1. _Corinth--the City:_ "Corinth was the great center of commercial traffic on the overland route from Rome to the East; and also between Upper and Lower Greece. Possessing the only good harbor in that quarter, and being the shortest and safest route, small vessels were dragged across the isthmus, larger ones transhipped their cargoes, and hence all the trade of the Mediterranean flowed through it, so that 'a perpetual fair was held there from year's end to year's end;' to which were added the great annual gatherings of Greeks at the 'Isthmian Games' (to which Paul alludes, I Cor. ix: 24-27). Hence it was proverbial for wealth, luxury, and profligacy. Its population, and that of Achaia, was mainly foreign, formed of colonists from Caesar's army, and of manumitted slaves, settlers from Asia Minor, returned exiles from the islands, and at this time a large influx of Jews lately expelled from Rome. (Acts xviii: 2.)" (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 27.) 2. _Character of Paul's Disciples at Corinth:_ "Paul's disciples were mostly of the lower order, partly Jews, but mainly Roman freedmen and heathen Greeks, who became enthusiastic admirers of the Apostle. Here he wrote the latter or both of his two epistles to the Thessalonians, and one to the Romans; immediately after which he returned to Ephesus, and was succeeded in his mission by Apollos, who also made many converts. The latter was imperfectly instructed in Christianity, but was well versed in the Jewish Scriptures, and very eloquent." (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 27.) 3. _Cause of Writing the First Epistle to the Corinthians:_ "There arose two factions, in Corinth, a Jewish, clinging to a Pharisaic attachment to the law; a Gentile, prone to push evangelical freedom to license; while keeping the right faith, claiming to indulge in even heathen licentiousness. They joined freely in heathen sacrificial feasts; degraded the Holy Communion into a festive banquet; women threw off the usual eastern veil of modest attire; and the Greek love of intellectual speculation and discussion ran riot on sacred subjects, till appeals on Christian disputes were brought before heathen tribunals and morality was scandalized by even incestuous intercourse. Under such corruption, during three years, factions attained a formidable height. Paul was defamed by the Jewish party, and rumors of alarming disputes reached him, followed by a letter full of inquiries on matters of morality and doctrine, brought by a deputation of freedom. Under such circumstances the first epistle was written." (Oxford Bible Helps, p. 27.)