From: A Torah
Commentary on First Corinthians 1-6 Return to Home
By Roland H. Worth,
Jr. © 2011
Chapter 2: [Page 24]
The
Historical and Social Context
1.
Overview of the City’s History
When
a Roman army destroyed the city in 146 BC, it did a thorough job: the enemy was thoroughly routed; the males
were put to the sword and surviving women and children promptly enslaved.[1] The city walls were torn down, the buildings
smashed, and anything burnable was set to the torch.[2] Unfortunately for the victors,
In
spite of the vast destruction inflicted by the conquerors (a devastation so
widespread that it entered into the written tradition as total and complete),[4]
enough remained to permit a modest remnant of the city to continue to exist on
the spot,[5]
though not without most of the surviving buildings being abandoned.[6] The Romans formally refounded the community a
century later with retired veterans of Roman legions[7]
(as well as freedmen from the empire’s capital itself)[8] as
the core elements of the
Although the revived
After
its re-founding, the same factor of strategic commercial location importance
resulted in the town again mushrooming into a major metropolis. Hence, in Paul’s day,
Two-thirds of the population was likely slave and one-third free.[19] Of the latter,
[Page 25] an
unknown number (though certainly modest in proportion to the total) enjoyed
Roman citizenship as well--that did not automatically come with being free.[20]
Politically, it served as the capital
of the
On
the local level, the city controlled Corinthia, whose geographic boundaries
went northward to
An 1800 foot high promontory soared into the sky behind the city and was known as the Acrocorinth. It protected the city from hostile approach from that direction. The city walls ran out from its edges and the circuit that brought it back to the Acrocorinth was six miles in length.[27] They encompassed an area exceeding four square kilometers.[28]
Ancient
cities were infamous for cramming multitudes of people into a very small
space. Regardless of the total residents,
estimated population density of Roman cities was that of modern slums—around 200
people per acre.[29]
2.
Ports
As a major trading port, it was the meeting place of a wide variety of cultures, nationalities, and cults.[32] Many of their people were permanent residents; large numbers, however, were simply temporarily resident foreigners.[33]
The
metropolis was blessed with two major nearby harbors: Lechaeum faced on the
Smaller
boats could be dragged across the isthmus on a special paved path built to
accommodate such vessels.[39] Strabo dubs the runway a “haul-across.”[40]
Utilizing it saved a sea journey of 200 sea miles from one side of the peninsula
to the other.[41] It also did double duty as the shortest
roadway for unloaded freight between the two seas.[42]
[Page 26] At first glance either approach sounds
counter-productive and time-wasteful. On
the other hand, the sea route around the
This natural danger served
to enhance the revenues of the province:
Fees were collected on all merchandise shipped through the city and its
ports.[46] Commerce was expedited, the locals gained new
sources of employment, the government obtained more revenue—a mixture which
brought a large measure of satisfaction to all parties concerned.
Yet
building a canal to connect the two bodies of water still enjoyed a natural
appeal to remove the ever-present danger of travel by sea. As far back as the third century B.C.,
Macedon’s king Demetrius dreamed of the possibility as did Julius Caesar much
later.[47] Nero actually began the effort during his
reign but the project was ultimately abandoned and only completed in the late
1800s.[48] Even so, major efforts had been poured into
the first century effort before it was closed down. For example, after the Jews were conquered in
A.D. 70, some six thousand prisoners were put to work on0 the project.[49]
Pliny viewed the various
failures as an indication that the very idea was sacriligious in nature.[50] Strabo the geographer was more realistic in
his evaluation: of the effort of Demetrius
in particular, he recorded that his engineers argued against the feasibility of
the project.[51] The failure to successfully complete the undertaking
even in the days of Nero and his successors argues that their objections were
fundamentally sound. There was likely
also a strong undercurrent of discretely expressed local opposition as
well: in the short-term such a massive
building project would bring further prosperity to
3. Economy
Strabo refers to the pivotal location of the city as the underlying reason for its booming economy, “Corinth is called ‘wealthy’ because of its place of trade, lying on the isthmus and being master of two harbors, of which one leads directly to Asia, and the other to Italy; and it makes easy the exchange of merchandise from both countries which are so far away from each other.”[53]
The
[Page 27] feet
in width and about six hundred feet long.
