Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Corinthians 11:21 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 21. 21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse describes private eating that leaves one hungry and another drunk.
Read It With
- 1 Corinthians 11:17–22
Read 1 Corinthians 11:21 with 11:17–22. This verse describes private eating that leaves one hungry and another drunk. The complete unit establishes: Paul says the Corinthians' gathering does more harm than good because divisions appear in unequal meals: some eat ahead and become full or drunk while another goes hungry, thereby despising God's assembly and shaming people who have nothing.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The letter moves from disputed head honor to an indisputable material humiliation in the same gathered worship. At 11:21, the distinct clause is “For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and.”
Follow the Context
- Paul refuses praise because gathering harms.
- Divisions become visible and expose tested character.
- Their practice no longer deserves the name Lord's Supper.
- Private eating produces a hunger/drunkenness contrast.
- Having houses cannot justify humiliating those without resources.
- Paul ends with an emphatic no-praise verdict.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and”
In plain language: This is the verse's opening clause in the pinned KJV.
It contributes specifically to A Divided Meal Shames Those Who Have Nothing inside 1 Corinthians 11:17–22.
Why it matters: The verse carries enough interpretive or pastoral weight to require the full unit and its explicit limits.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The Supper does not become valid through ritual words while people are materially humiliated.
What Remains True
At 1 Corinthians 11:21, Worship that reproduces material hierarchy and shames people in need contradicts the Lord it names.
How It Can Shape Life
- For 1 Corinthians 11:21, Audit access, timing, food, disability, cost, and class; center those excluded and change the material practice before defending the ritual.
Teach It Back
Explain 1 Corinthians 11:21's contribution to 1 Corinthians 11:17–22. Include the surrounding argument, the named interpretive uncertainty, and one use the verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Corinthians 11:17–22 — A Divided Meal Shames Those Who Have NothingSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The meaning of 'approved' and the precise source of factions are disputed. Socioeconomic inequity is strongly supported by the have/have-not contrast.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Corinthians 11:17–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 1Cor.txt, 11:17–22
Open the 1 Corinthians Greek text file ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible - 1 Corinthians with translators' and textual notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2005-2026 online edition
Supports: Verse-level syntax, KJV-era wording, textual variants, and interpretive alternatives.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Corinthians 11:17–22 print view with translator, study, and textual notes
Open the official NET 1 Corinthians PDFLexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Independent morphology and lexical-range cross-check for material Greek claims.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data repository morphology and lexical records for 1 Corinthians 11:17–22
Open source ↗modern open commentary
1 Corinthians
Eric C. Redmond
The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023
Supports: Whole-letter movement, Corinthian setting, bibliography, major alternatives, and verse-level interpretation.
Exact location: Redmond, The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary: 1 Corinthians, introduction and section on 11:17–22
Open source ↗peer reviewed socioeconomic exegetical article abstract
The Lord's Supper? When Eating and Dining Become Determinative in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34
David A. Steinbrenner
Review & Expositor 117(4), 2020
Supports: Meal inequality, body discernment, proclamation, and ecclesial accountability, used within abstract-access limits.
Exact location: Steinbrenner, 'The Lord's Supper in First Corinthians 11:17-34,' Currents in Theology and Mission 47.4 (2020), official abstract and metadata
Open source ↗