1 Corinthians 1:20 BSB

1 Corinthians 1:20

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

KJV

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?

⋯

Commentary

2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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. 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 record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

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.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

VITRINGA thinks the reference is to the Jewish discourses in the synagogue, daraschoth, from a Hebrew root "to dispute." Compare "questions," Ac 26:3; If so, "wise" refers to Greek wisdom (compare 1Co 1:22). Paul applies Isa 33:18 here in a higher sense; there the primary reference was to temporal deliverance, here to external;

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

17 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
ποῦ	pou	Where [is the]	G4226 →
σοφός;	sophos	wise?	G4680 →
ποῦ	pou	Where [the]	G4226 →
γραμματεύς;	grammateus	scribe?	G1122 →
ποῦ	pou	Where [the]	G4226 →
συζητητὴς	suzētētēs	debater	G4804 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
αἰῶνος	aiōnos	age	G165 →
τούτου;	toutou	this?	G3778 →
οὐχὶ	ouchi	Surely	G3780 →
ἐμώρανεν	emōranen	has made foolish	G3471 →
ὁ	ho	<the>	G3588 →
θεὸς	theos	God	G2316 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
σοφίαν	sophian	wisdom	G4678 →
τοῦ	tou	of the	G3588 →
κόσμου	kosmou	world	G2889 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Corinthians 1:19
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
leads to
- Isaiah 29:14
  Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Jeremiah 8:9
  The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
- 1 Corinthians 3:19
  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- Job 5:12–13
  He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
Through
1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
leads to
- Job 5:13
  He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
- 1 Corinthians 1:19–20
  For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Psalms 141:10
  Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
- Romans 1:21–22
  For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.