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Divisions in the Church

10 I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters,[a] by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,[b]” or “I follow only Christ.”

13 Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not! 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16 (Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas, but I don’t remember baptizing anyone else.) 17 For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

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Footnotes

  1. 1:10 Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26.
  2. 1:12 Greek Cephas.

Divisions in the Church

10 I urge you, brothers and sisters,[a] by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together,[b] to end your divisions,[c] and to be united by the same mind and purpose.[d] 11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters,[e] that there are quarrels[f] among you. 12 Now I mean this, that[g] each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,”[h] or “I am with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he?[i] Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul?[j] 14 I thank God[k] that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless.[l]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
  2. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you all say the same thing.”
  3. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that there be no divisions among you.”
  4. 1 Corinthians 1:10 tn Grk “that you be united in/by the same mind and in/by the same purpose.”
  5. 1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
  6. 1 Corinthians 1:11 tn Or “rivalries, disputes.”
  7. 1 Corinthians 1:12 tn Or “And I say this because.”
  8. 1 Corinthians 1:12 sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211). Both the Aramaic name “Cephas” and the Greek name “Peter” are related to words in each language which mean “rock.”
  9. 1 Corinthians 1:13 tn Questions prefaced with μή () in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “was he?”).
  10. 1 Corinthians 1:13 tn This third question marks a peak in which Paul’s incredulity at the Corinthians’ attitude is in focus. The words “in fact” have been supplied in the translation to make this rhetorical juncture clear.
  11. 1 Corinthians 1:14 tc The oldest and most significant witnesses to this text, as well as a few others (א* B 6 1739 sams bopt), lack the words τῷ θεῷ (tō theō, “God”), while the rest have them. An accidental omission could well account for the shorter reading, especially since θεῷ would have been written as a nomen sacrum (eucaristwtwqMw). However, one might expect to see, in some mss at least, a dropping of the article but not the divine name. Internally, the Pauline introductory thanksgivings elsewhere always include τῷ θεῷ after εὐχαριστῶ (eucharistō, “I thank”; cf. Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Phil 1:3; Phlm 4; in the plural, note Col 1:3; 1 Thess 1:2). However, both the fact that this is already used in 1 Cor 1:4 (thus perhaps motivating scribes to add it ten verses later), and that in later portions of his letters Paul does not consistently use the collocation of εὐχαριστῶ with τῷ θεῷ (Rom 16:4; 1 Cor 10:30), might give one pause. Still, nowhere else in the corpus Paulinum do we see a sentence begin with εὐχαριστῶ without an accompanying τῷ θεῷ. A decision is difficult, but on balance it is probably best to retain the words.
  12. 1 Corinthians 1:17 tn Grk “would not be emptied.”