Indications of the blending of the eucharistic celebration with a common meal are found here, Acts ii. 42; xx. 7, and more obscurely, xxvii. 35.*
21. Taketh before other. Not waiting for the coming of the poor to participate.
* See Stanley’s ‘‘ Christian Institutions,” ch. iii,
250 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT [Cu. XI.
22. Them that have not. Not, that have not houses, but absolutely, the poor. In thus shaming their poorer comrades they imitated the heathen. Xenophon relates of Socrates that, at feasts of contribution, where some brought much and others little, Socrates bade his attendant either to place each small contribution on the table for the common use, or else to dis- tribute his share of the same to each. And so those who had brought much were ashamed not to partake of that which was placed for general use, and not, in return, to place their own stock on the table (‘‘ Memorabilia,” iii., 14, 1).
23. | received (éyw mapéXaBov). J is emphatic, giving the weight of personal authority to the statement. The question whether Paul means that he received directly from Christ, or mediately through the apostles or tradition, turns on a differ- ence between two prepositions. Strictly, ado from or of, with the Lord, would imply the more remote source, from the Lord, through the apostles; but Paul does not always observe the distinction between this and wapd from, the preposition of the nearer source (see Greek, Col. i. 7; iii. 24); and this latter preposition compounded with the verb rececved, the emphatic J, and the mention of the fact itself, are decisive of the sense of an immediate communication from Christ to Paul.*
Also (xai). Important as expressing the identity of the ac- count of Jesus with his own.
He was betrayed (rapedéSero). Imperfect tense, and very graphic. He was being betrayed. He instituted the Eucharist while His betrayal was going on.
24. Had given thanks (evyapuoticas). Hucharistesas. Hence in post-apostolic and patristic writers, Hucharist was the technical term for the Lord’s Supper as a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all the gifts of God, especially for the “un- speakable gift,” Jesus Christ. By some of the fathers of the second century the term was sometimes applied to the conse- crated elements. The formula of thanksgiving cited in The
*See the whole admirably summed up by Godet.
Cu. XL] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 251
Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” is, for the cup first, “We give thanks to Thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which Thou hast made known to us through Jesus, Thy servant: to Thee be the glory forever.” And for the bread: “We give thanks to Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou hast made known to us through Jesus Thy servant: to Thee be the glory forever. As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains and, gathered together, became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy Kingdom, for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for- ever.”
Brake. Bengel says: “The very mention of the breaking involves distribution and refutes the Corinthian plan—every man his own” (ver. 21).
Do (oaveire). Be doing or continue doing.
In remembrance (eis). Strictly, for or with a wew to, de- noting purpose. These words do not occur in Matthew and Mark. Paul’s account agrees with Luke’s. Remembrance im- plies Christ’s bodily absence in the future.
25. Aftersupper. Only Luke records this detail. It is added to mark the distinction between the Lord’s Supper and the ord- inary meal.
Testament (S:a9jxn). Rev., correctly, covenant. See on Matt. xxvi. 28. The Hebrew word is derived from a verb meaning to cut. Hence the connection of dividing the victims with the ratification of a covenant. See Gen. xv. 9-18. A similar usage appears in the Homeric phrase épxva musta Tapetv, lit., to cut trustworthy oaths, whence the word oaths is used for the victims sacrificed in ratification of a covenant or treaty. See Homer, “Iliad,” ii., 124; iii., 73, 93. So the Latin foedus ferire “to kill a league,” whence our phrase to strike a compact. In the Septuagint proper, where it occurs nearly three hundred times, 5va9j«n, in all but four passages, is the translation of the Hebrew word for covenant (berith). In those four it is used to