world
kosmos = mankind.
The Greek word kosmos means "order," "arrangement," and so, with the Greeks, "beauty"; for order and arrangement in the sense of system are at the bottom of the Greek conception of beauty.
When used in the N.T. of humanity, the "world" of men, it is organized humanity-- humanity in families, tribes, nations--which is meant. The word for chaotic, unorganized humanity--the mere mass of man is thalassa, the "sea" of men (e.g.) Revelation 13:1 (See Scofield " Revelation 13:8 ") . For "world" (kosmos) in the bad ethical sense, "world system" John 7:7 .
Context Summary
1 Corinthians 4:1-13 - Stewards Responsible To Their Lord
At the most the ministers or teachers of God's Gospel are but stewards of the hidden things of God, according to Matthew 13:51-52. They ought not to attract attention to themselves or to the way they purvey their Master's goods. Their prime object is to be faithful to their trust; to make much of the Master and as little as possible of themselves. Paul was not aware that he had violated his Master's confidence, but he could not be content till he had heard the Master's verdict on his life-work. Notice the four courts of appeal-my own judgment, your judgment, man's judgment, and Christ's. The Master will reverse many human judgments, but all will bear witness to the absolute justice of His verdict.
In vivid words the Apostle shows how great was the difference between the ease and self-satisfaction of the Corinthian church and the sorry plight to which he and his fellow-workers were often reduced. Many regarded them as the captives in a conqueror's triumphal procession, who behind the triumphal car were being-marched to death. But it mattered little to them so long as Christ was adored, loved, glorified, and His Kingdom advanced. [source]
Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 4
1In what account the apostles ought to be regarded 7We have nothing which we have not received 9The apostles spectacles to the world, angels, and men; 13the filth and offscouring of the world; 15yet our fathers in Christ; 16whom we ought to follow
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 4:13
Being defamed we intreat [δυσπημουμενοι παρακαλουμεν] The participle δυσπημουμενοι dusphēmoumenoi is an old verb (in 1 Maccabees 7:41) to use ill, from δυσπημος dusphēmos but occurs here only in the N.T. Paul is opening his very heart now after the keen irony above. [source]
As the filth of the world [ως περικαταρματα του κοσμου] Literally, sweepings, rinsings, cleansings around, dust from the floor, from περικαταιρω perikathairō to cleanse all around (Plato and Aristotle) and so the refuse thrown off in cleansing. Here only in the N.T. and only twice elsewhere. Καταρμα Katharma was the refuse of a sacrifice. In Proverbs 21:18 περικαταρμα perikatharma occurs for the scapegoat. The other example is Epictetus iii. 22, 78, in the same sense of an expiatory offering of a worthless fellow. It was the custom in Athens during a plague to throw to the sea some wretch in the hope of appeasing the gods. One hesitates to take it so here in Paul, though Findlay thinks that possibly in Ephesus Paul may have heard some such cry like that in the later martyrdoms Christiani ad leones. At any rate in 1 Corinthians 15:32 Paul says “I fought with wild beasts” and in 2 Corinthians 1:9 “I had the answer of death.” Some terrible experience may be alluded to here. The word shows the contempt of the Ephesian populace for Paul as is shown in Acts 19:23-41 under the influence of Demetrius and the craftsmen. The offscouring of all things (παντων περιπσημα pantōn peripsēma). Late word, here only in N.T., though in Tob. 5:18. The word was used in a formula at Athens when victims were flung into the sea, περιπσημα ημων γενου peripsēma hēmōn genou (Became a περιπσημα peripsēma for us), in the sense of expiation. The word merely means scraping around from περιπσαω peripsaō offscrapings or refuse. That is probably the idea here as in Tob. 5:18. It came to have a complimentary sense for the Christians who in a plague gave their lives for the sick. But it is a bold figure here with Paul of a piece with περικαταρματα perikatharmata f0). [source]
The offscouring of all things [παντων περιπσημα] Late word, here only in N.T., though in Tob. 5:18. The word was used in a formula at Athens when victims were flung into the sea, περιπσημα ημων γενου peripsēma hēmōn genou (Became a περιπσημα peripsēma for us), in the sense of expiation. The word merely means scraping around from περιπσαω peripsaō offscrapings or refuse. That is probably the idea here as in Tob. 5:18. It came to have a complimentary sense for the Christians who in a plague gave their lives for the sick. But it is a bold figure here with Paul of a piece with περικαταρματα perikatharmata f0). [source]
Defamed [δυσφημούμενοι] Publicly slandered; while reviled refers to personal abuse. [source]
Filth - offscouring [περικαθάρματα - περίψημα] The former word is from περικαθαίρω tocleanse all round. Hence that which is thrown off in cleansing; refuse. Κάθαρμα therefuse of a sacrifice. So Aeschylus. Electra says: “Should I, like one who has carried away refuse ( καθάρμαθ ) from a purification, after tossing away the urn, go back again with unturned eyes?” (“Choephoroe,” 90). In Proverbs 21:18, Sept., it occurs in the sense of ransom. Some find an allusion here to an ancient Athenian custom of throwing certain worthless persons into the sea in case of plague or famine, saying Be our offscouring! These persons were called περικαθάρματα offscouringsor περιψήματα scrapingsin the belief that they would wipe away the nation's guilt. Ignatius says to the Ephesians, περίψημα ὑμῶν Iam your offscouring. The sense is twofold: I am as the meanest among you; and I devote my life for you. In the middle of the third century, περίψημά σου had become a common expression of formal compliment: your humble servant. See Lightfoot, “Apostolic Fathers,” on Ignatius to the Ephesians, 8. “Compare Lamentations 3:45, and Tobit 5:18. Περίψημα thatwhich is scraped or scoured off. Both words only here in the New Testament. This tremendous piece of irony justifies the numerous allusions which have been made to Paul's vehemence and severity. Thus Dante, in his vision of the Earthly Paradise, pictures Paul:“Two old men I beheld, unlike in habit,But like in gait, each dignified and grave. One (Luke) showed himself as one of the disciples-DIVIDER-
Of that supreme Hippocrates whom Nature-DIVIDER-
Made for the animals she holds most dear,-DIVIDER-
Contrary care the other (Paul) manifested,-DIVIDER-
With sword so shining and so sharp, it caused-DIVIDER-
Terror to me on this side of the river.”“Purgatorio,” xxix., 134-141.“His words, indeed, seem to be those of a simple, and, as it were, an innocent and rustic man, who knows neither how to frame nor to avoid wiles; but whithersoever you look, there are thunderbolts” (Jerome). “Paul thunders, lightens, utters pure flames” (Erasmus). See a collection of quotations in Farrar's “Life and Work of St. Paul,” i., 619. [source]
Intreat [παρακαλοῦμεν] See on consolation, Luke 6:24, and see on comfort, Acts 9:31. The sense is, we strive to appease by entreaty. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 4:13
Philippians 3:8Dung [σκύβαλα] Rev., refuse. Either excrement or what is thrown away from the table; leavings. The derivation is uncertain. According to some it is a contraction from ἐς κύνας βάλλω tothrow to the dogs. See on filth, 1 Corinthians 4:13. Notice the repetition of gain, count, loss, all things, Christ. [source]
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 4:13
The participle δυσπημουμενοι dusphēmoumenoi is an old verb (in 1 Maccabees 7:41) to use ill, from δυσπημος dusphēmos but occurs here only in the N.T. Paul is opening his very heart now after the keen irony above. [source]
Literally, sweepings, rinsings, cleansings around, dust from the floor, from περικαταιρω perikathairō to cleanse all around (Plato and Aristotle) and so the refuse thrown off in cleansing. Here only in the N.T. and only twice elsewhere. Καταρμα Katharma was the refuse of a sacrifice. In Proverbs 21:18 περικαταρμα perikatharma occurs for the scapegoat. The other example is Epictetus iii. 22, 78, in the same sense of an expiatory offering of a worthless fellow. It was the custom in Athens during a plague to throw to the sea some wretch in the hope of appeasing the gods. One hesitates to take it so here in Paul, though Findlay thinks that possibly in Ephesus Paul may have heard some such cry like that in the later martyrdoms Christiani ad leones. At any rate in 1 Corinthians 15:32 Paul says “I fought with wild beasts” and in 2 Corinthians 1:9 “I had the answer of death.” Some terrible experience may be alluded to here. The word shows the contempt of the Ephesian populace for Paul as is shown in Acts 19:23-41 under the influence of Demetrius and the craftsmen. The offscouring of all things (παντων περιπσημα pantōn peripsēma). Late word, here only in N.T., though in Tob. 5:18. The word was used in a formula at Athens when victims were flung into the sea, περιπσημα ημων γενου peripsēma hēmōn genou (Became a περιπσημα peripsēma for us), in the sense of expiation. The word merely means scraping around from περιπσαω peripsaō offscrapings or refuse. That is probably the idea here as in Tob. 5:18. It came to have a complimentary sense for the Christians who in a plague gave their lives for the sick. But it is a bold figure here with Paul of a piece with περικαταρματα perikatharmata f0). [source]
Late word, here only in N.T., though in Tob. 5:18. The word was used in a formula at Athens when victims were flung into the sea, περιπσημα ημων γενου peripsēma hēmōn genou (Became a περιπσημα peripsēma for us), in the sense of expiation. The word merely means scraping around from περιπσαω peripsaō offscrapings or refuse. That is probably the idea here as in Tob. 5:18. It came to have a complimentary sense for the Christians who in a plague gave their lives for the sick. But it is a bold figure here with Paul of a piece with περικαταρματα perikatharmata f0). [source]
Publicly slandered; while reviled refers to personal abuse. [source]
