TEXT. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 And this I do for the Gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. 24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things: now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. 26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly: so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. 27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. PARAPHRASE. I applied myself, as one not under that law, (not, indeed, as if I were under no law to God, but as obeying and following the law of Christ) that I might gain those who were with22 out the law. To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak: I became all things to all men, that I might leave no lawful thing untried, whereby I might save people 23 of all sorts. And this I do for the Gospel's sake, that I my24 self may share in the benefits of the Gospel. Know ye not that they who run a race, run not lazily, but with their utmost force? They all endeavour to be first, because there is but one that gets the prize. It is not enough for you to run, but so to run that ye may obtain: which they cannot do, who running only, because they are bid, do not run with all their 25 might. They, who propose to themselves the getting the garland in your games, readily submit themselves to severe rules of exercise and abstinence: and yet theirs is but a fading, transitory crown; that, which we propose to ourselves, is everlasting, and therefore deserves that we should endure greater 26 hardships for it. I therefore so run as not to leave it to uncertainty. I do what I do, not as one who fences for exercise 27 or ostentation; But I really and in earnest keep under my body, and entirely enslave it to the service of the Gospel, without allowing any thing to the exigencies of this animal life, which may be the least hinderance to the propagation of the Gospel; lest that I, who preach to bring others into the kingdom of Heaven, should be disapproved of, and rejected myself. SECTION VI. NO. 1. CHAPTER X. 1-22. CONTENTS. It seems, by what he here says, as if the Corinthians had told St. Paul, that the temptations and constraints they were under, of going to their heathen neighbours' feasts upon their sacrifices, were so many and so great, that there was no avoiding it; and, therefore, they thought they might go to them without any offence to God, or danger to themselves, since they were the people of God, purged from sin by baptism, and fenced against it, by partaking of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's supper. To which St. Paul answers, that, notwithstanding their baptism and partaking of that spiritual meat and drink, yet they, as well as the Jews of old did, might sin, and draw on themselves destruction from the hand of God: that eating of things that were known, and owned, to be offered to idols, was partaking in the idolatrous worship; and, therefore, they were to prefer even the danger of persecution before such a compliance; for God would find a way for them to escape. TEXT. 1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized, unto Moses, in the cloud, and in the sea; PARAPHRASE. 1 I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers, the whole congregation of the children of Israel, at their coming out of Egypt, were, all to a man, under the cloud, and 2 all passed through the sea; And were all, by this baptisma, in the cloud, and passing through the water, initiated into the Mosaical institution and government, by these two miracles of : NOTE. 2 The apostle calls it baptism, which is the initiating ceremony into both the Jewish and Christian church and the cloud and the sea, both being nothing but water, are well suited to that typical representation; and that the children of Israel were washed with rain from the cloud, may be collected from Psal. Ixviii. 9. K TEXT. 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: (for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them: and that rock was Christ.) 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. PARAPHRASE. 3 the cloud and the sea. And they all eat the same meat, which 4 had a typical and spiritual signification; And they all drank the same spiritual, typical drink, which came out of the rock, and followed them, which rock typified Christ: all which were typical representations of Christ, as well as the bread and wine, which we eat and drink in the Lord's supper, are typical re5 presentations of him. But yet, though every one of the children of Israel that came out of Egypt, were thus solemnly separated from the rest of the profane, idolatrous world, and were made God's peculiar people, sanctified and holy, every one of them to himself, and members of his church: nay, though they did all partake of the same meat, and the same drink, which did typically represent Christ, yet they were not thereby privileged from sin: but great numbers of them provoked God, and were destroyed in the wilderness, for their 6 disobedience. Now these things were set as patterns to us, that we, warned by these examples, should not set our minds a-longing, as they did, after meats, that would be safer let 7 alone. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose NOTES. 5 It may be observed here that St. Paul, speaking of the Israelites, uses the word waves, all, five times in the four foregoing verses; besides that, he carefully says, Tò auTò Вpua, the same meat, and rò avrò wóμa, the same drink, which we cannot suppose to be done by chance, but emphatically to signify to the Corinthians, who, probably, presumed too much upon their baptism, and eating the Lord's supper, as if that were enough to keep them right in the sight of God: that though the Israelites, all to a man, eat the very same spiritual food, and, all to a man, drank the very same spiritual drink, yet they were not all to a man preserved; but many of them, for all that, sinned and fell under the avenging hand of God in the wilderness. 6 Kaxa, "evil things:" the fault of the Israelites, which this place refers to, seems to be their longing for flesh, Numb. xi., which cost many of them their lives and that which he warns the Corinthians of here, is their great propension to the pagan sacrifice feasts. TEXT. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man : PARAPHRASE. f 8 up to play." Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thou9 sand. Neither let us provoke Christ, as some of them pro10 voked, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and were destroyed of the 11 destroyer. Now all these things happened to the Jews for examples, and are written for our admonition, upon whom 12 the ends of the ages are come. Wherefore, taught by these examples, let him that thinks himself safe, by being in the church, and partaking of the Christian sacraments, take heed lest he fall into sin, and so destruction from God overtake 13 him. Hitherto, the temptations you have met with have NOTES. 7 a Play, i. e. dance; feasting and dancing usually accompanied the heathen sacrifices. 10 '020fpeutòs, "Destroyer," was an angel, that had the power to destroy, mentioned Exod. xii. 23. Heb. xi. 28. 11 f It is to be observed, that all these instances mentioned by the apostle, of destruction which came upon the Israelites who were in covenant with God, and partakers in those typical sacraments above-mentioned, were occasioned by their luxurious appetites about meat and drink, by fornication, and by idolatry, sins which the Corinthians were inclined to, and which he here warns them against. So I think Tà tíλn tŵy aiúvwv should be rendered, and not, contrary to grammar, "the end of the world;” because it is certain that réλŋ and ☛vvlédeia toû aidros, or Tŵr alúrov, cannot signify every where, as we render it, "the end of the world," which denotes but one certain period of time, for the world can have but one end; whereas those words signify, in different places, different periods of time, as will be manifest to any one who will compare these texts where they occur, viz. Matt. xiii. 39, 40, and xxiv. 3, and xxviii. 20. 1 Cor. x. 11. Heb. ix. 26. It may be worth while, therefore, to consider whether alwy hath not ordinarily a more natural signification in the New Testament, by standing for a considerable length of time, passing under some one remarkable dispensation. TEXT. but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men: judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread, which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, being many, are one bread and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they, which eat of the sacrifices, partakers of the altar? 19 What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols, is any thing? PARAPHRASE. been but light and ordinary; if you should come to be pressed harder, God, who is faithful, and never forsakes those who forsake not him, will not suffer you to be tempted above your strength; but will either enable you to bear the persecution, 14 or open you a way out of it. Therefore, my beloved, take care to keep off from idolatry, and be not drawn to any approaches near it, by any temptation or persecution whatso15 ever. You are satisfied that you want not knowledge: and therefore, as to knowing men, I appeal to you, and make you 16 judges of what I am going to say in the case. They, who drink of the cup of blessing, which we bless in the Lord's supper, do they not thereby partake of the benefits, purchased by Christ's blood, shed for them upon the cross, which they here symbolically drink? And they, who eat of the bread broken there, do they not partake in the sacrifice of the body of 17 Christ, and profess to be members of him? For, by eating of that bread, we, though many in number, are all united, and make but one body, as many grains of corn are united into 18 one loaf. See how it is among the Jews, who are outwardly, according to the flesh, by circumcision, the people of God. Among them, they, who eat of the sacrifice, are partakers of God's table, the altar, have fellowship with him, and share in the benefit of the sacrifice, as if it were offered for them. 19 Do not mistake me, as if I hereby said, that the idols of the Gentiles are gods in reality; or that the things, offered to them, 15h Vid. chap. viii. 1. 16 i NOTES. 'Cup of Blessing" was a name given by the Jews to a cup of wine, which they solemnly drank in the passover, with thanksgiving. This was also taken from the custom of the Jews, in the passover, to break a cake of unleavened bread. |