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 anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss—he himself will be saved, but as through fire. Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. 18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so he may become 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 is no good. Don’t you know that a little hametz leavens the whole batch of dough?
• 1 Corinthians 6:2Don’t you know that the kedoshim will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to judge trivial matters?
• 1 Corinthians 9:13Don’t you know that those who perform the holy services eat from the Temple, and those who wait on the altar receive a share at the altar?
• Romans 6:3Or do you not know that all of us who were immersed into Messiah Yeshua were immersed into His death?
• James 4:4You adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
• 2 Corinthians 6:16What agreement does God’s Temple have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God—just as God said, “I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
• Ephesians 2:21In Him the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple for the Lord.
• Hebrews 3:6But Messiah, as Son, is over God’s house—and we are His house, if we hold firm to our boldness and what we are proud to hope.
• 1 Peter 2:5you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house—a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.
• Ezekiel 36:27I will put My Ruach within you. Then I will cause you to walk in My laws, so you will keep My rulings and do them.
• John 14:17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you.
• Romans 8:11And if the Ruach of the One who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Ruach who dwells in you.
• 2 Timothy 1:14Guard the good that has been entrusted to you, through the Ruach ha-Kodesh who dwells in us.
• 1 John 4:12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made perfect 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