1 Corinthians 8:7 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Corinthians 8:7
Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.
an image (i.e. for worship) · noun — genitive singular neuter
unto
ἕωςhe'ōs
G2193
a conjunction · preposition
hour
ἄρτιarti
G737
just now · adverb
eat
ἐσθίουσιν,esthiousin
G2068
used only in certain tenses · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person plural
as
ὡςhōs
G5613
which how · particle
idol
εἰδωλόθυτονeidōlothuton
G1494
an image-sacrifice · adjective — accusative singular neuter
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
their
αὐτῶνautōn
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive plural masculine
conscience
συνείδησιςsyneídēsis
G4893
co-perception
being
ὤνṓn
G5607
being
weak
ἀσθενὴςasthenēs
G772
strengthless (in various applications · adjective — nominative singular feminine
defiled
μολύνεται.molunetai
G3435
to soil (figuratively) · verb — present passive indicative, 3rd person singular
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
Romans 14:14 I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to h…
1 Corinthians 10:28-29 But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake: for the…
Romans 14:22-23 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
1 Corinthians 8:9-10 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
1 Corinthians 1:10-11 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among yo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 8:7–end
The apostle, having granted, and indeed confirmed, the opinion of some among the Corinthians, that idols were nothing, proceeds now to show them that their inference from this assumption was not just, namely, that therefore they might go into the idol-temple, and eat of the sacrifices, and feast there with their heathen neighbours. He does not indeed here so much insist upon the unlawfulness of the thing in itself as the mischief such freedom might do to weaker Christians, persons that had not the same measure of knowledge with these pretenders. And here,
I. He informs them that every Christian man, at that time, was not so fully convinced and persuaded that an idol was nothing. Howbeit, the…
Howbeit--Though to us who "have knowledge" (Co1 8:1, Co1 8:4-6) all meats are indifferent, yet "this knowledge is not in all" in the same degree as we have it. Paul had admitted to the Corinthians that "we all have knowledge" (Co1 8:1), that is, so far as Christian theory goes; but practically some have it not in the same degree.
with conscience--an ancient reading; but other very old manuscripts read "association" or "habit." In either reading the meaning is: Some Gentile Christians, whether from old association of ideas or misdirected conscience, when they ate such meats, ate them with some feeling as if the idol were something real (Co1 8:4), and had changed the meats by the fact of the…
There is not in every man that knowledge - This is spoken in reference to what is said, Co1 8:4 : We know that an idol is nothing in the world; for some with a conscience of the idol, viz. that it is something, eat it - the flesh that was offered to the idol, as a thing thus offered, considering the feast as a sacred banquet, by which they have fellowship with the idol. And their conscience being weak - not properly instructed in Divine things, is defiled - he performs what he does as an act of religious worship, and thus his conscience contracts guilt through this idolatry.
As in the commencement of Christianity, among the Jews that were converted, there were many found who incorporated the…
The Church Fathers
But, so sinning, by shocking the weak consciences of the brethren thoroughly, they will sin against Christ." By this time, indeed, (he mentions individuals) by name: "Or have we not a power of eating.
"For I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons," says the apostle; since the food of those who are saved and those who perish is separate. We must therefore abstain from these viands not for fear (because there is no power in them); but on account of our conscience, which is holy, and out of detestation of the demons to which they are dedicated, are we to loathe them; and further, on account of the instability of those who regard many things in a way that makes them prone to fall, "whose conscience, being weak, is defiled: for meat commendeth us not to God." "For it is not that which entereth in that defileth a man, but that which goeth out of his mouth."
"But not in all is knowledge," saith he. What knowledge doth he mean? about God, or about things offered in sacrifice to idols? For either he here glances at the Greeks who say that there are many gods and lords, and who know not Him that is truly God; or at the converts from among Greeks who were still rather infirm, such as did not yet know clearly that they ought not to fear idols and that "an idol is nothing in the world." But in saying this, he gently soothes and encourages the latter. For there was no need of mentioning all he had to reprove, particularly as he intended to visit them again with more severity. "But some being used to the idol eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled." They still tremble at idols, he saith. For tell me not of the present establishment, and that you have received the true religion from your ancestors. But carry back your thoughts to those times, and consider when the Gospel was just set on foot, and impiety was still at its height, and altars burning, and sacrifices and libations offering up, and the greater part of men were Gentiles; think, I say, of those who from their ancestors had received impiety, and who were the descendants of fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers like themselves, and who had suffered great miseries from the demons. How must they have felt after their sudden change! How would they face and tremble at the assaults of the demons! For their sake also he employs some reserve, saying, "But some with conscience of the things sacrificed to an idol." Thus he neither exposed them openly, not to strike them hard; nor doth he pass by them altogether: but makes mention of them in a vague manner, saying, "Now some with conscience of the idol even until now eat as of a thing sacrificed to an idol; that is, with the same thoughts as they did in former times: 'and their conscience being weak is defiled;'" not yet being able to despise and once for all laugh them to scorn, but still in some doubt. Just as if a man were to think that by touching a dead body he should pollute himself according to the Jewish custom, and then seeing others touching it with a clear conscience, but not with the same mind touching it himself, would be polluted. This was their state of feeling at that time. "For some," saith he, "with conscience of the idol do it even until now." Not…
Dictionary and topics
Commandments · PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES — PRECEPTS OF PAUL. EXPLICITLY STATED OR IMPLIED IN DIDACTIC EPISTLES
Conscience · 20:12; — 20:12;
Evil · APPEARANCE OF, TO BE AVOI — APPEARANCE OF, TO BE AVOI
Fraternity · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
Howbeit, there is not in every man that knowledge,.... The apostle is not speaking of Heathens, in whom there was no knowledge of the one true God, the author of all things, and of the one Lord Jesus, the only saviour and Redeemer; but of Christians, in whom there was the knowledge of these things, but not in all of them; the knowledge of this, that an idol was nothing; for though they knew that an idol was not God, and had no true deity in it, nor was it any true representation of God, yet fancied that it had an influence upon food that was offered to it, to defile it, and render it unclean, so that it ought not to be eaten; and since there were such persons that were so ignorant and weak,…
1 Corinthians 8:1-7
1. Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
1. De iis porro quae idolis immolantur, scimus, quod omnes scientiam habemus: scientia inflat, caritas autem aedificat.
2. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
2. Si quis autem videtur sibi aliquid scire, nondum quicquam scit,qualiter scire oportet.
3. But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
3. At si quis diligit Deum, hie cognitus est ab illo.
4. As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in th…
Many of the Corinthian believers, having grown up in the pagan world, viewed eating such meat as an expression of devotion to the god to whom the meat had been sacrificed. For such Christians, to eat meat presented to an idol would violate their weak consciences (see 8:10-12; 10:28-29; Rom 14:13-23).
