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adorn smooth cheeks with patches ? 1 — GuvexepotGe) hath tempered together . — honour) comp. ver. 23, at the beginning.
25. *T ‘rsp aWfauv fAspi/jtvuffi, care for one another) This is ex- plained in the following verse. The plural fMipi/MvuG/, more ex- pressly denotes the care of all the members, than if it were said in the Attic dialect, fitptpvcf..2
26. 2 vy%aipsi) rejoice with it. Both this expression and suffer with not only denote the affection, but also the effect.
27. ’ Ex /u'spovg , in part [in particular]) He adds this, because the Corinthians were not the sole constituents of the body of Christ and His members, ch. xiv. 36. Even Rome should hold it enough, if she be a part [in particular],
28. ’Ey, in) So, !v, in [the body], ver. 18, occurs with the same verb set. — npurov, first) The apostles, not Peter apart from them, are in the first degree ; the others follow them, according to the nature of their office, their time, their dignity, their use- fulness.— ' 7rpo(pi]Tag , prophets) Acts xiii. 1. — rp'irov d/duffxuXovg, thirdly , teachers) Teachers hold a high place, and are preferred to those very persons, who work miracles. Under prophets and teachers are included also evangelists and pastors ; comp. Eph. iv. 11. — sVe/ra, then) The other classes are not distinguished by members [ fourthly , etc., as first , secondarily], — hwu^ug, powers) The abstract for the concrete, and also in the following terms. — dmX^s/g, Hv(3spv?iGs/g, helps , governments [x'jB'epvriffig properly is the piloting of a ship]) They hold governments, who take the lead [the helm] in managing the church. Helps , are those who, though they are not governors, yet exercise a certain power and influence, by which the others are supported ; comp. xiii. 3. These two offices are not again taken up at ver. 30. Princes, as soon as they adopted the Christian faith, claimed for them- selves the office of helps and governments ; but at the beginning those who stood first in authority, prudence, and resources in the church, defended and governed it. Government is occupied with external things ; therefore the Spirit reckons it as occupy- ing an inferior place. — Ipfirin'iag yXwGGwv, interpretations of tongues) The expression does not seem to be a gloss spuriously
1 As was the custom, in Bengel’s days, among fops. — Ed.
2 Neut. plur. with verb sing. — Ed.
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