1 Corinthians 3:17

If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church during a period of factionalism and spiritual pride, issuing a warning immediately after identifying the believers collectively as God's indwelt temple.

The words — The Greek verb φθερεῖ (phtherei) literally means "will destroy" or "ruin," and ναὸν (naon) specifies the sacred temple structure rather than the broader assembly.

The thread — This warning echoes the temple's holiness law in Ezekiel 43:12, the exclusion of the unclean in Numbers 19:20, and Paul's later command to flee sexual immorality in 1 Corinthians 6:18.

Why it lands — The text states that anyone who destroys God's temple will be destroyed by God because the temple is holy and the believers constitute it. It demands that readers treat the community's spiritual integrity as inviolable and abandon any self-deceived claim to worldly wisdom.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 6:18 Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
Ezekiel 43:12 This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.
Numbers 19:20 But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he will be cut off from the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
Ezekiel 7:22 I will turn My face away from them, and they will defile My treasured place. Violent men will enter it, and they will defile it.
Ezekiel 5:11 Therefore as surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and abominations, I Myself will withdraw My favor; I will not look upon you with pity, nor will I spare you.
Ezekiel 23:38 They have also done this to Me: On that very same day, they defiled My sanctuary and profaned My Sabbaths.
Leviticus 20:3 And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.
Psalms 79:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The nations, O God, have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
Exodus 3:5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Leviticus 15:31 You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them.