Greek word · G1494

εἰδωλόθυτος

eidōlothytos

sacrificed to idols

'Sacrificed to an idol': meat and other food offered in pagan sacrifice, then eaten at the temple, at a guild or family banquet, or sold on. The word seems to have been coined in Jewish or Christian circles as a put-down.

Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

εἰδωλόθυτος, -ον,

(εἴδωλον, θύω), [in LXX: 4Ma.5:2 * ;]

sacrificed to idols: τὸ, τὰ εἰ, Acts 15:29 21:25, 1 Corinthians 8:1, 4 7, 10 10:19, Revelation 2:14, 2o.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Revelation 2:20

Range of meaning

'Sacrificed to an idol': meat and other food offered in pagan sacrifice, then eaten at the temple, at a guild or family banquet, or sold on. The word seems to have been coined in Jewish or Christian circles as a put-down. Pagans themselves said hierothyton, 'sacred offering' (Paul quotes that word in 1 Corinthians 10:28).

Against the English

'Food sacrificed to idols' is accurate. It may suggest to modern readers a matter of diet or shopping. In context the issue is usually eating as part of a cult meal, in honor of a god.

Used elsewhere in the period

Acts 15:29; 21:25; 1 Corinthians 8:1–10; 10:19; Revelation 2:14; 4 Maccabees 5:2; Didache 6:3 ('keep strictly away from food offered to idols, for it is worship of dead gods').

From the study of Revelation 2:14

Range of meaning

'Sacrificed to an idol'. As a neuter plural noun it means food, mostly meat, that had been offered at a pagan altar and was then eaten at the sanctuary or sold in the market.

Against the English

'Food sacrificed to idols' is accurate. What modern readers miss is how ordinary this food was. In a Greco-Roman city it was not exotic ritual food. It was the meat at birthday dinners, guild banquets, civic festivals and imperial-cult celebrations.

Used elsewhere in the period

The word is a Jewish polemical coinage: it calls the gods 'idols' (eidōla), which is how Jews and Christians spoke. Pagans themselves said hierothuton, 'sacred-offered', which is the word Paul puts on a pagan host's lips in 1 Corinthians 10:28. It appears in 4 Maccabees 5:2, in Acts 15:29 and 21:25 (the Jerusalem decree), throughout 1 Corinthians 8–10, in Revelation 2:20, and later in Didache 6:3 ('keep strictly away from food offered to idols').

From the study of 1 Corinthians 8:4

Range of meaning

"Sacrificed to an image/idol"; used as a noun for meat (and possibly other food) from pagan sacrifice. It refers to the portion eaten in temple dining rooms or at feasts, and probably also to leftovers sold on the market.

Against the English

English "food sacrificed to idols" (BSB) or "things offered in sacrifice unto idols" (KJV) is accurate, but it sounds exotic and rare. In Roman Corinth this was ordinary meat, much of the meat anyone ate, and the setting of most civic and social banquets. The English also loses the point that the word itself is a put-down: it names the food from a monotheist's standpoint.

Used elsewhere in the period

Not found in non-Jewish Greek. Pagans said ἱερόθυτον, "sacred offering" (Paul switches to that word when he quotes a pagan host in 10:28) or θεόθυτον, "offered to a god". Its earliest uses are Jewish and Christian: 4 Maccabees 5:2 (pork "sacrificed to idols" forced on Jews), Acts 15:29 and 21:25 (the Jerusalem decree), Revelation 2:14, 20, and Didache 6:3. Witherington (Tyndale Bulletin 1993) argues it means specifically food eaten in the temple precinct; others take it more broadly.

Similar words

Where it appears

Acts · 2

  1. Acts 15:29 εἰδωλοθύτων from idol-sacrifices

    You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

    Here: Things (above all meat) offered in sacrifice to a pagan god. The word is a Jewish coinage with a sneer in it: 'idol-sacrificed.' A pagan would have called the same meat 'sacred offering' (hierothyton).

  2. Acts 21:25 εἰδωλόθυτον idol-sacrifices

    As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

1 Corinthians · 5

  1. 1 Corinthians 8:1 εἰδωλοθύτων, idol-sacrifices,

    Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

    Here: 'Idol-offerings': meat and other food that had passed through a pagan sacrifice. It is a Jewish and Christian word with a hostile edge, since a pagan would call the same food 'sacred offering' (hierothyton, 10:28).

  2. 1 Corinthians 8:4 εἰδωλοθύτων idol-sacrifices

    So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.

    Here: Literally "idol-sacrificed [things]": mainly meat from animals slaughtered in a pagan cult, eaten at temple banquets or sold afterwards. It is a Jewish and Christian insider word. A pagan would have said "sacred offering" (hierothyton, the word in 10:28).

  3. 1 Corinthians 8:7 εἰδωλόθυτον an idol-sacrifice

    But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.

    Here: Meat, or food generally, that has passed through a pagan sacrifice. The word is a Jewish and Christian label with a negative edge. Pagans called the same food 'sacred offering'.

  4. 1 Corinthians 8:10 εἰδωλόθυτα idol-sacrifices

    For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols?

    Here: Food, mainly meat, from animals offered to a god. Like 'idol-house', it is a Jewish and Christian label that judges the food. A pagan would call it hierothyton, 'sacred offering' (compare 10:28).

  5. 1 Corinthians 10:19 εἰδωλόθυτόν an idol-sacrifice

    Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

    Here: Literally 'idol-sacrificed (thing)', mostly meat from animals offered in a pagan cult. It is a Jewish word with a sneer built in. A pagan would call the same meat 'sacred-offered' (hierothuton, which Paul has the pagan host say in 10:28).

Revelation · 2

  1. Revelation 2:14 εἰδωλόθυτα idol-sacrifices

    But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

    Here: Meat and food that had passed through a sacrifice to a pagan god. In a city like Pergamum this was the food of temple dining halls, trade-guild banquets and civic festivals.

  2. Revelation 2:20 εἰδωλόθυτα. idol-sacrifices.

    But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

    Here: A deliberately insulting Jewish-Christian word, 'idol-offerings'. Pagans called the same meat 'sacred offering'. It refers to meat from sacrifices to the gods, eaten at cult meals.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.