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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 1 Enoch 14:3 and 1 Corinthians 6:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In 1 Corinthians, Paul teaches that humans will one day judge the angels, an idea that follows a Jewish tradition found in 1 Enoch where Enoch is given authority to judge the Watchers, the rebellious angels.

Passages

1 Enoch 14:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 I saw in my sleep what I will now tell with a tongue of flesh and with the breath of my mouth, which the Great One has given to men so that they may converse and understand with the heart. 3 Just as He has created and given to man the power to understand the word of wisdom, so He created me also and gave me the power to reprimand the Watchers, the children of heaven. 4 I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it was made clear that your petition will not be granted for all the days of eternity, and that judgment has been finally passed on you. Your petition will not be granted.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

1 Corinthians 6:3

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

"... It is not surprising to see this explanation of the origin of evil in Paul since he alludes to it elsewhere in his corpus. First, while rebuking Corinthian divisions, Paul writes, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” (1 Corinthians 6:3). The judgment of angels, which Paul assumes to be common knowledge in the Corinthian church, is an important feature of Enoch’s role in the judgment of the Watchers (especially 1 Enoch 12:3–13:3; 15:2–3; 16:1–3) ..."
Tyler Allen Stewart, “‘The Present Evil Age’: The Origin and Persistence of Evil in Galatians” (diss., Marquette University, 2019), 308.

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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Comments

  • It does seem obvious in this case that a New Testament text has a connection with 1 Enoch

    Dan, May 17, 2024

1 Enoch 14:3 and 1 Corinthians 6:3

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