For Teaching

1 Corinthians 16: What the Passage Says

59 claims across 24 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What 1 Corinthians 16 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

Paul gives instructions for the money being collected for the believers in Jerusalem, telling the Corinthians to set aside a weekly amount so that no collections have to be made when he arrives. He then explains his travel plans through Macedonia, his stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, and the visits of Timothy and Apollos. He closes with brief commands to stand firm and act in love, asks the church to honor Stephanas and others who serve, and sends greetings from the churches in Asia before signing the letter in his own hand.

Claim by Claim

16:1
- Paul addresses the matter of the collection for the saints.
- Paul gave orders about this collection to the churches of Galatia.
- Paul tells the Corinthians to do the same as he ordered the Galatian churches.
16:2
- On the first day of the week each of them is to set something aside by himself.
- Each is to store it up.
- Each is to set aside according to how God has prospered him.
- The purpose is that no collections be made when Paul arrives.
16:3
- When Paul arrives, he will send those whom the Corinthians approve.
- Those sent will carry the Corinthians' gift to Jerusalem.
- It is unclear whether the letters go with the approving or with the sending: the King James has the Corinthians approve men by their letters, while the Greek has Paul send them with letters.
16:4
- If it is fitting that Paul go also, the men sent will travel with him.
16:5
- Paul will come to the Corinthians when he has passed through Macedonia.
- Paul is passing through Macedonia.
16:6
- Paul may possibly stay with them.
- Paul may even spend the winter with them.
- The purpose is that they send him on his way wherever he goes.
16:7
- Paul does not want to see them now in passing.
- Paul hopes to remain some time with them.
- Paul's remaining with them depends on the Lord permitting it.
16:8
- Paul will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost.
16:9
- A great and effective door has been opened to Paul.
- There are many adversaries.
16:10
- If Timothy comes, they are to see that he is with them without fear.
- Timothy works the work of the Lord, as Paul does.
16:11
- No one is to despise Timothy.
- They are to send him on his way in peace.
- The purpose is that Timothy come to Paul.
- Paul is expecting Timothy along with the brothers.
16:12
- Paul addresses the matter of the brother Apollos.
- Paul strongly urged Apollos to come to the Corinthians with the brothers.
- It was not at all his will to come at this time; the Greek does not say whose will it was.
- Apollos will come when he has opportunity.
16:13
- They are to be watchful.
- They are to stand firm in the faith.
- They are to act with courage like men.
- They are to be strong.
16:14
- Everything they do is to be done in love.
16:15
- Paul urges the brothers.
- They know the household of Stephanas.
- The household of Stephanas is the firstfruits of Achaia.
- The household of Stephanas devoted themselves to the service of the saints.
16:16
- They are to submit themselves to such people.
- They are to submit to everyone who works alongside and labors.
16:17
- Paul is glad at the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus.
- These men supplied what was lacking on the Corinthians' part.
16:18
- These men refreshed Paul's spirit.
- These men refreshed the Corinthians' spirit.
- They are to give recognition to such men.
16:19
- The churches of Asia greet the Corinthians.
- Aquila and Priscilla greet them warmly in the Lord.
- The church that meets in Aquila and Priscilla's house joins the greeting.
16:20
- All the brothers greet them.
- They are to greet one another with a holy kiss.
16:21
- The greeting is written in Paul's own hand.
16:22
- If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.
- The Lord comes, or, our Lord, come; the Aramaic can be read either way.
16:23
- Paul wishes the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with them.
16:24
- Paul's love is with them all in Christ Jesus.
- Amen.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

16:1: "Saints" in the King James does not mean specially holy individuals. It translates a word meaning people set apart, and Paul uses it of ordinary church members; here it refers specifically to the believers in Jerusalem, who were in financial need. "As I have given order" means as I gave instructions, not as I placed an order. Galatia was a Roman province in central Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey.
16:2: The first day of the week is Sunday. In the Jewish calendar the seventh day, Saturday, was the Sabbath, so the first day was an ordinary working day. "Lay by him in store" means to put money aside privately and let it build up over time, rather than bringing it to a meeting each week.
16:3: The Greek can be read two ways, and translators divide over it: either Paul will send letters along with the men the Corinthians have approved, or the Corinthians will approve those men by means of their own letters. Letters of recommendation were the standard way a traveler carrying other people's money was vouched for at the far end of a journey. "Liberality" here means a generous gift, not a state of mind.
16:4: "Meet" in 1611 English means fitting or appropriate. It has nothing to do with meeting someone.
16:5: Macedonia was the Roman province covering northern Greece, including Philippi and Thessalonica. Corinth lay to the south, in the province of Achaia. Paul is writing from Ephesus, across the Aegean Sea, and describes an overland route that reaches Corinth last.
16:6: "Bring me on my journey" means to send a traveler off equipped: provisions, money, and often companions for the next stage. It was a recognized courtesy owed to traveling teachers. Wintering mattered because sea travel across the Mediterranean largely shut down from roughly November to March, so a traveler caught by the season stayed put for months.
16:7: "By the way" in 1611 English means in passing, while on my way through. It is not the modern "by the way," meaning incidentally. "Tarry" means to stay or remain.
16:8: Ephesus was a major port city on the west coast of Asia Minor, in modern Turkey, and is where Paul was when he wrote this letter. Pentecost was a Jewish harvest festival held fifty days after Passover, falling in late spring; Paul uses it here simply as a fixed date on the calendar.
16:9: An open door was a common image in this period for an opportunity to get work done. "Effectual" means it is producing real results, not merely that it exists.
16:10: "Timotheus" is the Greek form of the name; the person is Timothy, Paul's younger coworker.
16:12: Apollos was a teacher who had worked in Corinth after Paul; earlier in this letter Paul mentions Corinthians lining up in rival groups behind one leader or another. The Greek phrase behind "his will was not at all to come" can be read as Apollos's own wish or as God's will in the matter, and readers have long taken it both ways. "Convenient time" in 1611 English means a suitable opportunity, not merely a handy moment.
16:13: "Quit you like men" uses "quit" in an old sense meaning acquit or conduct yourselves. It renders a single Greek verb formed from the word for a grown man, which in ordinary Greek usage meant to behave with courage.
16:14: "Charity" in 1611 English meant love in the broad sense. It had not yet narrowed to mean giving money to the poor. It is the same word Paul used throughout chapter 13.
16:15: "Firstfruits" is a farming term: the first portion of a harvest, gathered before the rest comes in. Applied to people, it means the earliest converts in a region. "Addicted themselves" uses "addict" in its 1611 sense of devoting or attaching oneself to something, with no suggestion of compulsion or dependency. Achaia was the Roman province covering southern Greece, with Corinth as its capital.
16:17: Fortunatus and Achaicus are Latin names of a kind common among slaves and freed slaves. "That which was lacking on your part" is open in the Greek: it can mean these three men made up for the absence of the rest of the Corinthians, or that they supplied a need the church itself had left unmet.
16:19: "Asia" here means the Roman province of Asia, occupying the western end of modern Turkey, with Ephesus as its chief city. It does not mean the continent. Aquila and Priscilla were a married couple Paul had lived and worked with in Corinth; Priscilla is the familiar form of the name Prisca. Christians had no separate buildings at this date, so a congregation met in the home of a member whose house was large enough to hold it.
16:20: A kiss on the cheek was a normal greeting between family members and close associates in this culture, roughly where a handshake or hug would stand now. "Holy" marks it as the greeting exchanged among fellow believers.
16:21: Paul normally dictated his letters to a scribe and then took the pen himself for the closing lines. The visible change of handwriting served as his signature and showed the recipients the letter was genuinely from him.
16:22: "Anathema" is a Greek word left untranslated here; it means something handed over to destruction, placed under a curse. "Maranatha" is not Greek at all but Aramaic, the everyday language of Palestinian Jews, and its sense depends on where the syllables are divided: "marana tha" means "our Lord, come," while "maran atha" means "our Lord has come." The King James prints the two words together as though they were one phrase, but they are separate, and only the first is a curse.
16:23: "Grace" translates a word meaning generous favor shown to someone who has done nothing to earn it. It was also the ordinary word used in closing a letter.
16:24: "Amen" is a Hebrew word meaning "yes, let it be so." People said it out loud to agree with what had just been said.

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