I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
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1 Corinthians 3:6-8 sits inside this longer paragraph.
Brothers, I couldn’t speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren’t yet ready. Indeed, you aren’t ready even now, for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you fleshly? Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed, and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
Parallel Translations
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I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.
So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
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I have planted: Apollo watred: but god gave increace.
So then nether is he that planteth eny thinge nether he that watreth: but god which gave the increace.
He that planteth and he that watreth are nether better then the other. Every man yet shall receave his rewarde accordynge to his laboure.
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I haue planted, Apollos watred, but God gaue the increase.
So then, neither is hee that planteth any thing, neither hee that watreth, but God that giueth the increase.
And he that planteth, and he that watreth, are one, and euery man shall receiue his wages, according to his labour.
Cross-references (52)
- John 15:5 (v7) I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
- 1 Corinthians 3:9-10 (v6) For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise…
- Galatians 6:3 (v7) For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
- Proverbs 11:25 (v6) The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.
- Romans 2:6 (v8) who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
Show all 52 cross-references
- Psalms 115:1 (v7) Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
- 2 Corinthians 10:14-15 (v6) For we don’t stretch ourselves too much, as though we didn’t reach to you. For we came even as far as to you with the Good News of Christ,…
- 2 Corinthians 12:9 (v7) He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in…
- Psalms 62:12 (v8) Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
- Matthew 16:27 (v8) For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
- John 4:36-38 (v8) He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the…
- 2 John 1:8 (v8) Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.
- Acts 18:4-11 (v6) He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was…
- 1 Corinthians 9:1 (v6) Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus Christ, our Lord? Aren’t you my work in the Lord?
- 1 Corinthians 15:58 (v8) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in…
- Galatians 6:7-8 (v8) Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh…
- Revelation 22:12 (v8) “Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
- Isaiah 55:10-11 (v6) For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives…
- Acts 19:1 (v6) While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples.
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 (v6) Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
- 1 Corinthians 13:2 (v7) If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t…
- Psalms 92:13-15 (v6) They are planted in Yahweh’s house. They will flourish in our God’s courts. They will still produce fruit in old age. They will be full of…
- Isaiah 40:17 (v7) All the nations are like nothing before him. They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
- Daniel 4:35 (v7) All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants…
- Acts 16:14 (v6) A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart to…
- Acts 18:26-27 (v6) He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of…
- 1 Corinthians 4:14-15 (v6) I don’t write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have ten thousand tutors in Christ, you…
- 1 Corinthians 9:7-11 (v6) What soldier ever serves at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and doesn’t eat of its fruit? Or who feeds a flock, and doesn’t drink…
- 2 Corinthians 3:2-5 (v6) You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written…
- Galatians 6:4 (v8) But let each man examine his own work, and then he will have reason to boast in himself, and not in someone else.
- 1 Peter 5:4 (v8) When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
- Psalms 62:9 (v6) Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter…
- Psalms 62:11 (v6) God has spoken once; twice I have heard this, that power belongs to God.
- Psalms 127:1 (v6) Unless Yahweh builds the house, they who build it labor in vain. Unless Yahweh watches over the city, the watchman guards it in vain.
- Isaiah 41:29 (v7) Behold, all of their deeds are vanity and nothing. Their molten images are wind and confusion.
- Isaiah 61:11 (v6) For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up, so the Lord Yahweh will cause…
- Daniel 12:3 (v8) Those who are wise will shine as the brightness of the expanse. Those who turn many to righteousness will shine as the stars forever and…
- Matthew 5:11-12 (v8) “Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be…
- Matthew 10:41-42 (v8) He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a…
- Acts 14:27 (v6) When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had…
- Acts 18:24 (v6) Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.
- Acts 21:19 (v6) When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry.
- Romans 15:18 (v6) For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
- 1 Corinthians 3:9 (v8) For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s farming, God’s building.
- 1 Corinthians 3:14 (v8) If any man’s work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.
- Hebrews 6:10 (v8) For God is not unrighteous, so as to forget your work and the labor of love which you showed toward his name, in that you served the…
- Acts 11:18 (v6) When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to…
- 1 Corinthians 4:5-6 (v8) Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the…
- 1 Corinthians 9:17-18 (v8) For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if not of my own will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward?…
- Revelation 2:23 (v8) I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each…
- 1 Thessalonians 1:5 (v6) and that our Good News came to you not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with much assurance. You know what kind…
- 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (v6) Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, by which also you…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. I have planted, Apollos watered He unfolds more…
6. I have planted, Apollos watered He unfolds more clearly the nature of that ministry by a similitude, in which the nature of the word and the use of preaching are most appropriately depicted. That the earth may bring forth fruit, there is need of ploughing and sowing, and other means of culture; but after all this has been carefully done, the husbandman’s labor would be of no avail, did not the Lord from heaven give the increase, by the breaking forth of the sun, and still more by his wonderful and secret influence. Hence, although the diligence of the husbandman is not in vain, nor the seed that he throws in useless, yet it is only by the blessing of God that they are made to prosper, for what is more wonderful than that the seed, after it has rotted, springs up again! In like manner, the word of the Lord is seed that is in its own nature fruitful: ministers are as it were husbandmen, that plough and sow. Then follow other helps, as for example, irrigation. Ministers, too, act a corresponding part when, after casting the seed into the ground, they give help to the earth as much as is in their power, until it bring forth what it has conceived: but as for making their labor actually productive, that is a miracle of divine grace — not a work of human industry.
Observe, however, in this passage, how necessary the preaching of the word is, and how necessary the continuance of it. It were, undoubtedly, as easy a thing for God to bless the earth without diligence on the part of men, so as to make it bring forth fruit of its own accord, as to draw out, or rather press out its increase, at the expense of much assiduity on the part of men, and much sweat and sorrow; but as the Lord hath so ordained (1 Corinthians 9:14) that man should labor, and that the earth, on its part, yield a return to his culture, let us take care to act accordingly. In like manner, it were perfectly in the power of God, without the aid of men, if it so pleased him, to produce faith in persons while asleep; but he has appointed it otherwise, so that faith is produced by hearing. (Romans 10:17.) That man, then, who, in the neglect of this means, expects to attain faith, acts just as if the husbandman, throwing aside the plough, taking no care to sow; and leaving off all the labor of husbandry, were to open his mouth, expecting food to drop into it from heaven.
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As to continuance we see what Paul says here — that it is not enough that the seed be sown, if it is not brought forward from time to time by new helps. He, then, who has already received the seed, has still need of watering, nor must endeavors be left off, until full maturity has been attained, or in other words, till life is ended. Apollos, then, who succeeded Paul in the ministry of the word at Corinth, is said to have watered what he had sown.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v6 He beautifieth the former sentence, with two similitudes: first…
He beautifieth the former sentence, with two similitudes: first comparing the company of the faithful, to a field which God maketh fruitful, when it is sowed and watered through the labor of his servants: next, by comparing it to a house, which indeed the Lord buildeth, but by the hands of his workmen, some of whom, he useth in laying the foundation, others in building of it up. Now, both these similitudes tend to this purpose, to show that all things are wholly accomplished by God’s only authority and might, so that we must only have an eye to him. Moreover, although that God useth some in the better part of the work, we must not therefore contemn others, in respect of them, and much less may we divide, or set them apart, (as these factious men did) seeing that all of them labor in God’s business, and in such sort, that they serve to finish one selfsame work, although by a divers manner of working, insomuch that they need one another’s help.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave…
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Ver. 6. But God gave the increase] The harp yields no sound till it be touched by the hand of the musician. The heart is never made good till the heavens answer the earth, Hos 2:21, till God strikes the stroke. Holy Melancthon, being newly converted, thought it impossible for his hearers to withstand the evidence of the gospel. But soon after he complained that old Adam was too hard for young Melancthon. No man can run the point aright, except God give wind to his sails; as, if he speak the word, our words shall not be only like Peter’s angle, which took a fish, but like Peter’s net, which enclosed a multitude of fishes.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv6–8 God honoured me first to preach the gospel amongst…
