1 Corinthians 3:2 BSB

1 Corinthians 3:2

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

I fed you with milk, not with meat; for ye were not yet able to bear it: nay, not even now are ye able;

KJV

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

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Commentary

2 voices

Irenaeus

Against Heresies (Book IV, Chapter 38) (202)

If, however, any one say, "What then? Could not God have exhibited man as perfect from beginning?" let him know that, inasmuch as God is indeed always the same and unbegotten as respects Himself, all things are possible to Him. But created things must be inferior to Him who created them, from the very fact of their later origin; for it was not possible for things recently created to have been uncreated. But inasmuch as they are not uncreated, for this very reason do they come short of the perfect.

The record, by era

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

I have fed you with milk - I have instructed you in the elements of Christianity - in its simplest and easiest truths; because from the low state of your minds in religious knowledge, you were incapable of comprehending the higher truths of the Gospel: and in this state you will still continue. The apostle thus exposes to them the absurdity of their conduct in pretending to judge between preacher and preacher, while they had but a very partial acquaintance even with the first principles of Christianity.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

13 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
γάλα	gala	Milk	G1051 →
ὑμᾶς	humas	you	G4771 →
ἐπότισα,	epotisa	I gave to drink,	G4222 →
οὐ	ou	not	G3756 →
βρῶμα·	brōma	solid food;	G1033 →
οὔπω	oupō	not yet	G3768 →
γὰρ	gar	for	G1063 →
ἐδύνασθε,	edunasthe	were you able,	G1410 →
ἀλλ᾽	all᾽	In fact	G235 →
οὐδὲ	oude	not	G3761 →
ἔτι	eti	still	G2089 →
νῦν	nun	now	G3568 →
δύνασθε·	dunasthe	are you able;	G1410 →

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
1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 3:1–2
  Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Hebrews 5:12–13
  Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!
- Ephesians 4:15
  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
- 2 Peter 3:18
  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
- Mark 10:15
  Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Through
John 16:12
I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.
leads to
- Mark 4:33
  With many such parables Jesus spoke the word to them, to the extent that they could understand.
- John 15:15
  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have…
- Acts 1:3
  After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

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

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Moses and Aaron Appear before Pharaoh — engraving by Gustave Doré

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About 1 Corinthians

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

1 Corinthians: the study guide →Read chapter 3 →The featured study →

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