translation_id: net-engnet

label: NET study note

text: Milk refers figuratively to basic or elementary Christian teaching. Paul’s point was that the Corinthian believers he was writing to here were not mature enough to receive more advanced teaching. This was not a problem at the time, when they were recent converts, but the problem now is that they are still not ready .


text: The expression I planted is generally taken to mean that Paul founded the church at Corinth. Later Apollos had a significant ministry there ( watered ). See also v. 10 .


text: The various materials described here, both valuable ( gold, silver, precious stones ) and worthless ( wood, hay, or straw ) refer to the quality of work built on the foundation , or possibly to the motivation of those doing the building. The materials themselves have been understood (1) as deeds or (2) as people (since ultimately the passage is addressing those who minister to others).


text: includes the word in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity. It is unclear whether the phrase it will be revealed by fire describes the Day (subject of the previous clause) or each one’s work (subject of the clause before that).


text: You are God’s temple refers here to the church, since the pronoun you is plural in the Greek text. (In 6:19 the same imagery is used in a different context to refer to the individual believer.)


text: A quotation from Job 5:13 .


text: A quotation from Ps 94:11 .