1 Corinthians 10:3
in 1 Corinthians 10They all ate the same spiritual food
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and did all eat the same spiritual food;
KJV
And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 10
Commentary
13 notes on this verseWhat we eat, what we drink, the Holy Spirit expresses to you elsewhere, saying; "Taste and see that the Lord is sweet. Blessed is the one who trusts in him." Christ is in that sacrament, because the body is Christ's. So the food is not corporeal but spiritual.
This site's exposition
They all ate the same
on 1 Corinthians 10:3-4
The manna of Exodus 16 and the water from the rock of Exodus 17 are spiritual food and drink because each pointed to Christ. Paul states the type outright: that rock was Christ.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
The divine apostle also, in calling the Lord "spiritual food and drink," suggests that he knows that human nature is not simple, but that there is an intelligible part mixed with a sensual part and that a particular type of nurture is needed for each of the elements in us—sensible food to strengthen our bodies and spiritual food for the well-being of our souls.
A commentator
Theodore of MopsuestiaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 428.
proposed
Paul calls the food supernatural because it gave those who ate it the power of the Holy Spirit. However, it did not of itself make them spiritual people.
"That our fathers," saith he, "were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of a spiritual Rock that followed them: and the Rock was Christ. Howbeit with most of them God was not well pleased." And wherefore saith he these things? To point out that as they were nothing profited by the enjoyment of so great a gift, so neither these by obtaining Baptism and partaking of spiritual Mysteries, except they go on and show forth a life worthy of this grace. Wherefore also he introduces the types both of Baptism and of the Mysteries. But what is, "They were baptized into Moses?" Like as we, on our belief in Christ and His resurrection, are baptized, as being destined in our own persons to partake in the same mysteries; for, "we are baptized," saith he, "for the dead," i.e., for our own bodies; even so they putting confidence in Moses, i.e., having seen him cross first, ventured also themselves into the waters. But because he wishes to bring the Type near the Truth; he speaks it not thus, but uses the terms of the Truth even concerning the Type. Further: this was a symbol of the Font, and that which follows, of the Holy Table. For as thou eatest the Lord's Body, so they the manna: and as thou drinkest the Blood, so they water from a rock. For though they were things of sense which were produced, yet were they spiritually exhibited, not according to the order of nature, but according to the gracious intention of the gift, and together with the body nourished also the soul, leading it unto faith. […]
All those who ate that bread [manna] died in the desert, but this food which you receive, this "living bread which came down from heaven," furnishes the energy for eternal life. Whoever eats this bread "will not die forever," for it is the body of Christ. … That manna was subject to corruption if kept for a second day. This is foreign to every corruption. Whoever tastes it in a holy manner shall not be able to feel corruption. For them water flowed from the rock. For you blood flows from Christ. Water satisfied them for the hour. Blood satisfies you for eternity.
The Medieval Church1 voice
As we, upon receiving baptism, partake of the Body of the Master, so the Israelites, after crossing through the sea, ate manna (Exod. 16:4, 15); and as we drink the Blood of the Master, so they drank water from the solid rock (Exod. 17:6). He …
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And all ate the same manna, termed spiritual meat, as it was typical, 1. Of Christ and his spiritual benefits: 2. Of the sacred bread which we eat at his table.
And did all eat the same spiritual meat.
He resumes his former argument ( ch. viii. ), about eating things offered to idols; and shows that it was utterly inconsistent with true Christianity, that it was downright gross idolatry, to eat them as things offered to idols; it is having fellowship with devils, which cannot consist with having fellowship with God,
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
And did all eat the same spiritual meat - That is, “manna.” Exo 16:15, Exo 16:35; Neh 9:15, Neh 9:20. The word meat here is used in the old English sense of the word, to denote “food” in general. They lived on “manna.” The word “spiritual” here is evidently used to denote that which was given by the Spirit, or by God; that which was the result of his miraculous gift, and which was not produced in the ordinary way, and which was not the gross food on which people are usually supported.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Not that the Israelites clearly understood the signification; but believers among them would feel that in the type something more was meant; and their implicit and reverent, though indistinct, faith was counted to them for justification, of which the manna was a kind of sacramental seal.
Spiritual meat - The manna which is here called spiritual. 1. Because it was provided supernaturally; and, 2. Because it was a type of Christ Jesus, who speaking of it, Joh 6:31, etc., tells us that it was a type of that true bread which came down from heaven, which gives life to the world, Joh 6:33, and that himself was the bread of life, Joh 6:48.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πάντες | pantes | all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| τὸ | to | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| αὐτὸ | auto | same | G846 → | 5565 times |
| πνευματικὸν | pneumatikon | spiritual | G4152 → | 26 times |
| βρῶμα | broma | food | G1033 → | 17 times |
| ἔφαγον | ephagon | ate | G5315 → | 93 times |
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πάντεςall
pantesG3956 →1235 times
τὸthe
toG3588 →19766 times
αὐτὸsame
autoG846 →5565 times
πνευματικὸνspiritual
pneumatikonG4152 →26 times
βρῶμαfood
bromaG1033 →17 times
ἔφαγονate
ephagonG5315 →93 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
Deuteronomy 8:3He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone,…
it leads to
- Matthew 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
- Luke 4:4
But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
- Hebrews 13:5–6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”
- Psalms 78:23–25
Yet He commanded the clouds above and opened the doors of the heavens.
- Exodus 16:2–3
And there in the desert they all grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
- Matthew 4:4
Through
Nehemiah 9:20You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.
it leads to
- Psalms 143:10
Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
- Numbers 11:17
And I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put that Spirit on them. They will help you bear the…
- Psalms 143:10
Through
Nehemiah 9:15In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to…
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 10:3–4
They all ate the same spiritual food
- 1 Corinthians 10:3–4
Where this verse is studied
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About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 14 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); Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries 56; Ambrose of Milan, On the Mysteries 8.48; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Gregory of Nyssa, ON PERFECTION; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 23; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodore of Mopsuestia, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.