1 Corinthians 4:11 - Exposition

Unto this present hour. In these three verses he draws a picture of the condition of the apostles, especially of the trials to which he was himself subjected, on which the best comment is in 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 . This letter was written from Ephesus, where he had so much to do and to endure ( Acts 20:31 ). Hunger and thirst. "In hunger and thirst, in fastings often" ( 2 Corinthians 11:27 ). Are naked . And are buffeted. The verb means literally, are slapped in the face . Such insults, together with scourgings, fell to the lot of St. Paul ( Acts 23:2 , etc.) and the other apostles ( Acts 16:23 , 1 Peter 2:20 ), as well as to that of their Lord ( Matthew 26:57 , etc.). It showed the utter contempt with which they were treated; for though St. Paul ought to have been exempt from such violence, both as a freeman and a Roman citizen, he was treated as vilely as if he had been a mere foreign slave. Have no certain dwelling place. This homelessness was among the severest of all trials ( Matthew 8:20 ; Matthew 10:23 ).