1 Corinthians 5:10

5:10 Paul generally encouraged believers not to separate themselves from the company of sinful unbelievers (e.g., 10:27).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

1Co 5:10. Καὶ) and that.—οὐ πάντως, not altogether) What is here said is not a universal, but a particular negative, Rom 3:9, note.—τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, of this world) [there is no place wherein you may not fall in with the covetous and extortioners, etc.—V. g.] In antithesis to a brother, 1Co 5:11.[41]—ἅρπαξιν, extortioners) He gives them this name rather than that of thieves; because their theft is not apparent. [They are included by implication, who try to get the property of others, either by violence or injustice.—V. g.]—He mentions three kinds of flagitious crimes, which are committed against the man himself, against his neighbour, and against God.—ἐπεὶ ὀφείλετε, for then must ye needs) Others have written ὠφείλετε[42] [Ye ought to have gone out, etc.], for ὀφείλετε, but the present is also used, 1Co 7:14, ἐπεὶ ἄρα τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἀκαθαρτά ἐστι. What is written without express limitation, should not be always taken absolutely, if there should follow from it any unsuitable consequence. In the present day there is room for this paraphrase; “otherwise you must needs go out of a land inhabited by Christians.” They are therefore especially to be avoided, who among Christians wish to be considered virtuous above others, and yet are fornicators, etc.—ὀφείλετε) you must needs. For thus all intercourse as citizens would be done away with: That, which is evangelical perfection to monks, is absurd (ἄτοπον, out of place) and unsuitable in the eyes of Paul.—κόσμου, of the world) which abounds in profligate men.

[41] πλεονέκταις, covetous) Those greedy of gain for themselves.—V. g.

[42] So ACD(Λ)G Vulg. both Syr. and Memph. Versions. But B (judging from silence) favours Rec. Text’s reading, ὀφείλετε.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_5:10. More precise negative explanation of the rule laid down in the said letter, μὴ συναναμ. πόρν., which had been misinterpreted among the Corinthians (as Paul gathered probably from their letter to him) into a prohibition of association with fornicators among those who were not Christians; perhaps from a disposition to connive at the offenders within the bosom of the church itself.

οὐ πάντως τοῖς πόρν. τ. κ. τ.] is dependent on μὴ συναναμιγν.; it stands in a relation of opposition to the preceding πόρνοις, and explains what that πόρνοις did not mean. I wrote to you to refrain from intercourse with fornicators, (i.e.) not absolutely[827] with the fornicators of this world. An entire cessation of intercourse with πόρνοις in that sense of the word, it would, of course, be impossible to establish, seeing that you cannot go out of the world; but what I meant was Christians given to fornication, 1Co_5:11. Comp Plato, Pol. v. p. 454 C: οὐ πάντως τὴν αὐτὴν κ. τὴν ἑτέραν φύσιν ἐτιθέμεθα, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο τὸ εἶδος μόνον Κ.Τ.Λ[829] The οὐ instead of μή is correct enough (in opposition to Rückert), because οὐ πάντως τ. πόρν. τ. κ. τ. conveys something which is objectively denied, a definition of the notion of πόρνοις, which does not occur. Comp Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 334 [E. T. 389]. The conception is a different one, e.g., in Plato, Pol. iv. p. 419 A: ἐὰν τίς σε φῇ μὴ πάνυ τι εὐδαίμονας ποιεῖν τούτους. Commentators often supply ἔγραψα after οὐ; so, among the rest, Olshausen; not (wrote I, meant I): with the fornicators of this world in general. But what an arbitrary separation this is of the mutually connected words οὐ πάντως! And the interpretation in question has this, too, against it, that τ. κόσμου τ. does not refer to the world in general, but to those who were non-Christians (see below), so that the in general would be logically incorrect. Rückert takes οὐ πάντως as an intensified negative like that in Rom_3:9 (comp Luther), and supplies ἔγραψα after it: By no means did I write; i.e., the import of my prohibition was by no means, to have no intercourse with the fornicators of this world. But so understood, the words would lend countenance to intercourse with fornicators not Christian, which cannot be Pauls meaning. His intention is merely to set aside the misinterpretation which had been put upon his words, as if he had meant thereby to enforce an absolute cessation of intercourse with unchaste men outside the Christian society. Lastly, Billroth is wrong in rendering, after Chrysostom and Theophylact (τὸ πάντως ὡς ἐπὶ ὡμολογημένου τέθεικε πράγματος): not, of course, with the fornicators of this world. In that case, we should have had at least πάντως οὐ, for the sense would be, as Theophylact himself states: καὶ πάντως οὐ τοῖς πόρνοις τ. κόσμου συναναμίγνυσθαι ἐκώλυσα, τουτέστι τοῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων.

