Texts in Conversation
Sirach warns that not everything is good for everyone, urging discernment and restraint, language Paul echoes in 1 Corinthians when he states that not everything is beneficial. Both reflect a Jewish tradition that freedom of choice must be thoughtful.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 37:28
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
26 The wise man will inherit confidence among his people. His name will live forever. 27 My son, test your soul in your life. See what is evil for it, and don’t give in to it. 28 For not all things are profitable for all men. Not every soul has pleasure in everything. 29 Don’t be insatiable in any luxury. Don’t be greedy in the things that you eat. 30 For overeating brings disease, and gluttony causes nausea. 31 Because of gluttony, many have perished, but he who takes heed shall prolong his life.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Corinthians 6:12
New Testament
11 Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 12 “All things are lawful for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “All things are lawful for me”—but I will not be controlled by anything. 13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both.” The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... but not all are beneficial ... i.e., do not contribute to my good or the good of the community. Paul’s reaction echoes in fact an idea found in Sirach 37:28, “not everything contributes to the good of everyone.” Not everything builds up the community, a notion to which Paul will return in 7:35, also 10:23. Individualism or selfishness contributes nothing to the common good. In both Aristotelian and Stoic philosophy, to sympheron, “the beneficial,” and to agathon, “the good,” are so identified ..."
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, First Corinthians: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008), 263.
* 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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