1Cor 9:26-27 | Clarke | e4.org | Verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly ] In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize. The word αδηλως, which we translate uncertainly , has other meanings. 1. It signifies ignorantly ; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course ; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it. 2. It signifies without observation ; the eyes of all the spectators were fixed on those who ran in these races; and to gain the applause of the multitude, they stretched every nerve; the apostle knew that the eyes of all were fixed upon him. 1. His false brethren waited for his halting: 2. The persecuting Jews and Gentiles longed for his downfall: 3. The Church of Christ looked on him with anxiety: 4. And he acted in all things as under the immediate eye of God. Not as one that beateth the air ] Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, αεραδερειν, to beat the air . 1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offence and defence. This was termed σκιαμαχια, fighting with a shadow . To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match:- Talis prima Dares caput altum in praelia tollit, Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras. AEn. v., ver. 375. Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view His arms around the towering Dares threw; Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare, And dealt his whistling blows in empty air . Pitt . 2. Sometimes boxers were to aim blows at their adversaries which they did not intend to take place, and which the others were obliged to exert themselves to prevent as much as if they had been really intended , and by these means some dexterous pugilists vanquished their adversaries by mere fatigue, without giving them a single blow. 3. Pugilists were said to beat the air when they had to contend with a nimble adversary, who, by running from side to side, stooping, and various contortions of the body, eluded the blows of his antagonist; who spent his strength on the air , frequently missing his aim , and sometimes overturning himself in attempting to hit his adversary, when this, by his agility, had been able to elude the blow. We have an example of this in Virgil's account of the boxing match between Entellus and Dares , so well told AEneid. v., ver. 426, &c., and which will give us a proper view of the subject to which the apostle alludes: viz. boxing at the Isthmian games. Constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque, Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras. Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu; Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt. Ille [ Dares ] pedum melior motu, fretusque juventa; Hic [ Entellus ] membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi Genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus. Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant, Multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vasto Dant sonitus; erratque aures et tempora circum Crebra manus; duro crepitant sub vulnere malae, Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem, Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit. Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem, Aut montana sedet circum castella sob armis; Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget. Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit. Entellus VIRES IN VENTUM EFFUDIT; et ultro Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho, Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus.-- Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes; It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes, AEquaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum. At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros, Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira: Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus; Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto; Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta. Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent; Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent; Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar, With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war. One [ Dares ] on his youth and pliant limbs relies; One [ Entellus ] on his sinews, and his giant size. The last is stiff with age, his motions slow; He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro.-- Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike; Their ways are different, but their art alike. Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound; A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies, And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes: Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws. Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground; But with his warping body wards the wound; His head and watchful eye keep even pace, While Dares traverses and shifts his place; And, like a captain who beleaguers round Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground, Views all the approaches with observing eyes; * This, and that other part, in vain he tries, * And more on industry than force relies. * With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe; * But Dares watched the motion from below, * And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow. * Entellus wastes his forces on the wind ; And thus deluded of the stroke designed, Headlong and heavy fell : his ample breast, And weighty limbs, his ancient mother pressed. So falls a hollow pine, that long had stood On Ida's height or Erymanthus' wood.-- Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned; With shame his cheeks, his eyes with fury burned: Disdain and conscious virtue fired his breast, And, with redoubled force, his foe he pressed; He lays on loads with either hand amain, And headlong drives the Trojan o'er the plain, Nor stops, nor stays; nor rest, nor breath allows; * But storms of strokes descend about his brows; * A rattling tempest, and a hail of blows. * Dryden . To such a combat as this the apostle most manifestly alludes: and in the above description the reader will see the full force and meaning of the words, So fight I, not as one that beateth the air -I have a real and a deadly foe; and as I fight not only for my honour but for my life , I aim every blow well, and do execution with each. No man, who had not seen such a fight, could have given such a description as that above; and we may fairly presume that when Virgil was in Greece he saw such a contest at the Isthmian games, and therefore was enabled to paint from nature . Homer has the same image of missing the foe and beating the air , when describing Achilles attempting to kill Hector, who, by his agility and skill , (Poetice by Apollo ,) eluded the blow:- τριςμενεπιτεπορυσεποδαρκηςδιοςαχιλλευς εγχειχαλκειωτριςδηερατυψεβαθειαν. ILIAD, lib. xx., ver. 445 Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart, Thrice, in impressive air , he plunged the dart.- Pope .

