Commentari biblici

In this chapter the apostle, I. Considers the case of spiritual gifts, which were very plentifully poured out on the Corinthian church. He considers their original, that they are from God; their variety and use, that they were all intended for one and the same general end, the advancement of Christianity and the church's edification, Ro 12:1-11. II. He illustrates this by an allusion to a human body, in which all the members have a mutual relation and subserviency, and each has its proper place and use, Ro 12:12-26. III. He tells us that the church is the body of Christ, and the members are variously gifted for the benefit of the whole body, and each particular member, Ro 12:27-30. And them, IV. Closes with an exhortation to seek somewhat more beneficial than these gifts, Ro 12:31.

This chapter commences a new subject, the discussion of which continues to the close of the 1 Corinthians 14. The general subject is that of spiritual endowments, or the right mode of exercising their spiritual gifts, and the degree of honor which was due to those who had been distinguished by God by the special influences of his Spirit. It is evident that many in the church at Corinth had been thus favored; and it is evident that they had greatly abused these endowments, and that those who were thus favored had claimed a precedency of honor above those who had been less distinguished. It is not improbable that they had in their letter to Paul (see the note at 1 Corinthians 7:1), requested his counsel on this subject, and asked him to teach them what measure of honor should be given to those who had been thus endowed. This subject, as it was of importance not only for them, but for the church at large in all future times, he proceeds to discuss in this, and the two following chapters; and this discussion closes the second part of the Epistle; see the Introduction. The general scope of these chapters is this:

(1) He shows that all those endowments were conferred by the Holy Spirit, and were all for the use of the church; that the church was one, but that there was a necessity for diversified operations in that church; and that, therefore, no one should value himself on that gift above his brother, and no one should feel himself dishonored because he had not been thus favored. All filled important places in the church, just as the various members and parts of the human system were necessary for its symmetry, action and health; and all therefore, should be willing to occupy the place which God had assigned them, 1 Corinthians 12.

(2) in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 he recommends love, or charity, as of more value than all other spiritual gifts put together, and therefore recommends that that should be especially the object of their desire.

(3) in 1 Corinthians 14 he gives particular rules about the proper exercise of spiritual gifts in their public assemblies.

This chapter, therefore, is occupied in stating and illustrating the position that all spiritual gifts are conferred by the Holy Spirit, and that no one should so value himself on this gift as to despise those who had not been thus endowed; and that no one who had not thus been favored should be dejected, or regard himself as dishonored. This statement is illustrated in the following manner:

(1) Paul states the importance of the subject, 1 Corinthians 12:1.

(2) he reminds them that they were formerly in a state of ignorance, sin, and idolatry, 1 Corinthians 12:2.

(3) he states one mark of being under the influence of the Spirit of God - that is, that it would lead them to acknowledge and honor Jesus Christ. If the Spirit by which they were influenced led them to this, it was proof that it was the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:3. If any "pretenders" to inspiration were in the habit of speaking disrespectfully of Jesus Christ, or of calling him "accursed," it proved that they were not under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

(4) there were "diversities" in the operations of the Spirit, but however various were these operations, they all proceeded from the same agent, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. All were not, therefore, to expect precisely the same influences or operations; nor were they to suppose that because there were various operations, that therefore they were not influenced by the Spirit of God.

(5) Paul states and illustrates the truth that the church is one, 1Co. 12:12-27. As the body is one, yet has many members, so is it with the church, 1 Corinthians 12:12. The body has many members, and no members in the body are useless, but all perform important parts, however unimportant they may seem to be; and no one member can say that it has no need of the others. So it is in the church, 1 Corinthians 12:13-27.

(6) this beautiful allegory, drawn from the functions of the various parts of the human body, Paul applies now to the church, and shows 1 Corinthians 12:28-30 that the same thing should be expected in the church of Christ. It followed, therefore, that those who were not as highly favored as others should not regard themselves as useless, and decline their station in the church. It followed also, that those who were in inferior stations should not envy those who had been more highly favored; and that those who were in more elevated stations, and who had been more signally favored, should not look down on those beneath them with contempt. It followed also, that they should regard themselves as one body; and love and cherish each other with constant Christian affection.

(7) Paul tells them that it was not improper to desire the highest endowments, but says that he will propose an object of desire to be preferred to these gifts - and that is love, 1 Corinthians 12:31.

The apostle proceeds to the question of the Corinthians concerning spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:1. He calls to their remembrance their former state, and how they were brought out of it, 1 Corinthians 12:2, 1 Corinthians 12:3. Shows that there are diversities of gifts which proceed from the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12:4. Diversities of administrations which proceed from the Lord Jesus, 1 Corinthians 12:5. And diversities of operations which proceed from God, 1 Corinthians 12:6. What these gifts are, and how they are dispensed, 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. Christ is the Head, and the Church his members; and this is pointed out under the similitude of the human body, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 1 Corinthians 12:13. The relation which the members of the body have to each other; and how necessary their mutual support, 1 Corinthians 12:14-26. The members in the Church, or spiritual body, and their respective offices, 1 Corinthians 12:27-30. We should earnestly covet the best gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:31.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 Corinthians 12

In this chapter the apostle discourses concerning spiritual gifts, showing the author, nature, use, and excellency of them; compares the church to an human body, and in a beautiful manner sets forth the symmetry and subserviency of the members of it to one another, being set in different places, and having different gifts; and enumerates the several offices and gifts in the church, and yet suggests there is something more excellent than them. He intimates, that spiritual gifts are valuable things, and should be taken notice of; nor would he have the saints ignorant of them, and therefore gives the following account, 1 Corinthians 12:1 and yet he would not have those that have them be proud of them, and lifted up with them; for which reason he puts them in mind of their former state in Heathenism, to make and keep them humble, 1 Corinthians 12:2 and points out such who have the Spirit of God, the author of all gifts and grace; not such who call Jesus accursed, but they that call him Lord, 1 Corinthians 12:3 which Holy Ghost, who is called Spirit, Lord, and God, is the author of the different gifts bestowed upon men, 1 Corinthians 12:4 the end of bestowing which gifts is the profit of others, 1 Corinthians 12:7 of which gifts there is an enumeration in nine particulars, 1 Corinthians 12:8 of each of which the Spirit of God is the worker and giver, according to his sovereign will and pleasure, 1 Corinthians 12:11 and which are all for the good of the whole community; which is illustrated by the simile of an human body, which as it consists of many members, and is but one, so Christ mystical, or the church, though it consists of divers persons, yet they are all one in Christ, and all their gifts are for the service of each other, 1 Corinthians 12:12 which unity is proved and confirmed by the saints being baptized by one Spirit into one body, the church, and by drinking of him, or partaking of the same grace, 1 Corinthians 12:13 and in order to show the usefulness and profit of every spiritual gift, even the meanest, to the churches of Christ, and that none might be despised, he enlarges upon the metaphor of the human body he had compared the church to, and by it illustrates the unity of the church, and the members of it, 1 Corinthians 12:14 and shows that the inferior members should not envy the superior ones, or be dejected because they have not the same gifts: and conclude from hence, that they are not, or deserve not, to be of the same body, 1 Corinthians 12:15 seeing it is convenient and absolutely necessary that there should be many members, and these set in different places, and have different gifts and usefulness; and particularly what should make them easy is, that God has placed them according to his will and pleasure, 1 Corinthians 12:17. And, on the other hand, he shows, that the more noble, and excellent, and useful members, ought not to despise the lower, meaner, and more ignoble ones, partly because of the usefulness and necessity of them, they cannot do without them, 1 Corinthians 12:21 and partly because of the honour put upon them, 1 Corinthians 12:23, and all this is so ordered, that there be no schism, but that there should be a mutual care of one member for another, and that they should sympathize with each other, 1 Corinthians 12:25. This simile the apostle more plainly and particularly accommodates and applies to the church, the body of Christ, and the members of it, and of one another, 1 Corinthians 12:27 and gives an enumeration of the several officers and offices in the church, set there by God himself; and there are no less than eight of them, some greater than others, most of them proper and peculiar to the primitive church, though some perpetual, and which still continue, 1 Corinthians 12:28 but in the times in which they were all of them in being and use, every member of the church was not possessed of them, only some, though all had more or less the advantage of them, 1 Corinthians 12:29. Wherefore, he concludes with an exhortation to the saints to covet the best of those gifts; and yet observes that there was something more excellent than them, and preferable to them, which he was about to show them, 1 Corinthians 12:31 and hereby he makes an easy transition to the next chapter, in which he recommends charity, and prefers it to gifts.

DIVISION IV. DISORDERS IN WORSHIP AND CHURCH LIFE, 11–14. The Ap. returns to the internal affairs of the Church, which occupied him in Div. I., dealing however not as at the outset with the relations of the Cor[2013] Church to its ministry, but with the mutual relations and behaviour of its members within the society. The questions arising under this head are bound up with the moral and social problems of Divs. II. and III., and several leading topics of former chaps. reappear in a new connexion—e.g., the Christian relationship of the sexes (common to 5., 6., and 11.), the Lord’s Supper (10 and 11), the superiority of Love to Knowledge (8 and 13). The matters treated in these chaps, are well defined: (1) the unveiling of the head by women in public worship, 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; (2) profanation of the Lord’s Table, 17–34; (3) the exercise of spiritual gifts, 1 Corinthians 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 12:14.—.a subject which leads the Ap. into two digressions: (a) on the corporate nature of the Church, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31; (b) on the supremacy of love, 13. As in the earlier parts of the letter, the train of thought is objectively dictated; the matters taken up arise from the faulty state of the Cor[2014] Church, and were supplied to the writer partly, as in chh. 7–10., by the Church Letter, and partly by information conveyed in other ways (see 1 Corinthians 11:18, and Introd., chap. 2.), which indicated the existence of disorders and scandals within the community of the gravity of which it was unaware.

[1810] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[1811] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

CHAPTER 12

1 Corinthians 12:2. ὅτι ὅτε] approved by Griesb., adopted also by Lachm. (who brackets ὅτε, however), Scholz, Rück. Tisch. with A B C D E L א, min[1900] and several VSS[1901] and Fathers. The ὍΤΙ alone (Elz. with F G min[1902] Syr[1903] Erp. Clar. Germ. Oec. Ambrosiast.), and the weakly attested ὍΤΕ alone (which Billroth and Ewald prefer), are two different attempts to help out the construction, whose difficulty leads Reiche again to defend the Recept[1904].—1 Corinthians 12:3. Instead of the Recept[1905] ἸΗΣΟῦΝ and ΚΎΡΙΟΝ ἸΗΣΟῦΝ, which Reiche upholds, read ἸΗΣΟῦς and ΚΎΡΙΟς ἸΗΣΟῦς, with Lachm. Rück. and Tisch., following A B C א, min[1906] and several VSS[1907] and Fathers. The accusatives are the work of copyists altering the oratio directa, which struck them as unusual.—1 Corinthians 12:9. In place of the second αὐτῷ, A B, min[1908] Vulg. Clar. Germ. and Latin Fathers read ἑνί. So, rightly, Lachm. Rück. Tisch.; ΑὐΤῷ has crept in after the preceding.

After ΣΏΜΑΤΟς in 1 Corinthians 12:12, Elz. has ΤΟῦ ἙΝΌς, against greatly preponderating testimony. A gloss.—1 Corinthians 12:13. ΕἸς ἝΝ ΠΝΕῦΜΑ] Many various readings; the best accredited is ἝΝ ΠΝΕῦΜΑ (B C D* F G א, 17, 73, 80, with several VSS[1909] and Fathers). So Lachm. Rück. Tisch. Reiche. The insertion of the ΕἸς arose from comparing the clause with the first half of the verse. Then, according as the words were understood to refer to the Supper or not, arose the readings ΠΌΜΑ (with or without ΕἸς) instead of ΠΝΕῦΜΑ, and ἘΦΩΤΊΣΘΗΜΕΝ (said of baptism, as the Greek Fathers were accustomed to use it) instead of ἘΠΟΤ.—1 Corinthians 12:31. ΚΡΕΊΤΤΟΝΑ] A B C א, min[1910] Syr[1911] Aeth. Vulg. ms. Or. (twice) read ΜΕΊΖΟΝΑ. So Lachm. Rück. Tisch. But while ΚΡΕΊΤΤΟΝΑ might easily appear a doubtful expression in itself, and even objectionable as implying the contrast of “worse,” ΜΕΊΖΟΝΑ on the other hand, was very naturally suggested by 1 Corinthians 13:13, 1 Corinthians 15:5.

[1900] in. codices minusculi, manuscripts in cursive writing. Where these are individually quoted, they are marked by the usual Arabic numerals, as 33, 89.

[1901] SS. vss. = versions.

[1902] in. codices minusculi, manuscripts in cursive writing. Where these are individually quoted, they are marked by the usual Arabic numerals, as 33, 89.

[1903] yr. Peschito Syriac

[1904] ecepta Textus receptus, or lectio recepta (Elzevir).

[1905] ecepta Textus receptus, or lectio recepta (Elzevir).

[1906] in. codices minusculi, manuscripts in cursive writing. Where these are individually quoted, they are marked by the usual Arabic numerals, as 33, 89.

[1907] SS. vss. = versions.

[1908] in. codices minusculi, manuscripts in cursive writing. Where these are individually quoted, they are marked by the usual Arabic numerals, as 33, 89.

[1909] SS. vss. = versions.

[1910] in. codices minusculi, manuscripts in cursive writing. Where these are individually quoted, they are marked by the usual Arabic numerals, as 33, 89.

[1911] yr. Peschito Syriac

CONTENTS.

Concerning the Spirit’s gifts.[1912] The fundamental characteristic of speaking in the Spirit is the confession of Jesus as the Lord (1 Corinthians 12:3); but the especial utterances of the Spirit, which are given to individuals for the welfare of the community (1 Corinthians 12:7-10). differ one from another (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). The Giver of all gifts, however, is one and the same Spirit; for Christians form an organic whole, like the limbs of one body, so that none of them ought either to judge himself in a depreciatory spirit (1 Corinthians 12:11-20), or to ignore the need and worth of those with fewer or lower gifts (1 Corinthians 12:21-30). Still there ought to be a striving after the more excellent charismata; and Paul will show his readers the best kind and mode of thus striving (1 Corinthians 12:31).

The peculiar difficulty attaching to this whole section is very truly described by Chrysostom: τοῦτο ἅπαν τὸ χωριόν σφόδρα ἐστὶν ἀσαφές· τὴν δὲ ἀσάφειαν ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ἄγνοιά τε καὶ ἔλλειψις ποιεῖ, τῶν τότε μὲν συμβαινόντων, νῦν δὲ οὐ γινομένων.

[1912] Baur, in the Stud. u. Krit. 1838, p. 646 f., holds that the abuse of the glossolalia in Corinth, which has certainly given occasion to this section of the Epistle, had arisen in the party-interest of the Petrine Christians in opposition to the Pauline. The former, he maintains, had brought the γλ. λαλ. to bear against the latter, denying to Paul the apostolic character and consequently the possession of the πνεῦμα ἅγιον. But there is no trace of this whatever in the apostle’s treatment of the subject; for the word thrown out at 1 Corinthians 7:40, in connection with a totally different occasion, has no bearing at all upon this question; and 1 Corinthians 16:6; 1 Corinthians 16:18 take for granted that his readers admitted that Paul himself had the gift of the glossolalia, and that in a high degree. Räbiger, too, agrees in substance with Baur, assuming, as he does, an opposition between the Pauline προφητεύοντες and the Petrine γλώσσαις λαλοῦντες. But there is not the slightest support in the text either, in general, for connecting the subject in hand with the state of parties at Corinth, or, in particular, for ascribing the glossolalia to any one special party (Dähne, e.g., regards it as a piece of Alexandrian fanaticism among the Christ-party). Van Hengel’s conjecture, also (Gave d. talen, p. 111 f.), that Apollos had brought the glossolalia to Corinth, where it had been abused and had degenerated, lacks all definite foundation.

1Co 12:1-31.

THE USE AND THE ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS, ESPECIALLY PROPHESYING AND TONGUES.

This is the second subject for correction in the Corinthian assemblies: the "first" was discussed

(1Co 11:18-34).

1. spiritual gifts--the signs of the Spirit's continued efficacious presence in the Church, which is Christ's body, the complement of His incarnation, as the body is the complement of the head. By the love which pervades the whole, the gifts of the several members, forming reciprocal complements to each other, tend to the one object of perfecting the body of Christ. The ordinary and permanent gifts are comprehended together with the extraordinary, without distinction specified, as both alike flow from the divine indwelling Spirit of life. The extraordinary gifts, so far from making professors more peculiarly saints than in our day, did not always even prove that such persons were in a safe state at all

(Mt 7:22).

They were needed at first in the Church: (1) as a pledge to Christians themselves who had just passed over from Judaism or heathendom, that God was in the Church; (2) for the propagation of Christianity in the world; (3) for the edification of the Church. Now that we have the whole written New Testament (which they had not) and Christianity established as the result of the miracles, we need no further miracle to attest the truth. So the pillar of cloud which guided the Israelites was withdrawn when they were sufficiently assured of the Divine Presence, the manifestation of God's glory being thenceforward enclosed in the Most Holy Place [ARCHBISHOP WHATELY]. Paul sets forth in order: (1). The unity of the body

(1Co 12:1-27).

(2). The variety of its members and functions

(1Co 12:27-30).

(3). The grand principle for the right exercise of the gifts, namely, love

(1Co 12:31; 1Co 13:1-13).

(4) The comparison of the gifts with one another

(1Co 14:1-40).

I would not have you ignorant--with all your boasts of "knowledge" at Corinth. If ignorant now, it will be your own fault, not mine

(1Co 14:38).