Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS

“On this account every scribe who has been made a disciple to the kingdom of heaven is like a head of household who brings forth out of his storeroom things new and old.” Matthew 13:52

Editors and publishers of biblical commentary series are in a bit of a bind. On the one hand, advances in the scholarship offered by commentary authors and changes in the contexts, expectations, and needs of commentary readers mean that aging commentaries become dated. On the other hand, some commentaries offer enduring qualities and timeless insights that should not be set aside. So there is good reason to replace older commentaries, but there can also be good reason to keep them available.

At Wm. B. Eerdmans, our way of both replacing older commentaries and retaining them is this collection that we call Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries. Some volumes in this collection were originally published in major series such as New International Commentary on the New Testament, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, or New International Greek Testament Commentary. Others were published as freestanding books. Some were originally published many decades ago, others more recently. Some comment on the text in the original language, others on one or another standard English version or on the author’s own rendering. They were written for various levels of readers.

What they all have in common is this: readers have found them helpful and so have continued to purchase them, study them, and cite them. When you select from this collection of commentaries, you are selecting books that hundreds and thousands of seminarians, pastors, professors, teachers, scholars, and other serious students of the Bible have used with profit for many years. We hope that they will serve you as well. May they enable you to be a steward who is able to bring forth things both new and old from your scholarly storeroom as you work with the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.

Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians The English Text with Introduction, Exposition and Notes

F. W. Grosheide

William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Grand Rapids, Michigan

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 4035 Park East Court SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546 www.eerdmans.com © 1953 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights in this book are reserved. No part may be reproduced in any manner without permission in writing from the publisher, except brief quotations used in connection with a review in a magazine or newspaper.

First published 1953 in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series This Eerdmans Classic Biblical Commentaries edition published 2019 The text and layout of the 1953 have been preserved Printed in the United States of America 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ISBN 978-0-8028-7707-9

Library of Congress Number 53-8670