John Granger Cook, «1 Cor 9,5: The Women of the Apostles», Vol. 89 (2008) 352-368
The women of the apostles in 1 Cor 9,5 have posed a riddle in the history of interpretation. With few exceptions commentators over the last one hundred years have identified them as wives and dismissed the text in a few lines. Recent research on the role of women in early Christian mission has brought a fresh assessment, concluding that the women were missionary assistants to the apostles. This essay develops an extended argument to solidify the thesis using the history of interpretation, the nature of missionary partnerships in the Pauline epistles, semantics, some important parallels from the Greco-Roman world, and the nature of ancient households.
1 Cor 9,5: The Women of the Apostles 357
be discussed below in the section on periavgein (28). This tradition
survived into the Reformation and the Counter Reformation and will
play a crucial role in the argument to be developed below, although it
has played little to no role in recent scholarship on the text of Paul.
V. The Women Provided Material Support
The dominant view for many years in the ancient church (both
Latin and Greek) was that the women (not wives) provided material
support for the apostles. Tertullian, Jerome, and Augustine developed
it (29). Until the Reformation this was the usual interpretation, but it has
survived well into the modern era with its inclusion in the New
Jerusalem Bible’s footnote to the verse.
VI. The Women as Wives
This issue still needs to be addressed because it continues to appear
in the contemporary exegesis of the verse. The apostles only had wives
before the gospel according to Jerome (30). Protestant Reformers such
as Calvin believed the women were wives (31). In the era since the
Enlightenment the tendency has been to see the women as wives,
although there are some dissenters. Scholars who interpret the women
as wives (with no further role mentioned) include: J.S. Semler,
Johannes Weiss, Hans Lietzmann, Hans Conzelmann, W.F. Orr and
J.A. Walter, Gordon Fee, C.K. Barrett and Jacob Kremer (32). Jerome
(28) Chrysostom, Hom. lxxiii in Matt. 3 (PG 58; 677).
(29) Tertullian, Mon. 8.5, 8.6 (CChr.SL 2; 1239,26-28; 1240,38-93 DEKKERS).
Only Peter had a wife (Mon. 8.4 [1239,21-22 DEKKERS]). Jerome, Matth. 27,55
(302,413-17 BONNARD), Augustine, Mon. 4.5-5.6 (CChr.SL 41; 538,3–539,24
ZYCHA). KOVACS provides much context for this comment (1 Corinthians, 146-
147).
(30) Jerome, Iou. 1,26 (PL 23; 256B-D) with reference to Matt 19,27.29
(reading “wives†in the last verse).
(31) Cf, e.g., J. CALVIN, Ep. Pauli ad Cor. I, 9,4 (eds. E. REUSS – A. ERICHSON
— L. HORST) (CR 77; Braunschweig 1892, 11546) 439.
(32) D. IO. SAL. SEMLERI, Paraphrasis in primam Pauli ad Corinthios
epistolam (Halle an der Saale 1770) 213-214. J. WEISS, Der erste Korintherbrief
(MeyerK; Göttingen 1910) 234. H. LIETZMANN, An die Korinther I-II (HNT 9;
expanded by W. G. KÜMMEL; Tübingen 51969) 40-41. H. CONZELMANN, 1
Corinthians (trans. J.W. LEITCH; ed. G.W. MACRAE) (Philadelphia, PA 1975) 153.
W.F. ORR and J.A. WALTHER, 1 Corinthians (AB 32; Garden City, NY 1976) 238.
G. FEE, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids, MI 1987)
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