1 Corinthians 5:1

Church Discipline

5:1 It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with ¹  his father’s wife.

1 Corinthians 5:5

5:5 turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved ²  in the day of the Lord. ³ 

1 Corinthians 5:7

5:7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough – you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Deuteronomy 13:5

13:5 As for that prophet or dreamer, ⁴  he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge out evil from within. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 17:7

17:7 The witnesses ⁶  must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people ⁷  are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 21:21

21:21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death. In this way you will purge out ⁸  wickedness from among you, and all Israel ⁹  will hear about it and be afraid.

Deuteronomy 22:21-22

22:21 the men of her city must bring the young woman to the door of her father’s house and stone her to death, for she has done a disgraceful thing ¹⁰  in Israel by behaving like a prostitute while living in her father’s house. In this way you will purge ¹¹  evil from among you.

22:22 If a man is caught having sexual relations with ¹²  a married woman ¹³  both the man who had relations with the woman and the woman herself must die; in this way you will purge ¹⁴  evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 22:24

22:24 you must bring the two of them to the gate of that city and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry out though in the city and the man because he violated ¹⁵  his neighbor’s fiancée; ¹⁶  in this way you will purge ¹⁷  evil from among you.

Ecclesiastes 9:18

9:18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,

but one sinner can destroy much that is good.

Matthew 18:17

18:17 If ¹⁸  he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If ¹⁹  he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like ²⁰  a Gentile ²¹  or a tax collector. ²² 

[5:1]  ¹ tn Or “someone has married”; Grk “someone has,” but the verb ἔχω (ecw) is routinely used of marital relationships (cf. BDAG 420 s.v. 2.a), including sexual relationships. The exact nature of the relationship is uncertain in this case; it is not clear, for example, whether the man had actually married the woman or was merely cohabiting with her.

[5:5]  ² tn Or perhaps “turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of your fleshly works, so that your spirit may be saved…”; Grk “for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved.” This is one of the most difficult passages in the NT, and there are many different interpretations regarding what is in view here. (1) Many interpreters see this as some sort of excommunication (“turn this man over to Satan”) which in turn leads to the man’s physical death (“the destruction of the flesh”), resulting in the man’s ultimate salvation (“that [his] spirit may be saved…”). (2) Others see the phrase “destruction of the flesh” as referring to extreme physical suffering or illness that stops short of physical death, thus leading the offender to repentance and salvation. (3) A number of scholars (e.g. G. D. Fee, First Corinthians [NICNT], 212-13) take the reference to the “flesh” to refer to the offender’s “sinful nature” or “carnal nature,” which is “destroyed” by placing him outside the church, back in Satan’s domain (exactly how this “destruction” is accomplished is not clear, and is one of the problems with this view). (4) More recently some have argued that neither the “flesh” nor the “spirit” belong to the offender, but to the church collectively; thus it is the “fleshly works” of the congregation which are being destroyed by the removal of the offender (cf. 5:13) so that the “spirit,” the corporate life of the church lived in union with God through the Holy Spirit, may be preserved (cf. 5:7-8). See, e.g., B. Campbell, “Flesh and Spirit in 1 Cor 5:5: An Exercise in Rhetorical Criticism of the NT,” JETS 36 (1993): 331-42. The alternate translation “for the destruction of your fleshly works, so that your spirit may be saved” reflects this latter view.

[5:5]  ³ tc The shorter reading, κυρίου (kuriou, “Lord”), is found in Ì⁴⁶ B 630 1739 pc; κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ (kuriou Ihsou, “Lord Jesus”) is read by Ì^61vid א Ψ Ï; κυρίου ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (kuriou Ihsou Cristou, “Lord Jesus Christ”) by D pc; and κυρίου ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (kuriou Jhmwn Ihsou Cristou, “our Lord Jesus Christ”) by A F G P 33 al. The shorter reading is preferred as the reading that best explains the other readings, especially in view of the mention of “Jesus” twice in the previous verse.

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “or dreamer of dreams.” See note on this expression in v. 1.

[13:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “your midst” (so NAB, NRSV). The severity of the judgment here (i.e., capital punishment) is because of the severity of the sin, namely, high treason against the Great King. Idolatry is a violation of the first two commandments (Deut 5:6-10) as well as the spirit and intent of the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).

[17:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “the hand of the witnesses.” This means the two or three witnesses are to throw the first stones (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT).

[17:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “the hand of all the people.”

[21:21]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew term בִּעַרְתָּה (bi’artah), here and elsewhere in such contexts (cf. Deut 13:5; 17:7, 12; 19:19; 21:9), suggests God’s anger which consumes like fire (thus בָעַר, ba’ar, “to burn”). See H. Ringgren, TDOT 2:203-4.

[21:21]  ⁹ tc Some LXX traditions read הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (hannish’arim, “those who remain”) for the MT’s יִשְׂרָאֵל (yisra’el, “Israel”), understandable in light of Deut 19:20. However, the more difficult reading found in the MT is more likely original.

[22:21]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term נְבָלָה (nÿvalah) means more than just something stupid. It refers to a moral lapse so serious as to jeopardize the whole covenant community (cf. Gen 34:7; Judg 19:23; 20:6, 10; Jer 29:23). See C. Pan, NIDOTTE 3:11-13. Cf. NAB “she committed a crime against Israel.”

[22:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “burn.” See note on Deut 21:21.

[22:22]  ¹² tn Heb “lying with” (so KJV, NASB), a Hebrew idiom for sexual relations.

[22:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “a woman married to a husband.”

[22:22]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

[22:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “humbled.”

[22:24]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “wife.”

[22:24]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.

[18:17]  ¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “let him be to you as.”

[18:17]  ²¹ tn Or “a pagan.”

[18:17]  ²² sn To treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector means not to associate with such a person. See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.