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Exegetical Notes on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9


Exegetical Notes on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

(NRSV)
Brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human?

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Observation:
  • Paul addressed the Corinthians with a loving term (Adelphoi)
  • Paul could not speak to the Corinthians as spiritual people
  • Spoke as people of the flesh (sarkinois)
  • Referred to them as babes in Christ
  • Metaphor – fed with milk, not solid food, because they were not ready for solid food.
Who: Paul
What: Loved the Corinthians and pointed out their immaturity
When: 50-55 AD
Where: Corinth

  • They still are not ready – for they are fleshy (sarkikoi)
  • There is still jealousy and quarrelling
    • These are signs of the flesh
    • This is behaving according to human inclinations
  • When a person chooses who they belong to i.e. Paul, Apollos – they are being carnal (KJV)
Who: Corinthians
What: Behaving carnally though jealousy and quarrelling (factions)

  • Asking who is Apollos, and who is Paul
    • They are both servants through whom the Corinthians came to believe.
  • Metaphor: Paul planted, Apollos watered, God gave the growth.
    • Planting and watering have a common purpose
    • Will receive wages according to the labor.
  • Paul says he and Apollos are God’s servants working together
    • The Corinthians are God’s field, God’s building

Who: Paul
What: pointing out that in the Church, many people have many different purposes, but ultimately God gives the growth

Interpretation:

Literary Genre: Epistle (Letter) from St. Paul specifically to the Church in Corinth
Literary Context: Dealing with factions within the Corinthian Church
Other issues in the letter include sexual immorality, lawsuits in pagan courts, and wanton abuse within the Eucharistic meal.
Socio-Economic Context: Corinth was a major hub of both land and water trade.
Religious context: Corinth had many pagan temples, and one modest Synagogue.  One pagan temple dedicated to Aphrodite employed a great number of temple prostitutes.
Cultural Context: The Hellenic world loved philosophy - they used it to make sense of their experience.  There were many different schools, each with their own starting points, and they would often debate one another regarding perspectives on a given issue.  (Cicero: On the nature of the gods.)
Agricultural: Planting, watering, and giving the growth.  Obviously to anyone who farms or gardens, we merely create the conditions for crops to grow well.  The growth itself happens on its own.  Paul shows how the power of God creates growth in the plants, just like spiritual growth happens from God.  Paul and Apollos were merely servants who created the right conditions.
Geographical: Corinth is on the island of Peloponese, right on the Saronic Gulf.  It is situated well for both land and sea trade – about 50 miles as the crow flies from Athens.  With all the trade, it probably had variety of cultures converging.  (One of Paul’s objectives in writing this letter was for them to rise above the petty bickering that was probably common in their every day lives.)

Key words:
Adelphoi in v 1 (G80) – literally brothers from the womb.  Paul used this word a lot (>50 times when addressing other Christians.  It was also used 54x in Acts – sometimes during evangelistic speeches – demonstrating love and affection even before a person became a beliver.  Jesus used this word in the Gospels to refer to the disciples post-resurrection, indicating an enhanced relationship.

Spiritual: Pneumatikois (G4152) – Same root as Holy Spirit.

Carnal: Sarkinois (G4559) – Pertaining to flesh, unregenerate.  Often used as an antonym to Pneumatikois.  Derrived from (G4561) – Sarx: The skin, flesh, etc.

In Verse 5
Servants: Diakonoi
Believed: Episteusate.  (G4100) There is a huge element of trust in this word.  It can also mean to know at the very core of your being.  In modern English belief has become a subjective concept.  Faith comes from the same root (4102) indicating that a person is persuaded to the moral truth of something.

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