The Letters · New Testament
1 Corinthians 5
1 Corinthians 5: a reported case, and purging the old leaven
General context
The chapter opens with a report: "It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you", of a kind "not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife". The complaint is not only the act but the response: "ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned", and the man was not removed. Paul says that "as absent in body, but present in spirit", he has "judged already", and instructs that when they are gathered together with his spirit and the power of the Lord they "deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus". A verdict on the group follows, "Your glorying is not good", and then a saying, "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump". They are to purge out the old leaven and keep the feast "with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth", since "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us". An earlier instruction is corrected: he wrote "not to company with fornicators", and now explains he did not mean the fornicators, covetous, extortioners and idolaters of the world, "for then must ye needs go out of the world", but anyone "called a brother" who is such, "with such an one no not to eat". Judging outsiders is not his task, "do not ye judge them that are within?", and "them that are without God judgeth". The chapter ends in one line of command.
Cited passages: 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 5:3, 1 Corinthians 5:4, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8, 1 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 5:13
1 Corinthians 5 (KJV)
1It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife.
2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.
3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,
5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
10Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.
11But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.
12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within?
13But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
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Historical context
The case reaches the letter as a report, "It is reported commonly", with no witness named and no hearing described; the writer states that he judges "as absent in body". Nobody in the case is named. The woman is identified only as "his father’s wife", and the text does not say whether the father is living or what became of either person. The phrase "deliver such an one unto Satan" is given no explanation beyond the purpose clause attached to it. The chapter refers to a previous letter, "I wrote unto you in an epistle", which it summarizes and then corrects; that earlier letter is not part of this record. The closing command follows the wording of Deuteronomy 17:7, "So thou shalt put the evil away from among you", without a citation formula.
Cited passages: 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:3, 1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 5:9, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 5:13, Deuteronomy 17:7
Literary context
Inside and outside organise the whole chapter, and the words are finally said plainly, them that are without and them that are within. A similar list of offences is given twice, once of the world and once of a brother, the second list longer than the first, and what separates them is not their content but where the people stand. The leaven saying carries the same logic in an image, a small thing inside the lump working through all of it, and the feast language extends it into unleavened bread, sincerity and truth. The chapter's movement is unusually compressed: a report, a judgment already reached, a proverb, a corrected instruction, then a single short command with no argument after it.
Cited passages: 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 5:7, 1 Corinthians 5:8, 1 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Corinthians 5:12, 1 Corinthians 5:13
Key moments
- A reported case (1 Corinthians 5:1). Fornication is reported, described by the relationship involved.
- Puffed up instead of mourning (1 Corinthians 5:2). The group's response is named as part of the problem.
- Delivered unto Satan (1 Corinthians 5:5). An instruction is given for the gathered assembly.
- A little leaven (1 Corinthians 5:6). A saying is applied to the whole group.
- Christ our passover (1 Corinthians 5:7). The feast image is tied to a sacrifice already made.
- Not to keep company (1 Corinthians 5:11). The earlier instruction is narrowed to those called brothers.
- Put away that wicked person (1 Corinthians 5:13). The chapter ends with a single command.
For reflection
The chapter draws a hard line between judging people inside the group and leaving those outside alone. Where would that line fall in a group you belong to, and who would draw it?
