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1 Corinthians Chapter 5

1 Corinthians Chapter 5

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Rebuking Fornication

(Parallel teachings: Matthew 18:15-17)
(Thematic parallels: 2 Corinthians 2:5-11)

  • 1 Fornication is actually reported among you, and fornication of such a kind that it’s not even [named] among the pagans, namely that someone has the wife of his father.fnquotation/allusion to Leviticus 18:8, 20:11; Deuteronomy 22:30, 27:20
  • 2 And you’re *puffed up, and didn’t mourn instead, so that the man who did this deed might be removed from your midst.
  • 3 For I’m indeed absent in body but present in spirit, and sincefn“since” could also be translated “like” or “as if“ I’m present, I have already judged the man who committed this deed in this way.
  • 4 When you (and my spirit) are assembled with the power of our Lord Jesus [the Anointed], then in the name of our Lord Jesus [the Anointed]fnThere are four ways to assemble the three significant parts of this verse with the infinitive verb “to deliver” in the beginning of the next verse. The principal parts are: the phrase “in the name” (of our Lord Jesus), the participle “being assembled”, the phrase “with the power” (of our Lord Jesus).   In a shortened form, here are the ways to look at it: (1) “Assembled in the name… with the power of Jesus deliver…”  (2) “Assembled in the name and with the power…  deliver…”  (3) “Assembled… in the name and with the power deliver…”  (4) “Assembled with the power… in the name of Jesus deliver…”  Versions #2 and #3 seem out of place because they repeat the authority/power twice in the same clause.  While #1 has no obvious issues, the phrase “in the name” is more commonly used of pronouncements in the New Testament, (as in 2 Thessalonians 3:6, Acts 3:6, Acts 16:18).  #4 was chosen for this reason, but the other options remain equally valid.
  • 5 you are to deliver such a man to Satanfnquoted/alluded to by 1 Timothy 1:20 for the ruin of the flesh, so that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord [Jesus].fnquotation/allusion to the Old Testament “day of Yahweh” motif (e.g., Joel 2:31; Amos 5:18; Isaiah 13:6; Zephaniah 1:7, etc.), which Paul applies to Christ (also quoted/alluded to by Acts 2:20; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Thess 2:2; 2 Pet 3:10)
  • 6 Your boast isn’t good.  Don’t you *know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?fnquoted/alluded to by Galatians 5:9
  • 7 Purge the old leaven so that you might be a new lump of dough, just as you are unleavened.  For also, our Passover lamb was sacrificed [for our benefit]: the Anointed.
  • 8 Therefore, we should observe the feast, but not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.fnquotation/allusion to Exodus 12:1-28, the instructions for Passover (also quoted/alluded to by John 19:36; 1 Pet 1:19).  Notably, the Jews were required by the Mosaic Law to remove all the leaven/yeast from their houses during this time, and to abstain from eating leaven. (Exodus 12:15-20)  In the law, there was a symbolic connection between leaven and sin, which Jesus also alluded to. (Matthew 16:6-12).  Thus, being “unleavened” can symbolize righteousness or being without the stain of sin, which seems to be how Paul is using it here.
Don’t socialize with “Christian” fornicators

(Parallel teachings: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15)

  • 9 I wrote to you in my letter that you aren’t to socialize with fornicators,
  • 10 not at all meaning the fornicators of this world – or the coveters and robbers, or idolaters – since then you’d need to depart from the world.
  • 11 But now, I wrote telling you not to socialize with anyone calling himself a brother if he’s a fornicator, or a coveter, or an idolater, or a verbal abuser, or a drunkard, or a robber.  You aren’t to even eat with such a man.
  • 12 For why is it my place to judge the men outside the church?  Don’t you judge the men inside the church?
  • 13 However, God judges the men outside.  Remove that wicked man from among you.fnquotation/allusion to several verses in Deuteronomy, namely: 13:5, 17:7, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21, and 24:7

 

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