Text, Exposition, and Notes
I. INTRODUCTION (1:1â11)
Paul commences his letter formally with a salutation (vv. 1â2) and a benediction (vv. 3â7). Godâs deliverance of Paul in Asia (vv. 8â11) is a concrete example of his comfort of the apostle more generally stated in the benediction. The salutation and benediction are not merely formal, however, but are closely connected with and lead into the next section (1:12â2:13), where Paul defends his decision to write to them (the lost âSevere Letterâ) instead of returning to them directly as, apparently, he had indicated during the recent âPainful Visit.â
From the outset Paul is attempting to restore the now-strained relationships with the Corinthians. As an apostle, âby the will of Godâ (v. 1), he has the duty to comfort the saints in their affliction with the comfort he has received from God (vv. 4â5). Having stated that general principle, he specifically declares that Godâs comfort in his afflictionsâincluding the extreme affliction in Asia (vv. 8â9)âis for the sake of the Corinthians (v. 6). Such is the intended spiritual unity between apostle and messianic people that, just as his comfort by God was for them, so, in response, their prayers are for him (v. 11).
This theme continues beyond the present section. He is their fellow worker for their joy, not the Lord of their faith (1:24). His expectation and concern is that the Corinthians will understand and take pride in him, as, indeed, he will take pride in them on the âday of Christâ (1:14). He reminds them that their experience of the Spirit of God resulted from his preaching of the Son of God among them (1:19, 22). He knows of the possibility that Satan will get the better of them, separating him from them (2:11). This mutuality between him and them depends in turn on a reestablished confidence in his integrity (1:12â14). The restoration of unity between him and them is a major theme not only in this opening section of the letter but throughout his exposition of his new covenant ministry (2:14â7:4) and the passionate final chapters of the letter (chaps. 10â13).
References to Godâhis character and actionsâunify the Introduction, and indeed the first sections of this letter. God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and âourâ Father, from whom grace and peace come (vv. 1â2). Paulâs use of the present tense for Godâs actions implies a number of divine attributes. (1) God is a comforter who comforts the afflicted (1:4). (2) God who raises the dead has delivered and will deliver his servant (1:9â10). God is to be blessed (1:3) and thanked for answered prayer (v. 11). (3) God, who is faithful, guarantees their ongoing Christward confidence, following the preaching of the Son of God and the beginning of the activity of the Spirit among them, confirming that they have turned to the Lord (1:18, 19, 22; cf. 3:16, 17).
Paul also gives a number of divine reasons for suffering. Suffering is a nursery for the growth (1) of compassion (v. 4), (2) of encouragement, and (3) of intensified hope (vv. 9â10).
A. SALUTATION (1:1â2)
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus1 by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Typically, letters from the Greco-Roman period begin: A to B: greeting, followed by C, either a prayer or thanksgiving to God/the gods for the addressee. For example:
Ptolemaios to Kassianos his brother, very many greetings. Before everything I pray you are in good health.2
Paul follows this basic A, B, C format but also states (1) his office (âan apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of Godâ) and the fact and name of a co-sender,3 titled (âand Timothy the brotherâ), and (2) modifies the prayer along the lines of salutations found in Jewish letters.
The addressees are both âthe church ⊠in Corinthâ and believers throughout the constituent Roman province (âall the saints in the whole of Achaiaâ), giving the letter a broader character than would be the case if the readership were merely the local assembly of believers in the capital city.
His insertion of specifically Christian elementsââapostle of Christ Jesus,â âTimothy the brother,â âto the church of God,â and âGod our Father and the Lord Jesus Christââinto this standard epistolary format serves immediately to confront readers ancient and modern with Christian distinctives.
God himself is dominant in the salutation (vv. 1â2), as well as in the introduction (vv. 1â11) as a whole. It is âby the will of Godâ that Paul is an apostle, who now writes to the âchurch of God.â Significantly, Godâthe God of Israelâis declared to be not only âour Fatherâ but also, as carried through into the benediction, âthe Father of our Lord Jesus Christâ (v. 3).
1 The first sentence of the letterâthe apostleâs address to the churchâwith its implications of Paulâs authority over the Corinthians, encapsulates the major issue of the letter as it will unfold.
In earlier letters4 Paul does not mention âapostleâ in the opening address but brackets Silvanus and Timothy with himself on equal terms and includes them with him as âapostles of Christâ (1 Thess 1:1; 2:6; 2 Thess 1:1). But from the time of the writing of 1 Corinthiansâdue to mounting questioning of his apostleship?âPaul declares himself to be an âapostleâ in the salutation of his letters (cf. Gal 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1; Rom 1:1), and is careful to distance himself as an âapostleâ from various coworkers (1 Cor 1:1; Col 1:1; but cf. Phil 1:1)âin this case, âTimothy our brother.â5 Timothy and Silvanus are linked with Paul as preachers to the Corinthians, but only Paul is an apostle (1:19).6
Although Timothyâs name is joined with Paulâs, we do not sense that he participates with Paul in the vigorous and passionate interchange with the Corinthian readers that is the chief subject of the letter. Although the first person plural pronouns âwe,â âus,â âourâ are very common in the letter,7 the various contexts tend either to be inconclusive in assessing the possible involvement of Timothy or imply rather strongly that Paul is using the plural of himself. Most likely Timothy is mentioned because he is a distinguished âbrotherâ who happened to be present with Paul at the time of writing in Macedonia, rather than because Timothy is being actively included in what is being saidânamely, the urgent relationship problems between Paul and the Corinthians. He is a co-sender rather than a coauthor.
There has been some debate over the social origins of the word âapostle,â8 by which Paul usually introduces himself to his readers. The word apostolos was used only infrequently in the Greek language prior to NT times.9 When we notice that Paul uses the word thirty-five out of the eighty times it occurs in the NT, it is evident that apostolos was important to him.
Earlier doubts about Paulâs apostleship by some of the Corinthians10 have apparently now hardened into opposition. This is attributable to the recent arrival of self-professed âministersâ or âapostlesâ (11:23, 13) who have launched a countermission against Paul (2:17â3:1; 11:4, 12) and who are, according to them, âsuperiorâ in ministry to Paul (11:5, 23; 12:11). By his opening words âPaul, an apostle ⊠by the will of God,â he pointedly reminds the Corinthians that he is not an apostle by self-appointment but by divine appointment (cf. 10:8; 13:10).11 Moreover, he is âan apostle of Christ Jesusâ; his authority is derived. In the First Letter, he wrote, âChrist sent (âapostledââapesteilen) meâ (1 Cor 1:17; cf. 1 Thess 2:6). Later in the present letter Paul makes a close connection between the Corinthians being âreconciled to Godâ and having their hearts widely âopenâ to Paul (5:20; 6:12). To reject the authority of the one who is an apostle âby the will of Godâ comes close to rejecting the authority of God/Christ, though Paul does not explicitly say so (cf. Mark 9:37, 41 pars.).12
What would the citizens of a Greco-Roman city like Corinth have understood by Paulâs address to them as âthe church ⊠in Corinthâ? Today the word âchurchâ carries many meaningsâa building for religious worship, a congregation, a denomination, worldwide Christianity, the Christian faithâto mention only a few. But in Paulâs dayâas used by Luke in an everyday sense in Acts 19âit bore the meaning of âan assembly,â whether an occasional assembly (such as the âassemblyâ of Ephesians in the city theaterâActs 19:32, 41) or an official assembly (such as the âlegal assemblyâ of the city of EphesusâActs 19:39). It is presumed that these Corinthian readers would have understood âchurchâ as meaning the plenary assembly of believersâas opposed to the constituent house meetings...