1 Corinthians 16:5

5 I shall come to you after I have gone through Macedonia - for I have to go through Macedonia. 1

1 Corinthians 16:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 16:5

Now I will come unto you
Which he again assures them of, as being his real intention and design; though some had given out that he would not come to them any more, and hoped they should never see him any more; see ( 1 Corinthians 4:18 1 Corinthians 4:19 ) .

When I shall pass through Macedonia;
hereby fixing the time when he intended to visit them after he had gone through that country, and had received their collections for the saints at Jerusalem, which the churches there so generously made, and pressed him to the ministering of, of which he speaks in his next epistle.

For I do pass through Macedonia;
not that he was then passing through Macedonia, or was in it, and so at Philippi, from whence this epistle is said to be written, as the subscription at the end of it expresses, for he was now at Ephesus; see ( 1 Corinthians 16:8 ) and from thence was this epistle written; he was not in Macedonia till some time after, see ( 2 Corinthians 2:12 2 Corinthians 2:13 ) but the sense is, that he should take his tour through Macedonia; and so the Vulgate Latin version renders it, "for I shall pass through Macedonia"; and so coming into Greece, he intended to come to Corinth, and stay some time with them.

1 Corinthians 16:5 In-Context

3 After I come, I shall give letters of introduction to those you have approved, and send them to take your gift to Jerusalem.
4 If it seems worthwhile for me to go, then they can go along with me.
5 I shall come to you after I have gone through Macedonia - for I have to go through Macedonia.
6 I shall probably spend some time with you, perhaps the whole winter, and then you can help me to continue my trip, wherever it is I shall go next.
7 I want to see you more than just briefly in passing; I hope to spend quite a long time with you, if the Lord allows.

Cross References 1

  • 1. 16.5Acts 19.21.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.