Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 10:18
Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
18. Behold Israel after the flesh ] Second reason (see 1Co 10:16). As the Christian sacrificial feasts, so are those of the Jews.
are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? ] “In a strict and peculiar sense the altar having part of the animal, the partaker another part.” Dean Alford. The word here translated partakers is not the same as in the last verse. It is, like the word translated communion, from , common, and implies that the altar and the worshipper share together in the victim. Bengel remarks that “he to whom anything is offered, the things which are offered, the altar on which they are offered,” and he might have added those who offer them, “have communion with each other.” If, therefore, any one knowingly rakes of an idol sacrifice, as such (it would seem that some went so as to contend that Christians might do so), he makes himself responsible for the worship of the idol, and all the evils with which that worship is connected.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold Israel – Look at the Jews. The design here is to illustrate the sentiment which he was establishing, by a reference to the fact that among the Jews those who partook of the same sacrifices were regarded as being one people, and as worshipping one God. So, if they partook of the sacrifices offered to idols, they would be regarded also as being fellow-worshippers of idols with them.
After the flesh – See Rom 4:1. The phrase after the flesh is designed to denote the Jews who were not converted to Christianity; the natural descendants of Israel, or Jacob.
Are not they which eat of the sacrifices – A portion of the sacrifices offered to God was eaten by the offerer, and another portion by the priests. Some portions of the animal, as the fat, were burnt; and the remainder, unless it was a holocaust, or whole burnt-offering, was then the property of the priests who had officiated, or of the persons who had brought it; Exo 29:13, Exo 29:22; Lev, Lev 3:4, Lev 3:10, Lev 3:15; Lev 4:9; Lev 7:3-4; Lev 8:26. The right shoulder and the breast was the part which was assigned to the priests; the remainder belonged to the offerer.
Partakers of the altar – Worshippers of the same God. They are united in their worship, and are so regarded. And in like manner, if you partake of the sacrifices offered to idols, and join with their worshippers in their temples, you will be justly regarded as united with them in their worship, and partaking with them in their abominations.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Behold Israel after the flesh] The Jews not yet converted to Christianity: the latter being Israel after the Spirit. As the design of the apostle was to withdraw his converts at Corinth from all temptations to idolatry, he produces two examples to show the propriety of his endeavours.
1. All who join together in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, and are partakers of that one bread, give proof by this that they are Christians, and have fellowship with Christ.
2. All the Israelites who offer sacrifice, and partake of those sacrifices, give proof thereby that they are Jews, and are in fellowship with the object of their worship: so they who join in idol festivals, and eat things which have been offered to idols, give proof that they are in communion with those idolaters, and that they have fellowship with the demons they worship.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Israel after the flesh was the whole seed of Jacob, the whole body of the Jewish church; for believers only were Israelites after the Spirit, Rom 11:6, called the Israel of God, Gal 6:16.
Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? If in the Jewish church any persons ate of the flesh of sacrifices offered upon Gods altar, did they not by that act manifest that they were members of the Jewish church, and owned that God to whom those sacrifices were offered, and that way of worship by which God was so worshipped? By the same reason these Corinthians eating of the flesh of those beasts in the idols temple, which had been offered unto idols, did by that act declare their owning of the idol, and that idolatrous worship which had been there performed, and were really partakers of the idolatrous altar.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Israel after the fleshtheliteral, as distinguished from the spiritual, Israel (Rom 2:29;Rom 4:1; Rom 9:3;Gal 4:29).
