1 Corinthians 9:26

1Co_9:26

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly.

Not as uncertainly

In the Grecian games the uncertainties of every earthly race are symbolised. This uncertainty is one of the saddest aspects of experience. There are laurels for a few winners, but many are the losers. Some nearly win the race, and miss by a hairs-breadth; and many more never glimpse the goal, and yet bravely plod on in their weary disappointed way.

I. Men must run. Multitudes can say, not So run I, but, So look I on. They are interested in the Christian story; but this is not enough. Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Almost! is one of the saddest words in human experience.

II. Men admit the uncertainty of the earthly race, and so they run with this dread consciousness at their hearts. Who can tell whether health may not fail, just as honours hard-won are heralding reward? What impediments may come in the earthly path from the falsity, greed, or frivolity of others? If you seek apart from God, all is uncertainty! How different is the Christian struggle. Here all who run may obtain the prize. Men of culture and no culture; vigorous or of feeble health--for Christ has promised His own Divine aid to all who, laying hold on His strength, press toward the mark.

III. Men slight distant rewards. The goal! Let it be now, men say. The world of sense seems at first to have the best of it; but soon there comes the experience, common to all, that worldly reward is transient at the best. Earthly honours fade and wane. Even fame lives in few lives. One of the most renowned commanders of men, when the hour of triumph came, and the whole world seemed marshalled before him, was asked what the spectacle wanted? and he answered, Permanence! What a satire on human glory. All flesh is grass, &c. But so firm is the apostles faith, that with the heavens opened above him he calls the sons of men to seek the same incorruptible crown. The things we seek are all, like their Divine author, eternal in the heavens! As the voices of the redeemed fall from the celestial heights, they cry, Not as uncertainly.

IV. Men wait to begin. There are some who have long been close beside the course, who are hesitating and halting still. Much depends, in lifes crucial moments, upon habits of decision of character. So wait I! too many say. But what for? When wilt opportunity be more golden? When will heavens gates be thrown more widely open? Test the things that are this day more pleasant than Gods salvation, and see if they are worthy to be weighed with the souls immortal weal. Death may be nearer to us than we think.

V. Men stay in their course. Some did run well, but they are hindered. Heroism cools; ardour faints. If religion were one sharp conflict, one martyr sacrifice, then how many would join the ranks? But ever in this sublunary sphere the rewards of earth and time are to the persevering. AEsop was but a slave, and Homer but a poor man, and Columbus but a weaver, and they all, keeping their eyes on the earthly goal and pressing toward it, gained the prize. So in the immortal sphere--the feeble may become strong, and the last be first, through earnest faith. (W. M. Statham.)

The heavenly race

I. You must enter the lists.

1. You must be a Christian. An infidel, a pagan, cannot run this race, nor can a mere nominal professor. A sound faith must be united with an exemplary life.

2. Preparation is needed. The racer is careful in his diet. The Christian is to show sobriety, to be master of himself, subduing every passion. The athletes oiled themselves, both to give suppleness in motion, and to render it difficult for their antagonists to grapple them. The grace of Christ, the anointing of the Holy One, is indispensable to the believer. With the aid of Christ we can do all things.

3. The racer was presented in the circus. The Christian must free himself from everything that may hinder his progress.

II. You must run certainly.

1. Men fail who have no aim in life. One thing is needful. Beware of the man of one book, it has been said. You cannot stand in discussion with him. Others are readers of many books, but forget their contents. Some are distracted with business, polities, and pleasure, and so lose the reward. Of course, if God gives you varied gifts, you are not to neglect them, but to subordinate all to one aim.

2. Having chosen that aim, be conscientious. It is your conscience, not that of others, which is to guide. Do not falter and be turned aside, as were David and Peter. Dont beat the air, as a gladiator who, through fear or lack of skill, swung clear of his foe, giving the air the blow instead of his adversary.

3. Be candid. Look to yourself. We all live in glass houses, and should not throw stones. Do not listen to a sermon for another, and think how well the reproof fits another, and say, Bravo for the preacher who has nothing for us.

III. Keep your eve on the goal till you reach it. We are to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, for looking at Him will keep us from turning aside. We arc all running a race, willingly or unwillingly. Is it a heavenly one? (A. Gavazzi.)

The Christians race and battle

St. Paul proposes himself as an example of the life of a converted man. No conversion more unmistakable than his. If we would estimate conversion aright, let us view it as exemplified in St. Paul.

I. Position of conversion. The starting-point, not the goal--the enlisting of the soldier, not his victory. It places us on the ground, and bids us run. Enlists us in an army, and bids us fight (1. Timothy 6:12; Eph_6:10-17). Look at St. Paul.

1. Christ had arrested him as he was rushing to ruin (Php_3:12). Why? Not that he might stand still--sit down with folded hands, and wait for promised crown; but that he should run like racer in games, with no eye but for the goal--no thought but for the crown--all his powers concentrated on the one object, to obtain (Php_3:12-14).

2. Christ had delivered him from the power of darkness, &c. (Col_1:13). He was sure of victory (1Co_15:57; Rom_8:37; Rom_16:20); but only through conflict.

II. A converted man must have a definite aim. St. Paul had so run, not as uncertainly, vaguely, hither and thither, wasting time and strength. Not enough to run fast, perseveringly, energetically, we must run for the goal (Php_3:13-14).

1. Our goal is likeness to Christ. So to win Christ, to put on Christ, to be found in Christ, that we may be one with Christ.

2. Christ also our crown. He is our exceeding great reward. The rewards of conquering in Rev_2:3 are Christ under different symbols.

III. A converted man must realise a definite enemy. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air; my blows well aimed, and they tell.

1. Discover your besetting sin, or sins, by self-examination, and set yourself to fight therein. To fight against sin in the abstract is to beat the air.

2. Train for the fight. I keep under my body, &c. Self-indulgence fatal to victory. We must be masters, not slaves of the body and its desires.

3. Fight in Christs strength--with your eye on Him who has fought and overcome, leaving us promise of victory. As He did, take sword of Spirit--the threefold it is written--whole armour. Who is he that overcometh, &c. (1Jn_5:5).

IV. A changed man not necessarily a saved man (verse 27). St. Pauls words, lest that by any means … a castaway, show us the precariousness of Christian life. So, too, the stony-ground hearers, backsliders, &c. The Christians safety depends on union with Christ. He must watch lest bosom sins cause him to relax his hold; lest unholiness clog the channels of the life-giving sap (Joh_15:4-6). No danger so great as to shut ones eyes against danger. Application--trust not to past experiences. Self-confidence is fatal to Christian life. It is true Christs sheep can never perish, &c. (Joh_10:28-29). But who are His sheep? They that hear His voice and follow Him. (Canon Venables.)

Personal holiness

I. The subject treated of--eminent personal holiness.

1. Its spring. The Divine influence on the soul of man.

2. Its marks.

(1) A constant keeping of the great end in view. The attaining a crown (verse 25).

(2) A habitual conflict with all difficulties. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air. Paul felt that he had not to skirmish shadows.

(3) The prevailing dominion of the Spirit over the flesh. I keep under my body, &c.

II. Its importance to the Christian minister.

1. It is essential.

(1) To his freedom. He is a soldier; the various indulgences which would enslave are not for him; the softnesses which would prevent his warfare are not for him. But that he may be thus free, he must be eminent in holiness (2Co_6:4-7).

(2) To his happiness. The unhappiness of many ministers arises from the consciousness that they are not what they ought to be.

(3) To a well-grounded assurance of the Divine favour and approbation. (H. March.)

The necessity of progressive religion

That was a fine eulogium which was made on Caesar, that he thought there was nothing done while there remained anything to do. Whoever arrives at worldly heroism arrives at it in this way, and there is no other way of obtaining salvation. Behold in Paul a man who accounted all he had done nothing while there remained anything more to do. We ground the necessity of progressive religion

I. The great end of christianity--to transform man into the Divine nature. This being the case, we ought never to cease endeavouring till we are as perfect as our Father which is in heaven is perfect. Moreover, as we shall never in this life carry err virtue to so high a degree as that, it follows that in no period of our life will our duty be finished, consequently we must make continual progress.

II. The fatal consequences of a suspension of our religious endeavours. A man employed in a mechanical art sets about his work and carries it on to a certain degree. He suspends his labour for a while; his work doth not advance indeed, but when he returns he finds his work in the same forwardness in which he left it. Heavenly exercises are not of this kind. Past labour is often lost for want of perseverance and it is a certain maxim in religion that not to proceed is to draw back.

III. The advances themselves in the path of holiness. The science of salvation in this respect resembles human sciences. In human sciences a man of great and real learning is humble; he always speaks with caution, and his answers to difficult questions are not unfrequently confessions of his ignorance. On the contrary, a pedant knows everything, and undertakes to elucidate and determine everything. So in the science of salvation, a man of little religion soon flatters himself that he hath done all his duty. A man of lively and vigorous religion finds his own virtues so few, so limited, so obstructed, that he easily comes into a well, grounded judgment that all he hath attained is nothing to what lies before him. Accordingly we find the greatest saints the most eminent for humility (Gen_18:27; Job_9:15; Psa_130:3; Php_3:12).

IV. The end which God proposed in placing us in this world. This world is a place of exercise, this life is a time of trial, which is given us that we may choose either eternal happiness or endless misery. (J. Saurin.)

So fight I, not as one that beateth the air.--

Beating the air

The expression implies--

I. Want of skill. The boxer who strikes about wildly has never learned his art. This has to be studied--

1. Patiently. Day after day must the labour be repeated.

2. Practically. No theory will teach the various cuts and defences without actual trial. And yet there are persons who think that they can enter upon the spiritual contest without either.

II. Want of concentrations. The fighter who fights wildly loses his head and is lost, for his cool opponent seizes every opportunity, and calmly avails himself of every occasion of advantage. Does not our Christianity need a cool head, a concentration of purpose? Surely; and yet men suppose that any slipshod method, any wool-gathering frame of mind, will satisfy the requirements of that awful contest which is to win or lose eternal life. Should we not sit down sometimes amid the rush of life, and calmly inquire as to our position, difficulties, dangers, and progress? A merchant who acted aimlessly would soon come to grief; a ships captain would soon wreck his vessel; a tradesman quickly come to the workhouse. And the Christian in the same way would soon fall a prey to the wiles of the devil.

III. Want of preparation. The athlete lays aside every weight. Even his clothes are cast off. Alas! how often Christians are handicapped with weights! One has a heavy golden chain about his neck. Another has a load of worldly affections round his heart and almost stopping its pulsations. A third has rings on his fingers which prevent his grasp. A fourth has his thoughts, his time choked with business. Or again another is absorbed with the sweet voices of pleasure. It is impossible to win with these weights, and he who attempts to do so will be like one beating the air.

IV. Want of energy. Activity is the soul of earthly business. How much more important is it in a contest such as a race or a fight And in spiritual matters energy is quite as essential. (J J. S. Bird.)

Fight wisely

1. To fight wisely is not to fight at a venture, but with a definite aim. Ahab, indeed was shot by an arrow sent at a venture; but this is told us to magnify the Providence of God, who, in His designs, can direct the aimless shaft whithersoever it pleases Him; not to teach us that aimless shafts are likely on common occasions to be successful. Yet what is the warfare of many Christians but the sending of shafts at a venture?

2. The first work of the politic spiritual warrior will be to discover his besetting sin, and having discovered it, to concentrate all his disposable force before this fortress. Just as each individual has a certain personal configuration, distinguishing him from all other men, so there is some sin or sins which more than others is conformable to his temperament, and therefore more easily developed by his circumstances--which expresses far more of his character than others. This bosom sin is eminently deceitful. Its especial property is to lurk.

(1) The besetting sin of many is vanity. Who knows not how it apes humility, so as really to impress its possessor with the notion that he is humble? Intensely self-satisfied in his heart of hearts, he depreciates himself in conversation. What follows? Men say to him, as in the parable, Go up higher. He has been fishing for compliments, and compliments have risen to the hook. Is it not so? For would he not have bitterly resented it had any of the company taken him at his word?

(2) Some men cannot bear to be second. Whatever they do must be done seas to throw into the shade all competitors. The world dignifies this with the name of honourable emulation, and accepts it as a token of fine character. But, judged by the mind of Christ, how does the sentiment sound, Because I cannot outshine all rivals, therefore I will be nothing? It jars strangely with those words, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, &c. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, &c.

(3) A bosom sin, that it may the more easily escape detection, will wear the mask of another sin. Indolence, e.g., is a sin which carries with it omissions of duty. Prayer or Scripture reading is omitted or thrust away into a corner, because we have not risen sufficiently early. Things go cross during the day in consequence, and we trace it all up to the omission of prayer. But the fault lies deeper. It was indolence which really caused the mischief. One of the first properties, then, of the bosom sin with which it behoves us to be well acquainted, as the first step in the management of our spiritual warfare, is its property of concealing itself. In consequence of this, it often happens that a man, when touched upon his weak point, answers that whatever other faults he may have, this fault at least is no part of his character. It is to aid in bringing to light these secret sins that we make the following suggestions--

I. Praying heartily for the light of Gods Spirit to know thine own heart, observe and reason upon the results of self-examination. When this most salutary exercise has been pursued for a certain time, you will observe that the same failures are constantly recurring. The conclusion is almost inevitable that there is something serious beneath these constantly recurring failures. What is it?--selfishness, indolence, vanity, anxiety, &c. Remember always, that in the symptom, and on the surface, it may look like none of these, and yet be really and fundamentally one of them.

II. Let us have our eye upon the occurrences which specially give its pain or pleasure. They will often be the veriest trifles; but yet, be it what it may, the probabilities are that, by tracing it to its source, we shall get to the quick of our character, to that sensitive quarter of it where the bosom-adder lies coiled up.

III. When the discovery is made, the path of the spiritual combatant becomes clear, however arduous. Your fighting is to be no longer a flourishing of the arms in the air; it is to assume a definite form, it is to be a combat with the bosom sin. Appropriate mortifications must be adopted, such as common sense will suggest. If indolence be the besetting sin, we must watch against slovenliness in little things; if selfishness, we must lay ourselves out to consider the wishes of others; if discontent, we must review the many bright points of our position, and seek our happiness in our work. But the great matter to be attended to in each case is, that the whole forces of the will should be concentrated for a time in that one part of the field, in which the besetting sin has entrenched itself. Thus point and definiteness will be given to Christian effort.

IV. For each one of us, no business can be of more urgent importance than this discovery of our besetting sin. In conclusion, he who prays, Show me myself, Lord, should take good care to add, lest self-knowledge plunge him into despair, Show me also Thyself. The course recommended will probably lead us to the conclusion that our heart, which showed so fair without, is an Augean stable, which it requires a moral Hercules to cleanse; but the love of Christ and grace of Christ are stronger than our corruptions. (Dean Goulburn.)

Christian conflict

The prominent idea of spiritual life given in the New Testament is that of conflict. There is hardly one of the epistles of Paul in which the thought is not presented in some form. The same feature is found in the Epistles to the churches of Asia.

I. Some characteristics of the Christian strife.

1. Its individuality. It is the personal struggle of each man against the enemies of his salvation. Of the ultimate issue of the great strife of all time there is no doubt. In other warfares each soldier receives a certain amount of glory from the success of the host--but not so here. Each man for himself must fight the good fight, and by Gods grace lay hold on everlasting life.

2. Its reality. There was a time when the Christians were everywhere spoken against--when Paul knew that in every city bonds and imprisonment awaited him; and in the altered state of the times, and the change in feelings of men towards the gospel. Now the flesh is not less carnal, the world less alluring, the devil less Satanic.

3. Its variety. It is manifold in power but one in purpose. So is it--

(1) With the outward and visible conflict. Sometimes it is a mere strife of opinion, or it is a struggle for the assertion of the rights of conscience, or it is the resistance of virtue to some form of iniquity, or the manly effort in the cause of right to break the chains of tyranny.

(2) With the inner conflict of individuals. Some have to contend only against intellectual difficulties--in others it is the insidious growth of the world-spirit which they have to watch and resist. Others, again, have to contend against the self-righteous temper, or the mean, envious spirit, or the fierce passion. But, whatever phase the conflict assumes, we are contending against an enemy, who adapts his attacks to meet our individual cases, and the issue at stake is exactly the same.

4. Its bitterness.

(1) There is an intensity in the opposition directed against the gospel, which at first is not easy to explain. If the Bible be not true, our faith inflicts no injury to others. It is true that Christianity pronounces a certain doom on unbelief, but if it be, as infidels would have us think, a human invention, these threatenings need awaken no anxiety, and provoke no opposition, Yet there is no weapon that can be employed against the gospel that is not put in requisition.

(2) So with regard to Christian practice. If Christians are striving after too high an ideal, they are the sufferers. Why employ against them the weapons of ridicule and calumny--why not treat them as weak enthusiasts to be pitied rather than seriously opposed? Yet it has never been so. The light will ever be hateful to those who love the darkness.

(3) As in the world, so in the Christians heart. Here is a battle of life and for life, where no quarter will be given, and no compromise can be attempted. This is, of all kinds of contests, the most fearful. It is not one of those mock encounters of the tourneys of chivalry, where knights sought to prove their prowess, without receiving or inflicting deadly injury. But it is a deadly wrestle with the foe in which we must conquer or die.

II. Some qualities of the Christian soldier.

1. Perfect consecration. A whole-hearted service is what the Captain of our salvation expects from all who follow Him. This warfare must be the one business of his life who would fight a good fight, and lay hold on everlasting life.

2. Simple faith. This is emphatically the good fight of faith. It is the struggle between the love of the things that are seen and temporal and the things which are unseen and eternal, and only through faith can the spiritual principle be victorious. Faith in the leader, not in the excellence of the cause--in a person, not in a principle--in Christ Himself and not in any creed, will give us the victory. Even in earthly conflicts nothing seems to breathe such spirit into a host as the presence of a favourite captain. Have faith in Christ, and neither earth nor hell can prevail against you.

3. Undoubting assurance as to the issue. This is the grand distinction between this and all earthly toils. There a man may be faithful and diligent and yet fail. But here we run not as uncertainly, we fight not as one that beateth the air. He who hath begun a good work in us will perform the same until the day of Jesus Christ. Conclusion: This is a conflict in which no man can be a mere spectator. We are all fighting under the banners of the King of kings or of the Prince of darkness; to which host do you belong? The question is surely not to he lightly dismissed, since on it hang the issues of life and death. (J. Guinness Rogers, B. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 9:26-27. I therefore — The reward being so great; so run, not as uncertainly — For I see the goal I am to run to, I keep it continually in view, and run straight to it, casting off every weight, and not regarding any that stand by, so as to be prevented from, or hindered in running, by looking at them. Or, I run not as one that is to pass unnoticed, or undistinguished: as αδηλως seems here to imply; and not without attending to the marks and lines which determine the path in which I am to run. In other words, I run according to all the rules prescribed, and with the greatest activity; knowing that in no part of the course I am out of the view of my Judge, and of a great concourse of spectators. Consider, reader, Christ, the Judge of the world, observes how every man behaves in the station assigned to him, and that with infinitely greater attention than the judge and spectators observed the manner in which the athletes contended. So fight I, not as one that beateth the air — This is a proverbial expression for a man’s missing his blow, and spending his strength, not on the enemy, but on the empty air. But I keep under my body — By all kinds of self-denial and mortification. The word υπωπιαζω, here used, properly signifies to beat and bruise the face with the fist, or the cestus, as the boxers did in those games; and particularly on the υπωπιον, the part under the eyes, at which they especially aimed. By the body here the apostle means his old man, or corrupt appetites and passions. And bring it into subjection — To my spirit, and to God. The words are strongly figurative, and signify the mortification of the whole body of sin, by an allusion to the natural bodies of those who were bruised or subdued in combat. Lest, by any means, when I have preached — Greek, κηρυξας, having discharged the office of a herald to others; (still carrying on the allusion to the Grecian games, in which a herald was employed, whose office it was to proclaim the conditions, and to display the prizes;) I myself should become a castaway — Greek, αδοκιμος, disapproved by the judge, and so fall short of the prize. Here also, as well as in the term last mentioned, the apostle alludes to the same games; and the import of his expressions will more fully appear if we observe, that “at the opening of those exercises, a herald, or crier, publicly proclaimed the names of the combatants, and the combat in which they were to engage, agreeably to a register kept for the purpose by the judges. When their names were published, the combatants appeared, and were examined whether they were free men, and Grecians, and of an unspotted character. Then the crier, commanding silence, laid his hand on the head of the combatant, and led him in that manner along the stadium, demanding with a loud voice of all the assembly, ‘Is there any one who can accuse this man of any crime? Is he a robber, or a slave, or wicked and depraved in his life and manners?’ Having passed through this public inquiry into their life and character with honour, the combatants were led to the altar of Jupiter, and there, with their relations, sware they would not be guilty of any fraud or action tending to the breach of the laws of the sacred games. And to excite the ardour of the combatants, the crowns, the rewards of victory, lay, during the contest, full in their view, on a tripod or table, placed in the stadium. There were also branches of palms exposed, which the victors were to receive along with the crowns, and which they carried in their hands as emblems (says Plutarch) of the insuppressible vigour of their body and mind.”

After the contentions were finished, the conquerors, being summoned by proclamation, marched to the tribunal of the judges, who examined their conduct during the combat. “Then a herald, taking the chaplets from the tripod, placed them on the heads of such of the conquerors as were approved by the judges; and putting into their hands the palms, they led them, thus equipped, through the stadium, preceded by a trumpeter, who, during the procession, proclaimed with a loud voice their names, the names of their fathers, and of their countries, and specified the particular combat in which they were conquerors. And as they passed along, they were saluted with the acclamations of the spectators, accompanied with showers of herbs and flowers, thrown upon them from every side. Such was the office of the herald, or crier, in these games. In allusion to that office, the apostle calls himself κηρυξ, the herald, in the combat for immortality; because he was one of the chief of those who were employed by Christ to introduce into the stadium such as contended for the incorruptible crown. He called them to the combat; he declared the kind of combat in which they were to engage; he proclaimed the qualifications necessary in the combatants, and the laws of the battle. Withal, he encouraged the combatants, by placing the crowns and palms full in their view.”

The expression, αυτος αδοκιμος γενωμαι, rendered, I myself should be a cast-away, or disapproved, signifies one, who, when tried in the manner described above, was found not to be of the character and station required by the established regulations. “Besides the previous trial, the judges, after the combat was over, made a most accurate and impartial scrutiny into the manner in which the victors had contended, in order to find whether they had contended νομιμως, (2Ti 2:5,) according to the laws of the combat. And if, on trial, it appeared that they had failed in the least particular, they were cast. In consequence of this sentence, they were denied the crown, and sometimes beat out of the stadium with disgrace. Such contenders, whether they were cast before or after the combat, were αδοκιμοι, persons not approved. Wherefore, to avoid that disgrace, the apostle, who was a combatant in the Christian race, as well as a herald, was careful to qualify himself for the combat; and in combating, to observe all the laws of the combat, lest, having proclaimed these laws, he should be found not approved himself. This the apostle said to stir up all, but especially the ministers of the gospel, to the greatest diligence in acquiring habits of self-government and purity, not only that they might secure to themselves the crown of righteousness, but that they might be patterns to their people.” — See Macknight, and West’s Pindar.

It is justly observed here by a late writer, that this single passage may give us a just notion of the Scriptural doctrine of election and reprobation; and clearly shows us, that particular persons are not in Holy Writ represented as elected, absolutely and unconditionally, to eternal life; or predestinated, absolutely and unconditionally, to eternal death: but that believers in general are elected to enjoy the Christian privileges on earth, which, if they abuse, those very elect persons will become reprobate. St. Paul was certainly an elect person, if ever there was one: and yet he declares it was possible he himself might become a reprobate. Nay, he would actually have become such, if he had not thus kept his body under, even though he had been so long an elect person, a Christian, and an apostle.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:26 I am not just shadowboxing: Christians must engage in the real contest of obedience to Christ rather than merely going through the motions.

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

1Co 9:26. Ἐγὼ) I for my part.—οὕτως) so, as I said, 1Co 9:23: comp. οὒτω, so, 1Co 9:24.—οὐκ ἀδήλως, not uncertainly, I know what I aim at, and how to aim at it. He who runs with a clear aim looks straight forward to the goal, and makes it his only object, he casts away every encumbrance, and is indifferent to what the standers bye say, and sometimes even a fall serves only to rouse him the more.—πυκτεύω, I fight) Paul adds the pugilistic contest to the race, in preference to the other kinds of contest.—ὡς οὐκ αἔρα δέρων, not as one beating the air) In the Sciamachia [sparring in the school for mere practice] which preceded the serious contest, they were accustomed to beat the air; comp. [ye shall speak to] the air, 1Co 14:9.

