1 Corinthians 10:18-22 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?… The Lord's Supper got the name of "table" because the early Christians celebrated it in connection with the family meal (of. Acts 2:46 and Pliny's letter). Heathenism turned religious rites into convivial feats, and Christianity made a household meal a sacrament. But the apostle here borrows the name from Malachi, who designates the altar of burnt-offering "the table of the Lord," meaning that God's altar is God's table, i.e., that God partakes of the sacrifice in common with the worshipper. Similarly, says the apostle, the supper instituted by Christ was then and now a table at which the believer is brought into real communion with Christ. But the table is an altar, inasmuch as the communion rests on Christ's atoning sacrifice (cf. Hebrews 13:10). (Principal Edwards.) Parallel Verses KJV: Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?WEB: Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don't those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? |
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