HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 510
5.6 Yeast, a metaphor for evil (see 5.8), as in Mt 16.6, 11–12; Mk 8.15; Lk 12.1; see also Gal 5.9.
5.7 Paschal lamb, the animal slaughtered for the Jewish celebration of Passover; see Ex 12.1–27. According to the Gospels, Jesus was put to death at Passover time (Mk 14–15).
5.8 Only unleavened bread, a symbol of purity, was to be eaten during Passover; see Ex 12.8, 15–20.
5.9–13 Paul’s directions in a previous letter to Corinth, perhaps misunderstood, are now clarified.
5.9 The letter referred to either is lost or, as some believe, survives in fragmentary form in 2 Cor 6.14–7.1.
5.10–11 A similar list of evildoers is given in 6.9–10.
5.11 Brother or sister, a fellow Christian, as distinct from nonbelievers. The instruction to not even eat with immoral believers presumably includes barring them from participating in the Lord’s Supper (see 10.16–17).
5.12 Outside and inside, where people are with reference to the Christian community. Paul’s concern for how insiders should conduct themselves in relation to outsiders is apparent throughout 5.1–11.1 (see also 15.23–24).
5.13 God will judge, on judgment day (see 3.13). The quotation is from Deut 17.7.
1 Corinthians 6
Lawsuits among Believers
1When any of you has a grievance against another, do you dare to take it to court before the unrighteous, instead of taking it before the saints? 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we are to judge angels—to say nothing of ordinary matters? 4If you have ordinary cases, then, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to decide between one believera and another, 6but a believerb goes to court against a believerc—and before unbelievers at that?
7In fact, to have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? 8But you yourselves wrong and defraud—and believersd at that.
9Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Glorify God in Body and Spirit
12“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. 13“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food,”e and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! 16Do you not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 18Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. 19Or do you not know that your body is a templef of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
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a Gk brother
b Gk brother
c Gk brother
d Gk brothers
e The quotation may extend to the word other
f Or sanctuary
6.1–11 Paul counsels against Christians asking Roman courts to settle their disputes. Perhaps he has heard of some specific legal action initiated by one of the members of the congregation against another member of lower status and means.
6.1 Unrighteous, nonbelievers; saints (see 1.2), believers (see also 6.6).
6.2 The world, here nonbelievers. For the idea that the saints will assist with the final judgment, see Wis 3.8; 4.16; Sir 4.15; Lk 22.30; Mt 19.28; Rev 3.21; 20.4.
6.3 The expectation that angels are subject to final judgment is also envisioned in Isa 24.21–22; Jude 6 (see also 2 Pet 2.4), but not that any human agents will be their judges.
6.4 Those…no standing in the church, more likely nonbelievers than persons within the church, yet the latter interpretation is sometimes argued.
6.7 Be wronged. See also Mt 5.39–40; Lk 6.28–30.
6.8 Defrauding. See Mk 10.19.
6.9–10 The list of evildoers is similar to the one in 5.10–11.
6.9 The kingdom of God. See 4.20. Fornicators, persons who engage in sexual conduct regarded as immoral; see note on 5.1. Male prostitutes, adolescent boys who sold sexual favors to older males or, more generally, the more passive male in a homosexual act. Sodomites, Greek arsenokoitai, lit. “those who bed males,” may be Paul’s own coinage, for no earlier occurrence of the term is known. It seems to refer to the more active partner in a male homosexual act; see also Rom 1.27; 1 Tim 1.10.
6.11 Washed, probably baptized. Sanctified. See 1.2. Justified. See note on 1.30. In the Spirit of our God. See 12.13.
6.12–20 The apostle continues to criticize and correct the Corinthians’ understanding of what it means to be faithful to the gospel.
6.12–13 Paul is quoting slogans popular in Corinth (see also 10.23), conceivably ones that some Corinthians have attributed to him.
6.13 God will destroy, either the ultimate destruction of all material things (see 7.31) or, more specifically, the last judgment (see 3.13). The Lord, here Christ (vv. 14–17).
6.14 See also 15.4, 12–22; 2 Cor 4.14; 1 Thess 4.14; cf. Rom 8.11.
6.15 Members of Christ. See also 12.12–14, 27; Rom 12.4–5.
6.16 Paul quotes Gen 2.24.
6.17 One spirit with him refers to the spiritual character of communion with Christ.
6.19 Temple of the Holy Spirit, here used metaphorically of the individual believer’s body (cf. 3.16). Not your own. See also Rom 14.7–8; 2 Cor 5.14–15.
6.20 Bought with a price. See also 7.23; note on 1.30. Glorify God. See also 10.31.
1 Corinthians 7
Directions concerning Marriage
1Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is well for a man not to touch a woman.” 2But because of cases of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time, to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6This I say by way of concession, not of command. 7I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has a particular gift from God, one having one kind and another a different kind.
8To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. 9But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.
10To the married I give this command—not I but the Lord—that the wife should not separate from her husband 11(but if she does separate, let her remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and that the husband should not divorce his wife.
12To the rest I say—I and not the Lord—that if any believera has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13And if any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14For the unbelieving husband is made holy through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy through her husband. Otherw
ise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. It is to peace that God has called you.b 16Wife, for all you know, you might save your husband. Husband, for all you know, you might save your wife.
The Life That the Lord Has Assigned
17However that may be, let each of you lead the life that the Lord has assigned, to which God called you. This is my rule in all the churches. 18Was anyone at the time of his call already circumcised? Let him not seek to remove the marks of circumcision. Was anyone at the time of his call uncircumcised? Let him not seek circumcision. 19Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but obeying the commandments of God is everything. 20Let each of you remain in the condition in which you were called.
21Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. Even if you can gain your freedom, make use of your present condition now more than ever.c 22For whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ. 23You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of human masters. 24In whatever condition you were called, brothers and sisters,d there remain with God.
The Unmarried and the Widows
25Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord’s mercy is trustworthy. 26I think that, in view of the impendinge crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are. 27Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. 28But if you marry, you do not sin, and if a virgin marries, she does not sin. Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life,f and I would spare you that. 29I mean, brothers and sisters,g the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
32I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. 35I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
36If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his fiancée,h if his passions are strong, and so it has to be, let him marry as he wishes; it is no sin. Let them marry. 37But if someone stands firm in his resolve, being under no necessity but having his own desire under control, and has determined in his own mind to keep her as his fiancée,i he will do well. 38So then, he who marries his fiancéej does well; and he who refrains from marriage will do better.
39A wife is bound as long as her husband lives. But if the husband dies,k she is free to marry anyone she wishes, only in the Lord. 40But in my judgment she is more blessed if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God.
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a Gk brother
b Other ancient authorities read us
c Or avail yourself of the opportunity
d Gk brothers
e Or present
f Gk in the flesh
g Gk brothers
h Gk virgin
i Gk virgin
j Gk virgin
k Gk falls asleep
7.1–16 The issue to which Paul now turns has been raised with him in a letter from the Corinthians themselves, and the whole of ch. 7 is devoted to it. Their question is not just about marriage but, more generally, whether sexual intimacy is compatible with life in Christ.
7.1 You wrote, a reference to some (lost) letter to Paul from the Corinthians. Some scholars believe that the quotation is another slogan current among the Corinthians (see 6.12–13); others believe it represents a view that Paul himself has expressed (perhaps in an earlier letter; see 5.9). Many translations do not mark it as a quotation at all. Touch, an idiom for “have sex with.”
7.2 Cases of sexual immorality. See 5.1–5; 6.12–20. Own wife…own husband affirms monogamy and marital fidelity; see also 1 Thess 4.3–5.
7.3 Give…conjugal rights. This affirmation of sexual intimacy within a Christian marriage stands in contrast with the ascetic view quoted in v. 1.
7.4 A husband’s authority over his wife was presupposed in the ancient world (see Eph 5.24; Col 3.18; 1 Pet 3.1, 6), but not a wife’s authority over her husband.
7.5 Do not deprive one another, of conjugal rights. Satan. See 5.5. Tempt you, to marital infidelity. Self-control. Cf. v. 9; 9.25–27; Gal 5.23.
7.6 Concession, probably the provision for temporary abstinence from sexual intimacy (7.5). Not of command. See also v. 35; 2 Cor 8.8; Philem 8–9.
7.7 As I myself am, unmarried (see v. 8; 9.5, 15). Paul implies that celibacy is one particular gift; others are mentioned in ch. 12; Rom 12.6–8 (also 1 Pet 4.10). Cf. 1 Cor 3.5; 7.17.
7.8 The unmarried, perhaps widowers specifically (the expression is masculine).
7.9 Aflame with passion, a common metaphor; see Sir 9.8; 23.16.
7.10–11 The Lord, Jesus (see also 9.14). Separate, divorce, synonyms. The sayings about divorce attributed to Jesus are found in one version in Mk 10.2–12 (see also Lk 16.18) and in other versions in Mt 5.31–32; 19.3–9. Paul’s instructions here presume Roman law, according to which (in contrast to Deut 24.1–4) divorce could be initiated by either the husband or the wife (see also Mk 10.11–12); and they also presume that both partners are Christians (cf. vv. 12–16). See also v. 27; Rom 7.2.
7.12 The rest, persons who were already married when they were converted to the gospel, but whose spouses have remained nonbelievers. Such marriages are not addressed by the command of Jesus invoked in vv. 10–11. I and not the Lord (cf. v. 10). Paul now offers counsels on his own authority, without appealing to any teaching of Jesus.
7.14 Made holy, or “sanctified” (see 1.2), i.e., by God, not by the marriage as such. The overall point is that God’s sanctifying power is stronger than unbelief. The exact meaning, however, is obscure, both here and when Paul describes the children in families where only one parent is Christian. Children seem to be regarded as holy so long as the Christian parent remains in the marriage, but as unclean when that parent leaves the marriage.
7.15 Separates, initiates a divorce. To peace, to a peaceful relationship with the non-Christian spouse. This counsel is consistent with the general directive about striving for peace with all people that Paul issues in Rom 12.18.
7.16 Save, here the conversion to Christianity of the non-Christian spouse (see also 1 Pet 3.1–2). Interpreters differ on whether Paul means that there is a good chance or only an outside chance of this happening.
7.17–24 Here Paul generalizes the particular counsels set forth in vv. 12–16. His basic principle, which he now illustrates with examples other than marriage, is that converts to Christianity should not ordinarily seek to change their situation in society.
7.17 The Lord, God. All the churches, the congregations founded by Paul; over those founded by others he exercised no authority.
7.18 Call, conversion to the gospel. Paul himself, like every male child born to devout Jews, had been circumcised as an infant (Phil 3.5) to signify his belonging to the covenant people (see Gen 17.9–14). Some Jews, seeking acceptance in gentile society, tried to remove the marks of circumcision. Paul’s view that gentile converts should not seek circumcision differed from that of the Jerusalem church; see Gal 2.1–14.
7.19 See also Rom 2.25–29; Gal 5.6; 6.15.
7.20 Condition, lit. “calling,” one’
s status and circumstances at the time of conversion.
7.21 Many converts were slaves (see 12.13; Gal 3.28; Philem 16; also Eph 6.5–9; Col 3.11, 22–4.1; 1 Tim 6.1–2; Titus 2.9–10; 1 Pet 2.18–25). The institution of slavery was fundamental to the social, economic, and political structures of imperial Rome. Freedom could be purchased by or for a slave for a price or could be granted for a variety of other reasons. Make use…ever. The translation in text note c is preferable.
7.22 The Lord, Christ. A freed person, an ex-slave; in this case, Paul is thinking of people who have been freed from the law, sin, and death for obedience to the Lord; see Rom 6.6–7.6; 8.15; Gal 4.7. Whoever was free, those who had been born free and remained so. A slave of Christ, belonging to Christ (3.23) as a committed, faithful Christian; see Rom 6.16–18, 22; 7.6 (also Rom 12.11; 14.18; 16.18; 1 Thess 1.9).
7.23 Bought with a price. See 6.20; note on 1.30. Slaves of human masters, a metaphor for yielding to merely human claims and values; see also Rom 8.12–17; Gal 5.1.
7.24 A reformulation of the principle stated in v. 20.
7.25–40 The discussion now returns to the specific issue of whether marriage is ever appropriate for Christians.
7.25 Virgins, women who have never been married, but whether Paul is thinking of them as engaged to be married is unclear (see vv. 36–38). No command of the Lord. Cf. v. 10; see also v. 12. By the Lord’s mercy, a reference to God’s calling Paul to apostleship; see 2 Cor 4.1; also 1 Cor 1.1.