HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  7.26 The impending crisis, the tribulations traditionally expected to occur as the present age passes away (vv. 29–31; see Lk 21.23–24). The alternate translation, present crisis (see text note a), interprets Paul as referring to the troubles that Christians experience daily in society. Remain as you are. See vv. 17–24.

  7.29 The appointed time has grown short. The time of Christ’s return, the day of judgment, and the fulfillment of salvation is near; see 1.7–8; also Rom 13.11–12. As though they had none. See also Lk 14.26. Paul’s counsel is not to abstain from conjugal relations (see vv. 3–5), but to realize that marriage too will pass away (see v. 31).

  7.30 As though they were not mourning…rejoicing. Paul does not deny the reality of griefs and joys in this life, only their ultimate significance. As though they had no possessions, for all things belong to God (10.26; cf. 3.21–23).

  7.31a A generalizing counsel inclusive of those in vv. 29b–30.

  7.31b The present form of this world, the cosmos as it presently exists, not just its appearance.

  7.32 The Lord, Christ (cf. Phil 2.21).

  7.33 The affairs of the world, like those mentioned in vv. 29b–31a.

  7.34 Unmarried woman, one previously married, as distinguished from a virgin, who has never been married.

  7.35 Not to put any restraint. See v. 6.

  7.36–38 Interpreters differ on how these instructions relate to those about virgins in vv. 25–26, 28. Paul, however, is consistent in applying the twofold principle that it is better not to be married but no sin to be married (see vv. 7, 8, 25–28, 32–35).

  7.39 Bound…as long as her husband lives. This is consistent with the Lord’s command cited in vv. 10–11. The possibility of an exception should the husband not be a Christian (vv. 12–16) is probably taken for granted, even though it is not restated here.

  7.40 My judgment (see also 7.12, 25; 2 Cor 8.10), the judgment of an apostle and one who has been informed by the Spirit of God (cf. 2.16, we have the mind of Christ).

  1 Corinthians 8

  Food Offered to Idols

  1Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; 3but anyone who loves God is known by him.

  4Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “no idol in the world really exists,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords—6yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

  7It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8“Food will not bring us close to God.”a We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? 11So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed.b 12But when you thus sin against members of your family,c and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling,d I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of theme to fall.

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  a The quotation may extend to the end of the verse

  b Gk the weak brother…is destroyed

  c Gk against the brothers

  d Gk my brother’s falling

  e Gk cause my brother

  8.1–13 From here through 11.1 Paul offers directives on a matter that has troubled his congregation: whether Christians may eat meat that has been left over from pagan sacrificial rites (cf. Rom 14). No agreement like the one reported in Acts 15.29 is in view.

  8.1 Now concerning introduces a new topic. Perhaps, like the matter introduced by the same phrase in 7.1, it has been raised in a letter from Corinth, but this is not specifically indicated. Food sacrificed to idols translates one Greek word (lit. “things sacrificed to idols”), used only by Jews and Christians; the neutral term is “sacred food” (see note on 10.28). Both words refer to the meat of an animal that has been ritually slaughtered. All of us possess knowledge, a slogan of some Corinthian Christians. Knowledge puffs up, not knowledge in general, but the kind of religious knowledge arrogantly flaunted by certain Corinthians; see 4.6, 18–19; 5.2; 13.4. Love builds up Christian community by uniting its members in the care of and service to one another; see 14.1–5, 12, 17, 26; also 10.23–24. Here and elsewhere in 1 Corinthians the Greek word used for love is agape, which is described in ch. 13 as utterly selfless; see also 4.21; 16.14, 24.

  8.2 Know something, probably to be understood as “something about God,” whereas the necessary knowledge is being known by God (v. 3).

  8.3 Loves God. See 2.9; Rom 8.28; Jas 1.12; 2.5; also Deut 6.5. Known by him. See also 13.12; Gal 4.9. To be thus “known” is to be chosen and called by God; see Rom 8.29–30; also Gen 18.19; Ex 33.12, 17; Jer 1.5.

  8.4 No idol…really exists, a fundamental tenet of Jewish and Christian teaching (Ex 20.4–5; Isa 46; Wis 13–14), with which the Corinthian Christians fully agree; see also 10.14; 12.2. No God but one echoes the affirmation of Deut 6.4—the Shema, often recited by Jews as a summary of their faith.

  8.5 Many gods and many lords, the deities who were worshiped by gentile nonbelievers. Paul challenges their divine status (so-called gods), but does not deny their existence absolutely (as in fact there are); see also Gal 4.8.

  8.6 An early Christian creed may lie behind this statement; see also 10.26; 11.12; 12.3; Rom 11.36; Col 1.16–17; Heb 2.10.

  8.7 Not everyone…some. In both cases Paul is referring specifically to the Christian community. Weak, unenlightened, still under the illusion that pagan sacrifices have some kind of potency; see also vv. 10, 12; 10.27–29; Rom 14.1–2, 23; 15.1. Defiled. The act prompts feelings of guilt; see also v. 12 (wound).

  8.8 Paul is presumably quoting the Corinthians (so interpreted by NRSV) and does so with approval. What he then says about food he has said earlier about circumcision (7.19).

  8.9 Liberty, or right, as in 9.4–6, 12, 18. Stumbling block. See also Rom 14.13, 20–21; 2 Cor 6.3. (The Greek word in 1.23 is different.)

  8.10 Knowledge. See v. 1. Eating in the temple of an idol. Many pagan temples had a dining area where meat left over from the sacrifice was eaten at a communal meal. Encouraged, lit. “built up.”

