INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY OF OPINION
In my February 10, 2022, article entitled “The NRSVue Bible Translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: Keeping Practicing Homosexuals on the Road to Hell,” I characterized those who fall within the scope of the offenders list as “serial and unrepentant.” This article answers the question:
Why must those persons on the offenders list of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 display “serial and unrepentant” behavior?
In summary, there are two reasons the offenders’ behaviors must be “serial and unrepentant.”
First, by using the Greek adjective adikos, which the NASB95 translates as “unrighteous,” Paul intended to emphatically convey to his audience that the adikos who are those persons who habitually persist in unrepentantly doing wrong.
Second, Paul’s use of eimi in the habitual imperfect verb tense, which the NASB95 translates as “were … you,” shows that he intended to convey that the referenced behavior was habitual and had ceased sometime in the past. The grammar of the Greek verb eimi supports the interpretation that the offenders’ behaviors must be serial and unrepentant.
My more detailed explanation now follows.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF 1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11
The Text
1 Corinthians 6:9–11 (NASB95) reads:
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
The portion of this text pertinent to this discussion reads:
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither [offender list] will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Use of Adikos
The NASB95 translates the Greek adjective adikos as “the unrighteous.” The Logos 9 sense of the word is unrighteous person, i.e., a person characterized by unrighteousness and godlessness. Louw et al.[i] defines it as pertaining to not being right or just—‘unjust, unjustly, unrighteous.’ One commentator[ii] emphasizes the habitual and unrepentant nature of those on the offender list [emphasis added]:
Here (ἄδικοι) the idea I involved in ἀδικεῖν, to do injustice, must be kept in view, yet looking away from the point wherein they as members of the Church were especially guilty. The ‘unjust’ (“a term used of the heathen in ver. 1, and here designedly brought in for the purpose of putting all who were unjust on a par with the heathen” NEANDER) are properly those among whom the practice of injustice has become habitual, who persist in wrong without repenting.—But here the word denotes the immoral generally, those who offend God and man by iniquities of every kind, such as are specified in the following context.
Another commentator[iii] defines the adikos “as people who practice evil” [emphasis added]:
Since the attempt to bypass justice by social networks of influence probably lies behind 6:1–8, there are good grounds for translating ἄδικοι as unjust (Collins). But most translations reflect a concern not to narrow or to overspecify the semantic range as an introduction to the broad contrast which Paul is about to make. Hence most translate as wrongdoers (NRSV, REB), wicked (NIV, Moffatt), or unrighteous (AV/KJV). NJB, however, plausibly seeks a stronger term for the contrast with v. 11 and renders the adjective with the definite article people who do evil, which we modify, in accordance with Paul’s emphasis here on habit or disposition as people who practice evil.
By using the Greek adjective adikos, which the NASB95 translates as “unrighteous,” Paul intended to emphatically convey to his audience that the adikos who are those persons who habitually persist in unrepentantly doing wrong.
The Grammar of Verse 11
Verse 11 provides additional evidence that supports the serial and unrepentant nature of the offender list.
By his use of the Greek verb eimi, which the NASB95 translates as “were … you,” Paul told his audience that some of them had in the past fallen within the scope of the offender list. According to Louw et al.[iv], eimi means as “were … you” and it means “to possess certain characteristics, whether inherent or transitory—‘to be.” Eimi is in the imperfect tense which is the “verb tense where the writer portrays an action in process or a state of being that is occurring in the past with no assessment of the action’s completion.”[v]
Paul followed up eimi with three uses of alla, which the NASB95 translates as “but.” Alla is a contrastive conjunction that suggests an oppositional thought or relationship to the word, phrase, or clause to which it is connected.[vi] The alla series reads:
but you were washed[vii], but you were sanctified[viii], but you were justified[ix]
The use of the alla series implies that the behavior connected with eimi has ceased sometime in the past.
In his book Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, Dr. Daniel Wallace writes (p. 548) about the imperfect tense [italics in the original]:
The imperfect is frequently used to indicate a regularly recurring activity in past time (habitual) or a state that continued for some time (general). … One repeated action (habitual imperfect) [customarily, habitually], while the other is ongoing state (stative imperfect [continually]). The habitual imperfect can be translated with the gloss customarily, used to, were accustomed to.
He cites 1 Corinthians 6:11 as an example of the habitual imperfect.
One commentator (Pratt, R. L., Jr. (2000). I & II Corinthians (Vol. 7, p. 90). Broadman & Holman Publishers) describes the offenders’ behaviors as “patterns of life:”
Many of the believers in Corinth once lived in these patterns of life, but Christ had changed them so they became much more reliable as judges of disputes within the church. Since these patterns of life were in the past for those who truly believed, they could take confidence that they would inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul’s use of eimi in the habitual imperfect verb tense, which the NASB95 translates as “were … you,” shows that he intended to convey that the referenced behavior was habitual and had ceased sometime in the past. The grammar of the Greek verb eimi supports the interpretation that the offenders’ behaviors must be serial and unrepentant.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, there are two reasons the offenders’ behaviors must be “serial and unrepentant.”
First, by using the Greek adjective adikos, which the NASB95 translates as “unrighteous,” Paul intended to emphatically convey to his audience that the adikos who are those persons who habitually persist in unrepentantly doing wrong.
Second, Paul’s use of eimi in the habitual imperfect verb tense, which the NASB95 translates as “were … you,” shows that he intended to convey that the referenced behavior was habitual and had ceased sometime in the past. The grammar of the Greek verb eimi supports the interpretation that the offenders’ behaviors must be serial and unrepentant.
IF YOU ARE UNSURE ABOUT YOUR SALVATION
If you are unsure about your salvation, you need to check out my new (published in October, 2021) book The Salvation Meter: Biblical Self-Diagnostic Tests to Examine Your Salvation and Spiritual Growth (book link at Xulon Press: https://www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/bookdetail.php?PB_ISBN=9781662828638 ). At Amazon the book link is https://www.amazon.com/Salavation-Meter-Biblical-Self-Diagnostic-Spiritual/dp/1662828632 . I also have website in which I am updating the content in the book. The link to my website for the book is https://thesalvationmeter.com .
IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN
If you are reading this post and are not a Christian, your eternal destination is hell unless God intervenes. But, your destiny can change. Today can be the day of your salvation. Please see my blog (https://stevebelsheim.com/2020/04/20/for-god-so-loves-you-2/) for a description of how you can be saved and a more concise description at my (https://stevebelsheim.com/2020/10/20/there-is-hope-even-when-there-seems-to-be-no-hope-2/ ).
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[i] See Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). In Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 744). United Bible Societies.
[ii] Lange, J. P., Schaff, P., Kling, C. F., & Poor, D. W. (2008). A commentary on the Holy Scriptures: 1 Corinthians (p. 125). Logos Bible Software.
[iii] Thiselton, A. C. (2000). The First Epistle to the Corinthians: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 438). W.B. Eerdmans.
[iv] See Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 148.
[v] See Heiser, M. S., & Setterholm, V. M. (2013; 2013). Glossary of Morpho-Syntactic Database Terminology. Lexham Press.
[vi] See Heiser et al. Id.
[vii] The first use of alla is with the Greek verb apolouō, which the NASB95 translates as “you were washed.” The Logos 9 sense is to be forgiven ⇔ be washed – to be or become forgiven, conceived of as having one’s sins washed away. Louw et al, defines the vverg to mean, “a figurative extension of meaning of ἀπολούω ‘to wash off, to wash away,’ not occurring in the NT): to cause a state of moral purity—‘to purify, to cause to be pure.’” See Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 745. It is in the aorist tense and indicative mood which typically means the writer wanted to present the action of a verb as a “snapshot” event usually in the pastime. See Heiser et al. Id.
[viii] The second use of alla is with the Greek verb hagiazō, which the NASB95 translates as “you were sanctified.” The Logos 9 sense is to be sanctified – to be or become as dedicated to God; either in distinction, in devotion, or in moral purity. Louw et al. defines it to mean to cause someone to have the quality of holiness—‘to make holy. See Louw et al. supra at , Vol. 1, p. 744). The verb is in the aorist tense and indicative mood. Again, this typically means the writer wanted to present the action of a verb as a “snapshot” event usually in the pastime. See Heiser et al. Id.
[ix] The third use of alla is with the Greek verb dikaioō, which the NASB95 translates as “you were justified.” The Logos 9 sense of the verb is to be justified – to be or become judicially vindicated as having complied with the requirements of the law (of God). Louw et al. defines it to mean, “to cause to be released from the control of some state or situation involving moral issues—‘to release, to set free.” See Louw et al., supra at Vol. 1, p. 488. The verb is in the aorist tense and indicative mood. Again, this typically means the writer wanted to present the action of a verb as a “snapshot” event usually in the pastime. See Heiser et al. Id.