it is 
 impossible to reproduce in English (two 
 compounds of Kpiveiv^ with ev and o-^^^), 
 Paul affirms that he has not the courage 
 to range himself among or alongside of 
 these men. Men who commend themselves, 
 having nothing but themselves with which 
 to measure themselves, can only end by 
 boasting immeasurably (a/xerpa) ; and Paul 
 frankly confesses that he has not the cour- 
 age to join such a company. The two 
 sentences that follow are very difficult. 
 The introductory words create the impres- 
 sion that Paul is about to speak of his 
 ozi.'n habits — dWa avToi^ etc.: "but we our- 
 selves, measuring ourselves by ourselves, 
 and comparing ourselves with ourselves — " 
 but at this point we are suddenly pulled up 
 by a verb in the third person ov <7vuidai.u. 
 If the text be correct, we must retrace our 
 steps and refer avrol to Paul's opponents : 
 " But they themselves, measuring them- 
 selves by themselves, and comparing them- 
 selves with themselves, have no understand- 
 ing," no sense, no intelligence : that is, it 
 is stupid to attempt to measure oneself, 
 without some standard other than oneself. 
 Instead of awidaiv, however, cwlovclv is 
 also read, and the avroi can be retained 
 for Paul by regarding (xvvlovclv as a dative, 
 the sentence running on into the next verse, 
 and the subject being resumed by rf/^e's U. 
 Thus : " but we ourselves measuring our- 
 selves by ourselves, and comparing our- 
 selves with ourselves, who are devoid of 
 understanding (as they suppose), we will 
 not boast iDeyond our measure." This, 
 however, even if we had the toIs before ov 
 cvviovai,, which is practically necessary, is 
 distinctly artificial. Besides tlie riM^ts 5e, u'c, 
 appears to be in implicit contrast with the 
 preceding avrol which must then be trans- 
 lated by they. The Western text, which 
 omits ov avvLovcriv iifxeis 5e, secures a 
 comparatively smooth reading: "we our- 
 selves, measuring ourselves by ourselves 
 
 and comparing ourselves with ourselves, 
 will not boast immeasurably." But the 
 very simplicity of this reading is suspicious. 
 If it be original, how could it ever have 
 been altered to the much more difficult 
 reading of the other AISS? It is more 
 credible that the difficult reading is the 
 original one, and that the omitted words 
 were dropped to secure a simpler text. 
 The question of the text is by no means 
 an idle one; the simpler text makes Paul 
 say that he measures himself by himself, the 
 longer text makes him say that that is up- 
 intelligent — that is what his opponents do. 
 The difference, how^ever, is more apparent 
 than real; for, in the former case, Paul 
 would be measuring his actual self by his 
 ideal self, by the self to which he is com- 
 mitted by divine appointment (ver. 13). 
 The sense probably is then : but THEY, 
 measuring themselves by themselves, and 
 comparing themselves with themselves, 
 are unintelligent. WE, however, who ac- 
 knowledge a higher standard than ourselves, 
 will not boast beyond measure, that is, 
 beyond the measure that is appropriate for 
 us ; the others boast immeasurably, because 
 they have no measure or standard beyond 
 themselves. Not so does Paul boast, but 
 according to the measure of the line 
 which God allotted us as a measure, that 
 we should reach as far as you. Kavuv is 
 a measuring-line, then a standard, norm 
 (cf. Gal. vi. 16) ; it is used here in a gen- 
 eral way, to indicate the sphere of work di- 
 vinely assigned to Paul, much as we should 
 use the English word " line." The evan- 
 gelization of the Gentiles was Paul's " line " 
 (cf. Gal. ii. 8, 9). To this he kept, by 
 this standard he consented to be tried, for 
 work done within this limit he was prepared 
 to boast, at least "in the Lord" (ver. 17). 
 It was in recognition of his divine com- 
 mission to the Gentiles that he had gone 
 as far as Corinth {you) ; and this very 
 commission, broad as the world, was bound 
 to carry him further still (ver. 16). 
 
 14. Paul has a divine right to be in 
 Corinth ; to preach there, as it is heathen 
 ground, is part of his ' line.' For we are 
 not stretching ourselves beyond (our 
 bounds), as we sIkmiUI be doing if our 
 sphere did not reach (lit. "as if we were 
 n(^t reaching") unto you — he maintains in 
 ver. 13 that it did extend thus far — for 
 we came ((f)6dpu} is used almost in its 
 modern Greek sense of arrize. not in the 
 
Ch. X] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 193 
 
 15 Not boasting of things without our 
 measure, that is, of other men's labours ; 
 but having hope, when your faith is in- 
 creased, that we shall be enlarged by you 
 according to our rule abundantly. 
 
 16 To preach the gospel in the regions 
 beyond you, and not to boast in another 
 
 man's line of things made ready to our 
 hand. 
 
 17 But he that glorieth, let him glory 
 in the Lord. 
 
 18 For not he that commendeth him- 
 self is approved, but whom the Lord com- 
 mendeth. 
 
 classical sense of anticipate) as far as you 
 at Corinth, in the proclamation of the 
 gospel of Christ. 
 
 15, 16. The thought of ver. 13, which 
 was interrupted by the parenthetic ver. 14, 
 is resumed, and the introductory words are 
 the same — "not boasting beyond (our) 
 measure." The point there stated positively 
 is here put negatively. There he boasted of 
 work done in the sphere divinely assigned 
 him — work among the Gentiles; here the 
 point is that it is his own work he boasts 
 of, not (like his opponents) of work done 
 by other men. Stanley well remarks that 
 the arrangement by which Paul was to work 
 among the Gentiles " was doubly infringed 
 by the appearance of Jewish teachers at 
 Corinth ; the sphere of the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles was invaded by Jews ; the sphere 
 which St. Paul had won for himself by 
 his own labors, was appropriated by those 
 who had no original claim to it." Part of 
 the tragedy of Paul's missionary career was 
 that his steps were dogged by these Jewish 
 teachers (cf. Ep. to Galatians). He could 
 truthfully describe himself as not boasting 
 beyond measure, in other men's labors, 
 having hope, that, as your faith grows, 
 we may through you attain to our true 
 greatness in our evangelical work, in ac- 
 cordance with our divinely appointed line 
 {Kavujv) or sphere of work, and even unto 
 glorious abundance, so as to bring the 
 gospel even into the regions beyond you, 
 instead of boasting, as my opponents are 
 doing, in work that is another man's line, 
 of things ready to hand. Paul did the 
 pioneer work, and they took the credit for 
 it. Paul's principle is to go where the gos- 
 pel has not yet been preached. He has 
 been as far as Corinth, but his hope and 
 intention are ultimately to go to Spain 
 (Rom. XV. 24) ; it will depend upon the 
 Corinthians {^v v/xlv) and upon 'the progress 
 of their faith, when he will be able to go 
 to the far west, and achieve his great evan- 
 gehcal commission. 
 
 17, 18. The word boast has occurred 
 with great frequency throughout this sec- 
 tion. It has been forced upon Paul by the 
 challenge of his opponents : but once he has 
 taken the word up, he uses it fearlessly, and 
 shows its relative justification. They have 
 
 compelled him to vindicate himself, and he 
 does so with no false modesty. He knows 
 that he is the great pioneer evangelist : he 
 claims nothing less than the whole heathen 
 world for his sphere of operations ; and 
 he knows that his work has been crowned 
 by the most signal success (4-6). But it 
 is the Lord's work rather than his, it is 
 through the grace of God that he is what 
 he is, and has done what he has done ( i 
 Cor. XV. 10) ; and of this, in conclusion, he 
 reminds himself afresh, using, as he had 
 done before (i Cor. i. 31), an ancient word 
 of Jeremiah (ix. 24) ; but let him that 
 boasteth boast in the Lord (the Lord is 
 probably God, as in Jer., rather than 
 Christ). For, as for the man who com- 
 mends himself, as his opponents are doing 
 (ver. 12) HE (e/cetVos) is not the man who 
 is approved in the sight of God, but it is 
 he whom the Lord commends. 
 
 It is interesting to note how easily Paul 
 is carried forward from the discussion of 
 local or personal affairs to the most daring 
 thoughts and the most brilliant imagina- 
 tions (cf. i. 17 ff.). The larger aspects of 
 his teaching and ministry are never far 
 from his mind, and it is these that support 
 and inspire the detail. Here his character 
 and authority have been challenged. In 
 his defense, he is led to think of his mis- 
 sion In life, which is to preach the gospel 
 of Christ. He has an overwhelming sense 
 of being divinely called to that work. His 
 authority has been conferred upon him by 
 no other than the Lord Himself : he has a 
 divinely appointed " line." But this line 
 goes out throughout the whole world. It 
 stretches to Corinth, to Rome, to Spain. 
 He has a vision of a Christian world, and 
 his soul glows at the contemplation of it. 
 When the Corinthian faith is mature 
 enough (ver. 15) and their obedience com- 
 plete _ (ver. 6) he will be free to turn to 
 the distant lands at the western end of the 
 Great Sea, there to proclaim the gospel of 
 his Lord. Only then will he achieve his 
 true greatness — greatness in the service 
 of the Lord and the gospel — when he has 
 carried the good news to the regions be- 
 yond Greece (ver. 15). 
 
194 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1 Would to God ye could bear with me 
 a little in my folly: and indeed bear with 
 me. . 
 
 2 For I am jealous over you with godly 
 jealousy: for I have espoused you to one 
 husband, that I may present you as a chaste 
 virgin to Christ. 
 
 3 But I fear, lest by any means, as 
 the serpent beguiled Eve through his sub- 
 tilty, so your minds should be corrupted 
 from the simplicity that is in Christ. 
 
 4 For if he that cometh preachcth an- 
 other Jesus, whom we have not preached, 
 or if ye receive another spirit, which ye 
 have not received, or another gospel, which 
 ye have not accepted, ye might well bear 
 with him. 
 
 Paul's Boldness in Asserting His Apostolic 
 Authority is Due to His Fear That the 
 Corinthian Fidelity May Be Cor- 
 rupted by His Opponents 
 (xi. 1-6). 
 
 I, 2. Paul has been forced, by the chal- 
 lenge of his opponents, into an argument 
 which is to him distasteful. Boasting is 
 uncongenial to him, however congenial it 
 may have been to his opponents (x. i6). In 
 this case it is indeed necessary; but he de- 
 scribes it deprecatingly as folly; and he 
 asks the Corinthians to tolerate it just a 
 little longer, as the matter which has ex- 
 torted this self-vindication from him is one 
 of the gravest importance. Oh that you 
 would bear with me in a little more of 
 this boasting, to which I have been re- 
 luctantly forced, and which may well be 
 called folly. But I do not need thus to 
 entreat you : I have already had experience 
 of your indulgence, you DO (Kal) bear 
 with me. This seems better than to take 
 dvex^ade as imperative ; " nay, do bear with 
 me." After this httle touch oi banter 
 (dcppoavpT]) , the old earnestness is resumed. 
 Nothing less is at stake than the fidelity 
 of the Corinthians to their betrothal vows. 
 Christ is the bridegroom, the Corinthian 
 church is the bride, Paul is the bride- 
 groom's friend who has espoused the one 
 to the other, and he has all the interest 
 of the bridegroom himself in preserving the 
 purity and fidelity of the bride. These 
 things are being seriously imperilled by 
 Paul's opponents ; the Corinthian church is 
 in danger of being seduced, and Paul ^ is 
 jealous for her honor with a jealousy in- 
 spired by God Himself, what he calls a 
 jealousy of God, so called also partly be- 
 cause the honor of God is at stake. It is 
 no little affair of his own that leads Paul 
 into his impetuous vindication of himself; 
 it is not a personal, but a divine jealousy — 
 and that is why he asks them to bear with 
 him. For I am jealous over you with 
 a godly jealousy; for I betrothed (the 
 middle, as here -hpfioadfirip, is in classical 
 Greek generallv used of the bridegroom 
 
 himself, and the active of the father or 
 the bridesman) you to one man, to present 
 (you) as a pure virgin to Christ at His 
 coming. The marriage takes place when 
 He comes, the intervening period is the 
 time of betrothal. The church, like the 
 maiden, must be pure, chaste ; she must 
 belong to and be faithful to one man, 
 whereas the fidelity of the Corinthians is 
 being drawn off to another Jesus (ver. 4). 
 The Old Testament conception (cf. Hosea 
 i.-iii.) of the relation between Jehovah and 
 Israel as a wedding bond is here trans- 
 ferred to the relation between Christ and 
 the church. 
 
 3. This was Paul's hope and ideal that 
 the Church would be presented pure to 
 Christ. But now, however, he is afraid 
 that she, hke Eve (Gen. iii.) may be se- 
 duced. The same diabolic tendencies are 
 in the world now as then. Then Satan 
 came in the form of a serpent (in Rev. 
 xii. 9, XX. 2 the serpent and the devil or 
 Satan are identified) ; now he works 
 through Paul's Judaistic opponents. The 
 co-mparison with Eve is happy ; her tempta- 
 tion is the first and great temptation (in 
 O. T.) ; and the church has been repre- 
 sented in ver. 2 as a zconiati. I am afraid 
 lest perchance, as the serpent deceived 
 Eve in his craftiness, your thoughts 
 should be corrupted and so diverted from 
 the simplicity that is set on Christ and 
 on Him alone. He is the one man (ver. 
 2), simplicity of affection can have but one 
 object. After simplicity, Westcott and 
 Hort, following some MSS. add (in 
 brackets) Kal t^s dyvor-qTos, and purity. It 
 is possible, however, that this is an addi- 
 tion, explanatory of the word simplicity. 
 and suggested by the word pure above. 
 
 4. Paul has good reason to be afraid 
 that the fidelity" of the Corinthians may 
 be corrupted ; for he sees them " tolerating," 
 if not welcoming, the men whose gospel 
 is very different from his own. These op- 
 ponents of his are intruders, they come 
 from elsewhere, from Judaea — at any rate 
 the leading spirits; and the situation would 
 be all the more dramatic, if, as is possible, 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 ir CORINTHIANS, 
 
 195 
 
 5 For I suppose I was not a whit be- 
 hind the very chiefest apostles. 
 
 6 But though / be rude in speech, yet 
 
 not in knowledge; but we have been thor- 
 oughly made manifest among you in all 
 things. 
 
 there is one man who stands over against 
 Paul, leading and concentrating the oppo- 
 sition in his own person, o ipxofiepos may 
 mean " any one that comes," but there 
 almost seems to be something semi-official 
 about the phrase, " he that is coming." 
 He (or they, as the case may be) pro- 
 claimed another Jesus; not another Christ 
 or Messiah, — for to them as to Paul, Jesus 
 was the Messiah — but another conception 
 of Jesus, not the crucified Savior, whom 
 Paul preached (i Cor, ii. 2). They may 
 have laid stress on their earthly connection 
 with Jesus, on knowing him " according to 
 the flesh." It is not a bare possibility that 
 Paul is contemplating — "if he were to 
 preach another Jesus, you would bear with 
 him" — it is a fact; the Greek mood neces- 
 sitates that interpretation — " he who cometh 
 fo preaching" {Kripvaaei) , Another {oXkos) 
 Jesus means a different {erepov) gospel 
 and a different spirit. Paul's grievance is 
 that the Corinthians tolerate with pleasure 
 all this subversion of the gospel, while he 
 who founded the church and gave them 
 the true gospel, thus espousing them to the 
 one man Christ, has to beg for a little tol- 
 eration for himself (notice the echo in 
 dvexeade of the dvelxecrde in ver. l). He 
 expresses himself ironically ; " you put up 
 splendidly, nobly (/caXws) with such a man 
 and such a message." For if the (new)- 
 comer preaches another Jesus whom we 
 did not preach, or ye receive a different 
 spirit from that which ye received at 
 baptism, or a different gospel from that 
 which you voluntarily (thus is idi^aade dis- 
 tinguished from eXdjSere) accepted from 
 me at your conversion, you grandly bear 
 with such a man and such a message ! 
 dvex^ade (indie. , not imper.) is to be pre- 
 ferred to dveix^Gde, you bore with him. 
 The spirit introduced by the Judaizers and 
 their gospel is the spirit of legalism, bond- 
 age (Rom. viii. 15) ; for a similar contrast 
 between their gospel and Paul's, cf. Gal. i. 
 6-8. 
 
 5, 6. "And if," Paul implies, "you bear 
 so nobly with them, why not with me ? " 
 For I count myself to be in no respect 
 inferior to these pre-eminent apostles of 
 yours? Who are these? Hardly Peter, 
 James and John. Paul certainly refers to 
 them in a very independent way in Gal. ii, 
 6, 9; and as their names would be fre- 
 quently upon the lips of the Judaizers at 
 Corinth, some of whom may even have 
 
 brought from these apostles letters of rec- 
 ommendation, it is just possible that this 
 phrase, " the supereminent apostles," refers 
 to them, not of course ironically or disre- 
 spectfully — Paul would simply be tossing 
 back upon the Judaizers their own pet 
 phrase. But any reference to these apos- 
 tles would be somewhat irrelevant in this 
 context. It is more probably the leaders 
 of the Judaizing party themselves to whom 
 Paul ironically refers as the supereminent 
 apostles, the same men as are in ver. 13 
 roundly called false apostles. He may 
 perhaps be inferior to those men in orator- 
 ical devices ; but where the gospel is con- 
 cerned, _ those things count for nothing. 
 The thing that counts is knowledge, the. 
 knowledge of God and of His saving will 
 and purpose in Christ; and this he has 
 made it abundantly plain that he possesses, 
 " I am not a whit behind those fine apos- 
 tles of yours; but though I am unskilled 
 (iStwTTjy, a layman, with no professional 
 knowledge of the thing under discussion) 
 in speech, yet I am not in knowledge; 
 nay in every respect I have made (that) 
 plain in my relations with (et's) you — 
 not " to you." If ev iravrl and ^v Trdaiv are 
 both original (they may be duplicates) the 
 first would be neut. and the second masc. 
 — " among all men," (pavepcbaavres has . no- 
 expressed object; it must mean either that 
 he has made the knozcledge itself plain, or 
 made plain the fact that he has knowledge, 
 even if he is rude in speech. The reading 
 adopted by A. V. (^apepcodevres (having been 
 manifested), is also excellently attested, but 
 perhaps suspicious owing to its simplicity; 
 in this case, it is Paul who has made 
 himself plain, intelligible, in all his rela- 
 tions to the Corinthians. Eloquence is no 
 proof of apostleship ; of infinitely more im- 
 portance is knowledge, the knowledge of 
 God, and this the apostle manifestly has. 
 
 Paul's Reason for Refusal of Maintenance 
 From the Corinthians (xi. 7-15). 
 
 Paul claims to be no whit inferior to his 
 " apostolic " opponents. If he has not the 
 rhetorical skill they have, that is of no 
 consequence : the thing that matters is 
 knowledge, and that he has. But, his op- 
 ponents retort, Paul can be no true apos- 
 tle, however plausible his claims ; he has 
 refused to accept maintenance from the 
 
196 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 7 Have I committed an offence in abas- 
 ing myself that ye might be exalted, be- 
 cause I have preached to you the gospel of 
 God freely? 
 
 8 I robbed other churches, taking wages 
 of them, to do you service. 
 
 9 And when I was present with you, 
 and wanted, I was chargeable to no man : 
 for that which was lacking to me the 
 
 brethren which came from Macedonia sup- 
 plied: and in all things I have kept myself 
 from being burdensome unto you, and so 
 will I keep myself. 
 
 ID As the truth of Christ is in me, no 
 man shall stop me of this boasting in the 
 regions of Achaia. 
 
 II Wherefore? because I love you not? 
 God knoweth. 
 
 Corinthians, and such a refusal, they ap- 
 parently argued, would have been impos- 
 sible to one who really possessed apos- 
 tolic dignity. They cannot see into the 
 noble soul of Paul; here, as everywhere, 
 their tests are material and external, " ac- 
 cording to the flesh." Paul himself had 
 already argued (in i Cor. ix.), with great 
 force, for the right of an apostle to be 
 maintained by the churches which he saved; 
 but, on occasion, he might show more true 
 greatness by waiving this right. An apostle 
 may claim this maintenance, said Paul; he 
 must, said his opponents. It is their ma- 
 licious misinterpretation of his conduct and 
 attitude in this respect that Paul meets in 
 this paragraph. 
 
 7. Or did I commit a sin — he iron- 
 ically asks — in humbling myself in order 
 that YOU (v^iels) might be spiritually 
 exalted, lifted up out of the degradation 
 of your heathen ways into the blessedness 
 of the gospel, in that I preached to you 
 the gospel of God for nothing? In 
 Taireivojv (abasing myself) perhaps we hear 
 an echo of the actual charge made by 
 his opponents, who may have frequently 
 and in various connections applied the 
 epithet rairetvos to him (cf. x. i) ; no apos- 
 tle he, but a low, mean-spirited fellow, a 
 coward. He demeaned himself in their 
 eyes, and conclusively proved that he was 
 no apostle, by preaching for nothing 
 {bojpeav) ; the irony is heightened by the 
 full and solemn phrase "the gospel of 
 God." It is not the "other" false gospel 
 about another Jesus that he preaches (ver. 
 4). In suggesting that it was perhaps a 
 sin to preach the gospel of the grace of 
 God for nothing, Paul is using the lan- 
 guage of bitter irony; cf. xii. 13, where 
 the allusion is the same — "forgive me 
 this wrong." Paul seems to have been 
 more than usually hurt by their ungenerous 
 construction of his generosity. The free 
 grace of God is most eloquently proclaimed 
 by the preacher who illustrates it in his 
 own conduct. 
 
 8. Paul had the right, as an apostle, to 
 maintenance from the Corinthians. He had 
 a reason, however, which he gives below 
 
 (ver. 12) for not accepting anything from 
 them. In part, he supported himself, while 
 at Corinth, by working at his trade with 
 his own hands (Acts xviii. 3), though he 
 courteously refrains from thrusting this 
 fact upon them; but for the rest, he re- 
 ceived his support from other churches. 
 OTHER churches I plundered, taking 
 wages from them that I might min- 
 ister unto YOU without recompense. 
 There is a pointed contrast between 
 the others and you (v/xuv) ; and the lan- 
 guage is very vigorous ; the contribution 
 from the other churches — the Philippian, 
 for example, which seems to have been 
 particularly generous (Phil. iv. 15 f.) as 
 the Alacedonian churches generally were 
 (2 Cor. viii. 2) — Paul characterizes as 
 robbery (the motive of which was the 
 service of you), though from another point 
 of view it is simply his wages (for 6\pu)VLov 
 cf. I Cor. ix. 7). In Corinth, as the se- 
 quel showed, the most scrupulous care 
 must be taken to give no offense, and Paul 
 would be the less exposed to reproach, if 
 he accepted nothing from the Corinthians 
 for his evangelical services. 
 
 9-1 1. Whatever Paul took from other 
 churches, he never once made himself a 
 burden to the Corinthians. And when I 
 at any time felt want {varep-ndels aor.. not 
 " zvas in want") during my stay {irapuiv 
 pres. ptc.) among you I never made my- 
 self a benumbing burden to anybody. 
 KaravapKoJ (from vapKr]^ stift'ness, torpor), 
 " to lie like a stiff weight on," is said by 
 Jerome to be a Cilician word. For the 
 brethren — probably Silas and Timothy, 
 who had stayed at Beroea (Acts xvii. 14) 
 and afterwards rejoined Paul at Corinth 
 (Acts xviii. 5) — when they came from 
 the poor, but generous (viii. 2) churches of 
 Macedonia, brought a further (^rpos) 
 supply for my want (iVrepTj/xa echoes 
 vareprjOeis) . And, supplied as I thus was 
 from other sources, in every respect I 
 kept myself during my stay at Corinth 
 from being a burden to you, and in the 
 future I will (so) keep myself. The rea- 
 son for this determined course Paul will 
 soon state (ver. 12), but the fact itself 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 197 
 
 12 But what I do, that I will do, that 
 I may cut off occasion from them which 
 desire occasion ; that wherein they glory, 
 they may be found even as we. 
 
 1.3 For such are false aDOstles, deceitful 
 workers, transforming themselves into the 
 apostles of Christ. 
 
 14 And no marvel ; for Satan himself 
 is transformed into an angel of light. 
 
 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his 
 ministers also be transformed as the min- 
 isters of righteousness ; whose end shall be 
 according to their works. 
 
 is so important that he repeats it in a 
 form that invests it almost with the sol- 
 emnity of an oath. The truth of Christ 
 is in me, and by this I do hereby most 
 solemnly assert that, so far as I am con- 
 cerned, this boast of mine that I preach 
 gratuitously shall not be silenced (lit. 
 shall not have [her mouth] stopped — 
 Kavx'n<^i-^, boasting, being, as it were, per- 
 sonified) in the regions of Achaea; his 
 practice at Corinth would be his practice 
 throughout the whole province (i. i). As 
 the truth of Christ is in Paul, his state- 
 ments are made with the full force of his 
 Christian personality, and are inspired with 
 an absolute obligation to sincerity and 
 truthfulness (cf. i. 17 ff.). This solemn 
 assertion shows how very earnest and de- 
 termined was Paul's resolution to takenoth- 
 ing from the Corinthians. The friendly 
 disposed among them might well feel of- 
 fended at this refusal to be helped by 
 them, and ask Why? They might think 
 such a policy argued lack of love for 
 them. You ask, Is it because I do not 
 love you? Certainly not; for God knows 
 that I do love you. 
 
 12. At last the real reason for Paul's 
 refusal of support from the Corinthians 
 is now given. Now what I do in keeping 
 myself from being a burden to you (ver. 
 9), I will also continue to do; for this rea- 
 son, that I may cut off this particular 
 (lit. the) occasion from those who desire 
 an occasion of being found, in the mat- 
 ter whereof they boast, on a level with 
 US. This last sentence has been construed 
 and interpreted in a multitude of ways, but 
 the simplest seems to be this. The second 
 tJ'ci is not co-ordinate with the first ; it 
 does not therefore express the motive for 
 the action of the principal clause — "This 
 I will continue to do in order that they 
 may be found even as we " — that is, that 
 Paul's opponents may be reduced to the 
 moral necessity of preaching for nothing; 
 there was little Hkeiihood of that. Rather 
 is the second '»'« dependent on the three 
 words preceding and explanatory of them, 
 expressing what the opponents desired. 
 Their desire was that, " in the matter of 
 which they boasted," that is, the apostle- 
 ship, they should be on terms of equality 
 
 with Paul. But they accepted support, 
 while Paul did not ; though it pleased them 
 to construe this as an admission that Paul 
 was no true apostle, the obvious unselfish- 
 ness of Paul's policy was, to candid men, 
 a sufficient refutation of their argument. 
 Paul therefore in this respect had a distinct 
 advantage over them, and he was deter- 
 mined to retain it. The apostolic equality 
 with him to which they aspired he rendered 
 impossible, by adopting an unselfish policy 
 which their avarice would not let them 
 imitate. 
 
 13-15. For such men, men of this sel- 
 fish and unscrupulous character, are — not 
 "pre-eminent apostles," as their followers 
 claim, but — FALSE apostles, traitors to 
 the idea of the apostleship and of the gos- 
 pel, _ crafty workers, busy indeed, but in 
 pulling down, not in building up (x. S^ and 
 serving their own interests and prejudices 
 when they claim to be serving the gospel, 
 all the time (pres. ptc.) transforming 
 themselves into apostles of Christ. They 
 were no apostles of His, they were really 
 servants of Satan ; but so skilfully did they 
 disguise themselves that they looked like 
 apostles. And no wonder, for Satan Him- 
 self, whose realm is darkness, transforms 
 himself into an angel of light. God 
 and the angels dwell in light and their na- 
 ture is fight (cf. Acts xii. 7). The refer- 
 ence must be to some apocalyptic tale, as 
 there is no Old Testament story which 
 alludes to the transformation of Satan into 
 an angel of light ; neither Job i. 6 nor i 
 Kings xxii. 19-23 implies this. It is noth- 
 ing remarkable, then, seeing he is such a 
 master in the art of transformation, if 
 his servants also transform themselves 
 and become as servants of righteousness. 
 Righteousness may be here used in the 
 large ethical and religious sense ; it is the 
 cause of righteousness, of light, of God, 
 of Christ, that they pretend to serve; in 
 reality, it is the cause of unrighteousness, 
 of darkness, of Satan, of themselves, that 
 they serve. Possibly, however, righteous- 
 ness here is tinged with the technical sense 
 which it so often has in Paul, the right- 
 eousness of God (Rom. i. 17). Those 
 who are ministers of that righteousness are 
 the true evangelists. These men are the 
 
198 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 i6 I say again, Let no man think me a 
 fool ; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, 
 that I may boast myself a little. 
 
 17 That which I speak, I speak it not 
 after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in 
 this confidence of boasting. 
 
 false, whose end shall be in accordance 
 with their works. Their fate will be de- 
 termined by their conduct. They are guilty 
 of the deepest sort of lie — the transforma- 
 tion of moral values (Isaiah v. 20, Mark 
 iii. 22) — and their punishment will be as 
 terrible as their sin. 
 
 The strong words at the end of the 
 paragraph, in which Paul anticipates for 
 his opponents a terrible end, show how 
 deeply he has been exasperated by their 
 tactics. He loved the Corinthian church, 
 it was he who had espoused her to Christ ; 
 and these Judaizers were doing everything 
 in their power to pervert the church by 
 the proclamation of another Jesus and an- 
 other gospel, and to discredit the authority 
 of the man who had founded that church. 
 They cannot appreciate his lofty motives in 
 refusing the support which he could justly 
 claim, and they even turn his unselfishness 
 into an argument against his apostleship. 
 
 Little wonder, considering the interests 
 at stake, that Paul saw in those self styled 
 " apostles of Christ " the ministers of Satan, 
 the representatives of the prince of dark- 
 ness, cunningly disguised as angels of 
 light. Bousset raises the interesting ques- 
 tion whether Paul's strong language and 
 attitude were altogether justified. "Per- 
 haps we ought to think of his opponents 
 as narrow no doubt, but at the same time 
 as convinced of the justice of their view. 
 The means which these petty spirits 
 adopted to combat the apostle were cer- 
 tainly odious and ugly. But Paul's own 
 manner of conducting the contest is sim- 
 ilarly marked by no small passion. On 
 the other hand we must in justice con- 
 cede that he had reason for his anger 
 and that his vigor in the heat of the great 
 contest was only too intelligible. Paul is 
 no saint, just as little as Luther." Cer- 
 tainly Paul, as we have seen in ch. x. had 
 much to provoke him. He had done the 
 hard work, and they had stepped in to ap- 
 propriate the fruits of his labor. But it 
 is not for such personal reasons that Paul 
 here calls them ministers of Satan ; it is 
 because their work is a menace to the 
 purity, and even to the existence, of the 
 gospel. They have no insight into the 
 mind and conduct of an apostolic man 
 like Paul (ver. 7 ff.) still less into the 
 mind of Christ. The emphasis which they 
 laid upon externals (cf. ver. 22) was al- 
 
 together alien to the genius of the gospel 
 of Jesus. Their Jesus is "another" 
 Jesus, their gospel and their spirit are dif- 
 ferent. It is this that explains and to 
 some extent justifies the vigorous lan- 
 guage in which Paul describes them and 
 their fate. 
 
 The Apostle's Boast (xi. 16-33). 
 
 The apostle recoils from the necessity 
 (xii. 11) which has been thrust upon him 
 by his opponents, of defending his claims to 
 be an apostle. It involves boasting, and 
 this Paul naturally shrinks from. It is 
 folly (vv. I, 17), it is ov Kara Kvpt-ov, not in 
 the spirit of the Lord (ver. 17) ; but he 
 has been driven to it by the challenge and 
 insinuations of his rivals, and in this sec- 
 tion, after a little ironical fore-play (vv. 
 16-21) he girds himself deliberately to the 
 task, and in an impetuous passage of great 
 eloquence, he brings before us some of the 
 more thrilling incidents of his perilous and 
 crowded life, and vindicates triumphantly 
 his claim to the apostleship by pointing 
 to the things that he has suffered for the 
 gospel's sake (cf. vi. 4-10; i Cor. iv. 9- 
 13). 
 
 16-17. Again I say, as I said (im- 
 plicitly) before (in ver. i), let no one 
 think that I am a fool. Paul is well 
 aware of the unseemliness and the folly 
 of boasting ; but he is on his defense, and 
 he must state his case whether they think 
 him a fool or not. In any case, how- 
 ever (et 5e jx-q ye, but if ye do )Wt grant 
 my request to be regarded as a sane man), 
 listen to me (lit. accept me. give me a 
 welcome) even though it be as a fool, 
 that I too as well as my opponents, to 
 whom you give so cordial a welcome, may 
 boast just a little bit {/j-iKpop n) . I am 
 well aware that what I speak, I do not 
 speak in accordance with the mind and 
 s|)irit of the Lord, or under His direct 
 inspiration; He was meek and lowly (Mat. 
 xi. 29), and boasting was not His way. 
 Paul is careful in his defence, to safe- 
 guard by anticipation, the character of his 
 Lord which might be compromised by the 
 boasting of a disciple and an npt-ystlc It 
 is not after the Lord, but as in foolishness 
 (note how he rings the changes on this 
 word half seriously, half ironically) that 
 Paul speaks with (lit. in) this proud con- 
 fidence of boasting, on which he is about 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 199 
 
 i8 Seeing that many glory after the 
 flesh, I will glory also. 
 
 19 For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye 
 yourselves are wise. 
 
 20 For ye suffer, if a man bring you 
 into bondage, if a man devour you, if a 
 man take of you, if a man exalt himself, 
 if a man smite you on the face. 
 
 21 I speak as concerning reproach, as 
 though we had been weak. Howbeit, 
 
 whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak fool- 
 ishly,) I am bold also. 
 
 22 Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are 
 they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed 
 of Abraham ? so am I. 
 
 2^ Are they ministers of Christ? (I 
 speak as a fool,) I am more; in labours 
 more abundant, in stripes above measure, 
 in prisons more -frequent, in deaths oft. 
 
 to launch. The last clause goes with the 
 whole sentence : in this boasting, it is not 
 as an inspired man, but as a fool that he 
 speaks. Some render viroaTaaei here (cf. 
 ix. 4), "in this matter, subject, of boast- 
 ing," — not impossible, but less forcible and 
 appropriate here. 
 
 18-20. Seeing that many — he means 
 more particularly his opponents, the false 
 teachers, who were "many" (ii. 17) — 
 boast after the flesh, of external things, 
 such as their Jewish descent (ver. 22), 
 their connection with the Jerusalem church 
 or its leaders, with Christ, etc., I also 
 will glory; he does not say, but the se- 
 quel (ver. 22) shows that he partly means 
 after the iiesh. Even in regard to the ex- 
 ternal things of which they make so much, 
 Paul is " not a whit inferior " to them 
 (ver. 5). And he goes on with biting sar- 
 casm to say that he can surely count upon 
 a patient hearing from them, for their 
 practice shows that they hsten to fools 
 with pleasure. For ye put up {avixeaOe 
 an echo of ver. i, where he hopes that 
 they will put up with him and his folly) 
 gladly with fools — the next verse shows 
 that by the foolish {rdiv d(pp6vwv) he means 
 his opponents — being wise men (your- 
 selves) ; a most ironical addition — the 
 wise Corinthians may well show their wis- 
 dom by tolerating a little folly. There is 
 an effective word play in the Greek, the 
 two contrasted words a.(t)p6vwv (ppoptfiot be- 
 ing juxtaposed — sensible and senseless. 
 The argument is : if they tolerate fools, 
 they are bound to tolerate him, for he too 
 is a fool (his boasting makes him such). 
 The next verse is a severe description of 
 the conduct of his Judaistic opponents in 
 their dealings with the church. The al- 
 lusion is obvious, but skilfully expressed 
 by the indefinite et ris (if any one). For 
 you put up with any one who lords it 
 over you, as I was falsely said to do (i. 
 24) and who reduces you (cf. Ep. to Gal.) 
 to the bondage of legalism (these men 
 turned the Corinthians into slaves, Paul 
 made himself their slave, iv. 5), who de- 
 vours you by demanding heavy contribu- 
 
 tions (as Paul refused to do) for his sup- 
 port, who catches you cunningly (cf. ver. 
 13, as men catch fish — same verb iXd^ofiev 
 in Luke v. 5) and thus gets you into his 
 power, who lifts himself up proudly and 
 insolently, who smites you in the face. 
 A blow on the face was one of the greatest 
 of insults (Mat. v. 39, Acts xxiii. 2). It 
 seems almost incredible that such an act 
 should have been possible within the 
 church, but the impression made by the 
 passage is confirmed by i Tim. iii. 3, Tit. 
 i. 7 where it is laid down that the bishop 
 must not be a " striker." 
 
 21. The irony of this whole section 
 (16-21) is very striking, and nowhere 
 more than here. To (my) shame Tlit. 
 "by way of dishonor") I admit that (lit. 
 " I say how that ") WE (rf^e's) were too 
 weak to indulge in vigorous measures like 
 these. He had been called a weakling (x. 
 10), he ironically admits the charge, he at 
 any rate is too feeble to treat the church 
 as his opponents treat it. But all the 
 same he has a courage of his own; which 
 he is not afraid to match with theirs; in 
 whatever matter any one is bold (of 
 course — he ironically adds — it is in folly 
 that I speak, for the speech he is about 
 to make is a boast) I too am bold. 
 
 22. After this preliminary ironical 
 movement, in which Paul has raised our 
 expectations to the highest as to what 
 the contents of his "bold" boast will be, 
 he begins the statement of it in brief 
 and weighty sentences which, at the very 
 outset, demolish the claims of his oppo- 
 nents to pre-eminence even in the external 
 matters on which they laid so much stress. 
 Are they Hebrews? (more vivid than 
 they are Hebrezcs) so am I. Are they 
 Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed 
 of Abraham? so am I. He could claim 
 Jewish descent as well as they. Hebrews is 
 the national name, Israelites, their sacred 
 name — as the people of God; as Abra- 
 ham's seed, the highest term of all, they 
 are heirs (Gal. iii. 29) of the promises 
 (Gen. xii. 1-3). 
 
 23. These matters, important as they 
 
200 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XI 
 
 24 Of the Jews five times received I 
 forty stripes save one. 
 
 25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once 
 ■was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, 
 a night and a day I have been in the deep ; 
 
 26 In joiirneyings often, in perils of 
 Avaters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
 
 mine ozvn countrymen, in perils by the 
 heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in 
 the wilderness, /;/ perils in the sea, in perils 
 among false brethren; 
 
 27 In weariness and painfulness, in 
 watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in 
 fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 
 
 seemed to his opponents, were of little 
 consequence to Paul, and he dismisses 
 them very curtly with a nayu) (I too). 
 But when he presents his claim to be a 
 minister of Christ, his style at once ex- 
 pands. Are they ministers of Christ? 
 Here he is not content with a bare So am 
 I. He had already called them ministers 
 of Satan (ver. 15); and if they, even on 
 their own showing, have any claim to be 
 considered ministers ■ of Christ, he has 
 more. But before he says this and thus 
 launches himself upon an account of his 
 career, he interpolates, I speak in mad- 
 ness. Perhaps this, like the other refer- 
 ences to his " folly " in boasting, is largely 
 ironical ; but it is possible to suppose that 
 it is meant much more seriously. The 
 words "minister of Christ" have a steady- 
 ing and solemnizing effect, and Paul feels 
 that it is not only " not according to the 
 Lord" (ver. 17) but sheer madness, to be 
 boasting (though he is driven to it) about 
 matters so sacred. I have a MORE abun- 
 dant claim than they to be considered a 
 minister of Christ ; for consider what I 
 have suffered for His sake. 
 
 In labors more abundantly than they 
 (cf. I Cor. XV. 10). li -KepLcaoTepm be 
 pressed in its comparative meaning, Paul 
 begins by contrasting himself with his op- 
 ponents — his labors are more abundant 
 than theirs. Already in the third clause, 
 however, he loses sight of them 
 (vweplSaWovTcos, exceedingly), and from 
 that point on, confines himself to his own 
 career. It is just possible, therefore, that 
 irepL(T(70T€pm has the force of a superlative 
 (very abundantly). The following recital 
 shows us how little we really know of 
 Paul's missionary experiences from the 
 book of Acts. In prisons, as at Philippi 
 (Acts xvi. 23 f.) more abundantly, in 
 stripes (explained in next verse) above 
 measure, in the jaws of death often, 
 " delivered evermore to death for Jesus' 
 sake" iv. 11, in peril of death at Damas- 
 cus at the outset of his Christian career 
 (Acts ix. 23 f.), stoned almost to death at 
 Lystra (Acts xiv. 19), in some deadly peril 
 in " Asia " (2 Cor. i. 8). 
 
