RSV ~ 1 Corinthians 5 Notes

1 Cor 5:1-6 | ISB Notes

Paul addresses specific problems in the Corinthian Church. These include a case of maternal incest (5:1-13), a surge in Christian lawsuits (6:1-11), and an indifference toward sexual promiscuity (6:12-20). He warns throughout these two chapters that the holiness of the Corinthian community is jeopardized by the sins and vices sprouting up among them.

1 Cor 5:1 | ISB Notes

immorality: The Greek porneia refers to sexual misconduct, here specified as an incestuous relationship between a believer and his stepmother. This kind of behavior was censured by Roman society and condemned by the Mosaic Law (Lev 18:8; Deut 22:30). The early Church followed suit, prohibiting incestuous unchastity in the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:29; CCC 2388). See note on Acts 15:20.

1 Cor 5:2 | ISB Notes

And you are arrogant!: Paul is outraged that the Corinthians allowed the incestuous man to continue in their community. Their tolerance toward this crime was a sign of their own spiritual immaturity.

be removed: I.e., the offender must be expelled from the local Church and barred from participation in their fellowship and liturgy (5:13).

1 Cor 5:3 | ISB Notes

pronounced judgment: Paul exercises his apostolic authority from a distance by invoking a solemn curse upon the sinner in the name of Christ (16:22).

1 Cor 5:5 | ISB Notes

deliver this man to Satan: A call to action for the Corinthians, who must execute Paul’s ritual curse upon the offender by driving him out of the Church and into the province of Satan. The anticipated destruction of the sinner’s body is an extreme form of remedial punishment that Paul expects will benefit his spirit (1 Tim 1:20). The hidden assumption is that earthly and physical life is a blessing from God cut short by the curse of biological death (Gen 3:19). Similar chastisements befell other Corinthians who failed to discern Christ’s presence in the Eucharist (1 Cor 11:29-32). • The man is separated from the community of the faithful and from the sacraments of the Church, by which things a man is protected from the assaults of Satan (St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians 5, 1).

1 Cor 5:6 | ISB Notes

leaven: Yeast is a proverbial symbol of evil and corruptive influence (Mt 16:11; Lk 12:1; Gal 5:9). Here it symbolizes the incestuous man, who must be removed from the Church lest his sins have a damaging impact upon the whole batch of believers.

1 Cor 5:7-8 | ISB Notes

Paul draws a spiritual lesson from the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Just as every Jewish family cleansed its home of leaven before the feast (Ex 12:14-20), so Paul challenges the Corinthians to rid their Church of sin and even flagrant sinners before their celebration of the liturgy (1 Cor 5:13). He mentions the Paschal sacrifice of Christ because the day of Preparation for the Passover, when the lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, was also the day of Preparation for the festival of Unleavened Bread, when all leaven in Israel was to be discarded. The lesson has eucharistic overtones, inasmuch as Passover was celebrated by eating the Paschal Lamb and Unleavened Bread was celebrated by eating only unleavened bread for seven consecutive days (10:14-22; 11:17-34).

1 Cor 5:9 | ISB Notes

my letter: I.e., an earlier letter of Paul to the Corinthians that has not survived. Apparently the Church misunderstood his written instructions because the Corinthians assumed Paul wanted them to keep distant from all sinners without qualification. In fact, the apostle was suggesting they should isolate themselves, not from unbelievers in general, but from immoral Christians whose behavior was decidedly inconsistent with their beliefs. Tolerating their fellowship would only dishonor Christ and hamper their witness to the world.

1 Cor 5:11 | ISB Notes

immorality . . . robber: These same vices are included in the expanded list of 6:9-10, referring to sins that exclude perpetrators from the kingdom of God.

1 Cor 5:13 | ISB Notes

Drive out the wicked: An expulsion formula from the Greek version of Deut 17:7 and 19:19. • Moses made legal provision in Deuteronomy to purge Israel of its most callous and reprehensible sinners. This authorized the nation to enforce the moral standards of Yahweh and so punish serious offenses. Paul extends this prerogative to the Corinthians. Here the incestuous man (1 Cor 5:1) fell under the curse of Deut 27:20.