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Food Sacrificed to Idols
1Nowaboutfoodsacrificed to idols:We knowthatwe all haveknowledge.Knowledgepuffs up,butlovebuilds up.2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.…

Treasury of Scripture

Now as touching things offered to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.

touching.

1 Corinthians 8:10
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;

1 Corinthians 10:19-22,28
What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? …

Numbers 25:2
And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

we are.

1 Corinthians 8:2,4,7,11
And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know…

1 Corinthians 1:5
That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, andin all knowledge;

1 Corinthians 4:10
Weare fools for Christ's sake, but yeare wise in Christ; weare weak, but yeare strong; yeare honourable, but weare despised.

Knowledge.

1 Corinthians 4:18
Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

1 Corinthians 5:2,6
And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you…

1 Corinthians 13:4
Charity suffereth long,and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

but.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am becomeas sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal…

Ephesians 4:16
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

AlreadyArrogantBuildsCharityConceitedEdifiesEdifiethGivesHoweverIdolsImagesLoveMakesOfferedOurselvesPossessPridePuffethPuffsSacrificedSeemStrengthSubjectTendsTouchingTrue.UnderstandAlreadyArrogantBuildsCharityConceitedEdifiesEdifiethGivesHoweverIdolsImagesLoveMakesOfferedOurselvesPossessPridePuffethPuffsSacrificedSeemStrengthSubjectTendsTouchingTrue.Understand1.To abstain from food offered to idols.
8.We must not abuse our Christian liberty, to the offense of our brothers;
11.but must bridle our knowledge with charity.

Now about food sacrificed to idols:
In the Greco-Roman world, idol worship was prevalent, and food sacrificed to idols was a common practice. This issue was significant for early Christians, especially in Corinth, a city known for its many temples and diverse religious practices. The question of whether Christians could eat such food was contentious, as it touched on the purity of worship and the influence of pagan practices. The Jerusalem Council inActs 15:29 had addressed this issue, advising Gentile believers to abstain from food sacrificed to idols. This reflects the tension between maintaining Christian distinctiveness and engaging with the surrounding culture.

We know that we all have knowledge.
Paul acknowledges the Corinthian believers' understanding of their freedom in Christ and their knowledge that idols are nothing (1 Corinthians 8:4). This knowledge is rooted in the monotheistic belief that there is only one true God. However, Paul warns that possessing knowledge alone is not sufficient for guiding behavior. The emphasis here is on the communal aspect of knowledge, suggesting that while all believers may have knowledge, its application must be tempered with consideration for others.

Knowledge puffs up,
The phrase "knowledge puffs up" highlights the danger of pride and arrogance that can accompany intellectual understanding. In the context of Corinth, where philosophical knowledge was highly valued, Paul warns against the self-centered use of knowledge that leads to spiritual pride. This echoes the biblical theme that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). The warning is that knowledge, when not coupled with love, can lead to division and a lack of concern for the spiritual well-being of others.

but love builds up.
Contrasting with the negative effects of knowledge alone, love is portrayed as constructive and edifying. Love, in the biblical sense, is selfless and seeks the good of others, aligning with the greatest commandments to love God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39). This principle is foundational to Christian ethics and community life. Paul emphasizes that love should guide the exercise of Christian freedom, ensuring that actions build up the body of Christ rather than causing others to stumble (1 Corinthians 8:9-13). This reflects the sacrificial love of Christ, who laid down His life for others (John 15:13).

1.Paul the Apostle
The author of 1 Corinthians, addressing the church in Corinth regarding issues of Christian liberty and love.

2.Corinth
A major city in ancient Greece, known for its diverse population and cultural influences, including idol worship.

3.Corinthian Church
The recipients of Paul's letter, struggling with issues of division, immorality, and questions about Christian conduct.

4.Idol Sacrifices
The practice of offering food to idols, which was common in Corinth and posed a dilemma for Christians regarding participation.

5.Christian Liberty
The concept of freedom in Christ, which Paul addresses in relation to knowledge and love.The Limitation of Knowledge
Knowledge alone can lead to pride and division. It is essential to balance knowledge with love to edify the church community.

The Supremacy of Love
Love is the foundation of Christian conduct. It builds up and strengthens relationships, promoting unity and peace within the body of Christ.

Christian Liberty and Responsibility
While Christians have freedom in Christ, this liberty should be exercised with consideration for others, prioritizing their spiritual well-being.

Building Up the Community
Our actions should aim to edify and encourage others, reflecting Christ's love and fostering a supportive church environment.

Humility in Knowledge
Recognize that true wisdom comes from God and should be accompanied by humility and a heart to serve others.1.What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 8:1?

2.How does "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" apply to daily interactions?

3.What does 1 Corinthians 8:1 teach about balancing knowledge with love?

4.How can we ensure our knowledge doesn't lead to prideful behavior?

5.How does this verse connect with Jesus' teachings on love in the Gospels?

6.In what ways can we prioritize love over knowledge in our church community?

7.What does "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up" mean in 1 Corinthians 8:1?

8.How does 1 Corinthians 8:1 challenge the value placed on knowledge in modern society?

9.Why does Paul emphasize love over knowledge in 1 Corinthians 8:1?

10.What are the top 10 Lessons from 1 Corinthians 8?

11.Does knowledge inflate while love strengthens?

12.In 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul stresses that “knowledge puffs up”—why does this contrast with other biblical texts that encourage believers to seek wisdom or understanding?

13.Does knowledge inflate while love strengthens?

14.Are atheists more intelligent than religious believers?Now about food sacrificed to idols

“Now about food sacrificed to idols…” (1 Corinthians 8:1) introduces a real-life issue in Corinth, where meat from pagan temples often ended up in the marketplace.

• Paul treats idols as real objects of false worship, echoingActs 15:29 and1 Corinthians 10:19-21, which warn believers to keep clear of idolatry.

• The verse shows that practical questions matter to God; nothing is too ordinary for biblical guidance (Colossians 3:17).

• It also sets the stage for a broader principle: daily decisions are spiritual decisions.

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We know that we all have knowledge

“We know that we all have knowledge.” Many Corinthian believers rightly understood that “an idol is nothing” (1 Corinthians 8:4).

• Knowledge here refers to correct doctrine—truth God has revealed (John 8:32;1 John 2:20).

• Paul agrees that all believers share this foundational knowledge (Ephesians 1:17-18).

• Yet he hints that merely knowing facts is not the end goal; what we do with that knowledge matters.

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Knowledge puffs up

“Knowledge puffs up…” The danger is spiritual pride, the swelling of self-importance.

• Pride was the root of the Corinthian divisions (1 Corinthians 3:3-4) and remains a temptation whenever we think we “know better” (Proverbs 16:18).

• Even correct doctrine can become a badge of superiority if not tempered by humility (1 Corinthians 13:2).

• Paul exposes the emptiness of inflated egos: knowledge alone can isolate and damage fellowship.

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But love builds up

“…but love builds up.” Love moves knowledge from theory to edification.

• Genuine love seeks the spiritual good of others (John 13:34-35;Galatians 5:13-14).

• Love uses knowledge as a tool to strengthen, not to show off. It asks, “How will my liberty affect my brother or sister?” (Romans 14:15;1 Corinthians 8:13).

• Where pride divides, love constructs—like a builder laying stones that form a sturdy house (Ephesians 4:15-16).

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summary

Paul begins his discussion of idol food by affirming shared knowledge yet warning that knowledge alone can breed pride. True disciples combine truth with love, using what they know to bless and build up others. In every gray area, the believer’s guiding question is not merely “Am I right?” but “Will this action lovingly strengthen Christ’s body?” Knowledge finds its highest purpose when it serves love.

VIII.

(1)Now as touching things offered unto idols.--A new subject is here introduced, and occupies the whole of this chapter. In Corinth and other cities meat was offered for sale which had been used for sacrificial purposes in the heathen temples, having been sold to the dealers by the priests, who received a large share of the sacrifices for themselves, or by the individuals who offered them, and had more remaining of their own share than they could use themselves. Thus, a Christian might unconsciously eat of meat, either at the house of a friend (see1Corinthians 10:27) or by purchasing it himself in the public shambles, which had been previously brought in contact by sacrificial usage with an idol. There were some in Corinth who felt no scruple on the subject. An idol was nothing in their opinion. It could neither consecrate nor pollute that which was offered in its temple. Such Christians would, to show how completely and effectively their Christianity had dispelled all their previous heathen superstition, buy meat without caring whence it came, partake of a heathen friend's hospitality, regardless of what use the meat had been put to, and even join in a repast held in the outer court of a heathen temple (1Corinthians 8:10), where the meat would almost certainly be what had been saved after the sacrifice. That St. Paul would have done so himself, so far as his own personal feelings alone were concerned, we can scarcely doubt. To him, therefore, those who acted upon his authority appealed upon this subject.

There were others at Corinth, however, who felt some scruples upon the subject. There were heathen converts who had not completely got rid of every vestige of the old superstition, or whose conscience would accuse them of not having wholly given up idolatry if they took any part even in its social aspect: for many social acts, as well as purely religious ceremonies, were in the heathen mind included in acts of worship. And there were Jews, the intensity of whose traditional hatred of idolatry could not allow them to regard as "nothing" that against which Jehovah had uttered His most terrible denunciations, and against which He had preserved their race as a living witness.

To both these sections of the Church the conduct of the more liberal party would prove a serious stumbling-block. The argument used by those who asked St. Paul's advice was evidently that the Christians have knowledge enough to feel that an idol is nothing, and that, therefore. there can be no harm in partaking of what has been offered to "nothing." "We know," says St. Paul, in reply, taking up the words of their own letter, "we know that we all have knowledge: we know that an idol is nothing." The last clause of1Corinthians 8:1 and1Corinthians 8:2-3 form a parenthesis; and in1Corinthians 8:4 the opening words of1Corinthians 8:1 are repeated, and the line of thought which this parenthesis interrupted is again resumed. . . .

Verses 1-13. -The relation of lore to knowledge with respect to the question of eating idol offerings.Verse 1. -As touching things offered unto idols. This was doubtless one of the questions on which the Corinthians had asked for advice. We judge from the tone of the questions to which St. Paul here replies that the majority of the Corinthians, being liberal in their views, held that it was a matter of perfect indifference to eat idol offerings; and that, in acting upon this conviction, they contemptuously overrode the convictions of those who could not help thinking that when they did so they committed a sin. The practical decision of the question was one of immense importance. If it were unlawful under any circumstances to eat idol offerings, then the Gentile convert was condemned to a life of Levitism almost as rigorous as that of the Jew. The distinction between clean and unclean meats formed an insuperable barrier between Jews and Gentiles. Wherever they lived, Jews required a butcher of their own, who had been trained in the rules and ceremonies which enabled him to decide and to ensure that all the meat which they ate should be clean (tahor), not unclean (tame). They could touch no meat which was not certified as free from legal blemish or ceremonial pollution by the affixed leaden seal on which was engraved the word "lawful" (kashar). But Gentiles had always been accustomed to buy meat in the markets. Now, much of this meat consisted of remnants of animals slain as sacrifices, after the priests had had their share. So completely was this case, that the word "to sacrifice" had come to mean "to kill" in Hellenistic Greek. Theophrastus, in his 'Moral Sketches,' defines the close-handed man as one who, at his daughter's wedding feast, sells all the victims offered except the sacred parts; and the shameless person as one who, after offering a sacrifice, salts the victim for future use, and goes out to dine with someone else. The market was therefore stocked with meat which had been connected with idol sacrifices. The Christian could never be sure about any meat which he bought if he held it wrong to partake of these offerings. Further than this, he would - especially if he were poor - feel it a great privation to be entirely cut off from the public feasts (sussitia), which perhaps were often his only chance of eating meat at all; and also to be forbidden to take a social meal with any of his Gentile neighbours or relatives. The question was therefore a "burning" one. It involved much of the comfort and brightness of ancient social life (Thucydides, 2:38; Aristotle, 'Eth.,' 7:9, § 5; Cicero, 'Off.,' 2:16; Livy, 8:32, etc.). It will be seen that St. Paul treats it with consummate wisdom and tenderness. His liberality of thought shows itself in this - that he sides with those who took the strong, the broad, the common sense view, that sin is not a mechanical matter, and that sin is not committed where no sin is intended. He neither adopts the ascetic view nor does he taunt the inquirers with the fact that the whole weight of their personal desires and interests would lead them to decide the question in their own favour. On the other hand, he has too deep a sympathy with the weak to permit their scruples to be overruled with a violence which would wound their consciences. While he accepts the right principle of Christian freedom, he carefully guards against its abuse. It might have been supposed that, as a Jew, and one who had been trained as a "Pharisee of Pharisees," St. Paul would have sided with those who forbade any participation in idol offerings. Jewish rabbis referred to passages likeExodus 34:15;Numbers 25:2;Psalm 106:28;Daniel 1:8; Tobit 1:10, 11. Rabbi Ishmael, in 'Avoda Zara,' said that a Jew might not even go to a Gentile funeral, even if he took with him his own meat and his own servants. The law of the drink offering forbids a Jew to drink of a cask if anyone has even touched a goblet drawn from it with the presumed intention of offering little to the gods. Besides this, the Synod of Jerusalem had mentioned the eating of idol offerings as one of the four things which they forbade to Gentile converts, who were only bound by the Noachian precepts (Acts 15:29). But St. Paul judged the matter independently by his own apostolic authority. The decision of the synod had only had a local validity trod was inapplicable to such a community as that of Corinth. St. Paul had to suffer cruelmisrepresentation and bitter persecution as the consequence of this breadth of view (Acts 21:21-24); but that would not be likely to make him shrink from saying the truth. This treatment of the subject closely resembles that which he subsequently adopted inRomans 14.We know that we all have knowledge. It is very probable that this is a semi-ironical quotation of the somewhat conceited remark which had occurred in the letter from Corinth. No doubt there was a sense in which it might (theoretically) be regarded as true; but it was St. Paul's duty both to disparage this kind of knowledge and to show that, after all, there were some among them who didnot possess it (ver. 7).Knowledge puffeth up. The brief energetic clause, "Knowledge puffeth up; love buildeth up," shows the strong feeling with which the apostle enters on the discussion. There is a wide distance between theoretic knowledge and heavenly wisdom (James 3:13-18). "He who is full is rich; he who is puffed up is empty" (Stanley). "The first person puffed up was the devil" (Beza). Charity edifieth. There is no reason whatever for the rendering ofἀγαπὴ sometimes by "love," sometimes by "charity." The fondness for variation which led King James's translators to do so only obscures the identity of thought which prevails among all the apostles respecting the absolute primacy of love as the chief sphere and test of the Christian life.Edifieth. Helps to build us up as stones in the spiritual temple (ch. 3:9;Romans 14:19;Ephesians 4:12). "If because of meat thy brother is grieved, thou walkest no longer in love" (Romans 14:15).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Now
δὲ(de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161:A primary particle; but, and, etc.

about
Περὶ(Peri)
Preposition
Strong's 4012:From the base of peran; properly, through, i.e. Around; figuratively with respect to; used in various applications, of place, cause or time.

[food]
τῶν(tōn)
Article - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

sacrificed to idols:
εἰδωλοθύτων(eidōlothytōn)
Adjective - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 1494:Neuter of a compound of eidolon and a presumed derivative of thuo; an image-sacrifice, i.e. Part of an idolatrous offering.

We know
οἴδαμεν(oidamen)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1492:To know, remember, appreciate.

that
ὅτι(hoti)
Conjunction
Strong's 3754:Neuter of hostis as conjunction; demonstrative, that; causative, because.

we all have
ἔχομεν(echomen)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 2192:To have, hold, possess. Including an alternate form scheo skheh'-o; a primary verb; to hold.

knowledge.
γνῶσιν(gnōsin)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1108:Knowledge, doctrine, wisdom. From ginosko; knowing, i.e. knowledge.

Knowledge
γνῶσις(gnōsis)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 1108:Knowledge, doctrine, wisdom. From ginosko; knowing, i.e. knowledge.

puffs up,
φυσιοῖ(physioi)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5448:From phusis in the primary sense of blowing; to inflate, i.e. make proud.

but
δὲ(de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161:A primary particle; but, and, etc.

love
ἀγάπη(agapē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 26:From agapao; love, i.e. Affection or benevolence; specially a love-feast.

builds up.
οἰκοδομεῖ(oikodomei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3618:From the same as oikodome; to be a house-builder, i.e. Construct or confirm.


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NT Letters: 1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We (1 Cor. 1C iC 1Cor i cor icor)