idol / idols

The Hebrew, Greek and Latin that is translated as “idol(s)” in English is translated in Central Subanen as ledawan or “images.” (Source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )

In German, typically the term Götze is used. Originally this was used as a term of endearment for Gott (“God” — see here ), later for “icon” and “image, likeness.” Luther started to use it in the 16th century in the meaning of “false god, idol.”

Other terms that are used in German include Götzenbild(er) (“image[s] of idols”) or Bildnis (“image” — Protestant) / Kultbild (“cultish image” — Catholic) (used for instance in Exodus 20:4 and Deuteronomy 5:8). The latest revision of the Catholic Einheitsübersetzung (publ. 2016) also uses the neologism Nichtse (“nothings”) in 1 Chron. 16:26 and Psalm 96:5. (Source: Zetzsche)

See also worthless idols.

complete verse (1 Corinthians 10:19)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 Corinthians 10:19:

  • Uma: “But I’m not saying by this that there really is another lord other than the Lord God. No! And food that is offered to idols, it’s nothing / it doesn’t matter [if] we eat it.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “What does it mean what I said here? Does it mean that their idols are really living and that the food given to them has any use?” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “What I am teaching you here is, an idol which people worship is just the work of people. And if there is food which is sacrificed there, it’s just food because that idol is not really anything to be worshipped.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Do I mean to say that idols are alive and that there is a distinction between what has been offered to them and other food?” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Well, maybe you are thinking that what I mean by this that I’m saying is, the pretend gods are indeed real and the food with which people worship them is far-from-ordinary.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “What I am saying does not mean to signify that any idol has any authority. Neither does the meat sacrificed to the idol mean that it is more holy than meat which was not sacrificed.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on 1 Corinthians 10:19

This verse marks a sharp break in Paul’s thought. He may have been thinking more quickly than his secretary could write. The implied connection with verse 18 may be as follows: “Someone may say that my argument proves too much, since it could apply not only to Jewish, but also to pagan ceremonies. After all, it is idolatry, not Judaism, with which the Corinthians are concerned.”

Different editions of the Greek text punctuate the verse as two or three questions. The last two questions, “Is food offered to idols anything?” and “Is an idol anything?” are very similar in form and meaning and are sometimes treated as one. A few important manuscripts omit the last question, probably by accident.

Do I imply then may be translated as “Do I really mean” or “Do you understand what I am talking about? I mean that….”

The meaning of the verse is best defined by comparing it with 8.4-6, where it is clear that Paul is denying, not the existence of other spiritual powers, but their claims on Christians’ loyalty and worship.

Is anything is literally “to be something.” In some places in the New Testament this means, not “to exist,” but “to be important.” See, for example, Gal 2.6, where Good News Bible translates “to be the leaders.” Translators and commentators are divided about whether the words have the same meaning here. Barclay takes the meaning “to exist,” and translates “What is my argument? That a thing offered to an idol has any real existence? Or that an idol itself has any real existence?” On the other hand, several common language translations express in different ways the thought that although idols may exist, they are not significant for Christians. Bijbel in Gewone Taal has “that an idol or food offered to an idol has any significance?”; Bible en français courant “… has any value?”; Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Do I mean by that that there is anything special about sacrificial flesh? Or that the idol to whom the sacrifice is made has any significance for us?”; Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente “I do not mean by that that the sacrifice offered to the idol has any value or that the idol is of any importance.” On the whole it seems better for translators to render this passage in a similar way to these other common language translations, or to follow Revised English Bible “What do I imply by this? That meat consecrated to an idol is anything more than meat, or that an idol is anything more than an idol?”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .