In Con ix. 26 Paul speaks of fig,hting not as one who beateth the air • alluding to the preludial exercises, trials of individual and of comparative strength, which took place in the course of train ing. These runnings and boxings had no imme diate aim or result, and implied no real competi tor ; hence the ptopnety of the terms which the sacred writer employs. Statius (Theb. vi. 587) has given a lively picture of some of the practices by which the runners endeavoured to give suppleness and agility to their limbs : tune rite citatos Explomnt, acuuntque gradus, variasque per artes Exstimulant docto languentia membra tumultu. Poplite nunc flexo siduat, nunc lubrica forti Pectora collidunt plausu ; nunc ignea tollunt Crura, brevemque fug= necopino fine reponunt.
After the herald had called the competitors into the lists, they sometimes tried their strength and exercised their freunes by running out and back on the course. Virgil ()Dz. v. 376) represents Dares as displaying the size and flexibility of his arms prior to his combat with Eryx : Ostenditque humeros latos, altemaque jactat Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibns auras, where, in verbena ictibus auras, we have even a verbal agreement with the apostle's phraseology. (Compare ,En. v. 446). Among the proprieties of language for which the passage in r Cor. ix. is distinguished, may be placed the term which Paul employs to describe the prize. It is the specific word used in the case, namely Opaficiov : this was the customary term, the employment of which was rendered proper from the name of the officers, gpapeural, who gave the conqueror his crown. The entire passage indeed is singularly happy in its phraseology, thereby adding confirmation to the grounds on Which the authority of the epistle rests. We cannot, however, think one word well ren dered in our English version, d56xti.tos, `castaway ;' or, if this be a good rendering, the apostle has at least failed in strict verbal propriety ; for who were they in connection witb the games who were, or were termed, castaway ? Acuultao-ia was the term employed to describc the severe scrutiny which candidates for office underwent at Athens. Per sons who were found unfit were termed ci.86raduot, and as this decision was a declaration of civic and social incapacity, not to say of moral turpitude, the word came to mean dishonoured.' This, or the word rejected, seems the proper rendering in the last verse of the ninth chap. of Corinthians. The apostle's fear evidently was, lest, after having put others on this noble undertaking, he himself should be at last found unfit to engage therein ; for the allusion seems to be derived from the preparatory exercises of which he is immediately speaking, al•,.1 not from the issue of the contest ; and at the end of these preparatory exercises, a very severe examina tion had to be undergone by such as wished to ` run the race.' This interpretation may perhaps serve to set the apostle's humility in a strong light ; since he expresses his fear lest he should not be even admitted to enter the lists for ` the glorious prize.' lf, however, any one prefers referring the word to the final issue of the contest of life, then the same meaning remains, and the apostle says, that, after all his striving, he may lose the crown, proving at last unequal to the achievement of the victory.
In writing to the Christians at Corinth there was a special propriety, on the part of the apostle, in making allusions to the public games. Corinth was the place whcre one of the four Greek national games was celebrated, namely, the Isthmian. These games were so called from. being held on the isthmus which joins northern with southern Greece--a spot of land most celebrated in Grecian history, alike in martial and commercial matters.
2. Racing may be traced back to the earliest periods of Grecian antiquity, and may be regarded as the first friendly contest in which men engaged.
Accordingly the Olympic and Pythian, probably also the other games, opened with foot-races. Foot racing, perfected by systematic practice, was divided into different kinds. If you ran merely to the end of the course (0-rriaLop), it was called stadium ; if you went thither and back, you ran the double the apostle employs were chosen by him : You wish to conquer at the Olympic games ? so also do I ; for it is honourable ; but bethink yourself what this attempt implies, and then begin the undertak ing. You must subject yourself to a determinate course ; must submit to dietetic discipliN (12PCZ.7 KOTp00EFP) j must pursue the established exercises at fixed hours in heat and cold ; must abstain from dainties ; must not drink cold water or wine at pleasure ; yield yourself unreservedly to the control of the president as to a physician, then go into the struggle ; you will have to throw out your hands, twist your ancle, swallow much dust, sometimes be ilog,ged ; but so you will conquer.' course (SiauXos). The longest course was the 36Xixos, which required extraordinary speed and power of endurance. What it involved the ancients have left in no small uncertainty. It is sometimes given as seven times over the stadium ; at others, twelve times ; at others again, twenty ; and even the number of four-and-twenty times is mentioned. These lengths will give some idea of the severity of the trial, and serve to illustrate the meaning of the apostle when he speaks of running with patience the race set before him Prop.ov7), _patience, sus tainca' effort). Indeed, one Ladas, a victor at the Olympic games, in the 36XLxos or long, race, was so exhausted by his efforts that, immediately on gaining the honour and being crowned, he yielded up his breath : a fact which also serves to throw light on Scriptural language, as shewing with what intense eagerness these aspirants (60X1 xo5p6,uot, long-runners) strove for perishing chap lets 050aprOv ar4avov). In the preparatory dis cipline everything was done which could conduce to swiftness and strength. The exercises were per formed with the body naked and well oiled. Alinute directions were established in order to prevent foul play (KaKorevia, aaKoup-y/a) of any kind, so that all the competitors might start and run on terms of entire equality—illustrating the \vords of Paul on the necessity of running lawfully. The contest was generally most severe ; to reach the goal sooner by one foot was enough to decide the vic tory. How true and graphic then the descriptions given by Paul : it was, as the apostle states, ex, cralso, in the race-course, that the contests took place ; every one striving for the victory was tem perate in all things ; nay more, he kept under his body and brought it into subjection. A passage is found in the Enchiridion of Epictetus [cap. 29], which shews with what propriety the terms which It may well be supposed that the competitors employed all their ability, and displayed the greatest eagerness to gain the prize. The nearer, too, they approached to the goal, the more did they increase their efforts. Sometimes the victory de pended on a final spring ; happy he that retained power enough to leap first to the goal. The spec tators, also, used every encouragement in their power, these favouring one competitor, those another :— Verbaque dicentum, nunc, nunc incumbere tempus, Hippomene, propera. .Nunc viribus utere totis.' All these remarks go to shew how wisely Paul acted in selecting the figure, and how carefully he has preserved the imagery which belonged to it. A word employed in the Common Version, r Cor. ix. 27, Lest when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway'—namely, preached, mars the figure. The original is anpias--` acted the part of herald,' whose business it was to call the competitors to the contest and proclaim their victoiy, functions which Paul spent his life in per forming.