1 Corinthians 3:16

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:16

1 Corinthians 3:16. Know ye not that ye are the temple, &c.— "I told you that ye are God's building, 1 Corinthians 3:9. I now observe more than that;—Ye are the temple of God, in which his Spirit dwells." Many of the first ancient writers represent a holy mind as the temple of God, and speak in the highest and strongest terms of the obligations men are under to keep his temples inviolate and unpolluted. Indeed, we cannot conceive a more forcible argument for internal purity, than this,... read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:16

16. Know ye not—It is no new thing I tell you, in calling you "God's building"; ye know and ought to remember, ye are the noblest kind of building, "the temple of God." ye—all Christians form together one vast temple. The expression is not, "ye are temples," but "ye are the temple" collectively, and "lively stones" ( :-) individually. God . . . Spirit—God's indwelling, and that of the Holy Spirit, are one; therefore the Holy Spirit is God. No literal "temple" is recognized by the New Testament... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 3:5-17

5. The role of God’s servants 3:5-17Paul turned next to a positive explanation of how his readers should view him and his fellow workers."At issue is their radically misguided perception of the nature of the church and its leadership, in this case especially the role of the teachers." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 128.] "In the first place, they have not understood the nature and character of the Christian message, the true wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18 to 1 Corinthians 3:4). In the second... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 3:16

The Corinthian church was a temple that God’s Spirit indwelt. Paul was not speaking here of individual believers being temples of God, though we are (1 Corinthians 6:19), or of the church universal as the temple of God, though it is (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5). He meant the collective body of believers that made up the local church, as is clear from his use of the plural "you" in the Greek text and the singular "temple." The local congregation was not just any building (1 Corinthians 3:9)... read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

A warning against destroying the church 3:16-17This is perhaps the strongest warning in the New Testament against taking the church lightly and destroying it with the world’s wisdom and division. read more

John Darby

Darby's Synopsis of the New Testament - 1 Corinthians 3:16

3:16 temple (c-9) Naos . the house itself -- the shrine. read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

The Fault of Party SpiritThe immaturity of the Corinthian converts and their unfitness for anything but elementary instruction in the faith is proved by their mutual jealousies and their disagreements about their teachers.1-9. Paraphrase. ’Te yourselves, brethren, are an illustration of what I say. (2) I have treated you as beginners and given you elementary Christian teaching, for hitherto you have been unfit for any other. (3, 4) You are still but immature Christians, as the strife and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Corinthians 3:16

(16) The temple of God.—From the thought of grand edifices in general the Apostle goes on to the particular case of a building which is not only splendid but “holy”—the temple of God—thus reminding the reader that the rich and valuable metals and stones spoken of previously are to represent spiritual attainments. He introduces the passage with the words “Do ye not know,” implying that their conduct was such as could only be pursued by those who were either ignorant or forgetful of the truth of... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 A man always is to be himself the judge how much of his mind he will show to other men; even to those he would have work along with him. Carlyle, Heroes, VI 1 Corinthians 3:2 It is a fact, forced upon one by the whole experience of life, that almost all men are children, more or less, in their tastes and admirations. De Quincey, Autobiographic Sketches , XIII. References. III. 1-8. J. Bowstead, Practical Sermons, vol. i. p. 281. III. 2. G. W. Brameld, Practical Sermons,... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Chapter 6GOD’S HUSBANDRY AND BUILDINGPAUL having abundantly justified his method of preaching to the Corinthians, and having shown why he contented himself with the simple presentation of the Cross, resumes his direct rebuke of their party spirit. He has told them that they were as yet unfit to bear the "wisdom" which he taught in some Churches, and the very proof of their immaturity is to be found in their partisanship. "While one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not... read more

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