SEV Biblia, Chapter 3:10
Conforme a la gracia de Dios que me ha sido dada, yo como sabio maestro de obra, puse el fundamento, mas otro prosigue el edificio, pero cada uno vea cmo prosigue el edificio.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - 1 Corinthians 3:10
Verse 10. As a wise master builder] wv sofuv arcitektwn. The design or plan of the building is from God; all things must be done according to the pattern which he has exhibited; but the execution of this plan was entrusted chiefly to St. Paul; he was the wise or experienced architect which God used in order to lay the foundation; to ascertain the essential and immutable doctrines of the Gospel-those alone which came from God, and which alone he would bless to the salvation of mankind. Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.] Let him take care that the doctrines which he preaches be answerable to those which I have preached; let him also take heed that he enjoin no other practice than that which is suitable to the doctrine, and in every sense accords with it.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 10. According to the grace of God which is given unto me , etc.] Lest the apostle should be thought to be too much elated with the characters he had given of himself, and other ministers, or to assume too much to himself, in what he was about to say of himself, he ascribes all the gifts he had, and the usefulness he was of, as a labourer and builder in the church of God, to rich grace; by which he was called unto, and qualified for such work: as a wise master builder. This same phrase, sofov arcitektwn , a wise master builder, is used by the Septuagint interpreters, in ( Isaiah 3:3) by which they render yrj kj , the cunning artificer, or the wise man of the carpenters, or artificers. The architect of all is God the Father, Son, and Spirit; God the Father is the builder of all things; Christ builds his church on himself the rock; and the saints are built up an habitation for God, through the Spirit; ministers are builders under God, instruments he makes use of, and who would labour in vain, unless the Lord build the city: such an one was the apostle, though he calls himself a master builder with respect to inferior ministers; he being in the highest office in the church, as an apostle, and not a whit behind the chief of them; and was the chief apostle of the Gentiles, and was principally concerned in preaching the Gospel to them, and in raising churches among them. The allusion is to the Jews, who use to call the Rabbins and doctors, and the disciples of the wise men, builders: they ask in a certain place f32 , yanb yam , who are the builders? says R. Joehanna, these are the disciples of the wise men, who employ themselves in the building of the world all their days f33 .
That is, the law, as one of their writers explains this building; hence they are sometimes called builders of the law, and which was looked upon to be an high character: it is said of a certain person, that R. Zeira praised him, and called him, atyyrwad hyynb , a builder of the law. But the apostle was a Gospel builder, a builder of Gospel churches in Gospel truths, and in faith and holiness; these were foolish builders, but he a wise one; and his wisdom lay in the knowledge of Christ, in preaching him, and in winning souls unto him; and particularly in that he took care in his ministry, to lay a good foundation: I have laid the foundation ; meaning not only that as at other places, so at Corinth, he first preached the Gospel to them, and was the first instrument of their conversion, and laying the foundation of a Gospel church state; but that in his preaching he laid Christ as the one and only foundation, for men to build their faith and hope upon, for everlasting life and happiness, mentioned in the following verse: and another buildeth thereupon ; which designs not a private Christian, who was directed in the apostles ministry to build his soul upon the rock of ages, Christ the sure foundation laid in Zion; though there is a truth in this, the apostle laid Christ as a foundation, and encouraged others to build their faith and hope upon him, as to eternal salvation; and many were enabled to do so, which was the happy fruit of his ministry, and what gave him pleasure; and in this sense he also himself built upon this foundation, for this cannot be said of another, to the exclusion of himself; he would never lay a foundation, and direct others to build on it, and not build upon it himself; but another minister of the Gospel is meant, as Apollos, or any other who might follow him, and be a means of carrying on the building upon the foundation he had laid; and of edifying and establishing souls upon it; and of rearing up superstructure truths, upon the foundation one: but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon ; that he builds by line, evenly, according to the analogy of faith; that he builds in proportion to the foundation; and lays such things upon it as are becoming it, and suitable to it.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 10-15 - The apostle was a wise master-builder; but the grace of God made his such. Spiritual pride is abominable; it is using the greatest favour of God, to feed our own vanity, and make idols of ourselves. But le every man take heed; there may be bad building on a good foundation Nothing must be laid upon it, but what the foundation will bear, an what is of a piece with it. Let us not dare to join a merely human or carnal life with a Divine faith, the corruption of sin with the profession of Christianity. Christ is a firm, abiding, and immovabl Rock of ages, every way able to bear all the weight that God himself of the sinner can lay upon him; neither is there salvation in any other Leave out the doctrine of his atonement, and there is no foundation for our hopes. But of those who rest on this foundation, there are tw sorts. Some hold nothing but the truth as it is in Jesus, and preac nothing else. Others build on the good foundation what will not abid the test, when the day of trail comes. We may be mistaken in ourselve and others; but there is a day coming that will show our actions in the true light, without covering or disguise. Those who spread true an pure religion in all its branches, and whose work will abide in the great day, shall receive a reward. And how great! how much exceedin their deserts! There are others, whose corrupt opinions and doctrines or vain inventions and usages in the worship of God, shall be mad known, disowned, and rejected, in that day. This is plainly meant of figurative fire, not of a real one; for what real fire can consum religious rites or doctrines? And it is to try every man's works, thos of Paul and Apollos, as well as others. Let us consider the tendency of our undertakings, compare them with God's word, and judge ourselves that we be not judged of the Lord.
Greek Textus Receptus
κατα 2596 PREP την 3588 T-ASF χαριν 5485 N-ASF του 3588 T-GSM θεου 2316 N-GSM την 3588 T-ASF δοθεισαν 1325 5685 V-APP-ASF μοι 3427 P-1DS ως 5613 ADV σοφος 4680 A-NSM αρχιτεκτων 753 N-NSM θεμελιον 2310 N-ASM τεθεικα 5087 5758 V-RAI-1S αλλος 243 A-NSM δε 1161 CONJ εποικοδομει 2026 5719 V-PAI-3S εκαστος 1538 A-NSM δε 1161 CONJ βλεπετω 991 5720 V-PAM-3S πως 4459 ADV εποικοδομει 2026 5719 V-PAI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
10. Grace. The special endowment for his apostolic work. Compare Rom. i. 5, grace and apostleship: Rom. xii. 3, 6; Eph. iii. 7, 8.Wise (sofov). Skillful. See on Jas. iii. 13.
Master-builder (arcitektwn). Only here in the New Testament. "The architect does not work himself, but is the ruler of workmen" (Plato, "Statesman," 259).
Foundation. The importance which Paul attached to the foundation was figured by the care employed in laying the foundation of the great Ephesian temple. "To avoid the danger of earthquakes, its foundations were built at vast cost on artificial foundations of skin and charcoal laid over the marsh" (Farrar).
Robertson's NT Word Studies
3:10 {As a wise masterbuilder} (hws sofos arcitektwn). Paul does not shirk his share in the work at Corinth with all the sad outcome there. He absolves Apollos from responsibility for the divisions. He denies that he himself is to blame. In doing so he has to praise himself because the Judaizers who fomented the trouble at Corinth had directly blamed Paul. It is not always wise for a preacher to defend himself against attack, but it is sometimes necessary. Factions in the church were now a fact and Paul went to the bottom of the matter. God gave Paul the grace to do what he did. this is the only New Testament example of the old and common word arcitektwn, our architect. tektwn is from tiktw, to beget, and means a begetter, qen a worker in wood or stone, a carpenter or mason (#Mt 13:55; Mr 6:3). arci- is an old inseparable prefix like arcaggelos (archangel), arcepiscopos (archbishop), arciereus (chiefpriest). arcitektwn occurs in the papyri and inscriptions in an even wider sense than our use of architect, sometimes of the chief engineers. But Paul means to claim primacy as pastor of the church in Corinth as is true of every pastor who is the architect of the whole church life and work. All the workmen (tektones, carpenters) work under the direction of the architect (Plato, _Statesman_, 259). "As a wise architect I laid a foundation" (qemelion eqeka). Much depends on the wisdom of the architect in laying the foundation. this is the technical phrase (#Lu 6:48; 14:29), a cognate accusative for qemelion. The substantive qemelion is from the same root qe as eqeka (ti-qemi). We cannot neatly reproduce the idiom in English. "I placed a placing" does only moderately well. Paul refers directly to the events described by Luke in #Ac 18:1-18. The aorist eqeka is the correct text, not the perfect teqeika. {Another buildeth thereon} (allos epoikodomei). Note the preposition epi with the verb each time (#10,11,12,14). The successor to Paul did not have to lay a new foundation, but only to go on building on that already laid. It is a pity when the new pastor has to dig up the foundation and start all over again as if an earthquake had come. {Take heed how he buildeth thereon} (blepetw pws epoikodomei). The carpenters have need of caution how they carry out the plans of the original architect. Successive architects of great cathedrals carry on through centuries the original design. The result becomes the wonder of succeeding generations. There is no room for individual caprice in the superstructure.
