1 Corinthians 4:16

Wherefore, I beseech you,.... Though he might have used the power and authority of a father, yet he chose rather to entreat and beseech them; saying,

be ye followers of me; for who should children…

Wherefore - Since I am your spiritual father. Be ye followers of me - Imitate me; copy my example; listen to my admonitions. Probably Paul had particularly in his eye their tendency to form parties;…

Wherefore, I beseech you, be ye followers of me - It should rather be translated, Be ye imitators of me; μιμηται, from which we have our word mimic, which, though now used only in a bad or ludicrous…

Here Paul challenges their regard to him as their father. He tells them, 1. That what he had written was not for their reproach, but admonition; not with the gall of an enemy, but the bowels of a…

be ye followers of me Literally, imitators. Vulgate, imitatores. St Paul's was no spurious humility, such as has too often taken the place of real gospel humility in the Christian Church. He could…