God honoured me first to preach the gospel amongst you, Act 18:1-28 &c., and blessed my preaching to convert you unto Christ; then I left you: Apollos stayed behind, and he watered what I had planted, daily preaching amongst you; see Act 18:24-26; he was a further means to build you up in faith and holiness; but God increased, or
gave the increase, God gave the power by which you brought forth any fruit. The similitude is drawn from planters, whether husbandmen or gardeners; they plant, they water, but the growing, the budding, the bringing forth flowers or fruit by the plant, doth much more depend upon the soil in which it stands, the influence of heaven upon it, by the beams of the sun, and the drops of the dew and rain, and the internal virtue which the God of nature hath created in the plant, than upon the hand of him that planteth, or him who useth his watering pot to water it. So it is with souls; one minister is used for conversion, or the first changing of souls; another is used for edification, or further building up of souls; but both conversion and edification are infinitely more from the new heart and new nature, which God giveth to souls, and from the influence of the Sun of righteousness by the Spirit of grace, working in and upon the soul, than from any minister, who is but God’s instrument in those works.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I planted; That is, I first preached the gospel…
I planted; That is, I first preached the gospel among you, and first instructed you in the principles of Christ. I converted you to Christ: after me came Apollos, and watered the seed which I had sown: but God it was, and God alone, that caused the seed (which I sowed, and Apollos watered) to fructify and increase.
Learn, 1. That it is an act of discriminating grace and favour in God, to send out his ministers to plant the gospel amongst a people that never before heard it.
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2. That it is an act of farther favour and grace in God, to follow a people with a succession of ministers in order to the watering of the seed formerly sown amongst them.
Learn, 3. That all that ministers can do, is but to plant and water; they cannot give increase, nor procure the success of their ministerial endeavours.
Blessed be God that he doth not require the success of their ministerial endeavours.
Blessed be God that he doth not require the success of our labours at our hands.
Woe unto us, should he say, "Either reconcile my people to me, or I will never be reconciled unto you." Diligence and endeavour is ours, the blessing and success is God’s: he will never blame us for not doing his work.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I have planted,.... That is, ministerially; otherwise the planting…
I have planted,.... That is, ministerially; otherwise the planting of souls in Christ, and the implanting of grace in them, are things purely divine, and peculiar to God, and the power of his grace; but his meaning is, that he was at Corinth, as in other places, the first that preached the Gospel to them; and was an instrument of the conversion of many souls, and of laying the foundation, and of raising and forming a Gospel church state, and of planting them in it;
Apollos watered; he followed after, and his ministry was blessed for edification; he was a means of carrying on the superstructure, and of building up souls in faith and holiness, and of making them fruitful in every good word and work: each minister of the Gospel has his proper gifts, work, and usefulness; some are planters, others waterers; some are employed in hewing down the sturdy oaks, and others in squaring and fitting, and laying them in the building; some are "Boanergeses", sons of thunder, and are mostly useful in conviction and conversion; and others are "Barnabases", sons of consolation, who are chiefly made use of in comforting and edifying the saints: but God gave the increase: for as the gardener may put his plants into the earth, and water them when he has so done, but cannot cause them to grow, this is owing to a divine blessing; and as the husbandman tills his ground, casts the seed into it, and waits for the former and latter rain, but cannot cause it to spring up, or increase to perfection, this is done by a superior influence; so ministers of the Gospel plant and water, cast in the seed of the word, preach the Gospel, but all the success is from the Lord; God only causes it to spring up and grow; it is he that gives it its increasing, spreading, fructifying virtue and efficacy.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7–8 God that giveth the increase - Is all in…
God that giveth the increase - Is all in all: without him neither planting nor watering avails.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv6–8 Verse 6. I have planted] I first sowed the…
Verse 6. I have planted] I first sowed the seed of the Gospel at Corinth, and in the region of Achaia.
