1 Corinthians · Chapter 10

V. 1. Now-That ye may not become reprobates, consider how highly favoured your fathers were, who were God's elect and peculiar people, and nevertheless were rejected by him. They were

all under the cloud-That eminent token of God's gracious presence, which screened them from the heat of the sun by day, and gave them light by night.

And all passed through the sea-God opening a way through the midst of the waters. Exodus 13:21; Exodus 14:22

Verse 1. I would not that ye should be ignorant] It seems as if the Corinthians had supposed that their being made partakers of the ordinances of the Gospel, such as baptism and the Lord’s Supper, would secure their salvation, notwithstanding they might be found partaking of idolatrous feasts; as long, at least, as they considered an idol to be nothing in the world. To remove this destructive supposition, which would have led them to endless errors both in principle and practice, the apostle shows that the Jews had sacramental ordinances in the wilderness, similar to those of the Christians; and that, notwithstanding they had the typical baptism from the cloud, and the typical eucharist from the paschal lamb, and the manna that came down from heaven, yet, when they joined with idolaters and partook of idolatrous feasts, God was not only displeased with them, but signified this displeasure by pouring out his judgments upon them, so that in one day 23,000 of them were destroyed.

Under the cloud] It is manifest from Scripture that the miraculous cloud in the wilderness performed a three-fold office to the Israelites. 1. It was a cloud in the form of a pillar to direct their journeyings by day. 2. It was a pillar of fire to give light to the camp by night. 3. It was a covering for them during the day, and preserved them from the scorching rays of the sun; and supplied them with a sufficiency of aqueous particles, not only to cool that burning atmosphere, but to give refreshment to themselves and their cattle; and its humidity was so abundant that the apostle here represents the people as thoroughly sprinkled and enveloped in its aqueous vapour. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 13:21”.

Verses 1-3. Moreover — Or now; brethren — That you may be induced to attend to the exhortation which I have been giving you, and may run your Christian race with resolution, zeal, and diligence, and not become reprobates, consider how highly favoured your fathers were, who were God’s elect and peculiar people, and nevertheless were rejected by him. They were all under the cloud, that eminent token of God’s gracious presence with them, which defended them from the Egyptians; (Exodus 14:20;) being to the latter a cloud of darkness, but giving light by night to the Israelites; the cloud which accompanied them in their journeyings, and was spread over them like a covering, to screen them from the heat of the sun, intense in the deserts of Arabia, Numbers 14:14. And all passed through the sea — God opening a way through the midst of the waters; and were all baptized, as it were, unto Moses — Initiated into the religion which he taught them; in the cloud and in the sea — Perhaps sprinkled here and there with drops of water from the sea, and from the cloud, by which baptism might be more evidently signified. But whether or not, as the Israelites, by being hid from the Egyptians under the cloud, and by passing through the sea, were made to declare their belief in the Lord and in his servant Moses, (Exodus 14:31,) the apostle very properly represents them as being thereby baptised unto Moses. And did all eat the same spiritual meat — That is, the manna, which was an emblem of the bread of life; that came down from heaven — Namely, 1st, Of Christ’s flesh and blood, or his obedience unto death, which is meat indeed, John 6:55. 2d, Of his heavenly doctrine, whereby the souls of the faithful are supported and nourished, John 6:63. And 3d, Of the sacramental bread which we eat at his table. The word spiritual is here used for typical, as it is also Revelation 11:8, where we read, Which great city spiritually, (that is, typically,) is called Sodom and Egypt. That the feeding of the Israelites with manna had a typical meaning, appears from Deuteronomy 8:3; and that it signified true doctrine in particular, appears from its being called angels’ food, Psalm 78:25. And it is termed spiritual meat, because the spiritual blessings which it typified were the same with those typified by the bread in the Lord’s supper, which the Corinthians ate.

Verse 1. I would not have you ignorant of the grand point, the foundation of the Hebrew religion; that our fathers, for such was the usual language of the jews and proselytes respecting the Israelites, were under the cloud, the symbol of Jehovah’s presence, and the visible token of covenant favour and protection. And this cloud distinguished them from all other nations.

CONTINUANCE OF RESPONSE TOUCHING PAUL’S GENUINE APOSTOLICITY, 1-13. The picture of the Grecian games closing the last chapter, (vv. 24-27,) and this picture of the wilderness history of Israel, (vv. 1-13,) are beautiful counterparts of each other. The former (applied by Paul specially to himself) draws from Grecian life, and the latter (which includes the Corinthians with himself) from Hebrew memories, a vivid illustration of the Christian life. The former would appeal to the feeling of Paul’s Gentile readers; the latter, more especially to the Jewish; but nevertheless assumes that the Gentile converts are becoming familiar with that dispensation which was specially preparatory to Christianity. Hence both classes recognise the Jewish ancestry as spiritual fathers. Verse 1. From all this parallelism the reason will appear why we consider this paragraph as a continuance of Paul’s response in regard to his own apostolicity, yet now including his Corinthian brethren as typified with himself. The race from starting-point to goal, and the pilgrimage from Egypt to Canaan, each furnishes an image of our transit through and from earth to heaven. The former, however, is upon a small scale, and is the immediate creation of the apostle’s own conception; the latter is extended, filled with symbolical details, and is not a mere momentary product of the apostle’s individual fancy, but an established type, recorded for the very purpose of admonition. The two passages should be read together as parallels, and as both lying in the line of thought illustrating the duty of Christian self-restriction. The general principle is undoubtedly true, that the Old Testament dispensation was, in its great structure, a type of the new. Under this general typism countless analogies and illustrations would arise in minute details of history. These minute resemblances, however, are rather illustrations than types. They are such as the conception of the individual author traces out, not organic and divinely fixed prefigurations.

5. Israel’s wilderness-sojourn a type of the Christian race, 1-13.

1. I would not that ye should be ignorant—Or that ye should ignore what you so well know. All—This word occurs five times in the passage, (1-4,) and stands in contrast with the many of verse 5. All started from Egypt, but only Caleb and Joshua, with perhaps a few others, arrived in Canaan. So in the last chapter all run, but only one wins. Under the cloud—The miraculous pillar of cloud by day, which was a pillar of fire by night, in which “the Lord went before” Israel. Exodus 13:20-22. In the passage of the Red Sea this cloud removed, and so went behind the camp of the Israelites as to hang between them and the Egyptians. The cloud thus between the two shed at once darkness upon the Egyptians and light upon Israel. In passing from front to rear of the Hebrew camp it may have so passed over it that the people were literally under the cloud. At any rate they were under its protection. Of course it was not a water cloud, and no rain or sprinkling can be supposed to have dropped from it. Passed through the sea—In safety. Exodus 14:29, 30.

Ver. 1. For: an important various reading; see p. 7. Paul now supports, by Old Testament examples, the warning implied in the fear expressed in 1 Corinthians 9:27b.

Our fathers: writing as a Jew, but not with special reference to Jews. The fathers were common property of all Christians.

All: the emphatic word (four times) of 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. Under the cloud: both locally (cp. Psalm 105:39; Wisdom 10:17; 19:7) and by subordination. All ranged themselves under the guidance and protection of Him who revealed Himself in the Pillar of Cloud above their heads.

V. 2. And were all, as it were, baptized unto Moses-Initiated into the religion which he taught them.

In the cloud and in the sea-Perhaps sprinkled here and there with drops of water from the sea or the cloud, by which baptism might be the more evidently signified.

Verse 2. And were all baptized unto Moses] Rather INTO Moses-into the covenant of which Moses was the mediator; and by this typical baptism they were brought under the obligation of acting according to the Mosaic precepts, as Christians receiving Christian baptism are said to be baptized INTO Christ, and are thereby brought under obligation to keep the precepts of the Gospel.

Verses 1-3. Moreover — Or now; brethren — That you may be induced to attend to the exhortation which I have been giving you, and may run your Christian race with resolution, zeal, and diligence, and not become reprobates, consider how highly favoured your fathers were, who were God’s elect and peculiar people, and nevertheless were rejected by him. They were all under the cloud, that eminent token of God’s gracious presence with them, which defended them from the Egyptians; (Exodus 14:20;) being to the latter a cloud of darkness, but giving light by night to the Israelites; the cloud which accompanied them in their journeyings, and was spread over them like a covering, to screen them from the heat of the sun, intense in the deserts of Arabia, Numbers 14:14. And all passed through the sea — God opening a way through the midst of the waters; and were all baptized, as it were, unto Moses — Initiated into the religion which he taught them; in the cloud and in the sea — Perhaps sprinkled here and there with drops of water from the sea, and from the cloud, by which baptism might be more evidently signified. But whether or not, as the Israelites, by being hid from the Egyptians under the cloud, and by passing through the sea, were made to declare their belief in the Lord and in his servant Moses, (Exodus 14:31,) the apostle very properly represents them as being thereby baptised unto Moses. And did all eat the same spiritual meat — That is, the manna, which was an emblem of the bread of life; that came down from heaven — Namely, 1st, Of Christ’s flesh and blood, or his obedience unto death, which is meat indeed, John 6:55. 2d, Of his heavenly doctrine, whereby the souls of the faithful are supported and nourished, John 6:63. And 3d, Of the sacramental bread which we eat at his table. The word spiritual is here used for typical, as it is also Revelation 11:8, where we read, Which great city spiritually, (that is, typically,) is called Sodom and Egypt. That the feeding of the Israelites with manna had a typical meaning, appears from Deuteronomy 8:3; and that it signified true doctrine in particular, appears from its being called angels’ food, Psalm 78:25. And it is termed spiritual meat, because the spiritual blessings which it typified were the same with those typified by the bread in the Lord’s supper, which the Corinthians ate.

Ver. 2-4. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. He initiated them into the covenant in all its moral and ritual obligations, and the manna and the rock corresponded with the bread and wine in our sacraments. The eye of faith sees glory in the scriptures, conveying instruction from ancient symbols and past events. A divine radiance shines upon us from under the coverings of the sanctuary; and whether the symbol be bread and wine, or rock and water, it is the same Saviour whose body we discern in the sacrament, slain as the paschal lamb, and crucified on Calvary. This is the Lamb, the heavenly food of which Moses said, a stranger shall not eat thereof. In the same cloud or Spirit, as at the Jordan, “are we all baptized into one body.”

2. Were baptized—Greek middle voice, baptized themselves; that is, accepted the virtual baptism. Their own wills concurred with the divine act. Unto Moses—Greek, eiv, into Moses; into that religion of which Moses was representative. So Romans 6:3, baptized into Christ. In the cloud—As overshadowing them. In the sea—The sea, like the flood in 1 Peter 1:2, suggests the baptismal element from which the simile of baptism takes its start. No definite image of the form of baptism, whether by affusion or immersion, is framed in either case.

Satan is our Pharaoh, Christ is our Moses, the pass of the sea is our baptism, the Holy Spirit is our guiding, protecting, separating, and consecrating fiery-cloudy pillar.

Ver. 2.-3. Spiritual significance of the bare facts of 1 Corinthians 10:1.

Baptized for Moses: see under Romans 6:3.

In the cloud etc. or, with the cloud: the material instruments of their baptism. By ranging themselves under the cloud and passing through the sea, they formally placed themselves in a new relationship to Moses as His followers. They thus openly separated themselves from Egypt, and became the professed people of God. That the position they then took up was analogous to that of Christians, is suggested by the word baptized. And the presence of water, in the cloud and sea, made it very appropriate. We saw, under Romans 6:4, that in Paul's day baptism by immersion was usual. But, that the passing of Israel beneath the cloud and through the divided sea on dry land is called baptism, now warns us that if water be used, the mode is not essential to the reality of the baptism. The immersion was reserved for the Egyptians.

V. 3. And all ate the same manna, termed spiritual meat, as it was typical,

1. Of Christ and his spiritual benefits:

2. Of the sacred bread which we eat at his table. See Exodus 16:15.

Verse 3. Spiritual meat] The manna which is here called spiritual. 1. Because it was provided supernaturally; and, 2. Because it was a type of Christ Jesus, who speaking of it, John 6:31, &c., tells us that it was a type of that true bread which came down from heaven, which gives life to the world, John 6:33, and that himself was the bread of life, John 6:48.

Verses 1-3. Moreover — Or now; brethren — That you may be induced to attend to the exhortation which I have been giving you, and may run your Christian race with resolution, zeal, and diligence, and not become reprobates, consider how highly favoured your fathers were, who were God’s elect and peculiar people, and nevertheless were rejected by him. They were all under the cloud, that eminent token of God’s gracious presence with them, which defended them from the Egyptians; (Exodus 14:20;) being to the latter a cloud of darkness, but giving light by night to the Israelites; the cloud which accompanied them in their journeyings, and was spread over them like a covering, to screen them from the heat of the sun, intense in the deserts of Arabia, Numbers 14:14. And all passed through the sea — God opening a way through the midst of the waters; and were all baptized, as it were, unto Moses — Initiated into the religion which he taught them; in the cloud and in the sea — Perhaps sprinkled here and there with drops of water from the sea, and from the cloud, by which baptism might be more evidently signified. But whether or not, as the Israelites, by being hid from the Egyptians under the cloud, and by passing through the sea, were made to declare their belief in the Lord and in his servant Moses, (Exodus 14:31,) the apostle very properly represents them as being thereby baptised unto Moses. And did all eat the same spiritual meat — That is, the manna, which was an emblem of the bread of life; that came down from heaven — Namely, 1st, Of Christ’s flesh and blood, or his obedience unto death, which is meat indeed, John 6:55. 2d, Of his heavenly doctrine, whereby the souls of the faithful are supported and nourished, John 6:63. And 3d, Of the sacramental bread which we eat at his table. The word spiritual is here used for typical, as it is also Revelation 11:8, where we read, Which great city spiritually, (that is, typically,) is called Sodom and Egypt. That the feeding of the Israelites with manna had a typical meaning, appears from Deuteronomy 8:3; and that it signified true doctrine in particular, appears from its being called angels’ food, Psalm 78:25. And it is termed spiritual meat, because the spiritual blessings which it typified were the same with those typified by the bread in the Lord’s supper, which the Corinthians ate.

Ver. 2-4. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. He initiated them into the covenant in all its moral and ritual obligations, and the manna and the rock corresponded with the bread and wine in our sacraments. The eye of faith sees glory in the scriptures, conveying instruction from ancient symbols and past events. A divine radiance shines upon us from under the coverings of the sanctuary; and whether the symbol be bread and wine, or rock and water, it is the same Saviour whose body we discern in the sacrament, slain as the paschal lamb, and crucified on Calvary. This is the Lamb, the heavenly food of which Moses said, a stranger shall not eat thereof. In the same cloud or Spirit, as at the Jordan, “are we all baptized into one body.”

3, 4. All… same—The same baptism, the same spiritual meat, the same spiritual drink were shared by all. And all shared the same faith. The people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. This emphatic repetition of the same spiritual state of all deserves a more marked attention than has usually been bestowed upon it. Israel was now the complete Church, in which all had the same faith, baptism, and, consequently, the same regeneration. Yet the large majority of them apostatized utterly and totally, and under divine wrath their carcasses strewed the wilderness. Here not the bare possibility of apostasy is affirmed, but its actual reality. The racers all start in the same Christian race alike. The Israelites all start alike through regeneration for the promised land. Yet they fail of both the earthly and the heavenly Canaan. Spiritual meat… spiritual drink—Of which the manna and the water from the smitten rock are the suggestive similes. Like the bread and wine of the sacrament, the manna, the water, and even the rock, are all emblematical of the body or blood of Christ. Hence all Israel partook not only of the manna, but of the spiritual meat of which the manna was the emblem. Spiritual drink—The water of life, of which the water from the smitten rock was an emblem. Spiritual Rock… Christ—Hence it is not the rock smitten by Moses that St. Paul calls the spiritual Rock; but Christ, typified by the smitten rock, is the real spiritual Rock, of which they all did drink. Dr. Hodge and most other commentators involve themselves in inextricable confusion by making Paul call the material manna water, and rock spiritual. Rock that followed them—Rabbinical tradition affirmed that either the rock smitten by Moses, or the water flowing from it, followed the Israelites through all their journey from Rephidim to Canaan. If, as Dr. Hodge interprets, it is the material manna, water, and rock, that Paul means, then it follows conclusively that Paul endorses the tradition as true. And Alford not only carries the physical interpretation through, but he affirms that it is violence not to agree that Paul actually affirms the truth of the tradition! But when Paul tells us that the Rock was Christ, it is inadmissible to make him say that the material rock, or the stream from it, followed them.

That Christ was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the angel-Jehovah, has ever been a scriptural maxim in the Christian Church. Dr. Hodge well says: “Our Lord said, Abraham saw his day, for he was before Abraham. John 8:58. John says, (John 12:41,) Isaiah beheld his glory in the temple; Paul says, the Israelites tempted him in the wilderness, (1 Corinthians 10:9;) and that Moses suffered his reproach. Hebrews 11:26. Jude 5 says, the Lord, or (as Lachmann, after the ancient versions and manuscripts, reads) Jesus, saved his people out of Egypt.” Hence there was a rock and a stream that followed Israel all their journey through; but that rock was not the rock of Horeb, as the rabbins fancied, but Christ himself.

Schoettgen quotes a Jewish writer thus: “There was a rock, shaped like a beehive, globular, and it rolled itself and went with them in their journeyings. When the camps stopped at their stations, and the tabernacle stood still, this rock came and placed itself in the threshold of the tent. Then came the princes, and, standing near it, said, Spring up, O well, etc., (Numbers 21:17,) and it sprung up.”

Dr. Wordsworth says, that as there were clouds to rain manna all their journey through, so there were rocks (genetically, rock) to supply water. “He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.” Psalm 78:15. “He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” Psalm 105:41.

Ver. 3. The emphatic repetition of all and the same keeps conspicuously before us the similar position of men whose fate was different. Spiritual food: the manna, bread from heaven, Psalm 78:24f; Wisdom 16: 20; John 6:31f; because produced, not naturally, but by the special energy of the Holy Spirit, who is the personal bearer, even in the material world, of the presence and power of God. Cp. Romans 1:11; 7:14; 1 Corinthians 15:44; Ephesians 5:19; 1 Peter 2:5; cp. Genesis 1:2; Psalm 33:6; Galatians 4:29. Spiritual drink: the water from the rock, Exodus 17:1-6; Numbers 20:2-11.

V. 4. And all drank the same spiritual drink-Typical of Christ, and of that cup which we drink.

For they drank out of the spiritual or mysterious rock, the wonderful streams of which followed them in their several journeyings, for many years, through the wilderness.

And that rock was a manifest type of Christ-The Rock of Eternity, from whom his people derive those streams of blessings which follow them through all this wilderness. Exodus 17:6.

Verse 4. Spiritual drink] By the brwma pneumatikon spiritual meat, and poma Jpneumatikon, spiritual drink, the apostle certainly means both meat and drink, which were furnished to the Israelitish assembly miraculously, as well as typically: and he appears to borrow his expression from the Jews themselves, who expressly say ynjwr zlh הלחם hallechem hallaz ruchani, that bread was spiritual, and wyh רוחניים מיים meyim ruchainiyim haiu, the waters were spiritual. Alschech in legem. fol. 238, to which opinion the apostle seems particularly to refer. See Schoettgen.

The spiritual rock that followed them] There is some difficulty in this verse. How could the rock follow them? It does not appear that the rock ever moved from the place where Moses struck it. But to solve this difficulty, it is said that rock here is put, by metonymy, for the water of the rock; and that this water did follow them through the wilderness. This is more likely; but we have not direct proof of it. The ancient Jews, however, were of this opinion, and state that the streams followed them in all their journeyings, up the mountains, down the valleys, &c., &c.; and that when they came to encamp, the waters formed themselves into cisterns and pools; and that the rulers of the people guided them, by their staves, in rivulets to the different tribes and families. And this is the sense they give to Numbers 21:17: Spring up, O well, &c. See the places in Schoettgen.

Others contend, that by the rock following them we are to understand their having carried of its waters with them on their journeyings. This we know is a common custom in these deserts to the present day; and that the Greek verb akolouqew, to follow, has this sense, Bishop Pearce has amply proved in his note on this place. The Jews suppose that the rock itself went with the Israelites, and was present with them in their thirty-eight stations, for only so many are mentioned. See Alschech in legem. fol. 236. And see Schoettgen.

Now, though of all the senses already given that of Bishop Pearce is the best, yet it does appear that the apostle does not speak about the rock itself, but of Him whom it represented; namely, Christ: this was the Rock that followed them, and ministered to them; and this view of the subject is rendered more probable by what is said 1 Corinthians 10:9, that they tempted Christ, and were destroyed by serpents. The same rock is in the vale of Rephidim to the present day; and it bears aboriginal marks of the water that flowed from it in the fissures that appear on its sides. It is one block of fine granite, about seven yards long, five broad, and — high. A fragment of this typical rock now lies before me, brought by a relative of my own, who broke it off, and did not let it pass into any hand till he placed it in mine. See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 17:6”.

Verse 4. And did all drink the same spiritual — That is, typical; drink — Namely, typical of Christ and of the living water, the divine influence derived from him, John 8:37. For they drank of that spiritual — Or mysterious; rock — The wonderful streams of which followed them in their several journeyings for many years through the wilderness. It must be observed, water was twice brought from a rock by a miracle, for the Israelites in the wilderness; once in Rephidim, which was their eleventh station, and in the first year after they came out of Egypt; of which miracle we have an account, Exodus 17.; the second time was at Kadesh, which was their thirty-third station, and in the fortieth year after their leaving Egypt, Numbers 20:1. To both places the name of Meribah was given; but the latter was called Meribah-Kadesh, to distinguish it from Meribah of Rephidim. It is the miracle performed in Rephidim of which the apostle here speaks. The water, it appears, that issued from this rock formed a brook, which (Deuteronomy 9:21) is said to have descended out of the mount, that is, out of Horeb; (Exodus 17:5, 6;) for before that miracle there was no brook in these parts. And it issued in such abundance as to be termed a river, Psalm 78:16; 105:41. Indeed, six hundred thousand men, with their women and children, and cattle, required a river to supply them with drink. And Horeb being a high mountain, there seems to have been a descent from it to the sea; and the Israelites, during the thirty-seven years of their journeying, appear to have gone by those tracts of country in which the waters from Horeb could follow them, till in the thirty-ninth year they came to Ezion-Gaber, (Numbers 33:36,) a port of the Red sea, far down the Arabian side, where it is supposed the water from Horeb went into that sea. The country through which the Israelites journeyed so long a time, being watered by this river, produced, no doubt, herbage for the cattle of the Israelites, which, in this desert, must otherwise have perished. And that Rock was Christ — A manifest type of him, the Rock of ages, who, being smitten in his death and sufferings, poured forth streams of redemption, grace, and heavenly blessings, which follow his people through all this wilderness, and will end in rivers of pleasure at the right hand of God for ever.

Ver. 2-4. And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. He initiated them into the covenant in all its moral and ritual obligations, and the manna and the rock corresponded with the bread and wine in our sacraments. The eye of faith sees glory in the scriptures, conveying instruction from ancient symbols and past events. A divine radiance shines upon us from under the coverings of the sanctuary; and whether the symbol be bread and wine, or rock and water, it is the same Saviour whose body we discern in the sacrament, slain as the paschal lamb, and crucified on Calvary. This is the Lamb, the heavenly food of which Moses said, a stranger shall not eat thereof. In the same cloud or Spirit, as at the Jordan, “are we all baptized into one body.”

3, 4. All… same—The same baptism, the same spiritual meat, the same spiritual drink were shared by all. And all shared the same faith. The people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. This emphatic repetition of the same spiritual state of all deserves a more marked attention than has usually been bestowed upon it. Israel was now the complete Church, in which all had the same faith, baptism, and, consequently, the same regeneration. Yet the large majority of them apostatized utterly and totally, and under divine wrath their carcasses strewed the wilderness. Here not the bare possibility of apostasy is affirmed, but its actual reality. The racers all start in the same Christian race alike. The Israelites all start alike through regeneration for the promised land. Yet they fail of both the earthly and the heavenly Canaan. Spiritual meat… spiritual drink—Of which the manna and the water from the smitten rock are the suggestive similes. Like the bread and wine of the sacrament, the manna, the water, and even the rock, are all emblematical of the body or blood of Christ. Hence all Israel partook not only of the manna, but of the spiritual meat of which the manna was the emblem. Spiritual drink—The water of life, of which the water from the smitten rock was an emblem. Spiritual Rock… Christ—Hence it is not the rock smitten by Moses that St. Paul calls the spiritual Rock; but Christ, typified by the smitten rock, is the real spiritual Rock, of which they all did drink. Dr. Hodge and most other commentators involve themselves in inextricable confusion by making Paul call the material manna water, and rock spiritual. Rock that followed them—Rabbinical tradition affirmed that either the rock smitten by Moses, or the water flowing from it, followed the Israelites through all their journey from Rephidim to Canaan. If, as Dr. Hodge interprets, it is the material manna, water, and rock, that Paul means, then it follows conclusively that Paul endorses the tradition as true. And Alford not only carries the physical interpretation through, but he affirms that it is violence not to agree that Paul actually affirms the truth of the tradition! But when Paul tells us that the Rock was Christ, it is inadmissible to make him say that the material rock, or the stream from it, followed them.

That Christ was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the angel-Jehovah, has ever been a scriptural maxim in the Christian Church. Dr. Hodge well says: “Our Lord said, Abraham saw his day, for he was before Abraham. John 8:58. John says, (John 12:41,) Isaiah beheld his glory in the temple; Paul says, the Israelites tempted him in the wilderness, (1 Corinthians 10:9;) and that Moses suffered his reproach. Hebrews 11:26. Jude 5 says, the Lord, or (as Lachmann, after the ancient versions and manuscripts, reads) Jesus, saved his people out of Egypt.” Hence there was a rock and a stream that followed Israel all their journey through; but that rock was not the rock of Horeb, as the rabbins fancied, but Christ himself.

Schoettgen quotes a Jewish writer thus: “There was a rock, shaped like a beehive, globular, and it rolled itself and went with them in their journeyings. When the camps stopped at their stations, and the tabernacle stood still, this rock came and placed itself in the threshold of the tent. Then came the princes, and, standing near it, said, Spring up, O well, etc., (Numbers 21:17,) and it sprung up.”

Dr. Wordsworth says, that as there were clouds to rain manna all their journey through, so there were rocks (genetically, rock) to supply water. “He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.” Psalm 78:15. “He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.” Psalm 105:41.

Ver. 4. Proof that it was “spiritual drink.” That the manna was spiritual, needed no proof: for it was evidently supernatural. But the water from the rock was ordinary water.

Were drinking: graphic description of the scene. The real source of the water drunk by Israel on two occasions in the wilderness was not the natural rock from which it visibly flowed, but a spiritual rock, viz. the invisible and spiritual presence and resources of God; and this not stationary like “the rock in Horeb” and that at Kadesh, but following them, i.e. God not only going before them as a guide but, after they had pitched their tents providing in each encampment for their need. Therefore, the water from the rock, though natural in composition, was “spiritual drink:” for it was a miraculous work and gift of God present in the Holy Spirit. This exposition is so complete and simple that we have no need to assume a reference here to the foolish Jewish fable about the rock following the Israelites.

And the rock was Christ: a great truth linking the spiritual facts of 1 Corinthians 10:3f with Christianity: as the word “baptized” linked with it the historical facts of 1 Corinthians 10:1. Christ was actually the source of the water which flowed from the visible rock, being Himself the divine Presence which accompanied, and supplied the need of, Israel in the wilderness. This implies that the not yet incarnate but pre-existent Son of God was the Leader of Israel. Cp. Hebrews 11:26. Under these passages and Colossians 1:16; John 1:3, lies the great truth that whatever God has done and does outwardly and visibly, in the material universe and in His spiritual kingdom, is through the agency of His Son. Paul here reminds his readers that the same divine power and presence which brought them into, and now maintains them in, the Christian life, of which the two sacraments are a visible representation, also led Israel of old through the Red Sea and daily fed them in the wilderness. This identity lays a foundation for the warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:5-12.

V. 5. Yet-Although they had so many tokens of the divine presence. They were overthrown-With the most terrible marks of his displeasure.

Verse 5. They were overthrown in the wilderness.] And yet ALL these persons were under the cloud-ALL passed through the sea-ALL were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea-ALL ate the same spiritual meat-ALL drank the same spiritual drink, for they were made partakers of the spiritual Rock, CHRIST. Nothing can be a more decisive proof than this that people, who have every outward ordinance, and are made partakers of the grace of our Lord Jesus, may so abuse their privileges and grieve the Spirit of God as to fall from their state of grace, and perish ever lastingly. Let those who are continually asserting that this is impossible, beware lest they themselves, if in a state of grace, become, through their overmuch security, proofs in point of the possibility of ending in the flesh, though they began in the Spirit. Reader, remember who said, Ye shall not surely die; and remember the mischiefs produced by a belief of his doctrine.

Verses 5, 6. But with many of them — Although they had so many tokens of the divine presence with them, and enjoyed such singular favours; God was not well pleased — So far from it, that he swore in his wrath they should not enter into the rest he had provided for them; and therefore they were overthrown in the wilderness — With the most terrible marks of his wrath. Even the whole generation that came adult out of Egypt died there, and sometimes in such multitudes, that the ground was overspread with carcasses, as a field is in which a battle has been fought. Now these things — These punishments; were our examples — Showing what we are to expect, notwithstanding our profession of Christianity, if we act like them; if, enjoying the like benefits, we commit the like sins. The benefits are here set down in the same order as by Moses in Exodus; the sins and punishments in a different order: evil desire first, as being the foundation of all; next idolatry, verses 7, 14; then fornication, which usually accompanied it, verse 8; tempting and murmuring against God in the following verses. To the intent we should not lust after evil things — Should not indulge irregular and luxurious desires; as they also lusted — After flesh, in contempt of the manna, and thereby brought the wrath of God upon themselves, and were consumed with pestilential distempers, while the meat was yet between their teeth, Psalm 78:30, 31. Learn, therefore, as if he had said, by what they suffered, to cultivate that temperance and self-denial which I have just been recommending to you.

5. Many—All ate and drank sacramentally of Christ, but many apostatized. Overthrown—Rather, strown; their carcasses lying on the desert surface. This refers not to the myriads who died a natural death, but to the numbers that were slain by divine sentence for sin.

Ver. 5.-6. The more part: very much less than the truth, as the readers knew, but sufficient for Paul's warning. Of this statement, 1 Corinthians 10:5b is proof.

Smitten-down in the wilderness: exact words of (LXX.) Numbers 14:16; cp. Numbers 14:32. That they died in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan, was a punishment for the sin of Numbers 14:1-10 Cp. Hebrews 3:16ff.

These things: all that was included in smitten down etc.: cp. “none of these things,” 1 Corinthians 9:15.

Types of us: sketches in outline of what will come to us if we do as they did. See under Romans 5:14. All lessons learned by others from the fate of the sinning Israelites were not only foreseen but designed, by God. Therefore, since the Old Covenant was preparatory to the New, Paul could say that the various punishments of Israel were chosen and inflicted by God in order to teach the men of his own day the evil of desiring bad things. Cp. 1 Corinthians 9:10.

Bad-things; refers only to the men of Paul's day, not to Numbers 11:4: for flesh and vegetables were not in themselves bad. As they also etc.; gives prominence to the conduct followed by such punishment.

V. 6. Now these things were our examples-Showing what we are to expect if, enjoying the like benefits, we commit the like sins. The benefits are set down in the same order as by Moses in Exodus; the sins and punishments in a different order; evil desire first, as being the foundation of all; next, idolatry, 1 Corinthians 10:7, 14; then fornication, which usually accompanied it, 1 Corinthians 10:8; the tempting and murmuring against God, in the following verses.

As they desired-Flesh, in contempt of manna. Numbers 11:4

Verse 6. These things were our examples] The punishments which God inflicted on them furnish us with evidences of what God will inflict upon us, if we sin after the similitude of those transgressors. We should not lust after evil things] It is most evident that the apostle refers here to the history in Numbers 11:4, &c.: And the mixed multitude fell a lusting, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? Into the same spirit the Corinthians had most evidently fallen; they lusted after the flesh in the idol feasts, and therefore frequented them to the great scandal of Christianity. The apostle shows them that their sin was of the same nature as that of the murmuring rebellious Israelites whom God so severely punished; and if he did not spare the natural branches, there was no likelihood that he should spare them.

Verses 5, 6. But with many of them — Although they had so many tokens of the divine presence with them, and enjoyed such singular favours; God was not well pleased — So far from it, that he swore in his wrath they should not enter into the rest he had provided for them; and therefore they were overthrown in the wilderness — With the most terrible marks of his wrath. Even the whole generation that came adult out of Egypt died there, and sometimes in such multitudes, that the ground was overspread with carcasses, as a field is in which a battle has been fought. Now these things — These punishments; were our examples — Showing what we are to expect, notwithstanding our profession of Christianity, if we act like them; if, enjoying the like benefits, we commit the like sins. The benefits are here set down in the same order as by Moses in Exodus; the sins and punishments in a different order: evil desire first, as being the foundation of all; next idolatry, verses 7, 14; then fornication, which usually accompanied it, verse 8; tempting and murmuring against God in the following verses. To the intent we should not lust after evil things — Should not indulge irregular and luxurious desires; as they also lusted — After flesh, in contempt of the manna, and thereby brought the wrath of God upon themselves, and were consumed with pestilential distempers, while the meat was yet between their teeth, Psalm 78:30, 31. Learn, therefore, as if he had said, by what they suffered, to cultivate that temperance and self-denial which I have just been recommending to you.

6. Examples—Literal Greek, types. Yet not divinely-established types, to which we are to conform; but figures of wrongs which we should avoid. Lust—As the mental source whence sins, especially of the sensuous kind, proceed. Literal Greek, That we be not lusters of evil things. It was to these sensuous sins, especially, that Christians in the licentious, idolatrous, and heaven-daring city of Corinth were liable.

Ver. 5.-6. The more part: very much less than the truth, as the readers knew, but sufficient for Paul's warning. Of this statement, 1 Corinthians 10:5b is proof.

Smitten-down in the wilderness: exact words of (LXX.) Numbers 14:16; cp. Numbers 14:32. That they died in the wilderness instead of entering Canaan, was a punishment for the sin of Numbers 14:1-10 Cp. Hebrews 3:16ff.

These things: all that was included in smitten down etc.: cp. “none of these things,” 1 Corinthians 9:15.

Types of us: sketches in outline of what will come to us if we do as they did. See under Romans 5:14. All lessons learned by others from the fate of the sinning Israelites were not only foreseen but designed, by God. Therefore, since the Old Covenant was preparatory to the New, Paul could say that the various punishments of Israel were chosen and inflicted by God in order to teach the men of his own day the evil of desiring bad things. Cp. 1 Corinthians 9:10.

Bad-things; refers only to the men of Paul's day, not to Numbers 11:4: for flesh and vegetables were not in themselves bad. As they also etc.; gives prominence to the conduct followed by such punishment.

V. 7. Neither be ye idolaters-And so, neither murmur ye, 1 Corinthians 10:10. The other cautions are given in the first person; but these in the second. And with what exquisite propriety does he vary the person! It would have been improper to say, Neither let us be idolaters; for he was himself in no danger of idolatry; nor probably of murmuring against Christ, or the divine providence.

To play-That is, to dance, in honour of their idol. Exodus 32:6.

Verse 7. Neither be ye idolaters] The apostle considers partaking of the idolatrous feasts as being real acts of idolatry; because those who offered the flesh to their gods considered them as feeding invisibly with them on the flesh thus offered, and that every one that partook of the feast was a real participator with the god to whom the flesh or animal had been offered in sacrifice. See 1 Corinthians 10:21.

Rose up to play.] See Clarke’s note on “Exodus 32:6”. The Jews generally explain this word as implying idolatrous acts only: I have considered it as implying acts of impurity, with which idolatrous acts were often accompanied. It also means those dances which were practised in honour of their gods. That this is one meaning of the verb paizein, Kypke has largely proved. The whole idolatrous process was as follows: 1. The proper victim was prepared and set apart. 2. It was slain, and its blood poured out at the altar of the deity. 3. The flesh was dressed, and the priests and offerers feasted on it, and thus endeavoured to establish a communion between themselves and the object of their worship. 4. After eating, they had idolatrous dances in honour of their god; and, 5. as might be expected, impure mixtures, in consequence of those dances. The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play; and it is in reference to this issue of idolatrous feasts and dancings that the apostle immediately subjoins: Neither let us commit FORNICATION, &c.

Verses 7, 8. Neither be ye idolaters — By partaking of their idolatrous feasts: by no means join the heathen in these, because if the persons whose friendship you wish to cultivate, tempt you to commit idolatry, neither your superior knowledge, nor the spiritual gifts which ye possess, will secure you against their allurements: of these things you have a striking proof in the ancient Israelites. As it is written — Exodus 32:6, 19, with relation to the feast of the golden calf; The people sat down to eat and drink — Of the sacrifices and libations which were offered to the calf. He says, sat down to eat, for in ancient times the Hebrews always sat at meat: see Genesis 43:33. It was in later times only that, in compliance with the manners of eastern nations, they lay on couches at their meals. And rose up to play — Or to dance, as the word paizein here signifies, in honour of their idol. Dancing was one of the rites practised by the heathen in the worship of their gods. And that the Israelites worshipped the golden calf by dancing, is evident from Exodus 32:19, where it is said of Moses, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and his anger waxed hot. Neither let us commit fornication — A sin commonly committed at the idolatrous feasts among the heathen. And it was the more proper for the apostle to caution the Corinthians against it, because in their heathen state they had practised it even as an act of worship, acceptable to their deities; nay, and after their conversion, some of them, it appears, had not altered their manners in that particular, 2 Corinthians 12:21. As some of them committed — With the Midianitish women, when they partook of the sacrifices offered to Baal-peor: the sad consequence of which was, that there fell in one day three and twenty thousand — By the plague, besides the princes who were afterward hanged, and those whom the judges slew; so that there died in all twenty-four thousand, Numbers 25:1-9.

Ver. 7. Neither be ye idolaters, as in the tragic case of the golden calf, described in Exodus 32.

7. Idolaters—Lust, or sensuous desires, in Corinth as in Israel, craved after idolatry. The revels and feasts of the golden calf were the very type of those wanton rites by which Paul’s Gentile Christians were lured to idolatry. People sat down—At the banquet of sacrifice to the golden calf; held by them to be an image representative of Jehovah, yet made in disobedience to the second commandment of the decalogue. Precisely so the Corinthians were liable to join in idolatrous banquets under supposition that the compliance was in perfect allegiance to Jesus. To play—To dance, and other antic sports, tending to but not necessarily including lasciviousness.

Ver. 7.-10. Four examples, expounding in detail “as they also desired.” Idolaters: put prominently first, preparing the way for 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. So “fornicators” in 1 Corinthians 6:9, preparing for 1 Corinthians 6:13-20.

The people sat etc.: word for word from Exodus 32:6. This verse, without expressly mentioning idolatry, recalls the idolatrous scene; and is specially suitable to dissuade from taking part (1 Corinthians 10:21; 8:10) in idol feasts.

Fornication: ever closely connected with idolatry, especially at Corinth; and expressly in Numbers 25:1-9, to which Paul here refers. Twenty-three thousand: 24,000 in Numbers 25:9, with which agree Josephus, Antiq. bk. iv. 6. 12, and Philo, vol. ii. 382. Since Paul had no source of information but the Old Testament, we cannot evade this discrepancy but supposing that on one day only 23,000 fell. Surely we need not stretch his apostolic authority to trifling numerical details. See my Romans, Dissertation iii. 2. Nor does a trifling slip of memory, if this be such, in a matter no way touching the spiritual life, lessen in the least degree his absolute authority when declaring the commands and promises of God. Cp. Galatians 3:17. How needful at Corinth was this second warning, we learn from 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 12:21. The Lord: probably, especially after 1 Corinthians 10:4, in its usual sense, viz. Christ, the Master whom all Christians obey.

Tempt, or try: put to the test, as if to see how long His patience will last. The serpents: plain reference to Numbers 21:6. Consequently, tempted refers to the murmuring about their food. The similar murmuring in Exodus 17:3 is expressly called (Exodus 5:7, cp. Deuteronomy 6:16) tempting God; and gave a name to the place, Massah, or Temptation. In these cases the Israelites tested whether God was among them and His longsuffering towards them, by looking back to the land of bondage out of which He had brought them. A similar leaning in the Corinthians to the idolatrous practices and the impurity of their past life, prompted the warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:7f. Such looking back was a tempting of their Master, Christ, similar to that punished by the fiery serpents.

Were-being-destroyed; both depicts the scene, and includes the bitten ones who looked at the brazen serpent and recovered. 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers evidently to Numbers 16:41-49; and was naturally suggested by the murmuring of Numbers 21:5.

The destroyer: Wisdom 18:25; Exodus 12:23. It implies that the “plague” of Numbers 16:46ff was inflicted by a personal agent, probably an angel of God. Cp. 2 Samuel 24:16; Isaiah 37:36. The story of Numbers 16:41ff is a solemn warning to all who set themselves against a divinely constituted authority; and was perhaps referred to here as a covert warning to those at Corinth who rejected Paul's apostolic authority.

V. 8. And fell in one day three and twenty thousand-Beside the princes who were afterwards hanged, and those whom the judges slew so that there died in all four and twenty thousand. Numbers 25:1, 9.

Verse 8. Fell in one day three and twenty thousand.] In Numbers 25:9, the number is 24,000; and, allowing this to be the genuine reading, (and none of the Hebrew MSS. exhibit any various reading in the place,) Moses and the apostle may be thus reconciled: in Numbers 25:4, God commands Moses to take all the heads (the rulers) of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun; these possibly amounted to 1000, and those who fell by the plague were 23,000, so that the whole amounted to 24,000. Instead of eikositreiv ciliadev, 23,000, two MSS., with the later Syriac and the Armenian, have eikositessarev ciliadev, 24,000; but this authority is too slender to establish a various reading, which recedes so much from the received text. I think the discordance may be best accounted for by supposing, as above, that Phineas and his companions might have slain 1000 men, who were heads of the people, and chief in this idolatry; and that the plague sent from the Lord destroyed 23,000 more; so an equal number to the whole tribe of Levi perished in one day, who were just 23,000. See Numbers 26:62; and see Lightfoot.

Verses 7, 8. Neither be ye idolaters — By partaking of their idolatrous feasts: by no means join the heathen in these, because if the persons whose friendship you wish to cultivate, tempt you to commit idolatry, neither your superior knowledge, nor the spiritual gifts which ye possess, will secure you against their allurements: of these things you have a striking proof in the ancient Israelites. As it is written — Exodus 32:6, 19, with relation to the feast of the golden calf; The people sat down to eat and drink — Of the sacrifices and libations which were offered to the calf. He says, sat down to eat, for in ancient times the Hebrews always sat at meat: see Genesis 43:33. It was in later times only that, in compliance with the manners of eastern nations, they lay on couches at their meals. And rose up to play — Or to dance, as the word paizein here signifies, in honour of their idol. Dancing was one of the rites practised by the heathen in the worship of their gods. And that the Israelites worshipped the golden calf by dancing, is evident from Exodus 32:19, where it is said of Moses, that he saw the calf and the dancing, and his anger waxed hot. Neither let us commit fornication — A sin commonly committed at the idolatrous feasts among the heathen. And it was the more proper for the apostle to caution the Corinthians against it, because in their heathen state they had practised it even as an act of worship, acceptable to their deities; nay, and after their conversion, some of them, it appears, had not altered their manners in that particular, 2 Corinthians 12:21. As some of them committed — With the Midianitish women, when they partook of the sacrifices offered to Baal-peor: the sad consequence of which was, that there fell in one day three and twenty thousand — By the plague, besides the princes who were afterward hanged, and those whom the judges slew; so that there died in all twenty-four thousand, Numbers 25:1-9.

Ver. 8. Neither let us commit fornication, as the Hebrews did at Moab’s feast; and as the lower sort of heathens do in all the feasts of Venus or Astarte. See on Numbers 25.

8. Let us—Paul, perhaps, reverts here to the first person from delicacy. Fornication—Any illicit sexual connexion. This caution well follows next after that against idolatry; for the idol rites consisted largely of debauchery, as is illustrated by the case to which Paul now refers. Committed—While the Israelites yet sojourned on the east side of the Jordan, the Moabite women first invited them to their sacrificial banquets, and thereby seduced them to whoredom. Numbers 25. The worship of the Corinthian Venus was of precisely the same kind; in which debauchery was consecrated as a religious rite. How liable the Corinthian Christians were to that sort of seduction the case of the incestuous man indicates. Three and twenty thousand—The Old Testament (Numbers 25:9) says, four and twenty thousand. Scholars generally admit that Paul wrote as this present text stands; and many, as Alford and Kling, treat it as a failure of apostolic memory. Alford considers it discreditable to maintain any other view. Grotius reconciles the contradiction by supposing that the twenty-three thousand were slain by the plague and one thousand by Phinehas and his fellows. Wordsworth supposes that Paul gives the number who fell in the single day, while Numbers gives all that fell in consequence of the crime. Bengel supposes, that both accounts giving only the round numbers, the exact count might be between the two, and so both numbers be equally correct. Of course no moral truth is affected by the variance.

Ver. 7.-10. Four examples, expounding in detail “as they also desired.” Idolaters: put prominently first, preparing the way for 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. So “fornicators” in 1 Corinthians 6:9, preparing for 1 Corinthians 6:13-20.

The people sat etc.: word for word from Exodus 32:6. This verse, without expressly mentioning idolatry, recalls the idolatrous scene; and is specially suitable to dissuade from taking part (1 Corinthians 10:21; 8:10) in idol feasts.

Fornication: ever closely connected with idolatry, especially at Corinth; and expressly in Numbers 25:1-9, to which Paul here refers. Twenty-three thousand: 24,000 in Numbers 25:9, with which agree Josephus, Antiq. bk. iv. 6. 12, and Philo, vol. ii. 382. Since Paul had no source of information but the Old Testament, we cannot evade this discrepancy but supposing that on one day only 23,000 fell. Surely we need not stretch his apostolic authority to trifling numerical details. See my Romans, Dissertation iii. 2. Nor does a trifling slip of memory, if this be such, in a matter no way touching the spiritual life, lessen in the least degree his absolute authority when declaring the commands and promises of God. Cp. Galatians 3:17. How needful at Corinth was this second warning, we learn from 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 12:21. The Lord: probably, especially after 1 Corinthians 10:4, in its usual sense, viz. Christ, the Master whom all Christians obey.

Tempt, or try: put to the test, as if to see how long His patience will last. The serpents: plain reference to Numbers 21:6. Consequently, tempted refers to the murmuring about their food. The similar murmuring in Exodus 17:3 is expressly called (Exodus 5:7, cp. Deuteronomy 6:16) tempting God; and gave a name to the place, Massah, or Temptation. In these cases the Israelites tested whether God was among them and His longsuffering towards them, by looking back to the land of bondage out of which He had brought them. A similar leaning in the Corinthians to the idolatrous practices and the impurity of their past life, prompted the warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:7f. Such looking back was a tempting of their Master, Christ, similar to that punished by the fiery serpents.

Were-being-destroyed; both depicts the scene, and includes the bitten ones who looked at the brazen serpent and recovered. 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers evidently to Numbers 16:41-49; and was naturally suggested by the murmuring of Numbers 21:5.

The destroyer: Wisdom 18:25; Exodus 12:23. It implies that the “plague” of Numbers 16:46ff was inflicted by a personal agent, probably an angel of God. Cp. 2 Samuel 24:16; Isaiah 37:36. The story of Numbers 16:41ff is a solemn warning to all who set themselves against a divinely constituted authority; and was perhaps referred to here as a covert warning to those at Corinth who rejected Paul's apostolic authority.

V. 9. Neither let us tempt Christ-By our unbelief. St. Paul enumerates five benefits, 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; of which the fourth and fifth were closely connected together; and five sins, the fourth and fifth of which were likewise closely connected. In speaking of the fifth benefit, he expressly mentions Christ; and in speaking of the fourth sin, he shows it was committed against Christ.

As some of them tempted him-This sin of the people was peculiarly against Christ; for when they had so long drank of that rock, yet they murmured for want of water. Numbers 21:4, &c

Verse 9. Neither let us tempt Christ] I have already supposed, in Clarke’s note on “1 Corinthians 10:4”, that Christ is intended by the spiritual rock that followed them: and that it was he, not the rock, that did follow or accompany the Israelites in the wilderness. This was the angel of God’s presence who was with the Church in the wilderness, to whom our fathers would not obey, as St. Stephen says, Acts 7:38, 39. Instead of criston, Christ, several MSS. and a few versions have kurion, the Lord, and some few qeon, God. But though some respectable MSS. have the Lord instead of Christ, yet this latter has the greatest proportion of authority on its side. And this affords no mean proof that the person who is called hwhy Yehovah in the Old Testament, is called Christ in the New. By tempting Christ is meant disbelieving the providence and goodness of God; and presuming to prescribe to him how he should send them the necessary supplies, and of what kind they should be, &c.

Verses 9, 10. Neither let us tempt Christ — By our unbelief and distrusting his providence, after the tokens he hath given us to encourage our faith, and engage our dependance; as some of them — Of the next generation; tempted him — While he resided among them as the angel of God’s presence, who led them through the wilderness, Exodus 23:20, 21; Isaiah 63:9; and were destroyed of serpents — From the venom of which others were recovered by looking at the brazen serpent, which was so illustrious a type of the Messiah. “In the history, these are called fiery serpents, Deuteronomy 8:15; and Gesner is of opinion that these serpents were of the dipsas kind, (a name taken from the thirst they cause in those they sting,) which Lucian hath described in his treatise, entitled Dipsades, where, speaking of the deserts of Lybia, he says, ‘Of all the serpents which inhabit these solitudes, the most cruel is the dipsas, no bigger than a viper, but whose sting causes most dismal pains, even till death. For it is a gross venom, which burns, breeds thirst, and putrifies; and those who are afflicted with it, cry as if they were in the fire.’ For an account of this serpent, see Kolben’s State of the Cape of Good Hope, vol.

2. p. 165.” — Macknight. Neither murmur ye — Under those dispensations of providence, which may seem at present very afflictive, particularly on account of the malice and power of your enemies; as some of them murmured — When they heard the report of the spies, Numbers 14:2; and were destroyed of the destroyer — The destroying angel, who was commissioned by one judgment after another to take them off. The Jews generally interpret this of him whom they fancy to be the angel of death, and whom they called Sammael. See on Hebrews 2:14.

Ver. 9. Neither let us tempt Christ, as in the revolt at Rephidim, when the people murmured for water, and when Moses and Aaron received their sentence, not to enter the promised land. “They turned back, and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Psalm 78:41. They tempted him again when they loathed the manna, and were destroyed of serpents. Exodus 17. Numbers 21.

9. Tempt Christ—Some manuscripts read the Lord, instead of Christ. The meaning would then be the same, but the analogy of verse 4 and of Hebrews 11:26 is convincing proof that Christ is the true reading. To tempt the Divine Being is to provoke and dare his wrath by a persistence in presumptuous sin. The allusion is to Numbers 21:4-6, where Israel is described as provoking God by reproaches for bringing them into the desert and feeding them upon manna. So the Corinthian Christians might rebel at their separation from the pagan social world, and their restriction under the severe morality of Christ. In this way myriads of professing Christians have tempted Christ, have apostatized from his religion, and died of the fiery bite of the old serpent or his “infernal brood.”

Ver. 7.-10. Four examples, expounding in detail “as they also desired.” Idolaters: put prominently first, preparing the way for 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. So “fornicators” in 1 Corinthians 6:9, preparing for 1 Corinthians 6:13-20.

The people sat etc.: word for word from Exodus 32:6. This verse, without expressly mentioning idolatry, recalls the idolatrous scene; and is specially suitable to dissuade from taking part (1 Corinthians 10:21; 8:10) in idol feasts.

Fornication: ever closely connected with idolatry, especially at Corinth; and expressly in Numbers 25:1-9, to which Paul here refers. Twenty-three thousand: 24,000 in Numbers 25:9, with which agree Josephus, Antiq. bk. iv. 6. 12, and Philo, vol. ii. 382. Since Paul had no source of information but the Old Testament, we cannot evade this discrepancy but supposing that on one day only 23,000 fell. Surely we need not stretch his apostolic authority to trifling numerical details. See my Romans, Dissertation iii. 2. Nor does a trifling slip of memory, if this be such, in a matter no way touching the spiritual life, lessen in the least degree his absolute authority when declaring the commands and promises of God. Cp. Galatians 3:17. How needful at Corinth was this second warning, we learn from 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 12:21. The Lord: probably, especially after 1 Corinthians 10:4, in its usual sense, viz. Christ, the Master whom all Christians obey.

Tempt, or try: put to the test, as if to see how long His patience will last. The serpents: plain reference to Numbers 21:6. Consequently, tempted refers to the murmuring about their food. The similar murmuring in Exodus 17:3 is expressly called (Exodus 5:7, cp. Deuteronomy 6:16) tempting God; and gave a name to the place, Massah, or Temptation. In these cases the Israelites tested whether God was among them and His longsuffering towards them, by looking back to the land of bondage out of which He had brought them. A similar leaning in the Corinthians to the idolatrous practices and the impurity of their past life, prompted the warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:7f. Such looking back was a tempting of their Master, Christ, similar to that punished by the fiery serpents.

Were-being-destroyed; both depicts the scene, and includes the bitten ones who looked at the brazen serpent and recovered. 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers evidently to Numbers 16:41-49; and was naturally suggested by the murmuring of Numbers 21:5.

The destroyer: Wisdom 18:25; Exodus 12:23. It implies that the “plague” of Numbers 16:46ff was inflicted by a personal agent, probably an angel of God. Cp. 2 Samuel 24:16; Isaiah 37:36. The story of Numbers 16:41ff is a solemn warning to all who set themselves against a divinely constituted authority; and was perhaps referred to here as a covert warning to those at Corinth who rejected Paul's apostolic authority.

V. 10. The destroyer-The destroying angel. Numbers 14:1, 36

Verse 10. Neither murmur ye] How the Israelites murmured because of the manna, which their souls despised as a light bread-something incapable of affording them nourishment, &c., and because they had been brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, and pretended that the promises of God had failed; and how they were destroyed by serpents, and by the destroyer or plague; may be seen at large in the texts referred to in the margin on this and the preceding verses. It appears from what the apostle says here, that the Corinthians were murmuring against God and his apostle for prohibiting them from partaking of the idolatrous feasts, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness in reference to a similar subject. See the history of Phineas, with Zimri and Cosbi, and the rebellion of Corah and his company, &c., &c.

Destroyed of the destroyer.] The Jews suppose that God employed destroying angels to punish those rebellious Israelites; they were five in number, and one of them they call tyjvm Meshachith, the destroyer; which appears to be another name for Samael, the angel of death, to whose influence they attribute all deaths which are not uncommon or violent. Those who die violent deaths, or deaths that are not in the common manner of men, are considered as perishing by immediate judgments from God.

Verses 9, 10. Neither let us tempt Christ — By our unbelief and distrusting his providence, after the tokens he hath given us to encourage our faith, and engage our dependance; as some of them — Of the next generation; tempted him — While he resided among them as the angel of God’s presence, who led them through the wilderness, Exodus 23:20, 21; Isaiah 63:9; and were destroyed of serpents — From the venom of which others were recovered by looking at the brazen serpent, which was so illustrious a type of the Messiah. “In the history, these are called fiery serpents, Deuteronomy 8:15; and Gesner is of opinion that these serpents were of the dipsas kind, (a name taken from the thirst they cause in those they sting,) which Lucian hath described in his treatise, entitled Dipsades, where, speaking of the deserts of Lybia, he says, ‘Of all the serpents which inhabit these solitudes, the most cruel is the dipsas, no bigger than a viper, but whose sting causes most dismal pains, even till death. For it is a gross venom, which burns, breeds thirst, and putrifies; and those who are afflicted with it, cry as if they were in the fire.’ For an account of this serpent, see Kolben’s State of the Cape of Good Hope, vol.

2. p. 165.” — Macknight. Neither murmur ye — Under those dispensations of providence, which may seem at present very afflictive, particularly on account of the malice and power of your enemies; as some of them murmured — When they heard the report of the spies, Numbers 14:2; and were destroyed of the destroyer — The destroying angel, who was commissioned by one judgment after another to take them off. The Jews generally interpret this of him whom they fancy to be the angel of death, and whom they called Sammael. See on Hebrews 2:14.

Ver. 10. The destroyer seems to refer to the avenging angel who inflicted the plague. It was an angel who smote the firstborn of the Egyptians; it was an angel who slew the seventy thousand who gloried in an arm of flesh, when David numbered the people; it was an angel who destroyed the blaspheming Assyrians, and Herod when he gave not God the glory. Thus both the old and new testament ascribe the visitations of God to the ministry of angels.

10. Murmured—Korah and his company murmured against Moses and Aaron, (and so against God,) and more than 14,000 of the people were destroyed. Numbers 16:49. By analogy this warns the Corinthians to beware of those who would excite a captious rebellion and schism, not only against the gospel and the Church, but against the authority of Christ’s true apostles. Destroyer—In the pestilence following the crime of Korah and his company no personal destroyer is mentioned; but one is presupposed as executing that divine judgment, perhaps from the analogy of Exodus 12:23, where the destroyer, the divine executioner of death for sin, is mentioned.

Ver. 7.-10. Four examples, expounding in detail “as they also desired.” Idolaters: put prominently first, preparing the way for 1 Corinthians 10:14-22. So “fornicators” in 1 Corinthians 6:9, preparing for 1 Corinthians 6:13-20.

The people sat etc.: word for word from Exodus 32:6. This verse, without expressly mentioning idolatry, recalls the idolatrous scene; and is specially suitable to dissuade from taking part (1 Corinthians 10:21; 8:10) in idol feasts.

Fornication: ever closely connected with idolatry, especially at Corinth; and expressly in Numbers 25:1-9, to which Paul here refers. Twenty-three thousand: 24,000 in Numbers 25:9, with which agree Josephus, Antiq. bk. iv. 6. 12, and Philo, vol. ii. 382. Since Paul had no source of information but the Old Testament, we cannot evade this discrepancy but supposing that on one day only 23,000 fell. Surely we need not stretch his apostolic authority to trifling numerical details. See my Romans, Dissertation iii. 2. Nor does a trifling slip of memory, if this be such, in a matter no way touching the spiritual life, lessen in the least degree his absolute authority when declaring the commands and promises of God. Cp. Galatians 3:17. How needful at Corinth was this second warning, we learn from 1 Corinthians 5:1; 2 Corinthians 12:21. The Lord: probably, especially after 1 Corinthians 10:4, in its usual sense, viz. Christ, the Master whom all Christians obey.

Tempt, or try: put to the test, as if to see how long His patience will last. The serpents: plain reference to Numbers 21:6. Consequently, tempted refers to the murmuring about their food. The similar murmuring in Exodus 17:3 is expressly called (Exodus 5:7, cp. Deuteronomy 6:16) tempting God; and gave a name to the place, Massah, or Temptation. In these cases the Israelites tested whether God was among them and His longsuffering towards them, by looking back to the land of bondage out of which He had brought them. A similar leaning in the Corinthians to the idolatrous practices and the impurity of their past life, prompted the warnings of 1 Corinthians 10:7f. Such looking back was a tempting of their Master, Christ, similar to that punished by the fiery serpents.

Were-being-destroyed; both depicts the scene, and includes the bitten ones who looked at the brazen serpent and recovered. 1 Corinthians 10:10 refers evidently to Numbers 16:41-49; and was naturally suggested by the murmuring of Numbers 21:5.

The destroyer: Wisdom 18:25; Exodus 12:23. It implies that the “plague” of Numbers 16:46ff was inflicted by a personal agent, probably an angel of God. Cp. 2 Samuel 24:16; Isaiah 37:36. The story of Numbers 16:41ff is a solemn warning to all who set themselves against a divinely constituted authority; and was perhaps referred to here as a covert warning to those at Corinth who rejected Paul's apostolic authority.

V. 11. On whom the ends of the ages are come-The expression has great force. All things meet together, and come to a crisis, under the last, the gospel, dispensation; both benefits and dangers, punishments and rewards. It remains, that Christ come as an avenger and judge. And even these ends include various periods, succeeding each other.

Verse 11. Upon whom the ends of the world are come.] ta telh twn aiwnwn. The end of the times included within the whole duration of the Mosaic economy. For although the word aiwn means, in its primary sense, endless being, or duration; yet, in its accommodated sense, it is applied to any round or duration that is complete in itself: and here it evidently means the whole duration of the Mosaic economy. “Thus, therefore,” says Dr. Lightfoot, “the apostle speaks in this place that those things, which were transacted in the beginning of the Jewish ages, are written for an example to you upon whom the ends of those ages are come; and the beginning is like to the end, and the end to the beginning. Both were forty years; both consisted of temptation and unbelief; and both ended in the destruction of the unbelievers-that, in the destruction of those who perished in the wilderness; this, in the destruction of those that believed not: viz. the destruction of their city and nation.” The phrase aymwy ãws soph yomaiya, the end of days, says the Targum of Jerusalem, Genesis 3:15, means ajyvm aklmd ywmwyb beyomoi demalca Meshicha, in the days of the King Messiah. We are to consider the apostle’s words as referring to the end of the Jewish dispensation and the commencement of the Christian, which is the last dispensation which God will vouchsafe to man in the state of probation.

Verses 11-13. Now all these things — These various calamitous events; happened unto them for ensamples — That we might learn wisdom at their expense, and not trust to external privileges, while we go on in a course of disobedience to the divine authority. The apostle’s meaning is, that punishment inflicted on sinners in a public and extraordinary manner, makes them examples of the divine vengeance to their own generation, and to all succeeding ones which have any knowledge of their history. And they are written for our admonition — To warn us Christians; upon whom the ends of the world — Or, of the ages; twn aiwnwn, are come — That is, at the end of the Mosaic dispensation, whose duration was measured by ages or jubilees. Or it may signify the last dispensation of religion, namely, that of the gospel, which succeeded the patriarchal and the Jewish. The expression has great force. All things meet together and come to a crisis under the last, the gospel dispensation; both benefits and dangers, punishments and rewards. And under it Christ will come as an avenger and a judge. Wherefore — As if he had said, Seeing that so many who enjoyed great spiritual privileges, yet were punished for their sins, therefore let him that thinketh he standeth — Or rather, that most assuredly standeth, (for the word dokei, rendered thinketh, most certainly strengthens, rather than weakens the sense,) or is confident that he is able to resist temptation, and to continue steadfast in the practice of his duty; and that, thereupon, he shall be secure from punishment; take heed lest he fall — Into sin and perdition. There hath no temptation — Peirasmov, trial, of any kind, whether by way of suffering, as the word means, James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6; and in many other places; or of inducement to sin, as the expression signifies, James 1:13, 14; but such as is common to man — Usual and ordinary among men: or, as the Greek word more especially imports, proportioned to human strength. At the time the apostle wrote this, the Christians at Corinth had not been much persecuted; see chap. 4:8. But — Or and; God is faithful — To his promise, and therefore will not suffer you to be tempted — Or tried; above that ye are able — Through the strength which he imparts, to endure the trial, and stand in the evil day; but will, with the temptation — By which he suffers you to be assaulted; make a way to escape — Greek, thn ekbasin, a passage out — That is, will provide for your deliverance; that — If you be not wanting to yourselves; you may be able to bear it — Yea, and may acquire new strength by, and comfort from the combat.

Ver. 11. These things happened for ensamples, and are written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the world, or ages of Christ, are come. Paul enumerates only five revolts of the fathers, though they rebelled ten times against the Lord. He expressly says, that these revolts were against “Christ,” against Jehovah, the Angel of the burning bush, and whom the psalmist above calls the Holy One of Israel. All the versions read Christ, the Syriac, the Spanish, the Irish, the Sweedish, and the Russian. Such also is the doctrine of the christian fathers, that Christ is the Angel who spake to the patriarchs, and led the Israelites to the promised land. Beware then, oh factious men who disturb the church at Corinth, for all the Israelites were baptized, as well as you, and yet they fell short of the promised land.

11. For ensamples—Greek, typically; that is, illustratively. The world— World in the Greek, here, is plural, making ends of the worlds. The word signifies age or dispensation; implying a cycle of time in which some great round of Providence is accomplished. Hence, if the word here be rendered world, it must be understood to signify not kosmov, cosmos, the material world, but a world-period, or time-world. These ages or time-worlds of sacred history can be variously measured. We may reckon the antediluvian period or world; the patriarchal; the Mosaic and the Christian. In Matthew 24:3 the Greek for end of the world is thv sunteleiav tou aiwnov; literally, the together ending of the age, or present time-world. The term together ending, or con-summation, implies the converging of several threads of providential events to a common close. Similarly, here we have the (plural) endings, convergings to one close, of all the previous ages into the present final age. The age of the Messiah is the age for which the previous ages, or time-worlds, were framed. Hebrews 1:2. Hence the wilderness-histories of Israel find their antitype in the present history of the Church, and so were written for our admonition. We are heirs to all the past.

Ver. 11. Parallel to 1 Corinthians 10:6; as are 1 Corinthians 10:7-10 to 1 Corinthians 10:5b.

These things; the foregoing punishments.

Typically: by way of pattern of what will happen to others. Yet they were real events: for they happened to them.

Written for our admonition: cp. Romans 3:19; 4:24; 15:4; see my Romans, Dissertation iii. 3.

The ages: the various world-periods, in which God dealt with men in different modes, e.g. antediluvian, pre-Abrahamic, patriarchal, Mosaic. Of these, the age introduced by Christ is a completion (Hebrews 9:26) and the end, to be immediately followed by the coming of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the new earth and heaven.

Ends, (see under 2 Corinthians 11:15,) rather than “end:” because in the Christian dispensation each of the former ages finds its goal and consummation: This justifies Paul's assertion that the narratives written in former ages were designed for admonition of those living in the Christian age.

Have come: as though the Christian age had overtaken them; and specially appropriate in the lips of one who lived before the Christian age began.

V. 12. The common translation runs, Let him that thinketh he standeth; but the word translated thinketh, most certainly strengthens, rather than weakens, the sense.

Verse 12. Let him that thinketh he standeth] oJ dokwn estanai. Let him who most confidently standeth-him who has the fullest conviction in his own conscience that his heart is right with God, and that his mind is right in the truth, take heed lest he fall from his faith, and from the state of holiness in which the grace of God has placed him. I have already shown that the verb dokein, which we render to seem, to think, to suppose, is used by the best Greek writers, not to lessen or weaken the sense, but to render it stronger and more emphatic. See Clarke’s note on “Luke 8:18”.

In a state of probation every thing may change; while we are in this life we may stand or fall: our standing in the faith depends on our union with God; and that depends on our watching unto prayer, and continuing to possess that faith that worketh by love. The highest saint under heaven can stand no longer than he depends upon God and continues in the obedience of faith. He that ceases to do so will fall into sin, and get a darkened understanding and a hardened heart: and he may continue in this state till God come to take away his soul. Therefore, let him who most assuredly standeth, take heed lest he fall; not only partially, but finally.

Verses 11-13. Now all these things — These various calamitous events; happened unto them for ensamples — That we might learn wisdom at their expense, and not trust to external privileges, while we go on in a course of disobedience to the divine authority. The apostle’s meaning is, that punishment inflicted on sinners in a public and extraordinary manner, makes them examples of the divine vengeance to their own generation, and to all succeeding ones which have any knowledge of their history. And they are written for our admonition — To warn us Christians; upon whom the ends of the world — Or, of the ages; twn aiwnwn, are come — That is, at the end of the Mosaic dispensation, whose duration was measured by ages or jubilees. Or it may signify the last dispensation of religion, namely, that of the gospel, which succeeded the patriarchal and the Jewish. The expression has great force. All things meet together and come to a crisis under the last, the gospel dispensation; both benefits and dangers, punishments and rewards. And under it Christ will come as an avenger and a judge. Wherefore — As if he had said, Seeing that so many who enjoyed great spiritual privileges, yet were punished for their sins, therefore let him that thinketh he standeth — Or rather, that most assuredly standeth, (for the word dokei, rendered thinketh, most certainly strengthens, rather than weakens the sense,) or is confident that he is able to resist temptation, and to continue steadfast in the practice of his duty; and that, thereupon, he shall be secure from punishment; take heed lest he fall — Into sin and perdition. There hath no temptation — Peirasmov, trial, of any kind, whether by way of suffering, as the word means, James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6; and in many other places; or of inducement to sin, as the expression signifies, James 1:13, 14; but such as is common to man — Usual and ordinary among men: or, as the Greek word more especially imports, proportioned to human strength. At the time the apostle wrote this, the Christians at Corinth had not been much persecuted; see chap. 4:8. But — Or and; God is faithful — To his promise, and therefore will not suffer you to be tempted — Or tried; above that ye are able — Through the strength which he imparts, to endure the trial, and stand in the evil day; but will, with the temptation — By which he suffers you to be assaulted; make a way to escape — Greek, thn ekbasin, a passage out — That is, will provide for your deliverance; that — If you be not wanting to yourselves; you may be able to bear it — Yea, and may acquire new strength by, and comfort from the combat.

Ver. 12. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed. O dokwn, existimans, Montanus: so in Hebrews 4:1. One who estimates himself to stand, is admonished to take heed lest he fall. Let such at Corinth who foster factions in the church beware, lest God who punished the ancient rebels, should also punish some at Corinth with sickness, and others with the sleep of death.

12. Wherefore—As a deduction from the wilderness-history, Paul draws this inference: beware of apostasy. And as this whole passage (1-14) is parallel to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, so this warning against apostasy (12-14) is parallel to Paul’s avoidance of becoming a castaway, 1 Corinthians 9:27. Thinketh—Each one’s own consciousness must decide for himself whether he standeth on the Christian journeying-ground or not. But the exhortation of persons not to fall, in this and all other cases, must presuppose that they are really standing in a state of grace. The presupposition is, that if they stand as they are they will be saved. If, as some maintain, they are false professors, either by hypocrisy or self-deception, the sooner they cease to stand the better. Hence all exhortations not to fall are made on the assumption of the possibility and practical liability to fall from a true state of grace, or they are absurd. Take heed—By believing it possible and guarding against it. Fall—From a state in which, if he persevered, he would be saved.

To all this it cannot be wisely replied that, although there is danger of a Christian’s fall, yet the danger will never result; the very warning will be successful and prevent the falling. For in the present case the warning is based on the historic fact that thousands of Israel did fall; and we must not fall as they DID. We are exhorted not to fall from a true state of grace as they fell from a true state of grace. And Paul has taken great pains to declare and show, in verses 1-4, how they were all, all, all a true part of a true Church, baptized and sacramented, so that their final perdition was a true and fearful fall; a type for true Christians carefully to avoid. If they never truly stood, they never fell; and if they fell, they once stood. If their fault and ruin was in actually falling, then their salvation would have been in actually standing—standing just as they were.

Ver. 12. Desired result of the foregoing narratives.

He that thinks: the man's opinion about himself, whether true or false. Cp. 1 Corinthians 7:40. Same word (R.V. “reputed”) in Galatians 2:2, 6, 9. The man of whom Paul thinks actually stands: else he could not fall.

Stand: Romans 5:2; 11:20: retain his Christian position. Fall: lose it by committing the sins of 1 Corinthians 10:7ff. Cp. Romans 11:11, 22.

V. 13. Common to man-Or, as the Greek word imports, proportioned to human strength.

God is faithful-In giving the help which he hath promised. And he will with the temptation-Provide for your deliverance.

Verse 13. But such as is common to man] anqrwpinov. Chrysostom has properly translated this word anqrwpinov, toutesti mikrov, bracuv, summetrov; that is, small, short, moderate. Your temptations or trials have been but trifling in comparison of those endured by the Israelites; they might have been easily resisted and overcome. Besides, God will not suffer you to be tried above the strength he gives you; but as the trial comes, he will provide you with sufficient strength to resist it; as the trial comes in, he will make your way out. The words are very remarkable, poihsei sun tw peirasmw kai thn ekbasin, “He will, with the temptation, make the deliverance, or way out.” Satan is never permitted to block up our way, without the providence of God making a way through the wall. God ever makes a breach in his otherwise impregnable fortification. Should an upright soul get into difficulties and straits, he may rest assured that there is a way out, as there was a way in; and that the trial shall never be above the strength that God shall give him to bear it.

Verses 11-13. Now all these things — These various calamitous events; happened unto them for ensamples — That we might learn wisdom at their expense, and not trust to external privileges, while we go on in a course of disobedience to the divine authority. The apostle’s meaning is, that punishment inflicted on sinners in a public and extraordinary manner, makes them examples of the divine vengeance to their own generation, and to all succeeding ones which have any knowledge of their history. And they are written for our admonition — To warn us Christians; upon whom the ends of the world — Or, of the ages; twn aiwnwn, are come — That is, at the end of the Mosaic dispensation, whose duration was measured by ages or jubilees. Or it may signify the last dispensation of religion, namely, that of the gospel, which succeeded the patriarchal and the Jewish. The expression has great force. All things meet together and come to a crisis under the last, the gospel dispensation; both benefits and dangers, punishments and rewards. And under it Christ will come as an avenger and a judge. Wherefore — As if he had said, Seeing that so many who enjoyed great spiritual privileges, yet were punished for their sins, therefore let him that thinketh he standeth — Or rather, that most assuredly standeth, (for the word dokei, rendered thinketh, most certainly strengthens, rather than weakens the sense,) or is confident that he is able to resist temptation, and to continue steadfast in the practice of his duty; and that, thereupon, he shall be secure from punishment; take heed lest he fall — Into sin and perdition. There hath no temptation — Peirasmov, trial, of any kind, whether by way of suffering, as the word means, James 1:2; 1 Peter 1:6; and in many other places; or of inducement to sin, as the expression signifies, James 1:13, 14; but such as is common to man — Usual and ordinary among men: or, as the Greek word more especially imports, proportioned to human strength. At the time the apostle wrote this, the Christians at Corinth had not been much persecuted; see chap. 4:8. But — Or and; God is faithful — To his promise, and therefore will not suffer you to be tempted — Or tried; above that ye are able — Through the strength which he imparts, to endure the trial, and stand in the evil day; but will, with the temptation — By which he suffers you to be assaulted; make a way to escape — Greek, thn ekbasin, a passage out — That is, will provide for your deliverance; that — If you be not wanting to yourselves; you may be able to bear it — Yea, and may acquire new strength by, and comfort from the combat.

13. There—But your falling from grace, though possible, is by no means necessary. God, on his part, has done every thing for your perseverance if you do yours. He will keep you, none can pluck you from his hand, he will provide your escape from every temptation; only you must consent to be kept, to stay in his hand, and to escape by the way he provides. Sinners and apostates can defeat all the provisions of God’s grace. See our Note on Romans 8:35-39. Common to man—A prolix but correct rendering of the Greek word anqrwpinov, human. No temptation not ordinary in the level of human probation. Whether to idolatry, to fornication, to presumption against Christ, or to murmuring against his Church, all are no greater than Israel suffered before you and others will suffer after you. To escape—Even if force compels a mechanical wrong act the will may refuse consent, and the deed is guiltless. If there were no power of escape, these would (unless we have wickedly destroyed our own power) be irresponsible for yielding to the temptation. Able to bear—Thus far does God’s grace go. No power of motive will oblige our wills to apostatize or sin. When we choose to sin, it is not because we have not the power of contrary choice, but because we do not use it, or have guiltily forfeited it. On the other hand, no divine efficiency or decree—no motive force—will oblige us to use the way of escape. When God purposes to leave our free wills to act on trial, he does not destroy the trial by previously fixing the way we shall choose. From the very nature of trial or probation that would be to upset his own divine purpose.

Resumption (from 1 Corinthians 8:13) of the response touching the eating of idolatrous sacrifices, 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1.

Ver. 13. Encouragement after warning.

Temptation: whatever, painful or pleasant, tends to lead us to sin, and thus tests our loyalty to Christ. Cp. Matthew 4:1-10. Human: within the limits of the spiritual powers God has given to men. We can conceive higher intelligences to be attacked by severer temptations. Faithful: 1 Corinthians 1:9. To what has been (1 Corinthians 10:13a) in the past, Paul adds what will be in the future. Will not let: for each temptation attacks us under His eye and restraint. Will make etc.; does not imply that the temptation is God's work, (though, in a sense, this is true: cp. Genesis 22:1,) but that God will provide that it shall be accompanied by the way-out. And that God is faithful, pledges Him to do this. For He has promised life to all who believe; and this implies escape from all temptation, which in turn implies that we shall not be tempted beyond the powers God has granted to men.

That you may etc.: God's purpose in making the way out. We endure temptation by flying from it.

SECTION 17 confirms strongly my note under Romans 11:24 in disproof of Calvin's doctrine that all who have been justified will be finally saved. The word “rejected” in 1 Corinthians 9:27, supported as it is by examples of those who never entered Canaan, can refer only to rejection from heaven. And Paul must have thought this possible in his own case; or the motive given in 1 Corinthians 9:27 would be utterly unreal. Yet he was quite sure (Romans 5:9f; 2 Corinthians 5:18) of his own justification. The examples of those who, as Paul so emphatically tells us, actually started for Canaan but never reached it, would be quite inapplicable to those who, the right start once made, could not fall finally.

V. 14. Flee from idolatry-And from all approaches to it.

Verse 14. Therefore-flee from idolatry.] This is a trial of no great magnitude; to escape from so gross a temptation requires but a moderate portion of grace and circumspection.

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, &c. — To understand what follows, it seems necessary to suppose that the Corinthians, in their letter, put three questions to the apostle concerning meats sacrificed to idols. 1st, Whether they might innocently go with their heathen acquaintance into the idol’s temple, and partake of the feasts on the sacrifices which were eaten there in honour of the idol? 2d, Whether they might buy and eat meat sold in the markets which had been sacrificed to idols? 3d, Whether, when invited to the houses of the heathen, they might eat of meats sacrificed to idols, which were set before them as a common meal? To the first of these questions the apostle answered, chap. 8., that their joining the heathen in their feasts on the sacrifices in the idol’s temple, even on the supposition that it was a thing in itself innocent, might be a stumbling-block to their weak brethren, in which case it ought to be avoided; but whether such a practice were a thing innocent or sinful in itself, he did not on that occasion consider. Here, therefore, he resumes the subject, that he might treat of it fully, and answer the other questions proposed to him by the Corinthians relative to that matter. Flee from idolatry — And from all approaches to it, whatever circumstances of allurement or danger may seem to plead for some degrees of compliance. I speak as to wise men — I use a rational argument, which will bear the strictest examination, and which I am willing should be canvassed as accurately as you please; judge you, therefore, what I say — What I advance, to show you that the eating of the sacrifices in the idol’s temple is, or leads to, a real worshipping of the idol: and that, therefore, you will naturally bring guilt upon your consciences, by such associations and participations of their idolatrous feasts.

14. Wherefore—As an inference from all the above warnings, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Idolatry—Which resumes the thread of thought from 8:13, touching idol offerings, and continues it to 1 Corinthians 11:1.

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 18 — AVOID GIVING ANY SANCTION

TO IDOLATRY CH. 10:14-22

For which cause certainly, my beloved ones, fly from idolatry. As to prudent men I say, Judge yourselves what I assert. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not partnership in* (* Greek, partnership of the blood, etc.) the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not partnership in* (* Greek, partnership of the blood, etc.) the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, one body we, the many, are. For, from the one bread, we all partake.

Look at Israel according to flesh. Are not they who eat the sacrifices partners with the altar?

What, then, do I assert? That an idol-sacrifice is anything? or that an idol is anything? but that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, to demons and not to God they sacrifice. And I do not wish you to become partners with demons. You cannot be partaking of a table of the Lord and a table of demons. Or, are we moving the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

On introducing the matter of food offered to idols, which occupies DIV. IV., Paul laid down in § 14 the principle of not doing that which injures others. This he supported in §§ 15, 16 by his own example; and in § 17 by a warning from the story of the Israelites. He will not deal specifically with one part of the matter in hand, viz. idol-feasts; by showing that attendance at them involves partnership with evil spirits. This he proves by the analogy (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17) of the Lord's Supper and (1 Corinthians 10:18) of the Mosaic sacrifices; shows it to be (1 Corinthians 10:19, 20a) in harmony with what he has already said, and the Old Testament has said, about idols; and adds (1 Corinthians 10:20b-22) a threefold dissuasive from such feasts.

Ver. 14.-15. Fly from idolatry: 1 Corinthians 10:7 abstain from idol-feasts, (cp. 1 Corinthians 8:10,) which Paul will prove to be actual idolatry.

For which cause: Since God has pledged Himself to make in every temptation a way of escape, there is no need even in Corinth to yield to the many inducements to attend such feasts. These words remind the readers that such inducements were only a “trial” of their faith. Prudent: or thoughtful. This appeal prepares us for something important and difficult.

Assert: not an unproved assertion. For judge for yourselves implies that reasons will be given.

Verse 15. I speak as to wise men] The Corinthians valued themselves not a little on their wisdom and various gifts; the apostle admits this, and draws an argument from it against themselves. As ye are so wise, surely ye can see the propriety of abominating idolatry of every kind: for an idol is nothing in the world, and can do nothing for you and nothing against you.

Verses 14, 15. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, &c. — To understand what follows, it seems necessary to suppose that the Corinthians, in their letter, put three questions to the apostle concerning meats sacrificed to idols. 1st, Whether they might innocently go with their heathen acquaintance into the idol’s temple, and partake of the feasts on the sacrifices which were eaten there in honour of the idol? 2d, Whether they might buy and eat meat sold in the markets which had been sacrificed to idols? 3d, Whether, when invited to the houses of the heathen, they might eat of meats sacrificed to idols, which were set before them as a common meal? To the first of these questions the apostle answered, chap. 8., that their joining the heathen in their feasts on the sacrifices in the idol’s temple, even on the supposition that it was a thing in itself innocent, might be a stumbling-block to their weak brethren, in which case it ought to be avoided; but whether such a practice were a thing innocent or sinful in itself, he did not on that occasion consider. Here, therefore, he resumes the subject, that he might treat of it fully, and answer the other questions proposed to him by the Corinthians relative to that matter. Flee from idolatry — And from all approaches to it, whatever circumstances of allurement or danger may seem to plead for some degrees of compliance. I speak as to wise men — I use a rational argument, which will bear the strictest examination, and which I am willing should be canvassed as accurately as you please; judge you, therefore, what I say — What I advance, to show you that the eating of the sacrifices in the idol’s temple is, or leads to, a real worshipping of the idol: and that, therefore, you will naturally bring guilt upon your consciences, by such associations and participations of their idolatrous feasts.

15. Wise men—In the apostolic Church there was, in spite of every shortcoming, an inspired wisdom, responsive to the inspired teachings of the apostles, and ratifying them as the true doctrine of Christ. Judge ye— For the statement of the true nature of the holy communion he relies on their full knowledge of its history and character. All this shows that the evangelical history was familiar both to apostle and Church, and is full proof of its truth and reality.

I CORINTHIANS

SECTION 18 — AVOID GIVING ANY SANCTION

TO IDOLATRY CH. 10:14-22

For which cause certainly, my beloved ones, fly from idolatry. As to prudent men I say, Judge yourselves what I assert. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not partnership in* (* Greek, partnership of the blood, etc.) the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not partnership in* (* Greek, partnership of the blood, etc.) the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, one body we, the many, are. For, from the one bread, we all partake.

Look at Israel according to flesh. Are not they who eat the sacrifices partners with the altar?

What, then, do I assert? That an idol-sacrifice is anything? or that an idol is anything? but that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, to demons and not to God they sacrifice. And I do not wish you to become partners with demons. You cannot be partaking of a table of the Lord and a table of demons. Or, are we moving the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

On introducing the matter of food offered to idols, which occupies DIV. IV., Paul laid down in § 14 the principle of not doing that which injures others. This he supported in §§ 15, 16 by his own example; and in § 17 by a warning from the story of the Israelites. He will not deal specifically with one part of the matter in hand, viz. idol-feasts; by showing that attendance at them involves partnership with evil spirits. This he proves by the analogy (1 Corinthians 10:16, 17) of the Lord's Supper and (1 Corinthians 10:18) of the Mosaic sacrifices; shows it to be (1 Corinthians 10:19, 20a) in harmony with what he has already said, and the Old Testament has said, about idols; and adds (1 Corinthians 10:20b-22) a threefold dissuasive from such feasts.

Ver. 14.-15. Fly from idolatry: 1 Corinthians 10:7 abstain from idol-feasts, (cp. 1 Corinthians 8:10,) which Paul will prove to be actual idolatry.

For which cause: Since God has pledged Himself to make in every temptation a way of escape, there is no need even in Corinth to yield to the many inducements to attend such feasts. These words remind the readers that such inducements were only a “trial” of their faith. Prudent: or thoughtful. This appeal prepares us for something important and difficult.

Assert: not an unproved assertion. For judge for yourselves implies that reasons will be given.

V. 16. The cup which we bless-By setting it apart to a sacred use, and solemnly invoking the blessing of God upon it.

Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ-The means of our partaking of those invaluable benefits, which are the purchase of the blood of Christ.

The communion of the body of Christ-The means of our partaking of those benefits which were purchased by the body of Christ-offered for us.

Verse 16. The cup of blessing] The apostle speaks here of the Eucharist, which he illustrates by the hkrbh swk cos habberacah, cup of blessing, over which thanks were expressed at the conclusion of the passover. See this largely explained at the conclusion of Clarke’s notes on “Matthew 26:75”, and in my Discourse upon the Eucharist, 8vo. 2d edit. 1814.

The communion of the blood of Christ?] We who partake of this sacred cup, in commemoration of the death of Christ, are made partakers of his body and blood, and thus have fellowship with him; as those who partake of an idol feast, thereby, as much as they can, participate with the idol, to whom the sacrifice was offered. This I have proved at large in the above tract, to which I must refer the reader, as the subject is too voluminous to be inserted here.

Verses 16, 17. The cup of blessing — In the Lord’s supper, the sacramental cup; which we bless — Set apart to a sacred use, solemnly invoking the blessing of God upon it. Dr. Macknight renders the original expression, o eulogoumen, for which we bless God, a sense which he thinks is sanctioned by 1 Corinthians 11:24, “where this blessing is interpreted by the giving of thanks. And he considers it as denoting the whole communicants’ joining together in blessing God over the cup, for his mercy in redeeming the world through the blood of Christ. Thus both Luke and Paul, in their account of the institution, express this part of the action by eucaristhsav, having given thanks. And hence the service itself hath long borne the name of the eucharist, or thanksgiving, by way of eminence.” Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? — The means of our partaking of those invaluable benefits which are the purchase of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break — And which was appointed in the first institution of the ordinance for this purpose; is it not the communion of the body of Christ? — In the like sense? That is, the means and token of our sharing in the privileges which he procured by the offering up of his body for us, to be torn, broken, and put to death. For we, being many, are yet, as it were, one bread — One loaf, as the word artov often signifies, and is translated, Matthew 16:9; where Jesus asks, Do ye not remember the five artouv, loaves, of the five thousand? and Matthew 4:3, Command that these stones be made, artouv, loaves. The sense is, It is this communion which makes us all one: by partaking of one and the same bread, we are united and formed into one mystical body. “This account of the Lord’s supper, the apostle gave to show the Corinthians, that as by eating thereof, the partakers declare they have the same object of worship, the same faith, the same hope, and the same dispositions with the persons whom they join in that act of religion, and that they will follow the same course of life; so, in all reasonable construction, by eating the sacrifices of idols, the partakers declare they are of the same faith and practice with the worshippers of idols, that they have the same objects of worship with them, and that they expect to share with them in the benefits to be derived from that worship.”

16. Cup of blessing—Note on Matthew 26:26. Communion is the common ownership of an undivided property; participation or partaking is the taking of a part of the common property for individual use. The Church in common possess the sacramental cup and bread; thereby the Church is one, as the cup and the bread are one. Is it not… blood—Note Matthew 26:26.