‏ 1 Corinthians 9:26-27

Verse 26. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly] In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize.

The word αδηλως, which we translate uncertainly, has other meanings. 1. It signifies ignorantly; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it. 2. It signifies without observation; the eyes of all the spectators were fixed on those who ran in these races; and to gain the applause of the multitude, they stretched every nerve; the apostle knew that the eyes of all were fixed upon him. 1. His false brethren waited for his halting: 2. The persecuting Jews and Gentiles longed for his downfall: 3. The Church of Christ looked on him with anxiety: 4. And he acted in all things as under the immediate eye of God.

Not as one that beateth the air] Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, αεραδερειν, to beat the air. 1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offence and defence. This was termed σκιαμαχια, fighting with a shadow. To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match:-

Talis prima Dares caput altum in praelia tollit, Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat

Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras.

AEn. v., ver. 375.

Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view

His arms around the towering Dares threw;

Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare,

And dealt his whistling blows in empty air. Pitt.

2. Sometimes boxers were to aim blows at their adversaries which they did not intend to take place, and which the others were obliged to exert themselves to prevent as much as if they had been really intended, and by these means some dexterous pugilists vanquished their adversaries by mere fatigue, without giving them a single blow. 3. Pugilists were said to beat the air when they had to contend with a nimble adversary, who, by running from side to side, stooping, and various contortions of the body, eluded the blows of his antagonist; who spent his strength on the air, frequently missing his aim, and sometimes overturning himself in attempting to hit his adversary, when this, by his agility, had been able to elude the blow. We have an example of this in Virgil's account of the boxing match between Entellus and Dares, so well told AEneid. v., ver. 426, &c., and which will give us a proper view of the subject to which the apostle alludes: viz. boxing at the Isthmian games.

Constitit in digitos extemplo arrectus uterque,

Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.

Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu;

Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt.

Ille [Dares] pedum melior motu, fretusque juventa;

Hic [Entellus] membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi

Genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.

Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant,

Multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vasto

Dant sonitus; erratque aures et tempora circum

Crebra manus; duro crepitant sub vulnere malae,

Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem,

Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.

Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem,

Aut montana sedet circum castella sob armis;

Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat

Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget.

Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte

Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox

Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.

Entellus VIRES IN VENTUM EFFUDIT; et ultro

Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto

Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho,

Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus.--

Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes;

It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes,

AEquaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.

At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros,

Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira:

Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus;

Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto;

Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra

Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi

Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros

Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.

Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent;

Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent;

Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar,

With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war.

One [Dares] on his youth and pliant limbs relies;

One [Entellus] on his sinews, and his giant size.

The last is stiff with age, his motions slow;

He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro.--

Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike;

Their ways are different, but their art alike.

Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around

Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound;

A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies,

And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes:

Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws

A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws.

Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground;

But with his warping body wards the wound;

His head and watchful eye keep even pace,

While Dares traverses and shifts his place;

And, like a captain who beleaguers round

Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground,

Views all the approaches with observing eyes; *

This, and that other part, in vain he tries, *

And more on industry than force relies. *

With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe; *

But Dares watched the motion from below, *

And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow. *

Entellus wastes his forces on the wind;

And thus deluded of the stroke designed,

Headlong and heavy fell: his ample breast,

And weighty limbs, his ancient mother pressed.

So falls a hollow pine, that long had stood

On Ida's height or Erymanthus' wood.--

Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned;

With shame his cheeks, his eyes with fury burned:

Disdain and conscious virtue fired his breast,

And, with redoubled force, his foe he pressed;

He lays on loads with either hand amain,

And headlong drives the Trojan o'er the plain,

Nor stops, nor stays; nor rest, nor breath allows; *

But storms of strokes descend about his brows; *

A rattling tempest, and a hail of blows. *

Dryden.

To such a combat as this the apostle most manifestly alludes: and in the above description the reader will see the full force and meaning of the words, So fight I, not as one that beateth the air-I have a real and a deadly foe; and as I fight not only for my honour but for my life, I aim every blow well, and do execution with each.

No man, who had not seen such a fight, could have given such a description as that above; and we may fairly presume that when Virgil was in Greece he saw such a contest at the Isthmian games, and therefore was enabled to paint from nature.

