Commentaries:
Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)
We toil (kopiwmen). Common late verb for weariness in toil (Luke 5:5),
working with our own hands (ergazomenoi taiv idiaiv xersin) instrumental case xersin and not simply for himself but also for Aquila and Priscilla as he explains in Acts 20:34. This personal touch gives colour to the outline. Paul alludes to this fact often (I Thessalonians 2:9; II Thessalonians 3:8; I Corinthians 9:6; II Corinthians 11:7). "Greeks despised manual labour; St. Paul glories in it" (Robertson and Plummer). Cf. Deissmann, Light, etc., p. 317.
Being reviled we bless (loidoroumenoi eulogoumen). Almost the language of Peter about Jesus (I Peter 2:23) in harmony with the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27.
Being persecuted we endure (diwkomenoi anexomeqa). We hold back and do not retaliate. Turn to Paul's other picture of his experiences in the vivid contrasts in II Corinthians 4:7-10; II Corinthians 6:3-10 for an interpretation of his language here.
Other Robertson's Word Pictures (NT) entries containing 1 Corinthians 4:12:
John 9:28
John 15:20
Acts 20:34
1 Corinthians 4:11
1 Corinthians 5:11
1 Corinthians 9:6
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