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 7:2

7:2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with ²  his own wife and each woman with ³  her own husband.

1 Corinthians 6:18

6:18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body” ⁴  – but the immoral person sins against his own body.

1 Corinthians 6:13

6:13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” ⁵  The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

[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.

[7:2]  ² tn Grk “each man should have his own wife.” “Have” in this context means “have marital relations with” (see the following verse). The verb ἐχέτω (ecetw, “have”) occurs twice in the Greek text, but has not been repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons. This verb occurs 8 times in the LXX (Exod 2:1; Deut 28:30; 2 Chr 11:21; 1 Esd 9:12, 18; Tob 3:8; Isa 13:16; 54:1) with the meaning “have sexual relations with,” and 9 times elsewhere in the NT with the same meaning (Matt 20:23; 22:28; Mark 6:18; 12:33; Luke 20:28; John 4:18 [twice]; 1 Cor 5:1; 7:29).

[7:2]  ³ tn Grk “should have.” For explanation of the translation, see the note on “have relations with” earlier in this verse.

[6:18]  ³ sn It is debated whether this is a Corinthian slogan. If it is not, then Paul is essentially arguing that there are two types of sin, nonsexual sins which take place outside the body and sexual sins which are against a person’s very own body. If it is a Corinthian slogan, then it is a slogan used by the Corinthians to justify their immoral behavior. With it they are claiming that anything done in the body or through the body had no moral relevance. A decision here is very difficult, but the latter is to be preferred for two main reasons. (1) This is the most natural understanding of the statement as it is written. To construe it as a statement by Paul requires a substantial clarification in the sense (e.g., “All other sins…” [NIV]). (2) Theologically the former is more difficult: Why would Paul single out sexual sins as more intrinsically related to the body than other sins, such as gluttony or drunkenness? For these reasons, it is more likely that the phrase in quotation marks is indeed a Corinthian slogan which Paul turns against them in the course of his argument, although the decision must be regarded as tentative.

[6:13]  ⁴ tn Grk “both this [stomach] and these [foods].”