1 Corinthians 4:7

1 Corinthians 4:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
• New International Version (NIV)For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
• English Standard Version (ESV)For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?
• New King James Version (NKJV)For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

Context of 1 Corinthians 4:7

5So you should not decide about things before the time is right. Wait until the Lord comes again. He will show everything clearly. He will show the bad things that people have done secretly. He will show the secret purpose of people's thoughts. Then God will praise each person in a way that is right for them. 6My Christian friends, I want to help you to understand these things. That is why I have used Apollos and myself as examples. You should learn from us what this means: ‘Obey what is written in the Bible.’ None of you should be proud of one leader and not respect another leader. Do not think that any of you are better than anyone else. You received from God everything that you have. So you have no reason to be proud of what you have. It is all a gift! 8You already have everything that you need, do you? You think that you are very rich already! You are ready to rule as kings. You no longer need us to help you. I think it would be good if you had really become kings. Then we could also rule together with you! 9This is what I think: as apostles, God has put us last of everyone. People see us like we are prisoners at the end of the line. They are taking us to die in a public place. Everybody in the world has come to look at us, both people and angels.

1 Corinthians 4:7 word by word

τίς γάρ σε διακρίνει; τί δὲ ἔχεις ὃ οὐκ ἔλαβες; εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔλαβες, τί καυχᾶσαι ὡς μὴ λαβών;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• whoτίςtis · which?G5101
• makethδιακρίνωdiakrinō · to judge/doubtG1252
• theeσύsu · youG4771
• andδέde · thenG1161
• hast thouἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• thatὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• thou didstλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• notοὐou · noG3756
• ifεἰei · ifG1487
• ·καίkai · andG2532
• dost thou gloryκαυχάομαιkauchaomai · to boastG2744
• as ifὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• notμήmē · notG3361

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 4:7

• 1 Corinthians 12:4The Holy Spirit helps us with different kinds of gifts. But it is the same Spirit who gives them.
• 1 Corinthians 15:10But God was very kind to me. He helped me to become a different person. And because God has been so kind to me, the result has been great. I have worked more than all the other apostles. But it was not really I myself who could do that work. No, I could do it because God was so kind to me.
• Romans 9:16So then, it is God who decides these things. It is not because of what people want. It is not because of what people do. It is because God chooses to be kind.
• Ephesians 3:3God has clearly shown to me his true purpose. That was a secret before, but God has helped me to know it. I have written a few words about this already.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:12As a result, God will punish all of them. They have refused to believe what is true. Instead, they have enjoyed doing very bad things.
• 1 Timothy 1:12I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me strong to serve him. He decided to trust me and he chose me to work on his behalf.
• 1 Corinthians 3:5Is Apollos important? Is Paul important? No! We are God's servants. We told you God's good news and you believed it. Each of us is doing the job which the Lord has given to us.
• 1 Corinthians 7:7It would be good if all of you could live in the way that I do. But each person has his own gift from God. God helps one person to live in a certain way. God helps another person with a different gift.
• 1 Chronicles 29:11Lord, you are great, powerful and beautiful! You rule as king over everything in heaven and on earth. Yes, Lord, everything belongs in your kingdom!
• 2 Chronicles 1:7That night, God showed himself to Solomon. God said, ‘Ask me to give you whatever you want.’
• Proverbs 2:6It is the Lord who gives wisdom to people. He teaches us to understand things, so that we know what is true.
• Matthew 25:14Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is also like a man who began a journey. Before the master went away, he told his servants to come to him. He said to them, “Take care of all my money and all my things for me.”
• Luke 19:13Before he left, he asked ten of his servants to come to him. He gave each of them ten pounds of silver. “Use this money to get more money for me while I am away,” he said.
• John 1:16The Word is full of everything that we need. We have all received one good thing after another good thing.
• John 3:27John replied, ‘A man can receive only what God gives to him, nothing else.
• Romans 1:5Because of Jesus Christ, God has been very kind to us. He has chosen me to serve him as an apostle. He sent me to tell his message to people from all countries. As a result they would know that Jesus Christ is great. They would trust him and obey him.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 4:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7For who maketh thee to differ - It is likely that the apostle is here addressing himself to some one of those puffed up teachers, who was glorying in his gifts, and in the knowledge he had of the Gospel, etc. As if he had said: If thou hast all that knowledge which thou professest to have, didst thou not receive it from myself or some other of my fellow helpers who first preached the Gospel at Corinth? God never spoke to thee to make thee an apostle. Hast…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 7For who maketh … - This verse contains a reason for what Paul had just said; and the reason is, that all that any of them possessed had been derived from God, and no endowments whatever, which they had, could be laid as the foundation for self-congratulation and boasting. The apostle here doubtless has in his eye the teachers in the church of Corinth, and intends to show them that there was no occasion of pride or to assume pre-eminence. As all that they…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 We have no reason to be proud; all we have, or are, or do, that is good, is owing to the free and rich grace of God. A sinner snatched from destruction by sovereign grace alone, must be very absurd and inconsistent, if proud of the free gifts of God. St. Paul sets forth his own circumstances, ver. 9 Allusion is made to the cruel spectacles in the Roman games; where men were forced to cut one another to pieces, to divert the people; and where…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7Pride in a leader comes from not realizing that everything is a gift from God. We should feel humble gratitude instead.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. Translate, "Who distinguisheth thee (above another)?" Not thyself, but God. glory, as if thou hadst not received it--as if it was to thyself, not to God, thou owest the receiving of it.Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 4:7

• Boasting
• Pride
• Strife
• Uncharitableness
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Account
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Instructor
• Offscouring
• Rod
• Shame
• Steward
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Paul, the Apostle

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 4

• 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
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• 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