1 Corinthians 3:1

Could not speak. See below under “as unto babes.”

Carnal. Gr. sarkikos, “fleshly,” “with the nature and characteristics of flesh.” Textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the reading sarkinos, “fleshy,” “of flesh,” “rooted in the flesh.” This distinction should probably not be pressed too far. The two words may here and in v. 3 have been used with identical meaning.

As unto babes. In his labors in Corinth, Paul had adapted his methods of labor to local circumstances. He was obliged to present the gospel in a simple way because of the incapacity of the Corinthians to understand the deeper features of Christianity. He had to treat the people of Corinth as spiritual babes and to confine his teaching to the more elementary features of religion. He could not treat them as spiritually mature, qualified to grasp the fuller and deeper truths of the gospel, nor could he consider them to be free from the feelings and ambitions that control and motivate men of the world. Among them were factions and quarreling, distressing evidences that they were still responding to the promptings of the natural heart.