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I therefore so run, not as uncertainly - In the foot-course in those games, how many soever ran, only one could have the prize, however strenuously they might exert themselves; therefore, all ran uncertainly; but it was widely different in the Christian course, if every one ran as he ought, each would receive the prize.

The word αδηλως, which we translate uncertainly, has other meanings.

1. It signifies ignorantly; I do not run like one ignorant of what he is about, or of the laws of the course; I know that there is an eternal life; I know the way that leads to it; and I know and feel the power of it.

Kypke observes, that there are three ways in which persons were said, αερα δερειν, to beat the air.

1. When in practising for the combat they threw their arms and legs about in different ways, thus practising the attitudes of offense and defense. This was termed σκιαμαχια, fighting with a shadow. To this Virgil alludes when representing Dares swinging his arms about, when he rose to challenge a competitor in the boxing match: -

Ostenditque humeros latos, alternaque jactat

Brachia protendens, et verberat ictibus auras.

Aen. v., ver. 375.

Thus, glorying in his strength, in open view

His arms around the towering Dares threw;

Stalked high, and laid his brawny shoulders bare,

And dealt his whistling blows in empty air.

Pitt.

Brachiaque ad superas interritus extulit auras.

Abduxere retro longe capita ardua ab ictu;

Immiscentque manus manibus, pugnamque lacessunt.

Ille (Dares) pedum melior motu, fretusque juventa;

Hic (Entellus) membris et mole valens; sed tarda trementi

Genua labant, vastos quatit aeger anhelitus artus.

Multa viri nequicquam inter se vulnera jactant,

Multa cavo lateri ingeminant, et pectore vasto

Dant sonitus; erratque aures et tempora circum

Crebra manus; duro crepitant sub vulnere malae,

Stat gravis Entellus, nisuque immotus eodem,

Corpore tela modo atque oculis vigilantibus exit.

Ille, velut celsam oppugnat qui molibus urbem,

Aut montana sedet circum castella sob armis;

Nunc hos, nunc illos aditus, omnemque pererrat

Arte locum, et variis assultibus irritus urget.

Ostendit dextram insurgens Entellus, et alte

Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox

Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.

Entellus Vires In Ventum Effudit; et ultro

Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto

Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho,

Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus. -

Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes;

It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes,

Aequaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.

At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros,

Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira:

Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus;

Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto;

Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra

Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi

Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros

Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.

Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent;

Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent;

Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar,

With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war.

One (Dares) on his youth and pliant limbs relies;

One (Entellus) on his sinews, and his giant size.

The last is stiff with age, his motions slow;

He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro. -

Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike;

Their ways are different, but their art alike.

Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around

Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound;

A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies,

And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes:

Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws

A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws.

Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground;

But with his warping body wards the wound;

His head and watchful eye keep even pace,

While Dares traverses and shifts his place;

And, like a captain who beleaguers round

Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground,

Views all the approaches with observing eyes;

This, and that other part, in vain he tries,

And more on industry than force relies.

With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe;

But Dares watched the motion from below,

And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow.

Entellus wastes his forces on the wind;

And thus deluded of the stroke designed,

Headlong and heavy fell: his ample breast,

And weighty limbs, his ancient mother pressed.

So falls a hollow pine, that long had stood

On Ida's height or Erymanthus' wood. -

Dauntless he rose, and to the fight returned;

With shame his cheeks, his eyes with fury burned:

Disdain and conscious virtue fired his breast,

And, with redoubled force, his foe he pressed;

He lays on loads with either hand amain,

And headlong drives the Trojan o'er the plain,

Nor stops, nor stays; nor rest, nor breath allows;

But storms of strokes descend about his brows;

A rattling tempest, and a hail of blows.

Dryden.

To such a combat as this the apostle most manifestly alludes: and in the above description the reader will see the full force and meaning of the words, So fight I, not as one that beateth the air - I have a real and a deadly foe; and as I fight not only for my honor but for my life, I aim every blow well, and do execution with each.

No man, who had not seen such a fight, could have given such a description as that above; and we may fairly presume that when Virgil was in Greece he saw such a contest at the Isthmian games, and therefore was enabled to paint from nature.

Homer has the same image of missing the foe and beating the air, when describing Achilles attempting to kill Hector, who, by his agility and skill, (Poetice by Apollo), eluded the blow: -

Τρις μεν επιτ 'επορουσε ποδαρκης διος Αχιλλευςπ

Εγχεΐ χαλκειῳ, τρις δ 'ηερα τυψε βαθειαν .

