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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas

The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.

The games and the victor's wreath

Greek cities held great athletic festivals, and Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games every two years, second only to the Olympics. Athletes trained for months under oath for a wreath of leaves that soon withered.

Greek and Roman worldCity, trade and civic life

First, in plain English

The whole town was in the stands, and the winner went home with a ribbon worth nothing and fame worth everything. Greek cities loved athletic festivals. The biggest drew crowds from all over the Greek world for races, boxing and wrestling, with speech and music contests besides. Athletes trained hard for months and competed for their cities. The prize was a simple wreath of leaves that would soon wither, but the honor lasted. Corinth hosted one of the great festivals, the Isthmian Games, every other year.

What it meant then

Every two years Corinth staged games on the isthmus for the whole Greek world. After the Olympics, held every four years, they were the best-attended Greek festivals. Keener notes that "The pine garland was awarded at these Isthmian games", as wild olive was at Olympia and parsley at Nemea. The ESV Study Bible suggests that Paul's stay in Corinth may have overlapped the games of AD 49 or 51. Bailey notes that spectators and athletes were housed in tents, good business for tentmakers such as Paul, Priscilla and Aquila. Athletes competed for their cities under strict rules of training. Entrants at Olympia swore by Zeus to ten months of strict training, and breaking the rules could bring whipping, fines or a ban. The footrace came before the other contests of the pentathlon. Boxers wore leather gloves covering most of the forearm, so shadowboxing was no preparation. The wreath would rot, which made the effort for it all the more striking. Philosophers often used athletic pictures, the race among them, for the striving after truth and wise living. Diaspora Jewish writers such as Philo and the author of 4 Maccabees followed them. Greek runners usually ran a straight course and back, so a runner who glanced behind could lose. At the end, heralds called the winner up for his prize, a palm branch at Olympia. Crowns were given to heroes too, but they meant above all the athlete's wreath. Greek men exercised naked in the gymnasium, "the center of civic life in Hellenized towns" (the cultural backgrounds notes). Moralists used physical training as a picture of moral discipline.

The bridge to today

An analogy: an Olympic athlete who trains for years for a medal worth little as metal. Everyone understands the discipline, and nobody thinks the metal is the point.

What it changes in the reading

Corinth's own games stand behind the runners and boxers of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, where a wreath that perishes sets off one that lasts. The race and the prize return in Philippians 3:12-14 and 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

Where the analogy breaks

Not a medal that lasts. A metal medal can hang on the wall for life, but the wreath of leaves soon withered, and that is the contrast Paul draws. The games were also religious festivals, and entrants at Olympia swore by Zeus to their training.

Where scholars disagree

What the Isthmian victor's wreath was made of. Keener writes that the pine garland was awarded at the Isthmian games. The cultural backgrounds article Athletic Imagery in 1 Corinthians 9 says pine or withered celery. The Zondervan dictionary, describing the Isthmian games, names laurel, olive leaves or pine needles.

