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It might seem strange that this commentary arrives at the heels of another one I completed on 2 Corinthians for SBL Press last year (Exploring Second Corinthians; RRA 3; 2016), but my work on the Corinthian correspondence in reverse order actually enabled me to see things a bit differently than I would otherwise. For instance, I may not have fully appreciated the development of wisdom tendencies in the congregation without doing 2 Corinthians first and addressing relevant problems related to sophistry within that correspondence. My goal in this user-friendly commentary on 1 Corinthians is to provide the reader, whether student or minister or scholar (who can also benefit from this up-to-date interpretation and its many footnotes), with a fresh reading of the letter based on my studies and recent scholarship. In keeping with my intertextual interests, I have tried to concentrate at least on the clearer references Paul makes to Scripture and other sources, and from there hopefully provide helpful insights.

I would like to thank a number of people who, whether directly or indirectly, have helped with this project. Those deserving mention include Thomas Brodie and Linda L. Belleville, who at the annual Society of Biblical Literature conferences chaired the Theological Interweaving of Scripture in 1 Corinthians Seminar. As a steering committee member of this seminar, I was enabled to read and hear the most recent scholarly papers on 1 Corinthians. Thanks also goes to my Azusa Pacific University colleagues, including Robert Duke (dean of the School of Theology), Kenneth Waters (associate dean), Federico Roth (interim chair of Biblical and Religious Studies), Kay Higuera Smith (former chair), and Scott Daniels (former dean). They endorsed time off from my teaching load through our school’s Teacher-Scholar award, and through the Center for Research on Ethics and Values (CREV) headed by Mark Eaton. Thanks also goes to Donald Isaak, executive director of the Office of Research and Grants, for heading the writer’s retreat I attended in Malibu, California (2015–16).

I would also like to thank my beautiful wife Vonda, who assists me with some of the menial tasks that are part of writing and publishing. Finally, I would like to thank Michael Bird and Craig Keener for inviting me to contribute to the New Covenant Commentary Series several years ago, and who patiently waited as I cut the length of my manuscript by one-third to make it more compatible with other works in this series (and special thanks to Michael for editing the pre-published version and making helpful suggestions). As of this publication the reader can find some of the cut portions referenced in the footnotes and bibliography and posted on my Academia website: https://azusa.academia.edu/BjOropeza.

B. J. Oropeza