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Question About I Cor. 1:1-9
Terry Carter
Dear Brother
Carter,
Sunday my preacher said that Paul still had some
good things to say about the Corinthian church despite all their problems. His text was I Corinthians 1:1-9.
“1 Paul,
called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to
those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
to be saints, with all who in
every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and
ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. 4 I thank my God always
concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ
Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and
all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was
confirmed in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly
waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will also confirm
you to the end, that you may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (NKJV)
He pointed out that Paul calls them saints and than
thanked God always concerning them.
But verse 4 of my translation says, “I thank my God always on your behalf…” I understand this to mean that they were so
bad that they couldn’t pray for themselves, Paul had to do it for them. Furthermore, Paul doesn’t say they were
saints, just that they were called to be saints. In other words, they were supposed to become saints, but they
hadn’t. I don’t think Paul was saying
anything good about them at all. In
fact, he was chastising them for not being saints and being so bad that he had
to pray on their behalf. Who is right
here?
Answer:
Your question really raises two issues. The first is whether Paul called the
Corinthians saints in verse 2. The
second is whether the phrase in verse 4 should be translated, “concerning you”, or “on your behalf”. We will deal with each one separately.
Verse 2
Concerning verse 2, it is clear that Paul did refer
to the Corinthians as saints. We can be
sure of this for a number of reasons.
First, the words, “to be” do not
appear in the Greek. The translators
have supplied them. That is why they are in Italics in the KJV as well as the NKJV
and the ASV. Some other translations put them in
parenthesis or note this in some another way.
Some translations leave them out all together.
“to the assembly of God that is in Corinth, to those
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints…”
YLT
“to the assembly of God which is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints…” DBY
“to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those
who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints
by calling…” NASV
“to THAT CONGREGATION of God which is in Corinth,
having been sanctified in the Anointed Jesus, Constituted Holy ones…” Diaglott
Second, consider the context. Verse 1 says, “Paul, called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,” KJV. The Greek word for called here is the same
one used in verse 2. Note that the
translators have supplied the words “to be” in this verse as well.
If verse 2 is saying the Corinthians were not saints
but that they were supposed to become saints, what shall we say that verse 1
teaches? To be consistent we would have
to say that Paul was not an apostle but he was supposed to be one. This is preposterous.
Similarly, consider the phrase that follows in verse
2, “…called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the
name of Jesus Christ our Lord…” Those at Corinth were called saints along with all who call upon the
name of Jesus. If they weren’t actually
saints, what must we conclude about others who call upon the name of
Jesus? To be consistent, we must
conclude that they were not actually saints, but they were supposed to be. This makes as much sense as saying that Paul
was not actually an apostle.
Third, consider the verb of verse
2. The verb in question here is the
Greek word, “hagaizo”, translated “to them that are sanctified” in the KJV.
(The Greek word translated “called” is “kletos”, it is an adjective, not
a verb.) The Greek word translated
saints is the noun “hagois”. The verb
“hagaizo” is actually derived from the noun “hagois”. Those who are “sanctified” are called “saints”.
The verb, “hagaizo” in verse 2 is in perfect
tense. This tense is defined thusly:
“The perfect tense in Greek corresponds to the
perfect tense in English, and describes
an action which is viewed as having been completed in the past, once and for
all, not needing to be repeated.” Strong’s.
“Perfect tense – shows perfective action, which is a
combination of linear and punctiliar action in that it shows an action in a given point in the past with continuous results…” A
Primary Grammar of the Greek New Testament, Donald Nash.
Strong’s gives Jesus’ cry, “It is
finished”, from the cross as a good example of the perfect tense usage. It has been accomplished for all time, but
the results continue.
What this means is that they were sanctified, in the
past, and continues to be so, in the present.
They were called to be saints, in the past, and continue to be saints,
in the present.
Fourth, consider the parallel
passage, Romans 1:7, “To all that be
in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace
from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Greek words translated “called” and “saints” are the same
here as in I Corinthians 1:2. Once again, the translators have supplied
the words, “to be”, as they are not found in the Greek.
Was Paul saying that the Romans weren’t actually
saints, but they were supposed to be?
It is clear from the way that Paul uses the word “saint” subsequently in
the books of Romans, I Corinthians
and II Corinthians, that he
considered them to be saints at the time he was writing.
Vincent’s Word
Studies in the New Testament says the following concerning the phrase, “called to
be saints” in Romans 1:7.
“Or, saints by way of call...It is asserted
that they are what they are called.”
Verse 4
Now we turn to the question of the proper
translation of I Corinthians 1:4. A careful study of the Greek here shows that
Paul was thankful for the Corinthians themselves. He was not praying on their behalf in some sort of priestly role
because they had too many problems to pray for themselves. Neither was he making intercession for them
due to their own inability to thank God themselves.
It should first be noted that there is a textual
issue in this verse. However, it has no
bearing on the question at hand. Some
manuscripts read, “I thank God…”, while most read, “I thank my God…” Most translations include the word, “my”. The point is that the issue here is strictly
one of translation, not textual basis for the translation.
First, the Greek words in question
are, “peri”, a preposition and “humon”, a pronoun. They are translated “concerning you” in the NKJV. The KJV translates them “on your
behalf”. (I assume your translation is
the KJV since I was unable to find
any other that translates it as such.)
Here is how it is translated in a number of
translations:
“on your behalf” KJV
“concerning you” NKJV, ASV, NASV, YLT, Diaglott, A Literal and Consistent Version
(Donald Nash)
“for you” NIV,
ESV, TNIV
“about you” DBY
While this is not conclusive, it does indicate what
the majority of translators have concluded.
In fact, the KJV itself often translates these words as, “for you”
elsewhere in the New Testament.
Second, let’s look at the
definition of the Greek word “peri”.
“About, concerning, on account of, because of,
around, near” Strong’s.
“It denotes that around
which an act or state revolves; about
concerning, as touching, etc.” Thayers
(genitive case usage, which is what is used in I Corinthians 1:4).
In the KJV,
it is translated “of” 148 times, “for” 61 times, “concerning” 40 times, “about”
31 times, “as touching” 8 times, and “touching” 3 times. It appears 331 times in the New
Testament.
Third, let’s look at how the two
Greek words, “peri” and “humon” were used together in the New Testament. I found 19 cases where they are in
juxtaposition as in I Corinthians 1:4. Here is what I observed.
1.
The
KJV translates it “on your behalf”
only in I Corinthians 1:4. Eight times it is rendered, “of you”. Nine times it is translated, “for you”. The remaining occurrence is rendered,
“concerning you”. Certainly the KJV
translators didn’t have a problem with the kinds of readings we see in other
translations.
2.
Seven
times it occurs in the context of Paul praying for or giving thanks for those
he is writing to. To be consistent, we
would have to conclude that Paul is praying “on behalf of” all these people
since they were too wicked to pray for themselves. This would include the Corinthians, the Colossians, and the
Thessalonians. Such a conclusion is
absurd and held by nobody, of which I am aware.
3.
One
of these is in the context under question.
“For it hath been declared
unto me of you, my brethren, by them
which are of the house of Chloe, that
there are contentions among you.” I Corinthians 1:11
Not only did the KJV (or any other translation I am
aware of) not render it, “on your behalf”, but it would not make much sense if
they had.
4.
In
some places, a rendering of “on behalf of” would make no sense at all. Here are two examples:
“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,” Matthew
15:7
“Casting all your care upon
him; for he careth for you.” I
Peter 1:7
Try replacing “for you” with
“on your behalf” and you get nonsense.
These are not the examples I could have cited here either.
5.
There
is one place where the rendering, “on your behalf” would fit nicely.
“At that day ye shall ask in
my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you:” John 16:26
However, you can see that,
“for you” works just as well.
Fourth, there is a Greek word that
has the idea of, “on behalf of”, and it is used often in the New
Testament. It is the Greek preposition,
“huper”. If that is what Paul had
intended to say, he could have used this word instead.
Here is how it is defined:
“1) in behalf of, for the sake of
2) over, beyond, more than
3) more, beyond, over” Strongs.
“1) over, above, beyond, across. In
this sense it does not occur in the NewTestament.
2) for one’s safety, for one’s advantage or benefit
(one who does a thing for another, is conceived of as standing or bending
‘over’ the one whom he would shield or defend)
3) in place of, instead of
4) of the impelling or moving cause; on account of,
for the sake of” Thayers (genitive case usage, which is what is used in I Corinthians 1:4).
You can see the striking difference between “huper”
and “peri” in regards to our current discussion.
I checked the New Testament for juxtapositions of
the Greek words “huper” and “humon” as I had for “peri” and “humon”. I found 29 instances of this. What is most interesting here is that “huper
humon” is used precisely as “peri humon” is alleged to be used in I Corinthians 1:4. Let me give just a couple of examples:
“And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is
my body which is given for you: this
do in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
yourselves: for they watch for your
souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not
with grief: for that is unprofitable
for you.” Hebrews 13:17
Several other examples of this could be cited. Although it is not in juxtaposition with the
Greek word “humon”, another interesting example of the usage of “huper” is
found in Matthew 5:44, “But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you, and persecute you;”
It is interesting since Jesus seems to be telling us
to pray on their behalf since they won’t pray for themselves, or if they did,
perhaps their prayer would not be heard.
The usage of the words “huper” and “humon” together
is also seen in the context of I
Corinthians 1:4. It clearly has
this idea of “on behalf of”. Yet the KJV translators did not render it as
such. However, the meaning is still
quite clear.
“Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the
name of Paul?” I Corinthians 1:13
It should be noted that the usage of the word
“huper” doesn’t always indicate the idea of “on behalf of” either. Here are a couple of examples:
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken
of throughout the whole world.” Romans
1:7
“Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;” Ephesians 1:16
I see no reason to think that Paul had to pray “on
behalf of” the Romans or Ephesians because they were unable, or unwilling, to
do so themselves. The caution here is
against forcing such a concept onto the verse.
Conclusion
We must be careful in our attempts to understand
Scripture to allow it to speak to us rather than imposing our concepts upon the
text. This is the first principle of
hermeneutics (the science of interpretation).
To conclude that Paul had nothing good to say about the Corinthians
seems to be a good example of eisegesis (reading into the text) rather than
exegesis (drawing the meaning out of the text).
While the KJV
is a very good translation, it is not perfect.
What we really need to look at here is the original Greek. The change of
a word or two can make a big difference in the understanding of the
meaning. Let’s be diligent in our study
and check things out thoroughly before jumping to any unwarranted conclusions.
This study illustrates the value of referencing more
than one translation. I close with a statement from the “KJV”
translator's in their "Preface to the Reader."
"Therefore as St.
Augustine says, that the variety of translations is profitable for the finding
out of the sense of the Scriptures…"