The Expositor's Bible: The First Epistle to the Corinthians

by Marcus Dods

"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. And he drave them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow."—ACTS xviii. 1-18.

Kindle Edition

First published March 17, 2013

About the author

Marcus Dods (11 April 1834 – 26 April 1909) was a Scottish divine and controversial biblical scholar. He was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He served as Principal of New College, Edinburgh.

Reviews

[Todd Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent in places. Far from thorough in others.

I usually try to grab some older commentaries to read with newer ones when I'm preaching through a book. There are drawbacks, of course. Many of the crises facing their generation make their way into the commentary - and few contemporary crises are dealt with. For instance, Chapter 16 dealt more with the rise of the industrial revolution than the text while his comments about homosexuality in Chapter 6 weren't much.

Thankfully, God's Word never changes. So, the meaning of the text remains constant.

There were times Dods was very thorough. I grabbed several really solid quotes from him. There were other times he skipped things.

If I preach 1 Corinthians again, I probably would not reuse this book. I'm not saying it's bad. But there are better choices.