What Does 1 Corinthians 3:5 Mean?
What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servers through whom you leaned your weight, as the Lord gave to each one.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?THE KEY
Paul and Apollos carry trust to you, but the Lord remains its giver.
THE MEANING
The people through whom trust reaches you are servants, not its source. Each person’s part is received from the Lord. A messenger can carry what is not theirs to own.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this verse undoes is that the person who brought you to trust must therefore own its source.
THE ROOT
ἐπιστεύσατε
episteusate
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust and reliance: entrusting yourself, leaning your full weight on what you trust.
“leaned your weight” in this verse is episteusate. The word carries trust as reliance, not merely agreement with an idea. Paul and Apollos are the means through whom that trust reaches you; they are not the foundation it leans on.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, reliance
πίστις
This noun names the trust that the verse says comes through the servants.
pistos: Firm, steady
πιστός
The related adjective shows trust’s family reaching toward steadiness and dependability.
διάκονοι
diakonoi
GROWS FROM
διακον-
diakon-
Service and attendance; the word names someone serving.
“servers” in this verse is diakonoi. The verse calls Paul and Apollos servants, then says trust comes through them. Their service makes them a passage for trust, not its owner or origin.
ALSO GROWS
diakonia: Service, ministry
διακονία
The same word family names the work as service, reinforcing that the role is given for others.
diakoneō: To serve, attend
διακονέω
This verb makes the family active: a minister is one who serves.
ἔδωκεν
edōken
GROWS FROM
δο-/δω- (do-/dō-)
To give or grant.
“gave” in this verse is edōken. The verse’s final movement is toward what is given: even the work associated with each person comes from the Lord. The servant is a receiver before becoming a channel.
ALSO GROWS
dosis: A giving, a gift
δόσις
This related noun makes the act of giving itself visible beneath the verse’s ‘gave.’
dōrea: Gift, free gift
δωρεά
This branch names what is received, echoing the Lord’s giving of each person’s part.
THE PATTERN
What is received from God can pass through human service without making the servant its source.
John answered and said, "A person can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from the heavens."But to each one of us favor was given according to the measure of the gift of the Anointed One.As each has received a gift, serve it to one another as good stewards of the many-colored favor of God.THE THREAD
John answered and said, "A person can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from the heavens."John uses the same Greek verb for “given” that Paul uses for “gave.” The shared root reveals the structure: what comes through a human servant is still received from above.
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