The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 10:6 Explained

1 Corinthians 10:6

KJV: Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

YLT: and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire.

Darby: But these things happened as types of us, that we should not be lusters after evil things, as they also lusted.

ASV: Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now  these things  were  our  examples,  to the intent  we  should  not  lust after evil  things,  as  they also  lusted. 

What does 1 Corinthians 10:6 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The experiences of the Israelites provide lessons for us. Their baptism and partaking of spiritual food and drink did not protect them from God"s discipline when they craved evil things. Participation in baptism and the Lord"s Supper will not protect Christians either. We should never regard participation in these ordinances as immunizing us against God"s discipline if we sin against Him. The Israelites had sometimes felt immunized against God"s judgment because they were His chosen people.
The Greek word translated "examples" is typos from which we get the English word "type." The experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness are types. They were early examples of situations that would recur later in history that God designed to teach His people lessons. [1]

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 10:1-10 - Learn From Bible History
Twice over we are told that the story of the Exodus was intended for our instruction, 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11. It becomes us, therefore, to study the account with the honest intention to obtain all the warning and suggestion that it is capable of yielding. The great lesson is human failure under the most promising circumstances. Here were people who had been brought out of the most terrible hardships and perils, who were under the greatest obligations to God, but who, in the hour of temptation, absolutely failed Him.
Consider the privileges of the Chosen People. The cloud of divine guidance led them. The Red Sea, like a grave, lay between them and the land of bondage. They ate daily of the heavenly manna and drank of the water that gushed from the rock. But all these are types of spiritual blessings which await us in Christ. His grave lies between us and the world; His guidance is ours; we daily feed on His life and help. Let us take heed that we do not, like Israel, allow Moab to cast the witchery of sensual indulgence over us, lest we excite God's displeasure. Let us not tempt the Lord by murmuring or distrust. Let us ever live worthily of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 10

1  The sacraments of the Jews are types of ours;
7  and their punishments,
11  examples for us
13  We must flee from idolatry
21  We must not make the Lord's table the table of demons;
24  and in all things we must have regard for our brothers

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 10:6

Were our examples [τυποι ημων εγενητησαν]
More exactly, examples for us (objective genitive ημων — hēmōn not subjective genitive, of us). The word τυποι — tupoi (our types) comes from τυπτω — tuptō to strike, and meant originally the mark of a blow as the print of the nails (John 20:25), then a figure formed by a blow like images of the gods (Acts 7:43), then an example to be imitated (1 Peter 5:3; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 3:9), or to be avoided as here, and finally a type in a doctrinal sense (Romans 5:14; Hebrews 9:24). [source]
To the intent we should not lust after [εις το μη ειναι ημας επιτυμητας]
Purpose expressed by εις — eis with the articular infinitive το ειναι — to einai and the accusative of general reference with επιτυμητας — epithumētas (lusters) in the predicate. [source]
Examples [τύποι]
See on 1 Peter 5:3. The word may mean either an example, as 1 Timothy 4:12, or a type of a fact or of a spiritual truth. Hebrews 9:24; Romans 5:14. [source]
We should not lust [μὴ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐπιθυμητὰς]
Lit., should not be desirers. Ἑπιθυμητής desirerlover, only here in the New Testament. Frequent in the classics. The sins of the Israelites are connected with those of the Corinthians. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 10:6

Romans 5:14 A figure [τυπος]
See note on Acts 7:43; note on 1 Thessalonians 1:7; note on 2 Thessalonians 3:9; and note on 1 Corinthians 10:6 for this word. Adam is a type of Christ in holding a relation to those affected by the headship in each case, but the parallel is not precise as Paul shows. [source]
1 Corinthians 10:11 By way of example [τυπικως]
Adverb in sense of τυποι — tupoi in 1 Corinthians 10:6. Only instance of the adverb except in ecclesiastical writers after this time, but adjective τυπικος — tupikos occurs in a late papyrus. For our admonition (προς νουτεσιαν ημων — pros nouthesian hēmōn). Objective genitive (ημων — hēmōn) again. Νουτεσια — Nouthesia is late word from νουτετεω — noutheteō (see note on Acts 20:31; note on 1 Thessalonians 5:12 and note on 1 Thessalonians 5:14) for earlier νουτετησις — nouthetēsis and νουτετια — nouthetia The ends of the ages have come Cf. Hebrews 9:26 η συντελεια των αιωνων — hē sunteleia tōn aiōnōn the consummation of the ages (also Matthew 13:40). The plural seems to point out how one stage succeeds another in the drama of human history. Κατηντηκεν — Katēntēken is perfect active indicative of κατανταω — katantaō late verb, to come down to (see note on Acts 16:1). Does Paul refer to the second coming of Christ as in 1 Corinthians 7:26 ? In a sense the ends of the ages like a curtain have come down to all of us. [source]
Galatians 4:24 Are an allegory [ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμενα]
N.T.oLit. are allegorised. From ἄλλο another ἀγορεύειν tospeak. Hence, things which are so spoken as to give a different meaning from that which the words express. For parable, allegory, fable, and proverb, see on Matthew 13:3. An allegory is to be distinguished from a type. An O.T. type is a real prefiguration of a N.T. fact, as the Jewish tabernacle explained in John href="/desk/?q=joh+3:14&sr=1">John 3:14. Comp. Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11. An allegory exhibits figuratively the ideal character of a fact. The type allows no latitude of interpretation. The allegory lends itself to various interpretations. This passage bears traces of Paul's rabbinical training. At the time of Christ, Scripture was overlaid with that enormous mass of rabbinic interpretation which, beginning as a supplement to the written law, at last superseded and threw it into contempt. The plainest sayings of Scripture were resolved into another sense; and it was asserted by one of the Rabbis that he that renders a verse of Scripture as it appears, says what is not true. The celebrated Akiba assumed that the Pentateuch was a continuous enigma, and that a meaning was to be found in every monosyllable, and a mystical sense in every hook and flourish of the letters. The Talmud relates how Akiba was seen by Moses in a vision, drawing from every horn of every letter whole bushels of decisions. The oral laws, subsequently reduced to writing in the Talmud, completely overshadowed and superseded the Scriptures, so that Jesus was literally justified in saying: “Thus have ye make the commandment of God of none effect through your tradition.” Paul had been trained as a Rabbi in the school of Hillel, the founder of the rabbinical system, whose hermeneutic rules were the basis of the Talmud. As Jowett justly says: “Strange as it may at first appear that Paul's mode of interpreting the Old Testament Scriptures should not conform to our laws of logic or language, it would be far stranger if it had not conformed with the natural modes of thought and association in his own day.” His familiarity with this style of exposition gave him a real advantage in dealing with Jews. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It is a much-mooted question whether, in this passage, Paul is employing an argument or an illustration. The former would seem to be the case. On its face, it seems improbable that, as Dr. Bruce puts it: “it is poetry rather than logic, meant not so much to convince the reason as to captivate the imagination.” Comp. the argument in Galatians 3:16, and see note. It appears plain that Paul believed that his interpretation actually lay hidden in the O.T. narrative, and that he adduced it as having argumentative force. Whether he regarded the correspondence as designed to extend to all the details of his exposition may be questioned; but he appears to have discerned in the O.T. narrative a genuine type, which he expanded into his allegory. For other illustrations of this mode of treatment, see Romans 2:24; Romans 9:33; 1 Corinthians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 9:9, 1 Corinthians 9:10; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4. [source]

Philippians 3:17 Mark [σκοπειτε]
Old verb from σκοπος — skopos (Phlippians 3:14). “Keep your eyes on me as goal.” Mark and follow, not avoid as in Romans 16:17. An ensample (τυπον — tupon). Originally the impression left by a stroke (John 20:25), then a pattern (mould) as here (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11; Romans 5:14; Romans 6:17). [source]
Philippians 3:17 An ensample [τυπον]
Originally the impression left by a stroke (John 20:25), then a pattern (mould) as here (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Corinthians 10:6, 1 Corinthians 10:11; Romans 5:14; Romans 6:17). [source]
Hebrews 2:2 A just recompense of reward [ἔνδικον μισθατοδοσίαν]
Ἔνδικος justonly here and Romans 3:8. olxx, quite frequent in Class., but mainly in poetry. The meaning is substantially the same as δίκαιος as it appears in the familiar phrase δίκαιός εἰμι with the infinitive: thus, δίκαιός εἰμι κολάζειν Iam right to punish, that is, I have a right, etc., right or justice being regarded as working within a definite circle. Μισθαποδοσία recompenseonly in Hebrews. Comp. Hebrews 10:35; Hebrews 11:26. olxx, oClass., where the word is, μισθοδοσία . From μισθός wagesand ἀποδιδόναι topay off or discharge. The reference is, primarily, to the punishments suffered by the Israelites in the wilderness. Comp. Hebrews 3:16; Hebrews 10:28; 1 Corinthians 10:5, 1 Corinthians 10:6. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 10:6 mean?

These things now types to us have become for - not to be us desirers of evil things as they also desired
Ταῦτα δὲ τύποι ἡμῶν ἐγενήθησαν εἰς τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἡμᾶς ἐπιθυμητὰς κακῶν καθὼς κἀκεῖνοι ἐπεθύμησαν

Ταῦτα  These  things 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
δὲ  now 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
τύποι  types 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: τυπικῶς 
Sense: the mark of a stroke or blow, print.
ἡμῶν  to  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
ἐγενήθησαν  have  become 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: γίνομαι  
Sense: to become, i.
τὸ  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Neuter Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
εἶναι  to  be 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
ἡμᾶς  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Accusative 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
ἐπιθυμητὰς  desirers 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Plural
Root: ἐπιθυμητής  
Sense: one who longs for, a craver, lover, one eager for.
κακῶν  of  evil  things 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: κακός  
Sense: of a bad nature.
κἀκεῖνοι  they  also 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: κἀκεῖνος  
Sense: and he, he also.
ἐπεθύμησαν  desired 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: ἐπιθυμέω  
Sense: to turn upon a thing.