τοῦ κόσμου τούτου] who belong to this (ante-Messianic) world, not, like the Christians, to the Messiahs kingdom as its future members; hence it is the ἀλλότριοι τῆς πίστεως (Theodoret) who are here denoted, whose opposite is the ἀδελφός in 1Co_5:11. To understand it of mankind in general, Christians and non-Christians together (Pott, Hofmann, al[832]), is, seeing that τούτου is joined with it, contrary to the apostles mode of using language (Gal_4:3; Col_2:8; Eph_2:2; 1Co_3:19; 1Co_7:31; 2Co_4:4), and contrary also to the context (1Co_5:11-12). Afterwards, when Paul is thinking of the world of men in general, he purposely omits the τούτον.

ἢ τοῖς πλεονέκταις κ.τ.λ[833]] We may suppose that Paul, in the passage of his former letter now alluded to, had warned them not merely against ΠΌΡΝΟΙς, but also against those guilty of the other kinds of vice indicated here, and yet more specifically in 1Co_5:11. Hence: with the fornicators of this world, ornot to overlook the others, with whom also I forbade you to hold intercoursewith those greedy of gain, and violently grasping at it. These two, connected with each other as general and particular by καί (see the critical remarks), are conceived of as belonging together to one category. It is otherwise in 1Co_5:11, where each of these sins is viewed by itself. As to ἅρπ., the essential characteristic of which is violence, comp Luk_18:11; Soph. Phil. 640: κλέψαι τε χἀρπάσαι βίᾳ.

Τ. κόσμου τ. is to be understood again after ἍΡΠ. and ΕἸΔΩΛ. See 1Co_5:11.

ἘΠΕῚ ὈΦΕΊΛΕΤΕ Κ.Τ.Λ[835]] for so (were you absolutely and entirely to break off from the heathen fornicators, etc.) you must needs go out of the world (ἑτέραν οἰκουμένην ὀφείλετε ζητῆσαι, Theophylact), since nowhere could you be perfectly relieved from casual contact with such non-Christians. I should thus have demanded what was impossible. As regards the direct ὀφείλετε, comp 1Co_7:14; Rom_3:6; Rom_11:6; Rom_11:22. It is attested by B, Chrysostom, and Theodoret. In place of it, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Rückert, and Hofmann read ὠφείλετε, which has, indeed, the preponderance of evidence in its favour, but must be considered as an emendation. The strangeness of the conclusion is not conveyed by the ἄρα (Hofmann, following the mistake of Hartung), but by the case itself assumed, in which the ἄρα merely introduces what was indubitably involved in the supposed protasis (comp Baeumlein, Partik. p. 19 ff.). See against Hartung, Ellendt, Lex. Soph. I. p. 214.

[827] The phrase πάντῃ πάντως, which is common with Greek writers (Lobeck, Paral. p. 57), would have been still stronger if used in place of πάντως, altogether, absolutely. See generally on 1Co_9:22.

[829] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[832] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[833] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[835] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 5:10 gives the needful definition of the above injunction. οὐ πάντως is best understood as by Er [859] ( non omnino ), Cv [860] ( neque in universum ), Mr [861] , Bt [862] , Ed [863] , El [864] , as not absolutely, not altogether , οὐ negativing πάντως and making the inhibition a qualified one: “I did not altogether forbid your holding intercourse with the fornicators of this world”. To make the πάντως emphasise the οὐ (as in Rom 3:9 ) “Assuredly I did not mean to forbid association with fornicators outside the Church” (Lt [865] ) is to lend the passage the air of recommending association with unconverted profligates! What applies to one sort of immorality applies to others: ἢ τ . πλεονέκταις καὶ ἅρπαξιν ἢ εἰδωλολάτραις , “or with the covetous and rapacious, or with idolaters”. The πλεονεκται (from πλέον and ἔχω : see parls.) are the self-aggrandising in general; ἅρπαγες , those who seize with violence; sins of greed are frequent in commercial cities. “Idolaters”(the first appearance of the word in literature: cf. notes on 1Co 8:1 and 1Co 10:19 ) included the entire pagan world; Cor [866] idolatry was specially associated with sensual sin. ἐπεὶ … ἄρα κ . τ . λ ., “since in that case” the logical consequence of absolute non-intercourse “you were bound to go out of the world!” ἑτέραν οἰκουμένην ὠφείλετε ζητῆσαι (Thp [867] ). One could not pursue any avocation at Cor [868] without daily contact with such sinners. ὠφείλετε , in the impf [869] tense of the unfulfilled condition (implied in ἄρα ); for the omission, common with vbs. of this nature, of the ἂν of contingency, see Wr [870] , p. 382, and cf. Heb 9:26 . For the principle implied as against the cloister see Joh 17:14-19 .

[859] Erasmus’ In N.T. Annotationes .

[860] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .

[861] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[862] J. A. Beet’s St. Paul’s Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).

[863] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2

[864] C. J. Ellicott’s St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians .

[865] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).

[866] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[867] Theophylact, Greek Commentator.

[868] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[869]mpf. imperfect tense.

[870] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_5:10

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.

Not altogether. This limits the prohibition. The apostle did not intend to prohibit all intercourse with the fornicators of this world. This would be an impossibility; while in the world we must have more or less intercourse with the men of the world. Or, the words (οὐ πάντως), not altogether, may be connected with the words I wrote, in the sense of by no means. Comp. Rom_3:9. I by no means wrote to you not to associate with the wicked. This, although perhaps the more common explanation, does not give so good a sense. It is not so much a positive denial of having so written, as a limitation of the application of his command, that the apostle designs to give. The world means mankind as distinguished from the church, Gal_4:3; Eph_2:2; Col_2:8. The prohibition, such as it was, was not limited to any one class of the immoral; it included all classes. The covetous; those who will have more (πλεονέκτης); and especially those who defraud for the sake of gain. In the Scriptures the controlling love of gain is spoken of as a sin specially heinous in the sight of God. It is called idolatry, Eph_5:5 because wealth becomes the object supremely loved and sought. The man, therefore, who sacrifices duty to the acquisition of wealth; who makes gain the great object of his pursuit, is a covetous man. He cannot be a Christian, and should not, according to the apostle, be recognized as such.

Or with extortioners, i.e. the ravenous; those who exact what is not justly due to them, or more than is justly due. The sin is not confined to exactions by force or open robbery, but to all undue exactions. The man who takes advantage of anothers poverty, or of his necessities, to secure exorbitant gain, is an extortioner. Or with idolaters, those who either professedly worship false gods, or who do what, in its own nature, and in the common judgment of men, amounts to such worship. This is said to be the earliest known instance of the use of the word εἰδωλολάτρης; it is never used in the lxx, although εἴδωλον is constantly employed in that version in the sense of false gods. For then ye must needs go out of the world. This is the reason why the apostle did not prohibit all intercourse with wicked men. We should have to seek another world to live in.

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If you should utterly abstain from such men’s company, you should go out of the world: therefore I speak of them which are in the very bosom of the Church, which must be called home by discipline, and not of them which are without, with whom we must labor by all means possible, to bring them to Christ.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Limitation of the prohibition alluded to in Co1 5:9. As in dissolute Corinth to "company with no fornicators," &c., would be almost to company with none in the (unbelieving) world; ye need not utterly ("altogether") forego intercourse with fornicators, &c., of the unbelieving world (compare Co1 10:27; Joh 17:15; Jo1 5:18-19). As "fornicators" sin against themselves, so "extortioners" against their neighbors, and "idolaters" against God. The attempt to get "out of the world," in violation of God's will that believers should remain in it but keep themselves from its evil, led to monasticism and its consequent evils.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 10. For then must ye needs go out of the world.] What an awful picture of the general corruption of manners does this exhibit! The Christians at Corinth could not transact the ordinary affairs of life with any others than with fornicators, covetous persons, extortioners, railers, drunkards, and idolaters, because there were none others in the place! How necessary was Christianity in that city!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Since you would have required. It is as to this clause especially that interpreters are not agreed. For some say, “You must sooner quit Greece.” Ambrose, on the other hand, says, “You must rather die.” Erasmus turns it into the optative, as if Paul said, “Would that it were allowable for you to leave the world altogether; but as you cannot do this, you must at least quit the society of those who falsely assume the name of Christians, and in the meantime exhibit in their lives the worst example.” Chrysostom’s exposition has more appearance of truth. According to him, the meaning is this: “When I command you to shun fornicators, I do not mean all such; otherwise you would require to go in quest of another world; for we must live among thorns so long as we sojourn on earth. This only do I require, that you do not keep company with fornicators, who wish to be regarded as brethren, lest you should seem by your sufferance to approve of their wickedness.” Thus the term world here, must be taken to mean the present life, as in John 17:15

I pray not, Father, that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest deliver them from the evil.

Against this exposition a question might be proposed by way of objection: “As Paul said this at a time when Christians were as yet mingled with heathens, and dispersed among them, what ought to be done now, when all have given themselves to Christ in name? For even in the present day we must go out of the world, if we would avoid the society of the wicked; and there are none that are strangers, when all take upon themselves Christ’s name, and are consecrated to him by baptism.” Should any one feel inclined to follow Chrysostom, he will find no difficulty in replying, to this effect: that Paul here took for granted what was true — that, where there is the power of excommunication, there is an easy remedy for effecting a separation between the good and the bad, if Churches do their duty. As to strangers, the Christians at Corinth had no jurisdiction, and they could not restrain their dissolute manner of life. Hence they must of necessity have quitted the world, if they wished to avoid the society of the wicked, whose vices they could not cure.

For my own part, as I do not willingly adopt interpretations which cannot be made to suit the words, otherwise than by twisting the words so as to suit them, I prefer one that is different from all these, taking the word rendered to go out as meaning to be separated, and the term world as meaning the pollutions of the world “What need have you of an injunction as to the children of this world, (Luke 16:8,) for having once for all renounced the world, it becomes you to stand aloof from their society; for the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19.) If any one is not satisfied with this interpretation, here is still another that is probable: “I do not write to you in general terms, that you should shun the society of the fornicators of this world, though that you ought to do, without any admonition from me.” I prefer, however, the former; and I am not the first contriver of it, but, while it has been brought forward previously by others, I have adapted it more fully, if I mistake not, to Paul’s thread of discourse. There is, then, a sort of intentional omission, when he says that he makes no mention of those that are without, inasmuch as the Corinthians ought to be already separated from them, that they may know that even at home they required to maintain this discipline of avoiding the wicked.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 to preserve. There are so many fornicators, and covetous, and idolaters in this world (i.e., the heathen world) that men must meet with them. But the Christian must tolerate no such sins among themselves; they must exclude from the social circle any brother who, bearing the name of Christ, indulges in the vices of the heathen world. The Church is to be the light of the world, and not the recipient of the world’s darkness.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. or with the covetous] The word used here in the original is derived from two Greek words signifying to have more. Hence it signifies (1) one who has more than enough, (2) who desires more than enough of whatever kind, (3) one greedy after money. In some passages it, and the substantive and verb of similar derivation, are used of sensual sin, as in Eph_5:3; 1Th_4:6. In this verse, as well as in Eph_5:5, and Col_3:5, these words are connected with idolatry; either (1) because the love of riches is a kind of idolatry (1Ti_6:17) or (2) because the idolatrous rites of heathenism were so frequently stained with sensual indulgence. The verb formed from it generally signifies to overreach, take advantage of. Thus in 2Co_2:11 it is translated ‘get an advantage of,’ in 1Co_7:2 ‘defraud,’ and in 1Co_12:17-18 ‘make a gain of.’ Dean Stanley illustrates its use by the word covet as used in the Tenth Commandment; first in the ordinary sense of covetousness, ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house,’ and next in the sense of sensual desire, ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.’ We may also compare the words greed and greedy, which coming from the Anglo-Saxon grædan to cry, and kindred with the Gothic greitan, the Lowland Scotch greet, and the Italian gridare, words of similar signification, have diverged from one another in sense, and are used, the former exclusively of gain, the latter of the indulgence of appetite.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world,.... By "the fornicators of this world" are meant, such as were guilty of this sin, who were the men of the world, mere worldly carnal men, who were never called out of it, or ever professed to be; in distinction from those that were in the church, that had committed this iniquity; and the apostle's sense is, that his former prohibition of keeping company with fornicators was not to be understood as referring to such persons as were, out of the church, as if no sort of civil conversation and commerce were to be had with men of such, and the like infamous characters; or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters: that is, of this world; for this clause is to be understood of each of these; so we read (n) of , "the covetous of the world"; by the covetous are meant, either such who are given up to inordinate lusts, who work all uncleanness with greediness, and can never be satisfied with their filthy enjoyments; or such who are greedily desirous of riches and wealth, and of increasing their worldly substance by any method, right or wrong; and who not only withhold that which is meet from others, but will not allow themselves what is proper and necessary: "extortioners" are either "ravishers", as the word may be rendered: such who by force violate the chastity of others, youths or virgins; or robbers, who, by violence and rapine, take away that which is the fight and property of others; or such who oppress the poor, detain their wages by fraud, or lessen them, and extort that by unlawful gain, which is unreasonable: idolaters are those who worship the false deities of the Heathens, or any idol, graven image, or picture of God, or men, or any creature whatsoever, or any but the one Lord God. The apostle, under these characters, comprises all manner of sin against a man's self, against his neighbour, and against God; against himself, as fornication; against his neighbour, as covetousness and extortion; and against God, as idolatry: and since the world abounded with men guilty of these several vices, all kind of civil correspondence with them could not be avoided,

for then must you needs go out of the world; meaning not out of Greece, or of any of the cities thereof, into other parts, but out of the world itself; they must even destroy themselves, or seek out for a new world: it is an hyperbolical way of speaking, showing that the thing is impracticable and impossible, since men of this sort are everywhere; and were all trade and conversation with them to be forbidden, the families of God's people could never be supported, nor the interest of religion maintained; a stop would soon be put to worldly business, and saints would have little or nothing to do in the world; wherefore, as the Arabic version reads it, "business would compel you to go out of the world".

(n) Zohar in Exod. fol. 31. 2.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

10 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.

Ver. 10. Yet not altogether, &c.] Here he lets them know that in that former epistle (not extant now) he meant not that they should wholly sever themselves from those wicked that are yet without the Church (for that they cannot do), but from profligate professors, discinct Christians, that they may be ashamed.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yet not altogether ... - In my direction not “to company” with them, I did not mean that you should refuse all kinds of contact with them; that you should not treat them with civility, or be engaged with them in any of the transactions of life, or in the ordinary contact of society between man and man, for this would be impossible - but that you should not so associate with them as to be esteemed to belong to them, or so as to be corrupted by their example. You are not to make them companions and friends.

With the fornicators - Most pagans were of this description, and particularly at Corinth. See the introduction to this Epistle.

Of this world - Of those who are out of the church; or who are not professed Christians.

Or with the covetous - The avaricious; those greedy of gain. Probably his direction in the former epistle had been that they should avoid them.

Or extortioners - Rapacious persons; greedy of gain, and oppressing the poor, the needy, and the fatherless, to obtain money.

Or an idolater - All the Corinthians before the gospel was preached there worshipped idols.

Then must ye needs ... - It would be necessary to leave the world. The world is full of such persons. You meet them everywhere. You cannot avoid them in the ordinary transactions of life, unless you either destroy yourselves, or withdraw wholly from society. This passage shows:

(1) That that society was full of the licentious and the covetous, of idolaters and extortioners. (Compare the notes at Rom. 1.)

(2) That it is not right either to take our own lives to avoid them, or to withdraw from society and become monks; and therefore, that the whole monastic system is contrary to Christianity; and,

(3) That it is needful we should have some contact with the people of the world; and to have dealings with them as neighbors, and as members of the community. “How far” we are to have contact with them is not settled here. The general principles may be:

(1) That it is only so far as is necessary for the purposes of good society, or to show kindness to them as neighbors and as members of the community.

(2) We are to deal justly with them in all our transactions.

(3) We may be connected with them in regard to the things which “we have in common” - as public improvements, the business of education, etc.

(4) We are to endeavor to do them good, and for that purpose we are not to shun their society. But,

(5) We are not to make them our companions; or to associate with them in their wickedness, or as idolaters, or covetous, or licentious; we are not to be known as partakers with them in these things. And for the same reason we are not to associate with the frivilous in their gaiety; with the proud in their pride; with the fashionable in their regard to fashion; with the friends of the theater, the ballroom, or the splendid party, in their attachment to these amusements. In all these things we are to be separate; and are to be connected with them only in those things which we may have “in common” with them; and which are not inconsistent with the holy rules of the Christian religion.

(6) We are not so to associate with them as to be corrupted by their example; or so as to be led by that example to neglect prayer and the sanctuary, and the deeds of charity, and the effort to do good to the souls of people. We are to make it a great point that our piety is not to suffer by that contact; and we are never to do anything, or conform to any custom, or to have any such contact with them as to lessen our growth in grace; to divert our attention from the humble duties of religion; or to mar our Christian enjoyment.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world; I did not intend that admonition as to such persons as were no Christians, no members of the church (so this term world is used, Joh 15:19; 17:14; and so it is to be interpreted here). He extendeth this admonition to other scandalous sinners, such as covetous persons, by which he understandeth such as by any open and scandalous acts discover their too great love of money, whether by oppression, or by cheating and defrauding, &c.;

or extortioners, such as exact more than their due; or with idolaters, by which he understandeth such as worship images: and under these few species of scandalous sinners here mentioned, the apostle understands all others alike scandalous.

For then must ye needs go out of the world; for (saith he) you could have no commerce nor trading with men in the world, if you might keep no company with such as these. Which is true at this day, when the world is much more Christianized than it was at that time.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Of this world—In Paul’s last epistle the prohibition of associating with the sensualists had been apparently over interpreted, so as to make any association in the dissolute world of Corinth impracticable. This at once produced a stern asceticism, and overlooked the true field of discipline, which was to preserve both the purity and the reputation for purity of the holy Church.

Or with—He now extends the rule to other vices than incontinence.

Covetous—Overreachers in business.

Extortioners— Rapacious men of all classes, embezzlers, pillagers, robbers.

Idolaters— Image worshippers. Said by Grotius to be the first time the word occurs in any document extant.

