Charles Hodge was known more as a systematic theologian than as an expositor of Scripture. Nevertheless, his whole life was devoted primarily to the critical and systematic study of the Bible, and his entire theological method and system were eminently biblical. In 1820 Hodge became a teacher of the original languages of Scripture at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he was appointed professor of oriental and biblical literature in 1822. He spent two years in Germany, from 1826 to 1828, with Tholuck, Hengstenberg, and Gesenius, pursuing exclusively biblical studies. For twenty years his time was wholly occupied with the study of the languages, literature, historical genesis, criticism, and interpretation of the Bible, especially the New Testament. He continued to lecture at Princeton on the Pauline Epistles to successive classes for fifty-six years — from 1822 until his death in 1878. Highly respected throughout his career, Hodge wrote several authoritative and widely used books, including a commentary on Romans (1835) and his monumental three-volume theological summation, Systematic Theology (1871–73) — one of the most important works ever written in America.

Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, written in 1857, has remained a standard resource for teachers, pastors, and educated laypersons. Hodge's introductory material, chapter summaries, and verse-by-verse exposition provide — even after more than one hundred years — solid, relevant instruction for today's students of the Bible.