Read The Jewish Annotated New Testament Online
Authors: Amy-Jill Levine
23
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are beneficial. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up.
24
Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.
25
Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience,
26
for “the earth and its fullness are the Lord’s.”
27
If an unbeliever invites you to a meal and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.
28
But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—
29
I mean the other’s conscience, not your own. For why should my liberty be subject to the judgment of someone else’s conscience?
30
If I partake with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.
32
Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33
just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, so that
11
they may be saved.
1
Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
2
I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I handed them on to you.
3
But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the husband
*
is the head of his wife,
*
and God is the head of Christ.
4
Any man who prays or prophesies with something on his head disgraces his head,
5
but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled disgraces her head—it is one and the same thing as having her head shaved.
6
For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair; but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or to be shaved, she should wear a veil.
7
For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since he is the image and reflection
*
of God; but woman is the reflection
*
of man.
8
Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
9
Neither was man created for the sake of woman, but woman for the sake of man.
10
For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol of
*
authority on her head,
*
because of the angels.
11
Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man or man independent of woman.
12
For just as woman came from man, so man comes through woman; but all things come from God.
13
Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head unveiled?
14
Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him,
15
but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
16
But if anyone is disposed to be contentious—we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God.
17
Now in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
18
For, to begin with, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you; and to some extent I believe it.
19
Indeed, there have to be factions among you, for only so will it become clear who among you are genuine.
20
When you come together, it is not really to eat the Lord’s supper.
21
For when the time comes to eat, each of you goes ahead with your own supper, and one goes hungry and another becomes drunk.
22
What! Do you not have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I commend you? In this matter I do not commend you!
HEADCOVERING
Roman women covered their hair in public (except during mourning, weddings, and certain festivals) as a sign of modesty and to indicate their respectable status and as protection against solicitation. Veiling was also normative for married women in Jewish culture (Sus 32 [Theodotion];
m. Ketub
. 2.1; 7.4;
Avot de R. Natan
B 9.25; 42.117;
b. Ketub
. 72a–b). Uncovering or shaving a woman’s head were forms of shaming, punishment, or mourning in biblical and later culture (Num 5.18; Isa 3.17–24; 3 Macc 4.6;
m. Sot
. 1.5). Paul recommends customs consonant with both Jewish and Roman social atitudes: what is appropriate for women is inappropriate for men and vice versa (11.14–15). Roman and Jewish priests traditionally covered their heads when in the divine presence (Plutarch,
Quaest. rom
. 10;
Mor
. 266C; Ex 28.36–40; Ezek 44.18–20). However, non-priests did not cover their heads when viewing (or in the case of Romans, performing) sacrifices. Paul mandated this non-priestly practice for all males (11.4), perhaps to preserve a sense of unity or to avoid pagan ritual associations. Rabbinic tradition describes male headcovering (Heb “sudara”) as signifying the “fear of heaven” and as a “crown of glory” (
b. Ber
. 60b, quoting Ps 8.5;
b. Shabb
. 156b; see also
b. Qidd
. 31a). Widespread wearing of head coverings by Jewish men was a post-Talmudic custom.
23
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,
24
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for
*
you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
25
In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
27
Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the Lord.
28
Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
29
For all who eat and drink
*
without discerning the body,
*
eat and drink judgment against themselves.
30
For this reason many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.
*
31
But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.
32
But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined
*
so that we may not be condemned along with the world.
EUCHARIST AND PASSOVER
Whether the Last Supper was a Passover meal (Mk 14.12–25 indicates that it is; Jn 13.1–2; 18.28; 19.14,31 indicate that it took place on the day before Passover began), the commemoration of Israel’s exodus from Egypt forms the background for understanding the significance of the Lord’s Supper, later referred to as “Eucharist” (lit., “thanksgiving”) or “Communion.” Remembrance is foundational to both the Lord’s Supper and Passover: “In every generation, each must see himself as if he went forth from Egypt” (
m. Pesah
. 10.5). Jews acknowledge the continuing saving power of God by recalling the Exodus in the wine sanctification or Kiddush of every Sabbath, as commanded in Ex 13.3, “Remember this day on which you came out of Egypt,” and the rabbis interpret the Decalogue in Ex 20.8 as ordaining the recitation of this blessing (
Mek. Bahodesh
7;
b. Pesah
. 106a; 117b).
33
So then, my brothers and sisters,
*
when you come together to eat, wait for one another.
34
If you are hungry, eat at home, so that when you come together, it will not be for your condemnation. About the other things I will give instructions when I come.
12
Now concerning spiritual gifts,
*
brothers and sisters,
*
I do not want you to be uninformed.
2
You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak.
3
Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
4
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
5
and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;
6
and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.
7
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
8
To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,
9
to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,
10
to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11
All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.
CURSING JESUS
Let Jesus be cursed!
(12.3) may allude to Paul’s discussion of Deut 21.23 (see Gal 3.13). Second-century Roman authorities demanded that Christians blaspheme Christ; those who resisted were martyred (
Mart. Pol
. 9.3). Polycarp’s younger contemporary, Justin Martyr (ca. 160), claimed that Jews cursed Christ (
Dial
. 137.2), although no ancient Jewish sources attest this practice. Origen attributed this curse to Jews who blasphemed Jesus to avoid anti-Christian persecution (
Hom. Ps
. 37 [36]). Medieval Jewish apostates may have proven their return to the fold by reciting such formulas publicly (Agobard of Lyons,
On the Insolence of the Jews to Louis the Pious
). Alternatively, in the tradition of ancient malediction formulae, the phrase could be translated, “May Jesus curse …,” which Paul cautions would only be efficacious if recited
by the Holy Spirit
(12.3) and not in the name of pagan deities. Paul advises the former pagan Corinthians to use the name “Jesus” in place of underworld deities like Hecate and Persephone, which are mere
idols
(12.2). Paul himself invokes a curse on opponents of
the Lord
(16.22).