Verse 7
Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
The Scriptural quotation here is Exodus 32:6; and thus the idolatry Paul mentioned was that of Israel's worshipping the golden calf. The mention of idolatry almost in the same breath with "lust" (v. 6) shows the close connection, the one leading to the other, indicating that idolatry depended for its motivation upon the gratification of fleshly lusts. It is of great significance that in the incident thus cited by Paul, the Old Testament specifically revealed that the people "were naked" (Exodus 32:25); and this may not be dismissed as a mere reference to their SPIRITUAL nakedness!
Sat down to eat ... rose up to play ... The "playing" was not some innocent diversion, or game, this being a reference to the wild naked dances which concluded the idol feasts. As Wesley said, "(the word play) means to dance in honor of their idol."[14] McGarvey declared that the kind of playing in view here "was familiar to the Corinthians who had indulged in such licentious sportfulness"[15] in such temples as those of Bacchus, Poseidon and Aphrodite (Venus).
[14] John Wesley, op. cit., in loco.
[15] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on 1Corinthians (Cincinnati: Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 100.
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