1 Corinthians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ²  by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,

1 Corinthians 1:7

1:7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation ³  of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:9

1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 3:11

3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:1

The Apostles’ Ministry

4:1 One ⁴  should think about us this way – as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

1 Corinthians 8:12

8:12 If you sin against your brothers or sisters ⁵  in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:9

10:9 And let us not put Christ ⁶  to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. ⁷ 

1 Corinthians 15:14

15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is futile and your faith is empty.

1 Corinthians 15:17

15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is useless; you are still in your sins.

1 Corinthians 15:19-20

15:19 For if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we should be pitied more than anyone.

15:20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

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¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

² tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

³ sn The revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ refers to the Lord’s return, when he will be revealed (cf. the reference to the day of our Lord Jesus Christ in v. 8).

⁴ tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is both indefinite and general, “one”; “a person” (BDAG 81 s.v. 4.a.γ).

⁵ tn See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

⁶ tc Χριστόν (Criston, “Christ”) is attested in the majority of mss, including many important witnesses of the Alexandrian (Ì⁴⁶ 1739 1881) and Western (D F G) texttypes, and other mss and versions (Ψ latt sy co). On the other hand, some of the important Alexandrian witnesses have κύριον (kurion, “Lord”; א B C P 33 104 1175 al). A few mss (A 81 pc) have θεόν (qeon, “God”). The nomina sacra for these readings are quite similar (cMn, kMn, and qMn respectively), so one might be able to account for the different readings by way of confusion. On closer examination, the variants appear to be intentional changes. Alexandrian scribes replaced the highly specific term “Christ” with the less specific terms “Lord” and “God” because in the context it seems to be anachronistic to speak of the exodus generation putting Christ to the test. If the original had been “Lord,” it seems unlikely that a scribe would have willingly created a difficulty by substituting the more specific “Christ.” Moreover, even if not motivated by a tendency to overcorrect, a scribe might be likely to assimilate the word “Christ” to “Lord” in conformity with Deut 6:16 or other passages. The evidence from the early church regarding the reading of this verse is rather compelling in favor of “Christ.” Marcion, a second-century, anti-Jewish heretic, would naturally have opposed any reference to Christ in historical involvement with Israel, because he thought of the Creator God of the OT as inherently evil. In spite of this strong prejudice, though, {Marcion} read a text with “Christ.” Other early church writers attest to the presence of the word “Christ,” including {Clement of Alexandria} and Origen. What is more, the synod of Antioch in a.d. 268 used the reading “Christ” as evidence of the preexistence of Christ when it condemned Paul of Samosata. (See G. Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles, 126-27; TCGNT 494; C. D. Osburn, “The Text of 1 Corinthians 10:9,” New Testament Textual Criticism: Its Significance for Exegesis, 201-11; contra A. Robertson and A. Plummer, First Corinthians [ICC], 205-6.) Since “Christ” is the more difficult reading on all accounts, it is almost certainly original. In addition, “Christ” is consistent with Paul’s style in this passage (cf. 10:4, a text in which {Marcion} also reads “Christ”). This text is also christologically significant, since the reading “Christ” makes an explicit claim to the preexistence of Christ. (The textual critic faces a similar dilemma in Jude 5. In a similar exodus context, some of the more important Alexandrian mss [A B 33 81 pc] and the Vulgate read “Jesus” in place of “Lord.” Two of those mss [A 81] are the same mss that have “Christ” instead of “God” in 1 Cor 10:9. See the tc notes on Jude 5 for more information.) In sum, “Christ” has all the earmarks of authenticity here and should be considered the original reading.

⁷ sn This incident is recorded in Num 21:5-9.