First Corinthians

An exegetical-pastoral commentary

Gary Steven Shogren, Ph. D.

Gary Shogren

2012

For

Steve and Sara

Tim and Ariel

Ben and Stephanie

Victoria

United in Christ you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge

Preface

This is the English version of a commentary that will be published by CLIE, Barcelona, Spain. Some of my practical applications of the text will be informed by the Latin American church, others by the North American. We make reference to the best of ancient wisdom and modern scholarship, in order to expose the reader to the varying currents of interpretation. In order not to distract from the epistle itself, I have kept the footnotes to a minimum. Comments on the Greek will appear only when needed for understanding, and readers who wish to do so can find further technical help in other works.

I have been especially impressed by two or three commentaries that combine technical help with a strong emphasis on the practice of the Word. In fact, a commentary does not truly reveal the meaning of Scriptures if it deals with mere details of exegesis, textual criticism, historical background or rhetoric. Rather, its ultimate aim must be the understanding that leads to love for God and obedience to him. For that reason, much of this volume deals with putting the Word into practice, and how a preacher might proclaim 1 Corinthians to God’s people.

1 Corinthians is astonishingly relevant for God’s church in the 21st century. I pray that the Spirit will direct the reader to rediscover “what God has prepared for those who love him” and to put the truth into daily practice.

My thanks to my family, my co-workers at Seminario ESEPA, Costa Rica and my Tico brothers in Christ. Thanks especially to Karen Suárez for her editorial help.

Bibliography

A note about sources

This commentary is based on a study of the Greek text (the 27th edition of Nestlé-Aland), but a knowledge of Greek is not necessary to use it. We will follow the text of the New International Version (1984). It is my opinion that the NIV 2011 is generally an improvement on the 1984 edition; please visit www.justinofnablus.com to read the two blogs on how the NIV 2011 handles 1 Cor 1–7. Nevertheless, since I wrote this commentary before the appearance of the NIV 2011, we will mention it only in a few passages.

Beyond our own exegesis of the Greek text, we will interact with the best in English, Spanish, German and French comments on the epistle, as well as with Greek and Latin material from the early church.

New sources …

As a general rule, we should rely on newer commentaries, since they are more likely to have fresh information, for example from archaeological digs, and they correct the factual errors of older works. In the last three decades the amount of new Corinthian scholarship has become staggering. In part this is due to the ongoing excavations at the site of Corinth, which have led to fresh sociological insights into the epistle. In addition ...