1 Corinthians 11
Lipscomb1 Corinthians 11:1
Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.— Having just told them how he himself acted in cases of the kind referred to, Paul bids them to follow his example, and in so doing they would copy that of Christ. [Christ alone is the perfect model; each believer is a model to his brethren only in so far as he is a copy in relation to Christ. In making the exhortation Paul had in mind especially the greatness of the self-denial of the Son of God in taking upon himself “the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:7-8), that he might save men from their sins.] If we are not willing to deny self, and suffer the loss of all earthly things in order to serve and honor God and save men, we have not the spirit of Christ and are none of his.
1 Corinthians 11:2
Now I praise you that ye remember me in all things,—[This verse is introductory to the whole of this section of the letter which treats of worship. With his usual tact and generosity, Paul before reproving them mentions things which he could honestly and heartily approve.]
and hold fast the traditions, even as I delivered them to you.—By traditions is meant the precepts, ordinances, and doctrine he had taught them orally, and had been given orally from one to another. When Paul was with them he had taught them orally concerning the ordinance of the Supper, and they had kept it up as he had commanded them. They continued the meetings on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 16:1), but corruption had crept in.
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I would have you know,—-He turns now to properly direct the behavior of women in the worship and in their manner of appearing before God, and defines the relationship of man and woman.
that the head of every man is Christ;—Jesus Christ is the head of the man, and man cannot approach God save in subjection to his head, Christ.
and the head of the woman is the man;—Woman cannot approach God save in subjection to her head, man. The duties and bearing of women and men grow out of their respective relations to each other and to God. The same relationship of husband and wife is presented in another place in these words: “Wives, be in subjection unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, being himself the savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their husbands in everything.” (Ephesians 5:22 -24). In the Lord is here implied, as all are to obey him above every one else. [Let it here be distinctly understood that the subordination thus expressed involves no degradation. As the church is not dishonored by being subject to Christ, so neither is woman dishonored by being subject to man.]
and the head of Christ is God.—Considered as the Father’s servant (Isaiah 42:1; Isaiah 52:13), in which capacity he spoke when he said: “I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which thou hast given me to do” (John 17:4). “Though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8), “becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). It is in this aspect of mutual relation in the work of redemption that “the head of Christ is God.”
1 Corinthians 11:4
Every man praying or prophesying,—Praying and prophesying are the two exercises in which the churches engage in the assembly. All pray, or should pray; one leads, the others pray as sincerely as does the leader. The purpose is to show how the women should appear before God in the assembly, not that she should lead in the service. Most assuredly the apostle does not here tell the women how to lead in the prayer and teaching in the assembly, and in chapter 14:34, 1 Timothy 2:11-12, gives specific directions for her to keep silent. The very fact that in all the history of Christ and the apostles no example is found of women speaking publicly or leading in public prayer, although they were endowed with miraculous gifts, and did prophesy and teach in private and in the family circle, ought to satisfy all as to the will of God in that matter.
having his head covered, dishonoreth his head.—Then a man must not have his head covered when he comes before God, either with long hair or with hat, veil, or cloth of any kind. This would be a shame to him. He may have it covered at other times, but not when he approaches God to pray or prophesy in his name. [Such conduct dishonors his head because covering it is a usage which symbolizes subjection to some visible superior, and in the worship man has none. Those who are visibly present are either his equals or his inferiors. Every man, therefore, who in praying or prophesying covers his head, thereby acknowledges himself dependent on some earthly head other than his heavenly head, and thereby takes from the latter the honor which is due to him as the head of man.]
1 Corinthians 11:5
But every woman praying or prophesying with her head unveiled dishonored her head;—The woman is under subjection to the man. Because of this, any approach to God with head uncovered is not permitted. It is a dishonor to her head. Man cannot come to God save through and in the name of Christ his head, so woman cannot come to Christ save with the tokens of subjection to man on her head.
for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven.—To have her head uncovered is the same as to have her head shaven.
1 Corinthians 11:6
For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn:—[The word “also” in this verse plainly shows that the two veils— the natural hair and the veil with which the head was covered —are under consideration. If her head be not covered with a veil, let her hair be shorn. Let her be consistent by laying aside all the usual and proper indications of her sex. If it be done in one respect, it might with the same propriety be done in all. In verse 13, he says: “Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled?” The impropriety of it, he seems to take for granted as apparent to all.]
but if it is a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled.—[It is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven because it fashions her, to that extent, as a man, and it is God’s will, distinctly revealed in the Scriptures, to keep the sexes distinguishable. For a woman to remove her hair is in part to obliterate this outward distinction, and is therefore a trampling under foot God’s will. And as further defense of womanly modesty and morality, God forbids the sexes wearing each other’s clothes: “A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22:5).]
