NOTES ON ST. PAUL.
QUARTERLY SERIES. VOLUME NINETY-EIGHT.
WibU bstat :
ALEXANDER CHARNLEY, S.J.,
Censor Deputatus.
imprimatur :
HERBERTUS CARDINALIS VAUGHAN,
Archiep. Wcstmonast.
Feast of Annunciation B.V.M.
1808.
ROEHAMPTON : PRINTED BY JOHN GRIFKIN.
NOTES ON ST. PAUL
CORINTHIANS, GALATIANS, ROMANS.
JOSEPH RICKABY, S.J.
LONDON : BURNS AND OATES, LIMITED.
NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO : BENZIGER BROTHERS.
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PREFACE.
" LISTENING assiduously to the reading of Blessed
Paul s Epistles," says St. John Chrysostom, " I
exult with joy; I am delighted with that spiritual
trumpet : I am warmed with affection, listening to
the voice of a friend, whose person I almost think
I see, and hear his words. But I do grieve and am
annoyed to think that not all know this man, as
they should."
Not for want of commentators certainly does
St. Paul remain unknown. I have kept before
me steadily St. John Chrysostom and Theodoret.
On the Galatians I have been helped by Lightfoot.
Nearly throughout I have been aided by the
sagacity and borne up by the erudition of
Father Comely (C ommentarius in S. Pauli Epistolas,
Paris, Lethielleux). Still I have not absolutely
deferred to any authority, except, I trust, to that
of the Holy Catholic Church.
These four Epistles form a group. I have
taken them in the order in which I believe they
were written, and in which they lead naturally one
vi PREFACE.
to the other. I have printed almost exactly the
text of Challoner s 1752 edition of the Rheims
Testament, reissued by the Art and Book Company,
Leamington. For the history of that text, see The
Month for July, 1897, Our English Catholic Bible.
I have often endeavoured to improve the trans
lation. Nor have I always adopted the reading
of the Latin Vulgate. With regard to the decree
of the Council of Trent, Session IV., commend
ing " the old Vulgate edition, which has been
approved by long usage of so many centuries in the
Church," it is to be observed that where a reading
has always been matter of controversy among
Catholics, the text of the Vulgate has never been
there approved to the condemnation of other
readings. Thus Melchior Canus, otherwise a strict
interpreter of the Tridentine decree, writes of that
much debated passage, i Cor. xv. 51, 52 : " Neither
reading has been rejected by churchmen : rather
they have always given warning that the reading is
doubtful and various, and neither of the two alter
natives has been embraced by them as certain and
fully established. We are therefore compelled to
neither reading, because the Doctors of the Church
have asserted neither side for certain and fully
proved " (Loc. Theol. ii. 14). See further Father
Hunter s Outlines of Dogmatic Theology, vol. i. p. 221,
or my Oxford Conferences, 1897, pp. 52, 53.
PREFACE. vii
I am afraid I have not made St. Paul quite easy
reading. Popular notes on the Apostle might go
the way with popular notes on the great Greek
historian Thucydides, whom he greatly resembles
in abruptness of style. With the one author as
with the other one must face difficulties, and not
be afraid of the original Greek. Still one need
not be a Greek scholar to profit by these Notes.
I have laboured everywhere to elucidate what
exactly the Apostle meant to say ; and as he was
inspired for all time, to bring out that portion of
his inspiration which is addressed to our age.
I earnestly recommend the reader, if he has
perused my Notes, to open a New Testament in
which the Text appears continuously, and let his eye
range over it as over a map. Thus only can he
appreciate the connection of the several parts :
thus only can he rescue the Apostle from the mis
fortune of being overlaid by the Commentator.
I should be glad if these Notes might find a
place by the side of the greater Commentaries, in
that humble companionship which Theodoret asks
for himself in his Introduction : ov8ev roivvv a
ot)8e rj/JLcis olov KWVWTTCLS Tivas <rvv rais
efceivais rou9 airoo-ToXiKovs TrepijSonftria-ai
" There is then nothing unseemly even in our going
like gnats in company with those bees, buzzing
round the apostolic meadows."
FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
LATE in the autumn of A.D. 52, St. Paul left Athens,
little satisfied with his work there, and landed at
Cenchreae, the port of Corinth. At Corinth he
found hospitality with Aquila and Priscilla, two
Jews, man and wife, who had already embraced
Christianity. They were tent-makers by trade ; and
as that was St. Paul s trade too, he worked with
them. On the Sabbaths he repaired to the
Jewish synagogue, and preached there Christ, but
encountered violent opposition, which induced him
to quit the synagogue and hire a room hard by,
where he preached to the Gentiles and to any Jews
that were willing to listen. Thus was founded the
church of Corinth. The work occupied St. Paul a
year and six months. Early in 54 he left the city,
and travelled by Asia Minor to Jerusalem. Thence
he went to Ephesus, and there he dwelt for three
years. Towards the end of his sojourn there, at
Easter, A.D. 58, he wrote this first Epistle to the
Corinthians, to answer certain difficulties which
the Corinthians had submitted .to him, and still
more to quell the party feuds that had become
rampant in their church.
7. CORINTHIANS.
CHAPTER I.
I. Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of
God, and Sosthenes, a brother, 2. To the church of God that is at
Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints, with all that invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in
every place of theirs and ours : 3. Grace to you, and peace, from
God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 4. I give thanks
to my God always for you, for the grace of God that is given you in
Christ Jesus ; 5. That in all things you are made rich in him, in
every word, and in all knowledge ; 6. As the testimony of Christ
was confirmed in you : 7. So that nothing is wanting to you in any
grace, waiting for the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ ;
8. Who also will confirm you unto the end without crime, in the
day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9. God is faithful, by
whom you are called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our
Lord. 10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be
no schisms among you ; but that you be perfect in the same mind,
and in the same judgment, n. For it hath been signified unto me,
my brethren, of you, by those who are of the house of Chloe, that
there are contentions among you. 12. Now this I say, that every
one of you saith : I indeed am of Paul ; and I am of Apollo ; and
I of Cephas ; and I of Christ. 13. Is Christ divided ? was Paul
crucified for you ; or were you baptized in the name of Paul ?
14. I give God thanks that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and
Caius : 15. Lest any should say that you were baptized in my name.
16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanos : besides,
I know not whether I baptized any other. 17. For Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel ; not with wisdom of speech,
lest the cross of Christ should be made void. 18. For the word of
the cross, to them indeed that perish, is foolishness; but to them
who are saved, that is, to us, it is the power of God. 19. For it is
written : I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of
the prudent I will reject. 2O. Where is the wise ? where is the
scribe ? where is the disputer of this world ? hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world ? 21. For seeing that in the wisdom
of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22. For now the
Jews require signs, and the Greeks seek after wisdom : 23. But we
preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the
gentiles foolishness ; 24. But to them that are called, both Jews and
/. CORINTHIANS i. 15.
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25. For
that which appeareth foolish of God is wiser than men ; and that
which appeareth weakness of God is stronger than men. 26. For
see your vocation, brethren, that not many are wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble : 27. But the foolish things
of the world hath God chosen that he may confound the wise ; and
the weak things of the world hath God chosen that he may confound
the strong ; 28. And the mean things of the world, and the things
that are contemptible, hath God chosen, and things that are not,
that he might destroy the things that are : 29. That no flesh should
glory in his sight. 30. But from him you are in Christ Jesus, who
is made to us wisdom from God, and justice, and sanctification, and
redemption : 31. That, as it is written : He that glorieth may glory
in the Lord.
1. Sosthenes. We know of no other Sosthenes than
the one mentioned in Acts xviii. 17, whom we must
suppose to have become a Christian. His name
is in the Roman Martyrology, 28 November. He
seems to have been St. Paul s amanuensis in writing
this letter.
2. Called to be saints. Literally, called, saints, AcAr/rots,
dytots, two distinct general names of all Christians in
the New Testament : called by Christ, or by His
ministers, and having answered the call to the faith ;
and saints, as having been sanctified in baptism. The
many called of Matt. xxii. 14 cannot be understood as
inclusive of persons who reject the faith. And see
v. 24 of this chapter.
Of theirs and ours. Understand their Lovd and ours,
and omit the word of before theirs.
5. Rich in him, i.e. by him, as Matt. v. 13, Wherewith
(literally, in what) shall it be salted ? and also, in union
with him: cf. Rom. vi. n.
In every word and in all knowledge. St. Chrysostom
explains: "Many have knowledge, but no power of
utterance ; but you are not such : you have the faculty
at once of thought and of expression," even a mira
culous faculty, xii. 8.
/.. CORINTHIANS i. 612.
6. i.e. The testimony rendered to Christ by the
Apostles who have preached Him to you, has been
confirmed by the graces which you have received upon
believing that testimony. For these graces see chs. xii.
and xiv.
8. The antecedent of who is God in v. 4. Without
crime, so that there be no matter of condemnation
against you at the day of judgment. Cf. Col. i. 22,
where the same word (Ivey/cA^rous is translated blameless.
9. The fellowship of Christ is the adoption of sons
(Galatians iv. 5) ; that he might be the first-born amongst
many brethren (Rom. viii. 29) ; and incidentally also
the chastisement of sons (Heb. xii. 7 10). In this
chastisement, which fell even upon His Only-begotten
(i Pet. iv. 13; 2 Tim. ii. n, 12), God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able
(i Cor. x. 13). The fellowship of Christ means also
union with the body of the Church (i Cor. xii. 1114;
Rom. xii. 4, 5 ; Eph. v. 29, 30).
10. From this to the end of ch. iv. the Apostle deals
with the divisions among the Corinthians, the healing
of which was his principal object in writing the
Epistle.
Perfect, Kar^pncr^voi, i.e. perfectly joined together
without schism, or rent. The verb is used of the mending
of nets (Matt. iv. 21).
In the same mind, as to belief, and the same judgment as
to action ; i.e. in union of faith and charity.
12. We have here four parties, not divided in faith,
but contending with one another within the bounds of
the Church. There was first the Pauline party,
St. Paul s own converts, or such of them as continued
to admire Paul above every other teacher. This
pre-eminence was challenged by the party of Apollo,
who had come to teach at Corinth after St. Paul had
left the city, watering what the Apostle had planted. For
/. CORINTHIANS i. 13.
Apollo see Acts xviii. 24 28. Grieved at the failure
of his eloquence at Athens (Acts xvii.), St. Paul had
employed at Corinth an exceedingly simple style of
address, far removed from the sublimities of Greek
philosophy and the intricacies of Hebrew lore. Apollo
had done just the reverse of this. Being an Alexandrian,
mighty in the Scriptures, he had delighted Corinthian ears
with the allegorical expositions for which the school of
his native city was famous. Thus, without intending it,
Apollo had got a party at Corinth, who extolled his
subtlety and eloquence above the apostolic plainness of
St. Paul, a plainness which the Apostle adopted on
principle, as he says in this Epistle (ii. i 5; iii. i, 2).
Apollo himself gave no countenance to faction, and
was ever accounted by St. Paul a loyal fellow-labourer
(iii. 6; xvi. 12; Titus iii. 13).
A third party took their stand on the observance
of the Jewish law, and arrogated to themselves the
honoured name of St. Peter. Cf. Gal. ii. n 14. There
seems to have been yet a fourth party, consisting of a
few who had seen Christ in the flesh, and traced their
Christianity immediately to His teaching. These
affected to despise St. Paul, as not having been one
of our Lord s disciples. To them he justifies his
position, ix. i, and still more pointedly, 2 Cor. x. 7.
Many commentators however deny the existence of
this fourth party, and reduce the parties to three.
13. They were baptized, not in the name of Paul,
but in (literally, unto, ) the name of the Lord Jesus (Acts
viii. 16), taking Him as their head (cf. x. 2), and making
one body under Him (xii. 13). The phrase to baptize unto
the name is illustrated by a phrase common in the
Roman historians, e.g. Tacitus, Hist. ii. 14 : provincia
Navbonensis in verba Vitellii adacta " the province was
sworn unto the words of Vitellius," i.e. took the oath to
him as emperor.
/. CORINTHIANS i. 18-20.
1 8, 19. There is an antithesis between wisdom of
speech (word) and the word of the cross. Eloquence and
subtlety of argument may be used to commend the
gospel to men : but the acceptance of gospel truth
ultimately is not a recognition of argument, but an act
of faith in the Crucified. Furthermore it was in the
Providence of God that the earliest preaching of
Christianity should be done with no display of argu
ment or eloquence, but in plain words confirmed by
miracles, that the success to follow might be evidently
divine. This does not debar the modern successors of
the Apostles, not having the gift of miracles, from
availing themselves of philosophy, rhetoric, and eru
dition ; yet even they should beware of placing their
main reliance on such arms. They should remember
that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Rhetoric,
science, and philosophy, by themselves, will never bring
any understanding into captivity unto the obedience of Christ
(2 Cor. x. 4, 5 : cf. Luke xviii. 17).
To them that perish, aTroXXvptvois, literally, are perishing,
i.e. unbelievers. The next words may be literally trans
lated, to us who are in the way of salvation, crw^o/xevots.
19. The quotation is from Isaias xxix. 14, according
to the Septuagint, or Greek version, except that for
I will hide, St. Paul says, explaining the phrase, / will
reject. The prophet speaks of the counsellors of
Ezechias : it was not by their worldly wisdom that
the invasion of Sennacherib was to be repelled.
20. The Apostle alludes to rather than quotes Isaias
xxxiii. 1 8, the general sense of which passage, accord
ing to the Hebrew, is where is now the tribute-collector ?
The cross has triumphed over human learning, as
Israel once triumphed over the Assyrians. By the wise
understand the Greek philosophers, for the Greeks seek
after wisdom (v. 22). The scribe is the doctor of the
Jewish law. The disputer of this world is the product
/. CORINTHIANS i. 2124.
of all the learning of the day combined, apart from
Christianity.
21. The meaning is that whereas, notwithstanding
the wisdom of God shown forth in Scripture to the Jew
(Rom. iii. 2), and in the book of nature to the Greek
(Rom. i. 20), still the world with all its wisdom knew
not God practically so as to glorify Him (Rom. i. 21, 22 ;
iii. 9, 10) ; therefore God has sent His Divine Son
(Heb. i. i, 2) and His Apostles to preach that obedience
of faith (Rom. xvi. 26) which the world derides as folly.
The text announces the failure of "free thought" to
attain to religious truth.
22. Signs, as that asked from heaven (Matt. xvi. i).
Wisdom, i.e. rational and philosophic proof, not miracles.
23. It was well observed by Dean Bradley in
Westminster Abbey on Easter Day, 1891, that the
scandal and folly of the non-Christian mind in our day
is not Christ Crucified, but Christ Risen. Our age
delights in Passion Plays and the Three Hours : but
its predominant devotion to physical science is shocked
by the fact of the Resurrection.
24. Called, see on v. 2.
In vv. 22, 23, 24, observe the antithesis involved in
the pairs of contrasted terms :
yews . . . signs .... stumbling-block . . power.
Greeks . . . wisdom . . . foolishness .... wisdom.
The signs are signs of power ; and the stumbling-block
comes from the seeming breakdown of power in Christ
crucified. So He foretold: All you shall be scandalised in
me (Matt. xxvi. 31).
It is not Jesus Christ as God the Word, but Christ
crucified, who is here called the power of God and the
wisdom of God ; power, to overcome the world by what
seemed to be His defeat and overthrow ; wisdom, to
teach the world the lesson of renunciation (Gal, vi. 14
with note).
7. CORINTHIANS i. 2531.
25. The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom
of men, and the weakness of God stronger than the
strength of men. Foolishness and weakness, appearing in
the doctrine a-nd mystery of the cross.
26 28. A large proportion of the early Christians
were slaves ; and a slave was a nobody, one of the
things that in the estimation of the world are not.
Cf. Gal. vi. 3 : // any man think himself to be something,
whereas he is nothing. Cf. also John vii. 48, 49.
Christianity, unlike philosophy, is for the simple,
the illiterate, the slave. It is a democratic principle.
But like a wise democracy, it offers attractions to and
has attracted the highest intellects, beginning with
Paul of Tarsus, the first powerful mind that bowed to
receive baptism,
30. You are in Christ Jesus. To be in Christ is to be
a member of His Church (Rom. xvi. n, 17; ib. viii. i ;
Gal. i. 22).
Christ is not said to have made us wise, but Himself
to be made unto us wisdom, to show the abundance of the
gift. As the wisdom of Christ is not imputed to us,
but is really communicated to us, so also His justice
and sanctity are not imputed but really communicated
to us, making us inwardly and really just and holy.
"Justification is not the mere forgiveness of sins, but
is sanctification also and the renewal of the inner man.
. . . Receiving the gift of the justice of God, not that
wherewith He Himself is just, but that whereby He
makes us just, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind,
and are not only reputed, but are truly called and are
just " (Council of Trent, Sess. 6, c. 7).
31. An abridged quotation of Jer. ix. 23, 24. It was
vainglory that had set the Corinthians first despising
and then quarrelling with one another.
I. CORINTHIANS ii.
CHAPTER II.
I. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not in loftiness of
speech or of wisdom ; declaring to you the testimony of Christ :
2. For I judged not myself to know any thing among you, but
Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3. And I was with you in weak
ness, and in fear, and in much trembling : 4. And my speech and
my preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom,
but in the showing of the Spirit and power ; 5. That your faith
might not stand on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
6. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among the perfect ; yet not the
wisdom of this world, neither of the princes of this world, who are
destroyed : 7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
which is hidden, which God predestinated before the world, unto
our glory ; 8. Which none of the princes of this world knew : for
if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of
glory. 9. But, as it is written : The eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things
God hath prepared for them that love him. 10. But to us God
hath revealed them by his Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all
things, even the profound things of God. n. For what man
knoweth the things of a man, but the spirit of a man that is in
him ? So the things also that are of God no man knoweth, but the
Spirit of God. 12. Now we have received not the spirit of this
world, but the Spirit that is of God ; that we may know the things
that are given us from God : 13. Which things also we speak, not
in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the doctrine of the
Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14. But the
sensual man perceiveth not the things that are. of the Spirit of God :
for it is foolishness to him, and he cannot understand ; because it
is spiritually examined. 15. But the spiritual man judgeth all
things: and he himself is judged by no one. 16. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him ? But we
have the mind of Christ.
i. It seems likely that the Apostle came from Athens
to Corinth much mortified and abashed ; and that his
addresses to the Corinthians were delivered in a tone
and style unusually subdued and simple, like the speech
of a man heavy with recent disappointment and appre
hensive of further failure. We must beware therefore
io 7. CORINTHIANS ii. 2, 3.
how we take these verses to indicate St. Paul s normal
manner of preaching. By nature and by education, as
his writings show, the Apostle of the Gentiles must
have been a great orator, subject doubtless to those fits
of depression which frequently beset genius. Cf. note
on Gal. iv. 13.
2. The cross is honourable in our eyes ; but in the
first century of the Church it required considerable
enthusiasm in a preacher of the gospel, to avow and
set in a strong light the fact that his Master and his
God had recently died the death of a slave.
3. In weakness. The phrase tv ao-OfveLa may mean in
lowly estate, and allude to his working as a tent-maker,
Acts xviii. 3.
In fear and in much trembling. "What sayest thoti ?
did Paul actually fear dangers ? Yes, he did fear and
was very much afraid : for he was human, though he
was Paul. This is no charge against Paul, but a
weakness of nature, and a commendation of his resolve,
in that, for all his fear of death and stripes, he did
nothing unseemly through that fear. They who say
that he had no fear of stripes, not only do not elevate
his character, but detract much from his praises. For
if he had no fear, what constancy or what philosophy
was there in his braving dangers ? It is for this that
I admire him, that fearing, aye even trembling as he
did at dangers, he everywhere ran his race victoriously"
(St. John Chrysostom).
If then at Corinth (a] the believers were generally
mean and illiterate people (i. 26) ; (b) the preacher and
founder of the church there was a man who made a
poor show to human eyes (ii. 3, 4) ; (c) the truth
preached and believed in was Christ crucified, to
human intelligence a scandal and a folly (i. 23 ; ii. 2) ;
then Christianity at Corinth was of no human creation ;
it was created by the power and inward motion of the
/. CORINTHIANS ii. 5, 6. n
Holy Ghost, working in the hearts of them that believed.
The final conclusion is that the Corinthians had no
matter for self-glorification, no matter for despising
their neighbour, no matter for contention and strife, in
any gift that Christianity had brought to them.
5. The power of God shone forth by the miraculous
gifts enumerated in ch. xii.
6. The perfect here are not the whole multitude of
the faithful, but, according to the definition given of
the designation, Heb. v. 14, they who by custom have their
senses exercised to the discernment of good and evil. The perfect
man is the spiritual man (v. 15), the full-grown Christian
who is arrived unto the measure of the age of the fulness of
Christ (Eph. iv. 13). He is marked off from the children,
who are deceived by cunning craftiness (Eph. iv. 14) ;
from the partaker of milk, unskilful in the word of justice
(Heb. v. 13) ; which was the condition of the Corinthians
themselves (iii. i, 2). Wisdom, the strong meat (Heb.
v. 14), is the higher teaching of Christian theology,
such as we read in Heb. vii. viii. ix ; Rom. ix. x. xi. :
as distinguished from the first elements of the words of God
(Heb. v. 12), or the primary truths of the catechism,
e.g. those mentioned in Heb. vi. i, 2. But by wisdom
here we are particularly to understand the doctrine of
sanctifying grace, the theme of Eph. i. ii. iii. ; 2 Pet.
i. 4: set forth, after all, not ignobly in this very epistle
under the head of the more excellent way of charity,
ch. xiii.
The princes of this world are the devils, the spirits of
wickedness, the rulers of the world of this darkness (Eph.
vi. 12: cf. John xii. 31 ; xiv. 30; Eph. ii. 2 ; 2 Cor.
iv. 4) : not however the devils only, but their human
instruments, the misled great ones of this earth, such
as Caiphas and Pilate ; also the whole crowd of pro
fessors and poets, philosophers and politicians, men of
leading, but not of Christian light : none of these have
12 /. CORINTHIANS ii. 7, 8.
had any practical insight into the mystery of Christian
life.
7. The meaning is : We deliver as a mystery, under
stood only of the few, the wisdom of God in the scheme
of our salvation. The Church has never kept back any
of her doctrines from the baptized. At present she
publishes them to all the world. They are published,
but not understood : they are preached on the house
tops, and still remain a mystery. The unbeliever hears,
and as mere notions he understands, the dogmas of
faith : but he has no real appreciation of them. To
the enunciation of Christian truth, considered as an
intelligible proposition, he gives what Cardinal Newman
calls a notional assent, not a real assent. See Grammar of
Assent, ch. i. 2.
And even among believers there are differences
of appreciation: the spiritual man (v. 15), the perfect man
(v. 6), understands higher lessons, that would be lost
upon the yet carnal Christian, the mere little one in Christ
(iii. i, 2).
Predestinated before the world, as a father makes provi
sion for his children ere they are capable of enjoying it.
8. That is, if the authors of our Saviour s crucifixion,
the devils and the men whom they instigated, had
understood how Christ crucified was to take away sin,
to overcome death and hell, to open heaven, and to
reign glorious on earth, they would have shrunk back
from a deed so ill-judged for Satan s purposes, and so
sacrilegious for man to dare. Thus Annas, Caiphas,
and those about them knew not what they did (Luke
xxiii. 34), in that sense in which St. John says: Whoso
ever sinneth, hath not seen him nor known him (i John iii. 6).
There is ignorance in every sin, but the ignorance in
this case was least excusable in the chief priests, and
most excusable in the rude executioners nailing Him
to the cross, who were the immediate objects of our
/. CORINTHIANS ii. 912. 13
Lord s prayer. St. Peter repeats this assertion of
ignorance: And now, brethren, I know you did it through
ignorance, as did also your rulers (Acts iii. 17) : and
St. Stephen they that inhabited Jerusalem, and the rulers
thereof, not knowing him, nor the voices of the prophets (Acts
xiii. 27). Cf. John viii. 19. But when after the
triumph of the cross, and the wonders wrought in the
name of the Crucified (Acts iv. 10), the Jews as a
people remained still incredulous, Divine justice handed
the unbelieving city over to Titus the besieger.
9. A free rendering of Isaias Ixiv. 4, which should
not surprise us, when we remember that the same
Holy Spirit, who was the author of the prophecy, was
likewise the author of this epistle. An author often
explains a previous saying of his own by putting it in
another and more striking dress. The things which God
hath prepared are the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph.
iii. 8), grace on earth and glory in Pleaven. The
passage, Eph. iii. 3 9, should be compared with vv. 7,
8, 9 here.
10, ii. A strong proof of the Divinity of the Holy
Ghost.
12. The spirit of this world is the wisdom of the flesh.
Read Rom. viii. 5 18, which also declares what the
things are which we know by the Spirit to be given us
from God. On the spirit of this world see 2 Cor. iv. 4 ;
Eph. ii. 2; i John iv. 3 6; v. 19; James iii. 15.
It is the special office of the Spirit of God to make
us appreciate and be careful of things supernatural :
while on the other hand heedlessness of supernatural
good, as pastors of souls by bitter experience know, is
the commonest and at the same time the most desperate
of evils in a Christian congregation. The people do
not want their priest : socially he may be welcome, but
not in his spiritual capacity. See however Luke x. 16;
John xii. 48.
/. CORINTHIANS ii. 1316.
13. Learned words of human wisdom : more literally,
words which are taught by human wisdom.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual, i.e. taking the
measure of spiritual things by spiritual standards, not
judging of spiritual things carnally. There is a Greek
epitaph : /^ //.e Tu</>a> crvy/cpn/e, " Take not my measure
by the modesty of my tomb " : where the same word is
used which St. Paul has here, o-uy/cpiWre?.
14. The sensual man here is not necessarily the man
given up to sensuality and sin, but the merely natural
man, the man who rests satisfied with his own human
reasonings and the promptings of his nature to goodness,
not recognising his need of light and grace from a
superhuman source. To such a man the things of God
are foolishness, and he cannot understand them, because
they need to be examined on spiritual principles, of
which he has none.
15. The spiritual man, in spiritual things, is judged of
no man, that is not spiritual.
1 6. This verse amounts to an argument as follows.
None knoweth the mind of the Lord, to instruct Him
(a quotation from the Greek text of Isaias xl. 13). But
we, as spiritual men, have the mind of Christ, that is,
of the Lord. Therefore none is in a position to instruct
us : that is to say, no mere natural-minded man can
fathom, judge of, or add to our knowledge of the things
of the spirit. The doctrine requires this caution, that
any one who assumed himself to be a spiritual person,
and his superiors in their several places and degrees to
be carnal-minded men, would show little of that humi
lity, which is the surest indication of the mind of Christ.
/. CORINTHIANS in. i. 15
CHAPTER III.
I. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as
to carnal. As to little ones in Christ, 2. I gave you milk to drink,
not meat : for you were not able as yet : but neither indeed are you
now able; for you are yet carnal. 3. For whereas there is among
you envying and contention, are you not carnal, and walk according
to man ? 4. For while one saith, I indeed am of Paul ; and another,
I am of Apollo ; are you not men ? What then is Apollo, and what
is Paul ? 5. The ministers of him whom you have believed ; and
to every one as the Lord hath given. 6. I have planted, Apollo
watered ; but God gave the increase. 7. So then neither he that
planteth is any thing, nor he that watereth ; but God who giveth
the increase. 8. Now he who planteth and he who watereth are
one: and every man shall receive his own reward, according to
his own labour. 9. For we are God s coadjutors ; you are God s
husbandry ; you are God s building. 10. According to the grace of
God, that is given to me, as a wise architect, I have laid the
foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take
heed how he buildeth thereupon, n. For no one can lay another
foundation but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. 12. Now
if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, stubble ; 13. Every man s work shall be made manifest :
for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed
by fire ; and the fire shall try every man s work of what sort it is.
14. If any man s work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he
shall receive a reward. 15. If any man s work burn, he shall suffer
loss : but he himself shall be saved ; yet so as by fire. 16. Know
you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you ? 17. But if any man violate the temple of God,
him shall God destroy : for the temple of God is holy, which you
are. 18. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you
seem to be wise in this world, let him become a tool, that he may
be wise. 19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with
God : for it is written : I will catch the wise in their own craftiness.
20. And again : The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that
they are vain. 21. Let no man, therefore, glory in men. 22. For
all things are yours, whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas, or
the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come :
for all are yours ; 23. And you are Christ s, and Christ is God s.
i. Carnal. The carnal man here meant is the man
who is spiritualised to a certain extent, but only to a
i6 /. CORINTHIANS iii. 24.
very small extent a little one in Christ, retaining much
of the sensual, or natural man (ii. 14) still about him. If
to be carnal in this limited sense is a hinderance to the
appreciation of the heights of Christian teaching, no
wonder if being carnal in the fuller sense of being sold
under sin (Rom. vii. 14) is in many cases a total obstacle
to the reception of the truths of faith. Cf. John
iii. 20.
2. Milk, not meat. Cf. Heb. v. 12 14. The reproach
was graver as addressed to the Hebrews, whose local
church had existed over thirty years, than it is here as
uttered to the Corinthians, Christians as yet of scarce
six years standing.
3. Envying and contention, ?}Aos /col epts. The two are
enumerated among the works of the flesh in Gal. v. 20,
where our version has contentions, emulations. The word
77X0$ in Aristotle, Rhetoric ii. n, means emulation, as
distinguished from envy by this, that the envious man
wishes his neighbour not to have the good, which the
emulous wishes to share with him. The word is used
in a good sense also by St. Paul, 2 Cor. vii. 7, ii ;
ix. 2 ; xi. 2.
Walk according to man. To walk is the common
Hebrew idiom for to conduct oneself, e.g. Eph. iv. 17 : walk
not as also the gentiles walk. To walk according to man is to
conduct oneself according to the dictates of human
nature, divorced from the Spirit of God.
4. Paul, Apollo, see on i. 12.
Are you not men? The Greek textiis receptus, but not
the best Greek manuscripts, has Are ye not carnal ? Men
here &re flesh and blood (Matt. xvi. 17, 23 ; i Cor. xv. 50),
as opposed to those whom our Saviour calls gods (Matt.
x. 34, 35). These Corinthians were not mere flesh and
blood, else there would have been no Christian holiness
in them at all : but the process of sanctification, deifica
tion (that is, assimilation to God), and divine faith
/. CORINTHIANS Hi. 58. 17
(John i. 12, 13) in them was as yet very imperfectly
accomplished.
5. A better reading is that of all the Greek MSS.
and Fathers, ministers through whom you believed, Si <Sv.
St. Augustine has both this and the Vulgate reading.
Paul, Cephas, Apollo, are ministers, but Christ is
much more, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than
they (Heb. i. 4) the author and finisher of faith (Heb.
xii. 2) ; the Crucified, in whose name men are baptized
(i- 13).
6. / have planted ; for in Christ Jesus by the gospel I have
begotten you (iv. 15).
Apollo watered ; who, when he was come, helped them much
who had believed (Acts xviii. 27).
God gave the increase. There is more meaning in this,
if we hold that all manner of increase, germination, or
generation, involves a certain special concurrence of
the Almighty, as St. John Chrysostom teaches.
"Though men till the earth, and have the help of
cattle for the purpose, and pay great attention to the
tillage, and though there be fair weather, and all
other earthly requisites combined, still, apart from the
Master s assent, it is all vain and to no purpose ; and
nothing will come of those many labours and toils,
unless the hand of Heaven joins in the work, and gives
it to the crop to fructify and come to maturity (/AT) KOI
ipos o-fi/e^aTTTO/xeK^?, /cat rrjv TtXecr^opTycriv X a P L ~
TOIS ytvo/zeVoi?). Horn. v. On Genesis.
8. Are one, as having the same ministry and dis
pensation of the mysteries of God (iv. i). St. Paul
seems anxious here to show his union with Apollo, and
to waive any claim of ecclesiastical superiority. He
goes on to say however, as a warning against idleness,
that oneness of ministry does not mean oneness of
merit, but merit varies according to the quantity and
quality of the labour done. Of the labour, not of the
i8 I. CORINTHIANS iii. g, 10.
fruit : at the same time it is the part of a wise servant
(Matt. xxiv. 45), to lay out his labour with an eye to
returns (Luke xviii. 23).
Thus then " there is an individuality, as well as a
unity in the work of the ministry. This is, however,
not a thing to be noticed by men, but it will be
recognised by the great Master" (Shore).
9. We are God s coadjutors (a-wepyoi) . Cf. Mark xvi.
20, the Lord working withal (orwepyowros), and confirming
the word. St. Paul here speaks of apostolic labours,
but the text has its application to all works done in and
with grace, and consequently meritorious. See the
Council of Trent, Sess. 6. c. 16.
Husbandry, building. The metaphor is suddenly
changed, and the new metaphor is carried on for the
next eight verses. " If you are a building, you must
not part asunder" (St. Chrysostom).
10. Dropping the metaphor, we have this meaning :
" I have been the first to preach Christ and make
Christians at Corinth : others are proceeding with the
instruction of the Christians whom I have made. Only
let these my successors look to the character of the
instruction that they impart."
Of these instructors, whom the Apostle evidently
means to censure, we may observe :
(a) They were not teaching heresy : for they were
building on the foundation of Christ (vv. n, 12), and they
were in a condition to be saved (v. 15).
(b) Their style of teaching was such as to argue a
motive of vainglory and emulous desire to eclipse
St. Paul (i. 31 ; iv. 7 ; 2 Cor. x. 15 ; xi. 12 18).
(c) The matter of their teaching was faulty, though
not heretical, not improbably in this, that they were
Judaisers, over-much insisting on the observances of
the Mosaic law (2 Cor. xi. 21, 22).
(d) They would then have been of the party that
/. CORINTHIANS iii. u, 12. ig
called themselves of Cephas. Apollo was not of them,
for at this time he was away with St. Paul at Ephesus
(xvi. 12).
ii. That (foundation) which is laid, which is Christ
Jesus.
" Upon this then," says St. Chrysostom, " let us
build, and hold to it as a foundation, as a branch to a
vine, and let nothing come between us and Christ : for
if anything does come between, we are immediately
lost. So the branch by its continuity with the trunk
draws the sap ; and the building stands by being knit
together ; whereas, if it opens into clefts, it is lost, not
having support for itself. Let us not then merely
cling to Christ, but let us knit ourselves fast to Him.
If we part from Him, we are lost, as the text says:
They that go far from thee, shall perish (Ps. Ixx. 6). Let
us then cleave fast to Him, and cleave fast by deeds :
for he that keepeth my commandments, he it is that abideth in
me (John xiv. 21 ; xv. 10). And by many illustrations
He signifies His union with us. Just consider. He is
the head, we the body : can any gap come between
head and body ? He is the foundation, we the building:
He is the vine, we the branches: He is the bridegroom,
we the bride : He is the shepherd, we the flock : He
is the way, we the wayfarers. Again, we are the
temple, He the indweller : He the firstborn, we the
brethren : He is the heir, we the co-heirs : He is the
life, we the living : He is the resurrection, we the raised :
He is the light, we the enlightened. These are all so
many significations of union, and exclude anything,
even the least separation, from coming between us.
For he that stands off ever so little from Christ, in time
will stand off far."
12. The gold and silver will be proved by the foe,
melted down and purged of dross. The precious stones
are not gems but marbles, which have some capacity
20 /. CORINTHIANS iii. 12.
of standing fire. But the wood, hay, and stubble, will be
utterly consumed. In Corinth, as in Ephesus where
the Apostle wrote, there might have been seen hovels
built of lath and plaster (wood), the chinks in the walls
stuffed with straw (hay), and the roof covered with
thatch (stubble). These wretched tenements would
perish utterly, and no doubt often did perish, in con
flagrations from which the temples with their marble
pillars and gilt capitals escaped uninjured.
By the materials here mentioned are we to under
stand doctrines or works ? Not exactly either the one
or the other : that is to say, not doctrines in the sense
of things taught : nor again works in general, not
at least primarily ; but the primary reference is to
works of teaching, to the act of delivering these or
those doctrines, to the various ways in which the office
of preaching the gospel was discharged either in the
Church at Corinth or elsewhere. No doubt from this
special kind of work, and its testing by fire, a generalisa
tion may be drawn to all other works of Christian men,
so far as those works are built upon the foundation, which is
Christ Jesus.
The act of teaching heretical doctrine is not built
upon the foundation of Christ at all ; there is therefore no
question of heresy in this verse. Heresy would come
under the violation of the temple of God (v. 17). So this
verse can by no licit generalisation be extended to
mortal sins. It can however and should be extended
to all venial sins, committed by a person in the state
of grace. Not that a venial sin, precisely as it is sinful,
is built upon the foundation of Christ : but the man
who commits it, even while he sins, remains founded
on Christ, and in His grace. Moreover the venial sin
is frequently an imperfect way of doing a good work,
as when a priest says his office with distractions, or a
person approaches the altar-rail led partly by vanity.
/. CORINTHIANS iii. 13. 21
Thus St. Thomas says : " A venial sin is not against
the law : because in sinning venially one does not do
what the law forbids, or omit to do what the law binds
one to under precept ; but it is beside the law, because
it does not observe the mode of reason which the law
intends" (la 23e, q. 88, art. i, ad. i).
13. The day of the Lord. Of the Lord is not in the
Greek: but that the day here is the day of the Lord, i.e.
the day of judgment, is clear from iv. 3, 5.
It shall be revealed. The pronoun may refer either to
the day or to the work; or we may read the phrase
impersonally, there shall be a revealing in fire.
The fire shall try, TO Trvp O.VTO Sojaftduret, which means,
tfo fire, without further experiment or testimony, will prove.
I take avro to be nominative, not accusative. The
textus receptus omits avro.
The understanding of the whole passage turns on the
sense we attach to the word fire, metaphorical or not.
Is there question of a real, flaming fire, or is no more
alleged than that the judgment of God is sharp and keen ?
On the one hand we observe that throughout the passage
the language is metaphorical foundation, precious stones,
wood, stubble : why should fire alone be taken in the
proper sense of the word ? The answer is, because
we know from other places of the New Testament
(2 Pet. iii. 7 ; 2 Thess. i. 8), that the world is to perish
by fire at the day of judgment, as it perished by water
at the deluge. St. Paul knowing that, and speaking of
the day of judgment, could not have had in his mind
any mere metaphorical fire. As well say that it is a
metaphorical heat which is attributed to the sun in the
text : There is no one that can hide himself from his heat
(Ps. xviii. 6).
At the same time we must allow that there is some
thing figurative in the expression : for fire cannot by
itself try, test, and distinguish, works praiseworthy and
22 /. CORINTHIANS in. 14, 15.
blameworthy : a man s work, his preaching or other
action, cannot literally burn (v. 15). We must under
stand then by fire here the judgment of God at the last
day, the first act of which will be a consuming flame of
real and true fire, which God will direct to the purposes
of His justice.
14. St. Thomas (Supplem. q. 74. art. 8) argues that
the good, in whom no fault is found, will suffer no pain
from the fire that is to devour the world before the day
of judgment. If then the wicked perish in that con
flagration, and also the just who have upon them the
liabilities of unexpiated sin, though not of sin unto
death ; it follows that they alone shall remain alive to
be changed at the last day (xv. 51, 52), and overclothed
(2 Cor. v. 2), who are so pure as to be ready at once for
heaven. Their work shall abide the trial of fire : they
shall receive reward, for to them it may be said : I find thy
works full before my God (Apoc. iii. 2).
15. The minister who mingles vanity with his
motives and unauthorised additions with his words, in
preaching the gospel, shall suffer loss of reward for that
vain and superfluous portion of his work. That portion
of his work shall burn and be brought to nought so far
as reward goes ; and further, he, the doer, shall burn for
it. The fires that go before the judgment-day, if he
happen to be alive at that age of the world, shall have
in his suffering of them an expiatory character. He
shall find in them his Purgatory on earth : a Purgatory
which the prudent and safer builders up of God s word
shall escape. Still, inasmuch as he is after all a good
Christian, finishing his course in the grace of God, he
himself shall be saved, and the just judge will render him the
crown of justice (2 Tim. iv. 7, 8). He shall be saved, yet
so as by fire. That is to say, the fire that shall consume
the world, coming to burn him, shall form an essential
preliminary to his attaining his crown. The prudent
1. CORINTHIANS iii. 15. 23
and safer builders will not need to pass through that
fire. Indeed they must escape it, to be alive at the day
of judgment. God s Providence will arrange it so, as
St. Thomas says. But the builder up of wood and
stubble must burn along with his works.
St. Paul throughout speaks as though the day of
judgment might come in the lifetime of those Corin-
ihians to whom he writes. We must not be surprised
if even an inspired writer was left in ignorance of a day
and hour which no man knoweth, no not the angels of heaven
(Matt. xxiv. 36). Cf. vi. 14 and note.
The argument of Catholic theology on this passage
proceeds as follows. If those venially offending Corin
thian teachers required to pass through fire before they
could reach their salvation and final reward ; then in
default of the fire of the last day, of which immediately
the Apostle speaks, coming upon them in their life
time, and also in default of their furnishing any other
satisfaction in their lifetime, some equivalent of purg
ing fire must overtake after death all such debtors to
God s justice.
This is the argument for the doctrine of Purgatory,
drawn from this passage. Like other scriptural
arguments, it must be taken in support of, and not
wholly independent of, the tradition of the Catholic
Church and her living, speaking authority. Viewed as
involving a reference to Purgatory, St. Paul s note of
warning to the Corinthian teachers has a depth and a
gravity about it that strikes the heart. Set Purgatory
aside, and there remains a faintly appreciated metaphor :
The trumpet gives an uncertain sound (xiv. 8).
We must observe, however, that the five which is
mentioned in this text, is not precisely the fire of
Purgatory, but the fire which will burn upon the face
of this earth before the day of judgment. From what
St. Paul says of that fire we argue the existence of
/. CORINTHIANS iii. 16, 17.
Purgatory. An argument is also drawn from the same
source that there is fire in Purgatory ; but this second
conclusion is not of faith. It is generally ignored by the
Greek Fathers, and not admitted in the Greek Church ;
nor was it pressed upon the Greeks by the Latins at the
Council of Florence as a condition of reunion. That
Council was content to define that "the souls of those
who have died truly penitent and in the charity of God,
before they have satisfied by worthy fruits of penance
for their sins of commission and omission, are cleansed
by the pains of Purgatory after death ; " and this, with
the addition made by the Council of Trent (Sess. 25),
that " that the souls there detained are aided by the
suffrages of the faithful, and especially by ths
acceptable sacrifice of the Altar," is all that is of faith
in this matter. Catholics however generally believe
that fire is one of the punishments of Purgatory.
Against this purgatorial fire St. Paul here seems to
caution the Corinthian doctors, and all others who do
good works with a large admixture of imperfection and
disorder.
16. The connection is: Be not surprised at the
punishment in store for those who would build you up
with imperfect teachings, you who are the temple of
God. The temple of God spoken of here is the
Christian body at Corinth collectively. An argument
is hence drawn for the Divinity of the Holy Ghost thus :
You are the temple of God.
He who dwells in God s temple as in his own abode
is God.
The Spirit of God dwells in you as in His own.
Therefore
17. Better, according to the best Greek reading:
// any man shall destroy the temple of God, him shall God
destroy. The triple repetition of // any man, vv. 14, 15,
17, is to be noticed, pointing as it does to three classes :
/. CORINTHIANS iii. 1923. 25
(a) those who teach perfect truth perfectly, and have
an entire reward : (b) those who teach truth with im
perfection, and have their reward, but with some loss
and punishment annexed : (c) teachers of heresy and
false doctrine; destroyers of the Church, so far as in
them lies ; themselves to be destroyed by God in turn.
19. The wisdom of this world is the wisdom that is
void of the grace of the Spirit, and uses only human
arguments, even in religious matters. We have here
not a condemnation of learning or science simply, but
of learning and science thus isolated and misapplied.
The words of Eliphaz, Job s friend (Job v. 13), are
here quoted as inspired. Job xxxix. 30 is quoted by
our Saviour, Matt. xxiv. 28. He is mentioned by
St. James (James v. n). St. Paul again, Rom. xi. 35,
quotes Job xli. 2.
22. This is the final answer to : / am of Paul, I am of
Apollo, I am of Cephas, i. 12. You are not of them as
appendages or adherents, but they are yours. It is an
application to Church matters of the grand political
maxim, that all government is for the governed.
The climax reads much better, if the second for
(enim) in this verse is omitted : it is not in the Greek.
23. Christ is God s. The Arians made much of this,
that St. Paul does not say that Christ is God, as
though he thereby implied him to be a creature of God.
But that word creature is all of the Arians putting in.
As St. John Chrysostom says: "We are Christ s in a
different way from that in which Christ is God s, or
that in which the world is ours. We are Christ s as
being His work : Christ is God s as His natural-born
Son, not as His work, as neither is the world our work.
Thus though the manner of speaking is one, the sense
varies."
Possibly Christ is God s is added for their sake who
said, / of Christ, i. 12 (where see note).
2 6 /. CORINTHIANS iv.
CHAPTER IV.
I. Let a man so look upon us as the ministers of Christ, and the
dispensers of the mysteries of God. 2. Here now it is required
among the dispensers, that a man be found faithful. 3. But as to
me, it is a thing of the least account to be judged by you, or by
human judgment : but neither do I judge myself. 4. For I am not
conscious to myself of any thing; yet in this I am not justified:
but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5. Therefore judge not 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 every man have praise from God.
6. But these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to
myself and to Apollo, for your sakes ; that in us you may learn,
that one be not puffed up against the other for another, above that
which is written. 7. For who distinguisheth thee ? and what hast
thou that thou hast not received ? and if thou hast received, why
dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ? 8. Now you are
satiated, now you are become rich, you reign without us ; and I
would to God you did reign, that we also might reign with you.
9. For I think that God hath set forth us apostles the last, as it
were men destinated to death : because we are made a spectacle to
the world, and to Angels, and to men. 10. We are fools for
Christ s sake, but you are wise in Christ : we are weak, but you are
strong: you are honourable, but we without honour, n. Even
unto this hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are
buffeted, and have no fixed abode : 12. And we labour, working
with our own hands : we are reviled, and we bless : we are perse
cuted, and we sufier it : 13. We are ill spoken of, and we entreat :
we are made as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all even
till now. 14. I write not these things to shame you ; but I
admonish you, as my dearest children : 15. For if you have ten
thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers : for in Christ
Jesus 1 have begotten you through the gospel. 16. Wherefore I
beseech you, be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ. 17. For
this cause have I sent to you Timothy, who is my dearest son, and
faithful in the Lord ; who will put you in mind of my ways, which
are in Christ Jesus, as I teach everywhere in every church.
18. Some are so puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
19. But I will come to you shortly, if it please the Lord, and will
know, not the speech of them who are puffed up, but the power.
/. CORINTHIANS iv. 14. 27
20. For the kingdom of God is not in speech, but in power.
21. What will you ? shall I come to you with a rod, or in charity,
and in the spirit of meekness ?
i. This verse is a resumption of iii. 4, 5 : What then
is Apollo, and what is Paul ? The ministers of him whom you
have believed.
The mysteries of God, of which there is question
throughout this argument, are the mysteries of divine
truth, dispensed by preaching. The reference to sacra
ments is only indirect, inasmuch as the dispenser of
the word of God likewise dispenses the sacraments.
3. This is not pride : for the Apostle not only
declines other men s judgments, but even his own
judgment upon himself. Rather it is a specimen of
that scorn which St. Thomas (11-11. q. 129, art. 3, ad 4),
after Aristotle, assigns as a mark of magnanimity, and
quite consistent with humility.
By man s day, i.e. by man while his day lasts, and it
is yet his turn to sit in judgment. Mans day is con
trasted with the day of the Lord (Isaias ii. n ; xiii. 6, 9),
the great judgment-day. So we read of the day of Jeru
salem, the hour of Jerusalem s triumph and restoration
of the city (Psalm cxxxvi. 7 : cf. St. Luke xxii. 53).
Again it is said : / have not desired the day of man (Jerem.
xvii. 16), the fleeting hour of human pre-eminence.
4. Of anything, that is, of any shortcoming in my
dispensation of the word of God. The statement is
particular, but admits of generalisation to all the duties
of a Christian man, upon the performance of which his
finding acceptance with God depends. Hence it involves
the rejection of the doctrine of assurance, that to be just
before God, we must believe with the firm certainty of
faith that we are just in His eyes. And so it is used
by the Tridentine Fathers (Sess. vi. c. 16) : " Because
we all offend in many things, every man, as he ought to
have mercy and goodness, so also should have severity
28 /. CORINTHIANS iv. 6, 7.
and judgment before his eyes, and not judge himself,
though he be conscious to himself of nothing ; because
all the life of men is to be examined not by human
judgment, but by that of God, who will bring to light,
&c.,z>. 5."
St. Paul s argument to the Corinthians is : I cannot
judge with absolute assurance of my own merits as a
Christian teacher, how then can you judge me ? After
all, the Apostle must have had fair ground for believing
himself faultless (see i John iii. 21) : only he says his
own acquittal of himself is not an authoritative and
final acquittal : that is reserved for God alone, authori
tatively to acquit or condemn. Accordingly it is by
divine authority that he presently proceeds to judge the
incestuous Corinthian, v. 3, 4. They to whom he was
writing had no such authority to judge him.
6. / have in a figure transferred, /*ereo-;(i7/umo-a, transfigii-
ravi, literally, / have transformed. The word is used 2 Cor.
xi. 13, 14, 15; Philip, iii. 21. The Apostle says that
he has altered the form of his language from what he
might have used with propriety and truth. He refers
to iii. 4, 5, 6. Instead of What then is Apollo, and what
is Paul ? he might have set down the names of certain
other Corinthian teachers, whom he will not name, but
whom he addresses, vv. 7, 8.
One puffed up against another for another. They formed
parties, called from the names of their several teachers,
and contended with one another, each taking credit for
the merits of his own teacher, as schoolboys brag of
the schools where they are severally brought up.
Above that which is written, Jerem. ix. 23, 24 quoted
above, i. 31.
7. This and the next verse is addressed, not to the
Corinthians generally, but to certain unnamed teachers
among them, ringleaders of faction.
Who distinguished thee? as having any good gift which
I. CORINTHIANS iv. 8 10. 29
others have not. And if thou hast any distinguished
excellence, is it not after all a gift? The text refers
literally to natural gifts, such as eloquence, learning,
and ingenuity, the makings of a popular teacher. But
by controversialists, from St. Augustine downwards, it
has been alleged to evince the gratuitousness of super
natural graces. The allegation is just, considered as
an argument a minori ad majus. If the less is not of
ourselves, as of ourselves (2 Cor. iii. 5), certainly not the
greater.
8. You reign, /3a.(n\v<rarc, literally, you have come to be
kings. Ironical of course.
9. Hath set its forth the last, i.e. has made us appear
the meanest of the mean.
Men appointed to death. Tertullian, De pudicitia, c. 14,
quotes this text, reading here bestiaries. The bestiarii
were men who fought with wild beasts in the amphi
theatre. Some of them, like the Spanish matadors, were
armed, and expected to show their prowess, and slay
the beast. Others were condemned criminals tTriBav-
OLTLOL, St. Paul s word, as being rl 6a.va.ru, bound for
death thrown unarmed among the beasts to be
devoured by them, while the people looked on. This
was the treatment of the Christian martyrs in the
generation immediately following St. Paul, men who
actually became that " food for beasts " to which
St. Paul here likens himself and his fellow-apostles.
To angels. As St. Chrysostom says, some perform
ances are a sight and a spectacle to men, but con
temptible to the angels, as the vainglorious displays
of the Corinthian doctors ; not so the acts of the
apostles.
10. Wise in Christ, that is, in the Church and under
the gospel. " You enjoy security, and are much
courted : but that is not permitted by gospel condi
tions. The present is not a time of honour and glory,
30 7. CORINTHIANS iv. n 16.
such as you enjoy, but of persecution and ill-treatment,
such as we suffer. It is impossible for one to be
accounted a fool, another wise ; one strong, and another
weak, under a gospel that does not admit of both the
one and the other alternative. If it were possible for
some to be one thing and some another, there might be
some reason in your position ; but now that is not
possible : it is not possible for a Christian teacher to
pose as a wise man, great and glorious, and out of
reach of danger." So St. John Chrysostom, declaring
the mind of St. Paul and of all the Saints.
11. Have no fixed abode. Cf. Matt. viii. 20.
12. Working with our hands at tent-making, St. Paul s
trade, Acts xviii. 3 ; xx. 34.
13. We are blasphemed, and we entreat, /3\acr(t>r)fji.ovfj.voi
Trapa/caAov/xev, i.e. we are spoken ill of and still go on
exhorting men to good.
Refuse, off scouring, TrepLKaOdpfJiara, Trcpu/^/ua. This
translation may be exact. Or the two words may both
mean scapegoat, as Trepi/cafla/o/xa does in Proverbs xxi. 18.
and TrcpLij/Tjfjia in Tobias v. 18. At Athens a worthless
person, called KaOap^a, was flung into the sea in time of
public calamity, with the words, " Be thou our scape
goat (-Tre/ot^/xa)." The words in the Vulgate are
purgamenta and peripsema, the latter itself the Greek
word, the former ambiguous as the Greek. The
translation worthless fellow, scapegoat, would go well
with the idea of food for beasts in v. 9.
14. To confound you, evrpeTrwv, the only instance in the
New Testament of the active form of this verb. In
the middle it is not uncommon, meaning to reverence, e.g.
Matt. xxi. 37.
1 6. Be ye followers of me (repeated xi. i), that is, be
modest as I am, suffer as I suffer, and glory in your
sufferings, not in your gifts : let there be no more of the
contrast set forth in v. 10.
/. CORINTHIANS iv. 1720.
17. See xvi. 10, and Acts xix. 21, 22. Timothy was
not the bearer of this letter, which was despatched after
he had left Ephesus, to reach Corinth before him, he
going round by Macedonia.
1 8. As if I would not come to you. Rumour had
noised abroad that St. Paul dared not return to the
city where he had been outshone by Apollo. His
sending of Timothy might seem to confirm this report.
19. But I will come, xvi. 58, as he did, Acts xx. 2.
" As the presence of the lion makes all the beasts
crouch down, so the presence of Paul overawed the
corrupters of the Church." (St. Chrysostom).
19, 20. Power, the power of the Holy Ghost working
in men, whether unto miracles, as in Acts iv. 33 ; x. 38 :
or unto good works and works of edification, as here.
Here ends the first part of the Epistle, dealing with the
subject that is introduced i. 10.
32 I. CORINTHIANS v. i, 2.
CHAPTER V.
I. It is heard for certain that there is fornication among you,
and such fornication as the like is not among the heathens ; that
some one hath his father s wife. 2. And you are puffed up, and
have not rather mourned, that he might be taken away from among
you who hath done this deed. 3. 1 indeed, absent in body, but
present in spirit, have already judged, as though I were present,
him that hath so done : 4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
you being gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our
Lord Jesus Christ, 5. To deliver such a one to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 6. Your glorying is not good. Know you
not that a little leaven corrupteth the whole mass ? 7. Purge out
the old leaven, that you may be a new mass, as you are unleavened.
For Christ, our pasch, is sacrificed. 8. Therefore let us feast, not
with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness,
but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9. I wrote to
you in an epistle not to keep company with fornicators. 10. I
mean not with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous,
or the extortioners, or the servers of idols ; otherwise you must
have gone out of this world, n. But now I have written to you
not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or a server of idols, or a railer, or a
drunkard, or an extortioner ; with such a one not so much as to
eat. 12. For what have I to do to judge them that are without :
do not you judge them that are within ? 13. For them that are
without God will judge. Take away the evil one from among
yourselves.
1. Have his father s wife. It was a case of a man
marrying his stepmother, and that while his father was
yet alive, 2 Cor. vii. 12. No doubt he had gone through
the form of marrying her. Any connection short of
that would not have been so abiding a scandal, nor so
entirely unprecedented among the Gentiles. The
woman was probably a pagan, as the Apostle has no
word of reproach for her.
2. And you are puffed up. The Apostle s vehement
and pointed language finds its full explanation only in
I. CORINTHIANS v. 35. 33
the hypothesis of the Greek Fathers, that the offender
was one of those very teachers wise in Christ, who had
supplanted St. Paul in the estimation of the Corinthians.
He reproaches them (here and v. 6) for glorying in the
man, when they ought to have put him out of the Church.
3. Absent in body, but present in spirit, as Eliseus was to
Giezi, Was not my heart present etc. ? (4 Kings v. 26).
Him that hath so done. Him is the object, not of
have judged, but of deliver, v. 5.
4, 5. You being gathered together, and my spirit, i.e. you
being present bodily, and I spiritually, and both of us
fortified with the power of our Lord, we are (v. 5) to deliver
such a one (v. 4) in the name of our Lord to Satan. The
phrase to deliver to Satan, taken by itself, might mean no
more than to expel the offender from the Church, the
world outside the Church being taken to be the kingdom
of Satan (Luke xi. 21 ; Eph. vi. 12). But the addition,
fov the destruction of the flesh, which is evidently the body,
as distinguished from the spirit, or soul, shows that
some bodily harm is threatened, to ensue upon
ejection from the Church. The idea is to hurt his
body, yet so as to save his soul. It would appear that
with the apostolic grace of curing diseases, Matt. x. 8,
there went also the power of striking with illness, or
even with death, as St. Peter struck Ananias and
Saphira (Acts v) and St. Paul struck Elymas (Acts xiii.
n). Cf. Apoc. xi. 5. One variety of this power to hurt
would be to hand the offender over to Satan, as Job
was handed over (Job ii. 6, 7), though for a different
reason. The excommunicate thus handed over might
actually become a demoniac. Similar language used of
Hymenaeus and Alexander, i Tim. i. 20.
The Apostle tells them what his judgment is on the
case as he hears it. Still it is not apparent that he wished
to preclude the authorities at Corinth from trying and
passing sentence upon their subject. They were to
D
34 /. CORINTHIANS v. 6, 7.
bring him to trial, and punish him severely, if he was
found guilty and contumacious. From 2 Cor. v. 5, it
appears that they did try him, and condemned him, and
(v. 10.) abated his sentence upon his repentance.
6. Corrupteth, v//,oi, more properly, leaveneth. There
is an unlikely reading, SoAot, adulterates. But the Vulgate
version, comunpit, is sufficiently borne out by the
consideration that for the rites of the Passover, here
referred to, to leaven was to corrupt and make the bread
legally uneatable.
7. This Epistle was written about Easter time,
xvi. 8. The Apostle had before his eyes the carrying
out of the law of Exodus xii. 15. Seven days shall yon eat
unleavened bread ; in the first day there shall be no leaven in
yonr houses ; whosoever shall eat anything leavened from the
first day until the seventh day, that soul shall perish out of
Israel. So scrupulously did the Jews observe this
ordinance that, as St. Chrysostom says of them, " they
go vexing their souls about mouse-holes," to see if any
morsels of leavened bread had been carried there.
What is meant by leaven in v. 6 is evidently the evil,
company of the incestuous man ; cf. xv. 33. From evil
company the thought of the Apostle passes to evil
manners. That is the old leaven of vv. 7, 8 as Theodoret
puts it, " the leaven that was before baptism." These
two verses then are parenthetical to the main drift of
the chapter, which is resumed in v. 8.
Christ our Pasch is sacrificed. The pronoun our is to
be emphasized. Not only the Jews have, or had, their
Paschal Lamb: but Christ, oar Christian Pasch, that
is, Paschal Lamb (cf. Luke xxii. 7), by one oblation hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified (Heb. x. 14) ; and
therefore the life of the Christian convert should be, not
for one week, but for all time, lived aloof from the old
leaven of malice and wickedness, that was cast out of his
house at baptism.
/. CORINTHIANS v. 913. 35
The translation purge out is misleading. The word
, purgate, here has no medical significance : it
means clear out (of your house). When everything
leavened was cleared out, a new paste was made,
unleavened. St. Paul says to the Corinthians, you are,
metaphorically, that new paste, you are unleavened.
9. An epistle, now lost.
11. A server of idols, such a Christian as the Samari
tans were Israelites, 4 Kings xvii. 28, seq. History
shows how pagan worship died hard, even within the
fold of the Church. For traces of it at Corinth see
viii. 10 ; x. 20, 21. Cf. i John v. 21.
With such a one not so much as to eat. Cf. 2 Thess.
iii. 14. It is open to any individual, of himself and for
himself, to break off from the company of a fellow-
Christian, whom he considers a bad man. But to put
that person under a ban, and command and even
compel others to keep aloof from him, can only be
done by sentence of a competent tribunal. The Church
reserves to herself the right of excommunication, and
most rarely exercises it to the extent of declaring any
one an excommunicatus vitandus.
12. What have I to do to judge them that are without?
Quoting this text St. Thomas writes: "It does not
belong to the Church to punish unbelief in those who
have never received the faith : but the infidelity of
them who have received the faith is amenable to her
sentence and punishment," 2a 23e, q. 12, art. 2. The
Council of Trent, sess. xiv. cap. 2, also alleges it, to
bring out the difference between the sacraments of
Baptism and Penance : " The minister of Baptism need
not be a judge, since the Church exercises judgment on
none who has not first come into her by the door of
Baptism."
13. Put away the evil one fyom amongst yourselves, a
phrase of the Mosaic law, Deut. xiii. 5 ; xvii. 7 ; xxi. 21.
3 6 /. CORINTHIANS vi. i.
CHAPTER VI.
I. Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law
before the unjust, and not before the saints ? 2. Know you not
that the saints shall judge this world ? and if the world shall be
judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters ?
3. Know you not that we shall judge angels ? how much more
things of this world? 4. If, therefore, you shall have judgments
about the things of the world, set them to judge who are the most
despised in the church. 5. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that
there is not among you any wise man, that is able to judge between
his brethren ? 6. But brother goeth to law with brother, and that
before unbelievers ? 7. Already, indeed, there is plainly a fault
among you, that you have lawsuits one with another. Why do you
not rather take the injury? why do you not rather suffer the fraud ?
8. But you do wrong and defraud, and that to your brethren.
9. Know you not that the unjust shall not possess the kingdom of
God ? Be not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, 10. Nor the effeminate, nor sodomites, nor thieves,
nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor railers, nor extortioners, shall
possess the kingdom of God. n. And such some of you were : but
you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
12. All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful to me, but I will not be brought under the
power of any. 13. The meat for the belly, and the belly for the
meats : but God shall destroy both it and them : but the body is
not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
14. Now God hath both raised up the Lord, and will raise us up
also by his power. 15. Know you not that your bodies are the
members of Christ ? shall I then, taking the members of Christ,
make them the members of a harlot ? God forbid. 16. Or know
you not that he who adheres to a harlot is made one body ? for
they shall be (saith he) two in one flesh. 17. But he who adheres
to the Lord is one spirit. 18. Fly fornication. Every sin that a
man doeth is without the body ; but he that committeth fornication
sinneth against his own body. 19. Or know you not that your
members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom
you have from God, and you are not your own ? 20. For you are
bought with a great price. Glorify and bear God in your body.
I. The unjust are the Gentiles, and the saints (cf.
above, i. 2) are the Christians. Cf. Gal. ii. 5 : We
I. CORINTHIANS vi. 2. 37
are by nature Jews, and not of the Gentiles sinners. The
early Christians marked themselves off from the
pagan world as severely as the Jews marked them
selves off from the Gentiles. Cf. Rom. ii. 1720.
In all the cities of the Roman Empire where there
were Jewish communities, they had their own tribunals
of civil procedure, and the Rabbis took care that
no Jew should go to law with another Jew before a
heathen judge. Similar was the discipline of the early
Christian Church. To understand it, we may consider
what would have been thought in Spain in the tenth
century of Christian prosecuting Christian in a court of
Moors. Hence the practice arose of bringing suits
before bishops, even for temporal matters. See the
Life of St. Augustine in the Maurist edition of his
works, lib. 4, cap. 5, n. 4.
2. The saints shall judge the world, a quotation from
Wisdom iii. 8: They (the just) shall judge nations.
Cf. Matt. xix. 28. The judgment shall be, first, by the
manifest opposition, which shall appear at the last day,
between the innocence of the saints, or their repentance,
and the wickedness and impenitence of the reprobate.
Thus our Lord says that the queen of the south and
the men of Niniveh shall rise in judgment and condemn
the generation that rejected Him (Luke xi. 31, 32);
and if they, much more the generation who heard and
obeyed Him, and all generations since who have heard
His voice in the Church. Secondly, the saints shall
judge the world as assessors of Christ our Lord at the
last judgment. For after the Judge has pronounced
sentence of blessing upon them, Come ye blessed of my
Father (Matt. xxv. 34), they shall come to Him as they
are bidden ; and surrounded by them, with their assent
and approval, He shall utter the final doom of the
wicked, Depart from me, ye cursed (Matt. xxv. 41). Thus
we are not only to be crucified with Christ (Rom. vi. 6 ;
38 I. CORINTHIANS vi. 37.
Gal. ii. 20), and to die with Him (2 Tim. ii. n), and to
be buried with Him (Rom. vi. 4), and to rise with Him
(Eph. ii. 5, 6; Col. ii. 13; iii. i), and to live with
Him (2 Tim. ii. 12; Rom. vi. 8), and to be coheirs
with Him (Rom. viii. 17), and to be glorified with Him
(Rom. viii. 17) and to sit in heavenly places with Him
(Eph. ii. 6), and to reign with Him (2 Tim. ii. 12), hut
also with Him to judge the world.
3. Judge angels, dyye Aovs, not TOVS ayyeXovs, the angels.
We shall judge some angels, namely, the evil angels,
whom God hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains
unto the judgment of the great day (Jude 6). St. Thomas
(Suppl. q. 89, art. 8, ad i) says: "This word of the
Apostle is to be understood of the judgment of com
parison, because some men shall be found superior to
some angels."
5, 6. Set them to judge, who are the most despised in the
church. This is hyperbolical speaking, as St.Chrysostom
says, and as is evident from the next verse, Is there not
among you any one wise man, &c. ? The Apostle is meeting
a possible objection, that as in the Corinthian church
there were not many wise according to the flesh, it was
necessary to go outside to find a competent judge.
What, says the Apostle, is there not even one wise man,
or as we should say, "one man of business," among
you ? Take him then for your judge : but it would be
better to set the most despised in the church to judge than for
brother to go to law with brother before unbelievers.
7. A fault. This translation of ^rr^a makes St. Paul
say more than he does say, more indeed than is true.
The word means a falling off. It is used in Rom. xi. 12,
where it is translated diminution, and is opposed to
fulness, TrArJpco/xa ; also in the Greek of Isaias xxxi. 8,
where we read, the young men shall be eis yrrrffjia, that is,
they shall fall off in numbers. The word does not occur else
where in the Bible, nor in classical Greek. Here then
I. CORINTHIANS vi. g 12. 39
it denotes a falling of from perfection, that perfection
which is commended to us, Matt. v. 40, but not com
manded, except, as St. Augustine and St. Thomas teach,
" in readiness of soul, so that a man be prepared to
act thus, if need be" (St. Thomas, II-II. q. 72, art. 3).
The Athenians were notorious for their love of
litigation, a feature satirised by their comic poet Aristo
phanes in The Wasps. Corinth, also a commercial city
and a near neighbour, can hardly have been less litigious.
The Apostle s caution against lawsuits was then parti
cularly in point for the persons to whom it is addressed.
The recommendation is still often given, even from
a worldly point of view, to compromise a matter in
dispute before it comes into court.
9, 10. Cf. Ps. xlix. 21 ; Gal. vi. 7 9. These texts
are directed against antinomian notions, which were
making some way in the Church of Corinth ; cf. Rom.
jd. i, 15. They show the perfect accord of St. Paul
with what Luther called the straminea epistola of St. James.
11. " He clearly shows the equality of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost, and brings in the mention of God,
that is, of the Father ; for it is by the invocation of the
Holy Trinity that the nature of the waters is sanctified,
and the forgiveness of sins afforded " (Theodoret).
12. All things are lawful to me, but all things are not
expedient. These words are repeated, x. 22, 23, where
are not expedient is paraphrased, do not edify. When the
Apostle says, All things are lawful, he evidently means
to except such things as those he has just condemned,
vv. 9, 10. He insists on the observance of the moral
law of the ten commandments, but beyond that, in the
region of things indifferent, he_jays ..that. Christians are
free, yet so that they do not turn their liberty into a
snare (Gal. v. 13); nor take in immoderate amount
that which in itself they may lawfully take, and so by
this very immoderation come to be slaves of sin (John
4 o 1. CORINTHIANS vi. 13, 14.
viii. 34) ; nor again give scandal to the weak by doing
things which, however right in themselves, still present
some apprearance of evil, cf. viii. 13. The Apostle
goes on to point out, what was very necessary to point
out in a pagan city like Corinth, that fornication was
not in the number of things indifferent (Acts xv. 29),
or only venially evil. Understand simple fornication,
as distinct from the more generally acknowledged sin
of adultery. St. Thomas in the thirteenth century
found it worth while to prove the sinfulness of simple
fornication by elaborate arguments, II-II. q. 154, art.
2 ; Contra Gentiles, iii. 122 : which are still of value.
/ will not be brought into the power of any. St. Chrysos-
tom explains : " Are you master of your own eating ?
Then remain master, and see that you do not become
the slave of that passion." The pronoun any here is
neuter, any of all things mentioned above. There is a
play on the words e^eo-ri and e^ovo-tao-^o-o/xat, which
might be Englished : " All things are lawful to me, but
I will not be brought under the law of any of them :
understanding law as in Rom. vii. 23.
13, 14. The argument is: If you wish to eat, eat:
stomach and food are made for one another : and yet
one day the Lord shall destroy, or literally, /carapyrjo-ei
(cf. xiii. 8, 10, u, where the same word is used), make
the occupation gone of them both. But for fornication,
that you must not commit : your body is not made
for that, but for the Lord ; and though it be destroyed,
the Lord shall raise it up. It shall then perish as a
natural body, eating and drinking ; but it shall rise
again as a spiritual body (xv. 44), equal to the angels
(Luke xx. 36).
Will also raise MS up us who are dead. Cf. xv. 32 :
The dead shall rise, and we (living at that time) shall be
changed. And i Thess. iv. 16: We who are alive, &c.
The Apostle speaks of us, now as living till the day of
7. CORINTHIANS vi. 15, 16. 41
judgment, now as dead before it, not knowing which
would be the case.
15. Nowhere does Holy Scripture contain a better
medicine against the vice of impurity than is to be had
from these verses, 15 20. Nothing could be better
adapted to the Greek mind, to which it was first
addressed, or to modern minds arid modern needs. It
is an appeal resting at once on the innermost mystery
of Christianity, the union of Christ with His Church,
and the noblest thought of the ancient world, such as
that of Plato when he speaks of some one #eia <v<rei
Svo-xepawuv TO dSwcai/, " by an endowment of divine nature
disdaining wrong" (Republic, 366, C). Cf. 2 Pet. i. 4.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ.
This argument loses all its cogency, if no more than
a mere metaphor or analogy is seen in it. The union
of the faithful with Christ is a mystery, obscure as any
other mystery, but a reality and a revealed truth of the
first importance. Christ is Head of the whole Church,
which is His mystical Body ; and the faithful all and
each are members of Christ, not in soul only but also
as to their bodies. The Incarnation is an alliance
contracted, not with that Soul and that Body only
which was united in the unity of one Person with the
Eternal Word made flesh, but likewise with all mankind,
by their entrance into the Church, in which that Word
has dwelt amongst us (John i. 14). Thus we are members
of his body, of his flesh and of his bones (Eph. v. 30; and
here xii. 27 ; also John vi. 55 57). Hence though we
die and turn to dust, our resurrection is a consequent
necessity : it is impossible for death finally to hold us,
as it was impossible that he should be hold-en by it (Acts
ii. 24).
1 6. Two in one flesh. Physically, the union of the
sexes is the same, whether it be licit or illicit. The
text relating to the former is applicable in a physical
42 I. CORINTHIANS vi. 1720.
sense to the latter, at the same time showing its moral
turpitude.
17. "He says: When you are joined to a harlot,
you make your members members of a harlot. Again
when you are joined to the Lord by the Spirit, you
make your members members of Christ. If then you
have been joined to the Lord, and again go off to her,
the insult redounds upon the very Person of the Lord :
for it is His members that you bring to the harlot, and
make the members of Christ members of a harlot."
(Theodoret).
1 8. Smneth against his own body. Because, as
St. Augustine explains (Serm. 162), other sins are
either spiritual, as pride and apostasy, or require for
their commission some external goods, or some outside
person to deal with ; but the fornicator sins about his
own body alone, and that of his accomplice which is
conjoined with his, and has no other instrument or
matter of his sin.
The Apostle points out what manner of body it is
that he sins against, if he is a Christian.
19. Temple of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is
said to be the soul of the Church, of which Christ is the
head, and the faithful the members. There is a special
indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and through Him and
with Him of the Father and the Son, in the soul and
body of every Christian that is in the state of grace.
20. Great price. The word great is not in the Greek,
and is not wanted for the argument, which turns not
on the greatness of the price paid, but on the fact that
we have been bought, or redeemed, and are not our
own to spoil. And bear also is not in the Greek,
though it is well supported by the use of such words as
X/orTo<o/oos, Christifer (Christ -bearing) in early Christian
tradition. Here ends the second part of the Epistle,
which commences with chapter v.
I. CORINTHIANS vii. 43
CHAPTER VII.
I. Now concerning the things whereof you wrote to me: It is
good for a man not to touch a woman : 2. But because of forni
cation, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have
her own husband. 3. Let the husband render the debt to his wife :
and the wife also in like manner to the husband. 4 The wife
hath not power over her own body, but the husband : and in like
manner the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.
5. Defraud not one another, unless, perhaps, by consent for a time,
that you may give yourselves to prayer ; and return together again,
lest Satan tempt you for your incontinency. 6. But I speak this
by indulgence, not by commandment. 7. For I would that all men
were even as myself. But every one hath his proper gift from God,
one after this manner, and another after that. 8. But I say to the
unmarried and to the widows : It is good for them if they so
continue, even as I. 9. But if they do not contain themselves, let
them marry : for it is better to marry than to burn. 10. But to
them that are married, not I, but the Lord commandeth that the
wife depart not from her husband : n. And if she depart, that she
remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband : and let not the
husband put away his wife. 12. For to the rest I speak, not the
Lord. If any brother have a wife that believeth not, and she
consent to dwell with him, let him not put her away. 13. And if
any woman have a husband that believeth not, and he consent to
dwell with her, let her not put away her husband. 14. For the
unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife ; and the
unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband : otherwise
your children should be unclean ; but now they are holy. 15. But
if the unbeliever depart, let him depart : for a brother or sister is
not under bondage in such cases ; but God hath called us in peace.
16. For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy
husband ; or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save
thy wife ? 17. But as the Lord hath distributed to every one, as
God hath called every one, so let him walk : and so I teach in all
churches. 18 Is any man called, being circumcised ? let him not
procure uncircumcision. Is any man called in uncircumcision ? let
him not be circumcised. 19. Circumcision is nothing, and uncir
cumcision is nothing ; but the keeping of the commandments of
God. 20. Let every man abide in the same calling in which he
was called. 21. Art thou called, being a bondman ? care not for it :
but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 22. For he that is
7. CORINTHIANS vii. i.
called in the Lord, being a bondman, is the freeman of the Lord :
likewise he that is called, being free, is the bondman of Christ.
23, You are bought with a price ; be not made the bondslaves of
men. 24. Brethren, let every man, wherein he was called, therein
abide with God. 25. Now concerning virgins I have no command
ment of the Lord : but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of
the Lord to be faithful. 26. I think, therefore, that this is good for
the present necessity, that it is good for a man so to be. 27. Art
thou bound to a wife ? seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from
a wife ? seek not a wife. 28. But if thou take a wife, thou hast not
sinned ; and if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless,
such shall have tribulation of the flesh : but I spare you. 29. This,
therefore, I say, brethren : The time is short : it remaineth, that
they also who have wives be as those who have not ; 30. And they
who weep, as they who weep not ; and they who rejoice, as they
who are not rejoicing ; and they who buy, as if they were not
possessing any thing ; 31. And they who use this world, as if they
used it not : for the figure of this world passeth away. 32. But I
would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife
is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may
please God : 33. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the
things of the world, how he may please his wife : and he is divided.
34. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the
things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit :
but she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how
she may please her husband. 35. And this I speak for your profit;
not to cast a snare upon you, but for that which is decent, and
which may give you power to attend upon the Lord without impe
diment. 36. But if any man think that he seemeth dishonoured
with regard to his virgin, for that she is above the age, and it must
so be, let him do what he will : he sinneth not if she marry.
37. For he that hath determined, being steadfast in his heart,
having no necessity, but having power of his own will, and hath
judged this in his heart to keep his virgin, doeth well. 38. There
fore, both he that giveth his virgin in marriage doeth well ; and he
that giveth her not doeth better. 39. A woman is bound by the
law as long as her husband liveth ; but if her husband die, she is at
liberty : let her marry to whom she will ; only in the Lord. 40. But
more blessed shall she be if she so remain, according to my counsel ;
and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
i . Now concerning the things that you wrote to me of.
From here to the end of ch. xv. the Apostle solves
I. CORINTHIANS vii. 2-6. 45
various questions that the Corinthians had proposed
to him by letter. And first in this chapter, of marriage
and celibacy.
It is good for a man. What the Apostle says is that
virginity is a high state, but all are not suited for it.
By their personal example and by teachings such as
this, as St. Chrysostom says, " the Apostles have filled
the whole world with the plant of virginity."
2. There has been an unnecessary amount of con
troversy about this very plain text. On the one hand,
it has been taken to be an indiscriminate exhortation
to all men to marry, against vv. i, 7, 8, 34. On the
other hand it has been said to be addressed exclusively
to persons married already. This is not apparent on
the face of the text. It seems to be addressed to both :
to the married, in the sense of v. 3, and to the unmarried,
in the sense of v. 9.
5. Give yourselves to prayer, literally, take time for it,
o-xoAacnjTe. There must be question here of some extra
ordinary time or season of prayer : since even for
married persons the injunction holds, pray always, i Thess.
v. 17. Such an extraordinary time of prayer would be
the time of Holy Mass, when one is called to celebrate
it, as most priests now do, daily. For them therefore
this text supplies a counsel, which the law of the
Western Church converts into an obligation.
6. / speak this by indulgence. It refers to the words
in the previous verse, return together again. But how is
this an indulgence, not a command, if it is a necessary
safeguard against sin ? The answer is that such a safe
guard is not absolutely necessary, nor the only safe
guard possible, but it is a safeguard suitable to human
weakness, and therefore is called an indulgence. Observe,
there is not question here of any indulgence to sin,
even the slightest venial sin. It is not a sin to take
advantage of the married state as a remedy for incon-
46 /. CORINTHIANS vii. 79.
tinency. St. Augustine (De peccato originali, 38), makes
the use of matrimony on this motive a venial sin : while
St. Chrysostom, on the contrary (De Virginitate, c. 19),
declares it to be the only use of matrimony in these
latter days, which again is an exaggeration. Evidently
Doctors differ. But we have our guide. As St. Thomas
says (II-II. q. 10, art. 12): "The greatest authority
attaches to the custom of the Church, which is always
to be followed in all things ; since even the teaching of
the Catholic Doctors has its authority from the Church.
Hence we must rather stand by the authority of the
Church than by the authority of either Augustine or
Jerome, or any Doctor whatever." St. Augustine s
opinion is obsolete in the Church of the present day :
which obsoleteness in a practical matter is sufficient to
mark that opinion for an error.
7. / would that all men were even as myself. This has
been explained to mean, " not that the Apostle wished
that every one was unmarried, but that every one had
the same grace of continence which he himself was
endowed with, that they might without risk of sin
remain unmarried." But why should he wish that,
unless the state of continence, unmarried, were in itself
higher than the married state ? As Archbishop Porter
said : " There is no heroism in marrying." At the same
time this verse implies that, while virginity is a gift of
God, marriage is a gift likewise, and a good gift, from
above, coming down from the Father of lights (James i. 17).
On the oft-repeated difficulty about all men St. Jerome
writes : " Be not afraid of all putting in to be virgins:
virginity is a hard thing, and rare because it is hard."
(C. Jovin, i. 36). Or more briefly, as our Lord said it,
All men take not this word (Matt. xix. n).
8, 9. These verses join on to v. 7 rather than to
v. 10, which should begin a new paragraph.
To burn. "It is not the annoyance of concupis-
/. CORINTHIANS vii. 1012. 47
cence that he calls burning, but the enslavement of the
soul, and the falling away for the worse. What he
says comes to this: It is better for you that are not yet
entered into the state of matrimony, and for you that
have entered it and have been set free from it by death,
to choose a state of continence. But if you cannot
sustain the assault of passion, but are weak in soul for
such a struggle, owing to the warmth of your admira
tion for what is beautiful, there is no law restraining
you from marriage." (Theodoret).
10. Not I, but the Lord. And v. 12, / speak, not the
Lord. And yet he writes to these same Corinthians :
Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me ? (2 Cor.
xiii. 3). And in this Epistle: Know the things that I
write to you, that they are the commandments of the Lord ?
(xiv. 37). The distinction then is between the precepts
promulgated by the lips of Christ Himself on earth,
and the precepts or counsels published by the Apostles,
inspired by the Spirit of Christ. The precept here
given is read in the Gospel, Matt. v. 32 ; xix. 9 ; Mark
x. 2 12.
12. To the rest. In v. 8 we have to the unmarried: in
v. 10, to them that are married. Who then are the rest?
On consideration it appears that v. 10 refers to married
persons, in marriages where both parties are Christians.
The rest then are those Christians whom this letter finds
already married to unbaptized persons. Such marriages
are invalid by the present discipline of the Church, and
have been invalid perhaps for a thousand years, by the
ecclesiastical impediment known as " disparity of
worship," an impediment, be it observed, that affects
marriages between a baptized Christian on the one
side, and on the other a person who is not simply a
member of an heretical communion, but is actually
unbaptized. This impediment did not exist when the
Apostle wrote. At the same time he strongly deters
48 /. CORINTHIANS vii. 14, 15.
any Christian from marrying a heathen (2 Cor. vi. 14),
as the Jews were forbidden to marry Gentiles (3 Kings
xi. 2). The marriages here spoken of are those con
tracted when both parties were heathen, one of the
parties having since received baptism.
Let him not put her away. And v. 13, let hey not put
away her husband. A counsel, not a command. But
as times then were, and as they are now, the party that
neglects this counsel must remain single, and can have
no benefit of the privilege contained in v. 15.
14. Your children, all children born of Christian
parents. The holiness here predicated of such, children
even before baptism is the same as the sanctification that
is said to pass to the unbelieving husband, or the unbelieving
wife, from the believing partner. But no one has ever
pretended that an unbeliever was fully sanctified and
justified before God by mere cohabitation with a
believer. Therefore the contention of the Pelagians,
and of Calvinists after them, that before any baptism
children are fully justified and acceptable to God by
being born of Christian parents, falls to the ground.
What sort of holiness these children possess is declared
by Tertullian (Ad uxovem, ii. 7): "The children of the
faithful are called holy as being candidates for the faith,
and unstained by any filth of idolatry." To be born
of, or to share in, the union of a Christian marriage,
is a kind of anticipated holiness, a prelude to baptism,
an earnest of the full grace of the faith. Cf. the note
on adoption, Rom. ix. 4.
15. " If of an unbelieving couple one is converted
to the faith, while the other will in no way cohabit
with the convert, or not without blasphemy of the
Divine name, or without going about to draw the con
vert into mortal sin ; the convert at discretion may go
off and marry again. And this is the construction that
we put on the Apostle s saying : // the unbeliever depart,
/. CORINTHIANS vii. 16. 49
let him depart ; for a brother or sister is not under bondage in
such cases" (Innocent III.). Sanchez, De Matrimonio,
1. 7, disp. 74, n. 4, says : " This conclusion is most
certain, and cannot be departed from without manifest
error in faith." That does not mean that it is always
prudent to act upon it, especially where the privilege
is not recognised by the laws of the State. The con
clusion points to unbaptized persons only, not to
heretics.
The law of Catholic Europe forbade the convert to
continue to live with the unbeliever on any terms short
of the conversion of the latter. In case the latter
refused to be converted, it was held that the convert
might marry again, the reason of the divorce in that
case being that the convert should not on occasion of
conversion be reduced to the alternative of either an
intolerable state of marriage or a life of continence.
See Sanchez, De Matrimonio, 1. 7, d. 74, nn. 9, 10.
In peace; say unto peace. This is not inconsistent
with Matt. x. 34 : / came not to send peace, but the sword:
for as Theodoret says : " The teaching of salvation does
not bring confusion into life, but rather procures that
peace which is true and loved of God ; yet not before
destroying that other harmony, and by creating discord
effecting concord."
1 6. How knowest thou whether thon shalt save? better,
how knowest thou but what thou shalt save ? This refers, as
St. Chrysostom says, to vv. 12, 13, let him not put her
away, and let her not put him away : the possibility and
hope of saving the partner is alleged as a reason against
separation. The Greek Fathers know no other inter
pretation than this of ri ola-Oa d o-woreis. It is borne out
by Joel ii. 14 : TIS olSei/ d eTno-Tpe i^a ; and by the lines of
Euripides quoted by Plato (Gorgias, 492 E) :
ris 5 oISei> ei TO
TO
5 o /. CORINTHIANS vii. 1821.
The modern interpretation, favoured by the Rheims
version, joins this verse with the preceding, and makes
it mean ; there is great uncertainty and little hope
of saving the partner; which however is not the
meaning.
1 8. Procure uncircumcision^ i Mac. i. 16.
19. Circumcision is nothing : therefore St. Paul did
not insist on Titus undergoing it (Gal. ii. 3). Uncircum
cision is nothing, therefore St. Paul, for a grave reason,
made no difficulty about circumcising Timothy (Acts
xvi. 3). There was one baptism (Eph. iv. 5) for circum
cision and uncircumcision, for Jew and Greek, making all
one in Christ (Gal. iii. 28). The present verse is one of
many out of St. Paul, condemning the antinomianism
that St. James ii. 14, seq. denounces. This verse is
repeated in substance, Gal. v. 6; vi. 15. The new
creature, and the faith that worketJi by charity, is conjoined
with the observation of the commandments of God.
20. Calling, K\f)(TLs. The word does not mean
"occupation," or " condition of life," but " invitation,"
" summons," and in the New Testament always an
invitation or call to Christianity, given and accepted :
cf. i. 26. Thus, as the next verse and the verses
preceding show, the calling of the bondman is to be a
Christian bondman, and the calling of the married is to
live in Christian marriage. Only those conditions
cannot cleave to a vocation to Christianity, which are
of their own nature, as St. Chrysostom says, " obstacles
to piety : " such would be the condition of a heretic or
schismatic : St. Paul was indifferent to circumcision,
but not to heresy (Gal. i. 8, 9 ; i Tim. i. 19 ; Titus iii.
10, n).
21. But if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.
Better, according to the Greek and the Vulgate Latin,
but if even thou hast it in thy power to become free, rather keep
to it, that is, as St. Chrysostom explains, rather remain in
/. CORINTHIANS vii. 2225. 51
slavery. "This hyperbole," says Theodoret, "he has
not set down idly, but as an advice not to fly from
slavery under pretence of serving God." It is simply a
counsel to the Christian slave not to run away from his
master, as Onesimus did, whom St. Paul sent back
to Philemon (Philem. 12). Cf. Tit. ii. 10.
To have denounced slavery as an institution, of
itself against justice and the privileges of Christianity,
would have convulsed society, and brought down on
the nascent Christian Church the strong arm of the
Roman power. Rome had had bitter experience of
servile wars. The rising of slaves against their masters
was in Roman eyes the last extreme of anarchy. Still
no fear of consequences could have induced the Apostles
to countenance a downright injustice. Slavery is not
absolutely unjust, when it is understood that what
comes under the ownership of another is not the man
himself, but all the labour of the man. A slave-owner
is strictly a slave-labour owner. Slave-labour was at
the root of human society, as the Church found it, and
it was only when the Church had succeeded in re-
founding and reconstituting society, the work of
centuries, that the general emancipation of slaves
became possible, and was actually achieved.
22. Freeman, aTreAeutfe/oos ; say frcedman. The original
Rheims version has, the fvanchised of the Lord. The
bondman, in his conversion, received his freedom from
sin (John viii. 34; Rom. vi. 14 ; vii. 14; viii. 2), as the
freeman, becoming a Christian, is bound over as a
servant of justice (Rom. vi. 18). See the whole passage,
Rom. vi. 12 22, with St. Thomas s explanation, 2a
2ae, q. 183, art. 4.
23. Ye are bought with a price, vi. 20. Be not made
slaves of men : that is, obey your master. . . not serving to the
eye, as pleasing men, but . . . do it from the heart, as to the
Lord . . . serve ye the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. iii. 22 24).
5 2 I. CORINTHIANS vii. 26.
25. Concerning virgins. St. Paul speaks here of
both sexes. Cf. Matt. xix. 12; Apoc. xiv. 4.
A/0 commandment of the Lord, but counsel. Our Lord
never forbade marriage, but spoke of virginity
permanently chosen for the kingdom of heaven, as a gift
given to some (Matt. xix. 12). This evangelical
counsel of virginity St. Paul here rehearses.
To be faithful, i.e., to be a faithful counsellor, as
Theodoret explains : " I am a counsellor worthy of
credence, called by the Lord s great mercy, and
entrusted with the ministry of preaching."
26. The second clause in the verse is all a develop
ment of the pronoun this in the first clause. So we may
translate : / think therefore touching this fact, the fact that
it is good for a man so to be, that the goodness arises out of the
present necessity.
So to be, that is, to be a virgin, v. 25, or unmarried.
The present necessity. Does the word present mean
actually present, as in iii. 22, or close at hand and imminent
(2 Thess. ii. 2) ? Of itself the word, instantem, eVetrrojcrai/,
may mean either the one or the other. And what is the
necessity spoken of? Many Catholic commentators take
it to mean the constraint, hardship and difficulty of married
life. Such interpretation however seems to make void
the prefixed adjective present or imminent. For the
difficulties of married life were not peculiar to the time
in which St. Paul wrote, or to the age to which he
looked forward as immediately coming on : they are
difficulties of all human history, beginning with the
Fall and to end only with the day of judgment.
Rather the necessity, or distress (avdyKyv) referred to, is
the great distress (oWy/c^ /xeyaAr;) that there shall be in the
land (Luke xxi. 23) at the approach of the judgment-
day. Consequently the participle eVeo-rojo-av, instantem,
is to be translated imminent, not actually present. Con
tinence from marriage is recommended by reason
/. CORINTHIANS vii. 28, 29. 53
of the imminent approach of the distress of the last
day.
We are not however, with the Protestant com
mentators, to jump to the conclusion that, since the
world has rolled on for eighteen centuries from the date
of this Epistle, and is likely, for all that we can see, to
continue on its course for eighteen centuries more, we
are therefore right in taking the Apostle s allegation for
a note of groundless alarm, and in ignoring the counsel
of virginity springing from such alarm. Yes, if the
Epistle to the Corinthians is a mere human work,
marked with errors and prejudices ; but certainly not,
if it is the inspired and unerring word of God. The
truth is, that every Christian is bound to live in daily
expectation of the day of judgment, or what comes to
the same thing for him, of the day of his death, after
which he will have no more time to prepare for the day
of judgment. He is bound by the plain command of
his Saviour, delivered Matt. xxiv. 36 50. And he is
counselled as part of the watching there enjoined, if God
offer him grace to lead a life of virginity, to accept that
offer, and even to make it matter of a vow, being, as
every vow should be, de meliori bono, " of the better good."
28. // thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. " Spoken,
not of those who once for all have renounced the world,
but of those who have not yet chosen either the one or
the other state, but are yet on the debatable ground
between marriage and unweddedness," says Theodoret.
But I spare you, i.e., I will not insist : I have no mind
to erect a counsel into a command : do as you will, it is
no sin to marry, v. 36.
29. The time is short. Short is the time allotted to
any individual for preparing for the day of judgment,
however that event seems to linger and hold back,
lengthening out the history of the world. Surely I come
quickly (Apoc. xxii. 20), to every individual man.
54 / CORINTHIANS vii. 3036.
30. As though they possessed not : literally, as though not
taking fast hold of their purchase.
31. Use as if they used it not : literally from the Greek
(xpo )/xevot, Karaxpto/xevoi) use as not using to the full.
Fashion, or outward show. The same word in the
Greek appears in Phil. ii. 7 : and in habit found as a man.
33. And he is divided. This word, //.c/Aepiorat, in many
manuscripts and versions is taken as belonging to the
next sentence. The authorities who so take it, also
alter the place of the word unmarried, so that woman
comes to mean wife. Thus they translate : There is a
difference between a wife and a virgin. She that is unmarried
thinketh on the things of the Lord. In point of antiquity
there is little to choose between this reading and the
other. In point of doctrine there is no difference. In
the Vulgate reading, is divided is explained by what our
Lord says to Martha : Thou art careful, and troubled about
many things (Luke x. 41).
34. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh.
Et mulier innupta et virgo cogitat, as though the Greek
were /cat rj yvvrj r) aya/zos /cat r/ 7rap$eVos yttept/xva. The
article, which certainly stands before 7rap#eVos, shows
that the unmarried woman and the virgin are not the same
person. The unmarried woman then must be the widow, of
whom vv. 39, 40. The translation of our present Greek
text is given in the previous note.
35. Not to cast a snare upon you, that is, not cunningly
or violently to put you under a necessity of precept not
to marry or give in marriage. Cf. Matt. xix. 10, n, 12.
36. In this and the next two verses, which regard
the conduct of a father, his virgin means his virgin
daughter.
Seemeth dishonoured, aa-xnfJiovciv, *in opposition to TO
tva-xqfjiov, that which is decent, of the verse before. The
word is used here in the sense in which it is usually
found in Greek writers, e.g., Plato, Republic 517 D, and
I. CORINTHIANS vii. 37-39- 55
Theaetetus 165 B, where it has the meaning, to cut a
bad figure, as also Deut. xxv. 3 (LXX.). Cf. note on
xiii. 5, where the word recurs.
The meaning of the whole verse is : If any man is
unable to bear up against the scorn of his neighbours,
taunting and teasing him about the "old maid," the
undisposable merchandise, that he keeps in his house,
and marriage seem on this and other grounds a neces
sity, for the father s comfort and the girl s happiness,
perhaps even her honour, well, there is no harm in
marriage : if she finds a proper partner, let them marry.
Let them marry, ya/xetrwo-av, not if she marry, is the
best reading.
37. For he that hath determined, being steadfast. The
correct rendering is, But he that standeth steadfast. Statuit
in the Latin should be stat, efcm/Kev.
The father who standeth steadfast is the antithesis of
him who fancies himself dishonoured, v. 36, and is
moved at the thought of the bad figure that he makes
in the eyes of his neighbours, not seeming able to
dispose of his daughter. The steadfast parent does not
mind that reproach. Moreover, he is supposed to be
having no necessity, that is, there is no reason, whether
strong inclination in the girl or danger to her virtue,
why it must so be, v. 36, that he give her in marriage ;
but he having power of his own will, and she of hers, he
hath judged to keep his virgin, and she to remain a virgin.
Such a father doth well, and such a daughter. Nay
even, he doth better, v. 38 ; and she doth better also,
God calling her to a state which is a better good than
marriage. Such is the Apostle s plain teaching.
39. By the law, omitted in some MSS., while others
read, to her husband. The law spoken of is the marriage
law, laid down, Rom. vii. 2, 3.
The Greek gives, she is at liberty to marry whom she will.
Only in the Lord, that is, let her marry a Christian.
56 I. CORINTHIANS viii. i.
40. I think that I also. St. Paul says : You will tell
me, these are only counsels. True, I give no authorita
tive command : yet know ye that the Spirit of God
counsels you by my mouth, at least no less (ix. i, 2)
than by the mouths of those other your admired
teachers (referred to in the first three chapters).
Cf. 2 Cor. xi. 5.
CHAPTER VIII.
I. Now concerning those things that are sacrificed to idols, we
know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but
charity edifieth. 2. And if any man think that he knoweth any
thing, he hath not yet known as he ought to know. 3. But if any
man love God, the same is known by him. 4. But as for the meats
that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is nothing
in the world, and that there is no God but one. 5. For though
there be that are called gods, either in heaven, or on earth, (for
there are many gods, and many lords,) 6. Yet to us there is but
one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him ;
and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
7. But knowledge is not in every one: for some until this present,
with a conscience of the idol, eat as a thing sacrificed to an idol ;
and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8. But meat doth not
commend us to God : for neither, if we eat, shall we have the more ;
nor, if we eat not, shall we have the less. 9. But take heed, lest
perhaps this your liberty become a stumbling-block to the weak.
10. For if a man see him that hath knowledge sit at meat in the
idol s temple, shall not his conscience, being weak, be emboldened
to eat those things which are sacrificed to idols ? n. And through
thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ
died ? 12. Now when you sin thus against the brethren, and
wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13. Where
fore, if meat scandalize my brother, I will never eat flesh, lest I
should scandalize my brother.
i. Concerning those things that are sacrificed to idols.
The ancient sacrifices, pagan as well as Jewish, con
sisted principally in the slaughter of animals, the flesh
of which was partaken of by the offerers. Great part
/. CORINTHIANS viii. i. 57
of the meat was not consumed at the place of sacrifice,
but was carried off for private consumption, or even
found its way to the butchers shops. These sacrificial
meats were called by the Greeks IcpoOvra. The Jews
and Christians called what had been offered to the
pagan gods ciSwAoflvra, or " idol offerings," the word
used by St. Paul here. The article was found every
where, in the market and in the rites of private hospi
tality. Some Christians made no scruple in eating any
meat set before them, idol-offered or not: others ate
with a bad conscience : some few perhaps endeavoured
to discern meat from meat, though that must have
involved much scrupulous questioning under no little
risk of deception.
We know that Here St. Paul breaks off into a
parenthesis, to the end of v. 3. In v. 4 he resumes :
we know that
We all have knowledge. There seems to be, as
Theodoret says, some irony in this statement (for
another example of irony see iv. 8), since in v. 7 the
Apostle says, there is not knowledge in every one. The
fact is, there is a difference between knowledge and
knowledge. We all know many things, if we only
choose to think, which things nevertheless many of us
do not know for want of resolutely thinking them out.
The point of knowledge here referred to is that stated
in v. 4, that an idol is nothing, and that there is no God but
one.
Knowledge puffeth up. Knowledge, without charity,
bloats out the individual in his own empty conceit ;
but charity edifieth, or buildeth up the good of the Christian
community. The Apostle proceeds to show that pro
miscuous eating, the practice of these men of know
ledge, did not promote the good of the community, but
gave scandal.
The use of the verb " to build," meaning " to edify,"
58 7. CORINTHIANS viii. 26.
seems to have been started by St. Paul. It is perhaps
a Hebraism : cf. Ps. xxvii. 5 ; Jerem. xxiv. 6 ; xxxiii. 7.
It falls in well with the metaphor of the temple,
iii. 9 16; Eph. ii. 20 22.
2. The sentiment of this verse is exactly that of
Prov. xxvi. 12 : Hast thou seen a man wise in his own
conceit ? there is move hope of a fool than of him.
3. Known by him, that is, recognised and approved
by Him. Cf. Ps. i. 6 ; Matt. vii. 23 ; and Exod. xxxiii. 12 :
/ know thee by thy name, and thou hast found favour in my
sight.
4. But (ow, autem) . . . we know. Rather, well then, as
I was saying, we know. The conjunction employed carries
us back to v. i, after the parenthesis.
An idol is nothing, nothing but wood or metal, stone
or plaster, no God. This is the theme of Baruch vi.
5. Gods many and lords many. This reads like a
proverb current at the time.
6. As in the previous verse there was mention of
lords many, who were all taken to be so many gods, so
in this verse God and Lord are not mutually exclusive.
The Son is no more excluded from the one God than
the Father from the one Lord. Cf. Tit. ii. 13. More
over, as St. Chrysostom observes, if the word God were
sufficiently distinctive of the Father, and exclusive of
the Son, the very mention of the Father in this verse
would be superfluous.
Of whom, as Creator, are all things in the order of
nature ; and unto whom, as our Father in the order of
grace, we Christians stand supernaturally related as
His children.
By whom, that is, upon whom as an exemplar, as
the Son is the Word or Wisdom of the Father (cf. John
i. 3), are all things created ; and again by whom, as the
Word made Flesh, all mankind and we Christians more
particularly (cf. i Tim. iv. 10) are redeemed. By whom,
/. CORINTHIANS viii. 710. 59
literally, through ivhom, SLOV. Touching this preposition,
Sia, St. Chrysostom observes on i. 9, God is faithful, by
whom (through whom, SCov) you are called: "Since he
continually uses of the Son the expressions through Him
and in Him, to prevent any from taking that fashion of
speech to imply any inferiority in the Son, he here (i. 9)
applies it to the Father."
7. With conscience of the idol, that is, making the idol
a matter of conscience, making a scruple of the idol,
and of the fact of these meats having been offered to it.
So i Pet. ii. 19, for conscience towards God, literally,
conscience of God: which passage seems to have been
overlooked by those who insist on taking the other
reading, through being habituated to the idol, a-vvyOcLa, instead
of o-wctS^crei.
8. Meat (food) doth not commend its to God, Rom. xiv. 17.
Have the move, have the less, i.e. have merit or demerit
in God s sight.
10. The mere eating of flesh-meat that had been
offered to idols was no harm of itself, apart from
scandal ; but to sit at meat in the idol s temple was taking
an immediate part in a religious rite, and that rite
an idolatrous sacrifice, and therefore could never be
allowed. The Apostle severely inveighs against the
practice, x. 14 22.
Emboldened, the Greek word is edified, used not
without some sarcasm.
There is a difficulty here. The eating of idol-
offerings, away from the temple and all idolatrous rites,
is of itself no sin. Where then consists the harm of the
weak brother being emboldened to follow on such a course ?
And how can he be said (v. n) to perish by it? The
answer is found in v. 7, and Rom. xiv. 23. He is too
weak to divest himself of the idea that, in eating such
meats, he is in some measure identifying himself with
those who sacrifice to idols. Thus he eats with a bad
6o /. CORINTHIANS viii. 1113.
conscience ; and all that is not of faith, i.e. is against
conscience, is sin, Rom. I.e.
St. Thomas, 2a 2ae, q. 43, artt. 7 and 8 (Aquinas
Ethicus, i. pp. 417 419), examining whether good
things are to be abandoned for fear of scandal, lays
down three rules. - First, that things necessary to
salvation are not to be abandoned. But clearly the
eating of idol-offerings has no bearing on salvation, v. 8.
Secondly, that no notice need be taken of the " scandal
of Pharisees," which proceeds from malice. Thirdly,
that for the " scandal of little ones," which is the scandal
in question here, even things spiritually good are to be
concealed, or deferred, till the scandal can be removed
by an explanation. Much more then mere material
goods, such as a meal on roast pork that was offered
the day before to Jupiter, are to be foregone, lest I should
scandalize my (weak) brother, v. 13.
ii. Through thy knowledge. St. Chrysostom reads
through thy eating (/Spua-a for yvo><r), cf. Rom. xiv. 15, 20.
He goes on : " He has then four complaints, and those
very serious ; that it is the case of a brother, and him
a weak one, and one for whom Christ had so much
regard as to die for his sake, and after all he perishes
for a matter of eating."
13. Meat here is flesh-meat, K/ae as. Cf. Rom. xiv. 21.
I. CORINTHIANS ix. 6r
CHAPTER IX.
I. Am not I free ? Am not I an apostle ? have not I seen Christ
Jesus our Lord ? are not you my work in the Lord ? 2. And if I be
not an apostle to others, but yet to you I am : for you are the seal
of my apostleship in the Lord. 3. My defence with them that
examine me is this : 4. Have not we power to eat and to drink ?
5. Have we not power to lead about a woman a sister, as well as
the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas ?
6. Or I only and Barnabas, have we not power to do this ? 7. Who
serveth as a soldier at any time at his own charges ? who planteth
a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? who feedeth a flock,
and eateth not of the milk of the flock ? 8. Speak I these things
according to man ? or doth not the law also say these things ?
9. For it is written in the law of Moses : Thou shalt not muzzle the
mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care
for oxen ? 10. Or doth he say this indeed for our sakes ? For
these things were written for our sakes : for he that plougheth
should plough in hope ; and he that thresheth, in hope to receive
fruit, ii. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great
matter if we reap your carnal things ? 12. If others be partakers
of this power over you, why not we rather ? Nevertheless, we have
not used this power ; but we bear all things, lest we should give
any hindrance to the gospel of Christ. 13. Know you not that
they who work in the holy place eat the things that are of the holy
place ? and they who serve the altar partake with the altar ?
14. So also the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel
should live of the gospel. 15. But I have used none of these
things ; neither have I written these things, that they should be so
done to me : for it is good for me to die, rather than that any one
should make void my glory. 16. For if I preach the gospel, it is
no glory to me : for a necessity lieth upon me ; for woe is unto me if
I preach not the gospel ! 17. For if I do this thing willingly, I
have a reward ; but if against my will, a dispensation is committed
to me. 18. What is my reward then ? That preaching the gospel,
I may deliver the gospel without charge, that I abuse not my power
in the gospel. 19. For whereas I was free as to all, I made myself
the servant of all, that I might gain more persons. 20. And I
became to the Jews as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews. 21. To
them that are under the law, as if I were under the law, (whereas
myself was not under the law,) that I might gain them that were
under the law ; to them that were without the law, as if I were
62 /. CORINTHIANS ix. 15.
without the law, (whereas I was not without the law of God, but
was in the law of Christ,) that I might gain them that were without
the law. 22. To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the
weak : I became all things to all men, that I might save all.
23. And I do all things for the gospel s sake, that I may be made
partaker thereof. 24. Know you not that they who run in the race
all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize ? So run that you may
obtain. 25. And every one that striveth for the mastery refraineth
himself from all things : and they indeed that they may receive a
corruptible crown ; but we an incorruptible one. 26. I therefore
so run, not as at an uncertainty ; I so fight, not as one beating the
air : 27. But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection ;
lest, perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should
become reprobate.
1 . Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord ? A necessary
qualification for the apostolic office (Acts i. 21). His
vision (Acts ix. 9) to which he alludes again in this
Epistle, xv. 8, was evidently matter of notoriety in the
Church.
2. The seal, that is, the proof and confirmation.
4. To eat and to drink, at the public expense of the
faithful. The argument opening this chapter is to
show that the concluding words of the last chapter
were no empty boast, but that the Apostle actually did,
at great cost to himself, abstain for edification s sake
from things otherwise permissible.
5. A woman a sister. The Anglican version is, a
sister, a wife, the word yvvaiKa being susceptible of either
translation. Sister-woman is the literal translation of
ttSeA<r/v ywawca, and the fairest ; as not pre-judging the
question, whether at the time St. Paul wrote St. Peter
and the rest of the apostles were married men, and
were accompanied by their wives in their missionary
journies. Of course the words might mean this : they
might also mean what Theodoret tells us was an inter
pretation current in his time " that as our Lord was
followed by faithful women, who supplied the disciples
with the sustenance they required, so some of the
/. CORINTHIANS ix. 5. 63
apostles were attended by women fervent in faith, who
hung upon their teaching and helped the work of the
gospel." Between this and the previous interpretation
we must choose under the guidance of other portions
of Holy Writ and the authority of Christian tradition.
That St. Peter was married we know from Mark i. 30,
where there is mention of his wife s mother. Other
wise there is no mention in Scripture of his wife, nor of
the wife of any other Apostle. St. Peter says (Matt,
xix. 27) : Behold we have left all things ; and our Lord in
reply enumerates wife among the things left for my
name s sake. That woman in this passage does not mean
wife is maintained by Clement of Alexandria, Strom.
iii. 6 ; Tertullian, De monogam, 8 ; St. Augustine, De op.
vionach, 4, 5 ; St. Jerome, In Matt, xxvii. 55 ; and Contra
Jovin, i. 26. Till we come to the Reformers, this
Jovinian seems to have been the only authority for the
rendering wife.
The brethren of the Lord, enumerated, Matt. xiv. 55,
James and Joseph, and Simon and Jnde. The word brother
is used in Hebrew in a very loose sense, and no
argument can be built upon that word as to the
relationship in which these persons stood to our Blessed
Lord. The relationship is otherwise determinable from
Scripture. In Matt, xxvii. 56, we read of Mary the
mother of James and Joseph : who again is called (John
xix. 25) his (our Lord s) mother s sister, Mary of Cleophas,
and again, Mary the mother of James the less and of Joseph.
Lastly, in the enumeration of the Apostles (Acts i. 13),
James of Alpheus and Jude the brother of James. Now
Cleophas and Alpheus are two Greek forms of the
same Hebrew name. Cleophas then, or Alpheus, was
married to Mary, sister of the Blessed Virgin, and of
these parents were born Joseph (of whom we know
nothing further: he may be the Joseph of Acts i. 23),
James (that is, the Apostle, St. James the less, Bishop
64 /. CORINTHIANS ix. 6, 7.
of Jerusalem, Acts xv. 13 ; xxi. 18), Jude, the Apostle;
and as it seems, also Simon the Apostle. All these
were cousins of our Lord, and three of them members
of the Apostolic College. Yet, as they were not all
Apostles, they (and probably with them their brothers-
in-law, or their sisters husbands, that is, of the women
who are called sisters of Christ, Matt. xiii. 26) are ranked
apart from the Apostles in Acts i. 14. It remains to
observe, what Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. iii. n) tells us on
the authority of Hegesippus, that Cleophas was the
brother of St. Joseph, and consequently that the Mary
who is called (John xix. 25) sister of the Blessed Virgin,
was really her sister-in-law. Thus all these " brethren
of the Lord " were related to Him only on the side
of Joseph, his foster-father. See further on Gal. i. 19.
And Cephas. " See his wisdom. He puts the chief
after the rest, putting the stronger of his heads of
argument then when the others have been enumerated.
It was not so wonderful to show the rest acting in this
way, as to show that this was the conduct of the fore
man, of him who had been entrusted with the keys of
heaven " (St. Chrysostom).
6. This looks as though the dissension between Paul
and Barnabas (Acts xv. 35) had been already made
up. Further evidence of reconciliation is found in
Col. iv. 10 ; 2 Tim. iv. n. Cf. St. Thomas 2a 2a3, q. 37,
art. i (Aquinas Ethictts, i. pp. 404 406).
To do this. The right reading seems to be /xr)
epyaeo-#cu, not to work. But to do this means the same
thing, to live without working.
7. "This shows what a priest should be, having a
soldier s courage, and a husbandman s care, and a
shepherd s solicitude ; and for all that seeking no
more than bare necessaries " (St. Chrysostom). The
shepherd here only eateth of the milk, unlike those
shepherds (Ezech. xxxiv. 3), who killed that which was
/. CORINTHIANS ix. 917. 65
fat. St. Paul confesses to having taken from other churches,
receiving wages of them (2 Cor. xi. 8, 9).
9. Doth God take care for oxen P God has not of His
irrational creatures that principal care which He has
of men, but a secondary care (Matt. vi. 30 ; Jonas iv.
6, 7; Ps. ciii.).
13. They who serve in the holy place. The priests and
levites in the temple at Jerusalem.
Partake with the altar. On the altar were burnt the
two kidneys, with the fat wherewith the flanks are covered, and
the caul of the liver (Levit. iii. 4) ; the shoulder and the
breast were the priest s due (Deut. xviii. 3 ; cf. i Kings ii.
12 16).
14. The Apostle does not mention the Christian
altar in contrast with the Jewish altar, because he is
speaking of the remuneration due, not precisely to the
sacerdotal, but to the apostolic office ; and the first
work of an Apostle is to preach and make converts,
and to teach his people the truths of the gospel.
15. But I have used none of these things. " What
things ? These many examples. For whereas I have
license offered me on many hands, from the soldier,
from the husbandman, from the shepherd, from the
Apostles, from the law, from the priests, from the
command of Christ, none of these considerations have
persuaded me to set aside the law I have made for
myself, and to accept of remuneration" (St.Chrysostom).
17. Willingly in this verse means uncommanded ; and
against my will means simply under the necessity (v. 16)
of a command imposed upon me. This thing is preaching
the gospel without charge. The meaning then is : If,
as in point of fact is the case, uncommanded, I abstain
from making any charge for my preaching, I have a
reward for such abstinence as being a work of super
erogation : but if, as is not the case, the abstinence
were against my will^ that is to say, commanded me,
F
66 /. CORINTHIANS ix. 1822.
then I do not say that I should have no reward, but
I should have no further reward than is proper to one
who fulfils the dispensation committed to him to be
fulfilled under pain of sin and disobedience.
1 8. What then is my reward? The answer to this
question is really given in v. 23. St. Paul preached the
gospel for the gospel s own sake, not looking for any
reward in this life. For abuse not, a better rendering
would be use not to the utmost. The power includes the
power of taking temporal remuneration for his preach
ing. St. Paul refrained from using his power to this
length, that he might gain souls as the reward of his
abstinence (vv. 19 22) ; whereas those men with know
ledge (viii. i, seq.) used the liberty, which their knowledge
afforded, to the ruin of souls.
19. Gain more persons, should be, gain the greater
number, or the majority, TOVS TrAetovas.
21. Them that are under the law, a rhetorical variety of
expression for the yews, mentioned in the previous
verse, those Jews namely who still held out against
Christianity.
Instances of St. Paul s compliance with the Mosaic
law are Acts xvi. 3; xviii. 18; xxi. 26. But when
certain Jewish converts wished to make the observance
of that law a necessary point of Christianity, St. Paul
resisted stoutly, Acts xv. 2, a resistance which inspires
the whole Epistle to the Galatians.
Myself was not under the law. He says elsewhere,
/ am dead to the law, Gal. ii. 19.
22. To the weak, the weak Christian brother, who
easily takes scandal, viii. 7, 9 12. To these weak
brethren St. Paul accommodated himself in such a way,
as to abstain from the indifferent action, which they
took to be wrong, as though it really were wrong.
That I might save all, rather, that anyhow (TTO.VTUS for
/ might save some. In v. 19 he speaks of gaining
I. CORINTHIANS ix. 24-26. 67
only the greater number, and in v. 24, x. 5, he intimates
that not all are saved.
24. The Apostle proceeds to sober these over-con
fident men of liberty and knowledge (viii. g, 10), by
showing, first by a reference to a Greek custom, vv. 24,
25, then by a typical example from the history of the
Jews (x. i 12), that their salvation is not yet a certain
and accomplished fact.
One receiveth the prize. Not as though one only of
them all was going to be saved, but to indicate the
intensity of the earnestness that we ought to display.
For as there, though many enter the course, not many
are crowned, but on one head only the crown is set,
so here faith is not sufficient, nor a mere perfunctory
effort, but unless we run so as to show ourselves not
to be laid hold of at the last, we shall get nothing for
our pains. Even though you think yourself perfect in
knowledge, you have not yet secured the main issue "
(St. Chrysostom).
So run, as that one victor runs, that you may obtain.
25. Refraineth himself from all things, better, practises
self-restraint in all things. The athletes, who were to
contend at the Greek games, spent ten months in
training.
A corruptible crown of bay leaves, olive, pine, or even
parsley.
26. At an uncertainty. The sense is given by St.
Chrysostom: "I run as having an eye to the goal. I
do all things for my neighbour s salvation (vv. 19 22),
not as you do, entering into temples of idols. What
good comes of your entering such temples and eating
there ? For meat does not commend us to God (viii. 8). You
then are running anyhow and at random, that is, at an
uncertainty."
Beating the air, wildly and impotently, as though
there were no adversary to contend against.
68 /. CORINTHIANS ix. 27.
27. / chastise, {>7ra>7ria<o. The word is taken from the
boxing-ring, a more honoured profession in St. Paul s
da} than now, and means I beat the face black and blue.
Bring into subjection, SouXaytuyw, literally, / lead about as
a slave. In some Greek games, it appears, the conqueror
had the right to lead the conquered party round the
arena, and exhibit him as though he were a slave. The
two verbs then together mean : * It is my study to quell
and gain a thorough mastery over those lusts of the flesh,
that fight against the law of my mind (Gal. v. 16, 17;
Rom. vii. 23).
Lest when I have preached to others. The word for to
preach, Kijpvrreiv, has for its primary meaning, to act
the herald. The herald at the games had a prominent
part to play : he made all the announcements of the
combatants, and finally proclaimed the victor. It also
would be the duty of the herald to announce if any, for
any defect or foul play, was excluded from the contest
and banished the arena. Such a one would be aSo/a/xos,
rejected, here translated castaway. Keeping up the meta
phor then St. Paul says, lest having played the herald
for others, I myself be declared by sound of herald s
voice no fit person to be crowned.
If Paul was afraid, says St. Chrysostom, how much
more may we be ! He adds, as if in view of heresies
to come, " Think not that, once you have believed, that
is enough for your salvation."
/. CORINTHIANS x. 69
CHAPTER X.
I. For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers
were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ; 2. And
all in Moses were baptized in the cloud and in the sea : 3. And
they all eat the same spiritual food ; 4. And all drank the same
spiritual drink ; (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed
them : and the rock was Christ.) 5. But with the most of them
God was not well pleased ; for they were overthrown in the desert.
6. Now these things were done in a figure of us ; that we should
not covet evil things, as they also coveted. 7. Neither become ye
idolaters, as some of them ; as it is written : The people sat down
to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8. Neither let us commit
fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and there fell
in one day three and twenty thousand. 9. Neither let us tempt
Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents.
10. Neither do you murmur, as some of them murmured, and were
destroyed by the destroyer, n. Now all these things happened to
them in figure ; and they are written for our correction, upon whom
the ends of the world are come. 12. Wherefore, let him that
thinketh himself to stand take heed lest he fall. 13. Let no
temptation take hold on you but such as is human : and God is
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which
you are able ; but will make also with temptation issue that you
may be able to bear it. 14. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee
from the service of idols. 15. I speak as to wise men ; judge ye
yourselves what I say. 16. The chalice of benediction which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? And the
bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the
Lord ? 17. For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all who
partake of one bread. 18. Behold Israel according to the flesh :
are not they who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar ?
19. What then ? Do I say that what is offered in sacrifice to idols
is any thing ? or that the idol is any thing ? 20. But the things
which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to
God : and I would not that you should be made partakers with
devils. You cannot drink the chalice of the Lord, and the chalice
of devils : 21. You cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord,
and of the table of devils. 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy ?
are we stronger than he ? All things are lawful for me, but all
things are not expedient : 23. All things are lawful for me, but all
things do not edify. 24. Let no man seek his own, but that which
70 /. CORINTHIANS x. i, 2.
is for the welfare of another. 25. Whatsoever is sold in the
shambles eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 26. The
earth is the Lord s, and the fulness thereof. 27. If any of the
infidels invite you, and you be willing to go, eat of any thing that
is set before you, asking no question for conscience sake. 28. But
if any man say : This hath been sacrificed to idols, do not eat of it
for his sake that told it, and for conscience sake. 29. Conscience, I
say, not thy own, but the other s : for why is my liberty judged by
another man s conscience? 30. If I partake with thanksgiving,
why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31. Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do,
do all things for the glory of God. 32. Give no offence to the
Jews, nor to the gentiles, nor to the church of God ; 33. As I also
please all men in all things, not seeking that which is profitable to
myself, but to many, that they may be saved.
1. Onr fathers. The people of God in the Old Law
are the spiritual ancestors of all Christians : for they
who are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham,
Gal. ni. 69 ; Rom. ix. 68.
Under the cloud. This pillar of cloud, before the
Israelites had crossed the Red Sea, hung as a screen
etween them and the Egyptians (Exod. xiv. 19, 20),
so that it is written : He spread out a cloud to cover them,
Psalm civ. 39. Cf. Num. xi v . 14.
2. All in Moses were baptized, literally : took on themselves
n unto Moses. Baptism, the thing typified, is here
made to stand for the type, the type being the passage
of the Red Sea (Exod. xiv.), where the Egyptians
were drowned, and the people of God delivered, as
>ur sins are taken away in the waters of baptism, and
we are rescued from the power of evil spirits. Unto
oses means passing under the leadership of Moses : cf
He entered the Red Sea first, and the people
followed him to the opposite shore, and thence through
e desert. Moses, the passage of the Red Sea, and
* people of Israel under his leadership in the desert,
types respectively of Christ our Saviour, <
r\
7. CORINTHIANS x. 3, 4.
Sacrament of Baptism, and of the Church of God on
earth.
3. The same spiritual food, the manna (Exod. xvi.),
a type of the Holy Eucharist (John vi. 49, 52).
4. The same spiritual drink, the water produced miracu
lously from the rock (Exod. xvii. 6 ; Num. xx. 8).
The spiritual rock that followed them.
We have here, vv. 3, 4, spiritual food, spiritual drink,
and spiritual rock. The food and drink spoken of are
not things metaphorically so called; but a corporal
food, manna, and a material substance, water. It is
fair to conclude that the rock also is not any being,
figuratively called a rock, but an actual geological rock,
that in fact which Moses struck. It seems also a fair
conclusion, that the word spiritual bears the same
meaning in all these three applications. In the first
two cases it clearly connotes two things : (i) being a
term of miraculous action ; (2) being typical of a higher
and holier reality to come. And in no other sense is
the rock struck by Moses called a spiritual rock. For,
first, a miracle was wrought upon it, causing it to well
forth water ; and, secondly, the rock thus struck and
welling forth water was a figure of Christ, for, as
Theodoret says, "the rock imitated the side of the
Lord." Cf. John xix. 34.
The difficulty remains, how such a rock can be said
to ha.vefollowed the Israelites. There is a Rabbinical
fable, seemingly as old as St. Paul, that the rock, once
struck, followed the camp, and daily supplied the
people with water ; in which case of course the distress,
mentioned in Num. xx. i 13, could not have occurred.
Possibly the phrase " companion rock," ducoXoutfovcra
TreVpa, may have become familiar to Jewish ears from
this legend. St. Paul then, without endorsing the legend,
would use the familiar phrase, loosely employing the
word aKo\ovOov<ni?, where otherwise he would have written
7 2 /. CORINTHIANS x. 5, 6.
7raparvxov(rrj<s : i.e. saying the rock that followed them, where
all he really meant was the rock that met them on the way,
any rock, to wit, that they came across, and which
Moses was directed by God to strike. We have the
records of two such strikings (Exod. xvii. ; Num. xx.) ;
and there may have been others, not recorded in our
Scriptures.
And the rock was Christ. This phrase would be harsh,
if it were not clear from the previous words that the
rock spoken of was a spiritual rock, a rock, that is to say,
typical of a high and holy reality to come. This being
made clear, there is no more difficulty in the expression
than if, pointing to the head on one of our coins, a
person were to say, " This is Queen Victoria." When
the spiritual rock is spiritually examined (ii. 14), it is found
to be a showing forth of Christ, as type shows forth
antitype. The rock then is Christ in figure, TVTTIKUS, v. 1 1.
The attempt to draw a parallel between this verse
and Matt. xxvi. 26 fails altogether, because nowhere in
the context of St. Matthew is there mention of spiritual
bread, or bread having the function of a type ; while
here there is mention of a spiritual rock, which prepares
us to read the ensuing proposition typically. The
manna that fell from heaven was a spiritual food, v. 3, a
type of Christ ; but the bread that our Lord took into
His hands at His Last Supper was no type of Him ;
but being converted by transubstantiation into His
Sacred Body, it became the antitype of the manna
(John vi. 31, 59).
5. With most of them. St. Paul understates his case :
he would not afford ground for any one to argue that
of any Christian congregation all but one or two would
perish eternally. But of the Hebrews who went out of
Egypt, all except two, Caleb and Josue, perished in
the desert (Num. xxvi. 64, 65).
6. These things were done in a figure of us, "For," as
/. CORINTHIANS x. 710. 73
St. Chrysostom says, " as you eat the Lord s Body, so
did they eat manna ; and as you drink His Blood, so
did they drink water from the rock." He goes on to
show that as the gifts given to the Hebrew people were
typical, so were their punishments typical ; and as we
have received far greater gifts, so shall we receive far
greater punishments also, if we abuse our gifts.
As they also coveted the fleshpots of Egypt (Num.
xi. 4, 5, 18, 33, 34). And the Corinthians were coveting
the meats offered to idols, not without danger of idolatry,
as hinted in the next verse.
7. The people, &c. t Exod. xxxii. 6, at the worship of
the golden calf.
8. Three and twenty thousand. The record of this
transaction in Num. xxv. i 9 says twenty -four thousand.
This may be an instance of the same understatement
for safety s sake, which led St. Paul s countrymen to
inflict thirty-nine strokes where the law allowed only
forty (2 Cor. xi. 24 ; Deut. xxv. 3).
The worship of Aphrodite of the Corinthians involved
the same impurities as that of Beelphegor, the idol of
Moab. This was the danger of sitting at meat in the idol s
temple, namely, the temple of Aphrodite.
9. Neither let us tempt Christ, by growing weary of
the modest religious rites of the infant Christian church
at Corinth, and harking back to the gorgeous ceremonial
and carnal sacrifices of paganism, as the Israelites (Num.
xxi. 4, 5, 6; Psalm cv. 14), spoke against God and
Moses, asking why they had been brought out of Egypt
to die in the wilderness, without bread, without water,
their hearts sick of the light food of the manna.
10. Some of them murmured. After the deaths that
ensued upon the schism of Core, Dathan, and Abiran,
we read that all the multitude murmnyed against Moses and
Aaron, saying, You have slain the people of God (Num.
xvi. 41). From c, iv, it appears that some of the
74 /. CORINTHIANS x. 11, 12.
Corinthians had been murmuring against and depreciat
ing St. Paul.
Destroyed by the destroyer, Num. xvi. 49. We read in
Wisdom xviii. 25 : To these (prayers of Aaron for the
people, Num. xviii. 24) the destroyer gave way, which text
St. Paul seems to have had before him here. The other
Scripture references to the destroyer are Heb. xi. 28 ;
Exod. xii. 23 ; Josue iii. 10.
11. The ends of the world, the consummation and
accomplishment (TO. re Ar;, not ra Trepara) of the figures of
previous ages (TWI/ alwvwv). The period from the first
coming of the Messiah to His second coming is the last
hour (i John ii. 18) in this sense, that there is no further
dispensation to be expected. It is the end of ages (Heb.
ix. 26), the fulness of time (Gal. iv. 4), comprising indeed
old age and decrepitude, prevarication and apostasy,
but before that, and much more than that, middle age
and maturity, and the ripe strength of the faith of
Christ on earth.
12. "This is the practical conclusion of the whole
matter. We are to look back on that strange record of
splendid privilege and terrible fall, and learn from it the
solemn lesson of self-distrust. Led forth by divinely-
appointed leaders, overshadowed by the Divine Pre
sence, supported by divinely-given food and drink, the
vast hosts of Israel had passed from the bondage of
Egypt into the glorious liberty of children of the living
God ; yet amid all those who seemed to stand so secure
in their relation to God, but a few fell not. Christians,
called forth from a more deadly bondage into a more
glorious liberty, are in like peril. The murmuring
against their apostolic teachers, the longing to go so far
as they could in indulgence without committing actual
sin, were terribly significant indications in the Corinthian
Church. When we feel ourselves beginning to dislike
those who warn us against sin, and when we find our-
/. CORINTHIANS x. 1316. 7$
selves measuring with minute casuistry what is the
smallest distance that we can place between ourselves
and some desired object of indulgence without actually
sinning, then he that thinketh himself to stand, let him take
heed lest he fall " (Ellicott s New Testament Commentary for
English Readers).
13, 14. Verse 14 is a corollary from v. 12. It is the
immediately practical conclusion of the whole exhorta
tion, as addressed to the Corinthians. Verse 13 seems
rather to break the thread of the argument. It is really
of the nature of a note, put in perhaps as an after
thought, lest perhaps one be swallowed up with over-much
sorrow (2 Cor. ii. 7), or alarm, at a lesson so terribly
enforced. We should read, with nearly all the Greek
MSS. and Fathers: Temptation hath not taken hold of you
but such as is human. The sense is : * You have had no
intolerable trials yet (cf. Heb. xii. 4) ; and as for the
fear of intolerable trials to come, know that God will
always provide an issue. Your perseverance in good
then is in your own hands.
To guard against the seeming Pelagianism of this
interpretation, we must add with St. Chrysostom : " So
there are temptations beyond what it is possible to bear.
And what are they ? All, so to speak. For the possi
bility of our bearing them depends on God s intervening
on our behalf, which intervention we draw down upon
ourselves by our good-will. Not only those temptations
that surpass our ability, but even these human tempta
tions, it is impossible easily to withstand without aid
from heaven. For not even with these temptations,
proportionate to our nature, shall we go through by our
own strength, but even here we need God as our ally
to go through with them, and before going through, to
bear them."
1 6. The chalice of benediction. According to Matt,
xxvi. 26, our Saviour blessed the bread before con-
7 6 I. CORINTHIANS x. 17.
secration. Doubtless He blessed the chalice also, as is
the traditionary practice of the Church to this day.
Hence this phrase of St. Paul. The chalice is mentioned
before the bread, because in the pagan sacrifices, against
which St. Paul here puts in opposition the Christian
sacrifice, wine was poured out at the beginning.
The communion of the blood of Christ. What is here
in the chalice is that which flowed from the side [of
Christ] , and of that we partake " (St. Chrysostom).
This passage, by the antithesis that it involves, is
an argument of the sacrificial character of the Holy
Eucharist. The Apostle sets out table against table,
that is, altar against altar, and sacrifice against sacrifice,
IfpoOvrov against eiSwAo&rroi/. See Council of Trent, sess. 22,
cap. i.
17. This verse is better translated : Because it is one
bread, we are one body, many as we are : for we are all partakers
of that one bread. But for the fact of transubstantiation,
this argument would not hold. But for that fact, it
would not be one bread. The bread on the altar at
Constantinople, so long as it remains bread, is not
the bread at Rome, even as the victims slain on the
altar of holocausts in the Jewish temple were all
so many several oxen and sheep. What Jewish
Rabbi ever wrote : We are all partakers of one
lamb ?
One bread, one body. "What is the bread? The
Body of Christ. And what do they become who receive
it ? The Body of Christ : not many bodies, but one
Body " (St. Chrysostom). To the same effect St. Augus
tine writes (Conf. vii. 10) : "Nor shalt thou change Me
into thee, as thou dost the food of thy flesh : but thou
shalt be changed into Me." The real Body of Christ
in the Holy Eucharist is the food and consolidation of
His mystical Body, the Church (Eph. i. 23 ; v. 20 ;
Col. ii. 19; i Cor. vi. 15). It was a saying of the
/. CORINTHIANS x. 1821. 77
Fathers: " The body of the baptized man is the flesh
of the Crucified."
1 8. Israel according to the flesh, the unconverted Jews
of the time, as opposed to the Israel of God, Gal.
vi. 16.
Partakers of the altar. Better, with the altav. Part of
the sacrifice was burnt on the altar : the rest was eaten
by the offerer, or by the priests (i Kings ii. 13 16).
The unconverted Jews then were partakers, not with
devils, as the heathens were (v. 20), nor yet with God,
but simply with the altar, a thing now in Christ made void
(2 Cor. iii. 14).
19. An idol represented no real person (viii. 4),
Jupiter, Venus and the rest being mere figments. Nor
was the meat offered to an idol thereby altered so as to
become pernicious of its own nature any more than any
other meat.
20. They sacrifice to devils. Cf. Deut. xxxii. 17; Ps.
xcv. 5. Not that the Gentiles commonly were conscious
of worshipping evil spirits, or that there was a devil
locally resident in every idol, or even that to every
deity of heathendom there was some devil correspond
ing ; but that heathen worship had grown generally so
inane, so superstitious, and so impure, as to be ruinous
to the souls of the worshippers, and thereby a grateful
service to the enemies of mankind, who found in the
legends, rites and emblems of such a religion a powerful
instrument of corruption and incentive to sin, and who
also seem to have been permitted not unfrequently to
mingle their personal action with such rites, causing
false signs and wonders, as happens in the unchristian
regions of the East even to this day.
21. Cf. 2 Cor. vi. 15. The chalice of devils. A libation,
as it was called, at a heathen sacrifice was performed
with a full goblet, pouring out a little in honour of the
god, and drinking the rest.
7 8 /. CORINTHIANS x. 2229.
22. A text for waverers, whether in belief, or, as the
Corinthians were, in practice.
Do we provoke, &&gt;c.? From Deut. xxxii. 21: They
have provoked me to jealousy over one who was not God, i.e.
over an idol.
All things are lawful, &c., repeated from vi. 12. Some
things, lawful in themselves, are neither expedient for the
doer s own sanctification and salvation, nor edify- (v. 23)
the looker on.
24. Cf. Rom. xiv. 14 23 ; xv. i 3.
25. This concession does not extend to sharing the
sacrificial meals in idols temples, viii. 10, which is the
practice condemned in vv. 20, 21.
28. Sacrificed to idols, el&wXoQvrov. Better, sacrificed to
holy beings, IcpoOvrov, the reading of our three oldest
MSS. The words, so St.Chrysostom apparently under
stands them, are spoken by a pagan, who would not call
his own gods idols.
29, 30. The previous verse 28 (like v. 13 above,
which see) is parenthetical, and in a modern book
would stand as a footnote. Commentators, failing to
recognise the parenthesis, have made various un
successful efforts to connect vv. 29, 30, with v. 28. The
real connection is with v. 27. Then the sense runs :
Eat, and ask no questions for what other people s
conscience, or consciousness, may tell them, as to the
meat set before you having been offered to idols. That
is not in your consciousness, nor on your conscience
either. You are free, and untrammeled by what others
may know and think. You eat, and thank God for the
good gift : you deserve not to be evilly spoken of for
so doing. And thus much of meats about which no
question is asked, nor information volunteered. But
(to revert to v. 28), if any pagan draws your attention
to the fact that this or that meat has been offered to his
false gods, he may justly be shocked at your continuing
/. CORINTHIANS x. 3133. 79
to eat it. Do not eat it then, for his sake, for now his
conscience and consciousness come to be also yours.
Do not eat it, not as though it had any power of itself
to hurt you, but for loathing, now that it is pointedly
placed before you as meat once made over to the
enemies of God.
St. Paul here gives the Corinthians an authoritative
interpretation of the decree, passed at the Council of
Jerusalem a year before, that you abstain from things
sacrificed to idols, limiting it to things certainly known as
such, and, in the absence of certainty, excusing from
enquiry, and allowing the benefit of the doubt.
31. Cf. Col. iii. 17. On the similar verse of Psalm
xxxiv. 28, All day long thy praise, St. Augustine writes :
" Whatever you do, do it well, and you have praised
God. When you sing a hymn, you praise God : but
what good is there in your tongue s performance, unless
your mind and heart also joins in the praise ? You
have given over the hymn-singing, and go away for a
meal: be temperate, and you have praised God. You
retire to rest : do not rise to do evil, and you have
praised God. You are in business : practise no fraud,
and you have praised God."
33. The flatterer too makes it his object to please all
men, but all the while seeking that which is profitable to self.
8o /. CORINTHIANS xi.
CHAPTER XI.
I. Be ye also followers of me, as I also am of Christ. 2. Now I
praise you, brethren, that in all things you are mindful of me, and
keep my ordinances as I delivered them to you. 3. But I would
have you know, that the head of every man is Christ ; and the
head of the woman is the man ; and the head of Christ is God.
4. Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered
disgraceth his head. 5. But every woman praying or prophesying
with her head not covered disgraceth her head : for it is all one as
if she were shaven. 6. For if a woman be not covered, let her be
shorn : but if it be a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let
her cover her head. 7. The man, indeed, ought not to cover his
head, because he is the image and glory of God ; but the woman is
the glory of the man. 8. For the man is not of the woman, but
the woman of the man. 9. For the man was not created for the
woman, but the woman for the man. 10. Therefore ought the
woman to have a power over her head, because of the angels.
II. But yet neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman
without the man, in the Lord. 12. For as the woman is of the
man, so also is the man by the woman ; but all things of God.
13. Judge you yourselves : doth it become a woman to pray to God
uncovered ? 14. Doth not even nature itself teach you that a man
indeed, if he nourish his hair, it is a shame to him ? 15. But if a
woman nourish her hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given
to her for a covering. 16. But if any man seem to be contentious,
we have no such custom, nor hath the church of God. 17. Now
this I ordain, not praising you, that you come together not for the
better, but for the worse. 18. For first of all, I hear that when
you come together in the church there are divisions among you,
and in part I believe it. 19. For there must be also heresies; that
they also who are approved may be made manifest among you.
20. When you come together, therefore, into one place, it is not
now to eat the Lord s supper. 21. For every one taketh before his
own supper to eat : and one indeed is hungry, and another is drunk.
22. What ! have you not houses to eat and to drink in ? or despise
the church of God, and put them to shame that have not ?
What shall I say to you ? Do I praise you ? In this I praise you
not. 23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, the night in which he was
betrayed, took bread, 24. And giving thanks, broke, and said:
Take ye, and eat ; this is my body which shall be delivered for
/. CORINTHIANS xi. 19. 81
you : do this for the commemoration of me. 25. In like manner
also the chalice, after he had supped, saying : This chalice is the
new testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as you shall drink it
for the commemoration of me. 26. For as often as you shall eat this
bread, and drink this chalice, you shall show forth the death of the
Lord until he come. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread,
or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the
body and blood of the Lord. 28. But let a man prove himself, and
so let him eat of that bread, and drink of the chalice. 29. For he
that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment
to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord. 30. Therefore are
there many infirm and weak among you, and many sleep. 31. But
if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32. But
whilst we are judged, we are chastised by the Lord, that we may
not be damned with this world. 33. Wherefore, my brethren,
when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34. If any
man be hungry, let him eat at home ; that you come not together
unto judgment. And the rest I will set in order, when I come.
1. This ought to have been made the concluding
verse of the preceding chapter. It sets the crown on
the whole argument of cc. viii. ix. x. against the scandal
of idol-meats.
2. So the Corinthians seem to have assured St. Paul
in their letter.
3. Of every man, that is, of every Christian man.
Cf. Eph. v. 23. Christ is our Head in His Sacred
Humanity, and in respect of that Humanity the head of
Christ is God.
5. Woman prophesying. Further on, xiv. 34, he writes :
Let women keep silence in the churches.
As if she were shaven, Isai. iii. 17, 24.
7. Man is the image and glory, or the glorious reflection,
of God, both in other respects, and (what makes for the
present argument) in this, that he is the lord of creation
(Gen. i. 26). "Woman," as Theodoret says, "being
under the power of man is the glory of the man, and as it
were, the image of an image."
8, 9. This reasoning of St. Paul from Gen. ii.
G
8 2 /. CORINTHIANS xi. 10 16.
21 23 is a weighty consideration in favour of taking
the account of the formation of the first woman literally
as the words sound.
10. A power, that is, a cap or veil in token of her
being under the power of man, not necessarily of
her husband, for the words apply to all women, not to
married women only.
A power over her head: the Greek means simply a
powey on her head, l-n-l T^S /ce^aA^s. Similarly in Isaias
ix. 6, in the Septuagint version, which St. Paul often
used, we read, the principality was upon his shoulder, CTTI TOV
w/xov. It must be decided from the context whether the
emblem of power, borne on head or shoulder (cf. Isaias
xxii. 22), signifies power wielded by the bearer over
others, as in Isaias, or power wielded by another over
the bearer, as here.
Because of the angels. From the way these words
are introduced, they cannot contain an entirely new
argument for women covering their heads in churches :
they can be only the complement of the argument
already given. The modesty and submission proper to
a woman has been argued to require her head to be
covered, especially in the Lord s House. The angels,
the ministering spirits (Heb. i. 14: cf. Eph. iii. 10; and
above, iv. 9), gathered there, expect such modest
covering : be it worn accordingly because of the angels.
14. If he nourish his hair, i.e. wears it long, it is a
shame to him. In Greece it was customary for boys to
have their hair cut for the first time at the age of
eighteen. To wear long hair after that age was the
recognised mark of a fop.
15. Nature provides for woman a more abundant
growth of hair on the head, an indication of the natural
propriety of a woman s head being always covered.
16. Seem to be, better, thinks fit to be, Sow. " Although
then the Corinthians were contentious, now the whole
/. CORINTHIANS xi. 1719. 83
Christian world has received and observes this law :
such is the power of the Crucified " (St. Chrysostom).
17. Now this I ordain; not praising you. Literally,
according to the best reading, Now giving this word of
command (concerning women covering their heads), /
praise you not (for what I am going to mention). / praise
you not refers back to v. 2, and is taken up again in v. 22.
You come together for the worse. " All gregarious
animals," writes St. Thomas on this passage, " by
natural instinct come together for their better bodily
good : hence man also, being a gregarious or social
animal, ought to act rationally by the assembling of
many for some purpose of improvement ; as in worldly
matters many meet in the unity of one State for the
bettering of their worldly condition in the way of
security and sufficiency of life. And therefore the
faithful ought to come together for the bettering of
their spiritual condition: but these Corinthians came
together for the worse on account of the faults they
committed in their assemblies."
Hence the Apostle hints, v. 34, that rather than
come together unto judgment , they had better have stayed
at home.
18, 19. First of all. The second heading commences
at xii. i.
In church, eV cKKA^o-ta. The word means properly the
meeting of a multitudinous) coyporate and legal body, as such.
It is not clear that the name was given to any building
till the third century of our era.
Schisms, heresies, better perhaps here, divisions, parties.
The separation of rich from poor, presently spoken of,
did not amount to a schism, in the sense which that
theological term bears now. The word afpe<ns, here
translated heresy, occurs in eight other places of the
New Testament (Acts v. 17 ; xv. 5 ; xxvi. 5 ; xxiv. 5, 14;
xxviii. 22; Gal. v. 20; 2 Pet. ii. i). In six at least of
8 4 /. CORINTHIANS xi. 20.
these places it means no more than sect. The best
realisation of the modern theological meaning is Titus
iii. 10, A man that is a heretic (atpm/cov) avoid. St. Paul
does not here simply say there must be also heresies, which
would be a general declaration parallel to that of our
Lord, it must needs be that scandals come (Matt, xviii. 7) ;
but he says, according to the best readings, there must be
also heresies (rather, sects, parties) among you. Now what
is true in the abstract, is not necessarily true of any
particular church : nor, as a matter of fact, do we know
of any heresies springing up in the early church of
Corinth.
A printer s error has here crept into at least some
modern editions of the Rheims version, reproved for
appvoved (probati, SO/CI/AOI).
20. It is not now to eat the Lord s supper, more correctly,
there is now no eating the Lord s supper.
The first converts to Christianity, the three thousand
converted on the day of Pentecost, had all things in
common (Acts iii. 41, 44). This community of goods
ceased to be insisted on, as the Church spread. But
there continued what St. Chrysostom calls "an emana
tion " of it, in the agapac or love-feasts. These were
meals, to which each guest brought provisions in kind,
according to his means ; and what was thus brought
together was supposed to be shared alike by all. This
was a Greek institution, as old as Homer. The Greek
name for such a meal was epavos, said to be from epw, /
love, as the Graeco- Christian name was ayd-n-rj, which in
Christian language meant brotherly love. The Church
then in this, as in so many other instances, adapted to
her own purpose what she found already in existence.
The agapae are mentioned only once by name in the
Bible, by St. Jude, v. 12, who condemns the abuse of
them. At Corinth, as we learn here from St. Paul, they
were tarnished by a triple abuse, (i) The rich eating
/. CORINTHIANS xi. 2123. 85
the good things that the} 7 had themselves brought,
before the poor could get at them, vv. 21, 33. (2) Some
drinking to excess, v. 21. (3) The extreme irreverence
of such an ill-conducted meal taking place in close
connection with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,
vv. 2329, which was celebrated, St. Chrysostom says,
"before" (St. Augustine says, "after") the agape, or
love-feast ; which any way became either a bad
thanksgiving after, or a bad preparation before Holy
Communion.
We may remark incidentally that to extol the
primitive Christians to the depreciation of the faithful
in modern times, as was the fashion with the Jansenists,
must argue a strange inability or reluctance to conceive
the manner in which these primitive Christians at
Corinth "went to their duties." Yet these were the
parents of the martyrs !
The Lord s supper is the agape, or love-feast, preceded
or followed by the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.
The meats brought to the agape ought to have been
shared alike by all, as the Holy Communion was
partaken of by all alike. The selfish gluttony of the
rich subverted the whole institution by destroying the
essential idea of equal participation.
21. Before any distribution of the provisions brought
could be effected, they were consumed severally by the
several persons who had brought them.
Is drunk, peOvti. The word need mean no more than
drinks freely, as in John ii. 10; Gen. xliii. 34.
22. " Is it not preposterous that within the temple
of God, where the Lord is present who has set before
us a common table, you should riot, while the needy
are hungry, and blush for their poverty? " (Theodoret).
23. / have received of the Lord. Evidently St. Paul
means that a special instruction had been vouchsafed
to him, beyond that which other Christians of his time
86 /. CORINTHIANS xi. 24, 25.
had received concerning the Last Supper from the
Apostles there present. Elsewhere he says : For neither
did I receive it (the gospel) of man, nor did I learn it, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 12). Our Saviour
Himself then, appearing after His Ascension to St. Paul,
had deigned to instruct him in this and other mysteries.
St. Paul was a seer of visions (xv. 8 ; 2 Cor. xii. 2 4 ;
Acts ix. 12; xxii. 17; xxiii. n; xxvi. 15).
This is the oldest record of the Last Supper.
St. Luke xxii. 19, 20, closely follows St. Paul, whose
companion he was. St. Matthew xxvi. 26 28, writes
as an eye-witness ; and St. Mark xiv. 22 24, records
the story as he learnt it of another eye-witness,
St. Peter.
24. Giving thanks, evxapwmjo-as, means the same thing
as eAoyr;o-a5, which is translated blessing. The two
words are used as synonymous in xiv. 16, where
evAoyTJo-fl? and euxapKrricx are translated bless and blessing.
Again they are interchanged in Mark xiv. 22, 23. And
St. John vi. u, has euxapumjo-as where the other three
evangelists (Matt. xiv. 19; Mark vi. 41 ; Luke ix. 16)
have evXoyrjae, of our Lord blessing the loaves and fishes.
Take ye and cat : this is my body which shall be
delivered for you. To represent these words, all that we
find in the three oldest manuscripts is, This is my body
that is for you. The other Greek manuscripts read,
This my body that is broken (i.e. given in food) for you.
For the Hebrew phrase of breaking bread cf. Isaias
Iviii. i ; Lam. iv. 4; Mark viii. 19; Acts ii. 46; xx. n.
Our present reading, given, StSo/xevov, is found in Luke
xxii. 19 ; while take ye and eat is in Matt. xxvi. 26. The
variation then is unimportant.
25. After he had supped (also in Luke xxii. 20).
We may argue from these words, with St. Mark s whilst
they were eating (Mark xiv. 22), and St. Matthew s while
they were at supper (Matt. xxvi. 26), that the institution
/. CORINTHIANS xi. 26.
of the Holy Eucharist took place when supper was in
the main over, but they had not yet risen from table.
The chalice used in the institution may have been the
fourth cup of wine, that legally terminated the Jewish
paschal supper.
The new testament in my blood, i.e. my blood of the
new testament (Matt. xxvi. 28). For when every commandment
of the law had been read by Moses to all the people, he took the
blood of calves and goats, . . . and sprinkled both the book
itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the
testament, which God hath enjoined unto you (Heb. ix. 19 ;
Exod. xxiv. 8). With this sprinkling of the blood of oxen
and goats, it was impossible that sins should be taken away
(Heb. x. 4). Nor again could the law take away sin
(Rom. iv. vii. ; Gal. iii.). Sins are taken away, not by
the real, living blood of goats and oxen, but by what
that blood was a figure of, the real, living Blood of
Christ, which He gave to His disciples to drink (Matt.
xxvi. 27, 28). In this was the new testament, in which
God said : / will be merciful to their iniquities, and their sins
I will remember no more (Heb. viii. 8 12; Jer. xxxi. 31
-34).
This do for the commemoration of me. " If any one says
that by the words, This do for the commemoration of me,
Christ did not institute His Apostles priests, or did not
ordain that they and other priests should offer His
Body and Blood, let him be anathema " (Council of
Trent, sess. 22, can. 2). This is one of the compara
tively few texts, the sense of which has been dogmati
cally declared by the Church.
26. You shall eat, you shall show forth : better, you eat,
you show forth (KarayycXXere, you declare).
The eating and drinking here spoken of, being the
completion of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, is
put for that celebration itself. Every time the Holy
Eucharist is celebrated, every time Mass is said, the
7. CORINTHIANS xi. 2729.
death of the Lord is shown forth by the separate con
secration of the bread into His Body, and the wine into
His Blood, which separate consecration is symbolical
of the actual separation of that same Body and Blood,
which was the actual death of that same Lord on
Calvary.
27. Or drink. The reading and drink is now generally
discarded. It has disappeared in the Anglican Revised
Version. It used to be maintained for fear of the
inference in favour of Communion under one kind.
Guilty of the body and blood of the Lord : because, his
unworthiness depriving him of the fruit of what he
receives, that Blood, so far as he is concerned, has
been shed in vain, as well in the original sacrifice of
Calvary, as also in the renewed sacrifice of the altar at
which he communicates ; and thus, as St. Chrysostom
puts it, like the crucifiers of our Saviour, " he has made
of the proceeding a butchery, and not a sacrifice."
Or again, as Theodoret explains: " As Judas betrayed
Him, and the Jews insulted Him, so do they dishonour
Him who receive His all-holy Body with unclean
hands, and approach it to a guilty mouth."
28. Let a man prove himself. "The custom of the
Church declares that such proving is necessary, as that
no one conscious to himself of mortal sin ought to
approach the Holy Eucharist without previous sacra
mental confession, however contrite he may think
himself" (Council of Trent, sess. 13, ch. 7). Going to
confession, a man proves himself, examines his own
conscience, and is in the first instance his own judge.
Cf. 2 Cor. xiii. 5. Let him prove himself, i.e. make sure
of the state of his conscience. That this proving of
oneself, where it reveals mortal sin, further implies the
confession of that sin, is not evident from the bare
words of this text, but from the tradition of the Church.
29. In this verse the words unworthily and of the Lord
/. CORINTHIANS xi. 30. 89
are wanting in the three oldest manuscripts. Even so,
however, the adverb must be mentally supplied from
v. 27 : and the body can be no other than the body of the
Lord, spoken of vv. 24, 27, no other body being mentioned
anywhere in this chapter. The Church is indeed the
mystical body of Christ, x. 16 ; Rom. xii. 5 ; Eph. i. 23 ;
but after speaking pointedly of the body of Christ as
it is in the Holy Eucharist, then suddenly to use the
term, without any qualification, to mean His mystical
body, would be a mere equivocation. St. Paul then
teaches that the unworthy communicant does not discern
the body of the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. But how
could he discern it, if it were not there ?
Not discerning, " that is, not examining, not reflecting
on the greatness of what is set before him, not taking
account of the vastness of the gift : for if you were
accurately to learn who it is that is set before you, and
who it is that gives Himself, and to whom, you would
need no other inducement " (St. Chrysostom).
Judgment to himself, Kpt^a. eavriu. The same phrase is
applied to those who resist lawful civil authority, Rom.
xiii. 2.
30. Therefore. In any community, congregation, or
country, where there are many unworthy communions,
the effects will soon be visible, scandals will occur,
and miseries will break out into the light. This is a
sin which never sleeps. The Corinthians were visited
with temporal punishments, sicknesses and deaths, for
the greediness and disorder of their agapae, so close to
the reception of Holy Communion.
Many sleep, i.e. are dead. The word occurs ten other
times in the New Testament, never of the death of the
unrighteous. Hence it may be argued that the irrever
ence of the Corinthians, who were thus punished, in
regard of their reception of the Holy Eucharist, did not
go the length of grievous sin. This conclusion is made
go /. CORINTHIANS xi. 31 34.
further probable from v. 32, with which compare Heb.
xii. 5 ii. We are judged (v. 32) and chastised with a
temporal chastisement ; while the condemnation of this
world (that will not know Christ, John i. 10, n) is
eternal.
31. Judge ourselves, literally, discern ourselves, the same
word as in v. 29. It means here that a man should
prove himself (v. 28), and discern the body of the Lord present
in the Eucharist, and also his own conscience, how that
stands prepared for the reception of it.
33. Wherefore, at the agapae, wait for one another. This
would prevent the abuse mentioned in v. 21, and the
consequent irreverence to the Holy Eucharist (vv. 27,
29), and the judgments that thereon followed (v. 30).
34. Let him eat at home. " He leads the man out of
the church, and sends him home, making such persons
(those mentioned, vv. 21, 22) ridiculous, as slaves to
appetite and wanting in self-control " (St. Chrysostom).
The rest I will set in order when I come. The written
inspiration of the Apostle needed to be eked out by a
living guidance, also divine.
I. CORINTHIANS xh. 91
CHAPTER XII.
I. Now concerning spiritual things, my brethren, I would not
have you to be ignorant. 2. You know that, when you were
heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led.
3. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man, speaking by
the Spirit of God, saith anathema to Jesus ; and no man can say,
The Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost. 4. Now there are diver
sities of graces, but the same Spirit. 5. And there are diversities
of ministries, but the same Lord. 6. And there are diversities of
operations, but the same God, who worketh all in all. 7. But the
manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit.
8. To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom ; and
to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit ;
9. To another faith in the same Spirit ; to another the grace of
healing in one Spirit ; 10. To another the working of miracles ;
to another prophecy ; to another the discernment of spirits ; to
another divers kinds of tongues ; to another interpretation of
speeches: n. But all these things one and the same Spirit
worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. 12. For as
the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of
the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body ; so also is
Christ. 13. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or gentiles, whether bond or free ; and in one Spirit
we have all been made to drink. 14. For the body also is not one
member, but many. 15. If the foot should say : Because I am not
the hand, I am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ?
16. And if the ear should say : Because I am not the eye, I am not
of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? 17. If the whole
body were the eye, where would be the hearing ? if the whole were
hearing, where would be the smelling ? 18. But now God hath set
the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
19. And if they all were one member, where would be the body ?
20. But now there are many members, indeed, yet one body.
21. And the eye cannot say to the hand : I need not thy help ; nor
again the head to the feet : I have no need of you. 22. Yea, much
more, those that seem to be the more feeble members of the body
are more necessary : 23. And such as we think to be the less
honourable members of the body, upon these we bestow more
abundant honour ; and those that are our uncomely parts have
more abundant comeliness. 24. But our comely parts have no
need : but God hath tempered the body together, giving the more
9 2 I. CORINTHIANS xii. 13.
abundant honour to that which wanted it ; 25. That there might
be no schism in the body ; but the members might be mutually
careful one for another. 26. And if one member suffer anything,
all the members suffer with it ; or if one member glory, all the
members rejoice with it. 27. Now you are the body of Christ, and
members of member. 28. And God indeed hath set some in the
church, first, apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers; after
that, miracles; then the graces of healings, helps, governments,
kinds of tongues, interpretations of speeches. 29. Are all apostles ?
are all prophets ? are all teachers ? 30. Are all workers of
miracles ? have all the grace of healing ? do all speak with tongues?
do all interpret ? 31. But be zealous for the better gifts : and I yet
show to you a more excellent way.
" This passage is very obscure, owing to our ignor
ance and inexperience of things that happened when
St. Paul wrote, hut do not happen now. In those
days, after baptism, one immediately spoke in strange
tongues : many also prophesied ; some worked miracles.
Coming from their idols to the faith, with no previous
accurate knowledge or acquaintance with the books
of the Old Testament, they received the Holy Spirit
in the instant of their baptism. But they could not
see the Spirit, as He is invisible ; and therefore the
miraculous grace gave them a sensible proof of His
operation. Thus at once one there was speaking the
language of the Persians, another that of the Romans,
another that of the Indians, and so of the rest. This
was a sensible proof to those outside the faith that the
Spirit was in the person of the speaker. They also
raised the dead, chased out devils, and did other
wonders. Some had more, and some fewer of these
miraculous gifts; and those who had more, extolled
themselves over those who had fewer, while the latter
felt vexation and envy. The same jealousies occurred
also at Rome (Rom. xii. 38), but not so much as
here " (St. Chrysostom).
1 3- The connection of these three verses is some
thing as follows : < I would not have you ignorant :
/. CORINTHIANS xii. 48. 93
you were ignorant as heathens, senseless followers of
senseless divinities : but Christians ought not to be
ignorant of spiritual things : wherefore I give you this
rule of discernment between good and bad spirits : No
man speaking in the spirit of God, &c.
Dumb idols, Baruch vi. 40; Wisd. xi. 16.
Anathema means in Greek a thing devoted to Heaven ;
and in New Testament Greek, a thing devoted to the
anger of Heaven. Anathema to J., or more correctly,
Be J. anathema, means Let him be accursed. Any spirit
that prompts to such an utterance, St. Paul says, is an
evil spirit. But if the spirit prompts the man whom it
possesses to cry out, the Lord Jesus, or more correctly,
Jesus is Lord, that spirit either is, or at least is ruled by,
the Holy Ghost. It is true that evil spirits occasionally
gave this testimony (Mark i. 24; Acts xvi. 17), but
that was under compulsion of the Spirit of God.
St. Paul s rule for trying the spirits if they be of God,
is the same as St. John s (i John iv. i 3).
This verse, 3, thus explained, has no bearing upon
the controversy of St. Augustine with Pelagius as to the
necessity of grace. St. Paul is not speaking of the
ordinary workings of grace, but of the extraordinary
manifestations of spirits, good and evil.
4 6. Under the names of Spirit, Lord, and God, we
have here mentioned the Holy Ghost, the Son, and the
Father. Cf. i. 3 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 13. Graces, ministries, and
operations, are all the same thing, the extraordinary
manifestations of divine indwelling which then followed
upon baptism, all the work of one and the same God.
8. The word of wisdom seems to transcend the
word of knowledge by involving a deeper penetration of
mysteries. We speak wisdom among the perfect, ii. 6. A
catechist must be possessed at least of knowledge, but
wisdom is looked for in a theological lecturer. In those
to whom this Epistle was first addressed, these gifts
94 /. CORINTHIANS xii. 912.
came, not of study, as they must in us, but of an
extraordinary manifestation of the Spirit.
9. Faith. " Faith, not in doctrines, but to the
working of signs and wonders, of which Christ says :
// you have faith as a grain of mustard -seed, you shall say to
this mountain, &c. (Matt. xvii. 19) ; and this the Apostles
asked for, saying : Increase our faith (Luke xvii. 5).
This faith is the mother of signs " (St. Chrysostom).
In those to whom it is given, over and above the divine
assurance that all the faithful have of God s power to
work miracles, it involves a special assurance from God
of His will to work a miracle in this or that case.
It is to be remembered throughout this passage that
the Apostle is not speaking of any graces given to the
receiver for his own salvation, or making or tending to
make him holy and just.
10. The working of miracles may be distinct from the
faith previously mentioned, as when one works miracles
without being aware of it, e.g. Acts v. 15; xix. 12:
cf. Luke vi. 19.
Discernment of spirits. Since there were prophets
abroad at that time who deceived men, there was given
to some of the faithful a special grace of the Holy
Ghost to discern such cases of diabolic operation.
The other graces mentioned in this verse are dis
cussed at length in ch. xiv.
n. This text shows the Holy Spirit as a Divine
Person, who worketh all these things, which in v. 6 God is
said to work.
12. So also in Christ, that is, the mystical Body
of Christ, His Church. "The whole Christ," says
St. Augustine, " is head and body: the head the only-
begotten Son of God, and His body the Church,
bridegroom and bride, two in one flesh" (De unit,
cedes. 4). And St. Chrysostom here : " As head and
body are one man, so, says the Apostle, the Church
I. CORINTHIANS xii. 1322. 95
and Christ are one ; wherefore he puts Christ instead of
the Church." Cf. vi. 15 with note; Eph. i. 23; iv. 12;
v. 30; Col. i. 18.
13. Cf. Col. iii. ii ; Gal. iii. 27, 28.
In one Spirit we have all been made to drink. The
preposition in is better away : it is absent in the oldest
MSS. The meaning then is : We all have had given
us to drink, that is, we all have received, one Holy
Ghost. For the metaphor see our Lord s words,
John iv. 13, 14; vii. 37, 38; where the Evangelist
explains : Now this he said of the spirit which they should
receive who believed in him (v. 39). The metaphor is also
in the Old Testament, Isaias xii. 3 ; Ezech. xlvii.
i, seq. ; Zach. xiv. 8. " He seems to me now to speak
of that descent of the Holy Ghost, which is after
baptism, and before the reception of the [Eucharistic]
mysteries" (St. Chrysostom). The reference is to the
Sacrament of Confirmation, which in early times, as in
the Greek Church still, was given immediately after
baptism.
There is a conjectural reading, ev TTO /XO. cVortV^/xci/
(TTo/xa, drink, for Tn/cv/xa, Spirit) which would refer to the
Eucharistic chalice. But the tense of the verb points
to a rite performed once, not habitually. And the
given reading of the oldest MSS. leaves nothing to be
desired.
14. St. Paul appeals to that "differentiation," the
having a variety of parts with so many several functions,
which appears more in the higher animals, and less and
less as we sink in the animal scale.
15. 1 6. The foot compares itself with the hand; and
not the foot, but the ear, with the eye : we envy rather
those with whom we have more points in common.
22. More necessary. The Greek has the positive
degree, di/ay/ccua, necessary. The members spoken of are
not the internal organs, as brain, heart, liver, but the
96 /. CORINTHIANS xii. 2328.
outer parts. An instance of a feeble, or delicate, but
necessary member, would be the eye.
23, 24. Honour of raiment and comeliness of clothing,
which our most uncomely p avis nowhere go deprived of:
while our most comely part, the face, goes most of all
exposed. The uncomely parts of the Church are
criminals, lepers, lunatics, and such unhappy persons,
the objects of charitable care.
26. "When anywhere the finger of any of us .receives
a blow, the whole commonwealth of the body, attuned
to one accord with the soul that rules it, feels the
infliction ; and for the distress of the particular member
the whole body sympathises and feels pain together ;
and thus we say that the man has a pain in his finger ;
and the same with any other portion of the human
frame, there is pain for the distress of any part and
pleasure at its recovery. Very much like this is the
social tone of the best constituted city. Whatever good
or evil befalls one of the citizens, the city will say that
that is her good or her evil, and will all rejoice or grieve
together, necessarily so in the city that has good laws "
(Plato, Republic, 462, a passage to which St. Paul can
hardly have been a stranger). Obviously, this com
parison must not be pressed too closely, where the body
politic, civil or religious, has grown very large.
27. Members of member, ^\rj e/c ^e Aous, is explained to
mean members dependent one on another. But much
better is the reading of nearly all the Greek MSS., /xe Ay?
IK //t pous, members severally. \Ve find e/c /xe/oov? in
xiii. 9, 10, translated in part. The Apostle then says to
the faithful : Collectively, you are the body of Christ ;
and taken severally, or distributively, you are His
various members. These several memberships are set
forth in the next verse.
28. The classes here mentioned are not the hier
archical grades of the Church, which still exist, but
/. CORINTHIANS xii. 28. 97
classes marked out by the possession of various extra
ordinary gifts, which have for the most part ceased in
the Church, though we still find instances of them in
the lives of the saints and of great missionaries.
Apostles. The word is used here in a wide sense
(as in Acts xiv. 13 ; Rom. xvi. 7 ; 2 Cor. viii. 23 ; Phil,
ii. 25 ; 2 Pet. iii. 2 ; Apoc. ii. 2) to denote one who
broke new ground in the conversion of the heathen, and
for that purpose was endowed with a profusion of
miraculous gifts, as was St. Francis Xavier in later
times.
Prophets. " There were many more prophets at that
time than there had been in the Old Law. The gift
was poured out abundantly, and every local church had
numbers prophesying " (St. Chrysostom). Cf. Acts ii. 18 ;
xi. 27, 28; xv. 32.
Doctors, who had the infused word of knowledge (v. 8
with note).
Helps, persons with an extraordinary power of help
ing the sick and poor.
Governments, extraordinary powers of church ad
ministration.
/. CORINTHIANS xiii. i.
CHAPTER XIII.
I. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have
not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2. And if I should have prophecy, and should know all mysteries,
and all knowledge ; and if I should have all faith, so that I could
remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3. And if
I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should
deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth
me nothing. 4. Charity is patient, is kind; charity envieth not,
dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, 5. Is not ambitious,
seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil ;
6. Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth :
7. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things. 8. Charity never faileth ; whether prophecies
shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be
destroyed. 9. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10. But when that which is perfect shall come, that which is in
part shall be done away. n. When I was a child, I spoke as a
child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I
became a man, I put away the things of a child. 12. We see now
through a glass in an obscure manner ; but then face to face.
Now I know in part ; but then I shall know even as I am known.
13. And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three ;
but the greatest of these is charity.
i. Charity. Throughout this chapter the Apostle
speaks of the chanty of God which is poured forth in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost who is given to us (Rom. v. 5).
That is, he speaks of the theological virtue of charity,
which is either identical with, or inseparably attached
to, the gift of sanctifying grace, by the possession of
which we are said to be in the state of grace. Being
in this state of grace, or having chanty, is the sole and
indispensable condition for admission to the vision of
God in heaven. If a man have not charity, that is, be
out of the state of grace, no work that he does is
meritorious of heaven. A sounding brass trumpet or a
tinkling cymbal may be of occasional use to others, but
it is a poor thing of itself ; such is the man out of grace
/. CORINTHIANS xiii. 2, 3 99
and without charity, though he have the miraculous
gift of speaking divers kinds of tongues (xii. 10 ; Acts ii. 4)
of men, or even could catch and repeat the mysterious
locutions in which the angels communicate with one
another, and hymn the praises of their Creator.
The burden of this chapter is declared by St. Chry-
sostom : " Thanks be to God, that while He gives
extraordinary gifts, He knows how to save by common
gifts : for the gifts without which it is impossible to be
a Christian, are more useful than those which are
attainable by few." The extraordinary graces of the
Corinthians (chs. xii. xiv.) are rarely ever witnessed
now : but there remain faith, hope, and chanty (v. 13) ; and
of these, charity and sanctifying grace is a better gift of
God to man than all the miraculous favours that we
read of in the history of the early Church and in the
lives of the Saints.
2. Knowledge, the miraculous gift, called the word of
knowledge, xii. 8.
Faith, not the theological virtue, but the extra
ordinary gift of miracle-working faith, mentioned xii. 9.
3. Distribute all my goods to feed the poor, ij/tofuo-tD -rravra.
TO, virdpyovra. /xov. The verb here means to break up
food into little pieces to put into other peoples mouths.
The Apostle says that if I should continue this process
till all my goods were spent upon it, it would profit me
nothing for heaven, unless I were in the state of grace.
Philanthropy without charity does not merit the vision
of God.
To be burned. By the change of a letter, /cav^rjo-w/xat
for Kav^TJo-w/xat, the three oldest MSS. yield the sense,
to make a vaunt of it. The text then means : If I spend
all my substance in philanthropy, or give over my body
to death or slavery, in a spirit of bravado and for
human glory, and not out of charity, or the grace of
God, indwelling in me and impelling me, it profits me
100 /. CORINTHIANS xiii. 47.
nothing for heaven. Indeed such is the meaning,
whichever of the two readings we prefer. In favour
of Kavx*}<rco/x(u we may observe that that is exactly what
the Corinthians were doing with their extraordinary
graces : they were making them matter of vain display,
and vaunting themselves one above another. A con
verse confusion of the same two letters, x an d #> in
Ps. cxxxi. 16, has given us xw av (viduani, widow) for
Oripav (venaiionem, hunting). We may further observe
that Kav0rjo-co/xai (future subjunctive) is a non-existent
tense in Greek. Many accordingly edit KavOrjo-o^cu. But
the reading w makes another argument for xavx^o-wpu.
47. In these verses the Apostle describes charity,
not simply as indwelling, in the form of sanctifying
grace, but as operative, by the aid of actual grace.
A man of course may be in the state of grace, and
commit many venial sins of impatience, unkindness,
selfishness, &c. : he may be in charity, and fail to
produce the fruits thereof: still these are the fruits of
charity. Cf. Luke xiii. 6 9 for the danger of a tree
long failing to bear fruit.
Dealeth not perversely, ov TrepTrepcverai. The word was
a difficulty even to the Greek Fathers. St. Chrysostom
explains it: "Is not forward (ov irpoTrtTevtrai) ; charity
makes a person discreet and grave and staid ; forward
ness being a defect that appears in base and guilty
lovers." Theodoret says : " The meaning is, that
charity meddles not with what does not concern her,
does not grope after the measures of the substance of
God, nor examine the matter of His dispensations :
charity endures to do nothing rash." Cicero, writing
to Atticus (i. 14), says : eVeTrepTrepevo-a/^i/ novo auditori
Pompeio, which clearly means, " I made a fine display of
myself before my new hearer, Pompey." Hence the
Anglican Authorized Version here has charity vaunt eth
not itself.
I. CORINTHIANS xiii. 47. 101
The conjecture however seems to amount to a
certainty, that in the Vulgate originally the translation
of ov TrcpTrepevcTaL was non est ambitiosa, is not ambitious
(or better, is not ostentations), which now appears in v. 5 :
while non agit perperam was meant, plausibly enough,
to translate OVK do-x^ovet in the same v. 5. For OVK
do-x^ovei the Vulgate now gives non est ambitiosa, which
is confessedly no rendering of the Greek at all. The
mistake arose from some ingenious person remarking
the etymological correspondence of perperam and Trcp-
TTcpcveTai, and thereupon interchanging non agit perperam
and non est ambitiosa.
The phrase OVK do-x^ova, misrendered is not ambitions,
is otherwise explained as follows : " Charity excuses
herself from no mean or lowly service, as though such
service were unseemly (ao-x^ov) , on behalf of brethren"
(Theodoret).
St. Chrysostom in like manner takes the word to
mean, not to misbehave, but to make a bad figure, the
meaning it bears in Plato, who uses it four times, as
also in Euripides, Hecuba, 407. So St. Chrysostom
explains: " Charity, while suffering extremities for the
beloved, does not count the position -a sorry one. The
Apostle does not say, Charity maketh a bad figure, to
be sure, but she beareth the shame manfully ? he
implies that she has not even a perception of the
shame. So our Lord Jesus Christ was spat upon and
beaten, and not only did not consider that He made a
bad figure, but exulted and called the situation His
glory." Cf. Heb. xii. 2 : And despised the shame.
If St. John Chrysostom and Theodoret knew their
own language, both the original Vulgate, non agit
perperam, and the Anglican, doth not behave itself unseemly,
are mistranslations of OVK atrxnpovci, and we might
translate perhaps, charity weareth not a rueful countenance,
or charity doth not pout or sulk, when called upon to act,
102 /. CORINTHIANS xiii. 812.
Seeketh not her own, x. 24 ; Phil. ii. 4. These paral
lelisms render improbable the reading of the Vatican
MS., seeketh not what is not her own, which moreover
represents not charity but justice.
Thinketh no evil, literally, imputeth not the evil that she
suffers, does not score it down to the doer s account.
Rejoiceth with the truth, i.e. with righteousness, as in
Eph. iv. 15, the Apostle speaks of doing the truth in
charity.
Beareth all things, whatever is put upon her. The
verb o-reyet is used of ice bearing. It appears in ix. 12,
we bear all things: also i Thess. iii. i, 5. The three
following verbs are rhetorical amplifications of this.
" Charity," says St. Chrysostom, " not only hopeth, but
believeth from excess of love, despairs not of the loved
one, and if he turn out not according to hope, but
grows still more insupportable, charity endureth that
also." This feature of charity is never shown more
seasonably than by a priest in the confessional dealing
with his penitents.
8. Charity never falleth away, not that a man may not
fall from charity, Apoc. ii. 4, but that charity is never
superseded, as the miraculous gifts here mentioned are
superseded, by the development of the Church on earth,
and finally in heaven.
Whether prophecies shall be made void. The Greek etre
8c 7rpo<f>ijTclai, but whether prophecies, shows that we should
punctuate, but whether there be prophecies (or rather,
prophetic powers), they shall be made void (i.e. come to an
end); or tongues, they shall cease; or knowledge, it shall be
destroyed. The reference is clear to the gifts of prophecy,
tongues, and knowledge, things of common experience
at Corinth, which, so far as our common experience
goes, have entirely ceased, but not so charity.
9 12. The Apostle shows that man on earth has
small cause to boast of any gift of knowledge or
I. CORINTHIANS xiii. 13. 103
prophecy bestowed on him. It is little compared with
what there is to know, and with what shall be known
one day in the vision of God.
Through a glass, SL eo-oTrrpov, by means of a (metallic)
mirror. The best mirrors were made at Corinth.
In an obsciire manner, literally, in an enigma. Our
knowledge of God is so limited, that for one thing we
know, two others we are left to conjecture; and many
puzzles, perplexities, or riddles, wait upon faith. The
Apostle seems to have had in view what the Lord says
of Moses : / will speak to Him face to .face ; and openly, and
not by enigmas and figures doth he see the Lord (Num. xii. 8) :
wherein it is insinuated (cf. v. 6 I.e.) that the prophetic
knowledge, of which the Corinthians boasted, was only
by enigmas and figures.
Face to face. Cf. i John iii. 2. " We shall see God
face to face, because we shall have an immediate vision
of Him, as of a man whom we see face to face. By
this vision we are most of all made like to God, and are
partakers in His happiness, for this is His happiness,
that He understands Himself. They therefore eat and
drink at the table of God (Luke xxii. 9), who enjoy the
same happiness wherewith God is happy, seeing Him
in the way in which He sees Himself" (St. Thomas,
Contra gent. iii. 51).
/ shall know even as I am known. " I shall see Him
more accurately for being brought into close intimacy
with Him. / am known is put for I am become intimate.
Thus God said to Moses, / know thee above all (Ex.
xxxiii. 17) ; and the Apostle, The Lord knoweth who are
His (2 Tim. ii. 19), that is, He takes more care of
them " (Theodoret). The verse means simply : I shall
be intimate with God, and He with me.
13. And now, marking the logical conclusion, or
summing up, there remain, as the permanent endowments
of the Church on earth, when the extraordinary graces
I04 / CORINTHIANS xiv.
of her infancy are almost lost in the calm strength
of her mature age, there remain on earth faith, hope,
charity.
CHAPTER XIV.
i. Follow after charity; be zealous for spiritual gifts; but
rather that you may prophesy. 2. For he that speaketh in a
tongue, speaketh not to men, but to God: for no man heareth.
But by the Spirit he speaketh mysteries. 3. But he that pro-
phesieth speaketh to men unto edification, and exhortation, and
comfort. 4. He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself ; but he
that prophesieth, edifieth the church. 5. And I would have you all
to speak with tongues, but rather to prophesy : for greater is he
that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues; unless,
perhaps, he interpret, that the church may receive edification.
6. But now, brethren, if I come to you, speaking with tongues,
what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either in revelation,
or in knowledge, or in prophecy, or in doctrine ? 7. Even things
without life that give sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give
a distinction of sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or
harped ? 8. For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall
prepare himself to battle ? 9. So likewise you, unless you utter by
the tongue plain speech, how shall it be known what is spoken ?
For you shall be speaking into the air. 10. There are, for example,
so many kinds of tongues in this world, and none is without a voice.
11. If then I know not the power of the voice, I shall be to him to
whom I speak a barbarian, and he that speaketh a barbarian to me.
12. So you also, forasmuch as you are zealous of spirits, seek to
abound unto the edifying of the church. 13. And, therefore, let
him that speaketh a tongue pray that he may interpret. 14. For if
I pray in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is
without fruit. 15. What is it then ? I will pray in the spirit ;
I will pray also in the understanding : I will sing with the spirit ;
I will sing also with the understanding. 16. Else if thou shalt
bless in the spirit, how shall he that holdeth the place of the
unlearned say Amen to thy blessing ? because he knoweth not what
thou sayest. 17. For thou indeed givest thanks well, but the other
is not edified. 18. I thank my God I speak with all your tongues.
19. But in the church I had rather speak five words with my
understanding, that I may instruct others also, than ten thousand
I. CORINTHIANS xiv. i. 105
words in a tongue. 20. Brethren, do not become children in sense ;
but in malice be children, and in sense be perfect. 21. In the law
it is written : For in other tongues and other lips I will speak to
this people ; and neither so will they hear me, saith the Lord.
22. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to believers, but to
unbelievers ; but prophecies, not to unbelievers, but to believers.
23. If, therefore, the whole church come together into one place,
and all speak with tongues, and there come in unlearned persons or
unbelievers, will not they say that you are mad ? 24. But if all
prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one un
learned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. 25. The secrets
of his heart are made manifest ; and so, falling down on his face,
he will adore God, affirming that God is among you indeed.
26. How is it then, brethren ? when you come together, every one
of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath a tongue,
hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edification.
27. If any speak in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by
three, and in course ; and let one interpret. 28. But if there be no
interpreter, let him hold his peace in the church, and speak to
himself, and to God. 29. And let the prophets speak, two or three ;
and let the rest judge. 30. But if any thing be revealed to another
sitting, let the first hold his peace. 31. For you may all prophesy
one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted. 32. And
the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33. For he
is not the God of dissension, but of peace ; as also I teach in all
the churches of the saints. 34. Let women keep silence in the
churches : for it is not permitted to them to speak, but to be
subject, as also the law saith. 35. But if they would learn any
thing, let them ask their husbands at home : for it is a shame for a
woman to speak in the church. 36. Or did the word of God come
out from you ? or came it only unto you ? 37. If any man seem to
be a prophet, or spiritual, let him know the things that I write to
you, that they are the commands of the Lord. 38. But if any man
know not, he shall not be known. 39. Wherefore, brethren, be
zealous to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. 40. But
let all things be done decently and according to order.
I. Spiritual gifts, the miraculous gifts mentioned
xii. 8 10. The advent of these gifts was announced
by St. Peter on the day of Pentecost, quoting the
prophecy of Joel, then to have its fulfilment (Acts
ii. 1 6 18).
io6 I. CORINTHIANS xiv. 24.
Prophesy. They who had the gift of prophecy in
the early Church were sometimes foretellers of future
events (Acts xi. 27, 28 ; xxi. 10, n) ; but their principal
function was to be forth-tellers, exhorting and praying
extempore, not as regularly ordained ministers, fulfilling
their ministry (2 Tim. iv. 5; Acts xiii. 2), but under an
extraordinary divine inspiration.
2. He that speaketh in a tongue, that is, in a strange
language, which neither he himself understood, nor
those about him. Such was the gift of tongues, the
use of which was not for preaching, but for praying
(v. 14), to confess to the Lord, because he is good (Ps. cxvii. i).
Such prayers and praises the multitude heard the
Apostles putting up, speaking in divers tongues the wonderful
works of God. The first sermon was preached after this
(Acts ii. 14, seq.), probably in the Hebrew tongue, and
understood only by those who knew that language.
We cannot however deny, nor yet can we prove it by
any text of Scripture, that the Apostles had the gift,
which was given to St. Francis Xavier and St. Vincent
Ferrer, of preaching the faith to peoples whose lan
guages they had never learnt.
Speaketh not unto men, but unto God. Clearly there
fore this gift of speaking in a tongue was not used for
preaching.
No man heareth, i.e. understandeth, as in Gen. xi. 7 ;
xlii. 23.
Mysteries, as well in the matter, the wonderful works of
God (Acts ii. n), as also here still more in the form, the
language spoken being an unknown tongue to speaker
and hearers.
4. Edifieth himself, inasmuch as he surrenders to a
divine impulse to utter words which he does not under
stand, except in so far as he knows them to contain the
praises of God ; like a nun, ignorant of Latin, devoutly
chanting the Breviary.
I. CORINTHIANS xiv. 612. 107
Interpret (xii. 30). The miraculous power of inter
preting the utterances of one who had the gift of
tongues, was itself a distinct gift. The two gifts might
or might not be conjoined in the same person.
6. One must receive revelation before one can speak
in prophecy ; and one must be filled with knowledge before
one can instruct in doctrine.
7, 8. In listening to a language that we do not
know, we cannot catch the words, where one word ends
and another begins. The speaker is to us as a musical
instrument, that makes not music, but an uncertain sound,
without distinction, mere noise.
9. Plain, not merely absolutely, the language itself
being correct and fraught with meaning, but relatively,
it being understood by the company present. Thus
the language of Socrates is not plain speech in the streets
of London.
10. There are, for example, so many, any number you
like to make it, as sixty or a hundred. For example
(ei TV XOI) occurs again in xv. 37, as, for example, of wheat.
Kinds of tongues, different languages.
None is without voice, better, without tongue. No tongue
is tongueless, i.e. no language is meaningless. The
word translated voice in this and the next verse had
better have been translated tongue, or language, being the
same word that appears in kinds of tongues.
For yeVr? ^xovwv, kinds of tongues, which is in all the
MSS., it has been proposed to read yeVr; ^xovcovra,
speaking races. Then what follows would be translated,
and no race is without speech.
11. The power of the voice, the meaning of the language.
A barbarian, pdpfiapos, a maker of inarticulate sounds
(bar-bar, like our bow-wow). Any language that we do
not know, is to us made up of inarticulate sounds, or
gibberish.
12. Zealous of spirits, the spiritual gifts ofv. i.
io8 /. CORINTHIANS xiv. 1318.
13. Let him pray that he may interpret. To pray here
means what it means in the next verse, to pray in a
tongue. The Apostle then says : He who has the gift
of tongues, let him use it by all means, with the inten
tion that the prayers he puts up in a strange language
may be interpreted, either by himself, if he have the
further gift of interpretation (v. 5), or by another (v. 27).
14. My spirit, i.e. the divine impulse in me t prayeth;
but the human faculties of my mind have no hold on
the meaning of my prayer.
15. With the spirit, under the divine impulse above
mentioned.
With the understanding, finding out from some one
who can interpret to me the meaning of the words
I use.
The verse is simply an exhortation to use the gift
of tongues intelligently, with some knowledge of the
meaning of the ecstatic prayer or hymn.
1 6. Bless (evXoyys) , blessing (ey^a/oia-Tia), see note on
xi. 24.
Not the unlearned, but the unofficial person, the layman
The person who had the gift of praying in a
strange tongue, might or might not be one of the
ministering body, bishop, priest, or deacon (i Tim. iii.
i, 12 ; v. 17) : but for the time he put up his prayer he
acted as an extraordinary minister of the Church ; and
any one who had not the gift was fain for the time
being to hold the place of the layman, and say the Amens.
1 8. / speak with all your tongues. There is a double
mistranslation here. The English has wandered wide
of the Latin Vulgate, which has lingua, tongue, not
tongues. The original Rheims version renders the Latin
literally : / speak with the tongue of you all. But the
Latin has departed from the Greek by disregard of
the word paXXov, more. It should be rendered, / speak
with a tongue more than you all.
I. CORINTHIANS xiv. 2023. 109
20. Cf. Matt, xviii. 3 ; i Pet. ii. 2, 3.
In sense, i.e. in wits. The Corinthians were to have
more wits than a child, but not more malice. Whereas,
continues the Apostle (v. 23), any stranger coming in,
and hearing their childish display of their gifts of
tongues, would say they had lost their wits.
Perfect, reXetot. The word means grown up men.
21. In the law, Isaias xxviii. n, 12. The Psalms are
quoted as the law in John x. 34 ; xv. 25 ; xii. 34, the
last being also a reference to Isaias and Ezechiel.
The other tongues and other lips were those of their
Assyrian conquerors, whose barbarous and unknown
languages the Jews were to be constrained to listen to
in punishment for having mocked at the utterances of
the prophets and complained of their obscurity.
22. Wherefore, as the hearing of strange tongues was
a sign of old to the unbelieving Jews, so it is now a sign,
primarily, not to believers, but to unbelievers, calling their
attention to the Christian community, exciting their
curiosity, and bringing them to listen to instruction, all
which process is exemplified, Acts ii. 6 41.
Prophecies (see note on v. i) were a sign, primarily,
to believers : they were mainly for the edification and
consolation of the faithful : which however did not
prevent their being a sign, secondarily, also to un
believers, as we gather from vv. 24, 25.
23. Unlearned persons, i&wrai, the same word as in
v. 16. It is a relative term, and varies in meaning,
according to the various antitheses into which it enters.
Here it means strangers, whether Christians from else
where, or catechumens, who had not had experience of
the gift of tongues, or unbelievers.
Will they not say that you are mad ? Thus the gift of
tongues, unless borne out by prophecy, moves the
persons for whose benefit it was principally intended,
rather to derision than to faith. All that the Apostles
no /. CORINTHIANS xiv. 2434.
would have got by it would have been a name for being
full of new wine, had not Peter lifted up his voice and spoke
(Acts ii. 13, 14).
24. He is convinced, i.e. convicted and proved guilty, of all,
i.e. by all whom he hears preaching and prophesying :
he is judged, i.e. sentenced. The words of inspired exhor
tation and prayer do for him that which the Jews could
never do for our Lord (John viii. 46), they convince him
of sin, and move him to seek for baptism (Acts ii. 28).
25. The secrets of his heart are made manifest, not to the
assembly, but the man s own conscience is roused, and
speaks to him of secrets of the past that had been
glossed over: which same is to this day, except in
scrupulous persons, the fruit of a good sermon.
26. How is it to be done ?
Hath a psalm, the power of breaking out into an
original, spiritual canticle, as our Lady uttered the
Magnificat, and Zachary the Benedictus. This power
has not been mentioned before.
Hath a doctrine, the word of knowledge, xii. 8.
Hath a revelation, prophecy, xii. 2, and above, v. i.
29. Let the rest judge ; let them who have the gift of
discerning of spirits (xii. 10) exercise their gift.
32. The spirits, that is, the spiritual gifts, notably
the gift of prophecy. The spirit, or gift of prophecy, is
assort of habit which one can use when he will, and
withhold at pleasure. No excuse therefore for dis
obedience to these regulations.
33. Dissension, rather, disorder, c^arao-rao-ias. The
gifts, with which the Corinthians were endowed, were
of God : but their disorderly way of using them was not
of God.
A better reading places a full stop at peace. The
verb / teach is absent from the best manuscripts.
34- The better reading is : As in all the churches of the
saints, let women keep silence in your churches. The Apostle
/. CORINTHIANS xiv. 3638. m
here restricts women still further than he had done in
xi. 5. The restriction is so absolute and so general as
to exclude women, not only from the public exercise in
church of extraordinary gifts, such as prophecy and
tongues, but also from ordinary ecclesiastical functions.
But it is saying too much to contend that the Apostle
had in view our modern female choirs.
As the law saith, Gen. lii. 16.
36. He justifies the induction of v. 34 (al. 33) from
the practice of other churches to that of Corinth,
reminding the Corinthians that Corinth is neither the
mother-church of Christendom, nor the only church :
therefore she ought not to be singular, but conform to
the practice of the other churches. Thessalonica had
had the start of Corinth, i Thess. i. 7, 8.
38. The meaning is : If any man will not recognise
these written commands of the Lord, the Lord will not
recognise him, nor admit him to familiarity. Cf. xiii. 12.
The Greek MSS. vary between dyiW<r0G>, let him be
tinknown, i.e. unrecognised of God : and dyi/oecrw, let him
remain not knowing, i.e. be left to himself and his own
wilful ignorance.
It would be a mistake to suppose that gifts as
miraculous as those referred to in this chapter have
altogether disappeared from the Church. The lives of
the Saints in all ages are evidence to the contrary.
And there are names, and faces too, familiar amongst
us, of men and women who have built churches and
schools, founded congregations, influenced for good
and commanded all about them, with such paucity of
human resources as to argue the presence and over
shadowing of Him, who is still wonderful in his holy place
(Ps. Ixvii. 36).
i2 /. CORINTHIANS xv.
CHAPTER XV.
l. Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I
preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you
stand ; 2. By which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what
manner I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain:
3. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures:
4. And that he was buried, and that he rose again the. third day,
according to the Scriptures ; 5. And that he was seen by Cephas,
and after that by the eleven. 6. Then he was seen by more than
five hundred brethren at once; of whom many remain until this
present, and some are fallen asleep. 7. After that he was seen by
James, then by all the apostles : 8. And last of all, he was seen
also by me, as by one born out of due time. 9. For I am the least
of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because
I persecuted the church of God. 10. But by the grace of God I
am what I am : and his grace in me hath not been void ; but I have
laboured more abundantly than all they : yet not I, but the grace of
God with me. n. For whether I or they, so we preach, and so
you have believed. 12. Now, if Christ be preached that he arose
again from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead ? 13. But if there be no resurrection of
the dead, then Christ is not risen again : 14. And if Christ be not
risen again, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain :
15. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God : because we have
given testimony against God that he hath raised up Christ ; whom
he hath not raised up, if the dead rise not again. 16. For if the
dead rise not again, neither is Christ risen again: 17. And if
Christ be not risen again, your faith is vain, for you are yet in your
sins. 18. Therefore they also, who have slept in Christ, have
perished. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of
men the most miserable. 20. But now Christ is risen from the
ad the first-fruits of them that sleep. 21. For by a man came
.th, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. 22. And as in
Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 23. But
everyone in his own order: the first-fruits Christ ; then they that
Christ, who have believed in his coming. 24. Afterwards
ie end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and
the Father; when he shall have abolished all principality, and
horny, and power. 25. For he must reign, until he hath put
emies under his feet. 26. And the enemy death shall be
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 113
destroyed last : For he hath put all things under his feet. And
whereas he saith, 27. All things are put under him, undoubtedly
he is excepted who put all things under him. 28. And when all
things shall be subdued unto him, then the Son also himself shall
be subject to him who subjected all things to him, that God
may be all in all. 29. Otherwise what shall they do who are
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not again at all ? why are
they then baptized for them? 30. Why also are we in danger
every hour ? 31. I die daily, by your glory, brethren, which I have
in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32. If (according to man) I fought with
beasts at Ephesus, what doth it profit me if the dead rise not
again ? let us eat and drink ; for to-morrow we shall die.
33. Be not deceived : evil communications corrupt good manners.
34. Awake, ye just, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge
of God : I speak it to your shame. 35. But some man will say :
How do the dead rise again ? or with what manner of body shall
they come ? 36. Senseless man, that which thou sowest is not
quickened, except it die first. 37. And that which thou sowest,
thou sowest not the body that shall be, but bare grain, as of wheat,
or of some of the rest. 38. But God giveth it a body as he will,
and to every seed its proper body. 39. All flesh is not the same
flesh : but some is that of men, another of beasts, another of birds,
another of fishes. 40. And there are bodies celestial, and bodies
terrestrial : but the glory of the celestial is one, and that of the
terrestrial another. 41. There is one glory of the sun, another
glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; for star differeth
from star in glory. 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead ; it
is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption : 43. It is sown
in dishonour, it shall rise in glory : it is sown in weakness, it shall
rise in power: 44. It is sown an animal body, it shall rise a
spiritual body. If there be an animal body, there is also a spiritual
body, as it is written : 45. The first man Adam was made a living
soul, the last Adam a quickening spirit. 46. But not first that
which is spiritual, but that which is animal ; afterwards that which
is spiritual. 47. The first man was of the earth, earthly ; the
second man from heaven, heavenly. 48. Such as is the earthly,
such also are the earthly ; and such as is the heavenly, such also
are they that are heavenly. 49. Therefore as we have borne the
image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of the heavenly.
50. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot possess
the kingdom of God ; neither shall corruption possess incorruption.
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery : We shall all indeed rise again,
but we shall not all be changed, 52. In a moment, in the twinkling
114 /. CORINTHIANS xv. i.
of an eye, at the last trumpet ; for the trumpet shall sound ; and
the dead shall rise again incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality. 54. And when this mortal hath put on
immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written :
Death is swallowed up in victory. 55. O death, where is thy
victory ? O death, where is thy sting ? 56. Now the sting of
death is sin ; and the power of sin is the law. 57. But thanks be
to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ. 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast and
unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing
that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
i. I make known, yvwpt^w. The word means to make
one recognise what before he had under his senses, or
in his mind, without grasping the import of it. The
doctrine of the resurrection, given in this chapter, is by
way of explanation and interpretation. The Corinthians
had not to learn it now for the first time ; but their
ideas needed correcting, and their memories refreshing.
As we gather from u. 12, some of the Corinthians
went the length of denying that there was any resurrec
tion from the dead at least for us. The resurrection
of our Saviour seems to have been admitted by
them all, living, as they did, twenty-five years after
the event. From that admission St. Paul proceeds
to argue our resurrection. The Corinthians might
naturally share in that incredulity, which had led their
neighbours, the Athenians, to scout the idea of any
resurrection, even that of our Saviour (Acts xvii. 31, 32).
The immortality of the soul was a favourite tenet of
the Greek philosophers, especially of Plato and his
school. But those same philosophers had a particular
antipathy, theoretical of course, to the body. The
resurrection of the body, if preached to Plato, would
have struck his ears as the announcement of a dire
calamity. No wonder then that there were at Corinth
unsent and unlicensed teachers who gave out, as
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 24. 115
St. Chrysostom tells us, that " the resurrection was the
purification of the soul." Of this sort were Hymenaeus
and Philetus, " saying that the resurrection is past
already" (2 Tim. ii. 16, 17), and consequently that it
is not a resurrection from the dead. For Jewish
prejudice against the resurrection see Luke xx. 27 ;
Acts xxiii. 7, 8.
2. After what manner I preached unto you. In the Greek,
and in the Latin, these words do not depend on if you
hold fast, which comes after them, but on the main
verb, / make known. The original might be rendered
thus : I press upon your recognition the gospel which I preached
to you, . . . (reminding you) in what terms I preached to
you, if you hold it fast (i.e. hoping you hold it fast, as
indeed you do), unless your acceptance of the faith was a mere
fyeak of the hour.
Believed in vain, that is, < unless your acceptance of
the faith was a mere freak of the hour. An instance
of such believing in vain are they upon the rock, who receive
the word with joy, believe for a while, and in time of temptation
fall away (Luke viii. 13).
You have believed, <WTeVaTe. This aorist, which
appears again in v. n, called by grammarians the
inceptive aorist, would be better rendered, you accepted the
faith. So in Rom. xiii. n, now nearer than when we
(first) believed, r) ore eTrio-reiVajuev. It refers to the past
act of receiving the faith, not to present abiding faith
and settled conviction, which is expressed by the
perfect tense, as in 2 Tim. i. 12, I know whom I have
believed, o> 7re7rurTeu/ca.
3. Which I also received. For St. Paul s instruction
in divine truth see on xi. 23 ; also Gal. i. n 19.
According to the scriptures, Ps. xxi. ; Isaias liii. :
cf. Acts viii. 32 35.
4. According to the scriptures. See the references made
in Matt. xii. 40 ; Acts ii. 2528 ; xiii. 3337.
n6 /. CORINTHIANS xv. 57.
5. Seen by Cephas (Luke xxiv. 34). We have no
details of this apparition.
By the eleven. All the best MSS. read by the twelve,
the more difficult, and no doubt, the more correct
reading. The reference is to the apparitions recounted,
Luke xxiv. 3643 ; John xx. 19 29, where at first
only ten Apostles were present, St. Thomas being away.
Yet we read in Luke xxiv. 33, They found the eleven
gathered together. Clearly eleven and twelve are both
official numbers of the same assembly of persons from
two various points of view. St. Thomas is called by
St. John, I.e. v. 24, one of the twelve.
6. More than five hundred brethren at once ; probably
the apparition recounted in Matt, xxviii. 16 20. The
evangelist speaks only of the eleven disciples (the Apostles)
being there : but in the next verse, where he says some
doubted, he seems to recognise the presence of other
witnesses ; for after even the doubts of Thomas were
removed (John xx. 28, 29), it is not likely that any
further doubt was harboured in the apostolic college.
Thus this statement of St. Paul removes what would
otherwise have been a difficulty in St. Matthew s
narrative.
7. Seen by James. When St. Paul wrote, there was
only one well-known apostolic bearer of this name,
James the brother of the Lord (Gal. i. 19 : cf. above, note
on ix. 5), or James the Less (Mark xv. 40), bishop of
Jerusalem (Acts xv.), and author of the Canonical
Epistle. It was some fourteen years before St. Paul
wrote, that Herod killed James the brother of John
(James the Greater, the Apostle of Spain) with the
sword (Acts xii. 2). We have no other record of this
apparition.
Then by all the apostles. Not the apparition, eight
days after the resurrection, when Thomas was present
(John xx. 26), but the apparition which ended in the
7. CORINTHIANS xv. 8. 117
Ascension (Luke xxiv. 50; Acts i. 9). On Ascension
Day the Risen Saviour was seen by the full college of
twelve Apostles, including St. Mathias, who, a few
days later, was chosen, as St. Peter says, a witness with
us of his resurrection (Acts i. 22).
That the reference here is not to John xx. 26, is
proved by the following considerations. From that
verse of the evangelist, compared with the previous
verse 19, it appears that fear of the yews kept the Apostles
from stirring far abroad that week, and therefore from
journeying all the way to Galilee and back to Jerusalem.
Therefore the apparition of Matt, xxviii. 16, 17, took
place after those eight days : that is, at a later date
than the apparition referred to in John xx. 26. But
the Apostles can have had no further doubt after that
apparition, John xx. 26. Therefore the some who
doubted in Galilee (Matt, xxviii. 17), were other than
the eleven Apostles there present. That warrants our
identification of the apparition in Matt, xxviii. 17 with
the apparition to the five hundred, mentioned by
St. Paul, v. 6. But St. Paul is evidently relating the
apparitions, as many of them as he mentions, in
chronological order. The conclusion is manifest.
8. He was seen by me, Acts ix. 17, 27; xxvi. 15, 16.
St. Paul on this occasion must have seen, not a mere
vision of the imagination, such as has often been
vouchsafed to other saints, but the real Body of Christ
in its proper appearance : else he could not have been,
as he here ranks himself, and as it was the especial
function of Apostles to be (Acts i. 8, 22 ; iv. 33),
a witness of the resurrection.
One born out of due time. The word used, eKTpw/xa,
means a child such as Macduff describes himself:
" from my mother s womb untimely ripped." Observe
the article, TU> eKr/aw/xan, the child born by the caesavean
operation, and therefore born last of all, youngest and
n8 I. CORINTHIANS xv. 9-16.
least (eXa^to-ros) of the apostolic brotherhood (v. 9).
Paul was called when the apostolic college was
complete, and the Holy Spirit had been sent from
heaven. He had none of that formation in the school
of Christ on earth, which the other Apostles, even
St. Mathias (Acts i. 21, 22), had benefited by.
9. Eph. iii. 8; i Tim. i. 12 16.
10. More abundantly than all they, whether singly or
collectively, the Apostle does not express. For his
labours, Rom. xv. 16 20; 2 Cor. xi. 23 28.
The grace of God with me. Better, the grace of God
that is with me. Not here, as in Matt. ix. 13, means,
according to Hebrew usage, not so much. The grace
here spoken of is the grace given for the external work
of the apostolate (Eph. iii. 8; Gal. i. 15, 16; Rom. xv.
15, 16), not that given for the receiver s own sanctifica-
tion : though an argument may be drawn from the one
to the other.
1316. Evidently, if Christ is not risen again, other
dead men have no chance of rising again. But this
proposition does not logically involve the other, that
if other dead rise not, neither is Christ risen. To
establish the connection here asserted between Christ s
resurrection and that of His saints, to show that the
two resurrections must stand or fall together, we must
observe that the two are bound together at least in the
order of possibility. If Christ is risen again in a human
body, it is possible for a human body to rise from
the dead. Again, if life from the grave for any man is
intrinsically impossible and absurd, as those Greeks
thought, then neither is the man Christ Jesus (i Tim. ii. 5)
risen from the dead. But further than this, the two
resurrections reciprocally involve one another in the
order of actuality, as appears by the previous doctrine
of the head and the members, vi. 15 ; xii. 27. If the
Head is risen, the members must rise after Him, or
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 1419. 119
the mystical Body, which is Christ and His Church,
would remain eternally incomplete ; and conversely, if
the members are never to rise, neither is the Head
risen. It may be remarked that this particular
argument avails only for the resurrection of the just.
Elsewhere (Acts xxiv. 15) St. Paul asserts, there shall be
a resurrection of the just and unjust.
14 17. If Jesus is not risen, He is not the true
Messiah, the taker away of sin, who was to rise again
according to the scriptures (v. 4 with note), as He declared
that He would rise again (John ii. 1822; Matt. xii.
38 40), not the Son of God, Rom. i. 4.
But more than this. There is argued an objective
connection between Christ s resurrection and our justi
fication. To see the connection, we must observe that
the Apostle has in mind the present order of Providence,
in which holiness and the life of grace for man mean
membership with a living Christ (vi. 13 15 ; xii. 27).
But such membership could not be, if Christ had died
and not risen again. There would have been then no
human holiness, and consequently no remission of sin,
since none is justified who is not made holy.
18. Have perished, that is, are lost eternally, being yet
in their sins; since the Jesus in whom they trusted for
their expiation, is no true Messiah, if He be not risen
from the dead.
19. We are of all men most miserable, considering what
our eternal lot will be, if we have not an advocate with
the Father, and if Jesus Christ the just is not the propitiation
for our sins (i John ii. i, 2). Most miserable, if we have
lost Moses, and have not found the Christ. From the
context it would appear that this was all that St. Paul
meant to say. He was not thinking of the aids to
happiness that Christianity has provided for human
society, substantial aids, even apart from the fulfilment
of the promises of Christ in the world to come. If,
I. CORINTHIANS xv. 2024.
however, those eternal promises were vain, that
temporal happiness would be all based on a delusion,
no better than the fancies of children, of which Aristotle
writes : " No one would choose to live with a child s
mind all his life long, going all lengths of delight over
what gives pleasure to children" (Ethics, X. iii. 12).
Such fond happiness would really be a great misery.
You cannot cut Christianity in two, keep the first half
only, and call it good. It is no good for earth, if it is
no good for heaven.
20. But now, as things are. Cf. And now, xiii. 13.
For first-fruits see Leviticus xxiii. 10 21 ; and for the
harvest of the just to rise up out of the earth, vv. 42 44
of this chapter.
21. By a man came death. Death comes by nature
to man as to other animals ; but by a supernatural
privilege mankind would have been exempt from death
but for Adam s sin.
22. The meaning of this verse is, that as no man
dies except in consequence of the sin of the first Adam,
so no man shall be made alive in the resurrection
to glory except through the merits of Christ, the
second Adam. For a similar combination of all and
all see Rom. v. 18 : As by the offence of one unto all men to
condemnation; so also by the justice of one unto all men to
justification of life.
23. Who have believed. These words are absent in
all the Greek MSS. except two, not of the best. Two
early editions of the Vulgate have them not, nor
St. Augustine, nor St. Jerome. Omitting them, we have
the text, then they that are of Christ, in his coming : to say,
that is Christ s saints shall arise at His second coming.
24. Afterwards the end, the end of the world, giving
place to a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. xxi. i).
God and the Father is simply God the Father (Rom,
xv. 6 ; 2 Cor. i. 3),
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 24. 121
He shall have delivered tip the kingdom. " The Scripture
recognises two kingdoms of God, the one by appro
priation, the other by creation. He is King of all,
Greeks and Jews, demons and adversaries, on the title
of creation. He is King of the faithful, and of the
voluntarily obedient and submissive, on the title of
appropriation " (St. Chrysostom). It is of the second
of these kingdoms that there is question here. As
Creator, Jesus Christ is Lord of all for eternity, with
the Father and the Holy Ghost. As Redeemer, His
kingdom is the Church. This kingdom He will deliver
up to His Father, when the warfare of the Church
Militant is over, and all enemies are overthrown ; when
no more Church government is needed, nor care of
Pastor, nor intercession of Priest, nor teaching with
authority unto the obedience of faith (Matt. xvi. 19 ;
xxviii. 19, 20; John x. n; xxi. 17; Heb. vii. 25, 26;
Rom. xvi. 26). Then will be verified the full meaning
of His words to His Father : / have glorified thee on earth;
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do (John
xvii. 4). Then will He present to His Father His
Bride (Apoc. xix. 7), a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle, or any such thing (Eph. v. 27). These
must have been some of the secret words, which
St. Paul heard when he was caught up into paradise.
(2 Cor. xii. 4).
For delivered up, it would suit the Greek as well,
and render the meaning truer to our ears, if we read
handed over, as a victorious general is said to hand over
to his Sovereign a kingdom which he has won and
pacified. Or yet more correctly, taking the Sinaitic
and Alexandrine reading, orav TrapaStSw, when he hands
over. Because thou hast redeemed us to God in thy blood, and
hast made us to our God a kingdom (Apoc. v. 9, 10).
Principality and power and virtue. The two following
verses, 25, 26, show clearly that these powers here
122 /. CORINTHIANS xv. 25.
mentioned are evil, hostile powers, whether of demons,
or of men leagued together against Christianity.
25. For he must reign until, &c., Ps. cix. i. Until
may denote cessation, or it may not ; as in Isaias
xlvi. 4, according to the Septuagint, we read, Till you
grow old, I am (God). It depends on the context. The
important words in the context here are reign and
kingdom. The reign of Christ will continue or cease
according to the nature of the kingdom that He is said
to reign over. St. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxx. 4)
proceeds as St. John Chrysostom, above quoted, to
distinguish what needs distinction here. " He is said
to reign in one respect as Almighty, King over willing
and unwilling alike : in another respect, as effecting
subjection, and placing under His kingly rule us, who
are willing to have Him for our King. Of His kingdom,
understood in the former way, there shall be no end.
But what of the second sort of kingdom ? It shall end
by His taking us into thorough possession, when we
are saved. This shall be the end of it, for why go on
effecting subjection, where subjection is perfect and
complete ? "
The sum is this. Christ s kingdom as God is
eternal as that of His Father, with whom and the
Holy Ghost He is one God. The kingdom of the Man
Christ Jesus (i Tim. ii. 5) over the Church Militant, as
such, ceases when the Church ceases to be militant.
The fact is obvious, and St. Paul asserts it here.
Of the kingdom of Christ in the Church Triumphant,
St. Paul says nothing. Of such a kingdom, with every
member wrapped in the vision of God seen face to face,
we have simply no conception. Only St. John tells us
that the Lamb is the lamp thereof (Apoc. xxi. 23). And
the Church, in the Nicene Creed, after the mention of
the Last Judgment, rehearses the prophecy: And of his
kingdom there shall be no end (Luke i. 32 ; Daniel vii. 14),
I. CORINTHIANS xv. 2628. 123
giving us thereby to understand that, in some mysterious
manner, the kingdom of the Word Incarnate will
continue even after the Judgment day ; as He will still
be a priest for ever (Heb. vii. 21), although " He will then
no longer make intercession for us, after He has handed
over the kingdom to God the Father" (St. Augustine,
De Trin. i. n).
26. Death destroyed last, by the general resurrection.
The quotation is from Ps. viii. Cf. Heb. ii. 6, 7, 8.
Literally the Psalm deals with the beauty of heaven
and earth, and the position of man as lord thereof; but
in a more exalted sense it points to the Messiah, the
chief of the human race.
28. The Son also himself shall be subject. There are
different sorts of subjection according to the condition
of the person made subject. The enemies of Christ,
the principalities and powers of evil, wicked reprobates
and devils (vv. 24, 25) shall be subjected by force. The
friends of our Saviour, His elect, saints and angels,
shall be subject in adoring love. Christ Himself as
God shall be subject to His Father, not by any subjec
tion of inferiority as less to greater, but as true God of
true God, owning His Father for the source of the
Divinity which He has of Him by way of generation.
Christ as Man shall be truly subject to the Father,
according as He said, the Father is greater than I (John
xiv. 28). For though the Humanity of Christ is of
divine dignity and sanctity, and calls for the same
adoration that is given to God ; yet it has not this
dignity, sanctity, and title to adoration, of itself, but by
reason of the Divinity to which it is united, whereas
the Divinity is of itself adorable. In this way Christ
as Man is, and ever since the Incarnation has been,
subject to and less than the Father, less than Himself
as God, and less than the Holy Ghost. Why then
does St. Paul say that at the end of the world He shall
i2 4 L CORINTHIANS xv. 29.
be subject? No doubt, because when He stands finally
with the whole multitude of His elect, with all the
members of His Mystical Body complete, the subjection
which, as Man and Chief of mankind, He will then
exhibit to God, will be of greater amplitude, fulness,
and extension. He will be subject to His Father then
in us, and as Man with us, and we with Him.
That God may be all in all. This takes up the saying
of Isaias (ii. n, 17) : The Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day. The majesty of God shall stand out above all
humanity, and all flesh shall be subject, willingly or
unwillingly. God is in the living members of the
Church on earth, according to the text, / in them, and
thou in me (John xvii. 23) : but He is not yet all in all.
Imperfection is still in them, and even sin (i John i. 8) ;
and the wages of sin, death (Rom. vi. 23) still awaits
them : but in that day sin shall be cast out, and death
shall be undone.
29. They that are baptized for the dead. Of the many
interpretations of these words the least unsatisfactory is
the literal, to wit, that when a catechumen died without
baptism, a friend had the rite of baptism performed
upon himself on behalf of the departed, by way of
testifying that the latter had had at least the faith and
the baptism of desire, and might therefore be laid to
rest in hope of a glorious resurrection. Without either
praising or blaming this custom, the Apostle cites it as
an instance of faith in the resurrection. The custom
was carried on and became an abuse in the hands of
heretics, as St. Chrysostom tells us of the Marcionites :
" When one of their catechumens is dead, they hide the
living man under the bed of the dead one : then they
approach the corpse, and converse with it, and ask if it
wishes to receive baptism : thereupon, when it answers
nothing, the man hidden underneath answers for it, that
he would like to be baptized ; and so they baptize him
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 3032. 125
instead of the departed." Punctuate, // the dead rise not
again, why then are they baptized for them ?
30. That is, * Why do we Apostles lead a life exposed
to so many risks (2 Cor. xi. 26), except it be concerning
the hope and resurrection of the dead (Acts xxiii. 6) ? If
this be the only life, we ought to take more care
of it.
31.7 die daily, pressed out of measure above my strength,
so as to be weary even of life (2 Cor. i. 8).
/ protest by your glory, I/T) ryv v^rcpav $6av, that is, by
the glory I have in you, who are my joy and my crown
(Phil. iv. i). The Greek possessive pronoun, as used
here, represents an objective genitive. Cf. your mercy,
Rom. xi. 31, with note.
32. Punctuate, // according to man I fought with beasts
at Ephesus, what doth it profit me ? If the dead rise not
again, let us eat and drink, &c.
According to man, that is, on mere human motives, as
vanity, obstinacy, and the like: as he says (Gal. i. n),
the gospel preached by me is not according to man, i.e. does not
rest on grounds of mere human credibility. Cf. iii. 3,
walk according to man, for which (2 Cor. x. 2) he says,
walked according to flesh. The phrase ought not to be put
in parenthesis.
/ fought with beasts, e^pio/xa^o-a. St. Ignatius of
Antioch, writing to the Romans, uses the same word :
" All the way from Syria to Rome I have to fight with
beasts, bound as I am to ten leopards, that is, a file of
soldiers." This citation from almost a contemporary
author, and the fact that there is no record elsewhere
of St. Paul being thrown to wild beasts, nor would any
magistrate have dared so to treat a Roman citizen
(Acts xxii. 26) compels us to take the phrase meta
phorically of some such persons at Ephesus as those
who were hardened and believed not, speaking evil of the way of
the Lord before the multitude (Acts xix. 9). The no small
126 /. CORINTHIANS xv. 33, 34.
disturbance, related in Acts xix. 23, seq., occurred after
this Epistle was written.
Let us eat and dyink, &c., quoted from Isaias xxii. 13,
where they are the words of the Jews scoffing at God s
threats to destroy them. On the logical consequence
here drawn St. Chrysostom observes: "He uses this
language in condescension to the weakness of those
whom he addressed. He himself ran not for reward :
it was recompense enow for him that his action was
pleasing to God. A great reward it is, continually to
please Christ ; and, apart from all other remuneration,
it is a grand recompense to confront danger in His
cause."
St. Paul throughout follows the same line of argu
ment as our Saviour used against the Sadducees (Matt.
xxii. 2334), taking no account of the immortality of
the soul as a possibility apart from the resurrection of
the body. His opponents perhaps were men like the
Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, neither
angel, nor spirit (Acts xxiii. 8). Hence the hypothesis
of a disembodied spirit needed no discussing with them.
Plato, indeed, had written : " They who have sufficiently
purified themselves by philosophy, live without any
bodies at all for all time to come." (Phaedo, 114 C).
But Plato wrote for philosophers, which the Corinthians
generally were not (i. 26).
33. Evil communications. A line from the Thais, a
lost play of the Athenian comedian, Menander.
Good manners, ^ xpwff. Theodoret understands it
of " characters light and easily deceived," this Greek
word for good often meaning also goody.
34. Awake, ye just. A better reading is, awake to
justice, SuccuW The persons addressed are not the just,
but those some among the Corinthians who say that there
is no resurrection (v. 12). They are bidden to sin not any
more by such denial. They are told that they have not
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 3641. 127
the knowledge of God, as our Lord told the Sadducees :
You err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God
(Matt. xxii. 29).
/ speak it to your shame. Repeated from vi. 5.
36. Not quickened except it die first. So our Lord says:
Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself
remaineth alone : but if it die, it bvingeth forth much fruit
(John xii. 24, 25). Our Lord and His Apostle speak
popularly, as Holy Scripture ever does in these physical
matters, not with strict scientific accuracy. Strictly
speaking, of course, the grain does not die, but the life
that was in it, by the process of germination with all
our science, as much a mystery as ever gives place to
the new life of the new wheat. This alteration and
replacement of life by life is here, in popular language,
called death.
37, 38. Body, the new wheat. St. Paul, in these
verses, speaks of wheat in terms of the human body, as
in vv. 42, 43, he speaks of the human body in terms of
wheat.
" Of corn there arises corn, and of lentil lentil : so
our bodies arise the same, but with increase of glory"
(Theodoret).
39 41. The bodies celestial are the sun, moon,
and stars, here designated (as also the grown corn,
vv - 37> 38) by the unusual appellation a-w/xara, which
ordinarily means living animal bodies. The reason is,
because the Apostle is insisting on the analogies which
all these objects bear to the bodies of men.
It seems a mistake to take bodies celestial and bodies
terrestrial as representing the resurrection of life and the
resurrection of judgment (John v. 29). Of the celestial and
terrestrial each has its own glory (v. 40) ; but there is no
glory appertaining to the resurrection of judgment, that is,
to the wicked at the last day. The wicked are not
taken into account in this chapter.
i 2 8 /. CORINTHIANS xv. 4244.
And though it be rightly gathered from these verses
that there are grades of glory in the resurrection of the
just, still it is not the Apostle s direct object to
accentuate this gradation. Every manner of variety
that he insists upon variety of beasts, birds, and fishes
variety of bodies celestial and bodies terrestrial variety of
sun, moon, and stays variety of star from star all is
meant to illustrate the one great variety which it is his
purpose in this chapter to set in the strongest light, the
variety of the spiritual body from the natural body (v. 44).
It is as though he had said : Do not attempt to draw
an argument from the condition of the human body, as
we now know it, to the impossibility of a human body
risen from the dead. As well might you argue that,
because many animals live only on land, there can be
no birds or fishes ; or because there are bodies on earth,
there can be none in the sky ; or because there is the
sun by day, there are no moon and stars by night ; or
because a certain star is of this brightness, there can be
no other star brighter. Thus to known varieties of
bodies St. Paul adds yet one more, the reformed body of
our lowliness made like to the body of his (Christ s) glory
(Phil. iii. 21).
42 44. It is sown (cf. Job xiv. 4), that is, man is
begotten and, as it were, planted in this world, in
corruption, in dishonour, in weakness, a creature corruptible,
base, infirm.
A natural (or animal, i/o^i/cov : the same word, ii. 14,
is translated sensual) body, is a body animated by the
soul, inasmuch as the soul is the principle of vegetative
and animal life, nutrition, growth, sensation.
A spiritual body is a body animated by the soul,
inasmuch as the soul is the principle of intellectual life,
and, under the grace of God, lends itself also to spiritual
and supernatural operations.
The life of the risen body then shall be rather
7. CORINTHIANS xv. 4549. 129
spiritual than animal : though it is not for us to pronounce
where spirituality ends and animality begins. In parti
cular, we cannot deny sensation to the bodies of the
risen just.
From the four words, incorruption, glory, power,
spiritual, theologians gather the four endowments of a
risen body, impassibility, brightness, agility, subtlety.
45. Man was made into a living soul, from Genesis ii. 7.
Soul here means a being, animated with a soul : as in Gen.
xlvi. 27, All the souls of the house of Jacob that went up into
Egypt weve seventy ; and Apoc. xviii. 13, merchandise of . . .
chariots and slaves and souls of men. The Latins use caput
(head) in the same sense.
The last Adam, Christ our Lord, was made into a
quickening spirit, inasmuch as He has the fulness of
supernatural life in Himself, the fulness of grace, and
(from the day of His resurrection) also of glory ; and
also is the principle of that life of grace and glory to us,
for soul and body.
47. Of the earth, earthly. Because, as St. Augustine
explains (De Civitate Dei, xiii. 23, 24), " the body of
Adam, needing meat and drink, was only saved by the
tree of life from the necessity of dying, and was not a
spiritual but an animal body."
From heaven, heavenly. Before His Incarnation, our
Lord pre-existed in heaven ; the materials of Adam s
body pre-existed on earth. From the moment of the
Incarnation, the Sacred Humanity had in the hypostatic
union a natural and intrinsic title to immortality : im
mortality was derived to Adam from an extrinsic source.
The word heavenly is almost certainly an addition to the
text : but it is quite the meaning of St. Paul. Many
MSS. read, the Lord from heaven.
49. We have borne, or we bore at our birth, tyopeo-apev,
the image of the earthly, but we laid it aside at our baptism
(Rom. vi. 6) : thenceforth let us bear (^opeo-w/xo/, let us take
J
I3 o /. CORINTHIANS xv. 50-52.
up and bear) the image of the heavenly. A baptized man in
the state of grace is a living image of Christ, soul and
body, and is already potentially glorified. A less
authentic reading is </>opeVo/xev, we shall bear, referring to
the actual glorification of our bodies that shall be in the
resurrection if we persevere.
50. Flesh and blood cannot possess the kingdom of God.
That is, the body sown in corruption (v. 42), the natural
body (v. 44), image of the earthly Adam (v. 49). It is not
the substance of flesh and blood that is excluded from
heaven, but their mortal accidents, bodily needs and
passions thence resulting. In the same way St. Paul
speaks of flesh and blood (Gal. i. 16), and our Saviour
Himself (Matt. xvi. 17). The body of flesh and blood,
that we have now, is changed (vv. 51, 52) in quality by
being glorified, but it remains the same body : even as
the Body of the risen Jesus is the Body that was " born
of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, dead, and buried."
It has been argued from this text that in the resur
rection the body is bloodless. No doubt, but for the
express declaration of our Lord (Luke xxiv. 39), we
should be told that it was fleshless also, and with as
good reason.
Corruption here means the corruptible body, as such,
with all the train of evils attendant thereupon, both
moral evils, which go by the name of the flesh, in the
bad sense of that term (cf. Gal. v. 16, 17, 19, 24; vi. 8),
and more particularly, the physical frailty and perish-
ableness of our mortal frame.
51,52. I tell you a mystery. " Something awful and
secret, and a thing which not all know, he is about
to tell, which showed the great honour he paid the
Corinthians, telling them secrets. What then is this ? "
(St. Chrysostom).
According to the Latin Vulgate and the Rheims
version this is the mystery, that while all rise again, not
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 52. I 3 t
all shall have their bodies changed to incorruption, glory,
and power (vv. 42, 43). But that was no secret to the
Corinthians : all the world knew and recognised it, who
had any notion of the resurrection at all. Moreover,
the whole chapter is written on the theme of the resur
rection of the just : the wicked are nowhere considered.
The difficulty grows from the consideration of v. 52.
There the adverbial phrases, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trumpet, have no verb to go with,
unless they are attached to rise again in the previous
verse, from which they are separated in the Vulgate by
a full stop ; and unless the clause, we shall not all be
changed, is constituted a clumsy parenthesis. In the
same v. 52, we who shall be changed stand contrasted, not
with the wicked, as supposed from v. 51, but with the
dead, who shall rise again incorruptible. Lastly, it makes
an awkward juxtaposition, we shall not all be changed, we
shall be changed. In the Vulgate reading, St. Paul lets
the Corinthians into no secret : they had heard already
of the resurrection of the just, and could not expect the
wicked to rise to glory.
We may well ask what historical authority there is
for this reading, so perplexing and unsatisfactory. It
has the support of nearly all the Latin Fathers and
Latin Versions from the time of Tertullian (third
century) ; and of one Greek MS. of the sixth century.
On the other hand it is countenanced by no other
Greek MS., no Greek Father, no other than Latin
versions, and, in the time of St. Jerome, not by all of
them.
There are two variant readings. One, the less
common, runs : We shall all sleep [die, v. 18] , but we shall
not all be changed. This is the reading of the Sinaitic
Greek manuscript (fourth century), and of a few other
MSS. and versions. It is open to all the difficulties
urged against the Vulgate reading.
132 /. CORINTHIANS xv. 52.
The other is the reading of the Vatican manuscript
(fourth century) Travres ov KOt/^o-o/xetfa, Travres Se dXXayryo-o-
/xe#a, which (generally with the addition of //./ after
Trai/res in the first clause) is followed by the other
Greek MSS. for the most part, and by almost all the
Greek Fathers. The Vatican reading will translate :
We shall all not sleep [die] but we shall all be changed.
The question is : What does St. Paul mean by changed?
In the next verse the meaning is clear : they who are
changed are opposed to the dead, who rise again incorruptible :
the changed then are the living, who put on incorruption
without passing through death. Such then must be the
meaning of changed in this verse also. Hence we gather
that there is no antithesis between all and not all : the
same collection of persons is spoken of in both clauses.
The addition of /*/ therefore is an error. The all are
all we (good Christians, not a word said about the
wicked) who are alive at the last day : we shall not die,
but we shall be changed to incorruption and immortality,
and that, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, &c., this
verse 52 following without a break upon 51.
The Vulgate reading, Omnes quidem resurgemus, scd
non omnes immutabimur, seems traceable to the Sinaitic.
Read dormiemus for resurgemus, and you have the Sinaitic
rendered exactly. Then some one took on himself to
alter dormiemus (we shall sleep, or die in hope of resurrec
tion) to resurgemus (we shall rise again), a most unhappy
emendation, if made.
If we take the Sinaitic reading, and put the comma
after ov instead of before it, we have, Truvres Kot/x^o-o/xe^a
ov, Traj/res 8e a.\\ayrja-6^0a, we shall all die, no, but we shall
all be changed, which gives the same sense as the Vatican
reading, but is perhaps too smart and antithetical for
Pauline Greek. The Vatican position of ov (n-avr^ ov
/coi/x,>?o-o/>i#a) is supported by i John ii. 21, trav i/^vSos ex
T>}S dAryflaas OVK IOTI. Probably the Vatican MS. is right.
/. CORINTHIANS xv. 52. 133
Of the meaning of St. Paul, after years of reflection, I
feel confident that it is : None of us shall die, but we shall
all be changed, the us and the we being the just who shall
be found alive at the judgment day. Cf. notes on
i Cor. iii. 14 ; 2 Cor. v. 2 4.
Of the authority assigned to the Latin Vulgate
by the Council of Trent, see the remarks in the
Preface.
The last trumpet is the last signal given to the camp
or army of God, the Church Militant. Cf. Num.
x. 2 10.
For the doctrine which this reading contains, see
i Thess. iv. 14 16, on which St. Augustine writes
(Ad Dulcitiwn) : "As to the words of the Apostle,
he seems to assert that at the end of the world, when
the Lord comes and there is to be the resurrection of
the dead, some are not to die, but, found alive, are
suddenly to be changed to that immortality which is
given also to the other saints, and are to be taken up
together with them in the clouds. Nor has my opinion been
any other, as often as I have been minded to think of
these words." Such is also the opinion of Tertullian,
alleging these passages and 2 Cor. v. 2 4 : he adds :
" The privilege of this grace awaits those whom the
coming of the Lord shall find in the flesh, who for the
hardships of the times of Antichrist shall deserve to
join the risen by the short way of death blotted out
by change " (De resur. earn. 41). In this view we have
a ready explanation of the saying of St. Peter, repeated
in the Creeds, that Jesus of Nazareth was appointed by
God to be judge of the living and of the dead (Acts x. 42).
The contrary opinion on the whole was favoured by
St. Augustine, and after him by most of the Latin
authorities, but only as an opinion. It went with what
we have argued to be a false reading of the present
passage in St. Paul.
i 3 4 L CORINTHIANS xv. 5355.
True in Adam all die (v. 22) that is, all are in the way
of death : but in this last generation death shall be
anticipated by the glorious change. St. Thomas says of
them : " Even though they die not, still there is in
them the liability to death, but the penalty is taken
away by God" (la 2ae, q. 81, art. 3, ad 3).
St. Paul here uses the first person in what is called
the communicative sense, not knowing when the coming of
the Lord was to be. Here and in i Thess. iv. 15, 17, he
associates himself with them who are to be alive at that
coming; elsewhere (vi. 14; 2 Cor. iv. 14) with them
who are to be raised up, and consequently must have
died before. Cf. 2 Thess. ii. 2 ; 2 Pet. iii. 8.
53. In the dead who shall rise again, this corruptible must
put on incorruption. In us who are alive, who remain unto
the coming of the Lord (i Thess. iv. 14), and who shall be
changed, this mortal must put on immortality.
54. And when. The best authorities here repeat
the whole of the preceding verse, not the latter half
only.
Shall come to pass, or simply, shall be spoken, the
saying.
Death is swallowed up in victory. The Apostle follows
a variant Hebrew reading of Isaias xxv. 8 : He shall cast
death down headlong for ever.
55. Quotation from Osee xiii. 14, more or less
according to the Septuagint, which has: Where is thy
plea, O death ? Where is thy sting, hell ?
"As it were, sacrificing a thankoffering for victory,
and seized with ecstasy from on high, and seeing the
future as though it were already accomplished, the
Apostle leaps and tramples upon the prostrate form
of Death, singing loud the song of triumph" (St.
Chrysostom).
The victory of the grave was complete, when the
man died: his decease was a total defeat, dissolution
I. CORINTHIANS xv. 5658; xvi. 135
and spoliation of his humanity : but when he rises
again, victory passes over to his side.
56. The sting of death, as it were of a scorpion (Apoc.
ix. 10), is sin, because it is only through sin that death
has been able to slay us (Rom. v. 12).
The strength of sin is the law, because sin was not imputed
when the law was not (Rom. v. 13 ; vii. 7 n).
57. Who has given. Read, who gives. Cf. Rom. vii.
24, 25.
58. " Then let us sit down in religion, and make
heaven to be our end " (Jeremy Taylor).
CHAPTER XVI.
I. Now concerning the collections that are made for the saints,
as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, so do you also.
2. On the first day of the week let every one of you put apart with
himself, laying up what it shall well please him ; that when I come
the gatherings be not then to be made. 3. And when I shall be
with you, whomsoever you shall approve by letters, those will I
send to carry your bounty to Jerusalem. 4. And if it be meet that
I go also, they shall go with me. 5. Now I will come to you, when
I shall have passed through Macedonia ; for I shall pass through
Macedonia. 6. And with you, perhaps, I shall make a stay, or
even spend the winter, that you may bring me on my journey
whithersoever I shall go. 7. For I will not see you now by the
way ; for I hope that I shall remain with you some time, if the
Lord permit. 8. But I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost.
9. For a gate is opened to me large and evident, and many adver
saries. 10. Now if Timothy come, see that he be with you without
fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. u. Let
no man, therefore, despise him, but conduct ye him on his way in
peace, that he may come to me : for I look for him with the
brethren. 12. As to our brother Apollo, I let you know that I
earnestly entreated him to come to you with the brethren : and
indeed it was not his will at all to come at this time ; but he will
come when he shall have leisure. 13. Watch ye, stand fast in the
faith, do manfully, and be strengthened. 14. Let all your actions
be done in charity. 15. And I beseech you, brethren, (you know
I 3 6 /. CORINTHIANS xvi. i 8.
the house of Stephanas, and of Fortunatus, and of Achaicus, that
they are the first-fruits of Achaia, and have dedicated themselves to
the ministry of the saints,) 16. That you also be subject to such,
and to every one that worketh with us, and laboureth. 17. And I
rejoice in the presence of Stephanas, and Fortunatus, and Achaicus :
for that which was wanting on your part they have supplied.
18. For they have refreshed both my spirit and yours ; know them,
therefore, that are such. 19. The churches of Asia salute you.
Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church
that is in their house ; with whom I also lodge. 20. All the
brethren salute you. Salute one another with a holy kiss. 21. The
salutation of me Paul, with my own hand. 22. If any man love
not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema, Maran atha.
23. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 24. May
charity be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1. For the saints, i.e. for the poor of the saints that are at
Jerusalem, Rom. xv. 26, according to the agreement,
Gal. ii. 9, 10. Evidently the community of goods (Acts
ii. 44, 45) was at an end, or no longer sufficed.
To the churches of Galatia, Acts xviii. 23.
2. On the first day of the week. Read, Every first day of
the week, already a day of assembly for Christians,
Acts xx. 7 : called the Lord s day, Apoc. i. 10.
Put apart with himself. " Make thy house a church,
thy chest a treasury : become a keeper of sacred
moneys, a self-elected steward of the poor : love of thy
king gives thee this priesthood " (St. Chrysostom).
What it shall well please him. Whatsoever he may be
prospered in, represents the Greek better.
3. By letters should go with send, not with approve.
4. That I also go, as he finally did, Acts xxi. 15.
5. He had intended to come straight to Corinth,
and go thence to Macedonia (2 Cor. i. 16).
7. Abide with you some time. He came through
Macedonia, and stayed three months at Corinth (Acts
xx. 13).
8. At Ephesus, whence he writes this letter, about
Easter,
I. CORINTHIANS xvi. 914. 137
9. A gate, large and evident, a great opening to do
good. We have a specimen of the many adversaries in
Acts xix. 23, seq.
10. // Timothy come. Cf. iv. 17. He was coming
round by Macedonia (Acts xix. 22). This Epistle was
written after his start from Ephesus.
11. Let no man despise him. Cf. Let no man despise thy
youth (i Tim. iv. 12), written some seven years after
this.
Him with the brethren, Timothy and his companion
Erastus (Acts xix. 22), and perhaps some Macedonians.
12. Apollo, iii. 4 6; Acts xviii. 24 28. Apollo,
like Barnabas, was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost
(Acts xi. 23). There is no sign of his at all lending
himself to those admirers of him at Corinth who set
him up as greater than Paul. There was evidently a
request from Corinth for his return.
With the brethren, bearers of this letter.
13. 14. An exhortation, prompted by thought of the
party strife which had arisen about Apollo.
" Under this appearance of exhortation he is really
reprehending their sloth. Therefore he says, watch ye,
implying that they were asleep ; stand fast, implying
that they were shaken ; do manfully and be strengthened,
showing that they were turning soft ; let all your things
be done in charity, arguing their party strife. The
one exhortation is against deceivers, watch ye, stand
fast. The other is against the malevolent, do manfully.
The third is against factious persons and promoters of
dissension, let all your actions be done in charity, which is the
bond of perfection (Col. iii. 14), and root and source of
good. What means, all actions in charity ? It means
that, whether one finds fault, or commands, or is
commanded, or learns, or teaches, all must be with
charity. All the previous evils mentioned in this
Epistle came about from neglect of this virtue. But
I 3 8 I. CORINTHIANS xvi. 1518.
for such neglect, they would not have been puffed up
(v. 2) ; they would not have said, / am of Paul, and I of
Apollo (i. 12). Had charity been among them, they
would not have gone to be judged without (vi. i : cf. v. 12),
or rather they would not have had lawsuits at all (vi. 7).
Had charity been there, that man would not have
taken his father s wife (v. i) ; they would not have
despised the weak brethren (viii. 10, u); they would
not have had divisions (xi. 18, 19) ; they would not
have been vainglorious of their gifts (xii. xiv.).
Therefore he says, let all things be- done with, charity"
(St. Chrysostom).
15. The house of Stephanas, first- fruits of Achaia
(Greece), i. 16. All the best MSS. omit all mention of
Fortunatus and Achaicus in this verse.
The words you know to the end of the verse make a
parenthesis.
1 6. Subject to such, not as to superiors, but with the
deference due to men of merit and virtue. A better
translation might be, that you second such.
17. The three persons here mentioned are generally
understood to have been the bearers of the letter of
the Corinthians to St. Paul at Ephesus, and of his
reply, this Epistle. Fortunatus and Achaicus are not
mentioned elsewhere.
That which was wanting on your part. Better, the lack
of you. These envoys had come on behalf of all the
Corinthians, and their presence in a manner made up
for the absence of the rest. It is not a reproach, but
a commendation.
1 8. They have refreshed both my spirit and yours. The
letter they had carried and their oral address was a
refreshment to the spirit as well of St. Paul, who
received it, as of the Corinthians, who sent it.
^Know such. For this use of know (&riyiyve5o-*ceiv) see
xiii. 12.
/. CORINTHIANS xvi. 1922. 139
ig. The churches of Asia (Acts xix. 10), that is, the
Mediterranean shore of Asia Minor.
For Aquila and Priscilla see Acts xviii. 2, 3, 18, 26;
Rom. xvi. 3, 4.
The church that is in their hoiise (Rom. xvi. 5), the
Ephesian Christians who met to celebrate the holy
mysteries in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, no
special sanctuaries being as yet built for that purpose.
The faithful who met for Mass at such places as
Hindlip Castle in the days of persecution in England,
might have been called the church that is in the house of
the noble family who owned the place.
20. A holy kiss. Cf. St. Chrysostom, quoted on
2 Cor. xiii. 12. For the practice among the Jews see
i Kings xx. 21 ; 2 Kings xix. 39; Matt. xxvi. 48;
Acts xx. 37. Among the first Christians, Rom. xvi. 16;
i Thess. v. 26. As practised in the Christian assemblies,
the Apostolic Constitutions restrained it to those of the
same sex.
21. With my own hand. The rest of the letter was
in the hand apparently of Sosthenes (i. i), as that to
the Romans was written by Tertius (Rom. xvi. 22).
The salutation of Paul with his own hand was the sign in
every epistle (2 Thess. iii. 17) of its genuineness, a sign
not wholly uncalled for (2 Thess. ii. 2).
22. Anathema, Greek for a thing accursed. Maran
at ha, two Aramaic words, mean either The Lord is come
(Phil. iv. 5), or May the Lord come (Apoc. xxii. 20).
SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
ST. PAUL had sent Timothy as his envoy to the
Corinthians (i Cor. iv. 17; xvi. 10). Of the result
of this mission we hear nothing. Timothy certainly
returned, and was St. Paul s amanuensis in writing
this Second Epistle. After Timothy St. Paul had
sent another envoy to Corinth, Titus, whose return
he awaited with the keenest anxiety (ch. vii.).
Meanwhile, driven from Ephesus by the sedition of
the silversmiths (Acts xix.), the Apostle had gone
to Troas, and thence to Macedonia (ch. ii. 12, 13 ;
Acts xx. i), where Titus found him and reported
on the partial success of the First Epistle. From
some city of Macedonia (tradition names Philippi)
St. Paul wrote this Second Epistle, some five
months after the First, that is, about the month
of September, A.D. 58, and gave the letter to Titus
to carry back to Corinth.
CHAPTER I.
I. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and
Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is at Corinth, with
all the saints who are in all Achaia : 2. Grace to you and peace
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. Blessed
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies, and the God of all consolation ; 4. Who comforteth us in
all our tribulations, that we also may be able to comfort them who
//. CORINTHIANS i. 141
are in any distress, by the exhortation wherewith we also are
exhorted by God. 5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us,
so also by Christ doth our comfort abound. 6. Now whether we
be in tribulation, it is for your exhortation and salvation ; or
whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation ; or whether
we be exhorted, it is for your exhortation and salvation, which
worketh the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
7. That our hope for you may be steadfast, knowing that as you
are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the con
solation. 8. For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, of our
tribulation, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of
measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of life :
o. But we had in ourselves the answer of death, that we should not
trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead ; 10. Who
hath delivered, and doth deliver us out of so great dangers; in
whom we hope that he will yet also deliver us: n. You helping
withal in prayer for us, that, for this gift obtained for us by many
persons, thanks may be given by many in our behalf. 12. For our
glory is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity of
heart and sincerity of God, and not in carnal wisdom, but in the
grace of God, we have conversed in this world, and more abundantly
toward you. 13. For we write no other things to you than what
you have read and known, and I hope that you shall know unto the
end ; 14. As also you have known us in part, that we are your
glory, as you also are ours on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15. And in this confidence I had a mind to come to you before,
that you might have a second favour ; 16. And to pass by you
into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by
you to be brought on my way toward Judaea. 17. When, therefore,
I had a mind to do this, did I use levity ? or the things that I
purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that there should be
with me IT is, and IT is NOT? 18. But God is faithful; for our
preaching which was to you was not IT is, and IT is NOT. 19. For
the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us,
by me, and Silvanus, and Timothy, was not IT is, and IT is NOT ;
but IT is was in him. 20. For all the promises of God are in him
IT is: therefore also by him, Amen to God, unto our glory.
21. Now he that confirmeth us with you in Christ, and he that
hath anointed us, is God ; 22. Who also hath sealed us, and given
the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. 23. But I call God to
witness upon my soul, that to spare you I come not as yet to
Corinth ; not because we lord it over your faith, but we are helpers
of your joy : for in faith you stand.
I 4 2 //. CORINTHIANS i. i 6.
i, 2. The opening resembles that of the First Epistle.
Timothy is now amanuensis instead of Sosthenes, as he
is also in the letters to the Philippians, Colossians,
Thessalonians, and to Philemon. Achaia of course is
Greece.
3. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Cf. Eph. i. 17 : the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
of glory ; and John xx. 19 : / ascend to my Father and to
your Father, to my God and to your God.
4. By the exhortation wherewith we are exhorted by God,
should be, by the comfort wherewith we are comforted by God.
The same words are used as in the previous member,
TrapaKA^crecos, Trapa/caAou/xe^a, and should have the same
translation, comfort, although in another context they
might mean exhortation and exhort.
5. The sufferings of Christ, i.e. the sufferings which
Christ bore first, and left for us to bear the like in
imitation of him, as the Apostle says elsewhere, to Jill
up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ
(Col. i. 24).
6. The first thing to be done for this verse is to
strike out the words, or whether we be exhorted, it is foy your
exhortation, which, as all the Greek MSS. show, is merely
a second and mistaken version of the clause already
correctly rendered, or whether we be comforted, it is for
your consolation. See above on v. 4. The word exhortation
in the first clause is also to be altered to consolation.
For worketh the enduring we should read is wrought in the
enduring.
There are difficulties even in the Greek MSS., not
so much that the words are uncertain, but the clauses
have been inverted, and the order of them must remain
doubtful. The following translation is presented as
probable : it is taken in the main from the Vatican MS. :
Now whether we be in tribulation, it is for your consolation and
salvation, which is wrought out in the enduring of the same
//. CORINTHIANS i. 7, 8. 143
sufferings which we also suffer : or whether we be comforted, it
is for your consolation.
Which is wrought, rfjs evepyov/xeV^s. It seems better to
take this as passive. All the other passages in which
this form occurs are Rom. vii. 5; 2 Cor. iv. 12;
Eph. iii. 20 ; Col. i. 29 ; i Thess. ii. 13 ; 2 Thess. ii. 7;
James v. 16. The passive sense suits them all, except
perhaps the last.
The meaning is thus explained by St. Chrysostom :
** Your salvation comes, not by the mere fact of your
having believed, but further by your suffering the same
things as us and enduring. Just as an athlete is admired
when he appears in good condition, having his skill self-
contained in himself; but when he goes to work, and
bears blows, and strikes his adversary, then he is
especially brilliant, because then especially his fine
condition is put to act, and the proof of his skill is
shown forth ; so your salvation is then more put to act
(eVepyetrai), that is, is shown, is increased, is intensified,
when it has the quality of endurance, when it suffers
and bears all bravely. And he did not say which worketh
(7-77? eVepyoixn??), but which is wrought (rrj<s eVepyou/zeVr/s) ,
showing that along with their good will grace also
contributes much, working in them."
Whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation, is
explained by v. 4.
7. That our hope for you, should be, And our hope for
you is. The Vatican MS., with other Greek MSS. and
Fathers, place this clause, And our hope for you is steadfast,
in the middle of the previous verse. But it suits the
context better here, where it is placed by equally good
authorities.
8. In Asia, that is, at Ephesus (i Cor. xvi. 8, 19).
What the tribulation was, the Corinthians knew, but we
do not. It may have been the tumult of the silversmiths
(Acts xix.), or some grievous malady.
I 4 4 IJ - CORINTHIANS i. 913.
So that we were wearied even of life, more exactly, so that
we despaired even of life.
Above our strength. What is said in the next verse,
that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, shows that
the Apostle speaks of mere human strength. There is
then no contradiction with i Cor. x. 13.
9. " What is the answer of death ? The sentence, the
judgment, the expectation : for such was the voice of
facts, such the answer returned by circumstances, that
we should certainly die " (St. Chrysostom).
The latter part of the verse signifies that deliverance
from so great dangers was tantamount to a resurrection
from the dead. Cf. Rom. iv. 17; Heb. xi. 19.
10. Dangers. A better reading is deaths. We trust,
^ATriVa/xei/ : this perfect (found, John v. 45 ; i Cor. xv. 19;
i Tim. iv. 10 ; v. 5) denotes well-established and assured
confidence, a rest in hope (Ps. xv. 9).
11. Better that from many [glad] faces thanks maybe
given on our behalf for this gift obtained for its by the prayers of
many. The objection to translating irpoo-unrw persons here
is that nowhere else in the Bible is the word so used.
12. For carnal wisdom see i Cor. i. 17, 19; ii. i, 4,
i3 14-
We have conversed elsewhere, and more abundantly towards
you, i.e. we have borne ourselves and taught elsewhere,
and with more particular care at Corinth. There the
Apostle would not accept the remuneration which he
took in other churches, xi. 79 ; i Cor. ix. 115.
13. What you have read and known. Better, what you
read or recognise, rli/ayu/oWere ^ K al eTnyu/oWere. The
former of these two words is the ordinary Greek word
for to read, meaning properly to recognise. St. Paul plays
upon this original meaning ; and in order to show that
he does so, he adds the second word, meaning also to
recognise (cf. on i Cor. xiii. I2 ). Hence the meaning is
well given by St. Chrysostom : Reading you recognise
//. CORINTHIANS i. 1416. 145
. . . the knowledge that you
had before accords with the reading (o-iWSet rfj clvayvwo-ei
rj yvwcrts)." Cf. iii. 2, where there is a similar play upon
known and read, ytvoxr/co/xeV^ /cat aj ayivaxrKOyuieVr/.
The colon at the end of this verse in the English
editions is a mistake : it should be only a comma, as in
the Clementine Vulgate.
14. It would be clearer if this verse were made to
begin at And I hope in the verse previous, and were
printed thus : And I hope that you shall recognise entirely (as
also you have recognised us in part) that we are your glory, etc.
There is an antithesis between in part, O.TTO /x,epous, and
entirely, ews Te Aovs. The latter phrase is equal ets reAos
in St. John xiii. i. The translation, & the end, loses
the antithesis.
In the day of our Lord, " that dread and awful day in
which all things are revealed ; then shall we glory in
you and you in us " (St. Chrysostom).
Thus far the Preface of the Epistle. Dividing the
Epistle into three parts, Apologetic, Hortatory, and
Polemic, the Apologetic portion commences at the
next verse, and ends at vii. 16. It is St. Paul s
defence of himself against the calumnies of false
apostles.
15. In this confidence. " In what confidence ? In
strong trust in you, in glorying in you, in being your
glory, in loving you intensely, in being conscious of no
evil, in assurance of our proceedings being all spiritual,
and having you as witnesses thereof" (St. Chrysostom).
To come to you before I went to Macedonia. This
intention the Apostle must have signified to the
Corinthians, perhaps by some epistle now lost.
A second grace, i.e. a second visit.
1 6. To pass by you into Macedonia. This visit was
given up. The Apostle announces his change of
purpose : Now I will come to you when I shall have passed
K
i 4 6 // CORINTHIANS i. 17, 18.
through Macedonia (i Cor. xvi. 5). So indeed he did
(Acts xx. i, 2).
Thus what was to have been the second grace became
the only grace or visit he paid them on this journey.
He comforted them with the hope that he would not
see them merely by the way, but would abide some time
with them (i Cor. xvi. 7). His stay amounted in fact
to three months (Acts xx. 3).
17. These interrogations amount to negations : * I did
not use lightness, i.e. did not change my mind out of mere
fickleness. How is that shown ? By this, that my
purposes are not made according to the flesh, as a head
strong self-will carries men now here now there. The
fleshly man is free and may go anywhere : the spiritual
man is governed and restrained by the Spirit. There
fore I was not able to come straight from Ephesus to
Corinth, because the Spirit would not let me. So Paul
and Silas once before attempted to go into Bithynia, and the
Spirit of Jesus suffered them not (Acts xvi. 7). Thus it
rested not with the Apostle in his purposes finally to
decide // is and It is not ; or better, according to the
Greek, yea, yea, and nay, nay; but his purpose was con
ditioned upon the Spirit approving it. It follows that
St. Paul s first purpose in regard of this journey was
not the prompting of the Spirit, but of his own fallible
human judgment. Cf. xii. 8, 9. But from this a diffi
culty arises, as St. Chrysostom puts it : " If there is not
with you yea, yea, and nay, nay, but what you now say,
you afterwards overturn, as you have done in the matter
of this visit, woe betide us, if perchance the like has
happened in your preaching also." To dispel this alarm
is the purpose of the next five verses.
18. God is faithful (repeated, i Cor. i. 9; ib. x. 13;
i Thess. v. 24). It would be to no purpose appealing
to the faithfulness of God, and of the Son of God
(00. 19, 20), unless St. Paul meant to imply, and his
//. CORINTHIANS i. 1921. 147
hearers understood, that in his preaching he represented
to them God and His Christ, and was the inspired
herald of Him who was called Faithful and True (Apoc.
xix. n). Cf. xiii. 3; Gal. i. 8, u, 12; Luke x. 16;
John xvi. 13.
Our preaching was not, It is, and It is not. Altogether
unlike the preaching of the Church of England as to
the Real Presence.
19. Silvanus, otherwise called Silas, for whom see
Acts xv. 22, to xviii. 5 ; also i Thess. i. i ; 2 Thess. i. i.
On the text cf. Heb. xiii. 8.
20. The first part of this verse might be more intel
ligibly translated : Fov of all the promises of God, in him is
yea, i.e. the accomplishment. All the promises of God are
accomplished in Christ Jesus, the Messianic promises
of the Old Law (vii. i ; Rom. ix. 4; Gal. iii. 16, 21 ;
Heb. vi. 12 ; vii. 6 ; xi. 13, 17), and as we expect to see,
the promises of the New Law, the permanence of the
Church, the efficacy of the sacraments, the resurrection
of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen to God. The practice of answering amen at the
end of public prayers was already established (i Cor.
xiv. 1 6). The whole verse then means : All the pro
mises of God for our salvation have their accomplish
ment through Christ : therefore through Him, in faith
and in acknowledgment, be the hymn of praise ratified
by the voice of the faithful to the glory of God by our
ministry.
Unto our glory. A better reading is unto glory through
us. The us of this verse and of vv. 18, 19, 21, 22, is not
all the faithful, but the select few who are ministers of
Christ and dispensers of the mysteries of God (i Cor. iv. i).
21. Conjirmeth us, the teachers, with you, the taught.
Hath anointed us, xP^ais. This word, from which the
name of Christ (the Anointed) is derived, is used only in
four other places in the New Testament (Luke iv. 18;
I4 8 II. CORINTHIANS i. 22.
Acts iv. 27; x. 38; Heb. i. 9), and in all four of our
Saviour Himself, who, as St. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat.
10) puts it, has " His Humanity so anointed with His
Divinity as that both are made one." Here then the
word must denote some singularly close assimilation to
Christ, such as is not affirmable of the general body of
the faithful, but of those who represent Christ and bear
His person before the rest, namely, the pastors of His
flock on earth. They are anointed inasmuch as they are
associated with the Supreme Shepherd, and adorned
with the graces proper to their pastoral charge. The
combination, xpurro v xp^as, as it were Christ and Christ-
making^ is not merely accidental.
There is no allusion to any material anointing with
oil. Still less can this verse be alleged in evidence of
the Sacrament of Confirmation, a sacrament proper to
all the faithful, whereas what is said here is said only of
the priests and pastors of the Church.
22. Cf. v. 5 : God, who hath given us the pledge of the
Spirit; Eph. i. 13, 14: You were signed with the Holy
Spirit of promise, who is the pledge of our inheritance ; Eph.
iv. 30 : the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you ivere sealed unto
the day of redemption. From these passages it appears
that the Spirit Himself is the seal, marking us for God s
own, and also the pledge (or earnest) of a still better
participation of divine gifts in the life to come.
In the three passages quoted, all the faithful are
addressed, and there appears to be a reference to the
rite which made them Christians, to wit, the two sacra
ments of Baptism and Confirmation. In the verse now
under consideration, St. Paul speaks of himself and his
fellow- ministers only. From the parallelism of the other
passages there is reason to think that the Apostle refers
here to the rite whereby he and they were made ministers
of Christ, which was of course the Sacrament of Order.
Cf. Acts xiii. 2, 3.
II. CORINTHIANS i. 23. 149
This verse should have been the conclusion of the
chapter.
23. / came not any move to Corinth. The Apostle first
came to Corinth from Athens, and stayed there eighteen
months (Acts xviii. i, n) ; then went to Ephesus (Acts
xviii. 19 ; xix. i). From that city, as we have seen, he
intended to go again straight to Corinth, instead of
which he went to Macedonia first, and then to Corinth.
During the delay of this his second visit, the Corinthians
must have complained that Paul came not any more to
Corinth. He says that it was in mercy that he came
not, sparing you, for there was much to correct, as
indeed there was at a later time, see xii. 20, 21.
Not because, better, not that. Some words are under
stood, as, In my delay, and in writing meanwhile the
First Epistle with those strong reprehensions, it was
not that I wished to lord it over your faith. This phrase
is like our abuse your generosity. It is probably what
some at Corinth said of St. Paul : He finds us devout
believers, and lords it over us accordingly : to which
St. Paul replies : Nay rather I would be a helper of your
joy, my words and action towards you turning to the
common joy of us all, cf. ii. 3.
For in faith you stand. " In the construction the word
ju,i/ is left out, so that it should be rrj /xiv yap TTLO-TCL
eo-TTy/care. He means : In the matter of faith I in no
way blame you : you are sound on that point : but you
do offend on other points, which need correction "
(Theodoret). The clause with but (Sc), antithetical to
Hey (indeed), is found in the next words, But I determined
(tKpwa 8e). Hence it appears that, In faith you stand,
should not be separated from, But I determined, by a
full stop, still less by the division of a verse, and less
still should it be in a separate chapter.
I5 o II. CORINTHIANS ii. i, 2.
CHAPTER II.
I. But I determined this with myself, that I would not come to
you again in sorrow : 2. For if I make you sorrowful, who is he
then that should make me glad, but he who is made sorrowful by
me? 3. And I wrote this same to you, that I may not, when I
come, have sorrow upon sorrow from them of whom I ought to
rejoice ; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you
all. 4. For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to
you with many tears ; not that you should be made sorrowful, but
that you might know the charity I have more abundantly toward
you. 5. And if any one have caused grief, he hath not grieved me,
but in part ; that I may not charge you all. 6. To him who is
such a one this rebuke is sufficient, which is given by many :
7. So that on the contrary you should rather forgive him, and
comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with over
much sorrow. 8. Wherefore I beseech you, that you would
confirm your charity toward him. 9. For to this end also did I
write, that I might know the experiment of you, whether you be
obedient in all things. 10. And to whom you have forgiven
anything, I also : for what I forgave, if I have forgiven anything,
for your sakes have I done it in the person of Christ, n. That
we may not be circumvented by Satan : for we are not ignorant of
his devices. 12. And when I was come to Troas for the gospel
of Christ, and a door was opened to me in the Lord, 13. I had no
rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother; but
bidding them farewell, I went from thence to Macedonia. 14. Now
thanks be to God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ
Jesus, and maketh manifest the odour of his knowledge by us in
every place. 15. For we are unto God the good odour of Christ
in them who are saved, and in them who perish. 16. To some,
indeed, the odour of death unto death ; but to the others the odour
of life unto life : and for these things who is so sufficient ? 17. For
we are not as many, adulterating the word of God : but with
sincerity, but as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.
1. In sorrow and severity.
2. Who is he then ? K al rt? ; for which cf. Mark x. 26,
Ko.1 Tis BVVO.TO.I a-^Orfvai; who then can be saved? Also ii. 16,
KCU Trpos ravra TI S t/ccu/os; who then is sufficient for these
things? In this verse the Apostle begins to lead up to
II. CORINTHIANS ii. 3 9-
the case of the incestuous man (i Cor. v. i 5), to
whom he pointedly refers in vv. 6, 7.
3. And I wrote this same to you, namely, the reprehen
sions contained in the first six chapters of the First
Epistle.
My joy is the joy of you all. Therefore the joy men
tioned in v. 2, which the Apostle conceived at the
Corinthians sorrow and repentance, ended in being no
selfish but a common joy.
4. / wrote to you in that First Epistle.
5. He hath not grieved me alone, but, &c. Cf. John
xii. 44 : He that believeth in me, doth not believe in me alone,
hit in him that sent me : also Jerem. vii. 22, 23.
But in part, that I may not charge you all. These words
are unintelligible as they stand. You all is really the
object, not of charge, but of the previous grieved. He
has not grieved me alone, but in some sort and pro
portion he has grieved you all. Thus the common
grief at the sin answers to the common joy (v. 3) at the
repentance. The words, that I may not charge, Iva p;
e-m(3a.pw, are parenthetic. They answer exactly to the
Attic phrase, Iva /x^Sa/ <oprtKov Ae yw, to say nothing burden
some, which did duty for our polite parenthesis, if you will
allow me to say so.
6. Which is given by many, that is, by the Corinthian
Church, joining with St. Paul in the censure of the
incestuous man (i Cor. v. 4, 5), superiors passing and pro
mulgating the decree, inferiors obeying and executing it.
8. Confirm your charity towards him. " Unite the
member to the body, add the sheep to the fold, show
him warm affection " (Theodoret). The pronoun your
is an addition of the English translator, not in the
Latin, nor in the Greek, Kvpuo-au efc avrov dyaTnyv, ratify
charity towards him, i.e. gave him the kiss of peace.
9. To this end also did I write (in the First Epistle),
that I may know, or in order to know, the experiment of you,
152 II. CORINTHIANS ii. 10-12.
or the proof of you, as in Phil. ii. 22, know ye the proof of
him (Timothy), where the same phrase is used.
Whether you be obedient in all things. The command
to cut off the incestuous man from the communion of
the faithful (i Cor. v. 13), equally with the present
command to readmit him, put to proof the obedience of
the Corinthians. The I beseech yon of v. 8 is tantamount
to an injunction.
10. To whom you have forgiven. Read you forgive,
Xap&o-Of. And then, not wishing to seem to anticipate
their act, he adds : if I have forgiven anything.
In the person of Christ, or, in the face, that is, in the
presence of Christ (h 737)00-00?, iv. 6; v. 12), Christ, as it
were, looking on and approving: cf. i Cor. v. 4. So
/ Trpoo-wTToj avrov, Prov. viii. 30, means in his presence. See
on v. 17.
11. Overreached by Satan. The verb here used,
TrAeoveKTetv, means to take more than one s share. St.
Chrysostom observes on the appositeness of the word.
When Satan, he says, tempts us to fornication, or other
open sin, he uses his own weapons. But when under
pretence of repentance he leads on to excessive dejection
and despair, he snatches our weapons from our hands,
and uses them against us : that is indeed taking more
than his share.
His devices, to lead to evil by abuse and overdoing
of what is good, as here by overmuch sorrow (v. 7).
From this passage of the pardon of the Corinthian,
St. Thomas (Sup. q. 25, art. i) and other theologians
argue the Church s power of granting Indulgences : for
it would have been a poor favour to release the man
from his canonical penance, and leave him to meet
those liabilities in Purgatory which he would otherwise
have discharged by undergoing that penance.
12. Come to Troas, a second visit, the first
mentioned, Acts xvi, 8.
II. CORINTHIANS ii. 1316. 153
A door was opened, i Cor. xvi. g.
13. No rest, because I found not Titus, that is, because
I had no tidings from Corinth, to which city Titus had
been sent to report to St. Paul how his First Epistle
was taken there. It was as messenger from Corinth
that Titus was so desiderated. This is shown by
vii. 5, seq.
14. Maketh us to triumph, better, leadeth us in triumph,
OpiafjiptvovTL ry/xtt?, not as vanquished men, in which
sense the verb is used, Col. ii. 15, cf. Cleopatra s
ov fyHa/x/foiVo/xai, said as she took the poison, but as
associates in the victory of His Divine Son.
Observe always . . . in every place.
The odour of his knowledge. " In calling our present
knowledge an odour of knowledge, he teaches us two
things, first that it is a small part of perfect knowledge,
and then that perfect knowledge is hidden, but shall
be made manifest in time, after the likeness of incense,
which, thrown on a fire in a chamber, emits its
fragrance outside, so that they who come across it,
enjoy the fragrance without seeing the fragrant body "
(Theodoret).
15. Are saved . . . perish, literally, in the way of
salvation, in the way of perdition, an instance of the
classical use of the Greek present participle.
1 6. The odour of death, as of a dead thing, stinking
before them (Exod. v. 21), and cast aside with loathing:
so some men reject the gospel unto death, that is, to their
own spiritual death and damnation (Mark xvi. 16).
The odour of life, and sweetness, and attractiveness
unto life everlasting. For the two different effects of
the Word of God, cf. Luke ii. 34 ; John xii. 48 ; Matt,
xi. 21. Nothing is more clearly contained in Holy
Writ than this, that the teaching of Christ and of the
envoys of Christ to men is not a teaching which it is
open to mankind to reject with impunity. The message
I 54 IL CORINTHIANS ii. 17.
is not : * Here is a way, one of many good ways, if you
like to take it : but, as St. Peter put it on the day
of Pentecost : Save yourselves from this perverse generation
(Acts ii. 40). Therefore a Church whose chief mark
is " comprehensiveness," cannot be the Church of
Christ.
Who is so sufficient ? So should be omitted. The
answer is that no man of his own strength and ability
is sufficient for this ministry, and no man at all anyhow
except those, whom God hath made fit ministers of the new
testament, iii. 5, 6, which verses carry the Apostle s
reply to his own question. Qnis tarn (Vulg.) may be for
Qnisnam.
17. Adulterating the word of God. There is a verse
of the Roman poet, Ennius, non cauponantes belhim, sed
belligerantes, " not playing the huckster in war, but
waging war." The Apostle s word KctTn/AevWres answers
exactly to cauponantes, " playing the huckster." St.
Chrysostom explains: "this is to play the huckster,
when one adulterates the wine, when one sells for
money what one ought to give for nothing." He
quotes Isaias i. 22, as it is in the Greek: Thy hucksters
mingle the wine with water. There are then two ideas in
the phrase : first, that of adulterating the word of God
with human conceits and inventions calculated to draw
the applause of the hearers ; and secondly, that of
turning preaching into a mere trade and means of
money-making. The many adulterators or hucksters
are the teachers who set up to outbid St. Paul at
Corinth, with whom he contrasts himself, i Cor. ii. 13 ;
iii. 14, 15 ; iv. 19, 20; viii. and ix. See below, iv. 2, 6.
As from God, in the sight of God, in Christ. This
expresses the meaning of what is rendered in v. 10,
in the person of Christ,
II. CORINTHIANS in. i. 155
CHAPTER III.
I. Do we begin again to commend ourselves ? or do we need (as
some do) epistles of commendation to you, or from you ? 2. You
are our epistle, written in our hearts, which is known and read by
all men : 3. You being made manifest that you are the epistle of
Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables
of the heart. 4. And such confidence we have through Christ
toward God : 5. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of
ourselves, as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is from God :
6. Who also hath made us fit ministers of the new testament ;
not in the letter, but in the spirit : for the letter killeth, but the
spirit giveth life. 7. Now if the ministration of death, engraven
with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel
could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his
countenance ; which is done away ; 8. How shall not the minis
tration of the Spirit be rather in glory ? 9. For if the ministration
of condemnation be glory, much more the ministration of justice
aboundeth in glory. 10. For even that which was glorious in this
part was not glorified, by reason of the glory that excelleth.
II. For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that
which remaineth is in glory. 12. Having, therefore, such hope, we
use much confidence ; 13. And not as Moses put a veil over his
face, that the children of Israel might not steadfastly look on the
face of that which is made void : 14. But their senses were made
dull : for until this day the self-same veil in the reading of the old
testament remaineth not taken away, (because in Christ it is done
away.) 15. But even until this day, when Moses is read, the veil is
upon their heart. 16. But when they shall be converted to the
Lord, the veil shall be taken away. 17. Now the Lord is a Spirit :
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18. But we
all, beholding the glory of the Lord with face uncovered, are
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the
Spirit of the Lord.
i. Epistles of commendation, or letters of introduction,
see examples in Acts xv. 25 27 ; xviii. 27. The word
a-vvia-rav, or crwio-Tavai/, here translated commend, means
to introduce one person to another. St. Paul s detractors
at Corinth would have it that he was always intro
ducing, or intruding, himself and his own praises.
I 5 6 // CORINTHIANS iii. 25.
2, 3. St. Paul s reply is : You and your growth in
Christian life are our letter of introduction : any one
may read it ; and that letter we carry about with us
everywhere, as you are written in our hearts. Cf.
i Cor. ix. 2, You are the seal of my apostleship.
The metaphor of the letter is somewhat varied. In
v. 3 the letter is the Christianity written in the hearts
of the Corinthians by Christ our Lord through St. Paul s
instrumentality ; while in v. 2 the letter is two-fold,
first, as in v. 3, the Corinthians and their Christianity ;
secondly, the memory of the Corinthians written in the
heart of the Apostle. The metaphor would be clearer,
if the author had not inserted the words, written in our
hearts.
The fleshy tables of the heart are the hearts of the
Corinthians. Cf. Ezech. xxxvi. 26 ; and for the tables
of stone, Exod. xxxi. 18.
4. Such confidence, as in the eyes of his opponents
was accounted arrogance. Cf. Rom. xi. 13, I will
honour (or, / magnify) my ministry.
5. To think anything, \oyia-acrOai. St. Paul s meaning
would be better given, if it were rendered, to think of
anything. The verb means to reckon up, to calculate.
Theodoret explains: "Our preaching is not a web of
our own ideas." Of themselves, the ministers of the
gospel cannot think of anything to say, that shall
effectually move their hearers to supernatural good :
but of God and of the divine grace is the sufficiency of the
preacher to preach and of the hearer to hear and do
anything that shall directly make for the kingdom of
heaven. Upon this text the Second Council of Orange
framed its seventh canon against the Pelagians : " If
any one maintains that by his natural powers he can
think to the point, or choose any gift that appertains
to the salvation of eternal life, or assent to the saving
preaching of the gospel, without the illumination and
//. CORINTHIANS iii. 6, 7. 157
inspiration of the Holy Ghost, who gives all facility
in assenting to and believing the truth, he is deceived
by an heretical spirit, not understanding . . . the saying
of the Apostle, Not that, &c."
6. Hath made us fit ministers. More literally, hath
made us suffice for ministers. There is thus a triple
reiteration, sufficient, sufficiency, suffice. Observe also the
question : And for these things who is sufficient ? (ii. 16) to
which this is the answer.
Not in the letter, but in the spirit. We should read,
new testament, not of letter, but of spirit. " What then,"
asks St. Chrysostom, " was not the law [the Old Law]
spiritual ? How then does he say : We know that the
law is spiritual (Rom. vii. 14) ? It was spiritual, to be
sure, but it did not give the Spirit : for it was not the
Holy Spirit that Moses brought, but letters, whereas
we have been entrusted with the giving of the Holy
Ghost."
The letter killeth. The explanation of these words is
given by St. Paul himself, Rom. viii. 7 13; iv. 15;
v. 20. And St. Augustine (De spiv, et lit. 4, seq.) : " The
letter of the law killeth, apart from the quickening
(life-giving) Spirit : for it makes sin known rather than
shunned, and thereby increases rather than diminishes
it, transgression of the law coming in as an addition
to evil concupiscence."
Tlie spirit quickeneth. Because, as we read of the
Holy Ghost in the postcommunion of Whit Tuesday,
" He is the forgiveness of all sins."
All this passage seems especially directed against
the Judaizing party at Corinth. See note on i Cor.
i. 12.
7. There are three points of contrast brought out
in this and the four following verses. The law was
nothing more than letters upon stones : the new testa
ment is the giving of the Spirit. The law was unto
i 5 8 //. CORINTHIANS iii. 1013.
condemnation and death : the gospel is unto justice. The
law is done away : the gospel nmaineth. The whole
argument shows that, though the glory of the law,
when first promulgated, was sensible, while that of
the gospel in the preaching of it is spiritual, yet
much greater is the glory of the gospel than of the
law, and of the ministers of the New Testament than
of the ministers of the Old. Compare the contrast
between Christ and Aaron, worked out in Heb. vii.
viii. ix. x. i 18.
The face of Moses, Exod. xxxiv. 29 35. St. Chrysostom
observes that what shone, was not the tablets of the
law, but the face of the lawgiver.
For an example of the setting of the letter above the
spirit, in diametrical opposition to St. Paul s teaching
here, see the Anglican Article vi., extolling the word
engraven with letters, along with Article xix. decrying
the ministration of the Spirit in the living teacher, in
whom the Spirit of truth abides for ever (John xiv.
16, 17).
Which is done away, i.e. which vanished. The glory
on the face of Moses was only a passing thing.
10. That which was formerly glorious about the giving
of the Old Law, in this part, i.e. in this comparison of
the Old with the New, was not glorified, i.e. was no glory
at all, by reason of the glory that excelleth in the New.
The greater light obscures the less.
11. Remaineth. See i Cor. xiii. 13, with note.
12. Such hope of the future that Christianity was
to have in the world. Christianity was young and
undeveloped when this was written : we have seen its
maturity and the fulfilment of the Apostle s hope.
Much confidence, literally, freedom of speech. " We
preach everywhere, hiding nothing, but speaking
plainly, nor are we afraid of wounding your eyes, as
Aloses dazzled the eyes of the Jews " (St. Chrysostom).
//. CORINTHIANS iii. 14-16. 159
13. And not as Moses. The clause is understood:
We hide not the import of our message, as Moses, &c.
Steadfastly look on the face. Face here (and faciem in
the Vulgate Latin) is a clerical error that has come
in from v. 7, steadfastly behold the face. All the Greek
MSS. except the Alexandrine, and all the Fathers,
Latin as well as Greek, for face here read end. Read
therefore : might not steadfastly look on the end of that which
is made void.
That which is made void is the Old Law, the old
testament, or covenant, which is made void in Christ. Christ
therefore is the end of that which is made void cf. Rom.
x. 4, the end of the law is Christ because in Him the
shadows and types of the Old Law pass into reality.
The veiling of the face of Moses was in the order of
Divine Providence a symbol and a prediction of what
happened, that the Jews as a nation might not, or rather
did not, steadfastly with the firm gaze of faith look on the
Christ ; in whom the old covenant came to an end and
was made void by the new (Heb. viii. 8 13).
14. The self -same veil, i.e. the want of spiritual per
ception which the veil on Moses face signified, Moses
veiled being a type of his people.
Because in Christ it is made void, on kv xptcrru> Karapyetrai,
means in respect of the fact that in Christ it (the old testa
ment) is made void. In respect of this fact there is a
veil upon the heart of the Jews, so that they recognise it
not.
15. When Moses is read. Cf. Acts iii. 22, 23 ; and
xiii. 27, not knowing him, nor the voices of the prophets, which
are read every sabbath. The Jews of this day have a
covering for their heads when the Law is read in the
synagogue.
1 6. In the New Testament faithfully translated into
English out of the authentical Latin, by the English College
then Resident in Rhemes, now set forth the second time by the
i6o //. CORINTHIANS iii. 17.
same
College now returned to Doway, printed at Antwerp, by
Daniel Vervlier, 1600, this verse is rendered : But when he
shal be converted to our Lord, the vele shall be taken away :
which is " faithfully translated out of the authentical
Latin," cum conversus fuerit, and the Greek of all the
MSS., rjvLKu. <? av iTTio-rpeif/y. Some one since then has
foisted in the plural, But when they shall be converted.
Correcting this, and taking the reading of all the Greek
MSS. and Fathers, and of the early Latin editions,
is taken away, for shall be, we have the verse : But when he
turneth to the Lord, the veil is taken away. The lie is Moses,
and the verse is in effect a repetition of Exod. xxxiv. 34:
But when he (Moses) went into the Lord and spoke with him,
he took it (the veil) away till he came forth. This statement
St. Paul repeats in a mystical sense. Moses veiled is a
type of the Synagogue of the Jews, whose eyes are held
that they know not Christ (cf. Luke xxiv. 16). Moses,
when he turneth to the Lord, is a type of the conversion of
the Synagogue. When that conversion comes, the veil
is taken away, their eyes are opened and they know him (Luke
xxiv. 31 : cf. Rom. xi. 25, 26).
This is the explanation of St. John Chrysostom and
Theodoret. It quite tallies with St. Paul s love of
allegory, shown in such passages as Gal. iv. 2231.
The Anglican Authorized Version reads : When it shall
turn to the Lord, namely, their heart (v. 15). The render
ing is consonant with the Greek, but loses the allegory,
which the Latin Vulgate, cum conversus fuevit, directs us
to preserve.
17- Translate according to the Greek, 6 Se Krfpios TO
Uvev/xa eo-ro/, Now the Lord is the Spirit: that is to say,
the Lord, mentioned in the last verse, to whom the
Jewish people, typified by Moses, turns, is the Holy
Ghost, the Spirit mentioned in vv. 6, 8. The conversion
of the Jews shall be a turning to the Lord, that is, from
the letter that killeth to the Spirit that quickeneth. The
//. CORINTHIANS iii. 18. 161
Lord then is the Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Ghost ; and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, liberty, that
is, from the ceremonial precepts of the Jewish law, as is
set forth, Gal. iv. 21 31 ; v. i, 13. From i Cor. xi. 3,
it appears that the veil on the head was a sign of
subjection.
In this verse, as the Greek Fathers elaborately
argue, the Divinity of the Holy Ghost is stated in so
many words. The Lord, even Jehovah Himself, is the
Holy Ghost.
1 8. Beholding, say, reflecting, K-aT07rTpio/*evoi. In the
active voice the word means to make a mirror of, to light
up. It is used by Plutarch (De placitis philosophorum,
lib. 3, c. 5) of the sun lighting up a cloud, which
reflects the solar rays. The passive, used here, refers
to a burnished surface being lit up, i.e. reflecting. The
one face of Moses, when unveiled, reflected the glory
of God ; but all we Christians, with the open face of full
recognition by faith of the divine revelation, have our
countenances lit up with the glory of the Lord, reflecting
the light of the Holy Ghost shining upon us. " For, as
soon as we are baptized," says St. Chrysostom, " our
soul, cleansed by the Holy Spirit, shines brighter than
the sun ; and not only do we gaze upon the glory of
God, but we also catch the splendour radiant from
thence. For just as clean silver, exposed to the sun s
rays, will itself emit rays, not of its own mere nature,
but from the brightness of the sun, so the soul, purified
and made brighter than silver, receives a ray from the
glory of the Spirit, and flashes it back. Therefore he
says: Reflecting the brightness (/<aT07rT/3io/Aevoi) , we are
transformed into the same image, from glory, that of the
Spirit, to glory, our own, that which is produced in us,
as was to be expected from the Lord the Spirit," so he
renders nvptov Trveu /xaros : it may also mean, the Spirit of
the Lord.
i6 2 //. CORINTHIANS iv.
N OTE . The idea of KaroinpL^o^voi is well given in
the opening of Marmion :
Their armour, as it caught the rays,
Flashed back again the western blaze
In lines of dazzling light.
CHAPTER IV.
I. Therefore, seeing we have this ministration, according as we
have obtained mercy, we faint not ; 2. But we renounce the
hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor adul
terating the word of God ; but, by manifestation of the truth,
commending ourselves to every man s conscience in the sight of
God. 3. And if our gospel be also hidden, it is hidden to those
who perish : 4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of unbelievers, that the light of the gospel of the glory of
Christ, who is the image of God, should not shine unto them.
5. For we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ our Lord ; and
ourselves your servants through Jesus. 6. For God, who com
manded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ Jesus. 7. But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the excellency may be of the power of God, and not
of us. 8. In all things we suffer tribulation, but are not distressed ;
we are straitened, but are not destitute ; 9. We suffer persecution,
but are not forsaken ; we are cast down, but we perish not ;
IO. Always bearing about in our body the dying of Jesus, that the
life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies. II. 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. 12. So
then death worketh in us, but life in you. 13. But having the same
spirit of faith, as it is written : I have believed, therefore I have
spoken ; we also believe, and therefore we speak ; 14. Knowing
that he who raised up Jesus will raise up us also with Jesus, and
place us with you. 15. For all things are for your sakes, that the
grace, abounding through many, may abound in thanksgiving to
the glory of God. 16. For which cause we faint not ; but though
our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day
by day. 17. For our present tribulation, which is momentary and
//. CORINTHIANS iv. i 6. 163
light, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight
of glory ; 18. 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 are eternal.
1. We have obtained mercy, as Moses obtained it,
Exod. xxx. 19.
2. By the hidden things of dishonesty, (i.e. of shame,
aio-xw77s), as opposed to manifestation of the truth, is meant
the policy of hiding gospel truth through shame of the
folly of the cross (i Cor. i. 18, 21). Cf. Rom. i. 16,
/ am not ashamed of the gospel. The concealment prompted by
shame would be a clearer translation.
Adulterating the word of God. See on ii. 17.
3. If our gospel is dark to any, it is not we who
have made the mystery, but the indisposition of the
hearers. Cf. Acts xxviii. 26, 27.
Those who perish, or, are in the way of being lost, a.7ro\\v-
/xcVois. See note on ii. 15.
4. The god of this world, Satan, the prince of this world
(John xiv. 30), the prince of the power of this air (Eph. ii. 2).
Cf. what Satan says of himself (Luke iv. 6). He is a
god of the same rank as that in which the belly is a god
(Phil. iii. 19), and Mammon a lord and master (Matt,
vi. 24).
Christ, who is the image of God ; and therefore minds
blinded to Him, are blinded to God (John viii. 19 ;
xiv. 7 10 : cf. also Heb. i. 3).
5. For, etc. The conjunction carries us back to v. 2 :
vv. 3, 4, being parenthetical.
Through Jesus, or, for the sake of Jesus, 8ia Ir/o-ow.
6. Hath shined. Read with the Vulgate (ipse illuxit)
and St. Chrysostom, himself hath shined. " Then God
said, Let there be light ; and light was made (Gen. i. 3) : but
now He does not say anything, but Himself is become
our light : therefore it is not sensible things that we see
by the shining of such a light, but God Himself through
164 // CORINTHIANS iv. 710.
Christ," i.e. we know God by faith through the revela
tion of Christ. So St. Chrysostom, who proceeds to
show how the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity are
mentioned with equal honour, the Holy Ghost, iii. 18 ;
the Son, iv. 4 ; the Father, iv. 6.
In the. face of Christ Jesus (who is the image of God,
v. 4), " showing that through Him we know the Father,
as through the Spirit we are brought to Him "
(St. Chrysostom).
7. This treasure of the Christian ministry. Earthern
vessels. " He signifies the fragility of human nature, and
the weakness of the flesh : for it is no better than
earthernware, so open it is to the attacks of death and
diseases and variations in the air : . . . there is nothing
of man in our strength " (St. Chrysostom).
That the excellence may be of the power of God. Rather,
from the Greek, that the excellence of the power may be
of God.
8. We suffer tribulation, but are not distressed. Literally,
being squeezed (0Ai/3d/xevoi, a wrestler s word, cf. Eph.
vi. 12), but not put into (unendurably) narrow room (OTO/O-
Xwpov/zei/oi, 0\fyis and o-revo^copta are joined, Rom. ii. 9 ;
vi". 35)-
We are straitened, but are not destitute : more literally,
having our way blocked, but not quite barred.
9. Taking this verse with the preceding, the Apostle
says, recounting the trials of twenty-four years since
his conversion : Having our way blocked (dzropov/xevot),
yet not altogether closed (Sicwro/oov/Aevoi) , we get away, and
when pursued (SwoKo/xevoi), and even overtaken and cast
down (Kara/faAAd/Aei/oi), still we are not forsaken (ey/cara-
Aewro /xei/oi), nor apt finally to perish (dwroAAv/xei/oi) .
10. The dying of Jesus, W/cpwo-tv, mortificationem (Vulg.).
It is not a question of mortification in the ascetic sense
(though there is authority for that too in St. Paul,
i Cor. ix. 27), but of exposure to danger of death,
II. CORINTHIANS iv. 1113. 165
which exposure the Apostle calls dying. So in i Cor.
xv. 31 he says, / die daily, explaining himself in the
previous verse 30 : I am in danger of death every hour.
Such a living ever next door to martyrdom means
something more than ordinary mortification. It is
exemplified in the life of missionaries labouring in a
pagan or persecuting country, as Japan or England
was in the seventeenth century.
11. We who live, and have not yet been put to death
like James (Acts xii. 2).
Are always delivered, better, are always being delivered.
Death for Jesus sake explains the dying of Jesus :
indeed this verse is simply the preceding in other
words.
The life of Jesus is the supernatural life of grace,
which is lived even in our mortal flesh.
12. Death worketh in us, say rather, is wrought
(eVepyemu, passive, cf. rfjs eVepyov/xeV*/?, i. 5).
But life in you, that is, the above-mentioned life of
Jesus. The danger of martyrdom then was confined to
the Apostles : the Corinthian Church enjoyed the fruit
of supernatural life, gathered for it by the Apostles
perils.
13. Having the same spirit of faith with the psalmist
who wrote : I believed, for which cause I have spoken
(Ps. cxv. i). St. Paul quotes the psalm as it is in the
Septuagint. The Hebrew may be translated: / believed,
because I spoke. The two versions substantially agree.
In the former, the cause, faith, is shown working out its
effect in utterance. In the latter, faith is argued from
utterance, the existence of the cause from the presence
of the effect. But what was it that the psalmist believed,
and what did he speak 1 He believed in the watchful
guardianship of God delivering His servant s soul from
death, his eyes from tears, and his feet from slipping (see
Ps. cxiv., which in the Hebrew makes one psalm
i66 //. CORINTHIANS iv. 1417.
with cxv.). And he uttered the psalm of thanksgiving,
of which this is the first verse. In like manner the
Apostles, in their tribulations and distresses, believed
that they should never be destitute, forsaken, perish (vv. 8, 9);
and they spoke the gospel message.
14. Will raise up us. Sometimes, as here and in
i Cor. vi. 14, St. Paul speaks as though he expected
to be dead before the day of judgment, and sometimes,
as i Cor. xv. 52, and here v. 24, as though he expected
to live to see that day : the fact being that he knew not
the day nor the hour (Matt. xxv. 13), nor the condition in
which it should find him.
Place us with you alive in the kingdom of God. The
verb Trapao-njo-a is the same that occurs in Acts i. 3 ;
ix. 41 : He shewed himself alive : He presented her alive.
15. May abound in thanksgiving. Better, from the
Greek, may make thanksgiving abound. The verb Trcpto-a-eva-y
is transitive here, as in ix. 8, where it is translated make
abound.
1 6. The outward man is all that we have in common
with brute beasts : the inward man is what we have in
common with the angels. Cf. Rom. vii. 22. This dis
tinction is not the same as that between the old man and
the new (Rom. vi. 6; Eph. iv. 22, 24; Col. iii. 9, 10), or
the pagan and the Christian man. Both inward and
outward man in us had sinned, and did need the glory of
God (Rom. iii. 23) : both were unregenerate, and have
been born to newness of life in Christ, albeit the outward
man shall not have the benefit of this new life till the
day of the resurrection. Corrupted here implies no moral
taint, but means simply wastes away. Our outward man is
corrupted is in other words, our earthly house of this habita
tion is being gradually dissolved (v. i).
17. Weight is opposed to light, and eternal to present.
Momentary is not in the Greek.
Above measure exceedingly, K aO v-n-cp/SoXrjv ets
II. CORINTHIANS iv. 18. 167
literally, exceedingly to excess. St. Paul uses the strongest
phrase he can invent. There may be some thought of
the light grain sown, and the heavy harvest, thirty,
sixty, or a hundred fold (Matt. xiii. 8). On the other
hand is the contrary reckoning of the wicked in hell
(Wisdom v. 4 14), small enjoyment turning to an
intolerable load of pain.
This verse is quoted by the Council of Trent (sess. 6,
cap. 16), in evidence of the position that the good works
of the just are truly meritorious of eternal glory.
1 8. " He does not say, the tribulations are temporal,
but the things which are seen, all of them, be it chastise
ment, be it enjoyment and repose, are temporal ; so
that we be neither enervated by the one, nor over
powered by the other. Therefore in speaking of the
future he does not say either, the kingdom is eternal,
but, the things which are not seen are eternal, be it kingdom,
or be it punishment, so as to terrify us from the one,
and incite us to the other " (St. Chrysostom).
i68 //. CORINTHIANS v
CHAPTER V.
I. For we know, that, if our earthly house of this habitation be
dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in heaven. 2. For in this also we groan, desiring to be
clothed over with our habitation which is from heaven ; 3. Yet so
that we may be found clothed, not naked. 4. For we also who are
in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened : because we would
not be unclothed, but clothed over, that what is mortal may be
swallowed up by life. 5. Now he that maketh us for this very
thing is God, who hath given us the pledge of the Spirit. 6. There
fore, having always confidence, knowing that while we are in the
body we are absent from the Lord : 7. (For we walk by faith, and
not by sight :) 8. We are confident, I say, and have a good will to
be absent rather from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
9. And therefore we labour, whether absent or present, to please
him. 10. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of
Christ ; that every one may receive the proper things of the body,
according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil. n. Know
ing, therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men : but to God
we are manifest ; and I trust also that in your consciences we are
manifest. 12. We commend not ourselves again to you, but give
you occasion to glory in our behalf, that you may have somewhat
to answer them who glory in face, and not in heart. 13. For
whether we are transported in mind, it is to God ; or whether we
are more moderate, it is for you. 14. For the charity of Christ
presseth us ; judging this, that if one died for all, then all were dead.
15. And Christ died for all, that they also who live may not now
live to themselves, but to him who died for them, and rose again.
16. Wherefore, henceforth we know no man according to the flesh ;
and if we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now we
know him so no longer. 17. If then any be in Christ, a new
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made
new. 18. But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to
himself by Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of recon
ciliation. 19. For God, indeed, was in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself, not imputing to them their sins; and he hath
placed in us the word of reconciliation. 20. We are, therefore,
ambassadors for Christ, God as it were exhorting by us. For Christ
we beseech you, be ye reconciled to God. 21. Him, who knew no
sin, he hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of
God in him.
II. CORINTHIANS v. i, 2. 169
1. House of this habitation, the Vulgate domns hujus
habitations, does not correspond to the Greek ot/a a TOV
o-Krjvovs, house of the tent, i.e. house no better than a tent,
which is pitched one day and struck the next. This
tent-house is our mortal body: cf. Job iv. 19; Isaias
xxxviii. 12. A tent, as St. Paul the tent-maker well
knew (Acts xviii. 3), was a thing made with hands (i Cor.
iv. 12), and therefore perishable, as are all the works
of man. Contrasted with this stands the body glorified
in the resurrection, now a building, and no longer a tent ;
a building of God, not made with hands, that is, not of this
creation (Heb. ix. n : cf. Mark xiv. 58; Acts vii. 48;
xvii. 24; Eph. ii. n; Col. ii. n); not belonging to
this order of transitory things, but eternal in heaven.
We have this already in the sense in which he who heareth
my word hath life everlasting (John v. 24), in promise and
potency.
Here house of the tent, OLKLO. TOV o-Krjvovs, is opposed to
ot/coSo/xTJ, building : eternal is the opposite of made with
hands ; and in heaven is opposed to earthly (eTuyeios, upon
earth).
2. In this, Iv rovTU), i.e. on this account, as in i Cor. iv. 4.
We groan, Rom. viii. 19 26.
To be clothed over, 7rcv8vo-ao-0ai, to put on as over-clothing.
The body which in the previous verse has been called,
and is again called in this, a house or habitation, ouaa,
oiKrjTripiov, of the soul, is here by a change of metaphor
spoken of as a garment. The Apostle says, we should
like to put on immortality, without first putting off this
mortal body by death : i.e. we should like to be found
alive at the day of judgment, and so simply to be
changed instead of having to rise again (cf. i Cor. xv.
51 53, and notes thereupon).
Our habitation which is from heaven, better, of heaven,
i.e. heavenly, e ovpavov. So the glorified body is called,
because it is the image of the heavenly, i Cor. xv. 49.
i 7 o //. CORINTHIANS v. 3, 4.
3. Read ei ye, KOL eVSvo-a/xei/ot, ov yv/xvot
and translate : Since, even if we are stripped [of our bodies] ,
we shall not be found naked. The usual reading is
evSuo-u/xej/oi, clothed. But tK<Wa/xevoi is read in three
Greek MSS., and is sanctioned by Tertullian and
St. Paulinus. St. Chrysostom, though he prefers the
other reading, had /c<Wa/xo/oi in his copy, a MS. at
least as old as the Sinaitic and the Vatican, our oldest.
Naked means not clothed in Christ, void of grace, as is
gathered from Matt. xxii. u ; Gal. iii. 27; Apoc. iii. 18;
xvi. 15 : it never means disembodied. Nor could evtWa/xevot,
if we took that reading, mean clothed in flesh, of a human
soul, that was created in the body, and had no previous
existence. The similar aorist participles, 6 a-rroOav^v,
he that is dead (Rom. vi. 7), and rou? Treawras, the fallen
(Rom. xi. 22), are used of those who died at some time,
having been alive, and fell some time, having stood
before.
St. Paul then longed for the day of judgment. He
hoped to be alive that day, and to be straightway
glorified, without tasting death. This hope in him
was reasonable, because even if he were to die before,
the judgment would not find his soul unclothed in
sanctifying grace, or unworthy of resurrection to glory.
This verse, as it stands with the usual reading
tvSvo-dfjifvoi, has been called "the cross of interpreters,"
a cross however not set up by St. Paul, but by some
misguided copyist.
For et ye some read etTrep. If we might read et 8 ow,
the verse would translate : But if after all we are found
stripped of our bodies, still we shall not be found naked : which
makes the passage still simpler.
4. In this tabernacle, or tent, ovojvet, the mortal body,
so called in v. i : see note.
Not be unclothed, but clothed over, i.e. not die, but be
changed to immortality, as above, v. 2 ; the lot of them
//. CORINTHIANS v. 59. 171
who are alive, who are left at the last day, who shall be taken
up together with them who were dead and are risen again,
in the clouds to meet Christ, i Thess. iv. 16.
That which is mortal may be swallowed up, Osee xiii. 14;
i Cor. xv. 54, with note.
5. He that maketh tts : better, he that wrought us,
For this very thing, our habitation that is of heaven, v. 2,
our glorified body.
The pledge of the Spirit, even to the outpouring of
sensible miraculous gifts (i Cor. xiv. with notes),
enumerated i Cor. xii. 7 n.
6. Having confidence, . . . I say, we are confident (v. 8),
6appovvT<s . . . OappovfjLtv Se. All between is a parenthesis.
We are in the body, evS^/xowres, more fully, at home in
the body. Absent, dTroS^owres, properly, abroad. The
same words are repeated in v. 8. On earth we are
absent, or abroad, from the Lord in this sense, that He
does not show Himself to us 81 etSou? (v. 7), that is, in
His own proper nature and appearance, according as
He really is.
7. Faith, sight, 8C e Sov?. Cf. iv. 18 ; Heb. xi. i. The
word here translated sight, means rather visible appearance,
as in John v. 37 ; Luke iii. 22 ; ix. 29.
8. A good will to be absent, or go abroad, rather from the
body. St. Paul s great desire was for the coming of
Christ the Judge, even in his life-time. But if that
was not to be, rather than live long in this world, he
would go abroad from his body, die, and so come to be at
home, with his Lord, as he says elsewhere, having a
desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ (Phil. i. 23).
This good will and desire supposes, against the error of
some modern Greeks, that the saints who are dead are
with Christ, and have not to wait till the day of
judgment to enter heaven.
9. Whether absent or present. The Greek order is,
I 7 2 // CORINTHIANS v. 1014.
whether present or absent. The verse means : We labour
now to please the Lord, whether the day of judgment
is to find us present, at home in the body (v. 6), or absent,
abroad from the body (v. 8).
10. For we must all, whether present or absent, alive or
dead at the judgment-day, be manifested (^avepw^vai,
cf. i Cor. iv. 5, will manifest, </>ave/)aWei, the counsels of
heart) before the tribunal of Christ at the general judgment.
The proper things of the body, TO. tSto. TOV o-uyxaros, or, the
things done through the body, TO. 8ia TOV o-to/xaros, mean in
either case the human acts done while soul and body
are united on earth.
11. The fear of the Lord, that is, the terrors of the
judgment-day.
We persuade men, to remove, as we are bound to
remove, the prejudices that stand in the way of our
ministry. The men to whom he uses this persuasion,
are those adversaries and calumniators whom he has
so often mentioned.
12. We commend not ourselves again, iii. i.
Who glory in face, and not in heart, those rival preachers
at Corinth (i Cor. iii. 18 21 ; iv. 18 20, &c.), who
made a brave show of words and high doctrine, but in
whom the inner man of the heart (i Pet. iii. 4) was not up
to the outward profession, called in this Epistle false
apostles, deceitful workmen, ministers of Satan (xi. 13, 15).
13. Transported in mind, so as to become foolish (xii. 11),
and speak our own praises, as the Apostles does
(xi. 16 xii. 4), doing it however to God and to His
greater glory.
Moderate, for you. If we hide our good gifts, and
depreciate ourselves, it is for your edification. Instances
of such sobriety, i. 8, 9 ; iv. 7 ; x. 13 ; xii. 6 10 ; i Cor.
ii. i 4; iv. 9 13.
14. Presseth us, o-we^ei, literally, besets us: the word
is used by St. Luke, viii. 45 ; xix. 43.
//. CORINTHIANS Jv. 15, 16. 173
// one died for all, then all were dead. Better, if one died
(airtfavtv) for all, then all died (airiOavov) : it is the same
tense in both clauses. The meaning is : If Christ died
for all men, then all men died in Christ vicariously :
as though we were to say : * If one spoke for all, then
all whom he represented spoke in him. But that this
death of Christ may be effectually the death of any
individual man, and save him from the penalty of
eternal death, he must be planted in the likeness of Christ s
death, which is done by baptism, so that being dead
with Christ, he may live also together with Christ. See
Rom. vi., where this doctrine is explained.
15. That they also who live, by the spiritual life which
they received in baptism.
1 6. Henceforth we know no man according to the flesh,
that is, we can no longer take a mere natural view of
any man, least of all, of any Christian. " Likely
enough," says St. Chrysostom, "seeing that all have
died, and all have risen again. For what though they
are in the flesh ? yet that life of the flesh has vanished,
and we are born again from above of the Holy Ghost,
and know another citizenship and conduct and life
and constitution, that is in heaven."
Now we know him (Christ) so (according to the flesh) no
longer.
Observe that our Lord is here called, not by His
proper name, Jesus, but by His official name, Christ
(Messiah). St. Paul had not been acquainted, as man
with man, with Jesus of Nazareth. But the Christ of
prophecy he had known well, and had gloried, as a
Hebrew of Hebrews (Phil. iii. 5; Rom. xi. i) in being of
the same stock with Him (cf. Rom. xi. 4, 5). All these
national distinctions, things that once were a gain to him, he
now counted to be but loss for the excellent knowledge of Jesus
Christ his Lord (see Phil. iii. 4 10). He had no longer
any confidence in the flesh, as one born of the same race as
1 74 //. CORINTHIANS v. 1721.
the Messiah, for not they that are the children of the flesh an
the children of God, but they that are the children of the
promise (Rom. ix. 8). This ceasing to trust in mere
carnal propinquity to the Messiah, he calls no longer
knowing Christ according to the flesh.
17. The Latin here is deficient in punctuation.
There should be a comma after Christ, and a colon or
full stop after creature. The Greek is : et TIS ow ev
Xpio-ro), KO.IVJ] /mo-is, which translates : // then any man
be in Christ, he is a new creature. Cf. Gal. vi. 15 ; Eph.
ii. 10 ; iv. 24.
All things new, Isaias xliii. 18, 19 ; Apoc. xxi. i, 5.
19. Was in Christ reconciling, i.e. was reconciling
through Christ.
Not imputing to them their sins, Rom. iv. 6 8. The
sins are not imputed, because they are entirely blotted
out, and the sinner is washed, sanctified, justified (i Cor.
vi. n), holy and unspotted, and blameless before God (Col. i.
22). So perfect is the reconciliation and peace through the
blood of Christ s cross (Col. i. 20).
21. He was made sin, as we are made justice, the
abstract being put for the concrete. So too was He
made a curse for us (Gal. iii. 13). As St. Chrysostom
explains: " Him that was just he made a sinner, that
he might make sinners just. Or rather, this is not
what the Apostle says, but something much greater;
not he made a sinner, but sin, and that of Him who not
merely was no sinner, but who knew not sin, that we
might be made, not just, but justice, and the justice of
God, not by works (Rom. xi. 6), but by grace, where all
sin completely disappears." God allowed His most
innocent Son to be condemned as a sinner, and to die
as one under a curse, laying upon him the iniquity of us all
(Isaias, liii. 6), to bear our sins in his body upon the tree
(i Pet. ii. 24), that they might be entirely taken away.
//. CORINTHIANS vi. i, 2. 175
CHAPTER VI.
I. And we, helping, do exhort you that you receive not the
grace of God in vain. 2. (For he saith : In an accepted time have
I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee :
behold, now is the acceptable time ; behold, now is the day of
salvation.) 3. Giving no offence to any one, that our ministry be
not blamed : 4. But in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the
ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in
distresses, 5. In stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labours, in
watchings, in fastings, 6. In chastity, in knowledge, in long-
suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned,
7. In the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armour of
justice on the right hand and on the left, 8. Through honour and
dishonour, through infamy and good name : as seducers, and yet
speaking truth ; as unknown, and yet known ; 9. As dying, and
behold, we live ; as chastised, and not killed ; 10. As sorrowful, yet
always rejoicing; as needy, yet enriching many ; as having nothing,
yet possessing all things, n. Our mouth is open to you, O ye
Corinthians, our heart is enlarged. 12. You are not straitened in
us : but in your own bowels you are straitened : 13. But having
the same recompense (I speak as to my children) be you also
enlarged. 14. Bear not the yoke together with unbelievers: for
what participation hath justice with injustice? or what fellowship
hath light with darkness ? 15. And what concord hath Christ
with Belial ? or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever ?
16. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols ? For
you are the temple of the living God : as God saith : I will dwell in
them, and walk among them ; and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. 17. Wherefore, Go out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing :
18. And I will receive you ; and I will be a father to you ; and you
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
1. We helping, as ambassadors (v. 20), God s coadjutors
(i Cor. iii. 9), bearing the request of a Master whom it
is perilous to deny, who asks now, but one day will
compel.
2. In an accepted time, &c., Isaias xlix. 8. The words
are addressed to my servant, the Messiah, and in Him to
His people.
176 // CORINTHIANS vi. 36.
Now is the acceptable time, " while still we are labouring
in the vineyard (Matt, xx), while still the eleventh hour
is left" (St. Chrysostom).
3. i Cor. x. 32.
4. Let us exhibit ourselves. All the MSS. read
exhibiting ourselves, doubtless what St. Paul wrote.
This and the next six verses are not an exhortation to
the lay-folk at Corinth, but a description how St. Paul
and his fellow-apostles bore themselves, and what they
had to bear, in the sacred ministry.
In much patience. Patience first, " the foundation of
all good things," says St. Chrysostom. A priest will
never do a member of his flock any good, if he is not
patient with him.
The Apostle then mentions nine matters of patience,
the first three general, the remaining six particular, of
which three are imposed by others, and three are of the
Apostle s own taking up.
In tribulations, in distresses, kv OXiif/fa-tv, \v o-rtv (^copious
(cf. iv. 8), literally, in pressures, in close confinements.
There seems to be a gradation ; in pressures there are
many ways, all hard ; in necessities there is but one way,
and that a hard one ; in close confinements there is no way
left at all.
5. In stripes, xi. 24, 25.
In prisons, Acts xvi. 23, 24.
In seditions, kv a/con-ao-rao-tais, so the word is used,
Luke xxi. 9 ; i Cor. xiv. 33. But here it is more
likely to mean tossing to and fro, as we say, * being
hunted from pillar to post : e.g. Acts xvii. 10 ; xx. 3.
In fastings, Mark ii. 20.
6. This verse gives a list of five other virtues,
besides patience mentioned above, which St. Paul gave
example of.
In long-suffering of persecution from without ; in
sweetness to those within the fold. The Greek word for
//. CORINTHIANS vi. 711. 177
sweetness denotes the habit whereby one is easy to deal
with ; it is predicated of the Lord, Ps. xxxiii. 9.
In the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth (John xv. 26),
and love (Rom. v. 5), and power (i Cor. ii. 4, 5).
In charity unfeigned; repeated Rom. xii. g, in the
original.
7. In the word of truth, in the power of God. Mark
xvi. 20.
By the armour of justice on the right hand and on the left.
The soldier of St. Paul s time carried his spear, or
sword, in his right hand, and his shield on his left. On
the right hand then were offensive arms, on the left
defensive. A man takes the offensive in prosperity,
and stands on the defensive in adversity. Thus the
metaphor means prosperity and adversity, as particu
larised, and the particulars set over against each other,
in the next three verses.
8. Cf. Phil. iv. 12:7 know both how to be brought low,
and I know how to abound, etc.
As unknown, and yet known, us ayvoov^evoi /cat cTriyiyiwcr-
Koptvoi, i.e. ignored and yet recognised: cf. i Cor. xiv. 38 ;
xiii. 12, with notes.
10. Needy, literally, beggars. Enriching many, spiritu
ally and also temporally (i Cor. xvi. i 3).
"He collected money from all, and sent it to the
poor ; and having nothing, he was master of every pious
household" (Theodoret) : so much so that he says to
the Galatians : You would have plucked out your own eyes,
and would have given them to me (Gal. iv. 15).
Having, possessing, e^oi/res, Kcn-e^oi/res, a play upon
words, something like holding and upholding.
11. Our month is open to you, to speak freely as friend
with friend : for, as St. Chrysostom quaintly remarks,
"conversation is to minds what shaking hands is to
bodies."
ye Corinthians. This translation is too ceremonious.
17 8 //. CORINTHIANS vi. 1214.
The Apostle says simply, KoptvOioi, Corinthians, the
abruptness of affection being shown by the omission of
the usual u>. So <I>iA.i7r7r7}crioi, Philippians (Phil. iv. 15).
Our heart is enlarged. " As it is the way of heat
to expand, so it is the work of charity to enlarge,
for virtue is warm and glowing. This opened the
mouth of Paul, and enlarged his heart. Not with
mouth alone do I love, he says, but with my mouth my
heart is in concert : therefore do I speak freely with my
whole mouth and my whole heart. For nothing was
there wider than the heart of Paul, wherewith he loved
all the faithful with a love of chanty as intense as the
passion of love. There was no division of his affection
nor weakening of the same, but it was planted entire in
every object. And what wonder in the case of the
faithful, seeing that even as regards unbelievers the
heart of Paul embraced the whole inhabited world"
(St. Chrysostom). And if the heart of Paul, how much
more the Heart of Jesus !
For St. Paul s love of his flock, Rom. i. u ; Gal.
iv. 19 ; Phil. iv. i ; Col. ii. i ; i Thess. ii. 7.
12. You are not straitened in us, i.e. there is room
enough in my heart to contain you all.
In your own bowels you are straitened, i.e. you find in
your hearts no place for me.
13. Having the same recompense. This word having is
not in the Greek, and perplexes the sense. It might be
rendered : By way of requital in kind, be your hearts also
enlarged.
vi. 14 18 and vii. i are marked by rationalist critics
as an interpolation, because they interrupt the sense.
They may have got out of place, or have been added as
an afterthought.
14. Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. The word
inaequale (unequal) seems to have dropped out of the
Vulgate Latin, jugum ducere. We want inaequale jugum
II. CORINTHIANS vi. 1518.
ducere as a translation of erepo^yowre?. The word means
unequally yoked. It occurs (in the form erepo^vyo)) Levit.
xix. 19 ; and its meaning is illustrated by the precept :
Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together (Deut.
xxii. 10). Therefore bear not an unequal yoke with infidels.
The principle is clear; its application difficult. Instances,
i Cor. v. 9, 10 ; vii. 12, 13 ; x. 27 ; and the note on marry
in the Lord, vii. 40.
15. Belial, a Hebrew word, meaning literally, inutility,
worthlessness. It occurs in the Old Testament, Deut.
xiii. 13 ; Nahum i. n ; ii. i ; Job xxxiv. 18, &c., but not
as here, as a name of the devil, who is eminently the
good-for-nothing, 6 irovrjpos, from whom we pray to be
delivered, Matt. vi. 13.
1 6. You are the temple of the living God, i Cor. iii.
16, 17; vi. 19, with notes.
The quotation is from Leviticus xxvi. 12.
17. Isaias Iii. u.
18. This quotation, exactly as it stands, is not found
in the Old Testament. The substance of it appears in
Jer. xxxii. 37, 38 ; xxxi. 9 ; Deut. xiv. i, 2 ; xxxii. 6, 9.
I8o //. CORINTHIANS vii. i.
CHAPTER VII.
I. Having, therefore, these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and of the spirit,
perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. 2. Receive us : we
have injured no one, we have corrupted no one, we have over
reached no one. 3. I speak not this to your condemnation : for we
have said before, that you are in our hearts, to die together and to
live together. 4. Great is my confidence with you, great is my
glorying for you : I am filled with comfort, I exceedingly abound
with joy in all our tribulation. 5. For also, when we were come
into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we suffered all tribu
lation : combats without, fears within. 6. But God, who comforteth
the humble, comforted us by the coming of Titus ; 7. And not by
his coming only, but also by the consolation wherewith he was
comforted in you, relating to us your desire, your mourning, your
zeal for me ; so that I rejoiced the more. 8. For although I made
you sorrowful by my epistle, I do not repent ; and if I did repent,
seeing that the same epistle (although but for a time) did make
you sorrowful, 9. Now I am glad ; not because you were made
sorrowful, but because you were made sorrowful unto penance ; for
you were made sorrowful according to God, that in nothing you
should suffer damage by us. 10. For the sorrow which is according
to God worketh penance unto salvation, which is lasting : but the
sorrow of the world worketh death, u. For, behold, this self-same
thing, that you were made sorrowful according to God, how great
carefulness doth it work in you, yea defence, yea indignation, yea
fear, yea desire, yea zeal, yea revenge ! In all things you have
showed yourselves to be undefiled in the matter. 12. Wherefore,
though I wrote to you, not on account of him who did the injury,
nor of him who suffered the wrong, but to manifest our solicitude
which we have for you 13. Before God : therefore we were com
forted : but in our consolation we did the more abundantly rejoice
for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all.
14. And if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I have not been
put to shame ; but as we have spoken all things to you in truth, so
also our boasting which was made to Titus is found a truth :
15. And his bowels are more abundantly toward you, remembering
the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling you received
him. 16. I rejoice that in all things I have confidence in you.
i. Defilement of the flesh, sins against the cardinal
virtue of temperance.
II. CORINTHIANS vii. 25. 181
And of the spirit, the spiritual sin of idol-worship,
which at Corinth readily led to defilement of the flesh.
2. Receive us into your hearts, where before the
Apostle had complained that there was no room for
him (vi. 12). The Greek means, make room to contain us.
We have corrupted, i.e. taught false doctrine to, no
man. Cf. xi. 3, where the word has the same signi
fication.
We have overreached, i.e. wrung money out of, no man.
Cf. xii. 17, 18, for the same word in the same meaning.
In this verse the Apostle glances at the contrary
practice of the false apostles (xi. 13).
3. To your condemnation ad condemnationem vestram.
Your (vestram) is not in the Greek : we may almost say,
it should be there. The Apostle means : * I am not
condemning you (Corinthians generally), only those false
apostles.
We have said before that you are in our hearts, iii. 2 ; vi. 12.
4. My confidence with you, Trapprja-ia 71730? v/xa?, that is,
my freedom of speech in speaking out to you, " as a
father to his children, as a master to his scholars "
(Theodoret).
My glorying for you, speaking well of you before
others, at the same time desiring your still greater
improvement, as he writes to the Hebrews after much
rebuking of them : But, my dearly beloved, we trust better
things of you, and nearer to salvation, though we speak thus
(Heb. vi. 9).
5. When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no
rest. This carries us back to ii. 12, 13, where he says
that, finding no rest in his spirit in Troas, he went into
Macedonia. What disturbed the rest and peace of
his spirit, was his uncertainty and anxiety about the
Corinthians. In Macedonia this anxiety of spirit con
tinued, and his flesh, or body, was also harassed by
external persecutions, so that he suffered all tribulation,
1 82 II. CORINTHIANS vii. 6 n.
combats without with open enemies of the gospel, fears
within for the safety of the Corinthian church. The
last words are a reminiscence of Lamentations i. 20.
6. The coming of Titus, who reported the good
reception of the First Epistle at Corinth.
8. Copyists and commentators, as Bengel observes,
have wonderfully confused this verse, from failure to
appreciate the idiomatic force of the thrice repeated
et /cat. " In the day time," says Sextus Empiricus,
"you can observe nothing, but only the movements of
the sun, if even that" /xoW Se, et /cat apa, ras rov fjXlov
KLvrjo-cLs. The phrase et /cat implies that a particular
concession is the utmost that can be conceded, indeed
rather more than ought to be conceded. It may be
translated, granting for argument s sake, or at most. So
then we should translate this verse : Granting (et /cat)
that I made you sorrowful by my epistle, I do not repent ; and
granting (et /cat) that I once did repent (seeing that the same
epistle did make you sorrowful but for a time at most, ei /cat,)
now I am glad, etc.
9. That you might suffer damage by us, that is, by our
silence and connivence at the scandal, i Cor. v. i.
10. The sorrow that is according to God arises out of
the love of God, at least incipient : while the sorrow of
the world comes of the love of the world, for which see
i John ii. 15, 1 6.
11. Yea defence, aTroXoytW, the Corinthians clearing
themselves before Titus of any sympathy with the
incestuous man.
Indignation at his crime.
Fear of St. Paul s corning with a rod, i Cor. iv. 21 ;
desire nevertheless of his coming, as of children for their
father (i Cor. iv. 15).
Zeal for the condign punishment of the delinquent,
which is here called revenge, being the vengeance of the
law.
II. CORINTHIANS vii. 1216. 183
You have shown yourselves to be undefiled. By putting
away the evil one from among you, that little leaven, old and
corrupt, you have escaped the threatened corruption of
the whole lump (i Cor. v. 6, 7, 13).
12. Though I wrote to you, not on account of him. The
English makes no sense through the omission of the
verb, which is readily supplied in the Greek and Latin.
Translate : Granting that (et /cat) 7 wrote to you (somewhat
severely), it was not on account of him, &c.
Him that suffered it, the father mentioned in i Cor.
v. i, whom we gather from this verse to have been
alive at the time.
13. The Greek means: We are thoroughly comforted at
your consolation, but still more abundantly did we rejoice for the
joy of Titus, because his spirit is quite refreshed by you all.
1 6. 7 have confidence in you, even to rebuke and
censure you, knowing your docility ; and when again
I praise you, Titus is my witness that you do not belie
my praises.
These last verses are the introduction to a charity
sermon, which takes up the next two chapters.
i8 4 //. CORINTHIANS viii.
CHAPTER VIII.
I. Now we make known to you, brethren, the grace of God that
hath been given in the churches of Macedonia : 2. That in much
experience of tribulation they have had abundance of joy, and their
very deep poverty hath abounded unto the riches of their sim
plicity : 3. For according to their power, I bear them witness, and
beyond their power, they were willing ; 4. With much entreaty
begging of us the grace and communication of the ministry that is
done toward the saints : 5. And not as we hoped ; but they gave
their own selves first to the Lord, then to us by the will of God ;
6. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so also
he would finish in you this same grace : 7. That as in all things
you abound in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all carefulness ;
moreover, also, in your charity toward us ; so in this grace also you
may abound. 8. I speak not as commanding, but by the careful
ness of others approving also the good disposition of your charity.
9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that being
rich, he became poor for your sakes, that through his poverty you
might be rich. 10. And in this I give counsel : for this is profitable
for you, who have begun not only to do, but also to be willing the
year before, u. Now, therefore, perform ye it also in deed; that,
as your mind is forward to be willing, so it may be also to perform,
out of that which you have. 12. For if the will be forward, it is
accepted according to that which it hath, not according to that
which it hath not. 13. For I mean not that others should be eased,
and you burdened ; but by an equality. 14. In this present time
let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also
may supply your want ; that there may be an equality : as it is
written : 15. He that had much had nothing over ; and he that had
little had no want. 16. And thanks be to God, who hath given the
same carefulness for you in the heart of Titus. 17. For indeed he
accepted the exhortation ; but, being more careful, of his own will
he went unto you. 18. We have sent also with him the brother,
whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches ; 19. And
not that only, but he was also ordained by the churches companion
of our travels, for this grace, which is administered by us to the
glory of the Lord, and our determined will : 20. Avoiding this, lest
any man should blame us in this abundance which is administered
by us. 21. For we foresee what may be good, not only before God,
but also before men. 22. And we have sent with them our brother
also, whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now
II. CORINTHIANS viii. 15. 185
much more diligent, with much confidence in you, 23. Either for
Titus, who is my companion and fellow-labourer toward you, or
our brethren, the apostles of the churches, the glory of Christ.
24. Wherefore show ye to them, in the sight of the churches, the
evidence of your charity, and of our boasting on your behalf.
It hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia [modern
names, Albania and Greece] to make a contribution for the
poor of the saints that are in Jerusalem. For it hath pleased
them; and they are their debtors. For if the gentiles have
been made partakers of their spiritual things, they also ought
in carnal things to minister to them (Rom. xv. 26, 27).
Such was the understanding arrived at, when St. Paul
received his commission as Apostle of the Gentiles
(Gal. ii. 10). Already a year ago (viii. 10; ix. 2) he
had commenced this collection, and had made some
advances towards it even at Corinth (i Cor. xvi. i 3).
He now urges it there more earnestly. Titus is to be
the collector.
1. The grace of God, the offering (rrjv x^-P iV -> vv J > 4>
6, 7, and i Cor. xvi. 3) made to God in His poor.
The churches of Macedonia, as Philippi (Acts xvi. 12),
Thessalonica (Acts xvii. i), Beroea (Acts xvii. 10).
2. Experience (8<m/LwJ, trial, or testing) of tribulation :
cf. Rom. v. 3, 4; tribulation worketh patience, and patience
trial (SoKt/Aijv). For the tribulation of the Philippians,
Phil. i. 29, and of the Thessalonians, i Thess. ii. 14,
cf. Heb. x. 34.
The riches of their simplicity, i.e. the abundant alms
which they have contributed with singleness of heart,
not considering themselves and their own poverty, but
only the need of their brethren. Simplicity makes men
liberal: cf. ix. ii, and Rom. xii. 8: he that giveth, with
simplicity.
3 5- These three verses in the original make one
sentence, which may be outlined in English thus : Of
their own free choice, with much entreaty begging of us, did
l8 6 //. CORINTHIANS viii. 6, 7.
they give the offering and share of the ministry that is done
toward the saints, yea their own selves they gave. It is one
sentence, but the English idiom requires the verb,
ISwKav, to be taken twice over. The words Stao-0iat i^uas
in the received Greek text are here unnoticed. They
have been put in by some one who did not understand
the sentence. The Latin shows no trace of them.
Almsgiving is the ministry, and the saints are the
Christian poor at Jerusalem (Rom. xv. 26).
Not as we hoped, rather, expected. The Apostle had
every reason to expect good will of the Macedonians ;
but seeing they had been spoiled of their goods by their
persecutors, he could not expect any large sum to be
raised. The sum contributed surpassed his expecta
tions.
They gave their own selves. He gives himself, who
imitates the widow, who, casting in two brass mites, cast in
all the living that she had (Luke xxi. 2 4). The Mace
donians were with much entreaty begging the Apostle to
accept all that they had.
To us by the will of God ministers of the Lord. That
these words are to be supplied, appears by i Cor. i. i ;
2 Tim. i. i. It is the equivalent of the phrase that
bishops and kings use now, by the grace of God, or again,
by the mercy of God, who hath mercy [on whom he will
(Rom. ix. 18).
6. This same grace. St. Paul here rather plays on
two meanings of x<*pi9, grace and offering. He wishes
the Corinthians not to come short of the grace that has
been given in Macedonia, and to make an offering as the
Macedonians have offered.
7. That . . . you may abound, a defective translation.
The phrase dAA Iva Trepio-ore^re, sed lit abundetis, ought to
be rendered, come, see that you abound. For this impera
tive use of Iva. cf. Eph. v. 33, 77 Se yvvrj Iva <f>o{3YJTat TOV
av&pa, let the wife fear her husband.
//. CORINTHIANS viii. 8 10. 187
The Corinthians seem to have been loth to part
with their money, and on that point St. Paul used
special forbearance in dealing with them (i Cor. ix. i
18 ; 2 Cor. xi. 8, 9; xii. 13). He exhorts them here
to add the grace of liberality to their other virtues.
Carefulness, here and v. 8, rather, fervour, earnestness
8. By the carefulness, &c. This is clearer from the
Greek ; by occasion of the fervour of others [the Mace
donians] testing the sincerity of your love. It is not
unlikely that ingenium, now read in the Vulgate, is the
error of an early copyist for ingemmm, which would be
exactly the yvyja-iov (sincerity) of the Greek.
9. He became poor, had not where to lay his head (Matt.
viii. 20).
You might be rich with the unsearchable riches of Christ
(Ephu iii. 8), told in Eph. i., ii. In all our Lord s
sufferings the contrary good was obtained for us (i Pet.
ii. 24). " He was a little child that you may be a
perfect man : He was wrapped in swaddling-clothes
that you may be loosened from the snares of death :
He was in the manger that you may be at the altar :
He was on earth that you may be in heaven. That
poverty therefore is my patrimony, and my Lord s
weakness is my strength " (St. Ambrose on Luke ii. 41).
10. In this I give counsel, as he said above (v. 8), 7
speak not as commanding your alms.
Not only to do, but also to be willing, i.e. not only to do
something [iroirjo-ai, aorist of instantaneous act] , but
also to stand in readiness [tfe A.cu/, present] for doing
more. This readiness had been checked by the dis
sensions that had broken out at Corinth, and no further
step had been taken in the way of a collection, until
perhaps quite recently (v. 6).
A year ago, before the First Epistle was written,
which answers some questions about the collection
X 88 // CORINTHIANS viii. n 19.
(i Cor. xvi. i). This Second Epistle was written in
September, A.D. 58 : the First about Easter in the same
year.
ii. Out of that which you have. St. Paul does not
ask of the Corinthians the heroism of the Macedonians,
to give beyond their power (v. 3), nor the perfection which
Christ proposed to the young man, go sell what thou hast,
and give to the poor (Matt. xix. 21).
14. Your abundance of temporals, their abundance of
spiritual goods (Rom. xv. 27 ; xi. 17, 18).
15. Exod. xvi. 18, said of the manna, and applied
by St. Paul here in an " accommodated sense," for which
see on Rom. ix. 6 8.
1 6. The same carefulness for you, the same interest
(o-TrovSr/v) in you that I have.
17. Being more careful, om-ovScuoTepos, specially inter
ested.
He went unto you, i.e. he is going to you with this
letter. It is the ancient epistolary style to use past
tenses for what will be past when the letter is read, e.g.
scribebam, I wrote.
1 8. The brother, according to some, is St. Luke.
But in the gospel has no reference to St. Luke s gospel,
which was not yet written. It means in the preaching of
the gospel.
19. He was ordained by the churches companion of our
travels. St. Chrysostom takes the person spoken of
to be St. Barnabas, referring to Acts xiii. 2 ; Gal. ii.
9, 10. This would satisfy v. 18, which seems to indi
cate some distinguished man. On the other hand
St. Barnabas was not ordained for this grace, namely,
the grace (offering, collection) that hath been given in the
churches of Macedonia (v. i), which seem to be the
churches referred to in this verse. If they are referred
to, they would probably have appointed one of their
own countrymen, it may be Sopater of Beroea, or
//. CORINTHIANS viii. 19. 189
either of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus
(Acts xx. 4), who afterwards went with St. Paul, carry
ing the collection to Jerusalem. Of these, Aristarchus
(mentioned also Acts xix. 29; xxvii. 2; Coloss. iv. 10 ;
Philem. 24) is the most likely. It may however have
been Silas (Acts xv. 40), otherwise called Silvanus
(i. 19), who was well-known at Corinth (Acts xviii. 5),
and also at Philippi (Acts xvi, 25, 29), and at Thes-
salonica (i Thess. i. i). The choice seems to lie
between Aristarchus, Silas, and St. Luke, who was
also known in Macedon, and went with St. Paul
to Jerusalem (Acts xx. 6; xxi. 15). St. Barnabas s
companionship with St. Paul had ended as mentioned,
Acts xv. 39, long before this collection was set on foot.
He was ordained, exaporoj/^r;. This verb only occurs
in one other place in the New Testament, Acts xiv. 22,
they (Paul and Barnabas) had ordained to them priests in
every church. Meaning in classical Greek to elect by
show of hands, in later ecclesiastical Greek this verb
was the regular word used for sacramental ordination
by imposition of hands. Whether in St. Paul s time
it already had that meaning of itself, apart from
context, we must remain in doubt. As for context
here, we know that from early times (cf. Acts vi. 6),
deacons were appointed to look after the temporal
affairs of the church. It may be therefore, we cannot
say for certain that this brother was a deacon, ordained
by the churches, that is, by the election of the churches
and imposition of the Apostle s hands, to be his
coadjutor in temporals. That a deacon was empowered
to preach (v. 18), we know by the example of St. Stephen
(Acts vi. 8, 10) and Philip (Acts viii. 40). But this
touches on matter of much erudition and great un
certainty.
Our determined will, ryv 7rpo0v/xiav ^pui/, means simply
our ready will in the matter of this contribution. Some
I go //. CORINTHIANS viii. 2024.
read your ready will. But St. Paul identifies himself
with the enterprise.
20. This abundance, this large contribution.
21. We foresee, -rrpovoov^v, we make provision for.
Rom. xii. 17. St. Paul took care to have com
panions and colleagues in conveying the money to its
destination, that his administration of it might be
beyond all challenge. u Caesar s wife should be above
suspicion," and a priest s integrity: therefore it is well
to have witnesses.
22. This brother again is an uncertainty. Theodoret
suggests Apollo (i Cor. xvi. 12).
With much confidence goes with we have sent.
23. This runs in the Greek : Whether [I write] of
Titus, he is my companion and fellow -labourer towards you, or
[as to] our brethren [the two mentioned, vv. 18, 22, they
are] the apostles of the churches, &c. For this use of
apostle, cf. Phil. ii. 25, Epaphroditus, your apostle.
The glory, or image, of Christ, as woman is the glory
and image of man (i Cor. xi. 7).
24. In the sight of the churches of Macedonia, which
have sent them (v. 19).
Our boasting on your behalf cf. vii. 14.
//. CORINTHIANS ix. i, 2. 191
CHAPTER IX.
I. For concerning the ministry that is done towards the saints,
it is superfluous for me to write to you : 2. For I know your ready
mind, for which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia
also was ready a year ago ; and your emulation hath provoked a
great many. 3. Now I have sent the brethren, that what we boast
of concerning you be not made void in this behalf, that (as I have
said) you may be ready : 4. Lest, when the Macedonians shall
come with me, and find you unprepared, we (not to say ye) should
be ashamed in this matter. 5. Therefore I thought it necessary to
desire the brethren that they would go to you before, and prepare
this blessing before promised, to be ready, so as a blessing, not as
covetousness. 6. Now this I say : He who soweth sparingly shall
also reap sparingly ; and he who soweth in blessings shall also reap
of blessings. 7. Every one as he hath determined in his heart, not
with sadness, or of necessity : for God loveth a cheerful giver.
8. And God is able to make all grace abound in you ; that ye
always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound in every
good work ; 9. As it is written : He hath dispersed abroad ; he
hath given to the poor : his justice remaineth for ever. 10. Now
he that ministereth seed to the sower will both give you bread to
eat, and will multiply your seed, and increase the growth of the
fruits of your justice : n. That being enriched in all things, you
may abound unto all bountifulness, which causeth through us
thanksgiving to God. 12. For the administration of this service
doth not only supply the want of the saints, but aboundeth also by
many thanksgivings in the Lord. 13. By the proof of this ministry,
glorifying God in the obedience of your confession to the gospel of
Christ, and for the liberality of your communicating to them, and
to all, 14. And in their praying for you, having an affection for
you because of the eminent grace of God in you. 15. Thanks be to
God for his unspeakable gift.
1. I have praised the ministers (the collectors,
Titus and the other two), for concerning the ministry (the
collection itself) it is superfluous for me to write.
2. The punctuation of the Latin is misleading, and
the word also is not in the Greek, nor in the earlier
editions of the Vulgate. Rewrite : / boast of you to the
Macedonians, saying that Achaia is ready from the year past ;
ig 2 //. CORINTHIANS ix. 410.
and your emulation [the emulation created by you] hath
provoked very many. St. Paul was writing in the Roman
Province of Macedonia. Greece was the Province of
Achaia. By Achaia here St. Paul means particularly
Corinth. That Achaia is ready from the year past, was
true inasmuch as the Corinthians had begun not only
to do something, but also to be willing to do more, a year
ago (viii. 10).
4. Lest when the Macedonians. The Greek is put more
delicately, lest if (any) Macedonians came with me, eav
In this matter, tv ry vTroo-ruo-et rav-Ty, rather, in this
firm assurance, which is the meaning of vTro oTcwns in
Ps. xxxviii. 7 ; Ezech. xix. 5 ; Heb. xi. i.
5. This blessing, i.e. the contribution, as a blessing,
" for," as St. Chrysostom observes, " no one gives a
blessing unwillingly."
Not as avarice, ir\covcgiav, better, extortion, which is the
meaning of the verb in vii. 2 ; xii. 17, 18.
6. In blessings, of blessings. The Greek is the same
for both, CTT {;A.oyuus, the preposition used signifying the
terms or conditions on which the thing is done. He
who sows on the terms of scattering abundantly, shall
reap on the conditions of an abundant harvest.
God loveth a cheerful givey. The quotation is from
Prov. xxii. 9, according to the Greek: God loveth a man
cheerful and a giver. Cf. Ecclus. xxxv. n.
8. All grace and all sufficiency in all things includes
things both spiritual and temporal.
9. Ps. cxi. 9. Justice here is the general virtue, of
which St. Thomas speaks, 2a 2ae, q. 58, art. 5. " The
acts of all the virtues may belong to justice, as that
directs a man to the general good ; and in this sense
justice is called a general virtue " (Aquinas Ethicits, ii. 14).
10. Isaias Iv. 10, we read, until it (the rain) giveth
seed to the sower and bread for eating, o-Trep/xa T(J> o-n-etpavri KM
//. CORINTHIANS ix. 1114. 193
is /3pcoo-iv, which is exactly the Greek of St. Paul,
evidently a quotation from the prophet. This shows
that the stop should be put after ppwo-w (manducandum),
is unnecessary after oTreipairi (seminanti), and should be
removed after ^opT/yyjo-et (praestabif). Translate accord
ingly : And he that ministereth seed to the sower and bread to
eat, -will both give and multiply your seed, &c.
The fruits of your justice, from Osee x. 12, in the
Greek: Sow to yourselves in justice, reap in the fruit of life,
kindle to yourselves the light of knowledge, seek the Lord until
fruits of justice (yevv^ara Si/caiocnV^s) come to you. The
phrase signifies that all sufficiency in all things (v. 8),
which, however frustrated or deferred, is the ordinary
reward of virtue, as is so often inculcated in the Book
of Proverbs.
11. The Greek has simply, being enriched unto all
simplicity, i.e. open-hearted liberality (viii. 2). The
participle, being enriched, goes with the verb abound in
v. 8.
Thanksgiving on the part of those who are the objects
of the liberality.
12. The administration of this office of almsgiving,
f) Xfirovpyfa TT}S SiaKovt as Tavrrjs. The noun Actroupyia
(whence liturgy), with its derivatives, occurs in these
places of the New Testament : Luke i. 23 ; Acts xiii. 2 ;
Rom. xv. 16, 27; xiii. 6; 2 Cor. ix. 12; Phil. ii. 17,
25, 30: Heb. i. 7. 14; viii. 2, 6; ix. 21 ; x. n. In most
of these places it has reference to some act of religious
service or worship. The other substantive, Sicucoi/ias, is
also a religious term, whence deacon. Terms of religion
are used to express offices of charity.
Aboundeth by many thanksgivings in the Lord: more
correctly : overfloweth by the channel of many thanksgivings
to the Lord: i.e. has a further effect in causing the
recipients of the bounty to thank God for it.
13. 14. These two verses are very obscure: indeed
N
1 94 IL CORINTHIANS ix. 15.
they can scarcely be said to exemplify the ordinary
rules of language. The participle 8o/a/xaovTs (glorifying)
hangs loose, and there is a difficulty about KOL avT&v
Serja-fL vTrcp V/AO>V 7ri7ro0owTwv, the opening words of v. 14.
Taking dvrwi/ i.TrnroOovvTw for a genitive absolute, and
resolving So/a/za^ovres into an indicative verb, we have :
By the proof of this ministry [i.e. upon the proof of
your virtue which this almsgiving affords] , they [the
recipients] glorify God for the obedience of your confession
unto the gospel of Christ, and for the simplicity of your
communicating [liberality of your gifts] unto them and unto
all, they themselves also in prayer for you being desirous of you
[affectionate towards you] because of the excellent grace of
God in you.
15. The unspeakable gift is the excellent grace of God just
mentioned (v. 14). St. Paul does what in vv. 12, 13, he
paints the Jewish Christians as doing, glorifying God
for the faith and Christian charity of the Corinthians.
Here ends the charity sermon. The remainder of
the Epistle is the Apostle s defence of himself against
his adversaries at Corinth. Nowhere more than in
these four next chapters do we feel with St. Jerome
(Ep. 48, ad Pamm.). " Whenever I read Paul, I seem
to hear not so much words as peals of thunder."
//. CORINTHIANS x. i. 195
CHAPTER X.
I. Now I Paul myself beseech you, by the meekness and gentle
ness of Christ, who in presence indeed am lowly among you, but
being absent am bold toward you : 2. But I beseech you, that I
may not be bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith
I am thought to be bold against some, who think of us as if we
walked according to the flesh. 3. For walking in the flesh, we do
not war according to the flesh. 4. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but powerful through God to the destruction
of fortifications, subverting counsels, 5. And every height that
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every understanding to the obedience of Christ ; 6. And
having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your
obedience shall be fulfilled. 7. See the things that are according
to outward appearance. If any man trust to himself that he is
Christ s, let him think this again with himself, that as he is
Christ s, so are we also. 8. For if I also should boast somewhat
more of our power, which the Lord hath given us for edification,
and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed. 9. But
that I may not be thought as it were to terrify you by epistles :
10. (For his epistles, indeed, say they, are weighty and strong ; but
his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible :) n. Let
such a one think this, that such as we are in word by epistles, when
absent, such are we also in deed, when present. 12. For we dare
not rank or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves :
but we measure ourselves by ourselves, and compare ourselves with
ourselves. 13. But we will not glory beyond our measure, but
according to the measure of the rule which God hath measured to
us, a measure to reach even to you. 14. For we stretch not our
selves beyond our measure, as if we reached not to you ; for we are
come as far as to you in the gospel of Christ : 15. Not glorying
beyond the measure in other men s labours ; but having hope of
your increasing faith, to be magnified in you according to our rule
abundantly, 16. Yea, to those places that are beyond you to
preach the gospel, not to glory in another man s rule in those
things that are made ready to our hand. 17. But he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. 18. For not he that commendeth himself
is approved, but he whom God commendeth.
i. Now I Paul myself. For the solemn mention of
his own name cf. Gal. v. 2. Behold, I Paul tell you ; and
Philem. 9 : as Paul an old man.
IQ 6 II- CORINTHIANS x. 24.
Who in presence, etc. St. Paul repeats here what his
adversaries said of him, as again in v. 10, not as saying
it of himself. Hence TaTmvos is better translated in this
place mean (its classical sense) rather than lowly.
2. But I beseech you, Se o/iai Se, well then, I beseech you.
The & takes up the I beseech you, Trapa/caXw, of the previous
verse. A similar use of Se will be noted elsewhere.
In this verse he tells his adversaries : Take care that,
when I come, you do not find me bold with that bold
ness which I am credited with possessing only when
not confronted with you. Cf. vv. 10, n, and i Cor.
iv. 21.
As if we walked according to the flesh, i.e. as if our
behaviour were worldly and unchristian. To walk in
the New Testament is to behave. For the whole phrase
as here used cf. Rom. viii. i, 4, 5, 12, 13 ; i Cor. i. 26;
2 Cor. i. 17.
3. There is no antithesis between walk and war, only
a rapid change of metaphor. The antithesis is between
in the flesh and according to the flesh, in the same sense as
between in the world and of the world (John xvii. n, 16).
St. Paul was in the flesh, as Christ our Lord was in the
days of his flesh (Heb v. 7), of the seed of David according to
the flesh (Rom. i. 3).
4. Powerful through God, not an arm of flesh (Jerem.
xvii. 5). Fortifications, the obstacles put in the way of
faith and the gospel by the wisdom of this world (i Cor.
i. 20). The weapons of our warfare are still with the
Church unto the destruction of these fortifications, which are
multiplied around us daily : we need men of the stamp
of St. Paul to use the weapons.
Subverting counsels, ought to be the beginning of v. 5.
The participle Ka0aipowres is masculine, going with
7TpiTrarovvT<s (walking) in v. 3, and agreeing with we.
Counsels, Xoyicr/xoiis, reasonings, such philosophy as
that against which St. Paul warns the Colossians (ii. 8).
//. CORINTHIANS x. 5, 6. 197
5. Every height, not of intellect, but of pride. The
knowledge of God, i.e. the recognition of God as the Lord,
and obedience to Him. For knowledge meaning obedience,
see Isaias liii. n. There is always a connection of
thought in Scripture between knowing God and obeying
Him as God, cf. Rom. i. 21 : hence the one is put for
the other, e.g. Ps. Ixxviii. 6 ; xciv. 10 ; Jer. iv. 22.
Bringing into captivity every understanding [or every
thought, TTO.V i/o7//xaj to the obedience of Christ, called in Rom.
i. 5, the obedience of faith. There are two lines of thought,
free thought and captive, or chastened, thought. On the line
of free thought, travel as far as you will, you will never
find God and His Christ. To be a Christian, a man
must admit some authority in matters of religious specu
lation, an authority which it is a sin to question,
challenge, doubt, disbelieve, or disobey. In this most
important particular, religion differs from the subject-
matter of any physical science, as chemistry. No
chemical theory can ever be tendered to any one on
chemical grounds, as something which it is wicked and
immoral to reject : nor is there such a thing as a
chemical revelation, to be believed on authority on pain
of damnation (cf. Mark xvi. 16; Gal. i. 8, 9). And
therefore the methods of physical science are not the
methods of religious truth. Such at least has been the
persistent teaching of the Catholic Church from the time
of St. Paul. This teaching is the first stone to be laid
in building up an argument with non-Catholics.
Against the captivity of faith we must set the capti
vity of being run away with by free thought. It is like
the alternative of the two servitudes, to sin and to
justice, of which Rom. vi. 19 23.
6. To revenge all disobedience, not of the heathen outside
the Church, over whom St. Paul claimed no jurisdiction
(i Cor. vi. 12, 13), but of the makers of schism within
the Christian community at Corinth.
ig8 II. CORINTHIANS x. 710.
When your obedience shall be fulfilled. When I see
the rest of you obedient, I will punish the incorri
gible. For, as St. Augustine says (Ep. Pavmen. 3, 2),
" the severity of discipline is applied without prejudice
to peace and unity, when the multitude of the congrega
tion in the church holds aloof from the crime that is
anathematised."
7. See the things that are according to outward appearance,
i.e. see what is staring you in the face.
// any man, and (v. n) let such a one. The Apostle
appears to have had some particular individual in his
mind. If the supposition is correct of a fourth party at
Corinth, made up of those who had actually seen our
Lord in the flesh (see on i Cor. i. 12), this individual
will have belonged to that party. Then as he is Christ s,
so are we also, will be a repetition of i Cor. ix. i : Am I
not an apostle? have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord?
Otherwise Christ s must mean Christ s minister. The
Apostle then says less here than he says afterwards
(xi. 23) : They are the ministers of Christ : I am more.
8. Unto edification, and not for your destruction, to build
you up, not to pull down the spiritual edifice of your
church, i Cor. iii. 917. "This is the text so often
quoted about ecclesiastical power, that it can do
nothing against good morals, nay nor even against
things of better good, as are the counsels of Christ"
(Cajetan).
/ should not be ashamed, OVK CUO-XW^TJO-O/ACU, non erubescam
(Vulg.), which is the future tense. Translate therefore,
I shall not be brought to the blush, understand, by my
boasting being shown to have no grounds. The Apostle
in fact was about to boast somewhat more of our power, and
does so, xii. n, 12. "Since he was about to make
some high speech, see how he prepares men s minds
for it" (St. Chrysostom).
10. His bodily presence is weak. The tradition of the
II. CORINTHIANS x. 12, 13. 199
Greek Church represents Paul as small, pale, shrivelled,
and somewhat stooping.
His speech contemptible. See on i Cor. ii. i.
12. This and the next four verses, as Theodoret
says, seem to be designedly obscure. The individuals
at whom they are aimed would be sufficiently reached
by them : upon us the point of the allusion is lost.
The end of this verse is quite altered by the omission
in the Vulgate of two words, that occur in almost
every Greek MS., and continually in the citations of
St. Augustine and the other Fathers. The words are,
ov <rvviaa-iv, or (what is the same thing) ou crwiovo-iv,
meaning, they do not understand (cf. Mark viii. 17 ; Matt,
xv. 16, in the Greek). The clause then must be trans
lated thus : They measure themselves by themselves, and com
pare themselves with themselves, and (so doing) are wanting in
understanding. The general sense is : * They make fools
of themselves, measuring themselves by their own
standards, but we, &c. (v. 13). And this reading is
to be preferred.
Several MSS. and Fathers however omit four words,
the last two of v. 12, and the two first of v. 13, ou crwiao-iv,
T^CIS Se. The result of the omission would be expressed
by the following translation : But we measuring ourselves
by ourselves, and comparing ourselves with ourselves, will not
glory beyond ouv measure, an improvement on the Vulgate
reading, but not equal to the other in manuscript
authority. It is observable that by the reading here
preferred the process of measuring oneself by oneself
is marked as something reprehensible : in the other
readings it stands for something commendable.
13. Cf. Eph. iv. 7. Taking the better reading, ov
cpcpio-fv, the latter part of this verse would translate
more accurately from the Greek : according to the measure
of the rule, the measure that God hath assigned to us, to reach
even to you, i.e. to carry our preaching as far as Corinth.
200 II. CORINTHIANS x. 1418.
St. Paul was no unsent teacher, but was specially
appointed apostle of the Gentiles, Gal. ii. 7 9 ; Eph.
iii. 7, 8 : his going about here and not there was directed
by Heaven, Acts xvi. 6 9 ; and his preaching was
borne out by the virtue of signs and wonders, in the power of
the Holy Ghost, Rom. xv. 16, 18, 19: moreover he was
careful to preach not where Christ was named, lest he
should build upon another man s foundation, Rom. xv. 20.
On all which points he stands contrasted with his
adversaries, those false apostles (xi. 13) of Corinth.
14. The meaning is simply : Our coming to Corinth
was not a stretching out of ourselves beyond the measure
of the rule which God hath assigned us.
15. Your increasing faith, av^avo^v^ -rfjs TrtVrew? v/xwv.
This is a genitive absolute, not depending on hope.
The construction is, hope to be magnified. Translate:
having hope, as your faith increases (when the faith is firmly
established in Corinth), to be magnified in you (to make
great advances, using Corinth as a point of departure)
according to our ride (still within the measure assigned to
us), abundantly, even to those places that are beyond you (v. 16).
The Apostle hoped to make the seaport of Corinth a
missionary centre for carrying the faith further west
ward, to Italy and Spain (Rom. xv. 24).
1 6. Not to do what those false apostles are doing
at Corinth to glory in another man s rule (i.e. within
another man s district) in those things which are made ready
to hand, i.e. in conquests to the faith already secured.
17- Cf. Jerem. ix. 23, 24. The Apostle" implies that
his adversaries are not glorying in the Lord.
1 8. Commendeth himself, or introduceth himself. The
verb is the same as in iii. i, where see note. The false
apostles had introduced themselves to the Corinthians :
God had not introduced them there.
After all, these men were not heretics, scarce even
schismatics: they were ministers of the Church, who
II. CORINTHIANS xi.
201
had intruded themselves from motives of vanity and
without a call. What would St. Paul have said of an
heretical or schismatical teacher? Cf. Ezech. xiii.
CHAPTER XI.
I. Would to God you could bear with some little of my folly :
but do bear with me. 2. For I am jealous of you with the jealousy
of God : for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may
present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3. But I fear lest, as the
serpent seduced Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be
corrupted, and fall from the simplicity which is in Christ. 4. For
if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not
preached ; or if you receive another spirit, whom you have not
received ; or another gospel, which you have not received ; you
might well bear with him. 5. For I suppose that I have done
nothing less than the great apostles. 6. For though I be rude in
speech, yet not in knowledge : but in all things we have been made
manifest to you. 7. Or did I commit a fault, abasing myself, that
you might be exalted ? because I have preached to you the gospel
of God gratis? 8. I have taken from other churches, receiving
wages of them to serve you. 9. And when I was present with you,
and wanted, I was burdensome to no man: for that which was
wanting to me the brethren supplied who came from Macedonia ;
and in all things I have kept myself without being a burden to you,
and so I will keep myself. 10. The truth of Christ is in me, that
this glory shall not be stopt in me in the regions of Achaia.
II. Wherefore ? because I love you not ? God knoweth it. 12. But
what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off the occasion from them
that desire occasion ; that in what they glory, they may be found
even as we. 13. For such false apostles are deceitful labourers,
transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no
wonder; for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of
light- 15. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers be trans
formed as ministers of justice, whose end shall be according to
their works. 16. I say again, (let no man think me to be foolish,
otherwise take me as one foolish, that I also may glory a little,)
17. That which I speak, I speak not according to God, but as it
were in foolishness, in this matter of glorying. 18. Seeing that
many glory according to the flesh, I will glory also. 19. For you
202 II. CORINTHIANS xi. i, 2.
gladly suffer the foolish, whereas you yourselves are wise. 2O. For
you suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if
a man take from you, if a man be extolled, if a man strike you on
the face. 21 I speak according to dishonour, as if we had been
weak in this part. Wherein if any man is bold (I speak foolishly)
I am bold also. 22. They are Hebrews: so am I. They are
Israelites: so am I. They are of the seed of Abraham: so am I.
23. They are ministers of Christ (I speak as one less wise):
I am more : in many more labours, in prisons more frequently, in
stripes above measure, in deaths often. 24. Of the Jews five times
did I receive forty stripes save one. 25. Thrice was I beaten with
rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a
day I was in the depth of the sea ; 26. In journeys often, in perils
of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in
perils from the gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilder
ness, in perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren ; 27. In
labour and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
many fastings, in cold and nakedness. 28. Besides those things
that are without, my daily instance, the solicitude for all the
churches. 29. Who is weak, and I am not weak ? who is scan
dalized, and I do not burn ? 30. If I must needs glory, I will glory
of the things that concern my infirmity. 31. The God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for ever, knoweth that I
lie not. 32. At Damascus, the governor of the nation under Aretas
the king guarded the city of the Damascenes, to apprehend me ;
33. And through a window in a basket I was let down by the wall,
and so escaped his hands.
1. My folly, explained by vv. 16, 17; xii. 6, n.
Boasting is folly ; and to utter one s own praises has
the appearance of boasting, even when it is done for
grave cause, and, as here, under divine inspiration :
therefore St. Paul calls it by the name of that which
it always resembles, and ordinarily is, a name no doubt
which his enemies would be ready enough to apply to
what he is going to say.
2. The jealousy of God. As of old God was jealous
with great jealousy of any false divinity coming in between
Him and the people of Israel, whom He had espoused
to Himself (Ezech. xvi. 8; Zach. i. 14; viii. 2); so is
He now jealous of the purity of faith in His Church,
//. CORINTHIANS xi. 3, 4. 203
which He has espoused to Himself in the Incarnation
(Eph. v. 25 32), according to His promise (Osee ii.
19 24; Isaias liv.).
7 have espoused you, rjpfjLoa-a/mrjv, literally, 7 have seen you
espoused, the work of the shosben, or friend of the bridegroom,
mentioned in John iii. 29. The Apostle went out on
his mission to the Gentiles to woo this bride for Christ,
as he says : For Christ we are ambassadors (v. 20) : even
as Abraham dispatched his faithful servant (Gen. xxiv.
nameless, all that he says of himself is, 7 am the servant
of Abraham, ib. v. 34, cf. Heb. vii. 3), to bring home a
foreign bride for his son.
A chaste virgin. The only chastity here referred to
is the chastity of faith. The false apostles at Corinth
were not indeed heretical in their teaching, but they
were vainglorious and fleshly : now among the works of
the flesh are sects (Gal. v. 19, 20).
3. The serpent, Gen. iii. 4 ; cf. Apoc. xii. 9 ; xx. 2.
The simplicity that is in Christ. Read according to
the Greek of the best MSS., the simplicity and chastity
that is unto Christ. Once more, the chastity of faith,
from which it was possible for such a local church as
Corinth to fall. From i Cor. xv. 12 we see that the
minds of some Corinthians had been corrupted upon the
article of the resurrection of the body.
4. Between this and the previous verse there is an
ellipsis of words something to this effect : After all,
what fresh boon can these new teachers confer upon
you ? Then the Apostle continues in this sense : If
they could tell you of a new Jesus, pour out upon you
a new Spirit, preach you a new gospel, you would do
well to suffer them. But the gospel, the Spirit, the
Saviour, you have already received through my minis
tration : they can add nothing to what you already
have of me.
Thus this verse in no way clashes with Gal. i. 6 9 :
204 IL CORINTHIANS xi. 510.
rather it is borne out by what is said there (v. 7), that
there is no other gospel than the gospel which St. Paul
preached.
5. I have done nothing less than the great apostles. A
better translation is given, xii. n, / have in no way come
short of them that are above measure apostles : the Greek
being the same in both places. If Peter, James, and
John, were referred to, we should compare i Cor. xv.
10: I have laboured more abundantly than all they: but it
is more likely that St. Paul refers ironically to his
adversaries, who claimed apostolic gifts superior to
his.
6. Although (et Se KOL) I be rude in speech. On this
form of concession see note on vii. 8. We cannot
gather from it that St. Paul was rude (i&om/s, devoid of
professional training] in speech. Whatever we may think
of his Greek, no one who reads this and the following
chapter can contest his eloquence.
Knowledge, i Cor. i. 5.
7. In this verse, it would be better to put a comma
instead of the mark of interrogation after exalted, and to
change because to in that.
Abasing myself to labour with my hands (i Cor. iv.
12 ; Acts xviii. 3).
Gratis. Read again i Cor. ix. 7 15.
8. I have taken from, ca-uXrja-a, plundered. The churches
in Macedonia, of whom he took alms, were in very deep
poverty (viii. 2).
9. The brethren who came from Macedonia, Silas and
Timothy (Acts xviii. 5), apparently from Philippi
(Phil. iv. 15).
Supplied, Trpoa-avcTrXrjpwa-av, supplied in addition to what
I could get by my own labour.
10. This verse means : As the truth of Christ is in me,
this glorying shall not be broken off: an asseveration.
Broken off (infringetur , Vulgate) is some misconception
//. CORINTHIANS xi. 1217. 205
of the Greek (frpayrja-tTai, shall be checked, the metaphor
taken, as St. Chrysostom says, from interference with
the course of rivers.
Achaia, Greece.
12. From v. 20 and i Cor. ix. 12 we gather that the
false apostles did accept of recompense for their services.
From this verse it appears that they even gloried in
the amount they received, measuring thereby the appre
ciation in which they were held, as other preachers
ere now have gloried in " a great take" at a collection.
They would gladly have had St. Paul for an example
to quote and a rival to meet on this ground ; and that
is the occasion which he says he is resolved to cut off.
13. This verse is better rendered: Such men are false
apostles, deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into apostles
of Christ.
14. An angel of light, whereas his is the power of dark
ness (Luke xxii. 53 ; Col. i. 13).
1 6. Again I say. What he says is the rest of the
verse, as all the Fathers agree; the marks of parenthesis
therefore ought to be removed. The verse is virtually
a repetition of v. i.
17. Not according to God, or, as the Greek has it, not
according to the Lord, that is, not according to the general
rule of our Lord s teaching, which is, Sound not a trumpet
before thee (see Matt. vi. i 6) : which general rule
however fails to apply, when such a motive as the good
of the Church requires a man, as it required St. Paul,
to speak his own praises. Yet in so doing, by way of
deprecating censure, he calls his language what such
language generally amounts to, folly and not according to
the Lord. Thus a clergyman, disguised as a layman
to save his life, might say to a friend : * You see me in
this uncanonical costume : because it is contrary to
canon law for a clergyman ordinarily to dress as a
layman, though it be no violation of the canons in an
20 6 //. CORINTHIANS xi. 1821.
emergency. St. Paul then is far from denying his own
inspiration in this passage.
In this matter of glorying, ei/ ravrr} ry mrocrrao-ci TTJS
Kcur^o-etos, the same phrase as ix. 4, which see.
Translate, in this assurance of glorying.
18. According to the flesh, "in exterior things, birth,
wealth, learning, circumcision, Hebrew parentage,
reputation" (St. Chrysostom). The phrase is explained
by Phil. iii. 4, 5.
19. The foolish, i.e. those who speak in their own
praise, vv. i, 16, 17. It is not without irony that the
Corinthians here are called wise, as appears by the
strange proof of their wisdom given in the next verse.
The tone is similar to that of i Cor. iv. 8, 10.
20. The general meaning of this verse is : You
suffer the tyranny of those false apostles, who he
goes on to say in particular bring you i.e. try to
bring you, old English, are a-bringing of yon, cf. note on
ii. 15 into bondage, that of the Jewish law (Gal. ii.
4; v. i) ; who devour you by the large remunerations
which they take for their services for devouring in this
sense see Mark xii. 40; Luke xx. 47; who are extolled,
or pride themselves, as Hebrews, Israelites, &c. (vv. 22,
23) ; who browbeat you and offer even to strike you on
the face.
21. I speak according to dishonour, i.e. as one who quite
loses caste in comparison with these brave bragadoccios,
as if we had been weak in this part, i.e. as if it were mere
weakness that prevented our bullying you as they
did. The words in this part are absent from the best
MSS.
Wherein if any man is bold is a mistranslation as well of
the Greek, eV w 8 av ns ToA/m, as of the Latin, in quo quis
audet. The original Rheims version (ed. 1583 and 1600)
has : Wherein any man dare, which is correct. The if
has been inserted by some one who did not understand
//. CORINTHIANS xi. 2224. 207
the English, did not look at the Latin, and possibly
took the Greek av here to mean if.
Is bold to launch out into his own praise.
Foolishly, as explained on vv. i, 16, 17, 19. It had
been better for the sense, if Wherein any man is bold had
begun a new verse.
22. Hebrews, so called not from Abraham s ancestor,
Heber (Gen. xi. 14 17), but from Abraham himself,
to whom the name was first given, meaning one who
comes from across the water (TO) Trepar^, Gen. xiv. 13).
The word here denotes the nationality of Abraham s
descendants ; as the term Israelites denotes their being
the peculiar people of God (Exod. xix. 5, 6; Rom. ix. 4);
while seed of Abraham points to them as inheriting the
Messianic promises (Rom. ix. 5, 7, 8 ; Gal. iii. 16).
From this verse it appears again that St. Paul s
principal opponents at Corinth were the Judaizing
faction (cf. Phil. iii. 2).
St. Paul s own standing as a Jew is stated, Phil. iii. 5.
23. They are ministers of Christ: that is, so they
called themselves ; but according to St. Paul they were
false apostles and served another master (vv. 13 15).
Of their exact status in the Church of Corinth we
cannot now be sure.
/ speak as one less wise, see above on vv. i, 17.
In many more labours, not exactly the Greek, which is,
in labours more abundantly (Trepurcrorepo)?), not yet the Latin,
in laboribus plurimis, in labours very many.
In prisons more frequently : the Greek has move abundantly
(7rpio-o-oT/3o>s, again). One instance antecedent to this
Epistle is related in Acts xvi. 23 36.
In deaths often, cf. i. 8 10.
24. Of the Jews five times forty stripes save one. We
have no other record of these scourgings. Save one, to
be on the safe side of the law : Yet so that they exceed not
the number of forty, lest thy brother depart shamefully torn
2 o8 // CORINTHIANS xi. 2528.
before thy eyes (Deut. xxv. 3). The culprit was scourged
with thongs of leather, thirteen blows on his bare
breast, and thirteen on each shoulder. During the
operation verses of the Law were read to him, Deut.
xxviii. 58, 59; xxix. 9; concluding with Psalm Ixxvii. 38.
25. Thrice was I beaten with rods, by the Gentiles, as
was our Blessed Lord Himself (John xix. i). There
was no legal limit to the number of blows here. One
of these occasions, at Philippi, is recounted by St. Luke
(Acts xvi. 22).
Once I was stoned, and taken up for dead, at Lystra
(Acts xiv. 1 8).
Thrice I suffered shipwreck, when and how we do not
know. The shipwreck recounted in Acts xxvii. took
place three years after this was written.
A night and a day, twenty-four hours, I was in the
depths of the sea. " The hull of the vessel went to pieces,
and all the night and the day I spent, carried hither
and thither by the waves " (Theodoret), clinging, we
may suppose, to some fragment of the wreck. We
know nothing more of this incident.
26. In journeys often. This is best illustrated by a
map of the (known) voyages of St. Paul, and reflecting
what travelling meant in those days for a man poorly
supplied with money.
27. In many fastings, voluntary afflictions over and
above the hunger and thirst which came perforce.
The whole passage vv. 23 27 is parallelled by vi.
4 10. There is none more characteristic of St. Paul.
28. Those things which are without (ran/ 7ra/>e/<Tos, a rare
word occurring only Matt. v. 32 ; Acts xxvi. 29), the
external and bodily troubles above mentioned, as dis
tinguished from the distresses of mind mentioned in
this and the next verse.
My daily instance (OTIC-TOO-IS, the reading of the best
MSS., supported by the Vulgate instantia,
//. CORINTHIANS xi. 2932. 209
attention, anxiety (<t>povri8<ov eVto-Tao-eis, Sophocles, Antig.
225), the state of mind of a commander in the field,
like Wellington at Torres Vedras, or (cf. x. 4) St. Paul
at Ephesus.
The solicitude for all the churches of the Gentiles, by the
appointment of Heaven and the agreement specified in
Gal. ii. 7 9. There is this difference among others
between St. Peter and St. Paul, that St. Paul has had
no successors.
29. Who is weak, and I am not weak? So St. Paul
imitated his Master, of whom it was written : He took
our infirmities and bore our diseases (Isaias liii. 4 ; Matt,
viii. 17). To the weak, he says, / became weak (i Cor.
ix. 22), i.e. I accommodated myself to their weak
conscience (i Cor. viii. 10). For an instance of St. Paul
being on fire, when one was scandalized, see i Cor. viii.
9 13. As St. Chrysostom says: " As though he were
in himself the Church throughout the world, so did he
grieve for every single member."
30. The whole tale of his glorying, vv. 23 29, is a
tale, not of miracles, not of eloquence, not of successes,
but of sufferings. This he calls my infirmity.
32. At Damascus, &c., Acts ix. 23 25. This was at
the opening of St. Paul s missionary career, three years
after his conversion. Flight has always an air of weak
ness, even an escape like this, which reminds us of the
daring escape of St. John of the Cross from his confine
ment at Toledo.
Aretas the Arab was the father of Herod s first wife,
whom he divorced to marry Herodias (Mark vi. 17), for
which outrage Aretas made war on him with success,
and became master of Damascus.
2io //. CORINTHIANS xii.
CHAPTER XII.
I. If I must glory, (it is not expedient indeed :) but I will come
to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2. I know a man in Christ
above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body I know not, or out
of the body, I know not : God knoweth,) such a one caught up to
the third heaven. 3. And I know such a man, (whether in the
body, or out of the body, I know not : God knoweth,) 4. That he
was caught up into paradise, and heard secret words, which it is
not granted to man to utter. 5. Of such a one I will glory : but for
myself I will glory nothing, but in my infirmities. 6. For even if I
would glory, I shall not be foolish ; for I shall say the truth : but
I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he
seeth in me, or any thing he heareth from me. 7. And lest the
greatness of the revelations should puff me up, there was given me
a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan to buffet me. 8. For which
thing I thrice besought the Lord, that it might depart from me.
9. And he said to me : My grace is sufficient for thee ; for power is
made perfect in infirmity. Gladly, therefore, will I glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10. There
fore I take pleasure in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities,
in persecutions, in distresses for Christ s sake : for when I am weak,
then I am powerful, u. I am become foolish ; you have compelled
me to it : for I ought to have been commended by you ; for in
nothing have I been inferior to those who are above measure
apostles, although I am nothing. 12. Yet the signs of my apostle-
ship have been wrought on you in all patience, in signs, and
wonders, and mighty deeds. 13. For what is there that you have
had less than the other churches, but that I myself was not burden
some to you? pardon me this injury. 14. Behold, now the third
time I am ready to come to you ; and I will not be burdensome to
you : for I seek not the things that are yours, but you : for neither
ought the children to lay up for the parents, but the parents for
the children. 15. And I most gladly will spend and be spent
myself for your souls ; although, loving you more, I be loved less.
16. But be it so, I did not burden you : but being crafty, I caught
you by guile. 17. Did I circumvent you by any of those whom I
sent to you ? 18. I desired Titus, and I sent with him a brother.
Did Titus circumvent you ? did we not walk with the same spirit ?
did we not in the same steps ? 19. Of old, think you that we
excuse ourselves to you ? we speak before God in Christ ; but all
things, my dearly beloved, for your edification. 20. For I fear,
//. CORINTHIANS xii. i 4.
lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I
shall be found by you such as you would not ; lest perhaps con
tentions, envyings, animosities, dissensions, detractions, whisper
ings, swellings, seditions, be among you : 21. Lest again, when I
come, God humble me among you, and I bewail many of them that
sinned before, and have not done penance for the uncleanness, and
fornication, and lasciviousness that they have committed.
1. The best Greek reading has: Must I glory ? It is
not expedient indeed, but I will come to the visions, &c.
Not expedient, as a rule: "for it is not in the nature
of good deeds in themselves to cause elation : elation
comes of the testimony and knowledge of the multitude "
(St. Chrysostom)
2. / know a man. Evidently himself.
Above fourteen years ago. This was written A.D. 58,
twenty-four years after St. Paul s conversion. There is
therefore no reference to the events recorded in Acts ix.;
but to the year A.D. 44, in which Paul was sent with
Barnabas from Antioch to Jerusalem, Acts xi. 2730 ;
xii. 25. The rapture next mentioned may be the one
mentioned as occurring in the Temple (Acts xxii. 17
21), though that is far from certain.
Whether in the body, I know not, ov out of the body, I
know not. "If Paul knew not," says St. Chrysostom,
"much less do we." We do not even understand the
alternatives proposed. Was he caught up, body and
soul, to heaven ? Or did his soul quit his body and fly
to heaven ? Or did his soul all the while remain in his
body, the activity of it only being raised to heaven,
but not the substance? Lastly, what is the third
heaven ?
4. Paradise seems somehow distinct from the third
heaven. " To the third heaven, and thence to paradise,"
says Clement of Alexandria (Strom, v. 12).
Secret words, cf. John iii. 12 ; Apoc. x. 4. " Some say
that these words were things; and that he saw the
beauty of paradise, and the bands of the Blessed
//. CORINTHIANS xii. 57.
therein, and heard the full chorus of their song" (Theo-
doret). St. Thomas (2a 2ae, q. 175, art. 3) argues that
he saw the face of God as the Blessed see it in heaven.
5. For such a one . . . but for myself. This St. Paul s
distinction of himself from himself is explained by the
words of St. Thomas (2a 2se, q. 129, art. 3, ad 4) : " In
man there is found something great, which he possesses
by the gift of God ; and some shortcoming which
attaches to him from the weakness of his nature. Magna
nimity makes a man deem himself worthy of great
honours in consideration of the gifts that he possesses
of God ; while humility makes him think little of himself
in consideration of his own shortcomings."
6. The meaning is : If I had a mind to glory, there
would be no folly in my so doing, seeing that, whatever
I said in my own commendation, I should not pass the
bounds of truth. But I refrain from all further glorying :
rather let me be judged by what is visible and apparent
about me, in my person and in my preaching.
7. A sting of my flesh. That this was some strong
motion of impurity, either physical or excited by the
Evil One, is the favourite explanation of modern
ascetical writers. They adopt it themselves without
suspicion, and have made it generally accepted among
the people, so successfully as to have determined the
English phrase to this special meaning. Yet such
certainly was not the meaning of St. Paul.
The Greek Fathers wholly ignore this explanation.
No Latin Father of the first six centuries gives it any
clear support. St. Thomas approves of it, but assigns
another explanation as the literal meaning of the text.
So much for authorities. The intrinsic arguments against
this explanation are : (a) St. Paul is evidently speaking
of something extraordinary, peculiar, and personal to
himself, not of any incident of ordinary humanity, as
such temptations are, as he describes, Rom. vii. 23.
II. CORINTHIANS xii. 7. 213
(b) Nor could he lawfully have gloried (v. 9), or taken
pleasure (v. 10) in such an infirmity as is supposed.
(c) The interpretation has been countenanced by the
Latin stimulus carnis, which however is not a very
accurate rendering of O-KO\O\//- rrj o-apKt, a thorn to the flesh.
The word o-KoXo-^ means a pointed piece of wood, used not
as a goad or sting (stimulus, Kevrpov, Ecclus. xxxviii. 25 ;
Acts ix. 5 ; xxvi. 14 ; i Cor. xv. 55, 56), to be thrust in
and pulled out again, but as a skewer remaining in the
flesh and causing continual pain (Num. xxxiii. 55 ;
Ezech. xxviii. 24; Ecclus. xliii. 19).
The older opinion remains therefore in possession,
that the sting of the flesh, or rather, the thorn to the flesh,
was some sort of bodily ailment, what, we cannot
say, but it was probably known to the Corinthians, and
St. Paul spoke clearly enough for them to whom he was
writing. He mentions it again, Gal. iv. 13, where see
note. This ailment is likewise called an angel of Satan;
as in Luke xiii. u, 16, we read of a woman who had a
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bowed together,
neither could she look upwards at all, w r hom our Lord speaks
of as this daughter of A braham whom Satan hath bound these
eighteen years; as Job was smitten by Satan with a
grievous ulcer (Job ii. 7 : cf. Ps. Ixxvii. 49) ; as the
excommunicate Corinthian was delivered to Satan for the
destruction of the flesh (i Cor. v. 5). On this connection
of Satan with bodily sickness, we may observe that
sickness and death, in the present order, are conse
quences of sin, and it was by the envy of the devil that death
entered into the world (Wisd. ii. 24).
Bearing in mind however how St. Antony and other
saints were tormented by the physical and sensible
action of evil spirits we remember in modern times
the conflicts of the Cure d Ars with le grappin it may
be that St. Paul also was tormented by Satan visibly
and corporeally, and to that he refers.
2i 4 // CORINTHIANS xii. 813.
Anyhow the affliction was chronic and continual.
St. Chrysostom observes that the phrase for to buffet is
not Iva Ko\a<f)io-r), the aorist of transient action, but Iva
KoAa^i C?/, the continuous present.
8. Thrice I besought the Lord that it might depart, as the
Lord Himself prayed on Olivet, Matt. xxvi. 44.
9. Power is made perfect in infirmity. The power of
God sustaining is brought out in human weakness.
Gladly mil I glory. The word rather, ftaXXov, has
fallen out before glory. Far from being dejected over
my infirmities, he says, I will rather glory in them.
Dwell in me, eTrio-KT/z/axn?, the word is used of soldiers
billeted or quartered upon a civilian.
10. Here St. Paul s glorying (begun at xi. i) all ends
in what St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises
describes as " the most perfect humility, . . . when I
choose poverty with Christ poor rather than riches,
reproaches with Christ laden with them rather than
honours, and I desire to be counted a good-for-nothing
and a fool for Christ, who was first held for such, rather
than pass for a wise and prudent man in this world."
So St. Paul in this verse. Cf. Acts v. 41.
11. I am become foolish, yeyova acfrpcov, better, / have
done making a fool of myself (boasting). For this use of
yeyova cf. ApOC. xvi. 17 J XXI. 6.
/ have no way come short of them that are above measure
apostles. The Greek is a repetition of xi. 5, where see note.
Although (et KM, see note on vii. 8) / be nothing.
12. The signs of my apostleship : in the Greek, the signs
of the apostle. Patience is mentioned before signs and
wonders (joined together as in fifteen other places in
the Old and New Testament) and mighty deeds, as the
first of the signs of the true Apostle. Cf. Luke xxi. 19.
13. Cf. xi. 9. Pardon me this injury, the wrong I
have done to myself (cf. i Cor. ix. 14), if you are at all
hurt thereby.
II. CORINTHIANS xii. 1420. 215
14. Now the third time. These words must be taken
with / am ready, not with to come. The Apostle did
actually visit Corinth only twice, once before (Acts
xviii. i), and once after (Acts xx. 2) the writing of these
two Epistles. The second grace, or second visit, as he
intended it to be, that between the First and Second
Epistle, was never paid : see on i. 15, 16.
Children ought to support their parents, but they
are not expected to lay up for them, but rather the
parents for the children, who are naturally the survivors
and more concerned in the future. St. Paul puts in
this remark to shield the Corinthians from the odium of
not supporting him their spiritual father.
1 6. But be it so introduces an objection, that at any
rate he put the Corinthians to the charge of supporting
his envoys, which he shows he did not do.
1 8. / desired Titus to go to you (viii. 6, 16, 17).
A brother, rbv a&eX0w, the brother, possibly the same
whom he was sending again, the brother whose praise is in
the gospel through all the churches (viii. 18), whoever that
was. Titus at any rate had come under their observa
tion already, as the medium of communication between
them and St. Paul (ii. 13 ; vii. 6, 7).
19. Of old (rraXai, a better authorised reading than
the received Greek nakiv) think you that we excuse ourselves
to you? The sense appears better without the interro
gation : You have been thinking some time that we are on our
defence before you. * Not so, the sense of the Apostle
continues, God is our judge: we speak before God in
Christ ; and all that we have said in our own behalf is
for your edification, that you be not scandalized in us,
but not as though we were amenable to your tribunal.
Cf. i Cor. iv. 3.
20. For, far from your judging me, I fear lest when I
come, I shall have to sit in judgment and pass severe
sentence upon some of you.
2i6 II. CORINTHIANS xii. 21; xiii.
Contentions, &c., such as those spoken of, i Cor. i. n ;
iii. 3. Contentions, envyings, animosities, dissensions: the
Greek of these four words is repeated in Gal. v. 20.
21. Humble me among you, as a teacher is humbled
when he finds that his scholars have not learnt of him.
Uncleanness, &c. Corinth, it must be remembered,
was the city of Aphrodite, the Greek Venus: its gaieties
were proverbial. The sins here spoken of would have
been committed after baptism. That the first Christians
were far from immaculate, see on i Cor. xi. 20.
CHAPTER XIII.
I. Behold, this is the third time I am coming to you : In the
mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
2. I have told you before, and foretell, as present, and now absent,
to them that sinned before, and to all the rest, that, if I come again,
I will not spare. 3. Do you seek a proof of Christ who speaketh in
me, who toward you is not weak, but is mighty in you ? 4. For
though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the
power of God : for we also are weak in him, but we shall live with
him by the power of God toward you. 5. Try your ownselves if
you be in the faith ; prove ye yourselves. Know you not your
ownselves, that Christ Jesus is in you ? unless perhaps you be
reprobates. 6. But I trust that you shall know that we are not
reprobates. 7. Now we pray God that you may do no evil ; not
that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is
good, and that we may be as reprobates. 8. For we can do nothing
against the truth, but for the truth. 9. p^or we rejoice that we are
weak, and you are strong. This also we pray for, your perfection.
10. Therefore 1 write these things being absent, that, being present,
I may not deal more severely, according to the power which the
Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction, n. For
the rest, brethren, rejoice. Be perfect, take exhortation, be of one
mind, have peace ; and the God of peace and of love will be with
you. 12. Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the saints
salute you. 13. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
charity of God, and the communication of the Holy Ghost be with
you all. Amen.
II. CORINTHIANS xiii. i, 2. 217
1. This is the third time I am coming. See on xii. 14.
In the mouth of two or three witnesses, &c. (Deut. xix.
15), * counting for witnesses his visits and denuncia
tions " (St. Chrysostom). His thrice intended visit to
Corinth, and his actually going there now for the
second time, reminds St. Paul of this text of the Law.
We must not press the application too closely, as it
is only quoted in an " accommodated sense." For
another instance of such quotation see viii. 15.
It has been proposed to take the quotation
literally, as though St. Paul was going to open a
spiritual court of justice at Corinth. There is a
nineteenth century plainness about the suggestion,
but it fails of being in touch with the manner of
St. Paul, who like his countrymen and contemporaries
delighted to allege the words of the Old Testa
ment in other than their obvious measuring. For
examples see iii. 16; Gal. iv. 24; Heb. vii. 3; i Cor.
ix. 9 ; xiv. 21.
2. As present and now absent. This text has suffered
a curious mutilation, even to the effacement of the
sense. St. Paul undoubtedly wrote, $ Trapvv TO Stvrepoi/
KCU anwv v\>v. The received Greek text adds ypa$o> (I
write) but the word is absent from the three best MSS.,
and is well away. The old Latin versions had sicut
prasens secundo, or, less well, ut pvasens bis. The bis got
into vobis, and the superfluous vobis was struck out of
the Clementine Vulgate. The Greek words mean
literally, as present the second time, even absent now. The
meaning is none of the clearest, but taking it (see on
v. i) that St. Paul so far had only been once actually
to Corinth, we draw this sense : even now in my absence,
you may already consider me as present for the second time.
St. Paul was actually present in Corinth for the second
and last time shortly after writing this Epistle (Acts
xx, 2, 3),
2 i8 II. CORINTHIANS xiii. 35.
3. Do you seek P An quaritis ? but the Greek
(rjTflre is undoubtedly the original : r has passed into
et, represented by aw. In a classical Greek author, the
verb would be the imperative, come, seek ; but it may be
doubted whether this construction is used by St. Paul.
Taking then ^relre for the indicative, we have the
sentence thus: Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking in
me, (v. 5) try your own selves, prove ye yourselves. The inter
vening words are all a parenthesis.
Is mighty in you, in miraculous graces, i Cor. xiv. ;
2 Cor. xii. 12.
4. Crucified through weakness, of His own choosing
(John x. 18; Phil. ii. 6, 8).
By the power of God, His Father s and His own (John
v. 17 21 ; x. 30; xvii. 10).
Weak in him, in the likeness of Him, as set forth in
i Cor. iv. 9 13.
We shall live with him. This does not refer to heaven
and the resurrection, but to the power of God towards you,
that is the power of ruling and judging which the
Apostles, as mouthpieces of the risen Christ, exercise
over the faithful. This text by implication warrants
not only that power, but also the ecclesiastical pomp
and splendour which are the ensigns of that power in
the Pope and Bishops, the successors of the Apostles,
to this day. Individually, like other Christians, and
more than other Christians, they must bear in their bodies
the dying ef Jesus : but, officially, the life also of the risen
and glorified and reigning Jesus must be made manifest in
their mortal flesh (2 Cor. iv. 4).
The future, we shall live, is used in reference to his
coming visit to Corinth.
5. To understand this verse, we must observe that
it is the premise to a conclusion, a proof of Christ that
speaketh in me (v. 3), an argument of the Apostle s official
power, not of his personal sanctity. We are not to look
II. CORINTHIANS xiii. 7, 219
in the premise for an element quite foreign to the con
clusion. Therefore the faith spoken of in this verse is
not the theological faith, whereby we are justified (Rom.
v. i). There is no question in the whole passage of any
justification, not of St. Paul, nor of the Corinthians ;
but St. Chrysostom is right in his surmise : " To me he
seems here to speak of the faith of miracles : for believers
in those days wrought miracles." For " the faith of
miracles," see on i Cor. xii. 9 ; xiii. 2. Consequently,
Christ Jesus is in you, means that He works wonders by
you, according to His promise (John xiv. 12). It does
not refer to that union of grace and love elsewhere
mentioned (John vi. 57 ; xv. 4).
Nor is this interpretation to be set aside for the
concluding words of the verse, unless perhaps you be repro
bates. The meaning of that term must be decided by
the meaning that it bears in the next verse. There
(v. 6) it does not mean marked for damnation, but simply
rejected, set aside and suspended from power; in St. Paul s
case, the power of the ministry. Here then it means
set aside (doubtless for some fault so deserving it) from
the miraculous powers then common among Christians.
The Greek would be better translated, unless in some thing
(pf) TL, not pr) TTOOS) you be set aside.
From the explanation given it appears how entirely
without foundation in this verse of St. Paul is the
Lutheran doctrine of justification by believing that you
are justified, the doctrine condemned by the Council of
Trent (Sess. vi. cap 9, and cann. 12 15).
7. For not that, ov x <Wz, St. Chrysostom reads tva rf,
that not, which shows the sense better. It may be
Englished : that it may not be a case of our appearing clad
in power (Sd/a/ioi), but that, while you do right (vpcls for the
classical vftel? /z>), we may appear as though set aside from
office (dSoKi/zot). Theodoret well explains: "We pray
that we may not receive from you any occasion to show
220 77. CORINTHIANS xiii. 812.
the active exercise of the apostolic charge : rather I
pray that you may be resplendent in all good deeds,
and that we may hide our power,"
8. Against the tntth, the cause of truth and justice,
which is the cause of the innocent.
9. We rejoice that, &c., read, we rejoice when. The
present Vulgate quoniam is against all Greek authority,
and against that of the early Latin versions, which
have quum, or quando (when). Weak is powerless to punish ;
and strong means strong in faith and good works.
10. Unto edification, and not unto destruction, that is, to
the building up of the good rather than to the destruc
tion and punishment of the wicked. Not here is equal
to not so much, a usual Hebrew idiom (cf. Jerem. vii.
22, 23; Osee vi. 6; John vii. 16; xii. 44). For the
matter, see Luke ix. 54 56 ; John iii. 17 ; xii. 47. For
the rest, the Apostle, like the prophet Jeremy (Jer. i. 10),
and every ruler of the Church, was set to pluck up and
destroy, as well as to build and plant ; and he knew his
work (x. 4 6).
11. Take exhortation, rather, take comfort, irapaKaXelo-Qf,
for which word see on i. 4, 6.
12. A holy kiss, in eastern fashion (cf. on i Cor.
xvi. 20), on which St. Chrysostom further writes : " We
are the temple of Christ. We kiss the porch and
entrance of this temple in kissing one another. See
you now how many kiss the porch of this temple in
which we are met, some stooping down for the purpose,
others touching it with their hand and applying their
hand to their mouth ? Through these gates also, the
gates and doors of our body, Christ has entered in, and
does enter in to us, whenever we communicate. Ye
who partake of the mysteries know my meaning. In
no common way is our body honoured, receiving the
Body of the Lord. Let them hear this who speak
foul language; let them hear who give immodest
//. CORINTHIANS xiii. 13. 221
kisses; and shudder to think what a mouth they
dishonour."
All the saints, the Christians where St. Paul was
writing (i Cor. i. 2 ; Col. i. 2), probably at Philippi.
Salutations are not added in detail, as elsewhere,
because the Apostle was shortly to visit Corinth.
13. In this verse St. Paul gives his blessing, like a
bishop as he was (Acts xiii. 2, 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 6), to the
Corinthians, in the name of the three Persons of the
Blessed Trinity. " Let us also pray to be made worthy
of the apostolic benediction, and to attain to the good
things of the promise " (Theodoret).
THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
GALATIAN, FaXdrr}^, was the Greek name for the
people, otherwise known as Gauls or Celts, who
once inhabited France and the British Isles. The
Greeks had experience of an invasion of them,
B.C. 279. Repulsed from Greece, this Celtic people
overran Asia Minor. Gradually they were confined
to a strip of land, 200 miles long, in the interior, of
which Ancyra was the capital. But the Roman
province of Galatia at the time of St. Paul was
wider than Galatia proper. It included these places
mentioned in the Acts, Antioch in Pisidia (xiii. 14),
Iconium (xiii. 51), Lycaonia with its cities of Lystra
and Derbe (xiv. 6), and part of Phrygia (xviii. 23).
This is the Galatia spoken of by St. Peter (i Pet.
i. i). On the other hand St. Luke twice only
mentions the Galatian country, TYJV Takar^v ^^av
(Acts xvi. 6 ; xviii. 23) ; and both times he evidently
means Galatia proper. St. Luke knew and lived in
Asia Minor : St. Peter wrote at a distance. It was
natural therefore for St. Peter to speak of the official
Galatia ; while St. Luke used the word of what in
Asia Minor was popularly called Galatia, namely,
the country of the Galatians proper. It must ever
GALATIANS. 223
remain a moot point whether St. Paul addresses the
larger and official Galatia, all within the Roman
province of that name, or the much smaller country
of the Galatians proper, who alone in Asia Minor
would commonly be called Galatians. We shall
assume that St. Paul s use of the term is that of his
fellow-voyager St. Luke, the local and narrower
sense. The objections to this view will appear as
we proceed to be by no means insurmountable.
St. Paul twice visited Galatia proper. " When
they (Paul and Silas) had passed through Phrygia
and the country of Galatia " (Acts xvi. 6) : " he went
through the country of Phrygia and Galatia in order,
confirming all the disciples " (Acts xviii. 23) : this is
all the information that St. Luke affords us concern
ing these visits. The churches of Galatia are men.
tioned (i Cor. xvi. i) as having had order given them
by St. Paul concerning the collections that are made for
the saints at Jerusalem. The rest of our information
about the Galatians must be drawn from the Epistle
itself.
The date of the Epistle turns as well on the
previous question, to what Galatians precisely the
Epistle is addressed, as also on the interpretation
put upon i. 6. Conformably to the view already
taken, and the interpretation to be given presently,
the Epistle must be subsequent to the two visits to
Galatia above related by St. Luke (see on iv. 13 16),
subsequent that is to A.D. 54. On the other hand
we have clear intrinsic grounds for supposing this
Epistle to have been in close conjunction with that
to the Romans, of which it is a sort of first edition,
GALATIANS.
the theme of both being the same : we account a man
to be justified by faith without the works of the law
(Rom. iii. 28: cf. Gal. ii. 16). To compare things
sacred to things profane, the Gorgias of Plato is in
the same way a first edition of his Republic. Of the
two epistles we may fairly suppose that which is the
more incomplete and rapid outline to have been first
written. So St. Chrysostom (Preface to Romans) :
" In my judgment the epistle to the Galatians is
prior to that to the Romans." The Epistle then to
the Galatians stands in order of composition between
the Second to Corinthians and that to the Romans.
This is the hypothesis of Lightfoot (cf. 2 Cor. xii.
20, 21 ; Gal. v. 19 21 ; Rom. xiii. 13) and others.
The date then would be the winter of A.D. 58-9.
Our Lord had instructed His Apostles to preach
the gospel to the entire world (Matt, xxviii. 19 ;
Mark xvi. 15). The Gentiles then were to be members
of the Christian Church. This was shown in vision
to St. Peter, and recognised by the rest of the
disciples (Acts x. ; xi. i 18). But was the Syna
gogue to go wherever the Church went ? Did the
taking up of the yoke and burden of Christ mean
the taking up therewith of the yoke of the law of
Moses, as the first Christians, being Jewish converts,
bore it, and as it continued to be borne at Jerusalem
till close upon the destruction of the city ? Three
questions in fact arose in this matter.
1. Must all Christians absolutely keep the law of
Moses ?
2. Are not the Christians who keep the law
of Moses better Christians than the rest : or at least
GALATIANS i. 225
is not circumcision necessary to the perfection of
the Christian man ?
3. Is the observance of the Mosaic law, is circum
cision itself, so much as permissible in a Christian ?
The first question was answered in the negative
by the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv. ; Gal. ii.).
The main purpose of the Epistle to the Galatians
is to enforce the negative also to the second question :
see especially ii. 4; iii. 24 29; v. 6 ; vi. 15.
The answer to the third question we shall inves
tigate upon ii. 17; v. 2, 4: cf. Acts xvi. 3, and
again Gal. v. 6; vi. 15.
CHAPTER I.
I. Paul, an apostle, (not from men, neither by man, but by
Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead,)
2. And all the brethren who are with me, to the churches of
Galatia: 3. Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father,
and from our Lord Jesus Christ, 4. Who gave himself for our
sins, that he might deliver us from this present wicked world,
according to the will of God and our Father : 5. To whom is
glory for ever and ever. Amen. 6. I wonder that you are so soon
removed from him who called you to the grace of Christ, to another
gospel : 7. Which is not another ; only there are some that trouble
you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8. But though we, or
an angel from heaven, preach a gospel to you beside that which we
have preached to you, let him be anathema. 9. As we said before,
so I say now again : If any one preach to you a gospel beside that
which you have received, let him be anathema. 10. For do I now
persuade men, or God ? or do I seek to please men ? If I did yet
please men, I should not be the servant of Christ, n. For I give
you to understand, brethren, that the gospel which was preached
by me is not according to man. 12. For neither did I receive it
from man, nor did I learn it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13. For you have heard of my conversation in time past in the
Jews religion ; how that beyond measure I persecuted the church
of God, and laid it waste : 14. And I made progress in the Jews
religion above many of my equals in my own nation, being more
P
226 GALATIANS i. i.
abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15. But when
it pleased him, who separated me from my mother s womb, and
called me by his grace, 16. To reveal his Son in me, that I might
preach him among the gentiles ; immediately I condescended not to
flesh and blood : 17. Neither went I to Jerusalem to the apostles
who were before me ; but I went into Arabia, and again I returned
to Damascus. 18. Then, three years after, I came to Jerusalem to
see Peter, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19. But other of
the apostles I saw none, except James the brother of the Lord.
20. Now the things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie
not. 21. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia ;
22. And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judaea which
were in Christ. 23. But they had heard only : He, that persecuted
us in times past, doth now preach the faith which once he im
pugned : 24. And they glorified God in me.
i. Patil, an apostle, in the strict sense of the word,
as being (a) a witness of the resurrection (Acts i. 22 ;
iv. 33; Luke xxiv. 48; i Cor. ix. i ; xv. 8); (b) imme
diately appointed by Christ, Gal. ii. 8; and consequently
(c) a peer of the original twelve (Mark iii. 13 19 ; Acts
i. 25, 26).
Not of men. This distinguishes him from mere pre
tenders to the Christian ministry, men unsent of God
either mediately or immediately, like the false prophets
of old (Jer. xiv. 14).
Neither by man, as the lawful preachers of the word
of God at this day are sent by man, that is, by an
ecclesiastical superior, although their mission is not of
men. As St. Chrysostom says : " The being not of men
was common to all, for the gospel-preaching has its
beginning and root from above : but the being not by
men [so he reads] was proper to the apostles : for our
Lord called them not by men, but Himself by Himself."
St. Paul was baptized by Ananias (Acts ix. 17, 18),
ordained by the prophets and doctors at Antioch (Acts
xiii. i, 3), but designated Apostle by Christ Himself,
as a Catholic bishop in England is designated by the
Pope, but consecrated by some other bishop.
GALATIANS i. 24. 227
Who raised him from the dead. The resurrection is
mentioned because it was the special function of
Apostles to preach Jesus and the resurrection (Acts xvii. 18).
2. The brethren who are with me, possibly, Timothy and
Erastus (2 Cor. i. i ; Acts xix. 22), Titus and the two
brethren (2 Cor. viii. 16 24), and others mentioned
in Acts xx. 4, including St. Luke himself (ib. 5).
To the churches of Galatia. Plain address, without
epithet of commendation. " He writes not to one city,
but to the entire nation, for the disease [of Judaizing]
had crept everywhere" (Theodoret).
4. Who gave himself for our sins. The idea is that
we shall be saved from wrath through him, not by the Mosaic
law, which rather worketh wrath (Rom. v. 9 ; iv. 15).
This present wicked world, present as distinguished
from the future new heavens and new earth in which justice
dwelleth (2 Pet. iii. 13): this world seated in wickedness
(i John v. 19), or more properly, in the power of the Evil
One (Iv ro> Troika)) ; this world, of which Satan is the
prince (John xii. 14), and even the god (2 Cor. iv. 4),
maintaining his dominion over all who wilfully reject
the gospel and salvation of Christ.
Theodoret explains it: " By ivicked world he means
this temporal estate of men, in which sin has place :
for, so long as we are clad in mortal nature, some of us
venture on greater offences, others on less : but when
we are transferred to that immortal life, we shall be
superior to sin : this hope Christ our Lord has given
us." Which incomplete explanation is completed by
St. Jerome: "Not only in the life to come, according
to the promised hope wherein we believe, but also
from this present world has He delivered us, inasmuch
as being dead with Christ (2 Tim. ii. n), we are trans
formed in the newness of our mind (Rom. xii. 2), and are not
of this world, by which deservedly we are not loved (John
xv. 1820)."
22 8 GALATIANS i. 69.
6. / wonder, &c. A rebuke more abrupt and stern
than the Apostle s wont.
So soon, ovToa Taxf<s, not so soon after your conversion, but
so soon after the temptation came upon you. We may well
translate it so lightly, cf. i Tim. v. 22 : Impose not hands
lightly (rax*) upon any man ; or so easily, cf. 2 Thess. ii. 2 :
that yon be not easily (ra^e cos) moved.
Are removed, a poor rendering of fifran #fo-0e (middle
voice). Say shift your side. A man who went over from
one philosophical sect to another was called 6 ^raB^^vos.
Transfugitis would be a better translation than the
Vulgate transferimini.
To the grace of Christ, fv x^p LTi xP lfrro ^> should be in
(i.e. through] the grace of Christ. As St. Chrysostom
observes: "The calling is of the Father (him that called
you), but the cause of the calling is of the Son."
6, 7. Unto another gospel, which is not another. Rather,
unto a different (erepoi/) gospel, which (different gospel) is not
one gospel more (XXo). "It is not another gospel, for
there cannot be two gospels ; and as it is not the same,
it is no gospel at all " (Lightfoot).
8. Beside that, nap* 6 , i.e. contrary to that, the Greek
preposition napd having both meanings.
Anathema, see on i Cor. xii. 3.
The text is strong meat for those pliant heralds of
the gospel who, when any one contradicts them, meekly
avow that they are only airing their own opinions, and
have no idea of imposing them upon others. St. Paul
was the minister of a Church which, like her Founder,
teaches what it is sin to disbelieve (John xvi. 9), and
takes no pleasure, where dogmas are concerned, in the
attribute of " comprehensiveness."
9. As we said before, my companions and myself in
our previous preaching (Acts xviii. 23), so now I say
again.
If any one preach, ei TIS fvayyeXifcrai, better, if any one is
GALATIANS i. 1014. 22 9
preaching, the use of the indicative mood in this verse,
not in v. 8, hinting that such preaching is actually
going on.
10. Persuade, Trddw, try to gain to my side, cf. Acts
xii. 2O, having gained Blastus, neia-avres BXdcrrov.
To please men. Hence the compound man-pleasers,
avdpandpfo-Kot, used Eph. vi. 6 ; Col. iii. 22. The best
commentary on this verse is i Thess. ii. 4 6. St. Paul
means that he did not make it his primary object to
please men. But whoever seeks supremely and above
all things the glory and good pleasure of God is sure,
not in all things but upon the whole, to please men of
good will, and to be feared and respected even by the
wicked and malicious. Moses was beloved of God and
men (Ecclus. xlv. i), and the Divine Child advanced in
grace with God and men (Luke ii. 52).
11. 7 give you to understand, brethren. A favourite form
of expressing the writer s earnestness (i Cor. xii. 3;
xv. i ; x. i ; xii. i ; 2 Cor. viii. i).
According to man, see on i Cor. xv. 32.
12. By the revelation of Jesus Christ, cf. Acts xxvi. 16.
St. Paul then was equal to the Twelve in being with
Jesus, and by Him sent to preach (Mark iii. 14).
The antithesis in this verse implies the divinity of
our Saviour.
13. The Jews religion. St. Paul uses one word,
Judaism, meaning of course not the religious belief of
the Jews, but the observances of their law, and particu
larly the traditions of my fathers, or tradition of the ancients,
human additions to the Mosaic Law, for which see
Mark vii. 3 13.
And laid it waste, firop0ow. The same word is spoken of
Saul in Acts ix. 21, where our translation has persecuted.
14. Of my equals in age, o-wr/Xi/acorar, the young men of
my time, youth being the age for zeal. The young Saul
was more abundantly zealous literally, more abundantly a
2 3 o GALATIANS i. 15, 16.
zealot than the rest. Zealot was a name given to the
Jews of stricter observance. It was borne by the
Apostle St. Simon (Luke vi. 15: cf. Acts xxi. 20).
St. Paul gives many testimonies to his early thorough
going Judaism (Acts xxii. 3 ; xxvi. 7 ; Phil. iii. 5, 6).
The object in testifying to it here is to show that no
mere word of man could ever have won him to the
gospel of Christ ; and again to give point to his coming
denunciation of Judaism from the fact that he had
himself been born a Jew and heir to all the prejudices
of his race.
15. Separated me from my mother s womb. Set me apart
would be less ambiguous than separated. So (Rom. i. i)
he says he is separated (set apart) unto the gospel.
From my mother s womb, cf. Ps. Ixx. 6 ; Isaias xlix.
i, 5; Judges xvi. 17. Long before the child knew how to
reject evil and choose good (Is. vii. 16), he was marked by
the gratuitous providence of God as His future apostle.
Called me by his grace, on the road to Damascus, at
once to the faith and to the apostolate (Acts xxvi.
1 6 18).
1 6. I condescended not, non acquievi, ov npocravede^v. The
same word occurs in ii. 6, where it is rendered contu-
lerunt, added. The simple verb, avfB^rjv, in ii. i, is
rendered contuli, conferred ; and in Acts xv. 14, indicavit,
told. What the verb really means is to impart a matter
to another to get his advice about it. St. Paul then,
full of the revelation of Christ, immediately made it his
policy not to impart to men what he had learned, or to
confer with men about it, as though he needed human
guidance or instruction, when he was replete with that
which was divine.
Flesh and blood in Scripture (cf. Ecclus. xiv. 19 ;
xvii. 30; Eph. vi. 12 ; and especially Matt. xvi. 17, and
i Cor. xv. 50, with note) means, not anything evil, but
simply human nature apart from any special favour of
GALATIANS i. 17, 18. 231
God, or supernatural endowment. Here it is pretty
well equivalent to kith and kin. St. Paul took no counsel
with men of his own race and kindred, his natural
advisers, in the matter of his conversion and of the
revelation vouchsafed to him.
17. I went into Arabia. This visit is not mentioned
by St. Luke. It must be placed either immediately
before or immediately after what is narrated in Acts
ix. 22. Arabia, like other terms of ancient geography,
e.g. India, is a sufficiently vague expression. It included
the regions east and south-east of Palestine. From the
way that Sina, a mountain in Arabia, is presently men
tioned (iv. 25), it has been concluded that St. Paul s
sojourn was in that region, where the Law was given
(Exod. xix.), which his preaching was in substance and
essence to fulfil, and in its accidental minutiae to set
aside ; where also Elias had his vision (3 Kings xix.
8 15). It was no missionary journey, as some have
supposed, but a long retreat, in which the new convert
seems to have received the favours mentioned, 2 Cor.
xii. 2 4, and to have been formed to the Apostolate by
repeated apparitions of our Lord Himself (Gal. i. 12).
1 8. After three years, the many days of Acts ix. 23.
The Acts go on to inform us why and how he left
Damascus, a detail on which St. Paul here is silent, but
refers to it, 2 Cor. xi. 32, 33, showing how poor an
argument silence is of discrepancy.
To see Peter. "He says not to see (ticlv) Peter, but to
take note of (lo-rop^o-ai) Peter, the word used by those
who make a study of great and illustrious cities.
Though he needed no human teaching, as having
received his lesson from the God of all, he pays the
proper honour to the Coryphaeus [or chief, usual name
given to St. Peter by the Greek Fathers] . Therefore
did he come to him, not to learn anything of him, but
only to set eyes on him " (St. Chrysostom).
232 GALATIANS i. 19.
So much for St. Paul s respect for St. Peter, though
he had nothing to learn from him. We however are not
Pauls : divine revelations are not given to us, and we
need to learn the truth of God from the successor of
Peter.
Fifteen days, at the end of which time the visit had
to be broken off, owing to the violence of the Jews
(Acts ix. 29; xxii. 17 21). Thus its very shortness
furnishes an argument for what is asserted in v. 12.
19. Other of the apostles I saiv none, except James. If for
other of the apostles, erepov 5e ra>v ttTToo-roXcoi , we had had,
of the other apostles, T&V fie aXXcoi/ oTroo-roXcoi/, we might not
have been able considering the use of except, ^77, in
Matt. xii. 4; Luke iv. 26, 27; Gal. ii. 16; Apoc.
xxi. 27 to argue that James here is the Apostle, James
of Alphens (Luke vi. 15). " But," as Lightfoot acknow
ledges, " the sense of eWpoi/ (other] naturally links it with
fl pi) (except), from which it cannot be separated without
harshness, and erepov carries T>V oTrocn-oXaw (of the apostles]
with it. It seems then that St. James is here called an
Apostle." And that, we may add, means inclusion in
the Twelve : for the recorded fact that St. Paul on this
occasion saw a good deal of St. Barnabas (Acts ix. 26),
shows that the word apostle is here used in its strictest
sense, of the Twelve and them alone.
The brother of the Lord, but the son of Alphens ( Idicvftov
T&V TOV AX^aiov, Luke vi. 15), which shows that brother
here has not the ordinary English meaning. As
Theodoret explains: "He was called the brother of
the Lord, but was not so by nature. Nor yet as some
[Origen, St. Epiphanius, and others] have supposed,
was he the son of Joseph by a previous marriage, but
he was the son of Clopas [or Cleophas, otherwise
Alpheus] , and cousin of the Lord : for his mother was
the sister of the Lord s mother." See note on i Cor.
ix. 5.
GALATIANS i. 21; ii. 233
21. Syria and Cilicia. To save his life, the brethren at
Jerusalem sent him away to Tarsus (Acts ix. 30), his
native city, the capital of Cilicia, whither Barnabas
went to seek him, and brought him to Antioch, the metropolis
of Syria (Acts xi. 25).
CHAPTER II.
I. Then fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with
Barnabas, taking Titus also with me. 2. And I went up according
to revelation, and communicated to them the gospel which I preach
among the gentiles, but apart to them who seemed to be something ;
lest, perhaps, I should run, or had run, in vain. 3. But neither
Titus, who was with me, being a gentile, was compelled to be
circumcised : 4. But because of false brethren unawares brought
in, who came in privately to spy our liberty which we have in
Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage : 5. To whom
we yielded not by subjection, no, not for an hour, that the truth of
the gospel might continue with you. 6. But of them who seemed
to be something, (what they were some time, it is nothing to me:
God accepteth not the person of man ;) for to me they that seemed
to be something added nothing : 7. But on the contrary, when
they had seen that to me was committed the gospel of the uncir-
cumcision, as to Peter was that of the circumcision; 8. (For he
who wrought in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision,
wrought in me also among the gentiles:) 9. And when they had
known the grace that was given to me, James, and Cephas, and
John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right
hands of fellowship ; that we should go to the gentiles, and they to
the circumcision : 10. Only that we should be mindful of the poor ;
which same thing also I was careful to do. u, But when Cephas
was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was
blameable. 12. For before that some came from James, he did eat
with the gentiles ; but when they were come, he withdrew, and
separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
13. And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented; so
that Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation.
14. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth
of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all : If thou, being a
Jew, livest after the manner of the gentiles, and not of the Jews,
234 GALATIANS ii. i, 2.
how dost thou compel the gentiles to follow the way of Jews?
15. We by nature are Jews, and not of the gentiles sinners.
16. But knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, we also believe in Christ
Jesus, that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by
the works of the law : because by the works of the law no flesh
shall be justified. 17. But if, while we seek to be justified in
Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ then the
minister of sin ? God forbid. 18. For if I build up again the
things which I have destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19. For I, through the law, am dead to the law, that I may live to
God. With Christ I am nailed to the Cross : 20. And I live ; now
not I, but Christ liveth in me: and that I live now in. the flesh,
I live in the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered
himself for me. 21. I cast not away the grace of God : for if
justice be by the law, then Christ died in vain.
1. After fourteen years from his coming into Syria
and Cilicia (i. 21), seventeen from his conversion, i.e.
A.D. 51.
I went up again to Jerusalem. This is the journey
related in Acts xv. The intermediate journey, mentioned
in Acts xi. 29, 30, is not here alluded to.
2. According to revelation, and also at the sending of
the Christians of Antioch (Acts xv. 2), just as Peter
went to Caesarea, Cornelius sending for him, and the
Spirit bidding him go (Acts xi. n, 12). Other instances
of Heaven directing St. Paul on his courses are Acts
xxii. 17 ; xvi. 6, 9 ; xviii. 9, 10 ; xx. 22, 23 ; xxiii. 1 1.
Who seemed to be something. This is a misleading
translation of rols SOKOVO-IV, which means simply those in
position, namely, the apostles and ancients (Acts xv. 23) of
the church of Jerusalem.
Lest perhaps, in the eyes of my calumniators, / should
run or had run in vain. Cf. i Thess. iii. 5. He wanted
no assurance for himself, but a testimonial against his
adversaries: "not that I may learn aught myself, but
that I may teach the harbourers of these suspicions
that I run not in vain," as St. Chrysostom paraphrases.
GALATIANS ii. 3, 4. 235
3. Being a gentile, apparently on the side of both
his parents, in that differing from Timothy, whose
mother was a Jewess (Acts xvi. i). The reason why
St. Paul circumcised Timothy (Acts xvi. 3), and yet
would not consent to the circumcision of Titus, will
appear presently.
4. But because of false brethren. Id autem propter would
here be a better rendering of & fie than the Vulgate sed
propter. Translate : and that on account of the false brethren.
That is to say, it was on account of the false brethren
(St. Luke, Acts xv. 5, says they were some of the sect of
the Pharisees) that the authorities of the Church at
Jerusalem, following St. Paul, stood out and refused to
order the circumcision of Titus. St. Augustine explains:
" Though Titus was a gentile, and there was no
custom or kindred to compel his circumcision, as there
was with Timothy, yet Paul would readily have allowed
even Titus to be circumcised. For his doctrine was
that such circumcision was no bar to salvation : but
if the hope of salvation was fixed upon the rite, that
view of the matter he showed to be against salvation.
He could very well therefore tolerate circumcision as a
superfluity, according to the judgment that he delivered
elsewhere (i Cor. vii. 19) : Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing ; but the observation of the command
ments of God. But on account of the false brethren unawares
brought in Titus was not compelled to be circumcised :
that is to say, Paul s consent could not be extorted to
his circumcision, because they who came in privately to
spy our liberty, he says, were keeping a keen look out in
eager desire of the circumcision of Titus, that they
might straightway preach circumcision as necessary to
salvation by the witness and consent of even Paul
himself."
False brethren, cf. 2 Cor. xi. 13 ; Jude 4 ; 2 Pet.
ii. i.
236 GALATIANS ii. 5, 6.
Unawares brought in, Trapfio-u/crovs, literally, smuggled in,
contraband.
To spy our liberty, that is, our freedom from the
Jewish law, presently called a servitude. Cf. v. i, 3.
To spy of course is to act as spies, who come into a city
only to ensure its capture and enslavement.
5. No, not for an hour. King Charles s final answer,
when the Long Parliament bargained with him for the
command of the militia. The phrase npos &pav means
the same as 717)6? Kaipbv (fov awhile] in Luke viii. 13.
The exact meaning here is fov the nonce. St. Paul would
not yield to the circumcisiomsts even for this one
occasion. Otherwise an hour would have been time
enough and more for the circumcision of Titus.
The truth of the gospel. Such truths as that of there
being in Christ a new creature : the old things are passed away,
all things are made new : in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith that worketh
by charity (2 Cor. v. 17 ; Gal. v. 6).
Might continue with you, the Gentile churches.
6. Of them who seemed to be something then a long
parenthesis, ending at but on the contrary ; then a temporal
clause, when they had seen (v. 7); then another parenthesis
(v. 8) ; then a second temporal clause, and when they had
known ; and finally the apodosis, James and Cephas (v. 9).
Thus vv. 6 10 are all one long sentence.
What they were some time. It seems better for the
previous context to give on-own Trore its classical meaning,
whatever they were, i.e. however high in authority.
God accepteth not the person of man in bestowing his
revelations (i. 12). For the idea of accept the person, cf.
Deut. i. 17; x. 17; xvi. 19; 2 Par. xix. 7; Job xxxii.
22; Ecclus. xxxv. 15, 16; Matt. xxii. 16, and often in
the New Testament.
They that seemed to be something added nothing. Here
is a false antithesis, not intended by the writer, between
GALATIANS ii. 7, 8. 337
something and nothing. The words to be something are not
in the Greek, nor in the old editions of the Vulgate.
For the meaning of they that seemed see on v. 2.
Added nothing, ovSeV Trpoo-avedfvro. On the meaning of
the verb see on i. 16. The meaning here is, that the
authorities of the Church at Jerusalem, so vaunted by
the Judaizing party among the Galatians, imparted no
new knowledge of the gospel to St. Paul : they read
him no lesson upon the relations of Christianity to
Judaism, but acquiesced in the understanding of the
matter that he had by the revelation of Jesus Christ (i. 12).
7. But on the contrary, oXXa TOVVOVT LOV ; translate, but
quite the reverse. Join these words to the previous verse,
from which they should be separated only by a comma;
and put a colon after them. The words mean: they
rather learned of me than I of them. What they learned
doubtless was how the Gentile converts should be
treated, a lesson repeated at Antioch with some
emphasis (vv. n 14).
8. Innocent X., 29 Jan. 1674, condemned as heretical
the doctrine that " St. Peter and St. Paul are two
supreme pastors and governors of the Church, who
make one head, understood as asserting an all-round
equality between St. Peter and St. Paul, without sub
ordination and subjection of St. Paul to St. Peter in
the supreme command and government of the Universal
Church." Such " subordination and subjection " of
St. Paul to St. Peter is certainly not apparent in these
two verses, but nothing to the contrary is apparent
there either. It is merely a question of a division of
spheres of action, St. Peter to go on addressing himself
mainly to the Jews, and St. Paul mainly to labour for
the Gentiles. As the conversion of the Jews in Palestine
became more and more hopeless, St. Peter too (cf.
Acts xxviii. 28) left them for Antioch and for Rome.
As St. Peter had the apostleship of the circumcision, so our
238 GALATIANS ii. 9 n.
Lord was minister of the circumcision (Rom. xv. 8), without
prejudice to His universal pastorate. A Pope is none
the less Pope for being Bishop of Rome and Patriarch
of the West. So long as there appeared any human
hope of our Lord s design upon Jerusalem being fulfilled,
that it should be the first city in His Kingdom, it was
reasonable that His Vicar should remain ministering
principally to the Jews in Palestine.
That St. Paul held his commission and jurisdiction
as Apostle not of St. Peter, is clear (i. i, 12, 17 ; ii. 7) ;
but neither did John, nor James, nor any of the Twelve.
But St. Peter alone had successors as an Apostle : the
special apostolic powers of St. Paul and the rest lapsed
with their death.
Wrought in v. 8 means wrought miracles (iii. 5 ; i Cor.
iv. 20 ; xii. 10).
9. Join together when they had seen (v. 7), and when they
had known.
James the Less, the brother of the Lord (see on i. 19),
bishop of Jerusalem. He is mentioned first because
the Judaizers, whom St. Paul was opposing, sheltered
themselves most under his authority and example.
St. James the Greater had been martyred by Herod
some years before (Acts xii. 2). Cephas of course is
Peter (John i. 42).
Who seemed to be pillars (ol donovvres, see on v. 2), better,
to modern understandings, the recognised pillars.
10. Which same thing also I was careful to do, bearing
alms from the Gentile converts to the poor in Jerusalem
(Rom. xv. 26, 27; i Cor. xvi. i 4; 2 Cor. ix. ; Acts
xxiv. 17).
11. When Cephas was come to Antioch, and Paul and
Barnabas were also there (Acts xv. 30 40).
/ withstood him to the face. St. Paul speaks as though
he had done something very bold, that might well
amaze the Galatians, in withstanding Peter. The
GALATIANS ii. 12. 239
Fathers are profuse with their explanations, even extra
ordinary and quite untenable explanations, as that
Cephas was not the Apostle Peter (Clement of Alex
andria), or that the error and the reprehension was
a little piece of acting, previously arranged between
St. Peter and St. Paul as a lesson to the faithful
(St. Chrysostom and St. Jerome) : all this solicitude to
save the dignity of St. Peter! Protestant commentators
are not so solicitous. A parallel instance would be, if
some Pope wished to take up his residence again at
Avignon ; and the College of Cardinals, with the evils
of the fourteenth century before their eyes, withstood him
to his face. Certainly no Catholic would take that for
a denial of Papal infallibility.
To be blamed, Kareyj/oxr/xeVoy, condemned, not for any
error of doctrine, but for the unwisdom of his personal
conduct.
Infallibility is no guarantee of a uniformly wise
policy either in Peter or in the successors of Peter.
Infallibility in doctrine and wisdom in policy move in
different spheres.
12. Some came from James: more exactly, some of
James s people came, no doubt, all zealots for the law (Acts
xxi. 20).
He did eat with the gentiles, neglecting the Mosaic
distinction between meats clean and unclean, as he
had learned to do by revelation (Acts xi. 2 9).
He withdrew and separated himself. If we can suppose
this withdrawal to have been at the agapa (for which
see on i Cor. xi. 20, seq.), it would have involved a
separation of St. Peter and tlwse of the circumcision, i.e.
the converted Jews, from the rest of the faithful even
in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, a deplorable
division of the head from the members, enough to justify
the strong remonstrance of St. Paul. Still there is no
shadow of an indication that St. Peter here varied from
240 GALATIANS ii. 13, 14.
the teaching of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv. 5
29). It was not his purpose to compel the Gentile
converts to take up Jewish rites : but he over indulged
the prejudice of his countrymen against worshipping
in common and eating in common with Christians who
would not add to their Christianity the extra observance
of the Jewish law, as if the Pope, intimidated by
teetotalism, were weak enough to yield to a demand
that he should not grant an audience to any one who
was not a teetotaler. He might not purpose to compel
Catholics to total abstinence. His conduct would not
amount to a doctrinal declaration that alcohol is malum
in se. But the effect of his conduct would go rather
towards compelling his flock to be total abstainers.
13. This verse should be more accurately rendered.
The Greek means: And with his pretence (or pretended
scruple) the rest of the Jews fell in, so that Barnabas also was
carried away with their pretence. The verb (rvvaTrrjx^ (was
carried away as by a flood) occurs 2 Pet. iii. 17, where
it is again less accurately rendered being led aside.
14. They walked not uprightly unto the truth of the gospel.
More exactly and more intelligibly, they acted not straight
forwardly in accordance with the truth of the gospel, or, as a
modern would say, they had not the courage of their
convictions. Peter, Barnabas, and those who imitated
them, were as convinced as St. Paul that the Mosaic rule
of meats was neither a command nor a counsel in the
Christian Church : yet they returned to the observance
of it, not from fear of any persecution, but from a too
scrupulous and here injudicious sense of that same
charity which made St. Paul explaim : // meat scandalize
my brother, I will never eat flesh (i Cor. viii. 13) ; and
which prompted him afterwards, at St. James s recom
mendation, to sanctify himself with the four other men,
and have an oblation offered for him in the Temple
(Acts xxi. 20 26).
GALATIANS ii. 14. 241
The verb opdono8ovo-iv (op66s, straight, and novs, foot)
is found only here in St. Paul, and in some late imitators.
It means to walk straight, to walk being the Hebrew
idiom for to behave. St. Peter s denial was a much
more lamentable instance of not walking straight, or
behaving straightforwardly.
His faith failed not then (Luke xxii. 32), nor his
teaching on this occasion, but there was weakness in
his conduct, and pretence (vTro/cpio-is), putting on another
character than that which belonged to him, and not
daring for the nonce to proclaim himself as he really
was and really thought.
// thou, being a Jew, &c., well amplified by St. Jerome :
" If, O Peter, thou, by birth a Jew, circumcised from
tender age and guarding all the precepts of the Law,
now by the grace of Christ knowest that these obser
vances have no utility of themselves, but are patterns
and images of things to come, and so thou takest food
with them who are of the Gentiles, and art nowise
living as before under religious scruples, but freely and
indifferently ; how dost thou compel those who from
Gentiles have become believers to live as do the Jews,
withdrawing from them, and separating and setting
thyself apart from them, as though their company were
contamination ? For if they are unclean from whom
thou withdrawest, and thy withdrawal is on the ground
that they have not circumcision, thou compellest them
to be circumcised and become Jews, though thou thyself,
a born Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles."
" But the great Peter by his silence ratines what is
said," adds Theodoret.
The address to Peter ends here. He stood in no
need of a doctrinal homily from his fellow-apostle, such
as follows, vv. 15 21. "For similar instances of the
intermingling of the direct language of the speaker and
the after comment of the narrator, see John i. 15 18,
Q
242 GALATIANS ii. 15, 16.
where the testimony of the Baptist loses itself in the
thoughts of the Evangelist, and Acts i. 1621, where
St. Peter s allusion to the death of Judas is interwoven
with the after explanations of St. Luke " (Lightfoot).
At the same time there is nothing to prevent our
supposing St. Paul to have delivered an address some
thing of this tenor at Antioch, not to St. Peter, but to
the assembled multitude (before them all, v. 14), for the
instruction of the converts from Judaism.
15. We by nature are Jews. We, himself and St. Peter
and the rest, not of course the Galatians. By nature, i.e.
by birth, cf. Phil. iii. 5. " He is by nature a Jew," says
St. Jerome, " who is of the race of Abraham, and was
circumcised by his parents on the eighth day : he is not
by nature a Jew, who has become one after being of the
Gentiles." The Jews habitually called the Gentiles
sinners (cf. Matt. xxvi. 45, shall be betrayed into the hands of
sinners, the band of soldiers, Roman soldiers, mentioned
by St. John xviii. 3), as being strangers to the testament,
having no hope, and without God in this world (Eph. ii. 12).
With of the gentiles sinners, the phrase of the Old Law,
contrast that of the New Law, the brethren of the gentiles
(Acts xv. 23).
1 6. The works of the law. The precepts of the Old
Law were some ceremonial, as circumcision, the
sabbath, meats clean and unclean ; and some moral,
as the ten commandments, the third excepted (Aquinas
Ethicus, i. 309). The heresy of Pelagius in St. Augus
tine s time turned upon the observance of the moral
precepts, which of course are obligatory upon Christians
and upon all men. But the solicitude of the Judaizers,
against whom St. Paul wrote, was for the observance of
the ceremonial precepts, as days and months and times and
years (iv. 10), and principally circumcision (v. 2 n). The
observance then of these ceremonial precepts consti-
tutes the works of the law here spoken of. The Epistle
GALAT1ANS ii. 17. 243
is available against the Pelagians by the inferences that
it affords, rather than by its express statements. Cf.
however iii. 10. See note on Rom. iii. 20.
We also believe, should be, came to believe, eVio-reuo-a/xei/.
See on Rom. xiii. n.
By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified, a quota
tion (repeated Rom. iii. 20) from Psalm cxlii. 2 : no living
man shall be justified in thy sight. No living man includes
the Hebrew people, for all their observance of cere
monial precepts, the works of the law.
17. We ourselves are found sinners. That is what the
Judaizers objected, that by seeking justification in
Christ, or in the Christian dispensation alone, without
observance of the ceremonial precepts of Judaism,
St. Paul and others like him become as gentiles, sinners
(v. 15). To which his reply is : Is Christ then the minister
of sin? Have we been betrayed into sin by our con
version to the faith of Christ ? Is a Christian, who,
taking the grace of Christ to be all-sufficient for his
justification, has departed from the Mosaic rites, no
better than a mere heathen ? God forbid.
It may be objected on behalf of the Judaizing
Christian : These things, faith in Christ and baptism in
His Name, you ought to have done, and not to leave those
works of the ceremonial law of Moses undone (Matt,
xxiii. 23). < True, he might say, justice is not by the
law (v. 21) : a man is justified by the faith of Christ, and
not by the works of the law : still it was never Christ s
intention that you should part with the law in order to
go to Him : there is an utter lack of proof of the baptized
man being exempted from the ceremonial precepts, as
he certainly is not exempted from the moral precepts of
the law of Moses.
This is a real difficulty. It is not met by St. Paul
in the present passage, but it is met fully and explicitly
in the Epistle to the Hebrews, vii. 18 ix. 18: There is
244 GALATIANS ii. 18.
indeed a setting aside of the former commandment because of the
weakness and unprofitableness thereof. . . . In saying a new
(covenant), he hath made the former old. . . . The law having
a shadow of the good things to come, &c. The argument is
briefly, that types and shadows, such as the Mosaic
ritual, must yield to the substance and fulfilment, which
is come in Christ ; and that he who still clings to the
shadow as a thing of necessity to salvation, virtually
denies that the substance has yet come, in other
words, he denies that Jesus is the Messiah. And such
is the argument urged in this very epistle, iii. 24, 25 ;
iv. i 9.
If we might add to the imagery of St. Paul, we
might say that the Jewish rites were to the Christian
economy as is a scaffolding to the arch which is erected
upon it : to insist upon retaining the scaffolding as a
thing that must not be touched, after the arch was
complete and set, would be to impugn the sufficiency of
the arch.
And this, we may as well remark once more, explains
the different practice of the Church at Jerusalem and
the Gentile Churches, of St. James and St. Paul, and
even of St. Paul himself at various times (cf. Gal. ii. 3
with Acts xvi. 3), the one preserving, the other repudiat
ing the Mosaic observances. Such customs were things
indifferent in themselves (i Cor. vii. 18, 19), and might
well be permitted for a time to those who were used to
them, to bury the Synagogue with honour ; but the
moment they were made essentials to Christianity, that
was heresy and denial of our Redemption.
1 8. The things which I have destroyed are the ceremonial
works of the law which I have quitted.
A transgressor. A retort upon the Judaizers. They
said that whoever quitted the Jewish observances to
join Christ, made himself a gentile, a sinner (vv. 17, 15)..
No, says St. Paul, * you are the sinner, you the trans-
GALATIANS ii. 19. 245
gressor, you the gentile fallen away from the Israel of
God (vi. 16: cf. Rom. ix. 6), who after believing in
Christ, have gone back as to things of necessary
observance to those works and ceremonies of the law,
which the coming of the Messiah has superseded and
rendered nugatory. You call me a false Jew : I say
you are no true Christian, and therefore no genuine son
of Abraham (iii. 29; v. 22, 31), but a stranger to the
testament (Eph. ii. 12), like one lapsed into heathendom.
19. 7 through the law am dead to the law, literally, 7
through law died to law. The best commentary on this is
Rom. vii. 8 n, and i Cor. xv. 56. Syllogistically it
would stand thus : What gave me knowledge of con
cupiscence and sin, what gave occasion to sin, what
quickened sin, what is the strength of sin, through that
I died (morally and spiritually). But law did this and
is this. Therefore through law I died, and to law, or so
far as law was concerned, I became as one dead morally
and spiritually. In this state of spiritual death the
grace of Christ found me, and gave me life, and a new
law with strength to keep it, not the mere law of Moses,
graven on tables of stone, nor a mere natural law
written in the conscience of humanity, but a law of
love, promulgated by Christ and carried out through
His grace, which law of love does not carry with it the
ceremonial observances of the Old Law. Such is the
explanation given by St. Chrysostom : " Through law
I died to law : for the law commands men to do all that
is written in it, and chastises him who does it not. At
that rate we have all died to it, for no one has fulfilled
it [i.e. apart from the grace of Christ, there has been
no thoroughly law-observing man] . As then it is
impossible for a corpse and a dead man to obey the
commands of the law, so neither is it possible for me
who have died under the curse of the law. Let it not
then dictate to the dead man, whom itself has slain."
246 GALATIANS ii. 20, 21.
Law here (vopos without the usual article) is law in
general, particularly the Mosaic law in all its extent,
but including also the natural law ; all mere law away
from the grace of Christ.
With Christ I am nailed to the cross. Explained by
Rom. vi. 6.
20. And I live, now not I, &&gt; Se OVKCTI f yo>, and no longer
do I live.
Christ liveth in me. This is the new life of baptism,
by which I am dead to sin, and live in the image of
Christ my Saviour (Rom. vi. 4 ; 2 Cor. v. 15 ; Col. ii. 12 ;
iii. 13).
And that I live now in the flesh means, And the life
that I live now, since my baptism, still a mortal man
among other men. St. Paul speaks in the first person,
uttering the innermost sentiment of his own heart, but
in the name of all Christians as such.
21. / cast not away the grace of God, the grace of
baptism, described in the two previous verses, as they
do, who by clinging to Mosaic observances, and placing
their hopes of salvation in them, make Christ to have
died gratuitously (Scoped, gratis], it being enough for
salvation in their view to be disciples of Moses (John
ix. 28). This view was not expressed formally and
fully by the Judaizers, as that would have meant sheer
apostasy from Christianity, but St. Paul, it seems, was
thinking of the effect which their teaching would have
on minds which accepted it. We must remember the
fanatical attachment of the Jews of that date to the
ceremonial precepts as well of Moses as of the later
Rabbis, and the sense of self-righteousness engendered
by the observance of those rules. Cf. Luke xviii.
10 12; Matt, xxiii. 5, 16 23. Formalism took the
place of the weightier things of the law, even of the Old
Law. It threatened to arrest the transition from the
Old Law to the New (Heb. viii. 7 13); to make men
GALATIANS iii. 247
forget God their Saviour (Isaias xvii. 10), the merits of
His death, the value of His ordinances, and rank no
higher than Elias or Jeremias Him who was the Christ
(Matt. xvi. 14, 16) ; and at the same time to put a yoke
upon the necks of the disciples, sure to prevent any wide
acceptance of the Gospel among the heathen (Acts xv.
10). That is why St. Paul spent great part of his
energies in combating the Judaizers, whose system, be
it observed, presents several curious analogies with
Puritanism and with Jansenism.
CHAPTER III.
I. O senseless Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been set forth, crucified among you ? 2. This only would I learn
of you : Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by
the hearing of faith ? 3. Are you so foolish that, whereas you
began in the Spirit, you would now be made perfect by the flesh ?
4. Have you suffered so great things in vain ? if yet in vain.
5. He therefore who giveth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles
among you, doth he do it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of the faith ? 6. As it is written : Abraham believed God,
and it was reputed to him unto justice. 7. Know ye, therefore,
that they who are of faith are the children of Abraham. 8. And
the Scripture, foreseeing that God justifieth the gentiles by faith,
told Abraham before: In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9. Therefore, they who are of the faith shall be blessed with the
faithful Abraham. 10. For as many as are of the works of the law
are under a curse : for it is written : Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the
law, to do them. II. But that by the law no man is justified
with God, it is manifest : because, The just man liveth by faith.
12. But the law is not of faith : but, He that doeth these things
shall live in them. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us ; for it is written : Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree : 14. That the blessing of
Abraham might come on the gentiles through Christ Jesus ; that
we may receive the promise of the Spirit by faith. 15. Brethren,
248 GALATIANS in. i.
(I speak after the manner of man,) yet a man s testament, if it be
confirmed, no man despiseth, nor addeth to it. 16. To Abraham
were the promises made, and to his seed. He saith not : And to
his seeds, as of many ; but as of one : And to thy seed, who is
Christ. 17. Now this I say, that the testament, which was con
firmed by God, the law, which was made after four hundred and
thirty years, doth not disannul, to make the promise of no effect.
18. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise :
but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19. Why then was the
law ? It was set because of transgressions, till the seed should
come to whom he made the promise, being ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator. 20. Now a mediator is not of one, but
God is one. 21. Was the law, then, against the promises of God ?
God forbid : for if there had been a law given which could give
life, verily justice should have been by the law. 22. But the
Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by the
faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23. But
before that faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto
that faith which was to be revealed. 24. Wherefore the law was
our pedagogue in Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a peda
gogue. 26. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ
have put on Christ. 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for you are
all one in Christ Jesus. 29. And if you be Christ s, then you are
the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.
i. In this verse the words, that you should not obey the
tmth, as the best MSS. show, are a gloss from v. 7 :
also the among you is doubtful : so that the verse as
St. Paul wrote it probably ran : senseless Galatians, who
hath bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been set
forth crucified.
From this point of the Epistle, as St. Chrysostom
observes, the Apostle, "having established his own
credit as a teacher, discourses with greater authority."
Who hath bewitched you ? The reference is to the
evil eye, which Italians still believe in. St. Paul
merely draws a metaphor from the notion, as one might
call a house rebuilt after a fire phoenix-like, without
GALATIANS iii. 24. 249
pledging oneself to the fabulous history of that bird.
He says : * One would think that the evil eye of a
sorcerer had caught and fascinated you, the sorcerer
being he who insisted upon the necessity, or at least the
high expediency, of Jewish observances for Christians.
Before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been set forth (irpoeypa^,
written up in public) crucified. The power of the evil
eye was defeated by the intended victim fixing his
gaze on something else, and not catching the eye of the
sorcerer. St. Paul then, keeping up the metaphor,
says : * Why did you not keep your eyes on that public
notice of Jesus Christ crucified, which I had set clearly
before you ? He means that if they had kept well in
view the sufficiency of the atonement that Christ made
for us upon the cross, they would never have thought
of eking that atonement out by the now exploded
observances of the Jewish ceremonial law.
2. Receive the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, whom we also
receive in Baptism and Confirmation, but whose recep
tion in those days was rendered sensible by a profusion
of miraculous gifts, for which see i Cor. xiv. To these
miraculous powers, which the Galatians must also have
enjoyed, St. Paul now appeals in evidence.
The hearing of faith, OKOTJ Triorca?, like vira^or) Trt o-recoy,
Rom. i. 5 ; xvi. 26, the hearing, or obedience, that comes of
faith.
3. The Greek has two interrogations: Are you so
foolish ? Having begun in the spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh ? The same two verbs to begin and to
make perfect are conjoined in 2 Cor. viii. 6, and Phil. i. 6.
They are used especially of the beginning and the
completion of a religious rite. In the spirit means by
the grace of the Holy Ghost, with all its miraculous
accompaniments then given in baptism. By the flesh
means by circumcision.
4. Suffered so great things, persecution for the faith.
250 GALATIANS iii. 59.
The age of martyrs had not yet set in : Christianity was
safe by its obscurity : but there were local annoyances,
cf. Heb. x. 33, 34.
In vain, if yet in vain. The last words are added to
show that all is not lost : the Apostle hopes that the
past sufferings of the Galatians for the faith will not be
in vain. We are not to conceive of the Galatians as
apostates, or people fallen from grace (v. 5), or as having
generally submitted to circumcision (v. 2, 3). They
were wavering, but yet unrouted soldiers of Christ.
5. This verse is a repetition of v. 3. The hearing of
the faith is a mistake for the hearing of faith, explained
above.
6. It is written ought to be away. The sentence
runs, the hearing of faith, as Abraham believed, or had
faith, &c., a quotation from Gen. xv. 6, enlarged upon
in Rom. iv., which see.
7 9. Rom. ix. 6 8.
The Scripture foreseeing, that is, the Holy Ghost, the
Author of Scripture, foreseeing.
Told before, TrpoevT/yyeXtVaro, told the. glad tidings before.
The quotation that followed is a fusion of two passages,
Gen. xii. 3 ; xviii. 18.
Therefore they that are of faith, &c. The argument is
this : All nations shall be blessed in Abraham, in his
person, as being contained in him and springing from
him, in other words, as his children. But the nations,
the Gentiles, are not children of Abraham by nature,
nor again by any adoption, coming of their receiving
the covenant of circumcision (Gen. xvii.) and keeping
the Jewish law. Therefore nothing is left for them but
to be adopted children of Abraham, solely as sharing
his faith, and thereby inheriting the blessing which that
faith drew down.
The Apostle goes on to argue that for those who
will not have faith as Abraham had faith, born Jews
GALATIANS iii. 10 12. 251
though they be, there is reserved not a blessing, but a
curse.
10. As many as are of the works of the law is opposed
to those who are of faith (v. 9), and means persons who
putting aside faith in Christ as unnecessary, or at least
insufficient, seek their justification by the works of the
Mosaic law, by which we are to understand especially,
though not exclusively, the ceremonial observances of
that law, not exclusively, as appears by reading the
series of maledictions, Deut. xxvii. 15 26, the last of
which is here quoted.
But the Judaizer might reply : * True we are under a
curse, inasmuch as we are threatened with one, if we
disobey : but we are not actually cursed, for we have
kept the law. St. Paul s argument assumes that they
have not kept the law, as well for its difficulty (Acts
xv. 10), as also on this account, that the law shows sin
(Rom. iii. 20; iv. 15), but does not afford strength to
overcome sin : that comes only of faith and the grace
of Christ (Rom. viii. 2, 3).
11. The just man liveth (t^o-erai, shall live) by faith.
Quoted from Habacuc ii. 4, here, and again Rom. i. 17 ;
Heb. x. 38. The Hebrew has, shall live in his faith ; and
the Greek, shall live of faith in me. The prophet promises
deliverance from the Chaldean invader, after a period
of waiting, during which time the incredulous will sin
by his incredulity, but the just man, having faith in the
promise made on the part of God, shall live through
the trial.
12. The law is not of faith. As St. Thomas explains:
" The precepts of the law are not of things to believe,
but of things to do, although it does announce some
thing for belief; and therefore its virtue is not of faith,
but of works. And he proves this, because God wishing
to confirm the law did not say, He that believeth, but, He
that doeth these things (Lev. xviii. 5) : but the New Law is
25 2 GALATIANS iii. 13.
of faith, for, He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved
(Mark xvi. 16)." The Old Law, as such, afforded no
grace of faith for men to believe in the God who gave
it. Such grace was indeed afforded under the Old
Law, but not by the Law, by anticipation of the merits
of Christ our Saviour ; and on these merits, and on
faith and hope in Christ to come, it depended whether
observance of the Old Law, in the days when it was in
force, should avail a man for life everlasting.
13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
incurred by non-observance, as explained under vv. 10,
ii. From this curse of the law Christ was exempt, as
being of Himself the Lamb unspotted and undefiled (i Pet.
i. 19). And yet he is said to have been made a curse, as
also to have been made sin (see on 2 Cor. v. 21). Taking
upon Himself the sins of the whole world, He chose to
appear not so much a sinner as sin itself; and taking
upon Himself the curse incurred by all, He willed to
appear not so much accursed as a curse.
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Deut. xxi. 23).
Crucifixion or impalement was not a Jewish method of
execution, except under circumstances quite unusual,
e.g. Num. xxv. 4. The Gabaonites, who crucified the
sons of Saul (2 Kings xxi. 9), were not of the children of
Israel. But the dead body of a criminal was sometimes
fastened up. This was to be taken down and buried
the same day, lest it should pollute the land, the Holy
Land, the suspended body of the malefactor being an
accursed thing. This legal curse our Saviour incurred in
His crucifixion ; and His Body was taken down before
sunset in accordance with the prescription of Deuter
onomy, especially urgent in His case, as that sunset
ushered in the great sabbath-day (John xix. 31). This
scandal of the cross (v. 11 ; i Cor. i. 23) was often in the
mouths of the Jews to taunt the Christians. St. Paul
glories in it (vi. 14), and shows cause.
GALATIANS iii. 1416. 253
14. The blessing of Abraham, promised to Abraham for
his faith (vv. 8, 9), thanks to the curse that our Saviour
bore upon the cross, has descended upon Jews, who
were under the curse of the law, and upon Gentiles
also, as many as will imitate Abraham by faith.
The promise of the Spirit means the promised Spirit.
15. Brethren. After the abrupt addresses of i. 6,
and iii. i, St. Paul is come back to his habitual
kindliness.
/ speak after the manner of man, i.e. I borrow an example
from human life, as in i Cor. ix. 7.
Yet a mans testament ; Spots dv6pa>7rov diad^rjv, though it be
but a man s covenant, yet, &c. : see i Cor. xiv. 7 for a
similar use of Sp<*s. The word diaff^rj in classical Greek
generally, though not quite always, means a last will and
testament , and so it does in Heb. ix. 16, 17. But the
corresponding Hebrew word berith means simply a cove
nant. In the present passage we shall translate testament
or covenant, according as we consider the Apostle s mind
to have been swayed by the ordinary meaning of the
Greek word he used, or by the meaning of its Hebrew
original. The argument holds well enough either way.
In favour of the rendering testament is the verb in the
same verse, eViStardo-o-frai (addeth to it), if we observe that
Starao-o-o/icu means / make a will, and tVi-iSia^/cr/ means
a codicil.
Despiseth, an inadequate translation of dderel (in the
Vulgate spernit), setteth aside. A covenant is not to be
cancelled, nor re-written; a will is neither to be set
aside nor modified by a codicil ; once the covenant is
confirmed, or ratified, KeKvp^vrjv, or the will made final by
the death of the testator (Heb. ix. 17).
1 6. To Abraham were the promises made and to his seed.
The promises referred to are : All the land that thou
beholdest, I will give to thee and to thy seed for ever (Gen.
xiii. 15) ; and, / will give to thee and to thy seed the land of
2 54 GALATIANS in. 17.
thy sojourning, all the land of Chanaan for an everlasting
possession, and I will be their God (Gen. xvi. 8).
The word seed in all this context is the exact Hebrew
and Greek equivalent of the English word issue, which
may be conveniently substituted for it. We do not
speak of issues in the sense of sons, nor is the Hebrew
word used in the plural in this sense. But the cognate
Chaldee word is ; and the Greek plural o-Trep/xara, seeds,
i.e. sons, is found in Plato, Laws, 853 C ; Sophocles,
(Ed. Col. 600 ; and approaches to that sense in Josephus,
Antiq. viii. 7, 6, and in the apocryphal Fourth of Macca
bees, xvii. Still the argument from the non-employment
of the exceedingly rare plural issues, instead of the usual
singular form issue, is not of itself very strong. Its
strength lies in its association with the tradition of the
Jewish schools, of which it is an outcome. It is a
Rabbinical argument, and points to the continuous
belief of the Rabbis, who under the Old Law were the
authorised interpreters of Scripture, that the seed, or
issue of Abraham, to which the promises of the land
were made, was not a multitude of separate individuals,
but one person, Christ, the King of Israel. His was to
be the land of promise, and His people s, for that they
were His people.
The land of promise, which is literally the country
of Palestine, is taken by St. Paul in the spiritual sense
for the kingdom of heaven (Matt. xxv. i), the Church on
earth; and further for: -the kingdom of Christ and of God
(Eph. v. 5), the Church in heaven (cf. Heb. iv. 8 n).
So the descendants of Abraham, who share spiritually
in the promises made to him, are not his mere carnal
posterity, but the inheritors of his faith in Christ (iii.
9, 29).
17. The verse means that the law, given to Moses,
does not disannul the testament, or covenant, made with
Abraham. It is an application to Divine conduct of
GALATIANS iii. 17. 255
what is said after the manner of man in v. 15. God Himself
cannot set aside His testament, or covenant, when made in
the form of an express promise to Abraham and to his seed,
Christ (cf. Ps. Ixxxviii. 35, 36). Nor can He load His
promise with conditions, which were not put in when
the promise was first given and accepted. But the
observance of the Mosaic law would have been the
laying on of a huge condition (cf. Acts xv. 10, n) to
the promise, centuries after the pact was complete.
Therefore the works of the law, its ceremonial observances,
are in no manner of way to be brought forward as
conditions for the fulfilment of the promises made of
old to Christ, and to us in Christ, the promise of eternal
inheritance (Heb. ix. 15). Such is St. Paul s argument
in this place.
There is a difficulty, which however does not touch
the argument, a chronological difficulty about the four
hundred and thirty years, which seems to be all the time
that St. Paul allows between the promise made to
Abraham and the giving of the law on Mount Sina ;
whereas from the ages of the patriarchs it is manifest
that some two hundred years must have elapsed between
this promise and the going of the Israelites into Egypt ;
while from Gen. xv. 3 ; Acts vii. 6 ; Exod. xii. 40, it
appears that their stay in Egypt was of four hundred,
or in exact numbers, four hundred and thirty years.
Why then does not St. Paul say six hundred and thirty
years ?
One solution of the difficulty is by correcting the
Hebrew text of Exod. xii. 40 from the Greek of the
Septuagint, where after in the land of Egypt is added
and in the land of Chanaan, thus reducing the sojourn in
Egypt to some two hundred and thirty years. Another
solution is suggested from Matt. i. 9, where three
generations are omitted between Joram and Ozias, as
appears from 4 Kings viii. 25; xi. 2; xiv. i, 21 ; and
256 GALATIANS in. 18, 19.
yet in v. 1 7 we read : From David to the transmigration of
Babylon are fourteen generations. The Bible is an Oriental
book, written to Oriental, not European standards of
historical accuracy. Understatement of itself is not
falsehood. To an understated number our fastidious
ears require the prefix of an at least, which St. Paul
and St. Matthew and the people they lived with were
very willing to forego, except perhaps in money matters
(Luke xvi. 7). If four hundred and thirty years, the
duration of the Israelites stay in Egypt, were abund
antly enough for St. Paul s argument of the law being
at a much later date than the promise, why should we
insist on his adding in the other two hundred years ?
They made nothing to his purpose.
It is also possible that the fact of the promise made
to Abraham having been renewed to Isaac (Gen.
xxvi. 3 5) and Jacob (Gen. xxviii. 13 15 ; xxxv. 12 ;
xlviii. 4), may have moved St. Paul deliberately to omit
these years in which these patriarchs and their race
dwelt in the land of Chanaan.
18. Read Romans iv. for another statement of the
case here concluded. The conclusion now arrived at
is that the inheritance promised to Abraham, the
promised land, taken for that which it spiritually repre
sented, the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. iii. 8, set
forth in Eph. i. iii.), was not of the nature of wages
for the observance of the Mosaic law. Hence the
question naturally arises, which is asked in the next
verse :
19. Why then was the law ? The answer to this
question takes us up to iv. 7.
It was set because of transgressions, T&V Trapafido-fw x<*P LV >
literally, because of the transgressions (which were to
take place) until the seed should come, i.e. Christ, v. 16: for
where there is no law, neither is there transgression (Rom.
iv. 15). The law then was to conclude all under sin, i.e.
GALATIANS Hi. 20. 257
as St.Chrysostom explains, " to convict them and show
them their own offences : for since the Jews did not
perceive their own sins, and not perceiving them had
no desire of the remission of them, He gave the law
revealing their wounds, that they might long for the
physician."
The law given on Sin a, being ordained, ordered,
set forth in detail, by angels (Heb. ii. 2 ; Acts vii. 53).
The angels may have been the immediate authors of
the prodigies on Mount Sina : nay an angel there may
have spoken in the place of God (Exod. xix. 16, seq.).
In the hand of. A Hebraism for by the agency of. So
Acts vii. 35 ; Num. iv. 37, seq.
A mediator. Moses. Cf. Exod. xx. 19 ; Deut. v.
23 27. A world of confusion has been created about
this passage, by the commentators who have taken
the mediator here to be Christ. The verse that follows
has been explained in some four hundred different
ways.
20. Now a mediator is not of one, but of two contracting
parties, whom he brings together, and who make
through him what is called a bilateral, or two-sided
contract, of the form, I do or give this, on condition
that you do or give that, under which conditional form
the parties are reciprocally bound.
The Mosaic Law was a covenant of this nature : he
that doeth these things shall live in them (v. 12): read the
celebrated chapter, Deut. xxviii. Consequently the
Mosaic covenant might fail and come to nought, through
the infidelity of one of the two contracting parties, the
Jewish people. Not so the promise made to Abraham,
which was no bilateral contract, not a thing ordained
in the hand of a mediator, bringing two parties together,
and binding them on condition of mutual good faith ;
but there was only one contracting party in that
promise, and He was God, promising gratuitously and
R
258 GALATIANS iii. 21, 22.
absolutely. This is the significance of St. Paul s some
what abrupt addition, But God is one.
The verse is a sort of last touch to the argument
begun at v. 6, to show that the law, with its conditions
of works, can be no substitution for the promise made
to Abraham, simply for his faith. Rather it might
seem that, such a promise having been made, the law
ought never to have been superadded. This difficulty
St. Paul proceeds to consider.
21. If there had been a law given which could give life
eternal, justice, or supernatural holiness, should -have been
by the law, not by faith, and then the law would have
been against the promises (Rom. iv. 13, 14). But, the
argument goes on, the law could not give life. This
seems inconsistent with the text quoted in v. 12: He
that doeth these things shall live in them : till we remember
that this was just the weakness of the law, that it could
not get itself kept (Rom. ii. 1724; iii. 9 20), it
made no provision for securing its own observance ;
it was barren of grace, without which man cannot
steadily resist sin, which grace comes only of faith in
the Redeemer promised to Abraham, and since sent
into the world.
22. The Scripture, fj ypa^, rather, the text: this word
in the singular means, not the Scriptures generally
(m ypafai), but some special text. St. Paul may here
refer, as in ii. 16, to Ps. cxlii. 2.
Hath concluded all tinder sin. For the sense cf. Rom.
iii. 9 ; and for the word concluded, wviKkfivev, Rom. xi. 32.
The Scripture marks the fact, that all mankind are
brought into and held under the category of sinners,
as fish might be driven into and caught in a net,
and, so to speak, concluded there.
That the promise, i.e. the spiritual inheritance promised
to Abraham, might be given to them that believe, not for
their observance of the Jewish law, which was powerless
GALATIANS iii. 2326. 259
to justify, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, who is made unto
us justice and sanctification and redemption (i Cor. i. 30).
For the Jewish law substitute the exigences and
decencies of modern civilised society, and St. Paul s
words have their application to this day. These decent
observances are all insufficient before God without faith,
hope, and charity. And there is no faith without a
creed : there is small hope and charity without sacra
ments ; and creed and sacraments find no custodian
except in a divinely preserved and divinely guided
Church.
23. Before the faith came, that is, the object of our
faith, Christ.
Shut up, as captives and prisoners under the bonds
of the law,
Unto that faith that was to be revealed, i.e. waiting for
the coming of Christ, who has made us free (iv. 31).
24. The pedagogue (Traidayayos, child-leader) was not
a schoolmaster, but a slave who took the boy to school,
saw that he went, and guarded him from danger on the
way.
In Christ, fls xP l(rr v > unto Christ. The law led us like
children to the school of Christ, the acceptance of
whose teaching is called faith.
25. We are no longer under a pedagogue. The peda
gogue leaves the child when he passes in at the school
door.
26. You are all the children of God. The emphasis is
on the word all, which stands first in the Greek. All,
both Gentiles and Jews. The Galatian converts were
principally of the Gentiles, which may be the reason
why the Apostle passes from we to you. The argument
is developed in the beginning of the next chapter. The
Christian, whoever he be, and of whatsoever race and
belief before his conversion, stands to the Jew under
the Mosaic law, as the grown up son to the child, and
260 GALATIANS iii. 2729.
is consequently emancipated from the state of tutelage,
which is the essence of that law.
Faith in Christ Jesus. The Latin Vulgate takes these
words together: but the construction is more probably:
You are all children of God in Christ Jems by faith. Cf. iv.
4, 5; Eph. i. 5.
27. Baptized in Christ, els XP^TOV, unto Christ, dedicated
to Him, and made part of His mystical body. See on
Rom. vi. 3, 4.
Have put on Christ. " For if Christ is the Son of
God, and you have put Him on, having the. Son in
yourself and being likened to Him, you are brought to
one kindred and one form with Him " (St. Chrysostom).
All this is very inadequately expressed by saying that
we are conformed to Christ in the imitation of His
virtues. The Fathers say much more than that : e.g.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem : " You are made of the same
form with the Son of God. God has made us of the
same form with the glorious Body of Christ. Being then
made partakers of Christ, you are rightly called other
Christs " (Catech. 21). And again, St. Chrysostom in
the verse next following : " You have all one form, one
impress, that of Christ. What could be more awful
than these words? Greek and Jew, even the slave
of yesterday, goes about in the form, not of angel or
archangel, but of the very Lord of all."
28. All these differences of nationality, condition,
and sex, are merged in the Christian character. You
are all one (one man, els-, though the Vulgate has unum,
one thing) in Christ Jesus.
29. Well explained by Theodoret : " If we are the
body of Christ, and He is our head, at the same time
that He is called the seed of Abraham, then through
Him we are allied to Abraham by faith, and reap the
blessing of the promise : for it is impossible for the head
to be of Abraham, and the body to be of any other."
GALATIANS iv. 261
CHAPTER IV.
I. Now I say : As long as the heir is a child, he differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all ; 2. But is under
tutors and governors until the time appointed by the father.
3. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world. 4. But when the fulness of the time was
come, God sent his son, made of a woman, made under the law;
5. That he might redeem those who were under the law ; that we
might receive the adoption of sons. 6. And because you are sons,
God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying : Abba,
Father. 7. Therefore now he is no more a servant, but a son : and
if a son, an heir also through God. 8. But then, indeed, not
knowing God, you served them who by nature are no gods. 9. But
now, after that you have known God, or rather are known of God,
how turn you again to the weak and poor elements which you are
desirous to serve again ? 10. You observe days, and months, and
times, and years, n. I am in fear for you, lest perhaps I have
laboured in vain among you. 12. Be ye as I ; for I also am as you ;
brethren, I beseech you : you have not injured me at all. 13. And
you know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel
to you heretofore . and your temptation in my flesh. 14. You
despised not nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God,
even as Christ Jesus. 15. Where is then your blessedness ? For I
bear you witness, that, if it could be done, you would have plucked
out your own eyes, and would have given them to me. 16. Am I
then become your enemy in telling you the truth ? 17. They are
zealous in your regard not well ; but they would exclude you, that
you might be zealous for them. 18. But be zealous for that which
is good in a good thing always ; and not only when I am present
with you, 19. My little children, of whom I am in labour again,
until Christ be formed in you. 20. And I would willingly be
present with you now, and change my voice : because I am ashamed
for you. 21. Tell me, you that desire to be under the law, have
you not read the law ? 22. For it is written : that Abraham had
two sons, the one by a bond-woman, and the other by a free-
woman. 23. But he that was by the bond-woman was born
according to the flesh ; but he by the free-woman was by the
promise. 24. Which things are said by an allegory : for these are
the two testaments ; the one indeed on Mount Sina, which bringeth
forth unto bondage, which is Agar. 25. For Sina is a mountain in
Arabia, which hath an affinity with that which now is Jerusalem,
262 GALATIANS iv. 13.
and is in bondage with her children. 26. But that Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is our mother. 27. For it is written :
Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not ; break forth and cry out,
thou that travailest not : for many are the children of the desolate,
more than of her that hath a husband. 28. Now we, brethren, as
Isaac was, are the children of the promise. 29. But as then he
who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born
according to the Spirit, so also now. 30. But what saith the
Scripture ? Cast out the bond-woman and her son : for the son of
the bond-woman shall not be heir with the son of the free-woman.
31. Therefore, brethren, we are not the children of the bond
woman, but of the free : by the freedom wherewith Christ hath
made us free.
1. There are three stages of divine sonship (by
adoption): (a) the Jew under the Old Law, cf. Rom.
ix. 4, $>v f) vioQeaia ; (b] the Christian under the New
Law ; (c) The Saint in heaven. St. Paul says that the
first stands to the second as the heir, still a minor, to
the heir of full age. The same proportion may also be
instituted between the second and the third.
The father of this child is supposed to be dead.
But every comparison halts : Our Father in heaven
never dies.
2. Tutors and governors, eirirpoTrovs KCU oiKovopovs, the
former being controllers of his person, the latter of his
property.
Until the time appointed by the father, or more usually
by the law, for the termination of his minority.
3. When we were children, under the Old Law.
The elements of the world. This expression occurs
three times in St. Paul, here, and in Col. ii. 8, 20, to
which we may add v. 9, below, weak and needy elements.
It is always in connection with some observance of a
calendar, as below, v. 10, days and months and times and
years ; and Col. ii. 16, in respect of a festival day, or of the
new moon, or of the sabbaths. The elements of the world then
are the sun and moon, as determining sabbaths, new
GALATIANS iv. 49. 263
moons, and the other recurring festivals of the Jewish
calendar. As late as the fifth century, the observance
of Jewish feasts by Christians drew down the strong
animadversions of the pastors of the Church.
4. Made of a woman, made under the law. The word
ytvoptvov, twice repeated, lends itself equally well to
the translation, born of a women, born under the law, and the
sense is the same. The reading ytwa^vov in the first
clause is absurd, as that would mean in the act of being
born.
5. He was born under the law, and bore the curse of
the law (iii. 13), that he might redeem them that were under
the law. Again, Son of God as He was, He was born of
a -woman, and became our brother, that we might receive
the adoption of sons.
6. God (the Father) hath sent the Spirit of his Son.
This is one of the texts quoted to prove the procession
of the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son.
Crying, i.e. as explained in the parallel text, Rom.
viii. 15, 1 6, whereby we cry.
Abba, Father. Abba was the very word used by our
Lord (Mark xiv. 16), and was joined by the first
Christians in affectionate remembrance with the corres
ponding Greek word for Father.
7. He is not now a servant. A better reading is, Thou
art not. The conclusion is that, as a son come of age,
you are free from the servile state of pupillage, which
was the Jewish law.
8. Taken out of its Greek dress, this sentence would
be Englished : Formerly, when you served those who by nature
are not gods, it was because you did not know God.
9. After that you have known God, more literally, have
recognised God.
Or rather, are known by God. Say, are recognised by God
and owned by Him for His own, a very common phrase,
e.g. Ps, i. 6 ; i Cor. viii. 3 ; xiii. 12. For the doctrine,
264 GALATIANS iv. 10.
i John iv. 10: Not as though we had loved God, but because
he hath first loved us.
Weak and needy elements. On elements see note on v. 3.
The elements are the sun and moon, which the pagans
worshipped as gods, and the relative positions of which
to the earth determined the feasts in the Jewish calendar.
These elements are called weak, because the rites cele
brated upon observation of them in the Jewish law had
no power to justify : they are called needy, or beggarly,
because those rites even at their best were but shadows
of good to come. Cf. Heb. vii. 18: the weakness and
unprofitableness thereof.
Which (elements, sun, moon, and stars) you desire to serve
again. Well explained by Theodoret : "He goes about
to show that the observance of days according to the
law is idolatry. Before you were granted your call to
the faith, he says, you served them that were not by
nature gods, making gods of the elements ; but from
this error Christ our Lord delivered you ; now, strangely
enough, you are going back to the same error : for in
keeping sabbaths and new moons and the other days,
and fearing to transgress these observances, you are
like those that make gods of the elements." The law,
in its own proper period, was holy and just and good
(Rom. vii. 12): but now that Christ has come and
fulfilled what the law foreshadowed, to take the cere
monial law for a binding obligation, or even for a better
good, is a superstitious and soul-destroying idolatry.
10. You observe days, recurring weekly, sabbaths ; and
months, new moons (cf. Isai. Ixvi. 23) ; and times, the
annual festivals of the Passover, Pentecost, and Taber
nacles (John vii. 2 on the Jewish feasts generally read
Levit. xxiii.) ; and years, the sabbatical year (Levit.
xxv. 4).
This text may have given some colour to the old
Puritan objection against Christmas Day and other
GALATIANS iv. 12, 13. 265
feasts of the Church s calendar though, be it noted, it
is not less applicable against the sabbath. But the
reproach of the Apostle falls, not on Christian feasts,
which were yet in their infancy, but on Jewish celebra
tions, from the keeping of which the Judaizing teachers
hoped gradually to lead on the Galatians to circumcision
and the rest of Jewish observances. Cf. Col. ii. 16.
12. This passage, vv. 12 21, is one of the most
touching expressions of personal feeling in St. Paul, and
makes amends to the Galatians for the somewhat stern
tone of the earlier portion of the Epistle.
Be ye as I, because I also am as yon. More literally,
become ye (ytWo-$f) as I, because I also am become as you.
It means : put aside Jewish observances, as I have
done, because I, born a Jew, have become a stranger to
such observances as much as you native Gentiles.
You have not injured me. ( I have no personal complaint
against you : quite the contrary (v. 14).
13. Through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel to
you heretofore, rather, on the first occasion, TO Trporepov, refer
ring to the former of his two visits to Galatia (Acts xvi. 6 ;
xviii. 23). He preached then <V do-devfiav o-ap/coy, per infir-
mitatem carnis (Vulg.), or as St. Jerome rightly has it,
propter infivmitatem cavnis, i.e. by reason of infirmity of the
flesh, not in infirmity, which would be & ao-<9Wa$-, a dis
tinction which is maintained no less in Hellenistic than
in classical Greek, as examination of the uses of 8ia in
the Old and New Testament proves. The plain meaning
of the words then is that it was some illness, not men
tioned by St. Luke, that detained St. Paul in his first
passage through Galatia, and led to his preaching
where he would otherwise have simply travelled through
to what seemed more promising ground. See the passage,
Acts xvi. 6.
And your temptation in my flesh. In all other texts but
the Latin Vulgate, and in the earlier editions of the
2 66 GALATIANS iv. 1518.
Vulgate itself, there is no stop after flesh. The words
really belong to v. 14, and we should read: And your
temptation in my flesh you did not despise. The first edition
of the Rheims version, in 1583, reads: And your tentation
in my flesh you despised not. The phrase is indeed harsh,
but the meaning is clear : Shocked as you were at my
bodily ailment, the mysterious thorn in the flesh of
2 Cor. xii. 7, apparently a recurring thing, and painful
to behold and tempted as you were to despise me
and reject my teaching, still you despised not nor rejected
me. Some have thought St. Paul s ailment to have
been epilepsy. It has been well compared to the
strange malady that haunted King Alfred upon his own
petition. See Father Knight s Life of King Alfred,
Quarterly Series, pp. 30, 31.
15. Where then is your blessedness ? /ia/capicr/io?, your
felicitation of yourselves at having gotten me for your
teacher ?
1 6. Your enemy. We gather from the Clementine
Homilies that the later Judaizers actually called
St. Paul " the enemy."
The truth, so unpleasant to Galatian ears, must have
been told them on the second visit (Acts xviii. 23), to
which he refers, i. 9 ; v. 21.
17. They, the teachers who insist on Jewish observ
ances.
But they would exclude yon. The but takes up the not
well. Exclude you, or shut you off from all other teaching
than their own.
Be zealous for them, pay regard to them, look up to
and admire them, of course to the exclusion of St. Paul.
1 8. Be zealous for what is good in a good thing always.
It is difficult to attach any meaning to these words.
They represent in fact a wrong reading, frXova-Oe (be
zealous), the imperative, for the infinitive, frXova-dai. The
imperative is found indeed in the Sinaitic and Vatican
GALATIANS iv. 19, 20. 267
manuscripts, as well as in the Latin Vulgate, but the
weight of manuscript and patristic evidence is against
it. It represents also an impossible formation, the
verb frXv not being used in the middle voice. Lastly,
it scarcely makes sense.
What St. Paul says is : It is good to be regarded and
admired (fiyXowrtfai, infinitive passive) on good ground always.
For CrjXova-dai we might have had in classical Greek
frXcDTovs ivai, the adjective &\U>TOS, in frequent use,
meaning enviable, looked up to with emulation. There is a
well known description of ?Xo$- (emulation) in Aristotle s
Rhetoric, bk. ii. ch. n.
Theodoret paraphrases the whole verse : " I wish
you to shine conspicuous in all good gifts, that alike in
my presence and absence you may have good credit."
19. My little children, a favourite phrase of St. John
(i John ii. i, 12, 18, 28, &c.), but by St. Paul only used
in this place, where, says St. Chrysostom, " he imitates
a mother trembling for her little ones."
Of whom I am in labour again. His first labour was
the trouble he had originally in converting them to
Christ ; his second, the anxiety and fear he now has of
their perversion. Until Christ be formed in you, Eph. iv.
i3 H-
20. And change my voice, i.e. weep over you. So
St. Chrysostom explains it, quoting Acts xx. 31 : I ceased
not with tears to admonish every one of you ; and remarks :
" When overcome by difficulties starting up unex
pectedly, we find there is nothing for it but a flood
of tears." To change one s voice then is the same thing
as to change one s countenance, i Kings i. 18; Ezech.
xxvii. 35.
/ am ashamed for you, a mistranslation of confundor,
diropovpai : it means, / am in perplexity over you. The
word occurs 2 Cor. iv. 8, where it is rendered, we are
straitened. " I know not what to say or what to think.
268 GALATIANS iv. 2124.
How is it that you who were mounted to the height of
heaven, as well through the dangers that you under
went for the faith, as through the signs which you
wrought by the faith, are now on a sudden fallen to
such mean estate as to be dragged into circumcision
and sabbath-keeping, and hang on to Jewish customs?"
(St. Chrysostom).
21. Have you not read the law ? A better reading has,
Hear yon not the law ? The law (here the Pentateuch,
but cf. i Cor. xiv. 21) was read in the synagogues
(Acts xiii. 27; xv. 21), and doubtless in the Christian
assemblies.
22. It is written, Gen. xvi. ; xxi. i 12. Two sons,
Ismael of the bond-woman, Agar ; Isaac of the free-woman,
Sara.
23. According to the flesh, in the ordinary course of
nature.
By promise, Gen. xvii. 16, 19; xviii. TO; and contrary
to the course of nature, Rom. iv. 18 21 ; Heb. xi.
II, 12.
24. Which things are said by an allegory. The best
commentator on this is St. Paul himself, i Cor. x.
i ii. See also what is said of the two sons of Rebecca,
Rom. ix. 10 13. Philo and the Alexandrine Jews
dwelt so much on the allegorical meaning of the Old
Testament narratives, as to set aside their historical
truth. But St. Paul, as Theodoret observes, " does
not take away the history, but teaches what was pre
figured in the history." Parables were the favourite
vehicles of Our Lord s teaching. Some of His parables,
e.g. those in Luke xvi., appear to be relations of
actual occurrences. As the daily events of life sym
bolise spiritual realities, much more does this symbolic
character attach to the operations of a special and
miraculous Providence, recounted in the Old Testa
ment, and also to the miracles of Our Lord, recounted
GALATIANS iv. 25. 269
in the New. The Old Testament history, while it is a
real history, is also one great drama, prefiguring the
Christian dispensation. St. Paul here, inspired by the
Holy Ghost, explains to us the meaning attached in
the counsels of God to one episode of that drama.
These are the two testaments, i.e. these two women,
allegorically or typically understood, are the two
covenants, of the Old and of the New Law. In sharp
contrast with Matthew xxvi. 26, this passage is fixed to
a figurative sense by the word allegory, as a similar
passage, i Cor. x. 4, is by the word spiritual.
The one, the Old Testament, given from Mount Sina
(Exod. xxxiv.), engendering unto bondage, notwithstanding
the Jews proud boast (John viii. 33), for the Jewish
law was a bondage.
Which is Agar, or, such as is Agar : cf. I Cor. iii. 17,
which may be rendered, stick as you are.
25. Sina is a mountain in Arabia. So the Sinaitic MS.
and the Vulgate, and no doubt they are right. The
Alexandrine and Vatican MSS., and the Greek Fathers
generally, read, Agar is Sina, a mountain in Arabia. This
reading is explained by a statement, which we find first
in St. Chrysostom, and which modern commentators
and travellers have endeavoured to make good, to the
effect that Agar, the name of Abraham s handmaid,
was also and still is a name given by the Arabs to
Mount Sina. No reliance can be placed on this story,
as Lightfoot shows. The words in Arabia are not
superfluous. They go to show the connection of Sina
with Agar, the posterity of her child Ismael being the
Arabians (cf. Gen. xxi. 18, 21; xxv. 12 18; Baruch
iii. 23). The fact then of the Law being given in the
land of the sons of Ismael was typical of the Law being
a bondage, as compared with the Gospel.
Hath affinity, o-uorotx", is in the same line. There is no
question of contiguity of place, for Sina is far enough
270 GALATIANS iv. 26, 27.
from Jerusalem. The word is used of a file of soldiers,
one behind the other. Then it means in philosophy a
column of names of similar qualities. All these names
would be said a-vo-roixflv. They would be opposed by
another column of names of opposite qualities, which
two columns in their several members would be said
avTKTToixfw. Two such columns, illustrative of St. Paul s
meaning, might be drawn up, one against the other,
thus :
Agar. Sara.
Sina. Sion (Heb. xii. 18, 22).
Ismael. Isaac.
Old Covenant. New Covenant.
Earthly Jerusalem. Heavenly Jerusalem.
Bondage of the Law. Liberty in Christ.
The antithesis is further set forth, Heb. xii. 18 24.
26. That Jerusalem which is above, coming down out
of heaven (Apoc. xxi. 2), wherein is our conversation,
or rather our citizenship (7roXtVev/xa, Phil. iii. 20), the
mother to whom we are already come (Heb. xii. 22), in
some sort in reality and to a still further extent in hope
(i Cor. xiii. 9 12), in our assembly (Heb. x. 25), which
is the Christian Church on earth.
27. From Isaias liv. i. By the barren and desolate
woman the prophet denotes the then state of the Jewish
people. Fertility and prosperity is announced to come
with the Messias, when the kingdom of Israel is to
embrace the Gentiles (v. 3). But as the prophet has
previously mentioned Abraham and Sara (li. 2), the
Apostle takes occasion therefrom to make a more
definite application of the text, within the same scope.
Sara then herself is the desolate woman, and she that hath
a husband, during the time of the barrenness of Sara, is
Agar (Gen. xvi.). Further, Agar is the Old Covenant,
the Synagogue, fruitful and prosperous in its day ; and
GALATIANS iv. 2831. 271
Sara is the New Covenant, the Church founded by the
Messias. Thanks to St. Paul, an inspired commentator,
we are enabled to draw a fuller meaning from the
utterance of the inspired prophet.
28. Repeated in other words, Rom. ix. 8. We, both
Jews and Gentiles (Rom. x. 12). Some MSS. read you,
which makes St. Paul address the Galatians as Gentiles
taken to be sons of Abraham in the spirit.
29. Persecuted. All that we read in Genesis xxi. 9,
is that the son of Agar played with Isaac; but from
Sara s indignation, as also from the tradition of the
Jews, we gather that " that playing was a mockery,"
as St. Augustine observes. A reference to Concord
ances, Hebrew and Greek, will show that the verb has
a bad sense elsewhere. We should also take into
account the hostilities which went on between the
Ismaelites, sons of Agar, as they are called, and Isaac s
descendants (Ps. Ixxxii. 7 ; i Paral. v. 10, 19).
30. Gen. xxi. 10, which saying of Sara is imme
diately ratified by the Almighty, v. 12 ; and afterwards
by our Saviour, John viii. 35.
31. Literally, not children of any bond-woman
without the article), but of her who is free (rj}r f
the Church Catholic.
By the freedom wherewith Christ has made us free. By
the Greek Fathers, and in the best Greek MSS., these
words are joined on, with sundry variations of reading,
to the first verse of the next chapter : so that the sense
should be, Stand firm to the freedom, &c. But the con
struction in that case required is harsh. The Vulgate
collocation seems as likely as any other.
272 GALATIANS v.
CHAPTER V.
i. Stand firm, and be not held again under the yoke of bondage.
2. Behold, I, Paul, tell you, that if you be circumcised, Christ will
profit you nothing. 3. And I testify again to every man that
circumciseth himself, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
4. Christ is become of no effect to you, whosoever of you are
justified by the law ; you are fallen from grace. 5. For we in
spirit, by faith, wait for the hope of justice. 6. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision ;
but faith, which worketh by charity. 7. You did run well; who
hath hindered you, that you should not obey the truth ? 8. This
persuasion is not from him who calleth you. 9. A little leaven
corrupteth the whole mass. 10. I have confidence in you in the
Lord, that you will not be of another mind : but he that troubleth
you shall bear the judgment, whosoever he be. n. And I, brethren,
if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution ? The
scandal of the cross is therefore made void. 12. I would they were
even cut off who trouble you. 13. For you, brethren, have been
called unto liberty ; only use not liberty for an occasion to the
flesh, but by charity of the Spirit serve one another. 14. For all
the law is fulfilled in one sentence : Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. 15. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed
that you be not consumed one by another. 16. I say, then : Walk
in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh. 17. For
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh :
for these are contrary one to another ; so that you do not the things
that you would. 18. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not
under the law. 19. Now the works of the flesh are manifest ; which
are, fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, 20. Idolatry,
witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels,
dissensions, sects, 21. Envy, murder, drunkenness, revellings, and
such like : of the which I foretell you as I have foretold to you,
that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience,
benignity, goodness, longanimity, 23. Mildness, faith, modesty,
continency, chastity : against such there is no law. 24. And they
who are Christ s have crucified their flesh, with the vices and
concupiscences. 25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit. 26. Let us not become desirous of vain-glory, provoking
one another, envying one another.
GALATIANS v. 25. 273
2. I, Paul, tell you, speaking with the authority of an
apostle (i. i, 12). Cf. 2 Cor. x. i : /, Paul, myself beseech
you; and i Cor. vii. 40.
// you be circumcised. The supposition is put in the
present tense, eav TrcpiTenvrjo-Of, if you go about to get circum
cised, not, if you have been circumcised. The text is aimed
at any Gentile Christian who should think of circum
cision as a complement to baptism, as though he would
superimpose the Old Covenant upon the New.
Christ will profit you nothing, for the reason assigned
in notes on ii. 17, 21.
3. Circumcision was to the Jewish law as Baptism
is to the commandments of the Church, or as profession
in a religious order is to the rule of the order, an
engagement to fulfil it. The Judaizing teachers, while
they insisted on circumcision, were ready to divest it of
this onerous consequence (vi. 13).
4. Translate : You are severed from Christ as useless, as
many of you as go about to be justified by the law : you are
cast out from grace. These words do not imply that
the Galatians actually had fallen away from Christ and
His grace, but they show the necessary and immediate
consequence of seeking circumcision as though baptism
were not enough for full justification. Cf. John xv. 6 :
// any one abide not in me, ^X^, he is cast forth. So the
aorists Karrjpy^drjTf, e^TreVarf, are here to be translated as
presents. For Karapyelv cf. i Cor. xiii. 10, n ; Rom.
vii. 2, 6.
Are justified, i.e. seek to be justified.
As eWiVrfti/ is the virtual passive of e/c/3a\Af/, this
e lfTre o-are answers to e*/3aXe of iv. 30, and is well trans
lated, you are cast out, according to the sentence passed
on the bondwoman Agar, into whose lineage you have
entered.
5. We in spirit, under the grace of the New Law,
which quicheneth, as opposed to the bare letter of the
S
274 GALATIANS v. 69.
Old Law, which killeth (2 Cor. iii. 6, see notes), which
the Judaizers were endeavouring to enforce.
By faith, not by the works of the Old Law (ii. 16,
20, 21 ; iii. 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 25, 26 ; iv. 9).
Wait for, aTrcKdexop-fda, the word used in Rom. viii.
19, 23 ; where the intense longing that it implies is
expressed by dnoKapadoKia, waiting with outstretched neck.
The hope of justice is the hoped for crown of justice
(2 Tim. iv. 8), the justice in question being not the
justice which is of the lain, but that which is of the faith of
Jesus Christ, which is of God, justice in faith (Phil. iii. 9:
cf. Gal. ii. 21 ; iii. 6, 21).
6. i Cor. vii. 18, 19; Gal. vi. 15. "As in the choice
of athletes," says St. Chrysostom, " the shape of the
nose and the colour of the skin goes for nothing : the
one thing regarded is their strength and their training :
so, when one is enrolled under the new covenant, these
bodily conditions hurt him not by their absence, nor
aid him by their presence."
Faith that worketh by charity : eVepyov/xeV^ is probably
passive (see on 2 Cor. i. 6) : hence we should translate,
faith set going by charity, or faith astir with charity. But
the sense is the same. " These words," as Lightfoot
writes, " bridge over the gulf which seems to separate
the language of St. Paul and St. James. Both assert
a principle of practical energy, as opposed to a barren,
inactive theory."
7. You did run well, the same metaphor from the
games as in i Cor. ix. 24.
8. Him that callcth you, above i. 6, 15 ; i Thess. v.
24 ; i Cor. i. 2. The Gentile Galatians were not called
to Judaism.
9. " Then, that none might say: Why dost thou
make so much of the matter and aggravate it by talk ?
we have kept but one precept [circumcision] , and dost
thou raise this clamour? hear how he frightens them,
GALATIANS v. 1012. 275
not by the present, but by the future, saying thus : A
little leaven cormpteth [leaveneth] the whole lump : so,
he argues, this little error, not corrected, avails to
draw you into entire Judaism. " (St. Chrysostom.)
Cf. v. 3.
10. Whosoever he be. A reference to 2 Cor. x. 7 (where
see notes) may throw some light on this unknown
person, or the party to which he belonged.
11. // / yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer
persecution? It was objected to St. Paul that he was
inconsistent with himself, preaching and inculcating
at sundry times and places that very Mosaic Law which
here he disallows. St. Paul certainly did at times
publicly conform to the Law (Acts xvi. 3 ; xxi. 26),
becoming to the Jews a Jew, that he might gain the
Jews (i Cor. ix. 20). But he never preached the Law
as a commandment in the Church : he would not have
it even as an evangelical counsel. Had he consented
to that, as he says here, all his persecution from the
Jews might have ended. They hated and persecuted
him precisely as a despiser of their Law (Acts xxi. 28).
Once he had accepted Judaism as a necessary part of
Christianity, all this opposition would have ceased.
But where should we Gentiles have been ? (Cf. notes
on ii. 21.)
Then is the scandal of the cross made void. The stumbling-
block (i Cor. i. 23) ceases to be a stumbling-block, when
we accept the argument : Justice is by the law : therefore
Christ died in vain (ii. 21 ; see notes on ii. 17 ; iii. i).
12. / would they were even cut off, dnoKo^ovTat, abscindantur
(Vulg.). The Greek word means what it means in
Deut. xxiii. i : so it is understood by all the Greek
Fathers ; and so the Latin word is taken by the Latin
Fathers. As Lightfoot observes : " The remonstrance
is doubly significant as addressed to Galatians ; for
Pessinus, one of their chief towns, was the home of the
2? 6 GALATIANS v. 13, 14.
worship of Cybele, in honour of whom these mutilations
were practised." It is no expression of a wish, but of
strong abhorrence, such as is expressed again Phil. iii.
2, 3. There was no more salvation to be had now of
the characteristic rite of Judaism than of the abominable
practice of the heathen.
Who trouble you, ol di/ao-rarowrey, they who would turn
you out of house and home, from that Jerusalem which is
above, which is our mother (iv. 26: cf. Heb. xii. 22), and
bring you into bondage (iv. 24).
13. You have been called unto liberty, freedom from the
ceremonial precepts of the Jewish law, freedom also
from the temporal penalties which under that law
formed the sanction of the moral precepts, but not
freedom from the obligation of those moral precepts
themselves, which are of nature, pre-existent to the
law given on Sina (Rom. ii. 14, 15), and were confirmed
by Christ (Matt. xix. 17). Only, these moral precepts
which in the Old Law were enforced by threats of
temporal punishment, are in the New Law facilitated
by grace. This is St. Paul s witness against Anti-
nomianism, for which also read Rom. vi.
By charity serve one another, SouAeuere, be in bondage to one
another. The bondage of charity to replace the bondage
of fear and of the law.
14. Expanded into three verses, Rom. xiii. 8 10.
The quotation is from Levit. xviii. 19, where for friend
the Septuagint has neighbour. The Jewish doctors were
prone to limit the extension of this term neighbour to
Jews, a limitation which Our Saviour sets aside in the
parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke x. 29 37).
" Since the perfection of charity involves two
precepts, the love of God and the love of our neighbour,
why does the Apostle make mention only of the love
of our neighbour? Why but because men can lie
concerning the love of God, seeing that temptation
GALATIANS v. 15, 16. 277
comes less frequently to try it, but in the matter of
the love of their neighbour they are more easily con
victed of not possessing it, when they deal unjustly
with men ? Besides, who can love his neighbour, that
is, every man, unless he love God, by whose precept
and gift he is enabled to compass the love of his
neighbour ? Since then such is the nature of either
precept that the one cannot be kept without the other,
it is generally sufficient to mention merely one of them,
when there is question of the works of justice: but that
one is more aptly mentioned, on which a transgressor
is more easily convicted " (St. Augustine). Cf. i John
iv. 20.
15. If you bite and devour one another. It is St. Jerome s
remark, that the Apostle has described each province
by its own special features ; and that the same vestiges
of errors or virtues as he described were to be met with
in the same places three centuries afterwards. Galatia
attained to unhappy notoriety as a nest of wrangling
heresies, particularly of outrageous forms of Montanism
and Manichaeism.
1 6. The spirit the flesh. " By the flesh he means
the inclination of the mind to the worse : by the spirit,
the indwelling grace" (Theodoret). So St. Chrysostom
explains the flesh to be " the earthy view of things."
The flesh in fact is the whole man, both in his intel
lectual and in his animal faculties, but in his animal
faculties particularly, inasmuch as he feels an inclina
tion to break away from God and set up his rest in the
goods of this life.
The Apostle says of it : There dwelleth not in my flesh
that which is good (Rom. vii. 18) ; and again, the wisdom of
the flesh is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be
(Rom. viii. 7). The flesh endures in every man, even
in a saint on earth, till his dying day. Only in Our
Saviour and in His Blessed Mother there was flesh,
278 GALATIANS v. 1719.
but not technically the flesh. In the day of the
resurrection, the flesh, as here spoken of, shall be no
more.
Still the theological maxim, quoted by the Council
of Trent (sess. 5, can. 5) holds good, that "in the
regenerate (by baptism) there is nothing that God
hates." The flesh is not wicked, though it prompts to
wickedness : it is not sin, nor sinful, though it tempts
us to sin. As St. Chrysostorn says : " Though the
passions give trouble, their ravings go for nothing,"
in the man who walks by the spirit, that is, leads. a super
natural life of faith, hope, and charity. That is why
St. Paul writes here, not you shall not feel, but you shall
not fulfil, that is, carry out into human act, the lusts of the
flesh.
In all that has been written, be it clearly understood
that by the flesh is not meant the body, a point which
St. Chrysostorn elaborates with great care.
17. So that (<Wi, equivalent to <&&lt;rr* according to a
later Greek usage, expressing not purpose but result,
cf. i Thess. v. 4) you do not the things that you would.
That is : So that either way you do not all your
inclination : for if you follow the spirit, you do not the
inclination of the flesh ; and if you follow the flesh, you
deny the prompting of the spirit : you have thus some
manner of self-renunciation either way. Cf. Rom. vi. 16.
1 8. Not under the law that threatens slaves, but under
the spirit that leads the children of God. Cf. Rom.
vi. 14 ; viii. 2.
19. The works of the flesh, which are, anva eWi, of which
sort are. The Apostle is not enumerating all the works
of the flesh, but some specimens.
Fornication, uncleanness, luxury. The same words
appear in a different order in 2 Cor. xii. 21, as uncleanness
and fornication and lasciviousness. Immodesty (impudicitia ,
Vnlg.) is merely another suggested rendering of d
GALATIANS v. 2022. 279
(luxury), the proper meaning of which is shameless
sensuality.
20. Idolatry, -witchcrafts. Sorcerers and idolaters are
joined together in Apoc. xxi. 8.
Contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels. The same
Greek words in the same order reappear in 2 Cor.
xii. 20 as contentions, envyings, animosities, dissensions. The
word epi0euu, variously rendered quarrels and dissensions,
means intrigues for place and power, or party-spirit.
The word Six 00 " 1 " 00 " 1 " 1 here rendered dissensions, means
standings aloof, of a less permanent kind than sects, aipfofis
(heresies), which are abiding religious quarrels.
21. Envies, murders, $0<W, </xW : likeness of sound
has brought the two words together.
Revelling, or rioting (Rom. xiii. 13), K&P.OS, was a
Greek custom. After a feast, followed by heavy drink
ing, the company would sally out and parade the streets
with music, frequently in the end bursting into the
house of a friend, and rousing the inhabitants to more
drinking.
Shall not obtain (inherit) the kingdom of God. No, they
shall not, however intense their persuasion that they
have found Christ, the Saviour.
22. The fruit of the spirit, but v. 19, the works of the
flesh, because, as St. Chrysostom says, evil works
come of ourselves alone, therefore he calls them works :
but good ones need not only our care, but likewise the
kind aid of God."
Charity, which contains all the rest, and from which
all the rest spring, as shown i Cor. xiii. 4 7. They
are enumerated, as " the twelve fruits of the Holy
Ghost," but only nine are mentioned by St. Paul,
patience being a second rendering of paKpoOvpia (longa
nimity), modesty of Trpavrrjs (mildness), and chastity of
eyKpdrfia (contitiency). These three are omitted in the
early Latin versions, and in all the Greek MSS.,
2 8o GALATIANS v. 2326.
except that ayvda (chastity] appears in some of inferior
type.
Longanimity (pa.Kpo6viJ.ia), benignity (XP^O-TOTIJS). The
two Greek words occur in i Cor. xiii. 4: Charity is
patient (paKpo6vp.fl), is kind (xpio-Tcvfrai). Benignity is in
the disposition, goodness to our neighbour is in the act.
The words might be rendered kindliness and bounty
respectively.
23. Mildness. Charity is not provoked to anger (i Cor.
xiii. 5). Faith. Not here faith in God, for such faith
does not follow upon charity, but precedes it ;. besides
the virtues here enumerated regard rather our behaviour
as men to men. Faith then is fidelity, or honesty, as in
Matt, xxiii. 23 ; Tit. ii. 10.
Against such there is no law. Cf. v. 18 above, and
i Tim. i. 9. As Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of
the Egyptians (Acts vii. 22), so was Paul of Tarsus in
all the wisdom of the Greeks. He here, consciously or
unconsciously, is quoting Aristotle, who says of men
of transcendent virtue : " Against such there is no
law; for they are a law of themselves" (Politics, iii.
13, nn. 13, 14), a saying that may easily have become
proverbial.
24. They that are Christ s have crucified their flesh, with
the vices and concupiscences, more exactly, passions and
desires. The reference is to what was done in baptism,
as Theodoret explains: "They who were buried with
Christ (in baptism), rendered their body dead to sin."
Cf. above, ii. 19, 20; Rom. vi. 3 n.
25. In modern theological language : If we are in
sanctifying grace (the state in which our baptism placed
us), let us live up to the actual graces which wait upon
such a state.
26. Vainglory is somewhat abruptly introduced.
Evidently St. Paul saw it to be a special danger to
the grace of God in the Galatians, leading to rivalries
GALATIANS vi. i. 2 8i
(envying one another), and challenges (provoking one
another), and ending in biting and devouring one another
CHAPTER VI.
I. Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who
are spiritual instruct such a one in the spirit of mildness, consider
ing thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2. Bear ye one another s
burdens, and so shall you fulfil the law of Christ. 3. For if any
man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he
deceiveth himself. 4. But let every one prove his own work, and
so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. 5. For
every one shall bear his own burden. 6. And let him who is
instructed in the word communicate to him who instructeth him in
all good things. 7. Be not deceived ; God is not mocked. 8. For
what things a man shall show, those also shall he reap. For he
that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption ; but
he that soweth in the Spirit, of the Spirit shall reap life everlasting.
9. And in doing good let us not fail : for in due time we shall reap,
not failing. 10. Therefore, whilst we have time, let us do good to
all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the
faith, ii. See what a letter I have written to you with my own
hand. 12. For whosoever desire to please in the flesh, they
constrain you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer the
persecution of the cross of Christ. 13. For neither they them
selves who are circumcised keep the law ; but they will have you to
be circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 14. But God
forbid that I should glory, but in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.
15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing,
nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16. And whosoever shall
follow this rule, peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the
Israel of God. 17. From henceforth let no man be troublesome to
me : for I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body. 18. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.
i. The connection of this verse with the preceding
is that the Galatians justified their bickerings by a
pretended zeal for the correction of an erring brother.
You, who are spiritiial, or take yourselves to be such.
282 GAL AT JANS vi. 24.
Instruct, KdTapTi&Tf, in provincial English, fettle up.
The word is used of setting a broken limb.
In the spirit of meekness. " Never," says St. Augustine,
" should we undertake the business of reproving another s
sin, except when upon examination of our conscience
and inward enquiries we have returned ourselves a clear
answer before God that we do it in love."
Considering thyself, lest thou come to need correction
in thy turn, which of course one would wish to be done
gently. The Apostle passes from the plural, you, who
are spiritual, to the singular thou, to bring home the
weakness inherent in every man, as man, with whom
suddenly to be tempted is so often the same thing as to be
overtaken in fault.
2. Bear ye one another s burdens, and so ye shall fulfil the
law of Christ, well explained by Theodoret : " You have
this fault, but not that : he contrariwise has not what
you have, but has another fault : you bear his, and let
him bear yours : for so is fulfilled the law of charity :
for by the law of Christ he means the law of charity : for
these are Christ s own words : A new commandment I give
unto you, that you love one another (John xiii. 34)."
3. For if any man thinketh himself to be something. This
is a caution for you who are spiritual.
Whereas he is nothing, " has nothing of himself but
lying and sin," as the Second Council of Orange says,
can. 22 : cf. i Cor. iv. 7. He deceives himself, ^pfvanara,
is the sport of his own fancies, a word first used by St. Paul,
here and Tit. i. 10.
4. In himself (in semetipso, els eavrov), and not in another
(in altero, tls TOV Zrepov). Here, as so often in the Latin
Vulgate, in with the ablative is put for in with the
accusative (e.g. Matt, xxviii. 19; Phil. ii. u). The
meaning is looking to himself, and not looking to another.
The example of the man who had glory looking to another
is the Pharisee in the gospel (Luke xviii. n). In
GALATIANS vi. 58. 283
allowing a man to have glory looking to himself, the Apostle
is speaking ironically, knowing that whoever examines
his conscience himself by himself alone before God will
find scant matter for self-glorification.
5. Every one shall bear his own burden, meet his own
liabilities at the judgment-seat of Christ (i Cor. iv.
4, 5). This verse is in no contradiction with v. 2 :
for here is question of what shall be in the next
world, there of what ought to be done in this :
here the burden ((fropriov, a man s load) is responsibility
before God : there the burdens (Paprj, encumbrances) are
faults considered as things grievous and annoying to
the community.
6. This verse, on the duty of supporting pastors, for
which see i Cor. ix. 4 14; 2 Cor. xi. 7, 8; Phil. iv.
14 18; i Tim. v. 17, 18, has no connection either
with what goes before or with what follows. It is the
way, at the end of a letter, to string together disconnected
remarks.
Instructed, Karrixov^vos, being catechized, or orally taught,
not however a catechumen ; the direction is to baptized
Christians. Cf. on Rom. ii. 18.
Communicate to him in all good things, i.e. share all his
worldly goods with his instructor. Tithes (Exod. xxii. 29)
are an institution of the Old Law that St. Paul did not
wholly reprobate.
7. 8. These two verses are a caution against Anti-
nomianism, on the lines of v. 13, 16, 21. Grace does
not make us free of good works. Grace may be lost.
The soul, justified in baptism, must still, as the Psalm
has it (Ps. xxxiii. 15), turn away from evil (v. 8), and do
good (vv. 9, 10).
God is not mocked, as the wicked learn in hell.
He that soweth in his flesh, he that gratifies the evil
desires of his nature. For the flesh see on v. 16. The
Apostle speaks of sowing and reaping, because human
284 GALATIANS vi. 9 u.
acts carry consequences with them both for this world
and for the next.
Shall reap corruption. Whatever is given to the body
ends in corruption, sooner or later : in like manner every
gratification of lust has its connatural result in the
defilement of the soul, and spoiling of the body also at
the last day. And conversely, of what is sown in the
spirit, that is, of works of grace.
9. The sense of this verse might have been more
apparent, had the words run in this order : In doing good,
let us not fail : for, not failing (i.e. on condition of not
failing), in due time we shall reap. There are two Greek
words here both translated fail. Literally we might
render : In doing good, let us not be fainthearted : for, not
relaxing, &c.
10. Imitating in our conduct God, who is the Saviour
of all men, especially of the faithful (i Tim. iv. 10).
1 1 . See what a letter I have written to you with my own
hand. This translation is apt to convey the opinion of
St. Chrysostom and others, that St. Paul wrote this
whole letter with his own hand, not using an amanuensis
as he did in writing to the Romans (Rom. xvi. 22), the
Corinthians (i Cor. i. i ; 2 Cor. i. i) and the rest. It is
however not an accurate translation. From the Greek
it should run thus . See in what large letters (irrfKiKois
I write to you with my own hand. I write is
m, the epistolary aorist, used where we use the
present. Nor is there anything in Trr/XtKoty ypdp.p.ao-1 to
compel us to accept St. Chrysostom s paraphrase : " It
seems to me to indicate not the size but the ugliness of
the letters, as though he said: Not knowing how to
write very well, nevertheless I am forced to write by
myself, to close the mouth of the calumniators." We
must presume that Greek characters came readily
enough from the hand of Paul of Tarsus. The
better explanation is that St. Paul, having used the
GALATIANS vi. 1214. 285
customary amanuensis up to this verse, here takes the
pen into his own hands and writes in large letters, to be
more emphatic, the rest of the epistle, gathering up in
seven forcible verses the main gist of all that he had
said before. For his habit of adding something in his
own hand cf. 2 Thess. iii. 17 ; i Cor. xvi. 21 ; Col. iv. 18.
12. For is not in the Greek, and should be away.
St. Paul is, as it were, starting afresh.
To please, evTrpoo-coTrfjo-ai, to put on a good face, in the flesh,
i.e. in outward observances, notably in such a carnal
thing as circumcision.
They constrain you, avayKa&va-i, they are putting pressure
on you. The word does not imply that they had
succeeded.
That they may not suffer persecution. From v. n it
appears that conformity with the Jews in the main rite
of their Law ensured toleration, as well from the Jews
themselves, as also from the Romans, with whom the
Jews, and all who could be classed as Jews, had a legal
standing and protection.
13. Who are circumcised. There are two readings of
equal authority, the perfect Tre/jn-er^/ieW, who are actually
circumcised, and the present TrfpiTfp.v6p.epm (as we should
say in familiar English), who go in for circumcision. Either
way it refers to the Judaizing teachers, against whom
the Epistle is written.
Glory in your flesh, glory in having brought you over
to this fleshly observance. On the inconsistency of
this proceeding, above, v. 3.
The following verses, written with St. Paul s own
hand, are the quintessence of his spirit. One should be
a saint to explain them.
14. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the shame
of the cross see on iii. 13. It was despising the shame
(Heb. xii. 2) to profess, and still more to glory in the
profession, that He who suffered that death was the
286 GALATIANS vi. 14.
Messias, the Deliverer, and the death itself the deliver
ance, of the Israel of God (v. 16) ; and that before this
reality there passed away like a shadow the covenant of
circumcision (Acts vii. 8). For St. Paul s glorying in the
cross, see i Cor. i. 18 24; ii. 2; Gal. iii. i. "Truly
the thing seems to be shameful," says St. Chrysostom,
" but only before the world and in the eyes of infidels ;
but in heaven and in the eyes of the faithful it is the
greatest glory. So is poverty matter of reproach, but
to us a glory. So is abjection ridiculous in the eyes
of the many, but we make a darling of abasement. So
also is the cross our glory." To St. Paul, as St. Cyril
of Jerusalem says, it was " the glory of glories."
To understand what St. Paul was surrendering for
the shame of the cross, we should appreciate the intense
pride which every Jew took in belonging to the covenant
of circumcision, and his corresponding horror and
disdain of the Gentile world, evinced by such phrases
as this uncircumcised Philistine (i Kings xvii. 36), and to die
the death of the uncircumcised (Ezech. xxviii. 10). The
Mohammedan horror of Christians is an illustration.
That St. Paul entered fully into this sentiment we see
from Rom. ix. 4, 5, and from Phil. iii. 410, which is a
perfect echo of this present passage.
By whom, rather, by which (cross), dt ov (a-ravpov).
The world. " What he calls the world, are the things
of this life, honour, glory, wealth " (Theodoret) : under
stand, such things in their abuse, as they are made ends
in themselves, and lived for, apart from God our Lord
and the world to come ; also understand, all men who
live for such things as above specified. Cf. on i. 4.
The world in short is Naturalism, or Secularism, and its
votaries. To this world St. Paul in his baptism (Rom.
vi. 4, 6), and in the full carrying out of his Christian
and Apostolic calling (Eph. ii. 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6, 10, n ;
John xvii. 14, 16) is crucified, he is as one dead, he is a
GALATIANS vi. 1517 287
horror to it ; and it is crucified to him : it is to him as
a dead thing, its works are de-ad works (Heb. vi. i ; ix. 14)
ghastly and abominable.
15. The Vatican manuscript reads: Neither circum
cision ts anvthing, nor uncircunicision, but a new creature. The
other words may have been put in from r. 6.
A new creature, or a new creation, a new birth (Tit. iii. 5 ;
John iii. 5). See on 2 Cor. v. 17; also Col. iii. 9, 10.
Baptism is a new creation in the order of grace. The new
faarrn and the new earth, which we are promised (Apoc.
xxi. i), are also a new creation. The one is a first instal
ment of the other. And both to baptism and to the
general resurrection the same term is applied, naXiyytvcaia
regeneration, new birth (Tit. iii. 5; Matt. xx. 28). In the
day of baptism and in the day of the resurrection it
matters not in the least whether one be or be not
circumcised.
1 6. This rule, of the cross and of the nsw creation
(vv. 14, 15).
The Israel of God, as opposed to Israel according to the
fash ; true Christians, whether Jew or Gentile, in contrast
with unbelieving Jews (Rom. ix. 6 S ; Phil. iii. 3 ; Gal.
iii. 29).
17. Let no man be troublesome to me, raise further diffi
culties, require further answering on the points of this
Epistle. The Master intimates that he has spoken once
for all. Similarly a discussion is broken off, i Cor. xi. 16.
I bear the warks of the Lord in my body. Marks,
but there is no question of any stigmata such as were
imprinted on St. Francis, 4t by a singular privilege,
not granted in past ages," as St. Bonaventure writes.
St. Paul refers to the marks left on his body from the
scourgings and stonings he had endured (2 Cor. xi.
23 25; Acts xiv. 18). We read in Herodotus, ii. 113,
of a temple : " If any man s domestic flies there, and
gets the sacred brand put upon him, and gives himself
288 GALATIANS vi. 18.
over to the god, no one is allowed to touch him." And
in the same author, vii. 233, we are told of certain
Greeks who submitted to the King of Persia, on whom
by his command " they branded the royal brand," to
mark them as his slaves. Cf. Gen. iv. 15 ; Ezech. ix. 6 ;
Apoc. vii. 3 9 ; ix. 4. St. Paul then says of the weals
and scars on his body (2 Cor. iv. 10), that they mark
him as the servant of Christ, and consequently as free
from the Jewish law (iv. 31).
The Greek for / bear is /3aorao>, which means often,
as St. Chrysostom points out,/ bear exultingly and- lovingly,
I cherish. So Luke xiv. 27; John xix. 17; Acts ix. 15.
1 8. The same benediction concludes the Epistle to
Philemon. The word brethren, put last, but wholly
omitted in the sternness of the opening (i. 6), gives a
dying fall of tenderness.
THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.
INTRODUCTION.
THE last chapter of the First Epistle to the
Corinthians is concerning the collection that is being
made for the saints, for the needy Christians at
Jerusalem. St. Paul, writing from Ephesus, says
he will stay there till Pentecost ; that then he will
pass over to Macedonia, there to collect (2 Cor.
viii. i 4), and would thence come for the same
purpose to Corinth and winter there, and would
himself, if need be, take the contributions to
Jerusalem next spring (i Cor. xvi. i 8). He did
actually come, and stayed at Corinth three months
(Acts xx. 2, 3). According to the chronology that
we have followed, this event took place in the years
58, 59, A.D. St. Paul wrote the First Epistle to the
Corinthians from Ephesus in the spring of 58 ;
the Second to Corinthians from Philippi in the
September of 58 ; the Epistle to the Galatians from
Corinth that same winter. The Epistle to the
Romans followed close upon that to the Galatians,
and must have been written from Corinth quite in
the early months of 59] before St. Paul started on
that journey to Rome which is narrated in Acts
xx. 4 xxi. 17. This is evident from Rom. xv.
2 go ROMANS.
25, 26 : But now I shall go to Jerusalem, to minister
unto the saints : for it hath pleased them of Macedonia
and A chaia to make a contribution for the poor of the
saints that are in Jerusalem.
The traditional adscript at the end of the Epistle
is to this effect : " To the Romans was written frojn
Corinth through the hands of Phoebe the deaconness
of the church at Cenchreae," mentioned as such
Rom. xvi. i. Cenchreae was the port of Corinth.
In connection with Cenchreae, " the city " must
mean Corinth, as at the Piraeus it would mean
Athens. Erastus, the treasurer of the city then was
the treasurer of Corinth. We read in 2 Tim. iv. 20:
Erastus remaineth at Corinth. Finally, Gaius, my
host (xvi. 23), as we know from i Cor. i. 14, was a
Corinthian.
Four great Epistles were thus written in these
two years, from Ephesus, from Philippi, and from
Corinth. Living in Greece, and surrounded by
Greeks, the Apostle was full of thought, of anxiety,
of wonderment, as to the blending of Jew and Greek
into one Christian civilization. We may wonder
too at the fertility of his mind, who amid the cares
of the Apostleship, in journeyings often, in perils, in
labour and painfulness (2 Cor. xi. 26, 27), could have
given birth to such works. Especially the rapidity
with which the Epistle to the Romans must have
followed upon that to the Galatians, may move our
surprise. But we must consider what has been
already remarked, that the former Epistle is a first
sketch and outline of the latter. Having written
what he had to say to the Galatians, a church in
ROMANS. 291
danger and needing a warning, the Apostle found
his mind full of great thoughts, that called for a
more ample development than he had been able
to give them in an Epistle, written perhaps hurriedly
to meet a pressing emergency. He fixed his eye
therefore on another church, the rising " mother
and mistress of all the churches," a church with
which he had no fault to find, for which he had
nothing but praise (Rom. i. 7, 8), the church of
Rome, and to this church he dedicated his fuller
lucubrations, to strengthen the Hock of his brother
Peter, and to be comforted by that which was
common to them both, the faith of Peter and of
Paul (i. n, 12). He writes to the Romans, not for
their need, but for their dignity, as one dedicates
a book to a man of great name. Notwithstanding
the numerous salutations with which it concludes,
it is rather _a treatise than a letter. There is a
certain ceremoniousness and formality, as of one
addressing a people whom he has not seen. We
miss those traits of personal feeling and human
sympathy, which are the charm of the Epistles to
the Corinthians and the Galatians. Still it is a
grand treatise, and in many ways the author s
greatest work a burst of inspiration breathing upon
an apt instrument, the soul of Paul.
292 ROMANS I.
CHAPTER I.
I. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God, 2. Which he had promised
before, by his prophets, in the holy Scriptures, 3. Concerning his
Son, who was made to him of the seed of David according to the
flesh, 4. Who was predestinated the Son of God in power, accord
ing to the spirit of sanctification, by the resurrection of our Lord
Jesus Christ from the dead : 5. By whom we have received grace
and apostleship, for obedience to the faith in all nations for his
name; 6. Among whom are you also the called of Jesus Christ :
7. To all that are at Rome, the beloved of God, called to.be saints :
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord
Jesus Christ. 8. First I give thanks to my God through Jesus
Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole
world. 9. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in
the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make a commemora
tion of you 10. Always in my prayers ; beseeching that by any
means I may at length have a prosperous journey by the will of
God in coming to you. n. For I long to see you, that I may
impart unto you some spiritual grace to strengthen you ; 12. That
is to say, that I may be comforted together in you, by that which
is common to us both, your faith and mine. 13. And I would not
have you ignorant, brethren, that I have often purposed to come to
you, (and have been hindered hitherto,) that I might have some
fruit among you also, even as among other nations. 14. To the
Greeks and to the barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise, I am a
debtor : 15. So (as much as is in me) I am ready to preach the
gospel to you also that are at Rome. 16. For I am not ashamed of
the gospel : for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth ; to the Jew first, and to the Greek. 17. For the
justice of God is revealed therein from faith to faith : as it is
written : The just man liveth by faith. 18. For the wrath of God
is revealed irom heaven against all impiety and injustice of those
men that detain the truth of God in injustice; 19. Because that
which is known of God is manifest in them ; for God hath mani
fested it to them. 20. For the invisible things of him, from the
creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the
things that are made, his eternal power also and divinity ; so that
they are inexcusable: 21. Because that, when they had known
God, they have not glorified him as God, nor gave thanks ; but
became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened :
ROMANS i. i, 2. 293
22. For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
23. And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the
likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of
four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. 24. Wherefore God
gave them up to the desires of their heart, to uncleanness, to dis
honour their own bodies among themselves : 25. Who changed
the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26. For
this cause God delivered them up to shameful affections : for their
women have changed the natural use into that use which is against
nature : 27. And in like manner the men also, leaving the natural
use of the women, have burned in their lusts one toward another :
men with men doing that which is filthy, and receiving in them
selves the recompense which was due to their error. 28. And as
they liked not to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them
up to a reprobate sense, to do those things which are not con
venient ; 29. Being filled with all iniquity, malice, fornication,
covetousness, wickedness; full of envy, murder, contention, deceit,
malignity ; whisperers, 30. Detractors, hateful to God, contu
melious, proud, haughty, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, 31. Foolish, dissolute, without affection, without fidelity,
without mercy : 32. Who, having known the justice of God, did
not understand that they who do such things are worthy of death ;
and not only they who do them, but they also who consent to them
that do them.
1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, a title not taken at
the opening of any of the three previous epistles, but
lately much in the Apostle s thoughts, as appears from
Gal. vi. 17. It would be better to read either Paul,
servant, or Paul, the servant.
Separated unto the gospel of God. Cf. Acts xiii. 2 :
The Holy Ghost said to them : Separate me Saul and Barnabas
for the work whemmto I have taken them. Cf. also Gal. i.
15, 16. The apostleship is of a nature to absorb all a
man s energy, life, and love.
2. Promised by his pyophets. The prophets were the
apostles (men sent by God, Isaias vi. 8) of the Old
Testament, as the Apostles were the prophets (God s
spokesmen, Luke x. 16) of the New. The faithful are
294 ROMANS i. 3, 4.
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph.
ii. 20).
3. Made to him. The to him is not in the Greek.
Made, or born, ycvo/xeVou.
Of the seed of David. The genealogy in St. Luke iv.
23 31, is probably that of Mary; Joseph, who was
of Heli, meaning son-in-law of Heli, otherwise called
Heliachim, or Joachim. The difficulty arising from
Luke i. 5, 36; Exod. ii. i ; iv. 14, joined with Num.
xxxvi. ; Tob. vi. n, 12, is surmounted by supposing
the prohibition of intermarriage between the tribes to
have been confined to the case of females who were left
heiresses by the failure of male issue. Thus Elizabeth
on the mother s side may well have been of the tribe of
Juda, and so related to Mary.
According to the flesh, that is, in His human nature,
as Man: cf. ix. 3, 5. The phrase bears another sense
in viii. passim ; i Cor. i. 26 ; 2 Cor. i. 17 ; x. 2, 3 ; xi. 18 ;
Gal. iv. 23, 29; John viii. 15: cf. i. 13. It occurs
remarkably in 2 Cor. v. 16, where see notes.
4. Who was predestinated the Son of God. The Vulgate
pradestinatus points to a Greek reading, Tr/Doopio-fleVros
(the word occurs in Acts iv. 28; Rom. viii. 29, 30;
i Cor. ii. 7; Eph. i. 5, ii), which is not found in any
Greek MS., but appears in St. Epiphanius (Hatr. 54, 6).
All the Greek MSS. read opurfleVro? (marked out), without
the preposition. St. Hilary (De Trin. 7, 24) has desti-
natus, and Tertullian (Adv. Prax. 28) definitus. The Greek
is the more received and likely reading. The Greek
Fathers explain it to mean shown forth and manifested.
Such is the sense required by the words that follow, as
will be evident. If we keep the reading predestinated,
we must understand it to mean predestinated to be shown
forth, i.e. marked out beforehand from eternity to be
shown forth in time as the Son of God.
In power according to the spirit of sanctification means
ROMANS i. 4. 295
exactly what we read in xv. 19, in (i.e. by) the power of
the Holy Ghost. So the justice which is by faith, literally,
justice according to faith (Heb. xi. 7), is equivalent to the
justice of faith (Rom. iv. 13).
By the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the
dead. We have here a double mistranslation. A literal
rendering of what St. Paul wrote would run thus : Who
was marked out Son of God in power according to the Spirit of
sanctification by resurrection of dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The words Jesus Christ our Lord are in apposition with
Son of God : they are not the genitive after resurrection.
True, they are genitive in the Greek, but so is Son of
God, TOV opio-OwTos vlov Ocov. The Latin translator has
put this participle as a relative clause, changing vlov
into filius, and has failed to change what was in appo
sition with vlov into the nominative also. This is
one error of no dogmatic consequence, but a loss of
forcibleness and grammatical accuracy.
The second error is peculiar to our English trans
lators, who have translated ex resurrectione mortuorum,
c avao-Ttto-eoos vexpcov, by the resurrection from the dead,
instead of by resurrection of dead. The phrase oWo-rao-is
veK/otov, or ran/ ve/cpeov, occurs eleven times in Scripture
(Matt. xxii. 31; Acts xvii. 32; xxiii. 6; xxiv. 21;
xxvi. 23; i Cor. xv. 12, 13, 21, 42; Heb. vi. 2, and
here) ; and it invariably means the same as the eleventh
article of the Creed, the resurrection of the body, that is, of
all dead bodies at the day of judgment. On the other
hand, resurrection from the dead is dvacnrcuris * ve/cpaiv,
resurrectio ex mortuis (Phil. iii. n ; Luke xx. 35; i Pet.
i. 3, &c.)
The literal then is the right rendering, e dva<rracri>s
vcKpw, ex resurrectione mortuorum, by rising of the dead. The
preposition !, ex, is rightly rendered by, as appears
from James ii. 18; Apoc. viii. n, showing the source
of the demonstration.
296 ROMANS i. 57.
But how can the Divine Sonship of Jesus Christ be
marked out and manifest by the resurrection of the
dead, an event which has not yet taken place ? The
answer is that it has taken place already, in promise
and potency, by the resurrection of Christ Himself.
So St. Paul says : But now Christ is risen from the dead,
the first-fruits of them that sleep : for by a man came death,
and by a man the resurrection of the dead (avdo-Tacris vcKpw) :
and as in Adam all die, so also in Chnst all shall be made
alive (i Cor. xv. 20 22). Nor is the phrase irrespective
of our resurrection in baptism (vi. 4, 5, u).
5. By whom we have received, that is, of whom I have
received. It refers to the special call to the apostle-
ship that St. Paul had from Jesus Christ Himself. See
on Gal. i. i. Cf. also i Tim. i. 12 ; and for the use of
the preposition (8C ov) to denote the chief agent, i Cor,
i. 9 ; i Pet. ii. 14.
Grace and apostleship, i.e. a gratuitous gift of apostle-
ship : freely have you received (Matt. x. 8).
For obedience to the faith, to win men s obedience to
the faith, that is, to the gospel. Cf. Acts vi. 7, obeyed
the faith, meaning exactly obey the gospel (Rom. vi. 16).
For another possible explanation see on Gal. iii. 2.
For his name, on his behalf, Acts v. 41 ; ix. 16.
6. The called of Jesus Christ. Cf. John v. 25, the dead
there spoken of being those dead in sin, as the Ephesians
(Eph. ii. i) and Romans were before their conversion.
Called in the New Testament (e.g. Matt. xxii. 14) means
always those who have been called and have come to
the faith and fold of Christ. Thus it means called by
Jesus Christ, through the Apostles speaking in His name.
7. In the New Testament generally, as here, the
Father is called God, the Son Lord : in which phrase
ology the names are given, not " essentially," but
" notionally," as theologians speak. That is to say,
the Father is God, the fountain of divinity, as He is the
ROMANS i. 813. 297
First Person of the Holy Trinity : the Son is Lord by
the title of redemption. But if therefore the Son is not
God, neither is the Father Lord.
8. Your faith is spoken of in the whole world. Cf. for
similar praises i Thess. i. 7, 8 ; 2 Thess. i. 3, 4; Eph.
i. 15, 16, &c. But, spoken to the Romans, these words
are specially significant. For first, as St. Leo says,
* what nations anywhere could be ignorant of what
Rome had learned ? " Then the flourishing state of the
Roman church here implied affords a probable indica
tion of some great apostolate working at Rome. Whose
that apostolate was we learn from Catholic tradition,
of which tradition suffice it here to quote two witnesses.
" Peter had preached there, but he (Paul) regarded his
(Peter s) work as his own : so free was he from all
envy " (St. Chrysostom in v. 8). " Since the great
Peter had been the first to bring them the gospel, he of
necessity added, to strengthen you : for he says, it is not
a different teaching that I wish to bring you, but to
strengthen the teaching already brought, and to water
the plants already planted" (Theodoret in v. u). Here
St. Paul might have said (cf. i Cor. iii. 6) : Peter has
planted, I water. Lastly, these words are an honour
able testimony, from the mouth of the Holy Ghost
Himself, to the faith of that church which is by divine
appointment the " mother and mistress of all churches."
9. In my spirit, that is, according to the grace given
me.
A commemoration of you always in my prayers, Eph. i. 16 ;
i Thess. i. 2 ; Phil. i. 4 ; i Tim. ii. i.
10. / may have a prosperous journey, euoSco^o-o/Acu, in
coming. More simply and exactly, / may succeed in coming.
The Greek word occurs, i Cor. xvi. 2 ; 3 John 2 ; Gen.
xxxix. 3, 23 ; 2 Paral. xiii. 12.
n, 13. / long to see you, and have been hindered hitherto,
Cf. XV. 22 24.
298 ROMANS I 1417.
14. I am a debtor. What had Paul received from
Greeks and barbarians, that he should be in their debt ?
Nothing, but he had received of God the gratuitous
graces of the apostolate to communicate to others. Cf.
i Cor. ix. 16, 17; Matt. xxv. 26.
1 6. / am not ashamed of the gospel, a phrase that reads
rather tame as compared with that written a little
before to the Galatians (vi. 14) : God forbid that I should
glory, save only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ : unless
we remember the wealth and glory of Rome, the city to
which the Apostle wrote, and the honour paid to the
Roman emperors alive and dead. Jesus Christ was a
Leader of another sort, the carpenter, the son of Mary
(Mark vi. 3), the crucified (Mark xvi. 6). The first step
to glorying in such a Lord was not to be ashamed of
Him in the high places of the earth. Blessed is he that
shall not be scandalized in me (Matt. xi. 6).
It is the power of God unto salvation. Cf. i Cor. i. 18, 23,
The word of the cross . . . is the power of God. And Simon
Magus s admirers said of him (Acts viii. 10) : This man
is the power of God.
To the Jew first and to the Greek. The word first has
been questioned : cf. vi. 12. But it is sufficiently
explained by Acts xiii. 46 ; xxviii. 23, 28 ; besides what
we read in this Epistle, iii. 1,2; ix. 4, 5. The Jew is
the natural branch of the olive-tree (xi. 17, 21): the elder
brother of the prodigal (Luke xv. 25 32).
17. The justice of God. Justice in a general sense is
observance of law (see Aristotle, Ethics, v. c. i, nn. 12
14). It is also used of the vindication of law, either
by the punishment of the transgressor, who is said to
be brought to justice, or by his submission and
pardon. From the latter use comes the theological
phrase of the justification of a sinner. The justice of
God is so called as coming from God and being recog
nised of God, It is distinguished from the justice which
ROMANS i. 18. 299
is of the law (Phil. iii. 8) of which we have an admirable
example in the Pharisee who set himself before the
Publican (Luke xviii. n, 12). The justice of God is
something coming from God to the sinner and resting
on him and in him. It is no mere imputed justice. To
declare just or righteous a man who still remained
a sinner, would be simply to tell a lie. To impute
righteousness where righteousness was none, would be
at least to make a mistake. But God is truthful and
unerring. There is therefore an intrinsic change wrought
in the soul of him who is justified. That change is by
the infusion of what theologians call sanctifying grace.
Sanctifying grace, like the light of glory in heaven, to
which it prepares the way, is much more than we
mortals can describe in specific detail : one main element
however of it, much insisted upon by St. Paul (e.g. viii.
9 u), is the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Is revealed from faith unto faith, means that the justice
of God, which comes of faith, or has faith for its root,
is revealed unto the faith, or for the belief, of believers.
Cf. iii. 22.
The just man liveth by faith. See notes on Gal. iii. u.
1 8. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven. At
this point the Apostle abruptly quits the subject, which
he had just introduced, of the justice of God, to speak
of the wrath of God, provoked by the prevarications of
Gentile and Jew. Of this wrath is born the sore need
in which all men stand of the justice of God, that is, of
justification and sanctification, to which subject the
Apostle returns, iii. 21.
Is revealed, in the gospel, not yet written, but
preached, e.g. Acts xxiv. 25.
Detain the truth of God in injustice. Detain, KarexovTw,
hold back, restrain, prevent from going forth at liberty
(so the word is used in 2 Thess. ii. 6 ; Luke iv. 42), or
as we say, suppress truth. It is question of people
300 ROMANS i. ig, 20.
suppressing truth within themselves in injustice, that is,
by leading wicked lives, as we read (John iii. 19, 20) :
Men loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were
evil : for every one that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh
not to the light that his works may not be reproved. The
anger of God against such men is revealed in many
pages also of the written gospel, e.g. John xii. 35 48 ;
Matt. xi. 20 24.
19. That which is known of God by natural knowledge
from the evidence of creation. The argument that
follows in the next verse turns upon such natural know
ledge.
Manifest, manifested, (fravtpov, e^avepcoo-ev, of a conclu
sion discerned (clearly seen] by the light of reason. Such
is the conclusion of the existence of God, worked out
by a reasoning process, which will be more or less
scientific according to the capacity of the reasoner.
The validity of this reasoning process is ruled by the
Vatican Council in the following canon : " If any one
says that God, one and true, our Creator and Lord,
cannot with certainty be known by the natural light of
human reason through the things that are made, let
him be anathema" (sess. i, De Revelatione, can. i).
This canon is simply an enforcement of St. Paul s words,
v. 20. This knowledge is not faith, but is one of the
preambles, or previous conditions, of faith. Of matter
of faith, as such, it is not said that it is manifest (cf.
2 Cor. v. 7 ; Heb. xi. i), but that it is revealed (aTroKa-
XvTTTfraL, vv. 17, 1 8). Manifest in them, i.e. in their minds.
20. His eternal power also and divinity. For also read
to wit, the Greek re, Latin que, for which the Vulgate
qiioque seems to be a clerical error. The particle
explains what the invisible things above mentioned
are.
So that they are inexcusable, goes better with the next
verse.
ROMANS i. 2124. 301
21. Cf. Eph. iv. 18; and Wisdom xiii. i 10, which
passage St. Paul evidently had in view.
23. Cf. Ps. cv. 20: And they changed their glory into
the likeness of a calf eating grass. Four-footed beasts and
creeping things and birds were worshipped in Egypt. The
Greek deities were all in the likeness of man. All cults,
at the time the Apostle wrote, were to be met with in
Rome, " where with most diligent superstition was held
gathered together whatever had been set on foot by
vain errors anywhere," as St. Leo says. The Apostle
does not mention nature-worship, referred to Wisd.
xiii. 2.
24. This verse might be turned more accurately from
the Greek : Wherefore also God gave them up in the desires
of their hearts unto uncleanness, to the end that they should
dishonour their own bodies one with another. Read eV avrois,
and make o.Ti/xaeo-0cu reciprocal middle.
This word gave them up means more than that God
permitted the sin with what is called a permission of
fact, i.e. did not hinder it. Such mere absence of
hinderance on the part of God may be predicated
of any sin that ever is actually committed. But in
regard of these sins of uncleanness in the heathen of
old, God acted, not positively putting anything to
cause them, but by way of privation withholding those
gracious thoughts and pure visions, that sense of shame
and feeling of dignity, whereby man is usually kept
back from going all lengths in the gratification of
sensuality. With the idea of God, Maker and Lord
of man, which these heathen wilfully flung away, or
refused ever to take up, they lost also by the just
ordinance of God what Plato calls the "vision of
Beauty with Modesty standing on holy pedestal"
(Phaedrus, 254 B), and rushed headlong into sin.. So
Theodoret and St. John Chrysostom, the former of
whom likens them to a boat left without ballast, the
302 ROMANS i. 2527.
latter to an army abandoned by its general, not
however till they have first gone away from him.
This is not one universal condemnation of all the
men and women in the Gentile world. The Apostle
presently uses almost as severe language of the Jews ;
and yet we know there was the host of saints of Israel,
of whose deeds the Old Testament is the record, the
great cloud of witnesses ; whose praise is in the eleventh
chapter to the Hebrews. There was a certain measure
of genuine goodness in the old Gentile world (recognised,
ii. 14 16). There was accumulated in time, a huge
mass of invincible ignorance (recognised by St. Paul
speaking on the Areopagus, Acts xvii. 30 ; see notes on
iii. 25 ; v. 13). Lastly, as there was no obligation on a
Gentile to become a Jew, we are not to suppose that,
remaining a Gentile, a man was necessarily cut off
from those supernatural graces and that supernatural
holiness, which obtained even under the Old Law
through the anticipated merits of the Redeemer, and
made saints among the children of Israel. Christ died
for men of all nations and men of all times, for all the
sons of Adam.
25. Changed the truth of God into a lie, i.e. exchanged
the worship of the true God for the worship of idols.
A lie means an idol, Jer. xvi. 19.
To worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator is
the essential note of all paganism, Hellenism, secularism,
call it what you will in every age of the world.
27. The sin that drew down the rain of fire on
Sodom (Gen. xix.), in Greece amounted to an institu
tion, commended by economists, as Aristotle tells us
(Politics, ii. 10. 9), restricted, but not suppressed by
legislation, connived at by philosophy, only in his old
age did Plato see his way to an entire condemnation of
it (Laws, vii. 836 841) : it was in Hellas, and wherever
the Hellenes went, the national sin.
ROMANS i. 28, 29. 303
Receiving in themselves the recompense due to their error,
i.e. to their idolatry. So above, 23, 24 : cf. Wisdom
xiv. 22 31.
28. " But, when God is abandoned," says St.
Chrysostom, commenting on the above mentioned fact,
"everything goes topsy-turvy." And so says St. Paul
in this verse.
A reprobate sense, aSu/u//.ov vow, a castaway mind, a mind
rejected of God : so the word dSo /a/Aos is used five times
by St. Paul, e.g. i Cor. ix. 27 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 5 7. There
is a play of words, OVK eSoKi/xcurav and dScm/Aov, which is
lost in translation.
29. Iniquity, or injustice, in the general sense, as in
v. 28, opposed to the justice of God (v. 17), and including
all the species, next enumerated.
Malice, irov-qpia., " the mind of a wild beast, says
Theodoret : it means all disposition to injure others.
The devil is eminently 6 -rrovypos, the malicious one (Matt.
vi. 13 ; i John ii. 13).
Fornication, probably an interpolation here.
Avarice, the desire of money, the root of all evil (i Tim.
vi. 10).
Wickedness, /caia a, vice as opposed to virtue.
As virtue, dpen/, is manliness of soul, so vice, as Plato
says, is " disease and disfigurement and weakness "
(Rep. iv. 444 E). Or possibly KO.KUL stands here for
KaKovpyLa, wicked cunning, as it may in i Cor. xiv. 20.
Envy, murder, <f>06vov, <f>6vov, alliteration as in Gal.
v. 21. The example primeval of both sins is Cain
(i John iii. 12 ; Gen. iv.). Among his imitators come
those who envy and murder innocence.
Contention, that our Lord prayed against for His
Church (John xvii. 21 23). See however St. Thomas,
2a 239, q. 29, art. 3, ad 2.
Malignity is defined by Aristotle, " the putting the
worse construction on all things" (Rhet. ii. 13).
304 ROMANS i. 30, 31.
Whisperers, i.e. mischief-makers between friends,
described by St. Thomas, 2a 2se, q. 74. Be not called a
whisperer (Ecclus. v. 14: cf. 2 Cor. xii. 20). This word
should have headed the next verse.
30. Detractors, James iv. n. One of the lighter sins
of heathendom, common enough in Christendom.
Hateful to God. Informers (Tacitus, Annals, vi. 7),
perjurers (Plato, Laws, xi. 916 E), and other such
enemies of the human race bore this appellation. But
from a passage of St. Paul s disciple St. Clement,
imitating and almost quoting this passage, the word
bears an active sense, haters of God (Clem, i Cor. 35).
Contumelious, vfipio-ras, wantonly violent, adding injury
to insult. St. Paul applies the term to himself before
his conversion (i Tim. i. 13), on account of the unprovoked
violence (vfipis) that he did to the Christians.
Proud, haughty, both these are renderings of the same
word V7repr)q>avovs, which appears in the well known
passages, Luke i. 51 ; James iv. 6.
The next term dAaovas does not answer to the
Vulgate elatos (haughty). The dAa^wi/ (Aristotle, Ethics,
iii. 10) is one who pretends to brilliant qualities which
he does not possess. It may be Englished pretentious.
Inventors of evil things, " those who are not content
with the vices common in society, but invent new
ones " (Theodoret), as the reigning emperor Nero did.
Antiochus, King of Syria, is called inventor of all vice
(2 Mace. vii. 31).
Disobedient to parents. According to the received
morality of the Greeks themselves, to ill-treat a parent
was the very acme of wickedness. See Plato, Rep.
569* 574- Nero s treatment of his mother is a noted
example.
31. Foolish, tto-vi/eVous, destitute of spiritual understanding
(Col. i. 9). Their foolish heart was darkened (v. 21).
Dissolute. The word uo-w#eVous, well rendered by
ROMANS i. 32. 305
the Vulgate incompositos, does not mean dissolute, but
uncombinable, or we might say, uncompanionable, or as
Dr. Johnson phrased it, unclubbaUe. It is exactly
expressed by a phrase of Plato s (Gorgias, 507 E), /coii/wveu/
dSiWros, unable to be a partner in social life. Of such a
one Aristotle (Politics, i.) says he must be "either a
brute or a god." Clearly in this context we have the
" brute."
The words without fidelity (do-Trm/Sou?, absque foedere,
Vulg.) are not in the best MSS., and are evidently a
gloss to explain dtrwflerovs, which in some measure they
do.
Without (natural) affection between parent and child.
Without mercy, for the beaten, for the offending, for
the suffering, for the needy, for the weak.
So much for the old paganism, not unlike to which
will be the new paganism of the last days, as foretold,
2 Tim. iii. 2 4.
32. Though the general sense of this verse is
clear, the structure is uncertain, and amid the various
readings of the MSS. it is impossible to be sure what
exactly St. Paul wrote. The following is the more
probable : Who having known the just doom of God, that they
who do such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but
also consent to them that do them.
Worthy of death, that is, generally, of the severest
punishment. Cf. David s saying (2 Kings xii.) : As
the Lord liveth, the man who hath done this thing is a son of
death.
The men in question, not only yielded to sin them
selves, as it were perforce and in secret, but applauded
and abetted and maintained the cause of sin in the
world around. We must remember that in the ancient
world religion often, so far from being a check upon
vice, was an incentive to it : its legends were tales of
lust, and its rites lilthiness.
V
306 ROMAN3 ii.
CHAPTER II.
I. Wherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art
that judgest : for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest
thyself; for thou doest the same things which thou judgest. 2. For
we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against
them that do such things. 3. And thinkest thou this, O man, that
judgest them who do such things, and doest the same, that thou
shalt escape the judgment of God ? 4. Or despisest thou the
riches of his goodness, and patience, and long-suffering ? Knowest
thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance ?
5. But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou
treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and reve
lation of the just judgment of God; 6. Who will render to every
man according to his works : 7. To them indeed who, according to
patience in good work, seek glory, and honour, and incorruption,
life everlasting ; 8. But to them who are contentious, and who obey
not the truth, but give credit to iniquity, wrath and indignation,
9. Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth
evil ; of the Jew first, and also of the Greek : 10. But glory and
honour and peace to every one that worketh good ; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek : n. For there is no respect of persons with
God. 12. For whosoever have sinned without the law shall perish
without the law ; and whosoever have sinned under the law shall
be judged by the law, 13. For not the hearers of the law are just
before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14. For
when the gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature those things
that are of the law, these, having not the law, are a law to them
selves : 15. Who show the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience bearing witness to them, and their thoughts within
themselves accusing them, or else defending them, 16. In the day
when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according
to my gospel. 17. But if thou art called a Jew, and restest in the
law, and makest thy boast of God, 18. And knowest his will, and
approvest the things that are more profitable, being instructed by
the law, 19. Art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the
blind, a light of them that are in darkness, 20. An instructor of
the foolish, a teacher of infants, having the form of knowledge and
of truth in the law. 21. Thou, therefore that teachest another,
teachest not thyself: thou that preachest that men should not
steal, stealest : 22. Thou that sayest, men should not commit
adultery, committest adultery : thou that abhorrest idols, committest
ROMANS ii. i 5. 307
sacrilege: 23. Thou that makest thy boast of the law, by the
transgression of the law dishonourest God. 24. (For the name of
God through you is blasphemed among the gentiles, as it is written.)
25. Circumcision profiteth indeed if thou keep the law : but if thou
be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircum-
cision. 26. If then the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the
law, shall not his uncircumcision be reputed for circumcision ?
27. And shall not that which by nature is uncircumcision, if it
fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision art a
transgressor of the law ? 28. For it is not he is a Jew who is so
outwardly ; nor is that circumcision which is outwardly in the
flesh : 29. But he is a Jew that is one inwardly ; and the circum
cision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose
praise is not of men, but of God.
1. O man, whosoever thou art that judgest. The expres
sion is general, but St. Paul already has the Jew in
view, and passes soon from this generality to him in
particular. Verses 21 23, addressed to the Jew, are
but an expansion of what we have here : Thou doest the
same things which thou judgest.
2. According to truth, i.e. a judgment rigorously just
and surely executed.
3. And thinkest thou that thou shalt escape? Again
pointed at the Jews, who considered themselves safe
without repentance, because they were children of
Abraham (Matt. iii. 7, 9).
4. Goodness, benignity, X/^O-TOT/;?, the same word. The
XP^O-TO? is one who makes himself useful to others, one
who lays himself out to do them good. Goodness is a
more active quality than patience and long-suffering, and
therefore it alone is mentioned as leading men to
penance. God truly leads, i.e. tries to lead, even those
who will not go.
5. Wrath against the day of wyath, ei/ rj^pa, in die
(Vulg.) : it should be wrath in the day of wrath. The
preposition does not refer back to treasurest.
The day of wrath, dies ires: the day of judgment is
so called here, and Sophon. i. 15; ii. 3; Apoc. vi. 17.
3 o8 ROMANS ii. 68.
In that day the just judgment of God shall be revealed and
shown forth in its fulness, which has place imperfectly
and obscurely in this life, and fully but most secretly,
for the individual, when he passes out of this life into
the next.
6. Who will vender to every man according to his works.
Taken from Ps. Ixi. 13, and repeated, Matt. xvi. 27;
Apoc. xxii. 12; ii. 23. The Apostle speaks alike of
all works : but evil works merit damnation : therefore
good works (understand, supernaturally good works,
done in the state of grace and under the prompting of
actual grace) merit heaven. Of course no one is in
the state of grace who has not the habit of faith ; nor
does any one act under the prompting of grace without
an implicit exercise of faith.
7. Patience in good work, inculcated so often, Luke
viii. 15; xxi. 19; Heb. x. 36; James i. 4; Matt. x. 22
(in the Greek, he that shall be patient to the end}. And
still to be inculcated, and failing it, patience in reiterated
repentances.
Glory and honour and incorruptien are not merely the
reward that is in the life to come ; they are more
immediately in this life, the habit of soul and body
that prepares for that reward. They are the strong
contraries of the uncleanness, the shameful affections, the
reprobate sense, and all the base qualities enumerated in
ch. i. On incorruption in particular cf. i Cor. xv. 50 ;
Gal. vi. 8 ; 2 Pet. ii. 19.
8. To them that are contentious, rots e epifla as, qui sunt
ex contentions. The word epitfeta however has nothing to
do with pis, contention, but is from epi#ev o//,cu, / intrigue
for power. It occurs in Aristotle s Politics, v. 3, where
it means canvassing. Also twice in St. Paul, 2 Cor.
xii. 20, and Gal. v. 20, where it is rendered, not happily,
dissensiones (dissensions) and rixce (quarrels). It means.
here self-seeking. , With rots e epitfeias, the party of self-
ROMANS ii. 913. 309
seeking, cf. ol e/< 7reptTo/x7}s (Acts x. 45), the party of cir
cumcision. Understand self-seeking to the contempt of
God.
Obey not the truth, in the same sense in which they
are said to detain the truth of God in injustice, i. 18.
Give credit to iniquity, rather obey (7rei0o/u,eVois) iniquity,
as explained vi. 12, 13, 16, 19; 2 Pet. ii. 19.
Wrath and indignation, opyrj KOL #v/xos, in the nominative
case, as are the other substantives that follow in vv. 9,
10, whereas eternal life (<or;j/ aiuviov, v. 7) is in the
accusative.
9. There should be no full stop at the end of the
previous verse, only a comma.
Wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, go
together. For the two latter words see note on 2 Cor.
iv. 8.
Of the Jew first, for he sinned against greater light.
Cf. Luke xii. 47, 48 ; Acts xvii. 30.
10. To the Jew first, see on i. 16.
11. Job xxxiv. 18,19; Wisd. vi. 7 9; Acts x.34, 35.
12. Without the law, in the law, understand, of Moses.
Cf. what our Lord says of the word of the gospel, John
xii. 48.
13. The hearers of the law, portions of which were
read aloud every sabbath in the synagogue.
The doers of the law shall be justified, understand from
the previous clause, before God. And yet, by the works of
the law no fiesh shall be justified before him (iii. 20). None
indeed, if the works of the law are separated from
faith and the grace of Christ, which here they are not,
but the meaning is, the doers of the law shall be justified
before God, if they fulfil the other conditions of justifi
cation. Observe that one cannot be a doer of the law,
that is, a steady observer of its moral precepts, without
the grace of Christ, The law is insufficient to get
itself done.
310 ROMANS ii. 14.
14. For, ydp. It will be observed that this is the
fourth verse in succession introduced by this conjunc
tion. On the connection here see Canon Cholmondeley s
work, The Four TAP (Williams and Norgate, 1880).
The connection is immediate with the words preceding,
and is put by St. Thomas thus : " He shows that the
doers of the law, even if they are not hearers, are
justified." The for therefore introduces an instance,
making good the last statement of the previous verse.
The sense is : When gentiles (Wvri without article),
they who have not the law of Moses read to them, do
by the light of nature (though not by the mere strength
of nature) the works enjoined by the moral precepts of
that law, such persons are (as Aristotle says, see note
on Gal. v. 23) a law to themselves, that is, without external
coercion they are of their own choice a living embodi
ment of the law.
By nature, that is, as St. Thomas explains, " by the
natural law, showing what is to be done, as the text
has it, Psalm iv. 6 ; and yet there is not excluded the
necessity of grace to move the will." Nay, we must
suppose the presence of grace in these Gentiles ; for
from v. 13, of which this verse is an exemplification,
there is question of being justified before God. See
St. Augustine, De spiritu et litera, cc. 36 38.
Thus, as St. Chrysostom says, "in answer to the
enquiry why Christ came so late, and where Providence
was in previous ages, the Apostle shows that even in
early times, and before the giving of the law, mankind
had the benefit of a perfect Providence." That was
not only by the light of reason, but also by some
assistance of grace ; for the grace of Christ was given
in anticipation of His coming, nor was it confined to
the people of whose stock He was born.
Canon Cholmondeley, with Bengel, would punctuate,
gentiles who have not the law by nature, TO. //.r/
ROMANS ii. 15, 16. 311
<f>va-eL : cf. Gal. ii. 15, by nature Jews, <vVei lov&uot, and
Eph. ii. 3, by nature children of wrath , reWa <vcrei opy^s,
quite a tenable collocation, still not necessary for the
explanation given.
15. Who show the work of the law written in their hearts,
not on tables of stone, Exod. xxxi. 18; cf. 2 Cor. iii. 3 ;
Heb. viii. 10, two parallel passages also referring to
supernatural justice. It is more to have the work of the
law written in your heart than the word of the law.
Their conscience bearing witness to them. Conscience is
every man s household exponent of the law, applying
it to his particular acts.
Their thoughts within themselves, /Aerau aXX^Xwi/, between
one another, a sort of disputation between thought and
thought.
Accusing them or else defending them. Some of the
Rheims versions have accusing or defending one another,
a mis-translation, which makes nonsense. When we
debate whether we have done well or ill, our thoughts
do not accuse or defend one another, they accuse or
defend us.
St. Thomas writes (la 2ae, q. 79, art. 13) : " Con
science is said to testify, to bind, and also to accuse ;
and all these acts follow on the application of a certain
knowledge in us to our acts, and that in three ways.
In one way, as we recognise that we have done some
thing or not done it ; and to this extent conscience is
said to testify. In another way, as we judge that
something is to be done or not to be done ; and in this
way conscience is said to bind. In a third way, as
we judge that something which has been done was
well or ill done ; and thus conscience is said to excuse
or accuse."
16. This verse is a continuation of v. 13. The two
intervening verses, 14, 15, make a parenthesis. Accord
ing to my gospel, simply, the gospel which I preach.
3 i2 ROMANS ii. 17-22.
17. But if thou art called a Jew, &c. This if affects
all to the end of v. 20, where we should put a colon :
then comes the second part of this long, compound
sentence: well then, thou that teachest another, &c. (v. 21).
There is an inferior reading, i8 for ei Se, lo, thou art called
a Jew.
1 8. Approvest the more profitable things, So/u//,act? ra
Sia^epovra, of which testest the things that differ is a more
accurate translation. It does not refer to the legal
differences of meats (Levit. xi.), since the apostle prays
that the Philippians may have the same gift (Phil,
i. 9, 10) ; but to the power of drawing a clear line in
moral and spiritual matters, between "contraries, as
justice and injustice, temperance and licentiousness,
piety and impiety," as Theodoret says, not calling evil
good, and good evil ; putting darkness for light, and light
for darkness; turning bitter to sweet, and sweet to bitter
(Isaias v. 20).
Being instructed by the law, /car^ou^ei/os \K TOV vo/xov,
literally, being orally taught religion out of [the books of]
the law. The word, whence comes our catechize, means
to teach orally, the master saying a thing, and the
scholar repeating it. The word occurs in five other
places in the New Testament, Luke i. 4 ; Acts xviii. 25 ;
xxi. 21, 24; i Cor. xiv. 19 ; Gal. vi. 6 always in refer
ence to the teaching of religion, except in Acts xxi.,
where it means simply to din into.
19. 20. Guide of the blind, light of them in darkness,
instructor (educator, chastiser) of fools, teacher of babes, all so
many titles that the Jews, the Pharisees especially,
arrogated to themselves in reference to the Gentiles.
The form of knowledge, /xop^wo-tv, the word occurs else
where only in 2 Tim. iii. 5, where it means the outward
show : here we might say, the delineation, or the lineaments.
22. Thou that abhorrest idols, committest sacrilege, lepo-
, better, robbest temples (of idols), cf. Acts xix. 37.
ROMANS ii. 2427. 313
" The Jews were severely forbidden to touch the wealth
lying in temples of idols, as being an abomination
(Deut. vi. 25, 26; 2 Mace. xii. 4): but the tyranny of
love of money induced them to trample on this law "
(St. Chrysostom). An allegation which posterity will
readily believe.
24. The quotation is from Isaias lii. 5, according to
the Septuagint. The sentiment is in Ezechiel xxxvi.
20 23.
25. Circumcision was the mark of a man being of the
seed of Abraham ; what that implied, see ix. 4, 5. To
follow the Apostle in what he is about to say, we should
read again the covenant of circumcision, as related in
Genesis xvii.
Circumcision profitcth. See iii. 1,2. As Baptism is
the door of the Christian covenant, so by Circumcision
a man was admitted to the covenant of the Old Law.
All who know and can are bound to pass through the
door of Baptism : there was no corresponding obliga
tion for a Gentile to be circumcised, and so be aggre
gated to the people of Israel. Still, such aggregation
brought with it many spiritual advantages, a more exact
knowledge of God, and a more approved mode of
religious ritual.
// thou keep the law, the whole law (see on Gal. v. 3) of
Moses, both in its moral and in its ceremonial precepts;
for the person addressed is the Jew under the Old
Covenant, upon whom that law was binding in its
entirety.
26. // the uncircumcised Gentile keep the ordinances of the
law, i.e. the moral precepts of the Mosaic law, the ten
commandments, for he was not bound to the rest.
We have seen on v. 14 that this supposition can
have no place except in the case of Gentiles borne up
and supported by the anticipated grace of Christ.
27. Who by the letter and circumcision art a transgressor.
3 i 4 ROMANS ii. 28, 29.
A Greek way of speaking, TOV 8ia
7rapa(3drrjv, of the Jew who, in literal observance of the
covenant, inasmuch as he is actually circumcised, still
transgresses the law. We might say of a validly
ordained priest, living wickedly, that by the letter and
ordination he was a transgressor.
28. Outwardly is explained by the words that follow,
by that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. It means
-outwardly merely, and not inwardly St. Paul would
not have denied that the man belonged to the Jewish
community as a visible member of a visible body, and
as such came in for the prayers and sacrifices offered
for that body. All he means is that the man is not
a Jew unto salvation. In like manner the Catholic
Church on earth consists of all baptized professing
Catholics, not as the Wicliffites and Jansenists would
have it, of the elect only, or only of the just and holy.
29. The circumcision of the heart. The uncircumcised of
heart are spoken of by the prophets, Jerem. ix. 26;
Ezech. xliv. 7, 9; and by St. Stephen, Acts vii. 51.
The sum of it is as St. Chrysostom says : " Everywhere
there is need of a good life," -n-avraxov fitov
ROMANS Hi.
CHAPTER III.
I. What advantage then hath the Jew, or what is the profit of
circumcision? 2. Much every way. First indeed, because the
words of God were committed to them. 3. For what if some of
them have not believed ? shall their unbelief make the faith of God
without effect? God forbid. 4. But God is true, and every man
a liar ; as it is written : That thou mayest be justified in thy words,
and mayest overcome when thou are judged. 5. For if our injustice
commend the justice of God, what shall we say ? Is God unjust
who executeth wrath ? 6. (I speak according to man.) God forbid :
otherwise how shall God judge this world ? 7. For if the truth of
God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory ; why am
I also yet judged as a sinner? 8. And not rather, (as we are
slandered, and as some affirm that we say,) let us do evil, that there
may come good ? whose damnation is just. 9. What then ? Do we
excel them ? By no means. For we have charged both Jews and
Greeks, that they are all under sin ; 10. As it is written : There is
not any man just : u. There is none that understandeth, there
is none that seeketh after God. 12. All have turned out of the
way, they are become unprofitable together; there is none that
doeth good, there is not so much as one. 13. Their throat is an
open sepulchre : with their tongues they have dealt deceitfully : the
venom of asps is under their lips : 14. W hose mouth is full of
cursing and bitterness : 15. Their feet are swift to shed blood :
16. Destruction and misery are in their ways : 17. And the way of
peace they have not known : 18. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. 19. Now we know that what things soever the law
speaketh, it speaketh to them that are in the law ; that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may be made subject to God :
20. Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in
his sight : for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21. But now
without the law the justice of God is made manifest ; being
witnessed by the law and the prophets, 22. Even the justice of
God by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them that
believe in him ; for there is no distinction : 23. For all have sinned,
and do need the glory of God : 24. Being justified gratis by his
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ; 25. Whom
God had set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to the showing of his justice, for the remission of past sins,
26. Through the forbearance of God, for the showing of his justice
in this time; that he himself may be just, and the justifier of him
316 ROMANS in. i 4.
who is of the faith of Jesus Christ. 27. Where is then thy
boasting ? It is excluded. By what law ? of works ? No ; but by
the law of faith. 28. For we account a man to be justified by faith
without the works of the law. 29. Is he the God of the Jews only ?
is he not also of the gentiles ? Yes, of the gentiles also ; 30. For
it is one God who justifieth circumcision by faith, and uncircum-
cision through faith. 31. Do we then destroy the law through
faith ? God forbid : but we establish the law.
1. The second member of this interrogation is only
a repetition under another form of the first.
2. First indeed. The abruptness of St. Paul s style is
conspicuous in the first eight verses of this chapter.
After mentioning the first advantage enjoyed by the
Jews under the old dispensation, he breaks off and
enumerates no more. He supposes us acquainted with
Deut. iv. 7, 8 ; vii. 6 ; Ps. cxlvii. ; and returns himself
to the subject, ix. 4, 5.
The words of God, called words of life (Acts vii. 38),
principally the promise of the Messiah, by faith in
whom the Jews were justified, like their father Abraham
(iv. i, seq. ; Gal. iii. 6 9). The Greek is eTTLa-TevOrjo-av
ra Xoyta TOV Oeov, they were entrusted with the oracles of God.
3. Some of them have not believed. As well the Jews of
old (cf. Ps. Ixxvii. ; Ps. xciv. 8 u), as also the Jews
in our Lord s time and in that of His Apostles.
Shall their unbelief, &c. means : Shall God break His
word because they have broken theirs ? Cf. 2 Tim.
ii. 13. The promise of the Messiah was an absolute
promise (Ps. Ixxxviii. 31 35), not conditional, like that
of the good things of earth promised to the Israelites
(Deut. xxviii.).
4. But God is true. So the Vulgate : Est autem Deus
verax. But the Greek is ytveo-^w, and should be Englished :
But let God prove true, though every man (according to
the text, Ps. cxv. n) be a Hay.
And mayest overcome when thou art judged (Ps. 1. 6).
St. Paul quotes the Septuagint. The Hebrew is : and
ROMANS iii. 5-8. 317
mayest be pure in thy judging, i.e. be recognised as such.
It is probable that /cpiWr&u is not passive (to be judged],
but middle (to go to law}. We may then translate the
Greek : That thou mayest be justified (i.e. acknowledged just]
in thy words, and mayest be victorious in thy suit. For
the idea cf. i Kings xii. 7, seq. ; Jer. ii. 9, seq. ; Isaias
v- 3> 4-
5 8. These four verses are some of the most
difficult in St. Paul, not tor the matter, which is
tolerably plain, but lor the style, the abruptness of
which, like that of Gal. iii. 20, suggests a lacuna, or loss
of words, in the text as it has come down to us. Verse 5
suggests an idea, which is repudiated in v. 6, is then
taken up again in v. 7, and is finally condemned in v. 8
as leading to a monstrous conclusion in morals. The
said idea is this, that man s injustice and man s false
hood is a useful commodity to God, and serves as a
means to bring out by contrast God s justice and God s
truthfulness : whence it would follow that God was
unjust in executing wrath upon and punishing the man
who in sinning was thus doing Him a service. The
idea was adopted by a certain John Eckard in the
fourteenth century, the author of this proposition : " In
every work, however evil, whether of fault or of penalty,
the glory of God is equally manifest and shines forth ; "
condemned by John XXII. as heretical. In v. 6, which
is parenthetic, this idea is scouted. St. Paul explains
that he has been speaking, not as an inspired Apostle,
but according to man, that is, as St. Peter spoke, when he
drew upon himself the name of satan and scandal, for
savouring not the things of God, but the things that aye of men
(Matt. xvi. 23). God forbid, says St. Paul : such a view
would make the last judgment an impossibility (v. 6).
Then he recurs to the idea which he has repudiated,
and restates it as an objection : this fills the whole
of v. 7. He further developes the objection in v. 8,
3i8 ROMANS iii. 9.
showing that it involves the principle that the end
justifies the means. Let us sin, he says, playing the
part of the objicient, to the end that the attributes
of God may be more manifest by means of our sin.
This principle, that the end justifies the means, was
slanderously imputed by the Gentiles to the first
Christians : so we gather from St. Paul. With equal
slander has it been imputed by Jansenists and Pro
testants to the Society of Jesus. For St. Paul it is
enough that the idea which he is struggling against
lands us in that principle : such an issue he considers
a veductio ad absurdum.
Whose damnation is just, that is the damnation of those
some, who ascribed the said abominable principle to
the Christians, and likewise embodied it in their own
practice.
9. What then ? Do we excel them ? By no means. This
is explained to mean : Do we Jews excel the Gentiles
in point of morality ? But this leaves much to be
understood, which is not easily gathered from the
context. It also involves quite an unparalleled use of
the middle voice of the verb Tr/aoe^eti/, which in the
active means to excel, but is never found in the middle
voice. Theodoret reads, TL ovv Kare^o/xev Tre/ncro-oV ;
TrpoyTtao-d/jLeOa yap K.T.\. : What superiority then do we
possess? for we have charged, &c., a remarkable variation.
And St. Chrysostom (Horn. 8 in Rom. iv. i) quotes this
text nearly in the same form, TL ovv Trpo/carexo/x-ei/ -n-epwro-oV;
The Vulgate reads praecellimus ? (do we excel?), agreeing
fairly with St. Chrysostom and Theodoret, but hardly
a valid rendering of the reading Trpo^xo^Oa. Modern
commentators are much divided. If one conjecture more
may be allowed in a matter so uncertain, we may take
7rpoexo/A#a, as many do, for the passive voice ; indeed
it can hardly be anything else. We may then punctuate
and translate as follows : TL ovv TrpooOa ; ov
ROMANS in. 1020. 319
In what then are we surpassed ? Is it not in every way ?
This makes at least unexceptional Greek, which other
versions do not. Now for the meaning. In v. 4 (on
which see note) we have, that thou mayest overcome when
thou art judged, or that thou mayest be victorious in thy suit.
It is question of a judgment, plea and counterplea
between God and man, God s justice and man s
iniquity, and man is cast in the suit. The double
question, as above put, implies a double answer, that
we, all mankind, are surpassed by God, and that in every
way. Man s defence in point of justice against God
breaks down entirely. We have no case. For we have
charged (that is, /, the writer to the Romans, have already
preferred an indictment, Trporyriacra/xe^a, a forensic term) both
yews and Greeks that they are all under sin : for (v. 23) all
have sinned, and do need the glory of God, where the verb
vo-repowTai (do need], from iVrepos, behind, forms some
antithesis to Trpo^xo^Oa (we aye surpassed], from irpo, before.
10 18. These quotations are principally from
Psalm xiii. 3. They are not to be taken absolutely
and universally, but as emphatic denunciations of a
widespread depravity.
19. The law speaketh. So (in John x. 34) Our Lord
cites a Psalm to the Jews as your law.
It speaketh to them that are in the law. Thus if the
Pope in an Encyclical were to complain of the avarice
of men, without specifying men out of the Church, his
reproaches would be supposed to fall also on the faithful
whom he addressed.
Subject to God, VTTO&LKOS ro> #e<p. The word VTTO&KOS,
followed by a dative of a person, is a law term, meaning
liable to a legal penalty upon the action of that person. Its
use here helps out the interpretation that we have put
upon v. 9.
20. By the works of the law no flesh shall be justified before
him. Men are not justified by the works of the law,
320 ROMANS iii. 21
whether the law of the ten commandments, given
through Moses, or the same law as known by nature
(ii. 14, 15 ; Gal. ii. 19, with note), for this sufficient
reason among others, that they have not done those
works, but have broken the law generally (vv. 9 18).
If it be pleaded against this that such persons as
Zachary and Elizabeth were just before God, walking in
all the commandments of the Lord without blame (Luke i. 6),
St. Paul would reply that all such just persons, whether
Jews or Gentiles before the coining of Christ, were just
by having something besides the law to support them,
namely, the anticipated grace and merits of Christ.
Cf. on ii. 14.
By the law is the knowledge of sin (cf. vii. 7), but not
thereby the grace to avoid sin. Hence the law is called
the strength of sin (i Cor. xii. 56).
The argument of this Epistle is the moral law : the
argument of the Epistle to the Galatians is rather the
ceremonial law. See on Gal. ii. 16.
2 1 . But now without the law the justice of God is made
manifest. Without the law, or apart from the law, X<O/HS
vopov, means first, apart from observance of the law in past
time (cf. Eph. ii. i 9). Neither Jews nor Gentiles
have kept the law binding on them, and yet they are
justified by faith and baptism (vi. 3), whereby all their
sins are forgiven. So much for the past. But their
justification will not be lasting and enduring, apart
from observance of the law (the moral law, that is) in
the future, after baptism. The unjust shall not possess
the kingdom of God, . . . nor the effeminate (see i Cor.
vi. 9, 10), be he Jew or Greek or Christian. St. Paul
was not the man to issue licenses to sin. Cf. Eph.
ii. 10.
A secondary meaning of without the law might be
apart from the sacrifices of the Old Law, which were
insufficient to take away sin, as shown, Heb. ix. 9 ;
ROMANS in. 2225. 321
x. i ii. But this meaning can only be secondary
and implied, as the Apostle here is dealing with the
moral, not with the ceremonial law.
Being witnessed by the law and the prophets, as shown
e.g. Acts iii. 2226; Heb. viii. 812.
22. Unto all and upon all, a mere repetition for
emphasis. Good MSS. omit upon ail.
For there is no distinction. See x. 12. Mercy for all,
as all equally require mercy, for (v. 23) all have sinned.
23. Do need the glory of God, va-repovvrai, literally, do
run short of the glory (grace) of God. The verb occurs
in the same form in Phil. iv. 12, to abound and to suffer
need, vo-Tepdo-tfcu. The substantive is vo-re/oos, hinder, or
secondmost, e.g. in a race. In Attic Greek they would
have said A.reo-0ai.
The glory of God here is glory before God, (iv. 2), that
is, grace. Thus the riches of his glory (ix. 23) means the
riches of his grace. Also Eph. iii. 16.
24. Justified freely, because the Jews and Gentiles
brought no merits to baptism, but rather, as has been
shown, many demerits.
This Epistle to the Romans is really a glorification
of the sacramental system, not of free grace away from
sacraments, though God of course can give grace with
out sacraments. The contrast is between Circumcision
and Baptism, and the state formally ensuing upon
each.
25. A propitiation, IX-aorr^pLov, which word elsewhere
in the Bible means always the propitiatory, or mercy-seat
(described Exod. xxv. 1722; Heb. ix. 5), and so it
is explained by Theodoret here. But the sense of
propitiatory sacrifice (the same as LVcur/xos, i John ii. 2 ;
iv. 10; so iXaa-rrjpiov is used by Dion Chrysostom, Ovat.
ii. p. 184: cf. o-omjpia, peace-offerings, Exod. xx. 24) suits
the context much better.
In his blood, the blood of Christ. The his is emphatic,
v
322 ROMANS iii. 26.
as the construction ev TO) avroO at/xari shows. There
should be no comma after propitiation, and the words
faith in his blood are not to be taken together, but pro
pitiation-through-faith is to go together. It means that
Christ is an expiatory victim, in whom men must
believe, that He may be expiatory for them.
To the showing of his justice. The justice here spoken
of is an attribute of God Himself, that holiness whereby
God hates sin, punishes it, and blots it out. On the
other hand, the justice of God, said in v. 21 to be made
manifest, is an attribute put by God in men, whom He
makes just and holy by grace, forgiving their sins.
For the remission (remissionem, Vulg.) of former sins,
810. rrjv ira.pf.criv TWV TrpoyeyovoTwv d/x,a/)Tr;/xaTwv ev rfj avo\r)
TOV 6eov. Translate, owing to the letting pass of former sins
through the forbearance of God. The sense of the clause
is given by St. Paul s words to the Athenians (Acts
xvii. 30) : God indeed having winked at the times of this
ignorance. Cf. also Acts xiv. 15.
The word Trapeo-is, which occurs nowhere else in
Scripture, does not mean remission (remissio), that is
always a<j>co-L<s (Matt. xxvi. 28; Eph. i. 7; Heb. ix. 22,
&c.), but letting go by, letting pass unpunished, or unatoned
for. So God let the sins of men go by unatoned for
for 4,000 or more years, till the coming of His Son ;
and that is what St. Paul here refers to. The words,
through the forbearance of God, should not be preceded by
any stop, much less transferred to the next verse, but
joined on immediately to the words preceding, as shown
above. God does not remit sins by forbearing to punish
them.
26. For the showing of his justice means neither more
nor less than to the showing of his justice in the previous
verse. Why then the repetition ? On account of what
is put in between. We might paraphrase thus : * God
hath put forward Christ in the sight of all, a sacrifice
ROMANS in. 27, 28. 323
of atonement by the shedding of blood, to the showing
forth of His justice : yes, I say, owing to His forbear
ance in letting pass, unatoned for, the sins of former
times, He was anxious at last to have atonement made,
and so put forward Christ s atonement for the showing
forth of His justice in this time. The words in this
time are emphatic, standing in antithesis to the word
former in v. 25.
That he himself may be just and the justifier, &c. : i.e.
thus God shows Himself to be just, exacting atonement
for sin, and at the same time He justifies, that is,
forgives and sanctifies, him who believes in Jesus Christ
and is baptized (Mark xvi. 16).
27. Where then is thy boasting, O Jew ? thy boasted
superiority over the Gentiles? seeing that Christ at
His coming finds both Jew and Gentile on one dead
level of sin. It is shut out, not by any law of works, or
enjoining of exterior observances on Jew and Gentile
for the forgiveness of their sins, but by the law of faith,
enjoining faith in Jesus Christ, yet so that that faith
be accompanied by penance towards God (Acts xx. 21,
called by theologians attrition), and that he who has
faith be washed in the laver of regeneration (Titus iii. 5).
No one can boast of having believed and been baptized,
and so justified gratuitously.
28. Justified by faith, cf. Acts xv. 9, purifying their
hearts by faith, said of the baptized Gentiles.
Without the works of the law. This is explained by
St. Paul s words to Titus (Tit. iii. 5) : Not by the works
of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy, he
saved us by the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy
Ghost. Without works going before to merit it, man is
justified from grievous sin: but without works following
after his justification, the said justification will die
away, as faith without works is dead (James ii. 26).
The emphatic words in this verse are without the
324 ROMANS iii. 2931.
works of the law, not the words by faith. So the three
best MSS. read <Wiouo-0ai Trio-ret avOpwov (justified by
faith is man), not as the received text, TUG-TCI St/<aioo-0(u
avOpw-rrov (by faith is man justified}.
29. This verse simply argues that a man (in v. 28) is
to be taken universally, any and every man.
30. By faith (e/c TriWws), through faith (CK <n}s Trurrews,
* .*. ex 7-775 civics TTIO-TCWS), that is, through the same faith.
Otherwise, as Gal. ii. 16; iii. 8 shows, the difference of
the two prepositions is not to be pressed.
Forjustifieth the Greek has will justify.
31. We establish the law, the ceremonial law, as the
substance may be said to establish the shadow ; and
still more the moral law, as grace is the forgiveness
of transgression past, and strength for future observance.
Cf. above, v. 21 ; also x. 4; Gal. iii. 24; Heb. x. i ;
and our Lord s well-known words, Matt. v. 17.
ROMANS iv. 325
CHAPTER IV.
I. What shall we say then that Abraham hath found, who is our
father according to the flesh ? 2. For if Abraham were justified by
works, he hath glory, but not in the sight of God. 3. For what
saith the Scripture ? Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to
him unto justice. 4. Now to him that worketh the reward is not
reckoned according to grace, but according to debt. 5. But to him
that worketh not, yet believed in him who justifieth the impious,
his faith is reputed to justice according to the purpose of the grace
of God. 6. As David also termeth the blessedness of a man, to
whom God reputeth justice without works : 7. Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin.
9. This blessedness then, doth it abide in the circumcision only,
or in the uncircumcision also ? For we say that faith was reputed
to Abraham unto justice. 10. How then was it reputed ? When
he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision ? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. n. And he received the sign of circum
cision, a seal of the justice of the faith which is in uncircumcision :
that he might be the father of all the believers uncircumcised, that
to them also it may be reputed to justice: 12. And might be the
father of circumcision, not to them only that are of the circum
cision, but to them also who follow the steps of the faith that our
father Abraham had, being as yet uncircumcised. 13. For not
through the law was the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that
he should be the heir of the world, but through the justice of faith.
14. For if they who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, the
promise is made of no effect. 15. For the law worketh wrath : for
where there is no law, there is no transgression. 16. Therefore it
is of faith, that according to grace the promise might be firm to all
the seed : not to that only which is of the law, but to that also
which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
17. (As it is written : I have made thee a father of many nations)
before God, whom he believed, who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things that are not as those that are. 18. Who
against hope believed in hope, that he might be made the father of
many nations, according to that which was said to him : So shall
thy seed be. 19. And he was not weak in faith : neither did he
consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost a hundred
years old, nor the dead womb of Sara. 20. In the promise also of
God he staggered not by distrust ; but was strengthened in faith
326 ROMANS iv. i.
giving glory to God ; 21. Most fully knowing that whatsoever he
has promised, he is able also to perform. 22. And therefore it was
reputed to him unto justice. 23. Now it is not written only for
him, that it was reputed to him unto justice ; 24. But for us also,
to whom it shall be reputed, if we believe in him that raised up
Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead ; 25. Who was delivered up
for our sins, and rose again for our justification.
i. There is much more difficulty about this verse
than the Rheims version shows. First, some of the
best critics, following the Vatican manuscript, omit
the verb hath found, and read : What then shall we say of
Abraham our forefather according to the flesh ? where it is
evident that according to the flesh, though it goes naturally
enough with forefather, may also be taken with the verb
say. Secondly, the best of the remaining Greek MSS.,
and the Latin Vulgate, have the words in this order :
What then shall we say that A braham found (invenisse A braham)
our father according to the flesh P where the words, according
to the flesh, may be taken with found. Lastly, the
common Greek text reads in this order : What then shall
we say that A braham our father found according to the flesh ?
which Theodoret thus paraphrases: " Before Abraham
believed God, what justice do we hear of in him accru
ing from works?" "According to the flesh" Theodoret
continues, " means justice in works, seeing that it is
through the body that we accomplish works," or, more
likely, inasmuch as the body is opposed to the spirit,
the natural to the supernatural.
St. Chrysostom, although the common Greek text is
printed at the head of his Homily viii., evidently from
his comments had before him the same text as the
Vatican MS., with efynyicei/ai (hath found) omitted. That
disturbing verb has every mark of a spurious inser
tion. With its removal the likelihood of Theodoret s
explanation is impaired, and we may acquiesce in
St. Chrysostom s interpretation : " He calls him our
ROMANS iv. 2, 3. 327
father according to the flesh, casting the Jews out of genuine
kindred with him and preparing the way for the Gentiles
to claim the connection." Cf. v. n.
2. // Abraham were justified by works. One form of
justice is conformity to law, as Aristotle (Ethics, v. i)
says : " The just is the law-observing man, and that is
just which is legal." St. Paul has been arguing that
this justice was wanting both to Jews and Gentiles
generally, both having broken the divine law. But it
might be argued that individuals such as Abraham had
kept it, and that these at least had no need to be
justified by faith in Christ and acceptance of His gospel.
To this St. Paul replies that if Abraham can be called
just as having observed the law, that is a mere natural
justice, and matter of glory in the mere natural order of
human history, but is no matter of glory in the super
natural order of grace ; for grace alone is glory before
God : see on iii. 23. As a matter of fact, Abraham was
justified in the supernatural order of faith and grace,
and not by works done in mere human strength and on
motives of natural reason. For so we read in the next
verse,
3. Abraham believed God, &c., Gen. xv. 6, quoted on
Gal. iii. 6. No argument is drawn, and none can be
drawn, from the mere word it was reputed (eAoyicrft?, it was
set down to his credit). Such setting down of itself may be
gratuitous, or it may be an acknowledgment of service
done, or good paid down. Still less does the word
imply that Abraham s justice, or righteousness, was not
a quality real and intrinsic in Abraham himself. But
St. Paul s argument is this, that as faith alone is
mentioned as the cause of Abraham s justification, and
not good works, whereof Abraham did so many, justifi
cation must begin in faith, and faith must go before
and animate all good works ere they can count as
works of justice before God. And thus St. Paul is
32 8 ROMANS iv. 4, 5.
conciliated with St. James ii. 21 24, a passage which
he had probably before him as he wrote. The best
modern criticism holds that St. James wrote prior to
St. Paul.
From the passage in Genesis we are not to suppose
that Abraham was then for the first time justified,
having been in sin throughout the transactions recounted
in chapters xii. xiii. xiv., but on occasion of this signal
display of his faith the Scripture takes opportunity to
observe that through faith he was originally justified,
and in this instance received a notable increase of
justification and supernatural holiness.
It is unfortunate that in these three verses, 3, 4, 5,
the same verb, Aoyieo-0ai, is rendered reputed, reckoned,
reputed (reputatum, imputatur, reptttatur). It would much
conduce to clearness, if w r e read reckoned throughout
the chapter, here and vv. 6, 8, 9, 10, &c. Besides, the
word reputed favours Lutheranism.
4, 5. St. Paul distinguishes two reckonings ; one of
a free gift made, according to grace ; the other of payment
made for service done, according to debt. He implies
that Abraham did not keep a debtor and creditor
account with the Almighty, so that for so much good
work done for God by Abraham of his mere natural
strength so much justice stood to his credit in the books
of divine judgment. On the contrary, Abraham being
still ungodly (he was an idolater, Josue xxiv. 2 ; Isaias
xliii. 27, and at least in original sin), and having no
good works that could merit justification, believed in
God revealing Himself to him (Josue xxiv. 3 ; Gen. xii.
i 4), and thereupon was justified gratuitously. Cf.
2 Tim. i. 9.
St. Paul tacitly supposes, though he nowhere expressly
states, that faith itself is a gift of God, a work of grace.
Otherwise his whole argument comes to the ground, for
faith being a natural work, indeed the greatest of
ROMANS iv. 6, 7. 329
natural works, would challenge a reward according to
debt.
His faith, whether of Abraham, or of any ungodly
man coming to the Sacrament of Baptism (Titus iii. 5),
or to the Sacrament of Penance either, is reputed to justice,
evidently gratuitously, or according to grace, since he
worketh not, i.e. has no supernatural works condignly
meritorious of justification. So teaches the Council of
Trent on justification (sess. vi. cap. 8) : " Nothing of
those things which precede justification, whether faith
or works, merits the grace itself of justification."
According to the purpose of the grace of God. For these
words there is no Greek original anywhere, nor are
they in all the Latin texts. They are intended to be
equivalent to according to grace (v. 4), i.e. gratuitously.
6. Justice without works. This, as above explained,
refers to the first justification of a convert from a state
of sin to the state of grace. It occurs when a man in
mortal sin makes an act of perfect contrition, or is
baptized, or validly absolved.
7. Sins are covered. Sins are here spoken of as
historical facts, of which the proverb holds, What is
done, cannot be undone (factmn non potest fieri non
factum). St. Peter s denial remains an historical fact
for all time, else it would have to be blotted out of the
gospel as a story that had ceased to be true. In this
sense sin is not undone, it is only covered by pardon
extended to it. Sin and pardon are two facts, each
abiding separately, though, taken together, the latter
covers, or cancels the former. Thus God is said to cast
our sins into the depths of the sea (Mich. vii. 19), to cast them
behind his back (Isaias xxxviii. 17), to remember them no
more (Heb. x. 17), and yet as facts, or things once done,
they can never fade from His eternal vision.
On the other hand, the guilt of the sin, its stain and
loathsomeness upon the soul (see St. Thomas, Sumnia,
330 ROMANS iv. 8 n.
i a 2ae, q. 86), is not merely covered, but entirely removed
and taken away, so that the reconciled are holy and
unspotted and blameless before God (Col. i. 22), and have
renovation of the Holy Ghost (Titus, iii. 5).
8. Hath not imputed sin, i.e. to whose account God
has reckoned the sin that he has committed no longer
to stand. The best commentary is Col. ii. 14 : Blotting
out the handwriting that was against us, he hath taken the same
out of the way, fastening it to the cross. Sin once forgiven
is no longer imputed, reckoned, or scored against the sinner.
The debt is paid through the merits of Christ s Passion,
and the guilt of that sin and consequent liability to
punishment are no more.
10. The interval between the time at which we are
assured that Abraham s faith was already reckoned
unto justification, and his circumcision, cannot have
been less than fourteen years, may have been twenty-
five (Gen. xv. 6; xvii. 24 26).
11. The sign of circumcision, a seal, &c. The sign,
consisting of circumcision, is likened to the sign or
figure on a seal. We put wine or other liquor into
bottles and then seal them up. The seal does not put
the liquor there, but denotes that it is there. So
circumcision in Abraham s case did not infuse justice
and sanctity into his soul, but marked the justice that
was in him already, which had been in him for years.
On the other hand, when St. Paul tells the
Ephesians : You were signed with the holy spirit of promise,
. . . the holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the
day of redemption (Eph. i. 13 ; iv. 30) : he speaks of the
Holy Ghost, given in baptism, as a sign and seal and
likewise a cause of sanctity and justice. Such is the
difference between circumcision and baptism : for the
New Law, as compared with the Old, has a better
ministry, is a better testament, and is established on better
promises (Heb. vi. 8).
ROMANS iv. 1214. 331
12. Father of the circumcision, i.e. father of the circum
cised.
There are two troubles in this verse. First, the not
has gone astray in the Vulgate and Rheims versions,
which makes Abraham the father of circumcision, to all
that follow in the steps of his faith, whether circumcised or
not. But there is an awkwardness also in the Greek,
Kol rot? o-Toi^ovo-tv rots t^vecrtv, to them also that follow the
steps, where the article K at rots mars the sense. Westcott
and Hort suppose it to be " probably a primitive error
for /cat ai-Tois." Accepting this suggestion we translate :
And might be the father of circumcision to them that are not of
circumcision only, but also do themselves walk in the footsteps
of the faith of our father Abraham, which was in uncircumcision
(TJ/S ev a.Kpo/3v(TTia).
" If he is the father of the uncircumcised, not
because he is uncircumcised (albeit he was justified in
uncircumcision), but inasmuch as they have imitated
his faith, much more must we say that he will not be
the ancestor of the circumcised because of circumcision,
unless they have faith also. If circumcision is a
venerable rite, because it declares justice, no small
precedence attaches also to uncircumcision, as having
been the first to receive justice. Then will you have
Abraham for your father, when you walk in the steps
of his faith, and are not contentious, nor factiously
endeavour to bring in the Law " (St. Chrysostom).
13. See notes on Gal. iii. 17, 18.
Heir of the world, Gen. xii. 3 ; xxii. 18; Psalm ii. 8.
These are Messianic promises, Gal. iii. 16.
14. Faith is made void, the promise is of no effect. These
two clauses coincide in meaning, the faith spoken of
being the faith of Abraham and of all who by imitation
of his faith are children of Abraham in the promise of
a Messiah and of the blessings which accompany the
coming of Christ. The promise is gratuitous. It is
332 ROMANS iv. 1517.
not a contract to pay wages for the observance of any
law. As a matter of fact, argued in chapters i. iii.,
mankind generally had not observed any law, neither
the law of nature, nor the law given to Moses long after
Abraham s time, and then very indifferently kept. The
argument of this verse is the same as of vv. 4, 5, on
which see notes.
15. The law worketh wrath upon transgressors, such
as most of mankind have been, apart from Christ.
They sinned more grievously on account of the law,
natural or revealed, teaching them the evil they were
doing. But what worked wrath, certainly did not work
justification : therefore justification and the blessing
promised to the just (because thon wilt bless the just, Psalm
v. 13) is not of the law.
No law, no transgression; and less law, less trans
gression (Luke xii. 47, 48).
1 6. Therefore is it [the inheritance, implied in v. 13]
of faith.
What follows should be punctuated according to
the Greek, and according to the old Latin versions,
thus : that it may be according to grace, that the promise might
be firm, &c. The inheritance is of faith, not of works,
that it may be gratuitous, as argued vv. 4, 5.
17. Father of many nations, Gen. xvii. 4, by carnal
generation, but of many more as he is the father of all
them that believe (v. n).
Who quickeneth the dead, explained by v. 19.
Calleth the things that are not as those that are, more
literally, calleth the things that are not, as being, w? ovra,
i.e. as if they were. The Vulgate and Rheims versions
would require ra ovra. Calleth here does not mean
calling into being, or the act of creation, but simply
God s speaking in His promises to Abraham of the seed
that was to be born of him as already existing, while
yet it was not.
ROMANS iv. 1820. 333
1 8. Who against hope, of the natural possibility of his
having a child by Sara, believed in hope, resting upon
the hope, CTT cATri St, which the divine promise inspired in
him.
The full text, Gen. xv. 5, is: Look up to heaven, and
count the stays, if thou canst : so shall thy seed be.
19. According to the best Greek MSS. this verse
should be read: And without being weak in faith did he
consider his own body now dead, whereas he was almost a
hundred years of age, and the dead womb of Sara. The
oil before KaTevoiyo-e should be omitted.
In the Rheims version, the neither represents the nee
of the Vulgate, and the ov of the received Greek text :
the nor, as a rendering of et, KO.L, is simply a mistake of
the modern editions. The first edition has, and the dead
mat rice of Sara.
The occasion referred to is that narrated, Gen. xvii.
15 21. Evidently there Abraham did consider that
himself and Sara were past the natural age for having
children: he was ninety-nine years old (Gen. xvii. i):
still he had faith in the word of God ; and if he laughed,
it was as St.Chrysostom says, that "he was delighted: "
" it was the laugh not of one doubting, but of one
believing " (St. Augustine) : " an indication not of
incredulity, but of exultation " (St. Ambrose).
In later years Abraham had six children by Cetura
(Gen. xxv. 1,2), the miraculous gift enduring even after
Sara s death.
20. In the promise also of God. Read with all the
Greek MSS., But in the promise of God, ets Se TTJV tTmyyeAiW.
This tallies with the omission of the negative in the
previous verse.
He staggered not, ov oteKpiOrj, literally, he did not fight
out an issue between two oppositcs. The word occurs in
this sense, Matt. xxi. 21; Acts x. 20; xi. 12; and
below, xiv. 23, where see note.
334 ROMANS iv. 25.
From the whole passage, vv. 13 22, we gather the
act, the motive, the object, and the dignity of faith.
The act of faith is an assured assent (he staggered not,
v. 20), a firm assent (not weak, v. 19), a full assent (most
fully knowing, v. 21), an assent above the suggestions of
sense (against hope, v. 18). The motive of faith is the
authority of God speaking (according to that which was
said, v. 1 8). The object of faith is the good things of
God to be communicated to us (that he should be heir,
v. 13) : hence faith and hope go together (Heb. xi. i).
Lastly, the dignity of faith appears in the glory that it
gives to God by confession of His attributes (giving glory
to God, v. 20), and receives from God, as it is written,
whoever shall glorify me, I will glorify him (i Kings ii. 30).
25. It is to be noticed in this verse that the same
preposition, &La,for, is used twice, but in two different
senses. First it expresses the motive cause, for, i.e. on
account of our sins (Isaias liii. 4 8). Then it expresses
the final cause, for, i.e. in view of our justification as an
end to be realised.
Rose again for our justification, because though the
meritorious cause of our justification is the crucifixion
and death of Our Lord, who was delivered up for our sins
(cf. i Pet. ii. 24), yet that justification actually becomes
ours only upon our believing and being baptized (Mark
xvi. 16; Acts ii. 32 41). Now the central dogma of
Christian faith, as the Apostles preached it, is Jesus and
the resurrection (Acts xvii. 18 ; iv. 33). Jesus then rose
again for our justification, that we might be justified by
faith in His resurrection, even as Abraham, to whom
all these things happened in figure (i Cor. x. ii), was
justified by faith in the miraculous birth of Isaac out of
a dead womb, the type of the new birth of our Lord from
the womb of death on the day of His resurrection, of
which day it is written : Thou art my son, this day have I
begotten thee (Psalm ii. 7 ; Acts xiii. 33).
ROMANS v. 335
Another view. If Christ had merely died, not risen
again, God might merely have held His hand from
punishing our sin, accepting that satisfaction, but not
justifying and sanctifying us. That might have sufficed
for a certain analogy between us and Christ. But now
the analogy stands as stated below, vi. 4 n. Hence
explain, rose again for our justification, to mean, * rose
again to be the model of our justification, as set forth
in the passage cited. Cf. also note on i Cor. xv. 17.
CHAPTER V.
X. Therefore being justified by faith, let us have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ : 2. By whom also we have access
through faith into this grace wherein we stand, and glory in the
hope of the glory of the sons of God. 3 And not only so, but
we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh
patience ; 4. And patience trial ; and trial hope : 5. And hope
confoundeth not ; because the charity of God is poured out into
our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us. 6. For why did
Christ, when as yet we were weak, according to the time, die for
the ungodly ? 7. For scarce for a just man will one die ; yet
perhaps for a good man some one would venture to die. 8. But
God commendeth his charity towards us, because when as yet we
were sinners, according to the time, 9. Christ died for us : much
more, therefore, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved
from wrath through him. 10. For if, when we were enemies, we
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son ; much more, being
reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. n. And not only so, but
also we glory in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we
have now received reconciliation. 12. Wherefore as by one man
sin entered into this world, and by sin death ; and so death passed
upon all men, in whom all have sinned. 13. (For until the law sin
was in the world : but sin was not imputed when the law was not.
14. But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them that
had not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam,
who is a figure of him that was to come. 15. But not as the
offence, so also is the gift : for if by the offence of one many have
died ; much more the grace of God, and the gift in the grace of
336 ROMANS v. i, 2.
one man Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16. And not as
it was by one sin, so also is the gift ; for the judgment indeed was
by one unto condemnation, but the grace is of many offences unto
justification. 17. For if by one man s offence death reigned
through one; much more they who receive abundance of grace,
and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one Jesus
Christ.) 18. Therefore as by the offence of one, unto all men to
condemnation : so also by the justice of one, unto all men unto
justification of life. 19. For as by the disobedience of one man
many were made sinners ; so also by the obedience of one many
shall be made just. 20. Now the law entered in, that sin might
abound : but where sin abounded, grace hath abounded more ;
21. That as sin hath reigned unto death, so also grace might reign
by justice unto everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1. Being justified therefore by faith and baptism. See
on iii. 27, 28. Justice, according to Aristotle (Ethics, v.),
involves a certain " equality," and " conformity to law."
A man is just by being up to standard. A man is just
before God by being up to God s standard. But God s
standard for man in the present order of things is a
supernatural standard. Cf. note on i. 17. A man is
just before God by being in the state of sanctifying
grace. That state cannot be merited by natural works
going before : otherwise grace is no more grace (xi. 6). Of
this state of justice and holiness faith is " the beginning,
foundation, and root " (Council of Trent, sess. 6, cap. 8).
Let us have peace. Habeanius, the Vulgate reading, is
supported by tyu^ in the best Greek MSS., and in the
Greek Fathers. It means, as St. Chrysostom explains,
let us live at peace with God, to whom we were
reconciled in baptism. There is another reading,
e^o/^ei/, we have peace.
2. We have, we stand, ecr^Ka/xei/, ea-TTJ/ca/xei , two present
perfects, rhyming with and balancing one another, the
one meaning, we have fully, the other, we stand firm. Cf.
i Tim. iv. 10; we hope, ^XTrtKa/^ei/ (perfect, hope firmly) in
the living God.
ROMANS v. 3, 4. 337
Through faith, absent from some MSS. Though faith
is the beginning and a part of justification, still we are
rightly and appropriately said to have access and
entrance thereby to justification, as we are said to
enter a house by the door, though the door itself is part
of the house.
Unto this grace, the state of sanctifying grace con
ferred by baptism.
Almost certainly, the reading is, and glory in the hope
of the glory of God. Of the sons of God has come in from
viii. 21. It is the glory of heaven that is spoken of,
which is of course the glory of the sons of God.
3. The Apostle goes on to say that we not only
glory in the hope of heaven, but also in the tribulations
by which we merit heaven, not only in the term, but
in the way, not only in the crown, but in the cross
(Gal. vi. 14). Theodoret sees in the Apostle s words a
profession of what is called in the Spiritual Exercises
of St. Ignatius the Third Degree of Humility. " We
think ourselves come to great condition and high estate,
in that we share the sufferings of our Master." " This,"
adds Theodoret, " he does not say clearly, for it was
only for Paul and the like of Paul to be of that mind :
but other souls he leads on and allures with hopes of
future blessedness."
Tribulation wovketh patience, i.e. the habit of patience,
like any other acquired virtue, is formed by repeated
acts corresponding ; and the acts corresponding to the
habit of patience are acts of steady endurance of tribu
lation.
4. And patience trial, 8oKt/A>ji>, the word means the
state of one who is approved and tried, of one who is
up to examination standard, or of one who by frequent
practice of any athletic exercise has attained to what is
called form, so as to pass muster in that particular.
Here it refers to the state of those whom God Jtas tried
w
33 8 ROMANS v. 5, 6.
and proved like gold in the furnace of tribulation, and has
found them worthy of himself. (Wisd. iii.). This state of trial
stood is a ground of hope of reward : thus trial worketh hope.
5. Hope confonndeth not. This is the statement which
is argued in these seven verses, 5 n, that God will
not disappoint the hope that we place in Him. How
do we know that ? Because God loves us. And what
proof have we of God loving us ? First, the Spirit of
His love, which He poured abroad into our hearts,
when we were justified in baptism : secondly, the death
that God died for us, when we were still in our sins,
whence arises a further a fortiori argument, that He
who loved us so much as to die for us, when we were
His enemies by sin, must love us much more now that
we are sanctified and made His friends by grace and
the indwelling of His Spirit ; and loving us, He will not
fail to grant the grace and glory that we hope of Him.
The charity of God, here and in v. 8, is the friendship
of God, which means mutual love, of God for us, and
of us for God.
The Holy Ghost who is given to us. " The greatest
gift of all, that He gave us, was not heaven and earth
and sea, but something more precious than all these,
something that made us of men angels and sons of God
and brothers of Christ. What is that gift ? The Holy
Ghost. Now if He did not wish to present us with
great crowns after our labours, He would not before
those labours began have given us gifts so great.
But now He shows us the warmth of His charity in
this, that not by quiet progress and little by little has
He endowed us, but He has poured forth upon us in
one effusion the source of all good, and that before we
entered on the conflict " (St. Chrysostom).
6. For why P The opening of this verse is vexed by
various readings, cts ri ydp ; (which the Vulgate, ut quid
follows), m yap, ci yap, ci ye, over which the best
enim
ROMANS v. 8io. 339
authorities are in conflict. Most suitable to the con
text is the received Greek reading, In yap xpio-ro? oi/ron/
T^/xwv d<T$evo>v Kara Kdipov VTrep a(re/?cov aTTt ^avev, For still
when we were yet weak (or sick with the sickness of sin),
Christ in season died for us ungodly.
According to the time, Kara /caipoV, in season. When the
fulness of the time was come, God sent his Son, &c. (Gal.
iv. 4. 5)-
8. Commendeth, i.e. shows, o-vviortja-iv, as in 2 Cor.
vii. ii ; Gal. ii. 18.
According to the time, foisted in from v. 6.
When we were enemies, Christ died for us. At the time
of the death of Christ, the world that He died for was
generally lost in sin (iii. 9 18). And to this day the
world is seated in wickedness (i John v. 19). Yet Christ
died for the world (i John ii. 2), for all mankind (i Tim.
ii. 6), for all wicked men that are wicked at any moment
of the world s history (i Tim. i. 15).
10. We were reconciled to God by the death (oia TOV
6a.va.Tov, per mortem) of his Son, but how shall we be saved
by his life ? This difficulty arises solely out of a corrup
tion that has crept into our Rheims version. Not by
his life, but in his life, is the rendering of lv rrj 0077 O.VTOV,
in vita ipsius. The Rheims Testament of 1600 reads
correctly : For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled
to God by the death of his Sonne : much more being reconciled,
shal we be saved in the life of him. The Authorised Version
has, we shall be saved by his life. The preposition in
sometimes means by, but not here, where it is used in
antithesis to the proper word for by, 8m, per. We shall
be saved in his life then when His promise shall be fulfilled :
/ live and you shall live (John xiv. 19). His life, risen
and glorified, involves our glory, resurrection and life,
as the life of the Head involves the saving of the
members, and the exaltation of the Head the exaltation
of the members. Cf. iv. 25.
34 o ROMANS v. 12.
12. There should not be a full stop at the end of
this verse, else there is no apodosis to the sentence.
There are many abruptnesses in the Apostle s language,
but nothing so abrupt as that. It would be the abrupt
ness of a man who did not want to be understood. On
the other hand a long parenthesis is quite in the
Apostle s manner (e.g. ii. 13 16 ; Gal. ii. 6, seq.).
Taking vv. 13 17 to be parenthetic, a characteristic
burst of Pauline thought overflowing the bounds of
style, we have at length the apodosis in v. 18, intro
duced by ap ovv, well then, as I was saying, quite a
classic use of ovv to pick up the thread of a broken
sentence. Igitur, the word in the Vulgate version, is
used to exactly the same effect.
As this verse is punctuated in our modern Rheims
editions, it is scarcely English. Better thus: Where
fore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death,
and so death passed upon all men ; in whom, or in which one
man [Adam], all have sinned; But it is pretty
certain that in whom is a mistranslation of St. Paul s
c< (, and even of the Vulgate in quo. In classical
Greek < < (more usually <? Te ) with the future
indicative, means on condition that, e.g. Herodotus, vii. 158.
In Hellenistic Greek it is used with the present and
past tenses of the indicative to mean inasmuch as. So
it is clearly used by St. Paul, 2 Cor. v. 4, where the
Vulgate has eo quod, and our version because. Again in
Phil. iii. 12, Vulgate in quo, Rheims wherein, should be
inasmuch as. The third and only other place in the
New Testament where </> < occurs is Phil. iv. 10, where
the Vulgate has sicut, the Rheims Version as : it should
be quatenus, inasmuch as.
This verse is dogmatically explained by the Council
of Trent, sess. 5, cans. 2 and 4, to teach that Adam s
sin lost not for him only but for his posterity the sanctity
and justice which he had received from God, and that
ROMANS v. 12. 341
it transfused upon all mankind not only death and
bodily penalties, but sin likewise, which is the death
of the soul, so that new-born babes have of Adam the
guilt of original sin, which must be taken away by
baptism for them to attain to eternal life.
Original sin, we may observe, is the privation of
sanctifying grace (see note on v. i), that ensues in
Adam s children, as they come into existence, and
ensues in consequence of the act of their father and
head of their race. Actual (mortal) sin, considered as
a state, is the like privation of sanctifying grace ensuing
upon one s own act. Sanctifying grace is a gratuitous
gift, a bounty of God, not due to human nature as such.
It may be compared to a patent of nobility issued to a
commoner: the patent makes him a nobleman, but he
is a man without the patent. But there is this difference,
that a commoner s services may deserve a patent of
nobility : whereas nothing that man, as man, can ever
do can deserve the conferring upon him of sanctifying
grace. In bestowing this gratuitous favour upon Adam
and upon mankind God was free, like any other bene
factor or founder, to attach conditions to His foundation
and benefaction. He founded human nature then in
sanctifying grace, so that all men should be conceived
and born in that grace, on condition that Adam did
not forfeit it by a certain transgression. This con
dition was not in the nature of things, but was instituted
by the positive ordinance of God, an ordinance presum
ably made known to Adam himself. The effect of the
transgression was something like an attainder, falling
upon an offender whose peerage had been granted him to
remain with him and his heirs for ever only on condition
of his personal loyalty. We are born commoners for
our ancestor s treason, not however mere commoners,
but commoners who should be nobles and are not for
their father s offending. In that our original sin consists.
342 ROMANS v. 13.
At the same time it must be borne in mind that the
Apostle is not here explaining the doctrine of original
sin, but assuming it as a thing known, to illustrate
what he has been saying, that by Jesus Christ we have
received reconciliation (v. n). The point of the illustration,
and the key to the understanding of all this difficult
passage, vv. 12 19, is this. We are justified in Christ
(by baptism) through no meritorious works of our own
(iv. 4 9), even as we sinned in Adam through no
demeritorious doing of our own. Of Adam true sin,
indwelling in every child of Adam s race : of Christ
true justice, indwelling in every one who becomes a
member of Christ by baptism.
It is clear that nothing short of the Catholic doctrine
of original sin, as laid down above by the Council of
Trent, will serve the Apostle s purpose in this illustra
tion and parallelism ; and therefore the Council rightly
asserts that doctrine to underlie the Apostle s words.
We have then these statements in v. 12 :
(1) By the sin of one man, Adam, sin entered into
this world, i.e. came upon the human race.
(2) All men have incurred the guilt of this sin.
(3) In consequence of having incurred this guilt, all
men die.
The sin here spoken of is original sin. But the
death here spoken of is, primarily at least, the death of
the body, as will appear by the next two verses.
13. Until the law of Moses was given, sin was in the
world, but was not imputed. The sin here spoken of
cannot be original sin, for the imputability of that does
not depend upon the promulgation of any law : it is
the actual sin that men themselves commit. Now
when the law was not, or (v. 14) from Adam unto Moses, sin
was in the world, inasmuch as men broke the natural
law on all sides (ii. 14, 15 ; iii. 9, 23), but these trans
gressions were not imputed, i.e. not so much imputed (not
ROMANS v. 14. 343
by a common Hebraism standing for not so much, e.g.
Osee vi. 6) on account of their not being against any
law positively revealed and externally promulgated.
The memory of revelations made to Adam soon became
fragmentary and incoherent amongst the mass of his
children. See note on iii. 25, on the remission, or rather
the letting pass, of former sins. This verse, by the way,
affords ground for the conjecture of modern theologians,
that a great deal of the sin of the ancient world was
only material, not formal sin.
There is a variant reading, sin is not imputed, when law
is not : but it makes no difference to the argument.
14. This verse, taken with the two previous, com
poses an argument thus :
* Without sin, no death, v. 12.
But death prevailed everywhere all the time from
Adam to Moses, v. 14.
Therefore not without sin.
But the actual sins of at least some men during that
time were not sufficiently imputable to account for their
dying, vv. 13, 14.
Therefore we must refer the cause of the death of
these men to the original sin which they had contracted
in Adam.
The explanation is difficult : but a difficult verse
and there is none more difficult in St. Paul is precisely
a verse which is not susceptible of any easy and
manifestly satisfactory explanation.
From Adam unto Moses. The time from Moses unto
Christ is spoken of in v. 20.
To sin after the similitude of the transgression of Adam,
is to sin in some grave matter with full consent and
full knowledge of the law prohibiting your act, or as
theologians say, to sin formally and mortally. The
Apostle supposes that some at least of the men who
lived between Adam and Moses did not sin formally
344 ROMANS v. 15.
and mortally, so as to deserve death for what they did ;
and yet they too died, evidently therefore for original
sin. On the other hand we must suppose that the bulk
of those who were drowned in the deluge (Gen. vi.). or
who perished in Sodom (Gen. xix.), or of the Canaanites
(Josue xi.) and Amalecites (i Kings xv.), died, as they
deserved to die, for their own formal mortal sins.
Who is a figure of him who is to come, of Christ, the last
Adam (i Cor. xv. 45), not here in reference to the
resurrection (of which i Cor. xv. 21, 22), but in refer
ence to justification, as explained v. 19. " As Adam to
his posterity, though they had not eaten of the tree,
was the cause of death [both of body and of soul] ,
induced by that food, so Christ to His own, though the}
had not done works of justice, was the agent of justifi
cation, which He graciously gave us all through the
cross" (St. Chrysostom). And this, as we observed on
v. 12, is the burden of the whole passage. Understand
this, and you will not miss the main mind and purpose
of St. Paul in these verses, although they do contain
certain things hard to be understood (2 Pet. iii. 16).
15. Many died, hath abounded unto many. The Greek
has the many, ol TroAAoi, TOV<S TTO\\OV<S, meaning the whole
multitude of mankind. The Vulgate for unto many has
in plures (unto more], w r hich is open to misconstruction,
as St. Augustine observed in his day. Gracum attende
codicem (look at the Greek), he told Julianus. And this
has ever been the mind of the Church in its approval
of the Latin Vulgate text.
(The) many died both temporally and spiritually.
The Apostle s thought gradually passes from the former
death to the latter. Cf. vii. 19. The spiritual death
here in question is the being dead to God by original
sin. With regard to this spiritual death, it would be
just as unfair to force this phrase, the many, to include
the Blessed Virgin Mary, as with regard to the death
ROMANS v. 16. 345
of the body it would be unfair to force it into a con
tradiction of i Cor. xv. 51 (see notes on the passage),
2 Cor. v. 24; i Thess. iv. 16, where St. Paul teaches
that some shall escape death, being found alive at the
Last Day.
By the grace, tv x<> L P LrL -> ^ n gratia, should be in the grace.
The grace of God and the gift in the grace (i.e. the gracious
gift) of one man Jesus Christ, are the same thing. All
the grace of God that we have is the gracious gift of
Jesus Christ. The second designation is added for the
sake of the antithesis, which is not between God and
Adam, but between Christ, as Man, and Adam.
16. To understand this verse, we must re-translate
it from the Greek, And not as if it was a case of one sinner
[Si evos a/xaprryo-avTos, or taking the Vulgate reading, per
unum peccatum, as though it were a case of one sin, which
comes to the same thing] , so also is the gift. For the one
[the offence of v. 15, which caused the condemnation, the
cause being put for the effect] was a condemnation passing
from one individual to a general condemnation [of the race] :
but the other [the gift of v. 15] was a boon from many
transgressions to justification and acquittal.
In the phrase <Jo? 8t evo? ayu-upr^o-avTos, the Sia is the
Sia of circumstance, like Si opyfjs, in anger : cf. &u
ypa/xyaoros, ii. 27; and the note on Gal. iv. 13. The
preposition might have been left out, and the simple
genitive absolute, <L? evos u/xa/Drr/o-arros, used to express
the same sense, by a common classical idiom.
The general sense is that given by St. Chrysostom :
" One sin availed to bring in death and condemnation :
but the grace of Christ took away not that sin only, but
all the sins that came in after it. After the endless sins
that followed that sin committed in paradise, the matter
found issue in justification. Now where justice is, life
necessarily follows ; as where there is sin, death comes.
For justice is more than life, seeing it is the root of life."
346 ROMANS v. 17, 18.
Our version, made from the Latin, makes judgment
and grace the subjects of the clauses in which they
stand ; and the Greek may be taken so. But the TO /u/
and the TO Se rather suggest that judgment and grace are
predicates, as rendered above. Thus we are carried
back to the first words of v. 15 : TO ^Iv meaning what we
had of Adam : TO B, what we have of Christ. Thus, what
we had of Adam w>as condemnation, passing from one (Adam)
to a general condemnation of the race : what we have of Christ
is a gift of grace, from many transgressions to justification.
For judgment and condemnation, the words in the Rheims
version, the Greek words are Kpi/j-a and /caTu/cpi/za. The
word KpLfj.a means more than judgment : it means condem
nation, cf. ii. 2, 3 ; iii. 8 ; xiii. 2 ; i Cor. xi. 29. What then
does Ku.Ta.Kpi/jia mean ? The /caTa is intensive : KaTa/cpt/xa
then means thorough condemnation, i.e. as explained in v. 18,
ets Traj/Tas dvOpwTrovs eis KaTttKpt/>ta, unto all men unto -con
demnation. So then /cpi /za is of the individual, /caTotKpt/xa
of the race.
Justification, SiKcuoyia, not as in v. 18, where it means
a just and righteous deed, but for Stxaiaxrn, the act of
pronouncing, or making, just and righteous. As it is here
in opposition to Kpi^a, it may be rendered also acquittal
(cf. vi. 7), but acquittal not on the score of previous inno
cence, but of present satisfaction tendered and accepted.
17. A reiteration of v. 15. Instead of the gift and
justice, the received Greek reading, the gift of justice, has
better authority.
Shall reign does not refer to the resurrection and the
life of glory immediately, but to the triumph over sin
of Christ s members on earth, who are called a kingly
priesthood, (i Pet. ii. 9).
1 8. Therefore, apa ovv, well then, as I was saying. See
on v. 12.
So by the justice (SiKatw/xaTo?, just deed) of one man.
Here is the true apodosis to v, 12,
ROMANS v. 19, 20. 347
All men . . . all men. " As all men who are born in
the flesh of Adam incur condemnation by his sin, so all
who are reborn spiritually of Christ gain the justifica
tion of life. The justification of Christ extends to the
justification of all men in point of sufficiency, but
in point of efficiency it reaches only the faithful "
(St. Thomas).
19. This verse is a summing up of the doctrine of
the last seven verses.
(The) many . . . (the) many, ol TroAAoi, is exactly
equivalent to all men . . . all men of the previous verse.
Disobedience, Gen. iii. 17 19.
Obedience, Phil. ii. 8.
Adam s disobedience was our disobedience, without
any act of ours, as he was the head of our race, and
our wills were contained in his: Adam s loss of justi
fying and sanctifying grace, our loss of justification
and holiness : Adam s sin, our sin. In like manner,
Christ s obedience becomes our obedience, through no
merit of any actual obedience of ours, when by baptism
we are incorporated in the Body of which He is the
Head ; and through Him and in Him we are made
sinless, just and holy, not by any mere extrinsic justice
of Christ imputed to us, but by justice, grace, and
sanctity formally indwelling in us, even as the original
sin in which we were born was no mere extrinsic sin,
belonging to Adam and put down to us, but was
through Adam our sin, making us formally sinners, as
we are here called, worthy of death for our sin
(vv. 12, 14), by nature children of wrath (Eph. ii. 3).
20. In v. 14 the Apostle has spoken of the time
from Adam to Moses, showing how death, and original
sin, of which death is the effect and symptom, reigned
in the world. What then of the time since Moses ?
Has the Mosaic Law saved the observers of it from
entering this world in sin ? On the contrary, as he
34 8 ROMANS v. 21.
argues at greater length, vii. 7, seq., the Law, as such,
has done nothing to efface original sin ; and its indirect
effect has been to aggravate actual sin.
The law entered in, Trapfto-rjXOev, entered in besides, besides
sin, which entered, ei o-r/Atfev, first (v. 12). This meaning
of Traptt better suits the context than its other meaning,
by stealth, which is rather implied by the Vulgate,
stibintravit.
Sin might abound, say offence, 7ra.pa.7rTw/jLa, which here
means, not as in vv. 15, 17, 18, the sin of Adam, but as
in v. 16, the actual transgressions whereby Adam s
children have imitated their sire.
On the other hand, in the phrase, sin abounded, sin,
aftapTta, as in vv. 12, 13, and v. 21 following, is original
sin, here considered as resulting in death, in concupis
cence, and in many actual sins.
That sin might abound. This is explained by St. Paul
himself, vii. 10 13. The preposition that, Iva, is to be
taken according to the Hebrew and later Greek idiom,
to represent result rather than purpose. So in Gal. v. 17.
21. Sin (original) reigned to death, say, in death,
fv TO) Oavdrio, i.e. showed its dominion in producing
death : it is the death of the body that is primarily
spoken of, as in vv. 12, 13.
Grace might reign by justice, i.e. supernatural holiness,
the gratuitous gift of God through Christ, should reign
by the expulsion of sin.
ROMANS vi. 349
CHAPTER VI.
I. What shall we say then ? shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound ? 2. God forbid. For how shall we, that are dead to
sin, live any longer therein ? 3. Know you not that all we who are
baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his death ? 4. For we are
buried together with him by baptism unto death ; that as Christ is
risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may
walk in newness of life. 5. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, in like manner we shall be of his
resurrection. 6. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve
sin no longer. 7. For he that is dead is justified from sin. 8. Now
if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall live also
together with Christ : 9. Knowing that Christ, rising again from
the dead, dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion
over him. IO. For in that he died to sin, he died once ; but in that
he liveth, he liveth unto God. II. So do you also reckon your
selves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. 12. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, so as
to obey the lusts thereof. 13. Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of iniquity unto sin : but present yourselves to God
as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of justice unto God. 14 For sin shall not have
dominion over you : for you are not under the law, but under
grace. 15. What then ? Shall we sin, because we are not under
the law, but under grace ? God forbid. 16. Know you not, that
to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you
are whom you obey, whether it be of sin unto death, or of obe
dience unto justice ? 17. But thanks be to God, that you were the
servants of sin, but have obeyed from the heart unto that form of
doctrine into which you have been delivered. 18. Being then made
free from sin, you are become the servants of justice. 19. I speak
a human thing, because of the infirmity of your flesh : for as you
have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto
iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctifi-
cation. 20. For when you were the servants of sin, you were free
from justice. 21. What fruit, therefore, had you then in those
things, of which you are now ashamed ? for the end of them is
death. 22. But now, being made free from sin, and become
servants to God, you have your fruit unto sanctification, and the
end everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death : but the
grace of God, everlasting life, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
350 ROMANS vi. i.
i. The Apostle warns us against such reasoning as
this : Where sin hath abounded, grace hath super-
abounded (v. 20) : therefore let sin abound still further,
that grace may still further superabound. Much sin
forgiven in baptism is no warrant for more sin to follow.
He shows that such false reasoning as the above is a
misunderstanding of the essential nature and symbolism
of baptism.
To make the doctrine of this chapter practical for
Christians of our time, we must observe that the Sacra
ment of Penance is a restoration of baptismal grace.
Shall we continue ? eVi/iefoG/uev ; the less supported
Greek reading, gives the same sense as the two better
readings, eVt/ieVco/zei/ ; are we to continue P and eVi^e vo^ey ;
continue we ?
Continue in sin. We might have expected, relapse into
sin, for the persons spoken of are the baptized, whose
sin has been all taken away in baptism. But the word
apapTLa is the same as in the second part of v. 20, to
which it refers, and means, as there, original sin in its
effects. Original sin is taken away by baptism, but not
that particular effect of it which is called concupiscence.
