English · KJV

1 Corinthians 4:2

“Ministers and Stewards of God”1 Corinthians 4:1–5

King James Version
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
G3739G1161 Moreover G3063 it is required G2212 in G1722 stewards G3623, that G2443 a man G5100 be found G2147 faithful G4103.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
Now it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
Here, moreover, it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
Here, moreover, it is required of stewards, that they be found faithful.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
And as for the rest, it is required of the disposers, that euery man be found faithfull.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
and as to the rest, it is required in the stewards that one may be found faithful,

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
10 Greek words
  1. ὯδεHōdeIn this caseG5602ADVAdverb
  2. λοιπὸνloiponmoreoverG3063A-ASNAdjective Accusative Singular Neuter
  3. ζητεῖταιzēteitaiit is requiredG2212V-PPI-3SVerb Present Passive Indicative 3rd Singular
  4. ἐνeninG1722PREPPreposition
  5. τοῖςtoistheG3588T-DPMDefinite article Dative Plural Masculine
  6. οἰκονόμοιςoikonomoisstewardsG3623N-DPMNoun Dative Plural Masculine
  7. ἵναinathatG2443CONJConjunction
  8. πιστόςpistosfaithfulG4103A-NSMAdjective Nominative Singular Masculine
  9. τιςtisoneG5100X-NSMIndefinite pronoun Nominative Singular Masculine
  10. εὑρεθῇheurethēamay be foundG2147V-APS-3SVerb Aorist Passive Subjunctive 3rd Singular
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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This verse

What is looked for in a steward, above everything else, is that he be found faithful to the master who trusted him.

“Moreover”

Loipón, “for the rest” or “besides”, moving Paul on to his next point.

“it is required in stewards,”

Zētéō, to seek. This is what is looked for in anyone who holds such a trust.

“that a man be found faithful.”

Heurískō, found when his work is examined, and pistós, trustworthy. The master is the one who does the finding.

Passage study1 Corinthians 4:1–5

Ministers and Stewards of God

1Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. 4For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord. 5Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.

Summary

Paul tells the church at Corinth how to think of him and the other apostles. They are servants of Christ and stewards trusted with the mysteries of God, and the one thing looked for in a steward is that he be found faithful. So the verdict of the Corinthians, or of any human court, weighs very little with Paul, and he leaves even his own verdict on himself with God. His conscience is clear, and the Lord is still his judge. Therefore the church is to “judge nothing before the time.” When the Lord comes he will bring hidden things to light and show the purposes of every heart, and then each faithful servant will have his praise from God.

How should the church think of its leaders?

The church at Corinth had split into parties around its teachers. Paul opens the letter by pleading with them over it, and he quotes their own slogans: “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas” (1 Corinthians 1:10–17). Through the first three chapters (1 Corinthians 1–3) he sets the wisdom of God against the wisdom of the world. The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who perish, and to those who are saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18–25). Paul came to Corinth with plain speech, so that their faith would stand in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1–5), and the wisdom he speaks is “not the wisdom of this world” (1 Corinthians 2:6).

Corinth was a wealthy, busy port city, full of trade and rival schools of philosophy, where eloquent speakers were admired and public reputation counted for a great deal. The believers there were weighing their teachers the same way, by their speaking and their learning, and it bred boasting and cliques. Some of them thought little of Paul’s plain preaching and questioned his standing as an apostle.

Paul has already answered that he and Apollos are only ministers through whom the Corinthians believed, and that God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:4–7). They are labourers together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9), building on the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). Chapter 4 draws the conclusion and carries Paul into a defence of his ministry that runs through the whole chapter (1 Corinthians 4).

Servants of Christ

The verb behind “account”, logízomai, means to count, reckon or consider. Paul is telling the church how to reckon its leaders, and the little word “so”, hoútō, points ahead to the description that follows. This is how every believer in Corinth is to count them.

The first title is “ministers of Christ”. The Greek hypērétēs is a word for a subordinate, a servant who carries out the will of the one over him, and its roots picture an under-rower, one of the men who pulled the oars below deck. Paul chose a humble word on purpose. The apostles belong to Christ and serve under his authority alone, which leaves the church nothing to boast of in any human leader.

