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Jubilees warns that those who fail to observe the Passover properly risk sickness and death. In 1 Corinthians, Paul similarly warns that those who participate in communion unworthily risk sickness and death.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 49:15
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
15 And command the children of Israel to observe the passover throughout their days, every year, once a year on the day of its fixed time, and it shall come for a memorial well pleasing before the Lord, and no plague shall come upon them to slay or to strike in that year in which they celebrate the passover in its season in every respect according to His command. 16 And they shall not eat it outside the sanctuary of the Lord, but before the sanctuary of the Lord, and all the people of the congregation of Israel shall celebrate it in its appointed season.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Corinthians 11:27
New Testament
27 For this reason, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A person should examine himself first, and in this way let him eat the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without careful regard for the body eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick, and quite a few are dead. 31 But if we examined ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world. 33 So then, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. 34 If anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, so that when you assemble it does not lead to judgment. I will give directions about other matters when I come.
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Paul was also familiar with and referred to many apocryphal or deutero-canonical books (such as Baruch, 1 and 4 Esdra, 1-4 Maccabees, Tobit, and Wisdom of Solomon). 1 Corinthians also draws on many Intertestamental books, such as Jubilees, The Apocalypse of Moses, 1 Enoch and 2 Enoch. and later. (Jubilees 49:15 warns that those who celebrate the Passover unworthily will be punished in that year This reference could very well have been in Paul’s mind as he wrote 1 Cor 11:27-32) Furthermore, Paul shows a familiarity with secular writers of his own time and before it (e.g. Menander, Philo, Seneca, and Livy), and refers to them at the appropriate moment ..."
Philip B. Mortell, A Socio-rhetorical Interpretation of Paul’s Theology of Christian Suffering in 1 Corinthians (University of Limerick, 2020), 11.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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