238 II. CORINTHIANS 10, 1,

Do ye look on things after the outward appearance 9 to. Kara TTpoaoiTvov /JAeVcTe. This clause may be taken interroga- tively, as by most commentators, or imperatively, or declara- tively. If interrogatively, the sense may be, * Do ye regard, or take into view, only what is external? Do you judge of me from my personal appearance, manner, and speech ? ' It would seem that a judgment founded on such grounds as these, led the false teachers to regard the apostle with con- tempt. Or, the meaning is, 'Do you regard only external advantages? Such as being a minister of Christ, being a He- brew, an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, &c.' 11, 22. In favour of this view is the use of TrpoaoiTcov in this epistle, 5, 12. 11, 1. See also Matt. 22, 16. Mark 12, 14 ; the parallel passage in 11, 18 (where Kara rrjv adpKa answers to Kara irpocroiTtov here) ; and the context, which goes to show that the things which Paul's opponents regarded, and on which they prided them- selves, were their supposed external advantages. Those who take ^AeVere as imperative understand the passage thus: ' Look at what is before your eyes, i. e. at what is evident to all. If you are thus and so, so am I.' Calvin and others take the verb as in the indicative. ' Ye do regard what is external — and therefore despise me.' The first interpretation, for the reasons stated, is to be preferred. If any man trust to him- self The use of rts (any one), in this passage, and of the singular number in vs. 10 and 11, and in 11, 4, has led to the conjecture that there was in Corinth one particular opponent of the apostle to whom in this whole context he refers. But it is evident from the general drift of the epistle that it was a whole class of persons who had arrayed themselves against Paul's authority. Trust to himself Tri-rroL^ev eavraJ, is persuad- ed concerning himself, that he is ChrisVs. What that means is somewhat doubtful. It may be taken in the most general sense, ' If any thmks that he is a Christian,' i. e. belongs to Christ as every believer does ; or, ' If any man thinks that ho is a minister of Christ ; ' or, ' If any man thinks that he stands in a peculiar relation to Christ.' It is probable from 1 Cor. 1, 10 that there were certain persons in Corinth who said, 'We are of Christ,' as claiming some nearer connection with him than that which belonged to other believers or to other ministers. Whether this claim rested on their having seen Christ in the flesh, or on relationship to his kinsmen, is mere matter of conjecture. Still as the claim existed, it is most likely referred to here. Let him of himself i. e. without its