1 Corinthians 5:6

Contextual Overview

¹ I don't want to believe what I am hearing—that there is sexual sin among you. And it is such a bad kind of sexual sin that even those who have never known God don't allow it. People say that a man there has his father's wife. ¹ It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father's wife. ¹ There goeth a comen sayinge that ther is fornicacion amoge you and soche fornicacion as is not once named amonge the gentyls: that one shuld have his fathers wyfe. ¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Goyim, that one has his father's wife. ¹ It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, and of a kind that is not found even among the Gentiles. A man is actually living with his father's wife!Leviticus 18:8; Deuteronomy 22:30; 27:20; 2 Corinthians 7:12; Ephesians 5:3;">[xr] ¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father's wife. ¹ It is actually being said that there is sexual sin among you. And it is a kind that does not happen even among people who do not know God. A man there has his father's wife. ¹ It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not even among the Gentiles, that one [of you] has his father's wife. ¹ It is reported commonly [that there is] lewdness among you, and such lewdness as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. ¹ It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

glorying: 1 Corinthians 5:2, 1 Corinthians 3:21, 1 Corinthians 4:18, 1 Corinthians 4:19, James 4:16

a little: 1 Corinthians 15:33, Matthew 13:33, Matthew 16:6-12, Luke 13:21, Galatians 5:9, 2 Timothy 2:17

Reciprocal: Exodus 12:8 - unleavened Leviticus 2:11 - no leaven Leviticus 14:40 - take away Judges 20:7 - ye are all Psalms 106:35 - learned Proverbs 22:10 - General Mark 8:15 - the leaven of the Romans 6:3 - Know Romans 6:19 - unto iniquity 1 Corinthians 1:29 - General 1 Corinthians 3:16 - Know 1 Corinthians 4:6 - be puffed 1 Corinthians 4:7 - why 1 Corinthians 4:8 - ye are full 1 Corinthians 5:8 - not 1 Corinthians 8:1 - Knowledge 2 Corinthians 11:12 - they glory Galatians 2:13 - the other Galatians 6:13 - that they may Philippians 3:19 - whose glory 2 Timothy 2:16 - for Hebrews 12:15 - and thereby James 3:14 - glory

Cross-References

Genesis 4:26
To Seth also a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he named him Enosh. Then it was begun to call on the name of Yahweh.

Genesis 4:26
Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord .

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 4:26
There was also born a son to Seth, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on Yahweh's name.

Genesis 4:26
To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the LORD [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].

Genesis 4:26
But also a sone was borun to Seth, which sone he clepide Enos; this Enos bigan to clepe inwardli the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth, to him also a son hath been born, and he calleth his name Enos; then a beginning was made of preaching in the name of Jehovah.

Genesis 4:26
And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to invoke the name of the LORD.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Your glorying is not good,.... Their glorying in their outward flourishing condition, in their riches and wealth, and in their ministers, in their wisdom and parts when under such an humbling dispensation; and especially if their glorying was in the sin itself, and their connivance at it, it was far from being good, it was very criminal, as the consequence of it was dangerous:

know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? This, in nature, is what everybody knows; and the proverb, which is much used by the Jews f, was common in the mouths of all, and the meaning of it easy to be understood: thus, whether applied to the leaven of false doctrine, nothing is more manifest, than when this is let alone, and a stop is not put to it, it increases to more ungodliness; or to vice and immorality, as here; which if not taken notice of by a church, is not faithfully reproved and severely censured, as the case requires, will endanger the whole community; it may spread by example, and, under the connivance of the church, to the corrupting of good manners, and infecting of many.

f Neve Shalom apud Caphtor, fol. 41. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Your glorying - Your boasting; or confidence in your present condition, as if you were eminent in purity and piety.

Is not good - Is not well, proper, right. Boasting is never good; but it is especially wrong when, as here, there is an existing evil that is likely to corrupt the whole church. When people are disposed to boast, they should at once make the inquiry whether there is not some sin indulged in, on account of which they should be humbled and subdued. If all individual Christians, and all Christian churches, and all people of every rank and condition, would look at things as they are, they would never find occasion for boasting. It is only when we are blind to the realities of the ease, and overlook our faults, that we are disposed to boast. The reason why this was improper in Corinth, Paul states - that any sin would tend to corrupt the whole church, and that therefore they ought not to boast until that was removed.

A little leaven ... - A small quantity of leaven or yeast will pervade the entire mass of flour, or dough, and diffuse itself through it all. This is evidently a proverbial saying. It occurs also in Galatians 5:9. Compare the note at Matthew 13:33. A similar figure occurs also in the Greek classic writers - By leaven the Hebrews metaphorically understood whatever had the power of corrupting, whether doctrine, or example, or anything else. See the note at Matthew 16:6. The sense here is plain. A single sin indulged in, or allowed in the church, would act like leaven - it would pervade and corrupt the whole church, unless it was removed. On this ground, and for this reason, discipline should be administered, and the corrupt member should be removed.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 5:6. Your glorying is not good. — You are triumphing in your superior knowledge, and busily employed in setting up and supporting your respective teachers, while the Church is left under the most scandalous corruptions-corruptions which threaten its very existence if not purged away.

Know ye not — With all your boasted wisdom, do you not know and acknowledge the truth of a common maxim, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? If this leaven-the incestuous person, be permitted to remain among you; if his conduct be not exposed by the most formidable censure; the flood-gates of impurity will be opened on the Church, and the whole state of Christianity ruined in Corinth.