Ver. 16. Appeal to, and exposition of, The Lord's Supper, as a foundation for the argument of 1 Corinthians 10:21 and also to support the analogy of 1 Corinthians 10:18. Our interpretation of these words will be in great part determined by our interpretation of 1 Corinthians 11:23ff: and this interpretation must be in turn attested by its applicability to the argument here. We must therefore assume the results gained in our note under 1 Corinthians 11:34.

The cup: put first (contrast 1 Corinthians 11:24) perhaps because of the fuller exposition in 1 Corinthians 10:17 of the other element, the bread, which presents a closer parallel to 1 Corinthians 10:18. Cup of blessing: name given by the Jews to the third cup of wine at the Passover. Whether Paul refers to this and whether this term was commonly used of the Lord's Supper, we cannot determine.

Bless; see Romans 1:25: literally, to speak good words. The words spoken over the cup evidently set forth the goodness of God; as in Luke 1:64; 2:28. Hence they were equivalent to “thanksgiving.” Cp. 1 Corinthians 14:16; 1 Samuel 9:13; Matthew 14:19; Luke 9:16, with John 6:11; Mark 8:6 with Mark 8:7; Matthew 26:26 with Matthew 26:27. So Chrysostom: “A cup of blessing He called it; since, holding it in our hands, in this way we sing praise to Him.” Our first thought as we behold the symbols of the death of Christ is gratitude to God. Hence the term “Eucharist,” i.e. thanksgiving. And the cup which recalls the death of Christ is made here (cp. Mark 8:7; Luke 9:16) the object or matter of our blessing. The gratitude evoked by sight of the cup is made very prominent by the addition, which we bless.

We: whether by one person at each celebration or by the whole company, is left uncertain. Paul joins with others, whoever they be, in pronouncing it. Partnership: 1 Corinthians 1:9; see Romans 15:26. Partnership of; denotes both partnership with others, as 1 Corinthians 10:18, 20; 1:9; Hebrews 10:33; and partnership in something, as 2 Corinthians 1:7; 8:4; Philippians 3:10; 1 Peter 5:1; 2 Peter 1:4. Here probably, in spite of 1 Corinthians 10:18, 20, partnership (with others) in the benefits of the death of Christ, (contrast Matthew 23:30,) reminding us that others share these benefits with us. Cp. 1 Corinthians 10:17. For we cannot well conceive a partnership with the blood of Christ.

Is; must be expounded by Paul's teaching elsewhere, but requires a sense which justifies the argument of 1 Corinthians 10:16-21. Elsewhere we learn that through the shedding of the blood of Christ we receive pardon of sins and a union with Him so close that He lives in us making our life to be an outflow of His; that this truth is set forth visibly in the wine poured into the cup and drunk; and that to drink the material wine is a divinely-appointed and, to speak generally, indispensable condition of this spiritual partnership. Consequently, had not Christ died, there had been no Eucharist cup: and if we refuse the cup we surrender, by disobeying Christ's express command, all claim to the blessings which flow from the shedding of His blood. Therefore, to us the cup is, both symbolically and practically a partnership of the blood of Christ.

We break: made prominent in the narrative (1 Corinthians 11:24) as setting forth, like the poured out wine, the death of Christ. Of the body of Christ: partnership with other believers in the benefits resulting from the entire history of the human body of Christ, from His incarnation, holy life, death, resurrection, and glorified human presence in heaven.

V. 17. For it is this communion which makes us all one. We being many are yet, as it were, but different parts of one and the same broken bread, which we receive to unite us in one body.

Verse 17. For we, being many, are one bread] The original would be better translated thus: Because there is one bread, or loaf; we, who are many, are one body. As only one loaf was used at the passover, and those who partook of it were considered to be one religious body; so we who partake of the eucharistical bread and wine, in commemoration of the sacrificial death of Christ, are one spiritual society, because we are all made partakers of that one Christ whose blood was shed for us to make an atonement for our sins; as the blood of the paschal lamb was shed and sprinkled in reference to this of which it was the type.

Verses 16, 17. The cup of blessing — In the Lord’s supper, the sacramental cup; which we bless — Set apart to a sacred use, solemnly invoking the blessing of God upon it. Dr. Macknight renders the original expression, o eulogoumen, for which we bless God, a sense which he thinks is sanctioned by 1 Corinthians 11:24, “where this blessing is interpreted by the giving of thanks. And he considers it as denoting the whole communicants’ joining together in blessing God over the cup, for his mercy in redeeming the world through the blood of Christ. Thus both Luke and Paul, in their account of the institution, express this part of the action by eucaristhsav, having given thanks. And hence the service itself hath long borne the name of the eucharist, or thanksgiving, by way of eminence.” Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? — The means of our partaking of those invaluable benefits which are the purchase of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break — And which was appointed in the first institution of the ordinance for this purpose; is it not the communion of the body of Christ? — In the like sense? That is, the means and token of our sharing in the privileges which he procured by the offering up of his body for us, to be torn, broken, and put to death. For we, being many, are yet, as it were, one bread — One loaf, as the word artov often signifies, and is translated, Matthew 16:9; where Jesus asks, Do ye not remember the five artouv, loaves, of the five thousand? and Matthew 4:3, Command that these stones be made, artouv, loaves. The sense is, It is this communion which makes us all one: by partaking of one and the same bread, we are united and formed into one mystical body. “This account of the Lord’s supper, the apostle gave to show the Corinthians, that as by eating thereof, the partakers declare they have the same object of worship, the same faith, the same hope, and the same dispositions with the persons whom they join in that act of religion, and that they will follow the same course of life; so, in all reasonable construction, by eating the sacrifices of idols, the partakers declare they are of the same faith and practice with the worshippers of idols, that they have the same objects of worship with them, and that they expect to share with them in the benefits to be derived from that worship.”

Ver. 17. We being many are one bread, one body. The venerable ÆLFRIC, archbishop of Sherborne, Dorsetshire, in the tenth century, translated eighty spels (exercises, sermons) from ancient fathers. One of which, in die pascæ, for Erist or Easter Sunday, contains an illustration of these words. “Understand now and rejoice, for we are all one loaf, and one body in Christ. He is our head, we are his members. Ne bith se hlaf of anum corne, neither is the loaf made of one corn, ac of manegum, but of many. Ne tha win of anre berean, nor the wine of one berry, but of many. So also should we all have unity in our Lord. Therefore the holy housel (sacrament) is called a mystery, because one thing is there seen, and another thing is designed.” By consequence, if the figure was seen in the bread, and the substance seen by faith in Christ, Ælfric was not a believer in transubstantiation.

17. One bread—The bread is one, not by being a single loaf, as some suppose, but by being one species or substance, and so one emblem. We are one bread, as all the particles of the bread are one composite whole. One body—Being members of an organic whole, which is Christ’s body. Partakers—Note on verse 16.

Ver. 17. Confirmation of 1 Corinthians 10:16b, from the oneness of the church, by an argument from effect to cause. A similar argument would support 1 Corinthians 10:16a. But to develop one side is sufficient: and the bread is a closer analogy to 1 Corinthians 10:18. We, the many, are one body: an admitted and glorious truth, a forerunner of 1 Corinthians 12:12ff.

Because there is etc.; declares that of this one body the one sacramental bread is a cause.

For we all etc.: connecting link between the one bread and the one body. If to partake the eucharistic bread be a condition of receiving spiritual life of the church, which is its very essence, is in the same sense a result of all the members of the church partaking the one symbolic bread. Consequently, the church of Christ, consisting of many members of various nations and all ranks but living the same spiritual life and embodying it before the eyes of men, and drinking this life from the same source, viz. the death and life of Christ, on the condition that all its members partake the same material and symbolic food-the one church proves by its very existence the importance of the Lord's Supper and the spiritual reality which underlies it. These words also suggest the direct uniting influence of this one simple rite. Wherever a Christian went among Christians he found them eating and drinking the same bread and wine in memory of the same bruised body and shed blood; and was thus made to feel, in the most effective way conceivable, the oneness of the whole church. Paul may therefore say that the wonderful fact that the many and various members of the church are visibly united into one community, in which each member lives the same spiritual life, is a result of the fact that upon a table in their various assemblies the same bread lies; and may explain his words by reminding us that of this one bread all the members of all the churches partake.

V. 18. Consider Israel after the flesh-Christians are the spiritual Israel of God.

Are not they who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar-Is not this an act of communion with that God to whom they are offered? And is not the case the same with those who eat of the sacrifices which have been offered to idols?

Verse 18. Behold Israel after the flesh] The Jews not yet converted to Christianity: the latter being Israel after the Spirit. As the design of the apostle was to withdraw his converts at Corinth from all temptations to idolatry, he produces two examples to show the propriety of his endeavours. 1. All who join together in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and are partakers of that one bread, give proof by this that they are Christians, and have fellowship with Christ. 2. All the Israelites who offer sacrifice, and partake of those sacrifices, give proof thereby that they are Jews, and are in fellowship with the object of their worship: so they who join in idol festivals, and eat things which have been offered to idols, give proof that they are in communion with those idolaters, and that they have fellowship with the demons they worship.

Verse 18. Behold — Consider, by way of illustration; Israel after the flesh — How it is with the present Jews, the natural descendants of Jacob, who worship God by sacrifices, according to the Mosaic law. He says, after the flesh, to distinguish them from the spiritual Israel, consisting of believers of all nations, called the Israel of God, Galatians 6:16. Are not they who eat of the sacrifices — Who feast upon the remainders of the sacrifices offered at the altar; see Leviticus 7:15; 1 Samuel 1:4, 5; partakers of the altar — Do they not join in the worship there performed, and own the God there worshipped? And is not this an act of communion with that God to whom such sacrifices are offered? And is not the case the same with those who eat of the sacrifices offered to idols? This argument, drawn from the sentiments of the Jews, was used with peculiar propriety, especially in reasoning with the false teachers at Corinth, who, it seems, were Jews, and who, to ingratiate themselves with the Corinthians, are supposed to have encouraged them to eat of the idol’s sacrifices.

18. This unity and communion Paul now illustrates from the Jewish system, where partaking of the sacrifices rendered all adherents of the common altar. Israel after the flesh—in distinction from Israel after the spirit. Note Romans 9:8. Partakers of the altar—If the altar be an idolatrous one, the partaker is an idolater; if it be an altar of Jehovah, then he acknowledges Jehovah. Such may not be the intention of the partaker, but such is the established and public import of the act.

Ver. 18. After justifying beforehand the words “cup” and “table of the Lord” in 1 Corinthians 10:21, Paul now introduces beforehand an analogy in support of “partners with” and “cup of demons” in 1 Corinthians 10:22.

According to flesh; suggests that already the word Israel was used in a spiritual sense: cp. Galatians 6:16; 4:29.

They who etc.: the offerers of peace-offerings, who, after a part had been burnt on the altar and a part given to the priest, ate the rest in the temple court: Leviticus 7:15-21; Deuteronomy 12:5ff, 17ff. They were partners of the altar, not only inasmuch as part of the sacrificed animals was consumed by the altar and part by them, but in that, by joining that sacrificial feast in the holy place, they visibly and formally set themselves on the side of the God of the Temple, and lent their influence to maintain the temple ritual. Thus, by simply eating and drinking, they were aiding to set before the nation and the world the great preparatory lessons taught by the ancient symbols. And, in so doing, they were partners of the brazen altar, which, stained with the blood of the sacrifices, held so prominent a place in the ritual. That in days of spiritual declension the ritual was left in abeyance, and was restored in days of revival, (2 Chronicles 29:1-36; 30:1-27; 35:1-19,) reveals its spiritual importance.

V. 19. What say I then-Do I in saying this allow that an idol is anything divine? I aver, on the contrary, that what the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils. Such in reality are the gods of the heathens; and with such only can you hold communion in those sacrifices.

Verse 19. What say I then?] A Jewish phrase for, I conclude; and this is his conclusion: that although an idol is nothing, has neither power nor influence, nor are things offered to idols any thing the worse for being thus offered; yet, as the things sacrificed by the Gentiles are sacrificed to demons and not to God, those who partake of them have fellowship with demons: those who profess Christianity cannot have fellowship both with Christ and the devil.

Verses 19-22. What say I then — Do I, in saying this, allow that an idol is any thing divine? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing — Is a sacrifice to a real deity? Or is made either better or worse, or to differ from ordinary meat, by being thus offered to idols? You well know that I intend to maintain nothing of this kind: so far from it, that I aver the things which the Gentiles sacrifice — To supposed deities; they sacrifice to devils — For, though I grant the idol is nothing, yet those spirits that sometimes dwell in the images of these idols, and give answers from them, are something: they are demons, most wicked and unclean spirits, defiling every person and thing that has any relation to them. We may observe here, “The word daimwnia, demons, is used in the LXX. to denote the ghosts of men deceased; and Josephus (Bell., lib. 7:6) says, demons are the spirits of wicked men. It is therefore probable, that the writers of the New Testament use the word demons in the same sense, especially as it is well known that the greatest part of the heathen gods were dead men. The heathen worshipped two kinds of demons: the one kind were the souls of kings and heroes, deified after death, but who could have no agency in human affairs; the other kind of demons were those evil spirits who, under the names of Jupiter, Apollo, Trophonius, &c., moving the heathen priests and priestesses to deliver oracles, greatly promoted idolatry.” — Macknight. Such in reality, as if he had said, are the gods of the heathen, and with such only can ye hold communion in those sacrifices. And not to God — The heathen in general had no idea of God; that is, of an unoriginated, eternal, immutable, and infinitely perfect being, the Creator and Governor of all things. And I would not ye should have fellowship with devils — Or with their votaries, either in their worship, their principles, their practices, or their hopes; — ye who have at your baptism solemnly renounced the devil and all his adherents. For certainly it is not a small sin, nor a thing to be made light of, to have fellowship with them. Ye cannot of right — Or in reason, you ought not, it is contrary to your Christian profession so to do; drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils — Ye cannot have communion with both; cannot reasonably make profession of the worship of God, (which you do in the Lord’s supper in the highest instance,) and also of the worship of devils, (as you do in the idol feasts,) these being so contrary one to the other. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — Namely, by joining devils in competition with him? or by thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than He? — Able to resist or to bear his wrath? Can we secure ourselves against his judgments, when he comes forth to punish for such sins?

19. What say I then?—What is the import, then, of what I am now saying? Do I attribute any real existence to the imaginary gods and demigods represented by the idol, as Jupiter, Venus, Apollo? Or that the sacrifice is any thing more than a fiction?

Ver. 19.-20. Application of 1 Corinthians 10:16f and 1 Corinthians 10:18 to the idol-feasts, in a form which answers an objection.

What then etc.: “in bringing the Christian and Jewish feasts, so full of spiritual significance, as analogies of the heathen feasts, am I not conceding to heathenism the reality of its idol-gods?”

Is anything: that any reality underlies the name; that an idol-sacrifice is anything more than common meat, and an idol than a block of wood or stone.

Idol-sacrifices, idol: a climax. The answer to these questions is so plain that Paul does not give it, but merely tells us what he does assert about idols. He does not say that idol-sacrifices or even idols themselves are anything at all, but that the sacrifices offered to them are really offered to demons. Same word in Tobit 3:8; 6:15f; Matthew 9:33f, etc., John 8:48f; 1 Timothy 4:1: in classic Greek, a superhuman being, (Acts 17:18,) generally of an inferior class; elsewhere in the New Testament, an evil superhuman being.

To demons and not to God: word for word from Deuteronomy 32:17, LXX.; (cp. Psalm 106:37; Baruch 4:7;) and probably a correct rendering of the rare Hebrew word there used. That heathen sacrifices are a service rendered to evil spirits, is but an application of the broad principle of Romans 6:16 to the specific matter of idolatry. For it is assumed everywhere in the New Testament that the abstract power and rule of sin have taken concrete form in superhuman beings, acting under one personal head, and bringing evil influences to bear on the human race: Ephesians 6:12; 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26; Romans 16:20; 2 Corinthians 4:4. Therefore, every act of sin, being (Romans 6:16) obedience to sin, is also obedience to these superhuman enemies, and tends to carry out their purposes of death. Now idolatry is the ritual of sin. It is, therefore, the ceremonial of the rule of evil spirits over men. Consequently, though the heathen neither intend nor know it, every act of idolatry and whatever tends to support it, is a sacrifice laid on the altar of demons. And nowhere and never was this more evident than at Corinth in Paul's day. The variety of idols suggests demons rather than “Satan.”

Verses 19-22. What say I then — Do I, in saying this, allow that an idol is any thing divine? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing — Is a sacrifice to a real deity? Or is made either better or worse, or to differ from ordinary meat, by being thus offered to idols? You well know that I intend to maintain nothing of this kind: so far from it, that I aver the things which the Gentiles sacrifice — To supposed deities; they sacrifice to devils — For, though I grant the idol is nothing, yet those spirits that sometimes dwell in the images of these idols, and give answers from them, are something: they are demons, most wicked and unclean spirits, defiling every person and thing that has any relation to them. We may observe here, “The word daimwnia, demons, is used in the LXX. to denote the ghosts of men deceased; and Josephus (Bell., lib. 7:6) says, demons are the spirits of wicked men. It is therefore probable, that the writers of the New Testament use the word demons in the same sense, especially as it is well known that the greatest part of the heathen gods were dead men. The heathen worshipped two kinds of demons: the one kind were the souls of kings and heroes, deified after death, but who could have no agency in human affairs; the other kind of demons were those evil spirits who, under the names of Jupiter, Apollo, Trophonius, &c., moving the heathen priests and priestesses to deliver oracles, greatly promoted idolatry.” — Macknight. Such in reality, as if he had said, are the gods of the heathen, and with such only can ye hold communion in those sacrifices. And not to God — The heathen in general had no idea of God; that is, of an unoriginated, eternal, immutable, and infinitely perfect being, the Creator and Governor of all things. And I would not ye should have fellowship with devils — Or with their votaries, either in their worship, their principles, their practices, or their hopes; — ye who have at your baptism solemnly renounced the devil and all his adherents. For certainly it is not a small sin, nor a thing to be made light of, to have fellowship with them. Ye cannot of right — Or in reason, you ought not, it is contrary to your Christian profession so to do; drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils — Ye cannot have communion with both; cannot reasonably make profession of the worship of God, (which you do in the Lord’s supper in the highest instance,) and also of the worship of devils, (as you do in the idol feasts,) these being so contrary one to the other. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — Namely, by joining devils in competition with him? or by thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than He? — Able to resist or to bear his wrath? Can we secure ourselves against his judgments, when he comes forth to punish for such sins?

Ver. 20. The gentiles sacrifice to devils. The learned Dr. William Stukeley names the ancient temple of Dracontium in Asia, as bearing Satan’s names. What else are the sacrifices of the wicked. What else their songs and their dances, but the dance of demons. What else was the worship of Venus, and if possible, worse still, that of Priapus. Come out from among them; escape for thy life. The figures of their idols are demons revealed.

20. But—On the contrary, what I say is that, etc. Devils—Demons. Note on Luke 10:17. Our translators should never have confounded devil and demon. In pagan mythology a demon was intermediate between gods and men. One class were supposed to be the spirits of dead men, either good or evil, according to their character in life. Another class were beings of supernatural origin, somewhat like the angels. They might be good, like the demon which Socrates claimed to be his supernatural monitor; and it is singular to note how wonderfully many of the attributes of the Pythian Apollo prefigured Christ! They might be evil, as held by the wisest philosophers, and send diseases and pestilences to men and animals, and supply temptations to wrong.

In the Septuagint the word demon is used to designate, generally, an evil supernatural spirit, or whatever evil living reality there was to appropriate the service of pagan worshippers. So Psalm 96:5. All the gods of the pagans are demons; Deuteronomy 32:17, they sacrificed unto demons, and not unto God. It is clear from verse 22 that the apostle has this passage in mind. Josephus uses the word demons to denote the surviving spirits of wicked dead men, who often possess the living, and are to be expelled by exorcisms and fumigations.

In the New Testament the word is always used in a bad sense. There is but one Satan, one devil, and his angels, (Matthew 25:41,) and his angels are doubtless identical with the demons. There is no intimation in Scripture that they are the surviving spirits of the wicked dead. Wherever in our translation the plural word devils is used, the Greek is demons. Paul denies that there is any real god or goddess in paganism, but Satan’s spiritual emissaries may so impersonate those imaginary beings as to appropriate the honours of the worship, and keep the worshippers in paganism. Notes on Mark 5:2, and Acts 16:16, 18. Not to God—They belong to the idolatrous and infernal, and antagonize the true religion and the true God. I would not—And this would not, he shows next verse, involves a cannot.

Ver. 20b. Dissuasive from idol-feasts. It is explained and justified by the analogy, in 1 Corinthians 10:18, of the Mosaic sacrifices. Those who took part in the sacrificial feasts of the temple were, perhaps unconsciously, supporting by their presence the Mosaic ritual, and thus helping forward the educational and spiritual purposes for which it was ordained by God. And they who sat down at a heathen feast were, really though perhaps unintentionally, giving by their presence countenance to idolatry, and thus helping to maintain it and to accomplish its deadly tendencies. They were thus aiding the work of, and making themselves partners with, demons.

V. 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils-You cannot have communion with both.

Verse 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord] It is in vain that you who frequent these idol festivals profess the religion of Christ, and commemorate his death and passion in the holy eucharist; for you can not have that fellowship with Christ which this ordinance implies, while you are partakers of the table of demons. That the Gentiles, in their sacrifices, fed on the slain beasts, and ate bread and drank wine in honour of their gods, is sufficiently clear from various accounts. See my Discourse on the Holy Eucharist, where many examples are produced. The following from Virgil, Æn. viii, verse 179-273, is proof in point:— Tum lecti juvenes certatim aræque sacerdos Viscera tosta ferunt taurorum, onerantque canistris Dona laboratæ Cereris, Bacchumque ministrant. Vescitur Æneas simul et Trojana juventus Perpetui tergo bovis et lustralibus extis.—— Quare agite, O juvenes, tantarum in munere laudum, Cingite fronde comas, et pocula porgite dextris, Communemque vocate Deum, et date vina volentes. The loaves were served in canisters; the wine In bowls; the priests renewed the rites divine: Broiled entrails are their food, and beef’s continued chine Ye warlike youths, your heads with garlands crown, Fill high the goblets with a sparkling flood, And with deep draughts invoke our common god.

Verses 19-22. What say I then — Do I, in saying this, allow that an idol is any thing divine? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing — Is a sacrifice to a real deity? Or is made either better or worse, or to differ from ordinary meat, by being thus offered to idols? You well know that I intend to maintain nothing of this kind: so far from it, that I aver the things which the Gentiles sacrifice — To supposed deities; they sacrifice to devils — For, though I grant the idol is nothing, yet those spirits that sometimes dwell in the images of these idols, and give answers from them, are something: they are demons, most wicked and unclean spirits, defiling every person and thing that has any relation to them. We may observe here, “The word daimwnia, demons, is used in the LXX. to denote the ghosts of men deceased; and Josephus (Bell., lib. 7:6) says, demons are the spirits of wicked men. It is therefore probable, that the writers of the New Testament use the word demons in the same sense, especially as it is well known that the greatest part of the heathen gods were dead men. The heathen worshipped two kinds of demons: the one kind were the souls of kings and heroes, deified after death, but who could have no agency in human affairs; the other kind of demons were those evil spirits who, under the names of Jupiter, Apollo, Trophonius, &c., moving the heathen priests and priestesses to deliver oracles, greatly promoted idolatry.” — Macknight. Such in reality, as if he had said, are the gods of the heathen, and with such only can ye hold communion in those sacrifices. And not to God — The heathen in general had no idea of God; that is, of an unoriginated, eternal, immutable, and infinitely perfect being, the Creator and Governor of all things. And I would not ye should have fellowship with devils — Or with their votaries, either in their worship, their principles, their practices, or their hopes; — ye who have at your baptism solemnly renounced the devil and all his adherents. For certainly it is not a small sin, nor a thing to be made light of, to have fellowship with them. Ye cannot of right — Or in reason, you ought not, it is contrary to your Christian profession so to do; drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils — Ye cannot have communion with both; cannot reasonably make profession of the worship of God, (which you do in the Lord’s supper in the highest instance,) and also of the worship of devils, (as you do in the idol feasts,) these being so contrary one to the other. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — Namely, by joining devils in competition with him? or by thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than He? — Able to resist or to bear his wrath? Can we secure ourselves against his judgments, when he comes forth to punish for such sins?

21. Cannot—Ye can do one or the other; but ye cannot do both. It is a cannot arising from the incompatibility of the two things. It was the contrariety of the kingdoms of light and of darkness, and the apostle solemnly warns them to beware on which side they stand. Cup of the Lord—The Jehovah of the Old Testament, who was at war with all idolatries, the Christ of the New Testament, who is establishing the kingdom of light on earth. Cup of devils—This refers to the festal cup at the pagan sacrifices, from which the libations were poured forth, symbolizing the treating the god with wine. “Wherefore,” says Eneas in Virgil, “come forth, O youths, and in honour of so much excellence, wreath your foreheads, bring forth the cups, invoke the common deity, and present your wines.” Whatsoever Jew drank of these cups or ate the meats was denounced as an apostate. Lord’s table—The Rhemish (Romanistic) commentator makes here a desperate effort to show that St. Paul sustains the doctrine that in the sacrament of the Lord’s supper there is a living victim, Christ, repeatedly and literally sacrificed upon an altar. His opponent, Dr. Fulke, very truly replied that neither the word victim, sacrifice, or altar is once used. The Christian holy sacrament is simply selected as the opposite image to the heathen sacrificial feasts, to present strongly the contrast by which the Christian is forbidden to be sharer in the other.

Doubtless as being the successor of, and substitute for, the sacrifices of the old covenant to figure one real sacrifice, once and for evermore offered, the sacrament may be viewed as a symbolic sacrifice. It sustains the same relation that baptism does to circumcision, and that our Sunday holy-day does to the Jewish sabbath. Hence very beautifully did the Council of Ephesus say, “We celebrate in the Churches the un-bloody service of the sacrifice.” And here, as the Council by the word “un-bloody” recognises that the wine is no literal blood, so it follows that the sacrifice is of no literal victim.

Ver. 21. A second dissuasive from idol-feasts, suggested by 1 Corinthians 10:16, 17. Now only was the presence of Christians at an idol-feast a service rendered to demons, but the pleasure which induced them to go was a cup which demons held to their lips. For such pleasure was a result of idolatry, and therefore a result of the reign of demons over men. In this lies an argument. For a cup of demons must needs be poison. You cannot etc.: another argument. Not only is it a cup of death, but it keeps from us the cup of life.

Drink: the inward reality underlying the material act of drinking, the absorption into our inner nature of the influences proceeding from Christ and from demons. For, outwardly and materially, it is possible to drink both cups at once. But the spiritual and life-giving influences which flow to believers from the shedding of Christ's blood, and of which the eucharistic cup is a condition, are not given to those who indulge in pleasures resulting from sin. Therefore, to accept the pleasures which idolatry offers, is to renounce the salvation offered by Christ.

The Lord's table, table of demons; adds emphasis by picturing, in their incongruity, the sacred meal and an idol-feast.

V. 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy-By thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than he-Are we able to resist, or to bear his wrath?

Verse 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?] All idolatry is represented as a sort of spiritual adultery; it is giving that heart to Satan that should be devoted to God; and he is represented as being jealous, because of the infidelity of those who have covenanted to give their hearts to him.

Are we stronger than he?] As he has threatened to punish such transgressors, and will infallibly do it, can we resist his omnipotence? A sinner should consider, while he is in rebellion against God, whether he be able to resist that power whereby God will inflict vengeance.

Verses 19-22. What say I then — Do I, in saying this, allow that an idol is any thing divine? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing — Is a sacrifice to a real deity? Or is made either better or worse, or to differ from ordinary meat, by being thus offered to idols? You well know that I intend to maintain nothing of this kind: so far from it, that I aver the things which the Gentiles sacrifice — To supposed deities; they sacrifice to devils — For, though I grant the idol is nothing, yet those spirits that sometimes dwell in the images of these idols, and give answers from them, are something: they are demons, most wicked and unclean spirits, defiling every person and thing that has any relation to them. We may observe here, “The word daimwnia, demons, is used in the LXX. to denote the ghosts of men deceased; and Josephus (Bell., lib. 7:6) says, demons are the spirits of wicked men. It is therefore probable, that the writers of the New Testament use the word demons in the same sense, especially as it is well known that the greatest part of the heathen gods were dead men. The heathen worshipped two kinds of demons: the one kind were the souls of kings and heroes, deified after death, but who could have no agency in human affairs; the other kind of demons were those evil spirits who, under the names of Jupiter, Apollo, Trophonius, &c., moving the heathen priests and priestesses to deliver oracles, greatly promoted idolatry.” — Macknight. Such in reality, as if he had said, are the gods of the heathen, and with such only can ye hold communion in those sacrifices. And not to God — The heathen in general had no idea of God; that is, of an unoriginated, eternal, immutable, and infinitely perfect being, the Creator and Governor of all things. And I would not ye should have fellowship with devils — Or with their votaries, either in their worship, their principles, their practices, or their hopes; — ye who have at your baptism solemnly renounced the devil and all his adherents. For certainly it is not a small sin, nor a thing to be made light of, to have fellowship with them. Ye cannot of right — Or in reason, you ought not, it is contrary to your Christian profession so to do; drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils — Ye cannot have communion with both; cannot reasonably make profession of the worship of God, (which you do in the Lord’s supper in the highest instance,) and also of the worship of devils, (as you do in the idol feasts,) these being so contrary one to the other. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy — Namely, by joining devils in competition with him? or by thus caressing his rivals? Are we stronger than He? — Able to resist or to bear his wrath? Can we secure ourselves against his judgments, when he comes forth to punish for such sins?

Ver. 22. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? And what could provoke him more than to liken him to “a calf that eateth grass?” David in exile would neither offer their drink-offerings of blood, nor pronounce the name of their imaginary gods. He escaped from Philistia without any signs of apostasy. Psalm 16:3.

22. Provoke the Lord—As we have above intimated, St. Paul has in mind Deuteronomy 32:17-26, and this is an allusion to verse 21. Stronger than he—So as to meet all the threatenings of Deuteronomy 32:21-26.

Ver. 22. A third dissuasive, suggested by Deuteronomy 32:17 and Deuteronomy 32:21. Paul asks, “What is the practical significance and effect of our conduct? For, to countenance idolatry, is to rouse the anger of Christ, who claims to be our sole Master.” This solemn warning, 1 Corinthians 10:22b supports by appealing to the greater strength of Him whom some were so carelessly provoking.

ARGUMENT. Paul wishes to dissuade from all contact with idolatry, and especially from attendance at idol-feasts. Even this might be thought allowable; since (1 Corinthians 8:4) idols have no real existence, and (Romans 14:14; Matthew 15:11) no food can of itself defile. But Paul reminds us that upon eating and drinking hang great spiritual consequences; that a simple Christian feast is a condition of receiving individually the results of Christ's death, and a means of maintaining the wonderful oneness of the church throughout the world, a result far from the thought of many who partake the feast. But a closer analogy is at hand. They who partake the Mosaic feasts in the temple-court at Jerusalem are evidently, though most of them think nothing about it, supporting by their presence the Mosaic ritual and economy. Now, although idols have no existence, yet behind and beneath them is a real and superhuman and diabolical power. (Else, idolatry were harmless.) Therefore, as in the analogous case of the Jewish sacrificial feasts, all who join the idol-feasts lend by the presence aid to idolatry, and thus help demons to rule over men. Therefore, whatever pleasure comes from such feasts, since it is a result of sin, is a cup presented by evil spirits. From such a cup we may well draw back.

Again, Christ claims our sole allegiance, and will tolerate no rival. Therefore, to indulge in the pleasures offered by idolatry, is to forego the salvation which comes through the shed blood of Christ, which is solemnly set forth in the Christian feast and makes the sacramental cup to be a cup of praise to God. To attempt to mingle the pleasures of idolatry and the salvation of Christ, is but to attempt, in spite of God's warning to ancient Israel, to call forth the jealous and irresistible anger of our Master, Christ. This section is the stronghold of the Lutheran doctrine of CONSUBSTANTIATION, viz. that all who partake the Lord s Supper thereby receive Christ, though it depends upon themselves whether they receive Him to bless or to condemn. See note under 1 Corinthians 11:34. The argument is, that he who attends an idol-feast is said to become thereby even without or against his intention, a partner with demons, and that therefore by analogy we must suppose that he who partakes the Lord's Supper becomes thereby, whatever be his state of heart, a sharer of the body and blood of Christ. But it is unsafe to build up an important doctrine not expressly taught in Scripture on its supposed necessity to give validity to one Scripture argument, an argument somewhat obscured by distance of time and total change of circumstances. Moreover, without assuming the Lutheran Doctrine, we have already felt the great force of Paul's argument. Nay more. The Lutheran doctrine is inconsistent with 1 Corinthians 10:21. For, since outward attendance at idol-feasts involves, even against our will, spiritual partnership with demons, if in like manner material eating of the Lord's Supper involved spiritual union with Christ, then it would be possible and easy to eat on the same day of the Lord's table and the table of demons: which Paul declares to be impossible. We therefore infer that he refers to a spiritual reception of the results of Christ's death which does not always accompany a reception of the bread and wine.

The argument of § 18 was doubtless suggested by the matter of § 21. The matters which come before him, Paul grasps so firmly that he instinctively makes various use of them: e.g. 1 Corinthians 9:13f and 1 Corinthians 10:18.

This section teaches the solemn and far-reaching lesson that, if by our countenance we help forward anything of which the results are evil, we thereby become allies of those evil spirits who through the bad things of the world are seeking to destroy men; and that, if by the countenance thus given to evil we obtain pleasure or profit, we thereby accept and drink a cup which demons hold to our lips.

V. 23. Supposing this were lawful in itself, yet it is not expedient, it is not edifying to my neighbour.

Verse 23. All things are lawful for me] I may lawfully eat all kinds of food, but all are not expedient; ou panta sumferei. It would not be becoming in me to eat of all, because I should by this offend and grieve many weak minds. See Clarke’s notes on “1 Corinthians 6:12”, &c.

Verses 23, 24. All things, &c. — He here comes to speak of another case, namely, the buying and eating privately, meats which had been offered to idols: are lawful for me — All kinds of meats according to the gospel. See on 1 Corinthians 6:12. But — Granting this, it must also be acknowledged that all such things are not, in every circumstance, expedient — For the reasons mentioned before; (see on 1 Corinthians 8:9-13;) and all things edify not others — Do not help them forward in holiness. And we ought certainly to consider what may most effectually conduce to the edification of our brethren, and of the church of God in general, as well as what may suit our own particular inclinations or conveniences; for we may find good reasons for declining many things as insnaring to others, which, were we to consider ourselves alone, might be perfectly indifferent. Let no man, therefore, seek his own — Advantage or pleasure; but every man another’s wealth — Or weal, namely, spiritual; the edification and salvation of his soul, verse 33. Or, let no man prefer his own temporal profit or satisfaction before another’s spiritual and eternal welfare.

23. All things—All natural gratifications are, in their proper kind and degree, lawful. See note on 1 Corinthians 6:12, 13. But—This primitive all has its limitations. Not expedient—And so, being unprofitable and injurious, may thereby become unlawful. And now he proceeds to lay down some of the moral expediences and prudences by which the eating of meats must be regulated.

Ver. 23.-24. Specific advice.

Examination because of conscience: do not allow yourselves to be compelled, by that inner judge which pronounces sentence on conduct, to inquire, when buying food, whether it has been offered to idols. Just as all the meat eaten, even privately, by Israel in the wilderness, had (Leviticus 17:2-6: contrast Deuteronomy 12:21) first been presented as a sacrifice to God, so the heathens frequently offered as a sacrifice the animals slain for food. Consequently, a Christian might, without knowing it, eat an idol-sacrifice either (1 Corinthians 10:27f) in the house of a heathen, or as 1 Corinthians 10:25 implies, by purchase in the public market. Paul bids his readers not trouble themselves about this possibility.

Conscience: the man's own, as representing the abstract and definite idea of conscience. There is no hint here, as there is express and emphatic mention in 1 Corinthians 10:29, of “another conscience.” For the Lord's etc.: word for word from Psalm 24:1; a reason for 1 Corinthians 10:25. Cp. 1 Timothy 4:3f. The fullness of it: parallel with “they that dwell therein:” the totality of men and things, with which the world is full, and without which it would be empty. Cp. Romans 9:12. In itself and looked upon as mere material, everything belongs to God: and therefore nothing is in itself defiling. For a Christian to eat an idol-sacrifice, is merely to claim for God that which is His by right, but which a rebel has offered to His enemy. Whatever evil there is about any created material comes from its associations. But the fear which Paul here declares to be needless rests upon a belief that meat offered to idols is in itself defiling.

V. 24. His own only, but another's welfare also.

Verse 24. Let no man seek his own, &c.] Let none, for his private gratification or emolument, disturb the peace or injure the soul of another. Let every man live, not for himself, but for every part of the great human family with which he is surrounded.

Verses 23, 24. All things, &c. — He here comes to speak of another case, namely, the buying and eating privately, meats which had been offered to idols: are lawful for me — All kinds of meats according to the gospel. See on 1 Corinthians 6:12. But — Granting this, it must also be acknowledged that all such things are not, in every circumstance, expedient — For the reasons mentioned before; (see on 1 Corinthians 8:9-13;) and all things edify not others — Do not help them forward in holiness. And we ought certainly to consider what may most effectually conduce to the edification of our brethren, and of the church of God in general, as well as what may suit our own particular inclinations or conveniences; for we may find good reasons for declining many things as insnaring to others, which, were we to consider ourselves alone, might be perfectly indifferent. Let no man, therefore, seek his own — Advantage or pleasure; but every man another’s wealth — Or weal, namely, spiritual; the edification and salvation of his soul, verse 33. Or, let no man prefer his own temporal profit or satisfaction before another’s spiritual and eternal welfare.

24. His own—Advantage or gratification. Another’s—Regulating your practice, not solely by your own convenience, but for another’s spiritual safety. And he proceeds now to specify how this is to be done.

Ver. 23.-24. Specific advice.

Examination because of conscience: do not allow yourselves to be compelled, by that inner judge which pronounces sentence on conduct, to inquire, when buying food, whether it has been offered to idols. Just as all the meat eaten, even privately, by Israel in the wilderness, had (Leviticus 17:2-6: contrast Deuteronomy 12:21) first been presented as a sacrifice to God, so the heathens frequently offered as a sacrifice the animals slain for food. Consequently, a Christian might, without knowing it, eat an idol-sacrifice either (1 Corinthians 10:27f) in the house of a heathen, or as 1 Corinthians 10:25 implies, by purchase in the public market. Paul bids his readers not trouble themselves about this possibility.

Conscience: the man's own, as representing the abstract and definite idea of conscience. There is no hint here, as there is express and emphatic mention in 1 Corinthians 10:29, of “another conscience.” For the Lord's etc.: word for word from Psalm 24:1; a reason for 1 Corinthians 10:25. Cp. 1 Timothy 4:3f. The fullness of it: parallel with “they that dwell therein:” the totality of men and things, with which the world is full, and without which it would be empty. Cp. Romans 9:12. In itself and looked upon as mere material, everything belongs to God: and therefore nothing is in itself defiling. For a Christian to eat an idol-sacrifice, is merely to claim for God that which is His by right, but which a rebel has offered to His enemy. Whatever evil there is about any created material comes from its associations. But the fear which Paul here declares to be needless rests upon a belief that meat offered to idols is in itself defiling.

V. 25. The apostle now applies this principle to the point in question. Asking no questions-Whether it has been sacrificed or not.

Verse 25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat] The case to which the apostle refers is simply this; it was customary to bring the flesh of the animal to market, the blood of which had been poured out in sacrifice to an idol; or, taken more particularly, the case was this; one part of the sacrifice was consumed on the altar of the idol: a second part was dressed and eaten by the sacrificer; and a third belonged to the priest, and was often sold in the shambles. To partake of the second share, or to feast upon the sacrifice, St. Paul absolutely forbids, because this was one part of the religious worship which was paid to the idol; it was sitting down as guests at his table, in token that they were in fellowship with him. This was utterly incompatible with receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which was the communion of the body and blood of Christ. But as to the third share, the apostle leaves them at liberty either to eat of it or forbear; except that, by eating, their weak brethren should be offended; in that case, though the thing was lawful, it was their duty to abstain. See Clarke’s notes on “1 Corinthians 8:1”, &c. Hindoos eagerly embrace whatever has been offered to an idol: hence it is common to see the flowers that have been thus offered placed in the hair of a Hindoo. Water that has been thus made sacred is preserved in Hindoo houses, and with it they rub their bodies, and occasionally sip a drop, regarding it as the water of life.-See Ward.

Asking no questions for consciences sake] Dr. Lightfoot observes, that “the Jews were vexed with innumerable scruples in their feasts, as to the eating of the thing, as well as to the company with which they ate; and even the manner of their eating. Of fruits and herbs brought to the table, they were to inquire whether they were tithed according to custom; whether they were consecrated by the Truma, or whether they were profane; whether they were clean, or touched with some pollution, &c. And concerning flesh set on the table, they were to inquire whether it was of that which had been offered to idols; whether it were the flesh of an animal that had been torn by wild beasts; or of that which had been strangled, or not killed according to the canons; &c., &c. All which doubts the liberty of the Gospel abolished as to one’s own conscience, with this proviso, that no scandal or offence be cast before another man’s weak or scrupulous conscience.”

From this it is evident that the apostle had the case of the Jewish converts in view, and not the Gentiles. The latter were not troubled with such extraordinary scrupulousness.

Verses 25, 26. The apostle now applies this principle to the point in question; and on the ground of it, gives the following rules concerning meats. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles — Though it were offered to idols before, yet being now set openly to sale, the idol is no more honoured therewith, and it is common meat; that you may buy, and eat it in private, either in a friend’s house or your own, asking no question — Whether it has been offered in sacrifice to an idol or not; for conscience’ sake — With a view to satisfy your conscience respecting the lawfulness of eating it. Or the expression, for conscience’ sake, may mean, lest any needless scruple should arise, either in your own or your brother’s conscience, so that you could not eat of it freely, without doubting in yourself, or giving offence to your brother. For the earth is the Lord’s, as the psalmist has expressed it, Psalm 24:1, and the fulness thereof — All creatures therein, which were made for man’s use, and are given us freely to enjoy in Christ, 1 Timothy 4:4; 6:17. And no demon hath any power or dominion over them. “By this argument the apostle showed the Corinthians that their knowledge and faith, as Christians, ought to prevent them from asking any questions concerning their food, which might lead the heathen to think that they acknowledged the power of their deities, either to give or to withhold any part of the fulness of the earth from the worshippers of the true God.”

Ver. 25. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no questions whether the animal had been offered in sacrifice. This was wise and prudent advice, and the jews themselves begin to follow it.

25. Whatsoever is sold—The meats of idol sacrifices were often exposed to sale in the shambles, especially by the priests, when they had on hand a surplus above their own consumption. To the Christian this was intrinsically as lawful as any other meat. Shambles—Not markets, nor buildings; but meat stalls in the market. In view of this lawfulness, therefore, without any questions for conscience’ sake, even if well knowing that a pagan priest had just exposed it for sale, the believer might purchase and eat.

V. 26. For God, who is the Creator, Proprietor, and Disposer of the earth and all that is therein, hath given the produce of it to the children of men, to be used without scruple. Psalm 24:1

Verse 26. For the earth is the Lord’s] And because God made the earth and its fulness, all animals, plants, and vegetables, there can be nothing in it or them impure or unholy; because all are the creatures of God.

