1 Corinthians 8:7

But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian believers addressing a dispute over food sacrificed to idols, positioned between his declaration of one God and one Lord in 8:6 and his statement that dietary choices hold no spiritual weight in 8:8.

The words — γνῶσις (gnōsis) = knowledge, which the text identifies as a possession not universally held by believers but rather a specific understanding of idol food’s spiritual neutrality.

The thread — This concern for conscience and idol food recurs in Romans 14:14, 1 Corinthians 10:28, and Romans 14:22, where dietary freedom is consistently weighed against the spiritual safety of others.

Why it lands — It requires readers to prioritize the moral stability of weaker believers over the exercise of personal liberty, treating defiled conscience as a tangible harm that outweighs abstract truth.

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

King James Version

Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.

Cross-references

Romans 14:14 I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
1 Corinthians 10:28 But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience—
Romans 14:22 Keep your belief about such matters between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.
1 Corinthians 8:9 Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree together, so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be united in mind and conviction.