King James Version
1 Corinthians 5
13 verses with commentary
Sexual Immorality Judged
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you</strong> (ἀκούεται πορνεία ἐν ὑμῖν)—the Greek <em>porneia</em> (πορνεία) encompasses all sexual immorality, but here refers to incest. <strong>Such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles</strong>—even pagan Corinth, notorious for sexual licentiousness, condemned this sin. Roman law explicitly prohibited marriage...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(1) **It is reported commonly.**—Better, *There is absolutely said to be fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles.* All the best MSS. omit the word “named.” The force of the statement is that the fornication was of such a kind (with a stepmother) as even the Gentile world, immoral as it was, regarded with disgust, and how infinitely worse, then, was it to find ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**8-12. Now--**"For" is the true reading: the apostle is merely assigning an additional motive to Christian forbearance.
**I say that Jesus Christ was--**"hath become"
**a minister of the circumcision--**a remarkable expression, meaning "the Father's Servant for the salvation of the circumcision (or, of Israel)."
**for the truth of God--**to make good the veracity of God towards His ancient ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And ye are puffed up</strong> (πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστέ)—the Corinthians' problem was pride, not ignorance. Rather than grieving over sin, they were arrogant, perhaps viewing their 'tolerance' as sophisticated spirituality or evidence of freedom in Christ. The verb <em>phusioo</em> ("puffed up") appears six times in 1 Corinthians (4:6, 18, 19; 5:2; 8:1; 13:4), always negatively—contrasted with lo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **And ye are puffed up.**—Better, *And are ye puffed up?* &c. We have instances of similar sentences beginning with “and,” Luke 10:29. The Apostle cannot mean that they actually gloried in this act of sin, but that their temper of mind was of that kind which he has already described in the earlier chapters, puffing themselves up, one against another, in party rivalry, instead of being united i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Now, &c.--**This seems a concluding prayer, suggested by the whole preceding subject matter of the epistle.
**the God of hope--**(See on Ro 15:5).
**fill you with all joy and peace in believing--**the native truth of that faith which is the great theme of this epistle (compare Ga 5:22).
**that ye may abound in hope--**"of the glory of God." (See on Ro 5:1).
**through the power of...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, judged: or, determined
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit</strong>—Paul's apostolic authority transcended physical presence. Though in Ephesus (16:8), he was spiritually united with the Corinthian church and could exercise apostolic judgment. <strong>Have judged already, as though I were present</strong> (ἤδη κέκρικα ὡς παρών)—the perfect tense <em>kekrisa</em> indicates a settled, completed ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **For I verily.**—The Apostle had fully made up his mind that this offender must be removed, and insists on the Corinthians doing it. So that the previous words imply they might as well have done it without waiting for his interference.
**As absent in body.**—Better, omit “as,” which is not in the best MSS.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ro 15:14-33. Conclusion: In Which the Apostle Apologizes for Thus Writing to the Roman Christians, Explains Why He Had Not Yet Visited Them, Announces His Future Plans, and Asks Their Prayers for the Completion of Them.
**14-15. And, &c.--**rather, "Now I am persuaded, my brethren, even I myself, concerning you"
**that ye also yourselves are full of goodness--**of inclination to all I have ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together</strong>—church discipline is a corporate act requiring formal assembly, not individual vigilantism. <strong>In the name</strong> (ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι) indicates authority derived from Christ, acting as His representatives. Discipline is exercised under Christ's lordship and by His authority, not human wisdom or personal vendett...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4, 5) **In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . and my spirit.**—These two verses contain the apostolic sentence on the offender, and may read thus: “I have already myself decided, in the name of our Lord Jesus, you being gathered together, and my spirit (as in 1Corinthians 5:3), in the power of our Lord Jesus, to deliver such a one,” &c.
The opening words are probably the form used in all pu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Ro 15:14-33. Conclusion: In Which the Apostle Apologizes for Thus Writing to the Roman Christians, Explains Why He Had Not Yet Visited Them, Announces His Future Plans, and Asks Their Prayers for the Completion of Them.
**14-15. And, &c.--**rather, "Now I am persuaded, my brethren, even I myself, concerning you"
**that ye also yourselves are full of goodness--**of inclination to all I have ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh</strong>—this phrase has generated much debate. <em>Paradidomi</em> ("deliver, hand over") means removal from the church's protective fellowship into Satan's domain (the world, cf. 1 John 5:19). <strong>Destruction of the flesh</strong> (ὄλεθρον τῆς σαρκός) likely refers to the sinful nature, not physical death, though some...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **That the spirit may be saved.**—The object of this punishment was the destruction of the flesh, and the salvation of the man.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. that I should be the--**rather, "a"
**minister--**The word here used is commonly employed to express the office of the priesthood, from which accordingly the figurative language of the rest of the verse is taken.
