King James Version
1 Corinthians 10
33 verses with commentary
Warning Against Idolatry
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea</strong>—Paul introduces Israel's exodus as <em>typoi</em> (τύποι, "types" or "examples") for Christian experience. The <em>nephele</em> (νεφέλη, "cloud") represents God's protective presence (Exodus 13:21-22), while passing through the Red Sea prefigure...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
X.
(1) **Moreover, brethren,. . . .**—Better, *For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant.* From the strong statement of personal self-distrust with which the previous chapter concludes, the Apostle now passes on to show that Jewish history contains solemn examples of the falling-away of those who seemed to stand strong in divine favour and privilege. The same kind of dangers still bes...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. Every man's work--**each teacher's superstructure on the foundation.
**the day--**of the Lord (1Co 1:8; He 10:25; 1Th 5:4). The article is emphatic, "The day," that is, the great day of days, the long expected day.
**declare it--**old English for "make it clear" (1Co 4:4).
**it shall be revealed by fire--**it, that is, "every man's work." Rather, "He," the Lord, whose day it is (2Th 1:...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The great privileges, and yet terrible overthrow of the Israelites in the wilderness.(1-5)
Cautions against all idolatrous, and other sinful practices.(6-14)
The partaking in idolatry cannot exist with having communion with Christ.(15-22)
All we do to be to the glory of God, and without offence to the consciences of others.(23-33)
**Verses 1-5**
...
Read full commentary →And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea</strong>—This phrase introduces Paul's typological reading of exodus events. <em>Ebaptisanto</em> (ἐβαπτίσαντο, "were baptized") draws explicit parallel between Israel's Red Sea crossing and Christian baptism. <strong>Unto Moses</strong> (<em>eis ton Mōusēn</em>, εἰς τὸν Μωυσῆν) mirrors the Christian formula "into Christ" (εἰς Χρ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **Were all baptized unto Moses.**—The weight of evidence is in favour of the middle voice for the verb here used; signifying that they all voluntarily had themselves baptised to Moses. Moses was God’s representative under the Law, and so they were baptised unto him in their voluntarily joining with that “Church” of God which marched beneath the shadow of the cloud, and passed through the water...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. abide--**abide the testing fire (Mt 3:11, 12).
**which he hath built thereupon--**which he built on the foundation.
**reward--**wages, as a builder, that is, teacher. His converts built on Christ the foundation, through his faithful teaching, shall be his "crown of rejoicing" (2Co 1:14; Php 2:16; 1Th 2:19).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The great privileges, and yet terrible overthrow of the Israelites in the wilderness.(1-5)
Cautions against all idolatrous, and other sinful practices.(6-14)
The partaking in idolatry cannot exist with having communion with Christ.(15-22)
All we do to be to the glory of God, and without offence to the consciences of others.(23-33)
**Verses 1-5**
...
Read full commentary →And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And did all eat the same spiritual meat</strong>—The <em>pneumatikon brōma</em> (πνευματικὸν βρῶμα, "spiritual food") refers to the manna God provided in the wilderness (Exodus 16). Paul calls it "spiritual" not because it was immaterial, but because it was <em>pneumatikos</em>—supernaturally provided, symbolically significant, pointing beyond itself to Christ as the true bread from heaven...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **Spiritual meat.**—The manna (Exodus 16:13) was not natural food, for it was not produced in the natural way, but it was supplied by the Spirit and power of God. Bread from earth would be natural bread, but this was bread from heaven (John 6:31). Our Lord (John 6:50) had already made the Christian Church familiar with the “true bread,” of which that food had been the typical forecast.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. If ... be burnt--**if any teacher's work consist of such materials as the fire will destroy [Alford].
**suffer loss--**that is, forfeit the special "reward"; not that he shall lose salvation (which is altogether a free gift, not a "reward" or wages), for he remains still on the foundation (1Co 3:12; 2Jo 6).
**saved; yet so as by fire--**rather, "so as through fire" (Zec 3:2; Am 4:11; Jud...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The great privileges, and yet terrible overthrow of the Israelites in the wilderness.(1-5)
Cautions against all idolatrous, and other sinful practices.(6-14)
The partaking in idolatry cannot exist with having communion with Christ.(15-22)
All we do to be to the glory of God, and without offence to the consciences of others.(23-33)
**Verses 1-5**
...
Read full commentary →And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. followed: or, went with them
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ</strong>—Paul identifies the water-giving rock of Exodus 17:6 and Numbers 20:11 with Christ Himself. The adjective <em>pneumatikēs</em> (πνευματικῆς, "spiritual") again indicates supernatural provision and typological significance. The remarkable declaration <stron...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **That spiritual Rock that followed them.**—There was a Jewish tradition that the Rock—*i.e.,* a fragment broken off from the rock smitten by Moses—followed the Israelites through their journey, and St. Paul, for the purpose of illustration, adopts that account instead of the statement in Numbers 20:11. The emphatic repetition of the word “spiritual” before “drink” and “rock” reminds the reade...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. Know ye not--**It is no new thing I tell you, in calling you "God's building"; ye know and ought to remember, ye are the noblest kind of building, "the temple of God."
**ye--**all Christians form together one vast temple. The expression is not, "ye are temples," but "ye are the temple" collectively, and "lively stones" (1Pe 2:5) individually.
**God ... Spirit--**God's indwelling, and tha...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The great privileges, and yet terrible overthrow of the Israelites in the wilderness.(1-5)
Cautions against all idolatrous, and other sinful practices.(6-14)
The partaking in idolatry cannot exist with having communion with Christ.(15-22)
All we do to be to the glory of God, and without offence to the consciences of others.(23-33)
**Verses 1-5**
...
Read full commentary →But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness</strong>—After emphasizing <strong>all</strong> four times (vv. 1-4), Paul now introduces the sobering <strong>but</strong>. Despite universal participation in redemptive events, God was <em>ouk eudokēsen</em> (οὐκ εὐδόκησεν, "not well pleased") with <strong>many</strong> (actually most—only Joshua a...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(5) **But with many of them.**—Better, *Nevertheless not with the greater part of them was God pleased.* This introduces the point from which the Apostle seeks to draw the great lesson of self-distrust. *All* had *all* these privileges—privileges of a baptism and a spiritual meat and drink which correspond with the sacramental ordinances which are proofs and pledges of all the privileges of us Chr...
Read full commentary →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...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 10
Chapter Outline
The great privileges, and yet terrible overthrow of the Israelites in the wilderness.(1-5)
Cautions against all idolatrous, and other sinful practices.(6-14)
The partaking in idolatry cannot exist with having communion with Christ.(15-22)
All we do to be to the glory of God, and without offence to the consciences of others.(23-33)
**Verses 1-5**
...
Read full commentary →Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. our: Gr. our figures
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted</strong>—Paul now explicitly states his interpretive method: Old Testament narratives function as <em>typoi</em> (τύποι, "types/examples/patterns") for Christian instruction. These weren't mere historical events but divinely orchestrated object lessons <strong>for us</strong>, writte...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Now these things were our examples.**—Better, *Now these things were types of us.* “Now” introduces the contrast between the physical Israel and the spiritual Israel, between the physical death which befell the majority of the former, and the spiritual death which, if privileges be neglected or abused, must befall the latter.
**To the intent.**—St. Paul regards everything that has happened i...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. seemeth--**that is, is, and is regarded by himself and others.
**wise in this world--**wise in mere worldly wisdom (1Co 1:20).
**let him become a fool--**by receiving the Gospel in its unworldly simplicity, and so becoming a fool in the world's sight [Alford]. Let him no longer think himself wise, but seek the true wisdom from God, bringing his understanding into captivity to the obedien...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play</strong>—Paul cites Exodus 32:6, the golden calf incident, Israel's paradigmatic idolatry. The quotation emphasizes the festive, celebratory nature of their sin: <strong>sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play</strong>. The verb <em>paizein</em> (παίζειν, "to pl...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19. with God--**in the judgment of God.
**it is written--**in Job 5:13. The formula of quoting Scripture used here, establishes the canonicity of Job.
**He taketh ... wise in ... own craftiness--**proving the "foolishness" of the world's wisdom, since it is made by God the very snare to catch those who think themselves so wise. Literally, "He who taketh ... the whole of the sentence not bein...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand</strong>—Paul references Israel's sexual immorality with Moabite women at Baal-peor (Numbers 25:1-9). The Israelites joined pagan worship through sexual rituals, provoking God's wrath. The verb <em>porneuōmen</em> (πορνεύωμεν, "commit fornication") covers all sexual immorality, not j...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **And fell in one day three and twenty thousand.**—In Numbers 25:9 the statement is that twenty-four thousand perished. Various and ingenious attempts have been made to reconcile these two accounts of the actual numbers. The explanation most in harmony with the character of the writer, and the utterly unessential nature of the point historically, is, I venture to think, that either the Apostle...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
20. Quotation from Psa 94:11. There it is of men; here it is "of the wise." Paul by inspiration states the class of men whose "thoughts" (or rather, "reasonings," as suits the Greek and the sense of the context) the Spirit designated in the Psalm, "vanity," namely, the "proud" (Psa 94:2) and worldly-wise, whom God in Psa 94:8 calls "fools," though they "boast themselves" of their wisdom in pushing...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents</strong>—This verse references Numbers 21:5-6, where Israel spoke against God and Moses, despising the manna. God sent <em>seraphim</em> (fiery serpents) whose bites killed many Israelites. The verb <em>ekpeirazōmen</em> (ἐκπειράζωμεν, "tempt/test/put to the test") describes presumptuous testing of Go...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **Neither let us tempt Christ.**—Better, *Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents.* There is much controversy as to whether the word here is “God” or “Christ” or “the Lord,” each having a certain amount of MS. support. On the whole, the reading here adopted (the Lord) seems from internal evidence to have been most likely the true reading. It is possible...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. let no man glory in men--**resuming the subject from 1Co 3:4; compare 1Co 1:12, 31, where the true object of glorying is stated: "He that glorieth, let him glory in THE Lord." Also 1Co 4:6, "That no one of you be puffed up for one against another."
**For all things--**not only all men. For you to glory thus in men, is lowering yourselves from your high position as heirs of all things. All ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer</strong>—<em>Gongyzete</em> (γογγύζετε, "murmur/grumble/complain") characterized Israel's wilderness attitude—chronic dissatisfaction with God's provision and leadership. This murmuring questioned God's goodness, wisdom, and care. Key instances include complaints about water (Exodus 15:24, 17:3), food (Ex...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **Neither murmur ye.**—The reference here is to Numbers 16:41-47, and the historical event alluded to—viz., the murmuring of the Israelites against their God-given leaders, Moses and Aaron—is analogous to the murmuring of the Corinthians against their Apostle, St. Paul. It is noticeable that St. Paul attributes the death of the people to the Destroyer—*i.e.,* God’s messenger sent to destroy—w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
22. Enumeration of some of the "all things." The teachers, in whom they gloried, he puts first (1Co 1:12). He omits after "Cephas" or Christ (to whom exclusively some at Corinth, 1Co 1:12, professed to belong); but, instead, substitutes "ye are Christ's" (1Co 3:23).
**world ... life ... death ... things present ... things to come--**Not only shall they not "separate you from the love of God in C...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. ensamples: or, types
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come</strong>—Paul summarizes his hermeneutical method: Old Testament narratives happened <em>typikōs</em> (τυπικῶς, "typically/as types/as examples") and were written for Christian instruction. History has pedagogical purpose under God's providence. These wer...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **Happened unto them for ensamples.**—Better, *happened unto them typically; and it was written for our admonition.* The verb “happened” is plural, referring to the multiplied occurrences which the Apostle has just mentioned; but “written” is singular, referring to the sacred record in which the historical facts are handed down. The Apostle does not state that the purpose which God had in vie...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**23. ye are Christ's--**not Paul's, or Apollos,' or Cephas' (1Co 11:3; Mt 23:8-10). "Neither be ye called masters; for one is your Master, even Christ" (Ro 14:8). Not merely a particular section of you, but ye all are Christ's (1Co 1:12).
**Christ is God's--**(1Co 11:3). God is the ultimate end of all, even of Christ, His co-equal Son (1Co 15:28; Php 2:6-11).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall</strong>—After warning about Israel's failures, Paul addresses the root attitude: presumptuous self-confidence. The verb <em>dokei</em> (δοκεῖ, "thinketh/seems/supposes") implies subjective opinion rather than objective reality. Those who <strong>think they stand</strong> may actually be vulnerable to falling. Self-assessme...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **Wherefore.**—This is the practical conclusion of the whole matter. We are to look back on that strange record of splendid privilege and of terrible fall and learn from it the solemn lesson of self-distrust. Led forth by divinely appointed leaders, overshadowed by the Divine Presence, supported by divinely given food and drink, the vast hosts of Israel had passed from the bondage of Egypt in...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. common: or, moderate
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it</strong>—After stern warnings, Paul offers encouragement. The word <em>peirasmos</em> (πειρασμός, "temptation/trial/testing") covers both external trials and...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **There hath no temptation taken you.**—What is meant by a “temptation common to man” (or rather, *suited to man*) is explained further on as a temptation which one is “able to bear.” From the warning and exhortation of the previous verse the Apostle passes on to words of encouragement, “You need not be hopeless or despairing.” God permits the temptation by allowing the circumstances which cr...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 4
1Co 4:1-21. True View of Ministers: The Judgment Is Not to Be Forestalled; Meanwhile the Apostles' Low State Contrasts with the Corinthians' Party Pride, Not That Paul Would Shame Them, but as a Father Warn Them; for Which End He Sent Timothy, and Will Soon Come Himself.
**1. account ... us--**Paul and Apollos.
**ministers of Christ--**not heads of the Church in whom ye are several...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →Flee from Idolatry
Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry</strong>—The <em>dioper</em> (διόπερ, "wherefore/therefore") draws application from vv. 1-13: because Israel fell into idolatry despite covenant privileges, and because God is faithful to provide escape from temptation, the proper response is clear—<strong>flee</strong> (<em>pheugete</em>, φεύγετε, present imperative: "keep fleeing"). Don't ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.**—These words show that through all the previous argument and warning the writer had in view the particular dangers arising from their contact with the heathen world, and especially the partaking in the sacrificial feasts. Not because they were enemies, but because they are his “beloved” he had written thus to them. Because God is a faithful...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**2. Moreover--**The oldest manuscripts read, "Moreover here" (that is, on earth). The contrast thus is between man's usage as to stewards (1Co 4:2), and God's way (1Co 4:3). Though here below, in the case of stewards, inquiry is made, that one man be found (that is, proved to be) faithful; yet God's steward awaits no such judgment of man, in man's day, but the Lord's judgment in His great day. An...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-14**
Carnal desires gain strength by indulgence, therefore should be checked in their first rise. Let us fear the sins of Israel, if we would shun their plagues. And it is but just to fear, that such as tempt Christ, will be left by him in the power of the old serpent. Murmuring against God's disposals and commands, greatly provokes him. Nothing in Scripture is written in vain; and ...
Read full commentary →I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say</strong>—Paul appeals to Corinthian self-perception as <em>phronimoi</em> (φρόνιμοι, "wise/intelligent/sensible"). They prided themselves on wisdom and knowledge (1:18-25, 8:1). Rather than reject their self-assessment, Paul co-opts it: if you're truly wise, you'll recognize truth when you hear it. <strong>Judge ye</strong> (<em>krinate hymeis</e...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **I speak as to wise men.**—These words are not hypothetical; they imply the point of view from which the Apostle is now regarding his readers—viz., competent to recognise the force of his argument. Having warned them against any participation in idolatry, even such as would be involved in joining in the sacrificial feasts, as dangerous to themselves, he now proceeds to show that such a parti...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3. it is a very small thing--**literally, "it amounts to a very small matter"; not that I despise your judgment, but as compared with God's, it almost comes to nothing.