Stewards of God’s mysteries

The second title adds trust to service. A steward, oikonómos, from oikos (house) and nomos (law or management), was the manager of a household. Among Greeks and Romans he was often a trusted slave or freedman, set over his master’s property, his money and even the other servants. He gave out what the household needed and acted in his master’s interest, and the day would come when he had to give his master an account of all of it. He had real authority, and everything he handled belonged to someone else. Jesus spoke of “that faithful and wise steward” whom his lord makes ruler over his household (Luke 12:42).

What the apostles manage is “the mysteries of God”. A mystery, mystḗrion, is a secret once hidden and now made known by God to those to whom he gives it. Here it means the gospel itself, God’s plan of salvation in Christ, which brings Gentiles together with Jews into one body. Paul speaks of “the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints” (Colossians 1:26), and he says that grace was given to him to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make known this mystery that had been hid in God (Ephesians 3:8–9). The world counts this message foolishness, and to those who believe it is the power and wisdom of God. A steward of it holds a sacred trust. It is his to give out faithfully for the good of God’s household, the church, and the glory belongs to the owner.

What God looks for in a steward

“Moreover” translates loipón, a word meaning “for the rest” or “besides”, which carries Paul on to his next point. What is “required”, zētéō, is what is sought or looked for. When a master looks over his steward’s work, he asks one thing above all: “that a man be found faithful.”

“Found”, heurískō, is the ordinary word for finding, and here it pictures the steward’s work being examined and the truth about him coming to light. “Faithful”, pistós, means trustworthy and reliable. A faithful steward is loyal to his master, handles what is entrusted to him with integrity, and keeps to his master’s will when nobody is watching or thanking him. The Corinthians prized eloquence, learning and a following. The quality God requires is the plain one of being trustworthy.

Jesus taught this in his parables of stewards and servants. He told of a master who trusted his goods to his servants and came back to settle accounts with them, and to each faithful one he said, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:14–30). With the parable of the unjust steward he taught, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:1–13). The risen Lord tells a suffering church, “be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).

So faithfulness and success are two separate measures. A steward can be faithful in everything he was given and still see what looks like failure to the world, as a missionary may labour for years and see few converts. God weighs the labourer by his trustworthiness and loyalty, and the size of the harvest is in God’s hands.

Is this only for church leaders?

Paul is speaking first of himself and the other apostles, and the same requirement reaches every believer, because every believer has been trusted with something by God. Peter tells all believers to minister their gifts to one another “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10). Paul writes that God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and committed to us its word (2 Corinthians 5:18–20), and later in this letter he describes the gifts the Spirit gives to each member of the church (1 Corinthians 12). Time, gifts, goods and the gospel itself are all held in trust, and the call to be found faithful belongs to every follower of Christ.

Why the verdict of others weighed little with Paul

With that measure in place, Paul can say, “with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment.” “A very small thing” is eláchistos, the superlative of “small”, meaning the least or smallest. What the Corinthians think of him is about the least of Paul’s concerns.

The verb “judged” is anakrínō, to examine closely, investigate or question, the way a case is examined in court. The Corinthians were holding just such an examination of Paul, weighing his preaching and his apostleship and preferring other teachers. “Of you” means the church itself, and “man’s judgment” widens it to any human verdict, inside the church or outside it. The Greek phrase, anthrōpinēs hēmeras, reads literally “man’s day”. Paul has already spoken of “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8), and beside that day, when the Lord’s verdict is perfect and final, a human “day” of judgment is brief and fallible.

Paul’s concern is to please God, as he tells the Galatians: “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

Then he goes further: “yea, I judge not mine own self.” Paul can see his own faults, and he still declines to pass the final verdict on his life and ministry, because a heart can deceive the one who has it. Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins” (Jeremiah 17:9–10). Only God knows a man’s true motives, so Paul leaves that judgment with him. That is humility, the very opposite of the pride at Corinth.

Does Paul brush aside all criticism?

Paul is placing the final word on his calling and character with God, and he still cares how his life looks to others. He tells the Romans, “Provide things honest in the sight of all men” (Romans 12:17), and in this letter he takes care to give offence to no one and to seek the good of many, that they may be saved (1 Corinthians 10:32–33). Correction from others can help us grow, and a good name matters for the gospel’s sake. Paul’s point is that God is the judge, and his approval is the one that counts in the end.

A clear conscience and the Lord’s verdict

“For I know nothing by myself” is older English for “I know nothing against myself”, or “I am conscious of no fault in myself”. The verb, syneídō, means to see completely, and so to be aware or conscious of something, and here it is the witness of Paul’s own conscience. He has examined his ministry and knows of no unfaithfulness or neglect that would warrant the Corinthians’ criticism.

“Yet am I not hereby justified.” The verb dikaióō, from díkaios, “righteous”, means to show or regard someone as just or innocent. Paul’s clear conscience is a real good, and it leaves his case open, because the verdict belongs to someone else: “he that judgeth me is the Lord.” “Judgeth” is anakrínō, the same verb as “judged” in verse 3. The Corinthians were examining Paul, and the examination that settles his case is the Lord’s. “Lord”, kýrios, means one supreme in authority, a master, and it is the master who examines his steward.

Every believer will stand before that judgment, for “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10), and “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Does a clear conscience make us right with God?

A clear conscience is worth having, and Paul still leaves the verdict on his life to the Lord, who sees what Paul cannot see in himself. In this verse Paul is speaking of the verdict on his faithfulness as a steward, and Scripture’s wider teaching agrees with it: righteousness before God is God’s gift, received by faith. A man “is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16), we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24), and Paul longs to be found in Christ, with “the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). So a good conscience is a gift to keep, by honest self-examination and repentance, and our hope before the Judge rests on Christ.

Judge nothing before the time

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.” Since the Lord is the judge, the church waits for his verdict. “Judge” here is krínō, which first means to distinguish and so to decide, whether in the mind or in a court. Paul forbids the Corinthians to pass that final decision on anyone, and above all on their teachers. “The time” is the appointed time of Christ’s return. “Come” is érchomai, the ordinary word for coming, used here of the Lord Jesus coming again in judgment. Until then, the heart of another person is out of our sight.

When he comes he will do two things. First, he “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness.” “Hidden things”, kryptós, from the verb “to conceal”, are things kept private and out of sight, the secret deeds and covered actions of people, good as well as evil. Second, he “will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” “Counsels”, boulḗ, from a root meaning to will or wish, are purposes and intentions, and “the hearts” are the centre of a person’s moral and spiritual life. The Lord will show both what people did in secret and why they did it. He sees all of it even now, for “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13).

Praise from God

“And then shall every man have praise of God.” Once all is shown, each faithful servant will receive from God the praise, épainos, that is truly his. Faithfulness that was overlooked or slandered here will be commended by God himself. Jesus said that the Father who sees in secret will reward openly (Matthew 6:4), and Paul has just written that every man’s work will be tried by fire, and that the one whose work abides will receive a reward (1 Corinthians 3:13–14). The apostles’ own faithfulness was hidden under weakness, hunger and contempt, as Paul goes on to describe (1 Corinthians 4:9–13). The Corinthians were handing out praise too early and for the wrong things, and the praise worth having comes from God at the Lord’s coming.

What judging does Paul forbid?

Paul forbids the final verdict on a person’s motives, heart and standing before God, which belongs to the Lord when he comes. That kind of judgment takes God’s place, since only he sees the heart and the hidden things. Scripture still calls believers to discernment. Jesus says that false prophets are known by their fruits (Matthew 7:15–20), John tells believers to “try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1), and in the next chapter Paul tells this same church to judge a member living in open sin (1 Corinthians 5:12–13). We may weigh what people teach and do, and we wait for the Lord to judge what lies in their hearts.

Christ, the faithful servant and the coming Judge

Everything Paul asks of a steward, Jesus did perfectly. He came to minister and to give his life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and he said that his meat was to do the will of him that sent him and to finish his work (John 4:34). Hebrews calls him faithful to the one who appointed him, a Son over God’s house (Hebrews 3:1–6). He declared the Father (John 1:18), he always did the things that pleased the Father (John 8:29), and he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). He is “the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14). He is also the mystery the apostles were given to keep, the mystery of God in whom “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2–3).

Jesus lived before his Father’s verdict alone. He said, “I receive not honour from men” (John 5:41), and the questions meant to trap him left him unmoved (Matthew 22:15–22). He came down from heaven to do the will of him that sent him (John 6:38). Before his accusers he was silent, as Isaiah foretold (Isaiah 53:7), and God vindicated him, for he was “declared to be the Son of God with power ... by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). He is “the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

The Lord who judges Paul is Christ, for “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). In his first coming he already brought hidden things to light, exposing those who looked righteous outwardly and were full of hypocrisy within (Matthew 23:27–28). He is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), and he said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). He is the one who searches the reins and hearts (Revelation 2:23). The praise God gives comes through him as well, because believers are “accepted in the beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), and by his death he presents us holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight (Colossians 1:22).

Answering to the Lord who will come

These verses place the final verdict on every servant of God with the Lord, above the opinion of others and above our own opinion of ourselves. Praise and criticism from people are passing things, and Paul could call them “a very small thing” because he knew whose steward he was. The same truth guards against pride when we are praised and against despair when we are criticised unfairly.

They also give the church patience with one another. The Lord will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, so the motives hidden from us can be left with him while we bear with one another until he comes.

And they show who God is. He trusts his servants with his own treasure, he sees what is done in secret, he knows why it was done, and he means to praise those who were faithful. Work done for him that went unnoticed is known to him, and when the Lord comes, each faithful servant “shall have praise of God.”

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers 1 Corinthians 4:1–6.

1662–1714 · 6 verses
Passage under comment1 Corinthians 4:1–6

Here, I. The apostle challenges the respect due to him on account of his character and office, in which many among them had at least very much failed: Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God (1 Corinthians 4:1), though possibly others might have valued them too highly, by setting him up as the head of a party, and professing to be his disciples. In our opinion of ministers, as well as all other things, we should be careful to avoid extremes. Apostles themselves were, 1. Not to be overvalued, for they were ministers, not masters; stewards, not lords. They were servants of Christ, and no more, though they were servants of the highest rank, that had the care of his household, that were to provide food for the rest, and appoint and direct their work. Note, It is a very great abuse of their power, and highly criminal in common ministers, to lord it over their fellow-servants, and challenge authority over their faith or practice. For even apostles were but servants of Christ, employed in his work, and sent on his errand, and dispensers of the mysteries of God, or those truths which had been hidden from the world in ages and generations past. They had no authority to propagate their own fancies, but to spread Christian faith. 2. Apostles were not to be undervalued; for, though they were ministers, they were ministers of Christ. The character and dignity of their master put an honour on them. Though they are but stewards, they are not stewards of the common things of the world, but of divine mysteries. They had a great trust, and for that reason had an honourable office. They were stewards of God's household, high-stewards in his kingdom of grace. They did not set up for masters, but they deserved respect and esteem in this honourable service. Especially,

II.When they did their duty in it, and approved themselves faithful:

It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2), trustworthy. The stewards in Christ's family must appoint what he hath appointed. They must not set their fellow-servants to work for themselves. They must not require any thing from them without their Master's warrant. They must not feed them with the chaff of their own inventions, instead of the wholesome food of Christian doctrine and truth. They must teach what he hath commanded, and not the doctrines and commandments of men. They must be true to the interest of their Lord, and consult his honour. Note, The ministers of Christ should make it their hearty and continual endeavour to approve themselves trustworthy; and when they have the testimony of a good conscience, and the approbation of their Master, they must slight the opinions and censures of their fellow-servants: But with me, saith the apostle, it is a small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment, 1 Corinthians 4:3. Indeed, reputation and esteem among men are a good step towards usefulness in the ministry; and Paul's whole argument upon this head shows he had a just concern for his own reputation. But he that would make it his chief endeavour to please men would hardly approve himself a faithful servant of Christ, Galatians 1:10. He that would be faithful to Christ must despise the censures of men for his sake. He must look upon it as a very little thing (if his Lord approves him) what judgment men form of him. They may think very meanly or very hardly of him, while he is doing his duty; but it is not by their judgment that he must stand or fall. And happy is it for faithful ministers that they have a more just and candid judge than their fellow-servants; one who knows and pities their imperfections, though he has none of his own. It is better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men, 2 Samuel 24:14. The best of men are too apt to judge rashly, and harshly, and unjustly; but his judgment is always according to truth. It is a comfort that men are not to be our final judges. Nay, we are not thus to judge ourselves: "Yea, I judge not myself. For though I know nothing by myself, cannot charge myself with unfaithfulness, yet I am not thereby justified, this will not clear me of the charge; but he that judgeth me is the Lord. It is his judgment that must determine me. By his sentence I must abide. Such I am as he shall find and judge me to be." Note, It is not judging well of ourselves, justifying ourselves, that will prove us safe and happy. Nothing will do this but the acceptance and approbation of our sovereign Judge. Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom the Lord commendeth, 2 Corinthians 10:18.

