The Jewish Annotated New Testament (262 page)

8
:
Law
of Moses (v. 9).

9
–11
:
The law
, Deut 25.4; the
ox
represents apostles,
plows
and
threshes
refer to evangelizing,
treading out
to the apostles’ ability to enjoy
material benefits
while teaching. Several texts relate Deut 25.4 to leaving fallen harvest for gleaners (Lev 19.9, Deut 24.19;
Ant
. 4.8.21 [233]). Paul uses a form of argument similar to rabbinic-type Jewish “qal vahomer” (from the lesser to the greater) argument: if oxen can eat, so can apostles (compare
m. B. Metz
. 7.2). This form of argument was also established within Greco-Roman thought (as in the argument “a fortiori”). Alternatively, this comparison can be read allegorically.

12
:
This rightful claim
, i.e., to food and a wife from within the church.
Obstacle
, Paul worried that the financial burden of his support might discourage ecclesial participation.

13
:
Temple
(“hieron
”)
can also refer to pagan shrines (e.g., LXX Jdt 4.1; Bel 8, Bel [Theodotion] 22). Jewish and pagan priests were sustained by temple sacrifices (Num 18.8–32; Deut 18.1–5;
Ant
. 3.224–36).

14
:
The Lord,
Jesus (Mt 10.10; Lk 10.7).

15
–16
:
Boasting
, see 5.6.

17
: Two motivations for proclaiming the gospel: free will and compulsion (see Gal 1.15; Jer 1.5).

18
:
Reward
, Paul eschews apostolic rights in order to teach
free of charge
, paralleling the rabbinic notion of “sekhar mitzvah mitzvah,” the performance of a divine imperative is its own reward (
m. Avot
4.2).

9.19
–23: Slave to all.
The argument here can be misunderstood. Paul is not presenting himself as a dissembler who pretends to be something he is not in order to persuade people under false pretenses to become members of the community. Rather, as the parenthetical clause in v. 21 suggests, he is speaking to differing groups in terms that they can understand.

19
:
Free with respect to all
, belonging to no one.
Slave
(“doulos”), devoted to the well-being of others in the service of God (LXX Jer 7.25; 25.4; Ezek 38.17; Joel 2.29; Am 3.7; Zech 1.6).

20
:
As a Jew
, Paul argued from the perspective of Jewish interlocutors.
Under the law
, Paul argued from the perspective of following Mosaic Law.

21
:
Outside the law
, the perspective of Gentiles neither bound nor protected by Torah.
Under Christ’s law
, the Gk preposition “en” is better translated “in” rather than
under
(see Gal 6.2). Paul never forbids Jews in the church from following Torah. See” Freedom from the Law,” p.
296
.

22
:
Weak
, see 1.27; 2.3; 4.10; 8.7–12; 12.22.

23
:
Blessings
, full promises of the kingdom.

9.24
–27: The good race. 24–25
:
Only one … perishable wreath
, in Greek athletic competitions the winner received a wreath; the race for the kingdom has many victors who receive an
imperishable
prize, a resurrected body; a rare metaphor in Second Temple literature (Philo,
Confusion
181;
On Agriculture
42).

27
:
Disqualified
from the kingdom.

10.1
–13: Israel’s negative examples. 1
:
Ancestors
, Israelites, the Corinthians’ spiritual forebears (Gal 3.7).
Cloud
, divine presence protecting Israelites in the desert (Ex 13.21; 14.19–22), seen as God’s wisdom (Wis 10.17; Philo,
Heir
(42) 203–4;
Mek. Beshallah
1 on Ex 13.17–22), which Paul identifies as Christ (1.20–21).

2
:
Baptized
, infused with the
cloud
’s Spirit and immersed in the
sea
(at the Exodus). Jewish tradition does not see this event as “baptism,” but does regard it as both present and proleptic salvation (
Mek. Beshallah
on Ex 14.13; 15.2).

3
:
Spiritual food
, manna, “bread from heaven” (Ex 16.4–36; Num 11.6–9; see Jn 6.31–32), the “bread of angels” (Ps 78.24–25).

4
:
Spiritual drink
, water (Ex 17.1–7; Num 20.1–13) that Moses drew from the
rock
at Horeb. Paul identifies the
rock
with
Christ
, since it
followed them
and sustained them (see
t. Sukk
. 3.3, 11;
b. Ta’an
. 9a). Philo,
Leg. all
. 2.86, and
L.A.B
. 10.7 see the rock as representing Wisdom; water as a metaphor for Torah and Wisdom frequently appears in Jewish texts (Wis 11.4; Philo,
Dreams
2.221–22;
b. B. Kamma
82a;
Song Rab
. 1.19; see Am 8.11).

5
: Some biblical texts idealize the period of wandering (see esp. Jer 2.2), while others (e.g., Ps 106), like Paul, see it as a period of unending apostasy.

6
:
Examples
, counterexamples, since the pattern of faithlessness and condemnation culminates with the eschaton (see Neh 9.11–21).
Desire evil
, see Num 11.

7
: LXX Ex 32.6.
Idolaters
, golden calf worshipers punished by death (Ex 32.27–28), just as those who are unfaithful will be condemned in the final judgment.

8
:
Sexual immorality
, Num 25.1–2 portrays idolatry as a consequence of intercourse with Moabites.
Twenty-three thousand
likely is a variant of the 24,000 of Num 25.9 (see also Num 26.62).

9
:
Christ
, Some manuscripts have “the Lord,” paraphrasing Deut 6.16 (see Ex 17.7; Mt 4.7).
Test
(“ekpeirazō”), the limits of Christ’s forgiveness; the same word names the place where the Israelites demanded Moses bring water from the rock (LXX Ex 17.7; see also LXX Ps 77.18,41,56; Heb “Masah”).
Serpents
, Num 21.7, where Israel is punished for “speaking against the LORD.”

10
:
Destroyer
, see 5.5n., likely an angel (Ex 12.23; 2 Sam 24.16; Wis 18.25;
T. Abr
. A 8.12; 16.1–16;
3 Bar
. 4.8; 9.7;
Deut. Rab
. 11.10;
Midr. Tanh
. on Gen 39.1;
b. Avodah Zara
20b).

12
:
Standing
, the position of the righteous and redeemed.
Falling
, the position of the condemned (Ex 14.13; 32.28).

13
:
Faithful
, see 1.9n.
Beyond your strength
, the motif of testing appears in rabbinic literature in the suffering of the righteous (
Gen. Rab
. 40.3,
b. Ber
. 5a–b “yisurin shel’ahavah” [chastisements of love]).
Way out
, believers survive
testing
by remaining faithful to God (see Zech 13.9).

10.14
–22: Idolatry vs. fidelity. 14
:
Friends
(“agapētos”), lit., “beloved” (4.14; 15.58).

16
:
Cup
, wine shared in the Lord’s Supper (see Introduction), representing Christ’s
blood
.
Bread
, representing
the body of Christ
.
Sharing
(“koinonia”), lit., “fellowship, communion.”

17
:
One
, uniting believers with each other and with Christ. Blessing wine and bread was fundamental to Jewish festival meals (see
m. Ber
. 6.1).
Y. Ber
. 7.3 speaks of a blessing recited over the cup at the end of a meal.
Body
, see 12.12–26.

18
:
People of Israel
, lit., “Israel according to the flesh.”
Eat the sacrifices
, communal events like the Passover created fellowship, making Israelites
partners in the altar
(see 1.9n.; Lev 7.5–8; Deut 18.1–5).

20
:
Pagans
, not in the Greek.
They sacrifice … to God
, LXX Deut 32.17.
Demons
(“daimones”), a general term for noncorporeal or spiritual powers that later came to mean only malevolent ones. Jewish folk-belief in such powers lasted beyond the Middle Ages (Tob 8.3; Bar 4.7;
Jub
. 2.1–2; 10.7–9;
b. Ber
. 6a;
b. Eruv
. 100b;
b. Nidd
. 24b;
b. Pesah
. 109b–112a;
b. Sukk
. 28a;
Gen. Rab
. 20;
Pirqe R. El
. 34;
Num. Rab
. 11.5;
Eccl. Rab
. 2.6; Nachmanides on Lev. 27.7;
Zohar
3.229b;
Shulchan Arukh
,
Orech Chaim
, 4.2; 90.6; 181.2;
Yoreh De’ah
, 116.5; 179.16, 19). Paul uses the term to refer to pagan deities, whose existence he denies (8.4–5).