1 He is excepted] i. e. The Father; who hath put all gether in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in his rethings under him, the Son. This observation seems to be in-surrection.-5. It is evident from this, that all who died in troduced by the apostle to shew, that he does not mean that the faith of Christ, died in the faith of the resurrection; the Divine Nature shall be subjected to the human nature. and therefore cheerfully gave up their lives to death, as they Christ, as Messiah, and mediator between God and man, took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing in themmust ever be considered inferior to the Father: and his selves that they had in heaven a better and an enduring subhuman nature, however dignified in consequence of its union stance, Heb. x. 31. 6. As is the body, so are the members; with the Divine Nature, must ever be inferior to God. The those who were properly instructed, and embraced Chriswhole of this verse should be read in a parenthesis. tianity, believed that, as all who had died in the faith of Christ should rise again, so they were baptized in the same faith.-7. As so many of the primitive followers of Christ, sealed the truth with their blood; and Satan and his followers continued unchanged: every man who took on him the profession of Christianity, which was done by receiving baptism, considered himself as exposing his life to the most im Verse 28. The Son also himself be subject] When the administration of the kingdom of grace is finally closed; when there shall be no longer any state of probation; and consequently no longer need of a distinction between the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory: then the Son, as being man, shall cease to exercise any distinct dominion; and God be all in all, there remaining no longer any distinc-minent hazard, and offering his life with those who had already tion in the persons of the glorious Trinity, as acting any distinct or separate parts in either the kingdom of grace, or the kingdom of glory: and so the one infinite essence shall appear undivided and eternal. . offered and laid down theirs.-8. He was therefore baptized in reference to this martyrdom; and having a regard to those dead, he cheerfully received baptism, that, whether he was taken off by a natural or violent death, he might be raised in Verse 29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the likeness of Jesus Christ's resurrection, and that of his the dead] This is certainly the most difficult verse in the illustrious martyrs.-9. As martyrdom and baptism were New Testament; for, notwithstanding the greatest and thus so closely and intimately connected, SanTigerbas to be wisest men have laboured to explain it, there are to this day baptized, was used to express being put to a violent death by nearly as many different interpretations of it as there are in- the hands of persecutors. So Matt. xx. 22, 23. “But Jesus terpreters. I shall not employ my time, nor that of my answered and said, Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall Reader, with a vast number of discordant and conflicting drink of, &c." (can ye go through my sufferings?)-"They opinions I shall make a few remarks-1. The doctrine of || say unto him, We are able: He saith unto them, Ye shall the resurrection of our Lord, was a grand doctrine among indeed drink of my cup," (ye shall bear your part of the the apostles: they considered and preached this as the de-afflictions of the gospel,)" And be baptized with the bap monstration of the truth of the gospel-2. The multitudes who embraced Christianity, became converts on the evidence of this resurrection.-3. This resurrection was considered the pledge and proof of the resurrection of all believers in Christ, to the possession of the same glory into which he had entered.-4. The baptism which they received, they considered as an emblem of their natural death and resurrec- || tion. This doctrine St. Paul most pointedly preaches, Rom. vi. 3, 4, 5. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized || into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, even so we also should walk in newness of life: for, if we have been planted to tism that I am baptized with,"-(That is, ye shall suffer martyrdom,) see also Mark x. 38. So Luke xii. 50. “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished?" That is, I must die a violent death, for the salvation of men.-10. The sum of the apostle's meaning appears to be this: If there be no resurrection of the dead, those who, in becoming Christians, expose themselves to all manner of privations, crosses, severe sufferings, and a violent death, can have no compensation, nor any motive sufficient to induce them to expose themselves to such miseries. But as they receive baptism as an emblem of death, in voluntarily going under the water; so they receive it as an emblem of the resurrection unto eternal life, in coming up Arguments to prove the 31 I protest by which I have in a Anno Imp. Neronis Cas. 3. Lord, I die daily. your your rejoicing fought with beasts at Ephesus, what Christ Jesus our advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to after the manner of men, I have morrow we die. A. M. 4060. A. U. C. 809. A. D. 56. Anno Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. Some read our. 1 Thess. 2. 19. Rom. 8. 36. ch. 4. 9. 2 Cor. 4. 10, 11. & 11. 23. d Or, to speak after the manner of men. 2 Cor. 1. 8. Isai. 22. 13. & 56. 12. Eccles. 2. 24. Wisd. 2. 6. Luke 12. 19. out of the water; thus they are baptized for the dead, in perfect faith of the resurrection. The three following verses seem to confirm this sense. Verse 30. And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?] Is there any reason why we should voluntarily submit to so many sufferings, and every hour be in danger of losing our lives, if the dead rise not. On the conviction of the possibility and certainty of the resurrection, we are thus baptized for the dead. We have counted the cost, despise sufferings, and exult at the prospect of death, because we know we shall have a resurrection unto eternal life. capitur urbs nostra, quotidie diripitur. "Daily, is our city taken; daily, is it pillaged." Verse 32. If after the manner of men, &c.] Much learned criticism has been employed on this verse, to ascertain whether it is to be understood literally or metaphorically. Does the apostle mean to say, that he had literally fought with wild beasts at Ephesus? or, that he had met with brutish, savage men, from whom he was in danger of his life? That St. Paul did not fight with wild beasts at Ephesus, may be argued, 1. From his own silence on this subject, when enumerating his various sufferings, 2 Cor. xi. 23, &c. 2. From the silence of his historian Luke, who, in the Acts of this Apostle, gives no intimation of this kind; and it certainly was too remarkable a circumstance to be passed over, either by Paul, in the catalogue of his own sufferings, or by Luke in his history. 3. From similar modes of speech, which are employed metaphorically, and are so understood. 4. From the improbability that a Roman citizen, as Paul was, should be condemned to such a punishment, when, in other cases, by pleading his privilege, he was exempted from being Verse 31. I protest by your rejoicing] Ny Ty vueTepav xavxrow, by your exultation or boasting. Dr. Lightfoot understands this of "the boasting of the Corinthians against the apostle; that he considered himself continually trampled on by them; rejected and exposed to infamy and contempt; but that he took this as a part of the reproach of Christ, and was happy in the prospect of death and a glorious resurrection, when all those troubles and wrongs would terminate for ever." Instead of ETEçav YOUR exultation or boasting, LETEρAY OUR exultation, is the reading of the Codex Alex-scourged, &c. And, 5. From the positive testimony of Terandrinus, and several others; with the Ethiopic, Origen, and Theophylact. This will lead to an easier sense: I declare by the exultation which I have in Christ Jesus, as having died for my offences, and risen again for my justification, that I neither fear sufferings nor death; and am daily ready to be offered up, and feel myself continually exposed to death. But the common reading is probably to be preferred: for, your glorying is the same as glorying on your account. I profess by the glorying or exultation which I have on account of your salvation; that I anticipate with pleasure the end of my earthly race. I die daily.] A form of speech for, I am continually exposed to death. The following passages will illustrate this. So Philo, pag. 990. Flaccus, who was in continual fear of death, says, xaf' enasny nuspav, paλλov de wрay, проaroνήσκω, πολλους θανατους υπομενων ανθ' ένος του τελευταίου· "Every day, rather every hour, I anticipate death; enduring many deaths before that last one comes." So Libanius, speaking of his own miseries, and those of the people of Antioch, Epist. 1320. pag. 615, says, eti Zwvtes tebvnnaμey “though living, we are dead." Livy has a similar form of expression to signify continual danger, xxix. 17. Quotidie tullian and Chrysostom, who deny the literal interpretation. On the other hand, it is strongly argued, that the apostle is to be literally understood; and that he did, at some particular time, contend with wild beasts at Ephesus; from which he was miraculously delivered. 