1 Corinthians 10:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So they, trusting in Moses, saw that he first entered the sea and resolved to enter it themselves. Since the Apostle wishes to bring the type near to the truth, he does not speak in any other way. He even calls the type by the name of the truth.

Here he points to the type of Baptism, and afterward to the type of the sacred table. As you partake of the Master's Body, so they partook of manna. As you drink the Blood, so they drank water from the rock.

Although this was perceptible to the senses, it was given spiritually. It was not according to the laws of nature, but according to grace. Together with the body, it nourished the soul, disposing it toward faith.

"For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them; and the Rock was Christ." As for the food, no confirmation was needed, for its extraordinary character was evident in itself. But regarding the drink, confirmation was needed, because only the manner of bringing it forth was extraordinary.

Therefore he says that the nature of the rock did not give the water. Otherwise it would have poured it forth before. Rather, another Rock accomplished everything, namely Christ. By the word "followed," he expressed this thought: Christ was everywhere present with them and performed all the miracles.

For the infirm and weak it becomes bread, strengthening the heart of man. For those exhausted by the afflictions of this life, and thereby made thirsty, it becomes wine, gladdening the heart (Ps 103:15).

By what is said, one must understand the power of the word, by which the soul is nourished according to its need. It receives the grace flowing from Him, according to the prophet's enigmatic saying.

The prophet calls the comfort given by the word to those who labor "a green pasture" and "water of rest" (Ps 22:2).

If someone, with the mystery of the Eucharist in mind, says that the Lord is properly called food and drink, this too is not foreign to the true meaning. For His "flesh is truly food," and His "blood is truly drink" (Jn 6:55).

Yet according to the thought already stated, participation in the word of God is accessible to all. When it is received by those who seek it, it becomes food and drink offered to all without distinction.

In the other understanding, however, participation in this food and drink is not without testing and discernment. For the Apostle decreed: "Let each man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgment to himself" (1 Cor 11:28-29).

It seems to me that the Evangelist has precisely this in view. In the days of the mystical Passion, he especially emphasizes that the honorable counselor wrapped the Lord's body in an undefiled and "clean linen cloth." He then placed it in a "new" and clean "tomb" (Mt 27:59-60).

Thus both the Apostle's command and the Evangelist's observation serve as a law for us all. We must receive the Holy Body with a pure conscience. If there is any stain of sin upon us, it must be washed away with the water of tears.

To Olympius, On Perfection.

The rod is an image of the Cross. Pharaoh is an image of the devil. The Egyptians are images of the demons. The manna is an image of the Divine Food, and the water from the rock is an image of the saving Blood.

For as the Hebrews, after passing through the Red Sea, tasted extraordinary food and wondrous drink, so we, after saving Baptism, partake of the Divine Mysteries.

Question 28. Why is the rock called Christ?

Because it became an image of the Master Christ. So too the sea is called Baptism, although no one was baptized in it. For the people of Israel passed through it without being wetted by water, or rather, covered with dust.

"For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ."

By this the Apostle means that the rock itself did not serve them in this way. Rather, God's grace caused that rock, beyond all expectation, to pour forth streams of water.

For if the rock had followed them, or if the water from the rock had followed them, why would they again have had need of water?

They were baptized "in the cloud and in the sea" (1 Cor 10:2). "And all ate the same spiritual food," that is, the miraculously sent manna (1 Cor 10:3).

"And all drank the same spiritual drink," miraculously drawn from the rock. "For they drank," in a typological sense, "from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ" (1 Cor 10:4).

"But with many of them," the Apostle observes, "God was not well pleased, for they were struck down in the wilderness" (1 Cor 10:5).

In the history of the Hebrews, saved and then destroyed for murmuring, idolatry, and fornication with pagans, the Apostle points to types for future times. He observes that hidden in them is "instruction for us," Christians, "upon whom the ends of the ages have come" (1 Cor 10:11).

The Apostle therefore beseeches the Corinthians to flee pagan temptations, which are so numerous at feasts, and to abandon all self-confidence. Let them not think that they cannot be compared with the Hebrews, as though they would not yield to sinful temptations at pagan idol-feasts.

"Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. My beloved, flee from idolatry" (1 Cor 10:14).

Israel passing through the sea corresponded to those being baptized. The pursuing Egyptians represented the demons, and Pharaoh himself served as an image of the devil. The manna prefigured the Body of the Lord, and the water the Blood of the Lord, from Whose side blood and water flowed."

Explaining how the Hebrews were baptized into Moses, St John Chrysostom says: "Since the Apostle wishes to bring the type near to the truth, he also calls the type by the name of the truth."

That is, he says "into Moses," but by this we must understand not Moses himself, but the Lord. As he says below: "They drank from the spiritual Rock, and the Rock was Christ" (Theophan).

"The rock did not pour forth water by its own nature. Otherwise it would have poured it forth before. Rather, another spiritual Rock did all this, that is, Christ, Who continually accompanied them and performed all the miracles.

Therefore he says, 'that followed.' Thus he brings the type near to the truth" (Chrysostom).