Study PDF
The Study PDF for Ch 9 is here: 1 Cor 9 NKJV, Clausal Anno Morph (Note: (1) you will need to click twice to get the full screen PDF, which you can then print out; (2) for some reason, when viewing such PDF on an iPad the boxed highlighting does not show up).
Some tips on how to use such format of Scripture was given on the Study PDF for Ch 8 (which is here: 1 Cor 8 NKJV Prop Outlines, Morphology).
Key Words
There are three very important words–Key Words–that are themselves closely interrelated that recur frequently and importantly in this chapter. They are:
- Apostle
- Preach / Proclaim (and also “Set Before” as in the sense of “laying out”)
- The Gospel
Tools for Word Study
The first occurrence of each of these words has been highlighted in the Study PDF. They are worthy words for deeper consideration, which can easily be done by doing a web search for: Strongs Gxxxx; where the xxxx corresponds to the two, three or four digit number at the bottom line of the interlinear rows). So the Strongs number search for “Apostle” would be: [Strongs G652], or [strongs g 652], or any such format, and so forth for other Strongs numbers*. On the first page of search results will usually be sites such as the four below which are hot linked to the page for the Gr work for “Apostle:”
*Strongs Numbers are named after James Strong (1822 – 1894), so technically they should be Strong’s Numbers, but that distinction has been lost. He was an interesting man: a Methodist, more or less a layman, who became mayor of Flushing NY, headed the Flushing railroad, and created a very thorough Bible Concordance known by his name, and later was a theological school professor. Caution: his actual definitions are not considered to be highly authoritative as he was not a Greek or Hebrew scholar. However most sites reference Thayer’s Lexicon for the source of an expanded word definition and this is generally reliable. But, importantly, the above websites can take you to the other NT uses of the respective word and you can glean significant insight from its use and meaning by such cross citations.
Imperative Verbs
There is one imperative verb in this chapter at vs. 24, which is also highlighted. Recall that the morphology codes disclose imperative verbs by the letter “M” in the fourth position when the first letter is a “V.”
Distinctive in Ch 9: Questions
An amazing distinctive in Ch 9 is the Holy Spirit’s (though the hands of Apostle Paul) use of questions. There are 13 of them. Questions are powerful linguistic tools. They engage the hearer / reader, sometimes without their recognizing it. (It’s a ‘trick’ all salespeople know and use, beginning in the beginning with the first, The Evil, Salesperson of the ages, pedaling deception of the worst kind). Here of course the purpose is a Divine one. But one question for us, is: why the questions, and why so many? What’s going on in the Corinthian called out Believers that requires such an approach? What’s going on in the doctrinal discussion that continues here in Ch 9 from that addressed in Ch 8?
The Gospel
This Epistle is pointing to a crescendo in Ch 15 where it addresses the end-of-life issue** and there also provides the succinct essence of “The Gospel” (the Great Good News), of Jesus Christ (not of your or my good feelings, or lessons of gaining prosperity in this life or even the next): The Gospel is always an objective statement of fact about the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
**End of Life
As to the issue of the end-of-life, it is the most obscured subject in our time and culture. But here is God’s Word (my paraphrase):
All flesh is like grass
Whose glory is like the flower of the grass
[here pause, really pause,
for reflection on the above metaphor of life]The grass withers and dies
The flower falls.
1 Peter 1:24
Our time and culture is focused on the glorying of the flesh, in every way conceivable, from beauty to ‘stuff,’ from human knowledge to pride of life, from ‘me feel good’ to ‘me feel good about me feel good’ to ‘you feel good about me feel good about me feel good.’ Yet, all the while, our undergirding flesh is withering in its short season toward death, and whatever the human glory is nothing more than a little flower on a few stems of grass that shows off itself for a short season and falls off to utter obscurity with all that season’s ‘crop,’ mirroring our first moments when we were able to rise up from prone to upright, as the grass from the soil, but only for a short season.
The Gr word for “falls” is “ekpipto,” (G1601, here the verb is an Aorist Indicative, meaning it happens once, and is factually certain to occur). In the Septuagint (LXX), the Gr OT, that is exactly the word King David uses three times in an echoing phrase of his dirge-lament for the death of King Saul and beloved son Jonathan at the hands of the Philistines on Mount Gilboa: “How the mighty have ekpipto‘d.” (2 Samuel 1)
Expipto (to Fall):
Indented below is the definition of expipto from one respected lexicon. This is useful particularly with respect to the gross misinterpretation of the “fallen from Grace” phrase in Gal. 5:4. In the context of the Epistle to the Galatians, if you were to “fall expipto from Grace” to what would be falling? The Arminian theologian would say, to Hell!, quite literally. However, it is clear from that context, the the meaning is exactly the opposite, you would be falling to Law, which Law is the very thing the Arminian is claiming to loom over our inherently wayward souls such that we are forever insecure as to our redemption and union with God. So we can indeed expipto, and do expipto, in this life: from Grace to Law (sadly), from faithfulness to fleshy / sarx (sadly), and from the transitory ‘glories’ of this present life to death (which sadness is taken up in victory, O Death where is thy sting, as we will get to in 1 Cor 15). So we have to be careful when we look down on those Corinthians fallen in the chaos of the sarx at work (which work is real, devastating, and present is us as well), lest in our so judging we are fallen into Law and a framework of self-righteousness. The mind of a fallen– even a redeemed–soul is yet wayward in this life, which should humble us all, and in such humility of fallenness glorify God all the greater. Pretty amazing.
G1601. ἐκπίπτω ekpíptō;
from ek (1537), from, and píptō (4098),
to fall. To fall off or from, to fall (Gal. 5:4).
(I) Particularly spoken of things, to fall out of or from their place, e.g., stars from heaven (Mark 13:25 [cf. Matt. 24:29; Is. 14:12]), flowers (James 1:11; 1 Pet. 1:24; Sept.: Is. 28:1, 4), chains from the hands (Acts 12:7), a boat from a ship (Acts 27:32). Of a ship, to fall off or be driven from its course, usually followed by eis (1519), to, with the acc. of place, to bring upon (Acts 27:17, 26, 29). Figuratively, to fall from any state or condition, i.e., to lose one’s part or interest in that state; followed by the gen. (Gal. 5:4; 2 Pet. 3:17; Rev. 2:5 [TR]).
(II) Metaphorically to fall away, i.e., to fail, be without effect, to be in vain, of love (1 Cor. 13:8); of the Word of God (Rom. 9:6). See Josh. 23:14 and 2 Kgs. 6:5.Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
Corinthian Columns
Here’s a wide wide sidebar about “Corinthian Columns,”** an ornate architectural element that is symbolic of the ornate / pleasure-seeking / beauty-seeking culture of that place and time. Such columns were named actually after the very city who received this Epistle and dating back to about the time of the Epistle:
The word Corinthian describes an ornate column style developed in ancient Greece and classified as one of the Classical Orders of Architecture. The Corinthian style is more complex and elaborate than the earlier Doric and Ionic Orders. The capital or top part of a Corinthian style column has lavish ornamentation carved to resemble leaves and flowers.The Roman architect Vitruvius (c. 70-15 BC) observed that the delicate Corinthian design “was produced out of the two other orders.” Vitruvius first documented the Corinthian column, calling it “an imitation of the slenderness of a maiden; for the outlines and limbs of maidens, being more slender on account of their tender years, admit of prettier effects in the way of adornment.”
Because of their opulence, Corinthian columns are rarely used as common porch columns for the ordinary home. The style is more suited for Greek Revival mansions and public architecture such as government buildings, especially related to courts and laws.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A CORINTHIAN COLUMN
Fluted (grooved) shaft
Capitals (the top of the shaft) decorated with acanthus leaves and flowers, sometimes decorated with small scrolls (volutes, as in the Ionic Order)
Ornaments on the capital flare outwards, like a bell, suggesting a sense of height
A defined proportion. Vitruvius tells us that “the height of their capitals gives them proportionately a taller and more slender effect” than Ionic columns. The ornate capitals are proportioned to the “the entire thickness of the shaft.”
Corinthian columns are often used in interiors and support arches
The column along with its entablature make up what is called the Corinthian Order.WHY IS IT CALLED A CORINTHIAN COLUMN?
In the world’s first architecture textbook, De architectura (30 BC), Vitruvius tells the story of the death of a young girl from the city-state of Corinth—”A free-born maiden of Corinth, just of marriageable age, was attacked by an illness and passed away,” writes Vitruvius.She was buried with a basket of her favorite things atop her tomb, near the root of an acanthus tree. That spring, leaves and stalks grew up through the basket, creating a delicate explosion of natural beauty. The effect caught the eye of a passing sculptor named Callimachus, who began to incorporate the intricate design onto column capitals. The people of Corinth are called Corinthians, so the name is attributed to where Callimachus first saw the image.
source: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-corinthian-column-177504
And here’s an image (from a public domain posting). Note the deep flutes on the column itself and the highly ornate capitals*** (where the column top meets the roof support beam, a crucial structural point):
***A “capital” is defined in Wikipedia as below. The word associates with important buildings which is how we get the terms Capitol Building (spelled with an “o,” don’t know why), Capital City, etc.. (The Latin root “caput” from which “capital” arises makes you wonder where the slang term “went caput” came from…roofs collapsing?, office holders occupying such buildings ousted? Also note the Latin root is where we get our common term “chapter” as the ‘head’ of a section of text. Everything connects…you just gotta keep looking.)
In architecture the capital (from the Latin caput, or “head”) or chapiter, forms the topmost member of a column (or a pilaster). It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column’s supporting surface.
Here’s a small further sidebar story: the nation’s Capitol building once had 24 Corinthian capital columns, which were replaced about 200 years ago by what we have today. Those formerly used columns and capitals are now in the National Arboretum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Capitol_Columns
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Ch 10 study resources are here: