1. CORINTHIANS.

But there is another circumstance in these two passages much less obvious, in which an agreement holds without any room for suspicion that it was produced by design. We have observed, that the sending of Timothy into the peninsula of Greece, was connected in the narrative with St. Paul's own journey thither; it is stated as the effect of the same resolution. Paul purposed to go into Macedonia; "so he sent two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus." Now, in the epistle also you remark that, when the apostle mentions his having sent Timothy unto them, in the very next sentence he speaks of his own visit: " for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, &c. Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you; but I will come to you shortly, if God will." Timothy's journey, we see, is mentioned in the history and in the epistle, in close connexion with St. Paul's own. Here is the same order of thought and intention: yet conveyed under such diversity of circumstances and expressions, and the mention of them in the epistle so allied to the occasion which introduces it, viz. the insinuation of his adversaries that he would come to Corinth no more, that I am persuaded no attentive reader will believe, that these passages were written in concert with one another, or will doubt that the agreement is unsought and uncontrived. But, in the Acts, Erastus accompanied Timothy in this journey, of whom no mention is made in the epistle. From what nas been said in our observations upon the Epistle to the Romans, it appears probable that Erastus was a Corinthian. If 80, though he accompanied Timothy to Corinth, he was only returning home, and Timothy was the messenger charged with St. Paul's orders.-At any rate, this discrepancy shows that the passages were not taken from one another. SECTION IV. Chap. xvi. 10, 11. "Now, if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear; for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do: let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren."

Introduction.

was there, we read that he "helped them much which had be
lieved through grace, for he mightily convinced the Jews, and
that publicly." Acts xviii. 27, 28. To have brought Apollos
into Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital city, as well as
the principal Christian church; and to have shown that he
preached the Gospel in that country, would have been suffl-
cient for our purpose. But the history happens also to men-
tion Corinth by name, as the place in which Apollos, after his
arrival in Achaia, fixed his residence: for, proceeding with
the account of St. Paul's travels, it tells us, that while Apollos
was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coasts,
came down to Ephesus, xix. 1. What is said, therefore, of
Apollos in the epistle, coincides exactly and especially in the
point of chronology, with what is delivered concerning him in
the history. The only question now is, whether the allusions
were made with regard to this coincidence. Now, the occa-
sions and purposes for which the name of Apollos is introdu-
ced in the Acts and in the epistles, are so independent and so
remote, that it is impossible to discover the smallest reference
from one to the other. Apollos is mentioned in the Acts, in
immediate connexion with the history of Aquila and Priscilla,
and for the very singular circumstance of his "knowing only
the baptism of John." In the epistle, where none of these cir
cumstances are taken notice of, his name first occurs, for the
purpose of reproving the contentious spirit of the Corinthians;
and it occurs only in conjunction with that of some others:
"Every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and
I of Cephas, and I of Christ." The second passage in which
Apollos appears, "I have planted, Apollos watered," fixes, as
events: but it fixes this, I will venture to pronounce, without
we have observed, the order of time amongst three distinct
the writer perceiving that he was doing any such thing. The
sentence fixes this order in exact conformity with the history:
but it is itself introduced solely for the sake of the reflection
which follows:-"Neither is he that planteth any thing,
neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase."

SECTION VI-Chap. iv. 11, 12. "Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and labour, working with our hands."

From the passage considered in the preceding section, it appears that Timothy was sent to Corinth, either with the epistle, or before it: "for this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus." From the passage now quoted, we infer that Timothy was not sent with the epistle; for had he been the bearer of the letter, or accompanied it, would St. Paul in that letter have said, "If Timothy come?" Nor is the sequel consistent with the supposition of his carrying the letter; for if Timothy was with the apostle when he wrote the letter, could he say, as he does, "I look for him with the brethren ?" I conclude, therefore, that Timothy had left St. Paul to proceed upon his journey before the letter was written. Farther, the passage before us seems to imply, that Timothy was not expected by St. Paul to arrive at Corinth till after they had received the letter. He gives them directions in the letter how to treat him when he should arrive: "If he come," act towards him so and so Lastly, the whole form of expression is most naturally applicable to the supposition of Timothy's coming to Corinth, not directly from St. Paul, but from some other quarter; and that his instructions had been, when he should reach Corinth, to return. Now, how stands this matter in the history? Turn to the nineteenth chapter and twenty-first verse of the Acts, and you will find that Timothy did not, when sent from Ephesus, where he left St. Paul, and where the present epistle was writing, when he says, "Ye yourselves know that these hands ten, proceed by a straight course to Corinth, but that he went round through Macedonia. This clears up every thing; for, although Timothy was sent forth upon his journey before the letter was written, yet he might not reach Corinth till after the letter arrived there; and he would come to Corinth, when he did come, not directly from St. Paul at Ephesus, but from some part of Macedonia. Here, therefore, is a circumstantial and critical agreement, and unquestionably without design; for neither of the two passages in the epistle mentions Timothy's journey into Macedonia at all, though nothing but a circuit of that kind can explain and reconcile the expressions which the writer uses.

SECTION V.-Chap. i. 12. "Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ." Also, iii. 6. "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." This expression, "I have planted, Apollos watered," imports two things; first, that Paul had been at Corinth before Apollos; secondly, that Apollos had been at Corinth after Paul, but before the writing of this epistle. This implied account of the several events, and of the order in which they took place, corresponds exactly with the history. St. Paul, after his first visit into Greece, returned from Corinth into Syria, by the way of Ephesus; and, dropping his companions Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, he proceeded forwards to Jerusalem; from Jerusalem he descended to Antioch; and from thence made a progress through some of the upper or northern provinces of the Lesser Asia, Acts xviii. 19, 23. during which progress, and consequently in the interval between St. Paul's first and second visit to Corinth, and consequently also before the writing of this epistle, which was at Ephesus two years at least after the apostle's return from his progress, we hear of Apollos, and we hear of him at Corinth. Whilst St. Paul was engaged, as hath been said, in Phrygia and Galatia, Apollos came down to Ephesus; and being, in St. Paul's absence, instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, and having obtained letters of recommendation from the church at Ephesus, he passed over to Achaia; and when he N

We are expressly told, in the history, that at Corinth St. Paul laboured with his own hands: "He found Aquila and Priscilla; and, because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought; for by their occupation they were tentmakers." But, in the text before us, he is made to say, that "he laboured even unto this present hour," that is, to the time of writing the epistle at Ephesus. Now, in the narration of St. Paul's transactions at Ephesus, delivered in the nineteenth chapter of the Acts, nothing is said of his working with his own hands; but in the twentieth chapter we read, that upon his return from Greece, he sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus, to meet him at Miletus; and in the discourse which he there addressed to them, amidst some other reflections which he calls to their remembrance, we find the following: "I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel: yea, you yourselves also know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." The reader will not forget to remark, that though St. Paul be now at Miletus, it is to the elders of the church of Ephesus he is speak have ministered to my necessities;" and that the whole discourse relates to his conduct during his last preceding resi dence at Ephesus. That manual labour, therefore, which he had exercised at Corinth, he continued at Ephesus: and not only so, but continued it during that particular residence at Ephesus, near the conclusion of which, this epistle was written; so that he might with the strictest truth say, at the time of writing the epistle, "Even unto this present hour we labour, working with our own hands." The correspondency is suffcient, then, as to the undesignedness of it. It is manifest to my judgment, that if the history, in this article, had been taken from the epistle, this circumstance, if it appeared at all, would have appeared in its place, that is, in the direct account of St. Paul's transactions at Ephesus. The correspondency. would not have been effected, as it is, by a kind of reflected stroke, that is, by a reference in a subsequent speech, to what in the narrative was omitted. Nor is it likely, on the other hand, that a circumstance which is not extant in the history of St. Paul at Ephesus, should have been made the subject of a factitious allusion, in an epistle purporting to be written by him from that place; not to mention that the allusion itself, especially as to time, is too oblique and general to answer any purpose of forgery whatever.

SECTION VII-Chap. ix. 20. "And unto the Jews, I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law."

We have the disposition here described, exemplified in two instances which the history records; one, Acts xvi. 3. "Him, (Timothy,) would Paul have to go forth with him, and took and circumcised him, because of the Jews in those quarters; for they knew all that his father was a Greek." This was before the writing of the epistle. The other, Acts xxi. 23, 26 and after the writing of the epistle: "Do this that we say to thee; we have four men which have a vow on them: them take, and purify thyself with them, that they may shave their heads; and all may know that those things, whereof they 97 were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thon

Introduction.

count, be exposed to contempt, urges upon him the caution
which is there inserted, "Let no man despise thy youth."
Introduction.
for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Gala
tia, even so do ye."
SECTION X-Chap. xvi. 1. "Now, concerning the collection

I. CORINTHIANS. thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple." Nor does this concurrence between the character and the instances look like the result of contrivance. St. Paul, in the epistle, describes, or is made to describe, his own accommodating conduct towards Jews and towards Gentiles, towards the weak and over-scrupulous, to wards men indeed of every variety of character; "to them that are without law, as without law, being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ, that I might gain them that are without law; to the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might gain some." This is the sequel of the text which stands at the head of the present section. Taking, therefore, the whole passage together, the apostle's condescension to the Jews is mentioned only as a part of his general disposition towards all. It is not probable that this character should have been made up from the instances in the Acts, which relate solely to his dealings with the Jews. It is not probable that a sophist should take his hint from those instances, and then extend it so much beyond them: and it is still more incredible that the two instances, in the Acts, circumstantially related and interwoven with the history, should have been fabricated, in order to suit the character which St. Paul gives of himself in the epistle.

SECTION VIII-Chap. i. 14-17. "I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I baptized in my own name; and I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other; for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel."

It may be expected, that those whom the apostle baptized with his own hands, were converts distinguished from the rest by some circumstance, either of eminence, or of connexion with him. Accordingly, of the three names here mentioned, Crispus, we find, from Acts xviii. 8. was a "chief ruler of the Jewish synagogue at Corinth, who believed in the Lord with all his house." Gaius, it appears from Romans xvi. 23. was St. Paul's host at Corinth, and the host, he tells us, "of the whole church." The household of Stephanas, we read in the sixteenth chapter of this epistle, "were the first-fruits of Achaia." Here, therefore, is the propriety we expected: and it is a proof of reality not to be contemned; for their names appearing in the several places in which they occur, with a mark of distinction belonging to each, could hardly be the effect of chance, without any truth to direct it: and on the other hand, to suppose that they were picked out from these passages, and brought together in the text before us, in order to display a conformity of names, is both improbable in itself, and is rendered more so by the purpose for which they are introduced. They come in to assist St. Paul's exculpation of himself, against the possible charge of having assumed the character of a founder of a separate religion, and with no other visible, or, as I think, imaginable design."

SECTION IX.-Chap. xvi. 10, 11. "Now, if Timotheus come, let no man despise him."-Why despise him? This charge is not given concerning any other messenger whom St. Paul sent; and, in the different epistles, many such messengers are mentioned. Turn to Jst of Timothy, chap. iv. 12. and you will find that Timothy was a young man, younger probably than those who were usually employed in the Christian mission; and that St. Paul, apprehending lest he should, on that ac

Chap. i. 1. "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth." The only account we have of any person who bore the name of Sosthenes, is found in the eighteenth chapter of the Acts. When the Jews at Corinth had brought Paul before Gallio, and Gallio had dismissed their complaint as unworthy of his interference, and had driven them from the judgment seat; "then all the Greeks," says the historian, "took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat." The Sosthenes here spoken of, was a Corinthian; and, if he was a Christian, and with St. Paul when he wrote this epistle, was likely enough to be joined with him in the salutation of the Corinthian church. was a Christian at the time of this uproar, why should the But here occurs a difficulty-If Sosthenes Greeks beat him? The assault upon the Christians was made by the Jews. It was the Jews who had brought Panl before the magistrate. If it had been the Jews also who had beaten Sosthenes, Ishould not have doubted that he had been a favourer of St. Paul, and the same person who is joined with him in the epistle. Let us see, therefore, whether there be not some error in our present text. The Alexandrian manuscript gives παντες alone, without δι Ελληνες, and is followed in this reading by the Coptic version, by the Arabic version, published by Erpenius, by the Vulgate, and by Bede's Latin version. Three Greek manuscripts again, as well as Chrysostom, give or Lovdatot, in the place of St 'EXAnves. A great plurality of manuscripts authorize the reading which is retained in our copies. In this variety it appears to me extremely probable that the historian originally wrote Tavres alone, and that or 'EXAves and or lovdatot have been respectively added as explanatory of what the word avтes was supposed to mean. The sentence, without the addition of either name, would run very perspicuously thus, και απήλασεν αυτούς από του βήμα98

which St. Paul had visited before the writing of this epistle He was now at Ephesus, and he came thither immediately The churches of Galatia and Phrygia were the last churches from visiting these churches: "He went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, strengthening all the disci ples. And it came to pass that Paul, having passed through the upper coasts," (viz. the above-named countries, called the upper coasts, as being the northern part of Asia Minor,) "came to Ephesus." Acts xviii. 23. xix. 1 These, therefore, proba bly, were the last churches at which he left directions for their public conduct during his absence. Although two years intervened between his journey to Ephesus and his writing this epistle, yet it does not appear that during that time be visited any other church. That he had not been silent when he was in Galatia, upon this subject of contribution for the poor, is farther made out from a hint which he lets fall in his epistle to that church: "Only they (viz. the other apostles) would that we should remember the poor, the sanie also which I was forward to do."

though I would not come unto you."
SECTION XI-Chap. iv. 18. "Now, some are puffed up, as

to the first chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, and you will find that he had already disappointed them. "I Why should they suppose that he would not come 1 Turn was minded to come unto you before, that you might have a come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way towards Judea. When I, therefore, was second benefit; and to pass by you into Macedonia, and to thus minded, did I use lightness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But, as God is true, our word towards you was not yea and nay." It appears from this quotation, that he had not only intended, but that he had promised them a visit before; for otherwise, why should he apo logize for the change of his purpose, or express so much anxiety lest this change should be imputed to any culpable fickleness in his temper; and lest he should thereby seem to them, Besides which, the terms made use of, plainly refer to a promise, "Our word towards you was not yea and nay." St. as one whose word was not, in any sort, to be depended upon t Paul therefore had signified an intention, which he had not been able to execute; and this seeming breach of his word, and the delay of his visit, had, with some who were evil af fected towards him, given birth to a suggestion that he would come no more to Corinth.

over, is sacrificed for us; therefore, let us keep the feast, not
with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wick-
SECTION XII-Chap. v. 7, 8. "For even Christ, our pass-
truth."
edness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and

chapter xvi. 8. it has been conjectured that this epistle was
written about the time of the Jewish pass-over; and to me the
Dr. Benson tells us, that from this passage, compared with
conjecture appears to be very well founded. The passage to
which Dr. Benson refers us is this: "I will tarry at Ephesus
until Pentecost." With this passage he ought to have joined
another in the same context: "And it may be that I will
laid together, it follows that the epistle was written before
abide, yea, and winter with you;" for from the two passages
Pentecost, yet after winter; which necessarily determines
the date to the part of the year within which the pass-over
falls. It was written before Pentecost, because he says, "I
will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost."
winter, because he tells them, "It may be that I may abide,
yea, and winter with you." The winter which the apostle
It was written after
purposed to pass at Corinth, was undoubtedly the winter
next ensuing to the date of the epistle; yet it was a winter
subsequent to the ensuing Pentecost, because he did not in-
tend to set forwards upon his journey, till after that feast.
The words, "let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither
with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the un-
suggested by the season: at least they have, upon that suppo
leavened bread of sincerity and truth," look very like words
sition, a force and significancy which do not belong to them
upon any other; and it is not a little remarkable, that the
hints casually dropped in the epistle concerning particular
parts of the year, should coincide with this supposition.
LONDON, Oct. 1, 1814.

τος επιλαβόμενοι δε παντες Σωσθένην τον αρχισυναγώγου, ετυπ τον εμπροσθέν του βήματος· and he drove them away from the judgment seat; and they all,' viz. the crowd of Jews whom the judge had bid begone, took Sosthenes, and beat him before the judgment seat.' It is certain that, as the whole body of the people were Greeks, the application of all to them was unusual and hard. If I were describing an insurrection at Paris, I might say all the Jews, all the Protestants, or all the English, acted so and so; but I should scarcely say all the French, when the whole mass of the community were of that description." See the note on Acts xviii. 17. where the subject mentioned here by the learned Archdeacon, is particu larly considered.

The salutation of

CHAPTER I.

Paul and Sosthenes.

PREFACE TO FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

CORINTH, to which this and the following epistle were sent, was one of the most celebrated cities of Greece. It was situated on a gulf of the same name, and was the capital of the Peloponnesus, or Achaia; and was united to the continent by an isthmus, or neck of land, that had the port of Lecheum on the west, and that of Cenchreu on the east, by which it commanded the navigation and commerce both of the Ionian and Egran seas. It is supposed by some, to have been founded by Sisyphus, the son of olus, and grandfather of Ulysses, about the year of the world 2490, or 2500, and before the Christian æra 1501 years. Others report that it had both its origin and name from Corinthus, the son of Pelops. It was at first but a very inconsiderable town; but at last, through its extensive commerce, became the most opulent city of Greece, and the capital of a powerful state. It was destroyed by the Romans under Mummius, about 146 years before Christ, but was afterward rebuilt by Julius Cesar.

By its port of Lecheun, it received the merchandise of Italy and the western nations; and by Cenchrea, that of the islands of the Egean Sea, the coasts of Asia Minor, and the Phonicians. Corinth exceeded all cities of the world, for the splendour and magnificence of its public buildings, such as temples, palaces, theatres, porticoes, cenotaphs, baths, and other edifices; all enriched with a beautiful kind of columns, capitals, and bases, from which the Corinthian order in architecture took its rise. Corinth is also celebrated for its statues, those especially of Venus, the Sun, Neptune and Amphitrite, Diana, Apollo, Jupiter, Minerva, &c. The temple of Venus was not only very splendid, but also very rich, and maintained, according to Strabo, not less than 1000 courtezans, who were the means of bringing an immense concourse of strangers to the place. Thus riches produced luxury, and luxury a total corruption of manners; though arts, sciences, and literature, continued to flourish long in it; and a measure of the martial spirit of its ancient inhabitants, was kept alive in it by means of those public games, which, being celebrated on the isthmus which connects the Peloponnesus to the main land, were called the Isthmian games; and were exhibited once every five years. The exercises in these games were leaping, running, throwing the quoit or dart, boxing and wrestling. It appears, that besides these, there were contentions for poetry and music; and the conquerors in any of these exercises, were ordinarily crowned either with pine leaves, or with parsley. It is well known that the apostle alludes to those games in dif ferent parts of his epistles, which shall all be particularly noticed as they occur.

Corinth, like all other opulent and well situated places, has often been a subject of contention between rival states; has frequently changed masters, and undergone all forms of government. The Venetians held it till 1715, when the Turks took it from them, under whose dominion it has ever since

remained. Under this deteriorating government, it is greatly reduced; its whole population amounting only to between 13 and 14,000 souls. It lies about 46 miles to the east of Athens; and 342 south-west of Constantinople. A few vestiges of its ancient splendour still remain; which are objects of curiosity and gratification to all intelligent travellers.

As we have seen that Corinth was well situated for trade, and consequently very rich; it is no wonder that, in its hea. then state, it was exceedingly corrupt and profligate. Not withstanding this, every part of the Grecian learning was highly cultivated here; so that before its destruction by the Romans, Cicero (Pro lege Manl. cap. v.) scrupled not to call it totius Græcia lumen, The eye of all Greece. Yet the inhabitants of it were as lascivious as they were learned. Public prostitution formed a considerable part of their religion; and they were accustomed in their public prayers, to request the gods to multiply their prostitutes! and, in order to express their gratitude to their deities for the favours they received, they bound themselves by voirs, to increase the number of such women; for commerce with them, was neither esteemed sinful nor disgraceful. Lais, so famous in history, was a Corinthian prostitute, and whose price was not less than 10,000 drachmas. Demosthenes, from whom this price was required by her, for one night's lodging, said, "I will not buy repent. ance at so dear a rate." So notorious was this city for such conduct, that the verb Kopiviaεodui, to Corinthize, signified to act the prostitute: and Kopivia kopn, a Corinthian damsel, meant a harlot, or common woman. I mention these things the more particularly, because they account for several things mentioned by the apostle in his letters to this city; and things which, without this knowledge of their previous Gentile state and customs, we could not comprehend. It is true, as the apostle states, that they carried these things to an extent that was not practised in any other Gentile country. And yet, even in Corinth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, prevailing over univer. sal corruption, founded a Christian church.

This epistle, as to its subject matter, has been variously di vided; into three parts by some, into four, seven, eleven, &c. parts by others. Most of these divisions are merely artificial, and were never intended by the apostle. The following seven particulars comprise the whole

L-The Introduction, chap. i. 1-9. II.-Exhortations rela. tive to their dissentions, ch. i. 9. and to ch. iv. inclusive. III-What concerns the person who had married his step mother; commonly called the incestuous person, ch. v. vi. and vii. IV. The question concerning the lawfulness of eating things which had been offered to idols, ch. viii. ix. and x. inclusive. V.-Various ecclesiastical regulations, ch. xi.xiv. inclusive. VI.-The important question concerning the resurrection of the dead, ch. xv. VII-Miscellaneous matters, containing exhortations, salutations, commendations, &c. &c. ch. xvi.

THE FIRST EPISTLE OF

PAUL THE APOSTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.

[For Chronological Eras, see at the end of the Acts.]

Meantime of the Paschal Full Moon, at Corinth, (its longitude being twenty-three degrees to the east of London,) according to Ferguson's Tables, April 19, or the XIIIth of the Calends of May, at fifteen minutes and fifty-eight seconds past eleven at night. (The reason of the discrepance of the fifteenth of Nisan with the day of the mean Paschal Full Moon arises from the inaccuracy of the Metonic cycle, which reckoned 235 mean lunations to be precisely equal to nineteen solar years, these lunations being actually performed in one hour and a half less time. The correspondence of the Pass-over with the mean Full Moon, according to the Julian account, was in A. D. 325.)-True time of the Paschal Full Moon at Corinth, according to Ferguson's Tables, the XIIth of the Calends of May, (April 20,) at fifty-seven minutes and forty-one seconds past five in the morning. According to Struyk's catalogue of eclipses, which he collected from the Chinese chronology, the sun was eclipsed at Canton in China, on the 25th of December of this year, or on the VIIIth of the Calends of January, A. D. 57. The middle of the eclipse was at twenty-eight minutes past twelve at noon; the quantity eclipsed at this time being nine digits and twenty minutes. The day of this eclipse was on the 19th of Tybi, in the 804th year of the Nabonassarean æra, and on the 24th of Cisleu of the minor Rabbinical, or Jewish æra of the world 3817, or 4416 of their greater æra.

CHAPTER I.

The salutation of Paul and Sosthenes, 1, 2. The apostolical benediction, 3. Thanksgiving for the prosperity of the church at Corinth, 4. In what that prosperity consisted, 5-9. The apostle reproves their dissentions, and vindicates himself from being any cause of them, 10-17. States the simple means which God uses to convert sinners, and confound the wisdom of the wise, &c. 18-21. Why the Jews and Greeks did not believe, 22. The matter of the apostle's preaching, and the reasons why that preaching was effectual to the salvation of men, 23-29. All should glory in God, because all blessings are dispensed by him through Christ Jesus, 30, 31. [A. M. 4060. A. D. 56. A. U. C. 809. Anno. Imp. Neronis Cæs. 3. Written a little before the Pass-over of A. D. 56.]

PAUL called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the

of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, d to them that Rom 1.1-62 Cor.1.1. Ephes.1.1. Col. 1.1.- Acta 18.17.-d Jude i.—e John 17.19 Acus 15 9.

NOTES-Verse 1. Paul, called to be an apostle] Bishop Pearce contends that a comma should be placed after Anros, called, which should not be joined to Arosolos, apostle; the first signifies being called to, the other sent from. He reads

,

are sanctified in Christ Jesus, ' called to be saints, with all

that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours:

fRom 1.7. 2 Tim. 1.9.-g Acts 9.14, 21. & 22. 16. 2 Tim. 222-h Chapter 8. 6.i Rom. 3.22 & 10.12.

it, therefore, Paul the called; the apostle of Jesus Christ. The word Kinros, called, may be here used, as in some other places, for constituted. For this, and the meaning of the word apostle, see the note on Rom. i. 1.

As the apostle had many irregularities to reprehend in the Corinthian church, it was necessary that he should be explinary. When seven years had elapsed, the men returned, and cit in stating his authority. He was called, invited to the Gospel feast; had partaken of it, and by the grace he received, was qualified to proclaim salvation to others: Jesus Christ therefore made him an apostle, that is, gave him a Divine commission to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.