1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1
8 Now concerning1 food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.2
4 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” 5 For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
7 However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. 8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating3 in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged,4 if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers5 and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.
9 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife,6 as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. 13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control,7 lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
10 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,8 that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown9 in the wilderness.
6 Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9 We must not put Christ10 to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider the people of Israel:11 are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
23 “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
11 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
1 The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians’ letter; see 7:1 2 Greek him 3 Greek reclining at table 4 Or fortified; Greek built up 5 Or brothers and sisters 6 Greek a sister as wife 7 Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave 8 Or brothers and sisters 9 Or were laid low 10 Some manuscripts the Lord 11 Greek Consider Israel according to the flesh
Section Overview
This section addresses the sixth of ten major issues in the letter: eating food offered to idols. Paul argues that there is much more at stake than enjoying one’s rights—it is far more important to love one’s brothers and sisters (1 Cor. 8:1–13). Paul illustrates how he has given up his rights for the sake of the gospel (9:1–23), and he exhorts the Corinthians to flee from idolatry and not presume that they are unable to fall (9:24–10:22). The way to approach the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols is strategically to do all to God’s glory by seeking our neighbor’s good (10:23–11:1).
A major controversy in interpreting this passage involves the Greek word eidōlothyta, which every modern English translation renders as something like “food offered to idols” (ESV). Paul says that the Corinthian Christians have a “right” to eat eidōlothyta “in an idol’s temple” (8:9–10), and later he appears to say that eating eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple participates in the worship of demons (10:14–22, esp. 10:19–21). Seeking to harmonize chapter 8 with 10:14–22 raises a question: Was it always idolatrous for Corinthian Christians to eat eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple? Gordon Fee and others make three interrelated arguments that the answer is yes, but the more plausible answer is no (table 2.7).
TABLE 2.7: Was It Always Idolatrous for Corinthian Christians to Eat Eidōlothyta in an Idol’s Temple?
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Interrelated Arguments
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Yes
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No
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Historical-cultural context
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Eating eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple was an inherently religious event.
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Eating eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple could be a non-idolatrous social event—like eating in a restaurant.
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Word study
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Eidōlothyta refers to meat sacrificed to idols that one eats in an idol’s temple.
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Eidōlothyta refers to meat sacrificed to idols—whether one eats it in an idol’s temple or at home.
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Literary context
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Chapter 8 parallels 10:14–22.
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Chapter 8 differs significantly from 10:14–22.
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Historical-Cultural Context
Religion and politics were virtually inseparable in Greco-Roman cities in the first century, and the hub of religious rituals was the temple. People did not gather regularly at temples for worship services, like many Christians today regularly gather at church buildings. The temple itself housed the image of its god, and when people sacrificed animals, they typically did so outside, in front of the temple. After sacrificing animals to their idols, pagans would save some of the meat either (1) to eat on the temple grounds or (2) to sell to vendors who would then sell it in the meat market.
People in the ancient Greco-Roman world ate in an idol’s temple for a variety of reasons. On one end of the spectrum was to participate in explicitly religious pagan ceremonies that Paul calls demonic (10:14–22). On the other end of the spectrum was simply to eat meat like one might eat in a restaurant today (8:10). Meat was a treat, not a staple of most people’s diets, and people often ate meat in the temple for nonreligious business meetings or on special occasions for nonreligious social gatherings, such as celebrating a person’s birthday. Such meals did not necessarily always begin with a demonic religious ceremony of sacrifice and prayer. (The actual animal sacrifice took place outside, at the altar in front of the temple.) Meals in the temple could be merely social.
This does not mean, however, that Corinthian Christians should regularly eat eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple. Paul argues in chapter 8 that they should be willing to give up that right for the sake of fellow Christians.
Word Study
Evidence concerning eidōlothyta from within the NT (nine occurrences—Acts 15:29; 21:25; 1 Cor. 8:1, 4, 7, 10; 10:19; Rev. 2:14, 20) and from outside the NT confirms that it means “someth[ing] offered to a cultic image/idol. . . . It refers to sacrificial meat, part of which was burned on the altar as the deities’ portion . . . , part was eaten at a solemn meal in the temple, and part was sold in the market . . . for home use” (BDAG, s.v. ἐιδωλόθυτος). The word does not only mean meat sacrificed to idols that one eats in an idol’s temple. It simply means meat sacrificed to idols—whether one eats it in an idol’s temple or at home. Where one eats it is not essential for defining the word. It is an exegetical fallacy to combine what the word refers to in a particular context (i.e., in 1 Cor. 10:19) with what the word means in other contexts (i.e., in 8:1, 4, 7, 10). Eating eidōlothyta is morally neutral, but in 10:19–20 eating it is idolatrous because eating it in that context is participating in idolatry (cf. 10:7, 14).
Literary Context
First Corinthians 8 differs significantly from 10:14–22. In chapter 8, Paul instructs the Corinthians that they should not selfishly use their right to eat eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple, and in 10:14–22 he commands them to flee idolatry. If the activity in chapter 8 is the same as in chapter 10, then it does not make sense for Paul to wait to warn them to flee idolatry, since idolatry is much more serious than selfishly using one’s rights.
Paul explicitly calls eating in an idol’s temple “this right of yours” (8:9). It is not a so-called right. Paul could have written “so-called right”—just as he says “so-called gods” in 8:5. All six times that Paul uses “right” (Gk. exousia), in what immediately follows it refers to a genuine right—not a so-called right (9:4, 5, 6, 12 [2x], 18).
In chapter 8 the issue is not idolatry (as it is in 10:14–22), because eating idol meat in chapter 8 is objectively neutral. If chapter 8 is about idolatry, then it is about subjective idolatry (i.e., when a person thinks an activity is idolatrous), while 10:14–22 is about objective idolatry (i.e., when an activity is inherently idolatrous even if a person thinks it is not).
In chapter 8 Paul addresses the issue with reference to disputable matters, but in 10:14–22 he addresses the issue with reference to worshiping idols. Christians may disagree on disputable matters, but not about worshiping idols. The key difference is the nature of the meals: if Corinthian Christians ate eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple in the same way they ate the Lord’s Supper (10:16–17), that would always be idolatrous (10:18–22).
So Paul prohibits the Corinthian Christians from eating meat sacrificed to idols in three contexts but he allows it in two:
(1) Yes. You have the right to eat meat sacrificed to idols in an idol’s temple when it is not part of the pagan religious ritual (ch. 8).
(2) No. Give up your right to eat meat sacrificed to idols in an idol’s temple if it would harm a fellow Christian (ch. 8).
(3) No. Do not eat meat sacrificed to idols in an idol’s temple as part of the pagan religious ritual, for to do so would be to participate in demon worship (10:14–22).
(4) Yes. You have the right to eat meat sacrificed to idols that you can buy in the meat market and eat in your home or the homes of your neighbors (10:25–27).
(5) No. Give up your right to eat meat sacrificed to idols in another person’s home if a person informs you that the meat was sacrificed to idols and thus implies that they think you as a Christian would object to eating the meat because that would be participating in idol worship (10:28–30).
In the literary context, 8:9–10 and 10:14–22 do not harmonize unless what Paul describes in 8:9–10 is actually a disputable matter and not always idolatry. The logic of chapters 8–10 presupposes that what 8:10 refers to is a genuine right that the Corinthian Christians possess. Paul exhorts them to give up that right if it would harm a fellow Christian. What Paul teaches about the conscience in this passage does not make sense if eating eidōlothyta in an idol’s temple is not actually an activity the Corinthian Christians could ever do without sinning.
Section Outline
II.F. Eating food offered to idols (8:1–11:1)
1. Principle: loving your brothers and sisters is more important than enjoying your rights (8:1–13)
2. Illustration: Paul gave up his rights for the sake of the gospel (9:1–23)
3. Exhortation: flee from idolatry (9:24–10:22)
4. Conclusion: strategically do all for God’s glory by seeking your neighbor’s good (10:23–11:1)
Response
1. Do all for God’s glory.
This is the most comprehensive way to apply 1 Corinthians 8:1–11:1 (cf. comments on 10:31–11:1). The other responses below are subsets of this one. Vaughan Roberts helpfully summarizes Christian decision making in chapters 8–10 in a flowchart (figure 2.2).
FIGURE 2.2: Christian Decision Making in 1 Corinthians 8–10
2. Give up your rights if doing so will build up rather than harm fellow believers (ch. 8).
Just because we are free to do something does not mean we should do it. There are other factors to consider. Christians must not insist on exercising their rights at all times—especially if exercising our freedom might cause a professing believer to sin against their conscience and possibly apostatize.
3. Give up your rights if that will advance the gospel among unbelievers (ch. 9).
Paul willingly gave up a salary (when getting paid was his right) and instead worked a second job in order to advance the gospel. Do we have rights to which we inflexibly cling, as if they were more valuable than advancing the gospel?
4. Calibrate your conscience so that you can strategically accommodate others for the sake of the gospel (9:18–23; 10:23–11:1).
We ought not sin against our conscience; we must listen to it instead, cultivating a good conscience. We should generally always follow our conscience. But “generally always” implies that this rule has exceptions—namely, calibrating one’s conscience when it is theologically incorrect.
It is important to calibrate our consciences correctly regarding disputable matters so that we are free to flex for the sake of the gospel. We cannot flex on a disputable matter if our conscience condemns us about it. Although it may be simpler to prohibit a disputable matter as inherently sinful and therefore off limits, it is not a virtue to determine that genuine rights are not really genuine rights.
5. Persevere with self-discipline (9:24–10:22).
God warns us to continue in the faith lest we be disqualified and fall and experience destruction. These warnings are real. They are one of the means God uses to enable us to continue.
If the apostle Paul needed to exercise self-discipline vigilantly in order to run the race, how much more do we? When we read OT stories about Israelites rebelling against God by turning to idolatry and immoral sex, testing God, and grumbling, we might (rightly) think that those Israelites sure were foolish. But how much more foolish are we—we who have the privilege of living “in these last days,” when God “has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:2)—when we rebel against God by turning to idolatry, immoral sex, testing Christ, or grumbling?
The expression Now concerning introduces a reply to a question in the Corinthians’ letter; see 7:1
Greek him
Greek reclining at table
Or fortified; Greek built up
Or brothers and sisters
Greek a sister as wife
Greek I pummel my body and make it a slave
Or brothers and sisters
Or were laid low
Some manuscripts the Lord
Greek Consider Israel according to the flesh
8:1b–3 Paul quotes the Corinthians: “All of us possess knowledge.” The knowledge the Corinthians possess is most likely what Paul specifies in verse 4: an idol is not real, and there is only one God.
The next four lines correspond to each other:
(A) This “knowledge” puffs up,
(B) but love builds up.
(A') If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
(B') But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Paul warns the Corinthians that the knowledge they claim to have is making them proud. People commonly quote Paul as saying, “Knowledge puffs up” to warn others that gaining more knowledge can make one proud. This is true, but it is not what Paul is arguing here. Paul is arguing that some of the Corinthians are using their knowledge about food offered to idols incorrectly. Their insufficient knowledge (v. 2) is making them proud. In contrast, if they combined their knowledge with love, they would humbly build others up.
Paul cleverly plays with the words know and knowledge in this section (vv. 1 [3x], 2 [3x], 3, 4, 7, 10, 11). Knowledge is important, but love is even more important. People who proudly think they know it all lack love. Love for God and others characterizes Christians—those who are “known by God” (i.e., those whom God has chosen or elected). Christians should not misuse their “knowledge” in unloving ways.
8:4–6 Paul resumes the topic he introduced in verse 1 (v. 4a), again quotes the Corinthians (v. 4b; cf. v. 1b), and supports those quotations (vv. 5–6). Idols are merely “so-called gods”; they do not exist for real. There is only one God, not many.
Paul highlights two persons of the triune God: the Father and Jesus the Messiah. The Father is the source and goal of everything (cf. Rom. 11:36), and Jesus is the creator and sustainer of everything (cf. John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2). This passage supports that Jesus is God.
8:7–8 Some Christians—probably former pagans who have recently converted—do not share the “knowledge” in verses 4–6. Instead of recognizing that idols do not actually exist, they think of the food as actually sacrificed to a god because they associate the food with idolatry, and as a result they defile their conscience because it is misinformed and thus oversensitive. They hold a theologically incorrect conviction. This is what it means to have a weak conscience.
The theologically correct view is that what one eats (or does not eat) does not inherently gain God’s favor. No one is superior or inferior before God based on what food he chews and swallows (cf. Mark 7:18–19; Acts 10:9–16; Rom. 14:17).
8:9–12 Paul warns those who are theologically correct on the issue of eating food offered to idols not to exercise their rights in a way that harms a fellow believer who has a weak conscience on this issue (v. 9). If that person sees the one with an informed conscience eating (i.e., reclining for the purpose of dining) in an idol’s temple, it could build up or embolden his or her weak conscience to sin by copying the eater (v. 10). The result is that the eater destroys that weak person with his theologically correct position by (unintentionally) encouraging him or her to return to paganism. We sin against our fellow brother or sister for whom Christ died by assaulting his or her weak conscience (vv. 11–12a). Consequently, we sin against Christ himself (v. 12b; cf. Acts 9:4).
8:13 What follows is an inference from verses 10–12: if eating certain meat could harm a fellow brother or sister in Christ, Paul will give up eating meat so that he does not harm him or her. This sentence transitions to the next section.
9:1–2 Paul asks four rhetorical questions that expect a positive answer.
Questions 1 and 2 support 8:13: Paul chooses to give up his rights. Paul—an apostle—is free to exercise his rights (cf. 8:9), but he voluntarily forgoes that liberty in order to build up his brothers and sisters.
Questions 3 and 4 defend Paul’s apostleship. He gives two reasons he is an apostle: (1) his seeing the Lord Jesus (Acts 9:4–5, 17) and (2) the Corinthian church itself—it is proof of his work for the Lord. Others may question whether Paul is an apostle, but the Corinthians certainly should not.
9:3–7 The Corinthians have criticized Paul for not acting the way they expect a teacher to act (cf. 1:10–17), namely, that Paul has not let them financially support him. Paul asks three rhetorical questions to argue that he has the right to receive their money:
(1) Eating and drinking refers figuratively to receiving financial support.
(2) Taking along a believing wife with him when he traveled would require additional financial support.
(3) Receiving financial support for preaching would mean that he would not need to work a “secular” job to support himself.
Paul supports the third rhetorical question with three more examples: (1) a soldier deserves to get paid; (2) a farmer deserves to eat the crop he has planted; and (3) a shepherd deserves to drink milk from the flock he tends. Similarly, Paul has the right to receive all of his financial support from the churches he serves.
9:8–10 What Paul has asserted in verses 4 and 6–7 is not simply his opinion or common sense. Paul supports it with divine authority by applying the principle in Deuteronomy 25:4.
Next Paul asks two questions with implied answers: (1) The answer to 1 Corinthians 9:9b is no, God is concerned not (exclusively or primarily) with oxen but with human workers. (2) The answer to verse 10a is yes, God wrote Deuteronomy 25:4 for the sake of gospel ministers like Paul, because the one who plows and threshes should share in the crop (cf. 1 Tim. 5:17–18). As Luther quipped, “This is not written because of the oxen, since they do not know how to read.”
Paul may argue from the lesser to the greater: if you should feed oxen for working (the lesser), then you should pay gospel ministers for serving (the greater). But if God gave this law to Israel to establish justice for both the ox and its owner when someone borrowed or rented an ox, then Paul straightforwardly applies the principle from its OT context, namely, “The laborer deserves his wages” (a principle Paul cites immediately after quoting Deut. 25:4 in 1 Tim. 5:18). Or, stated negatively, “Do not withhold just compensation from the one who has offered you service or labor.”
9:11 What follows is an inference from verse 10b: since the one who plows and threshes physically has a right to share in the crop, Paul—who has plowed and threshed spiritually—has a right for the Corinthians to pay him (cf. Rom. 15:27).
9:12 Further, if others have a right for the Corinthians to pay them, then Paul is even more deserving. But Paul chooses not to exercise his right, because he does not want to get in the way of the gospel’s advance. He would endure anything to avoid that (cf. 4:11–13). Paul intentionally distances himself from the money-seeking orators of his day, who value style over substance (cf. comments on 1:18–2:5).
9:13–14 Verse 13 provides two illustrations in support of verse 14 (and v. 6, much like the three illustrations in v. 7 support v. 6): OT priests served in the temple and at the altar, so they had a right to eat portions of the offerings (e.g., Deut. 18:1–5). Similarly, Paul has a right to earn his living solely from preaching the gospel—as Jesus himself taught (1 Cor. 9:14; see Matt. 10:10; Luke 10:7; cf. 1 Tim. 5:17–18).
9:15 In spite of the truths expressed in verses 13–14, Paul chooses not to exercise his right because he does not want to lose his ground for a good kind of “boasting” (cf. Rom. 15:17–20; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 2:16), namely, to “present the gospel free of charge” (1 Cor. 9:18).
9:16–18 Merely preaching the gospel does not give Paul a “ground for boasting,” because preaching the gospel is precisely what God commissioned him to do on the road to Damascus (Acts 9; 22; 26; Gal. 1:11–17). It is Paul’s duty. He did not volunteer to do it; God has appointed him to it. He can do nothing else. He has no choice. If he did have a choice, he could have a “ground for boasting” or a “reward” for preaching the gospel, but he does not have a choice: preaching the gospel is what God has tasked Paul to do. His “ground for boasting” or “reward” is that he preaches the gospel “free of charge.” Consequently, Paul does not exercise his rights fully as one who preaches the gospel. This is a way to demonstrate that he is “all in” as he heralds the gospel.
9:19–23 Verse 19 explains verse 18, while verses 20–22a illustrate verse 19. Then verse 22b echoes verse 19, while verse 23 echoes verse 18:
(A) Verse 18: Paul’s reward is to preach the gospel for free, with the result that he does not make full use of his right to get paid for his gospel ministry.
(B) Verse 19: Paul chooses to make himself a servant to all people to win more of them.
(C) Verses 20–22a: Three illustrations Paul flexes for (i.e., strategically and uncompromisingly accommodates) Jews, Gentiles, and the weak.
(B') Verse 22b: Paul flexes for all people to win more of them.
(A') Verse 23: Paul flexes for the sake of the gospel to share with the converts in its blessings.
Paul presents the gospel free of charge by strategically making himself a servant to all in order that he might win more people to Christ. Only a free person can make himself a servant. Paul is a model missionary because he strategically accommodates people in various cultural contexts in order to evangelize them more fruitfully. Christian liberty for Paul is not “I am free to do whatever I want to do.” Rather, it is “I am free to flex for the sake of the gospel.” (Cf. Response section on 8:1–11:1: [4].)
9:20–22a Paul offers three illustrations of people he strategically accommodates (cf. comment on 9:19–23):
(1) Paul strategically accommodates Jews—both those born as Jews and also those who choose to live as Jews under the Mosaic law. As a Christian, Paul (an ethnic Jew) is not under the Mosaic law, yet in certain situations he chooses to flex by following aspects of the Mosaic law (e.g., kosher rules, Sabbath regulations, circumcision) to gain a hearing to evangelize Jews (e.g., Acts 16:3; 21:20–26).
(2) Paul strategically accommodates Gentiles—those outside the Mosaic law. Paul willingly lives among Gentiles in ways that could be culturally uncomfortable for an ethnic Jew. He adapts his lifestyle to foreign customs. This directly concerns how Paul behaves, and it indirectly includes how he contextualizes the gospel message.
What Paul says about the law in 1 Corinthians 9:20b–21 is extremely important for understanding how the old and new covenants relate (cf. comment on 7:18–19). (a) Paul is not under the Mosaic law. (b) This does not mean that Paul is free from all moral laws—becoming “all things to all people” (9:22) does not mean, for example, that to the sexually immoral Paul can become sexually immoral. (c) Paul is under Christ’s law—the law of love. Paul knows when he can flex for the sake of the gospel and when he must not do so.
(3) Paul strategically accommodates the weak. There are three good options for identifying “the weak”:
Each option is plausible, but the literary context slightly favors the third.
9:23 Paul strategically accommodates all people, he explains, “for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”
Paul’s sentence transitions to the next section.
9:24 Paul begins with a metaphor from sports: the Isthmian games that took place near Corinth. In a race everybody runs, but only one runner wins. The inference is that they must run in order to win (cf. Phil. 3:12–14; 2 Tim. 4:7–8).
9:25b Winning is what motivates an athlete to be so self-controlled. The prize for winning an Olympic-type race in Paul’s day was a wreath made of plant leaves for the games in Olympia or celery or pine for the games in Isthmia. The prize for winning the gospel race is eternal life with God himself (cf. Phil. 3:14)—in contrast to being “disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). The wreath is perishable; the eternal reward is imperishable.
9:26–27 Therefore, Paul runs the spiritual race with a fixed goal. And, to change the metaphor to boxing, Paul fights with skill. The word the ESV translates “one beating the air” in verse 26 refers to “unskillful boxers, who miss their mark.”