1 Corinthians 11:7
For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God:—The man is the image of his maker, was created for him, and to add to his glory. [Man is the glory of God as the crown of creation and as endowed with sovereignty like God himself, naming all creatures and having dominion over all the earth, and over everything that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26-28). He is also the glory of God as showing forth the glory of his Creator, and being his masterwork. The man existing in this double character, as the image and glory of God, must not have his head covered when he comes before God, either with long hair, or with hat, veil, or cloth of any kind. This would be a shame to him. He may have it covered at other times, but not when he approaches God to pray or prophesy in his name.]
but the woman is the glory of the man.—The woman was created of and for the man. [That God provided for man a companion and helper so noble as woman proves the worth of man in God’s sight, and thus adds dignity to him; she shares and manifests his superiority; reflects it, as the moon does the light of the sun.]
1 Corinthians 11:8
For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man:—The woman was not first, but the man, and out of the man was the woman made. She was taken out of him, and was created as a separate being for the good and happiness of man. “And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him…. And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:18-23). What was in woman was taken out of man. It takes both man and woman to make one reproductive being.
Both sets of organs necessary to reproduction were originally in man. God separated them into two beings, counterparts and complements of each other, but the woman was taken out of and from man, and for his good. The twain are one, but one in man. Hence the world over she takes his name.
1 Corinthians 11:9
for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man:—The man was first and the woman was created for him. Man’s priority and consequent leadership over woman are here affirmed.
1 Corinthians 11:10
for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head,—On account of this priority and supremacy of man, woman, as subject to man, should always approach God with the tokens of her subjection on her head. The sign of authority means the sign or token on her head that she acknowledges the authority of man over her.
because of the angels.—Much diversity exists as to who the angels are. Many think they were the messengers of the churches. But the apostle nowhere presents a thought as to how woman shall appear before men; the question is, How shall she appear before God? How shall she approach God in prophecy or prayer? The direction applies to her, whether in public or private. It is necessary for a woman to approach God with the tokens of her subjection to man in secret prayer, or private teaching as in public, just as it is necessary for man to approach God as a servant of Christ in private or in public.
Not a word is said here as to how woman should appear before man when she prayed or taught. The presence or absence of men, friends or strangers, has nothing to do with how she shall appear before God. Neither does the question whether she leads in public prayer or in prayer follows others who lead. These questions are not here touched. I think the angels in heaven who see and rejoice or sorrow over what men do here will rejoice or sorrow over her coming properly or improperly before God, or in the place to which God assigned her. Whether the woman prays in the closet at home, or in the assembly, she should approach God with the tokens of her subjection to man on her head.
The reason of this we may not know. That God requires it, the Bible plainly teaches, and that should suffice. The meaning is, when she comes to worship in prayer or praise, no matter whether she leads or not, she should be veiled.
1 Corinthians 11:11
Nevertheless, neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman,—Although by original constitution woman is dependent upon man, they are mutually dependent upon each other—the one cannot exist without the other.
in the Lord.—By divine arrangement and direction the twain are one in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:12
For as the woman is of the man, so is the man also by the woman;—Since the woman was taken from the man, she is of him, yet man is born, or comes into the world through the woman. That man had the priority in time and position, yet no man can be born without woman. They mutually depend for existence upon each other. So the two constitute but one real self-propagating being.
but all things are of God.—The twain are one, and both are of God, and live, move, and have their being in him. [This expression seems designed to suppress any spirit of complaint or dissatisfaction with this arrangement; to make the woman contented in her subordinate station, and to make the man humble by the consideration that it is all owing to the appointment of God. The woman should therefore be contented and the man should not assume any important superiority since the whole arrangement is of God.]
1 Corinthians 11:13
Judge ye in yourselves: is it seemly that a woman pray unto God unveiled?—The impropriety of it he takes for granted as apparent to all. How should she approach God is the question. Man should do it with uncovered head, woman with covered head; and all distinction between public or private prayer is man’s imagination. It is as wrong for a man to approach God with covered head in the closet as it is to do it in the public assembly. So also of woman, God makes no difference as to how he shall be approached in public or in private.
1 Corinthians 11:14
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a dishonor to him?—While in all nations in the world, women wear long hair, and men short hair, is it nature that suggests it? It does not mean custom. The fact so universal, and the declaration of the apostle, seems to settle this. Sometimes nature suggests a custom. A practice prompted by nature becomes a custom, and is said to be from or by nature. How came the custom to be universal among all nations and in all parts of the world, if there is not something in nature to suggest it?
1 Corinthians 11:15
But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.—[From the creation God intended that woman should wear a veil as a symbol of her subjection to man, but instead of an artificial covering he gave her a covering of long hair, a covering of glory, in which she could take pride. When woman sinned he gave her a second veil of covering, which is a sign of authority to which she must submit as a memorial of her transgression. The reason for the two veils or coverings becomes apparent when we get before us woman’s relation to man and God’s will concerning them. Paul directed woman to “learn in quietness with all subjection” for two reasons: (1) “Adam was first formed, then Eve”; (2) “Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:11-14); that is, when woman was created, she was created for man (1 Corinthians 11:8-9), and was subjected to him (Ephesians 5:22-24), not as a slave, but as the weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7). Then when Eve transgressed, God placed her under a curse and said: “I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:16). Thus twice was woman subjected to man. Hence the argument is: Since it is a glory for woman to wear a covering of hair which God gave her at creation instead of an artificial covering, she should wear also an artificial covering when she approaches God in prayer.]
1 Corinthians 11:16
But if any man seemeth to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.—The custom referred to must be women wearing short hair and approaching God in prayer with uncovered heads. He reasoned on the subject to show the impropriety, but adds in an authoritative manner, if any are disposed to be contentious over it, neither we nor the churches of God have any such custom. [With such disturbers of the peace of the church all argument is useless. Authority is the only thing that will silence them. The authority here adduced is that of the inspired apostles, which was decisive, because they were invested with the authority not only to preach the gospel, but to instruct the church and to decide everything relating to the worship.]
1 Corinthians 11:17
But in giving you this charge, I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better but for the worse.—The object of the weekly meeting was to unite them more closely to the Lord, and in doing this, to draw them into closer union with each other; but their services were so perverted that they produced strife and separation instead of unity.
1 Corinthians 11:18
For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that divisions exist among you;—The parties, in following the different leaders, which had been reported to him by the house of Chloe, were accompanied by divisions when they met for worship.
and I partly believe it.—The facts had possibly been exaggerated by others, [but he was forced to believe enough to excite his strong disapproval.]
1 Corinthians 11:19
For there must be also factions among you,—It is a part of the policy of God in governing the world to test those serving him, and to that end he allows evil men to come into their midst.
that they that are approved may be made manifest among you.—The church of God, like the Jewish nation, will continually fall away from steadfastness in the faith. Those who cannot be faithful to God under temptations to disobey him are not worthy of his kingdom. So God allows evil men to come among his people who would lead away from God and his order, to try and test who among them are faithful and true to him. Paul said to the elders of the Ephesian church: “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:28-30). This was permitted to prove and to show who could stand firm and steadfast under temptations to turn away from God.
God tests them on the points of fidelity to him in faith and doctrine as well as love of the world, lusts of the flesh, and pleasures of life. One who cannot resist these and give them up for the Lord is rejected by him as unworthy to be his disciple; so every one who cannot stand fast for the truth despite the divisions and the popular currents that sweep through the churches to carry them away from their steadfastness is unworthy of Christ. These are God’s tests to purify the churches. He desires only true and tried and faithful subjects in his kingdom. Those who cannot stand the test must be purged out. So divisions come to every church to make manifest those who are approved.
It is God bringing the churches to judgment in this world, that those who are approved and true may be made manifest. All we have to do is to stand true and firm to God and his word, and leave the results with him.
1 Corinthians 11:20
When therefore ye assemble yourselves together, it is not possible to eat the Lord’s supper:—Their meeting together did not result in their eating the Lord’s Supper. That was the occasion of their coming together, but they so perverted it that it made it impossible for them to do so.
1 Corinthians 11:21
for in your eating each one taketh before other his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunken.—The eating of a feast with its attendant gluttony and drinking led many to attend. Each family brought its own portion and each partook of his own. The rich eating and drinking to satiety of their abundance. The poor were shamed by the scantiness of their food and went hungry. This was all wrong. It is thought by some that this feasting preceded the Lord’s Supper, so that some were filled to satiety, while others were hungry when they partook of the emblems of the Lord’s body and blood.
1 Corinthians 11:22
What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and put them to shame that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you?—He shames them with these questions. If they had a feast in public, brotherly love for each other would have suggested a common table at which all would have fared alike, and as a consequence those without food at home would have had their wants supplied. The course pursued caused shame to the poor and left them hungry.
In this I praise you not.—He had told them (verse 1) that he praised them for remembering him and holding fast the traditions, but here was such a perversion that he could not praise them for doing it.
1 Corinthians 11:23
For I received of the Lord—[The information of which he treats was what he himself had received from the immediate and personal communication of the Lord himself, and according to the express injunction therein contained was appointed for their observance. It was not therefore of his own devising, not that of any man, but divinely instituted, and consequently imperatively binding on all Christians.]
that which also I delivered unto you,—[He transmitted to them the very thing which he had received from the Lord, so that they were well aware of what ought to have made these disorders impossible.]
that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed —[The delivery of Jesus to his enemies had already begun and was going on at the very time when the Lord instituted the Supper. The marginal reading, “delivered up,” is better than “was betrayed,” which confines the meaning to the action of Judas; whereas the Father’s surrender of the Son (John 19:11) and Jesus’ self-surrender (John 10:17-18) are also included.] Paul mentions the sad solemnity of the occasion in contrast to the irreverent revelry of the Corinthians, to show how they perverted the Supper.
took bread;—The bread used was the unleavened bread of the Passover week. (See Exodus 12:15; Exodus 13:3; Exodus 13:7; Deuteronomy 16:3).
1 Corinthians 11:24
and when he had given thanks,—In Matthew 26:26 and Mark 14:22, it is “blessed.” In Luke 22:19, it is “had given thanks.” The two expressions, being used interchangeably, mean the same thing. Both express the act of consecration, by a grateful acknowledgment of God’s mercy and a prayer that God will make it a means of blessing to those who partake. (See note on 10:16).
he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you:— [That we may understand what the Lord meant when he spoke these words, we should place ourselves in the position of the apostles to whom they were first addressed. If, as Jesus spoke these words, he had suddenly disappeared, and they had seen nothing but the bread, they would have understood that the body had been miraculously transformed into the bread. But when his body was still there; and the bread which he held in his hand was also there; and as his body still remained there after the bread had been broken and eaten, it is impossible that the apostles could have understood him as meaning that the bread was literally his body, and impossible that he could have intended to be so understood. They could not, therefore, have understood it otherwise than as a representation or symbol of his body to them.]
this do in remembrance of me.—This solemn sacrifice and thanksgiving was so little in harmony with their selfish greed and lightness that to report it was to reprove them. To do it in remembrance of his sacrifice for them was to do it in a wholly different spirit from the way in which they acted.
1 Corinthians 11:25
In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood.—The covenant referred to was the one mentioned by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34), and quoted with comments in Hebrews (1 Corinthians 8:7-13). It was the new covenant or will of God set forth in his blood, shown in shedding it for the sins of the world. God, through Jesus Christ, made a new covenant, as that made through Moses is called the old covenant. This is the memorial of that blood to seal and confirm this new covenant. The old covenant was sealed with the blood of animals; this was sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ shed for the remission of sins.
this do, as often as ye drink it,—That it was the common custom of the disciples to meet together upon the first day of the week to break bread is clearly indicated by the following: “And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow.” (Acts 20:7). [In the original institution of the Supper nothing is said of the frequency with which it was to be observed. Had nothing more been said, every congregation of believers would have been left to its own judgment as to the frequency of the observance. But the apostles were guided by the Holy Spirit in this, and their example is our guide. Here it is represented as furnishing the purpose of the meeting on the first day of the week. Such being the purpose of the meeting, as surely as the disciples met every Lord’s day, they broke bread on that day.]
in remembrance of me.—It was to be done in memory of him, to commemorate the shedding of his blood for the sins of the world, not as a feast to gratify the appetite.
1 Corinthians 11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.—-From this we learn that it was a memorial institution to keep in memory the heroic deeds of Jesus in dying to redeem man. Monuments are designed to commemorate the worthy deeds of those in whose memory they were built, with the hope that future generations, when they learn the deeds commemorated by the monument, will be inspired with the same spirit, and be led to emulate those worthy deeds. Just so this memorial institution was ordained to perpetuate the memory of the self-denying spirit and heroic deeds of Jesus Christ for the good of man. It is done with the view that those who see these memorials of the deeds and death of Jesus will drink into the same spirit, and be led to emulate his life and deeds of self-sacrifice for the good of others. Man builds monuments of marble and granite; he seeks the imperishable; but despite all his precautions they molder and crumble. God, through Jesus, selected the perishable bread and volatile fruit of the vine as the material out of which he would build a monument that would endure with perennial freshness through all time.