Iliad, lib. xx., ver. 445

Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart,

Thrice, in impressive air, he plunged the dart. -

Pope.

I therefore so run - In the Christian race; in my effort to obtain the prize, the crown of immortality. I exert myself to the utmost, that I may not fail of securing the crown.

Not as uncertainly - ( οὐκ ἀδήλως ouk adēlōs). This word occurs no where else in the New Testament. It usually means, in the Classic writers, “obscurely.” Here it means that he did not run as not knowing to what object he aimed. “I do not run haphazardly; I do not exert myself for nothing; I know at what I aim, and I keep my eye fixed on the object; I have the goal and the crown in view.” Probably also the apostle intended to convey this idea, “I so live and act that I am “sure” of obtaining the crown. I make it a great and grand point of my life so to live that there may be no room for doubt or hesitancy about this rustler. I believe it may be obtained; and that by a proper course there may he a constant certainty of securing it; and I so live.” O how happy and blessed would it be if all Christians thus lived! How much doubt, and hesitancy, and despondency would it remove from many a Christian‘s mind! And yet it is morally certain that if ever Christian were to be only as anxious and careful as were the ancient Grecian wrestlers and racers in the games, they would have the undoubted assurance of gaining the prize. Doddridge and Macknight, however, render this “as not out of view;” or as not distinguished; meaning that the apostle was not “unseen,” but that he regarded himself as constantly in the view of the judge, the Lord Jesus Christ. I prefer the other interpretation, however, as best according with the connection and with the proper meaning of the word.

So fight I - οὗτω πυκτεύω houtō pukteuōThis word is applied to the “boxers,” or the pugilists, in the Grecian games. The exercise of boxing, or “fighting” with the fist, was a part of the entertainment with which the “enlightened” nations of Greece delighted to amuse themselves.

Not as one that beateth the air - The “phrase” here is taken from the habits of the pugilists or boxers, who were accustomed, before entering the lists, to exercise their limbs with the gauntlet, in order to acquire greater skill and dexterity. There was also, before the real contest commenced, a play with their fists and weapons, by way of show or bravado, which was called σκιᾷμαχία skiamachiaa mock-battle, or a fighting the air. The phrase also is applicable to a “missing the aim,” when a blow was struck in a real struggle, and when the adversary would elude the blow, so that it would be spent in the empty air. This last the idea which Paul means to present. He did not miss his aim; he did not exert himself and spend his strength for nothing. Every blow that he struck told; and he did not waste his energies on that which would produce no result. He did not strive with rash, ill-advised, or uncertain blows; but all his efforts were directed, with good account, to the grand purpose or subjugating his enemy - sin - and the corrupt desires of the flesh - and bringing everything into captivity to God Much may be learned from this.

Many an effort of Christians is merely beating the air. The energy is expended for nothing. There is a lack of wisdom, or skill, or perseverance; there is a failure of plan; or there is a mistake in regard to what is to be done, and what should be done. There is often among Christians very little “aim” or object; there is no “plan;” and the efforts are wasted, scattered, inefficient efforts; so that, at the close of life, many a man may say that he has spent his ministry or his Christian course mainly, or entirely, “in beating the air.” Besides, many set up a man of straw and fight that. They fancy error and heresy in others and oppose that. They become a “heresy-hunters;” or they oppose some irregularity in religion that, if left alone, would die of itself; or they fix all their attention upon some minor evil, and they devote their lives to the destruction of that alone. When death comes, they may have never struck a blow at one of the real and dangerous enemies of the gospel; and the simple record on the tombstone of many ministers and many private Christians might he, “Here lies one who spent his life in beating the air.”

This chapter is based on the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

In the hope of impressing vividly upon the minds of the Corinthian believers the importance of firm self-control, strict temperance, and unflagging zeal in the service of Christ, Paul in his letter to them made a striking comparison between the Christian warfare and the celebrated foot races held at stated intervals near Corinth. Of all the games instituted among the Greeks and the Romans, the foot races were the most ancient and the most highly esteemed. They were witnessed by kings, nobles, and statesmen. Young men of rank and wealth took part in them and shrank from no effort or discipline necessary to obtain the prize. AA 309.1

31. Had the Israelites obeyed the instruction they received, and profited by their advantages, they would have been the world's object lesson of health and prosperity. If as a people they had lived according to God's plan, they would have been preserved from the diseases that afflicted other nations. Above any other people they would have possessed physical strength and vigor of intellect.—The Ministry of Healing, 283, 1905 CD 27.1

[See also 641-644]