Commentary on the Epistles to the Corinthians John Calvin (continued)
Commentary on the Corinthians
admirable symmetry. 57
For sententia (judgment) Paul has {γνώμην}: but I understand it here as denoting the will, so that there is a complete division of the soul, and the first clause refers to faith, the second to love. Then only will there be Christian unity among us, when there is not merely a good agreement as to doctrine, but we are also in harmony in our affections and dispositions, and are thus in all respects of one mind. Thus Luke bears witness to believers in the primitive Church, (Acts 2:46,) that they had "one heart and one soul." And without doubt this will be found wherever the Spirit of Christ reigns. When, however, he exhorts them to speak the same thing, he intimates still more fully from the effect, how complete the agreement ought to be — so that no diversity may appear even in words. It is difficult, indeed, of attainment, but still it is necessary among Christians, from whom there is required not merely one faith, but also one confession.
11. It has been declared. As general observations have usually little effect, he intimates, that what he had said was more particularly applicable to them. The application, therefore, is designed with the view of leading the Corinthians to perceive, that it was not without good reason that Paul had made mention of harmony. For he shows that they had not merely turned aside from a holy unity, 58 but had even fallen into contentions, which are worse 59 than jarrings of sentiment. And that he may not be charged with believing too readily what was said, 60 as though he lightly lent his ear to false accusations, he speaks with commendation of his informants, who must have been in the highest esteem, as he did not hesitate to adduce them as competent witnesses against an entire Church. It is not indeed altogether certain, whether Chloe is the name of a place or of a woman, but to me it appears more probable that it is the name of a woman. 61 I am of opinion,
57The verb {καταρτιζω} properly signifies, to repair, or refit, or restore to its original condition what has been disarranged or broken; and in this sense it is applied to the repairing of nets, ships, walls, etc. (See Matthew 4:21; Mark 1:19.) We might with perfect propriety understand the Apostle as alluding here to the repairing of a ship that has been broken or damaged, and as intimating that a Church, when shattered by divisions, is (so to speak) not sea-worthy, and must be carefully repaired, before she can be fit for purposes of commerce, by conveying to the nations of the earth the ``true riches.'' The allusion, however, most probably is, as Calvin thinks, to the members of the human body, which are so admirably adjusted to each other. It deserves to be noticed, that Paul makes use of a derivative from the same verb ({κατάρτισις}) in 2 Corinthians 13:9, on which Beza observes, ``that the Apostle's meaning is, that whereas the members of the Church were all (as it were) dislocated and out of joint, they should now again be joined together in love, and they should endeavor to make perfect what was amiss amongst them either in faith or manners.'' --- Ed
58"La sancte union qui doit estre entre les Chrestiens;" — "That holy unity which ought to be among Christians."
59"Bien plus dangereuses;" — "Much more dangerous." 60It is remarked by Beza that the verb here employed, {δηλοω}, (to declare,)has a stronger signification than {σημαινω} (to intimate,) just as there is a difference of meaning between the Latin words declarare (to declare) and significare (to intimate,) an example of which is furnished in a letter of Cicero to Lucretius, ``tibi non significandum solum, sed etiam declarandum arbitror, nihil mihi esse potuisse tuis literis gratius;'' ``I think it ought to be not merely intimated to you but declared, that nothing could be more agreeable to me than your letters.'' The emphatic word {εδηλωθν} (it has been declared,) appears to have been made use of by the Apostle to convey more fully to the mind of the Corhlthians, that he had not hastily given heed to a mere report. --- Ed
61Some have thought that by {τῶς} {Χλόης},(those of Chloe,) the Apostle means persons who were in a flourishing condition in religion; from {χλόη}, green herbage, (Herodotus, 4:34, Euripides, Hipp. 1124.)