1 Corinthians 14:36
What does 1 Corinthians 14:36 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Corinthians 14:36 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Corinthians 14:36 means
Paul confronts Corinthian pride with rhetorical questions: did God’s word originate with you, or is your church the only one it reached? The implied answer is no. Therefore, Corinth has no right to set itself above the wider church or ignore apostolic norms. This rebuke presses humility and unity, reminding them that their practices must align with the teaching received from the apostles and shared among the churches. It undercuts any claim that local enthusiasm or innovation justifies disorder. The church belongs to God and his Word, not to human preferences. Submission to the apostolic pattern safeguards peace, edification, and faithful witness.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000What? was it from you that the word of God went forth? or came it unto you alone?
KJV
King James Version · 1611What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901What? was it from you that the word of God went forth? or came it unto you alone?
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949What? was it from you that the word of God went out? or did it only come in to you?
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862From you did the word of God come forth? or to you alone did it come?
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Or did the word of God come out from you? Or came it only unto you?
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Did the word ofGod go out from you, or did it come to you only?
Context
After giving difficult instructions about order—including women’s silence—Paul anticipates resistance and addresses it by challenging Corinth’s uniqueness. He reasserts the universality of his teaching. The next verse will strengthen this further by declaring his words to be the Lord’s command, not mere advice. This progression elevates the authority behind the chapter’s regulations and closes the door on dismissing them as merely Paul’s personal opinion or a local custom peculiar to Corinth.
v.35And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.
v.36This passage
v.37If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Acts 16:9
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
- Acts 17:15
But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.
- Isaiah 2:3
And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem.
- 2 Corinthians 10:13
But we will not glory beyond our measure, but according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even unto you.
- Acts 17:1
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
- Acts 13:1
Now there were at Antioch, in the church that wasthere, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
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