Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

1 CORINTHIANS 6:13KJV
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1 Corinthians 6:13 (KJV)

What does 1 Corinthians 6:13 mean?

1 Corinthians 6:13 contrasts the temporary relationship between food and the stomach with the body’s relationship to the Lord. Paul tells the Corinthian believers that their bodies belong with the Lord, not with sexual immorality, and that the Lord is concerned with their bodies.

The opening phrase, “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats,” pictures food and the stomach as suited to each other. Paul then says God will bring both to an end. That pairing prepares for the contrast: the body’s relationship to the Lord is not simply like the stomach’s relationship to food.

The Greek behind 1 Corinthians 6:13

  • “Meats” — βρῶμα (brōma): This word means food. In the KJV, “meats” here has the broader sense of things eaten, not just animal flesh.
  • “destroy” — καταργέω (katargeō): This word can carry the sense of bringing something to an end or making it cease to function. Here it describes what God will do to both food and the stomach.
  • “fornication” — πορνεία (porneia): This word refers broadly to sexual immorality. In the surrounding passage, Paul discusses sexual relations with a prostitute as a particular example.

Why 1 Corinthians 6:13 matters

  • The body has a connection to the Lord that the food-and-stomach comparison cannot capture. Paul’s words “the Lord for the body” add that the relationship runs in both directions.
  • The coming end of food and the stomach is not the whole story about bodies. In the next verse, Paul connects God’s raising of the Lord with his raising of believers.
  • The contrast matters to Paul’s discussion of sexual conduct. A few verses later, he asks how someone joined to Christ could join his body to a prostitute.

Where else these words appear

“Meats” Greek G1033 · used in 15 verses

  • Matthew 14:15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
  • John 4:34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
  • 1 Corinthians 8:13 Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.

“belly” Greek G2836 · used in 22 verses

  • Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
  • Luke 1:44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
  • Acts 3:2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

“fornication” Greek G4202 · used in 25 verses

  • Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
  • Romans 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
  • 1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

“destroy” Greek G2673 · used in 26 verses

  • Luke 13:7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
  • 1 Corinthians 2:6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
  • 2 Corinthians 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: