1 Corinthians: A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians

4 1 A Demonstration with Reference to Paul and Apollos. 4:1-13 1 Corinthians 4:1-6 The Application of the Criterion Thus we are to be regarded as• servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2/ It is of course2 required of stewards that3 they should prove faithful . 3/ To me it is a matter of complete indifference4 whether I am judged by you or by any other human tribunal. I do not even judge myself.5 4/ I am not, indeed. conscious of any fault; yet I am not justified by that. But it is the Lord who judges me. 6 I So do not pass any premature judgments. until6 the Lord comes. who will bring to light what is hidden in darkness' and disclose the plans of the heart. And then each will receive (his) praise from God. The principle, "All is yours," cannot lead to KaVX1JGU, "boasting." For it was safeguarded from the start by determination. It is this that shapes their mutual relationship , vv 14-21. the dialectic ofuo1>La, "wisdom," and J.LWpLa, "foolishness "; and then we were shown how it can be arrived •1 Ifa moment ago it was the "servant's" responsibility that was in the forefront, and now his authority, then at only by tracing it back to Christ and God. Now it becomes the criterion ofoffice. Verses 6-13 then show that officebearer and community are subject to the same it is already plain that the latter cannot become autocratic . ovTws, "thus," sums up, holds fast the viewpoint of 3:21, and provides the transition from the community 82 ourw~, "thus," sums up: it does not point forward to the following w~. "as." To take OUTW~ with w~ would shift the accent; and moreover, the asyndeton would be "hard tojustify" (Bachmann). For ourw~ pointing backwards, cf. 8: 12; Rom 11 :5; "there- 3 fore," Rom 1: 15; 6:11. w~ then naturally does not point backwards, but is the equivalent of a dou- 4 ble accusative, cf. 2 Thess 3:15; Blass-Debrunner§157(3), (5). Not so Heinrici, Weiss, Bauer, s.v. ourw~ ("thus ... as"), though the last named s.v. Xo-ylt 'Eu8at renders "consider, look upon someone as"; cf. 2 Cor 10:2. 2 For wOE AOt7rOII, see Blass-Debrunner §451 (6): " Out of the Aot7r011 used with asyndeton to begin a sen- 5 tence 'further, as far as the rest is concerned, now' (cf. §160) there developed an inferential 'therefore' in Hell. (MGr)": Polybius, papyri; Ign., Eph. 11.1; with WOE, Epict., Diss. 2.12.24. Anton Fridrichsen, 6 "Sprachliches und Stilistisches zum Neuen Testament ," in Kunglz~a Humanistiska Vetenskaps-8am- 7 jundet i Uppsala, Arsbok 1943 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell; Leipzig: Harrassowitz, 1943), 24-36, here esp. 25f: somit also. Lietzmann holds that the indicative is better, "for here a fact is being stated." Weiss has to give up Ell ro'L~ olKovop.ot~ for the sake of the imperative. iva, "that," with t'TJTELII, "require": 14:12. Increasing use oftva: Blass-Debrunner §392(1). Two phrases have been telescoped together: (a) lXaXtUTOII tunv; (b) El~ lXaxturov -ylvETaL. Both have the sense given above, see Bauer, s.v. Elp.l 111.2. The non-Attic Xo-ylt"Eu8at El~ (LXX) may be the cause of the blending (Blass-Debrunner §145[2]). iva is here not final, but takes the place of the infinitive, Blass-Debrunner §393(6). According to Weiss, the accent lies not on lp.avrov, "myself" (accusative) but on a phrase that has to be supplied, (ouol) hw ailro~, "(not even) I myself (judge myself)." This is correct. EWS all for the classical7rpL11 iiv, Blass-Debrunner§383(3). For the genitive, see on 2:13 (Ell OLOaKTOL~ 7riiEVf .Laro~); 14:25; Rom 2: 16; Blass-Debrunner §183. 1 Corinthians 4:1-6 that is addressed (UJ.LELS, "you") to the paradigmatic officebearers (~J.LEL uo¢os wv, "For I am conscious that I am not wise either much or little" (Loeb 1:81); Horat., Ep. 1.1.61. 83 [3.19.31.73] Project MUSE (2024-04-23 19:54 GMT) "judging," not a constitutive authority. 19 It controls me in the world and keeps before me the norms ofconduct . Beyond this it does not go. 20 "heart," is the organ of aspiration ({3ouX~) and thought (OLaAO"fLCTJJ.0£). 25 The old doctrine that God knows • 6 The implications for the behavior of the readers are fundamental, because eschatologically determined...