The Jewish Annotated New Testament (259 page)

8
:
Wages,
the reward for being righteous, a common metaphor (Jer 17.10; LXX Ps 61.13 ; Plutarch,
Mor
. 183D;
Ant
. 1.183; 18.309).

9
:
Servants
(Gk “synergoi”), lit., “co-workers.”
God’s field, God’s building
, images of Israel as God’s plantings are found in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Jer 24.6; Ezek 16.7) and also as God’s temple in Qumran literature (1QS 8.5–9; 11.8); they underlie parables describing God’s relationship to Israel in agricultural and architectural terms (e.g., Mt 20.1–16; 7.21–28;
m
.
Avot
2.15;
b. Ber
. 64a;
y
.
Ber
. 2.8;
Avot de R. Natan A
24.1).

3.10
–17: Builder and buildings
.

3.10
:
Skilled master builder
, lit., “wise architect” (“sophos architecton”), a common metaphor (see, e.g., Philo,
Dreams
2.8).

13
:
The Day
, judgment day, “Day of the Lord,” a common motif in Second Temple literature (
1 En
. 96.2;
Sib. Or
. 3.55,741; 4Q163 frags. 6–7; 2.11; see also Rom 13.12; 1 Cor 5.5; 1 Thess 5.4). In prophetic texts (e.g., Isa 13.6; Joel 1.15; Am 9.11), “the Day of the Lord” (Heb “yom YHWH”), sometimes called “the day,” “that day,” or “those days,” is a technical term referring to God’s judgment, sometimes of Israel, sometimes of the nations.
Fire
, not hellfire but metaphorically, testing, a biblical, Second Temple, and rabbinic metaphor (e.g., Num 31.22–23; Isa 43.2; Ezek 22.18–22; Mal 3.3; Ps 12.7; 66.10–12; Wis 3.4–6;
Sib. Or
. 3.85;
L.A.B
. 25.13;
T. Abr
. 13.11–14;
b. Sanh
. 93a).

14
:
Reward
, wages (see 3.8n.).

15
:
Through fire
, see Dan 3.50; 1 Pet 4.12–17;
L.A.B
. 6.16–18.

16
–17
:
You
, plural. “Ekklēsia” constitutes
God’s temple
as a corporate entity, which Paul identifies with the “body of Christ” (12.27). Paul uses “naos
”
(lit., “sanctuary”) for the
temple
, also used for the Jerusalem Temple (LXX 1 Sam 1.9; identified as holy throughout the Psalms, e.g., LXX Ps 5.8); 1 Cor 6.19 uses “temple” (without the definite article) to refer to each member of the community. The Qumran community referred to itself as a sanctuary (“biet qodesh,” 1QS 8.5–9;
T
.
Levi
^ar
“Aramaic Testament of Levi” Bodleian Col. b 19).

3.18
–23: Reversal of standards
.

19
: Job 5.12–13.

20
: Ps 94.11. Paul modifies the biblical verses to fit his rhetorical needs. See also 1.19n. Juxtaposing biblical passages is a common rabbinic hermeneutical method.

21
:
Boast
, see 1.29n.

22
: See 1.12n.
All things are yours
, lit., “all are yours,” a Stoic slogan.

23
:
Belongs to
, is subject to. See “Paul and the Trinity,” p.
293
, and 15.28.

4.1
–5: Eschatological judgment
.

1
:
Servants
(“hupēretēs,” lit., “under-rowers,” those on the bottom deck) …
stewards
(“oikonomos,” “one who oversees the household”), see 3.5,9.

3
–4
:
Judge
, human verdicts are a
small thing
, as opposed to final judgment (see 3.13n.; 11.31–2). Paul uses juridical language also in 6.1–8; 9.13–14. For the beginning of the verse, see also Job 27.6.
I am not aware … not thereby acquitted
, Paul makes clear here that one’s insight into one’s own actions or character must give way to the
Lord who judges
; see his comments in Rom 7.15,18–19,23.

5
:
Do not pronounce judgment
, see Mt 7.1; Lk 6.37.
Bring to light
, reveal the
hidden
eschatological scenario.
Disclose
, relating to God’s far superior knowledge (see Ps 44.21 [Heb v. 22]; Prov 24.12).
Purposes of the heart
, see Jer 11.20.

4.6
–21: Apostolic admonitions. 6
: The Greek is enigmatic.
Apollos
, see 1.12n.; 3.4–6,11,22; 16.12.
Nothing beyond
, perhaps invoked to remind the Corinthians that Paul and Apollos derive their teaching from scripture, unlike “false” apostles (2 Cor 11.13) who teach secret knowledge
beyond
the text (see
1 En
. 104.10–11).
Puffed up
, or “inflated” (4.18–19; 5.2; 8.1; 13.4), arrogance based on knowledge (see Rom 15.4; Philo,
Leg. Gai
. 86; 4QCatenaa frag. 5;
Sib. Or
. 3.738–39).

7
:
Sees anything different
, “distinguishes between” or “renders judgment about,” employing a form of the same verb (“diakrinō
”
) used in 6.5; 11.29,31; 14.29. Paul scolds the Corinthians for judging others and touting knowledge as earned rather than as a
gift
.

8
:
Rich
, possibly the wealth of the gospel, whose benefits the Corinthians have already enjoyed as holy ones who have won favorable judgments. For wealth as representing wisdom and righteousness either simply or metaphorically, see Prov 14.24; Tob 4.21; Sir 30.15;
m. Avot
4.1. Paul is being ironic: the Corinthians presume they are
kings
, when the kingdom has not yet come. See Wis 6.21.

9
:
Death
…
spectacle
, the public nature of the apostles’ work exposed them to ridicule and assaults (4.11), like criminals tortured and killed in the amphitheatre.
To angels
, Paul imagines a cosmic arena (see 11.10n.).

10
:
Fools
, used both ironically (1.21,25; 2.14; 3.18–19) as here, and straightforwardly (1.18,23,27). Contrast 1.27–28: the Corinthians’ hubris is antithetical to God’s call.

11
–13
: Lists of tribulations are common rhetorical devices attesting the admirable steadfastness of the sufferer (Plutarch,
Mor
. 326 D-E;
2 En
. 66.6; Josephus,
J.W
. 2.151–53;
m. Pesah
. 10.5;
m. B. Kamma
1.1,4). See also Isa 53; Mt 5.3–11,39–45; 2 Cor 4.7–12.

12
:
Work of our own hands
, the Bible commends handiwork, and rabbis were to have trades (
m. Avot
2.2; 4.5;
t. Qidd
. 1.11;
b. Qidd
. 29a; for Paul, see 16.19; Acts 18.1–3); generally, the Greek elite disparaged manual labor.

14
:
Children
, common term for disciples (see Deut 14.1; Ps. 103.13; Prov. 22.6;
m. B. Metz
. 2.11).

15
:
Guardians
(“paidagōgous,” whence “pedagogue”) of young children, see Gal 3.24–25.
Father
(“pater”; see 1 Thess 2.11–12; Philem 10), evoking the responsibilities of the Roman “paterfamilias,” including shaping his children’s moral character. Deut 6.7; Prov 3.12;
b
.
Qidd
. 22a; 29a; etc. include moral instruction among a father’s duties.
B. Sanh
. 19b compares teaching Torah to fathering a child.

16
:
Imitators
, Jewish and Greek teachers encouraged “mimesis” or “imitation” for their disciples (Xenophon,
Mem
. 1.6.3;
b
.
Ber
. 62a; see also Lk 6.40).

17
:
Timothy
, 16.10–11; Acts 16.3; Rom 16.21; 2 Cor 1.1,19; Phil 1.1; 2.19,22; 1 Thess 1.1; 3.2,6; and the addressee of 1 and 2 Timothy.
Child
, continuing the familial metaphor (Phil 2.22; 1 Tim 1.2; 2 Tim 1.2).
Ways
, see Jer 21.8–14; Sir 15.11–17;
Did
. 1, 5–6.

18
:
Arrogant
, see 4.6n.

19
–20
:
Talk
, philosophical rhetoric vs. God’s
power
.

21
:
Stick
, for pedagogical discipline, Prov 13.24; Diogenes Laertius (third century),
Vit. Phil
. 6.

5.1
–8: Community purity.

1
:
Sexual immorality
(“porneia”) …
among pagans
, Paul scolds the Corinthian community for tolerating behavior that even idolaters would condemn regarding the case in question; on associating sexual immorality with idolatry see e.g., Ezek 6.9; 23.37; Rom 1.14–27;
Sib. Or
. 3.37–8.
Living with his father’s wife
, Roman (Gaius,
Inst
. 1.63) and Jewish law (Lev 18.7–8; Pseudo-Phocylides,
Sent
. 179; 11Q19 66.12; Philo,
Spec. Laws
3.20–28;
m. Ker
. 1.1) prohibited sexual relations between stepson and stepmother.

2
:
Arrogant
, see 4.6n.
Mourned
, because of the punishment for sin (Ezra 10.6; Neh 1.4).
Removed
, expelled (Deut 17.7, quoted in v. 13), see Ezra 7.26; Mt 18.15–18; 1 Tim 1.18–20; 1QS 7.1–2.