u Κε. ix. 5. εἰς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, 6. καὶ ἐν” "ἑτοίμω ἔχοντες ᾿ ἐκδικῆσαι
ν Rom. xii. 19; cf. vii. 11.
w Rom. v. 19; Heb.
πᾶσαν " παρακοὴν, ὅταν πληρωθῇ ὃ ὑμῶν ὁ ἡ ὑπακοή. 7. τὰ "κατὰ "πρόσωπον βλέπετε; εἴ τις πέποιθεν " ἑαυτῷ Χριστοῦ ὃ
ii. 2 only. εἶναι, τοῦτο λογιζέσθω πάλιν ἀφ᾽ 7 ἑαυτοῦ, ὅτι καθὼς αὐτὸς Χριστοῦ,
x Reff. ver. I.
1 After Χρ. D*EG, d, e, g, πι add αγοντες.
2 D* has ετοιµως for εν ἐτοιμῳ.
°C, r add προτερον after πληρ.
*D*cEG, d, e, g, τ give the order η νπακ. υμων.
5 B has δοκει πεποιθεναι,
5 D*E*G, d, e, f, g supply δονλος after Χρ.
7 ap εαντον is found in CDEGKP (cf. iii, 5); better εφ with ΜΒΙ, and the
Latins.
Spirit and of power”; he ever regards the Gospel as a revelation, not a body of doctrine which could be reasoned out by man for himself from first principles— not, to be sure, an irrational system, but one which is beyond the capacity of reason to discover or to fathom to its depths), and every high thing (carrying on the metaphor by which the “ tower- ing” conceits of speculation are repre- sented as fortifications erected against the soldiers of the Cross) that is exalted, or “ elevated,” “ built up,” against the knowledge of God, sc., which 15 revealed in Christ, and leading captive (for aly- μαλωτίζειν the more correct Attic form is αἰχμαλωτεύειν) every thought into the obedience of Christ (cf. ix. 13). All through this passage the Apostle has directly in view the opposition of gain- sayers at Corinth, and so it is not safe to interpret his phrases as directed without qualification against the claims of the intellect and conscience in the matter of doctrine, Yet it must be remembered that he regarded the message which he preached as directly revealed to himself, and not derived from tradition or inter- pretation, and hence as possessed of a certainty to which the demonstrations of philosophy, however cogent, could not attain. All Truth must be loyal to “ the obedience of Christ,” who was Himself “the Truth” (cf. xiii. 8).
Ver. 6. καὶ ἐν ἑτοίμῳ ἔχοντες κ.τ.λ. : and being in readiness (cf. ἑτοίμως ἔχω chap. xii. 14) to avenge all disobedience (cf. Matt. xviii. 17), 5ε., if there remain any still disobedient, when your obedi- ence, κε. to me and to my Apostolic authority (cf. ii. 9, vii. 15), shall be ful-
lled. The word ὑπακοή in ver. 5 brings
im back to this, the primary object of his letter. He does not wish to arrive in Corinth until the Church as a whole is firm in its loyalty to him.
Vv. 7-18. DESPITE ALL APPEARANCES, ΗΙ5 APOSTOLICAL AUTHORITY IS WEIGHTY ; HIS MISSION To THE GREEKS 15 A Divine Trust.—Ver. 7. τὰ κατὰ προσ. x.t.A.: ye look at the things which are before your face; i.e., you pay too much attention to outward appearances (cf. Rom. ii. τα, Gal. ii, 6, Eph. vi. 9), you lay too much stress on persona! inti- macy with Christ in the flesh (v. 7), and on a man's bodily presence and powers of speech (ver. 10), even on his own self- commendation (ver. 12). The rec. text places a note of interrogation after βλέπετε, but it seems preferable to treat the sentence as a simple categorical statement (see esp. on ver. 12, and cf. John vii. 24).—«t τις πέποιθεν κ.τ.λ.: if any man (this is his usual vague way of referring to opponents; cf. xi. 4, 20) trusteth in himself that he is Christ's, prides himself on specially belonging to what he regards as the “party” of Christ, which had unhappily grown up at Corinth (1 Cor. i. 12), let Kins consider this again (he has often heard it before, but has forgotten it) with himself (or, reading ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, “let him think this out for himself '"—it does not need any prompting from without), that even as he is Christ's, so also are we (1 Cor. iii. 23).