οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς

[leonardjayawardena]

1 Corinthians 9:5: μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν ἀδελφὴν γυναῖκα περιάγειν ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς;

The phrase οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς is a puzzling construction. Understood in its simplest grammatical sense, the phrase implies that οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου and Κηφᾶς do not belong to the apostles, which here refers to a wider circle of apostles, not just the Twelve. That meaning is not possible since Cephas was an apostle. Since the construction καὶ... καὶ... can sometimes mean "both...and...," I have seen one writer translate these words as "the rest of the apostles, both the brothers of the lord and Cephas." But that would restrict the married apostles who were accompanied by a wife on their missionary journeys to only the brothers of the lord and Cephas.

A parallel may be drawn between these words and οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται in Revelation 18:20, which reads in part, Εὐφραίνου ἐπ’ αὐτῇ, οὐρανὲ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται. It is quite certain that the first καὶ is explicative: "Rejoice over her, heaven, even ye saints and apostles and prophets." But the other two "kai"s are problematic and present the same difficulty as οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς, that is, καὶ understood as a simple conjunction implies that the apostles and prophets were not saints. As you know, "saints' in the NT refers to all true believers. As the apostles and the prophets were the two most important classes of office in the NT church (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:28), it appears that in the phrase οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται "the apostles" and "the prophets" are specially mentioned because of their prominence in the church.

Does not the above parallel in Revelation support the interpretation that in the phrase οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς Paul is singling out the brothers of the lord and Cephas for special mention because of their prominent positions in the church--"Peter" because he is the chief of the apostles and "the brothers of the lord" because they were his brothers?

What do others think?

Leonard Jayawardena

[cwconrad]

1 Corinthians 9:5: μὴ οὐκ ἔχομεν ἐξουσίαν ἀδελφὴν γυναῖκα περιάγειν ὡς καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς;

The phrase οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς is a puzzling construction. Understood in its simplest grammatical sense, the phrase implies that οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου and Κηφᾶς do not belong to the apostles, which here refers to a wider circle of apostles, not just the Twelve. That meaning is not possible since Cephas was an apostle. Since the construction καὶ... καὶ... can sometimes mean "both...and...," I have seen one writer translate these words as "the rest of the apostles, both the brothers of the lord and Cephas." But that would restrict the married apostles who were accompanied by a wife on their missionary journeys to only the brothers of the lord and Cephas.

A parallel may be drawn between these words and οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται in Revelation 18:20, which reads in part, Εὐφραίνου ἐπ’ αὐτῇ, οὐρανὲ, καὶ οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται. It is quite certain that the first καὶ is explicative: "Rejoice over her, heaven, even ye saints and apostles and prophets." But the other two "kai"s are problematic and present the same difficulty as οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς, that is, καὶ understood as a simple conjunction implies that the apostles and prophets were not saints. As you know, "saints' in the NT refers to all true believers. As the apostles and the prophets were the two most important classes of office in the NT church (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:28), it appears that in the phrase οἱ ἅγιοι καὶ οἱ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ προφῆται "the apostles" and "the prophets" are specially mentioned because of their prominence in the church.

Does not the above parallel in Revelation support the interpretation that in the phrase οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ Κηφᾶς Paul is singling out the brothers of the lord and Cephas for special mention because of their prominent positions in the church--"Peter" because he is the chief of the apostles and "the brothers of the lord" because they were his brothers?

What do others think?

I think you are trying to infer more from the passage than it is conveying. While I'd agree that οἱ λοιποὶ ἀπόστολοι must include a more expansive group than "the Twelve" (Paul insists in Gal. that he himself is an ἀπόστολος), I don't think that the καὶ ... καὶ ... καί phrasing need imply the sort of all-inclusive reckoning that you're supposing. I'm more inclined to think that the καὶ ... καὶ ... καί phrasing may be simply add-on subjects: "just like all the other apostles, as well as the Lord's brothers and Cephas too."

[Eeli Kaikkonen]

I think you are trying to infer more from the passage than it is conveying.

Why so? The semantic range of και is different than of English "and". Maybe exegeting this and the parallel passages is nitpicking, but I find the explanation "Paul is singling out the brothers of the lord and Cephas for special mention" plausible. The first και could be "epexegetical και". Maybe non-prototypical, but nonetheless. Or it could be "ascensive" (BAGD, s.v. II 2, see e.g. 2Cor 2:10.)

[timothy_p_mcmahon]

I disagree that it's "quite certain" that the saints et al. are in apposition to heaven. There are numerous OT passages which call upon heaven (or heaven and earth) to rejoice. It's possible "heaven" here refers to angels, and the verse is calling for a united worship of terrestrial and celestial beings.

I agree that the apostles and prophets are subsets of the saints rather than distinct from them (although the construction is different, cf. Philippians 1:1).