Tool Beta
The Ancient World Behind the Text
Pick a passage anywhere in the New Testament. See the customs and ideas a first reader knew without being told.
1 Corinthians 12:1-31, Mute idols and one body
Paul reminds the Corinthians that as pagans they were led astray to mute idols, describes the many gifts of the one Spirit, and pictures the church as one body whose weaker and less honored members are indispensable.
1 Corinthians 12:1-31, in every translation this tool compares.
Paul reminds the former pagans in Corinth that they once followed lifeless idols, and that confessing Jesus as Lord is itself the Spirit's work. The Spirit hands out many different gifts, but all come from the same God and serve the common good. Paul pictures the church as one body made up of Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, where every member is needed and the parts that seem weaker or less honored deserve special care.
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/pagan-gods-and-idols\/","n":"Many gods and their images","s":"The Greek and Roman world was full of gods, each with temples, statues, priests and local stories. Jews and Christians called the images things made with hands, while holding that there were real powers behind them.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/oracles-and-divination\/","n":"Oracles and fortune-telling","s":"Greeks and Romans sought the future from oracles, omens and seers, above all from Apollo's priestess at Delphi. A girl with a Python spirit was linked to that famous oracle.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/spirit-of-prophecy\/","n":"The Spirit of prophecy","s":"Jews of Jesus' day linked God's Spirit above all with prophecy. Many believed the prophets had fallen silent long ago, and they looked for the day God would pour out his Spirit again.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/honor-and-shame\/","n":"Honor before a crowd","s":"Public standing was the currency of the ancient Mediterranean. People competed for honor and dreaded being shamed in front of others.","r":""}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-ideas\/slavery\/","n":"Slavery and slave managers","s":"Slaves were everywhere in the Roman world, from field hands to stewards who ran whole estates and handled their master's money. A master away and slaves left in charge was a familiar story.","r":""}
Idols could not speak, and Paul may also have in mind the Greek oracles, where possessed people prophesied in ecstasy (Keener and his notes). Gentiles in Corinth could seek healing at shrines, above all that of Asclepius (the cultural backgrounds notes); Arnold notes that Asclepius, often hailed as savior, was among the most popular gods, that Epidaurus, one of his great centers, lay near Corinth, and that the sick slept in his precincts hoping for a healing vision. Outside the church there are no ancient parallels to healings as regular events in a congregation, nor to tongues (Keener and his notes). Greek and Roman writers compared the state and the universe to a body, usually to support hierarchy: Keener tells how the aristocrat Menenius Agrippa talked rebelling plebeians round by saying they were like the stomach, less noticed but necessary. Wright notes that Roman orators used the body politic to show that different jobs carried different status, and the cultural backgrounds notes suggest that Paul's honor language may subvert that use. Carson, Moo and Morris think being spiritual meant status to the Corinthians. Numbered lists, first, second, third, usually signaled rank (the cultural backgrounds notes; Keener).
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, introductions to 1 Corinthians 12:1-3, 12:4-11 and 12:12-26, and on 12:27-28
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on 1 Corinthians 12:2, 12:9, 12:10, 12:12, 12:23 and 12:28
- N. T. Wright, Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians, comment on 1 Corinthians 12:21-26
- Clinton E. Arnold, Powers of Darkness, ch. 2, Asclepius: God of Healing
- D. A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament, ch. 9, 1 and 2 Corinthians, The Character of Paul's Opponents in 1 and 2 Corinthians
