The Jewish Annotated New Testament (260 page)

3
–4
: Paul “in absentia” judged the sinner guilty.

5
:
Satan
(see 1 Cor 7.5; 2 Cor 12.17; 1 Tim 1.20), God’s agent, as in Job 2.6. In rabbinic literature, Satan preys on human weakness and prosecutes sinners in the heavenly court (
b. Git
. 52a;
Pesiq. Rab
. 185b–186a); according to
1 En
. 53.3, he is the angel who destroys the wicked at the last judgment.
Destruction of the flesh
, bodily decay preceding the
day of the Lord
.
Saved
, rescued from damnation.
Day of the Lord
, see 1.8n.; 3.13.

6
:
Boasting
, see 1.29n., 4.7.
Leavens
, that which puffs up or causes
boasting
(Hos 7.4; Mt 16.6; Gal 5.9;
Mek
.
Beshallah
3 on Ex 14.11).

7
–8
:
Clean out
, removing leaven in preparation for Passover (Ex 12.15; 13.7).
Unleavened
, evoking the bread eaten at Passover with the
paschal lamb
, interpreted as Christ
sacrificed
at Passover (see Ex 12.8,21; Jn 1.29; Acts 8.32; 1 Pet 1.19; Rev 5.6).
Festival
, the communal meal of the “ekklēsia” (see
2 En
. 68.9).
Old yeast
, a metaphor for evil (
b. Ber
. 17a).

5.9
–13: Eschewing evil. 9
: This
letter
is no longer extant; parts may be contained in 2 Cor. See 7.1.
Not to associate
, see Ps 1.1–2; 101.
Sexually immoral
, see 5.1n.

11
:
Eat,
table fellowship includes only those who maintain their holy status (see Josephus,
J.W
. 2.129–33; 1QS 6.2–5,16–17,20–21, vs. Mk 2.16). Vice lists were common rhetorical devices, e.g., 6.9–10; Jer 7.9; Hos 4.2; Wis 14.24–27; Mk 7.21–23; Rom 1.29–31; 2 Cor 12.20–21; Gal 5.19–21; 1QS 4.9–11; Philo,
Sacr
. 5 [32];
Apoc. Abr
. 24.6–25.3;
1 En
. 10.20; 91.6–7;
Jub
. 7.20–21; 21.21; 23.14.

12
–13
:
Inside
, believers only judge other insiders. Judgment of
those outside
is God’s purview (see 5.4n.). Paul quotes Deut 13.5; 17.7, and other passages (applying to idolatry and other misdeeds) to justify expulsion for immoral behavior; he is not, however, advocating capital punishment.

6.1
–8: Lawsuits and grievances. 1
:
Saints
(see 1.2n.) are accountable to the “law of Christ” (9.21), not Roman law.
Court
, Jewish communities outside Judea constituted semi-autonomous legal bodies (see Phil 3.20) that adjudicated noncapital offenses. However, there is no evidence for such a court in Corinth. Halakhic literature suggests Jews were expected to settle noncapital intra-Jewish violations of Jewish norms in local Jewish courts, yet Egyptian papyri suggest that some Jews did take divorce cases to Gentile courts (
m. Sanh
. 1–3;
b. Git
. 88b).

2
:
Judge
, i.e., in the final judgment (see LXX Dan 7.22; Wis 3.8; 9.12; Sir 4.15; 1QpHab 5.4). In some Jewish accounts, Israel judges the Gentiles (
Jub
. 32.19;
T. Abr
. 13.6; see also Dan 7.21–22; Rabbi David Kimchi on Isa 11.14 and 14.1).

3
:
Angels
are subject to the saints’ judgment (Dan 4.14; 2 Pet 2.4; Jude 1.6–15;
1 En
. 14.21–24; 15; 19; 21; 41.9; 46.7;
y
.
Shabb
. 6.10 [8d];
b. Sanh
. 38b).

4
:
Those … no standing
, pagans.

6
:
Believer
, lit., “brother”; pagan philosophers were also appalled that siblings would sue each other (see Plutarch,
Mor
. 481B).

7
–8
: Paul accuses church members of wronging each other by their appeals to the Roman judiciary system.

6.9
–11
:
Vice lists.
See 5.11n.
Fornicators
(“pornoi”), translated as “sexually immoral persons” (see 5.1,9–11).
Male prostitutes
(“malakoi”), lit., “soft,” referring to moral and physical weakness, and perhaps also to being sexually submissive or coerced;
sodomites
(“arsenokoitai,” a term of uncertain meaning combining “male” and “bed”), perhaps those guilty of coercing others sexually. The translation is not a good one, since the original reference has nothing to do with Sodom (Gen 19) and the term “sodomite” does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, even in reference simply to residents of Sodom. See also 1 Tim 1.10;
Sib. Or
. 2.73; Lev 18.20; 20.13.

