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1 Cor 7:32-35 and Stoic Debates About Marriage, Anxiety, and Distraction* David L

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1 Cor 7:32-35 and Stoic Debates About Marriage, Anxiety, and Distraction* David L JBL 102/3 (1983) 429-439 1 COR 7:32-35 AND STOIC DEBATES ABOUT MARRIAGE, ANXIETY, AND DISTRACTION* DAVID L. BALCH Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX 76129 Paul tells the Corinthians that he wants them to be free from anxi­ eties (αμέριμνοι) in 1 Cor 7:32, and that he wants them to be devoted to the Lord in an undistracted manner (άπερισπάστω?) in 7:35. This paper will focus on the occurrence of these two terms in Stoic discussions of whether the wise man should marry; thus the paper is a contribution to the debate whether indeed Stoic ideas are reflected in Paul's discussion. Second, the Stoic texts which use these terms state the theory that, in some ways, husband and wife might be each other's equal, so the latter part of the paper will reflect on whether this affects the interpretation of 1 Corinthians 7. The debate about the Stoic connections of these ideas is most sharply focused by Johannes Weiss1 and Herbert Braun2 on the one hand and Wolfgang Schräge3 on the other. Commenting on the adverb "undis­ tracted" (ατΐξρισττάστως), Weiss asserts: "Here we have an exact Stoic- Cynic parallel to the views of Paul." (My translation.) Schräge, on the other hand, wonders how one can use Cynic-Stoic parallels to clarify Paul's exhortations when they have a clear eschatological basis.4 Schräge calls these parallels "illusory"5 and says: The attempt to understand 1 Cor 7:29-31 in light of Cynic-Stoic parallels breaks down, among other reasons, because of the unbreakable connection for Paul between the supposedly Stoic This research was funded by a 1981 NEH Summer Stipend, for which I am grateful. 1 J. Weiss, Der erste Korintherbrief (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1970, orig. pub. 1910) 205 n. 2. 2 H. Braun, "Die Indifferenz gegenüber der Welt bei Paulus und bei Epiktet," Gesam­ melte Studien zum neuen Testament und seiner Umwelt (Tübingen; Mohr [Paul Sie­ beck], 1962) 159-67. 3 W. Schräge, "Die Stellung zur Welt bei Paulus, Epiktet und in der Apokalyptik. Ein Beitrag zu 1 Kor 7.29-31," ZThK 61 (1964) 125-54. 4 Schräge, "Die Stellung," 132. In contrast, note the analysis of Nils Dahl, "Christ, Crea­ tion and the Church," Jesus in the Memory of the Early Church (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1976) 120-40, at p. 137. 5 Ibid., 138. 430 Journal of Biblical Literature attitude to the world and his clearly eschatological motivation, while for Epictetus, a belief in immanent reason means that all remains within the boundaries of this present life and world cycle 6 (my translation) As an alternative source, Schräge cites the apocalyptic text 6 Ezra 16 40- 45 (or 35-45) Conzelmann counters with the simple question, "But why should Stoic influence be excluded by this late text?"7 In this paper I will not dwell on the debates about this possibly third-century AD apoca­ lypse or its possible/probable Christian origin Schräge argues in too rationalistic a manner about social influences, whether these are from Jewish apocalyptic or from Stoic ethics He observes that certain "conse­ quences" correspond to or follow from Paul's apocalyptic world view,8 and one of these consequences is that Christians should live "as though" (¿s μη) they have no dealings with the world which is passing away (1 Cor 7 31) Schräge ignores the social attraction and pressure which Hellenistic culture would have asserted on the small, newly formed Christian group at Corinth and writes as if Paul and the Corinthians were involved in perfecting syllogisms I suggest rather that Paul accept­ ed and used certain Stoic values, which were indeed in logical tension with other values he held,9 but which were useful in his debate with the Corinthian ascetics Discussing the adverb "undistracted," Weiss points especially to Epictetus, Dis 3 22 69 10 In a city of wise persons, the Cynic might marry one like himself (3 22 63) and have children But in such an order of things as the present, which is like that of a battle-field, it is a question, perhaps, if the Cynic ought not to be free from distraction (άττβρίστταστον), wholly devoted to the service of God, free to go about among men, not tied down by the private duties of men, nor involved in relationships which he cannot violate and still maintain his role as a good and excellent man, whereas on the other hand, if he observes them, he will destroy the messenger, the scout, the herald of the gods, that he is For see, he must show certain services to his father-in-law, to the rest of his wife's relatives, to his wife herself, finally, he is driven from his profession, to act as a nurse in his own family 6 Ibid , 137-38 In ' Zur Frontstellung der paulinischen Ehebewertung in 1 Kor 7 1-7," ZNW 67 (1976) 214-34, at pp 223-24, Schräge modifies this and accepts a certain rela­ tionship between Cynic-Stoic attitudes and Paul's terminology in 1 Cor 6 12 and 7 35 However this second article (p 224 η 40) affirms the reservations expressed in the first one 7 Η Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians (Hermeneia, Philadelphia Fortress, 1975) 133 η 26 8 Schräge, Die Stellung,' 132 9 Braun, Die Indifferenz,' 166, eg Paul says he has 'anxiety for all the churches" (2 Cor 1128) 10 Cited first by Weiss (above η 1) then in the commentaries of Kummel and Barrett, and in Bauer s Lexicon revised by Danker, s ν Balch 1 Cor 7 32-35 and Stoic Debates 431 and to provide for them To make a long story short, he must get a kettle to heat water for the baby, for washing it in a bathtub, wool for his wife when she has a child, oil, a cot, a cup (the ves­ sels get more and more numerous), not to speak of the rest of his business, and his distraction (ττ€ρι.σττασμόν) Where, I beseech you is left now our king, the man who has leisure for the public interest? (3 22 69-72, translation from Oldfather m LCL) Weiss gives other references in Epictetus and argues that the term "undistracted" is a technical one m late Stoicism (Epictetus, Dis 2 21 22, 1 29 59) Weiss also refers to a second Stoic, Hierocles, who discusses the same subject using the same term Hierocles agrees with Epictetus that, under certain circumstances, marriage can be avoided,11 but then he proceeds to argue that one should marry because it is natural, advanta­ geous and beautiful Further still, besides the procreation of children, the association with a wife is advantageous, for in the first place, when we are weaned with labours out of the house, she receives us with offi­ cious kindness and recreates us by every possible attention In the next place, she produces in us an oblivion of our molestations For those sorrowful circumstances of life which take place in the forum, or the gymnasium, or the country, and, in short, all the cares (μέριμνας) and solicitudes occasioned by converse with our friends and familiars, do not so obviously molest us, being ob­ scured by our necessary occupations (ττ€ρισττασμοί9), but when we are liberated from these, return home, and our mind be­ comes, as it were, at leisure, then these cares and solicitudes approach, availing themselves of this occasion, in order to tor­ ment us, at the time when life is destitute of benevolence, and is solitary Then however, the wife being present becomes a great solace on this occasion, by making some inquiries about external affairs or by referring to, and considering together with her husband, something about domestic concerns and thus, by her unfeigned cheerful eagerness, affords him a certain exuberance of 1 ! Hierocles Concerning Marriage in Stobaeus 4 22 22 4 502 9-14 Hense See Κ Praechter Hierokles der Stoiker (Leipzig 1901) 5 and 69 which has been included in Karl Praechter Kleine Schriften hrsg Heinrich Dorne (Collectanea 7 New York Georg Olms 1973) Dorne s fascinating Nachbemerkung (ρ 468 see also ρ χι) notes that por tions of Hierocles were discovered in 1906 on a papyrus which was a section of a popular Stoic handbook intended for a wide audience I will cite Stobaeus by book chapter and excerpt number and then give volume pages and lines in the edition of C Wachsmuth and O Hense Anthologium (Berlin Weidmann 1958) 5 vols Otto Hense Ioannes Stobaios PW 9 (1916) 2559 argues that the Stobaean chapter titles (e g concerning marriage ) present us with generally known topoi used for centuries in ethics and popular philosophy Stoics supported marriage against Epicureans who opposed it except under special circumstances (see Diogenes Laertius 10 119) and against Theophrastus On Marriage (quoted by Jerome Against Jovmianus I 47) 432 Journal of Biblical Literature pleasure and delight (Hierocles, "Concerning Marriage," in Sto­ baeus 4 22 24, 4 504, 1-16 Hense, translation from Taylor)12 It has not been noticed that the term "undistracted" also occurs in a third Stoic discussion of the topos "concerning marriage "13 This is a discussion by Antipater of Tarsus, head of the Stoic school c 130 Β C (or Antipater of Tyre, from the first century BC), and his discussion was an influential one 14 Arguing against those who think marriage a burden which re­ duces personal freedom, he says But for a male who loves the good and wishes to lead a life of leisure devoted to reason or to political deeds or both, the matter is just the same (rcXeiW αμ^τάθ^τον) The more he is turned away from household management, the more he must take a wife to do the housekeeping for him and make himself free from distraction (eavrov αττ^ρίσπαστον) about daily necessities (256, 33-257,3 von Arnim, an excerpt in Stobaeus 4 22 25, 4 511,15- 512,1 Hense, my translation) According to the later popular philosophical handbook of Stobaeus (Anthologium IV 22),
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