Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 10:20
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.
20. they sacrifice to devils, and not to God ] Third reason. The worship of idols is a worship of devils. The words here used are found in Deu 32:17, and similar ones are found in the Septuagint version of Psa 96:5; cf. Psa 106:37. The point of the argument is shewn in the last words of this sentence, ‘ and not to God ’. As they were not sacrificed to God, they were sacrificed to His enemies, the ‘evil spirits,’ ‘dmons,’ not ‘devils’ properly, for this word is confined to the ‘prince of this world’ (St Joh 12:31), ‘which is the Devil, and Satan’ [134] (Rev 20:2). Such beings as these are no mere conceptions of the fancy, but have a real and active existence. Their power over humanity when Christ came was great indeed. Not only was their master the Prince of this world (see above and cf. St Luk 4:6), but the fact of demoniacal possession was a proof at once of their existence and influence upon man.
[134] See note on St Mat 4:24 in Mr Carr’s Commentary in this series.
fellowship ] Translated communion in 1Co 10:16. See note on ch. 1Co 1:9.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
But – The negative here is omitted, but is understood. The ellipsis of a negative after an interrogative sentence is common in the Classical writers as well as in the Scriptures. Bloomfield. The sense is, No; I do not say this, but I say that there are reasons why you should not partake of those sacrifices; and one of those reasons is, that they have been really offered to devils.
They sacrifice to devils – ( daimoniois, demons). The pagans used the word demon either in a good or a bad sense. They applied it commonly to spirits that were supposed to be inferior to the supreme God; genii; attending spirits; or, as they called them, divinities, or gods. A part were in their view good, and a part evil. Socrates supposed that such a demon or genius attended him, who suggested good thoughts to him, and who was his protector. As these beings were good and well disposed, it was not supposed to be necessary to offer any sacrifices in order to appease them. But a large portion of those genii were supposed to be evil and wicked, and hence, the necessity of attempting to appease their wrath by sacrifices and bloody offerings. It was therefore true, as the apostle says, that the sacrifices of the pagan were made, usually at least, to devils or to evil spirits.
Many of these spirits were supposed to be the souls of departed people, who were entitled to worship after death, having been enrolled among the gods. The word demons, among the Jews, was employed only to designate evil beings. It is not implied in their writings to good angels or to blessed spirits, but to evil angels, to idols, to false gods. Thus, in the Septuagint the word is used to translate Elilim, idols Psa 95:5; Isa 65:10; and shed, Shaid, as in Deu 32:17, in a passage which Paul has here almost literally used, They sacrificed unto devils, not to God. No where in the Septuagint is it used in a good sense. In the New Testament the word is uniformly used also to denote evil spirits, and those usually which had taken possession of people in the time of the Saviour; Mat 7:22; Mat 9:33-34; Mat 10:8; Mat 11:18; Mar 1:34, Mar 1:39, et al. See also Campbell on the Gospels, Pre. Dissertation vi. part 1, Section 14-16. The precise force of the original is not, however, conveyed by our translation. It is not true that the pagans sacrificed to devils, in the common and popular sense of that word, meaning thereby the apostate angel and the spirits under his direction; for the pagans were as ignorant of their existence as they were of the true God; and it is not true that they designed to worship such beings. But it is true:
(1) That they did not worship the supreme and the true God. They were not acquainted with his existence; and they did not profess to adore him.
(2) They worshipped demons; beings that they regarded as inferior to the true God; created spirits, or the spirits of people that had been enrolled among the number of the gods.
(3) It was true that many of these beings were supposed to be malign and evil in their nature, and that their worship was designed to deprecate their wrath. So that, although an idol was nothing in itself, the gold or wood of which it was made was inanimate, and incapable of aiding or injuring them; and although there were no real beings such as the pagans supposed – no genii or inferior gods; yet they designed to offer sacrifice to such beings, and to deprecate their wrath. To join them in this, therefore, would be to express the belief that there were such beings, and that they ought to be worshipped, and that their wrath should be deprecated.
I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils – I would not that you should have communion with demons. I would not have you express a belief of their existence; or join in worship to them; or partake of the spirit by which they are supposed to be actuated – a spirit that would be promoted by attendance on their worship. I would not have you, therefore, join in a mode of worship where such beings are acknowledged. You are solemnly dedicated to Christ; and the homage due to him should not be divided with homage offered to devils, or to imaginary beings.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The heathens might not intentionally offer sacrifices to devils, (such a thing can hardly be supposed of men), but actually they offered sacrifices to devils; for they were devils, that is, evil angels, which deluded the poor heathen, and gave answers from the images and statues which they worshipped, believing the true God to be in them: which answers they accounted for oracles. Besides, the apostle saith, they sacrificed to devils, because in Gods esteem it was so, though not in their intention; God judgeth of mens acts of worship and homage pretendedly done unto him, not according to their intention, but according to the truth and reality of the thing: now, really the heathen in their sacrifices paid a homage to devils, though such a thing was far from their intention; and this deserves the consideration, both of the papists, who worship images, and also of those protestants (if any such be) who would excuse the papists in their idolatries from their intentions. The nature of idolatry doth not lie in mens intending to worship the creature instead of the Creator, (there were hardly every any such idolaters in the world), but in their actual doing of the thing; and except they can find a direct rule in holy writ ordering the adoration of the Creator in the creature, or before the creature, it is much to be feared, that in the last day God will judge their homage performed to the creature, not to him. Now, saith the apostle, you had need take heed that, by this action, you prove not yourselves to have fellowship with devils, instead of Christ and the true and living God.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. I would not that ye . . . havefellowship with devilsby partaking of idol feasts (1Co8:10).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
But I say,…. This is my sense and meaning,
that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice unto devils, and not to God; reference is had to De 32:17 for what the Gentiles sacrificed, though they did not sacrifice intentionally to the idols of gold, silver, wood, and stone, but to God in them, as they pretended; yet inasmuch as in such worship and sacrifices they were directed, instigated, influenced, and assisted by devils, who took up their residence in these idols, and gave forth their oracles from them, they sacrificed to them; and which some have done, as in India and China, professedly and openly, and all other idolaters, eventually, virtually, and covertly:
and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils; as all wicked men have, in the commission of any lust, sin, or immorality; and as all idolaters have in their superstitious practices, and idolatrous worship; and if grace prevent not, will have to all eternity in everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; wherefore the apostle would have the Corinthians flee from idolatry, and all appearance of it, and abstain from eating things offered to idols, of which they could not eat without having fellowship with devils; this he says, to deter them from such practices, which must be very horrible and shocking, and bespeaks in him great care of them, and affection for them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But I say that (‘ ). The verb (I say) must be repeated from verse 19 before .
To demons, and not to God ( ). Referring to LXX text of De 32:17. It is probable that by Paul means “to a no-god” as also in De 32:21 ‘ (by a no-people). This is Paul’s reply to the heathen who claimed that they worshipped the gods represented by the images and not the mere wood or stone or metal idols. The word is an adjective from , an inferior deity, and with same idea originally, once in this sense in N.T. (Ac 17:18). Elsewhere in N.T. it has the notion of evil spirits as here, those spiritual forces of wickedness (Eph 6:12) that are under the control of Satan. The word , so common in the Gospels, occurs in Paul’s writings only here and 1Ti 4:1. Demonology is a deep and dark subject here pictured by Paul as the explanation of heathenism which is a departure from God (Ro 1:19-23) and a substitute for the worship of God. It is a terrible indictment which is justified by the licentious worship associated with paganism then and now.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Devils [] . See on Mr 1:34. Used here, as always in the New Testament, of diabolic spirits. 111 Daimonion the neuter of the adjective daimoniov divine, occurs in Paul ‘s writings only here and 1Ti 4:1. It is used in the Septuagint, Deu 32:17, to translate the Hebrew word which seems, originally, to have meant a supernatural being inferior to the gods proper, applied among the Assyrians to the bulldeities which guarded the entrances to temples and palaces. Among the Israelites it came to signify all gods but the God of Israel. Compare Isa 65:11, where Gad (good fortune, probably the star – God Jupiter) is rendered in the Septuagint tw daimoniw the demon. See Rev, O. T. Also Psa 96:5 (Sept. 95.), where elilim things of nought, A. V. idols, is rendered by daimonia demons. 112
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice. (alla hoti ha thuousin dimoniois kai ou theo thuousin) “But that which (the things)they sacrifice, (the heathen).” Eph 2:2-3.
2) They sacrifice to devils.” They sacrifice to demons.” Demon spirits presided over worshipers of idols and feasts of bacchanalian debauchery, that often accompanied their riotous, carnal, debauching religious festivals, 2Co 4:4; Eph 6:12; 2Co 12:7.
3) And not to God. Right and wrong, sin and righteousness, God and the devil can not cohabit or mix. Separation of false and true living and worship is taught in the scriptures, 2Co 6:14-17.
4) And I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” (ou thelo de humas koinonous ton daimonion ginesthai) I will not moreover you all to become sharers in close association with demons.” To worship heathen gods was to Paul tantamount or equal to the worship of demons, abhorred by God, Psa 115:4-8; Psa 135:15-18.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
20. But the things (585) that the Gentiles sacrifice. To complete the answer, a negative must be understood in this way: “I do not say that an idol is anything, nor do I imagine it to be endued with any virtue, but I say that the Gentiles sacrifice to the devil and not to gods those things which they do sacrifice, and hence I estimate the work by their wicked and impious superstition. For we must always look to the intention with which a thing is done. He, then, who connects himself with them, declares that he has fellowship with them in the same impiety.” He proceeds accordingly with what he had commenced: “If we had to do with God only, those things would be nothing, but, in relation to men, they become faulty; because no one sits down to an idol feast, who does not declare himself to be a worshipper of the idol.”
Some, however, understand the term demons here as meaning the imaginary deities of the Gentiles, agreeably to their common way of speaking of them; for when they speak of demons they meant inferior deities, as, for example, heroes, (586) and thus the term was taken in a good sense. Plato, in a variety of instances, employs the term to denote genii, or angels. (587) That meaning, however, would be quite foreign to Paul’s design, for his object is to show that it is no light offense to have to do with actions that have any appearance of putting honor upon idols. Hence it suited his purpose, not to extenuate, but rather to magnify the impiety that is involved in it. How absurd, then, it would have been to select an honorable term to denote the most heinous wickedness! It is certain from the Prophet Baruch, (Bar 4:7,) that those things that are sacrificed to idols are sacrificed to devils (Deu 32:17; Psa 96:5.) In that passage in the writings of the Prophet, the Greek translation, which was at that time in common use, has δαιμόνια — demons, and this is its common use in Scripture. How much more likely is it then, that Paul borrowed what he says from the Prophet, to express the enormity of the evil, than that, speaking after the manner of the heathen, he extenuated what he was desirous to hold up to utter execration!
It may seem, however, as if these things were somewhat at variance with what I stated a little ago — that Paul had an eye to the intention of idolaters, for it is not their intention to worship devils, but imaginary deities of their own framing. I answer, that the two things are quite in harmony, for when men become so vain in their imaginations (Rom 1:21) as to render divine honor to creatures, rather than to the one God, this punishment is in readiness for them — that they serve Satan. For they do not find that “middle place” (588) that they are in search of, but Satan straightway presents himself to them, as an object of adoration, whenever they have turned their back upon the true God.
I would not that ye. If the term demon were used in an indifferent sense, how spiritless were Paul’s statement here, while, instead of this, it has the greatest weight and severity against idolaters! He subjoins the reason — because no one can have fellowship at the same time with God and with idols. Now, in all sacred observances, there is a profession of fellowship. Let us know, therefore, that we are then, and then only, admitted by Christ to the sacred feast of his body and blood, when we have first of all bid farewell to every thing sacrilegious. (589) For the man who would enjoy the one, must renounce the other. O thrice miserable the condition of those (590) who, from fear of displeasing men, do not hesitate to pollute themselves with unlawful superstitions! For, by acting in this way, they voluntarily renounce fellowship with Christ, and obstruct their approach to his health-giving table.
(585) “ Mais ie di, que les choses;” — “But I say, that the things.”
(586) “ Ils entcndoyent ceux qui estans hornroes de grand renom, auoyent este faits dieux;” — “They meant those, who, being men of great renown, had been made gods.”
(587) The following instances may be adduced from Plato (in Sympos.): — Παν το δαιμονιον μεταξυ εστι θεου τε και θνητου — Every demon holds a middle place between God and mortal man; Θεος ανθρωπῳ ου μιγνυται, αλλα δια δαιμονιων πασα εστιν ἡ ὁμιλια και ἡ διαλεκτος θεοις προς ανθρωπους — God does not hold direct converse with man, but all intercourse and communication is carried on between gods and men by means of demons; Το Δαιμονιον εστιν ερμηνευον και διαπορθμενον θειος τα παρ ανθρωπων, και ανθρωποις τα παρα θεων, των μεν τας δεησεις και θυσιας, των δε τας επιταξεις και αμοιβας των θυσιων — a demon is an interpreter and reporter from men to the gods, and from the gods to men — of the prayers and the sacrifices of the one, and the injunctions and rewards of devotion on the part of the other. — Ed
(588) Calvin has very probably in his eye here the sentiment of Plato already quoted — that “every demon holds a middle place between God and mortal man.” — Ed.
(589) “ Quand auant que nous y presenter, nous auons renonce a tous sacrileges, c’est a dire a toute impiete et idolatrie;” — “When, before approaching it, we have renounced everything sacrilegious, that is to say, all impiety and idolatry.”
(590) “ O plus que miserable la condition de ceux;” — “O more than miserable the condition of those.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(20) But I say.Better, No; but that the things which they sacrifice they sacrifice to devils, and not to God.
The word devils means evil spirits. The heathen world is regarded by the Christian Church as under the dominion of the Evil Spirit and his emissaries (Eph. 2:2; Eph. 6:12), and in reminding the Corinthians that in Israel an eater of the sacrificial meat became a partaker with the altar of God, the Apostle meant to warn them that they would, if they partook of sacrificial meats offered on an altar of devils, become a sharer with that altar and the beings to whom the altar appertained.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
20. But On the contrary, what I say is that, etc.
Devils Demons. Note on Luk 10:17. Our translators should never have confounded devil and demon. In pagan mythology a demon was intermediate between gods and men. One class were supposed to be the spirits of dead men, either good or evil, according to their character in life. Another class were beings of supernatural origin, somewhat like the angels. They might be good, like the demon which Socrates claimed to be his supernatural monitor; and it is singular to note how wonderfully many of the attributes of the Pythian Apollo prefigured Christ! They might be evil, as held by the wisest philosophers, and send diseases and pestilences to men and animals, and supply temptations to wrong.
In the Septuagint the word demon is used to designate, generally, an evil supernatural spirit, or whatever evil living reality there was to appropriate the service of pagan worshippers. So Psa 96:5. All the gods of the pagans are demons; Deu 32:17, they sacrificed unto demons, and not unto God. It is clear from 1Co 10:22 that the apostle has this passage in mind. Josephus uses the word demons to denote the surviving spirits of wicked dead men, who often possess the living, and are to be expelled by exorcisms and fumigations.
In the New Testament the word is always used in a bad sense. There is but one Satan, one devil, and his angels, (Mat 25:41,) and his angels are doubtless identical with the demons. There is no intimation in Scripture that they are the surviving spirits of the wicked dead. Wherever in our translation the plural word devils is used, the Greek is demons. Paul denies that there is any real god or goddess in paganism, but Satan’s spiritual emissaries may so impersonate those imaginary beings as to appropriate the honours of the worship, and keep the worshippers in paganism. Notes on Mar 5:2, and Act 16:16; Act 16:18.
Not to God They belong to the idolatrous and infernal, and antagonize the true religion and the true God.
I would not And this would not, he shows next verse, involves a cannot.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
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.
Ver. 20. They sacrifice to devils ] A good intention then excuseth not. The Gentiles thought they had sacrificed to God. So do the Papists, who yet worship devils, while they worship idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, Rev 9:20 . The devil is , saith Synesius, an idol lover.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gentiles. Greek. ethnos.
devils = demons. Greek. daimonion. See Act 17:18. Reference to Deu 32:17.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
1Co 10:20. , but) viz. I say.-, to demons) rather than to idols.-, the associates) Those who were present at the sacrifices of the Gentiles, which serve as an invitation to demons, opened the window to demons, to make an assault upon themselves.-, to God) in whose communion you ought to be: Deu 32:17,- , , They sacrificed to devils and not to God; comp. Bar 4:7.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
1Co 10:20
1Co 10:20
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God:-The sacrifice made at the altar of the idol is sacrificed to demons, and the demon is a participator in that sacrifice. If Christians partake of that sacrifice they commune with demons to whom the sacrifice is made.
and I would not that ye should have communion with demons.-We are said to be in communion with those between whom and us there is congeniality of mind, community of interest, and friendly intercourse. In this sense we are in communion with our fellow Christians, with God, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And in this sense the worshipers of idols have fellowship with evil spirits. They are united to them so as to form one community, with a common character and a common destiny. Into this state of communion they are brought by sacrificing to them. It was of great importance for the Corinthians to know that it did not depend on their intention whether they came into communion with demons. The heathen did not intend to worship demons, and yet they did it; what would it avail to the reckless Corinthians, who attended the sacrificial feasts of the heathen, to say they did not intend to worship the idols? The question was not what they meant to do, but what was the import and effect of their conduct. A man may not intend to pollute his soul when he frequents the haunts of vice. The effect is altogether independent of his intention.
This principle also applies with all its force to the compliance of professed Christians with the religious services of churches that are using mechanical instruments of music in the worship of God. Whatever their intention may be, by the force of the act they become one with those in whose worship they join. We constitute with them and with the methods of their worship one communion.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
devils (Greek – ; 1Co 10:21, (See Scofield “Mat 7:22”).
fellowship 1Co 10:16. trans. communion.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
sacrifice: Lev 17:7, Deu 32:16, Deu 32:17, 2Ch 11:15, Psa 106:37-39, 2Co 4:4, Rev 9:20
Reciprocal: Exo 34:15 – eat Lev 26:1 – Ye shall Num 25:2 – they called Jos 24:19 – a jealous Jdg 2:13 – served Jdg 16:23 – Dagon 1Ki 11:8 – all his strange wives 1Ki 16:13 – vanities 1Ki 18:26 – no voice 2Ch 25:15 – which could Psa 31:6 – lying Psa 106:28 – of the dead Psa 115:4 – Their idols Isa 65:11 – prepare Jer 44:23 – ye have burned Eze 18:6 – not Zec 11:17 – idol Mat 4:9 – if Act 15:20 – from pollutions Act 19:26 – that they 1Co 8:4 – we know 1Co 8:10 – sit 1Co 10:14 – flee 1Co 10:16 – the communion of the blood 2Co 6:15 – what concord Gal 4:8 – ye did Eph 2:12 – without Eph 5:11 – no 1Ti 4:1 – and doctrines Heb 13:10 – an altar Rev 13:4 – And they Rev 21:8 – and idolaters
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 10:20. In answer to the foregoing question, the apostle affirms that the beings to whom the Gentiles offer their sacrifices are only devils, a word coming from DAIMONION. Thayer defines the word, “a spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men . . . evil spirits or the messengers and ministers of the devil.” He then adds historically, “According to a Jewish opinion which passed over to the Christians, the demons are the gods of the Gentiles an the authors of idolatry.” With this view of the subject in mind, the idolatrous worship is considered as fellowship with devils.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 10:20. But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils (Gr. demons), and not to God. But has not the apostle been insisting that an idol is nothing in the world? and how (it may be asked) could they sacrifice to nothing? The obvious answer is, that in the preceding verses he was speaking of what an idol is in itself whereas here he has in view the worshippers belief and intention. In itself it is nothing, but to the sincere worshipper it is a living reality. And since, according to Bible teaching, the living God and the god of this worldthe spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedienceare rival claimants to the worship and service of men, it follows that, according to the same teaching, all who serve not the One are in reality servants of the other; for no man can serve two masters. It is on this principle that the whole system of idol-worship, in whose feasts the Christians of Corinth were tempted to join, is held up here as a detestable compound of devil-worship, which, as it robs the living God of the glory due to His name, is doubtless inspired by the wicked one to that very end. It may be added that the plural demons here used confirms the impression one gathers from other scriptures, that there exists an organized confederacy of evil, under the inspiration of one chief, the prince of the power of the air.