10
:
Inherit the kingdom
, see 15.50; Mt 25.34; 19.29; Mk 10.17; Lk 10.25; 18.18; Gal 5.21.

11
:
Used to be
, their pagan immorality should have been expunged by their being
washed
(baptized).
Sanctified
, purified from sinful ways and set apart from idolatrous Gentiles; the Gk (“hēgiathēte”) corresponds to the Heb “qidash” or rarely “kipper” (Ex 19.14; 29.36; Lev 11.44; see also 1.30 and 2.16).
Justified
(Heb “tzadaq”), vindicated or acquitted before God; the term draws on Roman juridical and Jewish prophetic language (Isa 43.9,26; Mic 6.11).

6.12
–20: The body. 12
:
All things are lawful
, a Corinthian slogan (see 7.1; 10.23), consistent with some Greek philosophical views (Epictetus,
Diatr
. 41.1; Dio Chrys.,
Or
. 3.10).

13
:
Food is meant for the stomach … food
, this may be another Corinthian slogan; the claim may have developed as a reaction against Jewish dietary laws (see Mk 7.9).
Destroy
, in the resurrection.
Fornication
(“porneia”), sexual immorality. Paul is concerned that once polluted by fornication, the spiritual body would be unfit for resurrection (6.14;
1 En
. 15.3–7 notes the incommensurability of spiritual and physical bodies).

14
: See 15.51–52; Paul and contemporary Jewish literature see resurrection as both preceding final judgment (1 Cor 6.2;
T. Benj
. 10.7–10), and as referring to eternal life after the judgment (Rom 2.7 and 1 Cor 4.4;
Pss. Sol
. 3.12).

15
: The church is the “body of Christ” (see 12.12–27). Jewish literature often portrays Israel as a body (Isa 10.18;
y
.
Ned
. 9.4;
Mek. R. Shimon bar Yohai
on Ex 19.6).

16
:
The two
, in LXX Gen 2.24 but not in the Heb. Like Philo (
Giants
13.58–15.65), Paul interprets the effects of immoral intercourse on the body described here as corrupting a person’s divine nature.

17
:
United
, still echoing Gen 2.24.

18
:
Shun fornication
, see Prov 5.3; 6.23–7.27; Sir 9.6; 19.2;
T. Reuben
5.5. An allusion to Gen 39 is also possible.
Against the body itself
, which Paul relates to the “spiritual” body to be resurrected.

19
:
Temple
(see 3.16–17n.), container for God’s Holy Spirit.

20
:
Bought
, redeemed from their captivity to sin (see Isa 50.1).
Price
, Jesus’ crucifixion (see 1.30; 15.3), a pun on “timē” (“honor,” “[granting] appropriate worth [to]”), which also means “worship” or “glorify” (see LXX Ps 8.6); see 1 Cor 7.23.
Glorify God
by remaining pure
in your body
.

7.1
–7: Sexuality in marriage. 1
: “
It is well,…”
another Corinthian slogan (see 6.12n.); their asceticism may have been influenced by Isis worship, teachings associated with Jesus (Mt 19.12), Paul himself (7.7), or eschatological concerns.

2
:
His own wife … her own husband
, marriage helps avoid immorality (see Tob 4.12;
T. Levi
9.9–10). Monogamous marriage, in this view, is the only permitted relationship.

3
:
Conjugal rights
, Jewish tradition mandates a certain frequency of sexual intercourse according to a man’s profession; it also discusses limited periods of voluntary abstinence (see
m. Ketub
. 5.6;
t. Ned
. 5.6).

5
:
Deprive … set time
, for example, abstaining from sexual intercourse before prayer or other contact with the Divine (Ex 19.15;
T. Naph
. 8.8; Philo,
Life of Moses
2.68–9;
Sifre Num
. on Num 12.1 [99];
Ex. Rab
. 19; 46.3;
Avot de R. Natan
9.39;
Tanh
. 111.46,
b. Pesah
. 87b;
b. Shabb
. 87a;
Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum
3.982).
Lack of self-control,
see 1 Thess 4.3–6: Paul regards sexual license as part of Gentile culture.

6
:
Concession
, celibacy is preferable to marriage.

7
:
As I myself am
, Paul is celibate. There is no evidence that Paul married.
Gift
, see 3.5–9; 7.17–24; 10–13.