The Jewish Annotated New Testament (265 page)

19
:
For this life
, to receive only this-world benefits (see
2 Bar
. 21.13).

15.20
–28: Christ’s victory. 20
:
First fruits
, the first of many; the sign of the anticipated general resurrection.

21
:
Human
, Adam, who brought sin and death into the world (15.22n.; 45–47); Jesus removed them (see 1.7–8; 11.26). On the messiah as an anti-type to Adam see Rom 5.14–15;
Gen. Rab
. 8.1.

22
:
All die
, Adam’s sin introduced mortality (see Gen 3.19), a widespread interpretation (Wis 2.24;
1 En
. 69.11;
L.A.E
. 44.1;
Apoc. Mos
. 14.2;
L.A.B
. 13.8;
Gen. Rab
. 8.11; 16.6;
Sifra
27a).
Made alive
, resurrected, (Dan 12.2; 2 Macc 7.9ff.;
T. Sim
. 6.7;
T. Jud
. 25.1, 4;
T. Zeb
. 10.2;
T. Benj
. 10.7;
1 En
. 51.1–2,
Pss. Sol
. 2.31; 3.12;
m. Sanh
. 10.1;
b. Sanh
. 90b–91a; Maimonides,
Commentary on the Mishneh, Sanhedrin
10.1).

23
:
At his coming
, when Christ returns (see 1.7–8).

24
:
Hands over
, God assumes sovereignty after the messiah has
destroyed every ruler
(
1 En
. 53.5; 55.4;
Pss. Sol
. 2.30)
and every authority
(or dominion)
and power
, earthly and demonic forces (Isa 24.21–22;
1 En
. 54.5).

25
: Rabbinic tradition similarly distinguishes between the messianic era and the world to come (
b. Ber
. 34b).
Under his feet
, Ps 110.1.

26
:
Death
, perhaps personified, God’s enemy (see
Pss. Sol
. 7.4;
L.A.B
. 3.10; 33.3). In Isa 25.8 (Heb), God “will swallow up death forever,” but in LXX “Death … swallowed them [the nations] up,” at which point God will take away their tears.
Destroyed
, through resurrection.

27
: Ps 8.6.
In subjection
, to the messiah (see 3.22).

28
:
To him
, the messiah.
The one
, God. See “Paul and the Trinity,” p.
293
.

15.29
–34: Exhortations to correct belief
.

29
:
On behalf of the dead
, interpreted as washing the dead, posthumous baptism, or martyrdom, the phrase can be translated “for the sake of the dead”; Mormons cite this verse in support of posthumous baptisms (
Doctrine and Covenants
128.15–16).

30
:
Danger
, hardships experienced by apostles.

32
:
Merely human hopes
, or “in human terms.”
Wild animals
, Paul’s opposition (see 16.8).
Let us eat
, Isa 22.13, invoked sarcastically and caricaturing Epicureanism.

33
:
Deceived
, by fatalistic philosophies.
Bad company
, quoting the playwright Menander (d. 292 BCE;
Thaïs
, frag. 218) to impugn the source of resurrection-denial.

15.35
–58: The resurrected body. 35
: Rabbinic literature speculates about the form of the resurrected body; Roman-period Jewish epitaphs suggest that some understood resurrection as non-bodily (
b. Sanh
. 90b–91a;
b. Ketub
. 11a–b;
y. Kil
. 12.3;
Gen. Rab
. 14.5;
Eccl. Rab
. 1.4;
BS
2.130,
CIJ
788).

36
–38
:
Seed
, see 3.8–9;
dies
, for the same resurrection metaphor, see Jn 12.24;
b. Sanh
. 90b. Greco-Roman biology thought both human and plant seeds (“sperma”) contained a fully formed embryo.

39
: See Gen 1.11–12.

