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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 1 Corinthians 16:9 - 16:9
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For a great and effectual door is opened unto me (thura gar moi aneōigen megalē kai energēs). Second perfect active indicative of anoigō, to open. Intransitive, stands wide open at last after his years there (Act 20:31). A wide open door. What does he mean by energēs? It is a late word in the Koiné. In the papyri a medical receipt has it for “tolerably strong.” The form energos in the papyri is used of a mill “in working order,” of “tilled land,” and of “wrought iron.” In the N.T. it occurs in Phm 1:6; Heb 4:12 of “the word of God” as “energēs” (powerful). Paul means that he has at least a great opportunity for work in Ephesus.
And there are many adversaries (kai antikeimenoi polloi). “And many are lying opposed to me,” lined up against me. These Paul mentions as a reason for staying in, not for leaving, Ephesus. Read Acts 19 and see the opposition from Jews and Gentiles with the explosion under the lead of Demetrius. And yet Paul suddenly leaves. He hints of much of which we should like to know more (1Co 15:32; 2Co 1:8.).