I want to consider παραδίδωμι as used by Paul in Romans and 1 Corinthians. The wrath of God…revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (ἀσέβειαν, a form of ἀσέβεια) and unrighteousness of people1 was revealed in three stages:
1) God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) in the desires of their hearts to impurity.
2) God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to dishonorable passions.
3) God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to a depraved mind.
This usage of παραδίδωμι is virtually identical to that of Paul encouraging the Corinthians to turn over the man who had his father’s wife to Satan.
When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, turn this man over (παραδοῦναι, another form of παραδίδωμι) to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 5:4, 5 (NET) Table |
Therefore God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) in the desires of their hearts to impurity…
Romans 1:24 (NET) Table |
For this reason God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to dishonorable passions.
Romans 1:26a (NET) |
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God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to a depraved mind…
Romans 1:28b (NET) |
I’ve already indicated that Paul’s reaction to this man seems disproportionate when compared with his reaction to the sin he addressed in his letter to the Galatians. But if I accept Paul’s second explanation in 2 Corinthians as the more appropriate, then Paul was not reacting to this man’s sin as much as he was responding to the Corinthians’ reactions to it (2 Corinthians 2:9-11; 7:11, 12 NET):
For this reason also I wrote you: to test (δοκιμὴν, a form of δοκιμή) you to see if you are obedient (ὑπήκοοι, a form of ὑπήκοος) in everything. If you forgive (χαρίζεσθε, a form of χαρίζομαι) anyone for anything, I also forgive him – for indeed what I have forgiven (κεχάρισμαι, another form of χαρίζομαι) (if I have forgiven [κεχάρισμαι, another form of χαρίζομαι] anything) I did so for you in the presence of Christ [Table], so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes)…
For see what this very thing, this sadness [e.g., caused by Paul’s original letter, cf. 2 Corinthians 7:8 (NET)] as God intended, has produced (κατειργάσατο, a form of κατεργάζομαι) in you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what deep concern, what punishment! In everything you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So then, even though I wrote to you, it was not on account of the one who did wrong (ἀδικήσαντος, a form of ἀδικέω), or on account of the one who was wronged (ἀδικηθέντος, a form of ἀδικέω), but to reveal to you your eagerness on our behalf before God [Table].
And Paul questioned their reaction right from the beginning: And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you?2 In my opinion, yes, they should have been sorrowful, but whether they should have removed him from their midst or not is open to question by Paul’s own subsequent writings.
And knowing that Paul passed on (παρεδίδοσαν, another form of παραδίδωμι) the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers to obey3 as he traveled on his second missionary journey, I have an even better idea why he called the man’s sin πορνεία. If I examine the list of James’ abbreviated version of the law—abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what has been strangled and from πορνείας (a form of πορνεία)4—it was the only thing left to Paul that even came close to describing the man’s sin.
All of this is based on my assumption that the man Paul encouraged the Corinthians to forgive in 2 Corinthians 2:5-8 was the same man he told them to turn over to Satan in 1 Corinthians 5:4, 5. It is not the only assumption I could make. I might take Paul’s phrase, the destruction of the flesh, literally and assume that the man died, or that he simply left, or that he moved on to the Baptist church down the street.5 I know that Paul wrote a letter to the Corinthians before 1 Corinthians, I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral (πόρνοις, a form of πόρνος) people.6 The unspecified man in 2 Corinthians could be some other sinner Paul had the church shun in any number of unknown letters he wrote between 1 and 2 Corinthians.
For me it all comes down to my account (λόγον, a form of λόγος).7 Assuming the man is one and the same is an honest mistake (if that’s what it proves to be) that I can live with. But if I stand before the Lord with all kinds of imaginary excuses—the first man died, left the church, moved on to the Baptist church down the street, and the second man was introduced in an imaginary letter I don’t have access to—all He has to say is, “What does it say, Dan?” and I have no λόγον to offer Him. I can honestly say that I thought Paul was talking about the same man in both letters. The Lord already knows better than anyone how bright I’m not. I would like, by his grace, to keep the willful ignorance to a minimum from here on out.
After people were given over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonorable passions, and to a depraved mind by God, the rest of the occurrences of παραδίδωμι in Romans form a mini-Gospel lesson. [Jesus] was given over (παρεδόθη, another form of παραδίδωμι) because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification (δικαίωσιν, a form of δικαίωσις).8 The word is used in a similar way in 1 Corinthians, If9 I give away everything I own, and if I give over (παραδῶ, another form of παραδίδωμι) my body in order to boast,10 but do not have love, I receive no benefit.11
The next step of the mini-Gospel lesson is, But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to (παρεδόθητε, another form of παραδίδωμι), and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.12 There is a similar reference to a message that was passed on and a similar theme in 1 Corinthians: For I passed on (παρέδωκα, another form of παραδίδωμι) to you as of first importance what I also received – that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures…13
Another usage in 1 Corinthians corroborated this idea of a message that was passed on and introduced the related word παράδοσις which is that message. I praise you14 because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions (παραδόσεις, a form of παράδοσις) just as I passed them on (παρέδωκα, another form of παραδίδωμι) to you.15 And another usage of παραδίδωμι is both the idea of a message passed on and Jesus given over or given up. For I received from the Lord what I also passed on (παρέδωκα, another form of παραδίδωμι) to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed16 (παρεδίδετο, another form of παραδίδωμι) took bread…17
In Romans the mini-Gospel lesson continued: Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?18 And I suppose the final occurrence in 1 Corinthians adds the finishing touch to this lesson: Then comes the end, when [Jesus] hands over (παραδιδῷ, another form of παραδίδωμι) the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power.19
Below is a copy of this mini-Gospel lesson in tabular form.
Paul’s usage of παραδίδωμι in Romans / 1 Corinthians as a Mini-Gospel Lesson |
Therefore God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) in the desires of their hearts to impurity…
Romans 1:24 (NET) |
For this reason God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to dishonorable passions.
Romans 1:26a (NET) |
God gave them over (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) to a depraved mind…
Romans 1:28b (NET) |
[Jesus] was given over (παρεδόθη, another form of παραδίδωμι) because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.
Romans 4:25 (NET) |
But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were entrusted to (παρεδόθητε, another form of παραδίδωμι), and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.
Romans 6:17, 18 (NET) |
Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up (παρέδωκεν, a form of παραδίδωμι) for us all – how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32 (NET) |
Then comes the end, when [Jesus] hands over (παραδιδῷ, another form of παραδίδωμι) the kingdom to God the Father, when he has brought to an end all rule and all authority and power.
1 Corinthians 15:24 (NET) |
Addendum: May 1, 2020
Tables comparing 1 Corinthians 13:3; 11:2; 11:23 and Acts 18:25 in the NET and KJV follow.
1 Corinthians 13:3 (KJV) |
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If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. | And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. |
Stephanus Textus Receptus | ||
κὰν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα μου |καὶ ἐὰν| παραδῶ τὸ σῶμα μου ἵνα καυχήσωμαι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι | και εαν ψωμισω παντα τα υπαρχοντα μου και εαν παραδω το σωμα μου ινα καυθησωμαι αγαπην δε μη εχω ουδεν ωφελουμαι | και εαν ψωμισω παντα τα υπαρχοντα μου και εαν παραδω το σωμα μου ινα καυθησωμαι αγαπην δε μη εχω ουδεν ωφελουμαι |
1 Corinthians 11:2 (KJV) |
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I praise you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions just as I passed them on to you. | Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you. |
Stephanus Textus Receptus | ||
Ἐπαινῶ δὲ ὑμᾶς ὅτι πάντα μου μέμνησθε καί, καθὼς παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, τὰς παραδόσεις κατέχετε | επαινω δε υμας αδελφοι οτι παντα μου μεμνησθε και καθως παρεδωκα υμιν τας παραδοσεις κατεχετε | επαινω δε υμας αδελφοι οτι παντα μου μεμνησθε και καθως παρεδωκα υμιν τας παραδοσεις κατεχετε |
1 Corinthians 11:23 (KJV) |
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For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, | For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: |
Stephanus Textus Receptus | ||
Ἐγὼ γὰρ παρέλαβον ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου, ὃ καὶ παρέδωκα ὑμῖν, ὅτι ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ᾗ παρεδίδετο ἔλαβεν ἄρτον | εγω γαρ παρελαβον απο του κυριου ο και παρεδωκα υμιν οτι ο κυριος ιησους εν τη νυκτι η παρεδιδοτο ελαβεν αρτον | εγω γαρ παρελαβον απο του κυριου ο και παρεδωκα υμιν οτι ο κυριος ιησους εν τη νυκτι η παρεδιδοτο ελαβεν αρτον |
NET Parallel Greek | Stephanus Textus Receptus | Byzantine Majority Text |
οὗτος ἦν κατηχημένος τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ζέων τῷ πνεύματι ἐλάλει καὶ ἐδίδασκεν ἀκριβῶς τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐπιστάμενος μόνον τὸ βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου | ουτος ην κατηχημενος την οδον του κυριου και ζεων τω πνευματι ελαλει και εδιδασκεν ακριβως τα περι του κυριου επισταμενος μονον το βαπτισμα ιωαννου | ουτος ην κατηχημενος την οδον του κυριου και ζεων τω πνευματι ελαλει και εδιδασκεν ακριβως τα περι του κυριου επισταμενος μονον το βαπτισμα ιωαννου |
1 Romans 1:18 (NET)
5 I’m only half joking. As I consider Acts 18:24-28 it is not too hard to imagine others like Apollos who spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus (KJV: the Lord), although he knew only the baptism of John (Acts 18:25 NET).
6 1 Corinthians 5:9 (NET)
8 Romans 4:25 (NET)
9 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had κὰν here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had και εαν (KJV: And though).
10 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had καυχήσωμαι here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had καυθησωμαι (KJV: to be burned). See NET Note 1.
11 1 Corinthians 13:3 (NET)
12 Romans 6:17, 18 (NET)
13 1 Corinthians 15:3 (NET)
14 The Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had αδελφοι (KJV: brethren) here. The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 did not.
15 1 Corinthians 11:2 (NET)
16 The NET parallel Greek text and NA28 had παρεδίδετο here, where the Stephanus Textus Receptus and Byzantine Majority Text had παρεδιδοτο.
17 1 Corinthians 11:23 (NET)