1 Corinthians 4:12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:7-13

Here the apostle improves the foregoing hint to a caution against pride and self-conceit, and sets forth the temptations the Corinthians had to despise him, from the difference of their circumstances. I. He cautions them against pride and self-conceit by this consideration, that all the distinction made among them was owing to God: Who maketh thee to differ? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? 1 Cor. 4:7. Here the apostle turns his discourse to the ministers who set themselves at... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - 1 Corinthians 4:6-13

4:6-13 Brothers, I have transferred these things by way of illustration to myself and to Apollos, so that through us you may learn to observe the principle of not going beyond that which is written, so that none of you may speak boastfully of one teacher and disparagingly of the other. Who sees anything special in you? What do you possess that you did not receive? And, if you did receive it, why are you boasting as if you had acquired it yourself? No doubt you are already fed to the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:12

And labour, working with our own hands ,.... As the apostle did at Corinth, Acts 18:3 and elsewhere; partly to minister to his own necessities, and those of others; and partly that he might not be burdensome to the churches; and also to set an example of diligence and industry to others; though he had a right and power to claim a maintenance of those to whom he ministered. Being reviled, we bless ; as Christ commanded, Matthew 5:44 and the apostle himself directed and exhorted to, ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 4:12

Working with our own hands - They were obliged to labor in order to supply themselves with the necessaries of life while preaching the Gospel to others. This, no doubt, was the case in every place were no Church had been as yet formed: afterwards, the people of God supplied their ministers, according to their power, with food and raiment. Being reviled, we bless, etc. - What a most amiable picture does this exhibit of the power of the grace of Christ! Man is naturally a proud creature,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 4:12

Verse 12 12.When he says that while persecuted he suffers it, and that he prays for his revilers, he intimates that he is not merely afflicted and abased by God, by means of the cross, but is also endowed with a disposition to abase himself willingly. In this, perhaps, he gives a stroke to the false apostles, who were so effeminate and tender, that they could not bear to be touched even with your little finger. In speaking of their laboring he adds — with our own hands, to express more fully... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:6-13

Contrast between the inflated self sufficiency of the Corinthians and the earthly humiliation of the apostles. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:6-13

Against self conceit. Party spirit leads to the undue exaltation of men. The head of a faction becomes a hero in the eyes of those that belong to it. Two evil consequences follow—pride, self sufficiency, conceit, on the one hand; undue depreciation of others and boasting against them, on the other hand. Against this hateful spirit the apostle has already presented a variety of arguments; and while speaking chiefly of himself and Apollos, he has in reality been teaching us how to regard all... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:8-12

Suffering for others a proof of interest in their welfare. Recall Paley's argument from the sufferings of the early Christians as to the sincerity of their belief. Similarly, St. Paul urges here that the troubles and persecutions which he and the other teachers had endured in ministering to the Churches, ought to convince the people of his love and zeal for their highest welfare; and should also be felt to set him in such intimate and confidential relations with them that he might claim... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:8-13

A vivid contrast. Having shown that the Christian consciousness was a twofold realization of the worthlessness of whatever was its own, and the infinite worth of the "all things" in Christ, and having proceeded thence to the idea of stewardship and the urgent need of faithfulness, how can St. Paul withhold the stern application of such truths? Had it been a childish self complacency with which he was dealing, we know how he would have treated it. But it was an active jealousy, a pompons... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 4:10-14

Paul's treatment of self. conceited teachers. "We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; and labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of... read more

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