1 Corinthians 4 · a question people ask
The verse names no passage, and doesn't say which things it means. Nothing else in the chapter says either, and these notes don't supply an answer.
“Now these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes, that in us you might learn not to think beyond the things which are written, that none of you be puffed up against one another.”
From Favor's study of 1 Corinthians 4
1 Corinthians 4 says, "So let a man think of us as Christ’s servants and stewards of God’s mysteries." (4:1), and says what is required of stewards: "that they be found faithful" (4:2). It uses the same word for Timothy, "my beloved and faithful child in the Lord" (4:17). And it asks, "what do you have that you didn’t receive?" (4:7).
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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions