The Old Testament background of "desire" in 1 Cor 10:6Skralovnik, Samo (Avtor) Matjaž, Maksimilijan (Avtor) 1 Corinthians 10Num 11desireἐπεθύμησανאוהOld TestamentwildernessfoodsinIn 1 Corinthians 10:6, Paul recalls the events described in Num 11:4-34 (with its respective variants in Ps 106:14), using the expression ἐπεθύμησαν which is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew אוה. This desire represents the highest religious meaning in the Old Testament, on the one hand (Strola 1999, 371); on the other hand, in texts relating to the tradition of the Israelites’ journey in the wilderness, to which Paul refers in 1 Cor 10, the same desire marks the rejection of the Lord (Num 11:19-20). In 1 Cor 10:6, by echoing the rebellion in Num 11, Paul wants to sum up the essence of sin. He does not understand desire as one sin amongst others but as a ,God-like‘ sin, as a source of all the others. If the desire for food of the Israelites’ own choosing stands for rejection of the Lord in Num 11, then the desire for food sacrificed to idols in 1 Cor 10 ipso facto stands for the rejection of Christ.20202024-10-10 07:37:22Članek v reviji163662sl