arber, the WORLD is gone after him—the great mass of the people believe on him. The Greek word has the same meaning, in a variety of places both in the sacred and the profane writers, as le monde, the world, literally has in French, where it signifies, not only the system of created things, but, by metonomy, the people every body, the mass, the populace. In the same sense it is often found in English. The apostle's meaning evidently is: Not only Paul, Apollos, and Kephas, are yours-appointed for and employed in your service; but every person besides with whom you may have any intercourse or connexion, whether Jew or Greek, whether enemy or friend. God will cause every person, as well as every thing, to work for your good, while you love, cleave to, and obey Him. Or life] With all its trials and advantages; every hour of it, every tribulation in it, the whole course of it, as the grand state of your probation, is a general blessing to you: and you have life, and that life preserved, in order to prepare for an eternity of bless edness. Or death] That solemn hour, so dreadful to the wicked; and so hateful to those who live without God: that is yours. Death is your servant; he comes a special messenger from God for you; he comes to undo a knot that now connects body and soul, which it would be unlawful for yourselves to untie; he comes to take your souls to glory; and he cannot come before his due time to those who are waiting for the salvation of God. A saint wishes to live only to glorify God; and he who wishes to live longer than he can get and do good, is not worthy of life. Or things present] Every occurrence in providence, in the present life; for God rules in providence as well as in grace. Or things to come] The whole order and economy of the eternal world; all in heaven and all in earth are even now working together for your good. Verse 23. And ye are Christ's] You are called by his name; you have embraced his doctrine; you depend on him for your salvation; he is your foundation-stone; he has gathered you out of the world, and acknowledges you as his people and followers. Ypeis de Xplorov, ye are of Christ; all the light and life which ye enjoy ye have received through and from him, and he has bought you with his blood. And Christ is God's.] Xploros de Otov, And Christ is of God. Christ, the Messiah, is the gift of God's eternal love and mercy to mankind; for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that they ho believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Christ in his human nature is as much property of God as any other human being. And as mediator between God and man, he must be considered, in a certain way, inferior to God; but, the b profits by all things. 23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. b Rom. xiv. 8. Ch. xi. 3. 2 Cor. x. 7. Gal. iii. 29. in his own essential, eternal nature, there is no inequality he is God over all. Ye, therefore, do not belong to men. Why then take Paul, Apollos, Kephas, or any other man for your head? All these are your servants; ye are not their property, ye are Christ's property: and as he has taken the human nature into heaven, so will he take yours; because he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one ye are his brethren; and as his human nature is eternally safe at the throne of God, so shall your bodies and souls be, if ye cleave to him and be faithful unto death. 1. A finer and more conclusive argument, to correct what was wrong among this people, could not have been used than that with which the apostle closes this chapter. It appears to stand thus: "If you continue in these divisions, and arrange yourselves under different teachers, you will meet with nothing but disappointment, and lose much good. If ye will have Paul, Apollos, &c., on your present plan, you will have them and nothing else; nor can they do you any good, for they are only instruments in God's hand, at best, to communicate good, and he will not use them to help you while you act in this unchristian way. On the contrary, if you take GOD as your portion, you shall get these and every good besides. Act as you now do, and you get nothing and lose all! Act as I advise you to do, and you shall not only lose nothing of the good which you now possess, but shall have every possible advantage: the men whom you now wish to make your heads, and who, in that capacity, cannot profit you, shall become God's instruments of doing you endless good. Leave your dissensions, by which you offend God, and grieve his Christ; and then God, and Christ, and all will be yours." How agitated, convinced, and humbled must they have been when they read the masterly conclusion of this chapter! 2. A want of spirituality seems to have been the grand fault of the Corinthians. They regarded outward things chiefly, and were carried away with sound and show. They lost the treasure while they eagerly held fast the earthen vessel that contained it. It is a true saying, that he who lends only the ear of his body to the word of God, will follow that man most who pleases the ear; and these are the persons who generally profit the soul least. 3. All the ministers of God should consider themselves as jointly employed by Christ for the salvation of mankind. It is their interest to serve God and be faithful to his calling; but shall they dare to make his church their interest? This is generally the origin of religious disputes and schisms. Men will have the church of Christ for their own property, and Jesus Christ will not trust it with any man. The ministers of the gospel I. CORINTHIANS. are stewards of God. 4. Every man employed in the work of God should 5. He who expects any good out of God is contake that part only upon himself that God has as-founded and disappointed in all things. God alone signed him. The church and the soul, says pious can content, as he alone can satisfy the soul. All our Quesnel, are a building, of which GoD is the master restlessness and uneasiness are only proofs that we and chief architect; JESUS CHRIST the main foun-are endeavouring to live without God in the world. dation; the APOSTLES the subordinate architects; the A contented mind is a continual feast; but none can BISHOPS the workmen; the PRIESTS their helpers; have such a mind who has not taken God for his GOOD WORKS the main body of the building; FAITH portion. How is it that Christians are continually a sort of second foundation; and CHARITY the top and forgetting this most plain and obvious truth, and perfection. Happy is that man who is a living stone yet wonder how it is that they cannot attain true in this building. peace of mind? CHAPTER IV. Ministers should be esteemed by their flocks as the stewards of God, whose duty-and interest it is to be faithful, 1, 2. Precipitate and premature judgments condemned, 3-5. The apostle's caution to give the Corinthians no offence, 6. We have no good but what we receive from God, 7. The worldly-mindedness of the Corinthians, 8. The enumeration of the hardships, trials, and sufferings of the apostles, 9-13. For what purpose St. Paul mentions these things, 14—16. He promises to send Timothy to them, 17. And to come himself shortly, to examine and correct the abuses that had crept in among them, 18–21. As of the ministers of Christ] Qs Vπпрeтaç Xρiσтоv. The word inperns means an under-rower, or one who, in the Trireme, Quadrireme, or Quinquereme galleys, rowed in one of the undermost benches; but it means also, as used by the Greek writers, any inferior officer or assistant. By the term here the apostle shows the Corinthians that, far from being heads and chiefs, he and his fellow-apostles considered themselves only as inferior officers, employed under Christ; from whom alone they received their appointment, their work, and their recompence. Stewards of the mysteries of God.] Kai oikovoμovç pvornoiwv eɛov, Economists of the divine mysteries. See the explanation of the word steward in the note on Matt. xxiv. 45; Luke viii. 3; and xii. 42. A. M. 4060. that a man be found faithful. Verse 3. It is a very small thing that I should be judged of you] Those who preferred Apollos or Kephas before St. Paul, would of course give their reasons for this preference; and these might, in many instances, be very unfavourable to his character as a man, a Christian, or an apostle; of this he was regardless, as he sought not his own glory, but the glory of God in the salvation of their souls. Or of man's judgment] H vπo avoρwπivng ǹμepas, literally, or of man's day: but avoрwñɩvŋ ǹμɛpa signifies any day set apart by a judge or magistrate to try a man on. This is the meaning of pepa, Psal. xxxvii. 13: The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his DAY, μepa avrov, his judgment, is coming. The steward, or oikonomos, was the master's deputy Malac. iii. 17: And they shall be mine in the DAY, us in regulating the concerns of the family, providing pepav, in the judgment, when I make up my jewels. food for the household, seeing it served out at the It has the same meaning in 2 Pet. iii. 10: But the DAY, proper times and seasons, and in proper quantities. the JUDGMENT, of the Lord will come. The word avHe received all the cash, expended what was neces- Opwπivos, man's, signifies miserable, wretched, woeful; sary for the support of the family, and kept exact so Jerem. xvii. 16: Neither have I desired, www accounts, which he was obliged at certain times to yom enosh, the day of man; but very properly translay before the master. The mysteries, the doctrineslated in our version, the woeful day. God's DAYS, Job of God, relative to the salvation of the world by the xxiv. 1, certainly signify God's JUDGMENTS. And the passion and death of Christ; and the inspiration,DAY of our Lord Jesus, in this epistle, chap. i. 8, and The things of darkness A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A.U.C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. CHAP. IV. myself; yet am I not hereby shall be brought to light. 4 For I know nothing by | for your sakes; 'that ye might 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, *Job ix. 2. Ps. cxxx. 3. cxliii. 2. Prov. xxi. 2. Rom. iii. 20. iv. 2.—————— Matt. vii. 1. Rom. ii. 1, 16. xiv. 4, 10, 13. Rev. 11. 12.- — Ch. iii. 13. Rom. ii. 29. 2 Cor. v. 10. v. 5, signifies the day in which Christ will judge the world; or rather the judgment itself. I judge not mine own self.] I leave myself entirely to God, whose I am, and whom I serve. g A. M. 4060. 7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive; now, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 8 Now ye are full, k now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I e Ch. i. 12. iii. 4.- f Rom, xii. 3.- Cb. iii. 21. v. 2, 6. b Gr. distinguisheth thee. John iii. 27. Jam. i. 17. 1 Pet. iv. 10.-— Rev. iii. 17. to name those teachers among you who are guilty of making and heading parties; and because I would have you, by our example, not to value them above what I have said of teachers in general in this epistle; so that none of you ought to be puffed up for one against another." Doubtless there were persons at Corinth who, taking advantage of this spirit of innovation among that people, set themselves up also for teachers, and endeavoured to draw disciples after them. And perhaps some even of these were more valued by the fickle multitude than the very apostles by whom they had been brought out of heathenish darkness into the marvellous light of the gospel. I have already supposed it possible that Diotrephes was one of the ringleaders in these schisms at Corinth. Verse 4. For I know nothing by myself] Ovdev yap party ovvoida I am not conscious that I am guilty of any evil, or have neglected to fulfil faithfully the duty of a steward of Jesus Christ. The import of the verb ovvedev is to be conscious of guilt; and conscire has the same meaning: so, in Horace, Nil CONSCIRE sibi, to know nothing to one's self, is the same as nulla pallescere culpa, not to grow pale at being charged with a crime, through a consciousness of guilt. Yet am I not hereby justified] I do not pretend to say that though I am not conscious of any offence towards God I must therefore be pronounced inno-See on chap. i. 14. cent; no: I leave those things to God; he shall pronounce in my favour, not I myself. By these words the apostle, in a very gentle yet effectual manner, censures those rash and precipitate judgments which the Corinthians were in the habit of pronouncing on both men and things-a conduct than which nothing is more reprehensible and dan gerous. Verse 5. Judge nothing before the time] God, the righteous Judge, will determine every thing shortly: it is his province alone to search the heart, and bring to light the hidden things of darkness. If you be so pure and upright in your conduct, if what you have been doing in these divisions, &c., be right in his sight, then shall you have praise for the same; if otherwise, yourselves are most concerned. Some refer the praise to St. Paul and his companions: Then shall every one of us apostles have praise of God. Verse 7. For who maketh thee to differ] It is likely that the apostle is here addressing himself to some one of those puffed up teachers, who was glorying in his gifts, and in the knowledge he had of the gospel, &c. As if he had said: If thou hast all that knowledge which thou professest to have, didst thou not receive it from myself or some other of my fellowhelpers who first preached the gospel at Corinth? God never spoke to thee to make thee an apostle. Hast thou a particle of light that thou hast not received from our preaching? Why then dost thou glory, boast, and exult, as if God had first spoken by thee and not by us? This is the most likely meaning of this verse; and a meaning that is suitable to the whole of the context. It has been applied in a more general sense by religious people, and the doctrine they build on it is true in itself, though it does not appear to me to be any part of the apostle's meaning in this place. The doctrine I refer to is this: God is the foundation of all good; no man possesses any good but what he has derived from God. If any man possess that grace which saves him from scandalous enormities, let him consider that he has received it as a mere free gift from God's mercy. Let him not despise his neighbour who has it not; there was a time when he himself did not possess it; and a time may come when the man whom he now affects to despise, and on whose conduct he is unmerciful and severe, may receive it, and probably The afflicted and persecuted A. M. 4060. A. U. C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. I, CORINTHIANS. spised. state of the apostles. are de would to God ye did reign, that | wise in Christ; we are weak, we also might reign with you. but ye are strong; ye are 9 For I think that God hath honourable, but we set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a d spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 10 ⚫ We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are b a Or, us the last apostles, as. 36. Ch. xv. 30, 31. 2 Cor. iv. d Gr. theatre.-e Ch. ii. 3.Ch. i. 18, &c. ii. 14. iii. 18. See с b Ps. xliv. 22. Rom. viii. 11. vi. 9.- -- Hebr. x. 33. f Acts xvii. 18. xxvi. 24. 2 Kings ix. 11.-- 2 Cor. may make a more evangelical use of it than he is now doing. This caution is necessary to many religious people, who imagine that they have been eternal objects of God's favour, and that others have been eternal objects of his hate, for no reason that they can show for either the one or the other. He can have little acquaintance with his own heart, who is not aware of the possibility of pride lurking under the exclamation, Why me! when comparing his own gracious state with the unregenerate state of another. Verse 8. Now ye] Corinthians are full of secular wisdom; now ye are rich, both in wealth and spiritual gifts (chap. xiv. 26); ye have reigned as kings, flourishing in the enjoyment of these things, in all tranquillity and honour; without any want of us: and I would to God ye did reign, in deed, and not in conceit only, that we also, poor, persecuted, and despised apostles, might reign with you.-Whitby. Though this paraphrase appears natural, yet I am of opinion that the apostle here intends a strong | irony; and one which, when taken in conjunction with what he had said before, must have stung them to the heart. It is not an unusual thing for many people to forget, if not despise, the men by whom they were brought to the knowledge of the truth; and take up with others to whom, in the things of God, they owe nothing. Reader, is this thy case? Verse 9. God hath set forth us the apostles last] This whole passage is well explained by Dr. Whitby. "Here the apostle seems to allude to the Roman spectacles, rns Twv Onpioμaxwv, kai μovoμaxias avôpopovou, that of the Bestiarii and the gladiators, where in the morning men were brought upon the theatres to fight with wild beasts, and to them was allowed | armour to defend themselves and smite the beasts that assailed them; but in the meridian or noon-day spectacles the gladiators were brought forth naked, and without any thing to defend themselves from the sword of the assailant; and he that then escaped was only kept for slaughter to another day, so that these men might well be called Tiðavarioi, men appointed for death; and this being the last appearance on the theatre for that day, they are said here to be set forth taxaro, the last." Of these two spectacles Seneca speaks thus, Epist. vii.: "In the morning men are exposed to lions and bears; at mid-day to their spectators; those that kill are exposed to one another; the victor is detained for another slaughter; A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A.U.C. 809. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. k 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 xiii. 9.--h 2 Cor. iv. 8. xi. 23–27. Phil. iv. 12.——i Job xxii. 6. Rom. viii. 35.--k Acts xxiii. 2.-- Acts xviii. 3. xx. 34. 1 Thess. ii. 9. 2 Thess. iii. 8. 1 Tim. iv. 10. The former the conclusion of the fight is death. fighting compared to this was mercy; now it is mere butchery: they have nothing to cover them; their whole body is exposed to every blow, and every stroke produces a wound," &c. We are made a spectacle] Ότι θεατρον εγενηθημεν, We are exhibited on the theatre to the world; we are lawful booty to all mankind, and particularly to the men of the world, who have their portion in this life. Angels are astonished at our treatment, and so are the more considerate part of men. Who at that time would have coveted the apostolate? “For, Verse 10. We are fools for Christ's sake] Here he still carries on the allusion to the public spectacles among the Romans, where they were accustomed to hiss, hoot, mock, and variously insult the poor victims. To this Philo alludes, in his embassy to Caius, speaking of the treatment which the Jews received at Rome: ώσπερ γαρ εν θεατρῳ κλωσμοσυρι τοντων, καταμωκωμένων, αμετρα χλευαζόντων as if exhibited upon a theatre, we are hissed, most outrageously hooted, and insulted beyond all bounds." Thus, says the apostle, we are fools on Christ's account; we walk in a conformity to his will, and we bear his cross: and did we walk according to the course of this world, or according to the man-pleasing conduct of some among you, we should have no such cross to bear. Ye are wise in Christ] Surely all these expressions are meant ironically; the apostles were neither fools, nor weak, nor contemptible; nor were the Corinthians, morally speaking, wise, and strong, and honourable. Change the persons, and then the epithets will perfectly apply. Verse 11. We both hunger and thirst, &c.] Who would then have been an apostle of Christ, even with all its spiritual honours and glories, who had not a soul filled with love both to God and man, and the fullest conviction of the reality of the doctrine he preached, and of that spiritual world in which alone he could expect rest? See the Introduction, sect. vi. Have no certain dwelling-place] We are mere itinerant preachers, and when we set out in the morning know not where, or whether we shall or not, get a night's lodging. Verse 12. Working with our own hands] They were obliged to labour in order to supply themselves with the necessaries of life while preaching the gospel to others. This, no doubt, was the case in every place where no church had been as yet formed: afterwards, the people of God supplied their ministers, according to their power, with food and raiment. Being reviled, we bless, &c.] What a most amiable picture does this exhibit of the power of the grace o Christ! Man is naturally a proud creature, and his pride prompts him always to avenge himself in whaterer manner he can, and repay insult with insult. It is only the grace of Christ that can make a man patient in bearing injuries, and render blessing for The cursing, beneficence for malevolence, &c. Verse 13. Being defamed] Blaσonμovμevo, Being blasphened. I have already remarked that ẞλaopnuu signifies to speak injuriously, and may have reference either to God or to man. GoD is blasphemed when his attributes, doctrines, providence, or grace, are treated contemptuously, or any thing said of him that is contrary to his holiness, justice, goodness, or truth. Man is blasphemed when any thing injurious is spoken of his person, character, conduct, &c. Blaspheming against men is any thing by which they are injured in their persons, characters, or property. e 17 For this cause have I sent unto you 'Ti Gal. iv. 19. Philem. 10. Jam. i. 18. e Ch. xi. 1. f Acts xix. 22. avтwv пερinua, the lustration of the world, and the peculiar sacrifice for all men. The apostle, therefore, means that he and his fellows were treated like those wretched beings who were judged to be fit for nothing but to be expiatory victims to the infernal gods, for the safety and redemption of others. Our words, filth and offscouring, convey no legitimate sense of the original. See several useful remarks upon these terms in Pearce, Whitby, and Parkhurst. Verse 14. I write not these things to shame you] It is not by way of finding fault with you for not pro viding me with the necessaries of life that I write thus; but I do it to warn you to act differently for the time to come; and be not so ready to be drawn aside by every pretender to apostleship, to the neglect of those to whom, under God, you owe your salvation. Verse 15. For though ye have ten thousand instructers] Mupiovo raidaywyovs, Myriads of leaders, that is, an indefinite multitude; for so the word is often used. The maidaywyos, from which we have our word pedagogue which we improperly apply to a schoolmaster, was, among the Greeks, the person or servant who attended a child, had the general care of him, and who led him to school for the purpose of being instructed by the didaoraλoç, or teacher. It seems there were many at Corinth who offered their services to instruct this people, and who were not well affected towards the apostle. Not many fathers] Many offer to instruct you who have no parental feeling for you; and how can they? you are not their spiritual children, you stand in this relation to me alone; for in Christ Jesus-by the power and unction of his Spirit, I have begotten you— I was the means of bringing you into a state of sal We are made as the filth of the earth-the off scouring of all things] The Greek word, which we render filth, is reparabappara, a purgation, or lustrative sacrifice; that which we translate ofscouring is περιψημα, ο redemption sacrifice. To understand the full force of these words, as applied by the apostle in this place, we must observe that he alludes to certain customs among the heathens, who, in the time of some public calamity, chose out some unhappy men of the most abject and despicable character to be a public expia-vation, so that you have been born again: ye are my tion for them; these they maintained a whole year at children alone in the gospel. Schoettgen produces a the public expense; and then they led them out, good illustration of this from Shemoth Rabba, sect. 46, crowned with flowers, as was customary in sacrifices; fol. 140. "A girl who had lost her parents was and, having heaped all the curses of the country upon educated by a guardian, who was a good and faithful their heads, and whipped them seven times, they man, and took great care of her; when she was grown bared them alive, and afterwards their ashes were up, he purposed to bestow her in marriage; the scribe thrown into the sea, while the people said these words: came, and, beginning to write the contract, said, What wv yivov, be thou our propitiation. Some- is thy name? The maid answered, N. The scribe times the person thus chosen was thrown into the sea proceeded, What is the name of thy father? The as a sacrifice to Neptune, the people saying the words maid was silent. Her guardian said, Why art thou as before. Hence Origen says that our Lord, in giving silent? The maid replied, Because I know no other up himself as a propitiation for our sins, was much father but thee; for he who educates a child well, is more than his apostles—περικαθάρματα του κόσμου, more properly the father than he who begot it." |