The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 5:2 Explained

1 Corinthians 5:2

KJV: And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.

YLT: and ye are having been puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he may be removed out of the midst of you who did this work,

Darby: And ye are puffed up, and ye have not rather mourned, in order that he that has done this deed might be taken away out of the midst of you.

ASV: And ye are puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  ye  are  puffed up,  and  have  not  rather  mourned,  that  he that hath done  this  deed  might be taken away  from  among  you. 

What does 1 Corinthians 5:2 Mean?

Study Notes

And ye are puffed up
What contempt this pours upon the divisions among the Corinthians: "Apollonians," and "Paulinians," and "Cephasites," all alike indifferent to this instance of gross sin!

Verse Meaning

The Corinthians" attitude about this situation was even worse than the sin itself. Rather than mourning over it and disciplining the offender they took pride in it. They may have viewed it as within the bounds of Christian liberty thinking that their position in Christ made sexual morality unimportant. Another possibility is that their worldly "wisdom" encouraged them to cast off sexual restraints.
". . . Paul is not here dealing with "church discipline" as such; rather, out of his Jewish heritage he is expressing what should be the normal consequences of being the people of God, who are called to be his holy people ( 1 Corinthians 1:2). It is this lack of a sense of sin, and therefore of any ethical consequences to their life in the Spirit, that marks the Corinthian brand of spirituality as radically different from that which flows out of the gospel of Christ crucified. And it is precisely this failure to recognize the depth of their corporate sinfulness due to their arrogance that causes Paul to take such strong action as is described in the next sentence ( 1 Corinthians 5:3-5)." [1]

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 5:1-13 - Removing Germs Of Evil
The sin referred to in this chapter has been condoned by the Corinthian church, and this proved that the prevalent standard of morals was low. A man had married his father's second wife-his father having probably died. Such an alliance could not be tolerated. A condemnation of the sin must be pronounced by the whole body of believers, acting in concert with the Holy Spirit resident among them. "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us," Acts 15:28.
Paul compares the Corinthian church to the Children of Israel, who, after sprinkling the blood, kept the feast of joy within closed doors-a careful search having been made for any atom of leaven that had hitherto escaped scrutiny. So we should put away from our lives, homes, and churches everything that would offend the gracious Paraclete. Since Christ has been slain for us, we must daily feed on Him with festal joy. Our loins must be girded as becomes those about to depart at a moment's notice. We must be ever on the alert to detect the summons for an exodus out of this dark Egyptian world into the world that is to come. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 5

1  The sexual immorality person,
6  is cause rather of shame unto them than of rejoicing
7  The old leaven is to be purged out
10  Heinous offenders are to be shamed and avoided

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 5:2

And ye are puffed up [και υμεις πεπυσιωμενοι εστε]
Emphatic position of υμεις — humeis (you). It may be understood as a question. Perfect passive periphrastic indicative of the same verb πυσιοω — phusioō used already of the partisans in Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:19, 1 Corinthians 4:20). Those of the same faction with this scoundrel justified his rascality. [source]
Did not rather mourn [και ουχι μαλλον επεντησατε]
Possibly question also and note strong negative form ουχι — ouchi which favours it. The very least that they could have done The sub-final use of ινα — hina of desired result (1 Corinthians 1:15) so common in the Koiné. First aorist passive subjunctive of αιρω — airō to lift up, to carry off. Decent self-respect should have compelled the instant expulsion of the man instead of pride in his rascality. [source]
That he might be taken away [ινα αρτηι]
The sub-final use of ινα — hina of desired result (1 Corinthians 1:15) so common in the Koiné. First aorist passive subjunctive of αιρω — airō to lift up, to carry off. Decent self-respect should have compelled the instant expulsion of the man instead of pride in his rascality. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 5:2

1 Corinthians 5:13 Put away the wicked man [εχαρατε τον πονηρον]
By this quotation from Deuteronomy 17:7 Paul clinches the case for the expulsion of the offender (1 Corinthians 5:2). Note εχ — ex twice and effective aorist tense. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 5:2 mean?

And you puffed up are not rather have mourned so that might be taken out of midst of you the [one] the deed this having done
καὶ ὑμεῖς πεφυσιωμένοι ἐστέ οὐχὶ μᾶλλον ἐπενθήσατε ἵνα ἀρθῇ ἐκ μέσου ὑμῶν τὸ ἔργον τοῦτο πράξας

πεφυσιωμένοι  puffed  up 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: φυσιόω  
Sense: to make natural, to cause a thing to pass into nature.
μᾶλλον  rather 
Parse: Adverb
Root: μᾶλλον  
Sense: more, to a greater degree, rather.
ἐπενθήσατε  have  mourned 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 2nd Person Plural
Root: πενθέω  
Sense: to mourn.
ἵνα  so  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
ἀρθῇ  might  be  taken 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Subjunctive Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: αἴρω  
Sense: to raise up, elevate, lift up.
ἐκ  out  of 
Parse: Preposition
Root: ἐκ 
Sense: out of, from, by, away from.
μέσου  midst 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Singular
Root: μέσος  
Sense: middle.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
  the  [one] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἔργον  deed 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: ἔργον  
Sense: business, employment, that which any one is occupied.
τοῦτο  this 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
πράξας  having  done 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: ἀναπράσσω 
Sense: to exercise, practise, to be busy with, carry on.