1 Corinthians

3:1-9

1. Maintaining unity in the church, 1:1-4:21

viii] A wisdom unsuitable for babies

Having first identified the divisions in the Corinthian church, 1:10-17, and having addressed the problem in the terms of resting on human wisdom rather than the message of the cross, 1:18-31, Paul continues to deal with the problem by applying the principle "the Lord assigned to each his task", v5. First, he reminds his readers of their worldly party-spirit, v1-4. They think they are "spiritual", but their "jealousy and quarreling" shows that they are "worldly". In v6-9 Paul illustrates and applies the principle, correcting the false views that have developed in the congregation with regard the nature of church and ministry. Paul makes the point that church leaders are merely servants of Christ; together they are "God's fellow workers" and are not special in their own right. The principle is further illustrated and applied in v10-17.

The above outline covering 3:5-17, follows Thiselton, but other outlines have been suggested from this point in Paul's argument through to 4:21. Verses 1-4 are generally in dispute, with some commentators including them with chapter 3. The outline proposed by R&P is worth considering: 3:5-4:21 deals with the true conception of the Christian pastorate; i] General definition, 3:5-9; ii] The builders, 3:10-15; iii] The temple, 3:16-17; iv] Warnings against a mere human estimate of the pastoral office, 3:18-4:5. Paul then winds up with a personal application and conclusion of the central subject of these early chapter, namely dissensions in the church, 4:6-21.

kagw "-" - and I. Emphatic position. Possibly here with a slightly consecutive sense following on from 2:16, "we have the mind of Christ and so ...... I could not speak to you as spiritual people", NRSV. Better, "for my part my Christian friends", Thiselton.

lalhsai (lalew) aor. inf. "[I could not] address [you]" - [I was not able] to speak. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of "was [not] able".

wJV "as" - like. Setting up a comparison.

pneumatikoiV dat. adj. "spiritual" - pertaining to the spirit. Adjective as a substantive. The Corinthians are indeed "spiritual people", in the sense of possessing the Spirit, but since they have so much to learn Paul is inclined not to address them as such.

alla "but" - Adversative.

sarkinoiV dat. adj. "worldly" - unspiritual, fleshly minded, carnal. Adjective as a substantive. The ending inoV indicates a material relation, while ikoV an ethical or dynamic relation, cf. R&P. This prompts Meyer's sense of "wholly of the flesh" meaning that Paul is stating that these particular Corinthians are not believers, yet this seems far too strong. "People who belong to the realm of flesh", BAGD, is far too literal to mean much. Theissen, Psychological Aspects has sarkikoV as "moved by self-interest", so probably we can take sarkinoV to mean "people moved by entirely human drives", Thiselton.

nhpioiV dat. adj. "infants" - infantile. Often used of beginners in Christ, new believers; "babes in Christ", R&P. Yet, best treated as an opposite to teleioi, those who are mature believers, so here "naive believers / infantile", cf. Naylor.

en + dat. "in" - "In relation with / in union with Christ."

gala (a) "milk" - "Rudimentary teaching", Garland.

brwma (a atoV) "solid food" - An expanded syllabus of Christian doctrine.

gar "for" - Explanatory. Note the play on words "I was not able because/for you were not yet able, [and] now still not able." "I could not (explain the cross of God's wisdom in mystery) because you could not (so understand it, given your advancement in the wrong direction)", Fee.

ou[pw adv. "net yet" - not yet.

edunasqe (dunamai) imperf. "you were [not yet] ready" - you were able. The complementary infinitive must be supplied; "you were not able / were not ready to eat solid food".

alla "indeed" - Here serving as an intensifier, ascensive; "nay, but not yet even now have ye the power", R&P.

eti "still" - "You are still not able to eat / ready to eat solid food. "And I don't believe you can do it now", Phillips.

gar "for" - Explanatory.

o{pou adv. "since" - This adverb of place, "where", sometimes takes a conditional sense, "whereas", as AV, even causal, "since", as NIV; "in so far as", Zerwick.

zhloV (oV) "jealousy" - With a good sense, "fervor", but with a negative sense, "jealousy / envy / resentment".

eriV (iV idoV) "strife" - conflict resulting from rivalry and discord*.

en "among [you]"- in, on. Obviously "among you."

ouci "[are you] not" - This negation is used in a question expecting an affirmative answer.

kai "-" - and, and yet, but. Probably here with the sense "that is".

peripateite (peripatew) pres. "acting" - walking about. "Walk about" in the sense of "conduct one's life."

kata "like [mere men]" - according to [man]. "Your lives and relationships are so filled with jealousy, quarreling and divisions that I must ask you to tell me; aren't you still secular?", Junkins.

gar "for" - Explanatory.

o{tan + subj. "when [one says]" - whenever [anyone may say]. This construction forms an indefinite temporal clause.

men ...... de "..... and ...." - This construction forms a comparative clause; "on the one hand I follow Paul and on the other hand I follow Apollos." It is unclear whether Apollos is the actual leader of one of the opposition parties in Corinth, or whether Paul intends "to less invidiously use these names as a point of departure for the coming analysis", R&P. See Introduction for an overview of the parties/groups in the Corinthian church.

Paulou (oV) "Paul" - of Paul. The genitive is most likely adjectival, possessive, so "I am one of Paul's people", Thiselton.

ouk "[are you] not [mere men?]" - This negation used in a question expects a positive answer, "yes".

anqrwpoi "mere men" - men. Probably in the sense of "human", or even better, "secular". "They are human beings who choose to forget their absolute dependence on God and to determine their own existence in accordance with their own desire rather than with his command", Bruce. "Don't you still live as everyone else in secular society lives", Junkins

It is interesting how Paul handles the issue of Christian ministry in this passage. He does not overvalue ministry leaving us with the notion that the minister is the church, it is his/her church - rectorial dictatorship. Yet, nor does Paul devalue ministry leaving us with the notion that ministry is but an optional extra in the business of building congregational life - congregational democracy; "everyman and his Bible". Ministers are appointed by God to exercise their particular divinely bestowed gifts for the building up of the congregation and it is essential for the congregation to accept this ministry. Paul had his ministry gifts, Apollos had his, each to be exercised and each to be accepted. Such ministry gifts cannot be the basis of party-spirit.

ti neut. pro. "what" - The neuter "what", rather than "who is Apollos?" is stylistic and increases the force of Paul's words; "I have mentioned the names of Apollos and myself. Well then, what is Apollos? and what is Paul?", Barrett. The answer is surely nothing in themselves (ruling out personality cults), but as servants of the Lord, everything. The task is what is important, not the person.

diakonoi (oV) "servants" - servants. The usual word for Christian ministry - servants of Christ in service to his people. "Ministers", AV, is an appropriate translation developed from the later technical use of the word "deacon", but "servants" is better.

dia + gen. "through [whom]" - through, by means of. Instrumental. Both Paul and Apollos were divine instruments leading to / the means that led to the right-standing before God of the believers in Corinth.

kai ... wV "as" - and [to each one] as [the Lord gave]. "In the measure the Lord granted to each", Cassirer. As noted above, this statement most likely sets out a principle of ministry which Paul then illustrates and applies in the following verses. None-the-less, as it stands the clause could well apply to the converts rather than Paul and Apollos. Their conversion is the Lord's doing, not their own, nor the doing of Paul and Apollos. None-the-less, it is more likely that "each one refers to the preachers, or servants; to each one was assigned a task, as the Lord gave it, and each performed his own duty", Barrett.

edwken (didwmi) aor. "has assigned" - gave. What the Lord "gave" was both the gifts to exercise the ministry and the ministry itself. In a sense, the gift of ministry is a gift to the church. Apollos, as with Paul, "carried out the task God gave him to do", Barclay.

ekastw/ dat. pro. "to each" - Ministry gifts are given to each individual for the exercise of their ministry, although Thiselton notes that the "each" is not promoting the individual exercise of those gifts, since Paul always maintains a collegiate view of ministry such that "the Lord has assigned to each that together they may exercise their task." Paul and Apollos are not individual operators.

"his task" - Not in the Gk., but added for meaning.

alla "but" - Adversative.

huxanen (auxanw) imperf. "[God] made it grow" - was giving growth. The analogy of planting out and tending a garden "functions both to affirm the ministry of Apollos and to put Paul and Apollos on an equal footing from the perspective of their mutual servanthood", Fee.

w{ste "so" - Introducing a consecutive clause expressing result, "with the result that ..."

oute .... oute "neither ..... nor".

oJ futeuwn (futeuw) pres. part. "he who plants" - the one planting. The participle functions as a substantive, so also "the one watering".

estin ti "is anything" - "Is something", R&P.

alla "but" - but, and. Here a strong adversative. This produces the contrast of Paul and Apollos who are not "something" as against God who is "everything".

oJ auxanwn (auxanw) pres. part. "[God] who makes things grow" - the one giving growth. The participle is adjectival, as NIV. "God who makes it grow is everything", Cassirer.

e{n neut. "[have] one purpose" - [are] one. The "one" is neuter, so not as "one person", but possibly with one "purpose", as NIV, or better as "one team" = "there is no difference between the man (person) who plants the seed and the man who waters it", Barclay. Both Paul and Apollos together fulfilled their divine charge "with no desire for adulation on the part of the Corinthians", Naylor.

lhmyetai (lambanw) fut. "[each] will be rewarded" - [each one] will receive [the one's own wages]. Paul is not establishing a principle of divine reward for earthly service. No merit can gain divine recompense since God bestows the fullness of divine blessing as an act of grace. Paul's point is that "the remuneration for Apollos and Paul will come from God who has assigned them to their individual tasks, and not from the reputation or glory that they might enjoy among those who might side with them or show them allegiance in some way", Fitzmyer.

kata + acc. "according to" - according to. "Each will receive his reward in proportion to his labor", Cassirer.

gar "for" - Here possibly causal, "because", with reference to v8a, or the argument so far, cf. Conzelmann quoting Lietzmann, but also possibly again explanatory, so Fee.

sunergoi (oV) "[we are God's] fellow workers" - helpers, co-workers. There are two possible meanings to this clause, both true to the Gk. i] "We are co-workers together with God", "collaborators with God", Fitzmyer, so Edwards, Godet, Lightfoot, R&P, cf. NAB; ii] "We are co-workers belonging to God", so Furnish, Barrett, Fee, Thiselton, Garland; "We are God's servants, working together", NRSV.

qeou gewrgion, qeou oikodomh este "you are God's field, God's building" - a farm of God, a building of God you are. The genitive "of God" is adjectival, most likely possessive, so Thiselton: The Corinthians are a cultivated field, possibly a vineyard that belongs to God, a building, temple, a holy house that belongs to God. On the other hand it is possible that the nouns "field" and "house" are not concrete metaphors but rather verbal nouns referring to the act of tillage, a field under cultivation, a building under construction = "the Corinthians are objects of God's work", Garland, ie. the genitive is functioning as a subjective. So, "the Corinthians exhibit God's operations in spiritual husbandry and spiritual architecture", R&P, a "field which God, through his servants, is cultivating, a building which God, through his servants, is erecting", Barrett. None-the-less, a possessive genitive seems more likely. At this point Paul mixes his metaphors, or better, he leads into his next illustration and application, "the image of the building and the testing of the builders work", 3:9c-15, Thiselton.

1 Corinthians Introduction

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