1. Dare. ‘The insulted majesty of Christians is denoted by a grand word” (Bengel).
2. Matters (xpsetrnpiwv). The word means, 1, Zhe instru- ment or rule of judging; 2, the tribunal of a gudge. It oc- curs only here, ver. 4, and Jas. ii. 6, where it means judgment- seats. This latter gives a good sense here without having re- course to the meaning sw7t or case, which lacks warrant. So Rey., in margin, ‘‘are ye unworthy of the smallest tribunals ?” That is, are ye unworthy of holding or passing judgment in such inferior courts ?
3. How much more (uyteye). It is hard to render the word accurately. How much more follows the Vulgate guanto mages. Itis rather, not to speak of ; or to say nothing at all of.
Things that pertain to this life (@iwruxd). See on Luke xxi. 34.
4, Judgments (xperjpia). Better, tribunals or courts, as ver. 2. Ifyou have to hold courts for the settlement of private matters.
Ox. VI.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 213
Set (xaSigere). Seat them as judges on the tribunal. It is disputed whether xaJifere is to be taken as imperative, set (A. V.), or as interrogative, do ye set (Rev.).* The A. V. seems, on the whole, preferable. The passage is well para- phrased by Farrar. “ Dare they, the destined judges of the world and of angels, go to law about mere earthly trifles, and that before the heathen? Why did they not rather set up the very humblest members of the Church to act as judges in such matters ?” +
5. To your shame (zpos évtpomjy iyiv). Lit., I speak to you with a view to shame ; i.e., to move you to shame, as Rev. See on ch. iv. 14.
To judge (dvaxpiva:). Rev., better, decide ; by arbitration.
6. Goeth to law (xpivera:). As in ver. 1, and Matt. v. 40. Instead of accepting arbitration.
7. Now therefore (757 pyév odv). Mev odv nay, as in ver. 4, at once looks back to the preceding thought, and continues it, bringing under special consideration the fact that brother goes to law with brother. “H6én already or at once is a temporal ad- verb, but with a logical force and enhancing the nay. The connection of thought is: Is there not one wise man among you who is competent to act as an arbitrator between brethren, so that christian brethren must needs take their differences into the civil courts and before heathen judges? May; such a proceeding at once implies the existence of a litigious spirit generally, which is unchristian, and detrimental to you.
Fault among you (frrnwa év tpiv). Only here and Rom. xi. 12. See note. “Hrrnua fault, is from Arrewv less. Lit., diminution, decrease. Hence used in the sense of defeat, Isa. xxxi. 8: “ Young men shall be discomfited, lit., shall be for diminution.” Similarly the kindred verb rrdopas, in 2 Cor. xii. 18, made inferior ; and in 2 Pet. ii. 19, 20, overcome. See note there. Compare 2 Mac. x. 24. In classical Greek #r7a
* So Westcott and Hort, and Tischendorf, ¢ So Ellicott, Edwards, Brown, Alford, Godet, Rev., in margin.
914. WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. (Cu. VL
means defeat, and is contrasted with vikn victory by Plato and Thucydides. The meaning here is loss. °Ev among is omitted by the best texts, so that we should read a loss to you, which Rey. gives in margin, reading in the text a defect in you. The spirit of litigation which runs into wrong and fraud (ver. 8) is a source of damage, resulting in forfeiture of the kingdom of God (ver. 9), and in loss of spiritual power.
Ve go to law (kpiara éyere). Rev., more correctly, ye have lawsuits. Not the same phrase as in ver. 6. Kpiya in the New Testament almost universally means judgment or de- cree, a8 Rom. v. 16. See on 2 Pet. ii. 3. In classical Greek it has also the meaning of the matter of judgment, the question in litigation. So Aeschylus: “The matter (xpima) is not easy to judge. Choose me not as judge” (“ Suppliants,” 391). Here the meaning is legal proceedings, lawsuits. So in Septuagint, Job xxxi. 18; Exod. xxiii. 6.