 24, 25. The general words of ver. 23 
 are now illustrated by concrete detail. 
 From the Jews I five times received 
 
 the punishment (inflicted with a leather 
 scourge, so severe that the victim some- 
 times died under it) of forty stripes, save 
 the one which later practice remitted, lest 
 by chance the limit of forty prescribed by 
 law should be exceeded (Deut. xxv. 3). 
 Three times I was beaten by Roman 
 officials with rods, as at Philippi (Acts 
 xvi. 22) : once I was stoned, at Lystra 
 (Acts xiv. 19), three times I was ship- 
 wrecked, none of these occasions being 
 recorded in the book of Acts, as his ship- 
 wreck on the voyage to Rome (ch. xxvii.) 
 occurred later, a full night and day of 
 twenty-four hours I spent in the deep, 
 probably on the plank of a ship which 
 had been wrecked, as in Acts xxvii. 44, 
 
 26, 27. His missionary journeys were 
 many, and by land, as by sea (ver. 25) 
 often accompanied with great peril, from 
 swollen rivers, brigands, etc. In journey- 
 ings often, in perils from turbulent 
 rivers, treacherous to ford or swim; in 
 perils from brigands who infested the 
 country roads of Asia Minor, and waylaid 
 travelers. Alen were as cruel as nature ; 
 Paul was in perils from his Jewish kins- 
 men, as at Damascus (Acts ix. 2t,) , Jeru- 
 salem (Acts ix. 29) etc.; in perils from 
 the Gentiles, as at Philippi (Acts xvi. 
 20), Ephesus (Acts xix. 31) ; in perils in 
 the city, as at Damascus (Acts ix. 23), 
 Jerusalem (Acts ix. 29). Ephesus (Acts 
 xix. 31) ; in perils in the wilderness per- 
 haps of Arabia (Gal. i. 17). but probably 
 also elsewhere : in perils in the sea already 
 graphically illustrated (ver. 25) ; in perils 
 among false brethren, more terrible than 
 the perils of the sea. Gal. ii. 4 illustrates 
 this point, though Paul's Jewish rivals at 
 Corinth were illustration enough, and in 
 the word he probably takes a side glance 
 at them. In labour (ver. 23) and toil — 
 Paul's work was hard and wearying — in 
 many a wakeful night, whether kept 
 awake by fatigue, by manual (2 Thes. iii. 
 8) or missionary work (Acts xx. 7) ; in 
 hunger and thirst, in fastings (apparently, 
 in such a context, not deliberate but in- 
 voluntary) often, in cold and nakedness 
 or scanty attire, as perhaps after ship- 
 wreck. 
 
 28, 29. But there was more than physical 
 peril and pain. Even more than the phys- 
 
Ch. XI] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 201 
 
 28 Beside those things that are without, 
 that which cometh upon me daily, the care 
 of all the churches. 
 
 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? 
 who is offended, and I burn not?_ 
 
 30 If I must needs glory, I will glory 
 of the things which concern mine infirm- 
 ities. 
 
 31 The God and Father of our Lord 
 
 Jesus Christ, which is blessed for ever- 
 more, knoweth that I lie not. 
 
 32 In Damascus the governor under 
 Aretas the king kept the city of the Da- 
 mascenes with a garrison, desirous to ap- 
 prehend me : 
 
 33 And through a window in a basket 
 was I let down by the wall, and escaped 
 his hands. 
 
 ical strain was the spiritual one involved 
 in his unceasing interest in the churches 
 he had founded. Besides the things out- 
 side this description (or the things which 
 I omit) is the thing that presses upon 
 me daily, my anxiety for ALL the 
 churches. The anxiety (/j^epLfiva) Paul had 
 for the churches was as real and intense 
 as that which the ordinary man has about 
 food and clothing (Mat. vi. 31 /j.eptfj.vria7]T€) , 
 Both the reading and ^ the meaning of 
 ciriaTaais are doubtful. ewiavaTaais is also 
 read, which might mean, "the daily com- 
 bination against me." e-rriaTaais may mean 
 care, and be parallel to " anxiety " ; but it 
 is perhaps better to take it in its primary 
 etymological meaning, and regard it as 
 more closely defined by the following 
 {jiipLfiva : " the daily pressure upon me, 
 namely, the anxiety for all the churches." 
 This anxiety is illustrated by ver. 29. 
 Who is weak in faith or courage, and I 
 am not weak in sympathy with him? 
 Paul became all things to all men, for the 
 gospel's sake, therefore " weak to the 
 weak" (i Cor. ix. 22). He was not, for 
 example, contemptuous, but considerate of 
 the scrupulous brother who could not eat 
 meat that had been offered to idols (i 
 Cor. viii.). Who is made to stumble, 
 and I do not burn with indignant, sym- 
 pathetic pain? When a Christian brother 
 is snared by sin, the apostle's heart glows 
 with the pain and shame of it. 
 
 30, 31. Verse 30, with its repetition of 
 the word " weakness " from ver. 29, hap- 
 pily mediates the transition between the 
 preceding verses and those which conclude 
 the chapter. Indeed it is possible, but not 
 necessary, to begin, as some do, a new sec- 
 tion here, ending it at xii. 9 or 10. Paul 
 is still substantiating his " boast " by re- 
 cording his experience, though the last in- 
 cident of the chapter, that of his escape 
 from Damascus, acquires a certain inde- 
 pendent importance from the solemn intro- 
 ductory asseveration of ver. 31. So diffi- 
 cult have some scholars found it to regard 
 this preface as belonging only to the inci- 
 dent described in vv. 32, 33, that they have 
 taken it as the introduction to the account 
 
 of Paul's ecstatic vision in ch. xii. and re- 
 garded xi. 32 f. as inserted perhaps by way 
 of afterthought. But this incident may 
 have had for Paul a significance which it 
 cannot have for us, who are ignorant of 
 the circumstances, and the difficulty is not 
 insuperable of regarding the solemn appeal 
 in ver. 31 as prefacing the narrative in 
 vv. 32, 33. 
 
 If boasting is necessary, I will boast 
 of the things that belong to my weak- 
 ness, as illustrated alike by the incidents 
 he has narrated and that which he is about 
 to narrate. It was not in his own strength 
 that he had surmounted all those deadly 
 perils, it was the "grace of God" (i Cor. 
 XV. 10) that made him the victor that he 
 was. The God and Father (not " God 
 and the Father ") of the Lord Jesus 
 knows, He who IS (0 Sov) blessed for 
 ever, that I am not lying. This very 
 solemn appeal to the God who knozvs (cl 
 ver. 11) comes at this point with the effect 
 of a surprise; but the incident which it is 
 designed to corroborate had no doubt its 
 peculiar significance for Paul. His expe- 
 rience at Damascus was his initiation into 
 the sufferings of his apostleship. The ap- 
 peal to the Father of Jesus is very relevant 
 here, as it was for Jesus' sake that he en- 
 countered the danger he is about to relate 
 (cf. iv. it). 
 
 32, _ 33. In Damascus, which perhaps 
 for diplomatic reasons had been ceded by 
 the Romans to Aretas, the governor un- 
 der Aretas IV the king of the Nabatasan 
 Arabs, kept guarding the city of the 
 Damascenes (the last word is superfluous), 
 no doubt at the gates, to seize me, and 
 through a window of a house on the 
 wall I was let down in a basket (of 
 wicker work?) by the wall, and escaped 
 his hands. This probably occurred about 
 37 A.D. on Paul's return to Damascus 
 after his sojourn in Arabia, and conse- 
 quently about three years subsequent to his 
 conversion (Gal. i. 17!). The incident is 
 referred to in Acts ix. 23-25 where, how- 
 ever, it is the Jews who seek Paul's^ life. 
 Probably Aretas was acting on the insti- 
 gation of the Jews who were numerous and 
 
202 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 CHAPTER 12. 
 I It is not expedient for me doubtless 
 
 to glory. I will come to visions and reve- 
 lations of the Lord. 
 
 powerful in Damascus. It is possible that 
 Paul's flight on this occasion was inter- 
 preted by his opponents as cowardice, and 
 that the incident was used to make him 
 ridiculous. But he himself is not ashamed 
 of it. He glories in his weakness, and in 
 his deliverance he sees the gracious hand 
 of God. 
 
 This brief, impetuous description which 
 Paul gives of his life Stanley calls " one 
 of the most valuable historical portions of 
 the New Testament." It shows us how 
 much more strenuous and terrible was the 
 missionary life of Paul than even the book 
 of Acts would lead us to suppose. It was 
 crowded with peril and persecution, beset 
 by the relentless forces of nature — her 
 stormy seas and roaring rivers — and by 
 the still more pitiless and venomous forces 
 set ill motion by men — by bigoted Jews, 
 stern Romans, unscrupulous brigands, and, 
 worst of all, false brethren. He points to 
 these experiences in vindication of his 
 claim to be an apostle — to the things that 
 he had suffered "for Jesus' sake" (iv. ii, 
 xii. id). It takes more than rhetoric to 
 make an apostle (ver, 6), it takes knowl- 
 edge of the mind of Jesus, readiness and 
 capacity to suffer for the gospel's sake. 
 
 The picture he draws is one of almost 
 superhuman heroism, and the boast, for 
 which he had with such elaboration and 
 skilful irony prepared the way, is more 
 than justified. And the crown and climax 
 of all this "pressure" which would have 
 crushed the life out of any but a giant, 
 was his anxiety for all the churches. As 
 he faces the swollen floods, traverses the 
 roads infested by robbers, and looks at 
 death again and again upon the sea, he 
 bears evermore on his mighty heart the 
 thought of his weak and tempted brethren 
 among the churches he had founded, and 
 identifies himself with them. His anxiety 
 for the churches does not swallow up his 
 care for the individual members of whom 
 those churches were composed ; nay, rather 
 it is the individual Christian brother, in his 
 struggles and falls, far more than the or- 
 ganization, of which he thinks. If any one 
 is weak, Paul feels and shares his weak- 
 ness. 
 
 Here then is the kernel of his defense. 
 He has the welfare of all the churches upon 
 his heart, he loves their individual members 
 
 and deals with them in a spirit of the 
 keenest and most intelligent sympatliy ; and 
 finally, for their sakes, and for the sake of 
 their common Lord, he is willing and glad 
 to endure to the uttermost, to pursue a 
 career that was beset by continuous perils, 
 and that once and again brought him face 
 to face with death. 
 
 The Vision and the Thorn (xii. i-io). 
 
 In this section, Paul continues his 
 " boast ;" but here it takes the form of an 
 unusually intimate disclosure, and it consti- 
 tutes a splendid climax to the recital of the 
 experiences by which he vindicates his 
 claim to be an apostle. Just as his escape 
 from Damascus (xi. 32 f.) may have ex- 
 posed him to the charge of cowardice, so 
 his " revelations " may have won for him 
 the reputation of being a visionary of per- 
 haps rather questionable sanity. Here in 
 the most solemn and deliberate manner, he 
 claims for them reality, and in particular 
 recounts an overmastering experience which 
 had befallen him fourteen years before, 
 when he had been in Paradise itself, and 
 had heard words unutterable. Intimately 
 connected with this is the account of the 
 thorn in his flesh, which had been sent as 
 a spiritual discipline, to check the pride 
 which the vision might have caused ; and 
 this discipline was the occasion of a fresh 
 manifestation oi the all-sufficient grace and 
 power of Christ. He may surely then 
 boast of the weakness (xi. 30, xii. 9) which 
 led to such a display of divine power. It is 
 but another form of " glorying in the Lord " 
 (x. 17). 
 
 I. The text of ver. i is exceedingly 
 confused, but the two great types are repre- 
 sented by A. V. {Kavxaadai 5r] ov ai'fx<f)ep€i 
 /J.OC- e\ev(TO/xai yap) and A. R. V. {KavxaaOai 
 5ei • ov avfjL(f)epov /xev, eXeiVo/ttat 5e'). The 
 confusion between Sei and Srj is natural. 
 The question is not, after all, one of great 
 importance, as the meaning is, in either 
 case, much the same : Paul is well aware 
 of the general inexpediency of boasting, 
 and regrets its necessity. A. R. V. empha- 
 sizes rather the necessity, A. V. the regret. 
 Considering that Paul has been driven to 
 his boast in self-vindication (ver. 11), 
 A. R. V. seems more probable, especially 
 as not only the idea but even the phrase 
 ("boasting is necessary") has occurred 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 203 
 
 2 I knew a man in Christ above four- 
 teen years ago, (whether in the body, I 
 cannot tell ; or Avhether out of the body, I 
 cannot tell: God knoweth;) such a one 
 caught up to the third heaven. 
 
 3 And I knew such a man, (whether 
 
 in the body, or out of the body, I cannot 
 tell: God knoweth;) 
 
 4 How that he was caught up into 
 paradise, and heard unspeakable words, 
 which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 
 
 before (xi. 30). Whatever connection his 
 opponents may have had with Christ, Paul 
 is "no whit inferior" (xi. 5), he can claim 
 to have had revelations from Him. Boast- 
 ing is necessary: it is not indeed good 
 {profitable, advantageous) either for me or 
 for any one else — there is the danger of 
 spiritual pride (ver. 7) ; but as my oppo- 
 nents have coerced me into it (ver. 11), 
 
 1 will proceed further and come to visions 
 and revelations of {i.e. vouchsafed me 
 by) the Lord. The revelations come 
 through the visions. It is hardly probable 
 that these visions and revelations were all 
 comprised in the one great experience he 
 is about to recount. The plural (cf. ver. 
 7) more naturally suggests that they oc- 
 curred more than once; and this is con- 
 firmed by Acts xviii. 9 (vision). Gal. ii. 
 
 2 (revelation). 
 
 2. The story is told with a certain sol- 
 emn and rhythmic repetition, and curiously 
 enough, Paul speaks of himself in the third 
 person, suggesting that his part in the mat- 
 ter was purely passive. It was as if the 
 man who enjoyed that unutterable expe- 
 rience could not be himself, the Paul who 
 was so acutely conscious of .his weakness. 
 I know a man in Christ; what he is about 
 to tell happened to him as a Christian. 
 Had he not been in Christ, either it would 
 not have happened, or at any rate it would 
 not have taken the form it did. Bousset 
 points out that, according to the Talmud, 
 Paul's ecstatic experience was paralleled by 
 the experience of some contemporary Jew- 
 ish Rabbis. The idea of an ecstatic ascent to 
 heaven he may well have shared with the 
 Judaism in which he had been brought up, 
 but this particular vision came to him as 
 a Christian man; it was the Lord, i.e. Christ 
 (ver. 9) whom he recognized as its source ; 
 it came upon a Christian mind, and its con- 
 tents were Christian. This happened four- 
 teen years ago (43 A.D.?) and therefore 
 is not to be connected with his conversion 
 which had occurred about twenty years be- 
 fore ; it was a never to be forgotten day. 
 But Paul has no idea how it happened — 
 whether in the body I do not know, or 
 out of the body I do not know, God 
 knoweth (cf. xi. 11, 31). Paul is so little 
 himself (cf. the use of the third person) 
 that he does not know whether he was 
 
 caught up bodily into heaven, or whether 
 his spirit had left the body, and he en- 
 joyed this amazing experience, as it were, 
 in a disembodied state; such a one — the 
 man whom he knows — caught swiftly 
 {apirayevra) up like Philip after his inter- 
 view with the eunuch (Acts viii. 39, 
 ripiraaev)^ like the child of the woman in 
 Rev. xii. 5 {vpirdadr]) ^ and as those who 
 are alive at Christ's coming will be caught, 
 according to i Thes. iv. 17, as far as the 
 third heaven. Jewish conceptions varied 
 as to the number of the heavens ; some 
 maintained two, others three, others seven. 
 If we are to distinguish between the third 
 heaven here, and Paradise in ver. 4, the 
 idea implied by the passage is probably 
 that there were three heavens, and Paradise 
 beyond, ews, as far as, suggests the infinite 
 spaces through which Paul seemed to 
 traverse. 
 
 3, 4. And I know such a man — 
 whether in the body or out of the body 
 I do not know, God knoweth. The 
 rhythmic repetition has a solemn effect, 
 as if the mind of Paul were dwelling on 
 the mysterious scene with reverent remin- 
 iscence; but possibly it is also intended as 
 an introduction to the statement that he 
 was caught up into Paradise, this being 
 regarded not as the same but as another 
 and higher experience. Paradise, origi- 
 nally the hunting-park of a Persian king, 
 then a pleasure garden, then the blissful 
 abode of the righteous in Hades, where 
 they await the resurrection ; here no doubt 
 it is what is called in Rev. ii. 7 " the Para- 
 dise of God," beyond the highest heaven. 
 Some scholars regard Paradise in this 
 ver. as synonymous with the third heaven 
 in ver. 2. It is hard to say, but perhaps 
 the second statement {caught up) is in- 
 tended to suggest a second experience, 
 similar but higher. He saw visions (ver. 
 i) and heard words unutterable, which 
 it is not lazi'fiil or possible for a MAN 
 to put into language. What those words 
 were we do not know, — perhaps, if we 
 may judge by Jewish analogy, the praises 
 of heavenly choirs (cf. Rev. xi. 15). In 
 any case, the words which fell from celes- 
 tial lips are unutterable by ^ mortals 
 (dvOpwiro}) . They ring evermore in Paul's 
 ears and in his heart ; but he must not 
 
204 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 5 Of such a one will I glory, yet of 
 myself I will not glory, but in mine in- 
 firmities. 
 
 6 For though I would desire to glory, I 
 shall not be a fool ; for I will say the 
 truth : but now I forbear, lest any man 
 should think of me above that which he 
 
 seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. 
 7 And lest I should be exalted above 
 measure through the abundance of the 
 revelations, there was given to me a thorn 
 in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to 
 buffet me, lest I should be exalted above 
 
 and he cannot translate them into human 
 speech. 
 
 5, 6. On behalf of such a one (tov 
 ToiovTov masc, not neut. cf. tou tolovtov^ 
 ver. 2) I will boast, because, strictly 
 speaking, that " man," caught up to the 
 blissful sights and sounds of Paradise, is 
 not himself at all; but on my own behalf 
 I will not boast, except in my weak- 
 nesses. They are my own, and thev give 
 divine grace its opportunity to manifest 
 itself in me ; therefore, so far from being 
 ashamed, I boast of them. Paul has 
 already characterized his boasting as 
 "folly" (xi. i). This, however, is only 
 ironical ; he does not really wish any one 
 to think that he is a fool (xi. i6), and 
 the vision he has just related shows that 
 he has ample ground for boasting, were 
 he so inclined. For if I desire to boast, 
 I should be no fool, for I should be 
 speaking the truth; the unadorned truth, 
 which Paul could speak if he would, fur- 
 nishes opportunity enough. But he does 
 not wish to thrust upon those whom he 
 would convince evidence which it is be- 
 yond their power to verify ; he leaves them 
 to judge of him by the evidence of their 
 eyes and ears. Therefore I forbear fur- 
 ther boasting about visions, revelations, etc., 
 lest some one should think of (eis, in 
 regard to) me beyond what he sees me 
 to be, or hears from me. There is a 
 touch of irony about this perhaps ; the 
 whole course of Paul's vindication, and, 
 above all, the necessity for it, shows that 
 there was little danger of him receiving 
 more than his due from the Corinthians. 
 But the principle is a sound and valuable 
 one, that to convince men, we must not 
 mystify them, but meet them with proof 
 which they can understand and verify. 
 What men see us to be, or hear out of 
 our own lips (e| e/AoD), will after all be a 
 pretty good indication of what we are. 
 
 7. Westcott and Hort take the next 
 words " and by the exceeding greatness of 
 the revelations " with the preceding, and 
 put a period after them. It must be con- 
 fessed that the connection of the words 
 with the rest of the sentence would then 
 be neither obvious nor natural. The rea- 
 son for taking the words thus arises from 
 
 the difficultv. if not impossibility, of con- 
 struing them naturally with the following 
 sentence beginning, according to MSS. 
 that are usually the best, with 5to Iva 
 {"Wherefore, in order that"). Some 
 MSS. however omit 5t6; then the reading 
 is smooth (though this fact may possibly 
 have led to its omission), and the sense 
 good. And that I might not be over- 
 exalted by the exceeding greatness of 
 the revelations (this last clause being 
 placed before i'j'ci for emphasis, exactly as 
 in ii. 4, TTiv dydTTTjv 'iva yvwre) there was 
 given to me by God, who watches over 
 the interests of the spirit, and takes stern 
 measures to rebuke spiritual pride, a thorn 
 for the tormenting of the flesh, a mes- 
 senger or angel (dyyeXos) of Satan, that 
 it (or he) might buffet me not once 
 (aorist) but continually (pres.) in order 
 that I might not be overexalted, — a 
 danger which the apostle must have very 
 keenly felt, considering that he begins and 
 ends his short sentence with the mention 
 of it. (tk6\o\j/ is literally a stake, and Stan- 
 ley sees in this a suggestion of the agony 
 of impalement — "a. stake, as of impale- 
 ment, on which I writhe like one crucified ;" 
 but, as in Ezek. xxviii. 24 (tkoXoxJ/ is used 
 to translate " brier," and is paralleled with 
 aKavda, " thorn," the ordinary translation 
 may be safely accepted. Innumerable 
 guesses have been hazarded as to what 
 this thorn was, but in the nature of the 
 case, the truth can never be known. It is 
 no doubt the same infirmity as Paul refers 
 to in Gal. iv. 13-15, and there, as here, 
 it is something that tries his Hcsh, his 
 bodily nature. This fact renders, some 
 explanations of the thorn impossible ; it 
 cannot have been remorse of conscience for 
 the past in which he persecuted the church 
 (i Cor. XV. 9), nor temptation to blas- 
 phemy or unbelief. Nor, though he has 
 called his opponents ministers of Satan 
 (xi. 15, cf. angel of Satan) can the thorn 
 in the Hesh well refer to them. Applied to 
 the risks to life and limb, incident to his 
 missionary career (xi. 24-27) it is less in- 
 appropriate, but very far from probable : 
 Paul would hardly have begged for a re- 
 mission of this kind of suffering, besides, 
 the thorn must be something more specific 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 205 
 
 8 For this thing I besought the Lord 
 thrice, that it might depart from me. 
 
 9 And he said unto me, My grace is 
 sufficient for thee : for my strength is made 
 perfect in weakness. Most gladly there- 
 fore will I rather glory in my infirmities, 
 
 that the power of Christ may rest upon 
 me. 
 
 ^ 10 ^ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmi- 
 ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in perse- 
 cutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for 
 when I am weak, then am I strong. 
 
 than that. Catholic commentators have 
 "been led by certain stories of monks to 
 conjecture that it was the temptation to 
 lust, a conjecture which may be summarily 
 dismissed as altogether inapplicable to 
 Paul. Doubtless we have to look for the 
 thorn in some bodily ailment, which was 
 apparent to the eye (Gal. iv. 14) and which 
 was an impediment to Paul's activity. Dis- 
 ease of the eyes (cf. Gal. iv. 15), earache, 
 headache, nervous prostration consequent on 
 malarial fever, or produced by his colossal 
 exertions, etc. have been suggested ; but 
 there is a large body of competent and 
 quite reverent opinion inclined to the be- 
 lief that the reference is to epileptic sei- 
 zures. Paul compares the effect of this 
 visitation of the angel of Satan to that 
 ■of a blow with the fist (KoXacpi^v : cf. i 
 Cor. iv. II, Mat. xxvi. 67). "What," 
 asks Bousset, " is the usual effect of such 
 a blow? If it be violent, the person struck 
 sinks to the ground. That then was a 
 feature of Paul's infirmity, that he sud- 
 denly sank to the ground as if smitten 
 by an invisible stroke." It was as if some 
 demoniac power, an angel of Satan, who 
 sends infirmities upon mortals (Luke xiii. 
 16, Job ii. 5), had struck him to the 
 ground. The theory of epilepsy, though it 
 lias much to recommend it, is not without 
 difficulties. Professor Denney, who admits 
 that " there is no religious interest in 
 affirming or denying any physical explana- 
 tion of the matter whatever," yet points 
 out that " epileptic attacks, if they occur 
 with any frequency at all, invariably cause 
 mental deterioration," whereas the epistles 
 are evidence that Paul's mind grew year 
 after year in the apprehension of the Chris- 
 tian revelation. Professor Findlay (Gala- 
 tians, p. 66) even goes so far as to say : 
 ■*'To call him epileptic is a calumny. No 
 man so diseased could have gone through 
 the Apostle's labors, or written these epis- 
 tles." Heinrici makes another important 
 objection: "How the Galatians could ever 
 liave brought themselves to welcome an 
 •epileptic ' as an angel of God, as Christ 
 Jesus' (Gal. iv. 14) is hard to understand, 
 when we consider that in the ancient world 
 the Jews regarded it as possession, the 
 ■Greeks and Romans as a special punish- 
 meni of God." On a question for which 
 
 the evidence is so meagre, dogmatism 
 would be inappropriate. 
 
 8, 9. However ignorant we may be of 
 the nature of Paul's infirmity, we know 
 at least its spiritual value. At first it 
 seemed indeed to be an unqualified im- 
 pediment to Paul's activity; so much so 
 that for this {angel of Satan; masc. rather 
 than neut., because of the words " depart 
 from me") I besought the Lord, that is 
 apparently Christ (ver. 9) not once or 
 twice but three times, as no answer came 
 the first time or the second, that he might 
 depart from me, as Satan, his master, de- 
 parted (same word dweaTT]) from Jesus 
 after His temptation (Luke iv. 13). And 
 at last He gave me His everlasting an- 
 swer. The perfect here eip-^Kev appears to 
 be suggestive ; " He spoke the word, and 
 that word remains, and will remain for 
 ever." " My grace is sufHcient for thee," 
 eternally sufficient (pres. dpKel) , Thou 
 dost need no more than my grace. " The 
 Lord as it were put these words into Paul's 
 mouth," says Bengel, "that following them 
 up he might say : ' O Lord, Thy grace is 
 sufficient for me.' " Paul prays to the Lord 
 as to a living Person with whom he has 
 intercourse (cf. ver. i) and is conscious of 
 being answered by Him. How the answer 
 came, he does not say, but the sequel shows 
 that to Paul it was real. For strength 
 is being perfected in weakness, it mani- 
 fests itself most abundantly and amazingly, 
 when it operates in the element of (if) 
 weakness. The general form of the state- 
 ment is superior to the specific form with 
 f^ov (My strength; so A. V.), though the 
 specific form is correct as an interpreta- 
 tion. Paul was conscious that the strength 
 in which he overcame was from above ; it 
 was his weakness that gave it -its oppor- 
 tunity to manifest and develop itself. 
 
 9, ID. _ If weakness thus gives grace its 
 opportunity, one may surely be well con- 
 tent with his weakness. Rather, then, 
 than pray to have the thorn removed, will 
 I boast in my WEAKNESS (cf. xi. 30) 
 in order that the POWER — practically 
 the same as the grace — of Christ may 
 tabernacle upon me, encompassing me. 
 " The image is that of the Shechinah or 
 (TK-nvri^ the glory which was the symbol of 
 the Divine presence in the Holy of Holies, 
 
206 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 descending upon the faithful, cf. John i. 14, 
 Rev. vii. 15, xxi. 3." (Bernard). Where- 
 fore, conscious as I am of having my 
 weakness strengthened by Christ, I am 
 well' content, for Christ's sake, with 
 weaknesses, which he further particularizes 
 — with insults, with the various hard- 
 ships to which I am forced (dvdyKais) , 
 with persecutions and the distresses with 
 no seeming exit (cf. iv. 8) to which they 
 reduce me. For when of myself I am 
 weak, then I am strong in the imparted 
 strength of Christ. 
 
 The religious greatness of Paul is no- 
 where more conspicuous than in this ac- 
 count of his thorn in the flesh, marvelous 
 alike in its candor, its depth, and its sim- 
 plicity. Mark how he links it to the story 
 of his beatific vision. Twice he says that 
 the thorn, which is a " gift " of God 
 (idodr])^ was sent to deliver him from the 
 temptation to spiritual pride. One who has 
 enjoyed such rapture is in peril, unless he 
 receives continual buffeting (/co\a0i^77, 
 pres.). He did not see his suffering at 
 first in that light ; this interpretation only 
 comes to him after his prayer has been 
 answered by being refused. But it is an 
 interpretation which shows how well Paul 
 imderstood the subtle temptations to_ pride 
 that are apt to accompany unique spiritual 
 gifts and experiences. The vision needs the 
 thorn. 
 
 On the relation of the thorn to the vision 
 Bousset has some suggestive remarks, 
 though they rest on the assumption that 
 Paul's infirmity was of an epileptic na- 
 ture. " One cannot fail to recognise that 
 what Paul here relates of his infirmity and 
 what he has told before of his visions and 
 revelations, have an inner connection with 
 one another, which the apostle may have 
 unconsciously felt, when he put them both 
 together. We may then suppose that the 
 entire visionary, ecstatic peculiarity of 
 Paul, as it appears here and in other 
 places, had its basis in large measure in 
 his pathological disposition. We may even 
 believe that Paul's visions and revelations 
 were often immediately connected with the 
 epileptic attacks. In these hours of his 
 life — now he saw heavenly sights, and 
 heard the praises of Paradise, and again 
 he felt himself struck with the fist by 
 the angel of Satan." Whether the con- 
 nection between the vision and the thorn 
 be so intimate or not, at any rate it is 
 certain that by some chronic and distressing 
 ailment Paul's activity was seriously ham- 
 pered ; and both his missionary career and 
 
 his religious serenity become all the more 
 wonderful when we consider this physical 
 handicap. He thought he could have done 
 more for His Master, had the handicap 
 been removed, and he prayed for its re- 
 rnoval. " It might have seemed at the 
 time to all," says Stanley {Corinthians p. 
 569), "as it did on this occasion seem to 
 Paul himself, that the cause of the Gospel 
 would have been better served, had he 
 been relieved from his infirmity and gone 
 forth to preach and teach with unbroken 
 vigor of body and mind, his bodily presence 
 strong, his speech mighty and powerful. 
 But history has answered the question 
 otherwise, and has ratified the Divine an- 
 swer, in which the Apostle acquiesced." 
 It is nothing less than wonderful to see 
 how, vexed with this sorrow and pain, 
 whatever it was, he cheerfully endured the 
 colossal hardships of which he has told us 
 in the preceding chapter, and moved about 
 the world, planting churches and preaching 
 the gospel everywhere. If his infirmity 
 was a fact — and we have his own intense 
 and threefold prayer in evidence of that 
 — the grace which tabernacled upon him 
 must have been an infinitely greater fact ; 
 for it made him not only content amid dis- 
 tresses and persecutions manifold, but it 
 made him strong to do perhaps the might- 
 iest and most far-reaching work for God 
 that mortal man has ever done. 
 
 An interesting question is raised by this 
 passage touching prayer to Christ. The 
 Lord, whom Paul entreated for the re- 
 moval of the thorn, might well be God ; 
 but the context seems to be decisive in 
 favor of Christ. " ]\Iy grace is sufficient 
 for thee ; for power is made perfect in 
 weakness." That is the answer to the 
 prayer. Paul goes on : " Most gladly 
 therefore will I rather glory in my weak- 
 nesses, that the poiver of^ Christ may rest 
 upon me." It is impossible not to hear 
 in these words an echo of the answer ; in 
 that case, the answer must have come from 
 Christ, and the prayer been directed to 
 Christ. 
 
 The threefold prayer of Paul for the 
 removal of the thorn naturally recalls the 
 threefold prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane 
 for the removal of the cup (Mat. xxvi. 
 44). ''It is of the profoundest religious 
 interest and importance to note that, in 
 the ordinary sense, neither of these prayers 
 was answered. The cup had to be drained 
 to the dregs — " My God, why hast Thon 
 forsaken me?" — and the thorn was not 
 removed. Rut* it is of equal interest and 
 importance to note that, in the profoundest 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 II COEINTHIANS. 
 
 207 
 
 11 I am become a fool in glorying; ye 
 have compelled me : for I ought to have 
 been commended of you : for , in nothing 
 am I behind the very chiefest apostles, 
 though I be nothing. 
 
 12 Truly the signs of an apostle were 
 v^TOught among you in all patience, in 
 signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds. 
 
 13 For what is it wherein ye were in- 
 ferior to other churches, except it be that 
 
 I myself was not burdensome to you ? for- 
 give me this wrong. 
 
 14 Behold, the third time I am ready 
 to come to you ; and I will not be burden- 
 some to 3^ou ; for I seek 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 very gladly spend and be 
 spent for you; though the more abundantly 
 I love you, the less I be loved. 
 
 sense, those prayers were both answered. 
 The will of God was done. With fine 
 insight, the author of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews remarks that Jesus ' in the days 
 of His flesh, having offered up prayers 
 and supplications with strong crying and 
 tears unto Him that was able to save 
 Him from death, was heard for His godly 
 fear;' and Paul was so strengthened by 
 the grace of Christ that he actually learned 
 to glory in his weakness, because in it. he 
 was conscious that the power of Christ 
 rested upon him." (See my Prayers of 
 the Bible, p. loi). 
 
 The Signs of an Apostle (xii. 11-13). 
 
 11-12. Paul's elaborate vindication of 
 his apostolic authority is drawing to a 
 close. He deeply regrets its necessity. In 
 spite of ver. 6, it is in reahty folly, to 
 which no wise man would willingly stoop, 
 but he has been driven to it. I HAVE be- 
 come a fool (emphasis on the verb), but 
 it is YOU (vfjiels) who have compelled 
 me to it. For, instead of being forced, 
 as I have been, to commend myself, I 
 ought to have been commended without 
 ceasing (a-wLcrTaadai.^ pres. inf., not aor.) 
 by YOU. I have the best of reasons; for 
 I was in no respect inferior to the pre- 
 eminent apostles (the leaders among his 
 Judaizing opponents, see xi. 5), though, as 
 a matter of fact {ovbev not i^-nUv) I am 
 nothing — it is only by the grace of God 
 that I am what I am (i Cor. xv. pf.). 
 The signs indeed of one worth}^ to be con- 
 sidered an apostle were wrought — by 
 himself, of course, but by the use of the 
 passive voice he humbly allows his own 
 personality to fall into the background — 
 among you in all manner of steadfast 
 endurance, despite fatigue and opposition, 
 by miracles, which Paul here describes 
 under three aspects, signs, as acts of spir- 
 itual signiftcance, and wonders that can- 
 not fail to arrest conventional eyes, and 
 mighty works, literally powers, which are 
 
 the manifestations of a higher power (ver. 
 9) — " deeds of significance, deeds of won- 
 der, deeds of power" (Massie). Accord- 
 ing to I Cor. ix. I, 2, the conclusive sign 
 of an apostle is his success : here, as in 
 Rom. XV. 19 (cf. Acts xv. 12), Paul ap- 
 peals to miracles as signs. What miracles 
 he performed at Corinth we do not know ; 
 but we may perhaps consider as typical of 
 these, the healing of the lame man at Lystra 
 (Acts xiv. 8-10; cf. xix. 11, xx. 7 f., xxviii. 
 2)-6) . Patience, steadfastness, is not here 
 itself a sign, but the element, the spiritual 
 atmosphere in which the signs were 
 wrought. 
 
 13. For what is there in which you 
 were slighted in comparison with (lit. 
 " made inferior beyond ") the other 
 churches unless (it be) that I in my 
 own person (avrbs iyu)) did not lie like a 
 benumbing weight upon you (KarevapK-qaa, 
 word and thing same as in xi. 9) by 
 throwing the weight of my maintenance 
 upon you ? This distinction which he con- 
 ferred upon the Corinthian church — a 
 proof of his "more abundant love" (ver. 
 15) — he sarcastically describes as an in- 
 justice, for which, with bitter irony, he 
 prays to be forgiven. Forgive me this 
 injustice. 
 
 Indignant Repudiation of the Suspicion of 
 Fraudulent Dealing (xii. 14-18). 
 
 14, 15. Paul has no more intention of 
 burdening them with his support in the 
 future than he has done in the past. 
 See! — a vivid appeal — this is the third 
 time that I am ready to come to you. 
 The words very probably (cf. xiii. i), 
 though of themselves not necessarily, imply 
 not only that he is in readiness for the 
 third time, but that he is coming for the 
 third time — in other words, that he has 
 been in Corinth twice already, and I will 
 not be a burden to you, for it is not 
 yours, but YOU, that I seek — not your 
 money or your help, but your souls (ver. 
 
208 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XII 
 
 i6 But be it so, I did not burden you : 
 nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you 
 with guile. 
 
 17 Did I make a gain of you by any of 
 them whom I sent unto you ? 
 
 18 I desired Titus, and with him I sent 
 a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you ? 
 
 walked we not in the same spirit? walked 
 zue not in the same steps? 
 
 19 Again, think ye that we excuse our- 
 selves unto you? we speak before God in 
 Christ ; but zvc do all things, dearly be- 
 loved, for your edifying. 
 
 15), — your salvation (i Cor. ix. 22). The 
 Corinthians were his " beloved children," 
 and he, as their spiritual father (i Cor. iv. 
 14, 15) will show to them the unselfish and 
 solicitous regard that a father shows to 
 his children, his duty and delight being 
 rather to provide for them than to be 
 provided for by them ; for the children 
 ought not to lay up for the parents, — 
 though this of course, is not meant to 
 deny filial obligation — but the parents 
 for the children. Paul, however, like the 
 good father that he is, does more than 
 lay up for his children ; he spends, and he 
 spends himself utterly (e/c) for them and 
 their spiritual welfare. And I for my 
 part (^7^), so far from burdening you 
 with my support, will most gladly spend 
 all that I have, and be myself spent to 
 the uttermost for your souls. The fol- 
 lowing two clauses (reading dyaTrw^ / love) 
 are best taken as an independent sentence 
 (so A. R. v., Westcott and Hort), not 
 (reading dyairuiu, loving) as a conditional 
 sentence appended to the preceding (so in 
 the main A. V.). The latter meaning 
 would be, " If, loving you the more, I am 
 loved the less, I will spend and be spent 
 for your souls, that is, until the true rela- 
 tionship between us is established." This 
 seems stilted ; the meaning therefore prob- 
 ably is simnlv ; if I love you the more, 
 am I loved the less? — is this malice and 
 ingratitude the return for the more abun- 
 dant love I lavished upon you? 
 
 16-18. Paul next deals with the un- 
 worthy suspicion, which clearly had been 
 voiced, that, though his own hands are 
 clean, he has yet, through his agents, helped 
 himself to the collection of which they had 
 had charge. Granted (lit. "so be it), you 
 say, that I did not personally (^7^^) 
 weight you down with the burden of my 
 support, but like the crafty man that I 
 am (I'Trapx'^'') I caught you by cunning 
 {craft and cunning — the very things he 
 disclaims in iv. 2) — securing my ends 
 through my agents. This base charge may 
 be easily refuted by a simple appeal to fact. 
 On any previous occasion — Paul had no 
 doubt frequently had occasion to com- 
 municate thus with the important and 
 turbulent Corinth — did I take advantage 
 
 of you (cf. vii. 2) by any of those whom 
 I have sent (aTroo-reXXa; more solemn, or 
 at least formal, than iriinru}^ ix. 3) to you. 
 TLvo. is irregular; when Paul wrote it, he 
 may have intended to follow it up with 
 some other verb than eTrXeoveKTTja-a. I ex- 
 horted Titus to go on such a mission, and, 
 taking precautions similar to those de- 
 scribed in viii. 18-22, sent along with 
 him the brother, possibly the brother men- 
 tioned in viii. 22, though the reference is 
 of course to some previous mission — 
 perhaps that from which Titus returned 
 with his reassuring news of the Corin- 
 thians (vii. 6ff.). Did Titus take any 
 advantage of you? asks Paul indignantly. 
 Surely not. _ And Titus was Paul's envoy, 
 acting in his spirit. From Titus's policy 
 they may infer Paul's. For did we not 
 
 — he and I — walk in the same spirit? 
 
 — primarily perhaps the holy spirit, to 
 which any such " over-reaching " as is 
 here suggested would be impossible; prac- 
 tically the words mean, *' in the same 
 spirit of noble self-denial, with the same 
 freedom from avarice." And as their inner 
 spirit was the same, so also was their out- 
 ward conduct; they walked in the same 
 steps — Titus but following in the foot- 
 steps of Paul. 
 
 The Apostle, Not the Apologist 
 (xii. 19-21). 
 
 19. This brief paragraph is intended to 
 correct the impression which might very 
 naturally arise in the minds of the Corin- 
 thians that Paul, in his vindication of him- 
 self (x. ff.) has been constituting them his 
 judges, pleading, as it were, at their bar, 
 and eager for their verdict. Nothing of 
 the kind: God is his judge, and he is their 
 apostle. You have been thinking (or 
 with Westcott and Hort. have you been 
 thinking f) for a long time (TrdXat better 
 than ttclXlu of A. V. again) that it is to 
 YOU that we are making our defence. 
 Certainly not: you are not my judt:;es (i 
 Cor. iv. 3). It is before God and in 
 virtue of our fellowship with Christ that 
 we speak (cf. ii. 17). And all those 
 things that I have said, beloved, — the 
 
Ch. XII] 
 
 II COKINTHIANS. 
 