Around it were many businesses, some of which appear to have been
taverns.[56] The Road itself was an impressive forty feet
in width and was paved,[57]
making transport that much easier and more convenient. As it entered the agora, one passed under a
massive arch with two chariots on top—one was driven by the sun god Helius and
the other by Phaethon, his son.[58]
Local
businesses produced goods for domestic, regional, and international sales. Its location between two seaports made it a
“natural,” for the latter of course. Most
businesses were small ones and might be located anywhere space was available
within the city. On the other hand,
there tended to be a concentration of specific trades on certain blocks of the
community.[59] This made it easier for potential buyers to
find them and permitted the cementing of socio-business ties among small
business people that were so important in a culture without a government social
“safety net” for death and hard times.
These
businesses were, typically, “small” businesses indeed. Excavations near the market reveal the
typical one to have been only four meters in depth. The height was about the same and the store
frontage on the street measured the same--or even less.[60]
A
trading center required banking facilities and
Its
pottery exports also gained an international reputation.[66] The region was also renowned as the source of
“Corinthian brass,” a combination of copper, gold, and silver.[67]
In Roman Corinth, however, the production of this product may never have
reached the amount poured forth from the earlier incarnation of the city.[68]
From
the standpoint of providing local needs for the community, the city was well
situated. Nearby were the two rivers
Longopotamus and
4.
Intellectual and Cultural Life
The
city cultivated the image of a place of learning. Although
[Page 28] light
of all
The
major “name” individual connected with the city’s intellectual community was
that of Diogenes the Cynic.[73] Indeed, he was buried just outside the city
gates.[74]
At a
later date, Demetrius the Cynic did much teaching in the community.[75] In light of the philosophical allegiance of
these two individuals, it is perhaps not surprising that in the first center
AD,
Even
so, the cultural gloss needed to enjoy their wealth and satisfy their ego was
not neglected. At least two major
theaters provided periodic entertainment for the public. A large hillside one could hold up to 20,000
people, though some estimates prefer a large but yet lower capacity.[78] The Romans reconstructed the facility so that
gladiatorial contests could be held there as well.[79] In
this mode, it enjoyed great popularity as well.[80] Much of Greek culture was exported into that
of
A smaller roofed theater (called
an odeum) was the site for musical concerts and could hold an audience of 3,000
viewers.[81] Periodically plays would be presented there
as well.[82]
5.
Moral Behavior
The
negative side of the community’s public image was it’s fabled anything goes
attitude. “To live like a Corinthian”[83] (the
playwright Aristophanes)[84] and
“to corinthiate”[85] were
still, in Paul’s day, popular expressions to describe anyone given to an
excessive and uncontrolled lifestyle. In
a similar vein, a prostitute was still known by the euphemism of a “Corinthian
girl”[86]
(Plato).[87] To have “the Corinthian disease” meant one
had contracted a sexually transmitted disease of some type.[88]
Paul
summed up well the popular image of Corinthians when he described the mentality
of those who denied the resurrection, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we
die” (
There may be an element of exaggeration in this portrayal, however. Some have
[Page 29] suggested
that it grew out of intra-Greek competition for the role of most cultured and
respected city of the region. Or out of
the earlier conflicts for regional dominance between
What
with
6. Religion [94]
The most important deity
of the pre-destruction metropolis was Astarte/Aphrodite and she continued to be
popular in
The two modest temples of
the Roman period strongly imply that the number of such individuals had
plummeted by the era of Paul.[98] Indeed, the reliability of Strabo’s assertion
concerning the earlier period has itself been challenged.[99] Certainly Strabo’s rather snide insistence
that it was “on account of these women that the city was crowded with people
and grew rich”[100]—which
blatantly overlooks that the city was superbly situated for international
trade—argues that there was far more of an agenda driving the rhetoric than a
mere description of the city.
According
to John T. Bristow, the prostitutes of Aphrodite came in two forms: a large number of slaves which the temple
owned and an elite of hetairai. “Hetairai
in the Hellenized world were among the most educated of women, well dressed and
skillful in applying cosmetics and adorning themselves, often able to discuss
philosophy and literature with their educated clientele. The freedom and status of the hetairai
within Greek society often exceeded that of married women.”[101]
Other
goddesses found a place in the city as well.
Athena was cherished because of the local tie-in with her myth: she had assisted Bellerophon capture Pegasus,
a powerful winged horse, while it was drinking at a fountain in
Hera
had her dedicated devotees in the city.[103] As did the fabled Artemis in her Ephesian
incarnation.[104] Kore was another import from
[Page 30] (=
Persephone) and Demeter were common to all major cities of the Empire.[106] (Kore, Demeter, and Isis [below] are
classified under the “mystery religion” category in that they claimed to
provide special esoteric insights not provided to other religious groups of the
day.)[107] Cybelle-Attis was worshipped,[108]
though there was no temple in the city in Paul’s day.[109]
Male gods had their place, too, of course. The god Asclepius (alternatively spelled
Asklepios) was honored both in his own right and for the healing he could bring
to sufferers.[110] Shrines existed in his honor at three hundred
known sites, of which
Apollo enjoyed a temple in
his honor and it had a massive statue of the god.[113] As an imperially (re)founded city, it is not
surprising to find the emperor cult a popular one.[114] Heracles[115]
was also reverenced as was Jupiter Capitolinus.[116] Similarly, Dionysus and Hermes had their
local groups of devotees.[117]
Poseidon
(=
International
trade and diplomacy also brought deities from far away. Isis and Serapis, though Egyptian gods, enjoyed
places of worship within the town.[121] Literary sources refer two shrines for
There
were so many gods in the world that it was recognized that not all of them
might have a shrine in the municipality.
To be sure that proper honor was given to all due it, one temple even had
the dedication engraved on it, to “all the gods.”[123]
In
this ocean of polytheism there was a sprinkling of monotheists. Philo refers to a large Jewish community.[124] Acts 18:4 mentions a synagogue, but the only
archaeological evidence so far uncovered comes from an inscription referring to
the one existing as of the second or third century.[125] This may or may not have been identical with
the one Paul knew, though the probability seems to be more against it.
7.
Introduction of Christianity
The
embryo of the congregation already existed before Paul’s departure from
Paul began a series of discussions “in the synagogue every Sabbath” (18:4) and spoke to convert “both Jews and Greeks” (18:4). The reference could be to teaching
[Page 31] publicly to Jews in the synagogue in contrast with private teaching in other places of Greeks. Far more likely is the probability that this is to be taken as an indication that the synagogue consisted of both ethnic Jews as well as Greek proselytes to the faith.
After Timothy and Silas joined him in the city (18:5), a breaking point was reached. Certain Jewish traditionalists so “opposed” and “blasphemed” what was being said, that the apostle washed his hands of the synagogue and publicly declared, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles” (18:6).
At this point he “departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue” (18:7). The use of “departed” suggests it was immediately after leaving the synagogue. The point would be not that he moved his residence from with Aquilla and Priscilla to Justus’ home but that he moved where he was teaching from within the synagogue to next door.
The fact that he had broken with the synagogue and would never blacken their doors, must have overjoyed the traditionalists; the fact that he moved his operations next door would surely have equally outraged them when they recognized what he had done. Even so “Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue” also followed Jesus along “with all his household” (18:8). Many other Corinthians heard Paul’s message, accepted it, and were baptized as well (18:8).
Acts then records a vision of encouragement, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” (18:9-10). Paul vitally needed such reassurance for he writes in 1 Corinthians 2:3 how he had been “with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.” He was continuing to preach and to teach, but he made no pretense that he was not scared of how easily the situation could explode and destroy him.
This
uneasy and unwilling tolerance of the Christian “dissidents” lasted eighteen
months (
Paul
“remained a good while” after these events before departing toward
First
Corinthians is an extraordinarily important writing, not merely because of the
variety of religious issues it tackles.
It is rather paradoxical that because of its many faults, we find a
fuller and more complete description of how a first century congregation
actually functioned in “real life” than in any other epistle.[127] In other New Testament letters, matters like
the Communion, women’s role in the assembly, speaking in tongues, prophesying,
and other matters are briefly alluded to, if at all, and then only in
passing. Because there were major
departures in
[Page 32]
8.
Local Illustrations of
Pauline Allusions
There are clear correlations between archaeological and other data and what Paul writes in his epistle. We will limit ourselves to three of them.
Paul’s use of the illustration of a running contest in 1 Corinthians 9 to teach five overlapping principles (1) not all who attempt to win actually do so (9:24a); (2) the need to run in such a manner that the probability of winning is maximized (9:24b); (3) self-control/moderation “in all things” in order to be able to win the prize (9:25a); (4) the awarding of a crown to the winner (9:25b); (5) the need for confidence in the ultimate victory.
The apostle then passes to “fight[ing]” contests, to make additional points in a similar vein: (1) the need to “fight” against the real foe and not an illusionary one (“beat[ing] the air,” 9:26b); (2) the need to “discipline” the body and keep it under control (“subjection”) during the fight (9:27a) (3) lest one should be “disqualified” for improper behavior during the match (9:27b).
Although
these would be germane illustrations to any audience, they were especially
relevant to such a city as
One estimate is that this
attraction would draw over 70,000 visitors to
At
least part of Paul’s initial ministry in the city was during 51 AD and that
spring was the time of one of the regularly scheduled Isthmian Games.[135] Even if we project slightly forward his
arrival in
With
tentmaking his business, he is likely to have repaired tents used for housing[136]
by the “tourists” (to project backward the modern terminology) or to have even
made and sold new ones to the more well-heeled observers. This trade would have brought him contacts
(and potential converts) among both locals and these visitors who utilized his
services.[137]
The Caesarean Games were also held periodically, as were the Imperial Contests. When these coincided with the Isthmian Games, the importance, prestige, and (presumably) attendance increased as well.[138] The specific contents of the games likely shifted a bit from emperor to emperor, according to what was perceived to be the most highly regarded by that official.[139] Standard events would have included both athletic
[Page 33] contests
(including track events), chariot races, and musical concerts.[140] Regardless of how the contents were exactly
structured, such sport and cultural events were also always the occasion for
important social gatherings involving cultic activities.[141]
It
should be noted in passing, that women participated in some of the athletic
contests. One proud father left an
inscription praising his three daughters, all of whom had won a contest during
the Games over a period of years.[142]
The
denunciation of sexual immorality (
Eating
in a pagan temple (
Notes
[1] John R.
Lanci, A New Temple for Corinth:
Rhetorical and Archaeological Approaches to Pauline Imagery, Volume
1 of the Studies in Biblical Literature series (New York: Peter Lang, 1997), 26.
[2] Charles H. Talbert, Reading Corinthians: A Literary and Theological Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (New York: Crossroad, 1989), xvi. For source citations on the history of the city see xvi-xvii.
[3] Jim McGuiggan, 1 Corinthians, from the Looking into the Bible series (Lubbock, Texas: International Biblical Resource, 1984), 9.
[4] J. Dorcas Gordon, Gordon, Sister or Wife? 1 Corinthians 7 and Cultural Anthropology, Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement 149 (Sheffield, England: Sheffield University Press, 1997), 64-65.
[Page 34] [5] Gerd
Theissen, The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth, edted and translated
by John H. Schutz (Philadelphia:
Fortress Press, 1982), 79. For a
concise summary of the evidence see Gordon, n. 19, 65.
[6] Stephen J. Chester, Conversion at Corinth: Perspectives on Conversion in Paul’s Theology
and the Corinthian Church (
[7] Schnelle, 58.
[8] Gordon,
65.
[9] Lanci, 27, provides citations from ancient writers who emphasized the unsavory elements of those sent to the city.
[10] Ibid., 26-27.
[11] Parry, viii.
[12] Lanci, 29; cf. 33.
[13] Gerd Theissen, Social Setting, 79.
[14] John K.
Chow, Patronage and Power: A Study of
Social Networks in
[15] Raymond
Bryan Brown, 287; Gromacki, Survey, 199; Henshaw, 231; Hunter, 105. For a diagram of major structures of the
agora as it existed about the time of Paul’s founding the church in
[16]
[Page 35] [17]
Witherington, 18. Donald Engels argues
for about 80,000 in the city proper and another 20,000 in the nearest rural
areas (Roman Corinth: An Alternative
Model for the Classical City [Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1990], 84).
For water supply as a factor in estimating population, see Engels,
179-181. Kevin Quast, Reading the
Corinthian Correspondence: An
Introduction (Mahwah, New Jersey:
Paulist Press, 1994), 19, suggests “over 200,000” for the total
population.
[18] Susan K. Hedahl and Richard P. Carlson, though, argue for a dramatically smaller town of over 30,000, in their article “An Exegetical Analysis of 1 Corinthians 13,” in Preaching 1 Corinthians 13, edited by Susan K. Hedahl and Richard P. Carlson, ([N.p.]: Chalice Press, 2001), 7. Victor P. Furnish, The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 2, speaks of a figure “in the tens of thousands.” In light of the commercial importance of the city, these figures seem improbably low.
[19] [
[20] Helen Doohan, Leadership in Paul (Wilmington, Delaware: Michael Glazier, 1984), 83, states that a third were “full citizens,” an improbably high percentage, though it should be remembered that many more would have had city citizenship rather than Roman. To be a recognized “citizen” of a major city was a mark of distinction in its own right; to have Roman citizenship as well was the ultimate honor.
[21]
Branick,
[22] Rupert E. Davies, 13.
[23] Elwell and Yarbrough, 288.
[24] Raymond Bryan Brown, 287.
[25] Joseph
A. Fitzmyer, First Corinthians, in the Anchor Yale Bible series (
[26] Ibid.,
25.
[27] Raymond Bryan Brown, 287.
[28] Fitzmyer, First Corinthians, 21.
[29] Branick,
[30]
Perkins,
[32] Hunter, 105.
[33] Klijn, 84.
[34] Henshaw, 231; Edwin D. Freed, The New Testament: A Critical Introduction (Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1986), 263.
[35] For a
diagram of the
[36] Freed, 263; Henshaw, 231.
[37] Elwell and Yarbrough, 289.
[38] Kilgallen, 5.
[39] Ibid. For various ancient accounts of the transit
of boats by this means, see Robert M. Grant, Paul in the Roman World: The Conflict at Corinth (
[40] Geography, 8:2:1, as cited by Freed, 263.
[41] Raymond E. Brown, note 1, page 512.
[42] Thiselton, 1.
[43] Martin, Foundations, 170; Thrall, 2; J. S. MacGorman, Romans, 1 Corinthians, in the Layman’s Bible Book Commentary series (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1980), 96-97; Donald S. Metz, “The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians,” in Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, in the Beacon Bible Commentary series (Kansas City, Missouri: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1968), 296.
[44] As quoted by William Barclay, The Letters to the Corinthians, Second Edition, in the Daily Study Bible series (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1956), 1.
[45] As quoted by Ibid.
[46] John T.
Dean,
[47] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (London: Pickering & Inglis, Ltd., 1965), 56.
[48] Raymond E. Brown, note 1, page 512.
[Page 37] [49] Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in the New Testament Commentary series (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1995), 3-4.
[50] William
Baird, The
[51] Baird, Urban Culture, 20, citing Strabo, Geography, I, 3, 11.
[52] Baird, Urban Culture, 20.
[53] Geography,
8:6:20, as quoted by Freed, 263. For a
fuller form of the quotation, see
Engels, 50.
[54] Coffman, 3; Ramsay, 123.
[55] Mare, 175. Such figures are estimates and will vary over time as the shoreline changes and different points in the isthmus are selected to make the measurement. Raymond Bryan Brown, 287, as well as Price, 795, gives the width as four miles.
[56] Mare, 177.
[57]
[58] Baird, Urban Culture, 19.
[59]
Perkins,
[60] Ibid.
[61] Lucas Grollenberg, Paul, translated from the Dutch by John Bowden (London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1978), 66, and Robert A. Spivey and D. Moody Smith, Anatomy of the New Testament: A Guide to Its Structure and Meaning, Fifth Edition (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Englewood Cliffs, 1995), 316.
[62] Gerd Theissen, Social Setting, 101.
[63] Kugelman, 254.
[64] Blaiklock, 57.
[65] Ibid.
[66] Mare, 176.
[68] For an evaluation that puts strong emphasis on this, see Witherington, 9-10, and note 23, page 10.
[69] Fitzmyer,
Frst Corinthians, 21.
[70]
[71] Gromacki, Survey, 200; Henshaw, 231; Martin, Foundations, 171.
[72] Pro lege Manil., 5, as quoted by Kugelman, 254.
[73] Henshaw, 231.
[74] William F. Orr and James A. Walther, I Corinthians, in the Anchor Bible series (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1976), 119.
[75] Schnelle, 59.
[76] Ibid.
[77] Gromacki, Survey, 200.
[78] Baird, Urban Culture, 21, and Robert H. Gundry, A Survey of the New Testament, Revised Edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Academie Books/Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 263. In descending order: Freed, 264, and Mare, 177, and Sherman E. Johnson, 98, estimate the number as 18,000. Engels, 47, gives the figure as 15,000. Perkins, Reading, 175, opts for a yet lower 14,000, as does Quast, 20, and Anthony J. Tambasco, In the Days of Paul: The Social World and Teaching of the Apostle (Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1991), 63.
[79] Baird, Urban Culture, 21. Also see James Moffatt, xviii, 254.
[80] Henshaw, page 232; Martin, Foundations, 171.
[81] Gundry,
263, and
[82] Baird, Urban Culture, 21.
[83] Henshaw, 231-232; Kugelman, 254.
[84] Fitzmyer,
First Corinthians, 35.
[85] Richards, Gospel, 37.
[87] Fitzmyer,
35
[88] McGuiggan, 5.
[89] As quoted by Richards, Gospel, 37-38.
[90] Hein, 92.
[91] Frederick C. Grant, 63.
[92] Barclay, 3.
[93] Bart D.
Ehrman, The New Testament: A
Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 271. In a similar vein, M. Eugene Boring, Klaus
Berger, and Carsten Colpe, Hellenistic Commentary to the New Testament
(Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press,
1995), 408, believe that the claim of a thousand Aphrodite prostitutes was a
slander fueled at least partly by Athenian rivalry with
[94] For a
fuller discussion of such deities as the following, see Engels, 95-107. For a description of the perceived physical
appearance of the various deities, see Derek Newton, Deity and Diet: The Dilemma of Sacrificial Food at
[95] Doohan, Leadership, 83.
[96] Edgar J. Goodspeed, An Introduction to the New Testament (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 1937), 39.
[97] Geography,
8.20-21, 23, as quoted by Boring, Berger, and Colpe, 404.
