1 Corinthians 10:29

the other one’s conscience, I mean, not your own. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience?

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Paul addresses the Corinthian church during a dispute over eating food previously sacrificed to idols. He speaks in the middle of a practical exchange about Christian liberty and social boundaries.

The words — The Greek term συνείδησιν (suneidēsin) literally means "conscience," denoting the moral awareness of the other person. Paul contrasts this with ἑαυτοῦ (heautou), meaning "your own," to separate personal conviction from another's moral sensitivity.

The thread — This concern for another's conscience appears in 1 Corinthians 8:9, where Paul warns against becoming a stumbling block, and in Romans 14:15, where he ties eating to love and the distress of a brother. Paul also echoes this voluntary limitation of liberty in 1 Corinthians 9:19.

Why it lands — The text demands that a believer refrain from exercising personal freedom when it directly violates or harms the conscience of another. It requires prioritizing the moral boundaries of others over one's own rights in shared social settings.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

συνείδησινsuneidēsin[the] conscience δὲdenow λέγωlegōI am saying οὐχὶouchi[is] not τὴνtēn<the>ἑαυτοῦhe'autouyour own ἀλλὰallabut τὴνtēnthat τοῦtouof the ἑτέρου.heterouother.ἱνατίhinatiso why γὰρgarfor ἡhēthe ἐλευθερίαeleutheriafreedom μουmouof mine κρίνεταιkrinetaiis judged ὑπὸhupoby ἄλληςallēsanother’s συνειδήσεως;suneidēseōsconscience?

King James Version

Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
Romans 14:15 If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died.
1 Corinthians 8:9 Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
1 Corinthians 10:32 Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—
2 Corinthians 8:21 For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil.