ancient letter-type known as typos nouthetikos, an admonition intended to instill proper action in the person(s) so counseled (see Collins, “Hellenistic Letter,” 47–48). Yet what is striking about this admonitory letter is the absence of a clear-cut hortatory section, separate from the doctrinal section, such as one finds in Rom 12:1–15:13 or Gal 5:1–6:10. In 1 Corinthians the teaching and the exhortation are rather intermingled in the discussion of each topic. The imperative follows directly from
Page 56