Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 3:17
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
17. If any man defile ] Rather, if any man do hurt to the temple of God, to him shall God do hurt. The word is the same in both members of the sentence, and cannot therefore be rendered by the word defile.
which temple ye are ] Rather, which (i.e. holy) ye are, or more freely ‘The temple of God is holy, and so are ye.’ The implied syllogism is, The temple is holy; ye are the temple, therefore ye are holy.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
If 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 is, If any man by his doctrines or precepts shall pursue such a course as tends to destroy the church, God shall severely punish him.
For the temple of God is holy – The temple of God is to be regarded as sacred and inviolable. This was unquestionably the common opinion among the Jews respecting the temple at Jerusalem; and it was the common doctrine of the Gentiles respecting their temples. Sacred places were regarded as inviolable; and this general truth Paul applies to the Christian church in general – Locke supposes that Paul had particular reference here to the false teachers in Corinth. But the expression, if any man, is equally applicable to all other false teachers as to him.
Which temple ye are – This proves that though Paul regarded them as lamentably corrupt in some respects, he still regarded them as a true church – as a part of the holy temple of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 17. If 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 destroyed. The former shall be treated leniently; the latter shall have judgment without mercy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; the word which we translate defile and destroy (for the Greek word is the same for both) signifieth to violate, corrupt, or destroy. Our translators generally render it corrupt, 1Co 15:33; 2Co 7:2; 1Co 11:3; Eph 4:22; Jud 1:10; Rev 19:2. The people of God, who are here called the temple of God, are defiled, either by imbibing false doctrine, or being tempted to any looseness of life and conversation. Now, (saith the apostle), if any one goes about to do this, which all preachers do who teach any false doctrine, or any principles that lead to a liberty for the flesh, or lead to an ill and scandalous life, God shall destroy those men.
For the temple of God is holy; for as the temple of God of old was a place built and set apart for holy uses, and therefore not without great peril to be abused and profaned; so those that are the people of God, are by God called and set apart in a more immediate, eminent manner for the honour and glory of God, and therefore cannot be debauched or defiled by any as instruments in that action, without exceeding great peril and hazard to them that endeavour and attempt any such thing.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. If any . . . defile . . .destroyrather as the Greek verb is the same in bothcases, “destroy . . . destroy.” God repays in kindby a righteous retaliation. The destroyer shall himself be destroyed.As temporal death was the penalty of marring the material temple(Lev 16:2; Dan 5:2;Dan 5:3; Dan 5:30),so eternal death is the penalty of marring the spiritual templetheChurch. The destroyers here (1Co 3:16;1Co 3:17), are distinct from theunwise or unskilful builders (1Co 3:12;1Co 3:15); the latter held fastthe “foundation” (1Co3:11), and, therefore, though they lose their work ofsuperstructure and the special reward, yet they are themselves saved;the destroyers, on the contrary, assailed with false teaching thefoundation, and so subvert the temple itself, and shall therefore bedestroyed. (See on 1Co 3:10),[ESTIUS and NEANDER].I think Paul passes here from the teachers to all the members of theChurch, who, by profession, are “priests unto God” (Exo 19:6;1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6).As the Aaronic priests were doomed to die if they violated the oldtemple (Ex 28:43), so anyChristian who violates the sanctity of the spiritual temple, shallperish eternally (Heb 12:14;Heb 10:26; Heb 10:31).
holyinviolable (Hab2:20).
which templeye arerather, “the which (that is, holy) are ye”[ALFORD], and, therefore,want of holiness on the part of any of you (or, as ESTIUS,”to tamper with the foundation in teaching you”)is a violation of the temple, which cannot be let to pass withimpunity. GROTIUS supportsEnglish Version.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If any man defile the temple of God,…. By the wisdom of the world, through philosophy, and vain deceit; by bringing in false doctrines, errors, and heresies, and hereby corrupt their minds from the simplicity that is in Christ; and make rents, factions, and divisions among them:
him shall God destroy; body and soul in hell; for as their wicked principles and heretical notions are pernicious to others, they are damnable to themselves, and will bring upon them that judgment which lingereth not, and that damnation which slumbereth not. The false prophet, as well as the beast, and the devil, shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. God is not only an avenger of all immoralities committed against his righteous law, but of all false doctrine and false worship, and of everything that is contrary to the Gospel, and to the order and ordinances of it. The reason of this is,
for the temple of God is holy; alluding to the holiness of Solomon’s temple,
“into which a man might not go with his staff, nor with his shoes on, nor with his purse, nor with dust upon his feet, nor might he make it a thoroughfare, and much less spit in it o.”
And yet, how was it polluted in our Lord’s time by the Jews, who made it a den of thieves, instead of an house of prayer?
which temple ye are. This is added for further confirmation, and to assert their holiness in doctrine, worship, and conversation, and to deter the false teachers from making use of any means to corrupt them in either.
o Misn. Beracot, c. 9. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Destroyeth (). The outward temple is merely the symbol of God’s presence, the Shechinah (the Glory). God makes his home in the hearts of his people or the church in any given place like Corinth. It is a terrible thing to tear down ruthlessly a church or temple of God like an earthquake that shatters a building in ruins. This old verb means to corrupt, to deprave, to destroy. It is a gross sin to be a church-wrecker. There are actually a few preachers who leave behind them ruin like a tornado in their path.
Him shall God destroy ( ). There is a solemn repetition of the same verb in the future active indicative. The condition is the first class and is assumed to be true. Then the punishment is certain and equally effective. The church-wrecker God will wreck. What does Paul mean by “will destroy”? Does he mean punishment here or hereafter? May it not be both? Certainly he does not mean annihilation of the man’s soul, though it may well include eternal punishment. There is warning enough here to make every pastor pause before he tears a church to pieces in order to vindicate himself.
Holy (). Hence deserves reverential treatment. It is not the building or house of which Paul speaks as “the sanctuary of God” ( ), but the spiritual organization or organism of God’s people in whom God dwells, “which temple ye are” ( ). The qualitative relative pronoun is plural to agree with (ye) and refers to the holy temple just mentioned. The Corinthians themselves in their angry disputes had forgotten their holy heritage and calling, though this failing was no excuse for the ringleaders who had led them on. In 6:19 Paul reminds the Corinthians again that the body is the temple (, sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit, which fact they had forgotten in their immoralities.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Defile [] . Rev., more correctly, destroy. This is the primary and almost universal meaning in classical Greek. In a fragment of Euripides it occurs of dishonoring a female. Sophocles uses it of women pining away in barrenness, and Plutarch of mixing pure colors. The phrase seems to be used here according to the Jewish idea that the temple was destroyed or corrupted by the slightest defilement or damage, or by neglect on the part of its guardians. Ignatius says : “oiJ oijkofqoroi; violators of the house (of God) shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (To the Ephesians, 16.).
Which temple [] . Temple is not in the Greek. The double relative which refers to the epithet holy; “of which holy character or class ye are.”
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “If any man defile the temple of God.” (eis is ton vaon tou theou) “If anyone the shrine, temple, or habitation fellowship of God defiles.” The warning and necessary inference set forth is that it is possible for one to defile, make useless, or tear up the temple, shrine, or church of the Lord where His spirit dwells and empowers.
2) “Him shall God destroy.” (phtherei touton ho theos) “This one God shall defile or tear up.” This bespeaks God’s certain anger and judgment in some form on any person who presumes to split, divide, defile, or tear up the shrine, temple, or fellowship of the church where God’s Spirit dwells.
3) “For the temple of God is holy.” (ho gar naos tou theou hagios estin) “For the shrine-temple or habitation-fellowship of God is holy or sacred.” Each true church of our Lord is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit which came to dwell in the first church from Pentecost and has enshrined Himself in every church of like nature and practice wherever two or three have gathered together in the name of the Lord ever since, Mat 18:15-20; Mat 28:18-20; 1Co 12:12-13. Each church, body, or assembly is Holy Spirit indwelt and empowered.
