to be grateful · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
God
θεῷtheō
G2316
figuratively · noun — dative singular masculine, a title
that
ὅτιhoti
G3754
demonstrative · conjunction
baptized
ἐβάπτισαebaptisa
G907
to immerse · verb — aorist active indicative, 1st person singular
none
οὐδέναoudena
G3762
not even one (man · adjective — accusative singular masculine
you
ὑμῶνhymōn
G5216
of (from or concerning) you
but
εἰei
G1487
if · conditional particle
Crispus
ΚρίσπονKrispon
G2921
"crisp" · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
Gaius
Γάϊον,Gaion
G1050
Gaius (i.e. Caius) · noun — accusative singular masculine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 18:8 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and we…
Romans 16:23 Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.
1 Corinthians 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
Ephesians 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Colossians 3:17 And what soever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:14-16
Here the apostle gives an account of his ministry among them. He thanks God he had baptized but a few among them, Crispus, who had been a ruler of a synagogue at Corinth (Act 18:8), Gaius, and the household of Stephanas, besides whom, he says, he did not remember that he had baptized any. But how was this a proper matter for thankfulness? Was it not a part of the apostolical commission to baptize all nations? And could Paul give thanks to God for his own neglect of duty? He is not to be understood in such a sense as if he were thankful for not having baptized at all, but for not having done it in present circumstances, lest it should have had this very bad construction put upon it - that he…
I thank God's providence now, who so ordered it that I baptized none of you but Crispus (the former ruler of the synagogue, Act 18:8) and Gaius (written by the Romans Caius, the host of Paul at Corinth, and of the church, Rom 16:23; a person therefore in good circumstances). Baptizing was the office of the deacons (Act 10:48) rather than of the apostles, whose office was that of establishing and superintending generally the churches. The deacons had a better opportunity of giving the necessary course of instruction preparatory to baptism. Crispus and Gaius were probably among the first converts, and hence were baptized by Paul himself, who founded the church.
Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:14
I thank God that I baptized none of you - None of those who now live in Corinth, except Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, Act 18:8. And Gaius, the same person probably with whom Paul lodged, Rom 16:23 (note). Dr. Lightfoot observes: "If this be Gaius, or Caius, to whom the third epistle of John was written, which is very probable when the first verse of that epistle (Jo3 1:1) is compared with Rom 16:23, then it will appear probable that John wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians. I wrote, says he, unto the Church - What Church? Certainly it must have been some particular Church which the apostle has in view, and the Church where Gaius himself resided. And if this be true, we may look…
These Corinthians were like the Novatianists and the Donatists of today, who claim baptism for themselves and do not recognize anybody else's. Those who are so baptized glory in the names of Novatian and Donatus, having been deprived of the name of Christ. Crispus and Gaius are called as witnesses, because although they were baptized by Paul, they never suggested that he should be given any glory because of it.
But they roll back an objection from that apostle himself, in that he said, "For Christ sent me not to baptize; " , as if by this argument baptism were done away! For if so, why did he baptize Gaius, and Crispus, and the house of Stephanas? However, even if Christ had not sent him to baptize, yet He had given other apostles the precept to baptize. But these words were written to the Corinthians in regard of the circumstances of that particular time; seeing that schisms and dissensions were agitated among them, while one attributes everything to Paul, another to Apollos. For which reason the "peace-making" apostle, for fear he should seem to claim all gifts for himself, says that he had been sent "not to baptize, but to preach." For preaching is the prior thing, baptizing the posterior. Therefore the preaching came first: but I think baptizing withal was lawful to him to whom preaching was.
For I offer you withal, for your investigation, this very question: Whether there were in the first Epistle others, too, who "wholly saddened" the apostle by "acting disorderly," and "were wholly saddened" by him, through incurring (his) "rebuke," according to the sense of the second Epistle; of whom some particular one may in that (second Epistle) have received pardon. Direct we, moreover, our attention to the entire first Epistle, written (that I may so say) as a whole, not with ink, but with gall; swelling, indignant, disdainful, comminatory, invidious, and shaped through (a series of) individual charges, with an eye to certain individuals who were, as it were, the proprietors of those charges? For so had schisms, and emulations, and discussions, and presumptions, and elations, and contentions required, that they should be laden with invidiousness, and rebuffed with curt reproof, and filed down by haughtiness, and deterred by austerity. And what kind of invidiousness is the pungency of humility? "To God I give thanks that I have baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius, lest any say that I have baptized in mine own name."
Dictionary and topics
Corinthians, First Epistle to the — Was written from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8) about the time of the Passover in the third year of the apostle’s sojourn there (Acts 19:10; 20:31), and when he had formed the purpose to visit Macedonia, and…
Crispus — Curled, the chief of the synagogue at Corinth (Acts 18:8). He was converted and, with his family, baptized by Paul (1 Cor. 1:14).
Gaius — (1.) A Macedonian, Paul’s fellow-traveller, and his host at Corinth when he wrote his Epistle to the Romans (16:23). He with his household were baptized by Paul (1 Cor. 1:14). During a heathen…
Revelation of Christ — The second advent of Christ. Three different Greek words are used by the apostles to express this, (1) apokalupsis (1 Cor. 1;7; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13); (2) parousia (Matt. 24:3, 27; 1 Thess.…
Romans, Epistle to the — This epistle was probably written at Corinth. Phoebe (Rom. 16:1) of Cenchrea conveyed it to Rome, and Gaius of Corinth entertained the apostle at the time of his writing it (16:23; 1 Cor. 1:14), and…
Gaius · 3. A Corinthian, whom Paul baptized — 3. A Corinthian, whom Paul baptized
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:14
I thank God that I baptized none of you,.... The Alexandrian copy and the Syriac version read, "I thank my God"; not that the apostle disliked the ordinance of baptism, or the administration of it; and much less that he thought it criminal, or an evil in him to perform it; nor was he at any time displeased at the numbers of persons who desired it of him; but on the contrary rejoiced where proper subjects of it were brought to a submission to it; but inasmuch as some persons in the church at Corinth made such an ill use of his having baptized them, he was greatly thankful that it was so ordered in providence, that the far greater part of them were baptized by other ministers, either by those…
1 Corinthians 1:14-20
14. I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
14. Gratias ago Deo meo, quod neminem baptizaverim vestrum, nisi Crispurn et Gaium:
15. Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
15. Ne quis dieat, quod in meum nomen baptizaverim.
16. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
16. Baptizavi autem et Stephanae familiam; praeteterea nescio, num quem alium baptizaverim.
17. For Christ sent me not, to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
17. Non enim misit me Christus ut baptizarem, sed ut evangeliz…
Crispus and Gaius were two of Paul’s earliest converts in Corinth. Crispus was a former leader of the synagogue in Corinth (see Acts 18:8), and Gaius later offered Paul the use of his home (see Rom 16:23). This might identify him with Titius Justus, an earlier convert to Judaism who lived next door to the synagogue (see Acts 18:7). His full Roman name would then be Gaius Titius Justus.
