The Historical Background of Paul’s Athletic Allusions

By Jerry M. Hullinger

[Jerry M. Hullinger is a Bible teacher in Pensacola, Florida.]

One of the apostle Paul’s favorite methods for applying and illustrating Christian responsibility was through the use of athletic metaphors. For example he used words for “running” and the “race” on numerous occasions (Acts 13:25; 20:24; Rom. 9:16; 1 Cor. 9:24; Gal. 2:2; 5:7; Phil. 2:16; 2 Thess. 3:1; 2 Tim. 4:7). In addition he referred to other sports such as boxing (1 Cor. 9:26) and wrestling (Eph. 6:12). Paul also used words that would have conjured up images of the games in his readers’ minds. These include “prize” (1 Cor. 9:24), “crown” (v. 25), “goal” (Phil. 3:14), being disqualified (1 Cor. 9:27), “strive lawfully” (2 Tim. 2:5), and the giving of the crown by the righteous Judge (4:8).

To feel the full impact of Paul’s words, one must understand this part of his historical milieu.[1] This study seeks to demonstrate that Paul’s athletic allusions are indeed based on the local games with which he and his readers would have been familiar. It also seeks to provide background material that will illumine Paul’s words and give further insight into why he chose these metaphors.[2]

The History of the Games

The Olympic Games

The chief athletic contest in Greece was the Olympic games. Founded in 776 B.C., these games were held every four years. In 472 B.C. the Olympics were extended to five days. The first day was occupied with sacrifices to the gods and the taking of oaths by the judges and competitors. The second morning began with the naming of the competitors by the herald, and was followed by chariot races, horse races, and the pentathlon for men. Contests for boys were held on the third day. On the fourth day the men’s games in foot racing, jumping, wrestling, boxing, and pankration were held. The final day of the games was spent in sacrifices and an evening banquet in which the victors were entertained.[3]

The Other Crown Games

In addition to the Olympic games many other athletic contests were spawned. Papalas noted that “the Isthmian, Pythian, Nemean, Panathenaean and many lesser athletic festivals were established. Greeks who had not been able to afford trips to Olympia could now see first rate athletics in the vicinity of their own polis.”[4]

The Isthmian Games

For the purpose of this study an understanding of the Isthmian games is the most crucial. Held in Corinth, they form the backdrop for 1 Corinthians 9:24–27. Concerning the mythology behind the origin of these games Pausanias wrote, “The story about the Molourian Rock is that Ino threw herself into the sea from it, holding the younger of her sons, named Melikertes; her husband had killed her older son Learchus. They say that the body of Melikertes was carried to the Isthmus of Corinth by a dolphin. Among the other honors which were given to Melikertes, whose name was changed to Palaimon, was the establishment of the Isthmian Games in his honor.”[5]

The games themselves were one of the great festivals of the ancient world and ranked only below the Olympic games in magnitude. “Corinth played host to the athletes and visitors at the Isthmian Games celebrated every other year. Next to the Olympic Games, which were held every four years, the celebrations at the Isthmia were the most splendid and best attended of all the national festivals of Greece. Preparation for these events occupied the attention of the citizens several months in advance, and when the throngs arrived to view the contests in the Isthmian stadium, the vendors and entertainers from Corinth were on hand to reap profit from the occasion.”[6]

This festival drew thousands of people, both as competitors and spectators, from all over the empire. And the greater athletes were honored in Isthmia by monuments, statues, and inscriptions.[7]

The glory of this spectacle is further illustrated by the sanctuary dedicated to Poseidon at Isthmia. In his guidebook to Greece Pausanias noted that the Isthmus belongs to Poseidon. In addition he wrote, “Worth seeing here are a theatre and a white marble stadium. Within the sanctuary of the god stand on the one side portrait statues of athletes who have won victories at the Isthmian games, on the other side pine trees growing in a row, the greater number of them arising up straight.”[8]

The games consisted of foot races, horse races, chariot contests, jumping, wrestling, boxing, and throwing of the discus and javelin.[9] Dio Chrysostom of Prusa, who was almost a contemporary of Paul, described a visit to the Isthmian Games. “When the time came for the Isthmian Games. .. all were at the Isthmus. .. . And at that time it was that you could hear in the arena around the Temple of Poseidon any number of luckless sophists shouting and abusing each other, and their notorious students wrangling among themselves, and many authors reciting their silly compositions, poets declaiming their verses to the applause of their colleagues, magicians showing off their marvels, soothsayers interpreting omens, tens of thousands of lawyers twisting lawsuits, and no small number of hucksters peddling whatever goods each one happened to have for sale.”[10]

In light of the popularity and splendor of these games, it is no wonder that Paul used an abundance of athletic metaphors in his writings. They no doubt had a tremendous impact on his readers.[11] In fact Paul probably was in Corinth when the games of A.D. 49 or 51 were held. As Murphy-O’Connor suggests, “It can hardly be coincidence that Paul’s first sustained development of this theme [athletics] occurs in a letter to the Corinthians.”[12] A further reason that lends weight to the idea that Paul attended these games is his profession as a tentmaker.[13] Livy suggested that the games at Corinth were popular because of the geographical setting of the city. Because the Isthmus had the resources of two seas, it was a natural meeting place for many people.[14]

Thus a ripe opportunity was in place for Paul. Every two years the city would host a multitude of people including athletes, delegates, visitors, and merchants. Paul could meet with the Jews in the synagogue on the Sabbath and come in contact with foreigners through his business as tentmaker. “At such occasions large numbers of tents would be needed to provide shelter for the crowds of visitors.. .. In April, or early May, when the Isthmian Games were held, the air is chilly enough to require shelter; and frequent showers and violent gusts of wind that buffet the Isthmian region make such shelter imperative. Paul and his companions would find plenty of customers.”[15]

Because of these facts Broneer concludes that this was the very reason Paul chose Corinth as the chief base of his missionary work in Greece.[16] Paul would have been intimately familiar with the ancient games as an eyewitness to many of the events.[17]

The Specific Athletic Allusions Made by Paul

The Foot Race

Paul referred to the foot race more often than the other athletic events (1 Cor. 9:24; Gal. 2:2; Phil. 2:16; 2 Tim. 4:7). The word used by Paul in this regard is τρέχω. In classical Greek this word meant to move quickly, to run, especially at a contest in the stadium.[18]In the Septuagint it meant to run (Gen. 18:7; 1 Kings 18:46), and in a figurative sense it was used of following the commandments of God (Ps. 119:32), or running into lies (61:4), or being immoral in the sense of “running in the way of immorality” (4 Macc. 14:5). In the New Testament τρέχω was used in a literal sense of Peter running to the empty tomb (Luke 24:12), and in the figurative sense of the Christian life being directed toward a goal (Phil. 3:14).

The races took place in an enclosure of about six hundred feet in length called a στάδιος.[19] Three kinds of races were held in these enclosures. “In the stade-race the competitors had to run a single length of the stadium, a distance of 192.28 meters. In the diaulos, which was the middle distance event at the ancient Olympics, they ran twice the length of the stadium, once in each direction, which means that they covered 384.56 meters. In the long-distance event, i.e., the dolichos, they had to run twenty-four lengths of the stadium, a total distance of 4614.72 meters.”[20]

Considering the stamina required by the long-distance event, it is probable that this is the running event Paul referred to in his epistles when he likened the Christian life to a race that comprises one’s entire earthly life.[21]

Paul told the Philippians to “press on toward the goal” (Phil. 3:14). The Greek word for goal is σκοπόs, which is most likely a reference to the square pillars located at each end of the track on which the runner could fix his eyes in order to run accurately as well as have something to encourage him.[22] Gardiner explained that “it is obvious that in a straight two hundred yards race the runner must have some point to fix his eye on if he is to run straight, and a post with a distinguishing mark would have been of great value as a guide.”[23] The question has been raised as to how all the runners would be able to turn around one post at the end of the track and run back. This could have caused bumping, colliding, and foul play.[24] A possible solution to this problem has been suggested by Gardiner. “In the crowding at the turn a runner might easily lose three or four yards, a matter of vital importance for this distance, but of less importance in a three-mile race where the runners spread out rapidly.. .. We may probably conclude then, that in the ‘diaulos’ each runner raced to and turned round his own post.”[25]

The Serious Nature of Athletics

Athletics in the Greco-Roman world were approached with great vigor and passion. This fact helps explain why Paul applied this imagery to the Christian life.

In sporting events the goal of the athletes was not merely to take part but to win. To lose, in many cases, was a disgrace.[26] Pindar, a Greek poet of the fifth century B.C., noted that “the athlete delights in the toil and the cost.”[27] And Philo wrote, “I know wrestlers and pankratiasts often persevere out of love for honor and zeal for victory to the point of death, when their bodies are giving up and they keep drawing breath and struggling on spirit alone, a spirit which they have accustomed to reject fear scornfully.. .. Among these competitors, death for the sake of an olive or celery crown is glorious.”[28]

The Stoic philosopher Epictetus (ca. A.D. 55-135) noted the same common belief. “In the Olympic Games you cannot just be beaten and then depart, but first of all, you will be disgraced not only before the people of Athens or Sparta or Nikopolis but before the whole world. In the second place, if you withdraw without sufficient reason you will be whipped. And this whipping comes after your training which involves thirst and broiling heat and swallowing handfuls of sand.”[29]

The word Paul used to depict this spirit is ἀγωνίζομαι (1 Cor. 9:25), which referred to an athletic contest (“engaging in a contest”) or to any struggle.[30] In classical Greek the noun ἀγών was used in a number of ways: (a) a gathering, (b) a gathering place of the gods on Mount Olympus, (c) the “gathering” of ships in a harbor, and (d) a fight.[31] In the Apocrypha ἀγών occurred primarily in this fourth sense.[32] Paul’s use of the word with athletic overtones could refer to an “expression of the contestants’ manly discipline.”[33] Stauffer described the force of this word in this way: “First is the thought of the goal which can be reached only with the full expenditure of all our energies. .. a passionate struggle, a constantly renewed concentration of forces on the attainment of the goal.. .. The struggle for the reward [demands] not only full exertion but also rigid denial. The final assault is so exacting that all forces must be reserved, assembled, and deployed in it. The final goal is so high and glorious that all provisional ends must fade before it.. .. If a man is not ready to set aside his egotistic needs and desires and claims and reservations, he is not fit for the arena.”[34]

The Crown

Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 9:25 that the reason he exerted himself in his ministry was so that he would obtain an incorruptible crown (στέφανος; cf. 2 Tim. 2:5; 4:8). In classical usage στέφανος originally referred to anything that encircled something else, such as a besieging army or the wall around a city. The usual meaning in secular Greek was a crown or wreath won at various athletic contests.[35] In the Septuagint the word στέφανος was used of a royal crown (2 Sam. 12:30) and of a festal ornament (Prov. 1:9; 4:9; Song of Sol. 3:11; Isa. 28:1).

In the New Testament the word occurs eighteen times (eight of which are in Revelation) and often refers to the prize of the athletic victor as a metaphor for the eternal reward of the faithful (1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 2:5; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 3:11; 4:4, 10).

Because of this metaphor which stresses the crown of victory, some have distinguished between στέφανοs and διάδημα. As Trench wrote, “We must not confuse these words because our English word ‘crown’ stands for them both. I greatly doubt whether anywhere in Classical literature. .. στέφανοs is used of the kingly or imperial crown.. .. In the New Testament it is plain that the. .. στέφανοs whereof Paul speaks is always the conqueror’s and not the king’s.”[36]

While the words of Trench seem justified, Moulton and Milligan warned that though στέφανοs denoted a crown of victory, “it should be noted that the distinction between στέφανοs, crown of victory, and διάδημα, crown of royalty, must not be pressed too far as by Trench, for στέφανοs is not infrequently used in the latter sense.”[37]

The prize (βραβεῖον) Paul referred to in 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Philippians 3:14 was the crown of victory. Ringwald noted that the prizes given to winners in sporting events included crowns, money, oil, barley, and certain rights throughout the victor’s home city.[38] Paul’s references to the believer’s prize seem to be related to conflict in the spiritual life, a prize that can be won only if one throws himself and his resources entirely into the struggle.[39]

The mythology of the crown. In light of the fact that pine was the most common tree in the Isthmus region, the victors of the games were crowned with wreaths made from the branches of these trees. However, this material was also associated with an ancient myth in which a famous monster Sinis made travel unsafe. This monster received the nickname “Pityokamptos” from his habit of inviting travelers to a pine-bending contest. After the two had forced a tree to the ground, Sinis told the traveler to hold it down, but when the monster let go of it, the tree would spring up and toss the traveler to his death.[40]

Another myth connected with the pine crown was told by Plutarch. “The pine, and why it was used for the crown at the Isthmian games, was the subject of a discussion at a dinner given us in Corinth itself during the games by Lucanius, the chief priest. Praxiteles, the official guide, appealed to mythology, citing the legend that the body of Melicertes was found cast up by the sea at the foot of a pine.”[41]

The value of the crown. Because of the hardship athletes endured in order to win a crown that would wither in a short time, the question naturally arises as to whether it was worth the effort employed to win it. Does this not weaken Paul’s analogy of the crown in relation to the Christian life? Why refer to a crown as a reward for the believer, if it is short-lived? The answer to these questions lies in the fact that it was not the crown itself that was desired, but rather what the crown represented, for the “stephanos to be won at Olympia had only ideal worth.”[42] This ideal worth can be seen in the works of classical writers.

For example Herodotus recorded the response to the question of a Persian as to what prize was offered at the various events of the games. “They told him of the crown of olive that was given to the victor. Then Tigranes son of Artabanus uttered a most noble saying. .. when he heard that the prize was not money but a crown, he could not hold his peace, but cried ‘Zounds Mardonius,’ what manner of men are these that you have brought us to fight withal? ‘Tis not for money they contend but for glory of achievement!”[43] Dio Chrysostom also wrote of the honor of the crowns.

For the pillar, the inscription, and being set up in bronze are regarded as a high honor by noble men, and they deem it a reward worthy of their virtue not to have their name destroyed along with their body and to be brought level with those who have never lived at all, but rather to leave an imprint and a token, so to speak, of their manly prowess.

You see what hardships these athletic competitors endure while training, spending money, and finally often even choosing to die in the very midst of the games. Why is it? If we were to abolish the crown for the sake of which they strive, and the inscription which will commemorate their victory at the. .. games, do you think that they would endure for even one day the heat of the sun?[44]

Also the victors were viewed as having acquired divine status. At the Olympic games leaves of olive trees were cut with a golden sickle from the most sacred olive trees before they were handed to the victor. “The victors were placed on the same level as the gods and entered into communion with them. This bond was clearly demonstrated in the temple of Zeus in Olympia, for Phildias represented Zeus wearing a crown of wild olive. When the victors were honored they wore the same mark of distinction as the god: a wreath woven from the evergreen branches of a wild olive tree.”[45]

The ceremony of the crown. On the last day of the games the victors were crowned in an elaborate ceremony. In the morning the victors, judges, and members of the various groups proceeded in a solemn parade to the temple of Zeus, which was observed by all of the spectators who were present at the games. At the temple the judge, wearing a purple robe, placed the crown on the victor’s head. Made from a single branch, the wreath which signified magical associations, linked the victor with the god at the moment it was placed on his head. This “was one of the great moments of [the victor’s] life—he felt not only the pride and joy of victory but also the sense of pious awe induced by a divine sacrament. Certainly this was the case for as long as the sacred games retained their religious character.”[46]

Possessing this crown signified spiritual, emotional, financial, and social benefits. Yet as Paul wrote, as grand as this earthly attainment was, it paled in significance when compared to the heavenly reward for the faithful believer (1 Cor. 9:25).

Boxing

Paul referred to the sport of boxing when he wrote, “I box in such a way, as not beating the air” (1 Cor. 9:26). The phrase “not beating the air” could refer to a boxer who is unable to make contact with his blows or to the practice of shadowboxing, which was a favorite method of training in antiquity.[47] In view of his reference in this verse to not running without a goal in mind, Paul was probably envisioning himself engaged in landing effective blows during a match. Unlike a shadowboxer, Paul was involved in the actual boxing match and thus bore the marks of that contest in his body. “Paul insists that in his religious struggles he is a geniune fighter and does not act like a shadow boxer who punches the air: ‘I bruise my body and bring it into subjugation.’ In other words, he bears the scars of contest on his frame.”[48]

This idea is in keeping with the historical data, for boxing was considered the most injurious of all sports. Paul had witnessed boxers engaged in this violent (and sometimes deadly) sport as they strapped their knuckles with leather strips in order to make the blows more punishing. Such allusions to this sport would bring these thoughts readily to the Corinthians’ minds.[49] “Many of the contestants left the stadium with broken teeth, swollen ears and squashed noses; many sustained serious injuries to their eyes, ears and even their skulls.”[50] Part of the reason for this is that there were no rounds in Greek boxing. The opponents fought until they were both too exhausted to continue, and they stopped for a breather only by mutual consent. But if this did not happen, “usually the fight went on until one of the two was incapable of fighting any more, or acknowledged defeat by holding up his hand.”[51]

Lucillius related the following account of the disfigurement that could take place in a boxing match. “O Augustus, this man Olympikos, as he now appears, used to have nose, chin, forehead, ears, and eyelids. But then he enrolled in the guild of boxers, with the result that he did not receive his share of his inheritance in a will. For in the lawsuit about the will his brother shows the judge a portrait of Olympikos, who was judged to be an imposter, bearing no resemblance to his own picture.”[52]

Perhaps Paul’s reference to boxing showed his earnestness in his apostolic ministry. He wrote that his ministry was characterized by self-discipline (v. 27), and striving (v. 25), and marks of being involved in the actual battle (v. 26) rather than just standing on the sidelines.

The Herald

Another possible reference to the games by Paul (though debated more than the others) is his mention of preaching (κηρύσσω, “to herald”) to others (1 Cor. 9:27). The related noun κῆρυξ refers to a herald who made public proclamations.[53] The term was used of a subordinate official who made announcements at the games of Oxyrhynchus.[54] Some say this allusion in the New Testament is questionable.[55] However, given the athletic imagery that is strongly in the context, it is not improbable that Paul would have had this setting in mind when speaking of heralding to others. If this is the case, then one of the assignments of the herald was to go to various cities and announce the games before they commenced.[56] In doing this he would proclaim a truce to all the Greek cities that wished to take part in the games. This truce would then be engraved on a bronze disc. During the truce no one was allowed to take up arms, and the personal safety of all who attended the games was guaranteed. When the time of the games drew near, the herald would announce the precise date of the upcoming games.[57]

At the time of the games the herald proclaimed the laws, conditions, and qualifications of the games as well as the names and countries of each competitor.[58] He then started the actual events by calling “go,”[59] and later pronouncing the judge’s verdict of the winner.

When the games were over, the herald announced the name, country, and father of each victor and handed over the wreath of victory to the judge.[60] Thus Paul was not saying that in his apostolic ministry he was performing each job as did the herald at the games. Rather, as both a competitor and preacher of the Christian life, if he were to be disqualified this would have been an extreme tragedy. Paul “was not only the herald to summon competitors and teach them the conditions of the contest; he was a competitor himself. How tragic, therefore, if one who had instructed others as to the rules to be observed for winning the prize, should himself be rejected for having transgressed them.”[61]

Disqualification

2 Timothy 2:5. Paul stated that one “is not crowned except he strive lawfully” (KJV). Νομίμως (“lawfully”) means “in accordance with the rules or law of athletes, compete according to the rules.”[62] This word occurs only once in the Septuagint and as an adjective (“lawful ways of living,” 2 Macc. 4:11).[63] In the New Testament it is used only twice and as an adverb (1 Tim. 1:8; 2 Tim. 2:5).

An athlete had to “strive lawfully” in two areas. The first was training and the second was in the contest itself, before which the athlete would take an oath. The first was illustrated by Epictetus. “Give me proof, whether you have striven lawfully, eaten what is prescribed, taken exercise, heeded your trainer.”[64] Epictetus described this training process at length. “You say ‘I want to win at Olympia.’ Hold on a minute. Look at what is involved both before and after, and only then, if it is to your advantage, begin the task. If you do, you will have to obey instructions, eat according to the regulations, keep away from desserts, exercise on a fixed schedule at definite hours, in both heat and cold; you must not drink cold water nor can you have a drink of wine whenever you want. You must hand yourself over to your coach exactly as you would to a doctor.”[65]

The second area of “striving lawfully” related to an oath that would be taken by the athletes before the games began. In this oath the contestant would affirm that he had trained in the prescribed manner and would observe the rules of his event. At Olympia, for example, Philostratus related how the athletes, along with their fathers, brothers, and trainers would swear that they would commit no foul play and that they had trained faithfully. “If you have labored so hard as to be entitled to go to Olympia and have banished all sloth and cowardice from your lives, then march boldly on; but as for those who have not so trained themselves, let them depart whithersoever they like.”[66]

Concerning the oath, Conybeare added that the athletes had to swear that they had been in training for ten months and that then they would practice in the gymnasium before the games under the directions of the judges or umpires.[67] Drees described the oath-taking ceremony in this way: “The oath-taking ceremony was then performed. .. in front of the statue of Zeus. This statue, which was called ‘Zeus God of Oaths,’ was most awe-inspiring. It seems that the athletes, their fathers and brothers and also their trainers were required to swear over the entrails of a boar that they would not cheat at the Olympic Games. The athletes were then called upon to give a further oath to the effect that they had carefully prepared for the games over a period of ten months.”[68]

1 Corinthians 9:27. What were the consequences for an athlete not “striving lawfully” or “according to the rules.” What were the results if he broke training or broke the rules during the games? He would not receive a crown (2 Tim. 2:5). Or to put it another way he would be disqualified from winning the prize (1 Cor. 9:27). The word Paul used for being disqualified is ἀδόκιμοs. The antonym (δόκιμοs) refers to what is “valid, recognized, approved or accepted” (Rom. 14:18; 16:10; 1 Cor. 11:19; 2 Cor. 10:18). Conversely ἀδόκιμοs refers to what is worthless, rejected, or proved to be a sham.[69]

The idea of disqualification is seen in three incidents recounted by Pausanias. In the first he described a case with Apollonius, an Egyptian boxer from Alexandria, who arrived late for the Olympiad in A.D. 107. He said he was late because adverse winds had delayed his ship. But Heraclides, another Alexandrian boxer, was able to disprove this story by proving that Appollonius had really gone to the Ionian games to win prize money. Because of this, Apollonius was disqualified and Heraclides was pronounced the winner.[70] Pausanias also told of a case in which an athlete was disqualified and his crown was awarded to his competitor even though the competitor was dead.[71] Also Cleomedes was disqualified by the judges, went mad, returned to Asypalaea, and attacked a school of about sixty children by pulling down a pillar that held up the roof.[72]

The interesting point in relation to Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians (and elsewhere) is that Paul considered it a real possibility that he could someday be refused a crown from the heavenly Judge. Just as an athlete could be refused a reward in the athletic contests by not abiding by the rules, so some Christians will be refused rewards if they do not run the race of life according to God’s rules. Thus it is imperative that believers in the Lord Jesus strive to lead godly lives as earnestly as the ancient athletes trained and exerted themselves in the games.

Summary

The writings of Paul contain athletic imagery that illustrates the nature of the Christian life. It is demonstrable from historical sources that the apostle was drawing his illustrations from the games with which he was personally familiar. Therefore it is valuable for readers today to have some acquaintance with the historical development of the athletic contests in order to have a fuller appreciation of the meaning of Paul’s allusions. When this history is examined, data is discovered regarding specific sports such as running and boxing. Moreover, insight is gained as to the serious nature of athletics, the crowning ceremony, and the sobering possibility of disqualification.

This investigation leads to two notable conclusions regarding the Christian life. First, the dedicated Christian life consists not in a passive “letting go and letting God.” Instead it requires an earnest, consistent striving, fueled by the grace of God. Second, being disqualified from reward is a real possibility for every believer. Thus the child of God must be careful to strive according to the rules (2 Tim. 2:5) in order to receive rewards from the Lord.

Notes

1. Though not exhaustive, the key New Testament passages are 1 Corinthians 9:24–27; 2 Timothy 2:5; and 4:7–8.
2. This study will also be relevant for discussions involving perseverance and reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
3. This material on the Olympics is taken from Frederick Wright, “Olympic Games,” in Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949), 621.
4. A. Papalas, “The Development of Greek Boxing,” Ancient World 9 (1984): 74. For a summary of the four major crown games see Waldo Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece (New York: Oxford, 1987), 573.
5. Pausanias, Description of Greece (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978), 1.44.11. Oscar Broneer wrote that “the Isthmian Games were dedicated to Poseidon, the pagan god of the sea, and to the boy-god Palaimon” (“The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games,” Biblical Archaeologist 25 [1962]: 2). See also Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece, 7–8; and Frederick Wright, “Isthmia,” in Oxford Classical Dictionary, 461. While this was the legend adopted by the Corinthians, Wright also described the myth held by the Athenians.
6. Oscar Broneer, “Corinth: Center of Paul’s Missionary Work in Greece,” Biblical Archaeologist 14 (1951): 95.
7. Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 433 n. 58. See also Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1983), 14.
8. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 1.7. Pausanias also observed that when Corinth was decimated by Mummius, the games were not interrupted but were entrusted to the Sicyonians until they were restored to Corinth (ibid., 2.2).
9. Arthur Ross, “Games,” in Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1976), 298.
10. Dio Chrysostom, Concerning Virtue (London: William Heinemann, 1961), 6.9. 14.15.
11. “The early Christians, therefore, whether Jewish or gentile origin, were able to understand, and the latter at any rate to appreciate, references either to the games in general, or to details of their celebration” (William Taylor Smith, “Games,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1939], 2:1171).
12. Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth, 16.
13. Even if Paul were not, technically speaking, a tentmaker but rather a leather-worker, this would not have precluded his making or repairing tents or shelters.
14. Livy, Book XXIII: From the Founding to the City (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1966), 23.32.
15. Oscar Broneer, “The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games,” Biblical Archaeologist 25 (1962): 4-5, 20. See also Murphy-O’Connor, St. Paul’s Corinth, 17.
16. Oscar Broneer, “Paul and the Pagan Cults at Isthmia,” Harvard Theological Review 64 (1971): 169.
17. Michael Poliakoff noted that “the Greek, and later the Greco-Roman, world was packed with athletic festivals, ranging from small contests that admitted only local citizens to the great national festivals, to which the whole ancient world thronged” (Combat Sports in the Ancient World [New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1987], 18). This knowledge of sport was also known in Jerusalem. Josephus wrote, “In the first place he [Herod] appointed solemn games to be celebrated every fifth year, in honor of Caesar, and built a theatre in Jerusalem.. .. He celebrated these games every five years, in the most solemn and splendid manner.. .. Those that strove for the prizes in such games, were invited out of every land, both by the hopes of the rewards to be bestowed, and by the glory of victory to be there gained” (The Antiquities of the Jews 4.8.1; see also idem, TheJewish Wars 1.21.8). In addition David Romano wrote that “the great number of preserved stadia attests to the importance of athletics and competition in ancient Greece.. .. Classical stadia have been excavated at Isthmia, Olympia, and Haliesis” (“The Ancient Stadium: Athletes and Arete,” Ancient World 7 [1983]: 9, 11. See also Ross, “Games,” 298; and Smith, “Games,” 2:1171).
18. Günther Ebel, “πορεύομαι,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986), 3:946.
19. Smith, “Games,” 2:1172. A στάδιος was a measurement of six hundred Greek feet, and since a stade was the length of the Olympic course, the word came to be used of a race course (James Hope Moulton and George Milligan, TheVocabulary of the Greek Testament [1930; reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1997], 586).
20. Ludwig Drees, Olympia (New York: Frederick Praeger, 1968), 78–79. Pausanias referred to these three races in these words: “Polites also you will consider a great marvel. This Polites was from Ceramus in Caria, and showed at Olympia every excellence in running. For from the longest race, demanding the greatest stamina, he changed, after the shortest inverval, to the shortest and quickest, and after winning a victory in the long race and immediately afterwards in the short race, he added on the same day a third victory in the double course” (Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.13.3).
21. The need for spiritual stamina and endurance is evident especially in Hebrews 12:1, which says that the believer is to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” The writer to the Hebrews encouraged his readers to be “fixing their eyes on Jesus” as they run their race (12:1).
22. Walter Bauer, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2d ed., rev. F. Wilbur Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 756.
23. E. Norman Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World (Chicago: Ares, 1930), 135. The races were not around a curved track like the race courses today. Instead the runners ran down a straight track (ibid., 128). See also H. A. Harris, Sport inGreece and Rome (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1972), 27. E. Norman Gardiner suggested that possibly each post was distinguished by some special sign or color (Greek Athletic Sports and Festivals [London: Macmillan, 1910], 279).
24. Harris, Sport in Greece and Rome, 31.
25. Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, 137.
26. Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece, 118.
27. Pindar, The Olympian Odes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1961), I.V.10.
28. Philo, Every Good Man Is Free (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929), 110.113.
29. Epictetus, Discourses (London: William Heinemann, 1969), 3.22.52. Antony Raubitschek notes that “the ‘agnostic’ attitude was from the very beginning not confined to athletic exercises but it constituted a code of conduct, the striving for excellence and for its recognition in the form of honor” (“The Agonistic Spirit in Greek Culture,” Ancient World 7 [1983]: 7).
30. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 14.
31. Karl Heinrich Ringwald, “ἀγών,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1:645. See also Epictetus, Discourses 3.25.3; and Herodotus, Book VIII 102; 9.60.1.
32. See for example Wisdom of Solomon 4:2 and 2 Maccabees 8:16.
33. Ringwald, “ἀγών,” 1:647.
34. Ethelbert Stauffer, “ἀγών,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich, trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 137. Victor Pfitzner argued that though the idea of maximum exertion is present in Paul’s use of ἀγών in Philippians 1:30; Colossians 2:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:2; 1 Timothy 6:12; and 2 Timothy 4:7, the verb ἀγωνίζομαι in 1 Corinthians 9:25 emphasizes more the idea of the self-restriction that athletes must endure. This idea relates well to the ideas Paul developed in 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 (Paul and the Agon Motif [Leiden: Brill, 1967], 87).
35. Colin J. Hemer, “στέφανοs,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1:405.
36. R. C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985), 79.
37. Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, 589.
38. A. Ringwald, “βραβείον,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 1:648–49.
39. Ethelbert Stauffer, “βραβεύω,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament vol. 1 (1964), 638; and Smith, “Games,” 2:1173.
40. Broneer, “Paul and the Pagan Cults at Isthmia,” 185–86. Broneer also suggested that the competition in the pine-bending contest alluded to the striving for mastery in the games (ibid., 186).
41. Plutarch, Plutarch’s Lives: Marcellus (London: William Heinemann, 1917), 5.3.1. Also crowns were sometimes made of celery or even olive leaves, but when the games first began the wreaths were made of pine, which later in Roman times was reintroduced alongside the celery. For more on this issue see Broneer, “Paul and the Pagan Cults at Isthmia,” 186; idem, “Corinth: Paul’s Center of Missionary Work in Greece,” 96; Oscar Broneer, “The Isthmian Victory Crown,” American Journal of Archaeology 66 (1962): 261; Oppian, Cynegetica (London: William Heinemann, 1933), 4.197; Plutarch, Plutarch’s Lives: Marcellus, 5.3.3; and Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World, 18.
42. Otto Bauernfeind, “τρέχω,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 8 (1972), 227.
43. Herodotus, Book VIII, 8.26.3.
44. Dio Chrysostom, The Thirty-First Discourse: To the People of Rhodes (London: William Heinemann, 1961), 31.20-21.
45. Drees, Olympia, 36. For other remunerations represented by the crown see Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece, 119–20; and David Young, “Professionalism in Archaic and Classical Greek Athletics,” Ancient World 7 (1983): 46-48.
46. Drees, Olympia, 86.
47. Harris, Sport in Greece and Rome, 24.
48. Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World, 86.
49. Broneer, “Corinth: Center of Paul’s Missionary Work in Greece,” 96.
50. Drees, Olympia, 82. Papalas also noted that “certain Greek boxing practices from the modern point of view seem unsportsmanlike. It was perfectly acceptable to hit a man while he was down. This is where the hammer punch, a chopping blow to the back of the head, was useful.. .. Furthermore, kicking was permitted, though we do not know under what circumstances. The most puzzling tactic however was striking with the open hand” (“The Development of Greek Boxing,” Ancient World 9 [1984]: 73).
51. Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, 415. Paul also alluded to temperance in 1 Corinthians 9:25 and discipline in verse 27. It is also possible that temperance could enter into the realm of boxing as well as in the realm of running. Gardiner wrote that in boxing “forcing tactics do not pay, the boxer who makes the pace too fast exhausts himself to no purpose; in the descriptions of fights which we possess it is usually the clumsy, untrained boxer who forces the pace and tries to rush his opponent, with disastrous effects to himself. Caution was therefore the rule of the Greek boxer; and the fighting was therefore usually slow” (ibid., 416).
52. Lucillius, Greek Anthology, 11.75. Poliakoff also mentioned vase paintings that show blood pouring from boxers’ noses, as well as cuts to the face and eyes struck out. It was considered a bad omen to dream of boxing, for this could mean possible misfortune (Combat Sports in the Ancient World, 86–87; see also Pausanias, Description of Greece, 6.15.5).
53. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 431.
54. Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, 343.
55. C. K. Barrett, Commentary on First Corinthians, Black’s New Testament Commentaries (New York: Harper & Row, 1968; reprint, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1987), 218; and Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, 343.
56. Stephen Miller, “Excavations at Nemea,” Hesperia 48 (1979): 79.
57. Nicos Papahatizis, Ancient Corinth (Athens: Ekdotike Athenon, 1981), 37; and Drees, Olympia, 36–37, 54.
58. Pfitzner, Paul and the Agon Motif, 94.
59. Drees, Olympia, 69.
60. Walter Grundmann, “στέφανοs,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 7 (1971), 620; Ross, “Games,” 299; and Smith, “Games,” 2:1172.
61. Alfred Plummer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians (Edinburgh: Clark, 1983), 197.
62. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 541.
63. W. Gutbrod, “νόμοs,” in Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 4 (1967), 1088.
64. Epictetus, Discourses 3.10.8.
65. Ibid., 15.2-5. See also Encheiridion (London: William Heinemann, 1969), 29.b. Pausanias related the story of a long-distance runner who won once at Olympia, twice at Delphi, three times at the Isthmus, and five times at Nemea. He was thought to be the first man ever to have eaten meat while preparing for the games “for athletes in training before him used to eat only a particular kind of cheese” (Description of Greece 6.7.10). Hugh Lee tells of pictures of trainers on vases where they are carrying a staff about the height of a man. At times athletes would be struck with it for breaking the rules (“Athletic Arete in Pindar,” Ancient World 7 [1983]: 32). The athletes trained in the γυμνασία (“gymnasium”), an important feature of every Greek city. The word is found in 1 Maccabees 1:14 and 2 Maccabees 4:9 where the allusion is to places of Greek amusement at Jerusalem. Paul used this word in 1 Timothy 4:8 (W. J. Conybeare, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1966], 539 n. 2; and Moulton and Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament, 133).
66. Philostratus, The Life of Apollonius of Tyana (London: William Heinemann, 1926), 5.43. See also Gardiner, Athletics of the Ancient World, 278–279; and Poliakoff, Combat Sports in the Ancient World, 20.
67. The judges and umpires had to have been instructed in the details of the games for ten months (Conybeare, The Life and Epistles of St. Paul, 539 n. 2). See also J. N. D. Kelly, A Commentary on the Pastoral Epistles (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1983), 175–76; and Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.25.9–10.
68. Drees, Olympia, 68. See also Sweet, Sport and Recreation in Ancient Greece, 240.
69. Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 18; and Hermann Haarbeck, “δόκιμοs,” in New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, 3:808.
70. Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.21.12–14.
71. Ibid., 8.40.1-2.
72. Ibid., 6.9.6. Broneer saw a reference to the oath in 2 Timothy 4:7–8. He renders these verses this way: “I have competed in the good olympic games; I have finished the foot race, I have kept the pledge (i.e., to compete honestly, with reference to the athletic oath). What remains to me is to receive the crown of righteousness, which has been put aside for me; it will be awarded to me by the Lord, the just umpire, on that day” (Oscar Broneer, “The Apostle Paul and the Isthmian Games,” Biblical Archaeologist 25 [1962]: 31 n. 23).