1 Corinthians 1:31

1:31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” ¹ 

1 Corinthians 4:14

A Father’s Warning

4:14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but to correct you as my dear children.

1 Corinthians 5:9

5:9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.

1 Corinthians 7:1

Celibacy and Marriage

7:1 Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” ² 

1 Corinthians 1:19

1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” ³ 

1 Corinthians 14:37

14:37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command.

1 Corinthians 3:19

3:19 For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness.” ⁴ 

1 Corinthians 9:9-10

9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” ⁵  God is not concerned here about oxen, is he? 9:10 Or is he not surely speaking for our benefit? It was written for us, because the one plowing and threshing ought to work in hope of enjoying the harvest.

1 Corinthians 10:7

10:7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” ⁶ 

1 Corinthians 10:11

10:11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

1 Corinthians 14:21

14:21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,” ⁷  says the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:45

15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”; ⁸  the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:54

15:54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁹ 

1 Corinthians 2:9

2:9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, ¹⁰  are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” ¹¹ 

1 Corinthians 4:6

4:6 I have applied these things to myself and Apollos because of you, brothers and sisters, ¹²  so that through us you may learn “not to go beyond what is written,” so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of the one against the other.

1 Corinthians 5:11

5:11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian ¹³  who is sexually immoral, or greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, ¹⁴  or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person.

1 Corinthians 9:15

9:15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing these things so that something will be done for me. ¹⁵  In fact, it would be better for me to die than – no one will deprive me of my reason for boasting! ¹⁶ 

¹ 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.

² tn Grk “It is good for a man not to touch a woman,” a euphemism for sexual relations. This idiom occurs ten times in Greek literature, and all of the references except one appear to refer to sexual relations (cf., e.g., Josephus, Ant. 1.8.1 [1.163]; Gen 20:6 [LXX]; Prov 6:29 [LXX]). For discussion see G. D. Fee, First Corinthians (NICNT), 275. Many recent interpreters believe that here again (as in 6:12-13) Paul cites a slogan the Corinthians apparently used to justify their actions. If this is so, Paul agrees with the slogan in part, but corrects it in the following verses to show how the Corinthians misused the idea to justify abstinence within marriage (cf. 8:1, 4; 10:23). See also G. D. Fee, “1 Corinthians 7:1 in the NIV,” JETS 23 (1980): 307-14.

³ sn A quotation from Isa 29:14.

⁴ sn A quotation from Job 5:13.

⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 25:4.

⁶ tn The term “play” may refer to idolatrous, sexual play here, although that is determined by the context rather than the meaning of the word itself (cf. BDAG 750 s.v. παίζω).

⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 28:11-12.

⁸ tn Grk “living soul”; a quotation from Gen 2:7.

⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 25:8.

¹⁰ tn Grk “entered the heart,” an OT expression, in which the heart functions like the mind.

¹¹ sn A quotation from Isa 64:4.

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

¹² tn Grk “a brother,” but the Greek word “brother” may be used for “brother or sister,” “fellow Christian,” or “fellow member of the church.” Here the term “brother” broadly connotes familial relationships within the family of God (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a).

¹³ tn Or “a reviler”; BDAG 602 s.v. λοίδορος defines the term as “reviler, abusive person.”

¹³ tn Grk “so that it will happen in this way in my case.”

¹⁴ tc The reading ἤ – τὸ καύχημά μου οὐδεὶς κενώσει (h – to kauchma mou oudei" kenwsei, “than – no one will deprive me of my reason for boasting!”) is syntactically abrupt, but fully in keeping with Pauline style. It is supported by Ì⁴⁶ א* B D*^,c 33 1739 1881 as well as early patristic authors. Most witnesses, especially the later ones (א² C D² Ψ Ï lat), have a significantly smoother reading than this: ἢ τὸ καύχημά μου ἵνα τις κενώσῃ (or κενώσει); h to kauchma mou {ina ti" kenwsh (or kenwsei), “than that anyone should deprive me of my boasting.” The simple replacement of οὐδείς with ἵνα essentially accomplishes the smoothing out of the text, and as such the ἵνα reading is suspect. Not only is the harder reading in keeping with Pauline style, but it is also found in the earlier and better witnesses.