1 Corinthians 10:22 (WEB)

Passage

Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.

1 Corinthians 10:21 You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.

1 Corinthians 10:22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1 Corinthians 10:23 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are profitable. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things build up.

1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbor’s good.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "provoke", "lord", "jealousy", "stronger", and "than". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "provoke" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "You can t both drink the cup..." into verse 23's "All things are lawful for me but...", so "provoke" and "lord" 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 "provoke" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.