Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Parallel Translations
-
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
-
Where is the wyse? Where is the scrybe? Where is the searcher of this worlde? Hath not God made the wysdome of this worlde folisshnes?
-
Where is the wise? where is the Scribe? where is the disputer of this worlde? hath not God made the wisedome of this worlde foolishnesse?
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to 1 Corinthians 1:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- Job 12:17 He leads counselors away stripped. He makes judges fools.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”
- Job 12:24 He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.
- Isaiah 44:25 who frustrates the signs of the liars, and makes diviners mad; who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolish;
- 2 Samuel 15:31 Someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” David said, “Yahweh, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.”
- 2 Samuel 16:23 The counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the inner sanctuary of God. All the counsel of Ahithophel both was like this with David and with Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 17:14 Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” For Yahweh had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that Yahweh might bring evil on Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 17:23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey, arose, and went home, to his city, and set his house in order, and hanged himself; and he died, and was buried in the tomb of his father.
- Job 12:20 He removes the speech of those who are trusted, and takes away the understanding of the elders.
- Isaiah 33:18 Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
- Isaiah 53:1 Who has believed our message? To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed?
- 1 Corinthians 2:6 We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing.
- Isaiah 19:11-12 The princes of Zoan are utterly foolish. The counsel of the wisest counselors of Pharaoh has become stupid. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe?…
20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? This expression of triumph is added for the purpose of illustrating the Prophet’s testimony. Paul has not taken this sentiment from Isaiah, as is commonly thought, but speaks in his own person. For the passage which they point to (Isaiah 33:18) has nothing corresponding to the subject in hand, or nearly approaching to it. For in that passage, while he promises to the Jews deliverance from the yoke of Sennacherib, that he may magnify the more this great blessing from God, he shows how miserable is the condition of those that are oppressed by the tyranny of foreigners. He says, that they are in a constant fever of anxiety, from thinking themselves beset with scribes or questors, treasurers, and counters of towers. Nay more, he says, that the Jews were involved in such difficulties, that they were stirred up to gratitude by the very remembrance of them. It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that this sentence is taken from the Prophet. The term world, ought not to be taken in connection with the last term merely, but also with the other two. Now, by the wise of this world, he means those who do not derive their wisdom from illumination by the Spirit through means of the word of God, but, endowed with mere worldly sagacity, rest on the assurance which it affords.
It is generally agreed, that by the term scribes is meant teachers. For as ספר, saphar, among the Hebrews, means to relate or recount, and the noun derived from it, ספר, sepher,, is used by them to signify a book or volume, they employ the term סופרימ, sopherim, to denote learned men, and those that are conversant with books; and, for the same reason, too, sopher regis is often used to denote a chancellor or secretary The Greeks, following the etymology of the Hebrew term, have translated it γραμματεις, scribes He appropriately gives the name of investigators to those that show off their acuteness by starting difficult points and involved questions. Thus in a general way he brings to nothing man’s entire intellect, so as to give it no standing in the kingdom of God. Nor is it without good reason that he inveighs so vehemently against the wisdom of men, for it is impossible to express how difficult a thing it is to eradicate from men’s minds a misdirected confidence in the flesh, that they may not claim for themselves more than is reasonable. Now there is more than ought to be, if, depending even in the slightest degree upon their own wisdom, they venture of themselves to form a judgment.
Read full note →
Hath not God made foolish, etc By wisdom here he means everything that man can comprehend either by the natural powers of his understanding, or as deriving aid from practice, from learning, or from a knowledge of the arts. For he contrasts the wisdom of the world with the wisdom of the Spirit. Hence, whatever knowledge a man may come to have without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, is included in the expression, the wisdom of this world This he says God has utterly made foolish, that is, He has convicted it of folly. This you may understand to be effected in two ways; for whatever a man knows and understands, is mere vanity, if it is not grounded in true wisdom; and it is in no degree better fitted for the apprehension of spiritual doctrine than the eye of a blind man is for discriminating colors. We must carefully notice these two things — that a knowledge of all the sciences is mere smoke, where the heavenly science of Christ is wanting; and man, with all his acuteness, is as stupid for obtaining of himself a knowledge of the mysteries of God, as an ass is unqualified for understanding musical harmonies. For in this way he reproves the destructive pride of those who glory in the wisdom of the world so as to despise Christ, and the entire doctrine of salvation, thinking themselves happy when they are taken up with creatures; and he beats down the arrogance of those who, trusting to their own understanding, attempt to scale heaven itself.
There is also a solution furnished at the same time to the question, how it happens that Paul in this way throws down upon the ground every kind of knowledge that is apart from Christ, and tramples, as it were, under foot what is manifestly one of the chief gifts of God in this world. For what is more noble than man’s reason, in which man excels the other animals? How richly deserving of honor are the liberal sciences, which polish man, so as to give him the dignity of true humanity! Besides this, what distinguished and choice fruits they produce! Who would not extol with the highest commendations civil prudence (not to speak of other things,) by which governments, principalities, and kingdoms are maintained? A solution of this question, I say, is opened up to view from the circumstance, that Paul does not expressly condemn either man’s natural perspicacity, or wisdom acquired from practice and experience, or cultivation of mind attained by learning; but declares that all this is of no avail for acquiring spiritual wisdom. And, certainly, it is madness for any one, confiding either in his own acuteness, or the assistance of learning, to attempt to fly up to heaven, or, in other words, to judge of the secret mysteries of the kingdom of God, or to break through (Exodus 19:21) to a discovery of them, for they are hid from human view. Let us, then, take notice, that we must restrict to the specialities of the case in hand what Paul here teaches respecting the vanity of the wisdom of this world — that it rests in the mere elements of the world, and does not reach to heaven. In other respects, too, it holds true, that without Christ sciences in every department are vain, and that the man who knows not God is vain, though he should be conversant with every branch of learning. Nay more, we may affirm this, too, with truth, that these choice gifts of God — expertness of mind, acuteness of judgment, liberal sciences, and acquaintance with languages, are in a manner profaned in every instance in which they fall to the lot of wicked men.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Thou that spendeth all thy time in seeking out…
Thou that spendeth all thy time in seeking out the secret things of this world, and in expounding all hard questions: and thus triumpheth he against all the men of this world, for there was not one of them that could so much as dream upon this secret and hidden mystery.
Where art thou, O thou learned fellow, and thou that spendeth thy days in turning thy books?
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe?…
20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Ver. 20. Where is the wise?] The teacher of traditions; the Jews had a proverb, οι σοφοι ημων δευτερωσι.
Read full note →
Where is the scribe?] Or the textmen, those that proceed according to the literal interpretation.
Where is the disputer?] The teachers of allegories and mysteries, 1Ti 1:4.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Where is the wise? where is the scribe? He…
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? He alludeth again to that, Isa 33:18; Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? Where are the wise men amongst the heathens? Where are the scribes, the learned men in the law, amongst the Jews?
Where is the disputer of this world? Where are those amongst Jews or Gentiles that are the great inquirers into the reasons and natures of things, and manage debates and disputes about them? They understand nothing of the mysteries of the gospel, or the way of salvation, which God holds out to the world in and through Jesus Christ. Or, where are they? What have they done by all their philosophy and moral doctrine, as to the turning of men from sin unto God, from ways of iniquity unto ways of righteousness, in comparison of what we, the ministers of Christ, have done by preaching the doctrine of the gospel, and the cross of Christ?