40
:
Heavenly
, of celestial material.
Earthly
, of terrestrial substance.
Glory
(see 11.7n.), radiance, often depicted as a garment (see 15.53; Rom 13.14; 2 Cor 5.4; Phil 3.21;
1 En
. 62.15;
Pss. Sol
. 11.7). Some Jewish literature depicts astral objects as bodies encased in light; one midrash describes Adam and Eve’s clothing (Gen 3.21) as “garments of light,” based on a pun of “garments of skin (‘or’)” and “light (’or)” (
1 En
. 18.13–16; 21.3–6; Philo,
Planting
3 [12];
Gen. Rab
. 20.12).

41
: Belief that human essence consisted of the same ethereal, luminous substance as celestial bodies led to the idea that souls become stars (see Cicero,
Somn. Scip
. 3; Dan 12.2–3).

42
:
Sown
, the body in which one is born.
Imperishable
, unsusceptible to disease, death, and decay.

43
:
Dishonor
, correlating conception and birth with death or
weakness
(Philo,
Heir
52–58).
Power
, both God’s power, namely Christ (1.24; 2.5), and the manifestation of that power by believers (2.4; 12.10).

44
:
Physical
(“psychikon”). …
spiritual
(“pneumatikon”), see 2.14, which contrasts these terms.

45
: Gen 2.7. God infused Adam with earthly breath-matter (“pnoē”), not heavenly spirit (“pneuma”).
Life-giving
, enlivening believers with divine
spirit
.

46
:
Physical
…
then the spiritual
, reversing the order of creation (see 15.47; Plato,
Tim
. 29b–31a; Philo,
On the Creation
134, 141).

47
: Philo, familiar with Platonic ideas, also understands Gen 2 as describing “earthly man” and Gen 1 as describing the “heavenly man” (
Leg. all
. 1.31; see also
Dreams
1.33). Some rabbinic literature portrays the first human as having two natures, one heavenly and one earthly (
Gen. Rab
. 8.11).

49
:
Image
, in rabbinic literature, the image of God refers either to humanity’s spiritual nature or physical resemblance to God (
t. Ber
. 4.1;
Gen. Rab
. 8.9;
Lev. Rab
. 34.3;
Deut. Rab
. 11.3).

50
:
Flesh and blood
, a common postbiblical term for the human body (Sir 14.18; Philo,
Heir
12 [57];
b. Sanh
. 91a). The resurrected body is compositionally different from the mortal body (see 15.42n.). The Talmud considers how God refashions a body from decomposed flesh and blood (
b. Sanh
. 90b–91a).

51
–52
:
Mystery
, see 2.1n.; Rom 16.25; 1Q27 frag. 1, col. 1; 1QH
^a
9.21–25.
Die
, believers will have their earthly bodies
changed
into spiritual bodies.
Trumpet
, Joel 2.1, referring to the impending “day of the Lord,” connected to the resurrection in
Pss. Sol
. 11.1; 4Q496 col. 4 frag. 11.3–4;
b. Rosh Ha-Shanah
16b;
Tg. Ps.-J
. to Ex 20.15; see 3.13n.; 1 Thess 4.13–18; 2 Cor 5.1–5.

53
:
Put on
, see 15.40n.; Rom 13.12,14; Gal 3.27.

54
: Compare Isa 25.7.

55
: Compare Hos 13.14.

56
:
Sin
, rebellion against God, which introduced
death
.
Law
, because it reveals sin and specifies punishments.

57
:
Victory
, God’s vanquishing sin and death by Jesus’ death and resurrection (see 1.24).

16.1
–4: The collection. 1
:
Collection
, for the Jerusalem church (see Gal 2.10; 2 Cor 8–9). By accepting this offering, Jerusalem church leaders would signal their recognition of Paul’s Gentile congregations. Jerusalem remained central to the early church as it was for non-apocalyptic Jews, as evidenced by diaspora Jewish communities’ right to export money for their Temple contribution.

2
:
First day
, Sunday.

16.5
–24: Plans and farewells. 8
:
Pentecost
, Feast of Weeks (Heb “Shavuot”); for the church, the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2.1–42).

10
:
Timothy
, see 4.17.