1 Corinthians 3:1

Immaturity and Self-deception

3:1 So, brothers and sisters, ¹  I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, ²  as infants in Christ.

Hebrews 5:12-13

5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, ³  you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. ⁴  You have gone back to needing ⁵  milk, not ⁶  solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.

Hebrews 5:1

5:1 For every high priest is taken from among the people ⁷  and appointed ⁸  to represent them before God, ⁹  to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.

Ecclesiastes 2:2

2:2 I said of partying, ¹⁰  “It is folly,”

and of self-indulgent pleasure, ¹¹  “It accomplishes nothing!” ¹² 

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

² tn Grk “fleshly [people]”; the Greek term here is σαρκινός (BDAG 914 s.v. 1).

³ tn Grk “because of the time.”

⁴ tn Grk “the elements of the beginning of the oracles of God.”

⁵ tn Grk “you have come to have a need for.”

⁶ tc ‡ Most texts, including some early and important ones (א² A B* D Ψ 0122 0278 1881 Ï sy Cl), have καί (kai, “and”) immediately preceding οὐ (ou, “not”), but other equally significant witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א* B² C 33 81 1739 lat Or Did) lack the conjunction. As it was a natural tendency for scribes to add a coordinating conjunction, the καί appears to be a motivated reading. On balance, it is probably best to regard the shorter reading as authentic. NA²⁷ has καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

⁵ tn Grk “from among men,” but since the point in context is shared humanity (rather than shared maleness), the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) has been translated “people.”

⁶ tn Grk “who is taken from among people is appointed.”

⁷ tn Grk “appointed on behalf of people in reference to things relating to God.”

⁷ tn Heb “laughter.” The term שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter”) has a fourfold range of meanings: (1) “joyful laughter” (Ps 126:2; Prov 14:13; Job 8:21); (2) “frivolous laughter, merrymaking” (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6); (3) “pleasure, sport” (Prov 10:23; Eccl 10:19); and (4) “derision, mockery, laughingstock” (Jer 20:7; 48:26, 27, 39; Job 12:4; Lam 3:14). See HALOT 1315 s.v שְׂחוֹק; BDB 966 s.v. שְׂחֹק. In Ecclesiastes, שְׂחוֹק is always used in contexts of self-indulgent banqueting, drinking, frivolous partying and merrymaking (Eccl 2:2; 7:3, 6; 10:19). It is distinct from “healthy” joy and laughter (Ps 126:2; Job 8:21). The connotation of “frivolous merrymaking” fits this context best.

⁸ tn The term שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “pleasure”) has a two-fold range of meanings in Ecclesiastes: (1) it can refer to the enjoyment of life that Qoheleth affirms is good (5:17; 8:15; 9:7; 11:8, 9) and that God gives to those who are pleasing to him (2:26; 5:19); and (2) it can refer to foolish pleasure, that is, frivolous merrymaking (2:1, 2; 7:4). The parallelism between שִׂמְחָה and שְׂחוֹק (sÿkhoq, “laughter, frivolous merrymaking”) in 2:2 suggests that the pejorative sense is in view here.

⁹ tn Heb “What does it accomplish?” The rhetorical question “What does it accomplish?” expects a negative answer: “It accomplishes nothing!” (see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 949–51). See, e.g., Gen 1:19; 18:14, 17; Deut 7:17; 1 Sam 2:25; Job 40:2; Pss 56:7[8]; 90:11; 94:16; 106:2; Eccl 3:21.