1 Corinthians 11:20

20 Therefore, [when] you come together in the same [place], it is not to eat the Lord's supper.

1 Corinthians 11:20 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 11:20

When ye come together therefore into one place
Though (epi to auto) does not signify so much the unity of the place, as of the persons meeting together, and their conjunction; so the phrase is used by the Septuagint, in ( Deuteronomy 25:11 ) ( Joshua 11:5 ) , yet it supposes a place where the church were wont to assemble for divine worship;

this is not to eat the Lord's supper:
their view in coming together was not so much to celebrate the supper of the Lord, as to partake of their own supper, which was either the paschal supper, or something like it; which many of them "judaizing" observed before the Lord's supper, in imitation of Christ, as they pretended, who first ate the passover, and then instituted the supper. Now there being a great deal of good eating and drinking in this ante-supper, many of them came together for no other end but to partake of that, at least this was their chief view, and not the Lord's supper; or when they did meet together on this account, it was in such an irregular and disorderly manner, and they confounded these suppers together, and behaved so ill at them, and ate the Lord's supper so unworthily, that it could not be rightly called eating of it; or when they had eaten their ante-supper in such an indecent way, neither staying for one another, nor keeping within the bounds of temperance and sobriety; at least having indulged their carnal appetites to such a degree, and raised themselves to such a pitch of gaiety and cheerfulness; it was not fit for them to eat the Lord's supper, to go from such a full meal to the table of the Lord. This was called the Lord's supper, because he was the author of it; and he is the subject of it; and for him, the remembrance of him, it is appointed, kept up, and continued. The Syriac version understands it of the Lord's day, and reads it thus, "when therefore ye meet together, not as is fit for", or becomes, (Nrmd hmwyl) , "the day of our Lord, do ye eat and drink".

1 Corinthians 11:20 In-Context

18 For in the first place, [when you] come together as a church, I hear there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
19 For indeed it is necessary that there be factions among you, in order that those who are approved may become evident among you.
20 Therefore, [when] you come together in the same [place], it is not to eat the Lord's supper.
21 For [when you] eat [it], each one of you goes ahead to take his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunk.
22 For do you not have houses for eating and drinking? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who do not have [anything]? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I will not praise [you]!

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle ("come together")
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.