Paul chose one subject to illustrate the proper view. Accumulating all the facts about God that one can will not result in the most realistic knowledge of Him. One must also love God. If a person loves God, then God knows (recognizes) him in an intimate way and reveals Himself to him ( 1 Corinthians 2:10; Matthew 11:27). Consequently it is really more important that God knows us than that we know Him. When He knows us intimately, He will enable us to know Him intimately. [source][source][source]
". . . If a man loves God, this is a sign that God has taken the initiative." [1][source]
Logically not only will God enable those who love Him to know Him better, but He will also enable those who love Him to understand other subjects as well. Paul said this to establish the priority of love over knowledge in determining our behavior in various situations. [source][source][source]
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
1To abstain from food offered to idols 8We must not abuse our Christian liberty, to the offense of our brothers; 11but must bridle our knowledge with charity
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 8:3
The same is known of him [ουτος εγνωσται υπ αυτου] Loving God (condition of first class again) is the way to come to know God. It is not certain whether ουτος houtos refers to the man who loves God or to God who is loved. Both are true. God knows those that are his (2 Timothy 2:19; Exodus 33:12). Those who know God are known of God (Galatians 4:9). We love God because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). But here Paul uses both ideas and both verbs. Εγνωσται Egnōstai is perfect passive indicative of γινωσκω ginōskō an abiding state of recognition by God sets the seal of his favour on the one who loves him. So much for the principle. [source]
An idol is nothing in the world [οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ] Rev., no idol is anything. An idol is a nonentity. The emphasis is on the nothingness of the idol, hence the emphatic position of οὐδὲν nothingIt is a mere stock or stone, having no real significance in heaven or on earth. One of the Old Testament names for heathen gods is elilim nothings. Idol ( εἴδωλον ) is primarily an image or likeness. In Greek writers it is sometimes used of the shades of the dead, or the fantasies of the mind. In the Old Testament, the number and variety of the words representing the objects of heathen worship, are a striking commentary upon the general prevalence of idolatry. Εἴδωλον imagestands in the Septuagint for several of the different Hebrew terms for idols; as, elilim things of nought; gillulim things rolled about, as logs or masses of stone; chammanium sun-pillars, etc. Other words are also used to translate the same Hebrew terms, but in all cases the idea is that of the material object as shaped by mechanical processes, or as being in itself an object of terror, or a vain or abominable thing, a mere device of man. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 8:3
John 5:20Loveth [φιλεῖ] To love is expressed by two words in the New Testament, φιλέω and ἀγαπάω . Ἁγαπάω indicates a reasoning, discriminating attachment, founded in the conviction that its object is worthy of esteem, or entitled to it on account of benefits bestowed. Φιλέω represents a warmer, more instinctive sentiment, more closely allied to feeling, and implying more passion. Hence ἀγαπάω is represented by the Latin diligo, the fundamental idea of which is selection, the deliberate choice of one out of a number, on sufficient grounds, as an object of regard. Thus φιλέω emphasizes the affectional element of love, and ἀγαπάω the intelligent element. Socrates, in Xenophon's “Memorabilia,” advises his friend Aristarchus to alleviate the necessities of his dependents by furnishing means to set them at work. Aristarchus having acted upon his advice, Xenophon says that the women in his employ loved ( ἐφίλουν ) him as their protector, while he in turn loved ( ἠγάπα ) them because they were of use to him (“Memorabilia,” ii., 7, §12). Jesus' sentiment toward Martha and Mary is described by ἠγάπα , John 11:5. Men are bidden to love ( ἀγαπᾶν ) God (Matthew 22:37; 1 Corinthians 8:3); never φιλεῖν , since love to God implies an intelligent discernment of His attributes and not merely an affectionate sentiment. Both elements are combined in the Father's love for the Son (Matthew 3:17; John 3:35; John 4:20). Ἁγάπη is used throughout the panegyric of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and an examination of that chapter will show how large a part the discriminating element plays in the Apostle's conception of love. The noun αγάπη nowhere appears in classical writings. As Trench remarks, it “is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion.”' Εράω , in which the idea of sensual passion predominates, is nowhere used in the New Testament. Trench has some interesting remarks on its tendency toward a higher set of associations in the Platonic writings (“Synonyms,” p. 42). [source]
1 Corinthians 8:1We 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 Thessalonians 1:9Comp. Acts 14:15 . The exact phrase only here. The verb is common in lxx, with both κύριον Lordand θεὸν God Idols [] See on 1 Corinthians 8:3. The word would indicate that the majority of the converts were heathen and not Jews. [source]
1 Thessalonians 1:9Ye turned unto God [ἐπεστρέψατε πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν] Comp. Acts 14:15. The exact phrase only here. The verb is common in lxx, with both κύριον Lordand θεὸν GodIdolsSee on 1 Corinthians 8:3. The word would indicate that the majority of the converts were heathen and not Jews. [source]
What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 8:3 mean?
