Probably relevant to this question is a textual variant at 1 Corinthians 10:20, which cites a verse from Deuteronomy—
1 Corinthians 10:18-20
18 Look at Israel-according-to-the-flesh; are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles they sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. |
18 βλέπετε τὸν Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ σάρκα· οὐχ οἱ ἐσθίοντες τὰς θυσίας κοινωνοὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου εἰσίν; 19 Τί οὖν φημι; ὅτι εἰδωλόθυτόν τί ἐστιν ἢ ὅτι εἴδωλόν τί ἐστιν; 20 ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἃ θύουσιν τα εθνη, δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ [θύουσιν]· οὐ θέλω δὲ ὑμᾶς κοινωνοὺς τῶν δαιμονίων γίνεσθαι. |
Deuteronomy 32:17 (LXX) ἔθυσαν δαιμονίοις καὶ οὐ θεῷ, θεοῖς, οἷς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν· καινοὶ πρόσφατοι ἥκασιν, οὓς οὐκ ᾔδεισαν οἱ πατέρες αὐτῶν. |
The context is that Paul is instructing the Corinthians not to eat any meat offered in sacrifice to pagan idols. For some reason, he thinks it will help his argument if he draws their attention to “Israel-according-to-the-flesh.” I assume that the reference is to 1st century Temple worship, but that might be debatable if the author is criticizing the offering of sacrifices thoughout the history of Israel.
In most English translations, the verse reads “what the Gentiles sacrifice…”. But this variant is rejected in the NA28. They follow Codex Vaticanus and others, and also (apparently) the Marcionite version. The variant with “the Gentiles” is also well attested in early manuscripts, however.
If we omit any explicit reference to Gentiles, it really sounds like Paul is saying that Israel-according-to-the-flesh sacrifices to demons. In the context of the existing, canonical text, it doesn’t make a lot of sense that he would say such a thing about the temple worship only as an aside. Since there are other places, however, such as 2 Cor 3-4 and Gal 4, where Paul seems to put Mosaic worship and pagan worship on the same level, I’m not so sure if something similar wasn’t asserted here as well; or at least was present in an earlier (i.e. more authentic) version of this passage. The whole sequence seems choppy and garbled.
Even with the reference to the gentiles thrown in, it should still make one wonder that Paul employs a verse in Deuteronomy of YHWH complaining that his people have begun sacrificing to strange gods other than himself. It is strange that Paul should quote that verse at all in the course of arguing that the Corinthians should stay away from meat sacrificed in local pagan temples. I’m also not sure why an epistle to the Corinthians would refer to contemporary practice in Jerusalem, about which his church would know little or nothing.
When he writes, “are not those who eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar?” this doesn’t seem to involve any cult of YHWH, since no Jew would have imagined that eating their slaughtered goat after a sin offering would be some kind of “sharing” in/with YHWH himself. The “sharing” concept seems to fit if in fact there are sacrifices being made to strange gods that are really demons; but it doesn’t make sense if Paul is understanding simply the proper practice of the Temple in Jerusalem.
I feel like I’m missing something, and curious what others have to say.