No mortal would ever seek to build an imperishable monument out of material so perishable as bread and the fruit of the vine. God only could breathe into it a spirit that would render it immortal, that would cause it to continue in its freshness till Jesus comes again.
1 Corinthians 11:27
Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,—[To eat or drink in an unworthy manner is in general to come to the Lord’s table in a careless, irreverent spirit, without the intention or desire to commemorate the death of Christ as the sacrifice for sins, and without the purpose of complying with the obligations thereby assumed. The way in which the Corinthians ate unworthily was that they treated the Lord’s table as though it were their own; making no distinction between it and an ordinary meal; coming together to satisfy their hunger, and not to feed on the blessings of the body and blood of Christ.]
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.—Inasmuch as the eating and drinking were intended to proclaim and keep in memory the death of Jesus Christ, whoever should eat of this memorial in a light and frivolous manner, in forgetfulness of the spirit of sacrifice that led to the death of Christ, is guilty of profaning the body and blood of Christ. He incurs the guilt of treating lightly the slain body of the Lord Jesus.
1 Corinthians 11:28
But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup.— [Let him ascertain by earnest consideration whether he is in a proper state of mind for commemorating and proclaiming the Lord’s death; whether he feels a suitable gratitude for the sacrifice it commemorates, and is firmly resolved to observe the injunction of its founders.] On this verse Macknight says: “First, whether he comes to this service to keep up the memory of Christ; secondly, whether he is moved to do so by a grateful sense of Christ’s love in dying for man; thirdly, whether he comes with a firm purpose of doing honor to Christ, by living in all respects conformably to his precepts and example.” To this I add, whether he comes in a submissive and worthy manner, drinking into the same spirit of self-sacrifice for others that Christ manifested. [Such examination of one’s motive would have made impossible the shameful scenes here described.]
1 Corinthians 11:29
For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.—He who comes to it not remembering the Lord’s crucified body and shed blood, not drinking into the true spirit of Christ, not striving to walk worthy of his goodness and love, as shown in his sufferings and death, eateth unto condemnation rather than justification. Observing the body of Christ as a pledge of sanctification and justification and redemption to him who comes to it in a proper spirit, but of wrath and condemnation to him who comes not observing this spirit.
1 Corinthians 11:30
For this cause many among you are weak and sickly,— Because so many come to it unworthily, not discerning his body and blood, not in the true spirit of Christ, many among them were weak and sickly as Christians.
and not a few sleep.—Many are spiritually asleep—dead. Some commentators have applied the expression to physical disease and death; but spiritual neglect must bring spiritual penalties. Many had grown indifferent and some had lost interest in Christ and their duties to him.
1 Corinthians 11:31
But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. —If they watched themselves to see that they waited upon the Lord in the proper spirit, with a true sense of their obligations to him, and kept themselves in a condition to be blessed in his service, then they would not be condemned by the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:32
But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.—When God judged and chastened them, as he did when they began to neglect their duties to him, he afflicted them to cause them to turn away from their ways, that they might be saved and not be condemned with the world that forgets God.
1 Corinthians 11:33
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat,— [The eating referred to is, of course, the Lord’s Supper, and he enjoins perfect order, respect, and sobriety. The table is common for the rich and poor, and the rich have no claim of priority over the poor.]
wait one for another.—By their indecent haste, each eating his own meal without waiting for the rest, they had turned the Supper from the memorial purpose into an ordinary and insignificant meal, a mere eating and drinking. He therefore exhorts them to wait for one another, and make their coming together a joint service in commemoration of the Lord’s suffering and death.]
Every congregation should have a definite time for meeting and should never begin the service before that time without due notice. While the apostle says, “Wait one for another,” he also says, “In diligence not slothful; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” (Romans 12:11). No man can be diligent and fervent in spirit and be lazy and laggard in assembling for religious service. Not only does he who is slow lack diligence and fervor in spirit, but there is nothing that destroys the zeal and fervor of others like having to sit and wear out their patience, waiting for the slothful and indifferent.
1 Corinthians 11:34
If any man is hungry, let him eat at home;—He should take that in his own house which is necessary for the support of the body before he comes to the assembly, where he should have the feeding of the spiritual man alone in view.
that your coming together be not unto judgment.— [That they may avoid the curse that must fall on such worthless communicants as those mentioned; and that they may get that special blessing which every one who discerns the Lord’s body and blood must receive.]
And the rest will I set in order whensoever I come.— [There were other irregularities which the apostle leaves to be corrected until he should again visit Corinth, but when that would be was certainly regarded by him as uncertain.]