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Ambrosiaster

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,043 passages across 16 books

Commentary

141–160 of 1,043
1 Corinthians 10:2

And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

Paul says the Jews were under the cloud in order to point out that everything that happened to them is meant to be understood as a picture of the truth which has been revealed to us. Under the cloud they were protected from their enemies until they were delivered from death, analogous to baptism. For when they passed through the Red Sea they were delivered from the Egyptians who died in it, and their death prefigured our baptism, which puts our adversaries to death as well.

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1 Corinthians 10:4

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

The manna and the water which flowed from the rock are called spiritual because they were formed not according to the law of nature but by the power of God working independently of the natural elements. They were created for a time as figures of what we now eat and drink in remembrance of Christ the Lord.

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1 Corinthians 10:9

Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

The Jews were putting Christ to the test, because it was he who spoke to Moses. Paul is warning us here not to do the same as they did.

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1 Corinthians 10:10

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Those who were destroyed prefigured Judas, who betrayed Christ and was eliminated from the number of the apostles by the judgment of God..

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1 Corinthians 10:12

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

Paul says this to those who, relying on their knowledge that it was lawful to eat anything, were a cause of scandal to their weaker brethren. Thinking that they had risen to a higher level, they in fact declined because of the teaching of the false apostles and condemned Paul when they were the guilty ones.

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1 Corinthians 10:14

Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

Paul is exhorting the Corinthians to avoid any connection with idolatry, so that not only their bodies but their minds as well might be separated from it in order to destroy any form of temptation. For anyone involved in idolatry will expect something out of it. To trust in an idol is to turn away from God.

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1 Corinthians 10:20

But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.

Paul is saying that beneath the surface of the idol there is a demonic power which is out to corrupt faith in the one God. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

1 Corinthians 10:21

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Anyone who drinks the cup of demons insults the cup of Christ, and anyone who eats at the table of demons revolts against the table of Christ, that is to say, the altar of the Lord, and crucifies his body again.

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1 Corinthians 10:24

Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

It is true that anyone who is an idolater will seek what pleases him alone. He will place scandals in the way of the weaker brother’s conscience. This is why we ought to be quick to resist doing just what we want to do, for the love of Christ and for the salvation of our neighbors.

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1 Corinthians 10:30

For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?

Paul is saying that an idolater can have it both ways. On the one hand, he can glory in his idols, and on the other hand he can attack the apostle for eating what has been sacrificed to them, even if the latter does so after giving thanks to God. Such a person has an excuse for remaining in his error and sets a bad example to the brethren.

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1 Corinthians 10:31

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

To eat and drink to God’s glory is to eat and drink after giving thanks to the Creator.

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1 Corinthians 10:32

Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:

Offense is given to the Jews when they see that a Christian, who claims the inheritance of the law and the prophets, is not afraid of idols, which they detest. Offense is given to the Greeks, that is, to the Gentiles, if their sin of idolatry is not only not contested but actually encouraged by people in the church who fail to reject things sacrificed to idols.

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1 Corinthians 11:1

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

It is normal that we should imitate those whom God has set over us as teachers. For if they imitate God, why should we not imitate them? For just as God the Father sent Christ as the teacher and author of life, so Christ sent the apostles to be our teachers, so that we should imitate them, for we are unable to imitate him directly.

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1 Corinthians 11:2

Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

Having attacked their morals and behavior, Paul now goes on to correct their traditions.

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1 Corinthians 11:3

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

God is the head of Christ because he begat him; Christ is the head of the man because he created him, and the man is the head of the woman because she was taken from his side. Thus one expression has different meanings, according to the difference of person and substantive relationship.

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1 Corinthians 11:7

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

Although man and woman are of the same substance, the man has relational priority because he is the head of the woman. He is greater than she is by cause and order, but not by substance. Woman is the glory of man, but there is an enormous distance between that and being the glory of God.

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1 Corinthians 11:10

For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

The veil signifies power, and the angels are bishops.

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1 Corinthians 11:12

For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

Paul adds that all things are from God so that the woman will not be upset because of her dependent condition nor will the man be proud of his responsible position.

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1 Corinthians 11:13

Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

This was the church’s tradition, but since the Corinthians were ignoring it, Paul made his appeal to nature.

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1 Corinthians 11:14

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

This is in line with Leviticus [19:27], which prohibits a man from having long hair.

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