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 PEEFACE 
 
 TO 
 
 THE FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 With the exception of some few corrections and some 
 abridgments in the Preface, this is a reprint of the 
 third edition. To have reconsidered the details of the 
 text in accordance with the progress of criticism in 
 these later years would have been impossible for the 
 Author and perhaps profitless for the reader. 
 
 Dkanery, Westminster 
 November 10, 1875. 
 
 166 
 
PEEFACE 
 
 In many respects every commentary on the Epistles 
 of St. Paul must traverse the same ground, and pursue 
 the same plan. But, partly as a justification of enter- 
 ing afresh on a field so often trodden, partly as an ex- 
 planation of the design of this work, it may be advisable 
 briefly to state the peculiarities of the Apostle's argu- 
 ment generally, and of these two Epistles in particular, 
 which I have endeavoured to bear in mind. 
 
 Unlike the style of regular treatises, the language 
 of St. Paul's Epistles partakes in an eminent degree of 
 the roughness and abruptness of the most familiar let- 
 ters, whilst it also labours with the fervour and vehe- 
 mence of the most impassioned oratory. Dictated for 
 the most part, not written, his Epistles partake of the 
 character of speeches rather than of compositions. He is 
 in them the speaking Prophet, not the silent Scribe. He 
 almost always conceives himself as ' present in Spirit ; ' 
 as ' speaking ' to his readers face to face ; his Epistle, in 
 his mind, becomes himself ; and through it he appears 
 among them as Elijah before Ahab, as himself before 
 Eelix. Every sentence is aimed at some special object 
 — is influenced by some immediate impulse — is lit up 
 by some personal joy, or darkened by some personal 
 sorrow or apprehension. For this reason it is neces- 
 
Vlll PEEFACE. 
 
 sary, beyond what is required in ordinary writings, to 
 keep constantly before us both the Apostle and his 
 readers ; what they expected from him, what he expected 
 from them, and what was the mood or association 
 with which he dictated, not merely the Epistle in 
 general, but, so far as we can ascertain, each particular 
 portion. 
 
 Further, the Apostle's style is of that irregular and 
 complex kind which often requires an analysis of every 
 particle of a sentence, in order to exhibit its structure 
 and purpose. In some respects its outward aspect closely 
 resembles that of two men, very different from each 
 other and from him — Thucydides and Oliver Cromwell.^ 
 In all three there is a disproportion between thought 
 and lano^uao-e, the thouo'ht strainino* the lano-uao^e till 
 it cracks in the process — a shipwreck of grammar 
 and logic, as the sentences are whirled through the 
 author's mind — a growth of words and thoughts out 
 of and into each other, often to the utter entangle- 
 ment of the argument which is framed out of them. 
 In the case of St. Paul, there are also peculiar forms of 
 speech, which he finds it impossible to resist, and which 
 whilst, from their frequent recurrence, they help to ex- 
 plain each other, almost always act with disturbing 
 force on the sentences in which they occur. Such, 
 for example, is his habit of balancing two parts of a 
 sentence against each other — the joint product, as it 
 were, of the Hebrew parallelism and the Greek syllo- 
 gism or dilemma. Or again, the unexpected burst 
 
 ^ No Greek scholar need be re- ; the Protector (as edited by Mr. 
 
 minded of the characteristics here 
 intended in the style of Thucydides. 
 No one who reads the speeches of 
 
 Carlyle) can fail to see what is in- 
 tended in the case of Cromwell. 
 
PEEFACE. IX 
 
 into doxology or solemn asseveration. Or the appro- 
 priation of the arguments of those against whom, or for 
 whom he is pleading, to his own person — the ' trans- 
 ferring ' to himself ' in a figure ' what properly belongs 
 to others. Or the long digressions, almost after the 
 manner of Herodotus, suggested by a word, a remi- 
 niscence, an apprehension. Or the sudden rise into 
 successive stages of flight, through the various stages of 
 spiritual life, not halting till he reaches the throne of 
 God ; the exact image (if one may borrow an illustra- 
 tion from common literature) of the ascent of faith, so 
 beautifully portrayed in Sou they 's description of the 
 upward voyage of the Glendoveer to Mount Calasay. 
 
 Yet, further, it has been attempted to follow out, 
 not only the train of argument and the construction 
 of sentences, but the image presented by each separate 
 word. Never was there a truer description of any 
 style than that which Luther gives of the style of the 
 Apostle ; ' The words of St. Paul are not dead words ; 
 they are living creatures, and have hands and feet.' 
 Each word has, as it were, a law, a life, a force of its 
 own. It has grown up under the shade of some adja- 
 cent argument, or it has been tinged with the colouring 
 of its Hebrew original, or of some neighbourmg pas- 
 sage in the version of the Seventy, or has been animated 
 with a vigour before unknown, through the Christian 
 and Apostolical use to which it is now for the first time 
 applied. And it propagates itself through new sen- 
 tences, words, paragraphs, chapters, grown out of it as 
 out of some prolific seed of the natural world. 
 
 Yet again, the arguments and words of the Apostle, 
 unlike those of common writers, have furnished mate- 
 
X PKEFACE. 
 
 rials for systems, for opinions, for doctrines, for prac- 
 tices — sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly deduced 
 from them ; but still so far connected with them, that 
 the image of the Apostolical Epistles can never be com- 
 plete, unless we note the associations with which the 
 lapse of many centuries has invested them. 
 
 And, finally, there is hardly any considerable section 
 of the Epistle that has not exercised some important 
 influence, or contained some important lesson, for all 
 the future history of mankind ; some truth, which is 
 here for the first time clearly set forth — some duty, 
 which is here most energetically urged — some trait of 
 the Apostle's character, which is here most completely 
 illustrated. 
 
 So to draw forth the contents of the two Epistles has 
 been my object in the following pages. To this object I 
 have endeavoured strictly to confine myself. To enu- 
 merate the conflicting interpretations of each passage, 
 except where the various interpretations themselves are 
 necessary to represent the meaning or complete the 
 history of the passage — to frame new systems from the 
 text of the Apostle — or to justify and attack existing 
 systems by his language — would have been to divert 
 the attention from the very subject which requires the 
 closest concentration. Such a course will, perhaps, dis- 
 appoint some readers ; but it is a course which may 
 safely be left to vindicate itself. JS^ot only must we re- 
 member, according to the old saying, that the Scripture 
 is its own best interpreter ; but also that, by bemg left 
 to interpret itself, it actually yields new instruction 
 which else would be lost or overlooked. To any one 
 who thus carefully endeavours to reproduce ' the argu- 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 ment, the whole argument, and nothing but the argu- 
 ment ' of the Apostle, the page, which before seemed 
 dead and colourless, will be lit up at once by living 
 pictures, by the lights and shades of many trains of 
 complex thought, which belong strictly to its history, 
 and can only be arrived at through a study of its history. 
 Words and ideas which have often been confined to the 
 use of particular sections or parties of the Church, when 
 seen in their original meaning and connexion recover 
 their independence, and once more have visibly a long 
 race to run through the mouths of many generations. 
 The direct, practical, personal application which the 
 Apostle's arguments had, at the time when they were 
 originally used, if at first sight it might seem to limit 
 the universality of their meaning, on second thoughts 
 opens, deepens, and widens their application a hundred- 
 fold, in proportion as we see the close connexion which 
 they had with the practical life of man. 
 
 Thus much would apply to most, if not to all, of the 
 Pauline Epistles. The two Epistles to Corinth have a 
 special interest of their own. In the first place, they are, 
 in one word, the historical Epistles. The First Epistle 
 to Corinth gives a clearer insight than any other 
 portion of the New Testament into the institutions, 
 feelings, opinions of the Church of the earlier period of 
 the Apostolic age. Written, with the exception of the 
 two Epistles to Thessalonica, first of any of St. Paul's 
 Epistles, and, so far as we know, first of any of the 
 writings of the New Testament, it is in every sense the 
 earliest chapter of the history of the Christian Church. 
 The Second Epistle, though possessing less of general 
 interest, is yet the most important document in relation 
 
XU PREFACE. 
 
 to the history of the Apostle himself. No other portions 
 of the New Testament throw an equal amount of light 
 at once on his personal character and feelings and on 
 the facts of his life. The illustrations which the First 
 Epistle furnishes of the general history of the Apo- 
 stolical Church, the Second Epistle furnishes of the 
 biography of St. Paul. Both these lessons it has been 
 the purpose of the following pages to draw out as fully 
 as possible. 
 
 It may be further remarked, that the two Epistles 
 to the Corinthians disclose a remarkable passage in the 
 Apostle's life, as a distinct whole. The incidents, on 
 which the two letters turn, have a continuous interest 
 — a beginning, middle, and end of their own. Some- 
 thing of the same kind may be seen in the Epistles 
 to the Thessalonians, and also in the four Epistles of 
 the Roman Imprisonment. But in none can we trace so 
 clearly, as in the two successive addresses to Corinth, 
 the fluctuations of feeling — the change of plan — the 
 effect produced by the tidings from his converts on the 
 Apostle — by the conduct and words of the Apostle on 
 his converts. Writers of fiction sometimes tell their 
 story through epistolary correspondence. The story of 
 the real life of the Apostle is told through the medium 
 of the two letters to the Corinthians ; and it has been 
 here attempted to present that story in its different 
 aspects, as it is gradually unrolled before our eyes. 
 
 The arrangement, which has been planned with a 
 view to these several points, is as follows : 
 
 Each Epistle, and each Section of each Epistle, is 
 prefaced by a statement of the circumstances necessary 
 
PEEFACE. xili 
 
 to render intelligible the position which the Apostle 
 takes up. Each Section, wherever the case admits of 
 such a distribution, is followed by a statement of the 
 results, either in Christian history or Christian truth, 
 which that Section has contributed to establish. In 
 some instances, as in the 11th, 12th, and 14th Chapters 
 of the First Epistle, these remarks have necessarily as- 
 sumed the form of distinct Essays on the several sub- 
 jects of the Apostolical Eucharist and Worship, and the 
 Gifts of the Spirit. But, as a general rule, they are con- 
 fined to the especial object of each particular argument. 
 To each Section I have attached a Translation and 
 appended a Paraphrase of its contents. For the prin- 
 ciple on which the Translation is made, I refer to the 
 note at the end of the Preface. The Paraphrase is 
 intended to bring out the meaning of the respective 
 Sections, as explained in the preceding annotations. 
 The risk, thus incurred, of diluting, and, it may be 
 feared, at times lowering the dignity and simplicity of 
 the original, is obvious. But the convenience of pre- 
 senting the argument in a brief summary is such as to 
 overweigh the contrary disadvantages. 
 
 In the Xotes, I have, as a general rule, given only 
 such quotations as seemed absolutely needed to establish 
 the points in question ; and have also excluded all re- 
 ference to individual commentators. It will, of course, 
 be understood that, so far as they were known to me, 
 they have all been consulted ; and it is hoped that no 
 interpretation of a passage has been rejected or adopted, 
 without due consideration of the arguments that have 
 been urged for or against it. Special explanations or 
 annotations are mentioned only in the following cases : 
 
XIV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 namely, where the interpretations have in themselves 
 a distinct historical value, as representatives of great 
 schools of theology, or where, as often in the case of 
 Bengel, the wisdom or beauty of their expression 
 demands a distmct record ; or finally, where the works 
 referred to are repertories of quotations from Jewish or 
 classical authors, as in the case of Wetstein, Schottgen, 
 Lightfoot, and Heydenreich.* 
 
 The genuineness of these Epistles has never been 
 disputed ; and, as the internal evidence is a sufficient 
 guarantee of that genuineness without any external 
 support, it is needless to say more on this subject than 
 to point out the great interest, attaching to two abso- 
 lutely undisputed documents of such importance to 
 the history of the period. Whatever facts or statements 
 are proved by these Epistles, will be accepted as proved 
 by the severest criticism that has ever been applied to 
 any ancient remains of whatever kind. 
 
 The Text is that which Lachmann has published as 
 the nearest approach to the authentic text of the first 
 three centuries. The grounds for preferring his text to 
 any other are elsewhere stated.^ It may be enough 
 here to observe, that whilst, on the one hand, the differ- 
 ences between this and the Received Text very rarely 
 afi*ect the sense, on the other hand, they materially in- 
 crease the force and simplicity of the style ; and it 
 
 ^ Most of the commentaries on the 
 Epistles to the Corinthians are con- 
 tained in the great collections, an- 
 cient and modem, of annotations 
 on the New Testament. The special 
 writers on these two Epistles are 
 fewin number,— Heydenreich, Bill- 
 roth, Osiander, Meyer, and Reiche, 
 in Germany, are the most important. 
 
 To these I would add a MS. com- 
 mentary on a large portion of these 
 Epistles by Mr. Bonamy Price, to 
 which I had the advantage of access 
 several years ago, when I tirst under- 
 took this work. 
 
 ^ See Professor Jowett's Preface 
 to the Epistles to the Thessalonians. 
 
PKEFACE. XV 
 
 is this consideration which to one unskilled in MSS. 
 is the most convincing proof of their antiquity. There 
 is a rudeness in form, an abruptness in construction, 
 a vivacity in expression, which convey an irresistible 
 impression of primitive originality, analogous to that 
 which is produced by an ancient edifice compared with 
 a modern imitation. 
 
 The variations in the Received Text^ are inserted 
 at the foot of the Text, with the exception of such as 
 are of perpetual recurrence (such as ovto) for ouro)?, 
 and ia-TLv for ecrri before vowels). In the Commentary 
 they are only noticed in cases either where the authority 
 is nearly equal, or where they suggest some general 
 remark. 
 
 For the sake of understanding the occasional refer- 
 ences to the MSS., as well as with the view of giving in 
 a concise form the basis of the Text which has been 
 followed, it may be as well to extract from the pre- 
 faces of Wetstein, Tischendorf, and Dean Alford, in their 
 respective editions of the New Testament, the names 
 of the chief MSS. on which the Greek text of the Epistles 
 to the Corinthians is founded. 
 
 The two Epistles to the Corinthians are contained, 
 with more or less completeness, in about twelve uncial 
 MSS. written between the 4th and 9th centuries. 
 
 At the close of the Second Epistle I have subjoined, 
 in an Appendix, the apocryphal correspondence between 
 the Corinthians and St. Paul, preserved in the Church 
 of Armenia. 
 
 In the Authorised Version of 1611, the Epistles 
 
 . ^ The only important variations I 15, xiii. 3, xv. 51 ; 2 Cor. x. 12, 
 are those in 1 Cor. vii. 5, 33, ix. | xii. 1. 
 
XVI PEEFACE. 
 
 were translated by the Fifth out of the Six Companies 
 or Committees appointed for the whole work. It con- 
 sisted of seven persons, Dr. Barlow, Dr. Hutchinson, 
 Dr. Spencer, Mr. Fenton, Mr. Eabbett, Mr. Sanderson, 
 Mr. Dakins ; each of whom translated a part, to be 
 submitted to the revision of the whole Committee. 
 
 To which of these, therefore, the translation of the 
 Epistles to the Corinthians in its present form is to be as- 
 cribed, cannot now be ascertained. But inasmuch as the 
 version of these Epistles in 161 1, in common with that of 
 the whole Bible, was professedly based on the ' Bishops' 
 Bible ' of 1568, and inasmuch as the alterations from that 
 earlier Version are very slight, the virtual translators of 
 the Epistles to the Corinthians, as we now have them, are 
 those who were concerned in that work in the reign of 
 Elizabeth. Of these, the name of the translator of the 
 First Epistle is learned from the initials affixed, G. G. 
 — Dr. Gabriel Goodman, Dean of Westminstei. The 
 Second Epistle having no such marks, its translator is 
 not known. ^ 
 
 I have given here the text of the Authorised 
 Aversion, with such corrections only as were required 
 for the sake of more faithfully representing the sense of 
 the original. 
 
 See ' The English Hexapla/ pp. 143, 156. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Pkeface to the fourth Edition 
 
 Preface 
 
 Introduction to the First Epistle . 
 Corinth at the Period of the Epistles 
 Corinth, the Capital of Greece 
 The Corinthian Church the chief Example 
 
 Church .... 
 Outward Appearance of Corinth . 
 Internal Condition of Corinth . 
 Greek Civilisation 
 Foreign Elements 
 Arrival of St. Paul 
 
 Teaching of St. Paul . 
 
 Importance of the Crisis . 
 
 Effect of his Teaching . 
 
 His Removal to Ephesus . 
 Disorders of the Corinthian Church 
 
 Tidings of these Disorders 
 
 Situation of St. Paul at the Reception of 
 
 Arrival of a Letter from the Corinthians 
 The First Epistle 
 
 Scene of the Epistle ; Ephesus 
 
 Time of the Epistle ; Spring . 
 
 Amanuensis .... 
 
 Contents of the Epistle 
 
 Eftects of the Epistle 
 
 of a 
 
 them. 
 
 Gentile 
 
 PAUK 
 V 
 
 Vll 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 15 
 
 15 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 17 
 
 17 
 
 19 
 
 Mode of indicating Variations prom the Authorised Versio]^ 20 
 
XVlll CONTENTS. 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 PAOK 
 
 Plan of the Epistle 21 
 
 Salutation and Introduction. Chap. I. 1-9 . . . . 22 
 The Apostolical Salutations ...... 24 
 
 Charges against the Corinthians. Chap. I. 10 — VI. 20. 
 
 (I) The Factions. Chap. I. 10— IV. 20 .... 26 
 
 (1) Description of the Factions. Chap. i. 10-17 . . 31 
 
 TJie Apostle's Vieiv of Party Spirit . . . . 34 
 
 (2) Simplicity of the Apostle's Preaching. Chap. i. 18 — 
 
 ii. 5 36 
 
 T7t6 Gross of Christ 44 
 
 (3) Contrast of Human and Divine Wisdom. Chap. ii. 6 — 
 
 iii. 4 48 
 
 The Apostle's Vieio of Spiritual Wisdom . . . 54 
 
 (4) The Leaders of the Parties. Chap. iii. 5 — iv. 20 . 58 
 
 The Apostle's View of the Relation of Teachers and 
 Taught . . . . • 73 
 
 (II) The Intercourse with Heathens. 
 
 Chap. IV. 21— VI. 20 75 
 
 (1) The Case of Incest. Chap. iv. 21— v. 13 . . . 75 
 
 (2) Digression on the Lawsuits. Chap. vi. 1-8 . . 85 
 
 (3) The case of Incest, resumed. Chap. vi. 9-20 . . 89 
 
 Apostolic Liberty and Apostolic Discipline . . 94 
 
 Answers of St. Paul to the Letter or the Corinthian Church. 
 Chap. VIL 1— XIV. 40. 
 
 (I) Marriage. Chap. VII. 1-40 98 
 
 The Apostle's View of Celibacy . . . .117. 
 
 (II) The Sacrificial Feasts of the Heathens. 
 
 Chap. VIII. 1— XL 1 123 
 
 (1) General Warning. Chap. viii. 1-13 .... 126 
 
 Christian Self-denial . . . . . . . 134 
 
 (2) His own Example of Self-denial. Chap. ix. 1 — x. 14 . 136 
 
 The Apostle's View of Teachers 162 
 
 (3) Apostolical Communion. Chap. x. 15 — xi. 1 . . 164 
 
 TjvH of the SacHficial Feasts . . . . .167 
 The Apostle's View of Things Indifferent and of Self- 
 denial . . . . . . . . . 175 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 PAQK 
 
 (III) Worship and Assemblies. Chap. XI. 2— XIV. 40. 
 
 (1) Disuse of Female Head-dress. Chap. xi. 2-16 . . 181 
 
 The Apostle's View of Social and National Distinc- 
 tions ......... 190 
 
 (2) Disputes in the Public Assemblies, and especially at 
 
 the Lord's Supper. Chap. xi. 16-34 . . .193 
 The Apostle's View of the Lord's Supper . . . 205 
 
 (3) The Spiritual Gifts. Chap. xii. 1— xiv. 40. 
 
 {a) Unity and Variety of Spiritual Gifts. Chap. xii. 
 
 1-30 210 
 
 The Miracles and the Organisation of the Apostolic 
 
 Age 223 
 
 (6) Love, the greatest of Gifts. Chap. xii. 31— xiii. 13 228 
 The Apostolical Boctrine' of Love . . . . 237 
 
 (c) The Gift of Tongues and the Gift of Prophesying. 
 
 Chap. xiv. 1-25 243 
 
 Tlie Superiority of Prophesying to Speaking with 
 
 Tongues ........ 258 
 
 The Office of the Understanding in Christian 
 
 Worship 269 
 
 (d) Necessity of Order. Chap. xiv. 26-40 . . .273 
 
 Apostolical Worship 277 
 
 The Resurrection of the Dead. Chap. XV. 1-58 . . 283 
 
 (1) The Resurrection of Christ. Chap. xv. 1-11 . . 285 
 
 The First Greed and the First Evidence of Chris- 
 tianity 294 
 
 (2) The Resurrection of the Dead. Chap. xv. 12-34 . . 296 
 
 The Apostle's Hope of Immortality . . . .311 
 
 (3) The Mode of the Resurrection. Chap. xv. 35-58 . . 314 
 
 The Apostle's View of a Future State . . . 325 
 
 Conclusion of the Epistle. Chap. XVI. 1-24 . . . . 328 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Inteoduction. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Occasion of the Second Epistle 345 
 
 The Apostle's Departure from Ephesns . . . . 345 
 His Anxiety to hear of the Effects of the First Epistle . 345 
 
 Arrival at Troas 346 
 
 Meeting with Titus at Philippi . . . . . . 346 
 
 Tidings from Corinth 347 
 
 Punishment of the Incestuous Marriage . . . . 347 
 
 Revolt of the Jewish Party 347 
 
 Contribution for Jerusalem ....... 348 
 
 Style of the Epistle 348 
 
 Its Contents 349 
 
 Effect of the ISecond Epistle 351 
 
 Later Traces of the Jndaizers in the ' Clementines ' . . 352 
 
 Plan of the Epistle 355 
 
 Salutation and Introduction Chap. I. 1-11 .... 356 
 The Apostle's Sympathy 360 
 
 (I) The Tidings beought bt Titus. Chap. I. 12 — ^VII. 16. 
 
 (1) The Apostle's Confidence in the Corinthians. Chap. i. 
 
 12— ii. 11 . • . 363 
 
 His Relation to the Church . . . . .377 
 
 (2) The Arrival of Titus. Chap. ii. 12-16a . . . 378 
 
 The Meeting luith Titus 381 
 
 Digression on the Apostolical Mission. 
 Chap. II. 16&— VI. 10. 
 
 (1) The Plainness and Clearness of the Apostolical Service. 
 
 Chap. ii. 16&— iv. 6 383 
 
 The Openness of the Apostolical Service . . . 383 
 
 (2) The DifiBculties and the Supports of the Apostle. 
 
 Chap. iv. 7— V. 10 407 
 
 His Prospect of Death . . . . . .421 
 
 (3) The Apostle's Motive for his Service. Chap. v. 11 — 
 
 vi. 10 423 
 
 The lieconciliation of the World hy Chris fs Death . 440 
 
 The Arrival op Titus. Chap. VI. 11-13 .... 448 
 
 Digression on Intercourse with Heathens. 
 
 Chap. VI. 14— VII. 1 . . . . .448 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Arrival of Titus, resumed. Chap. VII. 2-16 . . 454 
 The Apostle's Delight in Human Intercourse . . . . 461 
 
 (II) The Collection for the Churches in Jud^a. 
 
 Chap. VIII. 1— IX. 15 463 
 
 (1) The Example of the Macedonian Churches. Chap. 
 
 viii. 1-15 ........ 464 
 
 The Poverty of Christ 474 
 
 (2) The Mission of Titus. Chap. viii. 16-24 . . . 476 
 
 (3) The Spirit in which the Collection is to be made. 
 
 Chap. ix. 1-15 485 
 
 (III) The Apostle's Vindication. Chap. X. — XIII. 
 
 (I) The Apostle's Assertion of his Intention to exert his 
 
 Apostolical Authority. Chap. X. 1-6 , . . 496 
 
 (II) His Boast of his Claims. Chap. X. 7— X[I. 18 . . 503 
 
 (1) Reality of his Boast. Chap. x. 7-18 .... 504 
 
 (2) His Excuse for it in his Affection for the Corinthians. 
 
 Chap. xi. 1-15 . • 513 
 
 (3) His Excuse for it in his Weakness. Chap. xi. 16 — 
 
 xii. 10 . . 524 
 
 The Sufferings of the Apostle ; the Thorn in the Flesh 545 
 
 Explanations, Warnings, and Salutations. 
 
 Chap. XII. 11— XIII. 18 553 
 
 The Epistles to the Corinthians in relation to the Gospel 
 
 History. 
 
 Historical Character of the two Epistles . . . , . 569 
 
 Their Relation to the Gospels 569 
 
 (I) Allusions to Sayings of Christ 570 
 
 (II) Allusions to the Acts of the Life of Christ . .573 
 
 The Nativity — The Ministry and Miracles, 573. 
 The Passion, 574. The Lord's Supper— The 
 Resurrection, 575. The Ascension, 576. 
 Resemblance to the Gospel according to St. Luke 576 
 (HI) Allusions to the Character of Christ . . . . 577 
 The New Era of His Appearance, 577. His Wis- 
 dom—Truth, 580. Freedom— Toleration, 581. 
 Gentleness — Love. Strength perfected in 
 weakness, 582. 
 
XXll CONTENTS. 
 
 FAGK 
 
 (IV) Causes of the Apostle's Silence 584 
 
 The Life and Death of Christ the Subject of his 
 
 Oral Teaching 584 
 
 The Spiritual Character of all his Teaching . 585 
 Effect of the Life of Christ on the Apostle's Writ- 
 ings and Character . . , . . . 687 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Apocryphal Epistles of the Corinthl/^s to St. Paul, 
 AND OF St. Paul to the Corinthians, preserved in the 
 Church of Armenia . . ... . . . 591 
 
 .>' 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 Corinth, at the time of the Christian era, was very different 
 from the city of which we read in the narratives of 
 Thucydides and Xenophon. The supremacy which thTperiod 
 had been enjoyed at earlier periods of Greek history of the 
 by Argos, Sparta, Athens, and Thebes, in turn, had, ^^^^ ®^* 
 in the last stages of that eventful drama, come round to 
 Corinth, often before the ally and rival, but never till the last 
 years of its independent existence the superior, of the other 
 Grecian commonwealths. When the native vigour of the 
 other states of Greece had been broken by the general sub- 
 mission to Alexander and his successors,^ Corinth rose at once 
 to that eminence which the strength of her position as the key 
 of the Peloponnesus, and the convenience of her central situa- 
 tion for purposes of communication and commerce, would 
 naturally have secured to her. Accordingly, the last glory of 
 the Martinmas summer of Greece, in the days of the Achaean 
 League, was shed almost exclusively on Corinth. ^ Here the 
 nominal independence of the Greek nation was proclaimed by 
 Flamininus. Here also descended the final blow by which 
 that show of freedom was destroyed by Mummius. The great- 
 ness of the closing history of Corinth is best attested by the 
 greatness of its fall. The triumph of Mummius was the most 
 magnificent which the temple of Capitoline Jove had ever 
 
 ^ An excellent description of the 
 state of Corinth at this period is to 
 be found in Leake's Morea, vol. iii. 
 c. 28. Compare also the quotations 
 from classical authors in Wetstein's 
 Notes on 1 Cor. i. 1 ; the Life and 
 Epistles of St. Paul, by the Rev. W. 
 J. Conybeare and the Rev. J. S. 
 
 Howson, vol. i. ch. 12 ; and the 
 article ' Corinthus ' in Dr. Smith's 
 Dictionary of Greek and Roman 
 Geography. 
 
 ^ ' Corinthus totius Grsecise lumen. ' 
 — Cic. pro Leg. Man. 5. ' Achaise 
 caput, Grsecias decus.' — Florus, ii. 
 16, 1. 
 
 <^1 
 
2 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 witnessed. As a storehouse of Grecian art and civilisation, it 
 seems to have been held equal to Athens itself. For months 
 and years it became the quarry from which the Roman nobles 
 adorned their villas with marbles, paintings, and statues. The 
 mass of gold, silver, and bronze, melted down in the general 
 conflagration, was so great that the rich material formed from 
 it was currently known in the empire under the name of 
 ' Corinthian brass.' A still stronger proof of the importance 
 of the city was furnished by the precautions which the con- 
 querors took against its again becoming the centre of that 
 national life of which it had been the last home. The inhabit- 
 ants were entirely disarmed, and, for a hundred years, it was 
 literally a city of ruins. 
 
 The recollection of its greatness in the last days of Greece, 
 as well as the natural advantages of its situation, caused Ju- 
 lius Caesar to select it as the site of a Roman settlement, 
 which he established under the title of ' Colonia Julia Corin- 
 thus,' or ' Laus Juli Corinthus,' in the same year (b. c. 46) in 
 which, in pursuance of his usual policy, he founded a similar 
 colony at Carthage. This ' New Corinth ' accordingly became, 
 Corinth, ^^^^ ^^^ predecessor, but by a more direct and formal 
 the capital acknowledgment, the capital of the whole of the 
 o reece. gQy^}jgj,jj division of the Roman province of Greece, 
 known by the name of ' Achaea ; ' in other words, — inasmuch, 
 as this southern division comprehended the whole country 
 south of Thessaly, and as the northern division of ' Macedonia ' 
 had never imbibed thoroughly the spirit of Grecian culture, — 
 the capital of Greece itself. 
 
 This peculiarity in the political position of Corinth, which 
 aturally drew the steps of the Apostle to its walls, lends a 
 special interest to the two Epistles addressed to its inhabitants. 
 When labouring there, he was labouring not merely for Corinth, 
 but for the great people of which it was now the representative ; 
 the Epistles which he wrote to the Christians of Corinth were 
 in fact — as is implied in the opening ^ of the second — Epistles 
 to the whole Greek nation : they included within their range 
 not merely Corinth the capital, but Athens the university, of 
 Greece ; and spoke not only to those who had listened to him 
 in the house of Justus and Gains or the synagogue of Crispus, 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. i. 1 : * The church of God which is at Corinth, with all the 
 saints which are in all Achaia.' 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 but to those who had heard him beneath the shade of the Acro- 
 polis or on the rock-hewn seats of the Areopagus. Most of the 
 Churches to which his Epistles were written, although nomi- 
 nally Gentile, were communities in which the Jewish element 
 was predominant, or exposed to influences which rendered his 
 notice of it predominant. The First Epistle to Co- 
 rinth, alone of the larger Epistles, addresses itself to rinthian 
 a Church where the Gentile element is stronger than Church, 
 the Jewish; or, at least, where Christianity is expressly exampTe of 
 exhibited in its relation to the feelings, customs, and a Gentile 
 difficulties, not of Jewish, but of Gentile Christians. ^^^ ' 
 The importance with which these Epistles are thus invested is 
 evident. Greece, indeed, was now a subject-province without 
 life or energy of its own ; Grecian religion and philosophy 
 were very different from what they had been in the days of 
 Pericles ; the illustrations of these Epistles have to be sought, 
 not from Plato, but from Plutarch ; not from Sophocles, but 
 from Meander ; not from the unadulterated purity of Athenian 
 taste and knowledge, but from the mixed populations and mixed 
 belief of a degenerate race, bound together under the sway 
 of the proconsul Gallio. Still, with every drawback, we are 
 here allowed to witness the earliest conflict of Christianity 
 with the culture and the vices of the ancient classical world ; 
 here we have an insight into the principles ' which regulated 
 the Apostle's choice or rejection of the customs of that vast 
 fabric of heathen society which was then emphatically called 
 ' the world ; ' here we trace the mode in which he combated ^ 
 the false pride, the false knowledge, the false liberality, the 
 false freedom, the false display, the false philosophy to which 
 an intellectual age, especially in a declining nation, is con- 
 stantly liable ; here, more than anywhere else in his writings, 
 his allusions and illustrations are borrowed not merely from 
 Jewish customs and feelings, but from the literature, the 
 amusements, the education, the worship, of Greece and of Rome.^ 
 It is the Apostle of the Gentiles, as it were, in his own pe- 
 culiar sphere, in the midst of questions evoked by his own 
 
 1 See 1 Cor. v. 1-10 ; vi. 1, 10, ] ^ See i. 17 ; iii. 4, 18-23 ; iv. 
 
 12 ; vii. 12-24 ; viii. 1-13 ; ix. 21, , 7-13 ; vi. 4, 12-20 ; viii. 1-7 ; x. 
 
 22 ; X. 20, 21; xi. 2-16. The grounds 1 1-15, 23-33 ; xii. ; xiv. ; xv. 35-41. 
 
 of these allusions, and of all which | ^ g^^ jij ^^ 2, 13 ; iv. 9, 13 ; ix. 
 
 follow, will be explained in the notes I 24-27 ; xi. 14 ; xii. 12-26 ; xv. 31, 
 
 on the Epistles. i 33 ; 2 Cor. ii. 14-16 ; v. 10. 
 
 b2 
 
4 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 peculiar mission, watching over churches of his own creation; 'if 
 not an Apostle to others, doubtless to them,' ^ not pulling down, 
 but building up, feeling that on the success of his work then, 
 the whole success and value of his past and future work de- 
 pended. ' The seal of his Apostleship were they in the Lord.'^ 
 From this general character of the Church of Corinth, we 
 Outward ^^^ ^^^ descend into the minuter details, which illus- 
 appearance trate more particularly the circumstances under which 
 of Corinth, the First Epistle was written. The outward aspect 
 which the city of Corinth presented at the time of St. Paul is 
 well known. From the summit of the Acrocorinthus, or huge 
 rocky hill at the foot of which the town was situated, the eye 
 takes in at a glance, what is slowly conveyed by books, the 
 secret of its importance, as in classical, so also in sacred his- 
 tory. To the right and to the left extend the winding shores 
 of the ' double sea,' whose blue waters, threading their way 
 through islands and promontories innumerable, open to east 
 and west the communication which made it once and again the 
 natural resting-place in the Apostle's journeys. From that 
 little bay at Cenchreae he was to take his departure from Ephesus 
 and Jerusalem ; up the course of that western gulf lay the 
 direct route to Kome and to the far West, which even now he 
 hoped to follow, and along which, at his second visit, he sent 
 his Epistle to the Romans. In front lie the hills of northern 
 Greece ; and on the coast of Attica, discerned by the glitter of 
 its crown of temples, the Acropolis of Athens, the last scene of 
 St. Paul's preaching before he crossed the Saronic gulf. Be- 
 hind rise the mountains of Peloponnesus, the highlands of 
 Greece ; into their remote fastnesses there was no call for the 
 Apostle to enter ; and accordingly, in the city which guards 
 their entrance, we see, in all probability, the southernmost 
 point of his future travels. What was the appearance of the 
 city itself we know to a certain extent from the detailed de- 
 scription of it by Pausanias one hundred years later. At 
 present one Doric temple alone remains of all the splendid edi- 
 fices then standing ; but the immediate vicinity presents various 
 features to which the Apostle's allusions have given an im- 
 mortal interest. The level plain, and the broken gullies of the 
 isthmus, are still tjlothed with the low pine, which can still be 
 identified by its modern name {irzvKrf),^ from whose branches 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. ix. 2. ^ See Sibthorpe's Flora Grseca, 
 
 ^ Ibid. vol. X. p. 39, pi. 949. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 5 
 
 of emerald green were woven the garlands for the Isthmian 
 games, contrasted by the Apostle ^ with the unfading crown of 
 the Christian combatant. In its eastern declivities are to be 
 seen the vestiges of that * stadium/^ in which all ran with 
 such energy as to be taken as the example of Christian self- 
 denial and exertion. On the outskirts of the city may be traced 
 the vast area of the amphitheatre,^ which conveyed to the 
 Corinthians a lively image of the Apostle's ' fighting with 
 beasts,''* or of his ' being set forth as the last in the file of 
 combatants appointed unto death,' a ' spectacle to the world, 
 to angels, and to men.'-^ Around stood the temples resting 
 on their columns — columns of the * Corinthian order' which 
 made the name of ' Corinthian buildings ' (Ephyra^ae aedes) 
 proverbial for magnificence ; and which, standing as they did in 
 their ancient glory amidst the new streets erected by Caesar on 
 the ruins left by Mummius, may well have suggested the com- 
 parison of the ' gold, silver, and precious " marbles," ' surviving 
 the conflagration in which all meaner edifices of wood and 
 thatch had perished.® 
 
 It is not so easy to imagine the internal as the external 
 aspect of the city. That it was again a flourishing internal 
 town is clear. The commerce which had been sus- condition 
 pended during its century of desolation, had now had ^ °"° ' 
 nearly another century to recover itself; and the attempt of 
 Nero to dig a canal through the isthmus, very nearly about the 
 time of the Epistle, shows the importance attached to it as an 
 emporium between the East and West. The Isthmian Greek civi- 
 games, too, which even during the time of its desertion lisation. 
 had still been celebrated under the charge of the neighbouring 
 state of Sicyon, attracted many strangers to the spot every 
 alternate year, and were afterwards continued even down to 
 the time of. Julian.'^ Though less remarkable for its wealth 
 than in its earlier days, it must have been conspicuous, as is 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix. 25. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. ix. 24, ' race. ' Leake's 
 Morea, iii. 286. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. iv. 9. The remains of the 
 theatre are close to the stadium. 
 (Leake's Morea, iii. 286.) Those of 
 the amphitheatre are nearer to the 
 forum. (lb. 244.) Its area is 290 
 feet by 190, i.e. considerably larger 
 than that of Verona. At one end 
 are the remains of a subterraneous 
 
 entrance for wild beasts or gladiators. 
 As Pausanias does not mention it, it 
 may be later than the time of the 
 Apostle. 
 
 '^ 1 Cor. XV. 32. 
 
 "> 1 Cor. iv. 9. 
 
 « 1 Cor. iii. 12. See Pans. Cor. 
 i. 3 ; ii. 7. Heydenreich, Prolegom. 
 in Ep. 1. ad Cor. p. vii. 
 
 ^ Paus. Cor. 2. Libanius, D. xxv. 
 
6 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 implied in various passages in these Epistles,^ amongst the 
 poverty-stricken towns of the rest of Greece.^ With the con- 
 fluence of strangers and of commerce, were associated the 
 luxury and licentiousness which gave the name of Corinth an 
 infamous notoriety,^ and which, connected as they were in the 
 case of the Temple of Aphrodite with religious rites, suffici- 
 ently explain the denunciations of sensuality to which the 
 Apostle gives utterance in these Epistles^ more frequently and 
 elaborately than elsewhere. On the other hand, it was cele- 
 brated for maintaining the character of a highly polished and 
 literary society, such as (even without taking into account its 
 connexion with Greek civilisation generally) furnishes a natural 
 basis for much both of the praise and blame with which the 
 First Epistle abounds, in regard to intellectual gifts.^ ' At 
 Corinth, you would learn and hear even from inanimate objects ^ 
 — so said a Greek teacher within a century from this time — 
 ' so great are the treasures of literature in every direction, 
 wherever you do but glance, both in the streets themselves and 
 in the colonnades ; not to speak of the gymnasia and schools, 
 and the general spirit of instruction and inquiry.'^ 
 
 Thus far it was merely the type of a Greek commercial 
 Foreign city, such as might have existed in the earlier ages 
 elements. Qf Grecian history. But the elements of which its 
 population was composed were, in great part, such as Perian- 
 der would have been startled to find under the shadow of his 
 ancient citadel. The Greek language here, as elsewhere in 
 Greece and in the East generally, was, except on coins and in 
 legal documents, the general medium of communication. But 
 to many of the Corinthians, as to the Apostle himself, it was 
 doubtless an acquired tongue. The new inhabitants, to the 
 Romans at least, w^ere known by a new name, to distinguish 
 them from the old Greek inhabitants ; not ' Corinthii,' but 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. iv. 8 ; xvi. 2 ; 2 Cor. viii. 
 2, 10 ; ix. 2, 5-11. 
 
 ^ Lucian introduces Mserichus as 
 Tov rikovaiov, rov ndw ttKovctlov, tov 
 €ic KoplvOov, TOV TToWas oXKadas 
 ixovra, ov dveyjnos 'Apiorias, nXoixnos 
 Koi avTos cov. — Dial. Mort. xi. 1. See 
 also the passages from Aristides and 
 Alciphron, quoted by Wetstein on 
 1 Cor. i. 2. 
 
 ^ In the words KopivdidCea-BaL, Ko- 
 ptvOia Kopa, &c. It is needless to 
 
 refer more j)articularly to the nu- 
 merous passages quoted at length in 
 Wetstein on 1 Cor. i. 2, from Aristo- 
 phanes, Plato, Cicero, Strabo, Dion, 
 Chrysostomus, Athenseus, Lucian, 
 and Eustathius. 
 
 * 1 Cor. V. 1 ; vi. 9-20 ; x. 7, 8 ; 
 2 Cor. vi. 14-vii. 1. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. i. 22-ii. 16 ; i. 4, 5 ; iv. 
 7, 8 ; viii. 1 ; x. 15 ; xiii. 1-9 ; xv. 35. 
 
 ^ Aristides in Neptun. p. 23, in 
 Wetstein on 1 Cor. i. 2. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 ' Corinthienses.' ^ The settlement of Csesar consisted not of 
 native Greeks, but of foreigners;^ some, doubtless^were Italians, 
 descendants of the first colonists from Cassar's army.^ But 
 most even of the original settlers were freedmen ; * and with 
 this ao^rees the fact that the Corinthian names which occur in 
 the New Testament'^ are mostly such as indicate a servile 
 origin. It is also probable that the much closer intercourse 
 between Greece and the East, which had been brought about 
 by the conquests of Alexander, would make itself especially 
 felt in a commercial city like Corinth. The Orontes (to 
 use the expression of Juvenal) would certainly have mixed its 
 waters with those of Pirene before it was finally blended with 
 the Tiber. And at this moment there was a reflux of the 
 Jewish population from Rome back towards the East, in conse- 
 quence of the decree of exile lately published by the Emperor 
 Claudius.^ A Jewish synagogue existed with its rulers ; and 
 it is evident that the Apostle's converts were familiar with the 
 phraseology of the Old Testament. Even of those who appear 
 as bearing distinctly Greek or Roman names — Erastus, So- 
 sthenes, Crispus, and Justus — two at least were Jews, and one 
 a proselyte. Situated as it was, half-way between Rome and 
 Ephesus, men of all nations seem to have been constantly 
 passing and repassing to one and the other through Corinth. 
 Aquila of Pontus, with his wife Priscilla, are heard of now at 
 Rome,^ now at Corinth,^ now at Ephesus.^ Phoebe of Cen- 
 chreai goes without difficulty from Corinth to Rome.^° Fortu- 
 natus, Achaicus, and Stephanas went from Corinth to visit the 
 Apostle at Ephesus. ^^ 
 
 * Festus : * Corinthienses ex eo dici 
 coepemnt, ex quo coloni Corinthum 
 suntdeducti, qui antea Corinthiiaunt 
 dicti.' This was after the analogy 
 of Hispanienses and Hispani, SicUi- 
 enses and Siculi. In Greek the dis- 
 tinction was not made, else the 
 Epistles would have been addressed 
 TTpbs Kopivdiels. There is not the 
 least reason to infer from this, or 
 from any other of the facts here 
 mentioned, thatLatin was habitually 
 spoken at Corinth ; and the whole 
 structure of the Epistles repels such 
 an hypothesis. 
 
 ^ Paus. Cor. 2 : KopivBov oIkoxktlv 
 ovbiis Tav dp^aicov — '4ttolkol di otto- 
 OToXeWes VTTo 'Poijjiaioiv. 
 
 ^ TO arparuoTiKdv. — Plut. Ccesar, 
 0.5. 
 
 ^ Strabo, viii. 520 A. : ttoXvv^ 8i 
 Xpovov €pT]p.os p-eivaaa rj KopivBos due- 
 Xrjcpdr} ttoXlv vtto Kaicrapos rod deov 
 8ia rrjv evipviau (ttoikovs Trip.'^avTos 
 Tov dnekevdepLKOv yepovs TrXei'errovy. 
 He visited Corinth just after the 
 settlement. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. i. 14, 16 ; xvi. 17 ; Rom. 
 xvi. 21-23 ; Acts xviii. 8, 17. 
 ^ Acts xviii. 2. 
 ■^ Rom. xvi. 3, 4. 
 ^ Acts xviii. 1, 2. 
 ^ 1 Cor. xvi. 19. 
 ^° Rom. xvi. 1. 
 " 1 Cor. xvi. 17. 
 
8 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Such was the city of Corinth at the time when the Apostle 
 Arrival of entered its walls. From the wealthy and luxurious 
 St. Paul, inhabitants themselves that visit could have attracted 
 but little attention. A solitary Eastern traveller (for St. Paul 
 was alone ^ when he arrived) would be lost at once in the con- 
 stant ebb and flow of strangers crossing each other at the 
 Isthmus. But by the Apostle his arrival must have been 
 regarded as of supreme importance. It was the climax, so to 
 speak, of the second, and in some respects the greatest, of his 
 journeys. On his previous voyage he had been accompanied 
 by Barnabas and Mark, both closely connected Avith the parent 
 Church at Jerusalem, and Barnabas possessed of an authority, 
 outwardly at least, hardly inferior to his own. Now, for the 
 first time, he had left Antioch completely independent ; Silas 
 and Timotheus were subordinate to him, not he in any sense to 
 them ; the world was all before him where to choose, and he 
 was evidently determined to press on as far as the horizon of 
 his hopes extended. These hopes were, indeed, even then con- 
 fined to Asia Minor ; but, when thrice overruled by preter- 
 natural intimations,^ he at last took the resolution — memorable 
 for all time — of crossing over into Europe. It would seem as 
 if, from the first, he had resolved to reach Corinth. The whole 
 tone of the narrative is that of an onward march ; and, although 
 his departure from most of the Macedonian cities was hastened 
 by the violence of the Jewish residents, it is obvious that he 
 was proceeding gradually southward ; and when he arrived at 
 Athens, he paused there, not as a final resting-place, but merely 
 to wait for Silas and Timotheus,^ and at last, impatient of the 
 delay ,^ took his departure and arrived at Corinth. Here was 
 the capital of Achaia, and beyond this, so far as we know, he 
 never advanced. Here, not for a short period of three weeks 
 (as mostly heretofore), but for a time, hitherto unparalleled in 
 his journeys, of a year and a half, he found his first Gentile home. 
 
 In Corinth, as elsewhere, he first turned to his own coun- 
 trymen. The house of Aquila and Priscilla, always open to 
 strangers,^ provided him with an abode ;^ and there, in company 
 with them, according to the rule which he had already adopted 
 in Macedonia,^ he maintained himself by manual labour in the 
 
 ^ 1 Thess. iii. 1. 
 
 2 Acts xvi. 6, 7, 10. 
 
 ^ Acts xvii. 15, 16. 
 
 ^ 1 Thess. iii. 1. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xvi. 19 ; Rom. xvi. 5. 
 ^ Acts xviii. 2, 3. 
 "' 1 Thess. ii. 9. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 9 
 
 trade of tent-making, which he had learned in his childhood in 
 his native city ; and his frequent allusions to it imply that his 
 appearance at Corinth in this capacity left a deep and lasting 
 impression. For some weeks he taught in the syn- Teaching 
 agogue, apparently as a Jew; warned, perhaps^ by his of St. Paul. 
 experience in the northern cities, of the danger of exciting an op- 
 position from the Jews before he had established a firm footing. 
 But, on the arrival of his two companions from Macedonia, 
 probably with the tidings of the zeal of the Thessalonian Chris- 
 tians, which incited him to write to them his two earliest Epis- 
 tles — he could no longer restrain himself, 'he was pressed 
 in the spirit,' and * testified to the Jews that Jesus was the 
 Messiah.'^ Instantly the same hostile demonstrations, the 
 same burst of invective,^ which he had encountered at Thes- 
 salonica and Beroea, broke out in Corinth also. But he was 
 now determined to stand his ground; and, instead of giving 
 way to the storm and leaving the place, he fulfilled the precept 
 of the Gospel,^ partly in the letter, partly in the spirit; he 
 stood up in the synagogue, and, in the face of his indignant 
 countrymen, shook out from his robes the dust, not of the city, 
 where he determined now more than ever to remain, but of the 
 synagogue, which he was determined now finally to abandon, 
 and, leaving the responsibility on themselves, declared his in- 
 tention of * going henceforth to the Gentiles.' He had not 
 far 'to go.'"* Hard by the synagogue itself was the house of 
 a proselyte, Justus, which he turned immediately, so to speak, 
 into a rival synagogue. His congregation consisted partly of 
 the Jews who were struck by his teaching, amongst whom was 
 to be reckoned Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, whom he 
 baptized with his own hands. ^ But it included the increasing 
 number of Gentile converts, amongst whom the household of 
 Stephanas were the earliest. In the midst of this mixed au- 
 dience he 'sat,'^ after the manner of the Rabbis, and taught 
 with unabated fervour 'the Cross of Christ.'^ The only fur- 
 ther interruption which he sustained from the hostility of his 
 countrymen, was the tumult, headed by Sosthenes,the successor 
 of Crispus: but this was baffled by the imperturbable indif- 
 ference of the proconsul Gallio, who, in accordance with the 
 
 ^ Acts xviii. 5. 
 
 '^ avriTao-aofievoiVj ^\aa(l)r)fiovvTa}v. 
 Acts xviii. 6. 
 •' Matt. X. 14. 
 
 TTopevaofiai. Acts xviii. 5. 
 ^ 1 Cor. i. 14. 
 ^ cKadta-e. Acts xviii. 11. 
 7 1 Cor. ii. 2. 
 
10 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 principles of the Roman law, as well as with the philosophical 
 calmness of his own disposition, positively refused to hear a case 
 which appeared to him not to fall within his jurisdiction.^ 
 
 How critical this epoch was considered in the Apostle's 
 Import- lif^i is evident from the mention of the vision which 
 ance of the appeared to him on the night of his expulsion from 
 crisis. ^^^ synagogue, in which the Lord exhorted him to lay 
 aside all fear, and to speak boldly. The promise to the original 
 Apostles, 'I am with you,' was distinctly addressed to him, 
 combined with the declaration that the reward of his labour 
 would be great — 'for I have much people in this city.'^ The 
 language used in the vision implies both the anxiety under 
 which he laboured, and the importance of his not giving way 
 to it; as though he felt that he was now entering on a new 
 and untried sphere, and needed special support to sustain him 
 through it. 
 
 That the result justified the experiment is known to us from 
 -gg. „ the First Epistle. To a degenerate state of society, 
 his teach- such as that which existed in the capital of Greece 
 "^S- at that time; to a worn-out creed, which consisted 
 
 rather in a superstitious apprehension^ of unseen powers than 
 in any firm belief of an overruling Providence; to a worn-out 
 philosophy w^hich had sunk from the sublime aspirations of 
 Plato and the practical wisdom of Aristotle into the subtleties 
 of the later Stoics or Epicureans; to a worn-out national 
 character, in which little but the worst parts of the Greek mind 
 survived, — the appearance of a man thoroughly convinced of 
 the truth of his belief, dwelling not on rhetorical systems, but 
 on simple facts, and with a sagacity and penetration which even 
 the most worldly-minded could not gainsay, must have been as 
 life from the dead. There were some converts '^ doubtless from 
 the wealthier citizens; but the chief impression was produced 
 on the lower orders of society: 'not many mighty, not many 
 noble, not many wise,'-^ but slaves and artisans formed the class 
 from which the Christian society at Corinth was mainly drawn. 
 
 ^ See the description of his cha- 
 racter in the quotations in Wetstein 
 on Acts xviii. 12. 
 
 ^ Acts xviii. 10. 
 
 ^ See the sketch of Paganism, in 
 the first chapter of Neander's His- 
 tory of the Christian Church. 
 
 ■* So Erastus the treasurer of the 
 
 city, olKovofios TTjs TToXecos (Rom. xvi. 
 23), and Crispus, the president of 
 the Jewish synagogue (Acts xviii. 
 8 ; 1 Cor. i. 14), are mentioned by 
 name. Compare 1 Cor. xi. 22 ; vii. 
 30, 31 ; and xvi. 2 ; 2 Cor. ix. 7, 10. 
 ° 1 Cor. i. 26. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 1 1 
 
 Through all these converts ran the same electric shock ; they 
 became a distinct body, separate from their countrymen and 
 neighbours, and in their own persons they exhibited the most 
 remarkable outward proof of the reality of their conversion ; 
 not, indeed, by their altered lives, for in this respect they were 
 often greatly deficient, but by the sudden display of gifts of all 
 kinds, such as they had either not possessed before or possessed 
 only in a much lower degree. To the Apostle himself they 
 looked with a veneration which must have been long unknown 
 to any Grecian heart. No other Christian teacher had as yet 
 interfered with his paramount claim over them ; he was ' their 
 father;'^ and by his precepts ^ they endeavoured to regulate 
 the whole course of their lives. 
 
 It was after eighteen months' residence amongst such fol- 
 lowers that the Apostle took his departure from the -gj^ ^^ 
 port of Cenchreae for Ephesus. This great city now moval to 
 became his home even more than Corinth had been Ephesus. 
 before. Thither he returned, after a short interval spent in 
 Judaea,^ and followed nearly the same plan as that which he 
 had adopted at Corinth; first trying to establish his footing 
 in the synagogue, and then erecting a separate school or syna- 
 gogue in the house of one of his converts. Thus passed away 
 three years from the time of his departure from Corinth. 
 Towards the end of this period he received accounts which 
 greatly agitated him. The Corinthian Church, like almost all 
 the early Christian societies, combined two distinct elements : 
 first, that consisting of Jews or of proselytes, formed from the 
 class which the Apostle had originally addressed, and therefore 
 exercising considerable influence over the whole body of which 
 it was the nucleus ; secondly, the mass of Gentile converts 
 which sprang up during the latter stages of the Apostle's 
 preaching, and which at Corinth, from the peculiar circum- 
 stances of the case, must have much outnumbered the 
 others.'* While St. Paul remained at Corinth, the ^f ^xie Co- 
 jealousy between these two sections of the Church had rinthian 
 lain dormant; but when he was removed, their animo- 
 sities, encouraged no doubt by the factious spirit so inveterate 
 in the Greek race, burst forth ; and the Christian community 
 was divided into various parties, formed by the various crossings 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. iv. 14, 15 ; 2 Cor. xi. 2. I ^ ^^ts xx. 31. 
 
 ^ napadoa-eis. 1 Cor. xi. 1. ^ See 1 Cor. xii. 2. 
 
12 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 of these two main divisions. The Gentile party was in the 
 ascendant, both from their superior numbers, and also from 
 the as yet undiminished influence of the Apostle. But, 
 whether from the visit of Peter and *the brethren of the 
 Lord,' ^ or teachers preaching in their name, or from some un- 
 known cause, the Jewish party ,^ after St. Paul's departure, 
 gained sufficient ground to call themselves by a distinct name, 
 and to impugn his authority, first covertly,^ and then a few 
 months later, openly and vehemently.* In the interval be- 
 tween his first and second visit to Ephesus, the Corinthian 
 Church had also received the instructions of the great Alexan- 
 drian teacher Apollos, who had been sent thither by Aquila 
 and Priscilla ; and his name thus had become a rallying point- 
 for one section of the Church, — probably that which hung 
 halfway between the extreme Jews and the extreme Gentile 
 party. Apollos himself had left Corinth, and returned to 
 Ephesus;^ but his partisans still continued to foment the 
 factions. To the evils of this party spirit was added the ten- 
 dency of the Gentile faction to carry their views of freedom 
 to the extreme of license. The profligacy which disgraced the 
 heathen population of Corinth was not only practised, but 
 openly avowed, by some of the advocates of Christian liberty.^ 
 The disputes were carried to such a pitch, and the boundaries 
 between the heathen and Christian parts of the community 
 were so little regarded, that lawsuits between Christians were 
 brought into the Roman and Greek courts of Justice.^ The 
 sacrificial feasts were attended without scruple, even when held 
 in the colonnades of the temples.^ The Christian women threw 
 off the head-dress which the customs of Greece and of the East 
 required:^ the most solemn ordinance of Christian brotherhood 
 was turned into the careless festivity of a Grecian banquet. ^^ 
 And even the better points of their character, which had 
 formed the basis of the Apostle's commendations and of their 
 own advance in Christian knowledge and power, had been 
 pushed to excess. The strong taste for intellectual specula- 
 tion, which three centuries of political servitude had not been 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix. 5. 
 
 - The more detailed representation 
 of this party is reserved for the notes 
 on 1 Cor. i. 10, and the Introduction 
 to the Second Epistle. 
 
 3 1 Cor. ix. 1-5. 
 
 * 2 Cor. x.-xii. 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xvi. 12. 
 « V. 1 ; vi. 10. 
 ' vi. 1-8. 
 
 8 viii. 4-13 ; x. 14-33. 
 « xi. 2-16. 
 10 xi: 17-34. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 
 
 13 
 
 able to subdue in the Greek mind, led them to attach an 
 undue importance to those points in their teachers, or in 
 Christianity itself, which most nearly resembled the rhetorical 
 display or the logical subtleties in which the sophists and rhe- 
 toricians of later Greece indulged : hence apparently the slight 
 put by some on the simplicity of the preaching of Paul ; ^ 
 hence the exaltation of purely intellectual excellences, and (as 
 in the case of the Crucifixion of Christ, and the general 
 Resurrection) the exaggeration of purely intellectual diffi- 
 culties ; ^ hence, in some instances, an adoption of the extreme 
 view of some of the old philosophers, regarding an entire 
 separation from the world as necessary ; ^ hence an over-esti- 
 mate of those preternatural gifts which tended to astonish and 
 excite, and an unjust depreciation of those which tended only 
 to instruction and to improvement.'* These views, combined 
 with an overweening consciousness of the position which the 
 Corinthian congregation held in the Christian world as the 
 most highly favoured of all the Gentile churches, not only in- 
 duced them to look down with contempt on all other Christian 
 bodies,'^ but also soured in the hearts of individuals the milk 
 of human kindness, and extinguished the hght of Christian 
 love, which ought to have been the characteristic mark of 
 every Christian society.^ With these dangers, which, as pro- 
 ceeding chiefly from the Gentile element in Corinth, affected 
 the larger part of the community, were united others from the 
 opposite quarter. The Jewish part of the Church was not 
 likely to amalgamate easily with such excessive views of 
 liberty as were popular at Corinth ; and, although at present 
 they were not sufficiently powerful to make their influence 
 generally felt, yet their exaggerated scruples, on the subject 
 of sacrificial feasts^ and of mixed marriages, increased the 
 difficulties of the Gentile believers ; ® and there were, besides, 
 mutterings of discontent and suspicion against the Apostle, 
 which already foreboded the storm that was to break out a few 
 months later against his character and authority.^ 
 
 It is not to be supposed that St. Paul was unprepared 
 for such intellisence. The constant communication between 
 
 1 ii. 1-5. 
 
 2 i. 17, 18 ; ii. 1 ; viii. 1 ; xv. 35. 
 ^ vii. 1-5. 
 
 ■* xii. 1-xiv. 40. 
 
 * i. 2 ; iv. 7, 8 ; vii. 17 ; xi. 16 ; 
 
 xiv. 36. 
 
 « vi. 1 ; viii. 1 ; xii. 1 ; xvi. 14. 
 ' viii. 1-12. 
 8 vii. 12-16. 
 ^ ix. 1-8. 
 
14 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Corinth and Epliesus must have brought him continual in- 
 Tidings of formation of the state of the Corinthian Church ; and 
 these dis- he had Sent Timotheus, his favourite pupil, to recall 
 to them the image of his teaching and life, which he 
 knew from report was in danger of losing its hold upon their 
 recollections ; and probably also (though this is not expressly 
 stated) to communicate to them the intention which he had 
 then formed, of leaving Ephesus at the beginning of the 
 spring, crossing the -^gean Sea to Greece, and paying two 
 visits to Corinth, — one immediately on his landing, and a 
 second later on in the year, after seeing the Churches in 
 Macedonia. Timotheus ^ was accompanied by Erastus,^ in all 
 probability the same as the treasurer of Corinth, who would 
 thus be in a position to recommend him to the Corinthian con- 
 gregation. But,^ after the departure of these two men, the 
 rumours became still darker; and two points in particular 
 seem to have determined the Apostle to take some strong 
 measures to check the growing evil. One was the information 
 which he received from the household of Chloe — whether resi- 
 dent at Corinth or at Ephesus it is difficult to say, — that the 
 factions had reached a formidable height,'* and that their dis- 
 putes had descended even into social life and destroyed the 
 solemnity of Christian worship.^ The other, and more alarm- 
 ing, was the fact of an incestuous marriage, scandalous even 
 to the heathen, of a man with his father's wife.^ This, com- 
 bined with the general accounts of their state, was sufficient 
 to induce the Apostle to send at once to Corinth without 
 waiting for the announcement of the arrival of Timotheus, to 
 insist upon the expulsion of the offisnder from the Christian 
 community,^ and then to delay his own visit to Corinth till 
 after his visit to Macedonia, so as to leave time for his injunc- 
 tions and his warnings to have their proper effect.^ 
 
 The circumstances of the Apostle himself at this conjunc- 
 ture were such as to render the reception of this news peculiarly 
 
 ^ iv. 17 ; Acts xix. 22. | grounds for this assumption will 
 
 ^ Acts xix. 22 ; Rom. xvi. 23 ; 2 | appear in the notes on 2 Cor. ii. 1 ; 
 
 Tim. iv. 20. 1 Cor. v. 9. 
 
 ^ It is assumed throughout these I ^ 1 Cor. i, 10-iv. 21. 
 
 pages that there were no visits of i ^ xi. 18. 
 
 St. Paul to Corinth besides those i * v. 1. 
 
 mentioned in Acts xviii. 1 ; xx. 2 ; i '^ v. 3. 
 
 and no Epistles except the two now i ® xvi. 1, 6, 7 ; 2 Cor. i. 15 ; ii. 9. 
 
 extant in the New Testament. The 
 
INTEODUCTION. 15 
 
 trying. Whilst the Corinthian Christians had been thus in- 
 dulging their own speculations and passions, and gjtuation 
 absorbed in the contemplation of their own greatness of St. Paul 
 and disrnity, he had for three years been continuing ^^ ^J?® ^^~ 
 
 ^ "^ . •Till • 1 ception of 
 
 his labours in a city hardly less important than these 
 
 Corinth itself, — the capital of Asia Minor, as Corinth tidings. 
 was of Greece. In Ephesus he had supported himself, as in 
 Greece, with his own hands,^ and devoted himself, with all 
 the fervour of his impassioned character, and at the risk of 
 his life,^ to the superintendence of the Church.^ His labours, 
 too, had extended from Ephesus to the cities in the adjacent 
 district ; and probably in some of these journeys he under- 
 went those hardships of which he speaks as recent, ' perils 
 from the robbers ' in the neighbouring mountains, who after- 
 wards seized on a later Apostle in the same vicinity : * ' perils 
 from the " river-torrents," ' which so characterise the winter- 
 travels of all those regions.^ 
 
 It may therefore easily be conceived that the Apostle would 
 seize the first opportunity for the expression of his . . 
 own wounded feelings, and of his sense of the sin of letter from 
 his converts. Such an opportunity presented itself ^{j? Corin- 
 in the arrival at Ephesus of three trustworthy mem- 
 bers of the Corinthian Church — Fortunatus, Achaicus, and 
 Stephanas,® bearing an epistle from that portion of their body 
 (at this time by far the largest) which sincerely reverenced the 
 Apostle's authority, asking for a solution of various questions 
 which their internal disputes had suggested, on the subject of 
 marriage, of the sacrificial feasts, and of spiritual gifts,^ and 
 containing also assurances of their general adherence to his 
 precepts.^ A reply to these questions required a detailed letter 
 from himself ; and this at once afforded an occasion for the out- 
 pouring of his thoughts and feelings. The combination of 
 these circumstances rendered it the most important emergency 
 in which (so far as we know) he had ever been called, up to 
 this time, to express himself in writing. Whether the The First 
 Epistle to the Galatians was composed before or after Epistle. 
 this period, it is impossible to determine. But great as were 
 the principles involved in that controversy, the situation of the 
 
 xii. 1, 
 
 1 Acts XX. 34. 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. xi. 26, 27. 
 
 •" lb. 31. 
 
 « 1 Cor. xvi. 17. 
 
 3 1 Cor. XV. 30-32. 
 
 ^ vii. 1 ; viii. 1 ; x 
 
 ^ Euseb. H. E. iii. 23. 
 
 8 xi. 2. 
 
16 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 Churches in Galatia — in sechidecl villages in the heart of Asia 
 Minor — bore no comparison with the situation of a congrega- 
 tion placed before the eyes of the whole civilised world in the 
 capital of Greece. That congregation, in which the Apostle had 
 laboured with unusual exertions, and apparently with unusual 
 success, was torn by factions, and marred by extravagances 
 which would bring disgrace on the Christian name, and 
 break up the foundations of Christian society. The feelings of 
 St. Francis, in foreboding the corruptions of his Order ; of 
 Luther, on hearing of the insurrection of the peasants of Suabia, 
 or the enormities of the Anabaptists of Munster, — afford a faint 
 image of the Apostle's position in dealing with the first great 
 moral degeneracy of the Gentile Churches. But if the import- 
 ance of the crisis demanded the utmost energy, so also it 
 demanded the utmost wisdom. Of all the Epistles, perhaps 
 there is not one so systematically arranged, or in which the 
 successive steps of the Apostle's mind are so clearly marked, as 
 this ; and we can therefore unfold, with more than usual con- 
 fidence, the process of its composition. 
 
 The Apostle was at Ephesus. It is perhaps too much to 
 g » presume that any traces of the scenes from which 
 the Epis- he wrote are discernible in his Epistle ; nor are the 
 !J®^ features of that city so marked as those of Corinth. 
 
 Yet the remains of the stadium, and of the theatre, 
 still visible in the grassy sides of Mount Prion, may have 
 suggested or confirmed the allusions already mentioned to the 
 athletic and dramatic spectacles of Greece. And the magni- 
 ficent pile of the Temple of Artemis, which overhung the 
 harbour, must have presented to him, even in a more lively 
 form than his recollections of Athens and Corinth, the splendour 
 and the emptiness of the Pagan worship of that age. 
 
 The Epistle was sent from Ephesus, or from some spot in the 
 rj,. » neighbourhood of Ephesus,^ at the close of the three 
 the Epis- years spent there by the Apostle,^ but whether before 
 ^^\ or after the tumult of Demetrius is uncertain. It must 
 
 have been written in the spring, as Pentecost is spoken 
 of ^ as not far distant ; and, if so, the allusions it contains to the 
 Jewish passover * become more appropriate. The precise date 
 
 1 1 Cor. xvi. 5, 8, 19 (cp. Acts 
 xviii. 24, 26) ; xv. 32. 
 ^ Acts xix. 10 ; xx. 1, 31. 
 
 3 1 Cor. xvi. 8. 
 
 4 V. 7, 8 ; XV. 20. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 after the Christian era can only be fixed by a general deter- 
 mination of the chronology of the Acts. For practical purposes 
 it is, however, sufficient to say that it must have been twenty 
 or thirty years after his conversion, and in the early part of the 
 reign of Nero. 
 
 It was written, with the exception of the few last lines, not 
 by the Apostle's own hand, but by an amanuensis ; ^ Amanuen- 
 not in his own name alone, but in that of Sosthenes sis. 
 also, — whether the successor of Crispus, as president of the 
 Corinthian synagogue,^ or another of the same name, cannot be 
 determined. This, then, is the group which we must conceive 
 as present, if not throughout, at least at the opening of the 
 Epistle. There is Paul himself, now about sixty years of age, 
 and bearing, in the pallor and feebleness of his frame, traces^ of 
 his constant and recent hardships ; his eyes at times streaming 
 with tears of grief and indignation ; '^ the scribe, catching the 
 words from his lips and recording them on the scroll of parch- 
 ment or papyrus^ which lay before him. Possibly Sosthenes 
 was himself the scribe ; and, if so, we may conceive him not 
 only transcribing, but also bearing his part in the Epistle ; at 
 times with signs of acquiescence and approbation, at times, it 
 may be, interposing to remind the Apostle of some forgotten 
 fact, as of the baptism of the household of Stephanas,^ or of 
 some possible misapprehension of what he had dictated. 
 
 He opens his Epistle with that union of courtesy and sa- 
 gacity which forms so characteristic a feature in all Contents of 
 his addresses, and at once gives utterance to expres- the Epistle. 
 sions of strong thankfulness and hope, excited by all that was 
 really encouraging in the rapid progress of the Corinthian 
 Church.7 
 
 The preface is immediately succeeded by the statement of 
 his complaints against them.® First, he touches the most 
 obvious evil — that of the Factions,^ which he pursues through 
 the several digressions to which it gives occasion. Then, after 
 a short explanation of the motives of his Epistle, of the mis- 
 sion of Timotheus, and of his delay in coming to Corinth,^^ he 
 proceeds to the case of the Incestuous Marriage,^^ which forms 
 
 1 xvi. 21. 
 
 ^ Acts xviii. 17. 
 
 3 Gal. vi. 17; 2 Cor. xi. 27; iv. 10. 
 
 * 2 Cor. ii. 4. 
 
 5 See 2 John 12 ; 2 Tim. iv. 13. 
 
 « See i. 16. 
 
 ' i. 1-9. 
 
 « i. 10-vi. 20. 
 
 » i. 10-iv. 13. 
 10 iv. 14-21. 
 " v.-vi. 20. 
 
18 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 the chief practical occasion of his address, and is accompanied 
 by the solemn and earliest extant form of the expulsion of an 
 offender from the Christian society.^ This subject, like that 
 of the Factions, is followed out through the various thoughts 
 near or remote which it suggests ; in part, perhaps, in a note 
 or appendix subsequently added.^ 
 
 Having thus dismissed the immediate grounds for censure, 
 he proceeds to answer in detail the questions contained in their 
 letter.3 This letter we may conceive him to have unrolled 
 before him, in order to glance at each of their difficulties, as he 
 turns to their objections, sometimes quoting their very words, 
 sometimes re-stating them in his own language.'' Of these, the 
 first relates to the subject of Marriage ; ^ and there he is care- 
 ful to point out that his advice rests solely on his own autho- 
 rity, not, as usually, on the express command of Christ. The 
 second relates to the subject of the Sacrificial Feasts ; ^ in 
 discussing which his mind is for a moment drawn aside from 
 the immediate object of the Epistle by the recollection of that 
 darker enemy which, in the now increasing Jewish faction, 
 aimed its insinuations at his character and authority.^ The 
 third point in the letter of the Corinthians was a profession of 
 adherence to his precepts for the regulation of their assem- 
 blies,^ in connexion with which they had a question to propose 
 to him regarding the spiritual gifts.^ But before the Apostle 
 could answer this, he was reminded of the complaints, which 
 he seems to have heard from other quarters, of the conduct of 
 the women in the Christian assemblies,^^ and of the factious 
 spirit which had disturbed even the solemnity of the Lord's 
 Supper ; ^^ and it is not till he has disposed of these that he 
 returns to the question of the Gifts.^^ It is in the discussion of 
 this question that he bursts forth into the fervent description 
 of Christian Love, which, as it meets all the various diffi- 
 culties and complaints in the whole course of the Epistle, 
 must be regarded as the climax and turning point of the 
 whole. ^^ 
 
 Whether the doubts respecting a future Resurrection had 
 
 1 V. 3, 5. 
 
 2 V. 9-vi. 9. 
 
 * vii. 1-xiv. 40. 
 
 * vii. 1 ; viii. I ; xi. 2 ; xii. 1. 
 s vii. 1-40. 
 
 * viii.-xi. 1. 
 ^ ix. 1-7. 
 
 8 xi. 2. 
 
 » xii. 1. 
 10 xi. 3-16. 
 " xi. 17-34. 
 
 X. XI. XIV. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 been communicated in their letter or from some other source, 
 it is impossible to determine. The subject from its greatness 
 stands alone, and has all the completeness of a distinct compo- 
 sition, in its beginning, middle, and end.^ 
 
 , With this the Epistle, properly speaking, terminated. But 
 there still remained the time and mode of its transmission. 
 Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, who had brought the 
 letter from Corinth, though intending ultimately to return 
 thither, were at present at Ephesus, apparently with the inten- 
 tion of remaining some time longer.^ Timotheus, who would 
 otherwise have been a natural messenger, had just departed.^ 
 Apollos, whose connexion with Corinth and presence at Ephe- 
 sus would have enabled him to undertake the duty, naturally 
 held back from visiting a city where his name had been made 
 the watchword of a party.'' But there was a little band of 
 Christians to whom had been deputed the charge of collecting 
 contributions, under the Apostle's sanction, for the Christian 
 poor in Judea.^ These men were now at Ephesus ; and Titus 
 — one of St. Paul's Gentile converts — apparently from some 
 personal interest in the welfare of the Corinthian Christians, 
 begged to be allowed to accompany them to Corinth, whither 
 they were proceeding immediately to prepare the collection 
 which the Apostle, on his subsequent arrival, was to carry or 
 send on to Jerusalem.^ Such precautions show the critical 
 position in which the Apostle felt himself placed in regard to 
 the Corinthian Church. But, although the closing words of 
 the Epistle relate to the matters of external business with 
 which these precautions were connected, it is only by implica- 
 tion that his feelings are perceived; and the Epistle is con- 
 cluded (with the exception of one severe expression which 
 seems to betray the anxiety and indignation working within ^) 
 with the usual calmness and gentleness of the Apostle's parting 
 salutations.® 
 
 The immediate effects of the First Epistle must be reserved 
 for the Introduction to the Second ; but the reverence Effects of 
 with which it was regarded in the next generation theEpistle. 
 
 XV. 
 
 2 xvi. 17. 
 s xvi. 10. 
 ^ xvi. 12. 
 5 2 Cor. viii. 17-24. 
 
 c2 
 
 6 2 Cor. xii. 18 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 1-5, 
 and the Notes on xvi. 12. 
 ' xvi. 22. 
 8 xvi. 1-24. 
 
20 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 may be inferred from the language in which it is alluded to 
 in the epistle of Clement to the same Church about fifty years 
 later : ' Take up the Epistle [evidently the First Epistle] of 
 the blessed Paul, the Apostle ; what was it that he first wrote 
 to you in the beginning of the Gospel ? Of a truth it was 
 under the guidance of the Spirit that he warned you in his 
 Epistle, concerning himself, and Kephas, and ApoUos, because 
 as well then as now, you formed parties.' ^ 
 
 1 Clem. Ep. i. 47. 
 
 The Greek text is printed from Lachmann's text, with the 
 variations from the Received Text indicated below. The 
 variations of the English translation from the Authorised Ver- 
 sion speak for themselves. 
 
21 
 
 nPOS KOPIN&IOTS A\ 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE TO THE COEINTHIANS. 
 
 PLAN OF THE EPISTLE. 
 Salutation and Introduction. Chap. I. 1 — 9. 
 Charges against the Corinthians. Chap. I. 10 VI. 20. 
 
 The Factions. Chap. I. 10 IV. 20. 
 
 1. Description of the Factions. Chap. i. 10 — 17. 
 
 2. The Simplicity of the Apoatle's Preaching. Chap. i. 18 — ii. 5. 
 
 3. The Contrast of Human and Divine Wisdom. Chap. ii. 6 — iii.4. 
 
 4. The Leaders of the Corinthian Parties. Chap. iii. 5 — iv. 20. 
 
 The Intercourse with Heathens. Chap. IV. 21 VI. 20. 
 
 1. The Case of Incest. Chap. iv. 21— v. 13. 
 
 2. Digression on the Lawsuits. Chap. vi. 1 — 9a. 
 
 3. The Case of Sensuality resumed. Chap. vi. 96 — 20. 
 
 Answers of St. Paul to the Letter of the Corinthian 
 Church. Chap. VII. 1 XIV. 40. 
 
 Marriage. Chap. VII. 1—40. 
 
 The Sacrificial Feasts of the Heathens. Chap. VIII. 1 XI. 1. 
 
 1. General Warning. Chap. viii. 1 — 13. 
 
 2. His own Example of Self-denial. Chap. ix. 1 — x. 14. 
 
 3. The Evil of the Sacrificial Feasts. Chap. x. 15— xi. 1. 
 
 Worship and Assemblies. Chap. XI. 2 XIV. 40. 
 
 1. Disuse of Female. Head- dress. Chap. xi. 2 — 15. 
 
 2. Disputes in the Public Assemblies, and especially at the Lord's 
 
 Supper. Chap. xi. 16 — 34. 
 
 3. The Spiritual Gifts. Chap. xii. 1— xiv. 40. 
 
 a. Unity and Variety of the Spiritual Gifts. Chaps, xii. 1 — 30. 
 h. Love, the greatest of Gifts. Chap. xii. 31 — xiii. 13. 
 
 c. The Superiority of Prophesying to Speaking with Tongues. 
 
 Chap. xiv. 1—25. 
 
 d. Necessity of Order. Chap. xiv. 26 — 40. 
 
 The Resurrection. Chap. XV. 1 58. 
 
 1. The ResiuTection of Christ. Chap. xv. 1 — 11. 
 
 2. The Resurrection of the Dead. Chap. xv. 12—34. 
 
 3. The Mode of the Resurrection of the Dead. Chap. xv. 35 58. 
 
 The Conclusion. Chap. XVI. 1 24. 
 
22 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 1—8. 
 
 Salutation and Introduction.) 
 
 TIATAO'X [kXt/tos] aTrocrroXo? ^^picrTOv *l7)crov 8ta 6e- 
 XyjlJLaTO^ 6eov, koL ^oiadivrj^; 6 dSeXc^d?, \fj iKKkr)crLa tov 
 OeoVy ^TjyLaafJievoLS iv yj>i(TTco 'Ir)orov, Tjj ovarj ev Kopiv6(o^ 
 k\.7)Tols ayioLSy crvv iracriv tols eiriKoKovpiivoi*^ to oz^o/xa 
 rod Kvpiov rjfJLCov 'Ir)crov ^lcttov ev wavrl tottco, '^ avTcov 
 KOL rjfjicov^ ^-^dpL^ vplv Kol elprjvrj oltto Oeov Trarpos rjixcov 
 Koi KvpLov 'Irjaov ^lcttov. 
 
 ■ 'IrjcoD ;^pt(rToC. * t^ o^ari iv K. tjj. iv XP- '^vcov. '' mrSiv re itot. 
 
 ^ T)AUL, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, through the \\ill of 
 -t God, and Sosthenes our brother, '^unto the Church of God, to 
 them that are hallowed in Christ Jesus, to the Church which is at 
 Corinth, to them that are called to be holy, with all that call upon 
 the name of Jesus Christ our Lord in every place, theirs and ours : 
 3 grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and fi*om the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 I KXrjTos aTTocTToXo?. The two 
 words together are only used 
 here, and in Rom. i. 1. KXr}T6<; 
 may be, ' called to be a believer 
 as an Apostle,' according to its 
 usual sense (in verse 2, and vii. 
 20, 21) ; or, more simply, ' called 
 to the state of an Apostle.' 
 
 Sosthenes is possibly the mler 
 of the synagogue in Acts xviii. 
 17 ; at any rate, a Christian well 
 known to the Corinthians ; as is 
 implied both by the manner in 
 which he is mentioned in the 
 Epistle (whether as the com- 
 panion or amanuensis of the 
 Apostle) and also by the addi- 
 tion 6 a8cX<^og, ' the brother,' i.e. 
 ' the person well known to the 
 Christian brotherhood.' Com- 
 pare the same expression applied 
 to Apollos, xvi. 12 ; to Timo- 
 theus, Col. i. 1 ; to Quartus, 
 Rom. xvi. 23 ; and a similar use 
 of it especially in 2 Cor. viii. 18. 
 
 Eusebius (H. E. i. 12) makes him 
 one of the Seventy Disciples. 
 
 2 rrj iKKk-qa-La. Here, as in all 
 the Churches founded by himself, 
 he addresses the actual assembly 
 or congregation of Christians ; 
 an expression which, in the case 
 of those with whom he was not 
 personally acquainted (as in Rom. 
 i. 7 ; Col. i. 2 ; and, perhaps, Eph. 
 i. 1), is omitted. 
 
 7jyLacrfJL€voLs . . . kX^tols ayloL^y 
 ' called ' or ' converted ' ' to a 
 state of holiness.' The inver- 
 sion of the usual order of kA^o-is 
 (' calling,' ' conversion ') and 
 dytacr/xos (' holiness,' ' sanctifi- 
 cation ') exemplifies the freedom 
 of the Apostle's language. (Com- 
 pare ver. 11.) There is some- 
 thing almost rhythmical in the 
 inversion of the clauses in B. D. 
 G. as preserved in Lachmann's 
 text. 
 
 cn)v TraaLv rots iTTLKoXovfievoi^ . • 
 
SALUTATION AND INTEODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 ^ EirvapLa-Ta) toj 0eS fJLOV iroivTOTe irepi vfjicop ctti rfj 
 ■yapLTL rod Oeov rfj SoOeicrrj vplv iv ^l(ttco IrjcroVy ^ort eV 
 TTavrl i7T\ovTLa6r)Te ev avrS, iv Travri Xoyco koI Trdcrr) 
 yvaxrei, ^ KaOcos to piapTvpiov Tov yjpicrTov i^e^aicodr) iv 
 vpZvy ^ oiare. vfxas fjurj v(jTepeicr6aL iv jJbTjSevl ^apLcrp.aTi, 
 aTre/cSe^^o/xeVous tt^v aTroKoXvxjJLV tov Kvpiov rjixcov 'It/ctou 
 Xpt'O'TOv' ^6s /cat fie^aLcoo-ei vfias ecos TiXov<; aveyKkq- 
 
 * I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which 
 ■was given you in Christ Jesus, ^that in every thing ye were en- 
 riched by Him, in all utterance and in all knowledge : <^even as the 
 testimony of Christ was confirmed in you : ^so that ye come behind in 
 no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ : ^Who shall 
 also confirm you unto the end blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus 
 
 . . rjfxCjv. This may be, (1) 'I 
 address not only the Christians 
 of Corinth, but those of Achaia 
 generally,' as in 2 Cor. i, 1 : (2) 
 
 * I address not only the natives 
 of Corinth, bat the numerous 
 strangers who are passing to and 
 fro throngh it : ' but rather, (3) 
 
 * I address and salute not only 
 you, but all Christians through- 
 out the world.' This last sense 
 seems required by the emphasis 
 of the latter part of the sentence, 
 iv rravTi tottw, and avroiv kol 
 i7/x(ov, i.e. * in other parts of the 
 world besides your own : He is 
 the Lord of all of them, no less 
 than of me and of you.' 
 
 iTTLKaXov/JiivoLs TO ovojJLa. In 
 the LXX. this is the translation 
 of the Hebrew D^n K-Ji^, the 
 general idea of worship or praise. 
 In the New Testament it ex- 
 presses the further idea of calling 
 to aid (comp. Acts ii. 21 ; ix. 14, 
 21 ; vii. 59 ; Rom. x. 13, 14 ; 2 
 Tim. ii. 22) ; and, as illustrated 
 by popular use, KatVapa irrLKa- 
 Xcio-dai, ' to appeal to the Empe- 
 ror,' Acts XXV. 11, 12, &c. As 
 applied to our Lord, it implies 
 the consciousness of Him not 
 only as Lord, but as Saviour 
 and Deliverer. 
 
 5 iTrXovTLordrp-e, *ye were en- 
 riched,' i.e. ' at the time of your 
 conversion, when the favour of 
 God was bestowed upon you,' 
 referring to the words, ry x«P*" 
 
 6 TO fxaprvpiov. The testi- 
 mony borne to Christ by the 
 preaching of Paul was confirmed 
 by the gifts which followed on 
 their conversion. Compare ' The 
 seal of my Apostleship are ye in 
 the Lord,' ix. 2. 
 
 7 This refers to those gifts 
 of insight into the unseen world, 
 which were to sustain them iii 
 their expectation of the time 
 when the veil of this outer 
 world should be withdrawn 
 {airoKoXvxlfLv) and Christ Himself 
 revealed to their eyes. Comp. 
 Tit. ii. 13 ; Phil. iii. 20. 
 
 8 * And this hope will not be 
 baffled, for He who has begun a 
 good work in you will continue 
 ii to the end.' o? refers (not to 
 Christ, but) to God. For (1) 
 Kttt ^e^atojo-ct evidently refers 
 back to e/SejSaiwOr] in 6. (2) iv 
 T. rjfxipa T. K. rj. 'I. ^. would eke 
 be Tjfxepa avTov. (3) 6 ^€09 is 
 the general subject of the whole 
 sentence, and therefore repeated 
 in verse 9. For the sense, com- 
 
24 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 9. 
 
 T0i>9 ^ TTj yjfjiepa tov Kvpiov rjfjicov ^Irjcrov ^icrov. ^iricr- 
 To<; 6 6e6^, 8i' ov iK\.ij6r)Te et? Koivcoviav tov vlov avrov 
 'Irjcrov ^LCTTov tov Kvpiov rjficov. 
 
 Christ. ®God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the communion 
 of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 pare Phil. i. 6 : ' Being confident 
 of this very thing that He who 
 hath begun a good work in you 
 will continue it till the day of 
 Jesus Christ.' The assurance 
 that all will in the end be well 
 with God's servants is implied 
 
 in the very notion of religious 
 faith. The more we look upon 
 ourselves as dependent beings, 
 the more impossible does it seem 
 that God should ever loosen the 
 link which connects us with 
 Himself. 
 
 Paraphease of Chap. I. 1 — 9. 
 
 Paul, whose mission to be an Apostle rests on the 2vill of God 
 Himself, and Sosthenes united with him in Christian brother- 
 hood, send their usual Christian greeting to the Corinthian 
 congregation, as well as to all other believers, icho are equally 
 with them uior shippers of our common Lord Jesus Chinst. 
 
 My first feelings are thankfulness for the manifold gifts of 
 knowledge and teaching given to you at your conversion, and 
 hope that God will continue the good work which He has thus 
 begun. 
 
 The Apostolical Salutations. 
 
 The praise here bestowed upon the Corinthian Church, though 
 not greater than that with which the Epistles to the Romans, 
 PhiUppians, Colossians, and Thessalonians are opened, is re- 
 markable in this instance as being addressed to a Church 
 which, in the course of the two Epistles, is thought deserving 
 The Apo- of severe censures. But in considering this, it may 
 stle's seiec- be observed that the praise there bestowed on faith 
 goodpoints ^^^ holiness is here almost confined to gifts such as 
 in his knowledge and wisdom, which were obviously not in- 
 
 rea ers. compatible with the moral degradation into which 
 some of the members of the Church had fallen. And it is in 
 accordance with the Apostle's usual manner to seize, in the 
 
THE APOSTOLICAL SALUTATIONS. 25 
 
 first instance, on some point of sympathy and congratulation, 
 not merely from a prudential policy, but from natural courtesy 
 and generosity. It is a trait well illustrated by all his speeches 
 in the Acts. Perhaps the opening of the Epistle to the Gala- 
 tians is the only exception. 
 
 This practice of the Apostle is an exemplification of a 
 general rule, according to which Scripture presents r^j^^ i^^^^^ 
 strongly the ideal of the whole, without describing and the 
 the defects and sins of the parts. The visible society ^^^^l^ 
 of Christians was to the Apostles, in spite of its many 
 imperfections, the representation of Messiah's kingdom upon 
 earth : — ' Ye are a royal priesthood, a peculiar people.' And 
 thus, although the Christian congregation in each city or 
 country was distinct from the heathen community in which it 
 was situated, it yet so far partook of the character of what is 
 now called a national Church, that it was, as it were, the 
 Christian representative of that community. A Christian of 
 Corinth or Ephesus might travel backwards and forwards from 
 one to the other ; but, however great were the disorders of the 
 one or the excellencies of the other, there was no call upon 
 him to exchange the communion of the one for the communion 
 of the other, unless he actually ceased to be a permanent resi- 
 dent in the city of Corinth or of Ephesus, as the case might 
 be. The supposed duty of gaining proselytes from Christian 
 communities different from our own, and the consequent di- 
 vision of Churches by any other than their local and national 
 designations, are ideas alien to the Apostolic age ; and have 
 grown up in modern times, and, it may be added, in Western 
 countries. In the East, the ancient view, in this respect, still 
 on the whole prevails. 
 
 ' Spartam nactus es : banc exoma,' was a maxim of Apo- 
 stolical, no less than of Grecian wisdom. No Church of later 
 ages has presented a more striking example of corruption or 
 laxity, than was exhibited at Corinth. Yet the Apostle does 
 not call on his converts to desert their city or their community ; 
 and he himself steadily fixes his view on the better and the 
 redeeming side. 
 
 / 
 
26 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 CHARGES AGAINST THE CORINTHIANS. 
 Chap. I. 10 IV. 20. 
 
 The first great division of the Epistle, I. 10 — IV. 20, is 
 based on the information which the Apostle had received from 
 Corinth : and of this information, the first and most pressing 
 subject was that which related to The Factions. 
 
 THE FACTIONS. 
 
 Chap. I. 10 IV. 20. 
 
 In the ensuing section we have the earliest account of eccle- 
 siastical party, — of that spirit which has in subsequent ages 
 been proverbially the bane of the Christian Church. But, 
 though in principle the same, in form it is so different from the 
 divisions of later times that a clear statement of the difference 
 is necessary to prevent confusion. 
 
 In the first place, this is the earliest instance of the ap- 
 Meaningof plication of the word 'schism' {a'x^Lcrfxa) to a moral 
 'schism.' diyision.^ But, instead of the meaning usually as- 
 sio-ned to it in later times, of a separation from a society, it is 
 here used for a division within a society. These factious or 
 * schisms,' therefore, in the Corinthian Church, must not be 
 considered as dissentient bodies outside the pale of the rest of 
 the community, but as recognised parties of which the commu- 
 nity itself was composed ; corresponding not to such divisions 
 as are caused by the existence of Protestant Churches outside 
 the Church dependent on the See of Rome, or Dissenting 
 Churches outside the Established Church of England, or 
 Maronite and Nestorian Churches outside the Greek Church, 
 
 ^ In classical writings it is always 
 applied to actual rents of stone, gar- 
 ments, nets, or the like, as in Matt. 
 ix. 16 ; Mark ii. 21. The only other 
 passages in the NewTestamentwhere 
 
 it is used in the sense of ' discord,* 
 as here, are in St. John's Gospel 
 (John vii. 43; ix. 16 ; x. 19). The 
 classical word for which ax^o-fxa is a 
 substitute is ardais. 
 
THE FACTIONS. 27 
 
 but to internal divisions, such as are occasioned by the conflicts 
 between the several religious or monastic orders in the Greek 
 and Koman Churches, or between political and theological 
 parties in the nations and Churches of northern Europe. 
 
 In the second place, the grounds of dissension were wholly 
 different from any with which we are familiar. They Grounds of 
 were, doubtless, aggravated in Corinth by the conflux tlivision, 
 of various elements, the result of its commerce and situation, 
 and by the tendency to faction which had long characterised 
 the Greek race, and been stigmatised as the peculiar malady 
 {v6(Tos) of the old Greek commonwealths. But the especial 
 occasion was the same which was to be found in all the Churches 
 of the Apostolical age, and which has never since been found 
 in any. At no subsequent period have Christian communities 
 been agitated as all then were by the rivalry and animosity of 
 Jewish and Gentile converts. Jewish converts to Christianity 
 have, in later ages, been in such small numbers, and with so 
 little distinction in their character, that their influence, as such, 
 on the rest of the community has been almost nothing. In the 
 first century it was just the reverse. Even in Corinth, the 
 most exclusively Gentile of all the primitive Churches, they 
 formed the basis of the community ; and the difl&culty of re- 
 conciling their scruples and meeting their prejudices was one of 
 the chief tasks which the founder of the Church had to fulfil. 
 We must conceive two classes of men brought into close con- 
 nexion, and taught to look upon each other as brothers and 
 friends, of whom one part, in the present instance the more 
 numerous, had but recently relinquished the worship of 
 Grecian divinities, and still considered acts of gross immorality 
 as either innocent or indiflferent, and the future Life, if not in- 
 credible, at least diflficult to be believed ; whilst the other part, 
 comprising the most earnest and energetic portion of the society, 
 consisted of men, Jews either by birth or by religion, who still 
 retained all the Jewish rites of circumcision, of the Sabbath, 
 of abstinence from particular kinds of food, and of attendance 
 at the Jewish festivals. No equal degree of contrariety has 
 ever since been found within the bosom of the same religious 
 society. In large nations, it is true that the differences between 
 Protestants and Roman Catholics may mount in some instances 
 nearly to the same pitch ; but in such cases the fusion has not 
 been attempted, and the two bodies have lived apart, if not in 
 open separation, from each other. 
 
28. FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Parties ^^ *^^ third place, the professed watchwords of 
 
 named these parties were the names, not of any subordinate 
 A^o^ Ues teachers, but of the Apostles themselves and their 
 and their immediate followers, — * I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I 
 followers, ^f Kephas, I of Christ.' 
 
 It has sometimes been doubted whether these were the 
 designations actually used by the Corinthian parties. ' These 
 things,' says the Apostle, ' I have in a figure transferred 
 (fjLSTscT'^yfjLdTtcra) to myself and Apollos for your sakes ; ' as if — 
 so it has been said — he had used the names of himself and 
 Apollos instead of the real names of unknown leaders, in order 
 either to avoid mixing himself up in their party disputes, or to 
 impress more forcibly upon them the futility of these rival 
 claims, which even in himself and Apollos would be out of 
 place, much more in those who really made them. But this 
 would not apply to the use of the name of Kephas ; and it is 
 clear that the Apostle in this instance merely expresses his in- 
 tention of confining himself to those who called themselves after 
 his name and that of Apollos, in order to show that his censure 
 was aimed, not only against his Judaising opponents, but 
 against the factious spirit itself, by which those who claimed to 
 be his partisans were no less animated than those who claimed 
 to be his enemies. Such appears to have been the course 
 adopted also in the opening of the argument,^ where he im- 
 mediately selects the party which said, ^ I am of Paul,' as the 
 chief instance of the sin common to them all. 
 
 And to this we may add the testimony of Clemens, writing 
 within fifty years from this time to the very same Church, and 
 contrasting the factions of his days with those in the days of 
 St. Paul. ' The blessed Apostle Paul,' he says, ' wrote to you 
 about himself and Kephas and Apollos, because then as well as 
 now you formed parties. But that party spirit was less sinful, 
 because it was directed to Apostles and a man approved by 
 them.' 2 
 
 That these parties followed the great division of Jew and 
 ^, Gentile which ran through all the Churches of this 
 
 ties of Ke- period, and that the adherents of the former ranged 
 phas and themsclvcs under the name of Kephas, and those 
 of the latter under that of Paul, will hardly be 
 doubted : and it would seem probable that the party of Paul 
 
 i. 13-16. '' Clem. Ep. i. 47. 
 
THE FACTIONS. 
 
 29 
 
 was in the ascendant during the period of the First Epistle^ 
 which chiefly attacks such sins as would belong to the Gentile 
 portion of the community ; and the party of Kephas, during 
 the period of the Second Epistle, which expressly attacks a 
 formidable body of Judaisers. And the connexion of these 
 latter with Kephas is further confirmed by the appeals which 
 they would seem to have made to his example and authority, 
 in the only passage where their presence is certainly indicated 
 in the First Epistle, and in the stress laid by St. Paul on the 
 error of St. Peter in his address to a similar party in Galatia.^ 
 That the followers of Apollos, or as he would be more 
 correctly called Apollonius, must have been closely The party 
 connected with those of Paul may be inferred both of Apollos. 
 from the association of Apollos with the disciples of Paul in the 
 Acts,^ and from the constant union of their names in this 
 Epistle.^ The contrast of the expressions, Paul 'planting,' 
 Apollos ^ watering ; ' Paul * laying the foundation,' another 
 ' building ; ' agrees with the account in the Acts, speaking of the 
 effects of the mission of Apollos to Corinth as subsequent to 
 the visit of Paul. The frequent allusions to human wisdom and 
 learning in the early chapters'* would agree with no party so 
 well as with that which professed to follow the Alexandrian 
 Jew, * eloquent, mighty in the Scriptures.'^ 
 
 Whether the words ' and I of Christ ' {syco Bs ^j^pto-Toi)) 
 refer to any distinct party, must remain doubtful. The party 
 One would be glad with Chrysostom so to read the of Christ. 
 passage, as if the Apostle, after enumerating the other names, 
 had broken off with the indignant exclamation, ' But / am of 
 Christ.' Had, however, such an antithesis been intended, some 
 more decisive expression (such as syo) Ss IlavXos 'x^piaTov) seems 
 almost necessary to prevent the ambiguity which otherwise 
 arises. And that there was some party laying claim to an ex- 
 clusive connexion with the One !N"ame which, as the Apostle 
 implies,^ ought to have been regarded as common to all, is 
 strongly confirmed by the subsequent argument, ' If any man 
 trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of himself think 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix. 5 ; Gal. ii. 11-14. 
 These passages, as well as that just 
 quoted from Clemens, sufficiently 
 refute the hypothesis of Theophylact 
 and CEcumenius (on Gal. ii.), and of 
 Eusebius (H. E. i. 12), that another 
 
 Kephas, not the Apostle, is meant. 
 ~ Acts xviii. 26, 27. 
 ^ iii. 4 ; iv. 6 ; xvi. 12. 
 ^ i. 17-28 ; ii. 1-6. 
 ^ Acts xviii. 28. 
 6 1 Cor. i. 13. 
 
30 "FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 this again, that as he is Christ's, even so are we Christ's ; ' ^ 
 and, although with less certainty, by the claims, apparently, of 
 the same persons to be considered ^ Apostles of Christ ' and 
 * ministers of Christ.'^ The context of the Second Epistle, 
 where the above passages occur, implies an allusion to the Juda- 
 ising Christians of the Corinthian Church. If so, they would 
 naturally dwell on their national and lineal connexion with 
 ' the Christ,' the ' anointed Messiah,' ' the son of David ; ' 
 and ' the outward appearance,' the ' carnal and fleshly ' argu- 
 ments, on which they prided themselves,^ would be based on 
 their intercourse either with ' Christ Himself after the flesh,' '^ 
 or with the original Jewish Apostles, who had seen Him,^ or 
 with ' the brethren of the Lord,' ^ especially James, as the head 
 of the Church of Palestine. '^ 
 
 Of these Factions, other indications have been supposed to 
 Extinction ^^^^^ in other parts of the New Testament, and the 
 of the writings immediately following upon them. But the 
 Parties. ^^^ certain traces, besides those already referred to, 
 are the indisputable allusions to a supposed hostility between 
 Peter and James on the one hand, and Paul on the other, in 
 the ' Clementines,' a work of about the date a.d. 212-230. 
 With this exception, it is a remarkable fact that the Factions 
 once so formidable, have never been revived. Never has any 
 disruption of the unity of Christianity appeared of equal im- 
 portance ; never has any disruption which once appeared of 
 importance (mth the exception, perhaps, of the Paschal con- 
 troversy) being so completely healed. 
 
 1 2 Cor. X. 7. 
 
 2 2 Cor. xi. 13, 23. 
 
 3 2 Cor. V. 12 ; x. 2, 3, 7. 
 ^ 2 Cor. V. 16. 
 
 5 1 Cor. ix. 1. 
 
 6 1 Cor. ix. 5. 
 
 ^ Comp. especially Gal. ii. 11, 21. 
 
THE CORINTHIAN FACTIONS. 
 
 31 
 
 Descbiption of the Factions. 
 
 ^^UapaKaXo) 8e vfjuaq, aSeX<^06, 8ta tov ovofiaTos tov 
 Kvpiov rjfxa)v ^Irjcrov ^pccrroi), Iva to avTO XeyrjTe Trai^re? 
 Kol, fjir) rj ev vplv cr)(CcriJiaTa^ ^re 8e KaTiqpTicrixivoL iv rat 
 avTO) voLy KOL iv rrj avrrj yvco[jLrj. ^^iSy)\coO'rj yap fiOL wepl 
 vjxcov, aSeX(j)OL fxov^ vwo tcov X\6rj<;^ otl eptSes iv vfjuv elcTLv. 
 ^^Xeyo) 8e rovTo, otl iKacrTO<; vixcov Xeyet 'Eycj fiiv elpLL 
 IlavXov, iyo) Se ^AiroXXco, iyco 8e Ki^c^a, iyoi 8e ^lcttov, 
 ^^ (JLefiepLCTTaL 6 ;(/)to-TOS. /X17 ITavXos iaTavpcodrj ^wepl 
 
 » vnep vfiuv. 
 
 ^° Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that ye all say 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. ^^For it was declared unto me of you, my brethren, 
 by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions 
 among you. ^'^ Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of 
 Paul; and J of A polios ; and I of Kephas ; and J of Christ. "Christ 
 
 10 Tra/oaKaXw = * obsecro.' A 
 mixture of entreaty and com- 
 mand. 
 
 Slo. tov ovofiaro?, i.e. as the 
 bond of union, and as the most 
 holy name by which they could 
 be adjured. The connexion of 
 this with Koivwviav in verse 9 is 
 the link between this and the 
 preceding paras^raph. 
 
 tva TO avTo XiyrjTe, * call your- 
 selves by one common name,' 
 instead of those various names 
 which are afterwards noticed : 
 opposed to l/caoTO? Xeyct. Comp. 
 Arist. Pol. ii. 3, 3. Sl6 ia-n 
 Travrag to avTO Xeyctv wSt /jlcv 
 KoXov, . . . aXX ov SvvaroVy wSl 8' 
 ovOeu ofiovorjTLKov. 
 
 KarqpTLcrixivoi ' restored,' Kar- 
 a/oTt^w, though capable of a more 
 general signification, is usually 
 employed, as here, with the sense 
 of ' restoring ' or * completing ' 
 something which has been set 
 wrong. Compare Matt. iv. 21, 
 
 where it is used of the mending 
 of the nets. Here it is probably 
 suggest-ed by the literal meaning 
 of * (Txicr/AaTa,' rents. 
 
 KarapTLCTTYjp was the acknow- 
 ledged phrase in classical Greek 
 for a reconciler of factions. So 
 Herodot. iv. 161. 
 
 vovs- Probably no greater 
 difference than between KapSta 
 and \jrvxri in Acts iv. 32. 
 
 11 vTTo T(x)v XA.0779, probably 
 the slaves of Chloe going to and 
 from Ephesus and Corinth on 
 business. 
 
 €pt8€9, here used as identical 
 with o-xiV/xaTtt ; divisions not 
 from but within, the society. 
 
 12 Xeyo) 8c TovTO. 'What I 
 mean is.' Comp. Eph. v. 32. 
 
 €Kao-T09 vfxOiv. * There is none 
 of yon who has not joined one or 
 other of the parties.' 
 
 13 iJi€fxipi(TTai 6 ;(pio-T05, ' Christ 
 is divided,' Lachmann's punc- 
 tuation is both more striking. 
 
32 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 14—17. 
 
 v^icxiv Tj €ts TO opofjia JJavkov ifianTLO-OrjTe ; ^* ev^oipio-Tco 
 tS Oeca ^fjLOv, OTL ovhiva vfjicop i/SdiTTLcra, el [jltj KpicoTroi/ 
 Koi Taiiov, ^^ Iva yurj Tts €17717 on els to ifjiov ovofxa ^ e^an- 
 TLO-67)Te, ^^ ifidTTTLcra Se kol top ^recjiava oXkov Xolttoj/ 
 ovK olSa el TLva dWov efiaTTTLcra* ^^ ov yap aTrecrTeike 
 
 * Om. fxov. " ifidiTTKra. 
 
 is divided. Was Paul crucified for you 1 or were ye baptized in the 
 name of Paul? ^*I thank my God that I baptized none of you, but 
 Crispus and Gains ; ^^lest any should say that ye were baptized in mine 
 own name. ^^And I baptized also the household of Stephanas ; besides, 
 I know not whether I baptized any other. ^"^For Christ sent me not to 
 
 and also agrees better with the 
 context, than that of the Received 
 Text. Had it been a question, 
 ' Is Christ divided ? ' one vsrould 
 expect 1X7] fie/x.^ as in the follow- 
 ing clauses. It is an abrupt and 
 mournful summing up of the 
 statement of their divisions : 
 ' By your factions, Christ, who 
 lives in the Christian society, 
 and by whom you should be 
 united, is torn asunder.' And 
 then, after a pause, follows the 
 burst of indignation : ' Surely it 
 was not Paul who was crucified 
 for you, and into whose name 
 you were baptized ! It was not 
 Paul who died for you, or to 
 whom you died ! (Compare for 
 the connexion, Rom. vi. 2, 3.) 
 He takes his own party for the 
 specimen of the evil of which he 
 complains, as being the one in 
 which it most forcibly strikes 
 him, and also in which he can 
 best denounce the sin of party 
 spirit itself, without being sup- 
 posed to be influenced by oppo- 
 sition to the views or claims of 
 the hostile factions. It is the 
 first instance of the ' transfer- 
 ring ' of which he speaks in iv. 6. 
 (For this sense of /xe/tc/otcrTat see 
 Mark iii. 26.) 
 
 14 eu^apio-Tw T(3 ^cw, * I 
 
 thank God that it so happened 
 even without my express inten- 
 tion.' 
 
 Crispus as the ruler of the 
 synagogue (Acts xviii. 8), and 
 Gains (or Cains) as the Apostle's 
 host (Rom. xvi. 23), would na- 
 turally be the two most obvious 
 of his converts, and most pro- 
 minent in his recollections. 
 ' Crispus ' was a common name 
 of Jews. Lightfoot ad loc. 
 
 16 This addition of the bap- 
 tism of Stephanas seems to be a 
 subsequent correction. Stepha- 
 nas and his household (for this 
 is the most natural meaning of 
 the words — like ot d/x-c^t ^re^a- 
 vdv) were his earliest converts, 
 xvi. 15, 17. 
 
 OVK oTSa, ' I do not remember.' 
 Compare 2 Cor. xii. 2 ; Acts 
 xxiii. 5. 
 
 1 7 ' So little concern have I 
 with baptizing, that it is not 
 properly part of my mission.' In 
 the injunction, Matt, xxviii. 19, 
 the principal command is, as here, 
 to ' make disciples ' (ixaOrjrev- 
 aare) ; ' baptizing ' (^aTrri^ovrcs) 
 is introduced subordinately, as 
 the mode by which the nations 
 are to be made disciples. So also 
 in Mark xvi. 15, 16, the duty of 
 * proclaiming the Gospel ' (^Krjpv- 
 
THE CORINTHIAN FACTIONS. 
 
 33 
 
 fie * [6] ^LcrTO<; iBairri^eLV, dXX' evayyekit^ecr 9 ai ovk iv 
 (ro(j)La \6yoVy iva jJirj KevcoO^ 6 crTavpos tov ^piajov. 
 
 » Om. d before xP'^'^'^^^- 
 
 baptize, but to preach the Gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the 
 cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 
 
 ^aT€ TO €vayyi\iov) with its sub- 
 sequent effects of 'believing,' 
 and of ' signs following,' corre- 
 sponds to what the Apostle here 
 calls * preaching the Gospel ' 
 (evayyeXi^ea-Oai) ; ' baptism ; ' 
 (f3a7rTL(rOeL<s) is mentioned once 
 subordinately, as an explanation 
 of ' believing ' (Trio-rcro-a?). Such, 
 too, was the practice : preaching 
 
 was the mission of the Apostles 
 as of our Lord before them ; the 
 administration of baptism was 
 performed by inferiors (John 
 iv. 2). Comp. Acts viii. 12, 16, 
 and by implication Acts ii. 41 ; 
 ix. 18 ; X. 48 ; xix. 3, 5, 6. 
 
 Xoyov, ' mere words.' (Comp. 
 Arist. Eth. vii. 9, § 1 ; x. 9.) 
 
 Pabaphrase of Chap. I. 10 — 17. 
 
 First let me entreat and command you, in the name of our com- 
 mon Master, to lay aside these party watchwords by ivhichyou 
 call yourselves, remembering that by them you divide Christ 
 Himself, You especially who profess to follow me as your 
 leader, attend to tchat I, your leader, tell you. Surely the 
 very act of your admission into the Christian society showed 
 you that there teas One greater than Paul, who died for you, 
 and to whom you died. There was nothing in that first be- 
 ginning of your Christian life which brought you into any 
 special connexion with me. With three exceptions, you were 
 baptized not by me, but by others ; and thus it was providen- 
 tially ordered that you should have no pretext for attaching 
 yourselves to me as the head of a party. And this reluctance 
 of mine to baptize is also in accordance with the duty imposed 
 upon me. My mission from Christ was not to form a party, 
 — no, nor even a society, or a Clnirch, — but to declare the 
 glad tidings of the Gospel. To that great object all else was 
 subordinate. 
 
34 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 The Apostle's View of Party Spirit. 
 
 The Apostle here denounces party spirit as a sin in itself, 
 p irrespectively of the right or wrong opinions con- 
 
 spirit in it- nected with it ; and the true safeguard against it is 
 self an evil. ^^ ^j^g recollection of the great bond of fellowship 
 with Christ, which all have in common. ' Christian us mihi 
 nomen est,' said an ancient bishop, in answer to some such 
 distinction; ' Catholicus cognomen.' 
 
 The first duty of the Apostle was to lose himself entirely 
 in thie cause which he preached. The most important 
 greater details or forms — even though it were the organisa- 
 than the tion of the Christian society through the rite insti- 
 tuted by Christ Himself — were so insignificant in 
 comparison, that St. Paul spoke of them as though he had no 
 concern with them. How often in later times have the means, 
 the institutions of the Christian Church, taken the place of the 
 end ! Antiquity, novelty, the formation of a church or party, 
 the attack on a church or a party, a phrase, a ceremony, a 
 vestment, each has in turn overbalanced the one main object 
 for which, confessedly, all lesser objects are inculcated. To all 
 these cases the Apostle's answer applies : * Christ sent me not 
 to baptize, but to preach the Gospel.' 
 
 The sin of the Corinthians consisted not in the mere adoption 
 The sa- ^^ eminent names, but in the party spirit which at- 
 credness of taches more importance to them than to the great cause 
 no warmnt "^'liich all good men have in common. Even the sacred 
 for party name of Christ Himself may thus be desecrated ; and 
 spirit. ^g ^YiQ Apostle here rebukes those who said * I am of 
 Christ,' no less than those who said ' I am of Paul, of ApoUos, 
 and of Kephas,' so in the Gospels we read that our Lord Him- 
 self refused ^ to take the title of * good,' and that He Himself 
 ' baptized not, but His disciples.' ^ If the holiest name of all 
 can thus be made a party watchword, if Christianity itself can 
 thus be turned to the purposes of a faction, much more may 
 any of its subordinate manifestations. The character of our 
 Lord is distinguished from almost all others by the fact both 
 that it rises far above any local or temporary influences, and 
 also that it has, for the most part, escaped, even in thought, 
 from any association with them So the character of the 
 
 ^ Luke xviii. 19. ^ John iv. 2. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF PARTY SPIRIT. 35 
 
 Apostle, although in a lower measure, vindicates itself in this 
 passage from any identification with the party which called 
 itself after his name ; and is a true example of the possibility 
 of performing a great work, and labouring earnestly for great 
 truths, without losing sight of the common ground of Chris- 
 tianity, or becoming the centre of a factious and worldly spirit. 
 It is by catching a glimpse, however partial, of the wild 
 dissensions which raged around and beneath the Apo- Theextinc- 
 stolical writings, that we can best appreciate the 5,^" P^ ^^^ 
 unity and repose of those writings themselves ; it is the Apo- 
 by seeing how completely these dissensions have been stolic age. 
 obliterated, that we can best understand how marked was the 
 difference between their results and those of analogous di- 
 visions in other history. We know how the names of Plato 
 and Aristotle, of Francis and Dominic, of Luther and Calvin, 
 have continued as the rallying point of rival schools and sys- 
 tems long after the decease, and contrary even to the inten- 
 tions, of the respective founders. But with regard to the 
 factions of the Apostolic age it was not so. The schools of 
 Paul and Apollos, and Kephas, which once waged so bitter a 
 warfare against each other, were extinguished almost before 
 ecclesiastical history had begun ; and the utmost diversity of 
 human character and outward style has been unable to break 
 the harmony in which their memories are united in the asso- 
 ciations of the Christian world. Partly this arose from the 
 nature of the case. The Apostles could not have been the 
 founders of systems, even if they would. Their power was 
 not their own, but another's : " Who made them to differ from 
 another ? what had they which they had not received ? ' If 
 once they claimed an independent authority, their authority 
 was gone. Great philosophers, great conquerors, great here- 
 siarchs, leave their names even in spite of themselves. But 
 such the Apostles could not be without ceasing to be what 
 they were ; and the total extinction of the parties which were 
 called after them is in fact a testimony to the divinity of their* 
 mission. And it is difficult not to believe that in the great 
 work of reconciliation, of which the outward volume of the 
 Sacred Canon is the chief monument, they were themselves 
 not merely passive instruments, but active agents ; that a 
 lesson is still to be derived from the record they have left of 
 their own resistance to the claims of the Factions which vainly 
 endeavoured to divide what God had joined together. 
 
 d2 
 
36 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. I. 18-11. 5. 
 
 THE FACTIONS (continued). 
 
 The Simplicity of the Apostle's Preaching. 
 
 Chap. I. 18—11. 5. 
 
 The course of the argument in the previous section would 
 have led us to expect a continuation of the reasons why the 
 Apostle was not sent to baptize. But having stated that he 
 was sent to preach the Gospel, he is diverted from the pre- 
 ceding train of thought by the recollection that the preaching 
 of the Gospel had itself been made a subject of contention 
 and party feud. He may have been either taunted by his ad- 
 versaries with af want of that human learning and eloquence 
 on which the Greek rhetoricians prided themselves, and by 
 which Apollos was distinguished ; or he himself as ' the chief 
 speaker' (comp. Acts xiv. 12), with Apollos, may have been 
 set up by the Gentile party, in opposition to the simple un- 
 lettered instructions of Kephas or of James. The latter is 
 most favoured by the context and the nature of the case, espe- 
 cially if we may suppose that the party of Apollos was practi- 
 cally identified with that of St. Paul. At any rate, the ten- 
 dency of the whole passage is not to claim, but to disclaim, 
 for himself and the Gospel, the ' wisdom of words ' which the 
 Corinthians seemed to expect ; lest the subject of his teaching 
 should, by his mode of teaching, be ' deprived of its inherent 
 power ' {KEvcoOfif comp. Rom. iv. 14) ; lest the form in which 
 he taught should be inconsistent with the humiliation of the 
 lesson. 
 
 And the glad tidings which he proclaimed was, by a 
 mournful paradox, the Cross of Christ (o crTavpos rov •^^^pvarov). 
 The humiliation of Christ, as expressed in the shameful death 
 of the Crucifixion, was in itself the centre of the Apostle's 
 teaching, and at Corinth was in this respect especially needed 
 as an antidote to the pride of the ambitious sects and vain 
 Greeks. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S PREACHING. 
 
 37 
 
 The Simplicity of the Apostle's Preachixg. 
 
 ^^'O Xoyo^ yap 6 tov crravpov rol^ [xev anoWviiiuoL^ 
 lxo)pia icTTLV, rols 8e crw^o/xeVot? rjfjilv SvvajxLS Oeov icrriv. 
 ^^yiypairraL yap ^AttoXco ttjv o'0(j)Lap rcov G-o<^(x)Vy Koi ttjp 
 (TW^fjiv TOP crvveTO)v atfeTrjcro). ^^ttov aocpos ; ttov ypafi- 
 
 ^^ For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto 
 us which are saved it is the power of God. ^'^For it is written, ' I will 
 destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the prudence 
 of the prudent. ^° Where is the wise ? where is the scribe ? where is the 
 
 i8 6 Xoyo9 yap. ' The true 
 power of the Gospel is in this 
 very Cross which is so despised.' 
 
 6 Adyo9. ' There is a word,' 
 * an eloquence,' which is most 
 powerful, ' the eloquence of the 
 Cross ' (referring to o-o^ta A,o- 
 yov)^ 
 
 Tois aTToAAv/xeVots. Unbe- 
 lievers are regarded by St. Paul 
 as already perishing ; believers 
 as already saved. ' A sweet sa- 
 vour .... in them that are 
 saved, and in them that perish ' 
 (2 Cor. ii. 15). 
 
 19 yiypaTTTai yap. This gives 
 the reason for Svva/xi? : ' Grod's 
 power is greater than man's 
 wisdom, for you will remember 
 how this is set forth in the Pro- 
 phets.' He then, as often, com- 
 bines two distinct passages in 
 one quotation. Both are from 
 Isaiah, nearly as in the LXX. 
 (1) Isa. xxix. 14, ' I will de- 
 stroy,' &c. The original mean- 
 ing is, that the wisdom of the 
 pretended leaders of the Jewish 
 people shall be confounded by 
 the judgments of God. The 
 LXX. has Kpvxl/oi where the 
 Apostle has d^er^o-a). The He- 
 brew is ' shall perish ' and ' shall 
 disappear.' (2) Isa. xxxiii. 18, 
 
 * Where is the scribe ? ' &o. 
 The original meaning is a burst 
 of triumph over the defeat of 
 Sennacherib : ' Where is he who 
 exacted and weighed the tribute, 
 and who counted the towers of 
 Zion as if they were his own ? * 
 These words the Apostle applies 
 generally ; adopting, apparently, 
 the common phraseology of the 
 Rabbis on the subject. See 
 Lightfoot's quotation : 
 ' God showed to Adam 
 Every generation, and the disputers of 
 
 it; 
 Every generation, and the wise men of 
 
 it; 
 Every generation, and the scribes of 
 
 it; 
 Every generation, and the governors of 
 
 it.' 
 
 20 The ' wise man,' (ro<^6<;, 
 probably refers specially to the 
 Greeks, as the word especially 
 used by themselves, e.g. in the 
 derivatives <^tXoo-o<^os, cro</)to-r7y?. 
 The ' scribe,' ypafx/xarevs, is the 
 Jew. It is only in the sense of 
 a Jewish ' expounder of the 
 Law ' that it can be classed with 
 (ro<f>6<s, and (rvtjjTrjT'q^. When- 
 ever it is used generally, or in 
 reference to Gentiles, it merely 
 means ' clerk,' or ' secretary,' un- 
 less, perhaps, in Ecclus. xxxviii. 
 
38 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 21—26. 
 
 fiarev? ; ttov crvl7]T7)T'q^ rov alcovo^ tovtov ; ov)(l ijJLcopavev 
 6 deo^ TTjv cro(j)Lav tov KocrfJiov ;^ '^^eTreLdrj yap iv rfj o-o(f)La 
 rov 0eov ovk eyvo) 6 Koaixos 3ta T179 crot^ta? tov Oeov^ €v- 
 S6K7)0'ev 6 6eo<s Sta Trjs fxoipCas tov ACT^puy/xaro? crwcrat 
 
 Add 
 
 disputer of this age 1 ' Did not God make foolish the wisdom of the 
 world ? ^^ For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew 
 not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 
 24. The * disputer,' crv^r/Tryr^?, 
 seems to be a word descriptive 
 of the popular disputations which 
 took place in rival schools (comp. 
 Acts vi. 9 ; ix. 29). tov atwvos 
 TOVTOV refers to all the three, and 
 is to be slightly distinguished 
 from k6(tixov, the first referring 
 to the transitory, the second to 
 the visible and material, charac- 
 ter of the present world. The 
 general identity of meaning in 
 the two words is proved by their 
 use in iii. 18, 19. 
 
 These expressions acquire ad- 
 ditional force by a comparison 
 with the Rabbinical belief that 
 the cessation of Rabbinical wis- 
 dom was to be one of the signs 
 of the Messiah's coming (see the 
 quotations from the Mishna in 
 Wetstein ad he), and that this 
 was expressly foretold in Isa. 
 xxxiii. 18. Analogous to this 
 was the belief of Christians that 
 the oracles of the heathen world 
 ceased on the birth of Christ. 
 
 21 iv rrj (TOcfiLa tov Oeov may 
 be, (1) ' God ordained in His 
 wisdom that the wisdom of the 
 world shall not be the means of 
 arriving at a knowledge of God ; ' 
 (in which case comp. Acts xiv. 
 16, ' God in times past suffered 
 all men to walk in their own 
 ways,' and xvii. 30, * the times 
 of this ignorance God winked 
 at,' also Romans iii. 25, ' the 
 
 " passing over," irdpea-iv, of sins 
 that are "gone before," Trpoye- 
 yovoToiv, through the forbear- 
 ance of God ; ') Or (2) ' When 
 all the wisdom of God had been 
 displayed, the world was still 
 unable to arrive at the know- 
 ledge of God.' Compare the 
 general context in Rom. i. 16- 
 21, where the Apostle argues in 
 like manner that the Gospel is 
 shown to be the power of God 
 to those who believe, because in 
 spite of full light the Gentile 
 world had rejected the know- 
 ledge of God. In either case 
 the general sense of the end of 
 the sentence will be, ' The world 
 was not converted by His wis- 
 dom ; and therefore He chose 
 to confound it by saving, not 
 the world, but the believers, (if 
 one may so say) through His 
 folly.' 
 
 8ta T^5 (Tocfiia^ ■D^Q^y thus be 
 either ' its wisdom,' or the re- 
 petition and explanation of iv 
 T§ (T0<f)La TOV Oeov, ' through the 
 wisdom which I have just men- 
 tioned.' 
 
 6 Koa-fioq, * the world of Gen- 
 tiles,' is opposed to ol Trto-rcvov- 
 TC9, 'the believing world; ' and 
 in the next verse * the world ' is 
 expanded into ' Jew and Greek,' 
 and ' those that believe ' is ex- 
 plained by 'we.' 
 
THE APOSTLE'S PEEACHING. 
 
 39 
 
 22 ' 
 
 9 s ^ V 
 
 " eireLOT} 
 
 KOi 'louS 
 
 aiOL cr7)[xeLa airov- 
 
 Tovs TTLO'Tevovraf;' 
 
 [j.ev ^larov iaTavpcufxevov^ 'louSatots fxev cTKoivSaXov, 
 ^eOvecFiv Se jxajpLav^ ^"^avrot? 8e Tol^ kXt^toI?, 'lovSatot? re 
 Acal EWrjcFLV^ -)(pi(TT0V Oeov Svpafjuv kol Oeov crocfyCav' 
 '^^ OTL TO jjicjpop Tov Oeov CrO(j)CiiT€pOV TCOV dvOpCOTTCOV icTTlVy 
 KOL TO acrSevkf; tov Oeov Icr^poTepov tcov av6po)Trov ^iaTiv. j vl 
 ^^/BXeVere yap ttjv kXtJctlv ufxcov, aSeXc^ot, otl ov ttoXXoi 
 (To^oi KOLTa (rdpKa, ov ttoWoI SvvaTOL, ov ttoXXoi evyeveisi 
 
 ar]/j.€iov. 
 
 'E\\Tj<ri for ^9v€(ni'. 
 
 Lachm. ed. 1 omits eVnV. 
 
 believe ; '^^ since both Jews require signs, and Greeks seek after 
 wisdom, 2^ but toe preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumblingblock, 
 and unto Gentiles foolishness ; "^^but unto ourselves that are called, 
 both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God : 
 ^^ because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of 
 God is mightier than men. ^^For ye see your calling, brethren, how 
 that there are not many wise men after the flesh, not many strong 
 
 22 Unless a new sentence is 
 begun here, cTrctSrj resumes the 
 first eVctSrj in 21, and introduces 
 an amplification of the ground 
 already stated there. 
 
 'lovoatoi . . . "EAAr/vc?. * Cha- 
 racters like the Jews — like the 
 Greeks ' (implied in the omis- 
 sion of the article). The repe- 
 tition of Kttt expresses 'each in 
 their own way,' 
 
 <nr)jx£La, ' signs,' has the same 
 general meaning of ' outward 
 visible wonders to gratify the 
 craving of superstition ; ' as cro- 
 <f>ia is ' an inward completeness 
 of system to gratify the cra- 
 vings of the intellect.' In its 
 plural form it agrees with John 
 iv. 48. 
 
 ^3^ 24, 25, i7/xet5. 'We, Apos- 
 tles and Christians.' 
 
 ■XpuTTov ia-ravp. k. t. X. * Christ, 
 to whom, in His humiliation 
 the Jews have a religious, the 
 Greeks an intellectual, objection, 
 but who, to us, who are called 
 to believe in Him, though still 
 
 the same Christ, is a greater 
 manifestation of power than any 
 sign in Heaven or outward mi- 
 racle ; a greater manifestation 
 of wisdom than any system of 
 human learning, inasmuch as He 
 is the power and the wisdom, 
 not of man, bat of God.' 
 
 *The power of God, as de- 
 livering from the bondage of 
 sin ' (compare Rom. viii. 3) ; 
 'the wisdom of God as en- 
 lightening our understandings ' 
 (compare Ephesians i. 8, 9, 17, 
 18). 
 
 0-77/Aeta, (TKavSaXov, SvvafXL^, on 
 the one hand, correspond to ao- 
 (fita, ixwpta, cro</>ta, on the other. 
 
 Observe the repetition of xpc' 
 (TTov. ' He, in whom the unbe- 
 lievers saw only the crucified 
 malefactor, was, to the believers, 
 the power and wisdom of God.' 
 
 26 It was a general, though 
 not a universal rule {ov ttoXXol, 
 not ovSets), that the first con- 
 verts were from the humblest 
 and most illiterate classes. The 
 
40 
 
 PIKST EPISTLE : CHAP. I. 27—11. 1. 
 
 ^^ aWa ret jxcopa tov Kocrfxov efeXefaro 6 ^edg, [tVa ^ Karai- 
 (Tvyvrj Tovs cro^ov^, koL tol acrOevrj tov koct^jlov i^eke^aro 6 
 C7€0sJ, Lva KaraKj^vvrj ra L(j\vpa,^° Kai ra ayeinr) tov koct- 
 jjiov Koi TOL e^ovdevrnjiiva i^eXe^aTO 6 6e6s^ ^tol fxr) ovTa^ 
 Lva Ta ovTa KaTapyr^crrj^ ^"^ on cos fJi^rj Kav^-qcrrjTai Tracra 
 crap^ iv(x)Tnov ^tov 6eov' ^^i^ avTov Be vfiets iaTe iu 
 ^ptcrrw ^Irjcrov^ 09 iyevrjOrf ^ cro(^ia riplv diro 6eov, 81/caio- 
 
 " rovs (TO<povs Karaicrxvyr). 
 d ouToG for TOV deov. 
 
 Kol before to fxr]. 
 
 " Kavx^orerai. 
 * Tifiiv aocpia. 
 
 men, not many noble, ^''but the foolish things of the world God chose 
 to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world God chose to 
 confound the things which are mighty, -®and the base things of the 
 world and the despised things God chose, — things which are not, to 
 make to vanish away things which are ; ^^ that no flesh should boast 
 in the presence of God. ^"^But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who 
 was made wisdom unto us of God, and righteousness, and holiness, 
 
 few exceptions that occur in the 
 New Testament itself are Ni- 
 codemus and Joseph, Sergius 
 Paulus, Dionysius the Areopa- 
 gite, Apollos, Barnabas, and the 
 Apostle himself. Of the origi- 
 nal Apostles it was probably true 
 without exception. A doubtful 
 tradition of Bartholomew's high 
 birth is all that has ever been 
 alleged to the contrary. 
 
 Trjv kXtjo-lv, ' the manner of 
 your conversion to Christianity ' 
 (see on vii. 20). 
 
 Kara (rapKa, ' outwardly,'^ tov 
 Koarjxov tovtov. 
 
 ^Xe-n-ere may be either impera- 
 tive or indicative, ' see,' or 'you 
 see.' 
 
 27, 28 TO, /xiopd, opposed to 
 aoffiOL, — TOL aaOevrj to SvvaTOc, — to. 
 dycvrj kol to, i^ovOiinrjjxiva (com- 
 pare vi. 4) to cvyevets- 
 
 Ta /jirj ovTa, the climax of the 
 whole. ' God has not only made 
 the Gospel to prevail over wis- 
 dom and power and rank, but 
 has created it out of nothing ; 
 that so, in our redemption as 
 well as our creation, we might 
 
 be wholly dependent upon Him ' 
 (compare Rom. iv. 17). 
 
 Kttt is inserted before to, /^^ 
 ovTtt in B. C^. D^. J. and the 
 Received Text, and is omitted 
 in A. CKBK E. (?)F. G. and in 
 Lachmann. If the omission is 
 correct, the words to. fxr] ovTa 
 are not an addition to, but a 
 summary of, the successive ideas 
 of the previous verse. 
 
 30 What in 27-29 is ex- 
 hibited on its negative, is here 
 exhibited on its positive side. 
 ' God is our creator ; and there- 
 fore we are to confide in none 
 and in nothing besides Him. 
 He is our Creator ; and therefore 
 you are certainly His children, 
 born again into the world 
 through Christ, who, as the 
 first-born of this new creation, 
 was made {kyivrjOyf) to us the 
 true source and exemplar of di- 
 vine wisdom.' Comp. Rom. xi. 
 36, where the same truth is 
 stated — that frotn the Father 
 through the Son all things exist ; 
 that, in opposition to all thp 
 wisdom and power of the world, 
 
THE APOSTLE'S PKEACHINa. 
 
 41 
 
 crv^rj T€ Koi aytacr/xo? kol oLTroXvTpcocTLS, ^^Iva KaOojs ye- 
 ypaTTTai 'O Kav^(ofJi€vo(; iu Kvpico Kav^dadcti. 
 
 II. ^ Kayoi Ikdoiv Trpo^ v/x-a?, dbekcfyoi, rfKOov ov KaO^ 
 virepo^qv Xoyov ^ <TO(pLas KarayyeWoiv vfJilv to fjiaprv- 
 
 and redemption ; ^Hhat according as it is written, ' he that boasteth, in 
 the Lord let him boast.' 
 
 II. ^ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency 
 
 Christ alone contains the true 
 divine wisdom. With this as- 
 sertion the antithesis properly 
 closes^ as is shown by the posi- 
 tion of the words, ' Christ was 
 made wisdom unto us of God.' 
 But here, as elsewhere, the 
 Apostle's feeling overflows, and 
 adds (what is not strictly 
 needed) that Christ, besides 
 being our wisdom, is also ' both 
 our righteousness and our holi- 
 ness ' (StAcatoo-uvry re kol dytao-yuds), 
 ' the one as truly as the other — 
 the source and exemplar of both.' 
 That this is the force of the jux- 
 taposition of the words is evi- 
 dent from re kul. Compare vi. 
 11. This is the earliest passage 
 in St. Paul's writings which 
 contains the germ of Rom. iii. 
 21-25, and the structure of 
 teaching built upon it. 
 
 Kttt aTToAvrpwo-ts. 'And yet 
 more, He is our ransom from 
 all evil ; in Him we all receive 
 that ransom by which our mor- 
 tal natures shall be set free 
 from the bondage of corruption.' 
 That this is the full meaning of 
 the word is implied by its occu- 
 pying the climax of the sentence. 
 Comp. Rom. viii. 21-23. Each 
 of the three words has the double 
 meaning both of an inward act 
 and of an outward result ; em- 
 bracing on the one hand ' right- 
 eousness, holiness, freedom ; ' on 
 the other ' acquittal, consecra- 
 tion, deliverance.' It is for the 
 
 expression of these complex 
 ideas, — complex in thought, 
 though simple in fact, — that 
 the mixed Greek of the N. T. 
 forms so adequate, the Latin 
 languages of modern Europe so 
 imperfect, a vehicle. 
 
 31 'Thus our very boasting 
 is an expression of our depend- 
 ence.' The quotation is a con- 
 densation of Jerem. ix. 23, 24 : 
 ' Let not the wise man glory in 
 his wisdom, neither let the 
 mighty man glory in his might ; 
 let not the rich man glory in his 
 riches ; but let him that glorieth 
 glory in this, that he under- 
 standeth and knoweth me, that 
 I am the Lord which exercise 
 lovingkindness, judgment, and 
 righteousness in the earth.' The 
 words ' in the Lord ' probably 
 contain a latent reference in the 
 Apostle's mind, not merely to 
 God generally (as in 29), but to 
 Christ Jesus specially (as just 
 described in 30). 
 
 II. I What he has said gene- 
 rally, he now exemplifies in him- 
 self. 
 
 Kayw. ' And in my own acts, 
 too, this was true. As the Gos- 
 pel is, so also am I its Apostle.' 
 For a similar argument, in re- 
 gard to truthfulness and since- 
 rity, as here to simplicity, viz. 
 that as his teaching was, so 
 must be his own character and 
 practice, see 2 Cor. i. 17-20 ; 
 and iii. 7-12. Kat has, in part, 
 
42 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. 11. 2—5. 
 
 e^ 
 
 ISei 
 
 piov Tov Veov. ^ov yap eKpLva tl ^Lbevai ev vfjuv, et [xr] 
 'Iiqcrovv ^picTTOv^ koI tovtov io-Tavpcofjuepov. ^'^Acdyo) iv 
 dcrOeveia kol ev (f)6l3(t) kol ev rpop^o) 7roKk<£ iyevofjirjv 7rpo9 
 T;/xa9, ^ Kal 6 \6yos fiov kol to KijpvyiJid fjLOv ovk ev Tret^ot? 
 ^cro<^ta9 \6yoL<;^ akW ev dirohei^L Tn^ev/xaros /cat Bwdiiecos, 
 
 ■ TOV etSeVot Tl. '' Kal iyd. « avdpwirivTjs for ffoipias. 
 
 of word or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. '^For 
 1 ^ determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and 
 Him crucified. ^And in weakness and in fear and in much trembling 
 was I with you'; "^and my word and my preaching was not with enticing 
 words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power ; 
 
 ^ Or judged. 
 
 the sense common in Thucy- 
 dides, ' in fact: ' as, e.g. Thucyd. 
 vi. 64 : oTTcp KoX KareXa^ov. 
 virepoxrjv, ' excelling others.' 
 TO fxaprvpiov tov Oeov (in B. 
 D. E. F. G. J.). 'My testi- 
 mony of what God has done in 
 Christ.' The reading of fxva-- 
 rripiov in A. C. is probably trom 
 verse 7. 
 
 2 OVK eKpLva TL ciSevat, * I de- 
 termined to know nothing ' (ovk 
 cKpLva, like ov cf>r]fjLt, not ' I did 
 not determine,' but ' I deter- 
 mined not'). The reading of 
 the Rec. Text, tov ctSeVai, is 
 supported by only one ancient 
 MS. (J.) ; but for a similar con- 
 struction, compare Acts xxvii. 1, 
 iKpiOrj TOV aTTOTrActv. 
 
 'You will recollect that my 
 preaching was no philosophical 
 system ; for it was confined to 
 the exhibition of Jesus Christ, 
 and that not in His glory, but 
 in his humiliation, in which you 
 were called upon to share. 
 
 3 Kayio, 'and J,' as in verse 
 1 ; here repeated as expressing 
 still more emphatically the ab- 
 sence of human power, not only 
 in his practice, but in his per- 
 son. 
 
 'Weakness,' alluding to the 
 
 infirmities mentioned in 2 Cor. 
 X. 10; xi. 30; xii. 5, 9, 10. 
 ' Fear and trembling,' i.e. anxiety- 
 occasioned by a consciousness 
 of his weakness. Compare the 
 same expressions used of the re- 
 ception of Titus, 2 Cor. vii. 15 ; 
 and of the behaviour of ' slaves.' 
 Eph. vi, 5. 
 
 4 X6yo<s, ' the form,' KYJpvyfid, 
 the ' substance ' of his preach- 
 ing. 
 
 Trei^oi?, probably an adjective 
 for TTiOavols^ after the analogy 
 of </)ct8o9 and /xT/xo?. Not found 
 in classical writers. ' Corinthian 
 words ' was a popular expression 
 for exquisite phrases. (Wetstein 
 ad loc.) 
 
 avdpoiTTivrj's ( ' human ' ) , in- 
 serted before cro^ia^ in A. C. 
 and Rec. Text, was probably 
 added from a fear lest ' wis- 
 dom ' itself should seem to be 
 disparaged. 
 
 ev aTToSeilct, 'in the proofs 
 given by the Spirit and the 
 power which was in me.' The 
 words (TTvev/xttTos, Swa/xecos) re- 
 fer to the preternatural gifts, 
 whether of the Corinthians or 
 of himself. 
 
 Compare the whole argument 
 of 2 Cor. xi. 21— xii. 10. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S PEEACHING. 
 
 43 
 
 ^ti^a 7] TTtcrrts v^xcov /xt) tJ ei' <jO(pia avupcoircoVy aAA. ei^ ot»- 
 vdfxeL Oeov. 
 
 ^ that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power 
 of God. 
 
 Longinus (Fragment i. ed. 
 Weiske, p. 112) alludes to the 
 abrupt and unsystematic style 
 on which the Apostle here 
 prides himself, — 'Paul of Tar- 
 
 sus was the first who maintained 
 positive assertion without elabo- 
 rate proof ' {TrpQiTOV . . . Trpo'i- 
 (rTOLfx€vov SoyfiaTos avaTroSecKTOv) . 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. I. 18 — II. 5. 
 
 The Gospel tchich I preach is no system of mere words, fair 
 without, hut hollow unthin. I did nothing to conceal the sim- 
 plicity and the offensiveness of the humiliation of Him whom 
 1 preached, Tnatvery humiliation, expressed in its strongest 
 form in the Cross on lohich He died, has in itself a power 
 to convince the hearts of men far beyond any system of hu- 
 man philosophy : and in Him whom the proud Jew and the 
 intellectual Greek reject as a crucified malefactor, His follow- 
 ers recognise the true satisfaction of all their wants. Nor is 
 it only in Christ, hut in His followers, that the same law is 
 visible ; you have only to look at the quarters from which the 
 ranks of Christians are filled, to see that you owe nothing to 
 your own wisdom, or power, or station, hut all to God ; by 
 whom you have, in the person of Christ, been called, as if to 
 a new existence, in this His second creation. He is your true 
 wisdom ; and not only so, — your righteousness, and holiness, 
 and freedom. What I have thus stated generally teas realised 
 to the letter in my own practice ; in my determination to preach, 
 not theories, but the fact of Chris fs Crucifixion ; in my own 
 personal insignificance, as contrasted tcith the greatness of my 
 cause. 
 
44 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 The foregoing passage is important as containing a state- 
 The Cruci- "^®^^ ^^ ^^^ main subject of the Apostle's preach- 
 fixion the ing. A similar and somewhat expanded description 
 ^^Tof^his ^c^^^'S ^^ ^ CJor. XV. 3-8, which makes it to consist in 
 teaching at the Setting forth of the Death and the Resurrection 
 Corinth. of Christ. Both agree in the selection of the close of 
 our Lord's life as the chief topic of his addresses : ' I delivered 
 unto you first of all . . . how that Christ died for our 
 sins . . . was buried . . . and rose again.' The statement in 
 this passage takes us a step further, and tells us that the 
 Apostle chiefly dwelt on the manner of the Death — The Cross 
 of Christ,^ Christ crucified,'^ And when we compare this 
 language with that of the nearly contemporary Epistle to the 
 Galatians/ ^ before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been evidently 
 set forth, crucified among them,' it is clear that the subject, 
 though here capable of a peculiar application to the intellectual 
 pride of the Corinthians, was habitual to St. Paul during this 
 period of his life. Two points are described as specially com- 
 mending it to him at Corinth: (1) its sunplicity, and (2) its 
 humiliation. A third point appears more prominently in the 
 other Epistles — its sufferings. 
 
 1. It was, as he says, characteristic of ' Jews ' to demand 
 „ ' sio^ns ' or ' portents.' The especial ' sign ' which they 
 
 Absence of » ^ ^ ./., r^^ ^ 
 
 the mira- sought was that 01 some manifestation of the * She- 
 culous. chinah,' or Divine glory, in the Heavens, to encom- 
 pass the Messiah. But the tendency was more general : it was 
 that craving for the marvellous and miraculous, which still 
 characterises Oriental nations, which appears in the license of 
 Arabian invention and credulity, and which in the Jewish na- 
 tion reached its highest pitch in the extravagant fictions of 
 Rabbinical writers. The proverb ' Credat Judaeus ' shows the 
 character which they had obtained amongst the Romans for 
 readiness to accept the wildest absurdities ; and this disposition 
 to seek for signs is expressly commended in the Mishna."^ To 
 a certain extent this tendency is met by the Gospel miracles. 
 ' This^ w^as the beginning of " signs" {arj^sicov) which Jesus 
 did : ' ' Jesus of Nazareth,^ a man approved of God among you 
 by miracles and wonders and signs.' Yet on the whole it is 
 discouraged: *A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh 
 
 1 1. 17. M. 23 ; ii. 2. 
 
 3 Gal. iii. 1. 
 
 * See the quotations at length 
 
 in Reiche's Commentary, on 1 Cor. 
 u. 22. 
 
 ^ John ii. 11. « Acts ii. 22. 
 
THE CKOSS OF CHRIST. 45 
 
 after a sign,^ and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the 
 sign of the Prophet Jonas.' ' Except^ ye see signs and won- 
 ders, ye will not believe.' And what is thus intimated in the 
 Gospels, is here followed out by the Apostle. In answer to 
 this demand for ' signs,' he produced the least dazzling, the 
 least miraculous part of the whole of the career of our Lord — 
 the simple fact of His Crucifixion. The more ample we sup- 
 pose the evidence for the Gospel miracles, or the more porten- 
 tous their nature, so much the more striking is the testimony'of 
 Christ and His Apostle to the truth that it is not on them that 
 the main structure of Christian faith is to be built up. The 
 tendency in human nature, especially in Oriental nature, is 
 acknowledged, and, to a certain extent, satisfied. But it is dis- 
 countenanced as unworthy of the highest and best form of 
 Christian Revelation. 
 
 This simplicity of teaching, which was a rebuke to the 
 superstitious cravings of the Oriental and the Jew, .,^ » 
 was also a rebuke to the intellectual demands of the phiio- 
 European Greek. The charm which the former found ^ophical 
 in outward miracles the latter sought in theories of 
 philosophy. The subtlety of discussion, which had appeared 
 already in the numerous schools of Greek speculation, and 
 which appeared afterwards in the theological divisions of the 
 fourth and fifth centuries, needed not now, as in the time of 
 Socrates, to be put down by a truer philosophy, but by some- 
 thing which should give them fact instead of speculation, flesh 
 and blood instead of words and theories. Such a new starting 
 point was provided by the Apostle's constant representation of 
 the homely yet strange event which had taken place within their 
 own generation in Judsea, — the Crucifixion of his Master. Its 
 outward form was familiar to them, wherever the Koman law 
 had been carried out against the slaves and insurgents of the 
 East. It was for them now to discover its inward application 
 to themselves. 
 
 2. And this brings us to the second point of view from 
 which the Crucifixion is here regarded, namely, its humiliation. 
 
 In order to enter into the force of this, we must picture 
 to ourselves a state of feeling which, in part from the -p 
 eflPect produced on the world by this very passage and tion of the 
 the spirit which it describes, is entirely removed from ^^°^^- 
 
 Matt. xvi. 4. 2 jojjjj j^^ 43^ 
 
46 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 our present experience. Not only is the outward symbol of the 
 Cross glorified in our eyes by the truth of the religion which it 
 represents, but the very fact of the connexion between 
 Christianity and humiliation is to us one of the proofs of its 
 divine excellence.^ But at its first propagation, as is the case 
 even to this day in parts of the world external to Christendom, 
 it was far otherwise. The Crucifixion was and is a ' scandal ' 
 to the Jewish nation, as a dishonour to the Messiah. Christ 
 has been called by them in derision * Toldi,' ^ the man who was 
 hanged ; ' and Christians, ' the servants of him who was hanged.' 
 And in the Mahometan religion, both as now professed and as 
 set forth in the Koran, the supposed ignominy of the Crucifixion 
 is evaded by the story that the Jews, in a judicial blindness, 
 seized and crucified Judas instead of Christ, who ascended from 
 their hands into heaven. ' You do not think that those brute 
 Jews nailed the Lord Isa [Jesus] to a cross ? ' was the indig- 
 nant question of an intelligent Mussulman to an English travel- 
 ler. ' Oh no ! they never nailed Him ; He lives for ever in 
 Heaven.' The objection thus felt by Jews and Mahometans to 
 the Crucifixion as a degradation of the Messiah, was felt by the 
 educated classes of Greek and Roman society as a degradation 
 of the Religion itself; encumbered as it thus was, in their eyes, 
 with associations so low, and addressed, as they would say, to 
 classes so contemptible as the beggars and slaves of the Roman 
 Empire. 
 
 Nothing shows the confidence of the Apostle more strongly 
 Exaltation than the prominence which he gives to an aspect of his 
 of the teaching so unpopular. In the Epistle to the Philip- 
 Cross, pians (ii. 5-8) he pursues the subject home with a 
 like courage through the several stages of humiliation, * of no 
 reputation — the form of a " slave " ' — even to ' the death of the 
 Cross.' But this passage contains the earliest statement, we 
 might almost call it prophecy, of the triumph of Christianity, 
 not only in spite, but by means, of this great obstacle. What 
 the Apostle assumed as certain in the first beginning of the 
 struggle has now been confirmed by the experience of many cen- 
 turies. The Cross which, with all its associations, conveyed no 
 thoughts to the Greek, the Roman, or the Jew, but of the lowest 
 and most infamous punishment, is now enshrined in our most 
 famous works of art, in our greatest historical recollections, in 
 
 See a celebrated passage in Milman's Bampton Lectures, p. 279. 
 
THE CROSS OF CHEIST. 47 
 
 our deepest feelings of devotion. The Apostle's personal de- 
 fects, on which he dwells with such trembling anxiety, are now 
 so entirely forgotten, that the world will not even endure to be 
 reminded that they ever existed. The society which consisted 
 almost exclusively in the first instance of the lower orders, 
 chiefly of slaves and freedmen, and which for three centuries 
 numbered amongst its converts none of the poets, historians, and 
 philosophers, who still headed the literature of the Roman Em- 
 pire, has now embraced within itself all the civilisation of the 
 world. The inhabitants of the palaces from which were taken 
 the splendid works of artthat adorn the galleries of the Vatican 
 have disappeared before the inhabitants of the catacombs, whose 
 rude ill-spelt epitaphs and barbarous sculptures may be seen be- 
 side them. , The Christian religion has triumphed in defiance, 
 not only of persecution, but of the follies and weaknesses for 
 which the writers of the first ages of the Christian Church have 
 been often and justly censured. 
 
 What was most remarkably exhibited in the first rise 
 of Christianity has been exhibited in a less remarkable degree 
 in its different forms subsequently. The immense impression 
 produced by some of the saints of the middle ages, as well as by 
 some of the least cultivated intellects of later times, as amongst 
 our own Nonconformists, is a testimony to the same truth on a 
 mailer scale. So Bonaventura pointed to the Crucifix as the 
 source of all his learning ; so Bunyan has exercised a lasting in- 
 fluence through the ' Pilgrim's Progress.' But the first shock 
 was the greatest. The apparent insignificance of the Apostle, 
 the novelty and the offensiveness of the truth, and of the image 
 under which the truth was conveyed, — can never be repeated 
 or equalled. 
 
 3. Very briefly must be mentioned, as not prominently 
 brought forward in this Epistle, but as appearingin the suffering 
 almost contemporary Epistle to Galatia, the image of of the 
 suffering conveyed in the Crucifixion : * God forbid ^^°^^- 
 that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world.' ^ 
 This is the aspect of it most familiar in the Gospel history, 
 where ' taking up the cross ' is equivalent to following Christ 
 through hardship and difficulty. ' The cross of Christ,' says 
 Luther,^ * signifies all afflictions of all good men, whose suffer- 
 ings are the sufferings of Christ.' 
 
 1 Gal. vi. 14. 2 Luther on Gal. vi. 14. 
 
4S 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. II 6—10. 
 
 THE FACTIONS (continued). 
 Contrast of Human and Divine Wisdom. 
 
 ^^ocfytavSk XaXovfiev iv rot? reXetot?, <TO(f)Lav 8e ov tov 
 alcovo<; tovtov ovSe tcov ap^ovTOiv tov alcovo^ tovtov rcov 
 KaTapyovfievojv^ '^dXXa Xakovfiev ^6eov (TO(j)Lav ev fxvcr- 
 TrjpLO)^ T7]v aTroKeKpvfJLfxei'rji^, f)v Trpooypicrev 6 9eo<; npo rcov 
 alcovojv €19 So^av t^/xwi^, ^rjv ouSet? tcov ap^ovroiv rov 
 ai(xivo<; TOVTOV eyvcoKev (et yap eypcocrav^ ovk av tov KvpLOV 
 
 * (Tocplav 06oO. 
 
 ^Now we speak wisdom among them that are perfect ; yet not the 
 wisdom of this age, nor of the princes of this age, that vanish away ; 
 ■^but we speak God's wisdom in a secret, the hidden wisdom, wliich 
 God ordained before the ages unto our glory ; ® which none of the princes 
 of this age knew (for had they known, they would not have crucified the 
 
 6 ' But although we abjure 
 human wisdom, there is a true 
 wisdom which we speak to those 
 who are fit to receive it.' 
 
 reXctot?, ' fuUgrown,' as op- 
 posed to vrjTTioi^ iii. 1. 
 
 7 fxvcrTT^pLov has its ordinary 
 sense of ' a secret made known 
 to the initiated.' 
 
 €t9 So^av rjjxoiv, ' in order that 
 by its revelation we might re- 
 ceive glory ; that glory which is 
 the highest gift of God to His 
 children.' Compare John xvii. 
 10, 23 ; Rom. viii. 21. This 
 'glory' now becomes the subject 
 of the sentence. 
 
 8-12 yv refers to Bo^av. rov 
 alS)vo<s TOVTOV refers to Trpo twv 
 aluivwv. ' That which belonged 
 to eternity was not likely to be 
 known to those who lived in 
 time.' The earthly and spiri- 
 tual powers of this world, in an 
 evil sense, are here identified, as 
 in Matt. iv. 8, 9 ; Eph. vi. 12 ; 
 and (in reference to the Cruci- 
 
 fixion especially, as in this pas- 
 sage) Luke xxii. 53, ' When I 
 was daily with you in the 
 temple, ye stretched forth no 
 hands against me ; but this is 
 your hour, and the power of 
 darkness.'' For their ignorance 
 comp. Luke xxiii. 34, ' Father, 
 forgive them ; for they know 
 not what they do.' For the 
 same thought of the ignorance 
 of the evil spirits in regard to 
 the Crucifixion, carried out to a 
 fanciful excess, yet still from its 
 early date illustrating this pas- 
 sage, see Tgn. ad Eph. c. 19, koI 
 tkaOe TOV apxovTa tov a/wvog tov- 
 tov 7) TrapOevta Mapia? Koi 6 to- 
 K6T09 avrrjs ofxoLO}? koi 6 OavaTO<; 
 TOV KvpLov, Tpia fJivcTTrfpLa Kpavyrj^, 
 OLTLva iv rj(Tv^ia Oeov lirpaxOr). 
 
 The words Kvpiov t^? So^s 
 seem to be used with reference 
 to So^av : 'Him who alone was 
 sovereign Lord of that glory,' 
 like apxr]yo^ TTjfi t,(iirj<^, Acts iii. 
 15; apx^jyos T^? o-iOTTjpias, Heb. 
 
HUMAN AND DIVINE WISDOM. 
 
 49 
 
 ttJ? Sofr/? i(TTavp(t)crav)y ^dXX.a KaOcoq yeypaTTTau ^A 6(f)- 
 ^aXjLto? ovK elSei' kol ov<; ovk 7]K0V(Tev Kai iirl Kaphiav 
 dvOpcoTTOV OVK dve^T), ^oaa rjTOLjJLacrev 6 9eo<; rots dyairco- 
 criv avTOV* ^^-qfjuv Se ^ oLireKaXviljev 6 ^€0? Std tov irvev- 
 
 ^ 6 Qehs k'jreKd\v\pe. 
 
 h for '6<Ta. 
 
 Lord of glory) ; ^but as it is written, ' what eye saw not, nor ear 
 heard, neither entered into the heart of man, what great things God 
 prepared for them that love Him.' ^°But unto us God revealed them 
 
 ii. 10. So^s here, as S6$av in 
 7, is nsed perhaps with special 
 reference to the shame of the 
 Cross. 
 
 9 oAAct. * Nay, rather ; ' the 
 opposition to ovSeU cyvwKev bein^ 
 first brought forward in rj/uv 8e, 
 verse 10. 
 
 KaOoi's yiypaTTTaL. These words 
 imply that the quotation which 
 follows is from the Old Testa- 
 ment. There is no instance of 
 any apocryphal book (as in Jude 
 9, 14) being introduced by this 
 formula. And, in fact, it seems 
 to be taken from Tsaiah Ixiv, 4 
 
 (LXX.) OLTTO TOV al<ji)VO<; OVK rjKov- 
 
 cra/xev, ovSe ol 6<fi0aXfjLol rjfxijjv eTSov 
 0€ov TrXrjv crov kol to. c/aya o'ov, a 
 7roiyo-€L<s rot's VTrofxevova-iv eXcov, 
 slightly coloured by the recollec- 
 tion of Isa. lii. 15 (LXX.) oh 
 OVK avrjYyiXrj .... oiJ/ovtul, kol ol 
 OVK aKrjKoaa-L (rvvqa-ovai, and Ixv. 
 17 (LXX.) tcrrai yap 6 ovpavo<; 
 
 KttlVO?, K.T.X. KOL OV fXTJ fJLVr](rOC}(rL 
 
 Ttov TrpoTcpcov, ovSe ov /jlyj liriXOrj 
 avToiv cTTt Tr)v KapStav. The varia- 
 tion from the original text is not 
 essentially greater than in other 
 quotations, e.g. that in i. 19, 20, 
 from Isa. xxix. 14 ; xxxiii. 18 ; 
 and it is apparently quoted as 
 such in Clem. Rom. i. c. 34 
 (where see the annotations in 
 Dr. Jacobson's edition). 
 
 It is therefore singular that 
 the Fathers generally held that 
 it was taken, either (as Chryso- 
 
 stom, Theodoret, Theophylact) 
 from some lost prophet, or (as 
 Origen) from an apocryphal 
 work called The Revelation of 
 Elijah (Fabricius, Cod. Apoc. 
 Vet. Test. i. 1077). This agrees 
 with the vehemence with which 
 Hegesippus (in a fragment pre- 
 served in Photius, Bib. Cod. 232) 
 appears to repudiate these words 
 altogether. He charges with 
 'lying and vain speaking those 
 who use this language {Tov<i 
 TOLvra <^a/teVovs), as contradic- 
 tory both to the Scriptures gene- 
 rally and to our Lord's speech, 
 " Blessed are your eyes, for they 
 see; and your ears, for they 
 hear." ' 
 
 The words, both in the ori- 
 ginal context of Isa. Ixiv. 4, and 
 in their position here, refer not 
 (as they are usually applied 
 in quotations) to a future state, 
 but (as is implied in the passage 
 just quoted from Hegesippus) to 
 the spiritual blessedness or glory 
 which is to be attained in the 
 present life by believers, and 
 which the Apostle proceeds to 
 explain in the next verses. 
 
 ID Tjplv 8e, ''to us,' i. e. be- 
 lievers generally, but with a spe- 
 cial reference to himself. The 
 quotation is left unfinished, and 
 he resumes the antithesis to ver. 
 8, ' The rulers knew not, but to 
 us God revealed it.' 
 
 dTTiKoXviJ/e, 'revealed by spi- 
 
10 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. IT. 11—16. 
 
 jjLaroc, • ^ TO yap irvev^a Trdvra ipevva, /cat ret /3d6r) rov 
 Beov. ^^Tt9 yop oihev dvOpcoTTCjv tol tov dvOpcoirov^ el fjirj 
 TO TTvevfJia TOV dv0p(i)7Tov TO iv avTco ; ovTcoq koX tol tov 
 6eov ovSels ^^eyvcoKev, el ijltj to nvevfia tov Beov. ^'^ij/xei? 
 
 » avTOv after Trvev/jLaTos. *• olSev for 4yv(t3K€v. 
 
 by the Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of 
 God. '^ For who of men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit 
 of man which is in him ? even so also the things of God knoweth no one 
 but the Spirit of God. ^-But it?e received, not the spirit of the world, 
 
 ritual insight into things invisi- 
 ble ; ' as in 2 Cor. xii. 1. 
 
 10-16 'This is so: (1) Be- 
 cause the Spirit alone can give 
 this insight (10, 11) ; (2) Be- 
 cause ive have received this Spirit 
 (12-16).' 
 
 10 The ' Spirit ' is spoken of, 
 in the Old Testament, as the 
 source of all wisdom, Job xxxii. 
 8 : in Psalm cxxxix. 7, it is the 
 penetrating glance of the Divine 
 knowledge. 
 
 ipevvay ' knows through deep 
 inquiry,' Rom. viii. 27 : Psalm 
 cxxxix. 1. 
 
 TO. ^dOr}, ^ the profoundest se- 
 crets of God, whether of His 
 acts or of His nature.' Comp. to, 
 paOia TOV %arava. Rev. ii. 24. 
 
 For the general sense, com- 
 pare Matt. xi. 25-27, ' I thank 
 Thee .... because Thou hast 
 hid these things from the wise 
 and prudent, and hast revealed 
 them unto babes .... no man 
 knoweth the Son but the Father: 
 neither knoweth any man the 
 Father save the Son, and he to 
 whomsoever the Son will reveal 
 Him.' 
 
 11 'It is an inward, not an 
 outward vision.' The very word 
 TTvevfjia (spirit) implies, when 
 used of God, the same conscious- 
 ness of things divine which, 
 when used of man, it implies 
 with regard to things human. 
 
 For a similar comparison of the 
 human and divine Spirit, see 
 Rom. viii. 16, 26. 
 
 TO TTvevfjLa TOV Oeov is not the 
 Spirit in the Divine nature as 
 strict!}^ opposed to the spirit in 
 human nature (which would 
 have been expressed by to ttv. t. 
 0. TO iv avTw, as before, to ttv. 
 TOV avO. TO iv avTw)y but in the 
 more general sense required by 
 the context of the whole passage: 
 ' The Spirit of God, whether in 
 the Godhead or residing in man, 
 is the true bond between God 
 and man.' 
 
 oT8ev and €yvioK€v may be 
 slightly distinguished, as in their 
 similar juxtaposition, John xxi. 
 17 ; oTSev being the more obvious 
 apprehension, as by the senses, 
 €yvwK€v the more subtle, as by 
 the mind. (See 2 Cor. v. 16.) 
 
 12 This comiminication of the 
 Spirit is now expressed more de- 
 finitely in the words to e/c tov 
 Oeov. 
 
 rjfxciq, as in verse 10, is ' be- 
 lievers generally, but specially 
 the Apostle,' i. e. he conceives of 
 the experience of other Christians 
 through his own, as in Rom. vii. 
 7-25. 
 
 TO TTvev/Jia TOV Koa-fiov. ' The 
 spirit of mere human wisdom.' 
 k6(tixo<;, the world, not as in op- 
 position to God, but only as 
 alienated from Him. 
 
HUMAN AND DIVINE WISDOM. 
 
 51 
 
 Se ov TO TTvevfJia tov Kocrfjiov iXd^ofJiev, aXXa to Trvevfia to 
 e/c TOV Oeov, Iva elScofJiev tol vtto tov deov ^apicrOevTa rjfJilv^ 
 ^^a /cat Xakovixev ovk iv StSaAcrot? avOpcoTTLvrjf; crocjjLas Xd- 
 yot<?, dXX' ev StSa/crois Tr^'eu/xaro?, ^TrpevfJiaTLKol<; Trvevp.a- 
 TLKOi avyKpivovTes. ^^ i/zu^tfco? 8e dvOpcoiros ov Several tol 
 TOV TTvevfJiaTo^ TOV 6eov* fjicopta yap avTco icTTiv, /cat, ov 
 hvvaTai yvoivai^ on Tn^ev/xart/cai? dvaKpiveTai. ^^6 8e 
 TTvevfiaTLKos dvaKpivei ^ [tol] iroivTa, avTos Se vtt' ovScj^o? 
 dvaKpiv€Tai. ^^Tl<; yap eypco vovv Kvpiov, 09 crvfi^L^dcreL 
 avTov ; rjfJLels Se ^povi/ Kvpiov e^ofxev. 
 
 • a-yjou after irvev/xaros. ^ avuKpivei fihv irdvra. " vovv xpt<^'''oC. 
 
 but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are 
 freely given to us of God ; ^^ which things also we speak, not in the words 
 which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth ; inter- 
 preting spiritual things to spiritual men. ^^Now 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 judged 
 of. ^^But he that is spiritual judgeth of all things, yet he himself is 
 judged of by no man. ^^ For * who knoweth the mind of the Lord, that 
 he may instruct Him ? ' But we have the mind of the Lord. 
 
 Toi )(apL(rO€vra=i ocra rp-otfiaa-eVf 
 in verse 9, ' the glory and bles- 
 sedness of Christians ; ' perhaps 
 with a slight allusion to the 
 Xapio-fiaTa. 
 
 13 Here he returns more di- 
 rectly to the subject of wisdom, 
 from which, in 8-12, he had 
 slightly digressed, recalled by 
 TO TTvev/xa tov Koa-fiov : ' As our 
 wisdom is not of this world, so 
 neither is our manner of commu- 
 nicating it. Our very language 
 is the immediate result of our 
 spiritual insight.' Comp. apprjra 
 pry/jtara a ovk i$bv avOpwirio XaX^- 
 crat, 2 Cor. xii. 4. 
 
 o-vyKpLvovres (not ' comparing,' 
 but) ' interpreting and explain- 
 ing ' (as in LXX. Gen. xl. 8, 16; 
 xli. 15 ; Daniel v. 12, 15, 26). 
 irvevixaTiKoZ^ maybe either neuter, 
 * by spiritual things,' or mascu- 
 line, to 'spiritual men.' Pro- 
 bably the latter, as in Gen. xli. 
 
 12, (Tvv€Kpiv€v rjfuv, * ho inter- 
 preted to us.* 
 
 14 ' But from its being spi- 
 ritual, the natural man cannot 
 receive it, as he has no spiritual 
 insight.' 
 
 xpv^LKOf;, * man without com- 
 munion with God.' See, for the 
 threefold division of 7n/€v/xa, 
 i/^vx>7, and o-cu/xa, 1 Thess. v. 23. 
 
 avaKpcveTat, 'judged of.' See 
 iv. 3, 4. 
 
 15 'The spiritual man has a 
 new faculty by which he judges 
 all, but cannot be judged by any 
 who have it not. He under- 
 stands the language in which 
 other men speak, but they under- 
 stand not the language in which 
 he speaks.' 
 
 16 'No one can judge him, 
 for he has the Spirit of God, and 
 no one can instruct the Spirit 
 of God.' The quotation is from 
 Isaiah xl. 13. The Apostle re- 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 1—4. 
 
 HI. ^^Kayo)., dSeXc^ot, ovk riSvvij07)v XaXrjcraL vfiLV w? 
 7rv€VfJLaTLKo7<;, dXX' &)? ^ aapKivoL^;^ w? vqirioif; iv -y^picrTio. 
 ^ydXa v/xct? inoTLcra, ^ov fipcofxa' ovttcd yap ihvpacrOe. 
 dXX.' ovSe [eri] vvv Svvaade' ^ en yap crapKiKOi icrre. 
 OTTOv yap iv vplv ^i^Xos koX Ipi?,^ ov^t crapKiKOL icrre /cat 
 
 » Koi ^7ei. 
 
 . Tjdiivao'df . . . o(;Te. 
 
 Kol Sixoa-raalai after epts. 
 
 III. ^And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, 
 but as unto fleshly — as unto babes in Christ. ^I ?ave you milk, not 
 meat ; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it. ^ Neither yet now are ye 
 able ; for ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you envying, 
 
 gards vov? as identical with 
 TTvevfia, and uses it here, from its 
 being the word used in the LXX. 
 where it is, in fact, a translation 
 of D-n. 
 
 a-vfiPifid^cLv is the common 
 word in the LXX. for ' instruct.' 
 
 The readings of Kvpiov (in B. 
 D.^ F. G.) and xpioTov (in A. C.) 
 are almost equally balanced. If 
 the latter, the variation of the 
 word, where the sense is the 
 same, is quite after the Apostle's 
 manner, as in ii. 11, and 2 Cor. 
 16 (otSa/xev and iyvwKafjicv) 
 
 2 Cor. 
 
 X. 1, 2 (TrapaKoXit) and Seo- 
 
 III. I Kctyo), as in ii. 1 : ' What 
 I have just been saying was ex- 
 emplified in our practice,' the 
 connexion being, that, as he had 
 not been able to preach the Gos- 
 pel in the words of human wis- 
 dom, because it was not in him- 
 self or in the Gospel, so he had 
 not been able to preach it to 
 them in its divine wisdom, be- 
 cause they, not having the spi- 
 ritual faculty, were not fit to 
 receive it. 
 
 o-apKtVot?, a stronger expression 
 for i/ruxtKots. 
 
 In verse 1, A. B. C.^ D.^ read 
 o-apKtvot?. In verse 3, D.^ F. G. 
 read a-dpKivoi, and A. B. C. D. E. 
 J. crapKiKOL. If there be a dis- 
 tinction intended between the 
 two, it must be that trapKtvo? ex- 
 presses the nature, and o-apKtKo? 
 the character. But this is too 
 refined for the Apostle's mode of 
 argument ; and it therefore seems 
 most natural to suppose that 
 here, as in Rom. vii. 14 ; Heb. 
 vii. 16 (Lachmann), crdpKLvo? is 
 merely the classical correction for 
 the Hellenistic a-apKCKos. 
 
 vrjTTLOL^, opposed to TcXetot?, in 
 ii. 6. The word VT/Trto?, and, 
 generally speaking, the figure of 
 ' infancy,' is never used by St. 
 Paul in a good sense. Comp. 
 Gal. iv. 3 ; Eph. iv. 14. 
 
 2 yaXa. The figure of ' milk,' 
 which is naturally suggested by 
 vrj-TTLoi'Sj is common in Rabbinical 
 phraseology for instruction to 
 beginners, who are called ' suck- 
 lings,' nip'i:^n. See Lightf. ad 
 he. and compare 1 Pet. ii. 2 ; 
 Heb. V. 13. 
 
 y8pw/>ta, * solid food ' = o-repea 
 Tpo4>rj in Heb. v. 12. The verb 
 is easily supplied from eVoTto-a. 
 
 3 OTTOV, ' since,' as in old 
 Ensrlish ' where ' for ' whereas.' 
 
HUMAN AND DIVINE WISDOM. 53 
 
 /carol dvOpcoTTOv TrepLTrareLTe ; ^ orav yap ^eyrj rts ' Ey oj /acV 
 €t/xi Ilavkov erepos Se, 'Eya> ^AiroWciiy^ovK avOpcoTToC icrre; 
 
 * ovxl crapKiKoi for ovk HvdpcDvoi. 
 
 and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men ? ^ For while one saith, I 
 am of Paul ; and another, I am of ApoUos ; are ye not men ? 
 
 4 ai/^/30)7rot, 'mere men.' Com- I ttov in verse 3; ix. 8 ; xv. 32; 
 pare the expression Kara avOpu)- I Rom. iii. 5 ; Gal. i. 11 ; iii. 15. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. II. 6— III. 4. 
 
 Wliilst, however, I disclaim any support from mere human wis- 
 dom, there is a wisdom which I might have declared to you 
 had you been Jit to receive it ; a wisdom which has for ages 
 been concealed, and which is even now concealed, from those 
 who sway the destinies of this lower world, but which was for 
 ages designed in the counsels of God for the glory of true be- 
 lievers, — a glory unknown to those who in the pride of human 
 power devoted to a shameful death Him who teas the Lord of 
 Glory, unfathomable by any human sense or imagination, but 
 now revealed to tis by the Spirit, not of the world, but of God, 
 whereby alone we have nn insight into those divine mysteries 
 of which none else is or can be conscious. 
 
 And as the subject of this wisdom is spiritual, so also is 
 the manner of communicating it; there is a divine language 
 which is known to those who have received the new spiritual 
 faculty of Christians, which is unknown to those who are 
 guided only by their natural human intellects. This also was 
 exemplified in my own conduct to you ; for this is the reason 
 why I was unable to speak to you on more exalted subjects : 
 it was impossible to introduce them into a sphere of jarring 
 passions and factions which stunt the growth of the spiritual 
 faculty within you. 
 
54 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 The Apostle's Yiew of Spiritual "Wisdom. 
 
 In considering what was the human wisdom which in this and 
 the previous section is disparaged by the Apostle, it is neces- 
 sary to bear in mind that it was not the highest, but the 
 lowest, form of intellectual eminence with which he was im- 
 mediately confronted : not the vigorous and lofty aspirations 
 of Aristotle and Plato, but the hollow and worn-out sophistries 
 
 Opposition ^^ *^^ ^^®* ^^^^ ^^ *^® Greek rhetoricians. Still, 
 of Intellect although a different turn would doubtless have been 
 and given to the whole argument, if St. Paul had written 
 in the better days of Greece, if the living power of 
 the Gospel had been met, not by a dead form, but by a power 
 which, though of lower origin, and moving in a different 
 sphere, was still living like itself, the general truth here urged 
 remains the same. It is not by intellectual, but by moral and 
 spiritual excellence, that the victories of the Gospel have been 
 achieved ; Religion is not Philosophy ; Christianity is a reli- 
 gion, not of Exaltation, but of Humiliation, 
 
 But, although the two spheres of intellect and of Christ- 
 Spiritual ianity are thus distinct, the Apostle also wishes to 
 AVisdom. show that there is in Christianity an element which, 
 though not itself intellectual, is analogous to that by which 
 intellectual wants are gratified ; as though he had said, 
 ' Although the Christian lives in a w^orld of his own, yet in 
 that world he is independent of all beside (what the Greek 
 philosophers would have called avrdpKrjs), and the higher he 
 rises in that world, the more fully his Christian stature is de- 
 veloped, he will find every craving of his nature the more 
 completely satisfied.* This element of Christianity he here 
 introduces under the names of ' wisdom ' {crocj^La), ' the Spirit ' 
 (to TTvsvfMo), and (in speaking of his relation to the Co- 
 rinthian Church) ' solid food ' (^pM/iia), as distinct from ' milk ' 
 {ydXa), by which they had been actually fed. Taking into 
 comparison the other passages (John iii. 12 ; xvi. 12 ; Heb. vi. 
 1), where a similar contrast is drawn between the higher and 
 lower stages of Christian progress, the following seem the 
 natural results of his language : — 
 
 It is not any exhibition of new Christian truths or doctrines, 
 such as his view of righteousness by faith, or of our Lord's na- 
 ture. There was no practical occasion for the introduction of 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF SPIRITUAL WISDOM. 55 
 
 these to the Corinthian Church, and without some such practical 
 occasion it would be against his manner to insist upon them. 
 So far as there was any occasion for them, he does not scruple 
 to mention them in this very Epistle, i. 30 ; v. 7 ; vi. . 1 1 ; 
 XV. 24. There was nothing in the Factions (iii. 1-5) which 
 would of necessity have incapacitated them from receiving 
 truths of this kind. Nor does there appear any reason for ap- 
 plying the name of ' wisdom ' to these truths more than to others 
 which in this Epistle are unfolded at length, e.g. those which 
 are discussed from the 12th to the 15th chapters. 
 
 It would seem, therefore, that the most natural meaning of 
 the words is to be found in the deep spiritual intui- intuition 
 tions which have always been regarded as the highest ^^ moral 
 privilege of advanced Christian goodness, which were 
 possessed in an extraordinary degree by the first converts. 
 ' A pure heart penetrates the secrets of heaven and hell,' is one 
 of the many sayings of this kind which abound in the celebrated 
 work on * The Imitation of Christ ; ' the ' beatific vision ' has 
 always been regarded by theologians as the consummation both 
 of our intellectual and moral perfection; and the analogy 
 which is here drawn between the perceptions of the human 
 intellect and the perceptions of the enlightened spirit might 
 be illustrated abundantly from the biographies and the devo- 
 tions of good men in all ages. What this was in its highest, 
 or at least in its most extraordinary, form in the Apostolical 
 age, may be seen in the account of St. Paul's own rapture in 
 2 Cor. xii. 1-4, or of St. John in the Apocalypse (Rev. i. 10 ; 
 iv. 2), where the Apostles are described as being literally 
 * caught by the spirit ' into another world, and hearing and see- 
 ing things beyond the power of man to conceive or to utter. 
 What it was in its more ordinary form may be seen in the 
 whole atmosphere of St. John's First Epistle, especially in the 
 connexion between Love and Knowledge which pervades it 
 throughout, and which is remarkably illustrated by St. Paul's 
 description of Love in this Epistle (xiii. 8-12). See also Kom. 
 xi. 33, 34; Eph. i. 8, 17, 18. 
 
 This use of the passage also accords with the special words 
 employed. The phrase ' wisdom,' although suggested Connexion 
 in the first instance by the contrast of the earthly of 
 philosophy which he had been disparaging, derives .Jory,'"' 
 its religious sense chiefly from the constant use of and 
 the word in The Proverbs and in Ecclesiasticus, where '^P^^^^- 
 
5Q 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 it is applied, not to the gaining of new truths, theological or 
 natural, but to a deeper practical insight into moral truth. 
 This general sense is further limited in this passage by the in- 
 dication of its subject, namely, the ' glory ' or blessedness of 
 Christians, which in verses 8-10 assumes such a prominence 
 as to be almost identified with the ' wisdom ' itself that seeks it. 
 And the faculty, the state, by which this wisdom is obtained, is 
 described emphatically as ' spiritual,' — ' the spirit.' The word is 
 chosen partly from the frequent use of the phrase both in Greek 
 and Hebrew, to express the intellect,^ — chiefly as expressive of 
 a direct connexion with God. It is the * inspiration ' which in 
 Scripture is ascribed to every mental gift,^ but which is 
 specially applicable to the frame of mind which (to use the 
 modern form of speech founded on the same metaphor) ^ breathes 
 the atmosphere' of Heaven. 
 
 The same sense also agrees with the general context and 
 The A - occasion. When the Apostle says, * But to us God 
 stle's revealed it by His Spirit,' the use of the first person, 
 
 example, jjgj,^ ^^ elsewhere, indicates that, though speaking of 
 believers generally, he especially refers to his own experience. 
 The consciousness of his spiritual gifts, especially of his spiritual 
 insight into things invisible, was always present with him, and 
 never more so than at the period of these two Epistles.^ And 
 this tendency to dwell on the inward, as distinct from the out- 
 ward blessings of the Gospel, — on the things which ' eye hath 
 not seen nor ear heard,' as distinguished from the things which 
 the eyes of the first Apostles had seen, and their ears had 
 heard, — was a peculiarity of St. Paul's teaching, noticed even 
 by his adversaries, and apparently attacked by them on the 
 ground of the expressions used in this very passage.'' 
 
 As this sense best suits the circumstances of the Apostle 
 himself, so also does it suit those of his hearers. 
 
 The Corinthian Christians, as was observed before, had no 
 „. , especial need, nor, if they had, was there any especial 
 of the Co- impediment to their reception, of new intellectual 
 rinthiaus. truths. But a higher consciousness of the Divine pre- 
 sence ; a knowledge deep and comprehensive, as being rooted 
 
 ^ See especially ii. 11, 16 ; and 
 Gesenius m voce n-l"!, 3, c. d. 
 
 ^ See Exod. xxxi. 3 ; Job xxxii. 
 8, &c. 
 
 3 See xiv. 18 ; 2 Cor. xii. 1-4. 
 * See notes to the Introduction 
 to Second Epistle, mh finem. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF SPIEITUAL WISDOM. 67 
 
 and grounded in love ; an insight into the spiritual world, 
 — were gifts which on the one hand the Apostle might well 
 long to give them, and which were yet on the other most alien to 
 their state of faction and bitterness. How could they, who 
 were absorbed in their strifes and contentions, enter into the 
 atmosphere of peace which surrounds the throne of God ? 
 How could they, who were for ever insisting on particular 
 names and party watchwords, enjoy the vision where all else is 
 lost in the sense of communion with Christ ? Controversy and 
 party-spirit may sharpen the natural faculties of shrewdness 
 and disputation ; but few sins more dim the spiritual faculty by 
 which alone all things are rightly judged. These disputes and 
 rivalries were * of the flesh ' {aapKiKol), no less than the sensual 
 passions which are commonly so classed ; and if so, they have 
 no place in heaven, they are directly opposed to * the Spirit.' 
 
58 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 5—11. 
 
 THE FACTIONS (continued). 
 The Leaders of the Corinthian Parties. 
 
 ^^Tl ovp icTTlv ^A7roXka><; ; tl Se iaTiv lTavXo9 ; Sta- 
 KOVOL, Bl a)v iiTLcrTevcraTe^ koX kKaarco o)? 6 Kvpio^ eScoKev. 
 ^iyo) i(f)VTevcra^ 'AttoWcos eiroTio'ev^ ak\a 6 6eo<; iqv^avev^ 
 "^ oidTG. oijTe 6 <f)VTev(OP icrriv tl ovre 6 ttotl^cdp^ dW 6 
 
 " tIs ovv iarl UavXos, ris 8e 'AttoAAws, oAA' ^ ; 
 
 ^ What then is Apollos ? and what is Paul ? Ministers by whom 
 ye believed, even as the Lord gave to each one. ^I planted, Apol- 
 los watered, but God gave the increase ; ^ so that neither is he that 
 
 5 From the general tone of 
 what follows it seems (6-15) 
 that even in the preceding 
 verses (iii. 1-4) there was some- 
 thing of an apology for himself ; 
 as if the Corinthians, or at least 
 the party of Apollos, had said, 
 ' Apollos has led us on from 
 these simple beginnings ; you 
 have done nothing for us, ex- 
 cept laying the foundation.' To 
 which he answers, (1) In iii. 
 1-4, ' I could not do anything 
 more, because of your own inca- 
 pacity.' (2) In iii. 5-9, 'We 
 are all insignificant in God's 
 sight ; both he who lays the 
 foundation and he who builds 
 upon it.' (3) In iii. 10-15, ' At 
 the same time, the great work is 
 done by him who lays the found- 
 ation : though the superstruc- 
 ture may be very imperfect.' 
 
 TL ovv 'AttoAAws ; ' What is 
 Apollos, or Paul (for once I 
 recognise your party names) ? 
 Mere instruments (8taKovoi), 
 through whom you were con- 
 verted ' (c7rtcrT€vo-aT€, as in Rom. 
 xiii. 11). The difference of the 
 reading of the more ancient 
 MSS. from the Rec. Text is 
 here remarkable, (1) as more 
 
 abrupt and startling — rt ^or tis, 
 and oAA' 17 omitted : (2) as giv- 
 ing the true order of the names 
 — ' Apollos and Paul ' (Apollos 
 being evidently the prominent 
 name here appealed to by those 
 whom the Apostle chiefly cen- 
 sures) ; whilst later MSS. have 
 inverted the order, to give to 
 the name of Paul its usual and 
 natural pre-eminence. 
 
 KOL cKacrra) k. t. X- ' And only 
 with the powers which their 
 Master (6 KvpLo<;, compare Rom. 
 xii. 5) distributed to each of the 
 teachers.' Compare Rom. xii. 
 3 : eKacrro) ws 6 ^eo? i/xeptae. 
 
 KOL = KOL ravra. ' And this 
 too.' 
 
 6 i(f>VTev(Ta — cTroTto-e. This 
 contrast agrees with the history 
 in Acts xviii. 27-xix. 1, where 
 the influence of Apollos at Co- 
 rinth is spoken of as distinct 
 from, and subsequent to, that 
 of Paul. This is strangely para- 
 phrased by some of the Fathers, 
 ' Ego catechumenum feci — 
 Apollo baptizavit.' See Opta- 
 tus De Chrism. Donatist. Book 
 V. p. 90. 
 
 7 TL, ' anything great.' Com- 
 pare Gal. ii. 6. 
 
LEADEKS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 59 
 
 av^dvoiv ^€05. ^6 (fyvTeiJcov Be Kai 6 noTii^cop ev eicnv, 
 eKacTTOS Be tov IBlov yucrOov XT7/xi//eTat fcara tov IBiov 
 KOTTOV. ^Oeov yap icrfxeu crvvepyoi' Seov yecopytov, Oeov 
 OLKoBofiii] ecTTe. ^^ Kara Tr)v ^dpiv rov Oeov rrjv BoOelcrdv 
 jJLOi COS cro(/)09 dpy^LTeKTcov Oep^ekiov ^e6r)Ka, aXXo? Be eiroi- 
 KoBofiel. eKacTTos Be jSkeTrerco ttcjs eVoiKoSo/xei. ^^ 6ep.eKiov 
 
 » redeiKa. 
 
 planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but he that giveth the 
 increase, even God. ^ Now he that planteth and he that watereth are 
 one, and each one shall receive his own reward according to his own 
 labour. ^For we are God^s fellow-labourers : God's husbandry, God' a 
 building are ye. ^^ According to the grace of God which was given unto 
 me, as a wise masterbuilder 1 laid the foundation, and another 
 buildeth thereon. But let each one look how he buildeth thereon. 
 ^^For other foundation can no one lay than that lies there, which 
 
 8 Xi^fiif/eTaL, i.e. ' not from 
 man, but from God, who can 
 judge of the value of each man's 
 labour ; ' the germ of iv. 1-5. 
 
 9 The position of Oeov shows 
 tjiat it is emphatic all through 
 this verse. 
 
 yap gives the reason for ev. 
 ' Their object is the same 
 (though their modes of work- 
 ing are different), /or it is God 
 who is our fellow-labourer — it 
 is God who is your husband- 
 man and householder, and there- 
 fore they cannot be set against 
 each other.' 
 
 ia-fievj ' the teachers,' ia-rcj 
 * the taught.' 
 
 yewpytov, ' a field ' = arvum. 
 The word occurs only in this 
 place in the N. T. Probably 
 from this metaphor arose the fre- 
 quency of ' Georgius,' ' George,' 
 as a Christian name. 
 
 With oLKoSofx^ the figure is 
 changed from a field to a house 
 — from agriculture to architec- 
 ture, in order to bring out more 
 clearly the difference between 
 the various kinds of work. 
 
 ID Kara t^v xaptv. Referring 
 to €Kao-T<f) . . , eScDKcvinS. Com- 
 
 3. 
 
 master of the 
 
 pare Rom. xii. 
 
 dp;(tT€/CT<»)V, 
 
 works.' 
 
 (T0(f>6s, * as a " skilful " or 
 " clever " architect.' Compare 
 Ex. XXXV. 25, 35 ; xxxvi. 1 
 (LXX.) ; so Ecclus. xxxviii. 31 : 
 CKacrTos ev toJ epyw cro^i^eTaL. The 
 words (ro(fio^ ap^LreKTiov occur in 
 Isa. iii. 3 (LXX.). 
 
 eKaoTos K. T. A.. The general 
 character of the warning implies 
 the same wide participation in 
 the duties of teaching, as is im- 
 plied in the state of the Corin- 
 thian Church indicated in chap, 
 xii. For the Apostle's claim to 
 have founded their Church, com- 
 pare iv. 15 : ' I begot you.' 
 
 OefxeXiov yap. The connexion 
 is : ' Let every one take heed 
 how he builds a swperstructure ; 
 for the foundation has been laid 
 once only for all, by me ; the 
 superstructure is now the sole 
 task that remains.' 
 
 7rcu9, ' with what materials ' 
 (see verse 12). 
 
 cTTotKoSo/xet. OLKoSojjLe'iv in the 
 N. T. has constantly the sense 
 of 'advancement' or develop- 
 ment of the moral character. 
 
60 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 12—15. 
 
 yap SXKov ouSet? hvvaTai Beivai irapa. tov Keifievov^ 09 
 ecTTLV )(pi(TTo<; lr)(Tovs. €i oe rts eTroLKobofxeL ein tov 
 defieXiov^ -^pvcrov, apyvpov, \l0ov^ TipLiov^^ ^vka, ^(opTov, 
 Kokdprjp^ ^^e/cacrrou to ipyov (^avepov yevrjcreTaL' rj yap 
 Tjixepa Br)\coa-€i^ otl iv irvpl aTTOKakvTrTeraiy koX eKacrTov 
 
 * 'Itjo-oOs d xpto-Tc^j. •• Add rovrov. 
 
 is Christ Jesus. ^'^But if any one build upon the foundation gold, 
 silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, ^^each one's work will be 
 made manifest : for the day will declare it, because it is revealed in 
 
 In this place, as in viii. 10, it is 
 used in a bad, or at least a neu- 
 tral sense. 
 
 II Oe/jieXiov, sc. XlOov (mascu- 
 line in Hellenistic Greek). 
 
 Trapa, ' beyond,' or ' besides ' 
 (as in Romaic for the compara- 
 tive). Christ Jesus, i.e. 'not 
 any theory concerning Christ, 
 but Christ Himself ' (as in ii. 
 2) : hence the name at full 
 length : ' the Historical Person 
 of Christ, the one unchangeable 
 element of Christianity ' (De 
 Wette). Comp. Heb. xiii. 8 : 
 ' Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
 day, and to-day, and for ever.' 
 
 For the metaphor, compare 
 Matthew xxi. 42 ; Ephes. ii. 20 ; 
 1 Pet. ii. 6 (' the chief corner- 
 stone '). 
 
 12 The metaphor here passes 
 on to the building of different 
 edifices on the same foundation. 
 ' There may either be a palace 
 or a hovel.' 
 
 Xpva-ov K. T. X. Compare the 
 * gold, silver, and stone ' of the 
 Athenian Parthenon in Acts 
 xvii. 29. 
 
 XlOov<; rLfXLov<s may be 'costly 
 marbles ; ' but more probably 
 ' jev^els,' as in Rev. xxi. 19. 
 
 $vXa, ' boards or posts ' for the 
 walls. 
 
 Xopros, ' dried grass ' for the 
 interstices in the mud walls. 
 
 KaXajxT), ' straw ' for the 
 
 thatched roof. See Suidas in 
 voce. 
 
 As the * wisdom of the full- 
 grown ' in ii. 6-iii. 4 was spi- 
 ritual, not intellectual, insight, 
 so here the succeeding verses 
 (14-18) show that the super- 
 structure is moral, not theoreti- 
 cal, advancement.' ' Some say 
 that these words are spoken in 
 reference to doctrines ; to me, 
 however, it appears that he 
 speaks concerning practical vir- 
 tue and vice, and that he is pre- 
 paring for the accusation of the 
 incestuous person. Of gold, sil- 
 ver, and precious stones, he 
 speaks on the one hand as the 
 emblems of virtue ; of wood, 
 hay, stubble, as the opposites of 
 virtue, for which hath been pre- 
 pared the fire of hell.' (Theo- 
 doret.) 
 
 13-15 'The nature of every 
 one's work or superstructure 
 shall sooner or later be known ; 
 for the Great Day of the Lord 
 is at hand, which shall dawn in 
 a fl.ood of fire. The house of 
 gold and silver shall be lit up by 
 its dazzling brilliancy; but the 
 house of wood and thatch shall 
 be burnt up. And not only so, 
 but whereas the builder whose 
 work can endure this trial shall 
 be rewarded, the builder whose 
 house is consumed will lose his 
 reward, having nothing to show j 
 
LEADERS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 61 
 
 TO ipyOV OTTOLOV kcTTlV TO TTVp ^ OVTO SoKlfJL(io'€L 
 
 TO epyov ^fJievcL o eTrcoKoSofJLrjcrev, fiLcrOov XijixxjieT ai 
 
 14 ^ 
 
 15 
 
 Ct 
 
 » Om. avT6, 
 
 fire ; and the fire will prove each one's work of what sort it is. ^*If 
 any one's work abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward : 
 
 and though he himself, as having 
 built on the true foundation, will 
 'Saved as by be saved, yet he will 
 ^®'' come out singed and 
 
 scorched as by an escape out of a 
 burning ruin.' Although the 
 argument is passing into a more 
 general application, yet the 
 thought of the teachers is still 
 predominant; and the point on 
 which he insists is, that if bad 
 moral consequences are, through 
 the means of their instruction, 
 developed from the fundamental 
 truths of Christianity which he 
 had taught ; their instruction, 
 so far from deserving to be 
 highly prized, will by God's 
 judgment be condemned as 
 worthless, and they themselves 
 will escape that judgment with 
 difficulty. It is possible that 
 this whole image, as addressed 
 to the Corinthians, may have 
 been suggested, or illustrated, 
 by the conflagration of Corinth 
 under Mummius ; the stately 
 temples standing amidst the 
 universal destruction of the 
 meaner buildings. (See Paus. 
 Corinth, passim.} 
 
 epyov in later Greek and in 
 architectural language, is used 
 for a building, like ' opera ' in 
 Latin. 1 Esdr. vi. 10 : ra epya 
 ravra ^c/x-cXtoCrc. Herodian, Hist, 
 i. : TrXcto-Ta kol AcaAAto-ra epya 
 Trj<s TroAcw? KarcKar]. 
 
 rj rjfJLepa, ' the Day of the 
 Coming of the Lord.' See Heb. 
 X. 25 ; Rom. xiii. 12, in which 
 last passage, as here, there is 
 
 implied the dawn of light after 
 the long night of this mortal 
 life. Possibly the idea of ' judg- 
 ment,' as in iv. 3, is mixed up 
 with it. Possibly also, the idea 
 of the mere lapse of time, like 
 'longa dies' in Latin. (See 
 Grotius ad loc.) 
 
 Compare Malachi iii. 1, 2, 
 3 ; iv. 1 : ' The Lord shall sud- 
 denly come to His Temjple. . . . 
 But who may abide the day of 
 His coming ? ... for He is like 
 a refiner's ^ire . . . and He shall 
 purify the sons of Levi. Be- 
 hold the day cometh that shall 
 burn as an oven, and all that do 
 wickedly shall be stubble (Ka- 
 Xa/xT/).' And although not ex- 
 pressjy stated, it is implied that 
 the day is near, as a trial which 
 would sweep away the very fa- 
 bric which was reared before 
 their eyes. 
 
 Also it may be, ' the full day- 
 light shall show it : ' like the 
 French expression ^ en plein 
 jour.' (See notes to iv, 3.) 
 
 aTTOKaXvTTTeTat, * the Day is to 
 be revealed * (the ' praesens fu- 
 turascens,' as in Matt. xxv. 13, 
 31, &c. ; John xxi. 22, 23). 
 
 iv TTvpL, i.e. according to the 
 usual image under which the 
 Last Day is represented; coming, 
 not with the dawn of a common 
 morning, but in a blaze of fire, 
 in the midst of which Christ 
 Himself shall appear. (2 Thess. 
 i. 8 ; ii. 8.) 
 
 KaTaKarja-eTat, Hellenistic for 
 the Attic KaTaKavOrjQ-eraL. 
 
62 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 16—18. 
 
 TLV0<; TO epyov fcara/caT^crerat, ^rjjJLLcoOiqo'eTai, auro? Se cro)- 
 urjcreTai, ovtcos oe ojq oua irvpo^. ^ ovk OLoare otl vao<; 
 
 ^^if any one's work be burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself shall 
 be saved, — yet so as through fire. ^^Know ye not that ye are God's 
 
 ^rjixituBricreTai [rov /xto-^ov], ' he 
 shall lose his reward,' not ' shall 
 be punished.' 
 
 avTos Sc (Ti}i6r}(T€rai. The same 
 fire which throws a halo of ^lory 
 round the good (iv. 5 ; Matt, 
 xiii. 43 ; Rev. xxi. 24 ; Judg. v. 
 31 : Pan. xii. 3), and destroys 
 the bad (2 Thess. ii. 8; Rev. 
 xviii. 8 ; xx. 9), also purifies the 
 imperfect. The personal faith 
 of the teacher saves himself from 
 destruction, but it is at the cost 
 of pain and suffering — in this 
 instance, of seeing his work de- 
 stroyed and his labour lost — as 
 a merchant who escapes from 
 shipwreck, but at the cost of his 
 property. Compare the fire in 
 Dan. iii. 22, which, whilst it 
 burnt the executioners, was to 
 the three children ' as it bad been 
 a moist whistling wind ' (Song of 
 the Three Children, 27). 
 
 Compare the 'baptism of fire,' 
 in Matt. iii. 11, 12, which sup- 
 plies the same images of illumi- 
 nation, destruction, and purifi- 
 cation ; and the ' salting with 
 fire,' in Mark ix. 49, both for 
 preservation and destruction. At 
 the same time, although the pas- 
 sage naturally suggests the idea 
 of purification, or of suffering, 
 the primary idea is simply that 
 of a difficult escape. 
 
 o)? expresses that the Apostle 
 is speaking^ metaphorically. 
 . 8ia TTupos, ' through the midst 
 of the fire ; ' apparently a pro- 
 verbial expression in Hebraistic 
 Greek, like 'prope ambustus 
 evaserat,' Liv. xx. 35. SeeZech. 
 iii. 2 ; Amos iv. 11 (both Ik ttv- 
 
 p6<s) ; Ps. Ivii. 4 (Sea Trypoq). ck 
 7rvpo5 crwauv, Artemid. Oneiroc. 
 i. 50 ; Aristid. in ApoU. p. 26. 
 For a similar confusion of the 
 two meanings of Sid, see 1 Pet. 
 iii. 20 : S l ea-wOrja-av 8l vBaroq. 
 
 The whole passage is famous, 
 as having given occasion to two 
 interpretations, each generally 
 received in its time, and now 
 rejected. First, that of Chryso- 
 stom, CEcumenius, and Theophy- 
 lact ; that ' the false teacher shall 
 be preserved in the fire of hell 
 for ever,' — which is equally con- 
 demned by the words and by the 
 spirit of the Apostle. Secondly, 
 the opinion of many Roman Ca- 
 tholic writers, that it alludes to 
 the fire of purgatory. But this 
 argument is contrary to the 
 whole context, which represents 
 the salvation as taking place at 
 the same moment as the confla- 
 gration and the coming of the 
 day of the Lord. It will proba- 
 bly be no longer used even in 
 controversy, since its formal con- 
 demnation by the great Roman 
 Catholic commentator Estius. 
 
 1 6 He here returns to the 
 general argument against party- 
 spirit, and thus passes from the 
 image of a building in progress 
 to the image of a building com- 
 pleted, and from the image of a 
 building generally to that of the 
 Temple in particular, as in Eph. 
 ii. 20, 21. 
 
 vab<s Oeov is not ' a Temple,' 
 as if one out of many, but ' God's 
 Temple,' presented in every por- 
 tion of the Christian society. 
 Under this more definite figure 
 
LEADERS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 63 
 
 ueov e(TT€ Kai to Trvevfjua tov ueov oiKei €P vixiv ; "-' ei rt? 
 Tov vaov TOV Oeov ff)9€ipeL, ^Oepei ^avTov 6 6e6<;' 6 yap 
 vao<; TOV ueov ayios eaTuv, ocTLve^ ecrre v/xets. ^° fjirjoeL<; 
 kavTov e^aTraTOLTO) ' el ris So/cet croc^os eti^at ip vplv ev toj 
 
 ' TovTov for avr6v. 
 
 temple, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 ^^ If any one destroys 
 the temple of God, him will God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, 
 which ye are. 
 
 ^^Let no one deceive himself : if any one seemeth to be wise among 
 you in this age, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 
 
 he continues to insist on the 
 danger incurred- by those who 
 corrupted the Christian society 
 by their false teaching, and, 
 having before said that such a 
 one would escape with loss and 
 difficulty, he here goes a step 
 farther, and speaks only of the 
 punishment, without speaking of 
 the escape. 
 
 (f>0€ipeLv in the LXX. and in 
 the New Testament seems to 
 have lost the sense of 'defile,' 
 and merely to retain that of 
 'mar' or 'destroy.* See the 
 use of the word in Exod. x. 15 ; 
 Isaiah xxiv. 3, 4. It is not the 
 word usually employed for di- 
 vine judgments, but is here 
 adopted for the sake of describ- 
 ing the punishment by the same 
 word as the offence : ' God re- 
 quites like with like.' Comp. 
 Acts xxiii. 2, 3 : 'Ananias com- 
 manded to smite (tvtttciv) him 
 on the mouth. Then Paul said 
 unto him, God shall smite (tvtt- 
 T€Lv /xcAAct) thee, thou whited 
 wall.' 
 
 The Authorised Version, fol- 
 lowing the Yulgate (violavent 
 . . . difperdef), has used two 
 different words in the transla- 
 tion for the one word of the ori- 
 ginal. 
 
 17 The image of the Temple, 
 — even the etymology of the 
 
 Greek word (vaos, vaUiv) — leads 
 him to the indwelling presence of 
 the Spirit of God. 
 
 OLTivi^ refers not to vaos, but 
 to ayto5, * and ye are holy.' 
 
 18 He now returns to the ge- 
 neral subject begun in verse 5, 
 dropping any particular reference 
 to the difference between the 
 foundation and the superstruc- 
 ture — between himself and Apol- 
 los (iv. 6), — and condemning 
 generally the tendency to mag- 
 nify one teacher above another 
 for his intellectual gifts, on the 
 ground, 
 
 (1) That rhetorical gifts are 
 in themselves worthless (18- 
 21); 
 
 (2) That the differences cre- 
 ated by these gifts amongst the 
 teachers, are much less than 
 what they have in common (21- 
 23); 
 
 (3) That God alone can judge 
 who is worthy of true approba- 
 tion (iv. 1-5). 
 
 firjScU kavrov c^aTraraTW, ' let 
 not any one deceive himself by 
 too high expectations of himself,' 
 referring to SoKct. 
 
 19 For aiwv and k6(t/xo<;, see 
 on i. 20. 
 
 Trapa tw Ocw, * in God's judg- 
 ment.' Compare Rom. ii. 13. 
 
 The quotation seems to be from 
 Job V. lo (LXX.) : 6 KaToXa/x- 
 
64 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE : CHAP. III. 19— IV. 1, 
 
 aiwi't TovTcp, fjLcopo^ yevecrOo)^ Iva yevrjTai oro(j)6^. ^^tj yap 
 o'0(f)La Tov KOCTfJLOv TovTOv fJLcopia TTapoL^ 6e(Z icTTLU. ye- 
 ypairrai yap 'O Spacrao/jLevo^ tov<; croc^ou? ii/ Tjj iravovpyia 
 KoX TToXiv KvpLO^ yivaxTKeL Tovs 8ta\oytcr/xovs 
 
 avTCJV. 
 
 • Add Ty, and so Lachm. Ed. 1. 
 
 **For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 
 'He that taketh the wise in their craftiness.' ^^And again, 'the Lord 
 knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.' -^Therefore let 
 
 ySavwv a'o<f)Ov^ cv rfj (f>povrj(r€L. It 
 is remarkable, (1) as being the 
 only reference to the Book of 
 Job which the New Testament 
 contains, with the exception of 
 the historical allusion in James 
 V. 11 ; (2) as being taken from 
 the speeches, nob of Job, but of 
 Eliphaz ; and (3) as being so 
 altered as to be scarcely recog- 
 nisable : 8pa(rcro/>i6vo5 (possibly a 
 provincialism) is substituted for 
 KaToXaixpdvwv, as a stronger and 
 livelier expression ('grasping' 
 or ' catching with the hand ; ' so 
 LXX. Ps. ii. 12 ; Lev. ii. 2 ; v. 
 ] 2 : and so Herod, iii. 13 ; Jos. 
 B. J. III. viii. 6 ; Dionys. Ant. 
 ix. 21), and Travovpyta for cf>po- 
 vYjau, which gives the passatre a 
 darker meaning (see Arist. Eth. 
 vi. 12, § 9, where the two words 
 are opposed as the worse and 
 better forms of wisdom). 
 
 ev T^ Travovpyca, i.e. either, 
 (1) 'by means of their own 
 craftiness ; ' or (2) ' in the midst 
 of it.' 
 
 2o From Ps. xciv. 11 ; lite- 
 rally from the LXX. (xciii ) ex- 
 cept in the substitution of cocfiiov 
 for the original dvOpcoirwv. But 
 there seems to be a reminiscence 
 of the original in the next 
 words, €v dv^pwTTots, ' in mere 
 men.' Compare the note on 
 verse 4. 
 
 21-23 Tavra yap vfiiov. Both 
 words are emphatic : ' ah things 
 
 'All things' — not are yours.' 
 
 merely this or that teacher, bat 
 all of them alike — ' exist not for 
 their own power or glory, but 
 for the sake of you their disci- 
 ples.' * The Church was not 
 made for the teachers, but the 
 teachers for the Church; Paul, 
 Apollos. and Kephas, each with 
 their different gifts, strongly 
 contrasted as they are, are yet 
 united by being your common 
 property.' This was all that 
 the argument required ; but he 
 is carried on, according to his 
 manner when the privileges of 
 Christians come before him (see 
 Rom. viii. 38 ; xi. 33), to dilate 
 on the whole range of God's gifts 
 to them. And, as the idea of 
 the teachers breaks itself up for 
 the sake of greater vividness 
 into the several parts of Paul, 
 Apollos, and Kephas, so also the 
 idea of the world is expanded to 
 its utmost extent, not merely in 
 the lower sense of worldly great- 
 ness (19, 20) which had sug- 
 gested the word in this place, 
 but in the sense of the whole 
 created universe, and as grow- 
 ing out of this, or contained in 
 it, the utmost con<^rasts which 
 imagination can suggest, whe- 
 ther in life or death — in the pre- 
 
LEADERS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 65 
 
 ei^ avtfp(t)7T0Lq' iravra yap oiiojv ecTTiv^ ^etre iiauAo? etre 
 ^TToXXws etre Kiq^aq^ eire KocrfJLO^ etre {0)17 erre 6dvaro<;^ 
 
 €LT€ iv€(TT(x)Ta €LT€ fJLekXoVTa, TTOLVTa UjJiWP,^ ^"^ U/^Cei? Sc 
 
 Xpt'O'TOVt xpicTTos 8e ^€ou^ IV. ^ouTcos rjfJLOL^ Xoytl^ea-Sct) 
 
 » Add eVriV. 
 
 no one boast in men : for all things are yours, '^-whether Paul or 
 Apollos or Kephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or 
 things to come,— all are yours, -^and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's. 
 IV. ^ So let a man account of us, as servants of Chri&t, and stewards 
 
 sent or the future state of exist- 
 ence. . 
 
 ' All this is yours ; but then ' 
 — (partly as a warning to the 
 taugrlit as well as the teachers, 
 partly from the natural impe- 
 tus, as it were, of the sentence, 
 which bears him up to the his^h- 
 est sphere of human thought) — 
 ' remember that this vast con- 
 catenation of the universe does 
 not end here. Even you, who 
 are the lords of all creation, who 
 form as it were the link between 
 earth and heaven, yourselves are 
 but part of that golden chain 
 which must be followed up till 
 it unites you to Christ, and even 
 further vet, up to the presence 
 of God Himself.' Thus he draws 
 the twofold lesson, — 'You who 
 are thus united with the highest 
 objects in the universe must not 
 degrade yourselves to become 
 the followers of any but Christ. 
 You, although the lords of all, 
 are still the servants of Christ, 
 as He also pleased not Himself, 
 ut did the will of His Father.' 
 ,Tt is possible that the last words, 
 * but Christ of God,' may have 
 Veen inserted to obviate any ex- 
 flusive inference which might 
 liave been drawn by the party 
 ' of Christ,' had he dosed with 
 the preceding words. But it 
 may also be only the last result 
 of the climax of his sentence 
 
 (comp. xi. 3). 
 
 IV. I To this twofold lesson 
 the following argument imme- 
 diately attaches itself, which is, 
 like the preceding, obscured by 
 being addressed partly fiii- 21- 
 23 ; iv. l-6a) to the Church ; 
 partly (iii. 12-15; 18-20; iv. 
 6b, 7y 8) to the teachers. ' The 
 particular wisdom of the several 
 teachers is nothing in compari- 
 son with that Christianity which 
 is possessed by all of you (iii. 
 22, 23) ; you are to regard us 
 not as superhuman (iii. 18-21), 
 but as subordinate to Christ ; as 
 mere stewards, whose only busi- 
 ness is to preach faithfully the 
 secrets of God which have been 
 intrusted to them. 
 
 ovTta^ refers to w?. In classi- 
 cal Greek it would be roiotjrov?, 
 otot av etev VTrrfpiraL. 
 
 av6p(jD7ro<;, ' anyone ' (like L*'''!^ ; 
 or 'man' in German). 
 
 v7rr]p€Ta<:. More emphatic than 
 SovkoL or even than Slclkovol, as 
 in iii. 5, as expressing subordina- 
 tion ; being the word used in clas- 
 sicalGreek for the inferior officers, 
 as contrasted with the superior 
 magistrates (apxovTe^), and also 
 for a drudge, servant of all ivorh, 
 underling. Compare for the gene- 
 ral sense, Luke xxii. 26 ; 2 Cor. i. 
 24 ; and the ideal of a Christian go- 
 vernor or teacher preserved in the 
 Papal title ' Servus Servorum.' 
 
66 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 2-6. 
 
 avOpoiTTO<;, 0)9 uTTTjperas ^kttov koI olKov6fjLOv<? fivcTTr)- 
 pio)v Oeov '^^wSe. XoLirbu CpqT^irai iv tols oiKovopioi^ Iva 
 771(7X09 Tt9 evp^Ofj. ^e/iot 8e €t9 iXd^icrTov iarip Iva u(^' 
 vfjLCDV avaKpiOo) rj vtto avOpcoTrCvrjs rjfX€pa<i' dXX' ovSe 
 i^avTov avaKpivo) ^ (^ovhev yap e/xai;rw crvvoihay aXX' ovk 
 
 of the mysteries of God here. ^Moreover it is required in stewards, 
 that one be found faithful. ^But to me it is a very small thing that I 
 should be judged by you, or by man's day : yea, I judge not mine 
 own self ^ (for I know nothing against myself, yet not by this am I 
 
 OLKov6^(yv<;. Compare verse 2, 
 and ix. 16, 17 {olKovofiCav -Trcirt- 
 cTTcv/xat) ; and for the general 
 sense xv. 10 : ' Not I, but the 
 ^race of God ; ' Luke xvii. 10 : 
 ' We are unprofitable servants ; ' 
 Acts iii. 12 : ' Why look ye 
 upon us, as though by our own 
 power ? ' 
 
 /xvcTTT^pia, ' truths hidden once, 
 but now revealed to Christ's ser- 
 vants.' 
 
 2 If SSc (in A. B. C. J)\ F. 
 G. and most of the Versions) is 
 preferred to o Be, Xolttov has pro- 
 bably something of its modern 
 Romaic sense of therefore' (as 
 in Acts xxvii. 20) : and wSe 
 must be ' in this matter ' (as in 
 Bev. xiii. 10, 18; xiv. 12; xvii. 
 9). In his second edition Lach- 
 mann joins it to Oeov, in his first 
 to Xolttov. 
 
 ^ryrctrat B. t,7]T€tT€ A. C D. 
 lrjTy]T€ G. The confusion arises 
 from the similarity of sound, as 
 in Romaic, between e and at. 
 
 ' All that remains to be said 
 about us is this : Do not praise 
 or blame us ; only require us to 
 be faithful.' 
 
 3-5 The main point is to 
 warn them against being over- 
 hasty in their praise (see espe- 
 cially oXA,* OVK cv TOirro) SeSt/catco- 
 /Attt, and TOTc 6 cTratvo?) ; but the 
 expressions IjxoX Se ets iXd^Lo-roVf 
 
 and TO, KpvTTTa Tov cTKOTov;, indi- 
 cate that they were also to be 
 warned (as before in iii. 1-9) 
 against disparaging Paul in com- 
 parison with the others. 
 
 3 e/xot Se, (1) 'to speak in my 
 own person,' as ii. 1 ; iii. 1 ; or, 
 (2) ' to speak for myself, what- 
 ever others may say.' 
 
 Lva avaKpiOoi for dvaKpLOrjvai, 
 substitution of tva with the sub- 
 junctive for the infinitive, as in 
 Romaic. 
 
 dvaAcpt^o), 'judged of,' or 'in- 
 quired into,' whether for blame 
 or praise ; see iii. 15, 16. 
 
 dvOpwrTTLvqf; rjfxepa^, probably 
 used in contradistinction to 17 
 rjfxepa tov Kvpiov, but also per- 
 haps suggested by the use of 
 rjixipa, for 'judgment,' accord- 
 ing to the analogy of ' diem 
 dicere ' in Latin, ' days-man ' for 
 ' arbiter ' in English, ' dagh 
 vaerden' and 'dag hen,' to 'sum- 
 mon,' in Dutch. As, however, 
 there is no instance of this use 
 in common Greek, Jerome (Qu. 
 ad Algasiam, 10) supposes it to 
 be a Cilician provincialism. (See 
 also note to iii. 13.) 
 
 4 ovScv yap kfxavTw o-wotSa, 
 ' I know nothing within ' or 
 'against myself.' He speaks of 
 himself in reference to his re- 
 lations with the Corinthian 
 Church. (The translation of 
 
LEADERS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 67 
 
 iv TovTcp SeStK-atco/iai), 6 8e avaKpCvcov fie Kvpi6<; kcmv. 
 ^ iocrre fxrj irpo Kaipov tl KpCvere^ ecos av ekOrj 6 Kvpioq^ 09 
 Kol (f)a)TLcr€L TOL KpVTTTa Tov cT/coTOv? /cttt (j)av€pa)(TeL ra<; 
 ^ovXd<s T(x)v KapSicov. KOL Tore 6 eiraivos yej^rjcreTaL 
 iKoicrrco oltto tov Oeo£. 
 
 ^TavTa Se, aSeXc^ot, fJL€Tecrxr)fxdrLcra eU ifiavTov kol 
 ATTokko) OL ufJLa<;^ tj^a e^ yy/xw' fJLaurjTe to fxr) vnep a 
 
 • Lachm. ed. I. 'AiroAAc^y. *• virhp h yeypaTrrai. 
 
 justified), but He that judgeth me is the Lord. ^ Therefore judge nothing 
 before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the 
 hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the 
 hearts : and then shall each one have his praise from God. 
 
 ^Now these things, brethren, I transferred in a figure to myself 
 and to Apollos for your sakes ; that in us yQ might learn not to be 
 
 the Auth. Yersion, 'by myself,' 
 is an obsolete, though still a 
 provincial, form of speech for 
 the same thought.) 
 
 Compare 1 John iii. 20 : 'If 
 our heart condemn us, God is 
 greater than our heart, and 
 knoweth all things.' 
 
 Kvpto9, i.e. ' Christ,' as appears 
 from the next verse. 
 
 5 t6t€, *then, and not before, 
 shall the due approbation be 
 awarded.' 
 
 6 €7ratvos, ' his own due praise.' 
 Compare Rom. ii. 29. 
 
 (ZTTo TOV Osov, ' f I'om God after 
 the judgment of Christ.' 
 
 6 fiereaxT^f^oLTLa-ay 'I said all 
 that I wishtd to say about the 
 party leaders in the persons of 
 myself and Apollos, in order to 
 exemplify with less ofPence in 
 the case of those parties what 
 belongs equally to the party 
 of Kephas ; and in the case 
 of Apollos and Paul themseh es 
 what may be said even with 
 greater force of the subordinate 
 leaders.' For similar instances 
 of this 'transferring' see notes 
 on ix. 20. 
 
 €v -qfuvj ' in our examples.' 
 
 TO /Mrj vTTcp a ycypaTTrat. Great 
 confusion prevails here in the 
 MSS. (1) A. B. C. read 5. D. 
 E. F. G. J. o. (2) (f>pov€iv oc- 
 curs in C. D^. E*. J. and most 
 of the Versions, and is omitted 
 in A. B. D^ E>. F. G. and the 
 Vulgate. (3) D. E. omit fiy. 
 (4) D\ reads iv vfuv for cv 
 rifXLV. (5) F. G. omit to. a 
 best suits the sense, which im- 
 plies a reference, not to a single 
 passage, but to the general spirit 
 of many passages, ^povetv is 
 required to complete the gram- 
 matical sentence, and probably 
 was inserted to avoid the ab- 
 ruptness of the omission. The 
 sense, therefore, will be : ' Learn 
 that well-hnown lesson, not to go 
 beyond what the Scriptures pre- 
 scribe' (like the classical pro- 
 verb, ne quid nimis). 
 
 The phrase yeypaTrraL natu- 
 rally points to such passages in 
 the Old Testament as those 
 quoted in i. 19, 31 ; iii. 19. 
 
 ets VTTcp TOV ivos . . . Kara tov 
 eTepov, 'for the one of your two 
 teachers against the other ; ' al- 
 luding to the reference ja> t made 
 I to himself and Apollos. 
 V 2 
 
68 
 
 PIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 7—12. 
 
 yiypaiTTaiy^ Iva jirj et? vnep tov ivo^ (fyvanovcrOe Kara tov 
 irepov. ^ tl<; yap ere hiaKpivei; tl Se e)(et9 o ovk eXaySe?; 
 el Se Acal eXa^e?, tl Kav^aaL ws p.y] Xaficov ; ^rfSrj k€ko- 
 p€(r/JiePOL icrre^ rjSr) eTrXouTTjcrare, ^wpt? rjfJLcov i^acnkev- 
 Kot cxfyekov ye e^acrtXevcraTe, ti^a koX rj[Jiel<; vp^iv 
 
 * Add (ppovelv. 
 
 crare. 
 
 above the things which are written, that no one be puffed up for the 
 one against the other. ' For who maketh thee to differ from another ? 
 and what hast thou that thou didst not receive ? and if now thou didst 
 receive it, why dost thou boast, as if thou didst not? ^Even now ye 
 are full, even now ye are rich, without us ye reigned as kings, and I 
 
 Lva jx-q (f>v(novcr$€. This and 
 Gal. iv. 17 (tva t,r]\ovT€) are the 
 only violations in the N. T. of 
 the rule of Attic Greek, which 
 requires a subjunctive with lva. 
 
 8 He writes as if with the 
 bitterness of feeling with which, 
 from time to time, he contrasts 
 his deserts and his fortune (cf. 
 XV. 19) ; and as if reminding 
 them that those who were op- 
 posed to him need not take so 
 much pains to disparage him, he 
 was low enough already. 
 
 K€Kope(r/Ji€voL . . . tTrXovrrycraTe. 
 In his first edition, Lachmann 
 gave additional liveliness to the 
 sentence by an interrogative 
 punctuation ; and this at any 
 rate is the sense of the clauses. 
 ' Do you think you have already 
 reached the end of your Chris- 
 tian career? Have you made 
 every advance which is possible 
 in Christian knowledge ? ' (re- 
 ferring to the boast of their 
 oIkoSo/jlt^, or development, in iii. 
 8-10) ; cySao-tXevcraTC ; ' Are you 
 indeed at the head of the Chris- 
 tian world — first in the glory of 
 the Messiah's kingdom ? ' (Com- 
 pare i. 2 ; xiv. 36.) For the 
 metaphor of wealth, comp. 2 
 Cor. viii. 9 ; Revelation ii. 9 ; 
 iii. 17 ; Matthew v. 3. For that 
 of reigning, comp. vi. 2 ; Matt. 
 
 thought in 
 
 xix. 28; Luke xxii. 30: 2 Tim. 
 ii. 12. 
 
 i]Srj, ' even now,' indicates the 
 extravagance of supposing that 
 they had at that time grasped 
 all the gifts which belonged 
 only to the kingdom of Christ, 
 not yet come. 
 
 Xwpt? rj/jiwv points to the ab- 
 surdity of their setting them- 
 selves up above, or indepen- 
 dently of, the Apostles. Com- 
 pare the same 
 15. 
 
 oc^eXov K. T. X. 'your reign, 
 your prosperity, is indeed good 
 in itself, if it were not for the 
 proud and sectarian spirit which 
 disfigures it.' Compare Gal. iv. 
 17, 18 : ' They zealously affect 
 you, but not well ; yea, they 
 would exclude you, that ye 
 might affect them. But it is 
 good to be zealously affected 
 always in a good thing, and not 
 only when lam present with you.' 
 
 yap, in 9, depends on this 
 clause. 
 
 9 ' Ye sit enthroned as kings ; 
 we are appointed as victims in 
 the last act of the world's his- 
 tory ; the whole world, whether 
 angels or men, are the specta- 
 tors, and our death is the end.' 
 The imagery is drawn from the 
 games (Oiarpov) in the amphi- 
 
LEADERS OF THE COEINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 69 
 
 orvfi^acnXevcrcoiJiev. ^Sokco yap, 
 
 ^€09 r)fJia<; tov<; oltto- 
 CTToXov; eo^ctrov? cxTreSetfei', wg eTnOavariov^;, on Oiarpov 
 iyevrj6rjiL€V rco Kocrfxco kol ayyi\oi<; koX avdp(x)TTOL<^. 
 
 ^^rjfJL€LS fJiCOpOL oca -^LCFTOV^ V/>t€t9 0€ (ppOl^LfJLOL eV ^tCTTOJ ' 
 
 r)jjLf2<; aadeveLSf vfiel^; 8e Icr^vpoL* iffxeLS evSo^OL^ rjfJi€L<; 8e 
 dTLfJiOL. ^^a)(pL tt}? dpTL a>pa<; kol ireivoyixev kol Sti/zw/xei' 
 /cat ^yviivirevoyiev koX KoXa(f)L^6iJLeda koL dcTTarovixeu ^'^/cat 
 
 • Add Srt after 70^. ' •yvixvr\T€voixfv. 
 
 would ye had reigned, that we also might reign with yon. ^For I 
 think God set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed unto 
 death, for we were made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and 
 to men. ^'^ We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ ; we 
 are weak, but ye are mighty ; ye ^re honourable, but we are despised. 
 ^^Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked 
 and are buflFeted and have no certain dwelling-place, ^^and labour work- 
 
 theatre. The remains of a sta- 
 dium and amphitheatre, which 
 may have been so used, are still 
 to be seen at Corinth (see Intro- 
 duction, p. 5). 
 
 For the phrase '■ angels and 
 m«n,' comp. xiii. 1. 
 
 ec^aTOv? . . €7rt^avaTt'ov5, ' the 
 last appointed to death.' These 
 words seem .to refer to the band 
 of gladiators brought out last 
 for death, the vast range of an 
 amphitheatre under the open 
 sky well representing the mag- 
 nificent vision of all created 
 beings, from, men up to angels, 
 gazing on the dreadful death- 
 struggle ; and then the contrast 
 of the selfish Corinthians sitting 
 by unconcerned and unmoved at 
 the awfal spectacle. Compare 
 Seneca's description (Provid. ii.) 
 of the wise man struggling with 
 fate : ' Ecce spectaculum dignum 
 ad quod respiciat intentus operi 
 suo Deus.' 
 
 Tov^ aTro<TT6Xov<i. What fol- 
 lows shows that he is thinking 
 chiefly of himself; but the ex- 
 pression itself includes also the 
 original Apostles. 
 
 10 As verses 8 and 9 con- 
 tain an elaborate contrast, so in 
 verse 10 the same idea is still 
 continued in a series of shorter 
 contrasts, rising, however, out 
 of the plaintive strain of verse 9 
 into a swell of triumphant exul- 
 taticm, in the full consciousness 
 that his sufferings were united 
 with the sufferings of Christ, 
 and inv-ested (so to speak) with 
 a similar glory. The three con- 
 trasts correspond to those in i. 
 27. ^ 
 
 1 1 a;j(pt T^? apri wpa?, ' even 
 at the moment of my writing 
 my wants stare me in the face. 
 It is now as when you knew me 
 at Corinth.* 
 
 yv^viT€vofjL€v, * we shivcr in 
 the cold.' (Compare 2 Cor. xi. 
 27.) The form in the Rec. 
 Text, yvfJivr}T€vofji€v, has arisen 
 from the similar pronunciation 
 of t and rj. 
 
 axrTaTovfJL€v (the word occurs 
 only here) ' homeless,' a pecu- 
 liar grief in the ancient world . 
 Compare Matt. viii. 20 ; x. 23 ; 
 Heb. xi. 37. 
 
 K07nu>fJL€v ipy. rah t8. \^p(Tiv, 
 
70 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 13 — 19. 
 
 KOTTLMfiev ipya^ofievoi rat? iSiat5 \€pcrLV^ \oihopovp.evoi 
 evKoyovfxev^ SicoKOfxevoi ave)(6fjie0a, ^^ ^\a(T(l)iqyLOv^evoL 
 TTapaKaXovfJiev, wg irepLKaOdpixaTa tov Koafxov iyevijOrjiJLeT/, 
 TTOLPTcov 7repL\ljr)fJLa llw? apn. 
 
 ^^OvK ipTpeircov u/xa? ypacjxo ravra, dXX' w? reKva fiov 
 ayaTTYjTOi vovdercx). ^^ lav yap fxypLOVs TraiSayoryovs ^c^re 
 
 ing with our own hands ; being reviled we bless, being persecuted we 
 suflfer it, ^^ being defamed we exhort,— as the filth of the world were 
 we made, the offscouring of all things unto this day. 
 
 ^^I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved children 
 I warn you. ^^For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, 
 
 That he had worked with his 
 own hands at Corinth appears 
 from Acts xviii. 3; 1 Cor. ix. 6; 
 2 Cor. xi. 7-12 ; and that he 
 was doing so at the time of his 
 writing this Epistle, appears 
 from Acts xx. 34. 
 
 1 2 XoiSopovfji€voi K. T. X. ' And 
 not only do we suffer, but with 
 none but the Christian weapons 
 of resistance.' Comp. Matt. v. 
 39, 44. This is the earliest in- 
 stance of such language being 
 used. 
 
 p\a(r<f>rjfxoviJi€voL B(e sil.). D. 
 E. F. G. J., 8v<r<f)7)fJiovfJia/ot, A. 
 C. in either case ' calumniated.' 
 TrapaKaXovfJiev : (1) * we ^ offer 
 consolation ; ' or (2) as in 16, 
 *we entreat men to follow our 
 example.' Compare 2 Cor. i. 3. 
 TreptKaOdp/xaTa and Treptifnrjfiay 
 both have the original signifi- 
 cation of 'offscourings,' as in 
 Arrian, Diss. Epict. iii. 22, and 
 Jer. xxii. 28 (Symm.), but also 
 the additional sense of 'scape- 
 goat,' or ' expiatory sacrifice,' 
 specially applied to human vic- 
 tims such as those described in 
 Arnold's Rome, iii. 46.' In clas- 
 sical Greek KaOapfxa is the usual 
 word for such human victims 
 (Schol. ad Aristoph. Plut. 454, 
 Eq. 1133). But TrepLKaOap/xa is 
 60 used in the only place where 
 
 it occurs in the LXX. TrepiKoiO. 
 SI StKawv avo/Jio<s, Prov. xxi. 18. 
 In like manner Trepiifrrjfia is used 
 in Tobit v. 19, apyvptov .... 
 TrepLij/. TOV TratSiov yjpiwiv yivoiTO, 
 and is so explained in the Lexi- 
 cons of Cyril, Hesychius, and 
 Suidas ; the last gives as an in- 
 stance that such a victim was 
 generally addressed with the 
 words TrepLifrtjjjia i^/xwv yevov (ex- 
 plained as CTiDTrjpia or oLTroXvrpoi- 
 o-ts), and then cast into the sea, 
 as if a sacrifice to Poseidon. 
 See the quotations in Grotius 
 ad loc. 
 
 14 He drops the severe irony 
 of the last three verses, and ex- 
 presses the same feeling more 
 directly, and in gentler lan- 
 guage. 
 
 ovK ivTpiirwv k. t. A. 'Yon 
 must understand that when I 
 thus write, it is not a disgrace 
 to you.' For this sense of ev- 
 TpeTTco, see vi. 5 ; xv. 34 ; 2 Thess. 
 iii. 14 ; Tit. ii. 8. The general 
 meaning of the word is ' to turn 
 the mind in upon itself.' 
 
 15 'I have a right thus to 
 address you ; for the obligations 
 which you have subsequently 
 contracted to your other teachers 
 can never supersede your ori- 
 ginal obligations to me as your 
 
LEADERS OF THE CORINTHIAN PARTIES. 
 
 71 
 
 iv ^lo-TO), dXX' ov TToXXov? TTare/oa?* iv yap ypi(TT(^ 
 ^Ir)(jov Sta Tov evayyekiov iyo) vfiaq iyevvrjcra. ^^napa- 
 KoKco ovv v/x,a9, fxip.iqTai fjiov yivecrOe. ^' S<a tovto eire/ii/fa 
 viuv TifJLoOeov, OS icrTiv ^fJLOV TeKVOV aya7rr)Tov kol iriaTov 
 iv KvpLO), 09 vfJLaq dvafJLvyjaei ret? oSou? jxov ras ez^ -)(pL(TT^ 
 ^'It^ctoi;, Ka6(o<; iravra^ov ev Trdcrrf iKKkrjcria StSacr/co). 
 ^^&i9 /x,i9 ip-)(OjX€vov Se ftou TTpos u/Act? e^vcFKiiOrjcrdv Tive<;' 
 ^^ iXevcroixai Se rax^ojs 7r/>09 u/xas, eai' o Kvpio<; Oekrjcrrj^ /cat 
 yvcocroiJLaL ov tov Xoyop rcov Trecjiva'Lcoixevcjv, dXkd ttjv Sv~ 
 
 * T^Kvov fiov, *■ Om. 'IrjcoC, 
 
 yet have ye not many fathers : for in Christ Jesus I begot you through 
 the gospel. ^* Wherefore I exhort you, be ye followers of me. ^'For 
 this cause I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved child and 
 faithful in the Lord, who shall put you in mind of my ways which be 
 in Christ Jesus, as I teach every where in every church. ^^But some 
 were puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. ^^But I will 
 come to you shortly, if it be the Lord's will, and will know, not the 
 
 founder' (the same sense in 
 other words as in iii» ^9). 
 
 7rat8ay<oyov5, the slaves who 
 took children to school, and 
 acted as their tutors. Compared 
 with the use of the word in Gal. 
 iii. 24, 25, it expresses the harsh 
 and despotic sway of those other 
 teachers ; thus agreeing with 2 
 Cor. xi. 20. 
 
 fivpiovs, though hyperbolical, 
 expresses the great number of 
 teachers, in accordance with the 
 general impression conveyed by 
 1 Cor. xii. 
 
 1 7 Timotheus was sent before 
 his from Ephesus; Acts xix. 
 22. ^ ^ 
 
 TeKVOV ayaTnyrdv. This refers 
 to his conversion by St. Paul 
 (Acts xvi. 1) ; and tbe phrase 
 seems to be used here in refer- 
 ence to TC/cva ayaTnjToij in verse 
 14 ; as though he said, ' I sent 
 Timotheus, who stands to me 
 in the same relation that you 
 stand.' Possibly the reason of 
 the injunction to Timotheus to 
 
 remind them of St. Paul's teach- 
 ing, rather than to teach them 
 himself, was from Timotheus* 
 youth. See note on xvi. 10. 
 
 Slol tovto refers to [xifx-qTaL fiov 
 yCveaOcy as appears from os vfias 
 avafxvyaret tol? o8ov9 /jcov. 
 
 19 e'av 6 KvpLO<s deXrja-rj. The 
 usual formula, as in James iv. 
 15 ; see also Acts xviii. 21 ; 
 Rom. i. 10 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 7. The 
 same suspicions had been excited 
 of his vacillation or duplicity of 
 purpose, which he afterwards 
 contradicts in 2 Cor. i. 15-17, 
 and which now might be re- 
 vived by the coming of Timo- 
 theus instead of himself. This 
 therefore suddenly breaks off the 
 affectionate strain in which he 
 had been addressing them, and 
 precipitates the introduction of 
 the severe censure on the in- 
 cestuous Corinthian, to which 
 the following words, yvwaofxaL . 
 . . 7rpavTr]To<s ('21 \ a,re a pre- 
 lude. 
 
72 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 20. 
 
 vajxiv ^^ov yap iv Xoyoi rj /^acrtXeca tov 6eov, dXX' iu 
 
 word of tliem wliich are puffed up, but the power : '^^for the kingdom of 
 God is not in word, but in power. 
 
 20 ov yap iv Xdyw. Comp. i. 17. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. III. 5— IV. 20. 
 
 Think not because I have confined myself to this simple preach- 
 ing that I am inferior to the other teachers, wliose loisdom and 
 whose progress in Christian knowledge you prize so highly. 
 All such distinctions are as nothing compared with the source 
 from which alone they spring, namely, God. All such progress 
 is as nothing compared with the permanent importance of the one 
 unchangeable foundation, namely, Jesus Christ ; nay, more, 
 although it may be truly valuable, it may also be most per- 
 nicious, as icell as most perishable ; its author escaping 
 because of his oivn right intention, but in itself leading to fatal 
 sijis, — fatal both to the purity of the Christian society and to 
 the safety of him tcho perpetrates them. All such wisdom is 
 €is nothing compared with that Christianity which you all pos- 
 sess in common. However great your several teachers may 
 appear in your eyes, or in their own, even though it be myself 
 and Apollos, remember that you were not made for them, but 
 they for you; und not they only, but the whole universe, past, 
 present, and to come ; if only you bear in mind that, as these 
 things depend on you, so you depend on Christ, and Christ on 
 God. Remember, also, that your teachers only preach what 
 they have been told, not what they invent; that, whether you 
 blame or praise them, it is not by your judgment but by God's 
 that they must stand or fall. And they too — they and all of 
 you — must rem.ember that their gifts are not their own, but 
 God's. Great indeed are those gifts — I do not deny it; and 
 deep indeed in comparison is the degradation into which we 
 the Apostles are sunk. Yet even from that degraded state 
 there is a lesson which you might well learn, — the lesson of 
 self-denial and humility. And this at least, the lesson of 
 example, is one which yny relation to you as your founder well 
 ^^ntitles me to urge upon you, lwu>ever much in points you may 
 
RELATION OF TEACHERS AND TAUGHT. 73 
 
 be tempted to follow others. This is the lesson which I have 
 told Timotheus to impress upon yon, though I shall also come 
 in person to impress it upon you by my own presence. 
 
 The Apostle's View of the Relation of Teachers and 
 Taught* 
 
 The mere structure of the argument, which makes it difficult to 
 distinguish when the taught are addressed, and when identifica- 
 the teachers, is instructive ; as indicating, first, the ^if" ^^ 
 historical fact that there was at this early period of the and 
 Apostolic age no marked distinction between these l^Jsciples. 
 two classes ; and, secondly, the moral warning that the sins of 
 party-spirit are shared, although not in equal degree, by the 
 leaders and the led. But the dangers on which the Apostle 
 chiefly dwells are those which arise from an undue estimation 
 of the teachers. 
 
 The great stress laid throughout, but especially in iv. 1-5, 
 on not overrating their spiritual instructors, even j^^^. ^^ 
 though they be Paul and Apollos themselves, «hows indepen- 
 that there are times and circumstances when the ^*^o<^e. 
 Christian's duty lies not in submission to authority, but in 
 questioning it ; that there is a religions danger in excessive 
 veneration, as well as in excessive independence (see notes on 
 2 Cor. i. 24). 
 
 The object of the passage is not to exalt, l>ut to depreciate 
 the teachers. They are only the humblest servants, not the 
 representatives, of Christ. They are not in possession of what 
 is denied to others. They are not masters of the secrets of 
 God, but only stewards, whose main duty is to be accurate in 
 arranging and dispensing what is not their own, but another's 
 property, — .only intrusted for a time with what really belongs 
 to God alone, and is revealed at His pleasure to His Church. 
 
 Lastly, the whole of this first division of the Epistle is im- 
 portant as bearing on the general question of divisions 
 in the Christian Church. In it we hav^ a proof that Ura of^the 
 it was not merely the errors or the hostilities of sect Apostle 
 or party, but the spirit itself of sect and party, even chTgf of 
 when it conferred glory on himself, that the Apostle party- 
 denounced as the sign of an nnehristian or half- ^^'^^^' 
 christian society. He warned them that not only their sins and 
 their Judaism, but their ' strifes ' and ' divisions ' of whatever 
 
74 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 kind, were proofs that they were ' carnal and walked as men ; ' 
 he * transferred in a figure to himself and Apollos ' all that he 
 would teach them of the evil of the Factions generally, in or- 
 der that they might fully understand how his language was free 
 from all personal feeling. What was deserving of con- 
 demnation he condemned ' for their sakes,' in whatever form it 
 might be found, whether it made for him or against him. 
 Here too we meet with the most express contradiction to the 
 suspicions alwa3^s natural to low minds, that a character which 
 exercised so vast an influence must have been intent on self- 
 exaltation. He tells them that he ' rejoices that he had baptized 
 none of them, but Crispus and Gains, lest any should say that 
 he had baptized in his own name ; ' he conjures them ' so to 
 account of him,' not as an independent teacher and master, but 
 merely as ' a subordinate minister (virrjpsTTjv) to Christ,' as a 
 humble ' steward ' whose only object it was faithfully to expound 
 * the secrets of God ; ' not to think that their favourable judg- 
 ment would justify him before God, but to wait patiently to 
 the end of all things, for ' then,' and not before, ' shall every 
 man have praise of God.' And here also we see the true secret 
 of freedom from party-spirit, true always, but in the highest 
 degree true of the Apostles ; when he represents the nothing- 
 ness of himself and all other teachers, how wise soever, in com- 
 parison with the grandeur of their common cause, with the re- 
 collection that they were ' in Christ Jesus, who of God was 
 made unto them wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, 
 and redemption.' ' All things are yours,' however strong their 
 outward contrast, * whether Paul, or Apollos, or Kephas, or 
 the world, or life or death ; all are yours ; for ye are Christ's, 
 and Christ is God's.' These last words, setting forth as they 
 do the distinctness of character and mind on the one hand, and 
 the unity of object and spirit on the other, sum up the point of 
 view from which all human differences, whether within or with- 
 out the Scriptures, ought to be regarded. These differences 
 are not concealed or overlooked ; but they are made to enhance 
 the greatness of Christ and of God. The consciousness of 
 great gifts and actions (iii. 5-10; iv. 7-14) may be united 
 with a complete dependence on a higher power and wisdom 
 than our own. The consciousness of great imperfection in de- 
 tail, and of great difference of views and characters (iii. 12-15, 
 22, 23), need not interfere with a strong sense of practical 
 unity and sympathy. 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 75 
 
 THE 
 CHARGES AGAINST THE CORINTHIANS (continued). 
 
 The Case of Incest. 
 Chap. IV. 21— V. 13. 
 
 From the subject of The Factions the Apostle passes to the 
 second piece of intelligence brought to him at Ephesus (appa- 
 rently not by the household of Chloe, but by popular rumour), 
 namely, that there was in the Corinthian Church a free indul- 
 gence of heathen sensuality, and in particular one flagrant case 
 of Incest, in which the whole society had acquiesced ^nthout 
 remonstrance. This, practically speaking, forms the crisis of 
 the whole Epistle. It is, as it were, the burst of the storm, 
 the mutterings of which, as Chrysostom observes, had already 
 been heard in the earlier chapters (iii. 16; iv. 5, 20, 21), and 
 of which the echoes are still discernible, not only in this Epistle 
 (vii. 2 ; X. 8, 22 ; xv. 33), but also in the Second Epistle, the 
 first half of which (chapters i. to vii.) is nothing less than an 
 endeavour to allay the excitement and confusion created by 
 this severe remonstrance. 
 
 But the Apostle, in rebuking this one crime, is led to con- 
 sider the whole question of The Intercourse of Christians 
 WITH THE Heathen World ; and hence arise the complica- 
 tions of the latter portion of this section. 
 
76 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. IV. 21, V. 1—5. 
 
 ^^ Tl OeXere; iv pdf^hc^ iXOca tt/so? u/xa?, rj iv dyoLTTrj 
 TTvevfJLaTL re ^ iTpavTrjTos ; v. ^ oXws aKoverai iv vixiv nop- 
 veta, /cat TOLavTrj iropveia 17719 ovSc ez/ rot? eOveaiv^ o)(tt€ 
 yvvaiKa TLva tov Trarpo? e^etz/. ^/cal v/xels 7re(f)V(TLCL>i.L€V0L 
 icrre /cat ov^^t [xaWov iTrevdrjcraTe^ Iva ^oipOfj €/c fxeorov 
 v/xojz/ 6 TO ipyov tovto TroLijcra^ ; ^iyo) fxev yap ^olttoji' tw 
 crw/xart, irapcbv he tco TrvevpLari^ rjB-q KeKpiKOL ^s irapoiv 
 
 • irpaSTTiTOS. * Add oj/o/xa^erat. <= e'lap^jj. ^ is a7r«y. 
 
 '^^ What will ye ? Am I to come unto you with a rod, or in love, and ' 
 the spirit of meekness 1 v. ^It is reported certainly that there is forni- 
 cation among you, and such fornication as is not even among the 
 Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. '-^And are ye puffed 
 up ? and did not rather mourn, that he that did this deed might be 
 taken away from among you ? ^For I verily absent in body, but 
 present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present him that 
 
 21 €v pd/^Swu The word is 
 used in reference to verse 6, 
 ^ Shall I come to yon as a stern 
 master, or as a gentle father f ' 
 It may perhaps allude to the 
 flagellation in the synagogue 
 which succeeded to the tirst 
 admonition by words. ' They 
 chastise him first with words, 
 then with .the rod,' according to 
 Deut. xxi. 18. (See Schottgen 
 ad loo.) 
 
 V. I oAcos merely adds force 
 to the assertion (compare Arist. 
 Pol. ii. 4, 5, oXios crvjxj^aiveLV dv- 
 dyKYj). ' There is absolutely re- 
 ported to be,' &c. Compare vi. 
 7 ; XV. 29 ; Matt. v. 34. 
 
 aKoverat iv vfuv, ' is reported 
 as existing amongst you.' 
 
 roiavrr} . ^ .. . .o)(rT€, ' of such 
 a kind as that .a father's wife 
 should be the person.' Such 
 cases, though not absolutely un- 
 known in Roman society, were 
 regarded with horror. Com p. 
 Cicero, Pro Cluentio, 5, 6 : 
 ' Nubit genero socrus, nuUis 
 
 auspiciis, nullis auctoribus, fu- 
 nestis ominibus omnium omni- 
 bus. O mulieris seel us ineredi- 
 biie, et prseter banc unam in 
 •omni vita inaudituDi.'* In this 
 case the father was still alive; 
 compare 2 Cor. vii. 12. 
 
 yvvaxKa tov Trarpos. The usual 
 Hebrew expression for ' step- 
 mother,' see Levit. xviii. 8, and 
 the R-abbinical quotations in 
 Lightfoot ad loc. From the 
 omission of all notice of the 
 woman, it would seem that she 
 was not a Christian. That it 
 was a marriage, and not merely 
 .a concubinage, is evident from 
 the language used to describe 
 it, ^X^'-^ — TTOiT^o-a? — KaT€pyacrd]X€' 
 vov. 
 
 2 Possibly a question, as in 
 the Syria e version and Greek 
 Fathers. The sense is the same. 
 
 J ya/9, ■'■ and he miast be re- 
 moved ; for 1 at least, whatever 
 you may do, have determined,' 
 &c. 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 77 
 
 TOP ovTco<; TovTO KaTepyacrdfjievov^ ^ev tco ovofxaTu rov kv- 
 
 piov \y]iiiov] ^Irjcrov^ crvva^Oevroiv vfxwv kol rov ejJLOv 
 Trreu/xaro? avv Tjj Swd/JLei tov Kvpiov [rnxcov] 'Irjcrov^ 
 ^ TTapaSovvai tov tolqvtop toJ aarava ei9 oXcOpov Trj<s crap- 
 
 ■ Add xP'o'Toi'. ^ Add xf"<^''"oO. 
 
 so wrought this, ^in the name of our Lord Jesus, when ye and my 
 spirit are gathered together with the power of our Lord Jesus, *to 
 deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the 
 
 ovT(o<;, 'under the circum- 
 stances,' as in John iv. 6. 
 
 4, 5 €1/ Tw oj. T. K. 17. 'Irjorov, 
 *in the name of our Lord 
 Jesus ; ' apparently the formula 
 which was used. 
 
 (TvvaydevToiv vfiu>v. As here, 
 so in Clem. Rom. L c. 44, the 
 rulers of the early Corinthian 
 Church are described as having 
 been appointed 'with the ap- 
 probation of the whole Church '' 
 ((rvv€vhoKr]crd(rr]? rrj<s c/cKXryo-tas ttcx- 
 
 KOL rov ifxov 7j-v€t;/xaT09, ' by 
 a perpetual inter-communion of 
 spirit ' foomp. xvi. 18 ; Col. ii. 
 6 ; and 2 Kinffs v. 26). 
 
 <Tvv rfj Bvvdfiei^ ' with the help 
 of His power present with the 
 Christian assembly,' as promised 
 Matt, xviii. 20 ; xxviii. 20. 
 
 TrapaSowat k. t. X. ' to deliver 
 him over to the powers of evil,' 
 Dpiiverance from whom all evil, 
 to Satan, whether moral or phy- 
 sical, is derived ; as in the case 
 of the demoniacs, and of the 
 woman ' whom Satan had bound 
 these eigrhteen years' (Lukexiii. 
 16), and the ' thorn in the flesh ' 
 sent bv the ' ang^el of Satan ' (2 
 Cor. xii. 7). Cf. TrapcScoKa rw 
 a-arava, 1 Tim. i. 20 ; TrapaSlSoifjiL 
 (TOL avTov, Job ii. 6. (So in the 
 Eabbinical writing-s quoted on 
 this passaore by Wet stein and 
 Lisfhtfoot, the ' deliverance ' of 
 Job to Satan is frequently 
 
 spoken of, and Solomon 'de- 
 livers' two Cushites to Satan, 
 who carries them to Luz, where 
 they die.) The fact, that in the 
 ordinary forms of excommuni- 
 cation in the first four centuries 
 this phrase does not occur, in- 
 dicates that it was regarded as 
 descriptive of a power which 
 had become extinct. (See Bing- 
 ham's Ant. XVI. c. ii. § 15.) 
 
 €15 oXeOpov TTJ? (rapK6<s, * to the 
 destruction of the flesh.' (1) 
 Some physical evil is implied — 
 probably sickness or death of 
 the ofi*ender. This evil may be 
 viewed either as the indirect 
 result of his removal from the 
 Christian society, and so becom- 
 ing the prey of Satan, the lord 
 of the heathen world (compare 
 1 Thess. ii. 18) ; or, more pro- 
 bably, as the direct result of the 
 Apostle's sentence. Compare 
 the case of Ananias (Acts v. 
 5-10) and Elymas (Acts xiii. 8- 
 11), and the general intention 
 of Matt. xvi. 19 ; xviii. 19 ; 
 John XX. 23. A similar con- 
 nexion of sickness and death 
 with moral evil, or with a moral 
 purpose, is implied in xi. 30 ; 2 
 Cor. xii. 7, 9. (2) The object 
 of the infliction was not penal, 
 so much as remedial (tva to 
 TTvev/xa crwOrj). Compare the 
 parallel passage, 1 Tim. i. 20, 
 ' that they may learn not to 
 blaspheme.' Thus the sense is 
 
78 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 6—8. 
 
 fcds Lva TO TTvevfia crcoOy kv rfj rj^xepa tov Kvpiov \^'Y]ix(t)V 
 ^l7)(T0V -^LCTTov]. ^ ov KaXov TO Kav)(7)fxa vficop. ovK otSare 
 OTL fXLKpa i,viJi7) okov TO cf)VpafJia t^vpiol; * eKKaOdpaTe ttjp 
 
 ■ Omit Tjfiwv and xpicTTov. 
 
 spirit may be saved in the day of oiir Lord Jesus Christ. ^Your boast- 
 ing is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole 
 lump ? 'Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, 
 
 the same as in iii. 15, namely, 
 that the offender shall through 
 present suffering be saved at the 
 last. Compare for the whole 
 passage Job i. 6-ii. 10. The 
 interpretation of Tertullian and 
 Ambrose, ' that the individual 
 may be destroyed in order that 
 the Church may be saved,' is 
 characteristic of the age of the 
 writers, but has no foundation 
 either in the actual words, or in 
 the general spirit of the Apostle. 
 
 6, 7 ov KoXov TO Kav'^rjiiia, 
 ' you have no right to boast of 
 your gifts, and of your spiritual 
 perfection, whilst this sin re- 
 mains amongst you unreproved ;' 
 alluding, perhaps, to expressions 
 in their letter to him. 
 
 OVK ot8aT€, ' is it that you do 
 not know that a little leaven 
 leavens the whole lump ?' The 
 expression seems to be prover- 
 bial, inasmuch as it occurs again 
 in Gal. v. 9 ; and the same image 
 of the rapid spread of leaven, to 
 indicate the growth of great re- 
 sults from small beginnings, is 
 the groundwork of Matt. xiii. 
 33. The sense is the same as 
 in XV. 33, where the precept is, 
 as here, confirmed through a 
 proverbial saying. There may 
 have been a classical proverb to 
 this effect, as Plutarch speaks of 
 the flamen of Jupiter abstaining 
 from leaven on account of its 
 deleterious effect on the whole 
 lump (Qu. Rom. 114-118, 162- 
 
 170). The Rabbis compare con- 
 cupiscence to leaven, because a 
 little corrupts the whole man. 
 Such is also the force of Matt, 
 xvi. 6, 12 : ' Beware of the lea- 
 ven of the Pharisees.' But the 
 mention of leaven suggests to 
 him the further image of the 
 Jewish passover. It is as 
 though he said, ' You know the 
 scene ; you know how, when the 
 lamb is killed, every particle of 
 leaven is removed from every 
 household ; every morsel of food 
 eaten, every drop drunk in that 
 feast, is taken in its natural 
 state. This is the true figure 
 of your condition. You are the 
 chosen people, delivered from 
 bondage, you are called to begin 
 a new life, you have had the 
 lamb slain for you in the person 
 of Christ. Whatever, therefore, 
 in you corresponds to the literal 
 leaven, must be utterly cast out ; 
 the perpetual Passover to which 
 we are called must be cele- 
 brated, like theirs, uncontami- 
 nated by any corrupting influ- 
 ence.' 
 
 The allusion may have been 
 suggested by the time of the 
 year when the Epistle was writ- 
 ten, apparently (xvi. 8), a short 
 time before Pentecost, and there- 
 fore with the scenes of the Pass- 
 over, either present or recent, in 
 his thoughts. 
 
 MS. D. re ads Soko2 for Ivfxot 
 iKKaOdpariy ' cleanse out.' A 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 79 
 
 Koi yap TO TTctcr^a ^rjfJLcov irvdrj xpLCTTOs^ ^aJcrre iopTa^oj- 
 
 * vtrhp r]fjLcoy iOvdrj. 
 
 as ye are unleavened : for our passover also was sacrificed, even 
 Christ. ^ Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither 
 
 strong expression to denote the 
 complete removal of leaven en- 
 The Pass- joined in Exod. xii. 15 ; 
 over. and carried out in later 
 
 times with such extreme puncti- 
 liousness, that on the fourteenth 
 day, they searched with candles 
 even into the darkest holes and 
 corners, to see whether any re- 
 mained. (See Chrysostom ad 
 loc, and the quotations from the 
 Rabbinical rubrics in Lightfoot, 
 i. 953.) This practice at the 
 time of the Passover, among the 
 Jews of modern Poland, extends 
 to the removal of all fermented 
 liquor of every kind. For the 
 early use of the Apostle's me- 
 taphor, see Ign. ad Magn. 10 
 (whether genuine or not) : ' Yttc/s- 
 OeaOe ovv rr/v KaKr]V ^vfirjv ttjv 
 TraXaLiaOeicrav, rrjv ivo$Lara<rav, 
 KOL fjLiTajSdXXea-Oe cis viav ^v/xr/v 
 xd-pi'TO':. Also Justin. Dia. c. 
 Tryph : Ato Kat fiera ra? eirra 
 Yjix€pa<; TOiV d^v/xo<^ayt(ov veav t,v- 
 jxrjv cfivpacraL cavroi? 6 Oeos Tra- 
 p^yyetA.€, TOvreoTLV, oAAcov cpyojv 
 vpa^LV KOL fjirj Twv TraXatiov kol 
 (fiavXiav rijv fjLifxrja-LV. 
 
 tva 7JT€ viov </>vpa/>ta, ' that you 
 may be -practically what you are 
 theoretically ; that, as you are 
 ideally without leaven, so you 
 may be actually a new regene- 
 rate society.' Comp. Gal. v. 25 ; 
 Rom. vi. 3, 4. 
 
 TToXaiav — viov. The words 
 are used emphatically to indi- 
 cate the new state of existence 
 to which Christians were called, 
 as the Israelites of old at the 
 Exodus. ' All things are be- 
 
 come new,' 2 Cor. v. 17 ; Rev. 
 xxi. 5. 
 
 Kol yap, * and you are bound 
 to be free from corruption ; for 
 in another respect, in addition to 
 the new life to which you are 
 called, there is a parallel be- 
 tween you and the Israelites, — 
 in the Passover.* 
 
 TO Trda-xO' is used both for the 
 Feast, and also, as here, for the 
 Pasclial Lamb. (See Exod. xii. 
 21 ; Matt. xxvi. 17, 19 ; Mark 
 xiv. 12 ; Luke xxii. 7 ; ^uW, 
 <f>ay€iv, €TOLfxdl€LV, TO ira.(T\aS) 
 
 vTrep rjfxiov, ' for us ' is omitted 
 in A. B. C^ D. E. F. G. The 
 whole stress, therefore, is on the 
 act of dying : ' In the ancient 
 slaying of the Paschal Lamb, 
 our Paschal Lamb was slain ; for 
 that Lamb was Christ.' Com- 
 pare X. 4, ' " The " rock was 
 Christ;' 2 Cor. iii. 17, 'The 
 Lord is "the" Spirit.' 
 
 The word ^vo-ia is applied to 
 the death of Christ, in Heb. ix. 
 26 ; X. 12. In the verb Ova)— 
 which only occurs here with 
 that application — it is diflScult 
 to say how far the distinct idea 
 of ' sacrifice in honour of God ' 
 (as in Acts xiv. 13, 18) is 
 brought out, or how far it is 
 used merely in the general sense 
 of ' slay ' (as in Acts x. 13 ; xi. 7 ; 
 Matt. xxii. 4 ; Luke xv. 23 ; 
 John X. 10). In the parallel 
 places, Rev. v. 6, 12, the expres- 
 sion used is the general word 
 ' slain,' or ' wounded ' (ia-<f>ayfxi- 
 vov). 
 
 The context points the allu- 
 
80 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 9—10. 
 
 /JL€V fXT) kv C^ixT) TTaXaia, /xT^Se ev C^fJLrj Aca/cias /cat 7rovrjpLa<;, 
 
 ^''Eypa\\fa vytlv kv rfj eiTLO-ToX^, fjirj crvvavaixiyvvcrOai 
 
 with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread 
 of sincerity and truth. 
 
 ^I wrote unto you in the epistle, not to keep company with forni- 
 
 sion to the * lamb witliout hle- 
 mish* (Exod. xii. 5): Be ye 
 pure, even as He is pure. An- 
 other resemblance, which could 
 hardly have been overlooked, 
 was that the Paschal Lamb (as 
 still in the Samaritan sacrifice) 
 was roasted on a cruciform spit. 
 8 copra^oj/xev, ' let US keep the 
 feast,' i.e. the perennial feast 
 (without any especial reference 
 to the annual celebration of the 
 Jewish Passover or the Chris- 
 tian Easter). Well expressed 
 by Chrysostom, ad loc. 
 
 a^vixoi<; agrees with apTOL<s. 
 ctXtKptvciag, ' transparent since- 
 rity.* dXr/^eia?, 'truthfulness.^ 
 One would rather have expected 
 some antithesis (not to false- 
 hood, but) to impuritv. It 
 would seem as if the particular 
 case of the incestuous person 
 had passed out of the Apostle's 
 thoughts, and he were referring 
 here rather to the insincerity of 
 their claims to spiritual perfec- 
 tion, as in verse 6. 
 
 9 It has been often contended 
 that the words * I wrote to you 
 the " Epistle ' 
 
 I wrnte 
 
 m 
 
 nntoyonin (typaxlra VfUV iv Trj 
 
 the Epistle.' ^^^^^^xji), must refe'r 
 to a previous epistle, containing 
 the command here referred to ; 
 as a like phrase in 2 Cor. vii. 8 
 evidently refers back to the 
 First Epistle. Against this mnst 
 be urged: (1) That there is no 
 other trace of the existence of 
 such an epistle, unless it be in 
 the manifestly spurious one pre- 
 
 served in the Armenian Church. 
 (2) That the whole manner of 
 introducfng the subject of the 
 Incest (especially in verses 1, 6, 
 7) is unlike what misrht have 
 been expected, had he already 
 mentioned this or a kindred sub- 
 ject. (8) That vvv Se in verse 
 11 is in reference (not to a cor- 
 rection of a former Epistle, in 
 which case it would have been 
 vvv 81 ypdfjioi, but) to the mean- 
 ing which he now puts on what 
 he has just written. (4) The 
 reference of the phrases iv rfj 
 iTno-ToXfj and typax^a to the pre- 
 sent Epistle (as in the similar 
 application of the word's in Rom. 
 xvi. 22 : 1 Thess. v. 27 ; Col. iv. 
 16 : 1 Cor. ix. 15), may be par- 
 tially explained by the f^ct of 
 the amanuensis, who mio*ht re- 
 gard the whole letter which he 
 was transcribing as * the Epistle,' 
 distinct from himself. At the 
 same time it must be observed 
 that all these passasres, except 
 1 Cor. ix. 15, occurring at the 
 end of the Epistles to which 
 they refer, are in some measure 
 distinct from the Epistles them- 
 selves ; a circumstance which 
 accounts for what would other- 
 wise be a very unusual mode of 
 expression. Hence when the 
 same expression occurs in the 
 middle of the Epistle, we are 
 doubly compelled to suppose 
 that some break has occurred 
 in the course of the argument. 
 Such a pause may have taken 
 place at this point, from the in- 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 81 
 
 TTOpvoi^* ov TravTO)<; rot? iropvoi'^ rov KoafJiov tovtov rj 
 rots irXeoveKTaLS ^ /cat apira^iv rj etSwXoXctr/aat?, eirel ^ ax^ei- 
 
 • Add Kal. *• ^ for Kal. " o</)etA€T6. 
 
 cators : ^^ not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with the 
 covetous and extortioners or idolaters, for then must ye needs go out 
 
 troduction of some such addi- 
 tion or after- thought, as was 
 not unnatural from the extreme 
 importance which (as we see 
 from the Second Epistle) the 
 Apostle attached to a right un- 
 derstanding of his directions on 
 this especial point. 
 
 He may be conceived as re- 
 turning to the argument in this 
 passage, perceiving that it was 
 necessary to correct the too ge- 
 neral inference which might be 
 drawn from his previous words. 
 In this case, the sense would be : 
 * In what I just wrote to you in 
 my Epistle, I laid down a general 
 command (v. 6-8) ; as it is, 
 what 1 really meant by writing 
 to you was a command not to 
 associate with sinners who are 
 Christians.' It might be asked 
 further whether there are not 
 indications that the whole pas- 
 sage (v. 9-vi. 8) is, in some 
 sense, a distinct note or inser- 
 tion,* a postscript not merely to 
 V. 6-8, but to V. 6-8 and vi. 9- 
 20. For : 
 
 (1) Whereas vi. 1-8 is evi- 
 dently attached, at least by- 
 verbal associations, to v. 9-13 ; 
 yet vi. 9-20 joins on naturally to 
 V. 8, without any allusion to the 
 Lawsuits (with one exception, 
 which shall be noticed hereafter, 
 at the beginning of vi. 9). 
 
 (2) Although the general com- 
 mand alluded to in v. 9-11 may 
 
 be found in the substance of v. 
 6-8, it w^ould certainly be more 
 appropriate if it could be referred 
 to vi. 9, 10. , 
 
 (3) Similar corrections or di- 
 gressions may be noticed in a 
 smaller degree in other passages, 
 particularly xv. 21-28 ; 2 Cor. 
 vi. 14-vii. 1 ; Rom. xvi. 17-20. 
 (Compare the remarkable pas- 
 sage in Liv. iv. 20, called by 
 Niebuhr — Hist, of Rome, ii. p. 
 456 — the only instance of a note 
 in any ancient author.) 
 
 This question, however, need 
 not interfere with the general 
 consideration of the passage, 
 from which, on any hypothesis, 
 V. 9-18 must be regarded as a 
 digression, growing out of v. 6- 
 8, whilst vi. 1-8 grows in like 
 manner out of v. 12, 13, and vi. 
 9-20 is a return to the general 
 subject of V. 1-8. 
 
 lo ov 7rdvT(ji<s, 'not in every 
 case.' 
 
 Tov Koa-fiov TovTovy ' thc heathen 
 world.' 
 
 7rA.€ov€KTats, properly ' avari- 
 cious,' or ' grasping.' , 
 This is its general ^ *°''**'"^'- 
 sense both in classical authors 
 and in the LXX. ; and so it is 
 used in 2 Cor. ii. 11 ; vii. 2 ; ix. 
 5; xii. 17, 18; Luke xii. 15; 2 
 Pet. ii. 14 ; probably Mark vii. 
 22 ; Rom. i. 29. But in all the 
 other places where it occurs in 
 the K T.— Eph. iv. 19; v. 3, 
 
 * This has been already conjectured by two Englishmen, - 
 (quoted in Heydenreich), and Dr. Arnold (MS. notes). 
 
 r. Edwards 
 
82 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 11, 12. 
 
 Xere apa ck tov KoayLOV i^ekOeiv. ^^^vvv Se eypaxjja vfili/ 
 (JLTJ crvvavajJiLyvvcrOaL^ idv rt? aSeX^os oi^o/xa^d/Aej^os y nop- 
 
 vuvl Se. 
 
 of the world. "But now I wrote unto you not to keep company, if any 
 one that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or 
 
 5; Col. iii. 5; 1 Thess. ii. 5; 
 iv. 6 ; 2 Pet. ii. 3 — (TrXcove^ia, 
 TrXcovcKTeo)) — it is most naturally, 
 in some passages almost neces- 
 sarily, interpreted as 'sensuality.' 
 in this particular instance, and 
 in vi. 10, either sense will suit 
 the context, the ordinary sense 
 best agreeing with the juxtapo- 
 sition of apTra^i and of KXeTrrat, 
 the extraordinary sense best 
 agreeing with the general con- 
 text. The extraordinary sense 
 of ' sensuality ' (if that be here 
 intended) may be either: (1) 
 From the general sense of ' self- 
 indulgence,' as in English the 
 word ' greed,' anciently used for 
 ' covetousness,' has, in its later 
 form of ' greediness,' passed off 
 into the sense of ' gluttony.' 
 Comp. the use of the word 
 ' covet ' in the two clauses of the 
 Tenth Commandment, as applied 
 both to the ' wife ' and the 
 ' house ' of our neighbour ; es- 
 pecially if Augustine's division 
 of that Commandment be adopt- 
 ed. Or (2) it may be from some 
 accidental connexion of the word 
 TrXeove^ca with ' idolatry ; ' whence 
 its use for the sensuality which 
 so often accompanied idolatry. 
 This last view is slightly con- 
 firmed by the use of the word 
 1?V3 (which usually means, and 
 is translated, ' covetousness ' or 
 'rapine') in Ps. cxix. 36, 'In- 
 cline my heart unto thy testi- 
 monies, and not to covetousness;^ 
 where the context would rather 
 require the sense of 'idolatry,' 
 
 as in verse 37. This connexion 
 of thought also appears in Col. 
 iii. 5 : T-qv TrXcovc^tav, tjtl^ ecrrtv 
 €t8a)AoXaTpeta. 
 
 apira^, ' plunderer.' It is diffi- 
 cult to see why this crime „ 
 should have been intro- "'"^* ' 
 duced into an enumeration which 
 concerns sins of sensuality. Pro- 
 bably it is suggested by the ge- 
 neral meaning of TrAcoveKrat?, to 
 which word in A. B. C. W. F. G. 
 it is joined not by ^ (Rec. T.), 
 but by Kttt, which would make 
 the connexion between the words 
 closer. 
 
 etSwAoXarprys. This, as Grotius 
 observes, is the earliest eiSwAo- 
 known instance of the ^o.'^pv:- 
 use of this word. etScoXov is used 
 as the expression for 'false gods ' 
 by the LXX., but this compound 
 never. In its etymological sense, 
 which has been followed in all 
 the European languages into 
 which it has passed, it signifies 
 a ' worshipper of images,' or of 
 'false divinities.' But in the 
 New Testament, this, although 
 part, is never the whole of its 
 meaning. In all the passages 
 where etSwAoAarpeta occurs, it 
 is either implied or expressly 
 stated that it relates to the sin, 
 not of worshipping a false god, 
 but of sensuality, by which the 
 act of false worship was so fre- 
 quently accompanied, especially 
 at Corinth : thus, in x. 7 this 
 explanation of it is given from 
 the words in Exodus, which 
 refer, not to the worship, but to^ 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 83 
 
 vo<; rj 7r\eov€KTrj^ rf etSwXoXarpT^S rj XotSo/oo? rj [leOvcro^ rf 
 dpna^, Tw TOLovTO) ixrjSe (TvvecrOieLV. ^^ri yap fioi ^tov<s 
 
 * Kal Tovs e|a>. 
 
 a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner, with such an one no not to eat. 
 ^'^ For what have I to do to judge them that are without 1 do not ye judge 
 
 the licentious rites ; in Eph. v. 
 5 ; Col. iii. 5, it is explained 
 as synonymous with 7r\eoviKTr)<;, 
 whiph in those places, as here 
 also, is probably used, not for 
 ' covetous,' but for ' sensual.' 
 That such is the meaning of it 
 in this passage is also almost re- 
 quired by the fact that, though 
 it is conceivable that a professed 
 Christian (dScA^os ovo/xa^o/xcvo?) 
 should be guilty of sensuality, it 
 is not conceivable that he should 
 be a professed heathen ; and the 
 word ilS(i)\oX.dTpr)s, if taken lite- 
 rally, could hardly signify less 
 than this. 
 
 CTTCt 6cfi€LX.€T€ ttptt, * clsO yOU 
 
 must come out from the society 
 of heathens, which you cannot 
 do.' This implies that 'the 
 world ' here signifies not so much 
 'the world' in its darker sense, 
 as the whole fabric of the society 
 of the Roman empire. It was 
 not till the great dissolution, 
 moral and physical, brought into 
 that society by the calamities of 
 the fourth and fifth centuries, 
 that the idea here impressed 
 upon the Christian mind began 
 to give way. Down to that 
 time the world of the Empire, 
 although contaminated by much 
 evil, was regarded as the im- 
 perishable framework under 
 shelter of which the Christian 
 found his appointed home. See 
 Tertullian passim^ 
 
 II vvvhi, 'but as it is.' Comp. 
 Rom. iii. 21. 
 
 eypaij/a. ' The meaning of 
 
 what I wrote was,' &c. 
 
 6voixa^6fM€vo<Sf to be taken, not 
 with 7r6pvo<s, but with d8eX(f>6^. 
 
 XoiSopo^s. See note to vi. 10. 
 
 arvv^a-dUiv, ' to eat together,' 
 i.e. in common meals. 
 
 12 yap, 'I make this limita- 
 tion of my command, for,' &c. 
 
 TOVS c^w. Col. iv. 5 ; 1 Thess. 
 iv. 12. It was the usual Jewish 
 phrase for heathens ; see Light- 
 foot on Mark iv. 11. 
 
 The punctuation may be very 
 differently arranged: (1) ovx^. 
 
 TOVQ €(T(1) V/JL€L<S KpLV€T€, TOVS Sc €$(0 
 
 6 deos KpLV€L. ' What have I to 
 do with judging those that are 
 without ? No : it is these who 
 are within that ye must judge ; 
 and those who are without God 
 judges.' In Romaic, ' no ' is the 
 universal meaning of ov^t. 
 
 Or (2) a question at KptvcTc. 
 ' Is it not those within that you 
 are to judge ? the rest God will 
 judge.' Or (3) a question at 
 Kpivei. * Is it not that you must 
 judge those within, but that God 
 will judge those without ? ' The 
 3rd is the most natural ; the 
 sense is the same in all. 
 
 The difference between KptVct 
 ( ' judges ' ) and Kpivd ( ' will 
 judge ') does not affect the sense. 
 The Versions (by which alone, in 
 the absence of accents, we can be 
 guided) incline to Kptvct. 
 
 i^dpare tov Trovrjpov is the usual 
 formula for punishment on great 
 crimes, see Deut. xiii. 5 ; xvii. 
 7 ; xxiv. 7, &c. Also 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 24. Theodoret and Augas- 
 2 
 
84 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 13. 
 
 cgw KpLveLv ; ov^t tovs ecro) v/xct5 KpLvere, ^°tov^ oe egco o 
 0c OS ^KpLvel; i^dpare top irovqpov i^ vfiayv avTotv, 
 
 * Kpivei. KoX i^afiure. 
 
 them that are -vrithin, ^^but them that are without God will judge ? put 
 away from among yourselves the wicked person. 
 
 tine read to irovyjpov^ and inter- 
 pret it, ' Put away evil from 
 fimongst you. ' The reading of /cat 
 i$ap€LT€ is probably from Deut. 
 
 xvii. 7, xxi. 21, &o. (LXX.): /cat 
 iiapels Tov Trovqpov ii vfuov av- 
 
DIGRESSION ON THE LAWSUITS. 
 
 85 
 
 DIGRESSION ON THE LAWSUITS. 
 ^ Chap. VI. 1—8. 
 
 The connexion of this paragraph with the preceding seems 
 to be, ' As we have nothing to do with judg- judgment 
 ing the heathen, so we ought not to go to law o^ Jews 
 before them, or suffer them to judge us.' This ^|^jjg ^/^ " 
 question was not new. It was held unlawful Heathen 
 amongst the Jews for any Jew to bring a law- ''°"^^®- 
 suit against his countryman before a Gentile judge, on the 
 ground that in Ex. xxi. 1 it is commanded ; * These are the 
 judgments which thou shalt set before ' — not the Gentiles, 
 but * them ' — the Jews. ' If any one brings the judgments of 
 Israel before the Gentiles, he profanes the name of God, and 
 honours the name of an idol. They who so do give occasion 
 to the strangers to say, " See how harmonious are they who 
 worship one God." ' ^ This right of settling their own disputes 
 was conceded to them by the Komans ; ^ and hence the speech 
 of Gallic to the Jews who attacked St. Paul.^ In the first 
 beginning of Christianity, when the Christians were regarded 
 by the Romans as a Jewish sect, and when they regarded them- 
 selves as having succeeded to the sacredness of the Jewish 
 Church, the same rule would naturally be held to apply. The 
 existence of separate courts for the disputes of Christians amongst 
 themselves, is implied in this passage. The Apostolic Con- 
 stitutions * and the Clementines,^ in language evidently founded 
 upon this text, imply the existence of such courts at the time 
 when those works were compiled, i.e. apparently about A. D. 
 150. In one passage,^ the nature of the proceedings is de- 
 scribed as follows: ' Let your courts {hiKaa-rrjpia) take place 
 on the second day of the week (Ssvrspa aa^^drwv)! n order 
 that if a reply be put in to your decision, by having leisure 
 i^ahsLav) till the Saturday {o-afi^drov) you may be able to in- 
 vestigate the reply, and reconcile the opponents on the Sunday 
 
 ^ See Wetstein and Schottgen ad 
 h. loc. 
 
 2 Joseph. Ant. XIV. x. 17; XVI. 
 vi. 1. 
 
 ^ Acts xviii. 14, 15. 
 
 ^ II. 4, 5, 46, 4r. 
 5 Ep. Clem, ad Jacob. 10 Epist. 
 s. 146. 
 « Apost. Const. II. 47. 
 
86 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 (sis Tr}v KvpiaKrjv). Now let there be present at the court both 
 the deacons and the presbyters, judging without respect of per- 
 sons, as men of God, with justice. When then both the per- 
 sons {irpoacoircov) have appeared, as the law also directs, they 
 who have the quarrel shall both stand in the midst of the court 
 (KpiTTjplo)); and when you have heard them, give your votes 
 with a scrupulous conscience, endeavouring to make them both 
 friends before the decision of the bishops, lest a judgment 
 against the offender should go out over the earth.' ^ The diffi- 
 culty only arose when both the parties were Christians; when one 
 of them was a heathen, then it was thought lawful to prosecute 
 before a heathen tribunal : hence the story of St. Julitta, who 
 prosecuted a pagan for theft, but refused to go on with the 
 trial, when the magistrates insisted on her renunciation of 
 Christianity.^ 
 
 Under these circumstances, it was natural that the same 
 ^controversy which in a mixed society of Jewish and Gentile 
 Christians ran through so many other departments of human 
 life, should be felt here also ; and that the Gentile Christians 
 should still wish to carry on their litigations in the same courts 
 to which they had been previously accustomed, and to indulge 
 the same litigious spirit which had characterised the Greek 
 nation from the time of Aristophanes downwards. But in 
 whatever way this tendency may have originated, the Apostle, 
 in his attack upon it, treats it altogether irrespectively of any 
 previous Jewish or Gentile custom, and condemns it solely on 
 the ground of the low view which it implied of the greatness of 
 a Christian's privileges, and the closeness of the bond of 
 Christian brotherhood. 
 
 ^ See Heydenreich on 1 Oor. vi. 1 for all these passages at length. 
 * Basil, Horn, 5, in Estius ad h, I. 
 
DIGRESSION ON THE LAWSUITS. 
 
 87 
 
 The LAWSUITS; 
 
 YI. ^ToXfxa Tt9 vfJiMV TTpayfxa e)(cov Trpog rov erepov, 
 KpCvecrOaL im tcjv olSlkcov kol ov)(i iirl tcov ayioiv ; '^rj* 
 ovK oiSare ort ol dytoi top koctijlov Kpivovcri; Kat el iv 
 
 • Cm. ¥t. 
 
 ^ Dares one of you, having a matter against another, to be judged 
 before the unrighteous and not before the saints ? ^Know ye not that 
 the saints shall judgfr the world ? and if the world shall be judged by 
 
 VI. I ToX/xd, * Can any one 
 endure ? ' Bengel : ' Grandi 
 verbo notatur Icesa majestas 
 Christianorum.* 
 
 Kpiv€<FOat = ' go to law.' So 
 Matt. V. 40. 
 
 2. -^ OVK otSarc ; ' Can you be 
 ignorant ? ' referring, as in. v. 6 ; 
 vi. 9, 16, 19, to a well-known or 
 axiomatic truth.' 
 
 ' A time will come when the 
 Christians, now so humble and 
 degraded in the sight of the 
 heathen world, shall sit in judg- 
 ment upon that very world ; ' 
 applying to the whole Church 
 what was- said of the Apostles, 
 Matt. xix. 28; Luke xxii. 80; 
 and with a reference to Dan. 
 vii. 22 (LXX.). It is an ex- 
 pression of the complete triumph 
 of good over evil, which will be 
 on© day manifest to all the 
 world, when those who have 
 shared the humiliation of Christ 
 here on earth shall also share 
 His- exaltation. Compare iv. 8; 
 2 Tim. ii. 12; and- especially 
 Rev. ii. 26 ; xx. 4-6. The other 
 afspeot of the final judgment, 
 which represents not the victory 
 of the good and the restitution 
 of all things, but the universal 
 account to which will be called 
 the whole human race, good. and 
 
 bad alike, is not here brought 
 forward ; but is no more incom- 
 patible with it than the judg- 
 ment which in this life is exer- 
 cised by the example and teach- 
 ing of the goodj is inconsistent 
 with God's present government 
 of the world, which extends to- 
 all alike. See John xii. 31, 47, 
 48, where the same ambiguity 
 exists. Bengel : ' Occulta Sanc- 
 tis majestas est suo tempore re- 
 velanda.' And in verse 3, as in 
 iii. 22, when once the view of 
 the Christian's exaltation, is 
 opened before the Apostle's 
 mind, it has no bounds, but ex- 
 tends to the Majesty on High, 
 where Christ sits on the right 
 hand of God,. ^ angels, and au- 
 thorities, and powers, being 
 made subject to Him.' Whether 
 good or bad angels are intended 
 is left undefined in all these pas- 
 sages. . 
 
 Eor this general identification 
 of Christ with His people, see 
 vi. 15 ; xii. 27 ; John xv. 5. For 
 an elaborate examination of all 
 the opinions on this passage, see 
 Heydenreich ad loe. 
 
 iv v/juv : (1) 'in your pre- 
 sence ; ' or, (2) ' by your exam- 
 ple ; ' in either case, ' by means, 
 of. ' See Acts x.vii. 31. 
 
88 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 3-10. 
 
 vfjLLV Kpiverai 6 Koo-fJiO^;, avd^LOi icrre KpLTTjpLcov Ikaxicrroyv ; 
 ^ ovK otSare on ayyekov; KpivovjJiev ; jjliJtl ye JSlcotlkol. 
 ^/3LcoTLKa pL€v ovv KpLTrjpia eav ^xrjTe, tov^ i^ov6evr)ixivov<^ 
 iv rfj iKKXr)(TLa, rovrou? KaOitjere. ^irpos ivTponrjv vp2v 
 XaXcu* ovT(xi^ ovK ^eui i.v vplv (TO(j>o<; ^ovSeig, 6s SvvyjcreTaL 
 StaKplvai ai^a fxecrov tov dSeX(j)Ov avTov ; ^dWd dSekcfiot; 
 fxerd dS€\(f)Ov Kpiverai, koI tovto eirX dirio-TOiv, ^ r^S-q [xev 
 
 iffTlV. 
 
 ovVi ely. 
 
 you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters ? ^do ye not know that 
 we shall judge angels ? how much more things that pertain to this 
 life. ^If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, those 
 who are least esteemed in the church, set them to judge. ^I speak to 
 your shame : is it so that there is not a wise man among you, that shall 
 be able to judge between his brethren 1 ^ but brother is judged with 
 
 Kpiverai^ * is to be judged,' as 
 aTTOKokimTerai in iii. 13. 
 
 avd^LOL ia-re ; ' are ye unfit to 
 be entrusted with the most tri- 
 fling cases ? ' iXaxt(TTOiv corre- 
 sponding to f3i(DTiKa^ as et . . 
 Kpiverai to ovk . . . KpLVOv/xev. 
 KpLTTjpLov, properly 'judgment- 
 seat.' In Apost. Const, i. 47, 
 KptTrjptov (for the place of judg- 
 ment) is specially distinguished, 
 from SLKaarrrjpLov (the persons 
 composing the court). 
 
 jjirJTL y€ (iioiTiKo. ; ' Much more 
 judgments relating to ordinary 
 life,' as in Luke xxi. 34. 
 
 jxrJTLye, * not to «ay — nedum? 
 
 ^LbiTLKos in classical Greek 
 
 simply means ' belonging to the 
 
 support of life ; ' but 
 
 relates to this life ' as distin- 
 guished from ' what relates to a 
 future life.' The Latin transla- 
 tion of ^ittiTLKa in this passage 
 by ^ scBcularia,* is probably one 
 of the first instances of the use 
 of that word in its modern 
 sense of 'worldly,' as opposed 
 to ' spiritual,' instead of its an- 
 cient sense ' belonging to a cycle 
 of a hundred years ; ' and from 
 
 this has sprung the signification 
 of the word ' secular ' in modern 
 European languages. 
 
 4 ' At any rate, if you must 
 have courts on matters of this 
 life, set those as judges who 
 are least esteemed. The least 
 esteemed amongst those who 
 shall judge angels, are surely fit 
 to judge those trifling matters.' 
 Then, suddenly moving from 
 what was ideal to the actual 
 matter of fact, ' I say this, not 
 to exalt, but to reprove you. 
 Is it really come to this, that 
 there is no one amongst your- 
 selves whom you can trust for 
 common justice ? ' 
 
 KaOi^erc, 'place on the judg- 
 ment-seat,' from the fact that 
 the judge then, as now, sat. 
 
 5 ava fiicrov k. t. A. The full 
 expression here would be dm fju 
 
 TOV dS. aVTOV l^TOV KpLVOfJiivOV K. 
 
 TOV €Tepov dS.] as in the LXX. 
 j)assim wherever dva /xia-ov oc- 
 curs. In this passage the latter 
 clause is, for brevity's sake, 
 omitted. 
 
 7 ^877 fxev ovv. ' This at least 
 is at once clear.* 
 
 oA.o)9, ' certainly,' as v. 1. 
 
DIORESSION ON THE LAWSUITS. 
 
 89 
 
 ou^ oXcos rjTTTjfxa iv vfXLU icTTiv, on Kpifxara l^^ere /le^' kav- 
 T(x)v. 8ta Tt ov^i ixaWov ahiKelcrOe; Sta ri ov^i [jlolWov 
 arrocTTepeicrOe; ^dXXa v/xet? dSi/cetre koI airoo-TepelTe, /cat ^i 
 ^rovro aSeX(j)ov^. ' 
 
 brother, and that before unbelievers. '^Now therefore there is certainly 
 a fault among you, because ye have judgments one with another. Why 
 do ye not rather endure injustice ? ^ Why are ye not rather defrauded ? 
 Nay, ye do unjustly and defraud, and that your brethren. 
 
 TfTTqixa, * a falling short of 
 Christian proportion — a gap in 
 the full complement of Christian 
 virtues.' 
 
 8 v/xet?, 'you Christians.' The 
 passage is remarkable as being 
 founded on the spirit of Matt. v. 
 40. 
 
 THE CASE OF INCEST (resumed). 
 Chap. yi. 9—20. 
 
 ^*H ovK otSare on dSt/cot ^ Oeov ^aaikeiav ov KXrjpopo- 
 pLTjcrovcn; Mrj irXavacrOe' ovre iropvoi ovt€ eiScoXoXdrpau 
 ovre iJLOL^OL ovre /xaAa/coi ovre apcTevoKoirai ovre 
 KXirrTai ovre irXeoveKTai ovre fieOvcroL^ ov XotSopot, ovp( 
 
 ^Know ye not that the unjust shall not inherit God's kingdom ? 
 Be not deceived : neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor 
 effeminate nor abusers of themselves with mankind ^°nor thieves nor 
 covetous nor drunkards, not revilers, not extortioners, shall inherit God's 
 
 9 If the digression ends here, 
 then 17 OVK oiSare . . . KXrjpovojxy]- 
 (Tova-L ; is the link between the 
 subject of the Lawsuits (aSiKot 
 referring to dSiKetre) and the 
 general argument. See on v. 9. 
 
 M^ TrX-avaaOe. See on iii. 8. 
 
 /xaAa/coi, ' effeminate.' For 
 the darker sense which the word 
 
 probably bears here, see the quo- 
 tations in Wetstein ad loc. 
 
 For elSioXoXdrpat, TrAcovcKTat, 
 IxWvcroL, apTraye?, see on v. 10. 
 
 10 /cAcTTTat, ' thieves.' This 
 is probably introduced in refer- 
 ence to the Lawsuits. 
 
 XoiSopoL. This connexion of 
 ' reviling ' with the sins of sen- 
 
90 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 11—15. 
 
 apTTaye<;, ^acrikeiav Oeov ov Kki^povoixTjcrovcnv. ^^ koX 
 Tavrd TLve<; rJTe' aXXa aireXovcracrOe, akXa r)yidadr)Te, 
 dWd ehiKai(t)6iqTe iv rco ord/xari tov Kvpiov ['j^jnoii'] ^Irjcrov 
 
 ^'^ndvra fxoL e^eariv, dXX' ov Trdvra cru/xc^epet ' irdvTa 
 [XOL e^eorriv^ dXX' ovk iyoj i^ovo-LaaOTJaofxaL vtto tivo^. 
 
 kingdom. "And such were some of you.:, but ye were washed, but ye 
 were hallowed, but ye were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. 
 
 ^~A11 things are in my power, but all things are not expedient : all 
 things are in my power,. but J will not be brought under the power of 
 
 suality, may be either; (1) That 
 in the idolatrous feasts animosi- 
 ties were wont to arise, as seems 
 implied in the similar juxtaposi- 
 tion, Rom, xiii. 12; Gal. v. 20; 
 or, (2) That it is used, like 
 jSiofioXoxiOi in Aristotle, and /jl(d- 
 poXoyla and evrpaireXia in Eph. 
 V. 4, for ' gross conversation.* 
 
 1 1 Ttves, ' in part ; ' to modify 
 the positiveness of the assertion. 
 
 ' Ye were- washed, and so can- 
 not be again unclean; conse- 
 crated, and so cannat be again 
 polluted ; acquitted, and so can- 
 not be again condemned.' The 
 variation of the usual order of 
 these words shows that no espe- 
 cial stress is laid by the Apostle 
 on their precise mode of succes- 
 sion (compare i. 2). Here they 
 all refer to the first conversion. 
 
 ' Ye were washed ' has an 
 allusion to baptism, but is not 
 formally identified with it any 
 more than are the two other 
 words. (Comp. Titus iii. 3, 5; 
 Heb. X. 22.) 
 
 So also, ' in the name of the 
 Lord Jesus,' has an especial, al- 
 lusion to the words used at bap- 
 tism, yet refers to all the three 
 words. Cp. for the formula 
 Acts xix. 5 ; 1 Cor. v. 4. The 
 
 middle voice (aTreXouorao-^c) makes 
 it properly, ' Ye washed or bathed 
 yourselves ' in the waters of bap- 
 tism. Comp. the same expres- 
 sion Acts xxii. 16, where, as 
 usually, the act of baptism is 
 represented as a voluntary effort 
 on the part of the convert. Pro- 
 bably when any large number 
 was baptized, they did actually 
 immerse each other or them- 
 selves ; a« now in the bathing 
 of the pilgrims in the Jordan ; 
 or as in the baptism of the thou- 
 sands of Saxons in the Swale, 
 whilst Augustine stood on the 
 bank. The force of diro is, ' ye 
 washed yourselves clean.^ 
 
 1 2 ' All things are in my 
 power.' These are the Apostle's 
 own words, quoted as an argu- 
 ment against him. ' True, I 
 have said, "all things are in my 
 power ; " but it is no less true 
 that all things are not accordant 
 with the interests of our na- 
 ture.' * True, all things are in 
 my power ; but J, as a Chris- 
 tian, will not be brought under 
 their power.' (Observe the play 
 of words on c^ecrrt and e^ovo-ta- 
 (tO-^&ojjlchl.) Bengel : ' Stolidus 
 esset viator,, qui in medio campo 
 viam habens, semper in ripa et 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 91 
 
 ^^TOL ^pcofxara rrj KoCkia, koI Y) KOiXia toi^ ySpw/xacrii^ ' 
 6 Se deos Kol TavT7]u /cat ravTa Karapyrjaei. to Se crajfia ov 
 TTJ TTOpveia, dXXa rw Kvptco koL 6 Kvpuos rco crcofJ^aTL' 6 
 Se ^€09 KOL Tov Kvplov Tjyeipev koX r]iJia<; ^i^eyelpei Sta ttJ? 
 SvvdjJieci}^ avTOv. ^^ovk otSare on tol acofJiara vfjiojv fJieXr) 
 -^LCTTOV icTTiv ; apa^ ovv tol [xeXy] tov ^icttov TTOLrjao) 
 
 ■ vixas (R. Steph. Tf/uLtis) i^ey€pe7. 
 
 any. ^^ Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats : but God shall make 
 to vanish away both it and them. But the body is not for fornication, 
 but for the Lord and the Lord for the body : ^^and God both raised the 
 Lord, and raises up us by His strengtii. ^^ Do ye not know that 
 
 margine undis proxima ambula- 
 ret. At sic multi vivunt etiam 
 in piis habiti. Potestas penes 
 
 penes res, qnibus 
 debet,' St. Paul 
 
 li deles, non 
 utitur, esse 
 speaks of himself here as repre- 
 senting the Christians in gene- 
 ral ; so in Rom, vii. 7-25. In 
 these aphorisms especially, he 
 uses the singular nupaber : com- 
 pare viii. 13 ; v. 23, 29, 30 ;.xiii. 
 l-3;xiv. 11. 
 
 The context of this passage 
 and of X. 23^ where the same 
 saying is repeated as the watch- 
 word of Christian liberty, shows 
 that it liad reference to the 
 great casuistical question re- 
 specting sacrificial meats, which 
 occupied the attention of all 
 gentile Christians, And the 
 transition from an assertion of 
 the indifference of this, to an 
 assertion of the indifference of 
 the sins of sensuality, strange 
 as it may now seem, was more 
 natural then, from the frequent 
 connexion of licentious rites with 
 idolatrous worship; and nowhere 
 more so than at Corinth. (See 
 the quotations in Wetstein on i. 
 1.) Accordingly, in the decree 
 of the Apostles at Jerusalem 
 (Acts XV. 29), this was made 
 the ground of the joint prohi- 
 
 bition of * things offered to idols, 
 and of fornication.' Such also 
 was the confusion implied in the 
 error of the Nicolaitans (Rev. ii. 
 14), who held the teaching of 
 Balaam—' to eat things sacri- 
 ficed to idols, and to commit 
 fornication.* 
 
 It is on the special distinction 
 between these two things that 
 St. Paul insists, 
 
 13, 14 Food ia formed for 
 the stomach, and the stomach 
 is formed to digest the food ; 
 but no such connexion exists 
 between the person of man and 
 the objects of his sensual grati- 
 fication : food, and all that re- 
 lates to it, are in thsir own 
 nature perishable ; but the per- 
 son of man, by its connexion 
 with Him who is imperishable, 
 is also itself imperishable. ' N'ot 
 that which goeth into the mouth 
 defile th a man ; but that which 
 Cometh out of the mouth, this 
 defileth a man,' Matt, xv, 11 
 and 17-20., 
 
 a-Cjfia, ' the person ; ' i. e. not 
 merely the body, but the frame- 
 work, as it were, of the whole 
 human being. Hence, in verse 
 14, ' us ' (r}/xa<?) is used instead. 
 
 15 The Church is the ' body' 
 of Christ : its individual mem- 
 
92 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 16—20. 
 
 7r6pv7)<; fJieXrj ; fxrj yevoLTO. ^^y) ovk otSare ort 6 /coXXaJ- 
 fievo^ TTJ TTopvy ev croiixd icTTiv; '^Eaovrai yap Ij^iqcriv] ol 
 hvo etg aapKa fxiav. ^^6 8e Ko\X(ofjievo<s tS Kvpico evirvevp^d 
 i(TTiv. ^^(j>evyeT€. ttjv Tropveuav. ttolv dfxdpTrjfJLa, o idv 
 TTOLTJar) dvOpojTTOS, e/cT09 Tov (TcoixaTO^ ecTLV 6 Se ttoo- 
 vevcov €19 TO LOLOV cTw/xtt afiapTavei. "^^fj ovk otoare otl to 
 (TCJfJLa vfJLCov vaos tov iv vplv dyiov Tn^eu/jLard? IdTiv ; ov 
 
 your bodies are members of Christ ? shall I then take the members of 
 Christ and make them members of an harlot ? God forbid. ^^ Know ye 
 not tiiat he which is joined to the harlot is one body? for 'the two/ 
 saith He, ' shall be one flesh.' ^^But he that is joined unto the Lord is 
 one spirit. ^^Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth, is without 
 the body ; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own 
 body. ^^Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost 
 
 bers are His * limbs.' It is a 
 more vivid specification of the 
 previous expression, ' the body 
 is the Lord's.' 
 
 1 6 Gen. ii. 24, €ts=Heb. 7 
 ' so as to become.' 
 
 The words 'they two ' (ot hvo) 
 are not in the Hebrew text, but 
 occur in the Samaritan Penta- 
 teuch and in the LXX. 
 
 For this use of KoXXao-Oai, or 
 of the corresponding Hebrew 
 word, compare Genesis xxxiv. 3 ; 
 Deuteronomy x. 20 ; xi. 22 ; — 
 ' cleave.' 
 
 rfj TTopvr), the article implies 
 her relation to him. 
 
 17 cV TTvev/jLa. This is an ex- 
 pression analogous to rj xfrvx^] ftta 
 in Acts iv. 32 ; but the word 
 TTvev/xa is here used instead, in 
 consequence of the purely spiri- 
 tual character of the relation be- 
 tween Christ and His followers. 
 
 18 'AH other sins are in 
 themselves partial, they do not 
 degrade your whole nature, phy- 
 sical as well as moral; not so 
 sensuality.' 
 
 19 The body^ not the soul or 
 spirit, of man is represented as 
 the temple of the Spirit. The 
 
 Spirit does not inhabit, but per- 
 vades and is identified with, the 
 soul or spirit. The body is the 
 abode of the spirit of man] it is 
 therefore the temple of the Spirit 
 of God. 
 1 TO a-oifw. (falsely corrected in 
 A^. J. into TO. a-wfiara) means 
 ' your several bodies,' but is in 
 the singular for the sake of 
 agreement with vao?, the plural 
 of which to Jewish usage must 
 have been almost unknown ; al- 
 though in this case he must have 
 meant that each Christian was a 
 temple in himself. Whether the 
 question ends at ia-TLv, or at 
 eavTwv, makes no difference in 
 the sense — ' you have the Spirit, 
 not from yourselves, but from 
 God ; and thus your whole being 
 is not your own, but His.' 
 
 20 rjyopd(T6rp-€ yap TLixrj<;, ' you 
 are not your own masters ; for 
 you are the slaves of God, you 
 were bought by Him, at the 
 time of your conversion.' The 
 expression ' bought with a price,' 
 is in itself general, and intended 
 only to express their complete 
 dependence on God ; as in Rom. 
 vi. 18, 22, ' Being made free 
 
THE CASE OF INCEST. 
 
 93 
 
 ex€T€ 
 
 OLTTO 0€OVy /cat ovK i(Tr€ eavTcov 
 
 ^^rjyopdcTOrjTe yap 
 So^daaTe 817 top 6eov ev tS croiyiaTi v/xoiz/.* 
 
 * Add, KoX iv rcf irvevfiaTi v/xwv drivd iffri rov deuv. 
 
 which is in you ? which ye have of God, and ye are not your own ; '^^for 
 ye were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. 
 
 from sin, ye became the " slaves " 
 (SovAot) of righteousness . . the 
 " slaves " of God.' Compare vii. 
 23, ' Ye " were bought with a 
 price ; " be not ye the '* slaves " 
 of men.' In both passages the 
 predominant notion is, not of a 
 ransom from slavery (as in the 
 passages where special allusion 
 
 is made to ' the blood of Christ,' 
 Matt. xxvi. 28; Col. i. 14; 1 
 Pet. i. 18, 19 ; and perhaps Acts 
 XX. 28), but of a price paid for a 
 slave. 
 
 8o^ao"aT€ 8t^. Srj is here used 
 as a cheering or hortatory ex- 
 pression, like TirXaOt Br], Kpahi-q 
 (Od. XX. 18). 
 
 Paraphbase of Chap. IV. 21— VI. 20. 
 
 I shall be compelled when I come to deal severely ; for you have 
 not only adopted the low worldly tone of the heathen world in 
 its factious spirit and its intellectual pride, but also in its im- 
 moral practices. Of these the most flagrant is the case of 
 incest, viewed with abhorrence even by heathens, but by you 
 with indulgence and self-complacency. This must not be ; in 
 the strength of that Divine power, by which things absent be- 
 come present, and by tvhich judgments follow on the sentence 
 of Christ's Apostles and Christ's people, I transport myself in 
 spirit to your assembly, and there deliver over the offender to 
 the adversary, in the hope that present suffering may lead to 
 future safety. Common sense tells you of the bad influence 
 exercised by one corrupting element. The perpetual pas sover 
 which we keep as the redeemed people of God, reminds you 
 that you ought to put away every particle of this evil leaven 
 from amongst you. It is possible that this prohibition of in- 
 tercourse may be applied too universally to the whole heathen 
 world; you must remember, therefore, that I was alluding 
 only to gross sinners of your own society. Of sinners who still 
 remain in the outer world of heathenism, neither you nor I are 
 
94 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 judges, hut God alone. In speaking of the judgment of 
 heathens you ought to reflect that, as you are not to judge 
 them, neither ought you to allow them to judge you. You 
 have not the excuse of being unfit to judge your ovm causes of 
 disputes ; the time loill come when even the proud heathens them- 
 selves, nay, even the angels, will, have to abide your judgment, 
 when you come to share Chrisfs final triumph. Much more, 
 therefore, are you worthy to judge the petty trials of this life ; 
 much less are you justified in calling one another to judgment, 
 and making heathen judges witnesses of your own wrong deeds. 
 But whether you separate yourselves noto,or not, from the 
 vices of the surrounding heathen, a separation will come at 
 last. The kingdom of God will wholly exclude them, as your 
 own profession of Chrisfs religion ought tvholly to exclude 
 them now. They are indeed bitterly inconsistent with the very 
 idea of Christianity ; and whatever I have said, or may say, 
 of Christian liberty with regard to various kinds of food, gives 
 no excuse for these vices. The outward framework of your 
 immortal souls ivas not created, like its lower organs, for mere 
 animal gratification, but for union loith its immortal Lord, 
 It is not like food, perishable ; but like Him, imperishable. 
 Every sensual sin separates from Christ the bodies which 
 ought to form one living Christ on earth — every such sin pro- 
 fanes the bodies ivhich, as the abodes of God's Spirit, ought 
 to be as holy as God's Temple, 
 
 Apostolic Liberty and Apostolic Discipline. 
 
 The peculiar interest of this Section is the picture which it 
 presents of the early Church in its intercourse with the heathen 
 world. Its relations to the heathen worship are exhibited in 
 1 Cor. viii. -x. and its relations to the heathen government in 
 Rom. xiii. 1-10; 1 Pet. ii. 11-17. But its relations to 
 heathen society, as such, in the matters of every-day life, are, 
 for the most part, exhibited only here. 
 
 At Corinth, as elsewhere, the separation from heathenism 
 had in the first instance been sudden, abrupt, and complete ; a 
 passage from darkness to light (vi. 11 : comp. Actsxxvi. 11); 
 a rupture, tearing asunder, even with an exaggerated violence. 
 
APOSTOLIC LIBEETY A^^D DISCIPLINE. 95 
 
 the ordinary ties of domestic life (vii. 12-24) and of established 
 custom (xi. 13-16). But in a short time a reaction began to 
 take place ; not only had the factions and rhetorical subtleties 
 of the Greek mind insensibly coloured the progress of the new 
 society, but the barriers between heathen and Christian morals 
 seemed to be levelled to the ground ; and the gross vices which 
 bore the peculiar mark of the former, and from which the latter 
 had seemed to promise an entire exemption, rushed in like a 
 flood, in one instance (v. I) exceeding the usual license even of 
 the low code of heathenism itself; whilst the peace and 
 harmony, that alone could preserve the rising society from dis- 
 solution, were scattered to the winds by litigious quarrels, which, 
 however natural in the populace of Corinth and Athens, ought 
 never to have arisen in a Church almost contemporary with 
 those who ' were of one heart, and one soul, and had all things 
 in common.' 
 
 The Apostle of the Gentiles was regarded both by his op- 
 ponents and his supporters at Corinth as the cham- r^j^g ^ ^ 
 pion of liberty. His sanction would be pleaded in stle the 
 defence of practices which brous^ht the Christian champion 
 
 ^/ . , ° . offreedom; 
 
 and Gentile world into closer union with each 
 other. Hence the peculiar significance of this part of the 
 Epistle. We have here the checks placed by the Apostle him- 
 self on his own principles, the limits beyond which Christian 
 liberty becomes heathen license, the example for all ages of 
 what is and what is not really latitudinarian. Perhaps the most 
 remarkable part of his conduct is that he is not staggered by 
 this sudden revulsion or excess of freedom. He still sees in 
 the Corinthian Church, corrupted as it is, the germ of a new 
 creation.^ He still repeats the same great truth, ' All things 
 are lawful for me,' which had been so grievously perverted. 
 Unlike the vacillating reformers or speculators of other times, 
 who are unable to control the spirit which they have evoked, and 
 ' back recoil they know not why, e'en at the sound themselves 
 have made,' he remained steadfast to the cause which he had 
 undertaken, and, as we see irom his later Epistles, hesitated 
 none the less to preach ' his Gospel' where it was needed, be- 
 cause in the instance of Corinth it had been so greatly exagge- 
 rated. But whilst thus firm in his original convictions, and of 
 he instantly laid down practical remedies, such as im- morality. 
 
 See V. 7 ; vi. 2, 11, 20. 
 
96 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 mediate expulsion of the worst offender from the Christian 
 society, and the entire prohibition of the settlement of Christian 
 quarrels in heathen courts of law. It is obvious that these 
 measures, being designed to meet an immediate and temporary 
 emergency, cannot, even if we had greater means of under- 
 standing the circumstances, be made precedents of universal ap- 
 plication. They could only be obeyed literally in a Christian 
 society as strongly marked off from the surrounding world, as, 
 in spite of all its corruptions, was the Church of Corinth ; so 
 animated by one spirit that its decisions could, like those of 
 Corinth, be pronounced by the whole assembly of its members ; 
 and so evidently bearing on the front of those decisions the 
 marks of Divine wisdom, that we could expect them to be con- 
 firmed by the immediate workings of God's providence. But 
 the general principles of the Apostle's advice are of universal 
 application, especially in the cautions by which the measures 
 he recommends are accompanied. 
 
 First, even in that age of Divine intuitions and preter- 
 ^. . natural visitations, he limits the subjects of expulsion 
 
 tions of from the society to gross and definite vices. No en- 
 
 Apostolic couragement is sjiven to pry into the secret state of 
 discipline. ° ° . ^ -^ ^ 
 
 the heart and conscience, or to denounce mere errors 
 
 of opinion or of judgment. Secondly, even when insisting 
 most strongly on entire separation from heathen vices, he still 
 allows unrestricted social intercourse with the heathens them- 
 selves. He forbears to push his principle to a Utopian extra- 
 vagance ; he acknowledges the impracticability of entire sepa- 
 ration as a decisive reason against it, and regards the ultimate 
 solution of the problem as belonging not to man, but to God. 
 Thirdly, whilst strongly condemning the Corinthian quarrels, 
 as in themselves unchristian, he yet does not leave them with- 
 out a remedy, and so drive them to the still more objectionable 
 course of going before heathen judges. He recognises the fact, 
 and appeals to their own self-respect to induce them to appoint 
 judges of their own ; thus giving the first Apostolical sanction 
 to Christian Courts of Law ; in other words, departing from the 
 highest ideal of a Christian Church, in order to secure the 
 purity of its actual condition. Lastly, he lays down the 
 general truth, that between all other outward acts and the sins 
 of sensuality there is an essential difference ; that the liberty 
 which Christianity concedes to the former, it altogether with- 
 holds from the latter ; that those sins are utterly inconsistent 
 
APOSTOLIC LIBERTY AND DISCIPLINE. 97 
 
 Bot merely with any particular relation existing between 
 Christianity and heathenism, but with the very idea of Chris- 
 tianity itself. Great as are the freedom and the variety of 
 language in the New Testament respecting all other outward 
 acts, these alone are condemned as always and under all cir- 
 cumstances, at variance with the true Christian character. 
 
 It is a striking proof of the change effected by Christianity, 
 that whereas in Eastern nations the word for ' holy ' was used 
 for the worst kinds of sensuality, from the notion that those 
 who practised them were consecrated to Astarte,^ the corre- 
 sponding word in the New Testament (^djios) is used almost 
 always by St. Paul with a special reference to moral purity. 
 
 ^ See Gesenius, Thesaurus, in voce K^IJ?. Compare especially 1 Thess. 
 iv. 3-r. 
 
98 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 THE ANSWERS OF ST. PAUL TO THE LETTER OF 
 THE CORINTHIAN CHURCH. 
 
 Chap. VII. 1 XIV. 40. 
 
 Besides the news of the factions and of the sensualities of the 
 Corinthian Church, which had reached him through the house- 
 hold of Chloe or through popular rumour, the Apostle had 
 received a letter from the Corinthians themselves, containing 
 certain questions, which he proceeds to answer in the remaining 
 part of the Epistle. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 Chap. VII. 1—40. 
 
 The first question of the Corinthian Christians related t o 
 the scruples which were entertained by some of them on the 
 subject of Marriage. From one or two expressions (as in 
 vii. 18), and from the great probability that the Jews were 
 more likely to be scrupulous than the Gentiles, it might be 
 argued that these scruples originated in the Jewish party. 
 But, on the other hand, it would seem that (except by the 
 Essenes), marriage was always regarded by the Jews as a 
 duty ; ^ so much so, that he who at the age of twenty had not 
 married, was considered to have sinned : whilst, in the Gentile 
 world generally, the tendency to celibacy was at this period 
 so strong, that laws were enacted by Augustus, on his succes- 
 sion, to counteract it ; ^ and in this feeling against marriage 
 many of the Greek philosophers shared, chiefly from prudential 
 motives. ' An sapienti ducenda sit uxor ? ' was an established 
 question to be discussed ; and the answer was usually in the 
 negative.^ The context also leads us to conclude that, if the 
 question proceeded from any particular portion of the Co 
 rinthian Church, it must have been from the party that called 
 themselves after the Apostle. It was evidently put to him, 
 
 1 See Iken, Ant. Judaism. Pt.III. I ^See Hor. Carm. Saec. 17. 
 c. 1, § 2. I 3 See the quotations in GrotiuSjOd! Zoc. 
 
MAERIAGE. 99 
 
 not by those who disparaged, but by those who deferred to his 
 authority ; and he was well known himself, both by tempera- 
 ment and feeling, to inchne to single life,^ and was for that 
 reason disparaged by the Jewish party, in comparison with the 
 married state of Peter and of the Lord's brethren.^ If there 
 be any part especially addressed to the Jewish Christians, it 
 would be that relating to the mixed marriages. How strong 
 the feeling against these was amongst the stricter Jews after 
 the return from the captivity, is evident from the Books of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah, which may be instructively compared with this 
 Chapter. 
 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 7, 8. ^ 1 Cor. ix. 5. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 1—5. 
 
 VII. ^Ilepi Se a)V iypdxjjaTe /xot. koKov avOpojirco yvvai- 
 
 ras TTopvaas e/cacrros ttjv eav- 
 
 ^ Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me : It is good 
 for a man not to touch a woman. '^ But on account of fornications, let 
 
 VII. The difficulty of the Co- 
 rinthians seems to be contained 
 in the words, * It is good not to 
 touch a woman ; ' which divided 
 itself into two questions : (1) 
 Whether the unmarried were to 
 marry ? (2) Whether the married 
 were to remain in their married 
 state ? 
 
 Of these, the first question di- 
 vided itself into two : — 
 
 (a) What was the duty of 
 unmarried persons themselves ? 
 which is answered in 2, 8, 9. 
 
 (6) What was the duty of 
 parents to their unmarried chil- 
 dren ? which is answered in 25- 
 39. 
 
 The second question also di- 
 vides itself into two : — 
 
 (a) What was the duty of 
 married persons generally ? 
 which is answered in 3-7. 
 
 (h) What was the duty espe- 
 cially of those who were married 
 to heathens ? which is answered 
 in 10-24. 
 
 I KoXov. Much ingenuity has 
 been employed by the advocates 
 of celibacy in making this word 
 mean 'lofty' or 'noble,' and 
 by the advocates of marriage in 
 depreciating it to mean ' con- 
 venient for existing circum- 
 stances.' The obvious meaning 
 is the true one. It is used (as 
 in Aristotle and the Greek moral 
 writers generally) for 'good,' 
 like 'pulchrum' in Latin, op- 
 posed to ' turpe ' = alcrxpov — 
 * bad ; * and the only limitation 
 
 to be put upon it is that which 
 is supplied by the context. If 
 the sentence had been con- 
 structed with the full comple- 
 ment of classical particles, it 
 would have been KaXov fxev : the 
 omission of these particles is so 
 frequent in St. Paul as to be 
 given by Jerome as a proof of 
 the Apostle's imperfect acquaint- 
 ance with the Greek language. 
 (See Erasmus ad loc.) 
 
 aTTTecrOaL, i.e. in marriage, like 
 yj3. Jerome (adv. Jovinian) in- 
 terprets it of simply touching. 
 
 2 The Apostle adopts the Co- 
 rinthian statement as his own, 
 and asserts it as a general prin- 
 ciple to be true, but with modi- 
 fications which he now proceeds 
 to specify. He states that, though 
 there are reasons which make 
 the single state more eligible, 
 yet these are overborne practi- 
 cally by greater evils on the 
 other side, arising from the 
 temptation to sin, which would 
 thereby be opened. And first,- 
 for this reason, he recommends 
 (or permits) marriage to those 
 who are unmarried. 
 
 Blcl Ttts TTopi/ctas. ' In conse- 
 quence of the sensual sins of the 
 time' (as inverse 5), i.e. 'lest 
 their general prevalence might 
 tempt you to join them.' The 
 plural alludes to the various 
 kinds of immorality, as specified 
 in vi. 9, 10. 
 
 i)(€T(ii. The contrast between 
 Trjv iavTOV ywaiKa and tov lSlov 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 101 
 
 Tov yvvaiKa i^iTOi koX eKoicrTr) tov lSlop dvSpa e)(€T(o. ^ry 
 yvvaLKL 6 avrjp ttjv ^ocfteLkrjv aTToStSdrw, 6/xotQ>s [Se] /cat 
 rj yvvTj T(o avSpC. ^rj yvvrj tov ISlov crcofjLaTO<; ovk i^ov- 
 cria^et, dXXa 6 avrjp' o/xoiws Se koX 6 avr)p tov ISlov ctcj- 
 /x-aros OVK e^-ovcrta^ei, dXXct rj yvvrf. ^ fxrj airoo-TepeiTe 
 aXXijXov^, el ^jltj tl av e/c (TVfJL(j>(ovov 7rpo§ Kaipov^ Lva ^ cr^o- 
 \da-rjT€ Trj Trpocrev^rj /cat ttoKlv eVt to avTo^rjTe, Iva fir) 
 
 ■ 6<p€iKofi.€i/Tjv eijvoiau. •» (rxo\d(T}T€ r-p vrtcmia Kal. ' (rvvepxf<rd€ for ^re. 
 
 every one have his own wife, and let every woman have her own hus- 
 band. ^Let the husband render unto the wife her due, and likewise also 
 the wife unto the husband. ^ The wife hath not power over her own body, 
 but the husband : and likewise also the husband hath not power over his 
 own body, but the wife. ^ Defraud ye not one another, except with con- 
 sent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to prayer and be together 
 
 avSpa is a difference of idiom, 
 which runs all through the New 
 Testament. l8lo<s is never -ased 
 for yvvrji nor cavrov for dm^pf in 
 speaking of ' husband and wife ; ' 
 perhaps from the seeming in- 
 appropriateness of using eavrov, 
 except in the relation when the 
 one party is, as it were, the pro- 
 perty of the other ; perhaps from 
 the importance of pointing out 
 that the husband is the natural 
 adviser of the wife. 
 
 3 The second modification is, 
 that, for the same reason, when 
 married, they are still to con- 
 tinue in the married state. For 
 the true reading, 6cfi€LX.rjv ( = ' de- 
 bitum tori '), t-^v 6<f)€tX.oix€vr]v ev- 
 voLdv of the Received Text must 
 have arisen as a periphrasis in 
 public readings of the Epistle. 
 Compare evvoiav in Jos. Ant. xvi. 
 7, 3 ; xvii. 3, 1 ; Dio Chrys. p. 
 52 ; and cf)L\o(f)pocrvvrj and (fnXoTrj^ 
 in classical writers (Wetstein ad 
 loc). 
 
 5 On these words of the Apo- 
 stle was afterwards founded the 
 practice of married persons 
 living apart from each other 
 
 through the season of Lent. 
 Later copyists have here made 
 three corrections in accordance 
 with the exaggerated notions of 
 their own time. 
 
 (1) (TxoXaoT/Tc has been cor- 
 rected to o-xoXa^r/re, from a de- 
 sire to give the Apostle's precept 
 a general, instead of a merely 
 special and temporary applica- 
 tion. The word itself, with the 
 dative case, implies ' devotion to 
 anything ' — especially used of 
 devotion to studies or to a master. 
 (Compare ' vacare rei.') 
 
 (2) The allusion to ' fasting * 
 (ttj vrj(TT€La Kttt) has been added, 
 partly perhaps suggested by Acts 
 xiii. 2; xix. 23, which contain a 
 similar conjunction of fasting 
 with solemn prayer. In Mark 
 ix. 29, there is, as here, a variety 
 of reading, though in favour of 
 vr)(rT€La. 
 
 (3) (Tvvepx^o-Oe (R. Steph. avv- 
 ipXTfo-de) has been substituted 
 for TjTi, as giving to the married 
 state a less permanent character 
 than the Apostle ascribes to it. 
 For the phrase cTvat cVt to avro, 
 compare Acts ii. 1. The true 
 
102 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 6—14. 
 
 7r€tpa^27 v/;tas 6 crarai^as Sta ttjv aKpacrCav vjjlcov, ^tovto 
 Se Xeyo) /caret crvyyvcoixr)!^, ov /car' inLTayijv. ^ Oekco ^Se 
 Trai^ras avOpcoTrov^ etvai ois /cai ifJuavTov dW e/cao'Tos 
 tStoi/ ^e)(e6 xapLCTfJia cac ^eou, ''o /xei' ourca?, 6 Se ovro)?. 
 
 ^-4ey(y Se rots aydyioi^ koX rats X^P^^^i i^^^^ov avTols 
 iav ^ [^ovTcjs] ixeivo)(TLV m /cayw • ^ et 8e ovk iyKparevovTai, 
 
 d'}. 
 
 yafxrja-aTcocrav KpeiTTOv yap eariv yafirjcrai yj irvpov- 
 crOai' ^^Tols Se yeyafJbrjKocrLv TrapayyeXkco ovk iyco, dXXa 
 
 » yhp for Se. 
 ^ Add ^(TTti/. 
 
 '' Xoipifffia ex*'* ° ^^ M^'' • 
 
 * Omit oStus, and so also Lachm. Ed. 1. ' 
 
 . . ts Se. 
 Kpe7a'ffov. 
 
 again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. ^Now I say this 
 by permission, and not of commandment. "^And I would that all men 
 were even as I myself : howbeit every one hath his own gift of God, 
 one after this manner, and another after that. 
 
 ^Now I say to the unmarried and to the widows. It is good for 
 them if they so abide even as I; ^but if they cannot contain, let them 
 marry : for it is better to marry than to burn. ^^ And unto the married 
 I command, — not J, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her 
 
 reading in the three cases rests 
 on the best MSS., A. B. C. D. E. 
 
 r. G. 
 
 6 o-aravas. 'The adversary, 
 who is always on the watch.' 
 Comp. Job i. 12. 
 
 Sia T^v aKpaa-iav. See on verse 
 2. 
 
 6 Kara arvyyviofJLTjv. This fixes 
 the sense of ix^roi in verse 2, 
 which the Apostle saw was liable 
 to misunderstanding. 
 
 7 xapto-jLta. This word, which 
 is usually employed for preter- 
 natural gifts, is here used for 
 moral and natural gifts. 
 
 8 Aeyw Be. 'Now, what I 
 mean is this.' Gomp. i. 12. He 
 here sums up his previous advice, 
 as if wishing to express it more 
 clearly for the different classes : 
 first, for the unmarried, verse 8, 
 of which the substance is the 
 same as verse 2 ; secondly, for 
 the married, in verse 10, with an 
 additional advice respecting se- 
 paration ; which leads him, 
 thirdly, to the new subject of 
 
 1 
 
 mixed marriages, which he dis- 
 cusses in 11-24 ; first, on its own 
 merits, 11-17 ; secondly, on the 
 general ground of Christianity 
 not changing the social condition 
 in which it finds us (18-27). 
 
 9 OVK ly Kparevovr ai must be 
 taken as one word, as a substi- 
 tute for aKparevovTai, which is 
 not admissible. (See Wetstein.) 
 
 10 The contrast here is, not 
 between the Apostle inspired 
 and the Apostle uninspired, but 
 between the Apostle's words and 
 an actual saying of our Lord, as 
 in Matt. v. 32 ; xix. 3-10 ; Mark 
 X. 11; Luke xvi. 18. The 
 Apostle follows the account in 
 the two latter Evangelists, in 
 omitting the exception to the 
 rule (TrapcKTO? Aoyov Tropvctas), 
 mentioned in Matt. v. 32. But 
 no stress can be laid upon the 
 omission in this place, because 
 he is speaking only of those cases 
 where there was a wish to sepa- 
 rate, without reference to adul- 
 tery. 
 
MAEEIAOE. 
 
 103 
 
 b Kvpio<;, yvvoLKa oltto avhpos [Jir) ^xoipttjecrBaL ^^{iav 8e 
 /cat ^oipicrOfj^ ixeviro) aya/xos rj rw dvSpl KaTaWayrjTOji) 
 KOL dvopa yvvaiKo. firj dffnevai. ^^rots Se XotTTOts ^Xeyco 
 ey<u, ou^ 6 KvpLO^^ el tls d8eX<^os yvj^at/ca e)(€L OLincrTov 
 KoX ^avTT) avvevSoKel oIkclv /xer' aurou, /117 dtpiiro) avTriVy 
 ^^ KoX yvvT) 17TIS e)(€c dvhpa aTnarTOV koI ^ovro^ crvvevhoKei 
 OLKeiv [xer avT7j<?, firj dcj^ieTco tov ^dvhpa' ^^'t^yiacrraL yap 
 
 Xaopiffdripai 
 avTi]. 
 
 * a\n65. 
 
 " avT6v for rhv ikvSpa. 
 
 husband ^^ (but and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled 
 to her husband) and let not the husband put away his wife. ^'~ But to the 
 rest say 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, ^^ and 
 the wife which hath an husband that believeth not and he be pleased to 
 dwell with her, let her not put away her husband. ^* For the un- 
 
 11 The Apostle speaks of the 
 women first, probably because, 
 according to the natural ten- 
 dency of the female character, 
 the religious scruples of the 
 wives on this subject had been 
 greater than those of the hus- 
 bands. Compare the vehemence 
 of the Jewish women against St. 
 Paul, Acts xiii. 50 ; and see also 
 1 Pet. iii. 1. 
 
 Xopta-Ofj, the natural expres- 
 sion for the wife, as not having 
 power to dismiss her husband ; 
 a<f>L€vai, the milder form for the 
 husband, although it is in verse 
 13 used also for the wife. The 
 words are taken from the phrase- 
 ology of legal divorce ; but the 
 cases here spoken of are not so 
 much regular divorces as acci- 
 dental separations, eav 8e kol 
 X^pi-crOyy * If she should in fact be 
 separated,' 
 
 12 Tots Se XotTTots. He now 
 returns to the case of mixed 
 marriages. This implies that 
 previously he had been speak- 
 ing only of marriages where 
 both parties were Christians. 
 On this subject he here de- 
 
 clares that he had not, as in 
 the other case, any actual pre- 
 cept of our Lord to refer to, and 
 therefore took it upon himself to 
 advise ; whence we may observe : 
 (1) The confidence with which, 
 in the absence of any such direct 
 declaration of Christ, he puts 
 forward his own judgment. (2) 
 The natural distinction between 
 the sayings of Christ, and the 
 sayings of the Apostles, as here 
 exemplified ; Christ laying down 
 the general rule, the Apostles 
 applying it to the particular 
 emergencies which arose out of 
 the relations of the particular 
 Churches with which they had 
 to deal. 
 
 13 d<fiUTO) TOV avSpa. Here is 
 a deviation from the phraseology 
 of verse 10, perhaps occasioned 
 by the Christian being regarded 
 as the superior party. But the 
 Greek and Roman law permitted 
 the wife as well as the husband 
 to seek divorce. (Plut. Ale. 8 ; 
 Gains, i. 127.) 
 
 14 iv Tw aScXc/xj), 'in the 
 brother,' i.e. 'in her Christian 
 
104 
 
 FIBST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 15—16. 
 
 6 dinjp 6 aina'TOS iv rfj yvvaiKi^ koX y^yiao'TaL yj yvvrj rj 
 dina-TOs ip tw *d8eX<^a5, iirel dpa rd reKva vfjia>v dKaOap- 
 Ta ecTTLV, vvv be ay La ea-TLV, ^"^ €c oe o aTTtcrros ^oipiL<ETai^ 
 
 • avipl for aSe\<f>^. 
 
 believing husband is hallowed by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is 
 hallowed by the brother ; else were your children unclean, but now are 
 they holy. ^* But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. The brother 
 
 husband.' 'By virtue of the 
 Christianity of her husband.' 
 
 He here appeals to the com- 
 ' Then are ^^^ feelin g of the Chris- 
 the children tian society, which re- 
 ^^' garded the children of 
 
 Christian or mixed marriages as 
 belonging to God's people, in 
 order to show that in like man- 
 ner the unbelieving partner 
 must, from marriage to a Chris- 
 tian, also be classed amongst 
 God's people. 
 
 The passage, on the one hand, 
 is against the practice of infant 
 baptism in the Apostle's time. 
 For (1) he would hardly have 
 founded an argument on the de- 
 rivation of the children's holi- 
 ness from their Christian parent 
 or parents, if there had been a 
 distinct act by which the chil- 
 dren had themselves been ad- 
 mitted formally into the Chris- 
 tian society ; and (2) he would 
 not have spoken of the heathen 
 partner as being ' holy ' in the 
 same sense as the children were 
 regarded as ' holy,* viz. by con- 
 nexion with a Christian house- 
 hold, if there had been so obvious 
 a difference between the condi- 
 tions of the two, as that one was, 
 and the other was not baptized ; 
 (3) his argument thus under- 
 stood exactly agrees with the 
 Rabbinical rule about the baptism 
 of proselytes : ' If the female 
 proselyte is with child, there is 
 no need to baptise the child on 
 
 its birth ; for the mother's bap- 
 tism becomes a baptism for it.' 
 (Jebamoth, f. 78, 1). 
 
 On the other hand, the pas- 
 sage asserts the principle on 
 which infant baptism is founded, 
 (1) That family ties with a 
 Christian do in themselves con- 
 secrate those who are bound by 
 them ; and (2) That the children 
 of Christian parents may there- 
 fore be considered as amongst 
 the people of God, and that from 
 this would follow the natural 
 consequence that the whole 
 family would participate in the 
 same rites as belonged pro- 
 perly, and in the highest sense 
 only, to those members or that 
 member of it who was strictly a 
 believer : Bengel : * Est matri- 
 monium Christianum, est soboles 
 Christiana.' Such is the view 
 taken of the passage by Hooker. 
 (Ecc.Pol.V.lx.6.) Thus the in- 
 fluence of the mother naturally 
 prepared the son to receive 
 Christianity, even when the 
 father was adverse ; as in the 
 case of Timotheus, Augustine, 
 and Chrysostom. 
 
 rjyiaa-Tai. i.e. * is consecrated 
 to God by the marriage.' 
 
 eTTct apa, ' since in that case.' 
 Compare verse 10. 
 
 aKaOapra, 'profane' -- 'ex- 
 cluded from God's people ; ' as 
 in the case of ' unclean ' meats. 
 Compare Acts x. 14. 
 i vvv Se, ' but as it is.' 
 
MAKKIAGE. 
 
 105 
 
 y(t)pi<[J.a6o). ov SeSouXwrat 6 aSeXc^os rj rj dSeXc^r) iv 
 TOL<; TOLOVTOL<;' ev Se elprjvrj KeKXrjKev r)fJias 6 Oeos. ^^tC 
 
 yap otoas, yupatt €i tov av 
 
 ivSpa 
 
 a(ocr€L<s ; rj ri oTSas, avepy 
 
 or the sister is not enslaved in such cases : but God hath called us in 
 peace. ^^ For what knowest thou, wife, whether thou shalt save thy 
 husband ? or what knowest thou, husband, whether thou shalt save 
 
 15 * It is true that the unbe- 
 lieving partner is consecrated by 
 the believing partner; but do not 
 carry this so far as to oppose se- 
 paration if it is desired, and con- 
 duces to peace. For the chance 
 of converting the heathen partner 
 is too remote to justify the breach 
 of harmony which such conduct 
 would occasion.' 
 
 This is not so much a permis- 
 sion of separation, as an assertion 
 that, if on other grounds a sepa- 
 ration has taken place, there is 
 no obligation on the Christian 
 partner to insist on a union, with 
 a view to the ultimate conversion 
 of the other. It is as though he 
 said : ' The general rule for Chris- 
 tians is, as our Lord declared, 
 that marriage is indissoluble : but 
 there is the special case (not 
 spoken of by Him), of those 
 marriages where only one partner 
 is Christian ; and in those no 
 one is bound to force the law of 
 Christianity on the reluctant hea- 
 then.' 
 
 cv 8e flprjvrj k€kX.7JK€v, in oppo- 
 sition to 8e8oi;A,(oTat. ' This is no 
 binding law for Christians ; on 
 the contrary, the first duty to 
 which we have been converted is 
 to live in peace with one another.' 
 
 16 yap is a reason for the 
 whole previous sentence. 'Do 
 
 not insist on a reluctant 
 
 TJnbeliev- . n ,i i 
 
 ing husband union ; lor tnou know- 
 
 fn^'gwSr" ®^* ^o* whether there 
 
 is such a prospect of 
 
 converting thy heathen partner as 
 
 to make such a union desirable.' 
 This interpretation is the only 
 one compatible with the obvious 
 sense of verse 15, and of the ex- 
 pression TL otSa? (not €t /xrji but) 
 ct (rwo-€t9 ; and is also in harmony 
 with the general tenor of the 
 Apostle's argument, which is not 
 to urge a union, but to tolerate 
 a separation. It is thus a so- 
 lemn warning against the gam- 
 bling spirit which intrudes itself 
 even into the most sacred mat- 
 ters, and is a remarkable proof 
 of the Apostle's freedom from 
 proselytism. Taken by itself, ct 
 might possibly be taken as iden- 
 tical with €t /xij — as in the ana- 
 logous Latin phrase, ' Haud scio 
 an ? ' and the Hebrew phrase, 
 * Who knows if ? ' equivalent 
 to ' It probably will happen ' 
 (see 2 Sam. xii, 22 ; Joel ii. 14 ; 
 Jon. iii. 9) ; and accordingly the 
 sense put on the words was, * Re- 
 main together, for perhaps thou 
 mayest save thy partner,' till De 
 Lyra (in the 14th century) point- 
 ed out the objection to it. The 
 verse so understood has probably 
 conduced to the frequent in- 
 stances of the conversion of un- 
 believing husbands by believing 
 wives. Even the stern severity of 
 Chrysostom relaxes in its pre- 
 sence into the declaration that 
 ' no teacher has such an effect in 
 conversion as a wife ; ' and this 
 passage, thus interpreted, pro- 
 bably had a direct influence on 
 the marriage of Clotilda with 
 
106 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 17—21. 
 
 17 
 
 KV- 
 
 €L T7JV yvvaiKa crojcrei^; ei fir) eKacrrco ws efxepucrev o 
 pLOs, eKacTTOv ojs KeKkrjKev 6 ^^ed?, ovtcos TrepiTraTeLTO). Koi 
 ouTCtiS ivTOLS iKKKrqcriai^ Tracrai? BiaToicrcrofJiaL. ^^ irepLTeTfJiyj- 
 fteVos Tis IkXtjOt); /xt) iTnonrdaSa}''' iv aKpo^vo-Tia ^Ke- 
 
 KXrjTaCTLs; p^r) TrepLTepvicrOo). ^^7) TrepLToprj ovBei/ ecmv, 
 
 " 6 deSs. 
 
 ^ KVpiOS. 
 
 Note. MS. C. is deficient between iTria-irda-eu'] and lyd^ea-eai, ix. 6, 
 
 * Tis iK\T}d7i for KeK^rjTai tis. 
 
 thy wife ? " But as the Lord distributed to every one, as God hath 
 called every one, so let him walk . And so ordain I in all the churches. 
 ^^ Was any one called, being circumcised ? let him not become uncir- 
 cumcised. Has any one been called in uncircumcision ? let him not 
 
 Clovis,and Bertha wIthEthelbert, 
 and consequently on the subse- 
 quent conversion of the two great 
 kingdoms of France and England 
 to the Christian faith. However, 
 although this particular interpre- 
 tation be erroneous, yet the prin- 
 ciple on which it is founded is 
 sufficiently expressed in the 14th 
 verse, which distinctly lays down 
 the rule that domestic union can 
 reconcile the greatest differences 
 of religious belief. 
 
 17-24 He proceeds to ground 
 his advice on the general rule 
 that Christianity leaves our social 
 relations where it finds them. 
 
 17 ci firj, ' only.' This verse is 
 rather the conclusion of the pre- 
 vious sentence than the begin- 
 ning of the next. ' I have nothing 
 
 more to 
 
 say, 
 
 unless it he this. 
 
 For a similar irregularity in the 
 use of €1 fxyj see 2 Cor. iii. 1, and 
 the notes thereon. 
 
 The reading of the ancient 
 MSS. — 6 Kvptos with ijxipLo-e, and 
 6 Oeos with K€K\r]Kev — is remark- 
 able, as assigning the distribution 
 of the natural gifts and stations 
 of life, probably from the analogy 
 of the gifts of the Spirit, to Christ 
 as ' the Lord ; ' whilst the calling 
 of men to the Gospel by their 
 conversion is ascribed (as also in 
 
 verses 15, 24) to God. 
 
 From this general conclusion 
 springs a series of parallel in- 
 stances in confirmation of it : — 
 
 First Example. ' The Gentile 
 is not to become a Jew, nor the 
 Jew a Gentile.' The religious 
 distinction between the Jew and 
 Gentile is so completely lost sight 
 of by St. Paul, that he here classes 
 the division between them, not 
 among the spiritual, but the 
 purely social differences of the 
 human race. 
 
 18 iKXrjOr] . . . K€KXrjTaL, ' con- 
 verted to Christianity.' 
 
 iTTLcnrda-do), SC r^v aKpo^vcrTcav. 
 Whilst in the ancient Eastern 
 world circumcision was regarded 
 as a special sign of civilisation, 
 and the Israelites by adopting 
 it again were supposed to roll 
 off ' the reproach of Egypt ' (see 
 Bosenmiiller on Joshua, v. 9 ; 
 Ewald on Ezek. xxxii. 19, 24- 
 32), in later times it was re- 
 garded by the Greek and Ro- 
 man world as an opprobrious 
 mark of barbarism ; and, accord- 
 ingly, some Jews, in their desire 
 to accommodate themselves to 
 Grecian usages, endeavoured to 
 efface it. For this practice see 
 1 Maccabees, i. 15 ; Jos. Ant. 
 XII. V. 1; Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. 
 
MAERIAGE. 
 
 107 
 
 Kol Tj oLKpofivcTTLa ovSip icTTiVy oXkoL T7]pr]cn<i ivToXcov Oeov. 
 ^^eKacTTos iv rrj KkyjcreL rj CKkijOr], iv TavTy yevero). '^^ Sou- 
 be circumcised. ^^ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, 
 but the keeping of the commandments of God. ~^ Let every one abide 
 in the same calling wherein he was called. ^^ Wast thou called being a 
 
 1274 ; Celsus De Re Med. vii. 
 35 ; and the other passages in 
 Wetstein ; and an Essay of 
 Groddeck, ' De Judaeis praepu- 
 tiumattrahentibus,' appended to 
 Schottgen's Horae Hebraicae, vol. 
 ii. p. 1159. 
 
 19 In this, as in the two ex- 
 actly parallel passages, Gal. v. 
 6, vi. 15, the first clause is the 
 same, ' Circumcision availeth 
 nothing, nor uncircumcision ; ' 
 thus asserting the two sides of 
 the Apostle's principle of indif- 
 ference to the greatest of the 
 Jewish ceremonies, exemplified 
 in his own conduct by the cir- 
 cumcision of Timotheus on the 
 one hand, and by the refusal to 
 circumcise Titus on the other 
 hand. The peculiar excellence 
 of the maxim is its declaration 
 that those who maintain the 
 absolute necessity of rejecting 
 forms are as much opposed to the 
 freedom of the Gospel as those 
 who maintain the absolute ne- 
 cessity of retaining them. In 
 contradistinction to this positive 
 or negative ceremonialism, he 
 gives, in the several clauses of 
 each of the three texts, his 
 description of what he maintains 
 to be really essential. The 
 variation of the three passages 
 thus becomes valuable, as ex- 
 hibiting in three several forms 
 the Apostle's view of the essen- 
 tials of Christianity — 'Keeping 
 the commandments of God,' 
 ' Faith working by love,' * A new 
 creature.' These describe the 
 same threefold aspect of Chris- 
 
 tianity with regard to man, which 
 in speaking of God is described 
 under the names of the Father, 
 the Son, and the Spirit. In this 
 passage, where man is viewed 
 chiefly in his relation to the 
 natural order of the world, the 
 point which the Apostle wished 
 to impress upon his hearers was, 
 that in whatever station of life 
 they were, it was still possible 
 to observe * the commandments 
 of God * (perhaps with an implied 
 reference to the two great com- 
 mandments. Matt. xxii. 36-39). 
 In the two passages in the Epistle 
 to the Galatians (v. 6 ; vi. 15), 
 the more distinct reference to 
 faith in Christ, and to the new 
 creation wrought by His Spirit, 
 is brought out by the more 
 earnest and impassioned charac- 
 ter of the argument. 
 
 20 e/caofTOs ev Trf KArja-ei y 
 iKkriOrj, Iv Tavrrj /xeverw. . calling.' 
 The usual explanation 
 of this passage has been : ' Let 
 every one remain in the state of 
 life to which God has called him ; ' 
 and from the Latin rendering — 
 ' vocatio ' — of the Greek kX^o-is 
 has flowed the peculiar sense 
 which the words ' vocation,* 
 ' calling,' &c. have acquired in 
 most European languages, as 
 applied to professions and con- 
 ditions of life. That such an 
 interpretation suits the general 
 context of the passage is obvious ; 
 and the hold which it has thus 
 acquired on the language of 
 Christendom, is a good instance 
 of the instinct with which the 
 
108 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 22. 
 
 \o^ iKXijOrjs; fJt^T] croL joteXeVw aW el /cat Svvacrai iXevOepo^ 
 
 slave ? care not for it ; but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 
 
 spirit of the Apostle has sometimes 
 been caught, in spite and almost 
 in consequence of a mistake of 
 the letter, as in other instances 
 the spirit has been lost through 
 an adherence to the letter. That 
 this explanation of the words is 
 mistaken, can hardly be doubted; 
 for (1) he is not speaking in this 
 particular in stance of a profession 
 or ' calling ' in our sense of the 
 word, but of the state of circum- 
 cision or uncircumcision of Jew 
 and of Gentile. (2) The word 
 K\y]<TL<s, KaX.€Lv, &c. (though in 
 Dion. Hal. Ant. iv. 20, used in a 
 somewhat analogous sense, as a 
 Grecized form of the Roman 
 word ' classis ') is in the N. T. 
 never applied to anything else 
 than the call of God to His 
 kingdom through conversion ; 
 and is so applied here throughout 
 the rest of the context, as in 
 verses 17, 18, 21, 24. As used, 
 therefore, in this particular in- 
 stance, the sense, although harsh, 
 must be, ' Seek not to change 
 from circumcision to nncircum- 
 cision, or from uncircumcision to 
 circnmcision. Either of these 
 two states has been sanctified by 
 its being the one in which God 
 chose to call you to a knowledge 
 of Christ. Let every one rest 
 contented with that mode of 
 calling hy wliicJi he was called at 
 his conversion. Do not seek a 
 new mode of conversion ; the 
 mode which you have experienced 
 is sufficient.' Bengel : — ' Status, 
 in quo vocatio quaeque offendit, 
 instar vocationis est.* Compare 
 i. 26. 
 
 Second Example. 2 1 ' The 
 slave is not to become free.' 
 
 The question here is, whether to 
 understand IXivOepCa or SovXeia, 
 after xp^^^'- ' whether the sense 
 is, ' Take advantage of 
 the offer of freedom;' Sien' 
 or, ' Remain in slavery, 
 though the offer is made.' 
 It is one of the most evenly 
 balanced questions in the inter- 
 pretation of the New Testament. 
 (1) xprja-acTnaj either be ' choose,' 
 or 'make use of,' although it 
 leans rather to the former, and 
 thus favours the first interpreta- 
 tion. (2) el KUL may either be, 
 * If, besides, thou hast the offer,' 
 or, ' Even if thou hast the offer,' 
 although it leans rather to the 
 latter, and thus favours the 
 second interpretation. The sense 
 of this particular verse favours 
 the first ; for, unless the Apostle 
 meant to make an exception to 
 the rule which he was laying 
 down, why should he introduce 
 this clause at all ? The sense of 
 the general context is in favour 
 of the second: for why should 
 the Apostle needlessly point out 
 an exception to the principle of 
 acquiescence in existing con- 
 ditions of life, which he is so 
 strongly recommending ? The 
 language and practice of the 
 Apostle himself, as described in 
 the Acts, favour the first inter- 
 pretation — e. g. his answer at 
 Philippi, ' they have beaten us 
 without a trial, and imprisoned 
 us, being Roman citizens ; . . . . 
 nay, let them come themselves 
 and take us out ' (Acts xvi. 37) ; 
 and to the tribute at Jerusalem, 
 ' but I was free born ' (Acts xxii. 
 28). The general feeling of the 
 church, as implied in the Epistles 
 
MARRIAGE. 
 
 109 
 
 yeuicrdaij fxaXKop ^prjcrai. ^^6 yap iv Kvpio) K\rj0els Sov- 
 Xos oLTreKe-uOepo^ Kvpiov io-TLv 6fJLOiO)<i^ 6 iXevdepos kXtj- 
 
 ' Sfioioos Kai. 
 
 ^^ For he that was called in the Lord being a slave, is the Lord's freed- 
 man : likewise he that was called, being free, is Christ's slave. ^^ Ye 
 
 and in this passage, favonrs the 
 second interpretation ; it would 
 hardly have seemed worth while 
 to grasp at freedom in the pre- 
 sence of the approaching dissolu- 
 tion of all things ; and the 
 apparent preference thns given 
 to slavery may be explained on 
 the same grounds (see verses 29, 
 30) as the apparent preference 
 given to celibacy. The com- 
 mentators before the Reformation 
 have chiefly been in favour of the 
 second ; since, in favour of the 
 first ; but Chi'ysostom observes 
 that, in his time there were some 
 who adopted the view favourable 
 to liberty ; as also, th ere have been 
 some Protestant divines (e. g. 
 Luther) who have adopted the 
 view favourable to slavery. The 
 argument, though very doubtful- 
 ly, seems to incline to the second ; 
 and the whole parage is then 
 expressive of comfort to the slave 
 under his hard lot, with which 
 the Apostle sympatliises, and 
 which he tenderly alleviates (as 
 in Philem. 16, 17), though not 
 wishing him to leave it. And 
 if, as is probable, the prospect of 
 liberty, to which the Apostle 
 alludes, aiose from the fact of 
 the master being a Christian, 
 this sense of the passage would 
 be still further illustrated and 
 confirmed by 1 Tim. vi. 2 : ' Let 
 not [the slaves] that have be- 
 lieving masters despise them, 
 because they are brethren, but 
 rather serve them (dAAa yJaXKov 
 ZovXeviriaa-av). 
 
 22 6 iv Kvptw K\r]9€L<;. The 
 words, ' in the Lord,' which in 
 themselves are superfluous, are 
 here added for the sake of the 
 play on the word KvpLo<s, ' the 
 master of the slave ; ' iv Kvpuo 
 KXrjOels is thus equivalent to the 
 phrase KXrjTot^ dyioL<s in i. 1, 
 'converted, or called by the 
 name of the Lord's servants.* 
 ' He who has been converted so 
 as to be in communion with the 
 Lord, though a slave, is the 
 Lord's freedman ; ' i.e. (not in 
 the common sense in which a 
 man is said to be the freedman 
 of his former master, but) in the 
 general sense in which a man 
 may be said to be the freedman 
 of him who has made him free. 
 (€A€t;^€pos= liber ; d7r€X€v^e/oos= 
 libertus.) 
 
 23 This may be taken either: 
 (1) parenthetically, like the first 
 interpretation of verse 21, and 
 in connexion with it, ' You are 
 Christ's freedmen, do not become 
 slaves if you can avoid it ; ' 
 alluding, possibly to the practice 
 of 'auctoratio,' or selling of one's 
 self, frequent in great slave- 
 markets such as must have been 
 at Corinth (see Petron. Sat. 117, 
 quoted in Heydenreich, ad loc.) ; 
 or, (2) as part of the general 
 argument, * You are Christ's 
 freedmen, do not allow your 
 outward condition of slavery to 
 degrade you into becoming really 
 slaves of men ; therefore rest 
 contented in your condition ; ' or, 
 (3) As a general moral growing 
 
110 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 23—28. 
 
 0€L^ 8ouXo9 icTTLV ^icTTOv. ^^TLfxrjs TjyopdcrOrjTe* jjurf 
 yiveaOe hovkoi dvOpcoircov. ^^eiFcacrros iv w iKXijOrj, dSeX- 
 <^oi, ei> TOVTCp jxeveTO) irapd ^OeS. 
 
 ^^Ilepl Se Tcjv TTapOivoiv kTnrayrjp Kvpiov ovk €)(0), 
 yva>fjir)v 8e SCScofjiL ws rjXerjjJL€vos vno Kvpiov 7TLcrT0<; elvai, 
 ^^vofxi^o) ovp TovTO Kakov vTTOLp^eiv hid Tr)v kvearcxicrav 
 
 were bought with a price ; become not the slaves of men. "* Let 
 every one wherein he was called, brethren, therein abide with God. 
 2^ Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord, but I 
 give mv judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be 
 faithful ^^ [ suppose therefore that this is good on account of the present 
 
 out of the whole passage, and 
 suggested by some association 
 or circumstance with which we 
 are not acquainted. ' You are 
 Christ's fi'eedmen, do not become 
 the slaves of human power or 
 opinion, by wishing to alter your 
 station either from fear of others, 
 or at their instigation.' 
 
 If there were more ground for 
 the third, it would make the best 
 sense ; but on the whole, the 
 second is most suitable to the 
 context. Any way it is an as- 
 sertion of the spiritual freedom 
 imparted by Christianity, and 
 intended to counteract any servile 
 spirit, which might have been 
 encouraged by the doctrine of 
 acquiescence in slavery. 
 
 ti/atJs rfyopdcrOrjTe. See vi. 20. 
 
 24 €v w eKXrjdr], ' in the condi- 
 tion in which he was converted.' 
 
 Trapa ^c(3, ' in the presence of 
 God,' i.e. ' he is nearer to God 
 by remaining in his station, than 
 by retiring from it. ' If the third 
 interpretation of verse 23 be 
 correct, then there will be a 
 naturalcontrast intended between 
 avOpwTTCiiv and Trapa ^ew : ' Do 
 not, by changing your position-' 
 become the slaves of men^ when, 
 by remaining in your position. 
 
 you are in the presence and 
 neighbourhood of God.^ 
 
 25 Another question seems to 
 have been put, concerning the 
 duty of parents in giving their 
 daughters in marriage . Trap^ei/wv, 
 though it might include men, 
 here is ' young women.' 
 
 Here, as in 12, he replies that 
 in this case, which, like the 
 former, was a particular emer- 
 gency not falling under any 
 general rule, he had no command 
 of Christ to give, but spoke with 
 the authority of an Apostle. 
 
 This passage has furnished the 
 two words yviofiTj and cTrtray^, 
 which the vulgate translates 
 ' consilium ' and ' praeceptum,' 
 ' advice ' and ' command,' the 
 origin of the famous distinction 
 of later times between ' counsels 
 of perfection,' and ^precepts.* 
 (Cp. 2 Cor. viii. 8-10.) In this 
 passage the distinction lies only 
 in the fact (as in verse 6) that one 
 was a command of Christ, the 
 other his own opinion, although 
 pronounced with Apostolical au- 
 thority. 
 
 TTto-Tos, 'trustworthy, as a 
 steward of the Gospel ' (iv. 2 ; 
 1 Tim. i. 12). 
 
 26-36 He first repeats his 
 
MAERIAaE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 avdyKiqVi on KaXov avOpcoTrco to outoj? etvai. ^'^SeSecrai 
 yvvaiKL ; (jlt) ^t7T€(, Xvo-lv • XeXvcrat 0,770 yvvaLKo^ ; fJ^rj ^yJTeL 
 yvvaiKa. eav oe KaL ya[JLi^a-rjs, ov^ iqixapre^^^ /cat eavyrjfJLrj 
 [17] irapOevo^, ov^ rjfxapTev OX'lxJjlv 8e rrj o-apKL e^ovcriv ol 
 
 » 'yi\fxris. 
 
 distress, that it is good for a man so to be. ^^ Art thou bound unto a 
 wife ? seek not to be loosed : are thou loosed from a wife 1 seek not a 
 wife. ^^But and if thou art married, thou didst not sin, and if the 
 virgin married, she did not sin : but such will have trouble in the 
 
 general opinion, as before in 
 verse 1, but now with the addi- 
 tion that his reason for prefer- 
 ring the single state is the ap- 
 proaching distress ; and, through- 
 out, his opinion is given with a 
 special reference (see verses 28, 
 34) to the particular case of the 
 unmarried daughters, now before 
 his mind. 
 
 26 8ta T^v ev€(rT(U(rav avdyK-qv. 
 < The present This was taken by early- 
 distress.' commentators to mean 
 
 * on account of the inconvenience 
 entailed upon you by the press- 
 ing cares of marriage ; ' so as to 
 make it a general rule applying 
 alike to all times. But such an 
 interpretation is incompatible 
 both with the words and context. 
 For (1) avdyKT] is used in 2 Cor. 
 vi. 4; xii. 10; 1 Thess. iii. 7; 
 and especially Luke xxi. 23 (co-rat 
 avdyKT] fJL€yaXr]), for * distress ; ' 
 and in the LXX. is used to trans- 
 late ni^-l^ftp = ^Xii/rts. (Ps. cxix. 
 143 ; Zeph. i. 16.) (2) iv€a-Tu>. 
 <Tav is not ' pressing ' in any pas- 
 sage in the N. T., but is always 
 used either for 'present' (as in 
 iii. 22 ; Rom. viii. 38, in both 
 which it is opposed to fxiWovra ; 
 Gal. i. 4 ; Heb. ix. 9), or for 
 
 * impending' (as in 2 Thess. ii. 2 ; 
 2 Tim. iii. 1). And this suits 
 perfectly the general context in 
 28-31. The allusion is to the 
 impending calamities which form 
 
 the groundwork of Matt. xxiv. 
 8, &c., which were known to the 
 Jews as the ' pangs of the Mes- 
 siah,' the natural accompani- 
 ments of His coming, and which 
 were fulfilled in the disturbances 
 which burst over the Roman 
 world on the death of N'ero. 
 
 The form of the sentence 
 seems to be an anacoluthon. on 
 KaXov dvdpoiTTia to ovTOi^ {sc. irap- 
 Oevov) etvat is a repetition of 
 
 TOVTO KoXoV V7rdp)(€LV. 
 
 KaXov here is used as in verse 
 1, but is in this place qualified 
 (1) by the annexed reason, 8ta 
 TYjv dvdyKrjVf (2) by the positive 
 assertion in verse 28 (ovx 
 Tjixaprev) of the lawfulness of 
 marriage. 
 
 dvOpfOTTu} is general, for women 
 as well as men. 
 
 28 iav Se Koi yafxyj(rrj<;. ' If, 
 further, thou art married, there 
 was no sin in the act.' 
 
 ■q Trap9ivo<s. The article seems 
 to mean ' the unmarried daughter, 
 of whose case I speak.' 
 
 iyu) Be v/x-cuv cfyeiSo/xai. Either : 
 (1) ' I refrain from dilating on 
 these evils, to save you from the 
 pain of hearing them ; ' see 2 
 Cor. xii. 6 ; or, (2) ' I give you 
 this advice to save you from these 
 afflictions.* The emphatic eyw 
 (in contrast to ol tolovtol) favours 
 the second. The old explanation, 
 ' I allow marriaofe to be lawful. 
 
112 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. VII. 29—34. 
 
 TOLOVTOL^ iyo) Se vfjucov (j)€LSofJLaL. ^^TOVTO 8e (j)rj[JiLi aSe\(l)OL^ 
 ^6 Acaipo? orvveoTTaXfJievo^^' icTTLV, to Xolttov iva /cat ^olh/ov- 
 T€s yvvaiKa<; w? jut) e^ovre^ (ocriv^ ''^ /cat ot fcAatoz^Tes o)<; fXTf 
 KkaiovTe^i koL ol ^aipovre^ o)? ^17 ^aipovTe^, koI ot ayopd- 
 tpvre^ a)<; firj Kare-^ovTes^ ^^ kol ol -^cofjievoL ^tov Koap^ov 
 COS /xt} Karaxp^H-^^oi ' Trapdyei yap to cr^T^/^a roG koo-jjlov 
 
 * Srt i Kaip6s. ^ rh \onr6u icrriu, = Omit oi. '^ t^ K6(r/xef rovrcp. 
 
 flesh, but J spare you. ^^ But this I say, brethren, the time is short, 
 that henceforth both they that have wives be as though they had none, 
 ^^ 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, ^^ and they that use this world as not abusing it : for the fashion 
 
 as a condescension to your in- 
 firmities,' is contrary to the spirit 
 of the Apostle. 
 
 29 TovTO Se <f>r)fii. Not expla- 
 natory like Xeyo) 8c tovto in i. 12, 
 but for emphasis. 
 
 (TvvecTTaXixevos, ' short,' ' con- 
 tracted into a small compass,' — 
 as we say, * living many years in 
 one.' Compare Matt. xxvi. 45 : 
 * The hour is at hand.' 
 
 iva, i. e. 'This is the object 
 of the calamities in God's provi- 
 dence.' 
 
 TO Xolttov may be taken : (1) 
 with Lva, ' that for the future ; ' 
 
 (2) as the nominative to eo-n, 'it 
 remains that they should be ; ' 
 
 (3) with o Kaipos orweo-TaX/A€vos, 
 ' The time is short for the future ' 
 (i.e. till the Advent). The first, 
 as in Lachmann's punctuation, is 
 the best. 
 
 30 Karexovres, ' possessing to 
 the full,' as in 2 Cor. vi. 10; and 
 as d7r6;j(ovo-i in Matt. vi. 2. 
 
 3 1 Kara^wfjievoL, ' using to 
 excess.' Compare ix. 18, and see 
 also xi. 32. ' This,' says Bengel, 
 'is a true description of Chris- 
 tian self-denial. It is not pos- 
 sessed by those, qui habent ut 
 qui habeant et diuhabituri sint.' 
 
 XpyjcrOai never occurs with an 
 accusative in the New Test, ex- 
 
 cept in this place ; also in clas- 
 sical Greek only twice (Xen. 
 Ages. xi. 11 ; and a Cretan in- 
 scription, Bockh, Corp. Inscr. ii. 
 400). Hence the true reading 
 Tov Koa-fxov of A. B. D'. F. G. is 
 altered to tw Koa-fno in D^.E.J.K. 
 TTapdyec yap to (T^p.a, ' for the 
 outward scene or fisfure 
 
 /. ■ 1 . T -, . ° . * The fashion 
 
 of this world is passing of this world 
 [or is to passl away, passeth 
 
 t i? x-L X 1 away.' 
 
 before the great change 
 which shall bring about the resti- 
 tution of all things.' For the 
 sense see Kev.- xxi. 1 : ' And I 
 saw a new heaven and a new 
 earth : for the first heaven and 
 the first earth were passed away.' 
 The whole passage well illus- 
 trates the feeling of the early 
 Church, in expectation of the 
 near approach of the Second 
 Advent. For the words comp. 2 
 Esd. xvi. 40-44: perhaps imi- 
 tated from this : ' In those evils 
 be even as pilgrims upon the 
 earth. He that selleth let him 
 be as he that fleeth away ; and 
 he that buyeth as one that will 
 lose; he that occupieth merchan- 
 dise as he that hath no profit by 
 it; and he that buildeth as he 
 that shall not dwell therein ; he 
 that soweth as if he should not 
 reap ; so, also, he that planted 
 
MAEKIAGE. 
 
 113 
 
 TOVTOVj u€ko) oe u/xas aixepifivov; eLvai. o ayajjios /xe- 
 pifjiva ra rov Kvpuov, ttws apea-j) tco Kvpico. ''''o oe yafir)- 
 ora^ ixepniva ra rov KoafJiov, 7r(o<s ^apecrr) rrj yvvaiKi^ 
 ^^ K(U ixefiepLCTTaL, /cat rj yvvrj rj aya/xo9 kol tj irapOivo^ 
 
 * apecrei. * Mefi4pnTTai ri yvvrj Koi rj irapQivos. 
 
 of this world passeth away, ^^ but I would have you without carefulness. 
 He that is unmarried careth for the things that are of the Lord, how he 
 may please the Lord : ^^but he that is married careth for the things that 
 are of the world, how he may please his wife, ^^and is divided. Both 
 the wife who is unmarried and the virgin who is unmarried careth for the 
 
 the' yineyard as lie that shall not 
 gather the grapes. They that 
 raarry as they that shall get no 
 children; and they that marry 
 not as the widowers.' For the 
 actual realisation of this by the 
 Christians, comp. Arrian (Epiot. 
 iv. 7) : ' The Galileans are to 
 their wives and children as 
 though they made nothing of 
 them, or had them not.' Also 
 Ep. ad Diogn. 5, 6. For the 
 general sense comp. 2 Kings v. 
 26 ; Isa. xxiv. 1, 2 ; Ezek. vii. 
 12 ; 13 ; Matt. x. 37. 
 
 32 ^eXd) Sc. This begins a 
 new thought, though immediate- 
 ly connected with the preceding, 
 like cyo) 8c ifidv <^€i8o/jtat in 
 verse 28. 
 
 32, 33, 34 The variation of 
 reading and punctuation in this 
 passage has more influence on 
 the meaning of the text, than in 
 any other in the Epistle. The 
 best sense is produced by re- 
 taining (with A. B.) Kttt after 
 fxcfi€pL(TTai, and by omitting rj 
 aya/xos after yvvrj (with D. E. F. 
 G. J. K.). In that case the 
 sense of the whole passage (32- 
 34) will be : ' I wish that you 
 should have no worldly anxiety. 
 The unmarried man has indeed 
 anxiety, but it is for the cause of 
 Christ; but the married man 
 has the additional anxiety about 
 ■worldly matters, and the gra- 
 
 tification of his wife and is thus 
 divided between the in- ^ai Mf/^epi- 
 terests of Christ and «''■*' 
 of the world. In like manner 
 both the married and the un- 
 married woman have an anxiety 
 to please Christ, and be ready 
 for His coming ; but the married 
 woman has besides the additional 
 anxiety to please her husband.' 
 The sense of ^i^iptcrrai thus cor- 
 responds to its meaning in i. 13, 
 i.e. 'is distracted' (like yutcp- 
 firjpiiev in Homer, which Eus- 
 tath. (on II. i. 189) explains by 
 fxepL^icrOai), and to aTrepto-Trao-TOJ? 
 in verse 35, whereas in the Re- 
 ceived Text and Authorised 
 Version, it must bear the harsh 
 meaning, ' the wife and the un- 
 married woman are different from 
 each other. ^ The change of tense 
 from fiepifxva to the perfect in 
 fjL€fji€pi€rTaL may be accounted for 
 by the absence of any present 
 form /Acpt^cTttt. The severity of 
 the condemnation of the married 
 state, as if it allowed only of 
 care for the things of this world, 
 is considerably mitigated by this 
 reading, which ascribes the evil 
 not to its exclusively worldly 
 character, but to its division of 
 interests. 
 
 If 7) aya/AOs is (with A. B.) 
 retained after yvvrj, the sense 
 will then be ' the widow.* 
 
 Tischendorf has the Kat after 
 
114 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 35—39. 
 
 7) ayafxos fxepifJiva ra rov KvpCov, Iva rj ayia [fcai] ^Tft> 
 (rcjfJLaTL Kal tS TrvevfJiaTu' rj Se ya/XT^cracra fxepifjiva tol tov 
 KOCfJiov, 770)9 apecrrj ro) avopi. ""tovto oe irpo^ to v/jlcji/ 
 avTcov ^ aTJiMcf^opov Xeyo), ov^ tVa ^po^ov vplv eVtySaXo), 
 dXXa TTpos TO evo^rjfxov kol ^ evirdpeSpov rw KvpLO) arrepi- 
 cnracTTO)^. €i oe ns acr^ixoveiv em ttjv irapuevov avTov 
 
 » Kal ffw/JLari Ka\ wpevfiaTi. ^ apecei. <= crvficpepou. ^ evirpdcreSpov. 
 
 tilings of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit : but 
 she that is married careth for the thmgs of the world, how she may please 
 her husband. ^^And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I may cast 
 a snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and that ye may attend 
 upon the Lord without distraction. ^^ But if any one suppose that he 
 
 fxefxipia-Tai, but loses the advan- 
 tage of it by a punctuation 
 similar to that of the Rec. 
 Text. 
 
 35 This is a qualification (like 
 verse 6) to prevent misunder- 
 standing. 
 
 TO v/Awv avToiV (TVficfi.f ' this is 
 for yoitr own advantage.' 
 
 l3p6xov i7n/3dX.ui is a metaphor 
 taken from hunting (Xen. Yen. 
 ii. 5), apparently not from lay- 
 ing a trap, but from throwing a 
 lasso; so that the sense here 
 would be (not ' a snare for your 
 consciences,' but) ' a violent ne- 
 cessity on your wills.' 
 
 cuTrapeSpov, /xept/xva, aTrcpia-ira- 
 aro)?. The image conveyed by 
 these three words is exactly ex- 
 pressed by the story in Luke x. 
 39-42, of Mary '' sitting by the 
 side of Jesus' feet ' (tt a p a /ca- 
 Ota-aa-a. comp. cuTrapeSpov), and 
 Martha * who was cumbered (ttc- 
 pteo-TTctTo) with much serving,' 
 and ' careful (/Acpt/xms) about 
 many things.' 
 
 For the use of /xept/xva for 
 * anxiety,' see Matt. vi. 25, 27, 
 28, 34. 
 
 36 He returns to the more 
 especial subject of the unmar- 
 ried daughters, apparently sug- 
 
 gested by the word eva-xyj/J'OV 
 (^= TO Trpiirov). 
 
 ' I give this advice with a 
 view to what is becoming; but 
 if any father thinks,' &c. What 
 follows may be either, (1) ' That 
 he is behaving unbecomingly to 
 his unmarried daughter, by ex- 
 posing her to the temptations 
 to which she is liable from not 
 being married ; ' or, (2) ' Tha^ 
 he incurs what is unbecoming, by 
 having an unmarried daughter 
 in his house.' 
 
 In behalf of the first may be 
 urged: (1) The probable sense 
 of d(r)(rjP'OV€i in xiii. 5 ; (2) 
 The temptation of the daughter, 
 seemingly implied in the words 
 virepaKfjios . . . yafxetTOiorav ; (3) 
 The greater suitableness of this 
 sense with the words eVt rrjv 
 TrapOevov. 
 
 In behalf of the 2nd may be 
 urged : (1) The numerous ex- 
 amples of d(r)(r}fjt.oveiv, in the 
 sense of * incurring shame,' 
 quoted in Wetstein ; (2) The 
 undoubted disgrace which at- 
 tached to a Jewish (and perhaps 
 generally to an Eastern) father 
 from his daughter remaining un- 
 married. See Ecclus. xlii. 9 : 
 ' The father waketh for the 
 
MAEEIAGE. 
 
 115 
 
 vofjLL^ei^ eav fj v7repaAC/A09, kol ovtojs 6(j)ei\eL yivecrOaiy o 
 Oekei TTOteiTCf)* ov^ d/xaprai^et, yafieiTcocrap. ^^os Se ecTTrj- 
 K€V ^ev TTj KapSia avTOv eS/oato?, fJLT) e^oiv avdyKr)v^ i^ov- 
 (Tiav Se l^ei Trepl rov ISlov ^eXTj/xaro?, kol tovto KeKpuKev 
 iv Trj (*) KapSta,^ rrjpeiv ttjv iavTOv napOevov, /caXais 
 ^TTOirjO'ei, ^^(ucrre /cat 6 ^yafjii^cjv ^ttjv irapOivov kavrov 
 /caXo)? TTOtet, */cat 6 pLT) ^yafiC^cov Kpeiaaov ^TroirjaeL. 
 '^"yvvrj oeoeraL e<p ocroi^ ^ovov Qr) o avrjp auxT^s* eav oe 
 
 • eSpaios iv r^ KapSia. om. outoiJ. *" KapSia avrov, rov Tf]piiv. 
 
 « irotc?. ^ iKyafil^wv. * Om. t^j/ irapQivov eavrov. 
 
 ' 6 8e. * xote?. ^ SeSerot »/d/A(jp. 
 
 (*) Lachm. omits ISla here on a mistaken belief that it is omitted in B. It is, 
 however, both in A. and B., and should be restored. 
 
 behaveth himseK unseemly toward his virgin, if she pass the flower of 
 her age, and need so require, let him do what he will : he sinneth not, 
 let them marry. ^'^ But he that standeth steadfast in his heart, having 
 no necessity, but hath power over his own will, and hath so judged in his 
 heart, that he will keep his own virgin, will do well. ^^ So then he that 
 giveth his own virgin in marriage doeth well, and he that giveth her not 
 in marriage will do better. ^^ The wife is bound as long as her husband 
 liveth ; but if her husband be fallen asleep, she is free to be married to 
 
 daughter when no man knoweth, 
 and the care for her taketh away 
 sleep: when she is young, lest 
 she pass the flower of her age ' 
 (Trapa/c/xacny) . And it was a 
 Rabbinical saying. 'If your 
 daughter be past the marriage- 
 able age, release your slave to 
 give him to her for a husband.' 
 
 ovToos o^etXet, i. e. ' by reason 
 of the temptation or sin into 
 which she has fallen.' 
 
 ya//,€tT(ocrav, i. e. ' the daughter 
 and her lover.' 
 
 37 eSpaiog, of firm character, 
 and therefore not swayed by ap- 
 prehensions of this kind.' 
 
 fjirf €^a)v avdyKrjv, ' under no 
 compulsion from his daughter's 
 character or temptations ; ' op- 
 posed to ovToi<s oc^etXct. 
 
 iiovoTLav 8k exet, 'but having 
 the power of doing what he likes, 
 without regard to external cir- 
 cumstances.' 
 
 •nypctv, ' to keep her at home.' 
 The construction of rov Trjpuv 
 K€KpLK€v (as in D. G. and Rec. 
 Text) is justified by Acts xxvii. 
 
 The whole tone of this passage 
 is determined by the assumption 
 (natural in Greek and Jewish 
 society) that the daughter, whilst 
 yet in her father's house, had no 
 will of her own in the matter ; 
 he was entirely responsible for 
 her, and hence the application to 
 him of some expressions (as in 
 37), which seem properly only 
 applicable to her. See Grotius, 
 ad h. loc, 
 
 3 9 One more question remains : 
 ' Whether widows are to marry 
 again ? ' Here we have the germ 
 of the metaphor in Rom. vii. 1- 
 6; from which later copyists 
 have inserted vouco, omitted in 
 A. B. BK F. 
 
 iv KvpL(o, ' as in communion 
 
 12 
 
116 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 40. 
 
 KOi^rjOfi 6 avrjp,"' ikevOepa io-Tiv w Oekeu yafJLTjOrjvaL^ fiopov 
 
 ev 
 
 40 
 
 Kvpi(a 
 
 [xaKapLcoTepa Se €<ttlv eav ovtcj jJi^ivri^ Kara 
 SoKCJ 8e Kayo) wvevfia 0eov e^eii^. 
 
 ■ Add avTTJs. 
 
 whom she will, only in the Lord. ^But she is happier if she so abide, 
 after my judginent : and I also think that I have the Spirit of God. 
 
 with Christ : ' referring especi- 
 ally to marrying a Christian 
 husband. 
 
 40 SokC), * I trust.' 
 
 Kayio. ' I, as well as other 
 brethren.' This he adds to give 
 
 weight to his advice, aa having 
 the authority of the Spirit, 
 though not supported by any 
 direct saying of our Lord. Cp. 
 ver. 25. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. YII. 1—40. 
 
 In ansioer to the questions of your letter I reply : 
 
 I. That the single state is best. But with the following 
 qualifications : 
 
 ( 1 ) That, because of the numerous temptations to sin, mar- 
 riage is good for all who cannot control their passions, 
 
 (2) That for the same reason married persons should not 
 separate from each other, except on great and solemn occasions, 
 
 for a time ; and against complete separation there is an express 
 prohibition recorded from Christ Himself implying, that, if a 
 separation should have taken place, the parties are not at liberty 
 to marry again, 
 
 (3) That in the case of marriages between heathens and 
 Christians, for which no express command has been left by 
 Christ, but for which I speak with Apostolical authority, the 
 heathenism of one of the parties is no reason for separation 
 (except lohere the continuance of the union would lead to dis- 
 cord), on the ground : (a) That family ties with a Christian 
 consecrate to God^s service, and so unite together those who in 
 themselves are of different religions, (b) That there is a 
 general presumption (on which I act not only at Corinth but 
 everywhere) in favour of remaining in the same outward cir- 
 cumstances as those in which we were ivhen converted to 
 Christianity, This rule applies not only to marriage, but to 
 
MAREIAGE. 117 
 
 every condition of life ; for example, to the ttvo greatest dif- 
 ferences of station which can be conceived, the great national 
 distinction of Jew and Gentile^ and the great social distinction 
 of slave and free. In the first, remember that, ivhether Jew or 
 Gentile, in both states you can keep the true commandments of 
 God, In the second, remember that, whether slave or free, you 
 must never lose the true spiritual freedom of the Gospel, 
 
 II. In answer to your second question, about the duty of 
 giving your unmarried daughters in marriage, it is again a 
 case on which no express command has been left by Christ. 
 But I venture again myself to reply with Apostolical autho' 
 rity : — 
 
 (1) That the single state is best: (a) On account of the 
 impending distress, which ought not, indeed, to dissolve existing 
 ties, but is a reason against your forming new ties amidst the 
 approaching dissolution of all human relations ; (b) On ac- 
 count of the new cares which the married state imposes, and 
 which are especially unsuitable when we ought all to be looking 
 with undivided attention to the service of the lord. 
 
 (2) But that, if there is any fear of a breach of Christian 
 decency by the delay of marriage, then the daughter is to be 
 allowed to marry, 
 
 III. Widows had better not marry again, but they may. 
 
 The Apostle's View of Celibacy. 
 
 In considering the Apostle's recommendation of celibacy, it is 
 necessary to remember that we have here only half, as it were, 
 of the Apostolical mind. If, indeed, this passage stood alone in 
 the New Testament, we might then be justified in taking it as 
 an absolute preference of the single to the married state. But, 
 inasmuch as there are other passages^ which speak of marriage 
 not only without condemnation, but with high commendation, it 
 
 ^ Col. iii. 18, 19 ; Eph. v. 22-33 ; Heb. xiii. 4 ; 1 Pet. iii. 1-7 ; 
 ] Thess. iv. 4. 
 
118 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 is obvious that the passage before us must be understood as 
 The Apo- expressing only one side of the truth. ^ And it is also 
 stle's view clear that of the two, it is this passage which must be 
 given not qualified and corrected by the others, not vice versa, 
 his whole inasmuch as he is here addressing himself to the answer 
 ^^®^* of a particular question put to him under particular 
 
 circumstances ; in the others he is speaking without reserve on 
 the general duties of a Christian life, and in Eph. v. 22-23 the 
 marriage state, so far frombeing spoken of as a state of defilement 
 or inferiority, represents the highest communion of which human 
 society is capable, that between Christ and the Church. This 
 conclusion, to which we should arrive, even before a considera- 
 tion of the passage in detail, is greatly strengthened by such a 
 consideration. The preference of celibacy, although stated 
 absolutely at first (vii. 1, 7, 8), is afterwards expressly founded 
 on the impending calamities of the time (vii. 26-31), and, ap- 
 parently in connexion with this, on the greater freedom thereby 
 afforded from worldly cares (vii. 32-35). In one instance, 
 that of the recommendation to widows not to marry (vii. 8, 40), 
 we have in a later Epistle a precept,^ by which this very 
 recommendation is expressly reversed ; and, whilst there is no 
 trace in this passage of any belief in the superior sanctity or 
 purity of celibacy in itself, the prohibition of marriage on that 
 ground is elsewhere ^ classed among the signs of a false and 
 dangerous system. 
 
 And further, that the Apostle's view was not identical with 
 Different ^^ ascetic views which prevailed a few centuries 
 from later later is remarkably illustrated by the fact, that there 
 asce icism. ^^ ^^ portion of the Epistles where the hand of later 
 copyists and interpreters, endeavouring to conform the text to 
 their own notions, is more clearly visible. It is sufiScient to 
 refer to the notes, showing the alteration of o-xoXdarjTS to 
 (T')(o'\d^7]T£, and rjrs to avvEp')(T)a6£, and the addition of vrjo-rslaf 
 in vii. 5 ; the alteration of fjusfispto-rai, in vii. 34, and perhaps 
 of Tr)v 6<f>sCkr]v in vii. 3 ; also the obviously strained interpre- 
 
 ^ Bengel : — ' Ssepe Apostoli in 
 Epistolis de conjugio agunt. Unus 
 Paulus semel, nee sponte sua, sed 
 interrogatus cselibatum suadet, idque 
 lenisdme.' With the exception of 
 the last clause, which is an over- 
 
 statement of the case, this is a fair 
 summary of the whole argument. 
 
 ~ Such is the probable sense of 
 vecoTepas in 1 Tim. v. 14. 
 
 3 1 Tim. iv. 1-3. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OE CELIBACY. 
 
 119 
 
 tations of koXov in vii. 1, of jvrofjLrjv in 25, of svsaTcocrav in 26, 
 and of ^slBofiat in 28. 
 
 Again, his preference must be taken with three strong quali- 
 fications : First, it is evident that the Apostle's Qualified- 
 peculiar temperament, which he himself describes i. As being 
 (vil 7) as favourable to celibacy, has here found g^'^j^^j^^l'^ls' 
 its natural expression. If according to the Jewish natural tem- 
 story ' of his early affection for the High Priest's perament. 
 daughter, he had ever entertained the intention of marriage, it 
 had been long abandoned ; and he was now distinguished from 
 his brethren (ix. 5, 6) as the only unmarried Apostle. But 
 he never confounds his individual peculiarity with Christianity 
 itself. His whole language indicates the struggle between the 
 two. He warns us that it is he who speaks, and not Christ. 
 He claims for his recommendation no higher authority than 
 what the reason of the particular time demanded. 
 
 Secondly, he states what that reason was : namely, the im- 
 pending calamities which, though not here expressly h. as 
 stated to be the precursors of the end of the world, given in 
 were then generally understood so to be ; and this tkm of the 
 brings us to a point on wliich we are forewarned by end of the 
 Christ Himself, that even Apostles might be in error, 
 for ' of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the 
 angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.' 
 
 Thirdly, his expressions must be taken with the qualifications 
 arising from the fact, that the moral and spiritual ad- 
 vantages of Christian marriage had not yet developed g^yen with- 
 themselves. To a certain extent the highest form of out regard 
 Koman marriage exhibited an image of the union of ^ai pur- °" 
 man and wife for high moral purposes ; and the same poses of 
 may be said of some of the Jewish marriages re- ^^^^^^S^- 
 corded in the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. But even 
 in these the sterner rather than the gentler affections were 
 called forth ; and, in the Greek and Eastern provinces gene- 
 rally, marriage was little more than what the Apostle describes 
 it, good only as preventing worse evils. The rule laid down 
 
 ^ Epiph. adv. Hser. xxx. 16. It 
 has been argued (though without 
 sufficient ground to bring convic- 
 tion), that St. Paul must have been 
 once the father of a family, else he 
 
 could not, by the Jewish law, have 
 been a member of the Sanhedrin. 
 (See Conybeare and Howson, Life 
 of St. Paul, vol. i. p. 95, 2nd ed.) 
 
120 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 by the Koran,^ probably for the same reason, resembles that of 
 the Apostle. We have seen that his denunciations of Greek 
 wisdom must not be extended, without qualification, to that 
 higher philosophy of Socrates and Plato, which to him was only 
 known through the representations of the later sophists and 
 rhetoricians. In like manner, his denunciations of marriage 
 must not be extended, without qualification, to that intimate 
 union of pure domestic aflTections, which rose out of the com- 
 bination of the Teutonic and Christian elements, and produced 
 a state of life as far beyond the Apostle's view, as the free 
 commonwealths of modern Europe, or the growth of Christian 
 art, philosophy, and literature. 
 
 But, while thus distinguishing between a general rule and 
 Conclu- a particular recommendation, there is, doubtless, a 
 Bions. preference accorded to celibacy ; and taking this pre 
 
 ference as it stands, two practical inferences may be deduced 
 from the broad principle which, as thus stated, it contains : — 
 First, there are extraordinary circumstances in Christian, as 
 I Sanction ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ political life, under which the ordinary rules 
 of extra- of right or of expediency may be suspended or super- 
 ordinary gede^ by a higher claim. The Apostolical preference 
 under ex- of a single life in consequence of the then impending 
 
 traordi- calamities still holds ffood in analogous circumstances ; 
 
 nary cir- , , 
 
 cumstan- and what is here confined to the question of marriage 
 
 c®s- niay, under such circumstances, be considered to apply 
 
 to all other domestic and social ties. Philosophical historians 
 have truly felt that the monastic system was to a great extent 
 excused, if not justified, by the fact that it originated in an age 
 when it seemed the only refuge from the dissolution of the ex- 
 isting fabric of society. An absolute dictatorship, whether of 
 pope, or bishop, or emperor, has often been defended on the 
 ground that it met the emergencies of a crisis of danger and 
 transition. The enforcement of the celibacy of the clergy in the 
 middle ages, doubtless, in part arose from the just instinct that 
 they would else have sunk into an hereditary feudal caste. 
 No one can deny that domestic ties must occasionally be severed 
 by extraordinary calls, political, military, or religious. All these 
 are instances of the adoption of a rule in peculiar circumstances, 
 which the Apostolical advice teaches us not to condemn at 
 once, even though it may seem at variance with the broader 
 
 1 Koran, iv. 20 ; Ix. 10-12. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF CELIBACY. 121 
 
 principles of Christian life laid down in other parts of the New 
 Testament. What may be the circumstances which call for 
 such measures is a matter to be determined in each particular 
 case. It is enough that this passage exhibits one example, and 
 sanctions the natural feeling which, in times of great excite- 
 ment or calamity, forbids the entanglement of such earthly 
 ties and cares as in ordinary times are not only allowed but 
 commanded. 
 
 And it may not be out of place to recall a celebrated instance 
 of a similarly emphatic preference of celibacy, on precisely 
 similar grounds, not of abstract right, but of special expediency, 
 in the well-known speech of our great Protestant Queen, when 
 she declared that * England was her husband,' and ' all 
 Englishmen her children,' and that she * desired no higher 
 character or fairer remembrance of her to be transmitted 
 to posterity, than this inscription engraved on her tombstone, 
 " Here lies Elizabeth, who lived and died a maiden Queen." ' ^ 
 
 Secondly, over and above this direct and immediate lesson, 
 there is also the more general truth, implied indeed n. Ob- 
 inmost parts of the New Testament, but seldom stated servance of 
 so expressly as in this passage, that the practice of the not of the 
 highest duties of Christianity is compatible with every If^*^®^' of 
 station and condition of life that is not in itself un- mendT^"^" 
 lawful. If even the degraded state of slavery be con- ^^<^°* 
 sistent with the cultivation of the true spirit of Christian liberty, 
 if even the great religious divisions of Jew and Gentile may be 
 regarded as alike compatible with the true service of God, then 
 in all other states of life equally the spirit of Apostolic injunc- 
 tions may be observed where, in the letter, they seem most 
 disregarded. Freedom from earthly cares may be maintained 
 in the married as well as in the single state ; indifference to 
 worldly gain may exist in riches, no less than in poverty ; our 
 nearness to God depends not on our desertion of one religious 
 community for another, but on our keeping His command- 
 ments in whatever religious community His providence has 
 placed us, whether circumcision or uncircumcision. 
 
 . . . there are souls that seem to dwell 
 Above this earth — so rich a spell 
 Floats round their steps, where'er they move, 
 From hopes fulfiU'd and mutual love. 
 
 * Hume's Hist, of England, vol. v. p. 13. 
 
122 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 Such, if on high their thoughts are set, 
 Nor in the stream the source forget, 
 If prompt to quit the bliss they know, 
 Following the Lamb where'er He go, 
 By purest pleasure unbeguiled 
 To idolise or wife or child ; 
 Such wedded souls our God shall own 
 For faultless virgins round His throne. 
 
 There are in this loud stunning tide 
 
 Of human care and crime. 
 With whom the melodies abide 
 
 Of th' everlasting chime ; 
 Who carry music in their heart 
 Through dusky lane and wrangling mart. 
 Plying their daily task with busier feet. 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat.* 
 
 ^ The Christian Year : Wednesday before Easter, and St. Matthew's day. 
 
SACEIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 123 
 
 ANSWERS OF ST. PAUL (continued). 
 
 The Sacrificial Feasts of the Heathens. 
 
 Chap. VIII. ] XI. 1. 
 
 The subject of the three following Chapters, which is con- 
 tinuous though interrupted by digressions, appears to be, like 
 that of the previous Chapter, an answer to one of the questions 
 sent to him by the Corinthian Church, namely, whether it was 
 lawful for Christians to join in the sacrificial feasts of their 
 heathen fellow- citizens. 
 
 The question is one of those which, though of hardly any 
 interest to ourselves, occasioned the greatest practi- gtatement 
 cal difficulty in the Apostolical age. It was to the of the Con- 
 heathen converts nearly what the observance of cir- ^roversy. 
 cumcision and of the Mosaic ritual was to the Jewish con- 
 verts, or what in later times the maintenance of castes has 
 been to the converts of India. The act of sacrifice amongst 
 all ancient nations, was an act not merely of religious wor- 
 ship, but of social life. In most cases, only a part of the 
 victim was consumed as an offering to the god ; the rest fell 
 to the portion of the priests, or was given as a banquet to 
 the poor, or was sold again in the market for common food, 
 either by the priests, or by such sacrificers as could not afford 
 or did not wish to undergo the expense of the whole victim.^ 
 Hence most public entertainments, and many private meals, 
 were more or less remotely the accompaniments of sacrifice ; 
 most animals killed for butchers' meat had fallen by the hand 
 of the sacrificer : the very word for ' feast ' in the Hebrew 
 language (n3T) was identical with ' sacrifice,' and from thence 
 in Hellenistic Greek, the word originally used for ' killing in 
 sacrifice ' (Jdvsiv) was diverted to the general signification of 
 ' killing,' as in the well-known passage ' Rise, Peter, kill 
 {Ovcrov) and eat' (Acts x. 13). This identification of sacri- 
 fice and feast was carried to the highest pitch amongst the 
 Greeks. ' Sacrifices ' are enumerated by Aristotle (Eth. viii. 
 9, § 5) and Thucydides (ii. 38) amongst the chief means of 
 
 ^ See Heydenreich, ad loc. 
 
124 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 social enjoyment ; and, in this later age of Greece, it may well 
 be conceived that the religious element was even still more 
 entirely thrown into the shade by the festive character of the 
 meal which followed. The feasts which take place amongst 
 the lower orders in Spain, on the carcasses of the bulls killed 
 in the great national bull-fights (' Fiesta dos Toros '), afford a 
 good illustration of the practice. At Corinth the conquerors 
 in the Isthmian games used to give a banquet to the people, 
 immediately after the sacrifices, in the temple itself of Poseidon.^ 
 That these banquets often took place in temples appears from 
 the stories which relate how Claudius and Vitellius, in their 
 ungovernable greediness, rushed in from the streets to partake 
 of the feasts round the altar.^ 
 
 Under these circumstances it is easy to imagine the diversity 
 of views which must have sprung up in the Gentile Churches. 
 On the one hand, the mass of the Christian converts would 
 attach no importance to the act of feasting on sacrificial food : 
 it was, they would urge, merely a common meal with which 
 the heathen ceremony that had furnished its occasion or ma- 
 terials was not essentially connected; and, even if it were, 
 there could still have been no religious significance in joining a 
 rite which, from the very nature of the case, was to them abso- 
 lutely without meaning. On the other hand, the more scrupu- 
 lous Jewish converts would shrink from any contact with the 
 pollution of heathen worship. It was one of the main points of 
 dispute between the rigid Karaites and laxer interpreters, and 
 extended not only to sacrificial victims, but to sacrificial wine, 
 garments worn by heathen priests, wood from idolatrous 
 gardens or groves. To oflPer ' polluted bread ' upon the altar 
 of the Lord, or to eat the meat of idolatrous princes, had been 
 condemned by the warning of Malachi (i. 7-12), the good 
 example of Daniel (i. 8), and Tobit (i. 10, 11), and the evil 
 example of Israel at Baalpeor (Numb. xxv. 2 ; Ps. cvi. 28). 
 The flesh which had once been ofifered to a heathen divinity 
 could never, they would urge, be fit for a Christian meal ; to 
 use it even in ordinary circumstances would be an encourage- 
 ment of the practice of sacrifice, much more to partake of the 
 banquets which took place in the precincts of the temple itself, 
 and on the scene of those licentious orgies with which the 
 heathen worship was so often accompanied. It is one of the 
 
 Grotius, ad loc. - Sueton. Claud, c. 33, 44 ; Vitell. c. 33. 
 
SACEIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 125 
 
 complaints brought by the Jew Trypho in his argument with 
 Justin,^ that many who were called Christians ate things 
 offered to idols, and said that there was no harm in doing so. 
 
 The importance of the controversy which thus arose is ob- 
 vious. Closely as the whole social life of the ancient world 
 was interwoven with its religious worship, the decision of this 
 question affected the whole relations of the Christian society 
 with its heathen neighbours ; and, in fact, involved all the 
 similar, though more complicated, questions discussed in the 
 four first centuries of the Christian Church, respecting the 
 lawfulness of attending on the spectacles, or receiving the 
 honours, of the Roman Empire. Accordingly this, although 
 the chief, is not the only passage in which the point is discussed. 
 In the Epistle to the Romans we see the excess to which the 
 scruples of the weaker brethren were carried, even to the pitch 
 of abstaining altogether from animal food,^ as, in the Nicolai- 
 tanes^ of the Apocalyptic Churches, we see the excess of the 
 indifferentist party, who plunged without restraint into all the 
 pollutions, moral as well as ceremonial, with which the heathen 
 rites were accompanied ; and it was to obviate the scandal oc- 
 casioned by these differences, that, in the decree passed by the 
 assembly of Jerusalem a short time before this Epistle was 
 written, the first condition imposed on the Gentile converts 
 was abstinence from * meats offered to idols.' * 
 
 Such was the question which agitated the Corinthian Church. 
 In Chap. vi. 12-14, the Apostle had already pointed out the 
 distinction, which some of his converts appear to have over- 
 looked, between the ceremonial pollution of the sacrificial food 
 and the moral pollution of the heathen. He now proceeds to 
 answer the question more directly and more generally. 
 
 1 Dial, cum Tryphone, p. 253. I » Rev. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 2 Rom. xiv. 2, 21. * Acts xv. 29. 
 
126 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 1—3. 
 
 THE SACRIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 
 
 General Warning. 
 
 vin. ^IlepL Se tcov elSoikodvTcov olSafjiev on Travre^ 
 yvcocriv e)(Oixev. 7] ypcocns (J^vctlo'l^ tj 8e aydirr) ot/coSo/xei. 
 
 ^ Now as touching things offered in sacrifice unto idols we know that 
 we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth. - If 
 
 VIII. I It is evident that 
 here, as elsewhere in this Epistle, 
 he chieflj addresses, not the 
 scrupulons, but the unscrupulous 
 portion of his hearers ; not the 
 party of Kephas, but of himself 
 or of ApoUos. From this section 
 of his converts he seems to quote 
 the language by vsrhich they de- 
 fended their freedom of practice ; 
 appropriating it, after his manner, 
 to himself, and to a certain extent 
 adopting and strengthening it 
 (verses 1-6). For similar cases 
 of this identification of himself 
 with his readers, see iv. 6, Rom. 
 vii. 7. This being the general 
 thought of the first sentence, the 
 construction of its particular 
 portions is, as usual in these 
 cases, greatly entangled, and has 
 been variously put together. The 
 following on the whole seems 
 most probable : — 
 
 (1) 7r€pl 8k Twv elScaXoOvToiv, 
 ' now concerning things offered 
 to idols,' is merely the statement 
 of the subject, as in vii. 1, ttc/dI 
 8e wv iypd\l/aTe jhol ; and vii. 25, 
 Trept Be twv Trapdiviav ; and xii. 1, 
 
 TTCpt Se TWV 7rV€VfXaTLK(i>V. 
 
 (2) otSajxev OTL ttoivtcs yvwo-tv 
 exofievj ' we are sure that we all 
 have knowledge,' is the expression 
 of the Corinthians themselves, 
 adopted by the Apostle in the 
 
 first instance as his own statement 
 of the case. (Compare in verses 
 10, 11, 'thou that hast know- 
 ledge,' * thy knowledge.') It 
 was true of those who made the 
 claim, that they all had know- 
 ledge ; it was also in a certain 
 sense true of all Christians, as he 
 proceeds to explain in the 5 th 
 and 6th verses, that by the very 
 profession of the Christian faith 
 they all might be expected to 
 have this knowledge. But as in 
 vi. 12, he had been obliged to put 
 a limitation on the general truth, 
 * All things are lawful for me,' so 
 here he is obliged to put a similar 
 limitation on * All have know- 
 ledge.' This limitation is intro- 
 duced, first, by the abrupt dis- 
 claimer of the inference which he 
 saw might be drawn from the 
 Corinthian statement ; distin- 
 guishing between the effects of 
 knowledge and of love, and the 
 nature of true and false know- 
 ledge (2, 3) ; secondly, by dis- 
 carding altogether the formula 
 ' All have knowledge,' and be- 
 ginning the sentence over again 
 in verse 4, so as to express the 
 same sense in clearer language : 
 and, thirdly, by the direct state- 
 ment in verse 7, that ' there is 
 not in all that knowledge ; ' a 
 correction which is an obvious 
 
SACEIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 
 
 127 
 
 ^et ^Ti9 SoKei ^ iyvoiKivai tl, ovttoj eyvco Kadojs Set yvcovai* 
 ^el Se Ti9 ayarra tov deou, ovtos iyvojcrTaL vtt ovtov, 
 
 * el 5e 'TIS. ^ elSevai n, ovSeirco ovShv eyvwKe. 
 
 any one think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he 
 ought to know : ^ but if any one love God, the same is known by Him. 
 
 instance of the mode in which 
 the truths of Scripture are often 
 set forth by the union of two 
 apparent contradictions. 
 
 Twv €l8(ii\o6vTO)V=T(i)V aXi(Tyy}- 
 /jLaTOiV T(t)v ctSwAcof, Acts XV. 20 ; 
 and the phrase conveys the same 
 sense as is afterwards expanded 
 into TTcpt TTj's y8pw(reo)s tcov eiSwXo- 
 OvTUiv in verse 4. 
 
 rj yvwcrts. The absence of any 
 particle is to be explained by the 
 abruptness of the interruption. 
 The knowledge of which he 
 speaks is not secular knowledge 
 as distinguished from Divine or 
 theological, but knowledge of 
 Divine things without love — 
 knowledge by itself, as distin- 
 guished from knowledge of Di- 
 vine things with love. Bengel : 
 * Scientia tantum dicit, " Omnia 
 mihi licent." Amor addit, " Sed 
 omnia non expediunt." ' It is 
 the same contrast that is to be 
 drawn out more at length in Chap, 
 xiii. ; but as there he is led to 
 speak of it chiefly by insisting on 
 the superiority of active useful- 
 ness to spiritual ecstasies, so here 
 he is led to speak of it by insist- 
 ing on the superiority of that 
 love which shows a regard to the 
 consciences of others, over that 
 knowledge which rests satisfied in 
 its own enlightened insight into 
 
 'Know- *^® ^^^^y ^^ human 
 ledge puff- superstition. * Know- 
 eth up.' ledge such as this may 
 indeed expand and enlarge the 
 mind ; but it is by mere inflation, 
 as of a bubble, which bursts and 
 
 vanishes away (^vcrtot). Love 
 alone succeeds in building up an 
 edifice (otAcoSo/xct), tier above tier, 
 solid alike in its superstructure 
 and in its basis, so as to last for 
 ever.' Comp. iii. 9. 
 
 2 As pretended * wisdom ' 
 (o-ocfiLa) was the chief source of 
 the factions or schisms of the 
 Corinthian Church, so pretended 
 ' knowledge ' (yvwo-ts) was the 
 chief source of its scandals ; and 
 accordingly he still proceeds to 
 enlarge on the contrast which he 
 had set forth in verse 1 : * And 
 after all, knowledge without love 
 is no real knowledge ; if there be 
 any one who thinks that he has 
 almowledge of the Divine nature, 
 and may therefore act as freely 
 as he likes about the empty folly 
 of the heathen sacrifices, he 
 ought to remember that he knows 
 nothing yet, in this life, as it 
 really requires to be known. 
 
 €t TL<s 8oK€L. Compare, for the 
 turn of the expression. Gal. vi. 
 3 : el yap Sokcl tls exvai tl, fjLTjBev 
 wv, </)p€va7raTa cavTov. 1 Tim. vi. 
 3 : €t Tts €T€po8i8a(rKa\.€L . . . rerv- 
 <f>o)Tai. 
 
 ovTTO), ' not yet,' i.e. ' not in 
 the infirmities of this mortal 
 state.' Compare 1 Cor. xiii. 12: 
 *now we see through a glass, 
 darkly ; but the7i face to face ; 
 now I know in part; but then 
 I shall know even as also I am 
 known.' 
 
 3 ' If any one love God ' (tov 
 Oeov). From the love of man 
 — which must be the sense of 
 
128 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 4—6. 
 
 ^wepl ttJs ^p(o(T€(o<; ovv tcjv elScoXoOvTOJV olSafxev on ovSki/ 
 elScoXov iv Kocrixcp, /cat on ovSel<; ^eo?^ el fxrj els* ^ kol 
 
 eehs 
 
 erepos. 
 
 *As touching therefore the eating of things offered in sacrifice unto idols, 
 we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God 
 
 dyoLTrrj in verse 1 (see xiii. 1) — he 
 passes insensibly in verse 2 to the 
 love of God, partly because God 
 is the implied, though not ex- 
 pressed, subject of the previous 
 clause, partly because He is the 
 only worthy and adequate object 
 of Christian love. (1) For the 
 connexion of knowledge and love, 
 see 1 John iv. 7, 8 : ' every one 
 that loveth is born of God, and 
 knoweth God ; he that loveth 
 not, knoweth not God, for God is 
 love.' Ho substitutes * is known 
 of Him,' for 'knows Him,' to 
 express that man can, in this life, 
 hardly be said, in any sense, to 
 know God, It is sufficient to be 
 the object of His knowledge, 
 which in itself implies that we 
 are brought into so close a rela- 
 tion with Him, as to be the object 
 of His care and love, and ulti- 
 mately, therefore, to know Him. 
 Bengel : ' Cognitionem passivam 
 sequitur cognitio activa (cf. xiii. 
 12). Egregia metalepsis — cog- 
 nitus est, adeoque cognovit.' (2) 
 For this identification of God'^ 
 knowledge with His love, com- 
 pare Exod. xxxiii. 17 : ' thou hast 
 found grace in my sight, and I 
 know thee hy name.' Also John 
 X. 3 : ' He calleth his own sheep hy 
 name.' (3) For the identification 
 of God's knowledge of man with 
 man's knowledge of God, com p. 
 the similar blending of the spirit 
 of man with the Spirit of God in 
 Rom. viii. 15, 16 ; 1 Cor. ii. 11 ; 
 also John x. 15, ' as the Father 
 knoweth Me, even so know I the 
 
 Father; ' and. (4) for the general 
 turn of the whole expression, as 
 implying that every part of our 
 redemption, but especially our 
 knowledge of God, is more 
 properly His act than ours : 
 1 Cor. xiii. 12, *then I shall 
 know, even as also I amhiown* 
 (KaOo)<s liriyvisio-O-qv) \ Gal. iv. 9, 
 ' N'ow, having known God, or, 
 rather, having heen hnown by 
 Him ; ' Phil. iii. 12, * If I may 
 apprehend that for which also I 
 am apprehended (KareX'^/jLcfiOrjv) 
 by Christ.' For the unexpected 
 substitution of one thought and 
 word for another, see ix. 17, x. 18. 
 
 4 ovv resumes the sentence 
 broken off at y yvoioris. Compare 
 (TvvepxoiJiivwv ovv, xi. 20. 
 
 ovSkv ttSwXov iv k6(t/x(o. The 
 context of ovdds ^eos and the 
 position of €v Koa-fjuo would lead 
 us to take ovSev not for ' nihil ; ' 
 but for ' nullum,' and translate 
 ' there is no such thing as an 
 idol (i.e. a pagan divinity) in 
 the universe.' But as the word 
 etSoiXov (idol) can hardly be used 
 in this abstract sense in Greek 
 any more than in English, and as 
 in X. 19 it is not so much the 
 non-existence as the nothingness 
 of the idol which is asserted, it is 
 on the whole better to adopt the 
 more common interpretation, ' an 
 idol is nothing, — has no strength 
 and no meaning in any part of 
 the universe ; its existence is 
 confined to the mere image in 
 the temple, and has no further 
 influence elsewhere.' This agrees 
 
SACRIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 
 
 129 
 
 yap el irep elcrlu \ey6fxevoL 6eol eire ev ovpavo) eire ctti 
 ^yrj<i, cjcTTrep elcrlv Oeol ttoXXoi kol KvptOL ttoXXol, ^[dWJ 
 
 rrjs yns. 
 
 but One: ^for though there be that are called gods whether in heaven or 
 on earth, as there be gods many and lords many, ^ yet to us there is but 
 
 with the use of the word in the 
 LXX. as a translation of ' Elilim,' 
 i.e. 'nothings,' the Hebrew word 
 of mockery for the false gods 
 (Ps. xcvii. 7 ; Hab. ii. 18, &c.). 
 See also Isa. xli. 22, and the 
 Rabbis, as quoted on this passage 
 by Wetstein. 
 
 Kol OTL ov8€l<; Oeb<: €i jxrj cts. 
 This, whatever be the meaning 
 of the previous clause, is not so 
 much an addition to it, as an ex- 
 planation of it, which is further 
 expanded in verse 5. The phrase 
 itself is from the Pentateuch, 
 passim. 
 
 5 ' For although it be granted 
 that in the heathen phraseology 
 there are, in different parts of 
 the universe, to be found many 
 who bear the name, some of 
 Gods, some of Lords, yet with 
 Christians it is not so. They 
 acknowledge but One to whom 
 the title of God is properly due, 
 namely, the Universal Father; 
 and One alone to whom the title 
 of Lord is properly due, namely, 
 Jesus Christ.' 
 
 In this passage the actual ex- 
 istence of the heathen divinities 
 is neither affirmed nor denied, 
 but left in obscurity. He asserts 
 only that the vast hierarchy of 
 divinities which met their ears 
 and eyes, in the common par- 
 lance and customs of Greece and 
 Asia, ranging from the heights 
 of Olympus down to the caves 
 and streams of Grecian valleys, 
 imposing as it might be, had for 
 Christians no practical import- 
 
 ance. They had but one Su- 
 preme Source and Centre of the 
 universe, on whom they had 
 been taught to look, not as a 
 mere name, but as a loving 
 Father ; and with Him, One Su- 
 preme Controller of the uni- 
 verse, no dim hero of distant 
 ages or remote influence of 
 planetary regions, but Jesus 
 Christ, living in their own times, 
 almost within their own know- 
 ledge. The heathen dwelt in a 
 world of complicated shadows ; 
 Christians lived in a world of 
 simple realities. 
 
 Xeyo/jLcvoi. ' Called by the 
 name of gods ' (see 2 Thess. ii. 
 4). The word conveys a certain 
 sense of unreality, like Aoyot, Xc- 
 yciv, in Aristotle, Ethics, vii. 9, 
 X. 9 : ' mere words.' 
 
 ' In heaven or on earth ; ' divi- 
 sions of the world, and alluding 
 to the supposed habitations of 
 the pagan divinities ; corre- 
 sponding, perhaps, to the usual 
 divisions in Greece between the 
 0cot 'OXvfjLTriOL and ©eot Ittl^Oo- 
 vLOLy and at Rome between the 
 Dii majores and Dii minores. 
 
 wcrirep elalv Oeol ttoXXol kol kv- 
 pioL TToXXoL. The stress is on 
 TToXXoL, 'm-any.^ 'If there are 
 those who bear the name of 
 gods, as, in fact, there are many 
 who do so.' 
 
 KvpLOL, 'lords,' is added, partly 
 for the sake of the full antithe- 
 sis, in the next verse, of els kv- 
 pto5, partly to exhaust the whole 
 nomenclature of the pagan di- 
 
130 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 7—9. 
 
 rjfjuv €19 ^€09 6 TraT'qp, ef ov tol Travra /cat i^/xets et? avrov, 
 Kol cTs KvpLoq ^Ir)(TOvs xpicTTO^;, hi ov TOL irdvTa koI i^/xets 
 St' avTov, ^dXX' ou/c ei^ iraaiv rj yvcjcn^;. Tuve^ Se ttj 
 ^o-WTjOeia icos apn tov elScjXov w? elhcoXoBvrov icrOiOvcnv, 
 
 one God the Father, of whom are all things and we for Him ; and one 
 Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by Him. "^ Howbeit 
 there is not in all that knowledge ; but some by intercourse with the idol 
 unto this hour eat it as a thing offered in sacrifice unto idols -, and their 
 
 vinities, Kvpto? being the Greek 
 correlative of the Syrian ' Baal,' 
 which is the usual title of the 
 false divinities in the Old Testa- 
 ment. It also may have refer- 
 ence to such expressions as ' God 
 of gods, and Lord of lords' 
 (Deut. X. 17); *0 Lord our 
 God, other lords besides Thee 
 have had dominion over us ' 
 (Isai. xxvi. 13) ; where ' Adonai ' 
 — usually employed in reference 
 to Jehovah — is used for false 
 ' lords,' as Kvpio? here. If it 
 points to anything specific in the 
 Greek mythology, it would be to 
 the heroes or demi-gods, such as 
 Hercules. 
 
 6 rjfuv, * to ns,' ' in our judg- 
 ment as Christians, whatever 
 others may hold.' 
 
 For the distinction between 
 the ideas of 'Father' and 'Lord,' 
 as applied respectively to God 
 and to Christ, compare the salu- 
 tations of all the Epistles, and 
 especially xv. 24. The preposi- 
 tions ii and ci?, as applied to the 
 Father, in contrast with 8ta, as 
 applied to Christ, represent the 
 Father as the original source 
 and ultimate object of all things, 
 Christ as the instrument by 
 which they came into existence. 
 See John i. 3 ; Heb. i. 2, 3 ; Col. 
 i. 16. In the last of these pas- 
 sages, the expression ' for Him ' 
 (ets avTov), which is here used 
 
 to express the relation of man 
 to the Father, is there applied to 
 Christ alone. In Rom. xi. 36, 
 all three are applied equally to 
 God. 
 
 7 Thus far St. Paul had stated 
 the reasons for regarding the sa- 
 crificial feasts as matters of in- 
 difference, by giving an account 
 of the knowledge which all 
 Christians might be supposed to 
 have. Now begins the antithe- 
 sis to the sentence, in the state- 
 ment of the reverse side of the 
 question — the practical difficul- 
 ties, instead of the ideal perfec- 
 tion of the Church ; inasmuch 
 as the knowledge (17 yvwcrts) 
 which he has just described as 
 properly belonging to all Chris- 
 tians, is not actually found in 
 all. 
 
 Try (Tvvrj6€La . . . tov ciSwA.ov. 
 Lachmann's reading of a-vv-qOiia, 
 which is supported by A. B., 
 would be ' by familiar inter- 
 course.' But it may have been 
 a correction of (rvveihr)- 
 crei, m D. E. F. G. J. 
 The strange use of the word 
 crwctSrytris might be explained 
 by the Apostle's turn for etymo- 
 logical argument. The idea of 
 ' knowledge ' under various ex- 
 pressions, otSa, ciScVat, &c., runs 
 through this passage (viii. 1, 2, 
 4, 7, 10, 12), and thus the com- 
 pound (TwuhrjcTL^ might be used, 
 
SACRIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 
 
 131 
 
 KOL Y) (Tvveihr)(Ti^ avT(x)v aorOeur)^; ovcra iiokvveTan. ^^poi^ia 
 Se rjfxas ov ^TTapaaTTja-ei tw 6e(^' ovre^ iav /xt) (j)dyo}- 
 fxev, TrepLcro-evoiiev^ ovre iai^^ (j)dyo)[xep, vcrrepoviieOa./ y 
 '"^ l3Xe7r€Te Se firj ttw? rj i^ovcrca vficov avrrj Trpocr/co/i/ia 
 
 » iraplffTTiffi. *• oijTe yap iav (payufx^v. " e'eii/ fxi}. 
 
 Lachm. Ed. 1. oirc iav /x^ (pdyufiiv, ixTTCpov/jLeOa, oire iav (pdywixev, irepiaffevofjLev. 
 
 conscience being weak is defiled. ^ But meat will not commend us to 
 God : neither if we eat not, are we the better, neither if we eat, are we 
 the worse. ^ But look lest by any means this power of yours become a 
 
 as occupying a middle position 
 between onr words ' conscious- 
 ness' and * conscience,' some- 
 what in the sense in which we 
 speak of ' conscious guilt or inno- 
 cence.' Thus here it would be 
 ' a conscious awe of the idol,' as 
 in 1 Pet. ii. 19, ' a conscious awe 
 of God,' like atSws in classical 
 Greek. 
 
 In the order of the words, 
 Lachmann, with B. D. E. F. G. 
 places co)9 apri between o-vi/ctSry- 
 o-€t and Tov eiSwAor, the Received 
 Text, with A. J., places it be- 
 tween €t8(uXov and w? elSuyXoOv- 
 Tov. The former is probably 
 correct, and, if so, is an instance 
 of the violent transposition of 
 words which often breaks up the 
 order of St. Paul's sentences. 
 (See note on verse 11.) The 
 sense would be the same in 
 both ; ' eat even at the present 
 moment.' 
 
 d(T6€vr]<s ova-a would more pro- 
 perly be acrOevoiv oi/todv, and pro- 
 bably arises from the Apostle's 
 tendency to personify all the 
 feelings he describes. do-^evT^s 
 is (not 'giving way to temp- 
 tation,' like aKpaxTJ?, but) 'ill 
 instructed,' ' not attained to full 
 Christian strength.' Comp. Rom. 
 xiv. 1, XV. 1. For the general 
 idea as contrasted with ' edifica- 
 tion,' or 'perfection,' see Eph. 
 iv. 13-16. 
 
 fioX-vvcrai, 'is defiled by the 
 sense of sin, which would not 
 have been the case in a stronger 
 conscience.' Comp. tvtttovtc?, in 
 verse 1 2. 
 
 8 /?pto/xa Si, K.T.X. ' The whole 
 question of food is in itself ab- 
 solutely indifferent.' This is an 
 objection to the scruples just 
 mentioned, although stated so 
 •generally as to meet the en- 
 lightened objector also, and is 
 parallel to the statement about 
 circumcision and uncircumcision 
 in vii. 19. Compare Matt. xv. 
 17, and (apparently in reference 
 to the same subject) 1 Cor. vi. 
 13, ' meats for the belly and 
 the belly for meats ; ' and Rom. 
 xiv. 17, ' the kingdom of God is 
 not meat and drink ; ' where, as 
 here, the primary thought is 
 that there is no religious excel- 
 lence in ahstaining from food. 
 The meaning is still more 
 strongly brought out in the 
 order of eav fxr] cfidyuyfiev, Treptcr- 
 (revoixev, and iav cfxxyoifxev, v(TTe- 
 povfjieOa, in A^ D. E. F. G. J. 
 which Lachmann has adopted in 
 his second edition, against A^ 
 B. which read idv fxrj cf)dyo}/x€v, 
 vcTTepovfJieOa, ovre idv KJidyioixev 
 7repL(rcr€voix€v. 
 
 ov Trapao-TT^o-et, ' will not bring 
 us near to God.' 
 
 9 ySXeTrerc Si. ' But, though 
 you have this liberty, &c., be- 
 k2 
 
132 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 10—13. 
 
 yevrjTai to7<; ^ aa-Oeviaiv, ^^ lav yap Ti<; ISy [ere] tov 
 evovTa yvoiCLV ev elScoXeia) KaraKeifJieuov, ov)(i r) crvpeiorjcn^ 
 avTov aorOevovs ovtos oiKohoixiqdricreTai €L9 to to. etSwXd- 
 Ovra iaOUiv ; ^^^airoWviai yap 6 acrOevoiv iv rfj crfj 
 
 * aadevovcriv. ^ Koi aTroAetrat 6 acrd. aZeXcphs iirl t^ <t^ yvcixrei, 5t' hv Xpiards. 
 
 stumblingblock to them that are weak. ^°For if any one see thee which 
 hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience 
 of him which is weak be edified to eat those things which are offered in 
 gacrifice to idols ? ^^For he that is weak perishes through thy knowledge 
 
 ware.' Here, as in verses 1-6, 
 the objeetionp, though appro- 
 priated by St. Paul, are more or 
 less understood to come from the 
 Corinthians. 
 
 iiova-ia, ' right,' refers to the 
 phrase Travra jjlol €$€(ttl, vi. 12. 
 
 lO iv eiScoAeio) KaraKCtfievov, 
 'enjoying a sacrificial feast in 
 the precincts of a temple.' ctSw- 
 Aetov is only used by Jewish 
 writers, apparently to avoid de- 
 signating heathen temples by 
 the sacred word vaog, used to 
 express the temple of Jerusalom. 
 (1 Mace. i. 47, x. 83.) It is a 
 kind of parody on the names of 
 temples as derived from the di- 
 vinities to which they are dedi- 
 cated, ®r](T€LOV, 'Hpatov, &c. 
 
 KaTaK€i]x€vov, ' lying,' the usual 
 word for presence at a feast, 
 taken from the practice of dining 
 in a recumbent posture. 
 
 o LKohoiJiy]6rj(Tcr at, which else- 
 where occurs only in a good 
 sense, is here used in a bad 
 sense, with a kind of irony: ' He 
 will have made an advance, but 
 in the school, not of good, but 
 of evil.' Calvin : ' ruinosa aedi- 
 ficatio.' It is used in a had 
 sense in Malachi iii. 15, avoiKoho- 
 ixovvrat ttoioCvtc? avofxa. Com p. 
 ,Ios. Ant. xvi. 6 : €15 vovOea-iav 
 
 aVTOiV OLKOOOJxQiV aVTOV9. 
 
 What in x. 14 is condemned 
 on its own account, is here con- 
 
 demned only for the sal^e of 
 others ; that being the point of 
 the argument with which alone 
 the Apostle is here concerned : 
 — ' He will have been built up, 
 but with a building that leads to 
 nothinsf.' 
 
 1 1 aTToWvTai yap 6 acrdevwv 
 €v T7J a~fj yrojoret, 6 d8eA.<^o?. 
 
 The sense of Lachmann's 
 reading is the same as that of 
 the Received Text, but it ren- 
 ders the peculiarities of the 
 style much more striking. airoX- 
 XvTttt, for aTToXeiTat, expresses 
 more strongly, not ' will perish,' 
 but *is at this moment perish- 
 ing.' yap (A. has ovv), for Kat, 
 gives the reason for a suppressed 
 sentiment of grief at the sin 
 of the weaker brother: ' [Alas, 
 that it should be so ! for then] 
 there will be a ruin of the weak- 
 minded man by means of thy 
 enh"q-htenment.' The separation 
 of ev 777 yvoi(T€L from aTroAAvrat, 
 to which it belongs, is after the 
 Apostle's usage of throwing the 
 important word out of its natural 
 place to the end of the sentence : 
 see ix. 10, x. 27, xv. 19. A.nd 
 the isolated and final position 
 thus given to 6 aBe\<f>os gives a 
 pathetic close to the whole sen- 
 tence ; ' that weak-minded man 
 is no less than thy Christian 
 brother, to save whom Christ 
 gave Himself up to death.' tV, 
 
SACRIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS. 
 
 133 
 
 yv(x)(Tei, 6 dSeX-c^o? St' ov ^tcrros aTriOavev. ^^ovro)^ Se 
 oniapTdvovTe<; els rous dSeX(^ov9 kol tvtttovt€<; avTcov Trjp 
 (rvv€Lhr)aLU acrOevovo-av^ el<; ^pio-rov d/xa/DraVere. ^^Zioirep 
 €t ^pa>fJLa (TKavSakL^eL rov ahek<^6v [mov, ov fxr) (fxiycj Kpea 
 eis Tov alwva^ Iva (jlt) tov ahe\(^6v p.ov crKavhaXicro). 
 
 — the brother for whom Christ died. ^^But when ye sin so against the 
 brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. 
 ^^Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh for 
 ever,* lest I make my brother to offend. 
 
 " Gr. while the age lasteth. . 
 
 for cTTt, expresses more fully that 
 this knowledge is the cause of 
 his ruin. For the contrast thus 
 exhibited between the self-sacri- 
 fice of our Lord's love for man, 
 and the self-indulgence of the 
 Corinthians' knowledge, com- 
 pare (in a similar context) Rom. 
 XV. 1-3: *We tbat are strong 
 ought to bear the infirmities of 
 the weak, and not to please our- 
 selves. Let every one of us 
 please his neighbour for bis good 
 to edification ; for even Christ 
 ■pleased not Himself.^ Comp. also 
 chap. xi. 1. 
 
 1 2 TVTTTOvTes, ' striking a con- 
 science or mind already weak.' 
 Bengel : ' Sicut jnmentum lassum 
 verberibus urgetur.' 
 
 ct9 ^LCTTOV d/Aapraverc, COmp. 
 Matt. XXV. 40 : ' Inasmuch as ye 
 have done it unto one of the 
 
 least of these my brethren, ye 
 have done it unto Me.' 
 
 Kpea, i.e. ' animal food of any 
 kind,' in allusion to the extreme 
 scruples of those who, from fear 
 of the meat in the shambles 
 being sacrificial, confined them- 
 selves entirely to vegetable food. 
 
 6ts TOV alb)va, ' for ever,' which 
 in other passages of St. Paul's 
 Epistles is usually rendered by 
 the plural, cts tous aicuva?, being 
 the literal translation of dViu?- 
 The hyperbolical character of 
 the expression may be compared 
 with E,om. ix. 3. 
 
 The whole argument closely 
 resembles Rom. xiv. 19-22, 
 even to the particular phrases 
 employed : comp. ^pthfxa, oIkoSo- 
 fxrjs, (fiayelv Kpea, Trpoa-KOfx/JLa, (tkuv- 
 SoAt^erat, aaOevuv KaraXve. 
 
134 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paeaphrase of Chap. VIII. 1 — 13. 
 
 Yo?ir argument on sacrificial food {though imphjing a dispro- 
 portioned estimate of knowledge, which, compared with love, 
 is worthless, whether as an instrument of Christian progress, 
 or as a means of insight into things divine) is on the whole 
 correct. The sacrificial food may of itself be lawfully eaten ; 
 because we, as Christians, know full well that to us the vast 
 array of heathen divinities is a mere illusion, and that our 
 only religious relations are those in which we stand to the 
 Father of all, and to our Master, Jesus Christ, 
 
 There are, hoivever, some of your number who, not having 
 attained to this belief, to the measure of the stature of the ful- 
 ness of Christ, are still tossed about by the scruples of their 
 Jewish education, and still, when they eat the food of which 
 part has been offered to heathen divinities, regard themselves 
 as partaking in an idol sacrifice, and with an inward horror of 
 the idol in whose presence they conceive themselves to be. It is 
 true that the whole matter of food is in itself absolutely indif- 
 ferent, and that, in a religious point of view, no one is the better 
 or the worse for it. But it is not indifferent, if, by the example 
 of those luho without scruple join the banquets in the precincts 
 of an idol temple, those who have scruples are induced to do the 
 same, that being a sin to them which to others is an advance 
 in Christian liberty, and thus ruin is brought on those to whom 
 we are bound by our ties of Christian brotherhood, and to save 
 whom from this very ruin Christ denied Himself even to death 
 on the cross. He lives in and for them ; and it is, therefore, 
 not only against them, but against Him, that you offend; 
 and rather than incur this guilt, rather than forsake the ex- 
 ample of tender love which He has exhibited, 1 ivill never think 
 of touching a morsel of flesh, if I think that thereby I should 
 ensnare to sin one who is my brother. 
 
 It may l)e observed, that in the whole of the fore- 
 going passage, but especially in its conclusion, there is, if not 
 a direct allusion to our Lord's words, a new duty acknow- 
 ledged, which probably was first inculcated in our Lord's 
 
CHRISTIAN SELF-DENIAL. 135 
 
 teaching, namely, the paramount obligation on men to regard 
 the scruples of their ill-instructed brethren : — ' Whoso shall 
 offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were 
 better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, 
 and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.'^ The 
 martyrs in the time of the Maccabees (2 Mace. vi. vii.) in- 
 curred death rather than violate the law by eating forbidden 
 food ; but it was reserved for St. Paul to declare that he 
 would incur death rather than offend his fellow-Christians by 
 an act of the abstract lawfulness of which he had himself no 
 doubt. Such a delicacy of morality is seldom found to elicit 
 such a depth of enthusiasm ; and this special instance of its 
 application involves all those finer feelings of toleration and 
 res^ard for the rights of conscience, almost unknown in heathen 
 times, rare even in Christian times, and most rare when com- 
 bined with a firm and earnest conviction of truth and false- 
 hood. 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 6. 
 
136 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 SACRIFICIAL FEASTS OF THE HEATHENS (continued). 
 
 His own Example of Self-Denial. 
 IX. 1— X. 14. 
 
 The concluding verse of Chap viii. with the present Section 
 which springs from it, is an illustration and example of that 
 intense sympathy which the Apostle elsewhere (2 Cor. xi. 29) 
 describes, in the words, * Who is weak, and I am not weak ? 
 who is offended, and I burn not ? ' The mention of the loss of 
 the weak-minded Christian, and of the sin thereby committed 
 against Christ Himself, rouses him from the impartial calm 
 with which he has hitherto held the scales of the contest between 
 the over-scrupulous and over-indulgent parties, now siding with 
 one, and now with the other ; and he plunges into the breach 
 himself, in order by his own example to put to shame the cold 
 and tardy reasonings of his less susceptible followers. But as he 
 makes this sudden change from the second to the first person, 
 as he turns this glance into the recesses of his own life, past, 
 present, and future, as far as thought could reach {sl9 rov 
 aiMva), he feels a momentary check, from the recollection that 
 there were those amongst his readers who would, if not in the 
 particular instance of which he is speaking, at least in one 
 closely connected with it, ascribe his self-denial, not to its real 
 motive of Christian love, but to his alleged inferiority to the 
 other Apostles of Christ. It would almost appear as if he had 
 properly concluded the subject at viii. 13, and then resumed 
 it from this new point of view, on the arrival of fresh tidings 
 from Corinth, informing him of the imputations which he now 
 proceeds to dispel. 
 
 Of all St. Paul's acts of humiliation and self-devotion, that 
 which, if not the most striking, was the most habitual, and, in 
 his case, the most peculiar, was his maintaining himself, not 
 at the cost of the societies which he converted, but by the labour 
 of his own hands as a Cilician tentmaker. It was at Corinth 
 that this practice is first mentioned in the Acts (xviii. 3) ; and 
 from the stress laid upon it here and in the Second Epistle (xi. 
 7,8,9,10; xii. 14-18), it would seem that at Corinth it 
 attracted most attention, and was most constantly practised. 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 137 
 
 though he also refers to it as his well-known custom at Thessa- 
 lonica (1 Thess. ii. 8-10; 2 Thess. iii. 7-9), and at Ephesus 
 (Acts XX. 34).^ In all these cases it is introduced, as here, 
 with the same general consciousness of its being the most 
 obvious instance of love and self-denial to which he could 
 refer ; and in Acts xx. 34, 35, the moral deduced from it is 
 similar to that enforced in this passage : ' That so labouring ye 
 ought to help the weak.' But this example would lose con- 
 siderably in force, if it were asserted that he had no right to 
 maintenance from the Churches, and that consequently his labour 
 was the result, not of self-devotion, but of necessity. That this 
 was asserted is clear, not only from this passage, but from the 
 implied argument in 1 Thess. ii. 1-6, 9 ; 2 Thess. iii. 8, 9 ; and 
 2 Cor. xi. 7-9, xii. 16, 17, where he vindicates himself (in 
 connexion with this subject) against the charge of ' covetous- 
 ness,' declares that ' he might have been burdensome to them, 
 as an apostle of Christ,' that he took nothing from them, * not 
 because he had not the power,' and that they thought by so 
 doino* he had ' committed an offence.' This charge seems to 
 have been one out of the systematic series of attacks levelled 
 against him by the Judaizing Christians, who could not bear to 
 see their great antagonist assume the same lofty position in 
 the Church as was occupied by the original Jewish Apostles of 
 Jerusalem. One mark of their position had always been their 
 maintenance, at the Lord's command, by those to whom they 
 preached (see 1 Cor. ix. 14 ; Matt. x. 9, 10 ; Luke x. 7). This 
 right of maintenance seems to have been so habitually claimed 
 by them, that its abandonment by St. Paul, instead of awaken- 
 ing a higher admiration for his apostolical goodness, roused in the 
 suspicious minds of his enemies, partly doubts of his apostolical 
 dignity, partly doubts of his Christian sincerity, which were 
 ready to burst forth the moment that the subject of his self- 
 support was mentioned. In illustration of this opposition may 
 be mentioned the jealousy which, on this very same ground, 
 was roused against Socrates and Plato by the professed sophists.^ 
 
 ^ For the whole subject of the 
 Apostle's trade of tent-making, see 
 Conybeare and Howson, Life and 
 Epistles of St. Paul, vol. i. pp. 51, 
 416. Every Jew learned a trade ; 
 tliat of making tent-cloths or ' Cili- 
 cium' (the name by which the 
 fabric was known in the commerce 
 
 of the time) was roost natural to the 
 Apostle, as a native of Cilicia ; and 
 at Corinth, the great resort of travel- 
 lers, there would be a special demand 
 for them. 
 
 ^ See Grote's History of Greece, 
 vol. viii. pp. 482, 483. 
 
138 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Such, apparently, were the recollections which crossed the 
 course of the Apostle's thoughts at this point in the Epistle. 
 On the one hand was the scene of the tentmaker's trade at 
 Corinth, where the few hours of leisure, after the long ar- 
 guments in the synagogue and the market-place, were con- 
 sumed with Aquila and Priscilla in the uncongenial labour of 
 weaving the long goat's hair of his native hills into the sack- 
 cloth or the tent-cover, for the Greek fisherman or wandering 
 Arab. On the other hand was the dogged stupidity, or the 
 implacable animosity of his adversaries, who were ready, with 
 their cold insinuations, to contrast, as they supposed, the en- 
 forced meanness and degradation of Paul of Tarsus with 
 the conscious dignity and repose of the Apostles at Jeru- 
 salem, or of those who claimed to be their legitimate repre- 
 sentatives at Corinth. To set forth this voluntary abnegation 
 of a right, and to assert the right itself, is accordingly the two- 
 fold object of this digression. But as the abnegation could 
 not be shown to be voluntary until the right which had thus 
 been questioned was vindicated, what would else have been 
 the natural order is inverted ; and he breaks off from the 
 triumphant assertion of his self-denial in viii. 13, to answer 
 the charges of the Judaizers, who, by the time that he wrote 
 the Second Epistle, had become so rampant as to claim his 
 almost exclusive attention, but who, in this Epistle, are noticed 
 here alone. 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 139 
 
 IX. ^^OvK elfJiX iXevOepos; ovk ei/xl olttocttoXos ; ov;(c 
 ^Irjcrovv tov Kvpiov rjfJLCtiv ecopaKa; ov to epyov p,ov v/^et? 
 
 • OifK eifil ottJo-toA-Os ; Ovk elfxl iXevdepos ; Ovx^ ^Irjaovv Xpi(Tr6v. 
 
 ^Am I not free 1 am I not an apostle 1 have I not seen Jesus our Lord 1 
 are not ye my work in the Lord 1 ^ If I be not an apostle unto others, 
 
 I The order of the words in 
 Lachmann's text, ' Aminot free ? 
 am I not an Apostle ? ' is not only 
 that of the most ancient MSS., 
 but is also in conformity with the 
 sense. His freedom and not his 
 Apostleship was uppermost in his 
 thoughts, and was the special 
 occasion of the digression. * Am 
 I not free to eat or not to eat ? 
 Yes, and am I not free from the 
 necessity of working with my 
 own hands, like a slave ? ' 
 (Comp. verse 19, where this is the 
 force of ikcvOepos.) From this he 
 instantly proceeds to the vindica- 
 tion of his Apostleship, on which 
 this freedom was grounded; and 
 from this again to the two chief 
 ^^^ signs of Apostleship ; 
 
 Apostle's namely, 1st, the sight 
 authority, ^f ^^le Lord; 2nd, the 
 practical effects of his teaching. 
 The first of these signs was, from 
 the nature of the case, regarded 
 as necessary to constitute an 
 Apostle. What the vision of 
 God had been to the older pro- 
 phets, that the sight of Christ, 
 especially of Christ risen from the 
 grave, had been to the Apostles. 
 See Acts i. 22. Intercourse 
 with the Lord had invested the 
 Twelve with their original au- 
 thority ; the alleged absence of 
 such intercourse in the case of 
 St. Paul, therefore, was urged 
 against his claims to the Apostle- 
 ship. Compare 2 Cor. v. 16 ; and 
 
 also the Clementine Homilies 
 (xvii. 19), which express openly 
 what we gather from these 
 passages by implication. To this 
 charge he opposes his assertion 
 that he, as well as the others, has 
 seen the Lord. The passage does 
 not necessarily limit the appear- 
 ance to one occasion, and may 
 include some of these visions 
 which are mentioned in 2 Cor. 
 xii. 1-4; Acts xviii. 9, xxii. 17. 
 But, when compared with 1 Cor. 
 XV. 8, it points chiefly to the oc- 
 currence at his conversion. Acts 
 ix. 4, in which, according to these 
 and other intimations (Acts ix. 
 17, xxvi. 16, xxii. 14, 15), though 
 not according to the direct nar- 
 rative of the Acts (which here, 
 as elsewhere, understates rather 
 than overstates what we learn 
 from St. Paul), there was a visible 
 manifestation of Christ Himself. 
 The second sign of Apostle- 
 ship, which corresponds to what 
 is elsewhere termed the gift of 
 the Spirit, blends with the state- 
 ment of the fact something of 
 a pathetic appeal to the Co- 
 rinthians themselves : ' You are 
 the last men who ought to have 
 questioned the authority, of the 
 genuineness of which you are 
 yourselves the most striking 
 proof.' For similar expressions 
 to the Corinthian Church, comp. 
 2 Cor. iii. 2, 3, xii. 12. Bengel : 
 'Ex ecclesia fidelium argumen- 
 
140 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 2—7. 
 
 iaT€ iu KvpCo); ^el aXXot? ovk elfxl aTrocrroXo?, aXXa ye vfjuv 
 elfJLL' 7} yap (T<f)payi<; ^ ^xov rrjs aTrocrToXrjs v/^et? icrre iv 
 KvpCco. ^7} ifjirj airokoyia toIs ifJie avaKpivovcriv ^io-Tiv avrrf. 
 ^jxrj OVK exofJieu l^ovaiav ^ayeiv koI irieiv; ^ p,r) ovk evo- 
 fji€v k^ovcriav aSeXc/)?)!/ yvvaiKa irepidyuvy wg koI ol konrol 
 aTTOo-ToXoL kol ol aSeXc^ol tov Kvpiov KalK7)(j)as; ^^ [jlovos 
 
 • rris ifjLTJs for fiov ttjs, * outtj eVrt. 
 
 yet doubtless I am to you : for the seal of mine apostleship are ye in the 
 Lord. ^Mine answer to them that judge me by questioning is this. 
 ^Have we not power to eat and to drink ? ^ Have we not power to lead 
 about a sister, a wife, as well as the other apostles and the brethren of 
 
 turn sumi potest pro veritate 
 evangelii et religionis Chris- 
 tianse.' Compare Coleridge's say- 
 ing, ' The two great proofs of the 
 truth of Christianity are Christi- 
 anity and Christendom.'' 
 
 ' In the Lord ' (cV Kvpiio) both 
 in verse 1 and 2 applies to the 
 vs^hole sentence, expressing as if 
 unconsciously the atmosphere in 
 which he moved and lived. Com- 
 pare vii. 39. 
 
 2 Compare iv. 15. 
 o-<^payts, seal — ' attestation.' 
 
 3 a-TroAoyta, ' defence,' as in a 
 court of justice. 
 
 oLvaKpia-Ls, ' examination,' as by 
 magistrates at a trial, see Acts 
 iv. 9, xxiv. 8, xxviii. 18 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 14. Here we see a direct 
 allusion to his antagonists. 
 
 avTT], namely, what he has just 
 said ; ' This contains all my de- 
 fence. I have no more to add 
 to it.' 
 
 4 ixrj OVK t)(pjx€v, ' Surely we 
 are not without power,' &c. 
 
 €^ov(rtav, ' the right,' or ' li- 
 berty.' Comp. viii. 9 ; also vi. 12. 
 
 <l>ay€Lv KOL 7rt€tv, ' to eat and to 
 drink,' i.e. ' to be maintained at 
 the public cost.' Compare the 
 use of the word rpo(f>y] in classical 
 Greek, for the support or pay of 
 soldiers. 
 
 5 dSeX<ji7]v ywat/ca, ' a Chris- 
 tian woman as a wife, also to be 
 maintained at the public cost.' 
 
 The fact of these women ac- 
 companying their husbands on 
 their journeys may be explained 
 by the necessity of females to 
 gain access to and to baptize the 
 female converts in Greece and 
 other oriental countries ; the sam e 
 necessity which gave rise to the 
 order of Deaconesses. . 
 
 The notion of some of of the 
 the Fathers, that the ^P^^ties. 
 women here alluded to were not 
 wives, but companions, like those 
 who attended Christ in the Gos- 
 pels, is untenable. The word 
 yvvoLKa would in that case be 
 superfluous, and the argument 
 requires that they shall be re- 
 garded, not as maintaining the 
 Apostles (like the women in 
 Luke viii. 2, 3), but as being 
 maintained along with them, 
 which could only apply to their 
 wives. This misunderstanding 
 of the passage either originated 
 or confirmed the institution of 
 women called dSeX^at, crvveLo-- 
 aKTai, or dya7rr;Tat, which, in 
 consequence of the great abuses 
 springing from it, was abolished 
 by the Council of Nicasa. 
 
 Two facts are here implied : 
 
HTS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 141 
 
 lyoi KoX Bapvd^a<; ovk e^o fiev i^ovcr tav ^jjltj ^ ipydt^ecr 9 ai ; 
 ^ TL<i crTpaTeverai lSlols 6\pcovLOL<; irore; T15 (j)VTeveL a/xTre- 
 Xcopa Kol ^Tov KapTTOV avTov OVK iadiei; ^rt? Trot/xatVet 
 
 » rov fx-f]. ^ The hiatus in C, which began at vii, 18, ends here. 
 
 " iK Tov Kaptrov. ^ *H ris. 
 
 the Lord and Kephas ? ^or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to 
 forbear working ? ' Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges ? 
 who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? who f eedeth 
 
 IbI, That Paul v^as unmarried, 
 which agrees with vii. 7; 2nd, 
 That the Apostles generally were 
 married, which agrees with the 
 common tradition respecting all 
 of them but St. John. Peter 
 and the brethren of the Lord are 
 mentioned especially, as being 
 those most esteemed by the Jew- 
 ish party, at whom the Apostle 
 here glances, — Peter, as the 
 head of the Jewish Church ; the 
 brethren of the Lord, as closely 
 connected by earthly lineage 
 with our Lord, and one of them 
 probably the head of tbe Church 
 at Jerusalem. That Peter was 
 married agrees with the mention 
 of his mother-in-law. Matt. viii. 
 14 ; Mark i. 30 ; Luke iy. 38 ; 
 with the (doubtful) allusion to 
 his wife in 1 Pet. v. 13; and 
 with the traditions about his wife 
 and children in Clem. Alex. 
 Stromat. vii. 52, 53. Her name 
 was said to be Concordia or 
 Perpetua. (GrabeadSpicil. Patr. 
 i. p. 330.) The statement that 
 ' the brethren of the Lord ' were 
 married agrees with the mention 
 of the grandsons of Jude (Euseb. 
 H. E. iii. 20) ; but throws some 
 doubt over the common tradition 
 which represents the chief of 
 them, James the Just, as single. 
 (Epiph. Hser. Ixxviii. 14.) 
 
 This is the only mention of 
 Barnabas in conjunction with 
 St. Paul, since the date of the 
 
 quarrel, in Acts xv. 39. 
 
 7, 8 He now proceeds to de- 
 fend his right, partly from the 
 nature of the case, partly from 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 First, The analogy of other 
 occupations. He selects three : 
 the soldier in the Roman armies 
 always receives his regular pay ; 
 the owner of a vineyard eats of 
 the grapes of his own vineyard ; 
 the shepherd is supported by the 
 milk of the flocks which he tends. 
 The example from the army, like 
 most of the military expressions 
 in the Epistles, is true only of the 
 later ages of Greece and Rome ; 
 when the voluntary service and 
 mixed pursuits of the ancient 
 soldiers (comp. Thucyd. vi. 31 ; 
 Liv. V. 8) were superseded by the 
 regular profession of a standing 
 army. 
 
 a-TpaT€V€Tai, ' serves in 
 army.' Comp. Luke iii. 14. 
 
 oi/^wvta, ' pay,' ' stipendia.' 
 
 <f>vT€V€L d/xTTcAwva refcrs 
 appears from Matt. xxi. 33) to 
 the vintage of the owner of the 
 vineyard. d/ATreAwv is (not ' a 
 vine,' but) a ' vineyard.' 
 
 €K TOV ydkuKTos, i.c. * from the 
 proceeds of the sale of the milk,' 
 or ' from the food made out of 
 the milk.' For a similar juxta- 
 position of soldiers and labourers, 
 see 2 Tim. ii. 4-6. 
 
 Secondly, The sanction of the 
 Old Testament, as conveyed in 
 
 the 
 
 (as 
 
142 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 8—12. 
 
 7roijJivr)v Kat Ik tov yakaKToq Trj<; Troi^vq^^ ovk icrOUu; ^ fir) 
 /caret avOpoiTTOV ravra kaXo), r) ^kol 6 v6fJL0<; Tavra ^ov 
 Xeyei; ^ iv yap T(f ^Mojvcrecof; vojjlco yiypairrai Ov (fyLfxco- 
 
 * ^ ovx^ Kal. 
 
 Om. 
 
 Mwerecoy. 
 
 a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? ^ Speak I these things as 
 a man ? or saith not the Law the same also ? ^ For it is written in the 
 law of Moses ' thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth 
 
 the command to allow the ox to 
 eat the corn which it was 
 employed in treading, Deut. xxv. 
 4. It is remarkable that the 
 Apostle should rest his argument 
 on a text apparently so remote 
 from his object, especially as its 
 immediate context,. Dent. xxiv. 
 19-22, contains commands re- 
 lative to gleaning, which directly 
 confirm his previous position 
 But (1) the moral and general 
 character of the preceding con- 
 text might appear to justify its 
 extension to the whole passage ; 
 and, (2) there was an apposite- 
 ness in the selection of this com- 
 mand, partly as an introduction 
 to the metaphor of threshing and 
 sowing which follows in the 
 next verse, partly from the pro- 
 verbial character of the precept, 
 which occasions its introduction 
 in a similar context in 1 Tim. v. 
 18. Compare the quotations from 
 Ex. iii. 6, and 1 Kings xix. 5, 
 in Mark xii. 26, and Luke xx. 
 37 ; and in Rom. xi. 2 ; under 
 the names of ' the bush,' and of 
 * Elijah.' 
 
 8 Kara avOpoy-n-ov, i.e. ' merely 
 by human motives,' or 'in human 
 language.' 
 
 Tttirra, * these things,' i.e. ' the 
 substance of what has just been 
 said,' in verse 7. 
 
 9 dXoMVTa, either by treading 
 "with its hoofs, or by dragging a 
 threshing-machine. The huma- 
 nity of the Jewish law was in 
 
 this, as in many instances, dis- 
 tinguished from that of Gentile 
 nations. (See Michaelis on the 
 Mosaic Law, iii. § 130.) Com- 
 pare the well-known Egyptian 
 inscription in the tombs of El 
 Kab or Eilithyia ; and the Greek 
 proverb for plenty which cannot 
 be enjoyed, ^ov<s i-rrl a-wpw (' the 
 ox on the heap of corn '). 
 
 M-^ Twv /3ocov ixeXeL tw ^ew, 
 K.rX 'The real purport of this 
 passage to us is, not the care for 
 oxen, but the lesson of humanity 
 to men.' Comp. Philo, de Oflfe- 
 rentibus, p. 251 : ' The Laiv 
 speaks not in behalf of creatures 
 without reason, but in behalf of 
 those which have sense and 
 reason.' See a similar quotation 
 from Rabbi Manahem on Deut. 
 xxii. 6, in Heydenreich. 
 
 This is one of the many 
 instances where the lesson which 
 is regarded as subordinate is 
 denied altogether, as in Hos. vi. 
 6, ' I will have mercy, and not 
 sacrifice,' and Ezek. xx. 25, ' I 
 gave them statutes which were 
 not good.' 
 
 yap gives the reason for the 
 implied assertion : ' In conse- 
 quence of our wants the law 
 speaks, for it is written,' &c. 
 
 By ' us ' he means not the 
 Apostles, but men generally ; and 
 the conclusion which he draws 
 relates, not to the spiritual, but 
 to the literal harvest ; viz. that 
 the example of the ox justifies 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 143 
 
 o"ei9 l3ovv aXoojvTa. /xt) toju ^ocov fxikei tg) OeS, ^^rj Si' 
 T^/xa? irdi'Tcof; \iyei; hC rifxas yap iypdcfir), otl *6(/)etX€i ctt' 
 eXTTtSt 6 dpOTpicov dpOTpiav, koI 6 akocov^ irr eXTrtSt rov fxe- 
 re^eiv. ^^ el rjixels vyuv rd Tn^eu/xartfca iaireipafjiev, fieya el 
 rjfjiel^ Vfjicov to. crapKLKa OepCaofxei' ; ^^el dWoL tt}? ^v/xoii/ e^ov- 
 crta? ixsTe^ovcTLv^ ov jjloXXov rjiJie'L^ ; dW ovk i^^prjo-dfjieOa rrj 
 
 out the corn.' Doth God take care for oxen, ^°or saith He it altogether 
 for our sakes ? For our sakes no doubt it was written, because he that 
 plougheth ought to plough in hope, and he that thresheth in hope of par- 
 taking. ^^ If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if ice 
 shall reap your carnal things ? ^^If others be partakers of this power over 
 you, are not we rather ? Nevertheless we did not use this power ; but 
 
 the practice of rewarding the 
 labourer by a share in the fruits 
 of the earth, which he has helped 
 to produce. But the imagery of 
 the literal harvest naturally 
 suggests the idea of the spiritual 
 harvest ; and in the next verse, 
 the spiritual alone is spoken of. 
 
 lo Lachmann's text, ctt' eATrtSt 
 Tov /xcTc^ctv, instead of r^s eA-TrtSo? 
 . . . €7r' cXttcSl, avoids the double 
 difficulty of the meaning of r^g 
 cA-TTiSos, and the position of cV 
 eA.7rtSt. Yet on this account it 
 is suspicious, and the common 
 reading (D^ E. J. K.) might be 
 justified ; ttjs eXTrtSos being used 
 for the ' fruit of his life ; ' and 
 cV cXttlBl being at the end of the 
 sentence, because the previous 
 eV eA-TTtSt prevented its insertion 
 at the beginning. For similar 
 transpositions compare viii. 11, 
 X. 27, XV. 19. 
 
 The mention of the figures of 
 ploughing and threshing bring 
 him to that of sowing and reap- 
 ing, which here, as in Hos. viii. 
 7; Gal. vi. 7, 8; 2 Cor. ix. 6, 
 express the ideas of retribution 
 and reward (compare Koran ii. 
 
 263). This brings him to the 
 personal conclusion of his ar- 
 gument ; that, if for no othi r 
 reason, from mere feelings of 
 gratitude, he who had conferred 
 upon them such spiritual gifts 
 (to. Trv€VjjiaTLKd) might expect in 
 return the support of outward 
 life ; especially when they con- 
 ceded it in the case of others, 
 who were not, as he was, the 
 founders of their Church. For 
 the gifts, comp. xii. 1, xiv. 1, and 
 Rom. i. 11. 
 
 The fact that other teachers, 
 and those of the Jewish party, 
 were maintained by the Corin- 
 thian Christians, is implied in 
 2 Cor. xi. 20 : 'Ye sufi'er if a 
 man devour you, if a man tahe 
 of you: 
 
 11 yfl€L<i, VfUV . . 
 
 are all emphatic. ' If we for 
 you sowed a spiritual seed, ought 
 not you for us to give a carnal 
 harvest ? ' Lachmann and the 
 Received Text (with A. B. K.) 
 read ^cptVo/xev, Tischendorf (with 
 C. D. E. F. G. J.) OepLo-uy/jLev. 
 
 12 T)}? vfX(x>v 6^ovo-ta9, ' the 
 right over you,' compare Matt. 
 
 rjixeis v/jLiov, 
 
144 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 13—15. 
 
 i^ovcTia ravTTjt aXXa iravTa (TTeyofxev, iva fjnj ^nva iy- 
 KQTTrjv oojfxev TO) evayyeKiO) tov ^^ptcrrou. ^"^ovk oiOaTe on 
 ol TO. lepd ipyai^ojxevoL Ik tov lepov IcrOiovo'iv ; ol TOJ 
 BvcTiacrrrjpio) irapeSpevovTes^ ro) 6v(jia(TT7}pio) crvfipLepi- 
 
 * eyKOTrrjv riva. 
 
 •» irpofffSpevovres. 
 
 we bear all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. ^^Do ye 
 not know that they which minister the things of the temple live of the 
 
 X. 1 ; John xvii. 2, where, how- 
 ever, it is used rather in the 
 sense of ' power.' 
 
 oAA' ovK €\pYj(Taix^6(x. He re 
 comes the antithesis to the whole 
 of the previous argument. ' Such 
 was our right, but we did not use 
 it ; nay, rather than use it we 
 endure all manner of privations, 
 in order to prevent any hindrance 
 to the progress of the Gospel, 
 which might be raised by the 
 charge of interested motives.' 
 (Comp. 1 Thess. ii. 3-10.) 
 
 For o-T6yo/Atv see on xiii. 7. 
 
 13 At this point it would 
 seem that he was at last about 
 to embark on the main subject 
 of this Chapter — the example of 
 his own self-denial. But in the 
 very next verse he seems to 
 recommence his argument from 
 the beginning ; first repeating his 
 right in verses 13, 14, and then 
 reasserting in verse 15, almost 
 in the same words as here, his 
 determination not to use it. That 
 there is a pause, or break at the 
 end of verse 12, is further indi- 
 cated: (1) By the use of the 
 word €.ypa\f/a in verse 15, which, 
 though it can be used of the 
 Epistle on which the writer is 
 engaged, can only be naturally 
 explained by some such suspen- 
 sion in the argument. Comp. note 
 on V. 9. (2) By the phrase ovk 
 otSare, which, taken in conjunc- 
 tion with its repetition iu verse 
 
 24, implies that, in the practical 
 application of this argument, he 
 addresses himself first to the 
 Jewish converts, with an appeal 
 to Jewish customs (13-23) ; 
 secondly, to Gentile converts with 
 an appeal to Gentile customs 
 (24-27). A similar distinction 
 of argument, as addressed chiefly 
 to Jews or to Gentiles, and each 
 division marked by the same 
 words at the commencement, is 
 in Rom. vi. 3-14, 16-23. 
 
 He begins, then, with urging 
 his example on the more Jewish 
 of his converts ; but as these 
 were not in immediate danger of 
 being led away by the temptation 
 of the heathen sacrifices, and 
 were also those who most ques- 
 tioned the sincerity of his self- 
 denial, he addresses them by 
 reiterating his right to a main- 
 tenance, and founding it on 
 sanctions which they could not 
 question. 
 
 The particular form of the 
 argument probably alludes to his 
 own especial right : ' You may 
 deny that I am an Apostle, you 
 cannot deny that I preach the 
 Gospel.' He had spoken, inverse 
 12, of his anxiety to remove 
 every obstacle from the progress 
 of ' the Gospel ; ' the exulting 
 strain of Isa. Hi. 7, ' the feet of 
 them that preach the Gospel' 
 (comp. Rom. xii. 15), seems to 
 fill his mind ; and on the men- 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 145 
 
 tpvTai. ^^ouTO)? Koi 6 Kvpio<; hiira^ev Toi^ to evayyeXtov 
 KaTayyeXkovaiv eK tov evayyekiov t,rjv ^^^iyo) 8e ov 
 Ke)(pr][JiaL ovhevl tovtcov. ovk eypaxpa Se ravTa, Iva ovto)<; 
 yevTjTaL iv iixoi' koXov yap pLOi p^oXkov OLTroOavelv^ rj to 
 
 • iyi) Sh eitStyl i^pvCf^M^ rovrwv. 
 
 temple ? — they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar. 
 ^■*Even so the Lord appointed that they which proclaim the gospel should 
 live of the gospel : ^^but I have used none of these things. Neither did 
 I write these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better 
 
 tion of that word, he stops to 
 urge the additional plea which 
 it would give him for claiming 
 a support : ' What the Temple 
 was to the Old Dispensation, 
 that the Gospel is to the 
 New ' . . . ' As under the Jew- 
 ish system it was the highest 
 honour to minister to the altar, 
 so now the highest honour is to 
 preach the Gospel ; and as those 
 who devote themselves to the 
 former received their sustenance 
 from the countless gifts which 
 were brought to the Temple, 
 and the countless victims laid 
 upon the altar, so the appoint- 
 ment of the Lord Himself, when 
 on earth (Matt. x. 10, Luke x. 
 7), secured to those who go from 
 country to country, announcing 
 the glad tidings of His appear- 
 ance, a maintenance from those 
 who heard them.* Thus, this 
 metaphor of the Jewish priest- 
 hood is applied to the proclama- 
 tion of 'the Gospel ' in Rom. 
 XV. 16: lepovpyovvra to cvayy. 
 For the support of the priests, 
 see Numb, xviii. 8 ; Deut. xviii. 
 1 ; Jos. Ant. iv. 4. 
 
 ipyd^€a-6ai is used in the Old 
 Testament sense of ' sacrifice,' 
 like pi^€Lv and facere. 
 
 €K TOV tcpov, ' the Temple.' 
 (Comp. the speech of the Zealots 
 in Jos. B. Jud. V. xiii. 6 : Set tovs 
 T(3 va<3 o-Tparcvo/xeVovs €k tov 
 
 vaov Tp€cfi€aOaL.) The present 
 tense indicates that he alludes to 
 the still existing practice. 
 
 Each of these arguments would 
 have especial weight with Jewish 
 Christians, the first, as derived 
 from their own institutions ; the 
 second, as an express precept of 
 our Lord to the Jewish Apostles 
 in Palestine. 
 
 13 TrapeSpcvovTcs, see vii. 35. 
 
 15 'But I have used none of 
 these things, I [emphatically], 
 whatever others may have 
 received (see verse 12), have 
 abstained from pressing my right 
 (K€xpr)/JLaL referring to Ixprja-djxiOa, 
 verse 12) ; nor did I lay before 
 you the statement of my right (as 
 contained in verses 1-12) with 
 a view of claiming or enforcing 
 it; for I had rather die than 
 abandon the chief boast of my 
 life.' (For the vehemence of the 
 expression, comp. Rom. ix. 3.) 
 
 The above is the general sense ; 
 the details of the last words de- 
 pend on the variations of reading. 
 
 (1) Kokov yap fjLoi fxaWov oltto- 
 Oav€iv, 17 TO Kav^^rjfjLOL /xov Iva rt? 
 K€vw(Ty (Rec. Text with K.). 
 (/ccvwo-ct, A. B. C. D.) 
 
 The violent inversion of the 
 words in the second clause is 
 the chief objection to this, which 
 is the received reading. Iva 
 K€Vioa~rj = the infinitive Kci/wcrai, 
 which has, according to the usage 
 
146 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 16—18. 
 
 Kair^rjfJLa fjLOV ovbeis Kevcocei. "^^ eav yap euayycAt^w— 
 /xat, ovK ecTTiv jxoi KavxVI^^' oLvdyKT) yap [xol eVi/cetraf 
 ^oval yap fioC iariv, iav [xtj evayyeXicrcjfJLaL. ^^ el yap 
 
 • Tyo ris K€vuaT). *" oval Se fioi . . . evayyfXl^ufiai. 
 
 for me to die, than my boasting : no one shall make it void. ^^For 
 though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of : for necessity is 
 laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel. ^'For if 
 
 of modem Greek (va Kcvoxny), 
 superseded the old infinitive. 
 
 (2) KoXov yap fxoL /xaXXov olttO' 
 6av€LV, ^ TO Kavx^fJM. /JLOv. ovSeU 
 Kevwa-ei, A. B. D. A. adds firj 
 after ovSei?, and reads Kaivtoo-€t, 
 which is (according to the modern 
 pronunciation),onlyamisspelling 
 of K€VM(T€L. F. G. read rts Kcvoicret 
 without tva, which, according to 
 the punctuation, would suit the 
 sense of either reading. ' It is 
 better that I should die than that 
 my boast [should die] ; no one 
 shall overthrow it.* To this the 
 objection is : (a) the harshness 
 of supplying aTroOav^iv to to 
 KavxnfJ^ ' (^) the use of fxoL in- 
 stead of e/xot, if an antithesis were 
 intended between himself and his 
 boast. The harshness, however, 
 of this is obviated if we may 
 suppose an anacoluthon occa- 
 sioned by his fervour : ' I had 
 rather die than that my boast ' 
 (he was going to say) ' shall 
 come to nothing ; ' but he turns 
 vnth horror from the thought, 
 and breaks oat into the triumph- 
 ant assertion : ' No one will be 
 able to make it void.' 
 