Read full note →
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Do not you see how God hath fooled the wisdom of the world? Making it to appear vain and contemptible, and of no use, as to the saving of men’s souls; making choice of none of their doctors and great rabbis, to carry that doctrine abroad in the world; and convincing men that, without faith in Christ, all that can be learned from them will be of no avail to the soul.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Where is the wise? &c. - The deliverance of…
Where is the wise? &c. - The deliverance of Judea from Sennacherib is what Isaiah refers to in these words; in a bold and beautiful allusion to which, the apostle in the clause that follows triumphs over all the opposition of human wisdom to the victorious gospel of Christ. What could the wise men of the gentiles do against this? or the Jewish scribes? or the disputers of this world? - Those among both, who, proud of their acuteness, were fond of controversy, and thought they could confute all opponents. Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world - That is, shown it to be very foolishness. Isaiah xxxiii, 18
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Where is the wise - the scribe…
Verse 20. Where is the wise - the scribe - the disputer of this world?] These words most manifestly refer to the Jews; as the places (Isa 29:14; Isa 33:18; Isa 44:25) to which he refers cannot be understood of any but the Jews.
The wise man σοφος, of the apostle, is the חכם chakam of the prophet; whose office it was to teach others.
Read full note →
The scribe, γραμματευς, of the apostle, is the ספר sopher of the prophet; this signifies any man of learning, as distinguished from the common people, especially any master of the traditions.
The disputer, συζητητης, answers to the דרש derosh, or דרשן darshan, the propounder of questions; the seeker of allegorical, mystical, and cabalistical senses from the Holy Scriptures. Now as all these are characters well known among the Jews, and as the words αιωνος τουτου, of this world are a simple translation of עולם הזה olam hazzeh, which is repeatedly used to designate the Jewish republic, there is no doubt that the apostle has the Jews immediately in view. This wisdom of theirs induced them to seek out of the sacred oracles any sense but the true one; and they made the word of God of none effect by their traditions. After them, and precisely on their model, the schoolmen arose; and they rendered the doctrine of the Gospel of no effect by their hypercritical questions, and endless distinctions without differences. By the preaching of Christ crucified God made foolish the wisdom of the Jewish wise men; and, after that the pure religion of Christ had been corrupted by a Church that was of this world, God rendered the wisdom and disputing of the schoolmen foolishness, by the revival of pure Christianity at the Reformation. The Jews themselves allow that nothing is wise, nothing strong, nothing rich, without God.
"Our rabbins teach that there were two wise men in this world; one was an Israelite, Achitophel, the other was a Gentile, Balaam; but both were miserable in this world."
"There were also two strong men in the world; one an Israelite, Samson, the other a Gentile, Goliah; but they were both miserable in this world."
"There were two rich men in the world; one an Israelite, Korah, the other a Gentile, Haman; but both these were miserable in this world. And why? Because their gifts came not from God." See Schoettgen.
In truth the world has derived very little, if any, moral good, either from the Jewish rabbins or the Gentile philosophers.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Where is the wise? - Language similar to this…
Where is the wise? - Language similar to this occurs in Isa 33:18, “Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?” Without designing to quote these words as having an original reference to the subject now under consideration, Paul uses them as any man does language where he finds words with which he or his readers are familiar, that will convey his meaning. A man familiar with the Bible, will naturally often make use of Scripture expressions in conveying his ideas. In Isaiah, the passage refers to the deliverance of the people from the threatened invasion of Sennacherib. The 18th verse represents the people as meditating on the threatened terror of the invasion; and then in the language of exultation and thanksgiving at their deliverance, saying, “where is the wise man that laid the plan of destroying the nation? Where the Inspector General (see my note on the passage in Isaiah), employed in arranging the forces? Where the receiver (margin the “weigher”), the paymaster of the forces? Where the man that counted the towers of Jerusalem, and calculated on their speedy overthrow? All baffled and defeated; and their schemes have all come to nothing.” So the apostle uses the same language in regard to the boasted wisdom, of the world in reference to salvation. It is all baffled, and is all shown to be of no value.
The wise - σοφός sophos. The sage. At first the Greek men of learning were called “wise men” σοφοί sophoi, like the magicians of the East. They afterward assumed a more modest appellation, and called themselves the “lovers of wisdom” φιλοσοφοι philosophoi, or “philosophers.” This was the name by which they were commonly known in Greece in the time of Paul.
Read full note →
Where is the scribe? - γραμματεὺς grammateus. The scribe among the Jews was a learned man originally employed in transcribing the law, but subsequently the term came to denote a learned man in general. Among the Greeks the word was used to denote a public notary or a transcriber of the laws; or a secretary. It was a term, therefore nearly synonymous with a man of learning; and the apostle evidently uses it in this sense in this place. Some have supposed that he referred to the Jewish men of learning here; but he probably had reference to the Greeks.
Where is the disputer of this world? - The acute and subtle sophist of this age. The word “disputer” συζητητὴς suzētētēs, properly denotes one who “inquires” carefully into the causes and relations of things; one who is a subtle and abstruse investigator. It was applied to the ancient sophists and disputants in the Greek academics; and the apostle refers, doubtless, to them. The meaning is, that in all their professed investigations, in all their subtle and abstruse inquiries, they had failed of ascertaining the way in which man could be saved; and that God had devised a plan which had baffled all their wisdom, and in which their philosophy was disregarded. The term “world,” here αἰῶνος aiōnos, refers, probably, not to the world as a physical structure - though Grotius supposes that it does - but to that “age” - the disputer of that age, or generation - an age eminently wise and learned.
Hath not God made foolish ... - That is, has he not by the originality and superior efficacy of his plan of salvation, poured contempt on all the schemes of philosophers, and evinced their folly? Not only without the aid of those schemes of human beings, but in opposition to them, he has devised a plan for human salvation that evinces its efficacy and its wisdom in the conversion of sinners, and in destroying the power of wickedness. Paul here, possibly, had reference to the language in Isa 44:25. God “turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish.”
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Where--nowhere; for God "brings them to naught" (Co1 1:19).
Where--nowhere; for God "brings them to naught" (Co1 1:19).
the wise--generally.
Read full note →
the scribe--Jewish [ALFORD].
the disputer--Greek [ALFORD]. Compare the Jew and Greek of this world contrasted with the godly wise, Co1 1:22-23. VITRINGA thinks the reference is to the Jewish discourses in the synagogue, daraschoth, from a Hebrew root "to dispute." Compare "questions," Act 26:3; Tit 3:9. If so, "wise" refers to Greek wisdom (compare Co1 1:22). Paul applies Isa 33:18 here in a higher sense; there the primary reference was to temporal deliverance, here to external; Co1 1:22, which is in threefold opposition to Co1 1:18 there, sanctions this higher application; the Lord in the threefold character being the sole ground of glorying to His people.
of this world . . . of this world--rather, "dispensation (or age) . . . world"; the Greek words are distinct. The former is here this age or worldly order of things in a moral point of view, as opposed to the Christian dispensation or order of things. The latter is the world viewed externally and cosmically.
made foolish--shown the world's philosophy to be folly, because it lacks faith in Christ crucified [CHRYSOSTOM]. Has treated it as folly, and not used its help in converting and saving men (Co1 1:26-27) [ESTIUS].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Where—An exclamation of assumed triumph, as if all…
20. Where—An exclamation of assumed triumph, as if all these competitors of the cross were nowhere.
The wise—The sophos, the philosoph.
Read full note →
The scribe—As the apostle advances, his mind recognises that the Jewish parallels to the sophoi and philosophs of the heathen world, namely, the scribes, must be included in the same humiliation. He deals, mainly, with Greek philosophs because Corinth is a Greek city.
Disputer of this world—A generic term including both the preceding, sage and scribe.
Made foolish—Stultified, reduced to idiocy. The maxim of Socrates, said to have been inherited from Pythagoras, was, that “sophia, in truth, belongs to God alone.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe?…
20. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?] i.e. “the wise generally, the Jewish scribe, the Greek disputer.”—Dean Alford. “The words ‘of this world’ apply not to the disputer alone, but to all three.”—De Wette.
hath not God made foolish] Rather, did not God make foolish, i.e. when He proclaimed the Gospel of salvation through Christ. Cf. Isa_44:25.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) To the second quotation, which was originally a…
(20) To the second quotation, which was originally a song of triumph over the enemies of Israel, the Apostle gives a general application.
The wise.—The general reference in this word is to those who would exalt human knowledge, while “the scribe” indicates the Jew, and the “disputer” the Greek, who discussed philosophy (Act_6:9; Act_9:29).
Read full note →
Of this world.—These words qualify all three mentioned, and not exclusively the disputer.” “World” (more literally, age) does not here mean the physical world, but, in an ethical sense, “this age,” in contrast to that which is “to come” (Mat_12:32; Mar_10:30). It is employed afterwards (last word of 1Co_1:20, and in 1Co_1:21) to designate all who are outside the Christian communion, as in the next verse it is contrasted with “them that believe.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Where is the wise? etc.; (Isa_33:18) rather, Where is…
Where is the wise? etc.; (Isa_33:18) rather, Where is a wise man? i.e. a scribe, etc., which is even more incisive. These questions are triumphant, like the "Where is the King of Hamath and of Arpad?" The same impassioned form of speech recurs in 1Co_15:55 and in; Rom_3:27. The questions would come home to the Jews, who regarded their rabbis and the "pupils of the wise as exalted beings who could look down on all poor ignorant persons (amharatsim, or "people of the land and to the Greeks, who regarded none but the philosophers as "wise." The scribe. With the Jews of that day" the scribe" was" the theologian," the ideal of dignified learning and orthodoxy, though for the most part he mistook elaborate ignorance for profound knowledge. The disputer. The word would specially suit the disputatious Greeks, clever dialecticians. The verb from which this word is derived occurs in Mar_8:11, and the abstract substantive ("an eager discussion in Act_28:29. If St. Paul has Isa_33:18 in his mind, the word "disputer" corresponds to "the counter of the towers". (comp Psa_48:12) Even the rabbis say that when Messiah comes human wisdom is to become needless. Of the world; rather, of this age, or aeon. The old dispensation, then so rapidly waning to its close, was called "this age" (olam hazzeh); the next or Messianic age was called "the age to come" (olam habba). The Messianic age had dawned at the birth of Christ, but the old covenant was not finally annulled till his second coming at the fall of Jerusalem. Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? rather, Did not God (by the cross) stultify the wisdom, etc.? The oxymoron, or sharp contrast of terms a figure of which St. Paul is fond (see 1Ti_5:6; Rom_1:20, etc.; and my "Life of St. Paul," 1:628) is here clearly marked in the Greek. The thought was as familiar to the old prophets (Isa_44:25) as to St. Paul; (Rom_1:22) and even Horace saw that heathen philosophy was sometimes no better than insaniens sapientia (Horace, "Od.," 1:34, 2).
Vers. 20, 21.
Read full note →
Philosophy and the gospel.
is the wise?" etc. The "wise" (sofov) here refers specially to the sages of Greece. They were called at first "wise men," and afterwards assumed a more modest title, "lovers of wisdom," philosophers. The "scribe" refers to the learned among the Jews. The appeal of the text, therefore, is to the wisdom or the philosophy of the world, including that of the Greek or Jew. Here we have
I Philosophy CHALLENGED by the gospel. The apostle here challenges the wise men of the world to accomplish the end which the gospel had in view. That end was the impartation to men of the saving knowledge of God. Where, unaided, had it ever succeeded in accomplishing this? Who amongst the wise will come forward to give one single instance?
II Philosophy CONFOUNDED by the gospel. "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1. By doing what philosophy could not do. "The world by wisdom knew not God." Though the pages of nature lay open to the eye, with God"s signature on the whole, man failed to discover him.
2. By doing by the simplest instrumentality what philosophy could not do. The proclamation of the history of Jesus of Nazareth, and that by a few simple men regarded as the offscouring of all things, did the work. Hath not God in this way "made foolish the wisdom of the world"?
