Reflecting Ancient Ethics: Reconsidering the Mirror Metaphor in 1 Cor 13:12

Scholars usually interpret 1 Cor 13:12 as depicting an eschatological encounter with God because of the repetition of ἄρτι … τότε and the verbal shift from present to future. Additionally, scholars propose that the implied object of βλέπομεν is God, and humanity will see God πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Novum Testamentum
Main Author: Smith, Dain Alexander (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2022
In: Novum Testamentum
Year: 2022, Volume: 64, Issue: 3, Pages: 296-317
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Bible. Corinthians 1. 13,8-13 / Bible. Corinthians 1. 13,12 / Speculum / Metaphor / Literature / Early Judaism / Pseudepigraphy
RelBib Classification:HC New Testament
HD Early Judaism
VA Philosophy
Further subjects:B Greco-Roman literature
B Ethics
B 1 Corinthians
B Pauline literature
B Mirror
B Jewish pseudepigrapha
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Summary:Scholars usually interpret 1 Cor 13:12 as depicting an eschatological encounter with God because of the repetition of ἄρτι … τότε and the verbal shift from present to future. Additionally, scholars propose that the implied object of βλέπομεν is God, and humanity will see God πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον. However, New Testament scholarship has struggled to explain the mirror metaphor, δι’ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι. Scholars argue it is depicting: indirect theophany, mystery religion initiation, or philosophical agnosticism. Conversely, this article argues that 1 Cor 13:12 and the mirror metaphor is best understood within the socially charged discourse of virtue, ethics, and imitation.
ISSN:1568-5365
Contains:Enthalten in: Novum Testamentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15685365-bja10022