1 Corinthians 5:3

3 And I absent in body [Soothly I absent in body], but present in spirit, now have deemed as present him that hath thus wrought,

1 Corinthians 5:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 5:3

For I verily, as absent in body
As he really was, being now at Philippi, if any dependence is to be had upon the subscription of this epistle; or rather at Ephesus; however, wherever he was, it is certain he was not at Corinth:

but present in spirit;
in his affection to them, care of them, and concern for their good, and the glory of God:

have judged already;
he had considered of the matter, thought very deliberately about it, and was now come to a point, to a determination concerning it, what to do in it:

as though I were present;
upon the spot, in person, to do what he had resolved upon:

to him that hath so done this deed;
this infamous one, and in so scandalous a manner, and which was continued in: what that was which the apostle, upon mature deliberation and judgment, determined to do with this wicked man, is expressed in ( 1 Corinthians 5:5 ) which is to be connected with this, the whole fourth verse being to be read in a parenthesis, and that was to deliver him to Satan.

1 Corinthians 5:3 In-Context

1 Yet all manner of fornication is heard among you, and such fornication, which is not among heathen men, so that some man have the wife of his father [so that one man have the wife of his father].
2 And ye be swollen with pride [And ye be blown with pride], and not more had wailing, that he that did this work, be taken away from the middle of you.
3 And I absent in body [Soothly I absent in body], but present in spirit, now have deemed as present him that hath thus wrought,
4 when ye be gathered together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and my spirit, with the virtue of the Lord Jesus,
5 to betake such a man to Satan, into the perishing of flesh, that the spirit be safe in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.