Chapter Ten

The example of the Israelites (1–11). Why Christians must not participate in pagan sacrificial meals (12–22). Rules for those who eat food offered to idols (23–33)

1 Cor 10:1-11. As an example of how one can, through negligence toward one’s own salvation, lose it, the Apostle sets before us the ancient Israelites who went out with Moses from Egypt. This people witnessed numerous miracles — signs of God’s mercy toward them — and yet perished entirely in the wilderness, because they lacked the capacity for self-denial. The same fate awaits the Corinthian Christians if they conduct themselves as those perished Israelites did.

1 Corinthians 10:1. I do not want to leave you, brothers, in ignorance of the fact that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; “I do not want to leave you, brothers, in ignorance.” The Corinthian Christians of course knew the history of the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, but did not have a sufficiently clear understanding of the significance of the events connected with that exodus. — “Our fathers.” The Apostle does not speak here as a Jew. He sees in the Christian Church the higher stage, so to speak, of the development of the Old Testament Church, and for him the fathers of the Jewish people are at the same time the fathers of Christians. — “Were” (ῆσαν) — indicates a prolonged state. — “Under the cloud.” This expression (under — υπό) conveys the idea of divine protection, whose symbol was the cloud that moved over the encampment of Israel (Exod 13:21 and following).

1 Corinthians 10:2. and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; The passage of the Hebrews through the Red Sea had symbolic significance in itself and, beyond that, prefigured Christian baptism. Just as the one being baptized, immersed in water while the formula of the sacrament is pronounced over him, finds in that water, so to speak, the foundation of his salvation, so too the Hebrews, standing under the cloud and passing through the sea, received in this a visible sign of divine favor and salvation. They were now departing from Egypt, the land of slavery and idolatry, just as Christians through baptism are set apart from their former life in sin and under God’s condemnation. — “Were baptized into Moses.” The Hebrews followed Moses with complete faith in him, uniting themselves with him in the closest possible way — precisely as Christians in baptism are wholly united with Christ and become his body (Rom 6:3-5). — “In the cloud and in the sea,” that is, through being covered by the cloud and through passing through the Red Sea.

1 Corinthians 10:3. and all ate the same spiritual food; 1 Corinthians 10:4. and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and that rock was Christ. The Israelites, one might say, not only received baptism but also became worthy of holy communion. Just as the holy Eucharist serves to strengthen spiritual life in a person — a life that began at the moment of receiving baptism — so too the Israelites, after liberation from Egyptian bondage, began to receive the gracious gifts necessary for their preservation. Specifically, they ate “spiritual food,” that is, manna, and drank “spiritual drink,” that is, the water which Moses twice brought forth from the rock for them (Exod 17:1-7 and Num 20:2-13). Both are called “spiritual” on account of the extraordinary, miraculous nature of their origin (manna from heaven, water from a rock). — “All.” Yes, all the Israelites partook of these miraculous gifts of God, yet only two — Joshua and Caleb — survived to enter the promised land. — “They drank from the spiritual rock that followed.” The miraculous character of the water that flowed from the rock is explained by the fact that the rock itself had a “spiritual” nature. Here the word “spiritual” evidently refers to the essence of the rock. The rock, by its nature and essence, was such that it could perform miraculous acts — that is, it was of divine nature, since creative power belongs to God alone. It is clear that the Apostle has in mind here not the physical cliff that Moses struck with his staff twice at God’s command (Exod 17:6 and Num 20:11), but the invisible, spiritual rock that invisibly followed (“that followed”) the Israelites through the Arabian wilderness and was the true source of water. This, as the Apostle himself notes immediately, “was Christ.” Why did the Apostle call Christ a rock or cliff? Strictly speaking, Jehovah himself is called this repeatedly in Moses (Deut 32:4; cf. Isa 17:10). But the Apostle conceived of Christ as the Creator of the world pre-existing from eternity (1 Cor 8:6) — that Angel of Jehovah who appeared repeatedly to the patriarchs of the Jewish people and led the Israelites through the wilderness (cf. Isa 63:9). The bringing forth of water from the rock was only one part of the miracles which Christ, invisibly accompanying the Jewish people, wrought in the wilderness. — Thus, the inner kinship between the Old and New Testaments rests on the fact that in both there is one Head — Christ. And the conclusion drawn from this is as follows: Christ lived among the Old Testament Israelites — and yet they perished! Can Christians, after this, be confident that the same fate will not overtake them, if they imitate the Israelites in unbelief?!

1 Corinthians 10:5. But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness. Cf. Num 14:29.

1 Corinthians 10:6. Now these things were examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they craved them. The Apostle now begins to explain that the great blessings the Corinthians have received from God cannot ultimately shield them from God’s judgment. — “Now these things,” that is, the rejection of Israel after so many mercies of God. — “Were examples for us.” What happened to the Hebrews foreshadowed what could happen to Christians, and God recorded it in Scripture so that Christians would strive to avoid the same desires that once destroyed the Israelites who went out from Egypt.

1 Corinthians 10:7. 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. 1 Corinthians 10:8. Let us not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. The Apostle points to four examples of the sins of the Israelite people: two of them, which the Apostle mentions in verses 7–8, concern pleasures that were forbidden by God, while the two that follow (vv. 9–10) concern the murmuring that was aroused in the Israelite people by material hardships during the journey through the wilderness. — “Do not be idolaters.” From their desires the Israelites proceeded to action when Aaron made them a golden calf and organized a festival in its honor. — “To play” — more precisely: “to dance.” — “Let us not commit sexual immorality.” This sin was closely connected with idolatry. The Apostle recalls here the occasion when the Midianites, on Balaam’s advice, invited the Israelites to a festival in honor of their god Baal-Peor, where the Israelites fell into the sin of sexual immorality. — “Twenty-three thousand.” According to the book of Numbers (Num 25:9) — twenty-four thousand. Perhaps the Jewish tradition deliberately reduced the number by one thousand here, in the same way that the same tradition said that in Moses’s time an offender received not forty but thirty-nine stripes (cf. 2 Cor 11:24).

1 Corinthians 10:9. Let us not test Christ, as some of them tested him and were destroyed by serpents. 1 Corinthians 10:10. Do not grumble, as some of them grumbled and were destroyed by the destroyer. The third sin of the Israelites was their murmuring against the monotony of the food God sent them in the wilderness. — “Let us not test Christ.” By this murmuring the Israelites tempted God, that is, they provoked him to display his miraculous power in order to satisfy their whim. This was a very great sin. The Corinthians likewise commit this sin when they go to festivals in pagan temples and eat there the meat sacrificed to idols, as if thereby challenging Christ to use his power to remove from them all the harmful influence of idolatry and of this meat offered to idols. — “Do not grumble.” The fourth sin of the Israelites was their murmuring against Moses and Aaron — occasioned by the sudden death of those who had risen against the severity of God’s judgment upon the enemies of Moses and Aaron — Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (Num 16). The Russian translation refers this murmuring to the people’s uprising upon the return of the spies, see Num 14:37, but the appearance of the destroying angel indicates a sudden punishment of the murmurers, whereas in the latter case the punishment was not carried out immediately and suddenly, but only a sentence was declared that was to be executed over the course of forty years. In citing this example, the Apostle evidently had in mind the discontent that existed against him in a certain part of the Corinthian Christian church on account of the disapproval which the Apostle had expressed toward those who attended pagan banquets. Among these discontented people the question could even have arisen whether Paul had the right to make himself the head of the local church. In that case the resemblance of the Corinthians to Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who rose up against the authority of Moses and Aaron, was of course considerable.

1 Corinthians 10:11. All these things happened to them as examples, and they were written down for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. The Apostle does not mean to say that these events did not actually occur. No, they did occur in reality, but they had significance not only for the Israelites but also for us Christians — and even more for us than for the Israelites, because we have “reached the ends of the ages.” The word “ages” (αιῶνες) denotes all the periods of the life of the world. “The ends of the ages” (more precisely: the ends of the ages). For the Apostle, the history of the messianic kingdom consists of two periods — the period of the purely spiritual dominion of the Messiah and the time of his glorious reign. “The ends of the ages” — these are, of course, the conclusion of the first period. This is the time of the final determination of the fate of human beings, and therefore all preceding periods of both the blessings and the judgments of God had only a passing and preparatory (prefigurative) significance. When this last period, preceding the revelation of the glorious kingdom of Christ, will end, the Apostle does not indicate. 1 Cor 10:12-22. The Apostle now applies what was said above to the spiritual condition of the Corinthians. They must avoid whatever might deprive them of gracious communion with Christ — namely, idolatry. Every act of worship unites a person with the being to whom it is directed. Thus the Eucharist places Christians in communion with Christ, the Jewish sacrifice brought the Israelites into contact with the altar of Jehovah, and the pagan sacrifice places a person under the influence of demons — from whom idolatry itself originated — and this is what the Apostle Paul does not wish to allow.

1 Corinthians 10:12. Therefore, let anyone who thinks he stands take care lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 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 ability, but with the temptation will also provide a way out, so that you may be able to endure it. The Corinthians, who considered themselves firm in faith, must not lose sight of the possibility of falling into sin (cf. Rom 14:4). — “Has overtaken you.” The sense of this passage is: “If you were to fall, you would have no excuse for yourselves, because the temptations that have come upon you so far were not at all unbearably difficult; and as for future temptations, God is able to grant you the strength to endure them.” The Apostle evidently wants to make clear to the Corinthians that as long as they struggle against the temptations sent by God, they are not in danger of falling into sin and falling away from faith; but when they themselves, presumptuously, rush into temptations, they cannot be confident of overcoming them. — “Temptation” — see Jas 1:2. — “Common to man” (ανθρώπινος). This expression is best understood as describing the quality of the temptation: “proportionate to human strength.”

1 Corinthians 10:14. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 1 Corinthians 10:15. I speak to you as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Here follows the conclusion from what was said in the preceding verse. Take care — says the Apostle — not to fall into temptations that God has not appointed for you and which you will likely not withstand. — “Therefore” — more precisely: “for this reason” (διόπερ), namely, because you can count on divine assistance only in those temptations which God himself sends, and in no others. — “Flee from idolatry” — more precisely: “flee away from (από) idolatry,” that is, flee from everything that has any connection with idolatry and, of course, first of all from sacrificial meals in pagan temples. Although these meals were not in themselves idolatry — a Christian could participate in them without believing in idols — nevertheless they bordered on idolatry and could lead to it. — “I speak to you as to sensible people.” The Corinthians prided themselves on their wisdom, and the Apostle now appeals to that wisdom. — “What I say.” By this the Apostle points to the reasoning that follows (vv. 16–22).

1 Corinthians 10:16. The cup of blessing that we bless — is it not a sharing in the Blood of Christ? The bread that we break — is it not a sharing in the Body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 10:17. There is one bread, and we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread. The sacrament of the Eucharist corresponds to the feast by which, in the Old Testament, the peace or salvation offering was concluded. After this offering was made, the one who brought it would dine with his family at the tabernacle and would invite the priest who had slaughtered the sacrifice, the remaining portions of which were eaten at this meal. This was a sign of reconciliation, which was thereby reaffirmed between Jehovah and the sinful human being. Likewise, in the sacrament of the Eucharist — which is the bloodless sacrifice — through the partaking of the body and blood of Christ, the believer enters into the closest communion with Christ and receives Christ within himself. — “The cup of blessing.” This is what the Israelites called the cup which the head of the family blessed at the Passover supper, reciting a special prayer of thanksgiving to God for his blessings upon the whole world and upon the people of Israel. During the celebration of the Passover before his passion, Christ likewise blessed this cup — the third in order — but he pronounced over it, in all likelihood, a new prayer of thanksgiving, relating to the redemption of humanity accomplished by him. Thus the first half of verse 16 can be rendered as: “the cup over which the Lord pronounced a prayer of thanksgiving, repeated by us each time at the celebration of the Eucharist.” “Is it not a sharing in the Blood of Christ?” In the sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine are mystically transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. Calvinists ask: what blood is this — does it belong to the body of Christ that is not yet glorified, or already glorified? The more natural answer to this question would be: it is the blood which Christ shed for the salvation of humanity, consequently the blood of his not yet glorified body (Chrysostom). But the Calvinists object: how then did the Lord offer this blood to the Apostles at the supper, before it was actually shed? We answer: the sacrifice of Christ had already been offered by him in his resolve, and this made it possible to present the Apostles with his true blood. — “The bread that we break.” Although the bread was also blessed by the Lord (Matt 26:26), the Apostle, to avoid repeating himself in expression, mentions only the breaking of it. — The Apostle mentions the blood first and then the body of Christ because the blood constituted the most essential part of the sacrifice (cf. Rom 3:25). — “There is one bread.” From the communion of believers with Christ, the Apostle derives the thought of their communion with one another. The sense of verse 17 is: “since (ότι — in Slavonic: ‘inasmuch as’) there is only one bread among us, we, though we are many, form one body, for we all partake of one and the same bread.” The bond that links Christians with their common Head links them also with one another as members of one body. — “One body,” that is, the Church.