Apollos watered] Apollos came after me, and, by his preachings and exhortations, watered the seed which I had sowed; but God gave the increase. The seed has taken root, has sprung up, and borne much fruit; but this was by the especial blessing of God. As in the natural so in the spiritual world; it is by the especial blessing of God that the grain which is sown in the ground brings forth thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold: it is neither the sower nor the waterer that produces this strange and inexplicable multiplication; it is God alone. So it is by the particular agency of the Spirit of God that even good seed, sown in good ground, the purest doctrine conveyed to the honest heart, produces the salvation of the soul.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v8 1Co 3:8-9. He that planteth and he that watereth…
1Co 3:8-9. He that planteth and he that watereth are one — United in affection, and engaged in one general design, the design of glorifying God in the salvation of souls, though their labours may be in some respect different: and hence, instead of being pleased, we are rather displeased and grieved with those invidious comparisons in favour of one against another. Our great concern is to please our common Lord, to whom we are shortly to give up our account; and from whom every man — He primarily means every minister of Christ; shall receive his own reward — The reward in some respects peculiar to himself; according to his own peculiar labour — For as some labour with greater zeal and diligence, and others with less, so they shall be rewarded with different degrees of felicity and glory. He does not say, according to his success, because he who labours much, supposing he labours with a single eye to the glory of God, from a principle of love to him, and a conscientious regard to his will, shall have a great reward, though it may please God to give him little success. Has not all this reasoning the same force still? Ministers are still barely instruments in God’s hand, and depend as entirely as ever on his blessing, to give the increase to their labours. Without this they are nothing; with it their part is so small, that they hardly deserve to be mentioned. May their hearts and hands be more united; and, retaining a due sense of the honour God doth them in employing them, may they faithfully labour, not as for themselves, but for the great Proprietor of all, till the day come when he will reward them in full proportion to their fidelity and diligence! For we are labourers together, &c. — Greek, Θεου γαρ εσμεν συνεργοι, we are fellow- labourers of God; or, we are God’s labourers, and fellow-labourers with each other. Ye are God’s husbandry — Or God’s tillage, God’s cultivated ground: a comprehensive word, taking in a field, a garden, and a vineyard. This is the sum of what went before. Ye are God’s building — This refers to what follows.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I have planted - The apostle here compares the…
I have planted - The apostle here compares the establishment of the church at Corinth to the planting of a vine, a tree, or of grain. The figure is taken from agriculture, and the meaning is obvious. Paul established the church. He was the first preacher in Corinth; and if any distinction was due to anyone, it was rather to him than to the teachers who had labored there subsequently; but he regarded himself as worthy of no such honor as to be the head of a party, for it was not himself, but God who had given the increase.
Apollos watered - This figure is taken from the practice of watering a tender plant, or of watering a garden or field. This was necessary in a special manner in Eastern countries. Their fields became parched and dry from their long droughts, and it was necessary to irrigate them by artificial means. The sense here is, that Paul had labored in establishing the church at Corinth; but that subsequently Apollos had labored to increase it, and to build it, up. It is certain that Apollos did not go to Corinth until after Paul had left it; see Act 18:18; compare Act 18:27.
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God gave the increase - God caused the seed sown to take root and spring up; and God blessed the irrigation of the tender plants as they sprung up, and caused them to grow. This idea is still taken from the farmer. It would be vain for the farmer to sow his seed unless God would give it life. There is no life in the seed, nor is there any inherent power in the earth to make it grow. Only God, the Giver of all life, can quicken the germ in the seed, and make it live. So it would be in vain for the farmer to water his plant unless God would bless it. There is no living principle in the water; no inherent power in the rains of heaven to make the plant grow. It is adapted, indeed, to this, and the seed would not germinate if it was not planted, nor grow if it was not watered; but the life is still from God. He arranged these means, and he gives life to the tender blade, and sustains it. And so it is with the word of life. It has no inherent power to produce effect by itself. The power is not in the naked word, nor in him that plants, nor in him that waters, nor in the heart where it is sown, but in God. But there is a Fitness of the means to the end. The word is adapted to save the soul. The seed must be sown or it will not germinate. Truth must be sown in the heart, and the heart must be prepared for it - as the earth must be plowed and made mellow, or it will not spring up. It must be cultivated with assiduous care, or it will produce nothing. But still it is all of God - as much so as the yellow harvest of the field, after all the toils of the farmer is of God. And as the farmer who has just views, will take no praise to himself because his grain and his vine start up and grow after all his care, but will ascribe all to God’s unceasing, beneficent agency; so will the minister of religion, and so will every Christian, after all their care, ascribe all to God.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v7 That planteth you by your first conversion. Apollo watered…
That planteth you by your first conversion. Apollo watered you by preaching the same truths. --- He that planteth and watered, are one, aim at one and the same end. (Witham) --- According to his own labour. God does not recompense his servants according to the success of their labours, because their success depends upon him alone; but he recompenses them according to their sufferings and diligence in his service; for, whilst he crowns the labour of his apostles with success, he crowns his own work. (St. John Chrysostom) --- This text most evidently proves that good works proceeding from grace are meritorious, and that the rewards in heaven are different, according as God sees just to appropriate them. The Greek word here employed is Greek: misthos, (merces) or wages. See 1 Timothy v. 18; Apocalypse xxii. 12; Matthew xvi. 27. It is by our union with Jesus Christ that our actions, of themselves without value or merit, become gold, silver, and precious stones. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I . . . planted, Apollos watered-- (Act 18:1;…
I . . . planted, Apollos watered-- (Act 18:1; Act 19:1). Apollos at his own desire (Act 18:27) was sent by the brethren to Corinth, and there followed up the work which Paul had begun.
God gave the increase--that is, the growth (Co1 3:10; Act 18:27). "Believed through grace." Though ministers are nothing, and God all in all, yet God works by instruments, and promises the Holy Spirit in the faithful use of means. This is the dispensation of the Spirit, and ours is the ministry of the Spirit.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. Planted—It was Paul’s pre-eminent gift to be a…
6. Planted—It was Paul’s pre-eminent gift to be a founder. His was the rare power, less conspicuous in Apollos and John, to convince the unbeliever, and create a new Church. Hence he sought new fields, and avoided to build on any other man’s foundation. Note on Rom_15:20.
Increase—Growth. As the seed planted in the earth produces no herb or fruit without the showers and sunshine from above, so the preached Gospel, sown in the soul or in the world, produces no increase without God’s gracious aid.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv6, 8 5–23. Christian Ministers only labourers of more or less…
5–23. Christian Ministers only labourers of more or less efficiency, the substantial work being God’s
6. I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase] The Apostle would lead his converts to rise from the thought of those who had ministered the Gospel to them, to the thought of Him whom they ministered. Man does but obey the Divine command in his ministerial work, the results are God’s. See note on 1Co_3:9. It is to be observed that both here and in ch. 1Co_1:12, St Paul’s account of himself and Apollos is in precise agreement with that of St Luke in the Acts. In Acts 18 we read of the Church of Corinth being founded by St Paul. In the latter part of that chapter and in ch. Act_19:1, we read of Apollos’ visit to Greece, and his stay at Corinth. The remark in this Epistle is a purely incidental one, but it coincides exactly with the history. St Paul founded the Church, Apollos ‘mightily convinced the Jews and that publicly,’ thus carrying on the work St Paul had begun. See Paley, Horae Paulinae, 1st Ep. to Corinthians 5, who points out the argument derivable from hence for the genuineness of both this Epistle and the Acts.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv6–8 (6) I have planted, Apollos watered.—By an image borrowed…
(6) I have planted, Apollos watered.—By an image borrowed from the processes of agriculture the Apostle explains the relation in which his teaching stood to that of Apollos—and how all the results were from God. This indication of St. Paul having been the founder, and Apollos the subsequent instructor, of the Corinthian Church, is in complete harmony with what we read of the early history of that Church in Act_18:27; Act_19:1. After St. Paul had been at Corinth (Act_18:1), Apollos, who had been taught by Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus, came there and “helped them much which had already believed.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I planted. St. Paul everywhere recognized that his gift…
I planted. St. Paul everywhere recognized that his gift lay pre eminently in the ability to found Churches. (comp Act_18:1-11; 1Co_4:15 1Co_9:1 1Co_15:1) Apollos watered. If, as is now generally believed, Apollos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, we see how striking was his power of strengthening the faith of wavering Churches. Eloquence and a deep insight into the meaning of Scripture, enriched by Alexandrian culture, seem to have been his special endowments. (Act_18:24, Act_18:27) The reference of the word "watered" to baptism by Augustine (Ep. 48) is one of the numberless instances of Scripture distorted by ecclesiasticism. God gave the increase. (comp 1Co_15:10; 2Co_3:5) The thought of every true teacher always is, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the praise". (Psa_115:1)
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
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Vers. 6-8.
