Meaning, commentary and cross references
1 Corinthians 10:31
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”In other translations
KJV · King James Version
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
NIV · New International Version
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
WEB · World English Bible
Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
What does 1 Corinthians 10:31 mean?
John Gill · Exposition of the Entire Bible, on 1 Corinthians 10:31
Whether therefore ye eat or drink,.... Which may principally refer to eating things sacrificed to idols, and drinking the libations of wine offered to them, since this is the subject of the apostle's discourse; in doing of which he directs them to have the glory of God in view, and so to conduct, that that end may be answered: and it may also be applied to common eating and drinking, or to ordinary meals upon food, about which there is no dispute; and which common actions of life are done to the glory of God, when every mercy is considered and owned as coming from him; and when we confess ourselves unworthy of any; and when we ascribe all we have to the free and unmerited goodness of God…
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
John Calvin · Commentaries, on 1 Corinthians 10:25–33
31. Whether, therefore, ye eat, or drink Lest they should think, that in so small a matter they should not be so careful to avoid blame, he teaches that there is no part of our life, and no action so minute, [605] that it ought not to be directed to the glory of God, and that we must take care that, even in eating and drinking, we may aim at the advancement of it. This statement is connected with what goes before; for if we are eagerly desirous of the glory of God, as it becomes us to be, we will never allow, so far as we can prevent it, his benefits to lie under reproach. It was well expressed anciently in a common proverb, that we must not live to eat; but eat to live [606] Provided the…
John Calvin, Commentaries (Calvin Translation Society English text). Public domain. Digital text: Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org).
Context: 1 Corinthians 10:28–33 (WEB)
28But if anyone says to you, “This was offered to idols,” don’t eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, with all its fullness.” 29Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other’s conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience? 30If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced for something I give thanks for? 31Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32Give no occasion for stumbling, whether to Jews, to Greeks, or to the assembly of God; 33even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.
Cross references
- Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
- Colossians 3:23
And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,
- 1 Peter 4:11
If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Deuteronomy 12:7
There you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.
- Deuteronomy 12:18
but you shall eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God shall choose: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates. You shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all that you put your hand to.
- Zechariah 7:5–6
“Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month for these seventy years, did you at all fast to me, really to me?
- Deuteronomy 12:12
You shall rejoice before the LORD your God—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
- Luke 11:41
But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.
Key words
In the Baptist Catechism
- Q2. What is the chief end of man?
Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.