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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comRobertson Word Pictures - 1 Corinthians 3:10 - 3:10
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As a wise masterbuilder (hōs sophos architektōn). 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 architektōn, our architect. Tektōn is from tiktō, to beget, and means a begetter, then a worker in wood or stone, a carpenter or mason (Mat 13:55; Mar 6:3). Archi̇ is an old inseparable prefix like archaggelos (archangel), archepiscopos (archbishop), archiereus (chiefpriest). Architektōn 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” (themelion ethēka). Much depends on the wisdom of the architect in laying the foundation. This is the technical phrase (Luk 6:48; Luk 14:29), a cognate accusative for themelion. The substantive themelion is from the same root the as ethēka (ti̇thēmi). 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 Acts 18:1-18. The aorist ethēka is the correct text, not the perfect tetheika.
Another buildeth thereon (allos epoikodomei). Note the preposition epi with the verb each time (1Co 3:10, 1Co 3:11, 1Co 3:12, 1Co 3:14). 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 (blepetō pōs 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.