Verses 25, 26. The apostle now applies this principle to the point in question; and on the ground of it, gives the following rules concerning meats. Whatsoever is sold in the shambles — Though it were offered to idols before, yet being now set openly to sale, the idol is no more honoured therewith, and it is common meat; that you may buy, and eat it in private, either in a friend’s house or your own, asking no question — Whether it has been offered in sacrifice to an idol or not; for conscience’ sake — With a view to satisfy your conscience respecting the lawfulness of eating it. Or the expression, for conscience’ sake, may mean, lest any needless scruple should arise, either in your own or your brother’s conscience, so that you could not eat of it freely, without doubting in yourself, or giving offence to your brother. For the earth is the Lord’s, as the psalmist has expressed it, Psalm 24:1, and the fulness thereof — All creatures therein, which were made for man’s use, and are given us freely to enjoy in Christ, 1 Timothy 4:4; 6:17. And no demon hath any power or dominion over them. “By this argument the apostle showed the Corinthians that their knowledge and faith, as Christians, ought to prevent them from asking any questions concerning their food, which might lead the heathen to think that they acknowledged the power of their deities, either to give or to withhold any part of the fulness of the earth from the worshippers of the true God.”

26. The Lord’s—This meat is like any thing else in the Lord’s earth made for man’s use so far as it is usable. Fulness—All with which the earth is filled. The passage is quoted from Psalm 24:1. It was used by the Jews in their thanksgiving before meal. It probably formed part of the eucharistic blessing, and indicates that the meat so eaten was consistent with the sacramental communion.

Verse 27. If any-bid you to a feast] The apostle means any common meal, not an idol festival; for to such no Christian could lawfully go. Whatsoever is set before you, eat] Do not act as the Jews generally do, torturing both themselves and others with questions, such as those mentioned in 1 Corinthians 10:26.

Verses 27-30. If any of them that believe not — Any heathen who lives in your neighbourhood; bid you to a feast — Invite you to his house; and ye be disposed — To accept the invitation; whatever is set before you — At the entertainment; eat, asking no question — About its having been sacrificed to idols; for conscience’ sake. See on verse 25. But receiving it, whatever it may be, as that supply which Divine Providence has then been pleased to send you. But if any man say, This food is part of what hath been offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it — Whether he be a heathen, who might thereby be confirmed in his idolatry, or a brother, who might otherwise be insnared by thy example, and tempted to violate the dictates of his own mind; and for conscience’ sake — For the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded by seeing thee do what he judged to be unlawful. To explain this further, “The heathen often, in their own houses, made an ordinary feast of a part of the sacrifice, see on chap. 8:1; to these entertainments, the apostle told the Corinthian brethren, they might lawfully go when invited. But on such occasions, if a Christian domestic or slave, by informing them that this or that dish consisted of things which had been sacrificed to an idol, signified that they considered their eating these things as sinful, they were to abstain from them, for the reasons mentioned in the text.” For the earth is the Lord’s, &c. — This clause, inserted in our copies, is omitted in the Alex. Clermont, and other manuscripts, and the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions; and some other critics think it disturbs the sense. “But,” says Macknight, “it renders the argument more complete; for the meaning is, The Lord, to whom the earth and all its fulness belong, having allowed men a sufficiency of other wholesome food, no one is under any necessity of offending those who are either ignorant or scrupulous, by eating a particular kind.” Conscience, I say, not thine own — I speak of his conscience, not thine, lest it be troubled, and his mind be disquieted; for why is my liberty judged by another’s conscience — I ought not to use my liberty so as to do that which another man thinks in his conscience to be evil, and so judges me a transgressor for it. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “I mean not thine own conscience immediately, but that of another person; for how indifferent soever thou mayest esteem the matter, thou art obliged in duty to be very cautious that thou dost not wound and grieve that of thy brother: but you will observe, that I here speak only of acts obvious to human observation; for, as to what immediately lies between God and my own soul, why is my liberty to be judged, arraigned, and condemned at the bar of another man’s conscience? I am not, in such cases, to govern myself by the judgment and apprehension of others; nor have they any authority to judge or censure me for not concurring with them in their own narrow notions and declarations.” Others think it is an objection in the mouths of the Corinthians, and to be thus understood: “But why should I suffer myself to be thus imposed on, and receive law from any, where Christ has left me free?” But the above interpretation seems more probable, which supposes that this and the following verse come in as a kind of parenthesis, to prevent their extending the former caution beyond what he designed by it. For if I, by grace — The divine favour; be a partaker — Of the common gifts of Providence; why am I evil spoken of for my free and cheerful use of that for which I give thanks — As tracing it up to the hand of the great Supreme Benefactor?

27. If—St. Paul has thus far stated the rule for the market; now comes the rule for the table. Bid… feast—A Christian is invited by a pagan friend, not to a temple banquet, but to a feast at the latter’s residence. Disposed to go—Though a pagan, he may still be a dear friend, and Christianity requires not that the innocent tie be broken.

Ver. 27.-29a. A second case. In 1 Corinthians 10:25 Paul gave advice to Christians when in the market: he now gives them the same advice when at the table of a heathen.

Invites: same word as “call” and “bid” in Matthew 20:1-14. See under Romans 8:28. We cannot detect, in if you wish to go, a tacit dissuasion from going. This is left entirely to the reader's own judgment. But if any one say etc.: a further development of this second case. Any one: a weak brother, (cp. 1 Corinthians 8:7-13,) probably a Gentile Christian. For, to eat an idol-sacrifice would not injure the conscience of a heathen: and a Jew, or a Jewish believer of weak faith would not be at a heathen's table.

Sacred-sacrifice: more suitable at a heathen's table than “idol-sacrifice,” which means “meat offered to an image.”

And conscience: added to remind us that while refusing to eat because of our brother we are really paying deference to the majesty of the abstract principle of Conscience, the judge divine who speaks in every heart. Conscience, I say; tells us whom Paul has in view in this appeal to conscience in the abstract.

The motive here given is expounded in 1 Corinthians 8:9. If we eat, our example may lead him to do the same, though he believes it to be wrong. Conscience will then pronounce sentence against him. He will thus receive a wound in that inner chamber of his being in which he contemplates his own actions. See under 1 Corinthians 8:7; Romans 2:15. And this wound may be fatal. Therefore, a remembrance of our brother's condition and of the judge which speaks in him, is a reason for not eating that which he has pointed out to us as sacrificial meat.

V. 28. For his sake that showed thee, and for conscience' sake-That is, for the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded.

Verse 28. This is offered in sacrifice unto idols] While they were not apprized of this circumstance they might lawfully eat; but when told that the flesh set before them had been offered to an idol, then they were not to eat, for the sake of his weak conscience who pointed out the circumstance. For the apostle still takes it for granted that even the flesh offered in sacrifice to an idol might be eaten innocently at any private table, as in that case they were no longer in danger of being partakers with devils, as this was no idol festival.

For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof] This whole clause, which appears also in 1 Corinthians 10:26, is wanting here in ABCDEFGH, several others, the Syriac, Erpen, Coptic, Sahidic, Æthiopic, Armenian, Vulgate, Itala; and in several of the fathers. Griesbach has left it out of the text: and Professor White says, “Certissime delendum;” it should most undoubtedly be erased. It has scarcely any authority to support it.

Verses 27-30. If any of them that believe not — Any heathen who lives in your neighbourhood; bid you to a feast — Invite you to his house; and ye be disposed — To accept the invitation; whatever is set before you — At the entertainment; eat, asking no question — About its having been sacrificed to idols; for conscience’ sake. See on verse 25. But receiving it, whatever it may be, as that supply which Divine Providence has then been pleased to send you. But if any man say, This food is part of what hath been offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it — Whether he be a heathen, who might thereby be confirmed in his idolatry, or a brother, who might otherwise be insnared by thy example, and tempted to violate the dictates of his own mind; and for conscience’ sake — For the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded by seeing thee do what he judged to be unlawful. To explain this further, “The heathen often, in their own houses, made an ordinary feast of a part of the sacrifice, see on chap. 8:1; to these entertainments, the apostle told the Corinthian brethren, they might lawfully go when invited. But on such occasions, if a Christian domestic or slave, by informing them that this or that dish consisted of things which had been sacrificed to an idol, signified that they considered their eating these things as sinful, they were to abstain from them, for the reasons mentioned in the text.” For the earth is the Lord’s, &c. — This clause, inserted in our copies, is omitted in the Alex. Clermont, and other manuscripts, and the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions; and some other critics think it disturbs the sense. “But,” says Macknight, “it renders the argument more complete; for the meaning is, The Lord, to whom the earth and all its fulness belong, having allowed men a sufficiency of other wholesome food, no one is under any necessity of offending those who are either ignorant or scrupulous, by eating a particular kind.” Conscience, I say, not thine own — I speak of his conscience, not thine, lest it be troubled, and his mind be disquieted; for why is my liberty judged by another’s conscience — I ought not to use my liberty so as to do that which another man thinks in his conscience to be evil, and so judges me a transgressor for it. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “I mean not thine own conscience immediately, but that of another person; for how indifferent soever thou mayest esteem the matter, thou art obliged in duty to be very cautious that thou dost not wound and grieve that of thy brother: but you will observe, that I here speak only of acts obvious to human observation; for, as to what immediately lies between God and my own soul, why is my liberty to be judged, arraigned, and condemned at the bar of another man’s conscience? I am not, in such cases, to govern myself by the judgment and apprehension of others; nor have they any authority to judge or censure me for not concurring with them in their own narrow notions and declarations.” Others think it is an objection in the mouths of the Corinthians, and to be thus understood: “But why should I suffer myself to be thus imposed on, and receive law from any, where Christ has left me free?” But the above interpretation seems more probable, which supposes that this and the following verse come in as a kind of parenthesis, to prevent their extending the former caution beyond what he designed by it. For if I, by grace — The divine favour; be a partaker — Of the common gifts of Providence; why am I evil spoken of for my free and cheerful use of that for which I give thanks — As tracing it up to the hand of the great Supreme Benefactor?

28. Any man—The word idols, in the remark of this any man, being contemptuous, shows that it is not uttered by the host or any other pagan. Nor is it uttered by a Jew, since such never ate with Gentiles. It is, therefore, from some fellow-Christian, who hesitates not to attend a pagan’s feast, but is scrupulous to pick out and reject all idolatrous meats. This brother is weak; but your example of eating may either lead him to be unscrupulous and low in his Christian life, or to condemn the religion that keeps not (as he thinks) its followers unspotted from idolatry. His sake— As he is in danger. Conscience sake—Which is ever a most sacred thing.

Ver. 27.-29a. A second case. In 1 Corinthians 10:25 Paul gave advice to Christians when in the market: he now gives them the same advice when at the table of a heathen.

Invites: same word as “call” and “bid” in Matthew 20:1-14. See under Romans 8:28. We cannot detect, in if you wish to go, a tacit dissuasion from going. This is left entirely to the reader's own judgment. But if any one say etc.: a further development of this second case. Any one: a weak brother, (cp. 1 Corinthians 8:7-13,) probably a Gentile Christian. For, to eat an idol-sacrifice would not injure the conscience of a heathen: and a Jew, or a Jewish believer of weak faith would not be at a heathen's table.

Sacred-sacrifice: more suitable at a heathen's table than “idol-sacrifice,” which means “meat offered to an image.”

And conscience: added to remind us that while refusing to eat because of our brother we are really paying deference to the majesty of the abstract principle of Conscience, the judge divine who speaks in every heart. Conscience, I say; tells us whom Paul has in view in this appeal to conscience in the abstract.

The motive here given is expounded in 1 Corinthians 8:9. If we eat, our example may lead him to do the same, though he believes it to be wrong. Conscience will then pronounce sentence against him. He will thus receive a wound in that inner chamber of his being in which he contemplates his own actions. See under 1 Corinthians 8:7; Romans 2:15. And this wound may be fatal. Therefore, a remembrance of our brother's condition and of the judge which speaks in him, is a reason for not eating that which he has pointed out to us as sacrificial meat.

V. 29. Conscience I say, not thy own-I speak of his conscience, not thine. For why is my liberty judged by another's conscience-Another's conscience is not the standard of mine, nor is another's persuasion the measure of my liberty.

Verses 29. & 30. For why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? &c.] Though in the case of flesh offered to idols, and other matters connected with idolatry, (on which it appears there was much of a tender conscience among some of the Corinthians,) it was necessary to sacrifice something to an over-scrupulous conscience, yet the Gospel of Christ did not lay any man under this general burthen, that he must do nothing at which any weak brother might feel hurt or be stumbled; for the liberty of the Gospel must not take for its rule the scrupulosity of any conscience; for if a man, by grace-by the allowance or authority of the Gospel, partake of any thing that God’s bounty has sent, and which the Gospel has not forbidden, and give thanks to God for the blessing, no man has right or authority to condemn such a person. This seems to be the meaning of these two verses; and they read a lesson of caution to rash judges, and to those who are apt to take offence.

Verses 27-30. If any of them that believe not — Any heathen who lives in your neighbourhood; bid you to a feast — Invite you to his house; and ye be disposed — To accept the invitation; whatever is set before you — At the entertainment; eat, asking no question — About its having been sacrificed to idols; for conscience’ sake. See on verse 25. But receiving it, whatever it may be, as that supply which Divine Providence has then been pleased to send you. But if any man say, This food is part of what hath been offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it — Whether he be a heathen, who might thereby be confirmed in his idolatry, or a brother, who might otherwise be insnared by thy example, and tempted to violate the dictates of his own mind; and for conscience’ sake — For the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded by seeing thee do what he judged to be unlawful. To explain this further, “The heathen often, in their own houses, made an ordinary feast of a part of the sacrifice, see on chap. 8:1; to these entertainments, the apostle told the Corinthian brethren, they might lawfully go when invited. But on such occasions, if a Christian domestic or slave, by informing them that this or that dish consisted of things which had been sacrificed to an idol, signified that they considered their eating these things as sinful, they were to abstain from them, for the reasons mentioned in the text.” For the earth is the Lord’s, &c. — This clause, inserted in our copies, is omitted in the Alex. Clermont, and other manuscripts, and the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions; and some other critics think it disturbs the sense. “But,” says Macknight, “it renders the argument more complete; for the meaning is, The Lord, to whom the earth and all its fulness belong, having allowed men a sufficiency of other wholesome food, no one is under any necessity of offending those who are either ignorant or scrupulous, by eating a particular kind.” Conscience, I say, not thine own — I speak of his conscience, not thine, lest it be troubled, and his mind be disquieted; for why is my liberty judged by another’s conscience — I ought not to use my liberty so as to do that which another man thinks in his conscience to be evil, and so judges me a transgressor for it. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “I mean not thine own conscience immediately, but that of another person; for how indifferent soever thou mayest esteem the matter, thou art obliged in duty to be very cautious that thou dost not wound and grieve that of thy brother: but you will observe, that I here speak only of acts obvious to human observation; for, as to what immediately lies between God and my own soul, why is my liberty to be judged, arraigned, and condemned at the bar of another man’s conscience? I am not, in such cases, to govern myself by the judgment and apprehension of others; nor have they any authority to judge or censure me for not concurring with them in their own narrow notions and declarations.” Others think it is an objection in the mouths of the Corinthians, and to be thus understood: “But why should I suffer myself to be thus imposed on, and receive law from any, where Christ has left me free?” But the above interpretation seems more probable, which supposes that this and the following verse come in as a kind of parenthesis, to prevent their extending the former caution beyond what he designed by it. For if I, by grace — The divine favour; be a partaker — Of the common gifts of Providence; why am I evil spoken of for my free and cheerful use of that for which I give thanks — As tracing it up to the hand of the great Supreme Benefactor?

29. Of the other—St. Paul is here particular to reiterate that it is not his conscience that weakly objects, but the inquirer’s; and that it is by his conscience you must avoid being condemned. Judged—Condemned. The meaning, then, is: For why incur by my license a condemnation from my fellow-Christian’s conscience? It must be a doubtful, perhaps a reckless, use of my liberty, which is indulged in disregard of his judgment. Better offend against a man’s tastes, or his wishes, or even his temporal interests, than so transgress against his conscience as to endanger his soul. Not thine own—When you yield external compliance you do not yield also the secret convictions of your own conscience. The conscientious principle you still hold in your own heart, that the eating is not unlawful, in the expectation that when superstition and prejudice have passed away the truth will predominate. Of the other—Externally, you spare his conscience; internally, you retain your own. My liberty—Which is judged and approved by my own conscience. Judged—So as to displace my own decision. Of another man’s conscience—The unalienable rights of the individual conscience, the private judgment of every man, is here conclusively maintained against all usurpers, whether priests, popes, or potentates. No other man’s conscience can be for me a substitute for my own. St. Paul would have, in delicate regard for his neighbour’s conscience, avoided eating meat in his presence, but nothing could have compelled him to declare that the eating of it was intrinsically a sin.

Ver. 29b.-30. Questions supporting, by reference to the strong man's freedom, the advice prompted by thought of the weak man's conscience. My: as in 1 Corinthians 6:15; Romans 3:7. To show the impropriety of that from which he dissuades, Paul supposes himself to be doing it. “My knowledge that idols are nothing makes me free from all personal fear of eating meat offered to them. But if by eating it I injure another man, his conscience will declare that my freedom has been in its effect upon him a bad thing, that it would have been better for him if I had had less knowledge.” And Paul sees no reason why such a verdict should be pronounced on his freedom, which he knows to be good, by a voice which he is compelled to respect, viz. another man's conscience. Similar argument in Romans 14:16. The same argument, 1 Corinthians 10:30 repeats in a modified form, that we may feel its full force. With thanks: (same word as grace; see under Romans 1:5:) proof that his conscience approves his eating.

Evil-spoken-of: or, blasphemed: see Romans 2:24. I for my part, give thanks: conspicuous incongruity. “While eating this meat I thank God for freedom from scruples which cause such trouble to others. Yet, while I do this, my brother's conscience declares that my liberty has done him harm, that it would have been better for him if I had not that for which I thank God.” Such incongruity Paul will not tolerate. And, to avoid it, he advises his readers to abstain from food which is pointed out to them as being an idol-sacrifice.

V. 30. If I by grace am a partaker-If I thankfully use the common blessings of God.

Verses 29. & 30. For why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience? &c.] Though in the case of flesh offered to idols, and other matters connected with idolatry, (on which it appears there was much of a tender conscience among some of the Corinthians,) it was necessary to sacrifice something to an over-scrupulous conscience, yet the Gospel of Christ did not lay any man under this general burthen, that he must do nothing at which any weak brother might feel hurt or be stumbled; for the liberty of the Gospel must not take for its rule the scrupulosity of any conscience; for if a man, by grace-by the allowance or authority of the Gospel, partake of any thing that God’s bounty has sent, and which the Gospel has not forbidden, and give thanks to God for the blessing, no man has right or authority to condemn such a person. This seems to be the meaning of these two verses; and they read a lesson of caution to rash judges, and to those who are apt to take offence.

Verses 27-30. If any of them that believe not — Any heathen who lives in your neighbourhood; bid you to a feast — Invite you to his house; and ye be disposed — To accept the invitation; whatever is set before you — At the entertainment; eat, asking no question — About its having been sacrificed to idols; for conscience’ sake. See on verse 25. But receiving it, whatever it may be, as that supply which Divine Providence has then been pleased to send you. But if any man say, This food is part of what hath been offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not, for his sake that showed it — Whether he be a heathen, who might thereby be confirmed in his idolatry, or a brother, who might otherwise be insnared by thy example, and tempted to violate the dictates of his own mind; and for conscience’ sake — For the sake of his weak conscience, lest it should be wounded by seeing thee do what he judged to be unlawful. To explain this further, “The heathen often, in their own houses, made an ordinary feast of a part of the sacrifice, see on chap. 8:1; to these entertainments, the apostle told the Corinthian brethren, they might lawfully go when invited. But on such occasions, if a Christian domestic or slave, by informing them that this or that dish consisted of things which had been sacrificed to an idol, signified that they considered their eating these things as sinful, they were to abstain from them, for the reasons mentioned in the text.” For the earth is the Lord’s, &c. — This clause, inserted in our copies, is omitted in the Alex. Clermont, and other manuscripts, and the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulgate versions; and some other critics think it disturbs the sense. “But,” says Macknight, “it renders the argument more complete; for the meaning is, The Lord, to whom the earth and all its fulness belong, having allowed men a sufficiency of other wholesome food, no one is under any necessity of offending those who are either ignorant or scrupulous, by eating a particular kind.” Conscience, I say, not thine own — I speak of his conscience, not thine, lest it be troubled, and his mind be disquieted; for why is my liberty judged by another’s conscience — I ought not to use my liberty so as to do that which another man thinks in his conscience to be evil, and so judges me a transgressor for it. Or, as Dr. Doddridge paraphrases the verse, “I mean not thine own conscience immediately, but that of another person; for how indifferent soever thou mayest esteem the matter, thou art obliged in duty to be very cautious that thou dost not wound and grieve that of thy brother: but you will observe, that I here speak only of acts obvious to human observation; for, as to what immediately lies between God and my own soul, why is my liberty to be judged, arraigned, and condemned at the bar of another man’s conscience? I am not, in such cases, to govern myself by the judgment and apprehension of others; nor have they any authority to judge or censure me for not concurring with them in their own narrow notions and declarations.” Others think it is an objection in the mouths of the Corinthians, and to be thus understood: “But why should I suffer myself to be thus imposed on, and receive law from any, where Christ has left me free?” But the above interpretation seems more probable, which supposes that this and the following verse come in as a kind of parenthesis, to prevent their extending the former caution beyond what he designed by it. For if I, by grace — The divine favour; be a partaker — Of the common gifts of Providence; why am I evil spoken of for my free and cheerful use of that for which I give thanks — As tracing it up to the hand of the great Supreme Benefactor?

30. For—In enforcement of this view of the rights of his own conscience. By grace—And, therefore, rightfully. Give thanks—In a devout and conscientious spirit. Why… evil spoken of—For I act in accordance with my own moral and religious nature.

We have given what we think to be clearly the sense of vv. 28-30. But there are several other interpretations, of which we need notice but two. 1. That maintained by Stanley and others, which makes the two verses to be the objection of others, perhaps contained in the Corinthian letter, to Paul’s doctrine of compliance with the weak brother’s scruples on the ground that it is consenting to be judged by another’s conscience. The view is plausible, but it is not easy to see that the following verse (31) aims to be any reply to such an objection. On the contrary, the therefore seems to imply a conclusion drawn in accordance with vv. 29, 30. 2. The view of Alford, after Meyer, which makes verse 29 mean: For why incur by my license a condemnation from my fellow-Christian’s conscience? It makes verse 30 also say that I must not induce my good procedure to be evil spoken of. Such an interpretation accords well with the train of thought. But it cannot easily be forced upon verse 30, for that verse is clearly the utterance of one who is sure he is right, and therein ought not to be maligned by another.

Ver. 29b.-30. Questions supporting, by reference to the strong man's freedom, the advice prompted by thought of the weak man's conscience. My: as in 1 Corinthians 6:15; Romans 3:7. To show the impropriety of that from which he dissuades, Paul supposes himself to be doing it. “My knowledge that idols are nothing makes me free from all personal fear of eating meat offered to them. But if by eating it I injure another man, his conscience will declare that my freedom has been in its effect upon him a bad thing, that it would have been better for him if I had had less knowledge.” And Paul sees no reason why such a verdict should be pronounced on his freedom, which he knows to be good, by a voice which he is compelled to respect, viz. another man's conscience. Similar argument in Romans 14:16. The same argument, 1 Corinthians 10:30 repeats in a modified form, that we may feel its full force. With thanks: (same word as grace; see under Romans 1:5:) proof that his conscience approves his eating.

Evil-spoken-of: or, blasphemed: see Romans 2:24. I for my part, give thanks: conspicuous incongruity. “While eating this meat I thank God for freedom from scruples which cause such trouble to others. Yet, while I do this, my brother's conscience declares that my liberty has done him harm, that it would have been better for him if I had not that for which I thank God.” Such incongruity Paul will not tolerate. And, to avoid it, he advises his readers to abstain from food which is pointed out to them as being an idol-sacrifice.

V. 31. Therefore-To close the present point with a general rule, applicable not only in this, but in all cases,

Whatsoever ye do-In all things whatsoever, whether of a religious or civil nature, in all the common, as well as sacred, actions of life, keep the glory of God in view, and steadily pursue in all this one end of your being, the planting or advancing the vital knowledge and love of God, first in your own soul, then in all mankind.

Verse 31. Whether therefore ye eat, or drink] As no general rule can be laid down in reference to the above particulars, there is one maxim of which no Christian must lose sight-that whether he eats or drinks of this or the other kind of aliments, or whatever else he may do, he must do it so as to bring glory to God. This is a sufficient rule to regulate every man’s conscience and practice in all indifferent things, where there are no express commands or prohibitions.

Verses 31-33. Whether, therefore, &c. — To close the present point with a general rule, applicable not only in this, but in all cases, see to it that whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do — In all things whatsoever, whether of a religious or civil nature, in all the common as well as sacred actions of life, keep the glory of God in view, and steadily pursue, in all, this one end of your being, the planting or advancing the vital knowledge and love of God, first in your own souls, then in the souls of as many others as you can have access to, or by any means influence. Give none offence — If, and as far as, it is possible, neither to the unbelieving Jews — By lessening their abhorrence of idols; nor to the unbelieving Greeks — By confirming them in their idolatry; nor to the church of God — By making the ignorant think you idolaters. Even as I — As much as lieth in me; please all men in all things — Innocent; not seeking mine own profit — Mine own temporal interest or gratification; but the profit — The everlasting advantage; of many, that they may be saved — By being brought to and confirmed in that religion, on which their eternal happiness depends.

31. Therefore—As a concluding rule from the whole of vv. 23-30. Eat, or drink—At feasts or elsewhere. Glory of God—As a servant of God, willing ever to bring honour to his law and name.

This does not require that in every motion or deed we make God’s glory a distinct object of thought. It requires that we should plan and order our whole life in accordance with God’s law, and with the gospel of his Son. This supreme purpose should control the whole scheme, and be so carried out that our life, in whole and in all its parts, should be a lesson to men, inspiring them to glorify our Father which is in heaven.

Ver. 31.-32. General principles of conduct, exemplified in the reasons given in 1 Corinthians 10:29b, 30 for the specific advice of 1 Corinthians 10:28, in a form, eat or drink, suggested by the matter of § 19.

Glory of God: see Romans 1:21; 3:7. “Since your conduct and the worth of your religion will be estimated by others according to its effect upon themselves, so act in all the details of life that your action may show forth the splendor of God, the Author of all human excellence, and thus exalt Him in the eyes of men.” This conveys a solemn lesson. The practical impression made upon men by the revealed character of God is determined very much by the conduct of His people, even in little things, and especially by the degree to which they take into account the effect of their conduct upon the well-being of others. 1 Corinthians 10:32 gives a second and negative principle of conduct, suggested by 1 Corinthians 10:28ff, and a special point to be avoided by all who wish that their entire conduct bring glory to God.

To Jews or to Greeks: cp. Romans 15:8ff following Ro 14. Whether the weak brethren were Jews or Gentiles, the matter of sacrificial food brought into great prominence distinctions of nationality. Men-without-cause-of-stumbling: having nothing likely to overthrow themselves or others. Latter reference here (cp. Romans 14:13) and in Sirach 35:21; the former, in the same word in Philippians 1:10; Acts 24:16. But practically the two senses coincide. Whatever in us tends to overthrow others tends to overthrow ourselves. Be careful so to act as not to trip up men, Jews or Gentiles, who are groping their way to heaven.

Church of God: title of dignity. Even those who belong to God and are His representatives to the world may (1 Corinthians 8:11) be thrown down or hindered by our conduct.

Ver. 33.-11:1. Paul's own example, as in 1 Corinthians 8:13, supporting his advice. This example received irresistible force in 1 Corinthians. 9, which expounded and justified the principle which found expression in 1 Corinthians 8:13.

In all things: as in 1 Corinthians 9:25.

Please all men: not an end but a means, viz. that they may be saved. Cp. Romans 15:2. Else it would be unworthy: Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4. But, to seek men's favor in order to save them and only thus far, is one of the noblest acts of service to God. I please all: not actually; but noting, according to the use of the Greek present tense, a course of action tending in the direction. So Romans 2:4; Galatians 5:4; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 1:13. Not seeking etc.: as in 1 Corinthians 10:24.

That they may be saved: the final object Paul has in view in seeking the profit of the many. He wishes to save them: and, in view of so worthy and so serious an object, he gives up all thought of personal advantage and seeks only their good.

Imitators: as in 1 Corinthians 4:16.

As I also of Christ. Therefore, in following his example, they are walking in the steps of Christ. Cp. Romans 15:3.

Paul s advice about the IDOL-SACRIFICES (1 Corinthians 8:1) is now complete, He warns his readers in § 18 to abstain from all contact with idolatry; and, especially, not to sanction by their presence idolatrous feasts. Such sanction helps forward the work of demons: and any pleasure resulting therefrom is a cup presented by demons. Yet there is no inherent defilement in meat offered to idols; and therefore (§ 19) no need to inquire about the previous history of meat sold in the market or placed on the table of a heathen friend. Nevertheless, in the presence of one who conscientiously and openly disapproves of eating meat offered to idols, Paul advises his readers to abstain from it, lest their example inflict spiritual injury upon him. He does not find it needful to mention the case of meat which they may casually learn to have been offered to idols. For his whole argument implies that there is no sufficient reason for abstaining from it. Notice that Paul disregards utterly the apostolic decree of Acts 15:23ff, which he himself apparently assented to and in his second missionary journey (which first brought him to Corinth) distributed to the churches, and which enjoined abstinence from idol-sacrifices as one of the “necessary things.” For even the advice of 1 Corinthians 10:28 referred, not to his readers' conscience, but (1 Corinthians 10:29) to that of the weak brother who gave the information. This disregard cannot be accounted for by a change of circumstances, making expedient a change of practice in so short a time. It rather points to an advance of knowledge in the mind of the apostle, to a firmer grasp of (e.g. Mark 7:18) the teaching of Christ. This does not lessen the authority of the apostles as unanimous witnesses of the teaching of Christ. But it warns us to be careful in accepting, as binding for all time, the letter of their advice in matters of small detail. The contrast of Revelation 2:20 is a difficulty which I can neither dissemble nor solve. It refers, however, to specific erroneous teaching, known to the readers but not to us, and perhaps to such an eating as directly sanctioned idolatry.

Section 19 teaches that our conduct must often be limited, not only by what we think, but by what those around us think, to be right. Else we may lead them to do what their conscience condemns, and thus inflict upon them serious injury. By thus refraining for their good, we are bearing their burdens and fulfilling (Galatians 6:2; Romans 15:1) the law of Christ.

REVIEW OF DIV. IV. Paul might have passed at once from § 14 to § 18. Indeed §§ 15-17, like §§ 3, 4, and § 12, seem to interrupt the matter in hand. But, in reality, they immensely increase the force of the advice which follows them. From matters of detail Paul rises to broad principles, that he may bring the principles to bear with accumulated force on the matters of detail. He thus makes passing details a pattern of the application of great abiding principles.

In § 14 Paul bids his readers consider the effect upon others of their own conduct. This advice he supports by expounding in § 15 his rights in the Gospel, and in § 16 his cheerful surrender of them to save men; that, by the example of his own self-denial, an example well known to his readers, he may drive away by very shame all hesitation to submit to a trifling limitation in a matter so trifling as food rather than expose to risk of destruction those who are already brethren in Christ. Their confident but false security, Paul puts to shame by saying that this unlimited self-sacrifice is needful for his own salvation; and supports the warning herein implied by the example in § 17 of those who fell in the wilderness for conduct exactly analogous to that of the Corinthians. And for this conduct there is no excuse: for God ever provides a way of escape. The destruction of the Israelites in the wilderness gives great force to Paul's specific warning in § 18 against all contact with idolatry, especially all participation in idolatrous feasts. At the beginning of § 19 he reasserts the great principle of which his own conduct (1 Corinthians. 9) is so conspicuous an example; and then gives specific advice based on this principle about food eaten in private houses. He concludes DIV. IV. by reasserting the same all-important principle, as embodied in his own example and in that of Christ. The principles exemplified in DIV. IV. have abiding and infinite value. Now, as then, there are in the church differences of opinion about right and wrong: and there are many weak brethren. If we resolve to do whatever we think to be allowable, and to claim our rights to the full, we shall lose opportunities of doing men good and inflict actual injury, shall lose the spiritual progress which immediately follows all self-denial for the good of others, and imperil our own salvation.

V. 32. Give no offence-If, and as far as, it is possible.

Verse 32. Give none offence, &c.] Scrupulously avoid giving any cause of offence either to the unconverted Jews or the unconverted Gentiles, so as to prejudice them against Christianity: nor to the Church of God, made up of converts from the above parties.

Verses 31-33. Whether, therefore, &c. — To close the present point with a general rule, applicable not only in this, but in all cases, see to it that whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do — In all things whatsoever, whether of a religious or civil nature, in all the common as well as sacred actions of life, keep the glory of God in view, and steadily pursue, in all, this one end of your being, the planting or advancing the vital knowledge and love of God, first in your own souls, then in the souls of as many others as you can have access to, or by any means influence. Give none offence — If, and as far as, it is possible, neither to the unbelieving Jews — By lessening their abhorrence of idols; nor to the unbelieving Greeks — By confirming them in their idolatry; nor to the church of God — By making the ignorant think you idolaters. Even as I — As much as lieth in me; please all men in all things — Innocent; not seeking mine own profit — Mine own temporal interest or gratification; but the profit — The everlasting advantage; of many, that they may be saved — By being brought to and confirmed in that religion, on which their eternal happiness depends.

Ver. 32. Give none offence, neither to the jews, by any contempt of the ceremonial law; nor to the gentiles, by injudicious or unseasonable attacks on their religion, their mythology, and customs, as I have endeavoured to do in all places: 1 Corinthians 9:20-22. But especially give no offence to the church; render due honour to all the brethren. Weigh the consequences of your words, and examine the tendency of your steps.

32. None offence—No scandal. Jews—The apostle ever avoided offence to his kinsmen after the flesh. Gentiles—Crossing none of their prejudices where God’s law does not require it. Church of God—Endeavouring to maintain its purity and peace by purity and peace on his own part.

Ver. 31.-32. General principles of conduct, exemplified in the reasons given in 1 Corinthians 10:29b, 30 for the specific advice of 1 Corinthians 10:28, in a form, eat or drink, suggested by the matter of § 19.

Glory of God: see Romans 1:21; 3:7. “Since your conduct and the worth of your religion will be estimated by others according to its effect upon themselves, so act in all the details of life that your action may show forth the splendor of God, the Author of all human excellence, and thus exalt Him in the eyes of men.” This conveys a solemn lesson. The practical impression made upon men by the revealed character of God is determined very much by the conduct of His people, even in little things, and especially by the degree to which they take into account the effect of their conduct upon the well-being of others. 1 Corinthians 10:32 gives a second and negative principle of conduct, suggested by 1 Corinthians 10:28ff, and a special point to be avoided by all who wish that their entire conduct bring glory to God.

To Jews or to Greeks: cp. Romans 15:8ff following Ro 14. Whether the weak brethren were Jews or Gentiles, the matter of sacrificial food brought into great prominence distinctions of nationality. Men-without-cause-of-stumbling: having nothing likely to overthrow themselves or others. Latter reference here (cp. Romans 14:13) and in Sirach 35:21; the former, in the same word in Philippians 1:10; Acts 24:16. But practically the two senses coincide. Whatever in us tends to overthrow others tends to overthrow ourselves. Be careful so to act as not to trip up men, Jews or Gentiles, who are groping their way to heaven.

Church of God: title of dignity. Even those who belong to God and are His representatives to the world may (1 Corinthians 8:11) be thrown down or hindered by our conduct.

Ver. 33.-11:1. Paul's own example, as in 1 Corinthians 8:13, supporting his advice. This example received irresistible force in 1 Corinthians. 9, which expounded and justified the principle which found expression in 1 Corinthians 8:13.

In all things: as in 1 Corinthians 9:25.

Please all men: not an end but a means, viz. that they may be saved. Cp. Romans 15:2. Else it would be unworthy: Galatians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:4. But, to seek men's favor in order to save them and only thus far, is one of the noblest acts of service to God. I please all: not actually; but noting, according to the use of the Greek present tense, a course of action tending in the direction. So Romans 2:4; Galatians 5:4; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Galatians 1:13. Not seeking etc.: as in 1 Corinthians 10:24.

That they may be saved: the final object Paul has in view in seeking the profit of the many. He wishes to save them: and, in view of so worthy and so serious an object, he gives up all thought of personal advantage and seeks only their good.

Imitators: as in 1 Corinthians 4:16.

As I also of Christ. Therefore, in following his example, they are walking in the steps of Christ. Cp. Romans 15:3.

Paul s advice about the IDOL-SACRIFICES (1 Corinthians 8:1) is now complete, He warns his readers in § 18 to abstain from all contact with idolatry; and, especially, not to sanction by their presence idolatrous feasts. Such sanction helps forward the work of demons: and any pleasure resulting therefrom is a cup presented by demons. Yet there is no inherent defilement in meat offered to idols; and therefore (§ 19) no need to inquire about the previous history of meat sold in the market or placed on the table of a heathen friend. Nevertheless, in the presence of one who conscientiously and openly disapproves of eating meat offered to idols, Paul advises his readers to abstain from it, lest their example inflict spiritual injury upon him. He does not find it needful to mention the case of meat which they may casually learn to have been offered to idols. For his whole argument implies that there is no sufficient reason for abstaining from it. Notice that Paul disregards utterly the apostolic decree of Acts 15:23ff, which he himself apparently assented to and in his second missionary journey (which first brought him to Corinth) distributed to the churches, and which enjoined abstinence from idol-sacrifices as one of the “necessary things.” For even the advice of 1 Corinthians 10:28 referred, not to his readers' conscience, but (1 Corinthians 10:29) to that of the weak brother who gave the information. This disregard cannot be accounted for by a change of circumstances, making expedient a change of practice in so short a time. It rather points to an advance of knowledge in the mind of the apostle, to a firmer grasp of (e.g. Mark 7:18) the teaching of Christ. This does not lessen the authority of the apostles as unanimous witnesses of the teaching of Christ. But it warns us to be careful in accepting, as binding for all time, the letter of their advice in matters of small detail. The contrast of Revelation 2:20 is a difficulty which I can neither dissemble nor solve. It refers, however, to specific erroneous teaching, known to the readers but not to us, and perhaps to such an eating as directly sanctioned idolatry.

Section 19 teaches that our conduct must often be limited, not only by what we think, but by what those around us think, to be right. Else we may lead them to do what their conscience condemns, and thus inflict upon them serious injury. By thus refraining for their good, we are bearing their burdens and fulfilling (Galatians 6:2; Romans 15:1) the law of Christ.

REVIEW OF DIV. IV. Paul might have passed at once from § 14 to § 18. Indeed §§ 15-17, like §§ 3, 4, and § 12, seem to interrupt the matter in hand. But, in reality, they immensely increase the force of the advice which follows them. From matters of detail Paul rises to broad principles, that he may bring the principles to bear with accumulated force on the matters of detail. He thus makes passing details a pattern of the application of great abiding principles.

In § 14 Paul bids his readers consider the effect upon others of their own conduct. This advice he supports by expounding in § 15 his rights in the Gospel, and in § 16 his cheerful surrender of them to save men; that, by the example of his own self-denial, an example well known to his readers, he may drive away by very shame all hesitation to submit to a trifling limitation in a matter so trifling as food rather than expose to risk of destruction those who are already brethren in Christ. Their confident but false security, Paul puts to shame by saying that this unlimited self-sacrifice is needful for his own salvation; and supports the warning herein implied by the example in § 17 of those who fell in the wilderness for conduct exactly analogous to that of the Corinthians. And for this conduct there is no excuse: for God ever provides a way of escape. The destruction of the Israelites in the wilderness gives great force to Paul's specific warning in § 18 against all contact with idolatry, especially all participation in idolatrous feasts. At the beginning of § 19 he reasserts the great principle of which his own conduct (1 Corinthians. 9) is so conspicuous an example; and then gives specific advice based on this principle about food eaten in private houses. He concludes DIV. IV. by reasserting the same all-important principle, as embodied in his own example and in that of Christ. The principles exemplified in DIV. IV. have abiding and infinite value. Now, as then, there are in the church differences of opinion about right and wrong: and there are many weak brethren. If we resolve to do whatever we think to be allowable, and to claim our rights to the full, we shall lose opportunities of doing men good and inflict actual injury, shall lose the spiritual progress which immediately follows all self-denial for the good of others, and imperil our own salvation.

V. 33. Even as I, as much as lieth in me, please all men.

Verse 33. Even as I please all men] Act as I do: forgetting myself, my own interests, convenience, ease, and comfort, I labour for the welfare of others; and particularly that they may be saved. How blessed and amiable was the spirit and conduct of this holy man!

THIS chapter has already presented the serious reader with a variety of maxims for his regulation.-- 1. As to his own private walk; 2. His domestic duties; and 3. His connection with the Church of God. Let us review some of the principal parts.

1. We should be on our guard against what are called little sins, and all occasions and excitements to sin. Take heed what company you frequent. One thing, apparently harmless, may lead by almost imperceptible links to sins of the deepest dye. See the example in this chapter: 1. The people sat down to eat and to drink. 2. They rose up to play, dance, and sing: and 3. They committed fornication, and brought upon themselves swift destruction.

2. However conscious we may be of our own sincerity and uprightness, we should ever distrust ourselves. God has made nothing independent of himself; the soul has no principle of self-dependence either in itself or its attainments: it is wise, powerful, and happy, only while it is depending on infinite wisdom, unlimited power, and endless mercy.

3. The Gentiles were in communion with demons by their idolatrous services. In what communion are those who feed themselves without fear, who eat with the glutton and drink with the drunkard? So they partake of the Lord Jesus who are under the influence of pride, self-will, hatred, censoriousness, &c., and who carry their self-importance and worldly spirit even into the house and worship of God?

4. A spirit of curiosity too much indulged may, in an irreligious man, lead to covetousness and theft: in a godly man, to a troublesome and unscriptural scrupulosity of conscience, productive of nothing but uneasiness to itself, and disturbance to others. Simplicity of heart saves from this, and is an excellent gift.

5. In many actions we have a twofold rule-the testimony of God and charity: and in many things charity is the best interpreter of the testimony. The testimony often permits what charity forbids, because circumstances in time, place, &c., may render a thing improper on one occasion that might be proper on another.

6. Pious Quesnel has well said: Every thing honours God when it is done for his sake; every thing dishonours him when any ultimate end is proposed beside his glory. It is an unchangeable principle of the Christian morality that all comes from God by his love, and all should be returned to him by ours. This rule we should keep inviolate.

7. Though many of the advices given in this chapter appear to respect the Corinthians alone, yet there is none of them that is not applicable to Christians in general in certain circumstances. God has given no portion of his word to any people or age exclusively; the whole is given to the Church universal in all ages of the world. In reading this epistle let us seriously consider what parts of it apply to ourselves; and if we are disposed to appropriate its promises, let us act conscientiously, and inquire how many of its reprehensions we may fairly appropriate also.

I CORINTHIANS

Verses 31-33. Whether, therefore, &c. — To close the present point with a general rule, applicable not only in this, but in all cases, see to it that whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do — In all things whatsoever, whether of a religious or civil nature, in all the common as well as sacred actions of life, keep the glory of God in view, and steadily pursue, in all, this one end of your being, the planting or advancing the vital knowledge and love of God, first in your own souls, then in the souls of as many others as you can have access to, or by any means influence. Give none offence — If, and as far as, it is possible, neither to the unbelieving Jews — By lessening their abhorrence of idols; nor to the unbelieving Greeks — By confirming them in their idolatry; nor to the church of God — By making the ignorant think you idolaters. Even as I — As much as lieth in me; please all men in all things — Innocent; not seeking mine own profit — Mine own temporal interest or gratification; but the profit — The everlasting advantage; of many, that they may be saved — By being brought to and confirmed in that religion, on which their eternal happiness depends.

33. Please all—That is, in purpose and effort, whether with successful result or not. Be saved—His compliances and subserviences were neither for flattery nor self-interest, but for the eternal good of his fellow-beings. In this direction he was the most complying of men; in all others the most independent. In all these things he would have the Corinthians, according to the first verse of the next chapter, (where see note,) his followers.