and I would not that ye should have communion with devils:To think of my own children in the faith, after having been dragged out of the mire of a gross sensuality, again sinking, through these idol-feastings, into fellowship with those impure spirits, whose sole object is to pollute their minds, blast all their Christian hopes, and ruin their soulshow can I endure this?
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons. [It was true that the idol was nothing, but it represented a reality, and it was well established both among Jews and Greeks that that reality was a demon. Among Jews and Christians this word represented an evil spirit (Deu 32:17; Lev 17:7; 2Ch 11:15; Psa 96:5; Psa 106:37; Mat 25:41; Rev 9:20; Eph 6:12). Among the Greeks the word had a broader significance. With them it meant a demi-god or minor deity–a being between God and men. One part of them were spirits of dead men, mainly dead kings or heroes who had been deified and honored with idols and worship. Another part were regarded as having a supernatural origin, and were like angels. These might be good or evil. Thus Socrates regarded himself as under the care and influence of a good demon. Thus at the core idolatry was demon-worship, and if the Christian who ate the Lord’s Supper communed with the Lord, and the Jew who ate the sacrifice of the altar communed with the God of the altar; so the man, be he pagan or Christian, who partook of the idol sacrifice, communed with the demon who appropriated the worship offered to the idol.]
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
DEMON WORSHIP
20. But those things which they sacrifice, they really sacrifice to demons, and not to God: I do not wish you to be the communicants of demons.
21. You are not able to drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons:you are not able to partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.
22. Whether shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Whether are we stronger than He? Here he warns the Corinthians against the communion of demons, i. e., devil worship. All the Grecian gods were but the personifications of the evil passions, tempers, lusts, and ambitions peculiar to fallen humanity; as the demons, resident in human hearts and flying through the air, make it their constant enterprise to stir up the evil tempers, passions, lusts predilections in fallen humanity, doing their utmost to lead people into conservatism and subordination to these demons. Hence the heathen world in all ages has been full of demon worship. The Greek philosophers, in their writings, actually used the word demon. The great Socrates stated that his guardian demon made revelations to him and held communion with him. Millions of heathens, Moslems and Romanists, as well as doubtless many Protestants, this day worship demons. The vast sectarian diversity in the Christian world is really another manifestation of the Pagan polytheism, in which the heathens worship many gods, variant in character and attributes, like the diversified and even warring sects of Christendom. Oh! how many today are groping in demon worship! The Greek has demon in this paragraph, where E.V. has devil, a word which properly applies to Satan himself, the innumerable subordinate evil spirits thronging earth and Hell being denominated demons. They are prone to dress up in the habiliments of angels (such as they once were, and hence know how to play the angel), and pass themselves for the Holy Ghost, thus deceiving the people by millions, leading them into demon worship, thinking they are worshipping God. Such is the case with the millions who profess and practice a sinning religion, which they get from the demons, because God has none such. Our sacramental boards are crowded by carnal, wicked people who actually, as Paul here says, drink not the cup of the Lord, but the cup of demons, and sit not at the table of the Lord, but the table of demons.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 20
To devils; to beings of the most corrupt and abandoned characters. This designation very justly applies to the most prominent deities of the Greek mythology.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
10:20 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 {r} fellowship with devils.
(r) Have anything to do with the demons, or enter into that society which is begun in the demon’s name.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The power behind pagan religion is demonic (cf. Deu 32:17; Psa 106:37). Consequently people who sacrifice to idols express solidarity with demonic powers. Eating the food sacrificed to idols means that the people who participated shared in what had been sacrificed to demons just as the Israelites shared in what had been sacrificed to God. The cultic feasts were really sacrifices to demons, so they involved the worship of demons.