In this chapter the apostle returns to the charge of schisms and contentions upon the Corinthians, which were the occasion of the epistle; and reproves them for their divisions, which were about their ministers; and gives them their just and due character, and who, though they were useful and…

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you Though the apostle was a spiritual man himself, had spiritual gifts, even the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, could judge all things, had the mind of Christ, and was able to speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, yet could not speak it to them, as unto…

I have fed you with milk It is usual with the Jews to compare the law to milk, and they say [[2]], that “as milk strengthens and nourishes an infant, so the law strengthens and nourishes the soul;” but the apostle does not here mean (חלב של תורה) , “the milk of the law”, as they [[3]] call it, but…

For ye are yet carnal The Syriac reads it, (בבסר אנתון) , “ye are in the flesh”: a phrase the apostle elsewhere uses of men in an unregenerate state; but this is not his meaning here, as before explained, but that carnality still prevailed among them, of which he gives proof and evidence: for…

For while one saith, I am of Paul This shows what their envying and strife, and divisions were about, and from whence they sprung; and which serve, to strengthen the proof, and support the charge of carnality brought against them; for when one sort made a party for Paul, and set up him as their…

Who then is Paul? and who is Apollos? &c.] The apostle’s name being used, and he a party concerned, could speak the more freely upon this head, and ask what they thought of himself, and other preachers, whether they were more than men? what authority and power they had, whether they looked upon…

I have planted That is, ministerially; otherwise the planting of souls in Christ, and the implanting of grace in them, are things purely divine, and peculiar to God, and the power of his grace; but his meaning is, that he was at Corinth, as in other places, the first that preached the Gospel to…

So then, neither is he that planteth anything Not that he is the happy instrument of beginning the good work: neither he that watereth; who is the means of carrying of it on: not that they are simply and absolutely nothing, without any restriction and limitation; they are men, they are Christians,…

Now he that planteth, and he that watereth are one Not in every respect so; they were different as men, they were not the same individual persons, nor in the same office; Paul was an apostle, Apollos only a preacher of the Gospel; nor had they the same measure of gifts, nor did they labour alike,…

For we are labourers together with God The ministers of the Gospel are labourers in the Lord’s vineyard, and not loiterers; their work is a laborious work, both to body and mind; which lies in close study and meditation, in diligent reading and constant prayer, in frequent ministration of the word,…

According to the grace of God which is given unto me Lest the apostle should be thought to be too much elated with the characters he had given of himself, and other ministers, or to assume too much to himself, in what he was about to say of himself, he ascribes all the gifts he had, and the…

For other foundation can no man lay Men may attempt to lay other foundations than Christ, and build upon them, but to no purpose; they will be of no avail; all besides him are sandy foundations; such as fleshly privileges, a carnal descent, a religious education, an external profession of religion,…

Now if any man build upon this foundation The different materials laid by one and the same man, on this foundation, or the different doctrines advanced upon it, are some of them comparable to gold, silver, precious stones; for their intrinsic worth and value; for the purity and sincerity of them;…

Every man’s work shall be made manifest The doctrine he preaches shall be sooner or later made manifest to himself, and to his hearers; who shall see the inconsistency, irregularity, and deformity of such a building; at first so well laid, then piled up with such excellent materials, and at last…

If any man’s work abide That is, if any minister’s doctrine will bear the test of daylight, to be looked into, and abide the fire of the word; as gold, silver, and precious stones will, or such doctrines as are comparable to them, which will shine the brighter for being tried by this fire: which he…

If any man’s work shall be burnt If any minister’s doctrine he has preached shall be destroyed and disappear, shall be disapproved of, and rejected by the churches, not being able, to bear the light and heat of the fire of God’s word: he shall suffer loss; of all his labour and pains he has been…

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God The apostle having spoken of the saints as God’s building, of himself as a wise master builder, of Christ as the only foundation, and of various doctrines as the materials laid thereon, proceeds to observe to this church, and the members of it, that they…

If any man defile the temple of God By the wisdom of the world, through philosophy, and vain deceit; by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, and hereby corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ; and make rents, factions, and divisions among them: him shall God destroy;…

Let no man deceive himself With vain notions of serving God and religion, and of doing the churches good by his carnal and worldly wisdom, and with false hopes of escaping the vengeance of God for sowing the tares of error, heresy, and discord among his people.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God The wisdom of the Jewish, or Gentile world. It is had in no account with him; it is despised and neglected by him; he makes it foolish, destroys it, and brings it to nothing; he lays it aside as useless, to make men wise unto salvation, and by…

And again Not in the same place, nor in the same book, but in the Psalms, in . This form of citing Scriptures answers to (ועוד) and moreover, used by the Jewish doctors when the matter does not so clearly appear from the first proof, and therefore they produce another [[15]]: and so here the…

Therefore let no man glory in men The apostle means ministers, who are but men, even the best of them, and therefore not to be gloried in; and has chiefly respect to the false teachers, whose wisdom, learning, and eloquence, the Corinthians were greatly taken with, and boasted of; it was so…

Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas These are particularly named, because their disputes were chiefly about them; but what is said of them is true of all other, and all the ministers of Christ, that they are the church’s.

And ye are Christ’s This is the ground and foundation of all things being theirs, and shows in what way they come by them, and what gives them their claim and property: they are Christ’s, he has an interest in them, and they in him; they are his, not only by creation, as all men are, but by the…