1 Corinthians 3:14

3:14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward.

1 Corinthians 3:1

Immaturity and Self-deception

3:1 So, brothers and sisters, ¹  I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, ²  as infants in Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:21

1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.

1 Corinthians 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ³  called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ⁴  by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,

1 Corinthians 2:14

2:14 The unbeliever ⁵  does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:1

2:1 When I came ⁶  to you, brothers and sisters, ⁷  I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony ⁸  of God.

1 Corinthians 3:9

3:9 We are coworkers belonging to God. ⁹  You are God’s field, God’s building.

¹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

² tn Grk “fleshly [people]”; the Greek term here is σαρκινός (BDAG 914 s.v. 1).

³ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

⁴ tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

⁵ tn Grk “natural person.” Cf. BDAG 1100 s.v. ψυχικός a, “an unspiritual pers., one who merely functions bodily, without being touched by the Spirit of God.”

⁶ tn Grk “and I, when I came.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, κἀγώ (kagw) has not been translated here.

⁷ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

⁸ tc ‡ A few important mss (Ì^46vid א* A C pc as well as some versions and fathers) read μυστήριον (musthrion, “mystery”) instead of μαρτύριον (marturion, “testimony”). But the latter has wider ms support (א² B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï and some versions), though not quite as impressive. μαρτύριον may have been changed by scribes in anticipation of Paul’s words in 2:7, or conversely, μυστήριον may have been changed to conform to 1:6. Transcriptionally, since “the mystery of God/Christ” is a well-worn expression in the corpus Paulinum (1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 3:4; Col 2:2; 4:3), while “testimony of Christ” occurs in Paul only once (1 Cor 1:6, though “testimony of the Lord” appears in 2 Tim 1:8), and “testimony of God” never, it is likely that scribes changed the text to the more usual expression. A decision is difficult in this instance, but a slight preference should be given to μαρτύριον.

⁹ tn Although 1 Cor 3:9 is frequently understood to mean, “we are coworkers with God,” such a view assumes that the genitive θεοῦ (qeou) is associative because of its relationship to συνεργοί (sunergoi). However, not only is a genitive of association not required by the syntax (cf. ExSyn 130), but the context is decidedly against it: Paul and Apollos are insignificant compared to the God whom they serve (vv. 5-8).