1 Corinthians 10:31
in 1 Corinthians 10So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
KJV
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 10
Commentary
17 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Whether therefore ye eat or drink - This direction should be strictly and properly applied to the case in hand; that is, to the question about eating and drinking the things that had been offered in sacrifice to idols. Still, however, it contains a general direction that is applicable to eating and drinking at all times; and the phrase “whatsoever ye do” is evidently designed by the apostle to make the direction universal.
This site's exposition
So whether you eat or
on 1 Corinthians 10:31-33
One rule gathers the whole section, from market to private meal, and governs every ordinary act: do it all to the glory of God. Paul's own conduct is the pattern, I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
For conscience' sake, then, we are to abstain from what we ought to abstain. "Conscience, I say, not his own," for it is endued with knowledge, "but that of the other," lest he be trained badly, and by imitating in ignorance what he knows not, he become a despiser instead of a strong-minded man. "For why is my liberty judged of by another conscience? For if I by grace am a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God"—what you are commanded to do by the rule of faith.
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
Do everything with care so that others may glorify God through you and not be scandalized.
To eat and drink to God's glory is to eat and drink after giving thanks to the Creator.
Nor is it suitable to eat and to drink simultaneously. For it is the very extreme of intemperance to confound the times whose uses are discordant. And "whether ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God," aiming after true frugality, which the Lord also seems to me to have hinted at when He blessed the loaves and the cooked fishes with which He feasted the disciples, introducing a beautiful example of simple food.
If, moreover, it chance that we go to a place in which there are no Christians, and it be important for us to stay there a few days, let us be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves;" [Matthew 10:16] and let us "not be …
10 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers4 voices
Flee evil arts; but all the more discourse in public regarding them. Speak to my sisters, that they love the Lord, and be satisfied with their husbands both in the flesh and spirit. In like manner also, exhort my brethren, in the name of Jesus Christ, that they love their wives, even as the Lord the Church. If any one can continue in a state of purity, to the honour of Him who is Lord of the flesh, let him so remain without boasting. If he begins to boast, he is undone; and if he reckon himself greater than the bishop, he is ruined. But it becomes both men and women who marry, to form their union with the approval of the bishop, that their marriage may be according to God, and not after their own lust. Let all things be done to the honour of God.
Let all the things which you undertake and accomplish have this root and foundation, namely, that they tend to the glory of God.… When Paul said "If you do anything" ["whatever you do"], he has enclosed our whole existence in a single word, desiring that we never perform any act of virtue with an eye to human glory.
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Perceivest thou how from the subject before him, he carried out the exhortation to what was general, giving us one, the most excellent of all aims, that God in all things should be glorified? "What then? whereas we have known Christ and give thanks, while they blaspheme, shall we therefore abandon this custom also?" Far from it. For the thing is not the same. For in the one case, great is our gain from bearing the reproach; but in the other, there will be no advantage. Wherefore also he said before, "for neither if we eat, are we the better; nor if we eat not, are we the worse." And besides this too he showed that the thing was to be avoided, so that even on another ground ought they to be abstained from, not on this account only but also for the other reasons which he assigned.
He wishes, then, for all our actions to be accomplished with Christ as companion and witness, that we may do good things for him as the author and avoid what is evil for the sake of his fellowship. One who knows that Christ is his …
The Medieval Church1 voice
All things, he says, do to the glory of God: for by your present conduct God is not glorified, but rather blasphemed. And someone eats and drinks to the glory of God when he does not cause anyone to stumble by it, and does it …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), namely, that in eating and drinking, and in all we do, we should aim at the glory of God, at pleasing and honouring him. This is the fundamental principle of practical godliness. The great end of all practical religion must direct us where particular and express rules are wanting.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Whether therefore ye eat or drink,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Contrast Zec 7:6; the picture of worldly men. The godly may "eat and drink," and it shall be well with him (Jer 22:15, 16). to the glory of God-- (Col 3:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink - As no general rule can be laid down in reference to the above particulars, there is one maxim of which no Christian must lose sight - that whether he eats or drinks of this or the other kind of aliments, or whatever else he may do, he must do it so as to bring glory to God. This is a sufficient rule to regulate every man’s conscience and practice in all indifferent things, where there are no express commands or prohibitions.
Modern Voices1 voice
The sage desiring to think well and wisely about a poker will begin somewhat as follows: Among the live creatures that crawl about this star the queerest is the thing called Man. This plucked and plumeless bird, comic and forlorn, is the butt of all …
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἴτε | eite | Whether | G1535 → | 65 times |
| οὖν | oun | therefore | G3767 → | 497 times |
| ἐσθίετε | esthiete | you eat | G2068 → | 65 times |
| εἴτε | eite | or | G1535 → | 65 times |
| πίνετε | pinete | drink | G4095 → | 72 times |
| εἴτε | eite | or | G1535 → | 65 times |
| τι | ti | whatever | G5100 → | 528 times |
| ποιεῖτε, | poieite | you perform, | G4160 → | 569 times |
| πάντα | panta | all things | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| εἰς | eis | to the | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| δόξαν | doxan | glory | G1391 → | 165 times |
| θεοῦ | theou | of God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ποιεῖτε. | poieite | do perform. | G4160 → | 569 times |
εἴτεWhether
eiteG1535 →65 times
οὖνtherefore
ounG3767 →497 times
ἐσθίετεyou eat
esthieteG2068 →65 times
εἴτεor
eiteG1535 →65 times
πίνετεdrink
pineteG4095 →72 times
εἴτεor
eiteG1535 →65 times
τιwhatever
tiG5100 →528 times
ποιεῖτε,you perform,
poieiteG4160 →569 times
πάνταall things
pantaG3956 →1235 times
εἰςto the
eisG1519 →1755 times
δόξανglory
doxanG1391 →165 times
θεοῦof God
theouG2316 →1312 times
ποιεῖτε.do perform.
poieiteG4160 →569 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
Colossians 3:23Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
it leads to
- Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
- Ephesians 6:6–7
And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
- Romans 14:8
If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
- 2 Chronicles 31:21
He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.
- Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
- Colossians 3:17
Through
Colossians 3:17And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Proverbs 3:6
in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Ephesians 5:20
always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Colossians 3:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 17 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); Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 4; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2; GK Chesterton, A Miscellany of Men, The Man Who Thinks Backwards (1912); Ignatius of Antioch, Epistle of Ignatius to Polycarp; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, BAPTISMAL INSTRUCTIONS 6.10; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 25; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Maximus of Turin, SERMON 73.1; Pseudo-Clement, Two Epistles on Virginity, Epistle 2; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.