返回Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
1 Cor. 10:1. I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.
He enumerates how many gifts the Jews were deemed worthy of from God, and declares that even after these gifts many did not please God. He says this with the aim of proving that just as it did not benefit the Jews to receive abundant gifts when they themselves did not fulfill their duty, so too it will not benefit you that you believed and were deemed worthy of spiritual mysteries, if you do not present yourselves worthy of the grace of God. "All," he says, "were under the cloud." For God spread a cloud as a covering over them, and they passed through the sea (Exod. 13:21, 14:22).
1 Cor. 10:2. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
That is, together with Moses they were under the shadow of the cloud and together passed through the sea. For when they saw that he was the first to cross, then they too boldly went through the midst of the waters. Something similar occurs with us as well. Christ first died and rose again, and then we too were baptized, imitating His death through immersion in water and His resurrection through rising up out of it. "Were baptized into Moses." This means: he preceded them in the figure of baptism. For being under the cloud and passing through the sea prefigured baptism.
1 Cor. 10:3-4. And they all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink.
As we, upon receiving baptism, partake of the Body of the Master, so the Israelites, after crossing through the sea, ate manna (Exod. 16:4, 15); and as we drink the Blood of the Master, so they drank water from the solid rock (Exod. 17:6). He calls the manna and water "spiritual" because, although they were sensible things, they came about not according to the law of nature, but by the grace of the Spirit, and they nourished not only the bodies but also the souls, and led them to faith.
1 Cor. 10:4. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.
Food required no confirmation, for its extraordinariness was self-evident. But regarding drink, confirmation was needed, because only the manner of its production was extraordinary. Therefore he says: it was not the nature of the rock that gave the water (otherwise it would have been flowing before as well), but another Rock accomplished everything, namely Christ. By the word "following" he expressed the thought that Christ was everywhere present with them and performed all the miracles.
1 Cor. 10:5. But God was not well pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
Although God showed them many signs of love and deemed them worthy of very many blessings, nevertheless in the majority of them He did not find what was pleasing to Himself, "was not well pleased." For not all were rejected, but many. By the words "not with many" he expresses the thought that their great number was of no benefit to them whatsoever, when for their part they did not show deeds of love toward their Benefactor. By the words "were struck down" he indicates their sudden destruction and the punishments sent from God.
1 Cor. 10:6. Now these things were examples for us, so that we would not lust after evil, as they lusted.
Just as the blessings, so also the punishments of the Jews were types. He shows that sinners among Christians will not only be punished, but much more than the Jews, since the blessings of the latter were types, while the good things of the former are the reality, and as in gifts the advantage is on the side of Christians, so also in punishments. In the words "lusted after evil things" he speaks generally of every evil, for every evil comes from lust (James 1:14-15); then he sets forth certain kinds of evil as well. What then did they lust after? They demanded garlic, meat, special gods, as the apostle himself further points out their idolatry.
1 Cor. 10:7. 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."
First he addresses those who ate in idol temples, and shows that just as the Israelites fell from gluttony into idolatry (for, having formed choruses around the calf, they played before it), so also for you who out of gluttony partake of food sacrificed to idols, there is a danger of becoming idolaters. Where, then, is your supposed perfection, when you are close to idolatry?
1 Cor. 10:8. Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them perished.
Again he mentioned fornication, so that through constant reproof he might make his word more effective. This sin also is born from gluttony. And when did twenty-three thousand perish? When, by the counsel of Balaam, the Midianite women appeared at the camp, enticed the young men to themselves, and through fornication led them to offer sacrifice to Baal-Peor, and the people who were in the camp perished (Num. 25:1–9).
1 Cor. 10:9. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents.
He hints that the Corinthians, by demanding signs, are tempting Christ.
1 Cor. 10:10. Do not grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer.
That is, from a certain striking force (Num. 14:37). By this he hints to them that in the midst of trial they did not have magnanimity, but grumbled and said: when will good fortune come? when will the calamities pass?
1 Cor. 10:11. All these things happened to them as examples; and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
He frightens them also in the case when he says that this was written as instruction for us, that we too must expect punishments, and all the more terrible ones the greater the gifts we have been deemed worthy of, and also when he presents to them the end of the age, and declares that the torments that will seize you are not temporal but endless after the end. For that judgment is already at the doors, because the ages of this world are coming to a close.
1 Cor. 10:12. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Again he hints at those who were greatly puffed up by their knowledge. Although you think that you stand, nevertheless take heed lest you fall. For your very confidence that you stand shows that you do not stand. It seems so to you, but in reality you do not stand. But even if you do stand, through pride you can easily fall.
1 Cor. 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man; and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide relief, so that you may be able to endure it.
With the words "let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" he frightened them. Meanwhile, there were those who had already endured many temptations. Lest such people say: "why do you frighten us? We have endured many temptations and have not sinned," he says: the temptation that has overtaken you is only small and moderate, for what is small is everywhere called human. Then he comforts them again, persuading them to look to God, Who is faithful, that is, true and will not lie. For He promised: "Come..., you who labor..., and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Therefore, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but will arrange it so that a temptation proportionate to your strength will overtake you. Indeed, every temptation will be beyond your strength if He does not help and does not create relief from the temptation, "with the temptation," that is, relief that is swift and simultaneous with the coming of the temptation upon you, so that with swift relief it will become bearable for you. For he said: "will also provide the relief, so that you may be able to endure," that is, the temptation will seem light and manageable to you.
1 Cor. 10:14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Since he had given them a sufficient rebuke, he now softens it by calling them beloved. However, he forbids them to eat food sacrificed to idols not only because it is harmful to the brethren, but condemns this practice in itself, calling it idolatry, and demanding a swift departure from it, for he says: "flee."
1 Cor. 10:15. I speak to you as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
Having called their deed idolatry, he ascribed to them a great crime. Now he softens the severity of his word and makes the guilty themselves the judges (which is characteristic only of one who is undoubtedly confident in the truth of his words), and says: I do not need other judges; you, as intelligent people, judge for yourselves.
1 Cor. 10:16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ?
The blessing, that is, the thanksgiving. For, holding the cup in our hands, we bless and give thanks to Him Who poured out His Blood for us and deemed us worthy of ineffable blessings. He did not say "participation" (μετοχή), but "communion" (κοινωνία), in order to express something greater, namely the closest union. His words have this meaning: what is in the Cup is the very same thing that flowed from the side of Christ, and when we receive it, we enter into communion, that is, union with Christ. Are you not ashamed, Corinthians, to run over to the cup of idols from that very Cup which delivered you from idols?!
1 Cor. 10:16. The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the Body of Christ?
What the Lord did not suffer on the cross (for His bone was not broken: John 19:33–36), He now suffers, being broken for us. For he says: "which is broken." The words "communion of the Body of Christ" mean: just as that Body is united with Christ, so we too through this Bread are united with Him.
1 Cor. 10:17. One bread, and we many are one body.
Before this he said: "a communion of the Body." But one who has communion with someone is not one and the same with him, but other. Now he declares something greater and says that we are that very body. For what is this bread? The Body of Christ. What do those who partake of it become? The Body of Christ — not many bodies, but one body. For just as bread is made one from many grains, so also we, despite our multiplicity, become one body of Christ.
1 Cor. 10:17. For we all partake of one bread.
That is why it also constitutes a unity. How then shall we not preserve love and not be in union because of this? God gives us His Body precisely in order to unite us both with Himself and with one another. Since the original nature of the flesh has been corrupted by sin and has lost life, He gave us His own flesh, sinless and life-giving, yet similar to ours, so that by partaking of it we might be mingled with it and live, as far as possible, without sin.
1 Cor. 10:18. Look at Israel according to the flesh: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants of the altar?
From the simplest example, learn that what you are doing is communion with idols. He said "Israel according to the flesh," because Christians are according to the spirit. Note this as well: he did not say of the Jews that they are partakers of God, but participants of the altar. For what was consecrated to God was placed upon the altar and burned. But concerning the Body of Christ he expressed it differently: it is a communion of the Body of Christ; for we become not participants of the altar, but partakers of Christ Himself. But fearing lest the listeners come to the thought that just as God, who receives the sacrifice from the Jews, could cause harm, so too the idols receiving the sacrifice from the pagans could harm those who do not offer sacrifices, he added the following.
1 Cor. 10:19. What then am I saying? That an idol is anything, or that food offered to idols means anything?
I turn you away from idols not because they have the power to do harm or good, for they are decidedly nothing, but because the sacrifice offered to them does not go to your Master. Therefore he continues.
1 Cor. 10:20. No, but that the pagans, when they offer sacrifices, offer them to demons, and not to God.
So, do not resort to the enemies of your Master. For if you had left the royal table and gone over to the table of the condemned, you would undoubtedly have sinned, not because it harmed you or benefited you, but because your action would have appeared as an insult to the royal table.
1 Cor. 10:20. But I do not want you to be in communion with demons.
For if those who partake of the mystical table become communicants with Christ, then those who participate in the demonic table obviously are in communion with demons.
1 Cor. 10:21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
In the form of an exhortation he said: "I do not want you to be in communion with demons." Lest this exhortation be disregarded, he now expresses the same thought in a negative form: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." By the names alone he proves that one must necessarily abstain from food offered to idols.
1 Cor. 10:22. Shall we dare to provoke the Lord? Are we stronger than He?
He says this as a reproach to them. Are we really to test and provoke God, whether He can punish us when we go over to the side of His enemies? Then, in order to show the full absurdity of their behavior, he says: "Are we stronger than He?" – recalling thereby the very sharp saying: "They have provoked Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have moved Me to anger with their vanities" (Deut. 32:21).
1 Cor. 10:23. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
Lest someone object: "I eat with a clear conscience and therefore have the right to do so," he says: no, all things are permissible for you, since God created you free; but to eat food sacrificed to idols is not entirely beneficial for you. For by constantly participating in idol feasts, you will gradually develop an attachment to the idols themselves.
1 Cor. 10:23. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
Your behavior, as I have said before, is beneficial neither for you nor for your brother. For it does not edify him, but rather upsets him and perverts his faith. If there is no benefit either for you or for your brother, then why should you do this?
1 Cor. 10:24. Let no one seek his own, but each the good of the other.
Do not only keep in mind whether you eat with a clean conscience, but also whether your action edifies your brother. In many places in his epistles he sets this forth as a matter of the utmost necessity. He does not forbid seeking one's own benefit in general, but only when it is harmful to a brother. For in such a case we must place his benefit above our own and choose it.
1 Cor. 10:25. Eat whatever is sold in the market without any inquiry, for the sake of a peaceful conscience.
He confirmed with many arguments that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols. But lest they again become overly scrupulous beyond what is necessary and begin refusing what is sold in the marketplace out of fear that it might be food sacrificed to idols, he says: eat everything that is sold, without investigating the sellers, without inquiring whether what is sold is food sacrificed to idols, as though your conscience is gnawing at you and you wish to clear it. Or thus: lest your conscience gnaw at you, do not ask, for upon inquiry you may learn that what you intend to buy is food sacrificed to idols, and your conscience will be troubled.
1 Cor. 10:26. Lord's is the earth, and all that fills it.
The earth is the Lord's, and not of demons. And if the earth is the Lord's, then the fruits, and the trees, and the animals are also the Lord's; and if all things are the Lord's, then by nature nothing is unclean, but everything depends on the mind of each person.
1 Cor. 10:27. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat everything set before you without any inquiry, for the sake of a peaceful conscience.
He said well: "you wish"; for he himself did not want either to advise or to disadvise. Do not investigate at all, so that in excessive scrupulousness you do not show fear before idols, and so that you keep your conscience clean and undisturbed.
1 Cor. 10:28. But if anyone says to you: this is offered to idols, – then do not eat for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's, and all that fills it.
I command you to abstain not because food offered to idols is harmful, but for the sake of the one who declared that it was offered to idols, lest he suffer harm and think that Christians need not turn away from things pertaining to idols. And I do not teach abstaining from food offered to idols as though it were unclean and utterly foreign to our Lord: this is evident from the fact that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof," that is, everything contained in it. Or thus: abstain from this food, for the whole earth is the Lord's, and you can be satisfied with something else, for everything is open to you.
1 Cor. 10:29. And by conscience I mean not your own, but that of the other.
That is, a pagan. For he will perhaps, as I said, be scandalized, or consider you a glutton, or think that you too, like him, accept idols. And lest anyone say: "Why should you care about the one who announced it? For you yourself previously (1 Cor. 5:12) said: 'What have I to do with judging outsiders?'" – it is said: I care not about him, but about you, lest you be subjected to condemnation. Therefore he also added the following.
1 Cor. 10:29. For why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?
Freedom he calls indiscriminateness and lack of restraint by prohibition. I, he says, will eat freely and without discrimination, but the pagan will condemn me and say: the faith of Christians is vain; they say that they abhor idols, yet they eagerly eat what is sacrificed to them.
1 Cor. 10:30. If I partake of food with thanksgiving, then why am I denounced for that for which I give thanks?
I, he says, for my part freely make use of God's creatures, by the grace of God, which has so established and strengthened me that I observe nothing. But the pagan will speak evil of me, as though I avoid idols out of hypocrisy, yet eat what is offered to them in sacrifice out of gluttony. The words "for which I give thanks" mean: I for my part thank God that He has placed me so high, even above Jewish humility, that I find harm in nothing; but, as I said, the pagan is offended and speaks evil.
1 Cor. 10:31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
All things, he says, do to the glory of God: for by your present conduct God is not glorified, but rather blasphemed. And someone eats and drinks to the glory of God when he does not cause anyone to stumble by it, and does it not out of gluttony or love of pleasure, but in order to prepare his body for the practice of virtue; and in general, someone does every deed to the glory of God when he neither harms another through causing stumbling, nor himself, as, for example, one who acts out of people-pleasing, or out of some passionate thought.
1 Cor. 10:32. Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Greeks, nor to the church of God.
That is, do not give anyone any occasion for reproach. And this will be the case when we do not cause offense to either Jew or Greek, and still less to the brethren, for they are the "church of God." Take note. He stated the most important thing at the end: Christians ought to attract others to the faith as well, rather than persecuting even the brethren; and by them he means all those who were scandalized by their eating of food offered to idols.
1 Cor. 10:33. Just as I also please all men in all things, seeking not my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
Since he had shown them guilty of causing harm to Gentiles and Jews and had commanded them a great thing, in order to show the ease of this matter, he puts forward himself as an example. And that he did not seek his own benefit is evident from much of what was said before, for example: "I became all things to all men" (1 Cor. 9:22), and especially from the fact that he could wish himself to be accursed for the sake of his brethren (Rom. 9:3).
1 Cor. 10:1. I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.
He enumerates how many gifts the Jews were deemed worthy of from God, and declares that even after these gifts many did not please God. He says this with the aim of proving that just as it did not benefit the Jews to receive abundant gifts when they themselves did not fulfill their duty, so too it will not benefit you that you believed and were deemed worthy of spiritual mysteries, if you do not present yourselves worthy of the grace of God. "All," he says, "were under the cloud." For God spread a cloud as a covering over them, and they passed through the sea (Exod. 13:21, 14:22).
1 Cor. 10:2. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
That is, together with Moses they were under the shadow of the cloud and together passed through the sea. For when they saw that he was the first to cross, then they too boldly went through the midst of the waters. Something similar occurs with us as well. Christ first died and rose again, and then we too were baptized, imitating His death through immersion in water and His resurrection through rising up out of it. "Were baptized into Moses." This means: he preceded them in the figure of baptism. For being under the cloud and passing through the sea prefigured baptism.
1 Cor. 10:3-4. And they all ate the same spiritual food; and all drank the same spiritual drink.
As we, upon receiving baptism, partake of the Body of the Master, so the Israelites, after crossing through the sea, ate manna (Exod. 16:4, 15); and as we drink the Blood of the Master, so they drank water from the solid rock (Exod. 17:6). He calls the manna and water "spiritual" because, although they were sensible things, they came about not according to the law of nature, but by the grace of the Spirit, and they nourished not only the bodies but also the souls, and led them to faith.
1 Cor. 10:4. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.
Food required no confirmation, for its extraordinariness was self-evident. But regarding drink, confirmation was needed, because only the manner of its production was extraordinary. Therefore he says: it was not the nature of the rock that gave the water (otherwise it would have been flowing before as well), but another Rock accomplished everything, namely Christ. By the word "following" he expressed the thought that Christ was everywhere present with them and performed all the miracles.
1 Cor. 10:5. But God was not well pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
Although God showed them many signs of love and deemed them worthy of very many blessings, nevertheless in the majority of them He did not find what was pleasing to Himself, "was not well pleased." For not all were rejected, but many. By the words "not with many" he expresses the thought that their great number was of no benefit to them whatsoever, when for their part they did not show deeds of love toward their Benefactor. By the words "were struck down" he indicates their sudden destruction and the punishments sent from God.