 209 
 
 20 For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall 
 not find you such as I would, and that I 
 shall be found unto you such as ye would 
 not : lest there be debates, envyings, 
 wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, 
 swellings, tumults : 
 
 21 And lest, when I come again, my 
 God will humble me among you, and that 
 I shall bewail many which have sinned 
 already, and have not repented of the un- 
 cleanness and fornication and lascivious- 
 ness which they have committed. 
 
 tenderness flashes through the severity — 
 are not in my own interests, and to secure 
 a verdict of acquittal from you, but for 
 your upbuilding. His vindication was 
 not to defend himself, but to edify them ; 
 it was for their edification that the Lord 
 gave him his authority (x. 8). In general, 
 edification, upbuilding, is the great law of 
 -the church, determining the action of her 
 officers, and regulating the conduct of her 
 worship (i Cor. xiv. 5, I2, 17, 26). 
 
 20.. These verses (20, 21) show how 
 sorely the Corinthians needed edification, 
 and how little competent they were to pass 
 judgment upon such a man as Paul. As 
 Professor Denney aptly says, " The Corin- 
 thians had been seating themselves in im- 
 agination on the tribunal, and they are 
 summarily set on the floor." For I am 
 afraid that, perchance, when I come, — 
 it is now the apostle that speaks — I may 
 find you not pure and peaceable, such as 
 I would, and that I may be found by 
 you (or less probably, " in your judgment ") 
 not only such as / would not, but — more 
 vigorously — such as YE would not, an 
 administrator of discipline and chastisement 
 (cf. X. 6, I Cor. iv. 21) ; that perchance 
 (there may) be found (supply evpedJ^aiv) 
 the spirit of strife and jealousy, cases of 
 angry outbursts (plu.), faction or in- 
 trigue such as hired servants {epidoi) 
 might be guilty of, defamation of char- 
 acter whether by open slander, or secret 
 whispering, conceit, disorder. These are 
 all tempers or acts symptomatic of the 
 party spirit (i Cor. i. 10 f.) which was 
 prejudicial to the peace and unity of the 
 church, and insulting to God who was a 
 God of order, not of confusion (i Cor. 
 xiv. Z3)- 
 
 21. But the character of the church 
 was being imperilled by lust, no less than 
 by discord, and this fear seems to lie even 
 more heavily upon the heart of Paul than 
 the other (there is no qualifying ttws after 
 Af»7, "lest hy any means," as in the previous 
 case) especially if we read with some 
 MSS. though this is not necessary, 
 raireivwaei (will humble) for TaireLvcbari 
 (may). It is difficult to say whether the 
 TrdXij' (again) goes with cane or may 
 
 humble. It is no real objection to the 
 former view that in the previous verse 
 iXOibv stands alone, without TrdXtj' (simply 
 having come) ; but probably the latter is 
 the more correct, Paul fears another hu- 
 miliation Hke that which he had experi- 
 enced on his second visit ; but even in 
 his humiliation he recognizes the guiding 
 and the disciplining hand of God, who is 
 therefore " my God." / am afraid that, 
 when I come, my God may agrain, as 
 before, humble me in my relations to 
 (irpos) you, by showing me the scanty 
 fruit of my work, and that I may have 
 to mourn over many of those who shall 
 not have repented of their former sins 
 of sexual impurity, and, in particular, 
 fornication, and riotous lasciviousness, 
 which they have committed. Probably 
 Alford is right in regarding ** many of 
 those who have sinned " as a mild ex- 
 pression for " the many who have sinned." 
 Who are " those who are now in a condi- 
 tion of having sinned (pf. ptc.) before? " 
 Before what? Probably before their en- 
 trance into the church. The sexual sins 
 and practices which Paul here glances at 
 so mournfuhy (loose unions, perhaps con- 
 cubinage, and such sins as are represented 
 by I Cor. v.) were probably carried over 
 into the Christian church by many who 
 entered it. This suspicion receives some 
 confirmation from xiii. 2, where " those who 
 had sinned before " appear to stand in a 
 class by themselves. Paul, with his pas- 
 toral heart, mourns over these sins and 
 sinners, unlike the Corinthians. who 
 showed their spiritual callousness by " not 
 mourning" over them (i Cor. v. 2). It 
 is significant that the sins which Paul 
 is afraid he will find, when he comes to 
 Corinth, are sins of faction and lust. 
 These are the two most prominent types 
 of sin in the first epistle, and they must 
 have been very characteristic of volatile 
 and immoral (Zorinth. If Paul had been 
 willing to defend his reputation ajid au- 
 thority before any earthh" tribunal, it was 
 certainly not before men swayed by the 
 spirit of partyism and social impurity. Men 
 like these much needed all the " edification " 
 that could be brought to bear upon them. 
 
210 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIII 
 
 CHAPTER 13. 
 
 1 This is the third time I am coming 
 to you. In the mouth of two or three wit- 
 nesses shall every word be estabhshed. 
 
 2 , 1 told you before, and foretell you, as 
 if I were present, the second time ; and be- 
 ing absent now I write to them which 
 heretofore have sinned, and to all other, 
 that, if I come again, I will not spare : 
 
 3 . Smce ye seek a proof of Christ speak- 
 mg in mc, which to you-ward it not weak, 
 but is mighty in you. 
 
 4 For though he was crucified through 
 weakness, yet he liveth by the power of 
 God. For we also are weak in him, but we 
 shall live with him by the power of God 
 toward you. 
 
 5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in 
 the faith; prove your own selves. Know 
 
 The Final Appeal (xiii. i-io). 
 
 The note of authority, which had been 
 vigorously struck in the last paragraph, 
 becomes even more prominent and vigor- 
 ous in this. He now goes beyond the ex- 
 pression of a fear that, when he came in 
 person, they would find him not such as 
 they wished : he says very definitely that 
 he will not spare. His power will then 
 be as obvious as his weakness had been. 
 But, with his old tenderness, he soon passes 
 from this to the expression of a prayer 
 that their conduct will be so good and 
 , seemly that he will have no occasion to 
 exercise his authority. 
 
 I, 2. This is the third time that I am 
 coming to you (cf. xii. 14). This sen- 
 tence, and the most natural interpretation 
 of ver. 2, apart from other considerations, 
 put it beyond all reasonable doubt that 
 Paul had already been twice in Corinth. 
 At the mouth of two or (lit. and) three 
 witnesses shall every word be estab- 
 lished. It is difficult to decide whether 
 Paul, in thus citing Deuteronomy xix. 15, 
 is playfully regarding his visits as the 
 witnesses — the next, which was the third, 
 being decisive — or whether he is seriously 
 and solemnly asserting that the next time 
 he comes, the whole situation will be im- 
 partially investigated and the truth estab- 
 lished, at a formal trial. Perhaps, stern 
 as the context is, the former is more in 
 the manner of Paul. To those — the 
 class already alluded to by the same word 
 in xii. 21 — who are living in their old 
 sins, and to all the rest who look for- 
 ward to my visit with a bad conscience, 
 I have already said beforehand {i.e. 
 forewarned) (in x. 6) and do now say 
 beforehand (forewarn), as on my sec- 
 ond visit, (so) now also in my absence, 
 when I can only conununicatc by letter, 
 that, if I come again, I will not spare 
 (as he had spared before, in not coming, 
 i. 23). What precisely this threat im- 
 plies, is not quite certain — whether simply 
 the stern exercise of spiritual authority, 
 or some signal and miraculous punishment 
 
 such as fell upon Elymas (Acts xiii. 11, 
 cf. I Cor. V. 5). Probably the two things 
 w-ould not be quite distinct in the mind 
 of Paul ; " wonders " were among the 
 signs of an apostle (xii. 12). 
 
 3, 4- It is the scepticism of the Corin- 
 thians that drives Paul to this stern exer- 
 cise of his authority; it is necessary, in 
 order to convince them that Christ is 
 speaking in him. I will not spare, see- 
 ing that you are seeking a proof of the 
 Christ that speaks in me — the Christ 
 who in relation to you, as you will find 
 when I come, is not weak but powerful 
 among you. Paul's words and acts will 
 be so authoritative as to carry the con- 
 viction that Christ is speaking and work- 
 ing in and through him. Paul is indeed 
 one ^yith Christ, alike in his weakness and 
 in his power. The weakness evidenced 
 most terribly by the crucifixion, and the 
 power manifested by the resurrection, have 
 repeated themselves in the experience of 
 Paul. As Jesus had been crucified, so he 
 had been humbled (xii. 21) ; and as surely 
 as Jesus had been raised to an endless 
 {^V, He fe'r^) triumphant life, so surely 
 would he live, inspired by the same pozve'r 
 of God, and show the life that was in him 
 by the authority he would wield. This is 
 a passage that happily illustrates Paul's 
 mysticism; he is conscious of sharing the 
 weakiicss and the life of Christ. For He 
 was indeed crucified through weakness 
 (the weakness which issues in death Jesus 
 shared with man; in a sense this was then 
 the source, eK, of the crucifixion), but 
 now He lives through (e/i. source) the 
 power of God who raised Him from the 
 dead (Gal. i. i). For we also, as is 
 shown by our humiliating experiences 
 (xii. 21, 0) are weak in (some MSS. read 
 7cith) Him the crucified One. but with 
 Him, the risen (^ne, we shall, by the 
 same power of God that raised Him. live 
 and exhibit vigorous tokens of life and 
 power in relation to you. 
 
 5, 6. The man who could write the 
 last two verses is very conscious that he 
 is in the faith, can offer proof (Som/*^, ver. 
 
Ch. XIII] 
 
 II COKINTHIANS. 
 
 211 
 
 ye not your own selves, how that Jesus 
 Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ? 
 
 6 But I trust that ye shall know that we 
 are not reprobates. 
 
 7 Now I pray to God that ye do no 
 evil; not that we should appear approved, 
 but that ye should do that which is honest, 
 though we be as reprobates. 
 
 8 For we can do nothing against the 
 truth, but for the truth. 
 
 9 For we are glad, when we are weak, 
 and ye are strong : and this also we wish, 
 even your perfection. 
 
 10 Therefore I write these things be- 
 ing absent, lest being present I should use 
 sharpness, according to the power which 
 the Lord hath given me to edification, and 
 not to destruction. 
 
 3) and stand the test. The Corinthians 
 would do weh to turn their attention from 
 him to themselves, and see whether they 
 could stand the test. Throughout this 
 ■passage, changes are rung on doKLfirj 
 (proof), doKi/j-d'^u: (to put to the proof), 
 and ddoKifjios (having no proof, incapable 
 of standing the test, reprobate) which it 
 is unfortunately impossible to reproduce in 
 English. Try YOURSELVES (not me) 
 whether you are living in the faith which 
 saves the soul. Faith is hardly here the 
 "objective Christian creed (cf. i Cor. xvi. 
 13)" but we can see from such a passage 
 how the way was prepared for this use of 
 the word. Put YOURSELVES to the 
 proof. Or do you not know as to your- 
 selves that Jesus Christ is in you? except 
 indeed, he adds, you are reprobates, un- 
 approved, have failed in the test. De- 
 plorable though the situation is in many 
 of its phases, they are, in some jeal sense, 
 a Christian church. Christ is ^ present 
 among them, and constitutes the ideal by 
 which they must measure themselves. 
 " They ought to recognize Christ as a 
 power in themselves — unless indeed they, 
 being counterfeit Christians, cannot recog- 
 nize Him because He is not there" (j\Ias- 
 sie). And if Christ is really in and among 
 them, if they themselves are not reprobates, 
 they ought to have no difficulty in recog- 
 nizing that Paul is no reprobate ; I hope 
 you will recognize that WE (^/^e's) are 
 no reprobates. This may also be inter- 
 preted in a threatening sense : " when I 
 come, I will furnish you with proof enough 
 of my apostolic authority. In the disci- 
 pline that I will authoritatively enforce, 
 you will see, I hope, plainly enough proof 
 of the Christ that speaketh in me." 
 
 7-10. But Paul (unlike Jonah cf. ch. 
 iv.) is very much more concerned about 
 their character than about his own reputa- 
 tion. He would infinitely rather find them 
 repentant and virtuous, when he comes, 
 than indulging in the sins which will give 
 him an opportunity to assert his authority ; 
 he even prays for this, caring nothing what 
 
 may come of his reputation for authority. 
 Now we pray to God that you do no 
 evil, not in order that WE (vfj^els) may 
 in that case appear approved; it is true 
 that their attainments in virtue would re- 
 dound to the credit of Paul their teacher; 
 that, however, is not his motive at all; but 
 in order that YOU may act nobly, even 
 though WE be as reprobates. The virtue 
 of the Corinthians will react doubly on 
 Paul, it will leave him both " approved " 
 and " unapproved " ; approved — because, 
 under God, they owe that virtue to him ; 
 unapproved, because he is now deprived 
 of his opportunity to prove his authority 
 (ver. 3) by severe discipline of thera. But 
 the latter motive does not weigh with Paul. 
 For we cannot do anything against the 
 truth, but we can only act in behalf of 
 the truth. By the truth' Paul apparently 
 means here " the gospel " ; and this sen- 
 tence enunciates the principle which gov- 
 erned all his action. He could do nothing 
 prejudicial to the gospel, he could only 
 do what would further its interests, and 
 this he was prepared to do even when it 
 meant the sacrifice of his reputation. Not 
 only prepared, but delighted (xaipojue?/) : 
 for we are glad when WE are weak, 
 without opportunity to assert our authority, 
 and YOU are so strong in Christian 
 character that such an assertion of my 
 authority becomes unnecessary. And this 
 we not only rejoice over, but pray for 
 also; — your ^restoration, amendment, per- 
 fecting. This is why, in my absence, I 
 write these things, especially the last 
 stern passage beginning with xii. 20, in 
 order that, when I am present, I may 
 not have to deal with you abruptly, i.e. 
 sharply, and so that I may act in accord- 
 ance with the authority which the Lord 
 gave me for building up and not for 
 demolition (exactly as in x. 8). If Paul 
 has to act sharply, it will be more like 
 pulling down than building up, and so at 
 least an apparent contravention of the 
 spirit of that authority with which he was 
 entrusted by Christ. 
 
212 
 
 II CORINTHIANS. 
 
 [Ch. XIII 
 
 11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be per- 
 fect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, 
 live in peace; and the God of love and 
 peace shall be with you. 
 
 12 Greet 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. 
 Amen. 
 
 Parting Injunctions and Benediction 
 (xiii. 11-13). 
 
 II, 12. In the concluding verses, the 
 severity passes into a certain solemn gen- 
 tleness : finally, brethren, all the imper- 
 atives in ver. 11 except the first, quietly 
 glance at the weaknesses of the Corinthian 
 church : therefore, probably the first 
 (xai'pere) should not be rendered rejoice, 
 but farewell, though a Greek would hardly 
 forget the original meaning of the word ; 
 perhaps fare ye well would produce a 
 somewhat similar impression in Enghsh. 
 Be perfected — Paul had just prayed for 
 this (ver, 9) — be exhorted (rather than 
 comforted, though this is not impossible, 
 cf. i. 7), with perhaps special reference to 
 the exhortations that immediately follow : 
 be of the same mind, be at peace — the 
 curse of the Corinthian church, as of an- 
 cient Greek political life, was faction and 
 strife (cf. i Cor. i. 10 1). And God, who 
 is the God OF LOVE will be with you, 
 when you are at unity with one another, 
 and the God of PEACE will be with 
 you, when you are at peace with one an- 
 other. The peace and love of the Corin- 
 thian church, as the letter shows, have 
 been sadly imperilled, but salute one an- 
 other with a holy kiss (i Cor. xvi. 20) 
 which will seal your unity and love again. 
 
 All the saints in Macedonia, from which 
 Paul is writing, acknowledge your unity 
 as a Christian church, and salute you. 
 
 13. After all the strife, jealousy, and 
 malice with which Paul has had to deal, 
 especially towards the close of his letter, 
 the full-toned benediction falls with won- 
 derful force and beauty. It is through the 
 grace of Jesus (cf. viii. 9) that Paul has 
 learned of the love of God, and therefore 
 the name of Jesus is significantly put first. 
 This new life which came with Jesus is 
 perpetuated in the church by the Spirit. 
 If TTvev/xaros is a subjective genitive, like 
 the other two, the fellowship or com- 
 munion will be that which is produced 
 among Christian men by the spirit ; but 
 if it be objective, it will mean participa- 
 tion in the holy spirit, and in His gracious 
 gifts and operations. This benediction 
 sweeps majestically from eternity to eter- 
 nity. It contemplates the love of God 
 rooted in the infinite past, realized in the 
 historical Jesus, and perpetuating itself 
 through all time by the spirit. In this 
 passage (cf. Mat. xxviii. 19) we can see 
 the Trinitarian doctrine taking shape. The 
 grace of the Lord Jesus (Christ), and 
 the love of God, and the fellowship of 
 the holy Spirit, be with you all — all, 
 including his malicious opponents ; a very 
 noble and wonderful ending. 
 
EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 
 
 213 
 
EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 The epistle to the Galatians has been called " one of the apostle's mightiest 
 deeds." It arose out of a conflict in which the very life of Christianity was 
 at stake, and every line of it is instinct with all the earnestness and passion 
 of the great apostle to the Gentiles. It is written at white heat. From the 
 beginning, in which he expresses his astonishment at the change which has 
 come over them in their attitude to the gospel he had proclaimed (i. 6), to 
 the end, where he takes the pen in his own hand and writes out the thoughts 
 of his heart in large letters and in words that burn and glow (vi. ii), the 
 feeling with which the letter is charged is of the intensest. He begins with 
 an anathema, twice repeated, upon those who proclaim another gospel than 
 his own (i. 8, 9), he calls the Galatians unintelligent for allowing them- 
 selves to be misled by this gospel which is no gospel (iii. i), he reminds 
 them with deep emotion of the marks of Jesus which he bears upon his 
 body (vi. 17) ; and all through the letter we feel that it is a " marked " man 
 who is speaking, a man marked by insight into the meaning of the life 
 and death of his Lord, no less than by the wounds which he had received 
 in His service. Whoever is the manpleaser (vi. 12), it certainly is not Paul 
 (i. 10) ; he is the intrepid defender of the truth. He does not hesitate to 
 resist the great Peter to the face (ii. 11) and to denounce as hypocrites 
 those who abandon a generous gospel for a sectarian one (ii. 13). 
 
 Yet there are depths of the tenderest affection in this letter too. Those 
 whom the writer begins by calling foolish he ends by acknowledging as 
 his brethren (vi. i, 18) ; he feels to them as a mother to her child. — they 
 are indeed his " Httle children " (iv. 19). He is afraid that all his labor upon 
 them may have been for nothing (iv. 11), and he is sore perplexed about 
 them (iv. 20) ; he would wish for nothing more than to be with them, to 
 speak to them in tones of gentle expostulation. For he is too grateful ever 
 to forget the unbounded enthusiasm with which they had received him when 
 first he came among them. His visit was due to the accident of an illness, 
 and therefore not specially calculated to elicit their gratitude, as it had 
 formed no part of his original plan; nevertheless they not only welcomed 
 him — which, considering the repulsive nature of the infirmity from which 
 he was suffering, was an unexpected generosity — but the reception they 
 
 214 
 
INTRODUCTION 215 
 
 gave him could have been no better, had he been an angel or even Jesus 
 Christ Himself (iv. 14). He can never forget that he is speaking to people 
 who would have been ready to part with their very eyes, for his sake, had 
 such a thing been possible (iv. 15). 
 
 It. is one of the ironies of New Testament criticism that we do not 
 definitely know who these people were. Galatia, the country to which they 
 belonged, may be taken in a narrower or a larger sense. The country takes 
 its name from the Gallic or Celtic tribes which had come from western 
 Europe, and settled about 280 B.C. in the center and towards the north of 
 what we now call Asia Minor. The word may also be used, however, in a 
 wider sense. For eighty years (from 25 B.C.), Galatia had been a Roman 
 province, and the term was used to cover parts of Phrygia, Lycaonia and 
 Pisidia, to the south of the original ' Galatia.' The interest of the contro- 
 versy lies in this, that, if the word is used in its wider sense, we know 
 something of the churches to which the epistle is addressed, for they would 
 then be the churches of Antioch (in Pisidia), Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, 
 the story of whose founding is told in Acts xiii., xiv. ; while if the word is 
 used in its narrower sense of the Celtic population of North Galatia, we know 
 nothing of the churches to which the epistle was addressed except w^hat may 
 be inferred from the epistle itself. 
 
 In favor of the latter theory, which, till a comparatively recent date, held 
 the field practically undisputed, it has been urged that the sensuousness, the 
 love of strife (v. 19, 20) and of novelty (i. 6) which appear to have char- 
 acterized the recipients of the letter, point to a Celtic destination. But these 
 traits are human rather than specifically Celtic (v. 17), and any argument 
 built upon them must be somewhat insecure. There is more force in the 
 argument that an important letter such as this might naturally be expected 
 to be addressed to the four southern churches, which were the first fruits of 
 Paul's missionary activity among the Gentiles ; and on the other hand, that 
 any ministry of Paul's among the Celtic population of ^^orth Galatia would 
 surely have left a deeper trace upon the book of Acts. In point of fact, 
 Galatia is there mentioned only twice, and then very briefly, Acts xvi. 6, xviii. 
 23. Arguments, however, from expectation and silence are notoriously fal- 
 lacious. SiefTert reminds us that the story of Paul's relatively unsuccessful 
 effort at Athens is recorded with considerable fulness in the book of Acts, 
 while that book has very little to say that throws any real light upon the 
 relation of Paul to the church of Corinth, which received long and important 
 letters. It is true that Paul '' wrote of the places he visited under the names 
 of the Roman provinces to which they belonged " ; but this fact does not 
 make for one side more than for the other. It only shows that by Galatia he 
 may have meant the southern cities in Lycaonia, etc., but by no means that 
 he must. 
 
216 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The arguments on both sides are so finely balanced that it is extremely 
 difficult to decide the question ; and one is inclined to sympathize with Jiilicher 
 when he says, " The whole controversy is but of slender importance ; . . . 
 and if instead of * Galatians ' we say ' Christian communities in the interior 
 of Asia Minor/ the dispute is at an end." There certainly seems to be no 
 overwhelming reason for abandoning the traditional view which favors North 
 Galatia. Two visits to (presumably) North Galatia are recorded in the book 
 of Acts, on the second and third missionary journeys respectively (xvi. 6, 
 xviii. 23), and two visits are impHed by this epistle (cf. iv. 13, 16). Perhaps 
 the scale is turned slightly in favor of the North Galatian theory by the 
 account of Paul's illness (iv. I3ff.) of which, as Bousset says, *' there is no 
 trace in Acts xiii., xiv. On the contrary, we receive here the impression of 
 an extraordinary capacity for movement and work on the part of the apostle. 
 That trait would, however, fit in admirably with the hints of the journey in 
 Acts xvi. 6f. When it is recorded that Paul, hindered by the spirit from 
 preaching the gospel in Asia, went through Phrygia and Galatia, we may 
 venture to assume that the allusion is to the sickness mentioned in Gal. iv. 13, 
 which the author of Acts regards as a disposition of Providence." Though 
 there is no account in the brief notice of Acts xvi. 6, of the founding of 
 churches in North Galatia, this is as good as implied by the subsequent notice 
 in xviii. 23 that Paul " went through the region of Galatia and Phr\'gia, in 
 order, establishing all the disciples/' The date of the letter is as difficult 
 to determine as its destination, but it must obviously fall after Paul's second 
 visit to Galatia — whether very soon after or not will depend upon the inter- 
 pretation of his complaint that the Galatians were " so quickly '' changing 
 their allegiance (i. 6). In any case, we cannot go far wrong in assigning the 
 letter to the period of Paul's long stay at Ephesus, at the conclusion of his 
 third missionary journey, and probably to the year 55 A.D. 
 
 The membership of the Galatian churches must have been, perhaps not 
 exclusively, but at any rate predominantly, of Gentile extraction. They are 
 described as having formerly been idolaters, ignorant of the true God, and 
 they were uncircumcised (v. 2, vi. 12), therefore they cannot have been Jews. 
 The fact that the Old Testament is frequently appealed to, and a knowledge 
 of it presupposed, is far from proving that the majority of the readers were 
 Jewish. Christian preaching, finding as it did in Christ the fulfillment of 
 the promises, could hardly ignore the Old Testament; but apart from this, the 
 peculiar nature of the situation out of which the epistle grew, rendered 
 the appeal to the Old Testament inevitable. To this Paul's opponents had 
 appealed, and he simply took up the challenge. 
 
 It is clear that there was organized opposition to Paul on the part of 
 Jewish Christians who resented his attitude to their national law and insti- 
 
INTRODUCTION 217 
 
 tutions. These agitators had probably come from the mother church at 
 Jerusalem, like those who had disturbed the church at Antioch by teaching 
 *' Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved " 
 (Acts XV. I ; cf. Gal. ii. 4). Paul accuses them of vanity and insincerity (iv. 
 17, vi. 13) ; possibly at bottom they were really suffering from conventionality. 
 They had not Paul's genius for separating the essential from the accidental 
 in reHgion; they could not see that, as the Christian religion was final, it 
 needed no buttress from Judaism, and that to insist upon the necessity of 
 observing Jewish rites and ceremonies was practically to deny the sufficiency 
 of Christ. If they, as Jews, cared, as a matter of habit, to retain those things, 
 there was no reason why they should not ; but to impose them upon Gentiles 
 was to mistake altogether the genius and the demands of Christianity. Al- 
 ready, in Paul's absence, they had made considerable headway ; under the 
 fascination of their arguments, the Galatians were beginning to observe the 
 sacred days of the Jewish calendar (iv. 10), and they were contemplating 
 circumcision (v. 2, vi. 12). Their argument appears to have been, not indeed 
 that these things were absolutely obligatory, but that they set the crown upon 
 the salvation which was already theirs in Christ ; acceptance of the Jewish 
 law secured their place more firmly, so to speak, by bringing them definitely 
 within the pale of the chosen people. It was a counsel of perfection. 
 
 Paul's scornful and ironical question makes short work of their argument: 
 /'Having begun in the spirit^ are you now being completed in the flesh f* 
 (iii. 3). He forces upon them the alternative — Christ or the law: if they 
 are being justified by the law, they are fallen from grace, and their connec- 
 tion with Christ is annulled (v. 4). But his opponents may have been quite 
 sincere in their arguments, and in any case those arguments were very 
 plausible and well calculated to turn aside the Galatians from the race which 
 Paul admits they had been running, so well (v. 7). The Jews were the 
 chosen people, the Messiah Himself had been a Jew, the promises had been 
 given to Abraham and to his seed, and the visible sign of that seed was 
 circumcision. To become heir to the promises, one must be associated with 
 Abraham's seed by the sign of circumcision. Circumcision might not be 
 everything, but it was much, and to say, with Paul, that it was nothing 
 (vi. 15) was the rankest of heresies. Did Paul know what he was doing in 
 denying the efficacy of the law? If this were denied, would the liberty 
 which he advocated, not degenerate into license, and morality lose its sanc- 
 tion? Who was the man who thus defied the most sacred traditions of his 
 countrymen, and by what authority did he say these things ? Thus the attack 
 upon Paul's gospel resolved itself into an attack upon his apostleship. If his 
 practical interpretation of the gospel differs from that of the Jerusalem 
 church led by the " pillar " apostles, so much the worse for him. 
 
218 INTRODUCTION 
 
 It is for this reason that Paul combines his exposition of the gospel with 
 a defense of himself and a statement of the divine origin of his apostleship. 
 His call and his gospel he owes to Jesus Christ and to God, not to man. 
 His independent rights as an apostle had been conceded by Peter himself, 
 when he gave him the right hand of fellowship, and on one crucial occasion 
 he had even opposed Peter to his face. The magnificent exposition of the 
 gospel which follows (iii. ff.) more than justifies his claim to independence: 
 there was no man of his own time, and few men of any time, whose view 
 of history was so profound, or who saw so clearly the em.ancipating power 
 of the new religion. One does not wonder that his opponents were amazed 
 and provoked by his attitude to the law. To their consternation, he spoke 
 of it as bnngmg a curse (iii. lo) ; he often seems to make the opposition 
 between the old order, represented by the law, and the new, represented 
 by Christ, as final. Yet he has too penetrating a view of history to be- 
 lieve that one period can thus stand unrelated to another. " Is the law 
 against the promises of God? God forbid" (iii. 21). The law had the 
 infinitely important function of deepening the moral consciousness (iii. 19), 
 and thus of preparing men for Christ. Its function was temporary, but 
 essential. 
 
 Yet, though this is true, it is no less true that the new religion is a revo- 
 lutionary force. Christ stands at the center of history : He creates a new 
 world. When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son (iv. 4), 
 who bought us out from the curse of the law (iii. 13) — these are words 
 of astonishing insight and power, which show how completely Paul grasped 
 the unique historical significance of Jesus, and how clearly he understood 
 the nature of the work which He had done. In the past there had of course 
 been preparation for and foregleams of the Messiah ; all the men who like 
 Abraham and Habakkuk, had trusted God with simple heart, had seen His 
 day afar off. Yet though, in one sense, there is a continuity, in another 
 sense there is a breach. Metaphor after metaphor is laid under contribution 
 by Paul to illustrate the contrast between the epoch of the law and the epoch 
 ushered in by Christ. The law is a gaoler, a pedagogue, a guardian or stew- 
 ard ; those who live under it are as criminals, as children, or at best as 
 youths in their minority. But those in Christ are men, mature and free. 
 The contrast between the two dispensations is most frequently and sum- 
 marily described as that between bondage and freedom, and the epistle is a 
 most eloquent plea for freedom. '' It was for freedom that Christ set us 
 free " — not for bondage of any kind, except it be the loving service of one 
 another (v. I3f.). 
 
 It is this which makes the compromise advocated by the Judaizers so 
 intolerable to Paul. There are only two ways: justification by fulfilling the 
 
INTRODUCTION 219 
 
 deeds of the law, and justification by faith in Christ. Every honest con- 
 science admits the former way to be impossible; therefore justification is 
 possible only to faith. But that faith is sufficient — it need not be and can- 
 not be supplemented. If Christ redeemed us, we are redeemed indeed and 
 need no further redemption. Those misunderstand and insult Him who pre- 
 tend to complete by circumcision or in any other way the work which He 
 accomplished (iii. 3). To insist upon these things is practically to sever 
 our connection with Christ (v. 4). Thus Paul, by the giant blow which he 
 dealt in this epistle to the Galatians, once for all shook Christianity free 
 from the incubus of Judaism. Had his opponents had their way, the new 
 religion would in all probability soon have sunk to the level of an insignificant 
 Jewish sect, impotent to make its way in the great world where, for the most 
 part, the elaborate ordinances of the Jewish law would have meant less than 
 nothing, and vanity. But by his God-given insight, Paul set it free of its 
 encumbrances, and sent it unimpeded to run its mighty course throughout 
 the world. It is no accident that Luther was so powerfully attracted to this 
 book. Seldom have there been two men more akin in their religious experi- 
 ence before conversion, in the historical problems by which they were con- 
 fronted, or in their appreciation of the liberty with which and for which 
 Christ makes men free. 
 
 In its ancient form, the controversy which gave birth to the epistle to the 
 Galatians is dead, and can never be revived ; but in some form or other it 
 has lived on, and continued to disturb the peace and prosperity of the church 
 and of the individual soul. No Christian will ever again advocate a reversion 
 to Jewish ordinances, or argue that the redemptive work which Christ has 
 done must be completed or crowned by circumcision. But still tradition 
 may lay its heavy hand upon the soul ; still the feet that should run well in 
 the way of freedom may wear the shackles that hamper their progress. 
 The old mistake is made, and its pathetic consequences are repeated, when 
 men allow any doctrine or custom or ordinance to fetter the freedom of their 
 souls, or when they permit themselves to drift or be drawn into any kind 
 of bondage but the service of Christ and of one another. True religion is 
 freedom. " It was for freedom that Christ set us free : stand fast therefore 
 and be not entangled again in (any) yoke of bondage" (v. i). This great 
 book, which embodies forever the charter of Christian freedom, Sabatier 
 describes as " perhaps the most admirable manifestation of the apostle's 
 genius. There is nothing in ancient or modern literature to be compared 
 with it. All the powers of Paul's soul shine forth in these few pages. 
 Broad and luminous views, keen logic, biting irony — everything that is most 
 forcible in argument, vehement in indignation, ardent and tender in affection, 
 is found here combined and poured forth in a single stream, forming a work 
 of irresistible power." (The Apostle Paul, p. I53f.) 
 
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE 
 TO THE 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, nei- 
 ther by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God 
 the Father, who raised him from the 
 dead;) 
 
 2 And all the brethren which are with 
 me, unto the churches of Galatia : 
 
 3 Grace be to you, and peace, from God 
 the Father, and froiti our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, 
 
 4 Who gave himself for our sins, that 
 he might deliver us from this present evil 
 world, according to the will of God and 
 our Father : 
 
 5 To whom' be glory for ever and ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 The Greeting (i. 1-5). 
 
 I, 2. Paul usually begins his letters by 
 calling himself an apostle (cf. i Cor., 2 
 Cor.), but nowhere, in the introduction to 
 a letter, does he lay so emphatic a claim 
 to the apostleship as here. His claim has 
 obviously been energetically disputed, and 
 he can do nothing by way of correcting 
 the radical misconception of the gospel into 
 which the Galatians have fallen, until he 
 has convincingly established the challenged 
 claim. In the emphasis and abruptness of 
 the introduction we can hear the ominous 
 sounds of the gathering storm. 
 
 He begins by affirming that his call to 
 the apostleship is of no human origin (dTro) 
 or mediation (did) but divine. He is an 
 apostle not deriving his office from men, 
 nor, having it mediated to him through 
 a man. His opponents may have main- 
 tained, for example, that he owed his posi- 
 tion, as missionary to the Gentiles, to the 
 leaders of the Jerusalem church. This he 
 denies; it comes to him not through a 
 man (probably singular, to point the con- 
 trast with Christ) but through Jesus 
 Christ, who must therefore, by implication, 
 be more than man — a fine indirect tcsti- 
 m.ony to Paul's belief in the divinity of 
 Christ. We should perhapc have expected 
 Paul to say, by analogy, " through Christ, 
 as mediating it, and from God as its 
 source." Instead he says, through Jesus 
 Christ and God the Father, implying that 
 in his call to the apostleship God was 
 working in and through Christ. So Paul 
 describes himself as not merely " called 
 (to be) an apostle" (i Cor. i. t), but 
 called in the highest possible way, by 
 Jesus Christ Himself, and therefore on I 
 
 220 
 
 an equality with the Twelve. He wqs not 
 mdeed called during the earthly lifetime 
 of Jesus — a point which no doubt told 
 agamst him in the minds of his opponents : 
 but he enjoved the unique distinction of 
 bemg called by the risen Christ. Therefore 
 God is here described as one who raised 
 Him (Christ) from the dead. And Paul 
 mcludes in his greeting all the brethren 
 who are with me — probably not all the 
 Christians in the city from which he is 
 writing, but apparently all his companions 
 ni work and travel. He may include them 
 to show that the views expressed in the 
 letter are not only his own, they are shared 
 by others;, and yet it is hard to believe 
 that the apostle who maintained so ear- 
 nestly the divine origin of his gospel and 
 apostleship would have imagined that such 
 support added any real strength to his 
 cause. Probably it is only a friendly in- 
 clusion of friends. Paul's letter to' the 
 churches — there were several — in Galatia 
 is emphatically his own. though his asso- 
 ciates may share in his greeting. The 
 absence of any such honorable epithet 
 from the word churches as is usual with 
 Paul in the introduction of his letters, is 
 significant alike of the condition of the 
 Galatians, and of the severity of Paul's 
 mood. They are not " beloved " or " saints " 
 or " sanctified " ; they are not even, like 
 conceited and turbulent Corinth (i Cor. i. 
 2; 2 Cor. i. i). "churches of God." 
 
 3-5. As Paul has given unique empha- 
 sis to the fact and origin of his apostle- 
 ship, so also, iov reasons connected with 
 the situation in Galatia. he expands the 
 ordinary greeting. Grace he to you and 
 peace from God our Father and the Lord 
 Jesus Christ (cf. i Cor. i. 3, 2 Cor. i. 2), 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 221 
 
 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed 
 from him that called you into the grace 
 of Christ unto another gospel : 
 
 7 Which is not another; but there be 
 some that trouble you, and would pervert 
 the gospel of Christ. 
 
 by a significant addition. As we shall 
 see, the emancipating effect of the death 
 of Christ was altogether misunderstood by 
 the Judaizers who sought to undermine 
 Paul's work; therefore he throws this into 
 the forefront. Jesus is one who gave 
 Himself to the death for our sins (cf. i 
 Cor. XV. 3) — and if Himself, what is 
 there left for ritual, ordinances, circum- 
 cision to effect? — in order that He might 
 DELIVER us out of the present world 
 or age, which is an evil one. According 
 to contemporary Jewish belief, there were 
 two ages (aiu>v€s) — this and that which 
 is to come. This age was bad, under the 
 dominion of evil powers ; in the next, God 
 would reign, and evil would be abolished. 
 Paul takes over this belief, and, in taking 
 it over, transforms it. He regards the 
 death of Christ as the turning point in 
 history ; and without abandoning the es- 
 chatological view, he regards the new age 
 as already begun for those who have ac- 
 cepted the deliverance effected by the cross 
 of Christ. The " world to come " is not 
 so much a world of the future as a spir- 
 itual world which exists even in the pres- 
 ent age, though it will only attain its con- 
 summation when Christ comes again. 
 " The apostles speak of themselves and 
 their generation as living on the frontier 
 of two zeons, the gospel transferring them 
 as it were across the border" (Lightfoot). 
 It is sin that hinders " the coming age," 
 but from tliis, from all the evils of the 
 present age, including the legalism of the 
 Jewish religion, Christ is the Deliverer ; 
 the gospel is an emancipation. The Gala- 
 tians, by their subservience to the bond- 
 age of the law, were ignoring this, and 
 frustrating the will of God for their de- 
 liverance. For all this — the deliverance 
 and the death of Christ by which it was 
 effected — was in accordance with the 
 will of our God and Father; and the 
 very mention of the saving purpose of God 
 realized in Christ causes the apostle to 
 break forth into a grateful ascription of 
 praise ; to whom (be) the glory which is 
 His due for ever and ever {unto the ages 
 of the ages). Amen. 
 
 Curse Upon the Traitors to the Gospel 
 (i. 6-10). 
 
 6, 7. The very unusual introduction lets 
 
 us feel the keen emotion, mingled of sor- 
 row, surprise and indignation, with which 
 the apostle has launched upon his task. 
 At once it blazes forth ; I am astonished. 
 Nowhere else does Paul begin as here. 
 Usually he begins with an expression of 
 congratulation or thanksgiving for the 
 spiritual progress made by his correspond- 
 ents (cf. Thess.). Even the Corinthian 
 Church, whose attainments left much to 
 be desired, were yet commended for the 
 two graces in which they were really con- 
 spicuous — speech and knowledge (i Cor. 
 i. 5) ; but the situation in Galatia is de- 
 plorable, even tragic, and Paul can only 
 express his pain and astonishment. It is 
 the perversion of the gospel he had 
 preached that has stirred his soul to its 
 depths, and turned his customary com- 
 mendations into an anathema. I am as- 
 tonished that you are so quickly chang- 
 ing — playing the renegade, the turncoat — 
 from Him (i.e. God, not Paul) who 
 called you through the grace of Christ. 
 It would be grammatically possible to 
 translate; "from Christ who called you in 
 grace ;" but this is improbable, as it is al- 
 ways God who calls. Some old witnesses 
 to the text omit " of Christ " ; and the 
 sense thus secured would be thoroughly in 
 keeping with the spirit of the epistle : "' from 
 Him who called you in grace." The Gala- 
 tians with their legalism, were turning their 
 backs on grace. But no doubt xP'-<^'^°^ is 
 original. The call came by means of 
 Christ's grace, had that for its basis. The 
 grace of Christ is the spirit which led him 
 to stoop to share our mortal life, to ex- 
 change the riches that were His in His 
 pre-existent state for our poverty (see 2 
 Cor. viii. 9) — that spirit which reaches its 
 highest manifestation in His giving Him- 
 self to the death for our sins (ver. 4). 
 It is very significant of Paul's immovable 
 confidence in his own presentation of the 
 gospel that he describes the forsaking of 
 his gospel for another as a forsaking of 
 God, the God of^ grace ; it is a change to 
 another type (erepov) of gospel, which 
 is not another gospel. In spite of the 
 fact that the distinction between eVepos (one 
 of another kind) and aWos (another of 
 the same kind) is by no means so rigidly 
 maintained in later as in classical Greek 
 (cf. i. 19, vi. 4 where erepos seems to be 
 equal to aXXos), in a passage like this it 
 seems natural to suppose that there is a 
 
222 
 
 GALATIAXS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 8 But though we, or an angel from 
 heaven, preach any other gospel unto you 
 than that which we have preached unto 
 you, let him be accursed. 
 
