1 Corinthians 4:21 - Exposition

What will ye? "The whole thing lies with you" (Chrysostom). With a rod; literally, in a rod a not uncommon Greek phrase. The meaning of this expression is best seen from 2 Corinthians 10:2 ; 2 Corinthians 13:10 . In love. He would come to them "in love" in any case; but if they now rejected his appeals the love would be compelled to manifest itself in sharpness and stern deeds. In the spirit of meekness. Meyer here gives to the word "spirit" the sense of "the Holy Spirit," as in John 15:26 ; 2 Corinthians 4:13 ; but the simpler sense of the term is almost certainly the true one.