1 Corinthians 3 is the third chapter of the

First Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. It is authored by

Paul the Apostle Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

and

Sosthenes Sosthenes (Greek: Σωσθένης, ''Sōsthénēs'', "safe in strength") was the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio, the Roman governor ...

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...

, composed between 52–55 CE. In this chapter, Paul begins to deal with the issue of factionalism in the

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

church which is one of his main reasons for writing the letter.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 23 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Greek are: *

Papyrus 46 Papyrus 46 (''P. Chester Beatty II''), designated by siglum (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), is an early Greek New Testament manuscript written on papyrus, and is one of the manuscripts comprising the Chester Beatty Papyri. Manuscripts among ...

(AD 175–225) *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

(330–360) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) *

Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus The Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (Paris, National Library of France, Greek 9) designated by the siglum C or 04 {in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 3 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a ma ...

(~450) *

Papyrus 14 Papyrus 14 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1036 (in the Soden's numbering), signed by 𝔓14, is an early copy of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript written in form of codex. The manuscript palaeographically has been a ...

(6th century; extant verses 8–10, 19–20) *

Papyrus 11 Papyrus 11 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), signed by 𝔓11, is a copy of a part of the New Testament in Greek. It is a papyrus manuscript of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. It contains fragments 1 Corinthians 1:17-22; 2:9-12.14; 3:1-3,5 ...

(7th century; extant verses 1–3, 5–6)

Old Testament references

* 1 Corinthians 3:9 references Isaiah 61:3Footnote in 1 Corinthians in

RSV RSV may refer to: Biology and medicine * Respiratory syncytial virus, causing respiratory disease * Rous sarcoma virus, causing cancer in chickens Road vehicles * Several :Aprilia motorcycles, Aprilia motorcycles, e.g.RSV4 * Minicar RSV, a US saf ...

Second Catholic Edition 2006 * 1 Corinthians 3:19 references Job 5:13 * 1 Corinthians 3:20 references

Psalm 94 Psalm 94 is the 94th psalm in the biblical Book of Psalms. In the slightly different numbering system of the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate versions of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 93. In the King James Version its opening words are "O Lor ...

:11

New Testament references

* 1 Corinthians 3:2 references Hebrews 5:12–14

Paul's purpose

Paul's intention in this chapter is to address the spiritual immaturity of the Corinthian church, which is displayed through its intense factionalism. A similar image is used by the writer of the

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews ( grc, Πρὸς Ἑβραίους, Pros Hebraious, to the Hebrews) is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle. Mos ...

. The Corinthian church appears to be divided into factions supporting or allied with Paul,

Apollos Apollos ( grc-gre, Ἀπολλώς) was a 1st-century Alexandrian Jewish Christian mentioned several times in the New Testament. A contemporary and colleague of Paul the Apostle, he played an important role in the early development of the c ...

and Cephas (1 Corinthians 3:4 and 3:22). "Allegiance to people was obliterating the Gospel for them. Instead of being wise, they were becoming worldly fools".Buls, H. H.
Buls' Notes on 1 Corinthians 3:10–11, 16–23
accessed 20 March 2017

Verse 16

*"The temple of God": Illustration of the believers as "God's temple" puts Paul as a master builder, with

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

as "the only foundation", in allusion to

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

's temple, which is seen as "the mystical body of Christ". This correlates to the saying of Jewish sages of the Israelites (F14 R. Alshech in Hag. ii. 5.): , "the temple of the Lord are ye." *"The Spirit of God dwells in you": As a temple is "sacred to deity", so an evidence of the believers being the temple of God is that "the Spirit" should dwell here as 'God, a distinct divine person'.''John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible'', – 1 Corinthians 3:16
/ref>

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{First Epistle to the Corinthians 03