1 Corinthians 10:9

1 Corinthians 10:9

(KJV) Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

(1611 KJV) Neither let vs tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

(1587 Geneva Bible) Neither let vs tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted him, and were destroyed of serpents.

(1526 Tyndale) Nether let vs tempte Christ as some of them tempted and were destroyed of serpentes.

 

Counterfeit Versions

(1881 RV) Neither let us tempt the Lord, as some of them tempted, and perished by the serpents.

(1901 ASV) Neither let us make trial of the Lord, as some of them made trial, and perished by the serpents.

(NIV) We should not test the Lord, as some of them did-and were killed by snakes

(NASV) Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents.

(THE MESSAGE) We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes.

(AMP) We should not tempt the Lord [try His patience, become a trial to Him, critically appraise Him, and exploit His goodness] as some of them did--and were killed by poisonous serpents;

(NIRV) We should not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did. They were killed by snakes.

(RSV) We must not put the Lord to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents;

(NWT-Jehovah’s Witnesses) Neither let us put Jehovah to the test, as some of them put [him] to the test, only to perish by the serpents.

 

NIV, ESV, NLT, CEV, NAB contain footnotes stating that “some manuscripts read ‘tempt or test the Lord.’”

 

Textus Receptus - Traditional Text

μηδε εκπειραζωμεν τον χριστον καθως και τινες αυτων επειρασαν και υπο των οφεων απωλοντο

 

Hort-Westcott - Critical Text

μηδε εκπειραζωμεν τον κυριον καθως τινες αυτων επειρασαν και υπο των οφεων απωλλυντο

 

Corrupted Manuscripts

This verse is corrupted in the following manuscripts:

Aleph 01 - Sinaiticus - Nineteenth Century Counterfeit
B 03 - Vaticanus - Fourth century

C 04 - Ephraemi Rescriptus - Fifth century

P 025 - Ninth century

33 (Minuscule) - Ninth Century

 

Manuscripts which agree with the Textus Receptus for this verse

Byzantine Text (450-1450 A.D.)

P 46 - circa 200 AD

D 06 - Paris: Claromontanus - Sixth century

K 018 - Ninth century

L 020 - Ninth century

Psi 044 - Eight/Ninth/ century

 

Published Critical Greek Texts with Corruptions

Read “the Lord” instead of “Christ”

Lachmann, Karl - 1842

Tischendorf, Constantine - 1869

Tregelles, Samuel - 1857

Alford, Henry - 1849 revised in 1871

Westcott and Hort - 1881

Nestle - 1927 as revised in seventeenth edition in 1941

 

Affected Teaching

This is one of the biggest attacks on the Lord Jesus Christ. What is being recounted in this section is that fact that Israel had angered the Lord and He sent serpents among the people and those who were bitten had died. Israel had partaken in idolatry and that is what the Corinthians did. Paul brought up the serpent event to show the Corinthians that it is a short distance from sensuality and compromise to full idolatry. In 1 Corinthians 10:9, we are also being told that they tempted or tried the Lord and the Lord in this case is told to us as Jesus Himself. He is the Great I Am of Sinai. This is why in Matthew 23:37-38 Jesus laments over Jerusalem concerning them killing the prophets. Jesus is looking at their entire history and not just the present. (Mat 23:37-38 KJV) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! {38} Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. Then a few verses before in Matthew 23:34, we read that it was Jesus who sent the prophets which means that He is confirming that He is the Great I Am who directed the wanderings of Israel in the desert. (Mat 23:34 KJV) Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: When the modern versions remove “Christ” and replace His name with the generic “kurion” or Lord, they are denying an important teaching that Christ was the one who guided Israel and brought them through the wilderness. It is another attack on the doctrine of Christ. When they remove this information, they are removing Christ’s involvement with the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Christ came through the nation of Israel and therefore He was guiding His own lineage.

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