Limitless Word

1 Corinthians 10:22

Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
1 Corinthians 10:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
  • BSB Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
  • NKJV Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
  • NASB Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
  • NLT What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Dividing one's worship provokes the Lord's jealousy, and no one can prevail against him. Idolatry is a dangerous affront to a holy God.

Overview

Alluding to Deuteronomy 32:21, Paul warns that idolatry stirs God's righteous jealousy for his people's exclusive devotion. The rhetorical question 'Are we stronger than he?' exposes the folly of provoking the Almighty. God's jealousy is not petty but the proper response of covenant love, and Christ's redemption claims our wholehearted, undivided worship.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Deut 32:21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
  • Deut 32:16They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
  • Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
  • Ezek 22:14Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.
  • Deut 4:24For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
  • Ps 78:58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
  • Josh 24:19And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
  • Job 40:9–14Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?
  • Exod 34:14For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
  • Deut 6:15(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
  • Eccl 6:10That which hath been is named already, and it is known that it is man: neither may he contend with him that is mightier than he.
  • Exod 20:5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
  • Isa 45:9Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
  • Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
  • Job 9:4He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

Christ at the center

Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.

How 1 Corinthians 10:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.