1 Corinthians 4:12

1 Corinthians 4:12

10 We are ^afools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! ^bWe are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.

12 ^aAnd we labor, working with our own hands. ^bBeing reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;

13 being defamed, we¹ entreat. ^aWe have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

Paul’s Paternal Care

14 I do not write these things to shame you, but ^aas my beloved children I warn you.

15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for ^ain Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

Commentaries:

Robertson's Word Pictures (NT)

<< 1 Corinthians 4:11

1 Corinthians 4:13 >>

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

<< 1 Corinthians 4:11

1 Corinthians 4:13 >>

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Paul’s Paternal Care