However, not all people have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
Parallel translations
- WEB However, that knowledge isn’t in all men. But some, with consciousness of the idol until now, eat as of a thing sacrificed 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.
- BSB But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
- NKJV However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
- NLT However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated.
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
Not everyone shares this knowledge; some, accustomed to idols, eat such food as if it were truly offered to a real god, and their weak conscience is defiled. What is harmless in itself can wound a conscience not yet free.
Overview
Paul turns from theory to people. Some recent converts cannot yet shake the sense that idols are real, so eating the meat feels to them like idolatry, defiling their conscience. The issue is not the food but the conscience attached to it. Paul honors the reality of the weaker believer's struggle and refuses to let the "strong" trample it, teaching that love must accommodate those whose consciences are still tender.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Cor 10:28–29But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”
- Rom 14:14I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
- Rom 14:22–23Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who doesn’t judge himself in that which he approves.
- 1 Cor 8:9–10But be careful that by no means does this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to the weak.
- 1 Cor 1:10–11Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
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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.
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Original language
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