Lessons #257 and 258
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Food sacrificed to idol: supernatural beings (1 Cor 8:4-7)
. 4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. 5 For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 7 But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
In the introduction of the eighth chapter of 1 Corinthians, we indicated that there are three major declarations that summarized what the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul regarding the subject of food sacrificed to idols. We have considered the first declaration given in verses 1 to 3 which is that dealing with food sacrificed to idols requires differentiating knowledge and love. We captured this declaration with a message that is applicable to all believers at this time which is: You must temper knowledge with love when you deal with any debatable subject matter. We expounded in detail this message based on the first three verses of the chapter. So, we proceed with the second declaration that is the concern of 1 Corinthians 8:4-7. But before we do, we should recognize that the section we are dealing with is concerned with the subject of food sacrificed to idols.
That Apostle Paul, as we have stated, is still concerned with the subject of food sacrificed to idols is indicated in the first phrase of 1 Corinthians 8:4 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols. The phrase is subject to two possible interpretations because the Greek conjunction (oun) used may be used as a marker of inference to denote that what it introduces is the result of or an inference from what precedes it and so may mean “so, then, therefore” or it may be used as a marker of continuation of a narrative and so may be translated “so, now, then.” In our passage, it is used in the sense of a marker for resuming a subject after an interruption. You see, the apostle introduced the subject of food sacrificed to idols in the first phrase of 1 Corinthians 8:1 Now about food sacrificed to idols. One would have expected to read immediately an exposition to the subject so introduced but that is not what happened. Instead, the apostle digressed, beginning in verse 1 and ending in verse 3, to compare knowledge and love. After that comparison, the apostle returns to the subject that he introduced in verse 1.
The apostle merely introduced the subject of food sacrificed to idols in verse 1 without saying anything yet about it. In other words, he did not tell us what it is that he is concerned with regarding the subject he introduced or what the question of the Corinthians could have been but when he resumes the subject, he tells us their question is concerned with the consumption of such food as again we read in the phrase 1 Corinthians 8:4 about eating food sacrificed to idols. The word “eating” is translated from a Greek word (brōsis) that may mean the process of causing deterioration by consuming and so means “consuming” although the traditional meaning assigned to this word is “rust” in the teaching of our Lord Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount regarding proper place to store one’s treasure that is not material in nature but involves doing good in Matthew 6:19:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
The standard Greek English Lexicon of BDAG indicates that the meaning “rust” or “corrosion” finds no support in Greek literature outside this passage in Matthew and so that the meaning should be “consuming” that is done by a variety of insects. This meaning is followed by the translators of the LEB in that the clause where moth and rust destroy of the NIV and most English versions is translated where moth and consuming insect destroy. The word may mean the act of partaking of food hence “eating” as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that the kingdom of God (rule of God) is not a matter of food and drinks as we read in Romans 14:17:
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
The word may mean literally “meal” or “food” as it is used to describe Esau who sold his birthright because of a meal as we read in Hebrews 12:16:
See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.
Figuratively, the word is used to describe the priority of the Lord Jesus in doing the Father’s will and so our word is used not with literal meaning food but of doing God’s will in John 4:32:
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:4, it has the meaning of act of consuming food hence “eating.” Therefore, the apostle is concerned with the actual consumption of food sacrificed to idols. Anyway, having established that, the apostle returned to the subject concerning food sacrificed to idols that he introduced in verse 1. Therefore, we now state the second declaration derived from the eight chapter of 1 Corinthians.
A first proposition is that the worship of idols by some is indeed a meaningless exercise. In the time of the writing of this epistle there were many in Corinth or among the Gentiles that were steeped deep in worshipping of idols. This is evident from how Apostle Paul was troubled while in Athens because of the so many idols that people worshipped as we read in Acts 17:16:
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
This aside, our first proposition the worship of idols by some is indeed a meaningless exercise is derived from sentence of 1 Corinthians 8:4 We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world. This sentence contains what is believed to be the first of the two quotations of what the Corinthians assert because the word “that” is translated from a Greek conjunction (hoti) that may mean “that” either as a marker of a narrative or discourse content or as a marker of an explanation. However, it may also be used as a marker introducing direct discourse in which case it is not to be translated into English, but to be represented by quotation marks. It is this latter sense that is used in our sentence to indicate that the apostle quoted what the Corinthians said to which, of course, he agreed. This approach of using quotation marks to translate the Greek conjunction is reflected in such English versions as the NRSV and the REB.
The apostle wrote We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world. What does the apostle mean with the sentence We know? This demands we examine the word “know” but before we do, we should ask another question; which is, who is included in the pronoun “we” the apostle used? It includes himself and the Corinthian believers. By the way, we should remember that some members of the local church in Corinth were Jewish as we may gather from a convert in Corinth mentioned in Acts 18:8:
Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.
Thus, it should be clear that the pronoun “we” included those who were Jews in the local church in Corinth. This fact is important in understanding what the sentence We know means.
The word “know” is translated from a Greek word (oida) that we considered in 1 Corinthians 8:1 but we review it here. The word may mean to grasp the meaning of something or to comprehend, that is, “to understand, recognize, come to know, experience” as the word is used in the Lord Jesus’ teaching about the good shepherd when He conveyed that sheep will not follow anyone that is not their shepherd because they would not recognize the voice of such a person as we read in John 10:5:
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
The sentence they do not recognize a stranger’s voice is literally they do not know the voice of strangers. The Greek word may mean “to remember, recollect” as Apostle Paul used it in stating he did not recall baptizing the Corinthians other than those he named as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:16:
(Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)
The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that the Galatians, prior to their salvation, did not know the true God in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
The Greek word may mean “to understand how, to learn how” as Apostle Paul used the word to convey the sense of how a believer should learn how to control his/her sexual desire to avoid sexual immorality as stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,
The sentence each of you should learn to control his own body of the NIV is literally each of you know how to possess his own vessel. The Greek word may mean “to honor, respect” as in the instruction of what is expected of believers relating to their spiritual leaders as stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
The verbal phrase to respect those who work hard among you is literally to know those laboring among you, which does not make much sense unless it is understood either to mean to respect or to honor such individuals since believers would have known such persons. The Greek word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or stand in close relationship to someone so that it is used to know God, not merely to know theoretically of His existence, but to have a positive relationship with Him as in the claim in Titus 1:16:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:4, the word means “to know” in the sense of being aware or cognizant of a fact or a specific piece of information.
The meaning of the Greek word translated “know” in 1 Corinthians 8:4 helps us to understand what the apostle meant in the sentence We know. The apostle meant that he and the Corinthians were cognizant about the nature of idols. No doubt that believers in Corinth had recognized the nature of idols but it would be particularly the case with Jewish believers who through their history have recognized or learned by experience the nature of idols. This explained why the Jews who came back from Babylonian captivity and those after them responded sharply to anything that smacks as idol worship. This fact was demonstrated in the wars of the Jews with the Greek and Roman rulers who attempted to place images or their monuments in Jerusalem. Many died for resisting the placement of any kind of image in Jerusalem that had any semblance to idolatry.
Be that as it may, the first proposition we are considering is that the worship of idols by some is indeed a meaningless exercise. This proposition, as we stated previously, is derived from the sentence of 1 Corinthians 8:4 We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world. This sentence does not deny the physical realities of idols on this planet but their reality in terms of worship that some involved themselves at the time of the epistle and even today. This is so because literally the Greek reads we know that (there is) no idol in (the) world implying there is no verb used in the Greek hence the parenthesis around the expression “there is.” Anyway, to comprehend the point of the apostle, we need to examine the word “idol” in a greater detail as used in the Scripture not only in the NT.
The word “idol” is translated from a Greek word (eidōlon) that in secular Greek means “picture, copy,” “image in the mind,” hence “an idea.” So, you see that devotion to an idea may become idolatry. That aside, it is not the usual Greek word for cultic (pertaining to religious devotion expressed through established rites) images but when used for images the idea of the word is that of reflection of the deity. The word is used for a work of art in the sense of “an unconscious and immobile copy quite distinct from the living being in question.” Philo used the word commonly for what is unreal or deceptive. In the NT, the word has the meaning of an idol in the sense of formed physical object that is worshipped or an image, representation, in the sense of a representation of an alleged transcendental being that is worshipped. As we stated, the Greeks did not use the word for their deities in Greek literature until after the word is used in the Septuagint to describe pagan gods.
To understand how a Jewish mind that read the Septuagint, viewed the Greek word, we should note some of the Hebrew words that are translated with our Greek noun in the Septuagint. Our Greek word is used to translate a Hebrew word (gillûlîm) that is always a derogatory and pejorative term criticizing idol worship, so we are told the word refers to the physical objects of idols, probably with the connotation that the idols are piles of excrement. It is with the meaning of “idol” that the word is used in the description of Josiah’s effort to rid Judah of idolatry, as recorded in 2 Kings 23:24:
Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD.
Our Greek word is used to translate a Hebrew word (ʿāṣāḇ) that refers to a formed and fashioned object believed by its maker to contain or represent a deity, and so an object of worship and reverence hence means “image, idol” as it is used in Prophet Hosea indictment of Israel’s involvement in idolatry as we read in Hosea 13:2:
Now they sin more and more; they make idols for themselves from their silver, cleverly fashioned images, all of them the work of craftsmen. It is said of these people, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calf-idols.”
Our Greek word is used to translate a Hebrew word (ʾělōhîm) that although may mean “God, gods” as we will consider later but a Hebrew passage where our Greek word is used in the Septuagint indicates that the Hebrew word refers to an object one made that was thrown into fire, according to Isaiah 37:19:
They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands.
Our Greek word is used to translate in the Septuagint a Hebrew word (terāp̄îm) that means “household god” as it is used in connection with Laban as we read in Genesis 31:19:
When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods.
It is the same meaning that is used in relation to Micah, an Ephraimite, that had in his possession a carved image that was an object of worship in Judges 18:18:
When these men went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the other household gods and the cast idol, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?”
The Hebrew word may mean “idol” as a general word to describe carved images that include household gods as it is used in the description of idolatry that Micah was involved in as narrated in Judges 17:5:
Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some idols and installed one of his sons as his priest.
The phrase some idols refers to that described in Judges 18:18 as carved image, household gods and cast idol. But the Hebrew word is used in such a way that it could be interpreted to be distinct from the Hebrew word (gillûlîm) we cited previously that means “idol” or that the expression “household gods” is explained as referring to “idols” as the word is used to describe the reformation of King Josiah in his effort to get rid of idolatry in Judah in the passage we cited previously, that is, 2 Kings 23:24:
Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD.
The phrase the household gods, the idols is literally the household gods and the idols. Thus, it is possible to understand the Hebrew particle translated “and” in the literal translation to be used as a marker of explanation so that the literal phrase may be fully translated the household gods, that is, the idols so we get the idea that what is described as “household gods” are nothing but “idols.” The Hebrew word (terāp̄îm) is translated “idolatry” in 1 Samuel 15:23:
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”
Thus, the Hebrew word describes an object carved that is small enough to be hidden underneath Rachel who sat on it as mentioned in Genesis 31:34:
Now Rachel had taken the household gods and put them inside her camel’s saddle and was sitting on them. Laban searched through everything in the tent but found nothing.
But it is large enough to be used as a decoy by Michal, David’s wife, to represent David sleeping in his bed in 1 Samuel 19:13:
Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.
The Hebrew word describes objects used to determine divine will, as we may gather from consultation of objects of idolatry by the Babylonian king in Ezekiel 21:21:
For the king of Babylon will stop at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He will cast lots with arrows, he will consult his idols, he will examine the liver.
Another Hebrew word that is translated in the Septuagint with our Greek word is a Hebrew word (hěḇěl) that means “meaningless” as it is used once in Job and thirty-three times in Ecclesiastes where the meaning is better understood as “incomprehensible.” The word may mean “breath” of humans as in Psalm 39:11:
You rebuke and discipline men for their sin; you consume their wealth like a moth—each man is but a breath.
The word means “vain” as it is used to describe the hustle of humans in Psalm 39:6:
Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
The word means “idol” in the NIV in describing idols of nations in Jeremiah 14:22:
Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? No, it is you, O LORD our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.
Still another Hebrew word translated by our Greek word is a Hebrew word (ʾělîl) that describes something as weak or worthless so the word may mean “worthlessness” as the word is used in the mouth of Job to describe his three friends in Job 13:4:
You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you!
The phrase worthless physicians is literally healers of worthlessness. The word may mean “idol” as it is used to describe the gods of nations in Psalm 96:5:
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
The word may mean “image” as it is used in connection with idolatry in Egypt, as we read in Ezekiel 30:13:
“‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘I will destroy the idols and put an end to the images in Memphis. No longer will there be a prince in Egypt, and I will spread fear throughout the land.
These various Hebrew words translated by our Greek word in the Septuagint help to shape the view of a Jew who used our Greek word. Such a person would recognize our Greek word as used to describe images of the pagan deities as contemptible and worthless. In any event, the OT Scripture is clear that idols are not gods as we read in Jeremiah 16:20:
Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods!”
The implication is that the idols that are supposed to represent pagan gods are not indwelt by their gods. We should, of course, be careful to understand that what is called “gods” of the pagan people in the Septuagint using the Greek word we considered are the images not the gods represented by the images.
It is as we understand that the focus of the apostle in 1 Corinthians 8:4 is the image or representation of a god not a god itself that the sentence We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world is free of contradiction that may be implied by what the apostle declared in verse 5 as indeed there are many gods that acknowledged the reality of “gods.” The image of any god of pagans although a physical object is meaningless as people worship such. It is this the apostle stated as nothing. The word “nothing” is translated from a Greek word (oudeis) that may mean “no one” as the word is used by Apostle Paul to deny having wronged the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 7:2:
Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.