Spiritual husbandry and growth.
A man, looking upon the world, sees according to his power of vision; i.e. not simply according to what he finds in it, but to what he brings to it. To the eye of the Apostle Paul, the world was a wilderness which might be made a garden. There was, he saw, rude, worthless growth to be extirpated, rich soil to be tilled, plants of worth and renown to replace the weeds. His prophetic eye beheld the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose. And to his mind Christians were plants, and Christian ministers were gardeners and husbandmen.
I SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION NEEDS HUMAN INDUSTRY. There is need, in order to the progress and perfection of the work of God, of:
1. Intelligent and willing labourers. Men are employed by Divine wisdom to labour among their fellow men. Saved, renewed, and consecrated labourers have ever been blessed in the work of securing a spiritual harvest. The olive yard, and the vineyard cannot flourish and prosper without unstinted toil, vigilance, skill, and care; so is it with the garden of the Lord.
2. Divinely commissioned labourers. They work best for Jesus who have heard his voice saying, "Go, work today in my vineyard;" whom the authoritative Lord has addressed in his own commanding language, "Unto men I now send thee.
II SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION DEMANDS A VARIETY OF CHARACTER AND ABILITY IN THE TOILERS.
1. One class of labourers are especially adapted to the work of planting. There are Christian missionaries and evangelists who have the gift of awakening attention, arousing concern, eliciting inquiry, calling forth repentance, founding Churches even among the ignorant and degraded heathen.
2. Another class possess the grace of watering the plants already placed in the spiritual soil. These, as pastors and bishops, impart instruction, administer consolation, exercise guidance and control. Catechists and teachers carry on the work which missionaries have begun.
3. All classes co operate towards the one great end in view. All true labourers are one in motive and in aim, in spirit, in mutual confidence and love. None may say to the other, "I have no need of thee." Each has his service, and none is more indispensable than another.
4. All are individually noticed, appreciated, and rewarded. "Then shall every one have praise of God;" "I will give unto every one of you according to your works;" "My reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
III SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION DEPENDS FOR ITS EFFICIENCY AND SUCCESS ENTIRELY UPON THE BLESSING OF THE LORD.
1. From God comes the vitality of the spiritual plant; his is the gospel and his the Spirit, by whose co-operation the result is brought about.
2. From God comes the preparation of the labourer; whose intellectual gifts, whose emotional sympathy, and whose spiritual power are all alike of heavenly origin.
3. From God comes the living energy to which is owing the progress and increase of that which man plants and waters. Thus the excellency of the power is seen to be of God, and not of us. T.
Man"s work and God"s.
I MAN"S WORK. It is:
1. Varied. Paul speaks of planting and watering; may extend to the multiform operations of agriculture. We cannot all do the same work. Let us seek to do that for which we are fitted. There is some spiritual work suited to each of us. In agriculture all find employment, from the boy with his clapper scaring away the birds, to the presiding mind which controls all operations. If Christians do nothing it is because they want to do nothing.
