1 Corinthians 3 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

Milk, not solid food — still of the flesh 3:1–4

vv. 1–3a — infants in Christ, fed milk, not yet weaned

And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual people,independent — the diagnosis — Κἀγώ turns 2:6–16 on the readers

but as to fleshly ones,comparative — σάρκινος — 'made of flesh'; milder than the σαρκικός of v. 3

as to infants in Christ.comparative — infants — immature, yet genuinely in Christ

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food,independent — the feeding metaphor — double accusative with ποτίζω

for you were not yet able.cause — the ground — imperfect: the abiding incapacity then

But you are not able even now,independent — the rebuke sharpens — οὐδὲ ἔτι νῦν

for you are still of the flesh.cause — σαρκικός now — fleshly in disposition, a step beyond v. 1's σάρκινος

vv. 3b–4 — the evidence: jealousy, strife, and the slogans

For where there is jealousy and strife among you,conditional — ὅπου ≈ 'since' — a verbless protasis leaning on the question below

are you not of the fleshindependent — the apodosis — οὐχί expects 'yes'

and walking in a merely human way?independent — coordinate — conduct itself the verdict

For when one says,conditional — ὅταν — the recurring case; leans on the question below

'I am Paul's,'content — the first slogan (cf. 1:12)

and another, 'I am Apollos's,'content — the answering slogan — λέγῃ and εἰμί both elided

are you not merely human?independent — the apodosis — the earlier text's blunter question

Planter and waterer — God gives the growth 3:5–9

vv. 5–7 — what is Apollos? servants only: God gives the growth

What then is Apollos?independent — the diatribe question — neuter τί: 'what,' not 'who'

And what is Paul?independent — the question doubled — Paul names himself second

Servants, through whom you believed,independent — the answer — verbless; the relative folds their whole role into your believing

and to each as the Lord assigned.comparative — elliptical — each servant's measure a gift of the Lord

I planted,independent — aorist — the founding act (Acts 18)

Apollos watered,independent — aorist — the nurturing act

but God kept giving the growth;independent — the imperfect against the aorists — the continuous divine work

so neither the one planting is anything nor the one watering,independent — the ὥστε conclusion — the ministers 'nothing'

but God who gives the growth.independent — elliptical — all the weight falls on the growth-giving God

vv. 8–9 — one work, each rewarded: God's field, God's building

Now the one planting and the one watering are one,independent — neuter ἕν — one thing, one enterprise: no ground for rivalry

and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.independent — unity, yet individual accounting — ἴδιον twice

For we are God's fellow workers;cause — θεοῦ fronted — workers who belong to God, not co-equals with him

you are God's field, God's building.independent — the triple θεοῦ completes — the field closes the farm image, the building opens vv. 10–17

The master-builder and the fire test 3:10–15

vv. 10–11 — the foundation laid: let each watch how he builds

According to the grace of God given to me, as a wise master-builder I laid a foundation,independent — the founding act — prefaced by grace, so no boast

and another builds upon it.independent — the present builders — Apollos and any after him

But let each one watchindependent — the imperative that governs vv. 11–15

how he builds upon it;content — indirect question — the manner, not the fact, under scrutiny

for no one can lay another foundation than the one already laid,cause — the ground of the warning — the base is fixed and singular

which is Jesus Christ.relative — the foundation named — a person, the crucified Messiah (2:2)

vv. 12–13 — the materials, and the Day's fire that sorts them

Now if anyone builds on the foundationconditional — first-class protasis — leans on the apodosis of v. 13

with gold, silver, precious stones,phrase modifier — the durable triad — work that survives fire

wood, hay, straw,phrase modifier — the combustible triad — in descending worth

each one's work will become evident,independent — the apodosis — disclosure is certain

for the Day will disclose it,cause — the Day absolutely — the Lord's judgment (cf. 1:8)

because it is revealed in fire;cause — ὅτι causal — the Day (likelier than the work) comes fire-clothed

and the fire itself will test what sort each one's work is.independent — proleptic object — the work fronted into the indirect question; quality assayed

vv. 14–15 — the two outcomes: reward, or loss yet salvation

If anyone's work survivesconditional — the first protasis — future μενεῖ: it withstands the fire

which he built upon it,relative — the aorist gathers the whole building work

he will receive a reward;independent — the apodosis — the wage of v. 8

if anyone's work is burned up,conditional — the paired protasis — κατακαίω: consumed completely

he will suffer loss,independent — the apodosis — forfeiture of reward, not of salvation

but he himself will be saved,independent — the concession — αὐτός sets the builder against his ashes

yet so, as through fire.comparative — the qualifier — like a man escaping through the flames

You are God's temple 3:16–17

vv. 16–17 — the temple, its indwelling Spirit, its avenger

Do you not knowindependent — the rhetorical formula — what they should already grasp

that you are God's templecontent — ναός — the inner shrine; the church corporately, not yet the body (6:19)

and that God's Spirit dwells in you?content — the indwelling that makes them the temple

If anyone destroys God's temple,conditional — protasis — φθείρω: to mar the community by faction

God will destroy him;independent — the apodosis — lex talionis: the same verb recoils

for God's temple is holy,cause — the ground — holiness makes the temple inviolable

and that is what you are.relative — qualitative ὅστις — 'which (holy temple) is precisely what you are'

Let no one boast in men — all things are yours 3:18–23

vv. 18–20 — become a fool to become wise: Scripture's double witness

Let no one deceive himself.independent — the closing exhortation opens — self-deception the danger

If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age,conditional — protasis — leans on the imperative below; ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ read with σοφός

let him become a fool,independent — the paradox — embrace the cross's apparent folly (1:18)

that he may become wise.purpose — the goal — the wisdom that is from God

For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.cause — the ground of the paradox — παρὰ τῷ θεῷ: in God's estimation

For it is written:cause — the warrant — one formula carries both citations

'He catches the wise in their craftiness';content — Job 5:13 — their cleverness the very snare

and again: 'The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise,content — Ps 94:11 (LXX 93) — 'the wise' substituted for the psalm's 'men'

that they are futile.'content — proleptic — the reasonings judged empty

vv. 21–23 — all things yours; you Christ's; Christ God's

So let no one boast in men;independent — the ὥστε conclusion — the vice behind the factions forbidden

for all things are yours,cause — the reversal — boasting in one man is self-impoverishment

whether Paul or Apollos or Cephasphrase modifier — the party heads themselves (1:12) — yours, not your masters

or the world or life or deathphrase modifier — the whole order of existence — even death serves (cf. Rom 8:38)

or things present or things to come —phrase modifier — present and future realities alike

all are yours,phrase modifier — the resumptive seal on the catalogue

and you are Christ's,independent — the chain turns — the possessors themselves possessed

and Christ is God's.independent — the climax — all ownership terminates in God (cf. 11:3; 15:28)

Analysis. The chapter is three metaphors converging on one genitive — θεοῦ — and the shape shows it. Verses 1–4 are diatribe in miniature: flush-left purple diagnosis (Κἀγώ … οὐκ ἠδυνήθην), γάρ grounds stepping down beneath it, and two forward-leaning protasis-style lines (ὅπου γάρ …, ὅταν γάρ …) hanging anchorless over the questions they set up, with the party slogans dashed as quoted content under λέγῃ. Verses 5–9 alternate clipped diatribe questions with one-line aorists — ἐγὼ ἐφύτευσα, Ἀπολλῶς ἐπότισεν — against the lone imperfect ἀλλὰ ὁ θεὸς ηὔξανεν, and close on the thrice-fronted θεοῦ of v. 9. In vv. 10–15 the imperative βλεπέτω governs the whole run: the two material triads of v. 12 sit as dashed verbless lines under the protasis, the ὅτι/γάρ grounds of v. 13 chain beneath the Day's disclosure, and the twin εἴ protases of vv. 14–15 lean on their apodoses μισθὸν λήμψεται / ζημιωθήσεται, with οὕτως δὲ ὡς διὰ πυρός hanging as a comparative qualifier on σωθήσεται. Verses 16–17 are the temple warning in talionic symmetry (φθείρει / φθερεῖ), and vv. 18–23 descend from Μηδεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἐξαπατάτω through the double scriptural witness (Job 5:13; Ps 94:11, both cnt under γέγραπται) to the ὥστε conclusion and the verbless catalogue of v. 22, ending in the two-beat climax ὑμεῖς δὲ Χριστοῦ, Χριστὸς δὲ θεοῦ. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: σαρκίνοις (v. 1) and σαρκικοί (v. 3) are treated as a real lexical step (made of flesh vs. fleshly in disposition); ὅπου and ὅταν are laid out as forward-leaning protases, i.e. logically conditional; the ὅτι of v. 13 is read as causal, with the Day (not the work) the likelier subject of ἀποκαλύπτεται; θεοῦ συνεργοί (v. 9) is taken as fellow workers who belong to God, not co-workers alongside God; ζημιωθήσεται (v. 15) is forfeiture of reward, not of salvation, αὐτὸς δὲ σωθήσεται being a genuine concession; ναός in vv. 16–17 is the community, not the individual body (that is 6:19); and v. 23 is read as a chain of belonging in which even Christ is, economically, God's (cf. 11:3; 15:28).