Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:26

"For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord`s death till he come." — 1 Corinthians 11:26 (ASV)

For as often as ye . . .—The previous verse concluded the account of the institution as conveyed by Christ to St. Paul, and the Apostle himself now speaks again.

Since this is the true account of the origin of this Supper, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup (as distinct from other bread and wine), you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

The Greek word for “ye show” is that used for making a public oral proclamation.

The passage does not imply, as some have suggested, that the Lord’s Supper “was a living sermon or an acted discourse.” Instead, as is still the custom, when the bread and wine were consecrated to this sacred use, an oral declaration was made (perhaps in the very words the Apostle used here, 1 Corinthians 11:22–25) of the facts of the original institution.

The imperative form given in the margin of the Authorised Version is quite inadmissible.

In the poignant words until He come, we may find an expression of the belief, perhaps largely due to the hope, that the Second Advent was not far distant.