2. Important. As in husbandry, unless we sow and water we may not look for a harvest, so as a rule in things spiritual, Never think that what you can do is unimportant. You may think too little of your work as well as too much. You will think too little if you think that your work may safely be left undone.
3. Honourable. Christian work itself,what can compare with it for an instant? Further, in it we are God"s fellow workers (ver. 9). The Christian worker is one of God"s nobility.
4. Limited. We can only do so much. We may sow and water, but not give the.increase. It belongs to us to preach and teach, not to convince; to invite and warn, not to convert. We cannot produce spiritual results. We are not responsible for them.
5. Not independent. We cannot do our own work apart from God; it is "as the Lord gave to every man (ver. 5). The seed that we plant is God"s; the soil and water are God"s; our powers employed are not "ours" but "God"s.
6. To be rewarded. Upon just principles; according to the "labour" (ver. 8); according to faithfulness in the labour. (Mat_25:14-30) Not according to success. We cannot command this, though success usually follows faithful labour, and lack of success often means lack of diligence, or lack of something which should not have been lacking. Many Christians have an unhappy facility in accounting for failure.
II GOD"S WORK.
1. Wonderful. Deeply mysterious. How marvellous the development of the seed after it is planted! Before this expansion and multiplication of life science stands dumb and confounded. So with the seed of the Word in the human heart. What inexplicable working and result! Well may we bow in adoring awe before this mystery of Divine might.
2. All important. The great need: without this, all nothing. If the increase comes not, of what service is it to plant and irrigate? If the Divine blessing rests not on our preaching and teaching, of what possible service can it be?
Alas! how often we forget this! No harvest because God ignored.
3. Independent. God is not in any way dependent upon us or others for the increase; neither is he for the sowing and watering. The storm wind can be his seed sower, the rains and the dews are his servants.
III REFLECTIONS.
1. God"s work and man"s are usually conjoined. God works generally by means. Let us, therefore, see that our part is done.
2. As our part is important, let us do it with the utmost possible efficiency.
3. Let us ever remember that we are working in God"s field, and near to him, under his observation, etc.
4. Let us never attempt to do God"s part or take any of the glory when it is done.
5. Let us ever bear in mind the relative importance of God"s work and ours. Our work is nothing in comparison with his; we are nothing in comparison with him (ver. 7).
6. When we have done our part, let us look in faith to God to accomplish his.
7. Let us think little of man, much of God.
8. Let us never expect God"s work from man.
9. As we work with and for the same God, let us cultivate unity. H. Vers. 10, 11.
The great Foundation.
I WHAT IT IS. It is Christ (ver. 11). He is the Foundation of:
1. Christianity. Its basis is conveyed in its name. It rests upon Christ. If he be removed, it falls to the ground in ruins; if he be diminished (as in the denial of his divinity, for example), Christianity becomes weak and tottering. As Christianity is of Christ, so is it strong, abiding, glorious.
2. The Christian Church. Its doctrines and practice. How many other foundations have been laid for it from time to time! how often there has been an attempted union of other foundations with the one Foundation, Jesus Christ! To tamper with this Foundation is perilous indeed; to add to it is to deteriorate and to threaten the whole superstructure. The Christian Church should look to her Foundation, and clear away all that is not of Christ. No hurricane or storm will move her if she is on the Rock; but if her dependence be upon the shifting sands of wealth, position, world power, human learning, or other things of man, woe betide her!
3. Religious work. How Paul made Christ the Foundation of his work amongst the Corinthians when he determined to know nothing but Christ and him crucified! (1Co_2:2) When we teach we should teach Christ, when we preach we should preach Christ. Our work amongst men is not to be based upon our fancies or upon human theories, but upon Christ and his great redemptive work. We may amuse men with the fireworks of rhetoric or startling supposition, but the blaze will soon be over, and the old darkness will seem more intense than ever. If we want to bring abiding light to men, we must not divert them with pyrotechnic displays, but we must bring them to the Sun the Sun of Righteousness. Much "religious work" is like a house built upon nothing. The marvel is, not that it should last so short a time, but that it should last at all.
4. Godly life. There is no sure foundation but this. Christ is the way to holiness. A life"s labour after true excellence will be thrown away unless Christ be the Starting point. We shall not reach God without Christ: "No man cometh unto the Father but by me"; (Joh_14:6) "Without me ye can do nothing. From Christ we receive power to live aright. Many seek to be godly that they may come to Christ, instead of coming to Christ that they may be godly. We have heard of the man who resolved to rear the house first and put in the foundation afterwards, but he was not a successful builder.
5. National greatness. A nation is truly great only in so far as it is based upon Christ and the principles which he expounded. The nations have perished one after another; their greatness was spurious, and therefore they were ephemeral; they rested upon that which moved, not upon that which is immovable The same yesterday, today, and forever." When the nation arises which shall be founded upon Christ and his truth, its glory and greatness shall excel the palmiest days of Solomon, and it shall abide. Our duty as subjects is to remove from the national foundations all that is not of Christ. Sacrifice may be entailed, but never loss: it is never loss to cast away the bad.
II HOW IT IS LAID.
1. By human instrumentality. At Corinth by Paul: "wise" (ver. 10) was he as a master builder to lay this foundation, as well as wise in his manner of laying it. Here is marvellous honour conferred upon human creatures, that of laying the great foundation. We may participate in this vast privilege; we may have the high joy of laying the Foundation, Jesus Christ, in some unsaved souls. If archangels could envy, assuredly they would envy us this sublime, all glorious work. How readily should we run to it! how gladly devote to it our every power! how unceasingly labour and pray until "Christ be formed in" those whose salvation we desire!
2. Under Divine direction and by Divine help. What wisdom is here required! and of ourselves we are but foolish; what power! and we are weaklings. "Our sufficiency is of God." Only are we "wise master builders" when we constantly look up for guidance and rely upon Omnipotence. If we do anything in this matter it can only be "according to the grace of God" (ver. 10). This grace must be sought. When received and made effective in our lives, all the glory of that which is accomplished must be ascribed to him from whom the grace has flowed. H.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. I have planted, etc. It was Paul's work…
6. I have planted, etc. It was Paul's work given him to plant the seed of the kingdom; it was the work of Apollos to afterwards water or cultivate the Christian plants which had come forth, but God gave the growth; gave the seed its vitality and the plant its life.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv6–8 6. “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave…
6. “I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase:
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv6–8 I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase…
I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase .
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v8 Paul refutes the notion that he and Cephas and…
one
Paul refutes the notion that he and Cephas and Apollos are at variance, mere theologians and rival founders of sects: they are "one." 1Co 3:22; 1Co 16:12.
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reward 1Co 9:17; Dan 12:3; 1Co 3:14
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8 I planted
I planted
The knowledge of God is compared to a seed which must be planted in order to grow. AT: "When I preached God's word to you, I was like one who plants seeds in a garden" (See: Metaphor)
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Apollos watered
As seeds need water, faith needs further teaching in order for it to grow. AT: "and when Apollos continued to teach you God's word, he was like one who waters a garden" (See: Metaphor)
but God gave the growth
As plants grow and develop, so faith and knowledge in God also grow and become deeper and stronger. AT: "but God caused you to grow" or "but just as God causes plants to grow, he causes you to grow spiritually" (See: Metaphor)
neither he who plants ... is anything. But it is God who gives the growth
Paul stresses that neither he nor Apollos is responsible for the believers' spiritual growth, but it is God's doing.
it is God who gives the growth
Here to give growth means to cause growth. The abstract noun "growth" can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "it is God who causes you to grow" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
Apollos
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v6 3:6 I planted: See Acts 18:1-11. • Apollos watered:…
3:6 I planted: See Acts 18:1-11. • Apollos watered: See Acts 18:27–19:1.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.