Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in 1 Corinthians

This book advances the interpretation of 1 Corinthians by exploring the ways the apostle Paul quoted or “echoed” Jewish scriptures more indirectly in his letter, by metonymy or allusion. Criteria and methods for identifying echoes are brought to the fore, as are questions of the texture of Paul’s theology and his understanding of scripture. Important topics in 1 Corinthians addressed here include Paul’s use of the Law, monotheism, Christology, wisdom and mystery language, punishment of the incestuous man, baptism for the dead, eschatology, and resurrection.

This impressive collection of essays on difficult passages and larger themes in 1 Corinthians offers new insights into matters that continue to stymie interpreters. The contributors show how Paul, as a sophisticated and practiced interpreter, deeply engages with Scripture to shape his arguments throughout the letter despite using only a few explicit quotations. Their meticulous work produces stimulating results that reveal the Scripture’s influence on Paul’s process of reasoning that often goes undetected. This compilation should spark renewed research in this area., The majority of the work on Paul’s use of Scripture comes from Galatians and Romans and so a volume of 1 Corinthians is most welcome. The studies reveal Paul’s deep interaction with Scripture, even when he is not explicitly quoting it. They also show that Paul is deeply indebted to Jewish traditions of interpretation, even while commending his own Christological interpretations. Many of the insights in this book will set the agenda for future studies., This collection of papers from one SBL seminar has a unique thematic coherence and consistently high quality. The use of Scripture in 1 Corinthians has been underserved but this anthology goes a long way to fill that gap. The kinds of intertextuality proposed here go a long way toward solving classic cruxes about the discipline of the incestuous offender in chapter 5, the traveling Rock who was Christ in chapter 10, and the nature of the problems with resurrection in Corinth that necessitated chapter 15, along with numerous other issues. This volume is a model of what a collection of scholarly conference papers should look like., Scripture, Texts, and Tracings in 1 Corinthians provides the reader with a remarkable walk through this letter as he or she ponders the complex scriptural matrix from which Paul produced his epistolary gem. While walking, the reader is brought to a fuller appreciation of the soil from which the apostle’s thought has sprung. The many and various ways in which he used the Scriptures of his tradition shed so many shades of light on what he wrote. For example, a rolling stone and baptism on behalf of the dead appear with greater clarity when the reader takes time to ponder Paul’s use of the rich Scriptures of his heritage.

Linda L. Belleville is adjunct professor of New Testament at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.B. J. Oropeza is professor of biblical and religious studies at Azusa Pacific University.