1 Corinthians 11:28,29

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29. For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, if he discern not the body.”

The δέ, but, is progressive: “But if it is so, here is what is to be done.” The term δοκιμάζειν, examine, denotes a moral exercise whereby a man puts his heart to the proof, in order to judge of his feelings as to the person of Jesus; he is to examine whether in communicating he will bring to the action that reverential memory of Jesus, which, like an impenetrable barrier, will henceforth interpose between his heart and sin.

Usually the word ἄνθρωπος, man, is explained as synonymous with ἕκαστος, each (1 Corinthians 6:1); but the term seems here to include at the same time the ideas of weakness and responsibility. The words: and so, signify: “And this examination once accomplished, let him eat...”

Vv. 29 returns once more to the idea of 1 Corinthians 11:27 to impress more forcibly the necessity of this previous examination, by showing in all its gravity the danger indicated by the word ἔνοχος, answerable. The danger is of eating and drinking condemnation, while the man thinks he is appropriating the pledges of salvation.

It seems at first sight impossible with the Alex. to suppress the word ἀναξίως, unworthily, which in the T. R. qualifies the two verbs of the conditional proposition. But this difficult reading may be defended in two ways: either by taking from the beginning the idea of eating and drinking in an unfavourable sense, according to 1 Corinthians 11:27, which is unnatural when 1 Corinthians 11:28 has intervened; or by seeking the indispensable limitation in the last words of the verse, μὴ διακρίνων, and translating them thus: “ If or when he discerns not...” No doubt this turn of expression is somewhat harsh; but it is more probable that the word ἀναξίως has been added to the text, as an explanation, than that it would have been rejected if it had been authentic. When he says κρίμα, a judgment, the apostle certainly does not mean eternal condemnation; for in that case he would have put the article τό, and the following verses positively prove the contrary. He is speaking of some chastisement or other inflicted by God. But yet he gives us to understand that this first judgment, unless it is followed by repentance and conversion, is the prelude of eternal perdition (1 Corinthians 11:32). There is something tragical in the ἑαυτῷ, to himself (his own): He incorporates with himself his own condemnation by that eating and drinking which should have aided in his salvation!

Critics are divided in regard to the meaning of the word διακρίνειν. It may signify to distinguish or appreciate; in the first sense: to distinguish a thing from all others; in the second: to understand its nature, and to measure its full grandeur. From the Lutheran viewpoint the natural inclination is to prefer the first meaning: “Not discerning with the eyes of faith the body and blood of Christ, which invisibly accompany the visible signs of bread and wine,” or, as Hofmann explains: “Not distinguishing from the simple material bread the body which is appropriated by him who eats the bread.” From the Reformed viewpoint, the second meaning seems the more natural: “Not surrounding with the respect due to the body of Christ the bread and wine consecrated to represent it.” Heinrici cites several passages from the Talmud in which the word discern, to distinguish the holy from the profane, evidently includes this idea: to respect the holy, to appreciate it at its full value. It is easy to understand, however, how this word of St. Paul will always remain that to which the Lutheran conception will appeal most confidently. But, on the other hand, it is impossible to set aside as inadmissible this explanation: “not distinguishing, by the feeling of reverence with which the sacrament is celebrated, the body of Christ, represented by the bread, from ordinary food.” See on the question of the Holy Supper, at 1 Corinthians 11:25.

The words τοῦ κυρίου, the Lord's, in the T. R., are probably a gloss.