What is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:33?

So

• Paul is drawing a conclusion from everything he has just corrected about the Lord’s Supper (1 Colossians 11:17-32).

• “So” signals that what follows is the practical remedy for their misuse of the table. Compare the pattern in “Therefore, whether you eat or drink…do all to the glory of God” (1 Colossians 10:31).

• The word keeps us anchored: doctrine always moves us toward obedient action (James 1:22).

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my brothers

• By addressing them as family, Paul reminds the believers of their shared identity in Christ: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Colossians 12:13).

• The phrase softens the rebuke and stresses love over harshness, echoing “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Romans 12:10).

• It also underlines equality at the table—rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, all stand as siblings before the Lord (Galatians 3:28).

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when you come together to eat

• The gathering is not a private meal but the church assembled to partake of the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42, 46; 1 Corinthians 11:20-22).

• Paul assumes regular, physical assembly: true fellowship happens face-to-face, just as Hebrews 10:25 urges believers not to neglect meeting together.

• Eating here is covenantal, a proclamation of the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Colossians 11:26). It demands reverence and unity, not haste or self-indulgence.

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wait for one another

• The command restores order and love to the meal. No believer should be left hungry while others feast (1 Colossians 11:21-22).

• “Wait” is more than timing; it is an attitude of preferring others (Philippians 2:3-4: “in humility value others above yourselves”).

• Practically, this means:

– Arriving with a heart to serve, not to satisfy self.

– Ensuring every member, regardless of status, shares equally (James 2:1-4).

– Remembering that rushing ahead dishonors the body of Christ and invites discipline (1 Colossians 11:29-30).

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summary

Paul’s antidote to the Corinthians’ chaotic communion is simple yet profound: treat one another as family at the Lord’s table. By pausing for every brother and sister, the church proclaims Christ’s self-giving love in a tangible way. Waiting turns a meal into worship, and fellowship into a living testimony that “we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Colossians 10:17).