Devine Scripture

1 Corinthians 10:3

What does 1 Corinthians 10:3 mean?

A plain-English look at 1 Corinthians 10:3 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What 1 Corinthians 10:3 means

“The same spiritual food” points to the manna God gave Israel in the wilderness. It was “spiritual” not because it was unreal, but because it was given by God’s Spirit and signified His faithful provision. All Israel ate it—none were excluded from the blessing. Paul underscores the generosity and equality of God’s care, which makes Israel’s later failures all the more sobering. Having tasted God’s goodness repeatedly, they still craved what He forbade. For the Corinthians, enjoying regular spiritual nourishment—teaching, worship, even the Lord’s Supper—does not place them beyond temptation. God’s gifts are meant to strengthen trust and obedience, not to foster pride or carelessness about sin and idolatry.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

and did all eat the same spiritual food;

KJV

King James Version · 1611

And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

and did all eat the same spiritual food;

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

And they all took the same holy food;

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and all the same spiritual food did eat,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And did all eat the same spiritual food:

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and all ate the same spiritual food,

Context

The catalog of privileges continues: after deliverance and identification with Moses, Paul notes God’s ongoing sustenance. This theme will climax in verse 4 with spiritual drink and the surprising identification of the Rock with Christ. The movement is deliberate: rescue, belonging, provision. With that foundation laid, verse 5 will unveil the tragic outcome for most of Israel, transitioning from privilege to peril, and setting up specific warnings in verses 6–10.

v.2and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

v.3This passage

v.4and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Psalms 78:23

    Yet he commanded the skies above, And opened the doors of heaven;

  • Psalms 105:40

    They asked, and he brought quails, And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

  • Nehemiah 9:15

    and gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and commandedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

  • John 6:22

    On the morrow the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, save one, and that Jesus entered not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples went away alone

  • Exodus 16:35

    And the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.

  • Deuteronomy 8:3

    And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of Jehovah doth man live.

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