 9 As we said before, so say I now 
 again, If any man preach any other gospel 
 
 unto you than that ye have received, let 
 him be accursed. 
 
 ID For do I now persuade men, or 
 God? or do I seek to please men? for if I 
 yet pleased men, I should not be the ser- 
 vant of Christ. 
 
 real and intentional distinction (cf. i Cor. 
 xii. 8-io). The gospel of legalism, by 
 which the Galatians were being tempted, 
 was a gospel of another kind than that 
 W'hich Paul preached — another type of 
 gospel. But the gospel is after all a 
 unique thing; there cannot be two or more 
 things called gospel — there can be no 
 other (ovK dWo) than the one. There is 
 only one " good news " — salvation by grace ; 
 salvation by anything else is bad news. 
 The meaning therefore practically is : " to 
 another gospel which is no gospel at all." 
 Paul is astonished that this change has come 
 over the Galatians so quickly — whether so 
 soon after their conversion, or more prob- 
 ably so lightly; a little clever talk on the 
 part of the Judaizers, and lo ! the Gala- 
 tians are beginning to transfer their alle- 
 giance to another gospel. The change for 
 which Paul so vehemently upbraids them 
 is not yet complete: it is still in process 
 — you are changing (pres.) ; only there 
 are some who are confusing you, and 
 who are desirous — though they have not 
 yet completely succeeded — of reversing 
 the gospel of {i.e. about) Christ, espe- 
 cially of His grace. The margin of A. R. V. 
 links, as is grammatically quite possi- 
 ble, OVK dWo with et /xri^ " another gospel 
 which is nothing else save that there are 
 some, etc." This new gospel is simply a 
 confusion, a reversal of the gospel of 
 Christ. 
 
 8, g. But nothing can be more awful 
 than to pervert or reverse the gospel of 
 Christ: accursed be those who attempt it, 
 whosoever they be. The respect Paul had 
 shown to the Jerusalem decree CActs xv.) 
 in commending it to the cities through 
 which he passed (Acts xvi. 4) together 
 with his circumcision of Timothy (Acts 
 xvi. 3) may have exposed him to the 
 charge of sympathy with " Judaism " (ver. 
 13, 14) in spite of his gospel of free grace. 
 But he is prepared to have his curse light 
 upon himself, if he should prove a traitor 
 to that gospel ; though we ourselves, or 
 even an angel from heaven preach (to 
 you) a gospel contrary to the one which 
 we preached to you — curse upon him. 
 These are terrible words, but they are not 
 said in the heat of passion : Paul means 
 what he says, and he deliberately and sol- 
 
 emnly repeats it, this time in view of an 
 actual ("' with indie.) and not merely of 
 a hypothetical (edv subj.) offender. As 
 we have said before (not in ver. 8. but 
 probably on his second visit to Galatia) 
 so now again I say, if any one is preach- 
 ing to you (a gospel) contrary to that 
 which you received from me — curse 
 upon him (lit. let him be anathema, de- 
 voted; originally in a good sense, devoted 
 to God ; then, in a bad sense, to the anger 
 of God, to destruction). Not only had 
 he^ preached it (ver. 8) but they had re- 
 ceived it — which made their apostasy the 
 worse. Those who contradict Paul's gos- 
 pel of the grace of God are equally worthy 
 of anathema with those who do not love 
 the Lord (i Cor. xvi. 22). Trap' 6 might 
 rnean (as the Protestants, opposed to tra- 
 dition, maintained against the Roman 
 Catholics) '" beyond that which I preached " ; 
 but the context which contemplates a re- 
 versal of the gospel (cf. ver. 6, 7) shows 
 that the word practically means " contrary 
 to." 
 
 10. The double pronouncement of so 
 solemn a curse shows that Paul is in 
 deadly earnest. He may in the past have 
 been accused of seeking to win men by 
 cunningly complaisant speech ; but surely, 
 at any rate, they cannot say that of him 
 nozu. Such terrible words are not the 
 language of a man-plcascr (Eph. vi. 6). 
 For now is it men that I am seeking 
 to conciliate, or God? His only care is 
 to please God by his vigorous defense of 
 the gospel. Bousset suggests that this may 
 be Paul's retort to some insinuation that 
 with his plausible arts he would beguile 
 not only men but God Himself. Or do I 
 seek to please men? Such speech is little 
 likely to please them. Paul counts him- 
 self the servant of Christ: and therefore, 
 if, after my conversion and call. I were 
 still pleasing men, I would not be any 
 longer the servant of Christ. No man 
 can serve two masters. Though there is 
 such a thing as adapting one's self to men 
 for the gospel's sake (i Cor. ix. loff.), 
 the policy of pleasing both them and Christ 
 is impossible. Paul, the servant (slave) of 
 Christ, chooses, if the occasion demands 
 it, to use language which will startle and 
 displease men. 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 223 
 
 The opening passage of the Epistle 
 creates the impression, which is confirmed 
 by every subsequent word, that, in the sit- 
 uation which Paul here addresses, tremen- 
 dous issues are at stake. It was nothing 
 less indeed than the future of the gospel 
 of Christ, and to Paul that was every- 
 thing. This present world is evil, it stands 
 infinitely in need of a gospel, and a Re- 
 deemer ; and in Christ these had come. 
 Through Him and especially through His 
 death, emancipation from the sin and evil 
 of the world had been won, and by His 
 apostle had been proclaimed. 
 
 But this gospel of grace was confronted 
 by another, which contradicted it and 
 which could therefore be no gospel. The 
 message of the Judaizers, instead of *' de- 
 livering " men, left them still in their fet- 
 ters, slaves of rite and ceremony, bondmen 
 and not free; and if they triumphed, then 
 
 it was all over with Christianity, as Christ 
 had created it, and as Paul had under- 
 stood it. For if it was anything, it was 
 emancipation, the lifting of the burden, the 
 transportation of the soul out of (e/c, ver. 
 4) one world into another. Where this 
 emancipation was not accomplished, the 
 gospel had failed of its proper work; where 
 this emancipation was deliberately repu- 
 diated, and bondage to externals, of what- 
 ever kind, was insisted upon as a condition 
 of salvation, the gospel was denied in its 
 most vital point. Cursed, says Paul, be 
 every one who proclaims any such gospel 
 as that. That is no gospel at all. If a 
 burden of ordinances has still to be borne 
 upon the weary shoulders of those who 
 are hoping for the salvation of God, that 
 is not good news (evayyeXiov) but bad, the 
 worst ; for it is a travesty, indeed a reversal 
 of the true gospel of Christ. 
 
224 
 
 GALATIAXS. 
 
 [Ck. I 
 
 THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF PAUL'S CALL AND OF HIS GOS- 
 PEL AND HIS CONSEOUENT INDEPENDENCE AS 
 AN APOSTLE (i. ii-ii. 21). 
 
 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the 
 gospel which was preached of me is not 
 after man. 
 
 12 For I neither received it of man, 
 neither was I taught it, but by the revela- 
 tion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 13 For ye have heard of my conversa- 
 
 tion in time past in the Jews' religion, how 
 that beyond measure I persecuted the 
 church of God, and wasted it : 
 
 14 And profited in the Jews' religion 
 above many my equals in mine own nation, 
 being more exceedingly zealous of the tra- 
 ditions of my fathers. 
 
 The man who rises to the attack against ' 
 this spurious, but fatal " gospel," is no less 
 than an apostle of Jesus Christ Himself, one 
 who by Him has been specially called and 
 commissioned. It is important for Paul to 
 make this point clear, before he proceeds, 
 because the word can have no more weight 
 than the man behind it. He has called 
 down a curse upon all whose gospel con- 
 tradicts his; he has made for his own gos- 
 pel the stupendous claim of being the only 
 gospel. Who is this man? and by what 
 authority does he speak thus? It is to 
 answer these questions that Paul enters 
 into the following detailed and extremely 
 valuable account of his call and the sequel 
 to it. 
 
 Paul's Gospel Rests Not on Human Teach- 
 ing But on Divine Revelation 
 (i. II, 12). 
 
 II, 12. For I give you to know, 
 brethren — the first affectionate word in 
 the epistle — that the gospel preached by 
 me is not after any human fashion or 
 standard; for its origin is not human (ver. 
 i). Neither did I for my part (e-yw) 
 receive it from any man by transmission 
 or tradition, nor was I by others formally 
 taught it, but it came to mc through (a?) 
 revelation from Jesus Christ. It was 
 not man, but Christ (cf. ver. i) who re- 
 vealed it. In spite of ver. i6 ("it pleased 
 God to reveal His son in me") the con- 
 text shows that Xpicrrov here is subjective 
 not objective genitive; not a revelation of, 
 concerning Christ, , but one which came 
 from Him. He is referring apparently to 
 the revelation at his conversion, the ap- 
 pearance on the way to Damascus; in that 
 overwhelming experience of the crucified 
 Jesus risen from the dead, all Paul's gospel 
 lay in germ. Paul had revelations of other 
 kinds and at other times (2 Cor. xii. i) ; 
 
 different again, perhaps, and less dramatic, 
 were the revelations " through the spirit '* 
 (i Cor. ii. 10) ; but the reference here is 
 more naturally to the unique vision which, 
 changed his life and gave him his gospel. 
 
 Paul's Independence of the Apostles 
 (i. 13-24). 
 
 13, 14. Paul now proceeds to establish 
 his contention that he did not receive his 
 gospel from man (ver. 12) by pointing out 
 that in the period before his conversion, 
 so far from being hospitable to Christian 
 influences, he actually perseciUed the 
 church. For you heard of my former 
 manner of life in Judaism, how that be- 
 yond measure I kept persecuting (impf.) 
 the church of God — a solemn phrase, 
 which suggests Paul's remorse of con- 
 science as he looks back upon his terrible 
 past (cf. I Cor. xv. 9) — and devastating 
 (same word -n-opdelv in Acts ix. 21) it. The 
 Galatians may have heard the story of 
 Paul's former life from his opponents, who 
 no doubt twitted him with being a turn-coat 
 (cf. ver. 6) ; but it is pretty certain that 
 they had also heard the story from his own 
 lips. From the speeches in Acts xxii. and 
 xxvi. we can believe that Paul often thus 
 referred to his own past; it helped to 
 magnify the grace of God who had deliv- 
 ered him from it. And this oiitii'ard per- 
 secution of the Christian Church had as 
 its support and counterpart an inicard and 
 growingly tenacious devotion to Judaism, 
 by which he apparently means not only 
 the Jewish religion in general, but its 
 minuter observances, rites, and traditions 
 in particular. And I kept advancing in 
 Judaism beyond many of my own age 
 — his felUnv -scholars in the Rabbinical 
 schools — among my Jewish kinsmen 
 (yevos, cf. 2 Cor. xi. 26) — he is addressing 
 Gentiles — being more exceedingly zeal- 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 225 
 
 15 But when it pleased God, who sep- 
 arated me from my mother's womb, and 
 called me by his grace. 
 
 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I 
 might preach him among the heathen; im- 
 mediately I conferred not with flesh and 
 blood : 
 
 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to 
 them which were apostles before me ; but I 
 went into Arabia, and returned again unto 
 Damascus. 
 
 18 Then after three years I went up to 
 Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with 
 him fifteen days. 
 
 ous than they for my ancestral Pharisaic 
 traditions, that is not only for the law, 
 but also for the traditional interpretations 
 that had gathered round it. In his zeal 
 for these traditions, Paul, the Pharisee 
 (Acts xxiii. 6, Phil. iii. 5), formed a very 
 striking contrast to Jesus, in whose_ eyes 
 the real word of God was made void by 
 them (Mark vii. 13). A persecutor so bit- 
 ter and a Pharisee so zealous was hope- 
 lessly inaccessible to Christian influence. 
 
 15, 16. Having established, on its neg- 
 ative side, that he could not have received 
 his gospel "from man" (13, 14), he pro- 
 ceeds, positively, to show that it came from 
 God, and indeed that his call was rooted 
 in the gracious purpose of God. ^ But when 
 it was the good pleasure of Him, i.e. God 
 (though 6 Geos is hardly original), who 
 separated me, like the ancient prophet 
 Jeremiah (i. 5; cf. Is. xHx. i) from my 
 mother's womb, i.e. from before my birth, 
 and called me through His grace (cf. ver. 
 6) to the new life in Christ — n^hen it was 
 God's good pleasure to reveal His son in 
 me. The revelation was made not only to 
 him, but in him, though it does not follow 
 that this inward revelation or illurnination 
 was unaccompanied by some striking ex- 
 ternal phenomenon (Acts ix. 7, xxii. 9) ; 
 and the unspeakable grace of the revelation 
 consisted in this, that it had been made 
 to the very man who had persecuted this 
 divine Being, the Son of God, who was 
 being revealed. Out of this revelation of 
 the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, 
 all Paul's theology grows. His " call " on 
 this great day ran both backward and for- 
 ward : backward to a divine purpose, which 
 had begun to shape his career before he 
 was born — and thus he is lifted to the dig- 
 nity of the Hebrew prophets ; and forward 
 to a life of service among the Gentiles. 
 Pharisee means " the separated one " ;_ and 
 there may be a subtle allusion to this in 
 the phrase God zvho separated me. Paul 
 is God's own Pharisee, separated not to a 
 life of separation, but to a Hfe broad as the 
 world and generous as Jesus, a Hfe among 
 the nations, the Gentiles, the heathen. The 
 purpose of the revelation and the call was 
 that I might preach Him unceasingly 
 (pres. not aor.) among the Gentiles. It 
 
 is probable that Paul did not at once reach 
 the conviction that his life was to be de- 
 voted to the Gentiles ; but the sequel showed 
 that it was the divine purpose, and from 
 this point of view, it dates from the moment 
 of the revelation. 
 
 16, 17. Having shown that the revelation 
 came to him without human mediation, he 
 now shows that after it he took no human 
 counsel. One might have supposed that 
 immediately he would have taken steps to 
 consult the " authorities," the apostles, who 
 presumably knew most of the mind of 
 Jesus, but I did not consult flesh and 
 blood, i.e. man in distinction from God 
 (Mat. xvi. 17), nor did I go up — Jerusa- 
 lem was set high among the hills — to Jeru- 
 salem, the most natural place to go to, as 
 the head of the Judsean church, and the 
 headquarters of the leading apostles, to 
 the apostles who were called before me — 
 an implicit claim on his own part to be 
 an apostle — but I went fiway to Arabia, 
 by which he probably means the district in 
 the neighborhood of Damascus, as Arabia at 
 that time extended far to the north. The 
 object of this sojourn in Arabia, which is 
 not mentioned in Acts (ix. 19-25), has 
 been variously conceived. Some suppose 
 that he preached there to the Bedouin 
 Arabs, others to the Jewish population of 
 the district ; but more probably he simply 
 went to " possess his soul," to secure the 
 soHtude necessary for meditation upon the 
 new experience which had revolutionized 
 his inner life, and was to revolutionize his 
 outward career. The context seems to de- 
 mand this : he goes to some place where 
 there is, generally speaking, no opportunity 
 for consulting with authoritative " flesh and 
 blood." Like his Master after the great 
 experience of baptism, he went to the wil- 
 derness. And again I returned to Damas- 
 cus, from which he had to flee secretly, as 
 plots were being formed against his life 
 (Acts ix. 23-25, 2 Cor. xi. 32!). 
 
 18-20. Of his history for the next four- 
 teen years, three stages are clearly marked 
 by e-rreiTa (then) three times repeated. Not 
 at once (ver. 16) but only then after three 
 years, i.e. three years after his conversion 
 I went up to Jerusalem, but even now not 
 with the intention of consulting anybody, 
 
226 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. I 
 
 ig But other of the apostles saw I none, 
 save James the Lord's brother. 
 
 20 Now the things which I write unto 
 you, behold, before God, I lie not. 
 
 21 Afterwards I came into the regions 
 of Syria and Cilicia ; 
 
 22 And was unknown by face unto the 
 churches of Judea which were in Christ : 
 
 but simply to become acquainted with 
 Peter, as he is called in ii. 7, 8, but here 
 and elsewhere by Paul, Cephas. This visit 
 is an implicit recognition of Peter's au- 
 thority, but not of his superiority. And I 
 remained with him a fortnight — long 
 enough to get acquainted with him and to 
 "hear his story" of Jesus, but too short a 
 time to receive instruction (ver. 12) from 
 him, or to affect seriously a spiritual de- 
 velopment which had been steadily progress- 
 ing for three years. The brevity of his 
 stay may be partly explained by the plots 
 against his life (Acts ix. 29). And of the 
 apostles I saw no other — perhaps because 
 they were engaged on missionary tours — 
 except James the Lord's brother. The 
 Greek probably, though not inevitably, im- 
 plies that James was one of the apostles. 
 The word apostle could be used of him 
 only in the larger and looser sense. He 
 had not believed in Jesus during His life- 
 time (John vii. 5), but he had been 
 visited by the Lord after His resurrection 
 (i Cor. XV. 7), and he became the leader 
 of the Jerusalem church. Paul and James 
 may each have told the other how the Lord 
 had appeared to him. It is altogether prob- 
 able that Paul's opponents had maintained 
 that those features of his gospel in which he 
 agreed with the " apostles " he had received 
 from them by instruction, while those in 
 v^hich he differed were his own invention. 
 Paul has already effectually replied to this 
 contention. It is no invention, it is a rev- 
 elation ; and he owes it to God, not to the 
 apostolic leaders at Jerusalem. He clenches 
 this statement, so important for his pur- 
 pose, with a solemn oath ; and with regard 
 to what I am writing to you when I 
 maintain my independence of Peter and 
 the other apostles (18, 19) see! in the 
 sight of God, I He not (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 31). 
 21, 22. Then — the next stage (cf. ver. 
 18) — I came into the regions {KXlfiara, 
 cf. 2 Cor. xi. 10) of Syria and Cilicia, 
 laboring especially in the capital cities 
 Antioch (Acts xi. 25!) and Tarsus (Acts 
 ix. 30). Though the Cilician mission 
 preceded the Syrian, Syria is mentioned 
 first, partly perhaps because it was the more 
 important province, and partly because 
 Paul's mission there was the more im- 
 portant. And this absence from Palestine il- 
 lustrates his further statement: I remained 
 unknown (impf. with ptc.) by sight dur- 
 
 ing all this time to the churches — of which 
 there must have, therefore, been several, 
 Jerusalem being the head — of Judaea that 
 are in Christ; i.e. the Christian churches. 
 This statement is intended to show that 
 he was also during this period independent 
 of influences from the headquarters of the 
 faith. Many difficult problems gather round 
 the relation of these verses to the narratives 
 in Acts. Are the churches of Judcea, for 
 example, intended to include or to exclude 
 Jerusalem ? Apparently Jerusalem must be 
 included, for that is the chief point of 
 Paul's argument — that he was unknown 
 by sight to those from whom he might con- 
 ceivably have received instruction, and 
 these would most naturally be in Jerusalem. 
 It was Paul's debt to the Jerusalem church 
 and its leaders that the Judaizers were in- 
 terested in maintaining and Paul in denying. 
 But the difficulties of this are two-fold, 
 (i) What are we to make of the statement 
 in Acts ix. 27-29 that Barnabas introduced 
 Paul to the "apostles" (which is hardly 
 the impression one gathers from Gal. i. 19, 
 unless " apostle " is used in the looser 
 sense) and that he went in and out at 
 Jerusalem, " preaching boldly in the name 
 of the Lord "? It may indeed seem natural 
 that, in his zeal and bitter regret for the 
 past, he may have sought and embraced 
 opportunities to preach in the city in which 
 he had helped to put Stephen to death; 
 but, in that case, how could one who went 
 out and in and preached thus boldly be 
 unknown by sight? It is more probable, 
 argues Bousset, " that Paul was then in the 
 deepest seclusion at Jerusalem. If already 
 the Jews in Damascus were pursuing Paul 
 with bitter enmity, and had driven him to 
 secret flight, how much hotter must the 
 ground in Jerusalem have been for the 
 apostate Pharisee?" But again (ii.) it 
 may be asked, how in any case can Paul 
 have been unknown to the church of Jeru- 
 salem? Had he not taken part in the execu- 
 tion of Stephen, and in the subsequent per- 
 secution of the church? This difficulty is 
 lessened when we remember the subordinate 
 part Paul had played at the execution, the 
 length of time that had since then elapsed, 
 and the effect of persecution in dispersing 
 the original members of the church. Sief- 
 fert believes, that Paul did preach during 
 his brief stay at Jerusalem, and in the 
 statement that Paul was unknown by sight 
 
Ch. I] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 227 
 
 23 But they had heard only, That he 
 which persecuted us in times past now 
 preacheth the faith which once he de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 24 And they glorified God in me. 
 
 CHAPTER 2. 
 
 1 Then fourteen years after I went up 
 again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and 
 took Titus with me also. 
 
 2 And I went up by revelation, and 
 
 to the churches of Judaea, he interprets 
 Judaea as the province, as distinguished 
 from the capital (but this again, as we 
 have seen, seems hardly relevant to Paul's 
 context). Acts xxvi. 20 represents Paul as 
 preaching " at Jerusalem and throughout 
 all the country of Judsea " ; but this may 
 perhaps refer to a subsequent occasion. 
 The statements of Galatians, coming as 
 they do from Paul's own hand, are cer- 
 tainly worthy of very special attention, 
 though we must be on our guard against 
 too readily assuming contradictions be- 
 tween these and the narratives in Acts. 
 In both books, the statements are exceed- 
 ingly few and meagre ; and if we knew 
 more, we might see better how these co- 
 here. 
 
 23, 24. Paul was not known to those 
 churches by sight, but only by hearing: 
 they were continually hearing (impf. 
 with ptc. as in ver. 22) reports to the 
 effect that " Our former persecutor is 
 now preaching the faith — not in an ob- 
 jective sense, the Christian religion (though 
 such a use of the word would lead in 
 time to the objective, cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5) 
 but rather " trust in Christ " — which, in 
 the person of its adherents, he used once 
 to devastate " (ver. 13) ; " the wolf turned 
 shepherd," as a Greek father says. And, 
 unlike the Galatian Judaizers, they gave 
 unceasing (impf.) glory not of course to 
 me, but to God for the grace which He 
 had manifested in me. 
 
 Recognition of Paul's Independence and 
 
 Co-ordinate Authority on the Part 
 
 of the Apostles at Jerusalem 
 
 (ii. i-io). 
 
 The next incident (cf. then, ver. i) 
 which Paul emphasizes in vindication of 
 his independence of " man," occurred four- 
 teen years later. On that occasion he had 
 gone from Antioch to Jerusalem to lay 
 before the apostolic authorities there the 
 whole question of the gospel as he pro- 
 claimed it in heathen countries. It was 
 very easy for his adversaries to represent 
 this step as a definite acknowledgment of 
 the superior authority of the Jerusalem 
 apostles. Paul's own account of the inci- 
 
 dent shows that this is a complete mis- 
 conception. So far was this from being the 
 case that on the contrary (ver. 7) they ac- 
 knowledged his co-ordinate authority, and 
 the principle for which he was contending 
 — the freedom of the Gentiles from the 
 obligations of Jewish observance, especially 
 of circumcision — won a brilliant victory 
 in the person of Titus. 
 
 1. Then after an interval of fourteen 
 years — apparently not fourteen years after 
 his conversion, but after the visit to Jerusa- 
 lem which he has just narrated, and there- 
 fore seventeen years after his conversion — I 
 again went up to Jerusalem with Barna- 
 bas, who had brought Paul to Antioch 
 (Acts xi. 26) and been associated with 
 him in his missionary work. It is prac- 
 tically certain that the meeting with the 
 apostles which Paul is about to narrate is 
 identical with the Jerusalem council de- 
 scribed in Acts XV. In that case, however, 
 the word again causes difficulty; it sug- 
 gests that this was the first visit to Jeru- 
 salem after the one mentioned in i. 18. 
 Between these two, however, according to 
 Acts xi. 30, xii. 25, a visit was made by 
 Paul and Barnabas, who brought from 
 Antioch a collection for the poor of Judsea. 
 We may assume, with some, that this visit 
 has been antedated (cf. Acts xxiv. 17) ; 
 or, more probably, that owing to the per- 
 secution (Acts xii.) the visit was made in 
 secrecy. / went up taking Titus also with 
 me, who, as a Greek (ver. 3) and uncir- 
 cumcised, was a living illustration of Paul's 
 conception of the gospel as unconditioned 
 by circumcision, and a living protest against 
 the views of the Judaizers. Titus, nowhere 
 mentioned in the book of Acts, was a com- 
 panion of Paul, apparently a man of fine 
 tact, as he was more than once entrusted 
 by Paul with a delicate mission to the Co- 
 rinthians (2 Cor. vii. 6ff., viii. 6, 16 ff.). 
 It was a bold step to take the uncircumcised 
 Titus to the very spot where a challenge 
 was inevitable. The case of Titus would 
 be a test case. 
 
 2. And I went up by revelation. How 
 it came to him we do not know (see on 
 2 Cor. xii. i). Paul chooses here to ac- 
 centuate the religious factor that deter- 
 mines him. In Acts xv. 2 the story is 
 told rather from the historian's point of 
 
228 
 
 GALATIAXS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 communicated unto them that gospel which 
 I preach among the Gentiles, but privately 
 to them which were of reputation, lest by 
 any means I should run, or had run, in 
 vain. 
 
 3 But neither Titus, who was with me, 
 being a Greek, was compelled to be cir- 
 cumcised : 
 
 4 And that because of false brethren 
 unawares brought in, who came in privily 
 
 view. There Paul and Barnabas and 
 some others are appointed to go to Jeru- 
 salem- to discuss with the apostles and 
 elders a question which had been raised 
 by some who had come from Judaea and 
 insisted upon circumcision as necessary to 
 salvation. Even though appointed, he went 
 in the consciousness of being divinely 
 sent. And I laid before them — the Chris- 
 tians of Jerusalem — the gospel which I 
 not only then preached but which I still 
 preach among the Gentiles, the gospel 
 which I have preached to you Galatians, a 
 gospel " without circumcision." The Gala- 
 tians cannot but be keenly interested in 
 the attitude of the Jerusalem church to 
 Paul on the very question which has be- 
 come so prominent among themselves. 
 The Judaizers profess to represent the 
 true gospel as against Paul ; what then did 
 Jerusalem and the apostles say? Paul 
 presented his case at a public meeting, 
 and privately (or in particular) before 
 the authorities Peter, James, and John 
 (ver. 9). The word authorities (those in 
 repute) probably represents the flavor of 
 the Greek word (oi 8okovvt€s). It is used 
 several times in this passage (vv. 6, 9) 
 and sometimes seems to have a tinge of 
 irony. It expresses, however, as the whole 
 context -shows, no disrespect towards the 
 apostles themselves ; but is an ironical al- 
 lusion to the word so often heard upon 
 the Hds of Paul's opponents, who appealed 
 to the Jerusalem " authorities." The last 
 clause of the verse is hard to interpret : does 
 fj-V mean lest, or does it introduce an in- 
 direct question? On the latter assumption, 
 the meaning will be : " Am I running, or 
 have I run in vain?" Paul himself has 
 no doubt of the answer; but he is anxious 
 to have a favorable pronouncement from 
 the Jerusalem church upon the gospel 
 which he puts before them. There is no 
 reason, however, to depart from the or- 
 dinary meaning lest, if that makes good 
 sense. " I laid my gospel before them lest 
 by any means I should be running (pres., 
 not aor.) or had already, as a matter of 
 fact (hence indie, after f^-v) run in vain." 
 If this means that Paul lays his gospel 
 before them with any fear of their de- 
 cision, and in the anxious hope of secur- 
 ing their authentication for it, then such 
 an interpretation must be unhesitatingly 
 
 rejected. Paul would be glad of their 
 syrnpathy, but he does not ask them for 
 their sanction. He has come up to Jeru- 
 salem " according to revelation," confident 
 of the truth of his gospel and the justice 
 of his cause ; and he has no fear that his 
 presentation of the gospel has been either 
 a mistake or a failure. He knows, as a 
 matter of fact, that he is not running, 
 and has not run in vain'; but what he fears 
 is that the Jerusalem church may think 
 differently, and that, by an adverse de- 
 cision, they may put obstacles in his way, 
 so that, there would be a real schism in 
 the Christian church and in the front that 
 it presented to the world, and in a real 
 sense, he might be said to be running in 
 vain. Paul compares his apostolic career 
 to a race (cf. i Cor. ix. 26). 
 
 3. Whatever misgivings Paul may have 
 had when he came to Jerusalem, they were 
 completely removed by the decision of the 
 council, the result of which was a trium- 
 phant vindication of his policy. Nay, not 
 even Titus who was with me — though 
 the demand for his circumcision, on the 
 part of Paul's Judaizing opponents, was 
 very keen, and his case, under the circum- 
 stances, was one of crucial importance — 
 Greek though he was, was compelled to 
 be circumcised. A resolute attempt was 
 made to compel his circumcision, but he 
 was not compelled, the attempt failed. 
 Some suppose the meaning to be that Titus 
 zcas circumcised, but voluntarily, so far as 
 Paul was concerned — not under compul- 
 sion. The grammatical irregularity of the 
 next verse and the variety in the reading 
 of verse 5, compel us to leave the question 
 of Titus' circumcision theoretically open; 
 but practically, in such a context, there 
 can be no doubt whatever. Paul has come 
 to Jerusalem for the express purpose of 
 defending the gospel which he preaches 
 among the Gentiles — a gospel without cir- 
 cumcision. He is not going to_ stultifv his 
 cause by allowing the circumcision of the 
 very man on whom the hopes of his op- 
 ponents are so determinedly set. That 
 would be an indubitable triumph for them, 
 and it would be the lamest of all excuses 
 for Paul to say that though he did it. he 
 was not compelled to do it. 
 
 4. But on account of the false breth- 
 ren who had been foisted in among us 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 229 
 
 to spy out our liberty which we have in 
 Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into 
 bondage : 
 
 5 To whom we gave place b}^ subjec- 
 tion, no, not for an hour ; that the truth of 
 the gospel might continue with you. 
 
 6 But of those who seemed to be some- 
 what, whatsoever they were, it maketh no 
 matter to me: God accepteth no man's 
 person ; for they who seemed to be some- 
 ■icliat in conference added nothing to me: 
 
 — those probably who had come down 
 from Jerusalem to Antioch, and insisted 
 on circumcision as a condition of salva- 
 tion (Acts XV. i) ; such men continually 
 dogged the steps of Paul (cf. 2 Cor. xi. 
 26). What happened because of the false 
 brethren, does not appear, as, in the rush 
 of emotions with which the great scene is 
 recalled and described, the grammar is for- 
 gotten. He cannot have meant to say 
 that, for their sakes, Titus had been cir- 
 cumcised. No doubt, as we have seen, 
 Titus was not circumcised ; but apart from 
 that, we may be sure that Paul, glad as 
 he was to make a generous concession, 
 where no moral interest was at stake, to 
 •weak brethren (i Cor. viii.), would have 
 made none to false brethren. Nor can the 
 meaning be that it was on their account 
 that Titus was not circumcised ; the prin- 
 ciple of non-circumcision for Gentiles had 
 to be maintained all the more firmly be- 
 cause of their opposition. This is to make 
 the action of Paul turn too much on their 
 attitude ; we may be sure that Titus would 
 not in any case have been circumcised. 
 A. R. V. marg. reads " But it was because 
 of the false brethren." This might mean 
 that Paul's whole course of action, his 
 visit to Jerusalem, his interview with the 
 leaders, etc., was caused by the action of 
 the false brethren. But it is perhaps better 
 to assume that in his spirited description 
 of them, he runs on regardless of the open- 
 ing words, and passes unconsciously to a 
 new sentence without completing the pre- 
 ceding one. This explanation is all the 
 more probable as such an irregularity cer- 
 tainly occurs in ver. 6. The stealthy, sur- 
 reptitious introduction of these brethren is 
 powerfully suggested by the double use of 
 the prefix irapeia-. They are brethren who 
 stole {sneaked?) in, not of course, to 
 " edify " the church, but, like the enemies 
 they were, to spy out our liberty — the 
 freedom from the law enjoyed by all Chris- 
 tian men, but here perhaps more specifically 
 the liberty of Paul and Barnabas, in pro- 
 claiming such a gospel — which we have 
 in virtue of our union with Christ Jesus, 
 in order that they might enslave us, surely 
 (fut. indie, after tVa, perhaps to indicate 
 the certainty of their hope) and utterly 
 {Kara) not indeed to themselves (which 
 
 would require the middle voice) but to 
 the law. The same word enslave is used 
 of similar people and similar conduct in 
 2 Cor. xi. 20. 
 
 5. But not for a mo'tnent (lit. to zchoni 
 not even for an hour) did we yield to 
 them the (t^) subjection they demanded 
 of us — that would have been to imperil, 
 if not to destroy, the very truth for whicli 
 we were contending ; so we refused in 
 order that the truth of freedom from the 
 law, that freedom which is indispensable 
 to the gospel, should continue to remain, 
 with all the Gentiles to whom it was 
 preached, and therefore with ycu as well, 
 though, by your conduct in listening to 
 the Judaizers, you are now imperilling the 
 principles which I then defended against 
 bitter opposition. Singularly enough, some 
 ]\ISS. omit ols ouSe, thus making- Paul say 
 that he did yield for an hour. But in such 
 a context, and at such a crisis, this is as 
 good as inconceivable. The truth of the 
 gospel for which Paul is and was con- 
 tending is that circumcision is unnecessar}', 
 and he must have stubbornly resisted the 
 demand for it. The very words breathe 
 the spirit of heroic and determined resist- 
 ance. 
 
 6. In his successful opposition to the 
 demand for the circumcision of Titus, Paul 
 has discomfited the false brethren, and 
 scored a brilliant triumph for his own con- 
 ception of the gospel. But more ; he is 
 now definitely recognized by the leaders 
 of the Jerusalem church as the divinely 
 appointed minister of the gospel to the 
 Gentiles (6-10). 
 
 But from the authorities (cf. ver. 2) — 
 here again, in the heat of the moment, the 
 grammar is forgotten. Paul may have 
 meant to go on — " I received no authen- 
 tication, advice, commission, etc.'" — this 
 idea is taken up, in a different construc- 
 tion, three clauses further on. But the 
 words "those who had the reputation of 
 being something " lead Paul into a paren- 
 thesis — whatever they were makes no 
 difference to me — which again gives rise 
 to another parenthesis : GOD respecteth 
 not MAN'S person (the Greek order 
 brings out strongly the contrast between 
 God ^ and man). The clause beginning" 
 biroioi TTore may be rendered ; " of what 
 
230 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 7 But contrariwise, when they saw that 
 the gospel of the uncircumcision was com- 
 mitted unto me, as the gospel of the cir- 
 cumcision zcas unto Peter; 
 
 8 (For he that wrought effectually in 
 Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, 
 the same w^as mighty in me toward the 
 Gentiles;) 
 
 9 And when James, Cephas, and John, 
 who seemed to be pillars, perceived the 
 grace that was given unto me, they gave 
 to me and Barnabas the right hands of 
 fellowship ; that we should go unto the 
 heathen, and they unto the circumcision. 
 
 10 Only they would that we should re- 
 member the poor ; the same which I also 
 was forward to do. 
 
 sort they once were " during the lifetime 
 of Jesus, enjoying His fellowship; or more 
 probably, " of what sort soever they were." 
 On either view, it is clear that Paul's op- 
 ponents were fond of extolling the au- 
 thority of the apostles, which they regarded 
 as unique. Paul, following the divine 
 estimate of men, regards human au- 
 thority as a matter of indifference. Car- 
 rying the revelation of Jesus and the divine 
 authentication in his heart, he needs no 
 authentication from the apostles. " It 
 makes no difference to me;" for to me 
 the authorities — (catching up the broken 
 clause at the beginning of the verse) — 
 imparted (cf. consult, confer with, in i. i6; 
 same Greek word) nothing, no communica- 
 tion or authorization — they recognized my 
 independence ; Paul owed them as little on 
 the second visit as on the first (i. i8f.) = 
 The words, however, may possibly mean ; 
 "they imposed nothing on me" — no lim- 
 itation of my missionary activity, no ob- 
 ligation to observe the law. If the latter 
 be the meaning, a difficulty is raised by 
 the terms of the decree in Acts xv. 20, 29. 
 7, 8. Not orily did they not impart any- 
 thing to me, but on the contrary, when 
 they {i.e. the authorities — Peter, James 
 and John, ver. 9) saw from the report 
 which I laid before them (ver. 2} with 
 the " signs and wonders wrought among 
 the Gentiles " (Acts xv. 12) that I was, 
 as I still am (perf.), entrusted with the 
 gospel for the Gentiles, the uncircum- 
 cised, as surely as Peter with the gospel 
 for the Jews, the circumcised — a great 
 admission to make {Kadm even as), a 
 practical recognition of the co-ordinate im- 
 portance of Paul and Peter. There are of 
 course not two gospels (one involving cir- 
 cumcision for the Jews, the other remit- 
 ting it to the Gentiles), but only one; and 
 accursed be the man who is not faithful 
 to that (i. 8f.). Two spheres of evan- 
 gelical activity are implied — not, however, 
 strictly geographical, as the Jews were 
 scattered everywhere about the world ; and 
 even those two spheres are not mutually 
 exclusive. Paul also preached in the syn- 
 agogues to the Jews, and Peter to the 
 
 Gentiles (Acts xv. 7, x.). Paul here in- 
 terrupts his sentence to emphasize the 
 unity in God that underlies both Peter's 
 work and his own; it was in the inspira- 
 tion of the divine strength that the work 
 of both was done. For He that wrought 
 for Peter, equipping him with gifts and 
 strength for his apostleship among the 
 circumcised, wrought also for me for my 
 work among the Gentiles. It is some- 
 what surprising that Paul does not take 
 this opportunity of co-ordinating the ap- 
 ostolic importance of his own work with 
 that of Peter, especially as the grammatical 
 structure of the sentence almost invited 
 such a statement ; ets ri]v diroaTokriv twv 
 edvwv (to the apostleship of the Gentiles). 
 But at any rate the whole context is an 
 implicit acknowledgment of his apostleship ; 
 he received the right hand of fellowship. 
 
 9, 10. Seeing that I was entrusted with 
 the gospel for the uncircumcised, and per- 
 ceiving the grace of God that was given 
 to me — as manifested in his whole won- 
 derful career, his conversion, his call, his 
 striking success as a missionary to the 
 Gentiles — James, the Lord's brother (i. 
 19), and Peter, here, as elsewhere (ex- 
 cept vv. 7, 8) called Cephas, and the 
 apostle John, the son of Zebedee, who 
 were regarded (oi doKovvres, cf. ver. 2, 6) 
 as pillars of the church (supporting it, as 
 pillars support a temple), gave me and 
 Barnabas right hands of fellowship. 
 Here then Paul's gospel and missionary 
 policy arc deliberately and cordially recog- 
 nized at the headquarters of the Jewish 
 church itself, and even by the leaders of 
 that church, two of whom were direct apos- 
 tles of Jesus. They acknowledge Paul not 
 as an inferior, but as their fcllozi', divinely 
 called to share with them the evangeliza- 
 tion of the world, that WE (should go) 
 to the Gentiles and THEY to the cir- 
 cumcision, each to the sphere for which 
 by gifts, sympathies and experience, he 
 was best fitted. This was a recognition 
 not only of Paul's peculiar sphere, but of 
 his gospel, for in that sphere he preached, 
 as he iiad told them (ver. 2) a gospel 
 without circumcision. The only injunc- 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 231 
 
 11 But when Peter was come to Anti- 
 och, I withstood him to the face, because 
 he was to be blamed. 
 
 12 For before that certain came from 
 
 James, he did eat with the Gentiles : but 
 when they were come, he withdrew and 
 separated himself, fearing them which 
 were of the circumcision. 
 
 tion that the elder apostles associated 
 with the compact was that we should 
 remember the poor of Judaea (the poor, 
 for emphasis, is placed before tva, cf. 2 
 Cor. ii. 4). The poverty of the Jerusalem 
 church, inviting as it did the liberality of 
 the foreign churches, was a powerful 
 means of strengthening the feeling of 
 brotherhood and the unity of the Christian 
 church (cf. 2 Cor. ix. 12-15). And this 
 very thing I have been not only willing, 
 but (Kal) zealous to do. Paul's unabated 
 zeal in collecting among the Gentiles for 
 the poor of the mother church is attested 
 by I Cor. xvi. 1-4, 2 Cor. viii. ix. (where 
 he urges upon the Corinthians the example 
 of the Macedonians), Acts xxiv. 17. Ac- 
 cording to Acts xi. 30, xii. 25 (but see on 
 Gal. ii. i) he had even collected for the 
 poor before the Jerusalem council. 
 
 The Clash at Antioch: Paul Asserts Him- 
 self Against Peter (ii. 11-21). 
 
 This passage forms a striking climax to 
 Paul's argument for his apostolic inde- 
 pendence. He has shown that he did not 
 derive his gospel or his commission from 
 man. He did not even see the apostles 
 till three years after his conversion, and 
 then he received no instruction from them. 
 When, fourteen years afterwards, circum- 
 stances compelled him again to visit Jeru- 
 salem, his independence and equality were 
 recognized by the apostles. Now at An- 
 tioch, when an issue crucial for the future 
 of the Christian church and " the truth 
 of the gospel" (ver. 14, cf. 5) has to be 
 fought out, he maintains his position even 
 against Peter. Apart from its historical 
 and theological importance, the passage is 
 one of large human interest ; two great 
 apostolic leaders, differing in insight atnd 
 courage, but one in their devotion to the 
 service of Christ and His church, are 
 ranged on opposite sides in a vital ques- 
 tion, and one is driven by his conscience 
 and his conception of the gospel to with- 
 stand the other to the face. 
 
 II, 12. But when Cephas, i.e. Peter 
 came to Antioch — no doubt after the 
 Jerusalem conference described in i-io ; 
 in the period covered by Acts xv. 30-35, 
 rather than in the later period (Acts xviii. 
 22), as by that time Barnabas, who is 
 
 present in Gal. ii. 13, had parted from 
 Paul (Acts XV. 39) — I resisted him to 
 the face, an abrupt and startling state- 
 ment, considering the " right hand of fel- 
 lowship " which he had received from 
 Peter only two verses before ; but the rea- 
 son was because he stood convicted of 
 inconsistency by his own conduct. The in- 
 consistency is now explained as a change 
 of attitude towards the Gentile Christians 
 of the Antioch church. For during the 
 period (impf.) before «the arrival of some 
 delegates from James, he was eating with 
 the Gentiles. In this he was acting in the 
 spirit of the lesson he had learnt in con- 
 nection with Cornelius (Acts x. 15, 28), 
 and in the spirit of the recent compact, 
 generously interpreted ; but not at all in 
 the spirit of an orthodox Jew (Acts xi. 
 2; cf. Luke XV. 2). Apparently many of 
 the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem had 
 not so interpreted the compact ; they had 
 recognized the legitimacy of Paul's gospel 
 to the Gentiles, but the Jews, in becoming 
 Christians, were still to remain Jews, faith- 
 ful to their laws and usages ; and fidelity 
 to ritual prescription, e.g. in the matter 
 of food, was obviously impossible to Jews 
 who associated at tables with Gentiles, who 
 were bound by no such scruples. In this 
 light we are no doubt to understand the 
 deputation from James. It is indeed quite 
 possible, as Lightfoot suggests, to suppose 
 " that they came invested with some powers 
 from James which they abused." But, 
 considering the tenacity with which James 
 adhered to Jewish custom (Acts xxi. 18 f.), 
 and considering, further, that Peter him- 
 self, despite his past, experience, abandoned 
 his generous attitude to the Gentiles, it is 
 more probable that these delegates did not 
 misrepresent the mind of James. The 
 truth is that the compact, with its sharp 
 division of the Christian world into Jews 
 and Gentiles, did not clearly contemplate 
 the difficulty that would be created by a 
 mixed church, such as existed at Antioch. 
 But after their arrival, he (Peter) began 
 to withdraw and finally to separate him- 
 self, and maintained this separative policy 
 (impf.) because he was afraid of the 
 adherents of circumcision, not perhaps of 
 the Jewish Christians generally, but of the 
 stricter of them, who insisted upon the 
 Gentiles adopting Jewish rites, as a con- 
 dition of intercourse with them. Peter's 
 
232 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 13 And the other Jews dissembled like- 
 wise with him ; insomuch that Barnabas 
 also was carried away with their dissimu- 
 lation. 
 
 14 But when I saw that they walked 
 not uprightly according to the truth of the 
 
 gospel, I said unto Peter before them aH, 
 If thou, being a Jew, livest after the man- 
 ner of Gentiles and not as do the Jews, 
 why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as 
 do the Jews? 
 
 conduct and example in refusing to eat 
 with the Gentiles was a matter of the 
 gravest importance, considering the love- 
 feast which accompanied the celebration 
 of the Lord's Supper (cf. i Cor. xi. 20- 
 34) ; communion between members of the 
 two great sections of the church would 
 thus become impossible, and the sacrament 
 which ought to have united men would 
 divide them. It is curious to find Peter, 
 after the lapse of so many years, and con- 
 sidering his pre-eminent authority in the 
 Jewish church, the victim of fear. We 
 see, for one thing, how powerful the 
 Judaizing spirit must have been in the 
 Jewish church, when it was able to bend 
 to its will the powerful Peter; and again, 
 we see how persistent, if not ineradicable, 
 are the ground features of any individual 
 character. Afraid of a servant maid; and 
 over twenty years after, afraid of the 
 champions of circumcision. " The whole 
 incident is remarkably characteristic of 
 Peter — ever the first to recognize, and the 
 first to draw back from, great principles 
 and truths" (Alford). 
 
 13. And the rest of the Jews, i.e., Jewish 
 members of the church at Antioch, noth- 
 ing loth to follow so illustrious an ex- 
 amiple, also played the hypocrite with 
 him. According to Paul, then, Peter was 
 a hypocrite; he pretended, by his policy 
 of separation, to abandon principles in 
 which he really believed. He still believed 
 that it was right to eat with Gentiles; 
 but fear, and the pressure of the delegation, 
 combined to induce him to recant. Perhaps 
 this is rather less than just to Peter. He 
 habitually acted under the impression of 
 the moment. At first, in the impulse of a 
 large-hearted enthusiasm, he associated 
 with the Gentiles on equal and brotherly 
 terms ; but the presence of the deputation 
 from Jerusalem, and the awakening con- 
 sciousness of the wide and important con- 
 sequences of the step he had taken, would 
 set his conduct in a different light, and 
 he may quite sincerely, however incon- 
 sistently, have " withdrawn and separated 
 himself." To Paul, with his clear concep- 
 tion of the finality of the gospel, and of 
 the utter irrelevance of rites and cere- 
 monies, such a step may well have seemed 
 hypocrisy. And the example of Peter was 
 
 so contagious that even Barnabas was 
 also carried by their hypocrisy; another 
 proof how tenacious was the clutch, and 
 how powerful the appeal of Judaism — 
 Barnabas was a Levite. His defection 
 must have been to Paul an almost more 
 staggering blow than the recantation of 
 Peter, as he had accompanied Paul on his 
 first missionary journey (Acts xiii. 2ff.) 
 and had been, in a sense, his fellow-apostle 
 to the Gentiles (xiv. 4, 14). 
 
 14. But when I saw that they did 
 not walk straight in accordance with 
 (Trpos; so rather than in the direction of), 
 the truth of the gospel (cf. ver. 5), which 
 does not need, and cannot tolerate, any 
 supplement from the side of ritual pre- 
 scription, I said to Peter (Cephas) pub- 
 licly before them all, as, considering the 
 pernicious influence of Peter's example 
 upon the rest of the Jewish Christians 
 (ver. 13) a public reproof seemed to be 
 necessary : " If you, being by nature 
 (vwdpxo^v) a Jew {i.e. born and bred a 
 Jew; Lightfoot) (can) live like the Gen- 
 tiles and unlike the Jews, how is it, then, 
 that, if not in definite words, at any rate 
 by the force of your influence and exam- 
 ple, you compel the Gentiles to adopt 
 the usages of the Jews? The present 
 tense f^s can hardly be meant to im- 
 ply that, for a continuous period, Peter 
 had abandoned Jewish in favor of Gentile 
 usages ; but simply that, as occasion of- 
 fered, e.g. in the matter of common meals, 
 he showed the same liberal attitude to the 
 Gentiles and, to that extent, the same con- 
 ception of the gospel, as Paul. But what 
 an inconsistency ! argues Paul. You your- 
 self are now imposing upon the Gentiles 
 usages which your recent conduct shows 
 that you regarded as unessential. Peter's 
 present conduct, as Paul points out more 
 fully in the next paragraph, is really be- 
 ing determined by the Jewish law, not 
 by the Christian gospel. The Jews wnshed 
 to maintain the law and the gospel; Paul 
 saw. with the clearness of noon-day. that 
 it must be the law or the gospel. Whether 
 his public rebuke of Peter was in the best 
 Christian spirit, it would be impossible, 
 without further knowledge of the incident, 
 to say ; but, at any rate, it is very intelli- 
 gible. To Paul the very essence of the 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 233 
 
 15 We who are Jews by nature, and not 
 sinners of the Gentiles, 
 
 16 Knowing that a man is not justified 
 by the works of the law, but by the faith 
 of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in 
 Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by 
 the faith of Christ, and not by the works 
 
 of the law : for by the works of the law 
 shall no flesh be justified. 
 
 17 But if, while we seek to be justified 
 by Christ, we ourselves also are found sin- 
 ners, is therefore Christ the minister of 
 
 sm 
 
 God forbid. 
 
 18 For if I build again the things which 
 I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 
 
 gospel had been jeopardized by the^^action 
 of Peter in " withdrawing himself " ; and 
 if ever intrepid speech was necessary, it 
 was then. 
 
 15-21. These verses hover between the 
 personal incident just narrated and the 
 more doctrinal portion of the epistle be- 
 ginning with ch. iii. ; and it has been a 
 long debated question whether they go 
 with the one or the other. They are cer- 
 tainly somewhat doctrinal in form, but in 
 any case the doctrine glows with reminis- 
 cences of the encounter with Peter, and 
 some of it is only fully intelligible with 
 that incident as its immediate background. 
 Paul must certainly have said more than 
 is recorded in ver. 14; and his general 
 argument on that occasion, if it be not 
 literally reproduced in vv. 15-21, must have 
 at least run along those Hnes. Probably 
 the truth is that the speech begun in ver. 
 14 fades insensibly into reflections, which 
 partly reproduce the original argument, 
 and are partly addressed to the very sim- 
 ilar situation which Paul confronts in 
 Galatia. Instances of reports of speeches 
 passing into reflections are not uncommon 
 (cf. John iii. 11, 16). 
 
 15, 16. WE (^/-tet's) (are) born Jews 
 and not Gentile sinners — Gentiles and 
 therefore sinners. These words can only 
 be ironical on the lips of Paul; they are, 
 at any rate, an argument addressed to the 
 Jewish consciousness of superiority and 
 prerogative, a prerogative which the very 
 next verse shows to be unreal, or, at any 
 rate, ineffective, so far as salvation is con- 
 cerned. Perhaps, as Lipsius has suggested, 
 we have here " the very words in which 
 Peter sought to justify his separation from 
 the Gentile Christians." Yet knowing, as 
 we do, that man is not justified by 
 (e/c; justification does not spring from) 
 the works of {i.e. prescribed, demanded 
 by) the law, but only by means o£ faith 
 in Christ Jesus, WE ALSO (««' ^i^^'^^) 
 no less than Gentile sinners, despite our 
 alleged superiority as Jews, became be- 
 lievers in Jesus Christ, in order that we 
 might be justified by (e/c, from) faith 
 in Jesus Christ, and not by the works 
 of the law; for, by the works of the 
 
 law, as we read in Psalm cxliii. 2, in 
 somewhat modified form, " no flesh, no 
 m.ortal man, shall be justified." The 
 argument is clenched, or at least crowned, 
 as often in Paul, by a quotation from 
 Scripture, though it gains its point largely 
 from his own addition " from the works 
 of the law." The word voiios {law) though 
 used here without the article, refers 
 throughout the epistle definitely to the 
 Jewish law, and more particularly on its 
 ceremonial side, as contrasted with the 
 Ep. to the Romans, where the emphasis 
 is rather on the ethical side. The demands 
 of the law are such that justification can 
 never come for man that way. Justification 
 is acquittal in judgment, the recognition 
 that a man is in right relations with God. 
 This he cannot secure by " works of the 
 law," which leads to despair, but only 
 " through faith in Christ," by whose death 
 for sin, with its dehverance from the law, 
 and in general from " this present evil 
 world " (i. 4) those relations were made 
 possible. This faith in Christ is as neces- 
 sary to Jews as to Gentiles. " We who 
 are Jews," no less than the sinners of 
 the Gentiles, in order to attain salvation, 
 had to " become believers in Christ." The 
 law, then, which gave the Jews a seeming 
 advantage, is really no advantage after all. 
 The gospel needs and receives no help from 
 it; for the purposes of the gospel, it is 
 useless. And yet this is just what Peter, 
 by his conduct, has failed to recognize. 
 He is giving the law a place to which it 
 has no right, and is thus- practically deny- 
 ing the adequacy of the gospel, of faith in 
 Christ Jesus alone. 
 
 17, 18. In abandoning his intercourse 
 at table with the Gentiles, Peter practically 
 confesses that that intercourse was sfnful. 
 Here then is a dilemma. Peter " seeks 
 to be justified- in Christ," and yet through 
 seeking this justification in Christ alone, 
 and^ thus considering himself free from 
 Jewish ritual obligation, he has been led 
 into sin. It is Christ, then, in a sense, 
 who is responsible for his sin, in leading 
 him to break with the Jewish law. But 
 Christ a minister of sin ! Impossible. 
 Now if, seeking to be justified in {i.e. 
 
234 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. II 
 
 19 For I through the law am dead to 
 the law, that 1 might live unto God. 
 
 20 I am crucified with Christ : never- 
 theless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth 
 in me : and the life which I now live in the 
 flesh I live by the faith of the Son of 
 
 God, who loved me, and gave himself for 
 me. 
 
 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: 
 for if righteousness come by the law, then 
 Christ is dead in vain. 
 
 almost = through faith on) Christ alone, 
 we (Paul includes himself for argument 
 and courtesy's sake) ourselves were found 
 to be sinners, is Christ then a minister 
 of sin? Never! But if not Christ, then 
 who ? for there is sin somewhere ; if a 
 man goes back upon his previous conduct, 
 if he rebuilds what he has destroyed, he 
 was guilty either then or now, and he 
 confesses as much ; the guilt is obviously 
 his own. So here, Peter, by his with- 
 drawal from the Gentiles, is rebuilding the 
 Jewish legal system which by his friendly 
 association with them, he had destroyed. 
 The guilt is not Christ's, but his own, and 
 he has incurred it through a false or at 
 least fatally inadequate conception of the 
 gospel. For if I (anyone; though he is 
 thinking particularly of Peter) rebuild the 
 very things which I destroyed. I prove 
 MYSELF the transgressor. 
 
 19. For, I, for my part (e7c6) unlike 
 Peter and " the other Jews " who, by re- 
 establishing the law, are virtually living to 
 it, am dead to the law^ Through his " faith 
 in Christ," he has virtually entered another 
 world, and is dead to " this present world " 
 (i. 4) represented by the law. And this 
 death has been brought about " by the law " 
 itself. The real explanation of this remark- 
 able utterance is probably to be sought in 
 Paul's mystical " crucifixion with Jesus " 
 (ver. 20). The law slew Christ; but in 
 dying. He satisfied its claims, and it has 
 therefore no more power over Him. Those 
 who believe in Christ, are, according to the 
 mystical idea of Paul, one with Him — 
 one in death and one in resurrection. In 
 His death they died, and in His resur- 
 rection life they live again. So the law 
 which slew Christ, slew also Paul, for he 
 was " crucified with Him " (ver. 20) ; and 
 thus it was through the law that he too 
 died. Also of course to the law ; for, losing 
 its power over Christ, by His " becoming 
 a curse for us," it loses its power over 
 those who are one with Him in His death 
 (iii. 13). By Plim they are redeemed from 
 it, and from all this present evil order of 
 the world (i. 4), to which they are now 
 literally dead. J through the law. died to 
 the law, that I might live unto GOD. 
 Peter was trying the experiment of being 
 at the same time dead to the law, and also 
 
 very much alive to it ; to Paul compromise 
 is impossible. He sees that when a man 
 dies to the law, he must live to God. 
 
 20, 21. The death and the life are 
 equally real and permanent. He died, was 
 crucified, in Christ's crucifixion ; I have 
 been, and am forevermore (perf.) crucified 
 with Christ; and it is no longer I that 
 live — for I do live (note the emphasis of 
 fw and ^v) — but Christ that lives in me. 
 He is another man in another world, not 
 only having broken with, but having died 
 to, his old past. It is not himself at all 
 that lives, but another self, Christ in him. 
 The transforming and regenerating effect 
 of Christ upon him could not be more 
 vividly stated. And yet he cannot forget — 
 he has too many painful reminders — that 
 he is still in the flesh, living under the 
 limitations of this physical and mortal 
 frame. But faith in the son of God has 
 the power of ideally transcending these 
 limitations; and the life that (lit. that 
 which) I now since my conversion live, 
 I live in the atmosphere and power of 
 faith on Jesus Christ, who is no less than 
 God's own son (some ^NISS. read God and 
 Christ), who loved not only the world in 
 general, but me in particular, and on the 
 cross, gave Himself to the death for mc, 
 on my behalf (virip), i.e. for my sins (i. 4) 
 and, to deliver me from the present evil 
 world. The death of Christ, which abol- 
 ished the power of the law, is to Paul the 
 supreme illustration of the grace of God. 
 The Jews found this divine grace also in 
 the law which gave them their fancied su- 
 periority over the "heathen sinners" (ver. 
 15), and Paul's opponents may have twitted 
 him with rejecting this. But he replies, 
 I am not frustrating the grace of God. 
 He finds that grace completely embodied in 
 the death of Christ ; those who really frus- 
 trate it are the men like Peter, who try to 
 effect a compromise between Christ and 
 the law. For if it is by the law that 
 righteousness (justificatiiMi) (comes), then 
 Christ died for nothing; if righteousness 
 was to be attained by the law, then the 
 death of Christ was superfluous. 
 
 The first two chapters are of great bio- 
 graphical interest and importance, not only 
 
Ch. II] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 235 
 
 because they record some facts which are 
 not elsewhere recorded, but because they 
 reveal something of the inner consciousness 
 of the aoostle, of the overmastering con- 
 viction by which he was possessed that he 
 had been divinely called to a unique task, 
 of his consequent independence of all hu- 
 man authentication, and of the courage with 
 which he was prepared to maintain his 
 conception of the gospel even against 
 leaders whose peculiar position entitled 
 their opinions to special respect, and 
 whose authority was naturally regarded 
 by a very large number of earnest men 
 as supreme. Paul understood probably 
 better than any man of his time the genius 
 of both the great rehgions which had 
 claimed his homage. Of his profound 
 understanding of what was involved in 
 Christianity, and of his zeal in her be- 
 half, his epistles and his marvelous mis- 
 sionary career are the witnesses : and his 
 fidelity towards Judaism is doubly attested 
 here by his own confession that he had 
 been exceedingly zealous for the ancestral 
 traditions, and that he had bitterly opposed 
 the progress of the young Christian church. 
 The revolution which had been wrought 
 in his inner life and which had given him 
 his gospel was due to nothing less than a 
 revelation; it goes back to the great day 
 when he had been suddenly smitten down 
 on the way to Damascus. 
 
 As that wonderful experience had come 
 to him directly from the supernatural 
 world and entirely without human media- 
 tion, it inspired him, on the one hand, 
 with a sense of independence, and on the 
 other with a certainty and confidence in 
 his call and his message which no subse- 
 quent experience had the smallest power to 
 shake. He meets the great leaders of the 
 church, but he owes to them neither his 
 gospel nor his authentication. His whole 
 career and interpretation of the gospel is 
 
 one eloquent substantiation of his claim 
 to independence. He is not afraid to take 
 the uncircumcised Titus to the very me- 
 tropolis of Jewish Christianity, and to 
 show by deed as well as by argument, that 
 Gentiles ought not to be " enslaved " to 
 Jewish law. In the great scene at Antioch, 
 where he and Peter cross swords, it is diffi- 
 cult to say whether one admires more his 
 insight or his courage. He saw with abso- 
 lute clearness that in the seemingly trivial 
 issue involved in the question of common 
 meals for Jew and Gentile, a question of 
 transcendent importance had been raised, 
 and the whole future of Christianity was 
 at stake. 
 
 It was much to see with such lucidity 
 the imphcations of the new religion, but 
 it was more to defend it with intrepidity 
 and single-handed against an influential, 
 bigoted and determined opposition. The 
 delegates " from James " who represented 
 the " circumcision," must have been able 
 to bring no little pressure to bear upon 
 the situation when even Peter, pillar 
 though he was, was afraid of them. But 
 his timidity throws Paul's courage into 
 all the more splendid a light. It would 
 be of peculiar interest to know more of 
 the detail of such a fight, when in a public 
 gathering of excited men, these two great 
 leaders, each devoted to their common 
 Master, faced each other, symbolizing, in 
 their opposition, the two great types of 
 Christianity; but we know at least the 
 main point, that Christianity was saved 
 by Paul. Peter's attitude was in effect to 
 " rebuild the things which had been al- 
 ready destroyed." Paul saw and pro- 
 claimed with deadly earnestness the im- 
 possibility of compromise; he "did not 
 yield " for a momicnt. He could not 
 stand silently by, while men were being 
 reduced to the bondage from which. Christ 
 had set them free. 
 
236 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH : FREEDOM FROM THE LAW 
 
 (iii. i-v. 12). 
 
 CHAPTER 3. 
 
 I O FOOLISH Galatians, who hath be- 
 witched you, that ye should not obey the 
 
 truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath 
 been evidently set forth, crucified among 
 you? 
 
 The first two chapters of the epistle 
 have been largely in the form of a per- 
 sonal narrative. The weight which at- 
 taches to the exposition of the gospel 
 which Paul is about to give, and to his 
 exposure of the tragic misconception of it 
 entertained by the Judaizers, comes from 
 his being an apostle. This apostleship he 
 naturally begins by proving. Neither it 
 nor the gospel which it commissions him 
 to proclaim is of human origin. He re- 
 ceived it " by revelation of Jesus Christ " 
 (i. 12), not from the leaders of the Jeru- 
 salem church. Nay, those leaders later ac- 
 knowledged his equality with them, and 
 later still, one of them he had even to 
 resist to the face. 
 
 This elaborate personal narrative is 
 doubly relevant to the doctrinal and prac- 
 tical purpose with which Paul writes to 
 the Galatians. It shows them that, what- 
 ever he has to say, he says with the full 
 authority of an apostle ; and further the 
 error which he writes to combat so stren- 
 uously, is the very error of the man whom 
 he had had to withstand to the face. That 
 misconception of the gospel, illustrated by 
 Peter's deference to ritual usage, his em- 
 phasis on external- and material things, 
 was rooted with fearful tenacity in the 
 Jewish nature, as we have seen in the 
 defection " even of Barnabas " ; and it had 
 been sedulously cherished by the cham- 
 pions of Jewish prerogative throughout 
 the churches which Paul had founded. 
 Though it is convenient to recognize in 
 ch. iii. I the beginning of a new section 
 in the epistle, this is most vitally connected 
 with all that has gone before, and very 
 especially with the immediately preceding 
 verses. They had set forth Christ cru- 
 cified, and the power of that death to 
 abolish the ritual claims and national dis- 
 tinctions upon which Peter had been in- 
 sistiin?. The same error had " bewitched " 
 the Galatian church, though that church 
 had, in the preaching of Paul, had " Christ 
 crucified " persistently set before it. A 
 real appreciation of the meaning of that 
 Figure upon the cross — of the complete- 
 
 ness and the finality of the work there 
 done — ought for ever to have extinguished 
 all belief in the adequacy or necessity of 
 legal righteousness (ii. 21). Paul was as- 
 tonished. 
 
 The Possession of the Spirit Comes Not 
 
 From Lazi'j But From Faith 
 
 (iii. 1-6). 
 
 It is first to their undeniable possession 
 of the spirit on the part of the Galatians 
 that Paul appeals, in vindication of his 
 plea for faith as opposed to works. Surely 
 the Galatians will not maintain that the 
 spirit, with its marvelous manifestations, is 
 the product of law. Faith alone creates 
 and explains them. 
 
 ^ I. It is very seldom that Paul addresses 
 his readers by name, and only in moments 
 of great emotion (2 Cor. vi. 11, Phil. iv. 
 15). Here, as he thinks of the ease with 
 which the Galatians have fallen a prey 
 to the appeals of the Judaizers, he breaks 
 out into a cry of regretful and indignant 
 astonishment, O foolish Galatians — fool- 
 ish (cf. ver. 3), because as we see from 
 ver. 2, they had rejected the very obvious 
 lessons of experience. Paul can explain 
 the change by nothing less than sorcery. 
 Who was it that bewitched you? The 
 words T'ij oK-qdeia fir] Trel6ea6ai^ ** that ye 
 should not obey the truth," A. V. should 
 be omitted, with the best 1\ISS. and 
 A. R. V. It appears to come from v. 7, 
 It is difficult to say whether this word 
 {^acKaLvo}) is intended to suggest the 
 witchery of the evil eye. or of evil speech 
 (Pd^iv). It was certainly accomplished by 
 speech, but perhaps the following clause 
 suggests the influence of the eye. Eyes 
 before which the cross of Christ had been 
 held could only have forgotten that sight 
 by coming under the influence of some 
 baleful fascination. Among the Galatians, 
 as among the Corinthians (i Cor. i. 23, 
 ii. 2) Paul's preaching had gathered round 
 " Christ crucified," and he is astonished 
 that men who had heard such a gospel and 
 
Oh. Ill] 
 
 OALATIANS. 
 
 237 
 
 2 This only would I learn of you, Re- 
 ceived ye the Spirit by the works of the 
 law, or by the hearing of faith? 
 
 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in 
 
 the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the 
 flesh? 
 
 4 Have ye suffered so many things in 
 vain? if it he vet in vain. 
 
 seen such a sight — that you {vfJ-o-s with a 
 certain emphasis) should have been be- 
 witcned, YOU before whose eyes had 
 been openly portrayed Jesus Christ cru- 
 cified. The emphasis falls upon the cru- 
 cified, and the perf. partic. suggests the 
 abiding fact of the cross, its permanent 
 place in the proclamation of the gospel. 
 The theme of Paul's preaching was not 
 only Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ cruci- 
 iied; this whole epistle illustrates the fun- 
 damental and even revolutionary signifi- 
 cance of the cross to Paul. Before the 
 eyes of the Galatians Jesus Christ on the 
 cross irpoeypd^r]. Various explanations 
 have been given of this word : zi'-ritten of 
 beforehand whether in the Old Testament, or 
 in some previous letter of Paul ; placarded 
 as a public notice, etc. But taking ypa.(pu} 
 as to paint, irpoypdcpo} may mean to paint 
 publicly, and the reference would be to 
 the great picture of the crucified One 
 which Paul held before the minds of his 
 hearers. How could they have drifted 
 away from the impression which it had 
 made upon them? (iv v/j.lv, which many 
 good j\ISS. omit after Trpoeypdcprj, ought, if 
 retained, to go with that verb, not with 
 the following participle : not " crucified in 
 or among you," A. V., but " depicted 
 among you "). 
 
 2. This is all that I should like you 
 to tell me; was it from the works of the 
 law that you received the spirit or from 
 hearing in faith? The spirit was an un- 
 deniable possession; it was the power that 
 governed the new life into which their 
 conversion had ushered them; but as in 
 I Cor, xii. xiv., it was often accompanied 
 iDy striking external manifestations — ec- 
 static speech, gifts of healing etc. (cf. i 
 Cor. xii. 28), and ver. 5 {dvpdfxeis) shows 
 that it is at least partly of that that Paul is 
 thinking here. Where had this spirit come 
 from (e/c) ? Clearly not from works of the 
 (Jewish) law, for as Gentiles they had no 
 such law. Their salvation, at any rate, 
 liad not come from observing circumcision, 
 ritual usages with regard to food, etc., but 
 only from the hearing of faith, — not, of 
 course, from listening to the exposition of 
 the Christian faith, but from listening in 
 faith, from that hearing which is accom- 
 panied by faith. It was not by doing, but 
 by Hstening, not by what they had ac- 
 complished, but by what they had heard 
 
 in faith, that they had received the spirit. 
 3, 4. Are you so foolish? — their folly 
 consisting in turning their back upon the 
 lessons of experience. Having begun 
 with the spirit, are you now, after your 
 experience of the spirit's power, making 
 your completion with the flesh? The 
 brief incisive words of Paul point the con- 
 trast _ with great vigor and irony. This 
 question perhaps throws some light on the 
 arguments of the Judaizers. They did 
 not apparently deny that salvation was 
 possible in Christ to the Gentiles who held 
 aloof from Judaism ; but they maintained 
 that the Jews themselves, and those who 
 embraced Judaism enjoyed, as it were, a 
 higher form of salvation. The one was 
 indeed a beginning, but the other was the 
 completion, and it could be enjoyed only 
 by the true children of Abraham (ver. 7). 
 eiriTekelade has more force in the context 
 as middle than as passive; the process of 
 completion is made by and upon them- 
 selves. The completion in the flesh refers 
 particularly though not exclusively to cir- 
 cumcision. From spirit to flesh, from life 
 and power to ritual — that were indeed a 
 strange progress ! " An evangelical begin- 
 ning is too often followed by a rituahstic 
 ending." (Findlay, Galatians, p. 175). 
 Have you enjoyed all these Christian 
 experiences (/>. of the spirit) in vain? 
 It is diflicult to decide whether ewddeTe 
 means suifered (A. V., A. R. V.) or ex- 
 perienced? Certainly the former is the 
 meaning elsewhere in the New Testament; 
 and there is direct evidence that the con- 
 verts at Iconium, Lystra etc. were exposed 
 to suffering (Acts xiv. 2, 5, 19, 22). Even 
 if these ought not to be considered as 
 Galatians (see Introduction), there can 
 be little doubt that the converts in Galatia 
 proper would have been equally subject to 
 persecution. " No one could come out of 
 heathen society and espouse the cause of 
 Jesus, without making himself a mark for 
 ridicule and violence" (cf. Acts xiv. 22). 
 All this suffering will have been for noth- 
 ing, if they go back to the bondage out 
 of which they were delivered; and Paul's 
 question is all the more pointed, if the 
 suffering should have come upon them, as 
 it did upon the converts at Iconium, partly 
 at least from Jews (xA.cts xiv. 5) — they 
 are returning to the very thing they had 
 suffered for abandoning. But this thought. 
 
238 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 5 He therefore that ministereth to you 
 the Spirit, and workcth miracles among 
 you, docth he it by the works of the law, 
 or by the hearing of faith? 
 
 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and 
 
 it was accounted to him for righteousness. 
 7 Know ye therefore that they which 
 are of faith, the same are the children of 
 Abraham. 
 
 while thoroughly appropriate in itself, does 
 not seem so relevant to the context, as 
 the other, which refers iirddeTe to ^ the 
 spiritual benefits enjoyed by the Galatians. 
 Have you had all these blessed and won- 
 derful experiences in vain? Are you so 
 unintelligent, stupid? Yet Paul cannot 
 bring himself to believe that his converts 
 are so obtuse, that all those experiences 
 will really and ultimately be lost upon 
 them. Hoping better things of them, he 
 adds, if indeed it be really in vain. 
 
 5. This verse resumes and emphasizes 
 the question of ver. 2. He then who is 
 liberally supplying you with the spirit, 
 i.e. God (not Paul) and proving the 
 spirit's indubitable presence by manifestly 
 working mighty deeds among you, — 
 (does He do this) (supply you with the 
 spirit and work among you) in conse- 
 quence of (e/f) your works of the law, 
 or of your hearing in faith? The gram- 
 mar leaves it open to us to translate : " He 
 who was supplying and working — {did 
 He do this?)" — the reference being, as 
 in ver. 2, to the past. But it is equally 
 possible to consider the spirit and its man- 
 ifestations as still present, though, owing 
 to the Judaistic influence, in diminished 
 degree. For dwd/xeis (powers, mighty 
 works) cf. I Cor. xii. 28. 
 
 6. Your spiritual gifts, the apostle 
 says, come from faith; and it was faith 
 that made Abraham the man that he was 
 — righteous, justified. It is this faith that 
 brings you into line of succession with 
 him. (Here, as so often in N. T. the 
 point is not so striking in English, with 
 its faith and believe, as in Greek, with its 
 noun and verb cognate, Trtcms, vLdTevu}). 
 As Abraham believed (had faith in) 
 God, and it was counted to him for (not 
 " instead of," but as the practical equivalent 
 for) righteousness. Scripture, no less 
 than experience (vv. 1-5) should have 
 taught the Galatians the folly of resting 
 on legal righteousness. This ancient text 
 (Gen. XV. 6) suited Paul's purpose re- 
 markably well, and he here uses it very 
 effectively (cf. Rom. iv. 3), reading, of 
 course, much more into it than it orig- 
 inally contained. In the immediate context 
 of (jenesis, Abraham's faith is simply in 
 the divine promise of a numerous pos- 
 terity; the Hebrew tense, however, im- 
 
 plies the habitual exercise of such a faith, 
 and suggests a wider than the merely 
 contextual application — general trust in 
 the voice which speaks or calls from the 
 unseen (Gen. xii., xxii.). Even, then, 
 however, it is far removed from being 
 the faith for whose finality Paul is here 
 arguing — that faith in Christ crucified 
 which abolishes the righteousness which 
 is of the law. In his usual manner, Paul 
 cites the text, and applies it, somewhat as 
 we do " motto "-texts, without regard to 
 the original context. This verse forms the 
 connecting link between the preceding sec- 
 tion and the following. Faith, righteous- 
 ness (or justification), and the divinely 
 established relation that subsists between 
 them — these are the thoughts that echo 
 throughout the following section. 
 
 Salvation by Faith, A'ot by the Law: For 
 
 the Law Brings the Curse 
 
 (iii. 7-14). 
 
 7. Paul's Judaizing opponents no doubt 
 often quoted among the Galatians, with 
 great force and unction, the promise that 
 in Abraham and in his seed all the nations 
 of the earth would be blessed. They 
 would interpret that to mean that only 
 in virtue of their connection wath the 
 Jews could the Gentiles hope to share in 
 those promises, and that connection could 
 only be completely secured by adopting 
 the usages distinctive of Judaism, espe- 
 cially circumcision. The argument was 
 very plausible, but Paul has already de- 
 molished it by anticipation in suggesting 
 that the thing distinctive of Abraham was 
 not his circumcision etc., but his faith. 
 It was faith that made him what he was, 
 accepted and rigJiteous in the sight of God, 
 and you perceive, then — the apostle con- 
 tinue;? with a touch of " argumentative 
 irony" (though the word may be taken 
 as imperative — Jowzv yc) — that it is men 
 of faith, men whose spiritual life springs 
 from (€k) faith, these, and no others, who 
 are sons of Abraham. At a single stroke, 
 Paul cleaves the Jewish prerogative asun- 
 der. He accepts the appeal of his oppo- 
 nents to Abraham, and then triumphantly 
 shows from the Scriptures they acknowl- 
 edge, that this appeal destroys their case. 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 239 
 
 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that 
 God would justify the heathen through, 
 faith, preached before the gospel unto 
 Abraham, saying. In thee shall all nations 
 "be blessed. 
 
 9 So then they which be of faith are 
 blessed with faithful Abraham. 
 
 ID For as many as are of the works of 
 the law are under the curse : for it is writ- 
 
 ten, Cursed is every one that continueth 
 not in all things which are written in the 
 book of the law to do them. 
 
 11 But that no man is justified by the 
 law in the sight of God, it is evident : for, 
 The just shall live by faith. 
 
 12 And the law is not of faith: but. 
 The man that doeth them shall live in 
 them. 
 
 and corroborates his own. For that which 
 gave Abraham his place as a righteous 
 man in the estimate of God, was not any 
 keeping of the law, or any distinctive phys- 
 ical mark, but simply his faith. The out- 
 standing fact about him was not that he 
 did something, but that he believed. His 
 true children, therefore, are those who be- 
 lieve — ol e/c iri(TT€OJs, rnen of faith. This 
 is an exceedingly daring and original ut- 
 terance, which cuts to the very heart of 
 Judaism. 
 
 8, g. And the Scripture — here per- 
 sonified — foreseeing that it is in conse- 
 quence of (e/c) FAITH, not of works, 
 that God justifies the nations, proclaimed 
 a gospel in advance (good news before 
 the good news which comes in Christ) 
 to Abraham; "All the nations shall be 
 blessed in thee " — a blend of Gen. xii. 
 3, and xviii. i8, the word nations (eOv-n) 
 being taken from the latter passage for 
 the sake of the argument, which is soon 
 to deal more specifically with the Gentiles. 
 The blessings are here (though not, of 
 course, in Gen.) conceived as those which 
 flow from, faith in the crucified Christ — 
 justification, the gift of the spirit (ver. 2), 
 eternal life. It is in Abraham, not as a 
 circumcised man, but as a believer, as at 
 once the pattern and the father of the faith- 
 ful, that the nations are to be blessed. This 
 promise of blessing accruing through 
 faith, is, so to speak, a gospel before the 
 time ; and the Scripture proclaims it, be- 
 cause it foresaw God's plan of justifica- 
 tion by faith. Consequently it is the men 
 of FAITH, and not of works, who are 
 blessed with the FAITHFUL Abraham 
 — ^they share {(tvv) his blessing: and 
 these men of faith may be found in any 
 nation. 
 
 10. If men are justified by faith, then 
 the law is superfluous. But more, it is 
 positively deadly. For no one can keep 
 it perfectly, yet upon those who do not 
 keep it in every jot or title, it pronounces 
 a curse. For all who are depending, for 
 their relationship to God, upon doing the 
 deeds of the law, are under a CURSE — 
 such a curse as Christ was on the cross 
 
 (ver. 13) ; for " CURSED " says the 
 Scripture (Deut. xxvii. 26), "is every 
 one who does not continue in ALL 
 things that are written in the book of the 
 law, to do them. (Every one and all are 
 in the Septuagint, but not in the original 
 Hebrew.) The implication is that no one 
 has perfectly fulfilled the whole law, 
 therefore all are under the curse. That 
 is all that the law can do — lay us under 
 a curse. 
 
 II, 12. The impossibility of justification 
 by law is still further proved by Scripture 
 quotations. Now that within the sphere 
 of {^v) the law (or, perhaps, more simply, 
 by means of the LAW), no man is 
 justified in the sight of God, is clear, 
 for — Scripture settles this point — the 
 righteous shall live by FAITH (Hab. 
 ii. 4) ; or, for the sake of the argument, 
 Paul may intend these words to mean 
 "_He who is righteous by faith, he whose 
 righteousness is rooted in faith (not in 
 works), shall live," — the emphasis being 
 not so much upon the source of his life 
 as upon the source of his righteousness. 
 It is very probable that the two meanings 
 are blended, for in either case, life is 
 held up as the destiny of such a man, 
 as the issue of a righteousness springing 
 from faith — as opposed to the curse 
 which is the issue of an attempted, but 
 necessarily unsuccessful obedience to the 
 law. Here, as in ver. 6, Paul uses the 
 O. T. text as a motto and without regard 
 to its original context. Habakkuk (about 
 600 B.C.) means that in the political and 
 moral confusion caused by the Chaldean 
 invasion, "the just shall live by his faith- 
 fulness," by steadfastly trusting to Jehovah. 
 Paul takes the Septuagint word TrtVrts 
 which inadequately renders the Hebrew 
 word for " faithfulness " and gives it, as 
 in ver. 6 he gave the word " believe," the 
 specific meaning which he puts through- 
 out the whole of his argument into these , 
 words — faith in the finished work of 
 Christ as opposed to works of legal right- 
 eousness. It is faith that confers right- 
 eousness and life; faith, however, is not 
 the principle (or starting point, e/c) of 
 
240 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the 
 curse of the law, being made a curse for 
 us : for it is written, Cursed is every one 
 that hangeth on a tree : 
 
 14 That the blessing of Abraham might 
 come on the Gentiles through Jesus 
 
 Christ ; that we might receive the promise 
 of the Spirit through faith. 
 
 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner 
 of men; Though it be but a man's cov- 
 enant, yet if it be confirmed, no man dis- 
 annulleth, or addeth thereto. 
 
 the law; but, on the contrary, it is he 
 who has DONE the things prescribed, 
 that shall live in or by them — another 
 quotation (Lev. xviii. 5). What the law 
 demands, as a condition of life, is not 
 faith, but action; and this, as we have 
 seen, can never be perfectly fulfilled. So 
 there is no hope that way. Righteousness 
 in the sight of God can come only by 
 way of faith; and the law can do nothing 
 but involve us in the curse. 
 
 13. But CHRIST bought us out, as 
 a man ransoms a slave, from the curse 
 of the law, paying the price, which was 
 death, to the law itself — the contrast be- 
 tween the deadly power of the law and 
 the redemptive power of Christ is very 
 striking. This "buying out," was effected 
 by His becoming not simply accursed, but 
 more vividly a curse (as if He embodied 
 it ; cf. the very similar use of sin in 2 
 Cor. V. 21) for us. Though the words 
 mean literally " on our behalf " rather 
 than " in our stead," it is plain that a 
 vicarious idea is involved ; He took upon 
 Himself the curse which ought to have 
 fallen upon us for our failure to keep the 
 law. The proof that Christ on the cross 
 was accursed is again characteristically 
 sought in Scripture; and characteristically, 
 too (cf. vv. 6, 11) the application of the 
 quoted text is very different from its orig- 
 inal meaning. For Scripture says, 
 " Cursed is every one who hangs upon 
 a tree." Paul intentionally refrains from 
 applying to Christ the words of the orig- 
 inal, " cursed of God." In Deut. xxi. 23, 
 it is prescribed that the body of a male- 
 factor who, after execution, was hung, as 
 an additional disgrace, upon a tree, must 
 be taken down before night-fall for the 
 reason assigned. Here it is applied to 
 Christ who died by hanging on a tree. 
 
 14. Two reasons are assigned for the 
 redemptive death of Christ ; Urstly, that 
 not only upon the Jews, but upon the 
 Gentiles might come the blessing of 
 Abraham (ver. 8) through the redemp- 
 tion accomplished in Jesus Christ; and 
 secondly, that we Christians, Jews and 
 Gentiles alike, might receive the promise 
 of {i.e. consisting in) the spirit through 
 faith. Faith's response to the cross is 
 followed by the gift of the spirit (cf. ver. 
 
 2). The blessing comes through faith 
 alone, and it is for Gentiles as well as 
 Jews. These two points sum up the argu- 
 ment of the paragraph, which is effectively 
 closed by the word faith. 
 
 The Relation of the Laiv to the Promise 
 (iii. 15-29). 
 
 (a) The Law Neither Annuls Nor Supple- 
 ments the Promise (iii. 15-18). 
 
 The previous discussion had shown that 
 the " blessing of Abraham " was to be 
 conferred upon his true sons ; but these 
 were men of faith, not many whose right- 
 eousness was of the law. The question 
 might then well be asked by a Jew — it 
 is asked in ver. 19 — "What, then, is the 
 function of the law ? " At any rate, an- 
 swers Paul, its function is not to annul or 
 supplement the promise ; that stands. 
 
 15. The intensity of the feeling with 
 which Paul had begun his argument with 
 the " foolish " Galatians, has now some- 
 what diminished. He addresses them af- 
 fectionately as brethren, and proceeds to 
 illustrate the relation of the law to the 
 promise by a human analogy. I speak of 
 the divine promise, and of its inviolability 
 by any subsequent incident or institution 
 such as the law, after a human fashion. 
 Note the echo of the word ;;/(/;/ at the be- 
 ginning of the next sentence ; I speak in the 
 manner of a man; though it be a man's 
 dLa9r]K7j, In Hebrews ix. 15-17 this word 
 means " will " or " testament," and the 
 reference to the inheritance (ver. 18) 
 shows that something of that meaning 
 clings about the word here. As, however, 
 the " death of the testator " cannot be in 
 question here, the testator being, in the 
 analogy, God Himself, it is better to give 
 to diaOrjKr] the larger meaning of " legal 
 disposition." If a MAN'S agreement has 
 been properly ratified, notwithstanding 
 that it is a human agrocniont, no one 
 annuls or supplements it; and if a man's 
 agreement be inviolable, how much more 
 God's ! — an argument all the more cogent, 
 as diadr}Kri is the word used in the Septu- 
 gint for God's (gracious) covenant with 
 His people. Paul's opponents did not of 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 241 
 
 i6 Now to Abraham and his seed were 
 the promises made. He saith not, And to 
 seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to 
 thy seed, which is Christ. 
 
 17 And this I say, that the covenant 
 that was confirmed before of God in Christ, 
 the law, which was four hundred and 
 
 thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it 
 should make the promise of none efifect. 
 
 18 For if the inheritance be of the law, 
 it is no more of promise : but God gave it 
 to Abraham by promise. 
 
 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? 
 It was added because of transgressions, till 
 
 course suppose that the law annulled the 
 promise, but only that it supplemented it; 
 obedience to the law " completed " the 
 work of salvation (ver. 3). But a properly 
 ratified agreement — even of man, much 
 more of God — neither needs nor permits 
 such a supplement. 
 
 16. Before applying his human analogy 
 to the case in hand (ver. 17), Paul turns 
 aside for a moment to prove that the real 
 heir of the ancient promise is Christ, not 
 the Jews. He does this by emphasizing the 
 singular word " seed." Now to Abraham 
 the promises (plural, because made sev- 
 eral times, Gen. xii. 7, xv. 5, etc.) were 
 spoken " and to his SEED '* (cf. Gen. 
 xiii. 15. xvii. 8) ; the words are not; "and 
 to SEEDS," as of many, but as of one: 
 "and to thy SEED," which is Christ. 
 This argument fails to carry conviction to 
 a modern reader, and seems to savor of 
 Rabbinical methods of interpretation (cf. 
 I Cor. ix. 9). It is true that the word 
 " seed " can be used of an individual ; but 
 in the much more numerous cases in 
 which it is used collectively for descendants, 
 it is always the singular word (alike in 
 Greek and Hebrew), never the plural, that 
 is used in the Old Testament. Thus the 
 inference from the use of the singular in 
 the passage quoted, is irrelevant. The 
 sing, might refer to an individual, but not 
 necessarily, and, in point of fact, not pos- 
 sibly, in the passages quoted ; it is pos- 
 session of the land of Canaan that is prom- 
 ised, and that naturally to Abraham's de- 
 scendants. In other words, the original 
 passage has the very meaning which Paul 
 denies to it. The interesting thing is, how- 
 ever, that elsewhere Paul adopts the word 
 seed in its natural collective sense (ver. 
 29, Rom. iv. 16). It is possible that, in 
 this Rabbinical exegesis, Paul is simply 
 assailing his opponents with their own 
 weapons. The main argument, which is in 
 no way affected by this parenthetic verse, 
 is resumed in ver. 17. 
 
 17. This is what I mean: an agree- 
 ment which stands ratified (pf. ptc. to 
 express its permanence) in advance by 
 God (he means the promise to Abraham) 
 — not of _ course ratified independently of 
 the promise, but by the mere fact that 
 
 God has made it — the law which dates 
 four hundred and thirty years after it 
 can (lit. does) not invalidate, so as to 
 do away with the promise. If a human 
 agreement stands, how much more a di- 
 vine agreement; the divine promise or 
 covenant cannot be invalidated by the law 
 which it antedated by more than four 
 centuries. __ According to the Hebrew text 
 Exodus xii. 40, this period represents only 
 the time of Israel's sojourn in Egypt; but 
 in the Greek and Samaritan versions, it 
 includes their sojourn "in the land of 
 Canaan," and thus goes back to the time 
 of Abraham. Paul, as frequently, follows 
 the Greek. The argument is unaffected 
 by the chronology; the point is that the 
 divine purpose revealed in the promise 
 cannot Tdc invalidated by the legal system 
 which came long afterzvards. The phrase 
 eis XpLffTop (unto Christ) which ought 
 (with the best MSS.) to be omitted, is 
 correct as an interpretation ; the promise 
 to Abraham had Christ in view. 
 
 18. The Judaizing party were trying to 
 combine promise and law, to " add " the 
 law to the promise. But compromise is 
 impossible, the two things are naturally 
 exclusive. For if the inheritance — the 
 " blessing of Abraham " (ver. 14) spir- 
 itually interpreted — depends upon ob- 
 serving the law, it no longer depends 
 upon the promise, whereas no less an one 
 than God Himself (0 Qeos emphatic at 
 end) gave (it) to Abraham by way of 
 PROMISE as a free (x^pis) and perma- 
 nent (perf. tense) gift. It is a gift of His 
 grace, not a reward for the observance of 
 the law, a gift which can not be inval- 
 idated (perf.) and behind which is the un- 
 changeable God. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, the law may mean, 
 it cannot mean the abolition or the im- 
 perfection of the promise. That gracious 
 promise remains through all history un- 
 alterable, as it embodies the deepest pur- 
 pose of God. 
 
 (b) The Function of the Law (iii. 19-22). 
 
 ig. The natural impression made upon 
 the mind by the sharp contrast between 
 
242 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 the seed should come to whom the promise 
 was made ; and it was ordained by the 
 angels in the hand of a mediator. 
 
 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator 
 of one, but God is one. 
 
 21 Is the law then against the promises 
 
 the law and the promise was that Paul 
 practically rejected the law, as playing no 
 integral part in the divine economy of his- 
 tory, and this impression finds voice in the 
 question : What, then, is the function of 
 the law? Though a very different thing 
 from the promise, it has on Paul's scheme 
 a most important function ; it was added 
 
 — this expresses its adventitious character 
 
 — because of the {tCjv) transgressions 
 which it brought to light. The discussion 
 in Romans (cf. v. 20; vii. 7-13) shows 
 that this phrase is not intended to mean 
 that the law was given to punish sin, or 
 to restrain it, but to show it in its_ true 
 light, to show the real nature of sin as 
 transgression, i.e. as a breach of the law. 
 By making sin appear more terrible, it 
 made escape by some other means (by the 
 promise, cf. ver. 22) appear more impera- 
 tive. Such an estimate of the law, that 
 "it was added for transgressions" would 
 be doubly provoking to Paul's Jewish op- 
 ponents, to whom the law itself was, on 
 the one hand, a gift of God's grace; and, 
 on the other hand, it was eternal. Here 
 Paul regards it as brought in long after 
 the promise, and of vahdity only until the 
 seed that is, Christ (ver. 16) should 
 come to whom the promise has been 
 made — vahd till the coming of Christ, 
 and, now that He has come, invalid. 
 Another element in Paul's criticism of the 
 law is that it was ordained through an- 
 gels and in the hand of a mediator, viz. 
 Moses, who "stood bctzueen (ava fieeop) 
 the Lord and the people" (Deut. v. 5). 
 Following a hint in Deut. xxxiii. 2 ("ten 
 thousands of holy ones," where perhaps 
 the true reading is simply Meribath-Ka- 
 desh) later Jewish ■ theology, in its desire 
 to glorify the law, maintained that angels 
 had accompanied and assisted at its de- 
 livery. Traces of this idea are also to be 
 found in Acts vii. 53, and Heb. ii. 2; 
 the former passage clearly designed to 
 suggest the dignity and glory of the law ; 
 the latter, contrasting the word spoken 
 through angels with that greater word 
 spoken through the Lord. Paul's refer- 
 ence is more in the spirit of the latter 
 passage. The angels were at best inter- 
 mediaries ; the law ordained through them 
 was surely inferior to the promise given 
 directly and without mediation by God 
 Himself. Besides the angels the law 
 came in the hand of a human mediator; 
 
 there may be, but is not necessarily, a 
 reference to the tablets which Moses had 
 in his hands — the words may simply be an 
 imitation of a Semitic construction (cf. 
 Hag. i. i), and:= by a mediator. The posi- 
 tion of Moses, as mediator between God 
 and man, is one of the highest honor; but 
 the dispensation to which a mediator is nec- 
 essary, can not be so noble as that in 
 which God speaks, as to Abraham in the 
 patriarchal period, face to face. See the 
 fine contrast in 2 Cor. iii. 12-18 between 
 the indirectness of the ]^Iosaic dispensa- 
 tion and the directness of the Christian. 
 
 20. This brief verse, whose words and 
 construction are as simple as they can be, 
 has given rise to as much discussion as 
 any verse in the New Testament. Now a 
 (lit. the) mediator is not of one, but 
 (or and) God is one. The context makes 
 some points reasonably clear. The media- 
 tor e.g. must here be the same as in ver. 
 19, and the reference of the first clause of 
 ver. 20 will be to the law which was 
 mediated by Moses between God^ and 
 Israel, i.e. between two, for " there is no 
 mediator for one" — mediation implies 
 duality. The next point is this: the w^hole 
 context, and especially the beginning of 
 the next verse (21), exhibits the law as 
 contrasted with (and apparently — though, 
 as ver. 21 argues, not really — opposed to) 
 the promise. It seems altogether probable, 
 therefore, that this contrast is expressed 
 in the enigmatic verse we are considering. 
 But we have already seen that the first 
 clause refers to the law ; is it not reason- 
 able, then, to suppose that the second 
 clause — "but God is one" — refers to the 
 promise. In the context, this would not 
 require to be brought into connection, as 
 is often done, with the famous words of 
 Deut. vi. 4 which are at the root of 
 Hebrew religion, " The Lord our God is 
 one Lord " ; the clause would mean sirn- 
 ply; "God in the promise, i.e. in His 
 dealings with Abraham, in the patriarchal 
 as contrasted with the legal dispensation, 
 is one; that is, does not avail Himself of 
 a mediator, but speaks directly and face 
 to face." The verse would then pithily ex- 
 press the contrast elaborated in the con- 
 text between the law and the promise, the 
 mediatorial speech of Moses and the direct 
 speech of God, the contrast bet\veen the 
 veiled and the open face (2 Cor. iii). 
 
 21. Paul's discussion of the law seems 
 
Ch. Ill] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 243 
 
 of God? God forbid: for if there had 
 been a law given which could have given 
 life, verily righteousness should have been 
 by the law. 
 
 22 But the Scripture hath concluded 
 all under sin, that the promise by faith of 
 Jesus Christ might be given to them that 
 beheve. 
 
 23 But before faith came, we were kept 
 under the law, shut up unto the faith 
 which should afterwards be revealed. 
 
 24 Wherefore the law was our school- 
 master to bring us unto Christ, that we 
 might be justified by faith. 
 
 25 But after that faith is come, we are 
 no longer under a schoolmaster. 
 
 to amount to a virtual indictment of it. 
 Verse 19 shows that that was not his in- 
 tention; it served the valuable end of re- 
 vealing sin as transgression. Yet, as ver. 19 
 proceeded, the description almost involun- 
 tarily became relatively depreciatory : it 
 was a later addition, not part of God's 
 ultimate and original purpose, it was tem- 
 porary, not eternal, it was mediated by 
 angels and a man, not direct from God 
 Himself. One ■ might naturally ask 
 whether, after all, the contrast was not 
 absolute : is, then, the lav^^ OPPOSED to 
 the promises (of God)? But this sug- 
 gestion, natural and logical as it might 
 seem, is repudiated with vehemence ; a 
 thousand times No (lit. may it not hap- 
 pen cf. ii. 17). The functions of law and 
 promise were different, but not contra- 
 dictory. With the promise is associated 
 life, but not with iht law ; as we have 
 seen, it cannot be kept, therefore it brings 
 not hfe, but a curse (ver. 10). For if a 
 law had been given such as could create 
 in those who tried to keep it, moral, spiritual, 
 eternal life, then, as a matter of fact, 
 the law would really be the source of 
 (e/c; if ev, sphere of) that righteousness 
 which is the guarantee of life (ver. 11), 
 But, however his opponents might regard 
 the law as a source of life, there was no 
 life in it for Paul. The Scripture (per- 
 sonified, cf. ver. 8) — whether some par- 
 ticular scripture, such as Deut. xxvii. 26, 
 quoted in ver. 10, or less probably, the 
 Old Testament Scriptures in general (see 
 a collection of passages in Rom. iii. lo- 
 18) — shut up the whole of mankind, as 
 in a prison, under the dominion of sin, by 
 creating the consciousness of it as trans- 
 gression (ver. 19) ; and the divine intention 
 in reducing- men to this state of imprison- 
 ment without means of escape by way of the 
 law, was that, on the basis — not of obe- 
 dience to the law, which obedience, seeing 
 that we are under sin, is impossible, but — 
 of faith in Jesus Christ, THE PROMISE 
 might be given, not as a reward of works, 
 but as a free gift, to men of FAITH 
 {those who believe). This paragraph, like 
 vv. 7-14, strikingly ends with an emphasis 
 (here twice reoeated, iricTews, iriffTevovaiv) 
 
 upon faith. This it is which sets free 
 those who have been hving in the prison- 
 house of the law, and brings them out 
 into the realization of the promises. 
 
 (c)The Abolition of the Law and the Gift 
 
 of Sonship Through Faith in Jesus 
 
 Christ (iii. 23-29). 
 
 The law represented a long and dreary 
 period between Abraham, to whom the 
 promise was given, and Christ, in whom 
 it was fulfilled. Christ ushers men into 
 a new world, out of prison into the lib- 
 erty of sonship. He inaugurates a new 
 era, divides history in two — the period 
 "before faith (in Him) had come" (ver. 
 22,) and "after faith had come" (ver. 
 25). The coming of Christ and, with 
 Him, of the faith which was directed to 
 Him, made a difference that was no less 
 than revolutionary, not only to the indi- 
 vidual man and his relation to God, but 
 also to society; for in Him all national 
 and class distinctions vanish (ver. 28). 
 
 23. Now before the coming of this 
 faith in Jesus Christ (ver. 22) {the faith 
 just mentioned; not faith in general, for 
 Abraham, ver. 6, and many others, ver. 
 II, had that; still less the objective Chris- 
 tian faith), we Jews were all the time 
 (impf.) kept under the vigilant guard of 
 (the) law, which prevented our escape 
 (the word is the same as that used for 
 the guard which was kept over the city 
 of Damascus to prevent Paul's escape, 2 
 Cor. xi. 2,2) being continually (pres. ptc.) 
 shut up (same word as in ver. 22) under 
 the domination of sin. The law watched 
 them like prisoners, but, in the divine pur- 
 pose, ultimately with a view to the faith 
 in Jesus Christ which was one day to be 
 revealed. At, but not before. His coming, 
 deliverance became possible ; and to faith, 
 to those who believed on Him — actual. 
 
 24, 25. The figure by which the law is 
 described changes from prison to peda- 
 gogue, but the idea remains much the 
 same, consequently the law has become 
 (perf. : that is its permanent function) 
 our slave attendant (to bring us) to 
 
244 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. Ill 
 
 26 For ye are all the children of God 
 by faith in Christ Jesus. 
 
 27 For as many of you as have been 
 baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 
 
 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
 there is neith^ bond nor free, there is 
 
 neither male nor female : for ye are all one 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye 
 Abraham's seed, and heirs according to 
 the promise. 
 
 Christ. Schoolmaster (A. V.) is far from 
 conveying the idea of iroAdayojyos, and 
 tutor (A. R. V.) is little," if at all, better. 
 The " pedagogue " was, etymologically, the 
 slave who took the boy to school and 
 brought him home again ; and this has 
 given rise to the interpretation that, the 
 law is here regarded as bringing men to 
 the school of Christ. But Christ is not 
 here regarded as a teacher or school- 
 master; rather in Him men are sons of 
 God, mature and free. The explanation 
 of the figure is rather to be sought in 
 the fact that the pccdagogus who took 
 the boy to school, had a certain super- 
 vision of his conduct, of his external dis- 
 cipline, " accompanying him everywhere 
 with commands and prohibitions, and keep- 
 ing him in a condition of dependence and 
 restraint." In the context, the law is not 
 conceived as an inner preparation for the 
 gospel : it is a prison, and can at best only 
 create a longing for escape, as the boy 
 might long for his maturer years, when 
 he would escape from the yoke of his 
 psedagogus. In this sense the discipline 
 of the law points to Christ, as that of the 
 pedagogue points to later years of free- 
 dom. It is not by anything that the law 
 can do that men are justified, but only 
 by Christ and faith in Him. So, after 
 centuries of " pedagogical " discipline, 
 "God sent His Son" (iv. 4), that we 
 might be justified on the basis of 
 FAITH. And now that faith {the faith 
 in Christ, ver. 23) has come, we are no 
 longer like boys under their slave-at- 
 tendant, but we are free and full grown 
 sons. These two verses are really a piece 
 of autobiogranhy. Paul knew, as only a 
 man of passionate sincerity and fervent 
 desire for God and goodness could know, 
 the bondage of the legal system in which 
 he had been trained, and which he had 
 vainly tried to keep; and it is this sense 
 of bondap^e tliat gives such a sense of 
 glad exhilaration to his profession of 
 liberty ; " We are no longer under a 
 p.-edagogus." The restraint of the peda- 
 gogue, the despair of the prison, had been 
 banished forever by that faith in Jesus 
 Christ, which had made him a son of God, 
 and not only him, but all the Galatians 
 who believe in Christ Jesus; for this son- 
 
 ship is conferred upon faith, upon the 
 spiritual, and not the natural seed of 
 Abraham. 
 
 26, 27. For you Galatians, whether 
 Jews or Gentiles, are ALL — no longer 
 children, under the " pedagog>' " of the 
 law, but — SONS OF GOD, having be- 
 come so through faith in Christ Jesus. 
 It is very difficult to decide whether " in 
 Christ Jesus" goes with "faith" (A. V.), 
 or with " ye are sons of God " (A. R. V.) ; 
 the latter would mean " In fellowship, 
 union with {^v) Christ, who is the Son 
 of God (iv. 4), you are also sons of God, 
 through faith." Faith lifts all, without ex- 
 ception, into the wonderful liberty of 
 sonship: why then wnll the Galatians go 
 back again to the prison ? They are 
 sons; for in the baptism, which signalized 
 and sealed their admission into the Chris- 
 tian community, they were mysteriously 
 united to, or, more graphically, invested 
 ivith, Christ, the Son. They had put 
 Him on, as a garment ; so that the ap- 
 pearance they now wear before God is 
 the same as His — that of a son. For 
 all of you who were baptized unto 
 Christ — this was the oldest baptismal 
 formula, cf. Rom. vi. 3 ; or '' unto the 
 name of Christ" (Acts xix. 5); or "in 
 the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts ii. 38) 
 — put on Christ: note the emphatic repe- 
 tition of Christ. 
 
 28, 29. This sonship to God in Christ 
 creates an essential equality among all 
 who share it. Having put on Christ, dis- 
 tinctions of nationality, class, sex, disap- 
 pear ; or at least, are as if they were not. 
 They may form part of the inevitable 
 constitution of human society, but among 
 Christian men, these dififerenccs do not 
 count ; for despite them, all are one. 
 There is neither Jew nor Greek — this 
 distinction upon which Paul's opponents 
 insisted, in their attempts to impose the 
 observance of the Jewish law upon the 
 Gentiles, simply docs not exist ; mentioned 
 here first perhaps, as this was the matter 
 chiefly under dispute. These words are 
 written out of the apostle's very soul. 
 As a fanatical Pharisee, he had drawn 
 this very distinction between Jew and 
 Greek which he now sees to have no mean- 
 ing in Christ, and which he repudiates 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 245 
 
 CHAPTER 4. 
 
 I Now I say, That the heir, as long as 
 he is a child differeth nothing from a ser- 
 vant, though he be lord of all ; 
 
 2 But is under tutors and governors 
 until the time appointed of the father. 
 
 3 Even so we, when we were children,, 
 were in bondage under the elements of the 
 world : 
 
 with all his heart, and with this distinc- 
 tion goes every other which separates man 
 from man. There is neither slave nor 
 free man, there is no male and female. 
 
 Christianity did not attempt directly to 
 affect the status of slaves (cf. i Cor. vii. 
 21) and women, but it ideally abolished 
 the distinction between slave and free man, 
 man and woman, and it was only a ques- 
 tion of time till the idea would leaven 
 and transform society. For YOU who 
 have put on Christ are all, whether Jew 
 or Greek, bond_ or free, man or woman, 
 one person (ets, masc, not simply an 
 abstract unity) in Christ Jesus. Your 
 unity is in Him ; in Him all the artificial 
 distinctions between the individuals of 
 which the unity is composed are abohshed, 
 so that in Him they constitute one per- 
 son. And if ycu are Christ's, i.e. be- 
 long to Christ — but there is truth in the 
 remark of Lightfoot that " the argument 
 turns on the entire identity of the Chris- 
 tian brotherhood with Christ," and that 
 we should therefore perhaps translate, 
 "If you are members of Christ" — then 
 you are Abraham's seed, for Christ, as 
 we saw, is Abraham's seed (ver. 16) ; 
 and if Abraham's seed, then his heirs, not 
 indeed by law, but, infinitely better, by 
 promise. Whether Jews' or not, if they 
 were Christ's, they were full heirs to the 
 promises, and hence the "folly" (ver. i) 
 of attempting to crown and " complete " 
 (ver. 3) their salvation by taking upon 
 themselves the yoke of the law. They 
 are no longer under its " pedagogy," they 
 are heirs. 
 
 The Fulness of the Time (iv. 1-7). 
 
 The word heir just used (iii. 29) gives 
 a new turn to the figure. An heir has 
 not thQ full privileges of sonship, until he 
 has attained his majority, or more strictly, 
 until he has reached the time appointed 
 by his father ; till then he and his prop- 
 erty are under control, and, in this respect 
 at least, his position is no better than 
 that of a slave. And, as with the indi- 
 vidual, so with humanity at large. It too 
 has its minority, and its time appointed 
 by the Father for entering upon the in- 
 heritance. That hour struck when ** God 
 
 sent forth His son " ; before that was the 
 period of its infancy — for the Jew a 
 period of subjection to the law, for the 
 Gentile, of subjection to idolatry; for 
 both, in some sense, of bondage to the 
 elements of the world. Through the com- 
 ing of the Son, sonship for man becomes 
 a possibility; and those who, by faith in 
 and mystic union with the Son, themselves 
 become sons, enter forthwith upon their 
 spiritual inheritance. Thus, though the 
 figure is different, the general view of his- 
 tory which it yields is the same as was 
 yielded by the figure of the law as a ped- 
 agogue. 
 
 I, 2. Now what I would say is this, 
 that as long as an {the; cf. iii. 20) heir 
 is a minor (lit. in-fant), he differs in no 
 respect from a slave — at any rate in 
 respect of his being able to exercise legal 
 responsibility and to control his own prop- 
 erty — though he is, whether essentially 
 or prospectively, lord of all. The point 
 has been keenly discussed whether the 
 father is to be regarded as living or dead, 
 but it is of no importance to the argu- 
 ment, which is simply concerned with the 
 radical difference between the period of 
 legal infancy and the period which suc- 
 ceeds it. But he is under men who have 
 legal charge of his person and property, 
 until the day set by the father. Paul has 
 probably in view some local or provincial 
 usage, by which the date of entering upon 
 an inheritance depended not upon the 
 youth's attaining a particular age, but 
 upon the will of his father. 
 
 3. So we also, Jews and Gentiles alike, 
 have had a similar period of *' infancy " 
 and " bondage." "When we were minors, 
 we were under the elements of the 
 world enslaved. The general nature of 
 the bondage is tolerably clear from the 
 scope of the argument and from the com- 
 parison in iii. 24 of the law to a pseda- 
 gogus, but its particular nature depends 
 upon the meaning of the phrase the ele- 
 ments of the zvorld, and this is very hard 
 to determine. The word rendered " ele- 
 ments " can mean letters of the alphabet, 
 and came to be applied in the sense of 
 elementary principles, e.g. of a branch of 
 knowledge. But if this be the meaning 
 here ; it is difficult to assign a suitable 
 meaning to the word world. To render it 
 
246 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Cn. IV 
 
 4 But when the fnhiess of the time was 
 come, God sent forth his Son, made of a 
 woman, made under the law, 
 
 5 To redeem them that were under the 
 law, that we m.ight receive the adoption of 
 
 *' belonging to the unspiritual outer world," 
 and refer these " elementary lessons of 
 outward things " to the enactments of the 
 law (cf. ver. lo) does not seem very con- 
 vincing, though this view receives a cer- 
 tain corroboration through the association 
 of " the elements of the world " in Col. 
 ii. 8, 20-22 with the " tradition, command- 
 ments and teachings of men." The true 
 starting-point for the discussion is ver. 9. 
 It is natural to suppose that the " elements " 
 there are the same as those of this verse, 
 and there, in their context, they seem to 
 be equivalent to the gods which the Gala- 
 tians had worshipped, — mentioned in the 
 previous verse. In that case, elements 
 may be taken literally, as the great ele- 
 ments out of which the world is com- 
 posed — a meaning which the word often 
 has. Or more narrowly, perhaps those 
 elements were the heavenly bodies — a 
 very frequent object of worship in the 
 East ; and there may be a hint of this in 
 the observance of the seasons (referred to 
 in ver. 'lo) which was determined by 
 those bodies. Deut. iv. 19 represents the 
 curious belief that the God of Israel had 
 actually assigned the heavenly bodies to 
 the heathen nations to worship. The 
 great difficulty on this view is to see the 
 relevance of the passage to the Jews : for 
 when he says " we were enslaved," even 
 if the reference is not exclusively to the 
 Jews, as some suppose, they must at least 
 be included. Perhaps the most plausible 
 explanation of it, is that the observance 
 of sacred days and seasons, which was a 
 characteristic feature of Judaism (ver. 10) 
 was practically on the same level as star- 
 worship (ver. 9) ; or, in other words, was 
 " bondage to the elements of the world." 
 In any case, Paul's Judaizing opponents 
 must have winced to hear the legal dis- 
 pensation compared to slavery, and those 
 who lived under it, to slaves. The Jews 
 prided themselves on being sons. Paul's 
 argument is that there can be no full 
 sonship until the Son comes into the 
 world, or rather is sent by the Father. 
 ^ 4, 5. But when the fulness of the 
 time came, i.e. the day appointed by the 
 Father (ver. 2), God sent forth out of 
 the heavenly world in which lie had been 
 living — for the pre-existence of Christ is 
 here implied (cf. 2 Cor. viii. 9) — His 
 Son. It is tempting to read modern ideas 
 of religious evolution, or at least of 
 
 Judaism as a direct preparation for Chris- 
 tianity, into the great phrase the fulness 
 of the time; but that is hardly Paul's 
 meaning. For the Jews, the time' preced- 
 ing the advent of Christ was filled up by 
 the law, whose function, as we have seen, 
 was to impart to sin the character of 
 transgression (iii. 19). The day appointed 
 by the Father for the sending of His 
 Son was the day when the law had fully 
 done its work (cf. Rom. v. 20) and the 
 need of salvation was sorest. As a Greek 
 father says, " When human nature, hav- 
 ing run through every kind of wickedness, 
 was in need of healing"; and Chrysostom, 
 " When men were most ready to perish, 
 then they were saved." Thus history, 
 though not from this point of view an 
 evolution, was yet inspired by a divine 
 purpose. That saving purpose for men 
 had to be wrought out through One who 
 shared the common lot of humanity, in 
 being born, like all men (Job xiv. i) 
 of a woman — there is no reference here 
 to the virgin birth; it is Christ's likeness 
 to other men that is suggested by the 
 phrase — and born, like all Jews, under 
 (the) law. Though it is convenient to 
 translate the word yeu6/j.€uov by born, it 
 really rather means " having become," and 
 points very graphically (note the repeti- 
 tion) to the transition from His heavenly 
 to His earthly existence. He came into 
 the experience of human frailty and 
 (Jewish) subordination to ordinances; 
 and the divine reason (tVa) that prompted 
 His coming, or rather that prompted God 
 in sending Him, was to secure the re- 
 demption of those who were subject to 
 this frailty and subordination — to buy 
 out from the dominion of the law those 
 who were under it. and to confer sonship 
 upon those who had l)ccn but as slaves 
 before; that he might buy out, as He 
 did by His death on the cross, in virtue 
 of which He became a curse (cf. iii. 13), 
 those (primarily. Jews) who were under 
 the law, that (subordinate to the last 
 clause, not co-ordinate ; the " buying out 
 from the curse " necessarily precedes the 
 gift of sonship) we, Jews and Gentiles 
 alike, might receive the adoption, i.e. 
 be accepted as His sons. He is tlic Son, 
 we are adopted, but by adoption we too 
 become real sons (vv. 6. 7). The two 
 clauses beginning with that ('"a) corre- 
 spond to the two phrases beginning with 
 
Ch. IY] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 247 
 
 6 And because ye are sons, God hath 
 sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your 
 hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 
 
 7 Wherefore thou art no more a ser- 
 vant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir 
 of God through Christ. 
 
 8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not 
 
 God, ye did service unto them which by 
 nature are no gods. 
 
 9 But now^ after that ye have known 
 God, or rather are known of God, how 
 turn ye again to the weak and beggarly 
 elements, whereunto ye desire again to be 
 in bondage? 
 
 born (yevofjievov) — in inverted order. By 
 Himself becoming a son of man, He makes 
 it possible for men to become sons of 
 God; by Himself being" under the law, 
 He is able to buy out those who are 
 under it. 
 
 6. That this sonship is no theory, but 
 a fact, is proved by the presence in their 
 hearts of the spirit, which impels them 
 to cry Father! (cf. Rom. viii. 15 f.). This 
 is the spirit of sonship, nay it is the spirit 
 of the Son Himself. The despatch of the 
 Son into history has for its counterpart 
 the despatch of the spirit of that Son into 
 the individual heart; the very same words 
 are used to describe both — God sent 
 forth. The spirit of the Son cannot come 
 into the hearts of men, until the Son 
 Himself has come. And because you Ga- 
 latians (in ver. 5, we: he is becoming more 
 personal) are sons — their ejaculatory cry 
 of Father is at once the effect and the 
 proof of their sonship — God sent forth 
 the spirit of His son into our (not only 
 your: Paul knows well this ecstatic ex- 
 perience) hearts, which cries Abba, 
 Father. It is the spirit that cries through 
 them; in Rom. viii. 15, "we cry." The 
 word cry recalls the ecstatic spiritual ex- 
 periences alluded to in i Cor. xiv. Ahba 
 w^as Jesus' own word (Mark xiv, 2>p)_ \ it 
 had been familiar to Aramaic Christians, 
 and had passed from them to Greek-speak- 
 ing Christians. The sons who used this 
 word would feel themselves peculiarly one 
 with the Son who had taught them to use 
 it. It would be natural for them to add 
 to it their own native Greek word, just 
 as we might say, " Abba, Father." This 
 blending of Greek and Aramaic, in a con- 
 text which has been arguing for the aboli- 
 tion of the distinction between Jew and 
 Greek (iii. 28), is suggestive, though of 
 course this is not the reason for the juxta- 
 position of the words. 
 
 7. Paul cannot too often impress upon 
 his " foolish " Galatians that they are sons. 
 They were once — before their Redeemer 
 came — no better than slaves, but now 
 they are sons. Consequently i.e. since 
 God has sent His son and the spirit of 
 His son, you, O man (he now directly 
 addresses the individual man, cf. ver. 6) 
 
 are no longer a slave, though in your 
 observance of the Jewish calendar (ver. 
 10) you are behaving like one, but you 
 are a son; and if a son, then also an 
 heir, not through birth or fidelity to the 
 law, as fanatical Jews may fanc}', but 
 through God, who in His mercy, through 
 Christ, adopted you. The faulty reading 
 on which A. V. rests " heirs of God 
 through Christ," may rest upon Rom. viii. 
 17- 
 
 The Crime of Relapse (iv. 8-11). 
 
 The whole argument has been dominated 
 by the contrast between then and now — 
 the then of slavery, the now of sonship 
 and freedom. There could be nothing 
 more foolish (iii. i, 3), nothing more 
 tragic, than to go deliberately back from 
 liberty to bondage. Yet that is just what 
 the Galatians are doing in their anxious 
 regard for the festivals of the Jewish 
 calendar. They might call it a way of 
 perfection, a completion of the work be- 
 gun (iii. 3) ; but to Paul it is not the 
 completion, but the negation of it. They 
 must either be slaves or sons, they can- 
 not be both. If they are sons, then they 
 must be dead (ii. 19) to those 'Sveak and 
 poverty-stricken elements " of rite and 
 ceremony. 
 
 8, 9. The contrast between the past 
 and the present is forcibly brought out 
 by /wej' . . . 5e'. But, sons and heirs as j-ou 
 are, how does it come that you have re- 
 lapsed? Then indeed in your ignorance 
 of God you were enslaved to gods which 
 by their nature are no (gods). They 
 were not indeed gods; but from i Cor. 
 viii. 4 f., x. 19, 20 it may be inferred that 
 they may be considered as having some 
 kind of real existence. Here they appear 
 to be identical with the elements (ver. 
 9; see on ver. 3) such service was pa- 
 thetic, but it was excusable, because ren- 
 dered in ignorance of the true God. But 
 now they know better ; they have come to 
 know God in Christ; or more strictly — 
 and this correction reveals the deeps of 
 Paul's religious nature — it is not so 
 much that they know God as that He has 
 
248 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 10 Ye observe days, and months, and 
 times, and years. 
 
 11 I am afraid of you, lest I have be- 
 stowed upon you labour in vain. 
 
 12 Brethren, I beseech you, be as I 
 •am; for I am as ye are: ye have not in- 
 jured me at all. 
 
 13 Ye know how through infirmity of 
 the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at 
 the first. 
 
 14 And my temptation which was in 
 my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but 
 received me as an angel of God, even as 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 taken knowledge of them, they are known 
 •of Him (cf. I Cor. viii. 3) ; their religious 
 standing is a gift (cf. iii. 18), not an 
 achievement The whole of the epistle to the 
 Galatians might be said to be compressed 
 into this little corrective phrase — or 
 rather known by Him. How is it that, 
 having come to knovv- God, or rather 
 to be known by God, you are turning 
 — the process is going on (cf. i. 6), not 
 yet complete — back again to the impo- 
 tent and poverty-stricken elements (cf. 
 ver. 3) to which you are again desirous 
 of enslaving yourselves afresh? Those 
 ^' elements " were impotent to effect salva- 
 tion, no divine riches were attached to 
 them, such as were, through God, in Christ 
 (i Cor. i. 5). How is such a relapse pos- 
 sible? How foolish must the Galatians 
 have been! (iii. i). 
 
 10, II. The description of the relapse 
 is very suggestive. You are anxiously 
 observing (with the same earnestness as. 
 that with which the enemies of Jesus ob- 
 served Him, Luke xiv. i ; same word) 
 special sacred days, such as the Sabbath, 
 and months, the festival of the new moon, 
 and other festival seasons generally, and 
 years, new year's days, or annual festi- 
 vals, such as passover, Pentecost. Here 
 then is a specimen of the thing which Paul 
 fears (ver. 11) ; the passage shows that 
 the Jewish agitation had succeeded at 
 least in introducing the festivals. The 
 significant thing is that Paul puts this 
 feature of Judaism practically on a level 
 with heathenism ; it is slavery to the " ele- 
 ments of the world" (ver. 9) practically 
 a worship of false gods (ver. 8). This 
 was the element in Judaism which ap- 
 proached most closely to the heathen wor- 
 ship which they had nominally abandoned, 
 and with this the thin end of the Judaizing 
 wedge would be driven in ; circumcision, 
 etc. would follow (v. 2). How daring 
 must the man have been, and how complete 
 his emancipation, who could thus speak of 
 the system in which he had been trained, 
 and regard its sacred observances as prac- 
 tical paganism. No wonder that he is 
 afraid, as he looks at the relapse, at the 
 skill and vigor with which it is promoted 
 and encouraged by the Judaizers, at the 
 
 cognate elements in the heathen religion to 
 which they can make their subtle appeal, 
 and at the ease with which the " foolish " 
 Galatians "so quickly change" (i. 6). I 
 am afraid for you, lest perhaps all my 
 labor upon you has been in vain. 
 
 An Affectionate Appeal (iv. 12-20). 
 
 At this point the argument takes the 
 form of a very human appeal. Paul's ar- 
 guments are never purely abstract, they 
 glow with the intensity of his own re- 
 Hgious nature; and his argument in this 
 epistle is radiant with the fervor of his 
 emancipation from the law, and of his 
 sense of redemption and sonship through 
 Christ. But here he interrupts it with a 
 peculiarly warm and personal message. 
 In Paul the pastor and the missionary 
 are never lost in the theologian, and here 
 he seeks to appeal to the better heart of 
 the Galatians by recalling tender mem- 
 ories of the afifcction and even reverence 
 they had shown him on the occasion of his 
 first visit. Those dear relationships had 
 been disturbed by the Judaizers, who had 
 presented their case with such assiduity 
 and plausibility that the Galatians had al- 
 most come to look upon Paul as their 
 enemy ; and his spiritual travail for them 
 has to be begun again. If only he were 
 with them face to face, to speak out the 
 affectionate anxiety of his heart ! 
 
 12. Become like me, free from the 
 yoke of Jewish observance — in the con- 
 text that seems to be the only possible 
 meaning — for I, a Jew, in ridding myself 
 of that yoke (became) like you, who are 
 Gentiles ; and the affectionate earnestness 
 of the appeal is clenched b}^ the words, 
 brethren, I beseech you. 
 
 13, 14. The circumstances of Paul's 
 first visit, which he proceeds to recall with 
 some detail, were such that the Galatians 
 might easily have been led to do him less 
 than justice: but you did me no injus- 
 tice — far from that. Ihcy gave liim a 
 royal welcome. You know that it was 
 on account of an illness (lit. weakness 
 of the flesh) whicli detained me in Ga- 
 latia, that I preached to you the first 
 
Oh. IV] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 249 
 
 15 Where is then the blessedness ye 
 spake of? for I bear you record, that if it 
 had been possible, ye would have plucked 
 
 out your own eyes, and have given them to 
 me. 
 
 16 Am I therefore become your enemy 
 because I tell you the truth? 
 
 time — i.e. on the occasion of my first 
 visit. Not " I preached through (in the 
 sense of in) infirmity," cf. i Cor. ii. 3, 
 but "on account of," 5ta with accus. ; but 
 for the divine accident of his illness, he 
 would have made no lengthened stay in 
 Galatia at all. But though a missionary 
 tour through Galatia was no part of his 
 plan, and though he was handicapped by 
 an infirmity which took an offensive form, 
 i.e. though there was much to repel, and 
 little to attract the Galatians to Paul, they 
 behaved nobly both towards the man and 
 his message. And that in my flesh 
 which tempted you (your temptation; 
 not, with a few MSS. my) to reject me 
 with disgust, you did not despise or 
 treat with loathing. On the contrary 
 you welcomed me like an angel of God 
 who brings good tidings ; nay you wel- 
 comed me with reverence, like Christ 
 Jesus Himself, who is higher than the 
 angels (Heb. i. 4). We are left to con- 
 jecture what was the infirmity of the 
 flesh which might not unreasonably have 
 created loathing on the part of those who 
 witnessed it; but it seems natural to 
 identify it with the thorn of 2 Cor. xii. 
 7 (which see). Some have inferred from 
 ver. 15 that it was an affection of the 
 eyes; but that would hardly fit the strong 
 language of this verse. Whatever it was, 
 it normally and naturally excited disgust ; 
 this is very powerfully suggested by the 
 word i^eiTTvaaTe, whether we interpret it 
 figuratively or literally ("you did not 
 spit out''). In favor of the literal and 
 intransitive meaning is the fact that every- 
 where else in Greek, this particular com- 
 pound of TTTVb} (spit) is used literally: 
 this of course might be only accidental, 
 as other compounds can be used figura- 
 tively. In favor of the figurative mean- 
 ing _ is Paul's known habit of re- 
 peating the preposition in adjacent com- 
 pound words; cf. ii. 4, irapeic — , ii. 13^ 
 aw—. If the literal meaning be adopted, 
 the implication is that the sickness, what- 
 ever it was, was believed to be contagious, 
 and spitting was superstitiously supposed 
 to be a safe-guard. In either case, it is 
 imphed that the appearance of the sufferer 
 was pitiable, if not offensive. This would 
 suit the theory of epileptic seizure, though 
 this theory is also not without grave diffi- 
 culties (cf. 2 Cor. xii. 7). The more hu- 
 
 miliating the infirmity, whatever it was 
 the more wonderful must Paul appear, 
 who, despite this very grave disability, yet 
 won for himself and the gospel a people 
 on whose attention and gratitude he had 
 no peculiar claims. The Galatian recep- 
 tion of Paul speaks much for his power 
 and for their open-heartedness. 
 
 15. But those days are gone. Where 
 now is your exuberant joy in me and 
 my message? Lit. "Where is your felici- 
 tation, congratulation " (i.e. of your- 
 selves) ? Then they counted themselves 
 happy to have him among them. For, in 
 proof of this, I bear you witness that 
 — ^ so_ great was your love for me — if 
 possible, you had (= would have: em- 
 phatic) torn out your eyes and given 
 them to me. If possible; for though 
 it was possible to tear them out, it was 
 not possible to give them to Paul. This 
 passage has led some to suspect that 
 Paul's infirmity of the flesh was eye- 
 disease. Lipsius, who supposes it to have 
 been an affection of the nerves accom- 
 panied by attacks of spasms, yet quotes 
 Krenkel as remarking that this disease is 
 associated with an uncanny rolling and 
 sparkhng of the eyes. In corroboration of 
 the view that Paul's sight was bad have 
 been urged the largeness of his written 
 characters (vi. 11) and his inability to 
 recognize the high priest at his trial (Acts 
 xxiii. 1-5). But it may be doubted 
 whether any inference with regard to 
 Paul's sight may legitimately be drawn 
 from the passage before us. He does not 
 say, " you would have given your own 
 eyes," (for v/j-wp is not emphatic), but 
 simply " your eyes." It seems therefore 
 more natural to interpret the phrase in its 
 common proverbial sense, as an expres- 
 sion for the extreme limit of self-sacri- 
 ficing devotion. 
 
 16. So then, to judge by the change in 
 your feelings towards me, I have become 
 your enemy, have I? simply because I 
 told you the truth, in preaching a gospel 
 which absolutely abolished all obligation 
 to keep the Jewish law ; the truth is the 
 truth of the gospel (ii. 5, 14). The "tell- 
 ing of the truth," which made Paul ap- 
 pear as their enemy, has reference neither 
 to this letter, which they had not yet 
 read, nor to the first visit, when they 
 
250 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 17 They zealously affect you, but not 
 well ; yea, they would exclude you, that ye 
 might affect them. 
 
 18 But it is good to be zealously af- 
 fected always in a good thing, and not 
 only when I am present with you. 
 
 19 My little children, of whom I tra- 
 vail in birth again until Christ be formed 
 in you, 
 
 20 I desire to be present with you now, 
 and to change my voice ; for I stand in 
 doubt of you. 
 
 had received him with enthusiasm; neces- 
 sarily therefore to the second visit. 
 
 17-19. The apostle is concerned only 
 with the truth, the Judaizers care only 
 for partisan conquests. They (the Ju- 
 daizers) are courting you, but not in 
 a noble way, for it is not the truth that 
 they care for, it is not your true advantage 
 that they seek. On the contrary, they 
 desire to shut you out — a very com- 
 prehensive and suggestive phrase. It is 
 not said from what or from whom the 
 Judaizers are desirous of excluding the 
 deluded Galatians ; from Christ (not in- 
 deed deliberately, but that is, in a sense, 
 the effect of their actions) ; from the truth; 
 from all teaching like Paul's that is op- 
 posed to their own ; from the large lib- 
 erty of the gospel ; from the Christian 
 Church. The very vagueness of the phrase 
 is suggestive. Their policy is one of 
 shutting out, exclusive, unlike the gener- 
 ous inclusive policy of Paul ; and their 
 object is simply that you may court 
 them, run after, honor them. Their offi- 
 cious interest in the Galatians is inspired 
 by the hope that the Galatians may attach 
 themselves to them, as the advocates and 
 representatives of the " completer " salva- 
 vation (iii. 3). Zealous interest is not, 
 of course, in itself objectionable; Paul 
 claims to have it also, and it is good for 
 the Galatians to be the objects of it, since, 
 in this case, unhke the other, it is exer- 
 cised in a noble sphere, i.e. in the sphere 
 of their real interests — liberty, salvation. 
 But it is good i.e. profitable, to be courted 
 (pass, not middle) in a noble cause at 
 ALL times — zealous friends may be a 
 blessing, if their cause is a good one; 
 Paul would not grudge the Galatians such 
 friends in his absence, but it is clear that 
 it is himself he is thinking of as their 
 true friend, even when he is absent. There 
 he " courts " them, pursues them with 
 prayers and written entreaties, and not 
 only when I am with you, my little 
 children, with whom I am in travail for 
 the second time, until Christ be formed 
 in you. The diminutive (reKvia), "little 
 children," common in John, is not found 
 elsewhere in Paul, but as it admirably ex- 
 presses Paul's " maternal " solicitude for 
 
 his spiritual children, it seems unnecessary 
 to substitute for it the commoner reKpa 
 (children). Through the "folly" of the 
 (jalatians, it is as if the children whom 
 Paul had already brought to the birth 
 had to be born over again. Christ has 
 to " assume form " in them ; as yet that 
 form is undeveloped and hardly recogniza- 
 ble. 
 
 20. Paul feels how unable he is to 
 say with the pen to these immature 
 " children " all that is in his heart. I 
 could wish I were with you at this mo- 
 ment, and changing my voice from the 
 severe and stern tones I was compelled to 
 adopt on my second visit (ver. 16) to the 
 accents of affectionate (ver. 19) expos- 
 tulation; for I am perplexed about you. 
 This paragraph ends, like the last, with 
 an expression of anxious fear (ver. 11) 
 which serves to remind us that it is no 
 abstract theological problem Paul is dis- 
 cussing. It is the men rather than the 
 problems that He heavy upon his heart; 
 he writes his letter in the interests of 
 the spiritual emancipation of misguided 
 men. 
 
 Slaz'es and Freemen: an Allegory 
 (iv. 21-31). 
 
 After the warm, personal appeal, the 
 thread of the argument is resumed ; or 
 rather the argument is restated in the 
 form of an allegory. Paul is pleading for 
 freedom ; his opponents are emphasizing 
 descent from Abraham. Paul takes them 
 on their own ground, goes back to the story 
 of Abraham, and points out that Abraham 
 had two sons — Ishmael, the natural child, 
 " according to the flesh," and Isaac, 
 the supernatural child '* of the promise." 
 By allegorical interpretation, he connects 
 the former, the son of the slave-woman, 
 with Sinai and the slavery of the law — 
 that is the type of sonship to which the 
 Judaizers correspond. Christians, on the 
 other hand, who understand the emancipa- 
 tion which Christ secured for them (v. i) 
 are, like Isaac, children of promise (iv. 
 28) and children of freedom (ver. 31). 
 
Ch. IV] 
 
 aALATIANS. 
 
 251 
 
 21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under 
 the law, do ye not hear the law? 
 
 22 For it is written, that Abraham had 
 two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other 
 by a free woman. 
 
 23 But he ivho was of the bondwoman 
 was born after the flesh ; but he of the 
 free woman was by promise. 
 
 24 Which things are an allegory: for 
 there are the two covenants ; the one from 
 the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bond- 
 age, which is Agar, 
 
 25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in 
 Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which 
 now is, and is in bondage with her child- 
 
 21-23. Tell me — he resumes with 
 great directness, vigor and abruptness — 
 those of you who, under the influence of 
 the Judaizers, desire to be subject to 
 the law, will you not listen to the laz^'f 
 or do you not understand (for o-kovvo in 
 this sense, cf. i Cor. xiv. 2) the law? 
 — here, in the sense of the whole Pen- 
 tateuch, as what follows is taken from 
 the narrative, not from the legal part. 
 Paul demolishes their arguments by means 
 of the very law to which they had made 
 their appeal. For Scripture says that 
 Abraham had TWO sons. It was not 
 enough then to insist upon descent from 
 Abraham. The real question was, 
 " Which of the sons did the Galatians re- 
 semble?" for one, Ishmael, was by the 
 slave handmaid, and one, Isaac, by the 
 free woman. They might be Abraham's 
 sons and practically slaves for all that. 
 Those two sons represented two types of 
 sonship, the fleshly and the spiritual, the 
 natural and the supernatural, the law and 
 the promise. Howbeit, sons of Abraham as 
 they both were, the one by the hand- 
 maid, is born (and the difference between 
 him and his brother is an abiding one ; 
 perf. tense) according to the flesh, that 
 is, his birth was merely a natural event; 
 but the other by the free woman is 
 born through promise. Isaac's parents 
 were aged ; his birth, which humanly 
 speaking seemed impossible (Gen. xvii. 
 17), was the divine fulfilment of a divine 
 promise. Hence he is a child of promise 
 (ver. 28). 
 
 24. At once follows the bold allegorical 
 application of the story, which is offered 
 without apology, as, to Paul and his con- 
 temporaries, such an interpretation of the 
 Old Testament was as legitimate as it was 
 familiar. Now these things have an al- 
 legorical sense. Besides the original his- 
 toric sense, which was not denied, the 
 narrative was also regarded as saying 
 something else {aXKriyopelv) ^ as pointing to 
 something deeper, more spiritual (cf. i 
 Cor. X. 11). Then the bold leap is taken; 
 for these women represent two cove- 
 nants. Of course no proof is or can be 
 offered of this statement, it is simply an 
 
 allegorical interpretation, whose genius is 
 to " say something else," something sim- 
 ilar to, but profounder and more spiritual 
 than, the original statement. But though 
 all allegorical interpretation is arbitrary, 
 and as Luther says, in this connection, 
 " too weak for proof," it is manipulated 
 here with great power. The slave and the 
 free man could not but suggest to Paul 
 the great contrast, of which the epistle is 
 full, between the law's slave and Christ's 
 free man ; and this led by an easy transi- 
 tion to the contrast between iNIount Sinai 
 and the heavenly Jerusalem. The contrast 
 between the two covenants is graphically 
 suggested by i^^v . . . 8e (ver. 24, 26) ; 
 one with its origin on Mount Sinai, 
 bearing children for slavery, i.e. sub- 
 jecting its adherents to the bondage of 
 the law; and this covenant is Hagar. 
 The Sinai covenant, associated as it is 
 with the law, is the mother of slaves; 
 it is this that is adumbrated and tA'pified 
 by Hagar, herself a slave and the mother 
 of a slave. 
 
 25. The first clause of ver. 25 is clearly 
 intended to clench this point, but un- 
 fortunately both the reading and the pre- 
 cise meaning are doubtful. Westcott and 
 Hort, and A. R. V. read: ['Now (5e) 
 this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia;" 
 Alford, and A. V. read: "For (yap) this 
 Hagar, etc." Some MSS. omit yap 
 (Hagar) reading simply. " For Sinai is 
 a mountain in Arabia " or '' mount Sinai 
 is in Arabia " ; and it is tempting to sup- 
 pose with Kendall " that "Ayap was prob- 
 ably an error in transcription for the orig- 
 inal yap," or even that yap drew "Ayap 
 into the text. The presence of the word 
 Hagar however seems necessary to the 
 argument ; and the best reading is that 
 adopted by A. R. V. (and W. H.) —now 
 the (name) Hagar means Mount Sinai, 
 in Arabia: in other words, Hagar is the 
 Arabic name of Sinai — a fact which Paul 
 might have learned during his residence 
 in Arabia (i. 17), and a welcome corrobo- 
 ration of the allegorical explanation, in 
 the previous verse, of Hagar as the Sinai 
 covenant. The Hagarenes had their home 
 in Arabia, and in Ps. Ixxxiii. 6, are men- 
 
252 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. IV 
 
 26 But Jerusalem which is above is 
 free, which is the mother of us all. 
 
 27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou bar- 
 ren that bearest not ; break forth and cry, 
 thou that travailest not: for the desolate 
 hath many more children than she which 
 hath a husband. 
 
 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are 
 the children of promise. 
 
 29 But as then he that was born after 
 the flesh persecuted him that ixjas born 
 after the Spirit, even so it is now. 
 
 tioned with the Ishmaelites as members of 
 a confederacy whose object was the_ de- 
 struction of Israel — a fact which inci- 
 dentally illustrates the " persecution " to 
 which Paul refers in ver. 29, of the son 
 of the promise by the son of the flesh. 
 The word hajar which in Arabic means 
 " stone, rock," may well have been used 
 to designate mount Sinai, though there 
 is no other confirmation of this. And 
 this Hagar which has just been identified 
 with Mount Sinai, corresponds to (lit. is 
 in the same row or column with) the 
 Jerusalem that now is, that is, the earthly 
 Jerusalem, considered as the headquarters 
 of Judaism. The point of correspondence 
 between Hagar and Jerusalem is, as the 
 next clause shows, in the slavery of their 
 respective children; for she, that is, Jeru- 
 salem, is in SLAVERY with her chil- 
 dren, in slavery to legal observances (ver. 
 10). 
 
 26. But the heavenly Jerusalem 
 above, as contrasted with that which is 
 here and now, is FREE from the yoke 
 of the law, and indeed from every other 
 yoke, and she is OUR mother. Accord- 
 ing to contemporary Jewish ideas, the 
 ideal Jerusalem already existed in the 
 heavens and would one day descend _ out 
 of heaven from God (cf. Rev. xxi. 2, 
 Heb. xii. 22,). To Paul this city is al- 
 ready represented, at least in part, by the 
 existing Christian church. Already those 
 whose faith is in Christ are free, sons of 
 their mother Jerusalem the free. Instead 
 of beginning this verse with " and the 
 other is Sarah " (cf. ver. 24) and strictly 
 working out the contrast between Hagar 
 and Sarah, the one bearing children for 
 slavery, and corresponding to the earthly 
 Jerusalem, and the other bearing children 
 for freedom, and corresponding to the 
 heavenly Jerusalem, Paul simply takes up 
 the contrast between the two Jerusalems. 
 
 27. The thought of the new Jerusalem 
 kindles his imagination. He recalls one 
 of the great passages by which the exiles 
 were inspired in Babylon with the as- 
 surance that their desolated city would be 
 populous again, and he sees in this a 
 prophecy of the glorious future of the 
 Christian church. For Scripture says: 
 
 " Rejoice, thou barren that dost not 
 bear " — the idea of Sarah may have been 
 in the mind of Paul, as he cited these 
 words ; possibly also in the mind of the 
 original prophet himself (cf. Isaiah li. 2) 
 — break forth into crying and shout, thou 
 who dost not travail with children ; for 
 many are the children of the desolate, 
 more than those of her who has a hus- 
 band (Isaiah liv. i). This is the destiny 
 in store for mother Jerusalem, our 
 mother. Small and persecuted (ver. 29) 
 now, she will one day be populous and 
 triumphant. 
 
 28. This glorious vision the apostle 
 wishes to write upon the imagination and 
 the heart of his foolish Galatians, and to 
 bring home to them the sense of their 
 citizenship in this heavenly city. Now 
 you (this is more striking and effective 
 than we, and is probably correct, though 
 not quite so well attested) brethren — 
 with Paul affection is never lost in argu- 
 ment — are, like Isaac, children of prom- 
 ise: as believers in Christ, you. Gentiles 
 no less than Jews, owe your birth to the 
 gracious promise of God, and now there- 
 fore you are children of the new Jeru- 
 salem, which is free. 
 
 29. But history repeats itself. There 
 was persecution then in those old days to 
 which tlie allegory goes back, and there is 
 persecution still. The thing is inevitable; 
 for the two types, represented by Ishmael 
 and Isaac, are diametrically opposed, mu- 
 tually exclusive (cf. v. 17) ; they cannot 
 inherit together (ver. 30). Just as in 
 those days IshmacI, the (child) born 
 after the flesh (cf. ver. 23) persecuted 
 Isaac, the (child born) after the spirit, 
 so also (is it) to-day — the Jews perse- 
 cute the Christians. Paul knew well what 
 this persecution meant. He had been him- 
 self pursued by the Jews with bitter and 
 fanatical opposition, as the book of Acts 
 everywhere attests (cf. xiv. 2, 19, xxiii. 12 
 etc.) ; and there may also be here a tacit 
 reference to the disturbance and confusion 
 caused in Galatia by the Judai;^ers (i. 7; v. 
 10, 12). Nothing is said in Genesis of a 
 persecution of Isaac by IshmacI : at most it 
 was a case of "mocking." (Gen. xxi. 9) 
 though the margin of A. R. V. is no doubt 
 
€h. IV] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 253 
 
 30 Nevertheless what saith the Scrip- 
 ture ? Cast out the bondwoman and her 
 son : for the son of the bondwoman shall 
 
 not be heir with the son of the free wo- 
 man. 
 
 31 So then, brethren, we are not child- 
 ren of the bondwoman, but of the free. 
 
 more correct with its " playing." It is 
 very probable that Paul is referring here 
 to some later Jewish stories of Ishmael's 
 insolence, according to one of which he 
 had attempted to shoot Isaac. 
 
 30. But what does the Scripture say? 
 asks Paul triumphantly; for what the 
 Scripture says will be decisive. " Cast 
 out the handmaid, it says, and her son; 
 for the son of the handmaid shall in no 
 wise (ou /XT?) inherit with the son of the 
 free woman." Sarah's real words, " shall 
 not inherit with my son, even with 
 Isaac" (Gen. xxi. 10) are skilfully adapted 
 "by Paul, so as to fall into line with his 
 argument; he is insisting on the incompati- 
 bility of slavery and freedom, of the spirit 
 of the law and the spirit of the gospel. 
 It is difficult to know whether to admire 
 m.ore the insight or the courage which 
 prompted such a citation. Isaac and 
 Ishmael cannot inherit together, they are 
 radically conflicting types. It is Paul's 
 great merit that he saw this with absolute 
 clearness, and drew all the consequences 
 unflinchingly. Considering that the son of 
 the bondwoman stands in the allegory for 
 the Jews, it is easy to see how daring was 
 the citation, " Cast out the handmaid and 
 her son," and to understand how the Jews 
 waged upon Paul an incessant and implaca- 
 ble war. "Away with" (Acts xxii. 22) 
 the man who maintained that, despite their 
 sonship to Abraham, and their obedience 
 to the law, they would be driven out of the 
 divine inheritance. 
 
 31. Wherefore, brethren — this is the 
 inference to be drawn from the allegory — 
 we are children not, like Ishmael, of a 
 slave handmaid, in which case we should 
 ourselves be slaves, but, like Isaac, of the 
 woman that is FREE; spiritual children 
 of the heavenly Jerusalem, and therefore 
 free from the bondage of Sinai, and of the 
 Jerusalem that now is, the home of legalism. 
 
 Throughout the whole discussion, Paul's 
 references to the Old Testament are 
 marked by great insight, adroitness, and 
 daring. His task is to show the incom- 
 parable supremacy of faith, and he finds 
 adumbrations of this in some of the most 
 unlikely parts of the Old Testament. His 
 opponents made much of Abraham; Paul 
 
 accepts the appeal to Abraham, and shows 
 that it really makes for his case rather 
 than for theirs. The great fact in Abra- 
 ham's career is not that he was circumcised, 
 but that he believed, he had faith (iii. 6), 
 and it was this that was reckoned unto 
 him for righteousness. This proof of 
 righteousness by faith may not convince 
 us, with our different mental furniture and 
 historical outlook, but it must have stag- 
 gered his opponents ; and it is in reality 
 an extraordinarily skilful application of the 
 Old Testament text (Gen. xv. 6). Then 
 again, Paul demolishes the argument built 
 upon the importance of descent from Abra- 
 ham by appealing to the very simple fact 
 that Abraham had tiz'o sons (iv. 22) ; the 
 real question is whether it is Isaac or 
 Ishmael we resemble ; and, if Ishmael, then 
 we shall be " cast out,'' — another very bold 
 but felicitous application of another text 
 (Gen. xxi. 10), "Cast out the bondwoman 
 and ^ her son," Paul had the insight to 
 see in the ancient opposition between Isaac 
 and Ishmael a prophecy or sj-mbol of the 
 free and the legal types of Christianity, 
 and to discover the fate of legalism in the 
 fate of Ishmael — to be cast out of the in- 
 heritance; and he had the courage to pro- 
 claim this to the amazement and indigna- 
 tion of the Judaizers; the Scripture saith 
 that the bondmaiden and her son must be 
 cast out. 
 
 Considering the reverence with which 
 Paul regarded the Old Testament, and the 
 frequency with which he appeals to it to 
 prove a point or clench an argument, his 
 attitude to the law in this epistle is very 
 daring and original. The law is declared 
 to be only temporary, in the divine in- 
 tention ; it has no binding effect on Chris- 
 tians. _ Doubtless in this epistle, Paul is 
 thinking mainly of its ceremonial obliga- 
 tions, while in the epistle to the Romans, 
 where it is called " holy, and the com- 
 mandment holy and just and good" (vii. 
 12) it is mainly its moral elements that 
 he has in view. In reality, however, he 
 does not draw any technical distinction be- 
 tween the moral and the ceremonial. He 
 simply says, "the law was added" (Gal. iii. 
 19). It was therefore not eternal; the eter- 
 nal thing is the divine grace, represented by 
 the promise which historically preceded the 
 law. It is curious to find the thought of 
 
254 
 
 GALATIANS, 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 CHAPTER 5. 
 
 I Stand fast therefore in the liberty 
 wherewith Christ hath made us free, and 
 be not entangled again with the yoke of 
 bondage. 
 
 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if 
 ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you 
 nothing. 
 
 3 For I testify again to every man that 
 is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the 
 whole law. 
 
 Paul here anticipating the modern view of 
 the Old Testament, according to which, 
 generally speaking, the legal portions are 
 second, both in point of time and import- 
 ance, to the prophetic. The real heart of 
 the Old Testament is now felt to be in 
 the prophetic books and those written in 
 the prophetic spirit, just as Paul felt its 
 real heart to be in the promise, not the 
 law. 
 
 Faith is the mighty power that trans- 
 forms the world. The law can do nothing 
 but curse a man (iii. 10) and reduce him, 
 if he be honest with himself, to despair. 
 Observance of ordinances can do nothing 
 whatever towards making him a new crea- 
 ture ; observance of the Jewish festivals is 
 practical paganism (iv. 8-10). The thing 
 that "counts" with God is faith — such 
 faith as Abraham had, which was counted 
 for righteousness (iii. 6), such faith as 
 Habakkuk declared would be rewarded with 
 Hfe (iii, 11). This faith runs like a line of 
 light all through the Old Testament; but 
 it shines full-orbed when Christ comes. 
 Very striking are Paul's phrases in iii. 23 
 and 25, " before faith came," and " when 
 faith had come." Christ divides history 
 in two — the time before He came, the legal 
 dispensation, when in spite of men of faith 
 like Abraham, generally speaking Law was 
 lord ; and the time after He came, bringing 
 to those who believe in Him sonship and 
 freedom. Paul understood both eras as 
 few men have ever done. It is out of the 
 fulness of his own experience that he 
 writes; "before faith came we were kept 
 in ward under law ; but after faith came 
 we are no longer under a pedagogue." 
 He knew the constraint, the bondage, the 
 despair, the death wrapped up in the dis- 
 pensation of legalism ; he had tasted and 
 seen how bitter it was. All the more was 
 he able to appreciate the exhilaration, the 
 emancipation, the redemption, the sonship 
 which were his in and through Christ. 
 He had been a citizen of both Jerusalems — 
 of that which now is, which is in bondage 
 with her children ; and no less of tlic 
 heavenly Jerusalem whose sons are free 
 (iv. 25-27). 
 
 Exhortation to Abide in the Liberty of the 
 Gospel (v. 1-6). 
 
 The point which has been so abundantly 
 established by argument, that the acceptance 
 of the gospel is incompatible with subserv- 
 ience to the law, is now, in a few pow- 
 erful sentences, borne directly home upon 
 the consciences of the Galatians. 
 
 1. The connection is very close between 
 this verse and the last : '* We are children 
 of the free." It was for FREEDOM 
 (perhaps ctt' iXevdepia^ with a view to 
 freedom; cf. ver. 13; so Hort) that Christ 
 freed US (vi^^s, emphatic) from the curse 
 of the law (iii. 13) ; that is, that we should 
 be really and completely free; and not in- 
 volved in another yoke of bondage, such 
 as the Judaizers are trying to impose upon 
 the Galatians. Stand firm then against 
 the temptation to part with that freedom, 
 and do not let yourselves be entangled 
 a second time in a yoke of slavery. 
 Their heathenism had been a slavery (iv. 
 8) ; their adoption of Judaistic observances 
 (iv. 10) will be a second and a similar 
 slavery. Here, as in iv. 9, Paul puts 
 paganism and Judaism, in this respect, upon 
 the same level. Christians must not be 
 slaves of institutions, though they may be 
 of Christ (Phil. i. i) and of one another 
 (Gal. V. 13). 
 
 2, 3. To the very important statement 
 which Paul is about to make, he challenges 
 special attention. See! and he makes it with 
 the full weight of his personal and apos- 
 tolic authority; I Paul tell you. For a 
 similar introduction to a similarly author- 
 itative section (cf. 2 Cor. x. i). What he 
 now says — that if you submit to cir- 
 cumcision, Christ will be of no benefit 
 to you — puts the conclusion of his long 
 argument so plainly and unmistakably that 
 the most " unintelligent " of the Galatians 
 cannot miss his moaning. He does not 
 say, " if you are circumcised," but if you 
 receive circumcision." Circumcision, which 
 was in itself nothing (ver. 6, vi. 15), 
 meant a good deal in the atmosphere 
 created by the Judaizers ; it meant a rec- 
 ognition of the law as part, at least, of 
 the way of salvation, and therefore was, 
 under the circumstances, an implicit de- 
 nial of the "completeness" (iii. 3) of the 
 
Oh. V] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 255 
 
 4 Christ is become of no effect unto 
 you, whosoever of you are justified by the 
 law; ye are fallen from grace. 
 
 5 For we through the Spirit wait for 
 the hope of righteousness by faith. 
 
 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circum- 
 cision availeth any thing, nor uncircum- 
 cision; but faith which worketh by love. 
 
 salvation wrought by Christ. Paul faces 
 them with the alternative, " Circumcision 
 or Christ." If Christ avails for salvation, 
 circumcision profits nothing; if circum- 
 cision avails for salvation, Christ profits 
 nothing. And whatever the Judaizers 
 man say, this is what he — Paul — says: 
 and it is at their peril that they refuse 
 to listen to one who is " an apostle, not 
 from men, nor through man, but through 
 Jesus Christ" Himself (i. i). Yes, I 
 solemnly protest again, as I have just 
 protested in ver. 2, to EVERY man that 
 submits to circumcision (not " to every 
 man that is circumcised") that he is 
 bound to do the WHOLE law. To 
 recognize the law at all was to recognize it 
 altogetJier ; and the man who did not do 
 all that it prescribed was cursed (iii. lo). 
 .The Galatians did not realize the scope of 
 the obligation they were taking upon them- 
 selves, if they submitted to the Judaistic 
 proposals of circumcision. 
 
 4, 5. There are two ways of justifica- 
 tion — by the law, and by Christ, but they 
 are mutually exclusive. Your connection 
 with Christ is annulled at once (aor.) 
 you who are seeking your justification 
 in the law; by such an attempt you are 
 at once fallen away from the grace of 
 justification which is mediated by Christ 
 alone. The reason for this pathetic fate 
 is found in the next verse ; for it is not 
 by law, but by faith that men are justified. 
 But the verse takes a wider sweep ; it 
 contemplates the destiny as well as the 
 origin of this "justified" life, and we who 
 are already living this life — Paul and 
 those like-minded with him — are strik- 
 ingly contrasted with those who are seek- 
 ing justification in the law. It is out of 
 a full personal experience, and out of the 
 knowledge that this experience is shared 
 by others, that Paul writes : WE by the 
 spirit, on the ground of faith, intently 
 await the hope of eternal life and future 
 glory (Rom. viii. 18-25), which our pres- 
 ent possession of righteousness (through 
 faith in Christ), warrants us in cherishing. 
 Every word in this great sentence is em- 
 phatic, and the whole verse is in pointed 
 contrast to the verse that precedes. The 
 impulse and atmosphere of the new life 
 are associated with the spirit, not with the 
 iiesh (cf. iii. 3). The spirit is the divine 
 
 spirit, working upon the human spirit; 
 here, as so often, it is impossible to decide 
 in favor of one rather than of the other. 
 Those who are justified by faith in Christ 
 move under spiritual impulses, and in a 
 spiritual region, which has nothing to do 
 with carnal ordinances like circumcision. 
 Again their justification, their expectation, 
 their whole life springs from faith in 
 Christ, not from " the works of the law." 
 Their attitude is one both of enjoyment 
 and expectancy. The eyes of the legalists 
 are upon Moses and the past, those of the 
 Christian upon the future, when their 
 glorious hope will be consummated (cf. 
 Phil. iii. 20 f.). This hope is described 
 as the hope of righteousness ; but, con- 
 sidering the whole teaching of the epistle, 
 this can hardly mean the hope that they 
 will attain to righteousness, for this they 
 already possess through faith in Christ 
 (ii. 16). Rather it means the hope of 
 future glory which their present possession 
 and experience of righteousness inspire 
 them to cherish. 
 
 6. This attitude of patient and hopeful ex- 
 pectancy springs from /azY/z, not from works, 
 such as circumcision; for that avails noth- 
 ing in this connection. In fellowship with 
 Christ (Jesus), neither circumcision nor 
 uncircumcision is of any avail for salva- 
 tion. To those who are in Christ, i.e. 
 to Christians, circumcision is irrelevant, 
 of no need or value for purposes of salva- 
 tion; it is nothing (vi. 15). The Judaists 
 were pleading for something that had no 
 place and no power in the Christian 
 scheme of things. Equally necessary, 
 however, is the reminder that uncircum- 
 cision avails nothing: it also was irrele- 
 vant. Paul's argument is double-edged : a 
 Gentile was no nearer to Christ for his 
 uncircumcision than a Jew for his circum- 
 cision. Neither commended men to God ; 
 but it is faith evermore operating through 
 love that avails, hepyovixevr] is middle, 
 not passive, as in A. R. V. margin 
 (wrought). Faith is the source (e/c) of 
 the Christian life : from that all its ac- 
 tivity springs. For there must be activity, 
 as well as expectation (ver. 5) ; and the 
 instrument {did) of this activity is love. 
 Bengel remarks with his customary terse- 
 ness and insight: "With faith he joined 
 hope in ver. 5, now he joins love ; in 
 
256 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 7 Ye did run well ; who did hinder you 
 that ye should not obey the truth ? 
 
 8 This persuasion coinctli not of him 
 that calleth you. 
 
 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump. 
 
 10 I have confidence in you through 
 the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise 
 minded : but he that troubleth you shall 
 bear his judgment, whosoever he be. 
 
 these consists the whole of Christianity. 
 The interlacing of the great Christian 
 virtues in these two comprehensive verses 
 is very suggestive. Findlay sums it up 
 well in the words: " Love gives faith 
 hands and feet; hope lends it wings. 
 (Galatians, p. 3i3-) The life that starts 
 in faith expresses itself m love and main- 
 tains itself in hope until the perfect day. 
 
 We see here, what we shall see still more 
 plainly in the concluding section of the 
 epistle, the intensely practical nature of the 
 aims of Paul. His aim is not to con- 
 struct a theology, but to affect and trans- 
 form hfe. The apprehension of Chris- 
 tianity has to express itself in the loymg 
 service of men (cf. ver. 13 f-)- It is a 
 great thing to see that to the spiritual 
 hfe such things as circumcision are irrele- 
 vant; but many who learn this lesson act 
 as if they imagined that there was pe- 
 culiar merit in uncircumcision. They 
 break away from tradition, _ and pride 
 themselves in their emancipation from it 
 as much as others do in their adherence to 
 it — forgetting that unless their intellectual 
 transformation inspires them to find a 
 nobler outlet and a higher expression for 
 their energies, it availeth nothing. A 
 merely negative attitude is of no value. 
 Men who think liberally, for example, on 
 Biblical and religious problems, are 
 tempted to look down scornfully on others 
 of more conservative instincts; and to 
 them the reminder is not inapplicable that, 
 if circumcision has no value, neither, of 
 itself, has uncircumcision. There is such 
 a thing as a spurious Hberalism — the hb- 
 eralism which has freed itself from some- 
 thing, but for nothing in particular. The 
 thing that has value is the thing that tells 
 on hfe, that touches it lovingly, helpfully, 
 hopefully. Its worth is measured by its 
 influence upon experience. A mere nega- 
 tion is unfruitful, and it may be destruc- 
 tive. The thing that counts is not merely 
 emancipation from a tradition or system 
 that is now outworn, but the possession 
 of a new life. It is faith working by love. 
 The faith that emancipates us from legal- 
 ism, is hardly worth having, unless it also 
 sets our eyes hopefully toward the coming 
 
 day, and impels us to loving work in the 
 service of one another (ver. 13). 
 
 A Friendly and a Stern Word (v. 7-12). 
 
 Paul now turns with words of gentle 
 expostulation to his Galatians who had 
 begun the Christian race so well, and who 
 might have run on unhampered had it not 
 been for the impediments thrown in their 
 way by the Judaizers. He still hopes well 
 of them, and expresses his confidence in 
 their future amendment ; but the others, as 
 disturbers and subverters of the church, are 
 dismissed by him with a word of indignant 
 scorn. 
 
 7-9. You were running the Christian 
 race (for the metaphor cf. i Cor. ix. 26) 
 nobly. Who hindered you (blocked your 
 path) from following the truth of the 
 gospel? (cf. ii. 5, 14). The persuasion 
 (Treia-fiovTi recalls the preceding veieecrdai) 
 to which you are yielding, certainly (does) 
 not (come) from God who called you 
 (lit. "your caller") in the grace of Christ 
 (i. 6) but from a very different source; 
 the " other " gospel of the Judaizers, to 
 which the Galatians are lending an ear, is 
 anything but divine. But its influence bids 
 fair to spread like a little leaven, which 
 leavens the whole lump (cf. i Cor. v. 
 6) ; a little of the infection of Judaistic 
 doctrine will in time corrupt their whole 
 faith and life. 
 
 ID. The danger is very real; but Paul, 
 whose mood grows more tender as the 
 epistle advances, is not without good hopes 
 of the Galatians. Whatever success the 
 Judaizers may expect from their propa- 
 ganda, I for my part (h<^) have confi- 
 dence in you in the Lord — all of a 
 Christian's acts and aspirations are in the 
 Lord — that you will not change your 
 minds, in the direction of the Judaistic 
 misconception of the gospel. The Judaizers 
 had tempted the Galatians to be minded 
 otherzvise than as Paul had taught them, 
 but he is confident that, after they get 
 his letter with its re-statement of the gos- 
 pel, they will resist the temptation. In a 
 very different mood, however, he addresses 
 the' tempters, and foretells for them a di- 
 |vine judgment. But he who confuses 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 257 
 
 II And I, brethren, if I yet preach cir- 
 cumcision, wh}' do I yet suffer persecu- 
 tion? then is the offence of the cross 
 ceased. 
 
 12 I would they were even cut oft" 
 which trouble vou. 
 
 (same word as i. 7) you shall be com- 
 pelled to bear, hke a heavy burden, the 
 divine judgment, no matter who he be. 
 Some suppose that the use of the singular 
 here points to some ringleader, and the 
 last clause in particular, indicating per- 
 haps some one in high authorit}-, has been 
 supposed to point to Peter or James. 
 But it seems more probable that the singu- 
 lar is to be taken quite generall}^, and is = 
 the plural in ver. 12 ; if so, it has simply 
 the force of individuahzing the offenders. 
 II. But as for me, brethren, if I am 
 still, as before my conversion, preaching 
 circumcision, why am I still being per- 
 secuted? Had Paul really been accused 
 of preaching circumcision? In view of 
 the whole tenor of this epistle, some 
 scholars think this absolutely impossible. 
 But there had just been enough in the 
 conduct of Paul to give colorable pretext 
 to the calumny. The principle of accom- 
 modation he frankly acknowledges, where 
 no moral interest is at stake; and in virtue 
 of this he had become a Jew to the Jews 
 that he might win the Jews (i Cor. ix. 
 20). In harmony with this we find him 
 shaving his head because he had a vow 
 (Acts xviii. 18) and purifying himself be- 
 fore entering the temple (Acts xxi. 26). 
 But the most fatal count in the indictment 
 was that he had actually had Timothy cir- 
 cumcised (Acts xvi. 3), and this would 
 completely offset his refusal to have Titus 
 circumcised (Gal. ii. 3). The cases were 
 different, Timothy being by birth half a 
 Jew, and the circumcision being probably 
 designed to facilitate his work among the 
 Jews, Still Paul's opponents could point 
 with maHcious triumph to this case, as one 
 in which_ Paul had been on the side of 
 circumcision. Yes, he might reph-, " I 
 tolerated it, I permitted it on the principle 
 
 of accommodation — for it is in reality 
 nothing (Gal. vi. 15) — but no one can 
 say that I ever preached it. It formed 
 no part of my gospel. In proof of that, 
 I have only to point to my persecutions 
 (from Jews, of course; cf. 2 Cor. xi. 26). 
 These I should never have had to suffer, 
 had I preached circumcision." The per- 
 secution is the best answer to the calumny. 
 Then again, if he is preaching circum^ 
 cision, the stumbling-block to Jewish 
 pride (i Cor. i. 23), the scandal (aKavdaXov) 
 of the cross has been abolished, and why 
 is he being persecuted? It is precisely 
 because he has held the hateful cross be- 
 fore their eyes (iii. i) that he has had to 
 suffer ; and this again is an effective dis- 
 proof of the calumnj'- that he preaches cir- 
 cumcision. 
 
 12. As Paul thinks of those " dis- 
 turbers,'' who misrepresent the gospel, 
 calumniate and persecute himself, and con- 
 fuse his too susceptible Galatian brethren, 
 he breaks out, in his holy indignation, into 
 bitter scornful words. Would that those 
 who are subverting you would go the 
 length of (/cai) making eunuchs of them- 
 selves! Some who have thought this 
 stern word coarse and unworthy of the 
 apostle, attempt to evade this meaning by 
 translating diroKo-^ovrat " would that they 
 might be cut off or cut themselves off " 
 (from the fellowship of the church) ; but 
 grammar and usage are altogether in favor 
 of the other translation. Adeney puts the 
 meaning well : " If salvation is to be had 
 by the knife, the more eft'ectual the use of 
 that instrument the better." The iron}^ of 
 the wish is all the more scathing, as this 
 very self-mutilation vras practised, in honor 
 of Cybele, in one of the chief cities of 
 the province to which the epistle was ad- 
 dressed. 
 
258 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 THE MORAL OBLIGATIONS OF THE NEW LIFE (v. 12-vi. 10). 
 
 13 For, brethren, ye have been called 
 unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an oc- 
 casion to the flesh, but by love serve one 
 another. 
 
 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one 
 word, ez'en in this; Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself. 
 
 In spite of the for, which connects ver. 
 13 intimately with ver. 12, it is quite ob- 
 vious that at this point a new section of 
 the epistle begins, which may not inappro- 
 priately be called the practical section. 
 We have seen again and again how very 
 far from theoretical the previous discussion 
 has been. The apostle has written at 
 white heat; he has sought to bring home 
 to the Galatians, by every device of earnest 
 and impassioned argument, that the ac- 
 ceptance or rejection of his teaching is 
 nothing less than a matter of life and 
 death. If they reject it, their connection 
 with Christ is annulled, they are severed 
 from Christ (v. 4) ; if they accept it, the 
 spirit will quicken and sustain them with 
 a glorious hope. Relatively speaking, the 
 previous section might fairly be called 
 theological. In it Paul who, in the first 
 two chapters, proved his right to speak as 
 an independent apostle of Jesus Christ, has 
 shown the essential nature and condition 
 of life in Christ, as resting upon justifica- 
 tion by faith alone; and his presentation 
 owed much of its clearness and cogency 
 to its continual contrast between this way 
 of justification and the other by the works 
 of the law, which only leads to despair and 
 death. Now, however, that the origin and 
 nature of the new life have been deter- 
 mined, it is fitting that the epistle should 
 close with a description of the moral con- 
 tents of that life. For Christianity is not 
 opinion, it is a life that expresses itself 
 in service (ver. 13). It is not only faith, 
 but faith working (ver. 6), and the con- 
 cluding verses show how it works, or 
 ought to work. 
 
 The Lazv of Love (v. 13-15). 
 
 13. The epistle is one magnificent plea 
 for liberty (cf. ver, i) ; that is the mean- 
 ing and object of the Christian call. For 
 YOU (vfiecs), whatever the Judai/.crs may 
 think of the gospel, were called for 
 FREEDOM, brethren (the for justifies 
 the emphatic scorn with which Paul had 
 just spoken of the " subverters," who are 
 imperilling and would destroy this very 
 
 freedom with a view to which they had 
 been called) . But of all gifts, freedom is per- 
 haps the easiest to misinterpret and abuse. 
 There is always the danger of its being 
 mistaken for licence ; and a special danger 
 in this case, considering that Paul has 
 throughout represented it as emancipation 
 from law, the Mosaic law. There are 
 some to whom this doctrine, misunder- 
 stood, would only be too welcome ; and 
 it remains for Paul to safeguard it, and 
 to show that, so far from leading to moral 
 laxity or licence, it affords the supreme 
 and only real guarantee for the purest and 
 loftiest morality. Only do not (use) this 
 freedom as a starting point (a basis of 
 operations) for the indulgence of the 
 flesh, but through the exercise and offices 
 of love be the slaves of one another. 
 The serve (A. V.) and servants (A. R. V.) 
 of the English versions fail to bring out 
 the fine paradox of Paul. He has been 
 pleading for freedom, and protesting 
 against slavery (iv. 3, 8, 9) — men in 
 Christ are no longer slaves, but sons (iv. 
 7) ; and after winning for us our freedom, 
 he reduces us to slavery again — this 
 time, however, not to an external law, 
 but to one another. The slavery inspired 
 by love and working through love, is the 
 truest expression of freedom. It is a very 
 daring and suggestive paradox. It is un- 
 fortunate that there does not exist in 
 English a word which adequately repro- 
 duces the flavor of SovXos. " Servant " is 
 distinctly too mild, " bondservant " is un- 
 familiar, " slave " is perhaps rather too 
 strong ; but the point of the argument is 
 best brought out by the last word. 
 
 14. For the entire law is for ever 
 (pcrf.) fulfilled in one word, namely 
 this: "Thou shalt LOVE thy neighbor 
 as thyself" — the neighbor being perhaps 
 primarily the fellow-Christian, "those of 
 the household of faith" (vi. lob), but in 
 the light of Jesus' parable (cf. Luke x. 
 29 ff.), and of Paul's teaching elsewhere 
 (cf. vi. loa) we are justified in giving it 
 also a wider reference. In spite of Paul's 
 polemic, it turns out that he has the pro- 
 foundest respect for the law, only he 
 looks rather to what it moans than to 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 259 
 
 15 But if ye bite and devour one an- 
 other, take heed that ye be not consumed 
 one of another. 
 
 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, 
 and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 
 
 I7_ For the flesh lusteth against the 
 Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and 
 these are contrary the one to the other ; so 
 that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 
 
 what it says — not to its individual or- 
 dinances, but to its inmost spirit, as ex- 
 pressed in its most inspired moments (Lev. 
 xix. 18). There seems to be a reminis- 
 cence here of the teaching of Jesus (Mat. 
 xxii. 36-40) who taught that love was 
 the secret and center of " the law and the 
 prophets " — practically = the whole Old 
 Testament. By the legalist the whole law 
 ought to be kept (ver. 3), yet it cannot 
 be kept (cf. iii. 10) ; but by Christ's free 
 man it can be kept, for essentially he 
 keeps it in serving his brethren in love. 
 The compulsion is inner, not outer. Thus 
 freedom from the law, which it was so 
 easy to caricature as licence, turns out to 
 be a fulfilment of the law — in love. 
 There is 'such a thing as "the law of 
 Christ" (vi. 2). 
 
 15. But this noble ideal of loving, 
 mutual service was very far from being 
 attained in Galatia ; indeed the controversy 
 introduced by the Judaists had rendered 
 it practically impossible, and was bidding 
 fair to ruin their bond of Christian brother- 
 hood. But if, instead of serving one an- 
 other, you angrily bite and snap at one 
 another, like wild beasts, and deliberately 
 devour one another, take care that you 
 be not destroyed by one another. The 
 passions engendered by party spirit will 
 lead to destruction. The repetition of 
 one another in vv. 13, 15 is suggestive; 
 those who ought to serve one another, will 
 bite, devour, destroy one another. 
 
 The Battle of the Flesh and Spirit 
 (v. 16-26). 
 
 The free man is free — not to obey the 
 flesh (ver. 13), but to obey the law of 
 love, the law of Christ, the impulse of 
 the spirit. This paragraph illustrates what 
 is meant by the life of the flesh, the life 
 of the spirit, and the conflict between 
 them. 
 
 16.^ What I mean (especially by the 
 warning not to use Christian liberty as an 
 occasion for the flesh, ver. 13) is this : 
 Walk by the SPIRIT, under its guiding 
 and directing influence, and in obedience to 
 its impulses ; and the result will be that 
 your walk through life will be a truly 
 
 spiritual, not a carnal one; assuredly {ov 
 m) you shall not accomplish the desire 
 of the flesh. This was one of the ulti- 
 mate objects of the multiplied ordinances 
 of the Jewish law — to hold in check the 
 desire of the flesh, but the power to ac- 
 complish it was lacking. What the law 
 strove unsuccessfully to do, can be done 
 by those who walk in the spirit. It is in- 
 teresting to_ see how profoundly ethical is 
 the conception of the spirit that governs 
 this whole passage. In i Cor. xii.-xiv., it 
 was conceived rather as a power producing 
 miraculous and ecstatic effects; here it is 
 the source and inspiration of the moral 
 life. 
 
 I7._ The power of the flesh is terrible, 
 and it can only be overcome by the supe- 
 rior power of the divine spirit. The Flesh 
 and the Spirit are here conceived as 
 mighty forces that contend for the mas- 
 tery within the soul of the man. For there 
 is a conflict of desires, the flesh against 
 the spirit, and the spirit against the 
 flesh — for these forces are in deadly op- 
 position to one another, and the ultimate 
 object of this opposition is to prevent 
 your doing the things you v^ould (cf. 
 Rom. vii.). It must not be forgotten that 
 although these verses 16-18 are expressed 
 in general terms, and have a universal ap- 
 plication, they are directly addressed, in 
 the first instance, to the Galatians X2nd 
 pers. plu.). They are, at this time espe- 
 cially, in a state of unstable equilibrium, so 
 to speak, drawn this way by the spirit, in 
 which they had begun, and that way by 
 the flesh, with which they are being taught 
 to crown their endeavors (iii. 3). Each 
 influence prevents the other from coming 
 to full fruition. And so more generally, 
 the desire to indulge the " flesh " by doing 
 evil is held in check by the restraining 
 influence of the " spirit," and the desire to- 
 wards good by the degrading influence of 
 the flesh. As '»'« means /;/ order that (and 
 not ''so that the result is that you do not 
 do the things you would"), we must see 
 in this clause the divine intention of the 
 opposition between flesh and spirit — that 
 the wish of neither be carried out. That 
 the flesh should be restrained by the spirit 
 is intelligible as a divine purpose ; the 
 objection that the converse would imply an 
 
260 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. V 
 
 i8 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are 
 not under the law. 
 
 19 Now the works of the flesh are 
 manifest, which are these. Adultery, forni- 
 cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
 
 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, vari- 
 ance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, 
 heresies, 
 
 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, 
 revellings, and such like : of the which I 
 tell you before, as I have also told you in 
 
 time past, that they which do such things 
 shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 
 
 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, 
 joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, good- 
 ness, faith, 
 
 23 Aleekness, temperance : against such 
 there is no law. 
 
 24 And they that are Christ's have 
 crucified the flesh with the afl'ections and 
 lusts. 
 
 immoral conception of God is answered by 
 srch passages as iii. 22, Rom. xi. 32. (So 
 Lipsius.) 
 
 1 3. But if it is by the spirit that you 
 are being led,' you are not under the 
 law. When the spirit, which works from 
 within, is the driving (aycxi) impulse of 
 the life, we are living under another regime 
 altogether than that of the law, with its 
 external compulsion ; we are free. It is 
 interesting to watch how naturally Paul 
 writes law, where, according to the argu- 
 ment, we should have expected flesh. 
 Both law and flesh move in the sphere 
 of externals, and each, in its own way, 
 is opposed to " spirit." 
 
 19-21. In vv. 19-23 are two contrasted 
 catalogues of the products of the fleshly 
 and the spiritual life, which answer, once 
 for all, the objection that Paul's plea for 
 the " liberty " of the " spirit," and his 
 polemic against the law, might lead to 
 moral licence. Now the works of the 
 flesh, which of course the man who walks 
 by the spirit will not accomplish (ver. 16) 
 are obvious — obvious at all times and es- 
 pecially so perhaps in that Grseco-Roman 
 world. They are these — fifteen in all 
 (divided into four groups) if, with R. V. 
 we omit murders {(t>ovoL) which may have 
 crept in through its resemblance to 4>06voi 
 (envyings). (a) Significantly enough, sins 
 of impurity come first. In the Gnxco- 
 Roman world, even more perhaps than in 
 ours, they had won this baleful pre-emi- 
 nence. The word flesh has a wide latitude, 
 including all that is opposed to spirit : the 
 works of the flesh are, as this list shows, 
 not confined to sinful bodily acts. But 
 it is in sins of impurity that the flesh ex- 
 presses itself most obviously and char- 
 acteristically: fornication, uncleanness (a 
 more general word), wantonness (shame- 
 less indecency, probably here in sexual re- 
 lationships, though the Greek word, like 
 the English, could refer to behaviour 
 generally), (b) In the ancient world, im- 
 morality was very often associated with 
 idolatry (cf. i Cor.) and among the super- 
 
 stitious practices encouraged by idolatry 
 was sorcery, particularly common in Asia. 
 (c) A new group, suggested, perhaps, by 
 the spirit of division and faction intro- 
 duced by the Judaizers, begins with en- 
 mities, more particularly characterized as 
 strife and jealousy, angry outbursts, and 
 intrigues (these four words occur in 
 same order in 2 Cor. xii. 20), divisions, 
 m.ore specifically parties, and outbreaks 
 of envy, (d) The list is closed by sins 
 of intemperance, drunken debauches, 
 revellings, and such like; elaborate as 
 this list is it is only typical, not exhaustive. 
 Of these things I tell in advance {i.e. 
 before the day of judgment) as I told 
 you already on my previous visits to 
 Galatia, that those who make a practice 
 of such things as these shall not inherit 
 the kingdom of God (see i Cor. vi. 9f.). 
 They are not sons, and therefore they 
 cannot be heirs (iv. 7). , 
 
 22-24. Over against this ugly catalogue 
 of the works of the flesh stands the cat- 
 alogue of the fruits of the spirit — both 
 together giving reality to the conflict de- 
 scribed in ver. 17 in general terms. It 
 is significant that Paul does not call them 
 zijorks (ver. 19), but fruit. Works are 
 associated in this epistle rather with the 
 law (ii. 16) and the flesh, but the col- 
 lective fruit here is perhaps intended to 
 suggest " the inner unity of the fruits of 
 the spirit in contrast to the works of the 
 flesh which spring from passions of manv 
 kinds" (Sieffert). But the fruit of the 
 spirit is love, whose place at the beginning 
 is characteristic of Paul (cf. ver. 14; i 
 Cor. xiii. 13), joy which springs from the 
 indestructible consciousness of salvation, 
 peace not so much with God (though this 
 is involved) as with other men, for the 
 virtues here named are mostly those ex- 
 emplified in social relations ; patience 
 under insult, kindness, more specific than, 
 but not unlike goodness, faithfulness, i.e. 
 fidelity in one's relations with others (not 
 faith: this is not a fruit of the spirit, 
 but, as the whole epistle teaches, the 
 
Ch. V] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 261 
 
 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also 
 walk in the Spirit. 
 
 26 Let us not be desirous of vainglory, 
 provoking one another, envying one an- 
 other. 
 
 CHAPTER 6. 
 
 I Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a 
 fault, ye w^hich are spiritual, restore such a 
 
 starting-point of the life of the spirit). 
 And as the peace and long-suffering are 
 contrasted with strife and jealousy (ver. 
 20) so meekness, a certain self-repression, 
 and temperance, self-control, are con- 
 trasted with the sins of intemperance 
 which closed the other list. Against such 
 tempers and the men who exhibit them 
 there is no law: law can bring no charge 
 against such, and therefore in a somewhat 
 different sense from that in which the 
 words were used before, men of the spirit 
 are "not under the law" (ver. 18). The 
 case is proved, then, that Paul's liberty 
 does not lead to immorality ; his " spir- 
 itual " men keep the law in the deepest 
 sense of all (cf. ver. 14). This is fur- 
 ther proved from another point of view ; 
 and those who belong to Christ Jesus 
 crucified the flesh — when by their bap- 
 tism they entered into fellowship with 
 Him (Rom. vi. 3) — with its passions 
 and desires. The battle between the flesh 
 and spirit may go on, but ideally, at least, 
 it is already won. In the death of Christ, 
 those who are mystically united to Christ, 
 died to the sin which caused His death ; 
 their flesh, like His, is crucified, was then 
 crucified, when by faith they accepted 
 Him (cf. ii. 20). Thus fleshly passions 
 and desires are dead, and the liberty which 
 Paul claims from the law is triumphantly 
 shown not to be liberty to sin. 
 
 25, 26. If, then, the flesh is dead, cruci- 
 fied, and it is by the spirit (TrvevfiaTi em- 
 phatic in both clauses) that we are living, 
 if it is the guiding power and principle 
 of our lives, by the spirit let us — more 
 persuasive than if he had used the imper- 
 ative, "do you" — also walk (cf. ver. 16). 
 The outer life must correspond to the inner ; 
 faith must express itself (ver. 6) in prac- 
 tice. In view, no doubt, partly, of the 
 factions and divisions of which he has 
 just spoken (ver, 20), he closes the sec- 
 tion with the words; let us not — like the 
 Judaists, for example, who courted the 
 Galatians, in order to be courted by them 
 in turn (iv. 17) — become (the tendency 
 had already begun to manifest itself) 
 coveters of empty honor, thereby chal- 
 lenging one another to strife and conten- 
 tion, and, as is natural to the weaker party, 
 envying one another. Envy is one of 
 the works of the flesh (ver. 21), and there- 
 
 fore must not, cannot be cherished, by 
 those who " live and walk by the spirit " 
 (ver. 25). The repetition of one another 
 emphasizes this conduct as a violation of 
 that brotherly (vi. i), social feeling, 
 which ought to subsist in a Christian 
 community. This idea is amplified at the 
 beginning of the following paragraph. 
 
 Social and Individual Responsibility 
 (vi. i-^). 
 
 The contrast between the flesh and the 
 spirit was expressed in the last paragraph 
 with much vividness and detail ; and in v. 
 13 f. the life of the spiritual man, Christ's 
 free man, had been generally described as 
 a life of loving service. Into this general 
 picture, ch. vi. 1-5 paints some detail : 
 these verses constitute a brief programme 
 of conduct for "you who are spiritual." 
 
 I. Brethren — the stern tone in which 
 the argument began (cf. iii. i) is grad- 
 ually changing (iv. 20) into one of ten- 
 derness; besides they are brethren one of 
 another, as well as of him, and it is really 
 on this thought that the argument of the 
 first two verses hinges ; if a man be sud- 
 denly (as would easily happen among the 
 quick-tempered Celts) overtaken by his 
 own passion (this, rather than " detected in 
 the act by another " seems to be the mean- 
 ing)^ in some transgression, you who are 
 spiritual i.e. living under the influence of 
 the spirit (v. 25) set such a one right, 
 restore him to his true moral and spir- 
 itual condition (the same word is used 
 in _ Alark i. 19 for mending nets), in a 
 spirit of meekness. This means much 
 more than " in a meek spirit " ; spirit in 
 such_ a context (v. 18, 25) is very em- 
 phatic. This " setting right of such a one " 
 is to be expected of men who walk in 
 the spirit, and the spirit in such a case 
 expresses itself as meekness: this is one 
 of the spirit's fruits (v. 23). The motive 
 to such mercy is a consideration of our 
 own frailty: considering thyself, lest 
 THOU also be tempted — after the 
 plural, the singular impressively individual- 
 izes the appeal — each man must remember 
 his own frailty (cf. ver. 5). A man will be 
 likely to be considerate of others, if he 
 
262 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 one in the spirit of meekness ; considering 
 thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 
 
 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and 
 so fulfil the law of Christ. 
 
 3 For if a man think himself to be 
 something, when he is nothing, he deceiv- 
 eth himself. 
 
 4 But let every man prove his own 
 work, and then shall he have rejoicing in 
 himself alone, and not in another, 
 
 5 For every man shall bear his own 
 burden. 
 
 6 Let him that is taught in the word 
 communicate unto him that teacheth in all 
 good things. 
 
 considers himself, and his own liability to 
 temptation. 
 
 2. Evermore (pres. imp.) bear one 
 another's burdens, and in this way 
 you shall be completely fulfilling 
 {dpa7rXrjpb)cr€T€ -^ both this, and the aor. imp. 
 fulfil, are well attested) the law of Christ. 
 As in V. 26, one another is emphatic. 
 The law of Christ is a social law ; it 
 considers " thy neighbor as well as thy- 
 self " (v. 14). The burdens which the 
 Mosaic law and still more, the casuistical 
 interpretation of that law, imposed were 
 a " yoke which neither our fathers nor we 
 were able to bear" (Acts xv. 10, cf. Luke 
 xi. 46) and " it seemed good to the Holy 
 Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater 
 burden" (Acts xv. 28, a passage which 
 throws a very interesting side-hght on 
 our verse). But the law of Christ throws 
 upon us not the burden of ceremonial, but 
 the burden of helping the other man (cf. i 
 Cor, x. 24), such a man e.g. as is "over- 
 taken by a transgression," though of course 
 the law is not limited in its application to 
 this. Whatever the other man's burden may 
 be, sin, sorrow, poverty, it ought to be 
 borne, shared, by those who are " spiritual," 
 and that is how the law of Christ is fulfilled. 
 This was the law of His life, who " took 
 our infirmities, and bare our diseases " 
 (Mat. viii. 17). The law of Christ; after 
 the elaborate polemic against the law 
 which has characterized the epistle, this 
 phrase comes with superb effect. Christ, 
 too, has His law as well as Moses, but 
 it is the law of love; a spirit, not an 
 ordinance, " When thou layest upon me 
 the sense of obligation, that moment thou 
 settest my spirit free" (George Matheson). 
 
 3-5. Conceit may lead a man to judge 
 his neighbor harshly (ver. i) and to re- 
 fuse to share his burden; such conceit is 
 just a species of sclf-dcccption. For if a 
 man thinks he is something, when — as 
 this very conceit, if nothing else, shows — 
 he is nothing, it is himself that he is 
 deceiving. But let each man — instead of 
 looking with complacency or contemptuous 
 pity at his weak neighbor — put his own 
 work to the test: (a) his own zvork, 
 achievement, and (b) his oivn work, (a) 
 
 The important thing is not what a man 
 thinks about himself — in that he may be 
 grievously deceived — but what he has 
 done. And again (b), what he has done. 
 His business is with himself, not with 
 his neighbor (except to help him to bear 
 his burdens) ; comparisons are odious. 
 And then, when he has tested his own 
 work, he will have his ground for boast- 
 ing in relation to himself alone, and not 
 in relation to the other weaker neighbor. 
 Paul does not grudge a man his joy over 
 some piece of work nobly done ; only the 
 joy must not spring from a proud com- 
 parison with some weaker, or less effective 
 neighbor. There is no brotherliness (vi. 
 i) in that. For each man has (lit. will 
 have) his own load to carry. The bur- 
 den (^apos, ver, 2) is thought of as a 
 grievous thing, weighing a man down : the 
 load (0opTiop) is that which is appropriate 
 and peculiar to the individual, like a sol- 
 dier's kit, or a ship's freight. Every man 
 who knows how to test his work impar- 
 tially (ver. 4) knows that he has enough 
 to do with himself, and little reason to 
 spurn or patronise his neighbor. He has 
 his own load to carry, of weakness, and 
 responsibility ; and he has neither time nor 
 taste for comparisons. But while every 
 true man is conscious of his load, and 
 will be humbled by it into a horror of 
 comparisons, he will recognize that his obe- 
 dience to Christ is most perfect when he 
 is bearing the burdens of others. 
 
 In these five verses, notably in 2 and 5, 
 the balance is finely held between individual 
 and social responsibility. Beginning with 
 the consideration that the Galatians are 
 brethren, and must remember one another, 
 they end by throwing each man back up- 
 on his individual responsibility. A deep 
 knowledge of self should teach us at once 
 humility and sympathy ; it should burn up 
 all self-deception and conceit, and send us 
 forth with eager hearts and hands to fulfil 
 the great social " law of Christ." 
 
 6. This verse gives a special turn to 
 the law of social obligation emphasized 
 earlier in the paragraph. Let there be 
 a communion between him who is 
 taught the word, i.e. the gospel, and him 
 
Ch. VI] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 263 
 
 7 Be not deceived ; God is not mocked : 
 for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
 he also reap. 
 
 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall 
 of the flesh reap corruption; but he that 
 soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit 
 reap life everlasting. 
 
 9 And let us not be weary in well do- 
 ing: for in due season we shall reap, if we 
 faint not. 
 
 10 As we have therefore opportunity, 
 let us do good unto all men, especially 
 unto them who are of the household of 
 faith. 
 
 who teaches (it) in all things that are 
 good. The English translation in all good 
 things tends to suggest primarily material 
 things, and this has been encouraged by 
 the translation: "let him that is taught 
 communicate," the whole being then inter- 
 preted as an admonition to the Galatians„ 
 such as Paul gave to the Corinthians (i 
 Cor. ix. ii) to deal generously in material 
 things with their spiritual teachers. But 
 Koivcoveiv means to share, not to " com- 
 municate " ; besides, on the ordinary trans- 
 lation, the verse is somewhat abrupt. The 
 point is that there must be a real com- 
 munity of ethical interest between teachers 
 (the word implies oral, catechetical, in- 
 struction) and taught; and the reason for 
 singling out these two classes is doubtless 
 that the relations between Paul and his 
 Galatian pupils had been imperilled by 
 the Judaizers. There were many " good 
 things " in which the pupils would no 
 longer share if they listened to the seduc- 
 tive arguments of his opponents. Of 
 course the injunction implied by the com- 
 mon translation is quite legitimate as a 
 deduction from the general principle. If 
 there is a real community of spiritual in- 
 terest between teacher and pupils, the 
 pupils will see that the teachers do not 
 suffer in respect of material support. As 
 they have reaped so abundantly of their 
 teacher's spiritual things, they will not be 
 ungenerous with their carnal things. 
 
 TJie Law of the Harvest (vi. 7-10). 
 
 7, 8. Like the Bible generally (cf. Ps. 
 i) Paul holds that there are but two ways 
 of life — the way of the flesh and the 
 way of the spirit; and just before he 
 adds his postscript, in a few clear, sharp 
 sentences he shows how sure and inevi- 
 table are the laws that govern the destinies 
 of men, according as they choose the one 
 way or the other. The idea is worked 
 out under the figure of seed and harvest. 
 Men will reap as and what they sow. 
 There is a tendency to forget or ignore 
 this, but do not deceive yourselves; GOD 
 is not mocked (mock, a graphic word; 
 lit. " turn up the nose at ") . Men mock 
 
 God when they think to escape His great 
 law of the harvest ; but they do not and 
 cannot escape it, so He is not really 
 mocked ■ — they simply deceive themselves 
 (cf. ver. 3). For whatsoever a man 
 sows, THAT and nothing else shall he 
 also reap. But, in the next verse, it is 
 rather at the soil than the seed that Paul 
 looks — the soil of the flesh and the soil 
 of the spirit. For he that is sowing to 
 his (own) flesh, shall from the flesh 
 to which he is sowing, reap corruption 
 (or destruction), while he who is sow- 
 ing to the spirit shall from the spirit 
 to which he is sowing, reap life eternal. 
 It is possible and legitimate to see in the 
 " sowing to the flesh " a reference to cir- 
 cumcision, and more generally, to the 
 ordinances of the Jewish law ; but it is 
 more natural to interpret " flesh " and 
 " spirit " here in the light of the catalogue 
 of their' respective works and fruit in v. 
 19-23. The harvest will be reaped at the 
 coming of Christ ; it is this, perhaps, that 
 is in the anostle's mind rather than the 
 corruption and hfe which may be reaped 
 even in this world. The one man lives 
 for ever, the other perishes for ever. As 
 the flesh, is, by its nature, corruptible, 
 nothing but corruption can be expected 
 from seed sown on such soil : the contrast, 
 however, with " eternal life " makes it 
 probable that (pOopd here means destruction. 
 The " flesh " to which the one man sows, 
 is described as his (or his ozvn), in con- 
 trast with " the spirit " which is God's ; 
 and here is perhaps a suggestion that the 
 carnal hfe is essentially a selUsh one — the 
 " spiritual " man must bear another's bur- 
 dens (ver. 2). 
 
 9. Confronted as we are by this dread 
 alternative, in doing what is noble, let 
 us not be faint-hearted, for the harvest 
 is sure ; in due season, at the appointed 
 time of Christ's coming, we shall reap, 
 if we do not grow lax i.e. in well-doing. 
 Faith must zvork (v. 6) in hope (v. 5) 
 and patience. 
 
 10. So then, with faith in the certainty 
 of the harvest, let us zvork; that is the 
 conclusion of the whole matter. Certainly 
 no one could accuse Paul, in any bad 
 sense, of other-worldliness. No man ever 
 
264 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 11 Ye see how large a letter I have 
 ■written unto you with mine own hand, 
 
 12 As many as desire to make a fair 
 shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be 
 circumcised; only lest they should sufifer 
 persecution for the cross of Christ. 
 
 13 For neither they themselves who are 
 circumcised keep the law; but desire to' 
 have you circumcised, that they may glory 
 in your flesh. 
 
 preached more earnestly than he the gospel 
 of work, or rather work as a deduction 
 from the gospel (cf. i Cor. xv. 58). It is 
 not the work that saves — neither works of 
 the law nor any other. But faith must ex- 
 press itself in love (v. 6) and beneficence to 
 all men, at least to all with whom it is 
 brought into contact; and the vision and 
 the sure hope of the harvest in the other 
 world must create or reinforce the desire to 
 do with our might what our hands find to 
 do in this. In proportion, then, as we 
 have opportunity (there is a season for 
 sowing as well as for reaping; same word 
 as in ver. 9) let us do that which is 
 good — which includes,* but means verv 
 much more than, liberality (cf. ver. 6) -— 
 to all men ; for the good, which it is in 
 the power of the Christian to do, has a 
 destination no less than universal — and 
 especially to those that are of the house- 
 hold of faith; not "those who belong to 
 the faith," in an objective sense, but "be- 
 lievers," all who, sharing the experience 
 of faith, form, as it were, a household. 
 
 An Earnest Postscript (vi. 11-18). 
 
 At this point, Paul takes the pen from 
 the hand of his amanuensis — for he was 
 in the habit of dictating his_ letters (cf. 
 Rom. xvi. 22) — and adds in his own 
 hand a few verses, which sum up, with 
 magnificent earnestness and power, the 
 teaching of the whole epistle. Perhaps he 
 re-read the letter before adding these 
 words, and the whole weight of his argu- 
 ment came back upon him again with 
 overwhelming force. In any case, the 
 hortatory passage which immediately pre- 
 ceded had not driven it from his mind ; 
 and he restates the leading thoughts of 
 the epistle in a few sentences of remark- 
 able power. 
 
 II. See, he says, with whit large let- 
 ters I am writing to you. He is refer- 
 ring apparently only to the postscript (vv. 
 11-18). The letters are large, probably 
 not because the writer's sight was defec- 
 tive (see on iv. 15) nor because he was 
 unaccustomed to writing, but in order to 
 call special attention to what he had to 
 say. His whole soul kindles again as he 
 
 takes pen in hand to present to the " fool- 
 ish " Galatians for the last time the truths 
 on which so much depends. €ypa\j/a, epis- 
 tolary aorist, / wrote: from the point of 
 view of the Galatians when they receive 
 the letter, the writing is over. And he 
 writes this postscript, as he occasionally 
 writes a parting greeting or benediction 
 (2 Thes. iii. 17 f., i Cor. xvi. 21-24) with 
 my own hand. 
 
 12. Our interest is roused by the intro- 
 duction, and the first sentence is directed 
 against all who desire to make a fair 
 show (lit. face) in the flesh, i.e. in out- 
 ward, bodily (as opposed to spiritual) 
 things, with especial reference, as the con- 
 text shows, to circumcision : he means his 
 Judaizing opponents. These are the men 
 who {ovToi emphatic) compel you to sub- 
 mit to circumcision, solely that they may 
 avoid persecution for preaching the cross 
 of Christ. In this verse and the next Paul 
 attributes base motives to the Judaizers in 
 their circumcision propaganda. The doc- 
 trine of a crucified Alessiah was detestable 
 to the true Jew (i Cor. i. 23), and for 
 preaching this Paul was pursued by his fel- 
 low countrymen with the bitterest hostility. 
 The Jewish Christians, to whom Paul is al- 
 luding here, sought to draw off from them- 
 selves the persecution which the acceptance 
 of this doctrine involved, by insisting on 
 the necessity of circumcision. In this way, 
 while nominally Christians, they tried to 
 keep the favor of the Jews, thus showing 
 themselves to be at once guilty of cow- 
 ardice and compromise, and their religion 
 to be concerned with nothing better than 
 externals — the fair face: they cared much 
 about the flesh and little about the spirit. 
 
 13. But besides cowardice and compro- 
 mise, Paul charges them with insincerity 
 and vanity: insincerity — for even the 
 champions of circumcision themselves do 
 not keep the law, but — and here is their 
 vanity — they desire to have you circum- 
 cised, simply that they may boast in your 
 flesh. It is nothing to thorn whetiicr the 
 Galatians are "new creatures" (ver. 15) 
 or not : they are concerned only with sta- 
 tistics. Every Galatian who bore the mark 
 of circumcision would be a fresh source of 
 joy to them, a new gratification of their 
 vanity (cf. iv. 17), an additional means of 
 
Ch. YI] 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 265 
 
 14 But God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by whom the world is crucified unto me, 
 and I unto the world. 
 
 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circum- 
 
 cision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcis- 
 ion, but a new creature. 
 
 16 And as many as walk according to 
 this rule, peace he on them, and mercy, and 
 upon the Israel of God. 
 
 propitiating their Jewish friends. In the 
 context, ol ireptTefipofxevoi (lit. "those who 
 receive circumcision ") while perhaps in- 
 cluding the Galatians whom the Judaizers 
 have influenced, seems to refer more par- 
 ticularly to the Judaizers themselves ; the 
 words then practically = " the circumcised," 
 and indeed ol Trepirer/iTz/xeVot is read in 
 some MSS. Lightfoot translates, "the 
 circumcision party." What is meant by 
 their "not keeping the law?" More per- 
 haps than that they cannot keep it — no 
 man can keep it (cf. iii. 10, v. 3) : the 
 words of Paul seem to imply a deliberate 
 culpabihty. Apparently he is pointing to 
 some innate insincerity; champions of the 
 law as they are, they do not really care 
 about the whole law, but only about its 
 more striking features, such as circum- 
 cision, by means of which they can show 
 their converts before the world, and " glory 
 in their flesh." 
 
 14. But, whatever they may boast in, 
 never be it MINE to boast except in 
 the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ — 
 the full title here is very impressive. He 
 glories in the cross, it is the center of his 
 preaching (i Cor. i. 23), because in and 
 through it he has found salvation, been 
 " delivered out of this present evil world " 
 (i. 4). This is an utterance as daring as 
 it is profound. To the ordinary Jew the 
 doctrine of the cross was odious ; the 
 Judaizers sought to escape the odium 
 which it drew upon them by a propaganda 
 in favor of circumcision. But Paul, so far 
 from being ashamed of the cross, or ex- 
 cusing it, glories in it ; for it is the thing 
 through which to me the world has been 
 and evermore remains (perf.) crucified, 
 and I to the world. Jowett aptly says 
 that this expression " implies the com- 
 pleteness of the separation, as we might 
 say — 'He is nothing to me, and I am 
 nothing to him.' " That Paul was cruci- j 
 fied in the crucifixion of Christ is a bold ' 
 but already famiHar thought (cf. ,ii. 19) j 
 explained by his mysticism ; very daring j 
 and original, however, is the phrase " the \ 
 world was crucified to me." It is dead to ; 
 Paul; Paul is dead to it The world 
 " ceases to live as a power to fascinate, 
 terrify or hurt" (Adeney), and there is 
 nothing now in Paul to which it can make 
 its appeal — he is dead to it. The death 
 
 of each to the other was effected by the 
 cross. Generally speaking, the world here 
 covers the ground covered by our zvorldly 
 — all that is not in harmony with the 
 spirit of Christ and His cross; more specifi- 
 cally, as the close connection of the next 
 verse with this shows, it is the world of 
 things external and irrelevant to salvation, 
 such as circumcision. 
 
 15. For neither circumcision nor un- 
 circumcision is anything, but only a new 
 creature (lit. creation) is anything, and 
 that is everything. Paul had already said 
 something similar, but this statement is 
 even stronger ; according to v. 6, circum- 
 cision avails nothing (for salvation), here 
 it is nothing — another of those bold as- 
 sertions which show how deeply the soul 
 of the apostle was moved as he traced the 
 great letters with his own hand. To the 
 Judaizers, _ who " compel you to be circum- 
 cised," this statement would be a provoca- 
 tion and a challenge. But Paul hastens at 
 once to correct the too easy inference that 
 he ascribes some merit to uncircumcision, 
 and adds that it is nothing either. The 
 Gentiles are left without ground for pride 
 any more than the Jews or the Judaizers. 
 The presence or absence of external marks 
 (except those which are inwardly related 
 to the spirit, cf. ver. 17) counts for simply 
 nothing at all; nothing counts but the 
 new^ creation — that creation of the divine 
 spirit which is a new thing, different from, 
 the antithesis of {dWd) the being that 
 lived under the old external order of 
 things. Here it is "the new creation" (or 
 creature) that is contrasted, as the only 
 thing of ultimate religious worth, with cir- 
 cumcision and uncircumcision ; in v. 6 it 
 is " faith operating through love " ; in i 
 Cor. vii. 19 it is " the keeping of the com- 
 mandments of God." These three state- 
 ments afford a most suggestive comparison. 
 
 16. And on all who walk by this line 
 or rule (for Kavwv cf. 2 Cor. x. 13) — the 
 line drawn in the previous verse which 
 defines the essence of religion — be the 
 peace and mercy of God, even upon the 
 Israel of God, that is, not the Jewish 
 Christians particularly, still less the Jewish 
 people, but the true " seed of Abraham," 
 namely those "who are Christ's," (iii. 29) 
 whether Jews or Gentiles. The phrase is 
 a collective designation of those who are 
 
266 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 [Ch. VI 
 
 17 From henceforth let no man trouble 
 me: for I bear in my body the marks of 
 the Lord Jesus. 
 
 18 Brethren, the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. 
 
 regarded individually in the first clause of 
 the verse. The peace of God forms a fine 
 contrast to the strife which was filling 
 the Galatian church (v. 20), and it comes 
 as the result of His mercy or pity. 
 
 17. The ominous presence of the 
 Judaizers has been felt throughout the 
 whole epistle; and even in his parting 
 words, and after the invocation of peace 
 and grace, Paul's mind reverts to the 
 trouble they have caused him, and depre- 
 cates any future interference with him on 
 their part. Henceforth — Paul's great de- 
 fence of the gospel in this epistle in reply 
 to the action of the legalists constitutes 
 a sort of crisis in his life — let no one 
 trouble me, put me under the necessity 
 of " defending my apostoHc dignity and the 
 divine truth of my gospel" (Lipsius). 
 For as for me (e7w) — however my op- 
 ponents may trim their sails and succeed 
 in avoiding persecution — I bear the 
 marks of Jesus in my body, as a slave 
 does those of his master. " He does not 
 say," says Chrysostom, " ' I have,' but 'I 
 bear/ (carry), like one who is proud of his 
 trophies." The marks of Jesus might mean 
 such marks as Jesus bore, e.g. from 
 scourging; but more probably it means 
 the marks which stamp him as belonging 
 to Jesus. Sometimes devotees had the 
 name of the god whom they worshipped 
 marked upon them, and this was supposed 
 to act as a charm. Herodotus (ii. 113) 
 tells of an Egyptian temple in which if a 
 runaway slave took refuge, " and had sacred 
 marks {(yriyixaTa^ as here) put upon him, 
 thus giving himself to the God, it was 
 unlawful to touch him" — a passage which 
 seems to illustrate happily this verse of 
 Paul. It is more probable, however, that 
 the reference is to the custom of put- 
 ting upon slaves the mark of their owners. 
 Paul is the servant of Jesus; Jesus is his 
 
 Lord (yv. 14, 18). The marks which 
 stamp him as belonging to Jesus are those 
 of the afflictions which he has suffered for 
 His sake. He has already alluded to his 
 persecutions in a general phrase (v. 11) ; 
 but the most dramatic commentary upon 
 these " marks " is the great passage in 
 2 Cor. xi. 23-28, which recounts his perils 
 on sea and land. "Of the Jews five times 
 received I forty stripes save one. Thrice 
 (by the Romans) I was beaten with rods, 
 once was I stoned, thrice I was ship- 
 wrecked, a night and a day have I been 
 in the deep." One who had endured suf- 
 ferings so many and so terrible, would 
 carry the marks of them upon his body to 
 the grave. On the lines and scars of that 
 bruised body was written his fidelity to his 
 Master; and this was a reason for no man 
 troubling him further. The words do not 
 mean that he had already suffered enough 
 and was weary — it is not in that spirit 
 that Paul parts from his antagonists — 
 but rather that, marked as the servant of 
 Jesus, he wears a dignity which ought to 
 exempt him from the troubles with which 
 they had importuned him. (So Sieffert.) 
 18. After the tumult of the epistle, and 
 especially the deep feeling of the preceding 
 verse, the benediction, though very curt 
 (cf. i. 6, iii. i) falls with singular beauty. 
 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 
 2 Cor. xiii. 14) be with your spirit — 
 practically = " with you," though on hear- 
 ing the word " spirit," it is impossible to 
 forget the part that it has played in the 
 argument of the epistle. Paul has had oc- 
 casion to say many stern thinirs to the 
 Galatians. He began by expressing his 
 surprise that they had so quickly changed 
 (i. 6). he had spoken of them as bewitched 
 and foolish; but he ends (cf. v. 13, vi. i) 
 by calling them brethren. 
 
FEB 8 
 
 1909 
 

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