1 Cor 8

 

Footnotes

1. 8:1 Or “we all have knowledge.”
2. 8:1 That is, knowledge may make a person look important, but it is only through love that we reach our full maturity. It is simply “Love builds up.” It builds up our lives, our churches, our families, and others. Love is the most powerful substance for building what will last forever.
3. 8:3 Explicit in the Aramaic and implied in the Greek, which can also be translated, “is known [acknowledged] by God.”
4. 8:4 See Deut. 6:4.
5. 8:10 Or “have his conscience built up.” Ironically, this is the same Greek word Paul used in v. 1 for love “builds up.” The implication is that the weak believer will be emboldened to violate his conscience by watching a more mature believer freely eating food offered to idols.
6. 8:11 This is because the “freedom” of the mature could lead the immature believer back into what he feels is idol worship.
7. 8:12 That is, “They bring an offense against the teachings of Christ,” as translated from the Aramaic. The Greek is “When you sin against a weaker believer . . . you also sin against Christ.”
8. 8:13 The Greek word skandalizō (from which we get our English word scandal) means “to throw a snare in front of someone purposely to trip them up.”