Passage

1 Corinthians 11.25

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

23. For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; 24. and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come. 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:23-27, ASV)

WEB

23. For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 24. When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”

25. In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27. Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in a way unworthy of the Lord will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:23-27, WEB)

KJV

23. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24. And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. ^{in: or, for a remembrance}

25. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. ^{ye do: or, shew ye} 27. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. (1 Corinthians 11:23-27, KJV)

YLT

23. For I, I received from the Lord that which also I did deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread, 24. and having given thanks, he brake, and said, 'Take ye, eat ye, this is my body, that for you is being broken; this do ye, to the remembrance of me.'

25. In like manner also the cup after the supping, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; this do ye, as often as ye may drink [it], to the remembrance of me;'

for as often as ye may eat this bread, and this cup may drink, the death of the Lord ye do shew forth, till he may come; 27. so that whoever may eat this bread or may drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, guilty he shall be of the body and blood of the Lord: (1 Corinthians 11:23-27, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Paul the Apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender
Audience: the church at Corinth, a divided congregation in a wealthy Roman colony
Location: written from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
Time period: c. AD 53-55

Theological reading

This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

The earliest written account of the words at the supper, predating the Gospels, and Paul introduces it as tradition he received and delivered.

The phrase new covenant is the direct link to Jeremiah 31:31, and the identification is made by Jesus rather than inferred by the church. That matters for the argument about whether the new covenant has been enacted: the claim is present in the earliest layer of the tradition. See Jeremiah 31 New Covenant Objection Defeater.

Anamnesis, remembrance, carries more than recollection in a Passover setting, where the participant is to regard himself as having come out of Egypt. The command is to enact rather than merely to recall.

Paul's purpose in quoting it is corrective: the Corinthians were eating in a way that humiliated the poor, and the tradition is deployed against a social abuse rather than as liturgical instruction.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G1242 - diatheke, diatheke, Strong's G1242
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.