1 Corinthians 10:7

7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”^[a]

1 Corinthians 10:7 in Other Translations

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

7 Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play."

7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”

7 And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did - "First the people partied, then they threw a dance."

7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

7 So don't worship false gods as some of them did, as Scripture says, "The people sat down to a feast which turned into an orgy."

7 Don't become idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to play.

7 So don't worship statues of gods, as some of them did. It is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god."(Exodus 32:6)

1 Corinthians 10:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 10:7

Neither be ye idolaters
To which they seemed inclined to be, at least there was great danger that such they would be, by carrying their liberty to such a pitch, as to sit in an idol's temple, and there eat things sacrificed unto them; and which the apostle cautions against, and uses arguments to dissuade them from in the following part of this chapter:

as were some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat
and drink, and rose up to play:
referring to ( Exodus 32:6 ) when the Israelites, whilst Moses was in the mount, made a molten calf, and worshipped it, built an altar before it, and instituted a feast and a play; and which was performed by dancing about the calf, and singing to the honour of it, ( Exodus 32:18 Exodus 32:19 ) for their sitting down to eat and drink is not to be understood of an ordinary meal, but of a feast kept in honour of the golden calf, and which they covered by calling it a feast to the Lord; and their playing also was on the same account, in imitation of the Heathens, who made feasts, and appointed plays to the honour of their deities: some indeed interpret ^F20 this last action of uncleanness, which they committed after their feast was over, and which also was sometimes done in the Heathen temples, the word being sometimes used in this sense; see ( Genesis 39:14 Genesis 39:17 ) but others understand it of the act of idolatry; so two of the Chaldee paraphrases interpret the words in Exodus ^F21; "they rose up to play", (harkwn anxlwpb) , in strange service, i.e. idolatry; and though the apostle does not mention their punishment, yet it was a very great one, three thousand persons fell the sword on that account, ( Exodus 32:28 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 Vid. Jarchi in Exod. xxxii. 6.
F21 Targum Jon. ben Uzziel & Jerusalem in ib. Vid. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 53. fol. 47. 4. & Shemot Rabba, sect. 1. fol. 89. 3.

1 Corinthians 10:7 In-Context

5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”

8 We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.

9 We should not test Christ, as some of them did—and were killed by snakes.

Cross References

• 1. ver 14
• 2. Ex 32:4,6,19

Footnotes

• [a]. Exodus 32:6