1 Corinthians 10:4

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
And	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
did	ἔπιον epion	G4095	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person plural
all	πάντες pantes	G3956	all · adjective — nominative plural masculine
drink	ἔπινον epinon	G4095	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person plural
same	αὐτὸ auto	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular neuter
spiritual	πνευματικὸν pneumatikon	G4152	non-carnal · adjective — accusative singular neuter
drink	πόμα, poma	G4188	a beverage · noun — accusative singular neuter
for	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
drank	πίνω pínō	G4095	to imbibe (literally or figuratively)
of	ἐκ ek	G1537	literal or figurative · preposition
spiritual	πνευματικῆς pneumatikēs	G4152	non-carnal · adjective — genitive singular feminine
Rock	πέτρας, petras	G4073	a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively) · noun — genitive singular feminine
them	ἀκολουθούσης akolouthousēs	G190	properly · verb — present active participle, genitive singular feminine
and	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
Rock	πέτρα petra	G4073	a (mass of) rock (literally or figuratively) · noun — nominative singular feminine
was	ἦν ēn	G2258	I (thou
Christ	Χριστός· Christos	G5547	anointed · noun — nominative singular masculine, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the…
John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
Isaiah 48:21 And they thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, a…
John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of…
Psalms 105:41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.
Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and t…
Psalms 78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
Psalms 78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his peop…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

In order to dissuade the Corinthians from communion with idolaters, and security in any sinful course, he sets before them the example of the Jews, the church under the Old Testament. They enjoyed great privileges, but, having been guilty of heinous provocations, they fell under very grievous punishments. In these verses he reckons up their privileges, which, in the main, were the same with ours. I. He prefaces this discourse with a note of regard: "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant. I would not have you without the knowledge of this matter; it is a thing worthy both of your knowledge and attention. It is a history very instructive and monitory." Judaism was Christi…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 10:4

drink-- (Exo 17:6). In Num 20:8, "the beasts" also are mentioned as having drunk. The literal water typified "spiritual drink," and is therefore so called. spiritual Rock that followed them--rather, "accompanied them." Not the literal rock (or its water) "followed" them, as ALFORD explains, as if Paul sanctioned the Jews' tradition (Rabbi Solomon on Num 20:2) that the rock itself, or at least the stream from it, followed the Israelites from place to place (compare Deu 9:21). But Christ, the "Spiritual Rock" (Psa 78:20, Psa 78:35; Deu 32:4, Deu 32:15, Deu 32:18, Deu 32:30-31, Deu 32:37; Isa 28:16; Pe1 2:6), accompanied them (Exo 33:15). "Followed" implies His attending on them to minister t…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 10:4

Spiritual drink - By the βρωμα πνευματικον spiritual meat, and πομα πνευματικον, spiritual drink, the apostle certainly means both meat and drink, which were furnished to the Israelitish assembly miraculously, as well as typically: and he appears to borrow his expression from the Jews themselves, who expressly say הלחם הלז רוחני hallechem hallaz ruchani, that bread was spiritual, and מיים רוחניים היו meyim ruchainiyim haiu, the waters were spiritual. Alschech in legem. fol. 238, to which opinion the apostle seems particularly to refer. See Schoettgen. The spiritual rock that followed them - There is some difficulty in this verse. How could the rock follow them? It does not appear that the ro…

The Church Fathers

We also will be a rock, imitating, as far as possible in our changing nature, the unchanging and permanent nature of the Master.
— Gregory of Nyssa, ON PERFECTION

This surely referred not to his divinity but to his flesh, which flowed over the hearts of the thirsting people with the perpetual stream of his blood.
— Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit 1.2

Surely this refers more to his physical body than to his divinity, for the hearts of the thirsty people were satisfied by the endless stream of his blood.
— Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 117.2

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Rock — (Heb. tsur), employed as a symbol of God in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 2:2; 2 Sam. 22:3; Isa. 17:10; Ps. 28:1; 31:2, 3; 89:26; 95:1); also in the New Testament (Matt. 16:18; Rom. 9:33; 1 Cor. 10:4).…
Backsliders · 8:22; — 8:22;
Life, Spiritual · Is maintained by: Christ — Is maintained by: Christ
Rock · FIGURATIVE — FIGURATIVE
Rocks · Illustrative of: Christ as source of spiritual gifts — Illustrative of: Christ as source of spiritual gifts
Symbols And Similitudes · The rock that was struck, of Christ — The rock that was struck, of Christ
Titles And Names Of Christ · Rock — Rock
Types Of Christ · Rock of Horeb — Rock of Horeb

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 10:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 10:4

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 10:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 10:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 10:4

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 10:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 10:4

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 10:3-4