First, I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church, and to some extent I believe it.
Parallel translations
- WEB For first of all, when you come together in the assembly, I hear that divisions exist among you, and I partly believe it.
- KJV For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
- BSB First of all, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
- NKJV For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
- NASB For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Paul has heard of divisions among them when they assemble and partly believes the report. Disunity was corrupting their worship.
Overview
Paul names 'divisions' in the gathered church, likely along social or economic lines, that surfaced at the common meal. He treats the report seriously while measured in tone. Such factions contradict the unity the Lord's Supper signifies (10:17), and Paul will expose how their selfishness profanes the sacred meal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- 1 Cor 3:3for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?
- 1 Cor 1:10–12Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
- 1 Cor 5:1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, that one has his father’s wife.
- 1 Cor 6:1Dare any of you, having a matter against his neighbor, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 11:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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