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

Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. 2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. 3But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.

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 8:10For if others see you—with your “superior knowledge”—eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol?
• 1 Corinthians 10:19What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods?
• Numbers 25:2These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab.
• Acts 15:10So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
• Acts 21:25“As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter: They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
• Revelation 2:14“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.
• 1 Corinthians 8:2Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much.
• 1 Corinthians 1:5Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge.
• 1 Corinthians 4:10Our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you claim to be so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are so powerful! You are honored, but we are ridiculed.
• 1 Corinthians 13:2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
• 1 Corinthians 14:20Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.
• 1 Corinthians 15:34Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all.
• Romans 14:14I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.
• Colossians 2:18Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud,
• 1 Corinthians 4:18Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I will not visit you again.
• 1 Corinthians 5:2You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

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