4) “Which temple ye are.” (oitines este humeis) “Which (holy temple, habitation, shrine or church) you all are or constitute.” 1Co 6:11. In spite of the imperfections of this church and her members, as a church, they were beheld of the Lord as sanctified, holy, and washed. And Paul warned of God’s judgment on any that should attempt to defile her or tear her up. See also Mat 16:18; Mat 28:20; Eph 3:21.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
17. If any man corrupts the temple of God. He subjoins a dreadful threatening — that, as the temple of God ought to be inviolably sacred, that man, whoever he may be, that corrupts it, will not pass with impunity. The kind of profanation of which he now speaks, is, when men intrude themselves, so as to bear rule in the Church in the place of God. For as that faith, which is devoted to the pure doctrine of Christ, is called elsewhere spiritual chastity, (2Co 11:2,) so it also sanctifies our souls for the right and pure worship of God. For as soon as we are tinctured with the contrivances of men, the temple of God is polluted, as it were, with filth, because the sacrifice of faith, which he claims for himself alone, is in that case offered to creatures.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) If any man defile.Better, If any man destroythe opposite of building up, which should be the work of the Christian teacher; the architectural image being still in view.
Which temple ye are.Literally, the which are ye, which referring rather to holy than to the temple; the argument being that as they are holy by the indwelling of Gods Spirit, therefore they are the temple of God. As God commanded the punishment of death to be inflicted on whoever defiled the actual Temple (see Exo. 28:43; Lev. 16:2), because it was holy unto the Lord, and His presence dwelt there; so they, having the same Spirit in them, were a temple also holy unto the Lord, and God would not leave him unpunished who destroyed or marred this spiritual temple.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Any man Note on 1Co 3:12.
Defile Or destroy, instead of building up, like a wise master builder, 1Co 3:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 3:17. If any man It is not unreasonable to think, that, by any man, St. Paul designs one particular man;namely, the false Apostle, who, it is probable, by the strength of his party, supporting and retaining the fornicator mentioned, ch. 5 in the church, had defiled it. We may look upon most of the disorders in this church as owing to the false Apostle; which is the reason why St. Paul sets himself so much against him in both these Epistles, and makes it a principal business of them to draw the Corinthians off from this leader; judging, as is probable, that the church could not be reformed, so long as that person was in credit and had a party among them. See Locke.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
1Co 3:17 . ] This is spoken of the real temple; the application to the church as the ideal one is not made until the which follows. It is an anticipation of the course of the argument to understand, as here already meant, the latter New Testament place of the divine presence (Hofmann).
Every Levitical defilement was considered a destroying of the temple, as was every injury to the buildings, and even every act of carelessness in the watching and superintendence of it. See Maimonides, de domo electa , i. 10, vii. 7. Deyling, Obss. II. p. 505 ff.
] placed immediately after at the head of the apodosis, to express with emphasis the adequacy of the recompense. See Khner, II. p. 626. What denotes is the temporal destruction, the punishment of death which God will bring upon the destroyer of His temple, as in the LXX. is often used of God as inflicting such destruction. Comp Gen 6:13 ; Mic 2:10 ; 1Ki 2:27 , al [553]
] as the dwelling of God, sacred therefore from all injury, and not to be destroyed without incurring heavy divine penalty.
] of which character (namely, ) are ye . In this we have the minor proposition of the syllogism contained in 1Co 3:16-17 : Him who destroys God’s temple God will destroy, because the temple is holy; but ye also are holy, as being the spiritual temple; consequently, he who destroys you will be destroyed of God. Paul leaves it to his readers themselves to infer, for their own behoof, that in this reasoning of his he means by the destruction of the (ideal) temple the deterioration of the church on the part of the sectarians , and by the penal destruction which awaits them, their at the Messianic judgment (the of Gal 6:8 ). It is a mistake (with most commentators, including Luther) to regard as put for (see the passages where this seems to be the case in Struve, Quaest. Herod. I. p. 2 ff.), and to make it refer to : which temple ye are . That would rather yield the inappropriate (see on 1Co 3:16 ) plural sense: cujusmodi templa vos estis . See Porson and Schaefer, a [554] Eurip. Or. 908. Matthiae, p. 977.
[553] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.
[554] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Ver. 17. Which temple ye are ] Man is God’s temple; God man’s altar. Demosthenes (contra Aristog.) could say, that man’s heart was God’s best and most stately temple, Iustitia, verecundia, et observantia legum communitum. Justice, respected and heeded, reinforces the law.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] , [ destroys , or] mars , whether as regards its unity and beauty , or its purity and sanctity : here, the meaning is left indefinite, but the latter particulars are certainly hinted at, by below.
, either by temporal death (Mey.), as in ch. 1Co 11:30 ; or by spiritual death , which is more probable, seeing that the figurative temple is spoken of, not (as Mey.) the material temple: and as temporal death was the punishment for defiling the material temple (Exo 28:43 . Lev 16:2 al. fr.), so spiritual death for marring or defiling of God’s spiritual temple.
, the constant epithet of in the O. T., see Psa 5:7 ; Psa 10:5 (LXX). Hab 2:20 , and passim.
, i.e. , not, ‘ which temple are ye ,’ which would be tautological after 1Co 3:16 , and would hardly be expressed by , ‘ ut qui ,’ or ‘ quales .’ Meyer well remarks, that is the minor proposition of a syllogism: ‘Whoever mars the temple of God, him will God destroy, because His temple is holy ; but ye also, as His ideal temple, are holy: therefore, whoever mars you, shall be destroyed by God.’
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
defile. Greek. phtheiro. Same word as “destroy” below. Occurs also in 1Co 15:33. 2Co 7:2; 2Co 11:3. Eph 4:22. Jud 1:10. Rev 19:2 (corrupt). The word “mar” will suit both clauses. The man who mars God’s Temple by introducing divisions, and the wisdom that is not from above (Jam 3:15), will himself be marred (1Co 3:15).
him = this one. Greek. houtos. Emphatic.
holy. Greek. hagios.
which = and such, i.e. holy, or separated. Omit “temple” in the last clause.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] , [destroys, or] mars, whether as regards its unity and beauty, or its purity and sanctity: here, the meaning is left indefinite, but the latter particulars are certainly hinted at,-by below.
, either by temporal death (Mey.), as in ch. 1Co 11:30; or by spiritual death, which is more probable, seeing that the figurative temple is spoken of, not (as Mey.) the material temple:-and as temporal death was the punishment for defiling the material temple (Exo 28:43. Lev 16:2 al. fr.), so spiritual death for marring or defiling of Gods spiritual temple.
, the constant epithet of in the O. T., see Psa 5:7; Psa 10:5 (LXX). Hab 2:20, and passim.
, i.e. , not, which temple are ye, which would be tautological after 1Co 3:16, and would hardly be expressed by , ut qui, or quales. Meyer well remarks, that is the minor proposition of a syllogism:-Whoever mars the temple of God, him will God destroy, because His temple is holy; but ye also, as His ideal temple, are holy:-therefore, whoever mars you, shall be destroyed by God.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
17-18. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. Let 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.
Do not let him seek to be reckoned wise by the philosophers of the period, who are always against the truth of God. Let him consent to be thought to be a fool; yea, let him know in his own heart that he is not wise; and then let him yield himself up to the wisdom of God. Consciousness of ignorance is the vestibule of knowledge, and he that knows right well that he is a fool is on the way to becoming a wise man. He that would pass into the temple of wisdom must first of all confess his unwisdom.
1Co 3:19-20. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
What a wonderfully small difference there is, after all, between the very cultured man, who thinks himself so, and the man who makes no pretense to it whatever! The knowledge which the wisest man has is about equal, in the presence of God, to the knowledge which one child of three years old has over a child of two years old. To God we must all seem masses of ignorance; and if you could put the whole British Association and all the doctors of divinity, and all the LLDs, and all the men of high degrees together, the things they did not know would make a great many volumes, and the things they did know would not go very far. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain.
1Co 3:21. Therefore let no man glory in men.
There really is not anything to glory in, in men. The best of men are men at the best. Never need we exalt ourselves or extol others. Lord, what is man that thou art mindful of him? Let no man glory in men.
1Co 3:21 For all things are yours;
Children of God, all men are yours, to serve your highest benefit. All ministers and leaders in Christ are yours to seek your souls good. Treat them as bees do flowers, and gather honey from them all. All things are yours.
1Co 3:22-23, Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are Christs; and Christ is Gods.
This exposition consisted of readings from Mat 13:1-23; Mat 15:13-28. 1Co 3:17-23.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
1Co 3:17. , destroys] by schisms according to the wisdom of the world.-, shall destroy) by a most righteous retaliation in kind [ answering to ]. There are many punishments, which do not flow from sin by physical connection.-, holy) divine, inviolable.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 3:17
1Co 3:17
If any man destroyeth the temple of God,-The church is destroyed as Gods temple by so defiling it that God will not dwell in it. The earth was defiled by man introducing practices into it not ordained of God, following the evil one instead of God, by substituting the will of man for the will of God. The same course will destroy the church as a temple of God. In the tabernacle, and the temple in Jerusalem, every person who served, and every vessel and instrument of service were sanctified by the typical blood of bulls and goats. To bring persons or things not sealed by this blood into the temple so defiled it that God would not dwell in it. Every person built into the spiritual temple of God must be sanctified by the blood of Christ. Every ordinance and appointment of service is consecrated by that blood. To bring a person or service into the church not sealed by the blood defiles it. The persons who enter according to the terms laid down in the New Testament, and the ordinances and the provisions there made for serving God, are sealed by the blood of Christ. None others are. To bring into the church those not admitted by the law of Christ is to defile the temple of God, so that God refuses to dwell in it. The temple of God is holy, consecrated to Gods service. All its appointments and ordinances have been sealed by the blood of Christ.
him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye.-As Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire into the earthly tabernacle and were destroyed by that fire, so also shall whosoever brings into the church of God, or performs any service not ordained, and so consecrated by God, be destroyed by that unconsecrated, unordained service.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
any: 1Co 6:18-20, Lev 15:31, Lev 20:3, Num 19:20, Psa 74:3, Psa 79:1, Eze 5:11, Eze 7:22, Eze 23:38, Eze 23:39, Zep 3:4
defile: or
destroy: for, Gen 28:17, Exo 3:5, 1Ch 29:3, Psa 93:5, Psa 99:9, Isa 64:11, Eze 43:12
Reciprocal: Exo 19:6 – and an Lev 18:24 – Defile Lev 23:30 – General 2Ch 29:5 – sanctify the house Zec 14:20 – HOLINESS Mat 15:20 – which Mar 7:23 – defile 2Co 6:16 – ye are Eph 2:21 – an 2Ti 2:20 – in a 1Pe 2:9 – an holy 1Jo 4:13 – General Rev 11:1 – Rise
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
WHICH TEMPLE YE ARE
For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
1Co 3:17
That each one of you is a temple, we have St. Pauls own authority. Know ye not that your bodyeach body in itself individuallyyour body is the temple of the Holy Ghost? The thought seems to be too wonderful to be true. What! my poor, vile body a temple? God has said it. And when you die, that body will still be the ruin of a temple. Treat it sacredly!
I. If you ask when you were made a temple, I say, at your baptism. But this consecration is not once only; it is often repeated. By your birth you were Gods. By your baptism you were sealed to be Gods. And by your spiritual birthwhenever that birth was, whether at baptism, or subsequentlywhenever the Holy Ghost worked in you consciously, and you, by your own act, made yourself His, and you felt His power and grace in youthen you became, on your part, what you were before on His part, Gods very own. You are His special dwelling-place, His temple. So that the date of the process with most of us is fivefoldBirth, Baptism, Conversion, Confirmation, Holy Communion. Thus consecrated, not by man, nor for man, but for the Holy Ghost, you became a temple; and your body is the holy place, and your soul is the holy of holies.
II. Now carry out this thought to some of its legitimate and necessary conclusions, and see its grand, its awful, its blessed results.
(a) I see one of you mingling with common men, as a common man, in common intercourse. Is the temple of God to be such a common thing as that?
(b) I see another demeaning and debasing his body and his mind for sheer worldlinessgiven to pleasure, to appetite, to money; and I hear the voice of Him Who walks in the temple say, Take those things hence! Make not My Fathers house a house of merchandise!
(c) I see another: he drinks, he profligates, he gives himself to unclean things. And I go to that unhappy man, and I say, Do you know, do you remember, what you are? You are a temple, the temple of the living God! Is that public-house, is that wicked place a fit spot for you? Are these things fit for you? It is sacrilege! You are mixing God with devils! It is sacrilege! And hear what God says to youwho are drunken, who are profane, who are profligateIf any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy!
(d) I go to a darkened chamber, where a child of God lies sick and ill and sorrowing, longing, with earnest breast, for the courts of Gods house again, and all those sweet services which once it loved so well. Oh! that I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away, and be at rest; and I say to that prisoner of hope, You are yourself the sanctuary. You sanctify the very couch you lie upon. For God is in you. You carry Him wherever you are. The services which go up from that dark sick room of yours will be to God as true and as acceptable (for God has placed you there) as if you were worshipping in the holiest fane. You are the temple.
