1 Corinthians 11:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

NIV: I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you.

NASB: Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I handed them down to you.

CSB: Now I praise you because you remember me in everything and hold fast to the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

NLT: I am so glad that you always keep me in your thoughts, and that you are following the teachings I passed on to you.

KJV: Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

NKJV: Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you.

Paul has spent much of this letter to the church in Corinth correcting some practices and warning against others. He pauses now, though, to commend or praise his readers. For all their flaws, this group apparently took Paul's teachings quite seriously.

That is especially true of how they "maintain the traditions" Paul taught them. Comments such as this remind us that the Corinthian believers were sincere and dedicated, but fallible, just as we are today. The specific traditions Paul had in mind likely had to do with how Christians should conduct themselves in their meetings. That is the next topics he covers. Though he has praised them, he will also correct them on key areas where they are not uniformly continuing to follow his teaching.

The Greek term used here is paradoseis, which carries a strong sense of something which is "handed down," or "passed along." As used in the Bible, it often comes with context about whose teaching or tradition is being mentioned (Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:3; Galatians 1:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:15). The English word traditions can be misunderstood as something always invalid or unreliable. The word, as used, simply means a teaching, which can be either good or bad, depending on its own merits. Paul's praise here is not that the Corinthians are following "tradition" in a general sense; rather, it's that they are faithful to his specific teachings.

Paul is not speaking about cornerstone truths in this case. What he's referring to are the specific teachings he has given to the believers in Corinth. These are the instructions passed down from Paul—the "traditions"—of how they are to apply their knowledge of the Word and the gospel.

First Corinthians 11:2–16 describes Paul's correction of an inappropriate practice of some women in the Corinthian church. Contrary to social norms of that era, they were not wearing head coverings when praying or prophesying before the church. Paul insists that both women and men consider what their chosen appearance implies about their relationship with God. Cultural details may vary, but the principle does not: Christian men and women ought to be ''respectable'' in their manners and dress. In parallel, this teaching also touches on the concept of spiritual leadership.

Paul confronts two issues the church in Corinth was failing to practice correctly. First, some women were not wearing head coverings while praying or prophesying in their meetings. Paul insisted they must do so, and that men must not, based on mankind's relationship to God and the social implications of that covering. Second, Paul describes the reasons for observing the Lord's Supper and how it should be done. The Corinthian Christians had brought God's judgment on themselves for practicing communion in a way which dishonored Christ's sacrifice for sin and humiliated the poor among them.

After concluding his teaching on meat offered to idols, Paul turns to two issues the church in Corinth was getting wrong. The first was head coverings when praying or prophesying in their meetings. Differences between men and women in that regard are because of both spiritual and social reasons. Paul also corrects the disastrous way in which they were practicing the observance of the Lord's Supper. They were dishonoring Christ's sacrifice for sin as well as the poor in the body of Christ, the church. Despite having more to say on communion, Paul will move on to the topic of spiritual gifts in chapter 12.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.