1 Corinthians 10:20

1 Corinthians 10:20 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
• New International Version (NIV)No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
• English Standard Version (ESV)No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons.

Context of 1 Corinthians 10:20

18Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar? 19Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too. 22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?

1 Corinthians 10:20 word by word

ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι ἃ θύουσιν δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ θύουσιν· οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς κοινωνοὺς τῶν δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι.Read the interlinear

• Noἀλλάalla · butG235
• ·ὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ·ὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• sacrificesθύωthuō · to sacrificeG2380
• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• of pagansἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484
• to demonsδαιμόνιονdaimonion · demonG1140
• ·καίkai · andG2532
• notοὐou · noG3756
• to Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• Andδέde · thenG1161
• I do not wantθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• youσύsu · youG4771
• to beγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• participantsκοινωνόςkoinōnos · participantG2844

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 10:20

• Leviticus 17:7They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons to which they have prostituted themselves. This will be a permanent statute for them for the generations to come.’
• Deuteronomy 32:16They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
• 2 Chronicles 11:15And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
• Psalms 106:37They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
• Revelation 9:20Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 10:20

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20But - The negative here is omitted, but is understood. The ellipsis of a negative after an interrogative sentence is common in the Classical writers as well as in the Scriptures. Bloomfield. The sense is, “No; I do not say this, but I say that there are reasons why you should not partake of those sacrifices; and one of those reasons is, that they have been really offered to devils.” They sacrifice to devils - ( ́ daimoniois“demons”). The pagans used the…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 10:20

• Demons
• Gentiles
• Idolatry
• Quotations and Allusions

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Admonition
• Lust
• Meekness
• Communion With Demons; Devils
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Jude, the Epistle of
• Paul, the Apostle
• Pauline Theology

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