SUMMARY
As PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. closes his letter, he writes of expecting to come to Corinth for an extended visit. This passage offers insight into some of the criticism leveled against Paul that he alludes to in 2 Corinthians 1 and 2. When Paul did not make the expected visit, some in Corinth began to question whether his word could be trusted.
ANALYSIS
In 1 Corinthians 16, Paul is closing his letter with conventional forms for the time. He tells his readers that he is planning to visit them; he offers instructions that they should receive TimothyThe companion on Paul's later journeys for whom two pastoral epistles are named. if he is able to visit before Paul is, and he sends greetings to and from people by name.
The “travel plans” section of 1 Corinthians 16 is one of the places where Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians is directly related to his writing in 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians 1:15-19 and its context, Paul refers to the “double favor” (that is, stopping both on the way to Macedonia and on the way back) he intended to offer the Corinthians. As it turned out, he did not make either stop in Corinth that he had planned.
Paul’s failure to fulfill the plan he proposes in 1 Corinthians 16:5-9 comes to be used by some in Corinth to argue that Paul’s word cannot be trusted. From 2 Corinthians 1, we imagine that opponents of Paul were wondering aloud whether Paul says “yes” and “no” at the same time. Does he just tell people what they want to hear? Paul denies such wavering. In 2 Corinthians 2, he says he did not visit the Corinthians as he intended because he was concerned the visit would be painful. In 2 Corinthians, Paul goes on to spell out more detail about the fracture that has happened sometime after 1 Corinthians was delivered and before 2 Corinthians was written.