Now I will come to you, when I shall have passed through Macedonia. For I shall pass through Macedonia.
ελευσομαι δε προς υμας οταν μακεδονιαν διελθω μακεδονιαν γαρ διερχομαι
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
He had said the same thing before, but then with anger, adding: “I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power” (1 Cor 4:19). Now he speaks more kindly, so that they may desire his arrival. Lest they say, “Why do you prefer the Macedonians to us?” he did not say, “when I go,” but, “when I pass through Macedonia; for I am passing through Macedonia.”
He did not say, “I am going to Macedonia,” lest they say, “You prefer the Macedonians to us.” Rather, he said, “I am passing through Macedonia,” that is, I am visiting the Macedonians quickly and in passing.
“I will come to you when I have passed through Macedonia.” Lest the Corinthians be offended that the Macedonians had been preferred, the Apostle added, “For I am passing through Macedonia.”
“I am passing through Macedonia.” The present tense stands for the future, perhaps because this was the Apostle’s usual route to Corinth.
Then he promises to undertake a journey to Corinth after completing his affairs in Ephesus, where he hopes to remain until Pentecost. He intends to choose the road through Macedonia (1 Cor 16:5-9).
In the Apostle’s notice about visiting the Corinthians, this is especially worthy of note: he promises not to be with them in passing, as with the Romans, but would like the Lord to allow him even to winter with them.
So close did he consider the Corinthians to himself. So highly did he value staying with them, as with his own children.
There was a great deal of time from Pentecost, which he wished to spend in Ephesus, until the Corinthian winter. The journey was not very far, though it was difficult, for he wished to go overland through Macedonia.
Yet the Apostle Paul did not happen to spend Pentecost in Ephesus. The wide door of preaching of which he spoke, having in view the readiness of many to receive Christianity, opened before him earlier.
Many opponents of Christianity found an instrument in the silversmith Demetrius. The Apostle hastened to the Corinthians, spent the winter with them, and then hurried to Jerusalem with their alms (Acts 20:16).
Concerning the last words of verse 9, Saint John Chrysostom asks, “If the door is great, whence come the adversaries? There are many adversaries precisely because the faith is great, and many are ready to receive the faith.
The evil demon never rages so fiercely as when he sees many of his vessels being plundered. Therefore, when we wish to accomplish something great and excellent, let us look not at the many labors it presents, but at its profit.”
“I will come.” “He said the same earlier, but then with anger, adding, ‘and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power’ (1 Cor 4:19).
But now he speaks more kindly, so that they might desire his arrival” (Saint Chrysostom).
“I am passing through Macedonia.” He does not mean that he is already on the road, for he was writing in Ephesus. Here he also says, “I will remain in Ephesus” (verse 8).
Rather, he means that he had determined to go this way and had already made arrangements for it. He had sent Saint Timothy ahead, who was also to reach Corinth (Acts 19:21 ff.).
Thus he says: when I pass through Macedonia and visit the churches there, then I will come to you. He thereby lets them calculate for themselves when his arrival would take place.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 10 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS