The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 8:1 Explained

1 Corinthians 8:1

KJV: Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.

YLT: And concerning the things sacrificed to idols, we have known that we all have knowledge: knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up;

Darby: But concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know, (for we all have knowledge: knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.

ASV: Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Now  as touching  things offered unto idols,  we know  that  we all  have  knowledge.  Knowledge  puffeth up,  but  charity  edifieth. 

What does 1 Corinthians 8:1 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The Corinthians had asked Paul another question, evidently in a combative spirit judging by the apostle"s response. It involved a practice common in their culture.
The commentators understand the situation that Paul addressed in two different ways. Some of them believe that the eating of marketplace food that pagans had previously offered to idols was amoral (not a moral issue) in itself, but it was controversial enough to cause division among the church members. If this was indeed the issue that Paul addressed, it is only one of many similar "doubtful things." Advocates of this view believe that the apostle"s directions to his readers here give us guidance in dealing with contemporary doubtful (amoral) matters.
Other interpreters believe that eating food sacrificed to idols involved a specific form of idolatry and was, therefore, not amoral but sinful (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:10-11). They assume that Paul was responding to the Corinthians" objection to his prohibition of this practice that he had written in his former letter to them. This view sees 1 Corinthians 8:10 and 1 Corinthians 10:1-22 as expressing the basic problem to which Paul was responding. I believe the text supports this interpretation of the facts better than the former one.
"That going to the temples is the real issue is supported by the fact that the eating of cultic meals was a regular part of worship in antiquity. This is true not only of the nations that surrounded Israel, but of Israel itself. In the Corinth of Paul"s time, such meals were still the regular practice both at state festivals and private celebrations of various kinds. There were three parts to these meals: the preparation, the sacrifice proper, and the feast. The meat of the sacrifices apparently was divided into three portions: that burned before the god, that apportioned to the worshipers, and that placed on the "table of the god," which was tended by cultic ministrants but also eaten by the worshipers. The significance of these meals has been much debated, but most likely they involved a combination of religious and social factors. The gods were thought to be present since the meals were held in their honor and sacrifices were made; nonetheless, they were also intensely social occasions for the participants. For the most part the Gentiles who had become believers in Corinth had probably attended such meals all their lives; this was the basic "restaurant" in antiquity, and every kind of occasion was celebrated in this fashion.
"The problem, then, is best reconstructed along the following lines. After their conversion-and most likely after the departure of Paul-some of them returned to the practice of attending the cultic meals. In his earlier letter Paul forbade such "idolatry"; but they have taken exception to that prohibition and in their letter have made four points:
"(1) They argue that "all have knowledge" about idols [1]....
"(2) They also have knowledge about food, that it is a matter of indifference to God ( 1 Corinthians 8:8)...
"(3) They seem to have a somewhat "magical" view of the sacraments; those who have had Christian baptism and who partake of the Lord"s Table are not in any danger of falling ( 1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
"(4) Besides, there is considerable question in the minds of many whether Paul has the proper apostolic authority to forbid them on this matter. In their minds this has been substantiated by two factors: first, his failure to accept support while with them; and second, his own apparently compromising stance on idol food sold in the marketplace (he abstained when eating with Jews, but ate when eating with Gentiles; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)." [2]

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 - Consideration For Others' Weakness
It was the heathen custom of the time to present for blessing in the idol temples the food that was sold and bought in public marketplaces. A grave question arose, therefore, as to whether the Christian convert might partake of such food without blame. Paul took a broad and common-sense view of the situation. He declared there is only one God and that an idol is an absolute nonentity. Therefore it was a matter of perfect indifference what the heathen butchers might have done before they exposed their meat for sale. At the same time if some weaker brother were really thrown back in his Christian life by seeing his fellow-believer eating in a heathen temple, that in itself would at once be a sufficient reason why the stronger should abstain for the weaker brother's sake. There are many things which, so far as we personally are concerned, we might feel free to do or permit, but which we must avoid if they threaten to hinder the practice or divert the course of some fellow-Christian. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 8

1  To abstain from food offered to idols
8  We must not abuse our Christian liberty, to the offense of our brothers;
11  but must bridle our knowledge with charity

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 8:1

Now concerning things sacrificed to idols [περι δε των ειδωλοτυτων]
Plainly the Corinthians had asked also about this problem in their letter to Paul (1 Corinthians 7:1). This compound adjective The connection between idolatry and impurity was very close, especially in Corinth. See both topics connected in Revelation 2:14, Revelation 2:20. By ειδωλοτυτα — eidōlothuta was meant the portion of the flesh left over after the heathen sacrifices. The heathen called it ιεροτυτον — hierothuton (1 Corinthians 10:28). This leftover part “was either eaten sacrificially, or taken home for private meals, or sold in the markets” (Robertson and Plummer). What were Christians to do about eating such portions either buying in the market or eating in the home of another or at the feast to the idol? Three questions are thus involved and Paul discusses them all. There was evidently difference of opinion on the subject among the Corinthian Christians. Aspects of the matter come forward not touched on in the Jerusalem Conference to which Paul does not here allude, though he does treat it in Galatians 2:1-10. There was the more enlightened group who acted on the basis of their superior knowledge about the non-existence of the gods represented by the idols. [source]
Ye know that we all have knowledge [οιδαμεν οτι παντες γνωσιν εχομεν]
This may be a quotation from the letter (Moffatt, Lit. of N.T., p. 112). Since their conversion to Christ, they know the emptiness of idol-worship. Paul admits that all Christians have this knowledge (personal experience, γνωσις — gnōsis), but this problem cannot be solved by knowledge. [source]
Things offered unto idols [εἰδωλοθύτων]
See on Revelation 2:14. [source]
We know that we all, etc. []
The arrangement of the text is in question. Evidently a parenthesis intervenes between the beginning of 1 Corinthians 8:1and 1 Corinthians 8:4. It seems best to begin this parenthesis with knowledge puffeth up, and to end it with known of him (1 Corinthians 8:3). [source]
We all have knowledge [πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν]
The exact reference of these words must remain uncertain. Some understand Paul himself and the more enlightened Corinthians. Others, all Christians. All the expositions are but guesses. I prefer, on the whole, the view that Paul is here repeating, either verbally or in substance, a passage from the letter of the Corinthians to him. In that case the sense is slightly ironical: “We know, to use your own words, that we all have knowledge.” The parenthesis thus comes in with an appropriate cautionary force. [source]
Puffeth up []
See on 1 Corinthians 4:6. The contrast is striking between puffing up and building up - a bubble and a building. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 8:1

Acts 23:1 I have lived before God [πεπολιτευμαι τωι τεωι]
Perfect middle indicative of πολιτευω — politeuō old verb to manage affairs of city God This claim seems to lack tact, but for brevity‘s sake Paul sums up a whole speech in it. He may have said much more than Luke here reports along the line of his speech the day before, but Paul did not make this claim without consideration. It appears to contradict his confession as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:13-16). But that depends on one‘s interpretation of “good conscience.” The word συνειδησις — suneidēsis is literally “joint-knowledge” in Greek, Latin (conscientia) and English “conscience” from the Latin. It is a late word from συνοιδα — sunoida to know together, common in O.T., Apocrypha, Philo, Plutarch, New Testament, Stoics, ecclesiastical writers. In itself the word simply means consciousness of one‘s own thoughts (Hebrews 10:2), or of one‘s own self, then consciousness of the distinction between right and wrong (Romans 2:15) with approval or disapproval. But the conscience is not an infallible guide and acts according to the light that it has (1 Corinthians 8:7, 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Peter 2:19). The conscience can be contaminated (Hebrews 10:22, evil πονηρας — ponērās). All this and more must be borne in mind in trying to understand Paul‘s description of his motives as a persecutor. Alleviation of his guilt comes thereby, but not removal of guilt as he himself felt (1 Timothy 1:13-16). He means to say to the Sanhedrin that he persecuted Christians as a conscientious (though mistaken) Jew (Pharisee) just as he followed his conscience in turning from Judaism to Christianity. It is a pointed disclaimer against the charge that he is a renegade Jew, an opposer of the law, the people, the temple. Paul addresses the Sanhedrin as an equal and has no “apologies” (in our sense) to make for his career as a whole. The golden thread of consistency runs through, as a good citizen in God‘s commonwealth. He had the consolation of a good conscience (1 Peter 3:16). The word does not occur in the Gospels and chiefly in Paul‘s Epistles, but we see it at work in John 8:9 (the interpolation 7:53-8:11). [source]
Acts 23:1 In all good conscience unto this day [πασηι συνειδησει αγατηι αχρι ταυτης της ημερας]
This claim seems to lack tact, but for brevity‘s sake Paul sums up a whole speech in it. He may have said much more than Luke here reports along the line of his speech the day before, but Paul did not make this claim without consideration. It appears to contradict his confession as the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:13-16). But that depends on one‘s interpretation of “good conscience.” The word συνειδησις — suneidēsis is literally “joint-knowledge” in Greek, Latin (conscientia) and English “conscience” from the Latin. It is a late word from συνοιδα — sunoida to know together, common in O.T., Apocrypha, Philo, Plutarch, New Testament, Stoics, ecclesiastical writers. In itself the word simply means consciousness of one‘s own thoughts (Hebrews 10:2), or of one‘s own self, then consciousness of the distinction between right and wrong (Romans 2:15) with approval or disapproval. But the conscience is not an infallible guide and acts according to the light that it has (1 Corinthians 8:7, 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Peter 2:19). The conscience can be contaminated (Hebrews 10:22, evil πονηρας — ponērās). All this and more must be borne in mind in trying to understand Paul‘s description of his motives as a persecutor. Alleviation of his guilt comes thereby, but not removal of guilt as he himself felt (1 Timothy 1:13-16). He means to say to the Sanhedrin that he persecuted Christians as a conscientious (though mistaken) Jew (Pharisee) just as he followed his conscience in turning from Judaism to Christianity. It is a pointed disclaimer against the charge that he is a renegade Jew, an opposer of the law, the people, the temple. Paul addresses the Sanhedrin as an equal and has no “apologies” (in our sense) to make for his career as a whole. The golden thread of consistency runs through, as a good citizen in God‘s commonwealth. He had the consolation of a good conscience (1 Peter 3:16). The word does not occur in the Gospels and chiefly in Paul‘s Epistles, but we see it at work in John 8:9 (the interpolation 7:53-8:11). [source]
Romans 7:5 In the flesh [ἐν τῇ σαρκί]
Σάρξ fleshoccurs in the classics in the physical sense only. Homer commonly uses it in the plural as denoting all the flesh or muscles of the body. Later the singular occurs in the same sense. Paul's use of this and other psychological terms must be determined largely by the Old-Testament usage as it appears in the Septuagint. 1. In the physical sense. The literal flesh. In the Septuagint τὰ κρέα flesh(plural) is used where the reference is to the parts of animals slain, and αἱ σάρκες , flesh (plural) where the reference is to flesh as the covering of the living body. Hence Paul uses κρέα in Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:13, of the flesh of sacrificed animals. Compare also the adjective σάρκιμος fleshy 2 Corinthians 3:3; and Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26, Sept. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. Kindred. Denoting natural or physical relationship, Romans 1:3; Romans 9:3-8; Romans 11:14; Galatians 4:23, Galatians 4:29; 1 Corinthians 10:18; Philemon 1:16. This usage forms a transition to the following sense: the whole human body. Flesh is the medium in and through which the natural relationship of man manifests itself. Kindred is conceived as based on community of bodily substance. Therefore:-DIVIDER-
3. The body itself. The whole being designated by the part, as being its main substance and characteristic, 1 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 7:28; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 7:5; 2 Corinthians 10:3; 2 Corinthians 12:7. Romans 2:28; Galatians 6:13, etc. Paul follows the Septuagint in sometimes using σῶμα bodyand sometimes σάρξ fleshin this sense, so that the terms occasionally seem to be practically synonymous. Thus 1 Corinthians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 6:17, where the phrase one body is illustrated and confirmed by one flesh. See Genesis 2:24; Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:31, where the two are apparently interchanged. Compare 2 Corinthians 4:10, 2 Corinthians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 5:3, and Colossians 2:5. Σάρξ , however, differs from σῶμα in that it can only signify the organism of an earthly, living being consisting of flesh and bones, and cannot denote “either an earthly organism that is not living, or a living organism that is not earthly” (Wendt, in Dickson). Σῶμα not thus limited. Thus it may denote the organism of the plant (1 Corinthians 15:37, 1 Corinthians 15:38) or the celestial bodies (1 Corinthians 15:40). Hence the two conceptions are related as general and special: σῶμα bodybeing the material organism apart from any definite matter (not from any sort of matter), σάρξ , flesh, the definite, earthly, animal organism. The two are synonymons when σῶμα is used, from the context, of an earthly, animal body. Compare Philemon 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Σῶμα bodyand not σάρξ fleshis used when the reference is to a metaphorical organism, as the church, Romans 12:4sqq.; 1 Corinthians 10:16; 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:18, etc. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The σάρξ is described as mortal (2 Corinthians 4:11); subject to infirmity (Galatians 4:13; 2 Corinthians 12:7); locally limited (Colossians 2:15); an object of fostering care (Ephesians 5:29). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
4. Living beings generally, including their mental nature, and with a correlated notion of weakness and perishableness. Thus the phrase πᾶσα σάρξ allflesh (Genesis 6:12; Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 49:23). This accessory notion of weakness stands in contrast with God. In Paul the phrase all flesh is cited from the Old Testament (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16) and is used independently (1 Corinthians 1:29). In all these instances before God is added. So in Galatians 1:16, flesh and blood implies a contrast of human with divine wisdom. Compare 1 Corinthians 15:50; Ephesians 6:12. This leads up to-DIVIDER-
5. Man “either as a creature in his natural state apart from Christ, or the creaturely side or aspect of the man in Christ.” Hence it is correlated with ἄνθρωπος man 1 Corinthians 3:3; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 5:17. Compare Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Galatians 5:24. Thus the flesh would seem to be interchangeable with the old man. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It has affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24); willings (Ephesians 2:3; Romans 8:6, Romans 8:7); a mind (Colossians 2:18); a body (Colossians 2:11). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It is in sharp contrast with πνεῦμα spirit(Galatians 3:3, Galatians 3:19; Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:17, Galatians 5:19-24; Galatians 6:8; Romans 8:4). The flesh and the spirit are thus antagonistic. Σάρξ fleshbefore or in contrast with his reception of the divine element whereby he becomes a new creature in Christ: the whole being of man as it exists and acts apart from the influence of the Spirit. It properly characterizes, therefore, not merely the lower forms of sensual gratification, but all - the highest developments of the life estranged from God, whether physical, intellectual, or aesthetic. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
It must be carefully noted:-DIVIDER-
1. That Paul does not identify flesh and sin. Compare, flesh of sin, Romans 8:3. See Romans 7:17, Romans 7:18; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 2:20. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
2. That Paul does not identify σάρξ withthe material body nor associate sin exclusively and predominantly with the body. The flesh is the flesh of the living man animated by the soul ( ψυχή ) as its principle of life, and is distinctly used as coordinate with ἄνθρωπος manAs in the Old Testament, “it embraces in an emphatic manner the nature of man, mental and corporeal, with its internal distinctions.” The spirit as well as the flesh is capable of defilement (2 Corinthians 7:1; compare 1 Corinthians 7:34). Christian life is to be transformed by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2; compare Ephesians 4:23). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
3. That Paul does not identify the material side of man with evil. The flesh is not the native seat and source of sin. It is only its organ, and the seat of sin's manifestation. Matter is not essentially evil. The logical consequence of this would be that no service of God is possible while the material organism remains. See Romans 12:1. The flesh is not necessarily sinful in itself; but as it has existed from the time of the introduction of sin through Adam, it is recognized by Paul as tainted with sin. Jesus appeared in the flesh, and yet was sinless (2 Corinthians 5:21).The motions of sins ( τὰ παθήματα τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν )Motions used in earlier English for emotions or impulses. Thus Bacon: “He that standeth at a stay where others rise, can hardly avoid motions of envy” (“Essay” xiv.). The word is nearly synonymous with πάθος passion(Romans 1:26, note). From πάθειν tosuffer; a feeling which the mind undergoes, a passion, desire. Rev., sinful passions: which led to sins.Did work ( ἐνηργεῖτο )Rev., wrought. See 2 Corinthians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 4:12; Ephesians 3:20; Galatians 5:6; Philemon 2:13; Colossians 1:29. Compare Mark 6:14, and see on power, John 1:12. [source]

Romans 11:33 Wisdom - knowledge [σοφίας - γνώσεως]
Used together only here, 1 Corinthians 12:8; Colossians 2:3. There is much difference of opinion as to the precise distinction. It is agreed on all hands that wisdom is the nobler attribute, being bound up with moral character as knowledge is not. Hence wisdom is ascribed in scripture only to God or to good men, unless it is used ironically. See 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Luke 10:21. Cicero calls wisdom “the chief of all virtues.” The earlier distinction, as Augustine, is unsatisfactory: that wisdom is concerned with eternal things, and knowledge with things of sense; for γνῶσις knowledgeis described as having for its object God (2 Corinthians 10:5); the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6); Christ Jesus (Philemon 3:8). As applied to human acquaintance with divine things, γνῶσις knowledgeis the lower, σοφία wisdomthe higher stage. Knowledge may issue in self-conceit. It is wisdom that builds up the man (1 Corinthians 8:1). As attributes of God, the distinction appears to be between general and special: the wisdom of God ruling everything in the best way for the best end; the knowledge of God, His wisdom as it contemplates the relations of things, and adopts means and methods. The wisdom forms the plan; the knowledge knows the ways of carrying it out. [source]
Romans 14:15 In love [κατα αγαπην]
“According to love” as the regulating principle of life. See note on 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 where Paul pleads for love in place of knowledge on this point. Destroy not (μη απολλυε — mē apollue). Present active imperative of απολλυω — apolluō the very argument made in 1 Corinthians 8:10. With thy meat Instrumental case, “with thy food.” It is too great a price to pay for personal liberty as to food. [source]
Romans 14:15 Destroy not [μη απολλυε]
Present active imperative of απολλυω — apolluō the very argument made in 1 Corinthians 8:10. [source]
Romans 14:21 Flesh [κρεας]
Old word, in N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 8:13. To drink (πειν — pein). Shortened form for πιειν — piein (second aorist active infinitive of πινω — pinō). Whereby “On which thy brother stumbleth” (προσκοπτει — proskoptei). [source]
1 Corinthians 3:9 Building [οἰκοδομή]
Paul's metaphors are drawn from the works and customs of men rather than from the works of nature. “In his epistles,” says Archdeacon Farrar, “we only breathe the air of cities and synagogues.” The abundance of architectural metaphors is not strange in view of the magnificent temples and public buildings which he was continually seeing at Antioch, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. His frequent use of to build and building in a moral and spiritual sense is noteworthy. In this sense the two words οἰκοδομέω and οἰκοδομή occur twenty-six times in the New Testament, and in all but two cases in Paul's writings. Peter uses build in a similar sense; 1 Peter 2:5. See edify, edification, build, Acts 9:31; Romans 15:20; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 8:10, where emboldened is literally built up, and is used ironically. Also Romans 14:19; Romans 15:2; 1 Corinthians 14:3; Ephesians 2:21, etc. It is worth noting that in the Epistle to the Hebrews, while the same metaphor occurs, different words are used. Thus in Hebrews 3:3, Hebrews 3:4, built, builded, represent κατασκευάζω toprepare. In Hebrews 11:10, τεχνίτης artificerand δημιουργὸς , lit., a workman for the public: A.V., builder and maker. This fact has a bearing on the authorship of the epistle. In earlier English, edify was used for build in the literal sense. Thus Piers Ploughman: “I shal overturne this temple and a-down throwe it, and in thre daies after edifie it newe.” See on Acts 20:32. In the double metaphor of the field and the building, the former furnishes the mould of Paul's thought in 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, and the latter in 1 Corinthians 3:10-17. Edwards remarks that the field describes the raw material on which God works, the house the result of the work. [source]
1 Corinthians 12:31 And a still more excellent way [και ετι κατ υπερβολην οδον]
In order to gain the greater gifts. “I show you a way par excellence,” beyond all comparison (superlative idea in this adjunct, not comparative), like κατ υπερβολην εις υπερβολην — kath' huperbolēn eis huperbolēn (2 Corinthians 4:17). υπερβολη — Huperbolē is old word from υπερβαλλω — huperballō to throw beyond, to surpass, to excel (2 Corinthians 3:10; Ephesians 1:19). “I show you a supremely excellent way.” Chapter 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is this way, the way of love already laid down in 1 Corinthians 8:1 concerning the question of meats offered to idols (cf. 1 John 4:7). Poor division of chapters here. This verse belongs with chapter 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:18 Have perished [απωλοντο]
Did perish. Second aorist middle indicative of απολλυμι — apollumi to destroy, middle, to perish (delivered up to eternal misery). Cf. 1 Corinthians 8:11. [source]
1 Corinthians 9:1 Am I not free? [Ουκ ειμι ελευτεροσ]
Free as a Christian from Mosaic ceremonialism (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19) as much as any Christian and yet he adapts his moral independence to the principle of considerate love in 1 Corinthians 8:13. [source]
1 Corinthians 9:3 My defence [η εμη απολογια]
Original sense, not idea of apologizing as we say. See note on Acts 22:1; note on Acts 25:16. Refers to what precedes and to what follows as illustration of 1 Corinthians 8:13. [source]
1 Corinthians 9:22 I became weak [εγενομην αστενης]
This is the chief point, the climax in his plea for the principle of love on the part of the enlightened for the benefit of the unenlightened (chapter 1 Corinthians 8:1-13). He thus brings home his conduct about renouncing pay for preaching as an illustration of love (1 Corinthians 8:13). [source]
1 Corinthians 8:1 We know that we all, etc. []
The arrangement of the text is in question. Evidently a parenthesis intervenes between the beginning of 1 Corinthians 8:1and 1 Corinthians 8:4. It seems best to begin this parenthesis with knowledge puffeth up, and to end it with known of him (1 Corinthians 8:3). [source]
1 Corinthians 13:4 Puffed up [φυσιοῦται]
See on 1 Corinthians 4:6, and compare 1 Corinthians 8:1. Of inward disposition, as the previous word denotes outward display. The opposite is put by Dante:“That swells with love the spirit well-disposed.”“Paradiso,” x., 144. [source]
1 Corinthians 10:19 A thing sacrificed to idols [ειδωλοτυτον]
See Acts 15:29; note on 1 Corinthians 8:1, note on 1 Corinthians 8:4 [source]
1 Corinthians 10:27 Biddeth you [καλει υμας]
To a general banquet, but not to a temple feast (1 Corinthians 8:10) which is prohibited. If a pagan invites Christians to their homes to a banquet, one is to act like a gentleman. [source]
1 Corinthians 12:1 Now concerning spiritual gifts [περι δε των πνευματικων]
Clearly one of the items asked about in the letter to Paul (1 Corinthians 7:1) and introduced precisely as the problem of meats offered to idols (1 Corinthians 8:1). This question runs to the end of chapter 14. Plainly much trouble had arisen in Corinth in the exercise of these gifts. [source]
Galatians 5:13 To the flesh [τῃ σαρκί]
See on Romans 7:5. The flesh here represents lovelessness and selfishness. Christian freedom is not to be abused for selfish ends. Paul treats this subject at length in 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 1 Corinthians 12:25, 1 Corinthians 12:26. Individual liberty is subject to the law of love and mutual service. Comp. 1 Peter 2:16. [source]
Galatians 2:18 I build again the things which I destroyed [ἃ κατέλυσα ταῦτα πάλιν οἰκοδομῶ]
Peter, by his Christian profession, had asserted that justification was by faith alone; and by his eating with Gentiles had declared that the Mosaic law was no longer binding upon him. He had thus, figuratively, destroyed or pulled down the Jewish law as a standard of Christian faith and conduct. By his subsequent refusal to eat with Gentiles he had retracted this declaration, had asserted that the Jewish law was still binding upon Christians, and had thus built again what he had pulled down. Building and pulling down are favorite figures with Paul. See Romans 14:20; Romans 15:20; 1 Corinthians 8:1, 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Corinthians 10:23; 1 Corinthians 14:17; Ephesians 2:20f. For καταλύειν destroysee on Romans 14:20; see on 2 Corinthians 5:1. [source]
Colossians 2:18 Vainly puffed up [εἰκὴ φυσιούμενος]
Vainly characterizes the emptiness of such pretension; puffed up, the swelling intellectual pride of those who make it. See on 1Corinthians href="/desk/?q=1co+4:6&sr=1">1 Corinthians 4:6; and compare 1 Corinthians 8:1. The humility is thus characterized as affected, and the teachers as charlatans. [source]
Colossians 2:18 Vainly puffed up [πυσιοω]
Present passive participle of πυσα — phusioō late and vivid verb from phusa pair of bellows, in N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:18.; 1 Corinthians 8:1. Powerful picture of the self-conceit of these bombastic Gnostics. [source]
Colossians 2:18 By a voluntary humility [τελω]
Present active participle of τελοντας — thelō to wish, to will, but a difficult idiom. Some take it as like an adverb for “wilfully” somewhat like εν ετελοταπεινοπροσυνηι — thelontas in 2 Peter 3:5. Others make it a Hebraism from the lxx usage, “finding pleasure in humility.” The Revised Version margin has “of his own mere will, by humility.” Hort suggested ετελοτρησκια — en ethelotapeinophrosunēi (in gratuitous humility), a word that occurs in Basil and made like και τρησκειαι των αγγελων — ethelothrēskia in Colossians 2:23. And worshipping of the angels (ταπεινοπροσυνην — kai thrēskeiāi tōn aggelōn). In Colossians 3:12 humility (α εορακεν εμβατευων — tapeinophrosunēn) is a virtue, but it is linked with worship of the angels which is idolatry and so is probably false humility as in Colossians 2:23. They may have argued for angel worship on the plea that God is high and far removed and so took angels as mediators as some men do today with angels and saints in place of Christ. Dwelling in the things which he hath seen Some MSS. have “not,” but not genuine. This verb εμβατης — embateuō (from κενεμβατευων — embatēs stepping in, going in) has given much trouble. Lightfoot has actually proposed κενεμβατεω — kenembateuōn (a verb that does not exist, though αιωρα — kenembateō does occur) with ενεβατευσεν — aiōra to tread on empty air, an ingenious suggestion, but now unnecessary. It is an old word for going in to take possession (papyri examples also). W. M. Ramsay (Teaching of Paul, pp. 287ff.) shows from inscriptions in Klaros that the word is used of an initiate in the mysteries who “set foot in” Present passive participle of πυσα — phusioō late and vivid verb from phusa pair of bellows, in N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:18.; 1 Corinthians 8:1. Powerful picture of the self-conceit of these bombastic Gnostics. [source]
Colossians 2:18 Dwelling in the things which he hath seen [εμβατευω]
Some MSS. have “not,” but not genuine. This verb εμβατης — embateuō (from κενεμβατευων — embatēs stepping in, going in) has given much trouble. Lightfoot has actually proposed κενεμβατεω — kenembateuōn (a verb that does not exist, though αιωρα — kenembateō does occur) with ενεβατευσεν — aiōra to tread on empty air, an ingenious suggestion, but now unnecessary. It is an old word for going in to take possession (papyri examples also). W. M. Ramsay (Teaching of Paul, pp. 287ff.) shows from inscriptions in Klaros that the word is used of an initiate in the mysteries who “set foot in” Present passive participle of πυσα — phusioō late and vivid verb from phusa pair of bellows, in N.T. only here and 1 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Corinthians 4:18.; 1 Corinthians 8:1. Powerful picture of the self-conceit of these bombastic Gnostics. [source]
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Edify [οἰκοδομεῖτε]
Lit. build up. See on Acts 20:32. The metaphorical sense habitually in Paul. See 1 Corinthians 8:1, 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Corinthians 10:23; 1 Corinthians 14:4; Ephesians 2:20. In O.T. mostly in the literal sense. See however lxx, Rth 4:11 ; 88:2; Jeremiah href="/desk/?q=jer+31:4&sr=1">Jeremiah 31:4. [source]
1 Thessalonians 1:3 Work - labor - patience [ἔπργου - κόπου - ὑπομονῆς]
Ἔργον workmay mean either the act, the simple transaction, or the process of dealing with anything, or the result of the dealing, - as a book or a picture is called a work. Κόπος laborfrom κόπτειν tostrike or hew; hence, laborious, painful exertion. Ὑπομονὴ patiencepatient endurance and faithful persistence in toil and suffering. See on 2 Peter 1:6; see on James 5:7. The genitives, of faith, love, hope, mark the generating principles of the work and labor and patience, which set their stamp upon each; thus, work which springs from faith, and is characteristic of faith. The phrase patience of hope is found only here; but see Romans 5:4; Romans 8:25; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 8:7; Hebrews 7:11, Hebrews 7:12. ὑπομονὴ in lxx, see 1 Chronicles 29:15; Job 14:19; Psalm 9:18; Psalm 38:7; Jeremiah href="/desk/?q=jer+4:8&sr=1">Jeremiah 4:8. We have here the great triad of Christian graces, corresponding to 1 Corinthians 8:1-13. Hope is prominent throughout the two Epistles. The triad appears, 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Galatians 5:5, Galatians 5:6; 1 Corinthians 8:13; Ephesians 4:2-5; Colossians 1:4, Colossians 1:5; Hebrews 10:22-24; 1 Peter 1:21-22. Comp. 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:5, 2 Thessalonians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 15:10, 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 11:27; Revelation 2:2. [source]
2 Thessalonians 1:9 Glory of his power [δόξης τῆς ἰσχύος αὐτοῦ]
For glory see on 1 Thessalonians 2:12. Ἱσχὺς powernot often in Paul. It is indwelling power put forth or embodied, either aggressively or as an obstacle to resistance: physical power organized or working under individual direction. An army and a fortress are both ἰσχυρὸς. The power inhering in the magistrate, which is put forth in laws or judicial decisions, is ἰσχὺς , and makes the edicts ἰσχυρὰ validand hard to resist. Δύναμις is the indwelling power which comes to manifestation in ἰσχὺς The precise phrase used here does not appear elsewhere in N.T. In lxx, Isaiah 2:10, Isaiah 2:19, Isaiah 2:21. The power ( δύναμις ) and glory of God are associated in Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27; Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1. Comp. κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ strengthof his glory, Colossians 1:11. Additional Note on ὄλεθρον αἰώνιον eternaldestruction, 2 Thessalonians 1:9 Ἁιών transliterated eon is a period of time of longer or shorter duration, having a beginning and an end, and complete in itself. Aristotle ( περὶ οὐρανοῦ , i. 9,15) says: “The period which includes the whole time of each one's life is called the eon of each one.” Hence it often means the life of a man, as in Homer, where one's life ( αἰών ) is said to leave him or to consume away (Il. v. 685; Od. v. 160). It is not, however, limited to human life; it signifies any period in the course of events, as the period or age before Christ; the period of the millennium; the mytho-logical period before the beginnings of history. The word has not “a stationary and mechanical value” (De Quincey). It does not mean a period of a fixed length for all cases. There are as many eons as entities, the respective durations of which are fixed by the normal conditions of the several entities. There is one eon of a human life, another of the life of a nation, another of a crow's life, another of an oak's life. The length of the eon depends on the subject to which it is attached. It is sometimes translated world; world representing a period or a series of periods of time. See Matthew 12:32; Matthew 13:40, Matthew 13:49; Luke 1:70; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; Ephesians 1:21. Similarly οἱ αἰῶνες theworlds, the universe, the aggregate of the ages or periods, and their contents which are included in the duration of the world. 1 Corinthians 2:7; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 11:3. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The word always carries the notion of time, and not of eternity. It always means a period of time. Otherwise it would be impossible to account for the plural, or for such qualifying expressions as this age, or the age to come. It does not mean something endless or everlasting. To deduce that meaning from its relation to ἀεί is absurd; for, apart from the fact that the meaning of a word is not definitely fixed by its derivation, ἀεί does not signify endless duration. When the writer of the Pastoral Epistles quotes the saying that the Cretans are always ( ἀεί ) liars (Titus 1:12), he surely does not mean that the Cretans will go on lying to all eternity. See also Acts 7:51; 2 Corinthians 4:11; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Hebrews 3:10; 1 Peter 3:15. Ἁεί means habitually or continually within the limit of the subject's life. In our colloquial dialect everlastingly is used in the same way. “The boy is everlastingly tormenting me to buy him a drum.”-DIVIDER-
In the New Testament the history of the world is conceived as developed through a succession of eons. A series of such eons precedes the introduction of a new series inaugurated by the Christian dispensation, and the end of the world and the second coming of Christ are to mark the beginning of another series. See Ephesians 3:11. Paul contemplates eons before and after the Christian era. Ephesians 1:21; Ephesians 2:7; Ephesians 3:9, Ephesians 3:21; 1 Corinthians 10:11; comp. Hebrews 9:26. He includes the series of eons in one great eon, ὁ αἰὼν τῶν αἰώνων theeon of the eons (Ephesians 3:21); and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews describes the throne of God as enduring unto the eon of the eons (Hebrews 1:8). The plural is also used, eons of the eons, signifying all the successive periods which make up the sum total of the ages collectively. Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; Philemon 4:20, etc. This plural phrase is applied by Paul to God only. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
The adjective αἰώνιος in like manner carries the idea of time. Neither the noun nor the adjective, in themselves, carry the sense of endless or everlasting. They may acquire that sense by their connotation, as, on the other hand, ἀΐ̀διος , which means everlasting, has its meaning limited to a given point of time in Judges 1:6. Ἁιώνιος means enduring through or pertaining to a period of time. Both the noun and the adjective are applied to limited periods. Thus the phrase εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα , habitually rendered forever, is often used of duration which is limited in the very nature of the case. See, for a few out of many instances, lxx, Exodus 21:6; Exodus 29:9; Exodus 32:13; Joshua 14:9; 1 Samuel 8:13; Leviticus 25:46; Deuteronomy 15:17; 1 Chronicles 28:4. See also Matthew 21:19; John 13:8; 1 Corinthians 8:13. The same is true of αἰώνιος . Out of 150 instances in lxx, four-fifths imply limited duration. For a few instances see Genesis 48:4; Numbers 10:8; Numbers 15:15; Proverbs 22:28; Jonah 2:6; Habakkuk 3:6; Isaiah 61:8. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Words which are habitually applied to things temporal or material can not carry in themselves the sense of endlessness. Even when applied to God, we are not forced to render αἰώνιος everlastingOf course the life of God is endless; but the question is whether, in describing God as αἰώνιος , it was intended to describe the duration of his being, or whether some different and larger idea was not contemplated. That God lives longer than men, and lives on everlastingly, and has lived everlastingly, are, no doubt, great and significant facts; yet they are not the dominant or the most impressive facts in God's relations to time. God's eternity does not stand merely or chiefly for a scale of length. It is not primarily a mathematical but a moral fact. The relations of God to time include and imply far more than the bare fact of endless continuance. They carry with them the fact that God transcends time; works on different principles and on a vaster scale than the wisdom of time provides; oversteps the conditions and the motives of time; marshals the successive eons from a point outside of time, on lines which run out into his own measureless cycles, and for sublime moral ends which the creature of threescore and ten years cannot grasp and does not even suspect. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
There is a word for everlasting if that idea is demanded. That αἰώνιος occurs rarely in the New Testament and in lxx does not prove that its place was taken by αἰώνιος . It rather goes to show that less importance was attached to the bare idea of everlastingness than later theological thought has given it. Paul uses the word once, in Romans 1:20, where he speaks of “the everlasting power and divinity of God.” In Romans 16:26he speaks of the eternal God ( τοῦ αἰωνίου θεοῦ ); but that he does not mean the everlasting God is perfectly clear from the context. He has said that “the mystery” has been kept in silence in times eternal ( χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ), by which he does not mean everlasting times, but the successive eons which elapsed before Christ was proclaimed. God therefore is described as the God of the eons, the God who pervaded and controlled those periods before the incarnation. To the same effect is the title ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν αἰώνων theKing of the eons, applied to God in 1 Timothy 1:17; Revelation 15:3; comp. 2Timothy href="/desk/?q=2ti+1:9&sr=1">2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2), cannot mean before everlasting times. To say that God bestowed grace on men, or promised them eternal life before endless times, would be absurd. The meaning is of old, as Luke 1:70. The grace and the promise were given in time, but far back in the ages, before the times of reckoning the eons. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Ζωὴ αἰώνιος eternallife, which occurs 42 times in N.T., but not in lxx, is not endless life, but life pertaining to a certain age or eon, or continuing during that eon. I repeat, life may be endless. The life in union with Christ is endless, but the fact is not expressed by αἰώνιος . Κόλασις αἰώνιος , rendered everlasting punishment (Matthew 25:46), is the punishment peculiar to an eon other than that in which Christ is speaking. In some cases ζωὴ αἰώνιος does not refer specifically to the life beyond time, but rather to the eon or dispensation of Messiah which succeeds the legal dispensation. See Matthew 19:16; John 5:39. John says that ζωὴ αἰώνιος is the present possession of those who believe on the Son of God, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:47, John 6:64. The Father's commandment is ζωὴ αἰώσιος , John 12:50; to know the only true God and Jesus Christ is ζωὴ αἰώνιος , John 17:3. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Bishop Westcott very justly says, commenting upon the terms used by John to describe life under different aspects: “In considering these phrases it is necessary to premise that in spiritual things we must guard against all conclusions which rest upon the notions of succession and duration. 'Eternal life' is that which St. Paul speaks of as ἡ ὄντως ζωὴ thelife which is life indeed, and ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ θεοῦ thelife of God. It is not an endless duration of being in time, but being of which time is not a measure. We have indeed no powers to grasp the idea except through forms and images of sense. These must be used, but we must not transfer them as realities to another order.”-DIVIDER-
Thus, while αἰώνιος carries the idea of time, though not of endlessness, there belongs to it also, more or less, a sense of quality. Its character is ethical rather than mathematical. The deepest significance of the life beyond time lies, not in endlessness, but in the moral quality of the eon into which the life passes. It is comparatively unimportant whether or not the rich fool, when his soul was required of him (Luke 12:20), entered upon a state that was endless. The principal, the tremendous fact, as Christ unmistakably puts it, was that, in the new eon, the motives, the aims, the conditions, the successes and awards of time counted for nothing. In time, his barns and their contents were everything; the soul was nothing. In the new life the soul was first and everything, and the barns and storehouses nothing. The bliss of the sanctified does not consist primarily in its endlessness, but in the nobler moral conditions of the new eon, - the years of the holy and eternal God. Duration is a secondary idea. When it enters it enters as an accompaniment and outgrowth of moral conditions. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In the present passage it is urged that ὄλεθρον destructionpoints to an unchangeable, irremediable, and endless condition. If this be true, if ὄλεθρος isextinction, then the passage teaches the annihilation of the wicked, in which case the adjective αἰώνιος is superfluous, since extinction is final, and excludes the idea of duration. But ὄλεθρος does not always mean destruction or extinction. Take the kindred verb ἀπόλλυμι todestroy, put an end to, or in the middle voice, to be lost, to perish. Peter says, “the world being deluged with water, perished ” ( ἀπολοῦνται 2 Peter 3:6); but the world did not become extinct, it was renewed. In Hebrews 1:11, Hebrews 1:12quoted from Isaiah href="/desk/?q=isa+51:6&sr=1">Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 51:16; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1. Similarly, “the Son of man came to save that which was lost ” ( ἀπολωλός ), Luke 19:10. Jesus charged his apostles to go to the lost ( ἀπολωλότα ) sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:6, comp. Matthew 15:24. “He that shall lose ( ἀπολέσῃ ) his life for my sake shall find it,” Matthew 16:25. Comp. Luke 15:6, Luke 15:9, Luke 15:32. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In this passage the word destruction is qualified. It is “destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, “ at his second coming, in the new eon. In other words, it is the severance, at a given point of time, of those who obey not the gospel from the presence and the glory of Christ. Ἁιώνιος may therefore describe this severance as continuing during the millennial eon between Christ's coming and the final judgment; as being for the wicked prolonged throughout that eon and characteristic of it, or it may describe the severance as characterizing or enduring through a period or eon succeeding the final judgment, the extent of which period is not defined. In neither case is αἰώνιος to be interpreted as everlasting or endless.sa180 [source]

1 Timothy 1:5 Faith unfeigned [πίστεως ἀνυποκρίτου]
Ἁνυπόκριτος unfeignedtwice in Paul, Romans 12:9; 2 Corinthians 6:6, both times as an attribute of love. In James 3:17, it is an attribute of wisdom, and in 1 Peter 1:22, of brotherly love. Notice the triad, love, conscience, faith. There is nothing un-Pauline in the association of conscience and faith, although, as a fact, Paul does not formally associate them. In 1 Corinthians 8:7, 1 Corinthians 8:10, 1 Corinthians 8:12, conscience is associated with knowledge. [source]
2 Timothy 4:20 Sick [ἀσθενοῦντα]
By Paul mostly in a moral sense, as weak in the faith, Romans 4:19; the law was weak, Romans 8:3; the weak brother, 1 Corinthians 8:11. Of bodily sickness, Philemon 2:26, Philemon 2:27. [source]
Hebrews 9:9 Which [ητις]
“Which very thing,” the first tent Only in the Synoptic Gospels in the N.T. and Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 11:19. See note on Matthew 13:3 for the word (from paraballō to place alongside). Here like παραβαλλω — tupos (type or shadow of “the heavenly reality,” Moffatt). For the time now present “For the present crisis “ Perfect active articular (repeated article) participle of παραβολη — enistēmi (intransitive), the age in which they lived, not the past, not the future. See 1 Corinthians 3:22; Romans 8:38 for contrast between σκηνης — enestōta and κατα συνειδησιν — mellonta This age of crisis, foreshadowed by the old tabernacle, pointed on to the richer fulfilment still to come. According to which Here the relative refers to τελειωσαι τον λατρευοντα — parabolē just mentioned, not to skēnēs See Hebrews 5:1; Hebrews 8:3. As touching the conscience For suneidēsis see 1 Corinthians 8:10; 1 Corinthians 10:17; Romans 2:15. This was the real failure of animal sacrifice (Hebrews 10:1-4). Make the worshipper perfect First aorist active infinitive (Hebrews 2:10). At best it was only ritual or ceremonial purification (Hebrews 7:11), that called for endless repetition (Hebrews 10:1-4). [source]
James 3:14 Bitter jealousy [ζηλον πικρον]
ηλος — Zēlos occurs in N.T. in good sense (John 2:17) and bad sense (Acts 5:17). Pride of knowledge is evil (1 Corinthians 8:1) and leaves a bitter taste. See “root of bitterness” in Hebrews 12:14 (cf. Ephesians 4:31). This is a condition of the first class. [source]
1 Peter 3:16 Having a good conscience [συνείδησιν ἔχοντες ἀγαθήν]
The position of the adjective shows that it is used predicatively: having a conscience good or unimpaired. Compare Hebrews 13:18, “We have a good conscience ( καλὴν συνείδησιν ) Συνείδησις , conscience, does not occur in the gospels, unless John 8:1-11be admitted into the text. Nor is it a word familiar to classical Greek. It is compounded of σύν , together with, and εἰδέναι , to know; and its fundamental idea is knowing together with one's self. Hence it denotes the consciousness which one has within himself of his own conduct as related to moral obligation; which consciousness exercises a judicial function, determining what is right or wrong, approving or condemning, urging to performance or abstinence. Hence it is not merely intellectual consciousness directed at conduct, but moral consciousness contemplating duty, testifying to moral obligation, even where God is not known; and, where there is knowledge of God and acquaintance with him, inspired and directed by that fact. A man cannot be conscious of himself without knowing himself as a moral creature. Cremer accordingly defines the word as “the consciousness man has of himself in his relation to God, manifesting itself in the form of a self-testimony, the result of the action of the spirit in the heart.” And further, “conscience is, essentially, determining of the self-consciousness by the spirit as the essential principle of life. In conscience man stands face to face with himself.” Conscience is, therefore, a law. Thus Bishop Butler: “Conscience does not only offer itself to show us the way we should walk in, but it likewise carries its own authority with it, that it is our natural guide, the guide assigned us by the Author of our nature; it therefore belongs to our condition of being; it is our duty to walk in that path and follow this guide.” And again, “That principle by which we survey, and either approve or disapprove our own heart, temper, and actions, is not only to be considered as what is, in its turn, to have some influence, which may be said of every passion, of the lowest appetites; but likewise as being superior; as from its very nature claiming superiority over all others; insomuch that you cannot form a notion of this faculty, conscience, without taking in judgment, direction, superintendency. This is a constituent part of the idea, that is, of the faculty itself; and to preside and govern, from the very economy and constitution of man, belongs to it. Had it strength as it had right; had it power as it had manifest authority, it would absolutely govern the world” (Sermons II. and III., “On Human Nature”). Conscience is afaculty. The mind may “possess reason and distinguish between the true and the false, and yet be incapable of distinguishing between virtue and vice. We are entitled, therefore, to hold that the drawing of moral distinctions is not comprehended in the simple exercise of the reason. The conscience, in short, is a different faculty of the mind from the mere understanding. We must hold it to be simple and unresolvable till we fall in with a successful decomposition of it into its elements. In the absence of any such decomposition we hold that there are no simpler elements in the human mind which will yield us the ideas of the morally good and evil, of moral obligation and guilt, of merit and demerit. Compound and decompound all other ideas as you please, associate them together as you may, they will never give us the ideas referred to, so peculiar and full of meaning, without a faculty implanted in the mind for this very purpose” (McCosh, “Divine Government, Physical and Moral”). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
Conscience is a sentiment: i.e., it contains and implies conscious emotions which arise on the discernment of an object as good or bad. The judgment formed by conscience awakens sensibility. When the judicial faculty pronounces a thing to be lovable, it awakens love. When it pronounces it to be noble or honorable, it awakens respect and admiration. When it pronounces it to be cruel or vile, it awakens disgust and abhorrence. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In scripture we are to view conscience, as Bishop Ellicott remarks, not in its abstract nature, but in its practical manifestations. Hence it may be weak (1 Corinthians 8:7, 1 Corinthians 8:12), unauthoritative, and awakening only the feeblest emotion. It may be evil or defiled (Hebrews 10:22; Titus 1:15), through consciousness of evil practice. It may be seared (1 Timothy 4:2), branded by its own testimony to evil practice, hardened and insensible to the appeal of good. On the other hand, it may be pure (2 Timothy 1:3), unveiled, and giving honest and clear moral testimony. It may be void of offence (Acts 24:16), unconscious of evil intent or act; good, as here, or honorable (Hebrews 13:18). The expression and the idea, in the full Christian sense, are foreign to the Old Testament, where the testimony to the character of moral action and character is borne by external revelation rather than by the inward moral consciousness. [source]

2 John 1:12 Face to face [στόμα πρὸς στόμα]
Lit, mouth to mouth. Compare πρόσωπον προς πρόσωπον , face to face, 1 Corinthians 8:12. [source]
Revelation 2:14 Things sacrificed to idols [εἰδωλόθυτα]
In the A.V. the word is rendered in four different ways: meats offered to idols (Acts 15:29): things offered to idols (Acts 21:25): things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols (1 Corinthians 8:4); and as here Rev., uniformly, things sacrificed to idols. The eating of idol meats, which was no temptation to the Jewish Christian, was quite otherwise to the Gentile. The act of sacrifice, among all ancient nations, was a social no less than a religious act. Commonly only a part of the victim was consumed as an offering, and the rest became the portion of the priests, was given to the poor, or was sold again in the markets. Hence sacrifice and feast were identified. The word originally used for killing in sacrifice ( θύειν ) obtained the general sense of killing (Acts 10:13). Among the Greeks this identification was carried to the highest pitch. Thucydides enumerates sacrifices among popular entertainments. “We have not forgotten,” he says, “to provide for our weary spirits many relaxations from toil. We have regular games and sacrifices throughout the year” (ii., 38). So Aristotle: “And some fellowships seem to be for the sake of pleasure; those of the followers of Love, and those of club-diners; for these are for the sake of sacrifice and social intercourse” (“Ethics,” viii., 9,5). Suetonius relates of Claudius, the Roman Emperor, that, on one occasion, while in the Forum of Augustus, smelling the odor of the banquet which was being prepared for the priests in the neighboring temple of Mars, he left the tribunal and placed himself at the table with the priests (“Claudius,” 33). Also how Vitellius would snatch from the altar-fire the entrails of victims and the corn, and consume them (“Vitellius,” 13). Thus, for the Gentile, “refusal to partake of the idol-meats involved absence from public and private festivity, a withdrawal, in great part, from the social life of his time.” The subject is discussed by Paul in Romans 14:2-21, and 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1. The council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) forbade the eating of meat offered to idols, not as esteeming it forbidden by the Mosaic law, but as becoming a possible occasion of sin to weak Christians. In his letter to the Corinthians, among whom the Jewish and more scrupulous party was the weaker, Paul, in arguing with the stronger and more independent party, never alludes to the decree of the Jerusalem council, but discusses the matter from the stand-point of the rights of conscience. While he admits the possibility of a blameless participation in a banquet, even in the idol-temple, he dissuades from it on the ground of its dangerous consequences to weak consciences, and as involving a formal recognition of the false worship which they had renounced at their baptism. “In the Epistle to the Romans we see the excess to which the scruples of the weaker brethren were carried, even to the pitch of abstaining altogether from animal food; as, ill the Nicolaitans of the Apocalyptic churches, we see the excess of the indifferentist party, who plunged without restraint into all the pollutions, moral as well as ceremonial, with which the heathen rites were accompanied” (Stanley, “On Corinthians”). “It may be noted as accounting for the stronger and more vehement language of the Apocalypse, considered even as a simply Human book, that the conditions of the case had altered. Christians and heathen were no longer dwelling together, as at Corinth, with comparatively slight interruption to their social intercourse, but were divided by a sharp line of demarcation. The eating of things sacrificed to idols was more and more a crucial test, involving a cowardly shrinking from the open confession of a Christian's faith. Disciples who sat at meat in the idol's temple were making merry with those whose hands were red with the blood of their fellow-worshippers, and whose lips had uttered blaspheming scoffs against the Holy Name” (Plumptre). -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
In times of persecution, tasting the wine of the libations or eating meat offered to idols, was understood to signify recantation of Christianity. -DIVIDER-
-DIVIDER-
[source]

Revelation 2:14 To eat things sacrificed to idols [παγειν ειδωλοτυτα]
Second aorist active infinitive of εστιω — esthiō and the verbal adjective (from ειδωλον — eidōlon and τυω — thuō), quoted here from Numbers 25:1., but in inverse order, repeated in other order in Revelation 2:20. See Acts 15:29; Acts 21:25; 1 Corinthians 8:1. for the controversy over the temptation to Gentile Christians to do what in itself was harmless, but which led to evil if it led to participation in the pagan feasts. Perhaps both ideas are involved here. Balaam taught Balak how to lead the Israelites into sin in both ways. [source]
Revelation 2:14 Some that hold [κρατουντας]
“Men holding” (present active participle of κρατεω — krateō).The teaching of Balaam (την διδαχην αλααμ — tēn didachēn Balaam). Indeclinable substantive Balaam (Numbers 25:1-9; Numbers 31:15.). The point of likeness of these heretics with Balaam is here explained.Taught Balak Imperfect indicative of διδασκω — didaskō Balaam‘s habit, “as the prototype of all corrupt teachers” (Charles). These early Gnostics practised licentiousness as a principle since they were not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:15). The use of the dative with διδασκω — didaskō is a colloquialism rather than a Hebraism. Two accusatives often occur with διδασκω — didaskō cast a stumbling-block Second aorist active infinitive (accusative case after εδιδασκεν — edidasken) of βαλλω — ballō regular use with σκανδαλον — skandalon (trap) like τιτημι σκανδαλον — tithēmi skandalon in Romans 14:13. Balaam, as Josephus and Philo also say, showed Balak how to set a trap for the Israelites by beguiling them into the double sin of idolatry and fornication, which often went together (and do so still).To eat things sacrificed to idols (παγειν ειδωλοτυτα — phagein eidōlothuta). Second aorist active infinitive of εστιω — esthiō and the verbal adjective (from ειδωλον — eidōlon and τυω — thuō), quoted here from Numbers 25:1., but in inverse order, repeated in other order in Revelation 2:20. See Acts 15:29; Acts 21:25; 1 Corinthians 8:1. for the controversy over the temptation to Gentile Christians to do what in itself was harmless, but which led to evil if it led to participation in the pagan feasts. Perhaps both ideas are involved here. Balaam taught Balak how to lead the Israelites into sin in both ways. [source]
Revelation 2:14 Taught Balak [εδιδασκεν τωι αλακ]
Imperfect indicative of διδασκω — didaskō Balaam‘s habit, “as the prototype of all corrupt teachers” (Charles). These early Gnostics practised licentiousness as a principle since they were not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:15). The use of the dative with διδασκω — didaskō is a colloquialism rather than a Hebraism. Two accusatives often occur with διδασκω — didaskō cast a stumbling-block Second aorist active infinitive (accusative case after εδιδασκεν — edidasken) of βαλλω — ballō regular use with σκανδαλον — skandalon (trap) like τιτημι σκανδαλον — tithēmi skandalon in Romans 14:13. Balaam, as Josephus and Philo also say, showed Balak how to set a trap for the Israelites by beguiling them into the double sin of idolatry and fornication, which often went together (and do so still).To eat things sacrificed to idols (παγειν ειδωλοτυτα — phagein eidōlothuta). Second aorist active infinitive of εστιω — esthiō and the verbal adjective (from ειδωλον — eidōlon and τυω — thuō), quoted here from Numbers 25:1., but in inverse order, repeated in other order in Revelation 2:20. See Acts 15:29; Acts 21:25; 1 Corinthians 8:1. for the controversy over the temptation to Gentile Christians to do what in itself was harmless, but which led to evil if it led to participation in the pagan feasts. Perhaps both ideas are involved here. Balaam taught Balak how to lead the Israelites into sin in both ways. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 8:1 mean?

Concerning now the things sacrificed to idols we know indeed all knowledge we have - Knowledge puffs up but love builds up
Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων οἴδαμεν ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν γνῶσις φυσιοῖ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ

Περὶ  Concerning 
Parse: Preposition
Root: περί 
Sense: about, concerning, on account of, because of, around, near.
δὲ  now 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
τῶν  the  things 
Parse: Article, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
εἰδωλοθύτων  sacrificed  to  idols 
Parse: Adjective, Genitive Neuter Plural
Root: εἰδωλόθυτος 
Sense: sacrificed to idols, the flesh left over from the heathen sacrifices.
οἴδαμεν  we  know 
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: οἶδα  
Sense: to see.
ὅτι  indeed 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ὅτι  
Sense: that, because, since.
γνῶσιν  knowledge 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: γνῶσις  
Sense: knowledge signifies in general intelligence, understanding.
ἔχομεν  we  have 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 1st Person Plural
Root: ἔχω  
Sense: to have, i.e. to hold.
  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
γνῶσις  Knowledge 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γνῶσις  
Sense: knowledge signifies in general intelligence, understanding.
φυσιοῖ  puffs  up 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: φυσιόω  
Sense: to make natural, to cause a thing to pass into nature.
ἀγάπη  love 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀγάπη  
Sense: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence.
οἰκοδομεῖ  builds  up 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: οἰκοδομέω 
Sense: to build a house, erect a building.