PAUL AND THE RHETORIC OF REVERSAL: KERYGMATIC ...

To “glory in men” is the opposite of ‘glorying in the Lord’ (i.31). 143
This significant recapitulatory climax, in which the key problem is “boasting in humans”
is broadened in 4:1-5: 144
4:5
This verse, introduced by ὥστε, brings 4:1-5 to a climax by giving a plain prohibition: “So
judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes…. At that time each
will receive praise from God”. The problem seems to involve premature human
judgements (ὑπὸ ἀνθρωπίνης ἡμέρας – verse 3, no doubt ironically hinting at the
“judgement day” of God) about leaders, which do not reflect judgement (praise) that
comes in the future from God.
Barth rightly captures this consistent emphasis within chapters 1–4 on the confrontation of
the human with the divine:
What Christianity is specially concerned about is Christian knowledge… the
understanding or the failure to understand the three words ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ (from
God). Unless everything deceives, that is the trend of Paul’s utterance (1 Cor. i.–
iv). 145
The problems in 1:10–4:5, then, seem to centre on boasting in humans. Or perhaps more
accurately, boasting in that which is human (whether other human leaders, or one’s own
spiritual superiority or independence), as opposed to placing appropriate confidence in
143 Robertson and Plummer, Critical and Exegetical Commentary, 72. I am quoting from
the authors’ own copy of the book, in which the originally incorrect reference “i.21” has
been corrected to “i.31”.
144 Kate C. Donahoe rightly notes: “Though a chapter division separates 3:18-23 and 4:1-
5, these two sections nevertheless belong together as a recapitulation of previous themes”.
Kate C. Donahoe, “From Self-Praise to Self-Boasting: Paul’s Unmasking of the
Conflicting Rhetorico-Linguistic Phenomena in 1 Corinthians” (Ph.D. diss., University of
St. Andrews, 2008), 73.
145 Barth, Resurrection of the Dead, 26.
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