'That We Might Not Crave Evil' the Structure and Argument of 1 Corinthians 10.1-13

Abstract

The separate studies of Wayne Meeks and Lawrence Wills have brought the form, structure and function of 1 Cor. 10.1-13 to the forefront of interest on this text and provide an excellent base for re-examination. Meeks's view that the pericope is an exposition of Exod. 32.6 is challenged and modified. The pericope is found here to be a midrashic exposition of Num. I 1 in the tradition of Pss. 78 and 106, using Exod. 32.6 as an exegetical device to 'open up' Num. 11. Furthermore, in its context, 10.1-13 is a focused argument against Corinthian wilfulness (craving) to participate in idolatrous practices, even at the expense of others. The pericope functions in context according to its central structure and argument and is not somehow bent unnaturally into service. Even so, it is a tightly argued, self-contained unit, and may have been originally pre-1 Corinthian or even pre-Christian.