**judged ... of man's judgment--**literally, "man's day," contrasted with the day (1Co 3:13) of the Lord (1Co 4:5; 1Th 5:4). "The day of man" is here put before us as a person [Wahl]. All days previous to the day of the Lord ar...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?</strong>—Paul uses two rhetorical questions expecting affirmative answers. <strong>The cup of blessing</strong> (<em>to potērion tēs eulogias</em>, τὸ ποτήριον τῆς εὐλογίας) references the third cup in the Passover meal, over which Jes...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **The cup of blessing which we bless.**—In other passages the cup is mentioned after the bread, and not, as here, before it. The order in which they are placed here has been variously accounted for, as arising either (Stanley) from the analogy to the heathen feasts, in which the libation came before the food, or (Meyer) because the Apostle intends to dwell at greater length upon the bread. Th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**4. by myself--**Translate, "I am conscious to myself of no (ministerial) unfaithfulness." Bengel explains the Greek compound, "to decide in judgments on one in relation to others," not simply to judge.
**am I not hereby justified--**Therefore conscience is not an infallible guide. Paul did not consider his so. This verse is directly against the judicial power claimed by the priests of Rome.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread</strong>—Paul shifts from individual communion with Christ (v. 16) to corporate unity in Christ. The logic is sacramental and ecclesial: because <strong>we being many</strong> (<em>hoi polloi</em>, οἱ πολλοί, "the many") all partake of <strong>one bread</strong> (<em>heis artos</em>, εἷς ἄρτος), we co...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(17) **For we being many are one bread.**—Better, *For it is one bread, and we, the many, are one body, for we all take a portion of that one bread.* This verse explains how “the breaking” of the bread was the significant act which expressed sacramentally the communion of the body of Christ. There is one bread, it is broken into many pieces, and as we all (though each receives only a fragment) par...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
5. Disproving the judicial power claimed by the Romish priesthood in the confessional.
**Therefore--**as the Lord is the sole Decider or Dijudicator.
**judge--**not the same Greek word as in 1Co 4:3, 4, where the meaning is to approve of or decide on, the merits of one's case. Here all judgments in general are forbidden, which would, on our part, presumptuously forestall God's prerogative of f...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?</strong>—Paul introduces a third example (after Christian communion and pagan temple meals): Jewish sacrificial worship. <strong>Israel after the flesh</strong> (<em>ton Israēl kata sarka</em>, τὸν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ σάρκα) distinguishes ethnic Israel from spiritual Israel (the church). Paul appeals to...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(18) **Behold Israel after the flesh**—*i.e.,* Israel in its merely human aspect, not the spiritual Israel (Romans 2:28; Galatians 4:29; Galatians 6:16). The sacrifice was divided—a portion offered upon the altar and a portion taken and eaten (Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 16:11): so whoever ate a portion of the same sacrifice was a partaker in common *with* (not “of,” as in the English translati...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6. And--**"Now," marking transition.
**in a figure transferred to myself--**that is, I have represented under the persons of Apollos and myself what really holds good of all teachers, making us two a figure or type of all the others. I have mentioned us two, whose names have been used as a party cry; but under our names I mean others to be understood, whom I do not name, in order not to shame ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?</strong>—Paul anticipates an objection. Haven't I (8:4) already agreed that <strong>an idol is nothing</strong> (<em>ouden estin eidōlon</em>, οὐδέν ἐστιν εἴδωλον)? If idols aren't real gods, why prohibit eating food offered to them? The rhetorical questions expect negative answers—no,...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(19) **What say I then?**—It might have been argued from the preceding verse that the Apostle admitted the heathen offerings and the idols to which they were offered to be as real as were the offerings and Being to whom the altar was erected by Israel, whereas in 1Corinthians 8:4 he had asserted the contrary.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
7. Translate, "Who distinguisheth thee (above another)?" Not thyself, but God.
**glory, as if thou hadst not received it--**as if it was to thyself, not to God, thou owest the receiving of it.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils</strong>—This verse provides Paul's theological bombshell. While idols themselves are nothing (v. 19), pagan sacrifices are not offered into a spiritual vacuum—they're offered <strong>to devils</strong> (<em>daimoniois</em>, δαιμονίοι...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(20) **But I** **say.**—Better, *No; but that the things which they sacrifice they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.*
The word “devils” means evil spirits. The heathen world is regarded by the Christian Church as under the dominion of the Evil Spirit and his emissaries (Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12), and in reminding the Corinthians that in Israel an eater of the sacrificial meat became a part...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
8. Irony. Translate, "Already ye are filled full (with spiritual food), already ye are rich, ye have seated yourselves upon your throne as kings, without us." The emphasis is on "already" and "without us"; ye act as if ye needed no more to "hunger and thirst after righteousness," and as if already ye had reached the "kingdom" for which Christians have to strive and suffer. Ye are so puffed up with...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils</strong>—Paul draws the stark conclusion: dual participation is impossible. The verb <em>ou dynasthe</em> (οὐ δύνασθε, "ye cannot/are not able") indicates not just prohibition but impossibility. This isn't "you shouldn't" but "you cannot"—it's spiritually, logi...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(21, 22) **Ye cannot . . .**—Here follows the special reason why the Apostle desires them not to partake of the wine poured forth in libation to devils, or the table on which meat sacrificed to these devils was spread out as food. Such would deprive them of their participation in the cup of the Lord and the table on which the Lord’s Supper was placed. Of course the impossibility was moral, not phy...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**9. For--**assigning the reason for desiring that the "reign" of himself and his fellow apostles with the Corinthians were come; namely, the present afflictions of the former.
**I think--**The Corinthians (1Co 3:18) "seemed" to (literally, as here, "thought") themselves "wise in this world." Paul, in contrast, "thinks" that God has sent forth him and his fellow ministers "last," that is, the lo...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
View commentary (3 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?</strong>—Two rhetorical questions expecting obvious negative answers. <strong>Provoke to jealousy</strong> (<em>parazēloumen ton kyrion</em>, παραζηλοῦμεν τὸν κύριον) alludes to Deuteronomy 32:21, where Israel's idolatry provoked God's jealous wrath. Divine jealousy isn't petty possessiveness but righteous covenant love that tole...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
10. Irony. How much your lot (supposing it real) is to be envied, and ours to be pitied.
**fools--**(1Co 1:21; 3:18; compare Ac 17:18; 26:24).
**for Christ's sake ... in Christ--**Our connection with Christ only entails on us the lowest ignominy, "ON ACCOUNT OF," or, "FOR THE SAKE OF" Him, as "fools"; yours gives you full fellowship IN Him as "wise" (that is, supposing you really are all you s...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 15-22**
Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one anoth...
Read full commentary →Do All to the Glory of God
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not</strong>—Paul quotes (and qualifies) a Corinthian slogan. <strong>All things are lawful</strong> (<em>panta exestin</em>, πάντα ἔξεστιν) likely reflects their claim to Christian freedom—we're not under law but grace; therefore, all things are permissible. Paul used similar...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(23) **All things are lawful for me.**—The Apostle now proceeds to conclude, with some practical direction and advice, the question of the eating of meat offered to idols, from which immediate subject the strong expression of personal feeling in 1Corinthians 8:13 had led him to branch off into the various aspects of collateral matters which have occupied him since, and to which the subject treated...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
11. (2Co 11:23-27).
**naked--**that is, insufficiently clad (Ro 8:35).
**buffeted--**as a slave (1Pe 2:20), the reverse of the state of the Corinthians, "reigning as kings" (Ac 23:2). So Paul's master before him was "buffeted" as a slave, when about to die a slave's death (Mt 26:67).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth</strong>—This verse provides the ethical principle governing Christian freedom: others-centered love. <strong>Let no man seek his own</strong> (<em>mēdeis to heautou zētetō</em>, μηδεὶς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητείτω) directly contradicts selfish individualism. The verb <em>zēteō</em> (ζητέω, "seek") implies active pursuit—don't make your primary ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(24) **But every man another’s wealth.**—Better, *but each one another’s good.* The English word “wealth” has, in process of time, come to bear a limited significance, such as did not originally belong to it. By “wealth” we now mean temporal possessions or advantage; it originally meant “good,” including more especially “moral welfare,” as in the collect for the Queen in the Prayer Book, “Grant he...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**12. working with our own hands--**namely, "even unto this present hour" (1Co 4:11). This is not stated in the narrative of Paul's proceedings at Ephesus, from which city he wrote this Epistle (though it is expressly stated of him at Corinth, compare Ac 18:3, 19). But in his address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus (Ac 20:34), he says, "Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake</strong>—Having prohibited temple participation (vv. 14-22), Paul now addresses a related question: what about meat sold in the public market that was previously offered to idols? His answer: <strong>eat</strong> without investigation. <strong>The shambles</strong> (<em>makellos</em>, μακέλλῳ, from Latin <...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(25) **Whatsoever is sold in the shambles.**—Here is the practical application of the principle laid down. When a Christian sees meat exposed for sale in the public market let him buy it and eat it; he need not ask any question to satisfy his conscience on the subject. Some of the meat which had been used for sacrificial purposes was afterwards sold in the markets. The weaker Christians feared les...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. defamed, we entreat--**namely, God for our defamers, as Christ enjoined (Mt 5:10, 44) [Grotius]. We reply gently [Estius].
**filth--**"the refuse" [Conybeare and Howson], the sweepings or rubbish thrown out after a cleaning.
**of all things--**not of the "World" only.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof</strong>—Paul quotes Psalm 24:1 (LXX) to provide theological grounding for v. 25's permission. All creation belongs to God: <strong>the earth</strong> (<em>tēs gēs</em>, τῆς γῆς) and <strong>the fulness thereof</strong> (<em>to plērōma autēs</em>, τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, "everything that fills it")—animals, plants, resources. Nothing in creati...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(26) **The earth is the Lord’s. . . .**—All food that earth brings forth or nourishes is God’s gift, and therefore good. It was merely when regarded as an actual sacrifice that any meat could be considered that “of devils.” This great truth, recognised in the Old Testament as well as in the New, is the reason of the previous statement that conscience need not come into the matter at all.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. warn--**rather, "admonish" as a father uses "admonition" to "beloved sons," not provoking them to wrath (Ep 6:4). The Corinthians might well be "ashamed" at the disparity of state between the father, Paul, and his spiritual children themselves.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>If any of them that believe not bid you to a feast, and ye be disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake</strong>—Paul addresses dinner invitations from <strong>them that believe not</strong> (<em>apistos</em>, ἄπιστος, "unbelievers"). Unlike temple banquets (explicitly prohibited, v. 14-22), private meals in pagan homes are permissible <stron...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(27) **If any of them that believe not. . . .**—How should a Christian act if a heathen friend invited him to a feast? Should he inquire whether there was any sacrificial meat at the feast, and so avoid eating it? No. The same principle applies here—no question need be asked.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. ten thousand--**implying that the Corinthians had more of them than was desirable.
**instructors--**tutors who had the care of rearing, but had not the rights, or peculiar affection, of the father, who alone had begotten them spiritually.
**in Christ--**Paul admits that these "instructors" were not mere legalists, but evangelical teachers. He uses, however, a stronger phrase of himself i...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof:
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof</strong>—Paul introduces a qualification to v. 27's permission. If someone at the meal explicitly identifies food as <strong>offered in sacrifice unto idols</strong> (<em>hierothyton</em>, ἱερόθυτον, "temple...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(28) **But if any man. . . .**—If, however, some weak brother present points out that it is sacrificial meat, do not eat for his sake and for conscience sake (see 1Corinthians 10:29). Here your personal liberty is to be modified by the principle mentioned in 1Corinthians 10:24. If the weak brother see you eat the flesh which he has just informed you was used as a sacrifice, he may be led by your e...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. be ye followers of me--**literally, "imitators," namely, in my ways, which be in Christ (1Co 4:17; 1Co 11:1), not in my crosses (1Co 4:8-13; Ac 26:29; Ga 4:12).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience?</strong>—Paul clarifies that <strong>conscience</strong> in v. 28 refers to <strong>the other</strong> person's conscience, not your own. You know idols are nothing (8:4), so your conscience is clear about eating. But love requires considering how your actions impact <strong>anothe...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(29) **Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other.**—In the previous verse there is nothing to indicate that the obligation not to eat the meat under such circumstances arises from a consideration of the tenderness of the other’s conscience. Here any danger of mistake as to whose conscience is meant is removed. Of course (says St. Paul) I mean *his* conscience, not *yours.* For no other ma...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. For this came--**that ye may the better "be followers of me" (1Co 4:16), through his admonitions.
