1 Corinthians 10:19 BSB

1 Corinthians 10:19

Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

KJV

What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing?

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Commentary

1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

What say I then? - This is in the present tense; τί οὖν φημι ti oun phēmi, what do I say? What is my meaning? What follows from this? Do I mean to say that an idol is anything; that it has a real existence? Does my reasoning lead to that conclusion; and am I to be understood as affirming that an idol is of itself of any consequence? It must be recollected that the Corinthian Christians are introduced by Paul 1Co 8:4 as saying that they knew that an idol was nothing in the world.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

What say I then - Do I in saying this allow that an idol is anything divine? I aver, on the contrary, that what the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils. Such in reality are the gods of the heathens; and with such only can you hold communion in those sacrifices.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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 manuscripts read the words in this order. Supply "Nay") "But [I say] that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils (demons)." Paul here introduces a new fact.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

12 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
Τί	Ti	What	G5101 →
οὖν	oun	then	G3767 →
φημι;	phēmi	do I mean?	G5346 →
ὅτι	hoti	That	G3754 →
εἰδωλόθυτόν	eidōlothuton	an idol-sacrifice	G1494 →
τί	ti	anything	G5100 →
ἐστιν	estin	is	G1510 →
ἢ	ē	or	G2228 →
ὅτι	hoti	that	G3754 →
εἴδωλόν	eidōlon	an idol	G1497 →
τί	ti	anything	G5100 →
ἐστιν;	estin	is?	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
leads to
- Romans 10:19
  I ask instead, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says: “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation without understanding.”
- Romans 9:25
  As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”
- Romans 11:11–14
  I ask then, did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Certainly not! However, because of their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous.
- 1 Kings 16:26
  For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sins, which he caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless…
- 1 Kings 16:13
  This happened because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols.
Through
Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
leads to
- Psalms 62:9
  Lowborn men are but a vapor, the exalted but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.
Through
1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
leads to
- Deuteronomy 4:39
  Know therefore this day and take to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.
Through
1 Corinthians 1:28
He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are,
leads to
- Job 34:24
  He shatters the mighty without inquiry and sets up others in their place.