A Rhetorical Analysis of Paul’s Contrasting Use of προλαμβάνω and ἐκδέχομαι in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

Abstract

This essay argues that Paul uses the two words — προλαμβάνω and ἐκδέχομαι in the literary context of 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 — to challenge the inhospitable atmosphere of the Christ-believers’ meal at Corinth and to encourage them to exercise the Lord’s hospitality at their meal/table fellowship.BR These two words, it is argued, play a significant role in Paul’s rhetorical strategy in this particular passage, which is characterised by epideictic and deliberative rhetoric and three modes of proof — ethos, pathos and logos. Paul’s argument is drawn from his rhetorical technique of ‘contrast’. Paul cleverly uses προλαμβάνω before and ἐκδέχομαι after his description of the Lord’s Supper to attack the Corinthian Christians’ inappropriate practices and to motivate them to exhibit the love and hospitality of Christ towards one another, and to break through the socio-economic distinctions and barriers between them.