1 Corinthians 6 · Verse 19

1 Corinthians 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Corinthians 6:19, King James Version

1 Corinthians 6:19 in other translations

BSB	Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
WEB	Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
ASV	Or know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own;
YLT	Have ye not known that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own,
DARBY	Do ye not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own?
BBE	Or are you not conscious that your body is a house for the Holy Spirit which is in you, and which has been given to you by God? and you are not the owners of yourselves;
Webster	What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God, and ye are not your own?

What does 1 Corinthians 6:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown

19. What? know ye not? &c.--Proof that "he that fornicates sinneth against his own body" (1Co 6:18). your body--not "bodies." As in 1Co 3:17, he represented the whole company of believers (souls and bodies), that is, the Church, as "the temple of God," the Spirit; so here, the body of each individual of the Church is viewed as the ideal "temple of the Holy Ghost." So Joh 17:23, which proves that not only the Church, but also each member of it, is "the temple of the Holy Ghost." Still though many the several members form one temple, the whole collectively being that which each is in miniature individually. Just as the Jews had one temple only, so in the fullest sense all Christian churches and individual believers form one temple only. Thus "YOUR [plural] body" is distinguished here from "HIS OWN [particular or individual] body" (1Co 6:18). In sinning against the latter, the fornicator sins against "your (ideal) body," that of "Christ," whose "members your bodies" are (1Co 6:15). In this consists the sin of fornication, that it is a sacrilegious desecration of God's temple to profane uses. The unseen, but much more efficient, Spirit of God in the spiritual temple now takes the place of the visible Shekinah in the old material temple. The whole man is the temple; the soul is the inmost shrine; the understanding and heart, the holy place; and the body, the porch and exterior of the edifice. Chastity is the guardian of the temple to prevent anything unclean entering which might provoke the indwelling God to abandon it as defiled [Tertullian, On the Apparel of Women]. None but God can claim a temple; here the Holy Ghost is assigned one; therefore the Holy Ghost is God. not your own--The fornicator treats his body as if it were "his own," to give to a harlot if he pleases (1Co 6:18; compare 1Co 6:20). But we have no right to alienate our body which is the Lord's. In ancient servitude the person of the servant was wholly the property of the master, not his own. Purchase was one of the ways of acquiring a slave. Man has sold himself to sin (1Ki 21:20; Ro 7:14). Christ buys him to Himself, to serve Him (Ro 6:16-22).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Barnes' Notes

Verse 19. What? know ye not, etc. This is the fifth argument against this sin. The Holy Ghost dwells in us; our bodies are his temples, and they should not be defiled and polluted by sin. 1Cor 3:16,17. As this Spirit is in us, and as it is given us by God, we ought not to dishonour the gift and the Giver by pollution and vice.

And ye are not your own. This is the sixth argument which Paul uses. We are purchased; we belong to God; we are his by redemption; by a precious price paid; and we are bound, therefore, to devote ourselves, body, soul, and spirit, as he directs, to the glory of his name, not to the gratification of the flesh. Rom 14:7,8.

(e) "your body" 2Cor 6:16 (f) "not your own" Rom 14:7,8 (*) "Holy Ghost" "Spirit"

Albert Barnes, 1834 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 19 Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost - What an astonishing saying is this! As truly as the living God dwelt in the Mosaic tabernacle, and in the temple of Solomon, so truly does the Holy Ghost dwell in the souls of genuine Christians; and as the temple and all its utensils were holy, separated from all common and profane uses, and dedicated alone to the service of God, so the bodies of genuine Christians are holy, and all their members should be employed in the service of God alone. And ye are not your own? - Ye have no right over yourselves, to dispose either of your body, or any of its members, as you may think proper or lawful; you are bound to God, and to him you are accountable.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

Some among the Corinthians seem to have been ready to say, All things are lawful for me. This dangerous conceit St. Paul opposes. There is a liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, in which we must stand fast. But surely a Christian would never put himself into the power of any bodily appetite. The body is for the Lord; is to be an instrument of righteousness to holiness, therefore is never to be made an…

Read the full comment on 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 →

1 Corinthians 6:19 in the original Greek

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ἢēOrG2228

οὐκouksurelyG3756

οἴδατεoidateyou know

ὅτιhotithatG3754

τὸtotheG3588

σῶμαsōmabodyG4983

ὑμῶνhumōnof youG4771

ναὸςnaosa templeG3485

τοῦtouof theG3588

ἐνeninG1722

ὑμῖνhuminyouG4771

ἁγίουhagiouHolyG40

πνεύματόςpneumatosSpiritG4151

ἐστινestinisG1510

οὗhouwhomG3739

ἔχετεecheteyou haveG2192

ἀπὸapofromG575

θεοῦ,theouGod?G2316

καὶkaiAndG2532

οὐκouknotG3756

ἐστὲesteyou areG1510

ἑαυτῶν;he'autōnyour own?G1438

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Corinthians 6:19

1 Corinthians 3:16
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
2 Corinthians 6:16
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
1 Peter 2:5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2:21-22
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:15-16
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
Psalms 100:3
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Titus 2:14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Romans 14:7-9
For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
John 2:21
But he spake of the temple of his body.
2 Corinthians 5:15
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
1 Kings 20:4
And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
Psalms 12:4
Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

What.
15,16
your body.
3:16; 2Co 6:16; Eph 2:21,22; 1Pe 2:5
and ye.
1Ki 20:4; 1Ch 29:14; Ps 12:4; 100:3; Ro 14:7-9; 2Co 5:15; Tit 2:14

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
1 Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 6:20
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Read all of 1 Corinthians 6

1 Corinthians 6:19 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	¿O ignoráis que vuestro cuerpo es templo del Espíritu Santo, el cual está en vosotros, el cual tenéis de Dios, y que no sois vuestros?
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Ne savez-vous pas que votre corps est le temple du Saint Esprit qui est en vous, et que vous avez de Dieu? Et vous n’êtes pas à vous-mêmes;
German Elberfelder 1871	Oder wisset ihr nicht, daß euer Leib der Tempel des Heiligen Geistes ist, der in euch wohnt, den ihr von Gott habt, und daß ihr nicht euer selbst seid?
Latin Clementine Vulgate	An nescitis quoniam membra vestra, templum sunt Spiritus Sancti, qui in vobis est, quem habetis a Deo, et non estis vestri?