Paul is not racing or fighting against fellow Christians. His opponent is his own body and its immoral desires, which must not control him. In verse 27, “I discipline” means to “put under strict discipline, punish, treat roughly, torment,” while “keep . . . under control” means to “enslave, subjugate. . . . Paul makes a slave out of his body, i.e. he directs it for useful service.” Hence the ESV footnote: “I pummel my body and make it a slave.” Paul does not physically torture himself as a way to become more spiritual. He is using an athletic metaphor: he trains strictly so that he does not get kicked out of the race or boxing match in the end. He exercises self-control so that he does not apostatize. For example, if he did not keep his body under control, he might engage in immoral sex, and the sexually immoral—that is, people for whom unrepentant immoral sex characterizes their life—do not inherit the kingdom of God (cf. chs. 5–6). Being “disqualified” from this race means being disqualified from inheriting the kingdom of God.
10:1–2 Most of the Corinthian believers were Gentiles, and Paul refers to the Israelites as “our fathers.” The Israelites organically connect to the church through Jesus the Messiah (cf. Rom. 11:17–24).
Paul alludes to Exodus 13:17–14:30: “under the cloud . . . passed through the sea . . . baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” The Israelites were figuratively “baptized into Moses,” the agent God used to deliver them from the Egyptians and then to mediate the old covenant to them. Similarly, Christians are “baptized into Christ” (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27), who delivers them from sin and mediates the new covenant to them.
10:3–5 The cryptic-sounding sentence at the end of verse 4 about “the spiritual Rock” is an aside that explains what Paul means by “all drank the same spiritual drink” (v. 4a). God supernaturally provided food and drink for Israel in the wilderness (vv. 3–4a). According to a rabbinic legend, a physical rock (or well) followed or accompanied Israel in the wilderness to provide continual water from their journey’s beginning (Ex. 17:1–7) to its end (Num. 20:2–13). But there is insufficient evidence that that legend existed when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, and even if it did, Paul does not adopt the legend (which would contradict 1 Tim. 1:4) but more likely reads Exodus 14–17 in light of other OT passages (e.g., Ps. 78:14–20, 35; Isa. 52:12; 58:8). Paul refers to a spiritual Rock he identifies as Christ. The OT metaphorically refers to God as the Rock (e.g., Deut. 32:4, 15, 30–31; Psalms 78; 95), and Paul specifies that Israel’s Rock was the preexistent Christ, who was with them in the wilderness not only to provide food and water but also to punish those who put him to the test (1 Cor. 10:9). Paul’s main point is that most of Israel was disqualified even though the people experienced remarkable blessings from Christ, and the Corinthian Christians—who have also experienced remarkable blessings from Christ—must (like Paul) run to win so that they will not likewise be disqualified (9:24–27).
10:6–11 This passage develops the previous five verses. The example of Israel in the wilderness is for professing Christians now (vv. 6, 11; cf. 9:10; Rom. 15:4). Christians must learn from Israel’s sins. (On how God’s physically destroying Israel relates to typology, cf. comment on 1 Cor. 10:1–22.)
10:7 The quotation “eat and drink” cleverly connects to this section’s topic (eating food offered to idols) as well as verses 3–4, 16–21. “To play” probably refers to partying (possibly including immoral sex) while committing idolatry.
10:8 Paul says that “twenty-three thousand fell in a single day,” while Numbers 25:9 records that “those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.” The numbers are approximate, not precise. Also, since only Paul specifies “in a single day,” it is possible that 23,000 died on one day and 1,000 died after that.
10:9 The Israelites “put Christ to the test” (cf. comment on 10:3–5).
10:10 “The Destroyer” is “the destroying angel as the one who carries out the divine sentence of punishment.”
10:11 The OT books were not primarily for the people who first read them; God wrote the OT primarily for Christians—that is, those “on whom the end of the ages has come” (cf. Rom. 4:23–24; 15:4). Christians live in the last days, in the overlap of the ages that Christ inaugurated with his first coming and will consummate with his second (cf. Heb. 1:2).
10:12 What follows is an inference of verses 1–11: since most of Israel in the wilderness were disqualified from the race despite all of the ways in which God delivered and provided for them, Christians today who think that they stand (e.g., Corinthians who exercise their rights to eat food sacrificed to idols in an idol’s temple; ch. 8) should be careful not to fall—particularly in the areas of sex and diet. They must not assume that the race is essentially over, that they do not need to vigilantly exercise self-discipline, that there is no way they could be disqualified.
10:13 Paul provides two reasons someone is responsible if he or she falls (cf. v. 12):
(1) Every temptation we experience to apostatize is common to mankind—temptations such as idolatry, immoral sex, testing Christ, and grumbling.
(2) “God is faithful.” If we fall, we cannot blame God. The problem is with ourselves. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle but will provide a way to escape every temptation so that we can endure it.
Those two reasons both caution and encourage Christians. They warn us to persevere lest we be disqualified, and they reassure us that God will not allow a uniquely powerful temptation to overwhelm any of us. Earlier in this letter, Paul has exulted that “God is faithful,” namely, that Christ “will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:8–9; cf. 1 Thess. 5:23–24; 2 Thess. 3:3; Jude 24–25).
10:14 In light of 9:24–10:13, since we must beware of falling and being disqualified, we must run from idolatry (cf. 6:18: “Flee from sexual immorality”)! Paul returns to the issue that 8:1–11:1 addresses: eating food offered to idols. But 10:14–22 differs from chapter 8 (and 10:23–11:1). In chapter 8 Paul addresses the issue with reference to matters of conscience, but here he addresses the issue with reference to worshiping idols. Christians may disagree on matters of conscience, but not about worshiping idols. (See Section Overview of 8:1–11:1.)
10:15 Paul appeals to the Corinthians as wise people.
10:16 These two rhetorical questions are the premise of the application in verses 14–22: when a church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it participates or shares in Jesus’ death. “Participation” translates the Greek word koinōnia—fellowship, sharing something in common with someone. A church celebrating the Lord’s Supper enjoys koinōnia vertically with God and horizontally with fellow worshipers. The context about idolatry emphasizes the vertical fellowship.
Three ceremonies illustrate what it means for a church to participate or share in Jesus’ death:
(1) When the people of Israel ate the Passover meal, they celebrated with God what the Passover sacrifice accomplished for them and the blessings that flowed from that (cf. Ex. 12:21–27). Jesus’ Last Supper and the Lord’s Supper update the Passover meal for God’s people (cf. comments on 1 Cor. 5:7b; 11:24–25). The “cup of blessing” was the third cup in the Passover meal.
(2) When the people of Israel routinely sacrificed an animal and together ate part of that animal, they celebrated with God what they believed the sacrifice accomplished for them and the blessings that ensued. Paul uses this illustration in 10:18.
(3) When pagans sacrificed food to their gods (to demons, actually), they celebrated with those demons what they thought the sacrifice accomplished for them and the blessings that flowed therefrom. Paul uses this illustration in verse 20.
Similarly, when a church celebrates the Lord’s Supper, it participates or shares in Jesus’ death by fellowshipping with Jesus through a covenant renewal ceremony. The church spiritually nourishes itself by exulting in what Jesus has accomplished for his people through his death and the blessings that ensue.
10:17 Paul supports the second rhetorical question of verse 16 when he points out that the church celebrates the Lord’s Supper all together. Vertical fellowship with Christ (v. 16) creates horizontal fellowship with Christ’s body. Paul repeats the word “one” three times to emphasize that the “many” Corinthian Christians are “one body.” This sentence has three lines, with the first and third supporting the second (table 2.9).
TABLE 2.9: Structure of 1 Corinthians 10:17
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Because there is
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one bread,
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we who are many are
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one body [“the body of Christ”; 12:27],
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for we all partake of the
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one bread.
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The church as a unified whole celebrates the Lord’s Supper together: low-status people and the social elite, young and old, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free. There should be no factions.
10:18 Paul’s illustration about the people of Israel supports verses 16–17 (cf. comment on 10:16).
10:19–20a What follows is an inference of verses 16–18: when pagans offer food to idols in their religious ceremonies, they are offering it to demons (cf. Deut. 32:17). It is not a morally neutral act; it is idolatry.
10:20b–21 Now the apostle applies verses 14–20a: since eating and drinking in a religious ceremony is participating in that ceremony, then eating food offered to idols in their religious ceremonies is participating in demonic activity (cf. Deut. 32:17). Participating in a pagan religious ceremony is not a disputable matter for Christians; it is idolatry. Just as union with Christ and sexual union with a prostitute are incompatible (1 Cor. 6:15–17), so are participating in the Lord’s Supper and participating in a pagan religious ceremony.
10:22 Two rhetorical questions follow from verse 21, and they expect a negative answer. Idolatry arouses the Lord’s wrathful jealousy (e.g., Ex. 34:14; Deut. 29:18–20; Josh. 24:19–20; Ps. 78:58–59).
10:23 The two slogans (cf. 6:12) negatively illustrate how the Corinthians are provoking the Lord (10:22), and Paul refutes how the Corinthians use these slogans: not all things are helpful or constructive (cf. 8:1).
