teach, is evident, from what the apostle says, chap. xi. 5. where he lays down rules to regulate this part of their conduct, while ministering in the church.

But does not what the apostle says here, contradict that statement; and shew that the words in chap. xi. should be understood in another sense? For, here it is expressly said, that they should keep silence in the church; for it was not permitted to a woman to speak? Both places seem perfectly consistent. It is evident, from the context, that the apostle refers here to asking questions, and what we call dictating, in the assemblies. It was permitted to any man to ask questions, to object, altercate, attempt to refute, &c. in the synagogue; but this liberty was not allowed to any woman: St. Paul confirms this, in reference also to the Christian church; he orders them to keep silence: and, if they wished to learn any thing, let them enquire of their husbands at home; because it was perfectly indecorous for women to be contending with men in public assemblies, on points of doctrine, cases of conscience, &c. But this by no means intimated that, when a woman received any particular influence from God, to enable her to teach, that she was not to obey that influence; on the contrary, she was to obey it, and the apostle lays down directions in chap. xi. for regulating her personal appearance when thus employed. All that the apostle opposes here, is their questioning, finding fault, &c. in the Christian church, as the Jewish men were permitted to do in their synagogues; together with the attempts to usurp any authority over the man, by setting up their judgment in opposition to them; for the apostle has in view, especially, acts of disobedience, arrogance, &c. of which no woman would be guilty who was under the influence of the Spirit of God.

But to be under obedience, as also saith the law.] This is a reference to Gen. iii. 15. Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. From this, it is evident, that it was the disorderly and disobedient that the apostle had in view; and not any of those on whom God had poured out his Spirit.

synagogue; though a servant, or even a child, had this permission; but the apostle refers to irregular conduct; such conduct as proved that they were not under obedience,

ver. 34.

Verse 36. Came the word of God out from you?] Was it from you that other churches received the gospel? Are you the mother church? that you should have rules, and or ders, and customs, different from all others; and set your. selves up for a model to be copied by all the churches of Christ ?

Or came it unto you only?] Are you the only church of God? Are there not many others founded before you, that have no such customs, and permit no such disorders?

Verse 37. If any man think himself to be a prophet, &c.] He who is really a spiritual man, under the influence of the Spirit of God, and capable of teaching the Divine will, he will acknowledge that what I now say, is from the same Spirit; and that the things which I now write, are the com mandments of God, and must be obeyed, on pain of his displeasure.

Verse 38. But if any man be ignorant] If he affect to be so, or pretend that he is ignorant; let him be ignorant. Let him be so at his peril.

Verse 39. Covet to prophesy] Let it be your endeavour and prayer, to be able to teach the way of God to the ignorant: this is the most valuable, because the most useful gift of the Spirit.

And forbid not to speak with tongues.] Let every gift have its own place and operation; let none envy another; nor prevent him from doing that part of the work to which God, by giving the qualification, has evidently called him.

Verse 40. Let all things be done decently] Ευσχημόνως in their proper forms, with becoming reverence; according to their dignity and importance. Every thing in the church of God should be conducted with gravity and composure suitable to the importance of the things; the infinite dignity of the object of worship, and the necessity of the souls in behalf of which those religious ordinances are

10 But, by the grace of God I am what I am : and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

e

resurrection of the dead.

12 Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

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13 But, if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen :

14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

* Eph. 3. 8. Acts 8. 3. & 9. 1. Gal. 1. 13. Phil. 3.6. 1 Tim. 1. 13. • Eph. 2. 7, 8.4 2 Cor. 11. 23. & 12. 11.

to Suetonius in Octavio, cap. 35. I have examined the place, but find no such epithet. According to Suetonius, in that place, they were called orcini, persons who had assumed the senatorial dignity after the death of Julius Cæsar; pretending that they had derived that honour from him.

Verse 9. I am the least of the apostles] This was literally true, in reference to his being chosen last, and chosen not in the number of the twelve, but as an extra apostle. How much pains do some men take to make the apostle contradict himself, by attempting to shew, that he was the very greatest of the apostles; though he calls himself the least. Taken as a man, and a minister of Christ, he was greater than any of the twelve; taken as an apostle, he was less than any of the twelve, because not originally in that body. Am not meet to be called an apostle] None of the twelve had ever persecuted Christ, nor withstood his doctrine: Saul of Tarsus had been, before his conversion, a grievous persecutor; and therefore, he says, oux ειμι ικανος, I am not proper to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, i. e. of Christ, which none of the apostles ever did.

Verse 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am] God, by his mere grace and good will, has called me to be an apostle, and has denominated me such.

And his grace, &c.] Nor have I been unfaithful to the Divine call; I used the grace which he gave me; and when my labours, travels, and sufferings are considered, it will be evident, that I have laboured more abundantly than the whole twelve. This was most literally true.

Yet not I, but the grace of God) It was not through my own power or wisdom, that I performed these things; but through the Divine influence which accompanied me.

that he raised up Christ:

• Matt. 10. 20. Rom. 15. 18, 19. 2 Cor. 3. 5. Gal. 2. 8. Eph. 3.7. Phil. 2. 13.1 Thess. 4. 14.5 Acts 2. 24, 32. & 4. 10, 33. & 13. 30.

resurrection is the pledge and proof of ours. Whoever teaches contrary to this, does not preach the true apostolic doctrine.

Verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached, &c.] Seeing it is true that we have thus preached Christ, and ye have credited this preaching; how say some among you, who have professed to receive this doctrine from us, that there is no resurrection of the dead? though we have shewn that his resurrection is the proof and pledge of ours. That there was some false teacher or teachers among them, who was endeavouring to incorporate Mosaic rites and ceremonies with the Christian doctrines, and even to blend Sadduceism with the whole; appears pretty evident. To confute this mongrel Christian, and overturn his bad doctrine, the apostle writes this chapter.

Verse 13. If there be no resurrection of the dead] As Christ was partaker of the same flesh and blood with us; and he promised to raise mankind from the dead, through his resurrection; if the dead rise not, then Christ has had no resurrection. There seems to have been some at Corinth, who, though they denied the resurrection of the dead, ad. mitted that Christ had risen again: the apostle's argument goes therefore to state, that, if Christ was raised from the dead, mankind may be raised: if mankind cannot be raised from the dead, then the body of Christ was never raised.

Verse 14. Then is our preaching vain] Our whole doc. trine is useless, nugatory, and false.

And your faith is also vain.) Your belief of a false doctrine, must necessarily be to you unprofitable.

Verse 15. False-witnesses] As having testified the fact of Christ's resurrection, as a matter which ourselves had witnessed; when we knew that we bore testimony to a falsehood. But could five hundred persons agree in this imposi

received from us the true apostolical faith, that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again for our justification; and that His

not discover the cheat, when he could have no interest in keeping the secret; and might greatly promote his secular

Arguments to prove the

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not.

not Christ raised :

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If so be that the dead rise not.] This clause is wanting in DE. Syriac, some of the Slavonian and Itala: several also of the primitive Fathers omit it. Its great similarity to the following words might be the cause of its omission by some copyists.

Verse 17. Ye are yet in your sins.] If Christ has not risen from the dead, there is no proof that he has not been justly put to death. If he were a malefactor, God would not work a miracle to raise him from the dead. If he have not been raised from the dead, there is a presumption that he has been put to death justly; and if so, consequently he has made no atonement: and ye are yet in your sins, under the power, guilt, and condemnation of them. All this reasoning of the apostle, goes to prove that, at Corinth, even among those false teachers, the innocency of our Lord was allowed, and the reality of his resurrection not questioned.

Verse 18. They also which are fallen asleep] All those who, either by martyrdom or natural death, have departed in the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, are perished; their hope was without foundation, and their faith had not reason and truth for its object. Their bodies are dissolved in the earth, finally decomposed and destroyed, notwithstanding the promise of Christ to such, that he would raise them up at the last day. See John v. 25, 28, 29. xi. 25, 26, &c.

Verse 19. If in this life only we have hope] It would be better to translate and point this verse as follows:

And, if in this life we have hoped in Christ only, we are more to be pitied than all men. If, in this life, we have no other hope and confidence but in Christ, (and if he be still dead, and not yet risen,) we are more to be pitied than any other men: we are sadly deceived: we have denied ourselves, and been denied by others: have mortified ourselves, and been persecuted by our fellow-creatures on account of our belief

22 For, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

• Rom. 5. 12, 17. John 11. 25. Rom. 6. 23. ver. 20. 1 Thess, 4. 15, 16, 17.

and hope in one who is not existing; and therefore can neither succour us here, nor reward us hereafter. Bishop Pearce.

Verse 20. But now is Christ risen] On the contrary, Christ is raised from the dead, and is become the first-fruits of them that slept. His resurrection has been demonstrated, and our resurrection necessarily follows: as sure as the firstfruits are the proof that there is a harvest; so surely the resurrection, of Christ is a proof of ours. The Judaizing teacher at Corinth would feel the force of this observation much sooner than we can, who are not much acquainted with Jewish customs. "Although," says Dr. Lightfoot, "the resurrection of Christ, compared with some first-fruits, has very good harmony with them; yet especially it agrees with the offering of the sheaf, commonly called עומר omid not only as to the thing itself, but also as to the circumstances of the time. For, first there was the Pass-over, and the day following was a sabbatic day, and on the day following that, the first-fruits were offered. So Christ, our Passover, was crucified: the day following his crucifixion, was the sabbath; and the day following that, he, the first-fruits of them that slept, rose again. All who died before Christ, and were raised again to life, died afterwards: but Christ is the first-fruits of all who shall be raised from the dead to die no more.

Verse 21. For, since by man came death] Mortality came by Adam, immortality by Christ; so sure as all have been subjected to natural death by Adam, so sure shall all be raised again by Christ Jesus. Mortality and immortality, on a general ground, are the subject of the apostle's reasoning here: and, for the explanation of the transgression of Adam, and the redemption by Christ, see the Notes on Rom. v. 10, &c.

Verse 23. But every man in his own order] The apostle mentions three orders here:-1. Christ, who rose from the dead by his own power-2. Them that are Christ's; all his apostles, martyrs, confessors, and faithful followers-Thirdly,