1 Corinthians 10:30 - Exposition

For if I. The "for" should be omitted. There is no copula in the best manuscripts. By grace. The word may also mean "with thankfulness" (comp. Romans 14:6 . "He that eateth, to the Lord he eateth, for he giveth God thanks;" 1 Timothy 4:3 , "Meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving;" compare our phrase," saying grace" ) . Another view of these clauses interprets them to mean "You should refrain because, by net doing so, you give occasion to others to judge you"—a rule which has been compared with Romans 14:16 , "Let not your good be evil spoken of." Whichever view be taken, it is clear that theoretically St. Paul sided with the views of the "strong," but sympathetically with those of the "weak." He pleaded for some concession to the scrupulosity of ever morbid consciences, he disapproved of a defiant, ostentatious, insulting liberalism. On the other hand, he discouraged the miserable micrology of a purblind and bigoted superstition, which exaggerated the importance of things external and indifferent. He desiderated more considerateness and self denial on the one side; and on the other, a more robust and instructed faith, he would always tolerate the scruples of the weak, but would not suffer either weakness or strength to develop itself into a vexatious tyranny.