III.The apostle takes occasion hence to caution the Corinthians against censoriousness - the forward and severe judging of others:

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, 1 Corinthians 4:5. It is judging out of season, and judging at an adventure. He is not to be understood of judging by persons in authority, within the verge of their office, nor of private judging concerning facts that are notorious; but of judging persons' future state, or the secret springs and principles of their actions, or about facts doubtful in themselves. To judge in these cases, and give decisive sentence, is to assume the seat of God and challenge his prerogative. Note, How bold a sinner is the forward and severe censurer! How ill-timed and arrogant are his censures! But there is one who will judge the censurer, and those he censures, without prejudice, passion, or partiality. And there is a time coming when men cannot fail judging aright concerning themselves and others, by following his judgment. This should make them now cautious of judging others, and careful in judging themselves. There is a time coming when the Lord will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts - deeds of darkness that are now done in secret, and all the secret inclinations, purposes, and intentions, of the hidden man of the heart. Note, There is a day coming that will dispel the darkness and lay open the face of the deep, will fetch men's secret sins into open day and discover the secrets of their hearts: The day shall declare it. The judge will bring these things to light. The Lord Jesus Christ will manifest the counsels of the heart, of all hearts. Note, The Lord Jesus Christ must have the knowledge of the counsels of the heart, else he could not make them manifest. This is a divine prerogative (Jeremiah 17:10), and yet it is what our Saviour challenges to himself in a very peculiar manner (Revelation 2:23): All the churches shall know that I am HE who searcheth the reins and hearts, and I will give to every one of you according to your works. Note, We should be very careful how we censure others, when we have to do with a Judge from whom we cannot conceal ourselves. Others do not lie open to our notice, but we lie all open to his: and, when he shall come to judge, every man shall have praise of God. Every man, that is, every one qualified for it, every one who has done well. Though none of God's servants can deserve any thing from him, though there be much that is blamable even in their best services, yet shall their fidelity be commended and crowned by him; and should they be condemned, reproached, or vilified, by their fellow-servants, he will roll away all such unjust censures and reproaches, and show them in their own amiable light. Note, Christians may well be patient under unjust censures, when they know such a day as this is coming, especially when they have their consciences testifying to their integrity. But how fearful should they be of loading any with reproaches now whom their common Judge shall hereafter commend.

IV.The apostle here lets us into the reason why he had used his own name and that of Apollos in this discourse of his.

He had done it in a figure, and he had done it for their sakes. He chose rather to mention his own name, and the name of a faithful fellow-labourer, than the names of any heads of factions among them, that hereby he might avoid what would provoke, and so procure for his advice the greater regard. Note, Ministers should use prudence in their advices and admonitions, but especially in their reproofs, lest they lose their end. The advice the apostle would by this means inculcate was that they might learn not to think of men above what is written (above what he had been writing), nor be puffed up for one against another (1 Corinthians 4:6). Apostles were not to be esteemed other than planters or waterers in God's husbandry, master-builders in his building, stewards of his mysteries, and servants of Christ. And common ministers cannot bear these characters in the same sense that apostles did. Note, We must be very careful not to transfer the honour and authority of the Master to his servant. We must call no man Master on earth; one is our Master, even Christ, Matthew 23:8, Matthew 23:10. We must not think of them above what is written. Note, The word of God is the best rule by which to judge concerning men. And again, judging rightly concerning men, and not judging more highly of them than is fit, is one way to prevent quarrels and contentions in the churches. Pride commonly lies at the bottom of these quarrels. Self-conceit contributes very much to our immoderate esteem of our teachers, as well as ourselves. Our commendation of our own taste and judgment commonly goes along with our unreasonable applause, and always with a factious adherence to one teacher, in opposition to others that may be equally faithful and well qualified. But to think modestly of ourselves, and not above what is written of our teachers, is the most effectual means to prevent quarrels and contests, sidings and parties, in the church. We shall not be puffed up for one against another if we remember that they are all instruments employed by God in his husbandry and building, and endowed by him with their various talents and qualifications.

