For I think that God has displayed us apostles last in line, as men doomed to die. [Note: The picture here is that of gladiators in the arena]. We are being stared at [i.e., as performers on a theater stage] for the whole world to see, both angels and people.

Know ye not that those who run in an arena, indeed all run, but one receives the prize? So run that ye may seize it.

If with only human hopes I had fought in the arena at Ephesus, what should I have gained by it? If the dead do not rise, then-'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die'!

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a large crowd of spectators [Note: Christians are pictured here as being in a crowded arena, performing in the games], we should lay aside every [excessive] weight and sin that so easily entangle us, and with perseverance, we should run the race [of life] that lies before us.