Ver. 6.—And these things,
brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself, &c. “Above that
which is written” may refer (1.) to ch. 1:2, 3; or (2.) with S. Chrysostom it
may mean “contrary to that which is written” in Holy Scripture against pride.
It is foolish, therefore, for the Protestants to abuse this passage into an argument
against tradition. S. Paul evidently means that what he had said against their
idle boasting of the gifts of their teachers, and about not caring for the
applause and opinion of men, but only for God’s, had been said of them in the
person of himself and Apollos. He had been speaking of others in his own name,
so as to avoid offending any of the Corinthian teachers, or their disciples, by
mentioning their names. That ye might
learn in us, therefore, is the expression of his desire, that when he
speaks of himself or Apollos, they may apply what he said to the other
teachers, who had been the occasion of the schism, of which he and Apollos were
guiltless. He urges the Corinthians by his own example of moderation and
conciliatory disposition not to be puffed up, or boast of one against another, viz., for this or that catechist or teacher,
by saying, “I was baptized by Paul; I was converted by Apollos.” It is, too, an
exhortation to the teachers not to be proud and puffed up because they might be
wiser or more eloquent than other teachers, or boast of their disciples as
being better instructed than those of other teachers, above that which he had
just now written. Do not boast of your own teaching, nor give occasion of
boasting to your disciples, is the gist of this verse. (Cornelius
à Lapide, The Great Commentary of
Cornelius À Lapide, 8 vols.
[trans. W. F. Cobb; Edinburgh: John Grant, 1908], 7:76-77)
