1 Corinthians 8:1

a. Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων : another topic of the Church Letter, to which the Apostle continues his reply (see note on 1 Corinthians 7:1; also Introd., chap. 2). The word εἰδωλόθυτον (see parls.), “the idol -sacrifice,” substituted for the ἱερόθυτον (1 Corinthians 10:28) of the heathen vocabulary, conveys an implicit judgment on the question in hand; see note on εἴδωλον, 1 Corinthians 8:4, and on 1 Corinthians 10:19 f.; also Acts 15:20, τὰ ἀλισγήματα τῶν εἰδώλων. οἴδαμεν ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν : the common rendering, “We know that we all have knowledge” yields a weak tautology, and misses the irony of the passage; otherwise than in οἴδαμεν ὅτι of 1 Corinthians 8:4, this is the causal ὅτι (so Bg [1219], Hn [1220], Ed [1221]). The Cor [1222] in making their inquiry virtually answered it themselves; they wrote Οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ (1 Corinthians 8:4); and P. takes them up at the first word with his arresting comment: “ ‘We know' (say you?) because ‘we all have knowledge'! Knowledge puffs up,” etc. For γνῶσιν ἔχομεν, cf. 1 Corinthians 8:10; the phrase breathes the pride of the Cor [1223] illuminati; in γνῶσις this Church felt itself rich (1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 4:10); its wealth was its peril.

[1219] Bengel's Gnomon Novi Testamenti.

[1220] C. F. G. Heinrici's Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer's krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[1221] T. C. Edwards' Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians. 2

[1222] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[1223] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 8:1 b. The Ap. gives to Cor [1224] vanity a sudden, sharp rebuke by his epigram, Ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ, ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ : “Knowledge puffs up, but Love builds up”. Hn [1225] aptly compares Aristotle's axiom, Τὸ τέλος οὐ γνῶσις, ἀλλὰ πρᾶξις (Nic. Eth., i., 1). For φυσιόω, to inflate, see note on 1 Corinthians 4:6. The appeal of the Church to Knowledge as decisive in the controversy about “meats” disclosed the great flaw in its character its poverty of love (1 Corinthians 13:1 ff.). The tacit obj [1226] of οἰκοδομεῖ is the Church, the Θεοῦ οἰκοδομή (1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 3:16); Ephesians 4:15 f. describes the edifying power of love; see also Matthew 22:37-40; 1 John 4:16-21. For the Biblical use of ἀγάπη, see note to 1 Corinthians 13:1. The divisive question at issue Love would turn into a means of strengthening the bonds of Church life; Knowledge operating alone makes it an engine of destruction (1 Corinthians 8:11 f.).

[1224] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[1225] C. F. G. Heinrici's Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer's krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[1226] grammatical object.