44 Christian Stettler 2. The Relationship of 1 Cor 14,37 to the Argument of Chapters 12–14 If Paul actually refers to a saying of Jesus without citing it, which tradition does he have in mind? There is no explicit reference to Jesus tradition in the immediate or wider context of 1 Cor 14,37. This might be the main reason that the vast majority of scholarship holds the “command of the Lord” to refer to a personal revelation or conviction of Paul. The “Western” text noted this difficulty and therefore left out ejntolhv (12), reading “recognize that what I have written is of the Lord”, which can be understood in a more general sense, referring to Paul’s inspiration in a similar way as the passages mentioned above. Paul obviously expects his readers to understand immediately which saying he alludes to, otherwise he would have had to say more. In order to find out, we need to investigate to which part of the epistle “what I am writing to you” in 1 Cor 14,37 refers. Paul cannot have in mind only the immediately preceding passage about women in church (vv. [33b]34-35), since v. 37 is much too general for that, as is especially signalled by the plural a{ (13). Furthermore, after pointing out the negative consequences of not obeying this command of the Lord (v. 38), Paul immediately continues in vv. 39-40: “So, my brothers (and sisters), be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues; but all things should be done decently and in order”. Here Paul clearly summarises his argument of chapters 12–14 and not only vv. (33b)34-35(14). He links this summary with the “command of the Lord” by use of w{ste. Moreover, it is doubtful if vv. (33b)34-35 were originally part of the text or rather a marginal note that was interpolated later, as is held by many(15). For all these reasons v. 37 must refer to Paul’s argument regarding the spiritual gifts in chapters 12–14. “Paul’s purpose is to conclude the discussion [of chapters 12- 14] and at the same time to bar the way for any prophet at Corinth to propound “en pneumati” new rules which would contradict those given by Paul”(16). j v The teaching of chapters 12–14 is contained in a nutshell already in 12,7(17): each member of the body of Christ is given the manifestation of the (12) This is fully in tune with many other places where the Western text clarifies difficult passages (e.g. by the transposition of vv. 34-35!); therefore the rule lectio brevior potior does not apply here (contra BARRETT, 1 Corinthians, 333). See also above n. 6. (13) See GRUDEM, Gift, 51; AUNE, Prophecy, 258. (14) So also BARRETT, 1 Corinthians, 334; LANG, 1/2 Korinther, 201. V. 40 might include vv. 33b-35, see BARRETT, ibid. and WOLFF, 1 Korinther, 348. (15) FEE, 1 Corinthians, 699-705; LINDEMANN, 1 Korinther, 316-321; HAYS, 1 Corinthians, 245-249; CONZELMANN, 1 Corinthians, 246; SCHRAGE, 1 Korinther, III, 479–92, and others (further references in SCHRAGE, 1 Korinther, III, 481, n. 703; COLLINS, 1 Corinthians, 515 and CARSON, Showing, 124, n. 34). These verses are thought to be authentic e.g. by COLLINS, 1 Corinthians, 515-517; CARSON, Showing, 121-131; THISELTON, 1 Corinthians, 1146-1161 and WOLFF, 1 Korinther, 341-345. BARRETT, 1 Corinthians, 331- 333, remains undecided. (16) GRUDEM, Gift, 51. Similarly AUNE, Prophecy, 258 (14,37 refers to chapter 14); ROBERTSON and PLUMMER, 1 Corinthians, 327 (14,37 refers to chapters 11–14). Here Paul hardly refers to chapters 1–14 (contra CARSON, Showing, 131). A certain case could be made for chapters 8–14, since chapters 8–11 are unified with 12–14 by the theme of mutual “love” and “upbuilding” (8,1) (see the following). (17) HAYS, 1 Corinthians, 211; similarly U. BROCKHAUS, Charisma und Amt. Die paulinische Charismenlehre auf dem Hintergrund der frühchristlichen Gemeindefunktionen (Wuppertal 21975) 163 and SCHRAGE, 1 Korinther, III, 111.