| Geneva Study Bible If any man {f} defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. (f) Defiles it and makes it unclean, being holy: and surely they do defile it, by Paul's judgment, who by fleshly eloquence defile the purity of the Gospel. People's New Testament 3:17 If any man defile the temple of God. Ye are the temple of God (1Co 3:16). In that temple the Spirit dwelt, as the Shekinah had dwelt in the temple of God at Jerusalem; it was therefore a holy temple, and an awful sin to defile it. Him shall God destroy. Under the old dispensation, death was the penalty of polluting the temple. See Ex 28:43 Le 16:2 Nu 4:20 18:32. Wesley's Notes 3:17 If any man destroy the temple of God - Destroy a real Christian, by schisms, or doctrines fundamentally wrong. Him shall God destroy - He shall not be saved at all; not even as through the fire. King James Translators' Notes defile: or, destroy Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary 17. If any . defile . destroy-rather as the Greek verb is the same in both cases, "destroy . destroy." God repays in kind by a righteous retaliation. The destroyer shall himself be destroyed. As temporal death was the penalty of marring the material temple (Le 16:2; Da 5:2, 3, 30), so eternal death is the penalty of marring the spiritual temple-the Church. The destroyers here (1Co 3:16, 17), are distinct from the unwise or unskilful builders (1Co 3:12, 15); the latter held fast the "foundation" (1Co 3:11), and, therefore, though they lose their work of superstructure and the special reward, yet they are themselves saved; the destroyers, on the contrary, assailed with false teaching the foundation, and so subvert the temple itself, and shall therefore be destroyed. (See on [2284]1Co 3:10), [Estius and Neander]. I think Paul passes here from the teachers to all the members of the Church, who, by profession, are "priests unto God" (Ex 19:6; 1Pe 2:9; Re 1:6). As the Aaronic priests were doomed to die if they violated the old temple (Ex 28:43), so any Christian who violates the sanctity of the spiritual temple, shall perish eternally (Heb 12:14; 10:26, 31). holy-inviolable (Hab 2:20). which temple ye are-rather, "the which (that is, holy) are ye" [Alford], and, therefore, want of holiness on the part of any of you (or, as Estius, "to tamper with the foundation in teaching you") is a violation of the temple, which cannot be let to pass with impunity. Grotius supports English Version. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary 3:16,17 From other parts of the epistle, it appears that the false teachers among the Corinthians taught unholy doctrines. Such teaching tended to corrupt, to pollute, and destroy the building, which should be kept pure and holy for God. Those who spread loose principles, which render the church of God unholy, bring destruction upon themselves. Christ by his Spirit dwells in all true believers. Christians are holy by profession, and should be pure and clean, both in heart and conversation. He is deceived who deems himself the temple of the Holy Ghost, yet is unconcerned about personal holiness, or the peace and purity of the church. | 
