1 Korintus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ²  by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,

1 Korintus 7:8

7:8 To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am.

1 Korintus 10:9

10:9 And let us not put Christ ³  to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. ⁴ 

1 Korintus 11:12

11:12 For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman. But all things come from God.

1 Korintus 11:14

11:14 Does not nature ⁵  itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace for him,

1 Korintus 11:19

11:19 For there must in fact be divisions among you, so that those of you who are approved may be evident. ⁶ 

1 Korintus 11:30

11:30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. ⁷ 

1 Korintus 14:13

14:13 So then, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

1 Korintus 15:8

15:8 Last of all, as though to one born at the wrong time, ⁸  he appeared to me also.

1 Korintus 15:19

15:19 For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

1 Korintus 15:42

15:42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. ⁹ 

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

[10:9]  ³ tc Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) is attested in the majority of mss, including many important witnesses of the Alexandrian (Ì⁴⁶ 1739 1881) and Western (D F G) texttypes, and other mss and versions (Ψ latt sy co). On the other hand, some of the important Alexandrian witnesses have κύριον (kurion, “Lord”; א B C P 33 104 1175 al). A few mss (A 81 pc) have θεόν (qeon, “God”). The nomina sacra for these readings are quite similar (cMn, kMn, and qMn respectively), so one might be able to account for the different readings by way of confusion. On closer examination, the variants appear to be intentional changes. Alexandrian scribes replaced the highly specific term “Christ” with the less specific terms “Lord” and “God” because in the context it seems to be anachronistic to speak of the exodus generation putting Christ to the test. If the original had been “Lord,” it seems unlikely that a scribe would have willingly created a difficulty by substituting the more specific “Christ.” Moreover, even if not motivated by a tendency to overcorrect, a scribe might be likely to assimilate the word “Christ” to “Lord” in conformity with Deut 6:16 or other passages. The evidence from the early church regarding the reading of this verse is rather compelling in favor of “Christ.” Marcion, a second-century, anti-Jewish heretic, would naturally have opposed any reference to Christ in historical involvement with Israel, because he thought of the Creator God of the OT as inherently evil. In spite of this strong prejudice, though, {Marcion} read a text with “Christ.” Other early church writers attest to the presence of the word “Christ,” including {Clement of Alexandria} and Origen. What is more, the synod of Antioch in a.d. 268 used the reading “Christ” as evidence of the preexistence of Christ when it condemned Paul of Samosata. (See G. Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles, 126-27; TCGNT 494; C. D. Osburn, “The Text of 1 Corinthians 10:9,” New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis, 201-11; contra A. Robertson and A. Plummer, First Corinthians [ICC], 205-6.) Since “Christ” is the more difficult reading on all accounts, it is almost certainly original. In addition, “Christ” is consistent with Paul’s style in this passage (cf. 10:4, a text in which {Marcion} also reads “Christ”). This text is also christologically significant, since the reading “Christ” makes an explicit claim to the preexistence of Christ. (The textual critic faces a similar dilemma in Jude 5. In a similar exodus context, some of the more important Alexandrian mss [A B 33 81 pc] and the Vulgate read “Jesus” in place of “Lord.” Two of those mss [A 81] are the same mss that have “Christ” instead of “God” in 1 Cor 10:9. See the tc notes on Jude 5 for more information.) In sum, “Christ” has all the earmarks of authenticity here and should be considered the original reading.

[10:9]  ⁴ sn This incident is recorded in Num 21:5-9.

[11:14]  ⁵ sn Paul does not mean nature in the sense of “the natural world” or “Mother Nature.” It denotes “the way things are” because of God’s design.

[11:19]  ⁶ tn Grk “those approved may be evident among you.”

[11:30]  ⁷ tn Grk “are asleep.” The verb κοιμάω (koimaw) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.

[15:8]  ⁸ sn One born at the wrong time. The Greek word used here (ἔκτρωμα, ektrwma) refers to a premature birth, a miscarriage, or an aborted child. Paul uses it as a powerful figure of the unexpected, abnormal nature of his apostolic call.

[15:42]  ⁹ tn Grk “it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.” The “it” refers to the body, as v. 44 shows.