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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - 1 Corinthians 16:10 - 16:10
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
10. ἐὰν δέ. As in A.V. Now if.
ἕλθῃ Τιμόθεος. See note on 1Co 4:17. The question whether Timothy arrived at Corinth before the Apostle, or whether he was detained in Macedonia until St Paul came thither, is one which admits of no certain decision. Dean Alford thinks Timothy arrived there first, and supports his view by the considerations, (1) that his mission is announced in terms too precise to be lightly given up, and (2) that its abandonment would have exposed the Apostle to an additional charge of inconsistency of which we never hear. But, on the other hand, it is remarkable that while we hear a good deal in the second Epistle of Titus’ mission and the report he brought back (ch. 2Co 2:13, 2Co 7:6; 2Co 7:13, 2Co 8:6; 2Co 8:16-18, 2Co 12:18), there is not a word said about Timothy’s arrival at Corinth, or of his return to St Paul, although (ch. 1Co 1:1) he was with St Paul when that Epistle was written. It may be added that we learn from Act 19:22 that Timothy was sent, at least as far as Macedonia. And the uncertainty here expressed (ἐάν, not ὅταν) gives at least some ground for the supposition that he did not get so far as Corinth, and this without any possible imputation upon the consistency of the Apostle. See Paley, Horae Paulinae, in loc.
βλέπετε ἵνα ἀφόβως γένηται. Paley and Professor Blunt remark here on the singular yet undesigned agreement between the various notices of the character of Timothy. For (1) we find that he was young (1Ti 4:12) and (2) deficient, apparently, in courage or energy, or both (1Ti 5:21-23; 2Ti 1:6-8; 2Ti 2:1; 2Ti 2:3; 2Ti 2:15; 2Ti 4:1-2). It has been thought from some of these expressions that he was even culpably timid. If this were the case, how much more must the injunction in the text have been needed (1) when Timothy was about ten years younger than when he received St Paul’s Epistles, and (2) in the then state of the Corinthian Church?
πρὸς ὑμᾶς. When he comes to you. See note on 1Co 16:6.