1 Corinthians 3:17

1 Corinthians 3:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
• New International Version (NIV)If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.
• English Standard Version (ESV)If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
• New King James Version (NKJV)If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Context of 1 Corinthians 3:17

15But if the fire destroys a builder's work, that person will lose everything. The person himself will be safe. But he will be like someone who has run through the fire to a safe place. 16You surely know that you are like God's special house. As God's people, God's Spirit lives in you. If anyone destroys God's special house, then God will destroy that person. And you are like that house. You belong to God in a special way. 18Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool. 19People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible: ‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’

1 Corinthians 3:17 word by word

εἴ τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φθείρει, φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ θεός· ὁ γὰρ ναὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ἅγιός ἐστιν, οἵτινές ἐστε ὑμεῖς.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Ifεἰei · ifG1487
• any manτιςtis · oneG5100
• defileφθείρωphtheirō · to destroyG5351
• the templeναόςnaos · templeG3485
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• himοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• holyἅγιοςhagios · holyG40
• whichὅστιςhostis hētis ho6ti · who/whichG3748
• yeσύsu · youG4771

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 3:17

• 1 Corinthians 6:18So never have sex in a wrong way! You may say, ‘If a person does a bad thing, it is not his body that does it.’ But if you have sex in a wrong way, you are doing a bad thing to your own body.
• Leviticus 15:31The tabernacle is God's house. It is among Israel's people. The priests must keep the people away from anything that makes them unclean. If they are not clean, they will make the Tent of Meeting unclean. So they will die.’
• Leviticus 20:3I, the Lord, will turn away from that person. I will make him separate from his people. That person did not respect the Lord. He did not respect the Lord's holy name.
• Numbers 19:20The person who is not clean might not wash himself and his clothes. If he does not do it, you must make that person separate from the people. That is because he has made the Lord's Holy Place become unclean. Because the priest did not splash special water on him he will not be clean.
• Psalms 74:3Come and look at our buildings! Your enemies have completely destroyed them. They have also destroyed everything that is in your temple.
• Psalms 79:1God, foreign nations have attacked your own land. They have spoiled your holy temple. They have destroyed the buildings in Jerusalem.
• Ezekiel 5:11The Almighty Lord says this: I promise you as surely as I live that I will remove you. You have made my holy place unclean. You have put your disgusting idols in my house. You have done wicked things there. Because of that I will not be sorry for you. I will not save you.
• Ezekiel 7:22Those foreigners and robbers will go into my holy temple. They will cause it to become unclean. But I will look away and I will allow them to do that.
• Ezekiel 23:38Also, they have done these things against me: They made my holy place unclean. At the same time, they did not obey my rules for Sabbath days.
• Zephaniah 3:4Its prophets do not know what to think. People cannot trust them. Its priests have done wrong things, even in God's holy house. They have also made changes to God's rules. They have made changes that they want.
• Genesis 28:17Jacob was afraid. He said, ‘How great this place is! This must be the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.’
• Exodus 3:5God said to Moses, ‘Do not come nearer! Remove your shoes from your feet. The ground that you are standing on is holy.’
• 1 Chronicles 29:3I want very much to build a beautiful temple for my God. So I have added my own gold and silver to help to build it. I have added that to the other things that I have provided for God's holy temple.
• Psalms 93:5Lord, your rules remain strong and true. Your house will always be holy, because you are holy.
• Psalms 99:9Praise the Lord our God! Go and worship him on his holy hill, because the Lord our God is holy!
• Isaiah 64:11Our ancestors praised you here in your temple. It was a beautiful place that we were proud of. But now fire has destroyed it. All our beautiful things are completely spoiled.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3:17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17If any man defile the temple - This clause is not consistently translated. , ̔ If any man destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy. The verb is the same in both clauses. If any man injure, corrupt, or destroy the Church of God by false doctrine, God will destroy him - will take away his part out of the book of life. This refers to him who wilfully opposes the truth; the erring, mistaken man shall barely escape; but the obstinate opposer shall be…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17If any man defile … - Or, “destroy, corrupt” ( ́ phtheirei). The Greek word is the same in both parts of the sentence. “If any man destroy‘ the temple of God, God shall destroy‘ him.” This is presented in the form of an adage or proverb. And the truth here stated is based on the fact that the temple of God was inviolable. That temple was holy; and if any man subsequently destroyed it, it might be presumed that God would destroy him. The figurative sense…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. 1717. If any ... defile ... destroy--rather as the Greek verb is the same in both cases, "destroy ... destroy." God repays in kind by a righteous retaliation. The destroyer shall himself be destroyed. As temporal death was the penalty of marring the material temple (Le 16:2; Da 5:2, 3, 30), so eternal death is the penalty of marring the spiritual temple--the Church. The destroyers here (1Co 3:16, 17), are distinct from the unwise or unskilful builders (1Co…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 3:17

• Church
• Holiness
• House of God
• Sacrilege
• Temple
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Foundation
• Plant
• Temple
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Defile; Defilement
• House of God
• Parousia

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