[B-Greek] 1Cor. 6:11 change of state
Yancy Smith
yancywsmith at sbcglobal.net
Wed Feb 17 17:14:20 EST 2010
Elizabeth,
We are seem to be wandering into forbidden territory for b-greek so I will keep this brief.
YWS wrote:
> APELOUSASQE, ALLA hHGIASQHTE, ALLA EDIKAIWQHTE is language that represents a fairly common habilitation process for being joined to or becoming part of a holy NAOS. ... The whole thing, of course is metaphorical. In the language and thought commonly associated with NAOI, both implements and integrants... go through some process of habilitation ... to pass from the common ... to the sphere of the holy. ...
Elizabeth wrote
It sounds to me like you are reading Paul as if he was writing from a pagan cultural framework. He is writing to those who are in such a framework but can we assume that Paul would adopt their paganism as a framework for understanding the gospel he was proclaiming? Some would argue that Acts 17 demonstrates Paul doing that but in the Corinthian letters Paul seems to be openly hostile toward paganism.
[Yancy Smith] Fair enough, I hope the following is b-Greek enough. It seems to me a general cultural pattern (with local variations) obtains in several Mediterranean (à la Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger) for the transference of common objects and people from outside a NAOS to the status of sancta within a temple across several cultures. For example, Ex 40:12-15
12 καὶ προσάξεις Ααρων καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰς θύρας τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου καὶ λούσεις αὐτοὺς ὕδατι 13 καὶ ἐνδύσεις Ααρων τὰς στολὰς τὰς ἁγίας καὶ χρίσεις αὐτὸν καὶ ἁγιάσεις αὐτόν, καὶ ἱερατεύσει μοι· 14 καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ προσάξεις καὶ ἐνδύσεις αὐτοὺς χιτῶνας 15 καὶ ἀλείψεις αὐτούς, ὃν τρόπον ἤλειψας τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν, καὶ ἱερατεύσουσίν μοι· καὶ ἔσται ὥστε εἶναι αὐτοῖς χρῖσμα ἱερατείας εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα εἰς τὰς γενεὰς αὐτῶν.
Here we have the pattern LUSEIS ... ENDUSEIS TAS STOLAS TAS hAGIAS KAI CRISEIS AUTON (=hAGIAZEIN)... with a resultant determination, representing a judgment/pronouncement KAI ESTAI hWSTE EINAI AUTOIS hIERATEIAS EIS TON AIWNA etc. (=DIKAIOUN). This pattern is repeated in the immediate context terms of the transference of items to holy status as well. That is what was in the back of my mind, but I drew the pagan connection because of Paul's audience, who might resonate more with local temples than the distant Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Hellenistic pagans would understand all this well. The God is different and some of the ideology is different, but the apparatus of holiness? Not so much. The pattern in Exodus seems similar to the pattern in Paul 1 Cor 6:11.
Elizabeth wrote:
The problem is determining what language signals (b-greek!) indicate which group is Paul's primary intended audience at any given point. Paul seems to drift between group one, two and three in a fluid manner, which causes cognitive dissonance for readers a great temporal and cultural distance from the original situation. What I am suggesting is, some things in the Corinthian correspondence which appear at a superficial level to be flat out contradictions, can be resolved to some extent by postulating a shift in audience focus. But how do we discover this shift linguistically? What do we look for?
[Yancy Smith] Perhaps the "groups" are not as well defined in Paul's rhetoric as you might suppose because he is emphasizing unity for his audience (cp. 1 Cor 12:13). The only place I can see a social division coming in explicitly is 11:20-22, but he immediately tries to shame them into solidarity with the poor. In fact, it seems that Paul's critique is in the vein of the prophets who inveighed against Israel for living out of character with the initiatory/liturgical ceremonies with which they professed their faith (cp. 1 Cor 10:1-13; 11:17-34). If ever there was a place for him to single out the groups it would be in chapter 11, but he resists it.
Yancy Smith, PhD
World Bible Translation Center
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