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

18Look at the people of Israel from a human point of view. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices share what is on the altar? 19Do I mean that an offering made to a false god is anything, or that a false god itself is anything? Hardly! What I am saying is that these sacrifices which people make are made to demons and not to God. I don’t want you to be partners with demons. 21You cannot drink the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot participate at the table of the Lord and at the table of demons. 22Are we trying to make the Lord jealous? Are we 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 must stop sacrificing to goat idols and chasing after them as though they were prostitutes. This is a permanent law for the people and for future generations.
• Deuteronomy 32:16They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols.
• 2 Chronicles 11:15Instead, Jeroboam appointed ⌞his own⌟ priests for the illegal worship sites and the goat and calf statues he had made as idols.
• Psalms 106:37They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
• 2 Corinthians 4:4The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. As a result, they don’t see the light of the Good News about Christ’s glory. It is Christ who is God’s image.
• Revelation 9:20The people who survived these plagues still did not turn to me and change the way they were thinking and acting. If they had, they would have stopped worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see, 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