1 Corinthians 10:19 (GNV)

Passage

What say I then? that the idole is any thing? or that that which is sacrificed to idoles, is any thing?

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 10:17 For we that are many, are one bread and one body, because we all are partakers of one bread.

1 Corinthians 10:18 Beholde Israel, which is after the flesh: are not they which eate of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?

1 Corinthians 10:19 What say I then? that the idole is any thing? or that that which is sacrificed to idoles, is any thing?

1 Corinthians 10:20 Nay, but that these things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to deuils, and not vnto God: and I would not that ye should haue fellowship with the deuils.

1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye can not drinke the cup of the Lord, and the cup of the deuils. Ye can not be partakers of the Lords table, and of the table of the deuils.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "idole", "sacrificed", and "idoles". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "idole" and "sacrificed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 18's "Beholde Israel which is after the flesh..." into verse 20's "Nay but that these things which the...", so "idole" and "sacrificed" belong inside that flow. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "idole" and "sacrificed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.