Abstract
This ‘minimalist commentary of sorts’ (p. viii) is evidently written for pastors, students and well-informed laypeople. Such readers will certainly come away with a much richer exposure to a tremendous amount of background information that is or may be relevant to the interpretation of 1 Corinthians. Commentators on 1 Corinthians will also want to check to see how much of the information Malcolm cites they want to include in their exposition of the letter.
Malcolm begins with an introduction which explains the different kinds of backgrounds to be considered (locations, artefacts, literary and rhetorical features, customs and rituals, concepts and beliefs, content and arrangement of 1 Corinthians, etc.) as well as providing brief comments on the various ancient authors and writings that would be referred to along the way in the book. The rest of the book consists mainly of potentially relevant quotes from ancient literature with the briefest possible comments on their relevance following a translation of 1 Corinthians a few verses at a time.
Images in the book are in black and white, and generally quite small, but readers are alerted that ‘Full-size colour versions of the photos and diagrams that appear in this book can be found at the companion website www.worldof1corinthians.com.’ The website is an excellent complement to the book.
One could certainly nitpick here or there, wishing for some background information to have been included that was not (e.g., perhaps some examples of the euphemism of ‘touching’ [for 7:1], or of contemporary invitations to dine at the table of a pagan ‘lord’ [for 10:21], or sources discussing ancient women scandalizing others by speaking to other women’s husbands [for 14:34-35], etc.), but almost all that one would wish for is included. Most of the information provided comes from (in the case of literary sources) or was prepared for (in the case of sculptures and other artwork) the elite members of society. A work such as Robert Knapp’s Invisible Romans (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011) helps remind us that we need to be intentional about discerning the contexts of the ordinary, invisible people in the city (especially in light of 1 Cor 1:26). It might have been better to move the list of literature and authors from the introduction to an appendix, but this is a matter of preference. It partly serves as an index as it indicates the places where particular sources are used.
All in all, this is a very valuable source book that will help many readers gain a stronger sense of the culture to which 1 Corinthians was written. The book’s website will further enrich their understanding and serve as a fine resource to enliven their teaching.