The Jewish Annotated New Testament (258 page)

1.18
–31
:
Divine vs. human wisdom.

18
:
Are being saved
, Paul’s authentic epistles regard salvation as a future event.

19
:
It is wrien
, standard Jewish formula to cite scripture. Paul cites LXX Isa 29.14 (see Mt 15.8–9; Mk 7.6–7), God’s promise to rescue Israel despite false counsel by
the wise
, but reinterprets Isaiah’s “amazing things” as related to the Christ. The Isaiah Pesher (4Q163 frags. 16–17) and
L.A.B
. 53.13 also interpret Isa 29.13–16 eschatologically.

20
: Paraphrasing Isa 19.12; 33.18; 44.25.
This age
, Jewish tradition (e.g.,
m. Avot
2.7) distinguished this age (“olam ha-zeh”) from the age to come (“olam ha-ba”).

21
: Paul denigrates human wisdom as opposed to the
wisdom of God
, Christ (see 1.24). In postbiblical Judaism, divine wisdom (Gk “sophia”) is often equated with Torah or natural law (Bar 3.9–14; 4.1; Sir 1.26; 4.24; 6.37; 19.20; Philo,
Dreams
1, 167–77;
Gen. Rab
. 1.1). In Stoic philosophy, “sophia” can refer to a divine aspect mystically accessible to humans seeking immortality (Wis 1.6; 6.9–23; 7.23–28).
Foolishness
(“moraino,” whence “moronic”), to make salvation a maer of belief in the gospel (
those who believe
) rather than of philosophy or human wisdom (see 2.5).

22
:
Signs
, miraculous events (
1 En
. 82.16;
Sib. Or
. 3.335). Characterization of Jews seeking signs supported medieval stereotypes of Jews as blind to Christian truth (Aquinas,
Summa Theologica
3.47.5; see 3.1–3n.). In Torah, signs include circumcision, Shabbat, human warnings, and miracles (Gen 17.11; Ex 15.11; Num 21.8–9). Signs can refer to prophecy, whether true (1 Sam 10.7,9; 2 Kings 20.8–9; Isa 7.11,14) or false (Isa 44.25). There is some ambivalence in the Bible about whether it is good to seek divine signs (see Isa 7.1–17). Messianic sign lists appear in early Jewish texts (4Q521;
b. Sanh
. 97a–98b).

23
:
Stumbling block
(“skandalon,” whence “scandal”; see Rom 9.33; 11.1–10; Ps 69), because they rejected a crucified and raised messiah (compare the later dying messiah ben Joseph in 2 Esd [4
Ezra
] 7.29;
b. Sukk
. 52a).
Foolishness
, Gentiles expected kings to overcome enemies.

24
:
Called
, see 1.2n. 25–31: Jewish wisdom literature commonly contrasts human foolishness and wisdom (e.g., Prov 10.1; Sir 20.31), and notes that divine wisdom trumps human plans (Prov 19.21).

25
–26
: God’s kingdom inverts hierarchies (Hannah’s prayer, as expanded in the Greek (LXX 1 Kings (2 Sam) 2.8–10=4QSam
^a
; Mt 19.30; 1QH
^a
9.35–39;
Lev. Rab
. 1.5; see also Jer 9.22–3).

26
: Paul suggests most Corinthians were uneducated, non-elite, and lacked social influence.

27
:
To shame
, see Ps 6.10 (Heb v. 11); 31.17; 35.4; etc., where God shames enemies.

29
:
No one
, lit., “all flesh” (Heb “kol basar”), all humanity.
Boast
, a Pauline concern (see also 1.31; 3.21; 4.7; 13.3; 15.31). Paul, like the Tanakh (see esp. Jer 9.22–23, quoted below, and in
T. Jud
. 13.2; Pseudo-Phocylides,
Sent
. 53; Philo,
Spec. Laws
1.311), condemns boasting.

30
:
He
, God.
Life
, eternal life
in Christ Jesus
, God’s incarnate
wisdom. Righteousness
, justification (see 6.11);
sanctification
, holiness;
redemption
, the rare word (“apolutrosis”) that conveys rescue from death by resurrection (see Rom 8.23). Paul invokes Jer 9.23–24 (love, justice, righteousness).

31
: Jer 9.23 (see also LXX 1 Kings 2.10).

2.1
–5: Paul’s gospel.
Paul uses his own actions to illustrate the inverted roles of wisdom and foolishness (1.18–31).

1
:
Mystery
, the gospel.

3
:
Fear and … trembling
, see LXX Ex 15.16; Deut 2.25; 11.25; Jdt 2.28, and elsewhere, suggesting reaction to a hostile situation.

4
:
Words of wisdom
, philosophy, mere sophistry (see 1.17).
Spirit and … power
, i.e., of God, demonstrated through both Jesus’ resurrection and charismatic gifts.

