“Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.”
My Notes
What Does 1 Corinthians 4:13 Mean?
"Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day." Paul describes the apostolic experience in the LOWEST possible terms: when DEFAMED (blasphemed, slandered), the apostles ENTREAT (plead gently, respond with kindness). And their social status? The FILTH of the world. The OFFSCOURING of all things. The words chosen are deliberately DEGRADING — the apostles are the world's garbage, the scrapings from the bottom, the waste that nobody wants.
The phrase "the filth of the world" (hōs perikatharmata tou kosmou — as the scourings/refuse of the world) uses a word from RELIGIOUS CLEANSING rituals: perikatharma was the refuse produced by purification — the DIRT cleaned off, the impurity removed, the waste scraped away so the valuable could be clean. The apostles are the DIRT that was removed to purify the world. The world's cleansing produces the apostles as waste product.
The "offscouring of all things" (pantōn peripsēma — the scrapings/rubbings of all things) is even LOWER: peripsēma is what you scrape off — the residue, the bottom-of-the-pot scrapings, the last material removed by friction. The apostles aren't just waste. They're the RESIDUE — the final, lowest, most thoroughly rejected material in the entire system. The 'of all things' (pantōn) makes it UNIVERSAL: the scrapings of EVERYTHING.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you willing to be treated as filth and respond with gentleness?
- 2.What does responding to defamation with ENTREATING (not defense) describe about apostolic character?
- 3.How does being the 'purification waste' — the dirt removed so others are clean — describe the apostolic role?
- 4.What does 'unto this day' (ongoing, sustained) teach about the permanence of the world's treatment?
Devotional
Defamed — we respond with gentleness. Made the FILTH of the world. The SCRAPINGS of all things. UNTO THIS DAY. The apostolic experience isn't glory and acclaim. It's being treated as garbage — the world's refuse, the universal scrapings, the waste product of purification. And the response to defamation? Not retaliation. Entreating.
The 'being defamed, we intreat' is the RESPONSE that defines apostolic character: when slandered, the apostles PLEAD GENTLY (parakaloumen — we comfort, we appeal, we entreat). The response to defamation isn't counter-attack. It's KINDNESS. The response to slander isn't defense. It's APPEAL. The defamation goes IN. The entreating goes OUT. The intake is poison. The output is medicine.
The 'filth of the world' uses PURIFICATION-WASTE language: the perikatharma is the dirt CLEANED OFF during ritual purification. The apostles are the IMPURITY that was removed so the world could be clean. The imagery is devastating: the world treats the apostles as the CONTAMINATION that needed removing. The purification of the world (in the world's assessment) requires the REMOVAL of the apostles. They are what gets scraped away.
The 'offscouring of all things unto this day' adds DURATION to degradation: the treatment isn't temporary. It's UNTO THIS DAY — ongoing, sustained, continuing into the present moment. The scrapings-status isn't a phase. It's the permanent apostolic experience. The garbage-treatment doesn't end. The filth-classification persists. The offscouring identity is current.
Are you willing to be the filth and the offscouring — and respond with entreating instead of retaliation?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Being defamed, we entreat,.... Being blasphemed, as the word signifies, being evil spoken of, our good name taken away,…
Being defamed - Greek, Blasphemed, that is, spoken of and to, in a harsh, abusive, and reproachful manner. The original…
Being defamed - Βλασφημουμενοι, Being blasphemed. I have already remarked that βλασφημειν signifies to speak…
Here the apostle improves the foregoing hint to a caution against pride and self-conceit, and sets forth the temptations…
we are made as the filth of the world The word here translated filthmeans (1) that which is removed by cleansingand (2)…