1Cor 1:14-17 | RWP | e4.org | I thank God ( ευχαριστω τω θεω ). See verse , though uncertain if τω θεω is genuine here. Save Crispus and Gaius ( ε μη Κρισπον κα Γαιον ). Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth before his conversion ( ), a Roman cognomen, and Gaius a Roman praenomen, probably the host of Paul and of the whole church in Corinth ( ), possibly though not clearly the hospitable Gaius of , . The prominence and importance of these two may explain why Paul baptized them.

‏ 1 Corinthians 1:14-17

I thank God ( ευχαριστω τω θεω ). See verse 4, though uncertain if τω θεω is genuine here.

Save Crispus and Gaius ( ε μη Κρισπον κα Γαιον ). Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth before his conversion (Ac 18:8), a Roman cognomen, and Gaius a Roman praenomen, probably the host of Paul and of the whole church in Corinth (Ro 16:23), possibly though not clearly the hospitable Gaius of 3Jo 1:5, 6. The prominence and importance of these two may explain why Paul baptized them.

Lest any man should say ( ινα μη τις ειπη ). Certainly sub-final ινα again or contemplated result as in 7:29; Joh 9:2. Ellicott thinks that already some in Corinth were laying emphasis on the person of the baptizer whether Peter or some one else. It is to be recalled that Jesus himself baptized no one (Joh 4:2) to avoid this very kind of controversy. And yet there are those today who claim Paul as a sacramentalist, an impossible claim in the light of his words here.

Also the household of Stephanas ( κα τον Στεφανα οικον ). Mentioned as an afterthought. Robertson and Plummer suggest that Paul's amanuensis reminded him of this case. Paul calls him a first-fruit of Achaia (1Co 16:15) and so earlier than Crispus and he was one of the three who came to Paul from Corinth (16:17), clearly a family that justified Paul's personal attention about baptism.

Besides ( λοιπον ). Accusative of general reference, "as for anything else." Added to make clear that he is not meaning to omit any one who deserves mention. See also 1Th 4:1; 1Co 4:2; 2Co 13:11; 2Ti 4:8. Ellicott insists on a sharp distinction from το λοιπον "as for the rest" (2Th 3:1; Php 3:1; 4:8; Eph 6:10). Paul casts no reflection on baptism, for he could not with his conception of it as the picture of the new life in Christ (Ro 6:2-6), but he clearly denies here that he considers baptism essential to the remission of sin or the means of obtaining forgiveness.

For Christ sent me not to baptize ( ου γαρ απεστειλεν με Χριστος βαπτιζειν ). The negative ου goes not with the infinitive, but with απεστειλεν (from αποστελλω, αποστολος, apostle).

For Christ did not send me to be a baptizer (present active infinitive, linear action) like John the Baptist.

But to preach the gospel ( αλλα ευαγγελιζεσθα ). This is Paul's idea of his mission from Christ, as Christ's apostle, to be

a gospelizer. This led, of course, to baptism, as a result, but Paul usually had it done by others as Peter at Caesarea ordered the baptism to be done, apparently by the six brethren with him (Ac 10:48). Paul is fond of this late Greek verb from ευαγγελιον and sometimes uses both verb and substantive as in 1Co 15:1 "the gospel which I gospelized unto you."

Not in wisdom of words ( ουκ εν σοφια λογου ). Note ου, not μη (the subjective negative), construed with απεστειλεν rather than the infinitive. Not in wisdom of speech (singular). Preaching was Paul's forte, but it was not as a pretentious philosopher or professional rhetorician that Paul appeared before the Corinthians (1Co 2:1-5). Some who followed Apollos may have been guilty of a fancy for external show, though Apollos was not a mere performer and juggler with words. But the Alexandrian method as in Philo did run to dialectic subtleties and luxuriant rhetoric (Lightfoot).

Lest the cross of Christ should be made void ( ινα μη κενωθη ο σταυρος του Χριστου ). Negative purpose ( ινα μη ) with first aorist passive subjunctive, effective aorist, of κενοω, old verb from κενος, to make empty. In Paul's preaching the Cross of Christ is the central theme. Hence Paul did not fall into the snare of too much emphasis on baptism nor into too little on the death of Christ. "This expression shows clearly the stress which St. Paul laid on the death of Christ, not merely as a great moral spectacle, and so the crowning point of a life of self-renunciation, but as in itself the ordained instrument of salvation" (Lightfoot).