Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Corinthians 4:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability.
Faithful stewards wait for a judgment that sees the hidden.
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Corinthians 4:1–5. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Corinthians 4:1–5
Read 1 Corinthians 4:3 with 4:1–5. This verse relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability. The complete unit establishes: Apostles should be regarded as Christ's servants and stewards required to be faithful; neither community verdict nor self-acquittal is final, because the Lord will expose hidden matters and evaluate hearts.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Paul replaces celebrity evaluation with stewardship accountability while warning that human assessment remains partial. At 4:3, this verse relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability.
Follow the Context
- Apostles are servants and stewards, not owners.
- Faithfulness is the stewardship criterion.
- Paul relativizes Corinthian and ordinary human verdicts.
- Clear conscience does not acquit him.
- The Lord's coming judgment discloses hidden things and motives.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should”
In plain language: This verse relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability.
It contributes specifically to Stewards Await the Lord's Full Judgment inside 1 Corinthians 4:1–5.
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 4:3 does not turn the fact that it relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability into a standalone universal rule. Future divine judgment does not replace present accountability or care for victims.
What Remains True
This verse relativizes Corinthian and personal tribunals without rejecting accountability. This supports the unit's enduring conclusion: Leaders are accountable stewards whose self-assessment and popularity are never final.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Corinthians 4:3's contribution to 1 Corinthians 4:1–5. Include the surrounding argument, the named interpretive uncertainty, and one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Corinthians 4:1–5 — Stewards Await the Lord's Full JudgmentSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
'Judge nothing' addresses premature final verdicts in the leader-comparison context; it does not cancel every present evaluation, since the letter repeatedly requires discernment and action.
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 4:1–5, 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, 4:1–5
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 4:1–5 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 4:1–5
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 4:1–5
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 ↗