1 and 2 Corinthians

David W. J. Gill, Moyer V. Hubbard, Clinton E. Arnold

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9780310530213
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

Discover: ·How the springs at Hierapolis help us understand why Jesus described the church at Laodicea as “lukewarm” ·The background and circumstances of certificates of divorce in Judaism ·How Jewish dietary laws provided a powerful metaphor for God’s acceptance of the Gentiles Brimming with photos and graphics, the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary walks you verse by verse through all the books of the New Testament. It’s like slipping on a set of glasses that lets you read the Bible through the eyes of a first-century reader! Discoveries await you that will snap the world of the New Testament into gripping immediacy. Things that seem mystifying, puzzling, or obscure will take on tremendous meaning when you view them in their ancient context. You’ll deepen your understanding of the teachings of Jesus. You’ll discover the close, sometimes startling interplay between God’s kingdom and the practical affairs of the church. Best of all, you’ll gain a deepened awareness of the Bible’s relevance for your life. Written in a clear, engaging style, this beautiful set provides a new and accessible approach that more technical expository and exegetical commentaries don’t offer. It features: ·Commentary based on relevant papyri, inscriptions, archaeological discoveries, and studies of Judaism, Roman culture, Hellenism, and other features of the world of the New Testament ·Hundreds of photographs, illustrations, and line drawings ·Copious maps, charts, and timelines·Sidebar articles and insights ·“Reflections” on the Bible’s relevance for 21st-century living

Written by leading evangelical contributors: Clinton E. Arnold (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen), General Editor S. M. Baugh (Ph.D., University of California, Irvine) Peter H. Davids (Ph.D., University of Manchester) David E. Garland (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) David W. J. Gill (D.Phil., University of Oxford) George H. Guthrie (Ph.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) Moyer V. Hubbard (D.Phil., University of Oxford) Ralph P. Martin (Ph.D., University of London, King’s College) Douglas J. Moo (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews) Mark L. Strauss (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen) Frank Thielman (Ph.D., Duke University) Jeffrey A. D. Weima (Ph.D., University of Toronto) Michael J. Wilkins (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) Mark W. Wilson (D.Litt. et Phil., University of South Africa) Julie L. Wu (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) Robert W. Yarbrough (Ph.D., University of Aberdeen)

1 Corinthians

by David W. J. Gill

CORINTH

1 Corinthians

Important Facts:

■ AUTHOR: The apostle Paul and Sosthenes.

■ DATE: c. A.D. 55 (Paul writing from Ephesus).

■ OCCASION:

• To respond to information that there had been quarrels in the church.

• To prepare for a visit from Timothy and Paul himself.

■ KEY THEMES:

1. The impact of the Christian gospel on the life of the Christian.

2. The ordering of the local church.

Corinth was a major city in the eastern Peloponnese of Greece.1 It lay near the narrow isthmus that joined the Peloponnese to the mainland. The city lay at the foot of a mountain, Akrocorinth (elevation 1883 feet), which also served as a location for some of the cults of the city.

The City of Corinth

The history of the city of Corinth can be traced back to the earliest periods of Greek history. In the archaic period (6th cent. B.C.) it was ruled by the Kypselid family. During the Peloponnesian War (late 5th cent. B.C.) Corinth fought against Athens. During the second century B.C. Corinth joined other Greek states to fight against the domination of Rome, and in 146 B.C. the city was captured and razed to the ground by the Roman general Mummius. As a result, the city was left derelict for over a hundred years until Julius Caesar decided to found a colony, with the full Latin title of Colonia Laus Iulia Corinthienses, in 44 B.C. As Caesar was assassinated in March of that year, it seems likely that Mark Antony, Caesar’s co-consul, may have been responsible for implementing the legislation. Some of the Roman sources suggest that the colony was established with Italian freedmen, that is, former slaves, though they probably only formed a small part of the overall population. The geographer Strabo records some of the details of the colony at this time:

Now after Corinth had remained deserted for a long time, it was restored again, because of its favourable position, by the deified Caesar, who colonised it with people that belonged for the most part to the freedman class. And when these were removing the ruins and at the same time digging open the graves, they found numbers of terracotta reliefs, and also many bronze vessels. And since they admired the worksmanship they left no grave unransacked.2

CORINTH AND ITS ENVIRONS

The City of Corinth

Important Facts:

■ Population: Approximately 100,000 (80,000 colony, 20,000 territorium).

■ Religion: Patron deity Aphrodite; major sanctuary of Poseidon at nearby Isthmia; numerous other deities worshiped.

■ Port city.

■ Seat of the Roman governor for the province of Achaia.

It is important to stress the lack of continuity between the Greek and Roman city. A number of buildings were demolished and the archaic temple in the heart of the town may have had its roof timbers removed. One of the famous descriptions of the ruined city occurs in a letter from Ser. Sulpicius to the Roman orator Cicero in 45 B.C.3 There are other references to individuals living among the ruins4, but the key point is that Corinth no longer existed as a political entity.

