1 Corinthians Chapter 5, Verse 1
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1: ολως ακουεται εν υμιν πορνεια και τοιαυτη πορνεια ητις ουδε εν τοις εθνεσιν ονομαζεται ωστε γυναικα τινα του πατρος εχειν
1: It 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.
1: It is absolutely heard that there is fornication among you and such
fornication as the like is not among the heathens: that one should have
his father's wife.
It is reported. Greek, It is heard. There is a rumour. That rumour had been brought to Paul, probably by the members of the family of Chloe, 1Cor 1:11.
Commonly. olwv. Everywhere. It is a matter of common fame. It is so public that it cannot be concealed; and so certain that it cannot be denied. This was an offence, he informs us, which even the heathen would not justify or tolerate; and, therefore, the report had spread not only in the churches, but even among the heathen, to the great scandal of religion. When a report obtains such a circulation, it is certainly time to investigate it, and to correct the evil.
That there is fornication. See "Acts 15:20".
The word is here used to denote incest; for the apostle immediately explains the nature of the offence.
And such fornication, etc. An offence that is not tolerated or known among the heathen. This greatly aggravated the offence, that in a Christian church a crime should be tolerated among its members which even gross heathens would regard with abhorrence. That this offence was regarded with abhorrence by even the heathens has been abundantly proved by quotations from classic writers. See Weststein, Bloomfield, and Whitby. Cicero says of the offence, expressly, that "it was an incredible and unheard-of crime." Pro Cluen. 6, 6. When Paul says that it was not "so much as named among the Gentiles," he doubtless uses the word onomazetai in the sense of named with approbation, tolerated, or allowed. The crime was known in a few instances, but chiefly of those who were princes and rulers; but it was nowhere regarded with approbation, but was always treated as abominable wickedness. All that the connexion requires us to understand by the word "named" here is, that it was not tolerated or allowed; it was treated with abhorrence, and it was therefore more scandalous that it was allowed in a Christian church. Whitby supposes that this offence that was tolerated in the church at Corinth gave rise to the scandals that were circulated among the heathen respecting the early Christians, that they allowed of licentious intercourse among the members of their churches. This reproach was circulated extensively among the heathen, and the primitive Christians were at much pains to refute it.
That one should have. Probably as his wife; or it may mean simply that he had criminal intercourse with her. Perhaps some man had parted with his wife, on some account, and his Son had married her, or maintained her for criminal intercourse. It is evident from 2Cor 7:12, that the person who had suffered the wrong, as well as he who had done it, was still alive. Whether this was marriage or concubinage has been disputed by commentators, and it is not possible, perhaps, to determine. See the subject discussed in Bloomfield.
