1 Corinthians 4:18
in 1 Corinthians 4Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.
KJV
Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 4
Commentary
11 notes on this verseSome are puffed up - Some of your teachers act with great haughtiness, imagining themselves to be safe, because they suppose that I shall not revisit Corinth.
This site's exposition
Some of you have become arrogant
on 1 Corinthians 4:18-19
Some at Corinth had become arrogant, as if Paul were not coming, as if distance had ended his authority. Paul answers that he will come shortly, if the Lord is willing, and weigh their power beside their talk.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Some of the Corinthians were angry that Paul had not come to them, not because they wanted him to but because they were proud and imagined that Paul thought they were unworthy of a visit. In fact, Paul wanted to go but had more important …
"Now some are puffed up, as though I were not coming unto you." For there he glances both at them and at certain others, casting down their highmindedness: since the love of preeminence is in fault, when men abuse the absence of their teacher for their own self-will. For when he addresses himself unto the people, observe how he does it by way of appeal to their sense of shame; when unto the originators of the mischief, his manner is more vehement. Thus unto the former he saith, "We are the offscouring of all:" and soothing them he saith, "Not to shame you I write these things;" but to the latter, "Now as though I were not coming to you, some are puffed up;" shewing that their self-will argued a childish turn of mind. For so boys in the absence of their master wax more negligent. This then is one thing here indicated; and another is that his presence was sufficient for their correction. For as the presence of a lion makes all living creatures shrink away, so also does that of Paul the corrupters of the Church.
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
It is clear from this that what was being said was that Paul and his companions were weak, while the Corinthians were strong.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then when he says, As though I were not coming to you, he threatens them with the rod of correction. First, he shows that they deserve the rod of correction, saying: As though I were not coming to you, some are arrogant, as though not …
Having said, "I sent Timothy to you," in order to prevent them from becoming more careless because of this, he adds: although I myself am not coming now, and my absence has given some occasion for pride, for this very reason I will come later. …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Now some are puffed up - St. Paul saw, by a divine light, the thoughts which would arise in their hearts. As if I would not come - Because I send Timothy.
Now some are puffed up,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
some . . . as though I would not come--He guards against some misconstruing (as by the Spirit he foresees they will, when his letter shall have arrived) his sending Timothy, "as though" he "would not come" (or, "were not coming") himself. A puffed-up spirit was the besetting sin of the Corinthians (compare 1Co 1:11;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Now some are puffed up - They are puffed up with a vain confidence; they say that I would not dare to come; that I would be afraid to appear among them, to administer discipline, to rebuke them, or to supersede their authority. Probably he had been detained by the demand on his services in other places, and by various providential hinderances from going there, until they supposed that he stayed away from fear. And possibly he might apprehend that they would think he had sent Timothy because he was afraid to come himself. Their conduct was an instance of the haughtiness and arrogance which people will assume when they suppose they are in no danger of reproof or punishment.
The words behind it
9 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ὡς | hos | As to | G5613 → | 500 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| ἐρχομένου | erchomenou | coming | G2064 → | 628 times |
| δέ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| μου | mou | of me | G3165 → | 1936 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| ὑμᾶς | humas | you | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| ἐφυσιώθησάν | ephusiothesan | were puffed up | G5448 → | 7 times |
| τινες· | tines | some; | G5100 → | 528 times |
ὩςAs to
hosG5613 →500 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
ἐρχομένουcoming
erchomenouG2064 →628 times
δέnow
deG1161 →2765 times
μουof me
mouG3165 →1936 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
ὑμᾶςyou
humasG4771 →2973 times
ἐφυσιώθησάνwere puffed up
ephusiothesanG5448 →7 times
τινες·some;
tinesG5100 →528 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 4:21Which do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and with a gentle spirit?
it leads to
- 2 Corinthians 13:2
I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,
- 2 Corinthians 13:10
This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for…
- 2 Corinthians 12:20–21
For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage,…
- 1 Thessalonians 2:7
On the contrary, we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother caring for her children.
- 2 Corinthians 2:3
I wrote as I did so that on my arrival I would not be saddened by those who ought to make me rejoice. I had confidence in all of you, that you would share…
- 2 Corinthians 13:2
Through
1 Corinthians 5:2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?
it leads to
- Revelation 2:20–22
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
- 2 Corinthians 7:7–11
and not only by his arrival, but also by the comfort he had received from you. He told us about your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced all…
- 1 Corinthians 5:13
God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”
- Revelation 2:20–22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 14; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.