1 Corinthians 10:25
in 1 Corinthians 10Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience’ sake;
KJV
Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake:
⋯
This verse in 1 Corinthians 10
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhatsoever is sold in the shambles,.... the word μακελλον, rendered "shambles", here used, is a Latin word, and is made use of by Latin writers in the same sense as here, for a place where food was sold (i). The original of the name is said (k) to be this; one Macellus, a very wicked and profane man, being for his robberies and filthy life condemned to die, a place was built in his house by Aemylius and Fulvius, censors, for selling of provisions, and which from his name was called "Macellum".
This site's exposition
Eat anything sold in the
on 1 Corinthians 10:25-27
Paul writes, Eat anything sold in the meat market, and grounds it in Psalm 24:1, The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof. Market meat is free of suspicion whatever its temple history, since creation belongs to God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Xerophagies, however, (they consider) the novel name of a studied duty, and very much akin to heathenish superstition, like the abstemious rigours which purify an Apis, an Isis, and a Magna Mater, by a restriction laid upon certain kinds of food; whereas faith, free in Christ, owes no abstinence from particular meats to the Jewish Law even, admitted as it has been by the apostle once for all to the whole range of the meat-market -(the apostle, I say), that detester of such as, in like manner as they prohibit marrying, so bid us abstain from meats created by God.
A great argument for another god is the permission to eat of all kinds of meats, contrary to the law. Just as if we did not ourselves allow that the burdensome ordinances of the law were abrogated-but by Him who imposed them, who also promised the new condition of things.
Having said that "they could not drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils," and having once for all led them away from those tables, by Jewish examples, by human reasonings, by the tremendous Mysteries, by the rites solemnized among the idols; and having filled them with great fear; that he might not by this fear drive again to another extreme, and they be forced, exercising a greater scrupulosity than was necessary, to feel alarm, lest possibly even without their knowledge there might come in some such thing either from the market or from some other quarter; to release them from this strait, he saith, "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question." "For," saith he, "if thou eat in ignorance and not knowingly, thou art not subject to the punishment: it being thenceforth a matter not of greediness, but of ignorance." Nor doth he free the man only from this anxiety, but also from another, establishing them in thorough security and liberty. For he cloth not even suffer them to "question;" i.e., to search and enquire, whether it be an idol-sacrifice or no such thing; but simply to eat every thing which comes from the market, not even acquainting one's self with so much as this, what it is that is act before us. So that even he that eateth, if in ignorance, may be rid of anxiety. For such is the nature of those things which are not in their essence evil, but through the man's intention make him unclean. Wherefore he saith, "asking no question."
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
The conscience referred to here is not the conscience of the one who knows that idols do not exist but the conscience of the one who sees somebody else buying food which has been sacrificed to idols and thinks that it is wrong for that …
Wherefore daintiness is to be shunned, and we are to partake of few and necessary things. "And if one of the unbelievers call us to a feast, and we determine to go" (for it is a good thing not to mix with the dissolute), the apostle bids us "eat what is set before us, asking no questions for conscience sake." Similarly he has enjoined to purchase "what is sold in the shambles" without curious questioning.
4 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
He confirmed with many arguments that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols. But lest they again become overly scrupulous beyond what is necessary and begin refusing what is sold in the marketplace out of fear that it might be food sacrificed to idols, …
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Whatsoever is sold in the shambles - In the market. The meat of animals offered in sacrifice would be exposed there to sale as well as other meat. The apostle says that it might be purchased, since the mere fact that it had been offered in sacrifice could not change its quality, or render it unfit for use.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
shambles--butchers' stalls; the flesh market. asking no question--whether it has been offered to an idol or not. for conscience' sake--If on asking you should hear it had been offered to idols, a scruple would arise in your conscience which was needless, and never would have arisen had you asked no questions.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat - The case to which the apostle refers is simply this; it was customary to bring the flesh of the animal to market, the blood of which had been poured out in sacrifice to an idol; or, taken more particularly, the case was this; one part of the sacrifice was consumed on the altar of the idol: a second part was dressed and eaten by the sacrificer; and a third belonged to the priest, and was often sold in the shambles. To partake of the second share, or to feast upon the sacrifice, St. Paul absolutely forbids, because this was one part of the religious worship which was paid to the idol; it was sitting down as guests at his table, in token that they were in fellowship with him. This was utterly incompatible with receiving the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, which was the communion of the body and blood of Christ. But as to the third share, the apostle leaves them at liberty either to eat of it or forbear; except that, by eating, their weak brethren should be offended; in that case, though the thing was lawful, it was their duty to abstain. See the notes on 1Co 8:1, etc. Hindoos eagerly embrace whatever has been offered to an idol: hence it is common to see the flowers that have been thus offered placed in the hair of a Hindoo. Water that has been thus made sacred is preserved in Hindoo houses, and with it they rub their bodies, and occasionally sip a drop, regarding it as the water of life. - See Ward. Asking no questions for consciences sake - Dr. Lightfoot observes, that “the Jews were vexed with innumerable scruples in their feasts, as to the eating of the thing, as well as to the company with which they ate; and even the manner of their eating. […]
The words behind it
11 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Πᾶν | pan | Everything | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| τὸ | to | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐν | en | in | G1722 → | 2738 times |
| μακέλλῳ | makello | the meat market | G3111 → | |
| πωλούμενον | poloumenon | being sold | G4453 → | |
| ἐσθίετε | esthiete | do eat | G2068 → | 65 times |
| μηδὲν | meden | nothing | G3367 → | 90 times |
| ἀνακρίνοντες | anakrinontes | inquiring | G350 → | 16 times |
| διὰ | dia | on account of | G1223 → | 664 times |
| τὴν | ten | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συνείδησιν· | suneidesin | conscience; | G4893 → | 30 times |
ΠᾶνEverything
panG3956 →1235 times
τὸ<the>
toG3588 →19766 times
ἐνin
enG1722 →2738 times
μακέλλῳthe meat market
makelloG3111 →
πωλούμενονbeing sold
poloumenonG4453 →
ἐσθίετεdo eat
esthieteG2068 →65 times
μηδὲνnothing
medenG3367 →90 times
ἀνακρίνοντεςinquiring
anakrinontesG350 →16 times
διὰon account of
diaG1223 →664 times
τὴν<the>
tenG3588 →19766 times
συνείδησιν·conscience;
suneidesinG4893 →30 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Titus 1:15To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
it leads to
- Romans 14:14
I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Romans 14:20
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 10:23
“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 14:14
Through
Romans 14:14I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
it leads to
- Titus 1:15
To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Timothy 4:4
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Romans 14:2
For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.
- Titus 1:15
Through
Acts 10:15The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
it leads to
- Matthew 15:11
A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”
- Mark 7:19
because it does not enter his heart, but it goes into the stomach and then is eliminated.” (Thus all foods are clean.)
- Matthew 15:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies36
On this verse
On this chapter
Show the next 6 titles
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 25; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Tertullian, On Fasting; Tertullian, Against Marcion Book V and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.