Introduction to the Letter (1:1–3)
Paul … and our brother Sosthenes (1:1). The opening sentence of the letter shows that it was jointly written by Paul and Sosthenes. Paul emphasizes his authoritative position by drawing attention to his role as an apostle of Jesus Christ; the central role of Jesus Christ is underscored throughout this opening chapter. Sosthenes is designated not as an apostle but as “our brother.” A possible candidate for this individual is the Corinthian synagogue ruler, Sosthenes, who was beaten during Paul’s time in Corinth (Acts 18:17). Other individuals of this name are known from Corinth, including a magistrate possibly during the reign of Emperor Trajan.16 Paul, however, is the main correspondent, for later he instructs them “to imitate me” (4:16).
To the church of God in Corinth (1:2). This letter is addressed to the church at Corinth in contrast to the second letter, which was also to “the saints” throughout the Roman province of Achaia. Paul uses a Greek political word for the church, ekklēsia; it implies the whole body of Christ’s people in the city. Paul provides a list of reasons why individuals could call themselves members of the church in the same way that citizens of Corinth would be able to point to certain criteria by which they could call themselves Corinthians.
The well-preserved structure of the Fountain of Peirene.
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ (1:3). The combination of grace and peace is a common formula in New Testament letters. The more usual Greek greeting, chaire, has been transformed to the Christian word for grace, charis, and linked to the Greek word for the Hebrew shalom.
Thanksgiving (1:4–9)
I always thank God … because of his grace given you (1:4). Paul follows a standard pattern in his thanksgiving for the church at Corinth. He gives particular thanks for the grace they have received undeservedly from God. In a church characterized by boasting, the members need to be reminded of what they have already received.
You have been enriched in every way (1:5). In a church that contained every shade of society (1:26), all have been enriched, not in a worldly way, but with two specific characteristics, speaking (logos) and knowledge (gnōsis). Logos and gnōsis were both characteristics valued by the elite in the Roman colony; within the church such gifts are open to all, regardless of status. The Roman orator Favorinus visited Corinth in the first part of the second century A.D. and recorded a love of public-speaking in the city.17 Paul may be placing an emphasis on speaking with meetings of the church.
Our testimony … was confirmed in you (1:6). The Greek word for “confirmed” suggests that Paul is using a legal metaphor to illustrate that God has completed a contract with the church at Corinth, marked by the evidence of the gifts of “speaking” and “knowledge.”
As you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed (1:7). The view that the present world will come to an end with the appearing of Jesus Christ is in marked contrast to the Roman worldview, which expected an unchecked continuation of its empire’s domination and authority.
That you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:8). Paul continues the legal metaphor by using the word “blameless.” The “day of the Lord” is an expression drawn from the Old Testament prophets (Amos 5:18–20; Joel 2:31), which suggests that part of the readership of Paul’s letter is Jewish.
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful (1:9). This verse draws on the imagery of the Mosaic law: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God” (Deut. 7:9). Paul is reminding individual members of the Corinthian church that whatever their social status, a faithful God will equip them for service.
Loyalties and Divisions (1:10–17)
Paul now starts a section in the letter where he responds to issues in the church brought to his attention both by a report from “Chloe’s household” (1:12) and from the personal report of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus (16:15–17).
I appeal … that … you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought (1:10). This issue of divisions in the church was clearly known by the early Christian writer Clement (c. A.D. 95). Paul uses the verb “appeal,” which usually had the meaning of writing with authority; this is no empty rhetoric, but an appeal coming from an apostle of Jesus Christ. The Corinthian church needs to take note. Paul uses two metaphors in his appeal. The word “divisions” recalls the furrows created by ploughing, whereas the vision of being “perfectly united” recalls the mending of nets (Mark 1:19).
Some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you (1:11). The members of Chloe’s household are likely domestic servants—either slaves or former slaves (so-called freedmen). Insofar as Paul writes the letter from Asia (16:19)—which probably means the city of Ephesus—the movement of slaves or freedmen between Corinth and western Turkey has been plausibly interpreted as indicating that Chloe was in fact from Asia but had settled in Corinth. A first-century example of such an individual is presented by the case of Junia Theodora, originally from Lycia (in southwestern Turkey), but who had settled in the colony and proudly called herself “resident of Corinth.”18 The word eris (“quarrels”) is often linked to divisions and strife, frequently within the political sphere. Such quarrels were characteristics of pupils in the intellectual world of the first century, where great emphasis was placed on loyalty to the master or teacher. Paul urges the Corinthians to look away from their spiritual teachers and rather to Jesus Christ.
