Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 11:29

"For he that eateth and drinketh, eateth and drinketh judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body." — 1 Corinthians 11:29 (ASV)

Unworthily.—This word is not in the best Greek manuscripts.

Damnation to himself.—The Greek word here does not imply final condemnation. On the contrary, it only means such temporal judgments as the sickness and weakness subsequently mentioned, which are to save the man from sharing the final damnation of the ungodly.

Not discerning the Lord’s body.—The words “the Lord’s” are to be omitted, as the weight of manuscript evidence is altogether against their authenticity. 1 Corinthians 11:30 is a parenthesis, and 1 Corinthians 11:31 reopens with this same verb. The force of the passage is, “He who eats and drinks without discerning the Body (i.e., the Church) in that assembly, eats and drinks a judgment to himself; for if we would discern ourselves we should not be judged.”

There are some important points to be kept in mind regarding this interpretation of the passage.

1. The Greek word, which we translate “discerning” or “discern,” signifies to arrive at a right estimate of the character or quality of a thing.

2. The fault which St. Paul was condemning was the practice which the Corinthians had fallen into of regarding these gatherings as opportunities for individual indulgence, and not as Church assemblies. They did not rightly estimate such gatherings as being corporate meetings; they did not rightly estimate themselves as not now isolated individuals, but members of the common Body. They ought to discern in these meetings of the Church a body; they ought to discern in themselves parts of a body.

3. To refer these words directly or indirectly to the question of a physical presence in the Lord’s Supper is to divorce them violently from their surroundings and to make them allude to some evil for which the explicit and practical remedy commended in 1 Corinthians 11:33–34 would be no remedy at all. Moreover, if the word “body” means the Lord’s physical body, surely the word “Lord’s” would have been added, and the words “and the blood,” because the non-recognition of the blood would be just as great an offense.

4. St. Paul never uses the word “body” in reference to our Lord’s physical body without some clear indication that such is meant (Philippians 3:21; Colossians 1:22). On the other hand, the use of the word “Body,” or “Body of Christ,” meaning the Church, is frequent. We have encountered it just a few verses before, in reference to this very subject (1 Corinthians 10:16). It is also to be found in Romans 12:5; Ephesians 1:22; Ephesians 5:23; and Ephesians 5:30. (In this last passage, the words “of His flesh and of His bones” are not in the best manuscripts and destroy the real force of the “Body,” which means “Church.”)

Not only is this interpretation, I venture to think, the most accurate and literal interpretation of the Greek, but it is the only view which seems to me to connect clearly with the point St. Paul is considering and the real evil he seeks to counteract.