Every one who striveth^ &c. (ttSs 6 dyajvi^d/xcvo?) every one accustomed to contend^ i. e. every professional athlete. The word includes all kinds of contests, whether in running, wrestling or fighting. Is temperate in all things^ i. e. controls himself as to all things. He exercises selt-denial in diet, in bodily indulgences, and by painful and protracted discipline. The ancient writers abound in rules of abstinence and exercise, to be observed by competitors in preparation for the games. They indeed for a corruptible crown^ %oe for an incorruptible. If the heathen submitted to such severe discipline to gain a wreath of olive or garland of pine leaves, shall not Christians do as much for a crown of righteousness which fadeth not away ?
26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air :
I therefore^ i. e. because so much effort is necessary to suc- cess. 8o run^ i. e. run not in such a manner as one who runs uncertainly (dSrJXws). That may mean uiiconspicuously^ not as one unseen, but as one on whom all eyes are fixed. Or liiore probably the idea is, not as one runs who is uncertain where or for what he is running. A man who runs uncertain as to his course or object, runs without spirit or effort. So fight I, The allusion is here to boxing, or fighting with the fist. JS'ot as one beating the ah\ Here again the figure is doubtful. A man who is merely exercising, without an antagonist, may be said to smite the air. A man puts forth little strength in such a sham conflict. Or the man who aims at his antagonist, and fails to hit him, smites the air. This is the better explanation. Virgil has the same figure to express the same idea. He says of a boxer who missed his antagonist, " vires in ventum effu- dit." JEn. V. 446. In either way the meaning is the same. Nothing is accomplished. The effort is in vain. In 14, 9, the apostle says of those who speak in an unknown tongue, that they speak into the air. That is, they speak to no effect.
27. But I keep under my body, and bring (it) into subjection : lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.
In opposition to the fruitless or objectless fighting just de- scribed, Paul says, I keep under my body ; literally I bruise