1 Cor. 10:6. Now these things were examples for us, so that we would not lust after evil, as they lusted.
Just as the blessings, so also the punishments of the Jews were types. He shows that sinners among Christians will not only be punished, but much more than the Jews, since the blessings of the latter were types, while the good things of the former are the reality, and as in gifts the advantage is on the side of Christians, so also in punishments. In the words "lusted after evil things" he speaks generally of every evil, for every evil comes from lust (James 1:14-15); then he sets forth certain kinds of evil as well. What then did they lust after? They demanded garlic, meat, special gods, as the apostle himself further points out their idolatry.
1 Cor. 10:7. 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."
First he addresses those who ate in idol temples, and shows that just as the Israelites fell from gluttony into idolatry (for, having formed choruses around the calf, they played before it), so also for you who out of gluttony partake of food sacrificed to idols, there is a danger of becoming idolaters. Where, then, is your supposed perfection, when you are close to idolatry?
1 Cor. 10:8. Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them perished.
Again he mentioned fornication, so that through constant reproof he might make his word more effective. This sin also is born from gluttony. And when did twenty-three thousand perish? When, by the counsel of Balaam, the Midianite women appeared at the camp, enticed the young men to themselves, and through fornication led them to offer sacrifice to Baal-Peor, and the people who were in the camp perished (Num. 25:1–9).
1 Cor. 10:9. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted, and perished by serpents.
He hints that the Corinthians, by demanding signs, are tempting Christ.
1 Cor. 10:10. Do not grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer.
That is, from a certain striking force (Num. 14:37). By this he hints to them that in the midst of trial they did not have magnanimity, but grumbled and said: when will good fortune come? when will the calamities pass?
1 Cor. 10:11. All these things happened to them as examples; and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
He frightens them also in the case when he says that this was written as instruction for us, that we too must expect punishments, and all the more terrible ones the greater the gifts we have been deemed worthy of, and also when he presents to them the end of the age, and declares that the torments that will seize you are not temporal but endless after the end. For that judgment is already at the doors, because the ages of this world are coming to a close.
1 Cor. 10:12. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Again he hints at those who were greatly puffed up by their knowledge. Although you think that you stand, nevertheless take heed lest you fall. For your very confidence that you stand shows that you do not stand. It seems so to you, but in reality you do not stand. But even if you do stand, through pride you can easily fall.
1 Cor. 10:13. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to man; and God is faithful, Who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide relief, so that you may be able to endure it.
With the words "let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" he frightened them. Meanwhile, there were those who had already endured many temptations. Lest such people say: "why do you frighten us? We have endured many temptations and have not sinned," he says: the temptation that has overtaken you is only small and moderate, for what is small is everywhere called human. Then he comforts them again, persuading them to look to God, Who is faithful, that is, true and will not lie. For He promised: "Come..., you who labor..., and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). Therefore, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but will arrange it so that a temptation proportionate to your strength will overtake you. Indeed, every temptation will be beyond your strength if He does not help and does not create relief from the temptation, "with the temptation," that is, relief that is swift and simultaneous with the coming of the temptation upon you, so that with swift relief it will become bearable for you. For he said: "will also provide the relief, so that you may be able to endure," that is, the temptation will seem light and manageable to you.
1 Cor. 10:14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.
Since he had given them a sufficient rebuke, he now softens it by calling them beloved. However, he forbids them to eat food sacrificed to idols not only because it is harmful to the brethren, but condemns this practice in itself, calling it idolatry, and demanding a swift departure from it, for he says: "flee."
1 Cor. 10:15. I speak to you as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.
Having called their deed idolatry, he ascribed to them a great crime. Now he softens the severity of his word and makes the guilty themselves the judges (which is characteristic only of one who is undoubtedly confident in the truth of his words), and says: I do not need other judges; you, as intelligent people, judge for yourselves.
1 Cor. 10:16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ?
The blessing, that is, the thanksgiving. For, holding the cup in our hands, we bless and give thanks to Him Who poured out His Blood for us and deemed us worthy of ineffable blessings. He did not say "participation" (μετοχή), but "communion" (κοινωνία), in order to express something greater, namely the closest union. His words have this meaning: what is in the Cup is the very same thing that flowed from the side of Christ, and when we receive it, we enter into communion, that is, union with Christ. Are you not ashamed, Corinthians, to run over to the cup of idols from that very Cup which delivered you from idols?!
