1 Corinthians 4

This is how people should think of us: as servants who work for Christ, and as managers put in charge of the truths God has revealed.

1Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Note"Ministers" here is not a church office. The Greek word pictures a subordinate officer or attendant who carries out a superior's orders. A "steward" was the household manager, very often a slave himself, trusted with the owner's money, stores and staff; his one duty was not brilliance but reliability. "Mysteries" in Paul's vocabulary does not mean puzzles or secrets kept hidden. It means things once undisclosed that God has now made known, so a steward of them is a man handing out what belongs to someone else.

2And what is required of a manager who is trusted with someone else's property is that he be found faithful.

2Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

3But it matters very little to me if I am judged by you, or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.

3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.

NoteIn the King James, "judged of you" means judged by you; "of" regularly carries the sense of "by" in 1611 English. "Man's judgment" translates a Greek phrase that literally reads "a human day." "Day" was courtroom shorthand for a day in court, and Paul is setting any human court day against the Lord's day in verse 5.

4I am not aware of anything against myself. But that does not prove I am innocent. The Lord is the one who judges me.

4For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.

Note"I know nothing by myself" is old English for "I know nothing against myself," that is, my conscience brings no charge. It does not mean Paul knows nothing about himself. "Justified" is a courtroom word: acquitted, declared to be in the right. Paul's point about language is that a clear conscience is not the same as a verdict.

5So do not judge anything before the right time, before the Lord comes. He will bring into the light what is hidden in the dark, and show what people's hearts were really aiming at. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

6Brothers and sisters, I have applied all this to myself and Apollos as an example, for your good. I did it so you would learn from us not to go beyond what is written, and so none of you would be filled with pride, taking one man's side against another.

6And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.

Note"In a figure transferred" renders a Greek verb meaning to change the outward form of something, here to apply a point by way of illustration. Paul means he has used his own name and Apollos's as stand-ins. "Puffed up" is a vivid word meaning inflated, swollen with air, and Paul uses it repeatedly in this letter. The rivalry behind it is the slogan-trading of 1:12, where members were saying "I am of Paul" or "I am of Apollos." "That which is written" is Paul's standard formula for quoting Scripture; exactly which passages he has in mind is debated, though he has already quoted several in chapters 1 to 3.

7For who says you are better than anyone else? What do you have that was not given to you? And if it was given to you, why do you brag as if you had not been given it?

7For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

8Already you have everything you want. Already you are rich. You have become kings, and without us. I wish you really were kings, so that we could be kings along with you!

8Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.

NoteVerses 8 to 10 are sarcastic, and would have been heard that way. Being full, being rich and being a king were stock boasts in the popular philosophy of the day about the truly wise man, who supposedly needed nothing and ruled himself like a monarch. Paul throws that language back at the Corinthians, then drops the sarcasm for a moment in the second half of the verse to say he wishes it were true.

9It seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the very end of the parade, like men condemned to die. We have become a show for the whole world to watch, for angels and for people.

9For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

Note"Apostles" means those sent out, envoys carrying someone else's commission. The picture is a Roman victory parade: the general first, the prisoners of war last, and at the very end those condemned to die in the arena. "Spectacle" is the Greek word for a theater show, so Paul is describing himself as the closing act that the crowd has come to watch.

10We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honored, but we are looked down on.

10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

11Right up to this hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are dressed in rags, we are beaten, and we have no home of our own.

11Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;

Note"Naked" in the King James does not mean without any clothing at all. The Greek means badly clothed, in rags. "Buffeted" means struck with fists. "No certain dwellingplace" means no fixed address, nowhere to live that is his own.

12We work hard with our own hands. When people insult us, we bless them. When they hunt us down and hurt us, we put up with it.

12And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:

NoteWorking with your own hands was not a neutral detail. In the Greek cities of Paul's day manual labor was looked down on by the well off, who expected a teacher to be supported by wealthy patrons rather than sweating at a trade. Paul lists it here alongside hunger and beatings because his readers would have read it as part of his humiliation.

13When people say cruel things about us, we answer kindly. To this day we have been treated as the garbage of the world, the dirt that everyone scrapes off.

13Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.

Note"Intreat" here means to answer with soft words, to speak kindly in reply. The two words at the end are the harshest in the list: one means the scrapings cleaned off something dirty, the other the muck wiped away after a scouring. Both were also used of a worthless person offered up to get rid of a city's pollution, so the sense is something between garbage and human refuse.

14I am not writing this to make you ashamed, but to warn you, as my dear children.

14I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.

15You may have ten thousand guardians to guide you in Christ, but you do not have many fathers. In Christ Jesus I became your father when I brought you the good news.

15For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Note"Instructors" translates a word for a household slave who walked a boy to school, carried his things and kept him out of trouble. He was a minder and a disciplinarian, not a teacher, and he was not the boy's father. "Ten thousand" is not a count. In Greek it is the standard expression for a huge, uncountable number, like saying "a thousand and one" in English. "Begotten" means fathered, which is why the father and child language runs on through verses 16 to 21.

16So I am asking you: follow my example.

16Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

Note"Followers" in 1611 English means imitators; the Greek word is the root of the English "mimic." Paul is not asking for supporters or disciples but for people who copy the way he lives, which is what Timothy is being sent to remind them of in the next verse.

17That is why I have sent Timothy to you. He is my dear and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you of how I live in Christ, which is exactly what I teach everywhere, in every church.

17For this cause have I sent unto you Timotheus, who is my beloved son, and faithful in the Lord, who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where in every church.

Note"Timotheus" is simply the Greek form of the name Timothy. "Have sent" may mean Timothy was already traveling when this letter was written, possibly by a different route, since 16:10 speaks of him as arriving later than the letter.

18Now some of you have become proud, acting as if I were not coming to you.

18Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord is willing. Then I will find out, not what these proud people say, but what power they actually have.

19But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

Note"If the Lord will" was a set phrase, used in Jewish and Greek speech alike when announcing any future plan, roughly the force of "God willing." It is a courtesy formula rather than a statement of doubt about the trip.

20For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.

20For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

21Which do you want? Should I come to you with a rod, or with love and a gentle spirit?

21What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

NoteThe "rod" is the stick a father used to discipline a child, so the image continues the father and children language from verse 15 rather than introducing a court or an army. "Meekness" in the King James does not mean timidity or weakness. The Greek word means gentleness, strength held under control, the opposite of a harsh or heavy hand.