1 Corinthians 10 Study Notes

10:1-5 To make vivid the possibility of disqualification, Paul drew on the exodus (Ex 12-17). Those Hebrews enjoyed unique access to God (were all under the cloud of God’s presence and were baptized into Moses), and yet most of them . . . were struck down. The phrase they all ate the same spiritual food points back to God’s daily provision for Israel in the wilderness (Dt 8:14-15).

10:6-10 The wilderness generation served as a cautionary example to the Corinthian church, which was on the verge of provoking God. The Corinthians apparently were boasting that they could please the Lord (cp. v. 12) and at the same time partake of food and fellowship at pagan religious clubs (vv. 6,14-22). The Corinthian motto was “everything is permissible” (v. 23). Paul called them to remember the OT examples. The phrase now these things refers to the idolatrous activity of the wilderness generation that provoked God to cut them down (v. 5). The prohibition don’t become idolaters as some of them were is emphatic in the Greek and becomes the paradigm for three exhortations: (1) do not commit sexual immorality (cp. Nm 25:1-18, esp. v. 9), (2) do not test Christ (cp. Nm 21:5-6), and (3) do not complain (cp. Ex 12:23; Nm 16:41-50). In all three of these OT examples, God judged and destroyed the people for their sins.

10:11-14 God’s judgment on the wilderness generation served as a cautionary tale for Corinthian believers who thought they were strong enough to participate in pagan religious functions without compromise and escape judgment at the ends of the ages. Paul called the Corinthians to recognize their impending accountability before the Lord (1:7-8).

10:15 They are to judge for themselves that Paul is right.

10:16-17 Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that participants at the Lord’s Supper represent a unified body that is dependent on the death of Christ. The phrase because there is one bread, we who are many are one body refers to the individual members who make up one corporate body, the church (12:12-27). United participation as one body at the Lord’s Supper points to unified fellowship brought about by Christ’s death as well as each individual believer’s union with Christ.

10:18-22 Actual “idolatry” (v. 14) is in view here, not merely partaking of foods offered to idols (8:1-13). Participation in idolatrous rites is a violation of the believer’s union with Christ and thus with the one-body relationship that they had with other believers. Therefore, the Lord’s Supper and the table of demons are mutually exclusive.

10:18-19 People of Israel (lit “Israel according to the flesh”) in the present context refers ultimately to the sinful wilderness generation. Likewise, Paul’s reference to the altar probably alludes to Ex 32:5-6 (cited in 1Co 10:7), which recounts Aaron’s building of an altar in front of the idol, the golden calf.

10:20-21 Paul prohibited participation in pagan ritualistic meals because this involved intimacy with demons. He continued to affirm the nonreality of idols as deities (8:4-6), but demons are both real and powerful. He did not want the Corinthians to discount demonic presence at the “table of demons.” The word they refers back to idolatrous Israel in the wilderness (cp. v. 18, “the people of Israel”) when they overlooked demonic presence, just as the Corinthian believers were tempted to do.

10:22 Paul called the Corinthian believers to remember the example of Israel when they provoked the Lord to jealousy by their idolatry, which resulted in a plague (Ex 32:33-35).

10:23-11:1 This section concludes the train of thought that began in 8:1, summarizing the principle that believers should limit the exercise of their freedom (“knowledge,” 8:1) out of consideration for those who have weak consciences.

10:23-24 The overriding principle of 8:1-11:1 is to seek the good of the other person. Believers must conscribe their actions with the aim of benefiting others, especially where this can lead to salvation for nonbelievers (cp. vv. 32-33). All believers should adopt limits on their rights and freedoms.

10:25-26 In what may seem a surprising twist, Paul said seeking “the good of the other person” (v. 24) meant a believer who objected to buying meat that had been sacrificed to idols should not interrogate the meat sellers in order to certify that the meat had no association with idolatry. Why? Most likely because such questions would seem hostile and alienate the nonbelieving Greeks at Corinth, thus hindering the gospel’s advance. Paul offered scriptural support for this position from Ps 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it.” Therefore, partake of the meat out of gratitude and a clear conscience.

10:27 The rule for eating in a pagan home is the same as in the meat market.

10:28-29a Paul prohibited eating meat if someone bothered explicitly to point out, “This is food from a sacrifice” (Gk hierothutos, “meat devoted to a divinity”). This rare Greek term was used by pagans to designate meat devoted to a particular god. In this situation, the food’s history did matter because the person who pointed it out (whether they be a nonbelieving Gentile or a Christian of weak conscience) apparently felt that a Christian eating such meat would be compromising his allegiance to Christ.

10:29b-30 After a parenthetical interruption that explains an exception to one’s freedom (vv. 28-29a), these rhetorical questions introduce the basis for the believers’ freedom to eat whatever is given them without questions of conscience.

10:31-33 People who wish to do everything for the glory of God cannot succeed if they act in disregard for others. Paul was always relinquishing his rights for the spiritual benefit of others—that they may be saved.