The former word is from περικαθαίρω tocleanse all round. Hence that which is thrown off in cleansing; refuse. Κάθαρμα therefuse of a sacrifice. So Aeschylus. Electra says: “Should I, like one who has carried away refuse ( καθάρμαθ ) from a purification, after tossing away the urn, go back again with unturned eyes?” (“Choephoroe,” 90). In Proverbs 21:18, Sept., it occurs in the sense of ransom. Some find an allusion here to an ancient Athenian custom of throwing certain worthless persons into the sea in case of plague or famine, saying Be our offscouring! These persons were called περικαθάρματα offscouringsor περιψήματα scrapingsin the belief that they would wipe away the nation's guilt. Ignatius says to the Ephesians, περίψημα ὑμῶν Iam your offscouring. The sense is twofold: I am as the meanest among you; and I devote my life for you. In the middle of the third century, περίψημά σου had become a common expression of formal compliment: your humble servant. See Lightfoot, “Apostolic Fathers,” on Ignatius to the Ephesians, 8. “Compare Lamentations 3:45, and Tobit 5:18. Περίψημα thatwhich is scraped or scoured off. Both words only here in the New Testament. This tremendous piece of irony justifies the numerous allusions which have been made to Paul's vehemence and severity. Thus Dante, in his vision of the Earthly Paradise, pictures Paul:“Two old men I beheld, unlike in habit,But like in gait, each dignified and grave. One (Luke) showed himself as one of the disciples-DIVIDER- Of that supreme Hippocrates whom Nature-DIVIDER- Made for the animals she holds most dear,-DIVIDER- Contrary care the other (Paul) manifested,-DIVIDER- With sword so shining and so sharp, it caused-DIVIDER- Terror to me on this side of the river.”“Purgatorio,” xxix., 134-141.“His words, indeed, seem to be those of a simple, and, as it were, an innocent and rustic man, who knows neither how to frame nor to avoid wiles; but whithersoever you look, there are thunderbolts” (Jerome). “Paul thunders, lightens, utters pure flames” (Erasmus). See a collection of quotations in Farrar's “Life and Work of St. Paul,” i., 619. [source]
See on consolation, Luke 6:24, and see on comfort, Acts 9:31. The sense is, we strive to appease by entreaty. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 4:13
Rather, I became. Supply ἐγενόμην or γέγονα . Become as I am, for I became a Gentile like you. Comp. Philemon 3:7, Philemon 3:8. For the phrase γινέσθαι ὡς tobecome as, see Matthew 6:16; Romans 9:29; 1 Corinthians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 9:20-22. [source]
Rev., refuse. Either excrement or what is thrown away from the table; leavings. The derivation is uncertain. According to some it is a contraction from ἐς κύνας βάλλω tothrow to the dogs. See on filth, 1 Corinthians 4:13. Notice the repetition of gain, count, loss, all things, Christ. [source]
See on Mark 7:22. Compare Romans 3:8; Romans 14:16; 1 Corinthians 4:13; Ephesians 4:31. Rev. railing. [source]
Though the light has been increasing, and though he may claim that he has been in the light from the first. The phrase occurs in John 2:10; John 5:17; John 16:24; and is used by Paul, 1 Corinthians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 15:6. [source]
His fellow-Christian. The singular, brother, is characteristic of this Epistle. See 1 John 2:10, 1 John 2:11; 1 John 3:10, 1 John 3:15, 1 John 3:17; 1 John 4:20, 1 John 4:21; 1 John 5:16. Christians are called in the New Testament, Christians (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16), mainly by those outside of the Christian circle. Disciples, applied to all followers of Christ (John 2:11; John 6:61) and strictly to the twelve (John 13:5sqq.). In Acts 19:1, to those who had received only John's baptism. Not found in John's Epistles nor in Revelation. Brethren. The first title given to the body of believers after the Ascension (Acts 1:15, where the true reading is ἀδελφῶν brethrenfor μαθητῶν disciples). See Acts 9:30; Acts 10:23; Acts 11:29; 1 Thessalonians 4:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:26; 1 John 3:14; 3 John 1:5, 3 John 1:10; John 21:23. Peter has ἡ ἀδελφότης thebrotherhood (1 Peter 2:17; 1 Peter 5:9). The believers. Under three forms: The believers ( οἱ πιστοί ; Acts 10:45; 1 Timothy 4:12); they that believe ( οἱ πιστεύοντες ; 1 Peter 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; Ephesians 1:19); they that believed ( οἱ πιστεύσαντες ; Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32; Hebrews 4:3). The saints ( οἱ ἅγιοι ); characteristic of Paul and Revelation. Four times in the Acts (Acts 9:13, Acts 9:32, Acts 9:41; Acts 26:10), and once in Jude (Judges 1:3). Also Hebrews 6:10; Hebrews 13:24. In Paul, 1 Corinthians 6:1; 1 Corinthians 14:33; Ephesians 1:1, Ephesians 1:15, etc. In Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:4; Revelation 11:18, etc.|Until now ( ἕως ἄρτι )|Though the light has been increasing, and though he may claim that he has been in the light from the first. The phrase occurs in John 2:10; John 5:17; John 16:24; and is used by Paul, 1 Corinthians 4:13; 1 Corinthians 8:7; 1 Corinthians 15:6.| [source]