2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian church, asserting a certainty he holds with fellow believers about what happens at death.

The words — The Greek οἰκία (oikia) means "dwelling" or "house," not "tent" as the BSB renders it; the tent metaphor (σκηνή) belongs to the surrounding verses (5:2, 2 Peter 1:13).

The thread — 2 Peter 1:13 calls the body a "tent," and 1 John 3:2 speaks of what believers will be when Christ appears, both pairing the present temporary state with a future revealed glory.

Why it lands — It demands that a reader stop treating the present body as the final word and hold the guarantee of a God-built dwelling as settled fact, not hope.

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

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Cross-references

Job 19:25 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
2 Peter 1:13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,
2 Corinthians 4:7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
Hebrews 9:24 For Christ did not enter a man-made copy of the true sanctuary, but He entered heaven itself, now to appear on our behalf in the presence of God.
1 Corinthians 15:46 The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual.
John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
Hebrews 9:11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made by hands and is not a part of this creation.
Hebrews 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Job 4:19 how much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who can be crushed like a moth!