 (3) vrj TO Kavxrj/jid jxov, a con- 
 jecture of Lachmann's in his first 
 edition. * I protest by my boast ; 
 no one shall overthrow it ; ' which 
 suits the meaning, and forms a 
 natural introduction to ovSct? 
 Kevo><T€t, and would be justified 
 by vr) Tr]v vjxeTepav Kav;(T70'tv, xv. 
 31. But the sense of either of the 
 existing readings is suflBciently 
 
 I good to render any conjectural 
 I emendation needless. 
 I 1 6, 17 'In preaching the 
 I Gospel I do but discharge a duty.' 
 j The connexion seems to be : 'I 
 must retain the boast ' (or, as we 
 should say, merit) * of preaching 
 the Gospel withoutremuneration: 
 else I should have no boast, or 
 merit of which to boast. The 
 preaching of the Gospel is in 
 itself no merit, but an irresistible 
 necessity, a bounden duty which 
 if I do perform 1 have no praise, 
 but which if I do not perform I 
 am denounced with the woe of 
 the Divine judgment; for it is 
 only if I do it with a willing 
 heart (as I do) that I can claim 
 a reward ; if I do it unwillingly, 
 I am merely like the slave 
 in charge of the household, 
 who has no thanks for his ser- 
 vices.' This sense must, however, 
 be qualified by the peculiar 
 construction of the Apostle's 
 argument. He seems to stat^, 
 not merely that * preaching the 
 Gospel with a maintenance,' but 
 'preaching the Gospel at all,' 
 precluded boasting. The argu- 
 ment, drawn out fully, would 
 have required that /xovov or some 
 similar expression should have 
 been added to cvayyeAt^w/xat. 
 This contradiction is occasioned 
 by a sudd en transition of thought, 
 frequent in the Apostle's style, 
 and specially characteristic of 
 it, when he speaks, as here, of 
 ' hoasting' He can hardly men- 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 14: 
 
 eKcov TovTO TTpoi(r<Tco, fJLLcrOov €)(co* el Se clkcjv^ oiKovoixiav 
 7r€7ricrr€u/xat. ^^rt? ovv fxoi icrriv 6 fjnados ; Iva evayyekt- 
 
 I do this thing willingly, I have a reward : but if against my will, I have 
 been entrusted with a stewardship. ^^What then is my reward ? That 
 
 tion a ' boast ' without instantly 
 recalling it. Comp. Rom. iv. 2- 
 4 : 'A^paa/x .... ej(€i KavxrjfxoLy 
 oAA' ov 7r/oo5 Oeov . . . . tw Se cpya- 
 ^o/xcvo) 6 {JLLcrOos ov Xoyt^crai Kara 
 Xapiv. 2 Cor. xii. 1 : KavxacrOai 
 Set, ov (rvfx<fi€pov fx€v. In one sense 
 he clings to his boast, in another 
 sense the necessity of preaching 
 the Gospel sweeps-it away. And 
 thus the construction of verse 17 
 was probably meant to be, etre 
 yap €K(i)v, etre a/ccov, OLKOVofxtav 
 TrcTTia-revfjiaL. But, as in 2 Cor. v. 
 13, he turns etrc i^ccrrrjiJia/, cire 
 (r(D(f)povoviJL€Vf into etre e^eo-r/y/xcv, 
 ©€(3 • ctre (TOicf>povovix€v, v/xtv, SO 
 here he throws into the first 
 clause the words fxLaOov I^^j 
 which bring back into the sen- 
 tence his ground for boasting. 
 For such a sudden intrusion of 
 a new thought compare cyvwcrrat 
 in viii. 3. 
 
 Two points may be observed 
 here: (1) The freedom with 
 which he speaks of * reward,' 
 ' boast,' ' acts beyond what are 
 absolutely necessary,' in the com- 
 mon language of men; regardless 
 of inferences. (2) The strong 
 sense of the irresistible impulse 
 of the first preaching of the Gos- 
 pel. He refers no doubt to such 
 commands of our Lord, as, ' Go, 
 teach all nations ' (Matt, xxviii. 
 1 9) ; or, ' Depart, for I will send 
 thee far hence unto the Gentiles ' 
 (Acts xxiii. 21) ; but his lan- 
 guage further implies that he 
 could not conceive the possibility 
 of disobedience to their com- 
 mands, or to the instincts which 
 they awakened. What seems to 
 
 l2 
 
 us an act of heroic zeal, seemed 
 to him an act of ordinary ^^ 
 
 J i. 'J. 11 The 
 
 duty; it was only by Apostle's 
 some still loftier act ^°^^- 
 of self-devotion that he could 
 hope to raise himself above the 
 common sphere of inevitable 
 work. He felt that he was merely 
 an instrument in the hand of God, 
 with no power in himself of re- 
 tarding or promoting the advance 
 of those mighty truths which had 
 only to be uttered in order to be 
 appreciated. 
 
 For the image of the slave or 
 steward (otKovo/Aiav TrcTricrreu^at), 
 compare the close o^ the parable, 
 in Luke xvii. 10 : ' When ye have 
 done all those things which are 
 commanded you, say, We are 
 unprofitable " slaves : " we have 
 done that which was our duty to 
 do : ' and still more 1 Cor. iv. 1, 
 where the same word is used, 
 * Let a man so account of us, as 
 stewards (oIkovo/xovs) of the 
 mysteries of God.' 
 
 1 8 He returns to the expres- 
 sion which he had used before 
 (/jLLo-Obv e^w), 'I have a reward 
 for preaching the Gospel will- 
 ingly,* and asks in what it 
 consists, to which the answer is, 
 ' my reward is that I have no 
 reward.' He looks for no higher 
 reward or pay (the word fXLaOov 
 being used on purpose ; comp. 
 1 Tim. V. 18, a|i05 6 ipydrr)^ rov 
 fXLcrOov avrov) than to preach the 
 Gospel without pay ; he hopes for 
 no higher freedom (returning to 
 the image of a slave implied in 
 olKovofxiav TreTTto-rev/Aai) than to 
 become the slave of all. 
 
148 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 19—24. 
 
 Jd/Aei/09 aSdwavov Orjcroi to cvayyeXiov^ , eU to /at) fcara- 
 ')(prjaacr9aL Ty i^ovcria fJLOV iv to) evayyeXCco. ^^ ikevdepo^ 
 yap o)v e/c rravTcov, Tracnv ifxavTov iSovXo)o-a, Iva tov<; 
 irXeiovas Kephrjao)' ^^Acal iyevojxrjv rots 'lovSatov? a>9 
 'lovSatos, Lva 'lovSatoug KepSijaco' rots vtto vofiov ws vtto 
 
 VOfXOV, IXTj COV aVTOS VTTO VOfJiOV^, Iva TOV<; vtto VOfXOV Kep- 
 
 * Add rod Xpi(TTOv. *• Omit fx}) iiv ahrhs irrrh vS/xov. 
 
 when I preach the gospel I may make the gospel -vr-ithout charge, that I 
 abuse not my power in the gospel. ^^For though I be free from all, yet 
 I made myself a slave unto all, that I might gain the greater part ; ^^and 
 unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews ; to them that 
 are under the law as under the law (not being myself under the law), that I 
 
 Karayfirja-acrOaL^ ' use to the 
 full.' Comp. vii. 31. 
 
 €v T(3 cvayycAtw, * conferred 
 upon me by preaching the 
 Gospel.' Comp. verse 14. 
 
 19 ' The proof of my sincerity 
 in what I say lies in my whole 
 life : ' hence yap : ' Though I was 
 free to take my own course (as 
 in verse 1), I did not hesitate 
 to become the slave of all.' In 
 the first instance the idea of his 
 enslavement to all is suggested 
 by the servile labour which 
 he had nndertaken, as distinct 
 from the free independence which 
 he might have enjoyed as an 
 Apostle ; bnt he rapidly passes 
 from this to his accommodation 
 to the various feelings of all his 
 converts, in the hope that of this 
 mass he might gain the greater 
 part (tva tov^ 7rX.uova<; KepSTycro)) 
 to the cause of Christ. For the 
 same transition from the idea of 
 servile labonr to that of serving 
 generally, compare Phil. ii. 7 
 (8ovA.ov). 
 
 KepS-qcro) is used with reference 
 to fjLLo-Oo^. The gain of his converts 
 was his pay. 
 
 20-22 In the enumeration of 
 
 his acts of accommo- 
 
 't'^'luS' ^a^ion, it is, as might 
 
 be expected, chiefly 
 
 with regard to the Jewish or 
 scrupulous converts that he 
 speaks. Self-denial for their sakes 
 was what he wished to impress 
 upon all ; to conciliate them 
 was the especial object of this 
 argument. The only exception, 
 therefore, is the clause in 21, 
 and that is introduced with an 
 apology. The tenses (cyevo/xr/v, 
 &c.) indicate that he chiefly 
 refers to his stay at Corinth. 
 
 ' To the Jews, as a Jew.' 
 This he proved by zeal for his 
 country (Rom. ix. 3), by Jewish 
 observances (Acts xvi. 3, xviii. 
 18, xxi. 26). 'To those that 
 were under the law,' i.e. (as dis- 
 tinguished from 'lovSaioig) Jew- 
 ish proselytes, or Jewish converts 
 to Christianity. ' To them that 
 are without law, as without law.' 
 This he proved by non-observ- 
 ance of the law, by the rejection 
 of circumcision, intercourse with 
 Gentiles, or by accommodation 
 to their language and arguments, 
 as in Acts xiv. 16, 17; xvii. 
 28; 1 Cor. viii. 1-7, ix. 24- 
 27. The word by which he here 
 describes himself (avofjLo^, ' with- 
 out law,' ' lawless ') is the expres- 
 sion used to designate him in the 
 forged Epistle of Peter to James 
 (c. 2) in the Clementines; and,' 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELE-DENIAL. 
 
 149 
 
 Tols aaOeveaLP ^[ws] a(T0evT]s, tVarou? d(T6€PeL<; KepSijcra)' 
 
 TO 19 
 
 23 d 
 
 iracriv yeyova rravTa, ii'a 7ravTco<; TLPa<; crcocroj, 
 irdvTa 8e Trotw 8ta to evayyekiov^ 
 
 24 
 
 tj'a cruy/cotj^oit'os 
 
 avTou yevoiiiai. ""ovk oLoare otl ol ev crTaOicxi Tpe)(ovTes 
 
 8tc 
 
 06^ . . . XpiffT^ . . . KepB-fjffco avdixovs. 
 TO. iravra. 
 
 *• Lachm. Ed. 1. omits [ws]. 
 d rovro. 
 
 may gain them that are under the law ; ^^ to them that are without law as 
 without law (being not without law to God but under the law to Christ), 
 that I may gain them that are without law; '^-to the weak became I as weak, 
 that I may gain the weak : I am become all things to all men, that I may by 
 all means save some. '^^And all things I do for the gospel's sake, that I 
 may be partaker thereof with you. '^^Know ye not that they which run in a 
 
 seems therefore to have been a 
 vj? ell-known term of reproach 
 against him among the Juda- 
 izers. Possibly it is on their 
 account that he guards .himself 
 against its misapplication in the 
 ensuing parenthesis ; which is, 
 however, the natural expression 
 of his wish not to appear, even 
 for a moment, independent of 
 God, — rather to have become still 
 more dependent on Dim by his 
 subjection to the law, not of 
 Moses, but of Christ. Bengel : 
 — 'Paulus non fait anomus 
 nedum antinomus.' 
 
 22 ' To the weak,' i.e. ' to the 
 scrapulous,' as in viii. 7-12 ; 
 Kom. xiv. 1, 2. This stands last, 
 and by itself, as the practical end 
 of all that he had been saying. 
 
 Tots Trao-tv, ' to' all, in short, I 
 have been (yeyova) all the con- 
 ceivable forms of which humanity 
 will admit' (Travra). 
 
 TravToos, 'by all means,' the 
 double meaning, as in English. 
 
 (Twcru), as in vii. 16, ' convert.* 
 
 23 He here comes back to the 
 great cause for which he did all 
 this — ' the Gospel.' 
 
 With the concluding words of 
 
 the last verse, a new thought is 
 introduced : up to that point he 
 had been speaking of his self- 
 denial for the sake of others ; 
 here he begins to speak of it as 
 for his own sake. It is no longer 
 'that I may save some,' but 
 ' that I may be partaker of the 
 Gospel with you ' (i.e. as well 
 as you). ' Do not think that I 
 do not require this for myself. 
 In order to do good, we must be 
 good. To extend our Christian 
 liberty to its utmost verge is 
 daugerous, not only for others, 
 but for ourselves.' This argu- 
 ment, of which the key-note is, 
 ' Let him that thinketh he stand- 
 eth, take heed lest he fall ' (x. 
 12), is supported, first, by his 
 own example (ix. 24-27), se- 
 condly, by the warning of the 
 Israelitish history (x. 1-15). 
 
 24 The self-denial which he 
 practised for his own sake, like 
 that which he practised for the 
 sake of others, is introduced by 
 a familiar analogy ushered in by 
 the same phrase ('know ye not,' 
 ovK otSare) as in verse 13 ; the 
 difference being that, while there, 
 when his object was chiefly to 
 
150 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 25. 
 
 Trdvres [Jl^v Tpi)(ov(Tiv^ ets he XafJL^dveL ro ^pafieiov ; ovTa)^ 
 race run all, but one receiveth the prize 1 So run, that ye may obtain. 
 
 Isthmian 
 games. 
 
 impress Ms right on the Jewish 
 converts, the sanction was drawn 
 from Jewish institutions, so here, 
 when his object is chiefly to im- 
 press their duty on the Gentile 
 converts, the sanction is drawn 
 from Gentile institutions. In- 
 stead of referring, as before, to 
 the Temple of Jerusalem, with 
 its array of Priests acd Levites, 
 he now refers to the far nearer 
 image of those celebrated festi- 
 vals, which were to the Greeks 
 what the Temple was to the 
 Jews, and the Triumph to the 
 Romans, and of which the most 
 lively instance then to be seen 
 was in the Isthmian 
 games of Corinth. The 
 Olympic games still 
 maintained their pre-eminence 
 in theory, and in practice they 
 outlasted all the others, till the 
 reign of Theodosius, and as such 
 are alone alluded to by Chryso- 
 stom in his comments on this 
 passage ; but at the period of 
 these Epistles the chief interest 
 of Greece must have been con- 
 centred in the Isthmian games. 
 There the nominal independence 
 of Greece had been proclaimed 
 by Flamininus, and there Nero, 
 standing in the midst of the very 
 ' stadium ' here mentioned, a few 
 years after the date of this 
 Epistle, announced from the 
 Bema the gift of Roman citizen- 
 ship to ail the province of 
 Achaia ; as also did Titus, a few 
 years later ; and there the Apo- 
 stle, during his stay of a year 
 and a half, must have witnessed 
 the celebration in which, every 
 third summer, all the Greek and 
 Roman residents in Greece, but 
 
 especially of Achaia, took part 
 at the peculiar festival of their 
 capital city. 
 
 It must be remembered, in 
 reading the Apostle's allusions, 
 that from the national character 
 and religion of the Greeks, these 
 games derived an importance 
 which raised them above the 
 degrading associations of modern 
 times. How intense an interest 
 these contests still excited may 
 be seen from Suetonius's graphic 
 description of the agony of Nero 
 in his desire to succeed ; an 
 exaggerated instance, doubtless, 
 but yet illustrative of the general 
 feeling. (Suet. Nero. cc. 23, 24.) 
 The ' stadium,' or ' race-course,' 
 of which he speaks, was not a 
 mere resort for public amuse- 
 ment, but an almost sacred edi- 
 fice, under the tutelage of the 
 patron deity of the Ionian tribes, 
 and surrounded by the most 
 solemn recollections of Greece, 
 its white marble seats rising like 
 the foundation of a temple in the 
 grassy slope where its outline 
 may still be traced, under the 
 shadow of the huge Corinthian 
 citadel, which guards the en- 
 trance of the Peloponnesus. The 
 race, 'in which all run,' the 
 pugilistic contests in which they 
 strove not ' to heat the air,' were 
 not merely exhibitions of bodily 
 strength, but solemn trials of the 
 excellence of the competitors in 
 the ' gymnastic art,' which was 
 to the Greeks one half of human 
 education. As the friends and 
 relatives watched with breathless 
 interest the issue of the contest, 
 they knew that the victor would 
 be handed down to posterity by 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 151 
 
 iyKpareveraL* iKeivot [xev ovv Iva ^daprov (rTe(j)avov \d- 
 
 ^^Now every one that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things : 
 they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but ive an incorruptible. ^^ J 
 
 having his name sung in those 
 triumphal odes, of which Pindar's 
 are the extant model, and his 
 likeness placed in the long line 
 of statues which formed the 
 approach to the adjacent temple. 
 (Paus. Corinth, ii. 1, 7.) The 
 * prize ' (to jSpa/^etov) which he 
 won from the appointed judges, 
 who sat in state at the end of 
 the course, was such as could 
 awake no mean cr mercenary 
 motives ; its very simplicity at- 
 tested its dignity ; it was a gar- 
 land (<TT€cfiavo<s) of the Grecian 
 pine (TrevKrj), which still, under 
 its classical name, clothes with 
 its light green foliage the plains 
 of the Isthmus, and which was 
 then consecrated to the sea-god, 
 around whose temple its groves 
 (Paus. Corinth, ii. 1, 7) were 
 gathered. (See Conybeare and 
 Howson, c. 20.) 
 
 Such was the imagery before 
 the Apostle's mind when he wrote 
 these words, not indeed with that 
 distinct realisation which is cha- 
 racteristic only of modern times, 
 but in its effect only to be con- 
 ceived by us through such a 
 realisation. Corresponding to the 
 earthly greatness of the scene to 
 which he allades, is the more 
 exalted greatness of that to which 
 he compares it, as in the contrast 
 of earthly with heavenly wisdom 
 in the parable of the unjust 
 steward. (Luke xvi. 1.) 
 
 The application of the meta- 
 phor of the race to the progress 
 of the Christian, here occurs for 
 the first time. Afterwards, com- 
 pare Phil. iii. 12, 14, KaraXa/Selv 
 
 and jSpa^elov, as here ; 2 Tim. 
 iv. 7, 8 : rbv ayiova .... rov 
 Spofxov. ... 6 (rTecf>avo^ ; Heb. 
 xii. 1 : TpexoifJiev . . . dywva. The 
 argument is : ' It is not enough 
 merely to run — all run ; but as 
 there is only one who is victo- 
 rious, so you must run, not 
 with the slowness of the many, 
 but with the energy of the 
 one.' This imagery, as might be 
 expected from discourses de- 
 livered in Palestine, never occurs 
 in the Gospels. 
 
 oiiTO)5, i.e. * as the one who 
 gains the prize.' 
 
 Iva, ' so that in the end ye may 
 win.' 
 
 KaTa\d/37]T€, i.e. to ySpaySetov. 
 
 25 6 dycovt^o/jt.€vo9, * who con- 
 tends in the public games.' 
 
 €yKpaT€V€Taiy ' exercises self- 
 control.' The discipline lasted 
 for ten months preparatory to 
 the contest, and was at this time 
 so severe as to be confined to 
 the professional athletes. See 
 JBlian, V. H. iii. 30, 10, s. 2, II, 
 s. 5. It chiefly consisted in 
 diet, and is thus described by 
 Epictetus (Ench. c. 29, § 2): 
 ' Thou must be orderly, living 
 on spare food ; abstain from con- 
 fections, make a point of exer- 
 cising at the appointed time, in 
 heat and in cold, nor drink cold, 
 water, nor wine at hazard ; in a 
 word, give thyself up to thy 
 training master as to a physician, 
 and then enter on the contest.' 
 Compare, too, the passages quoted 
 by Wetstein. 
 
 The same metaphor of training 
 occurs exactly in 2 Tim. ii. 5; 
 
152 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 26— X. 1. 
 
 l3a)(rLV, rjixeiq Be a<l>6apTov. '^^e 
 
 OV/C (IStJXcOS, OVTOi^ TTVKTeVO) &>S 
 
 VTTCOTnd^o) fxov TO crw/xa /cat BovXaycoyco, ^i-q ttws aXXoig 
 KTjpv^as avTo<; dSd/ct/xos yevcoiiai. 
 
 eyoj Toivvv ovrco^ rpe^co oi? 
 ovK depa Sepojp, ^' dW 
 
 therefore so run not as uncertainly, so fight not as one that beateth the 
 air, 2'but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that 
 by any means, when I have been a herald to others I myself should be- 
 come disapproved. 
 
 iav 8e KOL dOXfj Tt5, ov o-rc^avovrat, 
 iav fxrj vojxLfxois (i.e. ' according 
 to the rules ') aOXrjar). 
 
 (fiOaprbv <TT€<f)avov, ' a garland 
 of olive, parsley, bay, or (as 
 observed under verse 24) pine.* 
 
 acfiOapTov. In 2 Tim. ii. 5, iv. 
 8, the crown is spoken of, as 
 here, in direct connexion with the 
 metaphor of the Christian contest. 
 It also occurs in Rev. iii. 11, and 
 "under the figure of a never-fading 
 garland, in 1 Pet. v. 4 (d/jLapavrt- 
 vov) ; James i. 12 ((rrc^avos rrj^ 
 ^oiTJs, a crown of living flowers 
 and leaves). 
 
 26 TOLwv, merely a particle of 
 transition. 
 
 ovrojs . . . u)9, ' I run in such 
 a way as not to be uncertain ; I 
 fight in such a way as not to beat 
 the air.' Compare iii. 15, iv. 1. 
 
 OVK dB-qXiiis, i.e. ' so as to be 
 sure of the prize,' or ' with a sure 
 footing.' (See 2 Mace. vii. 34 ; 
 1 Tim. vi. 17.) 
 
 ovT(i}<s TTVKTevo). This introduces 
 a new image from the same field ; 
 the metaphor of the race not 
 expressing sufficiently the active 
 and aggressive character of the 
 course needed, he takes a figure 
 from the pugilistic or pancratias- 
 tic combats. The self-mastery, 
 which in the previous verses he 
 had described as preparatory to 
 the contest, he here describes as 
 part of the contest itself; the 
 self, which in the previous verse 
 
 was the same in the metaphor and 
 in the reality, is here represented 
 as the antagonist which he has 
 to subdue. 
 
 ws OVK depa Scpwv, i.e. ' with firm 
 blows, reaching the adversary.' 
 (See Wetstein ad loc.) 
 
 27 vTruiTrtd^oi is for vTrcoTrta^wi/, 
 in antithesis to Sepiov . ,> 
 (comp. ivrpeTTtiv and 
 vovOctQ), iv. 14), ' My blows are 
 so direct that they cover my ad- 
 versary — and that adversary my 
 own body (fiov to o-w/jui) — with 
 bruises ; not only so, but I lead 
 it captive like a slave, as the victor 
 leads the vanquished.' There is 
 a variation in the form of the 
 word which leads to a slight 
 variation of sense. (1) vTrorn-td^oi 
 in A. B. C. J)K from vTrcomov, 
 — the part of the face under 
 the eye — is 'to give a black 
 eye,' and thence ' to bruise,' and 
 still more generally ' to fatigue ' 
 or ' vanquish,' as in Luke xviii. 
 5 (of the importunate widow), 
 and in Aristoph. Pac. 533, vttw- 
 TTiaa-fxivai ttoAci?. In this case 
 the word is a pugilistic metaphor, 
 and follows up TrvKrcvw. (2) 
 VTroTnd^o) F. G. J. K. V7r07net,0) 
 D^. are the Doric and Attic forms 
 of the same word vTroTrie^w, ' I 
 oppress,' or ' subject.' The com- 
 pound occurs in the Fathers only, 
 but the word Trte^w or Trta^o), 
 frequently in the Gospels, as in 
 Luke vi. 38. In either case, the 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 153 
 
 X. ^ Ov OeXco ^yap vfjua^ ayvoeiv^ aSeX(^ot, otl ol Trarepe^s 
 rjfxojv 7rdvTe<s viro Tr)v ve(l)i\rjv rjaav koX iro.vTe'i Sea r^g 
 
 • 0e'A&J Se. 
 
 X. ^For I would not that ye should be ignorant, brethren, how that 
 all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea; -and 
 
 thing" meant is his self-denial, as 
 shown chiefly through the re- 
 fusal to receive a maintenance, 
 and thereby being compelled 
 to work with his own hands, 
 as though he had said, ' My 
 hands (at x^^P^'* ct^'Tat, Acts 
 XX. 34) have been worn away 
 with the black tentcloths, my 
 frame has been bowed down with 
 this servile labour.' Compare 
 iXevOepo^ . . . iSovkoxra, ix. 19. 
 
 He then recurs to the training 
 necessary for the contest : ' This 
 I do, lest, after having declared 
 to others what they ought to do, 
 I should myself be rejected as 
 unworthy of the prize.' 
 
 'TheHerald.' mu ^ 't 
 
 1 he word Krjpv^a^, 
 
 ' having proclaimed,' is often 
 used in the sense of ' preaching * 
 or ' announcing ' the Gospel. 
 But, as it is here used abso- 
 lutely, we may more naturally 
 take it, as ' having exercised the 
 office of herald,' with a double 
 allusion, first to the usual reli- 
 gious meaning of the word ; 
 secondly, to the herald who pro- 
 claimed the prizes at the games. 
 This new complication of the 
 metaphor is rendered less vio- 
 lent by the fact, that the office 
 of the herald itself was an object 
 of competition, and that some- 
 times, as in the case of Nero, the 
 victor in the games was also se- 
 lected as the herald to announce 
 his success. 
 
 d^oKt/Aos is nsed in a general 
 sense, as ' unworthy of 
 the prize,' though pro- 
 
 ofio/cijLios. 
 
 bably with especial reference to 
 the examination of candidates 
 before the contest. It may be 
 observed, that this word, which, 
 in all other passages except Heb. 
 vi. 8, is translated in the Autho- 
 rised Version 'reprobate,' is 
 here (probably from a Calvin- 
 istic scruple) translated 'cast- 
 away.' 
 
 X. I He follows up his own 
 example by stating, in the second 
 place, the warning furnished by 
 the history of Israel : ' It is pos- 
 sible that I may be rejected ; it 
 is needful for you to follow my 
 example of abstaining from the 
 fall enjoyment of our liberty ; 
 because the whole history of the 
 Old Testament teaches the lesson 
 of distrust of ourselves.' yap, 
 which is the right reading in- 
 stead of oe, gives the reason for 
 a86KLiJio<s in ix. 27, and thus 
 connects the two arguments to- 
 gether. 
 
 The stress is on Trai/rcs : ' All 
 enjoyed the privileges, and yet 
 only a few availed themselves of 
 them.' ' Many were called, but 
 few were chosen.' Compare the 
 parallel expression in the parallel 
 clause, ix. 24, ' All run, but one 
 receives.' Here, the sense would 
 be clearer if, as there, /xei/ fol- 
 lowed on 7ravT€?. 
 
 ' Our fathers ' (jjixmf^ is re- 
 markable as addressed to readers, 
 many of whom were Gentiles. 
 But, as he has been speaking of 
 himself just before, he naturally 
 passes to the thought of the Is- 
 
154 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 2—5. 
 
 6a\da(Trj<; SltjXOov^ '^/cai Travre^ et? rov Mcovcrrjv ^i^air- 
 TLcrOrjcrav iv rfj ve<^i\rj kol iu rfj Oakdo-crrj^ ^ koX iravTe^ 
 TO avTo ^ TTvevixaTLKOv e^ayoi^ ^pcofia ^ koL irdvTe^ to avTo 
 ^TTuevfJLaTiKov eiTLOV TTO/xa {^emvov yap e/c TrvevfJiaTLKrjs olko- 
 
 • idairriffavTO. ^ rh avro fipu/ia. " rh avrh irSfxa. 
 
 were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 'and did all eat 
 the same spiritual food "* and did all drink the same spiritual drink (for 
 
 raelites as his own ancestors. 
 We must also bear in mind how 
 many, even in Gentile Churches, 
 had already been Jewish prose- 
 lytes. 
 
 2 The privileges selected are 
 such as correspond most nearly 
 to the two Christian sacraments. 
 This is the only passage where 
 they are thus brought in juxta- 
 position . 
 
 cv tt} vecfiiXrj koi . . . OaXdacrrj, 
 'under the cloud,' i.e. 'over- 
 shadowed by the cloudy 
 
 'The Cloud.' ..^ . •', . •' 
 
 pillar, as in baptism we 
 pass under the cloudy veil of 
 water,' ' through the sea,' as 
 ' through the waters of baptism.' 
 This agrees with the Rabbinical 
 representation of the cloud. ' It 
 encompassed the camp of the 
 Israelites, as a wall encompasses 
 a city.' Pirke, Eleazar, c. 104, 
 as quoted by Dr. Gill. Compare 
 also Numb. xiv. 14 : ' Thy cloud 
 standeth over them.' 
 
 /cat Travre? i/SaTTTLa-Orjcrav. ' And 
 thus were baptized into the dis- 
 pensation of Moses.' Comp. Ex. 
 xiv. 31 : 'They believed the 
 Lord and His servant Moses ' 
 (after the passage of the Red 
 Sea). Although l^aTrTio-Orjcrav 
 occurs in A. C. D. E. F. G. yet 
 it may be a correction of i^air- 
 TLaavTo B (?). J. K. which is 
 the natural expression for the 
 voluntary pledge involved in 
 Christian baptism. Compare 
 aTrekovcracrOe, in vi. 11. 
 
 CIS rov Mwvcrrjv, used as a pa- 
 rallel to €tS TOV -^lOTOV. 
 
 4 The food and drink are 
 parallel to the Lord's Supper. 
 The word ' spiritual ' (irvevfjia- 
 T6Kov) is employed partly from 
 the preternatural character of 
 the sustenance, as described in 
 Exod. xvi. 14, xvii. 6 ; Numb. 
 XX. 2-11 , and with regard to the 
 manna, in especial reference to 
 its descent from heaven, and its 
 designation in Ps. Ixxviii. 24, 
 25, as 'the bread of heaven,' 
 and * angels' food ; ' comp. Jo- 
 seph. Ant. iii, 1, 6; Oelov ^pco/xa 
 /cat TrapdSo^ov- But it also re- 
 fers, and especially in the case 
 of the water, to the glory which 
 was reflected on the earthly ele- 
 ments from their relations to 
 Christ. The 'cloud' and the 
 ' sea,' though evidently used 
 here as figures of baptism, had 
 not been brought into the fixed 
 circle of Messianic ideas ; there- 
 fore to them the word is not ap- 
 plied. But the manna and the 
 water seem to have been long 
 understood as figures of Him 
 who was to supply all the long- 
 ings of His people, and they are 
 accordingly so used in John vi. 
 50 : ' I am the bread which 
 cometh down from heaven,' and 
 John vii. 37, 39 : 'If any man 
 thirst, let him come unto Me 
 . . . (this spake He of the 
 Spirit).* With regard to the 
 manna, no explanation was 
 
'Km OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 155 
 
 Xov0ovcn]<; irlrpa^;, rj ^werpa 8e ^v 6 ^(pLa'TOs) ' ^dXX' ovk 
 
 ^ 7] 5e irer pa. 
 
 they drank of the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was 
 
 needed. But for the allusion to 
 
 'TheEock ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ explana- 
 which tion was needed, and 
 
 followed.' • • 1 ii 
 
 IS given, because the 
 tradition to which it refers is not 
 contained in the Old Testament. 
 This tradition maintained that 
 there was a well formed out of 
 the spring in Horeb, which ga- 
 thered itself up into a rock, ' like 
 a swarm of bees,' and followed 
 the people for forty years, some- 
 times rolling of itself, sometimes 
 carried by Miriam ; and always 
 addressed by the elders when 
 they encamped, in the words of 
 Numb. xxi. 17 : * Spring up, 
 well.' See the Targums, as 
 quoted by Wetstein, Schottgen, 
 and Heydenreich. 
 
 In accordance with this notion, 
 the Rock of Moses, as pointed 
 out by the local tradition of 
 Mount Sinai, is not a cliff in the 
 mountain, but a detached frag- 
 ment of rock, about fifteen feet 
 high, with twelve or more fis- 
 sures on its surface, from which 
 the water is said to have gushed 
 out for the twelve tribes. This 
 local tradition is as old as the 
 Koran, which mentions this very 
 stone (ii. 57, vii. 160) ; possibly 
 as old as Josephus, who describes 
 the rock of Moses as ' lying be- 
 side ' (7rapaK€Lfji€vr}v^ the moun- 
 tain, Ant. iii. 1, 7. Here, as 
 elsewhere, the Apostle sees no- 
 thing of the outward history ex- 
 cept in its reference to Christ, 
 aheady in the wilderness, the 
 Life and Guide of His people. 
 Hence his allusion to the tradi- 
 tion, which would have been out 
 of place had the actual facts of 
 
 the history occupied the promi- 
 nent place in his thoughts, be- 
 comes intelligible if he used the 
 story as a vehicle to convey the 
 idea of the ever-present power 
 of Christ. Instead of adhering 
 to the Mosaic narrative, which 
 represents the miraculous ap- 
 pearances of the water as isolated 
 facts at the beginning and at 
 the end of the wanderings, he 
 adopted the story which endea- 
 voured to bridge over the inter- 
 val between the two, by repre- 
 senting the cliff (sela) at Kadesh 
 to have been identical with the 
 roch (tzur) which had been 
 struck at Mount Horeb. But, 
 in adopting this representation, 
 he guards himself Irora any 
 literal agreement with it : the 
 word ' spiritual ' (7rvei;/x,aTtK^s) 
 raises our thoughts at once to 
 the figurative sense in which 
 alone it could be applied to the 
 rock ; and the concluding words, 
 ' but the Rock was Christ,* 
 seem specially inserted to im- 
 press upon his readers, that, 
 whatever might be the facts of 
 the history or tradition, the only 
 Rock which was in his mind at 
 the moment was the Messiah 
 (6 xpicrro?), as in the case of 
 ' Christ our passover,' v. 7. He 
 was, in a far higher sense than 
 the actual cliffs of Hor or Horeb, 
 the rock which was always in 
 view with its shadow to protect, 
 and its waters to refresh them, 
 at the end, no less than at the 
 beginning, of their long wander- 
 ings. 
 
 Christ has the same relation 
 to the Spirit as the rock to the 
 
1.56 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 6—10. 
 
 iv Tois TTkeiocTiv avTcov ^yjvSoKTjcrev 6 0e6^' KaT€(TTp(0' 
 Orjcrav yap iv rrj ipyjfJLCo. ''raura Se tvttol rjjjicjp iyevyjOrj- 
 crav, €19 TO jJirj elvai r)fJia<; iTriSvixiqTa^ KaKwv, kolOu)^ kolk^I- 
 voL iTreOvfXTjcrav. ^ firjSe elSoiXokdrpai yivecrde, Ka6(xi<; TLve^ 
 avT(x)v^ ^0)<J7r€p yiypaiTTai EKadicreu 6 \ao<; (fyayelp /cat 
 TTtet^, /cat avecTTrjcrav jraiQeiv, ^ firjBe nopvevcofjiev, /ca^ws 
 
 Christ) : ^but with the greater part of them God was not well pleased : for 
 they were overthrown in the wilderness. ^ Now these things were our ex- 
 amples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also 
 lusted. "^ Neither become ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, 
 * the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.' ^Neither let 
 
 water ; it is from Him that the 
 Spirit flows (corap. John vii. 
 37), and one is here put for the 
 other, as in 2 Cor. iii. 17 : ' The 
 Lord is " the " Spirit.' For a 
 similar interpretation see Gal. 
 iv. 24, where by aXXrjyopovficva 
 he expresses nearly the same 
 idea as by Trveu/Aart/c^g here ; and 
 for the sense of TrvevfiaTLKo^; for 
 ' typical,' — seen in the light of 
 the Spirit, see Hev. xi. 8 (•^ts 
 KaXetrat Trvev fiarLKios Sooo/xa). 
 
 For the traditional compari- 
 son of the Messiah to the rock, 
 see Philo, Alleg. 11, 21 : Quod 
 deterius potiori ins. § 31 ; and 
 the Targums on Isaiah xvi. 1 
 (quoted in Wetstein). For the 
 comparison of God to a rock in 
 the desert, see Psalm xci. 1, 2 ; 
 Isaiah xxxii. 2. 
 
 5 ' Such were their privileges. 
 But they were not saved there- 
 by from the heaviest judgments. 
 Out of the whole number who 
 partook of these blessings, the 
 greater part perished.' 
 
 yap, i.e. ' We know that it is 
 SO; for this is the proof.' Com- 
 pare Luke vii. 47, ' Her sins are 
 forgiven her, hecause she loved 
 much.' 
 
 KaT€(TTp(i)6rj(TaVy ' their bodies 
 were left to moulder away on the 
 
 sands of the desert.' The word 
 is taken from KaTe'orrpwo-ev, Numb, 
 xiv. 16. For a similar argument, 
 see Heb. iii. 17. 
 
 6 ravra 8e tvttol. ' In these 
 things we may see our own mo- 
 dels.' TVTTo? is generally used 
 for a model as an example ; here, 
 for a model as a warning. The 
 parallel is drawn from such sins 
 of the Israelites as most resem- 
 bled those to which the Corin- 
 thians were liable. 
 
 einOvfjirjTa^ Ka/cwv, ' desirous of 
 evil things,' probably a general 
 phrase, ' with your appetites set 
 on evil rather than on good.' If 
 it has a more special allusion, it 
 must be, in the case of the 
 Corinthians, to the idol feasts, 
 and of the Israelites, to the flesh- 
 pots of Egypt and the quails, 
 Numbers xi. 4, 18, 33. 
 
 7 ctSwXoXarpat, i.e. ' by coun- 
 tenancing or partaking in the 
 rites attendant on the feasts.' 
 
 wa-irep yey/oaTrrat, i.e. 'in the 
 matter of the golden calf ; ' the 
 quotation is from Ex. xxxii. 6, in 
 the very words of the LXX. 
 
 Trai^etv, ' to dance,' as in the 
 heathen ceremonies, both of Syria 
 and of Greece. 
 
 8 TTopvevoifjLcv, i.e. ' by joining 
 in the licentious rites, which, es- 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 157 
 
 TLve<; avTcov enopvevcrav Kai ^eTreaav jjna r)fJLepa eiKocn 
 
 Ttz^€9 avTOiv iireipacrav /cat viro tcop 6(j)€(op ^aircoXovTo, 
 ^^fjLr)8e yoyyv^^ere, KaOcos^ TLve<; avTOiV iyoyyvaav koI airo)- 
 
 cireaou. 
 
 rhv Xpicrrhv, KaOiis Kai rives. 
 
 '» iv fiia, and so Lachm, Ed. 1. 
 
 ^ Lachm. Ed. 1. airdWvvTO. ^ Ka6ii)s Kai rives. 
 
 us commit fornication, as some of them committed and fell in one day 
 three and twenty thousand. ^Neither let ns tempt the Lord, as some of 
 them tempted and perished by serpents. ^° Neither murmur ye, as some 
 
 pecially at Corinth, were blended 
 with the worship of Venus.' For 
 this juxtaposition of the two, 
 compare Acts xv. 29 ; and notes 
 on 1 Cor. vi. 12. 
 
 hropvevcrav., i.e. in the matter 
 of Baalpeor, Numb. xxv. 1-9, 
 where, as well as in Philo, 
 Josephus, and the Rabbis, the 
 number is 24,000, not, as here, 
 23,000. The variation must be 
 referred to the original text of the 
 Apostle, not to any subsequent 
 error or correction of the copyists, 
 as they, if they altered it at all, 
 would have been more likely to 
 have altered in conformity with 
 Numbers than against it. 
 
 9 cKTTCtpa^w/xev tov Kvptov, ' Let 
 us not tempt Christ by going to 
 the verge of our Christian 
 liberty,' as in the expression 
 * tempting God ' in Matt. iv. 7. 
 
 KvpLov (B. C.) ^cov (A.) per- 
 haps corrections of xP"5"toi/ (D. 
 E. F. G. H. I. K.) But Kvpiov 
 and ')(fii(rr6v equally refer to 
 Christ's presence in the Old 
 Testament, as implied in verse 4 ; 
 Jude 5 ; Heb. xi. 26. And he 
 here has the special reason for 
 the thought, that he wishes to 
 bring before the Corinthians (as 
 in viii. 12), that it was against 
 Christ, their loving Redeemer, 
 that they sinned, in this abuse of 
 their liberty. 
 
 Ka6<x)<s T6VCS iireLpaa-av. This 
 would most naturally refer to 
 Massah at Horeb, Exod. xvii. 7. 
 The destruction by serpents, 
 however, was on a later occasion, 
 Numb. xxi. t). 
 
 lo yoyyv^ere, i.e. ' do not com- 
 plain against the authority of 
 Paul as an Apostle ' (referring to 
 the argument in ix. 1-10). 
 
 cyoyyro-av, i.e. in the matter of 
 Korah, where the judgment was 
 a plague. Numb. xvi. 49. 
 
 TOV oXoOpevTov, i.e. the De- 
 stroying Angel — ' the Angel of 
 Death,' from the LXX. trans- 
 lation 6 6\o0p€v(jDv, Exod. xii. 23. 
 Compare Ps. Ixxviii. 50, where, 
 by a reverse process, what is in 
 Exod. xii. 23 called the ' Angel ' 
 is called the * pestilence.* See 
 also the Rabbis in Lightfoot. 
 For a curious resemblance to the 
 words and to the general sense 
 of this passage, com p. Judith, 
 viii. 25-27, where, as here, the 
 Israelites are warned not to give 
 way to their trials, because God 
 tries them onlv as He tried their 
 fathers (Tretpo^et r}jjia<; KaOa koI 
 Tov<s TTttTcpa? T^/xcuv) . Thus far the 
 Greek; but the Vulgate adds: 
 ' Illi autem qui mutationes non 
 suscepernnt cum timore Domini, 
 et impatientiam suam et im- 
 proprium murmurationis suas 
 contra Dominum postularunt, 
 
158 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 11—14. 
 
 \opTO VTTO Tov okoOpevTOv. ^^TovTa §€ [Trai^Ttt] "ru7ri/ca)9 
 crvvif^aivov eKeivoi<;^ iypdcj)!/] Be irpos vovOecriav rjfJLOJV^ 
 cts ovs TO. Tekr) to)v al(x)vo}v ^ KaTTjVTT^Kev. ^^wcrre 6 hoKtxyv 
 earravai pAeTrercu ixi) Trecrrj. 7reLpacrfJLo<; i>/i,a9 ovk clat^- 
 <j)ep €1 jJLT) dp0p(i)7nvo<; ' Trtcrro? be 6 ^eds, 69 ovk idorei v/xa? 
 ireLpacrOrjvaL virep o BvvacrOe^ dWd TTOLija-ei crvu t&j ttci- 
 
 ' rvvoi trvtf4fiaivov. 
 
 KaTr^vrrjarev. 
 
 of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. "Now all these things 
 happened unto them for examples, and it was written for our admonition, 
 upon whom the ends of the ages are come. ''^Wherefore let him that thinketh 
 he standeth take heed lest he fall. ^^ There hath no temptation taken you 
 but such as is common to man : and God is faithful, who will not suffer 
 you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation 
 
 exterminaii sunt ah exieroninatore, 
 et a serpentibns perierunt.' 
 
 11 TVTTtKws is only used here 
 in the New Testament, and hence 
 perhaps the substitution of tvttol 
 in D. E. F. a. J. 
 
 (rvviftatvov (plural) refers to 
 the events in detail ; lypa^-q (sin- 
 gular), to the record as a whole. 
 ' These events occurred histori- 
 cally to t/iem^ but the record of 
 them was made for us, who, far 
 removed from them, have been 
 overtaken by the last great days 
 of the world's existence ; ' ' heirs 
 of all the ages.' 
 
 TO. riXy) Twv attovcov, the same 
 as (TwreXeta atoivos, Matt. xiii. 39, 
 the plural nominative resulting 
 from the plural genitive, the 
 plural of atwv being here used, as 
 elsewhere in St. Paul's Epistles. 
 
 KaTi]VT7]K€v, * camc down, as to 
 their natural resting-place.' 
 
 1 2 ' Therefore, with these 
 warnings before us, let no one 
 be so proud of his Christian pri- 
 vileges, as to think that he is 
 above the danger of falling.' For 
 other indications of pride and 
 over-consciousness of superiority 
 in the Corinthian Church, comp. 
 i. 12, iv. 8, xiv. 36. 
 
 13 Ha passes abruptly from 
 a warning to an encouragement : 
 ' Let every one take heed lest 
 he fall ; for he can avoid falling, 
 inasmuch as he is not exposed to 
 insuperable temptations ' (avOpd)- 
 TTLvos, ' on a level with human 
 powers ') ; 'on the contrary, he 
 may rely on the justice of Grod, 
 who will not overwhelm us but 
 by our own fault.' The passage 
 expresses (what we find often in 
 the Psalms), that the faithfulness 
 or justice of God, rather than 
 His mercy, is the sure ground of 
 hope. 
 
 rrjv cKySatrtv, 'the means of 
 flight.' 
 
 v7r€V€yK€iv refers to the whole 
 sense of the passage : ' You. will 
 be able to escape, and to bear up 
 against your difficulties.' 
 
 14 This warning against idol- 
 atry immediately following indi- 
 cates that the temptation spoken 
 of was in the idol feasts. 
 
 * You are indeed in great 
 difficulties ; all the grandeur, all 
 the beauty, all the festivity of 
 heathen life, are around you to 
 tempt yon to fall into the same 
 sins as those which overcame 
 the Israelites ; but still, by all 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELE-DENIAL. 
 
 159 
 
 7r€/9, dyaTrrjToi fjiov, (j)€vyeT€ diro tt}? elScoXoXaTpeias. 
 
 also make the way to escape that ye may be able to bear it. ^^Where- 
 fore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 
 
 the motives which I have laid 
 before you, I conjure you by the 
 love which I bear to you (dya- 
 TTTjTOL fJLov), uot merely to avoid 
 the idol feasts for the sake of 
 
 others, but to fly from them 
 yourselves ; for to partake of 
 them is, in fact, to partake of an 
 idolatrous rite.' 
 
 Paraphrase op Chap. IX. 1 — X. 14. 
 
 When I speak of the self-denial which 1 would exercise 
 rather than entangle any Christian in sin, I speak of what 
 you know that I bear out by my habits of daily life. Yes, 
 you know that such is my habitual course, you know the 
 toil and servile labour of tentmaking which I undergo for 
 your sakes, of my own free will, and in spite of my Apo- 
 stolic dignity. It is indeed a voluntary self-denial, for my 
 right to support from the Churches is undoubted. lam an 
 Apostle as truly as the original Twelve, I, like them, have 
 seen the Lord Jesus. I have, to you at least, given the most 
 incontestable signs of my Apostleship, by your conversion. And 
 therefore the refusal to receive maintenance from you is not, as 
 some would insinuate, because I have not the right to ask it. 1 
 have this right as fully as the most favoured of the Twelve, 
 as fully as even Peter the first of the Apostles, and the imme- 
 diate kinsmen of Christ Himself ; and this right I claim, first, 
 on the qeneral grounds vihich apply to all occupations : to 
 the soldier, who receives his pay for fighting ; to the planter of 
 the vineyard, who eats the grapes of the vineyard; to the shep- 
 herd, who supports himself on the milk of the flocks and herds 
 which he feeds. And I claim it also under the sanction of a 
 higher authority than any human custom ; the command which 
 allows the ox to eat of the corn which it treads out, applies in 
 principle to men also, for whose sake this, and all the commands 
 about the brute creation, are recorded ; and this principle fully 
 
160 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 justifies the practice of rewarding the labourer by a share in the 
 harvest lohich he has helped to produce. What is thus true of 
 the literal, is true also of the spiritual harvest^ the seeds of 
 which I have sown amongst you, and which now flourishes so 
 abundantly ; and in claiming from you a maintenance in re- 
 turn, I should not be claiming, like the earthly labourer ^ a 
 reward the same in hind, but one far inferior, a reward merely 
 of perishable outward maintenance in return for a harvest of 
 imperishable spiritual gifts. Nor, again, should 1 be claiming 
 anything which you refuse to grant to others, but only what you 
 do grant to those teachers who with all their pretensions have 
 none comparable to mine who am your founder. Such is my 
 right ; but I decline to exercise it, and endure all manner of 
 privations, rather than, by incurring the slightest suspicion of 
 interested motives, to impede the advance of the glad tidings of 
 the coming of the Anointed Deliverer. 
 
 Let me, then, urge my example upon you ; but first I must 
 again reassert my right ; the right which grows immediately out 
 of that glad tidings which it is my great mission to proclaim, 
 and. ichich by our Lord's own command as surely entitles its 
 heralds to a maintenance^ as an occupation in the service of the 
 Temple entitles its priests to a share in the sacrificial gifts and 
 offerings. Yet this right, whatever others may have done, as I 
 said just now, I have not used. And when I said it, remember 
 that I said it not, as some would insinuate, with a view of ex- 
 torting money from you by other means. So far from using 
 any covert means of procuring a maintenance from you, nothing 
 could induce me to forfeit the only merit I have. To proclaim 
 the glad tidings on which my right is founded, is no merit in 
 itself; it is the discharge of an inevitable duty, for which I 
 deserve no more thanks thaji a slave who administers his master^s 
 property. A reward I have, it is true ; but that reward is to 
 receive no reward ; it consists in the pursuance of my mission 
 without reward, and therefore without suspicion and withov.t 
 offence. And you know that I am sincere in what I say ; my 
 whole life attests it. Not only have I, in this matter of the 
 maintenance, changed the personal liberty which I might justly 
 have claimed, for degrading and servile labour; butthat I might 
 gain converts, even a few out of the mass of the unbelieving 
 world, I accommodated myself amongst you to the feelings alike 
 of Jews and Gentiles. Above all, I always showed my sym^ 
 
HIS OWN EXAMPLE OF SELF-DENIAL. 161 
 
 pathyfor the weak and unenlightened conscience. And all this 
 I did and do in order that /, as icell as those whom I converted, 
 might share in the gladness of those tidings which I proclaimed 
 to them. 
 
 I have been speaking up to this time rather for those Jewish 
 converts who question my right, than for those Gentile converts 
 who abuse theirs. But my last words recall me to the recol- 
 lection of the necessity of self-denial, for the sake, not only of 
 others, but of ourselves. As certainly as the Jews know the 
 right conferred by sacred services on those who minister in 
 them, so surely do Gentiles know the eagerness of those who in 
 the great national games of Greece contend for the prize, and 
 the rigid discipline practised by them beforehand. Let this be 
 an example to you, remembering only ho2v much greater is your 
 reward than the pine-leaf garland of the Isthmian games. 
 Such too is my practice, not less eager or less severe ; and the 
 enemy ivith whom I contend is my own body, which bears in the 
 marks of its hard service the proof of my self-denial. He who 
 has been the herald of the contest and of the prize to others, 
 must beware lest he himself be rejected at the end of the day as 
 worthless. For indeed no privileges, however exalted, are able 
 to secure us against the danger of temptations, as we know 
 from the example of our ancestors in the faith. They, like us, 
 had their Baptism in the Red Sea, and in the shadow of the 
 cloudy pillar. They, like us, had their Eucharist in the manna 
 and in the water from the rock ; the rock lohich followed them, 
 according to the tradition, throughout their wanderings ; the 
 rock which was no less than Christ. All alike were so favoured; 
 and yet of all, except two, the carcases were left bleaching in 
 the desert. In their sins we see the likeness of those to which 
 we in these latter days are tempted ; the idolatrous rites, the 
 sensuality of heathenism, the abuse of Christian liberty, the 
 murmurs against authority. Beware, then, lest you fall. So 
 far from being exposed to superhuman difficulties, God's justice 
 will always give an issue from your trials, if only you will 
 avail yourselves of it. And so, though your temptations to 
 idolatry are great, yet you can and ought to escape from them. 
 
162 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 The Apostle's View of Teachers. 
 
 In some respects the preceding Section resembles the discussion 
 on Marriage in Chapter vii. The Apostle lays down a general 
 principle, from which his own conduct is an exception. Both 
 the principle and the exception derive remarkable illustration 
 The prin- ^^^^ ancient history. The general principle is the 
 ciple main- same as that which Plato asserts in the first book of 
 Bato^ ^^ *^^ Kepublic, that all professions, the highest as well 
 as the lowest, have two aspects : that which ministers 
 to the public good (svspysTiKTj), and that which supports the 
 individual during his ministrations (fiLaOapvijTt/crj), The more 
 unselfish and benevolent is the main object of the profession, 
 the more is the need for a maintenance of the man to whom 
 that object itself yields nothing. Such precisely is the Apostle's 
 argument on behalf of the rights of the first Apostolic teachers, 
 which has become the basis in later times of the endowment of 
 a separate order of clergy. But to this general rule, which he 
 lays down for others, he makes an exception against himself; 
 and this, again, coincides with the similar stress which the 
 greatest of heathen philosophers laid on the distinction between 
 himself and the regular teachers of his time. They received pay 
 The ex- for their instruction ; he vehemently repudiated it. ' So- 
 ample en- crates,' says Mr. Grote,^ ^ considered such a bargain 
 forced by ^g nothing Icss than servitude, robbing the teacher of 
 all free choice as to persons or proceeding ; and as- 
 similated the relation between teacher and pupil to that between 
 two lovers, or two intimate friends, which was thoroughly dis- 
 honoured, robbed of its charm and reciprocity, and prevented 
 from bringing about its legitimate rew^ard of attachment and 
 devotion, by the intervention of money payment.' This was 
 the Apostle's feeling towards his converts ; and although the 
 actual order of the world, as he himself acknowledges, would 
 render it almost impracticable as a general rule, yet it is 
 impossible not to appreciate at once the loftiness of his senti- 
 rp, ,. ment and the force of his argument. In an age or in a 
 gious au- society, where the minds of men are disposed readily to 
 thority of acquicsce, there is usually no authority greater than 
 that of an order of established teachers. But in a 
 
 ^ Hist, of Greece, vol. viii. p. 482 ; founded on Xenophon, Mem. i. 2, 6. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF TEACHERS. 163 
 
 time of unsettlement or inquiry, such as was the Apostolic age, 
 and, it may be added, our own, the authority of a layman in 
 religious matters is usually far higher than that of a clergyman ; 
 and for this reason, that every sentiment which he utters on 
 such subjects is regarded as spontaneous, disinterested, and un- 
 professional, to a degree not felt in the case of the regular and 
 established organs of instruction. Such a lay position, if one 
 may so speak, the Apostle here labours to vindicate for himself. 
 
 m2 
 
164 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Apostolical Communion. 
 
 The concluding verse of the last Section has brought hint 
 back to the original subject of the sacrificial feasts ; but 
 whereas he dwelt before only on the scandal to others, he now, 
 in accordance with the train of thought begun in ix. 23,. 
 dwells chiefly on the evil to themselves. And the sense of 
 this evil is enhanced by the recollection incidentally intro- 
 duced in X. 3 of the only Christian institution which bore 
 any resemblance to these feasts. This argument from the 
 Eucharist he introduces by an appeal, not, as before, to his 
 own authority or example, but to their common sense and 
 reason. It was a practice with which they were all familiar 
 as with an institution which belonged equally to the whole 
 society. It was an argument which, with their boasted logical 
 acumen, they must recognise as self-evident. 
 
 That Christ is one with His people, is a truth which pervades 
 the whole of St. Paul's teaching. The peculiarity of this 
 passage is that, for the sake of a more direct contrast with the 
 idol feast, he urges the closeness of this communion, not in 
 Christian life generally, but in the feast or meal of the Eu- 
 charist. The reality of this communion he enforces chiefly by 
 
 two arguments. 
 
 First, he refers them to the words of the institution, with 
 which, as we know from xi. 23, they were already familiar. 
 Every expression points back to the scene of the Last Supper, 
 as if he said, ' The cup, the words of blessing, the bread with 
 the act of breaking, bring before our minds the memorable night 
 when He said, " This is the new covenant in my blood, this is 
 my body," and therefore you know what is implied in drinking 
 of that cup, and eating of that bread.' 
 
 It is observable that, whereas in all other passages the bread 
 is mentioned before the cup, according to the order of the 
 original institution, here and in verse 21 the cup is mentioned 
 before the bread, probably from the turn given to the whole 
 passage by the parallel in the heathen feasts, where the libation 
 preceded the meal. 
 
 The plural form {svXoyovfisv, kXco/jlsv) probably points to the 
 fact that the whole society in some manner took part in the 
 blessing of the cup and the breaking of the bread. This is re- 
 
APOSTOLICAL COMMUNION. 165 
 
 quired by the turn of the argument which, especially in verse 
 1 7, implies that the ' communion ' was ajoint act of all, « xhe com- 
 and which here implies that this joint communion con- munion.' 
 sisted, not in ^ drinking ' and ' eating,' but in ' blessing the 
 <5up ' and ' breaking the bread.' This joint act may have been 
 performed either by themselves actually assisting in the blessing 
 and the breaking, or as represented by the president of the 
 feast, whilst they, in the case of the blessing, responded to it by 
 the Hebrew ' Amen ' (as must be inferred from xiv. 16). 
 From the expressions used in Acts ii. 46 (' they,' i.e. the be- 
 lievers generally, ' breaking bread '), and xx. 7 (' they came 
 together to break bread '), it would seem that, at least, in the 
 €ase of the bread, it was a joint action ; and such is the opinion 
 €ven of the Roman Catholic commentator, Estius. 
 
 ' Communion ' (Kotvayvui) is here alone used of the Eucharist, 
 and is the origin of the name as applied to it. The predomi- 
 nant idea of the word in this place is that of union with Christ 
 (as in i. 9), in contrast, as it afterwards appears in verse 20, 
 to * union with demons.' But the especial allusion to the 
 Eucharist leads him to express this union in the stronger lan- 
 guage ' communion of the Mood . . . and of the body ... of 
 Christ,' as suggested by the words of the original institution, 
 which coincided with the sentiment of entire identification, 
 elsewhere expressed under the same forms of speech (as in 
 John vi. 50-56); and here of especial importance for the 
 argument against the idol feasts. ' You are one with Christ,' 
 he would say, ' because you are one with each other ; and this 
 too is expressed in the Christian feast.' The thought is sug- 
 gested to him: (1) By the sense always latent in the word 
 KOLvo>vLa, not merely of a participation, but of a joint partici- 
 pation ; so that, although it is capable of application to a single 
 person, it almost always involves the notion of several. (2) 
 By the nature of the ceremony itself. Having, for the reason 
 above stated, begun with allusion to the cup, he proceeds to the 
 bread, or 'loaf' (such is the meaning of rov dprov), which, 
 unlike the modern mode of celebration, seems to have been 
 placed whole on the table, and then divided into its several 
 portions ; thus representing the idea, so frequentin the Apostle's 
 writings, of the one community, with various parts and functions, 
 but united in their common Head. Jamblichus (in his Life of 
 Pythagoras, p. 18) says that, ^ according to the barbarian custom 
 in former times, all friends agreed together over one loaf ' {iirl 
 
166 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 ha aprov avvisa-av), (3) By the use of the word ' Body ' (o-cofjia) 
 ' The Body of Christ. This, in St. Paul's language, almost al- 
 of Christ.' ^ays means, not His literal corporeal frame, but that 
 new body which is His by virtue of His union with Hi& 
 followers, namely, the whole Christian society. Compare vi. 15^ 
 xii. 12, 27 ; Eph. i. 23, ii. 16, iv. 4, 16, v. 30 ; Col. i. 24. The 
 exceptions to this usage are Phil. iii. 21, ^fashioned like unto 
 His glorious body ; ' Col. i. 22, ' you . . . hath He reconciled 
 in the body of His flesh through death ; ' and perhaps Bom. vii, 
 4, ' dead to the law by the body of Christ.' 
 
 This idea of the Apostle is entirely different from that 
 which in later times has usually been attached to the act and 
 words of the institution of the Eucharist. The word ' Com- 
 munion,' however, as handed down from those times, has not 
 altogether lost this double meaning. And now and then, amidst 
 expressions tending altogether in other directions, fragmentary 
 glimpses occur of the ancient Apostolic doctrine. ' Faith,' say& 
 Ignatius (Ep. ad Trail, c. 8), ' is the flesh of the Lord ; Love 
 is His blood.' And in the Second Prayer after the celebration 
 of the Communion in the Church of England, we stumble 
 on the solitary phrase which embodies the Pauline thought : 
 ' very members incorporate in the mystical body of Thy Son, 
 which is the blessed company of all faithful people.^ 
 
EVIL OF THE SACEIFICIAL FEASTS. 
 
 16' 
 
 ^^o)s ^povtyLOL^; Xeyw Acptz/are u/xeis o <^7y/x,i. ^^ro Trorrjpiov 
 rrj^ euXoyias o evXayovfiev, o^^t Koivoivia^ tov at/xaro? toi) 
 ^iCTTOv iaTLt^ ; tov aprov ov KkcopueVj ov^l Koivcxivia rov 
 a-(ofiaTO<; tov ^picTTOv Icttiv ; ^^ otl els dpTOSy €V crcofxa ol 
 TToXkoL icrfiev ol yap TrdvTes Ik tov evos dpTov pLere^oiiev. 
 
 * Lachm. Ed. 1. Koivwvia eVrlj/ rov a'ifx. 
 
 ^*I speak as to wise men ; judge ye what I say. ^^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 ? 
 "For we being many are one bread, and one body : for we are all par- 
 
 15 w? (f>povLjjiOL<;, i.e. 'in your 
 acknowledged character of wise 
 men.' Comp. i. 5, viii. 1, v/xct?, 
 i.e. *you, as distinct from me.' 
 Comp. 2 Cor. i. 24. 
 
 16 ' The cup of blessing' oc- 
 curs only here in the New 
 Testament. It is in allusion to 
 the fourth and most sacred cup 
 at the Paschal feast, which was 
 so called from the words pro- 
 nounced over it : * Blessed be 
 Thou, Lord our God, the King 
 of the world, who has created 
 the fruit of the vine.' (Lightfoot 
 ad he.} 
 
 cvXoyelv, as used in the LXX., 
 is properly, ' to speak well of,' 
 hence 'to praise,' 'to congra- 
 tulate,' and it may thus be applied 
 with equal propriety to God and 
 to man. The Hebrew word Tin, 
 of which it is frequently a trans- 
 lation, means in the first instance 
 'to kneel,' and hence its original 
 application is, ' to worship,' or 
 ' praise God ; ' and its application 
 to man is only secondary. evXoyCa 
 is used here, as in xiv. 16, and 
 Matt. xxvi. 26 (compare Luke 
 xxii. 19), as equivalent to €vxa- 
 picTTLa, the only difference being 
 that €vXoyia expresses the form, 
 and cvxapwTTta the substance of 
 
 the speech. The one is * a bless- 
 ing of God,' the other, ' a thanks- 
 giving to God.' But there is 
 the further thought that by this 
 thanksgiving or ' grace,' the 
 object so spoken of is consecrated 
 to God's service. Comp. 1 Tim. 
 iv. 4, 5 : ovh\v OLTTofiXyYrov /xird 
 € V xa pia-T ia^ Xa/x/^avofjievov' 
 dyta^crat yap Std Xoyov Oeov 
 KOL €VT€v$€(t)s. Hcuce ariscs the 
 application of the word to in- 
 animate objects, o €vAoyov/Aev, 
 'over which we pronounce our 
 blessing of God.' So ' He blessed 
 the loaves,' Luke ix. 16, and 
 (on one occasion only) in the 
 Old Testament, 'He doth bless 
 the sacrifice ' (1 Sam. ix. 13 : 
 evXoyel t^v Ovcrcav, LXX.). By 
 a like confusion the elements of 
 the bread and wine were after- 
 wards called by the name of 
 ' thanksgiving ' or ' Eucharist.' 
 Comp. Justin, p. 93 ; tov €v;(a- 
 piarOeyTOs aprov koI olvov koI vSaros 
 . . . fcat ^ rpocfir] avrrj KaXetrat Trap' 
 yfxwv ev)(apL(TTLa. 
 
 1 7 oTt €1? . . . . ot TToAAot icrfiev. 
 The argument is as though he 
 said, ' In the cup you jointly 
 partake of the blood of Christ, 
 according to His words. But in 
 the bread you jointly partake of 
 
168 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 18—21. 
 
 ^^ pKiirere tov ^la-parjX Kara crdpKa' ^ovx o^ icrOiovTcs rag 
 6v(TLa<; KOLVoiVol TOV OvaiacrTrjpiov elcriv ; ^^tl ovv (jyrjfJLL ; 
 OTL ^ elSctiXoOvTov TL icTrlv rj oti^ eihojkov ri ecTiv ; ^^dXX' 
 OTL ^ a OvovcTLv Sat/xoz^iots /cat ov OeS Bvovcriv, ov diKoi he 
 
 » ovxi. ^ Transpose cXZuKov and ilZuK6evT6v. 
 
 " 6uei TO, (EQvti, Sai/jLovlois Ovei, kuI ov 0e^. 
 
 takers of that one bread. ^^ Behold Israel after the flesh : have not they 
 which eat of the sacrifices communion with the altar 1 ^^What say I 
 then ? that what is offered in sacrifice to idols is anjrthing or that the 
 idol is anything ? '^^Nay, but that the things which they sacrifice, *they 
 
 the body of Christ by a still 
 clearer argument. For what is 
 the meaning of the one loaf with 
 its several parts, except to set 
 before us that one loaf and one 
 body which we are collectively ? 
 (ot TToXXot, see xii. 12.) For this 
 is the meaning of that solemn 
 act in which we all (ot Trai/Tcg, 
 not one or two only, but the 
 whole society) partake, not of 
 separate fragments, but of the 
 one complete loaf (Ik tov cvos 
 apTov). And this one body, 
 which we thus prove ourselves 
 to be by this act, is the body of 
 Christ of which we partake in 
 the Eucharist.' 
 
 1 8 The practice of the Israel- 
 ites is introduced to im- 
 sacri'fices. P^^ss npon his readers, 
 in a case more familiar 
 to them than Grecian customs, 
 the necessary connexion of all 
 sacrificial feasts with the worship 
 to which they belonged. 
 
 ' Israel after the flesh ; ' i.e. the 
 Jews literally, as distinct from 
 ' the Israel of God,' Gal. vi. 16. 
 Here, as in Gal. iv. 3, 8, 9 ('the 
 beggarly elements of the world '), 
 the Apostle speaks of the Jewish 
 nation and system, as if, in 
 comparison with the Christian 
 society, they were nearly on a 
 level with the Gentile nations 
 and Pagan worship, much as we 
 might now speak of the sacrifices 
 
 of the Mussulmans or Samaritans. 
 The Jewish sacrifices of which 
 he here speaks were not the sin- 
 offerings (which were entirely 
 consumed on the altar), but 
 those called ' peace-offerings ' or 
 * thank-offerings.' 
 
 For the practice of eating the 
 remainder of sacrifices, see Lev. 
 viii. 31 : Deuteron. xii. 18, xvi. 
 11. 
 
 The somewhat harsh expres- 
 sion ' have communion with the 
 altar,' seems to be substituted 
 for what we should naturally 
 have expected, ' with God ; ' 
 partly in order to bring more 
 vividly before them the connexion 
 of the feasts with the altar from 
 which they were taken, but 
 chiefly because ' communion with 
 God ' was too high a thought to 
 be brought down to the level of 
 the mere outward ceremonial of 
 the fleshly Israel. For this sub- 
 
 comp. viii. 
 
 stitution of words 
 ix. 17. 
 
 19, 2 o The suppressed con- 
 clusion of the last verse would 
 be, ' So you by partaking of the 
 heathen feasts partake of their 
 worship.' And this recalls the 
 assertion in viii. 4, that the 
 heathen divinities had no real 
 existence. As though he said, 
 ' When I speak thus, do I contra- 
 dict what I said before ? No ; but 
 what I say is this (aXX! on).' As 
 
EVIL OF THE SACRIFICIAL FEASTS. 
 
 169 
 
 vfias KOLVcovoif^ roiv haniovioiv ytveaOai. ^^ ov hvvacrOe tto- 
 TTjpiov Kvpiov TTLveiv KoX TTOTrjpiov SaijJLOVLcov^ ov Svvacrde 
 
 sacrifice to devils and not to God/ and I would not that ye should have 
 communion with devils. ^^Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the 
 cup of devils, ye caiuiot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table 
 
 in viii. 4 he had said that what- 
 ever might be the notions of 
 heathens about their divinities, 
 at any rate for Christians those 
 divinities had no real existence ; 
 so here conversely, he says, that 
 whatever might be the feelings 
 The hea- ^^ Christians about the 
 then Deities false divinities, still to 
 ♦Demons.' ^^le heathen they had 
 a real existence. And in proof 
 of this he quotes from the 
 LXX. version of Dent, xxxii. 17, 
 
 t-OvcaV SaL/JLOVLOLS KOX ov ^€0). 
 
 From this passage his meaning 
 has often been taken to be that, 
 although the particular divinities, 
 as conceived under the names of 
 Jupiter, Venus, &c., were mere 
 fictions, yet there were real evil 
 spirits who, under those names, 
 or in the general system of pagan 
 polytheism, beguiled them away 
 from the true God. (So Ps. 
 xcvi. 5, TTcin-es ol Oeol twv iOviov 
 Saifiovca.) Such certainly was 
 the general belief of the early 
 Christians. But the strong de- 
 claration in viii. 4, reiterated 
 here in verse 19, of the utter 
 non-existence of the heathen 
 divinities, renders it safer to 
 understand him as saying that 
 in the mind of the heathen 
 sacrificers, whatever Christians 
 might think, the sacrifices were 
 really made to those whom the 
 Old Testament called SaLfxovLa. 
 It is in fact a play on the word 
 ^atfiovLov. The heathen Greeks 
 (as in Acts xvii. 18, the only 
 passage where it is so used in 
 Biblical Greek) employed it as 
 
 a general word for ' Divinity,' 
 and more especially for those 
 heroes and inferior divinities, to 
 whom alone (according to the 
 belief of this later age), and not 
 to the supreme rulers of the uni- 
 verse, sacrifices as such were 
 due. The writers of the New 
 Testament and the LXX., on 
 the other hand, always use it of 
 'evil demons,' although never 
 perhaps, strictly speaking, for 
 the author of evil, who is called 
 emphatically ' Satan,' or * The 
 Devil.' It is by a union of these 
 two meanings that the sense of 
 the passage is produced. * The 
 words of Deut. xxxii. 17 truly 
 describe their state, for even 
 according to their own confession, 
 although in a difierent sense, 
 they sacrifice to demons.' A 
 similar play on the same word, 
 although for a different object, 
 occurs in the Apology of Socrates, 
 where he defends himself against 
 the charge of atheism, on the 
 ground that he believed in a 
 demon (8at/xovtov) ; and that 
 demons (8at/xovta) being sons of 
 gods (OeCjv TratScs), he must 
 therefore be acknowledged to 
 believe in the gods themselves. 
 
 There are here great varieties 
 of reading ; but none important, 
 except that Marcion reads ort 
 
 UpoOvTOV TL eCTTLV ^ elSoiXoOvTOV Tt 
 
 ia-Tiv; an alteration apparently 
 made in order to place Jewish 
 sacrifices {UpoOvra) on the same 
 level as heathen (elSwXoOvra). 
 
 2 1 He now turns to the prac- 
 tical conclusion that there is 
 
170 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 22—27. 
 
 Tpa7r€^r]<; KvpCov ^eTe)(€LV kol Tpa7ret,y)s Saifioviajv. ^^^ 
 7rapatpf]\oviJiev tov Kvpiov ; fjirj Icr^poTepoL avTov icrfjiii/ ; 
 
 • Add fioi. 
 
 of devils. ^^Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ? are we mightier than 
 He? 
 
 **A11 things are in my power, but all things are not profitable : all 
 
 a real incompatibility between 
 Christianity and partaking in the 
 sacrificial feasts as such. ' The 
 enp of demons ' is the bowl 
 (^Kparrjp) of libation which was 
 poured forth at the beginning of 
 a feast or of a sacrifice; hence 
 to drink of the wine of libation 
 was regarded by the Rabbis as a 
 sign of apostasy (see Wetstein). 
 ' The table of demons ' may 
 either be the table for the meal 
 following upon the sacrifice, or 
 the more solemn banquets laid 
 out, as in the Roman lectisternia, 
 on tables attached to the altars. 
 (Macrob. Sat.ii. 11.) The phrase 
 TpoLTre^a Ttu BaLfioviio occurs in 
 Isa. Ixv. li (LXX.). * The table 
 of the Lord,' as distinct from 
 * the cup of the Lord,' is the table 
 on which the bread is 
 Tawe?""^'' placed. The use of 
 the word agrees with 
 the description of the actual 
 ceremony in xi. 20-34 ; the 
 Lord's Table being the natural 
 accompaniment of the Lord's 
 Supper (xi. 20). For the general 
 ar^ment compare 2 Cor. vi. 15. 
 The incompatibility is height- 
 ened, and in part suggested, by 
 the recollection that one of 
 Christ's peculiar works was the 
 casting out of demons. 
 
 2 2 r] 7rapat,'r]XovfX€v rov Kvpiov ; 
 ' Or if we think we are able to 
 unite these discordant elements, 
 are we prepared to challenge the 
 Lord to anger ? Surely we are 
 
 not stronger than He ? * The 
 words are a continuation of the 
 same quotation in Deut. xxxii. 
 17-21, as that from which the 
 words of verse 20 are taken : koX. 
 
 €t8€ KVpLOS KOL i^TjXoXTe . . . Kttt 
 
 etTrev . . . AvtoI Trape^TJXwadv fxe 
 iir ov Oew, Trapw^vvdv p.€ iv T0t9 
 €l8ioXols avToiv(comp.also Baruch 
 iv. 7, 8). There is the same 
 play upon Kvpcoq here, as upon 
 SaifxovLa in 19 : ' Shall we pro- 
 voke the jealous Lord who has 
 in the Law denounced idolatry, 
 by mixing His cup and His table 
 with that of devils ? ' 
 
 For this identification of Christ 
 with ' the Lord ' of the Old Tes- 
 tament, comp. verses 4 and 9. 
 
 The expression 7rapat,r)Xovjx€v 
 is taken from the metaphor of 
 marriage between God and His 
 people, which pervades large por- 
 tions of the Old Testament, es- 
 pecially Hosea and Ezekiel. The 
 strength of the expression would 
 seem to indicate that they had 
 continued the celebration of the 
 Eucharist with an idol feast. 
 Compare xi. 30, where in speak- 
 ing of a similar subject he alludes 
 to the judgments provoked by it. 
 23 The transition here is so 
 abrupt that one would almost 
 imagine the ensuing section to 
 stand entirely by itself, merely 
 as a practical summary of the 
 whole question, especially as the 
 argument is taken up again from 
 the original point of view which. 
 
EVIL OF THE SACEIFICIAL FEASTS. 
 
 171 
 
 eo'TLV^ dXV ov TTGLVTa otAcoSo/iet. ^^/xTySeis to iavTOv t^qreiTO)^ 
 aXXa TO Tov eripov.^ '^^irav to iv fjuaKcXXco Troikovyievov 
 icr6L€Te fir)Skv avaKpivovT^^ Sta tt^v crvveih7]a-LV* '^^Tov 
 ^ Kvpiov yap y) yrj koX to TrXyjpcofxa aur^s. ''^^ et ^'rt? KaXei 
 vfias T(x)v a7ri(TT0)v koX Oikere TropevecrdaL, ttolv to napaTL- 
 
 ■ Add %Kaffros. 
 
 rov yap Kvpic 
 
 ■I 5e 
 
 things are in my power, but all things edify not. '^^Let no one seek his. 
 own, but that which is another's. ^^ Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, 
 that eat, not asking* questions for conscience sake : ^^for 'the earth is the 
 Lord's, and the fulness thereof.' ^'^If any of them that believe not bid 
 
 • Gr. judging. 
 
 had been dropped since ix. 23. 
 But the allusions to the Eucharist 
 in verses 26, 28, 30, still furnish 
 a thread of connexion. Here, as 
 in vi. 12, an impassioned appeal 
 of the Apostle, expressing the 
 contrariety between the profes- 
 sion of Christians and the practice 
 of heathenism, is broken off by 
 what seem to be the words of an 
 objector, * all things are lawful,' 
 which St. Paul takes up, adopts 
 as his own, and proceeds to 
 justify and moderate. The first 
 qualification, ' all things are not 
 expedient,' is the same as in vi. 
 12. The second, 'all things edify 
 not ' (oi/co8o/i,€t), is peculiar to 
 this passage, and is used in re- 
 ference to the argument already 
 begun in viii. 2. * This indif- 
 ference about idol feasts does 
 not, as you suppose, advance a 
 man in Christian knowledge or 
 holiness ; it may tend only to 
 retard him.' Comp. viii. 10. 
 
 24 * Every man's actions affect 
 his neighbour's welfare as well 
 as his own.' 
 
 25 Now follow the practical 
 rules ; and first, the concessions 
 to latitude. 
 
 /xaKcXXoi/, a Latin word, which 
 Plutarch uses to explain the 
 
 Greek word KpewTrwXtoi'. It was 
 also used by the Rabbis, jvlpD. 
 
 fxrjSku dvaKpLvovTes, * asking no 
 questions, whether the food is or 
 is not from the flesh of victims.' 
 
 Sta T^v (rvv€L87](Ttv, ' because of 
 the religious scruple which it 
 may excite, whether in your- 
 selves or in others.' 
 
 26 ' The earth is the Lord's, 
 and the fulness thereof,' from 
 Ps. xxiv. 1, was the common form 
 of Jewish thanksgiving before 
 the meal (see Wetstein, ad loc.) ; 
 and hence probably it was the 
 early Eucharistic blessing, and 
 thus alluded to in this place, 
 ' This, therefore, is not inconsis- 
 tent with the cup of blessing 
 and the table of the Lord.' 
 
 TOV KvpLov, used ambiguously 
 for ' Christ,' and the Lord of 
 the Old Testament, as in 22. 
 
 TO TrXrjpuifia, i.e. ' that which 
 fills it.' For the general sense 
 compare 1 Tim. iv. 4. 
 
 27 The invitation supposed is 
 to a private meal, not in the 
 temple. For the transposition 
 of Twv aTTto-Twv comp. viii. 11, ix. 
 10, XV. 19. 
 
 Oe\€T€, 'are anxious to go.^ 
 This shows that the persons 
 addressed are the enlightened 
 party. 
 
172 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 28-XI. 1. 
 
 diixevov vfjuv icrOueTe fJirjhev avaKptvovTes 8ta ty)!/ crvvei^T]' 
 (TLV, ^^eav be rts v/xtz^ einr} Tovto lepouvrov ecmv, jjltj 
 iaOiere Sl kKeivov tov yirjVvcravTa koX ttjv avveiSyjo'LV.^ 
 ^^ crvveihrjCTiv 8e \iyo) ov^i T'qv iavTOv, aXXa ttjv tov eripov. 
 Iva TL yap r) iXevOepia fiov Kpiverai viro ak\7j<; crvveiSn]- 
 cre(o<s ; *^^ el ^ iyo) ^dpiTi /xere^^w, rl ^SXacrt^i^/iov/tiai virep ov 
 
 * elSuXddvTOv. ^ Add TOV yhp Kvpiov tj yrj Kol rh irK-fipa/xa avTrjs. ® el Se, 
 
 you to a feast and ye desire to go, whatsoever is set before you eat, not 
 asking questions for conscience sake. -^But if any one say to you Hhis 
 is offered in sacrifice unto idols/ eat not for his sake that showed it and 
 for conscience sake. -^Conscience I say not thine own, but that of the 
 other. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience ? ^'^If I by 
 grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give 
 
 28 Tts. Not the host (who 
 would not be again introduced in 
 this way), but one of the guests, 
 either a heathen who wished to 
 put the Christian to a test, or a 
 Jew who wished to point out the 
 danger. UpoOvrov (A. B. H.) is 
 a neutral word, elSwXoOvTov (C. 
 D. E. F. a J. K.), a contemp- 
 tuous one. 
 
 29, 30 Here follows a com- 
 pressed dialogue, like Rom. iii. 
 1-8. St. Paul says, 'By the 
 religious scruple I mean, not that 
 of the enlightened, but of the 
 weak Christian.' To which the 
 enlightened Christian answers, 
 * Why, what is this (tva ti yap) ? 
 What is the reason that my 
 liberty is to be condemned by a 
 scruple in which I have no con- 
 cern ? If J eat with a grateful 
 thanksgiving, why am I to be 
 'Why is exposed to calumny 
 my liberty for a meal for which 
 judged?' J g.^g thanks?' To 
 
 this St. Paul returns no direct 
 answer, but turns it ofi" abruptly 
 with the general conclusion in 
 verse 31 : 'If you give thanks 
 to God for what you do, remem- 
 ber that every act, even in eating 
 and drinking, must be done to 
 His glory, and if to His glory, 
 
 then without offence to any.' As 
 in Rom. iii. 1-8, instead of an- 
 swering the objector, he abruptly, 
 and as if still continuing the 
 objector's sentence, says, ' whose 
 condemnation is just.' The 
 abrupt introduction of the words 
 of the opponent may be explained 
 by the supposition that he is 
 quoting the words of the Corin- 
 thian letter, as in vi. 12, vii. 1, 
 viii. 1, X. 23, xi. 2. Compare 
 Rom. xiv. 8, where, after stating 
 the indifference of days and of 
 meats, he concludes, 'Whether 
 therefore we live qr die, we are 
 the Lord's.' 
 
 KpLverai, 'is brought under 
 judgment,' with an allusion to 
 avaKpLvovT€<s in verses 25, 27. 
 
 XapiTt, ' by grace,' and evx^pf'- 
 (ttCjj ' I give thanks,' seem to 
 refer to the Eucharistic blessing, 
 as in 26, and to imply that it 
 accompanied the social meal. 
 Compare' ver. 31, illustrated 
 by Col. iii. 17 : ' Whatsoever ye 
 do in word or deed, do all in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, giving 
 tlianhs (evxapt'O'TovvTes) to God 
 and the Father by Him.' 
 
 l3\a(T(fiY)ixovfjLaL, ' misrepresent- 
 ed.' Compare Rom. ii. 24 and 
 xiv. 16. 
 
EVIL OF THE SACEIFICIAL FEASTS. 
 
 17a 
 
 ^^ eire ovv iadteTe eire Trivere elre tl ttol- 
 
 ^'^ OLTrpOO-KOTTOL 
 
 KOL 
 
 eyo) €V)(apLcrTO) ; 
 
 eLT€y TTavra eU So^av 6eov TTOietre. 
 
 'lovSaiOLS yLvecrOe Kal "EWrjcTLV kol rrj iKKXyjcria tov Oeov, 
 
 '^'^Kauo)^ Kayco TTavra TracTLV apecTKO), ixrj LprjTcop to eixavTOu 
 
 ^ crviJi(j)opov, dXXa to tcov ttoXXwi/, Iva acodoicriv. xi. ^ p^i- 
 
 fjLTjTaL i^ov yiveo'de^ /ca^ws Kayo) ^lcttov. 
 
 ■* YtVec^e KoX ^lotfSaiois. 
 
 ffVflipipOV. 
 
 thanks? ^^ Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do. 
 all to the glory of God. ^^Give none offence, neither to Jews nor Greeks, 
 nor to the church of God, ^^even as I please all in all things, not seek- 
 ing mine own profit, but that of the many, that they may be saved. 
 XI. ^ Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. 
 
 31, 32 'To the glory of God/ 
 i.e. 'so that God may 
 •Eating receive praise (comp. 
 ingtothe VI. 20; Matt. V. Id) 
 gS/°*^ from your acts being 
 such as to cause no 
 offence, either to Jews, as shrink- 
 ing from the heathen sacrifices ; 
 or to Gentiles (comp. 28), as 
 Thatching for your acquiescence 
 in their idolatry, in order to 
 justify themselves; or to the 
 chosen people of God, convened 
 for their most solemn ordinance.' 
 
 IctOUlv Kttt TTtctv, is used in 
 speaking of the Lord's Supper, 
 xi. 22. 
 
 The form of consecrating all 
 human acts to God, was already 
 in use amongst the Jews, by 
 whom, as now amongst Mussul- 
 mans, every act was performed 
 
 'in the name of God.' The 
 peculiarity of the Apostolic pre- 
 cept seems to be that it points 
 out liow every meal may in 
 reality be eaten to the glory of 
 God; namely, by consideration 
 for the feelings of others. Epic- 
 tetus, on being asked how anyone 
 could eat so as to please God, 
 answered, 'By eating justly, 
 temperately, and thankfully.' 
 
 dpio-KO) of itself has (like ape- 
 (TKo<s) something of a bad sense. 
 Comp. Gal. i. 10. 
 
 Twv TToAAwv, not ' many ; ' but 
 * the many,' the whole mass with 
 whom he had to deal. 
 
 XI. I He here returns to his 
 own example, as in ix. 1-16, and 
 to the example of Christ, as in 
 viii. 11. 
 
174 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. X. 15 — XI. 1. 
 
 You must keep yourselves distinct from acts of idol worship, both 
 
 for your oion sake and for that of others. And the allusion just 
 madeto the Eucharist suggests an additional reason for doing so, 
 such as will come home to the common sense of all, especially of 
 you who pride yourselves on your wisdom. You know that 
 when loejoin in Messing the cup, not of heathen libations, but 
 of our sacred Christian meal, we join, as Christ Himself has 
 taught us, in partaking of His blood ; yet more, token we join 
 in breaking the loaf, we join in partaking of His body ; for the 
 very meaning of that joint act is to express that loe, the 
 Christian society, are as truly one body, the body of Christ, 
 <xs the various particles of bread are one compact loaf. Such 
 is the closeness of communion loith Christ, into which our 
 Christian feasts bring us. It now remains, on the other hand, 
 to point out how closely the sacrificial feasts of the heathens 
 bring them into connexion with the objects of their ivorship. 
 It is involved in the very principle of sacrifice. Look at the 
 Jewish sacrificial feasts, with tvhich all Jeioish converts are 
 
 familiar, and remember how entirely those feasts are identified 
 with the altar, on which the victims are killed, and upon which 
 their blood is sprinkled. However much the social elements 
 may appear to prevail, yet the religious element lies at the basis 
 of the feast. And so in the heathen sacrifices, although the 
 
 Jalse divinities to whom they are offered, have for us no real 
 existence ; yet the very words, lohich they use to designate those 
 divinities, serve to identify their act of sacrifice with that which 
 is described in the Law as a sacrifice, not to God, but to 
 demons. If then their libations be shed, and their table be 
 spread for demons, it is manifestly inconsistent with the sacred 
 cup which you drink, the sacred meal of which you partake in 
 the name of Him whose ivork on earth teas to destroy and 
 drive out demons, it is an insult to His majesty ; and as wv 
 read in the same passage of the Law, ichich speaks of the 
 heathen sacrifices. He will be roused to jealousy, and by visible 
 
 Judgments compel us to acknoioledge His power. 
 
 The conclusion, then, of the whole argument is, that 
 although in the highest sense, all these matters, as relating 
 not to things inward but outward, are absolutely indifferent, yet 
 that indifference must always be subject to two qualifications : 
 
THINGS INDIFFERENT AND SELF-DENIAL. 175 
 
 (1) That the welfare of the whole Christian man must he 
 attended to. (2) That advance in Christian holiness must 
 not be impeded, whether in ourselves or in others ; for in all 
 things we must consider others rather than ourselves. 
 
 The practical result therefore is that, although you may 
 eat of meat sold in the shambles, and accept invitations to 
 feasts in the houses of heathens, without scruple ; yet, if any 
 one try to test your belief by reminding you that it is part of a 
 sacrificial feast, then abstain. The thankful enjoyment of all 
 God^s gifts, ichich constitutes the essence of a Christian meal, 
 -ceases at once when it offends the religious scruples of others. 
 In every meal, and in every act, we must so conduct ourselves 
 as that praise and honour may return to God. This can only 
 he by avoiding carefully everything which may ensnare either 
 the Jewish or the Gentile portion of the community, or the 
 Christian community itself as convened for its solemn meals in 
 the presence of God. This is my oion conduct, as I have 
 already set it before you, and this is what I entreat you to 
 imitate in my acts of habitual self-denial, as I imitate the self- 
 sacrifice of Christ Himself, 
 
 The Apostle's View op Things Indifferent and op Self-denial. 
 
 In the three foregoing Sections there are two main subjects, 
 one rising out of and above the other. First, the settlement 
 of the question of the sacrificial feasts. Secondly, the general 
 lesson of self-denial enforced by the Apostle's own example. 
 
 (1) Of these subjects, the first may be regarded as one 
 branch of the more general question of ' things in- Contro- 
 different,' discussed in Rom. xiv 1-xv. 13. It versyre- 
 exhibits the Apostle's treatment of the difiiculties ' things in- 
 which always arise when a purer religion comes into different.' 
 contact with false or imperfect forms of worship, which from 
 long establishment have become so interwoven with social 
 usages as to appear, in fact, inseparable. In the Apostolical age 
 the chief point around which this controversy settled was the 
 sacrlficialieasts. In TertuUian's time, when the sphere of the 
 collision had become more general, and when the earlier 
 difliculty had been, to a great extent, laid to sleep, heathen 
 €ither by the authority of the Apostle or by the sub- sacrifices ; 
 
176 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 sidence of the Jewish scruples on unclean meats, the question 
 heathen related rather to the attendance on public amusements, 
 amuse- or the service in the Roman armies, and occasioned 
 ^^^^' the two celebrated treatises 'De Spectaculis,' and 
 ' De Corona Militis.' In a yet further stage of this collision 
 of Christianity with Paganism, the question of the lawfulness 
 of attendance on pagan or semi-pagan rites was exchanged for 
 the question of the lawfulness of transplanting them into the 
 Christian soil. And lastly, within the bosom of the Christian 
 secular Church itself, there has always lingered an echo of the 
 pursuits, older controversy, in the question whether amusements 
 or practices which belong to heathen times, or to the more se- 
 cular course of the world, are of themselves to be shunned as 
 profane. 
 
 The decision of the Apostle in regard to the abstract view of 
 Decision the casc is clear and positive. Whereas up to this 
 in their time, not only Jewish doctors, but Christian Apostles, 
 by^the had deemed that Gentile converts should altogether 
 Apostle, abstain from a feast of meats offered to idols, St. Paul 
 declares that, in itself, it contained no pollution ; that, unless 
 expressly asserted to be a religious ceremony, it might be fairly 
 treated as a social meal, to be celebrated with the usual forms 
 of Christian devotion. The same principle had, indeed, been 
 involved in the precept and example of Gamaliel, who, when 
 reproached with bathing in the baths of Ptolemais (Acre) in an 
 apartment where there was a statue of Venus, replied, * The 
 bath was not made for the statue, but the statue for the bath.' 
 But it was reserved for the Apostle to make this principle, not 
 merely the rule of a philosophical school, but the law of the 
 whole Christian world. In all the circumstances which have just 
 been described as giving birth to similar questions, the main 
 tendency, the genius (if one may use the expression) of Chris- 
 tendom, has followed, sometimes, perhaps, even with exagge- 
 by Ter- rated freedom, in the wake of the Apostle's decision, 
 tullian, « Loca non contaminant, sed quae fiunt in locis,' was 
 the verdict with which even the fervent Tertullian closed the 
 question about the entrance into temples and theatres. Gre- 
 by Gre- go^y ^^^ Great advised Augustine of Canterbury not to 
 So^» destroy, but to Christianize, every heathen building 
 
 and every heathen custom in Britain. John Wesley's well- 
 known saying,whenhe adapted profane tunes to sacred 
 ^^' songs, is but an expression of the common sense of 
 
THINGS INDIFFERENT AND SELF-DENIAL. 177 
 
 Christendom. If Christianity gave the death-blow to the spec- 
 tacles of the amphitheatre, it was not on account of their ido- 
 latrous rites, but of their cruelty. If the licentious and super- 
 stitious parts of the pagan ritual disappeared on the ^^^ . 
 conversion of the Empire, the great mass of its usages Christen- 
 has been retained wherever any Christian ceremonial ^o"^ 8^" 
 of any extent has been maintained. If a few ardent 
 spirits have been, in later times, eager in denouncing as profane 
 all secular arts and amusements, they have failed in producing 
 any deep impression on the bulk of the Christian community, 
 which has always been wont, often it may be with injustice, to 
 regard their efforts as the sallies of a sectarian and mistaken zeal. 
 (2) Such, in spite of the qualifications with which he guards 
 it, is the abstract principle laid down by the Apostle, Union of 
 especially in viii. 8, x. 23, 25, 26, 27. But the true toleration 
 moral greatness of this passage consists, not in its gardfor 
 announcement of Christian liberty, but in its exhibi- scruples. 
 tion of Christian love. It expresses the rare union of wide 
 toleration with tender sympathy ; such as at once elevates 
 characters above the mere mass either of thinking or of feeling 
 men ; such as presents, in the contemplation of the human 
 mind, a sense of interest and beauty, analogous to that which 
 is awakened in the physical world by a view containing the 
 varied elements of mountain and lowland scenery. With the 
 deepest conviction of the utter indifference of meats in them- 
 selves, and of the utter groundlessness of the scruples raised 
 concerning them, the Apostle checks himself in full view of 
 the liberty which he forbore to grasp, with the sentiment, ' I 
 will not eat flesh whilst the world standeth, lest I make my 
 brother to offend.' This is the expression of his self-denial in 
 its first fervour of love. The second stage of his example dis- 
 closes it, in its more general form, under the strictest control of 
 forethought and sagacity; — ' I have become all things to all men, 
 if by any means I might save some.' The third and last stage 
 is summed up in the words, often since repeated by preachers 
 and teachers as matter of course, but then uttered with all the 
 freshness of real humility and awe, so unlike any hierarchical 
 or philosophical pretensions, so strongly contrasted even with 
 his own Apostolical greatness, that translators have tried to 
 soften down the vehemence of the expression, ' I " bruise " my 
 body and bring it into " slavery," lest when I have preached 
 to others I myself should be " proved unworthy.'-' ' 
 
 N 
 
178 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 Few later parallels to this double phase of the Apostle's 
 character can be found. Something of the self-denying versa- 
 tility of the Apostle, becoming, for no selfish object, but for a 
 great public cause, ^ all things to all men,' was seen in some of 
 the chief Roman Catholic saints of the seventeenth century. 
 Such seems to have been Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorias 
 — such, some of the better spirits of ^ the Society of Jesus,' es- 
 pecially Francis Xavier. He, it is true, was much which they 
 were not : the other great characters of the sixteenth century 
 exhibit the freeness and breadth of Christianity as these exhibit 
 its fervour and tenderness ; in any case a mechanical copy of 
 either him or them is impossible. But it is not unimportant to 
 ask how much and how little of his example are still applicable ; 
 how far reckless disregard of scruples is really inseparable from 
 the one side of human character, or craft and submissive servility 
 from the other; how far the tenderness and pliancy of the 
 ancient Greek or the modern Spaniard or Italian can be united 
 with the fixed conviction of the ancient Jew, with the truth 
 and freedom of the modern Englishman or German. 
 
WORSHIP AND ASSEMBLIES. 179 
 
 ANSWERS TO THE LETTER OF THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 (continued). 
 
 Worship and Assemblies. 
 
 XI. 2 XIV. 40. 
 
 The opening words of this Section, which apply more or less 
 to all that follows in xi. 2-xiv. 40, imply that, as in vii. 1, viii. 
 1, he still has before him some letter or statement of the Co- 
 rinthian Church, from which he quotes and adopts their argu- 
 ment, followed probably by questions. 'You claim *' my praise 
 for remembering me and keeping my commands as I com- 
 manded you ; " ' to which he replies here, as in xi. 1 7 and 22, 
 that they have his praise, but with certain grave exceptions, 
 which he proceeds to specify. 
 
 The first exception of the Apostle relates to the abandon- 
 ment of the usual Grecian head-dress by the Corinthian 
 women, when they met in the Christian assemblies. In order 
 to understand the stress laid by the Apostle on what would 
 seem to us a matter of comparative insignificance, we must 
 recall the importance attached in the ancient world to dress, 
 as indicative of national customs or moral habits, j 
 In the early days of Greece, the longer or shorter of dress in 
 garment which a man wore at once declared whe- *^® ancient 
 ther he belonged to the Ionian or Dorian race ; 
 in other words, it was an index to the gods of his worship, the 
 mode of his education, the moral and religious ideas which 
 formed the basis of his character. And, although this was pro- 
 bably worn out before the first century of the Christian era, 
 yet the language of the Roman satirists, especially Juvenal, 
 points to the moral importance of deviations, however slight, 
 from the national costume.^ 
 
 Amongst the fashions of dress which admitted of no variation, 
 was that which Greece (with the exception of Lacedaemon) re- 
 tained in common with the Oriental nations gene- Head-dress 
 rally, of women always appearing in public with of women. 
 their heads covered (not, indeed, with a veil, but) with the 
 
 ^ See the notes of Ludovicus Capellus, on xi. 4. 
 k2 
 
180 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 ' peplum/ or shawl, which they commonly wore on their 
 shoulders, but on public occasions threw over their heads like 
 a hood. The Theban veil (Dicaearch. Descr. Grasc. x.), and 
 that of Tarsus (Dio Chrys. Orat. 1), are described as covering 
 the whole face except the eyes, as still in Mussulman countries. 
 Great stress was laid by the latter Jewish authorities- on the 
 veiling of the women ; and though they were unveiled in the 
 synagogues, this was because they were shut off from the men, 
 and so in private. ^ The special covering here meabt is described 
 in xi. 15 as a mantle [irspi^oXaiov). This word, in the only 
 other passage where it occurs in the New Testament (Heb. i. 12, 
 from Ps. cii. 26), and in all the passages in the LXX. Ver- 
 sion of the Old Testament, means, according to its derivation, 
 a mantle or covering wrapt round the body, like iin^oXacov, 
 which is used indifferently for a ^mantle,' as in Judg, iv. 18 ; 
 or for a * kerchief on the head, Ezek. xiii. 18; and so 
 in Mark xiv. 72, sTn/SaXcDv sKXaisv probably signifies, ^ he 
 drew his mantle ' (the Oriental hyke) ^ over his head, and 
 began to weep.' In this passage the Apostle would refer to 
 the ' peplum,' which the Grecian women used ordinarily as 
 a shawl, but on public occasions as a hood also, especially 
 at funerals and marriages ; of which last an instance is given 
 in a woodcut in ' Smith's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities ' 
 {Peplum), representing the reception of the bride thus hooded, 
 by her husband bareheaded, at the door of the nuptial 
 chamber, and thus exhibiting, in a lively form, the contrast 
 here intended. 
 
 This costume the Corinthian women had ventured to disuse, 
 in the Christian assemblies, where, as one may suppose, they 
 would urge that, all distinctions of sex being done away in the 
 presence of Christ, it was unworthy the dignity of a Christian 
 prophetess to wear the badge of seclusion, almost of servitude, 
 which belonged to her only as a Grecian wife. 
 
 See the Rabbis, quoted in Wetstein and Lightfoot, on xi. 5. 
 
DISUSE OF FEMALE HEAD-DKESS. 
 
 181 
 
 ^^EiraLVco Se vfias,^ on iroivra fjiov ixefJivrjcrOe kol Kadco^ 
 irapeScoKa vfuv tols TrapaSocrets /care^^ere. ^ Oe\co Se u/xa^ 
 eiSeVat otl 7ravro<; dvSpos rj fcec^aXi^ 6 ypiCTTO^ icrriv^ /ce- 
 ^aXT7 8e yvvaiKo^ 6 av-qp^ Ke(j)a\r) Se ^ [roi;] \pLcrTox) o ^edc. 
 
 • Add d5eA</)of. * Omit rod. 
 
 *Now T praise you, that ye remember me in all things and keep the com- 
 mands as I commanded them to you. ^But I would have you know that 
 the head of every man is Christ, and the head of woman is the man, and 
 
 ' Traditions.* 
 
 2 The words TrapeSwKa, Trapa- 
 Soorets, as applied to 
 the teaching of the 
 
 Apostles, are used for the 
 communication sometimes of 
 practical regulations, as here, 
 2 Thess. iii. 6, and Acts xvi. 4 ; 
 sometimes of facts, as in xi. 23, 
 XV. 3 ; sometimes of warnings, 
 as in 2 Thess. ii. 15. They 
 correspond to TrapayycAAw, ira- 
 payyeXia, in classical Greek. The 
 verb is well expressed by the 
 Latin * trado,' as in the phrase 
 
 * docendo^ narrando, trado.'' The 
 word * tradition,' formed from 
 the less frequent substantive 
 
 * traditio,' in its present sense 
 implies ' handing down orally 
 from generation to generation,' 
 a meaning alien to passages like 
 the present. Here the word is 
 best expressed by ' command ' or 
 
 * communication ; ' such ' com- 
 mand ' being sometimes oral, 
 sometimes written (2 Thess. ii. 
 15), but always delivered, not 
 
 * traditionally ' through many 
 links, but direct from the teacher 
 to the taught. 
 
 3 *But I would have you 
 know ' (^e\a) Se v/>tas ciSevat, 
 OfXoi v/xas ovK ayvoeiv) is the 
 usual formula by which he pre- 
 faces an objection or a warning, 
 X. 1, xii. 1, 2 Thess. iv. 13. 
 
 The argument springs from the 
 relation, so often insisted upon, 
 between Christ and the human 
 race, the image being here more 
 vividly brought out than in vi. 
 15, X. 16, by the representation of 
 Christ, not only as the body, but 
 as the Head. From this rela- 
 tion, to which alone the metaphor 
 properly applies, he illustrates 
 the relation of the man to the 
 woman ; being thereby enabled 
 to turn the metaphor into an 
 argument directly bearing on 
 the practical question ; as though 
 he said, ' If the man is thus the 
 head of the woman, then, in a 
 religious sense, her head is not 
 her own ; it is the type or like- 
 ness of her husband.' The last 
 words, explaining the relation 
 of Christ to God, result from the 
 usual tendency of the Apostle 
 to fill up the whole view of his 
 readers with the subject of which 
 he is speaking. See iii. 23 ; and, 
 for the general truth conveyed 
 in the expression, see xv. 27. 
 For the illustration of the rela- 
 tion of husband and wife by the 
 relation of Christ and man, see 
 Eph. V. 23. 
 
 In describing this truth, ar- 
 Op(x)7ro<s would have been the 
 natural word to use with refer- 
 ence to Christ, as in xv. 45 ; 
 
182 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 4—9. 
 
 ^Tras avrjp irpocrev^^oixevos rj TTpocjyrjTevcov 
 €)(Oiv Karaicr^vei rrjv Ke^aXy]v avTov, ^ 
 
 Kara Ace(^aX^9 
 TTttcra Se yvvrj 
 
 the head of Christ is God. ■* Every man x-raying or j)rophesying having 
 his head covered dishonoureth his head. ^ But every woman that prayeth 
 
 but for the sake of the contrast 
 with ' woman,' he has changed 
 it to avrjp. (See note to verse 9.) 
 4 The practice of men praying 
 with covered heads is attacked, 
 not because any such peculiar 
 custom existed at Corinth, but 
 for the sake of illustrating the 
 practice of the women. The 
 Romans (see Servius ad ^n. iii. 
 405) and the Jews prayed with 
 their heads veiled ; and the Jews, 
 like all Oriental nations, still 
 express reverence by uncovering, 
 not the head, but the feet, and 
 add to the common covering of 
 the hat or turban that of the veil 
 or 'tallith.' The pertinacity 
 with which, in modern syna- 
 gogues, they keep their heads 
 covered, is partly derived from 
 the practice of the Levites in 
 the Temple, partly from the laws 
 of Maimonides for Jews in Ma- 
 hometan countries. (Capellus 
 ad loc.) If, therefore, St. Paul 
 alludes to any existing custom as 
 a sanction for his position that 
 men should pray uncovered, it 
 must be that of the Greeks, who 
 usually went bareheaded, not 
 only (as is still the case in 
 Greece) in common life, but in 
 worship. (See Macrob. Sat. i. 
 8, iii. 6, quoted by Grotius on 
 this passage.) The context im- 
 plies that he is speaking only of 
 public prayer and prophesying. 
 He begins by attacking, not the 
 practice itself, but the exag- 
 gerated feeling from which it 
 proceeded. ' Internally and spi- 
 ritually there is no longer any 
 distinction of sex ; but viewed 
 
 externally, there is a graduated 
 scale in creation, which no in- 
 ward change can invert. Christ, 
 the second Adam in this new 
 creation, is to the whole human 
 race, and to every member of it, 
 as the head to the body. In like 
 manner man, although one with 
 the woman, is yet as the head, 
 without which her existence 
 would be incomplete. And so 
 (to go back to the example of 
 Christ, and see this principle of 
 subordination carried into the 
 very highest sphere of all) God, 
 although one with Christ, is yet 
 the Head from which He comes 
 and to which He returns.' 
 
 Kara KCcfiaXyjs e^cov (^scil. Til SO 
 Esther vi. 12, LXX.) ; ' He dis- 
 honours his head.' Both the lite- 
 ral and the metaphorical sense 
 are included. ' He dishonours his 
 head by an unseemly effeminate 
 practice (see note on verse 14) ; 
 and thereby Christ, who is his 
 spiritual Head.' The head, as 
 being the symbol of Christ, is 
 treated with the same religious 
 reverence as is the body, in vi. 
 19, as being the temple of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 5 For the prophesying of 
 women in the Christian Church, 
 see Acts ii. 18, xxi. 9. 
 
 dKaTaKaXvTTToi may be * bare- 
 headed,' or (as in 2 Cor. iii. 
 18, dvaKeKaXv/xyaevos) ' unveiled,' 
 probably the former; implying 
 the absence, not of a veil for the 
 face, but of a covering for the 
 head. This agrees better with 
 Plutarch, Quaest. Rom. c. 11 
 (where the nearly corresponding 
 
DISUSE OF FEIHALE HEAD-DRESS. 
 
 183 
 
 Trpocrev)(Ofi€vr) rj 7rpo(l)r)Tevovaa aKaTaKokvirTco rrj Ke(l>a\7J 
 KaTaLcr)(yP€L 7r}v /cec^aX^i^ ^avrrj^. tv yap icmv koL to avTO 
 rrj i^vp'qp.ivrj. ^ el yap ov KaTaKakvirTeTai yvvrj^ koX kel- 
 pdcrOco ' el 8e alo-)(pov yvvaiKL to KeipaaOai tj ^vpaaOai, 
 KaTaKokviTTecrOo). ^ ai^rjp fxep yap ovk o^eikei KaTaKa- 
 XvTTTeadai ttjv Ke(^a\riVy eiKcov koX Sofa Oeov virdp^oiV 
 ^71 yvvi] he 8ofa dvhpos icTTLV. ^ov yap ecTTiv dvrjp e/c 
 -yvvaiKOS, dWd yvvy] ef dvhp6<;* ^ Ka\ yap ovk eKTiaOy) 
 
 ^ kavTTis. " Om. 7]. 
 
 or prophesieth with her head unveiled dishonoureth her head. For that 
 is even all one as if she were shaven. ^For if the woman be not veiled, 
 let her also be shorn : but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or 
 fihaven, let her be veiled. "^For a man indeed ought not to veil his head, 
 forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God ; but the woman is the 
 glory of man. ^For man is not of woman, but woman of man : ^for 
 
 words dTrapaKoAvTrra) r^ KefftaXyj 
 are used simply as the equivalent 
 of the Latin *aperto capite'), 
 with the comparison to the hair 
 of the woman, with the stress 
 laid on the head, and with the 
 mention of the Tnpi^oXaiov in 
 verse 15. 
 
 Here again, in the word ' head ' 
 is contained the double allusion 
 both to her own head, and her 
 husband's as represented by it. 
 This disgrace is illustrated by 
 the comparison of the loss of the 
 head-dress to the loss of hair, 
 which in Greece, as well as in 
 Judaea, was regarded as a special 
 mark of infamy in a woman (see 
 Aristoph. Thesmoph. 838), as 
 being confined either to women 
 of bad character (comp. Tac. 
 Germ. 19) ; or else to cases of 
 mourning and vows, as amongst 
 the Jews and Romans (Deut. 
 xxi. 12 ; and see the classical 
 quotations in Grotius and Wet- 
 stein ad loc, and Smith's Classi- 
 cal Dictionary, Coma and Yes- 
 talis). 
 
 6 KetpaaOaL, ' cropped or cut 
 short.' ivpaa-Oat, 'shaved.' 
 
 7-9 is the resumption of the 
 
 argument of verse 3, only that 
 the relation to Christ is here 
 dropped, and the relation of man 
 to God, as based on the early 
 chapters of Genesis, substituted 
 for it. * He is created in the 
 image of God, and therefore is 
 the reflex of the glory of God, 
 " being crowned with glory and 
 honour, and having therefore 
 dominion over the works of God" 
 (Ps. viii. 5, 6 ; Gen. i. 26) ; and 
 he, therefore, ought to have 
 nothing on a head which repre- 
 sents so Divine a majesty, nothing 
 on a countenance which reflects 
 so Divine a glory. (Compare for 
 the last image, 2 Cor. iii. 18.) 
 But the woman is a reflex of the 
 glory not of God, but of man ; he 
 intercepts the glory of the Divine 
 countenance ; as all his outward 
 manifestations have reference to 
 God, so all hers have reference to 
 man Hence we read in Gen. ii. 
 21, that the woman was " taken 
 out of the side of man," and the 
 reason of this {koI yap) was that 
 the woman was made to be an 
 " help meet for man," when " it 
 was not good that he should be 
 alone."' (Gen. ii. 18.) The 
 
184 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 10. 
 
 avrjp Sta t^u yvvaiKa, aXKa yvvrj Sta tov avhpa. ^^hiau 
 neither was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. ^^For 
 
 quotation from Gen. ii. 21 is thus 
 a result of that from Gen. ii. 
 18 ; and the quotation from the 
 latter, a reason for that from 
 the former. The whole stress, 
 as often in Scripture, is fixed on 
 one word, and all the rest of the 
 imagery is, as it were, left to 
 shift for itself. Such is here the 
 case with the word 'glory.' 
 Taken strictly, the woman is as 
 much the image of God as the 
 man ; and the words in Gen. i. 26 
 are in the original addressed to 
 male and female equally, under 
 the common name of 'Adam,' or 
 ' man.' ' God created man in 
 His own image, male and female 
 created he them ' (see Gen i. 
 27, and comp. Gen. v. 1, 2). 
 But this was not to the purpose 
 of the Apostle's present argu- 
 ment, and he therefore puts out 
 of sight the relation of woman to 
 God, by omitting altogether in 
 her case the word ' image,' and 
 dwelling only on her subordina- 
 tion to man, for the sake of 
 which alone he had brought 
 forward the contrast of the great- 
 ness of man. The general cha- 
 racter of man, under the Hebrew 
 • name answering to av^pwTro?, on 
 which the passage of Genesis 
 dwells, is here, as in verse 3, 
 merged in the word dv-^p, which 
 only expresses his relation to the 
 woman. 
 
 lo The general sense of this 
 text, as gathered from the con- 
 text, can be nothing more or less 
 than an assertion of the subordi- 
 nation of the woman to the man. 
 But in the difficulty of its several 
 portions, it stands alone in the 
 New Testament, unless perhaps 
 
 we except Rev. xiii. 18, or GaL 
 iii. 20. Each part has its own 
 peculiar obscurity. 
 
 (I) ' Power on her „ 
 
 i_ 1 , ,/. / , V « 'Power on 
 head, c^ovo-tav cm rry? her head.' 
 
 K€(fiaXrj<;. The nume- 
 rous conjectural emendations 
 are : (1) iiov^tav, a supposed 
 Latinism, for ' exuviae.' (2) l^ov- 
 crtW, a supposed derivative of 
 €^ts, ' a habit,' or a mistranslation 
 of ' habitum,' on the hypothesis 
 that the Epistle was written in 
 Latin. (3) i$Lovora, ' when she 
 goes out.' (4) i^ ova-ta'?, ' ac- 
 cording to her nature.' (5) 
 i^ovata, ' the woman who is the 
 glory of the man.' (6) Kava-iav, 
 ' a broad-brimmed Macedonian 
 hat.' (7) A Grecised form of 
 the Hebrew word ' cesooth,* 
 ' casooi,' — ' a covering.' 
 
 Rejecting all these conjec- 
 tures, the simplest explanation 
 would be that iiovaia is an 
 unusual name for a ' veil,' or 
 ' covering.' Various approxima- 
 tions to such a sense have been 
 discovered. In Arculphus, a.d. 
 700 (De Sanctis Locis) ; and in 
 Paulus (Pand. Flor. iii. D.) a.d. 
 200, quoted in Columesius ' Ob- 
 servationes Sacrae, p. 22, the word 
 ' imperium ' occurs amongst an 
 enumeration of female ornaments* 
 So ' impera ' and ' imperia ' are 
 used in Digest. 23, 10, 34, 2, and 
 ' Regnum ' is used for the im- 
 perial crown, from the time of 
 Constantino downwards (see 
 Ducange in voce). In Hebrew, 
 inn ' radid,' which in Isa. iii. 23 ; 
 Cant. V. 7, is used for a ' veil,' is 
 derived from the root 111, m"k 
 ' radad, radah,' ' to subdue.' But 
 
DISUSE OF FEMALE HEAD-DRESS. 185- 
 
 TovTO 6(^eiX€ rj yvvrf i^ovaCav ^xeuv iirl tt]<; Ke(j)a\rj<; StcL 
 this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the 
 
 the root from which * radid ' is 
 derived, is not necessarily that 
 of * power,' but ' of drawing out 
 as over a surface * (as in 1 Kings 
 vi. 32). In Greek the only in- 
 stance ever adduced of such a 
 use of the word e^ovo-ta, is the 
 phrase iiova-iav TpiX(i)fJiaTO<s in 
 Callistratus ('EKc^/aao-ct?, p. 896), 
 which, however, even if it be the 
 correct reading, has no reference 
 to dress ; but, as in p. 907 of the 
 same work, expresses the form or 
 quantity of the hair. 
 
 Such are the only instances 
 which the learning of seventeen 
 centuries has been able to pro- 
 duce in illustration of the mean- 
 ing of iiova-iav as a ' veil.' They 
 cannot go further than to show 
 that there may have been a 
 Cilician provincialism, of which 
 no other example is extant, but 
 of which the Latin and Hebrew 
 analogies may afford a slight 
 confirmation. It remains, there- 
 fore, to suppose that the Apostle 
 uses the phrase to signify ' the 
 symbol of the man's power over 
 the woman, as expressed in the 
 covering of the head.' It is true 
 that, over and above the harsh- 
 ness of the expression, there are 
 several grave objections to this 
 use of the word, i^ova-ta in these 
 earlier Epistles (1 Cor. viii. 9, 
 ix. 4, 5, 12, 18 ; 2 Cor. x. 8, xiii. 
 10; 2 Thess. iii. 9) does not 
 mean ' dominion ' but * right ' or 
 * liberty.' The phrase (Ixovtrav 
 
 Diod. Sic. i. 47 — ' three king- 
 doms,' i.e. 'three crowns'), 
 commonly quoted to justify this 
 use of the name of the thing 
 signified for the symbol, though 
 
 natural where the power spoken 
 of belongs to the person, would 
 be unnatural when applied to. 
 the power exercised over that 
 person by some one else. Still,, 
 in default of any better expla- 
 nation, it may be urged that 
 e^oucrta in the Gospels and later 
 Epistles is used constantly for 
 'authority,' or ' dominion,' that 
 in one instance (e^ovcrtaa-^rycro/Aai, 
 vi. 12) there is an indication of 
 such a use in this Epistle, and 
 that the fact of the veil or hood 
 being used in marriage would 
 suggest the idea of its being a 
 symbol of the husband's power, 
 especially if the root of the He- 
 brew word (as above mentioned) 
 were present to the Apostle's 
 mind. For a similar instance of 
 the Apostle's recurrence to the 
 root of the Hebrew words which 
 he Grecises, see 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 Nor should we forget the Roman 
 * capitis diminutio ' which the 
 woman underwent on taking the 
 veil in the ' confarreatio.^ So 
 that the sense would then be r 
 ' Because of this subordinate re- 
 lation, the woman ought to bear 
 upon her head the mark of man's 
 dominion over her,' in allusion 
 to Gen. iii. 16, ' He shall rule 
 over thee.' Compare a similar 
 allusion in Gen. xx. 16, where 
 in the LXX. rt/xr; (whether in 
 the sense of ' honour ' or ' fine ') 
 is used to translate the Hebrew 
 n-1D? 'a covering;' and for a 
 somewhat similar train of thought 
 and expression in the Apostle 
 himself, 1 Cor. xii. 22, 23. 
 
 (II) Thus far the .Because of 
 
 sentence, though harsh, *^e Angeis/ 
 would be complete in itself. But 
 
186 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 11, 12. 
 
 Tous dyyeXovs. ^^ TrKrjv * ovTe yvvri ^wpts avSpo<; ovre avrjp 
 
 * oyre dvTjp %6opts 7t;i'atKbs, o(;t6 yuv^ X^P^^ audphs, 
 
 angels. ^^Nevertheless neither is woman without man nor man without 
 
 in the next words, in addition to 
 the reason for the covering taken 
 from subordination to man, is in- 
 troduced another reason, *0n 
 account of the angels.' Here 
 again all the conjectural emenda- 
 tions are to be rejected. As: 
 (1) 8ta TOLS dyeXas, * on account 
 of the crowds.' (2) Sea tovs 
 ttycXatovs, 'on account of the 
 men who crowded in.' (3) 8ia 
 Tovs dvSpa?, ' on account of the 
 vulgar' or 'the gazing men.' 
 (4) ^ta Tov<s cyycA-acTTas, ' on ac- 
 count of the mockers.' (5) Sea 
 Trj<s dyyeXta?, ' throughout [the 
 whole of] her [divine] message.' 
 (6) 8ta Tovs ox^ovs, ' on account 
 of the mobs.' Also all the inter- 
 pretations founded on peculiar 
 uses of the word dyye'Aovs or 8td : 
 as, (1) 'On account of the 
 Bishops or rulers.' (2) 'On 
 account of the spies sent to 
 watch the assemblies.' (3) * On 
 account of the messengers sent 
 by the bridegroom to see the 
 bride before marriage.' (4) An 
 adjuration * by the angels ' (8ia 
 for vrj). (5) 'On account of 
 divorces' — as a translation of 
 the Latin term ' nuntius ' for a 
 bill of divorce. It remains, 
 therefore, to take the words in 
 their obvious sense, ' on account 
 of the angels.* In part, the in- 
 troduction of this new idea might 
 be explained by the belief implied 
 in early Christian writers (Tert. 
 de Orat. c. 12 ; Orig. c. Gels. v. 
 233 ; Apost. Const, viii. 4) that 
 the angels were in a special man- 
 ner present at Christian worship ; 
 and that the women were to veil 
 their heads in imitation of them, 
 
 as theij (Isai. vi. 3) veiled their 
 faces in the presence of God. 
 
 But the close connexion with 
 the preceding argument implied 
 in the words 8ta tovto requires, 
 if possible, a more distinct allu- 
 sion than this to the duty of the 
 woman's subordination to man, 
 which is the main subject of the 
 sentence. The following train of 
 thought, though beset with diffi- 
 culties, may render the intro- 
 duction of the words more intel- 
 ligible. The Apostle had dwelt 
 on the necessity of this subordi- 
 nation, as shown in all the pas- 
 sages in the early chapters of 
 Genesis, where the relation of 
 the sexes is described, viz. Gen. 
 i. 26, ii. 18, 23, iii. 16. The 
 mention of these passages may 
 have carried on his thoughts to 
 the next and only kindred pas- 
 sages in Gen. vi. 2, 4, in which 
 those relations are described as 
 subverted by the union of the 
 daughters of men with the sons 
 of God, — in the version of the 
 LXX. the angels, ol dyyeXot. In 
 this case the sense would be ' In 
 this subordination of the woman 
 to man, we find the reason of the 
 custom, which, in consequence of 
 the sin of the angels, enjoins 
 that the woman ought not to 
 part with the sign that she is 
 subject, not to them, but to her 
 husband. The authority of the 
 husband is, as it were, enthroned 
 visibly upon her head, in token 
 that she belongs to him alone, 
 and that she owes no allegiance 
 to any one besides, not even to 
 the angels who stand before the 
 throne of God.' The 'fall of 
 
DISUSE OF FEMALE HEAD-DEESS. 
 
 187 
 
 12/' 
 
 p^copis yvvaiKO<; ev Kvpio)* "^(ocnrep yap tj yvvq eK tov 
 
 woman in the Lord ; ^-for as the woman is of the man, even so is the 
 
 the Angels' thus spoken of is 
 the same as that indicated in 
 Jude 6, 2 Pet. ii. 4, where the 
 context shows that the fall there 
 intended is supposed to be at the 
 time not of the creation, but of 
 the Deluge, not from pride but 
 lust. The connexion of this text 
 with the veil or head-dress is 
 illustrated by earlier Christian 
 writers. The apocryphal work 
 called the Testament of the 
 Twelve Patriarchs, speaks of the 
 watchers (iypi^opoi) before the 
 Flood being attracted by the 
 women adorning their heads and 
 faces; a practice which, it is 
 said, they pursue because they 
 have not authority (eiova-Lav) or 
 power over man. (Fabric. Cod. 
 Apoc. V. T. i. 529.) In Tertul- 
 lian the thought occurs re- 
 peatedly. See De Orat. c. 22, 
 ' Propter Angelos ait velari 
 oportere, quod angeli propter 
 lilias hominum desciverunt a 
 Deo ; ' De Virg. vel. 7, * Propter 
 ungelos scilicet quos legimus a 
 Deo et coelo excidisse propter 
 concupiscentiam fornicatorum.' 
 In the Eastern world generally 
 there are traces of the same 
 belief, both in the Jewish and 
 Mussulman traditions. It was 
 said by Rabbi Simeon, ' If a 
 woman's head (or hair) is un- 
 covered, evil spirits come and 
 sit upon it, and destroy every- 
 thing in the house.' (Wetstein 
 ad loc.) A strange story is con- 
 tained in the earliest accounts 
 of the revelations of Mahomet: 
 * Khadijah said to Mohamed 
 after his first vision, " If the 
 Angel appears, let me know." 
 Gabriel again appeared, and he 
 
 said to her, "I see him." She 
 placed him first on her left, then 
 on her right shoulder, and asked, 
 "Seest thou him still?" He 
 answered, " Yes." Then she 
 said, " Turn and lie on my 
 bosom." When he had so done, 
 she asked again, " Seest thou 
 him ? " He answered, " Yes." 
 Then she took her veil from her 
 head, and asked, " Seest thou 
 him still ? " This time he 
 answered, " No." Then she said, 
 *'By God, it is true, it is true; it 
 was an angel, and not a devil." ' 
 On this story the Arabian bio- 
 grapher remarks : ' Khadijah 
 knew from Waraka that a good 
 angel must fly from before the 
 face of an unveiled woman, 
 whilst a devil would bear it well.* 
 (Weil's Mohamed der Prophet, 
 p. 48.) 
 
 It is possible that, if the words 
 Sta TOV? ctyycAovs be SO taken, 
 the word kiova-Cav might be un- 
 derstood, not as the sign of the 
 husband's power over the woman, 
 but (in the sense most agreeable 
 to the usage of the word itself) 
 as the sign of the power or dig- 
 nity of the woman over herself, 
 protecting her from the intru- 
 sion of spirits, whether good or 
 evil. In that case compare its 
 use in vii. o7 : e^ovcrtiav ej^et Trcpt 
 TOV lSlov OeXi^iJiaTOS. 
 
 Finally, we must ask why a 
 train of argument, other- _ 
 
 ° , , 1 , Connexion 
 
 Wise simple, should be with con- 
 thus abruptly interrupt- ^^*^- 
 ed by allusions difficult in them- 
 selves, and rendered still more so 
 by their conciseness. The most 
 natural explanation seems to be 
 that he was led by a train of as- 
 
188 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 13-15. 
 
 avSpos^ ovTO}<; kol 6 avrjp Sta r-^g yvvaiKo*;^ ra Se iravTa Ik 
 Tov Seov. ^^ iv vjMv avrot? Kplvare' Trpeirov icrrlv yvvauKa 
 aKaraKoXvTTTOv tco 6e(p tt pocrev^ea 6 ai ; ^^^ ovhk rj (j)vcrL<^ 
 avTTj StSctcr/cet v/xa?, on avrjp [lev iav /co/Aa, drt/xta avrco 
 ecrrtj', ^*^yvi^a be eav KOfxa, oof a avr?; eariv; on rj KoyiTf 
 avTi Trepi^okaiov SeSorai avrfj, 
 
 man also by the woman ; but aU things of God. ^^ Judge in yourselves : 
 is it comely that a woman pray unto God unveiled'? ^^Doth not even 
 nature itself teach you, that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto 
 him, ^^but that if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her ? for her 
 hair is given her instead of a covering. 
 
 sociation familiar to his readers, 
 but lost to us. Such is the allu- 
 sion in 2 Thess. ii. 5, 6, 'Re- 
 member ye not, that, when I was 
 yet with you, I told you these 
 things ? And now ye Jmow what 
 withholdeth, &c. An argument 
 in their letter, a conversation, a 
 custom to which he had before 
 alluded, would account not only 
 for the introduction of the pas- 
 sage, but for allusions which, as 
 addressed merely to a local or 
 transitory occasion, might well 
 be couched in terms so obscure 
 as to forbid in effect, if not in 
 design, any certain or permanent 
 inference from them for future 
 ages. The difficulty of the text 
 is, in fact, the safeguard against 
 its misuse. 
 
 1 1 A qualification of verse 9, 
 'Although there is in this sub- 
 ordination, yet in their commu- 
 nion with Christ each is neces- 
 sary to the other, and both are 
 subordinate to God.' 
 
 TrXrjVf 'only.' iv KvpM, as we 
 should say, ' in Christianity.' 
 
 12 Referring to the creation 
 of woman in Gen. ii. 22, and the 
 birth of man. 
 
 CK 6€ov. For the climax com- 
 pare iii. 23. 
 
 14 A short summary of the 
 
 argument, as in x. 15-18, here, 
 as there, appealing to their com- 
 mon sense. 
 
 7] (f>v(n<5, nature, i.e. 'the na- 
 tural distinction of the long 
 tresses of the woman.' 
 
 Here, as in verses 4 and 7, the 
 example of the man is brought 
 forward only for the sake of the 
 contrast. Strictly speaking, the 
 natural argument does not apply 
 so strongly here. But at the time 
 the Apostle wrote, the j^^^^^^ 
 long hair in a man was of men 
 regarded as a mark condemned. 
 either of effeminacy or savage 
 manners. Amongst the later 
 Romans, especially after the year 
 B.C. 300, the long locks by which 
 their ancestors were distin- 
 guished were laid aside, and the 
 derivation of ' csesaries,' the hair 
 of the male sex, from ' csedo,* 
 to cut, although etymologically 
 false, is historically true. And 
 Juvenal speaks of the gathering- 
 up of the thick tresses into a 
 golden head-dress, as the last 
 climax of effeminacy and profli- 
 gacy — Reticulumque comis aura- 
 tum ingentibus implet, Sat. ii. 
 96. In the East, men usually 
 shave the whole head, leaving 
 only one long lock. 
 
DISUSE OF FEMALE HEAD-DRESS. 189 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XI. 2 — 15. 
 
 / now come to the regulations on particular subjects, which I laid 
 down, and which on the whole you have well observed ; but there 
 are exceptions which I shall proceed to notice. 
 
 First, there is the disuse of the head-dress by the women, in 
 their public prayers and prophesyings. The gradations and 
 distinctions of nature are not destroyed by Christianity ; on the 
 contrary, the order of the successive stages of life and being is 
 more clearly revealed by the opening of new spheres above the 
 range of this visible world. Christ is the ruling and control- 
 ling power, the universal prototype of every man, as the man is 
 of the woman, and as God is of Christ Himself Now, the 
 best illustration of all these relations is that of the head to the 
 body ; for this reason, the human race, the Christian society, 
 and every member of each, is represented as part of Chris fs 
 body ; He being, as it were^ the head from which they derive 
 their intelligence, their dignity, their life. The head, there' 
 fore, whether of male or female, is naturally invested with 
 peculiar importance ; and we cannot treat with indifference 
 the customs which enjoin that when the man appears in public, 
 and therefore in the public worship of God, his head, which 
 represents his Divine Master, is not to be profaned by those 
 artificial coverings or ornaments, invented by the effeminacy 
 of later times. In like manner the woman is to appear with 
 her head, the symbol of her husband, not defrauded of that 
 seemly covering which nature suggests by the long tresses 
 which it has given her, and which general custom has con- 
 firmed by making a shaven head the mark of female infamy. 
 Even in the primeval records of the human race, in those 
 solemn passages which speak of the first institution of the re- 
 lations of the sexes, you will see the grounds of this distinction. 
 There we read that, whilst man represents the nature and the 
 majesty of God, woman represents the majesty of her husband. 
 It is from the uplifted open countenance, the ^ os sublime,' of 
 man, that God is to receive glory ; it is from the covered 
 head and veiled face of woman created from his side, and 
 for his companionship, that man is to receive glory. There- 
 fore his authority is to be seen visibly resting on her head in 
 the covering which shrouds her from the view of those angelic 
 
190 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 beings who, as we read in those same primeval records, were 
 the first to break through the sacred relation of man and 
 wife, the first to entice her from that subjection to which God 
 had appointed her. It is not meant that in Christianity 
 either man or wife is independent of each other. Each by the 
 very fact of their origin is dependent, one on the other^ and 
 both on God. 
 
 But it needs no elaborate arguments to convince you of 
 this ; it is enough to appeal to the mere teaching of stature. 
 Think of the degraded effeminate appearance presented by a 
 man with long tresses of hair. Think of the glory in which a 
 woman seems to be enveloped ivith her long hair flowing round 
 her, the very image of the folds of the hood or mantle which 
 is thrown about her in imitation of it. 
 
 The Apostle's View of Socul and National Distinctions. 
 
 The practical effect of this Section on the customs of Christ- 
 endom is well known. Whatever may have been its reception 
 in the Church of Corinth, the recommendation of the Apostle 
 has been so strictly observed in later times, that, in contradis- 
 tinction to the practice which prevails in Jewish synagogues 
 and Mussulman mosques, no man would, as an ordinary rule,, 
 be found in a Christian place of worship with his head 
 effect of covered : no female with hers uncovered.^ What was 
 the Apo- [j^ i\^Q first instance laid down as a sanction of the 
 commen- Grecian peplum in Christian assemblies, and as a re- 
 dation. straint on the first excitement of Christian converts, 
 is now observed in countries to which the details of Greek 
 society are wholly unknown, in which ebullitions of wild 
 fanaticism are the last evil to be dreaded in Christian worship. 
 It is instructive to witness this instance of unconscious obedi- 
 ence to the incidental recommendation of one who then felt 
 himself called upon to enforce it by a complicated and elaborate 
 argument, which has in its turn afibrded, by two obscure ex- 
 pressions (xi. 10), an occasion for the diligence and ingenuity 
 
 * Holland is an exception. In i only. See Ludovicus Capellus on 
 Dntch congregations, men uncover ! xi. 4. 
 their heads during the Psalmody I 
 
DISUSE OF FEMALE HEAD-DEESS. 191 
 
 of scholar after scliolar in the whole field of philological and 
 antiquarian learning. 
 
 But it is of more importance to ascertain the principles 
 involved in the Apostolic rule. The first is the asser- principles 
 tion that Christianity does not directly affect the social involved : 
 relation of the sexes. That it has indirectly afiected ^jq^ ^f [^^ 
 it, is indeed proved by the whole state of domestic so- sexes not 
 ciety in modern Europe, in part, doubtless, owing to affected by 
 the infusion of Teutonic customs, but in part, at least, Christian- 
 owing to the gentleness and tenderness of the Christian ^^^' 
 character, as well as to the direct assertion of the spiritual 
 equality of the sexes, not only in the Gospel narrative, but by 
 the Apostle himself in his declaration that ' in Christ Jesus 
 there is neither male nor female.'^ But here, as in the case of 
 slavery, it wa^ of the highest importance to the success of the 
 destined amelioration, that it should take place by a gradual 
 development of Christian principles, not by an abrupt revo- 
 lution. To what excesses the alleged indifference to the dis- 
 tinction of sexes led in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries is well 
 known ; and it was, therefore, not without reason that in the 
 first burst of excitement which accompanied the announce- 
 ment of Christian freedom, the Apostle should throw himself 
 across its path, appeal to the earliest records of society, the 
 simplest instincts of natural taste and decency, and suppress 
 the first outward mark of the exception claimed by Christian 
 prophetesses from ordinary social customs. The choice of the 
 flag has been known to turn the tide of human revolution, not 
 because of its colour or of the ideas which its colour represented, 
 but because of the spirit of those who proposed it. The rejec- 
 tion of the Grecian head-dress maybe considered as the triumph 
 of Apostolical order over fanatical anarchy, not because it was 
 itself less orderly or less becoming, but because of the feeling 
 which had prompted its adoption. 
 
 And this brings us to the second point worthy of note in this 
 advice; namely, the solemn sanction given by the Apostle 
 to what might be thought merely a local or national fashion. 
 In this instance it resulted in great measure from the 2. Sanction 
 importance then attached to the outward manifesta- of legal 
 tions of character in costume ; ^ and the same may tionaT" 
 be said of the allusions to dress in other parts of usages. 
 
 * Gal. ill. 28. ^ See Notes on verses 3, 5, 14. 
 
192 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 the Epistles.^ But it is also remarkable as showing how com- 
 pletely the Apostle identified himself with what was, as far 
 as appears, a merely Grecian custom ; belonging in part, in- 
 deed, to the Oriental world generally, but in part, peculiar to 
 the Greeks. Seeing that it was an ancient national practice, 
 he felt that it ought as fully to receive the sanction of the 
 Christian Church, as if it had come down from Abraham or 
 Moses. And if the thoughts with which he brings it into 
 connexion seem almost too sacred for an occasion and subject 
 comparatively so insignificant, we must remember that the vivid 
 consciousness of the presence of Christ in all things justified to 
 him the outward expression of that which to us can only exist 
 inwardly and ideally. To one thoroughly penetrated with the 
 religious and serious sense of natural objects, 
 
 the meanest flower can give 
 Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 
 
 And in like manner, to one who lived in the intense conviction 
 that on him lay the awful responsibility of bringing the whole 
 world in to communion with Christ, there was no custom so 
 trivial — the head-dress, the flowing tresses of the woman, the 
 relation of husband and wife, the relation of women to society 
 in general — that did not recall to his mind their conunon rela- 
 tion to Christ and to God. It was not that the veil of the 
 woman (in modern phrase) ' symbolised ' the supremacy of 
 Christ, but that, even in an avowedly secular and Gentile 
 practice, he was reminded of the truths which he had to 
 deliver. 
 
 1 See xii. 23 ; 1 Tim. ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. iii. 3 ; James ii. 2. 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 193 
 
 ANSWERS OF ST. PAUL (continued). 
 
 Disputes in the Public Assemblies, and especially at the 
 Lord's Suppee. 
 
 XL 16—34. 
 
 In order to enter into the following passage, it is necessary 
 to form some conception of the celebration of the Eucharist 
 in the Apostolical Church. The earliest recorded instance of 
 the practice may be taken as a type of the rest. ' They con- 
 tinued daily, with one accord in the Temple (of Jerusalem), 
 and breaking bread from house to house {kXmvtss ts Kar oIkov 
 dprov), did eat their meat in gladness and singleness of heart, 
 praising God and having favour with all the people.' Acts 
 ii. 46. That this has reference to the Communion is clear 
 from the emphatic expression of * breaking bread,' repeated 
 from verse 42 : ^ They " were attending " on the Apostles' 
 "teaching," fellowship, and breaking of bread, and prayers,' 
 where the insertion of the expression between two directly 
 religious acts, clearly indicates that it has itself a religious 
 character. ' Breaking bread ' would be obviously insufficient 
 to describe a common meal ; whereas, if we suppose it to have 
 been the chief act of the Eucharistic Supper, and to have been 
 in fact its earliest name, we can understand how it was used 
 to express the whole ordinance. Compare the recurrence of 
 the same words (dprov sKkaasv) at the opening of each of the 
 four accounts of the institution, and in the allusion to it in 
 X. 16 (rov dpTov ov KXcofjLsv), From this account, then, we 
 gather two things : (1 ) That it was an act of religious worship ; 
 the expression of Christian devotion in private, as the Temple 
 service was the expression of general devotion in public. 
 (2) That it was in some manner either directly connected with 
 or a part of a common daily meal. The words ^ daily ' (kuO^ 
 rifispav), ^ in their private houses ' {/car oIkov), * partook of their 
 food ' (fiersXd/ji^avov rrjs rpocprjs), conjointly taken, admit of no 
 other interpretation. 
 
 With these indications agree all the other passages which 
 mention it. In Acts xx. 7, we read that * the disciples came 
 together at Troas, on the first day of the week to break bread.'' 
 
 o 
 
194 ' FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Here again the mention of the first day of the week (compare 
 1 Cor. xvi. 2) indicates something of a religious character in 
 the meeting of the disciples, while, at the same time, all the 
 accompaniments are those of an ordinary parting meal ; the 
 lateness of the hour, from evening to midnight, and from mid- 
 night till the break of day ; the long conversations {o/jLcXrjo-as 
 not having yet acquired its historical sense of 'preaching'); 
 the taking of nourishment for the journey, which is imme- 
 diately connected with the mention of the Apostle's departure 
 — KXdaas aprov fcal ysvcrd/jbsvos. . . . ovrco9 £^r)\6sv, where 
 ysvo-dfjLsvos implies not merely ' eaten,' but ' made a meal ' 
 (compare Acts x. 10 ; Luke xiv. 24). 
 
 More doubtful, perhaps, but still in the same direction, is 
 the narrative of Acts xxvii. 35, which relates how on board 
 the ship St. Paul ' took bread, and gave thanks to God : and 
 when he had broken it, he began to eat. And then were they 
 all of good cheer, and themselves partook of the food.' That 
 this was an ordinary meal is obvious ; and as a great proportion 
 of the crew were heathens, it could not have been, in the same 
 sense as in the two previous passages, regarded as a full cele- 
 bration of the Eucharist. But the exact copy of the words of 
 the first institution could hardly have occurred, without intend- 
 ing to imply that there was at least a pointed reference to it in 
 the Apostle's act. 
 
 The only remaining allusions in the New Testament are 
 those contained in this Epistle, which still confirm the practice 
 as we find it in the Acts. Thus in x. 16-22, although the 
 cup is more prominently brought forward in opposition to the 
 heathen libations, the main argument implies, as in the Acts, 
 that the breaking of the bread was the most significant part of 
 the ceremony ; through it the partakers became, or intimated 
 that they were, ^ the body of Christ.' In like manner the 
 union of the religious with the social dementis also apparent, 
 both in the comparison with the manna and the water in the 
 wilderness — which if used with a higher meaning, were yet in 
 the first instance employed for common sustenance — and also 
 with the idol feasts which, though connected with sacrifices, 
 were yet in themselves social banquets. Hence in both cases 
 the expression used is (not ' the altar of demons,' the ' altar of 
 the Lord,' but) ' the table of demons,' ' the table of the Lord.' 
 So too, the phrases used for the celebration, in x. 16, 30 — 
 ' blessing,' " thanksgiving,' indicate the thankful offering of the 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 195 
 
 heart to God, and ' the communion of the body and blood of 
 Christ' (jcoivoivia, x. 16) implies a solemn sense of identification 
 with Christ ; whilst, on the other hand, the plural expressions 
 and the general turn of the argument (x. 4, 16, 17, 21) imply- 
 that throughout the ceremony, not merely one or two indi- 
 viduals, or selected portions of the community, but the whole 
 community of Christians as such, with all their imperfections 
 and errors, bore their part. And a comparison of x. 2 1 with 
 X. 30 indicates that some even conceived it possible to celebrate 
 the ^ breaking of bread ' in the act of partaking of a feast of 
 sacrificial food, where heathens were present. 
 
 Such was the institution of which the Apostle proceeds to 
 speak in the passage now before us, and which there ^, -g _ 
 presents substantially the same image. It is a social charist a 
 meal, where the hungry looked forward to satisfying supper. 
 their wants (xi. 34), and where some indulged even to excess 
 (xi. 21). It is a supper, that is, not merely a morsel of bread 
 and a drop of wine taken in the early morning, or in the seclu- 
 sion of an Eastern noon, but the regular substantial meal of 
 the day; a supper {hslirvov, xi. 20, 21) at the usual hour after 
 the sun had set, and therefore in its time, as well as in its 
 festive accompaniments, recalling 'the night'' (xi. 23) of the 
 original ins.titution, and agreeing with the account of the part- 
 ing meal at Troas, in Acts xx. 7. Everything in outward 
 form still continued as it was in the earliest recorded instance 
 of its celebration, in Acts ii. 46. But the inward spirit of 
 harmony, which, at that time, made it the natural expression 
 of the feelings of ' those who had all things in common ' (Acts 
 ii. 44) — the exulting joy {a^aXKiao-Ls), the unoffending and 
 unoffended simplicity (acpsXorrjs), which would then have made 
 disputes at such a moment impossible — had now begun to wax 
 cold. The sacred meal, which seemed the most fitting expres- 
 sion of the whole Christian life, where all things, ' whether they 
 ate or drank,' could be done ' to the glory of God,' seemed in 
 danger of being swallowed up in worldly disputes of precedence 
 or even of revelry. That these were the kind of disputes which 
 the Apostle here attacks seems clear, both from the context of 
 the passage, ' If any man seems to be contentious,' ' I hear 
 that there are divisions,' ' parties ' (xi, 16, 18, 19), ' among 
 you,' and also from the specific allusions to such discords in 
 xi. 21, 22, 33. But in what way they originated is diflftcult to 
 perceive clearly. The most probable explanation seems to be, 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 that, as in a Greek dining-club^ {spavo^), it was often the 
 practice for the richer members of the club to supply the wants 
 of the poorer ; so here the banquet, which was chiefly provided 
 by the rich, was designed to be enjoyed by all equally and at 
 the same time as an expression of Christian unity. But this 
 was not observed ; the same distinctions of rank in the Christian 
 assemblies, against which St. James (ii. 1-4) protests to hi& 
 Jewish hearers, broke out on these occasions in the Gentile 
 Church at Corinth ; the richer members, following, probably,, 
 the example of the common Grecian clubs, seized upon the 
 portion of the food which they had brought, before the poorer 
 members could get hold of it (see xi. 21), alleging, in their 
 defence, that they were hungry (xi. 34), and could not wait ; 
 and the consequence was a scene of general disorder (xi. 21),. 
 and a complete disruption of the unity which the feast was 
 intended to promote. The practice of the Grecian clubs wa& 
 for each guest to eat that which he brought with him in his 
 own basket (Athen. viii. 17, p. 365). And the rule recom- 
 mended by Socrates in order to prevent disorder (Xen. Mem. 
 iii. 14, 1) was, as hereby St. Paul, that they should not begin 
 to eat till the contents of each basket were placed in public on 
 the table. 
 
 It was to put down this practice that St. Paul here brings 
 forward more strongly than had been before customary, the 
 religious, as distinguished from the social, character of the 
 supper ; and by recalling to their minds the solemnity of the 
 original institution, impresses upon them the danger they 
 incurred by such desecration of it. Not merely had the order 
 of the assembly been disturbed, but the original institution, 
 so emphatically alluded to in x. 16-22, of partaking in one 
 and the same loaf, one and the same cup, was rendered im- 
 possible. The practice mentioned by Irenaeus (Fragm. Venice 
 ed. vol. ii. p. 10), of offering part of the bread and wine as 
 oblations, was probably a vestige of the original Christian 
 practice of placing all the food that was brought on the 
 common public table, and then partaking of it — a practice 
 here urged by the Apostle in opposition to the heathen 
 custom of the Corinthians.^ 
 
 ^ See Boeckh's Public Economy 
 of Athens, i. 264. 
 
 ^ See the remarks of Dean 
 
 Blakesley, in his ' Prselectio Acade- 
 mica in SchoHs Cantabrigiensibus 
 habita,' 1849. 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 
 
 197 
 
 Disputes in the Public Assemblies, and especially at the 
 Lord's Supper. 
 
 ^^El 8e Tt9 So/cet (fnkoveLKOs elit^at, T^/xeis Toiavr'qv aw- 
 rjdeiav ovk e^o^xeVy' ovhe at eKKk'qcricLi tov deov. ^^tovto 8e 
 TrapayyeWo),^ ovk eTraivoyv on ovk et9 to Kp^lcrcrov oXk' ets 
 TO Tjcrcrov crvvep^ecrde. ^^wpcorov fxeu yap (Tvvep^op.{voiv 
 vficoif ev^ iKK\r)0'La olkovco (r^Lcrfxara iv vjjllv virdp-^eiv, kol 
 jjiepo^ TL TTLcrTeva). " oeL yap /cat aipecret? eu v^jliv etvai, Lva 
 
 TrapayyeWwv ovk eiraivu 
 
 Kpei 
 
 rirrov. 
 
 4v T^. 
 
 ^^Now if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, 
 neither the churches of God. "Now this I declare, not praising you that 
 ye come together not for the better but for the worse. ^^For first of all 
 when ye come together in the church I hear that there be divisions among 
 you; and I partly believe it. ^^For there must be sects among you, that 
 
 1 6, 17 These verses may be 
 referred either to the preceding 
 or to the following context. The 
 latter seems preferable, as the 
 word <f>L\6v€LKo? points rather to 
 party strife, such as that in verse 
 18 and in i, 12 ; and with this 
 agrees the reading of tovto Se 
 "TrapayyeAAcj ovk iTratvuiv, A. B. C^ 
 F. G. instead of irapayyiXXiov ovk 
 €7ra6vw, C^. D^. E. J. K. or Trapay- 
 yiXXo), OVK cTratvw, D^ — 'This 
 precept against discord I give, 
 not praising you in this re- 
 spect.' 
 
 OVK cTratvwv refers apparently 
 to the words in verse 2, — ' I 
 praise you generally, but not for 
 this.' 
 
 crvvipx^a-Oe refers to their meet- 
 ings generally. 
 
 Kpua-(Tov and rjorcrov (both pro- 
 bably pronounced at this time, as 
 in Romaic, with the same sound 
 of the Italian i) are apparently 
 put in juxtaposition, for the sake 
 of the play on the sound. Comp. 
 
 the repetition of irapa in verse 
 23. 
 
 18 It would seem from the 
 words TrpCiTov fjL€v, as well as 
 from the stress laid upon the 
 divisions in verses 16-19, that 
 he had intended to speak at 
 length of them here, but had 
 been interrupted by his wish to 
 proceed at once to the question 
 of the Lord's Supper, and either 
 did not resume it at all, leaving 
 it amongst the subjects reserved 
 for future discussion in verse 34, 
 or else resumed it in a different 
 form in xii. 1. 
 
 jxipos Ti, i.e. (not merely 'in 
 part,' but) ' in great part.' See 
 Thucyd. i. 23, vii. 30. 
 
 iv iKKXrjcTLa, ' in public assem- 
 blies ; ' the article omitted as in 
 English ' when you meet in as- 
 sembly,' i.e. ' assembly- wise.' 
 
 1 9 atpccretg. The context shows 
 that this is merely an 
 aggravated form of 
 ax^a-fxaTa. ' I believe that there 
 
198 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 20—23. 
 
 [*Acat] ol SoACtjLLOt (ftavepol yivoiVTat kv vfjuv. ^^ crvvep^oixivctiv 
 ovv vfJLcov iirl to avro ovk ecmv KVpiaKov heiirvov (fyayeiv 
 ^^ eAcacrro? yoLp to lSlov Seiirvov TTpoXafJi/Bdvei iv tS (fyayelv, 
 Koi 09 jxev TTCLva, 09 8e fieOvei. ^"^ fJirj yap otActa9 ovk e^^Te 
 els TO icrOUiv /cat Triveiv ; rj ttJs eKKkiqcrias tov Beov Acara- 
 
 • Om. Kai. 
 
 they whicli are approved may be made manifest among you. ~^AVhen ye 
 come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's 
 supper; "^^ for in eating every one taketh before other his own supper, 
 and one is* hungry, and another is drunken. ^'What! have ye not housea 
 to eat and to drink in ? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them 
 that have not ? What am I to say to you ? do I praise you m this ? I 
 
 are divisions amongst you; for 
 there must even (koL) be sects, 
 in order to test those who are 
 really good, and who rise above 
 them.' The word 'party' or 
 * sect ' expresses both the more 
 neutral sense in w^hich it is usu- 
 ally employed (Acts v. 17, xv. 
 5, xxiv. 5, 14, xxviii. 22), and 
 the darker sense in which it oc- 
 curs here, and in Gal. v. 20 ; 2 
 Pet. ii. 1. Justin Martyr (Dial, 
 cum Tryph. 35) attributes the 
 words tcTovTai (r;(t(r/x,aTa koi alpi- 
 crcts to Christ. 
 
 yap expresses the reason (not 
 for the Apostle's belief, but) for 
 the fact. * There are divisions, 
 for it is a part of God's provi- 
 dence that there must be.' Com- 
 pare Matt, xviii. 7, ' offences 
 must needs come.' 
 
 20 CTTt TO avTO=ayu,a, 'at the 
 same place and time.' Comp. 
 Acts i. 15, ii. 44, iii. 1. 
 
 OVK ^oTLv, K. T. A. ' In youT 
 meetings there is no such thing 
 as eating the LoixVs Supper ; for 
 it is rather the case that each 
 takes his own supper before ano- 
 ther, as he eats ; and the conse- 
 quence is, that whilst one has 
 not been able to partake of the 
 bread at all, another has even 
 drunk to intoxication the wine 
 
 reserved for the end of the 
 feast.' 
 
 KvpLUKov SetTTVov. Though the 
 epithet is here used in contra- 
 distinction to iStov, yet the adjec- 
 tival form, as in KvpiaKrj rjfxepa 
 (Rev. i. 10), indicates that it 
 was already the fixed name of 
 the institution. 
 
 2 1 CI/ T(3 ^ayetv is ' in the 
 meal.' For its position at the 
 end of the sentence, comp. viii. 
 11, ix. 10, XV. 19. 
 
 The phrase ' takes before ano- 
 ther,' implies that each man 
 helped himself; that there was 
 nothing corresponding to what 
 in later times is called ' an ad- 
 ministration of the supper.' Com- 
 pare the expression ' the bread 
 which ice hreah,^ in x. 16. Ter- 
 tuUian, De Coron. Mil. 3, speaks 
 of this as the original practice, 
 and notices the change in his 
 own time. 
 
 OS fiiv, 'the poor man,' os Si 
 ' the rich man.' 
 
 fjicOveL. The use of this word 
 in John ii. 10, shows that it need 
 not be alw^ays taken of intoxi- 
 cation; but this is its natural 
 meaning in most passages. See 
 Matt. xxiv. 49 ; Acts ii. 15 ; 1 
 Thess. V. 7. 
 
 22, 23 jxrj yap OLKLa<; ovk cx^re ; 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 
 
 199 
 
 <f)poveLT€^ Koi Karaicr^veTe tov<; fXTj €.^ovTa<;; ri^ etTTw 
 
 23 > 
 
 ^"^ eyo) yap 
 
 VfJLLP; eiTaiv(o v/xa? ev tovtco ; ovk enaLvo). 
 
 irapeka^ov airo tov Kvpiov o koI irapeScoKa vfjuv, on 6 
 
 " Tt vfiiv eHirw 
 
 ^ iiraiveffw iifias ; 'Ev rovrcf ovk iiraivu. 
 
 praise you not. ^^For I received of the Lord that which also I com- 
 manded you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was be- 
 
 * Why surely ye are not without 
 houses ! ' 
 
 T^s iKKXr](TLa<s tov Oeov, ' the 
 whole assembly, which you thus 
 divide and distract, and yet in 
 which God dwells.' Comp. x. 32, 
 where the phrase is also used 
 with regard to the public assem- 
 blage for the Eucharist. 
 
 KaTat(r;(vi/€T€, i.e. ' by making 
 their poverty apparent.* 
 
 Tovs /XT] €xovTa<;, * the poor.' 
 Compare Luke iii. 11. 
 
 Tt ctTTO) ; * what am I to say ? ' 
 alluding, as in verse 17, to verse 
 2. * However much you think 
 yourselves deserving of praise 
 for having kept my commands 
 (TrapaS6(r€L<s), you have not done 
 so ; for my communication from 
 the Lord, which I commanded 
 (TrapiSiDKo) to you, was quite 
 otherwise.' 
 
 cyo), in contradistinction to 
 their practice — ' J, whatever you 
 may have done or thought.' 
 
 TrapeXa^ov (xtto tov Kvptov. The 
 word Trapa, rather than airo, 
 would have been most natural ; 
 but ttTTo may have been chosen 
 here to avoid the triple repeti- 
 tion of irapd. The use of the 
 words TrapeXajSov and TrapiSiOKa, 
 as in XV. 3, is against his deri- 
 vation of the fact from imme- 
 diate revelation. But the intro- 
 duction of the phrase ' from the 
 Lord ' may perhaps mean that 
 he had had confirmed to him by 
 revelation, what he already knew 
 as a fact. 
 
 23-27 The ensuing verses 
 form probably the earliest record 
 of the institution of the Eucha- 
 rist, and they contain also the 
 earliest recorded speech of our 
 Lord. Twenty years, 
 indeed, had elapsed EfiStu- 
 since their utterance; tionofthe 
 
 , , ,, v Euchanst. 
 
 but there can be no 
 doubt that the Apostle regarded 
 them as perfectly authentic. To 
 explain them at any length, or 
 to adjust their relation to the 
 other three versions in St. Mat- 
 thew, St. Mark, and St. Luke, 
 would be to encroach on ques- 
 tions belonging only to the Gos- 
 pel narrative; yet those who are 
 familiar with those questions 
 will observe : (1) That their al- 
 most exact coincidence with the 
 account in St. Luke is impor- 
 tant, as confirming the tradition 
 of the author of that Gospel 
 being the same as the companion 
 of St. Paul. (2) That in this, 
 the most ancient record of cer- 
 tainly one of the most important 
 speeches of our Lord, it is possi- 
 ble to discern elements of the 
 discourses in St. John's Gospel, 
 viz. vi. 35-58, XV. 1-6. (3) 
 That even in the four extant 
 versions of this short passage, 
 there are yet verbal variations of 
 such an extent as to show that 
 it was the substance, rather than 
 the exact words, which the 
 Apostle and the Evangelists 
 aimed at producing. (4) That 
 there is all the appearance of a 
 
200 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 24—26. 
 
 KvpLOS ^Ir}<TOv<^ iv rfj vvktI y ^ TrapeStSeTo eka^ev apTOv 
 "^^ KoX cvxapLCTTrjcras eKkacrev koL eLTrev ^'Tovto fJLOv ecTTiv 
 TO (Tcofjia TO virlp vfxcjv^ tovto TTOtetre els ttjp ifxrjv dvoifi- 
 
 » irapediSoTo. ^ Add Adfi€T€, (pdycre. " Add KX^fuvov. 
 
 trayed took bread ^^and when He had given thanks He brake it and said 
 *this is my body, which is for you; this do in remembrance of Me/ 
 
 familiar and fixed formula, espe- 
 cially in the opening words. (5) 
 That it implies on the part of his 
 hearers a full acquaintance with 
 the history of the Betrayal and 
 Passion, as, indeed, the Apostle 
 himself implies in the phrase o 
 KoX TrapeSoiKa, and also in the 
 previous allusions to the words 
 of the institution, in x. 16. 
 
 The word TrapeStSero in the 
 sense of * betrayal ' is curious, as 
 following on TrapeSwKa, in the 
 sense of ' communicated ; ' but 
 its frequent occurrence in the 
 Gospel narrative for the Be- 
 trayal leaves no doubt that such 
 is its sense here. Comp. a like 
 variation of meaning in 2 Cor. 
 ii. 7, 8, Trapa/caXecrat, TrapaKoXG), 
 Rom. xii. 13, 14, SicoKovreg . . . 
 Stw/covras. Possibly the play on 
 the three compounds of Trapd is 
 intentional. The imperfect tense 
 of TrapaStSero expresses ' the plot 
 was preparing'' — ' was to be.' 
 
 aproVf ' a loaf or cake of 
 bread.' See x. 17. 
 
 24 TO crw/xa to VTrep vfxmf (A. 
 
 B. C^.), KXi^yp^evov C\ J}\ F. p. 
 
 G.J.K.),^pv7rro>iw(D.). Both 
 from authority, and from its 
 abrupt simplicity, to virep v/xdv 
 is the probable reading, — ' this 
 is my body, which is for you.' 
 If so, kXoj/xcvov was omitted be- 
 cause of the Apostle's strong 
 sense of the ideal or spiritual 
 nature of the Lord's body, as so 
 fully expressed in x. 16, 17. The 
 omission may also have arisen 
 
 jfrom a fear lest it should contra- 
 dict John xiv. 36, ' A bone of 
 him shall not be broken ; ' for 
 which same reason, dpv-n-Tofjievov 
 ('bruised') was probably sub- 
 stituted in D. If kXo)/x€vov be 
 genuine, it is used in reference 
 to the hreahing of the bread, and 
 hence the present tense (comp. 
 ov k\(i)ix€v, X. 16). The word 
 kXw/x€vos is, however, applied in 
 Josephus B. J. ii. 12, to the 
 breaking and distorting of the 
 body by torture. 
 
 TovTO TTotetre, 'this do,' — ap- 
 plied both to the bread and the 
 cup — must refer to the ' thanks- 
 giving' just described (e^xapt- 
 o-rrjo-as) : ' Give thanks to God in 
 remembrance of Me, in all your 
 meals.' 
 
 The phrase, 'the cup when 
 He had supped,' here, ,^^^^^^ 
 and in Luke xxii. 20, after 
 is the more remarkable, ^^pp®^-' 
 because the general description 
 of the Gospel narrative would 
 lead us to suppose that the 
 breaking of the bread as well as 
 the blessing of the cup succeeded 
 the supper, whereas the emphatic 
 insertion of these words between 
 the two implies that the bread 
 was blessed at the commence- 
 ment, and the cup at the end, of 
 the supper. That the cup closed 
 the meal agrees with the bless- 
 ing of the cup after the Paschal 
 feast, like a ' grace ' at the end ; 
 as the blessing of the bread had 
 been like a ' grace ' at the be- 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSE^IBLIES. 
 
 201 
 
 vrjCTLv. ^^axjaurcos kol to iroTijpLOV jxeTo. to deiirvrjo'aL^ 
 Xiycxiv Tovro to TroTTjpiov rj Kaivrj SiaOiJKr) icTTlp ev Tca 
 ifxS at/xari* tovto Trotetre, 6(rdKL<; ^ iav 7rivr)Te, ets ttjv 
 €fxr)i/ avajJivrjaiv. ^^oaaKLS yap eav ecruir^Te tov apTov 
 
 TOVTOV Koi TO TTOTrjplOV 
 
 TTLPTJTe^ TOV OoUaTOV TOV KVpiOV 
 
 ^ Add TQVTO. 
 
 "2^ After the same manner also the cnp when He had supped, saying * this 
 cup is the new covenant, in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, 
 in remembrance of Me.' ^^For as often as ye eat this bread and drink 
 
 * In my 
 blood.' 
 
 ginning (see Mishna, Pesachim, 
 cap. X. 7). 
 
 Iv T<3 €/A(3 at/xart, * in my 
 blood.' This form, pe- 
 culiar to this passage 
 and Luke xxii. 20, 
 fieems to mean : ' This cup is 
 the new covenant signed or 
 written in my blood,' with a 
 double allusion to the libations 
 which accompanied every ancient 
 treaty (whence the word cnrov- 
 ^at, 'libations,' came to mean 
 * treaty' or 'truce'); and also 
 to the blood either of sacrifices, 
 or, as in Arabian customs (Herod, 
 iii. 8), of the parties contracting 
 the treaty. Compare Heb. ix. 
 15-20. 
 
 * The new covenant,' as dis- 
 tinct from the Mosaic. See Ex. 
 xxiv. 8 : ' Behold the blood of 
 the covenant, which the Lord 
 hath made with you.' For this 
 use of Iv ToJ at/xart, compare 
 ' Whom God " set forth " (Trpoe- 
 S^To) a propitiation, through 
 faith, in his blood' (ev not ets), 
 E/om. iii. 25. 
 
 26 ba-OLKLs yap iav ctr^tr^TC, k.t.X. 
 This verse contains, strictly 
 speaking, not the words of our 
 Lord, but of St. Paul. But the 
 two are allowed to run into each 
 other, so that it cannot exactly 
 be defined where one ends and 
 the other begins. Compare par- 
 allel instances in John iii. 16- 
 
 21, and 31-36. These words 
 are emphatically intro- 
 duced, in order to indi- l^ye^S 
 cate the continuance 
 and identity of the original meal 
 through its subsequent celebra- 
 tions : ' not only on that one 
 occasion, but on all future occa- 
 sions.' There may also be the 
 further object of showing that 
 in the original institution, the 
 intention was that they should 
 commemorate the Lord's death, 
 not only on stated occasions, but 
 at all their mealSf * ivhenever they 
 ate bread and drank wine.' 
 
 Two characteristics of the Eu- 
 charist are here given : .gj^^^ 
 (1) KarayyeAAere. ' You forth the 
 preachf^ or 'announce,' Jeath^' 
 according to the con- 
 stant usage of the word (ii. 1, 
 ix. 14, Acts passim). 'The 
 Lord's Supper is a living sermon ; 
 an acted discourse.' (2) It was 
 intended to supply, by a visible 
 memorial, the absence of the 
 Lord, ' until He come,' 
 the sense being brought He^Jime.' 
 out more strongly by 
 the near expectation of His re- 
 turn. Comp. Matt. xxvi. 29. 
 
 Both points are well expressed 
 by Bengel : ' Hebc memoria est 
 intima et vividissima, ut est 
 liberorum erga parentes, sponsse 
 vel conjugis erga maritum, fra- 
 tris erga fratrem, cum fide, 
 
202 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 2] 
 
 -30. 
 
 KarayyeWere, oi^pis ov ^ekOrj. ^' axrre 09 av i(j6irj roi/ 
 
 aOTOV^ rj TTLVYj TO TTOTTipiOV TOV KVpLOV d^ttflCt)?, eVO^/O^ 
 
 ecrrai tov crw/xaro? /cat tov at/xaros rov Kvpiov, "^^oo- 
 Ki[Jia^€Tco Se dvOpcoTTOs kavTov^ koX ovtojs e/c tov dpTov 
 
 • Add Sv. ^ Add toCto;/, « Om. rod. 
 
 the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till He come. '^'^ Wherefore who- 
 soever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be 
 guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. ^^But let a man prove 
 
 'Un- 
 worthily 
 
 amore, desiderio, spe, gaudio, ob- 
 sequio conjuncta, summam status 
 Christiani complexa. Haec ratio 
 viget a clausula ultimi cum dis- 
 cipulis convivii usque ad adven- 
 tum. Hoc mysterium dtio tempora 
 extrema conjungit.^ 
 
 27 This is the conclusion: 
 * Therefore he who partakes of 
 this feast unworthily, is guilty 
 of a sin against the body and 
 blood of Christ.' As in x. 16, 
 he had referred to the original 
 words of Christ to show of what 
 they partook ; so here he refers to 
 the same words, to show against 
 what they sinned. As 
 in vi. 18, 19, he had 
 shown that sensuality 
 was a sin against the temple of 
 the Spirit, and in viii. 12, that 
 indifference to another's welfare 
 was a sin against Christ, so here 
 he shows that to partake of the 
 Christian meal in a manner un- 
 worthy of its meaning, was to 
 offend against the majesty of 
 what Christ had Himself called 
 His body and His blood. 
 
 ^ TTLvri, * or drink ' (B. C. D. 
 E. F. G. J. K., Vulgate, Italic, 
 and Syriac versions), 
 is the true reading, 
 ' Whoever partakes of either part 
 of the feast unworthily,' im- 
 plying, like the words, ' after 
 supper,' in verse 25, that, in his 
 conception of the supper, the 
 bread and the cup were not, as 
 
 Or drink.' 
 
 now, inseparably united; but 
 that the cup succeeded the bread 
 after a long interval ; and that 
 therefore a profanation which 
 might apply to one, would not 
 of necessity apply to the other. 
 Probably from the wish to ac- 
 commodate the text to the change 
 of custom, or from hostility to 
 the Roman Catholic practice of 
 administering the bread without 
 the cup, the English translators 
 have unwarrantably rendered -5, 
 ' and.' /cat for ^ occurs only in A. 
 an.d in 3 cursive MSS. 
 
 ej/o;(os is usually followed by a 
 dative; but in the New Testa- 
 ment more frequently, as here, 
 by a genitive. It is used of the 
 punishment incurred by guilt (as 
 in Matt. xxvi. QQ ; Mark xiv. 64 ; 
 Heb. ii. 15), of the law infringed 
 by guilt (James ii. .10), and of 
 the tribunal which awards the 
 punishment (Matt. v. 21, 22). 
 The present case presents a mix- 
 ture of the two last uses. 
 
 28, 29 avOp(x)7ro<;, see on iv. 1. 
 In this and the following verses, 
 the phrases, SoKLjxal&o) iavrov, 
 
 ScaKpLVOiV TO (TUifXa, Si€KpLVOjX€V 
 
 iavTov's, appear to ex- 
 press the same act ; theSy.'^^ 
 whilst the consequences 
 of the omission of this act are 
 expressed by Kp7/xa IctOUl, and 
 eKpivo/xeOa. BLaKpivo) is used in 
 this passage for the sake of the 
 play upon Kpivio, ' to judge ' (see 
 
DISPUTES IN THE PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES. 
 
 203 
 
 eauLeTCt) Kai €k tov woTrjpiov TTiveTO)' ^^o yap eauLcov /cat 
 irivoiv "^ Kplfjia kavrco eaOiei koI iriveiy [jltj SiaKpivcov to 
 (Tcofjia. oia TovTo ev vixiv ttoKKol acrt/e^'ets Acat appco- 
 
 * Add ava^icos. * Add rod Kvpiov. 
 
 himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup : ^^for he 
 that eateth and drinketh eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, if he- 
 do not " discern the body. ^^For this cause many among you are weak 
 
 » Or judge. 
 
 verses 17 and 23) ; but in itself 
 it never means * to judge ' in the 
 sense of ' condemning,' but, as 
 here, only in the sense of ' dis- 
 tinguishing ' or * discerning.' 
 (Comp. xiv. 29, where it is used 
 of the distinguishing of true from 
 false prophets. ) The sense, there- 
 fore, will be : ' Let every one 
 examine the state of his heart 
 and mind, i.e. to see whether he 
 is likely to be guilty of the pro- 
 fanation here condemned ; for, if 
 he does not so examine himself, 
 if he does not discern that the 
 body of the Lord is in himself, 
 and in the Christian society, if 
 he does not discern in the united 
 loaf the likeness of the united 
 Christian society, then heavy 
 judgments will follow.' This is 
 harsh ; but not more so than 
 other explanations, and it has[the 
 advantage of giving a uniform 
 sense to StaKptVw throughout, and 
 of agreeing with the Apostle's 
 final conclusion in verse 34. 
 * The body of Christ,' here as 
 elsewhere in the Apostle's lan- 
 guage (see the Introduction to 
 X. 16), is not the literal frame of 
 the Lord, but the body which He 
 has left behind Him on earth, in 
 the human race — the Christian 
 society, or its members severally. 
 This general truth is here, as in 
 X. 1 7, and in the passages there 
 quoted from the Fathers and the 
 Liturgy, stated in regard to the 
 
 Eucharist, as if St. Paul saw in 
 our Lord's words, ' This is my 
 body,' a declaration that the 
 bread or loaf which He broke 
 was the symbol of the spiritual 
 Body, composed of the many 
 grains of Christian souls, com- 
 bined in one unbroken mass. 
 If this truth were recognised, 
 then the Lord's Supper would 
 be properly celebrated; but, if 
 Christians regarded themselves 
 as having no connexion with 
 their brethren, the Supper would 
 be profaned, and turned into a 
 common meal. This meaning is 
 strengthened by the true reading 
 of A. B. C^ omitting tov Kvpiovy 
 which is found in C^ D. E. F. 
 G. J. K. Had the Apostle meant 
 to say that ' the body ' spoken 
 of was physical or the personal 
 body of Christ, he would not 
 have left it thus ambiguous, but 
 would have added the words 
 of ' the Lord Jesus,' or expres- 
 sions to that efi'ect. As the text 
 stands, though he doubtless refers 
 back to ' the body of the Lord,' 
 in verse 27, the phrase is so 
 generally expressed as to leave 
 to his readers the application to 
 themselves or to the whole 
 society. This is also the pro- 
 bable reason for the omission of 
 all reference to the ' cup ' and 
 * the blood. ' And thus the trans- 
 lation of the -^thiopic Yersion, 
 ' if his soul be not pure,' though 
 
204 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 31—34. 
 
 CTTOtj Koi KoiiJLwvTai LKavoL. '^^61 * §€ iavTOvs SieKpLvoixev, 
 ovK av iKpLvofj^Oa* ^'^ KpivofjievoL Se vtto Kvpiov iraihevo- 
 fieOa, Iva jxrj avv tw Kocrfxcp KaTaKpi6(x>p.ev. "^^aJcrre, dSeX- 
 ^01 fJLOV, crvvepxop'evoL ets to (bayeiv dWniXovs e/cSevecr^e. 
 "* €t T15 Treiva^ ev olko) ecrtfieTO), iva fxr} ets Kpufia crvv^p- 
 Xy)0'6e. ra 8e Xolttol o)s olp e\0o) Ziard^op.aL. 
 
 6t 5e' ris. 
 
 and sickly, and some sleep. ^^But if we would discern* ourselves, we 
 should not be judged : ^^but when we are judged we are chastened by 
 the Lord, that we should not be judged to condemnation with the world. 
 ^^Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat tarry one for 
 another. ^Uf any one hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not 
 together unto judgment. And the rest wiU I set in order whenever I 
 come. 
 
 » 6?r judge. 
 
 not an exact version of the words 
 ^jLT) SiaKpLviov TO cTw/Aa, truly repre- 
 sents their spirit. 
 
 dva|t(o?, ' unworthily,' though 
 expressing the sense more clearly, 
 is superfluous, and rests only on 
 the authority of C^. D. E. F. G. 
 J. K. 
 
 30 In the sicknesses and 
 deaths which prevailed at Co- 
 rinth the Apostle calls upon the 
 Corinthians to witness the judg- 
 ments on their profanation of the 
 Supper. It may be that these 
 sicknesses were the direct con- 
 sequences of the excesses which 
 seem implied in verses 22 and 
 34 ; but in any case there must 
 have been some connexion not 
 evident to us, which would lead 
 the Corinthians to recognise the 
 truth of his remark. 
 
 appaicrroL, a stronger word than 
 
 31 ' If we were in the habit 
 of discerning our own condition 
 rightly, we should not be incur- 
 
 ring these judgments from God.' 
 This is the force of the imperfect 
 tenses. Comp. Gal. i. 10 ; Heb. 
 viii. 4 ; Luke vii. 39 ; xvii. 9. 
 For the general meaning see note 
 on verses 28, 29. 
 
 The position of * ourselves ' 
 (lavTous) makes it emphatic. 
 
 It is impossible in English to 
 preserve the play on the words 
 8i€KptVo/>t€v, €KpLv6fJie6a, and Kara- 
 KpLOCjjxev. 
 
 32 KpLvo) is here represented 
 as a middle stage between Sta- 
 KpLvoi and KaraKpivoi. For the 
 contrast of Kpivoy and KaraKpu/w, 
 compare ;j(pa)/x€vot and Kara^^pw- 
 fievoL, vii. 31 ; ej^ovrcs and Kare- 
 XovT€?, 2 Cor. vi. 10. For the 
 general idea, compare v. 5 ; 1 
 Tim. i. 20 : TrapeSoiKa rw (rarava, 
 tva 7rai8€vO(x)(TL [xrj f^Xaacfiyjixciv. 
 
 33 iKSix^aOe, 'wait for the 
 arrival of the poorer brethren,' 
 as in xvi. 11. Compare verse 21. 
 This is the practical conclusion 
 of the whole subject. 
 
ST. PAUL'S VIEW OF THE LORD'S SUPPER. 205 
 
 Paraphrase op Chap. XI. 16 — 34. 
 
 I now proceed, in the second place, to condemn the party spirit 
 and divisions which prevail in your public assemblies ; which 
 must indeed be expected, because it is necessary that the good 
 should be thereby tested; but of this hereafter. One of the 
 most fatal instances of these divisions is that between the rich 
 and poor, which takes place at the meal where you celebrate 
 the Last Supper of the Lord. You remember the account 
 of its original institution, as I communicated it to you from 
 Christ Himself; you remember how He called the bread His 
 body, and the cup the covenant sealed by His blood ; and hoiv 
 He spoke of it as continuing for a memorial of His death 
 until His return. Every unworthy celebration of this meal, 
 therefore, is a sin against His body and blood. His body is 
 the whole Christian Society ; it is in yourselves, if you will 
 hut look for it there. To partake of the supper without this 
 consciousness of solemn communion with Him and with each 
 other, is to provoke those judgments of sickness and death 
 which have in fact been so frequent amongst you. To judge 
 ourselves is the only way of avoiding the judgment of the 
 Lord, whose institution we else profane ; as His judgment by 
 these outward misfortunes is the only way to save us from 
 that heavier judgment which awaits the unbelieving world. 
 Therefore, to sum up the matter practically, remember that in 
 these feasts you must wait for each other ; and those who come 
 merely for the sake of eating and drinking, had better take 
 their meals privately at home. 
 
 The Apostle's View of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 It has been truly said, though with much exaggeration, that 
 for many centuries the history of the Eucharist might be 
 considered as a history of the Christian Church. Certainly 
 this passage may be regarded as occupying in that history a 
 point of remarkable significance. On the one hand, it shows 
 
206 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 US the most sacred ordinance of the Christian religion as it was 
 Celebra- Celebrated by those in whose minds the earthly and 
 tion of the ^\^q heavenly, the social and the religious aspect of life 
 as a social were not yet divided asunder. We see the banquet 
 meal. spread in the late evening, after the sun had set behind 
 
 the western ridge of the hills of Achaia ; we see the many 
 torches ^ blazing, as at Troas, to light up the darkness of the 
 upper room,' where, as was their wont, the Christian com- 
 munity assembled ; we see the couches laid and the walls hung,* 
 after the manner of the East, as on the night of the betrayal ; 
 we see the sacred loaves,^ each representing, in its compact 
 unity, the harmony of the whole society ; we hear the blessing 
 or thanksgiving on the cup,'* responded to by the thunder of the 
 joint •• Amen ; ' we witness the complete realisation in outward 
 form of the Apostle's words, suggested doubtless by the sight 
 of the meal and the sacrament blended thus together, ' Whether 
 ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of 
 God.' ^ ' Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father 
 by Him.' ^ Perhaps the nearest likeness now existing to this 
 union of social intercourse with religious worship, is to be 
 found in the services of the Coptic Church. The Eucharist is 
 there indeed even more divested of its character of a supper, 
 than in the Western Churches. But there is an air of primitive 
 freedom, and of innocent enjoyment, blended with the prayers 
 of the general service, which, bearing as it does the marks of 
 long antiquity, conveys a livelier image of the early Christian 
 assemblies than anything which can be seen in Europe.'^ 
 
 This is one side of the picture ; but there is another side. 
 Disorders which imparts to this passage its peculiar interest. 
 Already the difficulties of bringing an ideal and an 
 actual life together make themselves felt. As the 
 falsehoods of Ananias and Sapphira profaned the 
 community of property at Jerusalem, so the excesses 
 and disorders of the Corinthian Christians profaned 
 the primitive celebration of the Eucharist. The time 
 
 attendant 
 on this 
 mode of 
 celebra- 
 tion ; and 
 the Apos- 
 tle's re- 
 medy. 
 
 15. 
 
 ^ Xa/ATraSfj iKaval, Acts xx. 8. 
 
 ^ dvayeiov icrrpcoiievov, Mark xiv. 
 
 3 1 Cor. X. 17, xi. 29. 
 * xiv. 16. 
 ^ X. 31. 
 
 6 Col. iii. 17. 
 
 ' Such at least was the impression 
 I derived from the one occasion on 
 which I witnessed the worship of 
 the Copts in their cathedral at 
 Cairo. 
 
ST. PAUL'S VIEW OF THE LOKD'S SUPPEE. 207 
 
 was come, when the secular and the spmtual had to be dis- 
 entangled one from the other ; the ' simplicity ' and ^ gladness ' 
 of the first Apostolical communion was gradually to retire 
 before the Apostolical rebuke. The question arose whether 
 the majesty, the tenderness, the awe of the feast should be lost 
 in a senseless orgy ; and it is (humanly speaking) by means of 
 this verdict of the Apostle against the Corinthian Church, that 
 the form of the primitive practice was altered, in order to save 
 the s]pirit of the original institution. It is of the more im- 
 portance to remember the extent of the danger to which the 
 celebration of the Eucharist was then exposed, because a great 
 part of its subsequent history would seem to be a reaction, in 
 part just, in part exaggerated, against the corruption which 
 then threatened it ; a reaction encouraged by the extreme 
 severity with which that corruption is denounced by the 
 Apostle, and which was itself called forth by the greatness of 
 the crisis. By the beginning of the second century, ' The 
 Lord's Supper ' had ceased to be a ^ supper,' ' and Gradual 
 was celebrated by day, although in some Egyptian change in 
 cities the practice of partaking of it on the evenings of celebra- 
 of Saturday still continued in the fourth century .^ <^Jo»- 
 Instead of the practice, according to which every member of 
 the congregation took of the elements himself, after the time 
 of TertuUian ^ the administration was confined to the chief 
 minister. The social meal was divided from it under the 
 name of ' Agape,' or ' Love-feast,' but still continued to be 
 celebrated within the walls of churches as late as the fifth 
 century, after which it disappears, having been already con- 
 demned by councils on account of abuses similar to those here 
 described at Corinth.'' The daily celebration as recorded in 
 the Acts had already ceased, if not before, at least in the 
 second century, when it was usually confined to Sundays and 
 festivals.'' Thus the Eucharist became more and more set 
 apart as a distinct sacred ordinance ; it withdrew more and 
 more from the possibility of the Corinthian desecration, till at 
 
 1 Plin. Ep. X. 97. I tury is probably to be ascribed, not 
 
 2 Sozomen, A. E. vii. 19. | to a restoration of the primitive 
 ^ Tert. De Cor. Mil. 3. | feeling, but to the increasing im- 
 ^ Bingham's Antiquities, book XV. ! portance attached to a physical 
 
 ch. 7. I participation in the consecrated 
 
 ^ The subsequent revival of the j elements, 
 
 daily celebration in the fourth cen- I 
 
208 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 last it was wrapt up in the awful mystery which has attached 
 to it, in the highest degree, in the Churches of the East, 
 but in some degree in the Churches of the West also, both 
 Protestant and Roman Catholic. Beginning under the simple 
 name of * the breaking of bread/ and known from this Epistle 
 by the social and almost festive appellations of the ' Com- 
 munion,' and ' the Lord's Supper,' — it first receives in Pliny 
 the name of ' Sacramentum,' and in Justin Martyr that of 
 ' Eucharistia ; ' both, indeed, indicating ideas of strictly Apo- 
 stolical origin, though more closely connected with the words, 
 and less with the act, than would have been the case in the 
 first Apostolical times ; till in the days of Chrysostom it pre- 
 sents itself to us under the formidable name of the ' Dreadful 
 Sacrifice.' 
 
 A study of the two views as now set forth side by side, 
 will probably lead to the conclusion that as, on the one hand, 
 the general view of the Apostolical practice, its simplicity, and 
 Lessons to ^*^ festivity, have been in later times altogether set 
 be derived aside ; SO, on the other hand, the severity of his 
 froni the denunciation against unworthy partakers has been 
 
 spirit of n 1 • 1^11 
 
 the primi- too generally and too rigorously enforced ; because 
 tive cele- the particular object, and the particular need of his 
 rebuke at that time, have not been clearly under- 
 stood. The Holy Communion can never be again exactly 
 what it was then ; and, therefore, although his words will 
 always impart to the great ordinance of Christian worship 
 a peculiar solemnity, yet the real lesson which they convey 
 relates now more directly to such general occasions as that 
 out of which his warning grew, than to the ordinance itself. 
 I The joy and almost merriment of the first Christian converts 
 after the day of Pentecost could not now be applied to the 
 I Eucharist as it was then, without fear of painful profaneness 
 \ and levity. But the record of it implies that with a serious / 
 and religious life generally there is nothing incompatible 
 in the free play of cheerful and innocent gaiety. In like 
 manner, although we cannot without superstition imagine 
 that the judgments which the Apostle denounced will fall on 
 a desecration of the Communion different in all its circum- 
 stances from that which occurred at Corinth, yet there may 
 and of the ^tiU be an irreverence towards sacred things, a want 
 Apostle's of brotherly kindness, a dulness in discerning the 
 rebu e. presence of Christ, even in our common meals, which 
 
ST. PAUL'S VIEW OF THE LOED'S SUPPER. 209 
 
 may make us fear ' lest we eat and drink condemnation to 
 ourselves.' And in the Communion itself the Apostle's words 
 are instructive as reminding us that ^ the body of the Lord,' 
 to which he looked, was, as elsewhere in his writings, so here, 
 ' the body ' which is represented by the whole Christian 
 society. It is an application of our Lord's words, not the 
 meaning of those words themselves : but still it is an applica- 
 tion doubly appropriate, first because it represents the unity 
 and community of interests, feelings, and affections, which the 
 Lord's Supper, both in its institution and in its continuance 
 was designed to produce ; and, secondly, because that very 
 unity of the body of Christ's disciples is one chief purpose, 
 constantly attributed in the Gospels and Epistles to the Death 
 of Christ, which the Lord's Supper was specially designed to 
 show forth. 
 
210 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 ANSWERS OF ST. PAUL (continued). 
 
 Unity and Variety of the Spiritual Gifts. 
 XII. 1—30. 
 
 One of the chief characteristics of the Apostolical age was the 
 possession of what are here called ' spiritual gifts,' the signs 
 that there was moving to and fro in the Church a mighty 
 rushing wind, a spirit of life, and freedom, and energy, which 
 stirred the dry bones of the world, and made those who felt 
 its influence conscious that they were alive, though all around 
 was dead. Before this consciousness of a higher power than 
 their own, the ordinary and natural faculties of the human 
 mind seemed to retire, to make way for loftier aspirations, more 
 immediate intimations of the Divine will, more visible manifes- 
 tations of the Divine power. Every believer, male or female, 
 old or young, free or slave, found himself instinct with this 
 new life, varying in degree and according to the strength of 
 his natural character, but still sufficiently powerful to be a 
 constant witness to him of the reality of the new faith which 
 it had accompanied. It resembled in some degree the inspira- 
 tions of the Jewish Judges, Psalmists, and Prophets ; it may 
 be illustrated by the ecstasies and visions of prophets and 
 dreamers in all religions ; but in its energy and universality, it 
 was peculiar to the Christian society of the Apostolical age. 
 
 It may easily be conceived that this new life was liable to 
 much confusion and excitement, especially in a society where 
 the principle of moral stability was not developed commen- 
 surately with it. Such was, we know, the state of Corinth. 
 They had, on the one hand, been ' in everything enriched by 
 Christ, in all utterance, and in all knowledge,' ' coming behind 
 in no gift' (i. 5, 6, 7); but, on the other hand, the same con- 
 tentious spirit which had turned the most sacred names into 
 party watchwords, and profaned the celebration of the Supper 
 of the Lord, was ready to avail itself of the openings for vanity 
 and ambition afforded by the distinctions of the different gifts. 
 Accordingly, various disorders arose ; every one thought of 
 himself, and no one of his neighbour's good ; and as a natural 
 consequence, those gifts were most highly honoured, not which 
 
UNITY AND VAEIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 211 
 
 were most useful, but which were most astonishing. Amongst 
 these the gift of tongues rose pre-eminent, as being in itself 
 the most expressive of the new spiritual life ; the very words, 
 * spiritual gifts,' ^ spiritual man ' {irvsv^arLKa, xiv. 1 ; irvevfiarL- 
 Kos^ xiv. 37), seem, in common parlance, to have been exclu- 
 sively appropriated to it : and the other gifts, especially that 
 of prophecy, were despised, as hardly proceeding from the 
 same Divine source. To combat this particular exemplifica- 
 tion of the factious and disorderly spirit which he had noticed 
 in xi. 16-19, the Apostle proceeds to show: («) That all the 
 gifts^ which were bestowed upon the Church, equally pro- 
 ceeded from the Spirit (xii. 1-30). {b) That Love was to be 
 their guide in all things (xii. 31-xiii. 13). (c) That therefore 
 the most useful were also the most exalted gifts (xiv. 1-25) ; 
 and (rf) That order was to prevail throughout (xiv. 26-40). 
 
 p 2 
 
212 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 1—5. 
 
 xn. ^Ilepl Se T(t>v TrvevfJiaTLKOJV, dSeXc^ot, ov Oekco v/xa? 
 dyi^oeiv. ^otSare otl ^\_oTe\ iOvr) ^re, tt/oos tol elBcoXa tol 
 
 * Om. Sre. 
 
 ^ Now concerning the spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you 
 ignorant. ^Ye know that when ye were Gentiles, carried away unta 
 
 XII. I Ilcpt 8k Twv TrvevfjuxTL- 
 Koiv. The construction is the 
 same as in vii. 1, 25, viii. 1. 
 TTvev/xaTtKwv is probably neuter, 
 as in the parallel constructions 
 of vii. 1, viii. 1, and as in the 
 use of the word in ix. 11, xiv. 1. 
 
 ov OiXw, ' I would not have 
 you ignorant,' as in x. 1, xii. 1. 
 
 2, 3 The stress in these two 
 verses is laid on the last clause, 
 and the argument would pro- 
 bably be rendered clearer by a 
 greater use of particles, as if it 
 were ttot\ ixkv Wvtj ^re, . . . vvv 
 Be 7rtcrT€voi/T€s. * 'AvdOc/Jia ' fiev 
 ' 'Ii/crovs ' ovSet5 . . . AaXSv Aeyct, 
 * Kvptos ' 8e "Iiycrovs ' ovScts Xeyet 
 €t fX7] iv TrvevfxaTL dyto). 
 
 The argument is : ' You main- 
 tain that the influence of the 
 Spirit is confined to its most 
 striking manifestations. But you 
 know that, by the mere fact of 
 your conversion, you passed from 
 a state where all was dead and 
 dumb, to a state of life and con- 
 scious speech. Such being the 
 contrast of your former and your 
 present state (Sto), I remind you 
 (yvwpi^oi, compare xv. 1), that 
 as certainly as no true prophet 
 or speaker with tongues (cv 
 TTvcvyotart Oeov AaXwv, compare 
 xiv. 2) can utter the words 
 which renounce the Name of 
 Jesus, so the words by which we 
 acknowledge His sovereignty, 
 and thereby pass from heathen- 
 
 ism to Christianity, simple as 
 they sound, are gifts of the 
 Holy Spirit, no less than those 
 more remarkable gifts which 
 usually claim to themselves the 
 name.' 
 
 2 5tl 6t€, a. C. D. E. J. ; 5ti, 
 B. F. Gr. If 0T€ is kept, the con- 
 struction is an anacoluthon. 
 
 Two things are expressed by 
 this verse: (1) The dead «Dumb 
 silence of the state of i<iois.' 
 heathenism, the 'idols ' or images 
 standing ' dumb,' ' voiceless ^ 
 (acfioiva), with neither mouths to 
 speak, nor ears to hear, silent 
 amongst their silent worship- 
 pers: 'The oracles are dumb.' 
 This is contrasted with the 
 music and speech of Christianity, 
 ' the sound as of a mighty rush- 
 ing wind' (Acts ii. 2), 'the 
 voice of many waters,' which 
 resounded through the whole 
 Church in the universal difiusion 
 of those gifts of which he was 
 here especially speaking — pro- 
 phesying, and, above all, of the 
 gift of tongues. (2) The un- 
 conscious irrational state of hea- 
 thenism, in which the worship- 
 pers were blindly hur- 'Even as ye 
 ried away by some over- ^^e^e led.' 
 ruling power of fate, or evil 
 spirit of divination, or priestly 
 caste, without any will or reason 
 of their own (aTrayo/xevot o)<5 
 av ^yeo-^e), to worship at the 
 shrines of these inanimate idols. 
 
UNITY AND VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 213 
 
 ^(f)cjva CO? av rjyeaOe airayofJievoL. ^Sto yvoipttfi) vfXLV on 
 ouSet? iv irvevixaTL Oeov Xakoji \eyei 'AvdOefxa ^^Ir)crov<;, 
 Kol ouSets SvvaTaL enreiv ^KvpLO<; Irjaov^^ el fjurj iv irvev- 
 ^ StaioecretQ Se yaoicTixdroiv elcriv, to 8e 
 
 jjuaTL ayicp. 
 
 siaipeaei'^ oe ^apuo-fiaTcov eLcnv, to oe avTo 
 
 TTPevfia' ^ KOL Statpeaet? SuaKOVLcov elcriv^ koX 6 avTos kv- 
 
 'l7]ffOVV. 
 
 ^ KVpiQV 'ItJO-OUJ/. 
 
 -these dumb idols even as ye were led . . . ^Wherefore I make known to 
 yon that no one speaking by the Spirit of God saith, ' Cursed is Jesus ' : 
 and no one can say ' The Lord Jesus/ but by the Holy Spirit. "^Now 
 there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit ; ^and there are diver- 
 
 This is contrasted with the con- 
 sciousness of an in-dwelling 
 Spirit, moving in harmony with 
 their spirits, and controlled by 
 a sense of order and wisdom. 
 Possibly in these words there 
 was the further intention of im- 
 pressing upon them the supe- 
 riority of the conscious over the 
 unconscious gifts of the Spirit. 
 
 3 The words 'Am^e/Aa ^l-qaovs 
 'Jesus ^'^^ Kvptos 'Iryo-ovs (ac- 
 
 anathema.' cording to the reading 
 of A. B. C, which produces 
 a much livelier sense) were 
 probably well known forms of 
 speech. 'Jesus is accursed,' 
 would be the test of renouncing 
 Christianity, either before the 
 Roman tribunal (compare * male- 
 dicere Christo,' in Plin. Ep. x. 
 97), or in the Jewish synagogue ; 
 prolDably the latter, if one may 
 judge from the word 'Anathema.' 
 ^ Jesus the 'Jesus is the Lord,' 
 Lord. would be the form of 
 
 professing allegiance to Christ 
 at baptism, as ' He commanded 
 them to be baptized in the name 
 of the Jjord^ ' they were baptized 
 in the name of the liord Jesus, ^ 
 Acts X. 48, xix. 5. For a similar 
 formula applied to attest the pre- 
 sence or absence of the Spirit, 
 compare 1 John iv. 2, 3. 
 
 If there be any difference in- 
 
 tended between the ' Spirit of 
 God ' and the 'Holy Spirit,' it is 
 that the first is a more general 
 expression, the latter confined 
 to the Spirit as animating the 
 hearts of Christians. 
 
 4-6 This connexion is : 'If 
 every utterance of a Christian is 
 inspired by the Holy Ghost, then 
 we must allow that a vast va- 
 riety of gifts may all proceed 
 from the same Spirit, — a vast 
 variety of services exist under 
 the same Master, whose sove- 
 reignty was acknowledged by 
 means of that Spirit, — a vast 
 variety of efEects proceed from 
 the same God, who acts by that 
 Spirit.' 
 
 8e is not ' but,' as in opposi- 
 tion to what has been said, but 
 'now,' as something said in ad- 
 dition. The first clause alone is 
 essential, as depending directly 
 on the previous assertion with 
 regard to the Holy Spirit; the 
 second is suggested by the words 
 ' Jesus is the Lord ; ' the third, 
 by the words ' the Spirit of Qod.^ 
 But, although suggested in the 
 first instance by the immediate 
 context, the threefold division 
 also refers to the distinction of 
 the Father, the Son, and the 
 Spirit, elsewhere either expressly 
 or by implication brought for- 
 
214 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 6—1 
 
 pios' ^ Koi StatpeVets evepyrjfJLaTcov el(Tiv, 6 8e avrog* deo^ 
 6 iuepy(x)v tcl TrdvTa ii/ ttolctlp. ^ iKoicrTcp 8e StSorat rf 
 (f)av€p(x)o-LS Tov Tn^ev/AttTOS TT/oos TO crviJL(j)epov. ^w fiev ya/> 
 Slol tov TTvevixaTOs SiSorat Xoyos cro^ta?, a\Xw 8e Xoyo? 
 yj'tucrews Acara to avTo irvevfJia, ^ kTepco [8e] ttlo-tls iv T(o 
 
 aiiTos ioTTi. 
 
 sities of ministries, and the same Lord ; ^and there are diversities of 
 workings, but it is the same God who worketh all in all. ^But the 
 manifestation of the Spirit to each one is given for profit. ^Fortoone 
 is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to another the word of know- 
 ledge according to the same Spirit ; ^ to another faith, in the same Spirit ; 
 
 ward in the New Testament. 
 The three parts of the sentence 
 are respectively different phases 
 of the same idea, — ' gifts, ser- 
 vices, effects, — the Spirit, the 
 Lord, God.' The gifts are spoken 
 of primarily as proceeding from 
 the Spirit, because they are re- 
 garded as its most direct mani- 
 festations ; what is sometimes 
 called receiving 'the (jifts of the 
 Spirit ' is in other passages 
 called receiving ' the Spirit.* (See 
 Acts X. 44, 45, 47; Gal. iii. 2, 5; 
 Acts viii. 17, 18.) Then, viewed 
 as itistruments in the hands of a 
 higher power, the modes of their 
 employment are considered as 
 services (8taKoviat) rendered to 
 Christ the Lord and Master of all 
 believers. Lastly, in their effects 
 (cvc/oy^/mra) on the world, they 
 are considered as drawing all 
 their efficiency from God, the 
 cause of all power : the gift of 
 the Spirit may exist, the work 
 in which it is employed may be 
 the service of Christ ; but God 
 alone can enable it to produce its 
 due eff^ect. Comp. iii. 5, 6 : ' Paul 
 and ApoUos are ministers (8ta- 
 KovoC) : they planted and watered ' 
 with the gifts of the Spirit, ' but 
 God gave the increase.' 
 
 7 ' As the source of these gifts 
 
 is the same, so also is the object ; 
 namely, the benefit of others.' 
 As the previous sentence is in- 
 serted to repel the general asser- 
 tion of an inequality of gifts, so 
 this is inserted to repel the dis- 
 pamgement of prophesying in 
 particular. For this sense of to 
 (rv/jL(f)€pov see x. 23. 
 
 8- ID He now proceeds to 
 give at length the proof of the 
 6th and 7th verses, returning 
 once more, in the 11th, to the 
 same general conclusion, that 
 the gifts, however various, had 
 a common Divine source. 
 
 The following enumeration in- 
 cludes three divisions. 
 
 (1) Mental 'gifts.' 'Knowledge' 
 is spoken of as such in ,^ 
 
 1. 5, 6. And so 'Wis- ledge'and 
 dom ' in Jas. i. 5 ; Eph. ' Wisdom.' 
 i. 17; CoL i. 9; and 'faith' in 
 Luke xvii. 5, are described as 
 sought and received from God, 
 in language more emphatic and 
 distinct than is used in speaking 
 of 'love,' 'hope,' or other more 
 general virtues. For the explan- 
 ation of ' wisdom ' and ' know- 
 ledge,' see ii. 6, 7. ' Wisdom ' 
 (cro<^ia) expresses something more 
 discursive and argumentative, as 
 in St. Paul ; ' knowledge ' (yvw- 
 crts) something more intuitive, as 
 
UNITY AND VAKIETY OF SPIEITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 215 
 
 TTvevfJiaTL, ^^aXkcp Se ivepyrjyLaTa Svpdfxecov^ dWo)^ 7rpo(l>r)- 
 reta, aXXo)^ hiaKpiaeis Trvevfidrcov^ erepco^ yivr) yXcocrcrcjp, 
 dXKo) Se ^ SL€pfJi7)V€La y\o)crcro)v ^^wdvTa Se Tavra evepyei 
 TO tv KoX TO avTo TTvevfJia, Siaipovi^ tSia eKdaTO) KaOco'; 
 
 * avT(f for €vl. 
 
 " Add 5^. 
 
 epfxr]V€ia. 
 
 to another the gifts of healing, in the one Spirit, ^^to another the working 
 of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discernments ' of spirits, to 
 another divers kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues: 
 '^but all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to each 
 
 * (?;• judgments. 
 
 in St. John. * The word,' or 
 * utterance ' (Xoyo?), is added to 
 express that it vp^as through their 
 communication in teaching that 
 these gifts became known. (Comp. 
 
 'Faith.' \^;^ '^^'^K ^V^- 
 
 shaken trust m U-od, 
 which in the Epistles to the Ro- 
 mans and Galatians is described 
 as changing the heart, is de- 
 scribed here, in xiii. 2 ; in Matt, 
 xvii. 20; and Luke xvii. 6, as 
 expressing itself in preternatural 
 energy. 
 
 (2) As * wisdom and know- 
 ledge ' are the basis of ' prophe- 
 sying and divers tongues,' so 
 faith is the basis of * gifts of 
 healing and miracles,' and hence 
 the immediate transition to 
 ^^ ,. , these. 'Gifts of heal- 
 
 ' Healing.' . , ^ , , , 
 
 mgs {j(apL(TiiaTa lafjLa- 
 
 Twv). The plural is used to ex- 
 press the healing of various dis- 
 orders. That this was amongst 
 the most common of the extra- 
 ordinary gifts may be inferred 
 both from its frequent mention 
 in the Acts, and also from James 
 V. 14 : ' Is any sick among you,' 
 &c. 
 
 ' Effects of miraculous powers ' 
 (^Ivipyqixara Swa/xewv). The pa- 
 rallel in verse 28, where 'powers ' 
 
 (Swaficts) alone is used, shows 
 that this, and not * effects,' is the 
 emphatic word. Svva/Acts expres- 
 ses not the miracles themselves, 
 but the power or virtue residing 
 in him who worked them, and 
 iv€pyrj/xaTa SvvdfX€OiV is therefore 
 the full expression for these 
 powers displaying themselves in 
 action, as Adyos aortas indicates 
 wisdom displaying itself in ut- 
 terance. 
 
 (3) For prophecy and the gift 
 of tongues, see xiv. 1. The dis- 
 cerning of spirits (i.e. the dis- 
 crimination between those pro- 
 phetical gifts which were true 
 and those which were false) 
 stands in the same relation to 
 prophecy, as the interpretation 
 of tongues to the gift of tongues. 
 
 1 1 He here again sums up their 
 variety by reasserting their unity. 
 The word ' worketh ' (evcpyct) is 
 here applied to the Spirit as it 
 had in verse 6 been applied to 
 God ; the personal agency of the 
 Spirit being here more strongly 
 expressed than in verse 4, as is 
 also implied in the words 'as He 
 wills' (Ktt^ws PovXcrat), where 
 the verb, although united to a 
 neuter noun, implies that its sub- 
 ject is a person. 
 
216 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 12—21. 
 
 jBoTjXeraL. ^^KaOdrrep yap to orcofxa ev ecrriv KoiX fJLekrj 
 TToXXa €Yet,* TTOLvra 8e tol fieXr) rov crw/xaro?^ TroWa ovra 
 €1/ ecTTLv (Tw/xa, ovTCt)'; /cat o ')(pLcrTO<;' ^^ Kau yap ep evi 
 TTvevfJiaTL rjixeis iravTe^ ets ev crw/xa iPaiTTLcrdrjiJLev, etre 
 'lovSatot €LTe '^EWrjve^^ eire BovXol etre ekevdepoi^ /cat 
 Trdvre^ ^ ev jrveviia iTTOTiad-qyiev. ^^ koX yap to crw/xa ovk 
 
 " e;tet rroAAo. ^ adsixaros rov kv6s. • 6ts eV. 
 
 one severally as He wills. ^^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 : "for in one Spirit also were we all baptized into 
 one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or freemen ; and were 
 aU made to drink one Spirit. ^^For the body also is not one member, 
 
 1 2 The argument is confirmed 
 , , „ by the analogy of the 
 
 Analogy of •'. ,. . . ^J 
 
 the human Spiritual to the na- 
 ^*^y- tural body. According 
 to the metaphor so strongly 
 brought forward in this Epistle, 
 ' Christ ' is here used for the 
 Christian Society, by which His 
 body is represented. See x. 17, 
 xi. 29. 
 
 13 This explains and gives the 
 reason for the former expression. 
 ' I say, so is it with Christ ; for 
 by the one Spirit which we par- 
 take we were baptized into the 
 one body of Christ.' 
 
 * In one Spirit (cv kv\ ttvcu- 
 fiarC) refers to the idea of ' bap- 
 tism by the Spirit,' ' plunged, 
 enveloped in the rushing blast of 
 the Divine breath.' 
 
 ' Into one body ' refers to the 
 formula, ''into the name of 
 Christ.' Compare Matt, xxviii. 
 19. 
 
 * Whether Jews or Greeks,' 
 &c. This must be introduced 
 only as being the kind of unity 
 most prominently represented in 
 baptism. Compare Galat. iii. 27, 
 28 : 'As many of you as have 
 been baptized into Christ have 
 put on Christ. There is neither 
 Jew nor Greeks there is neither 
 
 bond nor free, there is neither 
 male nor female, for ye are all 
 one in Christ Jesus. 
 
 tv TTvevfjia €7roTL(T$r)iJiev, ' were 
 all made to drink one Spirit.' 
 (J. reads icfuoTLaOrjfxev for tVoTt- 
 (rdtjixev, a curious instance of the 
 use of cfjoiTL^d) for ySaTrrt^w in 
 ecclesiastical Greek, in which 
 this variation originated.) This 
 is an amplification of the pre- 
 ceding ; TTvevfxa rising above 
 crw/xa, as i7roTL(rOr]ix€V above eySaTr- 
 Ti(rOr)ix€v. ' We were made par- 
 takers, not only of the outward 
 body, but of the inward life and 
 Spirit which animates it (comp. 
 Eph. iv. 4 : ' there is one body 
 and one Spirit^), we not only 
 passed through the waters of 
 baptism, but the Spirit by which 
 we were baptized passed into us ; 
 we were penetrated by it through 
 and through, even into our in- 
 most spirits.' There is in ctto- 
 TLcrOrjfjiev the double sense of 
 ' were watered,' which connects 
 it with baptism, and ' were given 
 to drink,' which connects it with 
 the idea of nourishment, and 
 possibly, therefore, with the cup 
 of the Lord's Supper (comp. x. 
 4). The same play on the word 
 appears in iii. 6, where the 
 
UNITY AND VAEIETY OF SPIEITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 217 
 
 icTTLV eu jU,e\o9, aXka ttoWol. ^^eav eLTrr) 6 7rou§, '^Otl ovk 
 elul Yetp, OVK et/xt e/c tov crcofJiaTOS', ov irapa tovto ovk 
 €aTLV e/c TOV (TCJfJiaTos. Kau eoiv enrrj to ol»9, Utl ovk et/xi 
 ocjiOakfJiOS, OVK et/xl €ac tov acofJiaTOS, ov irapa tovto ovk 
 iaTLv €K Toi} crcJiJLaTOS' ^^ el o\ov to croj/xa 6<jf>^aX/xos, ttov 
 rj oLKOt] ; el okov olkot], ttov rj ocr^pr^cns ; ^^^vvv he 6 6eos 
 eOeTO TOL fieKyjy ep eKacrTov avTotv iv tgj croiyLaTL KaOcos 
 7)6e\'q(Tev* ^'^ el 8e rjv [ra] iroivTa ev /llcXos, ttov to crcofxa; 
 ^^vvv he TToXXa [ftei^] fieXTy, ev he cro)fjia. ^^ov Swarat 
 
 » vwl. 
 
 but many. ^^If the foot shall say, 'because I am not the hand, I am 
 not of the body,' it is not on that account not of the body. ^^And if the 
 ear shall say, * because I am not the eye, I am not of the body ; ' it is not 
 on that account not of the body. "If the whole body were an eye, where 
 were the hearing ? if the whole were hearing, where were the smelling ? 
 ^^But now God set the members, every one of them in the body as He 
 willed : ^^and if they were all one member, where were the body 1 ^°but 
 now are they indeed many members, but one body. ^^And the eye 
 cannot say unto the hand * I have no need of thee,' nor again the head 
 
 phrase * Apollos watered ' (ctto- 
 TL<T€v) conveys the first of these 
 meanings, and the phrase, ' I fed 
 you with milk' (ydXa v/xas ctto- 
 Ttcra), conveys the second. 
 
 14-18 In order to answer the 
 argument of those who main- 
 tained that the gift of tongues 
 was the only manifestation of 
 the Spirit, be enlarges on the 
 necessity of variety in the con- 
 stituent parts of the human 
 frame, and the acknowledged 
 use of each. 
 
 14 Kol yap gives the reason 
 for Travres in the previous verse. 
 * I say that we all received life 
 and strength from one Spirit, 
 for so also it is in the human 
 
 body, which does not consist of 
 one limb, but of many.' 
 
 15 ou Trapa tovto ovk €(Ttlv, ' It 
 is not, therefore, no part of the 
 body.' Trapa tovto, * on this ac- 
 count,' ' along of this.' 
 
 18 vvv Se. 'But as it is (as 
 
 the human frame is really con- 
 stituted) there is not one predo- 
 minant sense or faculty, but 
 many.' 
 
 KaOw'i rjOeXrjcrev, i.e. * not ac- 
 cording to man's fancies but 
 God's pleasure.' 
 
 19 In the previous verses, he 
 has set forth the variety of the 
 human frame ; in these, 19-26, 
 with a view to the confusion 
 which arose out of the exagge- 
 rated estimate of one gift in the 
 Corinthian church, he sets forth 
 its unity, ttov to o-(o/>ta ; ' What 
 would become of the organisa- 
 tion of the body as a whole ? ' 
 
 20 vvv Se. As in verse 18. 
 
 2 1 As a practical consequence 
 of this joint variety and unity in 
 the human body, he sets forth 
 the mutual dependence of the 
 different senses and limbs ; again, 
 with the view of reproving the 
 contempt with which the gifts 
 of teaching were regarded by 
 
218 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 22—28. 
 
 [§e] ""6 6(f)0a\ixos eLTTeiv Trj ^eipi Xpdav aov ovk e^w, rf 
 TTokiv 7) Ke(f)a\rj rots irocriv XpeCav vfjicov ovk e)(a>* ^^akXd 
 TToWco iiaWov TOL BoKOvvTa fxeXr) rov craj/xarog dcrOeveaTepoL 
 VTTap^eiv avayKaia earriVi ^ /cat a ooKOVfJiev afrip^orepa eupau 
 Tov acofjiaros, tovtols TLfxrjv TrepicrcroTipav TrepLTiOefxev^ kol 
 Ta dcr^ixova rjiJLcov evcr^rjfiocrvprjv TrepiccroTepav e^et, "^^ra 
 Se evcrx'jP'Oi^a r)fJL(ov ov •)(peLav exet. dWd 6 6eo^ crvveKe- 
 pacrev to crw/ia, rco ^ vo'Tepovixeva} irepiaaorepcLV Sovs TifJiTJv, 
 Lva pjT) y or^tcr/Aa iv rw crw^art, dWd to avTo vrrep 
 
 25 
 
 » Om. 6. 
 
 vcrrepovvTi. 
 
 to the feet ' I have no need of you :' -'-nay, much more those members 
 of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary, ^^ and those members 
 of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow 
 more abundant honour, and our unseemly parts have more abundant 
 seemliness, ~^and our seemly parts have no need. But God tempered 
 the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part 
 which lacked, ^^that there should be no division in the body, but that 
 
 those endowed with the gift of 
 tongues. 
 
 2 2 oAAa TToAAw /xoAAov. ' Not 
 only do the hand and foot stand 
 in need of each other, but even 
 the feeblest and humblest parts 
 of the body are by common con- 
 sent invested with an artificial 
 dignity, as if to compensate for 
 their natural insignificance or 
 unseemliness : ' alluding to the 
 almost universal instinct of fit- 
 ness or of decency which has 
 dictated, on the one hand, the 
 use of ornaments ; on the other 
 hand, the necessity of clothing. 
 
 The passage indicates the 
 same strain of argument as forms 
 the basis of ix. 3-15, appealing 
 to the natural feelings of men on 
 the subiect of dress. 
 
 Ta a(TU€V€(rT€pa, art/i-OTcpa, a- 
 (TxqiJ^ova, are best left undefined, 
 as the Apostle has left them ; 
 the words being accumulated and 
 varied designedly, so as to in- 
 clude all parts of the human 
 frame, without particularly spe- 
 
 cifying any. 
 
 vTrapx^i-v bere seems to retain 
 its classical sense, ' to be in their 
 own nature weak ; ' distinguish- 
 ed from etvat in verse 23, ' to be 
 by general consent unhonoured.* 
 
 23 TijxrjVTrepiTtOcfxev. The word 
 7repLTi6efX€v (comp. Matt, xxvii. 
 28 ; Mark xv. 17) points to 
 dress ; and if so, rt/x^v may pos- 
 sibly have been suggested by the 
 passage in Gen. xx. 16, where 
 it is used by the LXX. for ' a 
 covering of the eyes.' 
 
 The covering of the body, and 
 uncovering of the face, is pro- 
 bably one chief point of the con- 
 trast. 
 
 24 6 Oeo<s crvveKepaa-ev, ' God 
 through these natural instincts 
 provided a compensation.' 
 
 25 The particular expressions 
 used here, o-xto-/ta, ixepipA/oio-Wy 
 Tracrxct, So^a^crat, (rvyxoi^p^h ' di- 
 vision,' 'care,' 'suffering," glory,'" 
 ' joy,* may all be taken for the 
 physical and involuntary sym- 
 pathy of the human frame, as. 
 
UNITY AND VAKIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 219 
 
 aXX.ijXcoi' fiepLfJivcoaLv ra fxekr). ^^ koL eu ^tl Trdcr^ei iv 
 fieXo9, crvfJL7T(i(T)(eL Trdvra ra [xeXyj • etre Sof ct^erai ev [leXoSy 
 crvy^aLpei iravTa rd fxiXyj. '^"v/xets 8e icrre crw/xa ^ptcrrov 
 /cat ixeXrj eK fxepovs. '^^/cai ous jxev eOero 6 Oeos hf Trj 
 
 the members should have the same care one for another. ^^And whether 
 one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member be 
 honoured, all the members rejoice with it. ^^ Now ye are the body of 
 Christ and members in particular. ^^And God set some in the church, 
 
 Chrysostom explains crvyxatpeiy 
 * The mouth speaks, and the eyes 
 laugh and sparkle.' But they 
 also indicate that the Apostle's 
 mind was chiefly fixed on the 
 moral application of these natu- 
 ral phenomena ; and that in this 
 application he has strayed be- 
 yond the limits of the particular 
 subject of the gifts into the con- 
 templation of Christian unity 
 generally, of which he had spo- 
 ken in verses 14-19. Compare 
 verse 13. And the momentary 
 fervour by which this passage is 
 distinguished from the rest of 
 the argument arises from the 
 consciousness of his own intense 
 sympathy, as already described 
 in viii. 13, ix. 19-22, and as 
 given almost in the same words 
 in 2 Cor. xi. 28, 29: 'That 
 which Cometh upon me daily, 
 the care (jj /xept/xva) of all the 
 Churches. Who is weak ? (rts 
 acrOevei) and I am not weak ? ' 
 
 26 8o^a^€Tat, ' glorifi.ed.' If 
 this has any precise reference 
 to the parts of the body, it is 
 another illustration of the signi- 
 ficance (as in verse 23, xi. 2-14) 
 which the Apostle attaches to 
 the ornaments (as crowns, &c.) 
 to which it probably would al- 
 lude. 
 
 27 vjxcLs Se ecTTC aw/xa ^to"TOv 
 Kol ixiXrj €K fxipovs. The greater 
 elevation of the previous passage 
 
 had prepared the way for the 
 transition from the statement of 
 the analogy to its moral applica- 
 tion. 'But you, the Christian 
 society, — as distinct from tha 
 bodily organisation, of which I 
 have just been speaking, — you 
 are, collectively speaking, the 
 body of Christ ; as, individually,, 
 you are His limbs.' Compare 
 vi. 15 : ' know ye not that your 
 bodies (i.e. your individual bo- 
 dies) are members of Christ ? ' 
 
 28-30 This general applica- 
 tion is now unfolded in detail: 
 ov<s fxev iOcTO 6 Oibs Iv rrj ckkAt;- 
 orta, corresponds to vvv 8c 6 Oibs 
 lOtTo TO. fJieky, in verse 18 : 'As 
 in the natural body He placed 
 the various limbs, so "in the 
 Church" (iv rrj iKKkyja-La being 
 used with especial reference to 
 the public meetings, comp. xi. 
 20) He placed men endowed 
 with different gifts.' It is evi- 
 dent from the context, and from 
 comparison with the parallel 
 passage in Eph. iv. 11-16 : (1) 
 that he is speaking here, not of 
 offices, but of gifts : (2) that the 
 gifts which he enumerates were 
 not enjoyed by two or three or- 
 ders only, but by the whole of 
 the Christian society. 
 
 ov<s fxev would naturally have 
 required ovs 8e in the next clause, 
 but the form of enumeration is 
 exchanged for Trpwrov, Sevrepov^ 
 
220 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 29, 30. 
 
 iKKXrjcTLa irpcoTov aTTOcrroXov?, Sevrepov TTpo(j)rjra<;, TpiTOv 
 SiSaor/caXovs, eireira SvvdjJLeLs, eireura^ papier piar a lapaTOiv^ 
 dvTikijxjjeLS^ KvfiepvijaeLS-, yevyj yXojcra-cov. ^^ p^rj Traz^res 
 aTTOcrToXoL ; prj irdures TrpoiprJTaL ; prj Trdvres 8i8acr/caXot; 
 
 eiTa. 
 
 first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, 
 after that gifts of healings,helps, insights, divers kinds of tongues. ^^Are 
 
 TptTov, as that again is exchanged 
 for cTretTa, eTrecra. 
 
 eOero refers to the first fonnda- 
 tion of the Church. This enu- 
 meration stands midway between 
 that of the gifts in verses 8-10, 
 and that in Eph. iv. 11 ; less 
 abstract than the first, and (as 
 might be expected from its pri- 
 ority in time) less concrete than 
 the second. To a certain extent 
 the gifts of 'knowledge and 
 wisdom,' correspond to the ofi&ces 
 of ' Apostles, prophets, and 
 teachers.' ' Apostles ' are placed 
 first, as the founders of the 
 Church (comp. Eph. ii. 20, and 
 Rev. xxi. 14), and as endowed 
 in the highest degree with spi- 
 ritual gifts. The name expresses 
 the character of those who had 
 either been immediately sent 
 forth by Christ Himself, or who 
 had been raised to a level with 
 the Twelve by direct revelations 
 from Him. 
 
 For the juxtaposition of ' pro- 
 phets ' with ' Apostles,' compare 
 Eph. ii. 20 ; iv. 11. For the word 
 itself see ch. xiv. 
 
 2g[Si8d(TKaXoL, 'teachers.' These 
 , also are noticed in Eph. 
 IV. 11 ; Acts xm. 1, in 
 the same order, and by implica- 
 tion in Rom. xii. 7. The name 
 expresses the function of regular 
 teaching or expounding, as dis- 
 tinct from the inspired and im- 
 passioned preaching of the ' pro- 
 
 Helps.' 
 
 phets.' Of all these ' gifts ' it is 
 the one which approaches most 
 nearly to an established order of 
 clergy. 
 
 For the rest of the gifts com- 
 pare verses 9, 10. Two are added 
 here, which are there not ex- 
 pressly named, ' helps ' 
 (di/TtXiji/^ets) and ' go- 
 vernments ' (Kv^€pv>7o-€ts) . If, as 
 is possible, they designate gifts 
 like those mentioned in the ana- 
 logous part of the enumeration 
 in verses 8, 10 ; then none are 
 more likely to be alluded to than 
 the two here omitted, viz. ' in- 
 terpretation of tongues ' (c/a/xT^- 
 v€La yXwo-o-wv), and ' discern- 
 ments of spirits ' (StaAcptorets irvev- 
 yaarwv). 
 
 avTL\r]if/L<s as used in the LXX. 
 is not (like SiaKovia) help minis- 
 tered by an inferior to a supe- 
 rior, but by a superior to an in- 
 ferior (see Ps. Ixxxix. 18 ; Ecclus. 
 xi. 12, Ii. 7) ; and thus, whilst 
 inapplicable to the ministrations 
 of the deacon to the presbyter, 
 would well express the various 
 helps rendered by those who had 
 the gift of interpretation, to the 
 congregation at large, or to those 
 who were vainly struggling to 
 express themselves intelligibly in 
 their strange accents. 'Govem- 
 Kvl3epvr](TLs, which in the ™ents.' 
 New Testament occurs only here, 
 is in the LXX. always used as 
 the rendering of niP-ian)!), ' wise 
 
UNITY AND VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 
 
 221 
 
 layidTCDv; imtj TrdvTe^ yXcocrcraLS XaXovonv; firj TrdvTes Siep- 
 fjLTjvevovo-Lv ; 
 
 all apostles ? are all prophets ? are all teachers? are all miracles? ^^have all 
 the gifts of healing ? do all speak with tongues ? do all interpret 1 
 
 foresight,' &c., as in Prov. i. 5, 
 xi. 14, xxiv. 6. So in the nn- 
 pnblished * Glosses on the Pro- 
 verbs,' quoted by Schleusner, it 
 is explained as kTnarrrnx'q Tuiv 
 7rpaTT0fjL€V(aVj and in Hesychius 
 (apparently in explanation of 
 this very passage), Kv/3€pvi^(T€i<; 
 are said to be irpovorfrLKoX iTTLo-Trj- 
 fiai Koi <f)povT^<T€is. This meaning 
 
 would exactly accord with the 
 ' discernments of spirits,' and 
 thus the two enumerations would 
 as nearly as possible coincide ; 
 and we should then have words 
 (otherwise wanting) to which 
 the Apostle may be supposed to 
 refer in verse 30, ' Do all inter- 
 pret ? ' 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XII. 1 — 30. 
 
 With regard to the gifts of the Spirit, you must not confine your 
 appreciation of them to any one class. If you compare your 
 present state with the Mind unconscious condition in which 
 you were before your conversion, you must he aware that even 
 the simple acknowledgment of Christ as your Lord, which you 
 made at your conversion, was an utterance of the Spirit of 
 God; and you may therefore conceive that, however vai'ious 
 are the gifts bestowed upon you, they all equally proceed from 
 the breath of the Spirit ; even as the services which they enable 
 you to perform are all wrought for the one Master whom you 
 acknowledged at your conversion; and as the effects which 
 they produce are produced by the power of God from whom 
 the Spirit comes. And as they all issue from the same source, 
 so they have all the same end, namely, the benefit of others. 
 This unity of origin and object is in no way contradicted by 
 the variety of the gifts, moral, preternatural, or spiritual, and 
 may be illustrated by the analogy between the framework of 
 the human body and that of the body of Christ, which is the 
 very form assumed by the Christian society in consequence of 
 
222 . FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 its par'ticipation in these spiritual gifts. In the human hody 
 no one limb or organ is allowed to separate itself from the 
 rest, or absorb the rest into itself without self-destruction ; so 
 that, on the one hand, the independence of the separate senses 
 is preserved, and, on the other hand, the unity of the organisa- 
 tion as a whole ; and the consequence of this joint variety and 
 unity is a mutual dependence of the several limbs and faculties 
 upon each other, so that even the most insignificant and 
 obscure have parts to perform, which the general consent of 
 mankind has delighted to honour and adorn. Now, what the 
 several limbs are in the natural body, that the individuals 
 ivlio compose the Christian society are in the body of Christ. 
 Every individual believer has some gift, hut not the same. 
 There are the Apostles, the messengers of Christ Himself, the 
 prophets with their inspired utterances, the teachers with 
 their ordinary training and learning, the extraordinary 
 powers inherent in some, the gifts of healing, the interpreters, 
 the discerners of spirits, the speakers with tongues ; these are 
 all different from each other, and none need encroach on the 
 others' functions. 
 
UNITY AND VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 223 
 
 The Miracles 
 AND THE Organisation of the Apostolic Age. 
 
