1 Corinthians 8:12

1 Corinthians 8:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
• New International Version (NIV)When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

Context of 1 Corinthians 8:12

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. 11Because you understand properly, you are hurting someone who does not understand so well. In that way, the life of your Christian friend has become completely spoiled. Remember that Christ died to save that friend. If you do that kind of bad thing to hurt your Christian friends, you are hurting Christ himself. You are causing them to do something which they think is wrong. 13I do not want to hurt any of my Christian friends. So, if the food that I eat causes them to do something wrong, I will never eat meat again.

1 Corinthians 8:12 word by word

οὕτως δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τύπτοντες αὐτῶν τὴν συνείδησιν ἀσθενοῦσαν, εἰς Χριστὸν ἁμαρτάνετε.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• when ye sinἁμαρτάνωhamartanō · to sinG264
• soοὕτωςhoutō · thus(-ly)G3779
• againstεἰςeis · towardG1519
• the brethrenὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the brethrenἀδελφόςadelphos · brotherG80
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• woundτύπτωtuptō · to strikeG5180
• theirαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• weakἀσθενέωastheneō · be weak: weakG770
• conscienceσυνείδησιςsuneidēsis · conscienceG4893
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 8:12

• Genesis 20:9Abimelech called Abraham to come to him. He said to Abraham, ‘Why have you done this bad thing against us? I have not done anything wrong against you. Now you have made me and the people in my kingdom guilty of a very bad thing. Nobody should ever do the things that you have done to me.’
• Genesis 42:22Reuben said, ‘I told you not to do anything bad to the boy. But you would not agree! We killed him and now we must receive the punishment.’
• Exodus 32:21Moses said to Aaron, ‘Why did you agree to do this? What did the people do to you? You have made them guilty of a great sin.’
• 1 Samuel 2:25If you do something bad to another person, God can speak on your behalf. But if you do something bad against the Lord, nobody can speak on your behalf.’ Eli's sons did not listen to their father. The Lord had already decided to kill them.
• 1 Samuel 19:4Jonathan spoke to his father Saul. He said good things about David. He said to Saul, ‘The king should not do anything bad against David. David is your servant. He has not done anything that is bad against you. Everything that he does really helps you.
• 1 Samuel 24:11My father, look at what I have in my hand! It is a small piece of your coat. I cut this off the corner of your coat, but I did not kill you. So you must know that I do not want to do anything bad against you. I have not turned against you. I am not guilty of anything, but you are chasing after me so that you can kill me.
• Matthew 18:21Then Peter came to talk to Jesus. He asked, ‘Lord, if my friend does wrong things against me many times, how many times should I forgive him? Must I forgive him as many as seven times for the wrong things that he has done against me?’
• 1 Corinthians 12:12Each person has only one body, but that body has many parts. All those different parts make only one body. It is like that with Christ too.
• Exodus 16:8Moses said to them, ‘The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening. And in the morning, he will give you all the bread that you want. He will do this because he has heard you when you complained against him. We are only his servants. You have said bad things against the Lord, not against us.’
• Matthew 12:49Then he pointed to his disciples. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers.
• Matthew 18:10Be careful! Do not think that any of these little people are not important. I tell you this. They have angels who watch over them. Those angels are always standing in front of my Father in heaven.
• Matthew 25:40The king will answer them, “I tell you this: You did all these things to help other people. They were not important people, but they were my friends. When you helped them, then you also helped me.”
• Acts 9:4Saul fell down onto the ground. He heard a voice which said to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?’

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 8:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12But when ye sin so against the brethren - Against Christians, who are called by the Gospel to abhor and detest all such abominations. Ye sin against Christ - By sending to perdition, through your bad example, a soul for whom he shed his blood; and so far defeating the gracious intentions of his sacrificial death. This is a farther intimation, that a person for whom Christ died may perish; and this is the drift of the apostle's argument.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12But when ye sin so against the brethren - This is designed further to show the evil of causing others to sin; and hence, the evil which might arise from partaking of the meat offered to idols. The word sin here is to be taken in the sense of “injuring, offending, leading into sin.” You violate the law which requires you to love your brethren, and to seek their welfare, and thus you sin against them. Sin is properly against God; but there may be a course…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-13Verses 7-13 Eating one kind of food, and abstaining from another, have nothing in them to recommend a person to God. But the apostle cautions against putting a stumbling-block in the way of the weak; lest they be made bold to eat what was offered to the idol, not as common food, but as a sacrifice, and thereby be guilty of idolatry. He who has the Spirit of Christ in him, will love those whom Christ loved so as to die for them. Injuries done to…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12Causing immature believers to sin by violating their conscience is like sinning against Christ, who has claimed them for himself (compare Matthew 25:40, 45).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. wound their weak conscience--literally, "smite their conscience, being (as yet) in a weak state." It aggravates the cruelty of the act that it is committed on the weak, just as if one were to strike an invalid. against Christ--on account of the sympathy between Christ and His members (Mt 25:40; Ac 9:4, 5).Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 8:12

• Commandments
• Conscience
• Evil
• Example
• Expediency
• Fraternity
• Holiness
• Idolatry
• Prudence
• Self-Denial
• Stumbling
• Temptation

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• Charity
• Commend
• Offend
• Perish
• Touching
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Drunkenness
• 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