1 Corinthians 10:1-11
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
The Lesson of Israel’s Past.[a] 1 Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 All ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the desert.
6 These events occurred to offer examples for us so that we might not desire evil things as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to engage in revelry.”
8 Let us not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand of them died in a single day. 9 Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and they were slain by the Destroyer.[b] 11 All these things happened to them to serve as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us upon whom the end of the ages has come.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Corinthians 10:1 Paul calls to mind the story of the Hebrews in the wilderness, where the people were given all the gifts needed for life: the water and the manna, which symbolize Baptism and the Eucharist.
According to a tradition dear to the rabbis, the rock that Moses struck followed the Hebrews so that they might always have water. Paul uses this interpretation in order to make the point that since the time of the Exodus, Christ has been leading the people (see Num 20:8).
If the events in the life of the desert community foreshadow the reality of the Church, the behavior of the Israelites at that time must also serve as a warning that is ever actual: in order to please God, it is not enough to belong to the Church and to receive the Sacraments; Christians must also be committed to an unwavering effort to be faithful, relying on the help of the Spirit.
In this section, Paul is teaching us how to read the Old Testament in a Christian perspective. - 1 Corinthians 10:10 The Destroyer: the angel charged with inflicting divine punishments (see Ex 12:21-28).
