1 Corinthians 16:22Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

By this single saying he strikes fear into all those who made their members members of a harlot, who caused the brethren to stumble by eating sacrifices to idols, who called themselves by the names of men, and who did not believe the resurrection.

He not only strikes fear into them, but also points out the way to virtue and the source of vices. Just as love for Christ, when it is strong, drives out and destroys every kind of sin, so also, when it is weak, it allows them to grow.

"Maranatha." Why was this said, and moreover in Hebrew? Since the cause of all evils was arrogance, which came from outward, pagan wisdom, and this arrogance was the chief evil that especially divided the Corinthians, the Apostle wished to cast down their arrogance.

By this single word he brought fear upon all: fornicators, those of divided mind, those who ate things sacrificed to idols, those who did not believe the resurrection, and in general all who among them behaved contrary to his teaching and tradition. For all such people do not love the Lord.

Maran atha means, "The Lord has come." He said this partly to establish the teaching on the divine economy and, through this, on the resurrection. He also said it to shame them: the Master accepted all things upon Himself for our sake, yet you anger Him, some by being called by the names of men, others by committing wicked deeds.

It is interpreted thus: if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, who has come, he is cut off. For Maranatha means, “The Lord has come.” This concerns the Jews, who claimed that Jesus had not come. They are cut off from the Lord who has come.

“If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.” Let the one who has no fervent love for the Master Christ be alien to the common body of the Church. By this the Apostle instilled fear in those already accused. Just as those who love bodily do not wish to have anyone as a partner in love, so the divine Apostle wishes all people to be lovers together with him. Whoever is not such, he cuts off from the Church. “Maranatha.” This is not Hebrew, as some thought, but a Syriac word. Translated, it means, “The Lord has come.” The Apostle used it to humble the pride of the Corinthians, who boasted in the gift of speech, and to teach that not learning but faith is needed.

The word cursed, or anathema, means complete separation. As for the words Maran atha, some say that they are not Hebrew but Syriac words (Theodoret on this place). Many affirm that they are Hebrew. Others say that they are taken from both the Hebrew and the Syriac language, because these two dialects are similar to one another.

According to some, they mean: "The Lord has come." According to others: "when the Lord comes" (Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, on this place; Jerome, letter to Marcella). According to the first meaning they have this sense: whoever does not love our Lord Jesus Christ, who has come into the world, let him be separated from Him.

Maranatha. This is a Syriac word and means, “Our Lord has come.” It is difficult to explain why the Apostle used a Syriac word here in connection with an oath. Perhaps it was a generally known formula of excommunication, or only a stronger form of expressing the Apostolic thought. Some see here the Apostle’s adaptation of a Jewish formula of curse, Shem-atha (Selden, De Synedr. 1:8). Others proceed more simply, joining both words and reading: let him be excommunicated until the coming of the Lord, as the Russian translation suggests in a marginal rendering of this place.

Sin: a cold heart toward Jesus Christ. "If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed." And truly, is it not a great sin to have a cold feeling toward Him who was scourged at the pillar and "wounded for our sins" (Is 53:5)?

He died on the Cross as the One who took upon Himself all our guilt, every last part of it. In Him lies the whole hope of salvation for each one of us. It is a sin, for example, not to love soul-saving conversations about the person of Jesus Christ.

It is a sin to be bored by them, or to turn away when others pronounce His name with a feeling of love. It is a sin not to try to acquire His holy image for oneself, and not to gaze with love upon that beautiful countenance.

Finally, he sends greetings from the churches of Asia, especially from Aquila and Priscilla. He proclaims anathema, “Maranatha,” against anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor 16:19-24).

Anathema, Maran atha, means: let him be separated until the coming of the Lord. The last four verses were written by the Apostle Paul's own hand. Usually he wrote with his own hand: "The grace of our Lord..." But here he precedes this prayerful blessing of his with a stern injunction concerning love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the same time he threatens separation from the Church, for the Lord has come, Maran atha. This means that whoever does not love Christ does not believe in the salvation accomplished by Him, and therefore he is not a Christian.

If he is called a Christian, it is utterly in vain. He must be set apart, just as it was commanded that the incestuous man be set apart, since he in no way answered the most basic demands of Christian life.

The essence of Christianity lies in union with the Lord, an essential union. But can one who abides in this union fail to love the Lord? If anyone does not love the Lord, this is a direct sign that he is not in union with Him.

If he is not in union with Him, he is alien to Christianity and alien to the body of the Church. He has cut himself off from it, even if he bears the name Christian. He is anathema, and this means separated from the body of the Church.

In the original there stands only anathema. What should be supplied here, "is" or "let him be," is left to the reader. It seems that "is" fits better here, in this sense: whoever does not have love for the Lord is already cut off from the Church. He is not her member, or he is a member torn away.