1 Corinthians 4:9 - Exposition

For . This word shows how different was the reality. Hath set forth; displayed as on a stage ( 2 Thessalonians 2:4 ). Us the apostles. St. Paul identifies them with himself; but undoubtedly he had "laboured more abundantly than they all." Last . Servants of all; in the lowest circumstances of humiliation. The apostles. Not the twelve only, but those who might be called apostles in a wider sense, who shared the same afflictions ( Hebrews 10:33 ). As it were appointed to death. This daily doom is referred to by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:30 , 1 Corinthians 15:31 ; 2 Corinthians 4:11 ; Romans 8:36 . Tertullian renders the word "veluti bestiaries," like criminals condemned to the wild beasts ('De Pudicit.,' 14). But the day had not yet come when Christians were to hear so often the terrible cry, "Christianos ad leones!" A spectacle; literally, a theatre. The same metaphor is used in Hebrews 10:33 . To angels . The word, when used without an epithet, always means good angels, who are here supposed to look down in sympathy (comp. Hebrews 12:22 ).