1 Corinthians 3:5-6

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:5

Who then is Paul? The better reading is what? ( א , A, B). The neuter would imply a still greater depreciation of the importance of human ministers. Ministers. The same word as that rendered "deacons" ( diakonoi ) ; "ministers of Christ on your behalf" ( Colossians 1:7 ). Through whom ye believed. Through whom," not " in whom" (Bengel). They were merely the instruments of your conversion. In the second Epistle ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 ) he calls them "the epistle of Christ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:5-7

Man's work and God's. Explain the agricultural figure used in 1 Corinthians 3:6 . In the production of the year's harvest many different agencies are employed. Each man has work and his time for work, and upon man's labour the harvest in large measure depends. Yet sun, and wind, and rain, and atmosphere, and soil, are things quite as essential as man's work, but absolutely out of man's control. Year by year man ploughs, man plants, man tends, but God gives the increase. So in spiritual... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:5-10

St. Paul's view of the ministry. After declaring to the Corinthians that they were carnal in their estimates of God's ministers, the apostle exposes their folly in this particular, by assuring them that he and Apollos were but ministers, or servants, whom God had commissioned to labour in their behalf. Halfway work he never did. To show their error, and prove that it was a worldly sentiment disguised under a fictitious admiration, he sets before them the true idea of the ministry, as an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:5-15

The one foundation and the diverse superstructure. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:6

I planted . St. Paul everywhere recognized that his gift lay pre eminently in the ability to found Churches (comp. Acts 18:1-11 ; 1 Corinthians 4:15 ; 1 Corinthians 9:1 ; 1 Corinthians 15:1 ). Apollos watered . If, as is now generally believed, Apollos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, we see how striking was his power of strengthening the faith of wavering Churches. Eloquence and a deep insight into the meaning of Scripture, enriched by Alexandrian culture, seem to have been his... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:6

Man's work and God's. I. MAN 'S WORK . It is: 1. Varied. Paul speaks of planting and watering; may extend to the multiform operations of agriculture. We cannot all do the same work. Let us seek to do that for which we are fitted. There is some spiritual work suited to each of us. In agriculture all find employment, from the boy with his clapper scaring away the birds, to the presiding mind which controls all operations. If Christians do nothing it is because they want to do... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:6-8

Spiritual husbandry and growth. A man, looking upon the world, sees according to his power of vision; i.e. not simply according to what he finds in it, but to what he brings to it. To the eye of the Apostle Paul, the world was a wilderness which might be made a garden. There was, he saw, rude, worthless growth to be extirpated, rich soil to be tilled, plants of worth and renown to replace the weeds. His prophetic eye beheld the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. And to his mind... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:5

Who then is Paul ... - See the notes at 1 Corinthians 1:13. Why should a party be formed which should be named after Paul? What has he done or taught that should lead to this? What eminence has he that should induce any to call themselves by his name? He is on a level with the other apostles; and all are but ministers, or servants, and have no claim to the honor of giving names to sects and parties. God is the fountain of all your blessings, and whoever may have been the “instrument” by whom... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - 1 Corinthians 3:6

I have planted - The apostle here compares the establishment of the church at Corinth to the planting of a vine, a tree, or of grain. The figure is taken from agriculture, and the meaning is obvious. Paul established the church. He was the first preacher in Corinth; and if any distinction was due to anyone, it was rather to him than to the teachers who had labored there subsequently; but he regarded himself as worthy of no such honor as to be the head of a party, for it was not himself, but God... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - 1 Corinthians 3:4-7

1 Corinthians 3:4-7. For while one saith, I am of Paul I am one of Paul’s disciples, admiring his sublime sentiments, and being greatly edified by his instructive discourses: and another, I am of Apollos I give the preference to Apollos, being delighted with his fine language, and the pleasing manner of his address. St. Paul names himself and Apollos, to show that he would condemn any division among them, even though it were in favour of himself, or the dearest friend he had in the world.... read more

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