Corinth was one of a number of city-states (Gk. polis) in the Greek world. Her territory, the Corinthia, bordered on that of a number of other city-states. To the east along the isthmus that joined the Peloponnese to the Greek mainland was Megara. Northwards, along the coast of the Corinthian Gulf, was Sikyon. Along the southern side of the Corinthia was the Argolid, with cities such as Argos and Epidauros (where there was a major sanctuary for the healing-god Asklepios). Within the Corinthia were two main harbors, Lechaeum and Cenchreae, giving access respectively to the Corinthian Gulf (and Italy) and the Saronic Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean. These were some of the major harbors of the Mediterranean, rivaling those of Ostia (the port of Rome), Alexandria in Egypt, and Caesarea (the major port that gave access to Judea).

Corinth became the residence for the Roman governor of the senatorial province of Achaia, which was reestablished by Claudius in A.D. 44. Prior to that, the province had been combined with Macedonia as one of the military “imperial” provinces (see comments on 16:15). This administrative function allowed Corinth to become the leading city in the province. It seems to have attracted members of elite families to reside there, such as the Euryclids from Sparta. It also meant that individual cities would need to consult the governor at Corinth; thus, members of the Corinthian elite allowed themselves to be used as intermediaries or proxenoi. One of these proxenoi, L. Licinnius Anteros, was honored by the city of Methana near Troezen in A.D. 1/2.5

Strabo in Corinth

One of the earliest accounts of the Roman colony at Corinth was by the geographer Strabo (c. 64 B.C.–A.D. 21), who came from Amaseia in Pontus (northwest Asia Minor). The account is based on a personal autopsy “from what I myself saw after the recent restoration of the city by the Romans.”A-1 Strabo may have been visiting the colony when Octavian—the future emperor Augustus—was on his way back to Italy after the battle of Actium (Sept. 2, 31 B.C.) and the capture of Alexandria (Aug. 1, 30 B.C.) for his triple triumph (held Aug. 13–15, 29 B.C.). Octavian is known to have stopped at Corinth at this time. One of Strabo’s vantage points was the Acrocorinth: “I myself have looked down at the settlement from Acrocorinth.”A-2 From the mountain he could look across the Corinthian Gulf to the mountains of Parnassos and Helikon on the Greek mainland. Strabo apparently made use of earlier accounts of the colony, including Apollodoros’s commentary on the Homeric Catalogue of the Ships (written in the second century B.C. on the eve of the Roman destruction of the colony), Hieronymos of Cardia (300 B.C.), and the fourth-century B.C. geographer Eudoxos of Knidos.

CORINTH

CORINTH

Aerial view of the remains of the ancient city.

A Corinthian inscription with a list of victors in the Isthmian games.

The diolkos—a rock road that the Romans built enabling them to drag boats across the narrowest point of the isthmus.

The Acrocorinth with some of the ruins of ancient Corinth in the foreground.

View from the Lechaeum, Corinth’s western port, toward Corinth and the Acrocorinth.

The Spiritual Climate of the Area

The second-century A.D. Roman orator Favorinus of Arles (in the south of France) praised Corinth as a city “favoured by Aphrodite.”6 Certainly in the Hellenistic period before the sack of the city, the sanctuary of Aphrodite on the Acrocorinth had been a complex affair. Strabo, probably drawing on classical or Hellenistic historians of the city, noted that at this earlier time, “the temple of Aphrodite was so rich that it owned more than a thousand temple-slaves, courtesans, whom both men and women had dedicated to the goddess.”7 However, Strabo’s own visit to the Acrocorinth showed that the Roman temple was far more modest: “The summit has a small temple of Aphrodite.”8 Aphrodite or Venus (her Roman name) was seen as the ancestor of Julius Caesar, the founder of the Roman colony. Indeed in the Julian Forum at Rome, completed by Caesar’s adopted son Augustus, there was a temple to Venus Genetrix. A further temple of Aphrodite at Corinth appears to have been located on a terrace at the west end of the forum, as part of an inscription has been found that links the structure to Venus.9 The second-century A.D. travel writer Pausanias also noted that this part of the forum contained a statue of Aphrodite made by the sculptor Hermogenes of Kythera (an island off the south coast of the Peloponnese).10

TEMPLE OF APHRODITE

The scant remains of this famous temple on top of the Acrocorinth.

The forum of Corinth today is dominated by the columns of a Greek temple of the Doric order of architecture, probably erected in the sixth century B.C. It survived the sack of the city ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• How to Use This eBook
• Introduction
• List of Sidebars
• Index of Photos and Maps
• Abbreviations
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Credits for Photos and Maps
• The New International Version Appendix