1 Corinthians 8


1 Corinthians 8 is the eighth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. In this short chapter, Paul deals with an issue about food offered to idols.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 13 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
At the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, reported in Acts 15, following advice offered by Simon Peter, Barnabas and Paul gave an account of their ministry among the gentiles, and the apostle James quoted from the words of the prophet Amos. James added his own words to the quotation: "Known to God from eternity are all His works" and then submitted a proposal, which was accepted by the Church and became known as the Apostolic Decree:
Here, Paul makes no reference to the Apostolic Decree, advising members of the Corinthian church that we all know that food offered to idols is a meaningless concept – "we know that an idol is nothing in the world" – but its consumption is capable of leading to misunderstanding. Protestant theologian Heinrich Meyer argues that this omission "is in keeping with consciousness of his own direct and independent apostolic dignity".

Verse 9