1 Cor. 10:16. The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the Body of Christ?
What the Lord did not suffer on the cross (for His bone was not broken: John 19:33–36), He now suffers, being broken for us. For he says: "which is broken." The words "communion of the Body of Christ" mean: just as that Body is united with Christ, so we too through this Bread are united with Him.
1 Cor. 10:17. One bread, and we many are one body.
Before this he said: "a communion of the Body." But one who has communion with someone is not one and the same with him, but other. Now he declares something greater and says that we are that very body. For what is this bread? The Body of Christ. What do those who partake of it become? The Body of Christ — not many bodies, but one body. For just as bread is made one from many grains, so also we, despite our multiplicity, become one body of Christ.
1 Cor. 10:17. For we all partake of one bread.
That is why it also constitutes a unity. How then shall we not preserve love and not be in union because of this? God gives us His Body precisely in order to unite us both with Himself and with one another. Since the original nature of the flesh has been corrupted by sin and has lost life, He gave us His own flesh, sinless and life-giving, yet similar to ours, so that by partaking of it we might be mingled with it and live, as far as possible, without sin.
1 Cor. 10:18. Look at Israel according to the flesh: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants of the altar?
From the simplest example, learn that what you are doing is communion with idols. He said "Israel according to the flesh," because Christians are according to the spirit. Note this as well: he did not say of the Jews that they are partakers of God, but participants of the altar. For what was consecrated to God was placed upon the altar and burned. But concerning the Body of Christ he expressed it differently: it is a communion of the Body of Christ; for we become not participants of the altar, but partakers of Christ Himself. But fearing lest the listeners come to the thought that just as God, who receives the sacrifice from the Jews, could cause harm, so too the idols receiving the sacrifice from the pagans could harm those who do not offer sacrifices, he added the following.
1 Cor. 10:19. What then am I saying? That an idol is anything, or that food offered to idols means anything?
I turn you away from idols not because they have the power to do harm or good, for they are decidedly nothing, but because the sacrifice offered to them does not go to your Master. Therefore he continues.
1 Cor. 10:20. No, but that the pagans, when they offer sacrifices, offer them to demons, and not to God.
So, do not resort to the enemies of your Master. For if you had left the royal table and gone over to the table of the condemned, you would undoubtedly have sinned, not because it harmed you or benefited you, but because your action would have appeared as an insult to the royal table.
1 Cor. 10:20. But I do not want you to be in communion with demons.
For if those who partake of the mystical table become communicants with Christ, then those who participate in the demonic table obviously are in communion with demons.
1 Cor. 10:21. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons.
In the form of an exhortation he said: "I do not want you to be in communion with demons." Lest this exhortation be disregarded, he now expresses the same thought in a negative form: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons." By the names alone he proves that one must necessarily abstain from food offered to idols.
1 Cor. 10:22. Shall we dare to provoke the Lord? Are we stronger than He?
He says this as a reproach to them. Are we really to test and provoke God, whether He can punish us when we go over to the side of His enemies? Then, in order to show the full absurdity of their behavior, he says: "Are we stronger than He?" – recalling thereby the very sharp saying: "They have provoked Me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have moved Me to anger with their vanities" (Deut. 32:21).
1 Cor. 10:23. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable.
Lest someone object: "I eat with a clear conscience and therefore have the right to do so," he says: no, all things are permissible for you, since God created you free; but to eat food sacrificed to idols is not entirely beneficial for you. For by constantly participating in idol feasts, you will gradually develop an attachment to the idols themselves.
1 Cor. 10:23. All things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.
Your behavior, as I have said before, is beneficial neither for you nor for your brother. For it does not edify him, but rather upsets him and perverts his faith. If there is no benefit either for you or for your brother, then why should you do this?
1 Cor. 10:24. Let no one seek his own, but each the good of the other.
Do not only keep in mind whether you eat with a clean conscience, but also whether your action edifies your brother. In many places in his epistles he sets this forth as a matter of the utmost necessity. He does not forbid seeking one's own benefit in general, but only when it is harmful to a brother. For in such a case we must place his benefit above our own and choose it.
1 Cor. 10:25. Eat whatever is sold in the market without any inquiry, for the sake of a peaceful conscience.
He confirmed with many arguments that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols. But lest they again become overly scrupulous beyond what is necessary and begin refusing what is sold in the marketplace out of fear that it might be food sacrificed to idols, he says: eat everything that is sold, without investigating the sellers, without inquiring whether what is sold is food sacrificed to idols, as though your conscience is gnawing at you and you wish to clear it. Or thus: lest your conscience gnaw at you, do not ask, for upon inquiry you may learn that what you intend to buy is food sacrificed to idols, and your conscience will be troubled.
1 Cor. 10:26. Lord's is the earth, and all that fills it.
The earth is the Lord's, and not of demons. And if the earth is the Lord's, then the fruits, and the trees, and the animals are also the Lord's; and if all things are the Lord's, then by nature nothing is unclean, but everything depends on the mind of each person.
1 Cor. 10:27. If one of the unbelievers invites you, and you wish to go, eat everything set before you without any inquiry, for the sake of a peaceful conscience.
He said well: "you wish"; for he himself did not want either to advise or to disadvise. Do not investigate at all, so that in excessive scrupulousness you do not show fear before idols, and so that you keep your conscience clean and undisturbed.
1 Cor. 10:28. But if anyone says to you: this is offered to idols, – then do not eat for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For the earth is the Lord's, and all that fills it.
I command you to abstain not because food offered to idols is harmful, but for the sake of the one who declared that it was offered to idols, lest he suffer harm and think that Christians need not turn away from things pertaining to idols. And I do not teach abstaining from food offered to idols as though it were unclean and utterly foreign to our Lord: this is evident from the fact that "the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof," that is, everything contained in it. Or thus: abstain from this food, for the whole earth is the Lord's, and you can be satisfied with something else, for everything is open to you.
1 Cor. 10:29. And by conscience I mean not your own, but that of the other.
That is, a pagan. For he will perhaps, as I said, be scandalized, or consider you a glutton, or think that you too, like him, accept idols. And lest anyone say: "Why should you care about the one who announced it? For you yourself previously (1 Cor. 5:12) said: 'What have I to do with judging outsiders?'" – it is said: I care not about him, but about you, lest you be subjected to condemnation. Therefore he also added the following.
1 Cor. 10:29. For why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?
Freedom he calls indiscriminateness and lack of restraint by prohibition. I, he says, will eat freely and without discrimination, but the pagan will condemn me and say: the faith of Christians is vain; they say that they abhor idols, yet they eagerly eat what is sacrificed to them.
1 Cor. 10:30. If I partake of food with thanksgiving, then why am I denounced for that for which I give thanks?
I, he says, for my part freely make use of God's creatures, by the grace of God, which has so established and strengthened me that I observe nothing. But the pagan will speak evil of me, as though I avoid idols out of hypocrisy, yet eat what is offered to them in sacrifice out of gluttony. The words "for which I give thanks" mean: I for my part thank God that He has placed me so high, even above Jewish humility, that I find harm in nothing; but, as I said, the pagan is offended and speaks evil.
1 Cor. 10:31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
All things, he says, do to the glory of God: for by your present conduct God is not glorified, but rather blasphemed. And someone eats and drinks to the glory of God when he does not cause anyone to stumble by it, and does it not out of gluttony or love of pleasure, but in order to prepare his body for the practice of virtue; and in general, someone does every deed to the glory of God when he neither harms another through causing stumbling, nor himself, as, for example, one who acts out of people-pleasing, or out of some passionate thought.
1 Cor. 10:32. Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Greeks, nor to the church of God.
That is, do not give anyone any occasion for reproach. And this will be the case when we do not cause offense to either Jew or Greek, and still less to the brethren, for they are the "church of God." Take note. He stated the most important thing at the end: Christians ought to attract others to the faith as well, rather than persecuting even the brethren; and by them he means all those who were scandalized by their eating of food offered to idols.
1 Cor. 10:33. Just as I also please all men in all things, seeking not my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
Since he had shown them guilty of causing harm to Gentiles and Jews and had commanded them a great thing, in order to show the ease of this matter, he puts forward himself as an example. And that he did not seek his own benefit is evident from much of what was said before, for example: "I became all things to all men" (1 Cor. 9:22), and especially from the fact that he could wish himself to be accursed for the sake of his brethren (Rom. 9:3).