TEMPLE PROSTITUTION IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6:12-20 by BRIAN S. ROSNER Aberdeen 1 Cor.

6:12-20 is widely acknowledged to be one of die most difficult passages in the Pauline corpus. Commentators have described the para graph as "disjointed," "obscure," "unfinished,"1 "imprecise," "extrava gant," and even "incoherent."2 Gordon Fee notes with understatement: "the passage is full of unique, and in some cases difficult expressions, which in turn have given rise to equally unique interpretations."3 Bruce N. Fisk rightly states that "[s]cholars continue to puzzle over the mean ing and rhetorical function of 1 Corinthians 6.12-20."4 That little con sensus on the exegesis has been achieved is not surprising since the most fundamental question of interpretation, that of the historical set ting, has not been satisfactorily answered. What is Paul responding to in the passage? Does the teaching concern sexual immorality in gen eral, or is the subject under discussion a particular manifestation of , that is, either sacred or secular prostitution? Or should 6:1220 be seen as the continuation and conclusion of the problem under consideration in 5:1-13 (and perhaps 6:1-11), as argued by Will Deming, where the in 6:12-20 is taken to be the step-mother of 5:1?5 This study offers a critical assessment of these competing hypothe ses and concludes that each of them is unconvincing. It is our con tention that when the passage is read against the backdrop of Old Testament and early Jewish moral teaching on sexual immorality, when the links with 1 Cor. 10 are taken into account and when a neglected

See J. Hring, The First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (Transi. A.W. Heathcote; London: Epworth, 1962) 47. 2 T.A. Burkill, "Two into One: The Notion of Carnal Union in Mark 10:8; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31," QW 62 (1971) 118, 120. 3 G.D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987) 251. 4 Bruce N. Fisk, " as Body Violation: The Unique Nature of Sexual Sin in 1 Corinthians 6.18," NTS 42 (1996) 540. 5 Will Deming, "The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6," JBL 115/2 (1992) 289-312. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 1998 Novum Testamentum XL, 4

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feature of first-century Graeco-Roman culture is acknowledged, namely that pagan temples were the restaurants of antiquity where prostitutes were frequently on offer, a more plausible reconstruction is possible. We shall deal with the different views in turn before defending the view that in 1 Cor. 6:12-20 Paul is opposing the use of prostitutes, not, strictly speaking, of either the sacred or the secular variety, but rather the prostitutes who offered their services after festive occasions in pagan temples. 1. Sexual Immorality in General? Some commentators argue that Paul is concerned in the passage with sexual immorality in general, and not with a particular manifestation. Fee calls this "the standard view, found in most of the older commentaries."6 Robertson and Plummer, for example, state: "He now takes up the subject of porneia generally, dealing with it in the light of first principles."7 According to this view, in 6:12-20 Paul gives a theological refutation of sexual immorality, having dealt with incest, a specific expression in 5:1-13. The question of lawsuits in 6:1-11 interrupts the flow of the argument because of a connection with the subject ojudging the case of the incestuous man. 8 1 Cor. 7:2, "But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife" (RSV), makes too general a reference to sexual immorality for to be limited to a particular form of prostitution in 6:12-20. Sexual relations in marriage are to act as a check on every form of , and not just on the temptation to become involved with prostitutes. In response to this view, it should be noted that the failure to men tion prostitution in the opening verses of the paragraph, w . 12-14, and the explicit reference to sexual relations with prostitutes in w . 15-16 point to an acute cause giving rise to Paul's instructions. As Traugott Holtz contends:

Fee, 1 Corinthians, 250 Cf F W Grosheide, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids Eerdmans, 1953) 143, R C H Lenski, The Interpretation of Saint Paul's First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians (Minneapolis Augsburg, 1963) 233, L Morns, / Corinthians (Tyndale, Leicester IVP, 1985) 95 "Paul has spoken of a specific case of incest (ch 5) Now he deals with the general principle governing sex ual practices", and J C Hurd, The Origin of 1 Corinthians (London SPCK, 1965) 86 "in this passage he [Paul] does not refer to any specific action of the Corinthians " 7 A Robertson and A Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (ICC, Edinburgh & Clark, 1914) 121 8 Note the repetition of - words in 5 12 and 6 1,2,3

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In 1 Corinthians 6 12-20 Paul deals with the question of whether one may have sexual intercourse with a harlot It is true that this theme does not immediately appear at the start of verse 12 It appears at first quite generally in verse 13b with the word porneia (which may include several things) Only at the end of verse 15 is it stated openly with the word porne This fact does not force us to assume that Paul's line of thought was not quite clear and did not take true aim from the beginning It rather means that the apostle is dealing very concretely with a situation in the church, a church which knew what was at stake Paul is from the start dealing with arguments which concern the matter in question in this particular church 9

