1 Corinthians 3:16

1 Corinthians 3:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
• New International Version (NIV)Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Context of 1 Corinthians 3:16

14If any person’s work which he has built [on this foundation, that is, any outcome of his effort] remains [and survives this test], he will receive a reward. 15But if any person’s work is burned up [by the test], he will suffer the loss [of his reward]; yet he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has barely escaped] through fire. Do you not know and understand that you [the church] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells [permanently] in you [collectively and individually]? 17If anyone destroys the temple of God [corrupting it with false doctrine], God will destroy the destroyer; for the temple of God is holy (sacred), and that is what you are. 18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.

1 Corinthians 3:16 word by word

Οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι ναὸς θεοῦ ἐστε, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ θεοῦ οἰκεῖ ἐν ὑμῖν;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Know yeεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• notοὐou · noG3756
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ye areεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• the templeναόςnaos · templeG3485
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• the Spiritὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the Spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
• dwellethοἰκέωoikeō · to dwellG3611
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• youσύsu · youG4771

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 3:16

• 1 Corinthians 5:6Your boasting [over the supposed spirituality of your church] is not good [indeed, it is vulgar and inappropriate]. Do you not know that [just] a little leaven ferments the whole batch [of dough, just as a little sin corrupts a person or an entire church]?
• 1 Corinthians 6:2Do you not know that the saints (God’s people) will [one day] judge the world? If the world is to be judged by you, are you not competent to try trivial (insignificant, petty) cases?
• 1 Corinthians 9:13Do you not know that those who officiate in the sacred services of the temple eat from the temple [offerings of meat and bread] and those who regularly attend the altar have their share from the [offerings brought to the] altar?
• Romans 6:3Or are you ignorant of the fact that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
• James 4:4You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
• 2 Corinthians 6:16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said: “I will dwell among them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
• Ephesians 2:21in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].
• Hebrews 3:6but Christ is faithful as a Son over His [Father’s] house. And we are His house if we hold fast our confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ].
• 1 Peter 2:5You [believers], like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices [that are] acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.
• Ezekiel 36:27I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.
• John 14:17the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.
• Romans 8:11And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.
• 2 Timothy 1:14Guard [with greatest care] and keep unchanged, the treasure [that precious truth] which has been entrusted to you [that is, the good news about salvation through personal faith in Christ Jesus], through [the help of] the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
• 1 John 4:12No one has seen God at any time. But if we love one another [with unselfish concern], God abides in us, and His love [the love that is His essence abides in us and] is completed and perfected in us.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16Ye are the temple of God - The apostle resumes here what he had asserted in 1 Corinthians 3:9; : Ye are God's building. As the whole congregation of Israel were formerly considered as the temple and habitation of God, because God dwelt among them, so here the whole Church of Corinth is called the temple of God, because all genuine believers have the Spirit of God to dwell in them; and Christ has promised to be always in the midst even of two or three who…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16Know ye not … - The apostle here carries forward and completes the figure which he had commenced in regard to Christians. His illustrations had been drawn from architecture; and he here proceeds to say that Christians are that building (see 1 Corinthians 3:9): that they were the sacred temple which God had reared; and that, therefore, they should be pure and holy. This is a practical application of what he had been before saying. Ye are the temple of God…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-17Verses 16-17 From other parts of the epistle, it appears that the false teachers among the Corinthians taught unholy doctrines. Such teaching tended to corrupt, to pollute, and destroy the building, which should be kept pure and holy for God. Those who spread loose principles, which render the church of God unholy, bring destruction upon themselves. Christ by his Spirit dwells in all true believers. Christians are holy by profession, and should be pure…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 16-17Christians should be careful about what they teach and how they interact with each other. The community of believers is God's temple, where God's Spirit lives (see Ephesians 2:21–22). God's temple is holy (see 1 Corinthians 1:2). There are serious consequences for anyone who harms God's temple through jealousy, arguments, or division (see 3:3–4).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1616. Know ye not--It is no new thing I tell you, in calling you "God's building"; ye know and ought to remember, ye are the noblest kind of building, "the temple of God." ye--all Christians form together one vast temple. The expression is not, "ye are temples," but "ye are the temple" collectively, and "lively stones" (1Pe 2:5) individually. God ... Spirit--God's indwelling, and that of the Holy Spirit, are one; therefore the Holy Spirit is God. No literal…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 3:16

• Body
• Church
• Fellowship
• Holiness
• Holy Spirit
• Minister, Christian
• Temple

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Dwell
• Foundation
• Plant
• Temple
• Builder
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Ephesians, Epistle to the

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings