1 Corinthians 10:19

1 Corinthians 10:19 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?
• New International Version (NIV)Do I mean then that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
• English Standard Version (ESV)What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?
• New King James Version (NKJV)What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything?

Context of 1 Corinthians 10:19

17Since there is one bread, we [believers] who are many are [united into] one body; for we all partake of the one bread [which represents the body of Christ]. 18Consider the people of Israel; are those who eat the sacrifices not partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]? [Indeed they are.] What do I mean then? That a thing offered to idols is anything [special or changed simply because it is offered], or that an idol is anything? 20On the contrary, the things which the Gentiles (pagans) sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [in effect], and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons [by eating at feasts in pagan temples]. 21You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].

1 Corinthians 10:19 word by word

Τί οὖν φημι; ὅτι εἰδωλόθυτόν τί ἐστιν ἢ ὅτι εἴδωλόν τί ἐστιν;Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whatτίςtis · which?G5101
• say Iφημίphēmi · to assertG5346
• thenοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• the idolεἴδωλονeidōlon · idolG1497
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• any thingτιςtis · oneG5100
• orἤē · orG2228
• that which is offered in sacrifice to idolsεἰδωλόθυτοςeidōlothuton · sacrificed to idolsG1494

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 10:19

• 1 Corinthians 1:28God has selected [for His purpose] the insignificant (base) things of the world, and the things that are despised and treated with contempt, [even] the things that are nothing, so that He might reduce to nothing the things that are,
• 1 Corinthians 3:7So neither is the one who plants nor the one who waters anything, but [only] God who causes the growth.
• 1 Corinthians 8:4In this matter, then, of eating food offered to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world [it has no real existence], and that there is no God but one.
• 1 Corinthians 13:2And if I have the gift of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love [reaching out to others], I am nothing.
• Deuteronomy 32:21They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
• Isaiah 40:17All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
• Isaiah 41:29In fact, all of these [pagan prophets and priests] are false; Their works are worthless, Their cast images are [merely] wind and emptiness.
• 2 Corinthians 12:11Now I have become foolish; you have forced me [by questioning my apostleship]. Actually I should have been commended by you [instead of being treated disdainfully], for I was not inferior to those super-apostles, even if I am nobody.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 10:19

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 19What 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.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 19What say I then? - This is in the present tense; ́ ̓͂ ti oun phēmiwhat do I say? What is my meaning? What follows from this? Do I mean to say that an idol is anything; that it has a real existence? Does my reasoning lead to that conclusion; and am I to be understood as affirming that an idol is of itself of any consequence? It must be recollected that the Corinthian Christians are introduced by Paul 1 Corinthians 8:4 as saying that they knew that an idol…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-22Verses 15-22 Did not the joining in the Lord's supper show a profession of faith in Christ crucified, and of adoring gratitude to him for his salvation ? Christians, by this ordinance, and the faith therein professed, were united as the grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, or as the members in the human body, seeing they were all united to Christ, and had fellowship with him and one another. This is confirmed from the Jewish worship and customs in…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-20Idols lack reality or life (see 8:4–6), and sacrifices to them achieve nothing. When pagans sacrifice to idols, they unknowingly sacrifice to demons (see Deuteronomy 32:16–17; Psalm 106:37; Revelation 9:20). By participating in these religious meals, people unite with demons.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 19-2019-20. What say I then?--The inference might be drawn from the analogies of the Lord's Supper and Jewish sacrifices, that an idol is really what the heathen thought it to be, a god, and that in eating idol-meats they had fellowship with the god. This verse guards against such an inference: "What would I say then? that a thing sacrificed to an idol is any real thing (in the sense that the heathen regard it), or that an idol is any real thing?" (The oldest…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 10:19

• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Admonition
• Lust
• Meekness
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Food
• Jude, the Epistle of
• Paul, the Apostle

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 10

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings