1 Corinthians

4:1-5

1. Maintaining unity in the church, 1:1-4:21

xi] Stewards of God's mysteries

In chapter 4 Paul winds up his critique of the divisions that had emerged in the Corinthian congregation. Many in the congregation had drifted in their dependence upon their founding apostle and had aligned themselves with eloquent teachers whose world-view was superseding the gospel of "Christ crucified." Paul, with his unsophisticated ministry style, was not fairing well in the party-spirit that now infected the congregation. So, in 4:1-5 Paul points out that the congregation should view him and his apostolic team as agents and stewards of Christ committed to the administration of the gospel, v1, an administration which of necessity must be faithful, v2. Any human assessment of that administration is, by nature, of limited worth, including Paul's own, v3. Paul has, of course, assessed his own ministry and found no major flaws, but none the less, his dependence is on Christ the judge ("his own accountability as an apostle ... is not to the church but to the Lord", Barnett), v4. "What the church needs to remember is that the Christ who scrutinizes them all will one day pronounce his infallible verdict", Naylor, v5. Paul goes on in v6-13 to explain the genuine marks of apostleship, pointing out that his example of suffering and simplicity ("humiliation"), rather than the success and status ("self-satisfaction") of those who have replaced him in Corinth, more properly aligns with the cross of Christ. Paul concludes in v14-21 stating that he doesn't want to "shame" those now ministering in Corinth, causing them to lose face, but rather that he wants them to be "imitators" of him. He points out that he will soon visit Corinth and sort out any remaining problems.

In 3:1-9 Paul explained that a minister functions as the servant of a congregation. Here he explains that the congregation is not the minister's master. This doesn't mean, of course, that the minister is his/her own master by default. Rectorial authoritarianism is just as corrupting as congregational democracy.

ou{twV "so then" - thus / therefore. Rather than drawing a conclusion, ie. pointing back, as NIV, this adverb probably points forward; "people ought to regard us thus, as .....", ie. ou{twV and wJV are correlative. "This is the view which men should take of us, that we are Christ's servants", Cassirer.

anqrwpoV (oV) "men" - a man. A general reference to the members of the congregation; "You must think of us", Barclay.

logizesqw (logizomai) pres. imp. "ought to regard" - let regard, reckon, calculate, consider. "You should look upon us", Phillips.

hJmaV "us" - Probably Paul and his missionary team is in mind, or more specifically "us/we apostles", cf. v9. Possibly Paul is including Apollos etc., even the unnamed teachers who should be regarded this way, but don't deserve to be so regarded.

wJV "as" - like. Establishing a comparison.

uJphretaV (hV ou) "servants" - servants = a person who renders service*. Interestingly Paul doesn't use the normal word for a minister of Christ / servant, diakonoV, but the word he has chosen means much the same, possibly in the sense of "assistant / subordinate / agent".

oikonomouV (oV) "those entrusted with" - stewards, administrators, managers. The word is used of an "estate manager", so "managers", Goodspeed, "trustees", Williams.

musthriwn (on) "the secret things" - the mysteries. The word is used of truths once hidden but now revealed and usually refers to the gospel - "God's programme of redemption", Naylor; "the secret counsels of God announced in the gospel", Fitzmyer.

w|de loipon "now" - here remaining. These two adverbs form a rather awkward expression. Moule suggests "on that showing (w|de, referring back to the preceding verse where the apostles have been called stewards) it follows that (loipon what is looked for in steward is that ......"

zhteitai (zhtew) pres. pas. "it is required" - it is sought. Possibly a divine passive which is why it is translated as "required (of God)" in the NIV. "What one looks for in stewards", Zerwick; "what is expected of stewards", NJB.

en "-" - in [stewards ("those who have been given a trust", NIV)]. Turner argues that en here functions as a dative of reference, "what one looks for with reference to / with regard to / with respect to stewards."

iJna + subj. "that" - that. Here forming a dependent statement, object clause, expressing what "is sought / expected of stewards".

tiV "-" - a certain. Again Paul generalizes his identification of the teachers / ministers; "another", as NIV. "They should be dependable", TNT.

euJreqh/ (euJriskw) aor. pas. subj. "must prove" - be found. Possibly another divine passive, so "found by God to be" = "judged".

pistoV adj. "faithful" - faithful, reliable. Probably "trustworthy", "worthy of the trust that has been placed in their care", Fee.

de "but" - but, and. Adversative, as NIV.

eiV emoi "I care" - for to/with me. Obviously expressing a self assessment, "it matters very little to me", Moffatt.

elaciston (mikroV) sup. "very little" - [it is] least. "It does not matter in the least to me", Barnett.

iJna "if [I am judged]" - that [I should be judged]. The hina clause may be classed as epexegetic, explaining what matters very little, or as a dependent statement of thinking / pondering, expressing the content of the thought; "that by you I am judged, or ....."

uJf (uJpo) + gen. "by [you]" - by. Expressing agency. Paul poses three possible human judges of his ministry / stewardship: the Corinthians, a human court and himself. Paul dismisses all three as irrelevant.

hJmeraV (a) "[any human] court" - a human [day]. "The day" = "the day of the Lord" = "the day of judgment". The link between "day" and "judgment", along with the fact that the word "day" is an equivalent for "court" in Hebrew and other languages, explains Paul's use here, cf. R&P. "Human court of judgment", Thiselton.

alla "even" - but. Not with an adversative sense here, but rather functioning as a confirmation, "indeed"; "the truth is I don't even scrutinize my own conduct", Cassirer.

Paul has stated that he regards all human assessments of his ministry as irrelevant, including his own. In this verse he qualifies his own assessment by noting that he is not aware of any flaws in his ministry, but in any case, his own assessment doesn't pronounce his innocence; it is the Lord who judges.

gar "-" for. Expressing reason. "In fact, I don't even judge my own ministry (v3) for I am not aware of any major failures in it, however that doesn't mean that I'm innocent."

sunoida (suneidon) perf. "[my conscience] is clear" - I know [nothing to myself]. The compound verb is something like "know with / share knowing with", and this with the reflective pronoun emautw/ "to myself" (dative of disadvantage = "against myself"), = "I have [nothing] on my conscience", NEB. "I am not aware of anything in my life that is worthy of my criticism", Junkins.

alla "but" - but. Adversative; "however".

ouk en toutw/ "that does not" - not on this [fact]. The sense being, "not on the basis of this fact" - the fact that Paul is not aware of anything against him (although such provides no ground for innocence).

dedikaiwmai (dikaiow) perf. pas. "make me innocent" - I have been justified = declared/made innocent / right with God, acquitted. Paul is clearly not using the word here in its full theological sense of "set right before God", but rather of Paul standing acquitted before God with regard the faithfulness of his ministry. "Pronounced in the right", Thiselton.

oJ .. anakrinwn (krinw) pres. part. "who judges [me]" - the one judging. The participle is adjectival limiting "the Lord", as NIV.

w{ste "therefore" - thus. With the imperative drawing a conclusion.

mh .... krinete "judge [nothing]" - do not judge [anything]. The Corinthians are to "cease weighing up the validity of Paul's ministry", Naylor, for "all anticipation (before the day of judgment) is vain", R&P.

pro + gen. "before [the appointed time]" - before [time]. Possibly "ahead of time" = "too early", Phillips, but more likely "before" the time, namely the day of judgment, cf. Fee. Negative critiques of Paul's ministry are best left to the day of judgment and to the perfect judge.

"wait" - Added for meaning.

e{wV an + subj. "till [the Lord comes]" - until [comes the Lord]. Forming a temporal clause expressing future time, with, or without, the indefinite particle an. It is always difficult to know where the Lord "comes" to. Often taken to mean that the Lord comes to earth, but where the subject is judgment the coming is usually to the throne room of the Ancient of Days for his enthronement, subsequent judgment and reign.

kai "-" - and. Probably simply "and who will bring to light ....", but possibly "who when he comes will also ...", or "who will both bring to light ..... and .....", cf. Barrett.

o}V "he" - who. Introducing a two part adjectival clause limiting/describing "the Lord", linked by kai; "who both .... and ......" Possibly an example of Semitic poetic parallelism describing the process of judgment. It has been suggested that Paul is quoting from a lost source and that "Lord" refers to "God", not the Messiah, but this is unlikely.

fwtisei (fwtizw) fut. "will bring to light" - enlighten, shed light upon.

ta krupta adj. "what is hidden" - the hidden things. The adjective functions as a substantive, object of the verb "shed light on".

tou skotouV (oV) "in darkness" - of the darkness. The genitive is adjectival, possibly possessive "the hidden things that belong to the darkness", or descriptive, "the hidden thing whose nature is dark", R&P, or better "the hidden things hitherto hidden and protected by the darkness", Thiselton.

fanerwsei (fanerow) fut. "he will expose" - will expose, manifest, reveal, make known.

taV boulaV twn kardiwn "the motives of men's hearts" - the counsels of the heart. "The inner thoughts" = "the motives".

tote "at that time" - [and] then.

ekastw/ dat. pro. "each" - to each, each person.

oJ epainoV (oV) "[will receive] his praise" - the praise [will be]. "Praise", "commendation", NJB, REB, even "recognition", Thiselton. As has already been noted in these studies, the issue of reward in the scriptures is a rather contentious one. Most conservative commentators limit a believer's reward for faithful service to that of God's praise - the "well done good and faithful servant." The difficulty with this position is that the only servant who deserves praise, commendation, even recognition, is the one and only faithful servant, namely Christ. A believer will certainly receive God's praise, but only in Christ. So, it is unlikely that Paul is promoting any idea of reward, but does mention divine praise as a counter to the praise of a grateful congregation. When it comes to praising a minister/servant for their faithful "administration of the mysteries of God", whether it be "Paul", or "Apollos", etc., only divine praise has any value. Then shall each man have his praise", RV.

1 Corinthians Introduction

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