When was 1 Corinthians written?
Paul's first letter to Corinth carries its own postmark: while writing he says he will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost. From that line, plus the movements recorded in Acts, commentators place the letter in the spring of a single identifiable year — and they also explain what drove him to write it just then.
Written from Ephesus, not Philippi
Some old editions print a note at the end of the letter saying it was sent from Philippi. Commentators reject that, and the letter itself settles the matter.
William KellyIt is clear from verse 8 that the apostle was in Ephesus when he wrote this first letter to Corinth. The false postscript in the common text, followed in the Authorised Version, says "from Philippi," but it was really from Ephesus, as in the Vatican and some other copies; and that is why greetings are sent from "the churches of Asia."
The manuscript evidence behind the two readings is uneven. A survey of the ancient headings and endings notes that the "from Philippi" ending belongs to later copies, while other copies add "written from Ephesus" instead — the earliest witnesses simply read "To the Corinthians," with no place at all.
The year: spring, around AD 57
The date is worked out by matching the letter's own plan with Luke's record of Paul's travels.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinIn chapter 16:8 we read the writer's statement, "But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost." So the apostle Paul was in Ephesus and intended to leave about Pentecost. The book of Acts shows that he left that city about the time of Pentecost in the year 57. It is quite certain that this first letter to the Corinthians was written during the first part of the year 57, probably around the time of Passover.
A chronology of the same period sets it out as a sequence of events in one busy year:
Church History57. (Spring) First Epistle to the Corinthians written. The riot at Ephesus — Paul leaves for Macedonia (Acts 19:23; 20:1). [Autumn.] Second Epistle to the Corinthians written.
Late in the long stay at Ephesus
The letter belongs to Paul's third journey, near the close of a three-year stay in one city.
Arend RemmersHe came to Ephesus by way of Galatia and Phrygia in Asia Minor. This is where he stayed for three years (Acts 20:31). He probably wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians towards the end of his stay there, which was in spring 57 AD. This letter might have been carried by Timothy (1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10), but it is equally possible that Timothy went there only later (Acts 19:22).
Placing it within Acts, one writer narrows the window and shows the reasoning:
The Bible TreasuryThe First Epistle to the Corinthians may have been written from Ephesus somewhere in the period covered by Acts 19:21 to Acts 20:1... As his first letter keeps mentioning Apollos (who was with him at the time, 1 Cor. 16:12), it is clear it could not have been written before Acts 19, when Paul was at Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8).
What prompted it at that moment
The timing was not chosen for convenience. Reports and a written enquiry reached Paul while he was still in Ephesus.
The Christian's FriendWhen questions arose among them which they did not seem able to settle, it was natural that they should write to Paul about them (1 Cor. 7:1)... There were those of the house of Chloe (1 Cor. 1:11), whom he mentions, from whom he had heard of the sad state of the assembly. That moved him to write this letter to them while he was at Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8). Chapters 1 to 6 expose and correct certain disorders he had heard of. From chapter 7 to 16 Paul is chiefly answering questions they had put to him in writing.
How little time had passed
The date matters because of the gap it measures. Paul had founded the church at Corinth only a few years earlier, on his previous journey.
Numerical Bible NotesWhere was there a place better suited as an example than the great assembly at Corinth, "coming behind in no gift," the fruit of the apostle's careful labours for a year and a half? In how short a time does the first letter, written from Ephesus during his work there, show us results such as we need not be reminded of.
The letter is early, but not Paul's earliest. Commentators note that the letters to the Thessalonians came before it, while the date of Galatians is the hardest of all Paul's letters to fix — some put it first, some last, many somewhere in between.
Summary
- Place. Ephesus, on Paul's own testimony in 16:8; the old "from Philippi" postscript is a later addition and is set aside.
- Time. Spring, about AD 57, shortly before he left Ephesus at Pentecost.
- Point in his life. Near the end of the three-year Ephesian stay, within the stretch of Acts 19:21–20:1.
- Prompt. A report from Chloe's household about divisions, plus a letter of questions from Corinth — which shapes the two halves of the epistle.
- Weight of the date. Barely a few years after eighteen months of Paul's own teaching there, a richly gifted church had already slipped far — the calendar itself is a warning.