partakers of the altarandso of God, whose is the altar; they have fellowship in God andHis worship, of which the altar is the symbol.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold Israel after the flesh,…. So the apostle calls them, to distinguish them from the Israel of God, the spiritual Israel, whether Jews or Gentiles; who are born again, believe in the true Messiah, worship God in a spiritual manner, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in fleshly things; but these were the descendants of Jacob or Israel by carnal generation, were carnal men, in the flesh, in a state of unregeneracy, and were employed in a carnal worship, in the observance of carnal commandments and ordinances; these the apostle directs to, to see, consider, and take notice of what they were doing; from whence some instruction might be taken, for the further clearing of the present point:
are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? yes, they are. The priests and Levites who waited at the altar, and ministered about holy things there, who brought the sacrifices and laid them upon the altar of the burnt offerings, where the altar consumed and devoured one part by fire, and that which was left they ate among themselves; and so as they had communion with one another in eating, they partook of the altar, of the things, or sacrifices of the altar, and showed themselves to be of the Jewish religion, and professed and declared that they worshipped the God of Israel, and would be thought to have communion with him in so doing; in like manner, such who eat of things sacrificed to idols, declared themselves to be idolaters, to be of the Pagan religion, to be worshippers of idols, and to have fellowship with them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After the flesh ( ). The literal Israel, the Jewish people, not the spiritual Israel ( ) composed of both Jews and Gentiles, the true children of faith (Rom 2:28; Rom 9:8; Gal 3:7).
Communion with the altar ( ). Same idea in participators in, partners in, sharers in (with objective genitive). The word is from late verb , to offer sacrifice, and that from , sacrifice, and that from , common verb to slay, to sacrifice (verse 20). The Israelites who offer sacrifices have a spiritual participation in the altar.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Showing that partaking of the idol – feasts is idolatry, by the analogy of the Israelite who, by partaking of the sacrifices puts himself in communion with Jehovah ‘s altar.
Partakers of the altar [ ] . An awkward phrase. Rev., better, bringing out the force of koinwnoi communers : have not they – communion with the altar ? The Israelite who partook of the sacrifices (Lev 8:31) united himself with the altar of God. Paul says with the altar rather than with God, in order to emphasize the communion through the specific act of worship or sacrifice; since, in a larger sense, Israel after the flesh, Israel regarded as a nation, was, in virtue of that fact, in fellowship with God, apart from his partaking of the sacrifices.
Possibly, also, to suggest the external character of the Jewish worship in contrast with the spiritual worship of Christians. Philo calls the Jewish priest koinwnov tou bwmou partaker of the altar.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) Behold Israel after the flesh. (blepete ton Israel kata sarka) “Look ye at Israel according to flesh conduct.” Paul continues to use Israel, in her carnality, as a warning example to the Corinth Christians. After her carnal nature she lusted, coveted, and longed for Egypt’s things and ways, including the calf gods, Psa 106:14; Psa 106:19; Psa 106:25; Psa 106:28; Psa 106:35-38.
2) “Are not they which eat of the sacrifices. (ouch oi estiontes tas thusias) “Are not those habitually, continually eating of the sacrifices.” one is known by the company that he keeps. If he keeps company with false religions, sits continually with them in eating and drinking worship, he says to the world “I approve.”
3) “Partakers of the altar? (koinonoi tou thusiasteriou eisin) “Common sharers, consorters, of the altar sacrifices?” or do not those regularly identified with sacrifice eating, sharers or partakers of the worship. This is a question of rhetoric nature affirming that the altar-sacrifice worshiper by a common continual eating thus endorses the sacrifices of false worship, a thing God abhors, Exo 32:1-10.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
18. Behold Israel after the flesh He establishes it by another example, that such is the nature of all sacred observances, that they bind us in a kind of fellowship with God. For the law of Moses admits no one to a feast upon a sacrifice, but the man who has duly prepared himself. I speak not of priests merely, but of those among the common people who eat of the remains of the sacrifice. Hence it follows, that all who eat of the flesh of the sacrificed victim, are partakers with the altar, that is, of the sanctification, with which God has set apart his Temple, and the sacred rites that are performed in it.
This expression after the flesh, may seem to be added in order that the Corinthians, on comparing the two, might set a higher value on the efficacy of our Supper. “If there was so much virtue in the ancient figures and in those rudiments of youthful education, how much more must we reckon that there is in our mysteries, in which God shines forth much more fully upon us!” At the same time, it is more simple, in my opinion, to say that Paul intended merely by this mark to distinguish the Jews that were still under the law from those that had been converted to Christ. Now there was a contrast that remained to be made — that if the sacred rites appointed by God sanctify those who observe them, pollution, on the other hand, is contracted from the sacred rites rendered to idols. (578) For it is God alone that sanctifies, and hence all strange gods pollute. (579) Again, if mysteries (580) unite and connect believers with God, it follows, that the wicked are in like manner introduced by their superstitious rites into fellowship (581) with idols. But the Apostle, before proceeding to this, answers by an anthypophora (582) (anticipation) a question that might be proposed by way of objection.
(578) “ Des saerifiees et autres eeremonies des idoles;” — “Sacrifices and other ceremonies rendered to idols.”
(579) “ Rendent profanes ceux qui les seruent;” — “Render profane those who serve them.”
(580) “ Les sacremens;” — “The sacraments.”
(581) “ Vne conionetion et union auec leurs idoles;” — “A connection and union with their idols.”
(582) Anthypophora ( ἀνθυποφορα) is a figure of speech, by which a speaker anticipates the objections of his opponent, and answers them. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) Behold Israel after the fleshi.e., Israel in its merely human aspect, not the spiritual Israel (Rom. 2:28; Gal. 4:29; Gal. 6:16). The sacrifice was divideda portion offered upon the altar and a portion taken and eaten (Deu. 12:18; Deu. 16:11): so whoever ate a portion of the same sacrifice was a partaker in common with (not of, as in the English translation) the altar. This is another argument against partaking of the heathen feasts. You cannot do so without connection with the heathen altar. The example of Israel proves that.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. This unity and communion Paul now illustrates from the Jewish system, where partaking of the sacrifices rendered all adherents of the common altar.
Israel after the flesh in distinction from Israel after the spirit.
Note Rom 9:8.
Partakers of the altar If the altar be an idolatrous one, the partaker is an idolater; if it be an altar of Jehovah, then he acknowledges Jehovah. Such may not be the intention of the partaker, but such is the established and public import of the act.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Behold Israel after the flesh, do not those who eat the sacrifices have communion with the altar?’
His second example is the oneness with the altar, and all that it meant, of those in physical Israel who ate of the sacrifices offered on that altar. This was important because it paralleled exactly the worship of idols in the offering of a sacrifice and then partaking of it. As they ate of the sacrifices they were one with the altar because that was where the sacrifice had been offered, and they were one with all who participated of the meal, and one in benefiting from the efficacy of the sacrifice. They as it were ate before God (compare Exo 24:10-11), and were seen as under His sovereignty. His point here is that in the same way if you participate of the sacrificial meat in the temple you are, at least in the eyes of others, uniting yourself with the sacrificial offering which was made to the god from whose altar the meat came. Thus you are making yourself at one with the altar of whichever god is in mind, and therefore professing yourself as under his jurisdiction.
‘Israel after the flesh.’ That is, physical Israel. We have here another reminder that the church is the true spiritual Israel. To suggest that this refers directly to the worship of the molten calf is to read too much into the wording. Had Paul meant that he would have made it quite clear. Rather he is making a point from true ancient worship.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The application of these truths to idolatrous practices:
v. 18. Behold Israel after the flesh; are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
v. 19. What say I, then? That the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything?
v. 20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils and not to God; and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
v. 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s Table and of the table of devils. In his effort to impress upon the Corinthians the fact that participation in idolatrous feasts was equivalent to idol worship, the apostle now introduces the analogy of the Jewish form of worship: Note the people of Israel as a nation. Are not those that eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar; do they not enter into communion with the altar? This fact was brought out particularly strongly on the great festivals, such as the Passover Feast, when the entire congregation of Israel demonstrated its communion by combining in the sacrifice of Passover, and joining, at the same time and in the same manner, in the meal which was connected with it. It was probable that the readers, at this point, would gather the trend of the apostle’s remarks, that he was about to refer to their taking part in heathen feasts. But before they can offer the objection which they are likely to make, the apostle disarms them: What am I saying now? Am I contradicting myself (See chap. 8:4-, that idol sacrifice is anything, or that an idol is anything? He had denied the actual existence, the personality of idols, and thus had also decried the rites connected with their worship as meaningless observances. This position he held just as strongly as ever.
But there was another feature to which he wanted to call the attention of his readers: Rather, that which they sacrifice they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. Devils are virtually worshiped at the idol feast, and thus, by partaking in heathenish festivals, they come into communion with devils, and he does not want them to enter into fellowship with devils. The riot and debauch attending heathen festivals, not to speak of worse things, showed that foul spirits of evil presided over them. And so Paul makes his application of the truth which their cleverness must surely have shown them to be correct: You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the Lord’s Table and of the table of demons. The Lord’s cup in the celebration of the Eucharist is the communion with the Lord and therefore demands the closest allegiance to Him; the attendance at the idol festivals, therefore, where the cup of devils was in use and the fellowship with devils was celebrated, must break the tie that binds to the Lord. And in the same way the fellowship with the Lord established at the table of the Holy Communion could not be maintained if a Christian took part in heathen festivals it was a moral impossibility. Every fiber of a Christian’s regenerated being must cry out against such blasphemous confusion. Note: The words of the apostle find their application today as well as in Corinth at that time. If Christians join in the wild and profligate revelings and debaucheries of the world, particularly such as are arranged in honor of anti-Christian persons or principles, they are no less guilty than the boastful Corinthians were in their day.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
1Co 10:18 . Another [1681] analogue to prove that participation in the sacrificial feasts is idolatry.
] without the link of the article, because . is regarded as a single idea. Comp on Rom 9:3 . Israel after a purely human sort means the born Israelites , the Jews, as distinguished from the . (Rom 2:28 f.; Gal 4:29 ; comp Gal 6:16 ), which the Christians are, in virtue of their fellowship of life with Christ the promised of Abraham. It was very natural for the apostle to add , seeing that he had just been speaking of the sacred ordinance of the Christians .
As to the Jewish sacrificial feasts, see Michaelis, Mos. R. II. pp. 282, 346 f., IV. 189.
.] This is the theocratic bond of participation, whereby the man stands bound to the sacrificial altar, who eats of the sacrifice belonging to it as such. The Israelite who refused to eat of the flesh of the sacrifice as such, would thereby practically declare that he had nothing to do with the altar, but stood aloof from the sphere of theocratic connection with it. The man, on the other hand, who ate a portion of the flesh offered upon the altar, gave proof of the religious relation in which he stood to the altar itself. The question which may be asked, Why did not Paul write instead of .? is not to be answered by affirming that he could not ascribe the . to the . . (Rckert, Abendm. p. 217, and Neander; but could he not in truth, according to Rom 9:4 f., 1Co 11:1 , say this of the people of God?), or by asserting that he could not well have attributed so high an effect to the sacrificial service (de Wette; but why should he not, seeing he does not specify any particular kind of fellowship with God?). But the true reply is this: the would have been here much too vague and remote a conception; for that fellowship belonged to the Jew already in his national capacity as one of the people of God generally, even apart from partaking of the sacrifices. It was by the latter that he showed the narrower and more specific relation of worship in which he stood to God, namely, the peculiarly sacred (Exo 20:21 ff.) . Hence the inappropriateness of the view taken by Rckert and many others, that Paul leaves the inference open: “and hence, too, with God,” and of that of Rodatz, that the altar is put for the offering .
[1681] Which does not therefore by any means place the Lord’s Supper in the light of a sacrificial feast (Olshausen, Harnack, Gemeindegottesd . p. 195; comp. also Kahnis, Abendm. p. 30). See against this view, Hofmann, Schriftbew. II. 2, p. 232.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
18 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
Ver. 18. Are not they which eat, &c. ] See Lev 7:15 ; hence he infers that these Corinthians also eating of the idol’s sacrifices, were defiled with idolatry; a pari, from the like.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
18. ] Another example of , from the Jewish feasts after sacrifice .
. . ] (= . . : so we have , Eph 6:5 ), the actual material Israel , as distinguished from . , see Rom 2:29 ; Gal 4:29 ; and . , Gal 6:16 .
. . .] viz. those parts of the sacrifices which were not offered; see on ch. 1Co 8:1 .
The parts to be offered are specified, Lev 3:3 ; the practice of eating the remainder of the meat sanctioned and regulated, ib. Lev 7:15-18 .
.] partakers with the altar (in a strict and peculiar sense, the altar having part of the animal, the partaker another part ; and by the fact of the religious consecration of the offered part, this connexion becomes a religious connexion . The question has been raised, and with reason, why the Apostle did not say ? Meyer answers, because the Jew was already in covenant with God , and the Apostle wished to express a closer connexion , brought about by the sacrifice in question: De Wette, because he was unwilling to ascribe so much to the mere act of sacrifice, see Heb 10:1 ff.: and to this latter view I incline, because, as De W. remarks, would have suited the analogy better than , but Paul avoids it, and evidently is reluctant to use it. But to carry this view further, and suppose with Rckert that he would not concede to the . any , is (Meyer) contradicted by Rom 9:4-5 . Still the inference lies open, to which our Saviour’s saying points, Mat 23:20-21 . The altar is GOD’S altar ).
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 10:18 . “For look at Israel after the flesh: are not those that eat the sacrifice communicants of the altar?” i.e. , participation in the sacrificial feast constitutes fellowship in the sacrifice. , in contrast with . (Rom 2:28 f., Gal 4:29 ; Gal 6:16 , etc.: see note on . , 1). The Ap. is not thinking of the priests specifically, as in 1Co 9:3 (Hn [1527] ), nor of the people as sharing with them (Al [1528] ), but of the festal communion of Israelites as such e.g ., at the Passover, the sacrificial meal : see Lev 7:11-34 , Deu 12:11-28 , 1Sa 9:12 ff. The altar furnishes the table at which Jehovah’s guests enjoy their covenant fellowship in the gifts of His salvation. The feasters are thus . , recognising the altar as their common altar and mutually pledging themselves to its service.
[1527] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklrung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).
[1528] Alford’s Greek Testament .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Behold = See. Greek. blepo, as in 1Co 10:12.
after = according to. App-104.
partakers. Greek. koinonos. Elsewhere, 1Co 10:20. Mat 23:30. Luk 5:10. 2Co 1:7; 2Co 8:23. Phm 1:17. Heb 10:33. 1Pe 5:1. 2Pe 1:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
18.] Another example of , from the Jewish feasts after sacrifice.
. . ] (= . . : so we have , Eph 6:5), the actual material Israel, as distinguished from . , see Rom 2:29; Gal 4:29; and . , Gal 6:16.
. . .] viz. those parts of the sacrifices which were not offered; see on ch. 1Co 8:1.
The parts to be offered are specified, Lev 3:3; the practice of eating the remainder of the meat sanctioned and regulated, ib. Lev 7:15-18.
.] partakers with the altar (in a strict and peculiar sense,-the altar having part of the animal, the partaker another part; and by the fact of the religious consecration of the offered part, this connexion becomes a religious connexion. The question has been raised, and with reason, why the Apostle did not say ? Meyer answers,-because the Jew was already in covenant with God, and the Apostle wished to express a closer connexion, brought about by the sacrifice in question:-De Wette,-because he was unwilling to ascribe so much to the mere act of sacrifice, see Heb 10:1 ff.: and to this latter view I incline, because, as De W. remarks, would have suited the analogy better than , but Paul avoids it, and evidently is reluctant to use it. But to carry this view further, and suppose with Rckert that he would not concede to the . any , is (Meyer) contradicted by Rom 9:4-5. Still the inference lies open, to which our Saviours saying points, Mat 23:20-21. The altar is GODS altar).
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 10:18. , of the altar) and therefore, of God. He, to whom the offering is made, those things which are offered, the altar on which they are offered, have communion [a mutual tie in common], as is evident from the following verses, comp. Mat 23:20-21.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 10:18
1Co 10:18
Behold Israel after the flesh:-This refers to fleshly Israel as distinguished from spiritual Israel, the church. (Rom 2:28-29; Gal 4:29; Gal 6:16).
have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar?-They participate with the altar in partaking of the sacrifice offered. A part of the sacrifice was consumed upon the altar; the remainder was divided between the priest and the offerer. (See Lev 7:15-19; Lev 8:31; Deu 12:18). [To eat of the sacrifices in the way prescribed by the law of Moses was to take part in the whole sacrificial service. Therefore Paul says that those who eat the sacrifices are in communion with the altar. They become worshipers of the God to whom the altar is dedicated. This is the import and effect of joining in those sacrificial feasts. The question is not as to the intention of the actor, but as to the import of the act, and as to the interpretation universally put upon it. To partake of a Jewish sacrifice as a sacrifice in a holy place was an act of Jewish worship. Therefore to partake of a heathen sacrifice as a sacrifice, and in a holy place, was of necessity an act of heathen worship.]
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Israel: Rom 4:1, Rom 4:12, Rom 9:3-8, 2Co 11:18-22, Gal 6:16, Eph 2:11, Eph 2:12, Phi 3:3-5
are: 1Co 9:13, Lev 3:3-5, Lev 3:11, Lev 7:11-17, 1Sa 2:13-16, 1Sa 9:12, 1Sa 9:13
Reciprocal: Exo 18:12 – Aaron Eze 22:9 – they eat Eze 44:3 – to eat Dan 1:8 – defile Act 15:29 – ye abstain 1Co 5:11 – or an idolater Rev 2:14 – eat Rev 2:20 – and to seduce
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 10:18. Ancient Israel not only offered certain articles in sacrifice upon the altar, but the roper ones ate of a part of those animals. In doing so they became participants of the altar service. On the same principle, when disciples eat of the bread in view of the body of Christ, they receive benefits of His body.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 10:18. Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they which eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? Part of the animal was consumed on the altar, and the rest was divided between the priest and the offerer (Lev 7:15, Lev 8:31). Thus both had communion with the altar, that is, with the sacrifice laid on it, and, through it, with the glorious Object of all true worship.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here another argument against eating things offered to idols is produced by our apostle, and it runs thus: “As in the Jewish church all persons that did eat of the peace-offerings which were laid upon God’s altar, did by that act declare themselves members of the Jewish church, and that they owned the God of the Jews to whom these sacrifices were offered: in like manner the converted Corinthians, by eating part of those beasts which were sacrificed in the idol’s temple, did by that act declare their owning of that idol, and that idolatrous worship which had been there performed, and were really partakers of that idolatrous altar; not that an idol is any thing, or that which is offered to the idol any thing, that can of its own nature pollute and defile; but the plain truth was, the heathens were seduced by the devils to offer these sacrifices, and they were devils whom they worshipped; though not in their own intention, yet in God’s estimation: and consequently those that did eat of those feasts are supposed to join in those feasts are supposed to join in those sacrifices, and thereby to hold communion with devils.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
1Co 10:18. Behold Consider, by way of illustration; Israel after the flesh How it is with the present Jews, the natural descendants of Jacob, who worship God by sacrifices, according to the Mosaic law. He says, after the flesh, to distinguish them from the spiritual Israel, consisting of believers of all nations, called the Israel of God, Gal 6:16. Are not they who eat of the sacrifices Who feast upon the remainders of the sacrifices offered at the altar; see Lev 7:15; 1Sa 1:4-5; partakers of the altar Do they not join in the worship there performed, and own the God there worshipped? And is not this an act of communion with that God to whom such sacrifices are offered? And is not the case the same with those who eat of the sacrifices offered to idols? This argument, drawn from the sentiments of the Jews, was used with peculiar propriety, especially in reasoning with the false teachers at Corinth, who, it seems, were Jews, and who, to ingratiate themselves with the Corinthians, are supposed to have encouraged them to eat of the idols sacrifices.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 18. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices in communion with the altar?
Israel is placed here by way of transition from the Church to the heathen. There were also among the Jews sacrificial feasts celebrated in the temple precincts, over which God Himself was held to preside, in consequence of the communion established with Him by the expiatory sacrifice; comp. Leviticus 8 and Deuteronomy 12, where are found the prescriptions regarding the peace offerings. The special call for the attention of the readers contained in the imperative , behold, arises from the fact that a usage is in question which is stranger to their sphere than the preceding. By the qualifying , after the flesh, Paul means to bring out the external character of the Israelitish worship, in opposition to the spiritual worship of the true Israel, the Church.
