Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary 1 Corinthians 4:11

"Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place;" — 1 Corinthians 4:11 (ASV)

To set the record straight, Paul describes in detail the hardships he and his fellow Christian workers have suffered throughout their ministry. He first emphasizes the physical deprivations they were suffering: hunger, thirst, lack of clothing, rough treatment,, and homelessness. To remind the Corinthians again that he has no desire to be a physical burden to them, he injects the statement, “We work hard with our own hands.” He continues by mentioning mainly the verbal abuse he and his friends took and their response to it. They were frequently reviled, but they called on God to bless their revilers! When persecuted, they endure it; and when slandered, they answer kindly. Climaxing this moving passage, Paul states that he and his fellow workers have become like the scum of the earth.