1 Corinthians 8:8

1 Corinthians 8:8 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.
• New International Version (NIV)But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.
• New King James Version (NKJV)But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

Context of 1 Corinthians 8:8

6But for us there is only one God, who is the Father. All things come from him. We live to serve him. For us, there is only one Lord, who is Jesus Christ. All things are there because of him. And we ourselves live because of him. 7But not everyone understands properly about idols. Before they believed in Christ, some people worshipped idols for many years. So if they eat food that people have offered to an idol, they become afraid. They think that the food belongs to a real god. Their thoughts are weak. They think that they are doing something wrong. But the food that we eat will not help us to please God. If we do not eat certain food, that will not make us worse. If we do eat that food, it will not make us better. 9You are free to eat any kind of food. You understand that. But other Christians do not understand so well. So you must be careful. Do not cause them to do something that they think is wrong. 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 8:8 word by word

βρῶμα δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ· οὔτε ἐὰν μὴ φάγωμεν ὑστερούμεθα, οὔτε ἐὰν φάγωμεν περισσεύομεν.¶Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• meatβρῶμαbrōma · foodG1033
• commendethπαρίστημιparistēmi paristanō · to stand byG3936
• usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• notοὐou · noG3756
• to Godὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• to Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• forγάρgar · forG1063
• neitherοὔτεoute · neitherG3777
• ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• we eatφαγεῖνphagō · to eatG5315
• are we the betterπερισσεύωperisseuō · to exceedG4052
• notμήmē · notG3361
• are we the worseὑστερέωhustereō · to lackG5302

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 8:8

• 1 Corinthians 6:13Some of you may say, ‘God made food to feed our bodies. That is why people have stomachs. But one day God will destroy both stomachs and food.’ Yes, but the Lord gave our bodies to us. Our bodies belong to the Lord. So you should not use your bodies to have sex in a wrong way.
• Romans 14:17We belong to God's people and he is our King. The things that we eat and drink are not really important to him. This is important: We should do what is right. We should have peace in our minds. And we should be truly happy. God's Holy Spirit helps us to live like that.
• Colossians 2:20Remember that your old nature has died with Christ. So the powerful spirits that rule this world no longer have any authority over you. You do not need to serve them, because you do not belong to this world now. You do not need to obey their rules.
• Hebrews 13:9Some people teach all kinds of strange new things. Do not let them lead you away from God's true message. It is good that God is very kind to us. That is what makes us strong inside ourselves. Rules about what foods we should eat do not make us strong like that. Those rules have never helped the people who tried to obey them.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 8:8

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Meat commendeth us not to God - No such feasts as these can be a recommendation of our souls or persons to the Supreme Being. As to the thing, considered in itself, the eating gives us no spiritual advantage; and the eating not is no spiritual loss.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8But meat commendeth us not to God - This is to be regarded as the view presented by the Corinthian Christians, or by the advocates for partaking of the meat offered in sacrifice to idols. The sense is, “Religion is of a deeper and more spiritual nature than a mere regard to circumstances like these. God looks at the heart. He regards the motives, the thoughts, the moral actions of people. The mere circumstance of eating meat,‘ or abstaining from it…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. 8The Corinthians' connection with God did not depend on whether they ate certain foods or not, regardless of the food's source (compare Romans 14:17).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 88. Other old manuscripts read, "Neither if we do not eat, are we the better: neither if we eat are we the worse": the language of the eaters who justified their eating thus [Lachmann]. In English Version Paul admits that "meat neither presents [so the Greek for 'commendeth'] us as commended nor as disapproved before God": it does not affect our standing before God (Ro 14:6).Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 8:8

• Commandments
• Conscience
• Evil
• Expediency
• Fraternity
• Idolatry
• Prudence

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Charity
• Commend
• Offend
• Perish
• Touching
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Drunkenness
• Food

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