For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

For while one saith, I indeed am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollo; are you not men ? What then is Apollo, and what is Paul?

for when one may say, 'I, indeed, am of Paul;' and another, 'I, of Apollos;' are ye not fleshly?

For when some one says, "I belong to Paul," and another says, "I belong to Apollos," is not this the way men of the world speak?

For when one says, I am of Paul; and another says, I am of Apollos; are you not talking like natural men?

For if one says, "Certainly, I am of Paul," while another says, "I am of Apollo," are you not men? But what is Apollo, and what is Paul?

When one says 'I follow Paul,' and another 'I follow Apollos,' aren't you like other people?

For while one saith He now specifies the particular kind of contentions, [1] and he does this by personating the Corinthians, that his description may have more force -- that each one gloried in his particular master, as though Christ were not the one Master of all (Matthew 23:8.) Now, where such ambition still prevails, the gospel has little or no success. You are not, however, to understand that they declared this openly in express words, but the Apostle reproves those depraved dispositions to which they were given up. At the same time it is likely, that, as a predilection arising from ambition is usually accompanied with an empty talkativeness, [2] they openly discovered by their words the absurd bias of their mind, by extolling their teachers to the skies in magnificent terms, accompanying this at the same time with contempt of Paul and those like him.

Footnotes

1 - "Qui estoyent entr'eux;" -- "Which were among them."

2 - "Cette ration de jetter son coeur sur un homme par ambition, est accompagnee d'un sot babil;" -- "This way of setting one's heart upon an individual through ambition, is accompanied with a foolish talkativeness."

For while one saith; - See the note at 1-Corinthians 1:12.

For while one saith, I am of Paul, etc. - It was notorious that both Paul and Apollos held the same creed; between them there was not the slightest difference: when, therefore, the dissentients began to prefer the one to the other, it was the fullest proof of their carnality; because in the doctrines of these apostles there was no difference: so that what the people were captivated by must be something in their outward manner, Apollos being probably more eloquent than Paul. Their preferring one to another on such an account proved that they were carnal - led by their senses and mere outward appearances, without being under the guidance either of reason or grace. There are thousands of such people in the Christian Church to the present day. See the notes on 1-Corinthians 1:10, etc.

For while one saith, I am of Paul,.... This shows what their envying and strife, and divisions were about, and from whence they sprung; and which serve, to strengthen the proof, and support the charge of carnality brought against them; for when one sort made a party for Paul, and set up him as their minister above all others; and said
another, I am of Apollos, preferring him for his eloquence above Paul, or any other preacher, as appears from 1-Corinthians 1:12 there was a third sort for Cephas, whom they cried up as superior to the other two, or any other man; and a fourth were for Christ, and despised all ministers whatever:
are ye not carnal? all this was a demonstration of it: they could never clear themselves from it, they must be convicted in their own consciences of it; to which the apostle appeals: the Alexandrian copy and the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read, "are ye not men?"

(1-Corinthians 1:12).
are ye not carnal--The oldest manuscripts read, "Are ye not men?" that is, "walking as men" unregenerate (1-Corinthians 3:3).

I am of Apollos - St. Paul named himself and Apollos, to show that he would condemn any division among them, even though it were in favour of himself, or the dearest friend he had in the world. Are ye not carnal - For the Spirit of God allows no party zeal.