1 Corinthians 1:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Thus he both concealed that person and directly revealed their fault. He knew what was useful for some and what was necessary for others.

Therefore he did not say, "It has been made known to me by certain persons." He pointed to a known household, so that it would not seem invented.

What, then, was reported? "That there are quarrels among you."

When he himself reproves them, he says, "that there be no divisions among you." But when he reports what he heard from others, he speaks more mildly.

"For it has been made known to me that there are quarrels among you," he says, so that he would not expose those who informed him to danger.

4. From the following words one might conclude that Chloe's household reported the Corinthians to the Apostle for heresies and other irregularities touching the faith.

"For it has been made known to me, my brethren, by those sent from Chloe, that there are quarrels among you."

The wise author of Proverbs condemns such informers in his book of Proverbs: "Those who bring forth reproach are most foolish" (Prov 10:18).

Explanation. There are many such speeches or reports that should not be counted as a reproof of another. One must judge in what matters, and with what intention, something is declared against another.

If someone directly exposes his neighbor in vices and iniquities with the intention of bringing reproach on a person caught in certain vices, and leaving him mocked and dishonored before others, such a man is condemned by the wise author of Proverbs.

It is not fitting for a true worshiper of God, one who does not depart from His law, to scatter thoughts about his neighbor that tend toward his dishonor.

On the contrary, he has a duty to stop every occasion for spreading evil talk about a person.

But if, on the other hand, the exposure of a neighbor's faults proceeds with the intention of drawing that neighbor away from reckless deeds and bringing him to correction, then such conduct must be counted a sign of Christian love.

Then he lessens the weight of the sin by calling it zeal. Besides this, he keeps silent about the name of the person who revealed to him the Corinthians’ faults, so as not to expose him to their anger and indignation.

But so that his word might be trustworthy, he does not speak wholly indefinitely. In a certain way he limits it, saying that those of Chloe’s household informed him of this.

Why did Paul place himself first? This order of names made by him proceeds not from the highest to the nearest, but from the lower to the higher. Therefore, although he placed his own name first, in reality it should be counted last.

He placed them in this order to show that the last were those who called themselves disciples of Christ, and thereby to rebuke them more strongly for their division of mind.

"My brethren," he says, "those of Chloe’s household have informed me concerning you that you have strife. Namely, that one of you says, I am a disciple and follower of Paul; another, I am of Apollos; one, I am of Cephas; and another, I am of Christ" (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Oecumenius on this passage).

Some affirm that the Corinthians did not call themselves disciples of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, but of certain other teachers. Paul transferred this to himself and Apollos, as he himself says.

First, he did this so as not to shame those teachers, and consequently not to harden them. Second, he did it to express the errors of the Corinthians more strongly.

For if they sinned even when they called themselves disciples of their true teachers, that is, Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, then they erred much more when they called themselves disciples of men who had not been sent by God and did not have the gift of Gospel preaching.

For this same reason he joins the name of Christ to himself and the other two. He does this to show how great an iniquity they committed by comparing the Master with servants.

But if we take these words of Paul in their proper and simple meaning, we will not err in this either. It is known that Paul first preached the Gospel in Corinth, and after him Apollos (Acts 18:1; Acts 19:1).

After him, or together with him, some of Peter’s disciples perhaps preached. Therefore those taught and converted to the faith by Paul said of themselves that they were disciples of Paul.

Those converted by Apollos said that they were of Apollos. Those taught by the disciples of Cephas were called Cephas’s. Those who did not separate from one another and were always of one mind said of themselves that they were disciples of Christ.

This opinion is confirmed by the following words of Paul: "Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth" (1 Cor 1:12-13; 1 Cor 3:5-6).

When Paul said, "These things I have applied to myself and Apollos" (1 Cor 4:6), this means that he kept silent about all the names of the other teachers, implying them under his own name and that of Apollos.

Having said this, he immediately makes known what impious consequence comes from such contentiousness and strife.

But he shows that if even such persons should not be placed in such a relation to oneself, as head and exclusive teacher, then all the more should others not be so placed.

Thus he lists these names only by way of application, in order more quickly to heal their sickness. At the same time he makes his speech less unpleasant by not naming those who were dividing the Church."

If their disputes did not touch dogmas, but represented only a lapse into frivolity, there was no cause for him or anyone else to separate from them.

This was especially so for the Apostle, who hoped to heal the sickness by reproving their lack of understanding.

"By those sent from Chloe," that is, from Chloe's household, υπο των Χλοης, from Chloe's people.

Chloe, one must suppose, was a well-known believer in Corinth. If we suppose that she was engaged in trade, then Ephesus, where Saint Paul then was, had direct dealings with Corinth in that respect.

It is therefore clear how Chloe's household could have been in Ephesus on business and told Saint Paul everything that was happening in Corinth.

"Notice the wisdom of Saint Paul. He did not point to a separate person, but to a whole house, so that they would not rise up against the one who informed him.

Thus he both concealed that person and directly revealed their fault. He knew what was useful for some and what was necessary for others" (Saint Chrysostom).

"That there are quarrels among you." Quarrels, εριδες, are contentious disputes, with a desire to outargue others and insist on one's own way.

Their whole fault, it appears, consisted in contentiousness, which irritates and disrupts the brotherly bond of love.

There is no evidence that they had turned aside into some error. Saint Chrysostom has already noted that they were of one mind in matters of faith.

What, then, were the disputes about?