1 Corinthians 10:8
What does 1 Corinthians 10:8 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Corinthians 10:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Corinthians 10:8 means
“Neither let us commit fornication,” Paul says, recalling when “three and twenty thousand” fell in one day. Sexual immorality often accompanied idolatry in the ancient world, and Israel was seduced into both. The number underscores the severity and swiftness of God’s judgment. Corinth’s culture celebrated sexual freedom, and some in the church had tolerated it. Paul insists that believers cannot separate their bodies from their worship; uniting with immorality contradicts union with the Lord. He warns not from prudishness, but from pastoral concern: sin destroys. The church’s freedom is freedom to honor God with body and soul, not to indulge desires that alienate from Him and injure the community.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
KJV
King James Version · 1611Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Again, let us not give way to the desires of the flesh, as some of them did, of whom twenty-three thousand came to their end in one day.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862neither may we commit whoredom, as certain of them did commit whoredom, and there fell in one day twenty-three thousand;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them that committed fornication: and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Context
Following idolatry, Paul highlights sexual immorality, a sin with special relevance in Corinth’s setting. The swift judgment in Israel’s history displays how seriously God treats this breach. The list will continue with testing the Lord (v.9) and grumbling (v.10), rounding out a pattern of rebellion that God answered with discipline. These concrete examples aim to awaken the Corinthians to the real spiritual stakes of their choices at pagan feasts and beyond.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 1 Corinthians 6:18
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
- Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there some that hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.
- Psalms 106:29
Thus they provoked him to anger with their doings; And the plague brake in upon them.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9
Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,
- Numbers 25:1
And Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab:
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