I corinthians 11 commentary

I CORI THIA S 11 COMME TARY
Edited by Glenn Pease
1. Follow my example, as I follow the
example of Christ.
1. BARNES, "Be ye followers of me - Imitate my example in the matter now under discussion. As I
deny myself; as I seek to give no offence to anyone; as I endeavor not to alarm the prejudices of
others, but in all things to seek their salvation, so do you. This verse belongs to the previous
chapter, and should not have been separated from it. It is the close of the discussion there.
Even as I also am of Christ - I make Christ my example. He is my model in all things; and if you
follow him, and follow me as far as I follow him, you will not err. This is the only safe example; and
if we follow this, we can never go astray.
2. CLARKE, "Be ye followers of me - This verse certainly belongs to the preceding chapter, and is
here out of all proper place and connection.
2B. CALVIN, "Imitators of me. From this it appears, how absurdly chapters are divided, inasmuch
as this sentence is disjoined from what goes before, with which it ought to have been connected,
and is joined to what follows, with which it has no connection. Let us view this, then, as the close
of the preceding chapter. Paul had there brought forward his own example in confirmation of his
doctrine. Now, in order that the Corinthians may understand that this would be becoming in them,
he exhorts them to imitate what he had done, even as he had imitated Christ
Here there are two things to be observed — first, that he prescribes nothing to others that he had
not first practiced himself; and, secondly, that he directs himself and others to Christ as the only
pattern of right acting. For while it is the part of a good teacher to enjoin nothing in words but what
he is prepared to practice in action, he must not, at the same time, be so austere, as straightway
to require from others everything that he does himself, as is the manner of the superstitious. For
everything that they contract a liking for they impose also upon others, and would have their own
example to be held absolutely as a rule. The world is also, of its own accord, inclined to a
misdirected imitation, ( κακοζηλίαν) (610) and, after the manner of apes, strive to copy whatever
they see done by persons of great influence. We see, however how many evils have been
introduced into the Church by this absurd desire of imitating all the actions of the saints, without
exception. Let us, therefore, maintain so much the more carefully this doctrine of Paul — that we
are to follow men, provided they take Christ as their grand model, ( πρωτότυπον,) that the
examples of the saints may not tend to lead us away from Christ, but rather to direct us to him.
3. GILL, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. &c. These words more properly close
the preceding chapter, than begin a new one, and refer to the rules therein laid down, and which
the apostle would have the Corinthians follow him in, as he did Christ: that as he sought, both in
private and public, and more especially in his ministerial service, to do all things to the glory of
God, and not for his own popular applause, in which he imitated Christ, who sought not his own
glory, but the glory of him that sent him; so he would have them do all they did in the name of
Christ, and to the glory of God by him: and that as he studied to exercise a conscience void of
offence to God and man, in doing which he was a follower of Christ, who was holy in his nature,
and harmless and inoffensive in his conversation; so he was desirous that they should likewise be
blameless, harmless, and without offence until the day of Christ: and that whereas he
endeavoured to please men in all things lawful and indifferent, wherein he copied after Christ, who
by his affable and courteous behaviour, and humble deportment, sought to please and gratify all

with whom he conversed; so he would have them not to mind high things, but condescend to men
of low estates, and become all things to all, that they might gain some as he did: and once more,
that as he sought not his own pleasure and advantage, but the salvation of others, in imitation of
Christ, who pleased not himself, but took upon him, and bore cheerfully, the reproaches of men,
that he might procure good for them; so the apostle suggests, that it would be right in them not to
seek to have their own wills in every thing, but rather to please their neighbour for good to
edification.
4. HENRY, "Paul, having answered the cases put to him, proceeds in this chapter to the redress
of grievances. The first verse of the chapter is put, by those who divided the epistle into chapters,
as a preface to the rest of the epistle, but seems to have been a more proper close to the last, in
which he had enforced the cautions he had given against the abuse of liberty, by his own
example: Be ye followers of me, as I also am of Christ (1Co_11:1), fitly closes his argument; and
the way of speaking in the next verse looks like a transition to another. But, whether it more
properly belong to this or the last chapter, it is plain from it that Paul not only preached such
doctrine as they ought to believe, but led such a life as they ought to imitate. “Be ye followers of
me,” that is, “Be imitators of me; live as you see me live.” Note, Ministers are likely to preach most
to the purpose when they can press their hearers to follow their example. Yet would not Paul be
followed blindly neither. He encourages neither implicit faith nor obedience. He would be followed
himself no further than he followed Christ. Christ's pattern is a copy without a blot; so is no man's
else. Note, We should follow no leader further than he follows Christ. Apostles should be left by us
when they deviate from the example of their Master. He passes next to reprehend and reform an
indecency among them, of which the women were more especially guilty, concerning which
observe,
5. JAMISON, "1Co_11:1-34. Censure on disorders in their assemblies: Their women not being
veiled, and abuses at the love-feasts.
Rather belonging to the end of the tenth chapter, than to this chapter.
followers — Greek, “imitators.”
of Christ — who did not please Himself (Rom_15:3); but gave Himself, at the cost of laying aside
His divine glory, and dying as man, for us (Eph_5:2; Phi_2:4, Phi_2:5). We are to follow Christ
first, and earthly teachers only so far as they follow Christ.
6. EBC, "THE VEIL
AT this point of the Epistle Paul passes from the topics regarding which the Corinthians had
requested him to inform them, to make some remarks on the manner in which, as he had heard,
they were conducting their meetings for public worship. The next four chapters are occupied with
instructions as to what constitutes seemliness and propriety in such meetings. He desires to
express in general his satisfaction that on the whole they had adhered to the instructions he had
already given them and the arrangements he had himself made while in Corinth. "I praise you,
brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you."
Yet there are one or two matters which cannot be spoken of in terms of commendation. He heard,
in the first place, with surprise and vexation, that not only were women presuming to pray in public
and address the assembled Christians, but even laid aside while they did so the characteristic
dress of their sex, and spoke, to the scandal of all sober-minded Orientals and Greeks, unveiled.
To reform this abuse he at once addresses himself. It is a singular specimen of the strange
matters that must have come before Paul for decision when the care of all the Churches lay upon
him. And his settlement of it is an admirable illustration of his manner of resolving all practical
difficulties by means of principles which are as true and as useful for us today as they were for
those primitive Christians who had heard his own voice admonishing them. In treating ethical or
practical subjects, Paul is never superficial, never content with a mere rule.
In order to see the import and importance of this matter of dress, we must first of all know how it
came to pass that the Christian women should have thought of making a demonstration so
unfeminine as to shock the very heathen around them. What was their intention or meaning in
doing so? What idea was possessing their minds? Throughout this long and interesting letter,
Paul is doing little else than endeavouring to correct the hasty impressions which these new
believers were receiving regarding their position as Christians. A great flood of new and vast ideas
was suddenly poured in upon their minds; they were taught to look differently on themselves,
differently on their neighbours, differently on God, differently on all things. Old things had in their

case passed away with a will, and all things had become new. They were made alive from the
dead, they were born again, and did not know how far this affected the relationships with this
world into which their natural birth had brought them. The facts of the second birth and the new
life took such hold upon them that they could not for a time understand how they were yet
connected with the old life. So that for some of them Paul had to solve the simplest problems, as,
for example, we find that the believing husband was in doubt whether he should live with his wife
who remained an unbeliever, for was it not abhorrent to nature that he, the living, should be bound
to the dead, that a child of God should remain in the most intimate connection with one who was
yet a child of wrath? Was this not a monstrous anomaly, for which prompt divorce was the fit
remedy? That such questions as these should be put shows us how difficult these early Christians
found it to adjust themselves as children of God to their position in a corrupt, condemned world.
Now one of the ideas in Christianity which was newest to them was the equality of all before God,
an idea well calculated to take powerful and absorbing hold of a world half slaves, half masters.
The emperor and the slave must equally give account to God. Caesar is not above responsibility;
the barbarian who swells his triumph and is afterwards slaughtered in his dungeon or his theatre
is not beneath it. Each man and each woman must stand alone before God, and for himself and
herself give account of the life received from God. Alongside of this idea came that of the one
Saviour for all alike, the common salvation accessible to all on equal terms, and partaking of
which all became brethren and on a level, one with Christ and one therefore with each other.
There was neither Greek nor barbarian, male nor female, bond nor free, now. These three mighty
distinctions that had tyrannised over the ancient world were abolished, for all were one in Christ
Jesus. It dawned on the barbarian that though there was no Roman citizenship for him nor any
entrance into the mighty commonwealth of Greek literature, he had a citizenship in heaven, was
the heir of God, and could command even with his barbaric speech the ear of the Most High. It
dawned on the slave as his fetter galled him, or as his soul sank under the sad hopelessness of
his life, that he was God’s redeemed, rescued from the bondage of his own evil heart, and
superior to all curse, being God’s friend. And it dawned on the woman that she was neither man’s
toy nor man’s slave, a mere luxury or appendage to his establishment, but that she also had
herself a soul, a responsibility equally momentous with the man’s, and therefore a life to frame for
herself. The astonishment with which such ideas must have been received, so subversive of the
principles on which heathen society was proceeding, it is impossible now to realise; but we cannot
wonder that they should by their fresh power and absorbing novelty have carried the Christians to
quite the opposite extreme from those at which they had been living.
In the case before us the women who had been awakened to a sense of their own personal,
individual responsibility and their equal right to the highest privileges of men began to think that in
all things they should be recognised as the equals of the other sex. They were one with Christ;
men could have no higher honour: was it not obvious that they were on an equality with those who
had held them so cheap? They had the Holy Ghost dwelling in them; might not they, as well as the
men, edify Christian assemblies by uttering the inspirations of the Spirit? They were not
dependent on men for their Christian privileges; ought not they to show this by laying aside the
veil, which was the acknowledged badge of dependence? This laying aside of the veil was not a
mere change of fashion in dress, of which, Of course, Paul would have had nothing to say; it was
not a feminine device for showing themselves to better advantage among their fellow worshippers;
it was not even, though this also, alas! falls within the range of possible supposition, the immodest
boldness and forwardness which are sometimes seen to accompany in both sexes the profession
of Christianity; but it was the outward expression and easily read symbol of a great movement on
the part of women in assertion of their rights and independence.
The exact meaning of the laying aside of the veil thus becomes plain. It was the part of female
attire which could most readily be made the symbol of a change in the views of women regarding
their own position. It was the most significant part of the woman’s dress. Among the Greeks it was
the universal custom for the women to appear in public with the head covered, commonly with the
corner of their shawl drawn over their head like a hood. Accordingly Paul does not insist on the
face being covered, as in Eastern countries, but only the head. This covering of the head could be
dispensed with only in places where they were secluded from public view. It was therefore the
recognised badge of seclusion; it was the badge which proclaimed that she who wore it was a
private, not a public, person, finding her duties at home, not abroad, in one household, not in the
city. And a woman’s whole life and duties ought to lie so much apart from the public eye that both
sexes looked upon the veil as the truest and most treasured emblem of woman’s position. In this

seclusion there was of course implied a limitation of woman’s sphere of action and a
subordination to one man’s interests instead of to the public. It was the man’s place to serve the
State or the public, the woman’s place to serve the man. And so thoroughly was it recognised that
the veil was a badge setting forth this private and subordinate position of the woman that it was
the one significant rite in marriage that she assumed the veil in token that now her husband was
her head, to whom she was prepared to hold herself subordinate. The laying aside the veil was
therefore an expression on the part of the Christian women that their being assumed as members
of Christ’s body raised them out of this position of dependence and subordination.
This movement of the Corinthian women towards independence, on the ground that all are one in
Christ Jesus, Paul meets by reminding them that personal equality is perfectly consistent with
social subordination. It was quite true, as Paul himself had taught them, that, so far as their
connection with Christ went, there was no distinction of sex. To the woman, as to the man, the
offer of salvation was made directly. It was not through her father or her husband that the woman
had to deal with Christ. She came into contact with the living God and united herself to Christ
independently of any male representative and on the same footing as her male relatives. There is
but one Christ for all, rich and poor, high and low, male and female; and all are received by Him
on the same footing, no distinction being made. While then in things civil and social the husband
represents the wife, he cannot do so in matters of religion. Here each person must act for himself
or herself. And the woman must not confound these two spheres in which she moves, or argue
that because she is independent of her husband in the greater, she must also be independent of
him in the less. Equality in the one sphere is not inconsistent with subordination in the other. "I
would have you know, that. the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the
man; and the head of Christ is God."
The principle enounced in these words is of incalculable importance and very wide and constant
application. Whatever is meant by the natural equality of men, it cannot mean that all are to be in
every respect on the same level, and that none are to have authority over others. The application
of Paul’s principle to the matter in hand alone here concerns us. The woman must recognise that
as Christ, though equal with the Father, is subordinate to Him, so is she herself subordinate to her
husband or her father. In her private worship she deals with Christ independently; but when she
appears in public and social worship, she appears as a woman with certain social relations. Her
relation to Christ does not dissolve her relations to society. Rather does it intensify them. The
inward change that has passed upon her, and the new relation which she has formed
independently of her husband, only strengthen the bond by which she is tied to him. When a boy
becomes a Christian, that confirms, and in no degree relaxes, his subordination to his parents. He
holds a relation to Christ which they could not form for him, and which they cannot dissolve; but
this independence in one matter does not make him independent in everything. A commissioned
officer in the army holds his commission from the Crown; but this does not interfere with, but only
confirms, his subordination to officers who, like himself, are servants of the Crown, but above him
in rank. In order to the harmony of society, there is a gradation of ranks; and social grievances
result, not from the existence of social distinctions, but from their abuse.
This gradation then involves Paul’s inference that "every man praying or prophesying, having his
head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head
uncovered dishonoureth her head." The veil being the recognised badge of subordination, when a
man appears veiled he would seem to acknowledge some one present and visible at his head,
and would thus dishonour Christ, his true Head. A woman, on the other hand, appearing unveiled
would seem to say that she acknowledges no visible human head, and thereby dishonours her
head-that is, her husband-and so doing, dishonours herself. For a woman to appear unveiled on
the streets of Corinth was to proclaim her shame. And so, says Paul, a woman who in public
worship discards her veil might as well be shaven. She puts herself on the level of the woman with
a shaven head, which both among Jews and Greeks was a brand of disgrace. In the eye of the
angels, who, according to the Jewish belief, were present in meetings for worship, the woman is
disgraced who does not appear with "power on her head"; that is to say, with the veil by which she
silently acknowledges the authority of her husband.
This subordination of the woman to the man belongs not merely to the order of the Christian
Church, but has its roots in nature. "Man is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory
of the man." Paul’s idea is that man was created to represent God and so to glorify Him, to be a
visible embodiment of the goodness, and wisdom, and power of the unseen God. Nowhere so
clearly or fully as in man can God be seen. Man is the glory of God because he is His image and

is fitted to exhibit: in actual life the excellences which make God worthy of our love and worship.
Looking at man as he actually and broadly is, we may think it a bold saying of Paul when he says,
"Man is the glory of God"; and yet on consideration we see that this is no more than the truth. We
should not scruple to say of the Man Christ Jesus that He is the glory of God, that in the whole
universe of God nothing can more fully reveal the infinite Divine goodness. In Him we see how
truly man is God’s image, and how fit a medium human nature is for expressing the Divine. We
know of nothing higher than what Christ said, did, and was during the few months He went, about
among men. He is the glory of God; and every man in his degree, and according to his fidelity to
Christ, is also the glory of God.
This is of course true of woman as well as of man. It is true that woman can exhibit the nature of
God and be His glory as well as man. But Paul is placing himself at the point of view of the writer
of Genesis and speaking broadly of God’s purpose in creation. And he means that God’s purpose
was to express Himself fully and crown all His works by bringing into being a creature made in His
image, able to subdue, and rule, and develop all that is in the world. This creature was man, a
masculine, resolved, capable creature. And just as it appeals to our sense of fitness that when
God became incarnate He should appear as man, and not as woman, so does it appeal to our
sense of fitness that it is man, and not woman, who should be thought of as created to be God’s
representative on earth. But while man directly, woman indirectly, fulfils this purpose of God. She
is God’s glory by being man’s glory. She serves God by serving man. She exhibits God’s
excellences by creating and cherishing excellence in man. Without woman man cannot
accomplish aught. The woman is created for the man, because without her he is helpless. "For as
the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman."
But as man becomes actually the glory of God when he perfectly subordinates himself to God with
the absolute devotedness of love, so does woman become the glory of man when she upholds
and serves man with that perfect devotedness of which woman so constantly shows herself to be
capable. It is in winning the self-sacrificing love of man and his entire devotion that God’s glory
appears, and man’s glory appears in his power to kindle and maintain the devotion of woman. Not
in independence of God does man find either his own glory or God’s, and not in independence of
man does woman find either her own glory or man’s. The desire of woman shall be to her
husband; in the honourable devotedness to man which love prompts, woman fulfils the law of her
creation; and it is only the imperfect and ignoble woman who has any sense of humiliation,
degradation, or limitation of her sphere in following the lead of love for the individual. It is through
this honourable service of man she serves God and fulfils the purpose of her existence. The
woman who is most womanly will most readily recognise that her function is to be the glory of
man, to mould, and elevate, and sustain the individual, to find her joy and her life in the private life,
in which the affections are developed, principles formed, and all personal wants provided for. And
man, on his part, must say,
"If aught of goodness or of grace
Be mine, hers be the glory."
For, as a French writer says, "her influence embraces the whole of life. A wife, a mother-two
magical words, comprising the sweetest sources of man’s felicity! Theirs is the reign of beauty, of
love, of reason, always a reign. A man takes counsel with his wife: he obeys his mother: he obeys
her long after she has ceased to live, and the ideas he has received from her become principles
even stronger than his passions."
The position assigned to woman as the glory of man is therefore far removed from the view which
cynically proclaims her man’s mere convenience, whose function it is "to fatten household
sinners," "to suckle fools and chronicle small beer." Paul’s view, though adopted and exhibited in
individual instances, is far as yet from commanding universal consent. But certainly nothing so
distinguishes, elevates, purities, and balances a man in life as a high esteem for woman. A man
shows his manliness chiefly by a true reverence for all women, by a clear recognition of the high
service appointed to them by God, and by a tender sympathy with them in all the various
endurance their nature and their position demand.
That this is woman’s normal sphere is indicated even by her unalterable physical characteristics.
"Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if
a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering." By nature
woman is endowed with a symbol of modesty and retirement. The veil, which signifies her
devotement to home duties, is merely the artificial continuation of her natural gift of hair. The long
hair of the Greek fop or of the English cavalier was accepted by the people as an indication of

effeminate and luxurious living. Suitable for women, it is unsuitable for men; such is the instinctive
judgment. And nature, speaking through this visible sign of the woman’s hair, tells her that her
place is in private, not in public, in the home, not in the city or the camp, in the attitude of free and
loving subordination, not in the seat of authority and rule. In other respects also the physical
constitution of woman points to a similar conclusion. Her shorter stature and slighter frame, her
higher pitch of voice, her more graceful form and movement, indicate that she is intended for the
gentler ministries of home life rather than for the rough work of the world. And similar indications
are found in her mental peculiarities. She has the gifts which fit her for influencing individuals; man
has those qualities which enable him to deal with things, with abstract thought, or with persons in
the mass. Quicker in perception and trusting more to her intuitions, woman sees at a glance what
man is sure of only after a process of reasoning.
These arguments and conclusions introduced by Paul of course apply only to the broad and
normal distinction between man and woman. He does not argue that women are inferior to men,
nor that they may not have equal spiritual endowments; but he maintains that, whatever be their
endowments, there is a womanly mode of exercising them and a sphere for woman which she
ought not to transgress. Not all women are of the distinctively womanly type. A Britomart may arm
herself and overthrow the strongest knights. A Joan of Arc may infuse into a nation her own
warlike and patriotic ardour. In art, in literature, in science, feminine names may occupy some of
the highest places. In our own day many careers have been opened to women from which they
had hitherto been debarred. They are now found in Government offices, in School Boards, in the
medical profession. Again and again in the history of the Church attempts have been made to
institute a female order in the ministry, but as yet both the clerical and the legal professions are
closed to women. And we may reasonably conclude that as the army and navy will always be
manned by the physically stronger sex, so there are other employments in which women would be
entirely out of place.
But it will be asked, Why was Paul so exact in describing how a woman should comport herself
while praying or prophesying in public, when he meant very shortly in this same Epistle to write,
"Let your women keep silence in the Churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak: but they
are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the Law. And if they will learn anything, let
them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the Church"? It has
been suggested that although it was the standing order that women should not speak, there might
be occasions when the Spirit urged them to address an assemblage of Christians; and the
regulation here given is intended for these exceptional cases. This may be so, but the connection
in which the absolute prohibition is given rather militates against this view, and I think it more likely
that in his own mind Paul held the two matters quite distinct and felt that a mere prohibition
preventing women from addressing public meetings would not touch the more serious
transgression of female modesty involved in the discarding of the veil. He could not pass over this
violent assertion of independence without separate treatment; and while he is treating it, it is not
the speaking in public which is before his mind, but the unfeminine assertion of independence and
the principle underlying this manifestation.
Besides the direct teaching of this passage on the position of woman, there are inferences to be
drawn from it of some importance. First, Paul recognises that the God of nature is the God of
grace, and that we may safely argue from the one sphere to the other. "All things are of God." It is
profitable to be recalled to the teaching of nature. It saves us from becoming fantastic in our
beliefs, from cherishing fallacious expectations, from false, pharisaic, extravagant conduct.
Again, we are here reminded that every man and woman has to do directly with God, who has no
respect of persons. Each soul is independent of all others in its relation to God. Each soul has the
capacity of direct connection with God and of thus being raised above all oppression, not only of
his fellows, but of all outward things. It is here man finds his true glory. His soul is his own to give
it to God. He is dependent on nothing but on God only. Admitting God into his spirit, and believing
in the love and rectitude of God, he is armed against all the ills of life, however little he may relish
them. To all of us God offers Himself as Friend, Father, Saviour, Life. No man need remain in his
sin; none need be content with a poor eternity; no man need go through life trembling or defeated:
for God declares Himself on our side, and offers His love to all without respect of persons. We are
all on the same footing before Him. God does not admit some freely, while He shrinks from the
touch of others. It is as full and rich an inheritance that He puts within the reach of the poorest and
most wretched of earth’s inhabitants as He offers to him on whom the eyes of men rest in
admiration or in envy. To disbelieve or repudiate this privilege of uniting ourselves to God is in the

truest sense to commit spiritual suicide. It is in God we live now; He is with us and in us: and to
shut Him out from that inmost consciousness to which none else is admitted is to cut ourselves
off, not only from the deepest joy and truest support, but from all in which we can find spiritual life.
Lastly, although there is in Christ an absolute levelling of distinctions, no one being more
acceptable to God or nearer to Him because he belongs to a certain race or rank, or class, yet
these distinctions remain and are valid in society. A woman is a woman still though she become a
Christian; a subject must honour his king although by becoming a Christian he is himself in one
aspect above all authority; a servant will show his Christianity, not by assuming an insolent
familiarity with his Christian master, but by treating him with respectful fidelity. The Christian,
above all men, needs sober mindedness to hold the balance level and not allow his Christian rank
entirely to outweigh his social position. It forms a great part of our duty to accept our own place
without envying others and to do honour to those to whom honour is due.
7. BI, "Follow Paul and follow Christ
I. Be ye followers of Paul. But how can we be like a man who has been dead for centuries, whose
language and occupations were wholly different from ours? Can the nineteenth century be
changed into the first? No. There are hundreds of points in which we cannot be like him; and yet
Paul is more capable of being an example to us than he has been to almost any previous age of
the world. He is truly the apostle of Englishmen, because—
1. He is the apostle most congenial to our peculiar excellences. There is a real likeness between
the English character and the freedom and love of truth which is the fibre and tissue of the
teaching of St. Paul.
2. He is the apostle of progress. Are any of us inclined to think that Christianity is worn out, that it
is too contracted for these broad, enlightened times? Some forms of it may have become so, but
not the Christianity of St. Paul. He is the apostle of the vast and unknown future. St. Paul is always
looking, not backward, but forward. He went beyond his own age, beyond the ages that followed;
and, however far we have advanced in enlightenment and liberation, he has gone before us still.
3. The apostle of toleration. Have we outgrown the noble lessons of Rom_14:1-23.? Are we more
able to bear with those who differ from us, more tender to the rights of conscience, than he? Let
us separate the essential from the non-essential, the temporal from the eternal, as he did.
II. Even as he was of Christ.
1. In many forms this is the burden of all his Epistles (Rom_13:14; Col_2:6; Rom_8:29; Gal_6:14;
Gal_2:20). He is but a servant of Christ. To carry in his own life a copy, however imperfect, of
what Christ had said and done; to be one with Christ now and hereafter was his highest ambition
and hope of salvation. And to this he calls us still.
2. True, we cannot imitate Christ in the letter, but we can in the spirit; we cannot “put on” His
outward garb and actions, but we can put on “the mind which was in Christ Jesus.” We cannot
attain to His perfection; in great part He is rather the likeness of God than the example of man; but
we can study in His life and character the will of God and the duty of man. He should be to us as a
second conscience, to fix our wills, to calm our scruples, to guide our thoughts, the conscience of
our conscience, the mind of our mind, the heart of our heart.
III. How shall we bring home this joint example to ourselves? How shall we concentrate on our
own lives the rays of this double light, the greater light for ever going before, the lesser light for
ever moving behind? Turn from the text to the context, and you will find laid down two
fundamental principles of Evangelical religion—
1. For the service of God (1Co_10:13.). Whatsoever ye do, in commerce and in labour,
wheresoever it be, there is what you have to do to the glory of God. Here, joining in the prayers
and hymns, etc., you are preparing for the service of God. But there, in your daily life, is the true
“Divine service,” in which we must all bear our parts.
(1) Paul was ever employed in driving the enthusiasm of his followers into homely, useful,
practical channels.
(2) What was true of Paul was still more true of Christ. He did not retire to the wilderness. He lived
and died in blessed companionship with men. In labour and in festivity, in moving multitudes and
in crowded ship, He found alike His Father’s work.
2. How are we to follow Paul and Christ in the service of man? (1Co_10:33; 1Co_9:22). Not by
one uniform mode, but in ten thousand was, ever fresh, every varying with the wants and
characters of each.
(1) Every face that looks up from this crowd is different from every other; it expresses a history, a

character, a weakness, a strength of its own. To every one the apostle would have been, as it
were, a different man; he would have transformed himself into the thoughts and would have borne
with the infirmities of each. No outward difference would have prevented him from seeing the
good which lay beneath. He would have made straight for that and built it up, and so would have
saved the soul in the midst of which he had discovered it.
(2) And this example is not only for teachers or special times and places. It is for all times, places,
and persons; for it is the example, not only of Paul, but of Christ Himself. He, too, “became all
things to all men, if by any means He might save some.” He came with a gracious word and touch
for each. And as Christ and Paul have done to us, so ought we in our humble measure to do to
our brethren; so ought we humbly to hope that they each in their turn will do to us, if by any means
some of us may be saved. (Dean Stanley.)
Following Christians and following Christ
I. We ought to follow the example of former saints, so far as they walk in the laws of God.
1. Though by nature all be sinners, yet by grace many in all ages have been saints.
2. The lives of many saints are recorded for our imitation (Jas_5:10-11; Jas_5:17; Php_3:17;
Php_4:9).
3. But everything recorded of them is not to be followed.
(1) Not such actions as are condemned.
(2) Nor all such which are not condemned (Gen_19:8; Gen_27:25-27; Gen_42:15-16).
(3) Nor all such as are approved. For—
(a) Some things are only in part approved (Luk_16:8; Exo_1:19-20).
(b) Some things were done by the extraordinary call and instinct of God (Num_25:7-8; 2Ki_1:10;
Luk_9:54-55). So Abraham offering Isaac.
4. In our imitation of the saints we must observe—
(1) Whether what they do be according to the law of God.
(2) The circumstances of their actions (Amo_6:5). Read, then, the lives of former saints, and
follow their examples, especially the particular graces wherein they were eminent (Num_12:3;
1Sa_3:18; Job_1:21; Act_5:41).
II. Christ is the grand example which we ought to imitate.
1. What is it to imitate Christ?
(1) As He did it.
(a) Understandingly (Joh_4:22).
(b) Obediently (Luk_2:49; 1Sa_15:22).
(c) Sincerely Joh_4:24; 2Co_1:12).
(d) Wholly (Mat_3:15; Joh_17:4).
(e) Believingly (Joh_11:41-42).
(f) Cheerfully (Isa_53:7; Heb_10:34; Rom_12:8).
(g) Humbly (Mat_11:29).
(h) To the glory of God (1Co_10:31).
2. What are those works which we are to imitate Christ in? Christ was truly God from eternity
(Joh_1:1; Joh_8:58). He became truly man in time (Joh_1:14; 1Ti_2:5), and He was and is truly
both God and man in one person (Act_20:28). Whatsoever He did in the flesh He did under one of
these three notions.
(1) We are not to follow Christ in what He did as God; such are His acts—
(a) Of omnipotence. Healing the sick, casting out devils, raising the dead, etc.
(b) Of omniscience (Luk_11:17; Luk_13:32).
(c) Of sovereignty (Mat_16:2; Mat_16:7).
(2) Nor in what He did as God-man, in the acts—
(a) Of His prophetical office (Deu_18:15; Joh_15:15; Act_3:22).
(b) His priestly office. Satisfying for our sins (1Jn_2:2), and interceding for our souls (Heb_7:25).
(c) His kingly office (Isa_9:7).
(3) But we are to follow Him in what He did as mere man.
(a) He was subject to His parents (Luk_2:51). This subjection consisteth in reverencing them
(Lev_19:3); in obeying them, by hearkening to their instructions (Pro_13:1; Pro_23:22) and
performing their lawful commands (Col_3:20; Eph_6:1); in thankfulness, by acknowledging their
care and providing for their necessities (1Ti_5:4; Gen_47:12; Joh_19:26-27). Consider—This is

pleasing to God (Eph_6:1), and hath a promised blessing (Eph_6:2-3; Exo_20:12).
(b) He committed no sin 1Pe_2:22; Isa_53:9; 1Jn_3:5). How are we not to sin? We are not to love
it (Psa_119:1-176). We must imitate Christ in—
(c) Love.
(d) Submission.
(e) Meekness and holiness.
(f) Hearing.
(g) Finishing His work.
(h) Taking all opportunities of doing good.
3. Means.
(1) Watch always over thy heart (1Pe_5:8; Pro_4:23).
(2) Live as under the eye of God.
(3) Consider thou art a Christian. (Bp. Beveridge.)
A follower of Christ
It needs no argument to prove that all men do not follow Christ. Many profess to follow Him, and
many boast that they do follow Him, but, oh, how few faithfully follow Christ! Indeed, the grand
mistake of the world lies in this—that following Christ consists in mere attendance to a few forms
and professions of religion, whereas it is wholly a spiritual service, and can never be taken up by
any but spiritual men. Therefore the Scriptures assure us that a follower of Christ is—
I. One who has been quickened by Christ. A dead man cannot follow another. A man dead in
trespasses and sins must be quickened by the Son of God before he will take one step in the way
to heaven.
II. One who heartily loves Christ. “We love Him, because He first loved us.” “The love of God
constraineth us.” All Christ asks in return for His love is “Follow Me,” and the grateful and
redeemed spirit says, “Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.”
III. One who embraces the doctrine of Christ. When quickeing takes place, the soul receives the
kingdom of heaven as a little child. “Teach me,” says such a spirit, “Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in
Thy truth; unite my heart to fear Thy name.” It does not take the doctrines of the gospel and throw
away the precepts; it does not reserve the precepts and cast away the doctrines, but it takes it as
a whole, as the word of Christ, and the directory in the way to heaven.
IV. One who cheerfully walks in the ways of Christ. Religious labour is no drudgery to him. Never
has a Christian any melancholy as long as he walks in Christ’s paths; it is when he turns out of
them that occasions him sadness and pain.
V. One who copies the example of Christ. A follower of Christ is not one whose head is filled with
well-digested schemes of theology. Christ hath left us an example that we should follow His steps.
Following Christ is walking behind Him, putting our feet into the print of His footsteps, and so
going on in the way to heaven. He has left His footprints—
1. In His meek and amiable spirit.
2. In heavenly behaviour and conversation.
3. In prayer.
4. In His abounding liberality.
5. In His diligent labours.
6. In His spirit of love.
VI. One who perseveringly continues with Christ. Some follow Christ from gain, some partially, as
long as the truth does not touch their consciences; some in poverty and affliction; but when the
sun of prosperity has arisen, when persecution or affliction cometh on account of the truth, then
they desert Christ. “But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (J. Sherman.)
True following
Some men are destined to lead either in evil or in good. St. Paul, who had been a leader in
persecution, was made “a leader and commander of Christ’s people,” and he removes every trace
of human assumption when he qualifies the exhortation with “even as I am also of Christ.”
I. To follow Christ is the source of Christian influence. It is one thing to look at the life of Jesus
with interest and admiration; it is another thing to regard it as our pattern and inspiration. To gain
the higher influence of the Saviour’s life we must follow Him—

1. Wholly. The would-be followers of His day made loud professions of following Him, but when
He said, “If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross,” etc., the crowd dispersed, and
only the twelve remained.
2. Constantly. When you sit for your likeness the photographer measures the time in which to take
a deep and sharp impression. Half the time would only give half the result. If you only look at
Jesus once in awhile, and if serious thought only possess you at times, the flood of worldly
influence will sweep away the good impressions as the tide demolishes footsteps in the sand.
3. Openly. Conversion becomes more real, love to Christ more intense, and hatred of sin more
forcible by the exhibition of the virtues of Him who has called us out of darkness into light. The
light we shed on others is again reflected on ourselves. The voice of the echo is sweeter than your
own; so is piety when it returns to us from its mission of mercy.
II. To exhibit Christ is the mission of the Christian life.
1. The power of example is great. The ancient Romans used to place the statues of distinguished
men in their halls. When they left in the morning they were inspired by the remembrance of their
noble deeds, and when they returned in the evening they were ennobled by the thought of the
associations they enjoyed.
2. The power of Christian example is the greatest. Both in moulding and reforming characters it
has not a rival. Its force is that of Divine love working through human actions. God in Christ Jesus
made His life the noblest of all lives, because it has produced the greatest reforms in the race.
The life of Jesus in His Church is its perpetuation. (Weekly Pulpit.)
Christ’s example
1. Once in the course of the world’s history there has been seen on earth a perfect life. It was a
life not merely to admire, but to follow. It has been ever since the acknowledged human standard.
2. And we have not only the perfect example, but we have it declared why and how it is perfect.
Lessons, teaching and enforcing, accompany each incident of our Lord’s ministry; they are drawn
together into a solemn summary in the Sermon on the Mount. Here we have the highest moral
guidance for the world.
3. That example and law of life were nothing less than universal. They were meant for all men.
Differing so widely as men do, Christ calls them all alike to follow Him.
4. Christianity makes itself universal by making its moral standard, not verbal rules or laws, but a
character. That character is one who is called in Scripture the Image of God. All that Christ did
and said were the various expressions of the perfect goodness of the Father. And that is the
Christian law. And this is what fits the Christian standard to be a universal one. For a character, if
it is great enough, carries its force far beyond the conditions Under which it may have been first
disclosed. If shown under one set of circumstances its lesson can be extended to another,
perfectly different. It adapts itself with the freedom and elasticity of life. We can follow it on, from
the known, to what it would be, in the new and strange. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and
to-day and for ever”—the same in glory as in the form of a servant. Under conditions utterly
changed, His goodness is that same very goodness which we saw. And so we can derive from
that Character lessons for our state, which is so different from His. And not only so, but we can
derive lessons from it for conditions of human life very far removed from those conditions under
which His goodness was manifested to us here. Literal imitation may be impossible, but it is not
impossible to catch its spirit and apply its lessons to altered circumstances. In that character,
though shown to us in the form of servant, we know that everything is gathered which could make
human nature what it ought to be. Consider Christ as a pattern for—
I. The life of faith.
1. All the while that He was on earth He was in heart and soul undivided for a moment from
heaven. He does what is most human; but He lives absolutely in the Divine. However, we see
Him: tempted, teaching, healing, etc., in the wilderness, in the temple, on the Cross—He is yet all
the while “even the Son of Man which is in heaven.”
2. Men have compared the active and the contemplative life, and the life of practical beneficence
with the life of devotion. We see great things done without the sense of religion, and we see the
religious spirit failing to command the respect of those who have other ways of ministering to
men’s wants. But in Christ we have both lives combined. In Him we see man serving to the utmost
his brethren; but we also see man one with the thought and will of God.
3. Here we see how character in itself, irrespective of circumstance, is adapted to be a guide;

here is an example, shown under the most exceptional conditions, yet fit to be universal. But on
what outward circumstances does such a life depend? Why is not equally to be realised in the
calling of the ruler, the rich man, the student? How need their outward conditions affect their
relationship to God?
II. The Life of Truth.
(1) To all, quite apart from the accidental conditions of their state, Christ’s life shows what alone is
real and great in life; and surely there are ends and purposes in the life of each of us which are
literally as real as the ends of His life. One is high and another low; one has much and another
little, but to every one who believes in God and providence, the work of each is equally real: a call,
a stewardship from God.
(2) What we see in Christ’s life is not only a purpose and work passing man’s understanding, but
that purpose followed, and that work done, in a way which man can understand. It is a life
governed by its end and purpose, in which shows or illusions have no place; and further, a life in
which its purpose is followed with absolute indifference to whatever sacrifice it may cost. He has
put all this into words which mark for ever the change He made in our views of life—“My meat is to
do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work”; “I must work the works of Him that sent Me
while it is day”; and when all was over, “I have finished the work that Thou gavest Me to do.”
III. The Life of Love. It is the new commandment, new to the world, but as old as the eternal Word
who brought it, which turns the Sermon on the Mount from a code of precepts into the
expressions and instances of a character. Its words have their interpretation and their reason in
that Divine temper which had come with Christ to restore the world. The purity, the humility, the
forgiving mind, the unflagging goodness they speak of, were but some among the infinitely varied
ways of acting out the meaning of His last charge, “That ye love one another as I have loved you”;
and of His last prayer, “That the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me, may be in them, and I in
them.” A great deal may be said of love without ever really touching what is its vital essence. But
here our sympathies are appealed to. We see how Jesus Christ showed what it is to lead a life of
love. Conclusion:
1. The mutable shapes of society, unfolded by God’s providence, fix almost without our will our
outward circumstances. But for the soul, wherever it is, Christ our Lord has one unchanging call,
“Be perfect”; and He has one unchanging rule for its fulfilment, “Be what I am, feel what I felt, do
as I should do.” How shall we? How but by looking steadfastly at Him and trying to see and know
Him? In the same Living Person each age has seen its best idea embodied; but its idea was not
adequate to the truth—there was something still beyond.
(1) An age of intellectual confusion saw in His portraiture in the Gospels the ideal of the great
Teacher, the healer of human error. It judged rightly; but that was only part.
(2) The monastic spirit saw in it the warrant and suggestion of a life of self-devoted poverty as the
condition of perfection: who can doubt that there was much to justify it: who can doubt that the
reality was something far wider than the purest type of monastic life?
(3) The Reformation saw in Him the great improver, the quickener of the dead letter, the stern
rebuker of a religion which had forgotten its spirit; and doubtless He was all this, only He was
infinitely more.
(4) And now in modern times there is the disposition to dwell on Him as the ideal exemplar of
perfect manhood. He is all this, and this is infinitely precious. We may “glorify Him for it and exalt
Him as much as we can, but even yet will He far exceed.” And as generations go on they will still
find that Character answering to their best thoughts and hopes.
2. What is the lesson? Surely this: to remember when we talk of the example of Christ, that the
interpretations and readings of it are all short of the thing itself; and that we possess, to see and to
learn from, the thing itself. (Dean Church.)
Christ, our example
The apostle—
I. Directs our attention to Christ as the great model of the Christian. It is a marked characteristic of
Christianity that all the truths are presented in no vague, intangible form, but as embodied in one
living model. Note—
1. The fitness of Christ to be our model pattern. We needed one Divine and yet human. One all
Divine would have been inimitable; one all human must have fallen below the necessities of the
case. So Christ came, “God manifest in the flesh.” His divinity fitted Him to reveal God’s will, and

uniting His Deity with humanity, He lived, laboured, suffered, and died as a Man, to present a
visible picture which shall be the model of study and imitation for all time.
2. The perfection of this model. Perfect God and perfect man, He forms a perfect study for the
believer. His love to God was supreme; the exercise of His will was ever in perfect harmony with
the Divine will. In the hour of His temptation, He emerges from the furnace unscathed; and in the
profoundest depth of agony there is the deepest submission to God.
3. Its surpassing loveliness. Look at His unearthly life—living in the world, and yet above the
world. Look at His humility—the incarnate God though He was, yet stooping to wash His disciples’
feet. Look at Him as a Man of prayer—walking in the closest communion with His Father.
II. Delineates the character of a true believer as moulded upon that of Jesus. A follower of Christ.
1. Is a partaker of its spiritual nature. An unsanctified heart, an unrenewed soul, cannot be said to
be cast into this mould. It becomes, then, a question of the deepest moment, “Am I born again of
the Spirit?”
2. Has his hope of acceptance, as a lost sinner, entirely in Christ. He has renounced his own
righteousness, and has received as his only justification “the righteousness of God which is by
faith in Christ Jesus.”
3. Sits as a humble learner at the feet of Christ.
4. Follows Christ only. We may follow ministers and not Christ, Churches, and not the Head of the
Church.
5. Is crucified with Christ: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his
cross and follow Me.” (O. Winslow, D.D.)
Imitation of Christ
1. We find in the Word of God that the imitation of Christ is frequently laid down as the leading
principle of the gospel (Mat_16:24; Joh_12:26; Joh_13:13; 1Pe_2:21; Eph_5:1.; 1Th_1:16). In
these passages we are taught the importance of the principle of example. The Word of God has
many ways of teaching. But especially it teaches by example. Example embodies precept, places
it before us in pictorial form, which we can easily see and understand. And not only so, but
example recommends precept; because where it is a good example, it evidently carries with it the
proof of sincerity on the part of the person who sets it.
2. But it may be asked why, if Christ is the real standard and example, does St. Paul set himself
before us? I think the reason is simply this, that while Christ is undoubtedly the example, St. Paul
regarded himself as an illustration of that example. Note some of the leading features of our
Lord’s character in which this principle of imitation is to be carried out.
I. In His spirit of self-renunciation (Php_2:6; cf Php_2:5.) How closely St. Paul copied our Lord in
this! He “counted all things but loss that he might win Christ,” and glorify Him. And that same spirit
lies at the foundation of all true religion. “If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself.”
II. His spirit of obedience. “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.” It
was—
1. A willing obedience; one in which He delighted.
2. A constant, ceaseless obedience.
3. An obedience victorious, because it was through and after conflict. And so with St. Paul. “Lord,
what wilt Thou have me to do?” seems to have been the question which pervaded his whole
career. Now, we love and value the privileges of the gospel; but do not let us lose sight of its
responsibilities.
III. His spirit of zeal (Joh_2:1-25.). St. Paul followed Him in this. Men in the present day seem
afraid of zeal. But it is good to be zealous in a good cause. Lukewarmness in religion is especially
hateful in the sight of God.
IV. His spirit of meekness and gentleness—“I beseech you,” says St. Paul, “by the meekness and
gentleness of Christ.” He never quenched the smoking flax. And so St. Paul, with all his fire and
energy, observed the evident spirit of tenderness and sympathy with which he watched over the
infant Church. There are rough and rugged characters which are full of energy in Christ’s cause,
but which need to look at His example in this respect.
V. His spirit of love as shown in giving Himself for us; as shown towards the impenitent, and to the
multitude scattered as sheep having no shepherd. All this was imitated by St. Paul.
VI. The spirit of blessed anticipation as regards the future (Heb_12:3). In the same way St. Paul
tells us that his one desire was to finish his course with joy. We should endeavour in our seasons

of trial to remember that the time is short, and that if we be faithful there is laid up for us “an
exceeding weight of glory, a crown of righteousness.” Conclusion: The subject may be used—
1. By way of self-examination. It is exceedingly difficult to bring home to the sinner’s conscience,
by the mere statement of truth, the guilt which attaches to him. But let the sinner place his own life
by the side of Christ’s life.
2. As a principle of guidance. There are perplexing questions which continually arise in the
Christian life. Whenever you can find Christ’s example as a guide to you in your conduct, you may
be perfectly certain that yon are safe in the course you adopt.
3. As an encouragement for Christians. It is according to the will of God that we should be
conformed to the image of His Son. In attempting, therefore, to reach this conformity, you are
attempting that which is the revealed will of God concerning you, and, therefore, which you may
reasonably expect. He will give you grace, at least in some measure, to attain. In the future we
shall be like Him, for “we shall see Him as He is.” And the more we see Him now, the more we
live with Him now, the more like Him we shall become. (E. Bayley, D.D.)
Imitation and commendation
In these words we have—
I. The principle on which the characters of most men are formed. Men are imitative beings, and
from a law of their nature those whom they most admire, and with whom they most associate,
they become like in spirit and in character. The request of Paul at first sight seems somewhat
arrogant, “Be ye followers of me.” No man has a right to make such an unqualified claim. Hence
Paul puts the limitation, “Even as I also am of Christ.” The apostle undoubtedly refers to the
preceding verses, in which he speaks of himself as not seeking his own pleasure or profit, but that
of others. This Christ did. He “pleased not Himself.” He means to say, Be like me as I in this
respect resemble Christ. Here is the principle that should regulate our imitation of men; imitate
them just so far as they resemble Christ. Children should not imitate their parents, pupils their
teachers, congregations their ministers, save so far as they resemble Christ.
II. A commendation of merit which many are reluctant to render (verse 2). In some things, then,
some of the Corinthians pleased Paul. There was much in them at which he found fault, but so far
as they did the proper thing he praises them. To render generously credit where credit is due, is
the characteristic of a great soul, but one which most men are reluctant to perform. A wife will go
on lovingly attending to the wants and wishes of her husband, and perhaps not from one year to
another does she receive from him one word of hearty commendation. So with servants and
masters, and ministers and their congregations. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
A momentous example
In one of our western cities, high up on a very tall building, is a large clock. It registers what is
called “electric time,” and is known to be very accurate because it is regulated by the calculations
of scientific instruments. On a large sign is painted, “Correct city time,” and when one has any
doubts about having the exact time, he sets his watch by this clock. Great mills, railroads,
manufactories, run by its time. Should it lose or gain an hour the whole city would be thrown into
confusion. Let us remember, one watch set right will do to set many by; while, on the other hand,
the watch that goes wrong may be the means of misleading a whole multitude of others. So it is
with life. A wholly consecrated person may become the example for many, and a wicked life of sin
may, too, be the means of entangling a whole community of associates. “Examine yourselves.”
(Sharpened Arrows.)
Imitation of the good
It is characteristic of St. Paul that in his Epistles, as in his ministry, he uses his own life, his own
personality, almost as if they were not his own; they are as much at the service of his argument as
of his work. Such was the nature of his self-surrender to Christ. There is much in the faculty of
imitation, and in the facts connected with it, that is mysterious, much beyond our ken. Man is
presented to us in Holy Scripture on the one hand in his first state before the fall, as a creature of
imitation, made after the likeness of God. On the other hand, in his fallen state we find him
wearying himself with all kinds of yearnings after the likeness of God manifested in every kind of

