📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 1:11
What does 1 Corinthians 1:11 mean?
"For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you."
— 1 Corinthians 1:11 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” “I follow Apollos,” “I follow Cephas,” and, “I follow Christ.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
Explanation
1 Corinthians 1:11 records Paul's transition into the main problem he wants to address with the church in Corinth. In plain language, Paul is saying that he has received a reliable report—not rumor or hearsay he dismisses, but credible information from people connected to a woman named Chloe—that the Corinthian believers are quarreling with one another. He calls them "brothers," signaling that despite the conflict, he still regards them with affection as family in Christ, even as he prepares to correct them.
The context is important. Paul had founded the church in Corinth and later wrote this letter from Ephesus in response to both a letter the Corinthians had sent him (mentioned later in chapter 7) and independent reports that had reached him. Chloe's household likely refers to a woman, probably a merchant or businessperson with connections between Corinth and Ephesus, whose servants or associates traveled between the two cities and brought Paul firsthand news of divisions in the church. Paul names his source deliberately—he is not spreading vague gossip but grounding his correction in verifiable testimony, which gives his rebuke credibility and shows he is not simply reacting to secondhand exaggeration.
Theologically, this verse introduces one of the letter's central concerns: disunity within the body of Christ. The "contentions" Paul refers to, which he elaborates on in the following verses, involved believers aligning themselves into factions around different leaders—Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ—turning gospel ministers into symbols of status and rivalry. This reveals a the
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