1 Corinthians 10:18 - Exposition

Partakers of the altar. It is better to render it "Have they not communion with the altar? " for the word is different from that in the last verse. The meaning is that, by sharing in the sacrifices, the Jews stood in direct association with the altar, the victims, and all that they symbolized ( Deuteronomy 12:27 ). And St. Paul implied that the same thing is true of those who sympathetically partook of idol offerings.