Homer has the same image of missing the foe and beating the air, when describing Achilles attempting to kill Hector, who, by his agility and skill, (Poetice by Apollo,) eluded the blow:-

τριςμενεπιτεπορυσεποδαρκηςδιοςαχιλλευς

εγχειχαλκειωτριςδηερατυψεβαθειαν.

ILIAD, lib. xx., ver. 445

Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart,

Thrice, in impressive air, he plunged the dart.-Pope.

Verse 27. But I keep under my body, &c.] This is an allusion, not only to boxers, but also to wrestlers in the same games, as we learn from the word υπωπιαζω, which signifies to hit in the eyes; and δουλαγωγω, which signifies to trip, and give the antagonist a fall, and then keep him down when he was down, and having obliged him to acknowledge himself conquered, make him a slave. The apostle considers his body as an enemy with which he must contend; he must mortify it by self-denial, abstinence, and severe labour; it must be the slave of his soul, and not the soul the slave of the body, which in all unregenerate men is the case.

Lest-having preached to others] The word κηρυξας, which we translate having preached, refers to the office of the κηρυξ, or herald, at these games, whose business it was to proclaim the conditions of the games, display the prizes, exhort the combatants, excite the emulation of those who were to contend, declare the terms of each contest, pronounce the name of the victors, and put the crown on their heads. See my observations on this office in Clarke's notes at "Mt 3:17".

Should be a castaway.] The word αδοκιμος signifies such a person as the βραβευται, or judges of the games, reject as not having deserved the prize. So Paul himself might be rejected by the great Judge; and to prevent this, he ran, he contended, he denied himself, and brought his body into subjection to his spirit, and had his spirit governed by the Spirit of God. Had this heavenly man lived in our days, he would by a certain class of people have been deemed a legalist; a people who widely differ from the practice of the apostle, for they are conformed to the world, and they feed themselves without fear.

ON the various important subjects in this chapter I have already spoken in great detail; not, indeed, all that might be said, but as much as is necessary. A few general observations will serve to recapitulate and impress what has been already said.

1. St. Paul contends that a preacher of the Gospel has a right to his support; and he has proved this from the law, from the Gospel, and from the common sense and consent of men. If a man who does not labour takes his maintenance from the Church of God, it is not only a domestic theft but a sacrilege. He that gives up his time to this labour has a right to the support of himself and family: he who takes more than is sufficient for this purpose is a covetous hireling. He who does nothing for the cause of God and religion, and yet obliges the Church to support him, and minister to his idleness, irregularities, luxury, avarice, and ambition, is a monster for whom human language has not yet got a name.

2. Those who refuse the labourer his hire are condemned by God and by good men. How liberal are many to public places of amusement, or to some popular charity, where their names are sure to be published abroad; while the man who watches over their souls is fed with the most parsimonious hand! Will not God abate this pride and reprove this hard-heartedness?

3. As the husbandman plows and sows in hope, and the God of providence makes him a partaker of his hope, let the upright preachers of God's word take example and encouragement by him. Let them labour in hope; God will not permit them to spend their strength for nought. Though much of their seed, through the fault of the bad ground, may be unfruitful, yet some will spring up unto eternal life.

4. St. Paul became all things to all men, that he might gain all. This was not the effect of a fickle or man-pleasing disposition; no man was ever of a more firm or decided character than St. Paul; but whenever he could with a good conscience yield so as to please his neighbour for his good to edification, he did so; and his yielding disposition was a proof of the greatness of his soul. The unyielding and obstinate mind is always a little mind: a want of true greatness always produces obstinacy and peevishness. Such a person as St. Paul is a blessing wherever he goes: on the contrary, the obstinate, hoggish man, is either a general curse, or a general cross; and if a preacher of the Gospel, his is a burthensome ministry. Reader, let me ask thee a question: If there be no gentleness in thy manners, is there any in thy heart? If there be little of Christ without, can there be much of Christ within?

5. A few general observations on the Grecian games may serve to recapitulate the subject in the four last verses.

1. The Isthmian games were celebrated among the Corinthians; and therefore the apostle addresses them, 1Co 9:24: KNOW ye not, &c.

2. Of the five games there used, the apostle speaks only of three. RUNNING; 1Co 9:24: They which run in a race; and 1Co 9:26: I therefore so run, not as uncertainly. WRESTLING, 1Co 9:25: Every man that striveth; οαγωνιζομενος, he who wrestleth. BOXING, 1Co 9:26, 27: So fight I, not as one that beateth the air; ουτωπυκτευω, so fist I, so I hit; but I keep my body under; υπωπιαζω, I hit in the eye, I make the face black and blue.

3. He who won the race by running was to observe the laws of racing-keeping within the white line which marked out the path or compass in which they ran; and he was also to outrun the rest, and to come first to the goal; otherwise he ran uncertainly, 1Co 9:24, 26, and was αδοκιμος, one to whom the prize could not be judged by the judges of the games.

4. The athletic combatants, or wrestlers, observed a set diet. See the quotation from Epictetus, under 1Co 9:25. And this was a regimen both for quantity and quality; and they carefully abstained from all things that might render them less able for the combat; whence the apostle says they were temperate in all things, 1Co 9:25.

5. No person who was not of respectable family and connections was permitted to be a competitor at the Olympic games. St. Chrysostom, in whose time these games were still celebrated, assures us that no man was suffered to enter the lists who was either a servant or a slave, ουδειςαγωνιζεταιδουλοςουδεις στρατευεταιοικετης. and if any such was found who had got himself inserted on the military list, his name was erased, and he was expelled and punished. αλλεαναλωδουλοςωνμετατιμεριας εκβαλλεταιτουτωνστρατιωτωνκαταολου. To prevent any person of bad character from entering the list at the Olympic games, the kerux, or herald, was accustomed to proclaim aloud in the theatre when the combatant was brought forth: μητουτουκατηγορειωστε αυτοναποσκευασαμενοντηςδουλειαςτηνυποψιανουτωςειςτους αγωναςεμβηναι: Who can accuse this man? For which he gives this reason: "that being free from all suspicion of being in a state of slavery, (and elsewhere he says of being a thief, or of corrupt morals,) he might enter the lists with credit." Chrysost. Homil. in Inscript. Altaris, &c., vol. iii. page 59, Edit. Benedict.

6. The boxers used to prepare themselves by a sort of σκιαμαχια, or going through all their postures of defence and attack when no adversary was before them. This was termed beating the air, 1Co 9:26; but when such came to the combat, they endeavoured to blind their adversaries by hitting them in the eye, which is the meaning of υπωπιαζειν, as we have seen under 1Co 9:27.

7. The rewards of all these exercises were only a crown made of the leaves of some plant, or the bough of some tree; the olive, bay, laurel, parsley, &c., called here by the apostle φθαρτονστεφανον, a corruptible, withering, and fading crown; while he and his fellow Christians expected a crown incorruptible and immortal, and that could not fade away.

8. On the subject of the possibility of St. Paul becoming a castaway, much has been said in contradiction to his own words. HE most absolutely states the possibility of the case: and who has a right to call this in question? The ancient Greek commentators, as Whitby has remarked, have made a good use of the apostle's saying, ειδεπαυλοςτουτοδεδοικενοτοσουτουςδιδαξαςτιαν ειποιμενημεις; "If Paul, so great a man, one who had preached and laboured so much, dreaded this, what cause have we to fear lest this should befall us?"

9. On the necessity of being workers together with God, in order to avoid apostasy, Clemens Alexandrinus has some useful observations in his Stromata, lib. vii., page 448, Edit. Oberthur: ωςδε, says he, οιατροςυγειανπαρεξεταιτοιςσυνεργουσιπρος υγειανουτωςκαιοθεοςτηναιδιονσωτηριαντοιςσυνεργουσιπρος γνωσιντεκαιευπραγιαν. "As a physician gives health to those who cooperate with him in their cure; so God also gives eternal salvation to them who are workers together with him in knowledge and a godly life." "Therefore," says he, "it is well said among the Greeks, that when a certain wrestler, who had long inured his body to manly exercises, was going to the Olympic games, as he was passing by the statue of Jupiter he offered up this prayer: ει πανταωζευδεοντωςμοιταπροςτοναγωναταοεσκευασταιαποδος φερωνδικαιωςτηννικηνεμοι. 'O Jupiter, if I have performed every thing as I ought in reference to this contest, grant me the victory!'" May we not feel something of this spirit in seeking the kingdom of God? And can any thing of this kind be supposed to derogate from the glory of Christ? St. Paul himself says, if a man contend for the mastery, yet is he not crowned except he strive lawfully. Shall we pretend to be wiser than the apostle; and say, that we may gain the crown, though we neither fight the good fight nor finish the course?