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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comVincent Word Studies - 1 Corinthians 9:24 - 9:24
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
In a race (ἐν σταδίῳ)
Or, better, in a race-course. From ἵστημι to place or establish. Hence a stated distance; a standard of length. In all other New-Testament passages it is used of a measure of length, and is rendered furlong, representing 606.75 English feet. From the fact that the race-courses were usually of exactly this length, the word was applied to the race-course itself. The position chosen for the stadium was usually on the side of a hill, which would furnish a natural slope for seats; a corresponding elevation on the opposite side, being formed by a mound of earth, and the seats being supported upon arches. The stadium was oblong in shape, and semicircular at one end; though, after the Roman conquest of Greece, both ends were often made semicircular. A straight wall shut in the area at one end, and here were the entrances and the starting-place for the runners. At the other end was the goal, which, like the starting-point, was marked by a square pillar. Half-way between these was a third pillar. On the first pillar was inscribed excel; on the second, hasten; on the third, turn, since the racers turned round the column to go back to the starting-point.
The isthmus of Corinth was the scene of the Isthmian games, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks. The celebration was a season of great rejoicing and feasting. The contests included horse, foot, and chariot-racing; wrestling, boxing, musical and poetical trials, and later, fights of animals. The victor's prize was a garland of pine leaves, and his victory was generally celebrated in triumphal odes called epinikia, of which specimens remain among the poems of Pindar. At the period of Paul's epistles the games were still celebrated, and the apostle himself may very probably have been present. At the same time, he would have been familiar with similar scenes in Tarsus, in all the great cities of Asia Minor, especially Ephesus, and even in Jerusalem. Metaphors and allusions founded upon such spectacles abound in Paul's writings. Racers, 1Co 9:24; boxers, 1Co 9:26, 1Co 9:27; gladiators fighting with beasts, 1Co 15:32; the judge awarding the prize, 2Ti 4:8; the goal and the prize, 1Co 9:24; Phi 3:14; the chaplet, 1Co 9:25; 2Ti 2:5; 2Ti 4:8, the training for the contest, 1Ti 4:7, 1Ti 4:8; the rules governing it, 2Ti 2:5; the chariot-race, Phi 3:14. These images never occur in the gospels. See on of life, Rev 2:10.
Prize (βραβεῖον)
Only here and Phi 3:14. The kindred verb βραβεύω to be umpire, occurs once, Col 3:15. See note.
Obtain (καταλάβητε)
Lit., lay hold of. Rev., attain. See on comprehended, Joh 1:5; see on come upon you, Joh 12:35; and see on perceived, Act 4:13. Compare Phi 3:12.