PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

Timothy’s work (notably with terminology reminiscent of the recent climactic exhortation
of 15:58), but presents this within an appeal concerning his reception, as is fitting for a
letter ending.
Thus, although there is some tension here, it is going too far to claim that the respective
passages are directly contradictory, and consequently there is not a necessity to assign the
passages to separate preceding letter parts.
4:14-21 as Apparent Letter Closing
Related to the above issue is the question of whether 4:14-21 gives the appearance of a
letter-closing. Schmithals claims that this section contains the personal details and denial
of shaming-intention that are indicative of a Pauline letter ending, thus suggesting that this
was originally the end of a letter. 118 Martinus C. de Boer likewise sees this section as
confirming a division between chapters 1–4 and 5–16. 119
There are certainly features of this section that indicate a more “personal” interaction with
the addressees, and this is indeed characteristic of letter endings. However, Merklein
counters that such features (particularly personal example or self-reference) are not
exclusively used in letter endings for Paul. 120 Hall follows Kenneth Bailey in arguing
further that there are verbal and conceptual connections between 4:14-21 and the
subsequent chapter that suggest a close connection:
Kenneth Bailey has drawn attention to the links between 4.17-21 and 5.1-11.
Chapter 4 ends with a threat: some people are puffed up on the grounds that Paul
is not coming to Corinth; but he will come, if the Lord wills, and will discover
not the fine words of these puffed up people but their power (4.18-19). It is for
the Corinthians to choose whether his next visit will be friendly or disciplinary
118
Schmithals, “Korintherbriefe,” 266.
119
Martinus C. de Boer, “The Composition of 1 Corinthians,” NTS 40/2 (1994): 229-245;
240.
120
Merklein, “Die Einheitlichkeit,” 159.
105