The Apostle repeats triumphantly hie
796
“ds ἃ ὑπηρέτας
a See τς TV. 1, "Οὕτως ἡμᾶς "λογιζέσθω "ἄνθρωπος constr., ῦ ος , f bi hs g21 S31 hb , ronstt.. Χριστοῦ, καὶ "οἴκονόμους ΄ μυστηρίων Θεοῦ. 2. 581 δὲ1 Ά λοιπόν, αδ, αχ. 8)
2 Cor. x. 2; Ph. iii. 13; Acts xix. 27; Mk. xv. 28 (Isa. liii. 12). d Acts xiii. 5, xxvi. 16; Lk. i. 2; Jo. xviii. 36. 6 ωδε, similarly in Heb. vii. 8; Rev. xiii. το, 18, xiv.
vii. 24, ix. 20; Gal. vi. 1, 7. iv. 10; Lk. xii. 42 (πιστος). 12, XVii. 9. h See i. 16.
f See ii. 7.
Ίωδε, all uncc. but DcEL; also oldest verss. Lachm., following the bulk of minuscc., placed the full stop after ωδε.
Comm.
πάντα ὑμῶν, having gathered into it the totality of finite existence, to reverse it by the words ὑμεῖς δὲ Χριστοῦ, ‘‘ but (not and) you are Christ’s!” (cf. vi. 20, Rom. xii. x f., 2 Cor. v. 15). The Cor. readers, exalted to a height outsoaring Stoic pride, are in a moment laid low at the feet of Christ: ‘‘ Lords of the uni- verse—you are His bondmen, your vast heritage in the present and future you gather as factors for Him”. P. endorses the doctrine of the kingship of the spiritual man, dilating on it with an elo- quence surpassing that of Stoicism ; “but,” he reminds him, his wealth is that of a steward. Our property is im- mense, but we are Another’s; we rule, to be ruled.. A man cannot own too much, provided that he recognises his Owner. Finally, Christ who demands our sub- ordination, supplies in Himself its grand example: Χριστὸς δὲ Θεοῦ, “ but Christ is God’s’”. We are masters of every- thing, but Christ’s servants; He Master of us, but God’s Servant (cf. Acts ili. 13, etc.). For His filial submission, see’ xi. 3, xv. 22 ff., Rom. vi. 10, and notes; also John viii. 29, x. 29, etc. We can- not accept Cv.’s dilution of the sense, ““Hzec subjectio ad Christi humanitatem refertur”; for the tpets Χριστοῦ, just affirmed, raises Christ high over men. It is enough to say with Thd., Ἀριστὸς Θεοῦ οὐχ ὡς κτίσμα Θεοῦ, GAN ὡς Ὑιὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ: cf. Heb. v. 8. The sovereignty of the Father is the corner-stone of authority in the universe (xi. 3, xv. 28). The ΑΡ. has now vindicated God’s rights in His Church (see Introd. to § 1ο), and recalled the Cor. from their carnal strife and pursuit of worldly wis- dom to the unity, sanctity, and grandeur of their Christian calling, which makes them servants of God through Christ, and in His right the heirs of all things. § 12. CHRIST’S SERVANTS ANSWER- ABLE TO HIMSELF, iv. 1-5. The Ap. has shown his readers their own true position —so high and yet so lowly (§ 11); Paul, Apollos, Cephas are but part of a universe of ministry that waits upon them. But
ο xi. 28; 2 Cor. xii. 4; Rom. ii. 1, e πει Pret
ο δε, however, in Chr. and Gr.
more is to be said about the Christian leaders, whose names are sc much abused at Cor. If the Church is to understand its proper character, it must reverence theirs. They are its servants; it is not their master. They are its property, because they are Christ’s property; and His instruments first of all. P. thus resumes the train of thought opened in § 10, where the work of Church-builders was discriminated in relation to the building ; now it is viewed in its relation to God the Householder. Here lies another and the final ground of accusa- tion against the Cor. parties: those who maintained them, in applauding this chief and censuring that, were putting them- selves into Christ’s judgment-seat, from which the Apostle thrusts them down. Ver. 1. ‘In this way let a man take account of us, vzz., as servants of Christ, etc.” Otrws draws attention to the coming ὡς: the vb. λογιζέσθω implies a reasonable estimate, drawn from ad- mitted principles (cf. Rom. vi. 11; xii. 1, λογικήν), the pr. impv. an habitual esti- mate. The use of ἄνθρωπος for τις (xi. 28, etc.), occasional in cl. Gr., occurs “where a gravior dicendi formula is required” (EI.). Ὑπηρέτης (only here in Epp.: see parls.) agrees with οἰκέτης (Rom. xiv. 4, domestic) in associating servant and master, whereas διάκονος rather contrasts them (iii. 5, see note; Mark ix. 35): see Trench, Syn., § 9.—as tanp. Χριστοῦ κ. οἰκονόμους κ.τ.λ., as Christ’s assistants, and stewards of God’s mysteries ’’—in these relations Jesus set the App. to Himself and God: see Matt. xiii. 11, 52. With P. the Church is the οἶκος (1 Tim. iii. 15), God the οἴκοδεσ- πότης, its members the οἰκεῖοι (Gal. vi. 10, Eph. ii. 19), and its ministers—the App. in chief—the οἰκονόμοι (ix. 17, Col. i. 25, etc.). The figure of iii. 9 ff. is kept up: those who were ἀρχιτέκτων and ἐποικοδομοῦντες in the rearing of the house, become ὑπηρέται and οἰκονόμοι in its internal economy. The οἰκονόμος was a confidential housekeeper or over- seer, commonly a slave, charged with pro-