7. Idolaters. Referring to the danger of partaking of the idol feasts.
To play (aigfew). The merrymaking generally which fol- lowed the feast, not specially referring to the dancing at the worship of the golden calf. See Exod. xxxii. 19.
Commit fornication. Lasciviousness was habitually associ- ated with idol-worship. The two are combined, Acts xv. 29. A thousand priests ministered at the licentious rites of the temple of Venus at Corinth.*
Three and twenty thousand. A plain discrepancy be- tween this statement and Num. xxv. 9, where the number is twenty-four thousand. It may have been a lapse of memory.
9. Let us tempt Christ (éxrevpafwpev tov Xpioctov). The compound word is very significant, “to tempt owt” (€é«) ; tempt thoroughly ; try to the utmost. It occurs in three other places: Matt. iv. 7; Luke iv. 12; x. 25; and, in every case, is used of tempting or testing Christ. Compare Ps. Ixxvii. 18 (Sept.). For Christ read Kupuov the Lord.
10. Murmur (yoyyvfere). See on John vi. 41.
The destroyer (rod 6Xod3pevtod). The destroying angel, who is called 6 6AoSpevov, Exod. xii. 23.
* See Farrar’s ‘‘ Paul,” i., 557 sq., and Gibbon’s description of the Grove of Daphne at Antioch, ch. xxiii.
Cu. X.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 241
11. Happened (cuvéBawov). The imperfect tense marks the successive unfolding of the events.
For ensamples (rtvro.). The best texts read rumixds by way of figure.
Admonition (vouSeciav). See on the kindred verb to warn, Acts xx. ol.
Ends of the world (ra réAn tov aiwvov). Lit., ends of the ages. So Rev. Synonymous with 9 cvvrérea tov aidvev the consummation of the ages, Heb. ix. 26. The phrase assumes that Christ’s second coming is close at hand, and therefore the end of the world. Ellicott acutely remarks that the plural, ends, marks a little more distinctly the idea of each age of preparation having passed into the age that succeeded it, so that now all the ends of the ages have come down to them.
Are come (xatyjvrnxev). See on Acts xxvi. 7. Compare Eph. iv. 13; Philip. iii. 11. 13. Temptation (sespacyos). See on Matt. vi. 13.
Common to man (av3Iparwos). The word means what be- longs to men, human. It occurs mostly in this epistle ; once in Rom. vi. 19, meaning after the manner of men, popularly (see\ note). See Jas. iii. 7; 1 Pet. ii, 13; 1 Cor. ii. 4, UG hier ay It may mean here a temptation which is human, i.e., incident or common to man, as A. V., or, inferentially, a temptation adapted to human strength ; such as man can bear, Rev. The words are added as an encouragement, to offset the warning “let him that thinketh,” ete. They are in danger and must watch, but the temptation will not be beyond their strength.
A way to escape (ri &Bacw). Rev., better, the way of escape. The word means an egress, a way out. In classical Greek, especially, of a way out of the sea. Hence, in later Greek, of a landing-place. Compare Xenophon: “The ford that was over against the outlet leading to the mountains” (“ Anabasis,” iv., 8, 20).* For the sense of ésswe or end, see on Heb. xiii. 7. The words with the temptation and the way
* Edwards misunderstands this passage. Vou. II —16
249, WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. X
of escape imply an adjustment of the deliverance to each partic- ular case.
To bear. Not the same as escape. Temptation which can- not be fled must be endured. Often the only escape is through endurance. See Jas. i. 12.
14. Idolatry. Notice the article: the idolatry, the tempta- tion of which is constantly present in the idol-feasts.
15. Wise ($poviwois). See on wisdom, Luke i. 175 wisely, Luke xvi. 8. The warning against the sacrificial feasts and the allusion in ver. 8 suggest the eucharistic feast. An act of worship is sacramental, as bringing the worshipper into com- munion with the unseen. Hence he who practises idolatry is in communion with demons (ver. 20), as he who truly partakes of the Eucharist is in communion with Christ. But the two things are incompatible (ver. 21). In citing the Eucharist he appeals to them as intellegent (wise) men, concerning a familiar practice.