1. That the phrase xar' avbpwov signifies as men used to do, and never means according to the manner of men, as implying their purposes, or, to use their forms of speech, &c. 2. From the circumstances of the case in Ephesus, usually referred to, viz. the insurrection by Demetrius and his fellow-craftsmen; where, though Paul would have been in danger had he gone into the theatre, he was in little or none, as he did not adventure himself. 3. From his having endured much greater conflicts at Lystra and at Philippi, than at Ephesus, at the former of which he was stoned to death, and again miraculously raised to life: see the Notes on Acts xiv. 19, &c. And yet he calls not those greater dangers by this name. 4. That it cannot refer to the insurrection of Demetrius and his fellows, for St. Paul had no contention with them, and was scarcely in any danger, though Gaius and Aristarchus were; see the whole of Acts xix. And, 5. As we do not read of any other im Exhortations founded on I. CORINTHIANS. C the foregoing arguments. 33 Be not deceived: evil commu- sin not; for some have not the nications corrupt good manners. 34 Awake to righteousness, and Ch. 5. 6. Rom. 13. 11. Eph. 5. 14. minent danger to which he was exposed at Ephesus, and that already mentioned is not sufficient to justify the expression, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus; therefore we must conclude that he was, at some time, not directly mentioned by his historian or himself, actually exposed to wild beasts at Ephesus. 6. That this is the case that he refers to, 2 Cor. i. 8, 9, 10, For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength, xx vπеρbλ Capnonμev UTEP duvau, insomuch that we despaired even of life, But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead; who delivered us from so great a death for these expressions refer to some excessive and unprecedented danger, from which nothing less than a miraculous interference could have saved him; and that it might have been an actual exposure to wild beasts, or any other danger equally great, or even greater. What advantageth it me, if the dead rise not?] I believe the common method of pointing this verse is erroneous: I propose to read it thus; If, after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what doth it advantage me? If the dead rise not, let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. ever. What the apostle says here is a regular and legitimate conclusion from the doctrine, that there is no resurrection; for, if there be no resurrection, then there can be no judgment; || no future state of rewards and punishments; why, therefore, should we bear crosses, and keep ourselves under continual discipline! Let us eat and drink, take all the pleasure we can, for to-morrow we die; and there is an end of us for The words Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die, are taken from Isai. xxii. 13. as they stand now in the Septuagint ; and are a pretty smooth, proverbial saying, which might be paralleled from the writings of several epicurean heathens, φαγωμεν και πιωμεν αυριον γαρ αποθνησε The words of Isaiah are nς από 15 ετών, από ve shatho, ki machar namuth : "In eating and drinking, for to-morrow we die :" i. e. Let us spend our time in eating and drinking, &c. See a similar speech by Trimalchio, in Petronius Arbiter, Satiric. cap. xxxvii. κάμενο Heu heu nos miseros; quam totus homuncio nil est! Alas! alas! what wretches we are; all mankind are a worthless pack thus shall we all be, after death knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame. • 1 Thess. 4. 5. ch. 6. 5. Anno Imp. Ne ronis Cæs. 9. hath taken us away. Therefore, while we may, let us enjoy life. Verse 33. Be not deceived] Do not impose on your selves; and permit not others to do it. Evil communications corrupt good manners.] There are many sayings like this among the Greek poets; but this of the apostle, and which according to the best MSS. makes, an Iambic verse, is generally supposed to have been taken from Menander's lost comedy of Thaïs. Φθείρουσιν ήθη χρησθ' ομιλίαι κακαι Bad company, good morals doth corrupt. There is a proverb much like this among the rabbins : תרי אודי יבישי וחד רטיבא אוקרן יבישי לרטיבא "There were two dry logs of wood, and one green log; but the dry logs burnt up the green log." There is no difficulty in this saying; he who frequents the company of bad or corrupt men, will soon be as they are. He may be sound in the faith, and have the life and power of godliness, and at first frequent their company only for the sake of their pleasing conversation, or their literary accomplishments: and he may think his faith proof against their infidelity; but he will soon find, by means of their glozing speeches, his faith weakened; and, when once he gets under the empire of doubt, unbelief will soon prevail; his bad company will corrupt his morals, and the two dry logs will soon burn up the green one. The same sentiment, in nearly the same words, is found in several of the Greek writers: Æschylus, vii. Theb. ver. 605. Εν παντί πράγει δ' εσθ' όμιλιας κακής κάκιον ουδέν 1η every matter there is nothing more deleterious than evil communication.”. -Diodorus Siculus, lib. xvi. cap. 54. ταις πονηραις ὁμιλιαις διέφθειρε τα ήθη των ανθρώπων « With these evil communications he corrupted the morals of men.” Ταυτα μεν αυτως ισθι κακοισι δε μη προσομιλει Ανδρασιν, αλλ' αιει των αγαθών εχει Και μετα τοισιν πινε και εσθιε, και μετα τοισιν Theogn. Sent. ver. 31–36. Know this-Thou must not keep company with the wicked, but converse always with good men. With such eat, drink, and associate. Please those who have the greatest virtue. From good men thou mayest learn good things: but if thou keep company with the wicked, thou wilt lose even the intelligence which thou now possessest." Verse 34. Awake to righteousness] Shake off your slumber; awake fully, thoroughly, dixaws, as ye ought to do: so the word should be rendered; not awake to righteousness. Be in earnest: do not trifle with God, your souls, and eternity. Sin not] For this will lead to the destruction both of body and soul. Life is but a moment; improve it; Heaven has blessings without end. Some leave not the knowledge of God] The original is very emphatic, αγνωσίαν γαρ Θεού τινες εχουσι, some have an ignorance of God: they do not acknowledge God. They have what is their bane; and they have not what would be their happiness and glory. To have an ignorance of God, a sort of substantial darkness, that prevents the light of God from penetrating the soul, is a worse state than to be simply in the dark; or without the divine knowledge. The apostle probably speaks of those who were once enlightened; had once good morals, but were corrupted by bad company. It was to their shame or reproach that they had left the good way, and were now posting down to the chambers of death. Verse 35. But some man will say] Αλλα ερεί τις. It is very likely that the apostle by 7s sume, some one, some man, means particularly the false apostle, or teacher at Corinth; who was chief in the opposition to the pure doctrine of the gospel; and to whom, in this covert way, he often refers. The second part of the apostle's discourse begins at this verse. What shall be the nature of the resurrection body? 1. The question is stated, ver. 35. 2. It is answered; first, by a similitude, ver. 36-38.; secondly, by an application, ver. 39-41.; and, thirdly, by explication, ver. 42—50. Verse 36. Thou fool] Appov. If this be addressed, as it probably is, to the false apostle, there is a peculiar propriety in it; as this man seems to have magnified his own wisdom, and set it up against both God and man; and none but a fool could act so. At the same time, it is folly in any to assert the impossibility of a thing, because he cannot comprehend it. That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die] I have shewed the propriety of this simile of the apostle, in the Note on John xii. 24. to which I must refer the Reader. A grain of wheat, &c. is composed of the body or lobes, and the germ. The latter forms an inconsiderable part of the mass of the grain; the body, lobes or farinaceous part, forms nearly the whole. This body dies, becomes decomposed, and forms a fine earth, from which the germ derives its first nourishment: by the nourishment thus derived, the germ is quickened, receives its first vegetative life; and through this means, is rendered capable of deriving the rest of its nourishment and support from the grosser earth in which the grain was deposited. Whether the apostle would intimate here, that there is a certain germ in the present body, which shall become the seed of the resurrection body, this is not the place to enquire: and on this point I can with pleasure refer to Mr. Drew's work on the "Resurrection of the Human Body;" where this subject, as well as every other subject connected with this momentous question, is considered in a very luminous and cogently argumentative point of view. Verse 37. Thou sowest not that body that shall be] This is decomposed, and becomes the means of nourishing the whole plant, roots, stalk, leaves, ear, and full corn in the ear. Verse 38. But God giveth it a body] And is there any other way of accounting for it, but by the miraculous working of God's power? For, out of that one bare grain, is produced a system of roots, a tall and vigorous stalk, with all its appendage of leaves, &c. besides the full corn in the ear; the whole making several hundred times the quantum of what was originally deposited. No proofs of what some call Nature, can effect this: it will ever be a philosophical as well as a scriptural truth, that God giveth it a body as it pleaseth him: and so, doth he manage the whole of the work, that every seed shall have its own body; that the` wheat germ shall never produce barley; nor the rye, oats. See the Note on Gen. i. 12. Verse 39. All flesh is not the same flesh] Though the organization of all animals is, in its general principles, the same; yet, there are no two different kinds of animals that have flesh of the same flavour; whether the animal be beast, fowl or fish. And this is precisely the same with vegetables. splendor, will belong to that which does not belong to this: here there is a glory of excellence; there, there will be a glory of light, and effulgence; for the bodies of the saints shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. See Matt. xiii. 43. Verse 41. There is one glory of the sun] As if he had said, This may be illustrated by the present appearance of the celestial bodies which belong to our system. The sun has a greater degree of splendor than the moon; the moon In opposition to this general assertion of St. Paul, there are certain people who tell us that fish is not flesh: and, while their religion prohibits, at one time of the year, the flesh of quadrupeds and fowls, it allows them to eat fish, fondly supposing that fish is not flesh: they might as well tell us that a lily is not a vegetable, because it is not a cab-than the planets; and the planets, than the stars. And bage. There is a Jewish canon produced by Schoettgen, which my Readers may not be displeased to find inserted here; Nedarim, fol. 40. Brain 10 ani wan He who is bound by a vow to abstain from flesh, is bound to abstain from the flesh of fish and of locusts. From this it appears, that they acknowledged that there was one flesh of beasts, and another of fishes; and that he was religiously bound to abstain from the one, who was bound to abstain from the other. Verse 40. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial] The apostle certainly does not speak of celestial and terrestrial bodies in the sense in which we use those terms: we invariably mean by the former, the sun, moon, planets and stars; by the latter, masses of inanimate matter. But the apostle speaks of human beings; some of which were clothed with celestial, others with terrestrial bodies. It is very likely, therefore, that he means by the celestial bodies such as those refined human bodies with which Enoch, Elijah, and Christ himself appear in the realms of glory to which we may add, the bodies of those saints which arose after our Lord's resurrection; and, after having appeared to many, doubtless were taken up to Paradise. By terrestrial bodies, we may understand those in which the saints now live. even in the fixed stars, one has a greater degree of splendor than another; which may proceed either from their different magnitudes, or from the greater proximity of some of them to our earth; but from which of these causes, or from some other cause unknown, we cannot tell; as it is impossible to ascertain the distance of any of the fixed stars; even the nearest of them being too remote to afford any parallar, without which their distances cannot be measured. See the concluding observations. Verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead] That is, the bodies of the dead, though all immortal, shall possess different degrees of splendor and glory, according to the state of holiness in which their respective souls were found. The rabbins have some crude notions concerning different degrees of glory, which the righteous shall possess in the kingdom of heaven. They make out seven degrees : "The first of which is possessed by o'p tsadikim, the just, who observe the covenant of the Holy blessed God, and subjugate all evil affections." "The second, is possessed by those who are yesharim, the upright, whose delight it is to walk in the ways of God, and please him." "The fourth, is for □p kadushim, the holy ones; those who are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all God's delight." Ps. xvi. 3. "The third, is for non tamimim, the perfect; those who, with integrity, walk in the ways of God; and do not But the glory of the celestial is one] The glory, the ex-curiously pry into his dispensations.” cellence, beauty and perfection. Even the present frail human body, possesses an indescribable degree of contrivance, art, œconomy, order, beauty, and excellence. But the celestial body, that in which Christ now appears, and according "The fifth, is for nanya baaley teshubah, the chief to which, ours shall be raised, Phil. iii. 21. will exceed the of the penitents; who have broken through the brazen doors, excellence of this beyond all comparison. A glory, or land returned to the Lord." |