Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 4:15
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet [have ye] not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
15. yet have ye not many fathers ] We have here an interesting example of the fact that the spirit rather than the letter of Christ’s commands is to be observed, and that one passage of Scripture is not to be strained so as to contradict another. ‘Call no man your father on earth,’ says Christ (St Mat 23:9): that is, as explained by the present passage, in such a spirit as to forget Him from whom all being proceeds.
in Christ Jesus I have begotten you ] i.e. because Jesus Christ dwells in His ministers, and their work is His. Cf. ch. 1Co 3:5-9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For though ye have ten thousand instructors – Though you may have or though you should have. It matters not how many you have, yet it is still true that I only sustain the relation to you of spiritual father, and whatever respect it is proper for you to have toward them, yet there is a special right which I have to admonish you, and a special deference which is due to me, from my early labors among you, and from the fact that you are my spiritual children.
Instructers – Greek: pedagogues; or those who conducted children to school, and who superintended their conduct out of school hours. Hence, those who had the care of children, or teachers (in general). It is then applied to instructors of any kind.
In Christ – In the Christian system or doctrine. The authority which Paul claims here, is that which a father has in preference to such an instructor.
Not many fathers – Spiritual fathers. That is, you have but one. You are to remember that however many teachers you have, yet that I alone am your spiritual father.
In Christ Jesus – By the aid and authority of Christ. I have begotten you by preaching his gospel and by his assistance.
I have begotten you – I was the instrument of your conversion.
Through the gospel – By means of the gospel; by preaching it to you, that is, by the truth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 15. For though ye have ten thousand instructers] , Myriads of leaders, that is, an indefinite multitude; for so the word is often used. The , from which we have our word pedagogue, which we improperly apply to a school master, was among the Greeks, the person or servant who attended a child, had the general care of him, and who led him to school for the purpose of being instructed by the , or teacher. It seems there were many at Corinth who offered their services to instruct this people, and who were not well affected towards the apostle.
Not many fathers] Many offer to instruct you who have no parental feeling for you; and how can they? you are not their spiritual children, you stand in this relation to me alone; for in Christ Jesus-by the power and unction of his Spirit, I have begotten you-I was the means of bringing you into a state of salvation, so that you have been born again: ye are my children alone in the Gospel. Schoettgen produces a good illustration of this from Shemoth Rabba, sect. 46, fol. 140. “A girl who had lost her parents was educated by a guardian, who was a good and faithful man, and took great care of her; when she was grown up, he purposed to bestow her in marriage; the scribe came, and beginning to write the contract, said, What is thy name? The maid answered, N. The scribe proceeded, What is the name of thy father? The maid was silent. Her guardian said, Why art thou silent? The maid replied, Because I know no other father but thee; for he who educates a child well, is more properly the father than he who begot it.” This is the same kind of sentiment which I have already quoted from Terence, Ro 16:13.
Natura tu illi pater es, consiliis ego.
Adelphi, Act i., scene 2, ver. 47.
Thou art his father by nature, I by instruction.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The great lesson of this text is: That people ought to have a tender respect for those ministers whom God hath hononred with their first conversion, and bringing them home to Christ. God may make use of a multitude of ministers to instruct Christians, and carry on his work in their souls to perfection; but he maketh use of some particular minister at first to convince them, and be an instrument in the changing of their hearts; such they ought to have a great value for, they are their spiritual fathers in a proper sense.
For, saith the apostle, in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel: where we have regeneration (as it signifieth a new state) set out in its causes. The principal efficient cause is Christ Jesus; the instrumental cause is the minister of the gospel; the means is the doctrine of the gospel, or the preaching of the gospel.
In Christ Jesus signifieth here by the grace of Christ Jesus; those who are born again, are not born of flesh or of blood, but of the will of God, Joh 1:13, and by the influence of Christ upon their hearts; though God makes use of the minister of the gospel as his instrument, and the minister makes use of the word and the preaching of the gospel, as the sacred means which God hath appointed to that end, 1Pe 1:23. All these causes unite and concur in the work of regeneration.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. ten thousandimplying thatthe Corinthians had more of them than was desirable.
instructorstutorswho had the care of rearing, but had not the rights, or peculiaraffection, of the father, who alone had begotten them spiritually.
in ChristPaul admitsthat these “instructors” were not mere legalists, butevangelical teachers. He uses, however, a stronger phrase ofhimself in begetting them spiritually, “In Christ Jesus,”implying both the Saviour’s office and person. As Paul was themeans of spiritually regenerating them, and yet “baptizednone of them save Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas,”regeneration cannot be inseparably in and by baptism(1Co 1:14-17).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ,…. Or “schoolmasters”; by whom he means the false teachers, whom, for argument sake, he admits to be instructors in Christ, or ministers of his, as in 2Co 11:23 and who were many, and of whose number the Corinthians boasted; though they were not so numerous as here supposed; for the expression is hyperbolical: perhaps some reference may be had to the multitude of schoolmasters, tutors, and governors, and who also were called , “fathers”, which those that were Jews of this church at Corinth had before they believed in Christ; as the members of the great sanhedrim, the great number of doctors, wise men, Scribes and Pharisees, who pretended to instruct them: now though it should be allowed, that the present teachers among them were instrumental in instructing them further in the knowledge of Christ; or as the Arabic version reads it, “in the love of Christ”; yet they had no hand in their conversion; the apostle first preached the Gospel to them, and ministerially laid Christ the foundation among them, and directed them unto him, and was the minister by whom they believed; these teachers at most and best built on his foundation, and that only wood, hay, and stubble; and whereas they were only a sort of schoolmasters, and not fathers, they taught with mercenary views, and for lucre’s sake, and with severity, as such men do; and not with such a single eye to their good, and with that tenderness and affection a parent has, and in which relation he stood to them:
yet have ye not many fathers; as it is in nature, so it is in grace; how many masters and instructors soever a child may have, whether together or successively, he has but one father; and so how many after instructors, either nominally or really, believers may have to lead them on, or who pretend to lead them on to a further knowledge of Christ; yet have they but one spiritual father, who has been the happy instrument and means of their conversion, as the Apostle Paul was to the Corinthians;
for in Christ Jesus have I begotten you through the Gospel; which is to be understood of regeneration, a being born again, and from above; of being quickened when dead in trespasses and sins; of having Christ formed in the soul; of being made a partaker of the divine nature, and a new creature; which the apostle ascribes to himself, not as the efficient cause thereof, for regeneration is not of men but of God; not of the will of the flesh, of a man’s own free will and power, nor of the will of any other man, or minister; but of the sovereign will, grace, and mercy of God, Father, Son, and Spirit. The Father of Christ beget us again according to his abundant mercy; and the Son quickens whom he will; and we are born again of water and of the Spirit, of the grace of the Spirit; hence the washing of regeneration, and renewing work are ascribed to him: but the apostle speaks this of himself, only as the instrument or means, which God made use of in doing this work upon the hearts of his people; and which the other phrases show: for he is said to do it “in Christ”; he preached Christ unto them, and salvation by him, and the necessity of faith in him; he directed them to him to believe in him, and was the means of bringing of them to the faith of Christ; and it was the power and grace of Christ accompanying his ministry, which made it an effectual means of their regeneration and conversion: and which were brought about “through the Gospel”; not through the preaching of the law; for though by that is the knowledge of sin, and convictions may be wrought by such means; yet these leave nothing but a sense of wrath and damnation; nor is the law any other than a killing letter: no regeneration, no quickening grace, no faith nor holiness come this way, but through the preaching of the Gospel; in and through which, as a vehicle, the Spirit of God conveys himself into the heart, as a spirit of regeneration and faith; and God of his own will and rich mercy, by the word of truth, by the Gospel of grace and truth, which came by Christ, so called in distinction from the law which came by Moses, begets us again as his new creatures; which shows the usefulness of the Gospel ministry, and in what account Gospel ministers are to be had, who are spiritual fathers, or the instruments of the conversion of men.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
To admonish (). Literally, admonishing (present active participle of ). See on 1Thess 5:12; 1Thess 5:14.
For though ye should have ( ). Third-class condition undetermined, but with prospect of being determined ( and present subjunctive), “for if ye have.”
Tutors (). This old word (, boy, , leader) was used for the guide or attendant of the child who took him to school as in Ga 3:24 (Christ being the schoolmaster) and also as a sort of tutor who had a care for the child when not in school. The papyri examples (Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary) illustrate both aspects of the paedagogue. Here it is the “tutor in Christ” who is the Teacher. These are the only two N.T. examples of the common word.
I begot you ( ). Paul is their
spiritual father in Christ, while Apollos and the rest are their
tutors in Christ.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Tutors [] . From paiv boy and ajgwgov leader. The Paedagogus was a slave to whom boys were entrusted on leaving the care of the females, which was somewhere about their sixteenth year. He was often a foreigner, sometimes educated and refined, but often otherwise; for Plutarch complains that seamen, traders, usurers, and farmers are engaged in this capacity. The office was one of general guardianship, not of instruction, though sometimes the paedagogus acted as teacher. He accompanied the boy to school, carrying his books, etc., and attended him to the gymnasium and elsewhere. 87 See, further, on Gal 3:24.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ.” Paul concedes that it was possible for the Corinthian brethren to have myriads of pedagogues or instructors in Christ.
2) “Yet have ye not many fathers.” (Greek all’ ou pollus pateras) “but (in contrast with this) not many fathers.” The apostle Paul seems to refer to himself as the spiritual father of most of the brethren at Corinth.
3) “For in Christ Jesus.” (en gar christo iesou) in contrast to ones being “in the world or world order” – these brethren once out of Christ, were now “in Christ” – and Paul had led most of them to be “in Him” – to be saved.
4) I have begotten you through the gospel.” (dia tou eoangeliou ego humas egennesa) “I begat ou through the gospel.” This is why he could affectionately address these as his sons. 1 Corinthians 9; 1 Corinthians 12; 1Co 15:1-3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
15. For though you had ten thousand. He had called himself father, and now he shows that this title belongs to him peculiarly and specially, inasmuch as he alone has begotten them in Christ. In this comparison, however, he has an eye to the false apostles to whom the Corinthians showed all deference, so that Paul was now almost as nothing among them. Accordingly he admonishes them to consider what honor ought to be rendered to a father, and what to a pedagogue (254) “You entertain respect for those new teachers. To this I have no objection, provided you bear in mind that I am your father, while they are merely pedagogues. ” Now by claiming for himself authority, he intimates that he is actuated by a different kind of affection from that of those whom they so highly esteemed. “They take pains in instructing you. Be it so. Very different is the love of a father, very different his anxiety, very different his attachment from those of a pedagogue What if he should also make an allusion to that imperfection of faith (255) which he had previously found fault with? For while the Corinthians were giants in pride, they were children in faith, and are, therefore, with propriety, sent to pedagogues (256) He also reproves the absurd and base system of those teachers in keeping their followers in the mere first rudiments, with the view of keeping them always in bonds under their authority. (257)
For in Christ Here we have the reason why he alone ought to be esteemed as the father of the Corinthian Church — because he had begotten it. And truly it is in most appropriate terms that he here describes spiritual generation, when he says that he has begotten them in Christ, who alone is the life of the soul, and makes the gospel the formal cause. (258) Let us observe, then, that we are then in the sight of God truly begotten, when we are engrafted into Christ, out of whom there will be found nothing but death, and that this is effected by means of the gospel, because, while we are by nature flesh and hay, the word of God, as Peter (1Pe 1:24) teaches from Isaiah, (Isa 40:6,) is the incorruptible seed by which we are renewed to eternal life. Take away the gospel, and we will all remain accursed and dead in the sight of God. That same word by which we are begotten is afterwards milk to us for nourishing us, and it is also solid food to sustain us for ever. (259)
Should any one bring forward this objection, “As new sons are begotten to God in the Church every day, why does Paul say that those who succeeded him were not fathers ?” the answer is easy — that he is here speaking of the commencement of the Church. For although many had been begotten by the ministry of others, this honor remained to Paul untouched — that he had founded the Corinthian Church. Should any one, again, ask, “Ought not all pastors to be reckoned fathers, and if so, why does Paul deprive all others of this title, so as to claim it for himself exclusively?” I answer — “He speaks here comparatively.” Hence, however the title of fathers might be applicable to them in other respects, yet in respect of Paul, they were merely instructors We must also keep in mind what I touched upon a little ago, that he is not speaking of all, (for as to those who were like himself, as, for example, Apollos, Silvanus, and Timotheus, who aimed at nothing but the advancement of Christ’s kingdom, he would have had no objection to their being so named, and having the highest honor assigned to them,) but is reproving those who, by a misdirected ambition, transferred to themselves the glory that belonged to another. Of this sort were those who robbed Paul of the honor that was due to him, that they might set themselves off in his spoils.
And, truly, the condition of the Church universal at this day is the same as that of the Corinthian Church was at that time. For how few are there that love the Churches with a fatherly, that is to say, a disinterested affection, and lay themselves out to promote their welfare! Meanwhile, there are very many pedagogues, who give out their services as hirelings, in such a manner as to discharge as it were a mere temporary office, and in the meantime hold the people in subjection and admiration. (260) At the same time, even in that case it is well when there are many pedagogues, who do good, at least, to some extent by teaching, and do not destroy the Church by the corruptions of false doctrine. For my part, when I complain of the multitude of pedagogues, I do not refer to Popish priests, (for I would not do them the honor of reckoning them in that number,) but those who, while agreeing with us in doctrine, employ themselves in taking care of their own affairs, rather than those of Christ. We all, it is true, wish to be reckoned fathers, and require from others the obedience of sons, but where is the man to be found who acts in such a manner as to show that he is a father ? (261)
There remains another question of greater difficulty: As Christ forbids us to
call any one father upon earth, because we have one Father in heaven, (Mat 23:9,)
how does Paul dare to take to himself the name of father ? I answer, that, properly speaking, God alone is the Father, not merely of our soul, but also of our flesh. As, however, in so far as concerns the body, he communicates the honor of his paternal name to those to whom he gives offspring, while, as to souls, he reserves to himself exclusively the right and title of Father, I confess that, on this account, he is called in a peculiar sense the Father of spirits, and is distinguished from earthly fathers, as the Apostle speaks in Heb 12:9. As, however, notwithstanding that it is he alone who, by his own influence, begets souls, and regenerates and quickens them, he makes use of the ministry of his servants for this purpose, there is no harm in their being called fathers, in respect of this ministry, as this does not in any degree detract from the honor of God. The word, as I have said, is the spiritual seed. God alone by means of it regenerates our souls by his influence, but, at the same time, he does not exclude the efforts of ministers. If, therefore, you attentively consider, what God accomplishes by himself, and what he designs to be accomplished by ministers, you will easily understand in what sense he alone is worthy of the name of Father, and how far this name is applicable to his ministers, without any infringement upon his rights.
(254) “The Greek word pedagogue, ” says Calmet, “now carries with it an idea approaching to contempt. With no other word to qualify it, it excites the idea of a pedant, who assumes an air of authority over others, which does not belong to him. But among the ancients a pedagogue was a person to whom they committed the care of their children, to lead them, to observe them, and to instruct them in their first rudiments. Thus the office of a pedagogue nearly answered to that of a governor or tutor, who constantly attends his pupil, teaches him, and forms his manners. Paul (1Co 4:15) says: “For though you have ten thousand instructors ( pedagogues) in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers’ — representing himself as their father in the faith, since he had begotten them in the gospel. The pedagogue, indeed, may have some power and interest in his pupil, but he can never have the natural tenderness of a father for him.” — Ed.
(255) “ Quel mal y auroit-il, quand nous dirions, qu’il fait aussi vne allusion a ceste petitesse et enfance en la foy ?” — “What harm were there, though we should say that he also makes an allusion to that littleness and childhood in the faith?”
(256) Our Author evidently alludes to the etymology of the original term παιδαγωγοὺς, as being derived from παῖς, a boy, and ἄγω, to lead Such instructors were generally slaves, whose business it was to attend upon their youthful charge, to observe their behavior, and to lead them to and from school. (Herod. 8. 75, Eur. Ion, 725.) — Ed
(257) “ La mauuaise procedure et faqon d’enseigner des docteurs, d’autant qu’ils amusoyent leurs disciples aux premiers rudimens et petis commencemens, et les tenoyent tousiours la;” — “The base procedure and method of instruction of the teachers, inasmuch as they amused their followers with the first rudiments and little beginnings, and kept them constantly there.”
(258) “ Qu’on appelle;” — “As they call it. ”
(259) Our Author probably refers to what he had said when commenting on 1Co 3:2.
(260) “ Qui se loent, comme ouuriers a la iournee, pour exercer l’office a leur profit, ainsi qu’on feroit vne chose qu’on aura prise pour vn temps certain, et cependant, tenir le peuple en obeissance, et acquerir bruit, ou estre en admiration enuers iceluy;” — “Who hire themselves out, as workmen for the day, in order to exercise the office to their own advantage, as if one were doing a thing that he had taken up for a certain time, and in the meantime to hold the people in subjection, and acquire fame, or be in admiration among them.”
(261) “ Combien yen a-t-il qui facent office de pere, et qui demonstrent par effet ce qu’ils vetdent estre appelez ?” — “How many are there of them that discharge the office of a father, and show in deeds what they wish to be called?”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) For.The reason why he has a right to address them as a father would his children. They may have had since their conversion a host of instructors, but they could have only one father who begot them in Jesus Christ. That father was Paul. I have begotten you. I, emphatic as opposed to many. The word rendered instructors originally signified the slave who led the child to school, but subsequently had the larger meaning, which we attach to the word pedagogue. (See Gal. 3:24-25.) There is a contrast implied between the harsh severity of a pedagogue and the loving tenderness of a father.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
15. For As the ground of my assuming this authority.
Instructors Tutors, or children-governors.
Fathers I At this decisive point Paul asserts his authority as one and sole.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 4:15 justifies the . .
For suppose ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ . On , [704] compare Mat 18:24 ; 1Co 14:19 .
Respecting the paedagogi among the Greeks and Romans (comp , 1Ch 27:32 ; 2Ki 10:1 ; 2Ki 10:5 ; Est 2:7 ; Rosenmller, Morgenl. VI. p. 272), who, for the most part slaves, had it in charge to educate and give constant attendance upon boys till they came of age, see Wetstein and Hermann, Privatalterth . 34. 15 ff. The name is here given figuratively to the later workers in the church, the (1Co 3:6-8 ), the (1Co 3:10 ff.), in respect of their carrying on its further Christian development, after Paul (its father ) had founded it, had given to it Christian life, had begotten it spiritually. Since the essential nature of the delineation here allowed of no other word alongside of except ., and since, moreover, Apollos also was reckoned among the , we are not warranted in finding here expressed the idea of imperious and arrogant leadership on the part of the heads of parties (Beza, Calvin, and others, including Pott, Heydenreich, de Wette, Osiander). Compare, too, Erasmus: “paedagogus saevit pro imperio.” It is not even the inferior love of the later teachers (Chrysostom, Theophylact) that Paul wishes to make his readers sensible of, but only his rights as a father , which can be in no way impaired by all who subsequently entered the same field.
. .] sc [706] . The after a hypothetical protasis is the at of emphatic contrast, on the other hand (Ngelsbach on the Iliad , p. 43, Exo 3 ; Baeumlein, Partik. p. 11; Klotz, a [707] Devar. p. 93), and that, too, without a restrictive , in the sense of at certe ; see Khner, a [708] Xen. Anab. vii. 7. 43.
. . [709] ] i.e. for in the life-fellowship of Jesus Christ no other than I myself has begotten you, through the gospel . Just as , in the first half of the verse, conveys the specific distinction of the ; so here, and that with the emphatic addition of , it conveys that of the moral generation, which has taken place, not out of Christ, but in Him as the element of its being; and . (comp 1Pe 1:23 ) is the means whereby this establishment of their existence in the Christian sphere of life has been brought about. In both these respects it differs from physical generation. The antithetic emphasis of the forbids us to refer . . to the person of the apostle: “in my fellowship with Christ , i.e. as His apostle ” (de Wette, comp Grotius, Calovius, Flatt, al [712] ).
] Comp 1Co 4:17 ; Phm 1:10 ; Gal 4:19 . Sanhedr. f. 19. 2 : “Quicunque filium socii sui docet legem, ad eum scriptura refert, tanquam si eum genuisset.”
[704] The distinction drawn by the old grammarians between (a numeral proper) and (an indefinitely large number) is without foundation. See Buttmann, ausfhrl. Sprachl . I. p. 284; Ellendt, Lex Soph. II. p. 144.
[706] c. scilicet .
[707] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[708] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[709] . . . .
[712] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
15 For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.
Ver. 15. Ten thousand instructors ] Gr. pedagogues, who often prove orbiliusses, sharp and severe above measure, Verberibus pluunt, colaphis grandinant. So did these Corinthian school masters, 2Co 11:20 . They were also too well skilled in the Doric dialect, crying, Give, give; and taught little more than elegant elocution.
I have begotten you through the gospel ] For together with the word there goeth forth a regenerating power, Jas 1:18 . The exhortations thereof are operative means of sanctification, and practical; as when God said, “Let there be light,” or Christ said, “Lazarus, come forth.” The Spirit maketh the seed of the word prolific and generative; and hence ministers are made fathers, as Moses was father to Aaron’s children, Num 3:1 , who are therefore there called “his generation.” And as propriissimum opus viventis est, generare sibi simile, as saith the philosopher, it is the most proper work of every living thing to beget its like; so here.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
15 .] Justification of the expression .
, the greatest possible number see reff.
.] He was their spiritual father : those who followed, Apollos included, were but tutors , having the care and education of the children, but not the rights, as they could not have the peculiar affection of the father. He evidently shews by , that these were more in number than he could wish , including among them doubtless the false and party teachers: but to refer the word only to them and their despotic leading (as Beza, Calvin, al., and De Wette), or to confine its meaning to the stricter sense of , the slave who led the child to school , is not here borne out by the facts. See ref. and note: and for the wider sense of ., examples in Wetst.
brings out the contrast strongly, giving almost the sense of ‘ at non ideo :’ so sch. in Ctes. 155, , . See Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 40.
. ] For in Christ Jesus (as the spiritual element in which the begetting took place: so commonly , applied to relations of life, see 1Co 4:17 , bis, not to be joined as De W. with , q. d. . . . . . ) by means of the gospel (the preached word being the instrument) I (emphatic) begat you (there is also an emphasis on , as coming before the verb, q. d. in your case, I it was who begat you).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 4:15 . Reason for this lighter reproof, where stern censure was due “For if you should have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet (you have) not many fathers! ” The relation of the to the (1Co 3:10 ) is exchanged for that of the to the . The ( boy-leader ) was not the schoolmaster, but the home-tutor a kind of nursery-governor who had charge of the child from tender years, looking after his food and dress, speech and manners, and when he was old enough taking him to and from school (see Lt [762] on Gal 3:24 ). This epithet has a touch of disparagement for the readers ( cf. Gal 3:25 ); as Or [763] says ( Catena ), referring to 1Co 3:1 f., , . (1Co 14:19 ) indicates the very many probably too many teachers busy in this Church ( cf. Jas 3:1 ; Jas 3:18 above), in whose guidance the Cor [764] felt themselves “rich” and Apostolic direction superfluous (1Co 4:8 ). ( at certe ) introduces an apodosis in salient contrast with its protasis: “You may have ever so many nurses, but only one father!” From this relationship “non solum Apollos excluditur, successor; sed etiam comites, Silas et Timotheus” (Bg [765] ): (I and no other) ( cf. Phm 1:10 , Gal 4:19 ); in the Rabbinical treatise Sanhedrin , f., xix. 2, the like sentiment occurs, “Whoever teaches the son of his friend the law, it is as if he had begotten him”; similarly Philo, de Virtute , p. 1000. . : cf. 1Pe 1:23 ; also 1Co 1:18 above, 1Th 1:5 ; 1Th 2:19 ; Joh 6:63 , etc.
[762] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[763] Origen.
[764] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[765] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.
thought = if. App-118. b
have = should have.
instructers. Greek. paidagogos. Only here and Gal 1:3, Gal 1:24, Gal 1:25.
Christ Jesus. App-98.
have begotten = begat. Greek. gennao. Compare Phm 1:10.
gospel. App-140.
15.] Justification of the expression .
, the greatest possible number-see reff.
.] He was their spiritual father: those who followed, Apollos included, were but tutors, having the care and education of the children, but not the rights, as they could not have the peculiar affection of the father. He evidently shews by , that these were more in number than he could wish,-including among them doubtless the false and party teachers: but to refer the word only to them and their despotic leading (as Beza, Calvin, al., and De Wette), or to confine its meaning to the stricter sense of , the slave who led the child to school, is not here borne out by the facts. See ref. and note: and for the wider sense of ., examples in Wetst.
brings out the contrast strongly, giving almost the sense of at non ideo: so sch. in Ctes. 155, , . See Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 40.
.] For in Christ Jesus (as the spiritual element in which the begetting took place: so commonly , applied to relations of life, see 1Co 4:17, bis,-not to be joined as De W. with , q. d. . . . . . ) by means of the gospel (the preached word being the instrument) I (emphatic) begat you (there is also an emphasis on , as coming before the verb, q. d. in your case, I it was who begat you).
1Co 4:15. , instructors) however evangelical they are, being in Christ, not legal instructors. The antithetical terms respectively are, planting, and watering; laying the foundation, and building upon it: begetting and instructing.- , not many) In like manner every regenerate man has not many fathers. Paul does not say, one Father; for that applies to God alone; not many, is however sufficiently explained by the following word, I. Not only Apollos, his successor, is excluded, but also his companions Silas and Timotheus, Act 18:5. Spiritual fatherhood has in it a peculiar tie of relationship and affection connected with it, above every other kind of propinquity.- , for in Christ Jesus) This is more express than the phrase above, in Christ, where he is speaking of other instructors.
1Co 4:15
1Co 4:15
For though ye have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers;-They had many teachers in Christ, yet they had but one father in the gospel. The father cared more for them than any teacher, especially those making gain of them.
for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel.-By the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, Paul preached the gospel, the word of God, which is the seed of the kingdom, to the Corinthians; they received it into the heart as the incorruptible seed, and by it they were begotten or made alive. James says: Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (Jas 1:18). Peter says: Having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth…. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you. (1Pe 1:2325). Connect with this what Jesus said to Nicodemus (Joh 3:3-5), and it is clear that the Holy Spirit begets by imparting the word of God, the incorruptible seed, to the heart of man through the gospel.
ye have: 2Ti 4:3
for: 1Co 3:6, 1Co 3:10, 1Co 9:1, 1Co 9:2, Act 18:4-11, Rom 15:20, 2Co 3:1-3, Gal 4:19, Tit 1:4, Phm 1:10-12, Phm 1:19, Jam 1:18, 1Pe 1:23
Reciprocal: 2Ki 5:13 – My father Pro 7:24 – O Mat 23:9 – call 1Co 4:14 – my 1Co 4:17 – who is 1Co 9:12 – are not 1Co 16:24 – love 2Co 6:13 – I speak 2Co 7:3 – to condemn 2Co 10:14 – we stretch not 2Co 11:2 – I have 2Co 12:14 – for the Gal 1:6 – that called 1Th 2:11 – as Heb 2:13 – which 1Jo 2:1 – little 3Jo 1:4 – that
5
1Co 4:15. There might be no limit to the number of persons who could instruct others, but since a man can be begotten once only, there can be only one person to lead him into primary obedience by making him know what he must believe in order to become a child of God. Paul had done this for the Corinthian brethren, and it is in that sense that he says I have begotten you through the Gospel.
1Co 4:15. For if you should have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the Gospel. Three agencies are named here as factors in conversion: Christ, as the proper Agent (through His Spirit); the Gospel, as the instrumental means; and the preacher who brings the message (in this case the apostle himself). Every spiritual father will feel something of the jealousy here expressed, in relation to others who after him have dealings with his converts; and all the more, since any insensibility to or forgetfulness of what they owe to their spiritual father argues either decline in their spiritual life, or some unwholesome influences operating upon them.
Vv. 15, 16. For though ye should have ten thousand tutors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16. I beseech you therefore: be ye imitators of me.
In 1Co 4:15, Paul presents the almost ridiculous figure of a flock of pupils placed under the rod of several thousands of tutors. There is an allusion to that host of teachers who had risen up at Corinth after the departure of Paul and Apollos, and to whom was addressed the warning in 1Co 3:12-15, regarding those who continued a building once founded. The pedagogue (tutor) among the Greeks was the slave to whom a child’s education was committed till he reached his majority; literally: he who guides the child to school.: here, like the at of the Latins. It was Paul to whom God had given to beget the Corinthians to that new life which the others only promoted; comp. a similar figure, Gal 4:19. This term , to beget, applies not only to the ministry of preaching, but to the intense labour of the whole man which is carried out in his personal relations and in the act of prayer.
It should be remarked that Paul prefixes to the idea of his labour the two qualifications: in Christ Jesus and by the gospel. It was in virtue of the communion and power of Christ, and by means of the gospel which he received from Him, that he was able to produce this spiritual creation. He thus excludes beforehand every appearance of boasting in what he says of himself in the last words: .
But if it was Christ who acted with His power and word, it was nevertheless through him, Paul (, I), that He produced this creation. Hence Paul’s right and duty to exhort them, and even to admonish them as he does.
Though ye have ten thousand tutors [literally, pedagogues: the large number rebukes their itch for teachers] in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers [they had but one–Paul]; for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel. [In the first, or highest, sense disciples are begotten by the will of God (Joh 1:13); but in a secondary sense they are begotten by the teacher of gospel truths (Jam 1:18). The Corinthians had many builders, but one founder; many waterers, but one planter; many tutors, but one father. He had rights, therefore, which could never be rivaled.]
15. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, but you have not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I begat you through the gospel; i. e., the gospel was one instrument in their conversion and Paul was another, and both used by the Omnipotent Spirit in their regeneration. Some have very erroneously tried to construe this passage in favor of regeneration without the Spirit, which is utterly untrue. Paul was simply speaking of the instrumentality, and not of the Omnipotent Agency.
Verse 15
1 have begotten you. Paul first preached the gospel in Corinth, and founded the church there, as has already been explained.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament