1 cor 7.25-26 - paul's rhetorical maxim

7/28/2019 1 Cor 7.25-26 - Paul's Rhetorical Maxim

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More Than an Opinion:Paul's Rhetorical Maximin First Corinthians 7:25-26

ROLLIN A. RAMSARANEmmanuel School of ReligionJohnson City, TN 37601

IN PAUL'S STATEMENT"I give my gnome" in 1 Cor 7:25, the Greek word gnome is better translated "maxim" (as the Greco-Roman rhetorical maxim)than "opinion." Paul is following other moralists and rhetoricians of his time:he cites or creates ethical maxims as a mode of moral counsel. By makingthis suggestion, I turn from previous scholarship which has categorizedPaul's role in 1 Cor 7:25 asthat of one who simply states an opinion, one whois a "supposed advisor," or one who is a purveyor of behavioral guidelines

based on some pattern of rabbinic or protorabbinic halakah. 1

In making this claim I do not intend to underestimate a notable development of the Greek word gnome from stated opinion (stated usually in poli

tical assemblies) to formalized maxim. It is fair to say that along a continuumfrom opinion to maximbetween the two extremes might be, for example,"purpose," "decision," "counsel"each sense of gnome originates in a concrete, thoughtful situation of reflection, with the reception of a particular

gnome being tightly bound up with either the ethos of received tradition

1 C. K. Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (HNTC; New York: Harper & Row, 1968) 174-75; J. W. Drane, "Tradition, Law and Ethics in Pauline The

ology," NovT 16 (1974) 173; K. G. E. Dolfe, "1 Cor 7,25 Reconsidered (Paul a Supposed Ad visor)," ZNWS3 (1992) 115-18; P. Richardson, " Say, Not the Lord': Personal Opinion,Apostolic Authority and the Development of Early Christian Halakah " TynBui 31 (1980) 65 86;


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532 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 57, 1995

or the speaker himself. Such is not always the case with the modern usage of "opinion." The use of maxims and the use of the opinion of the speaker (doxaton legontos) are part of two different categories of "proof" and have entirelyseparate sections in [Aristotle] Rhetorica ad Alexandrum, 1430b. 1-25 and143lb.9-15, respectively. This indicates that rhetorically competent audiences would be able to make distinctions. 2

Stephen M. Pogoloff, in his recently published dissertation, arguesthat the Corinthian community is rhetorically competent, 3 and that Pauland Apollos are perceived as rhetoricians of "status"a perception whichPaul does not favor. 4 The situation in Corinth is rhetorical because, simplyput, rhetoric was woven into the very fabric of life in Paul's Greco-Romanmilieu. I accept this position and seek to comprehend Paul's use of gnome

in light of it.The meaning of gnome hd^ been defined as "purpose, intention, mind";

"opinion, judgment"; "previous knowledge, consent"; "decision, declaration"(apart from the semantic field of rhetoric). 5 Bultmann, astute about rhetorical traditions though he is, does not consider the rhetorical contexts or the

2 For a discussion of the gnome from the Homeric to the classical period, see J Villemon-teix, "Remarques sur les sentences homriques," Formes brves De la gnome la pointe Mtamorphoses de la sententia = La Licorne 3 (1979) 85-96, Karavites, "Gnome's Nuances,from Its Beginning to the End of the Fifth Century," Classical Bulletin 66 (1990) 9-34 On thedevelopment of the gnome in the rhetorical context from the classical period to the early Romanimperial period, see the important studies of J Levet, "RHETOR et GNOME Prsentationsmantique et recherches socratiques," La Licorne 3 (1979) 9-40, and of F Delarue, "La sen-tentia chez Quintihen," La Licorne 3 (1979) 97-124

3 S L Pogoloff, Logos and Sophia The Rhetorical Situation of1 Corinthians (SBLDS134, Atlanta Scholars, 1992) 173-96 He believes that given the urban setting and the socialconstituency of the Corinthian congregation, a fair number of the community may have hadrhetorical training I am less convinced, however, by the further division into low-status members connected to the Alexandrian rhetoric of Apollos and high-status members connected to

the more refined rhetoric of Paul Though not all of the ancient audiences were rhetoricallytrained, all were rhetorically competent m the sense that they were able to follow an argumentand to be persuaded by a good one

4 Ibid , 55-69, 99-172 Pogoloff considers rhetoric in relation to the wise man m both theGreek and Roman contexts He presents evidence for the use of sophia to describe "educatedor cultured characteristics of persons of high social standing" (p 113) Because there is nothingin the texts that suggests some kind of "philosophical content m rhetorical form" as the meaningof en sophia logou, he thinks that it is not necessary to posit something different from the"cultured speech" of a rhetor for this phrase (pp 55-69) His analysis of 1 Corinthians 1-4shows explicit and implicit references linking rhetoric and status (e g , 1 17, 1 19-20, 1 25, 2 1,2 4, 2 13), Paul, however, rejects the social role of rhetor for himself in favor of the foolishnessof the cross I Marrou {A History of Education in Antiquity [3d ed , Madison University of Wisconsin Press, 1982] 195) also speaks of the increasing status of the rhetor that was


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1 CORINTHIANS 7:25-26 533

rhetorical literature for this word in his article on gnome. 6 Both BAGD andBultmann overlook the use of the word gnome (Latin sententia) by theauthors of Greco-Roman rhetorical handbooks of Paul's time in the sense of

ethical or instructive maxim.7

Hence, an equally acceptable definition for gnome or sententia is "a concisely expressed principle or rule of conduct," or"a statement of general truth, the construction of which is customarily basedon observations from the larger known world." 8

In a rhetorical culture, then, how might the word gnome ring in the earsof the predominantly Gentile, Greco-Roman, Corinthian audience to whichPaul addressed his counsel? I suggest that the Greco-Roman idea of paideiamay provide the broadest semantic field of meaning, paideia in the sense of a moderately uniform culture (laws, customs, moral values) propagated

through the Greco-Roman educational system, an education based on atraditional stock of knowledge of such authors as Homer and the poets, theconsideration of great individuals, the attention to pivotal historical events,and so forth. 9

Within the Greco-Roman educational system the gnome functioned toinstill, adapt, and create applications of paideia throughout both the primaryand the secondary educational levels. In primary education, maxims wereused for memorization and recitation, and for practice in the early writing of letter-characters. 10 Secondary education called for paraphrasing maxims andincorporating them into chreia constructions. 11 In advanced secondary education (and certainly in formal rhetorical training), the gnome was includedin the development of argumentation. The student considered options for theplacement of maxims during the dispositio (arrangement) of speech construction. 12 In argumentation, the maxim functioned as a figure of speech,thereby increasing the presence of the speaker and building a familiar basis

6 R. Bultmann, "gnome," TDNT, 1. 717-19.7 Aristotle Rhet. 2.21.2; [Aristotle] Rhet. Alex. 1430b. 1-2; [Cicero] Rhet. Her. 4.17.24;

supported in principle with some adaptation by Quintilian Inst. 8.5.1-35.8 See the OCD (2d ed.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1970), s.w. "Gnome" and "Sententia."9 On paideia in general, see W. Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture (3 vols.; 2d

ed.; New York: Oxford University Press, 1945). On paideia in the Greco-Roman educationalsystem, see S. F. Bonner, Education in Ancient Rome, from the Elder Cato to the Younger Pliny(Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977) 212-49. For the development and adaptationof paideia from the early church (including Paul) through the Church Fathers, see M. Azkoul,"The Greek Fathers: Polis and Paideia," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 23 (1979) 3-21,67-86.

10

Bonner, Education in Ancient Rome, 173-77.11 A. J. Malherbe, Moral Exhortation: A Greco-Roman Handbook (LEC; Philadelphia:Westminster 1986) 109-11


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between speaker and audience; 13 the construction and use of maximscontributed very positively to one's ethos or character. The maxim alsofunctioned in argumentation as a way to establish inferred confirmatio(proof), in many ways similar to paradigma or example. 14 A maxim mightprovide a thesis from which an argument was launched, a premise fromwhich an argument was based, or it might nicely encapsulate the summaryof argumentation made on other grounds. 15

Granted, then, that in 1 Cor 7:24 gnome has the possible meaning(among others) of a Greco-Roman rhetorical maxim, granted too that standard Greco-Roman educational training made prevalent the knowledge andusage of such maxims, I now move to present the evidence for gnome'scarrying this connotation in 1 Cor 7:25 and for its pointing to an actualGreco-Roman rhetorical maxim in 1 Cor 7:26. 16 My remarks may be groupedunder four headings which correspond to the four sections below: (1) formalcharacteristics of 7:26b, (2) ethos as the context of the presentation of maxims,(3) advice in rhetorical handbooks on the use of maxims in argumentationand the relation of this to Paul's usage, and (4) the relation of Paul's statementin 7:26 to his quotation, in 1 Cor 7:1, of what the Corinthians had written.

I

PAUL STATES in 7:25-26, "Now concerning the unmarried, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my gnme [RSV: "opinion"] as one who by the

13 [Cicero] Rhet Her 4 17 24-25 See the discussion m Chaim Perelman and L Olbrechts-Tyteca, The New Rhetoric A Treatise on Argumentation (Notre Dame, IN University of NotreDame Press, 1971) 117-18

14 D L Clark, Rhetoric in Greco-Roman Education (New York Columbia UniversityPress, 1957) 117-28 Cf Fiore, The Function of Personal Example in the Socratic and Pastoral Epistles (AnBib 105, Rome Biblical Institute, 1986) 42-44

15 Aristotle Rhet 2 21 2-9, Quintihan Inst 8 5 3-14 On the use of a maxim as the state

ment of a thesis, see W Wilson, Love without Pretense Romans 12 9-21 and Hellenistic-JewishWisdom Literature (WUNT 46, Tbingen Mohr [Siebeck], 1991) 48-49, and J Sampley,Walking between the Times Paul's Moral Reasoning (Minneapolis Fortress, 1991) 95-96 Cf Demetrius Eloc 2 109-111

16 That Paul is capable of stating a rhetorical maxim directly after using the word gnomeis confirmed by Hans Dieter Betz, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 A Commentary on Two AdministrativeLetters of the Apostle Paul (Hermeneia, Philadelphia Fortress, 1985) 37, 63-67, in the courseof his analysis of 2 Cor 8 10-12 Betz more or less assumes what I am trying to make explicithere For the context of 2 Corinthians he translates gnome in 8 10 as "judgment" (cf the RSVs "advice"), though his commentary on the verse would seem to support a translation "maxim "

While "judgment" is preferable to "opinion" (cf the RSVs different renderings of gnome in1 Cor 7 25 ["opinion"] and 7 40 ["judgment"]), if I am correct m arguing for an exigence in1 Corinthians in which Paul must match maxims with those with whom he disagreed, then a


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Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that in view of the present distress it iswell for a person to remain as he [or she] is" (emphasis added). What is atissue is this last statement, properly 7:26b: "it is well for a person to remain

as he [or she] is." The statement is perceived by Snyder as a Tobspruch or"better . . . than" saying (although an incomplete one), while Barrett assignsit either slogan or "maxim" status. 17 Can one be more specific?

What distinguishes a maxim from just any stated opinion is its compactlinguistic formulation. Such a construction is evident in 7:26b. The elementsare (1) hoti as quotation indicator, (2) kalon as predicate adjective, (3) impliedestin as main verb, (4) anthrpg as indirect object, and (5) to houts einai asarticular infinitive with enclosed adverbial modifier (a verbal noun used assubject). A literal translation would be, "The being thus (i.e., "as one is") 18

for a person (is) good." Can we establish this as a formulation of Paul himself? Quite possibly, for almost exactly the same construction is found inRom 14:21, where one sees (1) no hoti (Paul does not preface the maxim withan indication that he is giving one), 19 (2) kalon as predicate adjective, (3) implied estin as main verb, (4) implied hearer such as "for you Romans" or "fora person" as direct object, (5) to mphagein and (to) mdepiein as articularinfinitives with enclosed adverbial modifier. 20 The literal translation wouldbe, "The not eating meat, the not drinking wine, and [the not eating ordrinking anything] by which your brother or sister stumbles (is) good."

Kalon esti is an established formulaic introductory phrase for a maximat the time of Paul. Evidence abounds from early Greek literature, the LXX,and the NT Synoptic sayings, as well as from the wider Hellenistic corpus. 21

17 G. E Snyder, "The 'Tobspruch' in the New Testament," NTS 23 (1976) 119; Barrett,Commentary on First Corinthians, 174-75. Barrett, following J. Jeremas, considers 7:26b as aquotation of the Corinthians' position. Gordon D. Fee {The First Epistle to the Corinthians[NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987] 330) argues for a quotation of the Corinthians on thegrounds that the Greek repetition of kalon in 7:25-26 is awkward. The basis of 7:26b appearsalready to be established, however, in the socially conservative exhortation "in whatever stateeach was called, there let him remain with God" (7:24; cf. 7:17,20). This fits Paul's position farbetter than the position of the status-seeking Corinthians. It is surely Pauline argumentationand a pattern of argumentation already used as early as 1 Cor 1:26-29.

!8 The antecedent of houts must be established from Paul's instruction and illustrationin 7:17-24. Fully expressed, this antecedent is "to remain in the state in which one was called"(7:17,24).

19 This is not unusual. A goal of rhetoric is to be as natural as possible. Drawing attentionto technique or figures is not desirable, unless it becomes rhetorically beneficial for contextualreasons such as debate, contest, or challenge. Such reasons confront Paul in 1 Corinthians, but

apparently not in Romans. For further discussion of the Corinthian situation, see section 4 below.20 The syntax is parallel for the string of articular infinitives; therefore, ellipsis of the last


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Rather than saying with Barrett that kalon is not used in a moral sense in1 Cor 7:1,8,26, 22 it might be more accurate to say that kalon esti is a rhetorical formulation of a deliberative quality offered by Paul in support of his

moral counsel.23

With regard to 1 Cor 7:26b, Paul has taken up a commonlyavailableand, I would argue, a commonly recognizablepattern fromwhich to formulate his maxim.

If our analysis of this Pauline maxim "form" stands, then it is notsurprising that maxim material introduced by kalon holds together most of the ethical counsel in 1 Corinthians 7: kalon anthrp gynaikos m haptes- thai, "It is well for a man not to touch a woman" (7:1); kalon autous ean meinsin hs kag, "It is well for them to remain [single] as I do" (7:8). In1 Cor 7:40 there is no kalon, but there is a reflection on Paul's gnome cast

in "beatitude" form: makaritera de estin ean houts mein, "but morehappy is she if she remains as she is" (my translation). Paul adds that this is kata tn emn gnmn, "according to my maxim." 24

II

THE FORMAL FEATURES of 1 Cor 7:26b are stylized, but what (if anything) suggests that Paul employs his maxim in accord with conventional

(Mark 9:42,43,45,47 || Matt 18:8,9; Mark 14:21 || Matt 24:24), and Paul, see Snyder, "Tob-spruch,' " 117-20. For an occurrence of kalon esti in Plutarch Moralia 384E and a discussion of its relationship to the Pauline texts (1 Cor 7:1,8,26; 9:15; Gal 4:18) and to the Synoptic texts(add Mark 7:27 || Matt 15:26), see H. D. Betz and E. W. Smith, Jr., "DeEapud Delphos (Mo

ralia 384c-394c)," Plutarch's Ethical Writings and Early Christian Literature (d. H. D. Betz;SCHNT 4; Leiden: Brill, 1978) 86.

22 Barrett, Commentary on First Corinthians, 155.23 On kalon as a rhetorically important word in the epideictic type of speech, see J. L. Bailey

and L. D. Vander Broek, Literary Forms in the New Testament: A Handbook (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox, 1992) 120. For the use of kalon as a "head" topic in deliberative rhetoric,see M. M. Mitchell, Paul and the Rhetoric of Reconciliation: An Exegetical Investigation of the

Language and Composition of 1 Corinthians (HUT 28; Tubingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1991) 26. 20, 29 . 37.

24 The only other beatitude in Paul occurs in the very same context and passage as thekalon maxim previously discussed in Rom 14:21. It is in Rom 14:22b, "Happy is he who has noreason to judge himself for what he approves" (RSV). This suggests that in both 1 Corinthians 7and Romans 14 we have a good basis for believing that Paul is purposely advancing argumentation built on traditional sayings of the maxim type. The function of Paul's argumentation witha maxim is different in each passage, however. In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul uses the refinement andelaboration of a maxim to form the basis of his ethical counsel on issues of marriage and thesingle life. In Romans 14 Paul's use of maxims accompanies and supports his use of oblique

speech as an argumentative strategy to produce common ground among ethnic groups in theRoman community: see J. C. Walters, "Ethnic Issues in Paul's Letter to the Romans: An Analy-i i Li h f h Ch i S lf D fi i i f E l Ch i i i i R " (Ph D di B


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Greco-Roman usage? The Greco-Roman rhetorical handbooks counselthat the successful use of a maxim depends upon the positive reception of the rhetorician's ethos or character position. 25 In addition, both moralistsand rhetoricians can continually enhance this ethos by their ability to formwise, succinct, and sometimes witty instructions and summaries. 26 This counsel on ethos informs Paul's strategy as he states, "I give my gnome as one whoby the Lord's mercy is trustworthy" (7:25b). Paul's reminder of the strengthof his trustworthy ethos is a position argued for previously in 1 Corinthians 4(he is a trustworthy steward accountable to God, 4:1-5; a rightful father inthe faith to the Corinthian community, 4:14-16).

It is fascinating that Paul feels compelled to remind the Corinthians of his character, trustworthiness, and ethos before his gnome is given. Thisseems to betray a fragility in the relationship between Paul and at least somein the Corinthian community. Paul's explicitly reminding the Corinthians of his character may suggest that he must persuade some who may not be easilyconvinced; it may suggest that Paul must appeal to those who should knowhim well but who have begun instead to lean toward the persuasion of thosewho disagree with him.

Ill

PAUL'S USAGE of a maxim in argumentation in 1 Cor 7:26 accords withthe counsel of the rhetorical handbooks of the time. Unlike the Corinthians'very general statement in 7:1, Paul's use specifically follows the handbookcounsel to add a reason or supplement to any maxim which might be disputable, paradoxical, or unclear. The meaning of any maxim, therefore, isdetermined by its contextual factors or rhetorical circumstances; appropriateapplication always shows a maxim's level of effectiveness. 27 Paul takes great

25 Aristotle Rhet. 2.21.9; Quintilian Inst. 8.5.8.1 view thos as a positioning by the rhetorin relation to the entire situation of the speech and not as something that the rhetor simply has.There is some debate on the question how the concept of ethos may have changed from theclassical period to the imperial period: see D. L. Sullivan, "The Ethos of Epideictic Encounter," Philosophy and Rhetoric 26 (1993) 113-14, 126-28, 130 n. 11; S. M. Halloran, "Aristotle'sConcept of Ethos, or If Not His Somebody Else's," Rhetoric Review 1 (1982) 58-63.

26 For the importance of maxims to the rhetorician's ethos at the time of Paul, the evidencefrom the Elder Seneca's Controversiae and Suasoriae is illuminating: see L. A. Sussman, The Elder Seneca (Mnemosyne Supplements 51; Leiden: Brill, 1978) 1-17,94-136. For the measurementof the moralist's character on the basis of his ability to create maxims, see Seneca Ep. 33.5-9.

27 Aristotle Rhet. 2.21.2-7; [Cicero] Rhet. Her. 4.17.24-25; Quintilian Inst. 8.5.4. See alsoSeneca Ep. 95.61-64. For an illustration of this point in a number of gnomic texts, see Wilson,


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care to be precise about the contextual factors of his maxim: it is appliedto the unmarried; it works within the context of the "present distress"; itis linked with Paul's ethos, although it is not limited to it (he is himself unmarried; see 7:8).

The rhetorical handbooks note that a maxim may function in argumen-tation as the statement, premise, or conclusion of a thesis, 28 and this isprecisely how Paul casts his argument in 1 Cor 7:25-40. While an exegesis of this section is not possible here, it is appropriate to sketch briefly the patternof Paul's argumentation. 29

In 1 Cor 7:1-24, Paul has discussed issues of marriage. In 25 he responds to the issue of the "unmarried" (peri de tn parthenn). He gives amaxim supported by a reason: "I think that in view of the present distress,

it is well for a person to remain as he is." Next, both the maxim and thereason are amplified and refined. In 27, although Paul directs his counselto the "unmarried," obviously he still has married people in mind ("Are you bound? Are you free?"); indeed, as we will see, this maxim is applicable to both groups. In 29 a highly stylized rhetorical progressio with antithesis

Many Essays on the Proverb (ed W Mieder and A Dundes, New York Garland, 1981) 122-39,R D Abrahams, "Introductory Remarks to a Rhetorical Theory of Folklore," Journal of

American Folklore 81 (1968) 143-5828

Seen 15 for references to the rhetorical handbooks "For Paul," according to Sampley ( Walking between the Times, 95), "maxims not only conclude arguments, they sometimes launchthem Maxims can be the touchstone from which one tests out options "

29

I intend to elaborate Paul's pattern of argumentation as it is set forth in 1 Corinthians 7 All indications suggest that Paul is a creative rhetor who adapts the techniques, forms,and patterns of rhetoric to his purposes The rhetorical handbooks sum up rhetorical practicesfor the purpose of training There is no indication, however, that their counsel can be synthesizedinto one overall pattern of argumentation that is applicable to all (or even most) texts Indeed,Quintilian Inst 2 13 6-7,17 states to the contrary that "these rules have not the formal authority of laws or decrees of the plebs, but are, with all they contain, the children of expedience " He

continues "I will not deny that it is generally expedient to conform to such rules, otherwise Ishould not be writing now, but if our friend expediency suggests some other course to us, why,

we shall disregard the authority of the professors and follow her The orator's task coversa large ground, is extremely varied and develops some new aspect almost every day, so that thelast word on the subject will never have been said" (translation of E Butler [ed ], TheInstitut io Oratoria of Quintilian [4 vols , LCL, London Hememann, 1920] 1 293, 297) In thematter of approach, then, I side with the more flexible method of G A Kennedy, New Testament Interpretation through Rhetorical Criticism (Studies m Religion, Chapel Hill University of North Carolina Press, 1984) 3-31 Cf the more rigid methodology working with "patterns of argumentation" in L Mack, Rhetoric and the New Testament (Guides to Biblical Scholar

ship, NT Series, Minneapolis Fortress, 1990) 31-48 While I agree with Mitchell (Rhetoric of Reconciliation, 5-17, esp 16 52) that 1 Corinthians is largely deliberative, I do not hold, asshe apparently does that a deliberative frame excludes a priori the mixing of elements from the


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and polysyndeton clarifies relationships and obligations during this "presentdistress" (cf. anaphora and epanalepsis). 30 By careful observation one noticesthat 28 only refines the maxim and reason by "extension": marriage is not

sin, but the married will have worldly troubles. This anticipates points in thefollowing discussion. In 7:25-31, the reason (A), the maxim (B), and theirfollowing elaborations (B', A') are cast in a chiastic frame around 28(QA, B, C, B', A'. 31

Paul wrote 1 Cor 7:32-35 in support of his maxim as confirmado. Why should unmarried people remain as they are? The proof takes the form of arhetorical syllogism of probability, or enthymeme implied major premise:less anxiety about externals increases undivided devotion to God; minorpremise: the unmarried person has less anxiety about externals; conclusion:the unmarried person has undivided devotion to God.

Paul presents two specific applications of his maxim in 7:36-38 and7:39-40. Each includes a refinement of his maxim now in terms of what is"well" and what is "better" ("happier," 40). Now remarkably, not to "remain as you are" is all right both for the betrothed (in light of lack of self-control) and for the widow (because of freedom), but to remain in theunmarried state is "better" (because of access to undivided devotion to God).

All of this, Paul states, is kata tn emn gnmn, "according to my maxim."

What accounts for this remarkable flexibility in Paul's application of hismaxim? What explains the movement in Paul's thought between the truth of a maxim and its variety of applications to social life in Christian community?To be more specific, we must consider the larger rhetorical situation of 1 Corinthians 7 and further conventions applicable to the use of maxims.

IV

IF IT IS GRANTED that Paul bases his counsel on a rhetorical maxim andthat he then argues from this maxim according to the handbooks and instandard Greco-Roman rhetorical style, then let me suggest a possible rhetoricalsituation for 1 Corinthians 7. The Corinthians, writing to Paul about the

30 The effect of the polysyndeton is to slow down and draw out the idea. This is veryappropriate to a description of distress.

31 Rhetorically, "the center point [of a chiasm] often functions in one of two ways; it maystand as the interpretive focal point of the passage, or it may mark an important transition in

the movement or thought of the chiasm" (Bailey and Vander Broek, Literary Forms, 53). In thepresent case it has the latter function. The C component (7:28) anticipates and prepares theexceptions introduced by the best or better refinement that follows in 7:36-40. Paul's illustration


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question of sexual relations among the married, include their own maximintroduced by kalon: "It is well for a man not to touch a woman." Whetherthe maxim is their own, or is borrowed from Paul, or misrepresents a maximtaught them by Paul is hard to decide. 32 Paul does not simply dismiss theCorinthian maxim, for that is not how one disagrees with maxims, thoughtto be indisputable. The rhetorician disagrees rather with the application of a maxim to specific situations, refining its application with reasons and illustrations; he may propose a more suitable maxim. 33 This is precisely thepattern of argumentation that Paul employs in 1 Corinthians 7 as a whole.

Paul's argumentation is a matter of craft. Judging from his extensive useof a variety of traditions to undergird his argumentation in 1 Corinthians 7(oral tradition about Jesus, custom, pre- or para-Pauline tradition based onGal 3:28), 34 he may have viewed the developing position of those in disagreement with him as formidable. He refines the Corinthians' maxim of 7:1 by thoughtfully drawing out each particular situation and by carefully introducing pointssometimes in anticipatory fashion, as in 7:8-9that willundergird the maxim he is to offer at 1 Cor 7:26. These points are giftednessas gauged by self-control (7:7), acceptance of one's station in life (7:17,20),and opportunity to choose between the acceptable and the better (7:21). 35 By the time Paul arrives at 7:25-26 his maxim works to suggest guidelines notonly for the unmarried but also for the married, and he thereby appropri-ates the Corinthian maxim of 7:1 to his own counsel.

32The classic discussion of this problem is that of J C Hurd, The Origin ofl Corinthians

(Macon, GA Mercer University Press, 1983) 61-69, 154-69, 222-25, 274-78, 290-9133

This view is analogous to the results of studies m the appropriateness of proverbs,taunts, boasts, and other traditional sayings to their performative contexts see O Arewa and

A Dundes, "Proverbs and the Ethnography of Speaking Folklore," American Anthropologist 66 (1964) 70-73, R D Abrahams, "A Rhetoric of Everyday Life Traditional ConversationalGenres," Southern Folklore Quarterly 32 (1968) 44-59 Aristotle Rhet 2 21 12-14 provides us

with the only extant counsel on disagreement in the use of a maxim Given the refutation of

maxims in the progymnasmata (preliminary exercises) of Greco-Roman education, it is surprising that the rhetorical handbooks do not provide additional counsel We must continue toask how rhetorical maxims function, how they are expected to be used, and what limitations may apply to their use in the social contexts of debate or agones logon ("contests of speech")For these social contexts, see Pogoloff, Logos and Sophia, 153-56, 158-60, 173-78

34For a review of the background of Paul's sources in 1 Corinthians 7 and additional

discussion of the issues for and against marriage in the moral traditions of Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, see O L Yarbrough, Not like the Gentiles Marriage Rules in Paul (SBLDS 80,

Atlanta Scholars, 1985) 7-6335

G W Dawes (" 'But if You Can Gain Your Freedom* [1 Corinthians 7 17-24]," CBQ 52

[1990] 681-97) has brilliantly explained the function of Paul's illustration in 1 Cor 7 17-24 Thecase of circumcision illustrates the general exhortation to remain in the state of one's calling, butthe application is more complex Therefore, Dawes writes, "[slavery] illustrates both the ulti


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The careful usage and application of maxims fit Paul's ethical stance,which was not one of rigid expectation of conformity. 36 Paul, however, didnot agree with some of his Corinthian followers in the use and applicationof a maxim. Thus, confrontation over the application of the maxim, byrecourse to refinement and challenge, became necessary.

The recognition of the form and the function of Paul's counsel in1 Cor 7:25-26 indicates that it is a Greco-Roman rhetorical maxim and notmerely an opinion. Paul's use of the rhetorical maxim demonstrates hisargumentative craft. It provides not only a key to the shape and purpose of the argument in 1 Corinthians 7 but also a window on the give-and-take of moral persuasion taking place between Paul and members of the Corinthiancommunity. Careful attention to the rhetorical situation and the argu

mentative pattern in 1 Corinthians 7 should also provide insight into the useof maxims in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10, for example, in 8:1 ("we all haveknowledge"), 8:4 ("there is no God but one"), and 10:23 ("all things arepermissible"). 37

36 Sampley ( Walking between the Times, 97) correctly puts it this way: "In Paul's thinkinga particular action might be appropriate for one believer and not for another, depending on themeasure of faith and the impact of the action on others. The Pauline maxims do not prescribespecific actions that all believers must perform in lock step; rather, they tell believers how they

ought to behave with one another."37 I am investigating the patterns of Paul's use of the maxim in his argumentation in1 Corinthians 8 and 10. I wish to express my gratitude to colleagues at the combined NewEngland regional meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Catholic Biblical Association in 1993 for their very useful comments and criticisms after hearing an earlier version of this article.


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1 cor 7.25-26 - paul's rhetorical maxim

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