성경 주석서

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

And came to Corinth — A city very rich, but very loose and luxurious. Magna cognatio ut rei sic nominis, divitiis et vitiis. The Corinthians had within their city the temple of Isis, and without it the temple of Venus, to whom there were well nigh a thousand courtesans consecrated. They held fornication to be no sin; hence the apostle is so earnest against it, 1 Corinthians 5:1-13 .

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And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

Had commanded all Jews, … — Wicked men are sick of the saints, and long to be rid of them, not considering that they bear up the pillars of the earth, and that God gratifies his children with the preservation of the wicked, as he did Paul with the lives of those infidels that were in the ship with him, Acts 27:24 . Howbeit they are frequently as foolish as this Claudius who banished God’s true servants; or, as the stag in the emblem, which by biting the boughs off the trees under which she lay hidden from the hounds and hunters, bewrayed and betrayed herself into their hands.

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And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

He abode with them and wrought — Being no less busy in his shop among his tents than in his study among his books and parchments, 2 Timothy 4:13 . So Musculus, persecuted and driven out of his place, was forced for a poor living to dig and weave. (Melch. Adam.) And another late martyr, though he were one of the greatest scholars in Christendom, yet in banishment or flight for conscience served the mason.

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And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

Persuaded the Jews — Men may speak persuasively, but God only can persuade. Genesis 9:27 , Japheth’s children were to be won by persuasion. Therefore Christ sent forth to them not soldiers, but fishers, who might work upon them docendo non ducendo, monendo non minaudo, by informing them, not by enforcing them.

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And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

And when Silas and Timothy — Good people one kindle another. Paul was much heated with the zeal of God by the company of these two good men. Two flints, though both cold, yet yield fire when smitten together. Billets one kindle another. Iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the face of a man his friend.

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And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

And when they opposed — Gr. Αντιτασσομενων , And when they bade him battle. A military term.

Your blood be upon your own heads — Answerable to their wish, Matthew 27:25 , and according to their manner of putting their sins upon the head of the sacrificed creature, Leviticus 1:4 ; Leviticus 3:2 .

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And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

Whose house joined hard to the synagogue — Quo magis pungeret Iudaeos; for this Justus was (likely) a Gentile. But they were toties puncti et repuncti, minime tamen ad resipiscentiam compuncti, like those bears in Pliny, they could not be awakened with the sharpest prickles; such a dead lethargy had the devil cast them into.

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And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

And many of the Corinthians — When Crispus the chief ruler of the synagogue believed, many of the Corinthians believed also. Great men are the lookingglasses of the country, according to which most men dress themselves. Alexander the Great naturally held his head aside, his courtiers did the like. When Francis the French king was polled for the better healing of a wound in his head, all about him, and many others, cut off their long hair, …

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