1 Corinthians 4:11
in 1 Corinthians 4To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place;
KJV
Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace;
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 4
Commentary
12 notes on this verseWhat, he says, is the point of recalling the past? Look at what is now — at how you are drowning in pleasures, while we are quite the opposite.
This site's exposition
To this very hour we are hungry and thirsty
on 1 Corinthians 4:11-13
The hardships, hungry and thirsty, poorly clothed, homeless, answer Corinth's comfort with the apostles' daily condition. The last words, the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world, were Greek terms for refuse and scapegoats, and Paul accepts the title.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
And "let no one," saith he, "think that I speak only of the past:" "Even unto this present hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked." Seest thou that all the life of Christians must be such as this; and not merely a day or two? For though the wrestler who is victorious in a single contest only, be crowned, he is not crowned again if he suffer a fall. "And hunger;" against the luxurious. "And are buffeted;" against those who are puffed up. "And have no certain dwelling-place;" for we are driven about. "And are naked;" against the rich.
Does not the apostle then plainly add the following, to show the contempt for faith in the case of the multitude? "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as appointed to death: we are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men. Up to this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are beaten, and are feeble, and labour, working with our hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being defamed, we entreat; we are become as it were the offscourings of the world." Such also are the words of Plato in the Republic: "The just man, though stretched on the rack, though his eyes are dug out, will be happy." The Gnostic will never then have the chief end placed in life, but in being always happy and blessed, and a kingly friend of God. Although visited with ignominy and exile, and confiscation, and above all, death, he will never be wrenched from his freedom, and signal love to God. "The charity which bears all things, endures all things," is assured that Divine Providence orders all things well.
The Medieval Church3 voices
That is, we are beaten. He says this against the arrogant.
That is, they persecute us; we flee. This is against the rich.
Then when he says, To the present hour, he discloses the cause of this scorn: first, he assigns the lack of temporal goods as the cause; secondly, the evils they suffered (v. 12); thirdly, he reaches his conclusion (v. 15). As to the first he …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And are naked - Who can imagine a more glorious triumph of the truth, than that which is gained in these circumstances when St. Paul, with an impediment in his speech, and a person rather contemptible than graceful, appeared in a mean, perhaps tattered, dress before persons of the highest distinction, and yet commanded such attention. and made such deep impressions upon them!
Even unto this present hour,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Even unto this present hour - Paul here drops the irony, and begins a serious recapitulation of his actual sufferings and trials. The phrase used here “unto this present hour” denotes that these things had been incessant through all their ministry. They were not merely at the commencement of their work, but they had continued and attended them everywhere. And even then they were experiencing the same thing. These privations and trials were still continued, and were to be regarded as a part of the apostolic condition.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(2Co 11:23-27). naked--that is, insufficiently clad (Ro 8:35). buffeted--as a slave (1Pe 2:20), the reverse of the state of the Corinthians, "reigning as kings" (Ac 23:2). So Paul's master before him was "buffeted" as a slave, when about to die a slave's death (Mt 26:67).
We both hunger and thirst, etc. - Who would then have been an apostle of Christ, even with all its spiritual honors and glories, who had not a soul filled with love both to God and man, and the fullest conviction of the reality of the doctrine he preached, and of that spiritual world in which alone he could expect rest? See the Introduction, Section 6. Have no certain dwelling place - We are mere itinerant preachers, and when we set out in the morning know not where, or whether we shall or not, get a night’s lodging.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄχρι | achri | As far as | G891 → | 48 times |
| τῆς | tes | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄρτι | arti | present | G737 → | 36 times |
| ὥρας | horas | hour | G5610 → | |
| καὶ | kai | both | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πεινῶμεν | peinomen | we hunger | G3983 → | 23 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| διψῶμεν | dipsomen | thirst | G1372 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| γυμνιτεύομεν | gumniteuomen | are poorly clad | G1130 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| κολαφιζόμεθα | kolaphizometha | are buffeted | G2852 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἀστατοῦμεν | astatoumen | wander homeless | G790 → |
ἄχριAs far as
achriG891 →48 times
τῆςthe
tesG3588 →19766 times
ἄρτιpresent
artiG737 →36 times
ὥραςhour
horasG5610 →
καὶboth
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πεινῶμενwe hunger
peinomenG3983 →23 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
διψῶμενthirst
dipsomenG1372 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
γυμνιτεύομενare poorly clad
gumniteuomenG1130 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
κολαφιζόμεθαare buffeted
kolaphizomethaG2852 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἀστατοῦμενwander homeless
astatoumenG790 →
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
Romans 8:35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
it leads to
- John 10:28
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
- Psalms 103:17
But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of the LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—
- John 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
- Romans 5:3–5
Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
- John 10:28
Through
Philippians 4:12I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. I am accustomed to any and every situation—to being filled and being hungry, to having plenty and having need.
it leads to
- Matthew 11:29
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7–10
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- 2 Corinthians 11:27
in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
- Matthew 11:29
Where this verse is studied
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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); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 4; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homilies on First Corinthians; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 13; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.