Go out… world—And St. Paul here clearly assumes that it is the Christian’s duty to stay in the world. Christianity allows no right to shut one’s self up in a monastery, convent, or cave; no right to become a monk or a nun.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yet not altogether. The words correct a false inference, and mean, "I did not intend absolutely to prohibit all communication with Gentiles guilty of this sin under all circumstances." Of this world. Those outside the pale of the Christian Church. (comp 1Co_3:19; 2Co_4:4) Or with the covetous. St. Paul often uses the Greek word in immediate connection with sins of impurity (1Co_6:10; 2Co_9:5; Eph_5:3; Col_3:3) and, though it does not exclude the connotation of greed and avarice (2Co_9:7; 1Th_2:5) it seems to have been used euphemistically of the deadliest form of heathen sensuality. The principle of selfishness may work equally in greed and in lust. Extortioners. The word may also mean "ravishers," but there is no reason to abandon the sense of "rapacious." Idolaters. This is the earliest instance of the use of this word, which does not occur in the LXX No Christian could still be an open "idolater." So, unless we suppose that the expression has slipped in involuntarily, we must here give the word a metaphorical sense, as in Col_3:5. We must else be driven to suppose that there were some half and half Christians, like Constantine, who "feared the Lord, and served their own gods". (comp 1Co_6:9 1Co_8:10 1Co_10:7, 1Co_10:14; Eph_5:5) For then must ye needs go out of the world; for in that case (as they had perhaps implied in their letter of questions to St. Paul) ye would have been morally bound to leave the world altogether and seek a new one. The Greek particle ara perhaps refers to the astonishment caused by their misapprehension of St. Paul"s rule. The clause throws painful light on the condition of the heathen world. If all communication with "fornicators" was to be forbidden, the sin was so universal, especially at Corinth, that all intercourse with Gentiles would have be. come impossible. Even some who professed to be stern moralists among the heathen, like Cato and Cicero, looked on the sin as being, at the worst, quite venial, and even, under certain circumstances, commendable.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But I did not mean that you should altogether refrain from conversing with heathens, though they are guilty in some of these respects. Covetous, rapacious, idolaters - Sinners against themselves, their neighbour, God. For then ye must go out of the world - Then all civil commerce must cease. So that going out of the world, which some account a perfection, St. Paul accounts an utter absurdity.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

world

kosmos = mankind. (See Scofield "Mat 4:8").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. “Not” (to associate) “with fornicators of this world, for the covetous are extortioners or idolaters.” Since, moreover, you ought to come out from the world; as the very word “church” (ecclesia) means the called out, of course, responsive to the call, we all come out from the world.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

not at all meaning with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of this world [In this earlier Epistle the apostle had directed that fornicators and other backsliders inside the church, should be treated as outcasts, since they were so regarded of God ( Eph_5:5 ; Gal_5:19-21 ). But he had been misunderstood, and had been thought to say that fornicators, etc., outside the church were to be wholly avoided; a very impractical precept, which could only be obeyed by migrating to another planet, since this world is steeped in sin--comp. Joh_17:15 ]:

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

10. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world. His direction had been misunderstood. The fornicator in the church must be shunned as an outcast, for the sake of the discipline. This was what he meant. He did not give directions concerning their conduct towards the heathen. Then must ye needs, etc. As the whole heathen world were addicted to the vices named, to apply the rule to it would require that the church have nought whatever to do with the unconverted.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

10. [καὶ] before οὐ. All the best uncials omit, as well as Vetus Lat. and Vulg. They also read καὶ for ἢ before ἅρπαξιν. But here they are only supported by the Vetus Lat. Vulg. and Peshito read ἤ. The text, in its joining together similar, and disjoining dissimilar ideas, is characteristic. The best uncials also read ὠφείλετε for the rec. ὀφείλετε.

10. πλεονέκταις. This word is derived from ἔχω and πλέον. Hence it signifies (1) one who has more than enough, (2) who desires more than enough of whatever kind, (3) one greedy after gain. In some passages it, as well as πλεονεκτεῖν and πλεονεξία, is used of sensual sin, as in Eph 5:3; 1Th 4:6. In this verse, as well as in Eph 5:5, and Col 3:5, these words are connected with idolatry; either (1) because the love of riches is a kind of idolatry (1Ti 6:17) or (2) because the idolatrous rites of heathenism were so frequently stained with sensual indulgence. The verb formed from it generally signifies to overreach, take advantage of. Thus in 2Co 2:11 it is translated ‘get an advantage of,’ in 1Co 7:2 ‘defraud,’ and in 1Co 12:17-18 ‘make a gain of.’ Dean Stanley illustrates its use by the word covet as used in the Tenth Commandment; first in the ordinary sense of covetousness, ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house,’ and next in the sense of sensual desire, ‘thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife.’ We may also compare the words greed and greedy, which coming from the Anglo-Saxon grædan to cry, and kindred with the Gothic greitan, the Lowland Scotch greet, and the Italian gridare, words of similar signification, have diverged from one another in sense, and are used, the former exclusively of gain, the latter of the indulgence of appetite. Plato, Phaed. 91B, uses πλεονεκτικῶς as equivalent to ‘with an eye to one’s own interest.’ Aristotle uses πλεονεκτεῖν as equivalent to ἔχων τὸ πλέον. See Nic. Ethic. 1Co 5:9 ἑτέρου γὰρ ἀγαθοῦ ἐπλεονέκτει οἷον δόξης ἤ τοῦ ἁπλῶς καλοῦ. In 1Co 9:8, he uses it of χρήματα, τιμή, ἡδονὴ σωματική.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10.] οὐ πάντως limits the prohibition, which perhaps had been complained of owing to its strictness, and the impossibility of complying with it in so dissolute a place as Corinth, and excepts the fornicators of this world, i.e. who are not professing Christians: not under all circumstances with the fornicators of this—world: so Theophr. C. P. vi. 25, cited by Wetst. on Rom 3:9, ποιεῖ γὰρ οὐ πάντως,—ἀλλʼ ἐὰν οὐλή τις ᾖ ὑπόκαυστος.

οὐ, not μή, because not the whole context of the prohibition is negatived, but only one portion of it, and thus οὐ πάντως τ. π. τ. κός. τ. stands together as one idea. So Thucyd. i. 51, ὑποτοπήσαντες ἀπʼ Ἀθηνῶν εἶναι οὐχ ὅσας ἑώρων ἀλλὰ πλείους. See more examples in Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. p. 125, 6.

τοῦ κόσμ. τούτου, belonging to the number of unbelievers,—Christians who were πόρνοι being expressly excluded. So Paul ever uses this expression, ch. 3:19; (2Co 4:4;) Eph 2:2.

πλεονέκταις and ἅρπαξιν are joined by καί, as belonging to the same class—that of covetous persons;—πλεονέκτης being an avaricious person, not a lascivious one, as sometimes rendered (e.g. Conybeare, vol. ii. p. 41, edn. 2), nor does it seem to have any where merely this meaning; see Eph 4:19 and note. Compare on the other side Stanley’s note here, which however has not convinced me. The root of the two sins being the same, viz. lust or greed, they come often to be mentioned together and as if running into one another. See Trench, N. T, Syn. pp. 91, 2. On ἅρπαξιν, Stanley remarks, “It is difficult to see why it should be expressly introduced here, especially if πλεονέκτης has the meaning of sensuality.” Certainly: but not, if πλ. retains its proper meaning, as containing the key to πορνεία on the one hand, and ἁρπαγή on the other.

ἐπεὶ ὠφ.] For in that case ye must go out of the world,—as Chrys. and Theophyl., ἑτέραν οἰκουμένην ζητῆσαι. The past ὠφείλ., as ἔχρην, al., because the necessity would long ago have occurred and the act have passed.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10. οὐ πάντως. ‘Not altogether,’ ‘not absolutely,’ ‘not in all circumstances.’ It limits the prohibition of intercourse with fornicators, which does not apply in the case of fornicators who are outside the Christian community. The Apostle is not repeating the prohibition in another form, which would have required μή, as before. The οὐ = ‘not, I mean,’ or ‘I do not mean.’ The meaning is quite clear.

τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. ‘Of the non-Christian world.’

ἢ τοῖς πλεονέκταις. ‘Or’ here is equivalent to our ‘any more than.’

τοῖς πλεονέκταις καὶ ἅρπαξιν. These form a single class, coupled by the single article and the καί, and separated from each of the other classes by ἤ. This class is that of the absolutely selfish, who covet and sometimes seize more than their just share of things. They exhibit that amor sui which is the note of ‘this world,’ and which usurps the place of amor Dei, until πλεονεξία becomes a form of idolatry (Eph 5:5).

εἰδωλολάτραις. In the literal sense; 10:14; 1Jn 5:21. This is the first appearance of the word (Rev 21:8, Rev 22:15), which may have been coined by St Paul. In Eph 5:5 it is used in a figurative sense of a worshipper of Mammon. The triplet of vices here consists of those which characterize non-Christian civilization; lax morality, greed, and superstition. The last, in some form or other, is the inevitable substitute for spiritual religion.

ἐπεὶ ὠφείλετε ἄρα. ‘Since in that case you would have to’; cf. 7:14. Ἑπεί implies a protasis, which is suppressed by an easy ellipse; ‘since, were it not so, then,’ etc. Ἄρα introduces a subjective sequence, while οὖν introduces an objective one. Ωφείλετε is in an apodosis, where the idiomatic imperfect marks the consequence of a state of things that is supposed not to exist; and the ἄν which is usual in such an apodosis is commonly omitted with such verbs as ὠφείλετε, ἔδει, καλὸν ἦν, etc.

ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελθεῖν. This for most people is impossible; but at Corinth in St Paul’s day it was well for Christians to see as little of the heathen world as was possible. In 10:27 he does not forbid the presence of Christians at private entertainments given by heathen, but he implies that they ought not to wish to go to them.

οὐ πάντως (א* A B C D* E F G 17, Vulg.) rather than καὶ οὐ πάντως א 2 D 3 L P Arm. Aeth.). The ‘yet’ in AV. seems to represent καί. καὶ ἃρπαξιν (א* A B C D* F G P 17, Aeth) rather than ἢ ἅρπαξιν (א 3 D 3 E L, Vulg. Syrr. Copt. Arm.), an alteration to conform to ἤ on each side. AV. has ‘or,’ RV. ‘and.’ ὠφείλετε (א A B* C D E F G L 17, Latt,) rather than ὀφείλετε (B 3 P, Chrys. Thdrt.), another mistaken correction, the force of the imperfect not being seen.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Idolaters [ειδωλολατραις] . Only twice outside of Paul 's writings : Rev 21:8; Rev 22:15. This is the earliest known instance of the use of the word. For the collocation of the covetous and idolaters, compare Col 3:15; Eph 5:5. New - Testament usage does not confine the term to the worship of images, but extends it to the soul 's devotion to any object which usurps the place of God.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 10. The καί, and, which begins this verse in the T. R., is too little supported to be authentic.

The words οὐ πάντως τοῖς πόρνοις naturally have the effect of an explanatory apposition added to the πόρνοις at the end of 1Co 5:9, in this sense: “When I spoke of fornicators in my letter, I did not thereby mean all the fornicators of this world in general.” After all attempts to explain this οὐ πάντως differently, it seems to me that this is the interpretation which holds good. Only, it logically implies that by the phrase, the fornicators of this world, Paul denotes, not only those who are without the Church, but those also who profess the gospel. It is the only way of explaining the οὐ πάντως, which is not the absolute negative, like πάντως οὐ, absolutely not, but, on the contrary, a restricted negative (not absolutely, not entirely): I wrote to you to break with fornicators, not with fornicators in general, which would oblige you to go out of the world, but with those only who profess the gospel. This is the meaning adopted by Neander, Hofmann, and others. It is objected that the phrase, the fornicators of this world, must be exclusive of those of the Church. Why so? The idea is simply, “not generally with all the fornicators living with you in this world.” Such is evidently the meaning of the word world in the following sentence. Meyer has thought that it is to mark the difference between these two meanings given to the word world that Paul rejects the τούτου, this, in the following sentence. But it may also be to avoid an awkward and useless repetition. As to those who, like Meyer, de Wette, Edwards, hold that the fornicators of this world must here be necessarily contrasted with those of the Church, they are thrown into embarrassment by the οὐ πάντως, and they apply it solely to the limitation of relations with these fornicators: “I meant you not to have relations too complete (πάντως) with non-Christian fornicators,” which would authorize restricted relations, without which life in the world would be impossible. But this meaning is not natural; for what Paul here distinguishes is not the greater or less degree of intimacy in relations to impure heathen; he is contrasting with the relation to impure heathen, which he authorizes, the relation to impure Christians, which he forbids.

We do not take account here of the interpretations which separate οὐ from πάντως, connecting the former with the verb ἔγραψα, and the latter with the verb συναναμίγνυσθαι,—a separation far from natural,—nor of that of Rückert, who understands οὐ πάντως almost as if it were πάντως οὐ, absolutely not, though Paul knows perfectly the use and meaning of this form; comp. 1Co 16:12. However this may be, the view of the apostle remains substantially the same: the rupture which he demands is not applicable to the vicious in general, but only to those who lay claim to the name of Christians.

To libertinism Paul adds covetousness as to earthly goods, and that in the two forms of πλεονεξία, which, to have more, uses fraudulent and indelicate processes, like usury, and that of ἁρπαγή, injustice by violent means. These two words are connected, not by ἤ, or, but by καί, and, as two species of one and the same genus.

Idolaters, as such, would seem to be an impossibility in the Church; but there might be Corinthians who, after believing, had kept up habits of idolatry; and chap. 8 will show us that many of them could not bring themselves to give up the banquets to which they were invited in idol temples. These three vices, fornication, covetousness, idolatry, are related, as Estius and Edwards observe, the first to the individual himself, the second to his neighbours, the third to God.

It is evident that in a city like Corinth, to break off all connection with persons of these three categories would have been for a man to condemn himself to live as a hermit. This is probably what the Corinthians had retorted with a measure of irony; and so the apostle, no less than they, rejects an idea so absurd. The majority of the Mjj. read ὠφείλετε, ye would need, which gives a simple sense. T. R. with P and Chrysostom reads ὀφείλετε, ye need, a form which is also, though less easily, intelligible: “Since, if it is so, ye need...” Calvin, starting from this reading, has given the sentence a quite different meaning: “For ye need really to separate yourselves from the world (morally).” But the particle ἄρα, then, indicates, on the contrary, a consequence from what precedes.

And now Paul establishes his true thought.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.