3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas 1 there is among you envying, and strife, and 2 divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk 3 as men?

1 James iii. 16. 2 or, factions. 3 according

to man.

3. For ye are yet carnal. Though you are Christians, and are the friends of God in the main, yet your divisions and strifes show that you are yet, in some degree, under the influence of the principles which govern the men of this world. Men who are governed solely by the principles of this world, evince a spirit of strife, emulation and contention; and just so far as you are engaged in strife, just so far do you show that you are governed by their principles and feelings. ¶ For whereas. In proof that you are carnal I appeal to your contentions and strifes. Envying (os), zeal; used here in the sense of envy, as it is in James iii. 14. 16. It denotes, properly, any fervour of mind (from w), and may be applied to any exciting and agitating passion. The envy here referred to, was that which arose from the superior advantages and endowments which some claimed or possessed over others. Envy everywhere is a fruitful cause of strife. Most contentions in the church are somehow usually connected with envy. And strife. Contention and dispute. And divisions. Dissensions and quarrels. The margin correctly renders it factions. The idea is, that they were split up into parties, and that those parties were embittered with mutual recriminations and reproaches, as they always are in a church. And walk as men. Marg. according to man. The word walk is used often in the Scriptures in the sense of to conduct oneself or to act. You conduct yourselves as men, i. e. as men commonly do; you evince the same spirit that the great mass of men do. Instead of being filled with love; of being united and harmonious as the members of the same family ought to be, you are split up in factions as the men of the world are.

4. For while one saith, &c. See Note, ch. i. 12.

4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but 5 ministers

4 Ch. i. 12; iv. 6. 5 Ch. iv. 1, 2. Luke i. 2. Rom. x. 14, 15.

See

5. Who then is Paul, &c. Notes, ch. i. 13. Why should a party be formed which should be named after Paul? What has he done or taught that should lead to this? What eminence has he that should induce any to call themselves by his name? He is on a level with the other apostles; and all are but ministers, or servants, and have no claim to the honour of giving names to sects and parties. God is the fountain of all your blessings, and whoever may have been the instrument by whom you have believed, it is improper to regard them as in any sense the fountain of your blessings, or to arrange yourselves under their name. But ministers. Our word minister, as now used, does not express the proper force of this word. We in applying it to preachers of the gospel do not usually advert to the original sense of the word, and the reasons why it was given to them. The original word (didkovo) denotes properly servants in contradistinction from masters. Matt. xx. 26; xxiii. 11. Mark ix. 35; x. 43; and denotes those of course who are in an inferior rank of life. They had not command or authority, but were subject to the command of others. It is applied to the preachers of the gospel because they are employed in the service of God; because they go at his command, and are subject to his control and direction. They have not original authority, nor are they the source of influence or power. The idea here is, that they were the mere instruments or servants by whom God conveyed all biessings to the Corinthians; that they as ministers were on a level, were engaged in the same work, and that therefore, it was improper for them to form parties that should be called by their names. ¶ By whom. Through whom (di &v), by whose instrumentality. They were not the original source of faith, but were the mere servants of God in con

veying to them the knowledge of that truth by which they were to be saved. Even as the Lord gave to every man. God is the original source of faith; and it is by his influence that any one is brought to believe. See Note, Rom. xii. 3. 6. There were diversities of gifts among the Corinthian Christians, as there are in all Christians. And it is here implied, 1. That all that any one had was to be traced to God as its author; 2. That he is a sovereign, and dispenses his favours to all as he pleases; 3. That since God had conferred those favours, it was improper for the Corinthians to divide themselves into sects and call themselves by the name of their teachers, for all that they had was to be traced to God alone. This idea, that all the gifts and graces which Christians had, were to be traced to God alone, was one which the apostle Paul often insisted on; and if this idea had been kept before the minds and hearts of all Christians, it would have prevented no small part of the contentions in the church, and the formation of no small part of the sects in the christian world."

6. I have planted. The apostle here compares the establishment of the church at Corinth to the planting of a vine, a tree, or of grain. The figure is taken from agriculture, and the meaning is obvious. Paul established the church. He was the first preacher in Corinth; and if any distinction was due to any one, it was rather to him than to the teachers who had laboured there subsequently; but he regarded himself as worthy of no such honour as to be the head of a party, for it was not himself, but God who had given the increase. ¶ Apollos watered. This figure is taken from the practice of watering a tender plant, or of watering a garden or field. This was necessary in a special manner in eastern countries. Their fields became parched and dry from their long droughts, and it was necessary to irrigate them by artificial means. The sense here is,

crease.

2 Ch. xv. 10. 2-5.

that Paul had laboured in establishing the church at Corinth; but that subsequently Apollos had laboured to increase it, and to build it up. It is certain that Apollos did not go to Corinth until after Paul had left. See Acts xviii. 18. 27. God gave the increase. God caused the seed sown to take root and spring up; and God blessed the irrigation of the tender plants as they sprung up, and caused them to grow. This idea is still taken from the husbandman. It would be vain for the farmer to sow his seed unless God should give it life. There is no life in the seed, nor is there any inherent power in the earth to make it grow. God only, the giver of all life, can quicken the germ in the seed, and make it live. So it would be in vain for the farmer to water his plant unless God should bless it. There is no living principle in the water; no inherent power in the rains of heaven to make the plant grow. It is adapted, indeed, to this, and the seed would not germinate if it was not planted, nor grow if it was not watered; but the life is still from God. He arranged these means, and he gives life to the tender blade, and sustains it. And so it is with the word of life. It has no inherent power to produce effect by itself. The power is not in the naked word, nor in him that plants, nor in him that waters, nor in the heart where it is sown, but in God. But there is a fitness of the means to the end. The word is adapted to save the soul. The seed must be sown or it will not germinate. Truth must be sown in the heart, and the heart must be prepared for it; as the earth must be ploughed and made mellow, or seed will not spring up. The earth must be cultivated with care, or it will produce nothing. But still it is all of God, as much so as the yellow harvest of the field, after all the toils of the husbandman, is of God. And as the farmer who has just views, will take no praise to himself because his corn starts up and grows after all

7 So then neither 1 is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1 John xv. 5. 2 Cor. xii. 9-11.

his care, but will ascribe all to God's unceasing, beneficent agency; so will the minister of religion, and so will every Christian, after all their care, ascribe all to God.

7. Any thing. This is to be taken comparatively. They are nothing in comparison with God. Their agency is of no importance compared with his. See Note, ch. i. 28. It does not mean that their agency ought not to be employed; that it is not important and indispensable in its place; but that the honour is due to God. Their agency is indispensable. God could make seed or a tree grow if they were not planted in the earth. But he does not do so. The agency of the husbandman is indispensable in the ordinary operations of his providence. If he does not plant, God will not make the grain or the tree grow. God blesses his labours. He does not work a miracle. God attends effort with success; he does not interfere in a miraculous manner to accommodate the indolence of men. So in the matter of salvation. The efforts of ministers would be of no avail without God. They could do nothing in the salvation of the soul unless he should give the increase. But their labours are as indispensable and as necessary, as are those of the farmer in the production of a harvest. And as every farmer could say, my labours are nothing without God, who alone can give the increase, so it is with every minister of the gospel.

8. Are one. (v elow). They are not the same person; but they are one in the following respects: 1. They are united in reference to the same work. Though they are engaged in different things, for planting and watering are different kinds of work, yet it is one in regard to the end to be gained. The employments do not at all clash, but tend to the same end. It is not as if one planted, and the other was engaged in pulling up. 2. Their work is one,

8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man 2 shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

2 Psa. lxii. 12. Rev. xxii. 12.

because one is as necessary as the other. If the grain was not planted there would be no use in pouring water there; if not watered, there would be no use in planting. The work of one is as needful, therefore, as the other; and the one should not undervalue the labours of the other. 3. They are one in regard to God. They are both engaged in performing one work; God is performing another. There are not three parties or portions of the work, but two. They two perform one part of the work; God alone performs the other. Theirs would be useless without him; he would not ordinarily perform his without their performing their part. They could not do his part if they would, as they cannot make a plant grow; he could perform their part, as he could plant and water without the farmer; but it is not in accordance with his arrangements to do so. And every man. The argument of the apostle here has reference only to ministers; but it is equally true of all men, that they shall receive their proper reward. ¶ Shall receive. In the day of judgment, when God decides the destiny of men. The decisions of that day will be simply determining what every moral agent ought to receive. His own reward. His fit, or proper (rov dov) reward; that which pertains to him, or which shall be a proper expression of the character and value of his labour. The word reward (moodv) denotes properly that which is given by contract for service rendered; an equivalent in value for services or for kindness. Note, Rom. iv. 4. In the scriptures it denotes, pay, wages, recompense given to day-labourers, to soldiers, &c. It is applied often, as here, to the retribution which God will make to men in the day of judgment; and is applied to the favours which he will then bestow on them, or to the punishment which he will inflict as the reward of

3

10 According to

1 Ch. xv. 10. Rom. xii. 3. Eph. iii. 2-8. and scope of this whole passage is to show that God is all; that the apostles are nothing; to represent the apostles not as joint-workers with God, but as working by themselves, and God only as giving efficiency to all that was done. The idea is, that of depressing or humbling the apostles, and of exalting God; and this idea would not be consistent with the interpretation that they were joint-labourers with him. While, therefore, the Greek would bear the interpretation conveyed in our translation, the sense may perhaps be, that the apostles were joint-labourers with each other in God's service; that they were united in their work, and that God was all in all; that they were like servants employed in the service of a master, without saying that the master participated with them in their work. This idea is conveyed in the translation of Doddridge, "we are the fellow labourers of God." So Rosenmüller. Calvin, however, Grotius, Whitby, and Bloomfield, coincide with our version in the interpretation. The Syriac renders it "We work with God.' The Vulgate "We are the aids of God." Ye are God's hus bandry (yewpytov); margin, tillage. This word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It properly denotes a tilled or cultivated field; and the idea is that the church at Corinth was the field on which God had bestowed the labour of tillage, or culture, to produce fruit. The word is used by the LXX. in Gen. xxvi. 14, as the translation of "For he had possession of flocks," &c.; in Jer. li. 23, as the translation of Y, a yoke; and in Prov. xxiv. 30; xxxi. 16, as the translation of a field. The sense here is, that all their culture was of God; that as a church they were under his care; and that all that had been produced in them was to be traced to his cultivation. ¶ God's building. This is another metaphor. The object of Paul was to show that all that had been done for them had been really accomplished by God. For this purpose he first says that they were God's

cultivated field; then he changes the figure; draws his illustration from architecture, and says, that they had been built by him as an architect rears a house. It does not rear itself; but it is reared by another. So he says of the Corinthians, "Ye are the building which God erects." The same figure is used in 2 Cor. vi. 16 and Eph. ii. 21. See also Heb. iii. 6. 1 Pet. ii. 5. The idea is, that God is the supreme agent in the founding and establishing of the church, in all its gifts and graces.

10. According to the grace of God. By the favour of God which is given to me. All that Paul had done had been by the mere favour of God. His appointment was from him; and all the skill which he had shown, and all the agency which he had employed, had been from him. The architectural figure is here continued with some striking additions and illustrations. By the grace of God here Paul probably means his apostleship to the Gentiles, which had been conferred on him by the mere favour of God, and all the wisdom, and skill, and success which he had evinced in founding the church. ¶ As a wise master builder. Gr. Architect. The word does not imply that Paul had any pre-eminence over his brethren, but that he had proceeded in his work as a skilful architect, who secures first a firm foundation. Every builder begins with the foundation; and Paul had proceeded in this manner in laying first a firm foundation on which the church could be reared. The word wise here means skilful, judicious. Comp. Matt. vii. 24. ¶ I have laid the foundation. What this foundation was, he states in ver. 11. The meaning here is, that the church at Corinth had been at first established by Paul. See Acts xviii. 1, &c. ¶ And another. Other teachers. I have communicated to the church the first elements of christian knowledge. Others follow out this instruction and edify the church. The discussion here undergoes a slight change. In the former part of the chapter, Christians are compared to a building; here the