Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [1 Corinthians: Chapter 1].
1:15 {Lest any man should say} (\hina m• tis eip•i\). Certainly
sub-final \hina\ again or contemplated result as in 7:29; Joh
9:2. Ellicott thinks that already some in Corinth were laying
emphasis on the person of the baptizer whether Peter or some one
else. It is to be recalled that Jesus himself baptized no one
(Joh 4:2) to avoid this very kind of controversy. And yet there
are those today who claim Paul as a sacramentalist, an impossible
claim in the light of his words here.
1:16 {Also the household of Stephanas} (\kai ton Stephan•
oikon\). Mentioned as an afterthought. Robertson and Plummer
suggest that Paul's amanuensis reminded him of this case. Paul
calls him a first-fruit of Achaia (1Co 16:15) and so earlier
than Crispus and he was one of the three who came to Paul from
Corinth (16:17), clearly a family that justified Paul's
personal attention about baptism. {Besides} (\loipon\).
Accusative of general reference, "as for anything else." Added to
make clear that he is not meaning to omit any one who deserves
mention. See also 1Th 4:1; 1Co 4:2; 2Co 13:11; 2Ti 4:8.
Ellicott insists on a sharp distinction from \to loipon\ "as for
the rest" (2Th 3:1; Php 3:1; 4:8; Eph 6:10). Paul casts no
reflection on baptism, for he could not with his conception of it
as the picture of the new life in Christ (Ro 6:2-6), but he
clearly denies here that he considers baptism essential to the
remission of sin or the means of obtaining forgiveness.
1:17 {For Christ sent me not to baptize} (\ou gar apesteilen me
Christos baptizein\). The negative \ou\ goes not with the
infinitive, but with \apesteilen\ (from \apostell•, apostolos\,
apostle). {For Christ did not send me to be a baptizer} (present
active infinitive, linear action) like John the Baptist. {But to
preach the gospel} (\alla euaggelizesthai\). This is Paul's idea
of his mission from Christ, as Christ's apostle, to be {a
gospelizer}. This led, of course, to baptism, as a result, but
Paul usually had it done by others as Peter at Caesarea ordered
the baptism to be done, apparently by the six brethren with him
(Ac 10:48). Paul is fond of this late Greek verb from
\euaggelion\ and sometimes uses both verb and substantive as in
1Co 15:1 "the gospel which I gospelized unto you." {Not in
wisdom of words} (\ouk en sophi•i logou\). Note \ou\, not \m•\
(the subjective negative), construed with \apesteilen\ rather
than the infinitive. Not in wisdom of speech (singular).
Preaching was Paul's forte, but it was not as a pretentious
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/1CO1.RWP.html (8 of 14) [28/08/2004 09:10:52 a.m.]