1 Corinthians 10:18. Look at Israel after the flesh: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? Having spoken of the Eucharist and its significance for believers, the Apostle now speaks of the significance of the sacrifices which the Israelites ate at the altar. — “Israel after the flesh.” This shows that the Apostle considered Christians to be the true children of Israel, who were indeed close to Israel or Jacob in spirit. — “Participants in the altar.” Through the sacrifice, the Israelites entered into communion only with the altar, being received once again into the theocratic community from which their sinful uncleanness had temporarily excluded them; whereas we Christians become partakers not of the altar, but of Christ himself (Chrysostom).

1 Corinthians 10:19. What do I say then? That an idol is anything, or that food offered to idols means anything? 1 Corinthians 10:20. No, but that what the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. But I do not want you to be in communion with demons. Turning now to pagan sacrifices, the Apostle here too finds the idea of communion between a person and a deity clearly expressed — in this case a false deity. But how is this communion to be admitted, if these very deities do not actually exist, if there is no Apollo, no Venus, no Mars? Can the eating of meat offered to these supposed deities have any significance? No, of course not — the Apostle answers — there are no idol gods, but behind these idols exist evil, demonic powers which have managed to blind the minds of people so that they regard idols as real beings, whereas in fact they were bowing down before demons. — “Demons” (δαιμονίοις). The word δαιμόνιον has in the New Testament an entirely different meaning from that in classical writers. The latter considered it synonymous with θεῖον — something divine — and Plato said that a demon is an intermediary between the Deity and mortals (something like a good angel). In the LXX translation this word already denotes a fallen angel (cf. Deut 32:17; Isa 65:11), a demon, and it is in this sense that it is used in the New Testament as well. Incidentally, the Apostle is not at all saying that behind each idol god stands a particular demon: he wants to say only that all idolatry in general owes its origin to demons.

1 Corinthians 10:21. 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. 1 Corinthians 10:22. Do we dare to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? “You cannot.” The Apostle speaks here from a principled standpoint: “it is morally impossible for them to participate at one and the same time in two such opposed cults — this would mean that you contradict yourselves!” — “The cup of demons.” At pagan festive meals, libations were poured from cups in honor of various gods. The first cup of wine was dedicated to Jupiter, the second to Jupiter and the nymphs, and the third to Jupiter Savior (Salvator). Whoever drank from these three cups, which were passed to all the guests, was evidently performing service to the idols and simultaneously placing himself under the influence of demons. — “Provoke” — more precisely: “to stir up jealousy” (παραζηλοῦν). The Lord is conceived here as a husband who burns with jealousy over his wife’s unfaithfulness. — By “the Lord” here, as in other places in this epistle of the Apostle Paul (cf. 4, 9 and 21), Christ is the better reading. 1 Cor 10:23-33. The Apostle now turns to the strong in faith (cf. vv. 23, 24, 32, 33), teaching them to eat without restriction all meat sold in the market and to dine at the homes of pagans without misgiving. But — he adds — you must refrain from eating the meat at such a dinner if someone weak in faith tells you that this meat was offered to idols. In short, everything must be done for the glory of God, and no one must be caused to stumble by your behavior.

1 Corinthians 10:23. All things are permitted to me, but not all things are beneficial; all things are permitted to me, but not all things build up. The Apostle repeats the rule he stated in 1 Cor 6:12 but applies it to a different case. — “Beneficial.” This expression points to spiritual benefit in general, including the person’s own benefit. — “Builds up” — that is, specifically beneficial for the spiritual salvation of our neighbor.

1 Corinthians 10:24. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of the other. This verse is added by the Apostle to explain what he meant by the expression “builds up.” Whoever cares for the welfare of his neighbor ceases to care for pleasing himself and his own sensual nature.

1 Corinthians 10:25. Eat whatever is sold in the market without asking any questions, for the sake of conscience; 1 Corinthians 10:26. for the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. “For the sake of conscience” — more precisely: “as a matter of conscience” (διά τήν συνείδησιν). These words are related to the expression “without asking any questions,” serving as an explanation of it. The Apostle wants to say: “Eat, without asking questions about the meat, so long as your conscience does not prevent you!” — “The earth is the Lord’s.” Everything that fills the earth, and therefore meat as well, belongs to the Lord. It is said (Heinrici) that these words from Psalm 23 (Ps 23:1) formed part of the table blessing among the Hebrews.

1 Corinthians 10:27. If any of the unbelievers invites you and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you without asking any questions, for the sake of conscience. “And you wish to go.” The Apostle does not forbid accepting invitations from pagans, since a Christian may be connected with them by family, friendly, or business relations. But he assumes that the believer will first consider the question of whether to go or not: this is clearly indicated by the expression “if you wish” — more precisely: “if you decide.”

1 Corinthians 10:28. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered to an idol,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. 1 Corinthians 10:29. I mean not your own conscience, but that of the other person: for why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? “If someone...” — that is, one of the guests, also a Christian. — “For his sake,” that is, so as not to lead the weak in faith to stumble at the example of the strong, and so as not to cause the weak to eat a piece of food offered to idols against their own conscience. — “For the sake of conscience” — that is, so as not to trouble the conscience of the weak person by one’s action; even if the weak person does not eat the idol-offered meat, he will still be troubled when he sees another Christian eating it. — “For the earth is the Lord’s...” — this repetition of the citation from Psalm 23 ought not to appear here, as is evident from many ancient manuscripts of the New Testament that do not have it. Our Textus Receptus borrowed it from the deacon Euthalius. — “I mean not your own conscience.” The strong in faith person, by refusing the idol-offered meat at a pagan’s dinner for the sake of his brother’s benefit — the brother being weak in faith — does not by this action at all renounce his own convictions and rights; his conscience remains independent of his brother’s conscience in faith, even when he adjusts his behavior to the demands of the weak person’s conscience. — “For why...” — that is, “What benefit would there be if my freedom were judged by another’s conscience?” No disputes over food should arise at dinner between Christians — that would only diminish the dignity of their faith.

1 Corinthians 10:30. If I partake of food with thankfulness, why should I be spoken ill of for that for which I give thanks? The Apostle here shows even more forcefully how imprudent the conduct of the strong in faith is. He eats food offered to idols, giving thanks to God for it, and yet this causes distress to the weak person, who then begins to voice his condemnation of him aloud right there at the dinner (“spoken ill of” — in Greek βλασφημειν — denotes precisely condemnation in words). Here the Apostle says the same thing that was said in the second half of verse 29.

1 Corinthians 10:31. So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:32. Give no offense to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God, In concluding his discussion of food offered to idols, the Apostle states the general principle that a Christian must always keep in mind whenever he has to make decisions on questions concerning Christian freedom in matters that are morally indifferent, such as eating and drinking. A Christian must choose not what is most pleasing or advantageous to himself, but what can best serve for the glorification of God and the benefit of his neighbor. And since the glory of God consists in the manifestation of the divine perfections, above all holiness and love, a Christian will glorify God when by his conduct he enables his fellow Christians to perceive the love and holiness of his heavenly Father. Then one must take care that our behavior does not cause our neighbors to stumble — whether they be Jews, Greeks (that is, pagans in general), or Christians (“the church of God” — this is what the Apostle calls Christians, so as to inspire greater respect for even the weakest in faith, who nevertheless constitute the community of God’s chosen). Of course, the conduct of a Christian can prevent Jews and pagans from entering the Church of Christ, and can give some Christians occasion to fall away from the Church.

1 Corinthians 10:33. just as I also try to please everyone in everything, not seeking my own advantage, but the advantage of the many, so that they may be saved. The Apostle understands that others are best taught by one’s own personal example. And so he points to the example of his own self-sacrifice for the benefit of his neighbor (cf. ch. IX). — “I try to please everyone in everything.” On “pleasing” — see above, ch. vv. 20–22 (on opportunism). Of course, the Apostle has in mind here pleasing in those cases where every Christian may freely act, not being bound by the general discipline of the Church. * * * Instead of the expression: “upon whom the ends of the ages have come,” one should say: “upon us, in whom the ages of the world — the periods of the life of the world — have reached the final goal of their movement.” The Christian Church is the goal of the entire prolonged development of the life of the world.