1 Corinthians 10:17

unfolds the assertion virtually contained in the question just asked: “Seeing that (ὅτι) there is one bread, we, the many, are one body”; so Vg [1511], “Quoniam unus panis, unum corpus multi sumus,” Cv [1512], Bz [1513], Bg [1514], Hf [1515], Bt [1516], Hn [1517], Gd [1518], El [1519], R.V. marg.; cf. the mutually supporting unities of Ephesians 4:4 ff. The saying is aphoristic: One bread makes one body (Hn [1520]) a maxim of hospitality (equally true of “the cup”) that applies to all associations cemented by a common feast. “The bread” suggests the further, kindred idea of a common nourishment sustaining an identical life, the loaf on the table symbolising the ἀληθινὸς ἄρτος of John 6, which feeds the Church in every limb (1 Corinthians 12:13). “For (γὰρ of explanation) we all partake from (partitive ἐκ, cf. 1 Corinthians 9:7) the one bread”; eating from the common loaf attests and seals the union of the participants in Christ.

[1511] Latin Vulgate Translation.

[1512] Calvin's In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii.

[1513] Beza's Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[1514] Bengel's Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[1515] J. C. K. von Hofmann's Die heilige Schrift N.T. untersucht, ii. 2 (2te Auflage, 1874).

[1516] J. A. Beet's St. Paul's Epp. to the Corinthians (1882).

[1517] C. F. G. Heinrici's Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer's krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[1518] F. Godet's Commentaire sur la prem. Ép. aux Corinthiens (Eng. Trans.).

[1519] C. J. Ellicott's St. Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians.

[1520] C. F. G. Heinrici's Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer's krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

1 Corinthians 10:17 is parenthetical, but no interpolation as Sm [1521] thinks; it is necessary to develop the idea of κοινωνία in 1 Corinthians 10:16, showing how vital to the Church is the fellowship of the Lord's Table, that was being violated by attendance at idolfeasts. The elliptical ὅτι … ἐσμεν is often construed as a continued dependent clause under the regimen of ὅτι : either (a) “Since we, who are many, are one bread (loaf), one body” (A.V., R.V. txt., with several ancient Verss., Est., Al [1522], Sm [1523]); or (b) “Since there (is) one bread, (and) we, the many, are one body” (D.W [1524], Mr [1525]) these renderings making the two statements a double reason for the κοινωνία of 1 Corinthians 10:16, instead of seeing in the εἶς ἄρτος an evidence of the ἓν σῶμα. But (a) confuses two distinct figures, and identifies unsuitably “the bread” with the Church itself, (b) escapes this error by reading into the first clause the ἐστὶν required to match ἐσμὲν in the second; but the copulative “and” is artificially supplied; moreover, Mr [1526] 's interpretation reverses the contextual relation of the ἄρτος and σῶμα, making the latter the ground of the former, whereas Paul argues that the bread assures the oneness of the body; through loaf and cup we realise our communion in Christ.

[1521] P. Schmiedel, in Handcommentar zum N.T. (1893).

[1522] Alford's Greek Testament.

[1523] P. Schmiedel, in Handcommentar zum N.T. (1893).

[1524].W. De Wette's Handbuch z. N. T.

[1525] Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).

[1526] Meyer's Critical and Exegetical Commentary (Eng. Trans.).