1 Corinthians 8:8-13
8:8 Now food will not bring us close to God. We are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do.
8:9 But be careful that this liberty of yours does not become a hindrance to the weak.
8:10 For if someone weak sees you who possess knowledge dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience be “strengthened” 1 to eat food offered to idols?
8:11 So by your knowledge the weak brother or sister, 2 for whom Christ died, is destroyed. 3
8:12 If you sin against your brothers or sisters 4 in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.
8:13 For this reason, if food causes my brother or sister to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I may not cause one of them 5 to sin.
1 tn Or “built up”; This is the same word used in v. 1b. It is used ironically here: The weak person is “built up” to commit what he regards as sin.
2 tn Grk “the one who is weak…the brother for whom Christ died,” but see note on the word “Christian” in 5:11.
3 tn This may be an indirect middle, “destroys himself.”
4 tn See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
5 tn Grk “my brother.” Both “my brother or sister” earlier in the verse and “one of them” here translate the same Greek phrase. Since the same expression occurs in the previous line, a pronoun phrase is substituted here to suit English style, which is less tolerant of such repetition.