Parse: Verb, Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: γινώσκω
Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
What are the major concepts related to 1 Corinthians 8:3?
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 8:3
Loving God (condition of first class again) is the way to come to know God. It is not certain whether ουτος houtos refers to the man who loves God or to God who is loved. Both are true. God knows those that are his (2 Timothy 2:19; Exodus 33:12). Those who know God are known of God (Galatians 4:9). We love God because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). But here Paul uses both ideas and both verbs. Εγνωσται Egnōstai is perfect passive indicative of γινωσκω ginōskō an abiding state of recognition by God sets the seal of his favour on the one who loves him. So much for the principle. [source]
The same, i.e., this same man who loves God. He does not say knows God, but implies this in the larger truth, is known by God. Compare Galatians 4:9; 1 John 4:7, 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16; 2 Timothy 2:19. Γινώσκω in New-Testament Greek often denotes a personal relation between the knower and the known, so that the knowledge of an object implies the influence of that object upon the knower. So John 2:24, John 2:25; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 John 4:8. In John the relation itself is expressed by the verb. John 17:3, John 17:25; 1 John 5:20; 1 John 4:6; 1 John 2:3, 1 John 2:4, 1 John 2:5. [source]
Rev., no idol is anything. An idol is a nonentity. The emphasis is on the nothingness of the idol, hence the emphatic position of οὐδὲν nothingIt is a mere stock or stone, having no real significance in heaven or on earth. One of the Old Testament names for heathen gods is elilim nothings. Idol ( εἴδωλον ) is primarily an image or likeness. In Greek writers it is sometimes used of the shades of the dead, or the fantasies of the mind. In the Old Testament, the number and variety of the words representing the objects of heathen worship, are a striking commentary upon the general prevalence of idolatry. Εἴδωλον imagestands in the Septuagint for several of the different Hebrew terms for idols; as, elilim things of nought; gillulim things rolled about, as logs or masses of stone; chammanium sun-pillars, etc. Other words are also used to translate the same Hebrew terms, but in all cases the idea is that of the material object as shaped by mechanical processes, or as being in itself an object of terror, or a vain or abominable thing, a mere device of man. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 8:3
To love is expressed by two words in the New Testament, φιλέω and ἀγαπάω . Ἁγαπάω indicates a reasoning, discriminating attachment, founded in the conviction that its object is worthy of esteem, or entitled to it on account of benefits bestowed. Φιλέω represents a warmer, more instinctive sentiment, more closely allied to feeling, and implying more passion. Hence ἀγαπάω is represented by the Latin diligo, the fundamental idea of which is selection, the deliberate choice of one out of a number, on sufficient grounds, as an object of regard. Thus φιλέω emphasizes the affectional element of love, and ἀγαπάω the intelligent element. Socrates, in Xenophon's “Memorabilia,” advises his friend Aristarchus to alleviate the necessities of his dependents by furnishing means to set them at work. Aristarchus having acted upon his advice, Xenophon says that the women in his employ loved ( ἐφίλουν ) him as their protector, while he in turn loved ( ἠγάπα ) them because they were of use to him (“Memorabilia,” ii., 7, §12). Jesus' sentiment toward Martha and Mary is described by ἠγάπα , John 11:5. Men are bidden to love ( ἀγαπᾶν ) God (Matthew 22:37; 1 Corinthians 8:3); never φιλεῖν , since love to God implies an intelligent discernment of His attributes and not merely an affectionate sentiment. Both elements are combined in the Father's love for the Son (Matthew 3:17; John 3:35; John 4:20). Ἁγάπη is used throughout the panegyric of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, and an examination of that chapter will show how large a part the discriminating element plays in the Apostle's conception of love. The noun αγάπη nowhere appears in classical writings. As Trench remarks, it “is a word born within the bosom of revealed religion.”' Εράω , in which the idea of sensual passion predominates, is nowhere used in the New Testament. Trench has some interesting remarks on its tendency toward a higher set of associations in the Platonic writings (“Synonyms,” p. 42). [source]
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]
See on 1 Corinthians 8:3. The word would indicate that the majority of the converts were heathen and not Jews. [source]
Comp. Acts 14:15. The exact phrase only here. The verb is common in lxx, with both κύριον Lordand θεὸν GodIdolsSee on 1 Corinthians 8:3. The word would indicate that the majority of the converts were heathen and not Jews. [source]