It is no doubt under the influence of the same thought that he says: In communion with the altar, rather than in communion with Jehovah. By sacrifice the guilty Israelite was replaced within the theocratic organization, of which the altar was the centre, rather than in communion with God Himself. As an analogous expression, Heinrici quotes the description of Philo, who calls the Israelitish priest . The Epistle to the Hebrews shows why the blood of the victims could do no more.
It is evident that an Israelite who had eaten his part of the victim at Jehovah’s table, and had thus made fast the bond which united him to the theocracy, could not thereafter take part in a heathen ceremony without committing a moral enormity. In the following verses the apostle gives the application of these examples.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? [In Paul’s eyes the church was the true Israel, and the Jews were Israel after the flesh. Part of the Jewish sacrifice was eaten by the worshiper as an act of worship (Deu 12:18), and part was consumed upon the altar as a sacrifice to God; that is, as God’s part. Thus the worshiper had communion with the altar, or, more accurately speaking, with God, who owned the altar; a portion of the meat of sacrifice entering his body and becoming part of him, and a portion of it typically entering and becoming part of the Lord. Having thus given two instances showing that sacrificial feasts establish a relationship between the worshiper and the object worshipped, Paul proceeds to make his application of them to idol feasts, and begins by anticipating an objection which the quick-witted Corinthians, seeing the drift of his argument, would begin at once to urge.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Verse 18
Partakers of the altar; of the sacrifice, and the worship which the sacrifice represents. So it would be with them if they were to frequent the idol temples, and join in the carousals practised there.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1Co 10:18. After justifying beforehand the words cup and table of the Lord in 1Co 10:21, Paul now introduces beforehand an analogy in support of partners with and cup of demons in 1Co 10:22.
According to flesh; suggests that already the word Israel was used in a spiritual sense: cp. Gal 6:16; Gal 4:29.
They who etc.: the offerers of peace-offerings, who, after a part had been burnt on the altar and a part given to the priest, ate the rest in the temple court: Lev 7:15-21; Deu 12:5 ff, Deu 12:17 ff. They were partners of the altar, not only inasmuch as part of the sacrificed animals was consumed by the altar and part by them, but in that, by joining that sacrificial feast in the holy place, they visibly and formally set themselves on the side of the God of the Temple, and lent their influence to maintain the temple ritual. Thus, by simply eating and drinking, they were aiding to set before the nation and the world the great preparatory lessons taught by the ancient symbols. And, in so doing, they were partners of the brazen altar, which, stained with the blood of the sacrifices, held so prominent a place in the ritual. That in days of spiritual declension the ritual was left in abeyance, and was restored in days of revival, (2Ch 29:1-36; 2Ch 30:1-27; 2Ch 35:1-19,) reveals its spiritual importance.
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
10:18 Behold Israel after the {p} flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices {q} partakers of the altar?
(p) That is, those who yet observe their ceremonies.
(q) Are consenting and guilty, both of that worship and sacrifice.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
We can see the partnership of those who partake of sacrifices with everything the altar stands for in Judaism (cf. Deu 14:22-27). Paul referred to Israel literally as "Israel according to the flesh." He contrasted all the physical Israelites with those who are Jewish Christians (cf. Php 3:3). This description lends no support to the idea that the church replaces Israel in the program of God. "Israel" always refers to Jewish people in the New Testament.
Paul’s line of reasoning was proceeding as follows. Christians who eat the bread at the Lord’s Supper thereby express their solidarity with one another and with Christ. Likewise Jews who ate the meat of animals offered in the sacrifices of Judaism expressed their solidarity with one another and with God. Therefore Christians who eat the meat offered to pagan gods as part of pagan worship express their solidarity with pagans and with the pagan deities.
"As in the Holy Communion, therefore, so also in the Temple services, participating in sacrificial feasts is sacrificial fellowship with an unseen power, a power that is Divine. There is something analogous to this in the sacrificial feasts of the heathen; but in that case the unseen power is not Divine." [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. 215.]
The "wise" man in Corinth (1Co 10:15) could have replied to Paul’s conclusion as follows. Yes, but you agreed before that idols have no real existence and there is only one true God.