Greek (THGNT): Φεύγετε τὴν πορνείαν. πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν· ὁ δὲ πορνεύων εἰς τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα ἁμαρτάνει.
ESV: Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.
NWT 2013: Flee from sexual immorality!
Every other sin that a man may commit is outside his body, but whoever
practices sexual immorality is sinning against his own body.
NET Bible: Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body”—but the immoral person sins against his own body.
What is the referent of τοῦ σώματός and τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα? Do those nominal phrases refer to the physical body of a human or to the Christian congregation qua a spiritual body of Christ? The fact is that
σῶμα evidently has some ambiguity in Paul's letter to the Corinthians.
The NET Bible invokes the debate about whether 1 Cor. 6:18 is a slogan of the Corinthians rather than words emanating directly from Paul's mind. In other words, when Paul writes, πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν, is he expressing his thoughts on the matter or just echoing a Corinthian sentiment?
The NET Bible favors the Corinthian slogan idea for two reasons: 1) to understand the words as part of a Corinthian slogan is supposed to be the most natural way to read πᾶν ἁμάρτημα ὃ ἐὰν ποιήσῃ ἄνθρωπος, ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν
2) It's difficult to understand (from a theological perspective) why Paul would say only "sexual immorality" is a sin that occurs outside the body. Are not gluttony and drunkenness sins that occur in the body rather than without? Why would Paul single out sexual immorality as a sin that takes place in the body? I've had similar questions. Therefore, I've wondered if Paul is talking about the physical body in 1 Cor. 6:18.
Very interesting, when I first looked at it I thought "of course it's the physical body" and even looking at the context, with the parallel of the "ὁ κολλώμενος τῇ πόρνῃ" Being "ἓν σῶμά" with her, but thinking a little further it might not be that easy, since the point of that verse is that one makes one body of two (a kind of corporate body), whreas we ought to be rather one with the lord in spirit, and we are all members of Christ, the body of Christ as bodies, the bodies being the temple (the temple of the body could certainly be corporate, since it's a plural you being a singular temple, it's the same in 1 Cor 3:16). I suppose one might say it could be a corporate body, but then I don't understand how other sins would not be sinning against that same corporate body (Paul erlier mentions things that could certainly imapct the Christian congregation: extortion, greed, drunkeness, etc)
ReplyDeleteWhether the statement is a Corinthian slogan or not, it seems the meaning of the term "body" should match the greater context Paul is using it in, since it seems to connect to the argument in verse 19 and derived from verses 15 - 17. Althought Paul could be going back and forth.
I still find the physical body more plausable tho, since it seems as though he is talking about sexual immorality of a man and "his own" (ἴδιον) body, if was just the article (against the body) perhaps.
When it comes to sinning against one's own body as opposed to things like drunkedness or gluttony, I think the key is in verse 16; i.e. it's a sin against your own body, not because it's physically harming your body, but becuase you are tying your body to someone with whom you are not in a marriage relationship, and thus have betrayed your body, which ought only to be bound up with Christ (and one's spouse).
Fascinating issue though!
I agree that it could go either way, and we have to remember that Paul is not talking about a singular human body in the context, but a corporate body, more than likely.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that aroused my interest about the verse is when Paul says "sexual immorality" (porneia) is not only something done against the body, but it's also sin within the body rather than without like other sins (ἐκτὸς τοῦ σώματός ἐστιν)
And I guess that's my general question. Why is sexual immorality the only sin that occurs within the body, but other sins like gluttony and drunkenness or drug abuse take place outside the body? Even if they involve one person?
But your explanation would make sense if we're not talking about harm done to the body; yet I've heard the verse explained that way, but this could just be the application of 1 Cor. 6:18 as opposed to a strict explanation of the passage.
Thomas Schreiner has some interesting remarks in his 1 Corinthians commentary:
In a statement that has produced a fair bit of discussion, Paul goes on to explain why sexual sin is particularly egregious. Other sins committed are done outside the body, but those who sin sexually sin against their own body. We can think of other sins committed with the body, such as drunkenness, gluttony and suicide. Perhaps Paul thinks of sexual sin as especially significant since it is committed physically with another person. Also, in the case of sins like drunkenness and suicide, alcohol or a tool of some kind must be used to commit the sin, but in the case of sexual sin the sin is committed with one’s own body. Sexual sin, because of the profound psycho-physical union formed with another person (see 6:16–17), particularly affects human beings, shaping them in profound ways.19. Believers should ‘flee from sexual immorality’ because it has a particularly deleterious impact on a person’s life since it is committed with the body. Paul then appeals to what the Corinthians certainly know (Do you not know) to further support the admonition to be free from sexual sin. The bodies of believers are temples of the Holy Spirit.
EGF: However, Paul might possibly be discussing a corporate body, not the physical body of a believer. Thanks for your input. I'm also going to check Zerwick-Grosvenor.
Schreiner's explination seems plausible to me. It could be that the sin originates with the body rather than with food or alcohol or something like that. But then it wouldn't be harm done to the body.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the context is a corporate body, it's interesting that the body and temple temple is singular, but the pronoun your is plural, whereas in vrs 15 the bodies is plural. I think in 15 it's physical, but in 19 it's corporate, so that what I mean by going back and forth.
Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing your reading ... do you have a reading that you think is best?
The original post and succeeding comments I made were all meant to be exploratory, so I did not have any determinate way of reading the passage. The thought struck me while conducting a Bible study one day and this scripture was used to not only warn against porneia, but also to say that sexual immorality is a sin against the body, unlike any other sin. The study book goes on to say that a person sins against his/her body by performing an act that could physically harm the body. Now that way of reading the text might be more application than exegesis, and I see nothing wrong with making the point by using 1 Cor. 6:18. However, in the strictest sense, Paul was probably talking about something else when he spoke of sinning against the body.
ReplyDeleteI'm by no means dogmatic about what 1 Cor. 6:18 could mean, but after looking up all occurrences of soma in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, I'm inclined to believe that Paul was either speaking about the physical body of flesh when he penned 1 Cor. 6:18 or he could have included some ambiguity in the verse such that his words are encompassing both the physical body and the Christian ecclesia. Some have suggested he does this very thing in 1 Cor. 11:27-29. As you wrote, the use of plural pronouns is also interesting.
There are plenty of sources to consult for this subject, but two that I find helpful are Robert Gundry's book on soma and the article here: https://books.google.com/books?id=lDtKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=soma+1+corinthians+6:18&source=bl&ots=-4ByMgAmUE&sig=ACfU3U39eW3wJHTb6x5nIxI7DFhqteUD7A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjd6MmFjLLrAhXMjVkKHQd8Cns4FBDoATAAegQIBxAB#v=onepage&q=soma%201%20corinthians%206%3A18&f=false