Passage Research
1 Corinthians 3 — Sermon Preparation
Paul corrects the Corinthians' attachment to human leaders by describing ministers as God's co-workers, with Christ as the only foundation. Below is a research summary for 1 Corinthians 3, drawn from openly licensed scholarly databases — original-language morphology, classic sermons from the church fathers through the Puritans, and ancient geography data.
- 23
- verses
- 340 / 132
- Greek words / lemmas
- 25
- classic sermon excerpts
- 7
- preachers & commentators
1 Corinthians 3 in the Greek
Distinctive vocabulary of this chapter, based on original-language morphology.
| Greek | Transliteration | Strong's | Count | KJV renderings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| σοφός | sophós | G4680 | 5 | wise |
| ἐποικοδομέω | epoikodoméō | G2026 | 4 | build thereon |
| Ἀπολλῶς | Apollōs | G625 | 4 | Apollos |
| ποτίζω | potízō | G4222 | 4 | give to drink, feed, water |
| ἕκαστος | hékastos | G1538 | 5 | any, both, each, every |
| φυτεύω | phyteúō | G5452 | 3 | plant |
| θεμέλιος | themélios | G2310 | 3 | foundation |
How preachers through history handled this text
25 public-domain excerpts on 1 Corinthians 3, from the church fathers to the Puritans.
“To have a high opinion of our own wisdom, is but to flatter ourselves; and self-flattery is the next step to self-deceit. The wisdom that wordly men esteem, is foolishness with God. How justly does he despise, and how easily can he baffle and confound it! The thoughts of the wisest men in the world, have vanity, weakness, and folly in them. All this should teach us to be humble, and make us willing to be taught of God, so as not to be led away, by pretences to human wisdom and skill, from the simple truths revealed by Christ. …”
— Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), on 1 Corinthians 3:18–30 (Public Domain)
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