1 Corinthians 16:17

17. Fortunatus ... Achaicus--probably of Stephanas' household. that ... lacking on your part--So far as you were unable yourselves to "refresh my spirit," in that you are absent from me, "they have supplied" by coming to me from you, and so supplying the means of intercourse between you and me. They seem to have carried this letter back; see the subscription below: hence the exhortations, 1Co 16:16, 18, as though they would be at Corinth when the Epistle arrived.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Verse 17. I am glad of the coming. That is, I am glad that they have come to me at Ephesus. I rejoice that he who was converted by my ministry in Achaia, and who has so long shown himself to be a personal friend to me, and an aid in my work, came where I am.

Stephanas. The same person evidently mentioned in the previous verses. Probably he, as one of the oldest and most respected members of the church, had been selected to carry the letter of the Corinthians 1Cor 7:1 to Paul, and to consult with him respecting the affairs of the church there.

Fortunatus and Achaicus. These persons are not referred to anywhere else in the New Testament. It appears that Fortunatus survived Paul, for he was subsequently the messenger of the church at Corinth to that at Rome, and bore back to the Corinthians the epistle which Clement of Rome sent to them. See that epistle, & 59.

For that which was lacking, etc. The word which is here used, and rendered" that which was lacking," (υστερημα,) does not occur in the classic writers. It means, properly, that which is wanting, want, lack. --Robinson. It may be used to denote a want or lack of any kind, whether of support, sustenance, aid, consolation, information, or counsel. See Lk 21:4, Php 2:30, 1Thes 3:10. What this was which the Corinthians had neglected or failed to furnish Paul, and which had been supplied by the presence of these persons, can be only a matter of conjecture; and different commentators have supposed different things. It might be a neglect to provide for his wants, or a defect of informing him about their affairs in the letter which they had sent him; or it might be that these persons had furnished, by their presence and conversation, those consolations and friendly offices which the church at Corinth would have rendered had they been all present; and Paul may mean to say, that he had enjoyed with them that friendly intercourse and Christian communion which he had desired with them, but which was lacking; i.e., which he had not been permitted to enjoy by reason of his absence. This is the view which is given by Rosenmuller, Doddridge, and Bloomfield; and as Paul does not seem here inclined to blame them, this view is most in accordance with the general strain of the passage.

(h) "lacking" Php 2:30 (++) "lacking" "wanting"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Verse 17 I am glad of the coming of Stephanas, etc. - It was by these that the Corinthians had sent that letter to the apostle, to answer which was a main part of the design of St. Paul in this epistle. Fortunatus - This man is supposed to have survived St. Paul; and to be the same mentioned by Clement in his epistle to the Corinthians, sec. 59, as the bearer of that epistle from Clement at Rome to the Christians at Corinth. For that which was lacking on your part - This may either refer to additional communications besides those contained in the letter which the Corinthians sent to the apostle - which additional circumstances were furnished by the persons above; and from them St. Paul had a fuller account of their spiritual state than was contained in the letter - or to some contributions on their part for the support of the apostle in his peregrinations and labors.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain