04_Sandnes_550-564_copia_550-564 10/12/15 10:24 Pagina 560 560 KARL OLAV SANDNES 560 his situation as God’s prophet (Jer 20,7-18). God has enticed and over- powered the prophet (Jer 20,7); against his will he is forced to speak words of judgment (Jer 20,8): “If I say ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name’, then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones, I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jer 20,9). Commentaries on 1 Cor 9,16 consequently refer frequently to this text in Jeremiah, as does Nestle-Aland 28th edition of Novum Testamentum Graece. Other relevant passages from the prophetic literature are Jer 4,19 (“ … I cannot keep silent … ”); Amos 3,8 (“The lion has roared, who will not fear? The Lord God has spo- ken; who can but prophesy?”). The Jonah story of the prophet’s futile attempt to flee his mission develops this motif narratively 30. How does this picture of Paul fit into the argument of 1 Corinthi- ans 9 and its context? This chapter is integrated by the logic running through chapter 8 about renunciation of rights for the sake of the weak; see 8,9-13 in particular. In chap. 9, Paul uses himself as ex- emplum. His apostolic ministry gives a paradigm of giving up on rights. Paul makes a strong case for his right to receive the neces- sary support from the Corinthians (1 Cor 9,4-12a.13-14). He insists on his right to be hosted by them, and he makes reference to argu- ments of apostolic practice (vv.5-6), common logic (vv.7 and 13), and what the Law says (vv.9-10). He argues from the greater to the lesser (v.11), and he draws on Jesus tradition (v.14). In 1 Cor 9,12b and 15 he states emphatically that he has never made use of his ob- vious right. Thus his apostolic practice offers them an example. At this point the prophetic analogy enters his argument. His renunci- ation of his right and his inability to boast in his proclamation of the gospel stem from the fact that constraint (avna,gkh) lies upon him. He has been entrusted with this mission, and this sets him apart from other preachers. This aspect is not what his Corinthian converts are urged to imitate; the imitation refers solely to the re- nunciation. Implied is that the prophet-like apostolic ministry emerging from this text is central to Paul’s practice, but of little in- terest to the argument he makes for the sake of his addressees. What they are really urged to imitate is his Christ-like aposto- late. That unites Paul’s example with the key argument running 30 From a phenomenological perspective, prophets more widely found themselves under divine constraint; see e.g. Sib.Or. 3,162-164. 295-299. 490. This passage uses the verb keleu,ein and the noun avna,gkh to bring this out.