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

1Co_9:26-27. So run I then, seeing that I, for my part, according to 1Co_9:25, am prepared by such abstinence to strive for the incorruptible crown, in such a way as, etc. The apostle thus sets his own ethical mode of striving (as a runner and combatant) before his readers as a pattern. Respecting the following τοίνυν, which Paul has only in this passage, comp Luk_20:25; Heb_13:13; Hartung, Partik. II. p. 349; Baeumlein, Partik. p. 251 f.

οὐκ ἀδήλως] sc[1537] τρέχων. The word means unapparent, not clear, reverse of πρόδηλος. It may either be applied objectively to an action which is indistinct and not cognizable to others (Luk_11:44; 1Co_14:8); or subjectively, so that the man who acts, hopes, etc., is himself not clear, but uncertain and hesitating as to manner, aim, and result; comp 2Ma_7:34; 3Ma_4:4; Thuc. i. 2. 1; Plato, Symp. p. 181 D; Soph. Trach. 667; Dem. 416. 4; Polyb. xxx. 4. 17, viii. 3. 2, vi. 56. 11, iii. 54. 5 : ἀδήλος ἐπίβασις; also in Xenoph., Plutarch, etc. So here; and hence we should render: not without a clearly conscious assurance and certainty of running so as to reach the goal. Comp Vulgate, non in incertum; Chrysostom: πρὸς σκοπόν τινα βλέπων, οὐκ εἰκῇ καὶ μάτην, Php_3:14, κατὰ σκοπὸν διώκω ἐπὶ τὸ βραβεῖον, Bengel, Scio quod petam et quomodo, Melanchthon, non coeco impetu sine cogitatione finis. Hofmann takes it otherwise: in whose case it is quite apparent whither he would go, thus bringing out the objective sense; comp also Grotius. But this would convey too little, for as a matter of course it must be plain in the case of every runner in a race whither he would go. Hombergs rendering is better: ut non in obscuro sim, sed potius inter reliquos emineam. Comp Ewald: not as in the dark, but as in the sight of all. Still this does not correspond so well with the parallel ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων, which implies the conception of the end in view. Alex. Morus and Billroth (comp Olshausen) understand it as meaning, not without definite aim (not simply for private exercise). But this runs counter to the whole context, in which Paul is set forth as an actual runner in a racecourse, so that the negative thus conveyed would be inappropriate.

οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων] The boxer ought to strike his opponent, and not, missing him, to beat the air, to deal strokes in air. Comp the German phrase, ins Blaue hinein. See Eustath. a[1544] Il. p. 663, 17, and the instances given by Wetstein. Comp Theophilus, a[1546] Autol. iii. 1. The context (see above on ἀδήλ.) forbids us to render, with Theodoret, Calovius, Bengel, Zachariae, Billroth, Rückert, Olshausen, Hofmann, and others: not in imaginary combat merely, without a real antagonist (σκιαμαχία). Respecting the οὐκ in this passage, see Winer, p. 452 [E. T. 609].

ἀλλʼ ὑπωπιάζω κ.τ.λ[1547]] but I beat my body blue,alteration of the construction, in order to make the thought stand out in a more independent way; comp on 1Co_7:37. The ἈΛΛΆ, however, can have the effect only of presenting what is here stated as the opposite of ἈΈΡΑ ΔΈΡΩΝ, not as that whereby a man simply prepares himself for the contest (Hofmann, comp Pott). Paul regards his own body (the ΣῶΜΑ Τῆς ΣΑΡΚΌς, Col_2:11, the seat of the nature opposed to God, of the law in his members, comp Rom_6:6; Rom_7:23) as the adversary (ἀνταγωνιστής), against whom he fights with an energetic and successful vehemence, just as a boxer beats the face of his opponent black and blue (respecting ὙΠΩΠΙΆΖΕΙΝ, comp on Luk_18:5, and Bos, Exercitt. p. 140 ff.), so that those lusts (Gal_5:17), which war against the regenerate inner man, whose new principle of life is the Holy Spirit, lose their power and are not fulfilled. It is in substance the same thing as τὰς πράξεις τοῦ αώματος θανατοῦν in Rom_8:13; comp Col_3:5. The result of the ὙΠΩΠΙΆΖΩ Κ.Τ.Λ[1553] is, that the body becomes submissive to the moral will,[1554] yea, the members become weapons of righteousness (Rom_6:13). Hence Paul adds further: κ. δουλαγωγῶ, I make it a slave (Diodorus, xii. 24; Theophrastus, Ep. 36; Theophyl. Simoc. Ephesians 4), which also a pyctis desumptum est; nam qui vicerat, victum trahebat adversarium quasi servum, Grotius. Against the abuse of this passage to favour ascetic scourgings of the body, see Deyling, Obss. I. p. 322 ff., ed. 3.

ἄλλοις κηρύξας] after having been a herald to others. The apostle still keeps to the same figure, comparing his preaching, in which he summoned and exhorted men to the Christian life, to the office of the herald who made known the laws of the games and called the champions to the combat. Rückert, who (with Chrysostom, Grotius, al[1555]) regards κηρ. as denoting preaching without reference to the work of a herald, reminds us, in opposition to the above view (comp de Wette), that the herald certainly did not himself join in the combat. But this objection does not hold, for with Paul the case stood thus: He, in point of fact, was a herald, who joined personally in the contest; and he had therefore to carry through his figure upon this footing, even although he thereby departed from the actually subsisting relations at the combats in the games.

ἀδόκιμος] rejectaneus, unapproved, i.e. however, not ne dignus quidem, qui ad certamen omnino admittar (Pott),for Paul is, from 1Co_9:26-27, actually in the midst of the contest,but praemio indignus,

μὴ τοὺς ἄλλους τὸ δέον διδάξας αὐτὸς τοῦ τέλους τῶν ἀγώνων παντελῶς διαμάρτω, Theodoret.

[1537] c. scilicet.

[1544] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[1546] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[1547] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[1553] .τ.λ. καὶ τὰ λοιπά.

[1554] Comp. the weaker analogies in profane writers, as Xen. Mem. ii. 1. 28; Cicero, Off. i. 23. 79.

[1555] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

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 9:26-27 . “Therefore I so run, in no uncertain fashion; so I ply my fists, not like one that beats the air.” “ So as the context describes, and as you see me ( cf. 1Co 15:32 )”; the Ap. feels himself, while he writes, to be straining every nerve like the racer, striking home like the trained pugilist: for this graphic οὕτως , cf. 1Co 15:11 , Gal 1:6 , 2Th 3:17 ; the adv [1388] would be otiose as mere antecedent to ὡς . τοίνυν (similarly τοίγαρ in 1Th 4:8 ) brings in the prompt, emphatic inference drawn from the last clause: “We are fighting for the immortal crown I as a leader and exemplar; surely then I make no false step in the course, I strike no random blows.” ἀδήλως is susceptible both of the objective sense prevailing in cl [1389] Gr [1390] , obscure, inconspicuous (preferred by Mr [1391] and Gd [1392] here, as though P. meant, “not keeping out of sight, in the ruck ”; cf. 1Co 14:8 ); and (preferably) of the subjective sense, unsure, without certain aim (Thuc., I. 2. 1; Plato, Symp . 181 D; Polybius) “ut non in incertum” (Bz [1393] ); “scio quod petam et quomodo” (Bg [1394] ); πρὸς σκοπόν τινα βλέπων , οὐκ εἰκῇ καὶ μάτην (Cm [1395] ): cf. Phi 3:14 . The image of the race suggests that of pugilism ( πυκτεύω ). another exercise of the Pentathlon of the arena: the former a familiar N.T. metaphor, the latter h.l . ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων , “ut non aerem cædens” (Bz [1396] ), “smiting something more solid than air” ( οὐκ negatives ἀέρα , not δέρων ), esp. my own body (1Co 9:27 ); cf. Virgil’s “verberat ictibus auras” ( Æn . 9:377). P.’s are no blows of a clumsy fighter that fail to land struck in’s Blaue hinein . Bg [1397] , Hf [1398] , Ed [1399] suppose him to be thinking of the σκιομαχία , sham-fight , practised in training or by way of prelude, without an antagonist. δέρω means to flay , then beat severely, smite; cf . our vulgar hiding .

[1388] adverb

[1389] classical.

[1390] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[1391] Meyer’s Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[1392] F. Godet’s Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

[1393] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[1394] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[1395] John Chrysostom’s Homiliœ († 407).

[1396] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[1397] Bengel’s Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[1398] J. C. K. von Hofmann’s Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht , ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[1399] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2

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

1Co_9:26

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

I therefore, i.e. because so much effort is necessary to success. So run, i.e. run not in such a manner as one who runs uncertainly (ἀδήλως). That may mean unconspicuously, not as one unseen, but as one on whom all eyes are fixed. Or more probably the idea is, not as one runs who is uncertain where or for what he is running. A man who runs uncertain as to his course or object, runs without spirit or effort. So fight I. The allusion is here to boxing, or fighting with the fist. Not as one beating the air. Here again the figure is doubtful. A man who is merely exercising, without an antagonist, may be said to smite the air. A man puts forth little strength in such a sham conflict. Or the man who aims at his antagonist, and fails to hit him, smites the air. This is the better explanation. Virgil has the same figure to express the same idea. He says of a boxer who missed his antagonist, vires in ventum effudit. Aen. v. 446. In either way the meaning is the same. Nothing is accomplished. The effort is in vain. In 1Co_14:9, the apostle says of those who speak in an unknown tongue, that they speak into the air. That is, they speak to no effect.

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

I--Paul returns to his main subject, his own self-denial, and his motive in it.

run, not as uncertainly--not as a runner uncertain of the goal. Ye Corinthians gain no end in your entering idol temples or eating idol meats. But I, for my part, in all my acts, whether in my becoming "all things to all men," or in receiving no sustenance from my converts, have a definite end in view, namely, to "gain the more." I know what 1 aim at, and how to aim at it. He who runs with a clear aim, looks straightforward to the goal, makes it his sole aim, casts away every encumbrance (Heb 12:1-2), is indifferent to what the by-standers say, and sometimes even a fall only serves to rouse him the more [BENGEL].

not as one that beateth the air--instead of beating the adversary. Alluding to the sciamachia or sparring in the school in sham-fight (compare Co1 14:9), wherein they struck out into the air as if at an imaginary adversary. The real adversary is Satan acting on us through the flesh.

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 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:-

Τρις μεν επιτ' επορουσε ποδαρκης διος Αχιλλευς

Εγχεΐ χαλκειῳ, τρις δ' ηερα τυψε βαθειαν.

ILIAD, lib. xx., ver. 445

Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart,

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

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

26. I therefore so run He returns to speak of himself, that his doctrine may have the more weight, on his setting himself forward by way of pattern. What. he says here some refer to assurance of hope — (Hebrews 6:11) — “I do not run in vain, nor do I run the risk of losing my labor, for I have the Lord’s promise, which never deceives.” It rather appears to me, however, that his object is to direct the course of believers straight forward toward the goal, that it may not be wavering and devious. “The Lord exercises us here in the way of running and wrestling, but he sets before us the object at which we ought to aim, and prescribes a sure rule for our wrestling, that we may not weary ourselves in vain.” Now he takes in both the similitudes that he had employed. “I know,” says he, “whither I am running, and, like a skillful wrestler, I am anxious that I may not miss my aim.” Those things ought to kindle up and confirm the Christian breast, so as to devote itself with greater alacrity to all the duties of piety; for it is a great matter not to wander in ignorance through uncertain windings.

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.

(26) I therefore so run.—The Apostle appeals to his own conduct as an illustration of the lesson which he is teaching, and by means of it reminds the reader that the whole of this chapter has been a vindication of his own self-denial, and that he has a clear and definite object in view.

So fight I.—The illustration is changed from running to boxing, both being included in the word used in 1Co_9:25, “contending.” He has an adversary to contend against, and he strikes him, and does not wildly and impotently strike at him, and so only beat the air.

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

26. not as uncertainly] i.e. with no definite object, but “looking to some goal,” as St Chrysostom observes, and that goal the salvation of himself and others.

so fight I] The Christian career is not merely a race, but a conflict, and a conflict not only with others, but with oneself. St Paul had to contend with the fleshly lusts of the body, the love especially of ease, the indisposition to hardship and toil so natural to humanity. See Rom_7:23; and for the life of pain and endurance to which he had enslaved himself, ch. 4 of this Epistle, 1Co_9:9-13, and 2Co_11:23-28.

not as one that beateth the air] That is, not as one who struck out at random, but as one who delivered his blows with effect. Cf. Virg. Æn. v. 377, Verberat ictibus auras; 446, Vires in ventum effudit, and the German “ins Blaue hinein.”

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.

But I keep under my body,.... The allusion is still to fighters, who, by cuffing and boxing, give their antagonists black and blue eyes, which is the proper signification of the word here used: so it is said (u) of Menedemus, that in questions or scholastic exercises, he was so vehement and pugnacious, that he never departed without , "carrying away black and blue eyes". This is not to be understood by the apostle of his natural body, and of his keeping it under by immoderate watchings, fastings, and labours, or by whipping and scourging, and lying upon the bare ground, and other such practices; but of the body of sin, the corruption of nature, and of that being laid under some restraints; of the mortifying the deeds of the body through the Spirit, of crucifying the affections with the lusts, of putting off the old man with his deeds, as concerning the former conversation, and of making no provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof: it seems to be the same with what the Jews call (w), , "a subduing of a man's evil concupiscence": who is a strong man? they say (x), , "he that subdues his corruption", according to Pro 16:32 and again (y).

"the sons of Ulam were mighty and powerful men, , "subduing their corruptions", as man that draws a bow with wisdom.''

And bring it into subjection; so as not to serve and obey it in the lusts thereof; but to have the ascendant of it, and government over it, that it does not, and cannot reign as it formerly did: the allusion is still to the combatant, who gets and keeps his antagonist under him, and has the command of him, and throws him on the ground, or drags him about at pleasure:

lest that by any means when I have preached to others; the Gospel of the grace of God, for their souls' profit and advantage, to gain and save them; and have called upon them so to run, that they might receive and enjoy the incorruptible crown:

I myself should be a castaway, or rejected, or disapproved of; that is, by men: the apostle's concern is, lest he should do anything that might bring a reproach on the Gospel; lest some corruption of his nature or other should break out, and thereby his ministry be justly blamed, and be brought under contempt; and so he be rejected and disapproved of by men, and become useless as a preacher: not that he feared he should become a reprobate, as the word is opposed to an elect person; or that he should be a castaway eternally, or be everlastingly damned; for he knew in whom he had believed, and was persuaded of his interest in the love of God, and that he was a chosen vessel of salvation, that could not be eternally lost: though supposing that this is his sense, and these his fears and concern, it follows not as neither that he was, so neither that he could be a lost and damned person: the fears of the saints, their godly jealousies of themselves, and pious care that they be not lost, are not at all inconsistent with the firmness of their election, their security in Christ, and the impossibility of their final and total falling away; but on the contrary are overruled, and made use of by the Spirit of God, for their final perseverance in grace and holiness.

(u) Hesychius de Philosophis, p. 48. (w) Tzeror Hammor, fol. 145. 2, 3. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 69. 2. (x) Pirke Abot, c. 4. sect. 1. (y) Targum in 1 Chron. viii. 40.

Next: 1 Corinthians Chapter 10

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

26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

Ver. 26. Not as uncertainly] For, 1. I forget those things that are behind, all worldly things. I set those by. 2. I have oculum ad metam (which was Ludovicus Vives’ motto), an eye upon the Mar 3:1-35. I strain and stretch toward it. See all these Php 3:13-14. Duties are not to be done in a lazy, formal, customary strain, like the pace the Spaniard rides; but with utmost diligence and expedition.

That beats the air] As young fencers use to do, but I beat mine adversary.

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.

I therefore so run - In the Christian race; in my effort to obtain the prize, the crown of immortality. I exert myself to the utmost, that I may not fail of securing the crown.

Not as uncertainly - (οὐκ ἀδήλως ouk adēlōs). This word occurs no where else in the New Testament. It usually means, in the Classic writers, “obscurely.” Here it means that he did not run as not knowing to what object he aimed. “I do not run haphazardly; I do not exert myself for nothing; I know at what I aim, and I keep my eye fixed on the object; I have the goal and the crown in view.” Probably also the apostle intended to convey this idea, “I so live and act that I am “sure” of obtaining the crown. I make it a great and grand point of my life so to live that there may be no room for doubt or hesitancy about this rustler. I believe it may be obtained; and that by a proper course there may he a constant certainty of securing it; and I so live.” O how happy and blessed would it be if all Christians thus lived! How much doubt, and hesitancy, and despondency would it remove from many a Christian’s mind! And yet it is morally certain that if ever Christian were to be only as anxious and careful as were the ancient Grecian wrestlers and racers in the games, they would have the undoubted assurance of gaining the prize. Doddridge and Macknight, however, render this “as not out of view;” or as not distinguished; meaning that the apostle was not “unseen,” but that he regarded himself as constantly in the view of the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. I prefer the other interpretation, however, as best according with the connection and with the proper meaning of the word.

So fight I - οὗτω πυκτεύω houtō pukteuō. This word is applied to the “boxers,” or the pugilists, in the Grecian games. The exercise of boxing, or “fighting” with the fist, was a part of the entertainment with which the “enlightened” nations of Greece delighted to amuse themselves.

Not as one that beateth the air - The “phrase” here is taken from the habits of the pugilists or boxers, who were accustomed, before entering the lists, to exercise their limbs with the gauntlet, in order to acquire greater skill and dexterity. There was also, before the real contest commenced, a play with their fists and weapons, by way of show or bravado, which was called σκιᾷμαχία skiamachia, a mock-battle, or a fighting the air. The phrase also is applicable to a “missing the aim,” when a blow was struck in a real struggle, and when the adversary would elude the blow, so that it would be spent in the empty air. This last the idea which Paul means to present. He did not miss his aim; he did not exert himself and spend his strength for nothing. Every blow that he struck told; and he did not waste his energies on that which would produce no result. He did not strive with rash, ill-advised, or uncertain blows; but all his efforts were directed, with good account, to the grand purpose or subjugating his enemy - sin - and the corrupt desires of the flesh - and bringing everything into captivity to God Much may be learned from this.

Many an effort of Christians is merely beating the air. The energy is expended for nothing. There is a lack of wisdom, or skill, or perseverance; there is a failure of plan; or there is a mistake in regard to what is to be done, and what should be done. There is often among Christians very little “aim” or object; there is no “plan;” and the efforts are wasted, scattered, inefficient efforts; so that, at the close of life, many a man may say that he has spent his ministry or his Christian course mainly, or entirely, “in beating the air.” Besides, many set up a man of straw and fight that. They fancy error and heresy in others and oppose that. They become a “heresy-hunters;” or they oppose some irregularity in religion that, if left alone, would die of itself; or they fix all their attention upon some minor evil, and they devote their lives to the destruction of that alone. When death comes, they may have never struck a blow at one of the real and dangerous enemies of the gospel; and the simple record on the tombstone of many ministers and many private Christians might he, “Here lies one who spent his life in beating the air.”

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

The apostle proposeth his own example. As it is observed in country work, he that only bids his servants do work, and puts not his own hand to it, or at least doth not attend and overlook them in their work, hath little done: so it is as observable in spiritual work, that a minister of the gospel, who only, in the pulpit, dictates duty to others, but, out of it, doth nothing of himself, seldom doth any good by his preaching. People not naturally inclined to any spiritual duty, have the old proverb: Physician, cure thyself, at their tongue’s end, and are hard to believe that teacher, who doth not in some measure live up to his own doctrine. Therefore, saith the apostle:

I run; I am in the same race with you, and running to the same mark and for the same prize. I give you no other counsel than I myself take; I endeavour so to live, so in all things to behave myself, as I may not be at uncertainties whether I please God by my actions, or shall get to heaven, yea or not. I am a fellow soldier with you, fighting against sin; I make it my great business, not so to fight, so to resist sin, as if I did

beat the air; that is, get no more fruit, profit, or advantage by it, than if I threw stones against the wind, or with a staff did beat the air. It is not every running, or every fighting, that will bring a man to heaven; it must be a running with all our might, and continuing our motion till we come to the end of our race; a fighting with all our might, and that against all sin.

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

26. Uncertainly—Making sure work; leaving nothing to chance.

So fight—As a boxer.

Beateth the air—Alluding, not to the mock-fight (σκιομαχια, shadow-fight) used by combatants beforehand for practice, but to the missing his antagonist and striking into vacancy. It stands parallel to uncertainly. Both in his race and his battle Paul did a sure business. In the battle for eternity there is an infinite difference between winning the crown and becoming a castaway.

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

Not as uncertainly. My eye is fixed on a definite goal. (2Ti_1:12) So fight I (Rom_7:23; Eph_6:12; 2Ti_4:7) literally, so box 1. Not as one that beateth the air; rather, as not beating the air. Not what the Greeks called "a shadow battle." I strike forthright blows, not feints, or blows at random.

HOMILIES BY D. FRASER Vers. 26, 27.

A good servant of Jesus Christ.

It was quite in St. Paul"s manner to support his exhortations to Christian service by adducing his own example and experience. Those who were not acquainted with him might misconstrue such references and set them down to a vain glorious spirit, but no one could do so who knew how fully and fervently this apostle ascribed all that he was and did as a Christian to the grace of Jesus Christ. Not I, but the grace of God which was with me." "Not I, but Christ liveth in me.

I ILLUSTRATIONS OF CHRISTIAN SERVICE.

1. St. Paul was as a runner in the Isthmian games, and so ran "not uncertainly." Suppose one to attempt that course without his mind made up as to the reason why or the goal to which he should run, moving without spirit or purpose, looking to this side and to that; he could take no prize. One must have a clear course and a definite aim in the race which is set before the servants of Christ.

2. St. Paul was as a boxer in the arena, and fought not as one "beating the air." The poet Virgil has the same expression in describing a boxer who missed his antagonist: "Vires in ventum effudit" ("Aeneid," bk. 5:446). To do so is to waste force. He fights well who plants his blows skilfully and makes them tell. The apostle was a man of peace, but he needed boldness and firmness, as well as love and patience, for his hard service. He had journeys to make, trials to bear, testimonies to raise, controversies to conduct, difficulties to adjust, calumnies to refute, sorrows to assuage a great and arduous career; and, by the grace of God, he put all his force into it, ran his race of duty with ardour, fought his fight of faith with resolution.

II TRAINING AND DISCIPLINE FOR SUCH SERVICE. "I buffet my body, and bring it into subjection." He who would subdue evil in others must suppress it in himself. Now, the apostle found that the gospel was hindered, not so much by intellectual objection, as by moral depravity. The flesh lusted against the spirit. He had felt this in himself, and knew that the flesh prevailed by fastening on the organs of the body and inducing indulgence or excess. So he brought himself into good training for active Christian work by bruising the body and "mortifying its deeds." He would not surfeit or pamper it, lest he should stupefy the soul. This is something quite different from that "neglect of the body" which St. Paul elsewhere mentions among the superstitions of a delusive piety. To deprive the body of necessary food and sleep is to disable the powers of the mind in hope of purifying the soul. Such has been the practice of men and women in the ascetic life, and at one time it took the form of a frenzy, when the Flagellants traversed a considerable part of Europe in long processions, with covered faces, chanting penitential hymns, and continually applying the scourge to one another"s naked backs. Those fanatics meant well, and, indeed, supposed that they were following the Apostle Paul. But to such foolish and cruel actions few of us are prone at the present day. Our danger lies on the opposite side. We do not hold the body sufficiently under control. We give it ease and luxury and ornament; we allow dangerous scope to those cravings and passions which have a physical basis, and so our spiritual life languishes, and we can put no glow of feeling or strength of purpose into the service of Christ. Corinth was a city notorious for profligacy. The Christians there must have known that, if a young athlete did not hold himself apart from the vices of the place, he could win no distinction in the public games. Every such competitor had to resist indulgence, and bring his frame to a firmness of muscle and a full strength of vitality which would enable it to bear the fatigue and strain of the Isthmian contests. In like manner St. Paul, for a higher purpose, restrained and governed himself, cultivated simplicity in the tastes and habits of his outward life, studied to keep himself in spiritual health and vigour, that he might run well and fight well for his heavenly Master.

III AN EYE TO CONSEQUENCES. To sustain his purpose, St. Paul kept in view the prize of success and the disgrace of failure.

1. The prize would be an incorruptible crown. In desiring this, the good servant is not open to any charge of selfishness or vain glory. He thought of no prize, conceived of no praise or glory for himself which was not wrapped up in the praise and glory of Jesus. He had no desire to sit by himself on a high seat, with a chaplet or garland on his brow, drinking in his own praises. To see the people who had been converted to Christ through his labours safe in the kingdom would be to him a crown of

2. rejoicing. And to see Christ praised and magnified would be to the good servant a great recompense of reward.

