What Does 1 Corinthians 11:23 Mean?
For I took from the Lord what I also handed over to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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:THE KEY
One Greek verb names both Paul’s handing on of the meal and Jesus’ being betrayed: both are acts of being handed over.
THE MEANING
What reaches you as teaching is received from the Lord and handed onward; it does not arrive outside the vulnerability of human relationships. The same verb names Jesus’ betrayal and the passing on of what is shared with you, while the bread is taken into the scene.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse unsettles the belief that what is sacred arrives untouched by betrayal: the transmission of the meal and Jesus’ being handed over share one verb.
THE ROOT
παραδίδωμι
paradidōmi
GROWS FROM
δίδωμι
didōmi
To give; in the compound παραδίδωμι, to hand over or give into another’s hands.
“delivered / betrayed” in this verse is paradidōmi. The Greek uses παραδίδωμι both for what Paul delivered to the community and for what happened to Jesus that night. English renders the same verb as “delivered” and “betrayed,” concealing the shared image of handing over.
ALSO GROWS
paredōka: I delivered, handed on
παρέδωκα
This is the form behind “I delivered unto you.”
paredideto: He was being handed over; KJV: “was betrayed”
παρεδίδετο
This form uses the same verb as “delivered,” showing that the two English words share a Greek root.
παρέλαβον
parelabon
GROWS FROM
λαμβάνω
lambanō
To take, receive, or obtain.
“took from” in this verse is parelabon. The Greek word behind “received” shares its root with the word behind “took.” The verse links receiving from the Lord with Jesus taking bread, a connection the different English words obscure.
ALSO GROWS
parelabon: I received
παρέλαβον
This form describes what reaches Paul from the Lord.
elaben: He took
ἔλαβεν
This form describes Jesus taking bread; it shares the λαμβάνω root with “received.”
THE PATTERN
What is received is carried forward through people who pass it on.
For I handed down to you first of all what I also took from another's hand, that the Anointed One died for our shortcomings according to the writings.And you shall sharpen them to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.And these things you heard from me among many witnesses, place beside steady people who will be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
For I handed down to you first of all what I also took from another's hand, that the Anointed One died for our shortcomings according to the writings.In both verses, “delivered” translates παραδίδωμι (paradidōmi), the same verb rendered “betrayed” in 1 Corinthians 11:23. Both also use the λαμβάνω (lambanō) word family for “received,” joining reception, handover, and what is passed to you in one chain.
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