It may mean “nothing” as the apostle used it to indicate that no one improved upon the message of the gospel he received from the Lord as we read in Galatians 2:6:
As for those who seemed to be important—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance—those men added nothing to my message.
It is in the sense of not having any value or any reality as object of worship that the apostle used it when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:4 an idol is nothing at all in the world. Recall we indicated that this sentence is verbless in the Greek, so we gave the literal translation we know that (there is) no idol in (the) world. The problem is then how to translate our Greek word that we indicated has the sense of no value in the literal Greek. It could be translated as an adjective that describes the word “idol” leading to the translation no idol in the world really exists as in the NRSV or it could be taken as making a statement about an idol so we have the translation of the NIV an idol is nothing at all in the world. Regardless of how the Greek is translated into the English, the point of the apostle is that any image or idol in and of itself that is worshipped has no reality to it; that is what the apostle meant to convey. His sentiment is similar to that of Prophet Elijah when he derided those who worshipped image called Baal in that classical showdown between the true God of Israel and idol of Baal in 1 Kings 18:25–29:
25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
In any case, in contrast to believers recognizing an idol to be of no value or meaningless, the apostle declared that believers recognize the existence of the only unique God in the last clause of 1 Corinthians 8:4 and that there is no God but one. This clause contains the second quotation that is attributed to the declaration of those with knowledge in Corinth. That aside, the apostle was emphatic when he wrote the Greek so translated in the NIV since the apostle used no verb in the Greek. Literally the Greek reads no one God except one. For one thing, the word “no” of the NIV is translated from the Greek word (oudeis) that appears twice in our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:4. In its first usage in the first clause of the verse, the translators of the NIV translated it “nothing” as an adjective in the clause We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world. However, in its second usage in our verse, it is used as a noun and so should be translated “no one” hence our literal translation no one God except one. Thus, the apostle was emphatic in what he declared in the literal Greek.
What is it that the apostle intended to convey in the clause of 1 Corinthians 8:4 that there is no God but one or literally that no one God except one? There are two key words that we should focus to interpret the literal Greek. The first is the word “God” and the second is the word “one.” However, we will for now assume that the word “God” refers to the true God, the creator of the universe, for the purpose of interpretation of the literal Greek. We defer the study of the word until verse 5 because of what is involved in considering the Greek word translated “God” in verse 4 and “gods” in verse 5 leads to an important concept the Holy Spirit wants us to understand from the section of 1 Corinthians we are studying. Therefore, our focus for now will be on the second word “one” that many take, on a surface level, as conveying the concept of number and so leads to problem of understanding what the apostle meant in the literal Greek that no one God except one.
The word “one” is translated from a Greek word (heis) that is a numerical term with the meaning “one.” However, there are several senses associated with the basic meaning. The word may mean “one” with focus on the quantitative aspect of person or thing. Thus, it may mean “one in contrast to many” as Apostle Paul used the word to indicate that one person, Adam, was responsible for entrance of sin into the world in Romans 5:12:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
The word may mean “one” with focus on uniformity or quality of a single entity and so in some passages may mean “one and the same” as it is used to describe the God that justifies both Jews and Gentiles by faith in Christ Jesus in Romans 3:30:
since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
The phrase only one God may be translated one and the same God. The Greek word may mean “one” in referring to an unspecified entity so may mean “someone” as it is used in the instruction regarding the practice of speaking in tongues in public worship as stated in 1 Corinthians 14:27:
If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
Our Greek word may be used as a marker of something that is first, as it is used for the first day of the week when Apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians to make their contributions that were to be given to believers in Jerusalem as we read in 1 Corinthians 16:2:
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
The question is how to understand the use of “one” in our passage of 1 Corinthians 8:4. It is used in the sense of expressing quality of a single entity that the Greek word may be translated “only one” in our passage similar to the usage of our Greek word in the statement of Apostle Paul in Galatians 3:20:
A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.
The sentence God is one is translated in the NASB and the NCV as God is only one.
The interpretation that the Greek word translated “one” in the NIV of the clause of 1 Corinthians 8:4 and that there is no God but one is concerned with expressing the quality of a single entity in view in the clause enables us to understand what the apostle had in mind. The apostle is not concerned with concept of number as we think of the number one. Instead, he meant to convey that he and the Corinthians recognize that God the apostle had in mind is unique, in a class by Himself, so to say, among the beings that are classified as divine beings. God is of such a nature that no one could compare to Him. This interpretation makes sense because of the Jewish background of the Apostle and certainly some of the believers in Corinth. Every Jew at that time is familiar with declaration of the uniqueness of God, as stated in Deuteronomy 6:4:
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
The sentence The Lord our God, the Lord is one is verbless in the Hebrew text since it reads literally Yahweh our God Yahweh one. Before we comment on the ways the literal Hebrew is translated into the English, let us note again the word “one” as used in the Hebrew. The word “one” is translated from a Hebrew word (ʾěḥāḏ) that may mean one as cardinal number as it is used in Esau’s question to his father regarding his blessing as we read in Genesis 27:38:
Esau said to his father, “Do you have only one blessing, my father? Bless me too, my father!” Then Esau wept aloud.
The word may also mean an ordinal number “first” as it is used in describing the reading of the Law by the priest Ezra to the assembly of Israelites that returned from exile as we read in Nehemiah 8:2:
So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand.
The Hebrew word may mean “only,” that is, one of a unique class or kind, and so distinctive as the word is used with the meaning “unique” in describing the lover in Song of Solomon 6:9:
but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and called her blessed; the queens and concubines praised her.
The key reason for examining the Hebrew word translated “one” is simply to observe that it can mean “unique.”
In any case, with this let us return to how the literal Hebrew of Deuteronomy 6:4 Yahweh our God Yahweh one is translated in our English versions. The TEV translated it as The LORD—and the LORD alone—is our God. The CEV translates it The LORD our God is the only true God! The NJB translates Yahweh our God is the one, the only Yahweh. You get the idea that the literal Hebrew is interpreted in different ways. Nonetheless, the two most common translations read “The LORD our God is one LORD” or “The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” The translation “The LORD our God is one LORD” focuses on the unity or wholeness of the Lord. There are those who think that this focus contradicts the Christian doctrine of Trinity but that is not the case since this reading testifies to self-consistency of God and the oneness of His purpose in creation and dealing with His covenant people. The second reading “The LORD our God, the LORD is one” that is reflected in the NIV focuses on the uniqueness or exclusivity of Yahweh as Israel’s God implying that the word “one” is taken to have the sense of “unique.” Hence, it is very likely that as Apostle Paul wrote the clause of 1 Corinthians 8:4 and that there is no God but one although he quotes some in Corinth that his mind went to the passage of Deuteronomy 6:4 so that he thought of the uniqueness of the true God. It is for this reason that we believe the apostle meant to convey that the true God is in a class by Himself and not concerned with the number of persons in the Godhead.
Be that as it may, as we indicated the word “one” used in 1 Corinthians 8:4 and that there is no God but one is concerned with quality of God of the Christians. Thus, the apostle would have thought of several assertions of the Scripture regarding this God. There are several assertions regarding the true God that would have been in the mind of the apostle as the Holy Spirit carried him along to write the clause we are considering. He could have thought of the fact that the true God is sovereignly in control of all things and omnipotent in that if the apostle’s mind went to the passage of Deuteronomy 6:4 that he would probably have remember the passage that speaks to the power of God and His control over everything as implied in Deuteronomy 3:24:
“O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?
In thinking of God’s power, the apostle might have also thought of what the true God claims He can do without anyone capable of stopping Him, as we read in Deuteronomy 32:39:
“See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
The apostle could have thought of those passages in the OT Scripture where the Lord claims to be unique. The true God claims there is no other God like Him since He is the eternal One and in control of all things as we read in Isaiah 44:6:
“This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.
The sentence I am the first and I am the last is a figure of speech that indicates that God is eternal and in control of events since the sentence is used in the context of God’s control of history. Similar sentence is used to describe God’s eternal existence and sovereignty in Revelation 1:8:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The Lord’s further claim of being the unique God that the Holy Spirit possibly brought in the mind of the apostle is given in Isaiah 45:5:
I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me,
Anyway, the apostle wants us to recognize that idols are not real and are not even the gods that pagans think they worship. This implies that believers who see pagans worship idols, should realize that such individuals are involved in meaningless exercise. We should only be concerned with serving or worshipping the true God who is unique and certainly different from any gods that exist. If images worshipped by pagans are not real, then those who are concerned with their image on this planet to the point they are preoccupied with such thought at the expense of worshipping the true God are involved in pursuit of that which is meaningless. Therefore, be more concerned about what is real than anything that is not real. Be more concerned about being unique spiritually among humans since the true God that you worship is unique. In any event, the first proposition that we have considered is that the worship of idols by some is indeed a meaningless exercise. We will continue with the study of this section that is concerned with the message we stated which is You should be aware that there is God and gods in heaven and on earth.
09/25/20