1 Corinthians 16:19-24

B. Final greetings and benediction 16:19-24

"The letter now concludes with a series of standard (for Paul) greetings (1 Corinthians 16:19-22) and the grace-benediction (1 Corinthians 16:23). But Paul cannot quite give up the urgency of the letter, so he interrupts these two rather constant elements of his conclusions with one final word of warning to those who have been causing him grief, this time in the form of an extraordinary curse formula (1 Corinthians 16:22). The apparent harshness of this warning is matched by the equally unusual addition of a final word of affirmation of his love for them (1 Corinthians 16:24), found only here in his extant letters. Thus even to the end the unique concerns that have forged this letter find their expression." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 834.]