Commentary on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

First Corinthians 10:1–13 appeals to several stories from the Hebrew Bible to argue that the Corinthians should be careful about the challenges of interacting with people, ideas, and practices beyond their Christ-community. The particular challenge in this situation revolves around eating food sacrificed to idols. While God is faithful and will provide a way forward, Paul stresses that these challenges are real and can be dangerous. Ultimately, Paul’s argument is that love should dictate these interactions. 

Ongoing correspondence 

The letters of 1 and 2 Corinthians illustrate an ongoing correspondence between Paul and the Corinthian Christ-community after Paul begins a ministry there. Prior to writing 1 Corinthians, he sends another letter, now lost (5:9: “I wrote to you in my letter …”), he receives a letter from them (7:1: “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote …”), and he receives oral reports from them (1:11: “It has been made clear to me from Chloe’s people …”). After writing 1 Corinthians, it is likely that he sends Timothy and visits himself before writing all or part of 2 Corinthians. 

This passage (10:1–13) from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians forms a part of his response to the concerns of their letter to him. It seems they have told him what their practices have been regarding food sacrificed to idols (8:1 and following). We do not know if they have asked for his advice or simply told him their views; since their letter no longer exists, it is difficult to say with certainty. Regardless, Paul’s discussion of this topic is his attempt at persuading them of his ideas regarding whether to eat food sacrificed to idols. 

The people to whom Paul writes felt liberated to eat of the meat in the marketplace, arguing that they have the knowledge to be able to eat it and not be led astray to worship other gods (8:1). He cautions them, however, that others might not be as knowledgeable, and thus, out of love for others, they should be careful (8:9–13). Paul expounds on this theme in chapter 10, which culminates in 10:31–33: They should do whatever they do for the glory of God and give no offense to anyone, not “to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the ekklēsia of God.” There were other Christian views on this matter, most likely including some in the Corinthian community. The author of Revelation, for example, argues vehemently against eating food sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:12–17). 

Stories of our ancestors

The majority of this passage involves Paul’s retelling of stories from the exodus out of slavery in Egypt because he sees these stories as examples from which to learn. It is significant that Paul includes his gentile audience in the ancestry of the people of Israel (10:1). Paul has been careful to stress that they, as Christ-following gentiles, need not be bound by the law (see Galatians). Indeed, it is because of Christ that the gentiles are to be gathered in with God’s people at the end of the age, which is happening urgently for Paul (1 Corinthians 10:11). Specifying that he is connecting the gentiles to stories of their ancestors solidifies Paul’s points regarding their inclusion with the people of Israel. 

The story of God delivering the people out of slavery in Egypt is remembered and told in multiple ways in the Hebrew Bible. “The cloud” (verses 1–2) likely references the story in Exodus 13:17–22 of the Lord acting through a pillar of cloud that leads the people. “The sea” (verses 1–2) is a reference to Exodus 14, when God parts the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds) for Moses and the people to cross to safety from Pharaoh’s army. Intriguingly, Paul inserts ideas of baptism into these stories (verse 2), perhaps to emphasize their cleansed or repentant state before they started being tempted by other things.

The warning against idolatry suffuses the other warnings. Idolatry in Exodus 32, when the people have worshiped the golden calf and reveled, brings death to 3,000 as well as a plague (see 1 Corinthians 10:7). In Numbers 25, engaging in public intimacy with someone who does not respect the worship of the God of one’s people brings plague and death to 34,000 (see 1 Corinthians 10:8). The concern is in regard to idolatry, not “sexual immorality” in general. Complaining and challenging God’s providence in Numbers 21 leads to serpents that kill many (see 1 Corinthians 10:9–10). 

Paul uses these stories to argue that the Corinthians should be careful about similar kinds of temptations—to worship other gods or devote oneself to other things, to intimately engage with others who do not respect the God of one’s people, to second-guess God’s goodness. The same temptations they are facing have been faced by God’s people before them (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). Thus, Paul writes that the Corinthians should be careful. Even when they think they know what they are doing, they may fall, like some of their ancestors did. 

How to engage the other 

Ultimately, Paul says to engage others with love. He doesn’t want the Corinthians to offend anyone, regardless of whether they are Jew or Greek or part of the ekklēsia of God (1 Corinthians 10:31–33). The longer argument in the remainder of chapter 10 and throughout 1 Corinthians is that they should imitate Paul as he imitates Jesus by humbling themselves out of love for others (1 Corinthians 16:14; Philippians 2:1–11). 

Rather than focusing on their own conscience or potential for sin, if this Christlike concern for others guides their practices regarding how to interact with the larger world, then they will be glorifying God. This is particularly the case when interacting with people who are vulnerable, or who are potentially less knowledgeable or less mature in their faith. 

Could the concern in 1 Corinthians 10:12–14 have to do with the possibility of becoming so consumed by your own conscience that you offend or harm others with your intolerance or inhospitality? Radical hospitality is an essential part of Christian and Jewish history. Rather than responding to the other (other people, other practices, other ideas) in fear or ignorance masquerading as knowledge, Christians are to engage in love and radical hospitality because God is faithful. God will provide them a way through their temptations, and that way is love. 

First Corinthians 10:13 does not say that these temptations or tests come from God. Such an interpretation undermines the goodness and faithfulness of God. When the passage says God will not let you be tested beyond your strength, this does not mean that God is responsible for those tests, nor does it mean that if someone succumbs to hardships, they are not beloved by God. 

In Paul’s theology, when Christ died on the cross, God provided a way for resurrection through Christ’s faith in God’s love and justice (Romans 3:22). This is not the same as God providing a magical way down from the cross or God keeping the Roman guards from testing Jesus beyond his human strength. Similarly, Christians are not called to passively remain in suffering or hardship, but to faithfully look for the ways out that God will provide. God is faithful and will remain faithful in the midst of our temptations and our suffering, providing new life through radical love. Christians are called to do the same: to love others into new life.