ans. The grace spoken of was sometliing ^^-liicli belongs to the same category with faith, knowledge, and love.
7. Therefore, as ye abound in every (thing, in) faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and (in) all dili- gence, and (in) yoiu* love to us, (see) that ye abound in this grace also.
From this verse onward to v. 16 the apostle urges on the Corinthians the duty of liberality. 1. Because it was necessa- ry to the completeness and harmony of their Christian charac- ter ; 2. Because it would be a i^roof of their sincerity ; 3. Be- cause Christ had become poor for their sake ; 4. Because it would redound to their own advantage, inasmuch as consist- ency required that having manifested the disposition, they should carry it out in action; and 5. Because what was required of them was perfectly reasonable. They were asked to give only according to their means ; and what they were called upon to do for others, others under like circumstances would be required to do for them. Therefore is not a proper translation of oKka. [hut). The word is often used to mark a transition to a new subject, and specially where what follows is an exhortation or command. Mark 16, 7. Acts 9, 6. 10, 20. As ye abound^ i. e. have in abundance, or, have more than others, i. e. excel. In every tiling^ (eV Travri,) limited of course by the context, and explained by what follows, ' every gift and grace.' The same testimony is borne in i'avour of the Corinthians, 1 Cor. ], 5. 7. That the apostle sometimes speaks so flivourably, and sometimes so unfavourably of the church in Corinth, is to be accounted for by the fact that some of the people were very good, probably the majority, and some, especially among the teachers, very much the re- verse. In faith. To abound in faith is to have a strong, constant, operative faith, sustaining and controlling the Avliole inward and outward life. In utterance and knoioledge^ (Aoyw Ktti yvtuoret,) the same combination as in 1 Cor. 1, 5. Here and there our translators have rendered Aoyos utterance ; in both cases it may mean doctrine^ as it does in so many passages, esiK'cially in such cases as "word of truth," "word of salva- tion," "word of righteousness," "word of Christ." The meaning, therefore, is either that they were enriched with the gifts of utterance and knowledge, or doctrine and knowledge.