3. The disgrace of failure would be the Master"s disapproval. How mortifying for one who had been a herald to others to be excluded at last as unworthy of a prize! Paul had preached to others, and called them to the Christian race, like the herald at the public games of Greece, who proclaimed the rules and conditions of the contest, and summoned runners or combatants to the lists. Alas for him if, through self indulgence or want of thoroughness in his ministry, he should be disapproved by the great Judge at the close of the day! It is quite a mistake to infer from this that St. Paul was still uncertain about his ultimate salvation, and afraid of being cast away in his sins. That would, indeed, be strange and perplexing in the face of his strong expressions to the contrary in such passages as Rom_8:38, Rom_8:39; 2Ti_1:12. The question here is not of a sinner"s salvation, but of a believer"s service of doing well or ill in ministry; and fear of failure was and always is the obverse side of the desire of success. St. Paul was a very favoured servant of Christ, but it was none the less necessary for him to remember the need of diligence and self government in view of the day when the Master will call all his servants to account, and either reward or disapprove them at his coming. Indeed, the remembrance of this is needful for all of us as a caution against presumptuous and careless living. If the doctrine of salvation by grace be taught alone, men are apt to abuse it, and become spiritually conceited and morally heedless. The corrective is the call to service. "If a man serve me, him will my Father honour." Be not half hearted. So run as to attain: so fight as to overcome. Be not faint hearted. Pray as you run: pray as you fight. "They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. F.

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

I so run, not as uncertainly - I look straight to the goal; I run straight toward it. I cast away every weight, regard not any that stand by. I fight not as one that beateth the air - This is a proverbial expression for a man's missing his blow, and spending his strength, not on his enemy, but on empty air.

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

That is, "I run this race of Christianity myself, which I advise you unto. But my care is to run sure, not at uncertainties; to make sure of the crown at the end of the race, and I do not only run, but fight; I oppose whatever opposeth me."

Here observe, The apostle changes the metaphor from that of running to the other game of cuffing; and says he did not fight like one that beats the air, but never hurts the adversary; no, he fought in good earnest with all his spiritual enemies, the flesh, the world, and the devil. It is not every running that will gain the prize, nor every fighting that will obtain the victory; but it must be a running with all perseverance, and a fighting with our utmost power, that will bring us to heaven and eternal happiness.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. “Indeed I so run not as uncertainly, I so fight not as one beating the air.” Paul here testifies to his own successful running on the race-course, and fighting for the prize in the arena. The gladiator forfeited the prize if he did not conquer and slay his antagonist.

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

I therefore [realizing the value of that for which I contend] so run, as not uncertainly [without doubt or hesitation. Paul felt sure of the course which led to the goal, and certain as to the reward which he would attain when the race was over-- 2Ti_1:12 ; 2Ti_4:8 ]; so fight I, as not beating the air [The allusion here is to the boxer who, in blind confusion, strikes wide of the mark, and misses his antagonist. For an instance of vain effort similarly expressed, see 1Co_14:9 ; Virgil's Æneid 5:446]:

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.

26. I, therefore, so run, not as uncertainly. Not as one who had no definite goal before him. His eye was fixed upon the heavenly prize. Not as one that beateth the air. The first figure is of a runner with a definite object; the second is taken from the boxer who strikes the air instead of his competitor. So fights not Paul. He puts a skillful aim into his blows.

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.

26. τοίνυν. This particle does not occur elsewhere in St Paul’s writings.

ὡς οὐκ ἀδήλως. ‘As one who is not running uncertainly.’ So in the next member of the sentence, ‘so fight I, as one who is not beating the air.’ μή would have required us to render ‘As if I were not running uncertainly’; ‘as if I were not beating the air.’ The οὐκ stamps the unconditional character of the negation.

οὕτως πυκτεύω. The Christian career is not merely a race, but a conflict, and a conflict not only with others, but with oneself. St Paul had to contend with the fleshly lusts of the body, the love no doubt of ease, the indisposition to hardship and toil so natural to humanity. See Rom 7:23; and for the life of pain and endurance to which he had enslaved himself, ch. 4 of this Epistle, 1Co 9:9-13, and 2Co 11:23-28. πυκτεύω signifies to fight with the fists, to box.

ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων. That is, not as one who struck out at random, but as one who delivered his blows with sure aim and effect. Cf. Virg. Aen. 9:377 ‘Verberat ictibus auras’; 446 ‘Vires in ventum effudit,’ and the German ‘ins Blaue hinein.’

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.

26.] I then (ἐγώ emphatic—recalls the attention from the incidental exhortation, and reminiscence of the Christian state, to the main subject, his own abstinence from receiving, and its grounds.

τοίνυν, as distinguished from other particles which imply restriction of what has been generally said to some particular object, indicates the dropping of minute or collateral points, and returning to the great necessary features of the subject,—and this, as introducing some short and pithy determination or conclusion: see Hartung, Partikellehre, ii. 348. E.g.,—Xen. Cyr. vi. 3. 17, τούτων μὲν τοίνυν ἅλις εἴη, ἃ δὲ καιρὸς ἡμῖν εἰδέναι, ταῦτα, ἔφη, διηγοῦ) so run as (οὕτως—ὡς, see reff.) not uncertainly (reff.: cf. also Polyb. iii. 54. 5, τῆς χιόνος ἄδηλον ποιούσης ἑκάστοις τὴν ἐπίβασιν:—‘uncertainly,’ i.e. without any sure grounds of contending or any fixed object for which to contend; both these are included. Chrysostom rightly brings it into subordination to the main subject, the participation with idolaters:—τί δέ ἐστιν, οὐκ ἀδήλως; πρὸς σκοπόν τινα βλέπων, φησίν, οὐκ εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην, καθάπερ ὑμεῖς, τί γὰρ ὑμῖν γίνεται πλέον ἀπὸ τοῦ εἰς εἰδωλεῖα εἰσιέναι, καὶ τὴν τελειότητα δῆθεν ἐκείνην ἐπιδείκνυσθαι; οὐδέν. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐγὼ τοιοῦτος, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἅπερ ποιῶ, ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν πλησίον σωτηρίας ποιῶ. κἂν τελειότητα ἐπιδείξωμαι, διʼ αὐτούς· κἂν συγκατάβασιν, διʼ αὐτούς· κἂν ὑπερβῶ Πέτρον ἐν τῷ μὴ λαμβάνειν, ἵνα μὴ σκανδαλισθῶσι· κἂν καταβῶ πλέον πάντων, περιτεμνόμενος καὶ ξυρώμενος, ἵνα μὴ ὑποσκελισθῶσι. Hom. xxiii. p. 201); so fight I, as not striking the air (and not my adversary). The allusion is not to a σκιαμαχία or rehearsal of a fight with an imaginary adversary, as Chrys. (ἔχω γὰρ ὃν πλήξω), Theophyl. al. m., but to a fight with a real adversary (viz. here, the body) in which the boxer vainly hits into the air, instead of striking his antagonist. So Entellus in the pugilistic combat, Æn. v. 446, ‘vires in ventum effudit,’ when Dares ‘ictum venientem a vertice velox Prævidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.’ See examples both of what is really meant, and of the σκιαμαχία, in Wetst.

Obs., in both places οὐκ is used and not μή, as importing the matter of fact, and joined closely with the adverb in one case and the verb in the other.

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

26. ἐγὼ τοίνυν. Instead of going on with his exhortation to others, he looks to himself. He cannot dispense with painful effort. ‘I for my part, therefore, am so running, as one with no uncertain course.’ He knew the goal quite well, and he knew the road which led to it (Gal 2:2). Here οὕτως anticipates ὡς (4:1), which adds weight to the view that in v. 24 οὕτως anticipates ἵνα. But οὕτως τρέχω does not make it probable that οὕτως τρέχετε is indicative. To render οὐκ ἀδήλως ‘not without certainty of reaching the goal’ makes it almost contradict the fear expressed in μή πως ἀδόκιμος γένωμαι. Scio quod petam et quomodo (Beng.) is better. In N.T., τοίνυν generally begins a sentence (see on Luk 20:25 and cf. Heb 8:13): St Paul has the usual classical order (cf. Wisd. 1:11, 8:9). Nowhere else in the Bible is ἀδήλως found: but see 2 Mac. 7:34; Php 3:14.

οὕτως πυκτεύω. ‘I so box as smiting not the air.’ It is unlikely that he means ‘I do not smite the air, but I beat my body,’ in which case μου τὸ σῶμα would have preceded ὑπωπιάζω, and it is rash to say that οὐκ negatives ἀέρα, because the negative of δέρων would have been μή. We may regard οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων as one term, ‘no air-smiter’: he uses his fists as one in deadly earnest, and does not miss: he plants his blow. And οὐ with participles still survives in N.T., where the writer feels “that the proper negative for a statement of downright fact is οὐ.”

