1 Corinthians 8:1

1 Corinthians 8:1 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
• New International Version (NIV)Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." This "knowledge" puffs up, but love builds up.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

Context of 1 Corinthians 8:1

You asked me a question about food that people have offered to idols. You say, ‘We all know about these things.’ We know that is true. But when you know about something, that can make you proud. Love is better. Love helps people to become strong. 2Some people may think that they know everything. People like that do not know as much as they ought to know. 3But if somebody loves God, he is God's friend. God knows that person.

1 Corinthians 8:1 word by word

Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων, οἴδαμεν ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν. ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ, ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Nowδέde · thenG1161
• as touchingπερίperi · aboutG4012
• things offered unto idolsεἰδωλόθυτοςeidōlothuton · sacrificed to idolsG1494
• we knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• weἔχωechō · to have/beG2192
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• knowledgeγνῶσιςgnōsis · knowledgeG1108
• puffeth upφυσιόωphusioō · to inflateG5448
• charityἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• edifiethοἰκοδομέωoikodomeō · to buildG3618

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 8:1

• 1 Corinthians 8:10You may be eating food in a place where people worship idols. Then another Christian sees you there. You know that the idols are not real gods. But the other Christian may have weak thoughts about this. So, because he sees you, he may think that he can eat that food too.
• 1 Corinthians 10:19So 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.
• Numbers 25:2The women from Moab took Israelite men to watch them as they offered sacrifices to the gods of Moab. The Israelite men joined with the Moabite women to eat at their feasts. They also worshipped the gods of Moab.
• Acts 15:10So do not say that God has done a wrong thing. God has shown us that he accepts Gentiles when they believe in Jesus. If you make the Gentile believers obey the Law of Moses, that is like a heavy weight on their necks. Even we Jews and our ancestors could not carry that heavy weight.
• Acts 21:25But it is different for the Gentiles who believe in Jesus. We have already sent a letter to them. We wrote, “Do not eat any food that people have given to their idols. Do not eat anything that still has blood in it. If people have strangled an animal to kill it, do not eat its meat. Do not have sex with anyone that you are not married to.” ’
• Revelation 2:14But I have a few things to say against you. Some people among you agree with what Balaam taught long ago. He taught Balak to do a bad thing against God's people. Balak caused the Israelite people to do wrong things. As a result, they ate food that people had given to idols. They also had sex with people who were not their husbands or wives.
• 1 Corinthians 8:2Some people may think that they know everything. People like that do not know as much as they ought to know.
• 1 Corinthians 1:5As a result, God has given you all the things that you need. You are able to speak everything that he wants you to speak. You are able to understand everything that he wants you to know.
• 1 Corinthians 4:10We have become like fools so that we can serve Christ. But you think that you are wise because you belong to Christ. We seem like weak people, but you seem to be strong! People respect you but they insult us!
• 1 Corinthians 13:2I may be able to speak messages from God. I may understand all God's secret things, and know all the facts. I may have great faith so that I trust God enough to move mountains. But I am nothing if I do not love others.
• 1 Corinthians 14:20My Christian friends, do not continue to think like children think. Instead, think properly like men and women should think. The only way you should be like babies is to keep away from evil things.
• 1 Corinthians 15:34So start thinking properly! Stop doing wrong things! Some of you do not really know God. I am saying this to make you feel ashamed.
• Romans 14:14As for me, I am sure that we may eat any kind of food. God does not think that any food is unclean. The Lord Jesus has shown me that that is true. But someone else may believe that it is wrong to eat certain food. For that person, it would be wrong to eat that kind of food.
• Colossians 2:18Some people may tell you that you must always serve other people like a slave. They may tell you that you must worship angels. Do not let those people speak bad things against you. They like to talk a lot about the special things that God has shown them. They think that they are very clever. But their ideas only come from human minds.
• 1 Corinthians 4:18Some people among you have become proud. They think that I will never come back to warn them.
• 1 Corinthians 5:2But, you are still proud of yourselves! Instead, you ought to be very sad and ashamed. You should have sent this man away from your group.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 8:1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1As touching things offered unto idols - This was another subject on which the Corinthians had asked the apostle's advice, and we shall understand the whole of this chapter the better when we consider one fact, viz. That there had long subsisted a controversy between the Karaites and the Traditionists, how far it was lawful to derive any benefit or advantage from things used by the Gentiles. The Karaites were a sect of the Jews who scrupulously held to the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Now as touching - In regard to; in answer to your inquiry whether it is right or not to partake of those things. Things offered unto idols - Sacrifices unto idols. Meat that had been offered in sacrifice, and then either exposed to sale in the market, or served up at the feasts held in honor of idols, at their temples, or at the houses of their devotees. The priests, who were entitled to a part of the meat that was offered in sacrifice, would expose it to…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1The danger of having a high conceit of knowledge. (1-6) The mischief of offending weak brethren. (7-13) Verses 1-6 There is no proof of ignorance more common than conceit of knowledge. Much may be known, when nothing is known to good purpose. And those who think they know any thing, and grow vain thereon, are the least likely to make good use of their knowledge. Satan hurts some as much by tempting them to be proud of mental powers, as others, by alluring…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1Paul addresses the Corinthians' question about eating food offered to idols. In the Greco-Roman world, temples and shrines dedicated to pagan gods were common. Worshipers often offered animal sacrifices, and pagan priests sold the extra meat in the market. Christians wondered if they could eat this meat. Was meat from a sacrifice to a pagan god impure? Paul does not mention the Jewish Christian leaders' prohibition in Acts 15:20, 29. Instead, he stresses…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-131Co 8:1-13. On Partaking of Meats Offered to Idols. 1. Though to those knowing that an idol has no existence, the question of eating meats offered to idols (referred to in the letter of the Corinthians, compare 1Co 7:1) might seem unimportant, it is not so with some, and the infirmities of such should be respected. The portions of the victims not offered on the altars belonged partly to the priests, partly to the offerers; and were eaten at feasts in the…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 8:1

• Commandments
• Fraternity
• Idolatry
• Love
• Pride
• Wisdom

In the dictionaries

• Charity
• Commend
• Offend
• Perish
• Touching
• Builder
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Food
• Gnosticism
• Jude, the Epistle of

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 8

• 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
• 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