Passages where it appears

{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-9-1-27\/","n":"1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Free, unpaid and in training","s":"Paul defends his right as an apostle to be supported and explains why he has never used it, makes himself a slave to all to win more, and pictures his discipline as an athlete's training for a wreath that will not wither.","r":"1 Corinthians 9:1-27"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/galatians-5-2-12\/","n":"Galatians 5:2-12, Circumcision, the whole law and the knife","s":"Paul warns that a man who accepts circumcision is bound to keep the whole law and is cut off from Christ, asks who cut in on their race, and wishes that the agitators would go further with the knife.","r":"Galatians 5:2-12"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philippians-1-27-30\/","n":"Philippians 1:27-30, Live as citizens, contend like athletes","s":"Paul tells a church in a Roman colony to conduct itself as citizens worthy of the gospel, standing firm and striving together, unafraid of opponents, in the same struggle they once saw him face.","r":"Philippians 1:27-30"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philippians-3-12-4-1\/","n":"Philippians 3:12-4:1, The race, citizens of heaven, and a Savior from there","s":"Paul pictures himself as a runner straining toward the prize, warns against those whose god is their stomach, and reminds a Roman colony that its citizenship is in heaven, from where it awaits a Savior who will transform its lowly bodies.","r":"Philippians 3:12-4:1"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/colossians-1-24-2-5\/","n":"Colossians 1:24-2:5, Sufferings for the body, and a steward of the mystery","s":"Paul rejoices to suffer for the church, fills up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions, calls himself the servant entrusted with God's long hidden mystery, and tells churches he has never met how hard he struggles for them.","r":"Colossians 1:24-2:5"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1thessalonians-2-17-3-13\/","n":"1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13, Orphaned, blocked by Satan, crowned","s":"Torn away from the church, Paul tells how he longed to come back but Satan blocked the way, how he sent Timothy from Athens, how Timothy's good news has revived him, and prays that the Lord will make them blameless at his coming with all his holy ones.","r":"1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2thessalonians-2-13-3-5\/","n":"2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5, Hold to the traditions, and let the word run","s":"Paul thanks God for choosing the Thessalonians, urges them to stand firm and hold to the traditions they were taught by word or by letter, prays for them, and asks them to pray that the Lord's message will run swiftly.","r":"2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-4-6-16\/","n":"1 Timothy 4:6-16, Training for godliness, and a young leader","s":"Timothy is to train himself for godliness as an athlete trains his body, set an example despite his youth, devote himself to the public reading of Scripture and teaching, and not neglect the gift given when the elders laid hands on him.","r":"1 Timothy 4:6-16"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-6-11-21\/","n":"1 Timothy 6:11-21, Fight the good fight, the King of kings, the rich, and the deposit","s":"Timothy, as a man of God, is to flee greed and fight the good fight of the faith, keeping his charge until the appearing of the Lord, the King of kings; the rich are to be generous, and Timothy is to guard what has been entrusted to him.","r":"1 Timothy 6:11-21"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2timothy-2-1-13\/","n":"2 Timothy 2:1-13, Soldier, athlete and farmer, and a prisoner in chains","s":"Timothy is to pass on what he heard to reliable people who will teach others, and to endure hardship like a soldier, compete by the rules like an athlete and work like a farmer, remembering Jesus Christ, raised from the dead and descended from David, for whom Paul is chained like a criminal.","r":"2 Timothy 2:1-13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2timothy-4-1-8\/","n":"2 Timothy 4:1-8, Itching ears, a drink offering, and the crown","s":"Paul charges Timothy before God and Christ Jesus to preach the word in season and out of season, because people will gather teachers to suit their itching ears; he himself is already being poured out like a drink offering, has fought the good fight and finished the race, and awaits the crown.","r":"2 Timothy 4:1-8"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-10-26-39\/","n":"Hebrews 10:26-39, No sacrifice left; prison and plunder","s":"For anyone who goes on sinning deliberately after knowing the truth, no sacrifice for sins remains. The readers once endured a hard contest: public insult, prison and the seizure of their property, which they accepted with joy. They must not throw away their confidence now.","r":"Hebrews 10:26-39"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/hebrews-12-1-13\/","n":"Hebrews 12:1-13, The race, the shame and the Father's discipline","s":"Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, believers are to throw off every weight and run with endurance, eyes fixed on Jesus, who endured the cross and scorned its shame. Their hardships are a father's discipline, which only legitimate children receive.","r":"Hebrews 12:1-13"}
{"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/revelation-2-8-11\/","n":"Revelation 2:8-11, Smyrna, poor and slandered","s":"To Smyrna the risen Jesus says he sees their hardship and poverty and the abuse they suffer from local opponents claiming to be the true Jews, whom he condemns in harsh terms. Some will be jailed for a short time; if they stay loyal even to death he will reward them with life.","r":"Revelation 2:8-11"}

Sources

Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Corinthians 1:5, 9:24-25 and 9:26-27
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, note on 1 Corinthians 9:24, and article Athletic Imagery in 1 Corinthians 9
J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, entry games
ESV Study Bible, study note on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
CSB Study Bible, Introduction to 1 Corinthians, timeline
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes, sections 1.2 and 3.3
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Galatians 5:7-8
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Philippians 1:30, 3:12-13, 3:14 and 4:1
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Philippians 1:30, 3:13, 3:14 and 4:1
CSB Study Bible, note on Philippians 3:12-14
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Timothy 4:6-11 and 6:12
NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Timothy 4:8 and 6:12
CSB Study Bible, note on 1 Timothy 4:7-8
J. Randall Price and H. Wayne House, Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology, 2 Timothy 2:5, Athletic Competition

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