There are eleven other instances in Paul: four in 2Co 4:8, 2Co 4:9; two in a quotation in Gal 4:27; one each in Rom 9:25; Gal 4:8; Php 3:3; Col 2:19; 1Th 2:4. See also Mat 22:11; Luk 6:42; Joh 10:12; Act 7:5, Act 7:26:22, Act 7:28:17, Act 7:19; Heb 11:1, Heb 11:35; Heb_1 Pet, 1:8 (see Hort), and a quotation in 2:10. J. H. Moulton (Gr. i. p. 231) gives numerous illustrations from papyri, and concludes with a remark which applies to this passage. “The closeness of the participle to the indicative in the kinds of sentence found in this list makes the survival of οὐ natural.” See Blass, § 75.5.

‘Beating the air,’ whether literally or metaphorically, is common in literature. Virgil’s Dares (Aen, v. 377), verberat ictibus auras, and Entellus vices in ventum effudit (446) may occur to any one; also ventosque lacessit ictibus (12:105; Geor. iii. 233). Ovid, Met. vii. 786, vacuos exercet in aera morsus. Valerious Flaccus, Arg. iv. 302, vacuas agit inconsulta per auras brachia. Hom. Il. xx. 446, τρὶς δ—ἠέρα τύψε βαθεῖαν. Cf. also εἰς ἀέρα λαλεῖν (14:9). But we are not to understand the Apostle as speaking of practising boxing: both τρέχω and πυκτεύω refer to the actual contest. We see the close of it in 2Ti 4:7, 2Ti 4:8.

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

Uncertainly [αδηλως] . Only here in the New Testament. The kindred adjective adhlov not manifest, occurs Luk 11:44 (see note) and 1Co 14:8. Compare also ajdhlothv uncertainty, 1Ti 6:17. He runs with a clear perception of his object, and of the true manner and result of his striving.

Fight I [πυκτευω] . Only here in the New Testament. Distinctively of fighting with the fists, and evidently in allusion to the boxing - match. Rev., in margin, box. Etymologically akin to pugmh the fist; see on oft, Mr 7:3. Beateth the air. A boxer might be said to beat the air when practicing without an adversary. This was called skiamacia shadow - fighting. Or he might purposely strike into the air in order to spare his adversary; or the adversary might evade his blow, and thus cause him to spend his strength on the air. The two latter may well be combined in Paul 's metaphor. He strikes straight and does not spare. Compare Virgil, in the description of a boxing - match :

" Entellus, rising to the work, his right hand now doth show Upreared, but he, the nimble one, foresaw the falling blow Above him, and his body swift writhed skew - wise from the fall.

Entellus spends his stroke on air. "" Aeneid," 5, 443. Morris' Translation.

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

Vv. 26, 27. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27. But I buffet my body, and lead it captive: lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected.”

The particle τοίνυν, conformably thereto, does not occur elsewhere in Paul’s writings; it forcibly expresses a consequence inevitably resulting from what precedes: “In virtue, then, of this state of things in which there is nothing to be changed.”

The word run denotes the progress made in Christian sanctification; comp. Php 3:13-14.

As to the οὕτω, it is evidently here the antecedent of ὡς.

The adverb ἀδήλως has sometimes been taken in the passive sense: “Without being seen, remarked,” like a runner who is lost in the crowd of other athletes. The apostle would thus expressly designate himself here as the one who attracts the attention of the spectators, by outstripping the other runners. This meaning would be admissible if such an expression were not rather pretentious. It is better to give the adverb the active sense: “Without seeing the goal, and consequently the course, clearly, as when one walks in the dark; so: deviating to right and left.” This meaning is more in keeping, as we shall see, with that of the following figure: beating the air, which has an analogous signification, as is proved by the parallelism of the two propositions. Paul alludes to that sterile activity of the sages and orators of Corinth, who neglect the true end of Christian life, sanctification and final salvation, and are concerned only to charm their hearers, to enjoy themselves with them, and to lord it over them. As for him, he runs with his eye firmly fixed on the goal. — Next, to bring home this obligation still more forcibly to his readers, he refers to a second and more formidable kind of contest, boxing. Here there is not only running, but striking and being struck. And the blows, to be effective, must not be lost on the air; they must fall on the adversary. The term beat the air has sometimes been taken as an allusion to the kind of gymnastics in which the athletes engaged to prepare themselves for the contest, and which was called sciomachy. But we are here in the heat of the contest itself. The allusion therefore, if there was one, could only in any case be very indirect.

Vv. 27. The apostle explains by his own example who the adversary is on whom these redoubled and redoubtable blows are to fall; it is his own body. He does not say his flesh, as if he wished here to lay stress on the characteristic of sin in the body; no, it is the organism, as such, that he curbs and bends by all sorts of exercises and austerities to make it a pliable instrument. There is room for hesitation between the two readings ὑπωπιάζω, I buffet (the verb strictly signifies: to strike under the eyes, so as to make blue wounds), and ὑποπιάζω or ὑποπιέζω, to grip so as to put under. This second reading would suit the following verb: to lead captive; but the first agrees better with the foregoing verb: to give blows with the fist. By this figure the apostle describes all the privations which he imposes on his body, all the labours to which he condemns it throughout the entire course of his life, and that especially in consequence of his refusing all payment and obliging himself to provide with his hands for his maintenance; comp. 2Co 6:4-5; 2Co 11:23-27; Act 20:34-35.

The word δουλαγώγω, to lead captive, continues the figure. As the victor led the vanquished round the arena, amid the plaudits of the spectators, so Paul, after breaking the opposition of his body, leads it like a submissive servant before the face of the world in the labours of the apostleship.

And let not this be taken as a work of supererogation, fitted to confer on him some peculiar merit and a higher degree of glory! In his eyes, there is no luxury in the question, it is a simple necessary. Were he to act otherwise, he should be afraid, he who has stimulated others, of being himself finally rejected. One can hardly avoid seeing in the term κηρύσσειν, to fill the office of herald, to publish, an allusion to the function of the man whose duty it was to sound the trumpet and so summon the athletes to begin the contest. Such is the figure of what the apostle was doing for the Gentile peoples by the preaching of the gospel. Rückert, it is true, objects, that, in the public games, the herald himself did not enter the lists. Comparisons always halt somewhere; otherwise they would imply not comparison, but identity. The Christian ministry presents this exceptional character, that he who fills it has two tasks to perform simultaneously: that of calling others to salvation, and that of securing his own. Heinrici has thought that the point here was the approbation or disapprobation which the herald might deserve by the way in which he proclaimed the name and eulogy of the victors, after the combat. This is to press the figure beyond all measure.

The term ἀδόκιμος, non-acceptable, to be rejected, comes, grammarians say, from δέχομαι, to receive. This term also belonged to the language of the public games. Before admitting candidates to the honour of competing in the circus, they were subjected to a preparatory trial, called δοκιμασία, by means of which there were set aside all those who were not fit to enter the lists. Could Paul be alluding to this custom? It seems to me improbable. His concern is not about the trial for entrance into the contest, but about the exit trial. The terms δόκιμος and δοκιμή are so frequently used by the apostle, that it is unnecessary to explain the use of them here by an allusion which would be so far from appropriate. It is his salvation, the welcome to be received by himself from the Judge, which the apostle sees to be at stake, and with a view to which he thinks it his duty to use such severity toward his own body.

Such is the mode in which the apostle seeks to awake feelings of salutary fear and serious watchfulness in those self-infatuated Corinthians, who, on the ground of their superior knowledge and alleged emancipation, forgot the regard which they owed to the salvation of their brethren, without imagining that by this conduct they were compromising their own.

The better to inculcate the manner in which they should act, he seeks at that very moment to make himself a Greek to the Greeks, borrowing from their national life the figures most fitted to strike their imagination.

It has often and justly been remarked, how frequent these figures, borrowed from the contests of the stadium, are in the authors of the New Testament Epistles (Philippians 3; 2 Timothy 4; Hebrews 12, etc.), while they are wholly strange to the discourses of Jesus in the Gospels. Have we not here a proof of the fidelity with which the original form of the latter has been preserved to us? Why, if they had been composed later, and after the Gospel had penetrated into the Greek world, should not such figures so familiar to Greek thought appear in them?

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.