1 Corinthians 8

13 verses • SBL Greek New Testament

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

Paul addresses the question of eating food offered to idols. He begins by distinguishing knowledge from love: knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. He acknowledges that idols are nothing and there is only one God, so technically idol-food is harmless. But not everyone has this knowledge — some believers with a 'weak conscience' still associate the food with actual idol worship. The 'strong' who eat freely may cause the 'weak' to stumble. Paul concludes that if food causes a brother to fall, he will never eat meat again.

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Paul's christological monotheism in verse 6 is remarkable: he reformulates the Jewish Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) to include Christ as the one Lord 'through whom are all things.' This is one of the highest Christological statements in Paul's letters, embedded almost casually in a discussion about dietary practices. The chapter establishes the principle that rights must yield to love — a theme that will dominate chapters 8-10.

Translation Friction

The 'weak' and 'strong' terminology can be misleading in English — the 'weak' are not morally inferior but have a conscience shaped by their pagan past. The phrase syneidēsis ('conscience') is a key Pauline concept that does not map perfectly onto modern psychological usage. We render it consistently as 'conscience' and explain the term in notes.

Connections

The idol-food discussion continues through chapters 9-10. The 'one God, one Lord' formula (v. 6) connects to Deuteronomy 6:4 and Philippians 2:9-11. The weak-conscience concept anticipates Romans 14-15. The willingness to limit freedom for others' sake connects to Christ's self-emptying in Philippians 2:5-8.

1 Corinthians 8:1

Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων, οἴδαμεν ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν. ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ, ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ.

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that "all of us possess knowledge." Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

KJV Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

ἀγάπη agapē

"love" — love, selfless love, divine love, charity

The distinctively Christian love term that Paul will define at length in chapter 13. Here it is contrasted with gnōsis ('knowledge') as the superior principle for community life.

Translator Notes

The phrase peri de ('now concerning') marks another response to the Corinthians' letter. The statement pantes gnōsin echomen ('all of us possess knowledge') is likely a Corinthian slogan — they claimed universal knowledge about idols being nothing. Paul quotes it and then immediately qualifies it: gnōsis physioi ('knowledge puffs up/inflates') uses the same verb as 4:6, 18; 5:2. Love (agapē), by contrast, oikodomei ('builds up') — the same construction metaphor from chapter 3.

1 Corinthians 8:2

εἴ τις δοκεῖ ἐγνωκέναι τι, οὔπω ἔγνω καθὼς δεῖ γνῶναι·

If anyone thinks they know something, they do not yet know as they ought to know.

KJV And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul deflates intellectual pride: the person who thinks they have arrived at knowledge (dokei egnōkenai, 'thinks they have known') has not yet begun to know properly (oupō egnō kathōs dei gnōnai). True knowledge is humble, recognizing its own limitations.

1 Corinthians 8:3

εἰ δέ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὗτος ἔγνωσται ὑπ' αὐτοῦ.

But if anyone loves God, that person is known by God.

KJV But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The shift is remarkable: Paul does not complete the expected pattern ('if anyone loves God, that person truly knows'). Instead, he switches to the passive — egnōstai hyp' autou ('is known by him'). What matters is not that we know God but that God knows us. Being known by God is more foundational than knowing about God.

1 Corinthians 8:4

Περὶ τῆς βρώσεως οὖν τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων, οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς.

As concerning as a result the eating of those matters that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol is not a thing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

KJV As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul agrees with the Corinthian position in principle: ouden eidōlon en kosmō ('an idol is nothing in the world') and oudeis theos ei mē heis ('there is no God except one'). These statements reflect sound Jewish-Christian monotheism. The problem is not the theology but its application — correct knowledge does not automatically produce loving behavior.

1 Corinthians 8:5

καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶν λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς, ὥσπερ εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί,

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords' —

KJV For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul acknowledges the cultural reality: the Greco-Roman world was full of legomenoi theoi ('so-called gods'). The phrase hōsper eisin theoi polloi ('as indeed there are many gods') does not affirm their actual divinity but acknowledges their social and spiritual reality — these entities, whether demonic powers or human constructs, function as gods in people's lives.

1 Corinthians 8:6

ἀλλ' ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατὴρ ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ.

However, to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all matters, and we in him. And one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all matters, and we by him.

KJV But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Notes & Key Terms 1 term

Key Terms

κύριος kyrios

"Lord" — lord, master, owner, sir; when applied to God: LORD (= YHWH)

In the Septuagint, kyrios translates YHWH. By applying kyrios to Jesus in a reformulated Shema, Paul identifies Jesus with the covenant God of Israel — a staggering claim in a Jewish monotheistic framework.

Translator Notes

This verse reformulates the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4, 'Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one') to include Christ. The one God is the Father (ex hou ta panta, 'from whom all things' — the source) and the one Lord is Jesus Christ (di' hou ta panta, 'through whom all things' — the agent). Christ is included within the identity of the one God of Israel, not added as a second deity. This is one of the earliest and most explicit christological reformulations of Jewish monotheism.
[TCR Cross-Reference] Quotes Deuteronomy 6:4. The TCR rendering of that OT passage preserves the Hebrew source text and documents the translation decisions behind it.

1 Corinthians 8:7

Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ γνῶσις· τινὲς δὲ τῇ συνηθείᾳ ἕως ἄρτι τοῦ εἰδώλου ὡς εἰδωλόθυτον ἐσθίουσιν, καὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτῶν ἀσθενὴς οὖσα μολύνεται.

But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some, through former association with idols, still eat food as if it were really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

KJV 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.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The Greek synētheia ('familiarity, former association, habit') — some manuscripts read syneidēsei ('conscience') — describes the ingrained habits of former pagans. Their past worship experience means they cannot separate the meat from its idol-worship context. Their syneidēsis ('conscience') is asthenes ('weak') — not morally inferior but conditioned by their history. The verb molynetai ('is defiled, stained') indicates real spiritual damage, not mere discomfort.

1 Corinthians 8:8

βρῶμα δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ· οὔτε ἐὰν μὴ φάγωμεν ὑστερούμεθα, οὔτε ἐὰν φάγωμεν περισσεύομεν.

Food will not bring us closer to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

KJV But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

This may be another Corinthian slogan that Paul partially endorses. The verb parastēsei ('will present, will commend') is a legal term for presenting someone before a judge. Food has no bearing on one's standing before God — Paul agrees with this principle. But the application matters: the 'strong' cannot use this truth to override others' consciences.

1 Corinthians 8:9

βλέπετε δὲ μή πως ἡ ἐξουσία ὑμῶν αὕτη πρόσκομμα γένηται τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν.

But be careful that this right of yours does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

KJV But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The word exousia ('right, authority, freedom, power') — the same word used for power and authority elsewhere in Paul — is applied to the Corinthians' freedom to eat. Paul does not deny they have this right but warns that rights exercised without love become proskomma ('stumbling blocks, obstacles') for weaker believers.

1 Corinthians 8:10

ἐὰν γάρ τις ἴδῃ σὲ τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν ἐν εἰδωλείῳ κατακείμενον, οὐχὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτοῦ ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος οἰκοδομηθήσεται εἰς τὸ τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίειν;

For if someone with a weak conscience sees you — the one who has knowledge — reclining at table in an idol's temple, will not that person be encouraged to eat food offered to idols?

KJV For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul paints a specific scenario: a 'knowledgeable' Corinthian reclines (katakeimenon, the standard dining posture) in an eidōleion ('idol's temple'). Temple dining halls were common venues for social events, business meals, and celebrations in Corinth. The verb oikodomēthēsetai ('will be built up') is used ironically — the same word that describes love 'building up' (v. 1) is here used for building up someone toward sin.

1 Corinthians 8:11

ἀπόλλυται γὰρ ὁ ἀσθενῶν ἐν τῇ σῇ γνώσει, ὁ ἀδελφὸς δι' ὃν Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν.

For by your knowledge the weak person is destroyed — the brother or sister for whom Christ died.

KJV And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

The verb apollytai ('is being destroyed, is perishing') is the same word used in 1:18 for those who are 'perishing.' Paul raises the stakes dramatically: exercising knowledge without love can spiritually destroy a fellow believer. The appositional phrase ho adelphos di' hon Christos apethanen ('the brother for whom Christ died') is the theological knockout — how can you use your freedom to destroy someone Christ valued enough to die for?

1 Corinthians 8:12

οὕτως δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς καὶ τύπτοντες αὐτῶν τὴν συνείδησιν ἀσθενοῦσαν εἰς Χριστὸν ἁμαρτάνετε.

In this way, by sinning against your brothers and sisters and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

KJV But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul draws a direct line: sinning against a brother's conscience = sinning against Christ. The verb typtontes ('striking, beating, wounding') is physical violence language applied to spiritual harm — damaging someone's conscience is an act of assault. Because believers are members of Christ's body (6:15), wounding them wounds Christ himself.

1 Corinthians 8:13

διόπερ εἰ βρῶμα σκανδαλίζει τὸν ἀδελφόν μου, οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω.

Therefore, if food causes my brother or sister to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother or sister to stumble.

KJV Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

Notes & Key Terms

Translator Notes

Paul's personal pledge — ou mē phagō krea eis ton aiōna ('I will never ever eat meat') — uses the strongest possible negation in Greek (the double negative ou mē with the aorist subjunctive). This is not a hypothetical but a real commitment: Paul would permanently surrender his own freedom rather than damage a fellow believer. The verb skandalizō ('to cause to stumble, to cause to fall into sin') frames the issue as causing another person's spiritual ruin, not merely offending their sensibilities.

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