1 Corinthians 3:9 BSB

1 Corinthians 3:9

For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

For we are God’s fellow-workers: ye are God’s husbandry, God’s building.

KJV

For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

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Commentary

4 voices

Shepherd of Hermas

Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3 (160)

"But who are these, Lady, that are white and round, and yet do not fit into the building of the tower?" She answered and said, "How long will you be foolish and stupid, and continue to put every kind of question and understand nothing? These are those who have faith indeed, but they have also the riches of this world. When, therefore, tribulation comes, on account of their riches and business they deny the Lord." I answered and said to her, "When, then, will they be useful for the building, Lady?"

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

For we are all fellowlabourers - God's labourers, and fellowlabourers with each other. Ye are God's husbandry - This is the sum of what went before: it is a comprehensive word, taking in both a field, a garden, and a vineyard.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. God dwelt in the Jewish temple, took possession of it, and resided in it, by that glorious cloud that was the token of his presence with that people. So Christ by his Spirit dwells in all true believers.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

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

For we are labourers together with God - Θεοῦ γάρ ἐσμεν συνεργοί Theou gar esmen sunergoi. We are God’s co-workers. A similar expression occurs in 2Co 6:1, “We then as workers together with him,” etc. This passage is capable of two significations: first, as in our translation, that they were co-workers with God; engaged with him in his work, that he and they cooperated in the production of the effect; or that it was a joint-work; as we speak of a partnercy, or of joint-effort among people. So many interpreters have understood this.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

9 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
θεοῦ	theou	Of God	G2316 →
γάρ	gar	for	G1063 →
ἐσμεν	esmen	we are	G1510 →
συνεργοί·	sunergoi	fellow workers;	G4904 →
θεοῦ	theou	God’s	G2316 →
γεώργιον,	geōrgion	field,	G1091 →
θεοῦ	theou	God’s	G2316 →
οἰκοδομή	oikodomē	building	G3619 →
ἐστε.	este	you are.	G1510 →

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

G3619oikodomebuilding18×

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 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:19
  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
- Ezekiel 36:27
  And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
- 2 Corinthians 6:16
  What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and…
- Romans 8:11
  And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His…
- Ephesians 2:21–22
  In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.
Through
1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
leads to
- Ephesians 2:20–22
  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.
- 1 Peter 2:9
  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
- Revelation 5:10
  You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

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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