1 Corinthians 11:29
WH NU ὁ γὰρ ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων κρίμα ἐαυτῷ ἐσθίει καὶ πίνει μὴ διακρίνων τὸ σῶμα
“for the one eating and drinking eats and drinks judgment to himself,
not discerning the body”
𝔓46 א* A B C* 33 1739 cop
nkjvmg rsv nrsv esv nasb (tniv) neb reb njb nab (nlt) hcsb net
variant/TR ο γαρ εσθιων και πινων αναξιως κριμα
εαυτω εσθιει και πινει, μη διακρινων το σωμα του κυριου
“for the one eating and drinking unworthily eats and drinks judgment
to himself, not discerning the body of the Lord”
א2 Cc D F G (Ψ) Maj syr
kjv nkjv niv nltmg hcsbmg
The WH NU reading has the support of the five earliest manuscripts, as
well as of 1739 and Coptic manuscripts. The variant reading shows two scribal
interpolations, both of which were intended to clarify the meaning of the text.
The first addition makes it absolutely clear that a person can only be judged
for eating and drinking the Eucharist if he does so in an unworthy manner. One
imagines that the unworthiness would come from not being able to distinguish
the Eucharist meal from common food. But this has already been made clear in
11:27. The second addition intends to specify “the body” as being the Lord
Jesus’ body (as represented by the bread), as opposed to the body of Christ,
the church. tniv and nlt identify the body as being “the body of Christ.” But
Paul probably intended a double meaning here—that is, “the body” is both the
body of Jesus and the body which is the church. This goes back to 10:16–17,
where the breaking-of-bread imagery symbolizes both Christ’s sacrifice and the
unity of the many members of the church. The one bread, Christ’s body, eaten by
all the members of the church, makes them one bread and one body. (Philip
W. Comfort, New Testament Text and Translation Commentary: Commentary on the
Variant Readings of the Ancient New Testament Manuscripts and How They Relate
to the Major English Translations [Carol Stream, Ill.: Tyndale House
Publishers, Inc., 2008], 512)