I follow Paul … Apollos … Cephas … Christ (1:12). Paul lists the different named leaders within the Corinthian church. Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria (in Egypt), who is described as “learned” or “eloquent” (Acts 18:24). He had come under the influence of Priscilla and Aquila at Ephesus and from there had moved to Corinth. Cephas is the Aramaic name for Peter. The Greek phrase translated as “I follow” (or equally well as “I belong to”) is sometimes found inscribed on objects dedicated to the pagan gods of the Greek world. For example, an archaic column-krater (a two-handled bowl) found on the site of the later Asklepieion carries the inscription “I belong to Apollo.”19 Thus, there may be different groups within the church at Corinth who are more keen to support their own theological position than to be united in Jesus Christ. These divisions or parties are of the same sort as found in contemporary political bodies.
APHRODITE
Statue of the goddess, also known as Venus to the Romans.
Is Christ divided? (1:13). Paul uses a series of rhetorical questions to confront the church with the foolishness of their position. Thus Paul uses a means of communication that was familiar to the well educated.
Crispus and Gaius (1:14). Crispus is almost certainly to be identified with the synagogue ruler at Corinth, who with “his entire household believed in the Lord” during Paul’s first visit to the city (Acts 18:8). A synagogue ruler at Corinth is likely to have been a wealthy individual, for he was responsible for the upkeep of the building. Gaius was not only a common Roman name (note the Macedonian Gaius who accompanied Paul; Acts 19:29; 20:4), but inscriptions from Corinth show that it was a relatively common name in first-century Corinth. This Gaius is likely the same person “whose hospitality I [Paul] and the whole church here enjoy” (Rom. 16:23, a letter written from Corinth). Gaius almost certainly holds Roman citizenship; it is undoubtedly the praenomen of those freedmen who received their citizenship from Gaius Julius Caesar.
The household of Stephanas (1:16). In addition to Crispus and Gaius Paul has also baptized “the household of Stephanas” while at Corinth. The term “household” (oikos) is likely to have included not only Stephanas’s immediate family, but also those attached to the household, perhaps including slaves. This same household is mentioned later in the letter, when Paul records the delegation sent to him (16:15, 17). Stephanas, along with Crispus and Gaius, are likely to have been among the “wise,” “influential,” and those of “noble birth” (1:26) of the colony.
Not with words of human wisdom (1:17). Paul makes a distinction between using sophisticated rhetorical techniques and the preaching of the Christian gospel. He challenges the Corinthian church not to use the techniques of contemporary oratory unless they retain the cross as a central feature of their message. Paul’s worry is that if he uses special rhetorical techniques, members of the church might admire him rather than heed his message.
Wisdom and Rhetoric (1:18–31)
Paul now develops the contrast between the wisdom of the age and the message of the cross. The background to this section is perhaps the way that itinerant speakers of his day, so-called sophists, used rhetorical techniques to influence their audiences. Such oratory was widely valued, and Paul has to remind the Corinthian church that the content matters more than the presentation.
ROMAN CROSS
A model of a typical Roman cross with a nameplate on the top and two wooden beams for the arms and legs.
The message of the cross (1:18). The word “message” translates the Greek word logos. As such, it allows a distinction to be drawn between the “words of human wisdom” (1:17) and the “word” or “message” of the cross. Indeed, it is the “oratory” of the cross itself that becomes central in communication.
Those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (1:18). Paul presents the church with a new vision of world order. A Roman colony like Corinth has certain social distinctions: Roman citizen and noncitizen, slave and free, male and female. For Paul the Jew (and at the same time Roman citizen) there is the distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The Greeks made a distinction between themselves and those who do not speak Greek, whom they called by the word barbaros (see comments on 14:11). However, the new way of perceiving the world must ignore these worldly distinctions. Society consisted of two groups: those like Paul and the members of the Corinthian church (“but to us”) who can be described as “being saved,” and those outside the church “who are perishing.” Note too that those in the colony who have power but are outside the church view the cross as “foolishness”; in contrast, those considered to be foolish have experienced the power of God.
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate (1:19). Paul appeals to Isaiah 29:14 to support his argument. He quotes the Greek Septuagint version of the prophecy, although he changes the last word; the LXX reads “I will hide” rather than “I will frustrate.” The “wise” was a recognized Greek term for members of the social elite; thus, Paul is applying Old Testament Scripture to the Corinthian situation. Such an appeal would suggest that members of the Corinthian church were conversant with the Jewish Scriptures.
The wise man … the scholar … the philosopher of this age (1:20). Paul uses four rhetorical questions, which may be a deliberate allusion to another passage of Isaiah (33:18): “Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?” However, there are key differences. Paul chooses three figures representative of education in the Greek provinces of the eastern Mediterranean. The “wise man” (sophos) can be understood as a Greek philosopher. The “scholar” (grammateus) can have two meanings. In a Jewish setting, the grammateus was an expert in the Mosaic law; in the Gospels the word is translated as “the teachers of the law” (e.g., Matt. 5:20). A grammateus in the Greek world was the normal term for a “city clerk”; such a figure features in the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:35). As Paul goes on to make a distinction between Jews and Greeks (1:22), it is likely that he has in mind Jewish “teachers of the law.” “The philosopher [syzētētēs] of this age” means “the disputer of this age”; it seems likely that Paul is alluding to the emergence of itinerant orators or sophists.20
STATUE OF A SOPHIST
The world through its wisdom (1:21). The “wisdom of the world,” alluded to in the previous verse, may refer to the intellectual climate of the Roman empire. The “world” (kosmos) was a way of defining the limit of Roman rule. For example, in a decree passed by the provincial council of Asia c. A.D. 15 and found at Halikarnassos (in western Turkey), the emperor Augustus was described as “father of his country and of the whole world.”21
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom (1:22). Paul identifies two main cultural groups, “Jews” and “Greeks,” while ignoring the Romans; both Jews and Greeks could hold Roman citizenship. Paul characterizes the Jews as looking for “miraculous signs” that authenticate the coming of their Messiah. Such an interest is reflected in the Gospel of Mark, where the Pharisees, in order to test Jesus, “asked him for a sign from heaven”; Jesus replied, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it” (Mark 8:11–12). The Greeks had a reputation, which can be traced back to the Greek historian Herodotus, of a love for wisdom (sophia). Herodotus tells the story that the king of Scythia (an area adjoining the Black Sea) once sent to find out what the Greeks were like; it was reported, “all Greeks were keen for every kind of learning, except the Lacedaemonians.”22 Particular groups of Greek philosophers, such as the Stoics and Epicureans, gave discourses on “the nature of the gods” as part of their search for wisdom.
We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1:23). “Stumbling block” (skandalon) in fact implies that for the Jews the cross was a literal scandal or an offensive action. Since the Jews believed that “anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deut. 21:23), the thought of the promised Messiah being crucified on a wooden cross was scandalous. For the Gentiles (i.e., non-Jews), the preaching of the crucified Christ seemed ridiculous. Jesus had been convicted by the Roman governor of a province of the empire and had been crucified according to Roman law. The idea that a criminal could be the Christ was regarded as foolish. Such views about Christianity can be detected in the correspondence between Pliny the Younger, governor of the province of Bithynia (in northwest Turkey), and the Roman emperor Trajan.23
Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth (1:26). Paul makes an important statement here about the status of members of the Corinthian church. In a Roman colony organized in terms of citizenship, birth, and wealth, membership of the church was purely on the basis of calling (a theme first developed at 1:24). Paul identifies three groups here: the “wise” (sophoi), the “influential” or those who held power (dynatoi) in the colony, and those of “noble birth” (lit., “well born”). These three terms describe the social elite of the Roman colony and may have been used as marks of pride. The fact that “not many” were called does imply that a few members of the Corinthian church were drawn from the elite of Corinthian society. In other words, the message of Jesus Christ was reaching the full range of social strata at Corinth (and presumably elsewhere).
The foolish things of the world … the weak things of the world … the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not (1:27–28). The elite of Corinthian society may well have despised the lower members who perhaps did not hold Roman citizenship. Certainly the orators or sophists of the day would have ridiculed the foolish, the weak, the lowly, the despised, and the nobodies. Yet it was this latter group who had been chosen by God. Paul is using a recognized rhetorical technique of constructing arguments from opposites. The Greek uses the neuter—conveyed by the translation “things”—to outline the attributes of the individuals called by God.24
No one may boast before him (1:29). “To boast” regularly features in the Corinthian letters. The sophists regularly boasted of their status. If educated members of the social elite were taking positions of leadership in the Corinthian church, they may have being using oratorical skills to “boast” of their own social position, emphasizing that they were “wise,” “influential,” or of “noble birth.” Paul makes it clear that such boasting has no place in the church.
Let him who boasts boast in the Lord (1:31). Paul supports his argument with Jeremiah 9:24, but replaces “about this” with “in the Lord.” Those familiar with the Old Testament would be able to complete the quotation that resonates with the issues of the preceding verses: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight” (Jer. 9:23–24).