independentparticipialrelativepurposecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
Knowledge versus love 8:1–3
vv. 1–3 — knowledge puffs up, love builds up
1
Περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰδωλοθύτων,phrase modifier — Περὶ δέ — the next item from their letter (cf. 7:1, 25); topic frame leaning on οἴδαμεν below
οἴδαμενindependent — the shared premise
ὅτι πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν.content — likely the Corinthians' slogan, quoted with assent — 'we all have knowledge'
ἡ γνῶσις φυσιοῖ,independent — the aphorism — φυσιόω, Paul's Corinthian rebuke-word (4:6, 18–19; 5:2; 13:4)
ἡ δὲ ἀγάπη οἰκοδομεῖ·independent — the counter-principle — the verb v. 10 will turn to irony
2
εἴ τις δοκεῖ ἐγνωκέναι τι,conditional — protasis — leans on the apodosis below; the presumption of possessed knowledge (perfect infinitive)
οὔπω ἔγνωindependent — the deflation — real knowing has not yet occurred
καθὼς δεῖ γνῶναι·comparative — the standard — love-shaped knowing (cf. 13:12)
3
εἰ δέ τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν θεόν,conditional — protasis — love for God, not gnosis, is the index
οὗτος ἔγνωσται ὑπ' αὐτοῦ.independent — the reversal — being known by God is what counts (cf. Gal 4:9)
One God, one Lord 8:4–6
vv. 4–6 — the slogans granted, the Shema reshaped
4
Περὶ τῆς βρώσεως οὖν τῶν εἰδωλοθύτωνphrase modifier — the topic resumed (οὖν) after the corrective of vv. 2–3 — leaning on οἴδαμεν below
οἴδαμενindependent — again the shared premise
ὅτι οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ,content — slogan 1, quoted with assent — the idol has no corresponding reality (verbless)
καὶ ὅτι οὐδεὶς θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς.content — slogan 2 — the Shema's monotheism (Deut 6:4); εἰ μή exceptive (verbless)
5
καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶν λεγόμενοι θεοὶ εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ γῆς,conditional — εἴπερ concession, granted for argument's sake — leans forward on the ἀλλ' of v. 6
ὥσπερ εἰσὶν θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί,comparative — parenthesis on the protasis's εἰσὶν — such 'gods' and 'lords' do abound in the religious world
6
ἀλλ' ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατήρ,independent — the creed's first limb — the Shema's one God, now named the Father (verbless)
ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν,relative — source and goal — ἐξ οὗ / εἰς αὐτόν, bare prepositions carrying the cosmology (verbless)
καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός,independent — the second limb — the Shema's κύριος confessed of Jesus (verbless)
δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ.relative — mediation — δι' οὗ / δι' αὐτοῦ, creation and our new existence through him (verbless)
But not all have this knowledge 8:7–8
vv. 7–8 — the weak conscience, and food's indifference
7
Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν πᾶσιν ἡ γνῶσις·independent — the pivot — the creed is true but not internalized by all (verbless)
τινὲς δὲ τῇ συνηθείᾳ ἕως ἄρτι τοῦ εἰδώλου ὡς εἰδωλόθυτον ἐσθίουσιν,independent — reading συνηθείᾳ ('habituation'), not the Byzantine συνειδήσει — the meat still feels cultic to them
καὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτῶν ἀσθενὴς οὖσα μολύνεται.independent — the cost — ἀσθενὴς οὖσα causal: because it is weak, it is stained by the act
8
βρῶμα δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ·independent — adiaphora — taken as Paul's own concession, not a Corinthian slogan (arguable); gnomic future
οὔτε ἐὰν μὴ φάγωμενconditional — protasis — the case of abstaining; leans on the apodosis below
ὑστερούμεθα,independent — no loss
οὔτε ἐὰν φάγωμενconditional — protasis — the case of eating
περισσεύομεν.independent — no gain — the matter is genuinely indifferent, which is why it must yield to love
The stumbling block 8:9–13
vv. 9–12 — the scenario: a right becomes a ruin
9
βλέπετε δὲindependent — the section's imperative — vigilance over one's own liberty
μή πως ἡ ἐξουσία ὑμῶν αὕτη πρόσκομμα γένηται τοῖς ἀσθενέσιν.content — the feared outcome (apprehensive μή πως) — ἐξουσία turned πρόσκομμα
10
ἐὰν γάρ τις ἴδῃ σὲ τὸν ἔχοντα γνῶσιν ἐν εἰδωλείῳ κατακείμενον,conditional — protasis — the 'knower' seen at the temple banquet; leans on the question below
οὐχὶ ἡ συνείδησις αὐτοῦ ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος οἰκοδομηθήσεταιindependent — the ironic apodosis-question (οὐχί expects 'yes') — an 'edification' to ruin, inverting v. 1; ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος causal gen. abs.
εἰς τὸ τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα ἐσθίειν;purpose — εἰς τό + infinitive — the result: eating against his own conscience
11
ἀπόλλυται γὰρ ὁ ἀσθενῶν ἐν τῇ σῇ γνώσει,independent — the verdict, verb fronted — knowledge severed from love destroys; σῇ pointedly singular
ὁ ἀδελφὸςphrase modifier — apposition — not a statistic but kin (verbless)
δι' ὃν Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν.relative — the measure of his worth — Christ's death set against a meal
12
οὕτως δὲ ἁμαρτάνοντες εἰς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺςparticipial — fronted participle of means — leans on ἁμαρτάνετε below; the deed named sin, not indiscretion
καὶ τύπτοντες αὐτῶν τὴν συνείδησιν ἀσθενοῦσανparticipial — its twin — τύπτοντες, a violent word: battering the conscience precisely in its weakness
εἰς Χριστὸν ἁμαρτάνετε.independent — the true object — to sin against his own is to sin against him (cf. Mt 25:40; Acts 9:4)
v. 13 — Paul's own resolve
13
διόπερ εἰ βρῶμα σκανδαλίζει τὸν ἀδελφόν μου,conditional — διόπερ + protasis — the emphatic inference ('for this very reason'), leaning on the resolve below
οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα,independent — the resolve — οὐ μή + aorist subjunctive, the strongest denial; κρέα: meat altogether, not just idol-meat
ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω.purpose — the aim — never to trip the brother; the chapter ends on his name
Analysis. The chapter's shape is an argument bent around the antithesis of its first breath: γνῶσις puffs up, ἀγάπη builds up. Three times the layout shows Paul granting the strong their theology in flush-left lines — the shared οἴδαμεν of vv. 1 and 4, and the great verbless creed of v. 6, whose two limbs (one God the Father, one Lord Jesus Christ) each carry a verbless relative line of bare prepositions, ἐξ οὗ/εἰς αὐτόν and δι' οὗ/δι' αὐτοῦ — and each time immediately bending the concession: the εἴ τις protasis pair of vv. 2–3 leaning forward on their apodoses, the εἴπερ concession of v. 5 hanging above the ἀλλ' of v. 6 with the ὥσπερ parenthesis tucked beneath it, and the Ἀλλ' of v. 7 that breaks the creed's spell. From v. 9 the imperative βλέπετε governs, and the protases multiply — ἐὰν γάρ τις ἴδῃ with its ironic apodosis-question, διόπερ εἰ βρῶμα σκανδαλίζει — until Paul's own οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα stands flush left with its ἵνα μή hanging beneath it, the chapter ending on the brother's name. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: πάντες γνῶσιν ἔχομεν (v. 1) and both ὅτι clauses of v. 4 (οὐδὲν εἴδωλον ἐν κόσμῳ, οὐδεὶς θεὸς εἰ μὴ εἷς) are read as Corinthian slogans quoted with assent — set as content lines under οἴδαμεν and flagged in their tags — while βρῶμα δὲ ἡμᾶς οὐ παραστήσει τῷ θεῷ (v. 8) is taken as Paul's own adiaphora concession rather than a slogan, a genuinely arguable call flagged in its tag; οἰκοδομηθήσεται (v. 10) is rendered as bitter irony, an 'edification' to ruin that inverts v. 1; ἀσθενοῦς ὄντος is treated as a causal genitive absolute inside the question; and the fronted participles of v. 12 are set anchor-less above ἁμαρτάνετε as the means of the sin against Christ.