Evidently some men in the church were going to prostitutes (or at least were talking about doing so) and putting forward arguments to defend their behaviour. 10 The so-called incompleteness of the text, which is noticed by all commentators, certainly supports the view that Paul is engaged in a conversation with the Corinthians Christians about something concrete. Furthermore, 1 Cor. 7:2 is not evidence against postulating a specific and concrete case in 6:12-20. At this particular point the RSV leads one astray. That Paul is moving on from a specific type or expression of in 6:12-20, to in general in 7: Iff., is clear from the fact that whereas in 6:16-17 sexual intercourse with a is being discussed, in 7:2 is plural (, cf. NRSV "cases of sexual immorality").11 2. The Step-Mother of 5:1? Will Deming argues that 6:12-20 should be read in the context of 5:1-6:11 and that the entire unit should be understood as Paul's response to the sexual offence mentioned in 5:1 and the consequent legal struggle taken up in 6:1-8. In an elaborate reconstruction Deming proposes that the Christian community in Corinth is divided over a member who has committed an offence against accepted sexual norms. Some want the man to be punished; others do not. The former group take the man to the public courts, but lose the case. When Paul writes 5:16:20 in response to the matter the divisions have been exacerbated by

Traugott Holtz, "The Question of the Content of Paul's Instructions" (trans G S and S Rosner) in Bnan S Rosner (ed ), Understanding Paul's Ethics Twentieth-Century Approaches (Grand Rapids Eerdmans/Carlisle Paternoster, 1995) 53 10 The consensus view is that in 6 12-13 Paul cites at least one Corinthian slogan An exception is Bnan J Dodd, "Paul's Paradigmatic and 1 Connthians 6 12," JSNT 59 (1995) 39-58 1 ' Paul of course opposes sexual immorality in general, including every conceivable form of prostitution, at other points m his letters, cf m the catalogues of \ ice and esp 1 Thess 4 3

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the animosity of the court batde.12 The expression in 6:12 is one, Deming contends at length, that was used by Stoic and Cynic philoso phers to describe people who felt immune from legal interference in their affairs and were consequently legally permitted to do certain things. Thus in 6:12 "all things are permitted to me" "represents the position of the immoral man in 5:1, who has been exonerated by the courts."13 And the of 6:16 is "the step-mother [who] sold her services as a prostitute."14 Deming's imaginative scenario, though based on solid historical research and careful attention to many exegetical details in chs. 5-6, fails to convince for three reasons. First, the specific technical legal sense of , which Deming traces to a Stoic/Cynic ori gin, is by no means certain. Gnostic, anti-Jewish and Hellenistic Jewish origins have also been suggested and even if one grants a Stoic/Cynic background, other possibilities exist which can, like the legal sense, claim support from the context of 1 Corinthians. Mark Allen Plunkett, for instance, claims that the slogan recalls the words of the Cynic sage, who was free just as kings are free, subject to no law but their own ( , he claims, often describes the authority of kings) and relates it to the claim in 1 Cor. 4:8, which suggests that the Corinthians claim to be kings.15 Secondly, in 5:1 Paul claims that the sexual offence in question is "not found even among pagans." In other words, as has often been pointed out, Paul implies that not only Biblical and Jewish law con demn incest but also Roman law.16 According to Paul, even pagans find such behaviour reprehensible. Paul could hardly have expected this claim to carry any weight if he knew that a secular court had already refused to condemn the deed, as Deming proposes.17 In a pasW. Deming, "The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6," 294. W. Deming, "The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6," 303. 14 W. Deming, "The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6," 295. 15 M.A. Plunkett, "Sexual Ethics and the Christian Life: A Study of 1 Corinthians 6:12-7:7," Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1988. 16 In Roman society, though some forms of extra marital sex were not universally frowned upon, such as fornication, adultery and prostitution, a relationship between a man and his stepmother was considered incestuous, treated with a sense of outrage and disgust, and was punishable by deportation to an island (See A.D. Clarke, Secular and Christian Leadership in Corinth [AGAJU 18; Leiden: Brill, 1993] 78-80). Dio Cassius refers to such a case as "criminal relations" (Roman History 58:22) and Martial writes to a perpetrator, "though great Tully were recalled from the nether shades, and Regulus himself were to defend you, you cannot be acquitted" (Epigrammata 4:16). 17 W. Deming's comments on the words in 5:1, "The Unity of I Corinthians 5-6," 297, fail to appreciate this point.
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sage like 1 Cor. 6:12-20, where some guess work and conjecture are inevitable in every historical reconstruction, the most likely scenario is not just that which fits many pieces of the puzzle, but the one into which no piece fails to fit. 1 Cor. 5:1 is such a piece for Deming's proposed reconstruction. Thirdly, the suggestion that "the stepmother was selling her services as a prostitute to the man [her stepson] on a regular basis" and that is the reason why Paul focuses on prostitution in 6:12-20, is unlikely, to say the least, and would only come to mind as a possibility if one were seeking to conjecture only one subject for 1 Corinthians 5-6. Deming refers to Graeco-Roman evidence that step-mothers "were often closer in age to the man's children than to the man himself" in a place like first-century Corinth. 18 He does not however cite evidence for the incre dible proposal of prostitution within a family, which stretches the bounds of plausibility. It is far more likely that Paul has moved on from the case of the incestuous man in 5:1-13 to a case or cases of prostitution in 6:12-20. Deming's own doubts about the identification of the prosti tute with the step-mother emerge when he suggests two other possibili ties:19 Either Paul chose to discuss prostitution in 6:12-20 because it was customary among contemporary moralists such as Dio Chrysostom when they treated the problem of morality versus legality; or prosti tution was the legal category by which the man defended himself in court, in as much as prostitution was not a violation of the law. The first suggestion is only of interest if one a priori regards Paul himself as being heavily influenced by pagan philosophy rather than conceiv ing of him as standing in the biblical and Jewish tradition of moral teaching. 20 The second is not impossible, but is at best pure conjec-

W Deming, "The Unity of 1 Connthians 5-6," 294 W Deming, "The Unity of 1 Connthians 5-6," 304 Deming generally overestimates the influence of Stoic philosophy in 1 Cor 6 1220, failing to take the Biblical and Jewish background into account Many of the "con cepts and phrases popularised by Stoic moralists" which Deming believes "have left their mark" on the chapter (see 305-9) are assessed differently when Paul's teaching is read against a Biblical and Jewish background Deming fails to distinguish the deriva tion of Paul's teaching from its direction, where Paul is coming from from what Paul is looking at Stoic influence is much more likely with respect to the Connthians than it is with Paul Two examples make the point First, the conception of the Chnstian's body being the temple of the Holy Spmt, which Paul applies in 6 19, is much more likely to derive from a biblical and Jewish background than from Epictetus' notion of an indwelling "fragment of god" (305, see S Rosner, Paul, Scripture and Ethics A Study of 1 Connthians 5-7 [AGAJU 22, Leiden Brill, 1994] 75-76) and may have occurred to Paul, as I have argued elsewhere, through the influence of Reub 5 5 (see S Rosner, "A Possible Quotation of Test Reuben 5 5 m l Connthians 6 18a," JTS 43/1
iq 20

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ture based on the assumption that the 6:1-11 court case is the case 21 of incest. Deming regards Paul's approach in 6:12-20 as "ingenious" ; one could give the same compliment to Deming's study. 3. Prostitution, Sacred or Secular? It is clear on the strength of in 6:16 that the problem which Paul is addressing in 6:12-20 concerns prostitution. But which kind of prostitute were the Corinthians visiting? Unfortunately the Greek word which Paul uses in 6:15-16 does not indicate whether the motives of the prostitute were religious or mercenary. In ancient Greece, referred to the lowest class of prostitute, to a higher class of courtesan and to the true religious prostitute. In the NT has a broader and imprecise sense. The Hebrew Bible also differ entiates the two, where the words TWIp and "p refer to the female and male cult prostitute respectively and 7 to the harlot. Of the two alternatives, sacred or secular prostitutes, the former is the more specific hypothesis and thus must bear the burden of proof; if the evidence for sacred prostitution is weak, then we may safely assume Paul is opposing secular prostitution.22 At least this seems to be the approach of the majority of modern commentaries, which cus tomarily dismiss cultic prostitution before concluding that secular prosti-

[1992] 123-27). Secondly, Paul's teaching in 6:1-11 on "brothers" not taking one another to secular courts, which Deming compares with passages from Musonius and Maximus of Tyre, gives evidence of having been influenced by the Scripture's teaching on judges and the biblical theme of righteous suffering (see B.S. Rosner, Paul, ch. 4). The evidence for dependence must of course be assessed on a case by case basis. In my judgement the parallels with Paul's scriptural inheritance are generally more specific and numer ous than with pagan philosophy in 1 Corinthians 6. Deming contends, 306, "not that Paul was a Stoic but only that he was influenced by Stoic ideas." There is a better basis for considering biblical and Jewish parallels to Paul's moral teaching: Paul was a Jew and states explicitly that his teaching builds upon Scripture (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6; 9:9; 10:11). On this larger debate with reference to 1 Cor. 7 see W. Deming, Paul on Marriage and Celibacy (SNTSMS; Cambridge: CUP, 1995); B.S. Rosner, Paul; Peter J. Tomson, Paul and the Jewish Law: Halakha in the ktters of the Apostle to the Gentiles (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum, 1990) and "Paul's Jewish Background in View of His Law Teaching in 1 Cor. 7," 251-70 in Paul and the Mosaic Law, ed. by James D.G. Dunn (WUNT 89; Tbingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1996). 21 W. Deming, "The Unity of 1 Corinthians 5-6," 312. 22 The following authors take Paul to be warning against some form of sacred prostitution: J. Wei, Der erste Korintherbrief (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1910); M. Miguens, "Christ's Members' and Sex," Thomist 39 (1975) 24-48; R. Jewett, Paul's Anthropological Terms: A Study of their Use in Conflict Settings (Leiden: Brill, 1971) 258; G.D. Fee, 1 Corinthians', G.R. Dunstan, "Hard Sayings - V," Theology 66 (1963) 491-93 (some-

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tution is in view. Two lines of evidence support the sacred prostitution identification: first, Paul's opposition is couched in terms of religious allegiance using sacral language; and secondly, several details of the passage suggest a link with idolatry. 3.1 Religious Allegiance

No matter how difficult the interpretation of some of the particu lars of 1 Cor. 6:12-20, the general thrust of Paul's response to the problem of prostitution is perfectly clear: he treats it as a sin against God. Assuming that some of the men resorting to prostitutes were married it is remarkable that Paul does not speak in terms of a sin against the wife. He says nothing of defiling the marriage bed, break ing a covenant or remaining faithful. Rather he conceives of the sin as fundamentally one of religious allegiance. In nine verse and each occur four times, twice and once. This decidedly theocentric response to would certainly be a fitting rebuttal to sacred prostitution, in which the participant could be conceived of as not only immoral, but perfidious, guilty of what amounts to apostasy. Furthermore, if Gen. 2:24 is used by Paul in 6:16 not only to prove the seriousness of sexual union with a harlot but to introduce the notion of the believer's nuptial union with Christ, which I have argued for elsewhere,23 this would also suggest the supposition that Paul is opposing sacred prostitution.24 Paul would be using the imagery in comparable fashion to 2 Cor. 11:2, warning the Corinthians of the danger of being led astray from Christ.

times it is not clear whether it is sacred prostitution or temple prostitution, as defined in the present study, that is in view). Gerhard Dautzenberg, " (1 Kor. 6,18): Eine Fallstudie zur paulinischen Sexualethik in ihrem Verhltnis zur Sexualethik des Frhjudentums," in Neues Testament und Ethik: Fr Rudolf Schnackenburg, ed. by Helmut Merklein (Freiburg/Basel/Wien: Herder, 1989) 271-98, which covers in detail much of the history of interpretation, assumes without argument that Paul is not warning against any form of cultic prostitution (276). 23 B.S. Rosner, Paul, 131-34. 24 The Old Testament prophets consistendy use spiritual marriage imagery for the purpose of attacking the problems of idolatry and apostasy. Paul undoubtedly derived the image of the spiritual marriage of Christ and the Church from the marriage of God to Israel depicted the Hebrew prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah (e.g., 2:2), and Ezekiel (e.g., ch. 16), who employ this image in some of their most famous passages, and Hosea, whose entire book is built around it. Central in tying these traditions together for Paul was the fact that the marriage of God to His people was promised as a feature of the new covenant (e.g., Isa. 62:5).

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The question arises as to whether the biblical and Jewish tradition of moral teaching, in which Paul stands, deals with sacred prostitution or secular prostitution, or both, in a fashion similar to what we have in 1 Cor. 6:12-20. The Jewish Scriptures condemn both sacred and secular prostitution. In early Jewish moral teaching their judgement is confirmed. In Tobit 4:2 and Jubilees 20:3 the young are warned about harlotry. Josephus in Antiquities (4.8.9 *206; 4.8.23 *245) states that the Lord is not pleased with such abuses of the body and Philo (On Joseph 42-43) points out that whereas from 14 years men of other nations visit prostitutes, Jews do not condone the practice.25 As Dautzenberg concludes, in prohibiting the use of prostitutes: "Das Urchristentum steht hier in der Tradition des frhjdischen Gesetzesverstndnisses. "26 Both harlots and cult prostitutes are condemned in the Jewish Scriptures, but on different grounds. Secular prostitution is commonly opposed in Scripture by underscoring the personal and social stigma it carries. Dinah's brothers attacked Shechem because he had used her like a prostitute (Gen. 34:31). Jephthah's brothers drove him out because he was a prostitute's son (Judg. 11:2). Part of Amaziah's punishment is that his wife was to become a prostitute (Amos 7:17). In Lev. 19:29 harlotry is said to lead to all kinds of evil (cf. Prov. 23:28). The warnings against harlotry in Proverbs picture the harlot in highly uncomplimentary terms, depicting relations with her as the height of folly. This material, it must be said, does not remind us of the reasons Paul employs in 1 Cor. 6:12-20. On the other hand, sacred prostitution is condemned throughout the Scriptures as disloyalty to God, in a manner not unlike Paul's stance in 1 Cor. 6:12-20. Religious prostitution was commonly practised by the cults of the ancient Near Eastern fertility religions. Israelite participation was thus condemned as tantamount to apostasy. It was a problem for Israel from the moment they entered the promised land (Num. 25:1; cf. Judg. 2:17), becoming especially prevalent in Judah and Israel during the divided monarchy (from Rehoboam, 1 Kings 14:24, tojosiah, 2 Kings 23:7). According to Exod. 34:11-16 the extermination of the inhabitants of the land was commanded so that the Israelites would avoid the practice. Deut. 23:17(18) forbids cult prostitution for Israel (cf. Amos 2:7).
25 Cf. C.H. Talbert, Reading Corinthians: A Literary and Theobgical Commentary (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 31. 26 G. Dautzenberg, "Eine Fallstudie," 284.

