1 Corinthians 3:16

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ Don't you know that you people are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? ¹⁶ Do ye not know that ye are [the] temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁶ Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you? ¹⁶ You know that you are God's sanctuary and that God's Spirit lives in you, don't you?1 Corinthians 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22; Hebrews 3:6; 1 Peter 2:5;">[xr] ¹⁶ KNOW YOU not that you are the temple of Aloha, and (that) the Spirit of Aloha inhabiteth in you? ¹⁶ Know ye not, that ye are the temple of God? and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ¹⁶ Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? ¹⁶ Do you not see that you are God's holy house, and that the Spirit of God has his place in you? ¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁶ Knowe ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Know: 1 Corinthians 5:6, 1 Corinthians 6:2, 1 Corinthians 6:3, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19, 1 Corinthians 9:13, 1 Corinthians 9:24, Romans 6:3, James 4:4

ye are: 2 Corinthians 6:16, Ephesians 2:21, Ephesians 2:22, Hebrews 3:6, 1 Peter 2:5

the Spirit: Ezekiel 36:27, John 14:17, Romans 8:11, 2 Timothy 1:14, 1 John 4:12, 1 John 4:15, 1 John 4:16

Reciprocal: Exodus 26:24 - and they shall be coupled together above 2 Chronicles 29:5 - sanctify the house Psalms 93:5 - holiness Zechariah 14:20 - HOLINESS Matthew 15:20 - which John 2:21 - temple Romans 8:9 - if so be 1 Corinthians 3:9 - ye are God's building 1 Corinthians 6:13 - but for 2 Corinthians 3:8 - the ministration 2 Corinthians 13:5 - Know 2 Corinthians 13:14 - the communion Philippians 2:1 - if any fellowship Colossians 1:27 - Christ 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - in the 2 Timothy 2:20 - in a 1 John 3:24 - dwelleth 1 John 4:13 - General Revelation 7:15 - dwell Revelation 11:1 - Rise

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
And the serpent was more crafty than any animal of the field which Jehovah Elohim had made. And it said to the woman, Is it even so, that God has said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
The snake was the most clever of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. The snake spoke to the woman and said, "Woman, did God really tell you that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Yes, has God said, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'"

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman: 'Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?'

Genesis 3:1
Now the snake was wiser than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God truly said that you may not take of the fruit of any tree in the garden?

Genesis 3:1
And the serpent was suttiller then euery beast of the fielde which ye lord God hadde made, and he sayde vnto the woman: yea, hath God saide, ye shall not eate of euery tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
Nowe the serpent was more subtill then any beast of the fielde, which the Lord God had made: and he said to the woman, Yea, hath God in deede said, Ye shall not eate of euery tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
NOW the serpent was more subtle than all the wild beasts that the LORD God had made. And the serpent said to the woman, Truly has God said that you shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:1
Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made. The snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?"

Genesis 3:1
And the two were naked, both Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God,.... The apostle having spoken of the saints as God's building, of himself as a wise master builder, of Christ as the only foundation, and of various doctrines as the materials laid thereon, proceeds to observe to this church, and the members of it, that they being incorporated together in a Gospel church state, were the temple of God; and which was what they could not, or at least ought not, to be ignorant of: and they are so called, in allusion to Solomon's temple; which as it was a type of the natural, so of the mystical body of Christ. There is an agreement between that and the church of Christ, in its maker, matter, situation, magnificence, and holiness; and the church is said to be the temple of God, because it is of his building, and in which he dwells: what the apostle here says of the saints at Corinth, the Jewish doctors say of the Israelites n,

היכל יהוה אתם, "the temple of the Lord are ye"; and which being usually said of them in the apostle's time, he may refer unto; and much better apply to the persons he does, of which the indwelling of the Spirit was the evidence:

and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you: in particular members, as a spirit of regeneration, sanctification, faith, and adoption, and as the earnest and pledge of their future glory; in their ministers to fit and qualify them for their work, and carry them through it; and in the whole church, to bless the word and ordinances, for their growth, comfort, and establishment. This furnishes out a considerable proof of the deity and distinct personality of the Spirit, since this is mentioned as an evidence of the saints being the temple of God, which would not be one, if the Spirit was not God, who dwells therein; and since a temple is sacred to deity, and therefore if he dwells here as in a temple, he must dwell here as God; and since he is mentioned as distinct from God, whose Spirit he is, and dwelling, a personal action is ascribed to him, he must be a distinct divine person.

n R. Alshech in Hag. ii. 5.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Know 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 - This is to be understood of the community of Christians, or of the church, as being the place where God dwells on the earth. The idea is derived from the mode of speaking among the Jews, where they are said often in the Old Testament to be the temple and the habitation of God. And the allusion is probably to the fact that God dwelt by a visible symbol - “the Shechinah” - in the temple, and that His abode was there. As He dwelt there among the Jews; as He had there a temple - a dwelling place, so he dwells among Christians. they are His temple, the place of His abode. His residence is with them; and He is in their midst. This figure the apostle Paul several times uses, 1Co 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:20-22. A great many passages have been quoted by Eisner and Wetstein, in which a virtuous mind is represented as the temple of God, and in which the obligation to preserve that inviolate and unpolluted is enforced. The figure is a beautiful one, and very impressive. A temple was an edifice erected to the service of God. The temple at Jerusalem was not only most magnificent, but was regarded as most sacred:

(1) From the fact that it was devoted to his service; and,

(2) From the fact that it was the special residence of Yahweh.

Among the pagan also, temples were regarded as sacred. They were supposed to be inhabited by the divinity to whom they were dedicated. They were regarded, as inviolable. Those who took refuge there were safe. It was a crime of the highest degree to violate a temple, or to tear a fugitive who had sought protection there from the altar. So the apostle says of the Christian community. They were regarded as his temple - God dwelt among them - and they should regard themselves as holy, and as consecrated to his service. And so it is regarded as a species of sacrilege to violate the temple, and to devote it to other uses, 1 Corinthians 6:19; see 1 Corinthians 3:17.

And that the Spirit of God - The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. This is conclusively proved by 1 Corinthians 6:19, where he is called “the Holy Ghost.”

Dwelleth in you - As God dwelt formerly in the tabernacle, and afterward in the temple, so His Spirit now dwells among Christians - This cannot mean:

1. That the Holy Spirit is “personally united” to Christians, so as to form a personal union; or,
2. That there is to Christians any communication of his nature or personal qualities; or,
3. That there is any union of “essence,” or “nature” with them, for God is present in all places, and can, as God, be no more present at one place than at another.

The only sense in which he can be especially present in any place is by His “influence,” or “agency.” And the idea is one which denotes agency, influence, favor, special regard; and in that sense only can he be present with his church. The expression must mean:

1. That the church is the seat of His operations, the field or abode on which He acts on earth;
2. That His influences are there, producing the appropriate effects of His agency, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, etc.; Galatians 5:22-23;

(3)That He produces consolations there, that he sustains and guides His people;

1. That they are regarded as dedicated or consecrated to Him;
2. That they are especially dear to Him - that He loves them, and thus makes His abode with them. See the note at John 14:23.

(“These words import the actual presence and inhabitation of the Spirit himself. The fact is plainly attested, but it is mysterious, and cannot be distinctly explained. In respect of His essence, He is as much present with unbelievers as with believers. His dwelling in the latter must therefore signify, that He manifests himself, in their souls, in a special manner; that He exerts there His gracious power, and produces effects which other people do not experience - We may illustrate His presence with them, as distinguished from His presence with people in general, by supposing the vegetative power of the earth to produce, in the surrounding regions, only common and worthless plants, but to throw out, in a select spot, all the riches and beauty of a cultivated garden” - Dick’s Theology, Vol. III. p. 287.)

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 3:16. Ye 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 are gathered together in his name. Therefore where God is, there is his temple.