**sent ... Timotheus--**(1Co 16:10; Ac 19:21, 22). "Paul purposed ... when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem. So he sent into Macedonia Timotheus and Erastus." Here it is not expressly said that he sent Timothy into Achaia (of which Corinth was the capital), but it...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? grace: or, thanksgiving
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?</strong>—This verse continues the potential objection from v. 29. If I eat food <strong>by grace</strong> (<em>chariti</em>, χάριτι, "with thanksgiving/gratitude"), recognizing God's provision and giving thanks (as Jesus taught, 1 Timothy 4:4-5), why should I be <strong>evil spoken of</strong> (<em>b...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(30) **For if I by grace be a partaker.**—Better, *If I thankfully partake, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?* Such a question might be asked by some who object to the restriction on their liberty which the advice just given implies. To the querulous objector the Apostle gives no definitely limited reply. He lays down in the following verses the great principles which shoul...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. some ... as though I would not come--**He guards against some misconstruing (as by the Spirit he foresees they will, when his letter shall have arrived) his sending Timothy, "as though" he "would not come" (or, "were not coming") himself. A puffed-up spirit was the besetting sin of the Corinthians (compare 1Co 1:11; 5:2).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God</strong>—This verse provides the comprehensive principle governing all Christian behavior. <strong>Whether ye eat, or drink</strong> directly addresses the food controversy but <strong>or whatsoever ye do</strong> (<em>panta</em>, πάντα, "all things") universalizes the principle—every activity, decision, an...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(31) **Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do.**—These words embrace all life. The definite acts of eating and drinking are mentioned expressly as they are the subject immediately under consideration. They are, however, to be regulated by the same principle which guides all true life. The modern idea of some acts being religious and some secular is neither here nor elsewhere recog...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
19. Alford translates, "But come I will"; an emphatical negation of their supposition (1Co 4:18).
**shortly--**after Pentecost (1Co 16:8).
**if the Lord will--**a wise proviso (Jas 4:15). He does not seem to have been able to go as soon as he intended.
**and will know--**take cognizance of.
**but the power--**I care not for their high-sounding "speech," "but" what I desire to know is "thei...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Gentiles: Gr. Greeks
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God</strong>—Paul specifies how to glorify God (v. 31): <strong>give none offence</strong> (<em>aproskopoi ginesthe</em>, ἀπρόσκοποι γίνεσθε, "be without offense/stumbling block"). The goal is removing obstacles that hinder gospel reception or harm spiritual growth. Paul identifies three groups requiring cons...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(32) **Give none offence.**—A practical test of whether any course of conduct is to the glory of God. If it cause any human being to offend then it is not to God’s glory. Heretofore St. Paul had spoken only of the edification of the Christian Church, and the avoidance of any offence to a Christian brother. Here the sphere of moral obligation is enlarged. Jew and Greek, as well as the Christian Chu...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**20. kingdom of God is not in word--**Translate, as in 1Co 4:19, to which the reference is "speech." Not empty "speeches," but the manifest "power" of the Spirit attests the presence of "the kingdom of God" (the reign of the Gospel spiritually), in a church or in an individual (compare 1Co 2:1, 4; 1Th 1:5).
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
View commentary (4 sources)
KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved</strong>—Paul offers himself as example of offense-avoiding, glory-seeking love. <strong>I please all men</strong> (<em>areskomai pasin</em>, ἀρέσκω πᾶσιν) doesn't mean people-pleasing compromise (Galatians 1:10) but missionary accommodation—adapting behavior to maximize gosp...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(33) **Even as I please all men . . .**—Better, *even as I in all things am seeking to please all men, not seeking my own profit, but that of the many*—*i.e.,* the whole great mass of men, and not, as the English seems to imply, merely “a great number.” This is the same idea as “I am made all things to all men.” (See 1Corinthians 9:22.)
With the last verse of this chapter we must connect the first...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**21. with a rod, or in love--**The Greek preposition is used in both clauses; must I come IN displeasure to exercise the rod, or IN love, and the Spirit of meekness (Is 11:4; 2Co 13:3)?
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 23-33**
There were cases wherein Christians might eat what had been offered to idols, without sin. Such as when the flesh was sold in the market as common food, for the priest to whom it had been given. But a Christian must not merely consider what is lawful, but what is expedient, and to edify others. Christianity by no means forbids the common offices of kindness, or allows uncourte...
Read full commentary →