1 Corinthians 4:11

4:7-13 We have no reason to be proud; all we have, or are, or do, that is good, is owing to the free and rich grace of God. A sinner snatched from destruction by sovereign grace alone, must be very absurd and inconsistent, if proud of the free gifts of God. St. Paul sets forth his own circumstances, ver. 9. Allusion is made to the cruel spectacles in the Roman games; where men were forced to cut one another to pieces, to divert the people; and where the victor did not escape with his life, though he should destroy his adversary, but was only kept for another combat, and must be killed at last. The thought that many eyes are upon believers, when struggling with difficulties or temptations, should encourage constancy and patience. We are weak, but ye are strong. All Christians are not alike exposed. Some suffer greater hardships than others. The apostle enters into particulars of their sufferings. And how glorious the charity and devotion that carried them through all these hardships! They suffered in their persons and characters as the worst and vilest of men; as the very dirt of the world, that was to be swept away: nay, as the offscouring of all things, the dross of all things. And every one who would be faithful in Christ Jesus, must be prepared for poverty and contempt. Whatever the disciples of Christ suffer from men, they must follow the example, and fulfil the will and precepts of their Lord. They must be content, with him and for him, to be despised and abused.

(11) We both hunger. —From the strong irony of the last verse, the Apostle here passes, in the pathethic and sad description which occupies 1Corinthians 4:11-13 , to show how intensely true that last word “despised” was, as expressing his own position, not only in time past, but at the very hour of his writing. Here still there is an implied contrast between their condition (“full,” “rich,” “kings,” of 1Corinthians 4:8 ) and that of St. Paul himself. Are naked.—The better reading is, we are in need of sufficient clothing (as 2Corinthians 11:27). Are buffeted—i.e., are treated like slaves, and not like “kings,” as you are. Have no certain dwellingplace.—To be without a fixed home was a peculiar sign of want and degradation. (See Matthew 8:20; Matthew 10:23.)

1 Corinthians 4:11 . Γυμνητεύομεν , we are naked ) The highest degree of poverty, 2 Corinthians 11:27 . [ So far were the heralds of the kingdom of Christ from being adorned with any splendour. We imagine ourselves to be quite the reverse of all this .—V. g.]— κολαφιζόμεθα , we are buffeted ) as slaves, therefore we are not kings .

Verse 11. - Unto this present hour. In these three verses he draws a picture of the condition of the apostles, especially of the trials to which he was himself subjected, on which the best comment is in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 . This letter was written from Ephesus, where he had so much to do and to endure ( Acts 20:31 ). Hunger and thirst. "In hunger and thirst, in fastings often" ( 2 Corinthians 11:27 ). Are naked ( Matthew 25:36 ; James 2:15 ; and comp. 2 Corinthians 11:27 ). And are buffeted. The verb means literally, are slapped in the face (comp. 2 Corinthians 12:7 ). Such insults, together with scourgings, fell to the lot of St. Paul ( Acts 23:2 , etc.) and the other apostles ( Acts 16:23 , 1 Peter 2:20 ), as well as to that of their Lord ( Matthew 26:57 , etc.). It showed the utter contempt with which they were treated; for though St. Paul ought to have been exempt from such violence, both as a freeman and a Roman citizen, he was treated as vilely as if he had been a mere foreign slave. Have no certain dwelling place. This homelessness was among the severest of all trials ( Matthew 8:20 ; Matthew 10:23 ). 1 Corinthians 4:11

Our state in the world is low and mean; though you be full, we are hungry and thirsty; though you be richly clothed, yet we are next to naked, clothed with rags; though you be hugged and embraced by the men of the world, yet we are buffeted; though you have rich and famous houses, yet we have no certain dwelling-place. Thus it hath been with us from the beginning of our profession of Christ, and thus it is with us at this day, saith the apostle: from whence he gives these Corinthians and their false teachers a just reason to suspect themselves, whether they were true and sincere professors, yea or no, and to consider how it came to pass, that their lot in the world was so different from the lot of those whom the Lord had dignified with the title and office of his apostles. The condition of the most faithful and able ministers and the most sincere Christians that have been in the world, hath always been a mean and afflicted state and condition.

1 Corinthians 4:11-12 a . ἄχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας … ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν describes the ἄτιμοι , reduced to this position by the world’s contempt and with no means of winning its respect—a life at the farthest remove from that of the Gr[734] gentleman. The despicableness of his condition touches the Ap. New features are added to this picture in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 . On ἄρτι , see note to ἤδη , 1 Corinthians 4:8 ; cf. 1 Corinthians 4:13 .— Hunger, thirst, ill-clothing —the common accompaniments of poverty; blows, homelessness, manual toil —specific hardships of Paul’s mission. The sentences are pl[735]: all Christian missionaries ( 1 Corinthians 4:9 ) shared in these sufferings, P. beyond others ( 1 Corinthians 15:10 ).— γυμνιτεύω (later Gr[736]) denotes light clothing or armour; cf. γυμνός , Matthew 25:36 , Jam 2:15 ( ill-clad ).— κολαφίζω (see parls.), to fisticuff , extended to physical violence generally—sometimes lit[737] true in Paul’s case.— ἀστατέω , to be unsettled, with no fixed home —to Paul’s affectionate nature the greatest of privations, and always suspicious in public repute— to be a vagrant.

On ἐργαζ . τ . ἰδ . χερσίν —at Eph. now ( Acts 20:34 ), at Cor[738] formerly ( Acts 18:3 )—see note, 1 Corinthians 9:6 ; manual labour was particularly despised amongst the ancients: “Non modo labore meo victum meum comparo, sed manuario labore et sordido” (Cv[739]). [734] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.[735] plural. [736] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.[737] literal, literally. [738] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians. [739] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii . 1 Corinthians 4:12 b , 1 Corinthians 4:13 . Beside their abject condition ( 1 Corinthians 4:11-12 a ), the world saw in the meekness of the App. the marks of an abject spirit , shown in the three particulars of λοιδορούμενοι … παρακαλοῦμεν : “id mundus spretum putat” (Bg[740]).— λοιδορ . ( reviled to our faces ) implies insulting abuse, δυσφημούμενοι ( defamed ) injurious abuse: for the former, cf. 1 Peter 2:23 .— διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα , “persecuted, we bear with (lit[741] put-up with) it”—implying patience , while ὑμομένω ( 1 Corinthians 13:7 , etc.) implies courage in the sufferer.