1 Corinthians 10:21

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ You are intelligent people. Judge for yourselves the truth of what I say now. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁵ I speake as vnto them which have discrecion Iudge ye what I saye. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say. ¹⁵ I am talking to sensible people. Decide for yourselves what I am saying.1 Corinthians 8:1;">[xr] ¹⁵ I speak as to wise people; you then, judge what I say. ¹⁵ I am speaking to you as to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. ¹⁵ I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. ¹⁵ I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

cannot drink: 1 Corinthians 10:16, 1 Corinthians 8:10, Deuteronomy 32:37, Deuteronomy 32:38, 1 Kings 18:21, Matthew 6:24, 2 Corinthians 6:15-17

Reciprocal: Exodus 18:12 - Aaron Exodus 20:23 - General Exodus 34:15 - eat Leviticus 3:11 - the food Leviticus 11:40 - eateth 1 Kings 7:48 - the table 2 Chronicles 4:8 - ten tables 2 Chronicles 11:15 - for the devils Psalms 86:11 - unite Psalms 116:13 - I will take Isaiah 65:11 - prepare Jeremiah 44:8 - ye provoke Ezekiel 8:3 - provoketh Ezekiel 41:22 - This is Hosea 3:1 - love flagons Amos 2:8 - by Malachi 1:7 - The table Matthew 4:9 - if John 7:37 - drink Acts 2:42 - in breaking 1 Corinthians 10:14 - flee 1 Corinthians 10:17 - that 1 Corinthians 11:27 - whosoever 2 Corinthians 6:14 - for Ephesians 5:11 - no Revelation 9:20 - worship Revelation 21:8 - and idolaters

Cross-References

Genesis 10:10
The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:10
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad-all of them in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:10
At first Nimrod's kingdom covered Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Babylonia.

Genesis 10:10
The primary regions of his kingdom were Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:10
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:10
The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:10
The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia].

Genesis 10:10
Sotheli the bigynnyng of his rewme was Babiloyne, and Arach, and Archad, and Thalamye, in the lond of Sennaar.

Genesis 10:10
And the first part of his kingdom is Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar;

Genesis 10:10
His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils,.... Not only they ought not, but they could not rightly, truly, and really drink the cup of wine in the Lord's supper, in the true faith of Christ's bloodshed, and his sacrifice offered up for them, in remembrance of his love, and to the honour of his name; and also the cup of wine of libations, poured out and drank to the honour of the Heathen deities; these things are utterly inconsistent; no man can serve two masters, God and mammon, or God and Baal; nor is there any concord between Christ and Belial, or agreement between the temple of God and idols:

ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils; no man can spiritually, however he may externally partake of the entertainment provided, on the table of the Lord, at his supper instituted and kept in commemoration of him; and also with gust and pleasure, and without any concern for the peace of weak minds, and the honour of God, eat things set upon a table in an idol's temple, and before the idol, and as sacrificed unto it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord ... - This does not mean that they had no physical ability to do this, or that it was a natural impossibility; for they certainly had power to do it. But it must mean that they could not “consistently” do it. It was not fit, proper, decent. They were solemnly bound to serve and obey Christ, they had devoted themselves to him, and they could not, consistently with these obligations, join in the worship of demons. This is a striking instance in which the word “cannot” is used to denote not natural but moral inability.

And the cup of devils - Demons; 1 Corinthians 10:20. In the feasts in honor of the gods, wine was poured out as a libation, or drank by the worshippers; see Virgil, Aeneas viii. 273. The custom of drinking “toasts” at feasts and celebrations arose from this practice of pouring out wine, or drinking in honor of the pagan gods; and is a practice that still partakes of the nature of paganism. It was one of the abominations of paganism to suppose that their gods would be pleased with the intoxicating drink. Such a pouring out of a libation was usually accompanied with a prayer to the idol god, that he would accept the offering; that he would be propitious; and that he would grant the desire of the worshipper. From that custom the habit of expressing a sentiment, or proposing a toast, uttered in drinking wine, has been derived. The toast or sentiment which now usually accompanies the drinking of a glass in this manner, if it means anything, is now also a “prayer.” But to whom? To the god of wine? To a pagan deity? Can it be supposed that it is a prayer offered to the true God; the God of purity? Has Yahweh directed that prayer should be offered to Him in such a manner? Can it be acceptable to Him? Either the sentiment is unmeaning, or it is a prayer offered to a pagan god, or it is mockery of Yahweh; and in either case it is improper and wicked. And it may as truly be said now of Christians as in the time of Paul. “Ye cannot consistently drink the cup of the Lord at the communion table, and the cup where a prayer is offered to a false god, or to the dead, or to the air; or when, if it means anything, it is a mockery of Jehovah.” Now can a Christian with any more consistency or propriety join in such celebrations, and in such unmeaning or profane libations, than he could go into the temple of an idol, and partake of the idolatrous celebrations there?

And of the table of devils - Demons. It is not needful to the force of this that we should suppose that the word means necessarily evil spirits. They were not God; and to worship them was idolatry. The apostle means that Christians could not consistently join in the worship that was offered to them, or in the feasts celebrated in honor of them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord — It is in vain that you who frequent these idol festivals profess the religion of Christ, and commemorate his death and passion in the holy eucharist; for you can not have that fellowship with Christ which this ordinance implies, while you are partakers of the table of demons. That the Gentiles, in their sacrifices, fed on the slain beasts, and ate bread and drank wine in honour of their gods, is sufficiently clear from various accounts. See my Discourse on the Holy Eucharist, where many examples are produced. The following from Virgil, AEn. viii, verse 179-273, is proof in point:-

Tum lecti juvenes certatim araeque sacerdos

Viscera tosta ferunt taurorum, onerantque canistris

Dona laboratae Cereris, Bacchumque ministrant.

Vescitur AEneas simul et Trojana juventus

Perpetui tergo bovis et lustralibus extis.-----

Quare agite, O juvenes, tantarum in munere laudum,

Cingite fronde comas, et pocula porgite dextris,

Communemque vocate Deum, et date vina volentes.

The loaves were served in canisters; the wine

In bowls; the priests renewed the rites divine:

Broiled entrails are their food, and beef's continued chine

Ye warlike youths, your heads with garlands crown,

Fill high the goblets with a sparkling flood,

And with deep draughts invoke our common god.