2.6
–16: Divine wisdom. 6
:
Mature
, cf. 3.1. Human development was a common metaphor for intellectual and spiritual progress (Philo,
Dreams
2.234).
Rulers
, political leaders or angelic beings (see Bar 3; 2 Cor 4.4). For human vs. divine wisdom, see also Dan 2.

7
:
Hidden
, primordially (see Deut 29.29). The idea that God’s eschatological plans were
decreed before the ages
appears in apocalyptic (see Dan 12.9) and rabbinic literature (
Tanhuma
,
Naso
11). On the primordial creation of wisdom see, e.g., Prov 8.22; Sir 1.4; Wis 9.9.

8
: Jesus’ crucifixion resulted from Jewish leaders’ ignorance (see 1 Thess 2.14–15). While the “glory of the Lord” is common,
Lord of Glory
, perhaps reflecting “el ha-kavod” in Ps 28.3, is unique to this letter (cf. Acts 7.2).

9
: Similar to Isa 52.15; 64.3 (see also
b. Sanh
. 99a;
L.A.B
. 26.13), this saying is attributed to Jesus in the
Gos. Thom
. (17) and appears in Muslim tradition (
Sahih Bukhari
9.93.589;
Sahih Muslim
4.6783). Elsewhere, Paul only uses
as it is written
to introduce scriptural passages (Rom 1.17; 2 Cor 8.15). The Heb version of “as it was written,” “kakatuv,” is used to cite authoritative earlier sources in places such as Josh 8.31; 1 Kings 2.3; 21.11; 2 Kings 14.6; Ezra 3.2; Dan 9.13; 1QS 5.17; 8.14; CD 7.19, and frequently in rabbinic literature (Aram “dichtiv”).
Love
(“agapē
”
) unites the community (see 13.1–13).

10
:
Spirit
, the presence of God transforms believers through their union with Christ; Spirit is identified with wisdom (e.g., Ex 31.3), which encompasses
the depths of God
. The
Spirit
is therefore to God as (ideally) one’s inner life is to one’s self-knowledge.

12
:
Spirit of the world
, the term does not appear elsewhere in the LXX or NT.
Gifts
, lit., “things graciously given,” include spirit-filled activities (12.1–31), forgiveness of sins (15.3), promise of resurrection (6.14), and salvation (15.2).

13
:
Not taught by human wisdom
, on human vs. divine speech, see Philo,
Worse
39, 44, 133.

14
:
Unspiritual
(“psychikos,” breath-formed, or merely a living being) vs.
spiritual
(“pneumatikos,” or spirit-formed; see 15.45 on the “first man, Adam … and the last Adam”). The contrast evokes both Gen 2.7 and philosophical distinctions between air/breath/soul and heaven/spirit/mind (see Philo,
Dreams
1.16, 20, 30).

15
:
Discern,
a pun also meaning “interrogate” or “examine.” Holy ones, or saints, act as judges in the context of
interpreting spiritual things
(2.13).

16
:
Mind,
see LXX Isa 40.13, the sole instance of Heb “rua
ḥ
” rendered as Gk “nous”; see also Wis 9.13; Rom 11.34. Paul equates knowing the
mind of the Lord
with having the
mind of Christ
.

3.1
–4: Mother and infants. 1
:
The flesh,
the lowest spiritual state (
infants
, see Gal 4.3) with respect to the gospel. Later Christian writers applied this contrast of “flesh” vs. “spirit” to Jews, whose rejection of Christ was portrayed as manifest by their nonspiritual, carnal nature (see Augustine’s treatment of 1 Cor 9.19–21,
Op. mon
. 12, and Aelfric [eleventh century],
De Populo Israhel
297–99).

2
: Images of nursing leaders, teachers, and even God appear in Jewish literature (Num 11.12; Isa 28.9; 60.16; 66.11; 1QHa 15.21–22; Philo,
On Agriculture
9;
Good Person
160; see also 1 Thess 2.7–8; Gal 4.19;
b. Yoma
75a,
Pesiq. Rav Kah
. 12).

3
: The association of baser moral instincts with
the flesh
and ethical behavior with the spirit or mind appears in Jewish philosophical literature (e.g., Philo,
Leg. all
. 2.50).
Behaving
, lit., “walking around.”

4
:
Paul … Apollos
, see 1.12n.

3.5
–9
:
Farmer and plants
.

5
:
Servants
(“diakonoi,” whence “deacons”), a biblical image for those who convey God’s message.

6
–8
: Agricultural images for God’s relationship to the community (e.g., Isa 5.5–7; 32.15; 61.3; Jer 32.41; Ps 1; CD 1.7; 1QS 8.5;
Jub
. 1.16; 16.26; Philo,
On Agriculture
9; see also 1 Cor 15.36–41).