Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Corinthians 3:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them.
Read It With
- 1 Corinthians 3:18–23
Read 1 Corinthians 3:21 with 3:18–23. This verse forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them. The complete unit establishes: The Corinthians must abandon status wisdom, because God exposes it as foolish and futile; therefore they must not boast in human leaders, since all servants and circumstances are theirs, they belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The section closes chapters 1–3 by reversing the party slogans: leaders belong to the community's service, not the community to leaders. At 3:21, this verse forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them.
Follow the Context
- Would-be wisdom must accept God's reversal.
- Job and Psalms expose craftiness and futile reasoning.
- Human boasting is forbidden.
- Paul, Apollos, Cephas, world, life, death, present, and future are placed at the community's service.
- The Corinthians belong to Christ, and Christ to God.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours”
In plain language: This verse forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them.
It contributes specifically to No One Should Boast in Leaders inside 1 Corinthians 3:18–23.
Why it matters: The verse carries enough interpretive or pastoral weight to require the full unit and its explicit limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Corinthians 3:21 does not turn the fact that it forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them into a standalone universal rule. Rejecting leader boasting does not erase expertise or accountable authority.
What Remains True
This verse forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them. This supports the unit's enduring conclusion: Leaders serve the community under Christ; they do not own its identity.
How It Can Shape Life
- Use 1 Corinthians 3:21 by attending to its actual contribution: it forbids boasting in human leaders because all servants belong to them. In the complete unit, this leads to the following response: Design leadership, finances, and communication so no personality can convert service into possession.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Corinthians 3:21's contribution to 1 Corinthians 3:18–23. Include the surrounding argument, the named interpretive uncertainty, and one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Corinthians 3:18–23 — No One Should Boast in LeadersSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
Interpreters differ on the theological nuance of 'Christ is God's'; the rhetorical function is to end human boasting within an ordered belonging to God.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Corinthians 3:18–23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 3:18–23
Open the 1 Corinthians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible - 1 Corinthians with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Corinthians 3:18–23 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET 1 Corinthians PDFLexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 3:18–23
Open source ↗modern open commentary
1 Corinthians
Eric C. Redmond
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Exact location: Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 3:18–23
Open source ↗peer reviewed social rhetorical article
Honor, Rhetoric and Factionalism in the Ancient World: 1 Corinthians 1-4 in Its Social Context
Mark T. Finney
Biblical Theology Bulletin 40(1), 2010
Supports: Factionalism, Roman status ideology, rhetoric, and the cross as social inversion.
Exact location: Finney, 'Christ Crucified and the Inversion of Roman Imperial Ideology in 1 Corinthians,' Biblical Theology Bulletin 40.1 (2010), pp. 20–33
Open source ↗