idolatry. In the fulness of time Christ came on earth, in His human nature, both restoring the
Divine image and making it possible for man to realise the long lost ideal. What wonder, then, that
St. Paul, realising and profoundly impressed with this great feature of the Incarnation, should
emphasise imitation of himself as leading to Christ, imitation of Christ, and imitation of God in
Christ? What wonder if of all books (next to the Bible itself) the most dear to devout souls and
spirits striving upwards after heavenly things should be the “Imitatio Christi” of Thomas A.Kempis?
But before we go on to consider how this can become potent in our life and practice, we ought not
to fail to observe one aspect of imitation which is of infinite importance to us in its effects for good
or for ill. Imitation is not only a conscious activity, by which we can strive to follow and adapt
ourselves to any example which we may select for ourselves. It is a part of nature; not only of
human nature. It has its unconscious as well as its conscious side. It pervades animal life to an
extent which we are apt to ignore or forget. It is the first didactic force. It is concerned with the
simplest and most necessary problems of life. By it the young of many animals are first taught to
take their food. For instance, in the case of chickens hatched by an incubator, if they are to be
artificially reared, it is necessary that the example of picking up their food should be set them in
some way. By imitation they learn to live. Imitation, as Darwin has pointed out, is one of the chief
factors in the advancement and modification of such intellectual powers as animals possess.
There are, indeed, subtle indications of its force in lower animal life, but it is most manifest in birds
and in the apes, whose very name furnishes a verb of kindred meaning. And again, as we rise in
the scale of animal life, it is very noticeable as a characteristic of savage races of men; of man,
indeed, in what some are wont to call his primitive state. We need hardly dwell upon its
development in civilised man. It is dominant in those arts which claim so large a portion in his
education, his enjoyment of life, his material well-being. Again, as part of human nature, imitation
has two functions, which it is important that we should observe, explanatory as they are in a
measure of that which we have noticed in the history of man in relation to God. On the one hand
he received the likeness, on the other hand he sought it outside himself. Even so, just as in the
nervous and muscular system of the body we have the division into involuntary and voluntary, so
the imitative faculty in man is unconscious and conscious, is passive as well as active. Much more
of it perhaps is unconscious than conscious, and the mystery of its essential being and origin is
more inexplicable in the former than in the latter. Why is it that such physical defects as squinting
and tricks of movement are said to be infectious, capable of being communicated at sight to very
young children? Why is it that, as so often happens, a boy’s handwriting becomes like his tutor’s?
All these instances point to unconscious, involuntary imitation. The surroundings of a child, of a
boy, of a young man, have more effect upon him than he himself can discern, or any one else can
determine, and that because of this faculty of imitation, which is part and parcel of his nature. He
assimilates them as he does his food, they become portions of his being, and affect his growth,
his development, his ultimate destiny. Nay more, it seems as if these influences became
hereditary in their effects. We cannot limit these effects to merely physical characteristics or
physical results. If our intellectual and spiritual being is thus subject to the supreme influence of
assimilation and unconscious imitation, can we doubt its power in the sphere of morality? “Tell me
who he lives with, and I will tell you who he is,” is an old proverb. “With the holy thou shalt be holy,
and with the perfect man thou shalt be perfect. With the clean thou shalt be clean, and with the
froward thou shalt learn frowardness.” Youth is plastic. And without doubt the first and most
important counsel is: “Be not over hasty in making friends”; take heed as to the associates whom
you choose to live with. Remember you will probably become like them. All unconsciously your
moral being will receive the impression of their moral being, their conversation, their tone, their
virtues, or their vices. Unless the soul proposes to itself the imitation of good, it will prove
unconsciously to be assimilating and imitating evil. The Apostle Paul had so devoted himself to
the imitation of Christ, that as we have seen he regarded himself as living in Christ, and Christ
living in him. This imitation cannot be without effort, and if, as in the mixed community of Corinth
with all its blemishes, and weaknesses, and grievous sins, it was not easy to rise to the ideal of
the unseen, yet still the nearer ideal of the good man is better than none, and the apostle did not
hesitate to set his own example before them. There must be few of us who cannot find some such
good example, some good and holy, some pure and honourable, some generous and manly life,
to which we may look with satisfaction and hopefulness, and a desire so to follow it as to rise
“upon the stepping stones of our dead selves to higher things.” But even so the imitation must
ultimately be not even of good and holy men, but of Christ in them. “Be ye followers of me even as
I also am of Christ.” The work of the Incarnation was not only to restore to humanity the image of

the perfect man in Christ but also the power, to them that believe in Christ, of reflecting that
image, and by conscious and unconscious imitation of becoming more and more like Him. I know
not at what time of life this work of the imitation of Christ can be entered upon more freely, more
reasonably, more joyfully, than that in which, when childish things are being put away, the young
man reaching toward the maturity of his physical and mental powers, is still occupied with his own
education and improvement, and is not yet immerged in the world-life with all its engrossing toil of
business and pleasure, its triumphs, its disappointments, its sorrows, and soul-enthralling
anxieties. (E. Warre, D.D.)
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I
delivered them to you—
Apostolic commendation
I. Its grounds.
1. Personal, “that ye remember me.”
(1) We all like to be remembered, especially by those who owe us much, or between us and
whom there exist the tenderest relationships. These Corinthians owed all their spiritual life and
blessings to the apostle, and it comforted him amidst the toils and perils of his Ephesian ministry
to know that he was not forgotten. Nothing would more sadden a father than to be forgotten by his
children, a wife by her husband, a pastor by his church.
(2) We like to be remembered “in all things.” They remembered Paul’s preaching, his labours at
his handicraft, his sympathy and helplessness. And when we come across an acquaintance that
we have not seen for years, how pleasant it is to be remembered by one’s features: tone, gait, or
some other characteristic, and to gather in conversation that this and that incident or word has
been treasured up.
2. Moral. The Corinthians not only remembered Paul and what he said; they remembered to do
what he told them. Not the most tender personal recollections would have compensated for the
absence of this. Paul’s wish was not to be popular, but to be permanently useful. This is what
Christ wants: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” This is what we all want: parents,
teachers, ministers, etc., and exact obedience is what is required—“as I delivered them,” adding
nothing to them, taking nothing from them, but keeping them both in the spirit and in the letter.
II. Its expression. This was—
1. Frank and open. Encouraging sentiment is sometimes entertained where it is not expressed.
This does no good. If you feel that a man deserves your praise, why not tell him so?
2. Large-hearted and generous. There were a good many things which the apostle could not
praise, but was forced to blame the Corinthians; but where he felt he could praise conscientiously
he did so unstintedly.
3. Fraternal, “Brethren.” He did not indulge them as children simply to spur them on, nor flatter
them as superiors to secure their patronage. He treated them as equally next himself concerned
about the prosperity of the Church, and in their efforts to promote that prosperity he felt them
worthy of a brother’s praise. (J. W. Burn.)
8. HAWKER, "We never can sufficiently admire the grace given to the Apostle, as a minister of
the Lord Jesus, for that it enabled him to win the affections of the people in attending to his
exhortation and reproofs, He that winneth souls is wise. And much of that wisdom which is from
above, a minister should pray for, that he may endear himself to his people before that he can
hope that they will attend to what he hath to say. How very affectionately the Apostle opens this
Chapter on this ground, desiring the Corinthian Church to follow him, but as he followed Christ.
It should seem from what Paul hath here dwelt upon, in relation to the covering of the head of the
men, or women, in seasons of worship; that the custom of the Church in those days, was
somewhat particular. A decency of apparel, is all that is necessary to be observed. The Apostle
Peter, hath given in one short verse or two, a sufficient direction for all holy women, to observe, in
their dress, who profess godliness. Whose adorning (saith he) let it not be that outward adorning
of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man
of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is
in the sight of God of great price, 1Pe_3:3-4.
But, methinks, I would take occasion, from the infirmities of the Church at Corinth, and from the
infirmities of the Church of God in all ages, to gather improvement, in hearing what Jesus saith to

his Church on the subject in contemplating the beauties of his Church, made comely by the
comeliness he had put upon her. Behold! (saith Christ,) thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair!
thou has doves eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount
Gilead, Son_4:1. Now as the hair grows on the head, and depends upon it: so the Church is
grafted on Christ, and derives everything of life and nourishment from him. And, as the hair is
ornamental, so Christ’s Church is the glory of the world; the preservation of which wholly ariseth
from the concern Christ hath for his Church, in the world. And, as the hair is not only ornamental,
but useful, and forms a covering to preserve from baldness: so Christ’s Church is covered with
the robe of her Lord’s righteousness, and the garment of his salvation. Well may the Lord’s people
be compared to a flock of goats on Mount Gilead; for the Church, like that goodly mountain, is on
high, and stands fruitful, as well as exalted, in the Lord’s righteousness. Numerous they are, like
the hairs of the head; but very lovely and graceful. Jesus so highly esteems them, that he saith,
they shall be his when he cometh to number his jewels, and to spare them as a man spareth his
own son that serveth him, Mal_3:17.
Propriety in Worship
2. I praise you for remembering me in
everything and for holding to the teachings,
[a ] just as I passed them on to you.
1. BARNES, "Now I praise you, brethren - Paul always chose to commend Christians when it
could be done, and never seemed to suppose that such praise would be injurious to them. See
the note at 1Co_1:4-5. On this occasion he was the more ready to praise them as far as it could
be done, because there were some things in regard to them in which he would have occasion to
reprove them.
That ye remember me in all things - That you are disposed to regard my authority and seek my
direction in all matters pertaining to the good order of the church. There can be little doubt that
they had consulted him in their letter (1Co_7:1) about the proper manner in which a woman ought
to demean herself if she was called upon, under the influence of divine inspiration, to utter
anything in public. The question seems to have been, whether, since she was inspired, it was
proper for her to retain the marks ef her inferiority of rank, and remain covered; or whether the
fact of her inspiration did not release her from that obligation, and make it proper that she should
lay aside her veil, and appear as public speakers did among people. To this the apostle refers,
probably, in the phrase “all things,” that even in matters of this kind, pertaining to the good order of
the church, they were disposed to regard his authority.
And keep the ordinances - Margin, “Traditions” (τὰς παραδώσεις tas paradōseis). The word does
not refer to anything that had been delivered down from a former generation, or from former
times, as the word “tradition” now usually signifies; but it means that which had been “delivered to
them (παραδίδωµι paradidōmi); that is, by the apostles.” The apostles had “delivered” to them
certain doctrines, or rules, respecting the good order and the government of the church; and they
had in general observed them, and were disposed still to do it. For this disposition to regard his
authority, and to keep what he had enjoined, he commends them. He proceeds to specify what
would be proper in regard to the particular subject on which they had made inquiry.

2. CLARKE, "That ye remember me in all things - It appears that the apostle had previously given
them a variety of directions relative to the matters mentioned here; that some had paid strict
attention to them, and that others had not; and that contentions and divisions were the
consequences, which he here reproves and endeavors to rectify. While Paul and Apollos had
preached among them, they had undoubtedly prescribed every thing that was necessary to be
observed in the Christian worship: but it is likely that those who joined in idol festivals wished also
to introduce something relative to the mode of conducting the idol worship into the Christian
assembly, which they might think was an improvement on the apostle’s plan.
3. GILL, "Now I praise you, brethren,.... The apostle prefaces what he had to say by way of
commendation of them; though some think that this is said in an ironical way, because there are
many things both in this chapter, and in the following part of this epistle, delivered in a way of
reproof; but whoever considers the change of style in 1Co_11:17 will easily see, that this must be
spoken seriously here, and is designed to raise the attention to what he was about to say, and to
prepare their minds to receive, and take in good part, what he should say by way of rebuke; who
could not well be angry when he praised them for what was praiseworthy in them, and reproved
them for that which was blamable. The things he commends them for are as follow,
that ye remember me in all things; that is, either that they were mindful of him, though at a
distance from them, and had such a veneration for him, and paid such respect to him, and to his
judgment, as to write to him to have his sense about any point of doctrine, or case of conscience
which had any difficulty in them; or that they bore in memory the doctrines of the Gospel which he
had delivered among them; see 1Co_15:2 The Arabic version reads, "that ye remember my
sayings and deeds"; the doctrines he preached among them, and the examples he set them:
and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you; meaning, among the rest, if not principally,
baptism and the Lord's supper, which he received from Christ, and delivered unto them; see 1Co_
11:23 and which they, at least many of them, kept and observed in the faith of Christ, from a
principle of love to him, and with a view to his glory, and that as to the form and manner in which
they were delivered to them by the apostle, agreeably to the mind of Christ; but was the apostle
alive now, would, or could he praise the generality of those that are called Christians on this
account? no; neither of these ordinances in common are kept as they were delivered: as to
baptism, it is not attended to either as to subject or mode, both are altered, and are different from
the original institution; and the Lord's supper is prostituted to the vilest of men; and, what is
"monstrum horrendum", is made a test and qualification for employment in civil and military offices
under the government.
4. HENRY, " How he prefaces it. He begins with a commendation of what was praiseworthy in
them (1Co_11:2): I praise you, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I
delivered them to you. Many of them, it is probable, did this in the strictest sense of the
expression: and he takes occasion thence to address the body of the church under this good
character; and the body might, in the main, have continued to observe the ordinances and
institutions of Christ, though in some things they deviated fRom. and corrupted, them. Note, When
we reprove what is amiss in any, it is very prudent and fit to commend what is good in them; it will
show that the reproof is not from ill-will, and a humour of censuring and finding fault; and it will
therefore procure the more regard to it.
5. JAMISON, "Here the chapter ought to begin.
ye remember me in all things — in your general practice, though in the particular instances which
follow ye fail.
ordinances — Greek, “traditions,” that is, apostolic directions given by word of mouth or in writing
(1Co_11:23; 1Co_15:3; 2Th_2:15). The reference here is mainly to ceremonies: for in 1Co_11:23,
as to the LORD’S SUPPER, which is not a mere ceremony, he says, not merely, “I delivered unto
you,” but also, “I received of the Lord”; here he says only, “I delivered to you.” Romanists argue
hence for oral traditions. But the difficulty is to know what is a genuine apostolic tradition intended
for all ages. Any that can be proved to be such ought to be observed; any that cannot, ought to be
rejected (Rev_22:18). Those preserved in the written word alone can be proved to be such.

6. RWP, "Hold fast the traditions (tas paradoseis katechete). Hold down as in 1Co_15:2.
Paradosis (tradition) from paradidōmi (paredōka, first aorist active indicative) is an old word and
merely something handed on from one to another. The thing handed on may be bad as in Mat_
15:2. (which see) and contrary to the will of God (Mar_7:8.) or it may be wholly good as here.
There is a constant conflict between the new and the old in science, medicine, law, theology. The
obscurantist rejects all the new and holds to the old both true and untrue. New truth must rest
upon old truth and is in harmony with it.
7. CALVIN, "Now I praise you He passes on now to another subject-to instruct the Corinthians,
what decorum ought to be observed in the sacred assemblies. For as a man’s dress or gesture
has in some cases the effect of disfiguring, and in others of adorning him, so all actions are set off
to advantage by decorum, and are vitiated by the want of it. Much, therefore, depends upon
decorum ( τὸ πρεπον,) (611) and that not merely for securing for our actions gracefulness and
beauty, but also to accustom our minds to propriety. While this is true in a general way as to
everything, it holds especially as to sacred things; (612) for what contempt, and, eventually, what
barbarism will be incurred, if we do not preserve dignity in the Church, by conducting ourselves
honorably and becomingly? Hence he prescribes some things that are connected with public
order, by which sacred assemblies are rendered honorable. But in order to prepare them the more
for obedience, he commends, in the outset, their obedience in the past, inasmuch as they
observed his ordinances; for inasmuch as he had begotten that Church to the Lord, (1 Corinthians
4:15,) he had delivered to them a certain system, by which it was to be governed. By retaining
this, the Corinthians gave reason to hope, that they would also in future be docile.
It is surprising, however, that, while he now bestows upon them this commendation, he had
previously blamed them for many things. Nay more, if we consider the state of the Church, such
as has been previously described, they were far from deserving this praise. I answer, that there
were some that were infected with those vices which he had previously reproved, and indeed,
some with one, others with another; but, in the meantime, the form which he had prescribed to
them had been retained by the entire body. For there is nothing of inconsistency in saying, that
very many sins, and of various kinds, prevail among a particular people — some cheating, others
plundering — some envying, others quarrelling, and another class guilty of fornication — while, at
the same time, in respect of the public form of the Church, the institutions of Christ and his
Apostles are maintained.
This will appear more clearly when we come to see what Paul means by παραδόσεις; (traditions;)
(613) and independently of this, it is necessary to speak of this word, for the purpose of replying to
Papists, who arm themselves with this passage for the purpose of defending their traditions. It is a
common maxim among them, that the doctrine of the Apostles consists partly of writings and
partly of traditions. Under this second department they include not merely certain foolish
superstitions, and puerile ceremonies, with which they are stuffed, but also all kinds of gross
abomination, directly contrary to the plain word of God, and their tyrannical laws, which are mere
torments to men’s consciences. In this way there is nothing that is so foolish, nothing so absurd —
in fine, nothing so monstrous, as not to have shelter under this pretext, and to be painted over
with this varnish. As Paul, therefore, makes mention here of traditions, they seize, as they are
accustomed to do, upon this little word, with the view of making Paul the author of all those
abominations, which we set aside by plain declaration of Scripture.
I do not deny, that there were certain traditions (614) of the Apostles that were not committed to
writing, but I do not admit that they were parts of doctrine, or related to things necessary for
salvation. What then? They were connected with order and government. For we know that every
Church has liberty to frame for itself a form of government that is suitable and profitable for it,
because the Lord has not prescribed anything definite. Thus Paul, the first founder of the
Corinthian Church, had also framed for its regulation pious and seemly enactments — that all
things might be done decently and in order, as he afterwards enjoins. (1 Corinthians 14:40.) But
what has this to do with those silly trifles of ceremonies, which are to be seen in Popery? (615)
What has it to do with a worse than Jewish superstition? What has it to do with a tyranny worthy of
Phalaris, (616) by which they torture miserable consciences? What has it to do with so many

monstrous rites of idolatry? For the foundation of all right enactment was this: to observe the
moderation that Paul made use of — not to compel persons to follow their enactments, (617)
while, in the meantime, contriving everything that might strike their fancy, but to require that they
should be imitated, in so far as they are imitators of Christ But now, after having had the audacity
to criticize everything agreeably to their own humor, to demand obedience from all is exceedingly
absurd. Farther, we must know that Paul commends their obedience in the past, in order that he
may render them docile also for the time to come.
3. Now I want you to realize that the head of
every man is Christ, and the head of the
woman is man, and the head of Christ is
God.
1. BARNES, "But I would have you know - “I invite your attention particularly to
the following considerations, in order to form a correct opinion on this subject.” Paul
does not at once answer the inquiry, and determine what ought to be done; but he
invites their attention to a series of remarks on the subject, which led them to draw the
conclusion which he wished to establish. The phrase here is designed to call the
attention to the subject, like that used so often in the New Testament, “he that hath ears
to hear, let him hear.”
That the head ... - The word “head,” in the Scriptures, is designed often to denote
“master, ruler, chief.” The word ‫ראשׁ‬ ro'sh is often thus used in the Old Testament; see
Num_17:3; Num_25:15; Deu_28:13, Deu_28:44; Jdg_10:18; Jdg_11:8, Jdg_11:11; 1Sa_
15:17; 2Sa_22:44. In the New Testament the word is used in the sense of Lord, ruler,
chief, in Eph_1:22; Eph_4:15; Eph_5:23; Col_2:10. Here it means that Christ is the
ruler, director, or Lord of the Christian man. This truth was to be regarded in all their
feelings and arrangements, and was never to be forgotten. Every Christian should
recollect the relation in which he stands to him, as one that is suited to produce the
strictest decorum, and a steady sense of subordination.
Of every man - Every Christian. All acknowledge Christ as their Ruler and Master.
They are subject to him; and in all proper ways recognize their subordination to him.
And the head of the woman is the man - The sense is, she is subordinate to him,
and in all circumstances - in her demeanor, her dress, her conversation, in public and in
the family circle - should recognize her subordination to him. The particular thing here
referred to is, that if the woman is inspired, and speaks or prays in public, she should by
no means lay aside the usual and proper symbols of her subordination. The danger was,
that those who were under the influence of inspiration would regard themselves as freed
from the necessity of recognising that, and would lay aside the “veil,” the usual and
appropriate symbol of their occupying a rank inferior to the man. This was often done in
the temples of the pagan deities by the priestesses, and it would appear also that it had
been done by Christian females in the churches.
And the head of Christ is God - Christ, as Mediator, has consented to assume a
subordinate rank, and to recognize God the Father as superior in office. Hence, he was

obedient in all things as a Son; he submitted to the arrangement required in redemption;
he always recognized his subordinate rank as Mediator, and always regarded God as the
supreme Ruler, even in the matter of redemption. The sense is, that Christ, throughout
his entire work, regarded himself as occupying a subordinate station to the Father; and
that it was proper from his example to recognize the propriety of rank and station
everywhere.
2. CLARKE, "The head of every man is Christ - The apostle is speaking particularly
of Christianity and its ordinances: Christ is the Head or Author of this religion; and is
the creator, preserver, and Lord of every man. The man also is the lord or head of the
woman; and the Head or Lord of Christ, as Mediator between God and man, is God the
Father. Here is the order - God sends his Son Jesus Christ to redeem man; Christ comes
and lays down his life for the world; every man who receives Christianity confesses that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; and every believing woman will
acknowledge, according to Gen_3:16, that God has placed her in a dependence on and
subjection to the man. So far there is no difficulty in this passage.
3. GILL, "But I would have you to know,.... Though they were mindful of him, and
retained in memory many things he had declared among them, and kept the ordinances
as delivered to them; yet there were some things in which they were either ignorant, or
at least did not so well advert to, and needed to be put in mind of, and better informed
about: and as the apostle was very communicative of his knowledge in every point, he
fails not to acquaint them with whatsoever might be instructive to their faith, and a
direction to their practice:
that the head of every man is Christ; Christ is the head of every individual human
nature, as he is the Creator and Preserver of all men, and the donor of all the gifts of
nature to them; of the light of nature, of reason, and of all the rational powers and
faculties; he is the head of nature to all men, as he is of grace to his own people: and so
he is as the Governor of all the nations of the earth, who whether they will or no are
subject to him; and one day every knee shall bow to him, and every tongue confess that
he is the Lord of all. Moreover, Christ is the head of every believing man; he is generally
said to be the head of the church, and so of every man that is a member of it: he is a
common public head, a representative one to all his elect; so he was in election, and in
the covenant of grace; so he was in time, in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension
to, and entrance into heaven; and so he is now as an advocate and intercessor there: he
is the political head of his people, or an head in such sense, as a king is the head of his
nation: he is also an economical head, or in such sense an head as an husband is the
head of his wife, and as a parent is the head of his family, and as a master is the head of
his servants; for all these relations Christ sustains: yea, he is a natural head, or is that to
his church, as an human head is to an human body: he is a true and proper head, is of
the same nature with his body, is in union to it, communicates life to it, is superior to it,
and more excellent than it. He is a perfect head, nothing is wanting in him; he knows all
his people, and is sensible of their wants, and does supply them; his eye of love is always
on them; his ears are open to their cries; he has a tongue to speak to them, and for them,
which he uses; and he smells a sweet savour in them, in their graces and garments,
though they are all his own, and perfumed by himself: there are no vicious humours in
this head, flowing from thence to the body to its detriment, as from Adam to his

posterity, whose head he was; but in Christ is no sin, nothing but grace, righteousness,
and holiness, spring from him. There's no deformity nor deficiency in him; all fulness of
grace dwells in him to supply the members of his body; he is an one, and only head, and
an ever living and everlasting one.
And the head of the woman is the man, The man is first in order in being, was first
formed, and the woman out of him, who was made for him, and not he for the woman,
and therefore must be head and chief; as he is also with respect to his superior gifts and
excellencies, as strength of body, and endowments of mind, whence the woman is called
the weaker vessel; likewise with regard to pre-eminence or government, the man is the
head; and as Christ is the head of the church, and the church is subject to him, so the
husband is the head of the wife, and she is to be subject to him in everything natural,
civil, and religious. Moreover, the man is the head of the woman to provide and care for
her, to nourish and cherish her, and to protect and defend her against all insults and
injuries.
And the head of Christ is God; that is, the Father, not as to his divine nature, for in
respect to that they are one: Christ, as God, is equal to his Father, and is possessed of the
same divine perfections with him; nor is his Father the head of him, in that sense; but as
to his human nature, which he formed, prepared, anointed, upheld, and glorified; and in
which nature Christ exercised grace on him, he hoped in him, he believed and trusted in
him, and loved him, and yielded obedience to him; he always did the things that pleased
him in life; he prayed to him; he was obedient to him, even unto death, and committed
his soul or spirit into his hands: and all this he did as to his superior, considered in the
human nature, and also in his office capacity as Mediator, who as such was his servant;
and whose service he diligently and faithfully performed, and had the character from
him of a righteous one; so that God is the head of Christ, as he is man and Mediator, and
as such only.
4. HENRY, "How he lays the foundation for his reprehension by asserting the
superiority of the man over the woman: I would have you know that the head of every
man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
Christ, in his mediatorial character and glorified humanity, is at the head of mankind.
He is not only first of the kind, but Lord and Sovereign. He has a name above every
name: though in this high office and authority he has a superior, God being his head.
And as God is the head of Christ, and Christ the head of the whole human kind, so the
man is the head of the tow sexes: not indeed with such dominion as Christ has over the
kind or God has over the man Christ Jesus; but a superiority and headship he has, and
the woman should be in subjection and not assume or usurp the man's place. This is the
situation in which God has placed her; and for that reason she should have a mind suited
to her rank, and not do any thing that looks like an affectation of changing places.
Something like this the women of the church of Corinth seem to have been guilty of, who
were under inspiration, and prayed and prophesied even in their assemblies, 1Co_11:5.
It is indeed an apostolical canon, that the women should keep silence in the churches
(1Co_14:34; 1Ti_2:12), which some understand without limitation, as if a woman under
inspiration also must keep silence, which seems very well to agree with the connection of
the apostle's discourse, ch. 14. Others with a limitation: though a woman might not from
her own abilities pretend to teach, or so much as question and debate any thing in the
church yet when under inspiration the case was altered, she had liberty to speak. Or,
though she might not preach even by inspiration (because teaching is the business of a
superior), yet she might pray or utter hymns by inspiration, even in the public assembly.

She did not show any affectation of superiority over the man by such acts of public
worship. It is plain the apostle does not in this place prohibit the thing, but reprehend
the manner of doing it. And yet he might utterly disallow the thing and lay an unlimited
restraint on the woman in another part of the epistle. These things are not contradictory.
It is to his present purpose to reprehend the manner wherein the women prayed and
prophesied in the church, without determining in this place whether they did well or ill
in praying or prophesying. Note, The manner of doing a thing enters into the morality of
it. We must not only be concerned to do good, but that the good we do be well done.
5. JAMISON, "The Corinthian women, on the ground of the abolition of distinction of
sexes in Christ, claimed equality with the male sex, and, overstepping the bounds of
propriety, came forward to pray and prophesy without the customary head-covering of
females. The Gospel, doubtless, did raise women from the degradation in which they had
been sunk, especially in the East. Yet, while on a level with males as to the offer of, and
standing in grace (Gal_3:28), their subjection in point of order, modesty, and
seemliness, is to be maintained. Paul reproves here their unseemliness as to dress: in
1Co_14:34, as to the retiring modesty in public which becomes them. He grounds his
reproof here on the subjection of woman to man in the order of creation.
the head — an appropriate expression, when he is about to treat of woman’s
appropriate headdress in public.
of every man ... Christ — (Eph_5:23).
of ... woman ... man — (1Co_11:8; Gen_3:16; 1Ti_2:11, 1Ti_2:12; 1Pe_3:1, 1Pe_3:5,
1Pe_3:6).
head of Christ is God — (1Co_3:23; 1Co_15:27, 1Co_15:28; Luk_3:22, Luk_3:38;
Joh_14:28; Joh_20:17; Eph_3:9). “Jesus, therefore, must be of the same essence as
God: for, since the man is the head of the woman, and since the head is of the same
essence as the body, and God is the head of the Son, it follows the Son is of the same
essence as the Father” [Chrysostom]. “The woman is of the essence of the man, and not
made by the man; so, too, the Son is not made by the Father, but of the essence of the
Father” [Theodoret, t. 3, p. 171].
6. CALVIN, "But I would have you know It is an old proverb: “Evil manners beget
good laws.” (618) As the rite here treated of had not been previously called in question,
Paul had given no enactment respecting it. (619) The error of the Corinthians was the
occasion of his showing, what part it was becoming to act in this matter. With the view
of proving, that it is an unseemly thing for women to appear in a public assembly with
their heads uncovered, and, on the other hand, for men to pray or prophesy with their
heads covered, he sets out with noticing the arrangements that are divinely established.
He says, that as Christ is subject to God as his head, so is the man subject to Christ,
and the woman to the man We shall afterwards see, how he comes to infer from this,
that women ought to have their heads covered. Let us, for the present, take notice of
those four gradations which he points out. God, then, occupies the first place: Christ
holds the second place. How so? Inasmuch as he has in our flesh made himself subject to
the Father, for, apart from this, being of one essence with the Father, he is his equal. Let
us, therefore, bear it in mind, that this is spoken of Christ as mediator. He is, I say,
inferior to the Father, inasmuch as he assumed our nature, that he might be the first-
born among many brethren.

I corinthians 11 commentary

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I corinthians 11 commentary