A comparison of 1 Corinthians 15:29 with 2 Maccabees 12:44

Many scholars have posited a Greco-Roman influence upon the Corinthian practice of vicarious¹ baptism for the dead (1 Cor 15:29).² Fewer have investigated the possibility of a Jewish origin for such a practice. This paper seeks partially to redress that imbalance by investigating the apparent parallel between the Corinthian practice and that described in 2 Maccabees 12:44 of offering prayers and sacrifices for the dead.³

2 Maccabees⁴ is an abridgement of a larger history by a man named Jason of Cyrene.⁵ It covers the events of the Maccabean revolt from the priesthood of Onias III (180 B. C. E.) until the defeat of Nicanor (161 B. C. E.) and focuses on the life of Judah Maccabee.⁶ The specific incident of interest comes in the aftermath of a battle, when Judah and his companions discover idols on the bodies of the Jewish dead (12:40-45). Judah’s response is to praise God for revealing their sin (12:41), pray that God might not remember the sin of the slain (12:42), and take up a collection of money to send to Jerusalem as a sin offering (12:43). In doing these things, the author says,⁷ Judah clearly demonstrated that he believed in the resurrection of the dead, ‘for if he had not hoped that they that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous and vain to pray for the dead [ὑπὲρ νεκρῶν εὔχεσθαι]… he made a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin’ (12:44, 5).

This passage, then, is clearly of interest when trying to understand 1 Cor 15:29, for in it we see a similar confluence of vicarious action on behalf of the dead and argument for a resurrection.⁸ But many important questions must be answered before any link between the two can be established.

Would Paul and/or the Corinthians have been aware of this text?

Scholars are generally in agreement that 2 Maccabees was composed some time in the last 150 years before Christ, probably in Alexandria.⁹ Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians, on the other hand, must be dated some time after Gallio’s proconsulship (either 50-51 or 51-52 C. E.) for Paul was brought before Gallio during his stay in Corinth (Acts 18:12).¹⁰ Thus at least half a century had elapsed between the composition of 2 Maccabees and 1 Corinthians, allowing time for transmission from Alexandria to both Jerusalem and Corinth. The likelihood of transmission is increased by the fact that there was a significant trade between Alexandria and Corinth.¹¹ Indeed, at least one Alexandrian had some prominence in Corinth (Acts 18:24; 19:1). Paul himself may well have studied 2 Maccabees as part of his rabbinic studies under Gamaliel, since 2 Macc 7:9 is one of the principal texts underpinning the Pharisaic doctrine of the resurrection,¹² one of the hottest theological issues of his day (e.g. Matt 22:23-33; Acts 4:2; 23:6-8 etc.).¹³ Thus it is reasonable to conclude that both Paul and the Corinthians would have been aware of 2 Maccabees.

Are the two texts genuinely similar?

At a macroscopic level the two texts are quite different, being of different genres (Hellenistic historiography vs. epistle) and having different audiences (a general and implicit audience vs. the explicit audience of the community in Corinth). But what of the microscopic level? Let us consider 2 Macc 12:44 and 1 Cor 15:29 side by side.¹⁴

The most striking parallel is the usage of the phrase ὑπὲρ [τῶν] νεκρῶν. Whilst the Apostle’s meaning in using this phrase is unclear, the meaning in 2 Macc is indisputable: the prayer was that ‘the sin committed might wholly be put out of [God’s] remembrance’ (12:42) so that the dead might participate in the resurrection.¹⁵ Thus we see a vicarious action on behalf of those who were dead which, it is hoped, will bring about their reconciliation to God.

There are two main differences between these two passages which represent difficulties in linking 2 Macc 12:44 and 1 Cor 15:29. The first is the actual action being undertaken (prayer and sacrifice vs. baptism) and the second the direction of the authors’ arguments. The first is not insuperable, for the Corinthians clearly held a high view of baptism (1 Cor 1:14-17; 10:1-5);¹⁶ this, combined with a Greco-Roman respect for ritual and tradition,¹⁷ may well have led the Corinthians to think of baptism in the same instrumental terms as the Jews used for prayer and sacrifice. The second difference is more complicated. Paul refers to baptism for the dead in the middle of a sustained argument aimed at refuting the belief that there is no bodily resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15:12). The Maccabean author, on the other hand, presupposes the resurrection. His argument is intended to cast Judah Maccabee in a favourable light, perhaps thus appropriating him as a proto-Pharisee. Nevertheless, whilst Paul’s purpose is very different, he is not averse to appropriating such texts for his own purposes.¹⁸ The passing nature of his comment and the apparent difficulties of reconciling vicarious baptism with his theology of baptism elsewhere suggest that his argument is ad hominem. If he was consciously referring to 2 Maccabees, he was most likely reminding the Corinthians of the ‘moral’ or ‘punch-line’ of the story.¹⁹

Thus, at the microscopic level, 2 Macc 12:44 and 1 Cor 15:29 are similar in language but differ in rhetorical purpose. The vicarious action in question is different, and the point drawn from it is tangential in 2 Macc 12 but closely related to the overall argument in 1 Cor 15.

In conclusion, the value of 2 Macc 12:44 in understanding 1 Cor 15:29 is that it provides evidence that at least some Jews in Paul’s time held beliefs that may render baptism for the dead an intelligible process.²⁰ It provides a clearly defined meaning in a Jewish context for the phrase ὑπὲρ [τῶν] νεκρῶν, a phrase that Paul uses. The Apostle’s brief response is to draw the implications of the practice to their logical conclusion – perhaps echoing the Maccabean author – that vicarious action on behalf of the dead makes no sense if there is no resurrection.

Works cited

Bartlett, John R. The First and Second Books of the Maccabees, The Cambridge Bible Commentary: New English Bible. Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1973.

Brenton, Lancelot Charles Lee. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament and Apocrypha. With an English Translation and with Various Readings and Critical Notes. Grand Rapids,: Zondervan Pub. House, 1972.

DeMaris, Richard E. “Corinthian Religion and Baptism for the Dead (1 Corinthians 15:29) : Insights from Archaeology and Anthropology.” Journal of Biblical Literature 114, no. 4 (1995): 661-82.

Doran, Robert. Temple Propaganda : The Purpose and Character of 2 Maccabees, Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Monograph Series 12. Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1981.

Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987.

Hays, Richard B. First Corinthians, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 1997.

Herms, Ronald. “‘Being Saved without Honor': A Conceptual Link between 1 Corinthians 3 and 1 Enoch 50?” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29, no. 2 (2006): 187-210.

Horsley, Richard A. “Gnosis in Corinth : 1 Corinthians 8:1-6.” New Testament Studies 27, no. 1 (1980): 32-51.

Mearns, Christopher L. “Early Eschatological Development in Paul : The Evidence of 1 Corinthians.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament no. 22 (1984): 19-35.

Meijer, Fik. A History of Seafaring in the Classical World. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986.

Stauffer, Ethelbert. New Testament Theology. London,: SCM Press, 1955.

Thiselton, Anthony C. The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000.

White, Joel R. “”Baptized on Account of the Dead” : The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:29 in Its Context.” Journal of Biblical Literature 116, no. 3 (1997): 487-99.

Witherington, Ben. Conflict and Community in Corinth : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1995.

Endnotes

1. This paper presupposes a Corinthian belief in the efficacy of being vicariously baptised for those who have died. Whilst certainly not the only view, this is nevertheless the majority view amongst scholars. For an enumeration of some of the other options, please see the other paper in this series. Helpful summaries may also be found in Anthony C. Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians : A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 2000), 1242-49. and Joel R. White, “”Baptized on Account of the Dead” : The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:29 in Its Context,” Journal of Biblical Literature 116, no. 3 (1997).
2. Notable examples include Richard E. DeMaris, “Corinthian Religion and Baptism for the Dead (1 Corinthians 15:29) : Insights from Archaeology and Anthropology,” Journal of Biblical Literature 114, no. 4 (1995): 663. and Ben Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth : A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1995), 293-4.
3. The comparative framework used is in part modelled on that used by Ronald Herms, “‘Being Saved without Honor': A Conceptual Link between 1 Corinthians 3 and 1 Enoch 50?,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 29, no. 2 (2006).
4. Both Greek text and English translation of 2 Maccabees are taken from Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament and Apocrypha. With an English Translation and with Various Readings and Critical Notes (Grand Rapids,: Zondervan Pub. House, 1972), 207.
5. Little is known of Jason of Cyrene, and even less of the anonymous abridger.
6. Also known as Judas Maccabeus.
7. Or possibly the abridger.
8. Several scholars note this parallel e.g. Ethelbert Stauffer, New Testament Theology (London,: SCM Press, 1955), 299 n. 544.; Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1987), 767 n. 32.; Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville, Ky.: John Knox Press, 1997), 297.; Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1247. Of these: Stauffer merely asserts the connection without argument; Fee argues that Judah’s actions ‘were not so much vicarious sacrifices for the dead as an appeal to God to have mercy’ and therefore an ‘innocent’ practice that Paul feels no need to rebuke in the Corinthians; Hays sees evidence that provides a way to render vicarious baptism an ‘intelligible process'; and Thiselton rejects the connection as ‘too slender and tenuous to bear the weight of such an extension of the theology of baptism’.
9. So John R. Bartlett, The First and Second Books of the Maccabees, The Cambridge Bible Commentary: New English Bible (Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1973), 215. cf. Doran, who argues for a date sometime during ‘the early years of John Hyrcanus’ Robert Doran, Temple Propaganda : The Purpose and Character of 2 Maccabees, Catholic Biblical Quarterly. Monograph Series 12 (Washington, D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1981), 112.
10. Thiselton, First Epistle to the Corinthians, 29-30.
11. cf. Fik Meijer, A History of Seafaring in the Classical World (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986), 143. Meijer notes that it was the Alexandrian corn trade that was the cause of ‘rapid development’ and ‘economic revival’ in Roman Corinth.
12. Others include Isa 26:19 ; Dan 12:2; Tob 13:2. cf. Christopher L. Mearns, “Early Eschatological Development in Paul : The Evidence of 1 Corinthians,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament, no. 22 (1984): 20.
13. cf. Herms, “Being Saved without Honor.” and Richard A. Horsley, “Gnosis in Corinth : 1 Corinthians 8:1-6,” New Testament Studies 27, no. 1 (1980): 51. If Herms’ hypothesis of a link between 1 Corinthians 3 and 1 Enoch 50 is correct, 1 Cor 15:29 is not even the first text in the epistle to be connected to Alexandrian literature. Similarly, Horsley’s conjecture is that the Corinthian conception of σοφία is largely congruous with Wisdom and Philo; the latter is certainly Alexandrian, whilst the former, if not Alexandrian, is at least heavily influenced by an Alexandrian worldview.
14. The Greek text of 1 Cor 15:29 is taken from UBS4, whilst the English text is the author’s translation. As mentioned above, both Greek and English texts of 2 Macc 12:44 are from Brenton, Septuagint, 207.
15. Similarly, the sin offering was, apparently, ‘a reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin’ (12:45).
16. cf. DeMaris, “Corinthian Religion and Baptism for the Dead (1 Corinthians 15:29) : Insights from Archaeology and Anthropology,” 662.
17. Witherington, Conflict & Community, 294.
18. cf. Acts 17:28, where Paul repurposes the writings of gentile poets. One of the texts, in its original context, applied to Zeus, but Paul uses them both for his own purposes.
19. In a similar way, a Christian today might complete a half-quoted proverb or an alluded to parable.
20. Hays, First Corinthians, 267.