Weekly Ingathering or 'Passover-thanksgiving'? Reading 1 Cor. 16:2 Through the Lens of the Tanach

Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 1 Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? Reading 1 Cor. 16:2 Through the Lens of the Tanach Tony Jurg (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) 1 Paper presented at the Amsterdam New Testament Colloquium Centre for the Study of Early Christianity (CSEC) Amsterdam, June 9, 2023 I am grateful to be able to share at this colloquium some highlights of the research I have been working on as part of my bachelor thesis at Tilburg University. 2 At the heart of today’s talk is a phrase from 1 Corinthians 16:2: κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου. Although Paul’s instructions concerning the collection for the saints have received considerable scholarly attention, there is little, if any, sustained discussion of the literal sense of this expression. Why would Paul use such an awkward phrase when far less ambiguous Greek was available? Strikingly, the interpretation of κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου elicits relatively little debate in current scholarship. In most modern Bible translations, it is rendered as “every first day of the week,” a wording that conceals the awkward underlying Greek idiom. This widely accepted interpretation is shaped by the occurrence of a similar idiom in the resurrection passages and by the assumption that the Greek expression legitimately allows, or even demands, such a rendering. In fact, this conviction rests largely on the prior assumption that the occurrence of μίαν σαββάτου in the resurrection narratives must denote “the first day of the week,” since Jesus was found to be alive on the first day of the week. In this talk, I challenge this prevailing interpretation and argue that, when read through the lens of the Tenach, κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου in 1 Corinthians 16: in 1 Corinthians 16:2 likely does not refer to every Sunday, but to the Omer period, thereby linking Paul’s collection to the biblical firstfruits tradition within the broader cluster of spring festivals in the Hebrew Bible. As I will discuss in 1 ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0343-1346. Academia: https://vu-nl.academia.edu/TonyJurg. 2 Tony Jurg. Vertellen, vertalen, vertillen: de receptiegeschiedenis van 1 Kor. 16,2. (BA-thesis, Tilburg University, Netherlands). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8165465. Tony Jurg B.A., B. ng. Amsterdam New Testament Colloquium - June 9, 2023 Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 2 more detail later, the Omer period refers to the seven Shabbat days between Pesach and the Feast of Weeks, commonly known as Pentecost. In what follows, due to the limited time available, I will sketch a selection of the arguments and considerations that are developed more fully in the draft paper circulated with the invitation. 3 I refer you to the footnotes in that draft for detailed references to primary and secondary sources. I would also like to draw your attention to my thesis, which offers a more extensive account of the exegetical, historical, and methodological background to this proposal. Interestingly, whereas there is currently near-unanimous scholarly consensus regarding the interpretation of the phrase κατὰ μίαν σαββάτου, such a specific understanding has not always prevailed historically. On the contrary, in his 1522 German translation of the New Testament, Martin Luther renders the phrase as “auff iah der Sabbater eynen,” 4 that is, “on one of the sabbaths,” a literal translation of the Greek that differs markedly from the now-standard “first day of the week.” This observation prompted me to undertake a more detailed investigation into the translation history of this verse. As part of my research, 131 historical manuscripts and Bibles from the fifth till the seventeenth century were examined to determine when renderings such as “first day of the week” became common. 5 The analysis showed that, prior to 1560, the Greek phrase κατὰ μίαν σαββάτων was consistently translated in all examined target languages along the lines of “each one of the sabbaths” or “each one of the weeks.” The first translations to render the phrase as “every first day of the week” were the Geneva Bible and Beza’s Latin translation, both published in 1560. In his Latin version, Beza altered the Vulgate’s per unam sabbati to primo quoque die hebdomadis, thereby replacing the Latin term sabbati, which over time had acquired the secondary meaning ‘week.’ For the sake of clarity, I am not claiming that the practical application of the verse changed at that time. Rather, my argument is that the ambiguous phrase, which certainly leaves room for an alternative 3 Forthcoming article. 4 Internet Archive, “Das Newe Testament Deutzsch, 1522,” https://archive.org/details/DasNeweTestamentDeutzsch1522/page/n286/mode/1up. 5 The dataset focused on the Western uropean language area. Within this group sampling was performed randomly with the only requirement being the availability of a decipherable photographic reproduction. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 3 understanding, was subsequently disambiguated to conform to the prevailing practice of the time. The shift to this new rendering as “every first day of the week” was gradual and took considerable time before it became virtually universal. In the case of Luther’s translation, the change was only implemented at the beginning of the twentieth century. 6 Some of us here have even lived to see the Vulgate follow suit in its own way, with the introduction of the Neo-Vulgate in 1979. the traditional Latin Vulgate read per unam sabbati (literally “on one of the Sabbaths”) and this was only altered in the Catholic Nova Vulgata (1979) to per primam sabbati. The New Testament contains seventy instances of the lexeme σαββάτον, and only nine of these are commonly translated as ‘week’ in modern Bible versions. Notably, the explicit Greek word for ‘week’ (ἑβδομάδος) never appears in the New Testament. However, its twenty attestations in the Septuagint suggest that the term was certainly known, 7 which questions the argument that σάββατον can simply stand in for ἑβδομάδος. Leviticus 23:15 further substantiates this point, as it employs both σαββάτων and ἑβδομάδας, thereby implying a distinction between the two terms. This verse is of particular importance for our investigation because it also links the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering to the Feast of Weeks (better known as Pentecost) in precisely the manner illustrated in the diagram on the handout. The precise date on which to celebrate the Wave Sheaf Offering has long been a matter of sectarian calendar controversy. The debate centres on the interpretation of the phrase “from the day after the sabbath” in Leviticus 23:15. Does this refer to the seventh-day sabbath (Saturday), or to the ‘festival sabbath’ immediately following Pesach (the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread)? According to the Sadducean interpretation, the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering always fell on the first day of the week, roughly coinciding with what we call aster Sunday. The Pharisees, by contrast, fixed a specific calendar date for the Wave Sheaf Offering, namely Nisan 6 The change to “first day of the week” took considerable time to be fully implemented. In 1882 the Luther translation still printed “Auf einen jeglichen Sabbather”. Internet Archive, “Die Bibel: oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments”, https://archive.org/details/diebibeloderdieg00luthuoft/page/148/mode/2up. 7 In the LXX, ἑβδομας is the usual translation of ַֹ עוּבָּש (e.g., Gen. 29:27&28; x. 34:22; Lev. 28:26; Deut. 16:9,10&16; 2 Chron. 8:13, Dan. 10:2). One notable exception is Lev. 23:15 where ע בֶׁשַַֹֹתֹותֹ ָּב ש was translates as ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδας in the LXX. Notice this verse was key in sectarian disputes. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 4 16. To support such an interpretation, the Pharisees argued that ‘sabbath’ could also carry the meaning ‘week,’ even though the Hebrew has a distinct term for ‘week.’ 8 In our translated New Testament, the expression “first day of the week” appears eight times. Five of these occurrences refer explicitly to Christ’s resurrection. In addition, both Mark’s long ending and Acts 20:7 describe events that take place shortly after aster Sunday, hence clearly before Pentecost. Thus, in six out of seven instances, μίαν σαββάτων unambiguously denotes one-off events occurring on the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering or within the Omer period, that is, the span between aster and Pentecost. The only remaining use of this idiom is found in 1 Corinthians 16:2, where due to the preposition κατὰ, it evidently refers to some recurring series, presumably a weekly observance and thus becomes the focus of our inquiry. This brings me back to the subtitle of my paper and to the central research question of my thesis: what meaning could Paul have attached to κατὰ μίαν σαββάτων in 1 Corinthians 16:2 when read against the background of the Hebrew Bible? Before we can address that question, we must first examine the grammar of this idiomatic expression in greater detail. Does the grammar permit—or even require—that μίαν σαββάτων be understood as “the first day of the week,” and, considering the κατὰ in 1 Corinthians 16:2, as a reference to ever Sunday? To arrive at such a reading, one must presuppose at least three, and possibly four, underlying assumptions, which are listed on the sheet. Let me briefly consider the first of these, since this is one of the main arguments behind the prevailing interpretation: attributing to σαββάτον the secondary meaning ‘week.’ As we have already seen, this was a distinctive Pharisaic position. This naturally brings me to the only occurrence of σάββατον that truly requires a translation as ‘week.’ Luke 18:12 contains the phrase δὶς τοῦ σαββάτου, usually rendered “twice a week.” It is important to recognise, however, that this statement occurs within a parable and is placed on the lips of a fictional Pharisee. The Pharisees, of course, were known for the very interpretation that equated ‘sabbath’ with ‘week.’ Groups that rejected this understanding included the Sadducees and Samaritans, and later the Boethusians and Karaites. The mere fact that this fictitious Pharisee is portrayed as using this expression with σαββάτον in the sense of “week” does not, in itself, establish the general validity of such an interpretation. 8 See also Vogt, ., “Hat «Šabbāt» im AT den Sinn von «Woche»?” in Biblica 40 (1959), 1008-1011. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 5 Moreover, the entire saying attributed to this Pharisaic figure exhibits a distinctly hyperbolic tendency (for example, in the exaggerated description of tithe-giving), which makes it at least plausible that the δὶς in the phrase should likewise be understood hyperbolically—much as in in an analogous manner as the δὶς ἀποθάνων in Jude 12, which does not mean the tree “died twice,” but is used to underscore the certainty and finality of its demise. The remaining assumptions include treating the ordinal μίαν as if it were a cardinal, and assuming an elliptical noun ἡμέρᾳ. On closer inspection, both moves are open to challenge. The use of the cardinal number to designate the first day of Unleavened Bread (Mark 14:12) and the first day of a regular week in Jubilees 3:1 suggests that the interpretation of ordinal numbers as cardinal numbers originated later. Likewise, the explicit presence of ἡμέρα/ἡμέρᾳ in other New Testament texts when a particular weekday or feast day is intended calls into question the assumption of an elliptical ἡμέρᾳ here (i.e., an implicit ‘day’ in the phrase). The Septuagint also offers examples in which ἡμέρα occurs together with σαββάτων, referring to the sabbath as a specific day, and it is far from clear that the simple addition of ἡμέρα to σαββάτων would, by itself, warrant the translation “first day of the week.” In the end, the Greek idiom alone does not compel a single, definitive rendering, so the wider literary and theological context becomes decisive for determining how the expression is to be understood. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 6 In the paper, and in this presentation, I therefore seek to read this idiom against the backdrop of the Hebrew Bible. The rationale for this approach lies in Paul’s remarkably frequent appeal to Scripture in 1 Corinthians: ten times he employs a form of γέγραπται, 9 and twice he explicitly states that the crucifixion and the resurrection took place κατὰ τὰς γραφάς, 10 suggesting that the Tanakh provides the comprehensive blueprint for Christ’s Passion. A careful reading of first Corinthians discloses ten explicit references to the biblical spring festivals, along with further allusions scattered throughout the letter. If this is indeed the case, the Wave Sheaf Offering may be understood as a foreshadowing of Christ’s exaltation. According to Jerome, it is on that day—the day of the Lord—that the Lord ascended in victory to the Father. 11 Jerome clearly had a single day in view, aster Sunday, rather than a recurring sequence of weekly Sundays. Paul introduces the collection with the term λογείας, a word unique in the biblical corpus. Its use without any explanation suggests that his readers were already familiar with it, perhaps with a cultic nuance in view, given its attestation in Greek ostraca from gypt and Nubia. More significantly, in the parallel passage of Romans 15:25–28 Paul describes this ingathering as ‘fruit’ (καρπός), which links it to the semantic field of ‘firstfruits’ (ἀπαρχή) and thus also to the Wave Sheaf Offering. Throughout the Pentateuch, the term ἀπαρχή typically carries a cultic connotation. Josephus, for example, uses ἀπαρχάς for the offerings brought to the Temple by Jews from Asia, and Didache 13:3–4 likewise associates ἀπαρχή with the offering of firstfruits intended for the benefit of the prophet. What I find particularly striking is that, if no prophet is present, the Didache instructs that this offering be given to the poor. This firstfruits motif comes to the fore in the final two chapters of 1 Corinthians. In 15:20 and 23 Paul uses ἀπαρχή to describe Christ as “the firstfruit,” while in 16:15 he applies the same term to Stephen’s household. Within the Pauline corpus, a personal designation of this kind—apart from its use for Christ—occurs only in Romans 16:5, where penetus is called the “firstfruits of Christ from Asia,” again near Paul’s remarks on the ingathering. 9 1 Cor. 1:19&31, 2:9, 3:19, 9:9&10, 10:7&11 and 15:45&54 (1 Cor. 4:6 does not introduce a quote). 10 1 Cor. 15:3&4; quoted in Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) §652. 11 St. Jerome, Pasch.; quoted in CCC §1166. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 7 The repeated occurrence of ἀπαρχή near sections dealing with the collection seems to underscore its association with the notion of firstfruits and the confidence in a rich harvest to follow. The day of the Wave Sheaf Offering represents the culminating expression of this firstfruits principle. Considering this context, interpreting μίαν σαββάτων as “the first day of the week” depends on several debatable grammatical assumptions, whereas a more straightforward reading already yields a meaningful interpretation, especially in relation to the biblical spring festivals. This can be illustrated by Young’s Literal Translation of Matthew 28:1: “And on the eve of the sabbaths, at the dawn, toward the first of the sabbaths.” 12 Although this sounds like a duplication, it can readily be understood as a description of the “eve” or beginning of the cycle of seven sabbaths that together constitute the Omer period. This starting point of the Omer period coincides with the day of the Wave Sheaf Offering, which approximately corresponds to aster Sunday. In fact, a literal interpretation and the commonly accepted translation agree perfectly in terms of timing. One may argue that aster Sunday and Pentecost were, in effect, already being celebrated from the time of Moses, in their antecedent forms as the Wave Sheaf Offering and the Feast of Weeks—both falling on Yom Rishon, the first day of the week, or a Sunday. The gradual loss of awareness of these historical antecedents, combined with the fixed observance of aster on a Sunday, likely contributed to the widespread assumption that μίαν σαββάτων must mean “the first day of the week.” A literal understanding of κατὰ μίαν σαββάτων, however, is not grammatically excluded. Based on intertextual links with the Hebrew Bible, it is in fact more likely to represent the intended sense, since it coheres with the immediate context, the overarching themes of the letter, the intertextual echoes of the Septuagint, the biblical calendar system, and Old Testament precedents—without recourse to grammatical artifices. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that Paul and his audience likely understood κατὰ μίαν σαββάτων as “during each of the sabbaths,” with “the sabbaths” referring to the Omer period, the seven-week span culminating in the Feast of Weeks. 12 Robert Young (trans.), Young's Literal Translation (Bellingham: Logos Bible Software, 1997), electronic, without pages. Tony Jurg – Weekly Ingathering or ‘Passover-thanksgiving’? doi:10.5281/zenodo.17789219 page 8 By rediscovering the relation between 1 Corinthians 16:2 and the Omer Period, we establish a firm connection with the preceding chapter’s discussion of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This linkage adds further depth to Paul’s instructions concerning the collection. aster Sunday, which commemorates the resurrection and ascension of Christ, has been foundational for the Church from its earliest days. Reading the Wave Sheaf Offering as a foreshadowing of aster Sunday deepens our understanding of the aster mystery. As the fulfilment of the Wave Sheaf Offering, Christ presents himself before the Father as “the firstfruit from the dead,” His acceptance on behalf of all, just as prefigured in Leviticus 23:11. This act signifies the perfect sacrifice that secures atonement for all and issues in Christ’s heavenly kingship and priesthood. The exhortation in 1 Corinthians 15:58 to abound in “the work of the Lord” finds concrete expression in the collection, which strengthens the bond between the believers in Corinth and the saints in Jerusalem. Through their firstfruit offerings, the Corinthian believers respond in gratitude to Christ’s firstfruit offering and enter into a cultic identification with Him. Their freewill gifts are therefore more than almsgiving; they acquire an eschatological dimension, because Christ’s role as firstfruit anticipates eternal reward for the whole community. It is for this reason that chapter 15 concludes with the exhortation that engaging in the “work of the Lord” is never in vain when done ἐν κυρίῳ, or “in the Lord.” Thank you for your attention.