1 CORINTHIANS 4:14 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
“I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.”
I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you as my dear children — Paul's tone shifts: not vindictive but parental. 'Shame' (entrepō, to turn someone face-down in disgrace) is not his goal; 'warn' (nouthetēō, to put in mind) is. The address 'dear children' (tekna mou) reveals Paul's tender concern beneath the sharp rebuke. He corrects because he loves, not because he despises.
Church Fathers on 1 Corinthians 4:14
Then since he saw that the blow could not well be borne, he speedily heals it; saying, “I write not these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.” “For not as abashing you,” says he, “do I speak these things.” The very thing which by his words he had done, this he says he had not done: rather he allows that he had done it, not however with an evil and spiteful mind. Why, this mode of soothing is the very best, if we should say what we have to say and…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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