10:24 Since “not all things are helpful” and “not all things build up” (v. 23), the Corinthians must seek to build up others in whatever they do, being willing to give up their rights in order to benefit their Christian or non-Christian neighbors.
10:25–26 Situation 1: Some Corinthian Christians are not sure if they can eat the meat without sinning, and Paul says that they are free to eat the meat. He supports this assertion by quoting Psalm 24:1, which Jews traditionally prayed before eating: the whole earth and everything in it belongs to the Lord, including the sacrificed meat.
10:27 Situation 2: Some pagans purchase meat offered to idols in the meat market and then eat it in their home. If an unbeliever invites a Corinthian Christian over for a meal, that Christian is free to eat the meat without needing to ask any questions about whether the meat was sacrificed to idols.
10:28–29a Situation 3: But if “someone” informs a Christian that the meat was sacrificed to idols and thus implies that they think the Christian will object to eating the meat because it would involve participating in idol worship, the Christian must decline to eat the meat for the sake of that person’s conscience.
In the first two situations, Paul essentially says, “Do not bother asking if the meat was sacrificed to idols. This is a theologically moot issue, so your conscience should not condemn you for eating the meat.” The third situation offers an exception to this second one.
“Someone” probably refers to an unbeliever, since it is an exception to verse 27 (which involves an unbeliever), though it could refer to a believer with a weak conscience in this area. That person does not understand the theological rationale for why it is acceptable for a believer to eat the meat, so his (misinformed) conscience would assume that if a believer ate the meat he would be tacitly worshiping idols.
10:29b–30 The two rhetorical questions in these verses refer back somehow to one or more of the examples Paul lays out in verses 25–29a, and their implicit answers set up how Paul concludes the section in 10:31–11:1. It is challenging to trace precisely what Paul is arguing by asking these two questions. Two options are most plausible:
(1) The two questions are a diatribe in which Paul voices how some Corinthians might object to the third example (10:28–29a). Thus to paraphrase verses 29b–31:
(2) The two questions refer to the first two examples (vv. 25–27) and not the third (vv. 28–29a), which is a parenthesis. Thus to paraphrase verses 25–30 under this reading:
The second option better fits the literary context and involves less guesswork.
10:31 What follows is an inference of verses 23–30 (and more broadly of 8:1–10:30) that restates the principle from verse 24: Christians must always seek to build up others, whether that includes enjoying liberty to eat (vv. 25–27) or giving it up (vv. 28–29). A more theological way to state the principle is to “do all to the glory of God”—whether that involves eating or drinking or anything else (cf. Col. 3:17). Paul replaces “All things are lawful” (1 Cor. 10:23) with “do all [things] to the glory of God” (cf. 6:12 and 6:20).
“The glory of God” is God’s displaying his holiness (i.e., his God-ness or unique excellence). To do something “to the glory of God” is to glorify God. We glorify God when we feel and think and act in a way that makes much of God—that shows he is supremely great and good and all-satisfying. In the literary context, the specific way to make much of God is to seek our neighbors’ good above our own (10:24).
10:32 Paul applies verse 31 (and repeats 9:19, 22b): one way to eat to the glory of God is to obey 10:25–29a.
“Give no offense” does not mean that Christians are always responsible for whether their actions cause others to be upset, annoyed, or resentful. Instead, “give no offense” means to keep others from stumbling in the sense of not harming that person (cf. 8:10–13; cf. comment on 8:9–12.)
10:33 Paul offers an illustration of the previous verse (and repeats 9:18, 23). “I try to please everyone in everything I do” does not mean Paul is a “people pleaser” who cares more about what others think than about what God thinks. The choice is not between pleasing others and pleasing God, but between pleasing others and pleasing oneself. The way Paul seeks to please others strategically (and thus glorify God) is to seek an advantage not for himself but for many others for the sake of the gospel (cf. 9:19–23).
11:1 Paul ends this section by exhorting the Corinthians to copy him, to use his example as their model: Do all for God’s glory as you interact with Christians (give up your rights to build them up) and non-Christians (give up your rights so that God may save them). Paul’s strategy is not only for missionaries to copy. All Christians should imitate him (cf. comment on 4:16).
Paul qualifies his exhortation: imitate me only to the degree that I imitate Christ. Christ is the ultimate example of giving up one’s rights for the sake of others (cf. Rom. 15:1–8).