III. To every believer and every temple of God, what is the message?You are named by a holy name. You are sanctified by the Holy Churchand by the Holy One. Be holy! Look well to it that the temple of your heart has all its parts: the porch of faith; the base of truth; the pillars of sound doctrine; the nave of love; the chancel of holiness; the pinnacles of heaven.
Illustration
Every Church has three partsthe outer, which is all the baptized, and which make the general congregation; the inner, the communicants; the innermost, the spiritual, the real spiritually-minded, which is the invisible Churchcalled invisible because only God can see its boundaries, and no human eye can detect who do belong to it and who do not. But the strength of the Church, the real proof of the Church, is the last. We should all be travelling from the font to the holy table; and from the holy table to heaven.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE CALL TO SEPARATION
The idea of a temple would be perfectly easy and simple to the Corinthians. But St. Paul puts it in a new way; he says, The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
I. What we mean, he seems to say, by a temple is this: A temple has in it that Holy of Holies, that altar of incense and sacrifice; the Greek temple had its Holy of Holies, and he says now the Holy of Holies is a Christian soul, that is the dwelling-place of the Spirit of God; and he says the altar of incense is the Christian life, offered and dedicated to God; that instead of that architecture of Solomon or of Herod, instead of all the wood and stones that built up those old temples, now he says the temple of God is a spirit made conscious of its magnificent destiny as the dwelling-place of the Eternal, living out a life of high endeavour and lofty aspiration; striving, feebly enough it may be, but at least trying to reach in some sort of way the purity and holiness of which Jesus is the perfect pattern.
II. Another thought is that of standing apart from all that is low and mean and frivolous, all that is merely of the world worldly, and emphatically what is of sin, just as a great church towers in its magnificence above the meaner and obscurer buildings around. He tells us that if we are to be the temple of God we must be impressive as a temple of God is, as your temple of God is. There can be no one whose soul is so dim as not to be impressed by a great church. And as the great churches are impressive, so if we are the temples of God we are to be impressive too; impressive for God, impressive for truth, impressive for the honour of His name, reflecting some of the light that we trust we have received. And if we do reflect it we may be quite sure we are helping other people; because as it is true that you cannot touch pitch without being defiled, so it is equally true that goodness is contagious. You cannot live in a house with what we call Christian people, people of prayer, people of deep holiness, without being strengthened by the power of their goodness and devotion.
Rev. H. Baron Dickinson.
Illustration
A temple is a place where God manifests Himself to man, and where man dedicates himself to God. And so it was that in that holy temple upon the hill of Sion there were two objects round which every rite and ceremony revolved, the Holy of Holies and the altar of incense and sacrifice. The Holy of Holies in which are the Shekinah, the mercy seat, God revealing Himself to man; the altar of incense and sacrifice on which man gave himself to God, in prayers which ascended like the burning fumes of incense, and with the blood of bulls and goats at Gods command.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Verse 17. The temple is the church, and such divisions and contentions as were being conducted in Corinth were defiling the temple. Paul is warning the brethren of the wrath of God which they were liable to receive if they continued their variances.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 3:17. If any man shall destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy. The sin and its punishment are in the original purposely expressed by the same word; but this cannot be represented in English.
for the temple of God is holy, and such are yenot, as in the Authorised Version, which temple ye are; for that had just before been said, but such holy persons ye are, inasmuch as ye are the temple of God.
What follows, to the close of this chapter, reiterates what had been said about the mischief which this false wisdom, and their disputes in connection with it, were doing at Corinth.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Vv. 17. Again an asyndeton. 1Co 3:16 was the minor of the syllogism of which 1Co 3:17 is the major: Ye are a temple…; he is destroyed who destroys a temple…, therefore… The conclusion which is self-evident is understood.
The future , shall destroy, is no doubt the true reading, though the present might also be defended as the present of the idea, and consequently of certain realization. In 1Co 3:15, notwithstanding the loss of the reward (the ), the salvation of the workman was reserved; here, it is excluded. The punishment increases with the guilt: As thou has treated the house of God, thou shalt be treated. The Greco-Lat. reading, , him, emphasizes the identity of the man who has destroyed and who is destroyed. But the Alex. and Byz. reading, , him, this man, is at once better supported and more forcible.
The following proposition gives us to know the wherefore of this severe treatment; the dignity of the building to which this sacrilegious workman does violence. The force of the proof rests on the attribute , holy. What is holy, that is to say, consecrated to God, partakes of the inviolability of God Himself.
The apostle finding it superfluous to enunciate the conclusion in full, contents himself with suggesting it by the last words: a holy temple, which ye are. The plural pronoun is a case of attraction from the following . This relative pronoun of quality is to be connected not with only, nor with only, but with the entire phrase, , holy temple.
To what persons did this warning and threatening apply? Evidently to those who had laboured at Corinth in such a way that they had ended with disorganizing the Church, poisoning its religious and moral life, and compromising the Divine work so happily begun and carried forward in that great city. Here it is, as it seems to me, that we find the full explanation of the end of chap. 2, where Paul spoke of the psychical or natural man, distinguishing him from the yet carnal Christian (1Co 3:1-4). The majority of the Church of Corinth belonged to the second category; but there was certainly a minority in it whom the apostle ranked in the first. It was they whom he had in view in the last two so severe verses of chap. 2: the man who has only his natural understanding; and it is to them he returns in the verses immediately following, where he again, as in chap. 1, puts worldly wisdom on its trial. We have already said: these various passages, as it seems to us, can only concern those of Christ, as they are unmasked in the Second Epistle. But why does the apostle address this warning not to the guilty themselves, but to the Church: Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and all that follows? It is because he wishes to excite the whole Church to a holy indignation, and to call forth within it a vigorous reaction against the authors of these troubles; comp. the appeal to the vigilance of believers, Php 3:2 : Beware of evil workers. In the following verses, Paul shows the source of the evil, as he had already pointed it out in chap. 1, in order to open the eyes of both.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
If any man destroyeth the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and such are ye. [The factions are here plainly made aware of the magnitude of their sin, and the severity of their punishment. They were destroying the church by their divisions (Eph 5:27), maiming and dismembering it by their discordant factions– 2Pe 2:1]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
17. If any one destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which ye are. There are many ways to destroy soul and body, not only in case of yourself, but others. God claims every human being as his temple. His Son has redeemed every son and daughter of Adams race by His precious blood. Hence every word and act, having a sinward tendency, conduces to the destruction of soul and body in Hell. Gods eye is on everyone. He never forgets anything. Millions of people make their living by destroying others, like whales and sharks devouring the finny tribes of the deep. What awful reckonings in the Judgment Day!
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
3:17 If any man {f} defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
(f) Defiles it and makes it unclean, being holy: and surely they do defile it, by Paul’s judgment, who by fleshly eloquence defile the purity of the Gospel.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
If any servant of the Lord tears down the church instead of building it up, God will tear him or her down (Act 9:1-4). He usually does this by sending temporal discipline in one form or another (cf. 1Co 5:5). The Greek word translated "destroys" (phtheiro) also means "defiles." It is a very serious thing to destroy or defile a holy temple, and that is what the local church is (cf. Mat 16:18). [Note: See James Sweeney, "Jesus, Paul, and the Temple: An Exploration of Some Patterns of Continuity," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46:4 (December 2003):605-31.] In the ancient world destroying a temple was a capital offense. The church is holy in that God has set it aside to glorify Himself even though it is not always as holy in its conduct as it is in its calling. 1Co 3:16-17 anticipate the discussion of church discipline in 1Co 5:1-13. [Note: Brian S. Rosner, "Temple and Holiness in 1 Corinthians 5," Tyndale Bulletin 42 (1991):137-45.]
"There are three types of builders-the wise man (1Co 3:12; 1Co 3:14), the unwise (1Co 3:15), and the foolish, who injures the building (1Co 3:17)." [Note: Johnson, pp. 1234-35. Cf. Lowery, p. 511.]
Paul ended his discussion of the local church (1Co 3:5-17) as he did to stress the importance of the work that all God’s servants were doing at Corinth. He also did so to stress the need for unity of viewpoint in the congregation.
". . . this is one of the few texts in the NT where we are exposed both to an understanding of the nature of the local church (God’s temple indwelt by his Spirit) and where the warning of 1Co 3:17 makes it clear how important the local church is to God himself." [Note: Fee, The First . . ., p. 149.]