Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 4:12

"and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;" — 1 Corinthians 4:12 (ASV)

And labour. This Paul often did. See Barnes on Acts 18:3.

Compare Acts 20:34; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8.

Being reviled. That they were often reviled or reproached, their history everywhere shows. See the Acts of the Apostles. They were reviled or ridiculed by the Gentiles as Jews; and by all as Nazarenes, and as deluded followers of Jesus; as the victims of a foolish superstition and enthusiasm.

We bless. We return good for evil. In this, they followed the explicit direction of the Savior. See Barnes on Matthew 5:44.

The main idea in these passages is that they were reviled, persecuted, and so on. The other clauses, such as "we bless" and "we suffer it," seem to be thrown in by the way to show how they bore this ill-treatment.

It is as if he had said, "We are reviled; and what is more, we bear it patiently and return good for evil."

At the same time that he was recounting his trials, he was, therefore, incidentally instructing them in the nature of the gospel, showing how their sufferings were to be borne and how to illustrate the excellence of Christian doctrine.

Being persecuted. See Barnes on Matthew 5:11.

We suffer it. We sustain it; we do not revenge it; we abstain from resenting or resisting it.