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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 10

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea,⁠ 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.⁠ 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”⁠ 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day.⁠ 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.⁠ 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.⁠ 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it. 14 So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. 16 Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?⁠ Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ?⁠ 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar?⁠ 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons.⁠ 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is? 23 “Everything is lawful,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is lawful,” but not everything builds others up. 24 Do not seek your own good, but the good of the other person.⁠ 25 Eat anything that is sold in the marketplace without questions of conscience, 26 for the earth and its abundance are the Lord’s. 27 If an unbeliever invites you to dinner and you want to go, eat whatever is served without asking questions of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This is from a sacrifice,” do not eat, because of the one who told you and because of conscience— 29 I do not mean yours but the other person’s. For why is my freedom being judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I blamed for the food that I give thanks for? 31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Do not give offense to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I also try to please everyone in all things. I do not seek my own benefit, but the benefit of many, so that they may be saved.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Corinthians 10:4 and Tosefta Sukkah 3

New Testament · Rabbinic

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Summary

1 Corinthians and Rabbinic tradition in the Tosefta refer to a rock or well that followed Israel in the wilderness, not found in the Hebrew Bible but in midrashic tradition. Both use it to describe divine provision, and Paul identifies it as Jesus.

Passages

1 Corinthians 10:4

New Testament
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did.
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

Tosefta Sukkah 3

Rabbinic · Tosefta
And also : By the river, upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow every tree for meat, whose leaf shall not wither, neither shall the fruit thereof fail ; it shall bring forth first-fruits every month, because the waters thereof issue out of the sanctuary ; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for healing intimating that all "the waters of creation" will come forth as from the mouth of this flask. So the well, which was with Israel in the wilderness, was like a rock of the size of a k'bara, and was oozing out and rising as from the mouth of this flask, travelling with them up the mountains and going down with them to the valleys. Wherever Israel encamped it encamped opposite them before the door of the Tabernacle. The princes of Israel with their slaves surrounded it, and said over it this song, Spring up, O well, sing ye unto it. Then the waters bubbled forth, and rose on high like a pillar; and every one drew out the staff of his tribe and family, as it is said, The well which the princes digged, Which the nobles of the people delved, With the sceptre and with their staves. And from Mattanah to Nahaliel ; and from Nahaliel to Bamoth ; and from Bamoth to the valley, etc. going round every camp of the Lord, and watering all Jeshimon ; and it made mighty streams, as it is said, And streams overflowed. 3 And they were sitting in skiffs, going from place to place, as it is written, They ran in the dry places like a river. If Israel went up on the right, it would come down on the right ; if on the left, it would come down on the left. The waters which emptied themselves from it became a great river, pouring themselves into the Mediterranean, and bringing thence all the precious things of the world, as it is said, These forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee ; thou hast lacked nothing.
190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tosefta Sukkah

References

"... Paul cites two characteristic practices of primitive Christianity to interpret the Israel of the exodus as the Israel of faith: 'All passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink' (1 Corinthians 10:2-3). The passage through the sea (Exodus 14:16) is the type fulfilled by baptism, and the pillar of cloud and fire that guided the Israelites (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:19-24) is now the Spirit of God, into which every believer is also baptized. Likewise, the miraculous provision of food and drink in the wilderness (Exodus 16-17) is associated with the 'spiritual' provision of Eucharist. Because the 'rock' from which the water came is referred to more than once in the cycle of the exodus from Egypt (see Numbers 20-21), Paul joins rabbinic tradition in imagining that the rock followed the Israelites, and he sees in Christ the fulfillment of the type ..."
Jacob Neusner and Bruce Chilton, Classical Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism: Comparing Theologies (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 149–151.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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1 Corinthians 10:4 and Tosefta Sukkah 3

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