**of Jesus Christ--**"Christ Jesus," according to the true reading.
**to the Gentiles--**a further proof that the Epistle was addressed to a Gentile church. (See on Ro 1:13).
...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Your glorying is not good</strong> (οὐ καλὸν τὸ καύχημα ὑμῶν)—their boasting about spiritual superiority, knowledge, or tolerance was misplaced. True spiritual maturity produces humility and grief over sin, not arrogance. <strong>Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?</strong>—Paul introduces the leaven metaphor, drawing on Jewish Passover imagery. <em>Zyme</em> (ζύμη, ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Your glorying is not good.**—There is possibly a reference here to some boasting regarding their spiritual state contained in the letter which had reached St. Paul from Corinth, and to which part of this Epistle is a reply. (See 1Corinthians 7:1.) So long as there is that one bad person amongst you it gives a bad character to the whole community, as leaven, though it may not have pervaded th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. I have therefore whereof I may glory--**or (adding the article, as the reading seems to be), "I have my glorying."
**through--**"in"
**Christ Jesus in those things which pertain to God--**the things of the ministry committed to me of God.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: is sacrificed: or, is slain
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump</strong>—the imperative <em>ekkatharate</em> ("purge out, cleanse thoroughly") demands decisive action. <strong>Old leaven</strong> represents the former life of sin; <strong>new lump</strong> is the church's new identity in Christ. <strong>As ye are unleavened</strong> (καθώς ἐστε ἄζυμοι)—positionally, believers are already unl...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **Purge out therefore the old leaven.**—It is not the offending man who is here spoken of, but it is the spirit in the Church which tolerated the evil, and which is to be purged out of their midst that they may become actually (a new lump) as they are by profession (unleavened).
**Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.**—Better, *Christ our passover is slain;* “for us” is not in the best MS...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. For I will not dare to speak of any--**"to speak aught"
**of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me--**a modest, though somewhat obscure form of expression, meaning, "I will not dare to go beyond what Christ hath wrought by me"--in which form accordingly the rest of the passage is expressed. Observe here how Paul ascribes all the success of his labors to the activity of the li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. the feast: or, holyday
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Therefore let us keep the feast</strong> (ὥστε ἑορτάζωμεν)—Paul extends the Passover imagery to the Christian life as an ongoing festival. The present subjunctive <em>heortazomen</em> suggests continuous celebration. The entire Christian life is a feast of deliverance from sin's slavery, requiring ongoing vigilance against sin's re-entry. <strong>Not with old leaven, neither with the leave...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **Old leaven**—*i.e.,* in their old state generally; and then the Apostle proceeds to particularise. Sincerity and truth are to take the place of malice and wickedness in the continuous life of the Christian. St. Chrysostom well remarks: “He said ‘Let us keep the feast’ as pointing out that the whole of time is a festival unto Christians, because of the excellence of the good things which have...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. For I will not dare to speak of any--**"to speak aught"
**of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me--**a modest, though somewhat obscure form of expression, meaning, "I will not dare to go beyond what Christ hath wrought by me"--in which form accordingly the rest of the passage is expressed. Observe here how Paul ascribes all the success of his labors to the activity of the li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 5
Chapter Outline
The apostle blames the Corinthians for connivance at an incestuous person;
(1-8)
and directs their behaviour towards those guilty of scandalous crimes.
(9-13)
**Verses 1-8**
The apostle notices a flagrant abuse, winked at by the Corinthians. Party spirit, and a false notion of Christian liberty, seem to have saved the offender from censure. Griev...
Read full commentary →Cleanse Out the Old Leaven
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators</strong>—Paul references an earlier, now-lost letter (the 'previous letter') instructing the Corinthians to avoid close association (<em>synanamignymi</em>, "mix together with") sexually immoral people. This verse clarifies that church discipline isn't new; Paul had previously taught separation from persistent, unrepentant sin....
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **I wrote unto you in an epistle.**—These words have given rise to some controversy as to whether the Apostle here refers to some former Epistle addressed to the Corinthian Church, and which has not been preserved, or whether the reference is not to this Epistle itself. It has been suggested by some who adopt the latter view that these words may have been added as an interpolation after the co...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. For I will not dare to speak of any--**"to speak aught"
**of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me--**a modest, though somewhat obscure form of expression, meaning, "I will not dare to go beyond what Christ hath wrought by me"--in which form accordingly the rest of the passage is expressed. Observe here how Paul ascribes all the success of his labors to the activity of the li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christians are to avoid familiar converse with all who disgrace the Christian name. Such are only fit companions for their brethren in sin, and to such company they should be left, whenever it is possible to do so. Alas, that there are many called Christians, whose conversation is more dangerous than that of heathens!
Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world</strong>—Paul clarifies he didn't mean total separation from immoral unbelievers. <em>Pantos</em> (πάντως, "altogether, entirely") emphasizes this would be impossible without leaving the world (<em>kosmos</em>). Christians live in, engage with, and witness to a fallen world; we cannot create isolated communes. <strong>Or with the coveto...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world.**—This is a limitation and explanation of the command given not to associate with fornicators. It would have been almost impossible for the command to be literally obeyed without the Christian withdrawing altogether from the business of life, so the Apostle explains that it is the fair fame and purity of the Church which he is anxious t...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. For I will not dare to speak of any--**"to speak aught"
**of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me--**a modest, though somewhat obscure form of expression, meaning, "I will not dare to go beyond what Christ hath wrought by me"--in which form accordingly the rest of the passage is expressed. Observe here how Paul ascribes all the success of his labors to the activity of the li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christians are to avoid familiar converse with all who disgrace the Christian name. Such are only fit companions for their brethren in sin, and to such company they should be left, whenever it is possible to do so. Alas, that there are many called Christians, whose conversation is more dangerous than that of heathens!
But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But now I have written unto you not to keep company</strong>—Paul reinforces his instruction with heightened clarity. The prohibition is specific: <strong>if any man that is called a brother</strong> (ἐάν τις ἀδελφὸς ὀνομαζόμενος)—someone claiming Christian identity, a church member in name. The present participle <em>onomazomenos</em> ("being called, named") emphasizes professed, not prov...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **But now I have written unto you . . *.****—i.e.,* “But what I meant was” that you were not to associate with a Christian guilty of these things. It may seem strange that the word “idolater” should be included in this category; for in what sense could a “brother” be a worshipper of idols? It is probable that the word “idolater” has involved in it the idea, not merely of worshipping an image,...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18-22. For I will not dare to speak of any--**"to speak aught"
**of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me--**a modest, though somewhat obscure form of expression, meaning, "I will not dare to go beyond what Christ hath wrought by me"--in which form accordingly the rest of the passage is expressed. Observe here how Paul ascribes all the success of his labors to the activity of the li...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christians are to avoid familiar converse with all who disgrace the Christian name. Such are only fit companions for their brethren in sin, and to such company they should be left, whenever it is possible to do so. Alas, that there are many called Christians, whose conversation is more dangerous than that of heathens!
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For what have I to do to judge them also that are without?</strong>—the rhetorical question expects a negative answer: "Nothing!" <em>Krinō</em> (κρίνω, "judge") here means rendering moral verdicts and exercising discipline. <strong>Them that are without</strong> (τοὺς ἔξω) refers to those outside the church, unbelievers. Paul isn't called to police the morality of pagan Corinth—that's God...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **For what have I to do** **. . .?**—The Apostle in this verse at once explains the grounds of the limitation of his remarks to Christians, and seems to hint also, by the form of expression here, that the Corinthian Church ought to have been able to have understood his remarks as only applicable to themselves and not to the heathen.
**Them also that are without.**—The heathen. It was a common...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23-24. But now having no more place--**"no longer having place"--that is, unbroken ground, where Christ has not been preached.
**and having a great desire--**"a longing"
**these many years to come unto you--**(as before, see on Ro 1:9-11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christians are to avoid familiar converse with all who disgrace the Christian name. Such are only fit companions for their brethren in sin, and to such company they should be left, whenever it is possible to do so. Alas, that there are many called Christians, whose conversation is more dangerous than that of heathens!
But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But them that are without God judgeth</strong>—unbelievers are accountable to God alone; final judgment belongs to Him (Rom 2:5, 12:19). The church doesn't pronounce judgment on the world but proclaims the gospel, leaving ultimate judgment to God. This liberates Christians from playing God while maintaining the urgency of evangelism—those outside face God's judgment unless they respond to ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **God judgeth.**—In the best MSS. the verb is in the future tense: *God will judge.* He is the judge of the whole earth; we are to leave the heathen world in His hands.
**Therefore put** **away . . .**—Better omit “therefore.” The Apostle in this passage adopts the form of pronouncing sentence on great criminals, with which especially the Jewish converts would be familiar (Deuteronomy 13:5; D...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23-24. But now having no more place--**"no longer having place"--that is, unbroken ground, where Christ has not been preached.
**and having a great desire--**"a longing"
**these many years to come unto you--**(as before, see on Ro 1:9-11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 9-13**
Christians are to avoid familiar converse with all who disgrace the Christian name. Such are only fit companions for their brethren in sin, and to such company they should be left, whenever it is possible to do so. Alas, that there are many called Christians, whose conversation is more dangerous than that of heathens!