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The link between apostasy or idolatry and which can be found in the OT is strengthened in early Jewish teaching. Both idol atry and sexual immorality are associated with demons. Several texts in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, CD and 1QS associate porneia with demons27 and the identification of pagan deities with demons was also a common Jewish and Christian theme.28 Sexual immorality in such texts is surrounded by demonic dangers and threats, as in CD 4:15-17 where the 3 nets of Belial include fornication, wealth and the defilement of the temple. We should recall that Paul puts demons and pagan worship together in 1 Cor. 10 and juxtaposes sex ual impurity and idolatry in Rom. 1:24-25. In the so-called intercon nected triads of cardinal sins of early Judaism, which are attested in many sources, idolatry and sexual immorality are the stable partners sometimes joined by murder, at other times by greed.29 The strength of the tradition of the link between sexual immorality and idolatry may point to the practice of prostitution occurring in the context of pagan worship. However, the general thrust of Paul's instructions do not decide the issue. That Paul could have learned to equate prostitution, even of a secular sort, with unfaithfulness to the Lord from the Scriptures is sug gested by four observations. First, other forms of in the Scrip tures, and not just sacred prostitution, are treated in theocentric fashion. Adultery, for example, is defined not primarily as a private matter, a sin against the spouse, but was regarded as an absolute wrong, a sin against God.30 Gen. 39:9 makes this point clear: Joseph fends off Potiphar's wife's advances with the question, "How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" David's sin against Bathsheba (and her husband Uriah) is mentioned in Psalm 51:3 in similar terms:
Cf. G. Dautzenberg, "Eine Fallstudie," 291. See Deut. 32:17; Isa. 55:11 LXX; 1 En. 19:1; 99:7; Jub. 1:11; 1 Cor. 10; Just. Apol. 1:5. Cf. S.G. Wilson, The Law in Acts (SNTSMS 50; Cambridge: CUP) 97. 29 Cf. Johannes Thomas, Der jdische Phokylides: Formgeschichtliche Zugnge zu PseudoPhokylides und Vergleich mit der neutestamentlichen Parnese (Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1992). 30 In their studies of the laws of adultery in the Old Testament Arnold A. Anderson ("Law in Old Israel: Laws Concerning Adultery," in Law and Religion: Essays on the Place of the Law in Israel and Early Christianity, ed. by Barnabas Iindars [Cambridge: James Clarke, 1988] 13-19), H. McKeating ("Sanctions Against Adultery in Ancient Israelite Society with some Reflections on Methodology in the Study of Old Testament Ethics," JSOT 11 [1979] 57-72), and A. Phillips ("Another Look at Adultery," JSOT 20 [1981] 3-25) though divided on various issues, are agreed on this point. Regarding adultery in this way was apparently a unique perspective among the law codes of the ancient Near East. 28 27

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"Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight." "I committed this evil deed in the sight of the Lord," is how Reuben in T. Reuben 1:9 confesses his sin with Bilhah (Gen. 35:22), which is a kindred thought. Secondly, though cult prostitutes and harlots are distinguished in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Greek Bible generally uses the - group of words (including ) for both. Thus in the LXX prostitu tion in general is viewed as apostasy. Thirdly, most of the references to prostitution in the Old Testament turn out to be figurative referring to Israel's faithlessness toward the Lord and worship of other gods. This presumably exploits the associ ation of cult prostitution with pagan worship and therefore apostasy (Lev. 17:7; 20:5f.; Num. 14:33; 15:39; 25:1; Deut. 31:16; Judg. 2:17; 8:27,33; 1 Chron. 5:25; 2 Chron. 21:11,13; Pss. 73:27; 106:39; Ezek. 16; 23; Hosea; Jer. 3:1-5). A fourth and related point is that the words Paul uses for prosti tution, , and for the prostitute, , are employed in Jewish literature not only for literal prostitution (e.g., Gen. 38:24; Hosea 4:11; Sir. 41:17), but also as a metaphor for unfaithfulness to the Lord (e.g., Num. 14:33; Deut. 23:17; Isa. 47:10; Hosea 4:12; 5:4; cf. Isa. 57:9; T. Sim. 5:3; T. Reub. 4:6-11; 6:1-6). It is true that the Old Testament does not treat secular prostitution as a question of religious allegiance. Nevertheless, we must grant that Paul could conceivably have learned from the Scriptures to regard any type of prostitution as unfaithful ness to the Lord, even though explicit biblical precedent is lacking. 3.2 Features Suggesting Idolatry

Nonetheless, along with the general thrust of Paul's instructions, sev eral features of the passage, read in the larger context of 1 Corinthians, suggest that he is opposing sacred prostitution. Paul's only direct com mand against prostitution occurs in 6:18: " ."31 Significantly, the only other thing he tells the Corinthians to flee from is idolatry, in 10:14: " ." The temple imagery in 6:19-20 is particularly suggestive. Paul could be saying, "don't go to the temple (to use prostitutes), you are the temple!" The link between idolatry and sexual immorality in 10:7-8, where commit ting idolatry and indulging in sexual immorality are juxtaposed, like31

The other imperative in 6:20, "glorify God with your bodies," is more indirect and positive.

