1 Corinthians 1

[1:1]  ¹  tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ²  tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

[1:2]  ³  map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:2]  ⁴  tn Grk “theirs and ours.”

[1:3]  ⁵  tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:5]  ⁶  sn Made rich refers to how God richly blessed the Corinthians with an abundance of spiritual gifts (cf. v. 7).

[1:5]  ⁷  sn Speech and knowledge refer to the spiritual gifts God had blessed them with (as v. 7 confirms). Paul will discuss certain abuses of their gifts in chapters 12-14, but he thanks God for their giftedness.

[1:7]  ⁸  sn The revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the Lord’s return, when he will be revealed (cf. the reference to the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in v. 8).

[1:8]  ⁹  tn Grk “who,” referring to Christ. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:10]  ¹⁰  tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:10]  ¹¹  tn Grk “that you all say the same thing.”

[1:10]  ¹²  tn Grk “that there be no divisions among you.”

[1:10]  ¹³  tn Grk “that you be united in/by the same mind and in/by the same purpose.”

[1:11]  ¹⁴  tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:11]  ¹⁵  tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”

[1:12]  ¹⁶  tn Or “And I say this because.”

[1:13]  ¹⁷  tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “was he?”).

[1:13]  ¹⁸  tn This third question marks a peak in which Paul’s incredulity at the Corinthians’ attitude is in focus. The words “in fact” have been supplied in the translation to make this rhetorical juncture clear.

[1:14]  ¹⁹  tc The oldest and most important witnesses to this text, as well as a few others (א* B 6 1739 sa^ms bo^pt), lack the words τῷ θεῷ (tw qew, “God”), while the rest have them. An accidental omission could well account for the shorter reading, especially since θεῷ would have been written as a nomen sacrum (eucaristwtwqMw). However, one might expect to see, in some mss at least, a dropping of the article but not the divine name. Internally, the Pauline introductory thanksgivings elsewhere always include τῷ θεῷ after εὐχαριστῶ (eucaristw, “I thank”; cf. Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Phlm 4; in the plural, note Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2). However, both the fact that this is already used in 1 Cor 1:4 (thus perhaps motivating scribes to add it ten verses later), and that in later portions of his letters Paul does not consistently use the collocation of εὐχαριστῶ with τῷ θεῷ (Rom 16:4; 1 Cor 10:30), might give one pause. Still, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see a sentence begin with εὐχαριστῶ without an accompanying τῷ θεῷ. A decision is difficult, but on balance it is probably best to retain the words.

[1:17]  ²⁰  tn Grk “would not be emptied.”

[1:19]  ²¹  sn A quotation from Isa 29:14.

[1:20]  ²²  tn Grk “the scribe.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the Mosaic law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[1:23]  ²³  tn Or “Messiah”; Grk “preach Christ [Messiah] crucified,” giving the content of the message.

[1:25]  ²⁴  tn Grk “than men.”

[1:25]  ²⁵  tn Grk “than men.”

[1:26]  ²⁶  tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”

[1:26]  ²⁷  tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:26]  ²⁸  tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[1:26]  ²⁹  tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenh") refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.

[1:28]  ³⁰  tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[1:30]  ³¹  tn Grk “of him you are in Christ Jesus.”

[1:31]  ³²  sn A quotation from Jer 9:24. The themes of Jer 9 have influenced Paul’s presentation in vv. 26-31. Jeremiah calls upon the wise, the strong, and the wealthy not to trust in their resources but in their knowledge of the true God – and so to boast in the Lord. Paul addresses the same three areas of human pride.