  8.11 Christ’s death for the weak is also invoked in Rom 14.15 (cf. Rom 5.6).

  8.12 Wound their conscience. See note on 8.7. Sin against Christ. Cf. 11.17, 29; Mt 25.45; Heb 6.6.

  8.13 Meat, left over from pagan rites.

  1 Corinthians 9

  The Rights of an Apostle

  1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

  3This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4Do we not have the right to our food and drink? 5Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife,a as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7Who at any time pays the expenses for doing military service? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not get any of its milk?

  8Do I say this on human authority? Does not the law also say the same? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10Or does he not speak enti
rely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. 11If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too much if we reap your material benefits? 12If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?

  Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar? 14In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

  15But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that—no one will deprive me of my ground for boasting! 16If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! 17For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. 18What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

  19For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. 20To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. 21To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law) so that I might win those outside the law. 22To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. 23I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

  24Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

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  a Gk a sister as wife

  9.1–27 Paul emphasizes that he has not exercised certain rights that are his as an apostle. His aim here is probably to support the counsels of ch. 8, although some interpreters believe that he is addressing a new topic.

  9.1 Paul is free both to claim and to give up certain rights. Apostle. See 1.1. Jesus our Lord, the resurrected Christ, whom Paul beheld at his conversion and call; see 15.8–10. The Corinthian church was Paul’s work because it had been founded by him.

  9.2 The very existence of a church in Corinth attests (seals) Paul’s apostleship; see also 2 Cor 3.2–3; 10.13–14.

  9.3 Those who would examine me, perhaps specific adversaries, but they are never named.

  9.4 We, apostles in general, including Paul. Right, translates a Greek word that sometimes means liberty (see 8.9) or “authority” (see 2 Cor 10.8). Food and drink, living expenses (or at least “board”) while serving as an apostle.

  9.5 Brothers of the Lord, Jesus’ brothers (see Mk 6.3), of whom only James is ever named by Paul himself (see 15.7; Gal 1.19). Cephas, Peter (see 1.12), who, according to Mk 1.30, was married.

  9.6 Barnabas (see Acts 4.36–37; Col 4.10) was apparently one of Paul’s earliest associates (Gal 2.1–10; see also, e.g., Acts 9.27; 11.19–30), but he and Paul eventually had a falling out (Gal 2.13; see also Acts 15.36–41). Working for a living, in addition to apostolic labors; see Acts 18.1–4.

  9.7 For the examples used here, see also Deut 20.6; 2 Tim 2.4.

  9.9 Deut 25.4; see also 1 Tim 5.17–18.

  9.11 Spiritual good, the gospel and all that follows from that; see also 3.6.

  9.12 Others, conceivably Apollos and Peter (see 1.12). Not made use of this right. Paul has accepted no financial assistance from the Corinthians; see Acts 18.1–4; 2 Cor 11.7–11; 12.13, 14.

  9.13 Jewish sacrifice (see also 10.18) and thus the Jerusalem temple are in view; see Num 18.8–32; Deut 18.1–5.

  9.14 As in 7.10, Paul invokes a saying attributed to Jesus (Mt 10.10; Lk 10.7); see also 1 Tim 5.17–18. A similar principle is affirmed in Gal 6.6.

  9.15 These rights are the ones mentioned in vv. 4–6, especially the right to a living; see also v. 12. Paul’s ground for boasting is that he had not burdened the Corinthians with his personal needs; see also 2 Cor 11.7–10.

  9.16 On Paul’s obligation to preach, see also 4.1–2; Acts 22.14–15; 26.14–18; Rom 1.1–6, 14–15; 15.18–21 (and Jer 20.9; Lk 17.10).

  9.17 Reward, or “wage.” Paul’s commission was from God; related to the word translated as steward in 4.1–2.

  9.19 Though I am free interprets the Greek clause as concessive, but it could equally well be taken as causal: “since I am free” (cf. v. 1). A slave to all, obligated to serve all; see v. 16; 2 Cor 4.5. Win, convert to, or perhaps also strengthen in, the gospel.

  9.20 I became as a Jew. See Acts 16.3; 21.17–26.

  9.21 Those outside the law, gentile nonbelievers. Christ’s law. See also Gal 6.2.

  9.22 The weak, probably not believers weak in faith (as in 8.9–12), but nonbelievers of lowly social status (as in 1.27), for the topic here is missionary preaching.

  9.23 That I may share in its blessings. See also v. 27.

  9.24 Receives the prize. See also Phil 3.12–16; 2 Tim 2.5.

  9.25 A perishable wreath. At the Isthmian games, held near Corinth every two years, the winner’s crown was made of withered celery. The imperishable wreath stands for one’s ultimate salvation; see Phil 4.1; 1 Thess 2.19; 2 Tim 4.8; 1 Pet 5.4; Rev 2.10.

  9.27 I punish my body and enslave it, metaphors for, respectively, enduring hardships (4.11–13) and exercising self-control (v. 25); cf. 9.12b.

  1 Corinthians 10

  Warnings from Israel’s History

  1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,a that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

  6Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christb to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. 10And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. 13No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

  14Therefore, my dear friends,c flee from the worship of idols. 15I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18Consider the people of Israel;d are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

  Do All to the Glory of God

  23“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other. 25Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience, 26for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.” 27If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—29I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

  31So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that they may be saved. 1Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

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  a Gk brothers

  b Other ancient authorities read the Lord

  c Gk my beloved

  d Gk Israel according to the flesh

  10.1–22 Paul now offers examples of the dangers of idolatry. The main topic, however, remains the question about eating meat that has come from pagan sacrifices (see vv. 19–20).