1 Corinthians 5

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 . THE INCESTUOUS PERSON AT CORINTH: THE CORINTHIANS REPROVED FOR CONNIVANCE, AND WARNED TO PURGE OUT THE BAD LEAVEN. QUALIFICATION OF HIS FORMER COMMAND AS TO ASSOCIATION WITH SINNERS OF THE WORLD.

1. commonly--rather, "actually" [ALFORD]. Absolutely [BENGEL]. "It is reported," implies, that the Corinthians, though they "wrote" ( 1 Corinthians 7:1 ) to Paul on other points, gave him no information on those things which bore against themselves. These latter matters reached the apostle indirectly ( 1 Corinthians 1:11 ).
so much as named--The oldest manuscripts and authorities omit "named": "Fornication of such a gross kind as (exists) not even among the heathen, so that one (of you) hath (in concubinage) his father's wife," that is, his stepmother, while his father is still alive ( 2 Corinthians 7:12 ; compare Leviticus 18:8 ). She was perhaps a heathen, for which reason he does not direct his rebuke against her (compare 1 Corinthians 5:12 1 Corinthians 5:13 ). ALFORD thinks "have" means have in marriage: but the connection is called "fornication," and neither Christian nor Gentile law would have sanctioned such a marriage, however Corinth's notorious profligacy might wink at the concubinage.

2. puffed up--with your own wisdom and knowledge, and the eloquence of your favorite teachers: at a time when ye ought to be "mourning" at the scandal caused to religion by the incest. Paul mourned because they did not mourn ( 2 Corinthians 2:4 ). We ought to mourn over the transgressions of others, and repent of our own ( 2 Corinthians 12:21 ) [BENGEL].
that--ye have not felt such mourning as would lead to the result that, &c.
taken away from among you--by excommunication. The incestuous person was hereby brought to bitter repentance, in the interval between the sending of the first and second Epistles ( 2 Corinthians 2:5-10 ). Excommunication in the Christian Church corresponded to that in the Jewish synagogue, in there being a lighter and heavier form: the latter an utter separation from church fellowship and the Lord's house, the former exclusion from the Lord's Supper only but not from the Church.

3. as absent--The best manuscripts read, "being absent."
present in spirit--( 2 Kings 5:26 , Colossians 2:5 ).
so done--rather, "perpetrated," as the Greek word here is stronger than that for "done" in 1 Corinthians 5:2 . "So," that is, so scandalously while called a brother.

4. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ--By His authority and as representing His person and will ( 2 Corinthians 2:10 ). Join this with "to deliver such a one unto Satan" ( 1 Corinthians 5:5 ). The clause, "When ye have been gathered together and my spirit (wherein I am 'present,' though 'absent in body,' 1 Corinthians 5:3 ), with the power of our Lord Jesus," stands in a parenthesis between. Paul speaking of himself uses the word "spirit"; of Christ, "power." Christ's power was promised to be present with HIS Church "gathered together in His name" ( Matthew 18:18-20 ): and here Paul by inspiration gives a special promise of his apostolic spirit, which in such cases was guided by the Holy Spirit, ratifying their decree passed according to his judgment ("I have judged," 1 Corinthians 5:3 ), as though he were present in person ( John 20:21-23 2 Corinthians 13:3-10 ). This power of infallible judgment was limited to the apostles; for they alone had the power of working miracles as their credentials to attest their infallibility. Their successors, to establish their claim to the latter, must produce the former ( 2 Corinthians 12:2 ). Even the apostles in ordinary cases, and where not specially and consciously inspired, were fallible ( Acts 8:13 Acts 8:23 Galatians 2:11-14 ).