1 Corinthians 3:4-7

3:4 For whenever someone says, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” are you not merely human? ¹ 

3:5 What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. ²  3:6 I planted, ³  Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow. 3:7 So neither the one who plants counts for anything, ⁴  nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth.

[3:4]  ¹ tn Grk “are you not men,” i.e., (fallen) humanity without the Spirit’s influence. Here Paul does not say “walking in accordance with” as in the previous verse; he actually states the Corinthians are this. However, this is almost certainly rhetorical hyperbole.

[3:5]  ² tn Grk “and to each as the Lord gave.”

[3:6]  ³ sn The expression I planted is generally taken to mean that Paul founded the church at Corinth. Later Apollos had a significant ministry there (watered). See also v. 10.

[3:7]  ⁴ tn Grk “is anything.”