 This Chapter is the most detailed contemporary record extant 
 of the extraordinary powers which manifested themselves in 
 the Christian society during the first century. They resolve 
 themselves into two classes: (1) Those which relate 
 to healing, and which exactly correspond with the healin*. 
 description of the miracles of Peter and John,^ and 
 with the allusions in James v. 14, 15 : ^ Is any sick among you ? 
 let him call for the elders of the church : and let them pray 
 over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord ; 
 and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord 
 shall raise him up; 'and in Mark xvi. 18: 'They shall lay 
 hands on the sick, and they shall recover.' (2) The gifts of 
 teaching, which are here classed under the names of 
 * prophets,' ' teachers,' * knowledge,' ' wisdom,' are teaching. 
 implied rather than expressly claimed in the authority 
 which the narrative of the Acts ascribes to the numerous 
 speeches of the Apostles. But to gifts of this kind allusions 
 are expressly made in the intimations in Matt. x. 20, and John 
 xvi. 13, of ' the Spirit speaking in the disciples,' and * guiding 
 them into all truth.' And to the same effect are the passages 
 in Rom. xii. 6, 7, 8 : * Having then gifts differing according to 
 the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us pro- 
 phesy according to the proportion of faith ; ... or he that 
 teacheth, let him wait on teaching, or he that exhorteth, on 
 •exhortation ; ' Eph. iv. 7, 11 : ' Unto every one of us is given 
 grace .... He gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and 
 some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; ' 1 Pet. iv. 
 10, 11 : 'As every man had received the gift, even so minister 
 the same one to another. ... If any man speak, let him speak 
 as the oracles of God.' The Apostle seems to claim this gift for 
 himself, both by implication in all his Epistles, and expressly in 
 1 Cor. vii. 40 : ' I think that I also (i.e. as well as others) have 
 the Spirit of God.' Of the special gifts of prophesying and 
 speaking with tongues, there will be another occasion to speak 
 
 ' Acts iii. 1-10, V. 12-16, ix. 33-42. 
 
224 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 in considering the 14th chapter. In the highest development 
 of these various forms of the gift of teaching, we find the only 
 direct recognition of what in modern language is called * in- 
 spiration ; ' and although the limits of such a gift, and the 
 persons in whom it existed, are never clearly defined, the de- 
 scription of it is important, because, unlike the other gifts, its 
 results can still be appreciated. We cannot judge of the gifts 
 of healing ; their effects have long since passed away. But we 
 can judge of the gift of teaching by the remains which it has 
 left in the writings of the New Testament ; and these remains 
 incontestably prove that there was at that time given to men 
 an extraordinary insight into truth, and an extraordinary power 
 of communicating it. 
 
 It is important to observe, that these multiplied allusions 
 Universal i^^ply ^ State of things in the Apostolical age, which 
 diffusion of has certainly not been seen since. On particular oc- 
 ese gi s. ^jg^g^Qjjg^ indeed, both in the first four centuries, and 
 afterwards in the middle ages, miracles are ascribed by con- 
 temporary writers to the influence or the relics of particular 
 individuals ; but there has been no occasion when they have 
 been so emphatically ascribed to whole societies, so closely 
 mixed up with the ordinary course of hfe. It is not main- 
 tained that every member of the Corinthian Church had all 
 or the greater part of those gifts, but it certainly appears that 
 every one had some gift ; and this being the case, we are 
 enabled to realise the total difference of the organisation of the 
 Apostolical Church from any through which it has passed in its 
 later stages. It was still in a state of fusion. Every part of 
 the new society was instinct with a life of its own. The whole 
 atmosphere which it breathed must have confirmed the belief 
 in the importance and novelty of the crisis. 
 
 But yet more remarkable, both as a proof of the Divine 
 power and wisdom which accompanied this whole manifestation, 
 ,^ , and also as affording a lesson to after times, is 
 
 Modera- .1.11* i i 1 
 
 tion in the the manner m which the Apostle approaches the 
 Apostle's subject, and the inference which he draws from it. 
 appeal to His objcct in enumerating these gifts is, not to en- 
 the gifts, large on their importance, or appeal to them as 
 evidences of the Christian faith ; it is to urge upon his readers 
 the necessity of co-operation for some useful purpose. Such 
 a thought at such a moment is eminently characteristic of 
 the soberness and calmness which pervade the Apostle's writ- 
 
UNITY AND VAEIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 226 
 
 ings, and affords a striking contrast to the fanatical feeling 
 whicli regards miracles as ends and not as means ; and which 
 despises, as alien and uncongenial, the ideas of co-operation, 
 subordination, and order. 
 
 This chapter has a yet further interest. It is the intro- 
 duction of a new idea into the Sacred Volume. I* j^e d - 
 has been truly observed, that the great glory of the trine of 
 Mosaic covenant was, not so much the revelation of ^^^}'^^ 
 
 unitv. 
 
 a truth before unknown, as the communication of 
 
 that truth to a whole people ; the first and only exception 
 
 which the Eastern world presented to the spirit of caste and 
 
 exclusion. But even in the Chosen People this universal 
 
 sympathy with each other, and with the common objects of 
 
 the nation, can hardly be said to have been fulfilled as it was 
 
 intended. 
 
 The idea of a whole community swayed by a common feel- 
 ing of interest and affection, was not Asiatic, but European. 
 It was Greece, and not Judoea, which first presented the sight 
 of a TToXis or state, in which every citizen had his own political 
 and social duties, and lived, not for himself, but for the State. 
 In the Old Testament, the duty of brotherly concord was en- 
 forced, not by the lively image of the body and its members, 
 but by the wholly different metaphor of the dews of Palestine 
 and the priestly oil.^ It was a Roman fable, and not an Eastern 
 parable, which gave to the world the image of a ' body politic,' 
 in which the welfare of each member depended on the welfare 
 of the rest. And it is precisely this thought which, whether 
 in conscious or unconscious imitation, was suggested to the 
 Apostle, by the sight of the manifold and various gifts of the 
 Christian community. 
 
 The image of the Christian Church, which the Apostle here 
 exhibits, is that of a living society in which the various faculties 
 of the various members were to perform their several parts, — 
 not an inert mass of mere learners and subjects, who were to 
 be authoritatively taught and ruled by one small portion of its 
 members. It is a Christianisation, not of the Levitical hier- 
 archy, but of the republic of Plato. It has become in after 
 times the basis, not of treatises on Church government, but of 
 
 ^ Ps. cxxxiii. 1-3. For the fre- 
 quent use of the figure first known 
 through the fable of Menenius 
 
 Agrippa, see Heydenreich and Wet- 
 stein ad loc. 
 
 Q 
 
226 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Butler's Sermons on the general constitution of human nature 
 and of human society. The principle of co-operation, as gene- 
 rally acknowledged in the economical and physical well-being^ 
 of man, was here to be applied to his moral and spiritual im- 
 provement. But there was the fear lest an object so high and 
 abstract as the promotion of man's moral welfare might be lost 
 in the distance. Something nearer and more personal was re- 
 quired to be mixed up with that which was indistinct from it& 
 very vastness. The direct object, therefore, of Christian co- 
 operation, according to St. Paul, was to bring Christ into every 
 part of common life, to make human society one living body, 
 closely joined in communion with Christ. And lest this com- 
 parison of the Church with the human body might in one re- 
 spect lead to error, because there resides such a sovereignty in 
 the brain or head, that in comparison of its great activity some 
 of the other members may be called passive ; therefore the 
 functions of the head in the Christian Church are by the 
 Apostle assigned exclusively to Christ Himself.^ 
 
 This idea of Christian community in the Apostolical age,, 
 was kept up, not only by the universal diffusion of the spiritual 
 gifts, but by all the outward institutions of the Church ; by 
 the primitive mode, as already described, of celebrating the 
 Lord's Supper ; by the co-operation of the whole community 
 in the expulsion or restoration of offenders ; by the absence, as 
 would appear from this chapter, of any definite form of govern- 
 ment or constitution ; and, in the Church of Jerusalem, by the 
 community of property. 
 
 Of these institutions most, if not all, had, even before the 
 Applica- termination of the Apostolical age, been either greatly 
 tionof the modified or had ceased to exist; and the gifts, from 
 statement which the institutions derived their life and spirit, 
 to modern had, as the Apostle himself anticipated, almost, if 
 society. ^^^ altogether, vanished away. But the general 
 truth which their existence suggested to St. Paul is still ap- 
 plicable to the natural gifts which constitute the variety of all 
 civilised society. The earliest form of the Christian society 
 was, as it were, a microcosm of the world at large ; what was 
 supplied to it in its first stage by miraculous intervention, is 
 
 ^ For this whole subject of the I times, see the instructive passages m 
 idea of the early Church and its Arnold's Fragment on the Church, 
 relations to the institutions of later I pp. 149, 150. 
 
UNITY AND VARIETY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS. 227 
 
 to be sought for now in the natural faculties and feelings 
 which it has comprehended within its sphere. And therefore 
 it is truly a part of Christian edification to apply what St. Paul 
 and St. Peter ^ have said of the diversity and relative import- 
 ance and final cause of the first extraordinary display of the 
 gifts of the Spirit, to the analogous variety of the gifts of 
 imagination, reasoning powers, thought, activity, means of 
 beneficence. Variety and complexity are the chief charac- 
 teristics of civilisation ; and it is one of the many indications 
 of the new birth of the world involved in the introduction of 
 the Gospel, that these very same qualities, by which human 
 society is now carried on in nations and in Churches, should 
 thus appear impressed on the face of primitive Christianity. 
 A new word has lately come into existence, to express the ne- 
 cessary interdependence of men and of nations ; but no better 
 definition of ' solidarity ' can be given than the old words here 
 first uttered : ' Whether one member suffer, all the members 
 suffer with it ; or one member be honoured, all the members 
 rejoice with it.' 
 
 1 Rom. xii. 6-8 ; 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11. See Arnold's Ser- 
 mons, vol. ii. 217 vl 300. 
 
 q2 
 
228 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Love, the Greatest op Gifts. 
 
 XII. 31— XIII. 13. 
 
 The Apostle, in the preceding verses, had pointed out the 
 necessary variety of the gifts ; he had asked indignantly 
 whether there was indeed anything in the actual state of 
 God's dispensations to warrant the attempt to subordinate all 
 gifts to one ; and then it would seem as if, after his manner, he 
 suddenly paused. The very fervour of his own rapid questions 
 has brought before him vividly the angry jealousy with which 
 the Corinthians grasped at one out of these many gifts, and 
 that, though the most startling, the least useful. Already, in 
 speaking of the Factions, and of the scandals occasioned by the 
 sacrificial feasts, he had seen how much they thought of them- 
 selves, and how little of others ; and he now wishes to urge 
 upon them that far above any other gift — far above even the 
 gift of tongues, or the gift of knowledge, is the gift of Love, 
 which would teach them that the true measure of the value of 
 gifts was their practical usefulness. 
 
 On this connexion with the general argument, Bengel well 
 remarks : ' Characterem amoris, quem Paulus Corinthiis, et 
 characterem sapientiae, quem Jacobus item iis, ad quos scripsit, 
 cap. iii. 17, attemperavit, utiliter inter se conferas, adhibito 
 loco, 1 Cor. viii. 1.' 
 
 There is no word which exactly renders the signification of 
 'A7a7r?;. ^ Caritas' was diverted from its usual meaning 
 ^" ^' by St. Jerome, to serve this purpose, evidently from 
 a feeling that the Latin * amor ' was not sufficiently spiritual. 
 And from this word, in slightly altered forms, have been de- 
 rived the words by which its force has been usually expressed 
 in French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and English. In itself 
 ' charity ' would not be an unsuitable rendering. But in English 
 the limitation of its meaning by popular usage has so much 
 narrowed its sense, that the simpler term * Love,' though too 
 general exactly to meet the case, is now the best equivalent. 
 It is used in the German Versions (Liebe), and was used in 
 the older English Versions down to 1582, as it is still in the 
 present version, wherever it occurs in the writings of St, John. 
 
 J 
 
LOVE, THE GKEATEST OF GIETS. 
 
 229 
 
 ^^ZrjXovTe 8e ra ^apLCTfiara toL ^ fjuei^ova* kol eri KaO' 
 v7repl3o\rjv 68ov vp2v SeLKVvjJLL. Xlli. ^ eaz^ rai? yXcocrcraLS 
 Tcov dvOpcoTTCop Xoko) KOL T(ov dyyikoiv, dyoLinqv Se yir) e^w, 
 yiyova ^aXfcos r^^oiv 7) KVfJLJBakov dXakd^ov, 
 
 " TO. Kpcirrova. ^ Kal idu. 
 
 ^ Kav e^o> 
 
 ^^But seek zealously the greater gifts : and yet show I unto you a 
 more excellent way. xiii. ^ Though I speak with the tongues of men 
 and of angels, yet have not Love, I am become sounding brass or a 
 clanging cymbal. ^And though I have prophecy and understand all 
 
 31 ^riXovTC 8e TO, ^aptV/xaTa ra 
 fiet^ova. * The humblest gifts are 
 not to be despised; but if you 
 are to be envious of any, if you 
 are to be desirous of acquiring 
 any, desire not the worst, not 
 the most useless, but the best ; 
 such as the gift of prophecy, 
 which conduces to the good of 
 others.' That such is the mean- 
 ing appears from the parallel in 
 xiv. 1, where * rather that ye 
 may prophesy ' corresponds to 
 ' the best gifts ' here. For the 
 bad sense implied in tprjXovre 
 compare verse 4 (ov t^-qXoi). For 
 a similar play on its good and bad 
 senses see Gal. iv. 17, ' They 
 zealously affect you (^r;A.ov(n), 
 but not well. . . . But it is good 
 to be zealously affected {tpriXov- 
 a-Oai) always in a good thing.' 
 For this qualification of the 
 general sentiment which he had 
 been expressing just before, com- 
 pare Matt, xxiii. 23 : ' These 
 ought you to have done, and not 
 to leave the other undone.' 
 
 Ka^' vireppokyiv is to be taken 
 with 6S0V. Compare a/x,apTcoA.os 
 Ka^' virepjSoXrjv, like ^ par excel- 
 lence,^ Rom. vii. 13. 
 
 68 w, ' way of life.' Compare 
 the use of 17 686<s for ' Christi- 
 anity,' in Acts ix. 2, xix. 9, 23, 
 xxiv. 14, 22. 
 
 XIII. 1-3 There is a climax 
 in the passage throughout. 
 
 Without Love the greatest 
 gifts are worthless, even though 
 they be : 
 
 (1) The gift of tongues, verse 
 
 (2) The gift of prophecy, and 
 of knowledge, and of faith, verse 
 2. 
 
 (3) The gift of zeal for man 
 as shown in outward acts, verse 
 3. 
 
 And in each case the conclu- 
 sion corresponds to the expres- 
 sion used in the first part of the 
 sentence. He speaks throughout 
 in the first person, as in Rom. 
 vii. 7-25, personifying, as it 
 were, human nature in himself. 
 
 The gift of tongues is men- 
 tioned first, as it was against the 
 exaggerated estimate of this that 
 he had chiefly to contend. The 
 expression is hyperbolical, like 
 viii. 13, or Rom. ix. 3, but still 
 based on a real feeling. * Though 
 the utterances of this gift in- 
 cluded all that both worlds could 
 express of great and glorious ; 
 yet without Love to harmonise 
 them, they would be but jarring 
 and unmeaning discord.' For 
 the phrase ' men and angels,' 
 comp. iv. 9. 
 
230 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIII. 3. 
 
 7rpO(j)7)TeLav koI elScj tol fJLVcrTtjpLa iravra koX iracrav Tr)v 
 yv(i)(TLV^ /cat iav e)((o TracravTrjv ttlcttlv axTTe oprj ^ fieOiCTTd- 
 vaL^ ayaTTrjv Be iirj e^a), ^ ovOiv elfiL. ^"^ Kav xpcoixLcro) iroivTa 
 
 * fieOiffTdveiv. ^ ouSeV. = /cot iav if/wni^oo. 
 
 secrets and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could 
 remove mountains, but have not Love, I am nothing. ^And though I 
 
 b^'^^^ musical 
 
 ;j(aA,Kos ^X'*^'^' ' sounding brass,' 
 is a general name for 
 instruments 
 (not a trumpet, for 
 which he would have used the 
 word o-aXTTty^, as in xiv. 8). 
 
 aXaXalov, ' clanging.' In Ps. 
 cl. 5, two different kinds of cym- 
 bal are spoken of, rendered by 
 the LXX. Kvix/3aXoL<; €v>yxoi?j and 
 KVfi^(xX.OLS dXaXay/xov, ' the 
 well- tuned cymbal,' and ' the loud 
 cymbal.' The last is the one 
 here alluded to. Apion the gram- 
 marian was called the ' cymbalum 
 mundi.' (Plin. Prsef. Hist. ISTat.) 
 The force of the epithets depends 
 on the unmeaning character of 
 the sound of cymbals, compared 
 with the significance of real 
 music ; compare xiv. 7, where 
 the same contrast is implied be- 
 tween the gift of tongues and the 
 gift of prophecy. 
 
 He proceeds next to speak of 
 prophecy, as the gift of which he 
 himself thought most highly, and 
 which he wishes to contrast with 
 that of tongues, as spoken of in 
 the preceding verse. For its 
 connexion, as here, with the gift 
 of knowledge and with faith, see 
 xii. 8, 9, 10 ; and Rom. xii. 6. 
 
 2 TravTtt TO, fxvcTTT^pLa, ' the 
 whole range of God's secrets.' 
 (An inexact expression for etSw 
 TO, jxva-TYJpia Trdvra koI c^w 7ra<Tav 
 rrjv yvwo-tv.) Comp. Rom. xi. 
 33, TTtto-av T^v yvwa-Lv ' all the 
 knowledge in the world.' 
 
 TTLCTTLV, ' all 
 
 Traaav rrjv 
 faith in the world. 
 
 the 
 in the same 
 
 sense as in xii. 9. For the phrase 
 ' to move mountains,' 
 compare^ our Lord's 2^^tBins: 
 saymg m Matt. xvii. 
 20, xxi. 21. It seems to have 
 been a proverbial expression. 
 Compare the Rabbinical passages 
 quoted by Heydenreich ad loc. ; 
 and Lightfoot on Matt. xxi. 21, 
 where the most distinguished 
 teachers are called ' uprooters of 
 mountains.' Compare also the 
 well-known story of Mahomet, 
 and the Eastern proverb, ' Man 
 may go to man, but not moun- 
 tain to man : ' and the legends of 
 similar miracles of St. Gregory 
 of Caesarea and of St. Nonnosus, 
 in Estius. 
 
 ovOiv el/XL, * though I seem to 
 have control over the whole 
 spiritual world, I am nothing.' 
 
 3 From the gift of prophecy, 
 with its accompanying graces, 
 he proceeds to the outward ex- 
 pressions of Love itself. 
 
 Kav if/ojixLcro) iravra to. VTrdp- 
 vovra aov, accordino^ to ^ ,^ 
 tne use or if/o)/jLLC,(ji}, m 
 Rom. xii. 20 ; Numb. xi. 18, may 
 be taken in the general sense of 
 ' supplying food,' governing, like 
 TTOTtlio, a double accusative, so 
 that here tov tttwxov must be 
 understood. But it may also be, 
 according to the etymology, ' If 
 I divide all my goods into mor- 
 sels.' Coleridge in a MS. note 
 on this passage says : ' The true 
 and most significant sense is, 
 " Though I dole away in mouth- 
 fuls all my property or estates." 
 
LOVE, THE GREATEST OF GIFTS. 
 
 231 
 
 ra VTrap^ovTOL [jlov^ ^ kolv irapahoi to crcjixd fxov Iva ^ Kav- 
 
 ■ K<d idv. ^ Lachm. Ed. 1. 'iva Kavxh<fo'fi-o-i. 
 
 dole away all my goods, and though I give my body to be burned, yet 
 have not Love, it profiteth me nothing. ^Love suffereth long. Love is 
 
 Who that has witnessed the alms- 
 giving in a Catholic monastery, 
 or the court of a Spanish or 
 Sicilian bishop's or archbishop's 
 palace, w^here immense revenues 
 are syringed away in farthings 
 to herds of beggars, but must 
 feel the force of the Apostle's 
 half satirical xJ/iofjLia-o) ? ' 
 
 The Received Text and Lach- 
 mann, on the authority of C. D. 
 G. and the Latin MSS. read Iva 
 KavOi^cruifjiaL. Lachmann in his 
 first edition, on the authority of 
 
 'Give my ■^•^•' ^Cads, iva KttVX^- 
 
 bodyto cro}fji,aL. If the former 
 l>e burned.' reading, ?i/a KavOy^awfiai, 
 be correct, the sense would be 
 that, as in the first clause he ex- 
 cludes services to men, so here he 
 excludes zeal for God. And the 
 warning would apply to such spu- 
 rious martyrdoms as took place 
 from time to time in the early 
 Church, not from conscience, \)ut 
 from ambition. Compare Cy- 
 prian's Letters ; Hieron. ad. Gal. 
 V. ; and the story (quoted by 
 Heydenr. ad loc.) of Sapricius, a 
 Christian of Antioch, who, on his 
 way to martyrdom, refused to 
 forgive his enemy Nicephorus. 
 Already in the Apostle's time 
 Gentile instances of such self- 
 inimolation were well known : 
 Calanus burnt himself before the 
 army of Alexander. And, still 
 more to the point, another Indian, 
 apparently a Buddhist, at Athens, 
 in the time of Augustus (Strabo 
 XV. 1, 73; Dio Cass. liv. 9 ; Pint. 
 Vit. Alex. 69). His tomb at 
 Athens may have been seen by 
 St. Paul with the inscription 
 
 ' Zarmochegas, the Indian from 
 Bargosa (i.e. Barygaza), accord- 
 ing to the ancient customs of 
 India, made himself immortal 
 and lies here.' To this, therefore, 
 the Apostle would naturally 
 refer, and the very words, irvpt 
 TO (rCjfjLa 7rapaSoi/T€s, are used by 
 Josephus (B. J. vii. 8. 7) in 
 speaking of such Indian fanatics. 
 See the whole story well dis- 
 cussed by Bishop Lightfoot (on 
 the Colossians, p. 156). He ob- 
 serves that it would also illustrate 
 the other reading, tva Kav)(rjcr<a~ 
 /Attt, the motive of the Buddhist 
 at Athens being, according to 
 Dio Cassius, vtto (fyLkoTifica^ or 
 €ts cTTtSet^tv. This reading (* that 
 I may boast '), of which the con- 
 struction, though harsh, is borne 
 out by 2 Cor. xi. 16 (w? acfipova 
 hi^aaOi fxe, tva Kayo) fXLKpov tl Kav- 
 X^o-(u/xat), perhaps agrees better 
 with the context. It would seem 
 to be still a continuation of the in- 
 stances of self-denying benefi- 
 cence : ' Though I sacrifice not 
 only my property, but my bodily 
 ease and comfort ; ' ' though I give 
 up,' not strictly the life (which 
 would be ^xWj ^^ ^^ Acts xv. 
 26), but the means of life ; what 
 in classical Greek would be /?tos, 
 as distinct from ^wrj. If so, he 
 alludes to the hard life which he 
 led by his determination to main- 
 tain him self by his own labour, and 
 which was the especial subject of 
 his boasting, as of an extraordi- 
 nary merit. Compare ix. 2 7 (vTroy 
 TTid^it) fiov TO crwfia^j and ix. 15, 16, 
 where, as here, he applies to it 
 the same expression Kavxi^fjio. 
 
232 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIII. 4—8. 
 
 fjLaKpoOvjJiei^ ■^(prjcrTeveTaL rj ayaTTT]^ ov ^rjXol [r) dyotTTT^], 
 ov TreprrepeveTau ov (fyvcnovTai, ^ovk dcr)(r)fjLoveL, ov tpqTei 
 rd eavTTj?, ov irapo^vverai^ ov XoyitjErai to KaKOV, ^ov 
 ^aipei €771 rrj dSiKua, avy^aipei 8e rfj akrjOeLay ^ irdvTa 
 
 " ovdev. 
 
 kind ; Love envieth not ; vaunteth not herself, is not puffed up,^ doth 
 not behave herself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, 
 thinketh not evil, ^rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth, 
 ^beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all 
 
 * It profiteth me nothing.' This 
 is said to express that, in spite of 
 such vast exertions, no result 
 follows. Compare Matt. xvi. 
 26 : ' What shall it profit a man 
 to gain the whole world ? ' 
 
 4-7 He now drops his own 
 example and personifies Love 
 itself, as in Rom. v.-viii. he per- 
 sonifies Sin, Death, and the Law, 
 and in 2 Cor. viii. 12, the virtue 
 of Christian Zeal (jrpoOvixia), and 
 as Wisdom is personified in the 
 Books of Proverbs, Wisdom, and 
 Ecclesiasticus. The enumeration 
 of qualities begins with especial 
 reference to the gifts, and then 
 rises above them, like the argu- 
 ment in xii. 10, 11. 
 
 (1) fxaKpoOvfxcL, ^rjorreveraif ov 
 t,riXoL. Lachmann's punctuation 
 gives an expressed nominative 
 case to each of these first three 
 attributes. ' Love bears long 
 with offenders ; there is a kind- 
 ness in Love ; there is no envy 
 or jealousy (comp. t,r]\ovT€ in xii. 
 31) in Love.' 
 
 (2) 7r€p7rep€v€TaL, cfivcnovTai, dcr- 
 X>7/Aovet, relate to the humility 
 inseparable from true Love, irep- 
 Trepeverai (from the old Latin 
 word ^perperus,' a braggart, see 
 
 Polyb. xxxii. 6, 5, xl. 
 
 shows itself off,' 
 
 from 
 
 aXa^ovev€(r6aL, which is 'to pre- 
 
 as distmguisnea 
 
 tend to qualities which one has 
 not.' (Compare iveTrepTrcpevardfjirjv, 
 in Cicero ad Att. i. 14.) 
 
 <f>v(novTai, * is inflated with 
 vanity,' see viii. 1. 
 
 dcrxoH-ovet, * is disorderly,^ 
 ' eccentric,' apparently with the 
 notion of pride implied (as in 
 vii. 36), alluding to the disorders 
 occasioned by the use of the 
 gifts. See xiv. 40 : irdvTa ivcrxrf- 
 lx6vo}<s yivea-doi. Chrysostom in- 
 terprets the word, ' does not re- 
 fuse to perform degrading acts,' 
 as if he had read do-x^/xoi/et, in- 
 stead of OVK d(TXy]P'OV€L. 
 
 (3) ov t,r]Te'L TO, iavTT]^, ov 7ra- 
 po^Verat, ov Xoyi^crat to kukov. 
 These three indicate the unself- 
 ish placid qualities. 
 
 ov t,r)T€L, ' grasps not at her 
 own rights' (what in classical 
 G-reek is expressed by cXao-o-ov- 
 arOai), see x. 24, 33. 
 
 ov Trapo^vveraij ' is not pro- 
 voked to anger.' 
 
 ov Aoyt^erat, ' does not impute 
 or store up in her calculations 
 the injury she has received.' 
 
 (4) ov ^atpei cTTt rfj dStKta, 
 (Tvy^aipci 8e T77 dXrjOeLa. All 
 these qualities express the sym- 
 pathy and self-denial of Love for 
 others. Injustice and Justice 
 (for -this is here the sense of 
 IXrjBeia as opposed to dStKta) 
 are here personified as well as 
 
LOVE, THE GEEATEST OF GIFTS. 
 
 233 
 
 (TT iy eiy TrdvT a TTicrrevei, TrdvroL cXtti^ci, irdvra vTrofieveL. ^r} 
 dydirr) ouSeVore ^TrLTrrei. eire 8e Trpo^T^retat, KaTapyr^Orj- 
 aovTai* elre ykcocrcrai^^ iravcrovTaL' eire yi^wcri?, Karapyrj- 
 
 » €/c7rt7rT€t. " Note. MS. C, is deficient between yKSxraaC] and [yitez/ ^ twj', xv. 40. 
 
 things. ^Love never faileth. But whether there be prophecies, they 
 shall vanish away ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether 
 
 Love, and the sense is, * She has 
 no pleasure in the advance of 
 Wickedness, but she shares the 
 joy of the triumph of Goodness.' 
 Compare 8 John, 4. 
 
 Travra o-rcyct may be : — 
 (1) * conceals faults in a 
 neighbour ; ' according to the 
 „ general sense of Prov. 
 
 ' Bears all » ^ ^ , . 
 
 things' X. 12. o-Tcyo) m J^jCcIus. 
 
 (o-reyeO. yiii. 17^ is thuS USCd : 
 
 ' Consult not with a fool, for 
 he cannot keep counsel ' (o-rc^at). 
 And in classical writings, com- 
 pare Eur. Phcen. 1214 ; Soph. 
 Phil. 136 ; CEd. Tyr. 341 ; Thuc. 
 vi. 72. For the sense of the 
 passage so understood, compare 
 an interpretation sometimes put 
 on 1 Pet. iv. 8, ayaTrq KaXv7rT€.i 
 Tr\rj6o<s a/xaprttoi/. But KaXvTrroi 
 there, as in James v. 20 ; Rom. 
 iv. 7 ; Ps. xxxii. 1 ; Clem. Ep. 
 ad Cor, i. 49, is probably used 
 for * covering,' not in the sense of 
 * concealment,' but of ' expiation.' 
 The other sense, however, 
 is preferable : (2) ' bears all 
 things,' i.e. 'endures,' or, 'is 
 proof against,' ' all reproaches 
 and hardships,' which is the 
 sense of the word in the only 
 other passages where it occurs 
 in the N. T. (1 Cor. ix. 12 : 1 
 Thess. iii. 1, 5). The metaphor 
 is taken from a ship or roof which 
 does not leak (-(Esch. Suppl. 184; 
 Thuc. ii. 94; Plat. Rep. 621; 
 Crit. Ill, D.), or troops warding 
 off an assault (Thuc. iv. 34; 
 Diod. Sic. xi. 32), or ice bear- 
 
 ing weight (Diod. Sic. iii. 33). 
 Cyprian apparently read orrepyct 
 (by the same confusion of MSS. 
 that occurs in Soph. CEd. Tyr. 
 11), so as to make the enumera- 
 tion of arepycL, 7rL(rT€V€L, IXttl^h 
 agree with the subsequent men- 
 tion of Love, Faith, and Hope. 
 
 iravTa Trto-rcvet, Trai/ra eATrc^ct,. 
 Travra VTro/jLCViL. All these words 
 relate, in the first instance, to 
 the feelings of Love in respect 
 to man. ' She believes all that 
 is told her, without mistrust, she 
 hopes all good of every one, she 
 endures all vexations.' But the 
 words, TTtcTTts, cATTtg, VTro/xoviy, 
 having acquired a religious sense 
 by their frequent use in relation 
 to God, here rise above their con- 
 text ; and so the earthly sphere 
 within which his view of Love has 
 hitherto been confined, breaks 
 away, and in the next verse he 
 ascends a loftier height to tell 
 us of its future fortunes, vTrofxivet 
 especially leading him to it, by 
 the higher sense which it has 
 here, as in Rom. v, 4, and which 
 thus distinguishes it from o-rcyet. 
 
 8 T7 dyoLTrr] ovSeiroTC ttltttu. 
 ' This is the last and crowning 
 glory of Love, that it is im- 
 perishable.' 
 
 TTtTTTct, ' loses its strength ; ' so 
 Rom. ix. 6 : ov\ oXov Se otl cKTreTr- 
 T(iiK€v 6 Xoyos Tov Oeov, and in 
 LXX. Job XV. 33 ; Isa. xxviii. 1, 
 4, where it is applied to the 
 fading of flowers. 
 
 Here the description of Love- 
 
234 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIII. 9—13. 
 
 Orjcrerai. 
 (jyr)T€vofJiev 
 Tapyrj OrjcreT au 
 
 €K fxepov^; yap yti'ajcr/co/xev Kau eK ixepov<s irpo- 
 
 ^^orav he ekOrj to reXetoi^, ""to e/c fiepovs Ka- 
 
 ^'^oTe Tjix-qv vrj7no<;^ iXoXovv 0)9 viJ7rL0<s,^ 
 
 i(j)p6vovT^ a)<S VT]7TiO^^ iXoyL^ofJLTjv fc)s vijiTLOf;' ore'^ yiyova 
 avijp, KaTTjpyqKa tol tov vyjttlov, ^^ /BXeirofJiev yap apTi 8t' 
 
 * T(JTe r6. 
 
 ws V7]Tnos iKaXovv, etc. 
 
 ore 5e. 
 
 there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. ^For we know in part and we 
 prophesy in part : ^°but when that which is perfect is come, that which is 
 in part shall vanish away. ^^ When I was a babe, I spake as a babe, I 
 understood as a babe, I thought as a babe : since I am become a man, I 
 have made the things of a babe to vanish away. ^^ For now we see through 
 
 closes. But St. Paul now re- 
 turns to the especial object for 
 which he had introduced it, and 
 proceeds to contrast the perma- 
 nence of Love with the perish- 
 ableness of the gifts on which 
 they so prided themselves. 
 
 ' Prophecy,' ' tongues,' and 
 ' knowledge,' are mentioned, as 
 being the three already con- 
 trasted with Love, in verses 1 
 and 2. 
 
 * Knowledge ' is taken in the 
 sense of the spiritual gift in xii. 
 8 ; and the limitations of it, al- 
 though applying analogously to 
 all human knowledge, must be 
 understood accordingly. 
 
 9 Ik /x€pov<;. The stress is on 
 these words : ' Only partial 
 glimpses of the truth are re- 
 vealed in prophecy ; only partial 
 glimpses of the truth are received 
 in the intuitions of knowledge.' 
 The passage is important, as 
 showing a consciousness of the 
 imperfection even of revealed 
 knowledge. Compare 1 John iii. 
 2 : ' It doth not yet appear what 
 we shall be.' 
 
 10 orav Se ekOrj to riXeiov. 
 We should more naturally say, 
 ' When we go to that which is 
 perfect.' He, in expectation of 
 the return of his Lord, says, 
 ' "When that which is perfect is 
 •come to us.' 
 
 1 1 He here once more returns 
 to himself, as the representative 
 of man in general ; and , 
 the illustration which child' 
 follows is probably sug- ('^'^'o?). 
 gested by the word reX.€iov, ' per- 
 fect,' * full-grown,' reXaos and 
 vTJTTtos being naturally opposed 
 to each other as in ii. 6, iii. 1. 
 In the word vt^ttlo? ('infant,* 
 rather than 'child') he follows 
 out his etymological scent of the 
 word (' speechless,' as infans in 
 Latin), and uses it in this pas- 
 sage to express the imperfection 
 of the loftiest sounds of earth, 
 compared with what shall be 
 hereafter. The several words 
 used have a perceptible, though 
 remote, reference to the three 
 gifts just before mentioned. ' The 
 gift of tongues shall be as the 
 feeble articulations of an infant ' 
 (for XoAw, as applied to those 
 gifts, see xiii. 1, xiv. 2-6, 23) : 
 ' the gift of prophecy and dis- 
 cernment of spirits shall be as 
 an infant's half-formed thoughts ' 
 {cf>poveiv has the double sense of 
 ' thoughts,' and of ' wisdom : ' 
 compare the analogous use of 
 (TOcfiLa and Kvl3epvrj(r€Ls in xii. 8, 
 28, in relation to prophecy) : 
 ' the gift of knowledge shall be 
 as the infant's half-formed rea- 
 sonings ' (compare viii. 2 : * If 
 any man think that he knoweth 
 
LOVE. THE GREATEST OF GIFTS. 
 
 235 
 
 'iaroTTTpov iv alviyixaTiy Tore Se TrpocrcoTrov irpo^ TrpocrojTTOV* 
 upn yLvcocFKO) e/c fxipov^^ rore 8e iTTtyvaxrofJiaL Ka6cb<; Kal 
 iTreyvcoaOrjv ^^vvvl Se p.ivei TTtaTi^; cXtti? dydTrrj^ rd rpia 
 ravTa' fieil^oyv §6 tovtcov rj dyaTTrj. 
 
 •a glass darkly, but then face to face : now I know in part, but then shall 
 I know even as also I am known. ^^And now abideth Faith Hope Love, 
 these three ; but the greatest of these is Love. 
 
 * Through 
 a glass.' 
 
 anything, he knoweth nothing 
 yet as he ought to know '). 
 
 ore in classical Greek would 
 •be cTTctSiy. 
 
 1 2 Si icroTTTpov may be : (1) 
 * through a window ' (of 
 transparent stone, or 
 whatever other sub- 
 stance was used for admitting 
 light into ancient houses), in 
 which case compare the Rab- 
 binical saying, * All the prophets 
 saw through a dark glass, ]\Ioses 
 saw through a bright glass.' 
 ("Wetstein, Schottgen ad loc.) 
 
 But (2) more probably 
 * through the means of a mirror,' 
 as in James i. 23; and for the 
 sense, compare 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 Ancient mirrors were usually 
 '(not of glass, but) of polished 
 metal. The expression, ' through 
 (Sta) a mirror,' may arise from 
 the illusion that what is seen in 
 the mirror seems to be behind it, 
 -and so seen through it. 
 
 iv alvLy/xaTL, ' in a dark simili- 
 tude,' ' in a mystery ' (in the 
 modern sense of that word). 
 
 irpocroiTTOv Trpbs TrpocroiTrov. The 
 whole sentence has an allusion 
 to the vision of God by Moses, 
 ;as in 2 Cor. iii. 18. Comp. 2 
 Cor. V. 7, ov Sia €l8ov<; ; and 
 -N^umb. xii. 8 : a-TO/xa Kara o-ro/xa 
 XaXrjcra) avrw, iv ctSet, Kal ov Sl' 
 •alvLyfxaTOiv, kol ttjv So^av Kvpcov 
 <T8e. 
 
 iK ixepov<;, k. t. \. 'now my 
 knowledge is partial, then it will 
 be as full as the Divine know- 
 ledge.* For the same conscious- 
 
 ness of this contrast, see viii. 3 ; 
 Gal. iv. 9 ; 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; Phil, 
 iii. 12. Philo de Cherub. § 32, 
 pp. 159, 160 : vvv OT€ ^Q)/x€v yvw- 
 pi^ofxeOa fiaXXov ^ yvo)pL^o/x€V. 
 
 13 Having dwelt on the tran- 
 sitory nature of all other gifts, 
 he -concludes by recapitulating 
 what gifts alone are permanent, 
 and by declaring that even of 
 these Love is the greatest. 
 
 wvl Se is (not ' at this present 
 time,' distinguished from the 
 future, which would be expressed 
 as in verse 12 by aprt, but) ' as it 
 is,' ' as matters stand, amidst the 
 perishable nature of all besides.' 
 (Comp. wvl 8c eypa\j/a, v. 11 ; 
 vuvL Se ^Lo-Tos iyrjyepraL, XV. 20.) 
 
 fi€V€L ... TO, rpta Tttirra, * there 
 remain unchanged these three 
 great gifts, and these three only.' 
 He has already said, that Love 
 cannot fail ; and it would seem 
 as if he here recollected the two 
 other virtues which he usually 
 classes with Love, and wished to 
 indicate that they also were im- 
 mortal. Comp. 1 Thess. i. 3, 
 * your work of faith and labour 
 of love, and patience of hope : ' 
 1 Thess. V. 8, 'the breastplate of 
 faith and love ; and for an hel- 
 met, the hope of salvation : ' and 
 Col. i. 4, 5, ' your faith in Christ 
 Jesus and the love which ye 
 have to all the saints, for the 
 hope that is laid up for you in 
 heaven.' They are specially 
 mentioned as being those quali- 
 ties which most evidently raise 
 man to a higher world. 
 
236 - FIKST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XII. 31— XIII. 13. 
 
 Such is the variety of gifts set before you ; all necessary , none to- 
 he despised. But if there he any at ivhich you aim with more 
 than usual ardour, take those ivhich are really the best ; and 
 even if you attain these, remember that there is a loftier height^, 
 a serener heaven beyond, in comparison with which all, even 
 the best, are as nothing. LoVE alone can prevent the noblest 
 utterances of the gift of tongues from sinking into a jarring 
 . discord; LoVE alone can give reality to the revelations of pro- 
 phecy, the intuition of knowledge, the energy of faith ; LovE 
 alone can give value even to the most heroic outward acts of 
 self-denial and beneficence. Look at her as she stands before 
 you, portrayed in her full proportions ; look at her kind un- 
 ruffled countenance, so unlike your factions and rivalries ; 
 look at her freedom from the envy with which you regard each- 
 other^ s gifts ; look at her freedom from the display, the false 
 pretensions, the vulgar insolence which disgrace your public 
 meetings ; look at her refusal to press her own rights, to take 
 offence, or to bear malice : how unlike your selfish and liti" 
 gious spirit ; look at her sympathy with all that is good; her 
 endurance, her trustful and hopeful character, embracing as 
 it does all that is greatest in her two accompanying gracesy 
 Faith and Hope. She continues, and so loill they with 
 her. For look, lastly, at her imperishable freshness ; what a 
 contrast to the transitory character of all other gifts. The 
 gift of tongues shall cease of itself lohen the occasion for it is 
 gone. The gifts of prophecy and of knowledge, being in their 
 own nature imperfect and partial, shall pass away when this 
 earthly system shall pass away before the coming of that 
 which is perfect. Then, and not before, shall the inarticulate 
 utterances and the half-formed conceptions of our present 
 infantine state be exchanged for the full-grown faculties of 
 the man ; then, and not before, shall the dimly seen images 
 of the earthly glass be exchanged for that perfect vision of 
 Divine things which was enjoyed by Moses ichen he stood loith 
 unveiled face on the mount, and received in his countenance- 
 the reflected glory of God Himself. But till that time is 
 come, we can conceive of the future only through these three 
 great gifts, which exist noio, and loill continue hereafter ; 
 namely. Faith and Hope, which live as the handmaids of 
 the greatest of all, LovE. 
 
APOSTOLICAL DOCTEINE OF LOVE. 237 
 
 The Apostolical Doctrine of Love. 
 
 The foregoing passage stands alone in the writings of St. Paul, 
 both in its subject, and in its style. This Epistle q,. 
 finds its climax here, as that to the Romans in the ofthe 
 conclusion of the 8th chapter, or that to the Hebrews, ^^pistle. 
 in the 1 1 th. Whatever evil tendencies he had noticed before 
 in the Corinthian Church met their true correction in this one 
 gift. To them, whatever it might be to others, — to them, with 
 their factions, their intellectual excitements, their false preten- 
 sions, it was all-important. Without this bond of Love he 
 felt that the Christian society of Greece would surely fall to 
 pieces, just as its civil society in former times had appeared 
 to philosophers and statesmen to be destined to dissolution, 
 without the corresponding virtue of ^tXta or mutual harmony. 
 Therefore, although in a digression, he rises with the subject 
 into the passionate fervour which in him is only produced 
 by a directly practical object. Unlike the mere rhetorical 
 panegyrics on particular virtues, which are to be found in 
 Philo and similar vrriters, every word of the description tells 
 with double force, because it is aimed against a real enemy. 
 It is as though, wearied with the long discussions against the 
 sins of the Corinthian Church, he had at last found the spell 
 by which they could be overcome, and uttered sentence after 
 sentence with the triumphant cry of ' Eureka.' 
 
 The particular motive for the introduction of the passage 
 in this place was, as we have seen, the wish to impress upon his 
 readers the subordination of gifts of mere display, such as the 
 gift of tongues, to gifts of practical utility, such as prophecy. 
 And analogously the same truth still needs to be impressed : 
 *to all but one in ten thousand,' it has been well said, 
 * Christian speculation is barren of great fruits ; to all but one 
 in ten thousand. Christian benevolence is fruitful of great 
 thoughts.' Such is the directly practical result ofthe chapter. 
 But the very style shows that it rises far above any immediate 
 or local occasion. On each side of this chapter the tumult of 
 argument and remonstrance still rages : but within it, all is 
 <jalm ; the sentences move in almost rhythmical melody ; the 
 imagery unfolds itself in almost dramatic propriety ; the Ian- 
 
238 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE, 
 
 guage arranges itself with almost rhetorical accuracy. We 
 can imagine how the Apostle's amanuensis must have paused, 
 to look up in his master's face at the sudden change in the- 
 style of his dictation, and seen his countenance lighted up as it 
 had been the face of an angel, as this vision of divine perfection 
 passed before him. What then, let us ask, is the nature and 
 origin of that new element of goodness, of which this is the 
 earliest detailed description? 
 
 In the first place, the word dydirr] is, in this sense, altogether 
 'Aydirr] pccuHar to the New Testament. It is a remarkable 
 peculiar f^ct that the word, as a substantive, is entirely un- 
 New Tes- known to classical Greek. The only passage where 
 tament. it is quoted in Stephens's Thesaurus as occurring 
 is in Plutarch's Symposium; and there it has been subse- 
 quently corrected by Reiske from dyaTrrjs o)v to the participle 
 dyairrjo-div. The verb dyairav, indeed, is used in classical 
 Greek, but in the lower sense of acquiescence, esteem, or 
 caressing. It is in the LXX. we first find it employed, to 
 designate what we call ' love ; ' and it is there introduced 
 (probably from its likeness in sound to the Hebrew words ') to 
 represent 2ns and 33y {aliab and agab) both words expressive 
 of passionate affection, drawn from the idea of panting, aspiring 
 after a desired object. The substantive dydirri is used almost 
 entirely for sexual love, namely, in Jer. ii 2 ; 2 Sam. xiii. 15, 
 and throughout the Canticles. It only occurs besides, in a. 
 more general sense, in Eccles. ix. 1, 6. But in Wisdom vi. 19, 
 dyaTTTj T^pTjais vojjlwv TraiSstas ; on the other hand, in Prov^ 
 X. 12, it is (pLkla, In all these instances the word is probably 
 suggested by the Hebrew feminine form nnr]K {ahabah). In 
 the New Testament, on the other hand, when used simply, and 
 unexplained, it is equivalent to benevolence based on religioua 
 motives. The Old Testament (in the word aliab) exhibited 
 the virtues both of conjugal affection and of friendship ^ pass- 
 ing the love of women,' as in the case of David ; it exhibited 
 also, throughout the Psalms, the same passionate devotion 
 transferred from man to God ; it exhibited, lastly, the same 
 feeling emanating from God Himself towards His peculiar 
 people, the spouse of His choice, the daughter of Zion. The 
 
 * So amongst others ^apis is used 
 as the translation of birah, a palace; 
 yrj, for gaij a ravine, and goi, people; 
 
 /3«/ios for hamah, a high place. See 
 Appendix to ' Sinai and Palestine,* 
 § 81. 
 
APOSTOLICAL DOCTEINE OF LOVE. 239' 
 
 Greek world exhibited in a high degree the virtue of personal 
 friendship, which was, indeed, so highly esteemed, as to give 
 its name {<f>i\la) to affection generally. Domestic and conjugal 
 affection, strictly speaking, there was not. The word which 
 most nearly approaches to the modern notion of love (spcos) ex- 
 pressed either a merely sensual admiration of physical beauty, 
 or, in the philosophical language of Plato, an intellectual 
 admiration of ideal beauty. The writers who at Alexandria 
 united the last efforts of Grecian philosophy with the last 
 efforts of Jewish religion, went a step in one sense beyond 
 both the Old Testament and also the Greek literature, though 
 in another sense below them both. Benevolence to man, as 
 man, expressed in the word ' philanthropy ' {(pLXavOpcoTria'', 
 occupies a very prominent position in the writings of Plato. 
 But whilst this quafity breaks through the narrow limits in 
 which the passionate yearning of the Hebrew dispensation was 
 confined, it loses its intensity. It becomes an abstraction to 
 be panegyrised, not a powerful motive to be acted upon. 
 
 In contradistinction to all these, and yet the crown and 
 completion of all, is the Love, or dydTrrj, of the New its mean- 
 Testament. Whilst it retains all the fervour of the ^°g- 
 Hebrew aspiration and desire, and of the personal affection of 
 the Greek, it ranges through as wide a sphere as the compre- 
 hensive benevolence of Alexandria. Whilst it retains the 
 religious element that raised the affections of the Hebrew 
 Psalmist to the presence of God, it agrees with the classical 
 and Alexandrian feelings in making its chief object the welfare 
 of man. It is not Religion evaporated into Benevolence, but 
 Benevolence taken up into Religion. It is the practical exem- 
 plification of the two great characteristics of Christianity, the 
 union of God with man, the union of religion with morality ;. 
 Love to man for the sake of Love to God ; Love to God 
 showing itself in Love to man. 
 
 It is, perhaps, vain to ask by what immediate means this new 
 idea was introduced to the Apostle's mind ; it may be that thi& 
 very passage is the expression of his delight at first 
 fully grasping the mighty truth which henceforth was ^ o^igi°« 
 never to pass from him. But the impression left by the words 
 rather is, that he assumes it as something already known ; new, 
 indeed, in its application to the wants of the Corinthian Church,, 
 but recognised as a fundamental part of the Christian revela- 
 tion. It is perhaps not too much to say that this is one of the 
 
240 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 ideas derived expressly from what he calls ' the revelations of 
 the Lord.^ It is, in all probability, from the great example of 
 self-sacrificing love shown in the life and death of Jesus Christ, 
 that the Apostle^ and through him the Christian world, has 
 received the truth, that Love to man for the sake of God is 
 the one great end of human existence. ^ A new command- 
 ment He gave unto us that we should love one another, as He 
 loved us. Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay 
 down his life for another.' Until Christ had lived and died, 
 the virtue was almost impossible. The fact of its having come 
 into existence, the urgency with which the Apostle dwells upon 
 it, is itself a proof that he had lived and died as none had ever 
 lived and died before. This is confirmed by observing that the 
 word and idea which thus first appear in the Avritings of 
 St. Paul receive their full meaning and development in those 
 of St. John. To the minds of both these great Apostles, amidst 
 all their other diversities, ' Love ' represented the chief fact 
 and the chief doctrine of Christianity. We can hardly doubt 
 that, in the case of St. John, it was drawn from the example 
 or teaching of Christ Himself. At any rate, the concurrence 
 of the two Apostles in this doctrine is a strong testimony to its 
 derivation from a common source superior to them both. 
 
 Finally, it is instructive to contrast the Apostolical view 
 of Love with the later representations of it : — 
 
 First, the course of language, here as elsewhere, is a strik- 
 ing proof of the inferiority of the popular conception of the 
 virtue to this its original portraiture. This is exemplified in 
 the two senses which the word ^ Charity ' (derived from the 
 Latin ^ version of or^cuirT]) has acquired, at least in the English 
 language. 
 
 Usually it is employed for ' almsgiving,' as in the phrases 
 an ^ act of charity,' an ^ object of charity,' a ^ charitable insti- 
 tution.' Yet this is the very sense with which the Apostle 
 especially contrasts his own employment of the word. When 
 he says, ' though I give my goods to feed the poor, and have 
 not charity, it profiteth nre nothing,' it is as though he had 
 foreseen the corruption of his own language, and had said, 
 * though I have in its fullest extent " Charity " in the sense in 
 which the word will hereafter be used, and have not " Charity " 
 in the sense in which alone it should properly be used, it pro- 
 
 ^ See note on xiii. 1. 
 
APOSTOLICAL DOCTRINE OF LOVE. 241 
 
 fiteth me nothing.' And this primitive contrast between the 
 inward spirit and the outward expression of Love is the more 
 remarkable, because it is specially Eastern religions that have 
 tended to make the act of almsgiving stand for the virtue of 
 which it is but one form. Of the five articles of the Mussul- 
 man creed, almsgiving is the only moral truth. In the Jewish 
 religion, at the time of the Christian era, the word correspond- 
 ing to ^ duty ' or ' righteousness ' had been confined, in like 
 manner, to outward acts of beneficence.^ In the Greek Church, 
 although the word for ' Love ' (dyaTrrj) has been preserved from 
 its Western degradation, the word for ' Mercy ' (sXsrj/jLoa-T^vT]) 
 has been corrupted into the visible acts of mercy — so much so 
 that in the Western languages its original meaning has disap- 
 peared ; and we know it now only in ^ eleemosynary ' institu- 
 tions, or in the more familiar form ' alms,' in which the out- 
 ward contraction is a fitting type of the contraction of the 
 inward spirit. Against all these corruptions, as well as against 
 the belief, often prevalent in the middle ages, of the necessary 
 duty of indiscriminate bounty, the Apostle's doctrine is a salu- 
 tary protest. 
 
 There is another sense in which the English word ' Charity ' 
 is sometimes used, — namely, ' toleration ' or ' forbearance,' 
 as when we speak of a ' charitable construction,' in ' charity 
 with our neighbours.' But this sense, though founded on the 
 words which describe Charity as ' thinking no evil,' and ' not 
 easily provoked,' inadequately expresses its full signification. 
 The mere passive virtue of toleration, though it is a direct 
 result of Christian Love, is yet but a very small part of it. 
 As there may be almsgiving without Love, so there may be 
 toleration without Love. Here, again, our conceptions of 
 Charity soon ^ come to an end,' but this new ' commandment ' 
 of Christ and His Apostle ' is exceeding broad.' 
 
 Lastly, this Chapter agrees with St. John's representa- 
 tions in setting forth the paramount importance of Christian 
 Love as the highest truth and duty of the Christian dis- 
 pensation. In the great controversies which have agitated the 
 doctrines of Christendom, this supremacy of Love, both as a 
 revelation of the Divine essence, and as the duty of man, has 
 hardly been recognised. Whilst churches and nations have been 
 rent asunder for the sake of proclaiming some statement re- 
 
 ^ See note on 2 Cor. ix. 9. 
 S 
 
242 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 specting the nature of subordinate gifts, sucli as faith and 
 knowledge, or of subordinate means of grace, such as the- 
 sacraments or the modes of Christian worship, few have heeded, 
 still fewer have maintained for life and death, the supremacy^ 
 of what the Apostles declare to be the greatest of all gifts, the 
 most unfailing of all the ways of approach to God. 
 
 Yet the well-known story of the last words of St. John, that 
 in the command of mutual love was contained the substance 
 of the Gospel, does not go beyond the declaration of St. Paul, 
 that of all the gifts of God, Charity is the most excellent, the 
 most immortal ; that even Faith and Hope are inferior to Love^ 
 To a certain extent this truth has been acknowledged in later 
 times by the veneration shown to persons who have specially- 
 exhibited this virtue, whether in its passive form, as Ken, 
 Fenelon, Fletcher of Madeley, or in its active form, as Xavier 
 and Elizabeth of Hungary. These, rather than Dominic or 
 Calvin, Luther or Loyola, are the characters which the world 
 especially calls by the name of ' Christian.' This chapter^ 
 too, has, even from unwilling witnesses, always commanded 
 assent. ' Nothing,' says John Wesley, ' is more common 
 than to find even those who deny the authority of the Holy 
 Scriptures, yet affirming, " This is my religion ; that which i& 
 described in the thirteenth chapter of the Corinthians." Nay,, 
 even a Jew, a Spanish physician, then settled at Savannah, used 
 to say, with great earnestness, " that Paul of Tarsus was one of 
 the finest writers I have ever read. I wish the thirteenth 
 chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians were wrote in 
 letters of gold ; and I wish every Jew were to carry it with 
 him wherever he went." He judged (and herein he certainly 
 judged right) that this single chapter contained the whole of 
 true religion.' ^ 
 
 ' The Scripture that the Baron de Rentz most studied next 
 to the Life of our Blessed Saviour, to qualify himself for all good 
 works, was St. Paul's description of Charity, in the thirteenth 
 chapter of his First Epistle to the Corinthians. And whosoever 
 is exercised in the virtues there described will not run in vain, 
 nor labour in vain.'^ 
 
 * Deus non est fides,' says Bengel, 'Deus non estspes, sed 
 Deus est Amor.' 
 
 ^ Wesley, Sermons, vol. iii. p. 46. 
 « Ibid. Life of M. de Rentz. 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PROPHECY. 243 
 
 THE GIFT OF TONGUES AND THE GIFT OF PROPHESYING, 
 
 XIV. 1—40. 
 
 At this point of the Apostle's argument it becomes necessary 
 to form some notion of the nature of these gifts and their rela- 
 tion to each other. 
 
 I. The gift of ' prophesying,' or of the ' prophets.' The 
 word ' Prophet ' {7rpo(f>rjT7)s) was derived in the first ' Pbo- 
 instance from the interpreters who spoke forth or ^^ets.* 
 expounded the unintelligible oracles of the Pythoness of Del- 
 phi, or the rustling of the leaves of Dodona. In a metaphori- 
 cal sense it was used of poets, as interpreters of the Gods or 
 Muses. It was then adopted by the LXX. as the best equi- 
 valent of the nahi or ^ prophet ' of the Old Testament. Ac- 
 cording to the common Jewish tradition, prophecy expired with 
 Malachi ; and there is no recorded instance of it between his 
 time and the Christian era. It is true that the name is applied 
 to Zacharias and Anna, and also to the Baptist and to Christ.* 
 But the frequency of the gift was regarded as the special sign 
 of a new dispensation, and as such its universal diffusion is 
 described at the day of Pentecost. ^ Your sons and your 
 daughters shall prophesy . . . and on my servants and on my 
 hand-maidens I will pour out ... of my Spirit ; and they shall 
 prophesy.'^ In the subsequent narrative of the Acts, pro- 
 phets and prophetesses are described in all Christian congrega- 
 tions — at Jerusalem, at Antioch, at Caesarea.^ In all the 
 Epistles, the gift of prophecy occupies a conspicuous place. 
 The Apocalypse is called ' a prophecy,' * and it often mentions 
 * the spirit of prophecy,' and ' the prophets ' in the Christian 
 Church.^ In all these cases in the New Testament as in the 
 Old, and it may be added in the Koran, the prominent idea is, 
 not that of prediction, but of delivering inspired messages of 
 
 ^ Matt. xiv. 5, xxi. 11, 46 ; Mark 
 xi. 32 ; Luke i. 67, 76, ii. 36, vii. 
 26, 28, 39, xiii. 33 ; John iv. 19, 
 ix. 17. 
 
 ^ Acts ii. 17, 18. 
 
 ^ Acts xiii. 1 ; xv. 32 ; xxi. 9. 
 * Rev. i. 3, xxii. 7, 10, 18. 
 5 Ibid. xix. 10 ; xi. 3, 6, 10, 18 ; 
 xvi. 6 ; xviii. 2Q, 24 ; xxii. 6, 9. 
 
 B 2 
 
244 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 warning, exhortation, and instruction : * building up, exhorting, 
 and comforting ; ' ^ ^ convincing, judging, and making manifest 
 the secrets of the heart.' ^ The ancient classical and Hebrew 
 sense prevails everywhere. Epimenides and Mahomet on the 
 ,one hand, Elijah and Paul on the other, are called ^ prophets,' 
 not because they foretold the future, but because they en- 
 lightened the present.^ 
 
 II. ' The gift of tongues ' is a much more difficult subject. 
 The most important passages relating to it are (1) Those 
 Gift of contained in this chapter, and the allusions to it 
 
 Tongues, in xii. 10, 28, as 
 
 divers kinds of tongues 
 
 {jSVTJ 
 
 yXcoaacov), and xiii. 1 : ' Though I speak with the tongues of 
 men and of angels.' (2) Mark xvi. 17 : ' They shall speak 
 with new tongues ' (yXaxraaLs XaXrjaovcn Kaivals). (3) The 
 descriptions of the gift at the day of Pentecost, Acts ii. 
 3-21; at the conversion of Cornelius, Acts x. 46; at the 
 €onversion of the twelve disciples of John the Baptist, Acts 
 xix. 6. (4) The more doubtful allusions, Luke xxi. 15: ^I 
 will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries 
 shall not be able to gainsay.' Eph. v. 18 : ^ Be not drunk with 
 wine, wherein is excess (compare Acts ii. 13); but be fiUed 
 with the Spirit ; speaking " in " yourselves (XaXovvrss kavrols) 
 in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making 
 melody in your hearts to the Lord.' 1 Thess. v. 19 : ^ Quench 
 not the Spirit ; despise not prophesyings.' 1 Peter iv. 11: 
 ' " Each one as he " has received " a " gift .... if any 
 *^ one " speak (\a\sl), let him speak as the oracles of God.' 
 
 The only allusion to this gift as still existing after the 
 Apostolic times, is in Irenaeus : "^ ' We hear many brethren in 
 the Church, having prophetical gifts, and by the Spirit speak- 
 ing in all kinds of languages.' Many speculations occur in the 
 later Fathers on the subject ; but their historical testimony to 
 the nature of the gifts may all be summed up in one sentence 
 of Chrysostom, in his comment on this chapter : ' This whole 
 place is very obscure ; but the obscurity is produced by our 
 ignorance of the facts described, which are such as then used 
 to occur, but now no longer take place.' 
 
 From these data we may attain the following conclusions : — 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. xiv. 3. 
 ^ Ibid. 24, 25. 
 
 ^ So also formerly in English ; 
 
 as in Taylor's ' Liberty of Prophesy- 
 ing.' 
 
 Adv. Hser. vi. 6. 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PEOPHECY. 245 
 
 The gift in question is described as something entirely new 
 in the Apostolical age. ' They shall speak with new \. its 
 tongues.' ^ The effect on the spectators at the day of novelty. 
 Pentecost is of universal astonishment.^ It is described as the 
 special mark following upon conversion ^ (whether immediately 
 before baptism,* or immediately after ^). It is, moreover^ 
 spoken of as in an especial manner a gift ^ of the Spirit,' that is, 
 the new manifestation of God in the hearts of Christians. Hence 
 its appearance at the day of Pentecost : ' They were all filled 
 with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues 
 as the Spirit gave them utterance.' ^ Hence the ^ speaking with 
 tongues ' was the sign that Cornelius had ^ received the Holy 
 Spirit.'^ Hence, when Paul placed his hands on the disciples 
 at Ephesus, ^ the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spake 
 with tongues.'® Hence the very name of ^the Spirit' and 
 * spiritual gifts ' seems to have been appropriated to this gift, 
 at Corinth and elsewhere. Compare the argument in xii. 
 1-13, and the particular expressions in xiv. 1, 12, 14, 37 ; 
 and perhaps 1 Thess. v. 19 ; and Eph. v. 18. 
 
 It was closely connected with the gift of prophesying. This 
 appears not only from these chapters where the two 
 are always compared, as being, though different, yet nexion 
 homogeneous (see xii. 10, 28 ; xiii. 1 ; xiv. 1-6, ^^ F^" 
 22-25), but from the notices in the Acts. In Acts 
 ii. 17-21, Peter, in his justification of himself and the other 
 Apostles, describes it under no other name than ' prophesying ; ' 
 and in Acts xix. 6, the converts are described ' speaking with 
 tongues and prophesying.' To the same effect is the connexion 
 in 1 Thess. v. 19, where ' quench not the Spirit ' is followed 
 by ^ despise not prophesy ings.' 
 
 It was distinguished from prophesying by consisting, not of 
 direct warning, exhortation, or prediction, but of 3, Devo- 
 thanksgiving, praise, prayer, singing, and other ex- tion^l. 
 pressions of devotion : ' pray with a tongue ; ' ' my spirit 
 prays ; ' ^ I sing in the Spirit ; ' ' thou givest thanks in the 
 Spirit ; ' ^ 'we hear them speaking the wonderful works of 
 God.' ^^ ' They heard them speaking with tongues, and mag- 
 
 ^ Mark xvi. 17. 
 2 Acts ii. 7, 12. 
 ^ Mark xvi. 17. 
 * Acts X. 46. 
 5 Ibid. xix. 6. 
 
 ^ Acts ii. 4. 
 
 7 Ibid. X. 44, 46, 47. 
 
 8 Ibid. xix. 6. 
 
 9 1 Cor. xiv. 14-16. 
 ^0 Acts ii. 11. 
 
246 riEST EPISTLE. 
 
 nifying God.' ^ * Speaking ... in psalms and hymns and 
 spiritual songs, singing and making melody ... to the Lord, 
 giving thanks always.' ^ 
 
 It would appear that these expressions of devotion were out- 
 4. Expres- po^^rings of the heart and feelings, rather than of the 
 sion of the understanding ; so that the actual words and meaning 
 feelings. y^Q^Q almost always unintelligible to the bystanders, 
 sometimes to the speakers themselves. 'He that speaketh 
 with a tongue speaketh not to men, hut to God; for no one 
 heareth ; and in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries ; ... he 
 that speaketh with a tongue edifieth himself^ [and not the 
 Church].^ ' If I come to you speaking with tongues, what 
 shall I profit you ? ' ** ' Let him that speaketh with a tongue 
 pray that he may interpret.' ^ ^ If I pray with a tongue, my 
 spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.' ^ ' If thou 
 givest thanks in the Spirit, how shall he that fiUeth the place 
 of the unlearned say Amen to thy giving of thanks ; for he 
 knoweth not what thou sayest.' '^ ' I had rather speak five words 
 with my understanding that I may instruct others also, than ten 
 thousand words with a tongue.'® ^Making melody in your 
 hearts.^ ^ To the same effect are the passages which describe 
 the impression produced on bystanders : ' If all speak with 
 tongues, and the unlearned or unbelievers come in, will they 
 not say that ye are mad ? ' ^° * Others mocking said. They 
 are full of new wine.' ^^ Compare also Eph. v. 19, where the 
 injunction ' to be filled with the Spirit ' and to ' speak in 
 themselves,' is preceded by the prohibition, * be not drunk with 
 wine.' 
 
 Thus far there is no difficulty in combining the several ac- 
 counts. It was a trance or ecstasy, which, in moments of great 
 religious fervour, especially at the moment of conversion, seized 
 the early believers ; and this fervour vented itself in expres- 
 sions of thanksgiving, in fragments of psalmody or hymnody 
 and prayer, which to the speaker himself conveyed an irre- 
 sistible sense of communion with God, and to the bystander an 
 impression of some extraordinary manifestation of power, but 
 
 1 Acts X. 46. 
 
 ' 1 Cor. xiv. 16. 
 
 2 Eph. V. 19. 
 
 « Ibid. 19. 
 
 3 1 Cor. xiv. 2, 4. 
 
 9 Eph. V. 19. 
 
 * Ibid. 6. 
 
 10 1 Cor. xiv. 23 
 
 « Ibid. 13. 
 
 11 Acts ii. 13, 15 
 
 « Ibid. 14. 
 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PROPHECY. 
 
 247 
 
 not necessarily any instruction or teaching, and sometimes even 
 having the appearance of wild excitement, like that of madness 
 or intoxication. It was the most emphatic sign to each indi- 
 vidual believer that a power mightier than his own was come 
 into the world ; and in those who, like the Apostle Paul, pos- 
 sessed this gift in a high degree, ' speaking with tongues more 
 than they all,' ^ it would, when combined with the other more 
 remarkable gifts which he possessed, form a fitting mood for the 
 reception of ' God*s secrets ' {jjLva-Ttjpia),^ and of ^ unspeakable 
 words, which it is not lawful for man to utter,' ' being caught 
 into the third heaven,' and into ' Paradise.' ^ And thus the 
 nearest written example of this gift is that exhibited in the 
 abrupt style and the strange visions of the Apocalypse, in 
 which, almost in the words of St. Paul, the Prophet is de- 
 scribed as being ' in the Spirit on the Lord's day,' and ' hear- 
 ing a voice as of a trumpet,' ^ and seeing ' a door open in 
 heaven,' and * a throne set in heaven,' ^ and ' the New Jeru- 
 salem,' ' the river of life,' and ' the tree of life.' ^ 
 
 But a difficulty arises when we ask, what was the special 
 form which these outpourings of devotion and these 5. The 
 prophetic trances assumed ? This must be sought in * Tongues.' 
 the names by which they were called: (1) 'Speaking with 
 tongues ' {\a\£Lv yXaxTo-ats) ; ^ ' speaking with a tongue ' 
 (\a\cov j\(aa(T7]).^ (2) ' The tongues ' (at yXojaaai) ; ^ 'a 
 tongue ' (yXcoaaav) ; ^^ ' kinds of tongues' (j^ivr) yXcocraojv),^^ 
 (3) ' Speaking with other tongues ' (\a\slv STipais yXcoo-crais),^^ 
 ' speaking with new tongues ' (yXcocro-acs XaXrjcrova-Lv Kaivals),^^ 
 The use of the word ' tongue ' {yXcocro-a) need not neces- 
 sarily imply a distinct language of a nation, which in the New 
 Testament is usually expressed by SloXsktos,^'*^ We may 
 therefore conclude that the word yXwaaa was applied to this 
 spiritual gift, partly from the fact that the word ^ in classical 
 Greek was sometimes applied to strange uncommon expres- 
 
 1 1 Cor. xiv. 18. 
 
 2 Ibid. ii. 7, iv. 1, xiv. 2, xv. 51. 
 * 2 Cor. xii. 4-6. 
 
 ^ Rev. i. 10. 
 ^ Ibid. iv. 1, 2. 
 « Ibid. xxi. 1, xxii. 1, 2. 
 ' 1 Cor. xiv. 5, 6, 18, 23, 39 ; 
 Acts X. 46, xix. 6. 
 
 « 1 Cor. xiv. 2, 4, 13, 14, 19, 27. 
 » Ibid. 22. 
 
 10 1 Cor. xiv. 26. 
 
 11 Ibid. xii. 28. 
 ^"^ Acts ii. 4. 
 
 13 Mark xvi. 17. 
 
 1* Acts i. 19, ii. 6, 8, xxi. 40, xxii. 
 2, xxvi. 14. The exceptions are in 
 the expressions, ' nations and peo- 
 ples and tongues,^ Rev. v. 9, vii. 9, 
 X. 11, xi. 9, xiii. 7, xiv. 6, xvii. 15. 
 
248 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 sions, as in Aristotle,^ partly from the circumstance that in the 
 use of this gift ' the tongue ' was literally the organ employed, 
 the mind, as it were, remaining passive, whilst the tongue gave 
 utterance to words of which the speaker was hardly conscious. 
 That these meanings were both intended to be conveyed, is 
 confirmed by the manner in which kindred expressions are used. 
 When, in xiii. 1, the Apostle says, ' Though I speak with the 
 tongues of men and of angels ' {rals ykaxro-ats twv avOpcoircov 
 \d\co KoX TMv dyysXcov), the last word shows that he was not 
 thinking of languages or dialects, but of every conceivable form 
 of speech or style. And when, in xiv. 9, he says, ' So, ye, 
 unless ye utter by the tongue (^Sia rrjs jXcoo-arjs) a clear sound,*^ 
 he uses the word in reference to the phrase so often repeated 
 in the immediate context, ' speaking with a tongue ' (XaXmv 
 yXcocro-r)). Probably, however, this peculiarity of style or speech 
 was, if not always, yet occasionally heightened by the intro- 
 duction of foreign words or sentences into the utterances thus^ 
 made. The expressions ' kinds of tongues,' ^ ' new tongues,' ^ 
 ^ other tongues,' ^ though they need not of necessity imply any- 
 thing more than a variety or a novelty of modes of expression, 
 yet become more appropriate if something of a new language, 
 or of different languages, were united with these new or various 
 modes. This is the impression conveyed by the comparison of 
 the ' speaker with tongues ' to a ' barbarian ' ^ (i.e. a foreigner), 
 and of the sign of tongues generally to the sign of foreign 
 languages — ' other tongues and other lips ' (srspoyXaxraocs koI 
 ')(sCk£(Tiv sTspcov) ^ — spoken of in Isaiah xxviii. 11. And such, 
 however it may be explained in detail, must be the meaning 
 of the first recorded appearance of the gift on the day of 
 Pentecost. The stress laid on the variety of nations there 
 assembled, and the expressions ^ ^ every man heard them in 
 his own language ' {rfi ISla StaXsKTO)), ' how hear we every man 
 in our own language, wherein we were born ? ' ' we hear them 
 speak in our tongues ' (iv rats i^/jLSTEpais yXooacrat^), can hardly 
 be explained on any other supposition than that the writer 
 meant to describe that, at least to the hearers, the sounds 
 spoken seemed to be those of distinct languages and real dia- 
 lects. If this account is to be taken literally, it would imply 
 
 Rhet. iii. 3, 4 ; Poet. xxi. 6. 
 ^ 1 Cor. xii. 10, 28. 
 ^ Mark xvi. 17. 
 * Acts ii. 4. 
 
 6 Ibid. 21, 22. 
 
 7 Acts ii. 6, 8, 11 
 
1^ 
 
 GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PKOPHECY. 24^ 
 
 that the fervent expressions of thanksgiving which on that 
 occasion, as on others, constituted the essential part of the gift, 
 were so far couched in foreign dialects as to be intelligible to 
 the natives of the several countries. The emphatic record of 
 this peculiar characteristic of the gift, viewed in connexion 
 with the general spirit and object of the Acts, seems designed 
 to point out the gift of various tongues as the natural result 
 and sign of the first public manifestation of a religion specially 
 designed to break through the barriers which divide man from 
 man and nation from nation. Such a significance, however 
 suitable to the occasion of the first revelation of a Universal 
 Church, would not be equally appropriate in the more ordinary 
 manifestations of the gift. True, the eifect described as occurring^ 
 on the day of Pentecost might grow out of it. But, even here, 
 as Xavier is said to have understood and made himself under- 
 stood by the Indians, without knowing their language, and as,, 
 even in common life, persons in a highly wrought state of feel- 
 ing are enabled to understand each other, though not speaking 
 the same language, so this gift, which, above all others, lifted 
 the speaker out of himself, might have the same effect. And 
 the peculiar form of language ordinarily used as the vehicle 
 of communication at that time, would contribute to the same 
 result. Hellenistic Greek, compounded as it was of Greek, 
 Latin, and Hebrew, and instinct with that peculiar life and 
 energy which we see it assume in the various styles of the New 
 Testament, especially in St. Paul and in the Apocalypse, was 
 almost in itself a ' speaking ' in ' divers kinds of tongues.' It 
 has often been remarked, that the spread of this dialect by the 
 conquests of Alexander was a providential preparation for the 
 spread of the Gospel ; and there is nothing more strange in 
 the development of this peculiar language into the gift of 
 tongues, than in the development of the natural powers of 
 strength and intellect into the gifts of * ministry,' of ' wisdom,' 
 and of 'knowledge.' All the various elements of Aramaic 
 and Hellenic speech, latent in the usual language of the time, 
 would be quickened under the power of this gift into a new 
 life, sometimes intelligible, sometimes unintelligible to those 
 who heard it, but always expressive of the vitality and energy 
 of the Spirit by which it was animated. 
 
 Still it must be observed, that even if foreign words were 
 always part of its exercise (of which there is no proof), there 
 is no instance and no probability of its having been ever used 
 
250 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 as a means of instructing foreign nations, or of superseding the 
 necessity of learning foreign languages. Probably in no age 
 of the world has such a gift been less needed. The chief sphere 
 of the Apostles must have been within the Roman Empire, 
 and within that sphere Greek or Latin, but especially Greek, 
 must have been everywhere understood. Even on the day of 
 Pentecost, the speech of Peter, by which the first great con- 
 version was effected, seems to have been in Greek, which pro- 
 bably all the nations assembled would sufficiently understand ; 
 and the speaking of foreign dialects is nowhere alluded to by 
 him as any part of the event which he is vindicating and 
 describing. The Epistles, in like manner, were all written in 
 Greek, though many of them are addressed to the very nations 
 whose presence is described in the Acts on that occasion ; the 
 people of Judaea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and the 
 dwellers at Kome. When the Lycaonians addressed Paul and 
 Barnabas in the speech of Lycaonia,^ there is no mention of 
 Paul and Barnabas answering them in that language. A very 
 ancient tradition describes Peter as employing Mark for an 
 interpreter.^ Irenaeus, who alone of the early Fathers alludes 
 to the gift of tongues, and that in a manner which seems to 
 imply diversity of language,^ wa'S himself obliged to learn the 
 Gaulish language. And, lastly, the whole chapter now in 
 question is inconsistent with such a supposition. The Church 
 of Corinth is described as full of speakers with tongues, and yet 
 evidently no work of conversion was going on, nor any allusion 
 made to such a work as a possible object for the gift. Yet 
 had such an object been within even its distant scope, the 
 argument almost imperatively demanded that the Apostle 
 should have said, ' Why do you waste so great a gift on those 
 who cannot profit by it, when you might go forth beyond the 
 limits of the Empire to preach with it to the Scythian and 
 Indian tribes ? ' 
 
 The subject must not be left without reference to similar 
 Illustra- manifestations which may serve, either by way of 
 tions from contrast or resemblance, to illustrate its main pecu- 
 
 Paganism; ^^^^.^^^^^^ j^ ^^^ p^g^^ ^Oj.^^ the ApOStlc's WOrds * 
 
 themselves remind us of the unconscious utterances which 
 
 ^ Acts xiv. 11. I ^ Adv. Haer. vi. 6. 
 
 =^ Eus. H. E. iii. 39. ^1 Cor. xii. 2. 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PKOPHECY. 251 
 
 accompanied the delivery of the ancient oracles, when the 
 Pythoness with her ejaculations stood to the interpreters of 
 the oracle in a relation similar to that which existed between 
 the speakers with tongues and the prophets. In the Jewish 
 dispensation we may compare the burst of song and from 
 trance, which accompanied the first great display of Judaism; 
 the prophetical spirit in the time of Samuel — ^ a company of 
 prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and 
 a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp before them,' and prophesying ; 
 and ' the Spirit of the Lord ' descending upon those who wit- 
 nessed the spectacle, however unprepared for it before, so that 
 they too caught the inspiration ' and prophesied also,' and were 
 ' turned into other men,' and passed days and nights in a state 
 of ecstasy and seclusion.^ The trance of Saul, compared with 
 the Psalms of David, is a true likeness of the ' tongues ' com- 
 pared with the ' prophesyings ' of Corinth. 
 
 But it is in subsequent periods that the nearest outward 
 likenesses to the gift of ' tongues ' can be found. The wide 
 difference between the character, intellectual, moral, and spiri- 
 tual, of the early Christian Church, and that of the sects in 
 which such later manifestations have appeared, places a deep 
 gulf between the Apostolical gift and these doubtful copies. 
 Still, as the preaching, the teaching, the government, the gifts 
 of knowledge, of wisdom, of ministry, which appear in the 
 Apostolical age, are illustrated by the analogous institutions 
 and faculties of less sacred times, so the excitement and free- 
 dom of the early Church may be illustrated no less from the 
 expressions of later enthusiasm. Such phenomena, however 
 inferior to the manifestations of the Apostolical times, have 
 their origin in the same mysterious phase of human life and 
 human nature, which, with so much besides of the most op- 
 posite character, was included in the wide range of the spiri- 
 tual influences of Apostolical Christianity. 
 
 The earliest of these manifestations was the alleged ecstatic 
 state of the Montanists at the close of the second century. 
 
 'There is at present a sister amongst us,' says Tertnllian, 
 * who has obtained the gift of revelations, which she from Mon- 
 receives in the congregation or solemn sanctuary by tanism; 
 -ecstasy in the Spirit, who has converse with angels, sometimes, even 
 with the Lord, and sees and hears sacred truths {sacramenta)^ and 
 
 1 1 Sam. X. 5, 6, 10 ; xix. 20-24. 
 
252 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 discerns the hearts of some, and ministers remedies to those who- 
 want them. Also, according as the Scriptures are read, or the 
 Psalms sung, or exhortations (adlocutiones) uttered, or petitions 
 presented, so from these several sources materials are furnished for 
 her visions. We had happened to be discussing something about 
 the soul, when this sister was in the Spirit. After the conclusion 
 of the service, and the dismissal of the congregation, she, after her 
 usual manner of relating her visions (for they are carefully recorded 
 that they may be examined), amongst other remarks, said, " the soul 
 was shown to me in a bodily form, the spirit appeared, but not of an 
 empty or shapeless quality, but as something which gave hope of 
 being held, tender and bright, and of an aerial hue, and altogether 
 of human form." ' 
 
 The paroxysms which, attended the preaching of Wesley 
 furnish an instance in later times. Another, more nearly to the 
 point, was the utterance of strange sounds among the persecuted 
 from the Protestants of the South of France, at the beginning- 
 Prophets of of the last century, commonly called the ' Prophets of 
 ' Cevennes.' Descriptions of this movement are to be 
 found in the ' Histoire des Pasteurs,'by Peyrat ; the ' Troubles 
 de Cevennes,' by Gibelin ; and the ' Eglises de Desert,' by C. 
 Coquerel. Their appearance in England excited the ridicule 
 of Lord Shaftesbury in his ^ Characteristics,' and called forth, 
 in answer to him, an ' Impartial Account of the Prophets,' 
 published by an eye-witness.^ These accounts are chiefly re- 
 markable, especially the last-named, as bearing testimony to 
 the good character and general sobriety of the persons profess- 
 ing to be inspired. 
 
 But the most important of these manifestations, as the one 
 , „ claiming the most direct connexion with the Aposto- 
 
 the fol- lical gifts, was the so-called ' gift of tongues ' in the 
 lowers of followers of Mr. Irving, about 1831-1833. Of the 
 exercise of this gift accounts are here subjoined from 
 two eye-witnesses : the first a believer in its Divine origin at 
 the time he wrote ; the second a believer and actor in the trans- 
 actions which he describes, but at the time that he wrote, re- 
 jecting their Divine, though still maintaining their supernatural 
 (though diabolical) origin. 
 
 (1) * As an instance of the extraordinary change in the powers of 
 the human voice when under inspiration, I may here mention the 
 
 ^ ' A letter to a Friend.' London : Morphew, 1800, 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PEOPHECY. 253 
 
 •case of an individual whose natural voice was inharmonious, and 
 who besides had no ear for keeping time. Yet even the voice of 
 this person, when singing in the Spirit, could pour forth a rich 
 strain of melody, of which each note was musical, and uttered with 
 a sweetness and power of expression that was truly astonishing, 
 and, what is still more singular, with a gradually increasing velocity 
 into a rapidity, yet distinctness of utterance, which is inconceivable 
 by those Avho have never witnessed the like ; and yet, with all this 
 apparently breathless haste, there was not in reality the slightest 
 agitation of body or of mind. In other instances the voice is deep and 
 powerfully impressive. I cannot describe it better than by saying 
 that it approaches nearly to what might be considered a perfect 
 state of the voice, passing far beyond the energies of its natural 
 strength, and at times so loud as not only to fill the whole house, but 
 to be heard at a considerable distance ; and though often accompanied 
 by an apparently great mental energy and muscular exertion of the 
 whole body, yet in truth there was not the slightest disturbance in 
 either ; on the contrary, there was present a tranquillity and com- 
 posure both of body and mind, the very opposite to any, even the 
 least, degree of excitement. 
 
 * Every attempt at describing these manifestations, so as to 
 convey an accurate knowledge of them to others, is sure to fail, 
 since, to have any adequate perception of their power, they must be 
 both seen and felt. Yet, were it otherwise, my conscience would 
 scarcely allow me the liberty of entering into so minute a detail ; 
 for the consciousness of the presence of God in these manifestations 
 is fraught with such a holy solemnity of thought and feeling, as 
 leave neither leisure nor inclination for curious observation. In a 
 person alive to the presence of the Holy Ghost, and overwhelmed 
 by His manifestations beside and around him, and deeply conscious 
 that upon his heart naked and exposed rests the eye of God, one 
 thought alone fills the soul, one way of utterance is heard, " God be 
 merciful to me a sinner." Nor can the eye be diverted from the only 
 sight that is then precious to it, far more precious than life itself; 
 *' The Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." ' ^ 
 
 (2) ' After one or two of the brethren had read and prayed, 
 Mr. T. was made to speak two or three words very distinctly, and 
 with an energy and depth of tone which seemed to me extraordinary, 
 and it fell upon me as a supernatural utterance which I ascribed to 
 the power of God ; the words were in a tongue I did not understand. 
 In a few minutes Miss E. 0. broke out in an utterance in English 
 which, as to matter and manner, and the influence it had upon me, I 
 at once bowed to as the utterance of the Spirit of God. Those who 
 
 ^ A Brief Account of a Visit to I Scotland. Published by J. Nisbet, 
 some of the Brethren in the West of | London, 1831, pp. 28, 29. 
 
254 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 have heard the powerful and commanding utterance need no descrip- 
 tion ; bnt they who have not, ' lay conceive what an unnatural and 
 unaccustomed tone of voice, an intense and riveting power of ex-^ 
 pression, with the declaration of a cutting rebuke to all who were 
 present, and applicable to mj own state of mind in particular, would 
 effect upon me, and upon the others who were come together, ex- 
 pecting to hear the voice of the Spirit of God. In the midst of the 
 feeling of awe and reverence which this produced, I was myself 
 seized upon by the power, and in much struggling against it was 
 made to cry out, and myself to give out a confession of my own sin 
 
 in the matter for which we were rebuked.' ' There was in 
 
 me, at the time of the utterance, very great excitement ; and yet I 
 was distinctly conscious of a power acting upon me beyond the 
 mere power of excitement. So distinct was this power from the 
 excitement, that in all my trouble and doubt about it, I never could 
 attribute the whole to excitement.^ .... I read the fourth chapter of 
 Malachi ; as I read the power came upon me, and I was made to read 
 in the power. My voice was raised far beyond its natural pitch, 
 with constrained repetitions of parts, and with the same inward 
 uplifting, which at the presence of the power I had always before 
 experienced.' ^ ' Whilst sitting at home a mighty power came upon 
 me, but for a considerable time no impulse to utterance ; presently, 
 a sentence in French was vividly set before my mind, and under an 
 impulse to utterance, was spoken. Then, in a little time, sentences 
 in Latin were in like manner uttered ; and, with short intervals, 
 sentences in many other languages, judging from the sound and the 
 different exercise of the enunciating organs. My wife, who was 
 with me, declared some of them to be Italian and Spanish ; the 
 first she can read and translate, the second she knows but little of. 
 In this case she was not able to interpret nor retain the words a& 
 they were uttered. All the time of these utterances I was greatljr 
 tried in mind. After the first sentence an impulse to utterance con- 
 tinued on me, and most painfully I restrained it, my conviction being 
 that, until something was set before me to utter, I ought not to yield 
 my tongue to utterance. Yet I was troubled by the doubt, what 
 could the impulse mean, if I were not to yield to it ? Under the 
 trial, I did yield my tongue for a few moments ; but the utterance 
 that broke from me seemed so discordant that I concluded the im- 
 pulse, without words given, was a temptation, and I restrained it, 
 except as words were given me, and then I yielded. Sometimes 
 single words were given me, and sometimes sentences, though I could 
 
 ^ Narrative of Facts characteris- 
 ing the SupernaturalManif estations, 
 in Members of Mr. Irving's Congre- 
 gation and other Individuals, in 
 England and Scotland, and formerly 
 
 in the writer himself, by Robert 
 Baxter : 2nd edition, Nisbet, Lon- 
 don, 1833, pp. 5-7. 
 
 ^ Narrative of Facts, &c. p. 12. 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PEOPHECY. 255 
 
 neither recognise the words nor sentences as any language I knew, 
 except those which were French or Latin. ^ . . . My persuasion 
 concerning the unknown tongue, as it is called (in which I myself 
 was very little exercised), is, that it is no language whatever, but 
 a mere collection of words and sentences ; and in the lengthened 
 discourses is, most of it, a jargon of sounds ; though I can conceive, 
 when the power is very great, that it will assume much of the form 
 of a connected oration.' ^ 
 
 It must again be repeated that those instances are brought 
 forward, not as examples of the Apostolical gift, but ^, . 
 as illustrations of it. But, however inferior they may stle's en- 
 have been to the appearances of which they were imi- <^ea,your to 
 tations or resemblances, they yet serve to show the the use of 
 possibility of the same combination of voice, and ec- ^^^® S^^^ ^^ 
 stasy, and unknown ox foreign words, as has been de- 
 scribed in the case of the Apostolic gifts ; they show also how, 
 even when accompanied by extravagance and fanaticism, such 
 a manifestation could still be, in a high degree, impressive and 
 affecting. It was the glory of the Apostolic age that, instead 
 of dwelling exclusively on this gift, or giving it a prominent 
 place, as has been the case in the sects of later days, the allu- 
 sions to it are rare and scanty, and (in the chapter now before 
 us) even disparaging. The Corinthian Christians, indeed, 
 regarded it as one of the highest manifestations of spiritual in- 
 fluence ; but this was the very tendency which the Apostle 
 sought to repress. The object of this Section of the Epistle, 
 as of the whole discussion on spiritual gifts of which it forms a 
 part, is to restrain, moderate, and reduce to its proper subor- 
 dination the fervour, the eccentricity, so to speak, occasioned 
 by these gifts, and to maintain beyond and above them the 
 eternal superiority of the moral and religious elements which 
 Christianity had sanctioned or introduced. 
 
 In this respect, as in many others, the mission of the Apostle 
 was analogous to that of the ancient prophets. There Analogous 
 was, indeed, in the early Christian Church no fear totheanti- 
 (except from the Jewish party) of an undue develop- teachin°^^^ 
 ment of that ceremonial and hierarchical spirit, against of the 
 which the Prophets and Psalmists, from Samuel and ^^op^e^s. 
 David downwards, had so constantly lifted up their voices to 
 assert the supreme importance of justice, mercy, and truth; of 
 obedience above sacrifice ; of a broken and contrite spirit above 
 
 1 Narrative of Facts, &c. pp. 133, 134. ^ j^j^j pp -,3^^ -,^35 
 
256 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 burnt offerings of bulls and goats. It was from an opposite 
 quarter that these great spiritual verities were endangered in 
 the beginning of the Christian Church ; but the danger was 
 hardly less formidable. The attractions of miraculous power, 
 of conscious impulses of a Divine presence, of a speech and an 
 ecstatic state which struck all beholders with astonishment, 
 were the temptations which, amongst the primitive Gentile 
 Christians, threatened to withdraw the Church from the truth, 
 the simplicity, and the soberness of Christ and of Paul, as the 
 stately ceremonial of the Jewish worship had, in ancient times, 
 had the like effect in withdrawing the nation of Israel from the 
 example of Abraham and the teaching of Moses. That the 
 gifts were not less necessary to sustain the first faith of the 
 Apostolical Christians, than the Levitical rites were to sustain 
 that of the Jewish people, does but render the illustration more 
 exact. Isaiah and Amos protested against the corruptions of 
 the ancient Jewish priesthood. The Apostle himself, in the 
 Epistles to the Komans and Galatians, protested against cir- 
 cumcision and the rites of the Mosaic Law. So in this chapter 
 he protests against all those tendencies of the human mind 
 which delight in displays of Divine power, more than in dis- 
 plays of Divine wisdom or goodness, — which place the evidence 
 of Grod's Spirit more in sudden and wonderful frames of feeling 
 and devotion than in acts of usefulness and instruction, — which 
 make religion selfish and individual rather than social. Gregory 
 the Great warned Augustine of Canterbury not to rejoice that 
 spirits were subject to him by miraculous power, but that his 
 name was written in the Book of Life through the conversions 
 which he had effected. The attempts of Paley to rest Christ- 
 ianity solely upon its external evidence have, in our own times, 
 been rejected by a higher and more comprehensive philosophy. 
 The great body of the Christian Church has, in all ages, given 
 little heed to the extraordinary displays of power, real or pre- 
 tended, by particular sects or individuals. In all these cases 
 the warning of the Apostle in this chapter has been at hand, 
 to support the more rational and the more dignified course (if 
 so it may without offence be called), which minds less enlight- 
 ened, and consciences less alive to the paramount greatness of 
 moral excellence, may have been induced to despise. The 
 Apostle's declaration, that ' he himself spake with tongues ' 
 * more than they all,' when combined with his other qualities, 
 is a guarantee that the Apostolical gift of tongues was not im- 
 
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND OF PEOPHECY. 257 
 
 posture or fanaticism. But, on the other hand, his constant 
 language respecting it is no less a guarantee that gifts such as 
 these were the last that he would have brought forward in vin- 
 dication or support of the Gospel which he preached. The 
 excitable temperament of Eastern as compared with Western 
 nations may serve to explain to us, how conditions of mind, like 
 that implied in the gift of tongues, should have accompanied 
 without disturbing a faith so sober, so lofty, so dispassionate, as 
 that of the Apostle. But it also makes that soberness the more 
 remarkable in the Apostle born and bred in this very Oriental 
 atmosphere, where, as is still shown by the exercises of the 
 Mussulman dervishes, nothing is too wild to be incorporated 
 into religious worship ; where, as is still shown by the ready 
 acceptance of the legends of Mahomet and the Mussulman 
 saints, nothing is too extravagant to be received as a miracle. 
 He acknowledged the fact, he claimed the possession, of this 
 extraordinary power ; and yet he was endowed with the wis- 
 dom and the courage to treat it as always subordinate, as often 
 even useless and needless. 
 
258 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIV. 1—5. 
 
 The Superiority of Prophesying to Speaking with 
 
 Tongues. 
 
 XIV. ^AioiKere rr)v ayoLTrrjv^ tprjkovre Se ra TTuevixaTiKa, 
 fjLoXkov Se tVa 7rpo(j}7jTev7jTe. ^6 yap XaXcov yXaxrcrr) ovk 
 dvOpcoTTOLS XaXet, dXXa * 0€^ ' ovSels yap d/couet, TrvevyLari 
 
 ^ Follow after Love, but seek zealously the spiritual gifts, but rather 
 that ye may prophesy. ^ For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not 
 unto men, but unto God: for no one heareth, but in the spirit he speaketh 
 
 XIV. I The Apostle, having 
 concluded his description of 
 Love, for a moment pauses before 
 lie returns to the special subject 
 from which this description had 
 been a digression, and breathes 
 one more fervent commendation 
 of it to the Corinthians : ' Follow, 
 pursue Love.' (Stw/cto is thus 
 used in Romans ix. 30, 31, xii. 
 13, xiv. 19 ; 1 Thessalonians v. 
 15.) He then resumes the ar- 
 gument which he had abandoned 
 in xii. 31, and this is the force 
 of hi. 
 
 tpfjKovTf. Se TO. TTvevftartKa, ' you 
 are right in earnestly desiring 
 the gtfts of the Spirit.' For 
 ^lyXovre, see note on xii. 31. ra 
 TrvevfjiaTLKa is * the gifts of the 
 Spirit' generally, but with a 
 special reference to the gift of 
 tongues. 
 
 fxaXXov 8e Lva Trpo(j)7)T€V7jT€, ' but 
 more than anything else desire 
 the gift of prophecy.' lva is 
 here passing into the Romaic 
 sense, in which it is used as 
 a substitute for the infinitive. 
 Compare for this use, verse 12 ; 
 and Matthew vii. 12 ; Mark vi. 
 8, 25. 
 
 2 ITow follow the reasons for 
 his preference of prophesying to 
 speaking with tongues, as derived 
 
 from the greater usefulness of 
 prophesying. It is a particular 
 inference from the general truth, 
 which he has just given in his 
 description of Love. 
 
 The first contrast is between 
 the isolation of the speaker with 
 tongues by his communion with 
 God alone, and the usefulness of 
 the prophet to others by his 
 a/cting as a teacher. 
 
 ovSets ttKovet, i.e. ' hears so as 
 to understand,^ as in verse 16, 
 OVK otSev. He does not mean 
 literally that no sounds were 
 heard. Compare for the same 
 ambiguity the account of St. 
 Paul's conversion, Acts ix. 7, 
 where his companions are de- 
 scribed as ' hearing the voice ' 
 (d/covoi/res rrjs (fxovrjs) ; but in 
 xxii. 9, as ' not hearing it ' (ttjv 
 cfxovrjv OVK ^Kovcrav^. Comp. also 
 Mark iv. 33 : ' He spake the 
 word unto them ... as they were 
 able to hear' (aKovecv). Gen. 
 xi. 7 : ' Let us confound their 
 language, that they may not 
 understand one another's speech.' 
 xlii. 23 : ' They knew not that 
 3 o&QT^h. understood.^ Isaiah xxxvi. 
 11 : ' We understand the Syrian 
 language' (all d/covetv in LXX.). 
 /xvcTTTJpLa. Here, as elsewhere, 
 ' God's secrets ; ' here, however, 
 
SUPEKIOEITY OF PROPHESYINa. 
 
 259 
 
 Se XaXei ixvorTrjpia' ^6 Se '7Tpo(l)r)T€vcov avOpcoTrou^ \a\el 
 OLKoSoiJLrjv Kol TTapdKkrjCTW Koi TrapafJivdCav. ^6 XaXcop 
 y\o}(Tcrrj iavTov oiKoSo/xet, 6 Se TTpo(l)r)T€V(ov iKKXr)crLap oIko- 
 Sofiel. ^ Oeko) Se Trdvra^ v/>tas XaXeiv yXwcrcrais, fiaXkoT/ 
 Se iz^a 7rpo<f)r)T€vrjT€' fjiei^oiv ^Se 6 7rpo(l)7)Tev(ov rj 6 Xakcov 
 yXaxrcraLS, iKTos ei /^it) SLepfirfvevr)^ Iva rj eKKXiqcria oIkoSo- 
 
 » 7&P for 8e. 
 
 mysteries : 'but he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification and 
 exhortation and consolation. *He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth 
 himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. ^ I would that ye 
 all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied : but greater is he 
 that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, 
 that the church may receive edifying. ^But now, brethren, if I come 
 
 not, as elsewhere, in the sense 
 of secrets revealed, but in the 
 sense (nearly approaching to the 
 modern meaning of the word 
 * mystery ') of secrets concealed. 
 The only other instance is Rev. 
 xvii. 5 : * Mystery, Bahylon the 
 Great,^ &c. 
 
 3 oiKoSofjirjV KOL Trapa.KK'qa'LV koX 
 TrapafivOcav. These three words 
 convey the object of Christian 
 prophesying : — 
 
 oiKoSoftiyv, * building up by 
 successive stages of enlighten- 
 ment and advancement in good- 
 ness.' Compare especially Eph. 
 iv. 12, 13. 
 
 TrapaLKXTja-Ls, * exhortation ' or 
 -* consolation ' (see note on 2 
 Cor. i. 3), as in the word ira- 
 pdKXrjTos, 'comforter,' which may 
 mean either ' strengthener ' or 
 ' consoler.' How closely con- 
 nected was this gift with pro- 
 phesying, may be seen in the 
 fact that the name of ' Barnabas,' 
 *the son of prophecy,' is ren- 
 'dered in Acts iv. 36 vl6<s Trapa- 
 
 irapafjivOia shares with irapd- 
 KXr}<rL<s the sense of ' consolation,' 
 but with a more tender shade 
 of meaning. The form, irapa- 
 
 fxvOiov occurs, as here, in con- 
 junction with TrapoLKXrja-Lg, in Phil, 
 ii. 1 : 'If any consolation, if any 
 comfort of love ; ' and Trapa/xvOov' 
 fjL€VOL with TTapaKaXovvres, in 1 
 Thess. ii. 11. Bengel: ^ Bxlior- 
 tatio tollit tarditatem ; consolatio 
 tristitiam.' 
 
 4 The second contrast is be- 
 tween the speaker with tongues, 
 as building up only his own 
 soul ; and the prophet, as build- 
 ing up the souls of the Christian 
 congregation. This mention of 
 the edification of the speaker's 
 self is not inconsistent with ver- 
 ses 13, 14, which imply that he 
 did not understand what he said. 
 The consciousness of ecstasy and 
 communion with God would have 
 an elevating efiect, independently 
 of any impression produced on 
 the understanding. See note on 
 verse 14. 
 
 For Xva, see note on verse 1. 
 
 cKTos €6 firj. Here, as in xv. 2 ; 
 1 Tim. V. 19, piT] is pleonastic. 
 
 SL€pp,r)vevy, i.e. the speaker 
 himself. See verse 13. 
 
 6 vvv Se, 'but as it now 
 stands ; ' i.e. ' if the tongues are 
 there and no interpreter.' 
 
 He gives these four gilts or 
 2 
 
260 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIV. 6—14. 
 
 fjLTjp Xd^rj. ^vvv^ Se, aS€\(l)OL^ iav ekSco irpos u/^as ykoicr-^ 
 crats \a\o)v, ri vfias Qi<f>e\rj<jo), iav fjirj vixiv Xakyja-co rj h/ 
 dTroKokvxjjeL rj iv yj/axrei rj iv 7rpo(j)r)T€La rj iv BiSa^fj; ^ o/aw? 
 rd dxfjvxO' (fxovrji' SiSovra^ etre auXog etre KiOdpa, idv Stacrro- 
 \.r)v Tov (j)06yyov ^ /xt) So), ttw? yvoicrOrjo-eTai to avkovyievov 
 rj TO KiOapitpixeuov ; ^ koL yap idv dSrjXov (j^coj^i' crdXiny^ 
 8ft>, TL<s TrapacTKevda-eTaL et? TToXefjuov ; ^ ovtcos koL u/xet? Sua 
 Trj<; y\(ocr(rrjq idv jjirj evcrqfJLOv Xoyov ScoTe, ttw? yvoxrOrjcreTaL 
 TO \a\ovpLevov ; icreo-Oe ydp ek depa XoKowTe^. ^^rocraGra, 
 
 vvvi. 
 
 ^ rdls (pd6yyois. 
 
 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 teaching? "^ Even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or 
 harp, except they give a distinction of sound, how shall it be known what 
 is piped or harped ? ^For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who 
 shall prepare himself for the battle ? ^ So likewise ye, except ye utter 
 by the tongue a word easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is 
 
 utterances, as exhausting all the 
 modes of teaching. 
 
 (1) a7roKdXvif/i<;, 'unveiling of 
 the unseen word,' as in ' The 
 Apocalypse.' 
 
 (2) yvwcrts, ' insight into Di- 
 vine truth,' as in the ' wisdom ' 
 of ii. 6. 
 
 (3) Trpo^T/Teta, ' message of 
 exhortation or consolation,' as in 
 verse 3. 
 
 (4) SiSaxT), ' regular teaching,' 
 like the continuous teaching of 
 our Lord's discourses and para- 
 bles ; as in Acts ii. 42. 
 
 7 He illustrates his argument 
 by a general reference to sounds. 
 
 o/Aws TO. aijrvxo- This drawn 
 out in full would be, koi to. 
 aifrvxa, Kanrep axf/vxa- ovra, o/xw?, 
 * lifeless instruments, though life- 
 less, yet,' &c. Compare Gal. iii. 
 
 15 : O/XCOS dvdpWTTOV K€KVp(0/JL€Vr}V 
 
 hiaOrjK-qv ovSet5 d^cret, and for a 
 like condensation see Rom. ii. 1. 
 The flute or pipe (avXo?) and 
 harp (KiOdpa) are mentioned as 
 the only two kinds of instrumen- 
 
 tal music known in Greece. 
 
 (l>66yyos is used only here and 
 in Rom. x. 18. As distinguished 
 from (fioivi^ it expresses musical 
 sounds. (fiOoyyov (not tov cjiBoy- 
 yov) is the real reading of B. 
 Lachmann adopted tov in ignor- 
 ance. 
 
 yvoi(r6rj(T€TaL to avXovfxcvov ; 
 * How shall the particular note 
 of the pipe be recognised ? ' 
 
 8 He adds another instance of 
 a different kind. 
 
 TToXcfjiovj not ' war ' (as usual), 
 but (as in Rev. xvi. 14) 'battle.' 
 
 9 He now applies what he has 
 said, as in the analogous passages 
 of xii. 27-31, and xv. 35^1. 
 
 Bid T^s yX(i)(r(T7]<;, ' through the 
 tongue,' i.e. as compared with 
 the various instruments he has 
 just mentioned, but also probably 
 with a special reference to the 
 gift of ' speaking with a tongue ' 
 (see p. 247). 
 
 €var]/xov, ' intelligible.' 
 
 ID He now pushes his range 
 of comparisons further, so a^ to 
 
SUPEREOEITY OF PROPHESYING. 
 
 261 
 
 €t Tv-)(OL^ yevrj (j)0)V(ov ^elcrlv iv KocrfJicp^ koI ovSh/^ a(])Ct)vov* 
 ^^iav ovv fJLTJ elScj rrjv SvvafJLiv ttJ? (fxovrjS', ecro/xai tco 
 XakovPTL )8ap/5a/oo5, kol 6 XaX&v iv ifiol ^dpl3apos. ^^ov- 
 TCt)5 /cat vjiels, irrei ^rjXcoTai icrre Trvevf^aTCJi/, wpos rrjv 
 olKoSofJLTjj^ T7J<; iKKXrjcria^ ^rjreLTe Iva TrepLcraevyjTe. ^^Slo^ 
 6 XaXft)!^ yXcocrcrrj Trpocrev^icrOoi Iva hiepynqvevrj. ^^iav 
 [yap] Trpocrexr^aijxaL yXcocrcrr), to Trvevfxd fiov ir pocrev^er ai^ 
 
 ^ ovShv avTwv. 
 
 AiSirep. 
 
 spoken ? for ye shall speak into the air. ^^ There are, it may be, so many 
 kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is without sound : "therefore 
 if I know not the meaning of the sound, I shall be unto him that speaketh 
 a barbarian, and he that speaketh a barbarian unto me. ^^Even so ye, 
 forasmuch as ye are zealous of spirits, seek that ye may abound to the 
 edifying of the church. *^ Wherefore he that speaketh in a tongue let 
 him pray that he may interpret. "For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit 
 
 include the various languages of 
 men. 
 
 (fxDvrj, though used in verse 
 8 for the trumpet, is here ex- 
 tended to human language, as 
 in the LXX. (Genesis xi. 1, 7 ; 
 Deuteronomy xxviii. 49 ; Isaiah 
 liv. 17), and often in classical 
 writers. 
 
 €1 rvxoLy a common expression 
 to express doubt about numbers 
 (see Dionys. Hal. iv. 19, fivpciov 
 -^ SLcr/xvpLoiv el Tv^otj Sii^d other 
 examples in Wetstein). See also 
 XV. 37. 
 
 aicfioivov, 'without a distinct 
 «onnd.' 
 
 1 1 SvvafjLiv, ' meaning,' ' force.' 
 fSdpf^apo?, a ' foreigner ' (i.e. 
 
 one who does not speak the 
 Oreek language). ' Barbarus 
 hie ego sum, quia non intelligor 
 uUi,' Ovid, Trist. v. 10. 
 €v ifjioi, ' in my judgment.' 
 
 12 He now applies the whole 
 argument to the Corinthians. 
 
 ^■jyXtoTat. See note on verse 1. 
 For the construction compare 
 ^r}Xo)Tr]<s ®€0v. Acts xxii. 3. 
 
 irvevfiaToiv, ' spirits,' used for 
 ■* spiritual gifts,' as Swa/^ets for 
 
 'workers of miracles,' xii. 29 
 (compare also xii. 10, xiv. 32), 
 and here, as in verse 1, used 
 specially, though not exclusively, 
 for the ' tongues.' 
 
 7rpo5 r^v olKoSofirjv r^s CKKXrf- 
 (Ttas, ' to the building up of the 
 Church,' is put first for the sake 
 of the emphasis laid upon it. 
 
 iva TrepLcra-evTjTe. See note on 1. 
 
 13 Trpoaevxea-dtj) 'iva Supfirj- 
 vevrj, ' pray that he may in- 
 terpret.' This implies that the 
 speaker himself had not necessa- 
 rily an understanding of what 
 he was saying. In order to ex- 
 plain it to others, he had to pray 
 for a separate gift, that of 'in- 
 terpretation.' Comp. xii. 30 : 
 ' do all speak with tongues ? do 
 all interpret ? ' which implies 
 that the two gifts were not of 
 necessity united in the same 
 persons. 
 
 14 He illustrates the useless- 
 ness of the gift to others by 
 showing the uselessness of it in 
 the case of prayer. The repeti- 
 tion of the word ' pray ' (Trpoo-- 
 evxecrOaL) implies that in verse 
 13 as well as 14 it is used for the 
 
262 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIV. 16, 16. 
 
 6 Se vovs fJLOV aKapnos icrriv. ^^ri ovv icTTiv; TTpocrev^o- 
 fiai tS TTvevfxaTit Trpoo-ev^ofJiaL Se kol tw vol' i/zaXw tco' 
 TTvevp.aTij xpakcj "" kol tS vol, ^^ iireliav ev\oyrj<^^ Trvevp^aTi^ 
 
 ■ T\ia\u 5e KoL vot. *» evXoyfjffrjs rep. 
 
 prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. ^^ What is it then ? I will 
 pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also : I will 
 sing with the spirit, I will sing with the understanding also. ^^ Else if 
 
 'inspired prayer with tongues,' 
 as though the sense were, ' So 
 important is it for this gift to 
 be turned to practical use, that 
 the special object, to which the 
 speaking or praying with tongues 
 should be directed, is the ac- 
 quisition of the gift of inter- 
 pretation.' 
 
 TO TTvcv/Att, * the spirit,' is used 
 for the moral and spiritual affec- 
 tions united with the Spirit of 
 Christ, or the Spirit which is 
 the life of the Spiritual gifts. 
 
 6 vovs is *the mind or intel- 
 lectual element,' as in Phil. iv. 7, 
 Luke xxiv. 45. The effect here 
 described, the use of words 
 which touch the feelings without 
 conveying any distinct notions to 
 the understanding, is illustrated 
 by the state of the disciples of 
 Irving (see pp. 263-265). Such 
 too is the impression produced 
 on the uneducated, not only, as 
 Estius weU remarks, by public 
 prayers, of which the general 
 object is understood, though the 
 particular sense is unknown, but 
 by the words of Scripture, which 
 often strike the heart more from 
 the general spirit they breathe, 
 than from any special meaning 
 of the words themselves. 
 aKapTTo?, ' without result.' 
 1 5 Tt ovv icTTLv ; ' what then 
 is the consequence to be deduced 
 from all this ? ' (Comp. verse 
 26 ; Acts xxi. 22 ; Rom. iii. 9, 
 vi.l5.) 
 
 Trpoa-eviofjiaL is the reading in 
 
 B. and Latin versions. Trpoa- 
 €vio>fxai A. D. E. F. G. 'If 
 I am to pray with my spirit, I 
 will pray also with my under- 
 standing.' From this he passes 
 to another manifestation of the 
 tongues, that of singing. Comp. 
 Eph. V. 19 : ' Speaking to your- 
 selves in psalms and hymns.* 
 James v. 13 : 'Is any among 
 you sad ? let him pray. Is any 
 merry? let him sing psalms.*^ 
 (See p. 245.) 
 
 1 6 As the wrong use of the 
 gift comes again before him, he 
 passes back from the first person 
 to the second. The mention of 
 ' singing ' suggests the especial 
 purpose to which singing wa& 
 applied ; namely, thanksgiving, 
 and the special inconvenience 
 which would arise from the 
 thanksgiving being offered in an 
 unintelligible form, as though 
 the sense were, ' Sing with the 
 understanding ; for, unless you 
 do, the thanksgiving will be use- 
 
 The * thanksgiving ' or ' bless- 
 ing ' of which he speaks, seems 
 to be that which accompanied the 
 Lord's Supper, and whence it de- 
 rived its name of the ' Eucharist. *■ 
 In this connexion the words ev- 
 XoycLv and ev-^apiarruv were used 
 convertibly, as appears in all the 
 accounts of the institution (see 
 on xi. 24). In answer to this 
 thanksgiving the congregation 
 uttered their ' Amen.' ' After 
 the prayers,' says Justin (Apol. 
 
SUPERIOKITY OF PEOPHESYINa. 263 
 
 6 OLvaTrXrjpcov tov tottov tov ISkotov ttcos ipeu to dfXTJv inl 
 thou bless with the spirit, he that occupieth the room of the unlearned how 
 
 c. 65, 67), ^ bread is offered, and 
 wine and water, and the president 
 offers up according to his power 
 'The prayers and thanksgiv- 
 
 Amen.' ^^gg ^j. once, and the 
 people shout the Amen (to dfxrjv 
 as here). The president offers 
 praise and glory to the Father 
 of all, through the name of His 
 Son and of the Holy Spirit, and 
 at length returns thanks to God 
 for having vouchsafed us to par- 
 take of these things. When he 
 has finished the prayers and 
 thanksgivings, all the people 
 present shout, saying "Amen," 
 which is the Hebrew for " So 
 be it." ' 
 
 The *Amen' thus used was 
 borrowed from the worship of 
 the Synagogue, and hence pro- 
 bably the article is prefixed as 
 to a well-known form. It was 
 there regarded as the necessary 
 ratification of the prayer or 
 blessing. *He who says Amen 
 is greater than he that blesses ' 
 (Berashoth viii. 8). 'Whoever 
 says Amen, to him the gates of 
 paradise are open,' according to 
 Isaiah xxvi. 2, whence they read 
 
 * Open ye the gates, that the 
 righteous nation which keepeth 
 the Amen, may enter in ' ( Wet- 
 stein ad loc). An * Amen,' if not 
 well considered, was called an 
 
 * Orphan Amen * (Lightfoot ad 
 loc). ' Whoever says an Orphan 
 Amen, his children shall be 
 orphans ; whoever answers Amen 
 hastily or shortly, his days shall 
 be shortened ; whoever answers 
 Amen distinctly and at length, 
 his days shall be lengthened' 
 (Berashoth, 47, 1 ; Schottgen 
 Ud loc). Compare the use of 
 
 the word as uttered by the vast 
 assembly of pilgrims at Mecca, 
 to express their assent to the 
 great sermon at the Kaaba 
 (Burton's Pilgrimage, iii. p. 
 314). 
 
 So in the early Christian 
 liturgies, it was regarded as a 
 marked point in the service ; and 
 with this agrees the great so- 
 lemnity with which Justin speajcs 
 of it, as though it were on a level 
 with the thanksgiving : * the 
 president having given thanks, 
 and the whole people having 
 shouted their approbation.' And 
 in later times, the Amen was 
 only repeated once by the con- 
 gregation, and always after the 
 great thanksgiving, and with a 
 shout like a peal of thunder. 
 
 6 dva7r\r]pC>v tov tottov tov 
 tStwTov. ' He who, in conse- 
 quence of his not understanding 
 the tongues, is to the speaker 
 with tongues what an unlearned 
 person is with regard to a 
 learned.' This also must be the 
 sense of tStwriys in ver. 23, 24. 
 The blessing was not valid, un- 
 less it was, as it were, ratified by 
 the ' Amen ' of the whole con- 
 gregation . In the only two other 
 passages where ISlwttjs .^^^ 
 occurs in the New Tes- ' '""'*' 
 tament, it has reference, as here, 
 to speech : 2 Cor. xi. 6, iSiwTrjq 
 TO) Xoyo). Acts iv. 13, dypd/x- 
 fxaTOL ela-t, KOL tStwrat, in reference 
 to Trapp-qcria. 
 
 The word tStwrr;? was adopted 
 by the Rabbis merely spelling it 
 in Hebrew letters (see Lightfoot 
 ad loc). 
 
 6 dvaTrhqpCiV tov tottov, * He 
 wbo fills the condition or situa- 
 
264 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. XIV. 17—21. 
 
 Ty cry ev^apia-ria; iTreiSrj tl Xeyet? ovk olSev ^^ av fikv 
 yap Kokojs €V)(apL(TT€L<;, dXX' 6 erepo^ ovk otAcoSo/xetrat. 
 ^^ €.v^api(TT(xi T(p 6ea)^^ ttolvtcov vpiCDV [xaXkov ^yXcocrorr) XaXw * 
 ^^dXXa iv iKKkyjcTia OeXco TreWe Xoyovs, ^rw vot fJLOvXakrj' 
 crai, Lva kol dXkov^ KaTrj)(T]cr(o, rj fjivpCovs Xoyovs iv 
 yXcoaay. 
 
 '^^ '^SeX^oi, /xt) TratSta yivecrOe rai*; (f)p€crLV, dXXd rrj 
 
 * Add fiov. 
 
 ** yXwffcrais \a\uv. 
 
 "= Sio Tov vo6s fiov. 
 
 shall he say the Amen at thy giving of thanks ? since what thou sayest he 
 knoweth not ; ^^for thou indeed givest thanks weU, but the other is not 
 edified. ^^I thank God, I speak with a tongue more than ye all ; ^^yet in 
 the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that 
 I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. 
 
 ^° Brethren, become not little children in your minds, howbeit in 
 
 tion ; ' also a Hebraism naturally 
 used in speaking of the forms of 
 worship, mostly borrowed from 
 the Synagogue. Buxtorf, Lex. 
 Talmud, p. 2001. For this sense 
 of TOTTo^ see Ecclus. xii. 12. 
 
 17 KoAws. * You do well to 
 give thanks ; it is meet and right 
 so to do.' (Comp. 'Ye call me 
 Lord and Master, and ye say 
 well,' KaXC)<s Xeyere, John xiii. 
 
 13.) 
 
 18 He returns to his own 
 case. 
 
 ev^apLCTTiii T(3 ^ew may either 
 be : (1) 'I thank' God that I 
 speak,' &c., or (2) 'I thank 
 God in the Spirit, and I speak,' 
 &c., so as to take ev^apLo-rio in 
 the same sense as in verse 17. 
 But the first mode is probably 
 right, as best agreeing with the 
 following sentence, and the 
 change of the meaning of the 
 word is not greater than occurs 
 elsewhere (see note on xi. 23) ; 
 or, (3) according to A. cvx^pto-roi 
 T(3 ^€(3 TrdvTOiv vfxu)V fxaXXov 
 yXwo-oT/, ' I thank God, more 
 than you all, with a tongue.' 
 
 For the Apostle's power of 
 -speaking with tongues, compare 
 
 the description of his visions and 
 revelations in 2 Cor, xii. 1, 2. 
 
 1 9 oAAo, ev cKKA>y(rta, ' but 
 whatever I may do in private, in 
 an assembly I had rather, &c.' 
 
 oAAovs KaTr))(7]cr(j}f ' instruct 
 thoroughly.' 
 
 20 He concludes with an ap- 
 peal to their common sense like 
 that in xi. 14, ' I speak as to 
 wise men ' (^povc/xots). 
 
 rats ^pecrtV. The word only 
 occurs here in the N. Test. 
 
 TeA.€tot, ' full grown.' For the 
 same contrast of childishness and 
 manliness, compare ii. 6, ' We 
 speak wisdom among the fall 
 grown ' (ev reXctots) : iii. 1, ' I 
 could not speak to you as spi- 
 ritual, but as infants ' (vr/Trtots) : 
 xiii. 10, 11, ' When that which 
 is full grown {to riXuov) is come, 
 then that which is in part shall 
 be done away. When I was an 
 infant (vt/ttios), I spake and 
 thought as an infant ; but when 
 I became a man (dvTyp), I put 
 away infantine things (ra tov 
 vrpriov) . ' 
 
 vi^TTia^cre seems introduced to 
 strengthen TratSta. ' Be, if you 
 will, not childlike only, but in- 
 
SUPERIORITY OF PROPHESYINa. 
 
 265 
 
 €1/ Tft> 
 
 KaKia viqiridt^ere^ raiq 8e (fypecrlv rekeioi yCveaOe, ^^ 
 vofjio) yiypaiTTaiy otl ev erepoyXwcrcrots koX iv ^eikecriv 
 ^krepoiv kaXiJG-a) rco XaS tovtco^ kol ouS' ovtcos elcraKov 
 
 €T€pOlS. 
 
 malice be ye babes, but in your minds become perfect men. ^^ In the la-w- 
 it is written, that ' with men of other tongues and with lips of others will 
 I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith 
 
 fantine in wickedness.' The verb 
 occurs nowhere else in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 21 He follows up this appeal 
 to their own judgment by an ap- 
 peal to the Old Testament, iv t(3 
 vofJLio yeypaTTTai. 'It is written 
 in the Law.' Here, as in John 
 X. 34, xii. 34, XV. 25, ' the Law ' 
 is used for the Old Testament 
 generally, instead of being, as 
 usual, confined to the Pentateuch. 
 The whole passage is from Isaiah 
 xxviii. 9-12 : ' Whom shall he 
 teach knowledge ? and whom 
 shall he make to understand doc- 
 trine ? them that are weaned 
 from the milk, and drawn from 
 the breasts. For precept must 
 be upon precept, precept upon 
 precept ; line upon line, line upon 
 line ; here a little, and there a 
 little : for with stammering lips 
 and another tongue will he speak 
 to this people. To whom he said, 
 This is the rest wherewith ye 
 may cause the weary to rest ; and 
 this is the refreshing : yet they 
 would not hear.' The general 
 sense seems to be that, as they 
 mocked the prophet for teaching 
 them as if he was teaching chil- 
 dren, he answers that God shall 
 teach them indeed with words 
 that they could not understand, 
 through the invasion of the As- 
 syrian foreigners. The Apostle 
 must have read and quoted the 
 passage as describing that God's 
 speaking to the Israelites through 
 
 the lips and language of a foreign 
 people would be in judgment, and 
 not in mercy, and would have no 
 effect. Hardly a word in this 
 quotation coincides with the 
 LXX. : 8ta <fiavXi(TfjMV ^etXecov, 
 8ia yAwcrcras erepa?, on XaXrjcrovcn 
 
 T(U XaU) TOVTW, X€.yOVT€'i avTOts, 
 TovTO TO dvoLTravfia tw TrcLVwvTL 
 
 KOL TOVTO TO aVVrpLfJifXa, KOL OVK 
 
 rjOeXrjaav dKoveiv. 
 
 iT€poyX(i)a(roL<s is peculiar to 
 this passage in the New Testa- 
 ment. It is used, however (a.d. 
 150), by Aquila in his translation 
 of this very passage in Isa. xxviii. 
 11, and of Ps. cxiv. 1 (' strange 
 language '), and it illustrates the 
 meaning of * other tongues ' (Ire- 
 pats yXwo-o-ats), in Acts ii. 4. 
 The word is used for 'foreign 
 languages ' in Polyb. xxiv. 9, § 5 
 (Wetstein). 
 
 It must be observed that, al- 
 though the general sense is thus 
 represented by the Apostle's quo- 
 tation, yet the words of the last 
 clause on which he lays so much 
 stress, as proving the f ruitlessness 
 of foreign tongues, ' and not eve^i 
 so shall they hearj' in the original 
 passage relate, not to the foreign 
 language, but to the intervening 
 words which the Apostle has left 
 out, and which seem to refer to 
 the obscure language of the pro- 
 phet's former teaching. 
 
 The passage may have been 
 suggested to his memory by its 
 mention of children and of child- 
 
266 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIV. 22—25. 
 
 crovTat /lou, Aeyet Kvpios* (ocrre at ykcacrcrai et? crrjixeiov 
 elcTLV ov TOLS TTiaTevovcTLV aXka toIs aTrtcrrots, rj Be irpo- 
 (p7)T€La OV TOis aTTtcTTOts aAAtt TOL<; TTiG'TevovcTiv. ^eav ovv 
 ekOrj^ rj eKKky^cria oXrj ctti to avTo kol 7rdvT€<s ^\a\(oa-LV 
 y\(x)(T<jaL^^ elcrikOoicnv 8e iStwrat ri aTTtcTTot, ovk epovaiv 
 
 » ffvvixQy, and so Lachm. Ed. 1. ^ •yXdxrffa.is XaKaxriv. 
 
 the Lord.' ^^ Wherefore the tongues are for a sign not to the believers 
 but to the unbelievers, but prophesying not for the unbelievers, but for 
 the believers. ^^ If therefore the whole church be come into one place 
 and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are imleamed 
 
 ish teaching, of which he had 
 himself just spoken in verse 20. 
 2 2 From this quotation, or 
 rather from the special words 
 which it contains (' tongues,' and 
 ' they shall not hear '), he draws 
 a conclusion against the gift of 
 speaking with tongues. ' If this 
 be so, " the tongues " are a sign of 
 God's presence, not to those who 
 are converted but to those who 
 refuse to be converted, that is, a 
 sign not of mercy, but of judg- 
 ment. But prophesying is a 
 sign of Grod's presence, not to 
 those who refuse to be converted, 
 but to those who are converted, 
 and is thus a sign of mercy.' 
 
 23, 24 He confirms this by the 
 actual fact, and presents the two 
 opposite pictures of what would 
 be the effect on persons who 
 had not either of the gifts in 
 question, according as the whole 
 congregation had one or the 
 other. If the congregation spoke 
 with tongues, the effect would be 
 mere astonishment, and an im- 
 pression that they were all seized 
 with frenzy; but if they pro- 
 phesied, the effect would be con- 
 viction that there was really a 
 Divine presence among them, 
 enabling them to discern the se- 
 crets of the heart. 
 
 In each case, to make his ar- 
 gument stronger, he imagines the 
 
 whole society present, and every 
 member of it exercising his gift. 
 If they all spoke with tongues, 
 the confusion would be increased, 
 because this would imply that 
 there were none to interpret. If" 
 they all prophesied, this would 
 increase the wonder and the ef- 
 fect, because the man would feel 
 that, not one eye only, but a 
 thousand eyes were fixed on his 
 inmost soul. Hence the repeti- 
 tion of ' all ' four times over, and 
 the expressions 'the whole 
 Church ' and 'the same place.' 
 
 iStwTiys is a ' person without 
 the gift of tongues, or of pro- 
 phecy ; ' 'a layman,' in the- 
 sense of one without the know- 
 ledge of any special branch of 
 knowledge. See note on verse- 
 16. 
 
 a-n-to-To?, a ' heathen,' as in vi. 
 6, vii. 12-15 ; not in the stronger 
 sense in which he has just used 
 the word in verse 22, of * a 
 heathen who refuses to be con- 
 verted.' 
 
 The two words together in- 
 clude all who could possibly be af- 
 fected, 'Christians without the 
 gifts,' and ' heathens.' 
 
 For the impression of madness 
 produced on those who saw tbe- 
 gift of tongues, compare Acts ii. 
 13 : ' These men are full of ne^- 
 wine.' 
 
SUPEEIOEITY OF PEOPHESYINa. 
 
 267 
 
 OTL fiaCvecrOe; ^^iav Se wdvTe^ 7rpo(l)rjT€V(ocTiv, elcreXOrj Se 
 TLS aTTtcrros rj ISlcottj^;, eXey^erat vno ttcivtcov^ avaKpiverai 
 ra KpvTTTa ttJs /capStas avTov (j^avepd yuve- 
 
 25 a 
 
 ,, KoX oijTCJs irecroiv ctti TrpocroiTrov TrpocrKVvrjo-eL Toy 
 
 Tat, 
 
 0€(w, dirayyeWcov on ^ovrois 6 Oeos iv vjjllv icrriv. 
 
 Add Kal ovTu. 
 
 ^ 6 &ehs ovTus. 
 
 or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad ? ^^ But if all prophesy, 
 and there come in an unbeliever or one unlearned, he is convinced by all, 
 he is judged by all, ^^the secrets of his heart become manifest, and so- 
 falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that of a truth 
 God is in you. 
 
 This would be the passage 
 where, if the gift of tongues had 
 been given for the purpose of con- 
 verting foreign nations by speak- 
 ing foreign languages, the Apostle 
 would have pointed it out ; the 
 more so, as both * unbelievers ' 
 and * foreign tongues ' are alluded 
 to in verses 22, 23, and 24. See 
 Introduction to this Chapter, pp. 
 247, 248. 
 
 24 The description which fol- 
 lows describes the intended effect 
 of all Christian preaching. Al- 
 though both the ' unlearned ' and 
 the * unbeliever ' are mentioned, 
 it is evident that the latter is 
 chiefly in the Apostle's mind, and 
 hence aTrtcrros is in this second 
 clause put before tStwr^s. 
 
 i\€y)(eTaL vtto ttcivtoov. ' He is 
 rendered conscious of his sins by 
 all.' ' One after another of the 
 prophets shall take up the strain, 
 and each shall disclose to him 
 some fault which he knew not 
 before.' For this sense of eXeyxw 
 see John xvi. 8. 
 
 avaKpCverat vtto Travrwv. ' He 
 is examined and judged by all.' 
 * One after another shall ask 
 questions which shall reveal to 
 him his inmost self, and sit as 
 
 judge on his inmost thoughts.' 
 For dvaKpLvu) see its constant use 
 in this Epistle, ii. 14, 15, iv. 3, 
 4, ix. 3, X. 25, 27. 
 
 25 TOL KpvTrra t^9 Kap8ta9 avrov 
 <f>av€pa ytverat. * The secrets of 
 his heart become manifest.' Com- 
 pare the description of * the word 
 of God,' which probably includes 
 prophesying or preaching, in 
 Heb. iv. 12, 13 : ' Piercing even 
 to the dividing asunder of soul 
 and spirit, and of the joints and 
 marrow, and is a discemer of 
 the thoughts and intents of the 
 heart. Neither is there any crea- 
 ture that is not manifest in His 
 sight.' 
 
 Kttt ovTws irea-oiv C7rt TrpoctorroK 
 Trpo(TKvvri(T€L T(3 ^cw, * Aud as a 
 consequence he will fall prostrate 
 before God.' Compare the effect 
 of Samuel's prophesying on Saul, 
 ' He lay down all that day and 
 night,' 1 Sam. xix. 24. 
 
 (XTrayyeAAtov on ovrcog o ^co9^ 
 ev iplv ka-Tiv. ' Carrying away 
 the tidings that the God, whom 
 he has thus worshipped, is truly 
 among you.' ' Deum vere esse 
 in vobis et verum Deum esse qui 
 est in vobis.' (Bengel.) 
 
268 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XIV. 1 — 25. 
 
 Let Love he your great aim ; hut admire and cherish at the same 
 time the gifts of the Spirit, chiefly the gift of prophesying. 
 The gift of tongues only informs a man^s self; the gift of pro- 
 phecy informs others. The gift of tongues must he inferior to 
 prophecy, unless it is accompanied with the gift of interpreta- 
 tion, or with the usual gifts of teaching. As musical instru- 
 ments are useless, unless their notes are distinguishahle ; as the 
 different sounds of the human voice are useless, unless they are 
 understood hy those who hear them ; so these gifts are useless, 
 unless they are rendered intelligihle. He, therefore, who has 
 the gift of speaking with a tongue, should pray that he may 
 have the gift of interpretation. This should he the very oh- 
 ject of his prayer when he prays with a tongue ; else such a 
 prayer, though elevating to his feelings, is useless to his under- 
 standing. Both in prayer and praise the feelings and the 
 understanding should go together. If the Eucharistic thanks- 
 giving he uttered in a tongue, he loho does not understand the 
 tongue, and who is thus in the condition of an ignorant man, 
 cannot give his ratification of the thanksgiving in the solemn 
 ' Amen ' of the congregation ; the thanksgiving may he good, 
 hut it is of no use. Thankful as I am for my possession of 
 this gift in an extraordinary measure, I yet had rather speak 
 flve words to instruct others, than any numher of ivords in a 
 tongue. My dear hrothers, consider the matter hy your own 
 common sense ; he children, he infants, if you tvill, in wicked- 
 ness ; hut in mind he not children, but full-grown men. You 
 rememher the passage in the Old Testament which speaks of 
 * other tongues^ and of the ^people not hearing.^ So it is still. 
 The ' tongues ' are a sign, not to those who will helieve, hut 
 to those who will not helieve ; whereas prophecy is a sign to 
 those who will helieve. Conceive the whole congregation col- 
 lected, and every memher speaking with tongues ; the impres- 
 sion on a heathen, or on a man without this gift, will he that 
 you are mad. But conceive the same congregation, with every 
 memher prophesying, and the effect will he that a stranger 
 will feel that hy every memher of that congregation he is con- 
 vinced of sin, and his thoughts judged, and his heart laid open ; 
 and he will acknowledge hy act and word the presence of God 
 amongst you. 
 
OFFICE OF THE UNDEKSTANDING. 26^ 
 
 The Office op the Understanding in Cheistian Worship. 
 
 The importance of the general principle established by the 
 Apostle in this Section, as declaring the superiority of a religion 
 of moral action to a religion of mere reverence or contempla- 
 tion, has already been noticed. This principle is here applied 
 to Christian worship. 
 
 There has always been a tendency to envelop the worship of 
 God in mystery and darkness. To a certain extent. Mystery of 
 this is inevitable and desirable. The communion with Worship. 
 the Infinite and Invisible can never be reduced to the same 
 precise laws as those which regulate our ordinary acts. The 
 awful reverence which, in the Old Testament, represented Him 
 as dwelling in darkness unapproachable, and the seraphs as 
 veiling their faces before Him, can never be safely discarded. 
 The feelings with which the most refined and exalted spirits of 
 humanity adore the Maker of all things, the Friend of their 
 own individual souls, can never be reduced to the level of the 
 common worldly worshippers of every-day life. So much will 
 probably be granted by all, and a deep truth will be recognised 
 in the ancient ceremonial forms by which, in the Jewish and 
 Pagan rituals of ancient times, and some Christian rituals of 
 modern times, this feeling was encouraged. But the utter life- 
 lessness into which these forms have degenerated, when the 
 understanding has been shut out from any participation in them, 
 shows that this tendency may be carried to such an excess as 
 to destroy the very feeling which it was meant to foster. 
 
 It is in this Chapter that the counter-principle is most em- 
 phatically stated. The precept, ' Be not children in under- 
 standing ; howbeit, in malice be ye children, but in impor- 
 understanding be men,' is to be found in substance tanceofthe 
 in many parts of the Gospels and Epistles. But in standi'ngin 
 this passage it is directly applied to that very province Christian 
 of religious worship in which the intellect is often ^°^^^^P- 
 supposed to have no part or place. 
 
 Two practical directions the Apostle gives, by which the 
 understanding was to be restored to its proper posi- i. The 
 tion in the worship of God ; each called forth by the °^°^® ?^ 
 peculiar circumstances of the case, and obvious in be*intef- ^ 
 itself, but at times overlooked or neglected. The ligi^le. 
 
270 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 first is, that the worship shall be conducted in a form intelligible 
 to the people. To pray or praise in the spirit, but without the con- 
 currence of the understanding; to utter thanksgivings, to which 
 the congregation cannot give a conscious assent ; to utter 
 sounds, however edifying to the individual, without interpret- 
 ing them to the congregation, is, in the Apostle's view, essen- 
 tially inconsistent with the true nature of Christian worship. 
 It was thus not without reason that this Chapter became the 
 stronghold of those attacks which were made in the sixteenth 
 century on the practice of conducting the service in a dead 
 language. But neither the prohibition of unintelligible sounds, 
 nor of an unintelligible language, is so important as the main- 
 tenance of the positive principle, that worship must carry along 
 with it, so far as possible, the whole nature of man. It 
 is possible that the language used may have ceased to be habi- 
 tually spoken, and yet be sufficiently understood ; or, on the 
 other hand, that the words used may belong to a living language, 
 and yet that the service shall be such as the congregation can- 
 not follow. On the one hand, extempore prayers, or dumb 
 show, as in modern sects, — ancient prayers, Latin prayers, 
 music, art, an elaborate ritual, amongst older Churches, — may 
 each fall under the Apostle's censure, so far as they deprive the 
 worshipper of a free access to the actual sense and meaning of 
 the acts in which he is engaged. Or, on the other hand they 
 may each in their turn promote the Apostle's object, so far as 
 they tend to bring that sense and meaning home to the memory, 
 the imagination, the understanding, the reason, the conscience 
 of the worshipper, educated or uneducated, civilised or unci- 
 vilised, as the case may be. As ^ there are so many kinds of 
 voices in the world, and none of them is without signification,' 
 so also, ' there are so many kinds of worship in the world, and 
 none of them is vrithout signification,' to Greek or Roman, Ger- 
 man or Englishman, barbarian or Scythian. To discover the 
 true ^ voice ' in which to reach the mind and heart of the wor- 
 shipper, the true ^ interpretation ' by which the gift of prayer 
 and praise, always more or less difficult to be understood by the 
 people, can be rendered intelligible, should be the one great ob- 
 ject of every form of worship. In proportion as this is not 
 sought, or as darkness and mystery are directly encouraged, in 
 that proportion superstition and profaneness will creep in, be- 
 cause the ' understanding' will remain ' unfruitful,' and the difier- 
 ent parts of the congregation will be 'as barbarians to each other.' 
 
OFFICE OF THE UNDERSTANDING-. 271 
 
 Secondly, and as a consequence of this, is to be noticed the 
 :great stress laid by the Apostle on practical instruc- 2. instruc- 
 tion as a part of worship. He had rather speak ' five tion a part 
 words with his understanding that he might teach ° ^°^^ ^^' 
 others,' than * ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.' 
 That ^ the Church may receive edifying,' and that his hearers 
 ' may prophesy to edification, to exhortation and comfort,' is 
 his chief desire. The object of prophesying is specially de- 
 scribed as ^ convincing,' 'judging,' and ' making manifest the 
 secrets of the heart,' and its effects are produced directly on the 
 mind and conscience of the hearer. The description indeed re- 
 sembles strongly the results of the teaching of Socrates, whose 
 life, as it represents the most stimulating power ever brought 
 to bear on the human understanding, so also in many respects 
 forcibly illustrates the first spread of the Gospel. ' To him the 
 precept "know thyself," was the holiest of all texts. . . . 
 To preach, to exhort, even to confute particular errors appeared 
 to him useless, so long as the mind lay wrapped up in its habi- 
 tual mist or illusion of wisdom : such mist must be dissipated 
 before any new light could enter. . . . The newly created con- 
 sciousness of ignorance was alike unexpected, painful, and 
 humiliating — a season of doubt and discomfort, yet combined 
 with an internal working and yearning after truth never before 
 experienced.' ^ 
 
 These emphatic declarations are a sanction, not merely of 
 the importance of what is strictly called preaching, and of the 
 •objects which all preaching should have in view, but of educa- 
 tion itself as a part of Christian worship. What was supplied 
 in the Apostolical age by the special gift of prophesying, must 
 now be supplied by all the natural gifts which enable a man to 
 be a wise teacher and counsellor of those around him. The 
 principle has been recognised in the worship of most Churches, 
 from very early times. The ' sermon,' and the ' catechism ' (of 
 which the name is derived from the word used by the Apostle 
 in this very Chapter, Xva koI aWovs KaT7)')(rja(o ^), occupying as 
 they do a prominent place in the services of almost all the 
 Western Churches of Christendom, vindicate by long precedent 
 this important element. It is true that these institutions have 
 often taken a colour from the ritual in which they have been 
 incorporated, rather than given that ritual a colour of their own 
 
 1 Grote, Hist, of Greece, VIII. pp. 603, 608. « xiv. 19. 
 
272 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 They themselves have often become forms, instead of makinor 
 the rest of the service less formal ; have been concerned with 
 abstract propositions, rather than with practical improvement ;, 
 have tended to make the taught dependent on the teacher, in- 
 stead of ^ building him up ' to think and act for himself. In 
 proportion as this has been the case, the Apostle's comparison 
 of the relative value of the gift of tongues and the gift of pro- 
 phesying is no less important than it was at Corinth. A dis- 
 course, a lesson, a series of catechetical questions and answers, 
 though always useful as a witness to the Apostolical principle 
 of edification, may be as completely without effect and without 
 response in the congregation, as the gift of tongues which in 
 the bystanders produced only indifference or astonishment. 
 On the other hand, if these parts of the Christian service are 
 conducted with the power and the insight which the Apostle 
 describes as their true characteristic, the conscience of the 
 hearer responding to the voice of the teacher, the Apostle 
 assures us that God is there in a ' Eeal Presence ^ — these are 
 his very words (ovtcos sctti) — which may indeed exist in other 
 portions of Christian worship, but which is nowhere else so 
 distinctly asserted as in this. 
 
NECESSITY OF ORDER. 
 
 273 
 
 ixov e^et, hiia)(r)v e)(€L, ^ dTroKoiXvijjLV ej^et, yXcjccrav evei 
 ipfjLrjveuav e^ei* irdvTa Trpos OLKoSofJirjv ^yivicrOo}. ^^ 
 
 eire 
 
 yXcocrarj rts XaXet, Kara Svo rj to TrXeicrTOV Tpeis, Kal dvd 
 
 * Add v/xojv. ^ yKwCffav e^et, airoKd\v\pip ex^i. * yeveffdu. 
 
 ^"How is it then, brethren ? when ye come together, each one hath a 
 psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an inter- 
 pretation : let all things be done unto edifying. ^' If any one speak in a 
 tongue, let it be by two or at the most three, and by course, and let one 
 
 The comparison of the two 
 assemblies, one consisting of 
 speakers with tongues, the other 
 of prophets, suggests to the 
 Apostle a general conclusion to 
 the whole discussion on the gifts ; 
 namely, the necessity of preserv- 
 ing order. 
 
 Tt ovv l(TTLv ; * What, then, is 
 the practical result of all this ? ' 
 Compare verse 15. 'The fact 
 is that, whenever you meet for 
 worship, each of you has some 
 gift which he wishes to exercise. 
 One has a song of praise (i/roA- 
 /xov), (see note on 15) ; another 
 has a discourse (StSa^^), (see 
 note on 6) ; another has a reve- 
 lation of the unseen world (aTro- 
 KdX.v\f/Lv), (see the same) ; an- 
 other has a tongue (yXwo-o-av) ; 
 another has an interpretation of 
 tongues' (ep/xiyvetav). 
 
 This was the state of things 
 which had to be corrected. The 
 first general rule which he gives 
 is, TrdvTa TTpos OLKoSo/xrjV yivicrOoi. 
 * Let all these gifts be arranged 
 for the building up and perfect- 
 ing of the whole.' Compare Eph. 
 iv. 11, 12, 13. 
 
 27 He exemplifies this, first, 
 in the case of the tongues 
 (27, 28) ; next, in the case of 
 the prophets (-29-36). 
 
 etT€ should have been followed 
 by €tT€, in verse 29 ; but the 
 construction of the sentence is 
 lost in passing from one thought 
 to the other. The direction for 
 the speakers with tongues is, 
 that they shall not speak in. 
 groups of more than two, or at 
 the most three ; and that of 
 these, only one shall speak at a 
 time. This implies that there 
 had been a danger lest the whole 
 assembly should be engrossed by 
 them, as in verse 23, and also 
 lest all should speak at once. 
 There was to be one interpreter, 
 to prevent the difficulty noticed 
 in verses 13-17, of the assembly 
 not understanding what was said. 
 If there was no one present with 
 the gift of interpretation, then 
 the speaker with tongues was to 
 repress his utterance, and con- 
 tent himself with inward com 
 munion with God. ev iKKk-qa-ia 
 may, however, indicate that he 
 might speak in private, though 
 not in public. The nominative 
 case to o-tyaTO) is (not o ip/nrjvev- 
 T-qSt but) o XaXQiv yXuicrcrrj. Com- 
 pare for this construction Luke 
 XV. 15, possibly Acts vi. 6. 
 
 dva fxepoq, 'in turn.' This 
 may either be, that in each 
 group each shall speak in turn, 
 
274 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XIV. 28—36. 
 
 Kai €19 OLeptxy)V€veT(i) ^^eav 
 
 Sk 
 
 XaXetTft) Kol TO) 0eS, 
 
 /I€p09, ACat €19 Oi€plJir)V€VeTOJ' 
 
 cnydTO) iv iKKkiqcria^ iavTO) Se 
 ''^^TTpo^rai Se hvo rj rpei^ XakeiTcjcrav, /cat ol dWoL Sta- 
 Kpiveroicrav' ^^ idv Se dWco dTroKakv(l)6rj KaOrjfxevo}^ 6 
 TrpoJTOS o-iydro). ^^ SvvacrOe yap Kaff eVa Trdvre^ 7rpo4>y]- 
 reveiv, Lva iravTe'S iiavBdvoicriv koX Trdvre^ TrapaKokcovTaL* 
 ^^ KOL TTvevjxaTa 7rpo(f)r)T(ov it po(f)rjr ai^ vTToracrcreTat * ^^ ov 
 ydp icTTLV dKaTaorTacrCa<; 6 6e6<;, dWd elpTJvrj^. a»s iv Tracratg 
 
 interpret : ~^but if there be not an interpreter, let him keep silence in 
 the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. ^^ Let the prophets 
 speak two or three, and let the others judge: ^^if anything be revealed 
 to another sitting by, let the first be silent. ^^ For one by one ye can all 
 prophesy, that all may learn and all may be comforted : ^^ and the spirits 
 of the prophets are subject to the prophets : ^^for God is not the author 
 
 or that each group shall speak in 
 turn. 
 
 29 He next directs the con- 
 duct of the prophets. They may 
 come, apparently, in any num- 
 bers ; but only two or three are 
 to speak, and the rest are to 
 interpret, or discern the meaning 
 and value of their prophecies. 
 TrpofjiyJTaL, ' prophets,' is the sub- 
 ject of the whole sentence, im- 
 plying that those who had the 
 gift of discernment (StdtKpto-ts) 
 (see note on xii. 10) were in- 
 cluded under the class of pro- 
 phets. 
 
 30 ' If, whilst one of the pro- 
 phets is speaking, another has a 
 revelation to impart, he is to 
 stand up and utter it, and the 
 first speaker is to sit down, and 
 be silent.' It was of more im- 
 portance to catch the first burst 
 of a prophecy, than to listen to 
 the completion of one already 
 begun. 
 
 KaOrjixevio, ' sitting and not 
 speaking.' This implies that 
 the prophets stood whilst they 
 spoke. 
 
 31-32 He justifies this com- 
 
 mand by showing that there was 
 time and room for all to exercise 
 their gift. 
 
 Svvaa-Oe, ' you have it in your 
 power.' 
 
 The stress here, as in verse 
 24, is on Travres, ' aU.' * You 
 can all prophesy, and then every 
 member of the assembly in turn 
 will receive his own proper in- 
 struction and exhortation.' 
 
 32 ' And this is not diflBcult ; 
 the spirits of the several pro- 
 phets are subject to the prophets 
 in whom they reside.' For the 
 same personification, so to speak, 
 of the spiritual gifts, see verse 
 12, tpfjXoyral TrveuyactTwv ; xii. 10, 
 SiaKpL(T€Ls TTvevfidTOiv. Tho ab- 
 sence of the article implies that 
 this control of the prophetic im- 
 pulses by the wills of the pro- 
 phets was an essential part of 
 the prophetic character ; ' Pro- 
 phets' spirits are subject to pro- 
 phets.' This distinguishes these 
 impulses from those of the hea- 
 then pythonesses and sibyls. 
 
 ^;^ ' The reason of this sub- 
 jection is, that God, from whom 
 these gifts proceed, is a God not 
 
NECESSITY OF ORDER. 
 
 275 
 
 Tais eKKKiqcTiai^ to)v ayioiVy ^*ai yvvaiKe<; €V rai? eKKArj- 
 crtat? (TiydToxTav ' ov yap ^ iTTirpeTreTai avraZ^ \akeiv, ak\a 
 
 * VTroTacrcreo'Ocoorav, Ka6cb<s kol 6 vofJLos Xeyei. ^^ ei 8e ri 
 fxaOelv 6ekovcriv^ kv OLKcp Toif^ iStov? avSpas kTrepoirdroicrav ' 
 alcrxpov yap kcrriv yvvaiKi XaXeiv iv iKKkrjcria^ ^^rj d(f> 
 iffxcov 6 \6yo^ Tov Oeov i^rjXOev 77 els vfjuds [jlovovs KaTrjv- 
 
 • Add v^jiuv. ^ iiriTeTpairTai. " vTrordcrcriffOai. ^ yvvai^lv iv iKK\7)cria, KaXeiv, 
 
 of confusion but of peace. ^*As in all the churches of the saints, let the 
 women keep silence in the churches : for it is not permitted unto them 
 to speak ; but let them be under obedience, as also saith the law. ^^And 
 if they desire to learn any thing, let them ask their own husbands at 
 home : for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church. ^^What ! 
 
 of instability and uncertainty, 
 but of peace.' 
 
 o)? iv Trao-atg rat? iKKXrjartaLs 
 Twv ayL(j)v, though in the older 
 texts joined to the preceding, 
 has, since the time of Cajetan, 
 and rightly, been joined to the 
 following, the connexion being 
 the same as in xi. 16. Lach- 
 mann, in his second edition, has 
 further deviated from the com- 
 mon punctuation, by attaching 
 Twv dytwv to at yvvaxKeg, which 
 is rendered possible, though not 
 necessary, by the omission of 
 vfxo)v in A. B. If so, the sense 
 will be, ' As in all the assemblies, 
 let the wives of the saints keep 
 silence in the assemblies.' 
 
 34,35 One particular instance 
 of confusion growing out of the 
 neglect of order in the control 
 of the gifts, was the speaking of 
 women in the assemblies. This 
 custom, like that of appearing 
 unveiled (xi. 3-16), he condemns 
 on the ground that he forbade it 
 in all the assemblies of Christians. 
 The speaking of women was also 
 expressly forbidden in the syna- 
 gogues. (See Wetstein and 
 Lightfoot, ad loc.) 
 
 ' The law.' Gen. iii. 16. Com- 
 pare the same argument in 1 
 Tim. ii. 11-14. 
 
 He anticipates the objection, 
 that possibly the women might 
 wish to ask questions in the 
 assembly, by pointing out that 
 their husbands were their na- 
 tural guides. 
 
 Tovs iStovs, * their own hus- 
 bands.' See on vii. 2. 
 
 These two verses (34, 35) are 
 in D. E. F. G. placed at the end 
 of the chapter. 
 
 36 He concludes with a ge- 
 neral warning of obedience to 
 his authority. Throughout the 
 Epistle there has been an indi- 
 cation of the assumption which 
 the Corinthians made, of taking 
 an independent course, apart 
 from all other Churches, and 
 from the claims of St. Paul him- 
 self ; and therefore he here re- 
 minds them that they were not 
 the first or only Church in the 
 world. Compare on i. 2, iv. 8, 
 ix. 1. ^ 
 
 6 Aoyos TOV Oeov, ' the word of 
 God ; ' in especial reference to 
 the gifts of speaking and pro- 
 phesying. Compare Heb. iv. 12. 
 There is perhaps an allusion to 
 Isa. ii. 3 : 'Out of Zion shall go 
 forth the law, and the word of 
 the Lord from Jerusalem.' 
 
 Kar-^vrqa-ev, ' found its way to 
 you.' See x. 11. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 ilEST EPISTLE : CHAP. XIV. 37—40. 
 
 CTTtyu'oxT/cerft), a ypd(f)0) vfjuv^ on Kvpiov ecmv evToXij.^ 
 ^^€1 8e Tt9 ayvoet, ^ayvoeuTaL. ^^atare, ahekcfyoL [/xov], 
 C;r)\ovTe to 7Tpocl>r}TeveLV, kol to Xakeiv ^ fxr) KOikvere {}.v\ 
 yXwcrcrats* ^^TrdvTa ^hl evcr)(rjii6vco^ kol /cara Toi^LV 
 yivecrdo). 
 
 ' Sri rod Kvpiov elcrlv evrdXal. 
 ' yXdoffcrais fir) KcoKvere. 
 
 ^ ayvodru. 
 ^ Om. 5e. 
 
 went the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? ^'If 
 any one think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge 
 that the things that I write unto you are a commandment of the Lord. 
 *^But if any one know not this, he is not known.* ^^ Wherefore, my 
 brethren, seek zealously to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with 
 tongues: *^but let all things be done with seemliness and in order. 
 
 • Or God knows not him. 
 
 37 €t Tts 8oK€i. * If any one 
 claims to be a prophet, or especi- 
 ally endued with spiritual gifts.' 
 irvevjjiaTLKO's seems here, as in 
 verse 1, to be almost synonymous 
 with XaXwv yXworoT/. For the 
 form, 'If any seem,' compare 
 viii. 2 : ' If any one seems to 
 know anything,' and Gal. ii. 6 : 
 * Those who seem to be some- 
 what' (ot 8oKOVVT€s). 
 
 eTrtytvwo-KeTo) : ' Let him prove 
 his inspiration by recognising, 
 that the words which I write, 
 are no less than commandments 
 of the Lord.' There are many 
 various readings ; ivToXau, ei/- 
 
 ToXrj, KVptOV, 0€OV TOV KVptOV. 
 
 KvpLov kvToXri is in A. B. The 
 analogy of vii. 10 and the word 
 KvpLov naturally imply a precept 
 
 of Christ, that is, either some 
 words now lost to us, or else the 
 general authority of Christ's 
 teaching. 
 
 38 dyvoetrat, A. D. F. G., 'he 
 is ignored by God: God is 
 ignorant of him.' dyvoctVa), B. 
 C. E., ' let him be ignorant.' If 
 the former reading is preferred, 
 then compare viii. 2, 3, xiii. 12 ^ 
 if the latter, it is a contemptuous 
 expression of indifference as to 
 the opinion of such a one, how- 
 ever great his pretensions. 
 
 39, 40 This is the summary of 
 the whole. Verse 39 sums up 
 xiv. 1-25, verse 40 sums up xiv. 
 26-38. 
 
 For t,7]XovT€, see on xii. 31. 
 For €v(rx7]ix6vo)<;, see on xiii. 5. 
 
APOSTOLICAL WOKSHIP. 277 
 
 Paeaphease of Chap. XIV. 26—40. 
 
 Your general state is this: At your assemblies every one comes 
 with some gift which he wishes to exercise. The rule for your 
 guidance must be the building up of the whole society. The 
 speakers with tongues are not to engross the whole assembly, or 
 to speak all at once ; two, or at most three, are to come, and of 
 these each is to speak singly, and none without an interpreter. 
 If prophets come in large numbers, two or three only are to 
 speak, and the rest are to be judges of what they say. Each 
 prophet is to have his opportunity of speaking, that every 
 member of the congregation may receive his proper instruction 
 and consolation. It is essential to the office of a prophet to 
 have the spirit within him under control : for God loves not 
 confusion, but peace. For the salrne reason the women are 
 not to break through their natural subjection by speaking in 
 the assemblies. They are not even to ask questions, except 
 from their husbands, who are their natural guides. 
 
 To these directions you ought not to oppose yourselves on 
 any plea of fancied pre-eminence or exclusiveness. If any 
 one prides himself on his spiritual or prophetical gift, let him 
 prove it by recognising in these words of mine a Divine com- 
 mand ; if he cannot recognise it, he is not recognised by God. 
 The conclusion, therefore, is to aim chiefly at prophecy without 
 discouraging the gift of tongues ; and the great rule is to do 
 everything with order and decency. 
 
 Apostolical Worship. 
 
 It may be important to sum up all that this Epistle, com- 
 bined with other notices, has presented to us on the 
 subject of Christian worship. (I) The Christian of any 
 assemblies of the first period of the Apostolical age, fixed 
 unlike those of later times, appear not to have been °' ®'* 
 necessarily controlled by any fixed order of presiding ministers. 
 We hear, indeed, of ' presbyters,' or ^ elders ' in the Churches 
 
278 • FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 of Asia Minor,^ and of Jerusalem. ^ And in the Church of 
 Thessalonica mention is made of ' rulers ' (TrpoLcrra/jusvovs' 
 vfjbSv) ; ^ and, in the Churches of Galatia, of ^ teachers ' {tS 
 H:aT7)')(^ovvTL).* But no allusion is to be found to the connexion 
 of these ministers or officers, if so they are to be called, with 
 the worship of the Apostolic Church, and the omission of any 
 such is an almost decisive proof that no such connexion was 
 then deemed necessary. Had the Christian society at Corinth 
 been what it was at the time when Clement addressed his 
 Epistle to it, or what that at Ephesus is implied to have been 
 in the Ignatian Epistles, it is almost inevitable that some refer- 
 ence should have been made by the Apostle to the presiding 
 government which was to control the ebullitions of sectarian 
 or fanatical enthusiasm ; that he should have spoken of the 
 presbyters, whose functions were infringed upon by the pro- 
 phets and speakers with tongues, or whose authority would 
 naturally moderate and restrain their excesses. Nothing of 
 the kind is found. The gifts are to be regulated by mutual 
 accommodation, by general considerations of order and useful- 
 ness ; and the only rights, agaiust the violation of which any 
 safeguards are imposed, are those of the congregation, lest ' he 
 that fills the place of the unlearned' (i.e. as we have already 
 seen, ' he that has not the gift of speaking with tongues ') 
 should be debarred from ratifying by his solemn Amen the 
 thanksgiving of the speaker. The gifts are not, indeed, supposed 
 to be equally distributed, but every one is pronounced capable 
 of having some gift, and it is implied as a possibility that ^ all ' 
 may have the gift of prophesying or of speaking with tongues, 
 n. The (II) Through the gifts thus distributed, the 
 
 worship worship was carried on. Four points are specially 
 
 carried on . . -, 
 
 through mentioned: 
 
 the gifts. (1) Prayer, This, from the manner in which it 
 
 1. Prayer, is Spoken of in connexion with the tongues, must 
 have been a free outpouring of individual devotion, and one in 
 which women were accustomed to join, as well as men.^ 
 
 (2) What has been said of prayer may be said also of 
 
 ' Praise ' or ^ Song^ '\\ra\fi6s.^ We may infer from 
 
 °^^' Eph. V. 19, where it is coupled with 'hymns and 
 
 odes ' {v/jLvots Kal whals), that it must have been of the nature 
 
 1 Acts xiv. 23. 
 
 2 Ibid. xi. 30 ; xv. 6, 22, 23. 
 
 3 1 Thess. V. 12. 
 
 4 Gal. vi. 6. 
 
 5 xiv. 13, 14, 15 ; xi. 5. 
 
 xiv. 15, 26. 
 
APOSTOLICAL WOESHIP. 279 
 
 of metre or rhythm, and is thus the first recognition of Chris- 
 tian poetry. The Apocalypse is the nearest exemplification 
 of it in the New Testament. 
 
 (3) Closely connected with this is Thanksgiving, The 
 * song of the understanding ' is especially needed in 3, Thanks- 
 the giving of thanks.^ In this passage we have the giving. 
 earliest intimation of a liturgical form. Although the context 
 even here implies that it must have been a free effusion, yet 
 it is probable that the Apostle is speaking of the Eucharistic 
 thanksgiving for the produce of the earth ; such as was from a 
 very early period incorporated in the great Eucharistic hymn 
 used, with a few modifications, through all the liturgical forms 
 of the later Christian Church. And from this passage we 
 learn that the ' Amen,' or ratification of the whole congrega- 
 tion, afterwards regarded with peculiar solemnity in this part 
 of the service, was deemed essential to the due utterance of the 
 thanksgiving. 
 
 (4) ^ Prophesying,' or ' teaching,' is regarded (not by the 
 Corinthians, but) by the Apostle, as one of the most 4, prophe- 
 important objects of their assemblies. The impulse syi^g- 
 
 to exercise this gift appears to have been so strong as to render 
 it difiicult to be kept under control.^ Women, it would seem 
 from the Apostle's allusion to the practice in xi. 5, and prohi- 
 bition of it in xiv. 34, 35, had felt themselves entitled to speak. 
 The Apostle rests his prohibition on the general ground of 
 the subordination of women to their natural instructors, their 
 husbands. 
 
 (Ill) The Apostolical mode of administering the Eu- 
 charist has already been delineated at the close of m. The 
 Chap. xi. It is enough here to recapitulate its main Eucharist. 
 features. It was part of the chief daily meal, and, as such, 
 usually in the evening ; the bread and wine were brought by 
 the contributors to the meal, and placed on a table ; of this 
 meal each one partook himself ; the bread, in one loaf or many, 
 was placed on the table ; each loaf or cake was then broken into 
 parts ; the wine was given at the conclusion of the meal ; a 
 hymn of thanksgiving was offered by one of the congregation, 
 to which the rest responded with the solemn word, ^ Amen.' 
 
 These points are all that we can clearly discern in the 
 worship of Apostolic times, with the addition, perhaps, of the 
 
 1 xiv. 16. 2 xiv. 32. 
 
280 . FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 fact mentioned in Acts xx. 1 , and confirmed by 1 Cor. xvi. 2, 
 that the first day of the week was specially devoted to their 
 meetings. 
 
 The total dissimilarity between the outward aspects of this 
 Eflfects of worship and of any which now exists, is the first 
 this state impression which this summary leaves on the mind. 
 
 of the T» . , 1 • . • • T 11 
 
 ^arly -t>ut this nnpression is relieved by various important 
 
 Church. considerations. First, when we consider the state of 
 the Apostolic Church as described in the Acts and in this 
 Epistle, it is evident that in outward circumstances it never 
 I. No could be a pattern for future times. The fervour of 
 
 forms of tjjg individuals who constituted the communities, the 
 obliga- smallness of the communities themselves, the variety 
 tion. and power of the gifts, the expectation of the near 
 
 approach of the end of the world, must have prevented the 
 perpetuation of the Apostolic forms. But if Christianity be, 
 as almost every precept of its Founder and of its chief Apostle 
 presumes it to be, a religion of the Spirit, and not of the 
 letter, then this very peculiarity is one of the most character- 
 istic privileges. No existing form of worship can lay claim 
 to universal and eternal obligation, as directly traceable to 
 Apostolic times. The impossibility of perpetuating the pri- 
 mitive forms is the best guarantee for future freedom and 
 progress. Few as are the rules of worship prescribed in the 
 Koran, yet the inconvenience which they present, when trans- 
 planted into other than Oriental regions, shows the importance 
 of the omission of such in the New Testament. 
 
 But, secondly, there are in the forms themselves, and in 
 p . . the spirit in which the Apostle handles them, prin- 
 ples laid ciples important for the guidance of Christian worship 
 down. jn all times. Some of these have been already indi- 
 cated. In this last concluding Section, the whole of this 
 advice is summed up in two simple rules : — 
 
 ' Let all things be done unto edifying,' and ^ let all things 
 be done decently and in order.' 
 
 ^ Let all things be done unto edifying,'' ^ 
 
 ' Edifying ' {oLKoBojjLr}) has, as already noticed in xiv. 3, the 
 
 peculiar sense both of building up from first prin- 
 
 thingsbe ciplcs to their practical application, and of fitting 
 
 done unto each member of the society into the proper place 
 
 edifying.' ^j^^^^j^ ^^^ growth and rise of the whole building 
 
 1 xiv. 5, 12, 17. 
 
APOSTOLICAL WOKSHIP. 281 
 
 require. It is ^ development/ not only in the sense of un- 
 folding new truth, but of unfolding all the resources contained 
 in the existing institution or body. Hence the stress laid on 
 the excellence of ' prophesying,' as the special gift by which 
 men were led to know themselves (as in xiv. 24, 25, ' the 
 secrets of their hearts being made manifest'), and by which (as 
 through the prophets of the older dispensations) higher and 
 more spiritual views of life were gradually revealed. Hence 
 the repeated injunctions that all the gifts should have their 
 proper honour ; ^ that those gifts should be most honoured by 
 which not a few, but all, should benefit ; ^ that all who had the 
 gift of prophecy should have the opportunity of exercising 
 that gift ; ^ that all might have an equal chance of instruction 
 and comfort for their own special cases. 
 
 ' Let all things be done decently and in order,'' * 
 ' Decently ' {svaxvi^ovays) ; that is, so as not to interrupt 
 the gravity and dignity of the assemblies. ' In 2 « j)^. 
 order' (Kara tcl^iv) ; that is, not by hazard or im- centlyand 
 pulse, but by design and arrangement. The idea is ^° order.' 
 not so much of any beauty or succession of parts in the 
 worship, as of that calm and simple majesty which in the 
 ancient world, whether Pagan or Jewish, seems to have 
 -characterised all solemn assemblies, civil or ecclesiastical, as 
 distinct from the frantic or enthusiastic ceremonies which ac- 
 companied illicit or extravagant communities. The Roman 
 Senate, the Athenian Areopagus, were examples of the former, 
 as the wild Bacchanalian or Phrygian orgies were of the 
 latter. Hence the Apostle has condemned the discontinuance 
 of the veil,^ the speaking of women,^ the indiscriminate ban- 
 queting,^ the interruption of the prophets by each other.® 
 * The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets,' is a principle 
 of universal application, and condemns every impulse of re- 
 ligious zeal or feeling which is not strictly under the control 
 of those who display it. A world of fanaticism is exploded 
 by this simple axiom ; and to those who have witnessed the 
 religious frenzy which attaches itself to the various forms of 
 Eastern worship, this advice of the Apostle, himself of Eastern 
 origin, will appear the more remarkable. The wild gambols 
 
 1 xii. 20-30. 
 
 2 xiv. 1-23. 
 
 3 xiv. 29-31. 
 
 4 xiv. 40. 
 
 5 ix. 1-16. 
 
 6 xiv. 34. 
 
 7 xi. 16-34. 
 
 « xiv. 30-32. 
 
282 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 yearly celebrated at Easter by the adherents of the Greek 
 Church round the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, 
 show what Eastern Christianity may become ; ^ they are living 
 proofs of the need and the wisdom of the Apostolical precept. 
 To examine how far these two regulations have actually 
 affected the subsequent worship and ritual of Christianity, to 
 measure each Christian liturgy and form of worship by one or 
 other of these two rules, would be an instructive task. But it 
 is sufficient here to notice that on these two points the Apostle 
 throws the whole weight of his authority ; these two, and 
 these only, are the Rubrics of the Primitive Church. 
 
 'Sinai and Palestine,' Ed. iv. 465-471. 
 
THE EESUKKECTION OF THE DEAD. 28 ^ 
 
 Chap. XV. 1—58. 
 
 There does not appear to be any connexion between this and 
 the preceding Chapters. Both the importance and the pe- 
 culiar nature of the subject here discussed, would naturally 
 occasion its reservation for the last place of the ^^ j^^ ^q_ 
 Epistle. The other questions had touched only the niers of 
 outskirts of the Christian faith ; this seemed to reach the Eesur- 
 its very foundation. It is evident from the expression 
 in the 12th verse (^How say some among you?'), that the 
 Apostle is combating some teachers in the Corinthian Church, 
 who denied, as it would seem, not the Resurrection of Christ,, 
 but the Resurrection of the dead generally. 
 
 Of this tendency in the Jewish section of the Church,, 
 occasioned apparently by the Oriental, .or, as it was ^^^ q^^_ 
 afterwards called. Gnostic abhorrence of matter, we entai or 
 have a specimen in the teaching of Hymenaeus and J^^^^h, 
 Philetus, who said that ' the Resurrection was already past ; ' * 
 evidently meaning thereby, that there was no resurrection, 
 except in the moral conversion of man. But of any oppo- 
 sition to this tendency there is no trace in the Apostle's argu- 
 ment; and the particular aspect of Judaism exhibited by 
 HymenjBus and Philetus belongs to a later period. It seems,, 
 therefore, more natural to identify the Corinthian teachers 
 with the Epicurean deniers of the Resurrection, such ^^^ ^ ._ 
 as the Sadducees in Judsea,^ and in the very Church curean and 
 of Achaia to which this Epistle ^ was addressed, the ^r®^^- 
 Athenian cavillers, who ^mocked when they heard of the 
 resurrection of the dead.''* With this agree not only the 
 general circumstances of time and place, but also the particular 
 allusions to them; not as corrupting, but as contradicting, the 
 received teaching of the Apostle ; as resting their objections 
 to it, not on any refined notion of matter, but on its philo- 
 sophical difficulties ; ^ combining pretensions to knowledge with 
 laxity of morals.^ 
 
 It is a remarkable instance of the great latitude which 
 
 1 2 Tim. ii. 17, 18. 
 
 2 Matt. xxii. 23. 
 
 * See notes on i. 1. 
 
 ^ Acts xvii. 18, 32. 
 
 5 XV. 35. 
 
 6 xy. 33, 34. 
 
284 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 prevailed in the Corinthian Church, that these impugners of 
 Not ex- *^^ Resurrection remained within the Christian se- 
 cluded ciety ; and that their position was not deemed, either 
 ChSch.^ by themselves or the Apostle, as necessarily incom- 
 patible with the outward profession of Christianity. 
 Still, to the Apostle's mind, the Resurrection of the dead was 
 a matter of no secondary importance. If we may take the 
 The Apo- account in the Acts as a just illustration of the lan- 
 stle's view guage of his Epistles, we find him declaring that it 
 
 surr^Itfon". ^^^ *^® ^^^^^ *^^*^ ^^^^ ^^ preached, and for 
 which he suffered ; ^ and in the Epistles themselves, 
 although nowhere so fully set forth as in this Chapter, it is 
 always assumed as the great end of the believer's hope.^ It 
 is the one doctrine which Saul the Pharisee transfers to Paul 
 the Apostle. In the Acts he represents himself to be the 
 Pharisaic victim of a Sadducee persecution. It is the link 
 between his past and present life. It is the same promise to 
 which, before his conversion, with the rest of the twelve 
 tribes, instantly serving God day and night, he had hoped to 
 come.^ 
 
 The same, but yet how different ! He now no longer 
 dwelt on the elaborate exhibition of the future life, as decked 
 out with all the figures of Rabbinical rhetoric. There was 
 now a nearer and dearer object in the unseen world, which 
 threw into the shade all meaner imaginations concerning it, 
 all lower arguments in behalf of its existence. That object 
 was Christ. He was a believer writing to believers; and 
 therefore the one fact which he adduces to convince and to 
 warn his readers, is the fact of the Resurrection of Christ. 
 And this may account for his toleration of those whom he is 
 here opposing. Though differing from him in the hope of 
 their own resurrection, he felt that, in their belief in Christ 
 and Christ's Resurrection, they were united with him. In 
 this great agreement he overlooked even their great difference 
 — their common love and faith in Christ brought him nearer 
 to them, though doubting the Resurrection of the dead, than 
 to the Jewish Pharisees, who, though believing it, had no 
 sympathy with his love of Christ. 
 
 ^ Acts xxiii. 6, xxiv. 15, 25, 
 xxvi. 8. 
 
 2 See Rom. vi. 8, viii. 11 ; 2 Cor. 
 
 V. 10 ; 1 Thesa. iv. 14. 
 ^ Acts xxvi. 7. 
 
EESUEKECTION OF CHEIST. 
 
 285 
 
 XV. ^Tvoipitfii 8e v/xtz/, aSekcfioC, to evayyikiov o evrjy- 
 yekLo-dfJLTjv vfuv, o kol Tra/oeXa^ere, ev w kol ecrrT/zcare, ^Sl 
 ov KOL (T(o^ecr0€y TLVL Xoycp evrfyyekLcrdfJirjv vfuv, el fcarc- 
 
 * Now, brethren, I would have you know the Gospel which I preached 
 unto you, which also ye received, and wherein ye stand, ^by which also 
 ye are saved, if ye keep in memory with what word I preached the Gospel 
 
 iiS6^ 
 
 pel 
 
 XV. I TviopL^oi. In all the pas- 
 sages where this is used 
 in the earlier Epistles 
 (1 Cor. xii. 3; 2 Cor. viii. 1; 
 Gal. i. 11), it has the signification 
 of ' remind,' ' call to your atten- 
 tion.' In the later Epistles 
 (Eph. vi. 21 ; Col. iv. 7 ; 2 Pet. i. 
 16), and in all the passages 
 where it occurs in the passive 
 voice (including Romans xvi. 
 26), it has the signification of 
 * discover.' 
 
 'The Gospel' (to euayyiXtov) 
 is not necessarily limited 
 TheGos- ^o ^i^e historical facts 
 of the death and the 
 resurrection of Christ, as stated 
 in the ensuing verses. In Gal. i. 
 11, and probably in Romans i. 
 16, X. 16, xi. 28, it is used for the 
 announcement of the universality 
 of the Gospel, in which sense he 
 speaks of it occasionally as ' my 
 Gospel ' (to cvayyeXtov fJiov), Rom. 
 ii. 16, xvi. 25, Still the histori- 
 cal meaning of the word is al- 
 ways implied, and is here pre- 
 dominant. 
 
 2 The repetition of kol is 
 partly to make a stronger asser- 
 tion — ' which m fact you re- 
 ceived ' (see Thucyd. vi. 64), 
 partly to express the successive 
 stages of the climax : ' It is not 
 only the glad tidings which you 
 received from me (TrapeXa/Jerc, as 
 in verse 3, corresponding to ira- 
 
 peSuiKo), as an historical fact; 
 but it is also that on which you 
 take your immovable stand (see 
 Rom. V. 2 ; 2 Cor. i. 24) ; and 
 not only so, but also the means 
 by which you are to be saved at 
 the last.' For this sense of o-w- 
 ^ea-Oc compare Acts ii. 47 ; 1 Cor. 
 i. 18 ; 2 Cor. ii. 15. 
 
 In English it would be ex- 
 pressed by the repetition of the 
 antecedent : ' that Gospel which 
 you received, that Gospel on 
 which you stand, that Gospel 
 through which you are saved.' 
 
 TLVL A.oya) evrjyyeXiord/JLTjv vfuVy 
 €t KaT€X€T€. lu tlicso words there 
 is a mixture of two constructions. 
 The first part, tlvl . . . eorjyycXi- 
 a-diJirjv, is intended to modify the 
 harshness of the expression yvw- 
 pL^d) TO evayyikiov : * I remind 
 you of the Gospel, i.e. of the way 
 in which I preached it.' The 
 phrase tlvl Xoyw is the same kind 
 of redundancy as in the expres- 
 sions Adyos crocf>LaSy A,dyos yvw- 
 o-€(05 (xii. 8), 6 Xdyo5 tov CTavpov 
 (i. 18), and merely calls atten- 
 tion to the manner, as distinct 
 from the subject, of his preach- 
 ing, i.e. to the fact that he had 
 first of all preached to them 
 the Death and Resurrection of 
 Christ. 
 
 €t KaTc^cTe depends partly on 
 evTjyycXLo-dixrjv, * this was the way 
 I preached to you, if you remem- 
 
^86 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 3—5. 
 
 ;(€T€, I/CT09 el fxr) e'iKy €7ricrTeucraTe. ^irapeScoKa yap vfjuv 
 kv TTpcjTOLS o Koi TTapiXa^ov^ on ^lctto^ airedavev virep 
 
 unto you, unless ye believed in vain. ^ For I delivered unto you first of 
 all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according 
 
 bar it,' partly on crw^co-^c, ' you 
 are saved if you hold it fast,' 
 affording another instance of the 
 Apostle's manner of throwing 
 back an important word out of 
 its natural place to the end of the 
 sentence. See on viii. 11. 
 
 e/CTos €1 fti) iiK-fj €7rt(rT€vcraT€, 
 * and you do hold it fast, if your 
 conversion is to have its proper 
 fruits.' 
 
 eTTto-TcvcaTe, ' received the faith 
 at your conversion.' Comp. Rom. 
 xiii. 11. 
 
 eKTos el fXTj is a pleonasm, as 
 in xiv. 5. For this sense of ct/cVy, 
 see Rom. xiii. 4, and especially 
 Oal. iii. 4, iv. 11. 
 
 3 ' You remember hoiv I 
 preached the Gospel, for it was 
 thus ; in the first place to declare,^ 
 &G. : yap connects iv Trp^roi'S 
 with TiVt Xoyo), but also perhaps 
 expresses the connexion of the 
 whole sentence, ' You remember 
 all this, for this was my course.' 
 For the sense of irapehoiKa and 
 wapiXaftov, compare their similar 
 use in xi. 23. 
 
 ' That Christ died for our sins.' 
 He begins the account 
 ^^fj°f of his ' Gospel ' not 
 with the birth or in- 
 fancy of Christ, but with His 
 death. This may result merely 
 from the fact that the Resurrec- 
 tion is the point to which he calls 
 attention, and that therefore he 
 does not go further back in the 
 history than the event out of 
 which, so to say, the Resurrec- 
 tion originated. But the lan- 
 guage rather leads us to infer that 
 the statement of the death occurs 
 
 first, because it was actually the 
 first point in the Apostle's mode 
 of teaching, thus confirming his 
 declaration in i. 18, 23, ii. 2, 
 that the Crucifixion was the 
 great subject of his first preach- 
 ing at Corinth. And this also 
 agrees with the general strain of 
 the Epistles, in which the Death 
 and Resurrection are the main 
 points insisted upon, as in Rom. 
 iv. 25 ; Eph. i. 7-23 ; Col, i. 14- 
 23 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
 ' For our sins,' i.e. not merely 
 ' in our behalf,' which would have 
 been vvep t^/awv, as in Rom. v. 8 ; 
 nor 'in our place,' which would 
 have been avrl -^/xwv, but ' as an 
 offering in consequence of our 
 sins,' ' to deliver us from our 
 sins.' For the general sense of 
 vTTcp in this connexion, see on 2 
 Cor. V. 15. (Compare for the 
 meaning 8ta to, irapain jj/xara, in 
 Rom. iv. 25, and Trept tcov apuap- 
 Ttwv T7/x-(ov, in Gal. i. 4, and 1 Pet. 
 iii. 18 ; also Heb. x. 6, 8, 18, 26, 
 xiii. 11.) 
 
 * According to the Scriptures.* 
 That great stress was .according 
 laid on the conformity to the 
 of our Lord's death to ^"p'^"''^^- 
 the ancient Scriptures, appears 
 from the frequent references to 
 them, especially in the writings 
 of St. Luke. Thus xxiv. 25-27 : 
 ' fools, and slow of heart to 
 believe all that the prophets have 
 spoken . . . and beginning at 
 Moses and all the prophets, He ex- 
 pounded unto them in all the 
 Scriptures the things concerning 
 Himself.' Also xxiv. 44-46 : 
 ' All things must be fulfilled, 
 
EESURRECTION OF CHEIST. 
 
 287 
 
 T(t)V dfJiapTLcov Tjfjicjv Kara ra? ypa(j)ds, ^ kol otl Ira^yy, kol 
 OTL kyrjyepTaL Trj rjfJidpa rfj rpiTrj^ Kara tols ypa(f)ds., ^ kol 
 
 * T17 rpirri v/xepa. 
 
 to the Scriptures, *and that He was buried, and that He has been raised 
 the third day according to the Scriptures, ^and that He was seen by 
 
 which were written in the law of 
 Moses and in the prophets and in 
 the Psalms concerning me. Then 
 opened he their understanding 
 that they might understand the 
 Scriptures : ' and xxii. 37 : ' This 
 that is written must yet be accom- 
 plished in me : for the things con- 
 cerning me have an end.' Acts 
 iii. 35 : * Then Philip began at 
 the same Scripture.^ It is evi- 
 dent from the general tenor of 
 these passages, that the * Scrip- 
 tures ' alluded to are chiefly the 
 prophets ; and from the two last- 
 quoted that the prophecy chiefly 
 meant is Isa. liii. 5-10. Com- 
 pare the quotation in 1 Pet. ii. 24. 
 In the next clause the second 
 introduction of the words, 'ac- 
 cording to the Scriptures,' refers 
 equally to the Burial and the 
 Resurrection, and perhaps ex- 
 plains the connexion of the Burial 
 (not as in the present creeds with 
 the Death, but) with the Resur- 
 rection. The passages referred 
 to are such as Ps. ii. 7 ; Isa. Iv. 
 S (in Acts xiii. 33-35) ; and 
 (in allusion to the third day) 
 Hosea vi. 2 ; but specially Ps. 
 xvi. 10 : * Thou shalt not leave 
 my soul in hell, neither shalt 
 thou sufier thine Holy One to 
 -see corruption,' as in Acts ii. 
 25-31, xiii. 35-37, where the 
 same contrast is drawn between 
 the grave and the deliverance 
 from it. The mention of the 
 Burial in this very brief summary 
 of facts agrees with the emphatic 
 account of it in every one of the 
 
 four Gospels, there, as here, in 
 connexion with the Resurrection. 
 So 1 Pet. iii. 18, 19. 
 
 The force of the perfect iy-q- 
 ycprai seems to be * has been 
 raised and is alive.' See on 
 verse 12. 
 
 4 The details of the Resurrec- 
 tion which follow, are probably 
 introduced, not as actually form- 
 ing parts of that which the 
 Apostle taught ' first of all ' (cv 
 irpdiToi'i), but in confirmation of 
 it, for the special object which 
 he now had in view ; and ac- 
 cordingly in the next sentence 
 the construction is no longer de- 
 pendent on 7rape8(i)Ka or irapi- 
 Xa^ov. 
 
 5 locjiOy) is the word used for 
 these appearances in 
 
 St. Paul (here and in after th^^^ 
 verses 6, 7, and 8, and Res»n-ec- 
 1 Tim. iii. 15), in St. "" '' 
 Luke (xxiv. 34, w</)^r7 !St/xwvt), 
 and in the Acts (ii. 3, ix, 17, xiii. 
 31, xxvi. 16), and is the phrase 
 usually employed elsewhere for 
 supernatural appearances as of 
 angels (Luke i. 11, xxii. 43), of 
 Moses and Elijah (Matt. xvii. 3 ; 
 Mark ix. 4 ; Luke ix. 31), or of 
 God (Acts vii. 2, 26, 30, 35). 
 In the other Gospels (Mark xvi. 
 9, 12, 14 ; John xxi. 1, 14) the 
 appearances after the Resurrec- 
 tion are expressed by icfidvrj, icfja- 
 vepcticreVy and ecfiavepioOrj. 
 
 The appearance to Peter is 
 nowhere directly men- 
 tioned in the Gospels, ° ^ ^' 
 but is implied in the exclama- 
 
288 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 6, 7. 
 
 OTL co^Of) Kr)(f)a, elra rot? 8wSeK:a. ^ iireira a>(f)0r} kirdvop 
 
 ■ 7r\efous. 
 
 Kephas, then by the twelve, ^After that He was seen by above five 
 hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this 
 
 tion of the Apostles on the return 
 of the disciples from Emmaus, 
 *the Lord is risen indeed, and 
 hath appeared to Simon ' (Luke 
 xxiv. 34). The prominence thus 
 given to Peter, agrees with that 
 assigned to him generally in the 
 Gospel narrative. For the name 
 ' Kephas,' see note on ix. 5. 
 
 The appearance to ' the Twelve ' 
 naturally coincides with 
 Twelve- ^^® appearance to the 
 ten Apostles, on the 
 evening of the day of the Resur- 
 rection, recorded in Luke xxiv. 
 36 ; John XX. 19. ol SwBeKa is 
 merely the expression to desig- 
 nate the college of Apostles, like 
 'duumviri,' or 'decemviri,' in 
 Latin. Judas certainly was ab- 
 sent, if not Thomas. 
 
 6 Thus far the appearances 
 would seem to be given in 
 order of time, and so probably 
 throughout, as indicated in the 
 expression, ' last of all ' (ecTxaror), 
 in verse 8, although the classical 
 precision of Trpwrov, Sevrepov, cTra, 
 K. T. A. is lost in the mere alter- 
 nation of cTTctra and ctra. 
 
 The only appeai-ance of the 
 Gospel narratives which 
 hundred^ ^^^ ^® identified with 
 this to the 500, is that 
 to the disciples in Galilee, Matt. 
 xxviii. 16, 17, 18, where from the 
 expression 'but some doubted,' 
 it has been sometimes argued that 
 there must have been others pre- 
 sent besides the eleven Apostles, 
 who alone are expressly men- 
 tioned. The number of those belie- 
 
 vers to whom our Lord is here said 
 to have appeared far exceeds the 
 sum total of believers (120) men- 
 tioned in Acts i. 15, as assembled 
 in Jerusalem after the Ascension. 
 If it were the meeting in Gali- 
 lee, the larger number might 
 perhaps be accounted for by the 
 effect of our Lord's teaching as 
 still preserved in the scene of His 
 original ministrations. If, as is 
 perhaps implied by the order in 
 which it occurs, it were some 
 meeting at Jerusalem not men- 
 tioned in the Gospels, then we 
 must suppose that the numbers 
 were swelled by Galilean or other 
 disciples, not yet dispersed after 
 the concourse of the Passover. 
 
 For €7rdv(ji TrevTaKOCTLOLSy instead 
 of €7rav(o -^j compare TrpaOrjvai 
 eTrdvix) SrjvapLwv TpiaKoa-imv, Mark 
 xiv. 5, and Ex. xxx. 14, xxxix. 
 3. (LXX.) diro (.iKoaaeroxxs kol 
 kirdvoi. Chrysostom says that 
 some in his time took eTrdvoi to 
 be, ' in the sky,' or ' on a hill.' 
 
 itfidTrai may be, either ' once,' 
 i.e. ' on one occasion, but on one 
 occasion only ; ' or ' at once,' i.e. 
 'to the whole number, not at 
 different times, but at the same 
 time.' The first will agree best 
 with the usual meaning of the 
 word, the second with the con- 
 text. 
 
 ot TrXciove?, ' the majority.' 
 
 ficvovcTL, ' continue alive.' For 
 a similar use of the word /xevw, 
 comp. John xxi. 22, 23. The sur- 
 vivors are mentioned as so many 
 living witnesses of the event 
 
EESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 289 
 
 » Add Kal. 
 present, but some are fallen asleep. '^ After that, He was seen by James, 
 
 which had taken place between 
 twenty and thirty years ago. By 
 speaking of those who had died 
 in the interval, he may perhaps 
 imply that, if there were no Re- 
 surrection (comp. 1 Thess. iv. 15), 
 there would then be, as it were, 
 a special injustice done to those, 
 few as they might be, who had 
 been tantalised by the glimpse of 
 another world in the vision of 
 their risen Lord, without the hope 
 of sharing in it themselves. To 
 them would apply almost literally 
 the words, ' Then they also 
 which have fallen asleep in 
 Christ have perished ' (verse 18). 
 For iKOLfirjOr](rav, compare vii. 39, 
 xi. 30. 
 
 7 The appearance to James is 
 elsewhere only men- 
 ' tioned in the 'Gospel 
 of the Hebrews : ' * But the Lord, 
 when He had given the linen gar- 
 ment to the servant of the high 
 priest [this apparently alludes in 
 some manner to the story in Mark 
 xiv. 51], went to James and ap- 
 peared to him. For James had 
 sworn that he would not eat bread 
 from that hour in which he had 
 drunk the cup of the Lord, until 
 he should see Him risen (resur- 
 gentem) from the dead. "Bring," 
 said the Lord, "a table and 
 bread ; " he brought a table and 
 bread, and He blessed it, and 
 broke it, and gave it to James the 
 Just, and said to him, " My bro- 
 ther, eat thy bread because the 
 Son of man is risen from the 
 dead " ' (Hieron. Catal. Scriptor. 
 in Jacob.). 
 
 The vow of James in this pas- 
 sage is founded apparently on our 
 
 Lord's speech in Matt. xxvi. 29 
 (' I will not drink of the fruit of 
 the vine, until that day when I 
 drink it new with you in my 
 Father's kingdom ') ; and agrees 
 with the ascetic traits ascribed 
 to James (Eus. H. E. ii. 23). 
 The whole story coincides with 
 the assertion (John vii. 5) that 
 'His brethren believed not in 
 Him.' On the other hand, it 
 would be difficult to reconcile the 
 immediateness of the appearance, 
 as implied in this narrative, with 
 the order in which it is here re- 
 lated, not amongst the first, but 
 amongst the last of the appear- 
 ances ; an arrangement which 
 agrees better with the tradition in 
 Eusebius, that the appearance to 
 James was a year after the re- 
 surrection. The same argument 
 also tells against a recent, and 
 not improbable conjecture, that 
 if Cleopas, in Luke xxiv. 18, is 
 Alphseus, his companion may 
 have been his son James; and 
 that thus the appearance at Em- 
 maus may have been the one here 
 spoken of. 
 
 The only special appearances 
 here recorded are those to the 
 two chief Jewish Apostles, Peter 
 and James, who are also singled 
 out from the rest in Gal. i. 18, 
 19, ii. 9, 11, 12, and, by implica- 
 tion, in 1 Cor. ix. 5, and in this 
 case, each is introduced as usher- 
 ing in an appearance to the 
 Apostles collectively. 
 
 The appearance to ' all the 
 Apostles ' may be iden- 
 tified with that in John ^^^^H^. 
 XX. 26 ; in Matt, xxviii. 
 
290 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 8—10. 
 
 *IaKco/3cp, cTra rot? aTTOcrroXot? Tracriv. ^ecr^arov Se iravToyv 
 oicnrepei rco e/crpw/iart co^Ot) KajioL. ^ eyco yap elyn 6 
 
 then by all the apostles. ^But last of all — as by one born out of due 
 
 16; or in Acts i. 4; the last is 
 most probable. 
 
 The word Tracrtv is added : 
 
 (1) To indicate an appearance 
 to the Apostles, not singly but 
 collectively, like i<f>d7ra$ in verse 
 6 ; or (2) To mark the contrast 
 of the appearance to James. 
 ' First to James, then not only to 
 James, but to all,' in which case 
 it would be an argument in fa- 
 vour of the identity of James of 
 Jerusalem with James the son of 
 Alphseus. 
 
 The first is most in accordance 
 with the position of the words, 
 which, in case the second inter- 
 pretation were right, would in 
 classical Greek be tol<s Tracriv or 
 Tots aXXot? aTTOO-ToXot?, But the 
 order of the sentence, especially 
 as regards the last word, is so 
 frequently disturbed in this Epi- 
 stle (see note on viii. 11), that on 
 the whole the latter interpreta- 
 tion may be preferred as best 
 agreeing with the sense. The 
 variation of phrases in St. Paul 
 is so frequent that no stress can 
 be laid on the distinction between 
 Tot9 ScoSeKtt in ver. 5, and rot? 
 aTToo-ToXots here. 
 
 T(3 eKTpw/iart is probably 'the 
 untimely offspring,' as in Job iii. 
 6, 16 ; Eccles. vi. 2. (LXX.) ; 
 the Apostle calling himself so, 
 partly in allusion to the abrupt- 
 ness of his conversion, partly to 
 his inferiority to the other Apo- 
 stles as explained in the next 
 verse, ' the least of the apostles, 
 who am not meet to be called an 
 apostle.' The corresponding word 
 dbortivm, in Latin, was meta- 
 
 phorically applied, as here, to 
 such senators as were appointed 
 irregularly (Suet. Oct. c. 35, 2). 
 The word itself is of Macedonian 
 Greek, and corresponds to the 
 Attic a/jL^Xw/jia. The article is 
 prefixed, as referring to the ge- 
 neral fact of abortions. Theo- 
 phylact says that some in his 
 time took it to be ' the last child ' 
 {v(TT€pov yewrjfjLa) ; a meaning 
 which would suit the contrast 
 equally, but can hardly be ac- 
 cepted without more authority. 
 
 uxfiOyj Ka/xoi. The word here 
 applied to the appearance of our 
 Lord to St. Paul, is the ^^^ ^^ 
 same as that used in the st. Paul 
 indirect allusions to it '^''^• 
 in the Acts (ix. 17, xxvi. 16), 
 and agrees with St. Paul's own 
 expression in ix. 1 : ' Have I not 
 seen {ovk cw/oa/ca ;) the Lord 
 Jesus ? ' In both these passages 
 he must refer chiefly, if not ex- 
 clusively, to the vision on the 
 road to Damascus (Acts ix. 1). 
 Here, as in many other instances, 
 the account in the Acts under- 
 states what the Apostle says of 
 himself. Nothing is there given, 
 except the dazzling light and the 
 voice. Whether, however, it is 
 that the Apostle conceives the 
 whole scene as making up the 
 impression here described, or 
 whether he speaks of some distinct 
 appearance not expressed in the 
 narrative in the Acts, it is evident 
 that both here and in ix. 1, he 
 considers himself to be a witness 
 of the Resurrection, as truly as 
 the other Apostles ; though long 
 afterwards, as is implied by the 
 
EESUEEECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 291 
 
 iXa^tcrro? to)v olttocttoXcov, 09 ovk elfXL uKavos KakeLcrOai 
 aTrdcTToXog, StdrtlSt&ifa Tr)v eKKXr)aCav tov 6eov* ^^^dpni 
 
 time, — He was seen by me also. ^For J am the least of the apostles, 
 that am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church 
 of God: ^°but by the grace of God I am what 1 am: and His grace which 
 
 words, ' to one born out of due 
 time.' The only other direct 
 allusion which his Epistles con- 
 tain to the fact, in Gal. i. 16, 
 * God was pleased to reveal His 
 Son in me ' (d7roKa\vx{/ai iv i/xoL), 
 implies an inward rather than 
 an outward vision. 
 
 9 The greatness of the vision 
 awakens in him the thought of 
 his own unworthiness, and there- 
 fore, instead of proceeding at 
 once to the result of his mission, 
 he dwells for a moment on the 
 humiliating circumstances which 
 distinguished it from the call of 
 the other Apostles. ' I say " to 
 one born out of due time," and 
 "last of all," for I (iyui yap), 
 whatever may be the case with 
 them, am the least of the 
 Apostles.' The ground of this 
 keen self-reproach was the fact, 
 naturally recalled to him by the 
 circumstances of his conversion, 
 that he had ' persecuted the 
 Church of God.' The expression 
 ' persecute ' (StwKco), or * perse- 
 cute the Church of God,' seems 
 to be appropriated in an especial 
 manner to St. Paul. It is used 
 by himself of this act, in Gal. i. 
 13, 23 ; 1 Tim. i. 13 ; and in the 
 Acts ix. 4, 5, xxvi. 11 ; the last 
 passage (iStwKov cw? Kal ci? ras 
 €^(1) TToAct?) indicating the pe- 
 culiar appropriateness of the 
 word in his case, from its original 
 sense of ' pursuing.' The ex- 
 pression ' the Church of God ' is 
 used for the sake of greater 
 solemnity, perhaps also to mark 
 
 more strongly his sense (as in 
 Gal. i. 13), that the Christian 
 society which he persecuted had 
 superseded the ancient Church 
 in the name of which he perse- 
 cuted. 
 
 iKttvo?, 'fit,' see 2 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
 A like digression, occasioned 
 by the mention of his mission, is 
 found in Eph. iii. 8, where the 
 expression 'the least of the 
 apostles ' is carried out into the 
 still stronger expression 'less 
 than the least of all the saints ' 
 (€\a)^i(TTOT€pio TrdvTOiv Ttoi/ dyiuiv). 
 Another is' 1 Tim. i. 12-16, 
 where, as here, there is the al- 
 lusion to his persecution of the 
 Church, — ' who before was a 
 blasphemer and persecutor (8t- 
 wK-nys) and injurious ; ' with 
 still more vehement expressions 
 of self-abasement — ' sinners, of 
 whom I am chief.' In all these 
 three passages the contrast be- 
 tween his present and his pa'^t 
 life is naturally connected with 
 the goodness of God by which 
 the change was effected. In this 
 passage the thought is coloured 
 by the historical character of the 
 Epistle. He here expresses his 
 sense, not only of what he had 
 been, but of what he actually felt 
 himself now to be. ' By the 
 grace of God I am what I am.' 
 And the force of this is explained 
 by what follows. ' And His 
 grace was not in vain ; yea, I 
 toiled more abundantly than 
 they all.' It is a correction of 
 his strong expressions ; a protest 
 
 V 2 
 
292 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 11. 
 
 8e 0€ov elfJbl 6 eljJLL, kol t) X'^P^^ avrov r) eU e/Ae ov Kevr) 
 iyevTJOr)^ dXka TrepicrcroTepov avTcop TrdvToyv e/co7rtaora, ovk 
 
 was bestowed upon me was not in vain ; but 1 laboured more abundantly 
 
 against the possible misconstruc- 
 tion of his words by those to 
 whom he had previously alluded 
 in the same indirect manner, in 
 ix. 1-5, when there was a ques- 
 tion of his right to the Apostle- 
 ship, — 'though I am the least 
 of the Apostles, though I am not 
 fit to bear the name which I bear, 
 though it is but by the goodness 
 of God that I am anything, yet 
 still I am what T am ; it is not 
 for nothing that God's goodness 
 was so wonderfully shown to- 
 wards me. Although my right 
 to the name of an Apostle may 
 be doubted, even by myself, yet 
 my exertion has been greater 
 than that of any of the Apostles.' 
 Compare the whole passage of 
 2 Cor. xii. 7-12. 
 
 K€vrj, '■ vain,' i.e. ' without 
 fruits,' as in 14 and 58. His 
 exertions are at once the effect 
 and the repayment of God's fa- 
 vour. 
 
 iKOTTLacra, ' I toiled,' as in 
 Matt. vi. 28 ; Luke v. 5 ; Acts 
 XX. 35 ; E,om. xvi. 6. For both 
 words see Phil. ii. 16, ovk eis 
 Kevbv eKOTTLaa-a. 
 
 This thought of self-exaltation 
 is but momentary, and he returns 
 to the feeling of dependence and 
 humiliation from which he had 
 started — * Yet not I, but the 
 grace of God which is with me.' 
 For this complete merging of his 
 own personality in the conscious- 
 ness of a higher power working 
 with and in him, compare Gal. 
 ii. 20, ' I live, yet not I, but 
 Christ liveth in me ; ' and in a 
 bad sense, Rom. vii. 1 7, ' Not I, 
 
 '■ The 
 ffrace of 
 God.' 
 
 but sin that dwelleth in me.' In 
 this passage, as often elsewhere, 
 he describes his higher power as 
 17 X'^pt-'i ''"OV Oeov. The 
 exact sense is, ' The 
 gracious countenance 
 and free goodness of God, mani- 
 festing itself in His gifts ; ' and 
 hence, as in the analogous word 
 dyaTTjy (Love), the meaning fluc- 
 tuates between the abstract attri- 
 bute of God, and its concrete 
 exemplifications in the qualities 
 or faculties of the human heart 
 and mind. Such are the shades 
 of meaning which it bears, as 
 thrice repeated here; 'By the 
 undeserved goodness of God ; ' — 
 ' the goodness of God which ex- 
 tended itself to me (rj ct? e/x.e, 
 not iv ifxot) ' — * the goodness of 
 God which toiled with me {o-vv 
 e/xot).' In this last expression 
 the goodness of God is personi- 
 fied, as elsewhere Sin, Death, 
 Love. (See note on xiii. 4.) 
 ' By my side was another Power, 
 sharing in my toils and difficul- 
 ties. It was the Good Hand of 
 God.' Compare Oeov arvvepyoi, 
 iii. 9; 2 Cor. vi. 1. This sense 
 is brought out more strongly by 
 the omission of rj before criiv, in 
 B.D». F. G. 
 
 1 1 He now sums up his whole 
 argument by merging whatever 
 differences there might be be- 
 tween him and the other Apostles 
 in the one fact, which both alike 
 had to announce. ' Whether it 
 were I or they,' implies again 
 the consciousness of a supposed 
 rivalry between his claims and 
 those of others, and helps to ex- 
 
EESUEEECTION OF CHRIST. 
 
 29a 
 
 ctre €KelvoL, ovtws Kripvcrcrofjiep, Kai ovtco's CTrto'Teucrare. 
 
 7] aw. 
 
 than they all, yet not J, but the grace of God with me. "Whether, 
 therefore, it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. 
 
 plain the short interruption in 
 verse 10, 
 
 ' ovTws Kr]pv<T<Toix€v z such con- 
 
 tinues to be our message ! guch 
 at your conversion was your 
 belief (cTrto-Tevo-arc).' 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XV. 1—11. 
 
 / now call to your remembrance, in conclusion, the stihstance of 
 the glad tidings ivhich I announced to you, and the mode in 
 which I told it; glad tidings indeed of which you hardly 
 need to he reminded, since you not only received it from me, 
 but have made it the foundation of your lives ever since ; and 
 not only have made it the foundation of your lives, but are 
 to be saved by it now and hereafter y if only you hold it fast 
 in your recollection, if your conversion was anything more 
 than a mere transitory impulse. Yes, you must remember it ; 
 for it was among the very first things which I told to you, as 
 it was among the very first which I learned myself. It was: 
 That Christ died for our sins, fulfilling in His death the 
 prophecies concerning One who was to be wounded for our 
 transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, and whose soul 
 was to be an offering for sin. That He was laid in the 
 sepulchre, and that out of that sepulchre He has been raised 
 up and lives to die no more, again fulfilling the words in the 
 Psalms, which declare that His soul should not be left in the 
 grave, and that the Holy One should not see corruption. 1 
 told you also, as a proof of this, that he appeared to Kephas, 
 chief of the Apostles, and then to the Apostles collectively. 
 Next came the great appearance to more than five hundred 
 believers together, the majority of whom are still living to 
 testify to it, though some few have carried their testimony 
 with them to the grave. Then again came a twofold appear- 
 ance ; this time not to Kephas, but to his great colleague, 
 James, and afterwards, as before, to the Apostles collectively. 
 
294 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Last of all, when the roll of Apostles seemed to he complete, 
 was the sudden appearance to me ; a just delay ^ a just humi- 
 liation for one whose persecution of the congregation of God^s 
 people did indeed sink me below the level of the Apostles, and 
 rendered me unworthy even of the name, and makes me feel 
 that I owe all to the undeserved favour of God. A favour 
 indeed which was not bestowed in vain, which has issued in a 
 life of exertion far exceeding that of all the Apostles, from 
 whose number some would wish to exclude me ; but yet, after 
 all, an exertion not the result of my oivn strength, but of this 
 same Favour toiling with me as my constant companion. It 
 is not, however, on any distinction between myself and the 
 other Apostles, that I would now dwell. I confine myself to 
 the one great fact of which we all alike are the heralds, and 
 which was alike to all of you the foundation of your faith. 
 
 The First Creed, and the First Evidence op Christianity. 
 
 The foregoing Section is remarkable in two points of 
 view : I. It contains the earliest known specimen of what may 
 y , be called the Creed of the early Church. In one 
 
 form of sense, indeed, it diifers from what is properly called a 
 Creed. Creed, which was the name applied, not to what 
 new converts were taught, but to what they professed on their 
 conversion. Such a profession is naturally to be found only 
 in the Acts of the Apostles ; as an impassioned expression of 
 thanksgiving, in Acts iv. 24-30 ; or more frequently as a 
 simple expression of belief, in Acts viii. 37 (in some MSS.), 
 and in Acts xvi. 31, xix. 15. But the present passage gives 
 us a sample of the exact form of the oral teaching of the 
 Apostle. It cannot be safely inferred that we have here the 
 whole of what he means to describe as the foundation of his 
 preaching ; partly because of the expression * first of all,' 
 partly because, from the nature of the case, he brings forward 
 most prominently what was specially required by the occasion. 
 Still, on the whole, the more formal and solemn introduction 
 of the argument, ^ I delivered, I received,' as in xi. 23, and 
 the conciseness of the phrases, ^ died,' * was buried,' and the 
 twice-repeated expression ' according to the Scriptures,' imply 
 
THE FIEST CREED. 295 
 
 that at least in the third and fourth verses we have the original 
 formula of the Apostle's teaching. And this is confirmed by 
 its similarity to parts of the Creeds of the first three centuries, 
 especially to that which, under the name of the Apostle's 
 Creed, has been generally adopted in the Churches of the 
 West. 
 
 Of the details of this primitive formula, enough has been 
 said. But it is important to observe also its general character. 
 Two points chiefly present themselves, as distinguishing it 
 from later productions of a similar nature : ( 1 ) It is I. 
 a strictly historical composition. It is what the Historical. 
 Apostle himself calls it, not so much a Creed as a ' Gospel ; ' 
 a ' Gospel ' both in the etymological sense of that word in 
 English as well as in Greek, as a * glad message,' and also in 
 the popular and ancient sense in which it is applied to the 
 narratives of our Lord's life. It is the announcement, not of 
 a doctrine, or thought, or idea, but of simple matters of fact ; 
 of a joyful message, which its bearer was eager to disclose, and 
 its hearers eager to receive. Dim notions of some great 
 changes coming over the face of the world, vague rumours of 
 some wide movement spreading itself from Palestine, had 
 swept along the western shores of the Mediterranean ; and 
 in answer to the inquiries thus suggested. Apostle and Evan- 
 gelist communicated the ' things that they had seen or heard.' 
 Thus the Apostle's * Gospel ' was contained in the brief sum- 
 mary here presented, and such a summary as this became the 
 origin of the * Gospels,' and, according to the wants of the 
 readers, was expanded into the detailed narratives which still 
 retain the name of ' glad tidings,' though, strictly speaking, 
 that name belonged only to the original announcement of their 
 contents. 
 
 (2) Amongst the various forms of the creeds of the first 
 four centuries, there are only two (those of Tertul- jj^ 
 lian ^ and of Epiphanius ; ^ from whom, probably, it was Grounded 
 
 derived in the Nicene Creed) which contain the ex- ^ \^® ^^^ 
 
 ^ Testament. 
 
 pressions here twice repeated, 'accordmg to the 
 Scriptures,' and in those two probably imitated from this place. 
 The point, though minute, is of importance, as helping to bring 
 before us the different aspect which the same events wore to 
 the Apostolical age and to the next generations. If in so 
 
 Adv. Prax. c. 2. ^ jj p i22. 
 
296 riEST EPISTLE. 
 
 compendious an account of the facts of the Gospel history, the 
 Apostle twice over repeats that they took place in conformity 
 with the ancient prophecies, it is evident that his hearers must 
 have been not only familiar with the Old Testament, but 
 anxious to have their new faith brought into connexion with 
 it. Later ages have delighted in discovering mystical antici- 
 pations or argumentative proofs of the New Testament in the 
 Old ; but these words carry us back to a time when the events 
 of Christianity required, as it were, not only to be illustrated 
 or confirmed, but to \)Q justified by reference to Judaism. We 
 have in them the sign that, in reading this Epistle, although on 
 the shores of Greece, we are still overshadowed by the hills of 
 Palestine : the older covenant still remains in the eye of the 
 world as the one visible institution of Divine origin ; the 
 ' Scriptures ' of the Old Testament are still appealed to ^vith 
 undivided reverence, as the stay of the very writings which 
 were destined so soon to take a place, if not above, at least 
 beside them, with a paramount and independent authority. 
 
 II. This passage contains the earliest extant account of 
 Earliest ^^ Resurreclion of Christ. Thirty years at the most, 
 account of twenty years at the least, had elapsed, — that is to 
 rection^of ^ay, about the same period as has intervened between 
 Christ. this year (1875) and the Crimean War of 1853; 
 and, as the Apostle observes, most of those to whom he 
 appeals as witnesses were still living ; and he himself, though 
 not strictly an eye-witness of the fact of the Resurrection, 
 yet, in so far as he describes the vision at his conversion, 
 must be considered as bearing unequivocal testimony to the 
 belief in it prevailing at that time. Its importance in regard 
 to the details of the appearances shall be noticed elsewhere.* 
 
 The Resureection of the Dead. 
 Chap. XV. 12—34. 
 
 In the preceding verses the Apostle had carried himself and 
 his readers back to the time when he first came among them, 
 and when they had eagerly embraced the message which he 
 
 ^ See Essay * On the Relation of the Epistles to the Gospel History,' 
 at the end of this work. 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 297 
 
 bore of the Resurrection of Christ. He had recalled to them 
 the enthusiasm with which they had received it ; the stead- 
 fastness with which they clung to it ; the hopes which it held 
 out to thera.^ He had recalled also the very words {tIvl Xoyw) 
 in which he had announced it ; the successive scenes by which 
 it had been attested ; the appearances to Peter and James the 
 greatest of the elder Apostles ; the appearances to all the 
 Apostles in a body ; the appearance to the whole company of 
 believers, with some of whom they might themselves have 
 conversed ; the appearance, lastly, to himself, himself a living 
 proof of the reality of the vision ; the vision a certain sign of 
 the reality of his Apostleship. On this one point, amidst 
 their other differences of character and calling, himself and 
 the other Apostles, himself and his readers, were all agreed. 
 
 And now what was, or ought to be, the result of this agree- 
 ment? 'If the chief announcement concerning Christ be, 
 that He has been raised from the dead, how is it possible for 
 any of you to maintain that there is no such thing as a resur- 
 rection of the dead ? It is a burst of indignant surprise, 
 which is immediately followed by a rapid exhibition of the 
 irreconcilable character of the two statements. The argument 
 would seem to imply that those who denied the general 
 Kesurrection, still admitted the Resurrection of Christ; but 
 this is not quite certain, because in his appeal to the Resur- 
 rection of Christ he may be addressing himself, not to the 
 false teachers themselves, but to the Corinthians who might 
 be deluded by them ; and the great particularity, with which 
 he has enumerated the several witnesses of the Resurrection, 
 may be taken to indicate that there were some who doubted 
 it. But however this may be, he assumes the truth of the 
 fact here, and uses it as the chief answer to his opponents. 
 The connexion which he endeavours to establish between the 
 denial of the general Resurrection, and the denial of Christ's 
 Resurrection, although it may be coloured by his prevailing 
 idea of the identification of Christ and His followers, appears 
 in this instance to rest on the simple argument, that if they 
 denied any such thing as a resurrection, they must deny it in 
 every instance, and therefore in the case of Christ, as well as 
 of the dead generally. 
 
 ^ XV. 1. TrapeXa/Sere . , . ea-TTJKare. , . (rco^fo-^e. 
 
298 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 12—19. 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 rat 
 
 14 
 
 €L 
 
 sa 
 
 el Se )(pLcrTo<; KiqpvcrcTeTaiy on Ik veKpcov iyrfyeprai, ttw? 
 \iyov(TLV ^iv vfuv nve^ otl avdcTTacri^ veKpcjv ovk €<ttlv; 
 
 ei Be avdcTTao-i^ veKpatp ovk e<jTiv^ ovhe ^tcrro? eyyjyep- 
 Xpi'O-T0<5 OVK iy-qyepTai, Kevov dpa ^ [/<al] to 
 KyjpvyfJLa rjfxcji', Keprj^ /cat 7) Trtcrrts v/xwz/, ^^ evpKjKoixeOa 
 he KOI \jjevSofidpTvpe<i tov 0eov, on ep^apTVprjcrapLev Kara 
 Tov Oeov OTL TjyeLpev tov voicttoj', ov ovk rjyeipeu el irep 
 apoL veKpoi OVK eyeupovTai. ^ eu yap veKpoi ovk eyeipovTaiy 
 
 ' Tives eV vfjuv. 
 
 " Om. Kal. 
 
 /cevT) 8e Kai. 
 
 ^~Now if Christ is preached that He is raised from the dead, how say- 
 some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead ? ^^ But if 
 there is no resurrection of the dead, neither is Christ raised : ^^and if 
 Christ be not raised, then also our preaching is vain, vain also is your 
 faith, ^°and we also are found false witnesses of God, because we testified 
 of God that He raised up Christ ; whom He raised not up, if so be that 
 the dead are not raised. ^^For if the dead are not raised, then is not 
 
 12-14 To the minds of the 
 deniers the phrase dvao-raats 
 v€Kp(i}v probably conveyed only 
 the notion of the general resur- 
 rection, more especially as the 
 usual word for Christ's resusci- 
 tation is not avacrrrjcraL, but (as 
 throughout this Chapter) iyei- 
 petv. Still the denial by impli- 
 cation, and if expressed univer- 
 sally (not 7} dmo-raorts t co v vck- 
 pcov, but av dcr T acr fi veKpwv), 
 would exclude in every shape the 
 possibility of a revival from the 
 grave. 
 
 K€v6v, KevTJ : ' unmeaning is my 
 preaching, because the Resurrec- 
 tion was its subject ; and your 
 faith, because it rested on this 
 preaching.' The idea of Christ's 
 higher nature, which might ex- 
 empt Him from the ordinary law 
 of death, does not here enter into 
 consideration. 
 
 15-19 He proceeds to explain 
 these two assertions : the futility 
 of his preaching in 15, 16 (evpt- 
 
 (TKojjieOa . . . iyrjy^pTai) ; the fu- 
 tility of their faith in 17, 18 (et 
 Se . . . ajTOiXovTo) . 
 
 First. ' Our preaching is un- 
 meaning, because we are then 
 discovered to have borne false 
 testimony of God's acts' They 
 had been specially chosen to be 
 witnesses (iJidpTvp€<s) of this very 
 fact, Acts X. 41, ii. 32, iii. 15, 
 xiii. 31. 
 
 Kara tov 6eov is : either (1) 
 ' with regard to God,' with a 
 latent allusion to the sense of 
 'invoking;' or (2) 'against 
 God,' i.e. ' imputing to Him 
 what He has not done.' Com- 
 pare Matthew xxvi. 62, xxvii. 
 13 ; Deuteronomy xix. 15, 16 
 (LXX.) ; and for the sense 
 1 John i. 10. 
 
 17, 18 Up to this point his 
 argument has been (not ' if 
 Christ be not risen, there is no 
 resurrection,' but) ' if there be 
 no resurrection, then is Christ 
 not risen.' Now, he advances a 
 
THE KESUREECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 299 
 
 ouSe x/^tcrros iyrjyepTaL. ^^ el Se ^ptcrro? ovk iyajyepTai, 
 fMaTaCa rj ttictti'^ vfJLOjp^ \_i(TTLv~\j ert ecrre if rat? a/;ta/3rtat? 
 vfjLCJV, ^^dpa Koi ol Konxy]OevTe'^ ev )(pl(ttS aircoXoPTO. ^^€t 
 
 Omit 
 
 Christ raised : "and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet 
 in your sins, ^^then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ perished. 
 ^If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most 
 
 step further, and after having in 
 15, 16 shown that by the denial 
 of the general resurrection his 
 preaching would be rendered un- 
 meaning, he now in 17, 18 shows, 
 secondly, that by the consequent 
 denial of the resurrection of 
 Christ, their faith would be ren- 
 dered unmeaning (/xarata^ Kcvrf 
 in verse 14), for there would be 
 this twofold result : 
 
 (1) That if Christ be not 
 risen, they would not rise from 
 the death of sin. Compare Rom. 
 vi. 1-11. 
 
 (2) That if Christ be not 
 risen, those believers who are 
 already dead have perished. This 
 last is put as the climax of the 
 whole argument. One of the 
 most harrowing thoughts, as we 
 see from 1 Thess. iv. 13, to the 
 Apostolical Christians, was the 
 fear lest their departed brethren 
 should by a premature death be 
 debarred from that communion 
 with the Lord which they hoped 
 to enjoy ; and in itself nothing 
 could be more disheartening to 
 the Christian's hope, than to find 
 that Christians had lived and 
 died in vain. 
 
 By 'thovse who have fallen 
 asleep in Christ,' the Apostle 
 means ' those who have died in 
 communion with Christ' — 'the 
 Christian dead ' (like ' the dead 
 in Christ,' ot ve/cpot ol iv ^^ptcrro) : 
 Rev. xiv. 18; 1 Thess. iv. 16). 
 And here, as in xv. 51 and 
 
 1 Thess. iv. 15, he distinguishes 
 between these and those who 
 will live to witness the end. 
 Possibly he alludes to those of 
 whom he had spoken in verse 6, 
 as having in an especial manner 
 fallen asleep, with Christ in im- 
 mediate prospect. 
 
 Observe the connexion be- 
 tween the spiritual and the lite- 
 ral resurrection, of both of which 
 our Lord's resurrection is equally 
 the pledge. Compare Rom. viii. 
 10, 11 ; John y. 24-29. 
 
 KOLfxrjOevT€^ . . . aTTcuAovTO, * when 
 they died . . . they perished en- 
 tirely ; ' corresponding in the fu- 
 ture world to ecTTi iv rats a/xap- 
 Ttats in this. ' The living will 
 be left in sin, the dead will be 
 left in death, which is the con- 
 sequence of sin,' in opposition to 
 <T0)t,€(T6aL. Compare 2 Cor. ii. 
 15: 'In them that are saved, 
 and in them that perish.' 
 
 19 He still dwells on the deep 
 sadness of the conclusion to 
 which the denial of the resurrec- 
 tion would bring them. If in 
 this sentence we are guided by 
 the easiest sense, then the word 
 ' only ' (ixovov) must be con- 
 nected with iv rfi ^wry ravrri, and 
 its transposition to the end of 
 the sentence must be regarded as 
 one of the strangeuesses of style 
 noticed under viii. 11. But, if 
 we can rely on the position of the 
 word, and the tense of i7A.7rtKores 
 ecr/xeV, then the word ' only ' re- 
 
300 
 
 FIEST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 20—24. 
 
 3 
 
 '^fi l^V '^oLvrrj ^ev ypicrrco rfXTTLKore^ icrfiev ixovov, 
 iXeeivoTepoL ttolvtcov dvOpcoTTcop iarjjLev. '^^vvvl 8e ^ptcrro? 
 
 b 21 
 
 eyrjyepTaL e/c veKpcov, airap^ T(t>v KeKOLfxrifJievcov. "^ eireu 
 
 Br) 
 yap Sl dvOpcoTTOv ^Odvaros, kol Sl dvOpcoirov dvacTTacn^ 
 veKpojv, ^ (ocnrep yap ev T(o AoajXTravTe'; aTrouvrjo-Kovcnv, 
 
 » ij\iriK6T€S iff/xhv iv Xpiffr^ fi6vov. ^ Add iyevero. « 6 BduaTos. 
 
 miserable. ^^But now is Christ raised from the dead, the first fruits of 
 them that sleep. ^^For since by man came death, by man came also the 
 resurrection of the dead. ^2^^^ g^g j^ Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 
 fers to the whole clause, the 
 stress being specially laid on 
 rfXTTLKOTcs icTfjieVj ' If Tve have 
 nothing but a mere empty hope 
 in Christ which will never be 
 fulfilled.' ' If we have hoped to 
 the end, and done nothing more 
 than hope.' (Comp. Rora. viii. 
 24, ' Hope that is seen is not 
 hope.') The use of ^wrj, as dis- 
 tinct from a state, for a period 
 of existence, is very rare in the 
 New Testament, and occurs only 
 here and in Luke xvi. 25. 
 
 iXecLvoTcpoL, ' more wretched 
 than all who are not Christians.' 
 ' We have fallen from the great- 
 est of hopes, which we have pur- 
 chased at the greatest of costs.' 
 For the force of the expression 
 see on verse 32. 
 
 20 From this gloomy thought 
 he breaks off into the joyful con- 
 trast, suggested by the fact that, 
 in spite of these speculations, 
 Christ has risen ; and that as in 
 His not rising the Christian's 
 hope of immortality would have 
 perished, so in His resurrection 
 the whole human race rises also. 
 
 wvl 84, ' but as it is,' as the 
 case actually stands. For the 
 idea see Col. i. 18, apx^ tt/xoto- 
 
 T0/C05 €K VeKp(x)V. 
 
 aTTapxq, ' *^® ^^^^ fruits,' or 
 first sheaf, to be followed by the 
 whole harvest, alluding to the 
 first fruits of the passover in 
 
 Lev. xxiii. 10, 1 1, on the second 
 day of which feast a sheaf of 
 ripe corn was, for the first time, 
 offered on the altar, as a conse- 
 cration of the coming harvest. 
 Compare the allusion to the 
 Paschal feast in v. 6. Both 
 probably were suggested by the 
 time of year when the Apostle 
 wrote. 
 
 Tuiv KCKot/jirjixevoiv is put, in- 
 stead of Tu)v veKpCjv, as the natu- 
 ral expression for the Christian 
 dead, of whom the Apostle is 
 chiefly thinking. 
 
 21, 2 2 The reason of this con- 
 nexion between His resurrection 
 and ours is, that He is the repre- 
 sentative of the whole human 
 race (see xii. 12) in this its se- 
 cond creation. (Comp. Rom. v. 
 12, 18.) There is also the idea, 
 which in the Gospel appears not 
 as much with regard to the Re- 
 surrection as the judgment, that 
 man must in some sense be re- 
 deemed, raised, judged, by man. 
 Hence the constant expression 
 ' the Son of Man,' applied to 
 Christ. The second part of the 
 argument, where ' man ' is in- 
 dividualised in Adam and Christ, 
 explains the first part. * As in 
 the Adam (iv tw 'ASoi/a), so in the 
 Messiah (iv T^)^LaT(o), or Second 
 Man.' For the application of 
 the name of ' the Second Adam ' 
 to the Messiah, see Schottgen on 
 
THE EESURKECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 301 
 
 our&>9 Koi kv rw ^picrr^ 7rdvT€<; tjCDOTTOLiqOrjcrovTaiy ^^eKa- 
 (TTO^ Se kv T(o ISicp rcty/xarc airapxv XP^o'tos, eireira ol 
 ^Tov ^pLCTTov kv Tjj wapovaia avTov, '^^elra to Te\o<;, orav 
 ^ irapahihol ttjv ^aatXeiav rw 6eco kolL Trarpi^ orav Karap- 
 
 • Om. rov. 
 
 * irapaS^. 
 
 shall all be made alive, ^'but every one in his own order : Christ the 
 first fruits, afterward they that are Christ's at His coming, '^^then the 
 end, when He shall deliver up the kingdom to God and the Father, when 
 He shall have made to vanish away all rule and all authority and power. 
 
 verse 17. Here, as in Rom. xi. 
 32, the Apostle is not thinking 
 of the fate of the wicked, but of 
 the universal love of God and 
 the universal power of Christ. 
 
 t,oiOTroiy]6'rj(TovTaL must, accord- 
 ing to the general use of the 
 word, be taken of resurrection 
 to life eternal. 
 
 23, 24 What follows is not 
 strictly necessary to the argu- 
 ment ; but here, as often (see on 
 iii. 23, xi. 3), when he speaks 
 of the glory and exaltation of 
 Christ, he carries it up to the 
 highest point, where it loses it- 
 self in the glory of God ; as if 
 fearing lest the harmony and 
 continuity of the Divine order 
 should in any way be inter- 
 rupted ; lest the soul should halt 
 in its upward flight, at any lower 
 resting-place than the presence 
 of God Himself. 
 
 In 1 Thess. iv. 13-17, as here, 
 the Apostle implies a first resur- 
 rection of the followers of Christ 
 at the moment of His coming ; 
 and in Rev. xx. 13, 14, xxi. 3, 
 4, 22-25, there is the same ge- 
 neral description of the over- 
 throw of death, and of the ab- 
 sorption of all power and glory 
 and outward rule, into the imme- 
 diate presence of God. 
 
