1 Corinthians 3:1 BSB

1 Corinthians 3:1

Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ.

KJV

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

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Commentary

4 voices

Irenaeus

Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 8) (202)

Those persons, then, who possess the earnest of the Spirit, and who are not enslaved by the lusts of the flesh, but are subject to the Spirit, and who in all things walk according to the light of reason, does the apostle properly term "spiritual," because the Spirit of God dwells in them. Now, spiritual men shall not be incorporeal spirits; but our substance, that is, the union of flesh and spirit, receiving the Spirit of God, makes up the spiritual man.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

They were still mere babes in Christ. They had received some of the first principles of Christianity, but had not grown up to maturity of understanding in them, or of faith and holiness; and yet it is plain, from several passages in this epistle, that the Corinthians were very proud of their wisdom and knowledge.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

And I, brethren - See 1Co 2:1. This is designed to meet an implied objection. He had said 1Co 2:14-16 that Christians were able to understand all things. Yet, they would recollect that he had not addressed them as such, but had confined himself to the more elementary parts of religion when he came among them. He had not entered upon the abstruse and difficult points of theology - the points of speculation in which the subtle Greeks so much abounded and so much delighted. He now states the reason why he had not done it.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

15 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Κἀγώ,	Kagō	And I myself	G1473 →G2532 →
ἀδελφοί,	adelphoi	brothers	G80 →
οὐκ	ouk	not	G3756 →
ἠδυνήθην	ēdunēthēn	was able	G1410 →
λαλῆσαι	lalēsai	to speak	G2980 →
ὑμῖν	humin	to you	G4771 →
ὡς	hōs	as	G5613 →
πνευματικοῖς	pneumatikois	to spiritual	G4152 →
ἀλλ᾽	all᾽	but	G235 →
ὡς	hōs	as	G5613 →
σαρκίνοις,	sarkinois	to fleshly,	G4560 →
ὡς	hōs	as	G5613 →
νηπίοις	nēpiois	to infants	G3516 →
ἐν	en	in	G1722 →
Χριστῷ.	Christō	Christ.	G5547 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Hebrews 5:13
For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
leads to
- 1 Peter 2:2
  Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 14:20
  Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
- 2 Timothy 3:16
  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
- Ephesians 4:14
  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.
- Isaiah 28:9
  Whom is He trying to teach? To whom is He explaining His message? To infants just weaned from milk? To babies removed from the breast?
Through
1 Corinthians 14:20
Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 13:11
  When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways.
- Romans 16:19
  Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil.
- Matthew 18:3
  “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Composite Statue (Ars moriendi manuscript) — Unknown illuminator

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About 1 Corinthians

The Crucifixion — 'Christ crucified' (1 Cor 2:2) — Gustave Doré (engraving, public domain)

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Continue: 1 Corinthians 3 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About 1 Corinthians

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About 1 Corinthians