God’s Word Translation
1 Corinthians 3:6
6I planted, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow.
1 Corinthians 3:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
- New International Version (NIV)I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
- English Standard Version (ESV)I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
Context of 1 Corinthians 3:6
4When some of you say, “I follow Paul” and others say, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting like ⌞sinful⌟ humans? 5Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are servants who helped you come to faith. Each did what the Lord gave him to do. I planted, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is important because ⌞only⌟ God makes it grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have the same goal, and each will receive a reward for his own work.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 31 Corinthians 3:6 word by word
ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσα, Ἀπολλῶς ἐπότισεν, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ θεὸς ηὔξανεν·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 3:6
- 1 Corinthians 3:9We are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field. You are God’s building.
- 1 Corinthians 4:14I’m not writing this to make you feel ashamed but to instruct you as my dear children.
- 1 Corinthians 9:1Don’t you agree that I’m a free man? Don’t you agree that I’m an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you the result of my work for the Lord?
- 1 Corinthians 15:1Brothers and sisters, I’m making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based.
- Acts 18:4On every day of rest—a holy day, Paul would discuss ⌞Scripture⌟ in the synagogue. He tried to win over Jews and Greeks who had converted to Judaism.
- 2 Corinthians 10:14It’s not as though we hadn’t already been to Corinth. We’re not overstating the facts. The fact is that we were the first to arrive in Corinth with the Good News about Christ.
- Proverbs 11:25A generous person will be made rich, and whoever satisfies others will himself be satisfied.
- Acts 18:24A Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, arrived in the city of Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and knew how to use the Scriptures in a powerful way.
- Acts 19:1While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior provinces to get to the city of Ephesus. He met some disciples in Ephesus
- 1 Corinthians 1:30You are partners with Christ Jesus because of God. Jesus has become our wisdom sent from God, our approval, our holiness, and our ransom from sin.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10But God’s kindness made me what I am, and that kindness was not wasted on me. Instead, I worked harder than all the others. It was not I who did it, but God’s kindness was with me.
- Psalms 62:9Common people are only a whisper in the wind. Important people are only a delusion. When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing. They are less than a whisper in the wind.
- Psalms 92:13They are planted in the Lord’s house. They blossom in our God’s courtyards.
- Psalms 127:1If the Lord does not build the house, it is useless for the builders to work on it. If the Lord does not protect a city, it is useless for the guard to stay alert.
- Isaiah 55:10“Rain and snow come down from the sky. They do not go back again until they water the earth. They make it sprout and grow so that it produces seed for farmers and food for people to eat.
- Isaiah 61:11Like the ground that brings forth its crops and like a garden that makes the seed in it grow, so the Almighty Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up in front of all nations.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 3:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6I have planted - I first sowed the seed of the Gospel at Corinth, and in the region of Achaia. Apollos watered - Apollos came after me, and, by his preachings and exhortations, watered the seed which I had sowed; but God gave the increase. The seed has taken root, has sprung up, and borne much fruit; but this was by the especial blessing of God. As in the natural so in the spiritual world; it is by the especial blessing of God that the grain which is sown…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6I have planted - The apostle here compares the establishment of the church at Corinth to the planting of a vine, a tree, or of grain. The figure is taken from agriculture, and the meaning is obvious. Paul established the church. He was the first preacher in Corinth; and if any distinction was due to anyone, it was rather to him than to the teachers who had labored there subsequently; but he regarded himself as worthy of no such honor as to be the head of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-9Verses 5-9 The ministers about whom the Corinthians contended, were only instruments used by God. We should not put ministers into the place of God. He that planteth and he that watereth are one, employed by one Master, trusted with the same revelation, busied in one work, and engaged in one design. They have their different gifts from one and the same Spirit, for the very same purposes; and should carry on the same design heartily. Those who work hardest…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6I planted the seed: See Acts 18:1–11. Apollos watered it: See Acts 18:27–19:1.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. I ... planted, Apollos watered--(Ac 18:1; 19:1). Apollos at his own desire (Ac 18:27) was sent by the brethren to Corinth, and there followed up the work which Paul had begun. God gave the increase--that is, the growth (1Co 3:10; Ac 18:27). "Believed through grace." Though ministers are nothing, and God all in all, yet God works by instruments, and promises the Holy Spirit in the faithful use of means. This is the dispensation of the Spirit, and ours…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 3:6
In the dictionaries
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
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