 The whole resurrection of the 
 human race is represented as one 
 prolonged fact of which the 
 
 resurrection of Christ is the first 
 beginning. 
 
 ray/xart, i.e. ' troop, as in an 
 army,' see (in Wetstein) Jos. B. 
 J. III. iv. 2 ; Plutarch. 0th. c. 
 12 ; where rdy/m. is used as 
 synonymous with A-eycoii/, as 
 though the scene were presented 
 of troop after troop appearing 
 after their victorious general. 
 
 ol Tov xptoTov, i.e. ' believers,* 
 see 1 Thess. iv. 16 ; Rev. xx. 4. 
 
 24 TO T€Xo<;, ' the end of the 
 world,' see Matt, xxi v. 13. 
 
 orav, ' whenever the time 
 comes for His giving up.' 
 
 T^v /Saa-iXeiav, ' His reign ' (see 
 Rev. xix. 15). The article is 
 explained by what follows. 
 
 The especial object of intro- 
 ducing in this place the destruc- 
 tion of power and authority is 
 for the sake of showing that 
 Death, the king of the human 
 race, will be destroyed in their 
 destruction. When all the sins 
 and evils for the restraint or 
 punishment of which power and 
 authority exist, shall have been 
 put down, then all power and 
 authority, even that of Christ 
 Himself, shall end, and fear of 
 ' the Lord ' shall be swallowed 
 up in love of ' the Father.' 
 
 Karapyrja-rf, He=' Christ.' 
 
 TTtto-av i^ovcrtav, k. t. A. * All 
 power oi every kind, of man, 
 of Death, and lastly of Himself, 
 
302 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 25—29. 
 
 yyjcrrj TTOLcrav ap^r]v koI Tracrav k^ovcriav KalhvvaixLv. ^^Set 
 yap avTov ^acrikeveiv, axP''^ ^^* ^V '^rdvTaq tovs kyOpov^ 
 [avTovJ VTTo Tov^ TTOoa? avTov. "ecr^aros €)(opo<i Karap- 
 yeirai 6 Odvarof;. '^^ Trdvra yap vneTa^ev vtto tov<; TrdSa? 
 avTOV. orav Se eiiTrj [ort] iravTa viroriTaKrai, hrjkov on 
 e/cTos Tou vTroragaz^To? avro) ra iravra' ^^orav be virorayr) 
 avrS rd iravTa, Tore [/cat] avTos 6 vlo^ vworayijcreTaL tcj 
 
 IV &v. 
 
 * Om. avToi 
 
 ^^ For He must reign, till He hath put all His enemies under His feet. 
 '^^'The last enemy that is made to vanish away is death. -^For ' He put 
 all things under His feet.' But when He saith, that ' all things are put 
 under Him/ it is manifest that He is excepted who did put all things 
 under Him : ^^and when all things shall be put under Him, then shall 
 also the Son Himself be put under Him that put all things under Him, 
 
 whicli intervenes between the 
 supreme government of God and 
 the creatures He has made.' 
 
 25,26 Set yap jSacTikcveLV. The 
 reign of Christ here spoken of 
 may be either between the first 
 resurrection and ' the end ; ' or 
 more generally from the time of 
 His ascension ; in which case 
 compare the description of its 
 beginning in Eph. i. 20-23, where 
 many of the same expressions 
 recur : ' He set Him at His own 
 right hand in the heavenly 
 places, far above every princi- 
 pality, and power, and might, 
 and dominion, and put all things 
 under His feet.' 
 
 Christ must reign (/3ao-tA.ci;etv) 
 till Death, who is personified as 
 being the rival king (Rom. v. 
 14), is destroyed (Rev. xx. 14). 
 Then, and not till then, will the 
 object of Christ's reign be fully 
 accomplished. The context shows 
 that 'until' (axpis ov) marks 
 the limit beyond which Christ's 
 reign is not to extend. 
 
 Set, i.e. according to the pro- 
 phecy in Ps. ex. 1. 
 
 Orj, He = Christ as in 24. 
 
 ytipy a reason for KaTa/oyTytry. 
 
 27 orav 8c €17777, i.e. in Ps. viii. 
 6. What is in the first instance 
 said of man generally, is here, 
 as in Heb. ii. 7 ; Matt. xxi. 16, 
 applied to the Messiah, as the 
 representative of man. 
 
 VTrira^ev and rov VTroTd^avTog 
 refer to God. 
 
 28 This final subordination of 
 the Son to the Father is appa- 
 rently the object of the digres- 
 sion, which closes with it. 
 
 ' That God may be all in 
 all.' This passage, as .That God 
 expressing what the may be aii 
 Apostle looked to as ^^ *^^' 
 the consummation of the world, 
 must be regarded as the con- 
 summation of all his teaching. 
 In almost all later systems of 
 religion and philosophy, there has 
 been an element corresponding to 
 this Apostolic aspiration, a belief 
 that God is, or is to be, every- 
 where, and in all things. The 
 Apostle's words (6 ^€09 iravra iv 
 Traatv) may almost seem to have 
 given birth to the name literally 
 based on them,though now always 
 used in reproach, ^ pan-theism.^ 
 It is not necessary here to dis- 
 tinguish these words from the 
 
THE EESUKRECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 303 
 
 vTTOTa^avTL avTO) TOL TravTay Iva rj 6 ^eos ^iravTa ev ttolctiv. 
 ^^€7r€L TL Troi-qarovaiv oi paTrri^o/xevot vTrep tojv veKpcop ; eu 
 
 • TCI irdura. 
 that God may be all in all. '^^Else what shall they do who are baptized 
 
 grosser, or the more exclusive 
 forms of this belief to which the 
 name of pantheism is usually ap- 
 plied. But the expression shows 
 that such a belief in God's uni- 
 versal and all-pervading presence 
 was not inconsistent with the 
 reverence for the Divine nature 
 and the sense of human responsi- 
 bility which run through all the 
 writings of St. Paul. Two points 
 seem especially intended : — 
 
 First, this is the most striking 
 instance of the mode in which he 
 always endeavours to carry up 
 the feelings of his readers from 
 Christ to God. His intention is 
 not to lower or disparage the 
 Divine union of Christ with the 
 Father, but to point out that 
 there is a height yet beyond, 
 from which all the blessings of 
 redemption no less than of crea- 
 tion flow. It has sometimes been 
 customary to represent God as 
 the object of fear ; Christ as the 
 object of love; God as the source 
 of justice, Christ as the source 
 of mercy. The Apostle's object 
 here is, if one may so say, directly 
 the reverse : Christ is spoken of 
 as the representative of autho- 
 rity, of control ; God is spoken of 
 as the Infinite rest and repose, 
 after the close of that long 
 struggle for which alone power 
 and authority are needed. The 
 Pagan views of the Divinity 
 never shrnnk from multiplying 
 the agencies, the persons, the 
 powers of God ; wherever an 
 operation of nature or of man 
 was discernible, there a new 
 
 deity was imagined. It is this 
 feeling which the Apostle 
 throughout combats. Even if in 
 this present world a distinction 
 must be allowed between God, 
 the Invisible Eternal Father, and 
 Christ, the Lord and Ruler of 
 man, he points our thoughts to a 
 time when this distinction will 
 cease, when the reign of all in- 
 termediate objects, even of Christ 
 Himself, shall cease, and God 
 will fill all the universe (Travra), 
 and be Himself present in the 
 hearts and minds of all (cv 
 Trao-tv) . 
 
 Secondly, the Apostle here 
 brings out, not only the Unity, 
 but the spirituality of the God- 
 head. All the outward institu- 
 tions which had held men to- 
 gether, even the massive frame- 
 work of Roman society, with its 
 vast array of rule and power — 
 even the reign of Christ Himself, 
 holding together as it does the 
 Churches which ' walk in the 
 fear of the Lord ' (Acts ix. 31) ; 
 — shall cease in that intimate 
 communion of man with God, 
 which is the last and highest 
 hope we can look forward to : 
 ' I saw no temple in the city : 
 for the Lord God Almighty and 
 the Lamb are the temple of it. 
 And the city had no need of the 
 sun, neither of the moon, to 
 shine in it : for the glory of God 
 did lighten it, and the Lamb is 
 the light thereof,' Rev. xxi. 22, 
 23. 
 
 29 The connexion here is one 
 of the most abrupt to be found in 
 
304 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 30. 
 
 6\o}<s veKpol ovK iyeipovTai^ tl koL j^aTrritflVTai virkp* 
 
 » xiirep Twv vcKpwv ; 
 
 for the dead ? If the dead are not raised at all, why are they then 
 
 St. Paul's Epistles. Digressions, 
 like that in verses 20-28, are 
 frequent, but they are usually so 
 wound up as to bring the Apostle 
 again to the point from which he 
 digressed. But in this instance 
 be leaves the new topic just at 
 the moment when he has pursued 
 it, as it were, to the remotest 
 point, and goes back to the gene- 
 ral argument as suddenly as if 
 nothing had intervened. The 
 two instances most similar are, 
 V. 9-vi. 8 ; 2 Cor. vi. 14-vii. 1. 
 Here, as there, the confusion may 
 possibly have arisen from some 
 actual interruption in the writing 
 or the material of the letter; the 
 main argument proceeding con- 
 tinuously from verse 20 to verse 
 29, and the whole intervening 
 passage, 21-28, being analogous 
 to what, in a modern composi- 
 tion, would be called a note. 
 
 He has said in 19, ' but for 
 the resurrection, we should be 
 the most to be pitied of all men.' 
 *Then, if the resurrection has 
 not taken place, as a pledge of 
 the general resurrection which is 
 to come, what will be the mean- 
 ing of the action of those who 
 are baptized for the dead ? what 
 is the meaning of our incurring 
 hourly danger ? ' 
 
 Tl TTOLi^a-ovcnv ot paiTTitpfxevoL 
 would be more regular if it were 
 riTrovrjcrovo-L f^aTTTi^oixevoi ol Pairr. ; 
 ' what will then be their object 
 in being baptized ? ' like ri Trotctrc 
 KA.aioi/TC9, Acts xxi. 13. It may, 
 however, be put absolutely as 
 here, tl TroLov/xev, in John xi. 47, 
 'What is the meaning of doing 
 as we do ? ' 
 
 Such is the general sense of 
 the passage. The interpretation 
 of the particular words ' baptized 
 for the dead ' (ot ySaTrrt^d/xcvot 
 vTTcp Twv j/€K/3(oi/) is Very obscure. 
 
 Their natural signification, 
 ' those who are baptized 
 in behalf of the dead,' foShe™ 
 is strongly confi.rmed by ^^^^' 
 finding that there were some 
 sects in the first three centuries 
 who had this kind of baptism. 
 Tertullian (adv. Marcion. v. 10 ; 
 Res. Cam. cap. 48) and Chryso- 
 stom (Horn. 40, in 1 Cor. xv.) 
 speak of it as existing amongst 
 the Marcionites, who flourished 
 chiefly a.d. 130-150 ; and Epi- 
 phanius says, in his chapter on 
 the Corinthians, that there was 
 ' an uncertain tradition handed 
 down, that it was also to be 
 found amongst some heretics in 
 Asia, especially in Galatia, in the 
 times of the Apostles.' From 
 Chrysostom we learn that ' after 
 a catechumen was dead they hid 
 a living man under the bed of 
 the deceased ; then coming to 
 the dead man they spoke to him, 
 and asked him whether he would 
 receive baptism ; and he making 
 no answer, the other replied in 
 his stead, and so they baptized 
 the living for the dead.' From 
 Epiphanius we learn that their 
 object in so doing was, ' lest in 
 the resurrection the dead should 
 be punished for want of baptism, 
 and not subjected to the powers 
 that made the world ' (Haer. 28, 
 6), to which must be added the 
 opinion of Hilary (Ambrosias ter), 
 that it was done ' in the case of 
 unexpected death, in the fear lest 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 305 
 
 avTO)v; "t6 Acai r)[JLeL<; KivovvevoyLev iracrav copav ; /cat/ 
 baptized for them 1 ^*^Why also stand we in jeopardy every hour ? ^^ I 
 
 the dead should either not arise 
 at all, or rise to evil.' In spite of 
 these testimonies to the existence 
 of the practice, every ancient 
 writer (with the exception of the 
 one last quoted) repudiates the 
 notion of any allusion to it in this 
 place ; evidently from the fear of 
 seeing any Apostolic sanction be- 
 stowed on a custom which seemed 
 to them superstitious. Yet there 
 are considerations which mitigate 
 the strangeness of the passage. 
 St. Paul's mode of speech and 
 action abounds in instances of 
 accommodation to the feelings 
 and opinions of those addressed, 
 without any expression of con- 
 demnation on his part. Such is 
 his frequent adoption of reason- 
 ings founded on the allegorical 
 interpretation of the Old Testa- 
 ment, as being the arguments 
 acknowledged by his readers. 
 See the allegory of Hagar and 
 Sarah, in Gal. iv. 21-31, * Tell 
 me ye that desire to be under the 
 law, do ye not hear the law ? ' 
 Such, again, is the speech at 
 Athens, Acts xvii. 23, where it 
 is not necessary to suppose that 
 St. Paul actually believed the 
 Unknown God of the Athenians 
 to be the true God, but only that 
 he availed himself of the oppor- 
 tunity of the inscription on their 
 altar to introduce the truth 
 amongst them. Such, again, 
 were his own accommodations to 
 Jewish practices, of vows, obser- 
 vances of feasts, &c., as recorded 
 in Acts xviii. 18, 21, xxi. 26, 
 which we cannot, consistently 
 with Gal. iv. 10, suppose that he 
 really valued, but which he adop- 
 ted in conformity with the prin- 
 
 ciple laid down in 1 Cor. ix. 22, 
 ' I am made all things to all men.'' 
 
 And, if it be urged that the 
 practice here mentioned was so 
 superstitious that the Apostle 
 could not have alluded to it with- 
 out repudiating it ; if even Chry- 
 sostom, three centuries later, 
 could not speak of it (as he says 
 himself) without bursts of 
 ' laughter,' we must consider the 
 probable circumstances of the 
 case. 
 
 Even if we take it at its worst, 
 it is not more strange than the 
 universal practice of the ancient 
 Church in administering the Eu- 
 charist to infants, and that of 
 placing the Eucharistical ele- 
 ments in the mouths or in the 
 hands of the dead, or than the Jew- 
 ish practice that in case any one 
 died in a state of ceremonial un- 
 cleanness, which would have re- 
 quired his own ablution, some one 
 else then received the ablution for 
 him. (See Lightfoot, ad loc.) 
 
 But there is a higher point of 
 view, from which it might have 
 been regarded. There was then, 
 as always, the natural longing 
 of the survivors to complete the 
 work which untimely death had 
 broken off; and in that age, when 
 the self-devotion of a Christian's 
 life was concentrated in the one 
 act of baptism, it might have 
 seemed fitting that where the 
 conversion had not been com- 
 pleted, the friends of the dead # 
 should step, as it were, into his 
 place, and in his name undertake 
 the dangers and responsibilities 
 of baptism, so that after all the 
 good work would not have been 
 cut off by death, bat would con- 
 
306 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 32. 
 
 rjfjiepav anoOpijcrKa), vrj ttjt/ vfjierepav Kavxqcy^v^ "dSeXc^oi, 
 
 * Om. a5e\(poi. 
 protest by your boasting, brethren, which I have in Christ Jesus our 
 
 tinue * confirmed to the end, 
 blameless in the day of Jesus 
 Christ' (i. 8). This endeavour 
 to assume a vicarious responsi- 
 bility in baptism is the same as 
 afterwards appeared in the in- 
 stitution of sponsors ; and the 
 striving to repair the shortcom- 
 ings of the departed is the same 
 v^hich, in regard to the other 
 sacrament, still prevails through 
 a large part of Christendom, in 
 the institution of masses for the 
 dead. In the Apostolical age, 
 too, these feelings would be ren- 
 dered more natural by the belief 
 in the near approach of the 
 coming of the Son of man, when 
 the living might expect to pre- 
 pare the way for the dead whom 
 they personified ; and the whole 
 practice would appear most con- 
 formable to the Apostle's spirit, 
 if we could suppose, as seems 
 rather implied in the words, that 
 those who were thus baptized for 
 the dead, had not been them- 
 selves baptized before, but now 
 for the first time, from a mixed 
 feeling of love for the dead and 
 devotion to Christ, entered upon 
 the hardships of a Christian's 
 life. Such a feeling and practice 
 we can easily imagine to have 
 existed, even amongst those 
 whose faith in the general re- 
 surrection had either been ob- 
 scured or shaken; an inconsis- 
 tency indeed, but such as is often 
 found in moments of great en- 
 thusiasm, or characters exposed 
 to counter-influences ; and such 
 as the Apostle might naturally 
 have laid hold of, as in the above- 
 mentioned instance in the speech 
 
 at Athens, to enforce his own 
 argument. 
 
 And finally, though the Church 
 of Corinth was subject to the 
 Apostle's authority, yet it ap- 
 pears by numerous passages both 
 to have claimed and to have re- 
 ceived from him so much inde- 
 pendence, as to make it by no 
 means a matter of course that 
 he should feel called to reform 
 all their practices ; and the words 
 themselves convey, not indeed a 
 reproof, but a distinction be- 
 tween his own practice, and that 
 to which he alludes, rwv vcKpwv 
 implies (not the dead generally, 
 but) a particular class of the 
 dead : and rjixcis, in the next 
 clause, implies that the Apostle 
 has been speaking just before of 
 others distinct from himself. 
 
 On the whole, therefore, this 
 explanation of the passage may 
 be safely accepted : (1) As a 
 curious relic of primitive super- 
 stition, which, after having pre- 
 vailed generally in the Apostoli- 
 cal Church, gradually dwindled 
 away till it was only to be found 
 in some obscure sects. (2) As 
 an example of the Apostle's 
 mode of dealing wnth a practice 
 with which he could have had no 
 real sympathy ; not condemning 
 or ridiculing it, but appealing to 
 it as an expression, although dis- 
 torted, of their better feelings. 
 
 The other interpretations, 
 which all require an alteration or 
 addition to the words of the text, 
 are : (1) ' What shall they gain 
 who are baptized /or the removal 
 of their dead worls ? ' (2) ' What 
 shall they gain who are baptized 
 
THE EESUERECTION OF THE DEAD. 307 
 
 T?!^ ej(a) ei^ XP^^'^V irjaov tco Kvpicp rnxojv. ^^ et /cara avupoi- 
 Lord, I die daily. '^If after the manner of men I fought with beasts at 
 
 for the hope of the resurrection of 
 the dead?' (Chrys.) (3) 'What 
 shall they gain who are baptized 
 into the death of Christ ? ' (4) 
 ' What shall they gain who are 
 afflicted (compare Luke xii. 50 ; 
 Mark x. 38) for the hope of the 
 resurrection of the dead ? ' (5) 
 ' What shall they gain who are 
 baptized at the moment of death, 
 with a view to their state when 
 dead ? ' (alluding to the prac- 
 tice of deathbed baptisms). (6) 
 ' What shall they gain who are 
 baptized into the place of the 
 dead martyrs ? ' (7) ' What shall 
 they gain who are baptized into 
 the name of the dead (John and 
 Christ) ? ' '(8) ' What shaU they 
 gain who are baptized in order 
 to convert those who are dead in 
 sin ? ' (9) ' What shall they gain 
 who are baptized 07ily to die ? ' 
 
 (10) ' What shall they gain who 
 are baptized over the graves of 
 the dead ? ' (i.e. martyrs, &c.) 
 
 (11) * What shall they gain who 
 are baptized when dying, as a 
 sign that their dead todies shall 
 he raised ? ' (12) ' What shall 
 they gain who are baptized for 
 the good of the Christian dead ? ' 
 i.e. to hasten the day of the re- 
 surrection hy accomplishing the 
 number of the elect. 
 
 rjiJi€L<s, ' the Apostles,' as in iv. 
 9, but chiefly himself. 
 
 Kol may refer merely to the 
 continuation of the argument, but 
 has more force if the ' baptism 
 for the dead ' involved real dan- 
 gers and cares : — ' I die daily ; ' 
 and compare 2 Cor. iv. 10, ' al- 
 ways carrying about the dying 
 of the Lord Jesus in our body.' 
 
 31 vrj TTjv v/xeTC/aav Kuv^rjaiv. 
 
 This contains two peculiarities : 
 (1) The adjuration by his boast- 
 ing, as of the thing most dear to 
 him. Compare Lachmann's con- 
 jecture on ix. 15 (in connexion 
 with his first edition), as if vrj to 
 Kavxr}iJid /xov was his favourite 
 oath. (2) v/xercpai/ for Trept vfjuov, 
 i.e. ' by my boast of your excel- 
 lences,' as in ix. 2 ; 2 Cor. iii. 3. 
 (Comp. Thucyd. i. 33, <f)6^io rw 
 vfjLeripio, Rom. xi. 31, t<3 v/jtcrepo) 
 cA.€ct.) This would justify the 
 reading of A. rjfjieTcpav, but that 
 it seems like a correction. 
 
 iv •)(pLa-Tia 'Irycrov, 'in Christ 
 Jesus.' These words are, strictly 
 speaking, taken with t^*^, but 
 they also refer to the whole sen- 
 tence. See note on viii. 11. 
 
 32 Kara ai/^pwTTOV, * with only 
 human hopes,' partly as in ix. 8, 
 so that the whole stress of the 
 sentence is laid upon it ; i.e. 
 'without the hope of immor- 
 tality,' — ' as far as man could 
 see.' 
 
 iO-qptOfxd-^a-a, ' I fought with 
 beasts.' 
 
 (1) Against taking .5,,.^,^^ 
 this literally, observe with wild 
 (1) The improbability ^'^*'-' 
 of such a punishment for Paul 
 as a Roman citizen ; or of his 
 escaping, had he been exposed 
 to it. (2) The omission of it in 
 Acts xix. 9^1 (when, if at all, 
 it must have taken place), and 
 in 2 Cor. xi. 24-28, where so re- 
 markable a danger could hardly 
 have been passed over. (3) The 
 fact that the tumult of Acts xix. 
 29-41, took place (not in the 
 Roman amphitheatre, but) in the 
 Greek theatre, where such ex- 
 hibitions were not usual. (4) 
 
 x2 
 
308 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. XV. 33, 34. 
 
 TTOv idrjpLOfJLa^rjora iv E(j)€o-(p^ ri jjlol to oc^eXo?,* ei veKpol 
 ovK iyeipovTai, ^dycofxei' /cat 7TL0)fJi€V' avpiov yap olttoOvt] 
 aKOfxev 
 
 ^''^fjLT) TrXavacrOe. ^OeipovcTLv 7]9rj ^^rjo-O* 6/xtXtai 
 
 • See note. 
 
 Ephesus, what advantageth it me? If the dead are not raised, 'let us 
 eat and drink ; for to-morrow we die.' ^^Be not deceived. * Evil com- 
 
 The use of snch words meta- 
 phorically, from the familiarity 
 of the image of the gladiatorial 
 combats, as in iv. 9, ' appointed 
 last ' — ' a spectacle to angels and 
 men ' (cTrt^avartovs, ort Oearpov) ; 
 2 Tim. iv. 17: 'and I was de- 
 livered out of the mouth of the 
 lion.' Compare with this the 
 announcement to Herod Agrippa 
 of Caligula's decease, ' the lion 
 is dead.' The phrase occurs in 
 Pompey's speech in Appian (Bell. 
 Civ. p. 273), OLOis 6r)pL0L<; fJLaxo- 
 fieOa, and still more, precisely in 
 Ign. Rom. c. 5 : oltto Evptas fte^pi 
 *P(jo/x>7s 6r}pL0ixax(i> Sta y^s kol 6a- 
 Xda-ar)?, alluding to the guard of 
 soldiers whom he proceeds to call 
 ' the leopards.' 
 
 (II) For taking it literally, 
 observe: (1) That the metaphor 
 would be more violent here than 
 in Ign. Rom. c. 5, where it is 
 evidently drawn from the actual 
 prospect of the wild beasts in the 
 amphitheatre. (2) That the 
 'Asiarchs' (who are mentioned 
 in Acts xix. 31, as restraining the 
 tumult of Demetrius) appear in 
 Polycarp's martyrdom (Eus. H. 
 E. iv. 15) to have had the charge 
 of the wild beasts. (3) That, al- 
 thongh there are no remains of 
 an amphitheatre at Ephesus, yet 
 traces of a stadium' are to be 
 seen ; and in the case of Poly- 
 carp, wild beasts were used in 
 the stadium at Smyrna. (4) That 
 the young men at Ephesus were 
 famous for their bull-fights. 
 
 Artemidor. i. 9 (Wetstein). (5) 
 That iv 'E(j>€(T(o seems a forced 
 expression, if the allusion is 
 merely to opponents generally. 
 
 On the whole, however, the 
 metaphor is most likely. It may, 
 in connexion with Ephesus, 
 have been suggested partly by 
 the above-mentioned bull-fights, 
 partly by the speech of Herac- 
 litus, in which he called ' the 
 Ephesians ' by this very name of 
 'beasts' (Orjpta). This would 
 be in accordance with the vein 
 of classical quotation opened in 
 the next verse. 
 
 Whatever be the danger, it 
 must be the same of which he 
 speaks in Rom. xvi. 4 (?) ; 2 
 Cor. i. 8 ; Acts xx. 19. 
 
 The legend of his battle with 
 wild beasts (Niceph. H. E. ii. 
 25) was probably founded on 
 this passage. 
 
 32 €t vcKpol OVK iycLpovTai, es- 
 pecially if the second interpreta- 
 tion of Kara dvOpurTrov be right, is 
 best joined with the following. 
 'Let us eat,' &c., is taken from 
 Isaiah xxii. 13 (LXX.), but pro* 
 bably meant to allude to the 
 Gentile forms of Epicureanism of 
 which Horace is the well-known 
 representative. (See Wetstein, 
 ad loc.) 
 
 2,^ He checks himself in this 
 half -ironical strain, and solemnly 
 warns them against the heathen 
 contaminations by which they 
 were surrounded ; though still 
 drawing his imagery and Ian- 
 
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 
 
 309 
 
 KaKai. ^^ eKvy)\\jOLTe OLKaio)<;, /cat (jltj afiapraueTe' ayvco- 
 aCav yap 6eov rii^es €)(ovaLV. irpos it^Tponrjp vplv ^kakco. 
 
 • \4yci). 
 
 munications corrupt good manners.' ^^ Awake to righteousness, and sin 
 not ; for some have not the knowledge of God. To your shame I apeak 
 this. 
 
 gnage from the heathen world. 
 ' Be not deceived ' is the common 
 formula of warning against sen- 
 sual sins ; see vi. 9. 
 
 <^6upov(Tiv rjOy) XPW^^ 6/xtAtai 
 Ka/cat. This Iambic verse is 
 Menander's quoted from the Thais 
 proverb, of Menander (see Me- 
 nand. Fragra. Meineke, p. 75), 
 although Clem. Alex. (Strom, i. 
 14, 59) calls it a tragic Iambic ; 
 and Socrates (H. E. iii. 16) 
 quotes it as proving that St. Paul 
 read Euripides. It shows the 
 Apostle's acquaintance with hea- 
 then literature, and, to a certain 
 extent, his sanction of it ; as in 
 his quotation from Aratusin Acts 
 xvii. 28, and Epimenides in Tit. 
 i. 1 2. Menander was famous for 
 ' the elegance with which he 
 threw into the form of single 
 verses or short sectences, the 
 maxims of that practical wisdom 
 in the affairs of common life, 
 which forms so important a fea- 
 ture in the new comedy. Antho- 
 logies of such sentences were 
 compiled by the ancient gram- 
 marians from Menander's works, 
 of which there is still extant a 
 collection of several hundred 
 lines, under the name of Fi/w/xat 
 fxovoa-TLyoL.' (Smith's Diet, of 
 Classical Biography, p. 1033.) 
 
 The maxim is aimed against 
 the seductive effect of language 
 such as that which he has just 
 quoted, and each word is em- 
 
 phatic. — ' Character (r/Orj) may 
 be undermined by talk (6/AtXtat) : 
 Honesty (xpw''^) ^^7 ^® under- 
 mined by roguery (Ka/cat).' 
 
 The form ^p^yo-Ta, which occurs 
 in A B.D.F.F.G.J.K. and all the 
 MSS., seems to show that it had 
 lost its character as a verse, and 
 become a proverb. The reading 
 Xprj(rO\ although retained from 
 tiie Received Text by Lachmann, 
 has no authority, and is pro- 
 bably an alteration to suit the 
 metre. 
 
 34 €KV7j{J/aT€ 8t/cat(09. Alluding 
 still to the revelry and evil con- 
 versations in verses 32, 33, Le 
 says : ' Wake up from your 
 drunken orgies.' For this spe- 
 cial sense oi iKv^cjioi, see Gen. ix. 
 24 ; 1 Sam. xxv. 37 ; Joel i. 5 
 (LXX.). For this sense of 
 SiKaLojq (^=a;crT6 St/catoD? ett'at), 
 see the annotations on aTrtcrrajs 
 in Thucyd. i. 21. 
 
 Koi fxrj afxapTdv€T€ seems to 
 have a double sense, tirst, as 
 merely explaining 8t/<aiw9, but, 
 secondly, as expressing that this 
 waking was to be a true wake- 
 fulness, a knowledge not like the 
 boasted knowledge of the false 
 teachers, but one without sin 
 (compare Eph. iv. 26). Hence 
 the expression dyvwcrtW yap. 
 
 ' Some,' i.e. the same as in 
 verse 12. ' I speak to your 
 shame ' (as in vi. 5). 
 
310 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XV, 12—34. 
 
 If, then, you all acknowledge that the revival of Christ from the 
 grave is the one great subject of our message concerning Him, 
 how can there be found any of your number so inconsistent as 
 to deny a resurrection from death ? If there be no such thing 
 as resurrection from death, then even the revival of Christ 
 has not taken place ; and of this the consequence would be, 
 that our message and your faith would be alike unmeaning: 
 Our message, because we are then convicted, not only of falser 
 hood, but almost of blasphemy, in having ascribed to God, in 
 the revival of Christ, an act which, if there be no resurrec- 
 tion, is impossible : Your faith, because, if Christ was never 
 revived from the grave, then the pledge of your revival from 
 the death of sin is lost; you, ivho are still alive, are still 
 under the dominion of sin; those who have already died in 
 the hope of sharing His life are lost and perished. With a 
 prospect like this, with a hope in Christ belonging only to this 
 life, and never to be realised, no human lot could he more 
 pitiable than ours. But this is not so ; Christ has been 
 revived from the grave, and that not for Himself only, but as 
 the first of the long succession of those who have fallen asleep 
 in death. Death prevailed in the world through man ; as we 
 read, that in the person of the first man, Adam, the sentence 
 of death was pronounced on all. In like manner, through 
 man also is to be the resurrection from death, inasmuch as in 
 the person of the Second Man, the anointed Messiah, the 
 pledge ivas given of future life to all. None shall be ex- 
 cluded; all shall rise ; all shall be delivered from the power 
 of death. First, is Christ Himself; then, His true followers 
 at the moment of His return. Then will be the end of all 
 things, when our relations to Christ shall be lost in our rela- 
 tions to Him who is supreme above all. But that end shall 
 not be, till Christ has put down every power, however mighty, 
 ichich now sways the destinies of the world. He shall continue 
 His reign till, in the words of the Psalm, 'all enemies shall be 
 subdued under His feet; ^ all enemies, and amongst them the 
 last and greatest. Death himself. Yet, however highly Christ 
 is exalted as the Lord ivho sits on the right hand of God, as 
 
THE APOSTLE'S HOPE OP IMMORTALITY. 311 
 
 the Son of man who is crowned with ^lory and honour, there 
 is yet a higher sphere beyond ; and when His work is over, 
 He Himself will retire from the victorious contest, and God 
 shall he the One pervading principle of the universe. Such is 
 the full length of the prospect opened to us hy the revival of 
 Christ ; else, indeed, we should he, as I said before, objects of 
 the deepest commiseration ; all our strongest feelings, all our 
 most active labours, would have been without an object. What 
 would then be the meaning of those who, in their affection for 
 their departed friends, are baptized for them, and for them 
 undergo the responsibilities and hardships of a Christianas 
 life ? What would be the meaning, in our own case, of our 
 hourly exposure to danger and death ? It is no exaggeration. 
 1 protest to you, by that which is dearest to me in the world, — 
 my pride in you my converts which I have in Him in whose 
 name 1 suffer, — I protest to you, that I am daily on the verge 
 of the grave. And, to take the most recent instance, if I had 
 rested only on human hopes when I fought the other day at 
 Ephesus as if with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, what 
 would have been my gain ? No : if there he no resurrection, 
 we must speak in the language, not of those high spirits who, 
 even in the heathen world, despised all danger in the hope of 
 immortality, but rather of those Epicurean sensiialists, whose 
 very words have been anticipated by the prophet Isaiah : * Let 
 us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.^ Be not deceived by 
 the sensual arguments, ivhich really prompt this denial of the 
 resurrection. Even the heathen proverb warns you that good 
 characters are not proof against the contamination of evil 
 words. Wake from your drunken revelry to a sense of duty ; 
 for there are those among you who know nothing of God and 
 His povier. To your shame be it spoken. 
 
 The Apostle's Hope of Immortality. 
 
 The preceding argument is the earliest and greatest instance 
 of the Christian argument for a future life. It is to Argument 
 the New Testament what the Phaedo of Plato and the for a fu- 
 Tusculan Disputations of Cicero are to the heathen ^^^ ^ ^' 
 philosophy. The belief in a future life is elsewhere urged. 
 
312 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 assumed, implied ; but here alone we are able to trace tbe new- 
 elements which the Apostle regards as carrying fresh convic- 
 tion to his Greek converts, and to himself as a Pharisee. The 
 belief itself was familiar to both ; but it is here asserted on 
 grounds which, both to Gentile and to Pharisee, were alike 
 unknown before. 
 
 The whole argument, though branching out in various 
 grounded f'^^™^, resolves itself into the belief of one fact — 
 on the Re- the resurrection (or, as the Apostle here calls it, the 
 of Chriir ^^*'^'^^0 of Christ. For, first, he appeals to this ge- 
 neral belief as justifying the possibility of a belief in 
 a general resurrection : ' If the dead are not raised, then is 
 Christ not raised.' One instance of a victory over death is 
 enough to prove that it is not intrinsically absurd. And, 
 secondly, he regards it as an instance which proves not only 
 the possibility, but the necessity of such an issue for the human 
 race : 'Christ is the first fruits of the dead.' He, the Messiah, 
 opens a new era in the history of the world ; He goes before, 
 and all others necessarily follow. And thirdly, on the belief 
 in Christ and on Christ's resurrection, the Apostle has staked 
 everything. If it is to lead to nothing further than this storm 
 and tumult and strife, in which an Apostle's life is of necessity 
 passed, then the greatest hopes that ever were raised will be 
 disappointed ; the greatest energies that ever were exerted will 
 have been employed in vain. 
 
 Such is the substance of the argument when divested of its 
 peculiar form and of its digressions. Philosophical arguments 
 there are none, beyond what Cicero had already stated,^ when he 
 argued that, but for the instinct of immortality, no one would 
 be so mad as to spend his life in toils and dangers. Theological 
 arguments there are none, beyond what may be found in Rab- 
 binical treatises,^ which in outward form expressed the belief 
 that the Messiah would come at the end of all things, and that 
 God would then swallow up Death. But there is a life and 
 force here breathed through them all, which makes us feel that, 
 whereas they were before like the dry bones of the prophet, 
 they now ' live, and stand on their feet, an exceeding great 
 army.' The Apostle's argument is in fact, though not in form, 
 the same as that of our Lord to the Sadducees : ' God is not a 
 God of the dead, but of the living.' ' If He called Himself 
 
 1 Tusc. Disp. i. 15. ^ See Wetstein on xv. 24, 54. 
 
THE APOSTLFS HOPE OF IMMOETALITY. 313 
 
 the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then those whom He 
 brought into so close a connexion with Himself must partake 
 of His life.' So here St. Paul argues that so great an event 
 as the resurrection of Christ cannot end in nothing ; the faith 
 which has been built upon it, the converts that have been won 
 by it, the hopes that have been raised upon it, the new epoch 
 that has been begun with it, must extend beyond the grave, 
 even to the utmost limits of human imagination. He does not 
 say, * We are miserable now, and therefore must be compen- 
 sated by a reward hereafter ; ' but, * We shall be miserable noio, 
 if our faith is not a substance, but a delusion ; and it will be a 
 delusion, unless our life reaches into the next world, as Christ's 
 life has reached.' He does not say, * The Messiah is to come ; 
 and then, in order to fill up His glory and show His power, the 
 dead shall rise ; ' but, ' The Messiah has come ; already in this 
 life is the beginning of another ; the succession of resurrections 
 is now opened, which shall not be closed till all be completed.' 
 In this, as in almost all the Apostolical teaching, the whole 
 strength and impulse of the argument are derived from the 
 fervour with which the Apostle embraced the thought of 
 Christ's appearance and work on earth. As logical or rheto- 
 rical arguments, his reasonings may be such as were already 
 in existence, or such as may appear to us inconclusive ; but as 
 consequences from the acknowledgment of the grandeur (if one 
 may so say) of the event which had transfixed and absorbed hia 
 whole imagination and being, they are irresistible. They may 
 fail of themselves in persuading us of a future state, but they 
 cannot fail in persuading us of his intense conviction of the 
 reality of Christ's resurrection ; and not of its reality only, but 
 of its supreme importance as a turning-point in the destinies of 
 the human race. And in proportion as this is impressed upon 
 ourselves, in that proportion will our belief in a future state be 
 as unshaken as his ; and this Chapter be used, as it always has 
 been used, for the consolation and hope of all mourners. 
 
314 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 35-43. 
 
 The Mode of the Resurrection. 
 
 ^^'^XX' epet 719 Ucos iyetpovTat ol veKpoi ; ttolq) Se crw/xart 
 ep^ovTai; aippoiv, crv o aTreipeiSy ov C,o)07roLeiTaL, eav 
 fjLrj aTToddvr)* ^^ kol o crTretpet?, ov to acopia to yemjcropevov 
 cr7r€tp€i9, dXXa yvpvov kokkov^ el tv)(ol, ctltov rj tlvo^ tcjv 
 XolTTCov* ^^6 Se 0eo^ ^SlScoctlv avTCo crcopa Ka0(os 'qOeXrjcrev^ 
 
 * "Acppov. ^ avTif 5iSw<ri. 
 
 ^5 But some one will say, ' How are the dead raised up ? and with what 
 body do they come?' ^'^Fool ! that which thou sowest is not quickened, 
 except it die ; ^^ and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body 
 that will be, but bare grain, it may be of wheat, or of some of the other 
 kinds of grain ; ^^but God giveth it a body as He willed, and to each of 
 
 35 The Resurrection itself 
 having been thus maintained, the 
 Apostle proceeds to answer ques- 
 tions, which arose from a too 
 literal and material conception of 
 it. This he does by pointing out 
 the greatness of the change 
 necessarily effected by death, and 
 the consequent impossibility of 
 transferring our notions of this 
 life unaltered to that which is to 
 come. 
 
 cyctpovrat, epxovrai^ ' are to be 
 raised, are to come.' 
 
 o-(o/xaTt. Throughout this pas- 
 sage, the corresponding modern 
 notions would be better conveyed 
 not by the word ' body,' but 
 ' organisation,' or ' framework.' 
 
 36-38 The first analogy used 
 by the Apostle is that of corn, 
 which is an instance, not merely 
 of existence being preserved in 
 spite of change, but of change 
 being absolutely necessary for its 
 perfection. Comp. John xii. 24. 
 
 36 a<f>po}v, ' Fool ! ' This ex- 
 pression, as elsewhere in the New 
 Testament (see especially Luke 
 xi. 40, xii. 20), indicates a 
 
 stronger moral condemnation 
 than would be pronounced on a 
 mere scrupulous inquirer, and is 
 in favour, therefore, of taking 
 the harsher view of these ob- 
 jectors. 
 
 cru. ' Thou' is emphatic here, 
 as if saying, ' Learn by thine 
 own experience ; ' — ' the very 
 seed which thou thyself sowest ; ' 
 — ' even in the case of ordinary 
 human sowing.' 
 
 37 €1 Tvxoij ' perhaps ; ' see xiv. 
 10. 
 
 Twv Xoi^roiv, i.e. o-Tre/Sjaartov. 
 
 rjOeX-qa-ev, ' as He willed,' refers 
 back to the original act of crea- 
 tion. The present operations of 
 nature are not the result of ac- 
 cident, but of one original Divine 
 law. 
 
 38 CAcao-Tw Twv o-TTcp/xarcuv lSlov 
 (To)/JLa. Comp. Gen. i. 11. 
 
 The second analogy is sug- 
 gested by the last words of the 
 preceding one. As each seed 
 has its own peculiar type, so each 
 order of creation has its separate 
 composition: and hence, from 
 the endless variety of organisa- 
 
THE MODE OF THE EESURRECTION. 
 
 315 
 
 /cat eKacTTcp rwv crnepfjiarcov lOiov crcojjia. " ov iracra crapg 
 r) avTT) crdp^, aWa dWrj fxev ^ dvOpcoTrcov^ dXKrj 8e crdp^ 
 KTTjvcov, ^dWrj §€ [crapf] ttttjvcop, dWr) Se l^dvoiv, ^^ koX 
 crw/xara eTTOvpavia^ /cat crcofiaTa iiriy eia* dWd irepa ^ fxev 
 rj T(x)v iiTovpavLOJV 8dfa, irepa Se rj tcov i.7nyeio)v. ^^dXXrj 
 Sofa r)\LOV^ /cat dWrj Sofa crek-qi'rjSf /cat dXkr} Sofa dcrTe- 
 pcov darTTjp ydp dcrrepos Siacfyepeu iv So^r). ^^^ovto)<; /cat rf 
 dvdcTTaorLS T(xiv veKp(x)v. cnreiperai iv (j)6opa, iyeiperai iv 
 d(l)6ap(jia* ^^ cnreiperai iv drt/xta, eyetperat ev So^rj' crTret- 
 
 ■ rh tSiov. ^ Add <rhp^. « ftAArj 5^ ix^ww, ^A.A?j Se irr-nvuiv. 
 
 * The hiatus in MS, C. which began in XIII. 8. ends at [/*€»/ ^ twj/. 
 
 the seeds its own body. '^All flesh is not the same flesh : but there is 
 one of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of birds, and another 
 of fishes. ^^ There are also heavenly bodies, and bodies terrestrial : 
 but the glory of the heavenly is one, and that of the terrestrial is another. 
 "^^ There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and 
 another glory of the stars : for star difiereth from star in glory. ^'^ So 
 also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised 
 in incorruption : ^^it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory : it is 
 
 tions in things seen, he argues 
 the possibility of a new organisa- 
 tion yet lo be disclosed hereafter. 
 
 39 KTrjvwv, * quadrupeds; ' pro- 
 perly, ' beasts of burden.' 
 
 40 (Tw/xara cTrovpavta. In the 
 first instance he means the 
 angels ; with the ' glory ' (8o^a) 
 of the light, which is described 
 as attending their appearance 
 (comp. Matt, xxviii. 3; Acts 
 xii. 7). But he passes to the 
 wider sense which includes the 
 stars, according to the modern 
 phrase, ' heavenly bodies,' or as 
 in the contrast drawn by Galen 
 (De Usu Part. 17, 6, in Wetstein 
 ad loc.) between to, avco crw/xara 
 (expressly meaning thereby the 
 sun, moon, and stars) and to, 
 yry'tVa crwfJLaTa. And the word 
 ' glory ' especially leads him to 
 dwell on this new analogy, as 
 illustrated by the variety of the 
 celestial phenomena themselves. 
 
 41 'I say not star, but stars ; 
 for even in them there is a 
 
 difference.' The object of the 
 clause is (not to indicate a dif- 
 ference between the future con- 
 ditions of the blessed, but) to 
 give a new instance of the end- 
 less subdivision of variety in this 
 world. 
 
 42 He now applies these ana- 
 logies to the resurrection. There 
 is no word which can be precisely 
 selected as the nominative to 
 o-TTcipcrat and cycipcrat. The sense 
 requires a-w/>ta : the construction, 
 -^ avda-Taa-Ls. This indeterminate 
 meaning is best rendered 'There 
 is a sowing,' ' there is a raising.' 
 Throughout this parallel, the 
 image of the verb is taken 
 from the seed ; the image of the 
 substantives, from the variety of 
 visible organisations. Compare 
 the whole passage with 2 Cor. 
 V. 1, 2, and Phil. iii. 21 : 'Who 
 shall change our vile body (to 
 (Tiiiixa Trj<; raTretvcoo-eoj? r][xiov^ into 
 the likeness of His glorious body 
 (t(3 (Tw/Aart TTJs So^s avrov). 
 
316 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 44—49. 
 
 perai €v acrueveia, eyeiperai €v ovvafJueL' cnreipeTat orcofxa 
 i/zu^t/cdi^, iyeiperai crai/xa TTvevixariKov, *et icrTiv crcofxa 
 xfjv^LKOVf^icTTLV KOL TTvevfJiaTLKOP. '^^ ovTcos KOI yiypaiTT ai' 
 Eyivero 6 Trpcoro^ [^dvOpcjiros^ ^ASoljx eU xpv^rjv i^cjcrav^ 6 
 ecrp^aros '-4Sa/x eis irvevpia ^coottolovp, ^^ dXh! ov iTpwTou 
 
 • Omit el. ^ KoX ea-riv ccofxa wevfi. 
 
 sown, in weakness, it is raised in strength : ^^it is sown a natural body, it 
 is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a 
 spiritual. "^^And so it is written, ' The first man Adam was made a living 
 Boul;' the last Adam a quickening spirit. ^^Howbeit that was not 
 
 44 * A natural body ' (o-w/xa 
 xfruxiKov) is, as the name implies 
 (not simply a dead corpse, but) 
 'a body animated by the prin- 
 ciple of animal life ; ' according 
 to the threefold division of human 
 nature (1 Thess. v. 23) taken by 
 St. Paul, partly from the Aristo- 
 telian phraseology, partly from 
 the new ideas of Christianity. 
 
 The * spiritual body ' (crw/Aa 
 TrvevfiariKov) is the organisation 
 animated by the Divine life 
 breathed into it from the Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 €t eaTLV (Twfxa x^-^ikov, tcrriv koI 
 TTvevfjLaTLKov. He argues that, if 
 there is a lower stage, there will 
 also be a higher stage. 
 
 45 The contrast is suggested 
 and confirmed by the words of 
 Gen. ii. 7 (LXX.), which is 
 quoted literally, with the addition 
 of the words Trpwros and 'A8a/x. 
 The quotation is made for the 
 sake of the implied contrast, 
 which, to the Apostle's mind, 
 followed from the already exist- 
 ing Rabbinical doctrine, that 
 Christ was the second Adam. 
 ' The last Adam is the Messiah.' 
 (Neve Shalom ix. 9, Schottgen 
 ad loc.) The contrast between 
 the ' quickening spirit ' (jrvcv^a 
 ^(ooTTotow) of the Second Adam, 
 
 and the * living soul ' (^vxri 
 
 ^(OO-a) of the first, may The Second 
 
 have been suggested by Adam. 
 the Rabbinical distinction drawn 
 between the words in Gen. ii. 7 : 
 ' The Lord breathed into Adam, 
 the breath of life ' {irvoriv ^co^s), 
 and ' he became a living soul ' 
 (^vxr}v ^oicrav) ; as though the 
 first were a higher life imparted 
 to man from above, and the 
 second a lower animal life which 
 he acquired by his fall. ' " And 
 God breathed the breath of life." 
 See what man is to do, to whom 
 God gave a holy soul, that He 
 might give him the life of the 
 world to come. But he, by his 
 sins, turned himself to the animal 
 soul of brutes.' Jalkath Raboni, 
 fol. 17, 1. ' It is not written, 
 " He made man a living soul," 
 but "Man became a living soul." 
 Man of himself turned to the life 
 of creatures taken from the earth, 
 and left the life created above, 
 w^hich gave life to its possessor. 
 Rabbi Tarchum said, " Let us 
 return to that which at first 
 dwelt in us." ' (Schottgen on 
 1 Cor. ii. 13, 14) 
 
 TTvevfia t,o}07roLovv, i.e. * not 
 merely a soul alive in itself, but 
 a spirit which gives life to 
 others.' Compare John v. 21, 
 vi. 63, xi. 25, xiv. 6. 
 
THE MODE OF THE EESUREECTION. 
 
 317 
 
 TO TTvevfxaTLKov^ aXka to xlfvx^LKov, eneLTa to irvevfJiaTLKOv. 
 ^^6 7rpa)T0<; dv9pco7TO<s iK yrjs ^o't/co9, 6 SevT€po<; avOpcoirof;'^ 
 eg ovpavov. °oto9 o ^ot/cos, tolovtol /cat ol ^ot/coL, /cai olo<s 
 o ewovpavLos, tolovtol Acat oi eirovpavLOL* ^/cai Kaucos €(po- 
 picrap.ev tyjv CLKova tov yoLKOv^ ^ (popeacofxev kol ttjv elKOPa 
 
 » Add 6 Kvpios. 
 
 (popeffofjiev. 
 
 first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that 
 which is spiritual. ^^The first man is from the earth, * earthy: the 
 second man is from heaven. "^^As is the earthy, such are also the earthy: 
 and as is the heavenly, such are also the heavenly. "^'And as we bore 
 the image of the earthy, let us bear also the image of the heavenly. 
 » Or. of the dust. 
 
 46, 47 oAA' ov Trponov to ttvcv- 
 fxaTLKov. ' But the spiritual body 
 is not the first ; ' in allusion to the 
 first and second Adam, as en- 
 larged upon in verse 47. Earthy 
 (xotKos), more properly ' of dust,' 
 i.e. as described in Gen. ii. 7, 
 ypvv Xaftwv oltto tyJ<s yrj^. 
 
 'From Heaven' (i$ ovpavov). 
 Althoup^h this need not imply 
 more than our Lord's Divine 
 origin generally, as in John iii. 
 13, yet the precision of the 
 contrast seems to point to some- 
 thing more particular, as e.g. 
 His miraculous birth or the 
 heavenly form assumed by Him 
 since His resurrection. Philo 
 (De AUeg. Leg. i. 12, 13 ; Mund. 
 Opif. c. 46) explains the two 
 accounts of the creation in the 
 first and second chapters of 
 Genesis, as referring to the double 
 creation, first of the heavenly 
 (ovpdvLo<s) or ideal man, then of 
 the earthly (y^tVo?) man. From 
 these passages, or from a common 
 source, the expressions may have 
 come to the Apostle. The dif- 
 ference consists : (1) in the in- 
 terpretation of the 'heavenly 
 man,' not in an ideal sense, but 
 as exemplified in Christ ; (2) in 
 the fact, that Philo's interpreta- 
 
 tion, which makes the heavenly 
 precede the earthly, is based on 
 the two passages Gen. i. 27, ii. 
 7 ; whereas the Apostle's in- 
 terpretation, which makes the 
 earthly precede the heavenly, is 
 based on the two clauses of Gen. 
 ii. 7. ^ 
 
 47 6 KvpLo^ (A. D^. J. K., omit- 
 ted in B. C. D'. E. F. G.) is pro- 
 bably an interpolation. It wag, 
 as Tertullian asserts (in Marc, 
 ii. 10), substituted by Marcion 
 here for avOp(07ro<s, as in verse 45 
 for 'A8a/A, to support his notion, 
 that the human body of Christ 
 was brought with Him from 
 heaven ; and then, having been 
 thus incorporated in the text, 
 it was turned by Chrysostom 
 against the supporters of this 
 very opinion in the fourth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 48 ' The earthy ' (ol xot/coi), 
 = men in their mortal state ; 
 ' the heavenly ' (ol iTrovpdvLoi) , 
 = Christians after the resur- 
 rection. 
 
 49 The mere contemplation of 
 Christ ought to transform us into 
 His likeness not only hereafter 
 but now. See 2 Cor. iii. ] 8, iv. 
 11 ; Rom. viii. 29 ; Phil. iii. 21 ; 
 1 John iii. 2. 
 
318 
 
 riRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 50—62. 
 
 Tov eirovpaviov. ^^tovto Se (j^yjfJi'i, dSeXc^ot, ort crapf koL 
 at/xa /SacnkeLav Seov KXrjpovofxrjo-aL ov BvvavTaL, ovhe rj 
 (fiOopa T7)v 0L(j)6apcrLav ^ Kk^qpovoixTjcrei. ^^l^ov jjLvaTrjpLOV 
 vplv Xeyo). 7rdvre<; [/i-ei^] ^ KOLixTjdrjcrofjieOa^ ov noivTes 8e 
 
 ' KKripovofieT. ^ fx.hv ov Koifx. iravres 5k aWay. See note. 
 
 ^°Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the 
 kingdom of God, neither shall corruption inherit incorriiption. ^^ Behold 
 I tell you a mystery. We shall all sleep, but we shall not all be changed, 
 
 nrt 
 
 <f)ope(Toifi€v in A. C. D. E. F. 
 G. J. K. Vulgate and Fathers 
 has so great a preponderance of 
 authority over cfiopia-oixev in B. 
 that in spite of the hortatory 
 character which has no con- 
 nexion with the context, it must 
 be preferred. The wish to re- 
 tain the narrative character of 
 the passage, as well as the like- 
 ness of sound between the two 
 words according to the later 
 pronunciation of Greek, may 
 account for the confusion. He 
 blends together (as in Rom. vi. 
 5) the change of death with the 
 change of conversion — ' as before 
 our baptism we bore (e^opeVa/xcv) 
 the likeness of mortality, so now 
 let us bear the likeness of 
 Christ.' 
 
 50, 5 1 He winds up the whole 
 argument by a solemn conclu- 
 sion. 'But this I say ' (tovto 
 8e <f>y]jJ^t) is his mode of calling 
 attention to an emphatic warn- 
 ing, as in vii. 29 : ' Whatever 
 may be the speculations concern- 
 The ing the resurrection, 
 
 Change. q^^^ whatever the an- 
 swer to them, this is certain, 
 that human nature with its sin- 
 ful infirmities (o-ap^ koL at/xa, as 
 in Matt. xvi. 17) cannot inheiit 
 the kingdom of God ' (com- 
 pare vi. 10) ; the human body, 
 if it is to rise again, ninst be 
 entirely changed. 
 
 tSov jJLvcrTi^pLOV vfuv Aeyo). 
 
 ' Behold — look my words full 
 in the face — they contain a 
 truth, which we are slow to 
 recognise, but which is true 
 notwithstanding.' ixva-rypiov is 
 used here as in ii. 7, Eph. iii. 
 3-5, for what was once hid, but 
 now revealed to and by him. It 
 may be doubted whether the 
 expression refers to the par- 
 ticular description which follows, 
 of the change of those who will 
 be alive at Christ's coming ; or 
 to the statement, immediately 
 preceding, of the general change 
 needed for all. In favour of the 
 more particular reference, is the 
 parallel passage in 1 Thess. iv. 
 15, 'This we say unto jou. by 
 the word of the Lord.' In favour 
 of the more general reference is 
 the solemn declaration already 
 made — ' This I say,' in verse 
 50, and the fact that in si- 
 milar expressions elsewhere, the 
 Apostle usually refers rather to 
 his preceding than to his suc- 
 ceeding words. 
 
 Of all the various readings 
 of this perplexed passage that of 
 the Received Text as contained 
 in B. D3. E. J. K. is the best, 
 TravTCs fih/ (B. om. /xkv) ov KOi/xrj- 
 Orjcrofjiida. Travre? 8e oAAayT^cro- 
 /ji€6a, ' We shall all of us, not 
 die, but be changed ; ' i.e. 
 ' AUhough it is by no means 
 certain that all of us (i.e. myself 
 and the Corinthians) shall die, 
 
THE MODE OF THE KESUEEECTION. 
 
 319 
 
 dXXay^cro/xe^a, ^^ip OLTOfxa)^ iv pnrrj 6(j)9a\fjiov, ev rfj l<T\drri 
 adkiTLyyL' craXTrtcrei yctp, /cat ol veKpol ^ avacrTricrovTai 
 
 • iyepO-fiffoVTai. 
 
 ^"^ in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the 
 trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise incorruptible, and we shall 
 
 yet it is certain that we shall all 
 of us be changed.' The passage 
 is personal to himself and his 
 readers, and is written under the 
 same expectation as that which 
 appears in the parallel passage of 
 1 Thess. iv. 15-17, and in the 
 expressions of vii. 29, and Phil, 
 iv. 5, that the end of all things 
 would take place within that 
 generation. 
 
 KOL/jLacrOaL is not precisely 
 identical with ciTro^vrJo-Keiv, al- 
 though often used as equivalent 
 to it ; expressing rather the sleep 
 consequent on death, than the 
 act itself of dying. The words 
 therefore do not assert the posi- 
 tive immunity of the last sur- 
 vivors from the death which he 
 had spoken of in verse 22, as the 
 common lot of all mankind, but 
 rather that the act of dissolution 
 or death will take place at once 
 and in the moment of their 
 change. 
 
 The other readings, ttcivtcs (ol 
 TrdvTe^, A.) /xev (ftcv ovv, F. G.) 
 KOi/MrjOrjcroixeOa, ov (ot, A.) 7ravr€5 
 8c aXXayyjcrofjieOa A. C. F. G. Lach- 
 mann), or Travres />tcv avaa-rqcro- 
 jxeOa ov TravTC? Se aXXayrjaofieOa 
 (D^ and Vulgate), either contra- 
 dict tlie context, or require aX- 
 Xayyja-ofjLeOa to be taken in two 
 different senses ; and the follow- 
 ing clause, €v drofjuo, k.t.X., which 
 applies to an affirmative state- 
 ment, like aXXayrjcroixeOa, does 
 not apply to a negative state- 
 ment, like ovK aXXayrjaoixeOa. 
 The defence of the Beceived 
 
 Text is given at great length 
 and with great fairness by 
 Estius. Similar variations are 
 to be found in the MSS. of 
 clause 38 of the Athanasian 
 Creed. The Received Text 
 expresses the particular truth 
 present to the Apostle's mind, in 
 reference to himself and his 
 hearers. The two other classes 
 of readings probably ventured 
 on the correction from a wish 
 to express the abstract truth, 
 without any such reference. 
 
 5 2 cv oLTo/jut), K.T.X. ' We, the 
 living, shall be changfed, and it 
 will be in an undivided point of 
 time, by a process not like the 
 slow corruption and decay of 
 death, but sudden, rapid, divine.' 
 iv rrj l<r')(a.Trj araXiruYyi. The 
 stress is not on the gradual 
 solemnity, but on the abruptness 
 of the change ; therefore the last 
 trumpet is not the last of the 
 seven with which, according to 
 the E-abbis, the resurrection was 
 accompanied, but the trumpet 
 which shall sound then for the 
 last time, having before sounded 
 on all the great manifestations of 
 judgment. (Ex. xix. 16 ; Ps. 
 xlvii. 5 ; Zech. ix. 14 ; Isa. xxvii. 
 13.) For the trumpet at the last 
 day see 1 Thess. iv. 16 ; Matt, 
 xxiv. 31, and the seven trumpets 
 in Rev. viii.-xi. 
 
 o-aATTto-ei, sc. 6 craXTTLKTrjs. It is 
 (not ' the trumpet shall sound,' 
 but) * he ' (i.e. ' he whose office 
 it is ') ' shall sound the trumpet.' 
 Comp. Herod, ii. 47, iir^av dvay. 
 
320 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 53—55. 
 
 d(j)0apToi, Kol r)fJieL<; aXkayrjo-ofJLeOa. ^^ Bet yap to ^Oaprov 
 TOVTO ivSvaacrOaL d(j)OapcrLav kol to OviqTov tovto ivSvcra- 
 crOaL dOavaoriav. ^^oTav he to <^9apTov tovto ivSvcrrjTaL 
 d(f)Oap(Tiap Koi to Optjtov tovto ivhva-qTai ddavacFLav, t6t€ 
 yevijaeTaL 6 Xdyos 6 yeypa/x/xeVo?, KaTeiroOr] 6 6dvaTo<s ets 
 
 be changed. ^^For this corruptible must be clothed in incorruption, and 
 this mortal must be clothed in immortality. ^^But when this corruptible 
 shall be clothed in incorruption and this mortal shall have been clothed 
 in immortality, then shall be brought to pass the word that is written, 
 
 So in some MSS. of the Vulgate, 
 ' canet enim.' o-aATrtoret is bar- 
 barous Greek for o-aA.7rty^ci. 
 
 Kttt is a Hebraism, ' at the mo- 
 ment of the trumpet's sound, this 
 shall be,' as in the wording of Ps. 
 civ. 29, 30, 32. The two subse- 
 quent clauses may be either: 
 (1) united, as both depending on 
 o-oATTtcrct, ' At the moment of the 
 trumpet's sound, the dead shall 
 be raised and the living shall be 
 changed ; ' or, (2) the first clause 
 may be united with o-aXTrto-ct, and 
 the second made dependent on it, 
 * At the moment of the resurrec- 
 tion of the dead which shall take 
 place at the trumpet's sound, the 
 living shall be changed.' This 
 last agrees more naturally with 
 the whole context, which calls 
 attention, not so much to the re- 
 surrection of the dead, as to the 
 change of the living adduced in 
 illustration of it. 
 
 ^/xci?, i.e. 'we the living ' = 
 Tyyucts 01 TTcptXctTTo/xevoi, 1 Thcss. 
 iv. 15, in opposition to the dead 
 just mentioned. 
 
 53 Set yap, k.t.X. ' We, the 
 living, shall be changed, because 
 our corruptible bodies must be- 
 come incorruptible, like the dead 
 who are raised incorruptible, and 
 our mortal bodies must assume 
 the immortality which saves them 
 from the necessity of that death 
 
 which in this life they will have 
 escaped.' 
 
 54 The singular number, and 
 the demonstrative pronoun, to 
 fjiOapTov T ovr o^ and to Ovrjrov 
 TOVTO, both indicate that he is 
 speaking in the first person, and 
 points to his own actual body, 
 ' This corruptible, this mortal 
 frame, with which I am invested.' 
 Compare at x^^P^'^ ai;Tat, ' these 
 hands of mine,' Acts xx. 34 ; 
 this 'body of death,' Rom. vii. 
 24 ; 'in this ' habitation ' we 
 groan,' 2 Cor. v. 2. For the 
 general image of longing for a 
 new and heavenly clothing (evSv- 
 a-ao-Oat), see 2 Cor. v. 2, 3 ; Phil, 
 iii. 21. 
 
 54, 55 The argument closes 
 in a burst of almost poetical fer- 
 vour (as in the corresponding pas- 
 sage, Rom. viii. 31). Although 
 connected with the subject on 
 which he had just been speak- 
 ing, viz. the transformation of 
 himself and of those who might 
 be expected themselves to live 
 till the last day, yet it applies 
 more or less directly to the whole 
 preceding Section : ' When this 
 last and final change shall have 
 been effected, when the last ves- 
 tiges of corruption and death 
 shall have passed away in the 
 last survivors of the human race, 
 then it may truly be said that 
 
THE MODE OF THE KESUERECTION. 321 
 
 VLKO<;. ^^Uov crov^ Odvarey ''to vIko^ ; ttov (Tov^ ^ Odvare^ 
 
 ' rb Kevrpov ; ^ o[5tj. 
 
 * Death is swallowed up in victory.' ^^ Where, death, is thy victory ? 
 
 death has ceased to exist ; then 
 shall be fulfilled (for this sense of 
 y€v^(r€Tat, see Matt. v. 18) the 
 word which has been written 
 long ago ' (6 A.oyos 6 yeypafi- 
 /w,€vos) . 
 
 This passage (like the quota- 
 tions in i. 19, 20, ii. 9 ; Rom. iii. 
 10, ix. 25, 26 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16- 
 18; 1 Pet. ii. 6-10; Mark i. 
 2, 3) is made up of two distinct 
 passages in the Old Testament, 
 Isa. XXV. 8, Hosea xiii. 14, con- 
 nected together, partly by the ge- 
 neral subject, partly by the word 
 vtK09. In the first, the Apostle 
 almost entirely adheres to the 
 Hebrew text, and departs from 
 the LXX. ; in the latter, almost 
 entirely adheres to the LXX. 
 and departs from the Hebrew. 
 (I) Isa. XXV. 8 in its first ap- 
 plication refers to the 
 deliverance of Israel 
 (apparently from Sen- 
 nacherib), and the re- 
 maining part of the passage 
 (' the Lord God will wipe away 
 tears from off all faces ') is, in 
 Rev. xxi. 4, applied, as the for- 
 mer part here, to the destruction 
 of Death. It is rendered by the 
 LXX. KareTTtev 6 OdvaTO's io-;(V(ras, 
 * Death was strong and swal- 
 lowed up.' This version, which 
 is against the whole tenor of the 
 context, is not noticed here, and 
 KareTToOrf 6 OdvaTO<s cts vtKO?, 
 ' Death was swallowed up in 
 victory,' is an accurate transla- 
 tion of the original words y?5 
 nv^^ ri5»n, 'He will -destroy 
 death for ever,' except that, (1) 
 y ?? is taken passively, ' is swal- 
 
 ' Death 
 swallowed 
 lip in 
 victory.' 
 
 lowed up,' for ' He will swal- 
 low up.' (2) y^5 is taken for 
 'swallow up,' instead of the 
 more general meaning of ' de- 
 stroy ; ' a variation occasioned 
 by the frequent use of KaraTrtVeiv 
 in this sense by the LXX. ; and 
 in this place it suits better with 
 €i<s vtK09, ' swallowed into vic- 
 tory.' The Rabbis also said, ' In 
 the days of the Messiah, God will 
 swallow up death ' (Wet stein ad 
 he). (3) nV.^? means 'altoge- 
 ther,' and this is the conven- 
 tional sense borne by the words 
 €ts vt/cos, whenever they are em- 
 ployed by the LXX. to translate 
 it. But St. Paul takes it not in 
 this conventional sense of ' altoge- 
 ther,' but literally 'into victory,' 
 and thus makes it the link of 
 connexion between this and the 
 passage from Hosea xiii. 14. 
 That he should use the expres- 
 sion at all, is a proof that in this 
 quotation, one of the very few 
 which approximates more to the 
 Hebrew than to the LXX., he 
 still has in his mind not a He- 
 brew, but a Greek text — probably 
 from some other version or read- 
 ing than that contained in our 
 present LXX. 
 
 (II) The quotation from Ho- 
 sea xiii. 14, which in its origi- 
 nal sense applies to the deliver- 
 ance of the northern kingdom of 
 Israel from its troubles, is in the 
 Hebrew ^2^15 \l^ n).]p ^ni"] M8< 
 SiN^, ' I will be thy plagues, 6 
 Death ; I will be thy destruction, 
 grave.' 
 
 The LXX. Version is ttov tj 
 BiKT} aov, 6dvaT€j ttov to Kevrpov 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 FIKST EPISTLE: CHAP. XV. 56—58. 
 
 ''to Kevrpov ; ^^to be K^vrpov rov davarov r) a/za/OTta, rj oe 
 
 * rh v7kos. 
 "Where, O death, is thy sting? ^^But the sting of death is sin, and the 
 
 a-ov aSr), ' where is thy judgment, 
 O death ? where is thy goad, 
 grave ? ' ttov arises from n*i5» 
 * where ? ' having been read for 
 *nfr?, ' I will be ; ' a change si- 
 milar to that made also by the 
 LXX. translators in verse 10 of 
 the same chapter. StKiy, 'judg- 
 ment,' is founded on the mean- 
 ing which D''")3'l sometimes bears 
 of ' lawsuits,' as in Ex. xviii. 
 16, xxiv. 14. K€VTpov,=' goad,' 
 as in Prov. xxvi. 3 (LXX.), 
 appears to be founded on an 
 attempt to go back to the root of 
 lipp, viz. ntOj^, 'to cut,' Kivrpov 
 being in like manner the sub- 
 stantive derived from kcvt^Iv. 
 •The sting From this text the 
 of Death.' Apostle makes several 
 variations : (1) Instead of hiK-q, 
 he appears to have read vU-q, 
 which is altered further into 
 vLKos, for the sake of bringing it 
 into closer connexion with vt/cos 
 in the preceding quotation from 
 Isaiah. This gives a different 
 turn to the whole passage. It is 
 still used by him to express 
 generally the overthrow of Death, 
 but that overthrow is now de- 
 scribed, not as in the Hebrew 
 and LXX. as a punishment in- 
 flicted on Death, but as the an- 
 nihilation of his power. Hence 
 result further variations. (2) 
 <Tov is changed from a subordi- 
 nate to a principal place in the 
 sentence, as if the sense were, 
 * Where is thy victory, the vic- 
 tory on which thou wast wont 
 to pride thyself? ' (3) Kevrpov, 
 instead of meaning the 'goad,' I 
 or ' stroke of God's wrath ' on I 
 
 Death, now means the weapon 
 borne hy Death. (4) In conse- 
 quence of this strong personifica- 
 tion, Odvare is substituted for 
 aSy in all the best MSS. AK B. 
 C. D. E. E. G. and in the Latin 
 Versions (A^ omits the first 
 clause, TTOv crov, Odvare, to vlkos ;), 
 whereas aSiy only occurs in A^. 
 J. K., evidently to suit the pas- 
 sage in the LXX. This agrees 
 with the usage of St. Paul, who 
 never employs the -word aSr}?, but 
 frequently personifies Death as 
 an active living power (xv. 26 ; 
 Rom. vii. 24). (5) According to 
 B. C. the order of the two clauses 
 is inverted ; ' victory ' and ' the 
 sting ' changing the places given 
 in the LXX. version of Hos. 
 xiii. 14. This variation (which, 
 as in the case of aSrj, is altered 
 back in A2. D. E'. F. G. J. K. 
 to suit the LXX.) was probably 
 made to bring together, as nearly 
 as possible, the two words v2ko<s 
 which connect the quotations. 
 
 56 It is diflBcult to determine 
 whether death is here repre- 
 sented as a monster armed with 
 a sti7ig (like the scorpions of Rev. 
 ix. 10), or, more probably, as a 
 person bearing a goad (Acts ix. 
 5) to annoy the world. In either 
 case. Sin is the weapon with 
 which Death inflicts his wound, 
 and the Law is the element which 
 gives poison to the sting, or force 
 to the blow. The difficult— to 
 modern readers almost inexplic- 
 able, thought of the connexion 
 of Sin w^ith the Law is here ex- 
 pressed for the first time in the 
 Apostle's writings; and is the 
 
THE MODE OF THE KESUERECTION. 
 
 323 
 
 hlhoVTl rjfliV TO vIkOS StCt TOV KVpLOV TJlJiCOV 'irjaOV XpLCTTOV. 
 
 ^^a)(Tre^ dSeX^ot jllou dyaTnyrot, khpaioi yiveaOe, d/xera- 
 KLVTjTOL, wepLcrcrevovref; iv tco epyco tov Kvpiov Trdi^roTC, 
 eiSdres on 6 fcoTTO? vfjicov ovk ecmv Kevo^ ev Kvpio). 
 
 strength of sin the law ; ^^but thanks be to God, whogiveth us the victory 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ. ^* Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye 
 steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras- 
 much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 
 
 germ of what is afterwards fully 
 developed in Rom. v. 12-21, vii. 
 7-24. The natural overflow of 
 the sentence into this thought 
 shows its familiarity to his mind. 
 It is as if he could not mention 
 Sin, without adding that ' the 
 strength of sin is the law.* 
 
 For a similar extension of the 
 argument to thoughts not neces- 
 sarily connected with it, but in- 
 troduced from their close asso- 
 ciation with his whole frame of 
 thinking and writing, compare 
 i. 30, iii. 23, xi. 3. 
 
 57 At the thought that Death, 
 and with Death the two enemies 
 Sin and the Law, with which he 
 himself had so long struggled, 
 were now overcome, he breaks 
 forth into an abrupt thanksgiv- 
 ing, in which the argument ia 
 finally dissolved. Compare Rom. 
 vii. 25. 
 
 B. D^ read i/ciko? for vIko's, in 
 all three places, and are followed 
 by Jerome on Hos. xiii. ; Tertull. 
 De Res. Carn. 51, 54; Cyprian 
 ad Quir. iii. who read ' in conten- 
 tione,' or 'm contentionem.^ The 
 change, by likeness of pronunci- 
 
 ation, was easy from vt/co? to vct- 
 Kos, and the substitution of vetKos 
 for SiKT) in the LXX. would then 
 be more natural. But it is more 
 probable that the reading vct/cos 
 arose from a misreading of vt/co?, 
 and the sense, especially of verse 
 57, agrees better with vlkos, 
 which is the usual form in later 
 Greek for vlkt}. There is the 
 same confusion of readings be- 
 tween vcLKos and vlkos in Hos. 
 X. 11 ; Jer. iii. 5 ; Amos i. 11 
 (see Estius). 
 
 58 The sudden subsidence of 
 so impassioned a strain of tri- 
 umph, into so sober a conclu- 
 sion, is a remarkable instance of 
 the practical character of the 
 New Testament teaching. The 
 expressions eSpaiot, d/xcTaKti/ryrot, 
 
 OVK t(TTLV K€VOS €V KVpLlO, all haVO 
 
 special reference to the resur- 
 rection, and to the doubts con- 
 cerning it. The last words, 
 ' abounding in the work of the 
 Lord,' 'your labour in the 
 Lord,' may refer to the homely 
 duty which forms the substance 
 of his subsequent remarks in the 
 following chapter. 
 
 T 2 
 
324 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XV. 35—58. 
 
 It may he said, however, that though the revival of the dead is 
 in itself possible and probable, yet there are difficulties attend- 
 ing the manner of it. To all such foolish questions there is a 
 ready answer : 
 
 I. From the analogies of nature. 
 
 (1) The change from seed into corn shows how life may be 
 attained only through the medium of death, and hoiv identity 
 may be preserved, in spite of a total change of form. 
 
 (2) The variety of organisation, both in the animal and 
 material creation, is an instance of the vast extent to which 
 new combinations of organisation can be carried, and shows 
 the possibility of such combinations in the spiritual world, 
 
 far beyond our present conceptions. 
 
 II. From the nature of the case. 
 
 (1) We know the different principle of natural life in the 
 First Man, or parent of the old order of creation, and of 
 spiritual life in Christ, the Second Man, as the parent of the 
 new order of creation. This leads us to expect, not an identity, 
 but a change of organisation when that new order is fully 
 accomplished. 
 
 (2) However hard to conceive, however long unknown, yet 
 the truth is certain^ that change, and not continuance, is the 
 mode by which we shall pass into the spiritual world. Even 
 those of us who are still alive at the coming of the Lord, though 
 escaping the sleep of death with its dissolution and decay, will 
 not escape a change. It will be sudden and instantaneous, 
 butittoillbe complete; this mortal frame will avoid the actual 
 stroke of mortality, and be clothed with its immortal vestment. 
 Then will be fulfilled the ancient song of exultation over Death, 
 he will be lost in victory — his victory will be transferred to 2is 
 — he and his weapon Sin {that weapon ivhich owes its edge to 
 our old enemy the Law) will be destroyed, through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ; and this victory comes to us from God Himself . 
 Therefore remain unmoved by fear or doubt ; be active in the 
 work of your Master, looking forward to the completion and 
 reward of your labours as certain. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF A FUTUEE STATE. 325 
 
 The Apostle's View of a Future State. 
 
 This passage exemplifies the soberness of the Apostle's view 
 of a future life. He enters into no details, he appeals change, 
 to two arguments only ; first, the endless variety of °°^ 9°°' 
 
 1 1 1 1 Ti 1 PI tmuity, to 
 
 the natural world ; secondly, the power ot the new ^e expect- 
 life introduced by Christ. These two together fur- ed ; 
 nish him with the hope that out of God's infinite goodness and 
 power, as shown in nature and in grace, life will spring out of 
 death, and new forms of being wholly unknown to us here 
 wall fit us for the spiritual world hereafter. On one point 
 only he gives a distinct and solemn assurance, namely, that 
 change, and not identity of form, was the lot which awaited all ; 
 not only those who were already dead, but those who might be 
 still living when the end came. So firmly was the first gene- 
 ration of Christians possessed with the expectation of living to 
 see the Second Coming, that it is here assumed as a matter of 
 course ; and their fate, as near and immediate, is used to illus- 
 trate the darker and more mysterious subject of the fate of 
 those already departed. That vision of * the last man,' which 
 now seems so remote as to live only in poetic fiction, was, to 
 the Apostle, an awful reality ; and is brought forward to express 
 the certainty that, even here, a change must take place ; the 
 greatest that imagination can conceive. The last of the human 
 race will have passed away ; but in that moment of final disso- 
 lution, the only thought that is present to the Apostle's mind 
 is not death, but life and victory. The time was approaching, 
 as it seemed, when, in the words of a modern author, ' not the 
 individual only, but the species of man would be transferred to 
 the list of extinct forms,' and all the generations of men would 
 be ' gone, lost, hushed in the stillness of a mightier death than 
 had hitherto been thought of.' To us the end of the w^orld, 
 though indefinitely postponed, is a familiar idea ; then it was 
 new in itself, and its coming was expected to be immediate. 
 As in the trial of his individual faith and patience,^ it was 
 revealed to him that ' Christ's grace was suflacient for him ; ' so 
 also in this trial, which appeared to await the whole existing 
 
 1 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9. 
 
326 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 generation of men, it was also declared to him ^in a' revealed 
 ' mystery,' that in that great change ' God would give them 
 the victory ' over death and the grave, ' through Jesus Christ.' 
 The question with which the passage opens, and which in 
 later times has often been asked again with elaborate minute- 
 ness, ' How are the dead raised up, and with what body do 
 they come ? ' is met with the stern reproof, ' Fool ! ' The 
 doctrine of ' the resurrection of the body ' is a phrase which 
 does not occur in the New Testament, and which, so far as it is 
 here touched upon, is rather repudiated than asserted. He re- 
 cognizes the fact that the difficulties which have been raised 
 respecting a future life are mostly occasioned by the futile 
 endeavour to form a more distinct conception of it than in our 
 mortal state is possible. The inquiry which he answers is like 
 that of the Sadducees, ^ In the resurrection whose wife shall she 
 be of the seven ? ' and the spirit of his reply is the same as that of 
 our Lord, ' In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given 
 in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. . . . God 
 is not the God of the dead, but of the living.' All that the 
 and jden- Apostle directly asserts is that, whatever be the form 
 tity of be- of existence after death, it will be wholly different 
 change of f^om the present, and that the infinite variety of nature 
 form. renders such an expectation not only possible, but 
 
 probable. His more positive belief or hope on this subject 
 must be sought in 2 Cor. v. 1-6. But from the two passages 
 combined, and from such expressions as Rom. viii. 23, ' the 
 redemption of our body ; ' Rom. viii. 11, ^ He that raised up 
 Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies ; ' 
 Phil. iii. 21, ' Who shall change our vile body, that it may be 
 fashioned like unto His glorious body ; ' thus much may be 
 inferred ; — that the Apostle's idea of a future state is not fully 
 expressed by a mere abstract belief in the immortality of the 
 soul, but requires a redemption and restoration of the whole 
 man. According to the ancient creed of Paganism, expressed 
 in the well-known lines at the commencement of the Iliad, the 
 souls of departed heroes did indeed survive death ; but these 
 souls were not themselves ; they were the mere shades or ghosts 
 of what had been; ^ themselves ' were the bodies left to be 
 devoured by dogs and vultures. The Apostle's teaching, on 
 the other hand, is always that, amidst whatever change, it is 
 the very man himself that is preserved ; and, if for the pre- 
 servation of this identity any outward organisation is required. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OE A FUTURE STATE. 327 
 
 then, although ' flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of 
 heaven,' God from the infinite treasure house of the new- 
 heavens and new earth will furnish that organisation, as He 
 has already furnished it to the several stages of creation in the 
 present order of the world. ' If God so clothe the grass of 
 the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 shall He not much rather clothe you, O ye of little faith.' 
 ' Ye do err, not knowing . . . the power of God.' 
 
328 FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
 THE CONCLUSIOX. 
 
 Chap. XVI. 1—24. 
 
 The conclusion of this Epistle, as of that to the Romans, 
 Ephesians, Colossians, and the Second to Timotheus, is taken 
 up with matters more or less personal and secular. Of these 
 The Col- ^^^ fii'st is the collection amongst the Gentile 
 lection for Churches for the poorer Christians in Judaea. From 
 Chrfstkns whatever cause, there was at this period much poverty 
 of Pales- in Palestine, compared with the other Eastern pro- 
 vinces of the Roman Empire. The chief allusions 
 contained in the Apostolical Epistles to the duties of the rich 
 towards the poor, are those which we find in connexion with 
 the contribution here mentioned, and in the Epistle of St. 
 James (ii. 1-6, v. 1-6), and that to the Hebrews (xiii. 16;, 
 both addressed, if not to Judaea, at least to Jewish commu- 
 nities. And with this agrees the great stress laid in the 
 Gospels on the duty of almsgiving. We learn also from the 
 account of the last struggle for independence in Josephus, how 
 deeply the feelings of the poor were embittered against the 
 rich in Jerusalem, so as to give to the intestine factions of that 
 time something of the character of a social war. 
 
 This was in part occasioned by the greater density of 
 population in Palestine, compared with the thinly inhabited 
 tracts of Greece and Asia Minor; in part by the strongly 
 marked distinction of rich and poor, which had been handed 
 down to the Jews from the earlier periods of their history, 
 where we are familiar with it from the denunciations of Isaiah, 
 Jeremiah, and Nehemiah. The Christians, besides, were, as a 
 general rule, from the poorer classes (James ii. 5), and would 
 be subject to persecutions . and difficulties on account of their 
 religion (Heb. x. 34). From the mention of the poor as a 
 distinct class in the Christian Church, in Acts xi. 29 ; Gal ii. 10, 
 and in the passages relating to the contribution now in question, 
 it would seem that the community of property at Jerusalem must 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 329 
 
 have either declined or failed of its object ; and may have even 
 contributed to occasion the great poverty which we thus find 
 prevailing in the period of twenty or thirty years after its 
 first mention. So pressing was the necessity at the time when 
 St. Paul first parted from the Church of Jerusalem, that an 
 express stipulation was made in behalf of this very point 
 (Gal. ii. 10). ^ To remember the poor ' was the one link by 
 which the Apostle of the Gentiles was still bound to the 
 Churches of Judaea. This pledge was given, probably, before 
 his second journey. But it was not till his third and last 
 journey, that the preparations were made for the great contri- 
 bution of which he now speaks. From this passage, confirmed 
 indirectly by Gal. ii. 10, vi. 10, it would appear that he had 
 first given orders for the collection in the Churches of Galatia. 
 From 2 Cor. viii. 10, ix. 2, it also appears, that the orders 
 here given to the Corinthians had been received by them a 
 year before the time of the Second Epistle, and therefore some 
 months before this Epistle. 
 
 At this time, he liad not quite determined whether to 
 take it to Jerusalem himself; possibly he had the intention of 
 going at once to the West, and even afterwards when he had 
 left Ephesus and reached Macedonia (2 Cor. viii. ix.), he was 
 still doubtful whether the Corinthian collection would be 
 suflBciently large for his purpose. But by the time that he 
 had actually arrived at Corinth, his exhortations in this and 
 in the Second Epistle had raised the desired sum ; and in 
 writing from thence to Rome, he announced his intention of 
 taking it at once to Jerusalem (Rom. xv. 25, 26); an intention 
 which he fulfilled during his last visit (Acts xxiv. 17). See 
 further the notes on 2 Cor. viii. and ix. 
 
330 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE : CHAP. XVI. 1—5. 
 
 XVI. ^Ilepl Se Trj<s Xoytag ttJ? eU rous dytous bicrirep 
 Scerafa rat? e/c/cXTycrtats r^g PaXaria?, ovrw? /cai u/xet? 
 TTOiTjcraTe. ^ /caret /xta^' ^cra/BfiaTov eKacTTOS iffMcov nap' 
 
 ■ (rafiPdrtcv. 
 
 XVI. ^Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I appointed to 
 the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. ^ Upon the first day of the week 
 
 1 \oyLa=(Tv\X6yr} in classical 
 Greek (see Wetstein for the 
 The col. word), in the Vulgate 
 lection. « collecta.' The word 
 ' collecta ' is used for the assem- 
 blies in which the collections took 
 place, as in Jerome's story (ad 
 Gal. vi.) of the last words of St. 
 John, which were uttered ' per 
 singulas coUectas.' 
 
 ets, ' for the benefit of.' 
 SteVa^a, ' I gave orders when I 
 was there.' 
 
 rats €KKXy]crLaL's T7J<; VaXaria^, 
 i.e. ' the Churches of the several 
 cities or villages of Galatia.' 
 This arrangement must have 
 been made in the journey, de- 
 scribed in Acts xviii. 23, as is 
 confirmed by the allusion which, 
 in his Epistle to the Galatians 
 (ii, 10), he makes to such a con- 
 tribution . Ben gel : — * Galatarum 
 exemplum Corinthiis, Corinthio- 
 rum exemplum Macedonibus, 
 Macedonum et Corinthiorum ex- 
 emplum Romanis proponit. 2 
 Cor. ix. 2 ; Rom. xv. 26. Magna 
 exemplorum vis.' 
 
 2 Kara /ziav (rajSftdTOv. * On 
 every first day of the week.' /xta 
 •The first ^f^^[^o.Tov is a literal 
 
 day of the translation of the He- 
 week, brew phrase, 'one of 
 the sabbath, two of the sabbath,' 
 &c. i.e. one after the sabbath, 
 two after the sabbath. (See 
 
 Lightfoot on Matt, xxviii. 1.) So 
 rjfxipa fxLa ~ ' the first day,' Gen. 
 i. 5. This is the earliest mention 
 of the observance of the first day 
 of the week. The collections 
 were to be made on that day, as 
 most suited to the remembrance 
 of their Christian obligations. 
 And from this verse, or from the 
 practice implied by it, has been 
 derived the custom, still con- 
 tinued in almost all Christian 
 Churches, of offerings for the 
 poor on Sundays, or at least at 
 the times of the Holy Communion. 
 It is to be observed, however, 
 that there is nothing to prove 
 public assemblies, • inasmuch as 
 the phrase Trap' cavrw (' by him- 
 self, at his own house ') implies 
 that the collection was to be 
 made individually and in private. 
 This is confirmed by the exhor- 
 tation, in allusion to the same 
 subject, in 2 Cor. ix. 7 : ' Let 
 each man give as he has deter- 
 mined in his heart, not grudgingly 
 or of necessity : for God loveth 
 a cheerful giver.' The word 
 Oya-avpiCoiv, 'hoarding,' or 'trea- 
 suring up,' also implies that the 
 money was to remain in each in- 
 dividual's house till the Apostle 
 came for it. 
 
 o TL av cvoSojTat, 'as he may 
 have prospered '=Ka^(os euTro- 
 pctTo Ti9, Acts xi. 29, and KaOd 
 iav exVy '^ ^^r. viii. 12. Properly 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 331 
 
 iavrS TiOeTOi Oiqcravpit^oiv o tl av euoSwrat, Iva /xt/, oTav 
 eXOo), t6t€ \oyiai yivcxiVTai. ^orav Se TrapayeVco/xai, ou? 
 ^av SoKLjJid(TrjTe, Sl eTrio'Tokcov rovrov^ Treixxjjo) OLTreveyKeiv 
 rrjv -^dpLV vfjuatv eU ^lepova-aXijfJL' ^idv Se ^ d^Lov rj tov 
 KOLfjie TTOpevecrdaii avv ifxol nopevcrovTai. ^ikevcrofxai 8e 
 Trpos v/xas, OTav MaKeSovCav Siekdco* MaKeSovCav yap 
 
 • idv. " ikv 5c ^ &^iov. 
 
 let each one of you lay by him in store, as it hath prospered him, that 
 there be no gatherings when I come. ^And when I am with you, whom- 
 soever ye shall approve, them will I send by letters, to bring your gift * 
 unto Jerusalem. '^And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with 
 me. ^Now I will come unto you, when I have passed through Macedonia: 
 
 • (tt. grace. 
 
 it signifies ' having a good jour- 
 ney,' as in Rom. i. 10. 
 
 t6t€ . . . ytVcovrat, * be going on 
 at the time when I come, and 
 when I ought to be occupied 
 with higher matters.' 
 
 3 0V5 av SoKi/xdcrrp-e. The Co- 
 rinthians themselves were to 
 choose their agents, probably to 
 prevent the possibility of misap- 
 propriation, as others had been 
 chosen for a like purpose by the 
 other Churches. See 2 Cor. viii. 
 18-20. 
 
 8t' cTTio-roXcov. The plural is 
 used, because there are several 
 persons. The word is probably 
 to be taken with irifXAJ/ui. Com- 
 pare orvcTTaTtKwi/ €7ri(rToA.o>i/, 2 Cor. 
 iii. 1. 
 
 ;^apt9 is used for the contribu- 
 tion here as in 2 Cor. viii. 4. 
 
 4 cai/ 8e a^tov rj, * if it be 
 worth my journey.' This ex- 
 pression of doubt shows that he 
 did not settle his final plan 
 (Rom. XV. 28-32) till his arrival 
 at Corinth. 
 
 5-9 The second point, to 
 which the mention of the collec- 
 tions naturally brings him, is his 
 journey to Corinth ; and here he 
 has to announce that his earlier 
 
 His plan. 
 
 plan, which he had communicated 
 to them previously, was now 
 altered. This plan had 
 been (as we learn from 
 2 Cor. i. 16) to cross over the 
 ^gBBan from Ephesus to Corinth, 
 to go thence through Greece to 
 Macedonia, and then to return 
 for a second visit to Corinth : 
 whereas now he determines to 
 pass first through Macedonia, 
 and make one visit only at Co- 
 rinth at the end of his Grecian 
 journey. This alteration was 
 made (2 Cor. i. 23) in conse- 
 quence of the tidings brought to 
 him of the disorders in the Co- 
 rinthian Church, that he might 
 leave time for his First Epistle 
 to have its due effect, before he 
 interposed with them personally. 
 The chano^e, as we see from 2 
 Cor. i. 17-23, X. 2, gave occa- 
 sion for much misapprehension, 
 the correction of which is one 
 object of the Second Epistle. 
 
 5 MttKeSoviW yap 8L€p)(0fJiai. 
 ' I say, " when I have passed 
 through Macedonia, "/or it is now 
 my intention to do so, instead of 
 coming to you at once.' 8tep;j(o- 
 fjLai, ' I am to pass.' 
 
 He omits here the usual phrase 
 
332 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XVI. 6—10. 
 
 fidcra), Iva vfiei^ fxe TrpoTrefJixprjTe ov iav Tropevcj/Jiai. 'ou 
 OeXo) yap vfia<; apri iv TrapoSco ISeiv' iXiritfi^ ^yap xpovou 
 TLva iTTifxeivai irpos vfJ.as, iav 6 Kvpios ^iTTLTpexpr). ^ iiri^ 
 
 Se for 7a/). 
 
 eTTirpiTrr}. 
 
 for I am to pass through Macedonia, ^ and it may be that I will abide, 
 yea and winter with you, that ye may send me on whithersoever I go. 
 ' For I will not now see you by the way ; for I trust to tarry a while with 
 you, if the Lord will permit. ^Bufc I will tarry at Ephesus until Pente- 
 
 * if the Lord -will,' which shows 
 that even in that early age the 
 forms of religious speech and 
 feeling were not universally fixed. 
 Afterwards, in verse 7, he adds 
 it : here he uses thfe ordinary 
 expression tv^oV, 'as it may 
 happen.' 
 
 As he was still at Ephesus, 
 Siepxo/JLai is to be taken in the 
 future sense, common in the New 
 Testament ; — not ' I am pass- 
 ing,' but ' I am to pass.' 
 
 6 Trapa^et/xacrw. ' 1 will stay 
 with you through the winter' 
 (i.e. ' till the navigation of the 
 ^gaean is again open, so as to 
 enable me to sail for Syria'). 
 This intention, of which he here 
 expresses some doubt, he ful- 
 filled, so far as to pass the three 
 later months of the year in Sou- 
 thern Greece (Acts xx. 3), leav- 
 ing it in the spring of the follow- 
 ing year, as appears from the 
 mention of Easter in Acts xx. 6. 
 It might be inferred from this 
 passage (oi; iav 7ropcvco/xat), as 
 from verse 3, that he was un- 
 certain at this time whether he 
 should go eastward or westward 
 from Corinth. 
 
 Lva v/xets. ' I remain with you 
 in order that you, and no other 
 Church, may have the pleasure 
 of helping me forward.' He is 
 addressing himself to the feeling 
 
 so often touched in the Second 
 Epistle. 
 
 TrpoTrifnlrrjTc. This is the re- 
 ceived phrase for ' helping for- 
 ward on a journey or mission.' 
 See Acts xv. 3, xx. 38, xxi. 6 ; 
 Rom. XV. 24; 2 Cor. i. 16; Tit. 
 iii. 13 ; 3 John 6. 
 
 7 apTL, i.e. ' now according to 
 my present, as distinguished 
 from my late, intention.' 
 
 €1/ 7ra/3oSa), ' merely passing by 
 Corinth, on my way to Mace- 
 donia.' 
 
 eav 6 KvpLo<; iTriTpeifrr]. Compare 
 Heb. vi. 3 (iav iTnTpiirQ 6 ^eo?) ; 
 1 Cor. iv. 19 ; James iv. 15 (iav 
 6 Kvpto? 6fXrj(rrf). The former 
 phrase is somewhat stronger than 
 the latter, indicating not merely 
 permission, but giving the power 
 to do the thing desired. 
 
 8 CTTtjotevoi h\ iv 'E<^€o-a) cws r^s 
 TrcvTTyKoo-TT}?, ' I shall stay on at 
 Ephesus until the end of the 
 spring,' i.e. while the navigation 
 of the ^gsean is closed. For 
 the reluctance to make voyages 
 in the Mediterranean in winter, 
 compare Horace, Od. i. 4. 2, 
 where 'Trahuntque siccas ma- 
 chin se carinas,' is mentioned as 
 one of the signs of spring. 
 
 ' Pentecost ' is mentioned here, 
 merely as a mark of time, as 
 ' the Fast ' in Acts xxvii. 9. 
 
 This passage may be taken as 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 333 
 
 lJL€V(o Se iv 'E(j)€o-(p ecDS Trj<; TTevTrjKoo-rrj*;' ^ OvpcL yap [jlol 
 avicoyev fxeyoXt) koI ivepynj^;, kol avTiKeipLevoi ttoWol. 
 
 ^^^Eav Se ekOr) Ttju-o^eos, /SXeirere Iva d^d^a>9 yivr^rai 
 
 cost. *For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are 
 many adversaries. 
 
 ^° Now if Timotlieus come, see that he may be with you without fear : 
 
 a mark both of the place and 
 time of the writing of the Epistle. 
 cTn/xevio implies that he was now 
 at or near Ephesus, and the men- 
 tion of Pentecost implies that 
 it must have been a short time 
 before that season ; which thus 
 agrees with the apparent allusion 
 to Easter, as in v. 7, xv. 20. 
 
 9 Ovpa, ' opportunity.' Com- 
 pare 2 Cor. ii. 12 ; Col. iv. 3 ; 
 Acts xiv. 27. 
 
 di/eoryev is later Greek for dv- 
 
 CWKTat. 
 
 fxcyaXr) alludes to the extent 
 of his preaching; ivepyrjq, to its 
 effect ; the former word includ- 
 ing both the sign and the thing 
 signified in the metaphor, the 
 latter the thing signified only. 
 Two inducements for the Apostle 
 to stay, are a wide sphere and a 
 powerful opposition. Grotius : — 
 * Quod alios terruisset, Paulum 
 invitat.' He alludes, on the one 
 hand, to the spread of Christi- 
 anity in the neighbourhood of 
 Ephesus (Acts xix. 20), and on 
 the other hand, to the opposition 
 of Pagan (xix. 23) and of Jewish 
 (xix. 33, XX. 29) enemies. 
 
 IO-I2 The third point is the 
 explanation of the character and 
 conduct of his two friends, Timo- 
 theus and Apollos. Timotheus 
 had been sent from Ephesus to 
 Greece (A.cts xix. 22), though 
 from the expression there (eav 
 c\%) it seems that there was 
 some doubt whether he would 
 reach Corinth. The object of 
 
 his mission was (iv. 17) to re- 
 mind them of the Apostle's ex- 
 ample and teaching. Mission of 
 from which they were Timotheus. 
 in danger of deviating. But St. 
 Paul seems to have feared lest 
 his gentle and timid character 
 (both of which are hinted at as 
 impediments to his usefulness in 
 1 Tim. iv. 12 ; 2 Tim. i. 6, 7, ii. 
 1) should not command the re- 
 spect due to him. Hence this 
 exhortation. 
 
 a<{>6^(t)<s — ev elprjvrjf in allusion 
 to his timid character, iv elp-ijvr] 
 ^'incolumis,' safe and sound. 
 
 He also speaks of Timotheus 
 as an exact counterpart of him- 
 self, and as the one of all his 
 companions best able to enter 
 into his feelings. For this same 
 fact see iv. 17 ; Phil. ii. 20, 22. 
 
 ySXcTTCTc Lva. For the con- 
 struction com.pare 2 John 8. 
 
 TO yap epyov Kvptov, as in xv. 
 68 ; Pbil. ii. 30 (xpi<TTOv). 
 
 Trpo7ri/xif/aT€. See verse 6. 
 
 /xcra Tcov d8eA<^a»v. This may 
 refer to the companions of Timo- 
 theus, of whom one (Acts xix. 
 22) was Efastns ; but, from the 
 short manner in which the phrase 
 is introduced, he more probably 
 alludes to the persons of whom 
 he proceeds to speak in the next 
 verse. 
 
 Besides the mission of Timo- 
 theus to impress upon the Co- 
 rinthian Church the feelings of 
 the Apostle himself, a task for 
 which Timotheus, by his close 
 
334 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XVI. 11—14. 
 
 TTpos vfxaq' TO yap epyov Kvpiov epya^erau w? ^ Kayco. 
 ^^ fJiy] Tt5 ovv avTov l^ovOevqcrrj. TTpOTrefjixpaTe 8e avTov kv 
 elpyjinrj, Iva ekOrj Trpos ^ifxe' e/cSe^^o/xat yap avrov fxera 
 
 ^^IlepX Se ^AttoWo) tov dSeXc^ov, iroWa TrapeKokecra 
 avTov Iva "^Xdrj npo^ v/iag /i-era tcov aSeXffycov Kal 7rdvT(o<; 
 ovK rjv dikiqpia Iva vvv eXOrj, iXevoreTau Se orav evKaLpyjarj. 
 
 • Kal iydo. ^ irp6s fie. 
 
 for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. "Let no man there- 
 fore despise him : but send him on in peace, that he may come unto me : 
 for I wait for him with the brethren. 
 
 ^^As touching our brother ApoUos, I greatly exhorted him to come 
 unto you with the brethren : and his will was not at all to come at this 
 time ; but he will come when he shall have convenient time. 
 
 intimacy with St. Paul, was pe- 
 culiarly fitted, there was another 
 later mission despatched at the 
 time of his writing this Epistle, 
 with the view, partly of carrying 
 the Epistle and enforcing the 
 observance of its contents, partly 
 of urging upon the Church the 
 necessity of completing their 
 contributions before the Apostle's 
 arrival (2 Cor. viii. 6, xii. 18). 
 Mission of This mission was com- 
 Titus. posed of Titus and two 
 other ' brethren ' (2 Cor. viii. 18, 
 22, 23), whose names are not 
 mentioned ; Titus having been 
 chosen for this, as Timotheus for 
 the other, probably from his 
 greater energy and firmness of 
 character. That the mission 
 thus described is the one to 
 which he here alludes can hardly 
 be doubted. The words irapaKa- 
 Xftv and aSeX^ds are used in the 
 same emphatic and recognised 
 sense, in both passages ; and as 
 the mission there spoken of was 
 previous to his writing the Se- 
 cond Epistle, it can be referred 
 to no occasion so obvionsly as 
 that which is here described. 
 These accordingly are -the bre- 
 
 thren who would, as he expected, 
 find or wait for Timotheus at 
 Corinth, and return with him. 
 
 It would seem, however, that 
 the Apostle's original wish bad 
 been, that the head of this mis- 
 sion should have been, not Titus, 
 but Apollos. Apollos, since his 
 visit to Corinth (named in Acts 
 xviii. 27, and implied in this 
 Epistle, iii. 6), must have re- 
 turned to Ephesus ; and he, both 
 from the distinction which he 
 enjoyed in the opinion of his 
 fellow- Christians (i. 12, iv. 6; 
 Acts xviii. 25), and from his 
 previous acquaintance with the 
 Church of Corinth, would have 
 been the natural person to send 
 upon such a mission. The most 
 obvious explanation of his refusal 
 to comply with the Apostle's re- 
 quest, would be the fear lest his 
 presence should encourage the 
 faction which called itself by his 
 name, and which apparently was 
 the most powerful at this precise 
 time. It is a slight confirmation 
 of the identity of this mission 
 with that of Titus, that the only 
 later occasion on which the name 
 of Apollos occurs in the New 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 335 
 
 Kpajaiovcrde. ^* TrdvTOL vixcov iv aydirr) yivecrOo). 
 
 » Om. Kai. 
 
 ^^ Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, and be strong. 
 ^^ Let all your things be done with love. 
 
 Testament, is in the Epistle to 
 Titus (iii. 13), where they are 
 spoken of as living together. 
 
 13, 14 These verses had best 
 be regarded as a short summary 
 of the exhortation which he con- 
 ceives that both Timotheus and 
 Apollos would give them. The 
 words are expressive of a com- 
 bat : — 
 
 ypr]yop€LT€, * be watchful ; ' 
 ' have the eyes of your mind and 
 conscience open to all that is 
 going on around you : the enemy 
 is advancing; the last day (see 
 verse 22) is approaching : be on 
 your guard.' 
 
 (TT-qKiTe cv rfj 7rt(7T€t, ' stand 
 unshaken in your faith against 
 the enemy.' Compare xv. 58, 
 ' be ye steadfast, un moveable ; ' 
 and (more exactly) Eph. vi. 13, 
 14, ' stand, therefore, having 
 your loins girt about with truth ; ' 
 and 2 Cor. i. 24, ' by faith ye 
 stand.' 
 
 dv8pt^€(r^€, [Kttt] KparaLovaOe. 
 The two words occur frequently 
 together in the LXX. and form 
 one phrase, ' Nerve yourselves 
 for the contest.' See Ps. xxvii. 
 14; xxxi. 24; 1 Sam. iv. 9 ; 2 
 Sam. X. 12. 
 
 avSpL^€(T6e occurs often in clas- 
 sical writers ; Kparaiova-O^ never. 
 
 Kttt, which is found in A. D. 
 E. and the Versions, is omitted 
 in B. G. ; probably from an at- 
 tempt to reduce the whole sen- 
 tence to conformity, without 
 perceiving the conventional cha- 
 racter of the phrase. 
 
 14 iravTa v/xiov a/ ayaTnj 
 yiviaOtii. As the previous words 
 set forth the sterner, so these set 
 forth the gentler side of Chris- 
 tian duty with an allusion to the 
 Factions and to chap. xiii. Chry- 
 sostom well says: Xiyu Tprjyo- 
 
 p€LT€y 0)S Ka$€vS6vTU)V ' ^Tr/KCTe, 
 
 d)S araXevo/jLcvoiv ' 'AvSptlea-Oe kol 
 KparaLovaOe, oi's /xaXaKevovTioy'IIdv- 
 Ta iv dyoLTrrj, ws (TTa(TLa^6vT(ov. 
 
 15 Here the Epistle would 
 properly have ended ; but there 
 were still some remarks to be 
 made on individuals belonging 
 to the Corinthian Church itself. 
 There were now with the Apo- 
 stle three men recently come 
 from Corinth, possibly with the 
 letter of the Corinthians (viii. 
 
 1). 
 
 The * house of Stephanas,' in 
 verse 15, must be the « House of 
 same as that mentioned Stephanas.' 
 in i. 16, where it appears that 
 they were, not only the earliest 
 converts of St. Paul at Corinth, 
 but amongst the few who were 
 baptized with his own hands. 
 The Stephanas of verse 17 (as 
 implied in the words of verse 15, 
 and of i. 16,- which mention the 
 household, apparently in contra- 
 distinction to the master) was 
 probably one of the slaves of tbe 
 Stephanas of verse 15, andhad re- 
 ceived his name from his master. 
 The two remaining names are 
 also more like those of slaves 
 than of native Greeks. ' Eortuna- 
 tus ' occurs again in the Epistle 
 of Clement, as the name of the 
 
336 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XVI. 15—19. 
 
 ^^ UapaKakco Se u/ia9, dSeX(/)or otSare rr)v oiKiav Hre- 
 4>ava, OTL ecTTLV airapyrj Trj<; ^^ata? kol et? hiaKoviav tol^ 
 aytot9 €Tagav eavTOVs' lvol Kai v/xeis V7roTacrcr7)(rtf€ Toi<; 
 
 ^^Now I exhort you, brethren (ye know the house of Stephanas, 
 that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they appointed themselves to 
 the ministry of the saints), ^^that ye also appoint yourselves to be under 
 
 bearer of that Epistle to the 
 Church of Corinth, in company 
 with Valerius Bito and Claudius 
 Ephebus, apparently two Greek 
 freedraen enrolled in theValerian 
 and Claudian families. (Clem. 
 Ep. I. ad Cor. i. 59.) ' Achaicus ' 
 indicates either a Greek slave, 
 so called by his Roman masters, 
 or an Eastern slave, so called 
 from the land of his adoption. 
 Whether, however, the Apostle is 
 here speaking of one or of two 
 groups, it is certain that in both 
 cases he is speaking of Corinthian 
 Christians, to whose authority he 
 wishes to enforce obedience. The 
 ambiguity of the precise subject 
 of the sentence in some degree 
 affects its construction also : tva, 
 in verse 16, may depend either 
 on TrapaKoXu) or on otSare, i.e. 
 either (1) 'I exhort you to 
 obey,' &c. (comp. TrapeKoXovv . . . 
 iva . . . aif/uiVTai, Matt. xiv. 36, 
 and the use of vd, for Iva, in 
 Romaic), or (2) ' you know such 
 persons in order to,' &c. The 
 first is the best, in which case 
 the construction requires that 
 TrapaKoXC) should be the principal 
 verb in the sentence, and otSare 
 . . . iavTovs thrown in parenthe- 
 tically. A similar interruption 
 of a similar commencement, may 
 be seen in Eph. iv. 1. 
 
 oi8aT6 is indicative, there being 
 no instance of such a form in the 
 imperative. 
 
 OLTrapxq' ' Eirst fruits of the 
 harvest which was to follow.' 
 
 Compare Rom. xvi. 5, where 
 Epsenetus is called 'the first 
 fruits of Asia,' or according to 
 some MSS. ' of Achaia.' If the 
 latter, then he may have been one 
 of the household of Stephanas. 
 Possibly in this case the meta- 
 phor is coloured by the allusion 
 to the offering of the first fruits at 
 the passover (see note on xv. 20), 
 introduced in connexion with the 
 thought elsewhere (Rom. xv. 16) 
 expressed, that the Gentile con- 
 verts were the offering which he 
 presented to God. 
 
 15 'Axaias, i.e. * Southern 
 Greece.' 
 
 €ts SittKovtav T0t9 dyiot?. This, 
 viewed in connexion with verse 
 1, where rovs ay covs is also used 
 without any qualification, proba- 
 bly refers to the contribution for 
 the Christians in Judeea. 
 
 15 h-a^av kavTOv<i. The stress 
 is on eavTov?, ' appointed tliem- 
 selves,' i.e. ' of their own accord,' 
 in the first burst of zeal which 
 followed their conversion (comp. 
 the classical quotation in Wet- 
 stein). 
 
 16 Lva KOL v/aet9 VTrorda-crrja-Oe. 
 The emphatic v/xet? is in allnsion 
 to the play upon h-a^av and vtto- 
 TaGra-rjcrOe, and the sense is, ' You 
 know the zeal with which the 
 household of Stephanas appointed 
 themselves to their work. I ex- 
 hort you that you, for your part, 
 should appoint to yourselves the 
 task of obeying them.' 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 337 
 
 17. 
 
 T0L0VT0L<; /cat TTavTi TO) crvvepyovvTi Kai kottkovti. ^' yaipo) 
 Se cTTt TTj irapovcTLa Srecjiava kol ^ ^opjovvarov /cat ^^at- 
 /cov, ort TO ^vfJL€T€pov vcrT€pr)ixa ^ avTol aveTrkrjpoicrav' 
 
 iiTiyva}- 
 
 ^^ aveTTavaav yap to e/xoz/ rrvevp^a /cat to vfxwi/ 
 cr/cere ovv rovs rotourov?. 
 
 ^^ ^crTTa^oi/rat Vjitas at e/c/cAT^crtat rr^s ^<Tta5. acTTra- 
 
 • ^ovprovvdrov. 
 
 VflWV. 
 
 • OUTOi. 
 
 such, and under everyone that helpeth with them, and laboureth. "Now 
 I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus : for 
 that which was lacking on your part they supplied : ^^for they refreshed 
 my spirit and yours. Therefore acknowledge ye such. 
 
 ^^ The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you 
 
 Toi? Totovrot?, ' such as the 
 household of Stephanas.' 
 
 (TvvepyovvTi, ' That works with 
 them,* and the force of the a-vv is, 
 as it were, carried on to KOTrioivrL. 
 
 17 xatpo) Se. This is probably 
 a resumption of the previous 
 subject, as the conclusion ctti- 
 yvwcrK€T€ ovv Tovs TOLovTov<;, in 
 verse 18, seems like a final sum- 
 mary of verse 16, and it is after 
 St. Paul's custom to bring out a 
 point in which he is deeply inter- 
 ested a second time. 
 
 Trapovo-ta, * arrival.' 
 
 From this verse it may be in- 
 ferred that Stephanas, Fortu- 
 natus, and Achaicus, were now 
 at Ephesus ; nor is there any 
 proof that they carried back this 
 First Epistle, which, as implied 
 in verse 12, was probably sent 
 by Titus. 
 
 TO vfX€T€pov v(rT€pr)fxa avTol ave- 
 Tr\rjpiii(Tav. ' They in their own 
 persons supplied the void occa- 
 sioned by your absence from me.' 
 Compare Phil. ii. 30. 
 
 18 aviirava-av yap ro ifjuov 
 TTvevfia KoX TO vfxwv. * For they re- 
 freshed, reinvigorated my spirit, 
 and by a necessary consequence 
 of our sympathy, yours also.' It 
 is a concise expression of the 
 
 same consciousness of identity of 
 feelings and interests, which ex- 
 presses itself strongly in 2 Cor. 
 i. 3-7. For the words compare 
 dvaTreTravrat to 7rvev/xa avrov (i.e. 
 of Titus), 2 Cor. vii. 13. 
 
 €7nyv(i)(TKeT€, * acknowledge : ' 
 * recognise as your guides ; ' like 
 ciScVai, in 1 Thess. v. 12, and 
 jLvdio-Koi (as distinguished from 
 lirLCTTajxai) in Acts xix. 15 (or 
 from otSas) in John xxi. 17. 
 
 19-21 The salutations are 
 threefold : (1) Those from the 
 Churches of Asia (eV/cXryo-iat rJ}? 
 'Ao-ia?). Here, as in xvi. 1, the 
 plural is properly used to denote 
 the Christian congregations in 
 ihe several cities of proconsular 
 Asia, of which the chief are the 
 seven enumerated in the Apoca- 
 lypse, all situated within the 
 limits' of the Roman province 
 called ' Asia.' From this pas- 
 sage as well as from Rev. i. ii. 
 iii. and Col. iv. 16, it would seem 
 that they were all connected 
 with each other in the same 
 circle of Christian brotherhood. 
 
 (2) The salutation from the 
 congregation in the house of 
 Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila was 
 — like his namesake, the transla- 
 tor of the Old Testament — a 
 
338 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XVI. 20—23. 
 
 i^ovTaL v/xag iu Kvpico iroWa ^AKvXa^ kol ^ITptcr/ctXXa crvp 
 rfj Kar oXkov avTwv eKKkiqcria. '^^ aaTTdtpvTai v/i-o-s ol 
 aSeX^ot Travre^;, dcnrdcracrde dWn^Xov^ iv (j)iKri^aTi dyico. 
 
 ■ Lachm. Ed. 1. TipltrKa. 
 
 much in the Lord with the church that is in their house. ^^All the 
 brethren salute you. Salute ye one another with a holy kiss. ^^The 
 
 ' Livia ' and 
 and * Dru- 
 
 Jew, from Pontus. (Acts xviii. 
 Aqniia ^O His wifs is men- 
 and tioned so prominently 
 
 risci a. -wherever her husband's 
 name occurs — in four instances 
 (Acts xviii. 18, 26 (in some 
 MSS.) ; Kom. xvi. 3 ; 2 Tim. iv. 
 19) preceding it, — as to indicate 
 that she was distinctly known, 
 not merely in connexion with 
 him but on her own account al- 
 so. She is called Prisca in the 
 Epistles (Rom. xvi. 3 (except 
 in Rec. Text) ; 2 Tim. iv. 19), 
 and Priscilla in the Acts (xviii. 
 2, 18, 26); so 
 ' Livilla,' ' Drusa 
 silla,' are used for the same 
 person (see Wetstein on Romans 
 xvi.). In this place the name is 
 Prisca in B. Priscilla in C. D. G. 
 They accompanied St. Paul from 
 Corinth to Ephesus, and there 
 remained whilst he went on to 
 Jerusalem (Acts xviii. 18, 26). 
 Hence the connexion with the 
 Corinthian Church, implied in 
 this salutation, and their presence 
 at Ephesus, at the date of the 
 composition of this Epistle. The 
 expression * the Church in their 
 house,' which is repeated in 
 connexion with their names in 
 Rom. xvi. 3, implies a congrega- 
 tion distinct from that of the 
 native Ephesians, probably of 
 foreign settlers like themselves, 
 such as had naturally brought 
 them into connexion with Paul 
 at Corinth, and subsequently 
 with Apollos at Ephesus (both 
 
 strangers in the respective cities 
 where the meeting was effected, 
 Acts xviii. 2, 26). The greater 
 earnestness and devotion ex- 
 pressed in their greeting {h 
 KvpLia TToAAa, ' a full Christian 
 greeting ') would be naturally 
 occasioned by their intimacy 
 with the Corinthian Church. 
 
 (3) The salutation of ' all the 
 brethren.' Who is here meant 
 was clear to the Corinthians, but 
 obscure to us. It may be : either 
 the Christians of Ephesus ; or the 
 brethren spoken of in verses 11, 
 12 ; or a general summing up of 
 all the Christians within reach 
 of his communication, as in Rom. 
 xvi. 16 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 13. The in- 
 junction to salute each other with 
 a sacred kiss is repeated in Rom. 
 xvi. 16 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12 ; 1 Thess. 
 V. 26. It was the common form 
 of affectionate Eastern < The Holy 
 salutation, transferred ^^s' 
 to the forms of Christian society, 
 and hence the epithet of ayiw, 
 * holy.' The practice continued 
 in Christian assemblies, chiefly 
 at the time of the celebration of 
 the Eucharist (Justin Apol. i. 
 65). The regulations of the 
 Apostolical Constitutions, viii. 
 11, and the Canons of Laodicea 
 (Can. 19), enjoin that before the 
 Communion, the clergy are to 
 kiss the bishop, the men amongst 
 the laity each other, and so the 
 women. On Good Friday it was 
 omitted, in commemoration of 
 the kiss of Judas. Down to the 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 339 
 
 ^^' O acTTraor/xo? rfj ijxfj X'^^'P^ IJavXov. ^^ ei rt? ov <^tXet 
 Tov KvpLOV, rjTco avaUefJia. jxapavaUa. ^^rj X^P''^ ^^^ Kvpiov 
 
 • Add 'Irjo-ovv xpi<rj-<Ji'. 
 
 salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. ^^ If any one love not the 
 Lord, let him be Anathema. Maran-atha. ^^The grace of the Lord 
 
 fifth centary (Augustin. contra 
 Pelag. iv. c. 8) it was given after 
 Baptism, and was afterwards 
 superseded by the salutation 
 ' Peace be with thee.' It was 
 technically called y clp-jvrj, ' the 
 Peace ' (Cone. Laod. Can. 19). 
 
 It is still continued in the 
 worship of the Coptic Church. 
 Every member of the congrega- 
 tion there kisses and is kissed 
 by the priest. In the Western 
 Church it was finally laid aside 
 in the thirteenth century. 
 
 21 He winds up the saluta- 
 tions with his own farewell, 
 Autograph Written (not like the 
 signature, ^est of the letter by an 
 amanuensis, but) by his own 
 hand. The expression occurs 
 besides in 2 Thess. iii. 17 ; Col. 
 iv. 18 ; in the former passage, 
 with the addition ' which is a 
 sign in every Epistle.' This 
 attestation was probably confined 
 to such Epistles as especially 
 needed it from being addressed 
 to Churches who questioned his 
 authority, or amongst whom, as 
 in the case of Thessalonica (2 
 Thess. ii. 2), doubts had arisen 
 as to the genuineness of his com- 
 munications. Accordingly in the 
 two instances in which his au- 
 thority was most violently as- 
 sailed, — Corinth at the time of 
 the Second Epistle, and Galatia, 
 — the Epistles to those Churches 
 were apparently written, not 
 merely in the conclusion, but the 
 former in great part — Chapters 
 X. to xiii. (see 2 Cor. x. 1), — and 
 
 the latter throughout (Gal. vi. 
 11), by his own hand. 
 
 The amanuensis of this Epistle 
 was probably Sosthenes (see i. 
 1). Although it is not expressly 
 stated, yet it seems probable that 
 the whole of the rest of the con- 
 clusion was, like the salutation, 
 in the Apostle's own handwrit- 
 ing, which would account for the 
 greater solemnity and abruptnes3 
 of the sentences. 
 
 22 €6 TtS ov <^tA.€t TOV KVpiOV. 
 
 This peculiarity in the use of 
 <fi(X€Lv for dyaTTcij/ (compare espe- 
 cially Eph. vi. 24) is occasioned 
 probably by the fact that ov ^tAct 
 is taken as one word, a milder 
 expression for /Ato-et, like ovk iy- 
 KpaT€vovTai in vii. 9 for aKpa- 
 TcvovTttt ; and for this purpose ov 
 (fnXet was more natural than ovk 
 dry aTra. 
 
 dvaOc/xa is 'accursed,' as in 
 xii. 3 ; Rom. ix. 3 ; Gal. i. 8 ; 
 Mark xiv. 71 ; corresponding to 
 the Latin ' sacer,' and to the 
 Hebrew ' cherem.'* 
 
 ' Maran-atha ' is a Syriac for- 
 mula in Greek characters, signi, 
 fying * The Lord has Maran- 
 come,' or ' The Lord **^^- 
 will come.' The word ' Maran ' 
 is the longer form of ' Mar,* the 
 Chaldee (or later Hebrew) word 
 for ' Lord,' and used as such in 
 Dan. ii. 47, iv. 19, 24, v. 23, fa- 
 miliar also as the title of eccle- 
 siastical dignitaries in the Syrian 
 Church. ' Atha ' is frequently 
 used in the poetical books of the 
 Old Testament for ' comes,' and 
 
 z2 
 
340 
 
 FIRST EPISTLE: CHAP. XVI. 24. 
 
 Irjcrov ')(pLcrTOv fietf vficov. i) ayairr) yiov [xera 7ravT0)V 
 vfxcov iu )(pLaT(p 'Irjcrov. ^[o'/xt^i^.] 
 
 * Add Ilphs Kopivdiovs irpdrrj iypdtprj airh ^iXitnrwv 5to Sret^ova koI 
 ^ovprovudrov Kal 'Axa'iKou Kal Ti/xod4ov. 
 
 Jesus Christ be with you. '^^My love is with you all in Christ Jesus. 
 Amen. 
 
 8o also in Chaldee. See Dan. iii. 
 2, vii. 22 ; Ezra iv. 12, v. 3. 
 
 The whole phrase is introduced 
 in the original language, in order 
 to eive greater force to the pre- 
 vious curse ; as in like manner 
 the Syriac ^ Abha' is preserved 
 in Rom. viii. 15 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; and 
 Hebrew words, such as ' Abad- 
 don,' ' Armageddon,' are re- 
 tained in the Apocalypse. 
 
 Maran-atha would seem to 
 follow the curse in verse 22, as 
 Amen in some MSS. follows the 
 blessing in 23, 24. But the pre- 
 cise meaning of the phrase is am- 
 biguous. If it means ' The Lord 
 has come,' then the connexion is, 
 'the curse will remain, for the 
 Lord has come, who will take 
 vengeance on those who reject 
 Him.' Thus the name 'Maro- 
 nite ' is sometimes explained by 
 a tradition that the Jews, in 
 their expectation of a Messiah, 
 were constantly saying ' Maran ' 
 (Lord), to which the Christians 
 answered ' Maran-atha,' i.e. 'The 
 Lord is come ; why do you ex- 
 pect Him ? ' and hence the name 
 ' Maronite ' as applied to Jews, 
 
 and especially Spanish Jews and 
 Moors, who confessed ' lfara/?i, ' 
 but not ' Maran-aiha ' (see Es- 
 tius). If it means * The Lord 
 will come,' then the connexion 
 will be, ' This is the curse, and 
 beware how you incur it, for the 
 Lord is at hand.' Compare (in 
 support of this view) a similar 
 abruptness of introduction in 
 Phil. iv. 5, 'The Lord is at 
 hand.' 
 
 There is no proof of any such 
 phrase in the Jewish liturgies. 
 The word ' anathema ' occurs 
 frequently in later ecclesiastical 
 censures ; the words Maran-atha 
 never. (See Bingham, Ant. xvi. 
 ii. § 16.) 
 
 23 17 x^P'^- ' '1'^® favour or 
 goodness.' See note on 2 Cor. 
 xiii. 13. 
 
 24 17 ayaTTTf, i.e. ccrri. 
 
 The subscription, which is 
 contained in no ancient MSS., is 
 manifestly incorrect, being a false 
 inference from Siepxofiai in xvi. 
 5. From verse 8, it is certain 
 that the Epistle was written, 
 not from Philippi, but from 
 Ephesus. 
 
THE CONCLUSION. 341 
 
 Paraphrise of Chap. XVI. 1 — 24. 
 
 There are still some practical remarks to be made in conclusion: 
 
 I. Remember to have the money for the poor Christians 
 in JudcBa ready when I come ; and the best way of having it 
 ready is that which I formerly suggested to the congregations 
 in the cities of Galatia, namely, that every one should on 
 every Sunday lay by something privately ; and then, when I 
 arrive, it shall either be sent by your approved messengers, or 
 taken by myself to Jerusalem, according as it may seem 
 deserving of one or the other mode of transmission, 
 
 II. 1 wish to announce to you that I have changed my 
 plan. Instead of coming to you on my way to Macedonia, I 
 shall come to you after I have been in Macedonia, and remain 
 with you, not as I had formerly intended, on a transient visit, 
 but for a long time, probably through the winter. Meantime 
 I shall remain at Ephesus till the beginning of summer ; for 
 I have great opportunities to use and powerful obstacles to 
 surmount. 
 
 III. Timotheus will probably ?iot have reached you so 
 soon as this Epistle ; but, whenever he does come, encourage 
 and reassure his timidity and his youth ; remember that he 
 is a true I'epresentative of myself, and send him on to meet 
 me, for I expect him to return with the Christians who bear 
 this letter, 
 
 IV. Apollos would have been the natural person to have 
 accompanied them, and I earnestly entreated him to do so ; 
 but he steadily refused ; though he will come, when the cause 
 for his present refusal is removed. 
 
 In conclusion, remember how great a conflict you have to 
 carry on. Be on the alert, stand fast in your faith, nerve 
 yourselves for the battle ; and, at the same time, let all he 
 done in the spirit of Christian love, 
 
 V. / have yet a few words to add. You know the slaves 
 and family of Stephanas ; how they were my first converts 
 in Greece, and how they made it their business to serve the 
 poorer Christians, Be it your business to obey them and all 
 like them. And you know how I rejoice in the arrival and 
 presence of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus ; how they 
 
342 FIEST EPISTLE. 
 
 Jill up the void of your absence ; how they lighten the load, 
 both of my spirit and of yours, by communicating your 
 thoughts to me and mine to you. Such are the characters 
 that you ought to recognise and esteem. 
 
 VI. Receive the salutations of the congregations in the 
 cities of proconsular Asia. Receive the salutations of the 
 congregation of foreign settlers, which meets in the house of 
 your former friends, Aquila and Priscilla. Receive the salu- 
 tations of all the Christians in this place. Salute each other 
 by the sacred hiss of Christian brotherhood. Receive my 
 own salutation in my own handwriting. 
 
 VII. In conclusion, may he who turns away from our 
 Lord without love be doomed to the curse which is his proper 
 judgment. Maran-atha. May the goodness and the blessing 
 of our Lord be with you. My Christian love is with you all. 
 Amen. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST EPISTLE. 
 
THE 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
INTEODUCTION 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE COEINTHIANS. 
 
 Or all the Epistles of St. Paul there is none so personal as 
 the Second to the Corinthians. Its occasion lay in Occasion of 
 the peculiar complication of circumstances which took the Second 
 place in the interval between the two Epistles. If ^^^ 
 the Introduction to the First might be called * The State of 
 the Corinthian Church,^ the Introduction to the Second might 
 be called, with equal propriety, * The Effects of the First 
 Epistle,^ 
 
 'i'hat Epistle had been conveyed, or, at least, immediately 
 followed by Titus. To him the Apostle had entrusted the duty 
 both of enforcing its commands, and of communica- The Apo- 
 tinor to him its results ; whilst he himself, after a stay ^^^® ^ ^*^" 
 
 n IT-.! 11 parture 
 
 01 some weeks at Ephesus, was to advance by easy from 
 stages through Macedonia to Corinth. The stay at Ephetus. 
 Ephesus was probably cut short by the riot of the silversmiths ; 
 his departure is described ^ as taking place immediately after 
 and in consequence of it. From hence he went to Troas, and 
 from thence to Macedonia.^ It was a journey overcast with 
 perplexity, sorrow, and danger. Possibly the recollection of 
 the recent tumult at Ephesus still weighed upon his mind ; 
 possibly some new conspiracy against his life had jj-^ ^j^^j_ 
 been discovered on the road ; but his expressions ^ ety to hear 
 rather imply that the gloom and misery which op- ^V'^^ « 
 pressed him were greatly enhanced, if not occasioned, the First 
 by his anxiety about the reception of his Epistle at Epistle. 
 Corinth. His bodily constitution, never strong, seems to have 
 
 Acts XX. 1. 2 jj 12, 13. 3 i. 4, 8-10, ii. 13, vii. 5, 6. 
 
346 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 been bowed down almost to the grave by this complication of 
 sorrow.^ All was dark around him ; and all was darkened 
 into a still deeper night by the fear lest his influence in his 
 favourite Church should be extinguished by his own act in his 
 own Epistle. His beloved Timotheus, who was now with him, 
 either had never reached Corinth, or had returned before the 
 arrival of the First Epistle ; he, therefore, could give his 
 master no comfort on the one subject which filled his thoughts. 
 Corinth, and Corinth only, was the word which would then 
 have been found written on the Apostle's heart ; and Titus 
 was the only friend who could at that conjuncture minister 
 balm to his troubled spirit. His first hope of meeting was at 
 
 Troas : ^ thither vessels sailed from the opposite coast, 
 Arrival at ^^ when the Apostle himself a year later returned by 
 
 that route from Corinth ; ^ and thither, therefore, 
 Titus might already have arrived from the same city. But 
 the Apostle waited in vain : some unexpected delay retained 
 the faithful friend, and added new pangs to the Apostle's 
 anxieties. Even his apostolic labours, at other times his chief 
 consolation in trouble, had now no charms for him ; of the 
 great opportunities which were opened for him at Troas, and of 
 which a year later he gladly availed himself,'* he could now 
 make no use ; and bidding farewell to the disciples in that city, 
 he embarked for Macedonia, probably as once before,^ to 
 Neapolis, and thence by land to Philippi. There, amidst the 
 familiar scenes of his first European journey, he passed on his 
 onward route, cheered by the zeal of his Macedonian converts:^ 
 but still distrustful and oppressed, his ' flesh had no rest,' he 
 was ' troubled on every side ; without were fightings, within 
 were fears.' "^ 
 
 ,j . At last the long-expected day came: Titus 
 
 with Titus arrived, and arrived with tidings, not indeed wholly 
 atPhihppi. satisfactory, but suflBciently cheering to relieve the 
 Apostle at once from the chief load of care which had weighed 
 down his spirit ; and, for the rest, though agitating, yet calcu- 
 lated rather to call forth his energetic indignation than to 
 overcloud and distress him. 
 
 The First Epistle had been received, and, by those for whom 
 
 1 i. 8. 
 
 2 ii. 13. 
 
 ^ Acts XX. 5, 6. 
 
 * ii. 13 ; Acts xx. 6. 
 
 5 Acts xvi. 11, 12. 
 « viii. 2. 
 ^ vii. 5. 
 
INTKODUCTION. 347 
 
 it was mainly intended, entirely appreciated. The licentious 
 party who, whether from misunderstanding or per- rp-^j-^^ 
 verting the Apostle's teaching, had used his name trom Co- 
 as a watchword for their excesses, were humbled. "°^^- 
 Some complaints were raised against the Apostle's change of 
 purpose in not coming to them direct from Ephesus ; ^ some 
 cause still remained for fear lest the intercourse with tbe 
 heathen should be too unrestrained ; * but on the whole, the 
 submission of the mass of the Corinthian Church to his 
 directions was complete. They received Titus with open 
 arms ; ^ and, in the matter of the incestuous marriage, the 
 correction of which had been the chief practical subject of the 
 First Epistle, they had been struck with the deepest 
 penitence ; "^ an assembly had been convened, and a mentofthe 
 punishment inflicted on the oflfender ; ^ and although incestuous 
 this sorrow for themselves, and this severity towards ° * 
 
 the guilty person, had passed away before Titus's departure,^ 
 and the sin itself had been forgiven,^ yet there was nothing to 
 indicate any disinclination to follow the spirit of the Apostle's 
 teaching. Thus far all had gone beyond the Apostle's expec- 
 tations ; in the one point in which his command might seem to 
 have been only partially followed out, in the temporary cha- 
 racter of the penalty inflicted on the incestuous person, his 
 mind was relieved even more than if they had literally observed 
 his orders. They had judged, he almost seemed to think, more 
 wisely in this respect than himself; ^ and generally he felt that 
 confidence between them was now restored,^ and that he was 
 now more inseparably united with them in that union in their 
 common Lord, which none but Christians knew.^° 
 
 Mingled, however, with this good news were other tidings, 
 not wholly unexpected by the Apostle, for he had already 
 anticipated something of the kind in his First Epistle,^^ but 
 still demanding new and distinct consideration. The Jewish 
 party at Corinth, which claimed especially the name -^^^^^^ ^^ 
 of Peter, and apparently that of Christ also,^^ had the Jewish 
 at the time of the First Epistle been so insignificant P^^^y- 
 
 1 i. 15-ii. 1. 
 
 
 * ' ii. 10. 
 
 2 vi. 14-vii. 
 
 1. 
 
 8 vii. 12, ii. 9, 10. 
 
 3 vii. 13-16. 
 
 
 9 vi. 11, vii. 16. 
 
 4 vii. 7-11. 
 
 
 10 i. 5, 6, iii. 2, 3. 
 
 5 ii. 6. 
 
 
 11 1 Cor. ix. 1-6. 
 
 « vii. 8. 
 
 
 12 See note on 1 Cor. i. 10 
 
348 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 in itself, or so insignificant when compared with the greater 
 evil of the opposite party, as to call only for a few passing 
 notices from the Apostle. It had, however, even then reached 
 a sufficient height to question his apostolic authority ; ^ and, in 
 the interval, apparently from the arrival of a new teacher or 
 teachers, with letters of commendation ^ from some superior 
 authority, probably from Jerusalem, the opponents of the 
 Apostle had grown into a large and powerful party ,^ consti- 
 tuting even ' the majority ' of the teachers ; * openly assailing 
 the Apostle's character, claiming almost despotic dominion 
 over their followers,^ insisting on their purely Jewish origin,^ 
 and on their peculiar connexion with Christ,^ on their aposto- 
 lical privileges,^ and on their commendatory letters.^ 
 
 These two subjects, the general acquiescence of the Corin- 
 thian Church in the Apostle's injunctions, and the claims of 
 the Judaizing party, must have been the chief topics of Titus's 
 communication. The first and prominent feeling, awakened in 
 St. Paul's mind, was one of overwhelming thankfulness for 
 relief from the anxiety which he had, up to that moment, felt 
 for the effects of his Epistle ; next, indignation at the insinua- 
 tions of his adversaries. To give vent to the double tide of 
 emotion thus rising within him, was the main purpose, there- 
 fore, of the Second Epistle. A third subject of less importance, 
 but which gave him a direct opportunity for writing, was the 
 necessity of hastening the collection of the sums to 
 tion for^" ^^ Contributed by the Corinthians to the wants of the 
 Jerusa- Christian poor in Judsea. He had already spoken 
 ^^^' of it in the close of his First Epistle ; but his sense 
 
 of the need of success had been further impressed upon him 
 by the generosity of the Macedonian Churches, of which his 
 recent stay among them had made him an actual witness. 
 
 As in the occasion, so also in style, the contrast between 
 the First and Second Epistle is very great. The First is the 
 most, the Second the least, systematic of any of the 
 the Epi- Apostle's writings. The three objects of the Epistle 
 fetle ; ^j.Q^ jjj point of arrangement, kept distinct. But so 
 
 vehement were the feelings under which he wrote, that the 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix. 1-6. 
 
 2 2 Cor. iii. 1, x. 12. 
 
 3 i. 12, 17, iii. 1, X. 1, xii. 21. 
 ^ ii. 17. 
 
 5 i. 24, ii. 17, xi. 13, 20. 
 
 6 xi. 22. 
 
 7 V. 16, X. 7, xi. 13, 23, xiii. 3. 
 
 8 xi. 5, 13. 
 
 9 iii. 1, V. 12, X. 12, 18. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 349 
 
 thankful expression of the first part is darkened by the indig- 
 nation of the third; and the directions about the business of 
 the contribution are coloured by the reflections both of his joy 
 and of his grief. And in all the three portions, though in 
 themselves strictly personal, the Apostle is borne away into 
 the higher regions in which he habitually lived ; so that this 
 Epistle becomes the most striking instance of what is the case, 
 more or less, with all his writings : a new philosophy of life 
 poured forth, not through systematic treatises, but through 
 occasional bursts of human feeling. The very stages of his 
 journey are impressed upon it : the troubles at Ephesus, the 
 repose at Troas, the anxieties and consolations of Macedonia, 
 the prospect of moving to Corinth. ' Uni versa E pistol a,' says 
 Bengel, ' itinerrarium refert, sed praeceptis pertextum praestan- 
 tissimis.' ^ 
 
 Through this labyrinth of conflicting emotions it is now 
 necessary to follow the Apostle. As in the First its 
 Epistle, so in this, we must conceive him, at least at Contents, 
 its outset, dictating his thoughts to an amanuensis, in this 
 instance, probably to the youthful disciple Timotheus, whose 
 name, in the opening of the Epistle, fills the place which, in 
 its predecessor, had been occupied by that of Sosthenes. 
 
 The first feeling to which he gave utterance after the 
 formal salutation, is one of unbounded thankfulness for deli- 
 verance from his anxiety, and of the entire sympathy which 
 existed between himself and his converts.^ This feeling is 
 first checked by the recollection that their sympathy with him 
 was not so complete as his with them, in consequence of a 
 suspicion of double-dealing and double-speaking on his part, 
 chiefly grounded on his change of purpose in not coming to 
 Corinth as expressed in his former Epistle. This charge he 
 turns aside for a moment to explain and to justify ; to point 
 out that he had relinquished his earlier design only to leave 
 scope for the First Epistle to work its own effects, and this 
 leads him to express his cordial acquiescence in the conduct 
 which they had pursued in reference to the oflfender who had 
 been the chief cause of the severity in his previous address.^ 
 
 By this turn he is again brought to the point from which 
 
 ^ Gnomon, on 2 Cor. i. 8. See 
 also his arrangement of the con- 
 tents of the Epistle in his commen- 
 
 tary on 2 Cor. i. 1. 
 ^ i. 3-]l. 
 » 12-ii. 11. 
 
350 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 he had diverged, and proceeds to give a regular account of his 
 journey from Ephesus to Macedonia, and of his meeting with 
 Titus.^ He has hardly touched upon this before the narrative 
 loses itself in an impassioned thanksgiving, which would pro- 
 bably have interrupted it only for a moment, but that a sudden 
 turn is given to his thoughts, as if by an actual apparition of 
 those dark and insidious enemies whom he felt to be dooforinor 
 his path and marring his work wherever he went.^ He knew 
 that he was sufficient to carry through his task of offering up 
 the sacrifice of the Gentile world to God ; but he knew also 
 that his opponents were not ; and he felt that the difference 
 between himself and them — betw^een his openness, suspected as 
 be w^as of the reverse, and their duplicity — was the natural 
 result of the openness and simplicity of the Gospel, contrasted 
 with the dimness and ambiguity of the law.^ 
 
 To proclaim this Gospel, however, was his glorious task ; * 
 and to this task he felt himself adequate, in spite of all the 
 difficulties and distresses, which only made him more conscious 
 of his Divine support, and more eagerly look to the higher life 
 of which his present life was but a poor and unworthy prelude.^ 
 
 He has now wandered far away from his direct object ; but 
 he has arrived again at one of the points which brings him 
 into sympathy with his converts. If another life and a judgment 
 of Christ are impending, then there is no room for double- 
 dealing. Christ's love draws him to Himself and to God. In 
 Christ's death, he felt that he had died ; in the reconciliation 
 of the whole world which Christ had effected, he calls on them 
 to share ; in the name of Christ and of his own sufferings for 
 Christ's sake, he calls on them to seize the opportunity now 
 offered, of a complete change of heart and life.^ 
 
 In that burst of feeling all barriers between him and them 
 melt away ; and he now at last (after one short and unaccount- 
 able interruptiony closes these successive digressions with the 
 fervent account of the arrival of Titus and his own satisfac- 
 tion.^ 
 
 In conjunction with the arrival of Titus was another point 
 of immediate, though of subordinate, interest. The reception 
 of Titus at Corinth had been so enthusiastic that Titus was 
 
 2 ii. 14, 16. 
 
 3 iii. 1, 12, 18. 
 * iv. 1-6. 
 
 5 iv. 2-v. 10. 
 
 6 v. 11-vi. 10. 
 '^ vi. 14-vii, 1. 
 
 8 vi. 12, 13, vii. 2-16. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 
 
 351 
 
 now ready to be the bearer of this Second Epistle also ; and 
 in company with two others appointed for this special purpose, 
 to urofc upon the Corinthians the necessity of having their 
 contribution for Judaea ready for the Apostle's arrival.^ 
 
 Thus far all had been peaceful ; there had been occasional 
 allusions to lurking enemies, but on the whole the strain of 
 the letter was cheerful and calm. But henceforward a change 
 comes over it, the adversaries are now attacked face to face. 
 Timotheus is no longer coupled w^ith the Apostle ; it would 
 almost appear as if St. Paul took pen and parchment into his 
 own hands and wrote the Epistle himself. First comes the 
 warning against the false pretences of his opponents ; ^ then 
 a vindication of his own claims ; ^ crossed at times by protes- 
 tations of his own sincerity against their insinuations,'* and 
 bitter irony against their despotic demands on obedience,^ but 
 closing: in an elaborate enumeration of his own exertions and 
 dangers, as the best proof of his apostolic mission and au- 
 thority.^ 
 
 Once more he repeats the apology for bis apparent egotism, 
 and repels the insinuation of duplicity ; ^ and then with a final 
 warning and assurance of his intention to visit them, the 
 Epistle closes. 
 
 Of its effect nothing is known. The two Epistles of 
 Clement to Corinth, the second of them of more than Effect of 
 doubtful authority, are the only records of the Cor- *he Second 
 inthian Church for the next three centuries. Factions ^^^ 
 are described in the first of these as still raging; but the 
 Apostle's authority is recognised, and there is no further 
 trace of the Judaizing party. But it still lingered in other 
 parts of the Church, and in the curious apocryphal work 
 entitled the 'Clementines,'® written some time before the 
 
 ^ viii. and ix. I have assumed 
 this as the most probable explana- 
 tion of the passage . But th e Apostle's 
 language raises a question whether 
 the mission spoken of in viii. and ix. 
 is not the same as that in xii. 18, 
 1 Cor. xvi. 12. 
 
 2 X. 1-18. 
 
 3 xi. 1-6. 
 
 * xi. 7-15. 
 5 xi. 16-20. 
 
 « xi. 21-xii. 10. 
 
 ' xii. 11-18. 
 
 * The Clementines are published 
 in Cotelier's edition of the *Pa- 
 tres Apostolici/ and in a separate 
 volume by Schwegler, and are the 
 subject of an elaborate treatise by 
 Schliemann. They consist of : 1. 
 The ' Homilies ' or Conversations. 
 
 2. The Epistle of Peter to James. 
 
 3. The Adjuration of the Presbyters 
 
352 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 beginning of the third century, but containing the last indi- 
 cations of the struggle which first appears in this Epistle and 
 that to the Galatians. 
 
 The following are the most remarkable instances : — 
 
 1. St. Peter is represented as the Apostle not only of the Circum- 
 Later traces cision, but of the Gentiles ; all the glory of St. Paul is 
 ^Pj^^^e Juda- transferred to him (Ep. Pet. ad Jac. c. 1 ; Horn. ii. 17, 
 • Clemen- "^- ^^)- Compare 2 Cor. x. 14, 15, and contrast Gal. ii. 
 tines.' 9, 11. 
 
 2. Although Peter is spoken of as * the first of the Apostles ' 
 (Ep. Clem, ad Jac. i. 3), and as appointing Clement to the See of 
 Rome (ibid.), yet James is described as superior in dignity both to 
 him and Clement (Ep. Pet. ad Jac. 1 ; Ep. Clem, ad Jac. 19), and 
 to all the Apostles (Rec. i. 66-68) ; as ' the Lord and Bishop of the 
 Holy Church, Bishop of Bishops, ruling the Churches , every where, 
 the Bishop, the Archbishop ; ' * the Chief Bishop,' as opposed to 
 Caiaphas * the Chief Priest ' (Ep. Pet. c. 1 ; Ep. Jac. c. 1 ; Recog. 
 i. 66, 68, 70, 72, 73). So the Ebionites 'adored Jerusalem as the 
 house of God.' (Iren. Hser. i. 26.) Compare 2 Cor. 1. 24; xi. 5, 
 20, and contrast James i. 1 ; 1 Pet. v. 2. 
 
 3. St. Paul is never attacked by name ; but the covert insinua- 
 tions are indisputable. 
 
 (a) St. Peter is represented as warning St. James against * the 
 lawless and foolish teaching of the enemy ' (tov ixOpov dvOpatrrov), 
 who perverts ' the Gentiles from the lawful preaching of Peter,' and 
 misrepresents Peter *as though he thought with the Gentiles, but 
 did not preach it openly.' (Ep. Pet. ad Jac. 2.) Compare Gal. ii. 
 12, 14. The ' enemy ' (homo inimicus) takes part in a conspiracy 
 against the life of James, and receives letters from the High Priest 
 to persecute Christians at Damascus. (Recog. i. 70.) Compare 
 Acts ix. 1. 
 
 (6) St. Peter warns his congregation to beware of ' any apostle, 
 prophet, or teacher, who does not first compare his preaching with 
 that of James, and come with witnesses, lest the wickedness,' which 
 tempted Christ, ' afterwards, having fallen like lightning from 
 heaven* (comp. Acts xxvi. 13, 14), 'should send a herald against 
 you, and suborn one who is to sow error (TrXdvr^v) amongst you 
 as it suborned this Simon against us, preaching in the name of 
 our Lord, under pretence of the truth.' (Hom. xi. 35.) Compare 
 2 Cor. iii. 1, X. 12-18, v. 12. 
 
 by James. 4. The Epistle of Cle- 
 ment to James. 5. The ' Recogni- 
 tions.' 6. The Epitome. A com- 
 plete text of the Homilies (including 
 the Epistle of Peter to James, and 
 
 the Adjuration of the Presbyters) 
 has been published by Dressel, from 
 a MS. in the Vatican Library not 
 before collated. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 353 
 
 (c) The parallel which is suggested in the foregoing passage 
 between St. Paul and Simon Magus is carried out still further 
 in other passages, which actually describe the Apostle under the 
 name of Simon. St. Peter maintains that, as Cain preceded Abel, 
 and Ishmael Isaac, so ' Simon preceded Peter to the Gentiles, and 
 that Peter then succeeded to him as light to darkness ; ' that ' the 
 false Gospel must come first from some deceiver (vtto TrXdvov rtvo?), 
 and then, after the destruction of the holy place, the true Gospel ; 
 were he known, he would not have been received ; but now, not 
 being known (dyi'ooviJievo<;), he has been trusted to ; he who does 
 the deeds of those who hate us, has been loved; he who is our 
 enemy,. has been received as a friend; being death, he has been 
 longed for as a saviour ; being fire, he has been regarded as light ; 
 being a deceiver (TrAavos), he has been listened to as speaking the 
 truth.' (Horn. ii. 17, 18.) Compare 2 Cor. vi. 8, 9, x. 13-16 ; 
 Acts xxi. 28. 
 
 In an argument between Simon and Peter, in which the former 
 insists on the superiority of visions as evidence to our Lord's dis- 
 courses, the latter on that of actual intercourse, Peter oonclndes as 
 follows : * If, then, Jesus our Lord (o 'Iryo-ovs rifitov) was seen in a 
 vision, and was known by thee and conversed with thee, it was in 
 anger with thee as an adversary that He spoke to thee through 
 visions and dreams, and even through outward revelations. But 
 can any one be made wise to teach through a vision ? If thou 
 sayest that he can, why then did our Master abide and converse 
 with His disciples, not sleeping but awake, for a whole year ? And 
 how shall we believe the very fact that He was seen of thee ? And 
 how should He have been seen of thee, when thou teachest things con- 
 trary to His teaching ? And if by having been seen and made a 
 disciple by Him for one hour, thou becamest an Apostle, then ex- 
 pound what He has taught, love His Apostles, fight not with me 
 who was His companion. For me, the firm rock, the foundation of 
 the Church, even me thou didst "withstand " openly (dvO€(rTrjKa<s). 
 If thou hadst not been an adversary, thou wouldst not have 
 calumniated me, and reviled my preaching, to deprive me of credit 
 when I spoke what I had heard myself in intercourse with the Lord ; 
 as if I were to be blamed, I whose character is so great. Or if thou 
 sayest that I was condemned by my own act (KaTeyvcocr/xeVov), thou 
 accusest God who revealed Christ to me, and attackest Him who 
 blessed me because of that revelation. But since thou wishest 
 truly to work with the truth, now learn first from us what we 
 learned from Him ; and when thou hast become a disciple of the 
 truth, then become a fellow-worker with us.' (Hom. xvii. 10.) 
 Compare Gal. i. 1, 12, 15-20 ; 1 Cor. ix. 1 ; 2 Cor. x. 16, xi. 1-5, 
 and especially St. Paul's own words (Gal. ii. 11) in the account of 
 the feud at Antioch, — dvTea-rqVj . . . Kareyvwafievo^. 
 
 A A 
 
npos KOPiNeiorx b. 
 SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 PLAN OF THE EPISTLE. 
 Salutation and Introduction. Chap. I. 1 — 11. 
 
 The Tidings brought by Titus. Chap. I. 12 YII. 16. 
 
 1. Confidence of St. Paul in the Intentions of the Corinthian 
 
 Church. Chap. i. 12— ii. 11. 
 
 2. The arrival of Titus. Chap. ii. 12— 16a. 
 
 Digression on the Apostolical Mission. Chap. II. 166 VI. 10. 
 
 1. The Plainness and Clearness of the Apostolical Service. Chap. 
 
 ii. 166— iv. 6. 
 
 2. The Difficulties and Supports of the Apostolical Service. Chap. 
 
 iv. 7— V. 10. 
 
 3. St. Paul's Motive for his Service. Chap. v. 11 — vi. 10. 
 
 4. The Arrival of Titus (continued from ii. 16a). Chap. vi. 
 
 11—13 ; vii. 2—16. 
 
 5. Digression on Intercourse with Heathens. Chap. vi. 14 — vii. 1. 
 
 The Collection for the Churches in Jud^a. Chap. VIII. 1 ■ 
 
 IX. 15. 
 
 1. The Example of the Macedonian Churches. Chap. viii. 1 — 15. 
 
 2. The Mission of Titus. Chap. viii. 16—24. 
 
 3. The spirit in which the Collection is to be made. Chap. ix. 
 
 1—15. 
 
 The Assertion of his Apostolic^ Authority. Chap. X. XII. 10. 
 
 1. Assertion of his Authority. Chap. x. 1 — 6. 
 
 2. Digression on his Boast of his Claims. Chap. x. 7 — xii. 10. 
 
 a. The Reality of his Boast. Chap. x. 7 — 18. 
 
 6. His Boasting excused by his Afiection for the Corinthians. 
 Chap. xi. 1 — 15. 
 
 c. His Boasting excused not by his Power, but by his Weak- 
 ness. Chap. xi. 16 — xii. 10. 
 
 Concluding Explanations, Warnings, and Salutations. Chap. XII. 
 11 XIII. 14. 
 
 ▲ ▲2 
 
856 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 1—6. 
 
 Salutation and Introduction,' 
 
 UATAO^ airocrToko^ ^Irjcrov ^picrTov Sta 6eKrjixaT0<; Oeov, 
 Koi TifxoOeo^ 6 dSeX<^d9, rfj eKKkiqcria tov Oeov rrj ovcrrj 
 
 iu KopivOo) (Tvv TOi<; ay tot? Traaiv rot? ovcriv iv 6\r) rrj 
 ^A^aCa. ^^apt9 vixiv ^ koI elp-qvrj oltto Oeov Trarpo^ vfjiwp 
 /cat Kvpiov *Ir)o-ov ^picrTov. 
 
 ^EvXoyrjTos 6 Oeo^ kol iraTr^p rov Kvpiov rjixwv *Ir)crov 
 
 • MS. C. begins with [koI elfyftur}. 
 
 *T)AUL an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus 
 J- our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth with all the 
 saints which are in all Achaia. ^ Grace to you and peace from God our 
 Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 ^Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father 
 
 I, 2 For the general language 
 of tlie salutation, and for the 
 words 6 a8€Xcf>b<s, 'A)(ata, see note 
 on 1 Cor. i. 1, 2. Timotheus, 
 who, in the First Epistle, was 
 prevented from appearing in the 
 salutation by his absence on the 
 journey described in 1 Cor. iv. 
 17, xvi. 10 ; Acts xix. 22, has 
 now returned, and resumes his 
 usual place by the Apostle's side. 
 
 3 €v\oyrfTO<; 6 Ocos. This 
 phrase, which occurs in Eph. i. 
 3, is parallel to the more usual 
 form of the Apostle's thanksgiv- 
 ing ev^apiOTUi T(3 ^€(3. 
 
 In the fulness of his thankful- 
 ness, he at once proceeds to in- 
 vest the abstract names of ' God ' 
 and ' the Father' with the attii- 
 biites of which he was now him- 
 self most conscious. ' Blessed be 
 God, i e. the God of comfort ; 
 blessed be the Father, i.e. the 
 Father of mercies,' the inversion 
 being occasioned partly by the 
 convenience of the construction, 
 which required that Trapa/cXiyo-eo)? 
 should be continued into the next 
 
 sentence, partly by the fact that 
 the first of the two expressions 
 (' the Father of mercies') is the 
 more natural and obvious of the 
 two. It was possibly suggested 
 by the phrase in the opening of 
 Jewish prayers, 'Our Father, 
 Merciful Father ! ' But it is used 
 here in a more personal sense : 
 and the genitive tcuv otKrtp/xwv is 
 not merely a Hebraism, but com- 
 bines the two ideas that God's 
 essence consists in mercy, and 
 also that He is the Father and 
 source of mercies. Compare ' the 
 Father of glory,' Eph. i. 17;. 
 * the Father of spirits,' Heb. xii. 
 9 : ' the Father of lights,' James 
 i. 17; 'the God of hope,' Rom. 
 XV. 13. In the same way the 
 next phrase expresses that God 
 is the Author of comfort. This 
 is the earliest passage in the New 
 Testament where the words ira- 
 pa/cXr7o-ts,7rapaKaXwi/,are vapiKkr,- 
 applied to God ; as, in <^'5- 
 St. John's writings, they are 
 applied more precisely to The 
 Son and The Spirit. 
 
 i 
 
SALUTATION AND INTRODUCTION. 
 
 357 
 
 y^piCTTOv, 6 iraTiqp T(x)v olKTipfxcov Koi 0eo^ 7racr7^9 rrapa- 
 Kkrj(Teo}<;^ ^6 TrapaKoKctiv T^/ia? iiri irdcrrj rfj dXi^^ei t^/xwi/, 
 €is TO hvvao-Oai r]fJia<s irapaKokeiv tov^ iv Trcicrrj dXixjjeL Sea 
 Trjq 7rapaK\rjcr€a><s rj<s TrapaKokovfieOa avTol vtto tov 0€ov, 
 ^ OTL KaOco<; vepioro'eveL ra 7ra6rjfJiaTa tov ^picrTOv €t5 
 TjfJias, ovTO)^ Sua ^tov ^piaTov Trepicrcrevei /cat t] irapd- 
 kXtjctls TjyiOiv. ^€176 Sc ^XtySo/xc^a, VTTep Trj<; vfjicjv irapa- 
 
 ' Oni. rod. 
 
 of mercies and God of all comfort, ^wlio comforteth us upon all our 
 trouble, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble by 
 the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted by God, ^for as the 
 sufferings of Christ abound in us, so by Christ aboundeth our comfort 
 also. ^Now whether we be troubled, it is for your comfort and salvation, 
 
 4 €7rt Trdar) tt} 6\l{(/€l rjfxwv . . . 
 * in any kind of affliction that 
 befalls me' or 'them.' The 
 article in the first phrase is 
 only used in consequence of the 
 more particular application of it, 
 defined by the genitive rj/xiov. 
 
 5 7r€pLcra€V€L ra iraOrj^aTCL .... 
 CIS T7/>tas, ' the sufferings under- 
 gone by Christ in His own person 
 overflow to us ; ' with the double 
 meaning that the sufli'erings of 
 Christ pass from Him Ho us,' 
 and that they are to be found ' in 
 us' in a superabundant measure. 
 See Rom. v. 15. 
 
 OVTC09 8ta ^(/DtO-TOV Tr€pi<r<r€.v€L KoX 
 yj 'trapdKXrjarLS T^/icov, ' so also 
 through Him in whom we all 
 suffer together, the comfort, 
 which we ourselves possess from 
 God, passes over abundantly to 
 you.' 
 
 The general sense of the pas- 
 sage is based on the idea that he 
 was one with Christ, and through 
 Christ with all Christians. ' It 
 is of the very nature of spiritual 
 things that they cannot be con- 
 fined within themselves. Freely 
 we have received, freely we give. 
 The comfort which we feel our- 
 selves, ■ communicates itself to 
 
 you. Because Christ suffered, 
 therefore we suffer ; because He 
 comforts us, therefore we are 
 able to comfort you.* For the 
 transference of the sufferings of 
 Christ to the Apostles, see iv. 
 10; Heb.xiii. 13; Phil. iii. 10; 
 Rom. viii. 17. And in still 
 nearer connexion with this pas- 
 sage, Col. i. 24, ' the afflictions of 
 Christ in my flesh.' Matt xx. 
 23, * ye shall drink of my cup.' 
 
 ' The example of suffering and 
 of comfort in me shows that if 
 you are similarly afflicted, you 
 will be similarly comforted. This 
 is the course of Christian salva- 
 tion ; your experience will be 
 like mine.' 
 
 6 €tT€ Sc, K.T.A.. There is con- 
 siderable difference in the order 
 of the words in the M8S., but 
 none in the sense : (1) B.D.E.F. 
 G.J.K. and Lachm. as in the Text 
 above. (2) A.C. ctrc 8k Oki/So/jLcOa, 
 virep .... o-oiTrjptas ' etre irapaKa- 
 kov/xeOa, VTrep rrj^ vfxdv TrapaKXrj- 
 (rews, T)}? iv€pyov/jL€vr]<s iv viro/jLovrj 
 . . . . TrdaxofJiev • kol rj cAtti? rj/xCjv 
 yScySaid vTrep v/xC)v, k.t.K (3) Re- 
 ceived Text, made by. Erasmuy 
 from the Latin versions, combined 
 with the Greek MSS. but not 
 
358 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 7—11 
 
 K\y]creo)<; Kai crcoTrjpLa^ ttJ? ivepyovixivri<^ iv virofxovrj twu 
 avT(x)v iraOrjiJidTctiv Siv kol rjiMei^ 7rdcr)(0fJL€U, ^ kol t) iXnl^ 
 7)fji(ijv /3e^aLa virep vp.Q)V eire TrapaKokovfJieOa, virep tt}? 
 v/xw^' TrapaKXTjcrecos /cat (rcoTTjpia^, ^etSore? on ^a)<; kol- 
 vcovoL icrre roiv wadrjiJLoiTOJV, ovtcos kqI rrjs TrapaKXij- 
 
 ^ Ov yap Oekofxev v/^a? dypoeiu, dSeXc^ot, ^Trepl ttJs 
 ^\ti//ea)9 r^fxan^ rrj? yevop.iv7^^ ^iu rfj 'Acria, otl KaO' virep- 
 
 ' Transpose ; and read eifre rrapaKaXov^i^Qa .... (rwTrjpias. Kot rj i\irU . . . vjjlwv. 
 
 offtrep. 
 
 " virep. 
 
 * Add Tifuv. 
 
 which is eflfectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also 
 suffer, '^and our hope of you is stedfast : whether we be comforted, it is 
 for your comfort and salvation, knowing that as ye are partakers of the 
 sufferings, so shall ye be also of the comfort. 
 
 ® For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which 
 happened in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength, 
 
 found exactly (either in his time 
 or since) in any Greek MS. : ctre 
 Se OXi/^o/xeOa .... 7rd(r)(0fjL€v ' eire 
 TrapaKaXovjjieOa^ virep ttJs v/xwv 7ra- 
 paK\r](T€(i)^ Kttt croiTTjpias. koL t] cA-ttI? 
 r]fji5)v jSe^ata virep v/awv. EtSdreg, 
 K.T.X. The first is the most for- 
 cible. The general sense is the 
 same in all, whether the words kol 
 rj cXtti? rjjjiwv /?c^ata virkp vfxwv 
 are to be placed in the first 
 clause, after Trao-xo/xev, or in the 
 second, after crwrT/pta?. A com- 
 parison of V. 13 shows that 
 OXi^ofxeOa and irapaKaXovfJieOa are 
 in each case to be repeated, — 
 ' whether we are troubled, it is 
 for your salvation that we are 
 troubled, . . . v^h ether ive are com- 
 forted, it is for your comfort 
 that vje are comforted, knowing,' 
 &c. 
 
 ivepyov/xanrjs, here, as always, 
 is middle, not passive, — 'exercis- 
 ing its powers.' 
 
 7 €i8oT€9 should more properly 
 be ctSdrwv. But the participle is 
 used in the same abrupt manner 
 
 as elsewhere ; e.g. Rom. xii. 9- 
 13, xiii. 11. 
 
 8 He explains his meaning, 
 by referring to the actual danger 
 and consolation which led him to 
 these remarks. The w^ord OXliJ/ls, 
 the greatness of the peril, and 
 the comparison of it in verse 5 to 
 the sufferings of Christ, suggest 
 some outward persecution at 
 Ephesus, such as may have oc- 
 curred in the tumult of Demetrius 
 (Acts xix.), or as is referred to 
 in 1 Cor. XV. 32, ' I fought with 
 beasts at Ephesus.' On the other 
 hand, the words i^apT^OyjjjLev, 
 avToil iv kavToh, and the general 
 context, point either to illness or 
 to inward care occasioned pro- 
 bably by his anxiety for the Co- 
 rinthian Church : also had he 
 alluded to the tumult at Ephesus, 
 he would have probably used the 
 expression Iv 'E^eVw, as in 1 Cor. 
 XV. 32, not ev rfj 'Aa-ia. Here, as 
 elsewhere, we may observe the 
 understatement, in the Acts, of 
 his sufferings. 
 
SALUTATION AND INTRODUCTION. 
 
 359 
 
 7)fJia<; Koi Tov ^rjv' ^a\X' avTol iv eaurot? to aTroKpijxa 
 Tov Oavdrov icrynKaiJLev, Iva fxri 7re7TOL96Te<; a>fjiep i(f)' 
 
 e(T^KapL€V, 
 
 10* 
 
 €.avToZ<;t aX)C iirl r<w Seco tm eyeipovn tov<; veKpov^^ '^ os 
 CAC t7)Xlkovtov BavoLTov ippvcraro 17/1019 [/cat ^yovcrerat], et? 
 ov rj\iTiKap.ev \oti\ kol en pvcrerai, ^^ crvvvTTovpyovvrcov 
 KoX vficov virep r)fJLa)v rrj Seiycret, tVa €/c noXXcoif TTpoacJircov 
 TO €19 T7/xa9 xapLcrfJia 8ta ttoXXwv €V)(apLcrTr)d^ virkp rjfJLcov. 
 
 ifiap-f}d. virep Zvvaiiiv. 
 
 ^verai. 
 
 insomuch that we despaired even of life : ®but we ourselves had the 
 sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but 
 in God who raiseth the dead, ^°who delivered us out of so great a death 
 and will deliver, in whom we trust that He will also yet deliver us, ^^ye 
 also helping together by prayer for us, that, for the gift bestowed upon 
 us by the means of many, thanks may be given from many faces on our 
 behalf. 
 
 9 dAA', *nay,'=* tmmo.* 
 (XTro/cpt/xa, 'When I have asked 
 
 myself what would be the issue 
 of this struggle, the answer has 
 been " Death." ' 
 
 10 Oavdrov, * peril of death,' 
 as in xi. 23 ; and 1 Cor. xv. 31 
 (^aTToOvqcTKO}) . 
 
 1 1 ex TToAAwv Trpoo-wTTCDv is pro- 
 bably to be taken with cv^a- 
 pi(TTr]6fj, since the thanksgiving 
 more properly proceeded from 
 the Corinthians, the gift to the 
 Apostle through them, TrpwcrwTrojv 
 may have the later Greek sense 
 
 of person ; but it is more in con- 
 formity with the otherwise in- 
 variable usage of the New Testa- 
 ment to make it * that thanks 
 may be sent up from many up- 
 turned/aces.' 
 
 The use of the word xctpto-/Aa 
 for ' deliverance from affliction ' 
 shows the general application of 
 the phrase to what are now 
 termed natural occurrences. 
 
 crvwTrovpyovvT(i)v, * helping with 
 me.* For the thought see iv. 
 15, ix. 12. 
 
360 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. I. 1 — 11. 
 
 I return my usual thanks to Him in whom wp. recognise not only 
 the supreme God, hut the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 the Father also, from whose fatherly mercy all mercies de- 
 scendy the God who is the source of that strengthening comfort 
 which in manifold forms is sent to support us under manifold 
 forms of ajffliction. Thus we in turn may be called to sup- 
 port others in like ajflictions by the example and the sympathy 
 of the comfort which we ourselves enjoy ; for as we are ideri- 
 tified with Christ in His sufferings, so also are we identified 
 with you through Him in our comfort. Your comfort, in 
 fact, is the end and object of our existence : if we suffer, it is 
 for your welfare ; if tve are comforted, it is that out of your 
 like sufferings may grow a like comfort. What my sufferings 
 were you know ; how the hope of lije itself seemed to vanish 
 away ; and it is from that depth that I have been raised, by 
 the deliverance for which I now thank God, and which was 
 the result of your prayers. 
 
 The Apostle's Sympathy. 
 
 The thanksgiving with which the Epistle opens, furnishes the 
 key-note to the ensuing six chapters. 
 
 Two feelinsrs rise in his mind the moment that he beo^ins to 
 address the Corinthians, and cross each other in almost equal 
 proportions. The first is an overwhelming sense of gratitude 
 for his deliverance from his distress, whether it were the 
 actual dangers to which he had been exposed at Ephesus, or 
 the inward trouble which he suffered from his anxiety for the 
 Corinthian Church. The second is the keen sense which 
 breathes through both the Epistles to Corinth, but especially 
 through the Second, of his unity of heart and soul with his 
 Corinthian converts. Not only did he naturally pour out his 
 deepest feelings to them, but he felt that they were one with 
 him in his sorrows and in his joys ; that his comfort and deli- 
 
THE APOSTLE'S SYMPATHY. 
 
 361 
 
 verance would be shared by them, as it had been the result of 
 their prayers. He may have also been influenced partly by 
 the desire to begin from that serene atmosphere of thankful- 
 ness and love, which would soon be disturbed in the course of 
 the Epistle ; and partly by the anxiety, here as in his other 
 Epistles, to exhibit his relations to his converts in the most 
 friendly aspect, and to dispel at once by his own frankness the 
 cloud of suspicion which, as we see from many subsequent 
 passages, intervened between him and them. But it is out of 
 keeping with the irregular and impassioned tone of this Epistle 
 to suppose that any such secondary considerations were put 
 prominently forward as the groundwork of a formal and deli- 
 berate plan. 
 
 There are two remarks of Bengel on this portion of the 
 Epistle, which sum up its characteristics well. First, jjis ex- 
 * Experientiae quanta est necessitas : qua qui caret, perience. 
 quam ineptus magister est I ' Secondly, * Communio Sanc- 
 torum in corde Pauli, Titi, Corinthiorum, aliarum Ecclesiarum 
 exercita, egregie representatur in hac Epistol^. Hoec corda 
 fuere quasi specula imagines inter se reciprocantia.' The 
 sympathy with which the Apostle makes himself one with his 
 converts — their joys his joys, their sorrows his sorrows, their 
 thoughts his thoughts — is a striking instance of the manifold 
 susceptibility with which he was endowed, and of his capacity 
 for throwing himself into the position of others — becoming * all 
 things to all men,' ^ transferring ^ the feelings of others to his 
 own person. It is the same largeness and depth of His ver- 
 heart which embraced so wide a circle of personal satility. 
 friends; which * suifered when the weaker brother suffered,'^ 
 which would not allow him to ' eat meat whilst the world 
 standeth lest he make his brother to offend.' It is the Gentile 
 side of his character, which so remarkably qualified him for his 
 mission to the Gentile world ; the Christian or religious form 
 of the proverbial versatility of the Grecian mind, and of the 
 significant maxim of the Roman poet, ' Homo sum, humani 
 nihil a me alienum puto.' 
 
 For the right understanding of the Epistle, this identity of 
 
 1 1 Cor. ix. 22. 
 
 2 Rom. vii. 7-23 ; 1 Cor. iv. 6, 
 vii. 1, viii. 1-6. The closest re- 
 Bemblance to this passage in its 
 
 expression of personal affection is 
 1 Thess. ii. 7-12. 
 
 3 2 Cor. xi. 29 ; 1 Cor. viii. 13. 
 
362 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 feeling between the Apostle and his converts must be borne in 
 Double mind throughout. It accounts for a large portion, 
 current of even in detail, of the peculiarities of the style and 
 ®® ^°^' language ; the double self, which creates, as it were, 
 a double current of feeling and thought, now taking the form 
 of passionate sympathy, now of anxiety, now of caution and 
 prudence ; the plural number, which he employs in this Epistle 
 even more frequently than elsewhere for himself, as if including 
 his readers also. 
 
 It is also important as the liveliest instance of the real 
 communion or community of feeling introduced by Christianity 
 into the world. Never had there been seen amongst heathens 
 so close a bond between those who had no local, natural, or 
 hereditary connexion with each other. And it thus exemplifies 
 a universal truth. The Apostle did not think it beneath him 
 to show that he rested his claims on his capacity of thoroughly 
 Effect of understanding those with whom he dealt. Let them 
 sympathy, ggg that he cared for them, that he loved them, and 
 he felt that all else was as nothing in the balance. Sympathy 
 is the secret of power. No artificial self-adaptation, no merely 
 official or pastoral interest, has an influence equal to that 
 which is produced by the consciousness of a human and per- 
 sonal affection in the mind of the teacher towards his scholars, 
 of the general towards his soldiers, of the Apostle towards his 
 converts. 
 
HIS .CONFIDENCE IN THEIR INTENTIONS. 363 
 
 THE TIDINGS BROUGHT BY TITUS. 
 Chap. I. 12— VII. 16. 
 
 His Confidence in the Intentions of the Corinthian Church. 
 Chap. I. 12—11. 11. 
 
 The connexion of this section with the preceding is this : 
 ' Your intercessions and your sympathy will, I trust, continue ; 
 for my intercourse with you has been always frank and open.' 
 With this declaration of conscious uprightness, he enters on 
 the reply to a charge which weighed so heavily on his mind, as 
 to be one of the chief reasons for his writing. His coming, 
 announced in 1 Cor. xvi. 5-8, had been long delayed ; even 
 Timotheus, who had been sent before (1 Cor. xvi. 10), seems 
 never to have arrived. Titus only had appeared as the 
 Apostle's deputy ; the threat of Divine vengeance upon the 
 offending sinner (1 Cor. iv. 21, v. 5) had not been fulfilled. 
 Accordingly, when Titus returned to St. Paul, it was with the 
 tidings, on the one hand indeed, that the Corinthian Church 
 had to a great extent complied with his injunctions ; but, on the 
 other hand, that in consequence of these delays there had 
 arisen insinuations that he had broken his word, that he 
 practised worldly wisdom, and wrote one thing to the eye and 
 another in reality (i. 12, 17, x. 10). Against these insinua- 
 tions the Apostle remonstrates with the indignation natural to 
 an honourable mind unjustly suspected. At the same time, it 
 must be observed that, till the 10th chapter, this indignation 
 is kept within bounds : it is only by covert allusions that we 
 discover, in the earlier part of the Epistle, the real occasion of 
 his remarks : and as if restrained partly by affection, partly 
 by prudence, his chief object here seems to be so to conciliate 
 his readers, as to prevent an open rupture. 
 
364 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 12— Ifi. 
 
 His Confidence in their Intentions. 
 
 ^^7) yap Kav)(y](Ti<; rjixcov avrr) Icttlv^ to fiapTvpLOv ttJ? 
 crvveiSujcrecos r^^xoiv^ on iv ^ayi6rr)Ti koi elkuKpiveLa 
 ^'tov Oeovy ovK iv crocfyia aapKLKjj aXX.' eV ^dpiTi 6eov, 
 dp€crTpd(l)r)ixev iv rco /cdcr/xo), TreptcrcroTepaJS 8e Trpos v/xa?. 
 ^^ov yap akXa ypd(l)OiJL€i' vplv [dXX*] r) a dvayivctXTKere ri 
 
 air\6TT]Ti, for ayi6TT]Ti. 
 
 ** Om. Tov. 
 
 ^^For our boasting is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in 
 holiness and sincerity of God, not in carnal wisdom but in the grace of 
 God, we had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to 
 you- ward. ^^For we write no other things unto you than what ye read 
 
 12 Whether ayto-nyrt (A. B. 
 aTTAoTrjs C- ^- a-^d Lachmann) 
 
 and or aTrXoT-qTL (D. E, F. 
 
 iy.6rr„. ^ j ^^^ ^^^ rp^^^^j ^^ 
 
 the right reading, the context 
 tixes the general sense. etXiKpc- 
 v€ta is ' transparent sincerity,' as 
 in ii. 17 ; 1 C'or. v. 8. aTrXoTrjTL 
 therefore would be * singleness 
 of view,' according to its ety- 
 mological meaning, as in xi. 3 ; 
 Eph. vi. 6 ; Col. iii. 22 ; and 
 ajLOTrjTL would be ' purity of mo- 
 tive.' Compare 1 Thess. ii. 3, 
 ovSk i^ OLKaOapcTLas, ovt€ iv SdXo). 
 
 The word dyto-ny? occurs else- 
 where only twice : 2 Mace. xv. 2 
 (of the consecration of the Sab- 
 bath) ; Heb. xii. 10 (of the holi- 
 ness of God). TOV Oeov expresses 
 that his sincerity is ' imparted by 
 God,' as in Rom. iii. 21. 
 
 ev (To^ia aapKLKy, k. t. A. ' not 
 relying on maxims of worldly 
 prudence, but on the sustaining 
 favour of God.' Compare 1 Cor. 
 ii. 4. 
 
 iv Tw Koa-fno .... v/aSs. ' This 
 sincerity was manifested before 
 the heathen (comp. 1 Cor. v. 10), 
 
 but still more before you,' allud- 
 ing either to his display of pre- 
 ternatural gifts, in which case 
 he refers to the words * in the 
 grace of God ' — or to his refusal 
 of maintenance from them, in 
 which case he refers to the words 
 ' in holiness and sincerity.' 
 
 13 ' I have no hidden mean- 
 ing in what I write. I am not 
 one person when absent and 
 another when present (compare 
 X. 1) ; I write nothing else than 
 what you see on the surface of 
 my letter, and recognise in my 
 conduct now, and will still fur- 
 ther recognise at the final judg- 
 ment, when your present miscon- 
 structions of me will be changed 
 into the perfect recog- ..^y,,^^,^ 
 nition that I am your , and 
 glory, as truly as you ' 
 are mine.' For the play on the 
 words dvayivwa-Ko} and iiriyL- 
 vcucTKCD, compare Julian's cele- 
 brated speech, eyvcov, dveyvwi/, 
 /careyvov: and in this Epistle, 
 •yivwo-KO) and dvayivtutrKw, in iii. 2 ; 
 crvyKptvoi and dvaKpiVto, in 1 Cor. 
 ii. 13, 14 ; KpLvo), StaKptVo), and 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIR INTENTIONS. 
 
 365 
 
 Koi iinyLvaxTKeTe. ekiritjcty Se on ^Iw? Tekov<; hriyvoiCTC.dO^., 
 ^^ Kadcjs KOL ineyvcjTe rjixa^; ano fxepov^, otl Kav^-qiia Vficov 
 icr^ev KaOdirep koX vfielq rnxCov ev rfj rjfJi^pa tov Kvpiov 
 [t^/xwi^] ^Irjcrov. 
 
 ^°Kai ravTYj rfj TreTTOLOrjcrei i^ovkoixrjv ^irpoTepov Trpo^ 
 VfJias €kueiv, Lva oevrepav ^apiv €)(r)Te, ^°/cat ol vficop 
 
 '6ti 
 
 ^ iAdelv wpoTepov. 
 
 or indeed acknowledge. And I trust that ye shall acknowledge to the 
 end, ^^as also ye did acknowledge us in part, that we are your boast even 
 as ye also are ours in the day of our Lord Jesus. 
 
 ^'^And in this confidence I was minded before to come unto you that 
 ye may have a second grace, ^®and to depart by you into Macedonia and 
 
 KaraKpLvo), in 1 Cor. xi. 29, 31, 
 32, &c. If anything further is to 
 be sonsrht in the words than the 
 resemblance of sound, dvaytvw- 
 a-KO) may refer especially to the 
 Epistle, eVty tvwo-Kw to his condnct 
 (^dveorTpacf>r)iJL€v) . 
 
 KaL=^ in fact.' 
 
 For this contrast between their 
 present imperfect and their future 
 perfect knowledge of his true 
 character, compare 1 Cor. xiii. 
 12, where nearly the same words 
 are usen, apn ytvooc/coo €k fxepovi;, 
 TOT€ Sc e7rtyv(o(ro/tat Ka6o)<; kol eire- 
 yv(i)(r6rfv. In both cases, the 
 aorist, iTreyvMO-Orjv, CTrcyvwrc, is 
 used with the signification of the 
 present. tTriyivwo-Kw combines 
 the sense of ' recognition ' with 
 that of 'complete knowledge,' 
 in which last sense it is used 
 especially in vi. 9, xiii. 5. For 
 the general sense compare 1 Cor. 
 iv. 3-5. 
 
 14 According to the punctua- 
 tion (1) of the Received Text, or 
 (2) of Lachmann, otl may be 
 either : (a) ' because we are your 
 joy,' giving the reason for his 
 conviction that his true character 
 would be recognised at last ; or, 
 
 (h) * that we are your joy,' de- 
 pendent upon CTTLyvwcrccrOe. 
 
 €V rfj rjixipa tov Kvpiov rjfJLiov 
 may be made indifferently to re- 
 fer either to the words immedi- 
 ately preceding, or to the whole 
 sentence, as in Rom. ii. 16. 
 
 15 TavTrj TTJ TriiroLOrjCTii, 'in 
 this conviction thnt you would 
 recognise my sincerity.' 
 
 TrpoTcpov, i. e. * before going 
 into Macedonia.' 
 
 tva BevTepav X^P'^ ^XV^^i 
 ' that by paying you a visit be- 
 fore going to Macedonia, the visit 
 which I intended to pay you after 
 my return from Macedonia may 
 thus be (not the first, but) the 
 second.' 
 
 Xctptv, ' favour of the Apostle's 
 presence.' 
 
 TrpoTre/iicfiOrjvaL, ' to be assisted 
 on my journey to Jerusalem.' 
 Compare 1 Cor. xvi. 6, 11. 
 
 16 BuXOelv (B. C. D3. J. K. 
 Rec. Text), 'to pass through 
 Achaia,' as in 1 Cor. xvi. 5 ; 
 aTTcXOetv (Lachmann with A. D*. 
 F. G.), 'to depart.' The au- 
 thorities being so nearly divided, 
 the better sense of SlcXOciv, and 
 the probability that d-n-eXOeLv is a 
 
366 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 17—19. 
 
 ^oLTreXdeLV els MaKeSovCav /cat ttoXlv oltto MaKeSovias 
 iXOeiV TTpos vfias kol v<l> vficop 7rpo7r€iJL(j)07JvaL et? T7)v 
 ^lovSauai/. ^^ TovTO ovv ^ /BoyXofJievos fJ^t] tl apa rrj e\a<^pia 
 
 SieXdeTv. 
 
 *• fiov\fv6fJI.€P05, 
 
 to come again from Macedonia unto you and by you to be sent on toward 
 Judaea. ^'' When I therefore was thus minded, did T use lightness, or the 
 things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me 
 
 correction, are in favour of the 
 former. 
 
 The plan which he here men- 
 Changes m tioi^s as originally to 
 tiie Apostle's havc been pursued by 
 ''^^"'- him, was: (1) to have 
 
 crossed the ^g^ean from Ephesus 
 to Corinth (as in Acts xviii. 19 
 he had crossed from Corinth to 
 Ephesus) ; (2) then to have 
 passed by land through the north 
 of Greece to Macedonia (as he 
 had, in Acts xvii. 14, 15, xviii. 
 1, passed from Macedonia to 
 Corinth, as he in fact did pass, 
 in Acts XX. 3, from Corinth 
 to Macedonia) ; and (3) finally 
 to return, either by land or sea, 
 from Macedonia to Corinth, and 
 thence sail for Jerusalem. In- 
 stead of this he had already, at 
 the time when he wrote 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 5, 6, abandoned the direct 
 voyage to Corinth, and deter- 
 mined to go by Macedonia to 
 Corinth, and thence to Jerusalem 
 (1 Cor. xvi. 3). To this plan 
 he finally adhered (Acts xx. 2, 
 3). The original plan may have 
 been conveyed to the Corinthians 
 by Timotheus, who left Ephesus 
 for Corinth before the First 
 Epistle was despatched, and who, 
 even if he never reached Corinth, 
 may still have been the means of 
 communicating the Apostle's re- 
 solution. This is confirmed by 
 the fact that, in the beginning of 
 the First Epistle, there are traces 
 
 of the earlier plan discernible. 
 See 1 Cor. iv. 19 : * I will come 
 quickly to yon,' which more na- 
 turally agrees with the direct 
 voyage, than the circuitous route 
 through Macedonia. By this 
 change of plan, perhaps made in 
 the course of that Epistle, he se- 
 cured a longer time at Corinth 
 than could be managed in two 
 flying visits (1 Cor. xvi. 7), and 
 left a longer interval in which 
 they might recover the effects of 
 his First Epistle (i. 23, ii. 2, xii. 
 20, 21). 
 
 17 The misconstruction thus 
 occasioned was twofold, a suspi- 
 cion of some sinister motives, 
 Kara (rapKa ^ovXcvofiat — a charge 
 of levity, ry iXaf^pia e^prjcrafxyjv, 
 
 pirj TL apa, ' surely I did not.' 
 
 rrj €X.acf)pLa. The article pro- 
 bably indicates the levity with 
 which he was charged. 
 
 For the construction with 
 €)(prj(rdfJLr)v, compare TroXXfj irap- 
 py)(Tta ^(pco/Ac^a, iii. 12. The dif- 
 ference of the tenses, ixpw^M^ 
 and (^ovXivofxai, is occasioned by 
 the different sense required. If 
 he was guilty of levity, it was 
 when he changed his purpose. If 
 of worldly motives, he was still 
 actuated by them now. 
 
 Iva y Trap' €/xol to vat vat Kat to 
 ov ov. His object is not so 
 much to assert his right of 
 changing his resolution, as to 
 assert that, although he had ap- 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIK INTENTIONS, 
 
 367 
 
 €)(P'rjo'dfJL7)V, rj a jSovXevo fiaiy Kara crdpKa ^ovXevofxaL, 
 Lva Tj Trap e/xoi to ^at I'at Kai to ov ov ; ^"^TnaTo^; be o 
 ^eos, on 6 Xdyos rjixajv 6 tt/oo? v/xa? ov/c ^ecTTLV vol kol 
 OV. ^o Tou c'eov yap vtos Irjcrovs xpi(TTo<^ o ev vp.iv 
 
 • iy^yero for eo-Tii/. 
 
 *> 'O 7ap ToD 0€oi;. 
 
 there should be ' yea yea,' and * nay nay ? ' ^^But as God is faithful, our 
 word toward you is not 'yea' and ' nay.' ^^For the Son of God Jesus 
 Christ who was preached among you by us, by me and Silvanus and 
 
 parently given up his original 
 stedfast- plan, he still in fact and 
 nessofthe in spirit adhered to 
 
 Apostle. .^. ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 
 short visits which they had 
 lost, they would now (see 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 7) be compensated by one 
 long visit at the end of his whole 
 journey. For this reason he 
 never directly states his change 
 of purpose, but leaves it to be in- 
 ferred from the statement of his 
 original plan in verse 16, com- 
 bined with the fact that, at the 
 time when he wrote the present 
 Epistle, he was on his way, not to 
 Corinth, but Macedonia ; and ac- 
 cordingly, in what follows, it is 
 only the * Yes,' and not the ' No,' 
 which pervades his argument. 
 
 These words, therefore, are a 
 part of the question ' am I ac- 
 tuated by worldly motives, in 
 such a manner as to gi ve way to 
 inconsistency ; that I should say 
 " yes " at one time, and " no " at 
 another; promise to come, and 
 then break my promise ? No : I 
 promised to come, and I shall ful- 
 fil that promise.' In this case, it 
 is an objection that the article 
 before the first vat and the first 
 ov loses its force, and that the re- 
 duplication is only for the sake.of 
 emphasis. But the article may 
 be accounted for as in ttj iXa<f)pLa 
 — * in such a way as that you 
 
 should see in me that inter- 
 change of " yes " or " no " of which 
 you complain.' And the redu- 
 plication is justified by the simi- 
 lar use of it in Matt. v. 37 : io-roi 
 8c 6 Adyos vfUjjVf Nat vat Ov ov, 
 and (in the case of vat) by the 
 frequent iteration in the Gospels 
 of ' Amen, amen,' the Hebrew 
 form of vat. 
 
 18-20 The Apostle's life was 
 so bound up with his teaching, 
 that, in the mind of his opponents, 
 the charge of personal levity was 
 immediately transferred to his 
 teaching ; and he in like manner 
 considers that the vindication of 
 his conduct depends on the vin- 
 dication of his teaching. Compare 
 ii. 17-iv. 6, where he similarly 
 repels the insinuation of dupli- 
 city, and 1 Cor. ii. 1-5, where 
 he shows that the simplicity of 
 the subject of his teaching is to 
 be found also in the manner of it. 
 
 18 TTto-To? 8e 6 Oeo?. * So true 
 as it is that God is faithful, so 
 true is it that my communications 
 are not variable.' Compare xi. 
 10; Rom. xiv. 11. 
 
 6 Xdyos is purposely indefinite, 
 in order to include both his per- 
 sonal communications and his 
 preaching. 
 
 19 At the thought of the sub- 
 ject of his preaching, he at once 
 ascends into the higher sphere 
 
368 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 20—22. 
 
 St' rjfjicju KiqpvyOei^^ St' e/xov /cat XCkovavov koI TifioOeov, 
 ovK ^iyevero vol /cat ov, aXXa i^at iv avrco yeyovev 
 ^^ocrat yap eVayyeXtat Oeov, iv avTca to vai* ^hio /cat 
 
 €(rTi for iyevfTO. 
 
 ** Koi iv avT(f for Zih koX Zi avrov. 
 
 Timotheus, was not ' yea ' and ' nay,' but in Him has been ' yea,' '^^For 
 all the promises of God in Him are ' yea : ' wherefore also by Him is 
 
 ever present to his thoughts, from 
 ■which he returns in verse 22, to 
 resume his personal defence ; ' I 
 have said that my words to yon 
 are not mixed up of "yes " and 
 " no, "because He who is the great 
 subject of our preaching, not of 
 my preaching only, but of my 
 colleagues' also, was not a mix- 
 ture of " yes " and " no ; " on the 
 contrary, His whole life has been 
 summed upin one eternal "Yes;" 
 for in Him all the promises of 
 God received their true fulfil- 
 ment.' 
 
 ' TheSonof God, Jesus Christ.' 
 stedfast- W"ord is heaped upon 
 nessof word to cxpress the 
 greatness of H im whom 
 they preached, and so to aggra- 
 vate the impossibility of His 
 connexion with any littleness or 
 levity. The names of Silvanus 
 and Timotheus are introduced 
 partly in order to intimate the 
 unity with which they taught of 
 Him ; partly not to arrogate too 
 much to himself. The tense of 
 the phrase * was not yea and 
 nay ' {ovk iyevcro) shows that it 
 refers to the certainty, which, 
 as a matter of history, attended 
 on His words and deeds : com- 
 pare 'As the Father said unto 
 me, so I speak.' ' Now speak- 
 € st thou plainly, and speakest no 
 proverb.' * He taught them as 
 one having authority, and not 
 as the Scribes ' (John xii. 50, 
 
 xvi. 29 ; Matt. vii. 29). The 
 tense of the phrase ' has been 
 yea in Him ' (vat iv avrw yiyovev) 
 comprehends also the thought 
 that not only were His words 
 based on immovable certainty, 
 but that in His life and works the 
 promise of God Himself was jus- 
 tified and fulfilled, — ' is and has 
 been, and is still producing its 
 results.' Compare for these 
 allusions to the truthfulness and 
 certainty in Christ's historical 
 character, xi. 10, ' as the truth of 
 Christ (rf aXrjOeLa ILpio-rov) is in 
 me.' Compare also John xiv. 6, 
 ' I am the truth' and xviii. 37, ' to 
 this end was I bom . . . that I 
 should bear witness to the truth* 
 and (in still nearer conformity 
 with this passage) Rev. iii. 7, 
 ' He that is true,'' and Rev. iii. 
 14, ' the Amen, the faithful and 
 true witness.' . 
 
 2o To the Greek vat is here 
 added the Hebrew ' Amen,' 
 partly to give greater emphasis, 
 as in the Apocalypse, where the 
 most solemn expressions are 
 given both in Greek and Hebrew, 
 partly in allusion to the ' Amen' 
 of the Gospel narratives, partly 
 as the close of an impassioned 
 passage, which he ends, as usual, 
 with a doxology, to which the 
 * Amen ' of the public assemblies 
 formed the natural accompani- 
 ment. See 1 Cor. xiv. 16, and 
 note thereon. 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN TflEIR INTENTIONS. 
 
 369 
 
 '^M 
 
 8i' avTOv TO dfJLrjv T(o deco tt/do? So^av St' rjixojj/. 
 8e fie^ai<s)v rjfJias (TVu vfilv et? ^l(ttov kol )(pL(ra^ rjfJia^ 
 ^€09, ^^6 /cat a(l>payLadfJievo<; rjixas kol Sous toj^ ^dpa/Sojva 
 Tov 7r^€v//,aro9 ei' rat? AcapStats rjixo)!/. 
 
 *Amen' unto the glory of God by us. '^^Now He who confirmeth ua 
 with you in Christ and anointed us is God ; ^^ who also sealed us, and 
 gave the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 
 
 2 1 With the doxology the di- 
 gression properly ends ; but one 
 thought lingers behind, which he 
 must express before he returns 
 to his personal defence. As in 
 1 Cor. iii. 23, xi. 3, XV. 24-28, 
 he passes on from the greatness 
 of Christ to the Divine greatness 
 still beyond, so also here, after 
 having represented Christ as the 
 one subject of his preaching, and 
 the one consummation of the Di- 
 vine promises, he still thinks it 
 necessary to ground the stedfast- 
 ness of his faith on the ultimate 
 basis of all hope and trust, God 
 Himself: ' Christ is faithful and 
 immovable ; and He who makes 
 us faithful and immovable with 
 Christ, is no less than God.' 
 
 ySejSatwv is the emphatic word, 
 connecting this with the preced- 
 ing verses. 
 
 rjfias (Tvv v/xLV is inserted with 
 a view of introducing on every 
 occasion his sense of complete 
 union with the Corinthians, as 
 in verses 4-7. 
 
 €ts XP'-^'^^^^ ' ^^^^ Christ, so 
 that we become more and more ' 
 (this seems the force of the pre- 
 sent tense in ySeySaiaiv) 'identified 
 with Him.' 
 
 )QiL(Tas, 'He who anointed us 
 to be like the Anointed.' Ob- 
 serve the connexion of ;(pto-Tos 
 and xpLo-as. For the application 
 of the word to Christ see Acts 
 
 X. 38, to believers generally, as 
 here, 1 John ii. 20. 
 
 226 Kttt (T(f>payLcrdixevo<s /cat Sou? 
 TOV apa/3S}va. The tenses of these 
 words, as of xp^cra<;, point to the 
 moment of conversion, when the 
 gifts of the Spirit were first 
 given, as in Acts ii. 38, x. 44, 
 xix, 6 ; and the figure of ' seal- 
 ing,' as in Eph. i. 13, iv. 30, 
 and of the * earnest ' or * pledge,' 
 indicates the assurance conveyed 
 by those gifts, of the reality of 
 the union with Christ, into which 
 they had been baptized. 
 
 apa^wv is used twice besides 
 (v. 5 ; Eph. i. 14) in a similar 
 context, for the first instalment 
 paid as a pledge that the resfc 
 will follow. It is so used by the 
 Greek orators, and by the earlier 
 Latin writers. A. Gellius (xvii. 
 2) speaks of it as a word con- 
 sidered in his time (a.d. 120- 
 150) to be vulgar and superseded 
 by ' Arra,' which is the substi- 
 tute for it in later Latinity. The 
 same word ' erabon ' is used in 
 the same sense in Hebrew, Gen. 
 xxxviii. 17, 18, from *" arah,' to 
 ' mix ' or ' exchange,' and thence 
 ' to pledge,' as Jer. xxx. 21, 
 Neh. V. 3. It was therefore 
 probably derived by the Greeks 
 from the language of Phenician 
 traders, as 'tariff,' 'cargo,' &c., 
 are derived, in English and other 
 modern languages, from Spanish 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. I. 23—11. 6. 
 
 '/ 
 
 ^'Eyo) 8e fJidpTvpa tov deov cVt/caXoO/xat iirl ttjv ifxr^v 
 ^v^/yju, OTL ffteBofxevos vfxcov ovKeTt rjXOov els KopivOov. 
 ^^ov^ OTL KvpLevojxev vfjicjv Tr}s TTtcrreG)?, aAAa crvvepyoL 
 icrfxeu r-^? x^P^^ vficov • Ty yap Tricrrei icTiJKaTe. Ii. ^ e- 
 Kpiva Se ifjiavT(^ tovto to firj ttoKiv iv ^Xvirr) npo^ vfxas 
 
 • irdkiv i\df7v iv Xinrri. 
 
 *'But I call God for a witness upon my soul, that to spare you I 
 came no longer unto Corinth. ^^Not for that we have dominion over 
 your faith, but are fellow-workers of your joy : for by faith ye stand. 
 II. ^ But I determined this with myself, that I would not in sorrow come 
 
 traders. In this verse it is apa- 
 jSojva in A. F. G. J. appa(3u)va in 
 B. C. D. E. In 2 Cor. v. 5 ; Eph. 
 i. 14, it is appal3o)va in almost all 
 the MSS. 
 
 23 He now returns to the 
 question of the delay of his visit ; 
 and as in the preceding verses 
 (i. 17-22) he had defended it on 
 the ground that it was not really 
 a change of purpose, so now he 
 defends it on the ground that 
 it was occasioned by tenderness 
 for them. 
 
 cyo) 8c, *J, -whatever my op- 
 ponents may say.' 
 
 €^t rrjv ifJLrjv xjrvxqv ' (1) ' a- 
 gainst my soul,' i.e. if I speak 
 falsely ; or, (2) ' into the pre- 
 sence of my soul to testify that 
 I speak the truth.' 
 
 ^€t8o/xevo5 vfjuov, ' that I might 
 not have occasion to exert my 
 power to the full, and take ven- 
 geance on your sins.' 
 
 ovK€TL, ' no more.' * I gave 
 up the thought of coming.' 
 
 24 ovx OTL (for ovK epoi oti). 
 'When I speak of sparing you, I 
 do not mean that I had or have 
 at any time despotic control over 
 your faith, your Christian life. 
 We are but co-operators with 
 you in producing, not your grief, 
 but your joy ; and so far from 
 our being the masters of your 
 
 faith, it is by your faith that you 
 stand independently of us.' 
 
 KvpL€vojx€v is suggested by the 
 idea of authority implied in ^et- 
 
 So//,€V09. 
 
 ;(apas, 'joy,' is introduced in 
 contrast to the grief which he 
 wished to spare them. 
 
 TTJ yap TTLareL is the reason for 
 ovx ^'''' KvpL€vo/jL€v, thc intervening 
 clause being passed over as pa- 
 renthetical, as in Mark v. 41, 
 42, xvi. 3, 4. 
 
 II I, 2 €KpLva 8e c/xavrw, 
 * for myself,' i.e. ' for my own 
 happiness, as well as yours.' 
 
 ttoXlv iv XxnrQ 7rpb<s vyu,a? iX- 
 Oetv. In all the best MSS. iv 
 XvTTr] is put thus early in the 
 sentence, as the most emphatic 
 word. 
 
 ttoXlv is taken with iXBuv. 
 Xvirri is used in opposition to ;!^a- 
 pas in i. 24. 
 
 * My second visit shall not 
 be painful; for in giving you 
 pain before, my only object was 
 that I might have joy now.*. 
 The abruptness is occasioned by 
 the vividness with which the of- 
 fending party at Corinth starts 
 into sight. ' If I ever give you 
 pain, who can enliven me, ex- 
 cept he to whom I have given 
 pain [and who is thereby induced 
 to repent] ? ' Then applying 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIH INTENTIONS. 
 
 371 
 
 iK$eLV. ^€t yap iytii \viTa> v/x,a§, /cat *Tt$ 6 evc^pat- 
 pwv fJL€ €1 fxYf 6 Xv7roviJL€vo<; ef ifiov ; ^kol iy paxpa^ 
 TovTo avTo, Lva firf ikOcov kvirrjv ^ej^o) a(j) &p cSet fie 
 ^atpeu-', wenoiOotys itrl wdvras v/jtct? on rj ifir) x^P^ 
 irivrxiiv Vfi6}v icrriv. "^e/c yap 7roXkrj<; ^Xtt/iecus /cat crvi^- 
 0^179 /capSta? cypaijta vixlv 8ta iroWtov 8a/cpuwz/, ou;)^ 
 ti^a XvnrjOrJTe^ aXKa Trjv aydnriv lva yvcoTe, 7ju e)^a> 
 Treptcrcrorepcus €19 vp-a?./ *^ct Se ri9 XeXwr^/ce^', ovac epe 
 
 • t(s ixrrif. 
 
 *> Add u/Atj;. 
 
 • Lachniv Ed. 1. cxa^. 
 
 again to you. ^For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh m& 
 glad but the same who is made sorry by me? ^And I wrote this same 
 unto you, lest when I came I should have sorrow from them of whom I 
 ought to have rejoiced, having confidence in you all that my joy is the 
 joy of you all. ^For out of much trouble and anguish of heart I wrote 
 unto you with many tears, not that ye should be made sorry, but that 
 ye might know the love which 1 have more abundantly unto you. ^But 
 
 this general statement respecting 
 his conduct to the particular cir- 
 cumstances of the First Epistle, 
 be proceeds: 'And accordingly 
 1 wrote that very passage in the 
 First Epistle [vie. 1 Cor. iv. 8, 
 18-vi. 11], in order that I 
 should have no more pain occa- 
 sioned to me by your miscon- 
 duct ; trusting that, as my chief 
 joy comes from your good con- 
 duct, you, with that community 
 of feeling which subsists between 
 us^ would give me the joy which, 
 as being mine^ will also he yours.* 
 For the abruptness of Kat, see 
 verse 16, koX rrpo^ Tuvra tls 
 Ikvlvos; Luke xviii. 20, mx rts 
 
 4 ' For I wrote to blame you 
 with great reluctance, my only 
 object being to show my love for 
 you.* The passage gives a lively 
 picture of the feelings with which 
 he wrote the First Epistle. For 
 the ' many tears,' compare Acts 
 XX. 19, * serving the Lord with 
 many tears.' 
 
 «K and 8ia, ^ out qf & broken 
 
 and oppressed heart my words 
 flowed through (5ta) tears.' Sta 
 expresses, ' amidst floods of 
 tears ; ' or, ' with eyes dimmed 
 by tears.' 
 
 T^v ayai'mjv iva. For this in- 
 version of iva compare 1 Cor. ix. 
 15. 
 
 5 The position of ifxe aiid 
 TravTUs v/m?, as emphatic and an- 
 tithetic to each other, shows the 
 general sense to be, that the sin 
 of the offender, whom from deli- 
 cacy he avoids more especially 
 mentioning, was felt by St. Paul 
 chiefly because it gave pain 
 to them. He impresses upon 
 them that he is satisfied with the 
 measures which they had ad- 
 opted, and acquiesces in any act 
 of indulgence which they might 
 have shown him. It can hardly 
 be doubted, from a comparison 
 of this passage with ch. vii. that 
 the horror excited by the First 
 Epistle against the offender had 
 been very great, and that one 
 main object of the Apostle is to 
 moderate it. 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. II. «— 10. 
 
 XeXvmjKev, aXka oltto iJLepov<; (Iva fxr) iiri^/^apca) 7rdvTa<; 
 i5/xas. ^iKavov rw tolovtco rj iiriTLfJiLa avTT) rj vwo twv 
 irX^iovoiVy ^wcTTe Tovvavrlov ^fxakkov vfxas xapicraa-dai kol 
 TrapaKokecraL, fxij ttcos rfj irepLcro-oTepa \vTTrj KaraTroOrj 6 
 TOioGro?. ^Sto TrapaKokoj v/xa? KvpaxraL els avTov aydirr^v 
 
 • Lachm. Ed. 1. omit fxaWov. 
 
 if any have caused sorrow, he hath not made me soiTy, but in part you 
 all (that I may not overcharge you). *^ Sufficient to such a man was this 
 punishment, inflicted by the greater part, "^ so that contrariwise ye ought 
 rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be 
 swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. * Wherefore I exhoi-t you to esta- 
 
 ctTTO jjJpov<i (tya firf em^apiii) 
 may thus relate ,{1) either to the 
 offender, — * I say •' in part," that 
 I may not press too heavily upon 
 him;' or (2) to the Corinthian 
 Church,— ' I say that he has 
 grieved, not me, but you, lest I 
 should take too much upon my- 
 self.' (cTTtySaptO, like KVpUVOfJL€V 
 
 in i. 24, and Atto /xepov; inserted 
 to qualify the strength of Travras 
 and reduce it to the level of tcov 
 TrXeiovwv afterwards; in which 
 case comp. Rom. xi. 25, 7r(opto(ns 
 airo fxepov; to) 'Io-pa^\ yiyoveu.) 
 But some expressions indicate a 
 disposition to leniency in the 
 Corinthian Church, which the 
 Apostle, whether from a prudent 
 lear of a reaction in favour of 
 the offending person, or from a 
 real tenderness towards him, 
 eagerly meets, as it were, half 
 way. Thus the word cTrtrt/Aia 
 (' punishment'), although it may 
 be extended to mean the extreme 
 sentence of separation recom- 
 mended in 1 Cor. V. 4, is more 
 naturally referable to some milder 
 punishment; and the tenses of 
 XapicraorOaL and ;^apt^€0-^€, in 
 verses 7 and 10, although they 
 may be supposed to refer to what 
 he expected in the future, are 
 naturally expressive of what had 
 
 been done, or was being done at 
 that time. 
 
 6 LKavov. ecTTi or Icrrto may be 
 understood equally well. LKavov 
 possibly in the legal sense of 
 ' satisfaction,' as in Acts xvii. 9, 
 X.afi6vT€<; TO 'tKavov. 
 
 7} vTTo Twv TrXeioviDv is the sen- 
 tence or the reprobation (Xvirrj) 
 expressed by the majority of the 
 meeting of the whole Church ; 
 see 1 Cor. v. 4. 
 
 7 WCTTC TOVVaVTLOV /XoXXoV V/AttS 
 
 )(apL(Taa-$aL kol TrapaKaActrat. This 
 seems to depend on t/cavoi/. ' It 
 is cause suflScient for you to for- 
 give him.' irapaKaXia-at must 
 here have the sense, not of ' ex- 
 horting,' but of ' comforting,' 
 as in i. 3, 4 ; and yet irapaKaXu) 
 in the next verse has the sense, 
 not of ' comforting,' but of ' ex- 
 horting.' For a similar juxta- 
 position of the same word in two 
 diff'erent senses, see 1 Cor. xi. 
 23 : TrapeOioKa, TrapcStSoro. 
 
 TTJ irepicrcroTepa Auttt/, ' by the 
 excess of his grief.' 
 
 6 TOLovTo<i, the usual expression 
 of the Apostle, like 6 8eti/a, when he 
 alludes to a well-known person, 
 without wishing to specify him 
 more particularly. Comp. xii. 1, 2. 
 
 8 This expresses his agree- 
 ment in any act of conciliation 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIR INTENTIONS. 
 
 373 
 
 ^cts TOVTO yap /cat eypaxim, Iva yvoi Tr\v SoKt/jxriv viicov, ^el 
 €t9 iravTa vtttjkool eare. ^" (o oe tl ^apLQecrtre, Kayco • Kau^ 
 
 • Lachm. Ed. 1. jf. '' koI ^yt^. 
 
 blish your love toward him. ^ For to this end also did I write, that I 
 might know the proof of you, whether in all things ye be obedient. ^^To 
 
 which they had adopted or might 
 adopt, throwing the whole weight 
 of his apostolical authority into 
 this act of * loosing,' by the 
 Christian society, as he had be- 
 fore thrown it (in 1 Cor. v. 4) 
 into the act of * binding.' 
 
 KvpCxraL, ' confirm.' This fa- 
 vours the supposition that they 
 had already commenced some 
 milder course, which he here 
 urges them to continue. 
 
 Bengel : — ' Kvpo<s est penes 
 amorem, non penes tristitiam : 
 naajestas regiminis et disciplinae 
 ecclesiasticae sita est in amore.' 
 
 9 €ts TOVTO yap kol eypaif/a, 
 * you may safely exchange 
 harsher for gentler measures ; 
 for the object which I had in 
 writing so severely in 1 Cor. v. 
 4,. 7, is fulfilled, now that I see 
 how readily you obeyed me.' 
 
 It is a hyperbolical expression 
 of his gratitude to them, as 
 though his object had not been 
 the reformation of the offender, 
 but the trial of their obedience. 
 Compare vii. 12 : ' Though I 
 wrote unto you, I wrote not for 
 his sake that had done the 
 wrong, but that our care for you 
 in the sight of God might ap- 
 pear.' Compare, also, 1 Cor. ix. 
 9, 10 : ' Doth God care for oxen ? 
 Or saith he it altogether for our 
 sakes ? For our sakes.' 
 
 €ts TOVTO, i.e. ' for this object 
 which 1 proceed to state.' 
 
 Kttt, * in fact,' as in i, 13. 
 
 T7JV 8oKiixr]v vjjiCiv, * your proved 
 sincerity.' The words are a con- 
 
 fusion of two constructions — tva 
 yvQ) Trjv V7raKor]V v/^wv, and iva 
 o-xti> BoKLfjirjv vixwv. Compare, 
 however, Phil. ii. 22, ttjv 8c Sokl- 
 firjv avTov -yivwo-KCTC. 
 
 lo (S 8c TL xapiil,iaB€. Here he 
 implies,, not only that they are 
 going to forgive, but that they 
 are, or have been forgiving : un- 
 less, which is hardly likely in 
 so personal an argument,, he is 
 laying down a general principle. 
 And following up the train of 
 thought opened in i. 23, 24, he 
 insists on their independent au- 
 thority to forgive ; going even so 
 far as to say that, even if he had 
 taken upon himself to forgive, it 
 would have been not of his own 
 impulse, but for their sakes ; and 
 that this forgiveness was as truly 
 in the name and person of Christ, 
 as had been the former act of 
 condemnation, 1 Cor. v. 4. 
 
 If Ke^dpta-fiat, as most inter- 
 preters take it, be transitive (as 
 in Acts xxvii. 24; Gal. iii. 18), 
 then, whether the reading be o 
 or <S, the meaning will be, ' for 
 in this, as in all else, my chief 
 motive is my sympathy for you. 
 Whatsoever [or whomsoever] I 
 have in any previous time for- 
 given, 1 have forgiven for your 
 sakes.' If it be passive, then the 
 meaning will be, ' for your wel- 
 fare is the chief thing to be con- 
 sidered, in this as in all besides; 
 for even the forgiveness which I 
 have myself received was for 
 your sake, for the services which 
 I might render you.* X^P*-^^' 
 
374 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. II. 11. 
 
 yap ^ iyco o K€)(dpLcriiaL, et Ti Ke)(dpi(Tixai, hi v/xa? iv 
 TTpocrcoTra) ^pucTTOV, ^^Lva fxr) nXeoveKTrjOcopiev virb tov 
 (TaravoL' ov yap avTov ra voiqyiaTa ayvoovp,ev. 
 
 • ^7ci> 6? Tt KexdpKT/JMi ^ K6X(i/>«r/iai. 
 
 whom ye forgive any thing, / forgive also : for if I have forgiven • any 
 thing, what I forgave for your sakes forgave I it in the face of Christ, 
 ^' lest we should be defrauded by Satan : for we are not ignorant of his 
 devices. 
 
 • Or 'have been forgiven.' 
 
 fat and 'XP'-pwOevraf l^^aplarOy), \a- 
 pLaOrfcrofxaL are SO used in Acts 
 iii. 14; 1 Cor. ii. 12; Phil. i. 29; 
 Philem. 22 ; and the sense, ' I 
 have had something forgiven to 
 me,' is justified by the analogy 
 of TTCTriVrcv/xat' Tt, Rom. iii. 2 ; 1 
 'Cor. ix. 17. For the general 
 sense of the passage thus under- 
 stood, compare 1 Cor. xv. 10 : 
 ' by the grace (x^pts) of God I 
 am v^hat I am : and His grace 
 which was bestowed upon me 
 was not in vain ;* and for the 
 humility of the expression, ' if I 
 really have been forgiven,' com- 
 pare 1 Tim. i. 13, 'I obtained 
 mercy because I did it igno- 
 rantly ; ' 1 Cor. iv. 4, ' yet am I 
 not hereby justified.' In the 
 former case €ya> will be, ' I as 
 well as you : ' in the latter, ' I as 
 well as the offender.' Both 
 would make good sense. The 
 <5ontext, and the transitive use of 
 
 Kcxa-pLcr/xai elsewhere in the New 
 Testament, are in favour of the 
 first. 
 
 €v TrpocrtoTTO) )(pi<TTov is probably 
 connected with Ke)(dpL(rfxaL. Com- 
 pare iv r}fxipa, Rom. ii. 16, where 
 the same ambiguity of construc- 
 tion occurs. It must be (not 
 merely ' in the 
 which would be 
 
 cvwTTtov, KarevavTi 
 more strongly) 
 
 presence of,' 
 
 expressed by 
 
 ivavTtov^ but 
 
 as if Christ 
 
 Himself were looking on.' 
 
 I I IVa fX,y 7rXeOV€KTTjO<JJfJL€V VTTO 
 
 TOV a-aTava. ' I forgive, and you 
 forgive, lest by withholding such 
 forgiveness sinners should be 
 driven to despair, and so Satan, 
 the great adversary, should win 
 an unfair advantage over us.' 
 Compare 1 Cor. vii. 5 : ' Come 
 together that Satan tempt you 
 not for your incontinency.' 
 
 TO. vo-jfxara, * his designs 
 against Christ's kingdom.' 
 
HIS CONFIDENCE IN THEIR INTENTIONS. 375 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. I. 12 — II. 11. 
 
 I rejoice in my deliverance ; I trust in the continuance of your 
 sympathy ; for I am conscious of my perfect sincerity to all, 
 but especially to you. There is nothing kept back, as my 
 enemies would insinuate, from you ; my letters have no double- 
 meaning, my writings and my life are both equally open to 
 your inspection ; and all misconstructions will be cleared 
 away in the perfect knowledge and perfect sympathy which 
 you will have in the great day when all shall be revealed, and 
 we shall know and be known entirely. If you fully under- 
 stood this, you need have no fear of any levity or any double 
 dealing in the recent delay of my visit to you. My original 
 plan, it is true, had been to pay you two visits ; one on my 
 way to Macedonia, one on my return from it. But if you 
 now find out I am writing from Macedonia before I visit you, 
 you must not suppose that I have broken my former promise, 
 and that what I have said one day, I unsay the next. God 
 knows how contrary this would be to the whole spirit of my 
 communications with you ; how contrary, above all, to the 
 spirit and character of Him who is the one subject of the 
 teaching of myself and of my colleagues alike. The Son of 
 God, who appeared amongst us in the person of Jesus Christ, 
 spoke and acted in no vacillating manner. The ' Yes^ the 
 emphatic ' Amen^ which was the especial mark of all His 
 Divine discourses, was but the expression of the perfect con- 
 summation of all the Divine promises in Him, the foundation 
 of the solemn praises which we offer to God, from whom those 
 promises came ; Who, at our conversion, gave both to us and 
 to you {for we cannot be separated) a pledge of the gifts of 
 the Spirit, of our complete identification with Christ in this 
 certainty and firmness as in all besides, we being anointed by 
 the same Divine /Spirit that anointed Him. God knows (to 
 return from this general assurance to my own particular 
 case), God knows that it was from no weakness or duplicity 
 that I delayed my visit. It was simply that I might not be 
 obliged to use my authority severely against you. And when 
 I speak of my authority now, or at any other time, I claim 
 
376 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 no despotic control over that faith in which yon stand inde- 
 jpendently of any human teacher. All that I now wish is to 
 help in making your happiness, which is my happiness. And, 
 therefore, I was resolved for my own sake, that my second 
 visit to you should not be in sorrow either to yourselves or to 
 me. For if I cause sorrow on my coming to you, the very 
 countenance tchich should have greeted me with smiles greets 
 me instead with the sorrow which I have myself occasioned. 
 This was my ohject in using the severe language of my First 
 Fpistle, that the sorrow which I felt for the sin committed 
 amongst you might be removed ; and that I might thus feel 
 the happiness which, as being mine, I felt sure would become 
 yours also. This was my object ; and not any wish to cause 
 you sorrow, but to show you tke love which I bear to yon 
 above all ; as is well testified by the heart-breaking anguish 
 and bitter tears which that Fpistle cost me. And this sorrow, 
 so far as it was occasioned by one of your society, was in 
 fact, not so much my sorroio as in great measure the sorrow 
 of all of you. If was not, therefore, my concern, but yours, 
 to punish him ; if I interpose at all, it must be not in my 
 own behalf, but in his. The punishment, which the majority 
 of the Christian society has inflicted upon him, is sufficient ; 
 the course now to be pursued is of forgiveness and consolation', 
 lest he should be driven to despair. Whatever marks, there- 
 fore, of Christian love you have shown towards him, may 
 safely be continued ; by the punishment which in obedience to 
 me you have inflicted upon him, you have fulfilled my object 
 in writing to you. Whatever marks of forgiveness you show, 
 have received my full approbation ; it is for your sakes, and 
 because of your forgiveness, and not from any impulse of my 
 own, that I have exercised forgiveness myself [as it is for 
 your benefit that Ihave been myself forgiven^ in the presence 
 of Him who is always watching lest an opportunity of evil 
 should be given to the Adversary, 
 
HIS RELATIONS TO THE CHURCH. 377 
 
 The Apostle's Relations to the Church. 
 
 This passage well exhibits the Apostle's relations to his 
 converts. First, in the repudiation of the charge of duplicity 
 and vacillation, it discloses his keen susceptibility to ^T[is 
 attacks of this kind. His sensitiveness is such as we suscepti 
 should hardly have expected in a character of such ^ ' ^* 
 intense devotion to great objects ; but it is a natural conse- 
 quence of the peculiar feeling of high honour and courtesy 
 which runs through the Apostle's writings, and which, as Paley 
 and Coleridge have well observed, makes him a strikincr 
 example — they might almost have said the first example in any 
 great detail — of what is now called by the untranslatable name 
 of ' gentleman.' 
 
 Secondly, it is historically instructive, as containing the 
 virtual retractation of the censure in 1 Cor. v. 1-G. It is an 
 instance of the Apostle's loosing, as the former passage is of 
 the Apostle's binding. It is an instance of the ready for- 
 giveness of the Apostle, as soon as the need for anger was 
 gone ; thus exemplifying, in a practical case, as he himself 
 observes in ii. 10, the great peculiarity of the Gospel Hisconces- 
 morality. It is an instance, also, of the wish to allow sionstothe 
 
 , ^, . . . 1.1 1 • freedom of 
 
 the Christian society as much mdependent action as the com- 
 possible ; the very opposite of a despotic hierarchical munity. 
 ambition. * Not lording it over their faith.' ' By faith,' 
 their own faith, ' they stood.' The penalty is inflicted ' by 
 the majority.' ' To whomsoever they forgave, he forgave.' (i. 
 24, ii. 6, 10.) The Apostle treats his converts as his equals. 
 Even to a Church which needed the assertion of his authority, 
 he yet forbears to press his claims ; and thus shows what large 
 concessions could be made even at such a time to the principle 
 of Christian freedom. 
 
378 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. II. 12—14. 
 
 The Arrival of Titus. 
 Chap. II. 12—16. 
 
 12» 
 
 E\0a)v 8e €19 TTjv TpcjdSa els to evayyekiov tov ^lcttov, 
 vpas [JiOL av€(pyfJi€U7)S iv Kvpica^ ^^ovk ecrxv<(^ aveaiv 
 
 ^- But when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and a door was 
 opened unto me of the Lord, ^^I had no rest in my spirit, because I found 
 
 Troas. 
 
 12 He resumes the main sub- 
 ject of the arrival of Titus. ' Let 
 me then put aside all these ques- 
 tions about my delay, and let me 
 place before you the scene at 
 Troas. Although with every 
 facility for pursuing the mission 
 which I had long hoped to ac- 
 complish in those parts, I was so 
 distracted by not receiving the 
 expected tidings from Corinth, 
 that I tore myself away from the 
 disciples of Troas, and embarked 
 for Macedonia.' 
 
 T-^v TpwaSa. The article pos- 
 sibly indicates the region of 
 ' the Troad,' rather than 
 the city. The city 
 had been built by Antigonus, 
 under the name of Antigonia 
 Troas ; was afterwards called 
 Alexandria Troas (Conybeare 
 and Howson, vol. i. pp. 301, 
 302) ; and was at this time a 
 Roman ' colonia Juris Italici,' 
 and regarded with favour by the 
 Roman Emperors, as the repre- 
 sentative, though at a consi- 
 derable distance, of the ancient 
 Troy, of which, throughout the 
 middle ages, and still by the in- 
 habitants, it has been supposed 
 to occupy the site. St. Paul had 
 only been prevented from staying 
 there on his first visit (Acts xvi. 
 
 8) by the vision which called 
 him into Macedonia, and on the 
 return from his present journey 
 (Acts XX. 3-6) was received 
 there with much enthusiasm, 
 and remained for more than a 
 week. These indications of the 
 held of labour thus opened for 
 him, agree with the expressions 
 here used, cts to evayyiXcov^ 
 ' with the view of preaching the 
 Gospel,' and Ovpa's dvcwyju-ei^?, 
 ' a great opportunity offered for 
 preaching.' See note on 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 9. 
 
 kv KvpLio, ' in the sphere of the 
 Lord.' 
 
 13 ovK €cr)(7}Ka avecriv rio irvev- 
 fxaTL jMov, ' my spirit drove me 
 forwards,' as in the first visit to 
 Troas, Acts xvi. 8, when ' the 
 Spirit suffered them not' to 
 stay. 
 
 TO) fjLri evpetv, by reason of the 
 non-arrival of Titus ; Troas hav- 
 ing been appointed on this 
 occasion, as in Acts xx. 5, for 
 the place of rendezvous. The 
 perfect has here the same force 
 as the prcesens Mstoricuni, in giv- 
 ing a living image of what is 
 past. 
 
 aTTOTa^ct/xevog, ' having taken 
 leave,' Acts xviii. 18, 21 ; Luke 
 ix. 61 ; Mark vi. 46. avrots, i.e. 
 
THE ARRIVAL OF TITUS. 
 
 379 
 
 Tft> TTveijfiarL ftov, rol /it) evpelv fie Tirov rov dSeX<j>6v 
 fjLOv, aXka oLTTOTa^diJievos avTols i^XOov els MaKeSoi/iav. 
 ^^Tw 8c 0e^ X^P^^ '^^ irdvTQTe dpiafi^evovrL 17/10,9 ev 
 
 not Titus my brother, but taking my leave of them I went on into Mace- 
 donia. ^^Now grace* unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in 
 
 • Or ' thanks.' 
 
 * the disciples at Troas.' Com- 
 pare his parting with them in 
 Acts XX. 7. 
 
 k^XOov, « I went forth: ' The 
 same phrase is used for the de- 
 parture to Macedonia in Acts 
 xvi. 10, XX. 1, apparently to 
 mark the transit from Asia into 
 Europe. 
 
 14 This would have been the 
 natural point at which to enlarge 
 on the details of Titus's message. 
 But it would seem as if the re- 
 collection of the relief was so 
 overpowering that, without even 
 mentioning it, it breaks out in a 
 strain of thanksgiving similar to 
 that in i. 3-10, but more im- 
 passioned ; and in the course of 
 this, the whole importance of his 
 office bursts upon him in such 
 vivid colours, that he is unable 
 to withdraw his gaze from the 
 vision which thus opens before 
 him, with one distant vista after 
 another. The main thread is not 
 resumed till vi. 11-13, vii. 2-16, 
 in language so exactly harmoniz- 
 ing with that in these verses 
 (12, 18) as to leave no doubt 
 that we have there the thoughts 
 which had been here so abruptly 
 intercepted. 
 
 TravTore, * always,' i.e. ' even 
 from the deepest distress.' 
 
 cv TravTt TOTTO), ' in every place,' 
 i.e. 'at Corinth, as well as Mace- 
 donia and Troas ; * his thoughts 
 travelling from one part of his 
 Apostolical sphere to another; 
 
 the electric spark of his- influence 
 being communicated no less by 
 his letter to Corinth than by his 
 preaching to Macedonia and 
 Troas. 
 
 0pta/jif3€vuv is properly, * to 
 lead captive in triumph,' as in 
 Col. ii. 15, and as in all classical 
 authors (see Wetstein, ad loc.) ; 
 and probably retains that signi- 
 fication here, expressive of the 
 complete dependence of op,. 
 the Apostle on Grod, and <^y-^^veiv. 
 of the over-ruling of all his 
 anxiety to good ; he being him- 
 self the sacrifice. (Comp. Phil, 
 ii. 17, oAA' €t /cat cTTTO'So/xat.) But 
 the sense of conquest and degra- 
 dation is lost in the more general 
 sense of ' making us to share His 
 triumph.' Compare the like ex- 
 tension of sense in verbs in cvcd, 
 e.g. /jLaOrjTevcLVy properly, as in 
 Matt, xxvii. 57, 'to be a dis- 
 ciple ; ' but in Matt, xxviii. 19, 
 xiii. 52 ; Acts xiv. 21, 'to make 
 disciples : ' ySao-tAcveiv, properly 
 ' to Z^e a king ; ' but often in the 
 LXX. as in 1 Sam. viii. 22, xv. 
 11, 'to make a king : ' ^opevetv^ 
 properly, ' to dance ; ' but in 
 Eur. Here. F. 688, 873, 'to 
 make to dance.' 
 
 The idea of the Roman tri- 
 umphal procession, in the eyes of 
 the then existing world the most 
 glorious spectacle which the ima- 
 gination could conceive, and in 
 its general features familiar even 
 to those who had never witnessed 
 
380 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. II. 15, 16. 
 
 Tft) ypicTTCo KoX TTjv ocTfJirjv T^9 yvaxreoji; avTov (j)ave- 
 povvTL Sl Tjixctiv iu TTavTi TOTTw, ^^ oTt ^KTTGv evcoSia icTfJiei/ 
 TO) Oeqj iv tol<; cr<s)lpixlvoi<; /cat iv Tot? aTToXXv/xeVot?, ^^^oi? 
 /x€^' ocr/x')) *e/c Oavdrov cij OdvaTov, ols 8e oct/lii^ e/c ^wrjs 
 CIS ^coijv. 
 
 ■ o<r/i^ Oavdrov . . . oa/i^ Coorjs. 
 
 Christ and maketh manifest the savour of His knowledge by us in every 
 place, ^^ for we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are 
 saved and in them that perish, ^^to the one a savour from death unto 
 death, and to the other a savour from life unto life. 
 
 it, seems to suggest the thought 
 of the odours, whether from the 
 altars smoking with incense in 
 the open temples (Pint. ^m. 
 Paul. c. 32), or from the sacri- 
 fices offered up on the arrival of 
 the procession at the temple of 
 the Capitoline Jupiter (Jos. B. J. 
 yil. V. 6). 
 
 15 As applied to the know- 
 ••r X T- rledffe of God revealed 
 
 Metaphor of , , ° ■, -, . 1 • 
 
 the odour of through his preaching, 
 sanctity. ^]^-g thought cxpresses 
 the invigorating and quickening 
 effect of the new element of 
 life, Christianity permeating the 
 world as a cloud of frankincense. 
 This figure he details more at 
 length in the following verses. 
 His own life, as diffusing the 
 knowledge of God, is now the 
 fragrant odour rising up before 
 God, as in the primitive sacri- 
 fices. Gen. viii. 21, * the Lord 
 smelled a sweet savour ; ' Lev. 
 i. 9, 'a sweet savour unto the 
 Lord' (ocr/x-^ cvwSta?, LXX.). 
 And this odour is given forth, 
 because of his union with Christ : 
 it is not his act, but Christ's ; 
 hence the emphatical position of 
 Xpto-Tov in the sentence. The 
 two ideas, of his own self-sacrifice 
 (as in Eph. v. 2), and of his offer- 
 ing up his work to God (as in 
 
 Phil. iv. XS ; Rom. xv. 16), are 
 blended together. 
 Compare Col. ii. 15. 
 16 The metaphor of the odour 
 suggests the double effect which 
 his preaching might have ; ac- 
 cording to the Rabbinical image, 
 so frequent as to be almost pro- 
 verbial, by which human life 
 and action, and especially the 
 Law, is spoken of under the 
 figure of a scent, either deadly 
 or salubrious. (See Wetstein 
 and Schottgen ad loc.) 
 
 This passage is the origin of 
 the metaphor, once so common 
 in the religious language of 
 Christendom, as in popular be- 
 lief to have been even re-con- 
 verted into a fact, of ' the odour 
 of sanctity,' applied in both the 
 Eastern and the Western Church 
 to the beneficent influence of a 
 holy life followed by a holy death. 
 For aTToXXvfxivoL^ and crw^o- 
 IJL€voL<5, see 1 Cor. i. 18. The re- 
 petition of the phrases, ck Oavdrov 
 €t? Odvarov — ck ^torjs ct? ^<Ji»yv, is 
 in the Apostle's manner. Comp. 
 Rom. i. 17, €/c TriVreca? ei? TrtarLV : 
 2 Cor. iv. 17, KaO' vTr€p(3oXrjv ets 
 v7r€p/3oXrjv. They are, in fact, 
 Hebrew superlatives, expressed 
 by repeating the emphatic word 
 twice. 
 
THE MEETING- WITH TITUS. 381 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. II. 12 — 16. 
 
 / came to Troas, and had a great field open before me. But I 
 was so anxious for news from you, that not finding ^itus there, 
 I passed over the ^gean, and came to Europe. There, thanks 
 be to God, I heard the tidings that out of mg feeble efforts God 
 had brought the spectacle of a glorious triumph, and that the 
 incense of the triumphal sacrifice in my life and teaching had 
 penetrated far and wide, Alas ! that there should be a darker 
 side ; for to some it is not the scent of life and health, but of 
 poison and death. 
 
 The Meeting with Titus. 
 
 In these few abrupt words we have a glimpse of the outward 
 scene which witnessed the events and feelings on which the 
 whole of this Epistle is founded. It is but a glimpse, closed 
 almost as soon as revealed. We cannot dwell on the striking 
 thought of the Apostle standing day by day on the wooded 
 shores of that classic region, under the heights of ^^ , ._ 
 Ida, vainly expecting the white sail of the ship which cal asso- 
 was to bring back his friend from Corinth. We cannot ^^wtions at 
 allow ourselves to thread with him the maze of the 
 lofty islands of Lemnos and Tenedos, and Samothrace, as he 
 sought once more the great continent to which, from that same 
 city of Troas, he had five years before been invited by the 
 vision of the Macedonian stranger. The more attractive these 
 associations are to us, the more conclusive is the proof, furnished 
 by the absence of such allusions in this Epistle, how slight was 
 their effect on the mind of the Apostle : even the description 
 of the actual meeting with Titus, so full of dramatic interest, 
 is dissolved in the burst of thankfulness which expresses itself 
 in imagery borrowed not from the neighbouring localities, but 
 from the gorgeous spectacles in the Imperial City as yet unseen 
 and remote. 
 
 But the most remarkable feature of the passage is the 
 
382 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 sudden transition from the bright to the dark side of the pic- 
 Conscioiis- ture, from the thought of the benefits to the thought 
 ?h*f M^ of the evil effects of his teaching. Probably here, as 
 of Chris- elsewhere in this Epistle, his consciousness of the sym- 
 tiamty. pathv between himself and the Corinthian Church is 
 checked by the recollection of his opponents, which immediately 
 afterwards breaks in upon his joyous strain, in a long and 
 complicated digression. But this feeling of the double aspect 
 of Christianity, of its failures side by side with its successes, of 
 its judgments and responsibilities side by side with its blessings 
 and privileges, — is characteristic, not only of this juncture of 
 the Apostle's life, nor of his writings only, but of all parts of 
 the New Testament. * The falling and rising again of many 
 in Israel,' * a sword ' and * a fire upon earth,' ' the Son of man 
 finding no faith when He comes,' are amongst the many in- 
 stances in w^hich, as here, a shade of pensive and melancholy 
 foreboding goes along with the most triumphant exultation ; 
 most unlike the unqualified confidence and security of the 
 partial and one-sided views of Religion, which, within or 
 without the pale of Christianity, have from time to time 
 appeared, — most like the mingled fortunes of good and evil 
 which have been the actual condition of Christendom, as 
 recorded in history. 
 
OPENNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 383 
 
 DIGRESSION ON THE APOSTOLICAL MISSION. 
 
 The Plainness and Cleakness or the Apostolical Sebtice. 
 
 Chap. IL 16 6— IT. 6. 
 
 A DOUBLE train of thought here comes across him, and chokes 
 his further utterance. First, the consciousness roused within 
 him, by his own impassioned expressions, of his high respon- 
 sibility, vents itself in the question, * And who is sufficient for 
 these things ? ' 
 
 But, secondly, this sense of the greatness of his mission, 
 and of his own inadequacy to fulfil it, is so blended with the 
 thought of his opponents (latent in the previous verses) as to 
 call out the feeling that, though he was not worthy, much less 
 were they ; that though he was not worthy, he still was free from 
 the charges of dishonesty and meanness which they brought 
 against him ; that though he was not worthy in himself, yet he 
 was worthy by the help of God, who had raised him to a level 
 with the office to which he had been called. The confluence of 
 these three contrasts is protracted from ii. 17 to iv. 6, and thus 
 the direct answer which might have been expected to the 
 question in ii. 16, — -* In his own strength no one is sufficient,' 
 is exchanged for the suppressed answer ' [/ am sufficient], for 
 I stand on a ground different from that of my opponents, or 
 from that which they ascribe to me.' But still the implied 
 answer is in iii. 5, 6, where he explains in what sense he was, 
 and was not ' sufficient ; ' and the course of the argument 
 showing how he was at last enabled to accomplish the vast 
 work set before him, is resumed in iv. 1 for a moment, and then 
 at still greater length in iv. 7-16. 
 
384 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. II. 17~III. 1. 
 
 Plainness of the Apostolical Service. 
 
 17 
 
 /cat npos ravra rt? uKavos ; ^ ov yap ecr/xei' 0)9 ol 
 TToWol KaTnjXevovre^ top koyov tov Oeov^ aW a>s ef 
 elKiKpLveia's, d\X' w? e/c 6eov ^ KarivavTi, deov iv ^{.ctt^ 
 XaXovfiev. 
 
 • Karevwriov rod Seov. 
 
 And who is sufficient for these things ? "For we are not as the many 
 who corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God before 
 God speak we in Christ. 
 
 1 6 The abruptness of the con- 
 nexion is shown by the abrupt- 
 ness of the construction. (For a 
 similar use of Kat, comp. verse 2, 
 Kol Ti<s 6 €V(f>paLV(x)V ;) 
 
 ravra relates to the responsi- 
 bilities just described. 
 
 17 ot TToAAot (A. B. C. K.), or 
 us it is still more strongly given 
 in D. E. F. G. J. ot XolttoL ' The 
 mass' (not of mankind in general, 
 nor of the church, but) of the 
 teachers who claim to discharge 
 the functions of which he has 
 just been speaking. It shows 
 the isolation of the Apostle, — 
 * Athanasius contra Mandum.' 
 
 KaTTiyXevoi/rc?. This (see the 
 like instances quoted on verse 
 14) is a neuter verb, having an 
 active sense. KaTrz/Xevo) 
 KaTTTj evo). ^^ ' to be a retail deal- 
 er;* but when joined with an 
 accusative, 'to make a trade 
 of ; ' and as the original word 
 signifies a petty merchandise, 
 so when used actively, it usu- 
 ally has a bad sense, either of 
 ' making an interested use,' or 
 (from the practice of adulterating 
 wine by petty tradesmen) of 
 ' corrupting.' For its use in 
 both these senses in classical 
 authors, see Wetstein ad loo. In 
 
 the New Testament, it is never 
 used, except in this place. As 
 applied to ' the word of God ' 
 (i.e. the teaching of a knowledge 
 of God, as in verse 14), it may 
 either be ' to corrupt ' and ' fal- 
 sify ' (like ^oXovvre^ rov \6yov 
 TOV Oeov in iv. 2), or ' to make a 
 dishonest gain of it..' For the 
 general sense comp. 1 Thess. ii. 
 3-5 : ' our exhortation was not 
 of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor 
 in guile . . . neither at any time 
 used we flattering words . . . nor 
 a cloke of covetousness ' (J.v irpo- 
 <f>d(r€L 7r\€ov€$La^). The parti- 
 cular allusion is probably to the 
 charge brought against him of 
 endeavouring to extort money 
 from them through Titus or other- 
 wise (see xii. 15-17), and he re- 
 torts the charge upon those who 
 were themselves liable to it from 
 their own selfish actions (see xi. 
 12-20). 
 
 (I)? €$ etXi/cptj/cta?, ' we speak as 
 one who was perfectly sincere 
 would speak.' For the word see 
 note on i. 12. 
 
 6K ^eoD, ' as one who was sent 
 by God ; ' enlarged into the ex- 
 pression which follows, — 'as 
 actually in the presence of God.' 
 
 iv xptcTTi^, to be taken with 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 385^ 
 
 III. ^^Ap^oyLeOa ttoXlv €avTOV<; ^(TVViCTTav; rj fir) XPV' 
 tfilJieu cti5 ^ [Tre/o] rive'; cvorTaTiKcov cTrtcrroXaii/ npo^ v/aoLs 
 
 • avvurriveiv ; Ei /t^. See Note. •* Omit itSp. 
 
 ^Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some 
 others, epistles of commendation to you or from you ? ^ Ye are our epistle, 
 
 XaA.o9/i,ev, * in communion with 
 Christ.' Both expressions occur 
 in a similar context, xii. 19. 
 
 Ill I The protestation of his 
 T-^i. < sincerity in connexion 
 
 Letters of . ,/ , i? 
 
 commenda- With the greatness ot 
 tion. jjjg mission, suggests a 
 
 charge which his opponents 
 brought against him (iv. 2, v. 
 12, X. 12), that he had no com- 
 mendatory letters from the Apo- 
 stles or from other Churches, 
 as they had ; and that he, there- 
 fore, was wont to commend him- 
 self by self-exaltation, or by 
 dishonest shifts. Hence, the fre- 
 quent emphasis on ' commending 
 ourselves^ (eavrovs (rvvLcrrav)^ iii. 
 1, iv. 2-5, X. 12, and hence the 
 connexion of this apparently ir- 
 relevant topic with the asser- 
 tions of his openness and sinceri- 
 ty, ii. 17, iii. 12, iv. 2. Instances 
 of such letters are expressly re- 
 corded in the commendation of 
 Titus and his companion in this 
 very epistle (viii. 17-19) and in 
 Acts xviii. 27, where Apollos is 
 described as having come to this 
 very Church of Corinth, with 
 letters from Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla, requesting the brethren to 
 receive him. In later times let- 
 ters having the same designation 
 (Epistolae commendatoriae") were 
 granted by bishops to clergy tra- 
 velling through other dioceses. 
 If the opponents in question 
 were Judaizers, it is probable 
 that the letters od which they 
 founded their claim to reception 
 were from the Church or Apo- 
 
 stles of Jerusalem, like those 
 ' who came from James ' (jivh 
 oLTTo 'IttKw^ov), Gal. ii. 12. And 
 it would appear that one of the 
 objections to the Apostleship of 
 St. Paul was the fact that he 
 produced nothing of the kind, 
 but came on his own authority 
 — ' not of men, neither by man ; 
 not conferring with flesh and 
 blood ; neither receiving the Gos- 
 pel of man, neither being taught 
 it ; ' but by the immediate ' re- 
 velation of Jesus Christ ' to him- 
 self personally (Gal. i. 1, 12, 16). 
 In like manner, the Clementine 
 Homilies (xi. 35) represent St. 
 Peter as warning his audience 
 against ' any Apostle, prophet, or 
 teacher, who does not first com- 
 pare his preaching with James, 
 and come with witnesses.* (See 
 Introduction, p. 352.) 
 
 'Apx6/Ji€6a TToXtv, K.T.X. He 
 is checked in his onward flow 
 of self-defence, by the expected 
 taunt of his adversaries : ' Here 
 at the very opening of his Epistle 
 begins the old story of his self- 
 commendation.' The expression 
 TTttXtv, ' again,' ' a second time,' 
 if it has more than a general 
 allusion to his former conduct, 
 must refer to such passages in 
 the First Epistle as ix. 15, 21. 
 
 (TwurTav in B. D ^. (rvvLcrTdvcLv 
 in A. C. D3. E. I. K. If ^ fx^ 
 (adopted by Lachmann from C. 
 D. E. F. G. and all the Versions) 
 be the right reading, the con- 
 struction is clear, — * or are we 
 in want of commendatory epi- 
 C 
 
386 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 2, 3. 
 
 r) ef vfjiiov^ ; ^ rj iTTLCTToXr) rjfxcov vjiei^; iare, iyyeypafifievrj 
 iv rais KaphCaus rjfiwv^ yLvcja-KOfxeprj koI avayLvcocTKOixevr) 
 
 * Add avffrariKSiv. 
 written in our hearts, known and read by all men, 'manifestly declared 
 
 ptles,* &c. (fjii^=num). But this 
 is probably a correction (from 
 like pronnnciation) of the more 
 difficult, bnt nearly equally sup- 
 ported reading of €t jx-q 
 "''^' (in A. B(esil.). J.K.). 
 If, therefore, we take ci /x^ xR{i 
 ^ofiev as the true reading, it is 
 * [No, we do not commend ourselves] 
 unless we are in want of com- 
 mendatory epistles,' the clause 
 being the reason for a suppressed 
 answer to the question, 'do we 
 commend ourselves ? ' as ii. 17 is 
 the reason for the similarly sup- 
 pressed answer to the question 
 in 16. 
 
 €^ vfjuov, * from you to other 
 Churches.' For the power 
 claimed over other Christians by 
 the Church of Corinth, see 1 Cor. 
 xvi. 36. 
 
 2 ' I want no letters of com- 
 mendation ; you, my converts, 
 are my real letter.' This meta- 
 phor of the letter he gives in two 
 different forms. First, he con- 
 ceives of them as written on his 
 heart, according to the image 
 familiar in all languages, by 
 which that which is most dear 
 and cherished is supposed to be 
 written on the heart. ' When I 
 die, Calais will be found 
 ■written written on my heart,' 
 he^ was the well-known ex- 
 pression of the expir- 
 ing queen of England. And the 
 same thought runs through this 
 Epistle : vi. 12, ' our heart is 
 enlarged, ye are not straitened 
 in us ; ' vii. 3, ' ye are in our 
 hearts.' So Phil. i. 7 : ' I have 
 you in my heart.' 
 
 But, secondly, on this image, 
 the almost unconscious expres- 
 sion of his sympathy with them, 
 he bases his representation of 
 the manner in which they were 
 to him instead of a commendatory 
 letter; and in so doing imper- 
 ceptibly passes to the more ob- 
 vious metaphor in which he con- 
 ceives the letter to be written on 
 their hearts by Christ, so that 
 they should be by their lives a 
 commendation of him to them- 
 selves and others : ' The letter 
 of commendation which I have 
 to give is no other than your- 
 selves, a letter written on my 
 heart, bound up with my inmost 
 affections; but a letter, also, 
 plain and open to all the world, 
 with no secret meaning or double 
 dealing ' (alluding to the charge, 
 already noticed in i. 19), ' known 
 as widely as your faith and love 
 is known ; a letter, therefore, 
 which commends me with far 
 greater authority than any out- 
 ward testimonials, for it is a letter 
 written not by man but by Christ, 
 not with perishable, but im- 
 perishable materials.' For the 
 play on the words ytviDO-KOfievrj 
 and avayivoiCTKOfxivr) (as in Eng- 
 lish we might say ' read and re- 
 read') compare avayLvwa-Kere and 
 eVtytvwo-KCTc in i. 13. The ima- 
 gery of the following words is 
 from the ancient mode of writ- 
 ing; but the metaphor seems 
 here, as in the preceding words, 
 to have been distorted ; a Gen- 
 tile notion, as often in St. 
 Paul, being blended with a re- 
 collection from the Jewish Scrip- 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 387 
 
 VTTo TTOLVToyv avOp(i>7T(x)v^ ^ <j>av€povfJi€voi OTt ioTe iiricTTokrj 
 ^LCTTov BiaKovrjOeLcra v(j> r^jJLCoi/, iyyeypaixfjievri ov fxikavi 
 dkXa irvevfiaTi Oeov ^coptoSj ovk iv irka^iv XlOCvms aXX 
 
 to be an epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink but with 
 the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone but in fleshy tables of 
 
 tures (e. g. in ii. 14, 15). The 
 usual writing materials for let- 
 ters at this time were (see 2 John 
 12) papyrus and ink, to which 
 accordingly the allusion is made 
 in the words ov fxiXavi, Compare 
 the Rabbinical proverb, ' A boy 
 learning is like ink on new parch- 
 ment; an old man learning is like 
 ink on old parchment.' (Schott- 
 gen, ad loc.) But the expression 
 * by the Spirit of the living God,' 
 seems to have awakened the 
 thought of * the finger of God ' 
 which wrote the Ten Command- 
 ments on two tables in the wil- 
 derness. Hence seems to be de- 
 rived the mixture of two in- 
 congruous images — ink (which 
 would not apply to stone) and 
 tables of stone (which, strictly 
 speaking, were not employed for 
 epistles). For the association of 
 the two expressions * Spirit ' and 
 'finger' of God, compare Matt 
 xii. 28, * If I by the Spirit of God,' 
 with Luke xi. 20, * If I with the 
 finger of God cast out devils.' 
 
 hwiKovqOiicra v<f/ rjfMav may be 
 either: (1) 'You are a letter 
 dictated by Christ through me 
 as an amanuensis,^ still keeping 
 up the figure in verse 2 of the 
 Corinthians themselves being the 
 Epistle ; or (2) ' You have in 
 your hearts a letter of Christ (i.e. 
 His commands) brought to you 
 by me,' passing on to the effects 
 of their conversion as described 
 in verse 3. For the stress laid 
 on the fruits of his preaching as 
 the proof of his apostolical au- 
 
 thority, comp. 1 Cor. ix. 2, 3; 
 ' the seal of mine apostleship 
 are ye in the Lord^ Mine an- 
 swer to them that examine me 
 is this.' 
 
 The contrast of the law of the 
 living Spirit in the human heart, 
 and of the letter af the Law on 
 stone, is suggested by the often 
 quoted passage in Jer. xxxi. 33, 
 to which he himself refers in vi. 
 16. The metaphor of ' the tables 
 of the heart ' may have been de- 
 rived from the recollection of the 
 phrase in Pro v. iii. 3, vii. 3 
 (though not in LXX.), and the 
 contrast of the heart of stone and 
 the heart of flesh, in Ezek. xi. 19, 
 xxxvi. 26. 
 
 •TrAa^tv KapStats (rapKtVat?, * ta- 
 bles which are hearts of flesh.' 
 
 In the preceding inaage of *" the 
 Epistle/ two ideas are brought 
 out : first, the inward^as opposed 
 to the outward testimony of the 
 Apostle ; secondly, its openness 
 and simplicity, as opposed to con- 
 cealment and obscurity. Each 
 of these in turn suggests a fur- 
 ther comparison of the mode, 
 with the subject, of his teaching, 
 analogous to the transition in i. 
 18-20, from the assertion of his 
 personal firmness and decision to 
 the firmness and immutability of 
 Christ. In each case he starts 
 with a resumption of the argu- 
 ment as it was left in ii. 17, 
 ' Who is sufficient to sustain the 
 Apostolical responsibilities ? As- 
 sisted by the consciousness of 
 your support and sympathy, I 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 4—6. 
 
 iv 7r\a^\v ^fcapStats crapKuvaL^. ^ TreTroCOrjcnp Se roiavT-qv 
 
 €)(0iJLep Oia Tov \pia-Tov irpo^ top Oeov. 
 
 ■ KapUai. 
 
 OV^ Ort IKCLVOl 
 
 the heart. ^Now such confidence have we through Christ to God- ward. 
 ^ Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves as from our- 
 
 feel that I am.' This is the feel- 
 ing expressed in verse 4 (' such 
 is our confidence *), and aejain in 
 verse 12 (' having such a hope '). 
 But in each case this personal 
 feeling is absorbed into the gene- 
 ral contemplation of the nature of 
 his service ; in the first instance, 
 into the consideration of the glory 
 and life of the Gospel as op- 
 posed to the dimness and death 
 of the Law ; in the second, into 
 the consideration of the openness 
 and freedom of the Gospel, as 
 opposed to the obscurity and 
 mystery of the Law. Thus the 
 Apostle not only delineates the 
 general character of Christianity 
 (as is his wont) in reference to 
 an incidental and personal cir- 
 cumstance, but this delineation 
 is set forth in an express contrast 
 to the Law, and he, for the first 
 time, introduces into this Epistle 
 a polemical element unknown to 
 the First, but found in the Epi- 
 stles to the Romans and Galatians. 
 Even in ordinary writings, when 
 the author throws himself into a 
 hostile attitude, we look round to 
 see what enemy he is menacing ; 
 much more in the Apostolical 
 Epistles, where almost every truth 
 is elicited by some directly prac- 
 tical object. The concluding 
 portion of the Epistle reveals to 
 us the connexion of ideas in the 
 present case. The same insinua- 
 tions which are indirectly glanced 
 at here, in ii. 17, iii. 1, 2, are, in 
 X. 1-18, xi. 5-15, openly at- 
 tacked, and the party from whom 
 
 they proceeded are expressly de- 
 clared to belong to the Jewish 
 Christians, xi. 22. If conscious 
 in the interval between nessof the 
 the First and Second ^^^^^^^ 
 Epistles the Judaizing party 
 had grown to such a height 
 as to assail the Apostle in the 
 stronghold of his influence, it is 
 not surprising that their image 
 shonld be constantly before him, 
 and that, in repelling their 
 charges, his sense of the great- 
 ness of his mission should be 
 enhanced by a consciousness of 
 its superiority to the ancient and 
 decaying system to which they 
 were still enslaved. 
 
 roiavT-qv, i.e. ' such as is in- 
 spired by your testimony, and 
 such as I have expressed in ii. 
 16, 17.' 
 
 8ta TOV ypLCTTov, ' my confidence 
 is entirely through Christ;' a 
 correction of any assertion of his 
 own independent power.' 
 
 Trpo? TOV ^coj/, ' a confidence 
 which will stand the test of 
 God's trial,' as in Rom. iv. 2, v. 1. 
 
 5 OV^ OTL LKaVOL l(TjX€.V. Tho 
 
 connexion is through the implied 
 meaning of TmroiOr^criv, i.e. ' con- 
 fidence that I have the sufficiency 
 spoken of in ii. 16 ;' and the re- 
 petition of the word here proves 
 the identity of this train of 
 thought with that on which he 
 then entered. ' Not that my 
 sufficiency of which I am con- 
 fident, is my own,' &c. 
 
 ovx ort, the usual phrase for 
 ovK ipCi) OTL, as in i. 24. 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SEKVICE. 
 
 389 
 
 ea-fxev ^Xoyi^ecrOai n a(^' iavTotv w? *<f ^avTcov, dXX' ri 
 lKav6Tr}<s rjficjp cac tov deov, ^09 Kal LKdvcDO-ev v/xas 8ta- 
 Kopovs KaLvrjs BLaOiJKrjs^ ov ypdfXfiaTO<; dXXa Tn^eu/xaros* 
 
 » d^' eavTwy \oyl<raffdal ri. *• lourav. 
 
 selves, but our sufficiency is from God, *who also made us sufficient 
 ministers of a new covenant, not of a letter but of a spirit ; for the letter 
 
 Xoyi^ea-Oai ri, 'to judge or 
 conclude anything out of our 
 own sufficiency.' Compare the 
 parallel passages of x. 7 (where 
 it occurs with a.<f/ eavrov), and 
 xii. 6 ; and for the general sense 
 comp. 1 Cor. iv. 1-4 (where the 
 word also occurs), ' Yet am I 
 not hereby justified.* 
 
 acf> cavTwv, ' from our own re- 
 sources.* 
 
 ws i$ avTwv, *with the confi- 
 dence that it is from our own 
 hearts : ' opposed to ck tov ^eov, 
 and also for the sake of accumu- 
 lating phrases, as in ii. 17. 
 
 6 OS Kal,=qui idem, * the same 
 God who' (with reference to 
 iKavoi immediately preceding) 
 ' made us sufficient to be * Sta- 
 Kovovs, as in the common Greek 
 phrase TratScvciv ao^ov (' to edu- 
 cate so as to make wise '), tutttciv 
 v€Kp6v (' to strike so as to kill '). 
 The word SiaKovo<s, * servant,* 
 or * instrument,' refers back to 
 SiaKovrjOeia-a in verse 3. 
 
 KaLvrj<; StaOrJKr}^, ' not of an old 
 and worn-out covenant; but of 
 'Anew * ^^"^ covenant, in- 
 covenant.' stinct with youthfulness 
 and energy ; ' and then this neiv- 
 ness leads him back to the image 
 of the living Epistle of the Co- 
 rinthian Church, and the dead 
 letter of the Mosaic Law, as set 
 forth in verse 3 — 'a new co- 
 venant which consists not in a 
 writing like the Law, which 
 could do nothing but pronounce 
 the sentence of death on those 
 
 who disobeyed it : but in a Spirit 
 which, according to the very na- 
 ture of spirit, which is the prin- 
 ciple of animation, breathes life 
 and vigour into the soul.' For 
 the words ' new covenant ' (Katvrj 
 SLaOrJKrf), see 1 Cor. xi. 25, ' The 
 new covenant in my blood ; * 
 from which expression of our 
 Lord they are probably derived. 
 
 Observe the omission of the 
 article before Sia^Ty/cry?, ypa/A/xaros, 
 TTvev/jLaros. 
 
 The connexion of the ideas 
 of 'life' and 'spirit,' spirit and 
 as expressed in the ^e. 
 words ^(DOTTouL and irvevfxa, is ob- 
 vious, and is to be found in John 
 vi. 63, ' the words that 1 speak 
 . . . they are spi7'it and life.' 1 
 Cor. XV. 45, a ' quickening (^wo- 
 TToiovv) spirit.' Rom. viii. 11, 
 ' He shall quicken your mortal 
 bodies by his Spirit.' Gal. vi. 8, 
 'He that soweth to the Spirit 
 shall of the Spirit reap life.' 
 But the connexion between the 
 ideas of ' death ' and the ' letter ' 
 is less clear. In most of the pre- 
 vious passages just quoted, the 
 ' Spirit ' is opposed, not to ' the 
 letter,' but to 'the flesh;' and 
 though we now frequently con- 
 trast ' the letter ' and the ' spirit,' 
 yet it is this very passage which 
 had made that contrast familiar 
 to us. 
 
 In the first place, by ypafifiay. 
 'the letter,' is meant Letter and 
 the sacred books of the Spirit. 
 Old Test., as appears from the 
 
390 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 7—12. 
 
 / TO yap ypdfjifia ^ airoKTaiveiy to 8c Tn/evfia ^woTTOtet. "^ el 
 0€ ij ocaKovLa tov uavarov ev 
 
 • diroKTCiVct. 
 
 ypafifiaTL evTervncDfievr) 
 
 * ypififiofftv. 
 
 killeth, but the spirit giveth life. ^But if the ministration of death 
 engraven in the letter on stones was made in glory, so that the children 
 
 general nse of the cognate 
 word, yf>a<f>rj, ' the Scriptnre,* of 
 the derived word ypa^fAJxreik 
 (' scribe ' or ' interpreter of the 
 sacred books ^^ ^^^ ^^ *^® word 
 ypafAfxa itself (in the plural). 
 ' The writings (rot? ypdfiixaa-t) 
 •of Moses,* John v. 47 ; ' the sa- 
 cred writings ' (to. Icpa ypdftfiaTa), 
 2 Tim. iii. 15 ; Joseph. Ant. X. 
 X. 4. These expressions, though 
 occurring in the LXX., are never 
 there used for the sacred books. 
 Probably, the nomenclature at 
 this time arose from the fact, 
 that to the Jews \the Old Testa- 
 ment stood in the relation of 
 ' literature ' generally, and hence 
 was called by the name which 
 the Greeks applied to their own 
 literature. (Compare the use of 
 ypdfifiaTCL in this general sense, 
 John vii. 15 ; Acts xxvi, 24.) 
 And the expression would be still 
 further fixed by the increasing 
 attention of the Jews to the 
 actual writing of the words and 
 letters of the sacred books as dis- 
 tinguished from their contents. 
 Hence the Apostle brings out 
 to the surface of the word the 
 meaning which thus lay latent 
 within it ; and hence his use of 
 it (wherever it occurs in the 
 singular number), not simply for 
 the Hebrew Scriptures, but (in 
 a bad sense) for the mere out- 
 ward book or ordinance, as con- 
 trasted with the living power of 
 the Gospel. ' Circumcision in 
 spirit and not in letter ' (Rom. ii. 
 27-29). 'The oldness of the 
 
 letter and newness of the spirit * 
 (Bom. vii. 6). 
 
 Having so used the word, he 
 ascribes to it, as to the Law, the 
 introduction of death into the 
 world through sin, without the 
 power of alleviating or averting 
 it. See Eom. v. 12, vii. 9, viiL 
 2, 3 ; 1 Cor. xv. 56 ; Gal. iii. 10, 
 21. And so here the livincf tes- 
 timony borne to his authority in 
 the Corinthian Church suggests 
 strongly the contrast of the 
 dreary death-like atmosphere 
 which surrounded the old graven 
 characters on which his oppo- 
 nents rested their claims. 
 
 The thought of the tables of 
 stone carries the Apostle more 
 fully into the Mosaic account of 
 their -descent from Sinai ; and he 
 argues from the glory which (as 
 described in Exod. xxxiv.) then 
 environed them, that his mission 
 must be more glorious still. All 
 the words — tov Oavdrov, iv ypdp.- 
 fjMTij h'TeTVTTMjjL^vTjy )uO(H^ — are 
 meant to express the inferiority 
 of the ' Mosaic covenant,' ' bring- 
 ing not life but death ^ — carved 
 mechanically, in precise charac- 
 ters, on hard stones.^ With the 
 same view, r^r KaTapyovfAivrjv is 
 added at the end of the sentence, 
 to leave this as the final and em- 
 phatic expression. 
 
 7 The Received Text, with 
 A. C. D3, E. J. K. and almost all 
 the Versions, reads iv ypd/xfiacrLVy 
 Lachmann, with B. D^ F. G., €v 
 ypdfjifjiaTi. The first would refer 
 to the actual letters j the second, 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 391 
 
 *Xt^oi9 lyevTjOy) kv So^y, ojcrTe fjur) SvvacrOai aTevicrai tov<^ 
 vious 'Ia'par)\ et? to irpocrcoTrov ^ Majvaecos Sta ttjp 86^av 
 
 TOV TTpOO-CJTTOV aVTOV TTJV KaTapyOVfJLeVTjV^ ^TTO)? OV)(l 
 
 fiaWov 7) StoLKOvCa tov TrvevfJLaTO<s ecrrat kv Sofr; ; ^ei yap 
 '^Tjj ZiaKOvia ri^s /carafcptcrea)? Sofa, ttoXXw pJaWov Trepicr- 
 creveL rj SiaKOvCa Trj<; SLKaiocrvinfj^ ^86^. ^^Kalyap'ov 
 SeSd^-acrrat to SeSo^acrfievov kv tovtco ro) fiepet., ^eiveKev 
 Trj<; VTrepfiaXXovcrrjf; So^t^?. ^^el yap to KaTapyovfMevop 
 8t,a Sd^Tys, TToWo) [jiaWov to p^ivov ip B6^. ^'^e)(OPTe<s ovp 
 
 • Add iv. 
 «» Add iK 
 
 • oi/Sh SeS, 
 
 ij SiaKovia. 
 
 of Israel were not able to look stedfastly on the face of Moses for the 
 glory of his face (which glcry was to vanish away), ^ how shall not the 
 ministration of the spirit be rather in glory ? *For if the ministration of 
 condemnation have glory, much more doth the ministration of righteous- 
 ness abound in glory. ^° For even that which has been made glorious 
 has had no glory in thia respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth- 
 ^^For if that which vanisheth away was in glory, much more that which 
 remaineth is in glory. ^'^ Having then such hope, we use great plainness 
 
 to the general fact of the 
 writing. 
 
 cycn}^ *came into exist- 
 ence.' 
 
 9 7-^? KaTa.Kpi(T€(a<i and t^s 8t- 
 Katotrvn;? are here opposed, as 
 Oavdrov and Trvcv/iaro? in verses 
 7, 8. For this use of hiKaLoa-vvrj 
 see 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 10 This strange use of the 
 perfect SeSo^ao-Tat and BiSo^aa-fJii- 
 vov is from Exod. xxxiv. 29, 35 
 (LXX.) 
 
 ev TQvTio Tw /Acpet, * in this in- 
 stance of Moses.' Compare ix. 
 3. The neuter gender gives to 
 the sentence the turn of an ab- 
 stract proposition —' In this par- 
 ticular instance was fulfilled the 
 general rule, that a greater glory 
 throws a lesser glory into the 
 shade.' 
 
 1 1 TO Karapyov/xevov is con- 
 tinued in thought from t^v Karap- 
 yovfievrjv in verse 7. 
 
 8ta 8d^r;s, ' in a state of glory.' 
 For this variation of iv and Bid. 
 
 compare €k and Btd, Rom. iii. 30, 
 Bid and cv, Rom. v. 10. 
 
 1 2 He now once more resumes 
 the subject of his direct inter- 
 course with the Corinthians. 
 ' Having such a hope * is the re- 
 petition of the words in verse 
 4, ' we have such confidence * 
 {TT€Troi6r](TLV B\ roiavrqv €)(OfX€v) ; 
 but by the intervening vision of 
 the glory of his work, what was 
 there ' confidence * is hare filled 
 out into ' hope.' 
 
 TToWrj Trappyja-ia )(p(afi€Oa, ' we 
 speak openly, and plainly, and 
 confidently,' in opposition to the 
 insincerity with which he was 
 charged by his opponents, and 
 with which they are charged by 
 him, ii. 17. As before in 5-11, 
 the life and spirituality, so here 
 the openness of the Apostleship 
 is contrasted with the darkness 
 of the Law. The imagery of 
 Moses descending from the 
 Mount is still continued ; but, 
 whereas the previous contrast 
 
392 
 
 SECOND JilPISTLE; CHAP. III. 13, 14. 
 
 TOiavTTjv iXiriSa ttoWtj irappiqa-ia ^(pw/Ac^a, ^^ koI ov 
 KaOdirep ^Mojvarj^ eTiSei KdXvfifxa inl to TrpocrooTroif 
 ^avTOV npos ro fXT] drevidaL tovs vlov<s 'laparjX ct? to 
 
 » Mwarjs. 
 
 ^ «avr9v. 
 
 of speech, " and not as Moses put a veil upon his face, that the children 
 of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which was vanishing 
 
 was between the tables of stone 
 and the living words of the 
 Spirit, the contrast here is be- 
 tween the veil of Moses and the 
 unveiled face of the Apostle. 
 
 The whole transaction in 
 Tiieveii Exod, xxxiv. 33, 34, 
 of Moses, ig allegorized. From 
 the literal story he passes to that 
 which the story is conceived to 
 represent, viz. the concealment 
 of the transitory character of the 
 Mosaic Law. For this kind of 
 allegorizing, compare Gal. iv. 25 ; 
 1 Cor. X. 2-4. Here, as in Gal. 
 iv. 21, 31, he regards the Jewish 
 people of his own time as com- 
 pletely separate from himself and 
 from Christians. 
 
 13 KOI 01), i.e. TiOffiev KaXv/xfia 
 
 CTTl TO TrpoarOiTTOV TJlXOiV. 
 
 Trpos TO fir] dvT€Vi(TaL, k. t. X. 
 The most natni*al view of the 
 passage in Exod. xxxiv. 30-36, 
 is that which represents the veil 
 as worn by Moses during his 
 speech to the people, in order to 
 hide the glory of his counte- 
 nance. In this sense the Erglish 
 version inserts the word ' till ' 
 in verssc 3b, and other versions 
 understand |FI*1 in a pluperfect 
 sense — 'he had put on the veil.' 
 
 But the Hebrew words of 
 
 Exod. xxxiv. 33, most 
 
 ^rsS" readily agree with the 
 
 the veu of LXX. and Vulgfate ver- 
 
 Hoses. 
 
 sions : /cat cttciS^ 
 
 7ravo-€ XaXwv . . . iTriOrjKCv ctti to 
 Trpoaoyrrov avroi) KaXv/JifJia. ' Im- 
 pletisque sermonibus posuit ve- 
 
 lamen super faciem suara.' ' And 
 when he had made an end of 
 speaking with them, he put a 
 veil on his face.' With this 
 agree Exod. xxxiv. 34, 35, as 
 translated both by the LXX. and 
 by modern versions, which imply 
 that the veil was not put on till 
 the close of his speaking with' 
 the people, when he resumed it 
 until the moment of his again 
 returning to the Divine presence ; 
 the Vulgate, however, giving 
 another version, founded appa- 
 rently on a different reading 
 ( DritJ for '^m, ' with them,' for 
 ' with him*), 'sed operiebat ille 
 rursus faciem suam, si quando 
 loquebatur ad eos.* 
 
 Whether or not the LXX. be 
 a correct reading of the exact 
 words of the original, the close 
 resemblance of the words in 
 verses 10 and 16 to the LXX. of 
 Exod. xxxiv. 30, 34, leaves but 
 little doubt that this was the 
 version which furnished the basis 
 of the Apostle's allegory. The 
 meaning of that version must be, 
 that the veil was put on, not to 
 conceal the glory, but to conceal 
 the fact that the glory vanished 
 away, as soon as he had ceased 
 to speak to them ; being re- 
 kindled by the light of the Di- 
 vine presence, but again fading 
 away when he had ceased to 
 speak the Divine message. To 
 this sense of the transitory cha- 
 racter of the glory the fi^equent 
 repetition of the word Karapyov- 
 
PLAIN ESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 393 
 
 TeXo'S Tov KarapyovfJiepov. ^^aXX' iTrcopcoOr) tol voTJfjLara 
 avTCJT/. oi)(pL yap Trjs crijfJLepov ^rjjjiepa^ to avTo /caXv/A^a 
 
 ■ Omit riiu.4pas. 
 
 away. ^^But their thoughts were hardened. For until this very day the 
 same veil remaineth in the reading of the old covenant, since its vanish- 
 
 /x€vo<; refers, in verses 7, 11, 12, 
 13, 14. With this also will best 
 agree the explanation of the 
 words Trpos to fxr] arevicrai tovs 
 VLOvs 'laparjX eis to reAos rov Ka- 
 Tapyovjxevov. If the Apostle is 
 supposed to adopt what is now 
 the usual mode of regarding the 
 transaction in Exod. xxxiv., then 
 the sense of these words must be 
 ' in order that the sons of Israel 
 might not gaze on the end of 
 that which is passing away, i.e. 
 on Christ as the fulfilment of the 
 Mosaic Law.' But, in that case, 
 he ascribes directly to Moses an 
 intention which only could be 
 conceived as existing in the order 
 of Providence, and also abruptly 
 introduces the antitype into the 
 type. If, however, it be taken 
 according to the LXX. version, 
 then the sense will bo : ' We 
 put no veil on our teaching, as 
 Moses did on the glory of his 
 countenance ; we have no fear 
 as he had, that our glory will 
 pass away.' In this manner, to 
 TcAos obtains its natural meaning 
 of ' destruction,' which alone 
 suits it when thus connected 
 with TOV KaTapyov/x€vov, though 
 the sense of ' completion ' may 
 be appropriate in other passages 
 where, as in Rom. x. 4, the in- 
 stitutions or words have direct 
 reference to the objects which 
 they are designed to fulfil. 
 
 14 The thought of the veil, 
 which prevented the people from 
 recognising the perishable cha- 
 racter of the glory of Moses, 
 
 throws him back on the thought 
 that this veil still continues on 
 their hearts, so as to prevent 
 their recognition of the perish- 
 able character of the Law, which 
 not only was represented in the 
 person of Moses, but derived 
 from him its usual title (as in 
 Acts XV. 21). And this meta- 
 phor was rendered still more 
 appropriate by the fact that in 
 the synagogues the Jews prayed 
 and read with veils upon their 
 heads — the Tallith, or four-cor- 
 nered white scarf, still seen in 
 the Jewish and Samaritan wor- 
 ship. (See Cony beare and How- 
 son, St. Paul, vol. i. p. 185.) 
 
 A similar idea may have been 
 present to the Evangelist's mind 
 in recording the rending of the 
 curtain of the Temple (Matt, 
 xxvii. 51). 
 
 dAAa, * nay, so true is this, 
 that, not their eyes, but their 
 thoughts, were hardened and 
 dulled ' (iTTwpioOr}) : see iv. 4. 
 
 Tyj<s TraAatag hiaOriKrjq. Nothing 
 more strongly expresses the 
 Apostle's conviction of the ex- 
 tinction of the Jewish system 
 than this expression of the ' Old 
 Covenant,' applied to the Jewish 
 Scriptures within thirty years 
 after the Crucifixion. 
 
 fX7] dvaKaXvTrTO/Jiivov otl iv 
 Xpio-T^ KaTapyetTai : ' the fact 
 not being to them unveiled that 
 the Old Covenant is done away 
 in Christ.' The word avaKoAu- 
 TTTOfievov may possibly agree with 
 KoXyfifULj but it must be taken as 
 
394 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 15—17. 
 
 inl TTf avayvcocrei ttJ^ TraXatas SiaOiJKT]^ fxevet, fjurj avaKa- 
 XvTTTOfJievov ^OTL €V ^1(77(0 /carapyeiTat, ^^dXX' eiw? cn]fJi€- 
 pov, ^r)PLKa av dvayivaxTKrjTaL Mcovcry]^, KoiXvjXfJia iirl rrji/ 
 KapSiav avTOiv /cetrai. ^^rjvtKa 8* olp iincrTpexljrj npb^ 
 
 'St*. •* Tjv'iKa avayivdarKerai Maxrrjs. 
 
 ing away in Christ is not unveiled to them, '^but unto this day, whenever 
 Moses is read, a veil lies upon their heart. ^*But whenever he shall turn 
 
 ' When he 
 turns to 
 the Lord.' 
 
 a nominative absolute. 17 TraXaia 
 BiaOT^KTj is the nominative to Ka- 
 Tapyeirat, corresponding with the 
 previous verse, where it is not 
 the veil, but the glory, which is 
 described as being ' done away.' 
 
 15 dAA' loos (TT^fiepOV, K. T. \. 
 
 This is a resumption and further 
 explanation of oAA' cTroopw^ in 
 verse 14. 
 
 16 This verse is based on the 
 LXX. of Exod. xxxiv. 84 : rjVLKa 
 8' av ei(r€7ro/3€V€TO Mwvcr^s Ivavrt 
 KvpLOv AaActv auT(j), irepLypeiTO to 
 KoXvpLfxa €0>s Tov €K7rop€ve(rOai, 
 
 -^vUa, ' whenever,' is used 
 here alone in the New 
 Test., being (like SeSo- 
 iacrrai and ScSo^atr/u-efov 
 in verse 10) taken from Exod. 
 xxxiv. 34. 
 
 The nominative to kirKTrpi^ 
 must be 'Moses.* No other 
 nominative case will answer the 
 purpose, ' Israel ' being too re- 
 mote, and ^ KapBU (' the heart ') 
 not sufficiently prominent ; and 
 such a nominative is required 
 for TreptaLpetrai, which, when 
 compared with Trcptrypetro in 
 Exod. xxxiv. 34, must be (not 
 ' is stript off,' but) ' strips off.' 
 In Acts xxvii. 20, Trepti^peiro is 
 indeed used passively, and in- 
 stances to the same effect may 
 be found in classical writers ; but 
 in the LXX. amidst numerous 
 instances of the active sense 
 mostly, as here, with regard to 
 dress, instances of its passive 
 
 sense are very rare. Each clause, 
 beginning with riviKa, will then 
 correspond, and the parallel with 
 Exod. xxxiv. 34 will be pre- 
 served. Moses is thus taken for 
 the representative, not only of 
 the Old Covenant, but also of 
 the people of Israel, as the Apo- 
 stle in the next verse identities 
 himself with all Christians, and 
 as in iii, 23 he had spoken of the 
 Epistle of Christ, as written in- 
 differently on his heart or on 
 theirs. 
 
 The passage turns on the 
 double meaning of the word Ku- 
 piov (' the Lord '), which in 
 Exod. xxxiv. 34 is used for 
 Jehovah, and here, as usual, for 
 Christ. ' When Moses in the 
 person of his people turns again 
 to Him who is our Lord now, 
 as he went of old time to Him 
 who was their Lord in Sinai, 
 then he strips off the veil from 
 his face, and from their hearts, 
 and then the perishable nature 
 of the Law will be made ma- 
 nifest in the full blaze of the 
 Divine glory.' Comp. Ps. Ixxx. 
 19 (Ixxix. 20, LXX.), Kvpi^, . . . 
 €7rL(rTpeil/ov yfxas kol lirL^^avov to 
 7rp6(TO)7r6v (TOV KOL (TOiOrja-ofJLcOa. 
 Compare Acts ix. 35 ; 1 Thess. 
 i. 9, where k-ma-Tpixlni is used for 
 conversion to Christianity. 
 
 17 *0 Se KVpLOS TO TTVeVfX,a. icTTtv. 
 
 The allegory which has hitherto 
 been confined to Moses and the 
 veil, is now carried a step higher, 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 395 
 
 KvpioVy irepiaipeLTaL to KoXvixfjia, ^^6 Se Kvpios to Tn/eO/xa 
 to the Lord, He taketh away the veil. "Now the Lord is the Spirit: 
 
 * When I speak of Israel turning 
 to the Lord, I speak of their 
 turning from the letter to the 
 Spirit which is behind the letter, 
 even as Moses turned to the Lord 
 on Mount Sinai behind the Law 
 and the veil.' Compare for the 
 form of speech, 'The passover 
 the Christ,' 1 Cor. v. 7 ; ' The 
 rock {rj TTcV/oa) was Christ/ 1 
 Cor. X. 4. ' The Lord of the 
 old dispensation, whom Moses 
 saw on Sinai, is, in the new dis- 
 pensation, the SpiriV 
 
 ov Bk TO TTvevfia xvptoii, eXeu- 
 ,$€pLa. This is to explain why 
 the veil is taken off, on turning 
 to the Lord. ' If by " the Lord " 
 is meant " the Spirit," that Spirit 
 being the Spirit of " the Lord " 
 in the Christian sense of the 
 word, i.e. *' of Christ,*' then we 
 have the best assurance that the 
 result must be freedom, — free- 
 dom from all obstacles inter- 
 vening between us and God, — 
 the glorious freedom of the sons 
 of God (Rom. viii. 21) ; the free- 
 dom wherewith " Christ has 
 made us free " from the Law and 
 its consequences ' (Gal. v. 1, 13). 
 The connexion between the Spi- 
 rit and freedom lies partly in the 
 general sense of liberty which 
 pervades the word Spirit, both 
 in its etymological and in its de- 
 rived significations., to Trvoj/xa 
 oTTov $i\€i TTvct (Johu iii. 8) ; to 
 TTvevfia Siatpovv . . . Kadcos (SovXe- 
 rat (1 Cor. xii. 11) ; partly in the 
 particular sense in which ' the 
 Spirit ' is throughout these chap- 
 ters opposed to ' the letter,' as 
 the source of life, and energy, 
 and liberty. And the analogous 
 
 stress laid upon the veil in 1 Cor, 
 xi. 4-16, would lead one to ima- 
 gine that here, also, the thought 
 of ' freedom ' was in part sug- 
 gested by the removal of the re- 
 straint or burden of the veil : in 
 part by the fear which made the 
 Israelites shrink from looking on 
 the face of Moses, unveiled, Exod. 
 xxxiv. 30 (€<fio/^yOr](rav kyyiaat 
 avT<3). Compare Gal. iv. 4, 5, 6 : 
 ' God sent forth His Son ... to 
 redeem them that were under the 
 Law ... God hath sent forth the 
 Spirit of His Son into your 
 hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' 
 And still more nearly, Rom. viii. 
 15 : ' Ye have not received the 
 spirit of bondage again to fear ; 
 but ye have received the Spirit 
 of adoption, whereby we cry, 
 Ahha, Father' 
 
 1 8 We at last reach the climax 
 which should naturally have fol- 
 lowed immediately upon the un- 
 finished sentence at the begin- 
 ning of the comparison in verse 
 12 ; but which, by the inter- 
 vening digressions, is now di- 
 lated to enlarged proportions, 
 such as the additional .eonflux of 
 images required. 
 
 rjfxet'i Se iravrcs. As Moses had 
 in the previous verses .wg^u' 
 been made the repre- 
 sentative of the whole people of 
 the Jews, so in the parallel to 
 him, the Apostle places not 
 merely himself, but all believers ; 
 the word ' all ' (Trai/rw) being 
 inserted with emphasis, because 
 the plural T7/>i€ts alone would, 
 according to the frequent use of 
 this Epistle, only indicate him- 
 self. 
 
396 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 18. 
 
 icTTLV ov 8e TO TTvevfJia Kvpiov^ ^ikevdepia. ^^t^/acIs Se 
 
 • Add €«6i. 
 
 and where the Spirit of the Lord is, is liberty. ^^But we all with un- 
 
 avaK€Ka\.vfifJi€V<o irpocrti)7ria. * We 
 •with ^^V ^6 proceeds to say, 
 
 unveiled < whether Apostles or 
 ^°** not, you who are written 
 
 upon my heart, as well as I who 
 wrote the word of Christ on your 
 hearts, stand out before the 
 world, not like Moses with a veil 
 to conceal the fading away of 
 our glory, but with our counte- 
 nances open and unveiled before 
 God, and open also and unveiled 
 before the world for all to see.' 
 
 rr}v ho^av Kvptov, ' the glory 
 . The glory ^^ Christ is to us what 
 of the the glory of God was to 
 
 Moses.' Here, again, 
 by the double sense of the phrase 
 'the Lord,' the vision of the 
 
 * glory' of God (rj So^a fJiov), to 
 Moses in Ex. xxxiii. 19-22, im- 
 mediately before the story of the 
 veil in xxxiv. 30, 34, is trans- 
 ferred to the vision of Christ en- 
 joyed by all believers. By ' the 
 glory of Christ' is meant the 
 glory, the greatness, the Divine 
 excellence, above all, the truth, 
 which made His life on earth 
 
 * the light of the world,' the 
 
 * Light of light.' Comp. iv. 4 ; 
 and also John i. 14, 17, 'we be- 
 held His glory ; ' John ii. 11, 
 ' this did Jesus, and manifested 
 forth His glory ; ' John xvii. 5, 
 ' glorify me with the glory which 
 I had with Thee before the world 
 was.' 
 
 KaroTTTpt^ofievoL. This word 
 KaronrpL- occurs uowherc besides 
 ^o^si-ou either in the New Tes- 
 tament or the LXX. The sense 
 of KaToirrpL^uv in the active is, 
 
 * to show in a mirror.' KaTOTrrpi- 
 
 ^€o-^atin the middle is, therefore, 
 properly, ' to look at oneself in a 
 mirror.' (See Wetstein ad loc.) 
 This sense being plainly inappo- 
 site here, there remain two pos- 
 sible meanings, both of which the 
 word would bear: (1) .Behoid- 
 ' beholding as in a mir- ing as in a 
 ror,' or, 'showing to ^^^' 
 oneself in a mirror.' Of this 
 there is one example in Philo, 
 Leg. Alleg. p. 107, where Moses, 
 in a rhetorical paraphrase of the 
 speech in this very same Exod. 
 xxxiii. 13, is represented as say- 
 ing : fjLTfSk Ip-^avLo-Oii-qf;, fxySe Ka- 
 TOirrpKTaifji'qv Iv aXKxo TivX rrjv arp/ 
 tScav r) iv crol tw Oe^. The sense 
 would then be, ' We with faces 
 unveiled, as Moses when he went 
 into the presence of God, behold 
 the glory of Christ.' Bat, though 
 in itself the sense is admissible, 
 the context is much against it. 
 KaroTTTpt^o/xevot cannot be used of 
 ' beholding ' simply, because in 
 that case the Apostle must have 
 used the word aTevtitw, as already 
 twice before, in verses 7, 13. 
 Nor would the image of the 
 mirror, if we consider the stress 
 laid upon it in 1 Cor. xiii. 12, 
 be altogether merged here. And 
 if it were thus taken to mean 
 ' beholding not face to face, but 
 in a mirror,' it runs counter to 
 the general spirit of the passage, 
 which is intended to express, not 
 a distant, but an intimate rela- 
 tion with God, more intimate 
 even than the vision of Moses ; 
 to which, as an exhibition only 
 of the outward attributes of God 
 (Exod. xxxiii. 19, 20, xxxiv. 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 397 
 
 TrdvTes avaKeKoKvfJLfJLevcp TtpocrcoTrcp T7]v ho^av Kvpiov koltott- 
 
 veiled face reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed 
 
 6, 7), this word might, as by 
 Philo, be not improperly applied. 
 Christ is spoken of as the 
 ' image ' or ' likeness ' (cikwk, iv. 
 4 ; Col. i. 15), ' the effulgence ' 
 (aTravyacr/xa, Heb. i. 3) ; but still 
 in Him we see all the Divine per- 
 fections, ' we beheld (iOeaa-d/xeOa) 
 His glory, the glory as of the 
 only begotten of the Father,' 
 John i. 14. Still less would 
 there be any such distinction 
 drawn in this passage, where 
 Christ and God are studiously 
 blended in one under the common 
 name of Kvpto? ('the Lord'). 
 
 We come, therefore, to the 
 « Reflect- sense (2) of ' reflecting 
 ing.osin as in a mirror.' It is 
 a g ass. j^g^ possible that both 
 meanings might be combined by 
 an allusion to the bright metal 
 mirrors then in use, so as to 
 render it ' beholding the glory, 
 as we look at a light in a bright 
 mirror of brass or silver, which, 
 as we look, is reflected hack on our 
 faces.' But this is far-fetched, 
 and though there is no actual 
 instance of the sense of ' reflect- 
 ing,' yet the fact that a Greek 
 writer like Chrysostom under- 
 stood it here in that sense, shows 
 that there was in his time no- 
 thing in the usage of the word 
 to make it impossible. And this 
 sense is undoubtedly the one 
 most agreeable to the context. 
 The point of contrast between 
 the Christian dispensation as re- 
 presented in himself and tbe 
 Jewish dispensation as represen- 
 ted in Moses or his opponents, is 
 not so much the greater clearness 
 of knowledge as the greater open- 
 ness of dealing and teaching ex- 
 
 hibited by Christians. The veil 
 is described as concealing not 
 the light, but the evanescence of 
 the light ; and, in like manner, 
 the removal of the veil is de- 
 scribed as disclosing not higher 
 revelations, but greater liberty. 
 Christians ' having, like Moses, 
 received in their lives the re- 
 flected glory of the Divine pre- 
 sence, as Moses received it on 
 his countenance, are unlike Moses 
 in that they have no fear, such 
 as his, of its vanishing away, but 
 are confident of its continuing to 
 shine in them with increasing 
 lustre. In this confidence they 
 present themselves without veil 
 or disguise, inviting instead of 
 deprecating inquiry, with no- 
 thing to hold back or conceal 
 from the eager gaze of the most 
 suspicious or the most curious.' 
 For the general view that the 
 Christian's life is the reflex of 
 the glory of Christ and of God, 
 compare 1 Cor. xi. 7 : ' The man 
 ought not to veil (KaraKcxAvTrreti/) 
 his head, forasmuch as he is the 
 image and glory of God ' (where 
 there is the same thought of the 
 veil) : and also the verses imme- 
 diately following the present 
 passage, in iv. 4, 6, where all the 
 expressions imply (not the con- 
 templation of the Divine glory 
 by man, so much as) the influx 
 of the Divine glory into the heart 
 of man. 
 
 T7JV avTTjv clKova fX€TafJiOpcf>OV~ 
 fxeOa. The lustre of 
 the Christian light will foi-mefi" 
 (unlike that of Moses) '^^^^., 
 increase rather than 
 diminish. ' We are transfigured,' 
 i.e. (as is implied by the present 
 
398 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. III. 18— IV. 2. 
 
 rpilpixevoLj TrjP avrrjv ei/cdva ix€Tajxop(l)OvixeOa airo So^rjs 
 into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Lord the Spirit. 
 
 tense) * we are continually under- 
 going a transformation in the 
 same likeness as that which we 
 reflect,' i.e. * the likeness of 
 Christ.' Compare crufi/>top<^ov$ 
 rrjs €tKovos rov vlov avrov, Rom. 
 viii. 29 ; 'As we have borne the 
 image (ctKova) of the earthly, we 
 shall also bear the image of the 
 heavenly,' 1 Cor. xv. 49. The 
 words with which Dr. Arnold 
 closed his last lectnre on the 
 New Testament were, in com- 
 menting on the parallel passage, 
 1 John iii. 2 : ' We know that 
 when he shall appear, we sball 
 be like him ; for we shall see him 
 as he is.' * Yes,' he added with 
 marked fervency, * the mere 
 contemplation of Christ shall 
 transform us into His likeness.' 
 (Arnold's Life, p. 615.) The 
 word fX€Ta/jLop(f>ov(r6€ is used in 
 Rom. xii. 2, for 'a transforma- 
 tion,' in the sense with which 
 we are familiar from the * Me- 
 tamorphoses ' of Ovid ; in this 
 place it has the milder mean- 
 ing which it bears in Matt. xvii. 
 2, where it is nsed for the 
 * Transfiguration.' The con- 
 struction seems to be /xcrafiop- 
 ff)OVfic6a ware rrfv avrrjv avrw 
 elKova yevicrOaL. It might possi- 
 bly, however, be t-^v avri^v, op- 
 posed to 7rai/T€9, — 'we all, how- 
 ever various in character origi- 
 nally, are transformed into the 
 same character.' 
 
 aTTo So^5 €19 So^av. This is 
 'from glory onc of the numerous ex- 
 mtx) glory ; ' pressious which are to 
 be found in St. Paul to indicate, 
 not so much a progression, as a 
 completeness and eniireness in 
 the subject of which he is speak- 
 
 in g. See note on ii. 16, ck Oa- 
 vdrov €19 Odvarov. * The glory 
 which is reflected ends not in ex- 
 tinction, like that of Moses, but 
 continnes and continues still as 
 far as human thought can reach.' 
 ' Our transformation begins and 
 ends in glory.' 
 
 Ka.6d.7rip OLTro Kvpcov wevfxaTOS ■ 
 'Our glory is not tran- .,^^^,^^ 
 sitory, but perpetual. Lord the 
 coming as it does from ^P"^*-' 
 the Lord the Spirit.* d-jro must 
 here be ' from,' both because it 
 has just before been used in that 
 sense in dirb B6^<s, and also, be- 
 cause the word /xcrajjiopcfiov/jLeOa 
 suggests not so much the idea of 
 an agent by whom the transfor- 
 mation takes place, as the source 
 from which the light proceeds. 
 Kvptov TTvev/xaTO^ is an expression 
 so harsh and unusual, that any 
 explanation of it must be equally 
 so. But the identification of 6 
 KvpLos with TO TTvcv/jta, in verse 1 7, 
 and the omission of the article 
 here, are in favour of considering 
 it as, in a certain sense, a proper 
 name framed for the occasion, to 
 express the thought that, as He 
 from whom the glory proceeds is 
 the Spirit of life and freedom, 
 therefore extinction and conceal- 
 ment are henceforth impossible. 
 This compound substantive (for 
 such it seems to be) may be com- 
 pared to such Hebrew phrases of 
 the LXX. as KvpLo<s 6e6<i, Deut. 
 iii. 24 : Kvpto9 ^aaiXcv^, Deut. ix. 
 26 ; KvpLo<s, KvpLos, Ps. cxl. 8 ; kv- 
 pio9 2a^a<o^, 1 Sam. xv. 2. 
 
 * The new name, the new epi- 
 thet by which the Lord must be 
 known is Spirit.' 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 399 
 
 €t? 86^av. KadaTT^n oltto kvolov 7rvevuLaT0<;. ^^- ^Sta touto, 
 
 nrep airo Kvpiov Tn^eu/xaro?. 
 €)(OVT€<^ Trjp hiaKOVLOLV TavTTjv KaOais yjkerjOrjp.eVj ovk * iyKa- 
 KovfieVf ^dXXa aTreiTra/ie^a tol KpvTTTa Trjs alcrxyvrjs, ft^rj 
 
 •• iKKOKOVfiiW. 
 
 IV. ^ Therefore, having this ministry as we received mercy, we faint 
 not, '^but we renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking iu 
 
 TV I He now resumes the 
 thread of the general argument, 
 which he had twice taken up in 
 iii. 4 and 12 ; but with the differ- 
 ence that from the confidence 
 which he possesses in the great- 
 ness of his task, he now draws 
 a new conclusion, not ' we use 
 great plainness of speech,' as in 
 iii. 12, but ' we faint not ; ' a 
 conclusion which, as it is more 
 directly an answer to the original 
 question, ' Who is sufficient for 
 these things ? ' in ii. 16, so is it 
 the basis of the ensuing chapters, 
 iv. 7-v. 10. But, with one of 
 the inversions peculiar to this 
 Epistle, he has hardly entered on 
 this new topic before he drops it 
 again. The charge of insincerity, 
 which had occasioned the digres- 
 sion, iii. 1-19, still lingers in 
 his recollection, and accordingly 
 he turns round upon it, as if to 
 give it one parting blow before 
 he finally dismisses it from his 
 mind. Hence iv. 2-6 are still 
 closely connected with iii. 1-18, 
 whilst the new subject begun in 
 verse 1 is not resumed till verse 
 7, where it is expanded in all its 
 parts, so that the true apodosis 
 or close of the sentence com- 
 menced here does not occur till 
 verse 16, where the same words 
 are repeated : * for this cause we 
 faint not.^ 
 
 'Sta TovTo refers to the sub- 
 stance of the preceding chapter, 
 as involved in the words exovres 
 T^v BuLKoviav ravTTjv, For a simi- 
 
 lar construction compare Rom. 
 ii. 1. 
 
 l^ovTCS T^v StaKovLav ravTTjv 
 takes up the thread from e^ovrcs 
 TOLavrrjv iXiriSa in iii. 12. 
 
 SiaKovLav, * task ' or ' service ' 
 (referring to iii. 6-9) ; ' the ser- 
 vice of the Spirit, the acting as 
 the instrument of the Spirit,' 
 either as in iii. 3, like the scribe 
 who writes its dictates on the 
 heart, or, as in iii. 18, like Moses 
 who reflects its glory on the 
 countenance. 
 
 Ktt^ws -^XerjOrj/jLeVf to be taken 
 with CX0VTC9 K. T. A. ' having this 
 task, as we have been thought 
 worthy of it.' Compare 1 Cor. 
 vii. 25, yvto/j.rjv 8k SiSoj/xL, a)S 
 r/X^rjixevos vtto Kvpiov 7rt(rTos etvai. 
 
 lyKaKovfiev, ' we are weary, de- 
 sponding,' Luke xviii. 
 l;Gal.vi.9. The word '^'''^''"''• 
 as regards the New Test, occurs 
 only in St. Paul and St. Luke. 
 
 2 ' Supported by the con- 
 sciousness of the greatness of 
 our mission, we faint not ; but, 
 if so, it is because we trust that 
 we come before you with clean 
 hands and pure consciences ; the 
 openness of which I have just 
 been speaking (iii. 1-18) is the 
 secret of our strength.' (Com- 
 pare ii. 17 ; 1 Thess. ii. 3.) 
 
 ra KpvTTTa t^9 aL(rxvvr]s, ' the 
 hidden things of shame,' i.e. ' the 
 secrets of which men are ashamed 
 to speak.' The contrast here 
 would lead us to suppose that he 
 is speaking of dishonesty* Yet 
 
400 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 3, 5. 
 
 7r€pnraTovvT€<; iu Travovpyta^ fJirjBe So\ovvt€<; top \6yov 
 Tov Oeov, dWa rfj ^avepciicreL Trj<; akrjOeia^ ^ (rvvi(TTdvre<i 
 eavrou? 7rpo9 Trdo-av crvveiBrjcnv dvOpcjTrcjv ivoi-mov tov 
 
 * (rvVlCTTUVT^S. 
 
 craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the mani- 
 festation of the truth commending ourselves to every conscience of men 
 
 the words themselves, especially 
 when compared with c^ aKaOap- 
 (Ttas in 1 Thess. ii. 3, suggest the 
 notion of sins of sensuality. 
 (Compare Eph. v. 12 : to. Kpvcfyrj 
 yevofxeva vtt avTwv aicrxpov ccttl 
 /cat \4yeLv.) If so, it alludes to 
 some practice of his opponents, 
 or to some charge against him- 
 self, to us unknown, and receiv- 
 ing no light from the context. 
 
 fXT} TrcptiraTOvvTCs iv Travovpyta, 
 =/Jiri eK irXdvrjs, 1 Thess. ii. 3 
 
 jjLrj 80A0VI/T6S TOV \6yov tov Oeov 
 =/>f^ €/c 86\ov, in 1 Thess. ii. 3. 
 See ov KaTr7)\€vovT€s tov \6yov 
 TOV Ocov, ii. 17. 
 
 TYJ cf>avepu)cr€i Trj<s aX7]6eLa<;. This 
 * manifestation of the truth ' ap- 
 plies both to the Apostle's con- 
 duct (as in ii. 17) and teaching 
 (as in iii. 12), and also to the 
 conduct of his converts (as in 
 iii. 2, 3 : avayivoio-KOfJievr) vtto irdv- 
 TO)V dvOptJiTTOiv. (fiavepovfxevoL otl 
 i(rT€ liria-ToXrjy k. t. A.,). 
 
 (rwta-TavT65 eaurovs : i.e. ' This 
 is our true commendation,' as in 
 iii. 1. TT/oos Trdcrav crvveiSYjo'LV dv- 
 Opuyrrow is nearly the same as Trpo? 
 (rvv€Lh7)(TLV TrdvTwv dvOpiiyrroyv, the 
 expression arising in order to 
 bring out more strongly the feel- 
 ing that in this, as in other parts 
 of his conduct, he was' all things 
 to all men.' ' We commend our- 
 selves, not to this or that indi- 
 vidual, but to all. Some, indeed, 
 there are, between whom and us 
 there is a veil, as in the case of 
 Moses and the Jewish people ; 
 
 but these are they to whom our 
 mission is not a mission of life, 
 but of death (as in ii. 16) ; the 
 veil is not in my teaching, but 
 on their hearts (as in iii. 14), 
 and so they cannot receive the 
 rays of the glory of Christ.' 
 Compare vi. 12 : 'Ye are not 
 straitened in ns, but ye are 
 straitened in your own hearts.' 
 ' Our Gospel ' (to cvayyekiov 
 rjfxiDv) is ' the good tidings which 
 we preach,' 4-6. The thought 
 of ii. 16 is here brought out 
 with a more than usual severity ; 
 perhaps, because, as in iii. 14, 
 he was thinking of Judaizing 
 teachers. 
 
 In connexion with this dark 
 view he introduces the . ^j^^ q^ 
 singular expression ' the of this 
 God of this world ' (for '^''''^^' 
 Satan), so as to express in the 
 strongest manner the contrast 
 between Satan as the author of 
 all da^-kness, and Christ and God 
 as the authors of all light- The 
 nearest approaches to it are 
 Eph. ii. 12, ' The prince (apx^iv) 
 of the power of the air ;' Eph. 
 vi. 12, ' The rulers of the dark- 
 ness of this world ; ' and John 
 xii. 31, xiv. 30, 'the prince of 
 this world.' These very words 
 are applied to Satan by the 
 Rabbis, ' The true God is the fiist 
 God, but Samael is the second 
 God.* (See Wetstein, ad loc. ; 
 and Eisenmenger, Ent. Juden- 
 thum, i. p. 827.) It is as if he 
 said, ' There are some so entirely 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 
 
 401 
 
 Oeov. ^el Se /cat ecrriv K€K(xKvixyLevov to evayyekiov rjfjiojv^ 
 eV 7019 OLTroXXvfJievoLS ^.(ttIv KeKaXvfJLjJievoi', ^iv of? 6 Oeo<^ 
 rov aioivo^ tovtov iTvcfyXcocrev tol votjfJLaTa rcov airicrTCjjy 
 et9 TO fjLT) avydcrau^ top ^oiTicrixov tov evayyeXiov Tfj<? 
 Sof>75 TOV ^piaToVy 09 icFTLv eLKOJV TOV Oeov ^ (ou yap 
 iavToijs KTjpvcra-oiJLev dXXa ^'Irjo-ovf ^piaTov KvpioVy iav- 
 
 Add avTo7s. 
 
 Xpicrrhv 'lr}(Tovv. 
 
 in the sight of God. ^But if our gospel be veiled, it is veiled to them 
 that perish, ^in whom the god of this age bhnded the thoughts of those 
 who believe not lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is 
 the image of God, should blaze upon them ^ (for we preach not ourselves 
 
 lost to a sense of right, that the 
 adversary of good is to them 
 what be is called in the Rabbini- 
 cal language, their God.' Comp. 
 Phil. iii. 19, ' whose God is their 
 belly; 
 
 Irecaeus (Adv. Haer. iii. 7), in 
 order to avoid a Gnostic infer- 
 ence from the passage, and after 
 him, Origen, Tertullian, Chry- 
 sostom, Augustine, OEcnmenius, 
 Theodoret, and Theophylact, by 
 a violent inversion of the words, 
 connect tov atwvo? tovtov with 
 TO, voriixcLTa, so as to make the 
 sense, ' in whom God blinded 
 the thoughts of this world in the 
 nnbelieving.' 
 
 crv^Xo)o-€i/ TO, i/Q^/xara = ctto)- 
 pijiSif) TO. voTjixaTa in iii. 14. 
 
 Twv d7rt'(rTa)V=a)a"Te aTrtcrTovg 
 eTrat. avyda-ai, * shine with ra- 
 diant lustre.' 
 
 elKoiv TOV Oeov is inserted in 
 order to trace the source of the 
 light of Christ up to God him- 
 self. (Comp. i. 21 ; 1 Cor. iii. 
 23, xi. 3, XV. 24, 28.) 'Light 
 streams from Christ, as the like- 
 ness of God ; for He who shone 
 in our hearts so as to light them 
 up with the glory which dwells 
 in the face of Christ, is the same 
 
 as He who saiJ, "Let there be 
 light." ' 
 
 \dfxi(/€L (A. B^), 'shall shine,' 
 for Xdfjuf/ai (C. D3. E. F. G. J. 
 K.), 'to shine,' makes it more 
 lively. 
 
 iv trpo(T(iyjr<a •)(pia'Tov might fa- 
 vour the interpretation which 
 makes iii. 18 to be the contem- 
 plation of God's glory in Christ, 
 and not the reflection. But the 
 phrase is too general to require 
 this. (See ii. 10.) 
 
 The 5th verse is occasioned by 
 the stress laid on the person of 
 Christ in verse 4. ' I say, " the 
 glory of Christ ; " for it is He, 
 and not ourselves, that we declare 
 to you. Jesus is your master 
 (Kvptov), we are your slaves (8ov 
 Xov<s) ; ' in which there seems a 
 double allusion : (1) to the 
 charge of exercising despotic 
 control over them (comp. ov kv- 
 pie.vop.ev in i. 24) ; (2) to the 
 charge of commending himself 
 (compare cavrous crwtcrTaveiy, iii. 
 1); 
 
 'Ivyo-QW ')(pt(TTOV KVpLOV, ' WC 
 
 preach not ourselves, but Jesus 
 Christ whom we acknowledge as 
 "The Lord." ' Compare 1 Cor. 
 xii. 3, ' jS'o man can say, Kvptos 
 'Irjcrovs.* 
 
 D D 
 
402 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 6. 
 
 T0U9 §e Sov\ov<; vjicjv Slol 'Irjcrovv)^ ^otl 6 deo^ 6 enrcov 
 ^Ek (TKOTOvf; <^ws ^Xdfirjjei, 09 eXa/xi/zei' iv rats AcapSiat? 
 7]IJL(x)v Trpos ^(iiJicrixov rrj^ yvoiaeoi^ ttjs So^s ^ avTov iv 
 
 7rpO(T(x}TrO) ^)(pL(TTOV. 
 
 » XoLfiipai. *" Tov deov. " Add 'Irjaov. 
 
 but Jesus Christ the Lord, and ourselves your slaves for Jesus' sake), 
 ^for that God who said 'the light shall shine out of darkness,' is He 
 who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of His glory- 
 in the face of Christ. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. II. 16 — lY. 6. 
 
 Such are our responsibilities. And who is sufficient to meet them ? 
 We have, at least, this sufficiency that, unlike our adversaries, 
 unlike the character which they impute to us, our conduct is 
 transparently sincere. And this sufficiency, like all our 
 sufficiency, comes not from men ; not like that of our adver- 
 saries, from commendatory epistles ; hut from God, and from 
 the work which God has enabled us to accomplish. You, 
 the Corinthian Church, are the commendatory Epistle ; your 
 names, your interests are written in our hearts; our deeds, 
 Chrisfs work through us, are written in your lives. He is the 
 author of this joint Epistle, which we bear as His messengers 
 in our hearts, which we wrote as His scribes on your lives. 
 And this is an Epistle written, not with perishable ink, but 
 with the Finger, the Spirit, of God, who lives for ever ; not 
 like the old commandments ivhich the Finger of God wrote 
 on tablets of stone, but written on the tender tablets of your 
 human hearts. For this is the characteristic, not only of our 
 conduct, hut of the dispensation under which we act. The 
 covenant ivhich we serve is not like that which our adversaries 
 serve, an old and decaying, hut a new covenant ; a covenant 
 written not once for all in sacred letters, which have no power 
 to speak or move, hut in a living and moving atmosphere of 
 Spirit ivhich, by its very nature, gives neiv life and energy to 
 all connected with it, as surely as the mere letter and ivriting 
 of the Mosaic Laiv brought with it sin and death. Yet even 
 that service of the old covenant, even at the very moment 
 when this attribute of deadness was most plainly shoivn, was 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SERVICE. 403 
 
 glorious: even at the moment that 3Ioses brought down from 
 Sinai the ten stern commands, engraved mechanically on hard 
 stones, in lifeless characters, the glory on his face, though 
 it was to vanish in a few moments, was so bright that the 
 Israelites could not gaze upon it. How much more glorious, 
 then, is our service which relates, not to lifeless letters, but to 
 a life-giving Spirit ; not to hard condemnation, but to perfect 
 restoration, which is not to vanish away, but to last for ever. 
 With such a hope of our sufficiency as this gives, a suffi- 
 ciency which comes direct from God through our communion 
 with Christ, we cannot but be as sincere and open in our 
 dealings with you, as the dispensation of which ice are the 
 instruments is itself sincere and open. In the Jewish dispen- 
 sation, to which our adversaries cleave, and to which their 
 conduct may be likened, you have just been reminded how 
 Moses put a veil upon his face, at the close of his discourse, 
 that the Israelites might not continue their gaze up to the 
 moment when the glory should fade away. In like manner 
 when, at this day, Moses is read to them in the synagogues, a 
 veil, like the veil which they actually wear in the synagogue 
 service, lies upon their hearts ; they cannot see that the glory 
 of the law which is read to them is to vanish away in Christ. 
 But there is another and brighter side to the story in the 
 Book of Exodus, which also may have its counterpart in the 
 present time. We are told that, when Moses turned back to 
 the presence of the Lord on the mountain, he stripped the veil 
 from off his face, and again held undivided communion with 
 the Lord. What thus took place in the case of Moses, will 
 again take place ivith the people of Moses, when they also 
 turn to the Lord. And ' the Lord ' of Mount Sinai means, 
 in this case, ' the Spirit,^ the life-giving Spirit which dwells 
 behind the written characters of the Mosaic Laic, and which 
 confers the freedom belonging of necessity to the Spirit and. 
 all its operations ; and the veil being thus taken away from 
 our faces, we all, you as well as we, shall receive the full 
 reflection of that Divine glory which will transfer us into 
 a brighter and still brighter likeness of the Divine presence, 
 coming from the Lord, who is also the Spirit, working, not on 
 tables of stone, but on our spirits. Therefore we have nothing 
 to conceal ; our only commendation is that we disclose our- 
 selves as if in the sight of God for every one to examine^ If 
 there be any veil still remaining between us and you, it is on 
 
 1) D 2 
 
404 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 your side, not on ours ; it is a veil interposed by the God of 
 this dark and blind and unbelieving world, to whom some 
 surrender themselves — not by the true God who is repre- 
 sented faithfully to you in our Lord and Master Jesus, whose 
 slaves we are, and to Whom alone, not to ourselves, do we 
 wish to subject your minds. He is the true God, who, at the 
 beginning said, ' Let there be light ; ' and who now pours into 
 your hearts the full blaze of His glory from the face of Jesus 
 Christ, 
 
 The whole argument of this passage is so interwoven with 
 personal allusions, and with illustrations from a particular 
 interpretation of a single passage in the Old Testament, that 
 there is a difficulty in deducing any general truth from it 
 directly. But the indirect conclusions from it are important. 
 I. There is no other passage in which freedom, and open- 
 Freedom ness, and absence of mystery and concealment, are 
 and open- go strongly put forth as characteristic of Christianity. 
 Christi- The reserve and stiffness, which the Apostle here 
 anity. ascribes to the Mosaic covenant, was exemplified to 
 a still greater degree in the other religions of antiquity, in 
 the priestly castes of India and Egypt, in the mysteries of 
 Greece and Rome. In fact, the original excellence of the 
 Mosaic dispensation had, in a great measure, consisted in the 
 difference which existed on this point between itself and Pagan 
 systems, namely, absence of any hidden ritual or doctrine. 
 Still, the importance that attached to the sacred books in which 
 the revelation was contained, partly from the necessity of the 
 case, partly from the exaggerated veneration with which they 
 were regarded by the later age of Judaism, tended gradually 
 in this respect to assimilate the Jewish system to the old reli- 
 gions ; and it is the change from this spirit which Christianity 
 effected, and of which this chapter is one of the most striking 
 manifestations. To it we owe, even in words, the contrast 
 between ' the letter ' and * the Spirit,' which is now so familiar 
 that few remember the source whence it comes ; even after the 
 passage was written its full purport was long overlooked. The 
 expansiveness, the comprehensiveness, the free inquiry, the 
 truth-seeking spirit of the modern, as distinguished from the 
 
PLAINNESS OF THE APOSTOLICAL SEEVICE. 405 
 
 ancient world, is thus not only sanctioned but originated by 
 the most authentic documents of Christianity. There may 
 have been much, in the subsequent history of the Church, at 
 variance with the spirit of this chapter. But since it was 
 written, and so long as its spirit is any way carried out, there 
 never have been, and there never will be in Christendom, any 
 institutions like the Eleusinian mysteries, like the Egyptian 
 castes, or like the Jewish Rabbinical schools of the ages before 
 and after the Christian era.^ 
 
 II. The Apostle further asserts his conviction that this 
 new life and freedom were to be found in the contem- 
 plation of Jesus Christ. Whether be chiefly pointed Example 
 to the example, the death, or the life beyond death, ^f Free- 
 he does not here explain. But it is clear, first, that 
 
 he regarded Him as in the fullest sense the representative of 
 God to man ; and also, that by means of that representation, 
 he considered the free, unrestrained spiritual character of the 
 Gospel to be effectually and for ever guaranteed. And on 
 turning to the definite and strongly marked outlines of the 
 character of Christ's life and teaching as laid down in the four 
 Gospels, a picture is there exhibited which at once accounts 
 for the Apostle's assertions. Not only does it present to us an 
 image of holiness and wisdom, which justifies St. Paul's trans- 
 ference of the language of the Old Testament to this new 
 object of religious veneration, but it exhibits in numerous in- 
 stances, that sacrifice of form to spirit, that encouragement of 
 freedom and openness and sincerity, which St. Paul here 
 identifies with the name and presence of Christ. 
 
 III. It may be worth while to go through the various 
 images which the Apostle has called up in the prece- Succession 
 ding section. First, there is the commendatory of images. 
 Epistle of the Corinthian Church, written on his heart. 
 Next, the same Epistle written on their hearts and lives, read 
 and re-read by the wayfarers to and fro, through the thorough- 
 fare of Greece. Thirdly, the contrast between this Epistle, 
 written on the tender human feelings, on the vibrations of the 
 wind, by the breath of the Spirit, carrying its tidings back- 
 wards and forwards, whithersoever it will, with no limits of 
 
 ^ Chrysostom and most of the j punishments of the Law ; Origen, to 
 Greek Fathers take the words ' the i the uselessness of the historical sense 
 letter killeth ' to refer to the capital 1 of Scripture. 
 
406 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 time or space, like the sweep of the wind on the ^olian harp, 
 like an electric spark of light, — and the Ten Commandments, 
 graven in the granite blocks of Sinai, hard, speechless, lifeless. 
 Fourthly, there rises into view the figure of Moses, as he 
 is known to us in the statue of Michael Angelo, the liffht 
 streaming from his face, yet growing dim and dark as a greater 
 glory of another revelation rises behind it. Fifthly, the same 
 figure veiled, as the light beneath the veiled dies away, and 
 shade rests upon the scene ; and there rises around him a mul- 
 tiplication of that figure, the Jews in their synagogues veiled, 
 as the Book of the Law is read before them. Sixthly, the 
 same figure of Moses once more, but now unveiled as he turns 
 again to Mount Sinai and uncovers his face to rekindle its 
 glory in the Divine presence ; and now again, the same figure 
 multiplied in the Apostle and the Corinthian congregation 
 following him, all w^ith faces unveiled, and upturned towards 
 the light of Christ's presence, the glory streaming into their 
 faces with greater and greater brightness, as if borne in upon 
 them by the Spirit or breath of light from that Divine counte- 
 nance, till they are transfigured into a blaze of splendour like 
 unto it. 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPOETS. 
 
 407 
 
 The Difficulties and Supports of his Apostolical Duties. 
 Chap. IV. 7— V.^10. 
 
 ^"E^o/xez/ §e rov Oiqaavpov rovrov iv 6(TTpaKLV0L<; cFKeve- 
 OLV^ Iva 7] virep/BoXr] tt}? Suz/a/xew? y rov Oeov kol (jltj i^ 
 
 ■^ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of 
 the power may be of God, and not of us, ^ troubled on every side yet jiot 
 
 In enlarging on the greatness 
 of his task — the point from which 
 he started in ii. 16, — he insen- 
 sibly passes to the support thence 
 derived in the difficulties which 
 he experienced in carrying it on. 
 ' We faint not,' is the key of 
 this passage, on which he had 
 already touched in iv. 1, and to 
 which he returns again, as the 
 conclusion of the whole, in verse 
 16, first dwelling at length on the 
 greatness of the trials which 
 would, but for this hope, have 
 caused him to be faint-hearted. 
 Here, as in the more elaborate 
 passage, xi. 23-xii. 10, he may 
 be induced to enlarge upon them, 
 partly with a view of contrasting 
 his own labours with the inaction 
 of his adversaries, partly with 
 the view of showing that, in the 
 troubles which his adversaries 
 regarded as derogatory to his 
 Apostolical authority, God had 
 a purpose to answer by manifest- 
 ing forth His power in the Apo- 
 stle's weakness. But, on the 
 whole, there is less of polemical 
 argument, and more of the natu- 
 ral outpouring of his own feelings 
 in this section, than in most other 
 parts of the Epistle. 
 
 7 8e expresses the contrast to 
 the foregoing strain of exult- 
 ation. 
 
 Tov O-qa-avpov rovrov kv ocrrpa- 
 
 KtVots (TK€veo-Lv. This .^ 
 
 r, • . 1 Treasure 
 
 Ilgure is taken appa- inearthea 
 
 rently from the custom "^^^^^^s-' 
 of placing gold and silver in 
 earthenware jars, as was the 
 practice of the Persian kings, 
 described in Herodot. iii. 96. 
 Compare also the Rabbinical 
 story given by Wetstein, of the 
 reply of Rabbi Joshua to a 
 daughter of the emperor, who, 
 on taunting him with his mean 
 appearance, was referred by him 
 to the earthenware vessels in 
 which her father kept his wines ; 
 and when, at her request, the 
 wines had been shifted to silver 
 vessels and there turned sour, 
 was taunted by the Rabbi with 
 the observation that the hum- 
 blest vessels best contained the 
 highest wisdom. The same figure 
 also occurs in later classical au- 
 thors. Artemidorus (vi. 25) in- 
 dicates death by the phrase rb 
 ctvat iv ocrrpdKLVc^ o-zcevet. Comp. 
 2 Tim. ii. 20, where ' wooden 
 and earthenware (da-rpoLKLva) 
 vessels' are contrasted with ' gold 
 and silver.' 
 
 The expression (rK€vo<; ('ves- 
 sels') is frequently used, as if 
 it had almost ceased to have a 
 metaphorical meaning, for ' the 
 human body.' Compare ' ves- 
 
408 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 8—12. 
 
 Tjixcov^ ^ev TravTi OXi^ofxepoL dXX' ov crTevoyci)pov^xevoi, airo- 
 povixevoL dXX! ovK i^airopovyievoL^ ^SicoKOfJievoL aXV ovk 
 iyKaraXeiTTOfJievoL, KaTa/BaWofJievoL aXK ovk aTToXXu/Aej^ot, 
 ^^TTavTore rrjv veKpojcnv tov ir)crov ev tco crcoixaTL Tre- 
 
 * TOV Kvpiov 'Irjcrou. 
 
 distressed, perplexed but not in despair, ^persecuted but not forsaken, 
 cast down but not perishing, ^^ always bearing about in the body the 
 
 sels of wrath and mercy ' (Rom. 
 ix. 22, 28) ; ' the weaker vessel ' 
 (1 Pet. iii. 7) ; ' his own vessel ' 
 (1 Thess. iv. 4) ; ' a vessel unto 
 honour ' (2 Tim. ii. 21). Hence 
 it was natural to bring out this 
 latent metaphor by adding to it 
 the epithet ' earthenware.' 
 
 TOV Oeov. The reason here given 
 is the same as that in xii. 9. 
 The order of the words invites 
 us to take rj vTrep/^oXrf with rrjs 
 Svvdix€o}<s, ' the extraordinary 
 power,' as in Joseph. Ant. I. 
 xiii. 4 ; II. ii. 1. Comp. vi. 7, 
 ' by the power of God,' and 1 
 Cor. ii. 5, ' not in the wisdom of 
 man, but in the power of God.' 
 
 8 €v TravTL, ' in every direc- 
 tion.' Compare xi. 6, and 1 Cor. 
 i. 5. ^ 
 
 BXi^ofxcvoi oAX' ov a-T€va)(oipov- 
 fievoL, ' pressed for room but still 
 having room.' For this sense of 
 Okt/So) compare i. 6, vii. 5 ; of 
 crTevo^wpeio-Oat, vi. 4, 12, 
 
 nTropovfJievoL aXX! ovk l^arropov- 
 fx€voL, ' doubting, but not de- 
 spairing ' (such is the sense of the 
 words elsewhere ; John xiii. 22 ; 
 Gal. iv. 20; Acts xxv. 20, and 
 2 Cor. i. 8) : but here, as in the 
 case of a-Kevos and OXlJ^ojxo/oi, the 
 metaphor is more fully drawn 
 out, — 'losing our way, yet not 
 entirely,' — bewildered, but not 
 benighted.' 
 
 9 SicoKO/xevot oAA' OVK lyKa- 
 TaAet7ro/>tcvot. Here, again, the 
 
 meaning of duoKca-Oat and cy- 
 KaraXeiTreor^at, which in later 
 Greek had come to mean merely 
 'persecuted' and 'forsaken,' is 
 brought out according to their 
 original signification. ' Pursued 
 in our flight, but not left behind 
 as a prey to our pursuers.' Com- 
 pare Herod, viii. 59 : ol Si ye 
 iyKaTaXeLTTOfJievoi ov crT€cf>avevvTat. 
 
 KaTa^aXX6/jL€voi, ' struck down, 
 yet not perishing.' The phrase 
 is used chiefly for being thrown 
 in wrestling, as in Plutarch, 
 Pericl. 8 (in the famous speech 
 of the orator Thucydides about 
 Pericles) ; but also for being 
 struck by a dart, Xen. Cyr. i. 
 3,14. 
 
 ID For this enumeration of 
 contrasts, the mind and spirit 
 always rising above the outward 
 pressure of distress, compare the 
 character of the Athenian people 
 in Thucyd. i. 70. It is wound 
 up with the contrast between 
 death and life, — 'we are dead, 
 and yet we live, because even in 
 life we are dead.' 
 
 For the idea of the Apostle's 
 sufierings as a continuation of 
 the sufferings of Christ, .^^^^ 
 see i. 8. For his ' per- deadness 
 petual death,' compare °^ ^^"^*^-' 
 xi. 23, ' in deaths oft ; ' and 1 
 Cor. XV. 31, ' I die daily.' 
 
 TTjv veKpoya-LV is not ' dying ' 
 (to Ov-^a-Ketv), nor ' death ' (Od- 
 varos), but ' deadness ; ' the 
 ' mortification,' ' paralysation ' of 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORTS. 
 
 409 
 
 pL(j>€povT€<;y Iva Koi Tj t<cj)r) tov ^Irjcrov ev rco crcofiaTL r)fxa)P 
 4>avepo)6fi* ^^del yap 7)iJieL<i ol {wi^re? ets Odvarov irapahi- 
 SofieOa Sua 'Irjcrovv, Iva Kal r) Cfiir) tov 'Ir)(Tov (j^avepojdrj 
 iv rrj Bvy^rfj aapKL rjfjicoj/. ^^^ coo-re 6 ^Odvaro^; Iv rjpAv ivep- 
 
 * Add fteV. 
 
 dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our 
 body : "for we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, 
 that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 
 
 death, as in the phrase ' the 
 deadness (ve/cpwo-tv) of Sarah's 
 womb,' Rom. iv. 19 (comp. Heb. 
 xi. 12) ; and ' mortify (vcKpw- 
 o-are) your members ' (Col. iii. 
 5). The word occurs elsewhere 
 only once, in a poem of the 4th 
 century, published under the 
 name of Astrampsychus : vc/cpovs 
 opwiv veKpwartv c^ets Trpay/ActTwv. 
 
 It is as if he had said, ' we 
 are living corpses.* It is a con- 
 tinual ' Descent from the Cross.' 
 ' We bear with us wherever we 
 go the burden of the dead body ; ' 
 €v Tw crw/juiTL implying that it is 
 in himself that the deadly pallor 
 and torpor is to be seen ; ttc- 
 pL(l)€povT€<s pointing rather to the 
 weight of the dead corpse, which, 
 like Joseph and Nicodemus, he 
 carries with him. 
 
 tva Kttt T7 ^a)>7, ' in order that 
 the life as well as (/cat) the death 
 may appear.' By the * life,' he 
 means not merely ' the outward 
 physical life,' nor yet merely 
 ' the life on earth,' but the life- 
 giving power, moral and spi- 
 ritual, which Christ possessed 
 both on earth and beyond the 
 grave. Compare Rom. v. 10, 
 ' we shall be saved by His life ; ' 
 John xiv. 12, ' because I live, 
 ye shall live also.' Their deli- 
 verance from danger and death, 
 and their spiritual power and 
 life, was to be a proof to the 
 world that Christ was still living. 
 
 1 1 The same union of the two 
 ideas of physical and moral life 
 is continued in the phrase, * we 
 who are alive ' (rffxel^ ol ^wvtcs). 
 ' We, living as we are, with our 
 life sustained by Christ, are yet 
 given over to death.' rjfxiLs is 
 emphatic ; partly from its con- 
 nexion with ol ^ojvT€5, as, in 1 
 Thess. iv. 15, ' we are living ' 
 are distinct from those who are 
 already dead ; partly from the 
 contrast with the Corinthians, 
 expressed in verse 12, ' we die 
 that tjou may live.' 
 
 TrdvTore is ' at any conceiv- 
 able time ; ' act is ' continuously 
 through all time.' 
 
 8ta 'Irja-ovv, 'for the sake of 
 Jesus.' This makes it clear that 
 he is speaking of sufferings for 
 the sake of the Gospel. 
 
 iv rrj OvrjTTJ crapKt, ' in our 
 literal mortal bodies ' (compare 
 Rom. vi. 12, viii. 11) ; " not 
 merely in our outward life (iv 
 Tco o-w/xart), but in this my bodily 
 frame, Christ's power will be 
 shown.' 
 
 12 Up to this point he has 
 dwelt on the consolatory . fact 
 that, though he was exposed to 
 danger and death, the power of 
 Christ always restored him to 
 life. A new thought now comes 
 across this argument (as in i. 4- 
 11) ; namely, that his sufferings 
 were for the good of his Corin- 
 thian converts ; and that in the 
 
410 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 13—16. 
 
 yetrat, rj Se ^corj iv vfjuv. ^^ ej^oi^re? Se to avTo TTvevfxa rrjg 
 
 7rtcrT€a)9, /caret ro yeypaix^iivov ^ETricTTevcra^^ 8to iXaXyjcra, 
 
 Kal TjiJiei's TncrTevofxeu, Sto kol XaXo^}/x,€^', ^^eiSdre? ot6 6 
 
 » Note. MS. A. is deficient between iiria-reva-a] and [e| ifxov, xii. 6. 
 
 ^2 So then death worketh in us, but life in you. ^^But having the same 
 spirit of faith, according as it is written *I believed, and therefore I 
 spake,' we also believe, and therefore speak, ^^ knowing that He who 
 
 life which they enjoyed through 
 him, was a pledge that he should 
 hereafter share in that same life. 
 
 * Death,' as before, is physical 
 death ; ' life,' as before, is both 
 physical and spiritual. 
 
 eVcpyetrat, 'is active.' Comp. 
 for the sense 1 Cor. iv. 8-10. 
 
 13 €xovT€s Si is immediately 
 connected with the preceding 
 clause. ' But though there is 
 this contrast between our death 
 and your life, yet still we go on 
 confidently with our work, trust- 
 ing that in your life we shall 
 share, through your intercessions 
 for us.' 
 
 TO avTo TTvev/xa r^? Trtcrreajs, may 
 either be : (1) ' with the same 
 spirit of faith as the Psalmist,' 
 which suits better the recurrence 
 of the word cTrto-rcvo-a in the quo- 
 tation, but furnishes an awkward 
 construction. Or (2) ' with the 
 same spirit of faith as you the 
 Corinthians ; ' which gives an 
 easy construction, and agrees 
 with the union between himself 
 and them, expressed in verses 13 
 and 14, but is without any point 
 of connexion with the words of 
 the immediate context. If (1), 
 compare for the involved con- 
 struction Rom. ii. 1. It should 
 have been either €xovt€<; to 
 irvevfia ttJs TrurTew? Kara to ye- 
 ypafx^ivov, or t)(pvT€<i to ovto 
 irveiS/Aa 7^5 TrtVrco)? o yiypairTai. 
 If (2), compare i. 24, ' By faith 
 ye stand.' 
 
 The quotation is from Ps. cxvi. 
 10 (LXX. cxv. 1), and was pro- 
 bably suggested by the context of 
 the previous verses : ' Thou hast 
 delivered my soul from death, 
 mine eyes from tears, and my 
 feet from falling. I will walk 
 before the Lord in the land of 
 the living. I believed, and there- 
 fore have I spoken.' The Apo- 
 stle connects it with his argu- 
 ment by using the words of the 
 Psalmist in the sense which 
 applied best to his own case. 
 cTTto-revcra, which, in the Psalm, 
 seems to be, 'I trusted that God 
 would save me,' is here used 
 more precisely for ' I trusted in 
 the unseen future goodness of 
 God ; ' as in v. 7, ' we walk by 
 faith, nut hij sight.' iXdkrjcra, 
 which in the Psalm seems to 
 refer to the speech of the Psalmist 
 following, is here used for the 
 preaching and teaching as of the 
 Apostle ; as in ii. 17 ; 1 Cor. iii. 
 
 I, xii. 3, xiii. 1, xiv. 2, 34, 34. 
 According to the meaning of to 
 avTo, Kol rjixel<; may be either, 
 ' we as well as the Psalmist,' or 
 ' we as well as you.' 
 
 14 etSore? v/xlv. For 
 
 the general sense see Kom. viii. 
 
 II. For this sense of etSoreg, 
 ' being convinced,' see Eom. v. 
 3 ; 1 Cor. XV. 58. The passage 
 forms an exception to the general 
 expectation of the Apostle (i. 13, 
 14 ; 1 Cor. XV. 51, 52, i. 7, 8 ; 1 
 Thess. iv. 15), that he and his 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORTS. 
 
 411 
 
 eyetpas top Kvpiov ^Irjcrovv koX rjfJias * aifv ^Itjctov iyepel 
 Koi TTapaorTTjcrei avv vfuv. ^^ra yap Trdvra Sl v/xo,?, tW 
 7) X^P^^ TrXeopdcracra Slol TOiV irXeiovcov rrjv ev^apiariav 
 wepLcraeva-r} eh T7]v ho^av tov Oeov. ^^Sto ovk iyKaKov- 
 
 * Sia 'Irjcoi;. 
 
 raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus and shall 
 present us with you. ^^For all things are for your sakes, that the 
 abundant grace may on account of the thanksgiving of the many abound 
 to the glory of God. ^^ For which cause we faint not, but though our 
 outward man is destroyed, yet the inward man is renewed day by 
 
 converts should live till the time 
 of the Lord's coming — an excep- 
 tion caused, probably, by the 
 strong anticipation of death from 
 which (i. 8) he had but just re- 
 covered. 
 
 (Tvv 'Irjcrov is not necessarily 
 ' in company with,' but ' sharing 
 His condition.' Comp. xiii. 4. 
 
 Trapaari/cret <rvv v/xlv, 'will 
 make us share the light which 
 yon even now seem to enjoy, and 
 will present us both to Christ.' 
 Compare 1 Thess. iv. 17. 
 
 1 5 TO, yap TTOLVTa 8t' v/>tas, ' He 
 will present us with you ; for all 
 things, whether life or death, or 
 things present or things to come 
 (comp. 1 Cor. iii. 22) are for 
 you.* 
 
 Iva r) x^P^5, 'in order that 
 God's goodness, which, through 
 the prayers of the greater part 
 of you, has become greater to 
 me, may make your thanksgiv- 
 ing greater, and so God's glory 
 greater also.' Compare the pa- 
 rallel passage, i. 11. The Apo- 
 stle does not distinguish strongly 
 between his deliverance from the 
 immediate danger to which he 
 had been exposed (i. 8), and his 
 deliverance from death itself. 
 
 The construction requires that 
 TrepLo-a-evy should be transitive 
 (as in ix. 8 ; 1 Thess. iii. 12 ; 
 Eph. i. 8). 
 
 TrXeomo-ao-a is used with a re- 
 ference to Sta rcov ttXclovijov and 
 €v)(apL(TTiav to x^P*'^' ' tbat more 
 may produce more,' ' that grace 
 may produce gratitude.' Comp. 
 Phil. i. 19, 'I know that this 
 shall turn to my salvation 
 through your prayer.' 
 
 1 6 He now resumes the as- 
 sertion of his determination to 
 bear up against his trials, which 
 he had begun to unfold in iv. 1 ; 
 and, as in the preceding verses 
 (10-15), he had gradually passed 
 from his daily troubles to the 
 consideration of death itself, so 
 here he passes gradually from 
 the daily dissolution of his out- 
 ward frame by long hardships 
 and infirmities, to its total disso- 
 lution by death (iv. 16-18, v. 
 1-10). Every vestige of self- 
 defence or attack vanishes, and 
 we have in this passage the full- 
 est expression of the Apostle's 
 individual hopes and fears with 
 regard to the future world. 
 
 The contrast here drawn be- 
 tween the ' outward ' and ' the 
 inner man,' though illustrated 
 by the contrast in Rom. vii. 22 
 between the ' law of the mem- 
 bers ' and ' the inner man,' and 
 in Eph. iv. 22 ; Col. iii. 9, be- 
 tween ' the old man ' and ' the 
 new man,' is not precisely the 
 same. Those contrasts relate to 
 
412 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IV. 17— V. 1. 
 
 fjiev, dXX.' et /cat 6 efoj tjjjlcjp avOpcono^ hia^Seiperaiy aX)C 
 6 ecro)^ TjiJLcov avaKaivovrai rjfJiepa kol rjfxepa. ^' to yap 
 TTapavTLKa i\a(j)pov tyJ<; OXixpecos rjpLOiv Kaff vTrep/SoXrqv eU 
 V7T€p^o\rjv alcxiviov ^dpo^ S6^r)s KaTepyat<^Tai rjfJUP, ^^/j^t) 
 CTKOTTOvvTOiv rjfxcjv TOL ^XeTTOfxevcL ahXa TOL jxr) fiXeTTOfieva • 
 TOi yap ySXeTTO/xera irpocTKaLpa, ra 8e /at) /SXeTTOiieva alcxivia. 
 
 * icrwOev. 
 
 day. ^'For our light trouble which is but for a moment worketh for 
 us a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory, ^^ 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 
 
 the diflference between the sen- 
 sual and the moral nature, ' the 
 flesh ' and * the spirit ; ' this, to 
 the difference between the mate- 
 rial and the spiritual nature, 
 ' the body ' and ' the soul.' Com- 
 pare a line ascribed to Michael 
 Angelo : * The more the marble 
 wasteSjthe more the statue grows.' 
 
 avaKatvovTat, ' receives new 
 powers.' Compare Col. iii. 10 ; 
 Rom. xii. 2 ; Tit. iii. 5. 
 
 "^fiipa KOL rjjjiepa. A Hebraism 
 for ' from day to day,' not found 
 in LXX. but a literal translation 
 of nV) n)\ See Eth. ii. 11, iii. 4. 
 
 17 Each word here is stu- 
 diously set against the other. 
 irapavTCKa is ' for the present mo- 
 ment ' — often in classical writers 
 (see Wetstein, ad loc), here 
 alone in the N. T. — opposed to 
 atcoviov, 'for the lasting future.' 
 
 TO iXacfipov is used as a sub- 
 stantive (compare to yvrjcrcov, viii. 
 8 ; TO jxoipov, TO dcr^ei/es, 1 Cor. i. 
 25) ; and is opposed to /3dpo^, as 
 Trj<s 0\L\l/€(t)<s to S6^<s. ^dpo<s is 
 used with So^a probably from 
 the fact that 133 is both ' to be 
 heavy ' (Job vi. 3 ; Gen. xviii. 
 20), and 'to be glorious' (as in 
 Isaiah Ixvi. 5), the substantive 
 1-133 always having the meaning 
 of ' glory ' or ' honour.' (Comp. 
 
 gravitas, in Latin.) See a similar 
 use of the Hebrew metaphor and 
 the Greek word corresponding, 
 in ' bowels and mercies,' Phil, 
 ii. 1. 
 
 KaO' vTTepf^oXrjv ct? vTrepfSoX-qv 
 cannot be tixed precisely to any 
 one word in the succeeding 
 clause. It is a Hebraism, — a 
 translation, so far as the Greek 
 idiom would allow, of "l'&?!0 *l'Np 
 ' exceedingly, exceedingly.' (See 
 note onii. 16.) 
 
 The construction of this pas- 
 sage even in detail (compare 
 especially the use of the neuter 
 adjective for a substantive) is 
 like Thucydides. 
 
 iS fxrj a-KOTTOvvTOiV, ' so long as 
 we do not fix our attention 
 upon,' (Phil, ii, 4) to, /xt] fiXeiro- 
 jxeva ; comp. Heb. xi. 1, ' the 
 evidence of things not seen' (ov 
 ^AeTTo/xevcov). The use of />t^ in 
 this passage, and ov in Heb. xi. 
 1, is merely from the Greek 
 usage, which requires /at; after 
 the article, and ov where the 
 article is not used. The ex- 
 pressions of the shortness of the 
 visible world might be applicable 
 to any age, but are no doubt 
 strengthened here by the expec- 
 tation of the coming of the Lord. 
 
 TTpoa-Kaipa, ' for the temporary 
 season of this life.' 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORTS. 
 
 413 
 
 V. ^ oLOa/jieu yap otl eav rj cTTtyetog rjjjicjv oiKia tov (tktjpov^ 
 KaroXvOrj^ oIkoSoixtjv e/c 0eov e^o/xez^, oiKLav ayeipoiroirjTOV 
 
 are eternal, v. ^For we know that if our earthly house of the tabernacle 
 were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands. 
 
 aloivia, ' for the successive 
 ages of God's kingdom.' 
 
 V. I ' I am indifferent to the 
 decay and wearing away of my 
 present outward frame ; because 
 I know that another and high- 
 er organisation is awaiting me 
 hereafter, a higher life which 
 shall not extinguish my present 
 being, but give me new powers 
 engrafted upon it.' His lan- 
 guage may apply to the change 
 of death generally ; but it has 
 especial reference to his feeling 
 (as in 1 Cor. xv. 53) that he 
 shall probably be one of those 
 who will be alive at the coming 
 of Christ : hence the wish ex- 
 pressed in verse 4, that he might 
 not lose his present body, but 
 have it expanded into something 
 higher — a wish at any time na- 
 tural, but which receives its pe- 
 culiar expression from the feeling 
 just described. Hence also the 
 doubt in V. 1, ' if the house be 
 destroyed.' The explanation of 
 'Thehabi- ^^^^ abrupt transition 
 tationofa^ from the figure of a 
 
 a emac e. jjQ^gg ^^ ^^j^^ ^q ^j^g^^ 
 
 of a garment, may be found in 
 the image,familiarto the Apostle, 
 both from his occupations and 
 his birth-place, of the tent of 
 Cilician haircloth, which might 
 almost equally suggest the idea 
 of a habitation and of a vesture. 
 Compare the same union of me- 
 taphors in Ps. civ. 2, ' Who 
 coverest thyself with light as 
 with a garment : who stretchest 
 out the heavens like a curtain 
 [of the tent].' 
 
 The word ' tent ' (cr/c^vos) lent 
 
 itself to this imagery, from being 
 used in later Greek writers for 
 the human body, especially in 
 medical writers, who seem to 
 have been led to adopt the word 
 from the s^i7z-materials of which 
 tents were composed. (See Wet- 
 stein, ad loc.) 
 
 In philosophical language it 
 retained the idea of transitori- 
 ness, like our word '■tenement-,* 
 and hence the original meaning 
 would at once be elicited, as in 
 the case of all the words in iv. 
 7-9. Compare 2 Pet. i. 14, ' the 
 laying aside of my tabernacle 
 ((r/o/vw/xaro?) is at hand;' Wis- 
 dom ix. 15, (yewScs cr/c^vo?) 
 ' earthly tabernacle.' 
 
 otKta TOV (TK-qvov<i. The geni- 
 tive is to define the nature of the 
 habitation. 
 
 €7rty€to9, i.e. (not *of earth,' 
 = XotKo?, but) 'upon the earth.' 
 Compare 1 Cor. xv. 40, * bodies 
 terrestrial,' opposed to ' from 
 the heavens.' 
 
 KaraXvo) is used especially of 
 the destruction of a house. See 
 Matt. xxiv. 2, xxxvi. 61 ; Gal. ii. 
 18. The Yulgate (from a false 
 etymological scent) 
 
 , T , . , n • ^ Dissolved. 
 
 translates it dissol- 
 vatur ; a slight departure from 
 the original meaning, which the 
 Auth. Vers., by adopting the 
 word nearest to the Vulgate — 
 ^dissolved,' has still further wi- 
 dened ; the word having now 
 lost the sense of ' disunite ' and 
 ' break,' which was once at- 
 tached to it both in Latin and 
 English. (Compare 2 Peter iii. 
 11, 12.) From this translation 
 
414 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 2—4. 
 
 ai(x)viov iv Toi<; ovpavols. ^kol yap iv tovto) CTTevd^ofiev, 
 TO OLK-qTTJpLov Yjixcoi' TO cf ovpavov iTTeuSijaacrOaL Ittitto- 
 
 eternal in the heavens. -For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be 
 clothed upon with onr habitation which is from heaven, ^if so be that 
 
 has perhaps originated the word 
 ' dissolution ' for ' death.' 
 
 oLKoSofjiyjv. The word retains 
 its usual active signification so 
 far as to make the words Ik Oeov 
 directly dependent upon it; 'a 
 building which grows up from 
 the hand of God.* Compare 
 Heb. xi. 10, ' " the " city which 
 bath foundations, whose builder 
 and maker is God.' 
 
 exofjicv, i.e. ' the moment that 
 our present house is destroyed, 
 that very moment a new habita- 
 tion awaits us in heaven.' Ac- 
 cording to the representation in 
 1 Cor. XV. 51, ' we shall all be 
 changed in a moment ; ' 1 Thess. 
 iv. 17, 'we shall be caught up 
 in the clouds.' 
 
 a^cLpoTroirjTov, ' Not like the 
 tents, in which I live, and which 
 I make with my own hands.' In 
 this, as in the next expressions, 
 alwviov iv Tot9 ovpavoi<s, he speaks 
 rather of a habitation into which 
 he is to enter, than of a body 
 which he is to assume. The 
 expressions 'made' or ' not made 
 with hands,' and 'in the hea- 
 vens,' could not properly be ap- 
 plied to a body. 
 
 2 Kat yap is more an expla- 
 nation, than a reason, of the 
 preceding. See iv. 10, 11. 
 
 'Ev TovTw, i.e. o-K^vet, ' in this 
 my tenement,' pointing, as it 
 were, to his own body, as in Acts 
 XX. 34, ' these hands.' See note 
 on 1 Cor. XV. 54. 
 
 crTevdt,ofxeVj 'we groan,' i.e. 
 ' with longing to be free,' Com- 
 pare Rom. viii. 23, ' we groan 
 
 within ourselves, waiting for the 
 redemption of the body.' 
 
 TO oLKrjTrjpLov. The word is 
 used instead of o-k^i/o?, to get rid 
 of the notion of instability. 
 
 e^ ovpavov. Here again the 
 idea of the actual body is lost in 
 the idea of a habitation or ves- 
 ture descending, like the sheet 
 of Peter's vision (Acts x. 11), 
 or 'the new Jerusalem, coming 
 from God out of heaven,' Rev. 
 xxi. 2. 
 
 iirevSva-aa-Oai, ' to be clothed, 
 as with an upper or over gar- 
 ment.' So i7r€vSvTr}<; for the 
 'fisher's coat,' John xxi. 7. He 
 uses this word instead of ivSv- 
 aaaOaL purposely, from the strong 
 expectation that he in his out- 
 ward bodily form might still be 
 alive at the end; although it 
 would apply also to the general 
 hope of a restoration after death. 
 
 3 There are two variations in 
 the text here : — 
 
 (1) etTTcp, Lachmann, with B. 
 D. E. F. G. and eiyc Rec. Text, 
 with C. J. K. The usage, however, 
 of these two words in the N'ew 
 Testament is not suflBcientlypre^ 
 cise to affect the general sense of 
 this passage. It is a confident 
 expectation expressed with that 
 degree of uncertainty which na- 
 turally belongs to the future, 
 especially to the future life. Had 
 he been speaking of a certain 
 matter of fact, he would have 
 said, not elye Kat but Kat yap, as 
 in the next clause. Kat (whether 
 ecTrep or ctyc be adopted) serves 
 as a connecting particle between 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORTS. 
 
 415 
 
 6ovvT€<;^ ^ei ^7T€p Koi ivSvcrdfjievoL ov yvfivoi evpeOrjoroixeOa. 
 ^KOi yap ol ovTes ev rw o-Kijvei crrevatpiJieu ^apovp.€voL, 
 
 * ei'76. 
 being clothed we shall not be found naked. "^ For we that are in the 
 
 this and the previous clause. 'If 
 in fact,' or ' since in fact,' like os 
 /cat t/cavcocrev in iii. 6, and 6 kox 
 80VS in V. 5. For the half-doubt 
 expressed compare Phil. iii. 11, 
 ' if by any means I might attain 
 unto the resurrection of the 
 dead.' 
 
 (2) iv8v(rdfx.€voL, Lachraann and 
 Rec. Text, with B.C.D^. E. J.K. 
 and the Versions ; c/cSvcra/xevot, 
 Griesbach, with D^. F. G. and 
 the Fathers. But the latter is 
 probably a correction to avoid 
 the apparent contradiction be- 
 tween iv8v(rdix€voi and yv/xvoL, 
 
 The sense would be much the 
 same whichever reading were 
 preferred. If iKhvcdfLevoL^ it 
 would be ' in the hope that, after 
 laying aside our present garment, 
 we shall not be left naked.' If 
 ivSva-d/xevoL, ' in the hope that, 
 after having put on our heavenly 
 .garment, we shall be found, not 
 naked, but clothed.' evSvo-a/xevot 
 would be used instead of iirevSv- 
 crdfjL€voL, because he is here con- 
 trasting, not one state of clothing 
 with another, but simply a state 
 of clothing with a state of naked- 
 ness ; because he is thinking, not, 
 as in verse 2, of the survival, but 
 of the possible extinction of his 
 present body by the assumption 
 of the heavenly body. The ex- 
 pression ' naked ' (yvfxvoi) natu- 
 rally follows from the metaphor 
 of the whole passage. But there 
 is a peculiar propriety in it, sug- 
 gested by the use of the figure in 
 Greek writers for disembodied 
 spirit. (See Wetstein.) And in 
 
 later times of the Christian 
 Church, naked figures, both in 
 painting and poetry, are (perhaps 
 from this passage) the usual re- 
 presentation of souls in purgatory. 
 Compare the story in Herodotus, 
 V. 92, of the Corinthian queen, 
 who appeared to her husband 
 after death, intreating him to 
 bum dresses for her as a cover- 
 ing for her disembodied spirit; 
 and also the practice of offering 
 garments on the tombs of the 
 Plateean heroes. (Thucyd. iii. 
 58, and Arnold's notes.) The 
 figure of a vestment for the soul 
 was often used by the Rabbis, 
 but in the sense of the (moral) 
 image of God. See Schottgen, 
 Hor. Heb. ad lac. 
 
 It is clear from 1 Cor. xv. 35- 
 54; IThess. iv. 13-17, 
 that from the strong ad- cSe!i"' 
 ditional impulse given but clothed 
 by the first Apostolic ^ ^' 
 preaching to the belief in a future 
 state, and from the near expec- 
 tation of the end of the world, 
 there rose in the minds of the 
 early Church various diflBculties 
 about the manner in which the 
 great change would take place. 
 One apprehension was, lest those 
 only who were alive at that day 
 would share in its glory (1 Thess. 
 iv. 13). Another, that the actual 
 body would have to pass into the 
 unseen world (1 Cor. xv. 35). A 
 third, a fear lest in the transition 
 all connexion with the present 
 life would be lost. It is this 
 which comes across the Apostle 
 here. Intense as was his yearn- 
 
416 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 5-10. 
 
 ^i(f> w ov Oikofiev iKBvoracrOaL, aW iTrevhycrao-Oai, Iva 
 KaraTTodrj to Optjtov vtto Trj<; ^oirjs. ^6 he Karepyacrdfiei'o^ 
 7jfxa<; €19 avTO tovto 6e6<;^ 6 Sous T^fiiv top appa/Scova tov 
 
 • iireiSi) for 6^' ^. 
 
 tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, 
 but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ^Now He 
 that wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who gave unto us the 
 
 ing to be delivered from his bur- 
 den of the worn-out perishing 
 frame, and to be at home with 
 Christ in a new and heavenly 
 mansion, yet he still clung to the 
 past and present, as the links to 
 connect him with the future. 
 And in this case, the feeling 
 would be increased by the belief 
 that from the near approach of 
 the coming of Christ he might 
 even hope to escape death alto- 
 gether, not losing his bodily ex- 
 istence, but findingit transfigured 
 into something higher. There is 
 the same conflict of feeling in 
 Phil. i. 21, 22, 23, 24, ' to me to 
 live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
 . . . what I shall choose I wot not 
 . . . for I am in a strait betwixt 
 two, having a desire to depart, and 
 to be with Christ ; which is far 
 better : nevertheless to abide in 
 the flesh is more needful for you.' 
 Therefore, after having described 
 his desire for the new habitation, 
 the curtains of the new taber- 
 nacle, in which to envelope him- 
 self, he adds : ' I desire this, in 
 the fond, the confident, hope, that 
 when the time comes, as come it 
 will, for this change of earthly 
 for heavenly garments, I shall 
 not be left a naked disembodied 
 spirit ; for the groans which I 
 utter in the tabernacle of the 
 body are uttered, not so much 
 because of the oppression of this 
 outward frame (^apov/i-cvot), not 
 no much from a wish to be en- 
 
 tirely freed from the mortal part 
 of our nature, as from the hope 
 that it will be absorbed into a 
 better life.' 
 
 c0' (S, ' because,' as in Rom. v. 
 12. 
 
 KaraTToOrj. So 1 Cor. xv. 54, 
 ' Death swallowed up.' Proba- 
 bly he refers to the same passage, 
 Isa. xxv. 8. 
 
 5 He concludes his argument 
 by referring the great change to 
 God, according to the frequent 
 practice by which he runs all 
 things up to their Highest 
 Source. Compare i. 21 (where 
 the expressions are nearly the 
 same as here) ; iv. 6 ; also 1 Cor, 
 iii. 23, and xv. 28. 
 
 Karcpyaaa/tcvos, ' worJced us 
 up.^ The word always expresses 
 an elaborate effort as if against 
 diflBculties. 
 
 eis avTo TOVTO, i.e. * for the 
 change from mortal to immor- 
 tal.' 
 
 For appaf3(t)v see i. 22. Com- 
 pare Rom. viii. 11, ' He . . . shall 
 also quicken your mortal bodies 
 by His spirit that dwelleth in 
 you.' 
 
 6 The following verses (6- 
 10) are intermediate, but in 
 this and the succeeding section, 
 6-8 being the conclusion of the 
 thoughts contained in v. 1-5, as 
 9, 10 form the prelude to what 
 follows in 11-14. 
 
 Oappovvres . . . Oappov/xev is an 
 anacoluthon. The image is still 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPOETS. 
 
 417 
 
 TTvevfJiaTO^. ^ Oappovvre^ ovv TravTore, koI etSore? on ivhrj- 
 p^ovvre^ iv tco crcofiaTL iKSrjjJLOviJiev airo tov KVpiov ' Sta 
 7rL(TTea)<; yap TrepLTraTovfjiev, ov 8ta etSovs, ^ Oappovjxei' Se 
 Kol evSoKovfJiei' jxaXXov iKSrjfJLrjcraL e/c tov crcofjLaTO<; koI 
 ipSrjfJLrjcraL TTpo^ tov Kvpiov ^^lo koI (fyLXoTLfxovfJLeOa, etre 
 eVST^/Aowre? etre iKSrjfiovvTe^^ evapeorToi auro) elvac. ^"--^ 
 
 TOV^ 
 
 earnest of the Spirit. ^Therefore we are always bold, and know that 
 whilst we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord : "^ for we 
 walk by faith, not by sight, ^ but we are bold and are pleased rather to 
 be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord. ^Wherefore 
 we are eager, whether at home or abroad, to be acceptable to Him. 
 ^^For we must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ ; 
 
 of a habitation (cvSry/xeti/ and 
 iKBrjfxuv, ' to be at home ' and 
 ' abroad '), passing into that of 
 a country, as in Phil. iii. 20, 
 Tjfxdv yap TO TToXtrevfia iv ovpavots. 
 Heb. xi. 13, ^evot koL TrapcTTLSrjfLOL 
 €7rt Tr]<s yrjs. 
 
 7 8ta, as in ii. 4, * in a state 
 of.' 
 
 cTSo?, 'ontward sight,' nearly 
 as in Luke iii. 22, o-aj/xaTtKu) ctSet. 
 
 TTcptTrarov/xev, ' pass our lif^»,' 
 ' vei'sari,^ though possibly the 
 original metaphor of walking, is 
 brought out to continue the idea 
 of travelling conveyed in ckSt;- 
 /uctj/, ' our pilgrimage or journey 
 i> on trust, and not because we 
 see our home.' 
 
 8 7rpo9 TOV Kvpuov. Compare 
 Trpbs TOV OeoVj John i. 1. It im- 
 plies close union. 
 
 9 Here a new idea is intro- 
 duced, to be afterwards more 
 fully developed ; not merely that 
 of encouragement under his 
 troubles, but of incitement to his 
 duties. 
 
 (^iKoTiiJiua-OaL is ' to place one's 
 honour in getting an object per- 
 formed.' So in Rom. xv. 20; 
 1 Thess. iv. 11. 
 
 For the phrase * whether at 
 home or abroad* (i.e. ' in the 
 body or out of the body, alive or 
 
 dead, at Christ's coming '), com- 
 pare Rom. xiv. 8 ; Phil. i. 20 ; 
 1 Thess. V. 10. 
 
 lo Tov<i yap TrdvTas, ' I am 
 anxious to be well pleasing to 
 Him ; for I as well as all of you 
 shall have my secret thoughts 
 made known.' For <f>av€p(t}Orjvai, 
 see note on following verse. 
 
 KOfxta-qTat, ' reap the fruits of.' 
 
 TO, SiOL TOV Sio/Aaros properly 
 ' through the means of the 
 body ; ' but probably with less 
 precision here than in the clas- 
 sical usage. It connects this 
 with 6K TOV a-wfiaTos in verse 8. 
 The Vulgate reads ^roiiria, i.e. 
 tSta for 8ta. 
 
 7rpo9, ' in consideration of.' 
 
 etre KaKov. Tischendorf (with 
 C. and some of the Fathers) sub- 
 stitutes <j>avXov for KaKov B. (e 
 sil.) D. E. F. G. J. K. 
 
 The chief characteristic of tho 
 judgment here brought out, is 
 that of the complete revelation of 
 the deeds of man, as in 1 Cor. iv. 
 1-6. Comp. Rev. xx. 12, ' the 
 hoohs were opened.' 
 
 The image of Christ on the 
 judgment seat, is the same as 
 that in Rom. xiv. 10 (where, 
 however, in the best ,^^^ .^^„_ 
 
 MSS. it is ' the seat of ment seat 
 
 God ') ; and the expres- °^ ^^^'^* ' 
 E 
 
 ^/ 
 
418 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 10. 
 
 yap TTOLvra^ i^/xa? (j)avepa)6rjvaL SeT ifXTrpocrOeu rov ^riixaTo<; 
 Tov ^picTTOv, Iva K0jXLO"r)TaL eKacFTO^ TO, Sia tov cw/Aaro?, 
 7rpo9 a eirpa^ev^ eire ayaOov etre KaKov. 
 
 that each one may receive the things done in his body, according to that 
 he did, whether good or bad. 
 
 sion is peculiar to these two 
 passages, being taken from the 
 tribunal of the Roman magistrate 
 as the most august representa- 
 tion of justice which the world 
 then exhibited. The ' Bema ' 
 was a lofty seat, raised on an 
 elevated platform, nsnallj at the 
 end of the Basilica, so that, the 
 figure of the judge must have 
 been seen towering above the 
 crowd which thronged the long 
 nave of the building. So sacred 
 and solemn did this seat and its 
 platform 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 /8^/xa (or 
 tribunal) was transferred to the 
 
 chair of the bishop ; and this 
 chair occupied in the apse the 
 place of the judgment seat of the 
 praetor. In classical Greek, the 
 word prjiJia was applied (not to 
 the judgment seat, which did not 
 exist in Grecian states, but) to 
 the stone pulpit of the orator. 
 In the LXX. it is used twice for 
 a 'pulpit,' N'eh. viii. 4; 2 Mace. 
 xiii. 26 : elsewhere, as in Acts 
 
 vii. 5, for 
 
 In the N. 
 
 T. (with the exception of Acts 
 vii. 5) it is always used for a 
 ' judgment seat.' 
 
 The more usual figure for The 
 Judgment is a ^throne' (Opovoq). 
 Compare Matt. xxv. 31, ' He 
 shall sit on the throne of His 
 glory; ' Rev. xx. 11, a great 
 white throne ; ' Dan. vii. 9, ' His 
 throne was like a fiery flame.' 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. IV. 7 — V. 10. 
 
 JSuch is the mission which I have received, so important, and so 
 open and iinreserved ; and, as God in His mercy has entrusted 
 we icith it, I cannot faint or groio weary under it. I cannot 
 faint, though there is m^ich reason why I should. In order 
 to show that this extraordinary work is Divine and not 
 human, I am encompassed with all outward infirmity, which 
 thus becomes a proof, not of my weakness, hut of God's power. 
 My worn-out fragile frame is like an earthenware vessel 
 enclosing some costly treasure. Whichever way I turn, I am 
 pressed by difficulties ; but a passage of escape opens before 
 me. I am bewildered in my course, but I find my way again. 
 
HIS DIFFICULTIES AND SUPPORTS. 419 
 
 / am pursued hy the enemy, hut not left behind as a prey to his 
 attacks. I am trampled under foot, hut not to death. I carry 
 luith me, at every moment of my course, the marks of pallor 
 and torpor and lifelessness as from the corpse of the Lord 
 Jesus ; hut it is only that I may show forth more clearly the 
 same ' life in death ' that He showed in rising from the grave ; 
 for my whole life, from heginning to end, is perpetually given 
 up to death for the sake of Jesus, in order that in this per ish^ 
 able framework of corruption the living power of Jesus may 
 be shown. Death works his will in me, whilst life ivorks her 
 loill in you; you are safe, because I am in peril; you live, 
 because I die. But in spite of this contrast between my death 
 and your life, I am sustained by the faith which is described 
 in the Psalm. ' I believe,^ I have faith in the unseen ISaviour, 
 ' and therefore I speak ' the message of the Gospel, with the 
 full confidence that, however different our positions n.ow, the 
 time will come when the resurrection of the Lord Jesus will 
 extend to me as well as to you ; when you will receive the best 
 proof that all which is done by and for me is done by and for 
 you ; when the gift of life given to me through your united 
 prayers will call forth a still fuller burst of thankfulness 
 from you to the glory of God. With this confidence, as I said 
 before, ' I cannot faint ;^ there is a nature, a being, a man, in 
 my outward frame, which is gradually decaying ; but there is 
 another being in my inner self, which is day hy day restored: 
 there is a pressure of affliction; but it is overbalanced a 
 hundred thousand fold by the heavy weight of glory, tvhich 
 lasts, not like the affliction for a short passing moment, but 
 for an immeasurable future ; for I fix my view, not on what 
 is visible, hut on what is invisible, knowing that the visible 
 is temporary, the invisible belongs to the ages of God. The 
 habitation in which I now dwell on the earth, is like the tent 
 which I travel with, or which I made with my own hands ; 
 like the tent, to which the human body is so often compared, 
 it may he taken down and destroyed : hut there is another 
 habitation, a solid building, whose builder and maker is God, 
 made by no art of hands, like the tent of human tentmakers, 
 but belonging to the ages of God, awaiting me in the regions 
 of heaven. In this my present tent I groan under the heavy 
 weight of the longing desire for that new habitation which will 
 envelop me within its curtains from above. Not that I wish 
 to leave this present life with its vesture of human affections 
 
 E £ 2 
 
420 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 and thoughts; hut I fondlj/ trust, that this old vesture will 
 receive a new vesture over it, that this mortal frame will only 
 cease hy heing swallowed up in a higher life. And the ground 
 for my trust is, that He who has fashioned and worked out 
 my existence for this termination, is no less than God Himself, 
 rcho has given a clear pledge of the future, by that earnest of 
 the life-giving Spirit of tvhich I before spoke. 
 
 With this confidence, therefore, and feeling that our ichole 
 journey through life is sustained by trust in what we do not 
 see, not by the presence of what ice do see, I am tvell pleased 
 to think that the time is coming when this banishment from 
 my true heavenly home will be ended, and when I shall be with 
 the Lord at home for ever. 
 
 And the thought of this future home, not only gives me 
 confidence, but impresses upon me my awful duty. For the 
 time is coming tvhen I, ivith all of you, must be made com- 
 pletely known before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that 
 each may receive the reward of the acts done in the earthly 
 habitation, and through the instruments of the body. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S PEOSPECT OF DEATH. 421 
 
 The Apostle's Prospect of Death. 
 
 This passage stands alone in the insight which it gives us into 
 the Apostle's feelings, under the sense of approaching decay 
 and dissolution. The burst of triumphant exultation over the 
 power of death, in Rom. viii. 30-39 and 1 Cor. xv. 51-58, is 
 more an expression of the sense of God's love through Christ 
 than of any personal expectation for himself. The description 
 of the coming of the Lord, in 1 Thess. iv. 15-19, is for the 
 comfort of his readers, not of himself. The two passages 
 which most bear comparison with this — 2 Tim. iv. 6-8 ; Phil, 
 i. 20-24 — whilst expressing the Apostle's personal feelings 
 respecting his end, represent his calm expectation of an event 
 brought on by external circumstances, as a soldier on the eve 
 of battle, rather than his contemplation of death in itself as 
 the natural termination of the exhausted powers of nature. It 
 is this last view which in this section is brought before us. 
 Whatever may have been the precise nature of the deep de- 
 pression which marks the opening of this passage, it is evident 
 that all the mournful feelings which crowd upon the mind 
 under the pressure of anxiety, of sickness, of hardship, were 
 now heavy on the Apostle's heart. He is ^ in the valley of 
 the shadow of death.' He had been ' pressed out of measure, 
 above strength, insomuch that he despaired even of life : ' he 
 'had the sentence of death in himself: ' he had been just 
 ' delivered from a great ^ death : ' he had ' no rest in his ^spirit : ' 
 he felt that he was a ' fragile earthen ^ vessel : ' he was like a 
 soldier in battle, ' pressed into a corner,' ' bewildered,' ' pur- 
 sued,' ' trampled ^ down : ' he was ' a living corpse,' always 
 * delivered up to ^ death,' his ' outward man ^perishing,' the 
 ^ earthly house of his tabernacle ' might at any moment 'be 
 ^destroyed.' Two feelings emerge from this ' horror 
 of great darkness.' First : It is instructive to observe shrinking 
 the Apostle's shrinking from the disembodied state ^^^m 
 beyond the grave, and his natural sympathy with 
 
 ^ i. 8, 9, 10. 
 2 ii. 13. 
 ^ iv. 7. 
 * iv. 8, 9. 
 
 5 iv. 11. 
 
 6 iv. 16. 
 ' v. 1. 
 
422 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 the awe with which many good men have regarded the ad- 
 vance and process of death. There is no Platonic doctrine 
 of a vague and impalpable immortality ; no Stoic affectation of 
 rising above the ordinary feelings of humanity. It is (on a 
 lower scale) the same picture which is presented to us in the 
 agony of Gethsemane, ' Father, if it be possible, let this cup 
 pass from me.' It is the Christian and Apostolical expression 
 of the feeling described in the well-known lines of Gray — 
 
 For who, to dull forgetf ulness a prey, 
 
 This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned ? 
 
 Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
 Nor cast one longing lingering look behind ? 
 
 And, secondly, there is the confidence that he will pass into a 
 2. His higher state, in which, amidst whatever changes, his 
 trust in personal being will be continued. His moral state 
 tinuity "of will not be taken from him, but will be transfused 
 existence, into something higher. What he has done in the 
 passage through this life will be revealed for retribution of 
 good or evil before the judgment seat of Christ. This is the 
 hope which at once sustains and warns him. There is a world 
 around him which he does not see, but which he believes to 
 exist ; a habitation, a vesture awaiting him in heavenly regions ; 
 a home with the Lord, where he wiU arrive when his journey 
 is ended. And, finally, there is a judgment seat, where he will 
 be rewarded or punished. The thought of the Judgment seat 
 blends with the thought of home, as in the Psalms the rock on 
 which the spirit of the Psalmist reposes is not so much the 
 mercy as the justice of God. Even in these moments of 
 earnest longing for rest, Christ is still, not only the Friend, 
 but the true and faithful Judge, at whose hands the Apostle is 
 content to receive that which is his due. 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 423 
 
 St. Paul's Motive for his Service. 
 Chap. V. 11— VI. 10. 
 
 11 
 
 EtSdres ovp tov (f>6^op tov Kvpiov av0p(o7rov<; Treido- 
 fieVf deS 8e TTecftavepojfjieOa' iXTTL^co 8e kol iu rat? c^u^'€tSrf- 
 crecTLV viJLOJv TTecfyavepoJcrdai. ^^ou '^ttolKiv eavTOv^ avvi- 
 
 ' Add yap. 
 
 " Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men, but we 
 have been made manifest unto God ; and I trust also to have been made 
 manifest in your consciences. ^- We commend not ourselves again unto 
 
 II The Apostle, in the pre- 
 ceding verses, after describing 
 the support which in his troubles 
 he received from the prospect of 
 a better life hereafter, was car- 
 ried on to speak of the energy 
 which this prospect imparted to 
 his labours (verse 9). In order 
 to reach that home for which 
 he longed, he, with all the rest 
 of the world, must pass before 
 the judgment seat, where every 
 thought would be disclosed to 
 Christ Himself (verse 10). And 
 now the thought of that hour 
 brings before him the insinua- 
 tions of concealment and dis- 
 honesty, which he had before 
 answered (iii. 1-iv. 6), and he 
 once more protests the sincerity 
 of his conduct (11-13), appeal- 
 ing, first, to the overwhelming 
 motive which impelled him (14- 
 21) ; secondly, to his own self- 
 denying conduct (vi. 1-10). It 
 is the climax of the first part of 
 the Epistle. 
 
 6l8oT€S OVV TOV (fio/SoV TOV KVptOV, 
 
 ' knowing that there is this fear- 
 ful aspect of the Lord, I proceed 
 on my task of winning over men ; 
 but whilst I do so, it is to God 
 that my thoughts are manifested, 
 
 as clearly now as they will be at 
 the judgment, and as I trust 
 they are manifested clearly before 
 your several consciences ' (o-vj/ct- 
 Srjo-ecnv). For the phrase dvOpu)- 
 TTOvs ireiOofiev comp. Acts xii. 20, 
 Gal. i. 10, where it is used in a 
 bad sense, which illustrates its 
 use here, ' I am devoted, as they 
 say, to making friends of «ie?A,' 
 and hencG the immediate anti- 
 thesis, ' No : it is not man, but 
 God, whose approbation I seek.' 
 In classical Greek the addition 
 of /AeV would have cleared up the 
 obscurity. 
 
 TTCcfiavepMfxeOa refers to <;^ave/oa)- 
 Orjvai in verse 10. Observe tho 
 tense, ' Our manifestation to God 
 has already taken place.' For its 
 connexion with the words avvec- 
 ^r;crts and (xvvi(TTdvop,€v compare 
 iv. 2 : Trj (f>avepu)(T€L Trj<; aXfjOeia^ 
 crvvLO-TavTes cavrous 7rpb<s iraa-av 
 (rvvei^-qcnv dv^pwTrwi/ cvcottiov tov 
 Oiov. For the general sense see 
 1 Cor. iv. 5. 
 
 12 The mention of their 
 doubting his sincerity recalls 
 what he had already said in iii. 
 1, iv. 2, about the commendatory 
 letters, — the charge that, instead 
 of bringing commendations from 
 
424 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 13—15. 
 
 (rrdvofxei' vfjuv^ aXka d(f)opfJir)v SlS6vt€s v[juv Kav)(ijfxaTO<; 
 vnep Tjixcjv, lvcl ^X^te 77/309 rov^ eV TrpocrcoTTCp Kav)(Oj- 
 fiei^ovs KOL ^ fJLT) iv KapSia. ^^etre yap i^ecrrrjixev, Oeo)' 
 eire aa)(j)povovix€Vy vplv. ^^tj yap dyaTrrj tov -^larov 
 
 * KOi ov Kapdia. 
 
 you, but give you occasion of boasting on our behalf, that ye may have 
 somewhat to answer those who boast in face, and not in heart. For 
 ^^ whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : whether we be sober, it is 
 to you. ^^ For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judged. 
 
 others, he was always commend- 
 ing himself. ' My object is not 
 to commend myself, bnt to give 
 you an opportunity of boasting 
 in my behalf against my oppo- 
 nents.' He assumes, with some- 
 thing of an ironical tone, that all 
 that they wished was to vindi- 
 cate him. (After c^'^Te, supply 
 KavxrjfJ-oi-) This is the most ex- 
 plicit mention of his opponents 
 in this part of the Epistle, and 
 is to be compared with the more 
 open attacks of x. 2, 7, xi. 18, 
 ' They pride themselves not on 
 any deep sympathy such as lies 
 ut the bottom of my heart for 
 you (iii. 2, iv. 5, vi. 11), but on 
 their outward pretensions, their 
 dignified appearance, as con- 
 trasted with my weak presence 
 Xx. 10), their Jewish descent 
 (xi. 22), their commenda-tory 
 letters (iii. 1).* 
 
 13 It is impossible to deter- 
 mine precisely the allusions in 
 i^€(TT7]/ji€v ('we are mad,' corap. 
 Mark iii. 21) and a-w^f^povdv/xev 
 (' we are of sound mind,' comp. 
 Acts xxvi. 25). The 'madness ' 
 may allude, either to the extra- 
 vagant freedom, as it was 
 thought, with which he spoke 
 of his own claims (see xi. 1, 16, 
 17, where he himself calls it by 
 the name of 'folly'), or more 
 generally to the enthusiasm 
 which led Festus to call him mad 
 
 (Acts xxvi. 24). The ' sound- 
 ness of mind,' which also was 
 misunderstood, may have been 
 the accommodation to all men (1 
 Cor. ix. 20), which led to the 
 insinuation of worldly wisdom 
 (2 Cor. xii. 16 ; 1 Cor. ix. 18, 
 19). In either case, it was not 
 himself that he wished to serve. 
 His seeming enthusiasm came 
 from devotion to God ; his seem- 
 ing worldliness, from devotion to 
 man. 
 
 14 ^7 yap dyoLTrrj rov ^qjlcttov 
 (rvv^xet •i7/xa9, ' the love 'which 
 Christ has shown is what holds, 
 presses, urges me forward.' That 
 this is the meaning of ' the love 
 of Christ ' appears from the fol- 
 lowing context. Compare E,om. 
 V. 5, 'the love of God,' and 
 Rom. viii. 35, ' who shall sepa- 
 rate us from the love of Christ ? ' 
 where, as here, the context shows 
 that, though it may include the 
 love awakened in man to Christ, 
 it chiefly means the love of 
 Christ to man. 
 
 o-we;(ei is always used of some 
 
 strong outward pressure, as of a 
 
 crowd (Luke viii. 45), ,^ 
 
 „ ^ . , -1 • 1 Con- 
 
 or 01 anxiety and sick- strains,' 
 
 ness (Phil. i. 23 ; Luke '^''^'^^'• 
 
 iv. 38, viii. 37 ; Acts xxviii. 8). 
 
 15 KptVavra? tovto^ 'the love 
 which Christ has shown by that 
 great example of love in His 
 death, constrains us to forget 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 425 
 
 crvvi^ei T7jLta9, ^^ Kpivavra^ rovro, otl^ ew virep Trdvroiv 
 
 diretfavev apa ol iravTe^ aTriSavov 
 
 » et eTs. 
 
 ycai 
 
 VTrep 
 
 TTaVTCOV 
 
 that one died for all : then all died : ^^ and He died for all, that they who 
 live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to Him who died and 
 
 onr.«elves, and to devote ourselves 
 to God and to you ; because at 
 our conversion we came to this 
 decision, that He died, He alone 
 and once, for all.' That Christ's 
 death was the great proof of 
 His love, compare John xv. 13, 
 ' greater love hath no man than 
 this, that a man lay down his 
 life for his friends.' That 6 
 XptfTTos is the nominative case to 
 oiTriOavev, and cts vTrep tt/vtoov is 
 in apposition with it, seems prov- 
 ed by the consideration that else 
 6 ets would have been the more 
 natural expression, and also by 
 the parallel passage, 1 Pet. iii. 
 18, XptcTTos aira^ ircpl a/xaprtcov 
 rjfiu)V aTreOav€Vi St'Kato? virkp dSt- 
 K(Dv, where a-n-ai corresponds to 
 €LS, TTcpt dfxapT. rjfjuuiv to xnrep irav- 
 T(oj/, and the construction of St^ 
 
 KtttO? VTT. dStKCOV to €1? VT7. iraVTOiV. 
 
 d is omitted in B. C^. D. E. 
 F. J. K., some Fathers, and most 
 versions. It is retained in C^ 
 and some Fathers, and may pos- 
 sibly have been omitted, either 
 from offence at the hypothetical 
 character of the statement, or 
 from confusion with d<i. The 
 sense is the same in both read' 
 ings.^ 
 
 vTTcp iravTOiv has the same 
 'For all,' ambiguity as the Eng- 
 vTiep, a./Ti, lisli 'for,' 'm behalf 
 ""''**■ o/,' but the idea of ser- 
 
 vice and protection always pre- 
 dominates. Wherever, in speak- 
 ing of Christ's death, the idea of 
 substitution is intended, it is 
 under the figure of a ransom, in 
 
 which case it is expressed by 
 olvtL Matt. XX. 28 ; Mark x. 45. 
 Wherever the idea of * covering ' 
 or 'forgiving ' sins is intended, it 
 is under the figure of a sin offer- 
 ing, in which case the word used 
 is Trepl d/xa/>Tta5 or ajxiprLutv, as 
 in Rom. viii. 3 ; 1 Pet. iii. 18 ; 
 1 John ii. 2, iv. 10. The pre- 
 position TTCpt as thus used has 
 partly the sense of ' on account 
 of,' — but chiefly the sense of 
 ' covering,' — as if it were * He 
 threw his death ^^over^* or 
 " around " our sins.' 
 
 dpa oi Tra,VT^<s airiOavov. apa. 
 has in the New Testa- 'ihen ail- 
 ment the same force ^®^*' 
 as in classical Greek (where, 
 however, it has always the se- 
 cond, place in the sentence, never 
 as here the first), 'therefore,' 
 ipso facto, ' by the terms of the 
 argument.' 
 
 oi irdi/TC5. The article refers 
 back to virkp iravruiv. * All those 
 for whom he died.' 
 
 airiOavov may either be ' died ' 
 (as in E/Om. vi. 10, aTriOav^v 
 cc/>d7ra|), or ' are dead ' (as in 
 Col. iii. 3, aTre^dvere ydp, koX rj 
 
 ^(Ory, K.T.A,.). 
 
 The sense thus produced will 
 suit either of the two main in- 
 terpretations of this passage. 
 
 (1) af Christ died for all, 
 then it follows from this, that all 
 those for whom He died, would 
 also have died themselves [else 
 there would have been no neces- 
 sity for his dying for them].* 
 Compare Bom. v. 15, ' if by the 
 
426 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 16. 
 
 aneOavev^ Iva ol tjcovre^; fJLrjKeTL iavTois tjcxxjLV, dXXa rw 
 virep avTcov ajroOavovTi koX iyepOivTL. ^^axTTe rjiJiels oltTo 
 
 rose again for them. ^® Wherefore we henceforth know no one after the 
 
 ofTence of one many died (aTre- 
 Savov), much more the grace of 
 God and the free gift, by grace of 
 one man, Jesus Christ, abounded 
 to them all ; ' and 1 Cor. xv. 22, 
 ' as in Adam all die (aTroOvi^- 
 aKova-i), so in Christ shall all be 
 made alive.' This is the inter- 
 pretation adopted by all the 
 Fathers and Schoolmen. But 
 there are against it these diffi- 
 culties : (a) Although the words 
 will admit of such a conditional 
 sense of drriOavov (to which Gal. 
 ii. 21, apa ^iaT6<; Smpeav aTri6av€V, 
 is to a certain extent a parallel) ; 
 yet it is by a strain wlwch would 
 hardly have been used, unless 
 the context made it clear, (b) 
 Although there would thus be 
 an approximation to the mean- 
 ing of the Apostle's words else- 
 where, yet it would be by a pre- 
 cision of logical argument, which 
 is not in his manner. What he 
 elsewhere declares is, that the 
 universal death introduced into 
 the world by Adam's sin, is set 
 aside by the universal life intro- 
 duced into the world by Christ's 
 obedience. What he would here 
 declare, if this interpretation 
 were correct, would be, tliat the 
 universal effect of Christ's death 
 proved that all mankind were 
 before in a state of death ; a 
 position implying a degree of 
 speculation on the cause of 
 Christ's death which is foreign 
 to the New Testament, (c) It 
 would be an introduction of an 
 abstract proposition, without re- 
 gard to the context, which goes 
 on to speak, not of the deliver- 
 ance of man from the curse of 
 
 death, but of the change pro- 
 duced in the lives of those of 
 whom he speaks. A proposition 
 of the kind thus ascribed to the 
 Apostle, would labour under the 
 same unapostolical character as 
 the abstract statement of the 
 doctrine of the Trinity contained 
 in the spurious verse 1 John 
 V. 7. 
 
 (2) There remains, therefore, 
 the interpretation now almosfc 
 universally adopted : ' If Christ 
 died for all, then ifc follows that 
 all for whom He died died [to 
 sin, with Him].' It is borne out 
 by the words, and agrees both 
 with the Apostle's statements 
 elsewhere, and with the context. 
 It is the same in substance as in 
 Rom. vi. 1-14, which through- 
 out agrees with this passage in 
 representing the death of sin, 
 and of the old nature of man, 
 through and with Christ's death, 
 as the necessary prelude to the 
 newness of life, to which there, 
 as here, he is urging his hearers. 
 Compare also E/om. xiv. 7, ' no 
 man liveth to himself, and no 
 man dieth to himself. Whether 
 we live, we live unto the Lord, or 
 whether we die, we die unto the 
 Lord. . . . For, for this cause 
 Christ died, that He might be 
 Lord both of the dead and the 
 living.' Col. iii. 3, ' ye are dead 
 (aTreOdvcTe) , and your life is hid 
 with Christ in God.' 
 
 The omission of crvv avrio may 
 be accounted for by the close 
 connexion with the preceding, 
 implied in apa. The generalising 
 of the whole passage by ol ttolv- 
 T€s, may be compared to the si- 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 427 
 
 Tov vvv ovSeva olSafJiev Kara crdpKa* el ^ Kai iyvoJKafxeu 
 
 * €t Se Kai. 
 
 flesh : even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now know 
 
 ■milar expressions in 1 Cor. xv. 
 22. ^ 
 
 KOL vTrep Trdvruiv aTre^avcv, tva 
 .... iyepOevTi. This goes on to 
 state more expressly the object 
 of Christ's death, — 'that all 
 might live a new life.' ' He died 
 and rose thus, in order that for 
 the future all who are alive might 
 live to Him.' vrrkp avrwv must 
 be taken with both ; as in Rom. 
 iii. 25. There is the same 
 identification of the natural and 
 the spiritual life as in iv. 11, 12. 
 iyepOevTL is inserted with a 
 view to ^wo-tv, ' we live to Him 
 who is alive.' 
 
 The Apostle's mind is full of 
 two things : first, his own sin- 
 cerity, as contrasted with the in- 
 sincerity with which he was 
 charged by his opponents, and 
 the insincerity with which he 
 believed that they were justly 
 chargeable ; and, secondly, his 
 elevation above the local, per- 
 sonal, national grounds on which 
 they endeavoured to commend 
 themselves. Accordingly there 
 is the same union of self- vindi- 
 cation, and of the assertion of 
 the superiority of Christianity 
 to Judaism here as in iii. 1- 
 18 ; the point of superiority was 
 there the absence of mystery 
 and concealment ; here its free- 
 dom from local and visible re- 
 strictions. He was confident 
 in his sincerity ; because he 
 knew that the love of Christ 
 pressed him forward, and that 
 in Christ's death he and all had 
 died to their former sins, and 
 now lived only for Him who 
 
 now lived for them. But this 
 leads him on to the thought of 
 the immense chasm in all re- 
 spects which the death of Christ 
 and his own conversion had 
 made between his former and 
 his present life. The whole of 
 his past life was vanished far 
 away into the distance. And 
 first out of this feeling arises 
 the thought that all local and 
 personal ties, even with Christ 
 Himself, all local or human 
 grounds of authority and recom- 
 mendation, such as his oppo- 
 nents insisted upon, and for the 
 absence of which they taunted 
 him, had no longer any hold 
 upon him. 
 
 T7/>t€t9, ' tve, whatever my oppo- 
 nents may say or do.' 
 
 ctTTo TOV vvv, * from the present 
 time.' Compare the use of vvv 
 in vi. 2. 
 
 1 6 olSa/xeVj * we recognise.' 
 
 Kara (TapKa, ' by lineal or out- 
 ward claims.' Compare for the 
 use of the same expression with 
 regard to the same opponents, x. 
 3, xi. 18 ; Gal. vi. 12. 
 
 €t Kttt eyvw/ca/Acv, ' even though 
 I have known ; ' ' granting that 
 I have known.' 
 
 yiViiXTKOfiev, i.e. Kara (rdpKa, 
 ' henceforth we know Him no 
 longer [after the flesh].' 
 
 otSafxev and cyvwKa/ACV are 
 probably here, as in 1 ,^ 
 
 ^ .. ^ ... ' , 'Knowing 
 
 Cor. n. o, xni. 1, merely ctmstno 
 
 the variation of the S,Tflet^' 
 
 word without variation 
 
 of meaning, after the Apostle's 
 
 manner. 
 
 He must be here alluding to 
 
428 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 17. 18. 
 
 Kara (japKa ■vpicrrov^ 
 
 dXXa 
 
 VVU OVK€TL yiVOJCKOIJieV. 
 
 ata 
 
 we Him no more. "Therefore if any one be in Christ, he is a new 
 creature : the ancient things are passed away ; behold they are become 
 
 those who laid stress on their 
 having seen Christ in Palestine 
 (comp. note on 1 Cor. ix. 1), and 
 on their connexion with Him or 
 with ' the brothers of the Lord ' 
 by actual descent. (Comp. note 
 on 1 Cor. ix. 5.) And if so, they 
 were probably of the party ' of 
 Christ.^ (See notes on x. 7 ; 1 
 Cor. i. 12.) Bat the words imply 
 that something of this kind 
 might once have been his own 
 state of mind, not only in the 
 time before his conversion (which 
 he would have condemned more 
 strongly), but since. If so, it 
 is (like Phil. iii. 13-16) remark- 
 able as a confession of former 
 weakness or error, and of con- 
 scious progress in religious know- 
 ledge. 
 
 The feeling which he here 
 describes as that at which he 
 had permanently arrived, is of 
 importance in enabling us to 
 understand the almost total ab- 
 sence in the apostolic age of 
 local and personal recollections 
 in relation to our Lord's life 
 and death, (See Essay on the 
 Epistles and the Gospel History.) 
 
 17 Erom this thought of the 
 destruction of all local ties, he 
 passes into a wider sphere. Not 
 these feelings only, but all that 
 belongs to our former life passes 
 away, and a new creation rises 
 in its place ; and now he seems 
 to be thinking, not so much of 
 his relations to his converts, as of 
 their relations to God. In speak- 
 ing of the Corinthians before in 
 this Epistle, he had feared their 
 estrangement from him, and their 
 
 following his opponents ; but here, 
 for the first time, is any indica- 
 tion of their estrangement di- 
 rectly from God. Possibly he may 
 have been thinking of the defile- 
 ments of the Gentile Christians, 
 of which he afterwards speaks in 
 vi. 15-vii. 1. Possibly he may 
 have formed so strong an opinion 
 of the evil teaching of the false 
 teachers, as to consider the Co- 
 rinthians to be already in a state 
 of sin, from which they required 
 to be turned to God ; and hence 
 the point of transition from the 
 covert condemnation of those 
 teachers in verse 16, to the direct 
 mention of the sin here. For si- 
 milar expressions concerning the 
 effect of this teaching, compare 
 ii. 16, iv. 3, ' those that are lost ' 
 (apparently in allusion to such) ; 
 xi. 3, ' I fear lest as the serpent 
 tempted Eve, so your minds be 
 corrupted from the simplicity 
 which is in Christ ; ' Gal. iii. 4, 
 ' have ye suffered so much in 
 vain ? ' iv. 11, 'I fear lest I have 
 laboured in vain ; ' iv. 19, ' I am 
 in travail with you again ; ' and 
 V. 4, ' ye are fallen from grace.' 
 
 Whatever be the explanation, 
 the fact is clear that he here 
 speaks of the Corinthians as 
 having so fallen away (compare 
 especially verse 20, 'be ye re- 
 conciled to God ; ' and vi. 1, 'that 
 ye receive not the grace of God 
 in vain ') ; and his object is to 
 show that not only their former 
 life before conversion, but also 
 their recent sins have been for- 
 given, and that God in Christ is 
 still ready to receive them. Com- 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 429 
 
 TraprjkOev^ IZov yeyovev Kaivd.^ ^^ra 8e Trdvra e/c tov 
 
 * Add TO irdvTa. 
 new. ^^And all things are of God, who reconciled us to Himself through 
 
 pare, for similar expressions used 
 to Christians already converted, 
 1 John ii. 2, ' if any man sin, we 
 have " a comforter " with the Fa- 
 ther, Jesus Christ the Righteous : 
 and He is the propitiation for 
 our sins.' 
 
 Ci(TT€. The connexion may be 
 either immediately with the pre- 
 ceding, * if even with Christ we 
 have no previous bond, much 
 more are other previous bonds 
 removed ; ' or, with verse 15, 
 treating 16 as parenthetical, ' live 
 for Christ, and not for yourselves ; 
 and therefore remember that all 
 is new.' 
 
 * Whosoever is brought into 
 connexion with Christ, is a new 
 creation.' 
 
 €v ;)(pto-Ta), ' in Christ.' * Union 
 with Christ does not (as you urge) 
 maintain, it rather dissolves, for- 
 mer ties.' Compare x. 7. 
 
 Ktttv^ KTL(Ti<s, see Gal. vi. 15. It 
 was a common expression among 
 the Rabbis for a proselyte's con- 
 version. See Wetstein, ad loc. 
 . , . . TO. dovata. Either an- 
 
 ' Ancient . .'^ , o ,■, 
 
 things are cicnt customs, as 01 the 
 law ; or ancient habits, 
 as of sins. The use of 
 the word apxaLo<Sj instead of Tra- 
 Xacos, points rather to the former ; 
 it is the same as the difference in 
 English between 'ancient' and 
 * old.' 
 
 iSov. This transfers the reader 
 as into the sudden sight of a pic- 
 ture. ' The moment that a man 
 is a Christian, a new creation 
 rises up ; the ancient world passes 
 away as in the final dissolution 
 of all things, and behold ! a new 
 
 away. 
 
 scene is discovered ; the whole 
 world has in that instant be- 
 come new.' (For this use of 
 TrapcXOcLv, see Matt. xxiv. 35, 
 ' Heaven and earth shall pass 
 away;' and 2 Pet. iii. 10, 'the 
 heavens shall pass away.') For 
 the sense compare Isa. xliii. 18, 
 19 (LXX.), TO. apxa7a fxr/ (rvX- 
 \oytt,€crO€ ' iSov cyw ttoiw Katva, 
 and the imitation of it in Rev. 
 xxi. 4, 5, ' the former things are 
 passed away ' (to, Trpwra aTr^X- 
 Oov) ; ' and He that sat on the 
 throne said, " behold, I make aU 
 things new" ' (Kaivd) ; in which 
 passage of the Apocalypse the 
 idea of the change and regenera- 
 tion of the individual passes, as 
 here, into the idea of the end and 
 regeneration of the world, as in 
 the use of TraAtyyeveo-ta in Matt, 
 xix. 28. The Rec. Text with D^. 
 E. J. K. inserts, Lachmann with 
 B. C. BK F. (jt. omits, ra Travra 
 after Kouvd. If the insertion is 
 right, then the idea of the world's 
 regeneration is brought out more 
 strongly. If the omission, then, 
 though the idea is the same, the 
 introduction of it is more abrupt 
 — 'old things are passed away, 
 they are changed into new 
 things.' 
 
 18 TO, Travra is ' the new 
 world' spoken of in verse 17 : — 
 ' the new world, no less than the 
 ancient world, proceeds from 
 God ; from the love not only of 
 Christ, but of God.' 
 
 Here there is the same refer- 
 ence to God as the ultimate 
 author of all, which occurs so 
 frequently; e.g. v. 5, i. 21, iv. 
 
430 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. V. 19. 20. 
 
 Oeov Tov KaTaWd^avTOs T^ftag iavrS 8ia ^^lcttov koX 
 
 DITTOS riyiiv TTjV oiaKOviav 7179 /caraAAayT;?, ^^ws ort 
 
 ^€09 rjv iv ■)(pLO'Ta) Koa^xov KaraWdo'crcov kavrco, ixrj Xo- 
 
 • Add 'Irjcou. 
 
 Christ and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation, ^^in that God was in 
 Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to them their 
 
 6; 1 Cor. iii. 23, xv. 28, Hhat 
 God may he all in all J* 
 
 TOV KaTaXXa.^avTO<i t^/aSs eavrw 
 
 8ta xpto^Tov. This great change 
 
 in man's moral nature 
 
 Eeconciha- «. x j i, \.' 
 
 tion of man enectea by nis con- 
 to God. version to Christianity, 
 is expressed here, as in Rom. v. 
 19, 11; Eph. ii. 16; Col. i. 20, 
 21, by the words KaraAAao-o'w, Ka- 
 ToXkayrj^ aTroKaraXXdcrcro), trans- 
 lated 'reconcile,' 'reconciliation,' 
 ■with the exception of Rom. v. 11, 
 where it is rendered ' atonement.' 
 
 As in verses 16, 1 7, the Apo- 
 stle himself was the primary 
 subject of the argument, so he is 
 still. As it was especially true 
 of him, that in his conversion all 
 worldly bonds had been snapped 
 asunder (ver. 16), and all ancient 
 associations passed away (17), 
 so also of him it was especially 
 true that he felt that he liad 
 been reconciled to God through 
 Christ, and still more, that God 
 had entrusted him with the task 
 of making this reconciliation 
 known. 
 
 The more personal meaning of 
 r}/jLa.<s ('us'), in the first clause, 
 is fixed by the recurrence of 
 ^//.tv ('to us') in the second, 
 where it must signify the Apo- 
 stle. But already, in ' they 
 which are alive,' in verse 15, 
 and in the general form, 'if any 
 man be in Christ,' in 17, the 
 thought of others was included ; 
 he was beginning, here, as in 
 1 Cor. iv. 4, and Rom. vii. 7- 
 
 25, to 'transfer to himself in a 
 figure' what belonged to the 
 whole world, especially to the 
 Corinthian world which he was 
 addressing. 
 
 Accordingly he now advances 
 to unfold the general truth, with 
 the delivery of which he was en- 
 trusted as his especial ' task ' or 
 * mission,' and which, up to this 
 point, he had described as his 
 own peculiar possession. 
 
 For this sense of the word 
 SiaKovLa, compare iii. 9, y StaKovLa 
 T7]<s SLKaLO(rvvr]<s. 
 
 19 ws 0T6, ' seeing 
 pleonastic for ort, or a 
 mixture of the construc- 
 tion w? Oiov ovTos and 
 icTTL, as in xi. 21. 
 
 The absence of the 
 from ^€05 and Koa-jjios, and the 
 position of ^v, require the words 
 to be translated thus : ' There 
 was God in Christ [i.e. no less 
 than God] employed in reconcil- 
 ing [nothing less than] a whole 
 world to Himself.' As if he had 
 said, ' You might have thought 
 that in the death of Christ there 
 was nothing more than Christ, 
 nothing more than that single 
 event. Yes : there was more. 
 There was God, the Invisible, 
 Almighty, dwelling and working 
 in Christ. And the object of 
 that working was to reconcile a 
 world to Himself.' The ' world,' 
 like ' all ' in verse 15, means the 
 whole race of mankind, though 
 with a special reference to those 
 
 that ; ' 
 
 ' G-od in 
 
 Clirist.' 
 
 article 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 431 
 
 iv rjfJLLU Tov \6yov Trj^; KaTaXkayrjs. '^^virep ^lcttov ovv 
 trespasses, and committed unto us the word of reconciliation. '^^Tliere- 
 
 wlioni the Gospel has reached 
 and touched. Compare, for the 
 sense of the whole passage, Col. 
 i. 19, 20, ' it pleased God that in 
 Him should all fulness dwell . . . 
 and bj Him to reconcile all 
 things unto Himself.' Also 1 
 John ii. 2, ' not for our sins 
 only, but for the sins of the 
 vjhole world.^ 
 
 fxrj Aoyt^o/^evog . . . KaroAAay^^. 
 'and the proof of this reconcilia- 
 tion is, first, that He now for- 
 bears to charge the reconciled 
 'Notim- world with their of- 
 puting fences; secondly, that 
 
 trespasses.' tt i j xi. 
 
 He placed upon me the 
 responsibility of teaching the re- 
 conciliation.' fji-q gives the con- 
 nexion. 
 
 Compare Rom. iii. 25, * the re- 
 mission (or passing over, irdpea-iv) 
 of sins that are past, through the 
 forbearance of God ; ' also Rom. 
 iv. 8, ' blessed is the man to 
 whom the Lord imputeth (Xoyt- 
 a-rjTai) no sin ; ' and Col. ii. 13, 
 * forgiving our trespasses ' (ra 
 TrapaTTTw/AaTa) . 
 
 The action of forgiveness is 
 perpetual, and is therefore in the 
 present tense ; that of entrusting 
 the Apostle with the charge of 
 preaching, was once for all at his 
 conversion, and is therefore in 
 the past tense. 
 
 6€ixGvo<; iv rifuv, ' He placed in 
 my hands, in my mouth.' The 
 word is selected, as being that 
 which, though with a different 
 construction (Oia-Oat ci? rl or 
 Tim), is used for the bestowal 
 of gifts or offices in the Church, 
 1 Cor. xii. 28 ; 1 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 €v Tjiuv, here as in verse 18, 
 
 means, not the Apostles gene- 
 rally, but St. Paul himself. The 
 * word,' or ' message ' of recon- 
 ciliation (compare 6 Aoyo? rov 
 crravpov, in 1 Cor. i. 18) was es- 
 pecially ' the gospel ' or ' good 
 tidings' of Paul ; and as such 
 he here speaks of it. 
 
 20 vTrep xpf-f^TOv ovv Trpea-jSev- 
 ojxev. He now turns to the di- 
 rectly practical object which 
 had been brooding in his mind 
 since the 17th verse, the conver- 
 sion — the second conversion — 
 of the Corinthians themselves, 
 from the sin, whatever it might 
 be, which interrupted their re- 
 union with God. The * task ' 
 (verse 18) and * the word ' 
 (verse 19) which he had received 
 from God, found their natural 
 fulfilment in this field. He had 
 spoken before of Christ's love 
 urging him forward in their be- 
 half ; he now comes before them 
 as the representative of Christ 
 (7rpe(r/3€vofjL€v, . . . Sco/xeOa). 
 
 virip expresses that he is both 
 representing Christ, and . -p^^ 
 also serving Him. And Christ.' 
 so in the only other passage 
 where the same figure of an 
 ambassador is used, Eph. vi. 
 20, virkp ov Trpccr^evw, ' in 
 behalf of [not ' instead of '] 
 which Gospel I am an ambassa- 
 dor.' 
 
 But as in the previous verses 
 God had been spoken of as the 
 source of all that was done 
 through Christ, so here also He 
 is spoken of as the chief mover 
 and object of the Apostle's ad- 
 dress, 0)9 rov Oeov irapaKaXovvro's 
 hi rjixuiv, ' as though God Him- 
 
432 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. V. 2i— VI. 2. 
 
 TTpeapevojJLep^ w? tov Oeov TrapaKaXovvTO^ Sl tjixcov 
 SeofieOa vnep -)(pLcrTov, KaraWdyr^re tco Oeo). ^^top^ 
 fjLT) yvovra dfJiapTLav v-rrep rjfxojv apLapriav iiroirjcrev, Iva 
 
 * 't})v yap. 
 
 fore for Christ are we ambassadors, as though God were exhorting you 
 by us : we pray you for Christ, ' be ye reconciled to God.' ^'He made 
 Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we may become the righteous- 
 ness of God in Him. 
 
 self were heard entreating you 
 through my voice.' KaraXAayr/re 
 TO) ^€(3, ' my prayer in behalf of 
 Christ — what God says to you 
 through me — is this : Be recon- 
 ciled to God.' The use of the 
 imperative is most emphatic, as 
 though he uttered the very words 
 of the prayer which he addressed 
 to them from Christ, and which, 
 in all probability, they must have 
 heard from his lips when he was 
 with them. 
 
 2 1 TOV jjirj yvovra. This is the 
 reason for the prayer, whether 
 or not it be included in the ac- 
 tual words of it. 
 
 Observe the great abruptness 
 of this sentence ; yap (in D^ E. 
 J. K.) is a later correction, to 
 soften this. For the general 
 truth, see Rom. viii. 3, ' God 
 having sent His own Son in the 
 likeness of sinful flesh (capKos 
 a/^aprtas) , and for sin (rrepl ajxap- 
 Ttas), condemned sin in the flesh: 
 that the righteousness (ro SiKat- 
 w/Att) of the law might be ful- 
 filled in us, who live not after 
 the flesh, but after the spirit.' 
 Gal. iii. 13, ' Christ redeemed us 
 from the curse of the law, being 
 made (ycvojuevos) a curse for us.' 
 
 virip, ' in behalf of.' See note 
 on verse 15. 
 
 rjixCiv, r)fji€L<;, here, as in verses 
 18 and 20, is used primarily of 
 the Apostle himself, though with 
 a reference to the world at laro^e. 
 
 afxapria is here used in the 
 widest sense for * sin.' 'ciirist 
 ' He was enveloped, lost, i^ade sin.' 
 overwhelmed in sin, and its con- 
 sequences, so far as he could be 
 without Himself being sinful.' 
 This qualification is necessarily 
 involved in the preceding words, 
 Tov fxr] yvovra ajxapriav which 
 may be compared with Heb. vii, 
 26, ' separate from sinners ; ' 
 Heb. iv. 15, * without sin ; ' 
 1 Pet. ii. 22, ' who did no sin ; ' 
 and expresses the conviction of 
 the sinless excellence of Christ. 
 See Essay, pp. 444-446. For 
 the ixrj in rov firj yvovra see note 
 on iv. 18. 
 
 SiKaioa-vvT] Oeov. Here, as al- 
 ways, the object of Christ's suf- 
 ferings is the moral restoration 
 of man, — ' that man might, 
 in Christ, be united to God in 
 God's highest attribute of right- 
 eousness.' The phrase hKaioa-vvrj 
 Ocov, as in Rom. i. 17, iii. 21, 
 22, includes the sense of ' ac- 
 quittal.' 
 
 iv avrw, i.e. 'by union and 
 conformity with Christ.' 
 
 VI. I He urges (for some 
 reason unknown to us), with still 
 more vehemence, the appeal he 
 had made in verse 20 ; and now, 
 as in iv. 7, the mention of his great 
 mission recalls again to his mind 
 the sufferings and troubles which 
 he had undergone; and in the 
 climax of triumph which the 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 433 
 
 -^/xet? ^yevcofieOa SLKaioa-vur) deov ev olvtco. VL ^ crvvep- 
 yovvre^ §e /cat irapaKaXovixev firj et? Kevov ttjv yapiv tov 
 Oeov Se^acrOai v/^a? '^ (XiyeL yap Kaipco 8€kt(2 iTrrJKovcroi 
 
 • yivwfifda. 
 
 VI. ^ As His fellow- workers, then, we also exhort you that ye accept 
 not the grace of God in vain, ^(for He saith ' in a time accepted I heard 
 
 consciousness of his victory sug- 
 gests, he closes this long digres- 
 sion. The almost lyrical and 
 poetical character which belongs 
 to this burst of feeling, may be 
 fitly compared to Rom. viii. 31- 
 39 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 1-13, which 
 occupy, in a similar manner, the 
 central place in those Epistles. 
 
 trwepyowTCs, * as follow-work- 
 ers with God.* That ^ew (not 
 Xpto-Tw, or v/xiv) is to be supplied, 
 is certain : (1) By the parallel 
 of 1 Cor. iii. 9, crvvepyol tov Oeov^ 
 (2) because the act in which he 
 claims to be a fellow- worker, is 
 that of exhortation (jrapaKaXov- 
 /xev), which, in v. 20, had been 
 ascribed to God. 
 
 TrapaKaXovjxev, here, as in v. 
 20, and i. 3-6, has the triple 
 meaning of entreaty, exhortation, 
 and consolation ; and is here put 
 forward as the chief part of the 
 Apostle's function. 
 
 fxr} eis Kevov t^v X^P*'^ '^^^ O^ov 
 Seiaa-Oai v/xas, ' that you should 
 not receive the goodness of God 
 in your conversion to no pur- 
 pose.' Here, again, as in v. 20, 
 the sense is obscure, from our 
 ignorance of the especial danger 
 to which the Apostle alludes. 
 Tor the phrase ' in vain,' ct? 
 Kevov, compare Gal. iv. 31 {elK-fj), 
 in speaking of his converts ; and 
 Gal. ii. 2 ; Phil. ii. 16 ; 1 Thess. 
 iii. 5 (cts Kevov) of himself. See 
 also note on v. 17. 
 
 rrjv x^ptv TOV 6eov. * The favour 
 of God ' is often used as here, 
 
 simply for the * goodness ' of God 
 shown in the conversion of men 
 to Christianity ; and is thus used 
 as almost identical with tho 
 Christian faith. Compare Acta 
 xiii. 43, 'they persuaded them 
 to abide in the grace of God ; ' 
 Acts XX. 24, ' the Gospel of the 
 grace of God.' 
 
 2 The quotation is from Isaiah 
 xlix. 8 (LXX.). In the original 
 context God is speaking to the 
 Messiah, the servant of His 
 people ; and it is possible that 
 the Apostle preserves that sense, 
 and intends to express by the 
 citation the general fact that 
 God had received the work of 
 Christ, and that, therefore. He 
 would receive the Corinthians' 
 reconciliation. But the words 
 CTTT^KODo-a, i^orjOrjora, ' listened * 
 and ' helped,' describe so much 
 more exactly the relation of God 
 to the Church and to mankind, 
 than the relation of God to 
 Christ, that they had better be 
 so taken. The variation from 
 the original sense may in this 
 instance be justified by the iden- 
 tification of the Messiah and the 
 people, which runs through the 
 latter chapters of Isaiah. The 
 passage was apparently sug- 
 gested to the Apostle's memory 
 by the word Sckto?, as connected 
 with Se^acrOat : ' Let not your 
 receiving of the favour of God 
 be in vain, for the language of 
 God [6 Oe6<s is the nominative 
 case to Aeyet] in the Prophet is 
 F 
 
434 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 3—5. 
 
 crov, /cat iv rjixepa crcoTrjpias e^orjOrjcrd croi. Ihov vvv 
 Kaipo^ evTTpoaSeKTOs, iSov vvv rjfJiepa a(OTrjpLa<;),^ pnqhepiiav 
 iv pLTjSevl SiSovTes TrpocrKOTTijv^ iva jjutj ixcofirjOrj tj hiaKovta, 
 ^dXX' iv TTavTL ^ avvLO-ToivTes iavTovq wg deov SiaKOvoL, iv 
 
 (TVViaTWVTfS. 
 
 thee, and in a day of salvation I succoured thee. Behold now is a well- 
 accepted time, behold now is a day of salvation'), ^giving no offence in 
 anything, lest the ministry be blamed, ^ but in all things commending our- 
 
 true : " In a time which I receive 
 I heard thee," ' which is con- 
 firmed by the stress that he lays 
 on the w^ord, carrying it out and 
 amplifying it in his own com- 
 ment which follows : — ' God has 
 so spoken, and look ! the present 
 is the time which He so receives.' 
 ' You ought to receive Him, for 
 He h as received y ou. ' evTrpoaSeK- 
 To§ is a favourite word of the 
 Apostle ; and as such, and also 
 as being more emphatic, is sub- 
 stituted for the less familiar and 
 less expressive term of the LXX. 
 (Compare viii. 12 ; Rom. xv. 16, 
 31.) 
 
 vvv, * now,' may be either 
 generally 'now, in the Gospel 
 dispensation' (which is con- 
 firmed by ' the acceptable year,' 
 SeKTos evtavTo?, Luke iv. 19), or 
 rather in reference to the peculiar 
 need of his converts. ' Now, at 
 this present moment, is the time 
 for you to turn to God; waste 
 no time in doing so.' 
 
 3 The quotation from Isaiah, 
 with the Apostle's comment, had 
 been parenthetical ; and he now 
 enlarges on his efforts to fulfil 
 worthily his mission of exhorta- 
 tion to them, partly from the 
 mere outpouring of feeling over 
 the greatness of his work, partly 
 from the wish to hold up his 
 conduct as a model to his con- 
 verts. Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 18-17. 
 
 The participles StSovrcs, &c.. 
 
 join on directly to o-wepyowre?. 
 The use of /xrjSejxiav and fxrj^evL, 
 instead of ovhe^iav and ovSevt, 
 indicates the connexion. ' I ex- 
 hort you, itiasmuch as I give the 
 best proof of my earnestness, by 
 anxiety not through my means 
 to throw any obstacle in the 
 way of your receiving the mes- 
 
 Trpoa-KOTrrj, ' stumbling- block,' 
 used only in this place for what 
 is elsewhere expressed (1 Cor. 
 viii. 9 ; E/om. xiv. 13) by Trpoo-- 
 
 KO/X/Att. 
 
 fjno/xrjOrj, * I have reproach cast 
 upon it.' Compare the use of 
 the word (where only else it 
 occurs in the New Testament) in 
 viii. 20, possibly with reference 
 to his refusing maintenance. See 
 note on xi. 7. 
 
 •17 StttKovta, ' the task or survice 
 of reconciliation' (v. 19), 'of 
 righteousness ' (iii. 8, 9). 
 
 4 arvvia-TOLVTe^ eavrov^, ' com- 
 mending myself, not by com- 
 mendatory letters (see on iii. 1), 
 but as true servants and instru- 
 ments, not of man, bat of God, 
 would naturally commend them- 
 selves.' This is the sense of the 
 nominative Slolkovol : had it been 
 the accusative StaKovovs. then the 
 sense would be ' commending ' 
 or ' proving ourselves to be the 
 servants of God.' For the ex- 
 pression ScaKovoL, as applied to 
 himself, see 1 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 
 
 435 
 
 pLaLS, ^iv 7r\riya2<;, iv c^vXafcat?, iv d/caraoTacriat?, kv k6- 
 
 selves as ministers of God, in much endurance, in troubles, in necessities, 
 in distresses, ^in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in 
 
 Observe that here a-vvia-Tavrc'; 
 precedes cavrov?, whereas in iii. 
 1, V. 12, where the sense required 
 a stress to be laid on ' them- 
 selves,' cavTovs precedes o-vvt- 
 (rravo/xev. 
 
 4-10 The following enumera- 
 tion of the means whereby he 
 commended himself, may be di- 
 vided into four clauses, all am- 
 plifying Iv iravTL : (1) ev viroixovfj 
 .... v-qa-TuaL^. (2) Iv ayvorqTi 
 .... SvvdixiL Oeov. (3) Sta tcuv 
 ottXwv .... €v<f>y)/XLa<s. (4) ws 
 irXdvoL .... Travra Karc^oi/Te?. 
 
 (1) The first section is an ex- 
 pansion of iv vTTO/xovrj TToWrj, ' in ' 
 or ' by much endurance,' in 
 three triplets of evils, each grow- 
 ing out of the last word of the 
 other, (a) The first describes 
 his hardships generally, ' In 
 crushing afflictions (OXii(/€(rLv), 
 in pressure of difficulties (dvdy- 
 Kttts), in narrow straits ((rrevo;(o)- 
 ptais).' The prevailing idea is 
 of pressure and confinement : 
 each stage narrower than the 
 one before, so that no room is 
 left for movement or escape. 
 (^OXiif/L^ and o-Tevo^oipta are often 
 joined, iv. 8 ; Rom. ii. 9, viii. 
 35 ; OXiKf/L^ and dvdyKtj, 1 Thess. 
 iii. 7.) 
 
 (b) The idea of * narrow 
 straits ' (o-T€vo;)((i)ptats) suggests 
 the thought of actual persecu- 
 tions, of which he gives the three 
 to which he was most frequently 
 exposed — the ' scourgings ' from 
 Romans and Jews (for which see 
 xi. 23-25); the 'imprisonments' 
 (for which see xi. 23), which 
 followed upon the scourgings, as 
 
 in Acts xvi. 22, 23 ; the ' tumults 
 and disorders' to which he was 
 exposed, as in Asia Minor (Acts 
 xiii. 50, xiv. 19), Greece (xvi. 
 19, xviii. 12), Jerusalem (xxi. 
 30). So the word is used in xii. 
 20 ; 1 Cor. xiv. 33 ; Luke xxi. 
 9 ; James iii. 16. It is possible, 
 however (as most of these pas- 
 sages relate rather to inward 
 than outward disorder), that the 
 sense may be ' unsettlement of 
 life,' as in da-TaTov/xev, 1 Cor. iv. 
 11 ; and this would sait some- 
 what better with its position 
 here, as it was the banishments 
 which succeeded^ the disorders 
 which preceded, the imprison- 
 ments. 
 
 Whatever be the meaning 
 of ciKaTaoTaa-tais, he naturally 
 passes from troubles sustained 
 at the hands of others to volun- 
 tary or internal troubles. 
 
 ' The labour ' (kottoi?, as in 
 xi. 23, 27, X. 15) refers both to 
 his manual labour (1 Cor. iv. 12), 
 and also to the general toils and 
 anxieties (molestice) of his life; 
 the ' sleepless nights ' (dypv-rr- 
 vcafs) and ' hungerings ' (vrja- 
 retats), refer to the privations 
 imposed upon him, partly by his 
 wandering life, partly by his re- 
 fusal to receive support. See 
 note on xi. 27; 1 Cor, iv. 11. 
 
 (2) The second section enu- 
 merates the virtues which ac- 
 companied these outward hard- 
 ships. 
 
 They are arranged in two divi- 
 sions, not so much by the mean- 
 ing as by the form of the words ; 
 the first consisting of one, the 
 f2 
 
436 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 6—10. 
 
 7rot9, €J^ aypVTTPiaL^, ev vrjorreiai^, ^ev ayvorrjTL, ev yi^wcrei, 
 kv fjLaKpoOvfJLLa^ kv y^prjcnoTiqri, kv TTvevfJiaTL aytw, kv ayairrj 
 avvTTOKpiTO)^ ^ kv Xoyo) oXrjOeLa^^ kv hvvdixei 9eov, 8ta tcjv 
 
 watchings, in fastings, ^in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in 
 kindness, in the Holy Ghost, in love unfeigned, ^in the word of truth, 
 in the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand 
 
 latter of two words : as, for ex- 
 ample, ' love ' would naturally 
 have followed on ' kindness ; ' 
 but as he wished to accompany 
 it with 'the epithet ' unfeigned,' 
 he therefore puts it in the second 
 division ; and ' the Holy Spirit ' 
 would also, but for the same 
 reason, have properly stood at 
 the head of 'the whole section. 
 For a similar regard to the sound 
 rather than the sense of the 
 words he was bringing together, 
 compare Jlom. i. 30, 31. Each 
 word stands singly without any 
 apparent connexion, as it came 
 uppermost in his thoughts. 
 
 (a) ^yvorrj?, ' purity from sin' 
 generally, as in vii. 11. 
 
 yvwo-ts, ' knowledge ' or ' in- 
 tuition of Divine truth,' as in 
 1 Cor. xii. 8. 
 
 fxaKpoOvjxta, 'patience,' is joinp 
 ed with xPW'^'^V'^i ' kindness,' 
 as in Gal. v. 22 ; so in Eph. 
 iv. 2, fiera /xaKpoOv /xtag, av€xo- 
 jjievoL dXA.TyX(ov, and in Col. iii. 
 12, TrpavTTjTa, fxaKpoOvfjLtav. 
 
 (6) iv TrvevfjiaTi ayio), ' by the 
 Spirit of God shown in various 
 manifestations.' See 1. Cor. xii. 
 3. 
 
 iv ayaTTQ avviroKpLTio. The epi- 
 thet (compare Rom. xii. 9) has 
 determined the position of ayaTrrj 
 in the sentence, as well as tl^e 
 consideration that it comes here 
 with the ' Holy Spirit,' as the 
 climax of the moral qualities 
 which he enumerates. 
 
 The * word of truth ' (Xoyo) 
 
 dXr]OcLa<;) is the ' word of simple 
 unadulterated truth,' as in ii. 17, 
 iv. 2. The 'power of God' 
 (8w. Ocov) is the power visible 
 in miracles (as in 1 Cor. ii. 4). 
 
 (3) In the third section the 
 words are held together merely 
 by the word Sid, and by their 
 antithetical form ; 8ia in the case 
 of Blol Tix)v ottXiov expressing the 
 means by which he made his 
 way, Sid without the article, in 
 8ta 8o^9, &c. expressing the state 
 through which he had to make 
 his way. It is the same con- 
 fusion of the two senses of Sid, 
 as in 1 Pet. iii. 20 : ia-toOyja-av 
 OL v8aTO<s. 
 
 oia Twv ottXwv . . T(ov dpwTTcpajv, 
 ' by the arms of the Christian's 
 life of righteousness [the word 
 taken in its widest sense, as in 
 V. 21], both offensive and defen- 
 sive, with the sword or spear in 
 the right hand, and the shield in 
 the left.' This description of his 
 weapons arises out of the men- 
 tion of ' the power of God ' just 
 before. The idea had been al- 
 ready expressed in 1 Thess. v. 8, 
 and was afterwards more fully 
 developed in Eph. vi. 11, 12. 
 
 The words indicate (what we 
 learn also from 1 Cor. iv. 12, 
 
 XoiSopOVJULeVOL fiXa(Tcf>7JlilOVfJi€VOi) f 
 
 that these false imputations con- 
 stituted one of his severest trials. 
 
 (4) Hence the fourth section 
 expands the words ' through 
 evil report ' into a long list of 
 the contrasts between his alleged 
 and his real character, at once 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOE HIS SERVICE. 
 
 437 
 
 ottXojv Trj<; SiKaiocrvvr)^ tcjv Se^LOJV kol apicTTepcoVf ^8td 
 Bo^rjs Kol drtjLtta?, Bua Sucr</)7;/xia9 kol ev(j)7]fJiLa<;^ o)? 
 irkdvoL /cat akrjdel^^ ^ a)<s ayvoovyievoL kol eTnyiv(ii(TKOp.evoL^ 
 
 O)? OLTToOl^ljo-KOPTeS KOL ISoV ^W/Aei^, 0)S TTatSeVO/Xei^Ot KOL 
 
 fjLY) OavaTovfJbevoL, ^^cog XvirovfjievoL act 8e ^aipovre^^ w? 
 77X0)^01 TToXXous Sc TrXouTt^o^'res, ws jxTjSev i^ovTe<s kol 
 Trdvra KaT€)(OPTes. 
 
 and on the left, ^by glory and dishonour, by evil report and good report, 
 as deceivers and true, ^as unknown and well known, as dying and behold 
 we live, as chastened and not killed, ^°as sorrowful yet alway rejoicing, 
 as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and possessing all 
 things. 
 
 showing his difficulties and his 
 triumph. 
 
 7rAai/ot, ' deceivers.' That such 
 was alleged to be the Apostle's 
 character is clear from ii. 17, iv. 
 2, and also from the expressions 
 in the Clementines, Horn. ii. 17, 
 18, xi. 35, where St. Paul is ex- 
 pressly described as a deceiver 
 (7rAai/os), and sowing error 
 (irXdvqv) : see p. 352. 
 
 Kttt in classical Greek would 
 have been KaCroL or dAA' oyu,ws. 
 
 9 ayvoovjxevoL, * unknown,' i.e. 
 * obscure,' his real power not 
 recognised (as in x. 10) ; yet 
 amongst true believers recog- 
 nised fully (as in iii. 2). 
 
 ' Dying,' i.e. his enemies re- 
 presented him as on the point of 
 death, and so no more coming to 
 Corinth ; and yet, behold ! at 
 that very moment he is still full 
 of life and energy. Compare iv. 
 40. 
 
 TTtttSevo/Aevot, ' chastised,' per- 
 haps in allusion to the insinuation 
 
 that he was under God's wrath ; 
 but also under a sense that God 
 was thus training him for his 
 work : ws losing the sense of 
 ^ quasi* and acquiring that of 
 ' quippe.* The words seem to 
 refer to Ps. cxvii. (cxviii.) 18 : 
 TratSevoJV CTratScvo-c /a€ 6 Kvptos, 
 Kol ToJ Oavdrio ov irapeScoKc jxe. 
 Compare xii. 7-9 (the ' thorn in 
 the flesh '). 
 
 lo For the ' perpetual cheer- 
 fulness ' (act Sc >^atjpovT€s) see 
 Rom. V. 3, * we boast in out 
 afflictions ; ' and Philipp. iv. 4, 
 12. 
 
 The * poverty' alludes to the 
 taunts against him for not re- 
 ceiving a maintenance ; see note 
 on xi. 7; 1 Cor. xi. 1. The 
 'riches' may refer to the con- 
 tributions in viii. 9, but more 
 generally to spiritual things, as 
 in 1 Cor. iii. 22. 
 
 6X0VT69, simply 'having;' Ka- 
 T€xovT€^, ' having to the full : ' 
 see 1 Cor. vii. 29, 30. 
 
438 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. Y. 11 — VI. 10. 
 
 / liave spoken of the aivful time when every deed done in this 
 mortal frame will he disclosed before that great tribunal, of 
 u'hich the judgment seat of the highest earthly judge is a faint 
 figure. With this conviction, I try to win over and make 
 friends of men ; but it is from no human motives that I do so. 
 My motives are disclosed to God now, as they will be hereafter 
 at the judgment ; and they are disclosed to you aUo, if you 
 consult, each of you, his own innermost conscience. So I speak ; 
 for even you thought before that I was commending myself to 
 you, on my own authority. But this is not a self-commen- 
 dation. This complete disclosure of all my heart to you 
 enables you to vindicate me against those who rely on the testi- 
 mony, not of their own hearts, but of commendatory letters, of 
 lineal descent, of commanding presence. My disclosure before 
 God shows that, if I am carried beyond the verge of soberness, 
 it is in my zeal for Him ; my disclosure before you shows that, 
 if I restrain myself and act as if under the dictates of worldly 
 loisdom, it is in my regard for you. And the reason of this is, 
 that, if you read my heart, you will find that I am pressed 
 forward by one irresistible motive, the sense of the love which 
 Christ has shown to all the world. That love drives me to the 
 conclusion that if He, singly and alone, laid down His life in 
 behalf of all, then all for whom He so laid down His life have 
 forfeited all claim to their lives. The very object of His lay- 
 ing down His life in their behalf was, that all who live through 
 Him, all who are alive at all, should devote their lives to Him 
 ivho, whether in His death or in the life to which He was raised, 
 did all in their behalf. 
 
 A complete separation is thus made by the Christian faith 
 between the present and the past. Wliatever others may think, 
 or I myself may once have thought, I cannot now rely on any 
 outward or local association ; even with Christ Himself my 
 union now can never be, like that of my opponents, a lineal or 
 natural connexion, but only moral and spiritual. And this is 
 true, not only of myself, but of all. If any one has entered 
 into fellowship with Christ, a new ivorld has at once opened 
 upon him ; an old world has passed away, and he looks out as 
 
HIS MOTIVE FOR HIS SERVICE. 439 
 
 in the first beginning of creation, as in the days after the flood, 
 as in the final dissolution of all tilings, on a. new creation ; and 
 that new creation descends, not merely from Christ, hut from 
 God Himself to whom the whole reconciliation is due, of which 
 I am at once the chief example and the chief servant. For in 
 that single life and death of Christ, was contained no less than 
 a revelation of the Eternal God working out the reconciliation 
 of a whole world to Himself Therefore to them He forbears 
 to impute their offences ; to me He entrusted the utterance of 
 the message of reconciliation, and in the fulfilment of this trust 
 1 address this message to you, I come as an ambassador from 
 Christ. I come as the instrument through which God exhorts 
 you to come to Him ; and the ivords which I utter as from. 
 Him are, * Be reconciled to God.' The object for which He 
 made the Sinless One pass through the world of sin was, that 
 I, and you with me, might, through and with that Sinless One, 
 be drawn into the world of righteousness. In pursuance of this 
 exhortation, I add my efforts to the efforts of God, and exhort 
 you not to allow the goodness which He has shown to you to 
 pass away without effect. Receive Him ; for He, as we read 
 in the Prophet Isaiah, has received and heard and blessed you ; 
 and the time of this reception and salvation is this very present 
 moment. This mission, of which I am the instrument, must be 
 above all reproach : it must rest, not on commendations from 
 others, but on the commendations of my own deeds. It must be 
 commended by the endurance of calamities which press me 
 closer and closer in on every side, by flagellations, imprison^ 
 ments, wild uproars : by toils and sleepless nights and hunger : 
 by the moral force of pure character and deep knowledge, the 
 winning effects of patience and gentleness, the holiness of the 
 Spirit, and the reality of the Spirit's greatest gift Love : by 
 the preternatural power of miracles, and the simple utterance 
 of truth ; through the shield and sword of righteousness which 
 God has placed in my hands, through all the obstacles of mis- 
 understanding and suspicion, for in spite of my dishonesty I 
 am honest, in spite of my obscurity I am famous, in spite of 
 my death I live, in spite of chastisement I prosper, in spite of 
 sorrow I am cheerful, in spite of poverty I am rich, in spite of 
 destitution I am powerful. 
 
440 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 The Reconciliation of the World by Christ's Death. 
 
 As the previous Section of the Epistle has in all ages ministered 
 to the wants and feelings of individuals, so this Section has 
 ministered to the wants and feelings of the Church at large. 
 It contains one of the clearest statements in the Apostle's 
 writings of the effect of Christ's death. That effect is here 
 described to be The Reconciliation of Man to God. In later 
 times this has been expressed in various modes, some of which 
 have fallen below, some gone beyond, the Apostle's statement. 
 The best mode of exhibiting a subject so complicated and so 
 profound is, to confine ourselves to the Scriptural view, and 
 to observe the precise force and intention of the words as 
 originally Avritten. Their sense may be thus summed up : — 
 The world had been in a long estrangement from God ; His 
 dealings had awakened in the heart of mankind a sense of hos- 
 tility and offence. Suddenly a great manifestation of Divine 
 love was announced, which wherever the tidings were brought 
 awakened feelings never known before. These feelings resolved 
 themselves into two kinds : — The present was felt to be parted 
 from the past, by a separation so complete as to be compared 
 by the Apostle to a new creation.^ The whole world, not 
 Jewish only but Gentile, was called, after long absence, to 
 return to God.^ 
 
 The Jewish nation was by this one event delivered from 
 the yoke of the Levitical ritual. So, even in times of great 
 human sorrow or joy, the burdensome ceremonial of social life 
 is dissolved by a stronger and more universal sense of brother- 
 hood : ' If ye be dead ivith Christ from the rudiments of the 
 world, why . . . are ye subject to ordinances — " Touch not, 
 taste not, handle not?"' (Col. ii. 20,21.) The Jewish and 
 Gentile classes were reconciled to each other, by the sight of 
 His common love exhibited by Christ to both : ' He hath 
 broken down the middle wall of partition^ having abolished in 
 his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained 
 in ordinances ; for to make in himself of twain one new man, 
 so making peace, and that he might reconcile both unto God 
 
 1 V. 17. ^ V. 18, 10. 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF CHEIST'S DEATH. 441 
 
 in one body by the Cross, having slain the enmity thereby ' 
 (Eph. ii. 14-16). 
 
 And finally, the great mass of the Gentile world were 
 delivered by this Divine act of love from the slavery of the 
 sins of their age, and country, and long contaminations of 
 false morals and worship : * You that were sometimes alienated 
 and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He 
 reconciled in the body of His flesh through death' (Col. i. 21) ; 
 ' You hath He quickened who were dead in trespasses andsins^ 
 (Eph. ii. 1). 
 
 So far as this deliverance was not effected, the reconcilia- 
 tion was not complete ; so far as the reconciliation was com- 
 pleted, the result was that both in Judaism and Heathenism, in 
 nations and in individuals, * old things passed away, all things 
 became new.' In Christ's death Christians die ; in Christ's 
 life. Christians live. 
 
 This is the substance of the Apostle's message. His state- 
 ment of it is important in many ways. 
 
 I. It explains how it was that the proclamation of the glad 
 tidings of Christ's death fell to the lot, beyond all Connexion 
 others, of the Apostle of the Gentiles. To us, the with the 
 
 ., n A t , '^' ' •> n admission 
 
 idea 01 the ' atonement or ' reconciliation oi man to of the 
 
 God, and the idea of the admission of the Gentiles, Gentiles. 
 
 have ordinarily no connexion with each other. To St. Paul, 
 
 the two ideas were inseparable. He could not imagine the 
 
 death of Christ to involve less universal consequences than the 
 
 reconciliation of the whole world. A well-known Christian 
 
 poet of later times has beautifully said of the Redemption with 
 
 regard to the previous generations of mankind — 
 
 Now of thy love we deem 
 
 As of an ocean vast, 
 Rising in tides against the stream 
 
 Of ages gone and past. 
 
 The Apostle's statement of it is equally true of all the existing 
 and, if he looked so far, of all the future generations of the 
 world. 
 
 II. The Apostle's view of Christ's death — as throughout 
 the New Testament — represents it as the effect and -^^ - 
 manifestation, not of the wrath or vengeance of God, the Love 
 but of His love ; of the love not only of Christ, but, ^^ ^°^- 
 in the most emphatic sense, of God also. It was not God that 
 was reconciled, and man that was thereby induced to love ; 
 
442 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 but God that showed His love, and thereby brought back 
 mankind from its long enmity with Him. It was not God 
 that was to be appeased, and Christ that was to appease, but 
 * God was in Christ.' Man is not described as seeking after 
 God, but God as seeking after man : ' " Be ye reconciled to 
 God." He says not (thus writes Chrysostom on this passage), 
 " reconcile God to yourself," for it is not God who is an enemy 
 to you, but you who are enemies with God/ 
 
 There was no contradiction or separation in the Divine Act. 
 The Apostolical and the Evangelical representations exactly 
 coincide. As here, so in the parable of the Prodigal Son, 
 nothing intervenes between the loving father and the returning 
 penitent. In the act of Redemption, above all others, it is 
 true that ' Christ and the Father are One.' In the Apostle's 
 own Epistles the love and forgiveness which the Death of 
 Christ expresses are equally ascribed to God and to Christ — 
 ' God . . . imputing not their trespasses to them ' (2 Cor. v. 
 19); * Christ . . . having forgiven you all trespasses' (Col. 
 li. 13) ; ' God in Christ {iv %/3fco-To5) forgave you ' (Eph. iv. 32). 
 In many passages of Scripture we hear of * the wrath ' and 
 ' the indignation ' of God against sin. But the frequency 
 of these passages makes it the more remarkable that the ex- 
 pression never or hardly ever occurs in connexion with the 
 death of Christ.^ ^ God,' * the love of God,' * the righteous- 
 ness of God,' is always the source to which this event is 
 ascribed: Kom. v. 8, * God commendeth His own love towards 
 us; ' Rom. viii. 31, 32, ' God . . . spared not His own Son; ' 
 John iii. 16, ' God . . . [not ' so hated,' but] so loved the 
 world ; ' Rom. ili. 24, ' Whom God hath set forth to be a 
 propitiation, through faith, in His blood, to declare [not ' His 
 wrath,' but] His righteousness for the remission of sins that 
 are past, through [not ' the vengeance,' but] the forbearance 
 of God.^ 'Love' and * righteousness ' are joined, not as in 
 opposition, but as in harmony with each other: 'that He 
 might be just and the justifier.' The ' Reconciliation ' and 
 ' Propltation ' are not brought to Him, but are given by 
 Him. Humble as in the eyes of the contemporary world that 
 solitary Death might seem, it expressed and implied nothing 
 less than the Universal Love of the Almighty. 
 
 ^ In the one apparent exception 
 (Rom. V. 9), 'We shall be saved 
 from wrath through Him,' the con- 
 
 text immediately corrects any such 
 erroneous impression : ' We shall 
 be saved by his life.' 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF CHRIST'S DEATH. 443 
 
 III. It is to be observed how great a stress the Apostle 
 lays on the solitary and unique nature of Christ's ^ew epoch 
 death, — ' One for ^alL' Partly, no doubt, this arises in human 
 from the desire to exhibit the unity of mankind in ^^ °^^" 
 the redemption, — ' Not two Christs, but one alike for Jew and 
 ^Gentile.' But partly also it arises from the consciousness of 
 the pre-eminent greatness of that death above all others, and 
 from the wish to bring out strongly the fact that this one 
 sino^le event was to extend its influence to the whole ranoje of 
 humanity : ' If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me,' 
 .John xii. 32. There is no raisgivinoj as to the vastness of the 
 effects. 
 
 This falls in with the Apostle's stedfast declarations that 
 the death of Christ was the turning point in the history of the 
 human race. Had he foreseen distinctly that a new era would 
 be dated from that time ; that a new society, philosophy, 
 literature, moral code, would grow up from it over continents 
 of which he knew not the existence ; he could not have more 
 strongly expressed his sense of the greatness of the event than 
 in what is here said of ' old things passing away, and all things 
 becoming ^new.' We regard Christianity as belonging to the 
 old age and ancient institutions ; he reo^arded it as the seed 
 and spring-time of a new world. His eye is fixed on the 
 future. He is the Prophet of what is to come no less than the 
 Apostle of what has been. 
 
 IV. We here see clearly the cause to which the Apostle 
 ascribes his great exertions : — ^ The love of Christ 
 constrained him.' Of the reality of that Love his of the 
 own life was and is the best proof and explanation. Apostle's 
 There had appeared on the earth (so we must en- 
 deavour to conceive his feelings) an exhibition of love such as 
 had never before been seen. Whatever influence the force of 
 example or the sentiment of gratitude brings to bear upon the 
 human mind, was now in the highest degree exercised upon the 
 mind of St. Paul. To follow where Christ had gone before, 
 to requite His love by carrying out His work, became the 
 
 ^ V. 15. Compare Rom. v. 15, self a ransom for all ; ' Eph. ii. 14, 
 * The free gift of One man ; ' Rom. 16, ' Who hath made both (me . . . 
 vi. 10, ' He died unto sin once.^ \ of twain one new man . . . that He 
 
 might reconcile both to God in one 
 
 ^ Compare 1 Tim. ii. 5, ' Oiie God 
 who will have all to be saved . . . 
 one Mediator . . . who gave Him- 
 
 body on the Cross.' 
 ^ V. 16, 17. 
 
444 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Apostle's master passion. The great event of Christ's death 
 rose up as the background of his life. From that single point 
 every thought diverged. The love which Christ had shown to 
 him became the atmosphere in which he lived and moved and 
 had his being. What he felt has been continued afterwards. 
 We know that in the events of the Exodus we have found the 
 first origin of the idea of the severe Law of an Unseen God, 
 which became henceforward the inalienable possession of the 
 Jewish race. So, but in a higher sense, the Love of Christ 
 roused in the minds of His disciples a sense of the reality and 
 the power of love, which became the spring of a new life to 
 them, and through them to the world ; and, amidst manifold 
 weakness and error, Koman Catholic and Protestant alike, in 
 the zeal of Missionaries, in the benevolence of Sisters of Mercy, 
 in the service of the poor and ignorant and afflicted, there have 
 been thousands of acts and lives of self-devotion, which can be 
 traced up to nothing lower than this self-same motive. 
 
 V. One portion of the Apostle's statement brings out 
 Christ's more clearly than any other passage in Scripture the 
 relation to relation of Christ to sin in the work of redemption : 
 ' Him who knew not sin He made sin for us, that 
 we might become the righteousness of God in ^ Him.' To a 
 certain extent the strength of the expressions is due to the 
 antithetical form in which the Apostle so often couches his 
 conviction of the entire sympathy and communion between 
 Christ and His people, as in the passage, ^ For your sakes 
 He became poor, that ye through His poverty might become 
 2 rich.' But as there was a true sense in which He was poor 
 for the sake of man, so also there is a true sense in which He 
 became sin for the sake of man. To interpret the phrase as 
 meaning merely, ' He underwent the punishment due to sin,' 
 would be no less inadequate than it would be to say in the pa- 
 rallel passage that it only meant, * He underwent the shame 
 which follows upon poverty.' The punishment and the suffering 
 incident to sin is doubtless included ; but the whole meaning 
 must be analogous to that in which St. Matthew takes the 
 corresponding phrase of the Prophet — * Himself took our in- 
 firmities and bare our sicknesses ' (Matth. viii. 17). As by 
 His contact with human suffering in His mission of healing, 
 He also suffered — so by His contact with human sin in His 
 
 ^ V. 21. 2 viii^ 9^ 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OE CHRIST'S DEATH. 445 
 
 mission of redemption, He also, so far as His perfect sinless- 
 ness allowed, became conscious of sin. The sin of man, in its 
 literal sense, is as much below the sinlessness of Christ, as the 
 righteousness of God, in its literal sense, is above the un- 
 rio^hteousness of man. But still in each clause of the sentence 
 
 o 
 
 as near an approximation is implied as the nature of the case 
 permits. We, in Christ, are to share in God's righteousness, 
 to be perfect as He is perfect, to be pure as He is pure ; yet 
 still compassed about with human infirmities, and feeling that 
 we are unprofitable servants. Christ in our behalf is to de- 
 scend into the abyss of sin, enduring its evil, assailed by its 
 temptations, suffering from its consequences, but without par- 
 taking of it, and feeling it the more keenly from the very fact 
 of His entire elevation above it. 
 
 In such a subject, it would be presumptuous to seek 
 illustrations from any other source than the express facts of 
 the Gospel history. Two striking illustrations of this kind 
 may be given in the words of two modern writers. One is 
 Frederick Maurice, whose expressions, though they may 
 appear to some exaggerated, to others inadequate, will serve 
 to give the general image wrapped up in the Apostle's lan- 
 guage :— 
 
 ' There was a time in onr Lord's life on earth, we are told, when 
 a man met Him, '* coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, whom 
 no man conld bind ; no, not with chains." That man was " possessed 
 by an unclean spirit." Of all men upon earth you would say that 
 he was the one between whom and the pure and holy Jesus there 
 must have existed the most intense repugnance. What Pharisee, 
 who shrank from the filthy and loathsome words of that maniac, 
 coald have experienced one thousandth part of the inward and in- 
 tense loathing which Christ must have experienced for the mind that 
 those words expressed ? For it was into that He looked — that 
 which He understood ; that which in His inmost being He must 
 have felt, which must have given Him a shock such as it could have 
 given to no other. . . . He must have felt the wickedness of that 
 man in His inmost being. He must have been conscious of it as no 
 one else was or could be. Now, if we have ever had the conscious- 
 ness, in a very slight degree, of evil in another man, has it not 
 been, up to that degree, as if the evil was in ourselves ? Suppose 
 the offender were a friend, or a brother, or child, has not this sense 
 of personal shame, of the evil being ours, been proportionably 
 stronger and more acute ? However much we might feel ourselves 
 called upon to act as judges, this perception still remained. It was 
 
446 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 not evaded even by the anger, the selfish anger and impatience of 
 an injury done to ns, which most probably mingled with and cor- 
 rupted the purer indignation and sorrow. Most of us confess with 
 humiliation how little we have had of this living consciousness of 
 other men's impurity, or injustice, or falsehood, or baseness. But. . . 
 we know that we should be better if we had more of it. In our best 
 moments we admire with a faint admiration — in our worst we envy 
 with a wicked envy — those in whom we can trace most of it. And we 
 have had just enough of it to be certain that it belongs to the truest 
 and most radical parts of the character, not to its transient impulses. 
 Suppose, then, this carried to its highest pitch, cannot you, at a 
 great distance, apprehend that Christ may have entered into that 
 poor maniac's spirit, may have had the most inward realisation of 
 it, not because it was like what was in Himself, but because it was 
 utterly and entirely unlike ? And yet this could not have been, 
 unless He had the most perfect and thorough sympathy with the man 
 whose nature was transformed into the likeness of a brute, whose 
 spirit had acquired the image of a devil. Does the coexistence of 
 His sympathy and of His antipathy perplex you ? Oh ! Ask your- 
 selves which you could bear to be away, which you could bear to be 
 weaker than the other. Ask yourselves whether they must not 
 dwell together in their highest degree, in their fullest power, in any 
 one of whom you could say, " He is perfect ; he is the standard of 
 excellence; in him there is the full image of God." Diminish by 
 one atom the loathing and horror, or the fellowship and sympathy ; 
 and by that atom you lower the character ; you are sure that you 
 have brought it nearer to the level of your own low imaginations, that 
 you have made it less like the Being who would raise you towards 
 Himself. . . . No other words but the Apostle's words, " He was 
 made sin," could give us an impression of the sense, the taste, the 
 anguish of sin, which St. Paul would have us think of as realised 
 by the Son of God — a sense, a taste, an anguish of sin, which are 
 not only compatible with the not knowing sin, but would be im- 
 possible in any one who did know it. The awful isolation of the 
 words "Ye shall leave me alone," united with the craving for 
 human affection, " With desire I have desired to eat the passover 
 with you " — the agony of the spirit which is fettered, in the words, 
 " If it be possible, let this cup pass from me," with the submission 
 of the words, "Not as I will, but as Thou wilt ; " above all, the ex- 
 isting for a moment even of that one infinite comfort — " Yet I am 
 not alone, because the Father is with me," when the cry was heard, 
 " My God ! My God ! why hast Thou forsaken me ? " — these re- 
 velations tell us a little of what it was to be made Sin : if we get 
 the least glimpse into them, we shall not desire that the Apostle 
 could have spoken less boldly if he was to speak the truth.' 
 
 In language less philosophical, and wandering much 
 further beyond the recorded facts of Scripture, but so power- 
 
THE APOSTLE'S VIEW OF CHKIST'S DEATH. 447 
 
 fully expressed as to give a more distinct and lively impression 
 of the idea intended to be conveyed, the same truth is given by 
 Cardinal Newman, in a description of the Agony of Gethse- 
 mane : — 
 
 ' There, in that most awful hour, knelt the Saviour of the world, 
 . . . opening His arms, baring His breast, sinless as He was, to the 
 assault of His foe, — of a foe whose breath was a pestilence, and 
 whose embrace was an agony. There He knelt, motionless and 
 still, while the vile and horrible fiend clad His spirit in a robe 
 steeped in all that is heinous and loathful in human crime, which 
 clung close round His heart, and filled His conscience, and forced 
 its way into every sense and pore of His mind, and spread over 
 Him like a moral leprosy, till He almost felt Himself that which 
 He never could be, and which His foe would fain have made Him 
 be. . . . His ears they ring with sounds of revelry and of strife ; 
 and His breast is frozen with avarice, and cruelty, and unbelief ; 
 and His very memory is laden with every sin which has been 
 committed since the Fall, in all regions of the earth — with 
 the pride of the old giants, and the lust of the five cities, and 
 the obduracy of Egypt, and the ambition of Babel, and the un- 
 thankfulness and scorn of Israel. who does not know the 
 misery of a haunting thought, which comes again and again, in spite 
 of rejection, to annoy if it cannot seduce ? or of some odious and 
 sickening imagination, in no sense one's own, but forced upon the 
 mind from without ? or of evil knowledge, gained with or without 
 a man's fault, but which he would give a p^reat price to be rid of 
 for ever ? And these gather round Thee, Blessed Lord, in millions 
 now : they come in troops, more numerous than the locust or the 
 jmlraer-worm, or the plagues of hail, and flies, and frogs that were 
 sent against Pharaoh. Of the living and of the dead, and of the 
 unborn, of the lost and of the saved, of Thine own people and of 
 strangers, of sinners and of saints, all sins are there. ... It is the 
 long history of a world, and God alone can bear the load of it : — 
 hopes blighted, vows broken, lights quenched, warnings scorned, 
 opportunities lost ; the innocent betrayed, the young hardened, the 
 penitent relapsing, the just overcome, the aged failing ; the sophistry 
 of misbelief, the wilfulness of passion, the tyranny of habit, the 
 canker of remorse, the wasting of care, the anguish of shame, the 
 pining of disappointment, the sickness of despair ; — such cruel, such 
 pitiable spectacles, such heart-rending, revolting, detestable, madden- 
 ing scenes ; nay, the haggard faces, the convulsed lips, the flushed 
 cheeks, the dark brow of the willing victim of rebellion, they are 
 all before Him now — they are upon Him, and in Him. They are 
 with Him instead of that ineffable peace which has inhabited His 
 soul since the moment of His conception. They are upon Him, 
 they are all but His own. 
 
448 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 11—14. 
 
 The Arrival of Titus, Chap. VI. 11—13, YII. 2—16. 
 Intercourse with Heathen, Chap. VI. 14 — VII. 1. 
 
 11 ^x 
 
 To crro/xa rjiicov avicoyev npos vfjia^, KopivOioi^ j] 
 ^^ Our mouth is open unto you, Corinthians, our heart is enlarged : 
 
 11 In the previous verses, the 
 long train of digressions which 
 had broken in upon the Apostle's 
 argument in ii. 16, had been 
 gradually drawing to a conclu- 
 sion. The reconciliation with 
 God (v. 19-21) awakens the 
 thought of their reconciliation 
 with him ; and the description 
 of his own sufferings (vi. 4-10) 
 prepares the way for throwing 
 himself upon their sympathy. 
 Here, accordingly, the under- 
 current of deep affection which 
 had been from time to time ap- 
 pearing above the surface in iii. 
 2, 3, iv. 12-15, V. 13, now bursts 
 into sight, following almost in 
 the same words as the similar 
 passage in 1 Cor. iv. 14-16, on 
 the account of his victory 
 through sufferings. (Compare 
 especially, ' I speak to you as to 
 children,' in verse 13, with 1 
 Cor. iv. 14.) The veil, which had 
 hitherto hung between the Apo- 
 stle and his readers, is suddenly 
 rolled away ; we see them stand- 
 ing face to face ; his utterance, 
 so long choked by the counter- 
 currents of contending emotions, 
 is now, for the first time, clear 
 and distinct ('our mouth is 
 opened '), and for the only time 
 in the two Epistles he calls them 
 by their name (' Corinthians '). 
 With the loosing of his tongue 
 his heart opens also, that heart 
 which was ' the heart of the 
 world,' opens to receive in its 
 
 large capacities his thousand 
 friends ('our heart is enlarged') : 
 whatever narrowness of affection, 
 whatever check to the yearnings 
 of soul between them might 
 exist, was not on his part, but on 
 theirs (' ye are not straitened in 
 us ') ; the only reward which he 
 claimed for his paternal tender- 
 ness was a greater openness from 
 them, his spiritual children (' for 
 a recompense, I speak as unto 
 children, be ye also enlarged'). 
 
 ctvcwye expresses the present 
 tense (as in 1 Cor. xvi. 9), and 
 is thus distinct from r/voL^afxev rb 
 (TTo/xa r]iJLU)v, ' we spoke to you ; ' 
 whereas TrcTrXarwrat expresses 
 the perfect ; the opening of his 
 mouth follows upon the opening 
 of his heart, ' Whilst my words 
 find free utterance, my heart 
 has meanwhile been enlarged.' 
 (Comp. Matt. xii. 34 : , ^ ^^. 
 ' out of the abundance of the 
 of the heart the onouth °^°"*^-' 
 speaketh ; ' and Romans x. 10, 
 ' with the heart man believeth, 
 with the mouth confession is 
 made.') 
 
 The phrase ' to open the 
 mouth ' is in itself an ordinary 
 expression for ' to speak ' (as in 
 Matt. V. 2 ; Acts viii. 32, 35, x, 
 34, xviii. 14). But in the LXX. 
 it is used with a full poetical 
 meaning, and so here it derives 
 from the context a sense of free 
 and open speech, which would 
 not otherwise belons: to it. Com- 
 
INTERCOURSE WITH HEATHEN. 
 
 449 
 
 «cap8ta Tjixojv TreTrXdrvvTaL' ^^ov aTevo-^copeicrOe Iv rjfjuv, 
 (TTevo^opeiaOe Se ev rot? cTTrXay^i'Ots vfjicov ^^ttju Se 
 avrrji/ ovTiixLaOiav (o)? T€kvol<; Xeyco) 7r\aTVpOr)T€ kol 
 vfieLg. ^^fJi^rj yLvecrOe erepo^vyovvTe^ aTri<TToi^* rt? yap 
 
 *^ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own inward 
 affections : ^'now for a recompence in the same, (I say it as to children,) 
 be ye also enlarged. 
 
 ^*Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers : for what 
 
 pare Eph. vi. 19 : Iva jxol Bo6rj 
 A.oyo9, iv avoL^CL rov (TTOfiaTois jxov, 
 €v Trapprjcrta yviopia-ai to fxvcrTrjpiov 
 Tov ivayyeXiov. 
 
 In like manner the use of the 
 'Enlarge- expression rj KapSca TTC- 
 ment of TrXdrvvrai was probably 
 
 the heart.' i j i •■ r» 
 
 suggested by its fre- 
 quent occurrence in the 0. T. 
 (LXX.) for 'joy,' — as in Ps. 
 cxix. 32 ; joy being in this case 
 the occasion out of which the 
 enlargement of heart proceeded. 
 So in the Arabian Nights, 'my 
 heart is dilated,' is the constant 
 expression for sensations of joy. 
 But its actual meaning here is 
 shown by the succeeding expres- 
 sions (o-Tevoxw/aeicr^c in 12, and 
 XwprjcraTe in vii. 2) to be not 
 simply joy, but wideness of sym- 
 pathy and intelligence, as opposed 
 to narrowmindedness both moral 
 and intellectual : in which sense 
 the corresponding Hebrew phrase 
 is used of Solomon, 1 Kings, iv. 
 29, who had ' largeness (im) of 
 heart like the sand that is on the 
 sea- shore.' 
 
 KopLvOioL. This address by 
 name is used besides only in Gal. 
 iii. 1, w avorjTOL TaXdrai, and in 
 Phil. iv. 15, ^tXtTTTn/o-tot. 
 
 12 a-TrXdyxva. This passage 
 is remarkable as speaking of the 
 affections under the double meta- 
 phor of the ' heart ' and ' the 
 bowels,' of which the latter has, 
 in modern languages, been en- 
 
 tirely superseded by the former. 
 Comp. a like use of a-rrXdyxya 
 and K€ap in ^sch. Agam. 996, 
 999. cnrXdyxva expresses physi- 
 cally the whole interior structnre 
 of man, including specially the 
 heart and liver as opposed to 
 what are now technically called 
 the bowels (evrepa). See -^sch. 
 Agam. 1221, where the two are 
 distinguished. In classical Greek 
 the word is used for the feelings 
 generally ; and in Hebrew, from 
 the root ^ vacham,' 'to foster 
 tenderly,* is used for * tender 
 pity.' Hence its use in St. Paul: 
 compare vii. 15 ; Phil. i. 8 ; 
 Philera. 7, 12, 20. 
 
 Tr]v avrrjv dvTt/>ttcr^iav=To avro, 
 o eoTTty dvTLfxicrdia, TrXaTvvOrjTe, 
 ' open your hearts to the same 
 love that I show to you, which * 
 love is my reward.' 
 
 14 We now arrive at a re- 
 markable dislocation of Dislocation 
 the argument. On the of the ar- 
 one hand, the passionate ^"^®'^*- 
 appeal, begun in vi. 11, 12, 13, is 
 continued, without even the ap- 
 pearance of an interruption, in 
 vii. 2, where the words ^o>p>i<yaTc 
 rjfxa^ (^ make room for us') are 
 evidently the prolongation of the 
 metaphor expressed in vi. 12, 13, 
 by a'T€Vox(J)p^'iO'0e and wXarvvOrfTC. 
 On the other hand, the interven- 
 ing passage vi. 14-vii. 1, whilst it 
 coheres perfectly with itself, has 
 no connexion with the immediate 
 
 00 
 
450 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 15, 16. 
 
 fxeTo-^T) BiKaLoavvrj /cat avofiLa, *^ ri? Koivcxivta (JxjjtI Trpo^ 
 
 ■is 56. 
 
 ^ XpiaTTCf. 
 
 fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness ? or what communion 
 hath light with darkness ? ^^and what concord hath Christ with Belial i 
 
 context either before or after. It 
 relates, not to the Apostle's deal- 
 ings with the Corinthian Church 
 or his opponents, but entirely to 
 their connexion with the heathen 
 world, and, as would appear from 
 the phrases used in vi. 16-vii. 1, 
 especially to their contamination 
 by the sensual rites and practices 
 of heathenism. 
 
 This disconnexion with the 
 context is the more remarkable, 
 even in so abrupt an Epistle as 
 this, because the subject here 
 treated is altogether out of har- 
 mony with the Apostle's present 
 line of argument. It is a severe 
 warning suddenly introduced 
 into a strain of affectionate en- 
 treaty, a strong injunction to 
 separation in the midst of exhor- 
 tation to union, even with the 
 offender who had been guilty 
 of the very sins which he here 
 ■ denounces. As the agreement 
 of the MSS. and the internal 
 evidence of the style both forbid 
 the supposition of interpola- 
 tion, two hypotheses suggest 
 themselves : (1) That heathen 
 sensuality is the sin alluded to in 
 vi. 1, a view slightly confirmed 
 by the use of the word SiKaLoa-vvrj 
 both in vi. 14, v. 21, and vi. 7, as 
 well as by the strong expression 
 in vi. 1, fir] eh Kevov irjv X^-P'-^ ^^'" 
 iaaOai. If this be so, the renewal 
 of the subject in vi. 14 might be 
 explained, either by the supposi- 
 tion of a resumption of an inter- 
 rupted argument (as, in a less 
 striking manner, in the digression 
 
 iv. 2-6), or by the conjecture of 
 an actual transposition of the 
 text, vi. 14-vii. 1, intervening 
 between vi. 2 and vi. 3, and the 
 participles of vi. 3-10, StSoi/rca, 
 (Tvi/to-TcivTc?, &c., being continua- 
 tions of £7riTcAoi}j/T€s in vii. 1. 
 