[98] Raymond E. Brown, 513. It is not uncommon to find the prostitute cult described as still flourishing in Paul’s time. For example, Kinney, 38, Richards, Gospel, 37, and John Koenig, Christmata: God’s Gifts for God’s People, in the Biblical Perspectives on Current Issues series (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1978), 86.
[99] See the reasoning of Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians: A Commentry on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, translated by James W. Leitch; edited by George W. MacRae; in the series Hermeneia--A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 12.
[100] Geography,
8.20-21, 23, as quoted by Boring, Berger, and Colpe, 404. They attribute the exaggeration to Strabo’s
Athenian desire to deride its civic and commercial rival
[Page 40] [101] John T. Bristow, What Paul Really Said about Women (San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1988), 52.
[102] Talbert, xvii.
[103] Freed, 264.
[104] Orr and Walther, 119.
[105] Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, 1 Corinthians, in the Doubleday Bible Commentary series (New York: Doubleday, 1998), 78.
[106] Fotopoulos, 71. For a discussion of its cultic calendar, see 72-76.
[107]
[108] Khiok-Khng Yeo, Rhetorical Interaction in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10: A Formal Analysis with Preliminary Suggestions for a Chinese, Cross-Cultural Hermeneutic (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1995), 104.
[109] Ibid., 105.
[110] Freed,
264; Mare, 247; Witherington, 14-15. For
diagrams of the physical layout of the Asclepion see Perkins,
[111] Calvin
J. Roetzel, The World That Shaped the New Testament, Revised Edition (
[112] Fotopoulos, 50.
[113] Freed, 264; Mare, 247.
[114] Raymond E. Brown, 513.
[115] Talbert, xvii.
[116] Ibid.
[117] Yeo, 104.
[118] Freed, 264.
[119] Ibid.
[120] Mare, 247.
[122] Fotopoulos,
114-115. On archaeological remains, see
[123] Murphy-O’Connor, Doubleday, 78.
[124] Embassy to Gaius 281, as cited by Schnelle, 58.
[125] Schnelle, note 132, page 58. On the widely divergent dates proposed for the inscription see Mare, 177.
[126] For an analysis of what is known about the Jewish and Christian communities in Corinth, especially in the 150 years or so following the congregation’s founding, see Peter Richardson, “Judaism and Christianity in Corinth after Paul: Texts and Material Evidence, in Pauline Conversations in Context: Essays in Honor of Calvin J. Roetzel, edited by Janice C. Anderson, Philip Sellew, and Claudia Setzer (Sheffield, Great Britain: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), 42-66.
[127] Cf. Connick, 272.
[128] Horton, 56; cf. 62.
[129] Raymond Bryan Brown, 344, and Grollenberg, 66.
[130] T. Henshaw, 231.
[131] Raymond E. Brown, 513; Gundry, 263, and Polhill, 244.
[132] Raymond E. Brown, 513; Everett F. Harrison, 268.
[133] Hedahl and Carlson, 7.
[134] Fotopoulos,
152.
[135] Raymond E. Brown, 513, 514, and Kistemaker, Exposition, 312.
[136]
Perkins,
[137]
Witherington, 19; cf page 209. On types
of potential purchasers as well as it being a trade that brought him into
contact with a spectrum of potential converts for the gospel he preached, see
Murphy-O’Connor,
[138] Engels, 52.
[139] Cf. Chow, 47.
[141] For a
detailed discussion, see
[142]
Graydon F. Snyder, First Corinthians:
A Faith Community Commentary (Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1992), 2. For the text of the inscription (which also
points out their victories at other Games), see Murphy-O’Connor,
[143] Connick, 276, Richards, Gospel, 37, and John DeMers, Journeys in Dust and Light: A Modern Pilgrimage through the Life and Letters of Paul (Collegeville, Minnesota Liturgical Press, 1993), 150.
[144] Ibid.
[145] Freed, 264.
Roland H. Worth, Jr.
A Torah Commentary on First Corinthians 1-6:
Interpreting the Text in Light of
Its Old Testament Roots
© 2011