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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 6

1 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits?⁠ 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! 4 So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians? 6 Instead, does a Christian sue a Christian, and do this before unbelievers? 7 The fact that you have lawsuits among yourselves demonstrates that you have already been defeated. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 But you yourselves wrong and cheat, and you do this to your brothers and sisters! 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God. 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! 16 Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.”⁠ 17 But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. 18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin a person commits is outside of the body”—but the immoral person sins against his own body.⁠ 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,⁠ whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Texts in conversation

Compare Wisdom of Solomon 3:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:2

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

The Wisdom of Solomon and 1 Corinthians describe a future where the faithful are given authority to judge. In Wisdom, those who endure are refined and raised to positions of honor. Paul echoes this, saying the faithful will one day judge the angels.

Passages

Wisdom of Solomon 3:8

Deuterocanon
4 For even if in the sight of men they are punished, their hope is full of immortality. 5 Having borne a little chastening, they will receive great good; because God tested them, and found them worthy of himself. 6 He tested them like gold in the furnace, and he accepted them as a whole burnt offering. 7 In the time of their visitation they will shine. They will run back and forth like sparks among stubble. 8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples. The Lord will reign over them forever. 9 Those who trust him will understand truth. The faithful will live with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his chosen ones.
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

1 Corinthians 6:2

New Testament
1 When any of you has a legal dispute with another, does he dare go to court before the unrighteous rather than before the saints? 2 Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to settle trivial suits? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? Why not ordinary matters! 4 So if you have ordinary lawsuits, do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the church? 5 I say this to your shame! Is there no one among you wise enough to settle disputes between fellow Christians?
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

References

"... When Paul said that the saints would judge the world (1 Corinthians 6:2), he may have thought of Wisdom of Solomon 3:8 ... However, Paul may have been thinking of Daniel 7:22 (LXX) where the Ancient of Days 'gave judgment to the saints of the most high'. Jesus said that the twelve disciples would judge the twelve tribes (Matthew 19:26; Luke 22:30) ... as in Wisdom, Paul's judgment of the heathen wavers between mild recognition of the heathen's lack of knowledge and crude and strong judgment of all their religion and ethics ..."
Phillip W. Berwick, The Way of Salvation in the Wisdom of Solomon (Boston University, 1958), 116–118.
"... Precisely what is behind Paul's affirmation that 'the saints will judge the world', and its parallel, 'we are to judge angels' is debatable. Fee notes that this is 'a common motif from Jewish apocalyptic eschatology'. What is clear is that Paul is again holding up the mirror of eternity. He did this already in his parable of the builder (3:10-17) ... see also Daniel 7:22; Wisdom of Solomon 3:8; Jubilees 24:29; 1 Enoch 38:5, 95:3 ..."
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 173.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Wisdom of Solomon 3:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:2

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