III Philosophy SUPERSEDED by the gospel. "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." The preaching is not foolish in itself, only in the estimation of the would be wise men. The great want of men is salvation the restoration of the soul to the knowledge, the likeness, the fellowship of God. This want philosophy cannot supply; but the gospel does. It has done so, it is doing so, and it will continue to do so.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 20. Where is the wise? The Greek philosophers. In…
20. Where is the wise? The Greek philosophers. In Greek, the term “philosopher” means a lover of wisdom. The scribe? The scribes were the Jewish learned class. The disputer? etc. Probably the Greek teachers who “disputed daily” in the public places. Hath not God made foolish? etc. All their worldly wisdom is excluded from the gospel.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 20. “Where is the wise man?” i. e., wise…
20. “Where is the wise man?” i. e., wise man in a general sense. He is simply nowhere; i. e., his wisdom is all empty vanity. “Where is the scribe?” i. e., the wise man among the Jews, as he wrote the Scriptures and they were dependent on him for Bibles. “There were also the teachers in synagogues,” i. e., the pastors of the churches. But he is nothing in the things of God who is everything, and others only available through him. “Where is the disputer of this age?” i. e, the Greek philosopher. At that time the Greeks stood at the head of the world’s learning. But it is all empty vanity, destitute of substantial and available truth. “Hath not God rendered foolish the wisdom of the world?” This He has done by revealing the true wisdom in the Bible, which exposes the futility of the Greek philosophy and all the wisdom of the world.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where…
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? [triumphant questions, as at Isa_36:19 ] hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain this world
this world
age. kosmos = world-system. 1Co 2:12; Joh 7:7, (See Scofield "Rev 13:8").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The foolishness of God wiser than men:
The foolishness of God wiser than men:
v. 20. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
Read full note →
v. 21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
v. 22. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom;
v. 23. but we preach Christ Crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness,
v. 24. but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God.
v. 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
In a series of rhetorical questions the apostle brings out the foolishness of this world’s wisdom when compared with the wisdom of God. Where is the wise? Where are all the wise men of the world with all their wisdom? What has become of all the learned Greeks whose wisdom was praised so highly? Not one sinner has ever been converted by their sayings and writings; not one person has obtained salvation by following their rules of conduct. Where is the scribe? What is true of the heathen philosophers is true also of the Jewish lawyer and his insistence upon the righteousness of works. All this is false wisdom and must vanish before the light of eternal truth. Where is the disputer, the rhetorician of this world? The men that prided themselves on their ability to sway multitudes according to their will, to make them accept as right and true whatever their skill dictated, are vanished with the others that were filled with intellectual pride. Did not God render foolish the wisdom of the world? So far as God was concerned, the wisdom of this world always was folly, but through the revelation of the heavenly wisdom in the crucified Christ God has judged and condemned this world’s wisdom as foolishness. All the knowledge that has been acquired by men since the dawn of history, all the wisdom that is stored in countless minds, all the prevailing ideas of the present life, is vain where the heavenly wisdom is wanting, and utterly foolish if it attempts to measure the wisdom of God or to judge spiritual matters. This thought is carried out further by the apostle: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s pleasure through the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. Although the entire world proclaims the wisdom of God, although His wisdom is evidenced both in the works of creation, Rom 1:20, and in the history of the world, Act 17:26, yet in all this wise plan of the world’s government the world’s wisdom failed to win the knowledge of Him. Because the children of the world became wise in their own imaginations, therefore their foolish hearts were darkened, Rom 1:21. God cannot be comprehended by intellectual speculation, and all the efforts of the philosophers to penetrate into the mystery of His essence are bound to meet with abject defeat. And since thus the world, with its own wisdom, could not find the way to the wisdom of God, therefore it pleased God, according to the good pleasure of His will, to lead men to the knowledge of His essence by a way which alone can bring sinful mankind to Him. By that which is considered the foolishness of preaching, by the proclamation of a message which is ridiculed as unreasonable by the wise men of this world, God brings salvation to the believers. "God’s sovereign grace rescues man’s bankrupt wisdom: God saves by faith. " Through the very same message of salvation which seems to man the essence of foolishness, God takes away the conceit of this human opinion and works faith in his heart.
