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 man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 18Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be 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

• 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 glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
• 1 Corinthians 6:2Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
• 1 Corinthians 9:13Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
• Romans 6:3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
• James 4:4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
• 2 Corinthians 6:16And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
• Ephesians 2:21In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
• Hebrews 3:6But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.
• 1 Peter 2:5Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
• Ezekiel 36:27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
• John 14:17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
• Romans 8:11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
• 2 Timothy 1:14That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
• 1 John 4:12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is 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