1 Corinthians 16:13-24

Final Challenge and Blessing

16:13 Stay alert, stand firm in the faith, show courage, be strong. 16:14 Everything you do should be done in love.

16:15 Now, brothers and sisters, ¹  you know about the household of Stephanus, that as the first converts ²  of Achaia, they devoted themselves to ministry for the saints. I urge you 16:16 also to submit to people like this, and to everyone who cooperates in the work and labors hard. 16:17 I was glad about the arrival of Stephanus, Fortunatus, and Achaicus because they have supplied the fellowship with you that I lacked. ³  16:18 For they refreshed my spirit and yours. So then, recognize people like this.

16:19 The churches in the province of Asia ⁴  send greetings to you. Aquila and Prisca ⁵  greet ⁶  you warmly in the Lord, with the church that meets in their house. 16:20 All the brothers and sisters ⁷  send greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.

16:21 I, Paul, send this greeting with my own hand.

16:22 Let anyone who has no love for the Lord be accursed. Our Lord, come! ⁸ 

16:23 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

16:24 My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus. ⁹ 

[16:15]  ¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[16:15]  ² tn Grk “firstfruits.”

[16:17]  ³ tn Or “they have made up for your absence” (BDAG 70 s.v. ἀναπληρόω 3).

[16:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “the churches of Asia”; in the NT “Asia” always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[16:19]  ⁵ sn On Aquila and Prisca see also Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. The author of Acts uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

[16:19]  ⁶ tc The plural form of this verb, ἀσπάζονται (aspazontai, “[they] greet”), is found in several good mss (B F G 075 0121 0243 33 1739 1881) as well as the Byzantine cursives. But the singular is read by an equally impressive group (א C D K P Ψ 104 2464 pc). This part of the verse is lacking in codex A. Deciding on the basis of external evidence is quite difficult. Internally, however, the singular appears to have given rise to the plural: (1) The rest of the greetings in this verse are in the plural; this one was probably made plural by some scribes for purposes of assimilation; and, more significantly, (2) since both Aquila and Prisca are mentioned as the ones who send the greeting, the plural is more natural. The singular is, of course, not impossible Greek; indeed, a singular verb with a compound subject is used with some frequency in the NT (cf. Matt 13:55; Mark 8:27; 14:1; John 2:2; 3:22; 4:36, 53; Acts 5:29; 16:31; 1 Tim 6:4). This is especially common when “Jesus and his disciples” is the subject. What is significant is that when such a construction is found the emphasis is placed on the first-named person (in this case, Aquila). Normally when these two are mentioned in the NT, Priscilla is mentioned first (Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3; 2 Tim 4:19). Only here and in Acts 18:2 (the first mention of them) is Aquila mentioned before Priscilla. Many suggest that Priscilla is listed first due to prominence. Though that is possible, both the mention of Aquila first here and the singular verb give him special prominence (cf. ExSyn 401-2). What such prominence means in each instance is difficult to assess. Nevertheless, here is a Pauline instance in which Aquila is given prominence. Too much can be made of the word order argument in either direction.

[16:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[16:22]  ⁸ tn The Greek text has μαράνα θά (marana qa). These Aramaic words can also be read as maran aqa, translated “Our Lord has come!”

[16:24]  ⁹ tc Although the majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 075 Ï lat bo) conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”), such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Although far fewer witnesses lack the valedictory particle (B F 0121 0243 33 81 630 1739* 1881 sa), their collective testimony is difficult to explain if the omission is not authentic.