 (2) That the continuous flow 
 of the first part of the Epistle 
 comes to an end at vi. 13, the 
 impassioned appeal to the Co- 
 rinthians immediately following 
 on the account of his own suffer- 
 ings ; that then (for some reason 
 unknown to us) he was inter- 
 rupted in the course of his his- 
 tory, and resumed it in vii. 2 
 with x^/orytrare rjixa<s (' receive 
 us'), so as to carry on both the 
 thought with which he had last 
 been occupied, and also the ge- 
 neral subject left in ii. 16. The 
 indications of some such pause 
 between vii. 2-16 and the pre- 
 vious chapters are : (a) The repe- 
 titions, in some cases almost ver- 
 bal, of expressions and thoughts 
 in the earlier part, which would 
 be more natural if an interval or 
 interruption of some kind had 
 intervened, e.g. x^prjcraTe yixas, 
 vii. 2, compared with TrXaTvvOrjre, 
 vi. 13 ; ovSejxtav eax^JKev avecnv in 
 vii. 5, with ovk eorx>^Ka avecTLV in 
 ii. 13. (b) The change from the 
 plural to the singular first per- 
 son, which begins in vii. 3, and 
 continues (intermixed with the 
 other) through the remainder of 
 the Epistle, (c) The expression 
 TrpoeLprjKa in vii. 3, which is more 
 natural if referring to what 
 
INTERCOUESE WITH HEATHEN. 
 16, 
 
 451 
 
 8e crvyKardOi 
 
 or what part hath he that believeth with an unbeliever? ^^ and what 
 
 jnepts TTLCTTco jLtera airicrrov ; "Tts oe crvyKaraoecn^ vao) 
 
 ' Lachm. Ed. 1, ttkttov. 
 
 might be viewed as a distinct 
 portion of the Epistle. — N.B. In 
 this case, the insertion of the 
 paragraph vi. 14-vii. 1, might 
 be explained in two ways. It 
 might be a reflection in the in- 
 terval between the two parts of 
 the Epistle, venting itself on the 
 moment in this short warning ; or 
 the passage really belongs to 
 the First Epistle, with which its 
 whole tone is in far closer accord- 
 ance than with this. The allusion 
 in 1 Cor. v. 9, typaij/a v/xiv iv tq 
 iTTLcrToX.f}, would become more in- 
 telligible, if it could be supposed 
 to refer to some such direct 
 warning as is contained in this 
 passage, rather than to the very 
 general address in 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. 
 A similar conjecture is suggested 
 by Ewald. 
 
 14-16 €T€po^vy€tv is formed 
 'TJnequaUy apparently from irepo- 
 yoked.', ' t,vyo<s in Lev. xiv. 19 
 (LXX.)='an animal of different 
 breed.' 
 
 Hence the verb, which is not 
 elsewhere used, must mean (not 
 ' to be unevenly yoked, one bear- 
 ing the yoke more heavily than 
 the other,' but) ' to be joined 
 with a wrong yokefellow,' as 
 bfjLo^vyeiv is * to be joined with a 
 right yokefellow.' 
 
 In the five contrasts which 
 follow, there is a con- 
 tinual transition from 
 the abstract to the 
 concrete. ' Righteousness ' and 
 'lawlessness' {StKaLoavvr) and 
 dvoixLo) are opposed, as the two 
 moral aspects of Christianity and 
 heathenism generally. Comp. 
 Rom. vi. 19 (with a special re- 
 
 ' Righteous- 
 ness and 
 
 ference, as in this place, to sins . 
 of sensuality) . ' Light ' ' Light and 
 and 'darkness' (<f>m ^^arkness.' 
 and a-KOToq) point still more di- 
 rectly to the deeds of shame 
 which shun the light, as in Rom. 
 xiii. 12, 13, and more especially 
 in Eph. V. 7-13. In the anti- 
 theses between ' Christ and Be- 
 lial,' he passes from abstractions 
 to persons. The word is variously 
 written ' Belial ' (hT^^) . ^^^.^ , 
 = worthless, which is in 
 no uncial MS., or * Beliar ' (which 
 is in B. C. J., according to the 
 Syriac corruption, as ' Sychar ' 
 for ' Sychem,' in John iv. 5), or 
 Beliam and Belian (D. E. K.), 
 or Beliab (F. G.). It is here 
 employed (like Beelzebub in 
 Matt. xii. 24) merely as a syno- 
 nyme for Satan. It cori*esponds 
 in Hebrew to the same notion of 
 wickedness as is expressed in 
 Greek by irovrjpos, in Latin by 
 nequam, in Old English by 
 naughty, and is therefore the 
 most contemptuous name for 
 ' evil,' or the * evil spirit,' the 
 ' Little Master ' in Sintram (see 
 Arnold's Life, p. 684), as con- 
 trasted with Satan in the ' Para- 
 dise Lost.' Our associations with 
 the word are coloured by the at- 
 tributes ascribed to * Belial ' by 
 Milton (' Par. Lost,' Bk. 11.), 
 which he founds on the few and 
 exceptional passages in the Old 
 Testament ( Jud. xix. 22, xx. 13; 
 1 Sam. ii. 12), where the word is 
 used for sensual profligacy. The 
 fullest description of a man of 
 Belial in the 0. Test, is in Pro- 
 verbs vi. 12-15 : ' A naughty 
 person Q^ Adam-BeliaV), a 
 
 G a 2 
 
452 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VI. 17— VII. 1. 
 
 6eov ixera elBcoXcov; ^T^/iet? yap i^ao? 9eov ^icriJiku ^(t)VTO<;, 
 KaOco<s euTTeu 6 Oeos on evoLKujo'co iv avTois koI iimepL- 
 
 vjxiis. 
 
 agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? for we are the temple of 
 the living God, as God said that * I will dwell in them, and walk in them, 
 
 wicked man, walketh with a f re- 
 ward mouth,' &c. It never oc- 
 curs as a proper name in the 
 LXX., but is found once in 
 Theodotion's Version (Jud. xix. 
 22), and frequently in the Apo- 
 cryphal Testament of the Twelve 
 Patriarchs. (See Fabricius, Co- 
 dex Pseudepigr. N. T. i. 587, 
 619.) 
 
 The contrast of * heathen ' and 
 < BeHever * Christian,' in the words 
 and unbe- tticttos and aTrwrros (com- 
 '"'''''- pare 1 Cor. xiv. 22), 
 brings the opposition more 
 closely home ; and in the anti- 
 thesis of ' God's temple ' and ' an 
 idol,' he gives the ground for this 
 contrast, the society of believers 
 being regarded as ' the temple ' 
 (according to 1 Cor. iii. 16, vi. 
 19), and the ' idol' being sug- 
 gested by the natural association 
 of the sins of sensuality with the 
 idolatrous rites. 
 
 Of the five words used to ex- 
 press the idea of union, fxeroxy, 
 
 KOLVOiVia, (TV/JL<fi(i)Vr](TL<Si /A€/OtS, (Tvy- 
 
 KardOeaLs, only the third and fifth 
 have any special appropriateness, 
 and those chiefly by their etymo- 
 logy ; (rviJL<fi(x}vr](TL<s, ' harmony of 
 voice,' is appropriate to persons, 
 o-vyKaTaOecri^, ' unity of composi- 
 tion,' to buildings. The multi- 
 plication of synonymes implies a 
 greater copiousness of Greek 
 than we should expect from the 
 Apostle's usual language. The 
 use of 8e after the first question 
 is also thoroughly classical. 
 1 6 vaos 6eov. He insists on 
 
 this the more, because the 
 thought of the Christian com- 
 munity as God's temple is es- 
 pecially opposed to its desecra- 
 tion by impurity, as in 1 Cor. vi. 
 19. The epithet 'living' (^Sv- 
 To<i) is added, to express the liv- 
 ing reality of God as opposed to 
 the dead images (comp. 2 Thess. 
 i. 9), and the living, as opposed 
 to the dead stones of the temple 
 (comp. 1 Pet. ii. 5 ; 1 Tim. iii. 
 15). For the transposition of 
 ^ojvTos, see note on 1 Cor. viii. 
 11. 
 
 1 6 v/xct? ecrre, Rec. Text, with 
 C. D3. E. F. G. K. yjfjiu^ cV/xcV, 
 Lachmann, with B. D^ J. The 
 confusion is occasioned by the 
 likeness of pronunciation. 
 
 The first quotation which fol- 
 lows is from Lev. XXvi. Threefold 
 11, 12 : Kttt Orjcrai ttjv quotation. 
 
 (TKTJVqV fXOV iv VfJUV Kol OV /^ScXv- 
 
 ^crat ri ifrv)(rj jxov v/xa? Kal i/ji- 
 TT^pLiraTrjcrai iv vfxZv. Kai 
 ecrofiat v fxuiv ^cos Kat v/>t6t5 
 ta-io-Oe /xoi Xaos. The verbal 
 likeness is very great, especially 
 in the word e/xTreptTrarrjcrd), not 
 elsewhere occurring in the 'New 
 Testament. Orja-w rrjv (TKrjvqv fiov 
 is changed to iioiKyjcrw, probably 
 with the view of avoiding the 
 collision of metaphors, which 
 would else result between the 
 Tabernacle and Temple ; and the 
 second person is changed to the 
 third, perhaps from a reminis- 
 cence of the parallel passage in 
 Ezekiel xxxvii. 26 : carat y /cara- 
 o-KTyvcocrts /xov Iv avTots, koX caofxai 
 
INTERCOUESE WITH HEATHEN. 
 
 453 
 
 7raT7](Tco, Kol ecro^ai avTcov ^€05, koL avTol icrovTai ^ iiov 
 Xads. ^^Sto ^k^ekOare e/c jxecrov avTcoi/ kol d<f)opLO-6r)T€, 
 Xeyei KvpLO<;, kol aKaOdprov ixrj aTTTeade' Kayoi ela-- 
 Se^o/xat v/xa9, ^^ kol ecrofJiaL vp!iv ct? Traripa, kol vfjielq 
 iaecrde jjlol eU vloifs kol OvyaTepaSy Xeyet Kvpios iravTO- 
 Kpdroip. / VII. ^ ravras ovv €)(0VTes rets iTrayyektas, dyaTTT)- ^ 
 
 and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. "Wherefore come 
 out from the midst of them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch 
 not the unclean thing: ^^ and J will receive you, and will be a Father 
 unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
 Almighty.' vii. * Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us 
 
 avTots 0€O9 KOL avToC /MOt €<rovTac 
 Xaos. 
 
 The next quotation^ is from 
 Isa. Hi. 11, 12, referring to the 
 return from Babylon : dTrofmyrCy 
 ctTrdo-TiyTC, iiiXOare iKstOev koI d^ 
 KaOdprov /xrj anjrrja-Oe, i^eXOere Ik 
 /xi<TOv avTTJs, d<f>opL(rOr)T€ ol <f>€poV' 
 
 TCS TO, CrK€V7) KVpCoV, OTl OV jXiTOi 
 
 rapa^^s iieXcvcrea-Oe, ovSc ^vy^ tto- 
 pvocricrBi ' TrpoTropevfrerat yap Trpo- 
 npo'i vjxwv Kvpto? KoX 6 iTTLcrvvdyiav 
 v/jia<i ^eos 'lo-parjA. The first part 
 contains no further change than 
 is required by the change of the 
 special reference to Babylon into 
 a general reference to the heathen, 
 the words dKaOdprov /xrj difrqaOi 
 being exactly the same in both. 
 In the second part the detailed 
 description of the return, as un- 
 suitable to the present applica- 
 tion, is exchanged for the gene- 
 ral phrase Ka-ym cwrSc^o/xat v/xas, 
 again from a corresponding pas- 
 sage in Ezekiel (xx, 34), kol cto-- 
 
 The last quotation is from 
 2 Sam. vii. 14 : eyoj €«ro/Aat avrw 
 €ts Traripa koI avrbi ea-erai fioi €is 
 vlov. Here again there is no 
 further change than is necessary 
 to transfer the application from 
 David to believers generally. 
 
 The introduction of Ovyarepa^ 
 ('daughters,' from Isaiah xliii. 
 6) shows how strongly present to 
 the Apostle was the extension of 
 the Divine blessings to every in- 
 dividual of the society. Compare 
 Acts ii. 17, 18 (' your sons and 
 your daughters J your servants and 
 hand-maidens '),. 
 
 In each case the distinct quo- 
 tation is marked by the mode of 
 reference. In the first, KaOw^ 
 cTttcv 6 ^eos refers to eya> Kvptos 
 6 ^€05 vfjuhvj in Lev. xxvi. 1. In 
 the second, Aeyet Kvpioq refers to 
 the same words in Isa. Hi. 3, 4, 5. 
 In the third, Xcyet Kvpcos ttcu/to- 
 Kpdritip refers to the same words, 
 in 2 Sam. vii. 8, which is the 
 more evident, as Trai/TOKparoop, ex- 
 cept in the Apocalypse, never 
 occurs in the N. T. 
 
 VII. I From this stem 
 warning he descends into an 
 affectionate entreaty. The word 
 dyaTrrjTOL, ' beloved,' seems to 
 be introduced with this inten- 
 tion. It occurs nowhere else in 
 this epistle, except in a some- 
 what similar context, xii. 19. 
 Compare its like occurrence in 
 1 Cor. XV. 58, X. 14. 
 
 Ttts cVayyeAta?, the promises 
 
454 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. VII. 2—5. 
 
 rot, KaOapLcrcofxev iavTOv<; oltto Trai^ro? jioXvcrfJiov crap/co? 
 /cat TTvevfiaTOS, eTTtreXowre? ayLa)cnji'r)v iv (j)6fia) 6eov. 
 
 ^XcDpyjcraTe rjfjias' ovhiva rjSiKTJa-ajJLev, ovSeVa i(f)6eL- 
 pafJL€v, ovhiva iTrXeoyeKTujcrafxev. ^""irpos KaTOLKpicriv ov 
 
 ' Ov rrphs KaraKpiffiv \4y<n. 
 
 cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting 'holiness 
 in the fear of God. 
 
 ^ Make room for us : we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we 
 defrauded no one. ^ I say not this to condemn you : for I have said 
 
 contained in the foregoing quo- 
 tations. 
 
 Ka6api(T<iifx€Vy as becomes those 
 who are the Temple of God. 
 Compare 1 Cor. vi. 19. 
 
 Travro? /xoXvcr/xov, ' not this or 
 that particular pollution, but 
 all ; ' not ceremonial and out- 
 ward only, but inward and spi- 
 ritual pollution also. Compare 
 1 Pet. iii. 21, on baptism. 
 
 eVtreA-ovvTc?, ' by completing.' 
 
 ayi(ti(Tvvy)v. The word is used 
 in connexion with the preceding 
 phrases of ' purification ' and 
 ' pollution.' But as these phrases 
 in Christian language acquire a 
 moral and spiritual, instead of a 
 ceremonial meaning, so also does 
 ' holiness.' Although the ad- 
 jective aytos has a more general 
 signification, yet the substantive, 
 whether expressed under the 
 form of dyia<T/xa9, as in Rom. 
 vi. 19, 22 ; 1 Thess. iv. 3, 4, 7 ; 
 1 Tim. ii. 15 ; Heb. xii. 14, and 
 1 Thess. iii. 18, or aytwo-uny as 
 here, especially implies purity as 
 opposed to sensual defilement. 
 
 eV ^o^o) Oiov. ' In the atmo- 
 sphere of awe and fear.' Com- 
 pare the same connexion of ideas 
 in 1 Pet. iii. 15, ' sanctify (dyta- 
 o-arc) the Lord God in your 
 hearts . . . with gentleness 
 and fear' ((fiojSov). 
 
 2 See note on vi. 14. The 
 
 argument there interrupted is 
 now resumed. 
 
 X^p^crare, * make room for us,' 
 =7rXaTvv6r}Te in vi. 13. Compare 
 Matt. xix. 11, for this use of 
 
 ovSiva -^SiKT^a-afxev ... . ov- 
 8eva €7rAeov€Kr>7cra/>tev. These 
 words relate probably to the 
 charges brought against him, 
 which, if true, would have de- 
 stroyed the confidence between 
 himself and his readers, and the 
 tense seems to refer them to 
 some precise time in the past. 
 The first is general ; the two 
 next, particular. VA-eovcKriicra- 
 fx€v alludes to the charge noticed 
 in xii. It), that he extorted 
 money from them. Compare also 
 ii. 17 (KaTnjk€vovT€<i). What can 
 be intended by icftOeipafxev, it is 
 difficult to say. But compared 
 with TO, KpvTTTa T7J<; alcr^vr]^, in 
 iv. 2, and aKa6apcria<s in 1 Thess. 
 iv. 7, there seems no reason why 
 it should not bear its natural 
 meaning (as in 1 Cor. xv. 33) of 
 the pollution of sensual sins, 
 against which, either as imputed 
 to himself, or as practised by his 
 opponents, the Apostle protests. 
 If not, it must be simply ' in- 
 jured,' or ' ruined,' as in 1 Cor. 
 iii. 17, and with cTrAcoreK'nycra^u.ev, 
 ' defrauded,' is an explanation of 
 
AREIVAL OF TITUS. 
 
 455 
 
 Xeyo)* TrpoeiprjKa yap otl iv rat? Kaphiai^ rjfJLcoi^ ecrrk et? 
 TO (TwaTToBaveiv kcll ^ crvvt^rjv, ^TroWrj yuoi TrapprjCTLa 
 npos v/;ta9, ttoXKt] [jlol Kav)(rjcrL<; vnep vficov TreirXijpcofJiat, 
 Tj] TrapaKkrjcreLi virepTrepicTcrevoyLaL rfj X^P^ ^^^ Trdcrrj rfj 
 6\l\I/€l rjiJLcop. ^Kol yap ekOovTov 7)IM(ov els MaKeBoviav 
 
 ffV^TJp 
 
 before that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. * Great is my 
 plainness of speech toward you, great is my boasting of you : I am filled 
 with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our trouble. ^For when we 
 
 For a similar disclaimer of 
 sinister motives, see Acts xx. 33, 
 
 ' It is not to condemn you that 
 I speak.' This, like the similar 
 phrase, 1 Cor. iv. 14, refers not 
 so much to what he has actually 
 expressed, as to the feeling in his 
 mind. 
 
 TTpoeiprjKa yap, * You cannot 
 doubt my love ; for I have before 
 said in this Epistle, that you are 
 deep in my heart,' referring to 
 iii. 2,v.l2, vi. 13. 
 
 €ts TO a-vvairoOaviiv kcu (rvvt,riv. 
 For this close sympathy of life 
 and death between himself and 
 the Corinthians, compare i. 6, 6, 
 vi. 12. 
 
 Possibly there may be an al- 
 lusion to some proverbial expres- 
 sion as in Horace : ' Tecum 
 vivere amem, tecum obeam 
 libens,' and to the passionate 
 feeling of the time which in- 
 duced friends (as Horace for 
 Maecenas), to offer to kill them- 
 selves on the death of their 
 friends. Compare Athenaeus (in 
 Wetstein) : tovtov^ 8' ol ^ao-iXct? 
 €xov(n a~vt,(i)VTa<i kol avvarroOvrj- 
 
 O-KOVTtt?. 
 
 4 Here, for the first time in 
 this Epistle, the plural first per- 
 son is exchanged for the singular 
 in speaking of himself, and from 
 this time to the end the two are 
 .intermixed. See note on vi. 14. 
 
 He now pours forth the joy, 
 occasioned by the arrival of Titus, 
 which had partially burst out in 
 ii. 14, vi. 11, X3 ; and sums up in 
 a few words the various feelings 
 which have sprung out of it. 
 
 TToXkrj irapp-qa-ia, ' freedom,' or 
 
 * openness ' of speech (see iii. 12), 
 the subject of the whole passage, 
 iii. 1-iv. 6, and again vi. 11, 12. 
 
 iroXK-ii Kav)(r](j-L^, ' boasting of 
 your good conduct,' as in i. 14, 
 iii. 2. 
 
 TTCTrXrypto/Aat . . . VTrepTrcpLcr- 
 arevofiaL. Both words are charac- 
 teristic of the Apostle's bursts of 
 feeling all through this Epistle : 
 
 * I am filled to the brim, I over- 
 flow.' 
 
 TrapaKkr)(TL^ in all its senses of 
 
 * consolation ' (which is espe- 
 cially meant here) and ' exhorta- 
 tion,' is also eminently charac- 
 teristic of this Epistle. See i. 
 4, 5, 6, vi. 1. x^Pi" -^^^ *^® 
 ' joy,' see ii. 2-14, 
 
 The article before TrapaKXrjcrii 
 and x°-Pi shows that he refers to 
 the special event of the arrival 
 of Titus. 
 
 cTTt TTOLcrr) TTJ OXtif/eL, ' on the top 
 of my affliction, of whatever kind 
 it may be,' seeii. 12. This sums 
 up the whole feeling of iv. 7-12 . 
 vi. 2-10. 
 
 5 /cat yap, i.e. the reason both 
 
456 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 6—10. 
 
 ovSefitav ^€a)(ev aveaiv 7) crap^ rjixcoVj dW iv iravji 
 dXi/BofJievoL' €^(t}6ev /i<a^at, icrcjdev (fyo^OL. ^dXX' 6 irapa- 
 KoKuiv Tov^ TaireLvovs TTapeKokecrev rjiJ^a^; 6 Oeos iv rfj 
 Trapovcr la Tltov ^ ov [xovov Se iv rrj TrapovcTia avTov^ 
 aWa /cat iu rrj irapaKkqcru 7) TrapeKkTJdrj i(f) vpAV^ avay- 
 yiWoiv rjfJilt^ rrjv vfjLwv iirnroOy^crLv, tov vpLOiv oSvpfxov^ top 
 vjjLKop ^yjkov vnep ifMOv, ^crre jxe fiaWov ^aprjvai. ^otl 
 
 * txTxi\*t^v &vi<Tiv] Lachm. Ed» 1. Hv^aiu tffx^v. 
 
 were eome into Maeedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were 
 troubled on every side : without^ fightings ; within, fears. ^Never- 
 theless He, who comforteth those that are cast down, even God, 
 comforted us by the coming of Titus : 'and not by his coming only, 
 but also by the comfort wherewith he was comforted concerning you, 
 when he told us your longing, your mourning, your zeal towards me, so 
 that I rather rejoiced. ®For though I made you sorry with the letter, I 
 
 for the mention of ' his afflic- 
 tion ' and ' consolation*' 
 
 He carries on the narrative 
 of his journey a little further 
 than in ii. 13. There he had 
 spoken of his troubles at Troas, 
 here he describes them as still 
 continuing on his arrival at 
 Macedonia. 
 
 rj crdpi merely expresses * my 
 weak mortal nature.' 
 
 For avco-iv, see ii. 13. 
 
 €<rx^y, Lachmann with B. P. 
 G. K ; e<Txr)K€Vj Rec, Text with 
 CD. E.J. 
 
 e^wOev fjLOLxai. The precise 
 allusion cannot be determined. 
 Probably opponents of some kind. 
 Compare i6ripiofjidxr)(Tay 1 Cor. xv. 
 32. 
 
 tcrioOiv <fi6poL. Probably anxie- 
 ties for the Corinthian Church, 
 see ii. 12. Por the union of the 
 two, and the gloomy feeling pro- 
 duced, see i. 8, xi. 27, 28. 
 
 6 Now, for the first time, he 
 describes the joyful event, which 
 is the ground of the whole of the 
 first part of the Epistle — the 
 arrival of Titus. So joyful was 
 it, that he can refer it to nothing 
 
 short of the goodness of God 
 Himself. 
 
 6 TrapaKoXwv tovs Ta7r€Lvov<s. 
 * He that comforts the 
 downcast. TarreLvos, in 
 the N. T., has never the mean- 
 ing of 'humble,' except in me- 
 taphors. 
 
 cV rfj TrapGvcTLa Tltov, 'by the 
 coming and presence of Tifcus ; ' 
 as in the frequent use of the 
 word to describe the Advent of 
 Christ. 
 
 7 rrj 7rapaKkrj(TU, ' the comfort 
 which he received from you was 
 a comfort to me.' 
 
 iTniroO-qa-Lv, ' longing for me.' 
 oSvp/xoi/, ' wailing that you had 
 
 offended me.' 
 
 ^Xov, ' zeal, to do my will.' 
 fiaXXov ;(a/y^vai, ' more even 
 
 than by the arrival of Titus.' 
 
 See verse 13. 
 
 8 e'AvTnyo-a, see note on ii. 4. 
 €v ry iTnoToXj), i.e. 1 Cor. v. 
 
 1-8. 
 
 Lachmann, in his second edi- 
 tion, has adopted the reading of 
 the Rec. Text, ct KaC (not d 8k 
 Kat), and yap after /SXiiro). But, 
 whereas the Rec. Text joins «i 
 
AERIVAL OF TITUS. 
 
 45t 
 
 el Koi iX-VTrrjcra vfxas iv rfj iTnaToXyj^ ^ov /xerajLte'Xo/iat. 
 ei ^Koi [JieTefJLekofiyjVy ySXeVo) [yap] otl y) iTno-ToXrj iKeivr) 
 €t • /cat 7rpo<s a>pav iXvirrjaev vfjLa<s, ^ vvv ^atpo), ov^ on 
 iXvmjOrjTe^ aXX' otl iXvTnjdrjTe eU fieTavoiav iXvTTrj6r)Te 
 yap Kara BeoVy Iva iv ix'qhevX ^rjixLOjOrjTe ef rjfxcjv. ^^r) yap 
 Kara deov Xvirrj iierdvoiav ets cTOiTiqpiav ajJLeTapLiXiqTov 
 
 ■ ov fieraficKoixai, el Koi fJt,€r€fi€\6i*r]y • fi\firo> yhp . . . i\6irTi<Tiv vfxas. 
 " Lachm. Ed. 1. el Sh Koi /*6T6/i. i3AeV« Srt. 
 
 do not regret. Although I did regret, for I perceive that the same 
 Epistle made you sorry though but for a season, ^yet now I rejoice, not 
 that ye were made sorry, but that ye were made sorry to repentance : for 
 ye were made sorry towards God, that ye might receive damage by us in 
 nothing. ^^ For sorrow towards God worketh repentance to salvation not 
 
 Koi fiereiJieXofJLrjv with ov /A^ra/As- 
 XofjMLj with a full stop at ikvinja-ev 
 v/xas, Lachmann has a full stop 
 at fjL€TafjL€kofiaL and a comma at 
 v/xas, whilst Tischendorf takes 
 the punctuation of the Rec. Text 
 at /xcTa/xcA-oftat, and of Lachmann 
 at i»/xit9. This last is almost re- 
 quired by the expression, ci koL 
 Trpo? wpav fXvirrrjcrev : ' Even 
 though I did grieve you in my 
 Epistle, I do not regret it, even 
 thongh I did regret it ; for I see 
 that even though that Epistle did 
 grieve you for a time, 7iow there 
 is occasion for me to rejoice in 
 the result of your grief.* In this 
 manner, et kul preserves the same 
 sense throughout, which else it 
 would lose in the third place of its 
 occurrence ; and yap is then the 
 reason for his ceasing to mourn. 
 He had possibly meant to say 
 fiXeiru) yap otl rj iTnoToXrj iKeivr) 
 .... iXvTrrjcrev els p^erdvoiav : and 
 then changed this construction 
 into the present vvv x^^pw, equi- 
 valent in sense, though different 
 in words. And it is this confu- 
 sion which has led to the variety 
 of reading. 
 
 9 vvv x^^P^i * ^^^ ^^^^ Titus 
 is come, and that I know the 
 
 whole state of affairs, I not only- 
 do not regret, I rejoice ; but the 
 reason of my rejoicing is,' &c. 
 
 €t9 /xcTctvotav. This passage 
 shows how inadequate 
 IS our word ' repen- 
 tance.' * Ye were grieved so as 
 to change your mind.^ 'Your 
 repentance amounted to a revo- 
 lution of mind.' 
 
 Kara deov, ' in regard to God.' 
 See xi. 17; Rom. viii. 27. It 
 was a sorrow not merely towards 
 man, but towards God, as in the 
 model of true penitence in Ps. li. 
 4, 'against Thee only have I 
 sinned.' Bengel — ' Animi De- 
 um spectantis et sequentis.' 
 
 Lva iv fxrjBevt . . . ' the effect of 
 your sorrow has been that you 
 received no loss from my seve- 
 rity : ' — ' My severity was at- 
 tended under God's guidance 
 with happier consequences than 
 I could have anticipated.' 
 
 lo OLfjieTaiJLeXr)Tov, either : (1) 
 with a-ioTrjpLav, ' salvation which 
 cannot be regretted,' as in Rom. 
 xi. 29 ; or (2) with ixeTavoiav, 
 by a play on the word. ' In 
 the word dfxeTaixeXrjTov he refers 
 back to /JLerajxeXoixaL in 8. 
 
 ^ Tov Koar/xov Xvirrj. The oppo- 
 
458 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VII. 11—16. 
 
 ^ ipyd^erai^ rj 8e tov KocrfJiov XvTrrj Odvarov KaTepydt^er ai. j 
 ^^tSou yap avTo tovto to /caret 9eov \v7rr)6rjvaL^ irocnqv 
 Kareipydoraro ^ \_iv\ vp^'i'V cnrovhrjV dXKd aTroXoyCav, aXka 
 dyavaKTrjcTLv, aXka (f)6^ov^ aXka iTnTroOrjcnv^ dXXa ^rjXov, 
 akXa iKStKYjcTLV. iv TravrX arvveo'Trja'aTe iavTOvs ayvov^ 
 elvaL [ei'] tS TTpdyiiari. ^^dpa el /cat eypaxjja vixlv^ oxr^ 
 ^eveKev tov dSLKyjcravTos ^ ovSe iveKev tov dSiKrjOePTOf;^ 
 aW eueKev tov (j)av€po)9rjvaL ttjv orTrovSrjv ^vficov Trjv virep 
 
 Karepyd^erai. ^ Kvirridrivai vfias. 
 * Lachm. Ed. 1. adds oAA'. 
 
 " Om, iv. ^ elvcKcv in the three places. 
 ' ffirovZiju Tjfiwv . . . vfxwv. 
 
 to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. "For 
 behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed towards God, how much 
 earnestness it wrought in you ! yea clearing of yourselves, yea indigna- 
 tion, yea fear, yea longing, yea zeal, yea revenge ! In everything ye 
 commended yourselves to be pure in the matter. ^"^ Wherefore, though 
 I wrote unto you, I did it not for his sake that had done wrong nor for 
 his that suffered wrong, but that your earnestness for us might be made 
 
 site of 17 Kara O^ov \vTnj. * The 
 grief which only regards the 
 world.' 
 
 Odvarov, Death, in the highest 
 sense, as opposed to croiTrjpiav, as 
 in K/om. v. 21. 
 
 1 1 He proceeds to point out 
 in all its details the good effects 
 of this sorrow, and, therefore, of 
 his Epistle. 
 
 /80V, ' for look at the picture 
 you presented to Titus.* 
 
 o-ttovSt^v, ' earnestness,' or 
 ' seriousness,' is expanded into 
 the remaining part of the verse, 
 which exhibits their conflict of 
 feelings. 
 
 ttTToAoyia, 
 their sin. 
 
 * self-defence ' for 
 
 dyavctKTTyo-i?, ' self -accusation 
 against it.' 
 
 cfio^ov, ' fear of PauFs arrival.' 
 i7n7r60r}(TLv, ' longing for it.' 
 t,yjkov, ' zeal against the of- 
 fender.' 
 
 iKSUrjanv, ' punishment of his 
 sin,' 
 
 €v Tw Trpay/xart, 'in the affair 
 of the incestuous person.' For 
 
 this mode of referring to a pain- 
 ful subject, compare 1 Thess. iv. 
 6. 
 
 iv in B. omitted in CD. G. 
 
 T 2 ct KOL eypa\j/a, * even though 
 I did write to you severely.' 
 
 TOV d8tK7^<ravTos, ' the incestu- 
 ous person.' 
 
 TOV aSiKyjOevTos, ' the father of 
 the offender, whose wife he had 
 taken.' See 1 Cor. v. 1. 
 
 When he says that he wrote, 
 not on account of the offender or 
 the injured person, but for the 
 manifestation of the zeal of the 
 Corinthian Church, he speaks of 
 the chief object as the only ob- 
 ject ; and also of the object which 
 was effected by Providence, as 
 if it had been his object. Comp. 
 ii. 4, and note on 1 Cor. ix. 9. 
 
 Rec. Text, with B. (e sil.), 
 
 r]fJiU)V T. VTT. VfJiUiV. G. TJlMOiV T. VTT. 
 TjfJiijJV. D^ F. VjJiOyV T. VTT. VfXWV. 
 
 Lachmann, with C. D^. E. I. K., 
 r/xcuv Ty]v VTrep rjfjiwv. 
 
 In such a confusion of read- 
 ings (occasioned by the like pro- 
 nunciation of V & rj, and extend- 
 
AKRIVAL OF TITUS. 
 
 459 
 
 rjiJLCJV 7rpo<; v/xa<; €vo)7nop tov ueov. ^'^oia tovto irapa- 
 K€K\T]iJieda* CTTC *§€ Tj) TTa/ja/cXr/cret ^riyioiv irepLcrcroTi- 
 pcos° fJLaWov i)(ap7)ix€v IttI rrj x^P^ Tltov^ otl avaire- 
 iravrai to Trveiffxa avTov awo irdvTcov vficov, ^"^otl ei tl 
 avT(p virep vfjLcov /ce/cav^r^/xat, ov KaTrj(r)(yp0rjVy dXX* w? 
 TTOLVTa kv oKiqOeia cXaXi^cra/xei^ vplv^ ovto)^ kol rj Acau^T^crt? 
 ^vfjLcov rj €771 Tltov aki/jdeia eyevijOr), ^^ kol tol cnrkdyxyo- 
 avTov TTepi(T(TOTipo}<; et? v/xas kcTTiv dvafJUfivrjcrKOfJiivov 
 
 Tr)V TTOLVTOiV V/IWI' VTTaKOT]!/, O)?, fieTOL (j)6/3oV KOL TpOjJLOV 
 
 ihe^aorOe avTov, ^^^at/)a>, ^ otl iv iravTi dappco iv vpHv. 
 
 ' Om. 5e. 
 
 ifi&v. 
 
 « Add Se. * riM-ay rj 4ir'i T. Lachm. Ed. 1. vfxwv iirl T. 
 • Add o^y. 
 
 manifest unto you in the sight of God. ^^ Therefore we have been com- 
 forted : but in our comfort the more abundantly joyed we for the joy of 
 Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all, ^"^for if I have 
 boasted any thing to him of you, I was not ashamed, but as we spake all 
 things to you in truth, even so your boasting which I made before Titus 
 became truth, '^and his inward affection is more abundant toward you 
 whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and 
 trembling ye received him. ^^I rejoice that in everything I am bold in 
 you. 
 
 ing as far as verse 14), the sense 
 is the only guide. On the one 
 hand, the ' manifestation of your 
 zeal for us ' agrees better with 
 the general context and with the 
 previous use of (nrovSr] in speak- 
 ing of the Corinthians, in verse 
 11. On the other hand, 'the 
 manifestation of our zeal for you ' 
 is simpler, is borne out by the 
 parallel of ii. 4, and suits Trpo? 
 v/xa5, which, though tautological 
 if we adopt this reading, is unin- 
 telligible with the other, evw- 
 TTiov TOV Oeov, ' in the sight of 
 God,' also agrees better with a 
 protestation of the Apostle*s zeal 
 for them, than with an allusion 
 to theirs for him. Compare v. 
 11. 
 
 13, 14 Additional force is given 
 to the argument by Lachmann's 
 reading (B. C. D. G.) of 84 and 
 7)fji.iov ; ' for this that I have men- 
 
 tioned, namely, the ejffects of my 
 Epistle, I have been comforted. 
 But ivith this comfort before me, I 
 was still more rejoiced by the joy 
 of Titus.' It is a stronger ex- 
 pression of what he had already 
 said in 6 and 7, and is the same 
 protestation of the truth of his 
 teaching, as in i. 8-21, ii. 17, iv. 
 2, in little things as in great. 
 
 Observe the liveliness of the 
 perfect tense, * we have been ' 
 comforted ; he has been refreshed ; 
 I have boasted.' 
 
 ttTTo TrdvTwv, ' refreshed by your 
 presence.' 
 
 15 <ivaiJiLfjivr](TKOfxivov, * recall- 
 ing to himself.' 
 
 1 6 OappQ) €v vfuv. Not ' I 
 have confidence in you ' (which 
 would be irerroiOa), but ' I am 
 bold through your 
 ment.' 
 
460 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. VI. 11— Vll. 16. 
 
 And now the full current of my words finds unrestricted utterance, 
 my own Corinthian converts ; for the gates of my heart, of my 
 rejoicing heart, are open wide to receive you. If there be any 
 narrowness, it is in your affections, not in mine, [Here begins 
 the digression without connexion with what either precedes 
 or follows.] Do not make ill-suited unions with heathens, 
 which compromise the difference between righteousness and law- 
 lessness, light and darkness, Christ and the author of evil. 
 Christian and heathen, Gods temple and false idols. You are 
 the living temple, not of a dead statue, but of a living God, of 
 that God who in the Law, the History, and the Prophets of 
 the old dispensation, declared that He would dwell with His 
 people, and commanded their separation from impurities, and 
 announced His readiness to receive them all. Therefore every 
 pollution must be abandoned, not ceremonial only, but moral, 
 in order to attain a purity not ceremonial merely but moral, 
 [Here the main argument is resumed.] Make room for me 
 in your hearts ; I have made room for you in mine. When I 
 was with you, I did no wrong or injustice to any one ; and I 
 say this, not to taunt you, but from my love to you. I have 
 again and again said that you are in my heart for life and 
 death, I have no restraint loith you ; I am proud of your ex- 
 cellence ; I am filled to overflowing with the comfort and the 
 joy which after all my trouble awaited me from you in Mace* 
 donia. There, after all my anxieties, both from without and 
 from within, I, at last, met Titus ; and at once the comfort 
 which I received from him was so great that I thankfully 
 ascribe it to God the author of all comfort, not only the 
 comfort which he gave me himself, but the comfort which you 
 gave him, and ichich through him was transmitted to me. He 
 told me of your affection for me, and of your sorrow for your 
 faults ; and this at once made me cease my regrets for my 
 severity in my First Epistle. I see now that your sorrow loas 
 not mere worldly remorse, which has no good end ; but sorrow 
 as in the sight of God, which Issues in a change of heart and 
 life that tends to your highest welfare. Look only at the pic- 
 ture of your sorrow and its effects, its deep earnestness, showing 
 
HIS DELIGHT IN HUMAN INTERCOUSE. 46. 
 
 itself in your self-defence and self-accusation, your fear ajid 
 yet your longing for my arrival, your zeal and your severity 
 towards the offender. This fear, more than any actual 
 punishment or reparation of the crime, was the result which I 
 sought to produce by my Epistle ; and, therefore, I am now 
 completely satisfied. And the joy of Titus shows me that I 
 had not overstated your excellences to him ; that in my com^ 
 munications with him as well as with you, I had told him the 
 truth : and therefore he now loves you as truly as 1 do. 
 
 The Apostle's Delight in Human Intercourse. 
 
 This passage gives in the most lively form the human personal 
 sympathies of the Apostle. His great consolation, after that 
 which he derived from communion with Christ, was the re- 
 storation of confidence towards his converts and intercourse with 
 his friend. A parallel passage, though less strongly expressed, 
 may be seen in his description of the feelings with which he 
 waited for the return of his other confidential friend, Timo- 
 theus, with tidings from Thessalonica ( 1 Thess. iii. 1-8). Such 
 touches distinguish Christianity from Stoicism and from fanati- 
 cism ; and also give a counterpoise to other passages which 
 describe the calls of the Gospel as severing all human ties. 
 * To be left at Athens alone, ^ ^ and ' to have no man like- 
 minded with him,' ^ to have ^ only Luke with him,' ^ to part 
 with the Ephesian elders who ' would see his face no more,' * 
 are spoken of in that plaintive strain which, even more than 
 direct expressions, implies that solitude, want of sympathy, 
 estrangement or bereavement of friends, were to the Apostle 
 real sorrows. The unfeigned pleasure which he manifests at 
 the restoration of intercourse, the enumeration of the names of 
 his friends in the frequent salutations, the joy with which his 
 heart was lighted up at his meeting with the brethren at 
 Appii Forum, ' whom, when he saw, he thanked God and 
 t©ok courage,' ^ indicate the true consolation he derived from 
 
 1 Thess. iii. 1. 
 
 2 Phil. ii. 20. 
 
 3 2 Tim. iv. 11. 
 
 Acts XX. 25. 
 
 ^ Ibid, xxviii. 15. 
 
462 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 the pure spring of the better human affections. His life is 
 the first great example of the power of Christian friendship. 
 It is also (without passing a harsh judgment on the ascetic fer- 
 vour called out by peculiar times and circumstances) a per- 
 petual protest ^ against the seclusion from all human society, 
 which, in a later age, was regarded as the highest flight of 
 virtue. It is impossible to imagine the 6th and 7th Chapters 
 of this Epistle proceeding from the pen of Simeon Stylites. 
 
 ^ The writers of the 4t?i and 5th 
 centuries have not unnaturally, from 
 their point of view, missed the true 
 cause of the Apostle's anxiety in the 
 absence of Titus. Jerome, charac- 
 
 teristically, supposes that it aro.se 
 from the fact that Titus was his 
 interpreter, and that without such 
 aid he could not preach. 
 
COLLECTION FOE THE CHUKCHES IN JUD^A. 463 
 
 THE COLLECTION FOR THE CHURCHES IN JUDJEA. 
 Chap. VIII. 1— IX. 15. 
 
 In the close of the First Epistle ' the Apostle had given 
 directions that the collection for the poor Christians in Judaea, 
 which he had ordered before, should proceed as rapidly as pos- 
 sible, in order to be ready for his arrival. On his meeting with 
 Titus he learned that the collection was not yet completed ; 
 whilst, at the same time, his stay in Macedonia impressed him 
 with the greater zeal of the Churches in the north of Greece, 
 although under greater difficulties from their inferiority in 
 wealth and civilisation. Under these circumstances he had 
 charged Titus to resume the mission which he had confided to 
 him in the First Epistle (xvi. 11), and to hasten the comple- 
 tion of the work ; and he proceeds himself to urge upon them 
 the same duty. 
 
 That this part of the Epistle, though more clearly connected 
 with the first part (i.-vi.) than with the third part (x.-xiii.), 
 is independent of both, appears from various points: — 1. The 
 plural, for the singular, first person is uniformly used, in- 
 stead of the mixture of the two which pervades the chapters 
 (vii. and x.) immediately preceding and succeeding. 2. The 
 use of several words in a peculiar sense is peculiar to this 
 Section, ^apty, svXoyia, BiKaioavvrj, clttXottjs. 3. The allu- 
 sions to the prevailing topics of the two other portions are 
 very slight. 
 
 The exhortation is enforced, first, by holding up to them 
 the example of the Macedonian Churches (viii. 1-15) ; then by 
 describing the nature and purpose of the mission of Titus 
 (viii. 16-23); lastly, by suggestions as to the spirit in which 
 the collection should be made (ix. 6-15). 
 
 ^ See notes on 1 Cor. xvi. 1-4. 
 
464 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 (1) The Example of the Macedonian Churches. 
 Chap. VIII. 1—15. 
 
 Macedonia included at that time, under four divisions, all 
 the Roman province of Greece north of Thermopylae. The 
 part, however, to which the Apostle here chiefly refers, must 
 be that through which (Acts xvi., xvii.) he had himself 
 travelled, and which corresponded to the ancient Macedonian 
 kingdom. By * the Churches ' or * congregations ' (racs skkXtj- 
 a-lais) of Macedonia, he means those Christian congregations, 
 of which one was to be found in each of the cities where he 
 had preached ; namely, Philippi,^ Thessalonlca,^ Beroea.^ 
 
 Two points are noticed in these congregations; (1) their 
 Porert of ^^^^^'^^ poverty (77 Kara ^dOovs irTco')(^£ia, viii. 2 ; 
 the Mace- virsp Svva/jLcv, viii. 3). This poverty was probably 
 donians, shared by them in common with all other parts of 
 Greece, except the two great Roman colonies of Patrae and 
 Corinth; the latter especially since its revival by Julius 
 Caesar. 
 
 ' The condition of Greece in the time of Augustus was one of 
 great desolation and distress. ... It had suffered severely by being 
 the seat of the successive civil wars between Csesar and Pompey, 
 between the triumvirs and Brutus and Cassius, and, lastly, between 
 Augustus and Antonius. Besides, the country had never recovered 
 the long series of miseries which had succeeded and accompanied its 
 conquest by the Romans ; and between those times and the civil 
 contest between Pompey and Coesar, it had been again exposed 
 to all the evils of war when Sylla was disputing the possession of it 
 with the general of Mithridates. ... It was from a view of the 
 once famous cities of the Saronic Gulf that Servius Sulpicius de- 
 rived that lesson of patience with which he attempted to console 
 Cicero for the loss of his daughter Tullia. ^tolia and Acharnania 
 ■were barren wastes, and the soil was devoted to pasture for the 
 rearing of horses. Thebes was hardy better than a village. . . . 
 Epirus was depopulated and occupied by Roman seldiers. Mace- 
 donia had lost the benefit of its mines, which the Roman govern- 
 ment had appropriated to itself, and was suffering from the weight 
 of its taxation. . . . The provinces of Macedonia and Achaia, when 
 they petitioned for a diminution of their burdens in the reign of 
 
 Acts xvi. 12-40. 2 j|5i^j_ xvii. 1-9. ^ j^i^^ ^vii. 10-15. 
 
EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIAN CHURCHES. 
 
 465 
 
 Tiberius, were cousidered so deserving of compassion that they were 
 transferred for a time from the jurisdiction of the senate to that of 
 the Emperor [as involving less heavy taxation].' ^ 
 
 (2) Their extreme generosity. So in the Church of Thessa- 
 lonica^ the Apostle's converts are warned against and their 
 indiscriminate bounty. So from the Church of Phi- gene- 
 lip pi, contributions were sent to support the Apostle '°^^ ^* 
 both on his travels through Macedonia,^ and afterwards in his 
 imprisonment at Rome.'^ And in this Epistle^ he speaks of 
 the support which was brought to him from Macedonia during 
 his residence at Corinth ; a circumstance which would impress 
 on his Corinthian converts, in a livelier form, his present 
 argument. Some, also, of the Macedonian Christians gave, 
 not merely their money, but ' themselves ' to his service as 
 constant companions ; ^ amongst whom were Sopater, Secun- 
 dus, and Aristarchus,^ Epaphroditus, who ^regarded not his 
 life ' in the Apostle's service,® and perhaps the author of the 
 Acts, who remained at Philippi^ when the Apostle went for- 
 ward, and was now about to rejoin him. And the number of 
 these Macedonian converts is the more striking, when compared 
 with the few who came from the Churches of Southern Greece, 
 none of whom, except Sosthenes,*^ appears as a permanent 
 companion. 
 
 * Arnold's Roman Common- 
 wealth, vol. ii. pp. 382, 383. 
 
 2 Thess. iii. 10, 11. 
 
 3 Phil. iv. 15. 
 
 * Ibid. ii. 25, iv. 16, 18. 
 « xi. 9. 
 
 10 
 
 See viii. 5. 
 ■^ Acts XX. 4, xxvii. 2 ; Col. iv. 
 
 8 Phil. ii. 30. 
 » Acts xvi. 10-40, XX. 6, 
 10 1 Cor, i. 1. 
 
 HH 
 
466 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 1—3. 
 
 VIII. ^ FvcopL^ofJieu §€ vfuv^ dSeXc^ot, ttjv ^dpiv tov 
 Oeov TrjV SeSofJLePTjv iv rai? iKK\r)crLaLS ttJs Ma/ceSon'ag, 
 ^ort ip TToWfj SoKLfxfj 0Xl\Jj€O)<; rj irepicrcreLa ttJs xapa^ 
 
 ^ Now, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed 
 in the churches of Macedonia ; '^how that in a great 'trial of trouble the 
 
 » Or ' proof.' 
 
 VIII. I Tvoipilofxiv. See note 
 on 1 Cor. XV. 1. 
 
 8e is merely the opening of a 
 new subject, as in 1 Cor. vii. 1, 
 viii. 1, XV. 1. 
 
 Tr]v xaptv. This word is used 
 
 in these chapters (viii. 1, 4, 6, 
 
 7, 19, ix. 14) as in 1 Cor. 
 
 x*p'5' ^^-^ 3^ |j^ ^Yie peculiar 
 
 sense of a ' gift ' or ' contribution.' 
 In almost every other part of the 
 New Test, it is used for ' favour,' 
 'goodness,' generally speaking, 
 of God ; and here also the two 
 ideas are blended together. 
 
 Compare the use of cvAoyta in 
 ix. 6. 
 
 TTjv BeSofiivrjv, ' which has been 
 given.' 
 
 2 The sense of what follows 
 is clear : ' their poverty made 
 their liberality more striking.' 
 The construction and the words 
 are difficult. The construction 
 may be either: (1) to make rj 
 Trepfcrcrcia and rj TTTw^eta the no- 
 minative case to €7r€pio-o-€vcr€, ac- 
 cording to the regular order ; or 
 rather (2), to suppose an anaco- 
 luthon, in which he first ex- 
 presses that their affliction was 
 contrasted with their joy, and 
 then that their poverty was con- 
 trasted with their wealth ; so that 
 the sentence should have been 
 either on 17 ttoXXt] SoKifxrj OXlij/. 
 ImpLCTcriva-ev €15 ryjv -^apav avrcov, 
 Kai . . or €v TToX. Sok. OXlij/. rj tre- 
 
 pLCTcr. T. x^pas avT. eyevcro Kat €V 
 TQ Kara fia6. 7rT0);(€ta y 7rept(rcr€ta 
 TOV ttXovtov, k. t. X. 
 
 SoKLfirj, ' trial,' as in Rom. v. 4 : 
 rj VTTOjxovrf SoKLfxrjv /carcpya^crat. 
 
 0XLif/€<j)<5 may either refer to 
 some such persecutions as those 
 which had taken place in those 
 Churches five years before, Acts 
 xvi. 20, xvii. 5 ; 1 Thess. i. 6, 
 ii. 14, or merely to ' distress,' 
 such as arose from the discoun- 
 tenance of their heathen or Jew- 
 ish neighbours, as when joined 
 with <TT€vo-)((iipLa and dvdyKrjj 
 vi. 4. 
 
 t] TTipicrcrua rqq X^P^^ avTU)V. 
 ' Their joy overflowed.' It ap- 
 peared greater by rea- .joy. i^ 
 son of the distress in- liberality. 
 the midst of which it flourished, 
 and it exceeded that distress, so 
 that the distress became insigni- 
 ficant in comparison. It is men- 
 tioned from the connexion which 
 always exists in the Apostle's 
 mind between cheerfulness and 
 liberality. Compare ix. 7, ' God 
 loveth a cheerful (Ikapov) giver,' 
 and Rom. xii. 8, 'he that showeth 
 mercy, in cheerfulness ' (tAapo- 
 
 T7}Tl). 
 
 ' The Rabbis said that he who 
 gave nothing, but received his 
 friend with a cheerful counte- 
 nance,' was better than he who 
 gave all with a downcast counte- 
 nance.' See Wetstein on ix. 7. 
 
EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIAN CHUECHES. 
 
 467 
 
 avTcoj/ /cat rj Kara pd9ov<; TTTm^eta avTcov inepKra-evcrev 
 cts *ro ttXoGtos Ti^S airXoTrjTO^ avTo>v, ^ori Kara SwafiLP 
 
 ' rhv irXovrov. 
 
 abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches 
 of their liberality, 'how that to their power (I bear record) and beyond 
 
 The word x^P*^ ^^ used in con- 
 nexion with xa/ot?' 
 
 This sentence would run more 
 naturally ck ttjs Kara /3d0. tttcu- 
 Xetas €7repto-o-€v<rc to ttXovtos. Its 
 present form is perhaps owing 
 to the * oxymoron,' by which 
 poverty, instead of restraining 
 liberality, is described as over- 
 flowing into it ; as though Chris- 
 tian poverty were of itself a 
 treasure which never failed. 
 Compare the story of the wi- 
 dow's mite, Luke xxi. 3, 4, ' she 
 hath thrown in more than they 
 all : they all of their abundance 
 (cK Tov 7r€picra€vovTO<s) J she of her 
 need (yarcpi^iJLaTos).* 
 
 Kara (3a0ovs, ' reaching deep 
 down.' 
 
 ttXovto?, ' wealth,' here com- 
 bines the literal sense with the 
 metaphorical sense, in which he 
 so often uses it to express any 
 kind of excess : ' their great 
 liberality.' Here, and in Eph. 
 ii. 7, iii. 8, 16 ; Phil. iv. 19, and 
 Col. ii. 2, the best MSS. read to 
 ttXovtos for 6 ttXovtos, as in Ro- 
 maic, of which the tendency is to 
 substitute neuter for masculine 
 and feminine nouns. So to iXeos 
 for 6 eXeosin LXX. (See Winer, 
 Gram. p. 64.) 
 
 a7r\6T7)<s in Eph. vi. 5 ; Col. iii. 
 22 ; and in 2 Cor. i. 12 (Rec. 
 
 . ,, Text), xi. 3, is ' sim- 
 plicity, Sincerity. x)ut 
 throughout these two chapters 
 it is used for ' liberality * or ' mu- 
 nificence,' by the same ambiguity 
 as is attached to the word ' libe- 
 
 rality' in English. See ix. 11, 
 13. aTrAov? may be so used in 
 Prov. xi. 25, where the verse 
 which is rendered, ' the liberal 
 soul shall be made fat,' is in the 
 LXX. 4^v)(Yj €vXoyov[X€vrj Traa-a 
 dirXtj, which must be ' every 
 liberal soul is blessed,' or, ' every 
 blessed (i.e. rich) soul is liberal.' 
 It seems to be so used by Jose- 
 phus. Ant. VII. xiii. 4, where 
 David admires the dTrXoryys and 
 fjLeyaXoij/vxLa of Araunah. The 
 context of Matthew vi. 22 sug- 
 gests that 6(f>0a\iJi6s ttTrXovs in 
 that passage may bear this 
 meaning. 
 
 3-5 Prom OTL Kara 8wa/xiv to 
 Oeov in verse 5, is a sentence 
 which has been entirely shattered 
 in passing through the Apostle's 
 mind. If restored to order it 
 would be : on Kara Svva/xtv, kol 
 irapa Svv., ov KaOdirip rjXTria-afxev, 
 Trjv X^P^^ [rtov xP>;/>taT(oi/] dAA' 
 cauTOvs avOatpiTOL eSwKav. The 
 verb to which av6atp€T0L is at- 
 tached, and by which Trjv x^P'^ 
 is governed, is really eSuiKav. 
 But, when he comes to express 
 their spontaneous ardour (avOat- 
 peTOL), he enlarges upon it by de- 
 scribing that it was done not at 
 his request, but at theirs ; and 
 this induces him to insert jxcto. 
 TToX. irapaKX. Scofxevoiy which, in 
 turn, attaches ttjv x^ptv to itself, 
 so as to make it ' asking for the 
 favour ' (ttjv x^P'-^j by its double 
 sense suiting this construction) ; 
 and then he explains it further 
 by adding koI t^v Koivtav. t. 8ta- 
 H 2 
 
468 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 4--9. 
 
 (fiapTvpco) Koi ^irapa SvvafXLV, avOaipeTOi, ^fiera ttoWtJs 
 7rapaK\iij(Teo}<; Seofievou rjfJLCjv Trjp •)(dpLV /cat ttjv Koivcoviav 
 Trjq hiaKOvia^ ttj^ el? rov^ ayCovs,^ ^ kol ov KaOm "^rjXTTio-a- 
 fjuev^ dXX' eauTOu? eScoKav TTpcoTov rS KVpio) koI rjjxlj^ Sia 
 6ekrjixaT0<; Oeov, ^eU to TrapaKoXicraL T^/xa? Tirov^ Iva 
 
 * virep. »» Add Se^acrdai rjfxas. 
 
 " Lachm. Ed. 1. ^ATTi/co/tei/. 
 
 their power, of their own accord, Spraying us with much exhortation, for 
 the grace and the communion of the ministration to the saints, — ^and 
 not as we trusted, but themselves they gave first to the Lord and to us 
 by the will of God, ® insomuch that we exhorted Titus, that as he had 
 
 KovLa<s, namely, * the favour of 
 sharing in the ministration to 
 the saints.' The construction, 
 thus lost, is recovered in the 
 next verse by o^ /ca^w? ^X7ricra/x€v. 
 Si^aa-Oai 17/x-a?, which would clear 
 the construction, is a later inser- 
 tion. 
 
 avOaLpcTOL, which in the N. T. 
 occurs only here and in verse 17, 
 is a common word in later Greek 
 (see Wetstein) for e/covrc?. 
 
 For the connexion of Trapd- 
 KXryo-t? and Seofievoi:, see V. 20, 21, 
 vi. 1, X. 1, 2. 
 
 rrjv xoLpiv^ as observed on verse 
 1, has here the double sense of 
 ' gift ' and * favour,' and so also 
 Kotvwviav of * communicating ' 
 and ' participating.' 
 
 StttKovia, except in this Section, 
 where vapt? is so often 
 used instead, is the or- 
 dinary word in the N. T. for a 
 charitable contribution to the 
 wants of others ; and hence the 
 technical sense of Sta/covo? in 
 Phil. i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 8, 12 ; 
 Rom. xvi. 1, and in ecclesiastical 
 Greek, for the administrators of 
 such bounty, whether male or 
 female. Compare ix. 1, 13 ; Rom. 
 XV. 31, with regard to this same 
 matter ; also Acts vi. 1, xi. 29 , 
 xii. 25. 
 
 Toti? dytbv9. The Christian 
 
 poor in Judeea. See note on 1 
 Cor. xvi. 1. 
 
 5 yXTTLo-a/xev, * expected ; ' in 
 the N. T. always in a good sense. 
 riXTTLa-a/jLcv, Rec. Text with C. D. 
 E. F. G. J. K. ; yXTTiKa/xev, Lach- 
 mann, 1st edition, with B. 
 
 eavrov?, ' themselves as com- 
 panions.' 
 
 TrpQyrov tw Kvpiio /cat ypuv. In 
 classical Greek this would have 
 been expressed by re and Kai 
 Here, as in Rom. i. 16, ii. 9, 10, 
 it is not priority of time, but of 
 importance, that is meant. 
 
 Slol OeXrjfxaro^ Oeov is partly 
 that their complete surrender of 
 themselves was the work of God, 
 as in the phrase n^v x^P'-^ ''"^^ 
 Oeov in verse 1 ; partly that they 
 consented to go with him, if God 
 so permitted. See 1 Cor. xvi. 7 ; 
 James iv. 15. 
 
 6 TrapaKaXecrai is the word he 
 always uses in speaking of the 
 two missions of Titus. See viii. 
 17, xii. 18 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 12. 
 
 Trpoevrjp^aTO refers to the in- 
 terest which Titus had taken in 
 this contribution on his first 
 mission to Corinth with the First 
 Epistle, xii. 18 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 
 12. 
 
 Kttt rrjv X'^P^^ Tavrrjv. ' That 
 he may complete this contribu- 
 tion, as well as the general good 
 
EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIAN CHUECHES. 
 
 469 
 
 Ka9co<; ^ irpoevyjp^aTO^ ovto)<s kol iTTLTekeory eh vfia<s kol 
 Tr}v ■)(dpLi/ TavTrjv. ^ aXk' atcnrep iv iravTi TrepLcrcreveTe, 
 TTiarei /cat \6y(^ Koi yvaxrei kol Trdcrr) cmovSfj kol rfj 
 ^i^ vpLCxiv iv rifjup aydirr)^ iva /cat, iv ravTrj rfj ^apiri 
 TT€pL(T(T€vy]Te. ^ ov KaT iTTLTayrjv XeycOj aXXd 8ta rrjs 
 irepcov cnrovSrjs /cat to t-^s vfJLeTepa<; dyaTrrj^ yvtjcnov 
 SoKLixd^cjv ^ (yLV(ocrK€T€ yap ttjv ^dpiv tov Kvpiov tjijlcjv 
 
 * Lachm. Ed. 1. ivfip^aro . . . e| rjfiuy iv vfuv. 
 
 begun before, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. ^But 
 as ye abound in every thing, in faith and word and knowledge and all 
 earnestness and love from you to us, that ye may abound in this grace 
 also. ^I say this not by commandment, but through the earnestness of 
 others and to prove the genuineness of your love ^(for ye know the grace 
 
 work of zeal and repentance,' 
 described in vii. 13, 14. 
 
 7 The sentence groves out of 
 the preceding, tva depending on 
 7rapa/caA,(u, supplied from irapa- 
 KaXecrai. ' I have entreated Ti- 
 tus ; now I entreat you to show 
 the same exuberance of spiritual 
 attainments in this, as in other 
 points.' 
 
 For TTLcmiy Xoyo), yv(0(r€i, see 
 1 Cor. xii. 9. 
 
 For cnrovhfi see note on vii. 11. 
 Here, as in vii. 12, the readings 
 vary between rjfx^v and v/xwv. 
 v/xcuv Iv r}fXLV in C. D. E. F. Gr. J. 
 K. and Rec. Text, and Lachmann ; 
 rjfiwv iv vfuv B., and Lachm. 1st 
 edit. It willithus be either, ' the 
 love awakened by you in me,' or 
 ' by me in you.' The latter suits 
 better in the general tone of the 
 Epistle (comp. i. 6, vi. 11, 12). 
 
 For this general description of 
 the gifts of the Corinthians, com- 
 pare 1 Cor. i. 5. 
 
 8 ov KaT iTnrayrjv Aeyo), ' I 
 fc^peak not to command you.' 
 Comp. the same expression in 
 1 Cor. vii. 6, where, however, the 
 meaning is not quite the same. 
 There it is, ' I have no com- 
 mandment of Christ to give.' 
 
 Here it is, ' I have no com- 
 mandment of my own to give.* 
 There the contrast between 
 Christ* s command, and his ad- 
 vice ; here, between bis own com- 
 mandj and his own advice. 
 
 Slcl rrj^ erepcov (tttovS^s, * ma- 
 king use of the zeal of the Mace- 
 donians to stimulate you.' See 
 viii. 1-5. 
 
 SoKLfid^uiv, 'in order to try.' 
 TO yv-qcTLov, ' the genuineness.' 
 TTJq viJL€T€pa<s dydinjs refers to 
 TTJ dyaTrfj in verse 7. 
 
 9 ' If your love is genuine, 
 you will make yourselves poor for 
 the sake of others, after Christ's 
 example; for you know the 
 favour that He gave to us (x'^P'-^ 
 is used for the sake of allusion to 
 Xaptv in verses 6, 7) ; for He, 
 when He might have been rich, 
 became subject to poverty for 
 you ; that you, through His 
 poverty, might become rich in 
 goodness.' 
 
 It is difficult to determine in 
 what sense the Apostle 
 used the words TrXovato^ 
 and iTTTwx^vae, as ap- 
 plied .to our Lord. 
 Probably, whilst iirrioxivcre is 
 taken entirely in the literal 
 
 ' For your 
 sakes He 
 became 
 poor.' 
 
470 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 10—13. 
 
 v/xet9 TTj €K€Lvov TTTOi^eio. iTAovTrjcrrjTe), ^' Kai yvcjfjLrji' €V 
 
 TOTJTCa 8tScU/Xt. TOVTO yOip VIXIV CrVIJL(f)€p€L^ OLTLVe<; OV fJLO- 
 ■ Lachm. Ed. 1. Omit xp'o"'"o»'. 
 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes He became poor, though 
 He was rich, that ye tlirough His poverty might be rich), ^°and herein I 
 give my advice. For this is expedient for you, who began before not 
 
 sense, 7rXovcno<; wv, though taken 
 in the literal sense to a certain 
 extent, yet has also the more 
 general meaning implied in nXav- 
 T^cn/T€ in the next clause, as is so 
 often the case in St. Paul's meta- 
 phorical use of the word ' riches' 
 (ttXovto?). For a similar use of 
 the present participle in exactly 
 similar passages, compare John 
 iii. 13, ' the Son of man who is (6 
 wv) in heaven,' and Phil. ii. 6, 7 ; 
 ' Who being (vTrapx^v) in the 
 form of Grod,' &c. 
 
 Whether cTrrcoxevo-c signifies 
 * He was poor,' or ' He became 
 poor,' is doubtful. ' When all 
 poTver, and wealth, and greatness, 
 earthly and Divine, were His, 
 He yet led a life of poverty, not 
 merely for the world in general, 
 but for you, that you might gain 
 in spiritual wealth (compare 1 
 Cor. i. 5, iTrXovTLcrOrjTe, iv. 8, ttXov- 
 Tetrc) by His human poverty.' 
 
 8l vfxa<g is emphatic by posi- 
 tion. 
 
 lo So completely parentheti- 
 cal had been this appeal to 
 Christ's example, that he con- 
 tinues the sentence from verse 8 
 as if nothing had intervened, ex- 
 cepting only that in consequence 
 of the interruption he uses Kat, 
 where we should else have ex- 
 pected dAAa or 8^ : 'I give you 
 no command, bat only advice.* 
 
 In what follows (10-15) are 
 two points, which he finds it 
 needful to urge on the Corinthi- 
 
 ans : — (1) He is anxious to im- 
 press upon them that they are 
 not to give by restraint, or be- 
 cause he orders it, but willingly. 
 (2) He is afraid, lest by his com- 
 mendation of the Macedonian 
 Churches, he should make them 
 suppose that his object was to 
 relieve the Macedonians at their 
 cost. 
 
 TOVTO yap vjtuv €rvjj,<f)ep€t, ' I 
 give my advice, and not my com- 
 mand; for this (advice instead of 
 command) is expedient for men 
 who, like you, have shown so 
 much zeal.' The second accords 
 better with otrtvc? (the Latin 
 quippe qui), and with the general 
 strain of the argument. Com- 
 pare especially ix. 1, 2. 
 
 He then commends them for 
 their zeal, in having anticipated 
 (fTpoevrjpiaa-Oe) the Macedonian 
 Churches, in the time when they 
 began their collection ; and in 
 the spontaneous eagerness with 
 which they had undertaken it. 
 
 It is clear from 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 
 that the collection is not there 
 announced to them for the first 
 time, but as something well 
 known. Whenever it was that 
 they had began it, he here inti- 
 mates that it was not on the mere 
 fact of their having begun that 
 he lays stress ; but on the readi- 
 ness with which they had done 
 so, apparently with oat order from 
 him. That they had anticipated 
 the Macedonian Churches ap- 
 
EXAMPLE OF THE MACEDONIAN CHURCHES. 
 
 471 
 
 vov TO TTOirjcraL dXXa kol to 6i\eiv rrpoeurjp^acrOe cltto 
 irepvcri* ^^vvvl 8e koX to iToirjcrai iiTiTekicraTe, oircos /ca- 
 ddirep 7] TTpoOvyiia tov OiXeuv, ovto)<; kol to iinTekioraL iK 
 Tov e)(€LV. ^^el yap rj irpoOvfiia TrpoKeiTau, Kadb iav €)(rj^^ 
 evTTpoaSeKTO';, ov KaOo ovk ej^ei. ^^ ov yap Iva aWots 
 ai^ecrt?, vplv ^ ^Xti/;t9, olK)C ef icroTTyros * ev tS vvv KaipS to 
 
 • Add Tis. 
 
 « Add S4. 
 
 only to do but also to be willing a year ago : ^^ now therefore perform the 
 doing of it, that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be a 
 performance also out of that ye have. ^^For if there be first the ready 
 mind, it is well accepted according to that a man hath, and not according 
 to that he hath not. ^^ For I mean not that the other men be eased, and 
 
 pears from ix. 2, 'Achaia was 
 prepared a year ago, and your 
 zeal provoked many,* agreeing 
 with 1 Cor. xvi. 1, where the 
 order to Galatia is mentioned, 
 but none to Macedonia. 
 
 OeXetv here, as elsewhere in the 
 N. T. means, not merely ^ will ' 
 or ' wish,' but * eager purpose.* 
 Comp. John vi. 21, ^OeXov XajSelv 
 avTov. ' You anticipated the Ma- 
 cedonian Churches not only in 
 your act, but in the purpose 
 which preceded the act.* 
 
 aTTo TrepvcTL is in the N. T. used 
 only here and in ix. 2. It is de- 
 rived from TTcpa?, and may pos- 
 sibly be the dative plural from 
 an obsolete word Trepvs, meaning 
 ' in past times,' and then by 
 usage restricted to ' the past 
 year.' 
 
 Tl vwl §€ Kttt TO TTOirja'aL iin- 
 reXea-are, ' you did, and you were 
 eager to do this, a year ago ; now 
 is the time for finishing, not 
 merely your eager wish, but also 
 your doing what you wished.' 
 
 OTTCDS KaOdirep ^X^'*'' 
 
 ' that, as you were so zealous in 
 your intention, such also may be 
 your completion of your inten- 
 tion, according to the means you 
 possess * (eK tov ^x^lv). 
 
 12 'I say, *^ according to the 
 means you possess ; " for if, as in 
 your case, there is a ready zeal, 
 it is accepted by God in its con- 
 tributions, by comparison, not 
 with gome imaginary standard of 
 wealth, but with what it really 
 has.' For this construction, by 
 which a whole sentence is made 
 to hang on a single word in the 
 previous clause, comp. Rom. v. 7, 
 where v-rrtp yap tov dyaOov, k.t.X. 
 depends on StKatov, and Thucyd. i. 
 17, where ol yap iv StKcXta, k.t.X. 
 is a reason for 'EAAryvt/cats. 
 
 irpoKUTat, 'is at hand.' It 
 occurs again in Heb. vi. 18, xii. 
 1, 2 ; Jud. 7, speaking of ' ex- 
 amples ' or ' rewards.' y) irpo~ 
 OvfxCa is the nominative case to 
 €X0 ^^d ^o €V7rp6(r8eKTo<s, ' zeal ' 
 being personified here, as ' love ' 
 in 1 Cor. xiii. 4. 
 
 Ka6o iav (for av) extj, 'accord- 
 ing as it m£iy have.' 
 
 13 ' For the object of the 
 contribution is, not that others 
 should be relieved and you have 
 the burden, but that each party 
 should contribute its proper 
 share.' By 'others' (oAAois) 
 he might possibly intend the 
 Christians in Judaea, who were 
 to receive the contribution, as in 
 
472 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 14, 15. 
 
 14!' 
 
 v/xwi^ TTepiaorevfJia eU to eKeivoiv vcTTiprjiJia^ ^^Lva Kai to 
 
 ye troubled, ^^but by an equality : that now at this time your abundance 
 
 the parallel passage with regard 
 to this contribution in K-om. xv. 
 27: 'If the Gentiles had been 
 made partakers of their spiritual 
 things, their duty is also to mi- 
 nister to them in carnal things.' 
 But the context and the proba- 
 bilities of the case make it more 
 likely that he alludes to the 
 Churches of Macedonia. The 
 Corinthians might ascribe his 
 zeal to his affection for the Ma- 
 cedonian Christians and wish to 
 ease them of their burden, and it 
 is this illusion which he wishes 
 to dispel. 
 
 avecris is, in this case, not simply 
 ' relief,' but (what suits its ety- 
 mological meaning better) ' relief 
 from overstrain,' as in ii. 13, vii. 
 5 ; Acts xxiv. 23, as opposed to 
 6Xii(/L?, which must in this pas- 
 sage, as probably in viii. 2, re- 
 fer, not to persecution, but to 
 poverty. 
 
 iv Tw vvv Katpw, * at the pre- 
 sent time,' requires, in the se- 
 cond clause, some word meaning 
 'at a future occasion.' 
 
 ' Do you help the Macedonians 
 now, and then they will help you 
 in like case hereafter.' ' They 
 are poor now, and unable to bear 
 the whole burden ; perhaps, at 
 some future time, you will be 
 poor, and then they may be rich 
 enough to meet your wants.' 
 
 For the use of the word vo-re- 
 prjfjLa in the sense of poverty, see 
 ix. 12, xi. 9 ; Luke xxi. 4. 
 
 iXaTTOvelv is used in LXX. for 
 the earlier Greek iXarrovv. 
 
 The sentence contains three 
 peculiarities of the Apostle's 
 style: 
 
 (1) The structure of the sen- 
 
 tence, TO v/xa>v Trepta-arevfJLa €is to 
 iKiivijiv v(TTepr}ixa, Iva kol to iK^Cvuiv 
 TreptVo-eu/xa, yivrjTat ci? to vjx^v 
 vo-repry/xa, is an instance of the 
 Apostle's turn for balancing two 
 ends of a sentence against each 
 other, as in Gal. iv. 12 : yivccrOe 
 0)9 €y(o, OTL Kayu) ws vjjlcls. 
 
 (2) The argument from equal- 
 ity and reciprocation in this pas- 
 sage is singularly like that of 
 Aristotle, especially in Eth. V. 
 c^ IcTOTrjTOs TrepLcro-ev/xa, vcrTcprj/jia 
 (in Aristotle's language to irkiov 
 and TO cAttTTOi') ottw? yevrjTat 
 i(r6T7]<s. The resemblance is un- 
 conscious, but not the less shows 
 the natural affinity of thought. 
 A remarkable coincidence of a 
 similar kind has lately been 
 pointed out between Gal. v. 23, 
 and Rom. ii. 24, and Aristotle, 
 Pol. iii. 13. Such a phrase 
 would not have occurred in the 
 0. Test. 
 
 (3) In the quotation with 
 which this classical thought is 
 supported, the account of the 
 manna gathering (Exod. xvi. 17, 
 18) is applied to the peculiar 
 circumstances of the Corinthian 
 Church. The original words of 
 the LXX. are slightly different : 
 ovK eTrXeovao-cv 6 to ttoXv, kol 6 to 
 eA-ttTTOv OVK yjXaTTOvrjae. This is 
 the Vatican MS. The Alex- 
 andrian MS. has w to ttoXv <S to 
 oXtyov. The Apostle cites just 
 enough to remind his readers of 
 the passage from which the words 
 are taken. Before ttoXv, under- 
 stand (rvXXeia<s. These words Ka- 
 dioq yiypa-TTTat must in this case 
 be simply, 'to use the words of 
 the Scripture.' 
 
EXAMPLE OF THE IVIACEDONIAN CHUECHES. 473 
 
 eKeivoiV TrepLcrcrevjxa ydvrjTai eU to vfiajv varip-q^a^ oiro)^ 
 yiviqTaL IcroTTj^y ^° KaOoiS yiypaiTTaL 'O to ttoXv ovk cTrXed- 
 vacrev^ koX 6 to okiyov ovk rjXaTTovrjo-ev. 
 
 may be for their want, that their abundance also may be for your want, 
 that there may be equality, ^^as it is written, 'he that had much had 
 nothing over, and he that had little had no lack/ 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. VIII. 1 — 15. 
 
 JVow comes my task of announcing to you the goodness of God, 
 which I found manifested in the goodness of the congregations 
 of Macedonia. They were plunged in deep distress and poverty, 
 but this only served to make them more anxious to show their 
 cheerfulness and generosity. And not only so, but even beyond 
 their power they contributed ; and, yet more, it was voluntary; 
 and at their own eager request they gave, not only their 
 money, but themselves to Christ and to us, to help the Christians 
 elsewhere. The result of this was, that I entreated Titus to 
 return to Corinth and complete this sign of goodness in you, as 
 well as those other good works and feelings which he had begun 
 to promote in the visit from which he has just returned ; and 
 truly it becomes you who have such exuberance of other great 
 gifts and signs of God's goodness to be exuberant in this also. 
 I do not command, I only advise it ; because of the zeal 
 which others have shown, and to prove the genuineness of your 
 love to men for Christ's sake, acting to them as He acted to 
 you, in exchanging riches for poverty in your behalf, that you, 
 through His poverty, might enjoy His riches. I give nothing 
 but advice ; and this is in fact all that you need, for already 
 in the past year, not only the act of your collection, but the 
 eagerness with which you prepared for it, was apparent ; and 
 all that you have to do is to complete the act, in order that the 
 act may correspond to the eagerness of the intention. And even 
 in the act, remember that it is to be proportioned to your means; 
 for it is not the amount, but the intention which is regarded in 
 a gift. This is so always ; and in this case there is no loish 
 that you should be heavily pressed for the relief of others. 
 There must be a fair equality. If you contribute now, they 
 must contribute afterwards ; so that in your deeds of liberality, 
 the saying ivill be fulfilled which we read in the account of the 
 manna gatherers, ' Much was not too much, and little was not 
 too little,^ 
 
474 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 The Poverty of Christ. 
 
 Whatever general instruction may be gathered from this 
 portion of the Epistle has been sufficiently expressed in the 
 notes on 1 Cor. xvi. 1. But one passage, although entirely 
 parenthetical, needs to be considered on its own account. ' For 
 your sakes He became poor that ye through His poverty might 
 become rich ' (viii. 9). 
 
 The passage is remarkable on many accounts: (1) It is a 
 striking instance of the Apostle's frequent mode of allusion to 
 the most solemn truths of Christian Revelation, in the midst of 
 arguments referring to what may almost be called the every 
 day business of life. 
 
 (2) By directly alluding to the ordinary trials and humilia- 
 tions of our Lord's life, it bears witness to the accuracy of the 
 Gospel narrative. The word {sirrco^Evcrs) ought not indeed to 
 be pressed to its strictly classical sense of ' beggary,' because 
 in the New Testament it almost seems to have superseded the 
 common word for ' poverty ' (Travla, itsvtjs). And our Lord's 
 life, as described in the Gospels, included the home at Caper- 
 naum, the maintenance from the richer Galileans, and the 
 common purse by which He and the Apostles were supported. 
 Still there were times when the Apostle's expression was 
 realised ; as when He spoke of ' not having where to lay His 
 head '(Matt. viii. 20). And the implied assertion that this 
 poverty was a voluntary choice, agrees with the account of the 
 offer and rejection both of the kingdoms of the world in the 
 Temptation (Matt. iv. 9), and of the kingdom of Judaea (John 
 vi. 15). Of a like character are the general expressions, * No 
 man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself 
 (John X. 18): ' Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my 
 Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve 
 legions of angels ' (Matt. xxvi. 53) ; * The cup which my Father 
 hath given me, shall I not drink it' (John xviii. ]\\ The 
 peculiar form in which the contrast is here expressed, ' being 
 rich He was ipoov \£'7rTco')(^svcrsv 7r\ov(Tt>os wz/),as though He were 
 rich and poor at the same time, agrees with the whole tone of 
 the Gospels, by which, more than by any direct expressions, we 
 infer the indissoluble union of Divine power and excellence 
 with human weakness and suffering. 
 
THE POVERTY OF CHEIST. 475 
 
 (3) This text, 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, in- 
 cidentally 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 
 Europe. It shows how much of the extravagance of that in- 
 stitution 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 defi- 
 nite and uniform system. 
 
 At the commencement of the 14th century, the whole in- 
 terest of theological controversy was centred in the question 
 suggested by the Apostle's words — namely, whether Christ was 
 absolutely a mendicant, and whether it was the duty of Chris- 
 tians to imitate His absolute abnegation of property. On one 
 side were the spiritual Franciscans, the great Schoolman Wil- 
 liam of Ockham, and the Bull of Pope Nicholas IV. ; on the 
 other side, the moderate Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the 
 Bull of Pope John XXII. ^ The moderate party prevailed ; 
 and it is certain that their victory was borne out both by the 
 facts of the Gospel, which imply that our Lord and His dis- 
 ciples were never in absolute want, and by the language of the 
 Apostle, who implies that the distinctions and counterbalancing 
 duties, hopes and fears, of rich and poor were to continue 
 amongst his converts. 
 
 ^ Milman's * Latiu Christianity,' vol. v, book xii. c, 6. 
 
476 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 The Mission of Titus. 
 Chap. VIII. 16—24. 
 
 The Apostle had already sent Titus with one or more 
 Mission of Christians from Ephesus, charged with the duty of 
 Titus. communicating the First Epistle, and of stimulating 
 the Corinthians in the matter of this contribution (xii. 18 ; 1 
 Cor. xvi. 12). He now sends him again with the Second 
 Epistle ; and whereas, before, the contribution had in compa- 
 rison of the greater interests at stake, been a secondary consi- 
 deration, it was now to be the chief object of his mission. 
 With him he joins two other Christians, whose names are not 
 mentioned, but who, for that very reason, we must suppose to 
 be well known to the Corinthian Church, and therefore to 
 be, either one, or both, the same as he had sent before {rov 
 aSsXcjiov, xii. 18 ; tmv ahsX^wv, 1 Cor. xvi. 12). As in the 
 case of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we can only 
 say with certainty who they are not. They are subordinate to 
 Titus ; and, therefore, can hardly be any of the Apostle's more 
 equal companions, Barnabas, or Apollos, or Silas. They are 
 distinguished from the Macedonian Christians (ix. 4); and, 
 therefore, cannot be Aristarchus, Sopater, or Secundus (Acts 
 XX. 4), or Epaphroditus (Phil. ii. 30). 
 
 If it were worth while to hazard a conjecture, it would 
 Trophi- ^^ that one of the two may have been Trophimus. 
 mus. Trophimus was, like Titus, one of the few Gentiles 
 
 who accompanied the Apostle ; an Ephesian, and therefore 
 likely to have been sent by the Apostle from Ephesus with 
 the First Epistle, or to have accompanied him from Ephesus 
 now ; he was, as is implied of * this brother,' ' whose praise 
 was in all the Churches,' well known ; so well known that the 
 Jews of Asia Minor at Jerusalem immediately recognised him ; 
 he was also especially connected with the Apostle on this very 
 mission of the collection for the poor in Judasa. Thus far 
 would appear from the description of him in Acts xxi. 2P 
 From Acts xx. 4, it also appears that he was with St. Paul on 
 his return from this very visit to Corinth. And the mention 
 
THE MISSION OF TITUS. 477 
 
 in this last passage of the companion, might further suggest 
 that the other nameless * brother ' in viii. 22, was rj, j^j^^g 
 Tychicus. He also was an Ephesian ('of Asia,' 
 Acts XX. 4; ' sent to Ephesus,' 2 Tim. iv. 12 ; Eph. vi. 21). 
 He is mentioned amongst the few names which occur in the 
 Epistle to Titus (iii. 12). He is spoken of in Eph. vi. 21 ; 
 Col. iv. 7, as *a beloved brother,' 'faithful minister and 
 fellow-servant in the Lord,' ' knowing the Apostle's affairs,' 
 which agrees well with the description of ' our brother, whom 
 we have oftentimes proved earnest in many things ' (viii. 22). 
 These three men he now proceeds to commend to their 
 attention — Titus, merely by expressing his own confidence in 
 him, the other two more formally, as if not equally well 
 known. 
 
478 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 16—19. 
 
 The Mission of Titus. 
 
 ^^XdpLS Se Tw 6eS TO) BlSovtl Trjv avTrjv cnrovSrjv vnep 
 vficov kv TTJ KapSiq, Ttrov, ^^oti ttjv fxkv irapaKk-qcTLV cSe- 
 faro, cTTTOuSatoTcpo? Se virdp^oiv av6aip€.T0<; e^rjXOev wpo^ 
 vfjiois. ^^ crvveTreixxpafxev Se fxer avTov roi^ dBeX4>6v^ ov 6 
 
 ^^But grace* be to God who putteth the same earnest care for you in 
 the heart of Titus, ^''for indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being 
 more earnest, of his own accord he went out unto you. ^^And we sent 
 
 • Or * thanks.' 
 
 1 6 He begins by expressing 
 his gratitude to God, for the ear- 
 nestness of Titus, in the par- 
 ticular matter, as he had before 
 for his earnestness in behalf of 
 the Corinthian Church generally, 
 ii. 14, vii. 6, 7, 15, 16. 
 
 Tw StSdvTt, * who is giving,^ as 
 though the Apostle saw before 
 his eyes the working of Titus's 
 eagerness. 
 
 T7JV avTTJv o-TTOvSrjv vTrep v/xtov, 
 ' the same earnestness in your 
 behalf that I feel myself, and 
 that I have just expressed' (in 
 verses 8-15). 
 
 cv T^ KapSia TtTov, * not merely 
 in the words or deeds, but in 
 the very heart of Titus ' The 
 word (not then familiarised by 
 use) is probably always to be 
 taken in an emphatic sense in 
 these Epistles. 
 
 17 oTt rqv . . . (TTTOvSatoTepos 
 8c, ' inasmuch as, whilst he did 
 indeed receive the charge from 
 me, yet he was more earnest of 
 himself to go.' 
 
 TrapdKXrja-Lv. Properly, * eager 
 exhortation,' see viii. 6. 
 
 cTTrovSaiorepo?, either : (1) 
 ' more earnest than myself,' or 
 (2) 'more earnest than he was 
 before,' or (3) * very earnest,' 
 
 like Scto-iSat/xovccTTcpov?, in Acts 
 xvii. 22. 
 
 vTrdpxoiv, instead of wv, ex- 
 presses that this was the cause 
 of his departure ; — ' because he 
 was already so earnest, before 
 I entreated him.' See xii. 16, 
 V7rdp)(u)v Travovpyo^. 
 
 av^atperos. See note on viii. 3. 
 
 i^XOev, 'left the province of 
 Macedonia for that of Achaia.' 
 The word, when used absolutely, 
 seems always to have an em- 
 phatic meaning of this kind. See 
 ii. 13. The past tenses here and 
 throughout this passage, (rvv€- 
 TTi/xif/afjLev, ^Tre/jul/a, may imply 
 that the events described had 
 taken place before the Apostle 
 wrote. But the whole strain of 
 the passage so clearly indicates 
 a present mission, that the past 
 tense must be ascribed to the 
 forms of ancient epistolary com- 
 munication, according to which 
 the most recent events are repre- 
 sented in the light in which they 
 will appear to the persons who 
 receive the letter ; as though he 
 said, ' You will find that Titus 
 departed.' 
 
 18 crvveTrefuf/a/xa/ Se jxer av- 
 Tov. The phrase /tcr' avrov is, 
 properly speaking, superfluous. 
 
THE MISSION OF TITUS. 
 
 479 
 
 €7raivo<; kv rco euayycX-to) 8ia Traacoi^ rcov IkkXtjo-loji' ^^ [ov 
 fjiovov Se", dWa koI ■)(eLpoTOV7j6eU viro rcov eKKXrjaLCjp 
 
 with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the 
 churches ^^(and not that only, but who was also chosen by the churches 
 
 It is like saying, * We sent him 
 with Titus as his companion.^ 
 For the person here meant see 
 remarks on p. 4:76. 
 
 Tov aS€\<f)6vj 'the brother 
 whom you know,' so xii. 18, 
 where probably the same person 
 is meant. 
 
 ov 6 £7raii/os, * who has his 
 praise.' Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 5 ; 
 Rom. ii. 29. 
 
 €V T<S evayycXto), * in the 
 preaching,' or * the sphere of 
 the glad tidings of Christ,' like 
 iv xp'-^'^^' So X. 14; Phil. iv. 
 3 ; 1 Thess. iii. 2. 
 
 8ta Trao-tuv twv iKKXrja-twv, 
 * through the whole range of 
 congregations through which I 
 have passed.' Compare * the 
 care of all the Churches,' xi. 28. 
 These words are applied to St. 
 Luke, in the longer version of 
 the Ignatian Epistles, and by 
 Jerome, in his commentary on 
 the Epistle to Philemon, and his 
 catalogue of * Illustrious Men,' 
 alluding expressly to the written 
 Gospel. But this is a misunder- 
 standing of the words iv tw 
 cvayycXiw. The error was first 
 pointed out by Grotius. 
 
 ig ov jjLovov 8c, ' and not only 
 is he generally praised ' (for the 
 abrupt construction comp. viii. 
 5 ; Rom. ix. 10), ' but he was 
 specially selected for the very 
 purpose of the contribution.' 
 
 X'^f-poTovr}$€Ls. )(€LpoTov€Lv in 
 classical Greek is properly 'to 
 vote by show of hands,' then 
 •* to elect by show of hands,' as 
 
 ■^eipoTOveLV tlvcl (TTparrjyov, Xen. 
 Hell. vi. 2, 11, and hence used, 
 in the passive voice 
 especially, m contradis- 
 tinction to \ay)(a-v€Lv, ' election 
 by lot.' ■)(€LpoTovr)0€l<s y Aa;((uv, 
 Plato, Pol. 300, a. From this 
 meaning of * deliberate ' as dis- 
 tinct from ' chance selection,' it 
 came to signify ' election ' or 
 ' choice ' of any kind, whether by 
 show of hands or not. Thus in 
 Josephus, passim, as Ant. VI. iv. 
 2 ; xiii. 9, vVo tov Oeov /3a(TiX€v<s 
 K€)(€LpoTovr}fji€vo<; (see Wetstein, 
 ad loc.)y and in the N. Test, as 
 here and in Acts xiv. 23, of the 
 choice of presbyters by the Apo- 
 stles. Compare a similar trans- 
 ference of the ancient forms of 
 political speech to Christian life, 
 in the case of iKKkrja-La and cVi* 
 or/coTTo? in Greek, and ' ordo,' 
 ' ordinatiOj^ ' diocesis,' in Latin. 
 But from this use of the word 
 in the Christian congregations, a 
 new meaning sprang up in later 
 Ecclesiastical Greek, ' of election ' 
 by imposition of hands, thus re- 
 turning in some degree to its 
 etymological sense. In this sense, 
 probably, it is used in the sub- 
 scriptions to 2 Tim. iv. 24 ; Tit. 
 iii. 5, iTTLa-KOTTOv xeipoTovi]0€VTa. 
 
 VTTo Twv iKKXrjo-Lwv, ' by the 
 congregations in which he is 
 praised,' referring back to Trao-wv 
 
 TWV €KK\r](TL(i)V. 
 
 <ruv€KBr] pios rjfiwv, ' to be my 
 fellow-traveller,' so Acts xix. 
 29, speaking of Gains and Ari- 
 starchus. 
 
 iv ry \apLTi ravrrj, * in the 
 
480 
 
 SECOND JEPISTLE: CHAP. YllL 20—23. 
 
 o-vv€KBr)iJLO<; r)iJLcov ^ €v rfj )(dpiTi Tavrrj rrj hiaKovovixevrj vff) 
 TfyiOiv TTpos TTjv ^ Tov KvpLOV So^av KoL TTpoOvjjiLav ""tjixcoi/)^ 
 "'^^ (TTeXXoiiei'OL TovTO, ixTj Tts ')7/>ta9 fJLcoixrja-rjrai kv rfj aSpo- 
 Tr)TL TavTTj rrj SiaKovovfieprj vcf) rjfjLcov '^^^Trpovoovfjiev yap 
 
 ' avy. ^ Add aiirov. <= vfiwv. ^ irpovoovfievoi Ka\d. 
 
 to travel with us with this grace, which is ministered by us to show the 
 glory of the Lord and our ready mind), 2° avoiding this, that no man 
 should blame us in this plenty which is administered by us : ^^for we 
 
 matter of their contribution.' 
 See viii. 6, 7. 
 
 rfj SLaKovovfiivrj, * which is now 
 in the process of ministration.' 
 See viii. 4. 
 
 There were two purposes to be 
 answered by the contribution : 
 
 (1) ' The glory of the Lord ; ' 
 as we should say, the credit 
 which would accrue to Christi- 
 anity from the liberality of the 
 Gentile Churches. Comp. Rom. 
 XV. 16, ' ministering the Gospel 
 of God, that the offering up of 
 the Gentiles might be acceptable.' 
 
 (2) The proof of the Apostle's 
 zeal for the Jewish Christians. 
 Comp. Gal. ii. 10, ' that we 
 should remember the poor ; the 
 same which I also was forward 
 (^ecnrovSaa-a) to do.' 
 
 20 cTTeXXofxevoL properly be- 
 
 o-reAXdiie- Jongs to (TVV€TrefJ.xf/afX€V, 
 
 "O'- intimating that the rea- 
 
 son of the Apostle's sending the 
 brother with Titus was to avoid 
 cause for suspicion, two going 
 instead of one. From xii. 18, it 
 appears that he was charged 
 with collecting money for his 
 own purposes, through the means 
 of his companions ; and thus the 
 ' brother ' here mentioned was 
 added, first by the Churches at 
 his own request, as a companion 
 to himself, to act as a check 
 upon his own conduct ; next by 
 himself, as a companion to Titus, 
 to act as a check on the conduct 
 
 0iSp6Tr]<; 
 
 aSpoTTj?. 
 
 of Titus. oreXXo/xej/ot tovto, 
 ' drawing in, contracting this 
 free indulgence of our feelings,' 
 as in classical Greek, for ' draw- 
 ing in sails,' torrta /xlv oretXavTO, 
 Iliad, i. 433 ; and as in the only 
 other passage where it occurs in 
 the N. T., 2 Thess. iii. 6 : a-riX- 
 XccrOat v/xa?, ' to draw in your- 
 selves.' 
 
 /xt; Tts /JLio/JLrjcryjTaL See vi. 3, 
 where the word occurs in a simi- 
 lar context. 
 
 iv rrj aSpoTTjTi ravrrj. 
 is properly 'thickness,' 
 as of snow; then 'ful- 
 ness,' 'ripeness,' as of corn; then 
 'largeness' of any kind, chiefly 
 of body. Hence aSpos in LXX. 
 is used for the 'rich' or ' great,' 
 1 Kings i. 9 ; 2 Kings x. 6, 11, 
 like ' proceres ' in Latin. 
 
 In the N. Test, the word oc- 
 curs only here, and is used in 
 the sense of ' abundance,' as in 
 Zosimus, quoted by Wetstein; 
 in this passage, apparently to in- 
 dicate the need there was for 
 caution in dealing with a contri- 
 bution so large as this promised 
 to be. 
 
 2 1 Trpovoovfxev yap KaXd .... 
 dv6pw7roiv. These same words 
 occur in Rom, xii. 17, in refer- 
 ence to the heathen world, irpo- 
 voeia-Oai is ' to take precautions 
 for.' The words are taken from 
 Prov. iii. 4 (LXX.) : irpovoov 
 kclXcl Ivumiov Kvptov koI dv6p<jiTr(DV, 
 
THE MISSION OF TITUS. 
 
 481 
 
 Ka\a ov fJLOVOV ipcjinov KVpCov^ aXXa kol ivcoinov avOpcoTTCov, 
 ^^ (TVPeirefJL\jJafJL€v be avTois rov aoeK(pov tjimmv^ ov eooACt/xa- 
 aafxep iv ttoXXoIs TroXXa/cts cnrovSoLOv ovra, vvvX Se rrokv 
 cnrovSaioTepov TrenoLdijo-eL ttoXXtJ tyj eU v/xa?. '"^^etre vwep 
 Tltov, Koiv(j)vo^ e/109 /cai eis v/ias crvvepyos' etre dSeXc^ol 
 
 provide for things good not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the 
 sight of men. ^^And we sent with them our brother, whom we many- 
 times in many things proved earnest, but now much more earnest, upon 
 the great confidence felt in you. '^^ Whether [I speak] for Titus, he is 
 my partner and fellow-worker concerning you : or our brethren, they are 
 
 22 TTCTTOt^^O-et TTOXA.^ TT} €19 
 
 vfia<: is to be connected with 
 (TTTovSaLOTepov : ' more earnest be- 
 cause of the confidence in you 
 inspired by Titus's account.' 
 
 23 €tT€ vTTtp Tltov. He now 
 winds up his account of the mes- 
 sengers, with a general recom- 
 mendation of them to the Corin- 
 thian Church. After TtVov must 
 be supplied some such phrase as 
 Aeyo). For the use of ctrc with 
 independent nominatives, see 1 
 Cor. xiii. 8 : etrc yXuxra-ai . . . 
 €tT€ yvo)(TL<;. 
 
 KOLV(j)v6<5 is generally so used as 
 to express in what the person 
 participates, but here and in 
 Philem. 17, standing alone, it 
 must be ' my intimate com- 
 panion.' 
 
 KOL €ts vfxas (rvvepy6<s, ' and 
 especially my fellow-labourer to- 
 wards you.' 
 
 oLTToa-ToXoi iKKXrjcTLuiv, ' they are 
 , , messengers of con^re- 
 
 gations. rrom the 
 omission of the article, it is evi- 
 dent that the stress is laid on 
 iKKXrja-Lwv, to express the autho- 
 rity with which they came ; by 
 which, therefore, both the name- 
 less brothers were appointed. 
 
 This passage is one of the few 
 where the word aTroa-roXo'; is ap- 
 plied to any besides the Apostles 
 of Christ. In Phil. ii. 25, it is 
 
 used of Epaphroditus, in Rom. 
 xvi. 7, of Andronicus and Junia, 
 and Acts xiv. 4, 14, of Barnabas. 
 So^a )(pL(TTov. It is hard to say 
 why this expression * the ' or 
 * a ' ' glory of Christ,' should be 
 used so emphatically of these 
 brethren. It evidently expresses 
 the same thought as the phrase 
 Trpos r^v rov Kvptov do^av^ in verse 
 19, and 8o$ol^ovt€<s tov Oeov^ in ix. 
 13. This last passage seems to 
 imply that the glory of Christ 
 would in an especial manner be 
 shown to the Jewish Christians 
 by the zeal of the Gentile Chris- 
 tians in their behalf; and the 
 same is implied in the narrative 
 of the Acts XV. 3, * the conver- 
 sion of the Gentiles . . . caused 
 great joy to all the brethren ; ' 
 and xxi. 19, ' when James and 
 the elders had heard what things 
 God had wrought among the 
 Gentiles by his ministry, they 
 glorified the Lord.' 
 
 24 Tr]v evSeL^Lv, ' the display.' 
 Kav)(T^(T€(DS, ' my boast of your 
 readiness.' What this 'boast' 
 was, appears more clearly from 
 ix. 1, 2, 3, and the mention of it 
 here marks the point of transition 
 to a new subject. 
 
 The construction of the parti- 
 ciple for the imperative is fre- 
 quent in St. Paul ; see Rom. xii. 
 9-19; Eph. iii. 18; Col. iii. 16. 
 
 I I 
 
482 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. VIII. 24. 
 
 rjixcoVy anoaToXoi iKKXrjcTLwv^ So^a ^icttov. ^^ttjv ovv iv- 
 Sei^Lv Trjs aydwrjs vfjLcov kol rifjicop Kav^aeoyq virep vfjLOJV 
 els avToifs ^ ivBeLKPVfxevoL^ els Trpocrcjirov tcop iKKkrjo-Lcov. 
 
 • iviel^aa-Be, Koi els. 
 
 messengers of the Churches, the glory of Christ. ^^ Wherefore display ye 
 to them the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf, in the 
 face of the churches. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. VIII. 16—24. 
 
 Before I proceed I must thank God, whose goodness I see before 
 my eyes in the earnestness, equal to my own, which has taken 
 possession of the inmost being of Titus ; for, though he received 
 the entreaty which I made to him, yet it was from his own 
 intense earnestness that of his own accord he determined to 
 start on his journey to Corinth. As his companion, you zvill 
 find the Christian friend who has his praise repeated in all the 
 congregations where he has preached the glad tidings of Christ, 
 and not only so, but was chosen by those congregations to travel 
 with me whilst I was collecting this contribution, the contribu- 
 tion which will redound to the glory of no less than Christ 
 Himself, and will prove my zeal for the Christian poor in 
 Judosa, This precaution has been taken, to avoid any impu- 
 tation of misappropriation of so large a sum, and in the wish, 
 as it is said in the Proverbs, to look forward for the exhibition 
 of what is good, not only before the Lord, but before men. 
 And with these two I have sent another friend, my own com- 
 panion, whose earnestness I have proved often before, and now 
 see to be yet more increased by his confidence in you. He- 
 member, therefore, that Titus is my own intimate counsellor, 
 and, as far as you are concerned, my active fellow-labourer ; 
 and that the others are messengers of many Christian congre- 
 gations, and are the glory of the name of Christ. Display to 
 them, and in the presence of the congregations which have sent 
 them, the truth of your love and of my boast of you. 
 
THE MISSION OF TITUS. 483 
 
 Two points are remarkable in this account of the mission : — ■ 
 
 First. The Apostle's worldly prudence, in securing ^, 
 his own character from any unworthy attacks by the Apostle's 
 presence of constant companions. It exemplifies a Prudence. 
 combination rarely seen, of common sense and sagacity with 
 great enthusiasm, and as thus fulfilling our Lord's precept, ' be 
 ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves.'' He makes his 
 spiritual voyage not with his sails full spread and filled, to 
 catch every gust of his own impulse or of popular enthusiasm, 
 but (as he here describes) ' drawn in ' and ' furled.' Such was 
 his conduct, as described in the Acts, when he argued with the 
 Sanhedrin,2 and effected his escape from the conspiracy,^ and 
 appealed to the Emperor,"* and cheered the crew in the ship- 
 wreck.^ 
 
 Secondly. The insight which is afforded into the outward 
 administration of the Early Church. 
 
 (1) We find, in the expressions * through all the 2. Admi- 
 Churches,' ' messengers of Churches,' a certain inter- nistration 
 communication between the different congregations, early 
 They are not independent of each other, on the one Church. 
 hand : and, on the other hand, they are not united to each 
 other by any external polity. 
 
 (2) The officers of the Church are elected by these congre- 
 gations. This agrees with the form of election of the chief 
 officers — 'the Bishops,' — which continued down to the fifth 
 century. 
 
 (3) They are elected for specific purposes; in this case for 
 the administration of the alms of the Churches for the Christian 
 poor in Jerusalem, and to travel with the Apostle. With this 
 agree the frequent indications in the Acts, that (to use the 
 words of Jeremy Taylor ®) ' there was scarce any public design 
 or grand employment, but the Apostolic men had a new ordi- 
 nation to it, a new imposition of hands.' ^ 
 
 1 Matt. X. 16. 
 
 * Acts xxiii. 6. 
 
 3 Ibid. xxui. 17. 
 
 * Ibid. XXV. 11. 
 
 5 Ibid, xxvii. 10, 22, 34. 
 
 ^ Works, vii. p. 43. 
 
 ' Compare Acts xiii. 1, xiv. 26, 
 XV. 40. 
 2 
 
484 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 (4) This is the earliest detailed instance of the special 
 missions on which the Apostle sent out his favourite and con- 
 fidential companions at the head of other disciples, to arrange 
 the affairs of a particular Church. What Titus does here at 
 Corinth, is the same in kind as what he is afterwards charged 
 to do at Crete,^ returning when his work is ended.^ And the 
 same may be said of the charge to Timotheus at Ephesus.^ It 
 is the first beginning of what in its permanent form became 
 Episcopacy. 
 
 1 Tit. 1-5, ii. 15. 1^1 Tim. iii. 1-vi. 21 ; 2 Tim. iv. 
 
 2 Ibid iii. 12. I 21. 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 
 
 485 
 
 The Spirit in which the Collection is to be made. 
 Chap. IX. 1—15. 
 
 IX. ^Trepl fxev yap r^s Sta/coi^ias Trj<; ets tov<; ayiovs 
 TrepKTCTOv [JLOL iaTiv TO ypdifteiv v[uv. ^6l8a yap T7]v irpoSv- 
 fiiav vfJLwv ^v vnep vfjiajv Kaxr^cofiai MaKeSocnv, on 'A-^ata 
 
 ^ For about the ministering to the saints it is superfluous for me to 
 write to you : ^for I know your readiness of mind of which I boast of 
 you to the Macedonians, that Achaia has been prepared a year ago, and 
 
 The Apostle now once more 
 turns back to the collection itself, 
 but reluctantly, as if he was afraid 
 that he should annoy them by im- 
 portunity ; and he therefore hangs 
 what he has to say on the mis- 
 sion of the brethren, which he 
 has just mentioned ; and presses 
 upon them (1) speed ; ix. 1-5 ; 
 (2 ) readiness ; ix. 6, 7 ; (3) 
 bounty ; 8—15. 
 
 IX. I TTcpt //t€v yap ttJs Sia- 
 Kovias. This complication of 
 thoughts is apparent in the con- 
 struction of this first sentence. 
 The sense required is, ' I have 
 made a boast concerning you to 
 the Macedonian Churches, which 
 I trust will not be nullified by 
 your lukewarmness. For this 
 reason, though knowing your 
 zeal, I sent the brethren before- 
 hand.' Accordingly, the proper 
 construction would be that I- 
 Trefxij/a Be in verse 3 should have 
 followed immediately on the men- 
 tion of his ' boast ' in viii. 24. 
 But he wishes, after his manner, 
 to state his approval of what they 
 had done before he states his fear 
 of what they were going to ne- 
 glect; and therefore first ex- 
 presses the confidence which had 
 caused his boast. ' I speak of my 
 
 hoast and of my anxiety concern- 
 ing it, for to urge upon you the 
 contribution is needless.' For 
 similar constructions see viii. 12 ; 
 1 Cor. X. 1. 
 
 The parenthesis thus intro- 
 duced continues to verse 2, and 
 the original sentence is resumed 
 in emixij/a 8c, in 3, fiev may either 
 have a relation to this 8c, as 
 though the sentence were Trcpl Bk 
 Tioy dScA-^wv ov TTcpLaa-oVj or may 
 stand by itself to limit his words 
 to the contribution, as in 1 Cor. 
 V. 3. ^ ■ 
 
 TO ypd<f>€Lv .... TTcpicrorov, ' my 
 writing to you is superfluous.' 
 
 2 yap gives the reason for 
 Trepwro-ov — * I say superfluous, for 
 I know your readiness.' For the 
 meaning of 'A;(aia, see i. 1. For 
 the fact of the preparation of 
 the Corinthian Church in the 
 *past year, see viii. 10. The tense 
 of TrapctTKcmo'Tai, and the en- 
 treaty in the next verse that 
 they would ' be prepared ' (iva 
 TrapadKcvaa-jjiivoL rjTe), as though 
 they were not now prepared, in- 
 timate that the Apostle in his 
 over confidence had overstated 
 the case to the Macedonians ; 
 and he now dwells on the fact 
 of his having done so with the 
 
486 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 3--5. 
 
 TrapecTKevacTTaL oltto Trepvcri, kol *6 ^viiwv ^rjXo^ 'qpeOicrev 
 T0V9 irXeLovas' ^e7r€/xi//a Se tovs aBek(j)Ov<;, Iva /xt) to 
 Kav^fxa 7)fJLa)v to virkp vfxojv Kevo)0fj iv t&) fiepei tovtco^ 
 Iva Ka6ct)<; ikeyov TTapecKevacrix^voi rJTe^ ^fjuij ttw?, iav ek- 
 ObiCTLV (Tvv ifjLol MaKeS6ve<; kol evpcjcnv vfias aTrapaaKev- 
 do'Tovs, KaTaL(r)(yv6cofji€u rjfxeLS (w'a [Jirj Xeycofxev v/xct?) iv 
 • Lachm. Ed. 1. rh. »» Add i^. 
 
 your zeal provoked the greater part : 'but I sent the brethren, lest our 
 boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that as I said ye may 
 be prepared, *lest haply, if any Macedonians come with me and find you 
 unprepared, we (that we say not ye) should be ashamed in this same 
 
 view partly of not giving a cause 
 of complaint to the Macedonians, 
 partly of delicately giving another 
 motive to the Corinthians to com- 
 plete their work. That he should 
 have made an over-statement is 
 not to be wondered at, if we con- 
 sider his eagerness and his love 
 for the Church of Corinth, and 
 it is paralleled by the hasty ex- 
 clamation about the High Priest 
 in Acts xxiii. 3-5. 
 
 KOL 6 vfX(i)V t,rjXo<s ypiOicrei/ tov<s 
 TrXetWa?, 'and it was by your 
 zeal that the majority of the Ma- 
 cedonian Christians were stimu- 
 lated to their generosity,' tov<s 
 •jrA-etoT/a? being the principal word 
 in the sentence. 
 
 $r]\o<s, ' zealous affection,' see 
 xi. 2. Lachmann, in his first 
 edition, read to C^Ao?, with B. (as 
 in viii. 2, to ttAovtos). 
 
 The 'brethren' (viii. 16-24) 
 were sent beforehand, to prevent 
 the appearance of his having ex- 
 aggerated the generosity of Co- 
 rinth. 
 
 Kevo>6'§f 'nullified.' It is also 
 joined with Kavxrjfia, in 1 Cor. ix. 
 15. 
 
 iv Tw fx4p€L TOVT(o, ' in this 
 matter,' as distinguished from 
 those other matters in viii. 11- 
 15, in which he knew that his 
 boast would not be nullified. 
 
 Lva KaOib<i cXcyov TrapccTKCva- 
 a-fxevoL ^T€, * that you might be 
 prepared, as I said that you were 
 prepared.' 
 
 4 MttKcSovc?, ' any Macedo- 
 nians.' This shows that the 
 'brothers,' in viii. 17-24, were 
 not Macedonians. It also agrees 
 with the fact that Macedonians 
 did accompany him to Corinth. 
 See Acts xx. 4. 
 
 KaTaL(TxvvO(i)/jL€v, ' ashamed of 
 having exag^gerated.' 
 
 iva jULT] Xeymfiev ^/^et?. This, 
 though put in parenthetically, is 
 the real cause of this appeal, 
 throwing upon them the respon- 
 sibility of defending him. 
 
 cv T^ vTTOcTTacrii Ta'VTYj. The 
 omission of r^? /cavx^o-eco? (D^.E^ 
 J.K. which probably copied them 
 from xi. 17) in B. C. D^. F. G. 
 renders it necessary that vTroo-ra- 
 trt? here should mean, not ' sub- 
 stance ' or ' solidity,' as in 
 Ps. Ixviii. 2 (LXX.) ; but as in 
 Heb. iii. 14, xi. 1 ; Ps. xxxviii. 
 7 ; Ezek. xix. 5, and the nume- 
 rous passages quoted by Wetstein 
 ad loc. from Polybius and Jo- 
 sephus, ' confidence,^ the fun- 
 damental meaning of the word 
 being ' firmness,' ' something on 
 which to take one's stand.' 
 
 5 Trapa/caAecrai. See note on 
 viii. 6. 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 
 
 487 
 
 ^ avajKolov ovv yjyiqcrdix/Yjv irapaKa- 
 
 TTj viTocTTacreL ravTTj 
 
 Xecrat rovs dSeXc^ov?, Iva iTpoik6o)0'iv 
 TTpoKarapricroicnv ttju '^TrpoeTrqyyekiJLevrfv evkoyiav vfxcov 
 TavTiqv eToCfxrjv eXvaL oijTcos o)? evkoyiav koI fjurj *^&)s irXeo 
 
 * Add rrjs Kavxh<^^<^s. 
 « irpoKarrjyyeXfievqv. 
 
 Sxrv^p. 
 
 stedfastness. ^Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, 
 that they should go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty 
 which was announced before, that the same might be ready as a matter 
 
 TrpoeXOoxTLV . . . TrpoKaTapTto-wo-tv, 
 i.e. ' before the arrival of myself 
 at Corinth.' irpoeTrqyy^k^hrqv, 
 ' before my arrival in Mace- 
 donia,' as in ix. 1, 2, 3. The 
 word TTpo is thus thrice repeated 
 emphatically, as though he had 
 said, ' my watchword is, Before- 
 Jiand, Beforehand^ Beforehand.'' 
 Compare the same sense of it in 
 xiii. 2. 
 
 EvAoyta is used in this Section 
 (as nowhere else in the N.T.) in 
 EvAoyia, the pecuUar sense of 
 'blessing.' a 'gift,' like x^pt?: the 
 gift, or the spirit of giving, is 
 regarded by the Apostle both as 
 in itself a gift and blessing of God, 
 and as calling down the blessing 
 of Grod upon him that gives. 
 Compare ' It is more blessed (/ta- 
 Kapiov) to give than to receive ' 
 (Acts XX. 35) ; and also, 
 ' It blesseth him that gives and 
 
 him that tahes.' 
 The LXX. employ it indifferently 
 for ' gift ' and ' blessing,' as in 
 Gen. xxxiii. 11, of the gift of 
 Jacob to Esau; as a translation 
 of HDin, a ' blessing.' In Prov, 
 xi. 25, ' a generous mind ' is ex- 
 pressed by riD'n? K^D3, ' a soul of 
 blessing.' Originally the blende 
 ing of the two ideas arose from 
 the fact that every blessing or 
 praise of God or man was in the 
 East (as still to a great extent) 
 accompanied by a gift (the mo- 
 
 dern hahhsMah) ; and every gift 
 suggested the expectation of some 
 other gift or advantage in return. 
 
 The Apostle with this new word 
 opens a new subject, namely, the 
 freedom of spirit in which the con- 
 tribution should be made. In 
 doing this he takes advantage of 
 the especial sense which cvXoyia 
 had now acquired as equivalent 
 to €v)(a.piaTLa. (Compare the pa- 
 rallel passages €vxoipL(m^(Ta<s, Luke 
 xxii. 17 ; €vX,oyij(ra<Sj Mark xiv. 
 22 ; and see notes on 1 Cor. x. 16.) 
 * Your gift is called a '' blessing " 
 or " thanksgiving," let it then be 
 made as a free thank-offering 
 from the abundance of the bless- 
 ings which God has given, and 
 not as a payment, which you 
 covet, and which you grudge,' 
 As the Divine blessing (evXoyta) 
 is identified with the ready gift, 
 so human covetousness (TrXeove- 
 ^ia) is identified with the un- 
 willing gift. 
 
 6 TovTo Si. Understand (fiy}fjit, 
 as 1 Cor. vii. 29, ' this is what 
 I mean.' 
 
 The metaphor of sowing and 
 reaping is, in the FJpistles, almost 
 always applied to contributions 
 and alms. See note on 1 Cor. 
 ix. 11. 
 
 €7r' €vA,oyiat?, ' on the condition 
 of blessings,' or ' large ^ifts ; ' 
 comp. 1 Cor. ix. 10,e7r' cXTrcSt apo- 
 rpLwv. ' These are the terms on 
 
488 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 6—11. 
 
 ve^iav. ^tovto Se (6 cnrupaiv c^etSojueVcug (jyeiBojjiei'o)^ Kot 
 SepLaei, kol 6 aireipcov iir euXoytats iir euXoytat? /cat 
 OepLO-ei) ^ eKa<jTo<s Ka6co<s ^TTpoyprjTai rrj KapBia, fxr) Ik 
 \vTTr)<i r) ef avdyKr)<;' 'iXapov yap S6t7)v ayana 6 Oeos. 
 ^^Suj^aret Se 6 6eos Tracrav X^P^^ Trepicrcrevcrai els v/xac, 
 ti^a iv iravTi wavTore Tracrav avTapKeiav e^ovres Treptcr- 
 crevrjTe ets ttSli^ epyov ayaSov^ ^ KaOcos yiypaiTTai 'EcKop' 
 
 irpoaipeirai. 
 
 5vvar6s. 
 
 of bounty and not of covetousness. *But there is this (' he that soweth 
 sparingly, sparingly shall he also reap, and he that soweth bountifully, 
 bountifully shall he also reap '), "^ every one according as he purposeth in 
 his heart, not out of sorrow or of necessity : ^for ' God loveth a cheerful 
 giver.' And God is able to make every grace abound towards you, that 
 ye at every time having every sufficiency in every thing may abound to 
 every good work/ as it is written, * he dispersed abroad, he gave to the 
 
 which we give and on which he 
 shall receive ; ' as in Luke vi. 38, 
 ' Give, and it shall be given 
 unto you ; good measure, pressed 
 down.' 
 
 7 CKaCTTOS, i.e. StSoTO). 
 
 TrpoyprjTatj ' has cJiosen freely,' 
 according to its classical sense in 
 Arist. Ethics, iii. 2. 
 
 rfj KapSta, ' in his own inner- 
 most being : ' see note on viii. 16. 
 
 XvTrqs . . . avdyKrjs. These two 
 words explain Trkeove^iav — ' from 
 a feeling of grief or of necessity,' 
 as opposed to the cheerfulness 
 which the Apostle always makes 
 an essential part of alms-giving 
 (see note on viii. 2 ; Rom. xii. 8), 
 which he here justifies by a refer- 
 ence to Prov. xxii. 8 : dvSpa IXa- 
 pbv KOL SoTTjv evXoyei 6e6s (LXX.). 
 
 8 He expands the reason for 
 giving liberally. 6 Oeos refers 
 back to 6 6e6s in verse 7. 
 
 irdaav X'^P^^i ' ©very gift.' It 
 is used generally, both for what 
 God gives to them, and for what 
 they give to others, as evAoyta in 
 verse 6. 
 
 TTcptcro-evo-at, 'make to over- 
 
 flow.' For this active sense see 
 on iv. 15. 
 
 The accumulation of Trao-tv, ev 
 TravTt, TravTore, Tracrav, Trdv is re- 
 markable. The stress is on -n-cpio-- 
 (T€vr}T€ as connected with Trepto-- 
 crcOcrat, — 'He can make your 
 wealth overflow, so that having 
 a sufficiency (avrapKeuxv, see 1 
 Tim. vi. 6; Phil. iv. 11) for your- 
 selves, you may overflow in good 
 deeds to others.' 
 
 9 Ka^cu? yeypaTTTat, ' so as to 
 exemplify the saying in Ps. cxii. 
 (LXX. cxi.) 9,' ' The man who 
 fears God gives bountifully, and 
 yet has more to give always,' 
 the stress being thus eUrov 
 laid on the last words, *''*"'*• 
 /xeVci €is Tov aidva, ' abides for 
 ever,' ' is never to be exhausted.' 
 Compare Heb. vii. 10, 17, where 
 the immortality of Melchizedek's 
 priesthood is argued in like man- 
 ner from the expression 'for ever ' 
 (eis TOV atwva) in Ps. ex. 4. 
 
 ia-KopTTLCTiv, ' scattered,' is the 
 link with the context of the 
 Apostle, as suggested by the 
 image of sowing, begun in verse 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 
 
 489 
 
 TTLcreVy eS(OKev rot? Trevrjcnv, rj SiKaioavvYf avrov [xivei et? 
 Tov aicova. ^"o oe eTn^oprjyojv cnropov tco cnreipovTi /cat 
 aprov €ts l3p(oaiv ^ -^op-qyTjcreL kol TrXirjOvveL tov cnropov 
 vfioiv Koi ^av^7](reL ra ^yevijixara ri^s SiKaLOcrvvT)^ vfjLwv. 
 ^^iv Travrl TrKovTitpyievoi €ts iraaav anXoTrjTa^ 17719 /ca- 
 
 (Tirepna. 
 
 ^ ytwif/xaTa. 
 
 poor, his righteousness remaineth for ever.' ^^Now he that supplieth 
 seed to the sower will both supply bread for food, and multiply your 
 seed and increase the fruits of your righteousness. ^^ Being enriched in 
 
 6, and continued in 9 ; and shows 
 that in the Apostle's mind, as well 
 as in the Psalmist's, the nomina- 
 tive case is ' the liberal man.' 
 
 rj BiKaioa-vvrj, * righteousness,' 
 here, and in 10, is used 
 m the same sense as m 
 the LXX., Psalm cxi. 9, namely, 
 * beneficence.' See note on 1 
 Cor. xiii. p. 241. Comp. the 
 reading SiKaiocrvvrjv for iXerjfxo- 
 (Tvvrjv, in Matt. vi. 1. 
 
 10 6 8i liru)(oprjy{iiv. He here 
 resumes, after his quotation, the 
 thought of verse 8 : ' But, if you 
 so scatter. He that supplies the 
 wants of the sower and consumer 
 in the natural world, will supply 
 yours also.' 
 
 i7nxopr)yC)Vy from its primary 
 
 sense of ' supplying the chorus,' 
 
 . is hence applied to any 
 
 tnixopriyeiu. g^p^j^ q£ ^ (jgmand, and 
 
 in the N. Test, is always used of 
 the help rendered by God toman. 
 See Gal. iii. 5 ; Col. ii. 19 ; 2 Pet. 
 i. 11.^ 
 
 CTTTopov T(3 cnreipovTi KOL aprov 
 €ts ppSxTLv are suggested by the 
 use of these very words in the 
 comparison of the word of God 
 to the rain in Isa. Iv. 10 (LXX.). 
 
 TO, yevqixaTa ttjs 8LKaL0(rvvr]s 
 ifxiov ('the fruits of your righte- 
 ousness ' or ' beneficence ') is 
 
 suggested by Hos. x. 12, where 
 the whole passage turns ra yevrj- 
 like this on the meta- '*"''*• 
 phor of sowing : o-Trcipare cavrois 
 CIS SiKaLoaijvrjv, TpvyqcTare cts Kap- 
 
 TTOV ^OO^S, ^(DTtO-ttTC €aVTOL<S <^ois 
 
 yvwcrcws, iKt,r}Trj(TaTe tov Kvpiov 
 €(us TOV iXOuv yevrjpxLTa StKatocrv- 
 vr]s v/xLv. As (TTTopov rcfcrs to the 
 harvest, yevTjfjLara refers to the 
 vintage, the word being used in 
 later Greek, and in the N. Test, 
 generally (see Matt. xxvi. 29 ; 
 Mark xiv. 25), in the sense of 
 ' fruit.' /capTTos is applied to this 
 same collection of alms, Rom. 
 XV. 28. 
 
 Compare 1 Cor. iii. 6 : 'I 
 planted ; Apollos watered ; but 
 God gave the increase.' 
 
 II TrAovrt^o/xevot may be con- 
 nected with e^ovTes and TrepLcr- 
 a-€vr}T€ in verse 8, but is rather 
 an instance of the Apostle's free 
 use of participles for indicatives 
 or imperatives, as in viii. 24. 
 
 iv TravTL and el<s iracrLv are ac- 
 cumulated upon each other as in 
 verse 1. 
 
 aTrAoTT^ra, see note on viii. 2. 
 
 ^Tts Korepyd^iTaL 8t' i^/xcov iv^a- 
 pca-TLav ^co), ' your liberality 
 by its contributions produces 
 through us who administer it, 
 
490 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. IX. 12—15. 
 
 Tepyd^eraL St' tjijlojv ^v^apicTTiav *[Ta)] 6eco ^^^otltj Sta- 
 Kovia T7]s \eiTOvpyia<; ravTrjs ov fxovov io-rlu TrpoaavairXrj' 
 povcra TOL vcrTept] fxara to)v ayucov, aXka kol 7repL<Taevov(ra 
 Sua 7ro\\(x>v ev^apLCTTioiv T(o *^€w* ^"^Sta ttjs So/ct/x-^s ttJ? 
 hiaKOvia^ TavTTjq So^d^ovres tov Oeov irrl Trj viroTayfj Trjs 
 ofJLoXoyCas vfJicou els to evayyikiov tov )(pLO'Tov kol dnXo- 
 
 ' Lachm. Ed. 1. €wx**P' ^^V C^'''* . . • t^ xp*<^'''9')» '^"^ 5t3t. 
 
 everything to all liberality, which worketh through us thanksgiving to 
 God ^'that the ministration of this service not only is filling up the wants 
 of the saints, but abounding also by many thanksgivings unto God : 
 ^^they by the proof of this ministration glorifying God for the subjection 
 of your confession in regard to the gospel of Christ, the liberality of your 
 
 thankfulness from those who re- 
 ceive it.* 
 
 Tw ^€(0, 'tov^ards God,' gives 
 the religious turn which he im- 
 mediately follows up in the next 
 sentence. 
 
 12 17 SittKovta, see viii. 4. Xu- 
 Tovpyeiv, XuTovpyta, are 
 used m Rom. xv. 27, of 
 this very contribution, and in 
 Phil. ii. 30, of a similar one. 
 The sense is as in classical Greek 
 of a ' public service,' but here 
 restricted by later use to religi- 
 ous services. By its combina- 
 tion here with ^ thanksgiving to 
 God,' it may have a sense cor- 
 responding to the priestly ser- 
 vice, performed in the Temple by 
 the priests offering victims, in the 
 Christian Church by the people 
 offering good deeds and praise. 
 Compare the same connexion of 
 thought, Heb. xiii. 15, 'by this 
 we offer continually the sacrifice 
 of praise to God, that is, the 
 fruit (comp. yevq/xara in verse 
 10) of our lips, giving thanks to 
 His name. But to do good and 
 to communicate forget not ; for 
 with such sacrifices God is well 
 pleased.' 
 
 Trpoa-avaTrXrjpova-a. ' supplying 
 
 by addition,* only used here, and 
 in xi. 9. 
 
 Treptacrevovaa Sti ttoAAwv cv^a- 
 pLCTToiv Tw ^ew. ' Overflowing 
 beyond its immediate object of 
 relieving want through the many 
 thanksgivings which it causes to 
 be sent up to God.' 
 
 Lacbmann, in his 2nd Ed., 
 reads rw ^cw (C. D. G.), in his 
 1st Ed. Tw ;(ptorTc5 (B.) ; and on 
 the same grounds, in his first re- 
 tains, and in the second omits, 
 Kai before 8ta in verse 18. 
 
 1 3 This sentence, like the one 
 immediately preceding in verse 
 11, is without grammatical con- 
 nexion : Sol^a^ovres relates to 
 TToAAwi/, as irXovTitpfxevoi to v/awv. 
 
 8ta tt}? SoKLixrjs r^s BiaKOVLas, 
 ' through the experience of this 
 service.' 
 
 So^d^ovTC^ TOV Oeov, see viii. 23. 
 
 cTTt rf) VTTOTayfj rr}? o/i-oXoyta? 
 v/Acov 6is TO evayyeXtov tov ■)(pi(TTOv. 
 ' TLey glorify God for the obe- 
 dience which belongs to the con- 
 fession of your faith, in regard to 
 the Gospel of Christ.' For the 
 use of o/xoXoyLa, in this sense, see 
 1 Tim. vi. 12 ; Heb. iii. 1, iv. 
 14, X. 23, in all cases used for 
 ' the profession of Christianity.' 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 
 
 491 
 
 Tr)TL T7)s KOLVcovcas ct? avTovs /cat €ts Traz^ras, /cat avTOiv 
 Se-no-et virep vfxcov iTrnroOovvTOiV vfia^ Sta ttjv iirep^ak' 
 \ov(TCLV -yapiv tov Oeov e<p vfiLV, ^^^^P^^ ' 
 dz^eKStT^yT^TO) avrou 8a)pea. 
 
 TO) ueCO CTTt 
 
 T77 
 
 • Add 86'. 
 
 communication in regard to them and in regard to all, ^'* and themselves 
 by their prayer for you longing after you because of the exceeding grace 
 of God [seen] upon you. ^^ Grace* be unto God for His unspeakable gift. 
 
 • Or ♦ thanks.' 
 
 €19 TO evayyiXiov tov ^l<ttov. 
 See ii. 12. It gives the religious 
 ground of thankfulness, as eis 
 avVov? in the next clause gives 
 the human ground. 
 
 aTrAo-nyrt tt}s Koij/oovia? (not 
 * the sincerity of their commu- 
 nion,' but) as in viii. 2, ' the li- 
 berality of their communication.* 
 
 €19 avTOii9 KoX €19 '7rai/Ta9, * to 
 the Jewish Christians, as if to 
 them, then to all.' 
 
 14 Kttt avToiVy . . . icfi vfuv. 
 This is another independent sen- 
 tence, following out in sense, 
 though not in grammar, the pre- 
 ceding : ' And they, with prayer 
 for you, long to see you, because 
 
 they hear of the exceeding gift 
 which God has worked in you.' 
 
 In these four last verses, the 
 Apostle throws himself forward 
 into the time when at Jerusalem 
 he should receive the thanks of 
 the Jewish Christians for this 
 contribution, and thereby witness 
 the completion of the harmony 
 between the Jewish and Gentile 
 Churches. Hence the impas- 
 sioned thanksgiving for what 
 else seems an inadequate occa- 
 sion. Compare the abrupt intro- 
 duction of similar thanksgivings 
 in Rom. ix. 5, xi. 33-36 ; 1 Cor. 
 XV. 57; Gal. i. 5; Eph. iii. 20 ; 
 1 Tim. i. 17. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. IX. 1^15. 
 
 / have spoken of the boast which I made concerning you to the 
 Macedonian Churches. I have urged you to receive the mission 
 of Titus with Christian love. I might have urged upon you 
 more directly the duty of preparing the contribution ; but I 
 have not done so ; because the very ground of that boast was 
 my confidence in your zeal, which ledme to make theboast that 
 even a year ago the contribution was prepared, on the faith of 
 which the great mass of the Macedonian collection has been 
 made. Titus and his companions loere sent for this very reason 
 that you might be fully prepared ; lest I should appear to have 
 exaggerated what you had done, and lest any Macedonian 
 Christians, who may accompany me to Corinth, should think 
 
492 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 that they have been deceived, and so I, or rather youy shouldt 
 have cause to blush for what I said. Therefore my injunction 
 to the brethren was to be beforehand in arriving at Corinth, to 
 be beforehand in preparing the contribution, as 1 have been 
 beforehand in announcing it ; remembering that, according to 
 the language of the Old Testament, such a contribution is a 
 blessing — a blessing both to the givers and receivers, and there- 
 fore to be given willingly and plentifully, as though it were 
 something which you were glad to part with, not something which 
 you were grasping to keep. What I mean is this : — That all 
 contributions are, according to the well-known j^gure, like seed 
 sown; if sown sparinoly, there is a scanty harvest; if plenti- 
 fully, as men shower down blessings, then there will be a harvest 
 of blessings. And in such contributions let every one give 
 according to the free choice of his own heart and conscience ; 
 as the Proverbs declare, it is only a cheerful giver whom God 
 loves and blesses. And the God who so loves a cheerful giver, 
 is able to make an overflowing not of one only but ofe\erj kind 
 of gift ; so that, not in one matter only, but in every matte? , 
 not atone time only, but at every time, you may have for your- 
 selves, not one kind only, but every kind of sufficiency ; and 
 that you may in your turn overflow, not in one kind only, but 
 in every kind, of good work. As the Psalmist describes of the 
 good man how he ^ scatters, and gives to the poor, and yet his 
 beneficence remains inexhaustible for all time ; ' and as Isaiah 
 describes the word of God like the rain which always supplies 
 ' seed to the sower and bread for food, so He will surely supply 
 and multiply the harvest of your good deeds, and the vintage of 
 your benevolence ; and thus you loill have riches ofeyerj kind 
 to spend on every kind of liberality. Thus the result will be a 
 great thanksgiving, not only in the sight of man, but of God ; 
 not only a necessary supply of the wants of the Christian poor, 
 but an overflowing, as in a sacred service, of many thanks- 
 givings to Christ : those who experience the benefits of this 
 contribution will offer glory to God for your obedience to the 
 confession which you made in the service of the glad tidings 
 of Christ, for the liberality of your communication in the 
 service of themselves and of all Christians ; and in their pray ers 
 they will long to see you for the favour which God manifests 
 so greatly to you and through you to them, and which calls forth 
 in me one last thanksgiving for the gift, great beyond words 
 to express, in the fulfilment of this mission. 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 493 
 
 In concluding this Section, two points are to be remarked : 
 I. The great stress laid by the Apostle on the 
 contribution of the Corinthian Church. He had anceofthe 
 warned them in the First Epistle ^ to have it ready ; contribu- 
 he had ' boasted ' of their preparations, making the Corin- 
 very most of it that he could to the Churches of thian 
 Macedonia ; by that boast the Macedonian Churches ^^ ' 
 had chiefly been stimulated to make exertions,^ which, by the 
 time that he wrote this Epistle, had been very great, almost 
 beyond their means.* He now devotes a whole section of an 
 important Epistle solely to this subject ; he sends Titus, the 
 most energetic and fervent of his companions, with the view of 
 urging the completion of the collection ; ^ he joins with him two 
 Christians, distinguished for their zeal, known through all the 
 congregations through which he had passed, tried by himself in 
 many difficulties, messengers of many Churches, ' the glory of 
 Christ Himself.'^ He heaps entreaty upon entreaty that they 
 will be ready, that they will be bountiful. He promises the 
 fulness of God's blessings upon them if they persevere : ^ he 
 anticipates a general thanksgiving to God and Christ, and an 
 ardent affection for them, from those whom tHey relieve ; ^ he 
 compares the contribution to no less than the gifts of God 
 Himself, as though it were itself an especial gift of God and 
 could only be expressed by the same word (' grace,' ' bless- 
 ing ') ; ® he urges them to it by an appeal to the suffering life 
 of Christ ; ^ he utters solemn thanksgivings to God for the zeal 
 which Titus showed in the matter, and for the ' unspeakable 
 gift ' itself. ^° Finally, when on arriving at Corinth, he found 
 the gift completed,^ ^ it determined his course to Jerusalem ^^ in 
 spite of his ardent desire ^^ to visit Rome and Spain, and in spite 
 of the many dangers and difficulties of which he was warned 
 upon his road ; for the sake of taking this contribution he was 
 
 * 1 Cor. xvi. 1-4. 
 2 2 Cor. ix. 2. 
 
 ' viii. 2, 3. 
 
 * viii. 6, 17. 
 
 5 viii. 18, 22, 23. 
 « ix. 4, 5, 6-10. 
 ' ix. 11-14. 
 
 8 viii. 1, 7, 9, ix. 5, 6. 
 
 » 2 Cor. viii. 9. 
 10 viii. 16, ix. 15. 
 " Rom. XV. 26. 
 1^ 1 Cor. xvi. 4. 
 13 Rom. XV. 23, 24, i. 10, 11 
 
494 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 ' bound in spirit,' he was ' ready to die for the name of the 
 Lord Jesus ; ' ' and if he should succeed in finding that it was 
 ' acceptable,' then, and not before, he could ' come with joy ' 
 and ' refresh himself with the Christians of the West.'^ 
 
 The reasons which invested this contribution with such im- 
 portance, are probably to be found in the fact that he had been 
 expressly charged, as a condition of his separate Apostleship 
 to the Grentiles, with making this collection ^ for the Jewish 
 Christians. Hence he would be doubly anxious to present it, 
 especially that part of it which came from the capital of Greece, 
 from his own chief and favourite Church, and the place of his 
 longest residence in Europe. It was a proof of his influence 
 over them, and was also a peace-offering ^ from the greatest of 
 the Gentile Churches to the greatest of the Jewish, a recogni- 
 tion of the spiritual blessings which had proceeded from Jeru- 
 salem.^ His ardour in the cause thus belongs to the same 
 impassioned love for his country and people, which shows itself 
 with hardly less vehemence, though in a more general form, in 
 the Epistle to the Romans : * I could wish myself accursed 
 from Christ for his brethren's sakes.' ^ * My heart's desire 
 and prayer to God is, that they might be saved.' ^ 'Hath 
 God cast away his people ? God forbid. For I also am an 
 Israelite.' ® 
 
 This unexpected burst of Jewish enthusiasm thus occurring 
 in the midst of an address to his own especial converts, is a 
 touching proof how, in a strange land, he still remembered 
 Zion ; how the glories of the Apostleship had not extinguished 
 the generous feelings of the Jewish patriot ; how tender the 
 recollection which, unlike the proverbial bitterness of converts 
 and renegades, he still cherished for the Church of his nativity, 
 and the land of his people. 
 
 II. This Section shows that the community of goods, de- 
 scribed in Acts ii. 44, iv. 32, had even already come to be 
 observed only in spirit ; and that the idea of Christian equality 
 required not an absolute uniformity, but a mutual co-operation 
 and assistance. It could no longer be said that ' none among 
 believers possessed aught of his own ; ' or that * none lacked.' 
 There were rich Christians and poor Christians. The only 
 
 1 Acts XX. 22, 23, xxi. 4, 10, 13. 
 
 2 Rom. XV. 32. 
 s Gal. ii. 10. 
 
 * 8u}po(f)opia^ Rom. XV. 31. 
 
 5 Rom. XV. 27. 
 
 6 Ibid. ix. 3. 
 
 7 Ibid. X. 1. 
 
 8 Ibid. xi. 1, 2. 
 
SPIRIT OF THE COLLECTION. 495 
 
 question that arose was the regulation of their mutual relations 
 and duties. Such an undoubted instance of chano-e in regrard 
 to one of the most important institutions of the early Church, 
 is valuable as a warning against laying too much stress on ad- 
 herence to the letter of any of them. Of a like kind is the in- 
 ference to be drawn from the Apostle's declarations of the duty 
 of almsgiving. 
 
 Almsgiving was not a duty peculiar to the Christian re- 
 ligion. It is urged as a religious obligation equally 
 in the Jewish observances before, and the Mussul- cai view of 
 man precepts since, the coming of Christ. But this Almsgiv- 
 passage, whilst it agrees with the general spirit of Ori- 
 ental religion in exalting munificence to a high rank amongst 
 the gifts of God, differs from the merely mechanical view 
 which the Pharisaic Jews, the Koran, and in a later time 
 some of the mediaeval saints, have held concerning it. They 
 have dwelt on the amount bestowed as in itself drawing down 
 the Divine blessing. The Apostle, even in his undisguised 
 eagerness to obtain the largest possible contribution, insists 
 with no less eagerness on the spirit in which it is given. 
 
496 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 THE ASSERTION OF HIS INTENTION TO EXERT HIS 
 APOSTOLICAL AUTHORITY. 
 
 Chap. X— XIII. 
 
 WITH A DIGRESSION (x. 6 — XII. 10) 
 
 VINDICATING HIS AUTHOEITY AND CHARACTER AGAINST THE CHARGES OP 
 THE FALSE TEACHERS. 
 
 The transition from the first to the second part of the Epistle 
 . is so marked that it might ahnost be thought to be 
 this°m)V° 3, distinct composition. The conciliatory and affec- 
 tion of the tionate strain of entreaty which pervaded the first 
 ^^^ ^' part is here exchanged for a tone of stern command, 
 and almost menace : there is still the same expression of de- 
 votion to the Corinthian Church ; but it is mixed with a lan- 
 guage of sarcasm and irony which has parallels in the First 
 Epistle,^ but none up to this point in the Second. With this 
 change in the general tone agrees also the change in details. 
 Instead of the almost constant use of the first person plural to 
 express his relations to the Corinthians, which pervaded the 
 first part of the Epistle, he here almost invariably, and in some 
 instances ^ with unusual emphasis, employs the first person sin- 
 gular ; the digressions no longer go off to general topics, but 
 revolve more and more closely round himself: the Corinthians 
 are no longer commended^ for their penitent zeal, but re- 
 buked ^ for their want both of love and penitence. The con- 
 fident hopes ^ which he had expressed for the future are 
 exchanged for the most gloomy forebodings.^ 
 
 What is the change that has come over the spirit of his 
 Possible Epistle ? A momentary doubt might be suggested 
 solutions, whether it was not an intermediate fragment be- 
 tween the First and Second Epistles, transposed by mistake to 
 
 ' 1 Cor. iv. 8-10, vi. 3-8, ix. 
 1-16, XV. 4. 
 
 2 X. 1, xii. 13. 
 
 3 xii. 7-16. 
 
 ^ xii. 15, 20,21, 
 5 vii. 9-16. 
 « xii. 20. 
 
ASSEKTION OF HIS AUTHOKITY. 497 
 
 this part of the Apostolic writings. Bat this is forbidden, as 
 well by a comparison both of the general character and the 
 details of the two portions of the Epistle. In spite of their 
 many differences, yet the resemblance between them is greater 
 than between any other two portions of the Apostle's writings ; 
 the abruptness of the digression, xi. 7-15, xii. 1, is paralleled 
 only by such as ii. 14-16, iv. 2-6, vi. 14, vii. 2 ; and the 
 topics, although treated much more personally, are still the 
 same. Compare iii. 1, and x. 13-18; ii. 17, and xii. 14-19. 
 
 Another solution might be, that in this part of the Epistle 
 he is occupied with a different section of the Corinthian 
 Church ; namely, the false teachers and their adherents. But 
 although this holds a much more prominent place than in the 
 former part, it is evident from x. 8, xi. 1-9, xii. 11-15, xiii. 
 11, 12, that he is still, on the whole, addressing the same body 
 as in chapters i.-xi. 
 
 Rejecting, therefore, any attempt to separate this portion of 
 the Epistle from the rest, there still is nothing improbable in 
 supposing a pause, whether of time or of thought, before the 
 beginning of the tenth chapter. It may be that in the inter- 
 val news had come again from Corinth, indicating a relapse of 
 fervour on the part of the Church at large, and a more decided 
 opposition to him on the part of the Jewish section of the 
 Church. Or, after the full outpouring of his heart, he may 
 have returned to the original impression which the arrival of 
 Titus had removed ; as the time of his visit either actually 
 drew nearer, or was more forcibly impressed upon his imagina- 
 tion, he was again haunted by the fear already expressed (ii. 1 ), 
 that he should have to visit them, not in love, but in anger. 
 Such a feeling of fear, at any rate, is the basis of this, as that 
 of gratitude was the basis of the first, portion of the Epistle ; 
 it is from this that he starts (x. 1-7), from this the digressions 
 fly off (x. 12, xii. 10), and to this his conclusion returns (xii. 
 11, xiii. 13). 
 
 [The argument of this portion is so personal, and so closely en- 
 tangled together, that it has been found necessary to follow a some- 
 what different arrangement in the position assigned to the general 
 remarks.] 
 
 K K 
 
498 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. X. 1—4. 
 
 X. ^AvTos 8e iyo) JTavXo? wapaKokco v/xas Blol ttJ? 
 ^TTpavTrjTO's Kol iiTLeLKeiaf; tov ^io-toi, os Kara irpocraiiTOv 
 
 iToaorr)Tos. 
 
 ^ Now I Paul myself exhort you by the meekness and gentleness of 
 Christ, who in face am downcast among you, but being absent am bold 
 
 X. 
 
 I Paul.' 
 
 AvTO? 8c eyo) IIav\o<;. 
 This emphatic stress on 
 his own person is the fit 
 introduction to the portion of the 
 Epistle which, beyond any other 
 part of his writings, is to lay open 
 his individual life and character. 
 ' Look at me : it is no longer in 
 conjunction with others that I ad- 
 dress you ; it is not as at the be- 
 ginning of the Epistle " Paul and 
 Timotheus ; " but Paul alone — 
 that Paul who is charged with 
 making empty boasts ; he now 
 places himself before you, with 
 all his human feelings of love and 
 tenderness, to warn and entreat 
 you not to drive him to extremi- 
 ties.' 
 
 The only other passages where 
 a similar phrase occurs", are in 
 Gal. V. 2, ' Behold, I Paul say to 
 you, that if ye be circumcised, 
 Christ shall profit you nothing ; ' 
 Philemon 19, ' I Paul have writ- 
 ten it with mine own hand;' 
 Eph. iii. 1, 'I Paul the prisoner 
 of Christ.' 
 
 It might be inferred from this 
 that this portion of the Epistle, 
 like that to the Galatians and 
 Philemon, was, contrary to his 
 usual custom, written by his own 
 Jjand. 
 
 Slol T7]<s TrpavTrjTO'; koI CTrtaKCta? 
 TOV y^picTTov. Compare Rom. xii. 
 1 : Phil. ii. 1. 
 
 The force of the expression 
 
 here, however, is more personal. 
 One would expect that , 
 he was going to entreat gentleness 
 them, by the example «« Christ.' 
 of Christ, to be forgiving and 
 forbearing towards him ; but the 
 context shows the sense to be, 
 ' You know, and I know, how 
 meek and forbearing was Christ ; 
 do not provoke me into even an 
 apparent deviation from that 
 example, by a misconduct which 
 will compel me to use severity.' 
 C7rt€t/ceta, e7rtciK>y9, are always used 
 in the N. Test, in contradistinc- 
 tion to violence or irascibility. 
 TrpavTTfjs is generally used of 
 gentleness, in contradistinction to 
 severity or anger ; see 1 Cor. iv. 
 21. The appeal to the example 
 of Christ indicates that the 
 Apostle had before his mind, not 
 merely the general idea of per- 
 fection, but the definite historical 
 character of gentleness and pa- 
 tience as exhibited in the Gospel 
 narratives. Matt. xi. 29 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 34. 
 
 The construction here is con- 
 fused. The sentence, if com- 
 pleted, would have required after 
 irapaKoXui some clause expressing 
 that they were not to exasperate 
 him But (with a transition 
 somewhat similar to that in 
 Eph. iii. 1-iv. 1) he recommences 
 the sentence in verse 2 with 
 Beofxac Se, and thus the joint 
 
ASSERTION OF HIS AUTHOEITY. 
 
 499 
 
 fxev raireivo^ ev v^jtlv^ airojv Se Oappco et? u/xas' ^Seo/xat 
 Se TO firj irapcov 6apprj<jai rfj TreTTOiOijcreL tj \oyitfipLaL 
 ToXfJirjcraL IttI riva^ tov<; Xoyitpyievov^ r)jxa<; ws Kara crdpKa 
 7TepL7raTovvTa<;. ^ iv aapKL yap TrepLTrarovvTes ov Kara 
 crdpKa crTparevoixeOa ^(rd yap oiika ttjs crrparetas r)jjia)u 
 
 toward you : ^but I pray that being present I may not be bold with that 
 confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some who reason of us 
 as if we walked according to the flesh. ^For though we walk in the 
 flesh, we do not war according to the flesh ^ (for the weapons of our war- 
 
 sense of the whole is : ' I entreat 
 you, or rather, I jpray that you 
 may not force me to transfer my 
 confidence in my power from the 
 times when I am absent to the 
 times when I am present with 
 you.' For a similar interchange 
 of TTapaKakw and Seofiai see v. 20, 
 "21, vi. 1, viii. 4. 
 
 TTttTrcivo?, * downcast,' as in vii. 
 6 ; compare 1 Cor. ii. 3, ' with 
 much fear and trembling, and in 
 weakness.' 
 
 6appu) €19 v/xa?, ' I am con- 
 fident in my power against you,' 
 in a difierent sense therefore 
 from Oappo) iv v/xtv, vii. 16. 
 
 Kara Trpoo-wTrov is ' face to face,' 
 in opposition to d-rriov, as in 
 1 Cor. xiii. 12, TrpoarioTrov tt/oos 
 TrpoawTTOv. 
 
 2 TO /JL7] -Trapwv OapprjcTat. The 
 article expresses, ' this is what I 
 ask ; ' the nominative is used, 
 because the Apostle is speaking 
 of himself. 
 
 XoyL^OjjLai, opposed to Aoyt- 
 ^o/x€vov<Sy ' I calculate on being 
 bold in conscious uprightness and 
 dependence on God ; they calcu- 
 late on my failure as controlled 
 by human motives and dependent 
 on human means.' 
 
 Kara crdpKa alludes to the low 
 motives charged upon him, as in 
 ii. 17, iv. 2; 1 Thess. ii. 3. 
 
 3 yap is the reason for to\- 
 fxrjcraL. 
 
 €v crapKL is opposed to Kara 
 crapKa, and TrcptTraTowres to o-rpa- 
 TivoiiiOa. ' Although we are still 
 in the influences of the world, it 
 is not hy the influences of this 
 world that we are actuated ' (com- 
 pare John xvii. 15, ' not iv aapKi . . 
 ... out of the world, but "^^^ '^»>*»- 
 . . . from the evil ') — ' although we 
 are treading the pathway of the 
 world, it is not from the armoury 
 of the world that we derive our 
 strength.' Iv aapKi refers to his 
 bodily infirmities and dangers, as 
 in vii. 5, xii. 7 ; and the sense is 
 the same as in iv. 7, ' we have 
 this treasure in earthen vessels.' 
 
 TreptTraTovvTa?, though not ne- 
 cessarily expressing more than 
 ' living ' (versantes)f is used as 
 in V. 7 with reference nepma- 
 to its proper etymolo- ^ouvTas. 
 gical sense of ' walking to and 
 fro.' 
 
 (TTparevofjieOa is (not merely 
 
 ' we fight,' but) ' we arparevo- 
 
 make our expeditions,' ^^^^'^• 
 alluding to the march, as it were, 
 which he was going to make 
 upon Corinth, as against a strong 
 fortress ; and this image is now 
 carried on into detail. 
 
 4, 5 KaOaipuv 6')(yp(jijxaTa is 
 employed in the LXX. for the re- 
 duction of strongholds ; Lara. ii. 
 2 ; Prov. xxi. 22 ; 1 Mace. v. 65, 
 viii. iO. Compare Hor. Ep. II. ii. 
 25-30, ' Luculli miles . . . Praesi- 
 
 K K 2 
 
500 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 5, 6. 
 
 ov (rapKLKoi, a\Xa Svi^ara rw Oeo) 7rpo<; KaOalpecnv o^vpco' 
 jLtctrw^), ^Xoytcr/xou9 KadaLpovvTe<; kol ttolv vxjjcjixa inaLpo- 
 p.evov Kara ttjs yvcocrecos tov Oeov^ kol al^p.akoiritpvTe'i 
 
 fare are not carnal, but strong through God to the casting down of fast- 
 nesses), ^ casting down reasonings and every high thing that exalteth it- 
 self against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every 
 
 dium regale loco dejecit, ut ainnt, 
 Summe munito et multarum di- 
 vite rerum.' 
 
 vif/iofxa althouqrh only used in 
 .^,« the LXX. in a more 
 
 'Pulling , . T 
 
 down of general sense, is by 
 hoiS^' Aquila used in Deat. 
 xxxii. 13 ; 1 Sam. ix. 
 12 ; Ps. xviii. 33, as a translation 
 of Bamah — * a high hill.' 
 
 alxfJ-aXiDTi^w is (not merely ' to 
 enslave,' like SovXcvoi, but) to 
 ' lead away as prisoners of war.' 
 To this peculiar turn of w^arlike 
 imagery the recollections of the 
 Ciiician Mithridatic and Pirati- 
 wars. qq\ wars may have in 
 
 part contributed. Both of these 
 contests partook of the character 
 here indicated ; the second espe- 
 cially, which had been raging 
 amongst the hill forts of the Ciii- 
 cian pirates not more than sixty 
 years before the Apostle's birth, 
 in the very scene of his earlier 
 years, and which was ended by 
 the reduction of 120 strongholds, 
 and the capture of more than 
 10,000 prisoners. (See Appian, 
 Bell. Mith 234-238; Arnold's 
 Rom. Commonw. i. 272.) Un- 
 derneath these outward images 
 he expresses not merely a ge- 
 neral warfare against sin and 
 pride, but the special warfare 
 which he had to wage against 
 the offenders in the Corinthian 
 Church, and every one of his 
 words assists him in carrying out 
 the metaphor. 
 
 XoyLo-fiovSf referring back to Xo- 
 
 yi^ofjLevov^ in verse 2, expresses 
 that it is of a mental, not a bodily 
 warfare, that he is speaking, while 
 v\}/(i)fjia is selected as having the 
 double meaning, both of a na.tural 
 eminence (as given above), and 
 also of mental elevation, whether 
 in a good or bad sense, as in 
 Job xxiv. 24 ; Judith x. 8, xiii. 
 4, XV. 9 ; the meaning being 
 further defined in this place by 
 €7ratpoyu,evoi/ Kara ttJ? yvojcrecos rov 
 Oeov. KaOaLpelv has also this 
 double sense, being: frequently 
 used in writers of this period for 
 ' taking down ' the pride or ar- 
 guments of opponents, as to <f>p6' 
 vrjfjia KaOeXiiv, Dio Chrys. Ivii. p. 
 571 b, Ixxiii. p. 634 a; Appian. 
 B. C. ii. p. 766. Trjv aXa^oveiav 
 KaOaLpovvT€<;, Aristid. t. ii. p. 259. 
 
 TOV iTnT€f)(L(T fWV TWV ivavTiiov 
 
 So^wv KaOaupeiv, Philo, de Abrah. 
 p. 32. Ka6aiprj(TUv iravTa Xoyov . . . 
 ov 7r6Xejji,o<s aXX' uprjvr], Philo, de 
 Confus. Ling. p. 424. (See Wet- 
 stein ad he.) 
 
 SvvaTOi Tw ^€(5, as aa-Tclo? t<S 
 Oeoi, Acts vii. 20, ' in the sight 
 of God.' 
 
 For a similar elaboration of a 
 military image, compare the de- 
 scription of the Christian panoply 
 in Eph. vi. 11-17. 
 
 ets Tr]V viraKoyjv tov xpta-Tov is 
 in sense the same as if it had 
 been Trj VTraKofj {al^QiaXwTL^ovToi 
 jxe Tw vofjL^, E/Om. vii. 23) ; but it 
 is here changed to et? ttjv vira- 
 KOTjv to carry on the metaphor, as 
 though the ' obedience ' which it 
 
ASSEETION OF HIS AUTHOEITY. 
 
 501 
 
 TTOLV voTjfia €ts Trjv vTTaKorjv Tov ^KJToVt ^ KOLi €u erot/xo) 
 €^ovTe<; efcSt/c^crai iracrav TrapaKOiji'^^ orav TrXyjpojOrj vfjbcoT/ 
 
 rj VTTaKOT], 
 
 » Lachm. Ed. 1. vapaKo-fiv. orav xK-qpood'^. 
 
 thought to the obedience of Christ, ^and having in readiness to revenge 
 all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled, 
 
 was his object to produce, was 
 also the fortress to which his 
 prisoners were to be carried. 
 
 6 There might still remain 
 some rebels against his authority, 
 even after all the conquest which 
 he has just described, and these, 
 he now proceeds to say, he was 
 prepared to punish (comp. Luke 
 xix. 27, ' those mine enemies, 
 which would not that I should 
 reign over them, bring hither and 
 slay them before me '). But as 
 he had been careful at the be- 
 ginning of this Epistle to ex- 
 press his anxiety not to come 
 to Corinth till the mass of the 
 Church were prepared to receive 
 him (i. 23), so here he hastens 
 to add, * when your obedience is 
 f alfilled.' He acted, as has been 
 
 observed, on a wise application 
 of the principle ' divide et im'pera^ 
 as when he threw the apple of 
 discord amongst the Pharisees 
 and Sadducees, Acts xxiii. 6-10. 
 
 iv €Tot)LMj) 6;^ovT€s, ' bcing pre- 
 pared,' so Polyb. ii. 34, 2 ; Philo, 
 Leg. ad Caium, pp. 565, 584!. 
 
 7rapaK(rj is used in contradis- 
 tinction to vTraKOTj, before and 
 after. 
 
 vfuav is placed before vn-aKo-q, 
 and out of its natural position, 
 to show that it is the emphatic 
 word. 
 
 The context requires that orav 
 irXrjpfjdOfj should be joined to the 
 preceding clause, as in the Text ; 
 not to the following, as in Lach- 
 mann's 1st edition. 
 
 Paraphrase op Chap. X. 1 — 6. 
 
 / now loish to speak to you of myself, of that very Paul against 
 lohom you hear so much. I conjure you not to compel me to 
 break the hounds of the gentle and forgiving character of 
 Christ. I pray that when I come to you there may be no 
 occasion for exerting that authority which some think I shall 
 never venture to exercise but at a distance. But be assured 
 that, if I do exercise it, it will be a real authority. I shall 
 come against you like a mighty conqueror, though with weapons, 
 not of earthly, but of heavenly warfare ; and every alien 
 
502 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 thought and imagination shall fall before me, like fortresses 
 before a victorious army, and shall be reduced to submission, 
 like captive bands ; and those who resist shall be punished like 
 the last remnants of a defeated insurrection. To effect all this, 
 I wait only till I am assured of your submission, that I may 
 not confound the innocent with the guilty, the dupes with the 
 deceivers. 
 
HIS BOAST OF HIS CLAIMS. 503 
 
 His Boast of his Claims. 
 Chap. X. 7— XII. 18. 
 
 At the concluding words of the preceding threat, the thought 
 of his adversary or adversaries in the Corinthian Church rises 
 before him in a more«tangible form than it had yet assumed. 
 He determines to throw aside the delicacy which had hitherto 
 prevented him from speaking openly of his claims, and to give 
 the Corinthians once for all a full picture of whom it was that 
 they were deserting for their present leaders. Accordingly he 
 leaves the immediate subject of this portion of the Epistle, 
 which was to consist of the assertion of his authority on his 
 expected arrival at Corinth ; and he embarks on a wide di^ 
 gression, which, though often interrupted and broken into many 
 fragments, is still held together by one thought and one word, 
 his boasting {Kavxaa-Oai). It is in his mouth a word of His 
 peculiar significance, because it is so reluctantly used; * Boast' 
 and because it is intended to express that assertion (if one may 
 use a modern phrase of equivalent meaning) of his own merits, 
 against which a great part of his general teaching was especi- 
 ally aimed. But with that freedom, which is characteristic of 
 the Apostolic writings generally, he is not afraid of a word, if 
 it really serves to express his meaning ; and therefore, though 
 with many apologies, it occurs no less than sixteen times in the 
 course of this section. As he overcomes his scruple to use the 
 word, so also he overcomes his scruple to speak of himself. 
 It is always with reference to some position taken up by 
 his opponents. They occupy the background of the portrait ; 
 and their conduct, with the misconceptions or suspicions enter- 
 tained by the Corinthians regarding himself, justifies this de- 
 parture from his ordinary usage, and supplies the clue to the 
 successive stages of his vindication. 
 
504 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 7—10. 
 
 ^TOL Kara TrpocrcoTTOv ^XeVere. ^et rt? ireTroiOev eavTO) 
 ')(pi(TTov €tz^at, TovTO \oyit<i(T6(i) TToXiv ^ a<^ kavTOv^ otl 
 
 ' jSAeVere : 
 
 »» Lachm. Ed. 1. 
 
 'ye look on things after the outward face. If any one trust to himself 
 that he is Christ's, let him of himself think this again, that as he is Christ's, 
 
 7 ' Such ia the authority 
 which I claim, the power which 
 I am prepared to wield. But 
 there are those among you who 
 doubt it; because you regard 
 (not the inward reality, but) the 
 outside appearance of things.' 
 By the outside appearance he 
 7 a Kara alludcs to the various 
 TrpoawTTov. points of outward su- 
 periority alleged in his oppo- 
 nents. That this (and not any 
 of the other meanings attached 
 to it, * conspicuous,' 'what lies 
 before you,' &c.) is the signifi- 
 cation of TO, Kara 7rp6(ro)7rov is 
 clear from the sense of Trpoa-ixiTrov 
 in this Epistle (see v. 12, ev trpocr- 
 
 tOTTU) KaV^OifJiivOVS Kol flTJ KttpSia, 
 
 and X. 1, Kara ttjooo-cottov — where 
 it is used, not merely as an equi- 
 valent to Trapiov, but 'in ex- 
 ternal appearance'), and in the 
 similar phrase ySXcTrets els to 
 TTpoaojirov, Matt. xxii. 16 ; Mark 
 xii. 14. Comp. also Jude 16 ; 
 Luke XX. 21 ; Gal. ii. 6, and the 
 universal sense of 7rpoa(ji7roXrj7rTr]<s 
 . . . Xrjil/ta, and . . . X-qTrrfir^. That 
 jSAeVere is to be understood not as 
 interrogative or imperative, but 
 as indicative, appears (though 
 more doubtfully), because if it 
 were interrogative or imperative, 
 it would probably be at the be- 
 ginning of the sentence ; and if 
 interrogative, would probably be 
 preceded by tl or some similar 
 word ; if imperative, it would re- 
 
 quire to be taken in an ironical 
 sense, hardly justified by the 
 context. 
 
 He now points out the various 
 outward shows which the Co- 
 rinthians regarded instead of the 
 inward realities. The first of 
 these was the profession made 
 by the false teachers of a closer 
 connexion with Christ than that 
 enjoyed by him. That there was 
 such a claim at Corinth, appears 
 from the party watchword, ' I 
 am of Christ,' 1 Cor. i. 12, and 
 (more doubtfully) from the pre- 
 tensions of the false teachers to 
 be ' Ministers of Christ' ' Apos- 
 tles of C/^n'sr (xi. 23, 13). 
 
 From the fact that these false 
 teachers were Judaiz- 
 ers (xi. 22), it may al- 
 so be inferred that this con- 
 nexion with Christ was through 
 some earthly relationship, either 
 as being Jews, or as having seen 
 Him, or being His companions 
 in His lifetime, or through His 
 kinsmen after the flesh, the 
 'brethren of the Lord.' Com- 
 pare the Apostle's answers to the 
 charges of this or a similar party 
 in 1 Cor. ix. 1, 'Am I not an 
 Apostle ? . . . have I not seen the 
 Lord Jesus ? ' followed by an al- 
 lusion (5) to ' Kephas ' and * the 
 brethren of the Lord.' It would 
 also illustrate the Apostle's ex- 
 pression (v. 16) in this Epistle, 
 'even though we have known 
 
 Party * of 
 Christ.' 
 
EEALITY OF HIS BOAST. 
 
 505 
 
 Ka9co<; auros )(pLcrTov, ovtos /cat rjfJieL^;.^ ^iav ^ [re] yap^ 
 irepicra-orepov tl Kav^cToyp^ai irepl Trjq i^ovcria^ rfpLoyv tj^ 
 eSojKev 6 KvpLOs ^ els OLKoSofMrjv /cat ovk et? KaOaipecriv vpL(x)v^^ 
 ovK alcr^vOrjCToyLaL, ^tVa fxi) 8dfw o)? av iKcjyojBelv 7;/xas Sta 
 Tcoy eTnaTokoiv. ^^ort Ai ^iTncTTokai fiep cfiaalp /Sapelai 
 
 » Add Xpia-Tov. " Lachm, Ed. 1. omit [re]. = Add Kai. 
 
 •* Add rjH-lu. " MS. C. is deficient from v/xmu^ to the end of the Epistle. 
 
 ^ At fiev eTTtCTO Ao2, ^rjcri. 
 
 even so are we. ^For though I should boast somewhat more of our 
 power which the Lord gave for your edification and not for casting you 
 down, I shall not be ashamed, ^ that I may not seem as if I would terrify 
 you by my epistles. ^^For 'his epistles' say they 'are weighty and 
 
 Christ after the flesh, yet hence- 
 forth know we Him no more 
 [after the flesh-],' implying that 
 there were some who were proud 
 of having so known Him. Com- 
 pare also the language of the 
 same party of Judaizers, as ex- 
 pressed in the Clementines (Horn, 
 xvii. 17). See Introd. pp. 352-3. 
 
 Whether the phrase, ' If any 
 one ' (tl<s, in the singular), points 
 to an individual, or not, must be 
 left in uncertainty. Similar ex- 
 pressions are repeated in x. 10, 
 11, 18, xi. 4, 20. 
 
 TToAtv, ' once more,' as in 1 
 Cor. xii. 21. 
 
 a<f> iavTov (text with C.D.C), 
 * from himself,' i.e. ' without 
 being reminded of it by me.' 
 Lachm. 1st Ed. withB. 6<^' iavrov. 
 
 r)iM€L<s, i.e. the Apostle : here, 
 as in the earlier portion of his 
 Epistle, using the plural for the 
 singular. 
 
 8 ' I truly belong to Christ ; 
 for even if my boast extended 
 far beyond this (irepLo-a-oTepov), it 
 would still be true.' The tran- 
 sition from the singular to the 
 plural is occasioned by the mix- 
 ture of personal and general feel- 
 ings which the passage contains. 
 The parenthesis ' which the Lord 
 
 hath given us for building up 
 (oiKoSo/trJv), not for pulling down' 
 {KaOatpea'Lv) , is a recurrence to 
 the former image of the fortress, 
 in verse 5, which he here modi- 
 fies, apparently under the same 
 feeling as in i. 23, 24, ' to spare 
 you I came not to Corinth . . . 
 not that we are lords over your 
 faith.' 
 
 9 Lva fxri So^o) . . . cTrtcrToAoiv. 
 This clause depends on ovk al- 
 (TxvyOi^a-o/jiaL, but has probably 
 the force of an abrupt sentence, 
 standing by itself, as the reason 
 for some unexpected thought : — 
 ' I will not be ashamed to boast, 
 only let me not seem to terrify 
 you.' Compare a similarly ab- 
 rupt use of KOL fjLi^ in Rom. iii. 8 ; 
 €t jXT^, 1 Cor. vii. 17. 
 
 (1)5 av is used adverbially like 
 u)s €1, ' as if.' 
 
 10 At i-Tna-ToXai. The plural, 
 ' his Epistles,' need not imply 
 anything more than an allusion 
 to his Epistles generally ; not 
 that he had written more than 
 one to Corinth before this. 
 
 /3ap€LaL, 'efiective, impressive ; ' 
 a word often used by the later 
 Rhetoricians for energetic, im- 
 pressive oratory. (See Wetstein.) 
 Icr^vpaij ' vigorous.' 
 
506 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 11, 12. 
 
 /cat l(T)(ypaiy r) 8e irapovcria rov (T(oiJiaTo<; acrOeurjf; kol 
 6 Xoyo^ "^ i^ovSevrjfJievo^. ^^tovto \oyit<i<j6(x) 6 tolovto<;^ 
 
 OTL oToL icTfJieV T(S XoyCO St' iTTLCTToXcJV dirOVTCSf TOLOVTOL 
 
 * i^ovdeuTifievos. 
 
 mighty, but his bodily presence is weak and his word contemptible.' 
 ^^Let such an one think this, that such as we are in word by epistles 
 when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present. 
 
 Yj SI irapovcTLa rov aw/xaTO?, * bis 
 arrival in person,' do-^cv^?, ' in- 
 firm.' (See note onxi. 16.) e^ovSc- 
 vr]ixevo<s, ' contemned,' ' thought 
 nothiug of.' (See 1 Cor. vi. 4.) 
 Lacbmanu, with B., reads 
 cfiaa-Lv, but the Rec. Text, is sup- 
 ported by D. E. F. G. J. K. and 
 may well be the true reading. 
 If so, it points to a single per- 
 son, as confirmed by x. 7, xi. 
 20. This passage is the only 
 instance of the very words used 
 by St. Paul's opponents. It thus 
 gives a contemporary judgment 
 on his Epistles, and a contemn 
 porary description of himself. 
 Its expressions apply, doubtless, 
 chiefly to the First Epistle to 
 Corinth, and the effects of that 
 Epistle (see 2 Cor. vii. 11) illus- 
 trate the epithets here employed 
 to express the heavy blows which 
 it dealt on the hearts of its 
 readers. The description of the 
 personal appearance of 
 the Apostle is in ac~ 
 cordance with all that 
 we gather from the 
 Testament and other 
 sources. The representations of 
 it in the pictures of Raphael are 
 doubtless in a high degree delu- 
 sive. His arriv^al at Corinth, 
 ' in weakness and with fear and 
 much trembling' (1 Cor. ii. 8), 
 agrees with the general impres- 
 sion derived from this Epistle, 
 and that to the Gralatians, of the 
 nervoas susceptibility and agita- 
 
 Personal 
 appearance 
 of the 
 Apostle. 
 
 New 
 
 tion of his temperament and his 
 manner. The comparison of 
 Barnabas to Jupiter, and of him- 
 self to Mercury, by the people of 
 Lystra (Acts xiv. 12), implies 
 that he was the less command- 
 ing of the two. The traditional 
 description, as preserved in the 
 allusions or detailed accounts 
 of the Philopatris (of Lucian ?) 
 (c. 12), the Acts of Paul and 
 Thecla (Fabric. Cod. Pseudep.), 
 Malalas (Chronog. 10, p. 257), 
 Mcephorus (H. E. ii. 37), is of 
 a man of low stature, bent figure, 
 and awkward gait ; a white com- 
 plexion ; bright grey eyes, under 
 overhanging eyebrows ; a strong 
 aquiline nose ; nearly bald, but 
 with a thick bushy beard, inter- 
 spersed with grey hairs. His 
 low stature is the ground of an 
 old belief that he was the same 
 as the contemporary of Gamaliel, 
 known by the name of ' Samuel 
 the Little.' (Conybeare and 
 Howson, 2nd ed. vol. i. 70,) 
 
 1 1 6 TOLovTo<;, see ii. 7. 
 
 12 The thought which runs 
 through the previous . verses 7- 
 10 is that the power which he 
 threatened to exercise in verses 
 1-6 was not an empty boast. 
 From this he 
 
 Measurincr 
 
 on to contrast the re- ourselves by 
 ality of his claims with °^^^^ 
 the emptiness of those of his 
 adversaries ; his claims being 
 grounded entirely on his own 
 labours, theirs on labours of 
 
EEALITY OF HIS BOAST. 
 
 50T 
 
 /cat 7rap6vT€<; tco ipyco 
 
 ^^ov yap ToXfJLcofiei^ eyKpivai 7) 
 eavrov? tlctlv tcdv iavTov^ avvicrTavovroiV. 
 
 (TvyKpiv ai 
 
 ^^For we do not dare to place ourselves, or judge ourselves among some 
 of those that commend themselves. But they measuring themselves by 
 
 which they appropriated the 
 glory to themselves, but which 
 were really his (12-18). These 
 two thoughts, here blended to- 
 gether, are brought out separately 
 in 1 Cor. iv. 1-6, and Rom. xv. 
 17-21. Such is the general 
 sense ; the particulars must, to a 
 great extent, depend on the read- 
 ing of the MSS. (1) The Rec. 
 Reading of Text, with which Lach- 
 the ReceiT- mann and Tischendorf 
 substantially agree, and 
 which is founded on B. D^. E. J. 
 K., has ov (rvvLov(TLv (or (rvvtao"tv) 
 r]fX€'L<s oe . . . Kav)(7]<T6ix€6a. crvvL- 
 ovariv may be either (a) the da- 
 tive plural participle, in which 
 
 case fl€TpOVVT€<S Koi (TVyKpLVOVTeq 
 
 must take the place of the prin- 
 cipal verb ; or (h) the 3rd per- 
 son plur. ind. present, having the 
 same meaning as o-wtatrt (as in 
 B.). In either case, the general 
 sense is the same : — * we cannot 
 endure to rank ourselves amongst 
 those who commend themselves ; 
 on the contrary, they measuring 
 themselves by their own stand- 
 ard, and comparing or ranking 
 themselves with themselves, 
 thereby show their folly ; where- 
 as we refuse to boast beyond our 
 lawful nieasure, but on the con- 
 trary keep to the measure ap- 
 pointed for us by God.' The 
 indicative is preferable. The 
 Apostle first contrasts himself 
 with those that commend them- 
 selves, and then explaining, that 
 the folly of this self-commenda- 
 tion consists in judging of them- 
 selves by their own standard, 
 contrasts himself with them still 
 
 further, by showing that he mea- 
 sures himself by the standard of 
 God, and confines himself to the 
 sphere pointed out to him by 
 God. The great objection to this 
 mode of explanation is : (a) that 
 the context of the sentence would 
 naturally lead us to expect in av- 
 roi not the Apostle's adversaries, 
 but the Apostle himself; (6) 
 that in the 13th verse, the con- 
 trast is not, properly speaking, 
 between God's measure and 
 man's nieasure, but between 
 teaching out of a lawful sphere, 
 and teaching within a lawful 
 sphere. 
 
 Both these difficulties may in- 
 deed be explained by the extreme 
 abruptness and rapid transition 
 so frequent in this Epistle ; but 
 they would leave the passage 
 one of the most entangled in the 
 N. Test. Other modes of inter- 
 preting the present text are still 
 more violent. Such would be the 
 attempt to take airroi as of the 
 Apostle, and (tvvlov(ti (the dative 
 participle) of the adversaries : 
 ' we, on the other hand, confine 
 ourselves to ourselves, and do not 
 rank ourselves with those who are 
 not wise.^ Or again, to take avroi 
 of the Apostle, and c-wiova-L (the 
 dative participle) also of the 
 Apostle : ' we do not rank our- 
 selves with ourselves, we whom 
 they call not vjise.'* 
 
 (2) If, on the other hand, in- 
 stead of the Rec. Text, heading 
 we adopt the other read- of the 
 ing supported by less '^"^^**®- 
 authority, the whole passage will 
 cohere almost without difficulty. 
 
508 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 13. 
 
 akXa avTol iv eavrots eavrou? jxeTpovi/Te<; koI crvyKpLvoPTes 
 themselves and judging themselves among themselves are not wise: "but 
 
 The Vulgate omits the words ov 
 a-vvLacTLv, while D. F. Gr. omit also 
 the words rifxit's 8e, D. omitting 
 also KavxqfToixcBa, for which F. 
 G. substitute Kav^w/Aei/ot. So, if 
 we combine these varieties, all 
 tending in the same direction, 
 the text will run thus : dAA' 
 avroi iv eavrot? eavrou? fXiTpovvT€<s, 
 Kol (TvyKptvovTe^ eavTOv^ eavrots 
 ovK eis ra a/xex/oa, dXXa Kara to 
 fjiirpov : and the sense will be : 
 ' We cannot endure to rank our- 
 selves with those that commend 
 themselves ; on the contrary, we 
 are measuring ourselves by our- 
 selves, and ranking ourselves 
 with ourselves, not going into 
 spheres beyond our measure.' 
 The cont»'ast will then be based 
 simply on the distinction between 
 intrusion beyond a lawful sphere, 
 and self-restraint within it. In 
 this way the word /x-erpoOvTes in 
 the twelfth verse, has the same 
 sense as fxerpov or a/xerpa in the 
 thirteenth ; and whatever irregu- 
 larity there may be in the omis- 
 sion of Kav')(rfcr6p,i6a, or the sub- 
 stitution of Kav^oipi^voi for it, it 
 is no more than is frequently 
 found in the Apostle's writings, 
 and is in this case corrected, as 
 it were, by the resumption of the 
 sentence in ovk ets to, a/xerpa Kav- 
 ■^(i)IJi€voL, in 15. If we could 
 suppose that ov o-vvtacrtv had 
 crept in from the margin, as an 
 explanation of ricrtv, then T^/xei? Si 
 would naturally follow as an 
 antithesis, to meet the new sen- 
 tence thus unexpectedly formed, 
 to which again subsequent cor- 
 rectors would add Kavxiopievot or 
 Kavx^cro/xc^a. This explanation 
 and reading is defended at length 
 
 by Fritzsche in ' Dissert, ad 2 
 Cor.' pp. 35-48 ; and attacked in 
 Reiche's ' Comment, in Epp. ad 
 Cor.' pp. 373-385. 
 
 ToX/xw/xev, = ' sustinemus,* ' we 
 cannot endure,' perhaps with a 
 tinge of irony : ' we can venture 
 on the full exercise of our power, 
 but not on classing ourselves,' 
 &c. Comp. for this use of the 
 word E/om. xv. 18 ; 1 Cor. vi. 1. 
 
 lyKplvai r] crvyKplvai, ' to rank 
 one's self in any manner what- 
 soever with those,' &c. The 
 two words are put side by side, 
 on account of their similarity of 
 sound, in order, after the Apo- 
 stle's manner, to express the 
 completeness of his assertion. 
 Compare ytvcocTKctv and dvayt- 
 vijixTKeLv, iii. 2 ; avayivwa-Kctv and 
 i7nyLv<x)(TKUV, i. 13 : KaraTop^rj and 
 7reptT0/x,ri, in Phil. iii. 2, 3. 
 
 iyKplvaL, ' to enroll as in a 
 catalogue.' It never occurs in the 
 N. Test, again, nor in the uXX. 
 
 (TvyKplvac, ' to combine ' (and 
 hence ' to interpret,' as in 1 Cor. 
 ii. 13), 'to liken,' or 'make 
 equal,' and so in LXX. 
 
 Twv iavTov<; crwtcrravovTwv. See 
 iii. 1. Those who ' commended 
 themselves ' are charged by the 
 Apostle with intruding, as if by 
 the authority of their commen- 
 datory letters, into his sphere ; 
 and this forms the subject of the 
 next verses, 14-18. 
 
 The meaning of the next 
 words varies, of course, accord- 
 ing to the two readings given 
 above. If the reading of the 
 Rec. Text is preferred, then 
 p.€TpovvT€^ is ' measuring,' not in 
 the sense in which it is used in 
 the following verses, of ' limit- 
 
KEALITY OF HIS BOAST. 
 
 509 
 
 13 « '" 
 
 S\ 5 » 9 \ 
 
 e ovK €19 ra 
 
 eavTovs iavTOL<; ov ^crvvLacnv' 
 
 dixerpa Kav^QO'oixeOa^ aXKa Kara to yLerpov rov Kavovos 
 
 » ov avviovaiv. See note. *• owx*. 
 
 w& will not boast of things beyond our measure, but according to the 
 measure of the rule which God imparted to us, a measure to reach even 
 
 ing,' but of ' comparing,' as by a 
 standard ; and oTry/cptVovrcs is 
 also used, not as avyKpivat in the 
 previous clause, for ' ranking ' or 
 'assimilating,' but in the sense 
 of ' comparing,' of which signifi- 
 cation there are instances in 
 Greek writers of this period (see 
 Lobeck ad Phryn. p. 278), but 
 not in the N. T. or the LXX. 
 
 On the other hand, in the 
 reading of the Vulgate, the words 
 fxerpeLv and crvyKpivtiv both retain 
 their original meaning ; and the 
 peculiarity of the expressions cv 
 cavTOt? kavTov<i and caurors cav- 
 Tots, as applied to the Apostle 
 himself, would be explained by 
 the desire to express as strongly 
 as possible the strict limits within 
 which he confined himself. He 
 would thus oppose himself both 
 to the exaggerated boasts and 
 the unwarranted intrusions of 
 his opponents ; ' limiting our- 
 selves within our own limits, and 
 associating ourselves only with 
 ourselves.' 
 
 13 Without adopting the tra- 
 dition which represents the Apo- 
 stles as portioning out the world 
 amongst them, with a 
 Division of peculiar province for 
 each, it is clear from 
 Gal. ii. 9, that at least 
 in the great divisions of Jew and 
 Gentile, the former belonged to 
 the original Apostles, James, 
 Peter, and John, the latter to 
 Paul and his companions. It 
 was also the Apostle's maxim, 
 never to establish himself for 
 
 Inbour in 
 the Apo- 
 stolic age 
 
 any permanent stay, in those 
 parts where the Gospel had al- 
 ready been prej^ched by a previ- 
 ous teacher ; so much so, that 
 his visit to Rome (which had al- 
 ready received the faith) was re- 
 garded by him merely as taken 
 on his way to Spain, which was 
 still open to any new teacher 
 (Rom. XV. 18-24). 
 
 This arrangement 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 
 labours, was appropriated by 
 those who had no original claim 
 to it. To Antioch, the original 
 seat of his teaching, they .' came 
 from James ' (Acts xv. 1 ; Gal. 
 ii. 12). In Galatia 'a little 
 leaven ' of their influence had so 
 completely 'leavened the whole 
 lump,' that the Apostle was 
 regarded as an ' enemy ' (Gal. v. 
 9, iv. 16). And even at Corinth, 
 their power had reached such a 
 height, that 'the majority,' at 
 least of the teachers, had joined 
 them (ii. 17), and already in the 
 First Epistle the Apostle com- 
 plained that 'he had laid the 
 foundation, and another built 
 upon it,' and ' that whilst they 
 had ten thousand teachers (Trat- 
 8ayo>yov?) they had but one 
 father, for that he only (cyco) 
 had begotten them through the 
 Gospel' (1 Cor. iii. 10, iv. 15). 
 Now they were claiming to be 
 
510 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. X. 14—18. 
 
 ov ifxepLcrev rjfJLiv 6 ^eog jjierpov i(f)LKecr6aL oj)(pi koI vfjicjv 
 ^*('^a)S yap [Mr) i(j)LKPOv[JievoL eU v/xag VTrepeKreivofiev iav- 
 
 ' ov yap ws jj/t], 
 
 unto you ^^ (for do we stretch ourselves beyond as though -we reached not 
 unto you ? for we are come as far as to you also in the gospel of Christ), 
 
 * Apostles,' and ' more than Apo- 
 stles' (xi. 5, 13), and endeavour- 
 ing to shut out the Apostle of 
 the Gentiles from the greatest 
 field of his exertions (x. 16). 
 
 This conduct the Apostle re- 
 bukes by contrast with his own 
 forbearance. His 'boasting' was 
 confined to the sphere which had 
 been marked out for him, and 
 which, according to the joint re- 
 presentations of Rom. XV. 18- 
 24 and Acts xiii.-xxviii., seems 
 to have extended ' from Jeru - 
 salem to Illyricum,' i.e. through 
 the provinces of Asia Minor and 
 Greece, properly so called, and 
 ending where the barbarian lan- 
 guages of Illyria put a check to 
 his communications with the na- 
 tives. Of this sphere Corinth, 
 up to this time, had been the ex- 
 treme point. Hence the expres- 
 sions used emphatically here, ' to 
 you,' ' as far as you ' (axP^ '^^^ 
 vjjiiov, icf)LKvov]j.evoL €L<s vjxas^, imply 
 that he had a right to speak con- 
 fidently of his labours so far, but 
 no further ; whilst at the same 
 time he had hopes, which he af- 
 terwards accomplished, of ad- 
 vancing westward first as far 
 as Illyria, and then, omitting, or 
 hastily passing by the Italian 
 cities, where the Gospel had al- 
 ready been preached, to the still 
 further regions of Spain. 
 
 TO. afxcTpa, properly 'unmea- 
 sured ; ' but here ' beyond the 
 measure fixed for us.' 
 
 Kara to fxirpov tov Kavovos ov 
 ifjiipL(T€v rjjXLV 6 Oebs fiirpov. Kavwv 
 is the ' rule * by which the limits 
 
 of the sphere are marked out. 
 It occurs in Gal. vi. 16; Phil. iii. 
 16, crTOL)(^e2v T(3 Kavovi, ' to walk 
 within the prescribed limit.' 
 
 The construction is, ' which 
 rule (ov referring to Kavovo^) 
 God appointed us as a measure ' 
 (fxerpov). 
 
 ov — ov, iJi€Tpov=^jxeTpov. 
 
 icf)LK€(TOaL, ' to reach.' These 
 last words explain the introduc- 
 tion of the name of ' God as the 
 author of his limits.' ' God has 
 appointed and enabled me to ful- 
 fil my duty.' Compare the pa- 
 rallel passage, Rom. xv. 18, ' I 
 will not venture to speak of the 
 things which Christ has not 
 wrought in me.' 
 
 14 The sense is the same, 
 whatever be the right reading : 
 ' We are not extending our 
 boast beyond our limit.' For 
 the metaphor 'stretching out 
 ourselves,' as if trying to reach 
 over, compare aTvoKapaSoKia in 
 Rom. viii. 19. If the Rec. Text 
 (D. G.) ov yap 0)5 /xtJ be correct, 
 then the meaning is, ' for we do 
 not extend ourselves beyond our 
 sphere, as would be the case if 
 our sphere did not reach as far 
 as you.' If, according to Lach- 
 mann (B.), ov is omitted, the 
 same sense is still preserved by 
 making it a question : ' Do we 
 extend ourselves ? ' &c. 
 
 icf)LKvovix€voL, ' comiug,' applies 
 not to the actual visit (which 
 would require the past tense), 
 but to the general sphere of the 
 Apostle (which naturally re- 
 quires the present tense). 
 
REALITY OF HIS BOAST. 
 
 511 
 
 TOv<; ; o.yjpi yap koX vy^^oiv i^Odcraiiev iv t&> evayyeXico rov 
 vptcrroG), ^^ovK et? tol a/xerpa Kav^oj^evoi iv dXXorpiot? 
 
 v/xti^ ixeyaXvvOrjvai Kara rov Kavova y^iicov et§ TrepKrcreiav 
 ^^ €19 ra virepeKeiva vfJLCJV evayyeKiaacrdaiy ovk iv aWorpio) 
 Kavovi et? m eroLfjia Kav^cracrdai. ^^6 8e Kav^cofievo^ 
 iv Kvpicp KavxdcrOo)* ^^ov ydp 6 iavTov ^ crvvicrrdvojVy 
 iKeivo^ iartv SoKLfxoSf dWd ov 6 Kvpios crvvCcTTrjcrLV. 
 
 • crvvicTwv. 
 
 ^^not boasting of things beyond our measure in other men's labours, but 
 having hope that as your faith is increased we shall be enlarged by you 
 ^^to preach the Gospel according to our rule to abundance in the regions 
 beyond you, not to boast in another's rule of things made ready for us. 
 ^■^But he that boasteth, in the Lord let him boast. ^^For not he that 
 commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. 
 
 axpi yap KOi vfxoiv icfiOda-a/xev iv 
 T<3 ctiayyeXta). This expresses the 
 actual fact : ' Not only does our 
 sphere extend to you, but, as a 
 proof of it, we have come as far 
 as you.' The conversion of the 
 Corinthians is given as the proof 
 of his right to convert them, as 
 in iii. 2 ; 1 Cor. ix. 3. l^Oacrafxev, 
 as in Romaic, and as in Matt, 
 xii. 28 ; Luke xi. 20, is simply 
 ' we came ; ' or, at least only 
 v^ith a very slight tinge of its 
 earlier classical meaning, ' to be 
 beforehand.' In a sentence so 
 loosely hung together as the 
 present, it is impossible to de- 
 termine whether the 14th verse 
 or any part of it is parenthetical. 
 At any rate, the words ovk .... 
 Kavx<tifJL€voL resume the thought 
 expressed by the same words in 13. 
 
 15 ' In other men's labours,' 
 may allude to the fact either that 
 the Apostle himself did not in- 
 terfere with the labours of other 
 preachers of the Gospel (e.g. in 
 Rome or Palestine), or that his 
 opponents interfered with his 
 labours. 
 
 aviavofX€vr]<; . . . Trepurcreiav^ ' not 
 only have we the satisfaction of 
 our labours at Corinth, but, in 
 proportion as your faith increases, 
 we hope to advance ' (probably 
 he means through their assist- 
 ance) ' to the utmost limits of 
 the rule laid down for us ' (Kara 
 Tov Kavova r)jxuiv)y but still beyond 
 you (et9 Trepto-orctav) ' to other 
 regions' (i.e. to the western 
 parts of Greece, and to Spain), 
 ' but still not boasting of labours 
 which do not belong to us.' 
 
 16 ra hoLjxa, ' readv at hand,' 
 as in Thuc. i. 20, iv. 61. 
 
 The word Kavxrja-acrdaL, ' to 
 boast,' brings him back from the 
 thought of the unlawful intrusion 
 of his adversaries to their empty 
 boasting generally. ' Let him 
 that boasts, boast only of what 
 Christ has done through him; 
 for it is not by commendatory 
 letters from their own party, but 
 by the blessing of Christ upon 
 their labours, that men's worth 
 is really known.' Comp. iii. 1, 2 ; 
 Rom. XV. 18; 1 Cor. iv. 1-6. For 
 the same phrase see 1 Cor. i. 31. 
 
512 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. X. 7—18. 
 
 But whilst I am thus confident of my power, you regard only out- 
 ward appearances. Let us see what these outward appearances 
 are, how far my opponents have any exclusive claim to them, or 
 hoiv far they are based on reality. First, they claim a peculiar 
 connexion with Christ. But so do I ; yes, and far more, as 
 will he shown by the full exercise of my authority {that autho- 
 rity, he it remembered, lohich is meant, and which I trust will 
 he used only , for your improvement, not for your punishment^ ; 
 and I will now overcome my scruples and go on to boast, con- 
 trary to my usual practice, of the extent of this authority and 
 of my communion with Christ. Only remember, that when I 
 do so, not my letters only, as the false teacher asserts, are to 
 be dreaded ; when I come to you, you shall find that my deeds 
 fully correspond. For my boast is not, like theirs, founded on 
 commendatory letters from human authorities, hut on the com- 
 mendation of the Lord Himself; it is founded not like theirs, 
 on fame borrowed from the labours of others, and on the occu- 
 pation of spheres into which they had no right to intrude, but 
 on my own labours in my own sphere. As far as Corinth, but 
 no further {though I trust soon through your help to go fur- 
 ther), — no further, but thus far, my labours, and therefore my 
 boast, legitimately extend. 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED BY HIS AFFECTION. 
 
 513 
 
 XL ^ 0(l)ekov ^ avei^ecrOe fJLOV fXLKpop tl ^ acjypocrvvrjs. 
 aXka Kal ave^ecrOe /xov. ^ Cv^^ J^P ^/^ct? Seov ^17X0) * 
 
 » Tivklx^ffQ^. ^ Add T^s. 
 
 ^ Would ye could bear with me a little in my folly. But indeed bear 
 with me. ^ For I am zealous over you with a zeal of God : for I espoused 
 
 ' His folly.' 
 
 Having advanced so far in bis 
 boast, be is tempted to proceed ; 
 in continuation of the thought 
 expressed in x. 8, 'Though I 
 should boast somewhat more . . . 
 I shall not be ashamed.' But he 
 is still full of its uncongeniality ; 
 he fastens upon it a name expres- 
 sive of its senselessness, 
 folly, a<f>po<Tvvr}, occur- 
 ring eight times in this con- 
 nexion, and only three times be- 
 sides (the substantive never) in 
 the rest of his Epistles, viz. Rom. 
 ii. 20 ; Eph. V. 17 (where it is 
 applied to the irrational folly, 
 or 'nonsense,' as we should call 
 it, of paganism) ; and 1 Cor. xv. 
 36. One excuse he urges for 
 his indulging in it ; and that is, 
 his affection for the Corinthian 
 Christians. Those intimate re- 
 lations, which justify a departure 
 from a man's usual gravity of 
 demeanour, existed between him 
 and his converts, and encourage 
 him to proceed. 
 
 I "OcficXov dveix^crOe, ' would 
 that you could bear with me in 
 something of my folly.' Foro<^cAov 
 see 1 Cor. iv. 8. aveLx^a-Oe (D. E. 
 F. G. J.) is the less usual form for 
 7]V€LX€(rO€. fiov is governed by 
 dveix^aOe, and dcf>po(rvvrj<; by rt. 
 
 dX\a Kal dve;(e(r^€ may be the 
 indicative, ' Nay, you do bear 
 with me : ' but the next verse 
 makes it more natural to suppose 
 the imperative, ' Nay, but I en- 
 
 treat you to bear with me.' If 
 the indicative be taken, then the 
 connexion must be, ' I am sure 
 that you bear with me, for I love 
 you.' If the imperative, then 
 the connexion is, ' Bear with me, 
 and I desire that you should bear 
 with me, for I love you.' 
 
 2 ^rjXC) yap v/xd<; Oeov ^yjXw, 
 ' I ardently love you with a love 
 that comes from God.' By com- 
 parison with Gal. iv. 17, and by 
 the passages where the word oc- 
 curs in the LXX., ^^A.09, ^ryXow, 
 would appear to be used ex- 
 clusively for ' zeal ' or ' affec- 
 tion,' the idea of jealousy not 
 entering into its composition. 
 
 -qp/xocrdfxrjv yap. The reason for 
 his affection is that he was the 
 means of their conversion. This 
 he expresses by the figure of a 
 marriage to Christ, in which he 
 gives away the bride ; possibly 
 suggested by the paternal rela- 
 tion in which he stood to them 
 (1 Cor. iv. 15) ; but this notion 
 is not further brought out here, 
 as it would jar with the thought 
 implied throughout, of their 
 union with Christ, For this re- 
 lation of the Apostle to the 
 Church as * the friend of the 
 bridegroom,' compare John iii. 
 29 ; and for this relation of Christ 
 to the Church, as of the ' Lord ' 
 to the Jewish people, Eph. v. 25 ; 
 Rev. xxi. 2 ; Matt. xxv. 1 ; comp. 
 too, Chrysostom's epithet on the 
 
 L L 
 
514 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 3, 4. 
 
 TjplJLOcrdiJirjv yap u/xa? evl avBpl irapOivov ayirqv TrapacTTrj- 
 crai Tw xpicrrw, ^^o^ov/iat 8e pLTf ttw?, w? 6 o(/)ts ^i^rjird- 
 Tiqcrev Evav iv rfj iravovpyia avTOv, ^(f)Oapfj tol vorjp.aTa 
 vjxwv drro tt^s ctTrXdrTyros ^ kol ttJs ayvoTrjTO^ Trj^ ti? roi' 
 
 » Et/av i^-nirdrrjffev. * outw <p6apf}. « Om. Kal t^s ayv6Tr]Tos. 
 
 you to one husband that I may present you as a pure virgin to Christ, 
 ^but I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his 
 subtlety, your thoughts should be corrupted from the simplicity and the 
 
 Apostle, vv/A^aytoyog rvys oIkov- 
 fi€vr}<s. 
 
 dp/xo^a> is the word properly 
 
 used of the father's 
 
 apfxoc,.y^ai. ^j^jjjg away; dp/id^o/Aat 
 
 (passive) of the bride (Prov. 
 xix. 14) ; (middle) of the bride- 
 groom (Herod, v. 32, 47) ; but 
 also of others, as here (Philo, 
 Leg. AH. 1. ii. p. 78, De Abr. 
 pp. 15, 36). 
 
 For the Jewish bridesman, see 
 Schottgen, Hor. Heb. on John 
 iii. 29. Moses was so called by 
 the Rabbis with regard to Israel 
 and the Lord. 
 
 ha avBpt, ' to one husband, to 
 whom you are to remain faithful.' 
 The phrase Trapaa-nja-aL to) xP*-- 
 (TTw, in Eph. V. 27, is used of 
 Christ Himself, as the Bride- 
 groom. But the turn of that 
 passage (tva TrapaxjTrjarj a.vTo<i 
 eavTw) shows that such an ap- 
 plication of the word is unusual, 
 and that Christ is there repre- 
 sented as being at once the Bride- 
 groom and the Bridegroom's 
 friend (7rapai/vya</)tos) . 
 
 3 cfiojSovfjLaL 8e. To his affec- 
 tion for them is opposed his fear 
 lest they should be seduced from 
 their faith. The serpent is in- 
 troduced on account of the com- 
 parison of the bride, which sug- 
 gests the temptation (not of 
 Adam, but) of Eve. The word 
 iiyj-rrdTTjo-ev is taken from Gen. 
 iii. 13 (LXX.), 6 6<f>i<s TjiraTTjai fii. 
 
 iv TYJ Travorpyia is, according 
 to the darker view from which 
 the subject is here approached, 
 substituted for the word in Gen. 
 iii. 1, i^povi/xcoTaros. [Philo, Leg. 
 Alleg. i. 8G, paraphrases (fipovifjuor. 
 6 6<f>L<s 7rdvT(ov (Gen. iii. 1) by, 
 Tcovyap TrdvTcdv irav ovpy 6t aro i' 
 IcTTLv yjhovrj.'] Compare the con- 
 nexion of rravovpyia and <f>p6vr](TL^ 
 in Aristotle, Eth. vi. 13, and 
 Philo, de Prsem. et Pcen. ii. 416. 
 This is the only passage in St. 
 Paul's Epistles in which there is 
 any reference in the New Testa- 
 ment to the story of the Serpent 
 in the Fall. The only mention 
 of the devil in connexion with 
 the Fall in the 0. T. is in Wisd. 
 ii. 24. The only mention in the 
 K T. is in Eev. xii. 9, xx. 2. 
 But the Serpent is perhaps in- 
 troduced here as the likeness of 
 those false teachers whom Satan 
 now employed for his instru- 
 ments, as then the Serpent : see 
 verse 14. 
 
 OLTTO Trj<; d'rr\oT7)TO<s . . . ei? tov 
 Xpi-crTov. * From your single- 
 minded loyalty towards Christ 
 (as your master and spouse).' 
 Such is the meaning required by 
 the phrase ei? tov xP- ^^^^ j^^" 
 tified by the use of the word in 
 1 Mace. ii. 37, 60, where it is 
 used of ' loyalty to God.' 
 
 Kol T^s dyvoTTjTos is more or 
 less supported by DK E. F. G. 
 B. reads dytoTT^ros. 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 515 
 
 ^piCTTov. ^el iiev yap 6 ip^6yLevo<^ ak\ov Iiqcrovv Krj- 
 pvcrorei ov ovk iKrjpv^afJiev, rj irvevp.a erepov Xafi^dvere 6 
 ovK iXd^ere, rj evayyikiov erepov o ovk iSe^acrOe, KaXoJs 
 
 purity that is in Christ. ^ For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus 
 whom Ave did not preach, or if ye receive another spirit which ye have 
 not received, or another gospel which ye did not accept, ye bear well 
 
 4 el /xkv yap . . . KaXais dvi)(C(TOe. 
 This is the reason for bis fear, 
 viz. that they were willing to 
 endure the false preaching of bis 
 opponents, whilst they were not 
 willing to listen to bim. This is 
 implied by /xcV, and is more fully 
 set forth when the subject is dis- 
 tinctly resumed in ver. 19. 
 
 6 ipxofievos, ' be that cometh ; ' 
 not necessarily alluding to a sin- 
 gle individual, though combined 
 with X. 7, 11, xi. 20, it would 
 seem to indicate one leading 
 mover. Compare for the same 
 ambiguity, Gal. v. 10, 6 rapaxra-wv 
 v/>tas .... oa-TLS eav '^. 
 
 ' Although, on the one hand, 
 the false teachers teach a wholly 
 different Christianity from my 
 own (which, therefore, you ought 
 wholly to reject), yet instead of 
 rejecting it, you endure it.' Com- 
 pare Gal. i. 6-8, where there is 
 the same implied assertion of the 
 contradiction bet ween the system 
 of the Judaizers, and that which 
 he taught himself ; and yet of the 
 similarity of the phrases used by 
 the false teachers and himself. 
 Their preaching, as well as bis, 
 was a ' Gospel ' (cvayyeAtov) ; 
 which agrees with the fact that 
 the name cmyyeAtov, as applied 
 to the narratives of our Lord's 
 life, is equally used as the desig- 
 nation of the apocryphal and of 
 the canonical Gospels. (Comp. 
 1 Cor. XV. 1.) ' Jesus ' was the 
 subject of their teaching as well 
 as bis ; which also agrees with 
 
 the indications in v. 16, x. 7, of 
 their peculiar reliance on their 
 outward connexion with Christ. 
 They, as well as he, professed 
 that * the Spirit,' in some form, 
 visibly followed their teaching. 
 
 aXXov ^Irjcrovv implies that 
 they taught, not another Messiah 
 (which would have been ex- 
 pressed by aXXov xp^a-Tov), but 
 another representation of the 
 historical Jesus. 
 
 TTvcvfia €T€pov. For this varia- 
 tion from oXAov, compare erepov 
 evayyeXiov o ovk eariv oAAo, Gal. 
 i. 6. 
 
 KoXois is ironical, like ' prce- 
 clare ' in Latin (comp. koXco? d- 
 OereLTe, in Mark vii. 9), — 'You 
 endure them finely.' Comp. i^Scws 
 avix^o-Oe, verse 19. The imperf. 
 rjveLx^crOe or avetx^adc is intro- 
 duced in D. E. F. G. J. K. instead 
 of av^x^a-Oi in B. apparently to 
 lighten the reproof. 
 
 5 The connexion is, 'you en- 
 dure them gladly ; why do you 
 not endure me ? ' It is difficult to 
 decide between Sc (B.) and yap 
 (D. E. F. G. J. K.). Comp. a 
 similar confusion of readings be- 
 tween yap and 8c in xii. 1. The 
 words form (undesignedly no 
 doubt) an Iambic : 
 
 XoyL^ofxai 3c ixrjSkv vcTTepyjKevaL. 
 
 Toiv vTrepXtav aTrocTToXojv, ' the 
 very greatest Apostles,' ' those 
 who are ever so much 
 
 of Apostles.' In the chiefest^ 
 
 first instance he is -^P^sties.' 
 speaking of the false teachers. 
 
 ll2 
 
516 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 5—7. 
 
 ^avi^eo-Oe. ^Xoyitpixai ^Se yur^^ev varep-qKivai tcjv ^virep- 
 \iav aTTOCTTokoiv. ^ el Se /cat tStwTT^s ro) Xdyw, d\X' ou r^ 
 
 ijyelxeffdi 
 
 ydp. 
 
 virhp \iav. 
 
 with him. *But I think that I am in want of nothiwg possessed by the 
 very chief est apostles. ^But though I be rude in word, yet not in know- 
 
 He would hardly have used so 
 bitter an expression as v-n-epXtav 
 of the real Apostles, nor would 
 the expression tStcorr;? tw Aoyw 
 ( ' rude in speech ') be used of 
 himself in verse 6, in contradis- 
 tinction to the Jewish Apostles, 
 who were at least as ' rude in 
 speech ' (see Acts iv. 13) as him- 
 self ; and he also distinctly calls 
 the false teachers {J/evhairoa-ToXoL, 
 ' false Apostles,' in verse 13. Yet, 
 on the other hand, he would 
 hardly have used so strong an 
 expression, unless disparaging 
 comparisons had been instituted 
 between him and the other 
 Apostles. That such was the 
 case at Corinth is implied by the 
 allusions to ' Kephas ' and ' the 
 brethren of the Lord ' in 1 Cor. 
 i. 12, ix. 5. His own conscious- 
 ness of independence, if not 
 superiority to them, appears, 
 though more mildly expressed, 
 in 1 Cor. xv. 10, * I laboured 
 more abundantly than they all ; ' 
 and Gal. ii. 6-9, ' of those who 
 seemed to be somewhat [James, 
 Kephas, and John, who appeared 
 to be pillars], whatsoever they 
 were, it maketh no matter to 
 me.' For the exaggerated esti- 
 mate which the Jewish section 
 of the early Church formed of 
 Peter and James in particular, 
 see the extracts from the Clemen- 
 tines in the Introduction to this 
 Epistle, p. 352. 
 
 The compound vvrepXtW occurs 
 in Eustathius, Od. A', pp. 27, 35 : 
 loTi ydp TTore kol t(o Xiav Kara t^v 
 
 TpaywStW '^(fiaa-Oai KaXwq Ka6* o 
 crrjixaivo/xcvov \4yo/x€v Tiva vtt e p- 
 X (, av (T0(f)6v. So VTrepdyav, 2 
 Mace. X. 34. Compounds of v-rrip 
 are common in St. Paul ; see 1 
 Cor. vii. 36 ; 2 Cor. vii. 4, x. 14, 
 &c. 
 
 6 He justifies his boast of 
 equality to these * ultra- Apostles.' 
 ' Granting that I am inferior in 
 the arts of rhetoric, yet I have 
 revelations of a higher than 
 human wisdom, and my whole 
 conduct is perfectly open and 
 straightforward for you to see.' 
 tSccorr;? to) Xoyto is not ' deficient 
 in eloquence,' both because his 
 Epistles show that he possessed 
 it in a very high degree, and 
 in Acts xiv. 12 he is 'Rude in 
 compared to Mercury, speech.' 
 as being the chief speaker. But 
 he means that he was unskilled 
 in the arts of rhetorical display, 
 on which the Greeks laid so much 
 stress, and in which the extreme 
 rudeness of his written style 
 shows that he was deficient ; the 
 opposite in this respect to Apollos, 
 who was a ' ready man ' (dvrjp 
 A.oyto?), Acts xviii. 24. For the 
 fact with regard to Paul com- 
 pare 1 Cor. ii. 1-4, ' not with 
 excellency of speech,' ' not with 
 enticing words of man's wisdom.' 
 For the word see 1 Cor. xiv. 
 16. 
 
 On this subject a curious di- 
 versity is pointed out by Estius, 
 between Jerome and Augustine ; 
 the former taking the words in 
 their literal sense, as exj^ressing 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 517 
 
 yvcocrei, aXX' iv Travrl ^ (f>avep(ocravTe<; ev Tracriv €is vjuias. 
 '^ Tj aixapTiav iiroi-qcra^ ifxavTov TaneLVcov Iva v/zet? vi/fo)- 
 
 <pavep(i)d4vT€S. 
 
 ledge, but in everything we manifested ourselves among you in all things. 
 'Or did I sin, in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I 
 
 the deficiency of St. Paul ; the 
 latter maintaining that it is a 
 mere concession, for the moment, 
 to the argument of his adver- 
 saries. 
 
 The two points on which he 
 lays stress in proof of his Apostle- 
 ship are (1) his 'knowledge,' i.e. 
 of Divine revelations, and of spi- 
 ritual truths (as in 1 Cor. i. 5-, xii. 
 8. Comp. 1 Cor. ii. 5). Of this 
 he would probably have spoken 
 at length immediately,, but that 
 he was interrupted l3y a di- 
 gression which arises out of his 
 second proof ; namely, (2) his 
 conscientious dealings with the 
 Corinthians. Comp. ii. 17, iii. 3, 
 V. 11, where the same word, </>a- 
 v€pov(r6aL, is used. 
 
 iv TravTL, ' in every point ; ' ev 
 TToicnv, ' in all circumstances,' or 
 ' before all,' see Phil. iv. 12. 
 
 The use of ^vepwo-avrc?, ex- 
 pressing his openness and frank- 
 ^, ness, suffffests to him 
 
 Charge ^ p ° xu i 
 
 joundedon One ot the charges 
 S'pay"'*^ brought against him 
 by his opponents. This 
 as it bore directly on the subject 
 of his affection for the Corinthi- 
 ans, at the moment uppermost 
 in his thoughts, he answers at 
 once, without pursuing his 
 ' boast.' 
 
 This charge was that he took 
 no money from the Corinthian 
 Church, but supported himself 
 by his own labours (see Acts 
 xviii. 3 ; and the notes on 1 Cor. 
 ix. 1-5). From this throe con- 
 clusions were drawn ; The first 
 
 was, that it was impossible to 
 conceive how a real Apostle 
 could thus abstain from claiming 
 his undoubted right ; the second, 
 that it indicated his want of con- 
 fidence in the Corinthian Church; 
 the third, that whilst he thus 
 made a pretension to disinterest- 
 edness, he was really making a 
 gain under cover of the contri- 
 bution professed to be collected 
 through Titus for the poor in 
 Judsea. It is the first two of 
 these conclusions that he chiefly 
 attacks in this passage (as in 1 
 Cor. ix. 1) ; but the third (which 
 he expressly notices further on, 
 xii. 15-18) must be borne in 
 mind also, as accounting for the 
 rapid transition in the passage, 
 and for the earnestness with 
 which he repels the charge gene- 
 rally. ' I was shown clearly to 
 be an Apostle amongst you ; or 
 do you doubt my authority and 
 my love for you, because I 
 preached the Gospel without re- 
 muneration ? Surely not : it was 
 out of my especial love and care 
 for you that I made an exception 
 in your favour ; and that whilst 
 I received support from others, 
 I never exacted any from you.' 
 
 7 ifiavTov TaTretvtov, ' abasing 
 myself' by working at the trade 
 of a tentmaker. Comp. Phil. iv. 
 10-12, where the same word 
 occurs in a similar connexion. 
 
 Lva vfJLU^ v\piii6rJT€, ' that you 
 may be exalted,' The word is 
 used for the sake of the antithesis 
 to TaTTuvoiv, as in the almost pro- 
 
518 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. XI. 8, 9. 
 
 OrJTe, OTL hoipeav to tov deov evayyeXiov ev7]yyekLcrdiJi7)i» 
 viMU ; ^aXXas e/c/cXi^cria? icrvXrjora Xaficov oxJjcovlov irpo^ 
 TTjp vp.oiv BiaKovLav, KOL rrapcov Trpo? vjLtas /cat vcrreprjdel^; 
 
 preached to you the gospel of God freely? ^I robbed other churches 
 taking wages for your ministry, ^and when I was present with you, and 
 
 verbial expressions in Matt, xxiii. 
 12 ; Luke xiv. 11, xviii. 14 ; and 
 still more appropriately in James 
 i\r. 10. See 1 Pet. v, 6. For the 
 contrast between/a^ earthly abase- 
 ment and their spiritual exalta- 
 tion, comp. 1 Cor, ix. 11 ; the 
 words sow and reap being there 
 used in different senses, as 
 ' abased ' and ' exalted ' are here. 
 The exaltation which his abase- 
 ment would confer on the Co- 
 rinthians probably lay in the 
 keener sense of their Christian 
 privileges, of which they would 
 be made conscious by feeling 
 themselves the object of his es- 
 pecial attention. For the gene- 
 ral sentiment of their elevation 
 above himself, comp. 1 Cor. iv. 
 8, 'Now are ye full,' {fee. 
 
 TO €vayyiX.LOV ^vrjyyeXKTdixrjv. 
 Here as in 1 Cor. ix. 12-18, 
 and more exactly 1 Thess. ii. 9, 
 he uses these e?:pressions in spe- 
 cial connexion with the question 
 of his preaching Christianity 
 without remuneration. 
 
 8 aAAas €KKXr](Tta<s icrvXr](XQ.. In 
 answer to the charge that his 
 conduct in this respect indicated 
 want of affection, instead of di- 
 rectly vindicating himself, he 
 merely restates the fact ; — 'Judge 
 for yourselves ; is it possible that 
 this can be from coldness ? ' He 
 lays stress, not so much on the 
 fact that he supported himself, 
 as on the fact that he received 
 support from the surrounding 
 Churches, making the Church of 
 Corinth an exception. This vari- 
 
 ation from the language of 1 Cor. 
 ix. 1-7; Acts XX. 34, 35; 1 
 Thess. ii. 9, is probably to be 
 accounted for by his unwilling- 
 ness to press upon their notice 
 a topic so offensive as the men- 
 tion of his labouring with his 
 own hands. 
 
 It would appear, that at Phi- 
 lippi (Phil. iv. 15, 16), ^.^^^^^^ 
 and probably in the rule of his 
 Churches generally in nancetn 
 that part of the pro- the rest of 
 vince, on the eastern 
 side of the Strymon, he received 
 support, according to the cha- 
 i^cter of munificence for which 
 he commends them so highly in 
 viii. 2. On crossing the Stry- 
 mon, he was unwilling (for 
 whatever reason) to burden the 
 Thessalonians ; and there, ac- 
 cordingly, was supported partly 
 by two contributions sent after 
 him from Philippi, partly by his 
 own labours (1 Thess. ii. 9 ; 
 Phil. iv. 16) ; and again, in like 
 manner, when he had advanced 
 on his journey as far as Corinth 
 (jrapcbv TT/JO? .I'/xas), he there pur- 
 sued the same course ; the con- 
 tributions from Macedonia being 
 brought by ' the brethren ' who 
 followed him from thence (verse 
 9), probably Silas and Timo- 
 theus, whom he had left at Be- 
 roea (Acts xvii. 14), and who re- 
 joined him at Corinth (Acts xviii. 
 5). In subsequent periods of his 
 life we find that at Ephesus (Acts 
 XX. 34, 35) he worked with his 
 own hands ; that at Rome he still 
 
HIS BOASTINa EXCUSED. 
 
 519 
 
 ov KaT€vdpKr)cra ^ovOevo^ ^ (to yap vcrTep-qjJia (jlov irpocr- 
 aveirkrjpoiO'av ol aSe\(j)ol iXOovres oltto MaKeSovCas), 
 Koi iv iravrl a/Baprj ^ e^JLOLVTov vp2v eTTJprjcra /cat Trjprjcro}. 
 
 ■ ovSev6s. * vfuv ifJiavT6v. 
 
 in want, I was chargeable to no man (for the brethren who came from 
 Macedonia supplied my wants), and in everything I kept and will keep 
 
 received support from Philippi 
 (Phil. iv. 12-16). Whatever 
 peculiarity, then, there might be 
 in the case of Corinth — and it is 
 implied in this passage, as well as 
 in the distinct notice of it in Acts 
 xviii. 3 — must have consisted in 
 the importance attached by the 
 Apostle to the Church of Corinth, 
 and his consequent anxiety to do 
 nothing which could in any de- 
 gree hurt his influence with them, 
 and to do all that he could to 
 show his real superiority to the 
 false teachers. They rested their 
 chief claims on the fact that they 
 did receive support; and thus 
 the self-maintenance, which cIsCt 
 where might be the result of ac- 
 cident, was here a matter of prin- 
 ciple with him. 
 
 oAAas, ' others,' as opposed to 
 the emphatic v/awv, ' for your 
 service.' 
 
 ia-vX.rjO'a, ' I took from them 
 more than their due ; not merely 
 enough for my support whilst I 
 was with them, but enough for 
 my support after I left them and 
 came to you,' 
 
 oij/iDVLov, ' pay,' as of a soldier. 
 Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 7. 
 
 SiaKovLaVf properly ^help in 
 poverty or distress,' as where it 
 is used in viii. 4, ix. 1, 13 ; Rom. 
 XV. 31, for the contribution to 
 help the Jewish Christians ; here, 
 probably, in a more general sense, 
 — ' to help you, by relieving you 
 from the necessity of support- 
 
 KOLTafapKao). 
 
 Trapwv TT/oos v/xa?, i.e. in Acts 
 xviii. 1. 
 
 v(TT€pr)$€Ls, ' finding myself in 
 want.' So Phil. iv. 12. 
 
 KarevapKYjo-a, ' press, like a dead 
 weight or torpedo,' from vdpKTj, 
 a torpedo. vapKao) is 
 used in Gen. xxxii. 32 ; 
 Job xxxiii. 19 ; but KaravapKono 
 in no other Greek passage but 
 this and xii. 13, 14. Jerome 
 (Algas. ii, 10) thinks that it is a 
 Cilicianism, like rjfiepa cmcianism 
 in 1 Cor. iv. 3 : ^ Multa ^^^«^^°^- 
 sunt verba quibus juxta morem 
 urbis et provinci89 suaa familia- 
 rius Apostolus utitur ; e quibus, 
 exempli gratia, pauca ponenda 
 sunt : ov KarevapKyjcra v/awi/, i.e. 
 non gravavi vos. Quibus et aliis 
 mtcUis verbis usqtie hodie utiuitur 
 Gilices.* 
 
 yap is the reason for ov kut- 
 €vdpKr](Ta. 
 
 7rpo(TaveTr\'t]poi(Tav, ' added to 
 my means, and so filled up.' 
 
 d/3aprj occurs nowhere else in 
 the JSr, Test. 
 
 IQ He now protests his reso- 
 lution of continuing this prac- 
 tice ; giving as his reason the 
 necessity of distinguishing him- 
 self from the false teachers. 
 
 ecTTtv aX'^OcLa )(pi,(TTOv iv ifxoL. 
 Not exactly an oath, bat ' the 
 truth, or truthfulness of Christ, 
 is in me ; and in virtue of that 
 truth I declare.' So Rom. ix. 1. 
 For the same thought that he 
 must act up to the standard of 
 
520 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 10—14. 
 
 ecrriv aKrjueLa ^lcttov ev ejxoi^ otl rj Kav)(r]crL<; avrr) ov 
 Tt; OTL ovK ayaiTCt) u/xa?; 6 Seos olSei^. 
 
 12* 
 
 2* ^ ^ 
 
 770 tcD, /cat 
 
 myself from being burdensome unto you. ^^As the truth of Clirist is in 
 me, this boasting shall not be closed against me in the regions of Achaia. 
 ^' Wherefore ? because I love you not ? God knoweth. ^^But what I do, 
 
 trnth which he preached, com- 
 pare i. 18. 
 
 17 Kav'^cn<s . . 4 . <f>payyjcr€TaL. 
 <f}pd(T(Tisi is properly to ' fence ' or 
 * wall round,* as in the LXX. 
 generally ; but in the N. Test, it 
 is only used for ' closing the 
 mouthy' (TTo/jia always following 
 or preceding it (see Rom. iii. 
 19; Heb. xi. 33), except here, 
 where, however, the sense is the 
 same, rj Kavxycn^ being in part 
 personified (comp. 1 Cor. ix. 15, 
 XV. 31). The meaning will then 
 be, ' my boast shall not have her 
 mouth closed towards me, to 
 prevent her from speaking in 
 my favour ; ' the whole being 
 a condensed expression for to 
 o-To/xa jJLOv ov <f>pay^(TeTai, mcttc /jly) 
 Kav)(a<rOaL iv rovrio vTrep ijxov. 
 
 iv TOt? KXifxaa-tv t^s 'A;(atas. 
 ' The regions,' used with regard 
 to the supposed divisions of the 
 heavens, verging towards the 
 poles (comp. Gal. i. 21; Rom. 
 XV. 23) ; see 1 Cor. i. 2 for 
 ' Achaia.' 
 
 116 6€o<s oTScv. ' God knows 
 that it is not so,' or ' that I love 
 you.' 
 
 12 o Sk TTOtw, Kol TTonyo-co, ' it is 
 not from want of love that I do, 
 and shall continue to do this.' 
 The second tva is not in appo- 
 sition with the first tva, but in- 
 troduces a subordinate clause to 
 explain the second dcfiopfxrjv. 
 ' My object in refusing to take a 
 maintenance from you is to cut 
 away from under the feet of my 
 
 opponents the ground on which 
 they take their stand (comp. 
 V. 12), namely, the ground of 
 representing themselves to be on 
 the same level of Apostolical au- 
 thority with me, in the matter 
 of receiving a maintenance.' 
 The whole sense is obscured by 
 the fact that the charge brought 
 against Paul by his opponents 
 was double, and, to a certain ex- 
 tent, contradictory. On the one 
 hand, it is clear from verges 13, 
 20, and 1 Cor. ix. 1-27, that the 
 false teachers not only received 
 support from the Corinthians, 
 but prided themselves ^^cJ,cau- 
 upon it as a mark of x^^'rai. 
 their Apostolical privileges. This, 
 therefore, was the matter ' in 
 which they boasted,' and it was 
 because he did not take this sup- 
 port that they insinuated doubts 
 of Paul's Apostleship. But, on 
 the other hand, it was obvious 
 that, whilst Paul's conduct gave 
 him a claim to be considered 
 self-denying and disinterested, 
 their conduct was liable to the 
 suspicion of mercenary motives ; 
 and for this reason it was their 
 object, by repeated attacks on 
 the want of Apostolical authority 
 shown in Paul's self-mainte- 
 nance, to drive him into receiv- 
 ing support, and so to remove 
 the dilference between him and 
 themselves, which, in spite of 
 their attacks, left him in a more 
 favourable light than themselves. 
 Hence a cross-purpose ruus 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 521 
 
 Lva ev o) Kav^cDVTai evpeucoaiv KaucDS Kai T^/xeis. oi yap 
 TOLOVTOL xpevBaTTOCTToKoi^ epyoLTai SdXtot, /xeraa-^T^/xart^d- 
 /x€^oi €19 airoa-Tokov^; ^piarov, ^^Acat ou ^Savixa* avTos 
 
 » Oavfiaffrdv. 
 
 that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from those who desire occasion, 
 that wherein they boast they may be found even as ive. ^^ For such are 
 false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of 
 Christ. ^^And no marvel : for Satan himself is transformed into an 
 
 through all their attack, and 
 hence the cross-lights (so to 
 speak) of his description of it. 
 
 Trjv acfyopfi-^v is ' their jjf round ' 
 (not 'against me,' which would 
 require eh e/xe, or the like, but) 
 'for themselves,' as in v. 12. 
 
 iv (S Kavx<i>vTaL may be ' in the 
 whole matter of their boasting,' 
 or more especially with reference 
 to the maintenance. Compare 
 1 Pet. iii. 16, cva iv w KaToAaAw- 
 
 (TLV VjXlsiV .... KaTaL(TyyvOiii(TL. 
 
 evpeOwcTLv KaOws kol 17/xcts would, 
 according to the sense, have na- 
 turally been expressed, ivpiOwfxev 
 Ka^ojs Kttt avToL But as the in- 
 tention of the clause was to ex- 
 press, not his wish, but theirs, 
 the opponents became the subject 
 of the sentence ; and it is equi- 
 valent to saying, ' that we may 
 be on a perfect equality in regard 
 to our claims to Apostleship.' 
 For a similar confusion of ex- 
 pression compare Gal. iv. 12, 
 yLveffOe cos iyoif otl Kayw ws v/jlcls, 
 and, to a certain degree, 2 Cor. 
 viii. 13. The subjunctive evpe- 
 Ouiu-i for evpeOeiev is the natural 
 result of the present tense, em- 
 phatically ascribed to their pro- 
 ceedings both in OekovTwv and 
 Kav^tovrat. 
 
 This interpretation, though 
 harsh, seems, on the whole, the 
 most probable. All others fail, 
 because they ascribe to the op- 
 
 ponents a ground for boasting 
 which they did not claim. 
 
 13 'I do this, because such 
 men as I have been describing are 
 false apostles,^ xJ/evSairo- 
 o-ToXot, ' sham apostles,' apostles.' 
 ' pretended apostles ; ' 
 like xj/ivSoxpi-o-TOL, Matt. xxiv. 24; 
 \J/ivSo7rpo<f>rJTr}s, ^l&tt. vii. 15, xxiv. 
 11, 24 : so called here, because 
 they either gave themselves out 
 to be Apostles, or rested on the 
 authority of the older Apostles 
 (see note on verse 5). 
 
 ' Crafty artisans ' (ipydrai 80- 
 Xtot) seems to be ' workmen la- 
 bouring for their own gain,' as 
 Acts xix. 25 ; so ipyaaia, Acts 
 xvi. 16, 19, is deepened by the 
 meaning of ' craft.' For the 
 whole expression comp. ii. 17, 
 xi. 20. 
 
 ' Transforming themselves in- 
 to Apostles of Christ,' possi- 
 bly alludes to the party ' of 
 Christ' (see on x. 7). The al- 
 lusion to Satan may possibly re- 
 fer to the Rabbinical 
 notion of the evil spirit 
 transforming himself into a good 
 angel, of which, however, the 
 only instance adduced by Eisen- 
 menger, Entd. Judenthum, i. p. 
 845, is of the angel who wrestled 
 with Jacob, and who is repre- 
 sented by the Rabbis as an evil 
 spirit. But it is more likely 
 that here, as in xii. 7, he uses 
 
 Satan.' 
 
.22 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. XI. 15. 
 
 yap 6 craram?, fJL€Tacr)(r)fJiaTL^€TaL eU ayyeXov (fyajTo^;* 
 ^^ov /.teya ovu el kol ol SiaKOvoL avTOv fJieTacr)(7jiJLaTLC,ovTaL 
 W9 SuaKovoL SLKaLO(rvvr)<;, a>v to rikos ecrrai Acara ra epya 
 avTwv. 
 
 angel of light : ^^ therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be 
 transformed as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according 
 to their works. 
 
 the word in reference to the 
 earliest use of it in the Old Test, 
 in Job. i. ii. ; and particularly to 
 the transformation there implied, 
 though not expressed, of Satan 
 into the form of one of the angels 
 (LXX. ol ayyeXot) who appear in 
 the presence of God. 
 
 ayyeXov cfiiDTos is in allusion to 
 the light in which God and the 
 angels live ; comp. Acts xii. 7. 
 
 15 ov /xeya. See 1 Cor.ix. 11. 
 
 ws SiOLKovoL, i.e. ' change and 
 become like instruments of right- 
 eousness.' Comp. Rom. ix. 29, 
 0)9 Vofxoppa av w/JLOnoOrjfxev. 
 
 SiKaioavvrj^, ' Christian right- 
 eousness,' as in V. 21. 
 
 wv TO T€Xo<5, ' whose final fate ; ' 
 see Rom. vi. 21; Phil. iii. 19; 
 and for the construction, Rom. 
 iii. 8. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XI. 1 — 15. 
 
 Let me, then, continue my boast. It is a iceahness to sing one's 
 own praises ; yet let me conjure you to bear with it for a mo- 
 ment. It is a loeakness which arises from my affection for 
 you, thai affection lohich the bridegroom^ s friend feels for the 
 bride whom he has given to the bridegroom. But I am haunted 
 by the fear lest the story of the Fall should in your case be en- 
 acted over again ; lest your affections should be estranged from 
 your heavenly spouse by the tempter, ivho comes now in the 
 shape of an Apostolic teacher, as of old in the shape of the ser- 
 pent. For I see that, notwithstanding the new Jesus, and the 
 new Spirit, and the new Gospel of your new teachers, you bear 
 with them ; yes, ivell and easily icith them, and why not with 
 me ? However far they may push their Apostolic pretensions, 
 they are not superior to me ; they may be superior to me in 
 rhetoric, but assuredly not in divine intuitions, nor in the signs 
 of an Apostle which were so openly and without reserve shown 
 by me amongst you. Is it possible that you doubt this ? or do 
 you doubt my love for you, because I debased myself for your 
 
HIS BOASTINa EXCUSED. 523 
 
 exaltation, and refused to receive support from you^ in declaring 
 the glad message of Divine favour ? True it is, I did so ; the 
 fact I cannot deny. Before I came to you, I took more than 
 their due from the Macedonian Churches, to relieve you ; and 
 after I came to you, I still continued, when I was in want, to 
 receive support from them, and to maintaiii myself, without ap- 
 plying to you. This is the fact, and I am proud to avow it ; 
 this boast, at any rate, shall speak out boldly, under the sky of 
 Achaia, and shall not be taken from me. And why ? not cer- 
 tainly from any want of affection, but from my determination 
 to cut away from under the feet of my opponevts the ground 
 which they so desire to establish, namely, that in the matter of 
 which they wish to boast, they and I are on the same level. 
 Well may I desire to make clear this difference between them 
 and myself ; for they are Apostles only in appearance, they are 
 interested self-seekers ; they appear to be Apostles of Christ, 
 only by a concealment of their own true nature. And that they 
 should be able to effect this concealment is no wonder ; their 
 master, the great adversary of whom we read in the old dis- 
 pensation under the name of Satan, does the same. He con- 
 ceals his dark deeds under the guise of an angel clothed in 
 light ; and as he is, so are his instruments ; and as their deeds 
 are, so will be their end. 
 
524 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 16—19. 
 
 ^^UoXlv Xeyct), finj tU fie Sof?; d(l)pova etvaf el Se 
 fjLij ye, KOLV a>s acfypova Be^aade /x€, tVa /cdyo) [xiKpov 
 
 ^^I say again. Let no one suppose me a fool ; if otherwise, yet as a 
 fool receive me, that I may boast myself a little. ^''That which I speak, 
 
 Three times he has attempted 
 to begin his ' boast,' first, in x. 
 8, when he is interrupted by the 
 recollection of the hollowness of 
 the boast of his opponents, and 
 compelled to assert the reality of 
 his own ; again, in xi. 1, when 
 he is checked by the recollection 
 of the difficulty of pressing it on 
 readers so perverted as the Co- 
 rinthians by the influence of their 
 false teachers ; again in xi. 6, 
 when he is led aside to answer 
 the charge arising out of his re- 
 fusal of support. Now once more 
 he returns to the point, and 
 now for the first time carries it 
 through. He is still oppressed by 
 the consciousness of the seeming 
 senselessness of such self-praise ; 
 but he defends himself on two 
 grounds: that he is driven to it 
 by the pretensions of his oppo- 
 nents ; and that he is speaking, 
 not of his higher gifts, of which 
 he might reasonably be proud, 
 but of those very points in his 
 conduct and character which 
 have given occasion to his oppo- 
 nents to charge him with ' weak- 
 ness.' ' His bodily pre- 
 sence is weak' (do-^evT^s), 
 X. 10. The word in- 
 dicates that mixture of physical 
 and mental infirmity which is 
 connected with nervousness and 
 depression, resulting either from 
 a keen susceptibility of tempera- 
 ment, or from exhaustion of body 
 and mind. Thus he had arrived 
 
 His weak 
 ness. 
 
 at Corinth * in weakness (iv aa-Oi- 
 v€ta), and in fear and trem- 
 bling ' (1 Cor. ii. 3) ; and such is 
 the sense borne by it through the 
 whole of this Section, of which 
 it is the key-note, and in which 
 it occurs no less than six times. 
 
 1 6 IlaAiv Xeyw, ' I return to 
 what I said before ; ' either the 
 general subject of his boasting, 
 as in X. 8, xi. 1, 6 ; or his folly, 
 as in xi. 1. In what follows, the 
 stress is, not on the first words 
 of tne sentence (/xr] tls fie . . . 
 ctvai), but on the last {el 8c fx-j 
 ye . . . Kavx^croifxai); ' I had rather 
 that you should not think me 
 foolish ; but what I care most 
 for is, that whether you think 
 me foolish or not, you would bear 
 with what I have to say in my 
 own defence.' 
 
 €t Be {x-q ye, '■ but if any one 
 does think me foolish.' For this 
 force of €t 8e fxr), in which the 
 meaning of the particular words 
 is lost in the general meaning of 
 ' otherwise,' corap. Matt. vi. 1, 
 xi. 17 ; Markii. 21 ; Luke v. 36. 
 
 Kttv, ' even if you receive me 
 as a fool ; ' elliptically for koI 
 lav Se^crOe, as kolv tov Kpaa-irebov, 
 Mark vi. 56 ; kolv rj a Kid, Acts v. 
 15. 
 
 Seiaa-Oe, ' bear with me ' (like 
 ave^eaOe in xi. 1). 
 
 cos dcjjpova is taken, as it were^ 
 twice over in the sentence, ' even 
 if you do receive me as a fool, 
 yet as a fool receive me.' 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED BY HIS WEAKNESS. 
 
 525 
 
 TL KaV)(7j(T(jDlJLaL. 
 
 ^^o XaA-O), ^ ov Kara Kvpiov XaXw, 
 dXX' a>? iv a(j)pocrvvr)^ iv TavTy rfj vTroo-rdcrei ttj^ Kav- 
 -)(y]crea)<;. ^^eVet ttoXXoI Kav^MVTai Kara ttjv crdpKa, 
 Kayo) Kav)(y]crofJLaL. ^^rjSecos yap dvi^eaOe rcov aa^povoiv, 
 
 » Kaydi) after n. " ov AaAcD Karh Kvpiov. 
 
 I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were in folly, in this stedfastness 
 of boasting. ^^ Seeing that many boast after the flesh, I will boast also. 
 ^^For ye bear with fools gladly, being wise. ^'^For ye bear with them, 
 
 fjLLKpov TL, ' a little bit,' as we 
 should say : ironically as against 
 bis opponents, in contrast with 
 whom, he says, ' That I {Kayo}) 
 as well as they may boast.' So 
 verse 18 and 1 Cor. vii. 40. For 
 Tt compare tl d<f>pocrvvr}y, in xi. 1. 
 
 17 He had said, 'Bear with 
 me as a fool.' He now proceeds 
 to enlarge upon this : * for what 
 I am now speaking, I speak not 
 as Christ would have me speak, 
 but in the person of a fool, and 
 in this matter of their boasting.' 
 
 o AaXw is ' my language,' ' my 
 general strain,' in distinction 
 from o (l>r]fXL or Aeyw, ' my words.' 
 
 ov Kara Kvpiov, 'not the hu- 
 mility which Christ would in- 
 culcate, and which His spirit 
 would breathe.' For this con- 
 demnation, as it were, of his own 
 language by the Apostle himself, 
 and the distinction thus drawn 
 between his higher and his lower 
 utterances, see 1 Cor. vii. 10, 25. 
 
 ws iv d(ppo(Tvvr) refers to ws 
 d(jipova in verse 16. 
 
 iv ravrrj rrj vTroa-rdcru r^? Kav- 
 X^o-co)9.' This refers to the boast- 
 ing, not of himself, but of his 
 opponents, or at least, of himself 
 and of his opponents conjointly, 
 and is intended to limit the justi- 
 fication of his boastinof to this 
 particular occasion. The words 
 must mean ' in this vehemence 
 of boasting,' as in ix. 4. 
 
 18 iroXkoi This mention of 
 
 jcara rrfV 
 aapKa. 
 
 the numbers of the false teachers 
 agrees with ol ttoXXol, in ii. 17. 
 
 Kara Tr)v aapKa combines an 
 allusion both to their earthly 
 privileges, as of their Hebrew 
 descent (xi. 22), or their pow- 
 ers of speech (xi. 6), and to 
 their worldly motives, 
 in opposition to Kara 
 KvpLoVf in verse 17; 
 in which case compare x. 3. 
 Kara rr]v crdpKa must be under- 
 stood again after Kav^-qcroixaL (as 
 in V. 16, after otSa/xev), although 
 the Apostle probably omitted to 
 repeat it, with the purpose of not 
 making his representation of his 
 own boast needlessly offensive. 
 For the general argument com- 
 pare Phil. iii. 4, 5, 'I might also 
 have confidence in the flesh. If 
 any other man thinketh that he 
 hath whereof he might trust in 
 the flesh, I more,' &c. 
 
 19 'Bear with my boasting, 
 now that I come before you as a 
 fool : for you are only too glad 
 to listen to these fools among 
 whom I now enroll myself.' 
 
 Tcov d(f}p6v(iiv, though it refers 
 especially (as appears from verse 
 20) to the false teachers, yet is 
 in itself general, — ' the class of 
 fools of which I just now spoke.' 
 
 KftpovifjiOL 6vT€? refers to the re- 
 putation for sagacity, on which 
 the Corinthians prided them- 
 selves. (Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 10, 
 (ppovLixoL iv xpto-To), and x. 15, ws 
 
526 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 20, 21. 
 
 (f>p6vL[jioi 6vTe<;* ^'^ av€)(€(T9e yoip, €l ti<; vfias AcaraSovX-ot, 
 et TLS KaTecrOUi, el tls Xajx/SdveL. el res eVatperat, el 
 
 if anyone bring you into bondage, if anyone devour you, if anyone take 
 from you, if anyone exalt himself, if anyone smite you on the face. ^'I 
 
 ^povt/xots Acyo).) In this passage 
 it maybe either (1) 'although 
 wise,' ' wise as you think your- 
 selves to be ; ' or, with a pro- 
 founder irony, (2) * you bear with 
 them, because it is the character 
 of wise men to bear with fools.' 
 
 The instance given is that 
 they endured the insolence and 
 despotic claims of the false 
 teachers. That this was 
 oUheJu^ the character of the 
 daizing Judaizing party gene- 
 rally may be inferred 
 by implication from i. 24, iv. 
 5, and Gal. ii. 4. See also the 
 servile adulation of James in 
 the Clementines (Introduction, 
 p. 352). 
 
 KaTaSovXol, ' enslave.' The 
 same word is applied to the 
 efforts of the party at Antioch 
 and Jerusalem, in GhI. ii. 4, to 
 bring the Christian Church under 
 the yoke of the Jewish ceremo- 
 nies. Compare the use of 8ov- 
 Xcta in this sense in Gal. v. 1, 
 ' be not again entangled with 
 the yoke of slavery ; ' and Peter's 
 speech. Acts xv. 10, ' a yoke 
 which neither we nor our fathers 
 were able to bear.' In this pas- 
 sage the word has probably a 
 more personal meaning, like kv- 
 puvofjLev in i. 24, but with a re- 
 jerence to the moral slavery to 
 which the Church was to be re- 
 duced. 
 
 2o KaT€(r6uL, ' devour your 
 property,' as in Matt, xxiii. 14, 
 • devour widows' houses.' Tbe 
 particular point intended must 
 be the claims which they made 
 on the Corinthian Church for 
 
 their support (see 1 Cor. ix. 1). 
 But it may also include the co- 
 vetous disposition which at this 
 time, as in our own, was a beset- 
 ting sin of the Jewish character. 
 
 For the grossly selfish ends of 
 the Judaizing party, see Rom. 
 xvi. 18, 'they serve not the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, but their own 
 belly ' ; Phil. iii. 19, ' whose God 
 is their belly.' 
 
 Xafx^dvcL, 'catches you,' 
 ' makes you his prey ; ' a rae 
 taphor taken from fishing or 
 hunting (see Luke v. 5) ; and in 
 this passage probably applied to 
 the fascination exercised over 
 the Corinthians by their deceit- 
 ful teachers. Comp. SoAw IXafBov, 
 xii. 16. For this general cha- 
 racter of the Judaizers, compare 
 verse 13, SoAiot cpyarat ; ii. 17, 
 KairqXivovTi^ tov Xoyov ; Rom. 
 xvi. 18, iiaTrarojcnv ras KapStag 
 
 TWV aKCtKWV. 
 
 eTraiperai, i.e. KaO' vp,cov, ' con- 
 ducts himself proudly.' For the 
 words see x. 5, rrav vif/w/xa lirat- 
 pofxevov Kara Trj<; yvcocrco)? rov Oeov. 
 Hence the frequent allusions to 
 their boastfulness and self-com- 
 mendations, iii. 1, X. 12-18, xi. 
 12, 18. 
 
 €ts 7rpo<TW7rov Sepci, ' strikes on 
 the face ' (not necessarily with 
 a scourge, since the word is ap- 
 plied in John xviii. 23 to a pa- 
 7rtorp.a, or ' buffet with the hand '). 
 This expression is the climax of 
 the description of insolence. In 
 Eastern countries a blow on the 
 face, especially on the mouth, is 
 a frequent mode of insult. Com- 
 pare 1 Kings xxii. 24, ' Zedekiah 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 527 
 
 Tt9 €19 TrpocrcoTTOV ^v/xas Sepei. ^^ Kara aTLfiiav Xeyco, 
 
 ii/xas before els. 
 
 r](r6evi](raiJ.€v. 
 
 speak as concerning reproach, as though we have been weak: but wherein- 
 soever anyone is daring, (I speak in folly) I am daring also. ^^Are they 
 
 . . . smote Micaiah on the cheek ; ' 
 Matt. V. 39, ' whosoever shall 
 smite thee on thy right cheek ; ' 
 Luke xxii. 64, ' they struck him 
 on the face ; ' Acts xxiii. 2, ' he 
 commanded to smite Paul on the 
 mouth ; ' and so Philost. Apoll. 
 vii. 23. 
 
 That such violence might be 
 expected from the rulers of the 
 early Christian society, is also 
 implied in the command inl Tim. 
 iii. 3, and Tit. i. 7, that the ' bi- 
 shop ' is ' not to be a striker.' 
 Even so late as a.d. 675, the 
 council of Braga (c. 7) orders 
 ' that no bishop at his will and 
 pleasure shall strike his clergy, 
 lest he lose the respect which 
 they owe him.* 
 
 For the singular number rt?, 
 as implying a special leader of 
 the party, see note on x. 7. 
 
 21 Kara drt/xiav Aeyw. In a 
 sentence so charged with irony, 
 and of which one may 
 Apoatte!*^^ suppose that the Apo- 
 stle's meaning must 
 have been caught much rather 
 from the tone of his voice, the 
 turn of bis writing, the expres- 
 sion of his countenance, than 
 from his actual words, it is diffi- 
 cult to assign a precise meaning 
 to each expression. Its general 
 sense is that, in contrast to the 
 false teachers, he was what they 
 called ' weak : ' ' Such are your 
 -teachers ; and what am I in com- 
 parison with them ? Oh ! cer- 
 tainly very different. I say it 
 with a proper consciousness of 
 
 the deep disgrace which it brings 
 upon me in your eyes and theirs ' 
 {Kara aTLfxtav Xeyu) being uttered 
 with an air of mock shame), 
 ' that J, unlike them, was a poor 
 weak creature ; I had not the 
 strength or energy to trample on 
 you and plunder you, and assume 
 a lofty demeanour, and smite yon 
 on the face ; I could do nothing of 
 this kind : so far they are quite 
 right, and I wish them joy of it. 
 But then ' (here the irony is part- 
 ly dropped), ' whatever grounds 
 of confidence, of real confidence, 
 they have, those grounds ' (here 
 he again assumes the half ironical, 
 half apologetic tone), 'pardon 
 my folly for the word, those 
 grounds of confidence I have no 
 less than they.' 
 
 Kara aTLfjLtav is, ' to my re- 
 proach,' like oLTL/jidis. 
 
 Xiyu) is to be taken with w? 
 OTL, ' I say that ' (thus differing 
 from kaku) in verse 17). 
 
 ws OTL is pleonastic, like ' how 
 that ' in English (as 2 Thess. ii. 
 2, ws OTL ivia-Tr}K€v rj rjfxepa) ; but 
 the expression would not be used 
 in either case, were it not for the 
 wish to indicate that the writer 
 himself did not fully agree in the 
 fact stated; ' I say how it is sup- 
 posed that,' &c. See Winer, Gr. 
 67,J1. 
 
 r)fx€L<;, i.e. 'J emphatically, 
 as distinguished from the false 
 teachers.' 
 
 7j(T6€vy]KaiJ,€v (B.), 'have been 
 weak,' ricrOev^aa/jLiv (D.E.), 'were 
 
528 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XL 22. 23. 
 
 d(f)pocriji^rj Xeyco) ToXfJico Kayco. ^"^'E/3patOL elcnv ; Kayco. 
 ^laparjXlTai elcnv ; Kaya>. cnrepixa ^A/BpadfjL ^Ictlv ; KCLyo), 
 
 Hebrews ? so am J. Are they Israelites ? so am I. Are they the seed 
 of Abraham 1 so am I. ^^ Are they ministers of Christ ? (I speak as a 
 
 weak,' i.e. ' when we arrived at 
 Corinth.' See note on xi. 16. 
 
 €1/ acf}po(rvv7] Acyw refers to the 
 word ToXfxa. 
 
 He has now cast aside all fur- 
 ther shame, and begins the long- 
 expected and often announced 
 glorification of himself; and, in 
 so doing, he gives a description of 
 his life, which forms one of the 
 most valuable historical portions 
 of the New Test. 
 
 The ennmeration of his claims 
 begins from those points in which 
 his opponents were strongest, and 
 from these gradually rises into a 
 sphere where he leaves them be- 
 hind, and ultimately loses sight 
 of them altogether. These points 
 were their purely Jewish extrac- 
 tion and their peculiar connexion 
 TheApo- with Christ. It would 
 stie'sJew- appear from Epipha- 
 
 ish origin. ^.^g ^^^^ ^^^ ^Q^ 
 
 that the Judaizers went so far as 
 to assert that he was altogether 
 a Gentile by birth, and only 
 adopted circumcision in order 
 to marry the High Priest's 
 daughter. This suspicion might 
 possibly arise from his birthplace 
 at Tarsus, one of the great seats 
 of G-entile education ; or from his 
 connexion with Gamaliel, whose 
 teaching notoriously inculcated 
 toleration of Gentile usages (see 
 the quotations from the Rabbis 
 in Tholuck's Character of St. 
 Paul, Eng. trans, p. 17). How- 
 ever tliis may be, he here feels 
 called upon to assert the purity 
 of his Jewish descent in the 
 strongest manner ; and it is a re- 
 markable proof of the ascendancy 
 
 acquired by his opponents, that 
 he should be compelled to do so 
 in addressing a Church, in its 
 main elements, not Jewish, but 
 Gentile. 
 
 The three words employed are 
 arranged in a climax. 
 'E^/aaio?, 'Hebrew,' in 
 Acts vi. 1, and in the phrase 
 ' Gospel according to the He- 
 brews ' (Eus. H. E. iii. 39), is 
 used io express Palestinian, as 
 opposed to Hellenistic Jews. But 
 the Apostle was ' hor7i (yeyevvry- 
 /xeVo?) in Tarsus,' Acts xxii. 3 ; 
 and 'E^pato? is often used by Jo- 
 sephus and Philo as an equiva- 
 lent to 'IovSato5. Compare ^E/Spa- 
 Lo<s i$ 'Ei/Spatoiv, in Phil. iii. 5. 
 It is used then here, simply to 
 denote his 7iatio7iality. ' Israel- 
 ite,' and ' the seed of 
 
 ^^1 , • 'Israelite.' 
 
 Abraham, rise one 
 above another in expressing the 
 sacred character of the nation, 
 as inheriting the promises. For 
 ^I(Tpar)XtTrj<;, as a term of praise 
 (in which sense alone it occurs 
 in the N. Test.), see John i. 48 
 (' Israelite indeed .... without 
 guile ') ; Acts ii. 22, iii. 12, v. 35, 
 xiii. 16, xxi. 28 (heading the 
 addresses to the Jews) ; Rom. 
 ix. 4, xi. 1. For o-7rep/xa 
 'A^padfx, in like manner, ISiam; 
 see Heb. ii. 16 ; Rom. 
 ix. 7, xi. 1 (in both of which last 
 passages it comes in, as here, as 
 a climax after ' Israel ' and ' Is- 
 raelite '). 
 
 In Rom. xi. 1 ; Phil. iii. 5, he 
 adds the fact omitted here, that 
 he was a Benjamite : hence per- 
 haps his name of 'Saul.' 
 
HIS BOASTINO EXCUSED. 
 
 529 
 
 ^^SuaKovoL -)(pLcrTov elcTLV ; (^7rapa(f)povo)v Xaka>) ^vTrepeycOy 
 eu KOTTOL^i TrepLcrcroTepcos, ii' ^^vXa/cai? TrepLCTcroTepajSj iv 
 
 • tnrkp iyd. *> iv vXt^yah virepfi., iv (pvKaKois vep. 
 
 fool) I am more, in labours more abundant, in prisons more abundant, 
 in stripes above measure, in deaths oft ^^(from the Jews five times re- 
 
 23 The second point of the 
 boast of the false teachers was 
 
 their pecu 1 iar connexion 
 ftlh^r with Christ (see note 
 
 on X. 7), which they 
 expressed by calling themselves 
 ' His instruments ' or ' servants ' 
 (StaKovoi). 
 
 To this the Apostle gives a 
 more indignant reply than to 
 the previous charge. They had 
 questioned his right to be called 
 so, on the ground that he had not 
 seen onr Lord on earth (see note 
 on 1 Cor. ix. l),and perhaps also 
 on the ground of his want of 
 connexion with the Jerusalem 
 Apostles (see note oniii. 1). He 
 answers by an appeal, not to any 
 outward fact, but to his own won- 
 derful life, as partly in 1 Cor. ix. 
 1, 2 (' ye are my seal in the 
 Lord '). This was the best proof 
 he could give of his intimate 
 union with his Master, and of his 
 zeal for His service ; in this he 
 knew that he was far superior 
 (vTrepeyw) to them, and yet at the 
 same time these very hardships 
 constituted or caused the ' weak- 
 ness' with which he was taunted. 
 This last thought is not directly 
 expressed, but is implied in the 
 transition from verse 28 to 29, 
 30. He ushers in his defence 
 with one more apology, of 
 stronger irony in proportion as 
 his defence is stronger : ' my 
 language is that of a madman. 
 Really I can hardly expect you 
 will believe me' (7rapa<^/)ovwv, 
 comp. 2 Pet. ii. 16); 'but the 
 
 fact is so, I am far more a ser- 
 vant of Christ than they are,' as 
 if it were eyoj VTre/jSta/covos (see 
 note on xi. 5). 
 
 Xa\u> here is ' my general lan- 
 guage,' as in verse 17. 
 
 The sentence is connected im- 
 mediately with vTrepeyw : ' I am 
 a servant of Christ in labours, 
 in stripes,' &c. From this mo- 
 ment he drops all irony. The 
 labours of the false teachers 
 could be nothing compared with 
 his ; and from this point we lose 
 sight of them till xii. 11. 
 
 TTcptcrcroTepo)? is (not *more 
 abundantly than they,' but) as 
 in i. 12, ii. 4, vii. 13, 
 15, merely a stronger X^''" 
 form of Treptorcrco?. It 
 has accordingly lost its distinct 
 comparative meaning so com- 
 pletely that in vii. 13 it is joined 
 with /jLaXXov. If he had meant 
 to compare himself with them, 
 he would have used, not the ad- 
 verb, but the adjective Trcptcrcro- 
 T€po<; or Trepicra-oTepov, as in the 
 somewhat similar passage, 1 
 Cor. XV. 10. It is the same as 
 v7rep/3aXk6vT(i)<5, ' beyond all or- 
 dinary measure,' the words being 
 varied only for variety's sake, as 
 elsewhere in St. Paul (see 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 8). 
 
 €v cf>vXaKai^. The Acts only 
 mention three imprisonments, 
 and of these the one 
 at Philippi (xvi. 24) is SS!'"" 
 the only c^ne that can 
 be included here. In Clem. Ep.. 
 
 M M 
 
530 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 24—27. 
 
 ^lovhaioiv 7revTaKL<; ^ recrcrepoiKOVTa irapa fxCav eXa/3o^', 
 ^^Tpls ^ ipafiSia-drjv^ ana^ eKiOdaOrjv, Tpls ivavdyrjcra, 
 
 » Tfo-capdKOVTa. ^ ippafiSiffdrjv. 
 
 ceived I forty stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, once 
 was I stoned, ^^ thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have 
 
 I. ad Cor. 5, seven are mentioned 
 altogether. 
 
 cV OavdroL^, ' in perils of death ' 
 (comp. iv. 11). Of these various 
 
 kinds of death the next 
 death. ""^ two verses give in- 
 
 stances. Of the five 
 Jewish scourgings here men- 
 tioned, not one is mentioned in 
 
 the Acts. The words 
 
 Srglngs. ^^o 'lovSatW, 'by the 
 
 Jews,' imply that he 
 was going to use another con- 
 struction : first, because airo, 
 and not viro, is required by eXa- 
 j3ov: and secondly, because it 
 would have been superfluous to 
 say that ' the forty stripes save 
 one ' were inflicted by Jews ; 
 that being as fixed an expression 
 for Jewish scourging as the rods 
 (lpa(3hta-6r]v) was for Roman 
 scourging. Forty stripes were 
 fixed by the Law as the maxi- 
 mum (Deut. XXV. 3), but thirty- 
 nine only were inflicted by later 
 practice, lest by chance the letter 
 of the Law should be broken. 
 It was inflicted with a leathern 
 scourge, with which thirteen 
 strokes were given on the breast, 
 thirteen on the right shoulder, 
 thirteen on the left ; and this 
 arrangement of the scourging 
 was by some Rabbis made the 
 reason of the number thirty-nine. 
 The mode of flagellation was as 
 follows : The culprit was bound 
 by both hands to a pillar ; the 
 officer of the synagogue stripped 
 qS his clothes until his breast 
 
 was bared. The officer then as- 
 cended a stone behind. The 
 scourge consisted of four thongs 
 of calf skin, and two of asses' 
 skin. The culprit bent to re- 
 ceive the lashes. The officer 
 struck with one hand, with all 
 his force. A reader meanwhile 
 read, first, Deut. xxviii. 58, 59, 
 next, Deut. xxix. 8, lastly. Psalm 
 Ixxviii, 38. It was so severe a 
 punishment that death often en- 
 sued. (Wetstein,p. 208; Schott- 
 gen, Hor. Heb. 714:.) 
 
 25 rpts IpaphicrOrjv. This was 
 the Roman punishment 
 of ' virgis c^dere,' also JoS-gWs- 
 so cruel as frequently to 
 occasion death. See Cic. Yerr. v. 
 62. Of the three times, here men- 
 tioned by the Apostle, one only 
 is described in the Acts (xvi. 23). 
 St. Paul being a Roman citizen 
 was, properly speaking, exempt- 
 ed from this punishment, and, 
 on that plea, protested against 
 it atPhilippi (Acts xvi. 37), and 
 escaped it at Jerusalem (xxii. 
 25). 
 
 aira^ IkLOda-Qrjv, i.e. at Lystra. 
 Acts xiv. 19. 
 
 rpis €vavdyrj(ra. The allusion 
 is unknown. The ship- stoning 
 wreck in Acts xxvii. is andsMp- 
 
 1 , wrecks. 
 
 later. 
 
 wxOi^fiepov, a whole day of 
 
 twenty-four hours, be- « knight 
 
 pfinninef, according to and day in 
 
 9 . ,°' T . ?(. the deep.' 
 
 Jewish reckonmg (trom 
 
 Gen. i. 5), with the evening. 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 531 
 
 vv^dijiJiepov iu Tw ^vdo) TreTroirjKa), ^^ oSotTToptat? ttoX- 
 Xa/Ct9, KLvBvVOL'; TTOTafJLCJjP, KLvSvvoL<; Xrj<TTa)v, KLvSvuoLS eK 
 yevov^, KLvSvvoL<; e^ eOvcjv, klvStjvols tv noXet, icit'Swot? 
 ev ^prjfJLia, KLvS-uyoLS ev Oakdcrarj^ KLvhvvoi<^ kv xpevSa- 
 SeX^ot?, '^'^KOTTO} KoX /xd^^w, kv aypvTTviaL^ ttoWolkl^^ 
 
 « Add iv. 
 
 been in the deep), ^^in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in 
 perils of robbers, in perils by countrymen^ in, perils by heathens, 
 in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the 
 sea, in perils among false brethren, ^^in labour and painfulness, in 
 
 The word occurs only in very 
 late writers. 
 
 Iv T<5 jivdQ, ' in the depth of 
 the sea.' See Exod. xv. 5 ; 
 Psalm cvii. 24. LXX. cvii. 2.4 
 (A.V.) Probably after one of 
 the shipwrecks on a plank, as in 
 Acts xxvii. 44. The Syriac reads, 
 ' without a boat in the sea.' Theo- 
 phylactsays that some maintained 
 this to mean that Paul was con- 
 cealed for a day after the stoning 
 at Lystra, in a place called By thos ; 
 and in later times it has been re- 
 ferred to a deep dungeon , so called, 
 at Cyzicus (see Estius, ad loc). 
 
 26 The parentliesis explaining 
 iv 6avdT0L<s being ended here^ 
 the sentence is continued from 
 verse 23. 
 
 oSoiTTopiats ('travels') is ex- 
 panded into the remaining dis- 
 tresses described in verses 26, 27. 
 
 KLvSvvoL<; TTora/Aiov, ' danger of 
 swollen rivers/ such as 
 nW'°^ cut off the traveller in 
 all eastern and southern 
 countries. Thus Frederick Bar- 
 barossa was drowned in the Caly- 
 cadnus, a river flowing into the 
 sea not far from the Apostle's 
 own city of Tarsus. The tra- 
 veller Spon was lost in one of 
 the torrents of the Lebanon, be- 
 tween Jerusalem and Antioch 
 (see Conybeare and Hovvson, i. 
 pp. 176, 457;. 
 
 XycTTiov, ' robbers,' whether by 
 land or sea, whether 
 such as those in the 'Jobbers.' 
 mountains of Ephesus,. who are 
 said in the well-known tradition 
 (Eus. H. E. iii. 23) to have car- 
 ried off the Apostle John ; or 
 remnants of the old Cilician 
 pirates (see note on x. 4). 
 
 «K yeVovs, 'from Jews,' such 
 as the conspiracies at p^^jg 
 Damascus, Acts ix. 23 ; ' from 
 at Jerusalem, ix. 29; ^^'^^'^ 
 at Antioch of Pisidia, xiii. 50 ; 
 at Iconium, xiv. 5 ; at Lystra, 
 xiv. 19 ; at Thessalonivja, xvii. 5 ; 
 at Bercea, xvii. 13 ; at Corinth, 
 xviii. 12. 
 
 i^ iOvwv. 'From Gentiles,' 
 at Philippi, Acts xvi. 
 20; and Ephesus, xix. Z'Zes: 
 23. 
 
 iv TToAei, €v ipr)piLa, iv OaXda-crr]^ 
 • by city, by desert, and by sea.' 
 The 'desert' may allude to 
 Arabia, Gal. i. 17, but also to the 
 wilder districts of Asia Minor. 
 For those ' by sea,'^ comp. note 
 on verse 25. 
 
 il/€v8a8€X(f>oL<s^ See Gal. ii. 4, 
 and here, as there, probably 
 Judaizers. 
 
 27 K07ra> Kol fjL6)(6wy resuming 
 the argument from oSocn-opiaLs, 
 ' by toil and trouble, as shown 
 in sleeplessness,' &c. 
 M 2 
 
532 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. XI. 28—30. 
 
 iv Xljxo) kol 8t\//€t, ep vrjcrT€LaL<; TroXXctK-t?, ev rbvyet 
 /cat yvixvoTTjTL. °-^o)pLS T(x)v irapeKTos rj enLcrTacns fJi^OL 
 7) KaO* rjjjiipav, rj fJLeptfxva iracMV rcov iKKXr)(TLcop. '"^^rts 
 daOepel, kol ovk acrdevco ; tls crKavSakC^eTaL, kol ovk 
 
 ' iiricrvffTaais fxov. 
 
 watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and 
 nakedness. ''^ Beside those things that are without, that which cometh 
 upon me daily, the care of all the churches. '^^Who is weak, and I am 
 
 dypv7n/tai9, * sleepless nights,' 
 either from fatigue or 
 nSr fi-oo^ business. Comp. 
 the midnight psalms at 
 Philippi, Acts xvi. 25 ; the dis- 
 course all through the night at 
 Troas, xx. 7, 11 ; the ministra- 
 tions 'mgr^^ and day' at Ephe- 
 sus. XX. 81 ; the working to sup- 
 port himself Swf//?/ and day' at 
 Thessalonica, 2 Thess. iii. 8. 
 
 ۥ Xt/xiS KoX SiKJ/eL. Compare 1 
 Cor. iv. ll ; Phil. iv. 12. 
 
 vrj(TT€LaL^. Not ' voluntary 
 
 fasts,' of which there 
 
 as ings. .^ ^^ instance in the 
 
 Apostle's life, unless it be Acts 
 xiii. 3, xiv. 23, and of which the 
 mention would be out of place 
 in an enumeration of 'hardships 
 resulting from external or natural 
 causes ; but ' days without food,' 
 as in vi. 5. It follows upon Xt/xaJ 
 /cat SliJ/€i, 'hunger and thirst,' 
 partly from the same kind of 
 repetition as has caused the in- 
 sertion of ' the sea ' in verse 26, 
 although the dangers by sea had 
 already been mentioned in the 
 previous verse ; but chiefly for 
 the sake of giving a more defi- 
 nite image, not merely of ' hun- 
 ger,' but absolute ' want of food ; ' 
 and it follows upon ' hunger and 
 thirst,' as ' sleepless nights ' 
 follow upon 'toil and trouble,' 
 marked in like manner by ^oA.- 
 
 ev «/^x* '^'' y^y-voTTjTL. See 
 
 Ronfhprn * Cold and 
 SOUtnern nakedness. 
 
 m 
 
 9Q\ 'The 
 
 ay 
 
 1 Cor. iv. 11, ' in cold and na- 
 kedness,' in the cold 
 winters of 
 climates. 
 
 28 x^pt5 Tcov TrapcKTos 
 be (1) (as in Matt, v 
 32 ; Acts xxvi 
 ' not to speak of the which are 
 many points which are "^^*^°"*' 
 left out in this enumeration,' 
 like * the time would fail me to 
 tell,' in Heb. xi. 32. Or (2) ' be- 
 sides external calamities, which I 
 have just described, there are the 
 internal trials, which I proceed 
 to describe.' (Comp. e^o)6ev 
 fxaxoLi, ea-ioOev (f>6/3oL, vii. 5.) 
 
 7} eVio-rao-is (B. D. E. F. G.), or 
 17 hnavijTacri<i (J. K.) jliod or /xot 
 (B. F. G.), may be (1) in op- 
 position with rj fjiipLfjLvaj ' my 
 pressure of care,' as in Soph. 
 Ant. 225, TToAAas yap ecr)(Ov <j>pov- 
 tlSiov iTna-Toia-eis ; or (2) more 
 possibly ' the concourse of people 
 to see me,' to ask advice, &c., 
 like ' quotidiani hominum impe- 
 tus,' Cic. pro Arch. 6. 
 The word eTrtorracns concourse.' 
 (with the same varia- 
 tion of reading) occurs in Acts 
 xxiv. 12, for a ' tumult ; ' ISTum. 
 xvi. 40, for the ' congregation,' 
 or ' conspiracy ' of Korah ; 3 
 Esdr. 73, for ' conspiracies.' If 
 ixov be the right reading, it would 
 be 'my concourse,' as we should 
 say, ' my following.' If /xot, then 
 it is governed bycVt ineTrccn-ao-ts. 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 533 
 
 iyo) TTvpovixau ; ^^el Kav^crOai Set, tol ttJs aaOeveia^ 
 not weak ? who is offended, and / burn not ? ^^If I must needs boast, I 
 
 Comp. the form iTna-uvaywyi^, 2 
 Thess. ii. 1 ; Hebr. x. 25. 
 
 For the fact, see the account of 
 St. Paul's teaching at Corinth, 
 Acts xviii. H : * He sat ' (i.e. as 
 a rabbi) in the house of Justus 
 near the synagogue, ' a year and 
 six months teaching the word of 
 God,' and still more to the pur- 
 pose, immediately before the date 
 of this Epistle, at Ephesus, Acts 
 xix. 9 : ' He separated the dis- 
 ciples, daily conversing (/ca^' 17- 
 fiipav SioAeyd/xevo?) in the school 
 of Tyrannus.' Wherever he es- 
 tablishedhis head- quarters, there 
 the crowd of hearers and ques- 
 tioners might be expected to 
 follow him. Compare the attend- 
 ance on the teaching of our Lord : 
 ' There were many coming and 
 going, and they had not leisure 
 so much as to eat ' (Mark vi. 
 31). 
 
 If this be the right construc- 
 tion and meaning, then the whole 
 sentence will run thus : * Setting 
 aside the details which require 
 no mention, there is my daily 
 concourse of hearers, and the 
 anxiety (r) /xept/Ava) which I 
 have for all the congregations of 
 Christians.' The expression is 
 important, as showing the wide- 
 spread influence of St. Paul. It 
 is the description which we 
 should have expected to find in 
 the accounts of St. Pieter, if the 
 Apostolic history exhibited any 
 traces of the power afterwards 
 claimed by his successors. 
 
 In later times this passage was 
 used as a justification of Dun- 
 stan's retaining several sees to- 
 gether. 
 
 29 This is a strong expression 
 
 of the Apostle's wide sympathies 
 (see note ons 1 Cor. ix. 22). * If 
 there is any one weak .^j^^^^ 
 and troubled in con- offended 
 science (aa-Oevel, as in J^?/.^''"' 
 Rom, xiv. 2, 21; 1 
 Cor. viii. 11), I, too, am weak 
 with him ' (comp. 1 Cor. ix. 22, 
 ' to the weak I became as weak '). 
 ' If there is any one caught in a 
 snare, I, too, am scorched in the 
 fire of his temptation ' (as Rev. 
 iii. 18, and 1 Cor. vii. 9) ; or 
 ' I am on fire with indignation ' 
 (as in 2 Mace. iv. 38, xiv. 45). 
 Compare the juxtaposition of 
 dcrdivii and (rkavSaAti^eTat, in 1 
 Cor. viii. 9, 13-. 
 
 30 The mention of * weak- 
 ness' in verse 29,- lead« him ta 
 break out into a strong acknow- 
 ledgment of its existence. ' I 
 have been compelled- to boast, 
 but my boasting is in fact not of 
 my strength, but of my weak- 
 ness. All these hardships, all 
 this sympathy for the weakness 
 of others, are the signs and 
 causes of that weakness of which 
 they complain in me.'^ But this 
 thought, whilst it sums up 
 the foregoing enumeration, also 
 opens a new aspect of the subject, 
 which continues to xii. 10. The 
 irony with which he had opened 
 this vindication in xi. 1-21, is 
 dropped : and he expresses his 
 intention to continue his bo st 
 (Kav^-qaofjuiL) , overcoming his 
 scruples, not, as heretofore, by 
 assuming the character of a fool 
 (compare xi. 16, 23, with xi. 6), 
 but by reflecting that, after all, it 
 was not on his strength, but ou 
 his weakness, that he was going 
 to dwell. This he seems to have 
 
534 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XI. 31- 
 31 A 
 
 -33. 
 
 fxov KavxTjcroiiai. ^^6 Oeo<^ kol Trarrjp tov ^ Kvpiov 'Irjaov 
 olSei', 6 cov evXoyr)To^ eh tovs alojpas, otl ov \//ev8o/xai,. 
 ^^eV Aafxao-KM 6 idvdpxq^ 'Apera tov fiacnXeoJS i(l)povpeL 
 
 ' Kvptov T}^S)v ^lr}(Tov xpto'TOv. 
 
 will boast of the things which concern my weakness. ^^The God and 
 Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I 
 lie not. '2 In Damascus the governor under Aretas the king kept the 
 
 intended to follow up by a de- 
 tailed account of all his suffer- 
 ings. Beginning, therefore, with 
 a solemn appeal to God for the 
 truth of his narrative (xi. 31, and 
 again xii. 6), he commences with 
 an account of his earliest danger 
 and escape at Damascus (xi. 32, 
 33). What would have followed 
 next, it is impossible to say. 
 internip- The narrative is broken 
 tionofthe off almost as soon as 
 
 argumeut. -.i i • i 
 
 begun ; the ship has 
 foundered at sea; and only a 
 single plank has been washed 
 to shore. The shock may have 
 been from the reluctance, which 
 he still found insuperable, to 
 dwell in detail on his great 
 deeds. Or it may iiave been that 
 he was struck at this point, by 
 the thought *that the glory of 
 his weakness might be better 
 exhibited by pointing out its 
 direct connexion with the highest 
 privilege to which he had ever 
 been called. Or it may have 
 been that the description of his 
 great revelations, and of the 
 weakness connected with them, 
 was the chief topic on which he 
 meant to dwell ; but that he 
 had at first intended to give 
 the outward circumstances which 
 had led the way to them ; and 
 then, either finding this too 
 circuitous, or for some other 
 cause unknown, had changed his 
 plan, and gone at once into the 
 sabject of the revelations without 
 
 further introduction. However 
 this may be, as soon as he has 
 disentangled himself from the 
 confusion of the lost sentence, 
 he proceeds to the account of his 
 revelations, and thence of his 
 weakness (xii. 2-10) . This much 
 is necessary to be borne in mind, 
 in order to force a way over one 
 of the most disjointed sentences 
 ever written. 
 
 SI This asseveration (like 
 those which followed in xii. 2, 3, 
 6) applies to the whole narrative 
 which was intended to follow, 
 and which perhaps does in part 
 follow in xii. 1-10. For the dox- 
 ology, introduced by the solemn 
 feeling of the moment, compare 
 Rom. ix. "5, and i. 25. 
 
 6 wv is used so frequently in 
 LXX. and by Philo, as a trans- 
 lation for JEHOVAH, that the 
 phrase in this passage and Rom. 
 ix. 5, if not used precisely in that 
 sense, at any rate has reference 
 to it. Gomp. John i. 18, iii. 13, 
 vi. 46, viii. 47 ; Rev. i. 4, 8. 
 
 32 The fact here related was 
 (so far as we know) his Escape 
 earliest danger, at least ^^^^ ^^- 
 
 f, °. ' -r, mascus. 
 
 from conspiracy. It 
 takes place on his return from 
 Arabia to Damascus, shortly 
 after his conversion (Gal. i. 17), 
 and is described, nearly as here, 
 in Acts ix. 23, 24, 25, with the 
 difference only that what is there 
 ascribed to the Jews, is here 
 ascribed to the Ethnarch, who 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 535 
 
 crapyoivr) i)(oXdcrd'Y)v hid tov rei^ov^ kol €^e(f)vyoT^ rds 
 
 * r^y A. irSXiv. •* Add OeKuv. 
 
 city of the Damascenes with a garrison, to apprehend me, ^^and through 
 
 probably was acting at their in- 
 stigation. Aretas, chief of the 
 NalDathaean Arabs, had at this 
 time mnch influence, 
 Itlk^g: partly from his being 
 the father-in-law of 
 Herod Antipas, partly from the 
 commercial importance of his ca- 
 pital, Petra. Hence the extension 
 of his ' kingdom ' to Damascus. 
 (Couybeare and Howson, i. 88, 
 and Porter's Damascus, i. 102.) 
 It was an hereditary name, in 
 Arabic, Haret. (See Niebuhr's 
 Lectures, vol. iii. c. 91.) This 
 one was the third of the name. 
 Jos. Ant. XVI. ix. 4, XVII. 
 iii. 2. (Schottgen, ad loc) ' Eth- 
 narch ' was the title of an Orien- 
 tal provincial governor. (See 1 
 Mace. xiv. 47 ; Josephus passim ; 
 Heyne's treatise 'De Bthnarchia 
 Aretse,' 1755.) 
 
 €<f)povp€L, 'kept watch with a 
 garrison.' From Acts ix. 24, it 
 appears that all the gates were 
 watched. 
 
 TTtacrat, in later Greek, *to 
 arrest.' 
 
 $vpiBo<;, ' an aperture,' or 'little 
 door,' as in Acts xx. 9. In Josh, 
 ii. 15 ; 1 Sam. xix. 12, the same 
 expression (Siar^s OvpLOo^) is used 
 in the LXX. for the escape of the 
 spies from Jericho, and of David 
 from Saul. 8ta tov t€lxov<s, pro- 
 bably ' over the wall,' 
 i.e. from an overhang- 
 ing house, such as are still to 
 be seen on the walls of Damascus. 
 See the woodcut in Conybeare 
 and Howson, i. p. 110. There 
 is a spot still pointed out on 
 
 the eastern wall, itself modern, 
 as the scene of his escape. Close 
 by is a cavity in the ancient 
 burial-ground, where he is said, 
 in the local legends, to have 
 concealed himself; and the good 
 porter St. George, who was 
 martyred in farthering the es- 
 cape, is supposed to be buried 
 close by, and to his tomb are 
 brought all the coffins of Chris- 
 tians before their interment in 
 the neighbouring cemetery. It 
 is curious that in the present 
 traditions of Damascus the in- 
 cidents of this escape have almost 
 entirely eclipsed the story of his 
 conversion. 
 
 33 (rapydvrjj ' anything twist- 
 ed,* as a cord. ^sch. Supp. 
 781 ; so Suidas, ol fikv (T)(pivi6v 
 Tt, ol Se TrXiyfJLa tl e/c a-)(pivLO\i . 
 Comp. the Hebrew word Sarag, 
 ' to weave.' Lycophron (748) 
 has the word Trpoo-rerapyavw/xen;!/. 
 On this the Scholiast says crv/xTre- 
 TrXiyfxeirqv' rj yap Trap* rjfjuv crap- 
 ydvrj,^ -^apk^ '^rrcKoh ^^^^^^^^^^ 
 rapyavrf • Kai to crwet- 
 XrjarOai, TCTapyavCiiorOaL. (Wet- 
 stein.) Here probably the word 
 signifies a 'rope-basket.' In 
 Acts ix. 25, it is (nrvpL<s, ' a grain- 
 basket.' 
 
 Ta<; )(€Lpa^, 'his hands which 
 were stretched forth to catch me.* 
 Comp. Acts xii. 1, ' Herod 
 stretched /or^7i his hands to vex 
 the church.' 
 
 XII. I The variety of read 
 ings indicates the want of any 
 guide in the sense of various 
 the .'sentence, which is readings. 
 
536 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 1—3. 
 
 ^etpa? avTov. XII. ^^ Kav^crOai Sei, ov crvix(^ipov fxev, 
 c\eucro/xat Se /cat ets OTTTaaias koL a7roKakvxjjeL<; Kvpiov. 
 ^olSa avOpoiTTov Iv ■)(pL(rTS irpo kroiv SeKareacrdpcov (etre 
 
 ■ »caux«ff'0at Srj ov (rv/j.(pepei /jloi " iXivaofiai yap els, 
 
 a window in a basket was I let down by the wall and escaped his hands. 
 XII. ^I must boast ; it is not expedient for me, but I will come even to 
 visions and revelations of the Lord. '^I knew a man in Christ about 
 
 the transition from the broken 
 narrative of xi. 32, 33, to the 
 new narrative rising out of it 
 in xii. 2. 
 
 (1) Kavxaa-eat Set, B. D^. E. F. 
 G. J. Vulg. ; el Kavx- Set, ov (rvfi- 
 <f>€pov /xev, B. F. G. ; cXcvtro/xat 8e, 
 B. F. G. Ynlg. Copt. : 81 Kat, B. 
 Vulg. Copt. Latin Fathers. 
 
 (2) Kavxaa-OaL 8c, D». Slav. 
 Theoph. ; koI Sr] kuvx- Copt. Arm. 
 Greek Fathers ; ov crv/xtfiepei fioi, 
 J)\ E. J. K. Greek Fathers ; eXev- 
 o-o/xat yap, BK D^. E. J. K. Copt. 
 Arm. ^th. (A. and C. are defi- 
 cient). 
 
 In addition to the confusion of 
 the sense, there has also been the 
 confusion of sound between Set 
 and 8?), and between 8e and -Oai 
 (the last syllable of Kavxa-aOai), 
 according to the later Greek pro- 
 nunciation. 
 
 The first set of readings would 
 mean, 'I must boast; it is not 
 good for me ; but yet I am about 
 to do so.' The second would 
 mean, ' Now, to boast is not good 
 for me [but I must boast], for I 
 am about to do so ' (comp. xi. 5). 
 Both readings combined would 
 mean, ' I must boast ; it is not 
 expedient [but I must boast] for 
 I am going to do so.' In all 
 these three cases the words ex- 
 press the conflict in his own 
 mind between what he mtist do, 
 and what he thinks it becoming 
 to do. For something of the 
 same confusion, compare Phil. 
 
 iii. 1 : TO, avTo, ypd(f>eLv v/xtv, i/xol 
 fxkv ovK oKvrjpbvj v/juv 8k do-^aXcs, 
 where he means to say that, ' to 
 write the same things was in it- 
 self troublesome to him, but, 
 under the circumstances, was 
 not; becanse it was good for 
 them.' 
 
 The mention of his divine re- 
 velations is introduc- His divine 
 ed, first as a matter reveia- 
 on which he may justly 
 found a claim as an Apostle, 
 especially as against those who 
 claimed peculiar connexion with 
 Christ; secondly, in reference 
 to the ' weakness ' which fol- 
 lowed as a consequence on these 
 revelations. 
 
 OTTTacTLas KOL d7roKaAv;//€i?. ott- 
 Tttorta, — probably the more tangi- 
 ble 'visions,' — occurs .y-gj^^g, 
 no where else in St. 
 Paul, but is used in Luke i. 22, 
 xxiv. 23, for ' an apparition,' so 
 also in Dan. ix. 23, x. 1, 7, 8 
 
 (LXX.). d7r0KaAvi/^t9,in »Revela- 
 
 this especial sense of *^^°"^' 
 ' spiritual penetration into Di- 
 vine secrets,' is used in 1 Cor. 
 xiv. 6, 26 ; Eph. i. 17, iii. 8 ; 
 Gal. i. 12, ii. 2; and in the name 
 and contents of the ' Apocalypse ' 
 (Rev. i. 1). 
 
 Kvpiov, 'of the Lord' (He being 
 the author of thera). 
 
 2 otSa, 'I hioiv.' Possibly in 
 the sense of 'remembering,' as 
 in Acts xxiii. 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 16. 
 
 avOpu)Trov iv xpto'Tw. The most 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 537 
 
 €P crcjfJLaTL ovK oT8a, eire eKTo<; ^crwfxaTO^ ovk oTSa, 6 6eos 
 olSev) apnayevTa top tolovtov ecus Tpirov ovpavov. 
 
 ' Add Tov. 
 
 /cat 
 
 fourteen years ago (whether in the body I know not, whether out of the 
 body I know not, God knoweth), such an one caught up to the third 
 heaven. ^And I knew such a man (whether in the body or out of the 
 
 general term to designate himself 
 in the third person, — ' a Chris- 
 tian,' * a man who lived and 
 moved in Christ as his being,' 
 possibly with an allusion to the 
 deeper consciousness of that 
 union produced by the ecstasy. 
 
 7rp6 cTwv S€KaT€(r(Tdp(i)v. As he 
 had begun his narrative in xi.32, 
 
 33, with one definite 
 years'ago!' ^^^^i SO also he begins 
 
 his new narrative in a 
 similar manner. This date could 
 not have been his conversion, 
 which was more than twenty 
 years before this ; it might pos- 
 sibly have been shortly after the 
 escape from Damascus, which, as 
 being about seventeen years be- 
 fore, may have been mentioned 
 in xi. 32, 33 as a prelude to this. 
 ctT€ iv o-wyaart. This comes in 
 as a parenthesis, and expresses 
 
 'In the *^® ^^SS ^^ self-con- 
 
 body or out sciousn ess to that de- 
 y- gree that he knew not 
 whether he were carried up into 
 heaven literally, or only in a 
 figure. 
 
 r}p7rda6r) is Attic, yp-n-oiyrj Ma- 
 cedonian Greek. For similar ex- 
 pressions, comp. Acts viii. 39, 
 7rv€VfJLa Kvpiov rjpiracr^v tov ^l- 
 XiTTTTov : and Rev. i. 10, lyevop^rjv 
 iv TTvevfJiaTL : xii. 5, rjpTrda-O-q to 
 TeKvov avrrjs tt/oos tov Oeov : 1 
 Thess. iv. 17, dp7ray7)cr6fx,eOa .... 
 €t? depa. Compare the Rabbini- 
 cal expression in Bava Mezia, 89 ; 
 ' God stood in the academy of 
 heaven, with all His scholars in 
 
 great controversy ; and they said, 
 "Who shall be the judge?" And 
 they agreed that it should be 
 Rabbi Barnaham. In the same 
 hour his soul was caught up into 
 heaven, and his sentence con- 
 firmed the judgment of God.' 
 (Wetstein.) . ' 
 
 TpiTov ovpavov. The sum of 
 Wetstein's quotations on the Rab- 
 binical conception of 
 the seven heavens is as Heave™^^ 
 follows : 1. The veil 
 (compare Heb. vi. 19). 2. The 
 expanse. 3. The clouds. 4. The 
 dwelling-place {hahitaculum). 5. 
 The habitation (habitatio). 6. 
 The fixed seat. 7. Araboth. Or 
 (according to a slightly different 
 arrangement) : 1. The heaven. 
 2. The heaven of heavens. 3. 
 The expanse. 4. The clouds. 5. 
 The dwelling-place. 6. The fixed 
 seat. 7. Araboth. In 'the 
 clouds' are said to be the mill- 
 stones which ground the manna. 
 Before the Fall, God lived on 
 the earth ; at the sin of Adam, 
 He ascended into the first hea- 
 ven ; at the sin of Cain, into the 
 second; at the generation of 
 Enoch, into the third; at the 
 generation of the flood, into the 
 fourth; at the generation of 
 the confusion of tongues, into 
 the fifth; at the generation of 
 Sodom, into the sixth ; at the 
 generation of Egypt, into the 
 seventh. Then, at the rise of 
 Abraham, He descended to the 
 sixth; of Isaac, to the fifth; of 
 
538 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 4—7. 
 
 oTSa Tov TOLOvTov av6po)7Tov (etre ev crcu/xart etre ^^wpl? 
 Tov crcofjuaTO^ 6 9eo<; olSev)^ ^ori rjpTrdyrj eU rov Trapd- 
 Setaop Kol rjKovcrev dpprjTa prjixara a ovk k^hv dvOpcoirco 
 Xakyjaai. ^vrrep tov toiovtov Kav^o-oixai^ virkp he 
 
 ■ ^KThs TOV (rdfjLaros, oIk oTBa' 6. 
 
 body God knoweth), ^how that he was caught up into paradise and heard 
 unutterable utterances, which it is not lawful for a man to speak. ^For 
 such an one will I boast : yet for myself I will not boast, except in my 
 
 Jacob, to the fourth ; of Levi, to 
 the third ; of Kohath, to the se- 
 cond ; of Amram, to the first ; 
 of Moses, to the earth again. 
 
 It is possible that, in accord- 
 ance with this phraseology, the 
 Apostle may mean that he was 
 carried into the third heaven, i.e. 
 midway between earth and hea- 
 ven, into the region of the clouds 
 and air, as in 1 Thess. iv. 17 
 (€15 aepa) ; and then by a second, 
 and still loftier, flight into the 
 presence of God Himself, which 
 is spoken of, as in Rev. xxii. 1 , 
 under the figure of a * paradise.* 
 
 But probably the Apostle's 
 words have no concern with this 
 elaborate system of the Rabbis. 
 There was a simpler view taken 
 by some of them, that there were 
 but two heavens, founded on the 
 passage in Deut. x. 14, which 
 speaks of ' the heaven ' and 'the 
 heaven of heavens ' (see Aboth 
 Nathan, 27, in Wetstein). By 
 these two heavens apparently 
 were meant the visible clouds and 
 the sky, possibly in connexion 
 with the dual form of the Hebrew 
 word ' shemaim.^ In that case, 
 the third heaven would be the in- 
 visible world beyond, in the pre- 
 sence of God, and not different 
 from, but identical with paradise, 
 as in Luke xxiii. 43. So St. John 
 is brought through a door in the 
 sky, into the presence of the 
 throne of God (Rev. iv. 1, 2) ; 
 
 and round that throne is the 
 ' Eden ' — the Paradise or garden 
 of Heaven (Rev. xxii. 1). 
 
 The Apostle's rapture is al- 
 luded to in Philopatris, ascribed 
 to Lucian, c. 12 : ' When the 
 Galilaean met me, with his high 
 bald forehead (dvac^aXavrtas), 
 and high nose (cTrt/jptvo?), who 
 walked through the air (acpo- 
 jiaTr}(Ta<i) to the third heaven. 
 
 appijra prjixira' an oxymoron : 
 ' words and no words.' < -^ords 
 The expression is taken that cannot 
 
 p ,1 n ,1 be spoken.' 
 
 from the secrecy oi the 
 Greek mysteries. 
 
 OVK k^ov avOpoiirio, ' Man cannot 
 speak them ; God may.* Com- 
 pare the expressions of those who 
 spoke with tongues, as if in a 
 language drawn from a higher 
 sphere, 1 Cor. xiv. 2. 
 
 5 el iLYj. ' Only in my weak- 
 nesses will I boast.' For ct firf 
 see 1 Cor. vii. 17. He will not 
 boast of himself, but only of his 
 visions when he could hardly be 
 said to be himself, and of his 
 weaknesses of which most would 
 be ashamed. 
 
 6 lav yap. Here a clause is 
 suppressed, as in xi. 5, and pos- 
 sibly xii. 1. * [And yet I could 
 boast reasonably ;] for if I were 
 desirous (OfX-qa-iii) to do so, I 
 should not really be foolish, 
 though I affected folly in doing 
 so before' (xi. 1, 16). 
 
 oXrjOuav. See note on xi. 31. 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 539 
 
 ejxavTOv ov Kav^rjcroyiai^ el firj kv raw aa-Oeveiai^;'' ^ (kav 
 yap Oektjcro) KavxwaaOaL, ovk eo-o/xat a^pwi^ • aXtjOeiau 
 yap epa>' ^eihoixai Se, fin] rts eU e/xe Xoyicnqrai virep o 
 /SXeneu fxe yj aKOvei^ e^ ifiov)'' '^fcat rfj v7rep/3o\rj Ta)v 
 OLTTOKaXvxIjecov, ^Slo Iva ixtj virepaLpcojJiai^ iSoOr) fioL 
 
 Add p.ov. 
 
 Here ends the hiatus from IV. 13-XII. 6. in MS. A. 
 
 *• Add Tt. 
 <! Om. ^i6. 
 
 weakness ^ (for if I should desire to boast, I shall not be a fool ; for I will 
 say the truth : but I spare you, lest any man should think of me above 
 that which he seeth me to be or heareth from me) and in the exceeding 
 greatness of my revelations. ' Wherefore also lest I should be exalted 
 above measure, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of 
 
 </>€t8o/Aat 8e firj rt?. ' I do not 
 dwell on wonders and ecstasies, 
 of which you cannot conceive. 
 I leave you to form your own 
 impression of me from what you 
 see and hear.' Comp. similar 
 deprecation of superstitious reve- 
 rence in 1 Cor. iv. 1-6. 
 
 8to is found in A. B. F. G. and, 
 if retained, necessitates Lach- 
 mann's punctuation ; verse 6 is 
 in a parenthesis, and kcu rfj virep- 
 ^oXrj Tojv oLTroKaXvij/eoiv is joined 
 to iv rat? d(r^€V€tats. Such a 
 sudden dislocation can only be 
 explained by the confusion almost 
 always incident to his mention of 
 the word ' boast.' If with D. 8l6 
 is omitted, the sentence, though 
 still inverted, will run more 
 smoothly. 
 
 7 Kai, K.T.A.. ' And it was for 
 this very purpose, lest I should be 
 too much exalted (vTrcp aipw/xat 
 and V TT e p poXrj referring to vVep 
 o /SXe-rra in verse 6, ' Think not 
 of me with excessive reverence, 
 lest by the excess of my revela- 
 tions I should be excessively 
 exalted'), that there was given 
 me a thorn.' 
 
 For the sense of the whole, 
 compare Luke x. 20. 
 
 (TKoXoxj/ occurs nowhere else in 
 the N. Test. It is not ' a thorn,' 
 
 but ' something pointed,' gene- 
 rally ' a pointed stqke ' 
 or 'palisade.' Hesy- S™i? 
 chius, ^\ov dy^vjxfxivov : 
 and again, 6p6a koI o^ea ^vA.a, 
 crravpoUf ;(apa/c€9 : and so Phavo- 
 rinus, in avacrKokom^o)' a- k 6X. o- 
 TT € s TO, o^ea ivXa. In 
 this sense it is used by fa'crots.' 
 the LXX. Numb, xxxiii. 
 55 ; Ezek. xxviii. 24, where it 
 is rather distinguished from 
 ' thorns ' (d/caj/^at?) than identi- 
 fied with them (Hos. ii. 6). So 
 also Artemidorus, iii. 33, aKovOai 
 K at (7KoA.07rc9 dSwas orrjfxaLVOvaL 
 8 t a TO 6$v. And so in classi- 
 cal writers invariably. 
 
 It would seem, tl^.erefore, that 
 the metaphor is taken from im- 
 paling or cruci/yiyig ; and is thus 
 analogous to the expression, ' I 
 am crucified with Christ ' (Gal. 
 ii. 20). ava(rKoXo'irit,t)3 is explained 
 by Phavorinus and Hesychius as 
 equivalent to ava(XTavpit,o>, and 
 (TKoXo^ is thus equivalent to 
 a-Tavp6<: ('the cross,' ' the stake '), 
 which originally, as employed in 
 the classical writers, was used, 
 not for two transverse beams, 
 but simply for a 'palisade' or 
 ' stake,' and thus Eustathius 
 describes it as identical with 
 (TKoXoij/. 'iSravpot, opOa kol clttoj- 
 
540 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 8. 
 
 CFKoXoxjj TTj crapKLj ayyeXo9 ^orarava^ Iva fxe Ko\a(f)L^r) 
 Satan, that he may buffet me that I may not be exalted above measure. 
 
 ^v/xfteva ivXa, — ol 8c avrot (tko- 
 AoTTcs XeyovraL.' For the details 
 of these words, see Lipsius, De 
 Crnce, i. 3, 4, 5, 6. In Lucian 
 (De Morte Peregrini 11), dva- 
 o-KoA-oTTt^w is used for the Cruci- 
 fixion of Christ ; and in Celsus, 
 (TKoXoij/ for arravpos (ii. p. 102 ; 
 Bee Suicer in voce %k6\o\(/). 
 
 Thus, as the words ' crucior,' 
 ' cruciatus,' ' crux,' in Latin, are 
 taken from the agony of cruci- 
 fixion to express pain in general, 
 so (Travpos and ctkoXox^, the ' cross' 
 and the ' stake,' are used in the 
 Greek of the N. Test, (as in 
 Matth. xvi. 24, ' let him take up 
 his cross ') for suffering generally. 
 In classical Greek this could not 
 be, as crucifixion was not an or- 
 dinary Greek punislfment. 
 
 The difference between a-KoXoxj/ 
 and (TTavpos, and the reason there- 
 fore for the more frequent occur- 
 rence of the former than the 
 latter, is that, whilst oravpos is 
 generally used for the punish- 
 ment of ' crucifixion,' a-KoXoif/ is 
 used for the less common, though 
 still frequent, punishment of 
 * impalement.' As, then, else- 
 where, in order to describe his 
 state of constant torture, the 
 Apostle draws his image from 
 crucifixion, so here he draws it 
 from impalement. Comp. (tko- 
 XoTres (stakes) iv to2<s 6<l>0aX/jLOL<s 
 Kol ^oXtSc5 (arrows) iv rats 
 TrXevpoL';, I^umb. xxxiii. 55. 
 
 T^ aapKL, ' for the flesh.' The 
 double dative is what is common 
 in classical Greek. One express- 
 ing the person, and the other 
 defining more accurately the 
 part of the person. 
 
 ayyeXos (rarava, ' an angel of 
 Satan,' not ' the angel 
 Satan,' because he is otsatan.'^ 
 never so called in the 
 N. Test., nor yet simply the 
 * messenger ' of Satan, because 
 ayycXos, when used of the unseen 
 world, must always have the 
 sense of a spirit. For the gene- 
 ral use of the word ' angel,' to 
 denote a Divine work wrought 
 through natural agency, com- 
 pare ' the angel of the Lord,' 
 who smote Herod with sickness 
 (Acts xii. 23), or the first born 
 with the pestilence (Exod. xii. 
 23 ; Ps. Ixxviii. 49, 50). As 'an 
 angel of the Lord ' (ayyeXos kv- 
 ptov) is thus spoken of when the 
 object is to assist God's servants, 
 or punish His enemies (Acts v. 
 19, viii. 26, xii. 7, 23), so 'an 
 angel of Satan ' (ayyeAo? craTava) 
 is spoken of, where the object is 
 to torment God's servants. Thus 
 ^ Satan ' tempts Judas (Luke 
 xxii. 3) and Ananias (Acts v. 8), 
 suggests bad thoughts (ICor. vii. 
 5), and produces disorders (Luke 
 xiii. 16). In this particular in- 
 stance, the word is probably in- 
 troduced, as in xi. 14, for the 
 sake of the allusion to Job i. 6, 
 where the LXX. has 6 Sid(3oXo<3, 
 but the Hebrew ' Satan ; ' and 
 where in like manner, though 
 Satan ' proposes,' God * disposes' 
 the event. Comp. Luke xxii. 81, 
 ' Satan hath '-obtained his wish " 
 {i^rjTrjo-aTo) to sift you as wheat, 
 but 1 have prayed for thee that 
 thy faith fail not.' The word a-arav 
 in the LXX. is undeclined. In 
 the thirty-five places where it is 
 used in the N. Test., of which 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 
 
 541 
 
 [iva jJiTj vnepatpcofJiaL]. ^^[/cat] vnep tovtov rpls rov 
 
 » Omit Kal. 
 ^And for this angel I thrice besought* the Lord, that he may depart from 
 
 • Or * exhorted.' 
 
 ten occur in St. Paul, it ia de- 
 clined. 
 
 Lva fi€ KoXa^t^T/- This is (not, 
 •To buffet 9-s might be expected, 
 ™e.' from the word a-KoXoxf/, 
 
 to * prick ' or ' wound,' but) ' to 
 buffet,' or ' strike with the fist,' 
 as in the account of our Lord's 
 trial. Matt. xxvi. 67 ; Mark xiv. 
 65 ; 1 Pet. ii. 20. In this passage, 
 and 1 Cor. iv. 11, where it occurs 
 among the Apostle's hardships, 
 it is used in a general sense of 
 ' maltreatment,' yet still pro- 
 bably with regard to its original 
 meaning, and hence applies not 
 to the 'stake' (o-acoAoi/^), but to 
 the ' angel ' (ayyeXos) ; comp. 
 Job ii. 5, 7, where Satan is 
 ordered to ' put forth his hand 
 and touch the bone and the 
 flesh,' and said to 'smite Job 
 with sore boils.' Compare, for a 
 similar metaphor, vTrwTrta^oi in 
 1 Cor. ix. 27, and for a similar 
 personification, that of Death 
 and Sin in Rom. v. 14, 21, and 
 1 Cor. XV. 55. The word is later 
 Greek, kovSvXlIo) being the ex- 
 pression in Attic Greek. 
 
 The subjunctive KoXa<f>Lt,y and 
 vTrepaipw/jiaL are used to express 
 the continuance of the trial. 
 ' He came in order that [not 
 ' he might,'' bat] he may buffet 
 me, and in order that [not ' I 
 might not be,' but] I may not 
 be exalted.' The figure may be 
 either : (1) the Angel of Satan, 
 like Death in 1 Cor. xv. 55, 
 armed with the impaling stake ; 
 or (2) the Apostle himself already 
 impaled or crucified, and thus 
 exposed to the taunts and buffets 
 of his adversary. 
 
 The order of the words would 
 naturally require o-koXoiJ/ and ay- 
 ycXo? to be taken in apposition 
 with each other : but the sense, 
 as given above, would be better 
 expressed, if it were iSoOrj a-KoXoif/ 
 rrj (rapKi, ayyeXo<s aarava tva /x€ 
 KoXacfiL^Y]. ' There was given to 
 me a stake in the flesh, in order 
 that an angel of Satan may buffet 
 me.* For similar inversions, see 
 note on 1 Cor. viii. 11, and in 
 this very verse, rrj virepfioX'^ twv 
 a7roKaXvi(/€(i)v .... tva fxrj VTrepat- 
 poifiai. 
 
 The words tva fxy) virepaipoifiai, 
 in their second occurrence, though 
 retained in B. are omitted in A. 
 D. E. F. G. Yulg., perhaps, how- 
 ever because they were thought 
 superfluous ; whereas the repeti- 
 tion may be intentional, to ex- 
 press as strongly as possible the 
 Apostle's belief in the end being 
 designed by Providence, as in 
 Job, chap. i. 
 
 8 The Apostle has described 
 this trial in the same strain as 
 his ineffable communion with 
 Christ ; his thoughts flow out 
 naturally from one into the other. 
 We now come to the ground of 
 his doing so. It was because he 
 had the Lord's assurance that in 
 his own weakness the power of 
 his master would be best shown 
 forth. 
 
 vVep rovTov, 'for him, that he 
 may depart from me ' (i.e. the 
 angel of Satan, as appears from 
 oLTroa-Tfj, which could apply pro- 
 perly only to a person or personi- 
 fication ; compare Acts v. 38, 
 xxii. 29). 
 
 Tov KvpLov, ' Christ,' as appears 
 
542 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 9, 10. 
 
 KvpLov TrapeKoikeaa, tVa airocTTrj oltt i[Mov. ^ koL eiprjKeu 
 fioL 'ApKei (TOL T) x^tptg fJiov 7) yap *Svi^a/xts eV acrOeveia 
 rekeiraiy T^Stcrra ovv piaWov Kav^rjcropiai iu rats acrOe- 
 veCais jjiov, Iva i7TLcrKr)va)a"r} eir €/xe r) Swa/xt9 tov ^kttov. 
 
 » ^vvaiiis fiov. * TeAeiovj/Tat. 
 
 me. ®And He has said unto me, ' My grace is suflacient for thee : for 
 strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather 
 
 from Swa/xis tov -^lcttov, in 
 verse 9. 
 
 TrapiKaXccra, ' entreated.' This 
 is often applied to Christ in the 
 Gospels, and implies that per- 
 sonal communication which the 
 Apostle always presupposes in 
 his language concerning Him. 
 In Joseph. Ant. XIII. v. 8, it is 
 applied to God. 
 
 9 elprjKev /xoi. The perfect 
 tense indicates that this was the 
 constant reply, ' Thrice I be- 
 sought Him, and the consolation 
 of the reply still continued.' 
 
 'Ap/cet (TOL rj X'^P'-^ /^°^' ' t^^^ 
 hast no need for more than my 
 favour.' 7j x^P'-'* ^^ i^'as used 
 equally for the favour or kind- 
 ness both of God and of Christ. 
 (See on 1 Cor. xv. 10.) For the 
 sense comp. John xxi. 22, ' If I 
 will that he tarry till I come, 
 what is that to thee ? ' In each 
 case, ' Be contented with the 
 assurance of my love and protec- 
 tion.' 
 
 7j yap SvvafXL? iv aaSevcta re- 
 XeiTai. ' For strength is per- 
 fected in weakness.' The omis- 
 sion of fJiov turns the answer 
 into a general truth, first, that 
 the strength of Christ Himself is 
 ' made perfect in weakness,' not 
 in the weakness of the Apostle, 
 but, so to speak, in His own 
 weakness. (He was ' made per- 
 fect through sufferings,' Heb. ii. 
 10. ' Himself took our weak- 
 nesses ' (dor^€i/etag), Matt. viii. 
 
 17.) From this the Apostle 
 himself deduces the inference, 
 that strength would be made 
 perfect also in liis own weakness ; 
 that his ' cross ' or ' stake ' in 
 the flesh was merely an exempli- 
 fication of God's law in dealing 
 with His people. Comp. ' out of 
 weakness were made strong.' 
 (Heb. xi. 34.) 
 
 fxaXXov is to be taken (as its 
 position shows) with Kavx^cro/xaL, 
 ' I will not complain, I will ra- 
 ther boast of my weaknesses.' 
 
 tva liTLCTKrjvuicrrj, ' that the 
 strength of Christ may rest upon 
 me,' ' take up its abode with 
 me.' Possibly in allusion to the 
 Shechinah, as ia-Kyvoio-ev in John 
 i. 14. For the image of the out- 
 pouring of Christ's strength on 
 His servants, comp. Luke viii. 
 46, ' I perceive that strength 
 (Swa/vtt?) is gone out from me.' 
 
 lo do-^cvetat?, ' weaknesses con- 
 sequent on troubles.' 
 
 virkp xpi-^Tov, * endured in the 
 service of Christ.' He refers to 
 all the preceding context. 
 
 orav yap acrOevcx). He refers 
 back to verses 8, 9, and thus 
 sums up the whole. Compare 
 Philo, Yit. Mos. vol. ii. p. 92, to 
 dcr^eves vjxiov 8wa/>it5 e'crrt (com- 
 paring the thorn of the Burning 
 Bush to the people of Israel). 
 Plin. Ep. vii. 26 : ' Nuper me 
 cujusdam amici languor admo- 
 nuit, optimos esse nos dum iti' 
 fir mi sumus.^ 
 
HIS BOASTING EXCUSED. 543 
 
 ■ OLO evooKO} ep acrt/ei^etat?, €i/ vppecriv^ €v ai^ayAcat?, ev 
 Stwy/xols, iv (TTei^o^ajptatg, vrrep ^lq-tov. orav yap 
 dor6ev(o^ Tore Swaros €t/xt. 
 
 boast in my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. 
 ^® Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in reproaches, in necessities, 
 in jiersecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, 
 then am I strong. 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XI. 16— XII. 10. 
 
 I return once more to boast of myself . Think not that this folly 
 is natural to me, yet think even this rather than not hear my 
 self-defence ; and remember that I boast, 7iot in my own cha- 
 racter, and as Christ would have me speak, but as I am forced 
 in self-defence to speak on this particular occasion, and follow- 
 ing the example of the crowd of teachers who beset you ivith 
 boasts of this very kind. 
 
 And now that I have put off the character of an Apostle, 
 and taken the character of a fool, you surely ought, according 
 to your own practice^ to listen to me patiently. For wise as you 
 are, fools, nevertheless, seem to have greater influence with you 
 than tvise men. These fools, as fools indeed they are, enslave 
 you, plunder you^ make you their prey, tower over you, insult 
 you with blows on the face. These are the teachers to whom 
 you gladly submit yourselves ; and /, in comparison, am far 
 inferior, I can do none of these things, lam covered with 
 dishonour, and am broken down with weakness. Yet after all 
 {to speak seriously, though still speaking not as an Apostle, but 
 as afoot), whatever be their grounds of confidence, I have the 
 same ; precisely the same as regards their descent from God's 
 chosen people, far more as regards their service of Christ ; far 
 more, tlwugh in thus speaking of it you will think me, not merehj 
 a fool, but a madman. There is, indeed, no comparison ; I 
 need no longer speak of them ; I need only enumerate the hard- 
 ships, the weaknesses, if so you will call them, of my own life. 
 My labours have been beyond ordinary measure, my scourgings 
 beyond all bounds, my perils, even of death, numerous. Five 
 times I have been exposed to the severe punishment of the Jewish 
 flagellation, thrice to that of the Roman magistrates ; once I 
 
544 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 was stoned, thrice I was shipwrecked, a whole night and day I 
 was in the sea, I have travelled far and wide ; have encoun- 
 tered all the perils of travel — the perils of swollen torrents, 
 of robbers and pirates, of Jewish enemies, of heathen mobs, in 
 the crowded city, in the lonely desert, on the stormy sea^from 
 false Christians. I passed through countless trials and txou- 
 hles, in sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, and days without 
 food again and again ; with cold and with scanty clothing. 
 And (not to go through all the points which I might name) 
 there is besides all this, the daily concourse of those who flock to 
 hear me, and the anxiety for all the congregations which I have 
 converted ; amongst whom, if there is any one weak, I too am 
 weak with him, and for his sake ; if any caught in a snare, I 
 am scorched in the flame of his temptation. 
 
 I have spoken of my weakness. Of my weakness then let 
 me boast, if I must still continue to boast. / drop all irony. 
 I speak the very truth itself, as Gody the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, through all ages Blessed, well knoics. Let me 
 begin at the beginning. It was at Darriascus, under the govern- 
 ment of the Arabian chief Ar etas, that his vicerc/y guarded the 
 city to take me ; and in a rope basket I loas let down over the 
 side of the wall. — Here I find myself again on the verge of 
 continuing my boast; it is not becoming for me to do so, but I 
 must. — 1 shall speak of the visions and revelations of Divine 
 secrets which Christ has vouchsafed to me. I know a man who 
 lived in Christ fourteen years ago, — whether he was literally 
 carried up, or whether heaven was disclosed to him, I know not, 
 God only knows— but he was carried away beyond the region 
 of the clouds of earth, beyond the visible sky, into the invisible 
 heaven above ; and there, again, — whether literally or not, I 
 knoio not, God only knows — he was carried away into the 
 garden of the Lord, into the presence of God, and heard words 
 which were no human words, which man cannot speak, though 
 God may. Of this man, thus far removed from my own indi- 
 vidual consciousness, I will boast ; but of myself I will boast 
 only in my weakness. I might boast, if so I wished it, and 
 yet not be a fool ^ though before in irony I said that I should be ; 
 but I forbear lest you should regard me with superstitious reve- 
 rence beyond what you hear and see. Audit was for this very 
 purpose, lest I should be raised too high by the excess of the 
 revelations of which I have spoken, that there was planted in 
 my weak mortal frame a stake, as of impalement, on which I 
 
THE APOSTLE'S SUFEEKINGS. 545 
 
 writhe like one crucified: an angel of the adversary teas sent to 
 smite me, like Job, ivhilstthus exposed before him ;for this verij 
 purpose, I say, lest I should be raised up too high. When this 
 pressed hard upon me, I have thrice entreated the Lord, that 
 my enemy may depart from me, and thrice He has answered to 
 me ' My loving favour suffices for thee ; for strength is per- 
 fected in iveaknessj* Most gladly, therefore, ivill I boast i?i 
 these my weaknesses, in order that the strength of Christ may 
 overshadow me. Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in 
 insults, in necessities, in persecutions from my enemies, in dffi- 
 cutties of all kinds, for Chris fs sake ; for when I am most 
 weak, I know that I am most strong. 
 
 This section contains three points of great interest, both his- 
 torical and moral. 
 
 I. General sketches of his dangers and sufferings have been 
 given before in these Epistles; once in the First 
 (iv. 11-13), twice in this (iv. 7-10, vi. 4-10). '^tkroT' 
 But this is the only passage where he enumerates the Apo- 
 actual facts, and so enables us to compare it with the J^i^if„^"^' 
 narrative of the Acts, and to form a picture of his 
 life in detail from his own account. It must be remembered 
 that the point of time at which it was composed excludes all 
 the calamities recorded in Acts xx.-xxviii., and that therefore 
 we must add to these his escape from Corinth (Acts xx. 3), the 
 sorrow of his farev/ell visits (xx. 5-xxi. 14), his arrest at 
 Jerusalem (xxi. 32), his imprisonment at Caesarea (xxiv. 27), 
 his shipwreck (xxvii.), and his imprisonment at Rome (xxviii, 
 30). Two results follow from the study of it. 
 
 (1) It represents a life in the Western world hitherto with- 
 out precedent. Of Bouddah in the East we do not 10.^. 
 here speak. Self-devotion for some special national import- 
 cause had been often seen before ; the career of So- ^"^^' 
 crates was a lifelong service of humanity ; but a continual self- 
 devotion, involving hardships like those here described, and ex- 
 tending over so long a period, and in behalf of no local or family 
 interest, but for the interest of mankind at large, was, down 
 to this time, a thing unknown. The motive of the Apostle 
 may be explained in various ways, and the lives of missionaries 
 
 N N 
 
546 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 and philanthropists may have equalled his in later times; but 
 the facts here recorded remain the same. Paul did all this, 
 and Paul was the first who did it. 
 
 (2) It is remarkable that, whilst there is nothing in this ac- 
 count which contradicts, yet the greater part of it 
 mat^on^f ^^^^ ^^^ bcyond, the narrative of the Acts. Of the 
 the truth particular facts alluded to, only two (the stoning 
 of the his- ^j^^ Qj^g Qf ^i^g Roman scourffing^s) are mentioned 
 
 torv, ~ o / 
 
 in that narrative ; and of the general facts, although 
 critical dangers are described as occurring from time to time, 
 w^e should hardly infer that the hardships were so protracted and 
 continuous as is indicated in this section of the Epistle. In 
 one point of view this is important as confirming the authority 
 of the Christian history, as has been well argued by Paley in 
 his Hora3 Paulinge. It shows that the biography of the Apostle, 
 unlike most biographies of heroes and saints (as that of Francis 
 Xavier), instead of overrating, underrates the difficulties and 
 sufferings which we learn from the Apostle himself; the ac- 
 curacy of the Apostle's own account being further guaranteed 
 by the extreme and apparently unfeigned reluctance with which 
 it is brought forward. On the other hand, it impresses us witli 
 a sense of the very imperfect and fragmentary character of the 
 history of the Acts, as a regular narrative, during that period 
 to which the Apostle's w^ords relate, namely, from Acts ix. 1, 
 to XX. 2. This consideration gives a double value to this de- 
 tailed aspect of the Apostle's life, which, but for the goading 
 provocations of his opponents, would (humanly speaking) have 
 been altogether lost to us. 
 
 II. What his description of his outward sufferings, xi. 23- 
 
 28, is to the general history of his outward life, the 
 
 i^ription description of his vision (xii. 2-10) is to his inward 
 
 of the life. It throws light on similar ecstasies recorded in 
 
 Apostle's ^^Yier parts of theN. Test. : as of Peter, in Acts x. 
 
 vision. * . ,, . 
 
 10 ; of Philip, in Acts viii. 39 ; and especially of John, 
 in the Apocalypse (i. 10, iv. 1, &c.); ' the dreams and visions,' 
 alluded to as signs of the spirit in Acts ii. 16 ; and the speakii:g 
 with tongues, in 1 Cor. xiv. 2. The details may be different, 
 but this description contains their common characteristics ; the 
 loss of self-consciousness, the sense of being hurried into a 
 higher sphere, — and the partial and mysterious glimpses of the 
 invisible world. And it illustrates especially the ecstatic state 
 in which he himself largely partook, as appears from the at- 
 
THE APOSTLE'S SUFFERINGS. 547 
 
 tacks of his enemies, still preserved in the Clementines (Horn, 
 xvi. 19), where Peter is introduced as rebuking Paul (under 
 the name of Simon Magus) for pretending to revelations 
 througli visions and dreams. (See Introd. pp. 352—3.) Com- 
 pare also the facts stated Acts ix. 12, xxii. 17, and his ex- 
 pression in 1 Cor. xiv. 18, that * he spoke with tongues more 
 than they all.' 
 
 And further, the strong line of demarcation which he has 
 drawn between this ecstasy and his ordinary state, is 
 
 . . 1 11 . n 1 Illustra- 
 
 a warrant to us that he does not needlessly con- tive of the 
 found things human and Divine, things earthly and Apostle's 
 things spiritual. What he does say gives us a pic- 
 ture, at least conceivable, of the mode in which he may have 
 received his ' revelations from the Lord'(l Cor. xi. 23, xv. 3 ; 
 Gal. i. 12, 16). What he does not say — the silence respecting 
 the words that cannot be uttered — furnishes a remarkablecon- 
 trast to the elaborate description given by Mahomet, of his 
 nocturnal journey to Jerusalem and to paradise. (Sprenger's 
 Life of Mahomet, parti. 126, 136.) 
 
 III. The descri]3tion of his trial of the 'thorn in the flesh ' 
 has two interests quite independent of each other. 
 The first is purely antiquarian and historical. What ^^ J®^ 
 was the trial of which the Apostle speaks, in this of the 
 passage and in Gal. iv. 13, 14 ? theTsh" 
 
 This is one of the questions of which there are 
 several in the N.T. where the obscurity for us is occasioned by 
 the very fact that it was plain to contemporaries. Such are 
 1 Cor. xi. 10, XV. 29 ; 2 Thess. ii. 6 ; Rev. xiii. 18. The 
 various conjectures respecting it, some curious only as theo- 
 logical fancies, some as containing more or less approximation 
 to probability, may be divided into three classes. 
 
 (1) Spiritual Trials. 
 
 («) Sensual temptations. Possibly Augustine (Concio ii. ad 
 Ps. 58), Jerome (Ep. ad Eustoch. de Cust. Yiror.; 
 
 1 -rx 1 -XT' o 1 -r» • 1 ^T^ ^'- Sensual 
 
 ad Demetr. de Virg. Serv. c. 6 ; ad Kustic. de Viv. impres- 
 Foniia, c. 3),andTheophylact(adloc.). But of these, *^^^n«- 
 the passages in the two former are ambiguous, and in Theo- 
 phylact the reading is doubtful. This interpretation, therefore, 
 first set in with the monks of the sixth and seventh centuries, 
 Salvian (De Circumcis.) andBede (inHom. Dom. 5) ; and has 
 since been the favourite view of Roman Cotholic theologians. 
 (See Estius ad loc.) The words ' for the flesh ' would admit of 
 
 K k2 
 
548 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 it, but the rest of the description is in a strain of exultation 
 (xii. 9) different from what the mention of such a temptation 
 would lead us to expect ; and there is little, if anything, else 
 in the Apostle's life or writings which could countenance it. 
 1 Cor. ix. 27, ' I keep my body under,' has no reference to 
 sins of sensuality, and Rom. vii. 23, Hhe law of sin in my 
 members,' is a general expression, not applying to any pecu- 
 liarities of the Apostle himself. 2 Cor. vii. 2, and 1 Thess. ii. 3, 
 may imply that such an insinuation had then been made against 
 him, but contain nothing which can be brought to bear on this 
 passage. The Apostle's own description of his character is 
 almost decisive against such a supposition. 1 Cor. vii. 7-9, 
 'I would that all men were even as myself [i.e. without 
 temptations to incontinency]. ' It is good for the unmarried 
 to abide, even as I ; but if they cannot contain, let them 
 marry: it is better yafjurja-aL tj irvpovaOau.^ And, although 
 the examples of Jerome, Antony, Augustine, and Luther, 
 prove the compatibility of such trials with great piety and 
 energy of character, yet one is inclined to agree with Lu- 
 ther, ' Ah no ! dear Paul, it was no such trial which afflicted 
 thee.' 
 
 {h) Temptations to unbelief; or torments of conscience about 
 his past life. So thought, not unnaturally from their posi- 
 h. Tor- ^ion, the old Protestants, as Gersou, Luther, Cal- 
 ments of yin, Mosheim, Osiander. But ao-ainst this is the 
 of^con-^ °^ external character of the trial indicated by all the 
 science. expressions (' the thorn,' * the flesh,' ' to buffet '), and 
 the absence of any indications of such thoughts in the rest 
 of the Apostle's writings. 
 
 (2) External calamities. 
 
 («) His Judaizing opponents (so Chrysostom and the Greek 
 fathers generally), alluding especially to the indi- 
 izingoppo- vidual leader so often pointed at (see note on x. 7), 
 nents. g^jj^ confirmed by the use of the phrase ^ ministers 
 
 of Satan,' in xi. 14. But here, again, the expression 'in the 
 flesh ' is too closely personal, and ' the thorn ' and ' buffeting ' 
 too definite. 
 
 (J)) His afflictions and persecutions. This is confirmed by 
 h. Afflic- ^^ ^^® ^^ ' weakness ' in verse 9, and by the ex- 
 tions. press reference under that name to his distresses, in 
 
 10. But against it is the definite and isolated character of the 
 trial, and also the improbability of the Apostle's earnest desire 
 
 I 
 
THE THORN IN THE FLESH. 549 
 
 to be delivered from what was an almost inseparable accom- 
 paniment of his mission. 
 
 (3) Some bodily ailment. Almost every disorder has been 
 suggested. Pleurisy, the stone (Aquinas), epilepsy c. Bodily 
 (Ziegler), weakness of eyesight (suggested by a ailment. 
 comparison of Acts ix. 9, xxiii. 5 ; Gal. iv. 15, vi. 11), de- 
 fect of utterance (suggested by x. 10), lice in the head (Co- 
 telier, Mon. Eccl. i. p. 352), hypochondria, headache, earache 
 (Jerome, Chrysostom, CEcumenius, Tertullian). The suppo- 
 sition that it was a pain in the head has the advantage of a 
 distinct support from tradition. Jerome says (ad Gal. iv. 13), 
 ' Tradunt eum gravissimum capitis dolorem saspe perpessum ; ' 
 Tertullian (De Pudic. cap. 12), ^ Per dolorem, ut amnt, au- 
 riculae vel capitis.' Dismissing, however, any of those special 
 conjectures, the probability is in favour of some general ail- 
 ment, which would answer the force of the words, and which, 
 if it were ^ in any way occasioned by his sufferings or by his 
 natural temperament, would agree with verses 9, 1 0, and, if it 
 affected his outward appearance, would agree with x. 10 ; 1 Cor. 
 ii/ 3. The expressions in Gal. iv. 14, ovk s^ovOsvrjcrars (comp. 
 e^ovdevTjjjbsvos, in x. 10), ovhs s^sirTvaaTS, could.hardly be used 
 except of something apparent to the eye. i Nor would it be 
 below the dignity of the Apostle's character to ascribe such a 
 trial to Satan. In 1 Cor. v. 5 (' delivering to Satan for the 
 destruction of the flesh '), he couples together the words ' flesh ' 
 and ' Satan ' as here, evidently implying some bodily evil. Nor 
 would it be inconsistent with his great character to feel keenly 
 his struggle against such a difficulty. The frequent allusions 
 to his hardships, his partings, and his anxieties (see iv. 10-12, 
 xi. 27), indicate, as has been already observed,|an extreme sus- 
 ceptibility of temperament ; and it might be inferred, from 
 i. 8-10, iv. 12, that he had but just recovered from an attack 
 either of sickness or anxiety, which had brought him to the 
 verge of the grave. Instances in later history illustrate both 
 the severity of such a trial, and perseverance under it : Alfred, 
 with his cancer — William of Orange, with his fragile frame — 
 contending against the constant demands of active life. 
 
 But, secondly, whatever may have been the pe- ^^r ^ 
 
 r A. r .1 .11 . ^ IV. Con- 
 
 culiar nature of the trial, the permanent interest soiation of ' 
 resides in the consolation to which it gave occasion. ^^® ^'^P^" 
 
 ( 1 ) There can be no doubt that the Apostle repre- 
 sents himself as constantly troubled with some humiliatino* 
 
550 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 affliction, which marred his usefulness and broke his spirit. 
 1. His ^V'e learn from it to regard him, not as a man sus- 
 weakness. tained by a naturally indomitable strength of mind 
 and body, but as a man doing what he did by an habitual 
 struggle against his constitutional weakness. The other Apo- 
 stles were depressed by their humble station and illiterate 
 character ; he was dogged by the * thorn in the flesh ' and the 
 * weakness of his bodily presence.' 
 
 Under this weakness he received an adequate support. In 
 ^^ „ what mode indeed, this intercourse (if one may say 
 
 Divine so) with our Lord took place, we cannot tell. But 
 revelation. ^}^jg (Jn-ect account of such a communication from 
 the Apostle himself illustrates all the less direct or less au- 
 thentic allusions to similar communications elsewhere. ' The 
 Lord ' is still with him, the personal Lord, Jesus Christ, whom 
 he had seen on the road to Damascus. He ^ entreats ' Him 
 (TrapsKaXscra) as one still present ; and the answer is returned, 
 as in the moment of his conversion (Acts ix. 5), through arti- 
 culate words. And those words exactly express that union of the 
 Divine and human, of the ' grace ' or ' favour ' as of God, with 
 the ' weakness ' as of man, which is the characteristic pecu- 
 liarity of the representation of Christ in the New Testament. 
 This revelation is received by the Apostle as an abundant con- 
 solation, not only for the particular trial to which it referred, 
 but for all ' the weaknesses, insults, necessities, persecutions, 
 and afflictions,' to which he was exposed. If Christ was satisfied 
 he was satisfied ; if Christ's strength became his strength 
 through his weakness, then in his weakness he was strong. 
 
 (2) The case of the Apostle is an undoubted instance of' the 
 effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man ' not ' avail- 
 stance of a i"o ' ^'^^ ^^^® object desired ; in other words it teaches 
 prayer not us that the precept of our Lord, ' Ask, and it shall be 
 grante . g^yen you,' must not be understood as promising a 
 direct answer to every prayer, but as expressing the certainty, 
 that He who knows our infirmities before we ask, and our 
 ignorance in asking, will, in the end, supply our needs with 
 all that we require, although not with all that we desire, or 
 think that we require. The Apostle prayed not for wealth, or 
 honour, or wisdom, but simply that a great impediment to his 
 usefulness might be removed ; and even this was not granted. 
 And, in like manner, a greater than the Apostle had ' offered 
 up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears. 
 
THE THOEN IN THE FLESH. 551 
 
 earnestly, and in an agony, and the sweat, as it were great 
 drops of blood, falling down to the ground, saying, " Father, if 
 it be possible, let this cup pass from me" ' (Heb. v. 7 ; Luke 
 xxii. 44 ; Matt. xxvi. 39) ; and yet the cup was not removed, 
 nor the prayer granted. There are other passages in the 
 N. Test, which indicate the same truth, but these are suffi- 
 cient. If the prayer of Paul, and the prayer of Christ, were 
 refused, none need complain or be perplexed. 
 
 But also this passage shows us how, whilst in the literal 
 sense prayer may be unavailing, in a higher sense it « ^ ^g, 
 is heard and granted. Although the trial remained, ment of 
 yet the Apostle was convinced that he had been P^J^r- 
 heard. How, we know not ; but in the solitude and suffering 
 of that hour, the gracious words were borne in upon his soul, 
 which, even irrespective of their special import, were sufficient 
 to convince him that he was cared for, that he was loved by 
 Him whom he had entreated. And, in like manner, in that 
 more awful agony, of the * sorrow exceeding sorrowful even 
 unto death,' although no words of assurance are recorded, and 
 although the darkness and desolation still remained unremoved, 
 yet we are told in language which it would be useless to 
 criticise or analyse minutely, that ' there appeared an angel 
 unto him from heaven strengthening him '(Luke xxii. 43). 
 So also, with others, even if there be no direct assurance of 
 comfort, no visible answer to prayer, no certain consciousness 
 of Divine love and tenderness, yet the examples of our Lord 
 and His Apostle may serve to sustain us. We may believe^ 
 though we see and feel nothing, that there is a heavenly mes- 
 senger at hand to strengthen us. We are heard like Him, ' in 
 that we feared'' (Heb. v. 7). The answer that was returned in 
 distinct words to the Apostle, * My grace is sufficient for 
 thee,' is still returned unto us, although we hear it not. 
 
 Lastly, in the actual words of the answer to the Apostle, 
 and in his acceptance of it, a distinct principle is 
 announced of universal significance. ' Strength is madrper- 
 made perfect in weakness,' ' When I am weak, then feet in 
 I am strong,' are expressions which have now passed ^^^^"®^^- 
 almost into the proverbial language of mankind. It was true 
 in the highest sense, of Him that uttered it, that ^ His strength 
 was made perfect in the weakness of His sufferings.' The 
 Cross of Christ is, indeed, the strength of Christianity. It was 
 true, also, though not in the highest sense, yet still in a sense 
 
552 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 SO great as to be a lesson and example to all the world, that His 
 strength was perfected in the weakness of the Apostles, above 
 all, of St. Paul. ' I thank Thee, O Father, that Thou hast 
 concealed these things from the wise and prudent, and hast re- 
 vealed them unto babes.' Who can say how much of the 
 purity and simplicity, and therefore universal strength of the 
 first teaching of the Gospel, we owe (humanly speaking) to the 
 humble station and uneducated character of the first Apostles, 
 which thus received, at once, and without perversion or intrusion 
 of alien thoughts, the original impression of the Word made flesh? 
 Who can say how great would have been the loss to the world 
 had the Gospel originated, not in the weakness of Palestine and 
 Galilee, but in the learning of Alexandria or the strength of 
 Kome ? And, again, in St. Paul himself, it might have seemed 
 at the time to all, as it did on this occasion seem to him, 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 vigour of body and mind, his bodily pre- 
 sence strong, his speech mighty and powerful. But history 
 has answered the question otherwise, and has ratified the 
 Divine answer, in which the Apostle acquiesced. What the 
 Apostle lost for himself, and what Christianity lost for the 
 moment, has been more than compensated by the acknowledg- 
 ment that he was beyond doubt proved to be, not the inventor 
 of Christianity, but its devoted and humble propagator. In 
 his own weakness lies the strength of the cause. When he was 
 weakest as a teacher of the present, he was strongest as an 
 Apostle of the future. And what his trial was to him and 
 to the world on a large scale, that the trial of each individual 
 Christian may have been ever since, the means in ways incon- 
 ceivable to him now, of making himself and others strong in 
 the service of God and of man. 
 
WAKNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 553 
 
 Final Warnings and Salutations. 
 
 11 
 
 Fey ova acjypcov^' vfiels f^e rjvayKao-are. 
 
 co(f)€L\ov vcf) vfJLCov avvicTTaaOaL' ovSev yap 
 
 Tuiv vTrepXCav aTroaToXov, el Kal ovSev elp^i, 
 
 • Add Kavx(*>l^^vos. 
 
 eyco yap 
 
 vcTTeprjaa 
 
 ^^ra p.ep 
 
 " I have become a fool ; ye compelled me. For I ought to have been 
 commended by you : for in nothing was I behind the very chiefest 
 apostles, though I am nothing. ^^ Truly the signs of the apostle were 
 
 The long burst of passionate 
 self- vindication has now at last 
 ^ , expended itself, and he 
 
 fromdi- retums to the point 
 gression. ^^^^ whence he diverg- 
 ed at X. 7, where he was assert- 
 ing his intention to repress the 
 disobedience of those who still 
 resisted his authority at Corinth. 
 Before, however, he enters again 
 upon this, he looks back over the 
 long digression ; and resumes 
 here and there a thought which 
 needed explanation or expan- 
 sion. Hence, although this con- 
 cluding section stands apart from 
 the interruption of x. 10-xii. 
 10, and is truly the winding up 
 of the main argument begun in 
 X. 1-7, it is filled with traces 
 of the torrent which has passed 
 through his mind in the inter- 
 val. His ' folly ' (xi. 1-10), the 
 ^ commendatory ' epistles (iii. 1, 
 V. 12), the ' Apostolical ' preten- 
 sions of his opponents (xi. 12, 
 13) are resumed inverse 11 ; his 
 miracles and sufferings (xi. 23- 
 28) in verse 12 ; the question of 
 self-support (xi. 12) in verses 13 
 -18; the strength and weakness 
 united in Christ (xii. 9) in xiii. 
 3, 4, 9. ^ 
 
 1 1 yeyova a<f>pu)v. ' I have 
 
 heen a fool.' This is the ex- 
 pression of the Apostle's first 
 feeling on looking, back at what 
 he has said. That one word 
 ' fool,' already used so often (see 
 note on xi. 1), sums it all up. 
 
 v//,€ts fi€. rjvayKao-aTe. ' It was 
 not my doing, but yours [for you 
 ought to have saved me the task 
 of commending myself]/ 
 
 This clause implied, but not 
 expressed, furnishes the ground 
 for the next sentence, cyw yap : 
 ' for I ought to have been com- 
 mended by you ; ' v/xcov being as 
 emphatic as iyw. ' It was your 
 business not mine.'' For the 
 feeling of looking for the attes- 
 tation of his Apostleship to the 
 Corinthians themselves, compare 
 iii. 1, 2 ; and 1 Cor. ix. 1, 2. 
 
 ov^ev yap v(TTtpr](Ta. ' I, and 
 not they, should have been com- 
 mended ; for I showed myself 
 equal to them ; ' see note on xi. 
 5. ov^iv dixi. Compare 1 Cor. 
 XV. 8-10. 
 
 12 This is the proof of his 
 Apostleship, brought forward for 
 a moment, but not carried out. 
 ixiv must refer to some antithesis 
 which is omitted. The first 
 <Tr)fX€ta is used for ' proofs ' or 
 ' signs ' generally, the second 
 
554 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 13—16. 
 
 <T7^/x€ta Tov dTrocrToXov KaTeipydcrOrj ip vfiiv iv irdo-jj 
 vTTOfJiovri, (TiqixeiOL^ Kai repaaiv /cat ovvaix^cnv. ^^ri 
 yap icTTLV o ^rjo-craiOrjTe virep ra? XotTras iKKkyjaLas, et 
 fJLT) OTL avTo<; iyo) ov KarevdpKrja-a vficov ; ^apicracrOe fiOL 
 Trjv dSiKiav TavTTjv. ^^iSou jpirov '^rovro kroiiio^ e^a> 
 
 » Add eV. 
 
 * ^TT^^TJTe. 
 
 Om. 
 
 wrought among you in all endurance, in signs and wonders and mighty 
 deeds. ^^For what is it wherein you were inferior to the other churches, 
 except it be that I myself was not chargeable to you % forgive me this 
 wrong. ^^ Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and 
 
 (ny/xctots more especially for ' mi- 
 raculous signs,' as in Rom. xv. 
 19, Heb. ii. 4, and in the Acts 
 and Gospels. repacnv^ ' won- 
 ders,' is used here, and often in 
 the Acts, of the Apostolic mi- 
 racles ; but never (except in 
 John iv. 48 ; Acts ii. 22) of the 
 miracles of Christ. Swdfiea-Lv, 
 ' mighty miracles,' as in 1 Cor. 
 ii. 4, xii. 10, 28. The three 
 words occur together in Rom. 
 XV. 19 ; Heb. ii. 4. viroixovf} re- 
 fers to his hardships. The pas- 
 ciaimof ^^S^ ^^ remarkable as 
 miraculous containing (what is rare 
 powers. .^ ^^^ history of mi- 
 racles) a direct claim to mira- 
 culous powers by the person to 
 whom they Avere ascribed. Comp. 
 1 Cor. ii. 4, and Rom. xv. 19. 
 
 TOV SlttocttoXov. ' Of him who 
 is invested with the Apostolical 
 mission ; ' as, in English, 'of the 
 Apostle ; ' meaning, not any 
 special individual, but the ideal 
 of the office. KareLpyda-Or], ' were 
 wrought,' i.e. speaking of him- 
 self only as an instrument. 
 
 13 TL yap icTTLV o rjcrcr(x)6r]T€. 
 ' The proofs of my Apostles hip 
 were sufficient for you; for there 
 was nothing wanted to complete 
 them.' 
 
 VTrep ras AotTTu,? eKKXyjacas, ' be- 
 yond the other Churches to which 
 
 I have preached.' At this point 
 he is reminded of the objection 
 noticed in xi. 7, viz. that his not 
 receiving maintenance from them 
 was a proof, either of his want of 
 power to exact it, or of his want 
 of affection for them. ' When I 
 speak of your having every proof 
 of my power and my affection 
 for you, I remember that there 
 is one point in which you may 
 consider yourselves aggrieved.' 
 
 avTos cyoj. ' The only point 
 of which you can complain, is 
 that I, in my own person, have 
 refused support ; your complaint 
 does not apply even to my com- 
 panions ; they have received sup- 
 port.' See note on xii. 18. 
 
 KarevdpKrjaa. See note on xi. 9. 
 
 -^apia-acrOi /xot t-^v dStKtav rav~ 
 rrjy. Ironical, like xi. 7 : ' did I 
 commit an offence (d/xaprtW cTrot- 
 rjaa) in abasing myself, that ye 
 might be exalted ? ' 
 
 14 iSov rpirov tovto, ' look at 
 the proof of my love. This is 
 the third time that I am ready 
 to travel to you. Once I have 
 been actually ' (i.e. on his first 
 visit in Acts xviii. 1) ; ' a second 
 time I intended to come ' (i.e. 
 according to the plan mentioned 
 in i. 15, 16), ' the third time, on 
 the present occasion, I am now 
 re 
 
WAKNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 555 
 
 i\6eiv Trpos vfJiOLs, /cat ov KaravapKrjcroi^ ' ov yap ^tjtco tol 
 vp.<x)Vy oXka u/xa?* ov yap o^eiXei tol reKva Tol<; yovevcnv 
 6'q(Tavpit,€.iv^ dXX.' ol yovei^ rols reKVOL^. ^^iyco Be rjScaTa 
 Sairavijcrct) /cat iKSaTravrjOyjo-ofJiaL vnep tcov ^v^cov vfxcov, 
 "^ TTepicTcrorepoi^ v/xa? ayaircov ^rjcrcrov ayairoiixaL. 
 ^^^EcTTO) Se, iyoj ov Kare^dpy^cra u/ia?* aWa VTrdp^oiv 
 
 et 
 
 ■ Add vfiSiv. 
 
 " Add Kal. 
 
 I will not be chargeable : for I seek not yours, but you : for the children 
 ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 
 ^^And J. will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, if the more 
 abundantly I love you the less I be loved. 
 
 *^But be it so, I did not burden you : nevertheless being crafty I 
 
 Kttt ov KaravapKi^a-o), ' I am 
 coming ; and, when I come, I 
 shall still follow the same prac- 
 tice of not being burdensome.' 
 The two tenses Karevap/cr/o-a and 
 KaravapKT^cTu) are opposed to each 
 other. 
 
 ov yap tpfjTOi Ta v/awv ctAAa v/xa?, 
 ' if I love yon, it must be your- 
 selves, and not your money that 
 I seek.' Comp. Aristotle's de- 
 finition of Affection (</>tXta), 
 Ethics, viii. 3. 
 
 ov yap oc^etXct, ' and this is my 
 duty, for I am in the place of a 
 parent to you ; and parents are 
 bound to provide for the wants 
 of the children, not children for 
 their parents.' Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 
 14, 15 : 'As my beloved sons I 
 warn you ... ye have not many 
 fathers, for . . . J have begotten 
 you.' 2 Cor. xi. 2 : '1 have 
 espoused you to one husband.' 
 
 15 cyo) 8e ySicTTa, but I will 
 do even more than parents. I 
 will both spend and be myself 
 squandered in your be- 
 half.' €K^a7rav7)0rj(roixaL 
 is a climax, both as 
 being in the passive, and also as 
 expressing more strongly by ck 
 the entire consumption of his 
 powers for their sakes. 
 
 Brjarofiai.. 
 
 1 6 "EoTw 8c, at enim, * but, 
 you may say, let it be 
 so. You errant me so Guardng 
 
 & , ., , against 
 
 much — you grant that suspicion. 
 Jin my own person was 
 no burden to you ; but, inasmuch 
 as I am of a crafty character, I 
 caught you by stratagem.' The 
 whole sentence is an objection 
 attributed by the Apostle to the 
 Corinthians. They might, he 
 supposes, suspect that whilst he 
 abstained from collecting money 
 from them himself he availed 
 himself of the collection made 
 for the Jewish Christians by 
 Titus. To guard against a sus- 
 picion of this kind he had ' sent 
 two, instead of one, for that con- 
 tribution' (viii. 20, 21). vTrdpxoiv 
 here, as in viii. 17 ; 1 Cor. xi. 7, 
 expresses the habitual state or 
 condition of the person, and is 
 therefore equivalent to the Latin 
 quippe qui essem, * inasmuch as 
 r was.' 
 
 7ravovpyo9, ' cunning,' as ira- 
 vovpyca, in xi. 3, iv. 2 ; 1 Cor. 
 iii. 19. 
 
 17, 18 ' Surely there was no 
 one whom I have sent, by whom 
 I made a gain of you ? ' The 
 Apostle indignantly repels the 
 suspicion, and so abruptly that 
 
556 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 17—20. 
 
 Travovpyos SdXw vfJLOL<s iXafiov. ^^ ^tj riva ojv dirdaTokKa 
 TTpos v/xa5, St' avTOv iirXeoveKTyjcra Vfxaq ; ^^ irapeKoiXecra 
 Tltov, Kal crvvaTreo-Teika rov dSeX^oi^* ixtj tl iirXeoveKTr)- 
 aeu vfjiOLs Titos ; ov toj avTco TTvevfJiaTL TTepLeTraTTJa-afjLev ; 
 
 OV Tols aVTols i^CCFLV ; 
 
 ^'-^^UakaL SoK€LT€ OTL VfJiLV ^ aTTokoyovpL^Oa* "^KarivavTL 
 
 * irdXiv. *> airoXoyoiififQa ; 
 
 Karevumoif rov. 
 
 caught you with guile. "Did I defraud you by any of them whom I have 
 sent unto you? ^^I exhorted Titus, and with him I sent the brother : 
 did Titus defraud you ? walked we not in the same spirit ? in the same 
 steps ? 
 
 ^^Long ago ye think that we excuse ourselves unto you : before God 
 
 hardly a clause is complete. The 
 sentence is a mixture of two con- 
 structions : /xr] Sid Ttvos ov aTrc- 
 (TTaXKa, i7rX€0V€KTr)(Ta, and /i,^ rtva 
 S)V aTrecrraAKa, dTrearctXa els to 
 TrXeovcKreiv v/xas. 
 
 1 8 -TrapeKoAeo-a Ttrov, ' I ex- 
 horted ' or ' charged Titus to go 
 on the mission of making the 
 contribution.' The same word 
 is used in describing these trans- 
 actions in viii. 6, 17 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 
 12. 
 
 (Tvva7re<rT€LXa rov dSeXcfiOV. ' I 
 sent with him the brother whom 
 yon know, with the view of pre- 
 venting this suspicion : ' see viii. 
 18, 19. The Syriac has 'the 
 brethren,' which would refer to 
 both the brethren mentioned in 
 viii. 18-21. 
 
 fjiij TL i-TrXeoveKTrja-ev vfxds TtVo? ; 
 ' surely Titus made no gain of 
 you?'^ 
 
 ov T(3 avT(3 TTViVfiarL TrepuirarT]- 
 aafxev ; ov rot? avrois t^vea-LV ; 
 'Did not we (i.e. Paul, Titus, 
 and the brother) walk in the 
 same spirit, and in the same foot- 
 steps ? ' To identify Titus with 
 himself he changes the person, 
 and, where we should have ex- 
 pected TrepiiTrdrrjae, has TrepieTra- 
 rycrafxev. 
 
 Here, as in v. 7, he follows out 
 the precise meaning of 
 TTcptTrarctv ; and there- "^''ej** 
 fore, though in the first 
 clause it is taken in its general 
 sense, where the metaphor is al- 
 most lost, ' walk by the same 
 spirit ' (as in Acts ix. 31, xxi. 
 21), in the second clause the me- 
 taphor is preserved : ' walk,' or 
 'tread,' ' in the same footmarks.' 
 Lxyeo-L is so used with o-rotxctv 
 in Rom. iv. 12, and with iiraKo- 
 XovOetv, in 1 Pet. ii. 21 ; they 
 walked both m tJie spirit and i^i 
 the footsteps of Christ. 
 
 For the phrase, comp. Philo, 
 TTcpt ^iXavOp., p. 385 ; Tots avrots 
 I'^eaiv €7raKoXov6rj(Tai. 
 
 19 The main subject of this 
 part of his Epistle, his Apostolic 
 authority, which he had begun 
 in x. 1-9, resumed in xii. 11, 
 12, interrupted by the parenthe- 
 sis in xii. 13-18, he now finally 
 resumes. 
 
 Instead of ttoXlv (' a second 
 time') in D. E. J. K., is to be 
 read TroAat ('for a ndKivand 
 long time ') with A. 'ra'Aau 
 B. F. G. Both would make 
 sense. If ttolXlv be correct, it 
 would refer back to the former 
 places in this Epistle (iii. 1, 
 
WARNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 557 
 
 Oeov iv XP^^'^V ^oi^ovfjiev, to Be Trdvra, ayaTrr/rot, vnep 
 TTJs viJ^oyv oIkoSoijl7J<;. ^^ (j)ofioviJLaL yap [mt] ttcos iXOcov 
 
 in Christ we speak, but all things, beloved, for your edifying. "<^For I 
 
 ap^ofJiiOa TrdXtv iavTOvq crvvL(rTav : 
 V. 12, TrdXiv . . . (rvviarrdvoixev) . 
 But probably the reading of 
 ttolXlv here was suggested by 
 the occurrence of the word 
 there. TraXat refers to the mis- 
 apprehension which might exist 
 as to the apologetic tone (dTroXo- 
 yovfJLeOa) which does, in fact, 
 pervade the whole Epistle. In 
 this case, a full stop at olttoXo- 
 yovixcOa, as in the Text, is better 
 than a question. 
 
 The word, as a verb, is used 
 in his Epistles besides, only in 
 Rom. ii. 15 ; but the substantive 
 (dTToAoyia) occurs in the same 
 sense in 1 Cor. ix. 3, ' this is my 
 defence to them that question 
 me.' ' Not once or twice only, 
 but through the whole course of 
 the Epistle, you are thinking 
 that we are employed in defend- 
 ing ourselves.' 
 
 The next clause shows that 
 vixtv is emphatic, as might be 
 inferred from its position before 
 oLTroXoyovficOa. ' Do you think 
 that it is before you that I make 
 my defence ? No : it is in the 
 presence of God, in the spirit of 
 Christ that I speak.' This pas- 
 sage presents an exception to 
 the general object of the Epistle, 
 in which he represents himself 
 and the Corinthians as on equal 
 terms. Here we have an indica- 
 tion of the same independence of 
 character as appears in his con- 
 duct at Philippi (Acts xvi. 37), 
 and at Jerusalem (xxii. 25), with 
 regard to the Roman magistrates. 
 In the First Epistle, compare iv. 
 3, 'with me it is a very small 
 
 thing that I should be judged of 
 you.' 
 
 For the expression KarivavTL 
 Oeov iv ;!^torTa), see note on ii. 17. 
 He now gives the same reason 
 for his apologetic tone that he 
 had given by implication in iii. 
 1, and expressly in v. 12, ' we 
 commend not ourselves again to 
 you, but give yon occasion to 
 glory on our behalf, that ye may 
 have someiohat to ansiuer those 
 who glory in appearancje, and not 
 in heart.' So here the sense is, 
 I ' 1 am not defending myself, but 
 I all that I do is for your building 
 ; up.* In the word dya7n;roi, ' be- 
 loved,' which he has only used 
 once before (vii. 1), we seem to 
 see the sudden return of affec- 
 I tionate warmth, which in the 
 sterner tone of the first part of 
 the sentence he had for a moment 
 relinquished. In the expression 
 olKoBofjirj^ (' building up '), there 
 is a return to the general train 
 ! of thouorht in x. 1-7. 
 
 2o He goes on to give more 
 j precisely his reasons for this self- 
 : defence. ' I defend myself, lest 
 I you should fall a prey to my op- 
 ' ponents.' What follows strongly 
 j confirms what was said on x. 1, 
 I that an interval must have elapsed 
 I between the writing of this last 
 ! portion of the Epistle (x. 1-xiii. 
 I 13), and the earlier portion (i. 1 
 ; -vii. 16). With the thoughts 
 i of vii. 9-16 fresh in his mind, 
 I the Apostle could hardly have 
 ; anticipated the return of those 
 { very evils which he there so con- 
 I fidently believed to have been 
 1 repressed. Comp. especially verse 
 
558 
 
 SECO^^D EPISTLE: CHAP. XII. 21. 
 
 oif-^ OLOVS OeXo) evpo) v/xa? Kayco evpeOco iffxip otov ov 
 OeXeTe, fiij ttcds ^ipis ^{-^Xos Ovixol epiOeiai /caraXaXtal 
 
 fear lest when I come I shall not find you such as I would and that I 
 shall be found by you such as ye would not, lest there be debate, zeal, 
 
 21, ' who have not repented,' 
 with the detailed eulogy on their 
 * repentance,' for those very sins 
 in vii. 9-11. 
 
 /xi} 7ro)9. The two words are 
 „. ^ here, as in the next 
 
 His fears i ■ i 'i_ ^ 
 
 for tiie clause, to be united, so 
 ChSch^^" as not to connect ttws 
 with IXOoiv. 'Lest if 
 so be.' In the third clause iirj 
 TTOJs is exchanged for /xrj, the 
 doubt implied in /xrj ttoos naturally 
 dwindling away as he advances 
 ill his statement. His fears are 
 first general, lest the friendly re- 
 lations which he had so earnestly 
 hoped to see re-established be- 
 tween himself and his converts 
 should be disturbed ; lest he 
 should be compelled to assume 
 towards them the severity which 
 in 1 Cor. iv. 21 ; 2 Cor. i. 23, x. 
 1-7, he had deprecated. The 
 transition from his fears for them 
 to his fears for himself is charac- 
 teristic of the identification of in- 
 terests which pervades the whole 
 Epistle. For the particular turn 
 of expression, comp. xi. 12 ; Gal. 
 iv. 12. 
 
 This double fear is explained 
 by his apprehension lest they 
 shall be turned away from him 
 by misrepresentations; and lest 
 he shall be driven to use severity 
 by their impenitence. Hence the 
 climax, in which his fears, after 
 first expressing themselves in 
 their more general form, break 
 out (here only in the Second 
 Epistle) into an impassioned 
 enumeration of all the evils of 
 
 faction, which he had attacked 
 in the First, and then again settle 
 especially on the particular evil 
 of sensuality which had been the 
 express subject of both Epistler>. 
 
 IXTf TTws tpts . . . ctKarao-Tacrtai. 
 The vehemence of his language 
 has caused him to omit the verb 
 — which may be either wo-t or eJ- 
 peOwcTL from the adjacent clause. 
 The accumulation of words serves 
 to show his indignation, and also 
 to present a lively picture of the 
 evils introduced into a Christian 
 Church by the revival of this old 
 disease of the Grecian common- 
 wealths. The catalogue becomes 
 more definite and more aggra- 
 vated as it goes on. The first 
 four words express the disorder 
 in its most general form, and 
 occur in the same order as in 
 Gal. V. 20. 
 
 €>s A. Ipct9 B\ D. E. F. G. 
 J. K., ' quarrel,' used of the 
 factions in 1 Cor. i. 11 eptSeg. 
 
 ^>}Xosis ' anger,' * indignation,' 
 as in all the passages where it 
 is used in the N. Test, in a bad 
 sense (Acts v, 17, xiii. 45 ; Rom. 
 xiii. 13 ; 1 Cor. iii. 3 ; Gal. v. 
 20; James iii. 14, 16). In St. 
 Paul it is thus always with epts. 
 
 OvfioL is ' passion,' ' rage.' 
 The plural is unusual, and pro- 
 bably is occasioned only by the 
 attraction of the plurals in the 
 rest of the sentence. If it have 
 any force, it must be * bursts of 
 rage.' 
 
 kpiOita is derived from ept^o?, 
 'a hired labourer,' and thence 
 
WAENINGS A^'D SALUTATIONS. 559 
 
 \ljL0vpL(rfJLOL (jivcrLaxreLs d/carafrracrtai. ^^ftTy ttoKiv ^eX- 
 66ptos fxov Taireivojcrei fxe 6 6e6^ (xov Trpos vfias, kol 
 irevOrjcroi ttoXXous tcov TrpoTjfiapTrjKOTcov kol jjlt) pLeravoj)- 
 
 * i\96vra fjLe rarreLvdlxTr) 6 Oeds. 
 
 wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults. ~^When I 
 come again will my God have to cast me down among you, and shall I 
 have to bewail many who have sinned before and did not repent of the 
 
 used for ' low envy ' such as 
 hired servants might be supposed 
 to entertain ; and thence for * ca- 
 bal ' or ' mob,' such as would be 
 formed from persons of that class; 
 such as were to be found in Grreek 
 cities, and are alluded to under 
 the name of ay opoXot or Trovrjpoc 
 at Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 5), 
 and at Corinth (xviii. 14). At 
 Rome, the corresponding phrase 
 was the turba forensis. In Ari- 
 stotle's Politics (v. 2, 3) it is used 
 in this sense, and is enumerated 
 amongst the seven causes of 
 Greek revolution. 
 
 * Cabal ' or ' ambition,' there- 
 fore, seems the most natural 
 translation of the word in the 
 New Test. See Rom. ii. 8 ; Gal. 
 V. 20 ; Phil. i. 16, ii. 3 ; James iii. 
 14,16. Riickert was the first com- 
 mentator who gave it this its 
 true sense. 
 
 KaraAaA-tat and if/iOvpuTfJiOL de- 
 Fcribe the acts in which this fac- 
 tious spirit was expressed. Kara- 
 XaXid (which only occurs once 
 elsewhere in the N. Test., 1 Pet. 
 ii. 1) is ' open detraction ; ' 
 if/iOvpLo-ixos, ' whispering,' i.e. 
 ' secret calumnies ' (so in Ecclas. 
 xxi. 28, ij/L$vpL^(i} ; and in Rom. i. 
 30, xj/LOvpLaTOLs, where it is used, 
 as here, with KaraXaXovs). 
 
 <fivcruocreL<; and aKaracTTacrLai ex- 
 press the actual mischief pro- 
 duced, ^vo-toxrt? occurs nowhere 
 else in the N. Test. But the 
 well-known meaning of ^vo-tow 
 
 shows that it is ' insolence.* 
 Here, as in Ov/jlol, what would 
 naturally have been a singular 
 noun becomes plural from the 
 other plurals in the sentence. 
 
 oiKaTaa-Taa-LaL, ' disorders,' ' tu- 
 mults.' See note on vi. 5. 
 
 21 He now returns to the 
 more especial stain on the Co- 
 rinthian Church, which he hoped 
 had been removed. 
 
 ttolXlv cA^oi/Tos, ' on my se- 
 cond visit,' i.e. the one which 
 was about to be made. It im- 
 plies that there had been but 
 one before. 
 
 TttTreivwo-ct, ' cast down.' Comp. 
 the same word similarly used 
 in vii. 6. 
 
 7rp6<s vjULaq cannot be taken 
 with iX66vTo<s, ' to you,' and 
 must therefore be ' in relation to 
 you.' 
 
 Trev^rjo-w, 'have to lament,' 
 i.e. the necessity of punishing: 
 else he would not speak oi many 
 instead of all who have sinned. 
 TTcvGio) is usually intransitive. 
 
 Ttov TrpoTjjjLapTrjKOTCJV. The Trpo 
 may refer to the time before 
 their conversion, but rather to 
 the time in which they should 
 have repented : those who have 
 sinned first, and did not repent 
 afterwards. 
 
 Trpoa/xapravoj is Only used in 
 the N. Test, here and in xiii. 
 2. 
 
 As the sins here spoken of 
 were past, fJ^eTavorja-avTayv ap- 
 
560 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE : CHAP. XIII. 
 
 cravTOiv inl rrj aKaOapcria /cat TTOpveia kol dcreXyeta, y 
 eTTpa^av ; Xlll. ^Tpirov tovto €p)(ojjLaL npos vjjias. inl 
 (TTOixaros 8vo fxaprvpcov kol rpiSv o-TaOija-eTaL ttolv pyjfjia. 
 
 uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they committed? 
 XIII. ^This is the third time I am coining to you. 'In the mouth of 
 
 preaches more nearly than is 
 usually the case to the modern 
 sense of ' repentance/ i.e. not 
 * change of life,' but ' sorrow 
 for sin.' The state of mind which 
 he here laments is the same as 
 that which he attacks in 1 Cor. 
 V. 1, where, although there was 
 but one individual concerned, 
 the whole community partook of 
 the sin, by not having expressed 
 any horror against him. 
 
 CTTt TTJ aKaOapa-ca. This pro- 
 bably belongs both to ixeravorj- 
 cravTOiv and to 7rev^r/o-oj, ' after,' 
 or ' in consequence of.' See for 
 a similar position of words, 1 Cor. 
 XV. 19. 
 
 The three words express sen- 
 sual sins, and are similarly joined 
 in Gal, V. 19. It is needless to dis- 
 tinguish them more particularly. 
 
 XIII. I, 2 There is no break 
 in the argument. He has already 
 expressed his fear of what he 
 should find when be came ; he 
 here expresses his full intention 
 of coming. Once he had been 
 there, a second time he had in- 
 tended to come, now the third 
 time he was actually coming. It 
 is probable with the view of ex- 
 pressing more strongly that he 
 should come without fail, that the 
 expression, ' I am ready to come,' 
 in xii. 14, is here exchanged for 
 ' I am coming.' For this future 
 sense of cpxo/xat, compare airoO- 
 VYjaK^i in John xxi. 23. 
 
 The words which folio w, though 
 without any indication of quota- 
 tion, are from Deut. xix. 15. 
 
 It is possible that the Apostle 
 means merely to say that, on his 
 arrival at Corinth there shall be 
 a formal trial, in which the guilt 
 of the offenders shall be proved 
 according to the Law of Moses ; 
 as in the rule laid down in the 
 Gospels for dealing with offend- 
 ing Christians : ' If he will not 
 hear thee, take with thee one or 
 two more, that in the mouth of 
 two or three witnesses every 
 word maybe established* (Matt, 
 xviii. 26). But it is unlikely 
 that the Apostle should express 
 himself either so formally or so 
 imperfectly ; and the context 
 suggests a better inter- 
 pretation. The jour- '^^^°^^ 
 neys of the Apostle, witnesses.' 
 accomplished or in- 
 tended, occupy throughout the 
 Epistle a prominent place in his 
 mind ; and now they seem to him 
 to assume almost a distinct per- 
 sonal existence, as though each 
 constituted a separate attestation 
 to his assertion. He, as it were, 
 appears to himself a different 
 person, and, therefore, a diiferent 
 witness in each journey accom- 
 plished or proposed. The first 
 witness was that which he had 
 delivered during his first visit, or 
 in his First Epistle (iv. 19) ; to 
 which he refers in the words, ' I 
 have said before ' (TrpoetpyKa). 
 The second witness was that 
 which he now bore on his present 
 journey and through his present 
 Epistle, which was intended to 
 supply the place of the journey 
 
WARNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 561 
 
 ^TTpoeiprjKa kol TrpoXeyco, ws irapcov to Sevrepov kol olttcov 
 vvvy^ ToXs TrpoiqixapTiqKocriv koI toi^ \onrois Tracriv^ on 
 iav ekOo) €t§ to ttoKlv ov ^etVo/xat. ^€7ret SoKLfirjv ^rj- 
 
 » Koi oLTTcliiu vvv ypofpo} ro7s. 
 
 two witnesses and three shall every Avord be established,' ^I have told 
 you before and foretell you, as if present the second time though 
 absent now, to those who have sinned before and to all the others, that if 
 I come again I will not spare. " Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking 
 
 once intended (i. 15 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 
 7) but now abandoned by him. 
 To this he refers in the wprd 
 TTpoXeyw, ' I speak beforehand,' 
 i.e. ' before my next visit ; ' and 
 he strengthens this witness by 
 representing himself as in a man- 
 ner present on that second visit, 
 which had really been postponed 
 (a)9 Trapwv to Sevrepov). It is by 
 thus reckoning his Second Epistle 
 as being virtually a second visit, 
 or, at least, a second witness, 
 that he was enabled in the first 
 verse, to call the visit which was 
 now about to be actually accom- 
 plished, ' his third ' visit. And 
 this third visit would be reckoned 
 as the third witness, if it were 
 necessary that the words quoted 
 from Deuteronomy were to be 
 literally complied with. 
 
 For the familiarity of the image 
 of witnesses in that age, comp. 
 1 John V. 5-7. 
 
 Kttt d-n-wv must be ^although 
 absent.' 
 
 vvv, though referring especially 
 to dTTO)!/, yet must also be taken 
 with rrapiiiv. Comp. 1 Cor. iv. 3. 
 A. has eTOLfX(D<s €)((D iXdeiv ; but 
 probably taken from xii. 14. 
 
 2 rot? 7rpo7]jjiapT7]K6(TLV. See 
 xii. 21. 
 
 TOts XoiTTOLs Trao-tv, ' to all who 
 had not sinned, but who still 
 might require a warning.' 
 
 For the threefold repetition of 
 Trpo in TTpoeLprjKaj TrpoXeyw, and 
 TrporjfxapTTjKoaLV, comp. ix. 5 ; 'as 
 
 you have been beforehand in sin- 
 ning, so I have been beforehand 
 in warning.' 
 
 €19 TO ttoXlv is the gradual ap- 
 proximation to the use of ct? (as in 
 modern Greek) for 'in' inall cases. 
 So €ts TO o-a^ySaroi/, Acts xiii. 42. 
 
 3 In what follows (3-10) the 
 main tenor of the argument, in 
 X. 1-7, xii. 11, 12, xiii. 1, 2, to 
 assert his authority over them, is 
 interrupted by the desire in x. 2, 
 xii. 19, xiii. 5-10, as in i. 23-ii. 
 11, to leave them to work out 
 their own reformation without the 
 necessity of his interference. The 
 keynote of both these feelings is 
 the word Soki/atJ, ' proof.' It is 
 like the marching and counter- 
 marching of armies. He is to 
 give a proof of his power, unless 
 (as he hopes) they will be before- 
 hand with him in giving a proof 
 of their reformation. 
 
 SoKLfxy]v . . Tov iv ifxol X.aXovvTO<s 
 XpL(TTov, 'a proof that Christ 
 speaks in me.' SoKiixrj is either 
 * trial ' or, as here, ' a proof after 
 trial.' The transition between 
 the two meanings is seen in the 
 connexion of SoKt/xa^ere and a.86- 
 KL/xoL in verse 5, as between proho, 
 prohus, and reprohus in Latin. 
 
 OS ct9 v/Att? ovK da6ev€i oAAa 
 Swarct Iv vfuv, 'For he is not 
 weak, but strong in avenging 
 upon you by preternatural pun- 
 ishments the sins you have com- 
 mitted.' The change from cis 
 vfjids to iv vfuv appears at first 
 
 o o 
 
562 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. Xlll. 4—7. 
 
 reire tov iv ifjioi XaXowro? ■y^picTOv, 69 €19 v/xa? ovk 
 acrOeveiy dXXa Svi^aret et* v^uv ^ [koX yap [et] icTTavpcodr) 
 ef d(T^e^'€la9, dXXd ^17 e/c Svvdfieco<; Oeov' kol yap ^rjixeis 
 aaOevovfJLev Iv avrqi, dXXd ^ ^7J(rofJi€v crvv avT<2 Ik Bvvd- 
 jxecjs Oeov els vfJias), ^iavTovs Tretyod^ere el ecrTe ev ttj 
 
 * Add Kai »> (T]<r6fi€ea. 
 
 in me, Who towards you is not weak, but is strong in you ^ (for though 
 He was crucified through weakness, yet He liveth through the power 
 of God : for we also are weak in Him, but we shall live together with 
 Him tlirough the power of God toward you), ^ examine yourselves whether 
 
 sight to be emphatic, but is only 
 a variation such as frequently 
 occurs in the Apostle's style. 
 Compare x. 1, raTrcivo? eV vfuv, 
 
 In the words ovk dcr^cvet, ' He 
 is not w^eak,' he refers back to 
 xii. 9, ' strength is perfected in 
 weakness.' ' Though in one sense 
 He is weak, in another sense He 
 is strong ; ' and this he expands 
 in the next verse. 
 
 4 Kttt yap, '/or in fact, if He 
 was crucified in conformity with 
 His mortal weakness, it follows in 
 like manner that He lives in con- 
 formity with the Divine power 
 which raised Him from the dead.' 
 He died because He was man : 
 He rose again, and lives, because 
 He was the Son of God. Ambro- 
 siaster and Pelagius seem to have 
 read e'^ do-^ei/eta? i^/xcov, as they 
 quote the passage, ' ex infirmitate 
 nostra.' But no extant MS. gives 
 this reading. With regard to 
 His death, compare Phil. ii. 8, 
 * being found in fashion as a man, 
 He humbled Himself, and became 
 obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the cross ; ' with regard 
 to His resun-ection, Rom. i. 4, 
 ' declared to be the Son of God 
 with power, according to the 
 spirit of holiness, by the resur- 
 rection from the dead ; ' and with 
 regard to both, 1 Pet.' iii. 18, 
 
 ' put to death in the flesh, but 
 quickened by the Spirit.' 
 
 KoX yap r]fji€L<5. This gives a 
 further reason for the clause 
 ' who is strong in you,' as well 
 as an expansion and proof of the 
 clause immediately preceding. 
 ' The proof that Christ is strong 
 in you, that He still lives and 
 acts, is that Jam weak and share 
 His weakness, yet I also in my 
 dealings with you shall share His 
 life by the same Divine power.' 
 Comp. John xiv. 19, ' because I 
 live, you shall live also ; ' Rom. 
 V. 10, ' we shall be saved by his 
 life.' In this case the ' life ' thus 
 imparted is spoken of as specially 
 manifested in the supernatural 
 visitation of the sins of the Co- 
 rinthian Church. For the repe- 
 tition of KOL yap compare the re- 
 petition of /A^ in xii. 21, and of 
 yap in xiii. 8, 9. 
 
 5 iavTOv<; Trcipo^CTe ei eVrc iv 
 rrj 7ri(TT€L, cavrov? 8oKLiJi.d^€T€. He 
 breaks off abruptly with his ar- 
 gument, and appeals at once to 
 their own experience : ' I have 
 spoken of my power over you. 
 But after all, it is yotirselves 
 that you ought to examine ; it 
 is yourselves that you ought to 
 prove ; yotir own faith, and yotir 
 own consciousness of the presence 
 of Christ amongst you, is the best 
 proof of His being in me.' Comp. 
 
WARNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 563 
 
 Triarei^ kavrov^ So/ct/xa^ere • r^ ovk iTnyivo^cTKeTe iavrov^^ 
 on 'Irjaovs xpLO'To<; iv vfjuv [eortz^] ; et fiij tl aSoAct/xot 
 ccrre. ^eA-TTifw Se on yvcocrecrde otl 7jix€i<; ovk icrixkv 
 aSoKLfJLOL. '^ev^oyieOa Se tt^o? tov deov firj iroLrjcrai v/x,as 
 
 ye be in the faith, prove your own selves ; or know ye not your own 
 selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? except ye be unapproved. ^But T 
 trust that ye shall know that we are not unapproved. ^Now we pray to 
 
 1 Cor. ix. 2, 'the seal of my 
 apostleship are ye in the Lord ; ' 
 
 2 Cor. i. 24, ' by faith ye stand ; ' 
 iii. 2, ' ye are our epistle.' 
 
 y OVK i7nyLVii)crK€T€ eavrov? otl 
 'Ir)o-ov<; ^icrro? iv vfjuv ecrrtV ; ' or 
 is it that you do not rightly know 
 your own selves, and perceive 
 that Jesus Christ is amongst you 
 through my preaching ? ' He 
 uses the same expression iv v/uv 
 for Christ's presence in them, 
 that he had used in xiii. 3, for 
 Christ's presence in himself. The 
 two were in his view identical. 
 
 Ct fXrj TL aSoKLflOL i(TT€^ aud Hc 
 
 is in you, ' unless you have no 
 proof of His Spirit to show.' 
 For this sense of a8d/ct/Aos, comp. 
 1 Cor. ix. 27, like the Latin ' re- 
 prnbv-S,^ which is the Vulg. trans- 
 lation of it. At the same time, it 
 has the tinge of an active sense, 
 from 8oKt/xa^€Tc, ' unless you are 
 wholly without discernment,' as 
 in dSoKLiMov vovv in Rom. i. 28. 
 Comp. a similar appeal to the 
 consciousness of spiritual gifts in 
 Gal. iii. 2, ' received ye the Spirit 
 by the works of the law, or by the 
 hearing of faith ? ' 
 
 et fXT^ TL, ' unless I can suppose 
 that you are.' For this form of 
 ct fjLij see 1 Cor. vii. 5. 
 
 6 iXiTL^u) Se OTL yvwcrccrOe otl 
 r]iJLeL<s OVK €o-fX€v aSoKL/xoL. The 
 previous sentence is broken in 
 upon by the thought which the 
 last words, €t firj tl aBoKLfxoL iaTC, 
 
 suggest. ' But, if it should so 
 be that you have no proof of 
 Christ's presence, I trust that 
 you will know when I come, that 
 / at least am not without this 
 proof.' In classical Greek the 
 sense would have been rendered 
 clearer by ye, or some such par- 
 ticle, affixed to r}fx,€L<:. 
 
 7 This slight interruption of 
 bitterness is immedi- j,.,. +^ 
 ately modified by the estedness 
 gentleness of the next fJ^it^ 
 
 i mi- A Apostle. 
 
 sentence. The Apo- 
 stle's feeling is the reverse of that 
 rebuked in the Prophet Jonah, 
 when (iv. 1) he was * angry ' 
 ' and displeased exceedingly ' 
 because his' prophecy was frus- 
 trated by the repentance and re- 
 storation of Nineveh. 'I trust 
 that you will find that Christ is 
 in me ; but it is much rather my 
 prayer to God that I may find 
 Him in you, and so be spared the 
 pain of using severity.' ' I pray 
 that you may do nothing evil ; 
 and my object in this prayer is, 
 not that I may be proved to be 
 an Apostle, but that yoic may be 
 proved to be Christians, even al- 
 though we lose thereby the means 
 of proving our Apostleship.' 
 
 He thus uses dSoKi/^o?, in two 
 different senses. In one sense, 
 he would not be ' without proof; ' 
 if the Corinthians were re- 
 formed ; because their reforma- 
 tion would be his best proof of 
 2 
 
564 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XIII. 8—13. 
 
 VfJieLs TO Kokov TTOLrJTe, rjjJLeis Se w? dSo/ct/xot M/juev. ^ov 
 yap SvvdiJieOd rt Kara rrj^ oXiqS^ias^ dXX' virkp rrj^ dXyj- 
 6eia<;. ^^aipoyiev ydp oTav rffxeis dcrOevcofjiev, vfxti^ Se 
 SvvaTol -^re* tovto ^/cat ev^^ofieOa ttjp vpLO)v KaTapTicriv. 
 "ota TOVTO TavTa aircov ypacpoj^ lvol irapcop [xr) aTToro/xw? 
 
 God that ye do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that ye 
 should do that which is good, though ive be as unapproved. ^ For we 
 cannot do anything against the truth, but for the truth. ^For we rejoice 
 when ive are weak, and ye are strong : this also we pray, even your 
 perfect joining- together. ^^ Therefore being absent I write these things, 
 
 Apostleship. In another sense, 
 he would be ' without proof ; ' be- 
 cause he would then lose the op- 
 portunity of displaying his power. 
 Thus to the contrast in vi. 9, 
 between the different phases of 
 his character — ' as deceivers, and 
 yet true, as unknown and yet 
 well known, as dying and behold 
 w^e live,' he might have added, 
 ' as without proof and yet as ap- 
 proved ' (' WS dSoKLfJiOi Koi SoKl- 
 
 /xot'). The figurative sense of 
 aSoKi/A05 is expressed -by ws. 
 
 His Apostleship, his happiness, 
 his very salvation were nothing 
 in his eyes, compared with the 
 welfare of his converts. Comp. 
 Rom. ix. 3, ' I could wish myself 
 accursed from Christ for my 
 brethren.' It is the Christian 
 expression of the well-known 
 sentiment, 'Perish my name, if 
 only my cause survives.' 
 
 8 He gives the reason why 
 every sign of Apostolical autho- 
 rity would disappearif they were 
 reformed. ' For we have no 
 strength at all against the truth, 
 the reality of the Gospel, as 
 proved and established in your 
 lives. With truth against me, I 
 can do nothing; with truth on 
 my side, I can do everything.' 
 
 hvvaixeOa refers back to Swa/^t?, 
 Svvaret in xiii. 3, 4. 
 
 9 He then gives a second rea- 
 son, partly for the general clause 
 in verse 7, partly for the depen- 
 dent clause in verse 8, as in the 
 repetition of koX yap in verse 4. 
 ' And this powerlessness and 
 weakness is what most delights 
 me; for my delight is to be weak; 
 my bodily presence may well be 
 weak and contemptible, if only 
 you are strong in faith.' It is in 
 fact the fulfilment of his prayer 
 to Christ, as given in xii. 8, and 
 the explanation of Christ's an- 
 swer (xii. 9). He would still 
 remain weak and despised ; but 
 Christ's strength had appeared 
 in the faith of the converts. 
 
 TOVTO /cat €v)(6fx€0a, ' and this 
 subject of my joy is in fact what 
 I pray for ; ' in allusion to evxo- 
 fji€6a in verse 7. 
 
 TTjv vfjioiv KaTcipTia-Lv, ' namely, 
 your restoration.' For KarapTi^w, 
 see note on 1 Cor. i. 10. The 
 substantive occurs nowhere else 
 in the IS". Test. 
 
 lo In this verse he sums up 
 the substance of the main argu- 
 ment of his address (x. 1-17, 
 xii. 12-xiii. 10), recurring es- 
 
WAENINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 
 
 565 
 
 -yprjcratixai Kara Tr)T/ i^ovcrCav ^v ^6 Kvpuos eScoKeu fiOL els 
 OLKoSofXriV Kol OVK €ts KadaLpecTLV. 
 
 ^^AoLTTOP, aSek(j)OL, ^aiperey KarapTL^ecrOe, TrapaKokel- 
 aOe^ TO avTo (l)pov€LTe, elpr)V€V€T€, kol 6 Oeos ttJs dyctTTT^s 
 KOL elprjviqq Icrrat /xe^' viibiv. ^^ acnrdcraorde akXijXovs iv 
 ojytcx) (^iKrip.aTL. acnrd^ovTaL vjjlols ol ayuoi Traz/res. 
 
 ^^ H X'^P''^ '^^^ KVpLOv iTjcrov ^icrrov /cat rj ayairiq 
 
 * eSwKe fioi 6 Kvpios. 
 
 lest being present I should use sharpness according to the power which 
 the Lord hath given me to edification and not to pulling down. 
 
 ^^ Finally, brethren, fare ye well, be perfectly joined together, be 
 comforted, be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace 
 will be with you. ^^ Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the saints 
 salute you. 
 
 pecially to the words of x. 8, els 
 olKoSofXTjv /cat OVK els KaOaipea-LV. 
 
 aTTOTo/xcos only occurs aj:^ain, in 
 the TSr. Test., in Tit. i. 13 ; dlTro- 
 To/xta in Rom. xi. 22; 'harsh,' 
 * violent.' 
 
 After -^Tjo-iiiixaL must be un- 
 derstood vfiiv, 'use you harsh- 
 ly;' as in Esther i. 19, ix. 27 
 (LXX.). 
 
 II Here, then, the Epistle 
 properly ends, and the saluta- 
 tions and farewells begin ; still, 
 however, slightly coloured by 
 the preceding, as will appear 
 by the repetition of words and 
 thoughts already familiar to his 
 readers. 
 
 KoLTTov is here in a state of 
 transition, between the ancient 
 and usual sense '/or the future^'' 
 and the modern Romaic sense 
 ' therefore' For a similar use 
 of it see Acts xxvii. 20 ; 1 Cor. 
 i. 16.^ 
 
 Xaipere. The word unites a 
 valediction, and a cheering hope ; 
 ' farewell,' and ' fare ye well,' as 
 in Phil. iii. 1, iv. 4, and in the 
 Greek announcement of victory, 
 Xcupere, xP^ipoixev. 
 
 KarapTL^ecrOe, * amend your- 
 
 selves,' referring to KaTapTunv in 
 verse 9. 
 
 TrapaKoXeia-Oe, ' be comforted 
 and exhorted.' The keynote of 
 i. 1-11 is here repeated. 
 
 TO aVTO <f>pOV€LT€, €lpr)VeV€T€j 
 
 ' have the same thoughts,' ' re- 
 press your factious spirit.' This 
 sums up 1 Cor. i.-iv. 15, and 
 refers back to 2 Cor. xii. 20. 
 
 /cat 6 Oebs .... Icrrat fieO' vfJL(jJV. 
 This depends on the two pre- 
 vious precepts. ' Have the same 
 thoughts, and then the God of 
 love will be with you ' (referring 
 back to 1 Cor. xiii.) : 'be at 
 peace, and then the God of peace 
 will be with you.' Comp. Luke 
 X. 6, 'if the Son of peace be 
 there, your peace shall rest upon 
 it ; if not, it shall return to you 
 again.' 
 
 12 For the forms of saluta- 
 tion, see note on 1 Cor. xvi. 20 
 
 13 This bendiction is the 
 most complete of all 
 
 which occur in St. Beuediction, 
 
 Paul's Epistles. 
 
 It differs from dogmatical 
 statements of the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, by beginning, not with 
 the mention of God, but of Jesus 
 
566 
 
 SECOND EPISTLE: CHAP. XIII. 13. 
 
 Tov Oeov Kol Tf KOLVCovCa Tov aytov Tn^eu/xaros fxera iravTOiv 
 
 * Add ^AfM-fjv. Uphs KopivOiovs devr^pa iypd<f>ri airb ^iXitTtTuiv ttjs Ma/ceSoj'ias, 
 Sta TiTou KaX AovKci. 
 
 ^^The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the 
 communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. 
 
 Favour of 
 Christ. 
 
 Christ, 
 (xapts) 
 ' favour 
 
 Christ. First comes, as in all 
 the benedictions of St. Paul, the 
 ' favour ' or ' protec- 
 tion,' — the light of the 
 countenance — (x^^pis) of 
 Comp. xii. 9, ' my grace 
 is sufficient.' In this 
 is usually comprised 
 the whole benediction of the 
 Apostle. But here it is ex- 
 panded into the two blessings 
 which are included in 
 Love of God. it. ' The Love of God ' 
 for man {y aydirrj rov 
 Oeov) is brought home to the 
 human race by the favour and 
 goodness (x^/ot*?) of Christ. ' The 
 joint participation in the pure 
 and holy Spirit,' which that 
 Love sheds abroad in our hearts, 
 is the great gift (x^^pis) which 
 Christ left to the whole 
 c<)mmunion \yQ^j of believcrs. The 
 
 of the Holy J , , , . 
 
 Spirit. favour, the benedic- 
 
 tion ' of Christ, with 
 which the Apostle always parts 
 from his readers, is, he now 
 finally assures them, the nearest 
 approach of God to man, the 
 nearest approach of man to God. 
 It is no less, on the one hand, 
 than the expression of the Crea- 
 
 tor's affection for His creatures ; 
 it is no less, on the other hand, 
 than the union of the hearts and 
 spirits of men with the Heart 
 and Spirit of God. 
 
 And this blessing he invokes, 
 not on a few individuals, or on 
 any one section of the 
 Corinthian Church, but With all. 
 expressly on every por- 
 tion and every individual of those 
 with whom, throughout these 
 two Epistles, he had so earnestly 
 and so variously argued and con- 
 tended. As in the First, so in 
 the Second Ej^istle, but still 
 more emphatically, as being here 
 his very last words, his prayer 
 was, that this happiness might 
 be ' with them alV (/^era ttolvtmv 
 
 The subscription rests on the 
 authority (with some 
 
 slight variations) of Subscription. 
 
 E. (?) J. K.Syr. Copt. 
 The place ' Philippi ' is not con- 
 tradicted by the Epistle. The 
 mention of Titus is founded on 
 viii. 16, the mention of Luke 
 (and in some few cursive MSS. 
 of Barnahas) on conjectural ex- 
 planations of viii. 18, 22. 
 
WARNINGS AND SALUTATIONS. 06 7 
 
 Paraphrase of Chap. XII. 11— XIII. 13. 
 
 And note my folly is over. That I should have indulged in it, is 
 your fault, not mine ; for you knew better than others how little 
 I needed any such commendation for myself; for amongst you 
 were wrought by me the signs of an Apostle, equal to those of 
 the very greatest Apostles, 
 
 Yet I am wrong, you will say. There is one injustice 
 which I have done you. Whilst others, whilst my own com- 
 panions, were supported by you, I alone have remained 
 independent. But this is an injustice which I must continue 
 to commit. Look at my affection for you. This is the third 
 time I am ready to come ; and now, as before, I am deter- 
 mined still not to ask your support. It is not your money, 
 but yourselves that I seek. I am a father to you, and must 
 act as a father, in not merely spending money, but in being 
 myself spent and squandered for your sakes ; even although for 
 this love I receive from you hatred. 
 
 But no, you will say, this is no real proof of my love. Al- 
 though I personally received nothing from you, I was cunning 
 enough to get your money through the means of my emissaries. 
 Can you really believe this ? Did I gain anything from you 
 through those men ? When Titus and his companion were 
 charged by me to go to you, did Titus gain anything from you ? 
 Was not our path guided by the same Spirit, did we not stejj 
 in the same footmarks ? was not the same Divine Spirit around 
 our steps ? were not the footmarks those of our common Master'^ 
 You think, perhaps, that all through the Epistle I have 
 been making my defence as if you ivere my judges. No: God 
 alone is my Judge, Christ alone is my Cause. Yet, eager as I 
 am to vindicate my independence, the real purpose of saying all 
 that I say is that I may build you up in your faith. There is 
 a fear constantly before me, lest you should be turned from vie, 
 lest I should be driven to severity, lest Corinth should be a scene 
 of faction, of calumny, of disorder ; lest ivhen I come I should 
 find all my labour misspent, and have to mourn over the im- 
 penitence of those who have fallen into sins of heinous sensuality. 
 Once, twice, thrice, as in the Mosaic Law of the three witnesses : 
 
568 SECOND EPISTLE. 
 
 hy my first visit — by this Epistle, as though I had accom- 
 plished my second visit — by the third visit, which I now hope 
 to accomplish — / loarn you that I shall not spare my poioer 
 when I come. You are always seeking for a proof of m.y 
 Apostleship ; you shall have it. For Christ who speaks in 
 me, though in the iceakness of humanity He died the shameful 
 death of the cross, in the strength of God He lives and acts 
 still, and in Him, weak and poor as I seem to be, I shall still 
 live and act towards you. But why do I speak of myself 9 You 
 yourselves my converts are the best witnesses of my Apostolical 
 power, and loiig may you be so ! If, indeed, you should, have 
 lost the best proof of my Apostleship in the reformation of 
 your own lives, then indeed you shall have the proof in my 
 severity. But my earnest prayer is that there may be no oc- 
 casion for it. May my power and the proof of it perish if you 
 prove that you do not need it ! Against a true and blameless 
 life the highest Apostolical potoer is powerless; and if yoit 
 have this power of truth and goodness, I am welt content to 
 part with mine. It is to draw you to a sense of this that I 
 icrite this whole Epistle, in the hopes that my Apostolical 
 authority may be turned to its fitting purpose of building up, 
 not of pulling down. 
 
 And now, in conclusion. Farewell and fare ye well. Reform 
 yourselves. Be comforted and instructed by all I have said. 
 Restore harmony and peace ; and then the God of love and of 
 peace shall deceit loith you. Salute each other by the sacred 
 kiss of Christian brotherhood. Receive the salutations of all 
 Christians here. The goodness and favour of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, tvhich is no less than the love of God Himself towards 
 you, and your joint union in the Spirit of Holiness, be with 
 you all. 
 
569 
 
 THE EPISTLES TO THE. COEINTHIANS 
 
 IN RELATION TO , 
 
 THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 
 
 ' Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? '— 1 Cor. ix. 1. 
 
 The two Epistles to the Corinthians, as has been already ob- 
 served, are eminently historical ; and in the course 
 of the remarks made upon them, it has been my character 
 object to draw out as clearly as possible every illus- of the two 
 tration or testimony which they afford to the history ^^^^ ^^' 
 of the early Church. But there is another kindred question 
 which is so important in itself, that though partially touched 
 upon in the several passages which bear upon it, it may yet not 
 be out of place at the close of these Epistles to consider it as a 
 whole. 
 
 The question which the Apostle asked of his Judaizing 
 opponents, and which his Judaizing opponents asked of him, 
 * Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? ' — is one which 
 in our days has often been asked, in a wider sense than that in 
 which the words were used by the Apostle or his adversaries. 
 ' Is the representation of Christ in the Epistles the ^, . , 
 same as the representation of Christ in the Gospels ? tion to the 
 What is the evidence, direct or indirect, furnished Gospels. 
 by St. Paul to the facts of the Gospel history ? If the Gospels 
 had perished, could we from the Epistles form an image of 
 Christ, like to that which the Gospels present ? Can we dis- 
 cover between the Epistles and the Gospels any such coin- 
 cidences and resemblance as Paley discovered between the 
 Epistles and the Acts ? Is the " Gospel " of the Evangelical 
 Apostle different from the " Gospel " of the Evangelistic nar- 
 ratives ? ' 
 
 Such an inquiry has been started sometimes in doubt, some- 
 times in perplexity. It is suggested partly by the nature of 
 
570 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 the case, by that attitude of separation and independent action 
 which St. Paul took apart from the other Apostles, and which, 
 even irrespectively of his writings, awakened in the minds of 
 his opponents the suspicion that, ' he had not seen the Lord 
 Jesus,' that he was not truly an * Apostle of Christ,' and that, 
 therefore, ' he taught things contrary to Christ's teaching.' ^ 
 It is suggested also by the attempts which in latter times have 
 been made, both by those without and by those within the 
 outward pale of Christianity, to widen the breach between the 
 teaching of the Epistles and the Gospels ; both by those who 
 have been anxious to show that the Christian faith ought to be 
 sought in ' not Paul but Jesus ; ' and by those who believe and 
 profess that ^ the Gospel ' is contained, not in the Evangelical 
 History, but in the Pauline Epistles. 
 
 From many points of view, and to many minds, questions 
 like those will seem superfluous or unimportant. But, touch- 
 ing as they do on various instructive subjects, and awakening 
 in some quarters a peculiar interest, they may well demand 
 a consideration here. The two Epistles to Corinth are those 
 from which an answer may most readily be obtained ; both be- 
 cause they contain all or almost all of the most important allu- 
 sions to the subject of the Gospel history, and also because 
 they belong to the earliest, as well as the most undisputed, 
 portion of the Apostolical writings. At the same time it will 
 not interfere with the precision or unity of the inquiry, if it 
 includes such illustrations as may be furnished by the other 
 Epistles also. 
 
 I. The coincidences to which we most naturally turn, are 
 I AH ■ those which relate to isolated sayings of Christ, 
 to sayings This (partly for reasons which will be stated here- 
 of Christ, after) is the least satisfactory part of the inquiry. 
 It cannot be denied that they are few and scanty, and that, 
 in these few, there is in no case an exact correspondence with 
 the existing narratives. 
 
 There are in St. Paul's Epistles only two occasions on which 
 
 1 Cor. our Lord's authority is directly quoted. In 1 Cor. vii. 10, 
 
 ^^^' ^^' when speaking of marriage, the Apostle refers to a command 
 
 of the Lord, as distinct from a command of his own, and as the 
 
 command he gives the words, " let not the wife depart from her 
 
 ^ See the Notes on 1 Cor. ix. 1 ; | the Second Epistle to the Corin- 
 2 Cor. xii. 1-6. Introduction to I thians, pp. 352, 353. 
 
xiv.37. 
 
 AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 571 
 
 husband,^ In 1 Cor. ix. 14, when speaking of the right of the i Cor. 
 Apostles to receive a maintenance from those whom they '^' ^^' 
 taught, he says, ' even so the Lord " appointed " that they 
 which ^'^ proclaim ^^ the Gospel should live of the GospeV In 
 neither case are the exact words of the existing records quoted ; 
 but we can hardly doubt that he refers in one case to the pro- 
 hibition, ' whosoever shall put away his wife . . . causeth her to 
 commit adultery'' (Matt. v. 32 ; Mark x. 11 ; Luke xvi. 18) ; 
 in the other, to the command to the Twelve and the Seventy, 
 * Carry neither purse nor scrip nor shoes, . . . for the labourer 
 is worthy of his hire ' (Luke x. 4, 7 ; Matt. x. 9, 10). 
 
 To these we may add the quotation in the Acts of the 
 Apostles (xx. 35), in his speech to the Ephesian elders : ' Re- Acts 
 member the words of the Lord Jesus, hoiv He said, " it is more ^^' * 
 • blessed to give than to received ' It is also to be observed, that 
 in closing the discussion on the conduct of Christian assemblies 
 (1 Cor. xiv. 37), he says: * if any one think himself to be a i Cor. 
 prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that 
 I write unto you are a commandment of the Lord ' (^Kvplov 
 svToXrj). The form of expression seems to imply that here, as 
 in vii. 10, he is referring to some distinct regulation of Christ, 
 which he was endeavouring to follow out. But if so, this, like 
 the saying quoted in Acts xx. 35, is lost. 
 
 Four other passages may be mentioned which, not from any 
 distinct reference on the part of the Apostle, but from their 
 likeness of expression, may seem to have been derived from the 
 circle of our Lord's teaching. (I) ' Beiny reviled we bless ^ 
 (XotSopovfisvoc svXoyovfjLsv, 1 Cor. iv. 12), may have some rela- i Cor. 
 tion to Luke vi. 28, 'bless them that curse you^ (svXoysirs ^v- 12. 
 Tovs KaTapatjisvovs), (2) * Know ye not that the saints shall 
 judge the world '^ ' (1 Cor. vi. 2), may refer to Luke xxii. 30, i Cor. 
 Matt. xix. 28, 'ye shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes ^^' '^' 
 of Israel,^ (3) In the command that the woman is to ' attend 
 on the Lord without distraction ' {svirdpsSpov . . . airspLo-- 
 7rdo-T(Ds, 1 Cor. vii. 35), the two emphatic words are substan- i Cor. 
 tially the same ^ as are employed in the narrative containing the ^'^* ^^' 
 commendation of Mary — ' Mary sitting . . . Martha cumbered ' 
 {irapaKaOiaacTa . . . Trspiso-Trdro, Luke x. 39, 40). (4) In 
 1 Cor. xiii. 2, 'faith, so that I could remove mountains,^ maybe i Cor. 
 an illusion to Matt. xvii. 20, ' if ye have faith, ye shall say ^"^- 2. 
 
 * See note on 1 Cor. vii. 35. 
 
572 THE EPISTLES TO THE COEINTHIANS 
 
 unto this mountain, remove hence.'' These instances, however, 
 are too doubtful to serve as the foundation of an argument. 
 
 But with respect to all three, remarks may be made more 
 or less important : First, their want of exact agreement with 
 the words of the Gospel narrative implies (what indeed can 
 hardly be doubted for other reasons) that at the time when the 
 Epistles to Corinth were written, the Gospels in their present 
 form were not yet in existence. Secondly, this same dis- 
 crepancy of form, combined with an unquestionable likeness in 
 spirit, agrees with the discrepancies of a similar kind which are 
 actually found between the Gospel narratives ; and, when con- 
 trasted with the total dissimilarity of such isolated sayings as 
 are ascribed to Christ by IrenaBus, show that the atmosphere, so 
 to speak, of the Gospel History extended beyond the limits of 
 its actual existing records, and that within that atmosphere the • 
 Apostle was included. The Apostle, to whom we owe the pre- 
 servation of the saying, ^ it is more blessed to give than to 
 receive,' has thereby become to us truly an ' Evangelist.' 
 Thirdly, the manner in which the Apostle refers to these say- 
 ings proves the undisputed claim which they have already 
 established, not only in his own mind, but in that of the whole 
 Church. He himself still argues and entreats ^ as the scribes ; ' 
 but he quotes the sentence of Christ, as that from which there 
 was to be no appeal — ' as of one having authority.' ^ Not I, 
 but the Lord' (1 Cor. vii. 10), is the broad distinction drawn 
 between his own suggestions respecting marriage and the prin- 
 ciple which the Lord had laid down, and which accordingly is 
 incorporated in three out of the four Gospels, and once in the 
 discourse ^ especially designed to furnish the universal code of 
 Christian morality. So, too, the command that the teachers of 
 the Gospel were 'to live of the Gosj^el' (1 Cor. ix. 14), had 
 received such entire and absolute acceptance, that it was turned 
 by the Judaizing party into a universal and inflexible rule, ad- 
 mitting of no deviation, even for the sake of Christian love. 
 Already the Lord's words had become the law of the Christian 
 society ; already they had been subjected to that process by 
 which, as in later times so in this particular instance, the less 
 enlightened disciples have severed the sacred text from the pur- 
 pose to which it was originally applied, and sacrificed the spirit of 
 the passage to a devout but mistaken observance of the letter. 
 
 ^ Matt. V. 32 ; Mark x. 11 ; Luke xvi. 18. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 573 
 
 II. From the particular sayings, we turn to the particuhir 
 acts of the life of Christ. These appear more fre- . 
 
 quently, though still not so generally as at first to the acts 
 sight we should naturally expect. of the life 
 
 To the earlier events it may be said that the 
 allusions are next to none. ' Born (ysvofMsvov) of the seed of 
 David after the flesh ' (Rom. i. 3), ' born of a womart ' 
 (i/c yvvaiKos), 'born under ^Ae laio ' [v-rro lOfMov, Gal. iv. ^^J® ^''^'" ^^^ 
 4), are the only distinct references to the Nativity G-ai. 
 
 and its accompaniments. So far as they go, they illustrate the i^- 4- 
 stress laid by the Evangelists on the lineage of David (Luke 
 ii. 23 ; Matt. i. 1 ), on the announcement of his birth (Luke 
 ii. 4, Matt. i. 23), and on the ritual observances which 
 immediately followed (Luke ii. 21-24). But this is all ; and 
 perhaps the coincidence of silence between the Apostle and 
 the two Evangelists, who equally with himself omit these 
 earlier events, is more remarkable than the slight confirmation 
 of the two who record them. The likeness to St. Mark and 
 St. John in this respect may, if we consider it, be as instruc- 
 tive as the unlikeness.'to St. Luke and St. Matthew. 
 
 Neither is there any detailed allusion to the ministry or 
 miracles of Christ. To the miracles, indeed, there is none, 
 unless it be granted that in the expression, * Ye can- ^^^^ minis. 
 not partake of the Lord's table, and the table of try and 
 devils^ (BacfiovLcov, 1 Cor. x. 21), the peculiar stress "^^^^^^^^- i Cor. 
 laid on that word is deepened by the recollection that He ^' ^^* 
 whose table they thus profaned had so long and often cast out 
 the very ' demons ' with which they now brought themselves 
 into contact. To the general manner, however, of our Lord's 
 mode of life, there is one strong testimony which agrees per- 
 fectly both with the fact and the spirit of the Gospel narra- 
 tive — 2 Cor. viii. 9, * for your sakes He became poor ' (stttco- 2 Cor. 
 Xsvos). To this we must add the corresponding though some- ^"^- ^• 
 what more general expression, in Phil. ii. 7 : ' He took upon phii. 
 Him the form of a slave ' (fiop^rjv BovXov). It is possible, per- "• 7- 
 haps probable from the context, that in both these passages 
 the Apostle may have meant generally the abnegation of more 
 than earthly wealth and power, the assumption of more than 
 earthly poverty and humiliation. But the context shows also, 
 tha^ poverty in the one case, and lowliness of life in the other, 
 each in its usual sense, were the special thoughts in the 
 Apostle's mind ; and in the case of ' poverty ' the word iirTco- 
 
574 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 ')(^svas can signify nothing less than that He led a life not 
 only of need and want, but of houseless wandering and distress. 
 It points exactly to that state implied rather than expressly 
 described in the Gospels, in which ' He had not where to lay 
 His head ; ' and in which He persevered ' when He was rich ; ' 
 that is, when He might have had the ' kingdom of Judea,' 
 ' the kingdoms of the world,' and ' twelve legions of angels' to 
 defend Him. 
 
 But it is in the closing scenes of our Lord's life that the 
 
 Apostle's allusions centre. In this respect, his prac- 
 
 The Pas- ^-^g jg confirmed by the outward form of the four 
 
 sion. ..... 
 
 Gospels, which unite in this portion of the history 
 
 and in this portion only. This concentration, however caused, 
 
 is the same both in the Evangelists and in the Apostle. His 
 
 ' Gospel,' it would seem, in his narrative of tlie events of the 
 
 Evangelical history, began with the sufferings of Christ. ' I 
 
 delivered to you first of all, how that Christ died for our sins ' 
 
 1 Cor. (1 Cor. XV. 3). And the main subject of his preaching in 
 
 ^^* * Corinth and in Galatia was the Crucifixion of Christ, not 
 
 merely the fact of His death, but the horror and shame of the 
 
 1 Cor.i. manner of His death—' the Cross of Christ ' (1 Cor. i. 17, 18) ; 
 
 17 18' • . . • . ' / ^ 
 
 i. 23. ' ' Christ crucified^ ( i. 23): even vividly, and if one may so 
 say, graphically portrayed before their eyes ; * Jesus Christ 
 evidently set forth ('as in a picture,' 7rposycrd<f>7]) crucified 
 
 Gal. amongst them' (Gal. iii. 1). 
 
 111. 1. The distinct allusions to His sufferings are few, but precise ; 
 
 for the most part entirely agreeing with the Gospel narratives, 
 and implying more than is actually expressed. There are two 
 not contained in these Epistles, but certainly within the limits 
 of the teaching of the Apostle. One is the allusion to the 
 
 Heb. agony in the garden, in Heb. v. 7, ' In the days of His flesh, 
 
 ^' '' when He had offered up prayers and supplications and strong 
 crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from 
 death, and was heard in that He feared.' That the account is 
 drawn from a source independent of the four Gospels is clear 
 from the mention of tears, which on that occasion nowhere 
 occurs in the Gospel narratives. But the general tendency is 
 
 1 Tim. precisely similar. The other is the allusion in 1 Tim. vi. 13 to 
 
 VI. 13. ( ^j-^g good confession ' which Christ Jesus ' witnessed before 
 Pontius Pilate.^ This is the more remarkable because, although 
 it may be sufficiently explained by the answer, ' thou sayest,' in 
 Matt, xxvii. 11, yet it points much more naturally to the long 
 
AKD THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 57 D 
 
 and solemn interview, peculiar to the narrative of St. John 
 (xviii. 28-xix. 12). 
 
 But the most definite and exact agreement of the Apostle's 
 writings with the Gospel narratives is that which in 1 Cor. xi. i Cor. 
 23-26 contains the earliest written account of the insti- ^26 
 tution of the Lord's Supper. It is needless to point out 
 in detail what has already been shown in the notes T^e Lord's 
 on that passage. But is is important to observe how Supper. 
 much it implies as to the Apostle's knowledge of the whole 
 story. Not only are the particulars of this transaction told in 
 almost the same words — the evening meal, the night of the 
 betrayal, the Paschal loaf, the Paschal cup, the solemn insti- 
 tution — but the form of words is such as was evidently part of 
 a fixed and regular narrative ; the whole history of the Passion 
 must have been known to St. Paul, and by him told in detail to 
 the Corinthians ; and, if so, we may fairly conclude that many 
 other incidents of the sacred story must have been related to 
 them, no less than this which, but for the peculiar confu- 
 sions of the Corinthian Church, would have remained unre- 
 corded. 
 
 The Resurrection, like the Death, of Christ is the subject of 
 allusions too numerous to be recounted. But here, 
 as in the case of the Death, we have one passage TheResur- 
 which shows us that not merely the bare fact was 
 stated, but also its accompanying circumstances. In 1 Cor. i Cor. 
 XV. 4-7 we have the account of five appearances after the ^^•4-7- 
 Resurrection, besides the one to himself. The general cha- 
 racter of the appearances remarkably agrees with that in the 
 Gospel narratives. They are all spoken of as separate and 
 transient glimpses, rather than a continuous and abiding inter- 
 course. Some of the instances given are identical in both. 
 Such are the appearances to the two collective meetings of the 
 Apostles. The appearances to St. Peter, to the five hundred 
 and to James, are distinct from those in the Gospel narrative ; 
 and it may be remarked that this variation itself agrees with 
 the discrepancies and obscurities which characterise that por- 
 tion of the Gospel narrative. The appearance to James in 
 particular, agreeing as it does with the account of a rejected 
 Gospel (that according to the Hebrews), and not with those of 
 the canonical Gospels, indicates an independent source for the 
 Apostle's statement. The appearance to Peter is also to be 
 noticed especially, as an example of an incident to which there 
 
576 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 is an allusion in the Gospel narrative/ which here only receives 
 its explanation. The Apostle's mention of the appearance to 
 the ^ve hundred exemplifies, in relation to the Gospel narra- 
 tives, what is often to be observed in relation to the Acts ; 
 namely, that he, writing nearer the time, makes a fuller state- 
 ment of the miraculous or wonderful than is to be found in the 
 later accounts ; the reverse of what is usually supposed to take 
 place in iictitiou^ narratives. 
 
 The prominence given to the burial of Christ and its con- 
 nexion with the resurrection, exactly agrees with the Gospel 
 narratives, especially those of St. Luke and St. John. 
 
 The final result of the comparison thus shows that thirty 
 years after the event, there must have existed a belief in the 
 main outline of the Gospel story of the Resurrection, much as 
 we have it now ; and also that there was, besides the four ac- 
 counts preserved in the Gospels, a fifth, although in substance 
 the same narrative, yet different in form, and from an indepen- 
 dent source ; there are still the same lesser discrepancies be- 
 tween the Apostle and the Evangelists, as between the several 
 Evangelists themselves. 
 
 In the accounts of the Ascension there is a remarkable 
 
 parallel between the Epistles and the Gospels. In the early 
 
 Epistles of St. Paul, including those to Corinth, as 
 
 TheAscen- -j^' ^|^g Qospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark,^ and St. 
 
 John, the Ascension is omitted, as though it were a 
 
 mere accompaniment of the Resurrection, rather than a distinct 
 
 event in itself. But in the later Epistles, as in the Gospel of 
 
 St. Luke and the Acts, it is prominently brought forward. 
 
 ' Set at God's right hand ... in heavenly places . . . as- 
 
 Eph. i. cended up on high ' (Eph. i. 20, ii. 6, iv. 8), ' received up into 
 
 T-'\ dorv' (1 Tim. iii. 16), 'entered within the veil' and 'into 
 
 O, IV. o. ^ " ^ ' 
 
 1 Tim. Heaven ' (Heb. x. 20, iv. 14, ix. 24). The coincidence is 
 S' J^" more easily stated than explained. Yet it may be fairly ascribed 
 X. 20, to the fact that the Ascension (as in Acts i. 9-11) was regarded 
 !^- ^*' as part rather of the life of the Church (of which these later 
 Epistles treat) than of Christ Himself. 
 
 In concluding these detailed references to the 
 
 sions chiefly Gospel History, it may be observed that they almost 
 
 agree with all, SO far as they refer to one Gospel narrative 
 
 rather than another, agree with that of St. Luke. 
 
 ^ Luke xxiv. 34. ~ The account in Mark xvi. 9-20 is of later insertion. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. • 577 
 
 The exceptions are the doubtful allusions to the interview re- 
 corded by St. John, in 1 Tim. vi. 13 ; to the saying recorded 
 by St. Matthew, in 1 Cor. xiii. 2 ; and the agreement with 
 St. John and St. Mark, rather than with St. Luke, in omis- 
 sion of distinct references to our Lord's early history and (as 
 just observed) to the Ascension. All the rest, even to words 
 and phrases, have a relation to St. Luke's Gospel so intimate, 
 as to require some explanation ; and there is no reason why 
 we should not adopt the account anciently received, that the 
 author or compiler of that Gospel was the companion of the 
 Apostle. 
 
 These are the main facts which are recorded from the Gospel 
 History. Perhaps they will not seem many ; yet, so far as 
 they go, they are not to be despised. From them a story 
 might be constructed, which would not be at variance, — which 
 in all essential points would be in unison, — with the Gospel 
 narrative. 
 
 III. But the impression of this unison will be jjj ... 
 
 much confirmed if from particular sayings or facts sionstothe 
 
 we pass to the general character of Christ as de- ^^^E.^^^.®'' 
 •f J • XT. -S • xi o^ Christ. 
 
 scribed m these Lpisties. 
 
 (1 ) It may be convenient, in the fii'st instance, to recall those 
 passages which speak of our Lord in the most general manner; i Cor. 
 as 1 Cor. i. 30, which tells us that ' He was made ^- ^^• 
 
 wisdom unto us, and righteousness, and holiness, ^^^ greats ^ ^^^ 
 and redemption;' 1 Cor. viii. 6, which speaks of ' the ^"'- ^• 
 
 one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by i cor. 
 Him;' 1 Cor. xv. 45, in which He is called * the Second xv. 4o. 
 Adam ; ' 2 Cor. v. 10, 19, in which He is spoken of as the y iq^' 
 judge of all men, and that God was in Him, reconciling the i9. 
 world unto Himself by Him. Other passages to the same effect 
 might be multiplied, but these will suffice. 
 
 We are so familiar with the sound of these words, and so 
 much accustomed to apply them to other purposes, that we 
 rarely think of the vastness and complexity, and, at the same 
 time, freshness and newness of the ideas employed in their first 
 application to an actual individual Man. Let us imagine our- 
 selves hearing them for the first time, perceiving that they 
 were uttered by one who had a deep and sober conviction 
 of their truth, perceiving, also, that they were spoken, not 
 of some remote or ideal character, but of One who had lived 
 and died during the youth or early manhood of him who so 
 
 p p 
 
578 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 spoke. Should we not ask, like the Psalmists and prophets of 
 old, * Who is this King of Glory ? Who is this that cometh, 
 travelling in the greatness of His strength ? ' With what 
 eagerness should we look at any direct account of the life and 
 death, to which such passages referred, to see whether or not 
 the one corresponded with the other ! 
 
 Let us (for the sake of illustration) conceive ourselves, in 
 the first instance, turning to the Apocrypkal Gospels — the 
 Gospels of the Infancy, of James, of Thomas, and of Nico- 
 demus, from which (it is no imaginary case) was derived the 
 only picture of our Lord's life known to the Arabian and Syrian 
 tribes of the 7th century, in the time of Mahomet; and we 
 should at once feel that, with the utterly trivial and childish 
 fables of those narratives, the Apostle's representation had no 
 connexion whatever. The Koran, wishing to speak with high 
 respect of ' Jesus the Son of Mary,' contains a chapter devoted 
 to the subject. The following is the speech which He is repre- 
 sented as uttering, to commend Himself to the Jews : — 
 
 ' I come to you, accompanied by signs from the Lord. I shall 
 make of clay the figure of a bird ; I sball breathe npon it, and, by God's 
 permission, the bird shall fly. I shall heal him that was born blind, 
 and the leper ; I shall, by God's permission, raise the dead. I will 
 tell yon what you have eaten, and what you have hid in jour houses. 
 All these facts shall be as signs to you, if you will believe. I come to 
 confirm the Pentateuch, which you have received before Me. I will 
 permit to you the use of certain things which have been forbidden you. 
 I come with signs from yonr Lord. Fear Him and obey Me. He is 
 my Lord and yours. Adore Him ; this is the right path.' ^ 
 
 It may be that the Arabs to v/hom this picture of Christ 
 was presented, could not have risen at the time to anything 
 higher. But we cannot wonder that such a picture should 
 have produced no deep impression on them, or have seemed 
 inferior to the prophet who had himself risen up amongst them. 
 And from seeing what might have been the image of Christ 
 presented to us, we may form a livelier notion of that which 
 has been presented to us. 
 
 From these Apocryphal Gospels let us suppose ourselves 
 turning for the first time to those of the New Testament. No 
 one, even though doubting the inferences which the Apostle 
 draws, could doubt that the Christ there exhibited must have 
 
 Koran, iii. 43, 44. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTOEY. 579 
 
 been He of whom he spoke. Even if the name were dlfFerent, 
 we should feel sure that the person must be the same. Here 
 alone in that age, or any age, we should find a life and cha- 
 racter which was truly the second beginning of humanity; 
 here, if anywhere, we should recognise God speaking to man. 
 In that life, if in any life, in those words and deeds, if in any 
 words and deeds whatever, we should see the impersonation of 
 wisdom, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption. As 
 the readers of the Prophets instinctively acknowledged that 
 ' to Him bare all the Prophets witness,' so if we had up to this 
 time been readers of the Epistles only, and now first become 
 acquainted with the Gospel narratives, we should even thus 
 far be constrained to say : * We have found Him of whom 
 " Paul in his Epistles wrote," Jesus of Nazareth, the son of 
 Joseph.' ^ 
 
 The Apostle's words, then, thus considered, may be regarded, 
 on the one hand, as a striking testimony to the general truth of 
 the Gospel narrative ; on the other hand, as a striking predic- 
 tion of what has since taken place. On the one hand, they 
 presuppose that a character of extraordinary greatness had 
 appeared in the world ; and such a character, whatever else may 
 be thought of it, we actually find in the Gospels. We feel 
 that each justifies the other. The image of Christ in the 
 Gospels will be by all confessed to approach more nearly to 
 the description of the Second Adam, the new Founder of 
 humanity, than any other appearance in human history ; and if 
 we ask what effect that life and death produced at the time of 
 its appearance, we are met by these expressions of the Apostle, 
 uttered, not as if by any effort, but as the spontaneous burst 
 of his own heart, within one generation from the date of the 
 events themselves. And as these expressions correspond with 
 the past events to which they refer, so also do they correspond 
 with the future to which they point. If the expression of * the 
 Second Adam,' was meant to characterise a great change in 
 the history of the human race, we should expect to find such a 
 change dating and emanating from the time when the Second 
 Adam had appeared. Such a change we do in fact find, of 
 which the beginning is crowned with the life of Christ. It is 
 true that the great division of modern from ancient history 
 does not commence till four centuries later ; and it is undeni- 
 
 ^ John i. 45. 
 p p 2 
 
580 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 able that the influx of the Teutonic tribes at that time, had a 
 most important influence in moulding the future destinies of 
 the civilised world. But still the new life which survived the 
 overthrow of the Empire had begun from the Christian era. 
 Christianity, with all that it has involved in the religion, the 
 arts, the literature, the morals of Europe, beyond all dispute 
 originated with Christ alone. The very dates which are now 
 in use throughout the world are significant, though trivial, 
 proofs of the justice of the Apostle's declaration, that Christ 
 was the Second Man ; that ^ as in Adam all died, even so in 
 Christ all were made alive.' ^ 
 
 (2) Thus much would be true, even if nothing more precise 
 were recorded. But every shade of this general character 
 is, if one may so say, deepened by the Apostle's more special 
 allusions ; and, although perhaps without the help of the Gospel 
 narratives we might miss the point of his expressions, yet with 
 that help, the image of Christ comes out clearly, and we still 
 see it to be no invention of the Apostle's imagination, but the 
 same historical definite character which is set before us in the 
 Gospels. 
 
 (a) ' Christ Jesus was made unto us wisdom^ (I Cor. i. 30). 
 1 Cor. ' In Him were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge ' 
 ^' ^^- „. . , (Col. ii. 3). * The Spirit of wisdom is given to us 
 Col.ii. in the hnowledge of Him ' (Eph. i. 17). These ex- 
 
 |,- . pressions may be merely general phrases of reverence, but how 
 I'y. ' * much clearness do they gain when they are compared with the 
 actual display of wisdom stored up in the living instructions 
 of Christ ! There is no special reference by the Apostles to 
 any of the parables or discourses of the Gospels. But how com- 
 pletely do those ^ things new and old ' brought out of * His 
 treasure''^ answer to this general description of His character! 
 ' Wisdom ' is not the attribute which a zealous convert would 
 necessarily think of applying to the founder of his religion. It 
 is so applied by the Apostle, and we see from the Gospels that 
 his application of it cannot be questioned. 
 
 (b) He speaks of 'the truth of Christ' (Rom. ix. 1), 
 Eom. 'tlie truth as it is in Jesus ' (Eph, iv. 21), in both instances, 
 ix. 1. as the context shows, the truthfulness; and he dwells 
 
 iy^2i. especially on the certainty and fixedness which cha- 
 
 racterised all His life. ' In Him was not yea and naj/y but 
 
 1 See Notes on 1 Cor. xv. 22, 45 ; 2 Cor. v. 13-19. ^ Matt. xiii. 52. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 581 
 
 ^ yea and Amen ' (2 Cor. i. 20).^ It is at least a striking illus- 
 tration of these passages to remember what Christ again and 2 Cor. 
 again says of Himself in St. John's Gospel, as having been born ^- ^^* 
 into the world for the purpose of bearing witness to the truth, 
 as being the Truth.^ The Apostle's words are a faithful echo 
 of the solemn asseveration and ratification of truth which runs 
 through all the Gospel discourses, ' Verily, verily. Amen, Amen, 
 I say unto you.' 
 
 (c) The Apostle urges on his converts the freedttm of the 
 doctrine which he preached, its contrast to the nar- 
 rowness and mystery and concealment of the Jewish His free- 
 law, and he tells them, that they must attain this 
 freedom through ' the Spirit of the Lord^ that is, of Christ, 
 and through contemplation of His likeness.^ We turn to the 
 Gospels, and we find in their representation of Christ this very 
 freedom of which the Apostle speaks exemplified in almost 
 every page ; the sacrifice of the letter to the spirit, the en- 
 couragement of openness and sincerity, there emphatically 
 urged by precept and example, at once give an edge and a 
 value to the Apostle's argument which else it would greatly 
 want. 
 
 {(£) The Apostle expressly appeals to the history of Christ 
 as an example of surrendering his own will for the sake of the 
 scruples af others. * We that are strong ought to 
 bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ?'^ t^lera- 
 
 A tion. 
 
 ourselves . . . iov even Christ pleased nat Himself, 
 
 but, as it is written, " the reproaches of them that reproached 
 
 thee fell on me"'(Rom. xv. 1,3). * Give none offence . . . 
 
 even as I please all men . . . Be followers of me, even as I Rom. 
 
 am of Christ' (1 Cor. x. 32, 33, xi. 1). This peculiar aspect of ^''^'^^* 
 
 the true Christ-like character in the Gospel narrative depends x. 32, 
 
 more on general indications than on special instances. But the ^^' ^^' 
 
 Apostle's appeal is fully justified, the more from the very in- *• 
 
 directness of the application. We cannot overlook in our 
 
 Lord's history His constant, though not universal, acquiescence 
 
 in the forms of the Mosaic Law ; the limits within which He 
 
 restrained His own teaching, and that of His disciples ; the 
 
 many things which He withheld, because His disciples were not 
 
 then able to bear them ; the condescension to human weakness 
 
 * See Notes on this passage. ^ John viii. 32, xiv. 6, xviii. 37. 
 
 ^ See Notes on 2 Cor. iii. 1, iv. 10. 
 
582 
 
 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 and narrowness which runs through the whole texture of the 
 Gospel story. 
 
 (e) He beseeches his converts not to compel him to say or 
 do anything which shall be inconsistent with *the gentleness 
 and sweet reasonableness {irpavrri^ koX hirisUsia) of Christ ' (2 
 His gentle- ^^^* ^' ^)' These w^ords are not the mere expressions 
 ness. of ideal adoration ; they recall definite traits of a living 
 
 human person, traits which could not be said to be specially ex- 
 emplified in the Apostle himself, but which were exemplified to 
 the full in the life of Him to w^hom the Apostle ascribes them. 
 
 (/) In many passages the Apostle speaks of Love. In 
 1 Cor. xiii. 1-13 he describes it at length.^ It is anew virtue. 
 „. Its name first occurs in his Epistles. Yet he speaks 
 
 of it as fixed, established, recognised. To what was 
 this owing ? To w^hom does he ascribe it ? Emphatically, and 
 repeatedly, he attributes it to Christ. ' The love of Christ,' 
 ' The love of God in Christ.' Now in all the Gospels, the 
 self-devoted, self-sacrificing energy for the good of others, 
 which the word * Love ' {djaTrr)) denotes, is the prevailing 
 characteristic of the actions of Christ ; and by St. John it is 
 used even more emphatically and repeatedly than by St. Paul ; 
 so that, besides its general testimony to the truth of all the 
 Gospel narratives, it specially serves to knit together in one 
 the thoughts and words of St. Paul and of St. John. 
 
 ((jf) On one occasion only the Apostle gives us an instance 
 not of what he had ' received ' of Christ as on earth, but of 
 . , what had been revealed to him concerning Christ 
 
 perfected in by Himself. In answer to his entreaty thrice offered 
 weakness. ^p iq Christ as to his living Friend, there had been 
 borne in upon his soul, how we know not, a distinct message 
 expressed in articulate words, ' My grace is sufficient for thee, 
 my strength is perfected in weakness.' ^ Similarly at the time 
 of his conversion the spirit of the whole expression, ' Why 
 persecutest thou Me ? ' ' I am Jesus whom thou persecutest,' 
 is the same as that which in the Gospels represents Christ as 
 merged in the person of the least of His disciples. So these 
 words of Christ, reported by the Apostle in his Epistle, are 
 
 1 See Notes on 1 Cor. xiii. 13 ; 2 
 Cor. V. 14. In those notes it is said 
 that dyaTrr) occiiTS nowhere eai'lier 
 than in the writings of St. Paul. 
 It should be said that its first ap- 
 
 pearance is in the Wisdom of Solo- 
 mon, vi. 18, whatever the date of 
 that book may be. 
 2 See Notes on 2 Cor. xii. 1-6. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 583 
 
 an exact reflex of the union of Divine strength with human 
 weakness which pervades the narrative of all the Gospels. 
 There is the same combination of majesty and tenderness, the 
 same tones of min^cled rebuke and love that we know so well 
 in the last conversations ^ by the Sea of Galilee, the same 
 strength and virtue going forth to heal the troubled spirit, as of 
 old to restore the sick and comfort the afflicted. ^ 
 
 We have now gone through the enumeration of all the most 
 important allusions to the facts of the Gospel history which St. 
 Paul's Epistles contain. But, before we proceed, it may be 
 well to pause for a moment, and reflect on the additional 
 strength or liveliness which this enumeration may have given 
 to our conceptions of the Gospel history. It is not much, but, 
 considering from whom these instances have been taken, — from 
 a source so near the time, most of them from writings whose 
 genuineness has never been questioned by the severest criticism,. 
 — it is something if it may suggest to any one a steadier stand- 
 ing place and a firmer footing, of however narrow limits, amidst 
 the doubts or speculations which surround him. Nor is it 
 wholly unprofitable to have approached, from another than 
 the usual point of view the several features of our Lord's 
 life and character just enumerated, — to dwell on the Apostolic 
 testimony rendered, one by one, to the several acts and words, 
 still more to the several traits, most of all to the collective 
 effect of the Character, which we usually gather only from 
 the Gospels. His severe purity of word and deed, — His tender 
 care for even the temporal wants of His disciples, — the 
 institution of a solemn parting pledge of communion with Him- 
 self and with each other, — the hope of a better life which He 
 has opened to us, amidst the sorrows and desolations of the 
 world, — His stedfastness and calmness amidst our levity and 
 littleness, — His free and wide sympathy amidst our prejudice 
 and narrowness, — His self-denying poverty, — His gentleness 
 and mildness amidst our readiness to offer and resent injuries, 
 — His love to mankind, — His incommunicable greatness and 
 (so to speak) elevation above the influence of time and fate, — 
 all this, at least in general outline, we should have, even if 
 nothing else were left to us of the New Testament but the pas- 
 sages which have just been quoted from the Epistles. 
 
 * John xxl ^ Luke vi. 19, viii. 46. 
 
584 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 It may still, however, be said that these indications of the 
 Causes of -^P^^tle's knowledge of the Gospel history are less 
 the Apo- than we might fairly expect ; and we may still be 
 Ktle's SI- inclined to ask why, when there are so many re- 
 semblances, there are not more ? why, if he knew 
 BO much as these resemblances imply, he yet says so little ? 
 
 It is impossible to answer this fully within the limits here 
 prescribed. But some suggestions may be made, which, even 
 if they do not entirely meet the case, may yet be sufficiently 
 important to deserve consideration. 
 
 I. It must be remarked that the representation of the life, 
 and work, and character of Christ, in all probability 
 Christ the belonged to the oral, and not the written, teaching 
 subject of the Apostle. The Gospels themselves have every 
 teaching^ appearance of having grown up out of oral com- 
 munications of this kind ; and the word ' Gospel,' 
 which must have been employed by the Apostle substantially 
 for the same kind of instruction as that to which it is applied 
 in the titles of the histories of our Lord's life, is by him 
 usually, if not always, used in reference, not to what he is 
 actually communicating in his Epistles, but to what he had 
 already communicated to his converts when present.^ This 
 supposition is confirmed by the fact that the most express quo- 
 tation of a distinct saying of Christ occurs, not in a letter of 
 the Apostle, but in the eminently characteristic speech to the 
 Ephesian elders (Acts xx. 18-35), and that in the two 
 passages in the Epistles to the Corinthians, where he most 
 clearly refers to what he had * delivered ' to them whilst he 
 was with them (1 Cor. xi. 23-26, xv. 3-7), it is clear that 
 his instructions turned, not merely on the general truths of the 
 Christian Faith, but on the detailed accounts of the Last 
 Supper, and of the Resurrection. Had other subjects equally 
 appropriate in the Gospel history been required for his special 
 purpose, there seems no reason why he should not equally have 
 referred to these also, as communicated by him during his stay 
 at Corinth. His oral teaching — that is to say, his first com- 
 munication with his converts — would naturally touch on those 
 subjects in which all believers took a common interest. The 
 instances of that teaching, in other words, the everlasting 
 principles of the Gospel are contained, not in tradition, nor yet 
 
 ^ See Notes on 1 Cor. xv. 1-10. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 585 
 
 (except through these general allusions) in his own writings^ 
 but in the Four Gospels. His subsequent teaching in the 
 Epistles would naturally relate more to his peculiar mission — 
 would turn more on si)ecial occasions — would embody more of 
 his own personal and individual mind. 'I, not the Lord.'' 
 And in ancient times, even more than in our own, in sacred 
 authors no less than classical, we must take into account the 
 effect of the entire absorption of the writer in his immediate 
 subject, to the exclusion of persons and events of the utmost 
 importance immediately beyond. Who would infer from the 
 history of Thucydides the existence of his contemporary So- 
 crates ? How different, again, is the Socrates of Xenophon 
 from the Socrates of Plato I Except so far as the great truth 
 of the admission of the Gentiles was, in a certain sense, what 
 he occasionally calls it, ' his own ' peculiar * Gospel,' he had 
 already * preached the Gospel ' to his converts before he began 
 his Epistles to them. In the Epistles he was not employed in 
 
 * laying the foundation ' (that was laid once for all in * Jesus 
 Christ,' 1 Cor. iii. 10), but in 'building up,' 'strengthen- 
 ing,' ' exhorting,' ' settling.' In one instance the Gospel and 
 the Epistle of an Apostle are both preserved to us. No one 
 can doubt that the Gospel of St. John and the First Epistle 
 of St. John are intended as accompaniments to each other ; and 
 that the Gospel was intended by its author as the more 
 important of the two. Yet, had the Gospel been lost, how 
 little could we have inferred its contents (in detail) from the 
 Epistle ! 
 
 II. But, further, the Apostle in his individual dealings with 
 his converts was swayed by a principle which, though The spiri- 
 implied throughout his Epistles, is nowhere so strongly tual cha- 
 expressed as in these two. When called to reply theApo- 
 to his Jewish opponents, who prided themselves stle's 
 on their outward connexion with Christ, as He- ^^^^ ^^^' 
 brews, as Israelites, as Ministers of Christ, as Apostles of 
 Christ, as specially belonging to Christ (2 Cor. v. 12, x. 7, 
 xi. 22, 13), when taunted by them with the very charge which, 
 in a somewhat altered form, we are now considering, that he 
 
 * had not seen Jesus Christ our Lord' (1 Cor. ix. 1), his reply 
 is to a certain extent a concession of the fact, or rather an 
 assertion of the principle, by which he desired to confront 
 
 1 1 Cor. vii. 12. 
 
586 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 any such accusations. With the strongest sense of freedom 
 from all personal and local ties, with the deepest consciousness 
 that from the moment of his conversion all his past life had 
 vanished far away into the distance, he answers, ' Though we 
 have known Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we 
 Him no more ' (2 Cor. v. 16). Startling as this declaration 
 is, and called forth by a special occasion, it yet involved a 
 general truth. It is the same profound instinct or feeling 
 which penetrated, more or less, the whole Apostolical, and 
 even the succeeding, age with regard to our Lord's earthly 
 course. It is the feeling which appears in the fact that no 
 authentic or even pretended likeness of Christ has be.en handed 
 down from the first century; that the site of His dwelling- 
 place at Capernaum has been obliterated from memory ; that 
 the notion of seeking for relics of His life and death did not 
 begin till the age of Constantine. It is the feeling akin to the 
 derivation of the name of ' Christian,' not from the man ' Jesus,' 
 but from the Lord ' Christ.' It is the same feeling which, in 
 the Gospel narratives themselves, is expressed in the almost en- 
 tire absence of precision as to time and place — in the emphatic 
 separation of our Lord from His kinsmen after the flesh, even 
 from His mother herself— in His own warning, ' What, and if 
 ye shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before : 
 the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are 
 life. It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing.' 
 Contrast this with the Apocryphal Gospels, which do to a great 
 extent condescend to the natural or Judaic tendency, which 
 the Gospels of the New Testament thus silently rebuke. 
 There we find a ' Gospel of the Infancy,' filled with the fleshly 
 marvels that delighted afterwards the childish minds of the 
 Bedouin Arabs ; there first are mentioned the local traditions 
 of the scene of the Annunciation, of the Nativity, of the abode 
 in Egypt. There is to be found the story, on which so great 
 a superstructure has been built in later ages, of the parents 
 and birth of her whom the Gospel history calls ' blessed,' but 
 studiously conceals from view.^ And it is not without impor- 
 tance to observe that even the peculiarities of the Birth of 
 Christ, as given in St. Matthew and St. Luke, are not once 
 mentioned by St. Paul. 
 
 See * Evangelia Apocrypha ' (ed. Tischendorf), pp. 1-11, 68, 79-81, 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 587 
 
 The Apostle's reserve no doubt was strengthened by his 
 antagonism with his Je'v\dsh opponents ; but the principle on 
 which he acted is applicable to all times. It explains in what 
 sense our Lord's life is an example, and in what sense it is not. 
 That life is not, nor ever could be, an example to be literally 
 and exactly copied. It has been so understood, on the one 
 hand, even by such holy men as Francis of Assisi, who thought 
 that the true ' Imitation of Christ ' was to produce a facsimile 
 of all its outward circumstances in his own person. It has been 
 so understood, on the other hand, by some in our own day, who 
 have attacked it on the express ground that it could not, with- 
 out irtipropriety, be literally re-enacted by any ordinary person 
 in England in the nineteenth century. But it is not an example 
 in detail ; and those who try to make it so, whether in defence 
 or in attack, are but neglecting the warning which Bacon so 
 beautifully gives on the story of the rich young man in the 
 Gospels : * Beware how in making the portraiture thou breakest 
 the pattern.' ^ In this sense, the Christian Church, as well as 
 the Apostle, ought to ' know Christ henceforth no more accord- 
 ing to the flesh.' All such considerations ought to be swallowed 
 up in the overwhelming sense of the moral and spiritual state 
 in which we stand towards Him. In this sense (if we may 
 say so) He is more truly to us the Son of God than He is the 
 Son of Man. His life is our example, not in its outward acts, 
 but in the spirit, the atmosphere which it breathes — in the ideal 
 which it sets before us — in the principles, the motives, the 
 object with which it supplies us. 
 
 III. This brings us to yet one more reason why St. Paul's 
 Ei)istles contain no further details of our Lord's ministry. It 
 was because they were to him, and to his converts, 
 superseded by an evidence to himself, and to them, ^f Christ in 
 far more convincing than any particular proofs or the Apostle's 
 facts could have for them — the evidence of his own ^^^ ^"^^" 
 constant communion with Him in whom he lived, and moved, 
 and had his being. He had, no doubt, his own peculiarities of 
 character, his own especial call to the Gentiles. These gave to 
 the Epistles a character of their own, which will always dis- 
 tinguish them from the Gospels. But still the spirit which 
 pervaded both alike was (to use his own words, often and 
 often repeated) ' of Christ,' and * in Christ.' The life that he 
 
 Bacon's Essays ; ' Of Goodness, and Goodness of Nature.' 
 
588 
 
 THE EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 lived in the flesh, he lived in the faith of the Son of God,' who 
 died and gave Himself for him ; ' and this * faith,' on which he 
 dwells with an almost exclusive reverence, is not, it must be 
 remembered, faith in any one part or point of Christ's work, 
 but in the whole. * Faith in His Incarnation,' 'faith in His 
 merits,' 'faith in His blood,' are expressions which, though 
 employed in later times, and, like other scholastic or theological 
 terms, sometimes justly employed, as summaries of the Apostle's 
 statements, yet are, in no instance, his own statements of 
 his own belief or feeling.^ Measured by the modern require- 
 ment which demands these precise forms of speech from the 
 lips of all believers, the Apostle no less than the Evangelists 
 will be found wanting. The one grand expression, in which 
 his whole mind finds vent, is simply * the faith of Christ.' It 
 is, as it were, his second conscience ; and, as men do not 
 minutely analyse the constituent elements of conscience, so 
 neither did he care minutely to describe or bring forward 
 the several elements which made up the character and work of 
 his Master. And^ though these elements are distinctly set 
 forth in the Gospels, yet the Gospels agree even here with the 
 Epistles, in that they, like the Epistles, put forward not any 
 one part, but the complex whole, as the object of adoration 
 and faith. The language of our Lord in the Gospels, like that 
 of St. Paul regarding Him in the Epistles, is (not ' Believe in 
 My miracles,' ' Believe in My death,' ' Believe in My resur- 
 rection,' but) 'Believe in Me.' 
 
 IV. Finally, if it be said that this is an impression too vague 
 and impalpable to be definitely traced, the answer is in the 
 The spirit Apostlc's character. Much there was doubtless pe- 
 of Christ in culiar to himself, much that was peculiar to his own 
 cha^ctTr^^^ especial mission. But, if in any human character 
 we can discern the effect produced by contact with 
 
 ^ The apparent exception in Rom. 
 iii. 25 is, it need hardly be observed 
 to those acquainted with the ori- 
 ginal language, only apparent. The 
 nearest approach to the requirement 
 of faith in any special act of Christ 
 is in Rom. x. 9, 'If thou shalt con- 
 fess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,' 
 (so far is general, and agrees with 
 what has been said above ; but what 
 follows is more precise,) ' and shalt 
 believe in thine heart that God hath 
 
 raised Him from the dead, thou shalt 
 be saved.' The Resurrection, in 
 this passage, as in others, is probably 
 selected as the especial fact which 
 constituted ' the glad tidings,' — the 
 Gospel. Had the Gospels closed 
 with the Crucifixion, however in- 
 structive they might have been, we 
 feel that the effect of the story would 
 have been simply mournful and 
 tragical, not, as now, inspiriting 
 and joyful. 
 
AND THE GOSPEL HISTORY. 589 
 
 another higher and greater than itself, such an effect may be 
 discovered in that of St. Paul : ' The love of ^ Christ,' the love 
 which Christ had shown to man, was, as he himself tells us, his 
 * constraining ' motive. That Love, with the acts in which it 
 displayed itself, was the great event which rose up behind him 
 as the single point from which all his thoughts diverged in the 
 past, and to which they converged again in the future. Unless 
 a Love, surpassing all Love, had been manifested to him, we 
 know not how he could have been so constrained ; and, we 
 must also add, unless a freedom from his past prejudices and 
 passions had been effected for him, by the sight of some higher 
 Freedom than his own, we know not how he could have been 
 thus emancipated. 
 
 Such a Love, and such a Freedom, we find in St. Paul's 
 Epistles. Such a combination, — rarely, if ever, seen before, 
 rarely alas ! seen since, — is one of the best proofs of the reality 
 of the original acts in which that combination was first mani- 
 fested. The Gospel narratives, as we now possess them, were, 
 in all probability, composed long after these Epistles. But the 
 Life which they describe must have been anterior. That Life 
 is ' the glory,' of which, as the Apostle himself says, his 
 writings and actions are * the reflection.' Whatever other 
 diversities, peculiarities, infirmities impassably divide the cha- 
 racter of the Apostle from that of his Master, in this union of 
 fervour and freedom there was a common likeness which cannot 
 be mistaken. The general impulses of his new life — *the 
 grace of God, by which he was what he was ' — could have come 
 from no other source. Whatever may be the force of the par- 
 ticular allusions and passages which have been collected, the 
 general effect of his whole life and writings can hardly leave 
 any other impression than that, — whether by ' revelation,' or 
 by * receiving ' from others, whether * in the body, or out of 
 the body,' ^ we cannot tell — he had indeed seen, and known, 
 and loved, and followed Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 1 2 Cor. V. 14, and the Notes on I ^ Qal. i. 12 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23 xv, 
 that chapter. I 3 ; 2 Cor. xii. 3. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 THE APOCRYPHAL EPISTLES OF THE CORINTHIANS 
 
 TO ST. PAUL, 
 
 AND OF ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS, 
 
 PRESEBVED IN THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 
 
 The genuineness of the two canonical Epistles to the Corinthians 
 has never been doubted. But there are two other Epistles ex- 
 tant, one claiming to be from the Corinthians to St. Paul, the 
 other from St. Paul to the Corinthians. They were discovered 
 in an Armenian MS. in the possession of Gilbert North, first 
 mentioned by John Gregory, and Usher (see Fabricius, Codex 
 Apocryphus Novi Testamenti, vol. ii. pp. 920, 921), first pub- 
 lished by Wilkins from an imperfect MS.; then by La Croze, 
 with a dissertation and translation from a perfect MS. in the 
 possession of Whiston ; then by Whiston's two sons, William 
 and George Whiston, with a Greek and Latin translation of 
 their own, in an Appendix to their edition of Moses Chore- 
 nensis, 1736. The last and most complete translation is that 
 made jointly by Lord Byron and Father Pasquale Aucher, of 
 the Armenian monastery of St. Lazarus at Venice, from MSS. 
 in that convent ; and published in Moore's Life of Lord Byron 
 (vol. vi. 274, 275). 
 
 In the Armenian Church they, in at least one MS., are 
 inserted after the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, under 
 the title of ' The Epistle of the Corinthians to St. Paul,' 
 and the ' Third Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians.' ^ 
 
 It has sometimes been imagined that the Epistle from the 
 Corinthians is that alluded to in 1 Cor. vii. 1, and that the 
 Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians is that alluded to in 
 1 Cor. V. 9. Not only, however, is their general style abso- 
 lutely fatal to their genuineness; but all their details are incom- 
 patible with such an hypothesis, or even with the belief that 
 any such reference could have fallen within the scope of the 
 intention of the framers of these Epistles. 
 
 (1) Even if it could be maintained that 1 Cor. v. 9 alluded 
 
 ^ Curzon's Armenia, 225. 
 
592 APPENDIX, 
 
 to a separate ' Epistle, that Epistle must have been written, not 
 in answer to the Corinthian Epistle of 1 Cor. vii. l,but before 
 it, the real answer to the Corinthian Epistle being the genuine 
 First Epistle itself; whereas in his spurious correspondence the 
 Corinthian letter precedes that of the Apostle. 
 
 (2) The ' Epistle from the Corinthians ' mentions no one 
 topic which their letter (as alluded to in 1 Cor. vii.-xiv.)must 
 have contained, neither marriage nor sacrificial feasts, nor the 
 questions as to public assemblies or spiritual gifts, whilst, on 
 the other hand, it complains of heresies, which, with the ex- 
 ception of the denial of the resurrection of the body, are not 
 noticed at all in the First Epistle. 
 
 (3) The * Epistle of St. Paul,' in like manner, contains no 
 allusion to the only topics which (on the hypothesis of its 
 being that alluded to in 1 Cor. v. 9) it must have contained, 
 viz. the warning to avoid immoral brethren, the only passage 
 of the kind being the warning in verse 31 to avoid heretics. 
 
 (4) The bearers of the genuine Corinthian letter (as de- 
 scribed in 1 Cor. xvi. 15) are quite different from those named 
 amongst the bearers of the spurious Epistle, with the excep- 
 tion of Stephanas (or, as he is there called, * Stephanus '). 
 There is, moreover, not a single name identical with those 
 mentioned either in the Acts or in the genuine Epistles ; the 
 heresies mentioned belonged to a later period than any writings 
 of the New Testament ; the answers of St. Paul are a feeble 
 imitation of 1 Cor. xv., and his other expressions are in part 
 copied from the Gospels and the Epistle to the Gralatians, in 
 part entirely unlike his own style. 
 
 The only points of coincidence between these spurious 
 Epistles and the hypothesis of an early date are 
 
 (1) That Paul is described in the section which intervenes 
 between the two Epistles as being in Phoenicia, which would 
 agree with his passage to Antioch (Acts xviii. 22) immediately 
 after his first visit to Corinth. 
 
 (2) That in the ^ Epistle of St. Paul,' verse 2, their conver- 
 sion is spoken of as recent. 
 
 (3) That Corinth is described in the first verse of ^ The 
 Epistle of the Corinthians ' as governed by Presbyters, as in 
 Clem. Epist. ad Cor. i. 21, 44, 47, 54, 57 ; Const. Apost. vii. 
 46 ; Eus. H. E. iv. 22, 23. 
 
 (4) That Paul is called simply ' the brother,' which agrees 
 indeed with a more primitive mode of address, but is hardly 
 reconcilable with the relation of the Corinthian Church towards 
 bim, 1 Cor. iv. 15, ix. 2. 
 
 See Note on 1 Cor. v. 9. 
 
THE COEINTHTANS TO ST. PAUL. 593 
 
 (5) The conduct and language of St. Paul (in the interven- 
 ing Section) are natural and in agreement with the Acts and 
 Epistles. ' He grieved and said with tears, " It had been 
 better for me to have died before, and to be with the Lord." ' 
 
 It would not have been worth while to notice these details, 
 but that it seemed important to call attention to the irrecon- 
 cilable differences both of fact and style between two indis- 
 putably genuine Epistles of St. Paul on the one hand, and two 
 indisputably spurious Epistles on the other hand : 
 
 First, as showing the impossibility of confounding the two 
 together. 
 
 Secondly, as showing the ignorance and clumsiness with 
 which forgers of later times compiled their imitations of the 
 genuine Apostolic works. 
 
 [The following text is given from Moore's Life of Lord B}Ton, vol. vi. 
 pp. 269-275, ed. Murray, 1834, collated with the Latin translation of the 
 Whistons. The variations not noticed by Lord Byron are here inserted in 
 brackets.] 
 
 THE EPISTLE OF THE CORINTHIANS TO ST. PAUL 
 THE APOSTLE.^ 
 
 1 a TEPHEN,2 and the elders with him, Dabnus", Eubulus, 
 O Theophilus, and Xinon, to Paul, our father and evan- 
 gelist, and faithful master in Jesus Christ, health.^ 
 
 2 Two men have come to Corinth, Simon by name, and 
 Cleobus,'* who vehemently disturb the faith of some with de- 
 ceitful and corrupt words ; 
 
 3 Of which words thou shouldst inform thyself: ^ 
 
 4 For neither have we heard such words from thee, nor from 
 the other apostles : 
 
 5 But we know only that what we have heard from thee and 
 from them, that we have kept firmly. 
 
 6 But in this chiefly has our Lord had compassion, that, 
 
 ^ Some MSS. have the title thus; ! menus], Euhulus, Theophilus, and 
 
 Epistle of Stephen the Elder to Paul i Nomeson, to Paul their brother, 
 
 the Apostle, from the Corinthians. \ health ! 
 
 ^ In the MSS. the marginal verses ' "* Others read, There came certain 
 
 published by the Whistons are j men, . . and Clobeus, who vehemently 
 
 wanting. j shake. 
 
 ^ In some MSS. we find, Tlie '" [Whistons, whose words thou, 
 
 elders Numenus [Whistons, Ne- \ oughtest to resist] 
 
 Q Q 
 
594 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 whilst thou art yet with us iu the flesh, we are again about to 
 hear from thee. 
 
 7 Therefore do thou write to us, or come thyself amongst us 
 quickly. 
 
 8 We believe in the Lord, that, as it was revealed to 
 Theonas, He hath delivered thee from the hands of the un- 
 righteous.^ 
 
 9 But these are the sinful words of these impure men, for 
 thus do they say and teach : ^ 
 
 10 That it behoves not to admit the prophets.^ 
 
 11 Neither do they affirm the omnipotence of God : 
 
 12 Neither do they affirm the resurrection of the flesh: 
 18 Neither do they affirm that man was altogether created 
 
 by God : 
 
 14 Neither do they affirm that Jesus Christ was born in 
 the flesh from the Virgin Mary : 
 
 15 Neither do they affirm that the world was the work of 
 God, but of some one of the angels. 
 
 16 Therefore do thou make haste ^ to come amongst us, 
 
 17 That this city of the Corinthians may remain without 
 scandal, 
 
 1 8 And that the folly of these men may be made manifest 
 by an open refutation. Fare thee well.^ 
 
 The deacons Thereptus and Tichus ^ received and conveyed 
 this Epistle to the city of the Philippians.^ 
 
 When Paul received the Epistle, although he was then in 
 chains on account of Stratonice,® the wife of Apofolanus,^ yet, 
 as it were forgetting his bonds, he mourned over these words, 
 and said, weeping : ' It were better for me to be dead, and 
 with the Lord. For while I am in this body, and hear the 
 wretched words of such false doctrine, behold, grief arises upon 
 grief, and my trouble adds a weight to my chains ; when I 
 
 1 Some MSS. [and Wliistons] 
 liave. We believe in the Lord, that 
 His presence was made manifest; and 
 by this hath the Lord delivered us 
 from the hands of the unHghteous. 
 
 '^ [Whistons, But these are their 
 erroneous words; for thus do they 
 say.'] 
 
 ^ Others read, to read the Pro- 
 phets. 
 
 ^ Some MSS. [and ^Tiistons] 
 have, Therefore, brother, do thou 
 make haste. 
 
 ^ Others read, Fare thee ivell in 
 tlie Lord. 
 
 6 Some MSS. [and Whistons] 
 have, The deacons Therep^is and 
 Techus. 
 
 ' The Whistons have, to tlie city 
 of Fhoenicia : but in all the MSS. 
 we find,io the city of the PhUippia.ns. 
 
 ^ Others read [and Whistons], on 
 account of Onotice. 
 
 ^ The Whistons have, of Apollo- 
 phanus : but in all the MSS. we 
 read, Apofolanus. 
 
ST. PAUL TO THE COKINTHIAKS. 
 
 595 
 
 behold this calamity, and progress of the machinations of Satan, 
 who searcheth to do wrong.' 
 
 And thus, with deep affliction, Paul composed his reply to 
 the Epistle.^ 
 
 EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS. ^ 
 
 I TJAUL, in bonds for Jesus Christ, disturbed by so many 
 X errors,^ to his Corinthian brethren, health. 
 
 2 I nothing marvel that the preachers of evil have made this 
 progress. 
 
 3 For because the Lord Jesus is about to fulfil His coming, 
 verily on this account do certain men pervert and despise His 
 words. 
 
 4 But I, verily, from the beginning, have taught you that 
 only which I myself received from the former apostles, who 
 always remained with the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 5 And I now say unto you, that the Lord Jesus Christ was 
 born of the Virgin Mary, who was of the seed of David, 
 
 6 According to the annunciation of the Holy Ghost, sent to 
 her by our Father from heaven ; 
 
 7 That Jesus might be introduced into the world,'* and de- 
 liver our ^ flesh by His flesh, and that He may raise us up from 
 the dead ; 
 
 8 As in this also He Himself became the example : 
 
 9 That it might be made manifest that man was created by 
 the Father, 
 
 10 He has not remained in perdition unsought ; ^ 
 
 11 But He is sought for, that He might be revived by 
 adoption. 
 
 12 For God, who is the Lord of all, the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who made heaven and earth, sent, firstly, the 
 Prophets to the Jews : 
 
 13 That He would absolve them from their sins, and bring 
 them to His judgment. 
 
 14 Because He wished to save, firstly, the house of Israel, 
 He bestowed and poured forth His Spirit upon the Prophets ; 
 
 15 That they should, for a long time, preach the worship of 
 God, and the nativity of Christ. 
 
 ^ In the text of this Epistle there 
 are some other variations in the 
 words, but the sense is the same. 
 
 ^ Some MSS. have, PauVs Upistle 
 from prison, for the instruction of the 
 Corinthians. 
 
 ^ Others [and Whistons] read, 
 
 disturbed by various compunctions. 
 
 * Some MSS. [and Whistons] 
 have, TJiat Jesus might comfort the 
 world. 
 
 ^ [Whistons, all^sh.] 
 
 "^ Others read, He Ims not re- 
 mained indifferent. 
 
o96 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 16 But he who was the prince of evil, when he wished to 
 make himself God, laid his hand upon them, 
 
 17 And bound all men in sin,^ 
 
 18 Because the judgment of the world was approaching. 
 
 19 But Almighty God, when He willed to justify, was un- 
 willing to abandon His creature : 
 
 20 But when He saw his affliction, He had compassion upon 
 him: 
 
 21 And at the end of a time He sent the Holy Ghost into 
 the Virgin, foretold by the Prophets. 
 
 22 Who, believing readily,- was made worthy to conceive, 
 and bring forth our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 23 That from this perishable body, in which the evil spirit 
 was glorified, he should be cast out,^ and it should be made 
 manifest 
 
 24 That he was not God : for Jesus Christ, in His flesh, 
 had recalled and saved this perishable flesh, and drawn it into 
 eternal life by faith. 
 
 25 Because in His body He would prepare a pure temple of 
 justice for all ages ; 
 
 26 In whom we also, when we believe, are saved. 
 
 27 Therefore know ye that these men are not the children 
 of justice, but the children of wrath : 
 
 28 Who turn away from themselves the compassion of God ; 
 
 29 AVho say that neither the heavens nor the earth were al- 
 together works made by the hand of the Father of all things.'* 
 
 30 But these cursed men ■' have the doctrine of the serpent. 
 
 31 But do ye, by the power of God, withdraw yourselves 
 far from these, and expel from amongst you the doctrine of the 
 wicked. 
 
 32 Because you are not the children of rebellion,^ but the 
 sons of the beloved church. 
 
 33 And on this account the time of the resurrection is 
 preached to all men. 
 
 34 Therefore the}^ who affirm that there is no resurrection of 
 the flesh, they indeed shall not be raised up to eternal life ; 
 
 35 But to judgment and condemnation shall the unbeliever 
 arise in the flesh : 
 
 ^ Some MSS. [and Wliistons] 
 have, Laid his hand, and them, and 
 all [^esh ] hound in sin. 
 
 ~ Others [and Whistons] read, 
 helieving with a pure heart. 
 
 ^ ["Whistons, Hn the same body 
 he shoidd he convicted and made 
 manifest. If lie was not God, how 
 
 did Jesus Clirist . . . recall and save? 
 dx.] 
 
 ' Some MSS. [and Wliistons] 
 have, of God the FatJier of all things. 
 
 ^ Others [and Whistons] read, 
 They curse thetnselves in this thing. 
 
 * Others [and Wliistons] read, 
 children of the disobedient. 
 
ST. PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS. 
 
 597 
 
 36 For to that body which denies the resurrection of the 
 body, shall be denied the resurrection : because such are found 
 to refuse the resurrection. 
 
 37 But you also, Corinthians ! have known, from the seeds 
 wheat, and from other seeds, 
 
 38 That one grain falls ^ dry into the earth, and within it 
 first dies. 
 
 39 And afterwards rises again, by the will of the Lord, 
 endued with the same body : 
 
 40 Neither indeed does it arise with the same simple body, 
 but manifold, and filled with blessing. 
 
 41 But we produce the example not only from seeds, but 
 from the honourable bodies of men.^ 
 
 42 Ye have also known Jonas, the son of Amittai.^ 
 
 43 Because he delayed to preach to the Ninevites, he was 
 swallowed up in the belly of a fishforthre? days and three nights: 
 
 44 And after three days God heard his supplication,'^ and 
 brought him out of the deep abyss ; 
 
 45 Neither was any part of his body corrupted ; neither was 
 his eyebrow bent down.^ 
 
 46 And how much more for you, oh men of little faith ; 
 
 47 If you believe in our Lord eJesus Christ, will He raise 
 you up, even as He Himself hath arisen. 
 
 48 If the bones of Elisha the prophet, falling upon the 
 dead, revived the dead, 
 
 49 By how much more shall ye,^ who are supported by the 
 flesh and the blood and the Spirit of Christ, arise again on that 
 day with a perfect body ? 
 
 50 Elias the prophet, embracing the widow's son, raised 
 him from the dead : 
 
 51 By how much more shall Jesus Christ revive you, on that 
 day, with a perfect body, even as He Himself hath arisen ? 
 
 52 But if ye receive other things vainly,^ 
 
 53 Henceforth no one shall cause me to travail ; for I bear 
 n my body these fetters,^ 
 
 ^ Some . MSS. have, That one 
 ^rainfalls not dry into the earth. 
 
 ^ Others [and Whistons] read, 
 But we have not only produced from 
 seed, hut from the honourable body 
 of man. 
 
 •^ Others [and Whistons] read, 
 the son of Ematthias. 
 
 ^ [Whistons om., '■and brought 
 . . . abyss.^^ 
 
 ^ Others [and Whistons] add, nor 
 did a hair of his body fall therefrom. 
 
 ^ [Whistons, ye who are in tJie 
 Jlesh and supported by the Word of 
 Christ.] 
 
 ' Some MSS. [and Whistons] 
 have, Ye shall not receive other 
 thhufs i7i vain. 
 
 ^ Others [and Whistons] finished 
 here thus, Henceforth no one can 
 trouble me further, for I bear in my 
 body the sufferings of Christ. The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be 
 ivith your spirit, my brethren. Amen. 
 
598 APPENDIX. 
 
 54 To obtain Christ ; and I suffer with patience these afflic- 
 tions to become worthy of the resurrection of the dead, 
 
 55 And do each of you, having received the law from the 
 hands of the blessed Prophets and the holy gospel,^ firmly 
 maintain it ; 
 
 56 To the end that you may be rewarded in the resurrection 
 of the dead, and the possession of the life eternal. 
 
 57 But if any of ye, not believing, shall tresspass, he shall be 
 judged with the misdoers, and punished with those who have 
 false belief. 
 
 58 Because such are the generation of vipers, and tlie 
 children of dragons and basilisks. 
 
 59 Drive far from amongst ye, and fly from such, with the 
 aid of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 60 And the peace and grace of the beloved Son be upon 
 you.^ Amen. 
 
 ^ Some MSS. have, of the holy 1 ^ Others add, Our Lord be with 
 evangelist. \ you all. Amen. 
 
 Done into English hy me, January-February, 1817, at the 
 Convent of San Lazaro, with the aid and exposition 
 of the Armenian text by the Father Paschal Aucher, 
 Armenia!! Friar. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 Venice, April 10, 1817. 
 / had also the Latin text, but it is in many places 
 
 very corrupt, and with great omissions. 
 
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