1 Corinthians

Luise Schottroff, Claudia Janssen, Everett Kalin

• Publisher: Kohlhammer Verlag
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9783170389069
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

1 Corinthian gives us an example how Paul interprets the Tora for Christians from the nations: He tells concretely, sensitively, close to their daily life about the hope against the death. He writes down prayers and songs from the messianic communities of his times. And he contradicts himself - especially in his dealing with women compared to his ideas about how they should be. Luise Schottroff (1934-2015) guides her readers to discover Pauls from anew, digging to his original thoughts through traditional missinterpretations, appropriation, and monopolization.The English version is based on the German 2nd edition. It was translated by Everett R. Kalin, Professor Emeritus for New Testament at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary at Berkely/CA.

Commentary

The Date of the Letter and the City of Corinth

The Date of the Letter

The chronology of Paul’s journeys and letters is based on estimates. They have a relatively reliable basis through Acts 18:11–12. There it is said that 18 months after the beginning of Paul’s time in Corinth a conflict between Paul and Jewish men in Corinth is brought before Gallio, the proconsul of the Roman province of Achaia. Gallio’s time in office can be dated with a certain degree of reliability from the middle of 51 to the middle of 52.¹² At the time the letter is written, Paul is in Ephesus (16:8). This stay is presumably identical with his time in Ephesus that Acts 19:1–20:1 describes. The date of composition is assessed diversely in the research tradition.¹³ These assessments are based on the plausible assumption that, because of what is said in 1 Cor 15:32, Paul has already been in Ephesus for some time when he writes the letter. So, his stay in Corinth already lies some years (two to four) in the past. Nevertheless, there are contacts between him and the congregation through letters (see 5:9) and travelers (see only 16:10, 12, 17). There is an »animated exchange.«¹⁴

The Congregation’s Location: Corinth

Strabo (about 64 BCE–19 CE), a geographer and historian, describes Corinth’s location: Corinth is called »wealthy« because of its commerce, since it is situated on the Isthmus and is master of two harbors, of which the one leads straight to Asia, and the other to Italy; … it was a welcome alternative, for the merchants both from Italy and from Asia, to avoid the voyage to Maleae [the southern tip of the Peloponnese] and to land their cargoes here. …¹⁵ The harbor to the West is Lechaion, the one to the East is Cenchrea (mentioned in Acts 18:18 and Rom 16:1).

By Paul’s time Corinth’s history had already been determined by Rome for a long period. Rome had destroyed the ancient Greek city in 146 BCE in a punitive action. »Corinth remained a long time deserted, till at length it was restored [in 44 BCE] on account of its natural advantages by divus Cæsar, who sent colonists thither, who consisted, for the most part, of the descendants of free-men.«¹⁶ In 27 BCE Corinth became the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, in which the proconsul resided and held court. Acts 18:12 mentions the bēma, the judicial bench on which the proconsul conducted public hearings.¹⁷ The city, like every large Roman city, was a place for business and worship, with shops and markets, artisans’ workshops, temples, theaters and baths. The travel writer Pausanias reports in 173 CE about Roman Corinth and its magnificent buildings.¹⁸ According to Plutarch, Corinth was a center for banking and finance.¹⁹

There is information about the population of Corinth in the Roman imperial period in ancient literary sources. A graphic text by Alciphron (middle of the 3^rd century CE) speaks of many who were without work and hungry alongside of great riches.²⁰ This description agrees with the general sociohistorical estimate for the city population in the Roman Empire.²¹ 90 percent of the population lived at or below the minimum subsistence level. Paul’s First Letter to Corinth is itself an additional document subject to sociohistorical analysis, and it shows the social and economic differences in the population and the significance of slavery for the economy.²²

There was a larger Jewish share of the population in the city. Philo (30 BCE–45 CE)²³ mentions a Jewish colony in Corinth (c. 41 CE). Additional witnesses to this Jewish colony in Corinth are 1 Corinthians (7:18, for example) and Acts 18:1–18. An inscription: [syna]gogē Ἑbr[aiōn]²⁴ comes from a later period (probably the 4^th century).

For an understanding of the letter, it is important to keep in mind the social and cultural dislocation of many people in this city. This was conditioned both by Roman settlement policy (see the testimony of Strabo above) and the economic situation: two harbors, transit of goods, people and even ships that were dragged over the isthmus. The Roman imperial cult since the time of Augustus tried to integrate the people and coerce them into loyalty toward Rome.²⁵

1:1–9

1 Paul, according to the will of God called as an apostle by the Messiah Jesus, and Sosthenes the brother, 2 to the congregation of God in Corinth, to the people sanctified through the Messiah Jesus, who were called to live holy lives—and likewise to all people everywhere who call on the name of Jesus Christ. He is your and our Liberator. 3 May there dwell among you grace and peace from God our Origin and from our Liberator Jesus Christ.

4 On your behalf I am offering prayers of thanksgiving to my God, because in the Messiah Jesus God’s favor has been given to you. 5 For in Christ you have become rich in every way, gifted with all speech and all knowledge. 6 You are bearing witness to the Messiah, and you are demonstrating growing strength therein. 7 Therefore, you lack no God-given ability, while you await the revelation of our Liberator, Jesus, the Messiah. 8 He will strengthen you to the end, so that you do not face any accusation on the day of our Liberator Jesus Christ.

9 God is faithful. Through God you have been called into the community of God’s son, Jesus the Messiah, our Liberator.

1:1–2

This letter is the earliest Pauline letter in the New Testament.²⁶ In his introduction to the letter Paul characterizes the senders only briefly, the addressees more extensively: the messianic assembly in Corinth.

1:1 Paul says about himself that he has been called to be an apostle by Jesus the Messiah in accord with the will of God. He speaks of his call in 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8–10; Gal 1:1, 13–17. Acts narrates the event in a legendary manner as a vision of Christ (Acts 9:1–22; cf. 26:12–18 and 22:6–16). In the interpretive tradition the call is often construed as a »conversion,« in the sense of a renunciation of Judaism.²⁷ Paul himself understands his call as God’s call to bring the gospel to the nations, that is, to the new exodus in the name of the Messiah raised by God. Thereby he turns away from his work against the messianic congregations, but he does not turn away from Judaism. Now he works for a Jewish-messianic movement to which people from the nations are added. This work happens on God’s behalf, and he acts as God’s representative/apostle. The view that Paul had understood his apostolic office in the sense of the later ecclesiastical offices is inappropriate. Paul understands himself to be in continuity with the prophets in Israel (see Gal 1:15; Isa 49:1).

Right in the first line of his letter Paul mentions the Messiah/Christ Jesus. Christos is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word mashiach/anointed one, and Messiah is the Graecized form of the Hebrew word. Paul uses the word with and without the additional use of the proper name »Jesus« (see, for example, 1:6). Paul does not use the word Christos as a proper name, but it refers to the anointing, and thereby to a commissioning, by God. The anointed one embodies what God is doing to liberate the people. The word Christos is not a title that confers on people a super-human or divine quality that distinguishes them from all other people. The word Christos in Pauline usage should be translated by »anointed one« or »Messiah« and not exclusively by »Christ,« since in contemporary Christianity this word is frequently understood as an exclusive title und proper name of this one Messiah Jesus.

The word draws on Jewish tradition.²⁸ It plays a central role for Paul, as the nine-fold use of the term in the first nine verses demonstrates right from the start. »The anointing of Jesus is an important key to understanding that in his majesty as Messiah/Christ he is part of a community that supports him.«²⁹ Paul can also say that God anoints the congregation (2 Cor 1:21). Paul clearly presupposes that God installs the Messiah as king. For Paul, the royal power of the Risen One is present and reaches into the future (see especially 15:20–28 and the discussion of 15:24). For Paul and the congregation, Jesus’ messiahship attains a central significance because it is the Messiah’s power that overcomes all other authorities and powers in the world (see on 8:5).

Paul mentions Sosthenes as a co-author. In his letters Paul consistently understands himself as an »author in the plural.«³⁰ Even though in 1:4 he mentions himself in the singular as the author, as he often does in 1 Corinthians, it is not right to understand him as the head of a »team of authors« or as an individual author. Instead, he understands himself to be part of a community of brothers and sisters. He calls Sosthenes brother, and, in the same way, he addresses the congregation as brothers and sisters (in 1:10, for example). This relationship as brothers and sisters is characterized by »mutual responsibility and solidarity.«³¹ It continues the biblical and post-biblical tradition according to which the members of the people of Israel understand themselves as brothers and sisters because of their connection to Israel’s one God.³² This relationship as brothers and sisters connects the people of non-Jewish origin not only with one another but also with the people of Israel. It opens up for them an alternative to the patriarchal family. Relationships in the patriarchal family are as a rule asymmetrical; those in the congregation are not. Whether the authority of the men and women apostles, teachers and prophets establishes an asymmetrical relationship will need to be discussed (see on 3:11).

1:2 The congregation in Corinth is characterized in four ways by Paul. He calls it an »assembly/ekklēsia of God.« The word still has its secular meaning: an assembly at a concrete place—as in Corinth or also in other places (16:1, 19). To some extent, these local assemblies have active contacts with each other. And yet Paul does not yet have in mind a »church« in the comprehensive sense. For him the word signifies each individual assembly of the people of God with faith in the Messiah in this place.³³ It does not become Israel’s successor, but enters into solidarity with her. The word ekklēsia is linked not only with its secular meaning but also with God’s history with Israel in the Old Testament.³⁴ Kahal Adonai is also translated in the LXX by ekklēsia of God and designates, for example, the full assembly of Israel at Sinai (Deut 4:10) or the worshiping congregation (Ps 35:18). The word synagogē can be used in the same sense. A juxtaposition or opposition of ecclesia as a Christian church and »the« synagogue as Judaism does not yet exist at this time. In the city of Corinth there was room for large gatherings for varied political purposes (see, for example, Acts 18:12–17). Such assemblies are what people envisioned when they heard the word ekklēsia. Therefore, the word had an evident political ambiguity: God’s assembly is an alternative to the assembly of the city’s inhabitants in which those in power at any given time present and implement the things in which they are interested. Thus, the congregation, as an »alternative society, … is rooted in the history of Israel, in opposition to the pax Romana.«³⁵

The fact that those who believe in the Messiah are designated as called and saints once again makes their relationship to the God of Israel central. God called them in the same way that God called the apostle (1:1). This call (7:17 for example) or election (1:28) has fundamentally altered their life. They now live, in keeping with their divine commission, in accord with the Torah (7:17; see there). The designation »saints« is tied to the holiness of the people of Israel (Lev 19–20). The holiness of the congregation is strongly emphasized in 1 Corinthians. The congregation is the place where God is present (3:16), and it is the body of Christ (12:12, 27).

Paul concludes his detailed theological appreciation for the congregation in the letter’s salutation by incorporating this congregation into the broader fellowship of all those who call upon the name of our kyrios Jesus Christ.

The expression is definitely to be taken literally: the believers openly proclaim, »Jesus is our Liberator«/kyrios Jesus (see 12:3). The name that is invoked is the name »Jesus.« Jesus is a common name for Jewish men (Joshua, Jeshua). In early Christianity, this common name is given theological significance as a proper name for this Messiah, who was crucified by Rome and raised by God.³⁶ Jesus receives this name from God, so that in this name the knees of the »heavenly, earthly and subterranean« powers should bend (Phil 2:10). These powers designate forces that enslave the earth and humanity (see 3:22; 15:24; see a more extensive explanation at 15:24). The name Jesus embodies the liberation brought about by God, for Jesus’ fate was based on his humiliation. God put an end to his death and his humiliation. He was exalted by God. A further theological reflection on Jesus’ name is found in Matt 1:21, 23. When people call on the name of Jesus, they put themselves in fellowship with the Jewish man liberated by God from violence and death. In this way he becomes their kyrios/Lord, their Liberator.

The word kyrios is also a word taken from everyday life at the time of the Roman Empire. It designates common relationships of rule and hierarchy: those of master and slave, of dependents (on the pater familias) within the family, the oikos/household, and political power relationships. The emperor in Rome is kyrios/dominus of the people in the Imperium Romanum. In this context, when people declare that for them Jesus is the only kyrios (see 8:6), all other power ...