What is the effect and purpose of
consigning the man to Satan, the Destroyer? It is clear that the δύναμις, “power,” of the Lord is made
effectual by calling upon his name. πνεῦμα, “spirit,” is now, in contrast to v 3, the power which
represents the Lord himself. The destruction of the flesh can hardly mean
anything else but death (cf. 11:30). The shocking idea is to be understood in
the first instance within the context of contemporary history: the view of
curse and ban as entertained by the whole ancient and Jewish world. Here it is
not a case of mere exclusion from the church, but of a dynamistic ceremony.
The holiness of the church is conceived in metaphysical categories. Yet the
point does not lie in the physical aspect of the working of a supernatural
power, but in the fact that the accursed man is thrust out of the body of
Christ into the realm of wrath. This is plain from the purpose of the ceremony,
the saving of the πνεῦμα.
This is an enigmatic statement. Does the baptized man possess a character indelebilis? Or is the
intention precisely that the Spirit should be taken from him? (Hans
Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians: A Commentary
on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, [Hermeneia—a Critical and
Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975], 97-98,
emphasis in bold added)
