Prostitution in the
Covenant Community at Corinth
By Jonathan Mitchell
Comments on 1 Cor. 5:1-5
Chapter 5
1. It is actually (or: generally; everywhere) being repeatedly heard [that there is] prostitution among you folks - and such a sort of prostitution which is not even being mentioned (or: named) among the ethnic multitudes (nations; non-Jewish groups): so as someone continues to hold (or: a certain person is repeatedly having) [his] father's woman (or: wife; or, thus: [his] stepmother)! [cf Lev. 18:8ff]
Paul now moves to specifics of misconducts, and addresses them as a father would to his son. The present tense of the infinitive, "to hold; to have," informs us that this was an ongoing or repetitive situation. From Paul's description of the social aspects, this was apparently considered to be an outrageous affair, even among other cultures in that day. The issue has often been considered to be incest (and thus Nyland renders the term), but "prostitution" is the basic meaning of the word, as seen in the LXX usage, and elsewhere. We address this in greater detail under vs. 9, below. In beginning our investigation of this chapter, we should keep Israel's history in mind, for as we will see, in vss. 6-8, below, Paul references the Jewish practice of cleansing their houses in preparation for Passover, then returns to the topic of prostitution and a catalogue of vices, in vs. 9. Prostitution (especially spiritual: being unfaithful to Yahweh) was a recurring issue with Israel. Cf Isa. 1:21 and the book of Hosea. But considering the individual matter at hand, cf 7:2, below, and Jn. 4:18. Also, cf Gen. 35:22.
We suggest that this entire chapter be read as speaking to the situation given here, in vss. 1-2. It should be noted here that the complaint that Paul lodges is directed to the entire community. As we will see, below, the main concern was that God's Temple (the Corinthian community of believers) should be clean. It was a corporate matter.
2. And now you folks, yourselves, have been puffed up and remain inflated with pride! And still you do not rather mourn and grieve (or: lament and express sorrow), so that the man performing this act would (or: that the man practicing this deed should) at once be caused to depart (or: be picked up, removed or taken away) from out of your midst.
Notice that Paul is seeming to say that if they had "mourned and grieved (etc.)" that "the man performing this act would (or: that the man practicing this deed should) at once be caused to depart (or: be picked up, removed or taken away) from out of your midst." Does this mean that God would have intervened - is this the "divine passive" potentially at work in Paul's words? But why would Paul think that he should depart from being a part of the community? Let us recall Peter's words to Simon, in Acts 8:
"There is neither a part nor a lot for you within this Word (or: this Logos; this Idea and Reason; this expressed verbal communication; or: this message; or: this matter). You see, your heart is not straight and level with a position answering to God (or: in front of God, in His presence). So change your mind and your way of thinking - away from this worthlessness (or: ugliness; baseness; badness of quality; malice) of yours - and then at once urgently ask of the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh] if consequently (or: since in that case) the thought and purpose of your heart will be caused to flow away (or: will be divorced from [you]; will be forgiven and sent away)" (vss. 21-22).
The main concern for both Peter and Paul was the witness of Christ (the Word of the cross) to the world that environed the called-out groups. Both Peter (in this Acts situation) and Paul (there in Corinth) held out a good end for these individuals.
The misconducts involved at least two individuals (only one seems to be the focus of this instance - the man, who seems to be seen as the one responsible for the issue; it is possible that the woman was not a member of the covenant community, and thus her part was not being considered). But Paul's thrust is to the lack of response by the called-out folks, together with the fact that amidst this situation the community remains
"inflated with pride."
He expects an opposite reaction to this situation than what has been reported to him, and says with apparent amazement:
"And still you do not rather mourn and grieve (or: lament and express sorrow)."
Instead, they have been, and continue "puffed up." The situation was apparently not something that concerned them. Paul was expecting immediate action by the group, and note how he put it:
"that the man performing this act would at once be caused to depart (or: be picked up, removed or taken away) from out of your midst."
Conzelmann rightly observes (ibid p 94) that this verse can also be rendered as a question - thus, more emphatically expressing his amazement about the situation.
For some folks, today, this suggestion and what Paul instructed them to do, in vs. 5 below, may sound harsh and exclusionary. In our current pluralistic society of acceptance of different lifestyles, Paul would be considered as being "politically incorrect." But even today, many people of the Christian religion apply Paul's words, here, in a literal manner for their particular group. Yet others look at these verses as examples of cultural norms of Paul's time and place, and decide that they no longer of necessity apply to our day and changing world.
This latter view is a classic example of what might be called "liberal interpretation" versus "conservative interpretation." Behind this lies our view of "the authority of Scripture" from one time and culture upon the lives of later times and cultures. Groups are divided about whether or not the behavior codes from Moses apply to the followers of Christ. We certainly do not follow Moses' instructions in Lev. 20:9,
"anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death."
Also, in many cases an issue involves variant views about "the authority of the church/denomination." Today, more and more laws, and then potential lawsuits, must be considered before making decisions about other peoples' lives. Furthermore, many people, though still being followers of Christ, have left the formal, corporate life of institutional "churches."
Before we judge Paul on this matter, let us consider the culture of his day, his relationship to this specific group of people, and how his theology classified them in relation to Jesus Christ. This entire chapter is devoted to this same general subject, and he ends it (vs. 13, below) by quoting from Deut. 13 as being the guide for their corporate action concerning this individual.
Paul portrays himself as their father, and thus as having a right to discipline their group conduct. His main concern is the called-out community. The issue that he is addressing was considered wrong in his own culture, and apparently (from vs. 1, above) was considered wrong by society at large (the "ethnic multitudes; nations; non-Jews") - at least in the Roman Empire. Next, considering that the called-out, covenant communities were to be "the Light of the world" - "a city set on a hill" (Mat. 5:14), these folks had been called to live a pure life (by the standards given to them by Paul when they first converted). They were a people that had been "set-apart" to be different from their surrounding societies. They were to represent, and to be, Christ in their world. Call to mind what Paul said in Rom. 14:1-16, about eating meat that had been slaughtered at a pagan temple. He ended that section by admonishing the group in Rome,
16. Do not cause your good thing (or: the excellence and virtue which pertain to you) to be slandered (defamed; insulted; blasphemed; vilified; have its light hindered).
From those early days of Jesus and Paul, things have changed - over the centuries. The Light has not gone out, but many perceptions of what it means to be a follower of Jesus have changed. And these differences of perceptions/interpretations have resulted in Christ's body becoming completely fragmented.
3. For I myself, indeed, continuing being absent - in the body - yet continuously being present alongside - in (or: by; with) the spirit (or: Breath-effect; or: attitude) - have, as being present, already sifted, evaluated and decided about the man thus working down to this effect:
Notice Paul's actual union with the community in Corinth. It was a spiritual union, and the physical distance between them had no effect on his "continuously being present alongside" with them. In his spirit, he has discerned the situation, and by the Spirit had "sifted, evaluated and decided." Verse three gives us another example of "the judgment seat of Christ." Paul obviously made this evaluation of the situation through the grace-effect of spiritually discerning (12:8-10, below), from what had been reported to him (vs. 1, above).
4. [Upon] your being gathered together within (or: centered in) the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, then together with my spirit (or: attitude) - in, by and with the power and ability of our Lord Jesus -
5. [you are] to commit (surrender; hand-over) such a man, with the adversarial [spirit] (or: in the adversary; by the opponent; or: to satan), into a loss of the flesh (or: an undoing and destruction of this [distorted human nature]; a loss of [his "dominated existence" - Walter Wink]) - to the end that the spirit may be saved (rescued; delivered; restored to health, wholeness): within the midst of and in union with the Day of (or: in this day from, or, which is) the Lord [= Christ or Yahweh; other MSS add: Jesus; others read: our Lord, Jesus Christ]. [cf 3:15, above; 1 Tim. 1:20; Job 2:6]
Now he directs them - as a group - to
"gather together within (or: centered in) the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and together with [his] spirit."
Notice Paul's spiritual solidarity with them. He wanted them to have the same "attitude" toward this brother as he had: the man's ultimate restoration.
But there is more: they were to do this
"in, by and with the power and ability of our Lord Jesus."
This is an astounding statement. Many today, and in the past (as reported to us), have claimed to have
"the power and ability of Jesus Christ,"
but seemingly more often than not, the results proved that they did not embody this power - they only claimed it by organizational positions that they held. Usually it was not the authority of a cruciform life, but the brute power of the domination system (beast) upon which they had been stationed by man, not God. But Paul sets two criteria: they must existentially be
"together within (or: centered in) the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ,"
and also,
"together with my spirit (or: attitude)."
They could not follow his instructions if they were not in union with the Lord, and if they did not have the same spirit and attitude that Paul embodied: ultimate restoration of the offending party - a spirit of grace and mercy.
Nonetheless, he instructs them to convene a "judgment seat" in Christ. Now the common rendering of the first clause of vs. 5 instructs the Corinthian assembly to
"hand this man over to satan."
The term satan is merely a transliteration of the Greek word, which is the LXX rendering of the Hebrew word that means "adversary; opponent." So the Greek term also means "adversary; opponent." But here, the term is in the dative case, without an expressed preposition. My first offering is reading the dative function as "with," interpreting the phrase as meaning
"the man WITH the adversarial [spirit]."
This phrase is immediately followed by a second prepositional phrase,
"into a loss of the flesh,"
which tells us the preliminary purpose of
"the handing-over, or, the committing."
The word "loss" can be rendered as "an undoing" (the core meaning of the term), and thus, "a destruction." Observe the parenthetical expansion of the significance of the word "flesh." In Paul this does not refer to the physical body, but to "the distorted human nature" or, as Walter Wink defines it, his "dominated existence." Cf Wink's trilogy, Naming the Powers; Unmasking the Powers; Engaging the Powers.
The ultimate purpose for this "committing; surrendering; handing-over" is expressed in the subordinate clause:
"to the end that the spirit may be saved (rescued; delivered; restored to health, wholeness)."
This is the purpose of all "judgment."
Also on offer is the rendering,
"surrender such a man, in the adversary, into a loss..."
This interpretation of the dative case says that this man was
"in the adversary,"
rather than abiding in the Vine. He was not producing the fruit of the Vine, so this would be like
"casting him into the Fire" (Jn. 15:6b; Heb. 6:7, 8).
It is an example of 3:13, 15, above. Next is the option,
"hand [him] over by the opponent."
This calls to mind
"the Sabeans; lightning (Fire of God); the Chaldeans; the storm wind; bodily sores"
in Job 1 and 2. All of those things were to loose Job from aspects of his disconnected flesh nature with which he wrestled until God showed up in ch. 38:1. There Yahweh answered Job from out of the very "storm wind" that had been Job's "adversary" in Job. 1:19.
The final rendering on offer in our present verse is the traditional rendering of the dative, "to," with the common transliteration of the Greek term satan. This would also be an allusion to God doing the same act, in Job 1 and 2. However, although all these functions fit the context, reading the first clause as
"the man with the adversarial [spirit; attitude; behavior]"
seems best to us. The loss of his flesh will be the work of God, and will work toward his deliverance, so reading that phrase as "describing" the man makes the most sense to us.
The final, modifying phrases
"within the midst of and in union with the Day of (or: in this day from, or, which is) the Lord"
refers to the Day (Christ) in which they were presently living. Paul's desire was for this man to immediately be made whole - right there as he lived the rest of his life. He had simply failed, morally, as we all have in one way or another. He was a lost sheep, and needed a time of "lost-ness," as did the prodigal son. A similar situation is presented in 1 Tim. 1:20. The adversary (satan) is always used to enhance the condition of the person to whom it is directed against.
Paul, in the Spirit, is coming to them with the first option of 4:21, above: with a rod of correction. Conzelmann informs us: "According to Jewish law, the man who lies with his father's wife is to be stoned" (ibid p 96 n 28). Paul's spirit and action are grace! Dan Kaplan reminded us of the beautiful passage in 1 Pet. 4:8. Before all people (or: = More than anything), continue being folks constantly holding the outstretching and extending Love (unambiguous, uniting acceptance) unto yourselves (i.e., into each other) - "because Love (the urge toward union; self-giving) is constantly covering* (habitually throwing a veil over; progressively concealing) a multitude of failures (mistakes; errors; misses of the target; sins)." [Prov. 10:12]
9. [Continue being] those [who are] stranger-loving unto one another (= friendly, kind and hospitable to strangers, foreigners and aliens [inviting them] into the midst of each other's [homes and/or societies]), without expressing dissatisfaction (complaining; grumbling; murmuring),
10. each one, according as he receives an effect of grace (or: received a result of favor), continuously giving supporting service and dispensing it unto yourselves (i.e., into each other), as beautiful (fine; ideal) house managers (administrators) of God's varied grace (or: of [the] diverse favor which is God; [as] of a many-colored [tapestry] of grace whose source and character are from God).
This attitude and this thinking echo what we have seen in the heart of Paul, and of course is the heart of Christ.
To be continued...
Jonathan
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