In this chapter and in the next, if for the continually
recurring word sin, apapria, we read concupiscence, we
shall generally have the Apostle s meaning. Concu
piscence, as the Council of Trent tells us (sess. 5, cap. 5),
is sometimes called sin by the Apostle, "not because
in the regenerate it is truly and properly sin, but
because it comes of sin and inclines to sin." Where
note that concupiscence is an accident of our animal
nature, and is so far forth natural ; but had it not been
for Adam s sin, this natural defect, so far as it is a
defect, would have been obviated by the special provi
dence of God in all Adam s posterity, as it was originally
in Adam himself. Therefore concupiscence " comes of
sin " in the order of history, although it is a thing
.ROMANS v\. 2, 3. 351
natural in the order of nature. Martha said to Jesus :
Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died (John
xi. 32) ; and yet Lazarus died a natural death.
To continue in sin therefore, for a baptized man, is to
continue yielding to concupiscence, doing the works of
the flesh (enumerated, Gal. v. 19 21), and so to go on
sinning anew.
2. Dead to sin, cf. i Pet. ii. 24, such is the essential
idea of baptism, as he goes on to show. " What is it
to be dead to sin ? Henceforth to obey it in nothing"
(St. Chrysostom). The Greek aorist, airtBav^^v, might
be more literally translated, we who once died to sin, i.e.
when we were baptized.
3. Cf. i Cor. vi. 1520; xii. 13; Gal. iii. 27, with
notes.
Baptized in Christ, in his death, tis XP 10 "" " s " Owarov,
it should be, unto Christ, unto his death. See on xi. 36.
It means that by baptism we are dedicated to Christ,
remade (a new creature, Gal. vi. 15) in His likeness,
and more than that, inserted into and ingrafted upon
Him, made members of that Body, without which He
as Head is imperfect and incomplete, and which is
therefore called His fulness, or complement, n\f]ptop.a (Eph.
i. 23). Cf. John xv. 1 5; Gal. ii. 20; Eph. ii. 5, 6;
v. 30; Col. ii. 1012, &c. These expressions are not
mere figures of speech, any more than is the language
used about the Holy Eucharist, to which they are
closely allied. They mean a good deal more than that
we are to be copies of Christ s innocence, Christ s
gentleness, and Christ s kindness to suffering humanity.
What they further do mean is a great sacrament, or
mystery (Eph. v. 32), which, like the mystery of the
Holy Eucharist, we shall understand better when our
union with Him is perfect in another life.
Baptized unto his death means unto the likeness of his death,
which is represented in baptism, as presently explained.
352 ROMANS vi. 4, 5.
4. We are buried together with him. Baptism in the
Apostolic age was commonly by immersion ; and the
Church still insists that the water shall flow over
the head of the child. St. Chrysostom explains the
rite : " When our head is plunged into the water, as
into a tomb, the old man is buried and entirely sub
merged : then, as we emerge, the new man rises."
Thus, alike by the external rite and by the inward
spiritual change wrought by that rite, on the principle
that " sacraments effect what they signify," baptism
represents in us the death, burial, and resurrection of
Christ. It is a resurrection, and therefore a regenera
tion, or new birth (John iii. 5 ; Titus iii. 5).
Baptism unto death, these words are to be joined
together, like baptized in (unto) his death above.
By the glory of the Father, 8ui TT/S 86gr)s, is simply, in the
glory of the Father. This did with the genitive is the 8id
of circumstance, adverbial Sta, noticed above, v. 16 and
Gal. iv. 13. Cf. Phil. ii. n. The glory of the Father is
one with the glory of the Only-begotten of the Father.
(John i. 14).
Newness of life is just the opposite of continuation in sin
(v. i), which is abiding in death (i John iii. 14).
5. Planted together, complantati, is not a good transla
tion of 0-u/A0imH (not o-u/A0ureimu), which means simply
grown together.
In the likeness, r^ o^oior^rt, probably the instrumental
dative, by the likeness.
The whole phrase then is : For if we have been blended
with (him, Christ) by the likeness of his death, yet also
(dAXu icat) shall we be (blended with him by the likeness) of his
resurrection. The meaning is : Baptism unites us with
Christ, representing in our persons His death and
resurrection. We must keep up that union and that
representation in our subsequent lives. We must live
with Christ, dead to sin, a hard matter, but along with
ROMANS vi. 6, 7. 353
that we shall also be alive with Christ in our new life
of grace on earth, the parallel to His life after His
resurrection. There is no immediate reference here
to the resurrection of our bodies. The future, we shall
be, merely signifies logical sequence. Cf. 2 Cor. v. 14, 15.
Learn from this verse that the innocence of a
Christian man is not a mere negative quantity, like the
innocence of a corpse. He positively walks the earth,
a divine being, in some sort like Christ after His resur
rection, so long as he keeps in the state of grace.
There should be no full stop at the end of this verse.
6. Knowing this, KOI rovro yivao-Kovrfs, hoc scientes, Vulg.,
better et id quidem scientes, and that (we shall be), knowing.
The pronoun refers, not to what comes after, but to
what goes before. Cf. xiii. u, *ai roro.
Our old man. See Eph. iv. 22, 24, for the old man,
who is corrupted according to the desire of error, and the new
man, who according to God is created injustice and holiness of
truth. Read also Col. iii. i 10, a parallel passage.
There the works of the old man are described, as indeed
they are above, i. 29 31. The old man lives in the
corruption of the first Adam and original sin, a slave to
his flesh with its vices and concupiscences (Gal. v. 24), often
in sound health and high intellectual culture.
Is crucified with- him (see on Gal. v. 24) inasmuch as
by baptism we are conformed to Christ s death, even
His death on the cross, the tree, whereon his own self bore
our sins in his body (i Pet. ii. 23), being made a curse for us
(Gal. iii. 13). Cf. also Col. ii. 12 14.
The body of sin is our sinful body, not as a body, but
as sinful.
Serve sin ; this idea of servitude is worked out from
v. 1 6 to the end of the chapter.
7. He who is dead is justified (i.e. acquitted) from sin.
A dead man does no wrong: the proof of death is
the proof of innocence, simultaneous with death. So
354 ROMANS vi. 8 n.
St. Peter : He that hath suffered (6 nadav, a Greek
euphemism for he that is dead) in the flesh has ceased from
sins. See i Pet. iv. i 3. So St. Chrysostom : " If
you are dead in baptism, remain dead: for no dead
man can sin any more." Cf. i John iii. 9; v. 18. But
there remains with us, until the hour of our natural
decease, an unhappy power of reversing our baptism,
dying to justice, and reverting to a new life of sin.
8. // we be dead (or rather, if we died, airfBavo^v^ with
Christ in baptism, we believe that we shall also live together
with Christ, i.e. we trust that we do live and shall go on
living the supernatural life of grace, as explained v. 5,
till it be turned into the life of glory, sanctification and
the end life everlasting, v. 22.
9. Shall no more have, Kvpieua, has no more dominion over
him, is certainly the right reading.
10. This verse should stand as in the first Rheims
edition : For that he died, to sin he died once : but that he
liveth, he liveth unto God. Thus and not otherwise the
apodosis of the first sentence in the verse answers
the apodosis of the second : any other collocation of
the words spoils the antithesis. Anyhow the difficulty
remains, how Christ can be said to have died to sin.
The answer is that He died to a world in which sin and
death were dominant ; a world in which many of the
penal consequences of sin and death to humanity fell
likewise upon Him (cf. viii. 3, in the likeness of sinful flesh,
with note) ; a world in which the sins of men were laid
upon Him to expiate, so that He was said to be made
sin (2 Cor. v. 21, and note).
Once, i.e. once for all, Heb. ix. 27, 28; x. 10, 12, 14.
Liveth unto God, in the glory of the Father, v. 4.
11. Alive unto God, that is, in the grace of God,
dealing with Him as a child with its father.
In Christ Jesus, in your union with Christ, for which
see on v. 3.
ROMANS vi. 12, 13. 355
12. Let not sin reign, i.e. concupiscence, the effect of
sin (above on v. i). A king reigns by the consent of his
people. Concupiscence may attempt to tyrannize, but
reign it cannot without the man s consent.
In your mortal body, because being mortal, the body is
obnoxious to concupiscence, from which Adam s body,
while it was deathless, was free.
13. Neither yield ye your members as instruments (or arms,
anna, ovrXa) of iniquity to sin (concupiscence]. The members
are the limbs and all the body, as subject to the control
of the will. Take the example of anger. If, when
anger arises in your heart, you break out into angry
words, use your feet to pursue your enemy and your
hand to strike him, you make your tongue, feet, and
hands, instruments of iniquity, or tools of wickedness to
abet anger : you have armed anger against yourself. If
you had kept your hands and your tongue quiet, if you
had simply done nothing to gratify your anger, anger
would never have reigned in you. There are some
celebrated words of St. Augustine on this subject (Serm.
128, n. 12) : " God has given thee power by His Spirit
to withhold thy members. Passion rises, withhold
thou thy members : what shall the passion do that has
arisen ? Do thou withhold thy members : yield not thy
members as instruments of iniquity unto sin : arm
not thine adversary against thyself. Withhold thy
feet, that they go not to places unlawful: withhold
thy hands from all crime : withhold thine eyes from
evil gazing : withhold thine ears from willingly listen
ing to lustful speech : withhold thy whole body, flank,
front, and rear : what shall passion do ? It knows
how to rise, it knows not how to conquer ; and by
constantly rising to no purpose it will learn even not
to rise."
Your members as instruments of justice. It is a bad
defence, that never assumes the offensive : we must do
35 6 ROMANS vi. 14-18.
supernatural good works, or we shall not long hold out
against sin.
14. You are not under the law, but under grace. " We are
not under the law, which commands what is good but
gives it not, but we are under grace, which, making us
love what the law commands, can command us as free
men " (St. Augustine).
Practically the text means, you have not only the
ten commandments, but also the seven sacraments.
15. This verse stands to v. 14 precisely as v. i
stands to v. 20. Twice in this short compass the
Apostle guards his praises of grace from being taken
as an encouragement to sin and neglect of good
works, showing himself as far from Antinomianism as
St. James.
1 6. This supposes the truth : No man can serve two
masters (Matt. vi. 24).
17. 1 8. These two verses should be taken together,
with only a comma between them. Verse 18 should
run, and being made free from sin, you were made servants of
justice. So it is in the Rheims Testament of 1583.
There is a double error in the modern Rheims version :
first, the conjunction then, representing an inferior
reading ovv for & , autem (Vulg.), but, for which the
English idiom here requires and: second, a quite
unauthorised substitution of the first person for the
second, we have been made, ion: you have been made, against
all other texts that ever were. The error arose from a
mistaken desire to make a separate sentence of v. 18.
This second error does not exist in the text which
I have printed, which reads you are become.
Thanks be to God that you were the servants of sin, but, &c.,
is a Greek idiom, strange to an English ear. A Greek
would say : It is intolerable, if other kings my
ancestors are entombed in peace, but I shall be cast
out from sepulture, an unclean thing (cf. Is. xiv.
ROMANS vi. 19, 20. 357
18, 19) : where what is really complained of stands in
the second clause. Cf. vii. 25 (with note) ; viii. 10.
The clauses are severally introduced by ^v, indeed,
and Se, but: for which English idiom prefers, whereas
. . . yet. It may be noticed that St. Paul writes
simply j?re, and not as classical Greek would have
had it, rjTe pen. On the other hand he gives the Se twice
over, vTr^Kovo-are 8c, but you come to obey, and f\vdpa>0(i>Ts 8e,
but being set free. It may be Englished : Thank be to God
that, whereas you were servants of sin, yet now you have come
to obey, &c.
That form of doctrine. So 2 Tim. i. 13: Hold the form
of sound words, which thou hast heard of me in faith : texts
which, with many others, go to show how far the
Apostle was from being averse to symbols, creeds,
definitions, and fixed formularies of faith.
Into which you have been delivered, more clearly, according
to which you have been taught, irapc866rrrc. The more usual
construction of this verb is seen in i Cor. xi. 23 : that
which also I delivered unto you, oTrep <a\ TrapeSwxa vjuv.
19. I speak a human thing, i.e. I give you a recom
mendation suited to human infirmity, because of the
infirmity of your flesh : for the flesh is weak (Matt. xxvi. 41),
the nature of man makes its weakness felt for all that
it is supported by grace. The recommendation is that
they should do at least as much for justice sake, now
that they are Christians, as they have done before for
the gratification of sinful appetite. Human weakness
apart, they might have been called on to do much
more.
Unto iniquity, unto sanctification, means to the increase
of those habits. The phrase, justice unto sanctification ,
argues that to be justified is to be sanctified, against
the theory of imputed justice. See on iv. 5, seq.
20. Free from justice. " You were not subject to it,
but altogether estranged from it : for you did not divide
358 ROMANS vi. 2123.
the measure of your service, giving part to justice and
part to sin, but you gave yourselves wholly to sin. So
also now that you have transferred yourselves to justice,
give yourselves over wholly to virtue, doing no evil at
all, that you may at least render equal measure"
(St. Chrysostom). Such is the theory, but in practice
good and evil are strangely interchanged, the just
falling into some sins (i John i. 8), and the unjust doing
some good actions. Still the broad difference remains
between the just and the unjust, between those who
are in the state of grace and those who are in mortal
sin, the most unseen and withal the deepest of all
differences among mankind.
2 1 . What fruit had you then in those things of which you
are now ashamed ? This is St. Chrysostom s punctuation,
adopted by the Latins generally, and is likely enough.
But moderns incline to Theodoret s : What fruit had you
then ? That whereof you are now ashamed ; which the Greek
will equally bear.
The end of them is death, or according to Theodoret,
the end of that (fruit) is death, the death of the soul, the
second death (Apoc. xxi. 8), as Adam incurred the death
of the body also by eating the forbidden fruit. End
here is reXo?, finis consummans, crowning result and con
summation; not Trepas, finis finiens, limit.
23. The wages of sin is death, another way of saying,
the end of them is death (v. 21).
The death of the body, to one who dies in sin, is the
beginning of his everlasting punishment, as to the just
it is the vestibule of his everlasting reward. To the
one it comes as a punishment, to the other as a
release.
Wages, fy<bvta, stipendia, the money given to a soldier
for his daily keep (i Cor. ix. 7), earned by his works,
and due to him in justice : so men earn eternal damna
tion.
ROMANS vii. 359
The grace, TO x^io-pa, the gratuitous gift of God, is life
everlasting, because, as St. Augustine says, " it is rendered
to those merits which grace has bestowed on man."
CHAPTER VII.
I. Know you not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the
law,) how the law hath dominion over a man as long as it liveth.
2. For the woman that hath a husband, while her husband liveth,
is bound to the law : but if her husband be dead, she is loosed from
the law of her husband. 3. Wherefore, whilst her husband liveth,
she shall be called an adulteress if she be with another man : but
if her husband be dead, she is free from the law of her husband ;
so that she is not an adulteress if she be with another man.
4. Therefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law
by the body of Christ : that you may belong to another, who is
risen again from the dead, that we may bring forth fruit to God.
5. For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were
by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto
death. 6. But now we are loosed from the law of death, wherein
we were detained, so that we should serve in newness of spirit, and
not in the oldness of the letter. 7. What shall we say then ? Is
the law sin ? God forbid. But I did not know sin but by the law :
for I had not known concupiscence, if the law had not said : Thou
shalt not covet. 8. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law
sin was dead. 9. And I lived some time without the law; but
when the commandment came, sin revived. 10. And I died : and
the commandment that was ordained to life, the same was found to
be unto death to me. u. For sin, taking occasion by the com
mandment, seduced me, and by it killed me. 12. Wherefore the
law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
13. Was that then which is good made death to me ? God forbi
But sin, that it may appear sin, by that which is good wrouj
death in me ; that sin by the commandment might become sinful
above measure. 14. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I
am carnal, sold under sin. 15. For that which I work I understand
not : for I do not that good which I will, but the evil which I hate,
that I do. 16. If then I do that which I will not, I consent t
law, that it is good. 17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but
360 ROMANS vii. i, 2.
sin that dwelleth in me. 18. For I know that there dwelleth not in
me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good : for to will good
is present with me ; but to accomplish that which is good I find
not. 19. For the good which I will I do not : but the evil which I
will not, that I do. 20. Now if I do that which I will not, it is no
more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21. I find then a
law, that, when I have a mind to do good, evil is present with me :
22. For I am delighted with the law of God according to the
inward man : 23. But I see another law in my members fighting
against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin
that is in my members. 24. Unhappy man that I am : who shall
deliver me from the body of this death ? 25. The grace of God by
Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore I myself with the mind serve
the law of God : but with the flesh the law of sin.
1. / speak to them that know; yivwo-Kovo-iv XaXoi means
yon to whom I speak know.
As long as it liveth, rather, as long as he liveth. So the
original Rheims edition of 1583. It was a saying of
the Rabbis: "Man when he is dead, rests from the law. :
The Greek and Latin not expressing the pronoun,
Origen and others understand it lives : but is it more
obvious to speak of the life of a law or of the life of a
man ?
2. Whilst her husband liveth, is bound to the law. Say,
is loound to her living husband by the law. The Greek is
TO) >VTI dv8pl^ to her living husband. Tertullian reads the
same, viventi viro. The Greek vop.a> may be either legi
(Vulg.), to the law, or lege, by the law : but the restoration
of the previous dative, to her living husband, which all
the Greek authorities require, requires also that we
make of vop.o> an instrumental dative, by the law,
answering to the Latin ablative, lege.
The law here is not precisely the law of Moses,
which allowed divorce (Deut. xxiv. i, seq. ; Levit. xxii.
12; Ruth i. 12), but the still older law of the Old
Testament, given to Adam (Gen. ii. 24), and promul
gated anew by our Lord (Matt. v. 31, 32 ; xix. 4, seq.),
and after Him by St. Paul (i Cor. vii. 10, u).
ROMANS vii. 35. 361
She is released, Kar^pyr/rai, literally, undone, made of no
effect: word recurs iii. 3; 2 Cor. iii. n, 13, &c., and
below, v. 6.
The law of her husband, i.e. respecting her husband.
So Levit. xiv. 2, the law of the leper.
3. Of her husband in this verse is an unnecessary
repetition, crept in from the previous verse, not in the
Greek Fathers and MSS.
4. Dead to the law by the body of Christ, i.e. by your
incorporation with the body of Christ, i Cor. xii. 13,
27, where see notes : also Eph. i. 22, 23 ; v. 29, 30.
For the strict application of the comparison we
should have, the law is dead to you : but inasmuch as
whichever of the two parties in a marriage dies, the
deceased is dead to the survivor, and the survivor to
the deceased, St. Paul makes his point by saying, You
are dead to the law, and therefore free from the law : for
he that is dead is justified, or set free from obligation
(vi. 7) : for the law of marriage, or of any other relation,
hath dominion over a man only as long as he liveth (v. i).
This abrupt and off-handed application of a comparison
is quite in the Apostle s manner, not sufficiently recog
nised by too formal and over-nice commentators.
Bring forth fruit to God. Bearing fruit presupposes
life ; and fruit to God, or fruit unto so/notification (vi. 22),
presupposes a divine life, breathed into us by the Holy
Ghost.
5. When we were in the flesh. To be in the flesh some
times means to be in this mortal life, 2 Cor. x. 3 ; Gal.
ii. 20; Phil. i. 22, 24; and Heb. v. 7, speaks of our
Lord in the days of his flesh. That cannot be the meaning
here. Another meaning is evident below, viii. 8 ; They
who are in the flesh cannot please God, on which see notes.
And that is the meaning in this place, namely, in our
unregenerate state.
The passions of sins, i.e. leading to sins, which were by
362 ROMANS vii. 6.
the law, i.e. were aggravated by occasion of the law
(below vv. 7, 8), did work. But eV^pyelro may be passive
and be rendered, were wrought out. See on 2 Cor. i. 6 ;
iv. 12.
Fruit in death, once more fruit corresponding to the
life which it presupposes ; for death, the second death, is
the fruit of a sinful life. See on vi. 21.
6. The law of death, so called, if the reading be sound,
as occasioning sin and eternal death. But all the best
Greek MSS. read (Origen refers to the other reading,
rov Oavarov, and sets it aside) : But now when we died
(a7rodav6vTs, when we died with Christ in baptism, vi. 3, 4 ;
Col. iii. 3), we were loosed from the law, wherein we were detained.
So that we should serve, still serve, not be our own
masters.
In newness of the spirit, Eph. iv. 23, 24.
Not in oldness of the letter, for the letter killeth (2 Cor.
iii. 6, and notes). The letter is the letter of the Old Law,
barely as a law, apart from grace to keep it.
In the passage that follows, v. 7 to end of chapter,
St. Paul is not describing his own experience as he
was a Christian and a minister of Christ ; nor is he
necessarily writing an account of his state before his
conversion, after the manner of the Confessions of
St. Augustine. All that we can say is that he is
describing the state of a Jew, who has only the law
to help him, and is not helped in his struggles against
sin by the grace of Christ. We must observe that this
was not the essential condition of all Jews before the
coming of our Lord : for the grace of Christ was
bestowed by anticipation even under the Old Testa
ment, though not so abundantly as in the New. How
ever, both in the Old and in the New Testament, many
have thrust aside from them the grace of Christ. So
this is not a mere ideal and abstract view of life, but a
sketch of human life as it is often actually lived.
ROMANS vii. 79. 363
By the law St. Paul understands immediately the
moral portion of the Mosaic law, that is, the Ten
Commandments, one of which he quotes (v. 7). The
passage however has its application also to the natural
law (ii. 15), though less perfectly, as that law is less
distinctly known by the light of nature than the ten
commandments were by divine revelation. The
Apostle s words find also an unhappy fulfilment in
modern times, wherever moral obligations are accurately
known, but the ordinary channels of grace, the sacra
ments, are neglected, abused, or denied. Those
reformers might have found their condemnation here
in St. Paul, who pulled down the Altar and banished
the Blessed Sacrament, and then wrote up at the back
of their Table the Ten Commandments.
7. / did not know sin, i.e. the sinful tendency of con
cupiscence (see note on vi. i), but by the law : for by the
law is the knowledge of sin (iii. 20). Apart from some
recognised external code, the sinfulness of indulged
concupiscence is very imperfectly appreciated.
Thou shalt not covet, Exod. xx. 17; Deut. v. 21.
8; But (original) sin taking occasion by the commandment,
just quoted, wrought in me all (i.e. extreme, cf. all joy,
James i. 2) concupiscence.
Without the law sin was dead, i.e. did not come before
the mind with such distinctness as to make the tempta
tion formidable. A set prohibition both defines the
obligation and provokes us to spurn it. As Ovid says
(Amor. iii. 4) :
Nitimur in vetitum semper cupimusque negata.
Forbid a thing, we strive for it : deny it, we desire.
9. And (now, Se, autem) I lived some time without the law,
in the early years of boyhood, when the law was not
urgent upon me.
The commandment came, with the years of maturity
and discretion.
364 ROMANS vii. 10 14.
Sin revived. Original sin in its effects of evil con
cupiscence sprang up into life in its turn, avtfr.
10. / died, the spiritual death of actual mortal sin.
See St. Augustine s Confessions, 1. ii. c. 2. Cf. also note
on Gal. ii. 19. Notice the antithesis in these three
verses : Sin dead, I lived : sin revived, I died.
The commandment that was ordained to life, Levit. xviii.
5 ; Ezech. xx. n ; Matt. xix. 17.
11. Sin seduced me, i.e. concupiscence deceived me,
e^ndrrjo-ev p.f, as Mother Eve said : The serpent deceived
me, TjnaTrja-fv /u.e (Gen. iii. 13, a passage alluded to by
St. Paul in two other places, 2 Cor. xi. 3 ; i Tim. ii. 14).
12. The commandment (quoted in v. 7) is holy and just
and good, Psalm xviii. 9 13.
13. Wrought, in the Greek a participle, Karepya^o^v^.
And this has suggested to commentators a way of
making the sentence clearer thus : But sin (has been
made death unto me), that it may appear sin, working death
in me by that which is good.
Sin, that it may appear sin, i.e. concupiscence that it
may realise its sinful tendency.
That sin might become sinful beyond measure, i.e. that
concupiscence might work itself out to the last excesses
of actual sin.
14. For we know, oi Sa/Liei/, or possibly o?Sa /nei/, I know
indeed.
The law is spiritual, inasmuch as perfect fulfilment of
it is a work of grace.
/ am carnal, away from grace, swayed by fleshly or
sensual appetite. It must be borne steadily in mind
that St. Paul in all this passage is not speaking as Paul
the Apostle, but in the assumed character of the
unregenerate Jew. St. Augustine and a large school
of followers, who will have it that St. Paul here speaks
in his own person, have involved themselves in difficulty
and the passage in obscurity,
ROMANS vii. 1518. 365
Sold under sin, as we say of a slave, that he was
knocked down to the master who purchased him. The
phrase is found, 3 Kings xxi. 20, 25; i Mace. i. 15, 16.
Sin here again is concupiscence.
15. / understand not ; v y>a>o-Ka>, for which the Vulgate
has, non intelligo. Nihil moror, I dont approve of, would
have been better. A good example of the phrase is
Thucydides, i. 86, which opens: TOVS nv \oyovs TOVS TTO\\OVS
ro>i> /Arpafav ov yryz/obo-Kco, * I reckon nothing of the long
speeches of the Athenians.
I will, I hate, means what my mind and conscience
wills and hates. But my conduct unfortunately goes
the other way. The words good and evil are absent in
the Greek.
1 6. / consent to the law, that is, my mind and con
science bears out the law. But my will falls in with my
concupiscence for all that.
It is no more I that do it, i.e. my better self protests,
even while permitting itself to be overcome. See the
celebrated picture of the charioteer with his two horses
(reason with the appetites) in Plato, Phadnts, 254.
Sin, i.e. concupiscence, that dwelleth in me. A man
might say : It is not I that drove over the child, but
my horse that ran away with me. It would be a
question for a jury in such a case, whether the man
had mismanaged the horse, whether he could not have
restrained it at the beginning, also whether he had any
business to be driving out with an animal that he knew
he could not manage. So of concupiscence. It is
increased by mismanagement of oneself: it may be
checked by prayer. Still the principle holds, that God
will never be angry with any man for what was abso
lutely beyond his power to hinder.
1 8. My flesh here is my sensitive appetite.
which is good, is that which befits man in that which
formally distinguishes him as man, namely, Ins reason.
366 ROMANS vii. 19 22.
Good then here is rational good. Now the sensitive
appetite, the seat of the passions, as such, and apart
from any formation that reason, or grace, may give to
it, takes no cognisance of rational good, any more than
a swine or an ape does.
The best Greek MSS. have a characteristic idiom :
To will is present to me, but to do that which is good, not,
sentence ending with o#, which may throw light on the
reading of i Cor. xv. 51.
To will is here the mere velleity of the will that fain
would stand out against concupiscence, but weakly
yields.
To accomplish, say, simply to do, as the same word,
KaTfpydf(r0aL, is properly enough translated in vv. 17, 20.
To accomplish (perficere, Vulg.) lends itself rather to the
Augustinian interpretation (above, v. 14). But Grcecum
attende codicem, as St. Augustine himself says (quoted on
v. 15)-
19, 20. See on vv. 15, 17.
21. / find then a law. A law would be VOJJ.QV r/a,
which perhaps would better suit the explanation to be
given, but the Greek is TOV vo^ov, the law. The expres
sion usually in St. Paul means the Mosaic law. So all
the Fathers understand it here ; but hardly any two
Fathers explain the text alike. The text in fact has
no explanation on that understanding. The mass of
modern authority, Catholic and non-Catholic, under
stands the law to mean no more than the established
tendency, the same which in vv. 23, 25, is called another
law in my members, and the law of sin. Thus explained,
this much-vexed verse is clear enough.
22. The inward man is the mind (vv. 23, 25), reason
and conscience. It is not the same as the spirit, which
means the soul as the theatre of the operations of grace
(Gal. v. 16 25). The man who is here the speaker is
man away from grace : therefore the mention of the
ROMANS vii. 2325. 367
inward man in 2 Cor. iv. 16, where St. Paul is really
speaking of himself, is not quite a parallel instance.
23. The other law in my members, the law of sin that is
in my members, is the animal tendency of concupiscence.
Fighting, avTio-TpaTcvopfvov, carrying on a warfare in oppo
sition. A warfare is not a perpetual fight, but a perpetual
menace, with fighting sometimes.
The law of my mind is the law of God, revealed through
Moses, borne out by my mind (v. 22). To a Gentile, it
is simply the law of nature, or the unrevealed law of
God, attested by human conscience (ii. 15).
Captivating me, aixjuaAcon ^oi/ra, taking me prisoner, so
that I am sold under sin (v. 14), as prisoners taken in
war of old were sold into slavery. Captivating bears
another meaning in modern English.
24. The body of this death is the body of sin, vi. 6,
where see notes.
25. The grace of God, 77 \apis rov 0>C. The Vatican
MS. has x<*P ls r e< thanks be to God. The Sinaitic and
Alexandrine, fvx a P i(TT ^ T ^ &**> I thank God, which is the
received Greek text. It means : Thanks be to God, (we
have deliverance) through Jesus Christ ouv Lord.
I myself, avrbs e y&&gt;, / by myself, away from the grace of
Christ, while with the mind, r pc v VOL, I serve the law of God,
yet with the flesh, rfj Se vapid, I serve the laiv of sin. On
this use of pev and 8e, where the assertion falls princi
pally on the second (the &) clause, see note on vi. 17.
Here ends the speech of the unregenerate Jew.
368 ROMANSl vin.
CHAPTER VIII.
I. There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh. 2. For the law
of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, hath delivered me from the law
of sin and of death. 3. For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh, even of sin, condemned sin in the flesh ;
4. That the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who
walk not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. 5. For
they who are according to the flesh relish the things that are of the
flesh ; but they who are according to the spirit mind the things
which are of the spirit. 6. For the wisdom of the flesh is death ;
but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace. 7. Because the
wisdom of the flesh is an enemy to God ; for it is not subject to the
law of God, neither can it be. 8. And they who are in the flesh
cannot please God. 9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the
spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10. And if
Christ be in you, the body indeed is dead because of sin ; but the
spirit liveth because of justification, n. And if the Spirit of him
who raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up
Jesus Christ from the dead shall quicken also your mortal bodies,
because of his Spirit dwelling in you. 12. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13. For
if you live according to the flesh, you shall die : but if by the spirit
you mortify the deeds of the flesh, you shall live. 14. For whoso
ever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15. For
you have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear ; but you
have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry : Abba,
(Father.) 16. For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit,
that we are the sons of God. 17. And if sons, heirs also : heirs
indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ : yet so if we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified with him. 18. For I reckon,
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.
19. For the expectation of the creature waiteth for the revelation of
the sons of God. 20. For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him that made it subject in hope ;
21. Because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the
servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children
of God. 22. For we know that every creature groaneth, and is in
ROMANS viii. i. 369
labour even till now. 23. And not only it, but ourselves also, who
have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemp
tion of our body. 24. For we are saved by hope : but hope that is
seen, is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he hope for?
25. But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait for it with
patience. 26. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity : for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit
himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings. 27. And he
that searcheth the hearts knoweth what the Spirit desireth, because
he asketh for the saints according to God. 28. And we know that
to them that love God all things work together unto good, to such
as according to purpose are called to be saints. 29. For whom
he foreknew, he also predestinated to be made conformable to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn amongst many
brethren. 30. And whom he predestinated, them he also called ;
and whom he called, them he also justified ; and whom he justified,
them he also glorified. 31. What shall we then say to these things?
If God be for us, who is against us ? 32. He that spared not even
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also,
with him, given us all things ? 33. Who shall lay any thing to the
charge of the elect of God ? God who justifieth. 34. Who is he
that shall condemn ? Christ Jesus who died, yea, who rose also
again, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh inter
cession for us. 35. Who then shall separate us from the love of
Christ ? shall tribulation or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or
danger, or persecution, or the sword ? 36. (As it is written : For
thy sake we are put to death all the day long ; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter.) 37. But in all these things we overcome,
because of him that hath loved us. 38. For I am sure that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor might, 39. Nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
i. There is now therefore no condemnation, KardKpt/xa, see
note on this word, v. 16. The general condemnation of
the race by reason of Adam s sin, is done away with
in the case of them that are in Christ Jesus, namely, the
baptized (vi. 3, with note). Rightly then is this text
quoted by the Council of Trent (sess. 5, cap. 5) in
support of the theological axiom, In renatis nihil odit
Y
370 ROMANS viii. 26.
Deus, " in the regenerate there is nothing that God
hates."
Who walk not according to the flesh, has been put in
from v. 4, as MSS. show.
2. As the law of sin and of death is original sin and
death, so the law of the Spirit of life is the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of life, guiding the conduct of the
regenerate, in whom He dwells.
The phrase, in (through) Christ Jesus, is to be taken
with the verb, hath delivered.
3. For what the law could not do, i.e. in respect of
what, &c., ro ddvvarov being the nominative or accusative
absolute.
It was weak through the flesh. " The law enjoined and
fulfilled not, because the flesh, where grace was not,
resisted most invincibly" (St. Augustine), understand,
in cases of protracted and severe temptation.
In the likeness of sinful flesh, in this that He was
exposed to suffering and death, from which the flesh,
or body, of man would have been protected but for
original sin. Cf. Eph. ii. 7.
Even of sin. These words are not to be joined with
in the likeness, nor with hath condemned, but with sending.
The English is faulty in the translation, and the Latin
in the punctuation. Translate, et de peecato, KOI Trepi
dpaprias, and for sin, just as we have, Christ died for our
sins, wept d/xapnw^ (i Pet. iii. 18) ; and shed for many, nepl
no\\uv (Matt. xxvi. 28). Christ then was sent in the
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin.
Condemned and cast out sin by suffering in the flesh.
We are not to join together sin in the flesh.
4. The justification (dneatu/za, say, righteous observance} of
the law. Cf. ii. 26, the ordinances (5i/cata>p,ara) of the law.
5. The things that are of the flesh (Gal. v. 1721),
which are not according to the law.
6. The wisdom (or mind, bent and purpose, (frpovrfpa) of
ROMANS viii. 7, 8. 37I
the flesh ; and similarly, the mind, bent and puypose of the
spirit, the flesh here being man left to his animal and
worldly desires, and the spirit man under the guidance
of grace.
7. The wisdom (bent and purpose) of the flesh is an
enemy to God. The Latin translator has confounded
fX^pa, enmity, the reading of all the Greek MSS. and
Fathers, with the adjective e xfyci, inimica, hostile. The
bent and purpose of the flesh is enmity with God.
Not subject, neither can it be. " What means cannot be ?
Not that man cannot be, not that the soul cannot be,
not that the flesh itself, as it is the creature of God,
cannot be : but the wisdom of the flesh cannot be, vice
cannot be, not nature. As if you were to say : Lame
ness is not subject to right walking, neither can it be.
The foot can, but lameness can not. Take away lame
ness, and you will see right walking : but so long as
lameness is, it cannot be right. So, so long as the
wisdom of the flesh is, it cannot be subject : let the
wisdom of the flesh be no more, and man can be
subject " (St. Augustine).
To which we may add that, even in the best
Christians, there ever remains the law of the members
fighting against the law of the mind, though it does not take
them prisoners (vii. 23). Cf. on Gal. v. 16.
8. They who are in the flesh cannot please God, cf. vii. 5,
and note. In the flesh, that is, in the state described,
vii. 8 25, in the corruption of the first Adam, in sin,
original and actual ; out of the state of grace, and
without Christ (Eph. ii. 12), and yet within reach of all
mere natural gifts, secular education, arts, sciences and
literature, laws and politics, commercial prosperity,
military glory ; yes, and of the mere natural virtues
also, legal justice, truthfulness, philanthropy and courage.
St. Paul does not say : They who are in the flesh can
do no natural good : but, They cannot please God, in such
372 ROMANS viii. 9.
sort as to surmount sin, and obtain that vision of God
for eternity which is promised to the clean of heart
(Matt. v. 8).
g. In the spirit, in the grace of God, and correspond
ing with God s graces, the diametric opposite of being
in the flesh.
If so be that, eiWp, si tamen (Vulg.), rather, siquidem, if,
as I must suppose. The Spirit of God had been given to
them in baptism, and the Apostle says he must suppose
they have not already lost the gift by relapsing into
their pagan vices.
He is none of his, is too strong a translation of ovros
OVK COTIV avrov, hie nan est ejus : it should be simply, he is
not his, or better still, he is not of him. The Christian
who has driven the Holy Ghost from his soul by mortal
sin, short of loss of faith and actual apostasy (Heb. vi.
4 6; x. 25, 26), is still a sheep of Christ, albeit a lost
sheep (my sheep that was lost, Luke xv. 6) ; he is still a
member of the Church, the Church has condemned
John Wycliffe, who taught the contrary ; and being a
member of the Church, he is still so far forth a member
of Christ (i Cor. vi. 15 ; xii. 27 ; Eph. v. 30), although
a dead member, who if he repent not shall finally be
cast forth and wither, and they shall cast him into the five
(John xv. 6). Remaining still a member, but dead, he
is truly said to be not of Christ, because the life of Jesus
(2 Cor. iv. 10, n), which is the supernatural life, does
not flow forth from the Sacred Heart unto him ; and
also because he is no imitator of Jesus, but rather of the
devil, as our Lord told the Jews : You are of your father
the devil, and the desires of your father you will do (John
viii. 44).
The Spirit of God (the Father, i Cor. i. 3) is also the
Spirit of Christ, first, because Christ as Man sends Him
(John xv. 26), i.e. by His merits obtains that He shall
be sent (John xiv. 16, 26) ; secondly, because as Christ
ROMANS viii. 1013. 373
is God, and is the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity, the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and
from Him.
10. If Christ be in you. Cf. Col. i. 26, 27, the mystery,
which is Christ in you : Gal. iv. 19, until Christ be formed in
you. Christ is where the Spirit of Christ is, by that
mystical union spoken of on Rom. vi. 3.
The body indeed . . . but, ^fv . . . f \ The English
idiom is, Though the body, . . . yet. See on vi. 17 ;
vii. 25.
The body was mortal ere ever original sin was, but
by a special providence it would have been kept from
dying. Now it is called dead, since because of sin it is
not only mortal, but also certain to die.
The spirit (the soul supernaturalised, as in v. 6)
liveth (certainly the reading is, is life, i.e. the formal
cause of supernatural life).
11. Spirit in this verse means the Holy Ghost,
The interchange of these two meanings of the word,
seen in vv. 9, 10, is the reason why the Collects in
which the word occurs are sometimes terminated in
imitate ejusdem Spiritus Sancti, and sometimes the ejiisdem
is omitted. Cf. v. 13, by the Spirit, or by the spirit.
Because of his Spirit, 8ia TO nvfvua. Authorities are
divided between this reading, and 8ia TOV nvevpaTos, by
agency of his Spirit.
This verse is an undoubted reference to the resurrec
tion of the body. Cf. vi. 5, 8.
13. Mortify, Qavarovrf, do to death. "This doing to
death of the deeds of the flesh has to be carried out with
patience, not suddenly, but gradually. First they must
be abated, in beginners : then, as men begin to advance
more ardently and to be filled more abundantly with
the Spirit, the deeds of the flesh will begin not only to
abate, but to fade away : when men reach the perfect
state, so that neither in deed nor in word nor in thought
374 ROMANS viii. 15, 16.
any indications of sin arise in them, then they are to
be reckoned altogether to have mortified and done to
death the deeds of the flesh " (Origen).
15. You have not received the spirit of bondage again in
fear, means, The Spirit that you have received (the Holy
Ghost in baptism) is not a spirit of bondage back unto fear
(na\iv (Is <d/3oi/). In classical Greek the participle ov
would be expressed before SovXe/as-; you have not
received a spirit, being one of fear : just as a Greek
would say, I tell you things being true, for, What
I tell you is true. The same idiom is noticed on
Gal. iv. 8. So 2 Tim. i. 7, God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, means, The spirit that God hath given us,
is not one of fear. The fear spoken of is that slavish fear
of God, which persists in seeing in him only the
Chastiser.
The spirit of adoption, whereby we cry Abba, Father. See
Gal. iv. 6, with note.
1 6. Giveth testimony to our spirit, better, giveth testimony
along with our spirit (o-vn^aprvpfl).
The assurance founded on this testimony is not
faith, because the testimony itself is not a revelation.
It is no more than a testimony along with our spirit, the
voice of the Holy Ghost and of our own soul under
grace, the two speaking in unison. Now, conceivably,
our soul might take both parts, and speak for the Holy
Ghost as well as for itself. In that case the testimony
could not be depended on.
The testimony of which St. Paul speaks, when it
becomes sensible, that is, when it takes the form of
inward joy and comfort, is called by ascetic writers
consolation. The description of it in the Rules for
the Discernment of Spirits in the Spiritual Exercises of
St. Ignatius, helps very much to the understanding
of this verse. There are good men, high in God s
grace, without consolation. All good men have to go
ROMANS viii. 17, 18. 375
without consolation at times. There is also a false
consolation, which may delude a sinner, who is not
sincere with God, but never permanently delude a man
of good will.
The Council of Trent teaches : " As no person ought
to doubt of the mercy of God, of the merit of Christ, of
the virtue and strength of the sacraments, so any one
when he looks at himself, at his own weakness and
insufficiency, may entertain both fear and dread of his
own grace ; since no one, with a certainty of faith,
beneath which nothing false can be concealed, can know
that he has received the grace of God " (sess. 6, cap. 9).
Still, short of the certainty of faith, as Suarez
teaches, "we can attain to such a degree of certainty
as, according to the ordinary course of things, morally
speaking, should exclude all alarm." And he adds:
" I deem it in the highest degree probable, that it is
possible for a good man to reach a state of virtue, in
which he may be no less assured of the remission of
the sins he may actually have committed than he is
of the remission of his original sin " (Suarez, De gratia,
1. 9, c. n, n. 10).
Such is the practical sufficiency of the testimony the
Spirit giveth that we are the sons of God.
17. Heirs of God, the subjective genitive, as we might
say, God s heirs; and also the objective genitive, as it
were, heirs to God : for God Himself is our inheritance,
since we shall see him as he is (i John iii. 2 : cf. i Cor. xiii.
12). This inheritance we enter upon on condition of
our union with Christ, first in suffering, every man his
own trial in this life, then in glory, every man his own
crown (i Cor. xv. 41, 42 ; Luke xxiv. 26).
1 8. 7 reckon, Xoyifo/iat. St. Paul had some acquaint
ance with both sides of the reckoning, of sufferings,
2 Cor. xi. 23 27, and even of the glory to come he had
had some foretaste (2 Cor. xii. 2, 3).
376 ROMANS viii. 20.
Not worthy to be compared with, OVK m npbs, literally,
standing not in the balance against. The adjective ior is
from ayo) in the sense of / weigh. Of sufferings in this
comparison our Elizabethan writers would have said
that they " kick the beam."
\/ Revealed in us, because glory is but the revealing and
uncovering (dnoKa\v(f)6rjvai) of the sanctifying grace that
is in us already. Hence sanctifying grace is itself
called glory, iii. 23.
20. The creature, f) KTIO-IS. It is a great question what
is meant by this word in this and the next two verses.
Many will have it to mean the whole of the irrational
creation, all beings below angels and men. Hence
they draw a picture of the renovation of the material
world, of the vegetable world, and the lower animals,
a renovation that is to have place when there shall be
a new heaven and a new earth (Apoc. xxi. i). No man
can take upon himself to say that such renovation will
not take place : at the same time to assert it on the
strength of these three verses, is to build upon an
interpretation that is far from certain, perhaps even
less probable.
Probably, by creature we should understand simply
mankind. The word KTIO-IS sometimes means creation, i.e.
the creative act, as in 2 Pet. iii. 4. Sometimes it is the
creature as distinguished from the Creator, as above,
i. 25. In Col. i. 15, 16, it means men and angels. In
2 Pet. ii. 13, we find the expression, human creature,
i.e. mankind. Finally in Col. i. 23 ; and Mark xvi. 15,
the word creature by itself means mankind only, since
men only are the recipients of the gospel : the gospel
which you have heard, which is preached among all creatures,
v Trda-T] T$ Krio-ei, under heaven : preach the gospel to every
creature (770077 rfj imo-ei).
Expectation, dnoKapaSoKia, literally, waiting with neck
outstretched,
ROMANS viii. 21. 377
The revelation of the sons of God in the resurrection.
On the word revelation, cf. note on v. 18. Our Lord
was shown for what He really was on the day of His
resurrection (Acts xiii. 33) ; and so, when their day
comes, shall be shown they that are of Christ (i Cor. xv. 23).
Mankind at large expect this revelation, the redemption
of our body (v. 23), not definitely and expressly, but
vaguely and confusedly, in that mankind are always
looking for a better day to dawn for the race, are ever
catching at the words of prophets who promise them,
the morning comet h (Isaias xxi. 12). This expectation,
which had grown particularly intense just at the time
that the gospel was first preached, was a great pre
disposing cause of the spread of the gospel. It is one
of the bulwarks of Christianity to this hour, and
ever will be. It has likewise nourished innumerable
delusions, such as the Milennium, Humanitarianism,
Socialism ; to say nothing of the hopes built on Educa
tion, Reform, Civilisation, Progress, Evolution.
To vanity, to an aimless existence, to living for other
ends than that for which man was created. This vanity
is the whole theme of the book of Ecclesiastes. It
took its commencement from the sin of Adam ; and as
that sin was not done by the actual will and consent
of Adam s posterity, therefore mankind are said to be
subject to vanity, not ivillingly, but by reason of him who made
it (the creature, mankind) subject, i.e. by reason of Adam
and his first disobedience. This understanding of r6
vnord^avTa, him who made it subject, to be Adam, has the
authority of St. John Chrysostom.
In hope. No stop should follow these words. They
belong to the next verse, in hope that, &c., and should be
preceded by a comma.
21. Because, Vulgate quia, and the Sinaitic manu
script has fitort. But the better authenticated reading
is on : so we have *V eXTrtTh on, in hope that. The same
378 ROMANS viii. 22, 23.
sense however may be obtained from the Vulgate, in
hope, because.
The servitude of corruption, the bondage and misery of
sin, original and actual, described vii. 8 25.
Not that all mankind who now are shall be delivered
from this bondage in the day of the resurrection : the
wicked, who have thrown in their lot with the rebel
angels, shall share their doom (Matt. xxv. 41 ; 2 Pet.
ii. 4; Jude 6): but the mankind who shall then possess
the land (Matt. v. 4), the race of men who shall inherit
the new earth (2 Pet. iii. 13), they shall be delivered.
The reprobate are the refuse and offscourings of
humanity, and are left out of count accordingly. In
the chapter on the resurrection (i Cor. xv.), they are
not so much as alluded to (at least according to what
seems to be the true reading oiib. 51).
The liberty of the glory of the children of God is in its
fulness in heaven, and of this the Apostle speaks. It
may be observed however that this verse was in large
measure fulfilled by the preaching of the gospel, and
the deliverance of mankind from the darkness of
heathenism and the bondage of Judaism to the liberty
and light of Christianity (Gal. iv. 31 ; v. i).
22. Every creature groaneth and is in labour. It needs no
commentator to point out how true these words are of
every creature, Trdo-rj *nW, in the sense of all mankind, from
the first dawn of history till now.
23. It might have been thought that this heart-ache
of humanity, this dnoKapa^oKia, or eager looking out for
absent good (v. 19); this groaning and travailing (v. 22),
would have been cured by conversion to Christianity.
The Apostle shows that the Gospel is not a cure, only
a mitigation, and an earnest of perfect cure to come.
Even to the Christian this life remains a period of
groaning and waiting, but waiting for a definite and
assured good,
ROMANS viii. 2426. 379
First fruits of the Spirit (Eph. i. 13, 14; 2 Cor. i. 22).
As the payment of firstfruits signified that the whole
field belonged to God, and was a pledge that the entire
crop should be used according to His good pleasure
(Deut. xxvi.), so is the Holy Ghost given to us in this
life as an earnest of the perfect possession of God in
heaven.
24. We are saved by hope, i.e. our salvation is in hope,
not yet consummated, spe, non re, as St. Augustine often
says.
What a man seeth, why doth he hope fov ? is hardly
English. Render : What doth a man hope for, that he
seeth? A better reading however is the reading of the
Vatican manuscript : o yap /3^ret, ris f\iriei ; who hopeth
for what he seeth ?
26. As we ought, as the context shows, refers not to
the manner but to the matter of our prayer. Only in
general do we know what is good for us : in particular
we are often mistaken in our petitions, as was St. Paul
himself on a notable occasion, 2 Cor. xii. 8, 9.
The Spirit himself (i.e. of Himself, preventing us with
His gratuitous grace) asketh for us with unspeakable groan
ings. "What is asketh for us but maketh us ask ? To ask
with groanings is a sure sign of need, but it is impious
to suppose the Holy Spirit to be in need of anything.
But the word asketh means that He makes us ask, and
breathes upon us the impulse of asking and groaning,
according to the text (Matt. x. 20) : It is not you that
speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you"
(St. Augustine).
Unspeakable (or unuttered) groanings. A parent, himself
an uneducated man, brings his boy to school, and says
to the schoolmaster : I want you to make this boy a
scholar : prepare him for the University. Thus the
end is laid down in general : but of the particular
course of studies to be pursued, the parent knows
380 ROMANS viii. 27, 28.
nothing: all these details he leaves to the schoolmaster.
Such details are by him unuttered, and even unutterable
and unspeakable, because of his ignorance. So, moved
strongly by the Holy Ghost, we desire and groan for
salvation : but the detail of means that will lead to our
individual salvation is, on many points, beyond our
knowledge. Our groanings then, in respect of these
particular means, are unuttered and unspeakable, because
of our ignorance of detail.
27. He that searcheth hearts (God, Psalm vii. 10 ;
Apoc. ii. 23), knoweth what the Spirit desireth, i.e. under
stands the full meaning of the petitions which the Holy
Ghost prompts us to make, though we understand our
own requests only in the vague, or even positively
misunderstand them. One may think of a loyal-hearted
man, who hates Catholics, praying that he may find
the true way to salvation, or of a child praying to be a
priest.
He asketh for the saints, i.e. moves the saints to ask
for themselves. Saints here (as in i Cor. i. 2, &c.) means
all true followers of Christ.
According to God, things which lie within God s
purpose to grant us in order to our salvation. Such
things the Holy Spirit moves us to pray for ; and such
prayers are always heard (Matt. vii. 7, 8 ; John xiv.
13, 14; i John v. 14, 15). When we pray for those
things, we pray as we ought (v. 26). See St. Thomas,
2a 2ae, q. 83, art. 15, ad 2 (Aquinas Ethicus, vol. ii. p. 128).
28. To them that love God. St. Paul does not say,
to them that believe in God, or to them that are once
justified.
All things work together unto good. The Vatican and
Alexandrine manuscripts alone read : God worketh all
things together unto good. St. Paul is thinking especially
of sufferings and persecutions, as appear from vv. 17,
8. 3537-
ROMANS viii. 29, 30. 381
The latter part of this verse should be read simply,
to such as according to purpose are called, rols <ara Trpodtw
K\rjTols ouo-ic, which is the reading of all the Greek MSS.
St. Augustine and other Latin Fathers also omit sanctis
(saints). Called in the New Testament means those who
have been called and have come (Matt. xx. 16; xxii. 14;
above, i. 6, 7). So Clement of Alexandria : " Whereas
all men have been called (KfKXij/zeVoi), such as have been
willing to hear are termed called (cXi;Toi)" (Strom i. 18).
According to purpose. The human purpose of those
called, say the Greek Fathers, for which use of the
word there is authority in 2 Tim. iii. 10; Acts xi. 23;
xxvii. 13. The divine purpose, or predestination, of
God calling, say the Latin Fathers, according to ix. n ;
Eph. i. ii ; iii. n ; 2 Tim. i. 9. The latter opinion is
more probable from the citations.
Predestination is either to grace in this life, or to
glory in the next. That predestination to grace is ante
cedent to any foreseen merits, is a dogma of the Catholic
faith, clearly taught in this Epistle, iv. i 6; ix. n, 12.
Whether predestination to glory is also antecedent to
any foreseen merits, or is consequent upon such merits,
theologians dispute, and interpret St. Paul variously.
After his manner (see note on v. 21), St. Paul speaks
as though all whom he was addressing were predestined
to glory. Yet elsewhere he sufficiently indicates the
danger of Christians falling away, i Cor. ix. 24 x. 12 ;
Phil. ii. 12. In practice, the way to go to heaven is to
live as if you were going there, to run (i Cor. ix. 26)
as if you meant to win ; to fight (ib.) as if you had
no idea of being beaten (cf. Imitation of Christ, i. 25, 2).
And similarly of the other place.
29,30. Foreknew ,irpoyv<*\ more probably, foreapproved,
for which sense of yiyva><* see on i Cor. viii. 3 ; Gal.
iv. 9; Rom. vii. 15. Cf. Nahum i. n, the Lord is good,
and knoweth them that hope in him.
382 ROMANS viii. 29, 30.
These two verses are difficult in construction, as
well as in doctrine. First as to the construction. The
first thing to notice is the thrice-repeated pronoun in
V. 3O, TOVTOVS, TOVTOVS, TOVTOVS, hoS, IlOS, UloS . But before
KCU TTpocopicrfi (et praedestinavit) there is no pronoun. This
should make us hesitate to supply the pronoun, and to
translate the <al (et) by also instead of by and. Then
again it is well known that the Greek 5e, and sometimes
the Latin aiitem, is used to take up the thread of a
sentence, like the English, well then, I say. For this use
of Se see 2 Cor. v. 6, 8 ; x. i, 2. We may then remove
the comma after Trpoeyva (praescivit), and construe thus :
Whom he foreapproved and predestinated to be made conformable
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn amongst
many brethren whom I say he predestinated, them he also
called. And this construction seems the more probable.
It makes praescivit et pvaedestinavit to express one idea,
the second verb bearing out the sense of the first. Only
the idea gains force and emphasis by the doubling of
the verb.
For doctrine it may be sufficient to explain the
literal meaning of the verses, and leave further discus
sion of predestination to theologians.
He called refers to an effectual call to the faith. See
note on v. 28 and on i Cor. i. 2. Comparing this with
Acts xiii. 48: And they believed, as many as were appointed
unto life everlasting, we have the interpretation : Whom
he predestined to life everlasting, them he called effectually
to the faith : them he also justified in baptism.
Conformable to the image of his Son. The Son of
God took the form of a servant (Phil. ii. 7), that, as the
Church prays in the Christmas Mass, in ejus inveniamnv
forma, " we may be found in His form," which is
the form of God (Phil. ii. 6: cf. John i. 12, 14). We
shall bear the form of God, as perfectly as human
creatures are capable of bearing it, in the day of the
ROMANS viii. 3134. 383
resurrection, when our whole humanity shall be con
formed to the type of Christ risen : see i Cor. xv.
45 49; Phil. iii. 21. This supposes a previous con
formity of our mortal life with His mortal life of
obedience and humiliation (Phil. ii. 5 8).
He predestinated, he called, he justified, he glorified, are
all in Greek the aorist tense, what is called the gnomic
aorist, which makes an assertion irrespective of time,
and is just as well rendered by the English present, he
predestinates, he calls, he justifies, he glorifies.
31. What then shall we say? seems to have been a
favourite connecting link in St. Paul s discourses. Every
speaker feels the need of such links. It occurs, vi. i ;
vii. 7 ; viii. 31 ; ix. 14, 30.
God for us, who against us ? Us and we from this to the
end of the chapter mean the elect of God (v. 33). See
final note on v. 28.
32. Spared not even his own Son, some reminiscence of
Gen. xxii. 16: Thou hast not spared thine only-begotten son
for my sake.
Hath he not given, donavit, is a mistake for donabit, the
old Latin reading ; x a P TfT(U tne future, being the only
Greek reading ; will he not give ?
33. Who shall accuse ? God that justifieth. This English
seems to imply that God will be the accuser, which is
very far from the meaning. The Greek and the Latin
mean : God is he that justifieth. That is to say : * When
God pronounces and renders the elect just, innocent
and clear of sin, who shall venture to accuse them ?
St. Augustine reads with an interrogation : God that
justifieth? (shall He be the accuser?). But God is
never the accuser : He is the Judge.
34. Christ Jesus that died. Again the meaning is:
Christ Jesus is he that died, &c. This sentence also
St. Augustine reads interrogatively.
Christ maketh intercession for us. An interesting text
384 ROM A MS viii. 3538.
in view of the development of the devotion known as
the Apostleship of Prayer. Cf. Heb. vii. 25. Without
prejudice to His Divinity, for of the Divinity the text is
not spoken ; and without prejudice to the glory of His
Humanity, enthroned, as the Fathers say, on the very
throne of the Godhead, Jesus Christ still maketh interces
sion for us, as our Advocate (i John ii. i) and High Priest
(Heb. viii. i), " by presenting to the sight of His Father
the Humanity, which He has assumed for us, and the
mysteries enacted in that Humanity," as St. Thomas
says, notably His Crucifixion, of which He still bears
the print of the wounds (John xx. 20, 25, 27).
35. The connecting particle then should be away,
according to the best authorities. The three inter
rogatories are more impressive for the asyndeton : Who
shall accuse ? Who shall condemn ? Who shall separate ?
The love of Christ (cf. v. 5, the charity of God) is not
exclusively either our love of Christ, or Christ s love of
us : it is the love of friendship, which is mutual and
includes both.
36. Psalm xliii. 22.
37. We overcome^ u7rfpj>iKo>/iej/, we are victorious "with
advantages."
Because of him that hath loved us, and hath washed
us from our sins in His blood (Apoc. i. 5). Because of
(propter, 5ta rbv ayair^o-aj/ra) means thanks to the help of.
But the three best Greek MSS. read dia ro{) ayan^a-avros
(per), by the doing of, which says the same thing more
directly.
38. I am sure even with the certainty of faith, as it
is question of the salvation of the predestinate and elect,
of whom our Lord says : No man shall pluck them out of
my hand (John x. 28).
Neither death nor life, neither the brief agony of
martyrdom, nor the longer agony of a confessor of the
faith.
ROMANS ix. 385
Nor angels nor principalities, no evil angels, whether of
lower or higher degree.
Nor powers, probably an interpolation.
Things present, painful or delightful.
Things to come, promises or threats.
Nor might, read oflre 8vi>dp.(is, nor powers : understand
the powers of this world.
Nor height nor depth, &c. We cannot particularise
any further. St. Paul s inspired eloquence outruns our
comments.
CHAPTER IX.
I. I speak the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing
me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2. That I have great sadness, and
continual sorrow in my heart. 3. For I wished myself to be an
anathema from Christ, for my brethren, who are my kinsmen
according to the flesh : 4. Who are Israelites ; to whom belongeth
the adoption of children, and the glory, and the covenant, and
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises ;
5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the
flesh, who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen. 6. Not
as though the word of God hath failed. For all are not Israelites
that are of Israel : 7. Neither are all they who are the seed of
Abraham children : but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called ; 8. That
is to say, not they who are the children of the flesh are the children
of God : but they that are the children of the promise are counted
for the seed. 9. For this is the word of the promise ; According to
this time will I come; and Sara shall have a son. 10. And not
only she ; but when Rebecca also had conceived at once, by Isaac
our father, n. For when the children were not yet born, nor had
done any good or evil (that the purpose of God according to election
might stand), 12. Not of works, but of him that called, it was said
to her : 13. The elder shall serve the younger ; as it is written :
Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated. 14. What shall we
say then ? Is there injustice with God ? God forbid. 15. For he
saith to Moses: I will have mercy on whom I have mercy; and
I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. 16. So then it is
not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that
showeth mercy. 17. For the Scripture saith to Pharao : To this
z
386 ROMANS ix.
purpose have I raised thee up, that I may show my power in thee,
and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
18. Therefore he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will
he hardeneth. 19. Thou wilt say therefore to me : Why doth he
then find fault ? For who resisteth his will ? 20. O man, who art
thou that repliest against God ? Shall the thing formed say to him
that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus ? 21. Or hath not
the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour ? 22. And if God,
willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured
with much patience vessels of wrath, fitted to destruction, 23. That
he might show the riches of his glory upon the vessels of mercy,
which he hath prepared unto glory, 24. Even us, whom also he
hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the gentiles ; 25. As
he saith in Osee : I will call them my people, that were not my
people ; and her beloved, that was not beloved ; and her that had
not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy. 26. And it
shall be, in the place where it was said to them : You are not my
people ; there they shall be called the children of the living God.
27. And Isaias crieth out concerning Israel : If the number of the
children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be
saved. 28. For he shall finish his word, and cut it short in justice ;
because a short word shall the Lord make upon the earth. 29. And
as Isaias foretold : Unless the Lord of sabaoth had left us a seed,
we had been made as Sodom, and we had been like unto Gomorrha.
30. What then shall we say ? That the gentiles, who sought not
after justice, have attained to justice, even the justice that is of
faith : 31. But Israel, in pursuing the law of justice, is not come
to the law of justice. 32. Why so ? Because they sought it not of
faith, but as it were of works : for they stumbled at the stumbling-
stone ; 33. As it is written : Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-
stone and a rock of scandal : and whosoever believeth in him shall
not be confounded.
With this chapter commences the second part of
the Epistle. A new thought has seized upon the
Apostle s mind. He has just been describing the
happy assurance of the elect. By contrast there occurs
to him how that his own kith and kin, the Jewish people,
have become reprobate. Thirty years have elapsed
since the death and resurrection of Christ ; and already
the prophecy of Daniel is manifestly realised in the
ROMANS ix. 13. 387
Jews : The people that shall deny him shall not be his (Dan.
ix. 26). Hence the outburst of anguish with which this
chapter opens.
i. Witness in the Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of truth
(John xiv. 17).
3. / wished myself to be an anathema from Christ. On
the word anathema see on i Cor. xvi. 22. I wished does
not represent faithfully the Greek e/3ouXo/iijv, which is
equivalent to e/3ovXd^i/ &/, the conditional tense of an
unfulfilled condition, and means I could wish (were I
called upon to do so). The meaning then is : I could
wish, were it necessary, to be accursed myself and cast
off from Christ, so that my brethren, the Jews, could be
brought to join Him. Instead of Paul being elect
(viii. 38, 39), and the Jewish people reprobate, let Paul,
if need be, become reprobate so that they be elect.
As to the morality of this wish, we may observe :
first, that it is wrong to wish, even with a will of
inefficacious desire, for anything that is in itself sinful.
But St. Paul here does not wish for anything sinful.
He could wish, he says, not to sin, but to bear that
separation from Christ which is the result and punish
ment of sin, even as Christ Himself, remaining all-holy
and all-pure, for us was made sin and made a curse (2 Cor.
v. 21 ; Gal. iii. 13, where see notes).
Secondly. There are events, not in themselves
sinful, yet which we cannot bring about except by
sinful means. To desire such events with an efficacious
desire would be a sin, because it would imply a com
placency also in the employment of those sinful means.
But to desire such an event with an inefficacious desire,
while abhorring the means, is not of itself a sin though
it may be for us not a safe thing to do, as it may tempt
us to approval of these wicked means. Such an event
would be the death of a persecutor of the Church.
And such an event is the separation from Christ, which
3 88 ROMANS ix. 4.
St. Paul here desires with a conditional and inefficacious
desire, certainly without any thought of ever using
the only means to such a separation, which is grievous
sin.
Nor, thirdly, can it be contended that St. Paul here
sins against charity to himself, whom he was bound to
love more than his neighbours and brethren the Jews
(St. Thomas, 2a 2ae, q. 26, art. 4 ; Aquinas Ethicus, i. 366).
For a man is bound to love God even more than himself
(ib. art. 3 ; i. 365). And here, out of the exceeding
great love he bore to Christ his Lord and God (v. 5),
seeing that the salvation of many souls is more glorious
to God our Saviour than the salvation of one, St. Paul
was willing, if need be, to forego his own salvation to
bring in to Christ the multitude of his brethren. Cf.
the prayer of Moses, Exod. xxxii. 31, 32. Rightly
therefore does St. Chrysostom extol this as the highest
mark of St. Paul s great love for Christ. Thus he
paraphrases it: "I would consent to be separated, not
from the love of Christ [viii. 35] , impossible, for he
was doing this for His love but from His enjoyment
and glory, that my Lord might be no more blasphemed."
4. The adoption. Not that spiritual adoption spoken
of, viii. 15, but what we may call a political adoption,
by which the people of Israel were God s peculiar
possession above all people (Exod. xix. 5 ; Deut. xiv. 2).
Cf. Osee xi. i : Because Israel was a child and I loved him,
and I called my son out of Egypt. This political adoption
of the Israel according to the flesh (i Cor. x. 18) was a
figure (i Cor. x. n) of the spiritual adoption of the Israel
of God (Gal. vi. 16).
The glory, the Shechinah, or brightness, the visible
mark of God s presence in the tabernacle of the testimony
(Exod. xl. 32 36), and afterwards in the Holy of Holies
(3 Kings viii. 6 12). Cf. Ezechiel x. It was lost at
the destruction of the first temple by Nabuchodonsor,
ROMANS ix. 5. 389
and seems never to have appeared again. Psalm
Ixxxiv. 10, is a prayer for its return.
The testament; a better supported reading is the
testaments, i.e. the tables of the testament (Heb. ix. 4), which
were in the ark of the covenant, i.e. the two tables of stone
(3 Kings viii. 9), given to Moses, containing the ten
commandments (Exod. xxxiv. 28). These were the
" moral precepts " of the Mosaic Law.
The giving of the law, rather in one word, the legisla-
tion, j/o/io^eo-ia, refers to the " judicial precepts" of
the Mosaic Law, regulating social usage and civil
procedure.
The service, Xarpeia, as we say, Divine Service, the
" ceremonial precepts " of the Mosaic Law.
The promises, Deut. xxviii. i 14; xxx. ; xxxiii. : but
especially the promise of the Messias, Deut. xviii. 15;
Acts iii. 22 26.
5. The fathers, the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
(Acts vii. 32).
Christ, . . . who is over all things, God blessed for ever.
6 xpio-roy, 6 &v eVi iravrutv 6f6y cvXoyrjros els rovs aiavas. As
the passage stands, it is an express testimony to the
Divinity of Christ, to which St. Paul bears other witness,
Phil. ii. 6; Col. i. 16, 17; Tit. ii. 13. And so it is
understood by some forty Fathers of the first six
centuries, quoted by Cardinal Franzelin in his dis
cussion of this text (De Verbo Incarnato, pp. 7182).
Attempt is made to thwart this evidence by putting a
full stop either at flesh or at things, and so making
what follows a pious ejaculation to the glory of God.
Against which notable device we may quote the
well-known story of the nuns who ended at dicitur
the rubric, Hie non dicitur Gloria Patri. The doxology,
or giving of glory to God, comes well at the end of an
Epistle (xvi. 27; 2 Tim. iv. 18). Above, i. 25, it is put
in as a sort of reparation, both for what has been
390 ROMANS ix. 6.
mentioned and for the odious subject presently to be
introduced. In i Tim. i. 17, it is St. Paul s thanks
giving for his own conversion, of which he has been
just speaking. And in all these cases it comes in
without ambiguity. Here, if the received interpretation
of the Fathers is right, the dignity of the Israelites, of
whom is Christ according to the flesh, is vastly heightened
by the clear statement of the Divinity of Christ, and an
Amen of praise to Christ as God. But if this is not the
sense of the author, there is, first, a most unfortunate
ambiguity, to which St. Paul, jealous alike as Jew and
as Christian of the honour due to the only God, cannot
have been blind. Secondly, the doxology is out of
place, and not to be looked for from a man who has
just said : / have great sorrow and continual sadness in my
heart (v. 2). Thirdly, this would be an exception to the
legal rule, that a document is to be read in its obvious
and natural sense, and in the sense given to it by
tradition, unless cogent reason be shown for setting
aside that obvious sense and that traditional interpreta
tion. But here no reason is forthcoming, except the
reluctance of a certain school to admit the Divinity of
Christ, or any other Divinity but what they themselves
constitute.
6. Not as though the word of God hath failed. This
was the objection of the Jews against Christianity, that
if Christianity was true, God was false, in that His
promises to the Jewish people had failed, and a world
of Gentiles and sinners had stolen into the place of
favour reserved for Israel. The answer is that all are
not Israelites (or as the best Greek MSS. read, all are not
Israel), who are of Israel. It is the distinction which we
saw before between Israel according to the flesh (i Cor.
x. 18) and the Israel of God (Gal. vi. 16). See on Gal.
iii. 7, 9, 26, 29 ; iv. 23, 28. The promises were made,
absolutely, to the latter, not to the former.
ROMANS ix. 713. 391
The first four words of this sentence in Greek,
ovx olov Sf on, are not easy to translate. The best
explanation is that o\>x olov is a later Greek idiom, equal
to ovx olov & v padlmg yeVoiro, " not a thing that easily
would happen." Translate according : It is not a thing
to be thought of, that, &c.
7. In Isaac shall thy seed be called, Gen. xxi. 12.
8. Children of the flesh, children of the promise. Ismael,
born in the ordinary course of nature, is the type of the
former. Isaac, born of a body now dead and of a dead
womb (iv. 19, see notes), is the type of the latter. See
also on Gal. iv. 23 29.
9. According to this time, i.e. about this time next
year. Gen. xviii. 10 14, which see.
10. This verse should be read as follows: And not
only she [had two sons, one of whom was preferred to
the other] , but Rebecca also, having conceived of one husband,
who was Isaac our father. The Rheims version in the
first edition of 1582 has : And not only she [had two sons,
&c., as above] , but Rebecca also conceiving of one copulation,
of Isaac our father. This renders the Vulgate correctly.
But it is certain that the Vulgate reading, ex uno con-
cubitu habens, Isaac patris nostri, is an error, for which
we should substitute the reading of the older Latin
versions, ex uno concubitum habens Isaac patre nostro, which
answers to the unvaried Greek reading, bos KO^V
X ovo-a lo-auK rov narpos ^i/, the English of which is given
above.
u, 12. There should be either no parenthesis, or the
words, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, should be all put
in parenthesis together, for they are to be taken together.
The elder (Esau) shall serve the younger (Jacob). Gen.
xxv. 23.
13. The whole passage, Malachy i. 24, should
read. Briefly it comes to this, that God has been
392 ROMANS ix. 14, 15.
willing to restore the descendants of Jacob, the Jews,
after their captivity, while the land of Edom and its
people, the sons of Esau (Gen. xxv. 30), is never to
recover its prosperity.
As regards, / have loved, I have hated, according to a
well-known Hebrew idiom, it means no more than :
* I have preferred one to the other. So we read that
Jacob loved Rachael more than Lia, and immediately, that
God seeing that Lia was hated (Gen. xxix. 30, 31). Again
our Lord s words : He that hateth not his father cannot be
my disciple (Luke xviii. 26) appear in St. Matthew (Matt.
x. 37), He that loveth his father more than me is not worthy of
me. Thus Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau (Heb. xi. 20), but
Jacob more (Gen. xxvii. 38 40). Of course to hate
means to hate, in Hebrew as in any other language,
and the Jews were good haters. This use of to hate for
to love less is when the word is used relatively, not abso
lutely. So an Englishman says he loves riding, and
hates walking, which means he will never walk when
he can well ride : yet he will often walk when he might
sit still.
Nothing is said here (nor indeed in Heb. xii. 16, 17)
of Jacob being predestinate and elect, nor of Esau
being reprobate and doomed to damnation ; but only
of their temporal fortunes, as types of the spiritual
differences that were to obtain among the Jews, all
brothers, come of one stock, yet some believing in the
Christ and being saved, others rejecting their Saviour
and being lost.
14. 7s there injustice with God ? in calling one effectually
to the faith, and leaving another in Judaism [or
paganism, or heresy] , apart from any antecedent merits
in either party. Cf. iv. 4, 5, with notes, as to the
gratuitousness of this call.
15. Exod. xxxiii. 19. As in many verses of the Old
Testament, the second part is merely the first in other
ROMANS ix. 16 18.
393
words. Literally the Greek runs : 7 will have mercy on
whomsoever I have mercy ; and will have pity on whomsoever I
have pity.
1 6. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that
runneth, that he is converted to Christianity, but of God
that showeth mercy. Once more we have the statement,
that no acts of will or of outward work can merit for
any man the grace of his first justification by faith and
baptism. This verse therefore is not at all parallel to,
nor yet in contradiction with, i Cor. ix. 24 : So run that
you may obtain : for that is an exhortation to Christians
to correspond with the graces given, and by good works,
done in grace and by grace, to merit heaven.
17. Exod. ix. 1 6, which see. / have raised thee,
f^yfipa o-f, excitavi te, Vulg. (better, suscitavi te), means,
I have raised thee to the throne. So the word is used in
Zach. xi. 1 6 : 7 will raise up a shepherd in the land, f^tytipot
TTot/ieVa, a high priest or king. And i Kings ii. 35 : And
I will raise me up a faithful priest.
Those who choose to understand excitavi te, " I have
excited thee to sin," create difficulties for themselves.
Just as God, foreseeing that the Jews in their
wickedness would crucify His Divine Son, ordained
that crucifixion to man s salvation ; so having set
Pharao on the throne, and foreseeing that he would not
obey the Divine command to let the people of Israel go,
God determined to use his obstinacy as an occasion for
displaying His own power, and making the exodus of
the people of Israel memorable to all posterity.
1 8. He hath mercy on whom he will, a repetition of v. 15.
Whom he will he hardeneth. This is implied in v. 15.
The term hardeneth is taken from Exodus ; and it is
worth while seeing how it is used there. We read nine
times of the Lord hardening Pharao s heart (Exod.
iv. 21 ; vii. 3 ; ix. 12 ; x. i, 20, 27; xiv. 4, 8, 17) : seven
times of Pharao s heart being hardened (vii. 13, 22;
394 ROMANS ix. 18.
viii. 19, 32 ; ix. 7, 35 ; xiii. 15) : once of Pharao s harden
ing his own heart (viii. 15). These are all so many
versions of the same fact. Pharao s heart was hardened :
he was obstinate in disobeying God : his obstinacy was
of his own choosing, yet in some sense God rendered
him obstinate, and that in two ways. First, foreseeing
that, for all the strong persuasions employed to move
his heart (as detailed, Exod. v. xi.), Pharao would not
be mollified, God would not use stronger means from
the first to obtain his consent to let the people go, that
consent which He finally wrung from him by slaying
the firstborn (Exod. xii. 29 32). Secondly, seeing that
Pharao chose to be obdurate, God took occasion of that
obduracy for an extraordinary display of His power, a
display to be remembered by the Hebrew people with
awe and gratitude down to the latest times (Exod.
xv. i 21 ; Psalm civ. 26 38, &c.).
So in regard of the obdurate Jews, who were
unmoved by the preaching of Christ and His Apostles.
God hardened them in this sense, that, foreseeing how
all the outward persuasions, and all the inward knock-
ings of His Holy Spirit at their hearts, which He
intended to employ, with a real desire for their con
version, would prove inefficacious, He was content with
these persuasions and solicitations, and would not press
them further, as He might. Where it is to be observed
that God communicates Himself to a man little by little,
as He finds him faithful ; and withdraws little by little
from the man who is unfaithful. The first step may be
to listen patiently to a preacher, who is God s messenger,
but without being convinced. The second step may be
to attend to some slight questionings of conscience, and
pray about them. The third may be to ask further
information of the Church, and so on. If a man will
not take the first step, God may refuse him the grace
which would have carried him to the second. A chain
ROMANS ix. 19 21. 395
of successive infidelities may provoke God finally to
withhold that abundant flow of grace, without which it
is not indeed impossible for the man to be converted,
but God foresees that actually the conversion will never
take place. This then is God s hardening of the sinner,
in the Pauline sense of hardening: it is the holding back
of any special abundance of grace, with the foreknow
ledge that, unless specially abundant, the grace given
will not be efficacious. And such hardening the sinner
draws upon himself by rejecting time after time God s
earlier advances.
These remarks apply to conversions to the Catholic
faith in modern times : also to the converting and
reclaiming of bad Catholics from a state of sin to the
state of grace.
The hardening of Henry VIII. is an historical
instance.
19. The difficulty is formed upon the previous verse,
which shows both submissive and refractory men
coming under the will and disposal of God : hence it
is asked, how God can find fault with any man, since
His will rules all. A general reply, based upon the
power of God, is given in vv. 20, 21. A more particular
reply, based upon the patience, or rather longsufering of
God, appears in v. 22. The entire answer, abrupt and
obscure to a degree, shows the need not of inspired
Scripture alone, but of commentators and theologians
to explain it, and of an infallible Church to check those
commentators.
20. O man, nay rather who art thou ? is the Greek.
The Vulgate omits nay rather.
21. We may gain some preliminary glimpse of
St. Paul s mind by reading these parallel passages:
Isaias xxix. 16; xlv. 9, 10; Jerem. xviii. i 10; Wisd.
xv. 7; Ecclus. xxxiii. n 15 ; 2 Tim. ii. 20.
To argue original sin from the clay being a "con-
ROMANS ix. 22.
demned lump " (massa damnata), is to bring in an idea
which is not in this verse, nor in any of the parallel
passages.
The answer is a general one ; that just as the clay
is unable to understand why the potter makes some of
it into vessels for baser uses, and other some into
vessels for honourable use ; so man is equally unable
to comprehend why God converts some sinners from
their evil ways, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies them,
while others He leaves in their wickedness, and after
wards punishes them for the same. The potter is
master of his clay ; and God is master of His creature
man, and knows what He does with him. Beyond
this general answer St. Paul does not travel in this
verse.
22. What if? some read, as though the Vulgate
were Quid si ? But the Vulgate is Quod si, the Greek
i df, but if. The original Rheims version is And if.
The sentence is elliptical: But if God hath endured, &c.,
[what will thou say to that ?] . We have in this verse
the particular answer to v. 19, but in the form of a
suggestion, not of a direct statement.
The principal word in the reply is paKpoflvpia, which
is ill translated patience ; it should be longsuffering. The
word, with its derivatives, occurs twenty-five times in
the New Testament, generally denoting a virtue that
man has to practise, but five times it denotes an
attribute of God, always the same attribute of long-
suffering, whereby God bears with the sins of men.
This noun determines the sense of the verb fjveyKev,
to be rightly rendered by the Vulgate sustinuit, our
endured.
In contrast with this principal term, longsuffering,
we have the terms, wmth, power, destruction. They are
contrasted, but subordinate. It is the longsuffering of
God that is asserted in the verse, not His wrath, nor
ROMANS ix. 23. 397
His power, not the destruction which He deals to
sinners.
The participle, willing, does not show cause why
God endured. It would be absurd to say that, because
God was willing to show his wrath, therefore He endured
with much patience. If that were the construction, we
could only say that a negative must have dropped out,
and that we should read ov 6e\a>v, not willing. But that
is not to be thought of. As it is, we can only translate
the participle, though willing.
The sentence then is : But if God (though willing to
show his wrath and to make his power known, in His own
good time) endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath,
fitted for destruction, &c. (v. 23) [what will the objector
say to that ?]
St. Paul s answer, wrapped up in a sentence certainly
hard to be understood (2 Pet. iii. 16), is simply this, that
the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation (2 Pet. iii. 15) to
such as are willing to avail themselves of it and be
converted, at the same time that it is damnation
aggravated to those who hold out and harden them
selves in sin, as explained under the type of Pharao
(v. 18).
23. This verse assigns the cause and reason wny
God endured; it was, that he might show the riches of his
glory upon the vessels of mercy. Where observe that these
vessels of mercy, in particular such Jews as in process
of time were converted were at one time vessels of anger
like the rest, and but for the endurance spoken of in v. 22,
in which all these vessels of anger alike participated, their
end would have been swift destruction. The same
longsuffering, which mollified some, hardened others.
As St. Augustine puts it : the same heat, which melts
wax, hardens mud. The Lord dealeth patiently, paKpotvp*,
says St. Peter, for your sake, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should return to penance (2 Pet. in. 9).
ROMANS ix. 2427.
There are also Our Lord s own words, giving this same
reason for longsuffering, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle,
you root up the wheat also togethey with it (Matt. xiii. 29).
Thus God meets out His endurance alike to vessels of
wrath and to vessels of mercy. To adopt another Pauline
phrase, He endures all that anyhow He may save some
(i Cor. ix. 22, as read in the notes; also below, xi. 14).
Those who are not saved are hardened. Consequently
upon their perversity, God withdraws His special aids ;
and under that withdrawal their hearts grow harder and
harder still. But that hardness of heart all has its origin
in their own perverse will, resisting God s antecedent
will to save, although not His consequent will to punish ;
and for that voluntary perversity and resistance God
justly finds fault (v. 19) with them and punishes them.
24. Not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. So
above, ii. 10, n, the Jew first, also the Greek, for there is no
respect of persons with God.
Read the whole passage, ii. 4 n, which is the best
elucidation, being St. Paul s own, of these difficult
verses, 18 24.
25. The citation is from Osee i. 23, 24, also cited by
St. Peter (i Pet. ii. 10).
And her that had not obtained mercy, &c. All the
Greek MSS. and Fathers omit this clause, which has
arisen simply from a double translation of one Hebrew
word, which means both beloved and having obtained mercy.
Osee speaks immediately of the conversion of the
people of Israel, who had become a separate kingdom
from Juda. But as Israel was now a stranger to Juda,
the conversion of Israel included the conversion of
strangers, that is, of Gentiles.
26. From Osee i. 10.
27. This verse is from Isaias x. 22. Read the
whole passage, Is. x. 20 23. A remnant of the Jews
should escape the devastations of the Assyrians under
ROMANS ix. 28. 399
Sennacherib ; and that remnant was a type of the
small portion that should follow the Christ and be
saved.
28. For he shall finish his word, and cut it short in justice :
because a short word shall the Lord make upon the earth. Such
is St. Paul s reading of Isaias x. 22, 23, where we now
read from the Hebrew text translated by St. Jerome:
The consumption abridged shall overflow with justice : for the
Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridg
ment in the midst of all the land. How recognise the text
in these two different dresses ?
The first thing is to secure better English versions,
for the above are neither elegant nor intelligible. The
quotation as it stands in St. Paul may be rendered thus:
For he shall accomplish (a-wre Xo>i/) the thing that he has spoken ,
and bring it to a speedy conclusion (owrffufuv, with these two
participles understand rrm) in justice : because a work
speedily concluded shall the Lord do upon the earth. For
work we have Aoyoi/, verbum, word, which in Hebrew
constantly stands for a ivork, considered as matter of
promise or discussion. The latter part of the verse
is in sense a mere repetition of the former, and is not
found in the three best Greek MSS., the Vatican, the
Sinaitic, and the Alexandrine.
The passage in Isaias in the Hebrew is obscure.
The following version from the Hebrew is probably
more accurate than St. Jerome s Latin, and certainly
more intelligible than the Douay English : Destruction is
decreed, bringing justice : for destruction and a firm decree the
Lord of hosts caryieth out in the midst of all the land.
But guided as we cannot doubt by the Spirit of
God, the Inspirer of the Scriptures St. Paul does not
quote from the Hebrew, but, as the Apostles often did,
from the Septuagint Greek version ; and this he quotes
exactly, with the mere verbal substitution of upon the
earth for in the whole world.
400 ROMANS ix. 2933.
As explained, this verse (Is. x. 23 1 does no more than
emphasise the previous verse (22). It says nothing about
the saved of Juda being few, which is the point that
St. Paul is arguing. Hence some would translate
(rvvT^v<jv cutting down [the people of Juda] to a small
number ; and \oyov o-vvTfTfiTjpfvov, a deed of cutting down :
certainly more to the point, if the translation may be
admitted.
29. From Isaias i. 9. The text confirms the doctrine
of the remnant (v. 27). If any one will argue that,
because comparatively few Jews escaped the sword of
the Assyrian in Isaias time, and comparatively few Jews
were converted to Christ in St. Paul s time, which is
the meaning of these verses, therefore comparatively
few men, or comparatively few Christians, are saved,
he will need to enter into a long and arduous elucida
tion of the theory of Scripture types to make good
either inference.
30. The gentiles, who followed not after justice, as
abundantly shown (i. 18 32).
The justice of faith and baptism (iii. 28; vi. 4).
31. This text should be read, with the three best
Greek MSS. : But Israel, by following after the law, is not
come to the law of justice.
The law is the Mosaic law.
The law of justice is that observation of the law which
carries with it supernatural justice, or sanctity, which
can only be by faith in Christ, under the Old Lav/,
still to come ; in the New Law come already.
32. Of works, mere natural works, done without faith
and grace (iv. 4 6).
They stumbled at the stumbling-stone, Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumbling-block (i Cor. i. 23). Cf. Luke
ii. 34.
33. The quotation is a blending of two texts, Isaias
viii. 14, and xxviii. 16, the latter according to the
ROMANS x. 401
Septuagint, where the Hebrew has the meaningless,
He that believeth, let him not hasten.
See the quotation also in St. Peter (i Pet. ii. 6 8).
CHAPTER X.
I. Brethren, the will of my heart, indeed, and my prayer to
God, is for them unto salvation. 2. For I bear them witness, that
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. 3. For
they not knowing the justice of God, and seeking to establish their
own, have not submitted themselves to the justice of God. 4. For
the end of the law is Christ, unto justice to every one that believeth.
5. For Moses wrote, The justice which is of the law, the man
that shall do it shall live by it. 6. But the justice which is of
faith speaketh thus : Say not in thy heart : Who shall ascend into
heaven ? that is, to bring Christ down ; 7. Or who shall descend
into the deep ? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.
8. But what saith the Scripture ? The word is near thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart : this is the word of faith which we
preach ; 9. That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him up from the
dead, thou shalt be saved. 10. For with the heart we believe unto
justice; but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
II. For the Scripture saith: Whosoever believeth in him shall
not be confounded. 12. For there is no distinction of Jew and
Greek ; for the same is Lord over all, rich to all that call upon him.
13. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. 14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have
not believed ? or how shall they believe him of whom they have not
heard ? and how shall they hear without a preacher ? 15. And
how shall they preach unless they be sent ? as it is written : How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, of
them that bring glad tidings of good things ! 16. But all do not
obey the gospel. For Isaias saith : Lord, who hath believed our
report ? 17. Faith then cometh by hearing, and hearing by the
word of Christ. 18. But I say : Have they not heard ? Yes verily,
their sound went over all the earth, and their words unto the ends
of the whole world. 19. But I say : Hath not Israel known ? First
Moses saith : I will provoke you to jealousy by that which is not a
nation; by a foolish nation I will anger you. 20. But Isaias is
AA
4 02 ROMANS x. 15.
bold, and saith : I was found by them that did not seek me: I
appeared openly to them that asked not after me. 21. But to
Israel he saith : All the day long have I spread forth my hands to a
people that believeth not, and contradicteth me.
1. The will of my heart, (v8o K ia, which St. Chrysostom
says means strong desire : so the corresponding verb is
used, 2 Cor. v. 8 ; i Thess. ii. 8. It means in fact the
set of my heart (beneplacitum cordis).
2. A zeal of God, better, zeal for God. St. Paul (Acts
xxii. 3) describes himself as zealous for God (so the Greek
text) before his conversion. Of zeal not according to
knowledge, young Saul was a conspicuous example.
3. The justice of God, the state of being just before
God, which in the present order can only be by the
grace of Christ.
To establish their own justice, by the natural perform
ance of works of the law.
Have not submitted themselves to the justice of God, even
the justice that is of faith (ix. 30). They have not
received the faith, and have been content with certain
works of their own, as many men are now.
4. The end (r4\os) of the law is Christ. The law was
given to the Jews on purpose to excite their faith in the
coming Christ by its mysteries, which were types of the
Christian mysteries, and by its precepts to lead them
to the school of Christ (Gal. iii. 24, with note). When
the end is achieved, the means are superfluous. The
Mosaic institutions therefore are superfluous, now that
Christ and His redemption is come.
5. The man that shall do it shall live by it (Deut. xxx. 12),
quoted and explained, Gal. iii. 12, with note.
There was promised to the observers of the law,
first, a life of temporal blessings (Deut. xxviii. 2 13;
xxx. 9, 10) : secondly, life everlasting (Matt. xix. 17;
Luke x. 25 28), but that only on condition of their
imitating their father Abraham s faith in the Christ to
ROMANS x. 69. 403
come (Rom. iv. n), and sharing in the anticipated
grace of Christ, without which indeed they were
incapable of keeping the moral law in grievous tempta
tion (vii. 22 25). But the Jews thought to live by
mere doing of the law, of their own sheer will and
natural strength. That attempt the Apostle deprecates.
6 8. To understand how Deut. xxx. 12 14 is here
quoted, we must know what is meant by the "accom
modated sense" of Scripture. Just as we often quote
Horace or Shakespeare to illustrate some event or
peculiarity of modern life, which never entered into the
mind of either of those poets, so we may quote Scripture
merely by way of illustration, not as exposing the sense
of Scripture, whether literal, mystical, or moral. Thus
the words of Caiphas : And the Romans will come and take
away our place and nation (John xi. 48), have been put in
the mouth of an Anglican clergyman. The Romans does
not mean the Roman Catholics except in a decidedly
" accommodated sense." Other instances of St. Paul s
use of the accommodated sense of Scripture occur
below, v. 18 ; xv. 21 ; 2 Cor. viii. 15, where see notes.
In this passage (Deut. xxx. 1214) Moses is not
speaking of the Incarnation (v. 6), nor of the Resurrec
tion of Christ (v. 7), nor of the word of faith (v. 8), to all
of which St. Paul accommodates his words, but simply
of the observance of the law which he has just promul
gated.
In verse 8 all good MSS. read : a\\a ri Xe yei ,- sed quid
dicit? but what saith it? The unexpressed nominative
to saith is not Scripture, but from v. 6, the justice which is
of faith.
9. Confess the Lord Jesus, literally, that Jesus is Lord.
The word Lord, as applied to the Messias, stands for
Adonai, which in Hebrew is a substitute for Jehovah.
This implies then a confession of the Divinity of Christ.
St. Paul here by no means limits the creed necessary
404 ROMANS x. 10 14.
for salvation to the two articles of the Divinity and
Resurrection of Christ, but he proposes them to the
Jews as Test Articles, which carry with them the rest,
e.g. the doctrine of original sin, laid down in ch. v.
See what he says to the Galatians (Gal. i. 6 12;
iii. i, 2), who yet seem never to have wavered about
the Divinity or the Resurrection of their Saviour.
To confess with the month that Jesus is Lord, probably
refers to the confession of faith required before baptism,
e.g. Acts viii. 37 (in the Vulgate).
10. Justice, i.e. justification, is inchoate salvation.
The text merely means that faith must be ever in our
heart, and at times on our lips.
11. For the quotation see on ix. 33. It is immaterial
whether we read, as here, was 6 Trio-revaw, every one that
believeth, or as the best authorities read on ix. 33,
6 TrioreuoH/, he that believeth. The proposition is universal
in any case. As noticed above, we have the authority
of St. Paul for preferring the Septuagint reading of
these words of Isaias to the received Hebrew text ; and
St. Paul was an inspired commentator.
12. iii. 29, 30. The word Lord here points to the
Word Incarnate (Acts x. 36; Phil. ii. n).
13. Joel ii. 32, where there is also mention of the
residue whom the Lord shall call : cf. the remnant (above,
ix. 27). The text was quoted by St. Peter in his
Pentecostal address (Acts ii. 21).
14. How shall they believe him of whom they have not
heard ? scarcely makes sense. I may well believe the
statement of a man I never heard of. The original
Rheims edition reads : How shall they believe him whom
they have not heard ? which is an accurate translation of
the Vulgate : Quomodo credent ei, quern non audierunt ? and
that is quite a possible, indeed the more obvious render
ing of the Greek, TTW? de ino-revo-Ma-iv ov OVK rJKOva-av ; But
from the context it is not a question of believing Christ,
ROMANS x. 1519- 405
or of hearing Christ, but of hearing of Him and believ
ing in Him. We must therefore fall back upon a
construction, common in Homer, by which dicoidv with
the genitive means to hear of or about a person. Thus
we have the translation required : How shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard ?
15. How shall they preach unless they be sent? To
preach, in Greek ^pv-rrfw, means to act as herald. Now
a herald is essentially a person sent by authority, to
make a proclamation dictated to him by authority.
When St. Paul says twice over, / am appointed a preacher
and an apostle, KJ?PV *ai arroaroXos, he says, literally, / am
appointed a herald and one sent. We read of false prophets,
God saying, / did not send prophets, yet they ran : I have not
spoken to them, yet they prophesied (Jerem. xxiii. 21).
St. Paul s quotation is from Isaias lii. 7. It is
spoken literally of the messengers who announce the
fall of the Babylonian monarchy and the return of the
Jews from captivity.
16. Lord, who hath believed our report (Isaias 1m. i),
literally, our heaving, i.e. what they hear from us, our
preaching.
17. Faith cometh by hearing, i.e. by preaching, a
heaving (preaching) by the word, i.e. by the mandate of
Christ. For this sense of /^a, word, cf. Luke v. 5.
18 The quotation is from Psalm xviii. 5, taken here
in an "accommodated sense," since the Psalmist :
speaking, not of the spread of the gospel, but of
glory of God declared by the heavens.
on v. 6.
St Paul means to say that already, twenty years
after our Lord s Ascension, the gospel was wid
spread in the Roman Empire, and therefore cou
be unpublished in the hearing of the Jews. (
igT Deut. xxxii. 21. As an idol is that which was no
god (Deut. I.e.), so the Gentiles, who worshipper
406 ROMANS x. 20, 21 ; xi.
are that which is not a nation, and for the same reason
also they are called a foolish nation. God says that by
the temporal blessings that He would bestow upon the
Gentiles, He would provoke the Jews to jealousy; and this
jealousy was renewed by the spiritual blessings conferred
upon the Gentiles, when the Messias came.
20. Isaias is bold, or outspoken (Is. Ixv. i). In this
verse, the people spoken of are the Gentiles.
21. Isaias Ixv. 2. In this verse the people spoken
of are the Jews.
CHAPTER XI.
I. I say then : Hath God cast away his people ? God forbid.
For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of
Benjamin. 2. God hath not cast away his people which he fore
knew. Know you not what the Scripture saith of Elias ; how he
calleth on God against Israel? 3. Lord, they have slain thy
prophets, and have dug down thy altars ; and I am left alone, and
they seek my life. 4. But what saith the divine answer to him ?
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not
bowed their knees to Baal. 5. Even so, then, at this present time
also there is a remnant saved according to the election of grace.
6. And if by grace, is it not now by works ; otherwise grace is no
more grace. 7. What then ? that which Israel sought he hath not
obtained ; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest have been
blinded 8. (As it is written : God hath given them the spirit of
insensibility, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they
should not hear) until this present day. 9. And David saith : Let
their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling-block, and
a recompense to them : 10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they
may not see, and bow down their back always, n. I say then:
Have they so stumbled that they should fall ? God forbid. But
by their offence salvation is come to the gentiles, that they may be
emulous of them. 12. Now if the offence of them be the riches of
the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the gentiles,
how much more the fulness of them ? 13. For I say to you
gentiles : As long indeed as I am the apostle of the gentiles, I will
honour my ministry, 14. If by any means I may provoke to
emulation those who are my flesh, and may save some of them.
15. For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world, what
ROMANS Hi. 407
shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead ? 16. For if
the firstfruit be holy, so is the lump also; and if the root be holy,
so are the branches. 17. And if some of the branches be broken,
and thou being a wild olive-tree, art ingrafted in them, and art
made partaker of the root and of the fatness of the olive-tree ;
18. Boast not against the branches: but if thou boast, thou bearest
not the root, but the root thee. 19. Thou wilt say then : The
branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20. Well:
because of unbelief they were broken off; but thou standest by
faith : be not high-minded, but fear. 21. For if God hath not
spared the natural branches, fear lest he also spare not thee.
22. See, therefore, the goodness and the severity of God : toward
them indeed that are fallen, the severity ; but toward thee the
goodness of God, if thou continue in goodness ; otherwise thou
also shalt be cut off. 23. And they also, if they abide not still in
unbelief, shall be ingrafted : for God is able to ingraft them again.
24. For if thou wert cut out of the wild olive-tree, which is natural
to thee, and contrary to nature wert ingrafted into the good olive-
tree ; how much more shall they that are the natural branches be
grafted into their own olive-tree ? 25. For I would not have you
ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, (lest you should be wise in your
own conceits,) that blindness in part has happened in Israel, until
the fulness of the gentiles should come in. 26. And so all Israel
should be saved ; as it is written : There shall come out of Sion
he that shall deliver, and shall turn away impiety from Jacob :
27. And this is to them my covenant, when I shall take away their
sins. 28. According to the gospel, indeed, they are enemies for
your sake ; but according to election, they are most dear for the
sake of the fathers. 29. For the gifts and the calling of God are
without repentance. 30. For as you also in times past did not
believe God, but now have obtained mercy through their unbelief;
31. So these also now have not believed, for your mercy that
they also may obtain mercy. 32. For God hath concluded all in
unbelief, that he may have mercy on all. 33. O the depth of the
riches of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God ! how incom
prehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways!
34. For who hath known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been
his counsellor ? 35. Or who hath first given to him, and recom
pense shall be made him ? 36. For of him, and by him, and in
him are all things : to him be glory for ever. Amen.
I. Hath God cast away his people ? In Psalm xciii. 14,
we read : The Lord will not cast away his people.
408 ROMANS xi. 28.
2. Which he foreknew, Trpoeyi/co. See note on viii. 29.
It means here, which he formerly recognised as his
own. The clause is not to be taken as restrictive, that
portion of his people, which he predestined : for the
consolation which St. Paul seeks and finds, is not in the
certainty of predestination, which is obvious, but in this,
that the Jewish people as a whole is not to be finally
cast off by God.
Against Israel, the kingdom of Israel, then ruled by
Achab.
3. 3 Kings xix. 10, 14.
4. 3 Kings xix. 18, except that there we read : I will
leave me seven thousand men. Baal is feminine in the Greek,
rfj pad\, which is supposed to be because the Hellenist
Jews objected to pronounce the idol s name, and called
him f) altrxAvr) (the shame}.
5. A remnant (ix. 27) of the Jews saved by con
version to Christianity, according to the election of grace,
i.e. according to a gratuitous election, gratuitous,
because the grace of first conversion can never be
merited.
6. This verse is explained by the Council of Trent
(sess. 6, cap. 8) : " Nothing of those things which
precede justification, neither faith nor works, can merit
the grace itself of justification." Cf. iv. 5, 6. The
text does not refer to the works of those who are already
justified and in the state of grace.
The Vatican MS. and some others add here : But if
of works, it is no longer grace : otherwise the work is no longer a
work.
7. The election, the elect remnant (v. 5). Blinded, or
hardened, tira>pd)0r)<rav.
8. God hath given them the spirit of insensibility, from
Isaias xxix. 10, where we read : For the Lord hath mingled
for you the spirit of a deep sleep. In what sense God can be
said to do this, we have seen in the texts on the harden-
ROMANS xi. 913. 409
ing of Pharao (ix. 18, seq.). The rest of the quotation
is from Deut. xxix. 3, where we read : And the Lord hath
not given you a heart to understand, and eyes to see, and ears
that may hear, unto this present day.
9, 10. Psalm Ixviii. 23, 24.
ii. Have they (the Jews) so stumbled that they should fall ?
"like Lucifer, never to rise again."
By their offence salvation is come to the Gentiles : not
that, if the Jews had been converted, the Gentiles
would never have been called to the faith (Mark xvi.
15 ; Acts x.) ; but that the Gentiles have come in first,
before the Jews, and have become the ruling element
of Christ s kingdom on earth instead of the Jews. Cf.
Acts xiii. 46; xviii. 6; xix. 9; xxviii. 28. Rome, once
Babylon (i Pet. v. 13), is now Jerusalem.
That they may be emulous of them is a mistranslation of
els TO TrapafrXaa-ai UVTOVS, which means, to provoke them (the
Jews) to emulation, as the verb is rightly translated below,
v. 14. The reference is to Deut. xxxii. 21, quoted on
x. 19, which see.
12. Diminution, //m^a (classical Tjrra), properly, defeat.
But a defeat involves a diminution in numbers : there
fore the rendering diminution may stand, especially as
there seems to be some antithesis to the succeeding
fulness (TrXr/payia, full complement, full muster). For another
instance of the word see on i Cor. vi. 7.
13. As long as I am the apostle of the gentiles, I will
honour my ministry. Rather ; Inasmuch as I am the apostle
of the gentiles, I do honour my ministry. The present,
Soao>, honorifico, I do honour, is the reading of St.
Augustine, of the Greek Fathers, and of nearly all the
Greek MSS. The reading honorificabo, I will honour,
has led the Vulgate to translate </> fcov by quamdiii, as
long as (as in Matt. ix. 15). But there is nothing else
in the context to determine the meaning to duration.
It is better to assign to the phrase its general sense
4 io ROMANS xi. 1416.
(Matt. xxv. 40, 45, where again the Vulgate gives
qnamdiu for in quantum).
I honour my ministry, as we say, " I do honour to
my ministry : " I perform it in a creditable way.
St. Paul relates how our Lord sent him to the
Gentiles rather than to the Jews, Acts xxii. 17 21.
14. The verse means, in continuation with the
preceding : I make the most of my ministry among
the Gentiles, on the chance of provoking to emulation,
and so to Christianity, the Jews, who are my kith and
kin.
May save some of them: for the time was not yet
come (and still it is not come), for all Israel to be saved
(v. 26).
15. The loss of them the reconciliation of the world. The
Gentiles have gained spiritually what the Jews have
lost, pardon and reconciliation with God (vv. n, 12).
The receiving of them, Trpdo-A^t?, as we talk of " receiv
ing one into the Church."
Life from the dead. The phrase is used in quite a
general sense, as we speak of " light out of darkness."
It means simply a grand and unlocked for restoration.
High authorities see in it a reference to the general
resurrection, which is shortly to follow the conversion
of the Jews : but that interpretation appears strained.
1 6. The firstfruit and the root are the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The lump and the branches
are their descendants, the Jewish people. From the
sanctity of their forefathers the Jews received a certain
aptness for holiness, and as we may say, dedication,
though not the actual endowment of sanctifying grace.
In the same way it is said : The unbelieving husband is
sanctified by the believing wife; and, yotir children are holy
(i Cor. vii. 14) : where see note. The metaphor of
firstfruit and lump is taken from N timbers xv. 21 : You
shall give first fruits of your dough to the Lord, When an
ROMANS xi. 17, 18. 411
Israelite kneaded dough for his bread, he first set aside
a small portion of it, which he made into a cake, and
either burnt it as an offering to Heaven, or gave it to
the priest. This was to sanctify all the rest of the
lump, which was taken for domestic use.
17. There is an horticultural difficulty here, in the
fact that the fruit tree is grafted upon the wild tree,
not the wild tree upon the fruit tree. St. Augustine
supposes this fact to have been borne in mind by
St. Paul as part of his metaphor, and to be referred
to in v. 24: thou, contrary to nature, wert ingrafted in the good
olive-tree. But two Roman writers, Columella, DC re
vustica, v. 9, and Palladius, De insitione, xiv. 53, refer to
a practice of grafting the wild olive upon the cultivated
variety in order to render the latter fertile, when it was
old or sterile. Whether the process would lead to any
good, is another matter : but it would be enough for
St. Paul s metaphor, if he had seen such an operation
performed. It might even help the metaphor, to con
sider the outworn stock of Judaism rejuvenescent by
the ingrafting of Gentile converts.
Ingrafted in them, not in the branches that are broken,
but among the other natural branches (v. 21).
Cf. Eph. ii. 1122, also addressed to the Gentile
converts, to humble them for what they were, and to
move them to gratitude for what they have been made
by the word of the Lord that has gone out from Jerusalem
(Isaias ii. 3), for salvation is of the Jews (John iv. 22).
18. Thou bearest not the root, but the root thee, i.e. thou
art as little necessary to the Church, which is the true
family of Abraham and the Israel of God (Gal. vi. 16),
as those Jews were, who for their obstinate unbelief
have been cut off from the family of Abraham, the
father of the faithful (Gal. iii. 6-9). No individual
is necessary to the Church, or to any Religious Order
in the Church. The promises of Christ are absolute
412 ROMANS xl. ig 25.
to the Church, not to the individual. The salvation
of the individual is conditioned on his holding on to the
Church in faith and charity.
19. That / might be grafted in, as a better substitute.
20. Well, KaXwf, slightly ironical. St. Paul declines
to discuss whether the substitution be a gain or not.
Because of unbelief , rfj aTuo-rm, say, by unbelief, answering
to Try rrioret, by faith.
21. Lest perchance he also spare not thee. The Greek
of the best MSS. is more direct : ov8e a-ov 0ftWrm, neither
will he spare thee, corresponding with the severity, or
abruptness, aTroro/xi a, of the next verse (22), thou also shalt
be cut off.
23. This passage, vv. 23 31, is the chief Scripture
witness of that obscure, because yet unfulfilled prophecy,
of the final conversion of the Jewish race before the end
of the world. The event is taken to be connected with
the reappearance of Elias : Elias indeed shall come and
restore all things (Matt. xvii. 10, n ; Apoc. xi. 3 8).
24. Contrary to nature, contra naturam (Vulg.). But
the Greek, irapa (frvo-iv, is better rendered, prater naturam,
beside the (ordinary) course of nature, which is diverted
into another course by grafting.
The natural branches come by nature of the stock of
the patriarchs. Belief in the Old Testament and the
expectation of the Messiah are elements in a Jew, which
render his conversion to Christianity always more natural
than that of a pagan. By more natural we mean, more
easily to be expected from his antecedents. Unfortu
nately, the obstinacy of the Jewish character prevails
the other way (cf. John ix. 39).
25. / would not have you ignorant, brethren : St. Paul s
favourite phrase for giving a confidence or calling atten
tion (above, i. 13 ; i Cor. x. i ; xii. i ; i Thess. iv. 12).
Wise in your own conceits, from Prov. iii. 7 : Be not wise
in thy own conceit. The warning however is not against
ROMANS xi. 26, 27.
self-opiniatedness, for there is no question of opinions,
but against self-conceit and despising others, notably
the unbelieving Jews. Be not self -conceited, would be a
more apposite rendering here, and possible in the Book
of Proverbs also. The Greek in both cases is tv eWjJ,
or Trap eavrco,
This mystery, this divine secret which 1 am about to
tell you. Cf. i Cor. xv. 51.
Until the fulness (irX^p^a, as in v. 12, the full muster) of
the gentiles should come in (ftVe X^, shall have come in).
26. And so all Israel should be saved. There is no
doubt that St. Paul wrote, K<U OVT^S was lo-pu^X o-od^rcriu,
And so all Israel shall be saved: which is the only Greek
reading, and the reading of all the versions but the
Latin. It is the statement of the same fact, but more
direct and clear.
The quotation should be read, according to t
Vatican, Sinaitic and Alexandrine manuscripts: There
shall come out of Sion the deliverer (o pvopcvos) : he shall turn
away impieties from Jacob. The quotation is from Isaias
lix. 20, according to the Septuagint, where we now read
for Sion s sake instead of out of Sion, which alters not the
sense.
27. And this is to them my covenant (from Isaias lix. 21):
when I shall take away their sins (from Isaias xxvii. 9,
where we read in the Septuagint: And this
]a.cob s blessing, when I shall take away his sin).
In these verses, 25-27, we have three unfulfilled
prophecies, two of them of the highest interest :-
(a) That before the end of the world, all nati<
the Gentiles shall be converted to Christianity, tl
to say, such a large portion of every nation, that
will be morally true to say that the nation 1
converted.
The fulness of the gentiles," says St. Thomas, " is not
some individuals from the Gentiles, as converts were
414 ROMANS xi. 28, 29.
being made then, but it stands for the whole or the
greater part of all nations."
(b) That before the end of the world, the Jews, as
a people, shall become Christian. This does not mean
that each and every Jew will be converted, any more
than it is meant that there will be no outstanding
pagans among the Gentiles.
(c) That the general conversion of the Gentiles will
happen before the general conversion of the Jews. The
Jews will be the last to be converted ; and the conver
sion of the rest of the world will provoke them to emulation
(Trapa^Xobo-ei, above, ii, 14, and x. 19).
These prophecies should be pondered by all who
feel tempted to announce the immediate advent of the
Day of Judgment. See however note on xiii. n.
28. According to the gospel, now preached to them in
vain, they (the Jews) are enemies, hated of God, /or your
sake, i.e. to the benefit of you Gentiles, as explained on
v. ii : but according to election, by which of old they
became God s chosen people, Deut. iv. 7, 8, &c., they
are most dear (d-yarrtjToi, well-beloved) for the sake of the fathers,
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
29. For the gifts and calling of God ave without repentance.
The best parallel to this remarkable verse is perhaps
John vi. 59 : He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.
It means that God holds fast to His favourites : that
He does not easily abandon for ever any nation or
individual on whom He has bestowed special graces.
The text forms a plausible argument for the salvation
of the majority of Catholics who go to the sacraments,
for the recovery to Christendom of a city like Constan
tinople, and to Catholicism of a nation like England.
There are apparent exceptions to the rule ; and we
have to speak with modesty of any particular case, and
to think with most modesty and holy fear (above, v. 20 ;
i Cor. ix. 26, 27 ; x. 12) of our own case.
ROMANS xi. 3032- 4X5
There is a certain distinction which may be made
in the schools, but is not really applicable to the text ;
namely, that the gifts of God aye without repentance, not
absolutely, but conditionally on our fidelity. This
distinction is not applicable, because the Apostle must
be speaking absolutely ; otherwise his words would not
cover the case for which they are alleged, God s final
mercy to the Jews, a nation that have been and are
most unfaithful and most perfidious.
30. Have obtained mercy through their unbelief. As
above, v. 28, enemies (hated of God) for your sake:
vv. n, 12, their offence the riches of the world: see notes.
31. Your mercy means the mercy of God extended
to you, Gentiles, in converting you to the faith. So in
Deut. xi. 25 : your dread and fear upon all the land, i.e. the
dread and fear of you. It is a common use of the Greek
possessive pronoun, e.g. Odyssey, xi. 202, o-<W irMos, regret
for you.
For your mercy, may be either joined with have i
believed, and explained as above, v. 30, or with what
follows, thus : that they also may obtain mercy by the mercy
extended to you.
32. God hath concluded all in unbelief. Cf. Gal. in. 22 :
The scripture hath concluded all under sin: see notes
there.
The Greek is <nWKX<r> * airetfetov, has shut them up
unto unbelief. Some understand this in the same sense as
that in which it is said of God, he hardeneth (ix. 18, wit
notes) But the passage from Galatians determines
us in favour of the interpretation of the Greek Path
who take this concluding, or shutting up, for a 1
process. God has brought all men to be found guilty
of unbelief: He has convicted them and shown t
up for unbelievers, formerly the Gentiles, and
Tews. Cf. iii. 23.
Omnia, all things, of the Vulgate is a less supporte
416 ROMANS xi. 33, 34.
reading than TOVS navras, all men. But in the passage
from Galatians we read ra ndvra, all things.
That he might have mercy on all, converting the Gentiles
in apostolic times the sooner for the rejection of the
gospel by the Jews ; and the Jews at the end of
the world the more effectually by the example of the
Gentiles (v. u, with notes).
33. All the Greek MSS. and Fathers read: depth
of riches and of wisdom and of knowledge of God. Thus
riches, wisdom, and knowledge are three coordinate
attributes.
depth of riches ! St. Paul often speaks of the riches
of God and of Christ : the riches of his goodness and patience
and longsuffering (ii. 4) : the riches of his glory on the vessels
of mercy (ix. 23) : the abundant riches of his grace (Eph. i.
7, 8 : ii. 7) : the riches of his glory (Eph. i. 18 ; iii. 16) :
the unsearchable riches of Christ (Eph. iii. 8). These quota
tions, taken along with what has gone before, leave no
doubt that here we should understand the riches of God s
mercy.
O depth of wisdom ! Wisdom here is a sort of Divine
prudence in the adaptation of means to ends, the end
being man s salvation to be worked out consistently
with God s glory.
depth of knowledge ! Knowledge lights up the region
within which wisdom works : it covers the facts and
conditions under which the end has to be wrought
out.
How incomprehensible (di/e^epeu^ra, unsearchable) are his
judgments ! particularly of mercy (v. 32), a deep abyss
(Psalm xxxvii. 7).
How unsearchable (dvf&xvidvToi, untraceable) his ways !
All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth (Psalm xxiv. 10).
Cf. Isaias Iv. 6 9.
34. Who hath known the mind of the Lord, and hath
fathomed His knowledge P It is a quotation from Isaias
ROMANS xi. 35, 36. 417
xl. 13, according to the Septuagint, where we read:
Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord ?
Or who hath been his counsellor (Isaias xl. 14), and
hath seconded His wisdom !
35. Or who hath first given to him, and hath increased
His riches ? The quotation is from Job xli. 2 : Who hath
given me before that I should repay him ?
Nor is this inconsistent with the Catholic doctrine
of merit, laid down by the Council of Trent (sess. 6,
cap. 16), and by St. Paul himself (2 Tim. iv. 8). So
St. Augustine (Serm. 158) : " God has been made our
debtor, not by receiving anything from us, but by
promising what it pleased Him to promise. It is one
thing to say to a man : You are in my debt, because
I have given you something : and another thing to
say : You are in my debt, because you have promised.
When you say : You are in my debt, because I have
given you : a benefit has proceeded from you, but a
benefit in the shape of a loan, not of a present. But
when you say : You are in my debt, because you have
promised me : you have given nothing ; and yet you
exact ; for the goodness of him who has promised will
give, lest his word of honour turn to evil-mindedness :
for he who breaks his word is evil. But do we say to
God : Give back to me, because 1 have given to Thee ?
What have we given to God, when all that we are, and
all the good that we have, we have from Him ? We
have given Him nothing. We cannot in any such terms
exact anything of God as our debtor, especially since
the Apostle says to us : Who hath first given to him, and
recompense shall be made him ? In this way then we can
exact something of our Lord by saying : Render what
Thou hast promised, because we have done what Thou
hast commanded ; and that is Thy doing, because Thou
hast helped us in the labour.
36. Of him, and by him, and in him (say, unto him t
BB
4 i8 ROMANS xi. 36.
ds avrov : the Vulgate in ipso represents a period of Latin
when in with the ablative was often put for in with the
accusative, as above, vi. 3; and Phil. ii. n), are all
things.
Of him, as Creator efficient cause.
By him, as Preserver sustaining cause.
Unto him, as Last End final cause.
Again :
Of him, of His Power, which is appropriate to the
Father.
By him, by His Wisdom, which is appropriate to
the Son.
Unto him, unto His Goodness, which is appropriate
to the Holy Ghost.
To him be glory for ever, Amen. This doxology termi
nates the dogmatic portion of the Epistle. The
remainder is moral exhortation and personal com
mendations. At the end of every Homily of St. John
Chrysostom on Holy Scripture, after the exposition
of the text, there is an yQiKov, or Moral Instruction. Such
an qtiiKov are these chapters xii. xv.
One word ere we quit this - part of the subject.
St. Paul certainly saw further into the mysteries of pre
destination and election than any of his readers or
commentators. What he saw prompted this outburst
of amazement and gratitude, vv. 33 36. The more we
penetrate the real mind of St. Paul, the more we shall
be struck with awe and gratitude for the unfathomable
depths of God s mercy.
ROMANS xii. i. 4 i g
CHAPTER XII.
I. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that
you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God,
your reasonable service. 2. And be not conformed to this world ;
but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove
what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.
3. For I say, through the grace that is given me, to all that are
among you, not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise; but
to be wise unto sobriety, and according as God hath divided to
every one the measure of faith. 4. For as in one body we have
many members, but all the members have not the same office :
5. So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and each one
members one of another. 6. And having gifts different, according
to the grace that is given us, whether prophecy, according to the
proportion of faith ; 7. Or ministry, in ministering ; or he that
teacheth, in teaching ; 8. He that exhorteth, in exhorting ; he
that giveth, with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with solicitude ; he
that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. 9. Love without dissimula
tion ; hating that which is evil, adhering to that which is good ;
10. Loving one another with brotherly love; in honour preventing
one another: n. In solicitude not slothful; in spirit fervent;
serving the Lord ; 12. Rejoicing in hope ; patient in tribulation ;
instant in prayer ; 13. Communicating to the necessities of the
saints; pursuing hospitality. 14. Bless them that persecute you:
bless, and curse not. 15. Rejoice with them that rejoice; weep
with them that weep : 16. Being of one mind one to another ; not
high-minded, but condescending to the humble. Be not wise in
your own conceits : 17. Render to no man evil for evil : provide
things good not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight of all
men. 18. If it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with
all men. 19. Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved, but give
place to wrath ; for it is written : Revenge is mine, I will repay,
saith the Lord. 20. But if thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat ;
if he thirst, give him drink : for doing this, thou shalt heap coals of
fire on his head. 21. Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil
by good.
i. / beseech, 7rapa/caA.w, / exhort. By the mercy (Sia TWV
olKTLpfjiw, by the mercies) of God, extended to you in your
conversion, enlarged upon in the previous chapter.
4 2o ROMANS xii. 2.
Your bodies a living sacrifice, by the subjection of bodily
desires to the law of God, vi. 12.
The word sacrifice connotes the death of the victim ;
and still the victim is to be living. It is the death and
the life described, vi. 4 n.
Your reasonable service, rationabile obsequium, AoytKryi/
Aarpei av. This is not a caution against injuring one s
health by excessive asceticism. The only other place
in the New Testament where the adjective occurs is
i Pet. ii. 2, AoyiKoi/ yaAa, rational milk, which is the
spiritual milk of God s word, as distinguished from
material milk. In Plato s Republic, book vi. (ad fin.)
there is a contrast between vor/ros TOTTOS and awr^ros,
" the region of intellect and the region of sense."
St. Peter s and St. Paul s AoyiKos is Plato s vor/ros. We
had better translate, spiritual service, as distinguished
from the sensible service, by which victims were slaughtered
in the Jewish ritual : not in that concept of the word
spiritual (irvev/xariico s) in which it stands opposed to carnal
(o-ap/aKds, or i/^xiKo s, e.g. i Cor. ii. 14, 15, where see
notes). Eusebius (Demonstratio Evangelii, i. 6 and i. 10)
speaks of the Holy Eucharist as ai/at/xos KCU XOJIK^ Owria,
" a bloodless and spiritual sacrifice," in distinction
from the Jewish sacrifices. This throws light on
the phrase, oblationem rationabilem, in the Canon of the
Mass.
By a common Greek construction, the words Aoyi/ojv
Aarpetaj/ are in the accusative in apposition, not with
o-wpxra, but with the whole phrase preceding. In plain
English: Present your bodies a living sacrifice, &c., which
presentation is your spiritual worship.
The Vulgate obsequium does not well render Xarpfiav
(above, ix. 4; Heb. ix. i, 6). It should be cultum
(worship) ; and the whole phrase spiritualem cultum
vestrum (your spiritual worship).
2. Be not conformed to this world. He will appreciate
ROMANS xii. 3. 421
this injunction, who knows what shape this world bore
in Rome in the days of the early Caesars.
Conformed, reformed. This play upon words is not in
the original, o-vrrx>7/><-cmeo-#e, /xcra/xop^ot o-^c. Fall not in
with the fashion of this world, but be transformed by the renova
tion of your mind, would be a literal translation. For
newness, or rather, renovation, see Col. iii. 9, 10. It is a
process that has to be kept up continually, so long as
the baptized man lives, environed with concupiscence,
which is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be
(viii. 7, with note).
The good and the acceptable and the perfect will of God.
So the Vulgate. But the Greek admits of a more likely
rendering, TO OcXy/ma rov $eov, TO ayaOov KOL evdpca-rov /cat
Te Actov, the will of God, in respect of what is good and well-
pleasing and perfect. Good is good : well-phasing is better :
perfect is best. We have here some inkling of a differ
ence between commandments and counsels. Thus
marriage is good, but virginity is well-pleasing (i Cor. vii.
27, 28): martyrdom is perfect (John xv. 13). Ordinarily,
the good alone is obligatory : not the well -pleasing, not
the perfect, except in certain cases, when it is thrust
upon us by special circumstances as an alternative to
sin, as martyrdom may be, or virginity either, e.g. in
case of lunacy of one married party ; or poverty, in the
case of the greater part of mankind (Luke vi. 20, 21).
In practice, what is recommendable for the individual,
is not what is absolutely well-pleasing or perfect, but what
is relatively so for him, the better or best course with
his character and under his circumstances.
3. By the grace that is given me, i.e. by the authority of
my apostolate (i. 5 ; xv. 15, 16).
Not to be more wise than it behoveth to be wise, but to i
wise unto sobriety. There is a play upon words in the
Greek, quite unrepresented in the Latin and
,,^ f,Tr f nrhnnve?.V Trap O Set <pOVt/, dAAtt <pOVll/ 15
422 ROMANS xii. 48.
not to be high-minded beside what we should be
minded, but to be minded unto sober-mindedness.
The measure of faith, not here the theological virtue of
faith, hut the gratuitous miraculous gifts that then
often went with baptism (i Cor. xiv. with notes). This
is apparent from vv. 6, 7.
4 8. This idea of what we may call the * differentia
tion of the members of the body of the Church, is
worked out at greater length in i Cor. xii. 5 30, which
see. See too i Pet. iv. 8 n, which is almost a
transcript of this passage.
The Vulgate is right in beginning a new sentence
here. But the sentence is elliptical, the finite verbs
being left out, which have to be supplied somehow in
this sort : But having different gifts according to the grace
that is given us, either prophecy, (let us prophecy) according
to the proportion of faith, or ministry, (let us serve) in
ministering : or he that teacheth, (let him abound) in
doctrine ; he that exhorteth, (let him be assiduous) in exhor
tation ; he that giveth, (let him give) with simplicity ; he
that ruleth, (let him rule) with carefulness ; he that showeth
mercy, (let him show mercy) with cheerfulness.
The rule of faith, dvaXoyiav Trurrecos, rationem Jidei, means
just the same thing as the measure of faith, /xeVpov TTIO-TCWS,
mensuvam fidei, v. 3, as there explained. Rule of faith is
a bad translation both of the Latin and of the Greek ;
and is misleading, as introducing a modern term of
theology, which signifies quite a different thing from
what is here meant by St. Paul. He means, not the
standard of things to be believed, but the proportion in
which the miraculous gift of prophecy is held by its
possessor. Say proportion of faith.
7. Ministry. From the context, and from i Cor. xii.
5, 10, 28 (where see notes), we must not explain this
of the sacred orders of diaconate or priesthood, which
are ordinary and permanent gifts in the Church, but of
ROMANS xii. 8, 9. 423
those extraordinary and transient graces of healings,
helps, interpretations of speeches, of which there is question
in the passage cited.
He thatteacheth (i Cor. xiv. 26).
8. He that exhorteth (ib.) Not in the way of ordinary
teaching, or ordinary exhortation, such as we may hear
in Christian pulpits now, but of special, miraculous
eloquence. At the same time the Apostle s words serve
to guide the preacher, catechist, or religious writer of
our time, who commonly has no miraculous powers.
Or may we not say that still, unless the Spirit of the
Lord seize upon the preacher and change him into
another man (i Kings x. 6), his preaching is all lifeless
and fruitless ? Are there not times, when he looks
his own production with wonder, like the grafted tree
in Virgil ? (Georgics, ii. 82)
Miraturque novas frondes et non sua poma.
Whoever has had experience of preaching, can witness
to this.
He that giveth his goods to the poor uncle
inspiration (i Cor. xiii. 3 ; Acts iv. 3437)-
In simplicity. See on 2 Cor. viii. 2 ; ix. n.
He that ruleth, seems to refer to that obsc
called governments (i Cor. xii. 28), a miraculous gift
o Love without dissimulation is the same as chart
unfeigned (2 Cor. vi. 6 : cf. i John iii. 18). After referring
to the miraculous gifts, common at that time, he i
on charity, as the more excellent way (i Cor. xn. 31, wit.
"^Hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good.
The one is the only way of doing the other, pro,
always that our hatred be of things, not of pei
For example," says Origen, if one proposes
purity, he cannot guard it safely, unless he conce,
certain hatred and execration of impurity: for dil
424 ROMANS xii. 10 16.
and very difficult is that continence, in which the thing
abstained from is desired, and the yearning of the heart
is bridled solely by the fear of future judgment."
10. Preventing one another, getting the start of one
another, being the first to show civility and respect.
11. In solicitude for one another s good, not for one s
own skin or for one s own pocket.
Serving the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. vi. 5 7; Matt,
xxv. 45). There is an inferior reading, serving the time
(TU> Katpw for TO) Kvpita), which reads like the emendation
of some cynic, with the mind of an historian rather
than of a moralist.
12. Rejoicing in the eternal happiness that is in hope
(in spe] : patient in the temporal tribulation, that is in fact
(in re) ; and meanwhile instant in prayer to pass through
the one to the other.
13. Communicating to the necessities of the saints, imparting
aid to saints (fellow-Christians, Acts ix. 32; Eph. i. i)
in want. Or it may be taken, sharing in the necessities of
the saints, considering their need your need.
Pursuing hospitality, which means going after guests,
as it were chasing them and bringing them in : not
simply enduring their presence when inevitable.
15. " None is so stony-hearted as not to weep for a
person in distress : but it requires a very generous soul,
when your neighbour prospers, not only not to envy
him, but even to rejoice with him : therefore he puts
this recommendation first, Rejoice with them that rejoice"
(St. Chrysostom).
1 6. Being of one mind one towards another. Better, from
the Greek, TO avrb ets dXA^Xovs ^povovvres, being of the same
mind towards one another as each is towards himself.
Nothing could be more Pauline than St. Chrysostom s
explanation : " Be affected towards your neighbour as
towards yourself. If you take yourself for a great
personage, take him for a great personage also. If you
ROMANS xii. 1720. 425
look down on him as mean and inconsiderable, take
the same view of yourself, and eliminate all inequality."
But condescending to the humble ; rot? TaTmi/oi? o-wrrra-
yo/xci/ot, being carried along with the humble. The verb
recurs Gal. ii. 13; 2 Pet. iii. 17.
Be not wise in your own conceits. Hast thou seen a man
wise in his own conceit ? there shall be more hope of a fool than
of him (Prov. xxvi. 12). And again (xvii. 12) : It is better
to meet a bear robbed of her whelps than a fool trusting in his
own folly. Here is a rendering of some Greek verses,
that Socrates loved to quote :
Best man by far the genius is, who sees all by himself:
Again a worthy man you find, who takes another s word.
But whosoe neither sees himself, nor heeds the word he hears,
Go write him down a worthless wight : there s no doing aught
with such.
17. To no man rendering evil for evil (Matt. vi. 43 47)-
To the Greek mind revenge was as much a man s part
as gratitude.
Providing good things, i.e. taking forethought to give
edification, in the sight of all men (Matt. v. 16). This is
the best reading : the rest of the clause has been put
in from 2 Cor. viii. 21.
19. Give place unto wrath, i.e. to Divine wrath: leave
it to God to be angry. The quotation is from Deut.
xxxii. 35.
20. Prov. xxv. 21. Doing this, thou shalt heap coals of
fire upon his head, merely means that you will bring your
enemy to reason more effectually by kindness than by
heaping coals of fire upon his head.
426 ROMANS xiii.
CHAPTER XIII.
I. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers : for there is
no power but from God ; and those that are, are ordained of God.
2. Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of
God; and they that resist purchase to themselves damnation.
3. For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? Do that which is good,
and thou shalt have praise from the same : 4. For he is the
minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, fear ; for he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the
minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth
evil. 5. Wherefore be subject of necessity, not only for wrath, but
also for conscience sake. 6. For therefore also you pay tribute :
for they are the ministers of God, serving unto this purpose.
7. Render therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is
due ; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour to
whom honour. 8. Owe no man any thing, but that you love one
another : for he that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law.
9. For, Thou shalt not commit adultery ; Thou shalt not kill ;
Thou shalt not steal ; Thou shalt not bear false witness ; Thou
shalt not covet : and if there be any other commandment, it is
comprised in this word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10. The love of the neighbour worketh no evil. Love, therefore, is
the fulfilling of the law. n. And that knowing the time, that it is
now the hour for us to rise from sleep ; for now our salvation
is nearer than when we believed. 12. The night is passed, and the
day is at hand : let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness,
and put on the armour of light. 13. Let us walk honestly as in
the day : not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
impurities, not in contention and envy : 14, But put ye on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh in its
concupiscences.
For the philosophy of the first six verses, see Ethics
and Natural Law in the Stonyhurst Series of Manuals of
Catholic Philosophy, pp. 317, 318. St. Paul may have
been afraid lest neophytes should abuse his doctrine of
Christian liberty (i Cor. vii. 23 ; Gal. iv. 31), especially
since, as St. Jerome tells us, the opinions of Judas of
Galilee (Acts v. 37) were still current among the Jews,
ROMANS xiii. i, 2. 427
that none but God should be called Lord, and that tithe
to the Temple released from the obligation of tribute to
Caesar (Matt. xxii. 17 21).
i. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. * Every
soul, be he apostle, evangelist, prophet, or any one
else," says St. Chrysostom. Be subject, vwoTaa-o-fo-Ow (the
middle voice), range himself under, bow down to
(said of our Lord at Nazareth, Luke ii. 51).
To the higher powers, that is, to the State ; understand,
in civil matters and things that come within the purview
of the State s authority. Cf. Acts v. 28, 29.
There is no power but from God: for God is the supreme
guardian of law and order ; and provides for man
through man that the law and order necessary for civil
society, and therefore necessary for human kind, be
maintained. The mediate Providence the middle
man, so to speak in this work of conservation is the
civil ruler.
Those that are : the Anglican version is a household
word : the powers that be. Hut the word powers is not
repeated in the best MSS.
Lest any one should confine his veneration to power,
or authority, in the abstract, while disobeying actual
existing authority, on the ground of its incompetence,
or wickedness, St. Paul is careful to add that the
existing authorities, the powers that be, are to be obeyed
as part of God s ordinance, so far as they are in
possession, and so far as their command is within the
competence of their office.
2. He that resist eth, 6 di/Tirao-o-o/xevo?, he that rangeth
himself against, in contrast with o {>7roTarro-o//.cvos, he that
rangeth himself under. The play upon the word is kept
up in ordinance, Starayf;, say arrangement.
They that resist purchase to themselves damnation, cavrol?
Kpifjia, judgment to themselves. " The same phrase is used
as in i Cor. xi. 29 of the unworthy communicant, as
428 ROMANS xiii. 38.
though it were the like sin to rend our Lord s mystical
Body by civil discord as to profane His natural Body
by sacrilege " (Ethics and Natural Law, p. 318).
3. Cf. i Pet. ii. 13, 14.
4. He beareth not the sword in vain, the instrument and
emblem of capital punishment, the right to inflict
which is called the right of the sword, and is the
distinctive feature of sovereignty.
5. Be subject of necessity. Read, There is need to be
subject, dvdyK-r) vTroTacrn-fcrOai,, the undisputed Greek
reading.
Not only for wrath, his anger, who beareth the -sword.
6. Therefore also, (i.e. for conscience sake also) you pay
tribute, when the tax-gatherer finds you out and calls
for it. We must not use force against a public official,
nor fraud against any man.
They (the officers of the revenue) are the ministers of
God, \cirovpyoi ; this word, whence our liturgy, is used
here in no religious sense, but as we have it in Phil,
ii. 25, XtiTovp-yov TT/S xP et/a9 A 10 ^ a minister to my want. See
note on 2 Cor. ix. 12.
Serving, -n-poo-KaprfpovvTcs, waiting assiduously upon, so
xii. 12 ; Acts vi. 4 ; Mark iii. 9.
7. Tribute, a poll-tax or land-tax.
Custom, tolls, custom-duties.
8. Owe no man anything but to love one another. It
means: Have no debts but the debt of love. That
debt can never be paid off, but however much has been
paid, more remains due. Cf. i Pet. iv. 8. The reason
is given by St. Thomas : "First, because we owe our
neighbour love for the sake of God, whom we can never
sufficiently recompense (i John iv. 21): secondly,
because the motive of love always remains, being
likeness in nature and grace (Ecclus. xiii. 19) : thirdly,
because charity does not diminish but increases by
loving (Phil. i. 9)."
ROMANS xiii. 9 n. 429
He that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. If a
man loves himself rationally and spiritually, he will not
fail in taking clue care of himself. If he loves his
neighbour as himself, he will not fail in due care of
his neighbour. But no one loves his neighbour rationally
and spiritually, who does not love God supremely, the
supreme rational and spiritual good of man. The two
precepts of charity are inseparable. Cf. Gal. v. 14;
Matt. xxii. 3540; i John iv. 20, 21.
9. The key to St. Augustine s saying: A ma, ct fac
quod vis: " Love, and do as you like."
10. The Greek is: Love worketh no evil to our neighbour.
Chanty is kind (i Cor. xiii. 4).
Love is the fulfilling of the law, i Tim. i. 5 ; i Cor.
xiii. i 3 ; xvi. 14.
11. Punctuate: And that, knowing the season, that it is
now the hour, &c.
And that. Cf. note on vi. 6, And that, knowing. Also
i Cor. vi. 6, 8 ; Heb. xi. 12 (*al ravra).
The season, or as we should say now, the situation.
Now our salvation (our final deliverance in soul and
body) is nearer than when we believed (faurraicrapci i the
inceptive aorist, like Ifiao-itevirev, reigned, i.e. came to the
throne, 3 Kings xi. 43 ; xiv. 20, 31, &c. : here it means,
than when we first came to the faith). Our final deliverance
in soul is when we die and are admitted into heaven :
in body, at the day of the resurrection. Both events
are nearer now than on the day when we were baptized
the former much nearer, relatively to the time yet t.
run; the latter perhaps not much nearer. Of St. Paul s
ignorance of the time of the Second Coming (he knew
no more of that than we do, Mark xiii. 32), oi his
and conjectures thereupon, see notes on i Cor. xv. 50,
seq.; vii. 29-31; ^ Cor. v. 1-4. He must have
reflected at times that the conversions which
announced to take place before that last consummatu
430
ROMANS xiii. 12.
of all things (xi. 25, 26), must needs take years,
perhaps centuries, to effect. The Apostles were
inspired to utter their anticipations on this head, while
warning their hearers that they were not certainties
and definitions: so 2 Pet. iii. Our Lord would have
us live in constant looking for the day of judgment
(Matt. xxiv. 36 47). As for St. Paul s prophecy just
referred to (see note on xi. 27), which seems to give
the present world a long lease to run, it is, like other
prophecies, not without its obscurities. Origen writes :
" God only knows, and His only-begotten Son, and
any friends that may be privy to His secrets, what is
all Israel that is to be saved, and what is the fulness of the
gentiles that is to come in"
12. The night is past, 7rpoeKoi//ej/, say, the night is fay
advanced. Some of the old Latin versions read processit,
a correct rendering of the Greek, as above. Processit
has got altered into prtzcessit, an error. If a train had
passed you all but the guard s carriage, you might say,
processit, it is well on its way : not prtecessit, it is past.
St. Paul s idea is of rising just before daybreak.
The day is the day of the Lord (2 Thess. ii. 2), tJie
brightness of his coming (eVi</>aveias, appearance, ib. 8), the
Sun of Justice appearing in judgment. Hence all
the time before the judgment day is comparatively
night. Now however that our Lord has come for the
first time as Saviour, we may say that the night is
well on (TTposKotycv), that its darkest hours are past, and
that the day of full salvation is at hand.
In John ix. 4, the metaphor is inverted. The work
ing time of this life is the day ; and the night cometh,
when we die and do no more work of merit or demerit.
The works of darkness. Cf. Eph. v. u, 12: For the
things that are done by them in secret (the unfruitful works of
darkness], it is a shame even to speak of. Works of darkness
are then in the first place works of indecency and
ROMANS xiii. 13, 14. 431
shame, referred to in v. 13. Secondly, they are works
of ignorance, often culpable ignorance, of God, and the
blindness of the sensual man to the things of the Spirit
(i Cor. ii. 14). Thirdly, they are eminently unchristian
works, works that our Lord came into this world to
scatter and expel (John i. 9 13; iii. 19; Luke i. 79 ;
xi. 33 36). One of the early names of baptism is
illumination: cf. Eph. v. 14, probably a quotation from
an early Christian hymn.
Put on the armour of light, Eph. vi. 13 17. A man
puts on his clothes, or his armour, it he is a soldier
in the field at rising. It is called the armour of light,
because it suits the coming light, and prepares one to
go abroad without shame. A man would not walk in
the light of day in a night-dress.
13. Let us walk honestly, cva-\rnji.ov<i>s, decently, no refer
ence to commercial dealings. Such too is the meaning
of the Latin honest e : cf. i Cor. vii. 35 ; xii. 24.
Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
impurities, the text that converted St. Augustine, as he
relates in his Confessions, 1. viii. c. 12.
Rioting, the KW/ZOS, the last stage of a Greek drinking-
bout, when they went out singing in the streets: cf.
Gal. v. 21.
14. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, like baptized
persons, Gal. iii. 27: cf. also Gal. ii. 20, and above,
vi. 4 12, with notes.
In its concupiscences : eis ri0v/Mas, unto lusts.
432 ROMANS xiv.
CHAPTER XIV.
I. Now him that is weak in the faith take unto you, not in
disputes about thoughts. 2. For one believeth that he may eat all
things: but he that is weak, let him eat herbs. 3. Let not him
that eateth despise him that eateth not ; and he that eateth not, let
him not judge him that eateth : for God hath taken him to him.
4. Who art thou that judgest another man s servant ? to his own
master he standeth or falleth ; and he shall stand : for God is able
to make him stand. 5. For one judgeth between day and day ;
and another judgeth every day. Let every man abound in his own
sense. 6. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord ;
and he that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth thanks to
God : and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth
thanks to God. 7. For none of us liveth to himself, and no man
dieth to himself. 8. For whether we live, we live to the Lord ; or
whether we die, we die to the Lord : therefore, whether we live, or
whether we die, we are the Lord s. 9. For to this end Christ died,
and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the
living. 10. But why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost
thou despise thy brother ? for we shall all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ, n. For it is written: As I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall
confess to God. 12. So, then, every one of us shall render account
for himself to God. 13. Let us not, therefore, judge one another
any more: but judge this rather, that you put not a stumbling-
block or a scandal in your brother s way. 14. I know, and am
confident in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; but
to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
15. But if, because of thy meat, thy brother be grieved, thou
walkest not now according to charity. Destroy not him with thy
meat for whom Christ died. 16. Let not, then, our good be evil
spoken of. 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ;
but justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18. For he
that in this serveth Christ pleaseth God, and is approved of men.
19. Therefore, let us follow after the things that are of peace,
and keep the things that are of edification one toward another.
20. Destroy not the work of God for meat. All things, indeed, are
clean ; but it is evil for that man who eateth with giving offence.
21. It is good not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine, nor any thing
whereby thy brother is offended, or scandalized, or made weak.
22. Hast thou faith ? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he
ROMANS xiv. i. 433
that condemneth not himself in that which he alloweth. 23. But
he that discerneth, if he eat is condemned, because not of faith :
for all that is not of faith is sin.
i. Him that is weak in faith, i.e. him that has a weak
conscience (i Cor. viii., with notes), him that is scrupulous
in his food. It was among those of the Roman Christians
who had been converted from Judaism that these
scruples prevailed : due partly to the Levitical tradi
tions in which they had been brought up of clean and
unclean meats, partly to the commandment of the early
Church to abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from
blood, and from things strangled (Acts xv. 29). These good
people seem to have concluded that the one sure way
of observing these various injunctions was by abstain
ing from meat altogether, for their own practice:
but they made no attempt to impose it upon the
remaining portion of the Christian flock, the converts
from heathendom. Hence St. Paul addresses them
himself, and bids others treat them, tenderly and
gently. He spares them all that invective which he
pours out upon the intolerant Judaizers (2 Cor. xi.
13 15 ; Gal. iii. i 3 ; v. i 12). This use of faith for
conscience appears again in vv. 22, 23.
Take unto you this good, scrupulous man as a friend,
for so God hath taken him to him (v. 3 : cf. xv. 7, receive om
another, where the verb is the same, 7rpoo-\a/j./3a.vto-@().
Not in disputes about thoughts, /o; eis SiaKpiWs StaXoyKr/xw^,
non in disceptationibus cogitationum (Vulg.), the usual late
Latin use of in for the ablative for in with the accusa
tive, of which above, xi. 36; xiii. 14, &c. Translate
the Greek, not unto (rash) judgments of thoughts, i.e. of
beliefs about what is right and wrong. The preposition
&a, used here twice in composition, may well bear its
classical signification of reciprocity. The meaning then
is : Not proceeding to mutual rash judgments of one
another s ideas as to things right and wrong to eat.
cc
434 ROMANS xiv. 2 5.
2. Let him eat herbs, a decidedly bad rendering, which
obscures the sense. Read, he that is weak eateth herbs,
and avoids all meat, as explained above. All the Greek
MSS. of value read eo-0i; Tertullian, vescititr; St.Jerome,
manducat (eateth).
4. Who art thou (ix. 20) that judgest another man s
servant ? aXXorpiov oiKenyv, another s domestic. The word
man s in our version is awkward, as there is question of
a domestic of God.
To his own lord he standeth, or falleth, i.e. by the judg
ment of his own master he is acquitted or condemned.
And he shall stand : this scrupulous Christian shall be
acquitted : for God is able to make him stand, giving him
such grace as shall secure his fidelity and acquittal.
5. Judgeth between day and day, i.e. keeps one day as
holier than another, as we keep the 25th of December
for a holier day than the 23rd.
Another judgeth every day, keeps every day as equally
holy and proper for prayer.
But this sense is clearer from the Greek, /cpu/ci fjptpav
Trap 1 Yjptpav, judgeth day in preference to day. For this sense
of -n-apd see i. 25 ; Luke xiii. 2 ; Heb. i. 9.
It would appear that these Jewish converts observed
certain Jewish holidays, sabbaths and new moons,
which their brethren from the Gentiles neglected. Cf.
Gal. iv. 10 : You observe days and months and times and years.
St. Paul is not angry with the Romans as with the
Galatians, because they did not put justification in the
observance of the Jewish festivals, but rather clung to
them as old customs, which they themselves were loth
to forego, though they would not impose them on others.
Let every man abound in his own sense. This text lends
no countenance to the Protestant error of private judg
ment, which St. Paul abhorred (Gal. i. 69). The
translator doubtless has the Vulgate, unusquisque in suo
sensu abundet, to support him : but the meaning of this
ROMANS xiv. 69. 435
not very intelligible phrase must be drawn from the
Greek, e/cao-Tos eV r< i8p voi TrAr/po^opeiVflw, let every man be
sure in his own conscience : i.e. before you do a thing,
ascertain and make up your mind that it is a right
thing for you to do : do not act, thinking all the while
that possibly you are committing a sin. The verb
7r\r)po<popio-@ai is used in this sense in iv. 21, where our
versions have, plenissime sciens, most fully knowing; and
the substantive TrAr/po^opta, Col. ii. 2 ; i Thess. i. 5 ;
Heb. vi. ii ; x. 22.
For the consonance of this precept with the doctrine
of Probabilism, see Ethics and Natural Law, pp. 152
159. What is called the direct and speculative uncer
tainty is undergirt by a reflex and practical certainty.
6. He that regardeth the day, or has a devotion to (<f>povuv,
cf. viii. 5) the day, as a holiday.
He that eateth flesh meat (v. 2).
He giveth thanks, as St. Paul did (Acts xxvii. 35).
Read i Tim. iv. 3 5.
7. Liveth to himself, to please himself (xv. i).
Dieth to himself, quits this world as it were on an
errand of his own, or merely because he is tired and
wants to go.
8. In this verse the Lord is Christ Jesus, to whom
we are dedicate in baptism (vi. 3), and who has bought
us with a great price, so that we are not our own (i Cor. vi.
19, 20).
9. Died and rose again, dire 0ayc /cat l^o-e (inceptive,
cf. 7rto-Tvo-a/xei/, xiii. n), died and came to life, is probably
the right reading. For the sentiment, 2 Cor. v. 15.
The dominion that belonged to our Saviour as the only-
begotten of the Father, made flesh (John i. 14), He did not
fully enter upon till He could claim it by right also of
redemption (Matt, xxviii. 18; Luke xxiv. 26, 46, 47;
John xiii. 31, 32 ; xvii. 15 ; Phil. ii. 6 n).
Lord of the dead, as He proves Himself by judging
436 ROMANS xiv. 1014.
men after their death (Acts x. 42). For Luke xx. 38,
see the previous verse, 27, and Acts xxiii. 8.
10. But thou (weak in faith, i.e. scrupulous in conscience,
v. i), why judgest thou thy brother, for eating meat (v. 2) ?
Or thou (the stronger, xv. i), why dost thou despise thy
brethren, for his scruples which confine him to herbs ?
We shall all stand before the judgment -seat of Christ. So
2 Cor. v. 10 : cf. i Cor. iv. 5. But here the better MSS.
have, before the judgment-seat of God. And so the follow
ing quotation rather suggests, the words being in the
mouth of God as God.
11. Isaias xlv. 23, 24. Confess to God, i.e. acknow
ledge Him. The reading we find in Isaias, both in the
Hebrew and the Greek, is : Every tongue shall swear. But
swearing by the Lord of hosts (Is. xix. 18) is taken as the
equivalent of confessing Him as God.
13. Judge this rather that you put not. There is a play
on the word Kpwew (to judge) used twice. The second
time it means to determine : determine this rather, not to put.
Cf. Tit. iii. 12 : There I have determined (/ceicpwca) to winter.
A stumbling - block, offendiculum, Trpoo-Ko/x/xa, is any
obstacle in the way, great or small, that one may
stumble over. A scandal, o-Kai/SoAoi/, is properly the wood
of a trap, that falls down and catches the animal inside.
You trip up over a stumbling-block, but are caught by a
scandal.
14. Nothing is unclean of itself. The distinction of
clean and unclean animals (Leviticus xi.) was a mere
legal observance, abolished by the coming of Christ
(Matt. xv. ii ; Acts x. 13 15 ; xv. 28, 29). Even meat
that had been portion of a sacrifice to false gods was
not of itself a sinful food (i Cor. viii. 4 7 ; x. 19, 25 27).
But to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, it is
unclean. This is the principle laid down by St. Thomas,
that "an erroneous conscience is binding" (la 2ae, q. 19,
art. 5 ; Aquinas Ethicus, i. pp. 67 70). See too v. 23.
ROMANS xiv. 1521.
437
Similarly, but more severely, St. Paul writes to
Titus : All things are clean to the clean : but to them that are
defiled and to unbelievers nothing is clean : but both their mind
and their conscience are defiled (Tit. i. 15).
15. It is a rule of moral theology, that we are bound
in charity to avoid grieving our neighbour without pro
portionate cause.
Destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died.
This is explained by i Cor. viii. 9 13 ; x. 27, 28.
16. Let not then our good our Christian liberty to use
all meats be evil spoken of (cf. i Cor. x. 30) by fellow-
Christians, whom we shock by parading this our liberty
in defiance of their prejudices. This admonition has
or had in modern times some application in the matter
of Sunday observance.
17. The kingdom of God, the reign of Christ in our
souls, is not meat and drink. So i Cor. viii. 8.
Peace is the fruit of justice; and joy as it were the
efflorescence of peace.
19. The best MSS. read: Therefore we follow after
(Siw/co/zei/) the things that are of peace, and the things that are
of edification one towards another, omitting keep.
20. Destroy not (^ /caraXve, go not undoing) the work of
God, the Redeemer, in the soul of thy fellow-Christian.
Above, vv. 14, 15.
21. Is offended (stumbles) or scandalized (see note on
v. 13) or made weak, i.e. unsettled in his conscience, by
coming to imitate your use of meat or wine, all the time
thinking it sinful.
Not to drink wine. How this gave scandal, we do
not exactly know. The Nazarites did not drink wine
(Num. vi. 3; Luke i. 15); nor the Rechabites (Jer.
xxxv) ; nor the priests actually ministering in the
temple (Lev. x. 9). St. Augustine explains: "The
heathen used to pour libations to their idols from
the firstfruits of their wine, and offered sundry sacrifices
438 ROMANS xiv. 22, 23.
at the wine-presses themselves." Hence some Christians
may have thought the whole vintage defiled.
22. Hast thott faith ? i.e. a strong and clear conscience,
free from scruples (vv. i, 23).
Have it to thyself before God : let it guide your own
private practice.
Blessed is he that condemneth not himself in that which he
alloweth. Better as the version of 1582 had it : Blessed
is he that judgeth not himself in that which he approveth :
which means : * Blessed is he whose conscience
questions not the rectitude of the course which he
adopts.
23. He that discerneth, say, he that doubteth, 6 StaKpu/o-
/xei/05, which verb is translated to stagger, iv. 20 ; Matt,
xxi. 21 ; Mark xi. 23: to doubt, Acts x. 20: to waver,
James i. 6. The Vulgate, qui discernit, takes 8iaicpii/o/xei>os
for Sia/cpiVcov. He that doubts whether his food be
lawful, sins if he eats it, because his action is not borne
out by his conscience.
All that is not of faith is sin, i.e. every action that has
not the approval of a well made up conscience (such is the
meaning of faith here, cf. vv. i, 2 believeth, 22) is a sin.
So St. Thomas explains the text (la 2ae, q. 19, art. 5,
ad 4). It certainly does not mean that all the works of
infidels are sins.
ROMANS xv.
439
CHAPTER XV.
I. Now, we that are stronger ought to bear the infirmities of the
weak, and not to please ourselves. 2. Let every one of you please
his neighbour for his good unto edification. 3. For Christ did not
please himself; but, as it is written: The reproaches of them that
reproached thee fell upon me. 4. For what things soever were
written were written for our instruction ; that through patience and
the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope 5. Now the
God of patience and of comfort grant you to be of one mind one
toward another, according to Jesus Christ ; 6. That with one
mind and with one mouth you may glorify God, and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7. Wherefore receive one another, as
Christ also hath received you, to the honour of God. 8. For I say
that Christ Jesus was minister of the circumcision for the truth of
God, to confirm the promises made to the fathers : 9. But that the
gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy, as it is written : Therefore
will I confess to thee, O Lord, among the gentiles, and will sing to
thy name. 10. And again he saith : Rejoice, ye gentiles, with his
people, ii. And again: Praise the Lord, all ye gentiles; and
magnify him, all ye people. 12. And again Isaias saith : There
shall be a root of Jesse; and he that shall rise up to rule the
gentiles, in him the gentiles shall hope. 13. Now the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in
hope, and in the power of the Holy Ghost. 14. And I myself also,
my brethren, am assured of you, that you also are full of love,
replenished with all knowledge, so that you are able to admonish
one another. 15. But I have written to you, brethren, more boldly
in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace which is
given me from God, 16. That I should be the minister of Christ
Jesus among the gentiles, sanctifying the gospel of God, that the
oblation of the gentiles may be made acceptable, and sanctified in
the Holy Ghost. 17. I have, therefore, glory in Christ Jesus
toward God. 18. For I dare not speak of any of those things
which Christ worketh not by me, for the obedience of the gentiles,
by words and by deeds, 19. By the virtue of signs and wonders,
in the power of the Holy Ghost ; so that from Jerusalem, round
about as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of
Christ. 20. And I have so preached this gospel, not where Christ
was named, lest I should build upon another man s foundation :
but as it is written : 21. They to whom he was not spoken of shall
see; and they that have not heard shall understand. 22. For
44 ROMANS xv. 14.
which cause also T was hindered very much from coming to you,
and have been kept away till now. 23. But now, having no more
place in these countries, and having a great desire these many
years past to come to you ; 24. When I shall begin to take my
journey into Spain, I hope that, as I pass, I shall see you, and be
brought on my way thither by you, if first, in part, I shall have
enjoyed you. 25. But now I shall go to Jerusalem, to minister to
the saints. 26. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia
to make some contribution for the poor saints who are in Jerusalem.
27. For it hath pleased them ; and they are their debtors. For if
the gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they
ought also in carnal things to minister to them. 28. When, there
fore, I shall have accomplished this, and consigned to them this
fruit, I will come by you into Spain. 29. And I know that when
I come to you I shall come in the abundance of the blessing of the
gospel of Christ. 30. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, through
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the charity of the Holy Ghost, that
you assist me by your prayers for me to God, 31. That I may be
delivered from the unbelievers that are in Judaea, and that the
oblation of my service may be acceptable in Jerusalem to the
saints ; 32. That I may come to you with joy, by the will of God,
and may be refreshed with you. 33. Now the God of peace be
with you all. Amen.
1. Not to please ourselves, not to use our strength
selfishly.
2. Please his neighbour unto good, to edification. Not
that unprincipled complaisance of which St. Paul says
elsewhere: /// yet pleased men, I should not be the servant
of Christ (Gal. i. 10).
3. " What means, Christ did not please himself? It
was open to Christ not to bear reproaches, and not to
suffer what He did suffer, had He chosen to regard
His own feelings : but them He would not regard.
He regarded our interest and neglected His own"
(St. Chrysostom). Especially He would take no
advantage of His divine power to screen Himself,
but the reproaches, &c. (Psalm Ixviii. 10).
4. What things soever were written (or Trpoeypdcfrr], were
written beforehand, i.e. in the Old Testament) were written
ROMANS xv. 59. 441
for our instruction. Read i Cor. x. 11 : cf. 2 Tim.
iii. 16, 17.
5. To be of one mind one towards another ; TO avro <j>pov(iv
ev ttAAr}Aois, to be of the same mind one with another. The
phrase is not the same, nor the meaning either, as in
xii. 16, where see note. The unanimity is to be in
religious matters, as the next verse shows ; and in civil
matters to the extent of avoiding quarrels.
6. God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christy rov Ot<>v
KOL Trarepa : say, the God and Feather of our Lord. See
2 Cor. i. 3; xi. 31, where the phrase recurs. Cf. John
xx. 17 : my Father and your Father, my God and your God.
7. Receive one another, 7rpo<rA.a/t/?avc<rde, note on xiv. i.
8. Minister of the circumcision, that is, of the cir
cumcised. So Gal. 11.79; Phil. iii. 3 ; and above,
iv. 12, Abraham is father of the circumcision. While He
was on earth, our Lord confined His ministrations to
the Jews (Matt. xv. 24; x. 5, 6). He looked forward
to being glorified among the Gentiles only after His
death (John xii. 2025). Our Lord preached to the
Jews for (virip, on behalf of) the truth of God, that is,
God s truthfulness, in fulfilment of God s promises : or,
as St. Paul has it, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers, i.e. to the Jewish patriarchs. To them and to
their descendants in the flesh the promises were made
primarily, though by no means exclusively (iv. IT, 12,
16, 17; Gal. iii. 79), nor altogether absolutely
(xi. 7 n, 29).
9. But that the gentiles are to glorify God for his mercy.
This version is faithful neither to the Latin nor to the
Greek. Much better the original Rheims : But the
gentiles to honour God for his mercy. We must look back
at the construction of the previous verse. To confirm, &c.,
is eis TO /Je/fcuwo-ai, the aorist infinitive. This verse 9
opens with another aorist infinitive, Sou<ra<, joined to
by the particle to, and like it depending on
442 ROMANS xv. 1012.
eis. In other words, the infinitive Soacrai (to glorify],
equally with the infinitive /3e/3aiojo-cu (to confirm), expresses
a purpose. We may translate : Christ was minister of the
circumcision on behalf of the truthfulness of God, for a twofold
purpose, first, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers ;
secondly, to the end that the Gentiles should glorify God for
his mercy, in admitting them by faith and baptism to
become children of Abraham (iv. 12, 16, 17; vi. 3, 4;
Gal. iii. 26 29), and so to share in the promises (xi. 17).
The connection of these verses 8 and 9 with verse 7
is this. The converts to the faith from heathendom
despised the converts from Judaism for their scrupu
losity about meat and drink and holidays. St. Paul bids
them receive their brethren of Jewish stock as friends,
and not to scorn them. To this effect he humbles the
pride of the converts from heathendom, by reminding
them that Christ preached only to the Jews, in fulfil
ment of the promises of God to the children of Abraham,
and with the intention that the Gentiles should after
wards be admitted by a gracious act of mercy through
faith and baptism into the line of Abraham s posterity,
and so inherit the promises. Cf. Eph. ii. n 13.
In the Vulgate, honorare cannot like Soao-eu be the
infinitive of purpose, but must depend upon dico (I say
that the gentiles glorify), which is in several ways less
likely.
The quotation is from 2 Kings xxii. 50 ; Psalm
xvii. 50. In these words David celebrates his conquest
of heathen nations. But David was a recognised type
of Christ, and in their typical sense St. Paul understands
them of Christ.
10. Deut. xxxii. 43, according to the Septuagint.
11. Psalm cxvi. i.
12. Isaias xi. 10, according to the Septuagint. From
the Hebrew, through the Latin, the Douay version
reads : In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an
ROMANS xv. 1316. 443
ensign of peoples, him the gentiles shall beseech. An ensign of
peoples means a standard round which they rally, and
therefore an authority which they obey. And beseech
gives the idea of supplication, which involves hope.
13. Peace in believing supposes rest on a firm founda
tion of faith. There is no rest in an earthquake, no
peace in doubt.
The hortatory part of the Epistle, which began at
xii. i, is here concluded. The rest is epilogue, con
sisting of (a) personal confidences, like those addressed
to the Corinthians, but less intimate (xv. 14 33) :
(b) salutations to friends (xvi.).
14. Full of love, ayaOaxTvvTjs, goodness, kindness.
15. More boldly in some sort, a good rendering. The
words are to be taken together. The boldness probably
consists in such sayings as: All have sinned, and do need
the glory of God (iii. 24) ; and still more perhaps in the
extolling of the Jewish stock (iii. 2 ; xi. i ; xv. 8, &c.)
to the Romans, most of whom had been Gentiles.
Putting you in mind, rather than telling you what you
did not know. Thus for example the account of original
sin (v. 12 19) is rather allusive than expository.
It is an evil practice putting full stops at the end
of every verse, particularly in a continuous writer like
St. Paul. This verse should end with a comma.
1 6. The minister (JVeiro W 6V) of Christ Jesus among the
gentiles (i. 5, 13, 14 ; xi. 13 ; Gal. ii. 79)-
Sanctifying the gospel of God, sanctificans evangelium Dei,
is an unfortunate rendering, particularly as the word
sanctified occurs in the same verse, representing another
word in the original and another idea. Nor can any
man tell what sanctifying the gospel of God can mean.
The Greek is Upovpyowra TO evayyeAiov rov Oeov, maku
a sacrificial work of (preaching) the gospel of God. So in
the Fourth Book of Maccabees (vii. 8), they who d
for the law are said to be icpovpyovvra? TW
ROMANS xv. 1820.
making of the law a sacrifice in their own
blood. Preaching to the heathen is a sacrificial work,
inasmuch as it prepares the victim, who is to be in
corporated with Christ, the Great Victim, to die with
Him in baptism (vi. 4, 5), a sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto
God (Rom. xii. i). This sacrifice may be and should
be continually renewed, as St. Paul says : I die daily
(i Cor. xv. 31). The idea of the living sacrifice, the
continual death of the faithful in union with the death
of Christ, is a grand and fertile ascetic idea. The first
step to this sacrifice is the preaching and hearing of
the word of God ; and that step also, that sacrificial
work, has to be continually repeated. So much for the
sacrificial character of preaching, here insisted on.
The oblation of the gentiles is the offering of the
world, converted and sanctified (^yiacr/xevr;) , in Christ
to God.
1 8. 7 dare not speak of any of those things which Christ
worketh not by me, is a modest and somewhat involved
way of saying, I dare speak only of such things as
Christ worketh by me.
19. Illyricnm, the north and east shore of the
Adriatic. We have no other mention of St. Paul
preaching there.
Fully preached, for which some editions have re
plenished, not very intelligible English. The verb
TrcTrA^poMccvat appears in the same sense, Col. i. 25 ;
Luke vii. i ; Acts xii. 25.
20. 7 have so preached : OUTM? Se <<AoTi//,ov//,at el>ayyeAi-
e<r0ai, 7 so make a point of preaching, or 7 so make it a
principle to preach. This principle of not building upon
another man s foundation, he refers to, i Cor. iii. 10 ; 2 Cor.
x: 15, 1 6. It did not prevent his preaching as he passed
by, in a church which another apostle had founded,
but only his settling there, and making that church a
centre of his missionary work, as he made Ephesus and
ROMANS xv. 2131.
Corinth, and proposed to make Spain (v. 24, where see
note).
21. The Septuagint reading of Isaias lii. 15. Another
instance of the " accommodated sense," for which see
note on x. 6.
22. For which cause, i.e. because I continually had
new churches to found, I was hindered very much (TO. iroXXa,
those many times, i.e. very often : there is another reading,
TroAAa/as, often}.
And have been kept away until now, repeated from i. 13,
not in the Greek.
23. No more place in these countries, i.e. in Corinth, where
he wrote from (xvi. i), and the parts about. The
Corinthian church was now well founded. It is interest
ing to note that the Apostle saw no footing to gain in
Athens.
24. My journey into Spain, which never came off, for
sufficient reasons (Acts xxi. xxviii.).
As I pass, I shall see you. He did not intend to stay
in Rome. The Roman Church had been founded by
another, as Catholic tradition says, by St. Peter. See
v. 20 and note. St. Paul did see Rome, and did stay
there, but as a prisoner (Acts xxviii. 15 31).
25. 26. For these transactions see i Cor. xvi. i 4;
2 Cor. viii. ix. ; Acts xx. 3 16; xxi. i 17.
27. They are their debtors, &c. i Cor. ix. n.
28. Consigned to them this fruit : o-^payio-a/xeyos ai-rots
TOV Kaprrov rovrov, set my seal (2 Cor. i. 22) for them upon
this fruit. When the fruit was gathered in, it was
customary to set a seal upon the store, that it might
not be pilfered by the slaves. So the sealing up was
the last process of gathering in. St. Paul seems to
mean : When I shall have fully assured to them (the
saints in Jerusalem) the fruit of this contribution.
31. He feared the unbelievers in Judma, with what
cause appears by Acts xxi. 28 ; and was not sure that
446 ROMANS xvi.
his service would be acceptable even to those he came
to relieve, to the saints in Jerusalem, all zealots for the law
(Acts xxi. 20). The latter fear proved groundless (Acts
xxi. 17).
CHAPTER XVI.
I. And I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is in the
ministry of the church that is in Cenchrea ; 2. That you receive
her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that you assist her in
whatsoever business she shall have need of you : for she also hath
assisted many, and myself also. 3. Salute Prisca and Aquila, my
helpers in Christ Jesus, 4. (Who have for my life exposed their
own necks : to whom not I only give thanks, but also all the
churches of the gentiles,) 5. And the church which is in their
house. Salute Epenetus, my beloved, who is the firstfruit of Asia
in Christ. 6. Salute Mary, who hath laboured much among you.
7. Salute Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and fellow-captives,
who are renowned among the apostles, who also were in Christ
before me. 8. Salute Ampliatus, most beloved to me in the Lord.
9. Salute Urbanus, our helper in Christ Jesus, and Stachys, my
beloved. 10. Salute Apelles, approved in Christ, n. Salute them
that are of Aristobulus s household. Salute Herodion, my kinsman.
Salute them that are of Narcissus s household, who are in the
Lord. 12. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the
Lord. Salute Persis, the dearly beloved, who hath much laboured
in the Lord. 13. Salute Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother
and mine. 14. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas,
Hermes, and the brethren who are with them. 15. Salute Philo-
logus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympias, and all the
saints who are with them. 16. Salute one another with a holy
kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you. 17. Now I beseech
you, brethren, to mark them who cause dissensions and offences
contrary to the doctrine which you have learned ; and avoid them.
18. For they that are such serve not Christ our Lord, but their own
belly ; and by pleasing speeches and good words seduce the hearts
of the innocent. 19. For your obedience is published in every
place. I rejoice, therefore, in you : but I would have you to be
wise in good, and simple in evil. 20. And may the God of peace
crush Satan speedily under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you. 21. Timothy, my fellow-labourer, saluteth
ROMANS xvi. 15. 447
you, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen. 22. I,
Tertius, who wrote this letter, salute you in the Lord. 23. Caius.
my host, and the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus, the
treasurer of the city, saluteth you, and Quartus, a brother. 24. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25. Now
to him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ, (according to the revelation of
the mystery kept secret from eternity, 26. Which now is made
manifest by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the com
mandment of the eternal God, for the obedience of faith known
among all nations;) 27. To God the only wise, through Jesus
Christ, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
i. Phcebe our sister, fellow-Christian. Tradition names
her as the bearer of this letter from Corinth to
Rome.
Who is in the ministry; ovaav KCU 8ta/covov, who is
deaconess. The deaconesses discharged in the early
church those works of charity to the sick and poor,
which are now the occupation of the active orders of
nuns.
Cenchrea properly Cenchreae is the east po
Corinth.
3. Aquila and Prisca his wife, whom St. Luke calls
Priscilla, harboured St. Paul when he hrst came to
Corinth. They followed him to Ephesus, where they
were the means of the conversion of Apollo. By this
time they must have been back in Rome, from wheno
they originally came (Acts xviii. 2, 3, 18, 19, 26; i Cor.
xvi. 19 ; 2 Tim. iv. 19).
5. The church which is in their house, the congreg,
who meet there to celebrate the divine mysteries,
domestic churches, or congregations, in early Christian
Rome were called titles, from the name that they
bore, either of the master of the house, or of the
or of some martyr buried hard by.
The first/wit of Asia in Christ, the first Christian
convert in the Roman Province of Asia, which was the
ROMANS xvi. 613.
south-western portion of Asia Minor. This is the
meaning of Asia always in the New Testament.
6. Mary, quite an unknown person.
7. My fellow -prisoners. We do not know on what
occasion. Paul vras in prisons often (2 Cor. xi. 23). He
was not in prison at this time.
Of note among the apostles. Apostle with the article
prefixed, as here, means an Apostle in the strict sense
of the word. Andronicus and Junias (or Junia, a
woman, according to some) were held in esteem by the
Apostles.
Who also (Andronicus and Junias) were in Christ before
me, converted before St. Paul was.
9. Stachys, said to have been made by St. Andrew
first Bishop of Byzantium (Constantinople).
11. Aristobulus s household, Narcisstis s household. There
was an Aristobulus, a nephew of Herod the Great,
brought up at Rome, a friend of the Emperor Claudius.
He is likely enough to have adopted a not un
common practice of making the Emperor his heir.
Narcissus, a prominent figure in the pages of Tacitus,
was a potent freedman of Claudius. He was put
to death by Nero, and his property went to the
Emperor. St. Paul, writing afterwards a prisoner
from Rome, has this salutation: All the saints salute
you, especially they that are of Cesar s household (Phil,
iv. 22). Merged in Casar s household, we may recognise
Aristobulus s household and Narcissus s household. It is
likely that Aristobulus and Narcissus were both
already dead, but their slaves and freedmen, now
gathered in the Palace, bore their former masters
names.
12. Tryphena and Tryphosa. The Roman Martyro-
logium joins them with St. Thecla.
13. Rufus is pretty plainly the son of Simon of
Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus (Mark xv. 21).
ROMANS xvi. 1620. 449
St. Mark wrote at Rome for the Romans, and mentions
Alexander and Rufus as names familiar to the Christian
community there.
His mother and mine, an expression of gratitude and
respect. St. Paul may have known her at Jerusalem,
when he was being brought up at the feet of Gamaliel
(Acts xxii. 3).
1 6. i Cor. xvi. 20; 2 Cor. xiii. 12; i Thess. v. 26 ;
i Pet. v. 14.
All the churches of Christ, all the various congregations
in Greece and Macedonia.
17. Offences, a-KavSaXa, scandals, see on xiv. 13.
Contrary to the doctrines you have learnt. Cf. Gal. i.
6 9. St. Paul was not * comprehensive. This is
probably the one allusion to the Judaizers, who gave so
much trouble at Corinth, and who might possibly
trouble the Church at Rome.
1 8. Serve their own belly, preach novelties and flatteries
in expectation of a dinner, of the same Judaizers :
so Phil. iii. 18, 19; 2 Cor. xi. 13; Tit. i. 10 16.
19. Your obedience (obedience of faith, v. 26) is published
in every place ; ets Travras d<iWo, has reached all. So above :
Your faith is spoken of in the whole world (i. 8). These are
testimonies to the flourishing estate of Christianity in
the primitive Roman church. St. Paul wishes it to
appear that what he does mention of evil is meant by
way of precaution, not of correction. There is a tone
of deference and respect in everything that he addresses
to Rome.
Wise in good; in bono, ets TO ayaOov, unto good (cf. note
on in ipso, xi. 36).
Simple in evil, ets TO KO.KOV, unto evil : as it were not
understanding it, and therefore not taking it up. Cf.
i Cor. xiv. 20.
20. The God of peace crush (the best MSS. have
ei, will crush) Satan (the adversary, Apoc. xii. 9)
PD
450 ROMANS xvi. 21 25.
under your feet (Gen. iii. 15) speedily. A glorious prophecy
of the Church of Rome !
21. 7fls<w of Thessalonica, Acts xvii. 5 9. Sosipater,
or Sopater, of Beroea, Acts xx. 4.
22. /, Tertius, who wrote (have written from dictation)
this epistle. See on i Cor. xvi. 21 ; Gal. vi. n.
23. Cams my host, a wealthy and hospitable Corinthian,
one of the few whom St. Paul baptized with his own
hand (i Cor. i. 14). He seems to be the Caius to
whom the third Epistle of St. John is addressed
(3 J ohn i- 5)-
And the whole church. Manuscripts and sense alike
bear out the reading and of the whole church. Caius is
called the host of the whole church from his readiness in
entertaining strangers.
Erastus, the treasurer of the city, possibly father or
uncle of the Erastus mentioned in Acts xix. 22 ; 2 Tim.
iv. 20.
Quarts, a brother, possibly slave of Caius or Erastus
(i Cor. i. 26).
24. This verse is omitted in the three best MSS. It
is repeated from v. 20.
The next three verses, 25 27, have been ques
tioned. But they are in the best MSS., the Vatican,
the Sinaitic, and the Alexandrine, in the latter twice
over, here and at the end of ch. xiv.
25. The mystery which was kept secret from eternity,
namely, that the gentiles should be fellow-heirs, &c. : see
Eph. iii. 4 6. The revelation of this mystery astonished
St. Peter, and the apostles and brethren : see Acts x. xi.
Read vv. 25, 26 together . . . mystery, kept secret,
arco-iyrjfjiarov, from eternity, but now made manifest (another
participle, <avcpw0eWos), and (re) by prophetic writings,
according to the precept of the eternal God, for the obedience of
faith, made known (yv<*>purOevro<5, a third participle) to all the
nations.
ROMANS xvi. 27. 451
The parenthesis begins at according to the revelation,
and ends at nations. The key to the understanding of
it is to observe well the three participles above marked.
The Vulgate, which resolves the second participle
into a relative clause, and joins together patefactum est
per scriptitras propketarum (made manifest by the scriptures of
the prophets), is obscure and misses the construction.
The mystery then in question, and the theme of this
Epistle, is the call of the gentiles by faith to share in
the spiritual promises made to Abraham. This mystery
is known by prophetic writings; or, as St. Paul elsewhere
puts it, witnessed by the law and the prophets. The witness
of the prophets is abundantly alleged in this Epistle
(ix. 25, 26; x. 13, 15, 18, 20; xv. 9 12): cf. also
Acts xiii. 47; xv. 16, 17, &c.
27. To God the only wise . . . to whom. This relative
to whom mars the construction of the sentence, and in
point of syntax should either be omitted (with some
MSS.), or (with others) altered to to him. But the best
MSS. have it, and we must regard it as an irregularity
due to the author.
The only wise. There should be a comma here. The
words, through Jesus Christ, go with what follows. The
wisdom of God is aptly glorified in reference to a mystery
(v. 25 : cf. xi. 3336).
We may be allowed to terminate, our labours on
St. Paul with a doxology, supplied partly hence and
partly from i Tim. vi. 15, 16:
To GOD THE ONLY WISE, BLESSED AND ONLY
MIGHTY, THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS,
WHO ONLY HATH IMMORTALITY AND INHABITETH LIGHT
INACCESSIBLE, WHOM NO MAN HATH SEEN NOR CAN SEE,
TO HIM THROUGH JESUS CHRIST BE HONOUR AND GLORY
AND EMPIRE EVERLASTING FOR EVER AND EVER, AMEN.
INDEX TO NOTES.
A.
ABRAHAM, God s covenant with,
253255 ; his f aith, 332, 333.
ACCOMMODATED SENSE of Scrip
ture, 403, 217.
ADAM, first and second, 120, 129,
344-
ADULTERATION of God s word,
154-
AGAR, 269.
alpfaLs, 83, 84.
ALLEGORY from Old Testament,
Pauline use of, 7072, 158
160, 268 271.
ANATHEMA, 93, 139, 387.
ANOINTED, 147, 148.
ANTINOMIANISM, 39, 276, 279, 314,
356, 320.
APOLLO, 5, 137.
APOSTLESHIP OF PRAYER, 384.
ARISTOTLE, quoted by St. Paul,
280.
ASSURANCE of grace, 27, 28, 68,
74. 75. 374. 375-
, 55, IOI, 431.
B.
BAPTISM, a putting on of Christ,
260, 351353-
BAPTIZED FOR THE DEAD, 124.
BELIAL, 179.
BESTIARII, 29.
BODY glorified, 128 130.
BRETHREN OF THE LORD, 63, 64,
232.
C.
CAPTIVITY OF INTELLECT, 197.
CALLED, 3, 50, 381.
CATHOLICS, salvation of, 414.
CHARITY, 98 102.
CHASTITY OF FAITH, 203.
CHRIST, Divinity of, 389, 390, 403.
CHRISTIANITY, one and indivi
sible, 120.
CHRONOLOGY, Scripture, 255, 256.
CHURCH, the mystical Body of
Christ, its union with Him, 19,
37, 38, 41, 9496, 422.
CHURCHES, local, 139, 447 ; local
church of Rome, 291, 297, 449,
450.
CIRCUMCISION, 50, 273, 313.
ClVIL ALLEGIANCE, 426 428.
COMPREHENSIVENESS, 147, 154,
228, 449.
CONCUPISCENCE, 350, 355, 364
367. 37 1 -
CONFIRMATION, 95.
CONSCIENCE, 59, 311, 433, 435,
436, 438.
CONVERSION, final, of all nations,
413, 414, 430.
CROSS, shame and scandal of, 10,
252, 285, 286, 298.
CURSE OF THE LAW, 251, 252.
D.
DEATH, consequence of sin, 120,
342, 373 ; finally overthrown,
134.
5e, well then, to take up the thread
of a sentence, 382.
454
INDEX TO NOTES.
Sid, 265, 334, 384.
DIGNITY of Christian man, 41, 42,
220, 260, 351 353.
u> , 68.
ECCLESIASTICAL POMP, 218.
el KOI, force of, 182.
ELEMENTS, 262, 264.
fi>epyov/j.ai, passive, 143, 274.
END, good, does not justify evil
means, 318.
e> , 340.
e07jpiO i uax >]0 a, 125.
EUCHARIST, Holy, 76, 8489.
EXCOMMUNICATION, 35.
F.
FAITH, nature of, 334.
FEASTS, Jewish, 263 265, 434.
FLESH, the, 277, 278, 361, 365,
366, 371-
G.
GALATIA, wider and narrower,
222, 223.
GENERATION, the special work of
God, 17.
GENTILE WORLD, not all repro
bate, 302, 310; their sin some
times only material, not formal,
343-
GRACE, need of, 156, 157, 371.
GROANS of creation, 378 380.
GREEK TENSES, continuous pre
sent, 6, 153, 437 (v.2o) ; perfect
of fulfilled state, 115, 144, 183
(v. 13), 336 ; gnomic aorist,273,
383 ; inceptive aorist, 29, 115,
429. 435-
H.
HEARING OF FAITH, 249, 405,
HEAVEN, open to the saints be
fore the day of judgment, 171.
HOLY GHOST, Divinity of, 13, 161.
I.
tepovpyeiv, 443.
IGNORANCE, as an excuse, 12, 13,
343-
IMMORTALITY of the soul, 126.
INDULGENCES, 152.
ISRAEL OF GOD, 287.
J-
JACOB AND ESAU, 391, 392.
JAMES, St. (the Less), 232, 238, 1 16 ;
his accordance with St. Paul,
274; wrote before St. Paul, 328.
JEWS, final conversion of, 412
414.
JUDAISM, a danger to Christianity,
225, 246, 247.
JUDGMENT, day of, the just who
are alive then not to die, but to
be changed, 131 134, 169, 170,
22, 23 ; St. Paul quite in the
dark as to the time, 40, 41, 134,
166, 429, 430 ; signs of, 414.
JUSTIFICATION, not of the law, but
by faith and baptism, 251, 252,
319321, 323, 327, 329, 332, 336,
371 ; internal, not merely impu-
tative, 299, 347.
K.
Ka.0apfj.a, 30.
Karapye iv, 40, 361, 273, 159.
.voi, 161, 162.
f. 1. for Kav^ffoo/jiaL, 99,
KINGDOM OF CHRIST, 121 124.
KNOW, meaning approve, 58, 381.
Kpi/j.a, Kara/cpjyua, 346, 369.
KT HTIS (mankind), 376, 377.
KUfj.os, 279, 431.
L.
LAW, ceremonial, matterof Epistle
toGalatians, 242 ; not obligatory
on Christians, 224, 243, 244 ;
even dangerous, 225, 273, 275 ;
moral law, matter of Epistle to
Romans, 320 ; mere knowledge
of, without grace, insufficient,
363367-
LEAVEN, 34, 35.
\eirovpyia, 193.
\oyiic6s, 420.
INDEX TO NOTES.
455
M.
MARRIAGE of baptized with un
baptized, 48, 49, 55.
MEAT offered to idols, 56, 57, 78
, 79, 433, 436, 437-
MEDIATOR, Moses, 257.
MERIT of heaven, 167, 309, 417.
MORTIFICATION, 68, 164, 165, 373
MOSES, a type, 70, 158161.
MYSTERY of Christian dogma, 12
O.
OLD MAN AND NEW, 353.
OUTWARD AND INWARD MAN, 166
366, 367.
ORIGINAL SIN, 341, 342.
ov% olov, 391.
P.
PAGANISM, character of, 302 305.
PAUL, St., his labours, 118, 207
209; his visions, 211, 231; his
apostolate, 226, 117; marks of
the Lord on his body, 287, 288 ;
could wish to be an anathema
for his brethren, 387, 388 ; his
infirmity (sting of the flesh),
212,213,265,266; hiseloquence,
9, io, 204; his personal appear
ance, 199 ; his handwriting, 284,
285 ; Paul and Barnabas, 64.
PETER, St., his relations with
St. Paul, 64, 231, 232, 237241.
PEDAGOGUE, 259.
TrepTrepeueTcu, 100, 101.
PLATO, parallel from, 96.
POWER, i.e., a cap, 82.
PREACHING, 68, 405; foolishness
of, 6, 7 ; a sacrificial work, 443,
444-
PREDESTINATION, 381, 382, 418.
PRIVATE JUDGMENT, 434.
PROBABILISM, 435.
irpoa-wirov, 144, 152.
PURGATORY, 20 24.
R.
REMNANT, the, 400.
RESURRECTION of Christ, con
firmed by witnesses, 116, 117;
our justification, 119, 334, 335 ;
argument of our resurrection,
1 1 8, 119; resurrection of the
body, 114, n 5; condition of
the risen body, 128130.
S.
SACRAMENTAL SYSTEM, 321.
SAINTS, all Christians so desig
nated, 3, 221 ; shall judge the
world, 37, 38.
SATAN, 33, 213.
SCANDAL, 60, 436.
SHECHINAH, 388.
SIN or justice, service of one or
the other, 336338.
SINA, 269.
SLAVERY, 50, 51.
SONSHIP OF GOD by adoption, 262
388.
SPIRITUAL POWERS, miraculous,
consequent upon baptism in
the early Church, 92, 94, 97,
105111, 249.
SPIRITUAL ROCK, struck by Moses,
71, 72.
SUPERNATURAL ORDER, a neces
sity in the present Providence,
371 ; neglect of, 13.
T.
TESTAMENT, or covenant, not set
aside by subsequent law, 253
TIMOTHY, St., 137, 140, 142.
TITUS, St., 140, 153, 182, 183; not
compelled to circumcision, 235,
50.
U.
UNREGENERATE JEW, speech of,
362367.
192.
;, 68.
V.
ICTORY over death, 134.
IRGINITY, 45, 46, 52 55, 62, 63,
421.
ISION, beatific, 103.
CATALOGUE
OF THE QUARTERLY SERIES,
AND OTHER BOOKS
WRITTEN OR EDITED BY
FATHERS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.
LONDON: BURNS AND GATES, LIMITED.
English Mamials of Catholic Theology.
OUTLINES OF
DOGMATIC THEOLOGY
BY
SYLVESTER JOSEPH HUNTER, S.J.
Three Volumes. Price 6s. 6d. each.
VOL. I. TREATISE
VOL. II. TREATISE
VOL. III. TREATISE XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
TREATISES.
I. The Christian Revelation.
II. The Channel of Doctrine.
III. Holy Scripture.
IV. The Church.
V. The Roman Pontiff.
VI. Faith.
VII. The One God.
VIII. The Blessed Trinity.
IX. The Creation. The Angels.
X. Man Created and Fallen.
XI. The Incarnation.
XII. The Blessed Virgin.
Actual Grace.
Justification.
The Sacraments in General.
Baptism.
Confirmation.
The Holy Eucharist.
Penance.
Extreme Unction.
Orders.
Matrimony.
The Four Last Things.
LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
IN this work an attempt is made to offer to the
English reader an outline of the dogmatic theology of
the Catholic Church as one connected whole. The
language is rich in works of controversy, some of
which deal with the Rule of Faith, while others defend
particular doctrines, such as Purgatory and the worship
of Saints, from the attacks that are made upon them
by popular writers ; these works are very valuable, and
are useful in showing the worthlessness of the ordinary
objections made to the Catholic faith, which most
commonly rest upon misrepresentation : but works
written to suit particular phases of controversy are
necessarily confined to the points which happen to
engage attention at the moment, and they fail to
exhibit the science of theology as a whole, and to
show its essential unity. Courses of theology for the
use of students exist in abundance, varying in fulness
and excellence, but they are written in Latin, so that
they are of less use to a wide circle of readers who
would wish to know something on the subject ; they
are little known beyond the ranks of the clergy. So
far as is known, there is no modern work in the English
language comparable to those which France owes to
Gousset and Germany to Scheeben, who endeavour
to deal with the matter in the vernacular, in such a
manner as to satisfy the curiosity of all intelligent
readers. An attempt is now made to supply this defect.
The work is divided into three volumes, containing
twenty-three Treatises, the distribution of which is
appended. The treatment may strike the professed
theologian as meagre, but it was necessary to compress
the vast material, to reduce it to a reasonable compass.
No attempt has been made to enforce the rigid exclu
sion of all matter that is not strictly dogmatic, but
portions of history and the like have been admitted as
often as they seemed suitable to illustrate the subject.
Other Treatises might have been added, as on Hope,
on Charity, on Sin, and the like: but it is believed
that what are here given hang together sufficiently
well, and that these Outlines will admit of being filled
up by the readers who go on to study more elaborate
Treatises.
Opinions of the Press.
"It is the desire of the Church that all who have the opportunity
should study her theology. She by no means desires to confine this
useful and interesting pursuit of truth to those whose official duty it
is, or will be, to teach the truths of faith. Father Hunter, in pub
lishing his present work, has endeavoured to place in the hands of
all a suitable means of carrying into effect this wish of the Catholic
Church. . . . The style is for the most part sufficiently attractive for
subjects of the nature discussed in the volume. The arguments are
nearly always cogent. Hence its utility, especially in countries
where Protestantism is the principal error to be avoided, cannot be
doubted." Irish Ecclesiastical Record, March, 1895.
"The style of Father Hunter is remarkably clear; his diction
has a legal accuracy, and is entirely free from any technicalities of
foreign turns. This instances a distinct development of the English
language as now handled by Catholic writers, who make it rich in
Catholic phraseology without detracting from its purity. And, apart
from the phraseology, this work enriches the literature itself with a new
addition of what has been so long denied to it, the classic statement of
truths, which it is the one thing necessary to know and to embody in
thought and life." American Ecclesiastical Review, April, 1895.
"Altogether an admirable and very useful work, filling a place
not previously supplied." The Weekly Register, February 9, 1895.
"The contents of this volume deserve high praise. The style
is clear and fresh and forcible, and well adapted to the subject-
matter. Altogether there are few works of the kind which more
accurately fulfil their aim, or which will prove more interesting to
the student. The layman will find many a useful lesson here which
may avail him in any department of life. Some of the explanations
are really profound, and touch upon current difficulties." The
Catholic Times, March 22, 1895.
" Father Hunter is supplying what many are likely to consider
just the book we want. This is the first of three volumes, covering
the whole ground of Dogmatic Theology. . . . It is a repertory of
happy illustration and popular exposition for the preacher, and the
theological student will find it a valuable help to master the contents
of the regular text-book. We are looking forward with pleasure to
the publication of the other two volumes." The Glasgow Observer,
March 15, 1895.
" In undertaking to give us a text-book of dogmatic theology in
English, Father Sylvester Hunter has broken new ground. ... Of
his fitness for the task there can be no question. In addition to the
scientific accuracy which in these matters is almost an inseparable
accident of the publications of the illustrious Order to which he
belongs, the author comes before us with the weightiest of personal
qualifications for a task by no means easy ; the training of a lawyer,
and a long and distinguished career as a writer on some of the most
difficult points of legal practice, followed by a no less earnest
devotion to the higher studies of theology in the schools of
St. Beuno s. ... It is in the chapters dealing with modern objections
to Revelation, and the miraculous preparation for the advent of
Christ, that the value of Father Hunter s work becomes immediately
apparent. ... It will prove a welcome boon to our hard-working
clergy and the growing band of educated laymen who are spreading
in so many places where our priests can find no entry, the saving
faith of Christ." The Tablet, June 8, 1895.
" The second volume of Father Hunter s Outlines of Dogmatic
Theology has just reached us, and we hasten to lay before our readers
some of the impressions which a necessarily hasty perusal of a
lengthy closely-reasoned book of nearly six hundred pages has made
upon us. To our thinking the learned author has succeeded admi
rably in his praiseworthy purpose of putting before the English-
speaking public, Catholic and otherwise, the outlines, at least, of
those scientific treatises of dogmatic theology whose more detailed
and fuller study is the proper duty of the ecclesiastical student. . . .
Many interesting pieces of information about the tenets of the
numerous non-Catholic sects around us are to be found up and
down this volume ; information which we ought to have at hand,
but which it is difficult to procure. . . . The student will find it a
very valuable companion to the lengthier works in common use in
our seminaries ; even the ordinary reader, anxious to gain a fuller
knowledge of the faith once delivered to the saints, will be charmed
by the easy style and logical sequence of the treatises and chapters,
which open out a vista of those magnificent truths which have for
eighteen centuries employed the prayerful studies of generations of
learned men, and which will be for all eternity a wonder ever new
when faith has given place to vision. . . . The book is a learned,
valuable, and frankly honest introduction to the noblest and most
necessary of sciences." The Tablet, August 31, 1895.
"Father Hunter s work is of distinct advantage, and should be
widely read. His exposition is all that could be desired lucid and
cogent. Keeping close to the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas, the
Rev. author does not refuse to glance at modern errors, which gives
his book a decided value. The opening treatise of the volume
before us [vol. ii."| that on " The One God "introduces such diffi
cult matters as the scientia-media, free-will, the problem of evil, and
is, therefore, one of a character to test the powers of a writer. Father
Hunter s account of them leave nothing to be desired. We wish the
work a wide circulation, alike among Catholics and non-Catholics.
Freeman s Journal, August 16, 1895.
"To Catholic laymen who have sufficient appreciation of their
faith to desire a detailed and systematic acquaintance with Catholic
doctrine, we recommend the Outlines of Dogmatic Theology.
is not to laymen only that the Outlines will be useful,
be of much assistance to students in our theological seminanes.
some of our seminaries there is, in addition to the ordinary course,
what is known as the "short course" of Theology The " shori
course" is intended for students who are a little older or a li
less bright than the average, and the lectures in this course are
delivered in English. To the students that follow the short course
the Outlines ought to be particularly acceptable, and indeed we tl
that for them it might very well serve as a text-t
Review, October, 1895.
English Manuals of Catholic Philosophy.
(STONYHURST SERIES.)
EDITED BY RICHARD F. CLARKE, S.J.
Extract from a Letter of His Holiness the Pope to the Bishop of Salford,
on the Philosophical Course at Stonyhurst.
" You will easily understand, Venerable Brother, the pleasure We felt in
what you reported to Us about the College of Stonyhurst in your diocese,
namely, that by the efforts of the Superiors of this College, an excellent
course of the exact sciences has been successfully set on foot, by establishing
professorships, and by publishing in the vernacular for their students text
books of Philosophy, following the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas. On
this work We earnestly congratulate the Superiors and teachers of the
College, and by letter We wish affectionately to express Our good-will
towards them."
1. Logic. By RICHARD F. CLARKE, S.J., formerly
Fellow and Tutor of St. John s College, Oxford. Second
Edition. Price 55.
2. First Principles of Knowledge. By JOHN RICKABY,
S.J., late Professor of Logic and General Metaphysics at
St. Mary s Hall, Stonyhurst. Second Edition. Price 55.
3. Moral Philosophy (Ethics and Natural Law).
By JOSEPH RICKABY, S.J..M.A. Lond.; late Professor of Ethics
at St. Mary s Hall, Stonyhurst. Third Edition. Price 55.
4. Natural Theology. By BERNARD BOEDDER, S.J.,
Professor of Natural Theology at St. Mary s Hall, Stonyhurst.
Second Edition. Price 6s. 6d.
5. Psychology. By MICHAEL MAHER, S.J. ,M. A. Lond.;
Professor of Mental Philosophy at Stonyhurst. Third
Edition. Price 6s. 6d.
6. General Metaphysics. By JOHN RICKABY, S.J.
Second Edition. Price 53.
Supplementary Volume.
Political Economy. By C. S. DEVAS, Esq., M.A.,
Examiner in Political Economy in the Royal University of
Ireland. Price 6s. 6d.
LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN & CO.
Some Opinions of the Press.
"The Stonyhurst Series is not a mere translation of old
scholastic treatises on Philosophy. Each volume differs so much
in treatment of its matter from what a medievalist philosopher
would have penned, that at first sight these English Catholic
Manuals would seem to have set up systems of their own.
discrepancy is only apparent, not real. In its philosophical system,
the series is scholastic to the core. But it has taken up scholasti
principles to apply them to the problems raised by mode
Bombay Advertiser.
"These Manuals are worthy of the widest circulation. They will
clear away many popular delusions, much confusion of thought and
language They will help to strengthen many minds to strive fear-
Sy Imcl per Jveringly in the search of truth." -Bombay Catholic
Examiner.
LOGIC.
" We must congratulate the edUor of the series of Catholic
use to the special student. But the highest excellence of the : work
we live, with its difficulties, with its strength, and will
ness" The Tablet.
excellent text-book of Aristotelian logic, j
orthodoxy . " Guardian .
Saturday Review.
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF KNOWLEDGE.
" It is a hopeful sign of the times that a Catholic professor
should freely enter the lists of debate in opposition to acknowledged
masters of recent philosophy. The Jesuit Father is no respecter
of persons." Journal of Education.
"In the two volumes named below (First Principles of Knowledge
and Logic), we have set forth in clear and vigorous English the
doctrine of knowledge and the principles of reasoning taught by
the learned and subtle Aquinas in the thirteenth century, but
adapted to the needs of students and controversialists of the
nineteenth century by teachers who, like St. Thomas himself, are
able to discuss doubts without doubting, to hold converse with
sceptics of every school, and still to hold to the faith. . . . To
those who would like to know exactly the form that philosophy
takes when she enters the service of The Church the volumes
may be commended." Inquirer, Sept. 21, 1889.
MORAL PHILOSOPHY.
" The style of the book is bright and easy, and the English (as
we need not say) extremely good. . . . The manual will be welcome
on all sides as a sound, original, and fairly complete English treatise
on the groundwork of morality." Dublin Review.
"The style is popular and easily intelligible; the principles
are fully illustrated by concrete examples." Church Quarterly.
" As regards the style of the book, it is, as a rule, clear, terse,
and simple ; and there are many passages marked alike by sound
sense and by elevation of tone." Journal of Education.
" Father Rickaby, with his Aristotelian and scholastic training,
is always definite and clear, distrustful of sentiment, with an answer
ready for every assailant." Mind, No. 54.
"It is one of a series of Manuals of Catholic Philosophy in
course of issue, and embodies the substance of lectures delivered by
the author during eight successive years to the students of the
Jesuit Society at Stonyhurst. The book is marked with several of
the merits usually found in the educational writings of the Jesuits :
orderly method, lucid arrangement, clear, definite, and incisive
wording, competent familiarity with the literature of the subject,
both ancient and modern." Church Times, May 3, 1889.
NATURAL THEOLOGY.
" This volume considerably increases the debt which English-
speaking Catholics owe to the Jesuit Fathers who have brought out
the Stonyhurst Series of philosophical manuals. It is really a
treatise de Deo dealing with the proofs of the existence of God, the
Divine attributes, and the relation of God to the world in plain
intelligible English, and adapted to the difficulties raised in our own
country at the present day. The author is evidently well acquainted
with Mill, Spencer, Huxley, and other contemporary writers ; they
are quoted freely and clearly answered." Dublin Review, October,
1891.
" Father Boedder s Natural Theology will be read with eagerness.
The proofs of the existence of a Personal God are given with a
completeness and clearness I have never before seen." Bombay
Advertiser.
PSYCHOLOGY.
" We regard Father Maher s book on Psychology as one of the
most important contributions to philosophical literature published
in this country for a long time. . . . What renders his work especially
valuable is the breadth of his modern reading, and the skill with
which he presses things new, no less than old, into the service of
his argument. His dialectical skill is as remarkable as his wealth
of learning, and not less notable is his spirit of fairness. . . . Whether
the reader agrees or disagrees with the author s views, it is impos
sible to deny the ability, fulness, and cogency of the argument. "-
St. James s Gazette, July 8, 1892.
"Father Maher s joining of old with new in his Psychology is
very skilful ; and sometimes the highly systematized character of
the scholastic doctrine gives him a certain advantage in the face
of modern psychological classifications with their more tentative
character. . . . The historical and controversial parts all through
the volume are in general very carefully and well managed."
"This work cannot be too highly recommended." The Tablet,
November i, 1890.
GENERAL METAPHYSICS.
" Metaphysics is not a popular study, but Father Rickaby has
done his best to popularize it. He expounds the idea of Being
with its nature, existence, and attributes, and other notions less
general, as substance, causality, space, and time. He ought to
succeed in dissipating the common prejudice that metaphysics is
mere cobweb spinning." Bombay Advertiser.
" It will be seen, then, that we deny the merit of profundity to
Father Rickaby s work ; it will, however, do more good than harir
it is full of a learning rare and curious in England, and is temper
by an English common sense and a real acquaintance with E
thought." Athenceum, April 18, 1891.
POLITICAL ECONOMY.
"A concise but extraordinarily comprehensive text-book, witl
plenty of human interest, attractive if now and then rather slight
illustrations from real life and last, but not least, a clear, and c
the whole a correct, exposition of the elements of ecor
Speaker.
"We incline to consider Mr. Devas Manual one of the r
valuable contributions made for a long time to the study ot
economics. It is closely reasoned, for Mr. Devas possesses strongly
the sense of the syllogism In the greater part of what
advances in his booi 4 entirely follow him. It is constructed upon
the right lines. It is especially valuable for the high ethica I toi
which pervades it from first to last."-5/. James s Gazette, Mai
1892.
QUARTERLY SERIES.
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Rickaby, Joseph
Notes on St. Paul
