Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [1 Corinthians: Chapter 1].
B.C. 44, and now after another hundred years has become very rich
and very corrupt. The very word "to Corinthianize" meant to
practise vile immoralities in the worship of Aphrodite (Venus).
It was located on the narrow Isthmus of the Peloponnesus with two
harbours (Lechaeum and Cenchreae). It had schools of rhetoric and
philosophy and made a flashy imitation of the real culture of
Athens. See Ac 18 for the story of Paul's work here and now the
later developments and divisions in this church will give Paul
grave concern as is shown in detail in I and II Corinthians. All
the problems of a modern city church come to the front in
Corinth. They call for all the wisdom and statesmanship in Paul.
{That are sanctified} (\h•giasmenois\). Perfect passive
participle of \hagiaz•\, late form for \hagiz•\, so far found
only in the Greek Bible and in ecclesiastical writers. It means
to make or to declare \hagion\ (from \hagos\, awe, reverence, and
this from \haz•\, to venerate). It is significant that Paul uses
this word concerning the {called saints} or {called to be saints}
(\kl•tois hagiois\) in Corinth. Cf. \kl•tos apostolos\ in 1:1.
It is because they are sanctified {in Christ Jesus} (\en Christ•i
I•sou\). He is the sphere in which this act of consecration takes
place. Note plural, construction according to sense, because
\ekkl•sia\ is a collective substantive. {With all that call upon}
(\sun p•sin tois epikaloumenois\). Associative instrumental case
with \sun\ rather than \kai\ (and), making a close connection
with "saints" just before and so giving the Corinthian Christians
a picture of their close unity with the brotherhood everywhere
through the common bond of faith. This phrase occurs in the LXX
(Ge 12:8; Zec 13:9) and is applied to Christ as to Jehovah
(2Th 1:7,9,12; Php 2:9,10). Paul heard Stephen pray to Christ
as Lord (Ac 7:59). Here "with a plain and direct reference to
the Divinity of our Lord" (Ellicott). {Their Lord and ours}
(\aut•n kai h•m•n\). This is the interpretation of the Greek
commentators and is the correct one, an afterthought and
expansion (\epanorth•sis\) of the previous "our," showing the
universality of Christ.
1:3 Identical language of 2Th 1:2 save absence of \h•m•n\
(our), Paul's usual greeting. See on ¯1Th 1:1.
1:4 {I thank my God} (\eucharist• t•i the•i\). Singular as in Ro
1:8; Php 1:3; Phm 1:4, but plural in 1Th 1:2; Col 1:3. The
grounds of Paul's thanksgivings in his Epistles are worthy of
study. Even in the church in Corinth he finds something to thank
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/1CO1.RWP.html (2 of 14) [28/08/2004 09:10:52 a.m.]