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

18Think about Israel's people. They eat part of the animals that the priests offer on the altar as a sacrifice. This shows that they share together in the sacrifice. 19So think about food that people offer to idols as a sacrifice. I am not saying that the idols are real gods. The food that people offer to them is not special food. But the people who offer food to idols are worshipping demons. They are not worshipping God when they do that. I do not want you to share in what they do to worship demons. 21If you drink anything from the cup of demons, you can not then drink wine from the Lord's cup. If you share a meal with demons, you can not also share in the Lord's meal. 22If we do things like that, we will cause the Lord to be angry. We should worship only him. You know that we are not stronger than he is!

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butἀλλάalla · butG235
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• the thingsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• whichὅςhos hē ho · whichG3739
• the Gentilesἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484
• sacrificeθύωthuō · to sacrificeG2380
• to devilsδαιμόνιονdaimonion · demonG1140
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• notοὐou · noG3756
• to Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• andδέde · thenG1161
• I wouldθέλωthelō ethelō · to will/desireG2309
• thatγίνομαιginomai · to beG1096
• yeσύsu · youG4771
• fellowshipκοινωνόςkoinōnos · participantG2844

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 10:20

• Leviticus 17:7The people give sacrifices in the fields to worship idols that seem like goats. They must never do this again. This rule is for now and for all time.
• Deuteronomy 32:16They worshipped foreign gods. So the Lord became angry and jealous. They made idols which he hated.
• 2 Chronicles 11:15Jeroboam chose his own priests to offer sacrifices at the altars that he had built on the hills. They worshipped the idols of goats and young bulls that Jeroboam had made.
• Psalms 106:37They even killed their sons and their daughters as sacrifices for those idols of demons!
• 2 Corinthians 4:4Those people do not accept God's good news. The god of this world has confused their minds. They cannot see the light that the good news brings. That message teaches about the great power of Christ, who shows us exactly what God is like.
• Revelation 9:20But all the people that the fire, the smoke and the sulphur did not kill continued to do bad things. They did not change how they lived. They worshipped things that they had made for themselves. They worshipped demons and idols that they made from gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. Those idols cannot see anything or hear anything. They cannot walk anywhere. But the people continued to worship them.

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