Historical interpretation

Two Centuries of Reception

4 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

4 quotes · AD 253–458
Ante-NicenePost-Nicene
300400

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 253Origen of AlexandriaAnte-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.25-27
If Paul can say this of people like himself, Peter and Apollos, how much more will it be true of us? We ought to be on our guard to make sure that we are found to be trustworthy stewards.
d. AD 397Ambrose of MilanPost-NiceneSourceON THEODOSIUS 22
As you receive everything, call upon God for everything. What you have is from God. Always acknowledge that you are his debtor.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on 1 Corinthians 10
"Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful:" that is, that he do not appropriate to himself his master's goods, that he do not as a master lay claim for himself but administer as a steward. For a steward's part is to administer well the things committed to his charge: not to say that his master's things are his own; but, on the contrary, that his own are his master's. Let every one think on these things, both he that hath power in speech and he that possesses wealth, namely, that he hath been entrusted with a master's goods and that they are not his own; let him not keep them with himself, nor set them down to his own account; but let him impute them unto God who gave them all. Wouldest thou see faithful stewards? Hear what saith Peter, "Why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man to walk?" Unto Cornelius also he saith, "We also are men of like passions with you:" and unto Christ Himself, "Lo, we have left all, and followed Thee." And Paul, no less, when he had said, "I labored more abundantly than they all," added, "yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Elsewhere also, setting himself strongly against the same persons, he said, "For what hast thou which thou didst not receive?" "For thou hast nothing of thine own, neither wealth, nor speech, nor life itself; for this also is surely the Lord's. Wherefore, when necessity calls, do thou lay down this also. But if thou dostest on life, and being ordered to lay it down refusest, thou art no longer a faithful steward."

"And how is it possible, when God calls, to resist?" Well, that is just what I say too: and on this account do I chiefly admire the loving-kindness of God, that the things which He is able, even against thy will, to take from thee, these He willeth not to be paid in by thee unwillingly, that thou mayest have a reward besides. For instance, He can take away life without thy consent; but His will is to do so with thy consent, that thou mayest say with Paul, "I die daily." He can take away thy glory without thy consent, and bring thee low: but He will have it from thee with thine own goodwill, that thou mayest have a recompense. He can make thee poor, though unwilling, but He will have thee willingly become such, that He may weave crowns for thee. Seest thou God's mercy to man? Seest thou our own brutish stupidity?

What if thou art come to great dignity, and hast at any time obtained some office of Church government? Be not high-minded. Thou hast not acquired the glory, but God hath put it on thee. As if it were another's, therefore, use it sparingly; neither abusing it nor using it upon unsuitable things, nor puffed up, nor appropriating it unto thyself; but esteem thyself to be poor and inglorious. For never,-hadst thou been entrusted with a king's purple to keep,-never would it have become thee to abuse the robe and spoil it, but with the more exactness to keep it for the giver. Is utterance given thee? Be not puffed up; be not arrogant; for the gracious gift is not thine. Be not grudging about thy Master's good, but distribute them among thy fellow-servants; and neither be thou elated with these things as if they were thine own, nor be sparing as to the distribution of them. Again, if thou hast children, they are God's which thou hast. If such be thy thought, thou wilt both be thankful for having them, and if bereft thou wilt not take it hard. Such was Job when he said, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away."

For we have all things from Christ. Both existence itself we have through Him, and life, and breath, and light, and air, and earth. And if He were to exclude us from any one of these, we are lost and undone. For "we are sojourners and pilgrims." And all this about "mine," and "thine," is bare words only, and doth not stand for things. For if thou do but say the house is thine, it is a word without a reality: since the very air, earth, matter, are the Creator's; and so art thou too thyself, who hast framed it; and all other things also. But supposing the use to be thine, even this is uncertain, not on account of death alone, but also before death, because of the instability of things.
d. AD 458Theodoret of CyrusPost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 188
No banker plays fast and loose with other people’s deposits. Rather he looks after them in order to keep them safe for the one who has entrusted them to him.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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