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wise takes on new significance if read in the light of the presence of sacred prostitution in Corinth (cf. esp. "rose up to play"). As Ben Witherington states: "1 Cor. 10:7 is a meaningful warning only if Paul had good reason to assume that sexual play was a regular part of some meals in one or more of the pagan temples in Corinth."32 The Corinthian men in question had defended their right to act in freedom as they saw it. Paul quotes their slogan in 6:12, " ," before denying its relevance to sexual relations. The only other place in 1 Corinthians where Paul indicates that these words are used to defend their behaviour is in 10:23-24, where the issue con cerns idolatry. With the words, "all things are lawful," it is conceiv able that they defended both the use of prostitutes in the temple and the consumption of temple food. Perhaps the slogan appeared in the letter to Paul only once, in the context of the question of participa tion of pagan temples in general. Furthermore, the first two items in the vice list of 6:9-11 that imme diately precedes, if not (according to some commentators) opens, Paul's instructions against going to prostitutes, are "the immoral" and "idol aters."33 Whereas the pauline catalogues of vice regularly include both sins (cf. 1 Cor. 5:10-11; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:5), only here do they occur side by side. Why Paul chose the vices he did and the order in which he lists them is notoriously difficult to determine.34 Nonetheless, it may be significant that the second vice listed in 5:910 and 5:11, greed, has undoubted relevance to the next subject Paul handles, that is, civil lawsuits involving financial wrongs and fraud (6:7-8). It is not impossible that the second vice Paul lists in 6:9-10, idolatry, in conjunction with immorality, sets up the discussion of sacred prostitution in 6:12-20. Whereas the juxtaposition of immorality and idolatry may seem incidental and harmless enough to the modern reader, it may have originally been very poignant and caused trepi dation to some of the letter's first readers, signalling to them that Paul's "guns" had turned in their direction. In assessing this evidence, however, it must be noted that the strongest indication that Paul is opposing sacred prostitution, the fact that he conceives of the sin of as a desecration of the temple (6:19)
B. Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth' A Socio-Rhetorical Commentrary on 1 and 2 Connthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995) 13. 33 See the author's "The Origin and Meaning of 1 Corinthians 6,9-11 in Context," Biblische Zeitschrift 40 (1996) 250-53. 34 Cf. Peter S. Zaas, "Catalogues and Codes in Context: 1 Corinthians 5 and 6," NTS 34 (1988) 622-29.
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does not point unmistakably in that direction. Dautzenberg points out that sexual prohibitions during the postexilic and early Jewish period were often summarised and systematised by Jews in the frame of think ing about purity. 35 Desecration of the Holy Place and of the priest hood through is warned against in many places, including Josephus, T. Levi, CD and the Pss. Sol.36 For example, T. Levi 9:9 exhorts its readers: "Beware the spirit of . This spirit will dese crate the Holy Place." As Dautzenberg observes, Paul distinguishes himself from early Judaism, which is bound by the Law, not by cultic aversion to , but rather by a far-reaching spiritualisation of cultic thinking.37 The use of sacral language in 1 Cor. 6:19 does not necessarily imply that Paul has cultic prostitutes in view.
3.3 The Existence of Sacred Prostitution

Thus several lines of evidence suggest that Paul is opposing sacred prostitution in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20. And several qualifications must be made in the light of Biblical and Jewish teaching on . How ever, the major objection to finding sacred prostitution in 1 Cor. 6:1220 is an even more formidable one: there is no solid evidence that sacred prostitution existed in Corinth in Paul's day. Strabo's famous account of 1,000 prostitutes in the temple of Aphro dite refers to the Corinth destroyed in 146 B.C. by the Romans and not to new Corinth which was refounded in 44 B.C. by Julius Caesar as a Roman colony. Some even dispute the accuracy of Strabo's remark with reference to old Corinth. Murphy-O'Connor for example writes that "sacred prostitution was never a Greek custom, and were Corinth an exception, the silence of all other ancient authors becomes impos 38 sible to explain." Hans Herter concludes that besides the report of S trabo on Corinth, sacred prostitution was only to be found in Cyprus and eastern Asia Minor, the periphery of the Greek world; it was an 39 "un-Greek practice." W. Fauth's study of Sakrale Prostitution im Vorderen Orient und im Mittelmeenaum likewise concludes that sacred prostitution

G Dautzenberg, "Eine Fallstudie," 289 G Dautzenberg, "Eine Fallstudie," 288 37 G Dautzenberg, "Eine Fallstudie," 290 38 J Murphy-O'Connor, St Paul's Corinth Texts and Archaeology (Wilmington Glazier, 1983) 56 Cf H D Saffrey, "Aphrodite a Connthe Reflexions sur une Idee Reue," Rev Bib (1985) 359-74 39 H Herter, "Die Soziologie der Antiken Prostitution im Licht des heidnischen und christlichen Schnftums," JAC 3 (1960) 72-73
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was rare in the Hellenistic religions.40 With specific reference to Corinth, Hans Conzelmann, as well as stressing the irrelevance of the S trabo reference to the Corinth of Paul's day, notes that Pausanius' description of Corinth says nothing of sacred prostitution.41 The proposition that Paul opposes sacred prostitution in 6:12-20 ultimately founders on the lack of historical evidence that such a practice existed in the Corinth of Paul's day. Even if the internal evidence points towards it, the lack of evidence cannot be ignored. Nonetheless, before concluding that Paul is thus opposing secular prostitution, along with most modern commentators, a third form of prostitution, which has better historical attestation, must be considered.
4. Temple Prostitution

At this point we need to clarify what is exactly meant by sacred prostitution. Karel van der Toorn defines it as "religiously legitimated intercourse with strangers in or in the vicinity of the sanctuary. . . organised or at least condoned by the priesthood."42 In the strictest sense its purpose was to increase fecundity and fertility. In the more limited sense it can refer to prostitution in temple precincts where the payments, whether in money or goods, went to the temple funds. Prostitution as a source of profits for the temple, but not as an integrated part of the fertility ritual, is not out of the question for new Corinth. We must be careful not to overreact to the misuse of Strabo. However, even if the existence of sacred prostitution is denied, there is another kind of prostitution which was neither strictly sacred nor strictly secular which must be considered. It was well attested in places like new Corinth and is even mentioned in the OT: prostitution at cultic events of a festive nature.43 Louis M. Epstein points out that it was common in the ANE for orgies to take place at heathen festivals.44 Hosea 4:13-14 probably refers to this kind of activity, where

W Fauth, "Sakrale Prostitution im Vorderen Onent und im Mittelmeerraum,1' JAC 31 (1988) 24-39 41 H Conzelmann, "Corinth und die Madchen der Aphrodite Zur Rehgionsgeschichte der Stadt Konnth," Theologie als Schnflauskgung (BEvT 65 Mnchen Kaiser, 1974, 152-66) *2 Karel van der Toorn, "Cultic Prostitution," ABB 5 510 15 To my knowledge only Ben Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth, explicitly takes this form of prostitution to be in view in 6 12-20 44 L M Epstein, Sex Laws and Customs in Judaism (New York KTAV, 1948) 154-55, calls it a "third form of sacied prostitution," the first and second being prostitution as part of idolatrous rites and for the benefit of the temple treasury

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mountain top sacrifices, suggesting a pagan altar, and prostitutes are juxtaposed. E.A. Goodfriend comments that "the presence of prostitutes at religious festivals could be just one of the excesses such merrymaking would precipitate."45 As Ginsburg explains, "inviting prostitutes to the sacrificial banquets was a feature of the festivity rather than of the ritual."46 The presence of a harlot at such feasts, according to Goodfriend, may be compared to such activity at a modern day Mardi Gras or Saint's day. Further possible references in the OT include Numbers 25:Iff., where Phineas5 slaying of Zimri for sexual immorality occurred in the context of pagan sacrifice, and Isa. 57:3ff, Jer. 2:20; 3:6. Prostitutes in a temple venue are also spoken of in 2 Mace. 6:4-5. In Judges 21:19-23 even a feast to the Lord at Shilo was the occasion for the Benjamites to take a wife by force.47 As Karel van der Toorn concludes, "the OT contains indeed ample evidence of religious feasts that led to sexual excesses."48 He argues that "the description of the cult of the golden calf, projected back into the misty times prior to the settlement in Canaan, can be considered as an archetype of the events (Exod. 32). During the celebrations "the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play" (Exod. 32:6)." The verb "to play" in Hebrew is clearly a euphemism for sexual activities. It is surely significant that Exod. 32:6 is the very text Paul quotes in 1 Cor. 10; it could well describe comparable circumstances for the prostitution in 1 Cor. 6. In which temple were some Corinthian Christians eating? Whether it was the sanctuary of Demeter,, the Asklepion49 or an unidentified temple in connection with the Isthmian Games50 matters little for our purposes. The point to note is that according to pagan, Jewish and Christian writers feasting and sexual immorality went inevitably together. As A. Booth states, for such authors "eating and drinking and sexual immorality constitute . . . an unholy trinity."51

E.A. Goodfriend, "Prostitution," ABD 5:509. C D . Ginsburg, Ene. Jud. 8:1019. 47 It is not uncommon in Jewish texts for idolatry and sexual license to be linked; cf. e.g., Ep. Jer. 43; Wis. 14:12-27; 2 Enoch. 10:4-6; T. Ben. 10:10. 48 K. van der Toorn, "Cultic Prostitution," 510. 49 Cf. P.D. Gooch, Dangerous Food' 1 Corinthians 8-10 in Its Context (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1993) chs. 1 and 2. 50 Cf. Bruce Winter, Seek the Welfare of the City: Christians as Benefactors and Citizens (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994) 168-74. 51 A. Booth, "The Art of Reclining and Its Attendant Perils," in WJ. Slater (ed.), Dining in a Classical Context (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991) 105.
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In the Graeco-Roman world prostitution at pagan cultic events was very common. As Catherine Edwards notes, various ancient texts indi cate that sexual pleasure was often the expected sequel to a banquet (Cicero, Phil 2:104-5; De fin. 2:23; Seneca, Ep. 47:7; 95:23) and some times prostitutes were explicitly mentioned as part of the after-dinner entertainment (e.g., Juv. 11:162-70; Cicero, Pro Mur. 13)2 We may add Dio Chrysostom (Or. 11/1'8.4), who writes that brothel-keepers "drag their stock" to the "great festive occasions."03 There seems little doubt that the discussion of idol food in chs. 8-10 included the problem of . As already noted, "rise up to play" in 10:7 is probably a reference to prostitution on a festive occasion in a pagan temple. In the NT Rev. 2:14ff. may supply evidence of such activity in Asia Minor: The church in Pergamum is guilty of eating food sacrificed to idols and of sexual immorality. Acts 15 may also be a witness to the phenomenon. As S.G. Wilson notes, some scholars have argued that "the purpose of the provisions of the [apostolic] decree was to discourage Christians from any connection with the idolatrous worship of pagan cults." 54 Thus a solution to the puzzle of the historical context of 1 Cor. 6:12-20 presents itself when we recognise the link betweeen feasting and , and note that both the Corinthian Christians who were eating in pagan temples and those who were using prostitutes were defending their behaviour with the same slogan, "all things are law ful for me." It is this: some Corinthians were attending temple feasts and using the prostitutes who offered their services on such festive occasions. One obvious objection to this reconstruction, however, remains. If 6:12-20 treats temple prostitution, why does Paul not deal with the issue in the context of attendance at temple meals in 10:1-22? The answer may lie in the observation of K.W. Niebuhr concerning hellenistic Jewish paraenesis, that such teaching typically treated sexual devi ations and problems, such as incest, homosexuality and prostitution, and sexual relations in marriage in close proximity, an arrangement
C Edwards, The Politics of Immorality in ancient Rome (Cambodge CUP, 1993) 188 ^ Cited by Winter, Seek the Welfare of the City, 174 S G Wilson, Luke and the Law, 94 (see further 97-99) Cf Lake, BC vol 5, 205ff, W Kummel, "Die lteste Form des Aposteldekrets," in Heilgeschehen und Geschichte Gesamellte Aufsatze, 1933-64 (Marburg, 1965) 278-88, F Siegert, "Gottesfurchtige und Sympathisenten," JSJ 4 (1973) 109-64 Kummel contends that the association of all the terms of the decree with the problem of idolatry and pagan worship is confirmed in later Christian literature, especially the Pseudo-Clementines
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evident in 1 Cor. 5-7, the section immediately preceding Paul's discus 55 sion of meat offered to idols (chs. 8-10). Paul, it seems, in treating incest and prostitution prior to a discussion of marriage and single ness, was following the practice of much early Jewish moral teaching. The fact that he does not treat all subjects pertaining to pagan tem ples together causes no surprise.
5. Conclusion

In this paper we have not offered a reconstruction of the Corin thian side of the conversation to which 1 Cor. 6:12-20 responds, nor an interpretation of the most difficult crux, v. 18c. Rather we have concentrated on the question of historical setting, arguably the most fundamental question facing interpreters. What is Paul opposing in 1 Cor. 6:12-20? This study argues that neither sexual immorality in general nor the incestuous man of chapter 5 nor sacred nor secular prostitution do justice to the internal and external evidence. A better label for what gave rise to Paul's instructions may well be temple pros titution. The apostle's warning is against , and not idolatry per se; but the hypothesis that the environment in which the offence was occurring, a pagan temple, has influenced Paul's response to the situa tion, makes good sense of much of the data. It is historically credible (prostitution did occur at festive occasions in pagan temples), exegetically congruent, giving due heed to the theocentric thrust of the pas sage and to the links with 1 Cor. 10, and can best be seen when Paul's instructions are viewed against a biblical and Jewish background in which and idolatry are closely associated.56

55 K.W. Niebuhr, Gesetz und Paranese: Katechismusartige Weisungsreihen in der fruhjudischen Literatur (WUNT 2.28; Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck], 1987) 232. 56 Research for this study was undertaken in Tubingen with the support of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung. I am grateful to my host Professor Peter Stuhlmacher for his comments on an earlier draft.

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