First Epistle to the Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians[a] (Ancient Greek: Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in Corinth.[3] Despite the name, it is not believed to be the first such letter. Scholars believe that Sosthenes was the amanuensis who wrote down the text of the letter at Paul's direction.[4] It addresses various issues that had arisen in the Christian community at Corinth and is composed in a form of Koine Greek.[5]
"Corinthians" redirects here. For other uses, see Corinthian (disambiguation).Composition[edit]
About the year AD 50, towards the end of his second missionary journey, Paul founded the church in Corinth before moving on to Ephesus, a city on the west coast of today's Turkey, about 290 kilometres (180 mi) by sea from Corinth. From there he traveled to Caesarea and Antioch. Paul returned to Ephesus on his third missionary journey and spent approximately three years there.[19] It was while staying in Ephesus that he received disconcerting news of the community in Corinth regarding jealousies, rivalry, and immoral behavior.[20] It also appears that, based on a letter the Corinthians sent Paul,[21] the congregation was requesting clarification on a number of matters, such as marriage and the consumption of meat previously offered to idols.
By comparing Acts of the Apostles 18:1–17[22] and mentions of Ephesus in the Corinthian correspondence, scholars suggest that the letter was written during Paul's stay in Ephesus, which is usually dated as being in the range of AD 53–57.[23][24]
Anthony C. Thiselton suggests that it is possible that 1 Corinthians was written during Paul's first (brief) stay in Ephesus, at the end of his second journey, usually dated to early AD 54.[25] However, it is more likely that it was written during his extended stay in Ephesus, where he refers to sending Timothy to them.[26][20]
Despite the attributed title "1 Corinthians", this letter was not the first written by Paul to the church in Corinth, only the first canonical letter. 1 Corinthians is the second known letter of four from Paul to the church in Corinth, as evidenced by Paul's mention of his previous letter in 1 Corinthians 5:9.[27] The other two being what is called the Second Epistle to the Corinthians and a "tearful, severe" letter mentioned in 2 Corinthians 2:3–4.[27] The book called the Third Epistle to the Corinthians is generally not believed by scholars to have been written by Paul, as the text claims.
The original manuscript of this book is lost, and the text of surviving manuscripts varies. The oldest manuscripts containing some or all of the text of this book include:
Commentaries[edit]
St. John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople and Doctor of the Catholic Church, wrote a commentary on 1 Corinthians, formed by 44 homilies.[116]
