1 Cor 1 Notes

 

Footnotes

1. 1:1 Sosthenes means “savior of his nation.” He was the Jewish synagogue ruler in Corinth who had converted to Christ and had been beaten for his faith (Acts 18:12–17).
2. 1:2 Or “church.” This is the Greek word ekklēsia, which means “a summoned people, called to assemble, a legislative body.” It is also a word used in Greek culture to “assemble an army.”
3. 1:3 The Greek word charis, in its original sense, is descriptive of that which brings pleasure and joy to the human heart, implying a strong emotional element. God’s grace includes favor and supernatural potency, and it is meant to leave us both charming and beautiful. In classical Greek it was meant to convey the attitude of favor shown by royalty. See Torrance, The Doctrine of Grace in the Apostolic Fathers, pp. 1–5.
4. 1:5 Or “in every kind of speaking.” By implication, Paul is commending them for their speaking gifts (prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues, preaching, and teaching the word of God). This will be developed further in chs. 12–14.
5. 1:6 Or “validated” or “confirmed.” The word used here is found in classical Greek in the context of establishing (building) communities.
6. 1:7 Or “You don’t fail to receive any gift of the Holy Spirit.” God wants his church to receive every gift the Holy Spirit has to give us. This may be a figure of speech called a litotes, which means it could also be translated, “You have every spiritual gift.”
7. 1:7 Or “eagerly accept” or “eagerly await.” The Greek word ekdechomai is a compound word, ek (out of, from) and dechomai (to accept or receive or take hold of).
8. 1:9 Or “a life of communion with his Son.” That is, a co-participation (communion, fellowship) of the Son. The Aramaic can be translated “You have been called to the (wedding) feast of his Son.” We see a clear picture here that believers are called to share in the sonship of Jesus. By God’s grace, we will share in the Son’s standing and position before the Father. We are not only blameless but made holy by the co-sharing of the life of God’s Son.
9. 1:9 Or “Lord.”
10. 1:10 Or “that you all speak the same thing”; that is, to have a united testimony. The Aramaic can be translated “that you may all be of one word.”
11. 1:10 The congregation of believers in Corinth was sorely divided. They had divided over which leader or apostle they followed (chs. 1–3), over the limits of their freedom (chs. 6–8), over their socio-economic status (ch. 11), and over spiritual gifts (chs. 12–14). Division among believers grossly hinders our message and ministry to the world of unbelievers. Paul is pleading with them to unite around the love of God for one another (ch. 13).
12. 1:10 Or “fully equipped.”
13. 1:11 Before Paul brought correction to the Corinthians, he first affirmed the work of God in their midst. See vv. 4–9. Perhaps we should look at confused and messed-up Christians differently and speak to how God sees imperfect believers.
14. 1:11 Or “Chloe’s people.” The word household or family is not in the Greek text. By implication, it refers to those who are meeting with Chloe, as the one they are connected to (Chloe’s people; i.e., house church, or Chloe’s congregation). She was obviously a trusted leader in Paul’s estimation and had influence in the church of Corinth. Her name means “green [tender] sprout.” Those who informed Paul of the problems in Corinth may have been Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, mentioned in 1 Cor. 16:17.
15. 1:12 Or “Cephas,” the Aramaic word for rock (keefa) transliterated into Greek. Paul is comfortable in calling Peter by his Aramaic nickname, Keefa.
16. 1:13 Or “Were you baptized in the name of Paul?”
17. 1:14 Before converting to faith in Christ, Crispus was likely the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth mentioned in Acts 18:18. Gaius was most likely the one who hosted Paul when he came to Rome (Rom. 16:23). Since they had become believers before Paul’s assistants, Timothy and Silas, arrived from Macedonia, Paul went ahead and baptized them.
18. 1:15 As translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “so that no one can say that they were baptized in my name.”
19. 1:17 In the broader context of Paul’s teaching, both baptism and the Lord’s Table proclaim the Lord Jesus (Rom. 6:3–11; 1 Cor. 11:24–27). Therefore, viewing Paul’s statement as somewhat hyperbolic, it is taken to mean that he was not sent just to baptize but also to preach the gospel.
20. 1:18 Or “expression [Gr. logos]” or “the act of proclaiming.”
21. 1:18 The “message of the cross” becomes the ignition point where God’s power becomes operative and actualized with the ability to convert, transform, and save. The Aramaic can be translated “For he [rather than the message] is the power of God.”
22. 1:19 See Isa. 29:14 (LXX). Paul uses the prophecy of Isaiah as a warning against leaning upon human wisdom to understand spiritual matters. True wisdom comes from above and is given by divine revelation to those who are teachable and humble before God.
23. 1:21 Or simply “the foolishness of preaching.” However, it is not the act of preaching but the content of what is preached that brings salvation to those who believe.
24. 1:22 The Aramaic uses the term Arameans for gentiles. It means “Aramaic-speaking people.”
25. 1:22 To paraphrase, the gentiles seek for success in the world’s eyes, or a wisdom that leads them to succeed. Christ crucified is both a miracle sign and the wisdom that will lead one to reign in life.
26. 1:24 Christ is the supreme manifestation of God’s power to save us from sin, to work miracles, and to defeat evil. Christ is the supreme manifestation of wisdom, for he carries out the eternal plan of God and brings it to completion.
27. 1:25 Although the cross seemed to be the foolishness of God, it reveals his transcendent wisdom. And though God the Son was crucified in weakness, he has risen through the divine power that transforms lives today. God has no weakness or foolishness whatsoever. Yet what looks like weakness is actually his strength, and what looks like foolishness is actually his wisdom.
28. 1:27 The Greek word kataischyunō can also be translated “embarrass,” “confuse,” “baffle,” or “frustrate.”
29. 1:28 Or “despised,” “disgusting,” “outcasts,” “perceived with contempt.”
30. 1:31 Or “He who triumphs, let him triumph in the Lord God!” See Jer. 9:24.