In what way the wisdom of the world defeats its own ends is further explained by the apostle: For seeing that, while both Jews require signs, and Greeks seek after wisdom, we, on the other hand, preach Christ crucified, vv. 22-23. That was characteristic of the Jews, they were not satisfied with the words of salvation, but demanded signs from heaven, Joh 4:48; Mat 12:39; Mat 16:4; their proud self-righteousness was not so easily brought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. And of the Greeks it was characteristic that they sought wisdom; they wanted philosophic proof, logical demonstration, they wanted to be convinced by reasonable arguments, Act 17:19; Col 2:4. The preaching of the Cross was therefore in emphatic contrast to both positions. It offered no sign, but merely referred to the greatest miracle that was ever seen in the world, the death and resurrection of Christ, Joh 2:18-19; it brought no reasonable arguments, but simply preached Christ crucified, announced the salvation of mankind through the merits of Him who died for all. This Christ is indeed, as revealed in this message, an offense, a scandal, to the Jews; they will not accept Him, and therefore their perversity causes them to fall over Him as over an obstacle placed in their path. And to the Gentiles in general, not only to the Greeks, Christ the Savior is foolishness, the way of redemption as taught in the Scriptures savors to them of madness. But to them that are called by God, chosen by Him in His great mercy, that have heard and heeded the call by grace, whether they belong to the Jewish or to the Greek nation, we preach Christ as the Power of God and as the Wisdom of God. In Christ the highest, the most glorious power of God, that of His atoning and saving love, was manifested. Christ is the Power of God unto us, because He is the Deliverer from sin, death, and the devil, because He has earned everlasting righteousness and salvation for us, because through His Spirit He sends us power from on high. And Christ is the Wisdom of God unto us, because in Him we have the fullness of spiritual understanding, because He can enlighten the darkness of our natural blindness, because He can find ways and means of leading us safely through all the temptations and dangers of this world to the eternal mansions above. And this is further substantiated: For that which is foolish in God, what seems to man’s reason a foolish, weak policy, the redemption of the world through the death of His Son on the cross, is wiser than men. All the attempts of men to find a way to the mercy of God and to the bliss of heaven were absolute failures; but the way chosen by God, foolish, unreasonable according to the opinion of men, proved the wise, the feasible way. And what is weak in God, what seemed to man’s foolish reason altogether lacking in intrinsic strength and efficiency, that is stronger than men. That is the mystery of the Cross, that Christ, in dying, conquered death, that in His yielding up the ghost death was swallowed up in victory, 2Co 13:4. The same wonderful strength has been imparted to the Church of Christ, since she, in the midst of all temptations and tribulations, when she seems all but conquered and expiring, has the divine strength to uphold her and to lead her on to final victory.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar?…
Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this world?
Paul emphasizes that truly wise people are nowhere to be found. AT: "Compared with the wisdom of the gospel, there are no wise people, no scholars, no debaters!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Read full note →
the scholar
a person who is recognized as someone who has studied a great deal
the debater
a person who argues about what he knows or who is skilled in such arguments
Has not God turned the wisdom of the world into foolishness?
Paul uses this question to emphasize what God has done to the wisdom of this world. AT: "God has shown that everything they call wisdom is really foolishness" (See: Rhetorical Question)
those who believe
Possible meanings are 1) "all who believe the message" or 2) "all who believe in Christ."
translationWords
wise
world
fool
know
save
believe
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 1:20 In God’s eyes, the human wisdom of this…
1:20 In God’s eyes, the human wisdom of this world is foolish. Divine wisdom lies in the message of the cross and in Jesus Christ (see 1:24, 30).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.