1 Corinthians 1:20

(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).

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

1Co 1:20. Ποῦ σοφός, ποῦ γραμματεύς; ποῦ συζητητὴς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου) Isa 33:18, LXX., ποῦ εἰσι γραμματικοί; ποῦ εἰσιν οἱ συμβουλεύοντες; ποῦ ἐστιν ὁ ἀριθμῶν τοὺς συστρεφομένους. Hebr. איה ספר איה שקל איה ספר את־המגדלים. The first half of the verse proposes two questions, of which the former is cleared up in the second half, and the latter in the verse following (We have also a similar figure in Isa 25:6): Where is the scribe? where is the weigher (or, receiver)? where is the scribe with the towers? where is the weigher (or, receiver) with a strong people, on whom thou canst not bear to look? For the expression appears to be proverbial, which the particle את, with, usually accompanies, and in this mode of speaking denotes universality, Deu 29:18. That some charge of the towers was in the hands of the scribes, may be gathered from Psa 48:12-13. The term, weighers (or receivers) is readily applicable to commanders of forces. Comp. Heinr. Scharbau Parerg. Phil. Theol. P. iv. p. 109, who has collected many facts with great erudition, and has furnished us with the handle for [the suggestion which originated] these reflections of ours. Paul brings forward both the passages in Isaiah against the Jews; but the second has the words so changed, as to apply more to recent times, and at the same time to the Gentiles, 1Co 1:22. Some think that the three classes of learned men among the Jews, חכמים ספרים דרשים, are intended. We certainly find the first and second in Mat 23:34. There is moreover a threefold antithesis, and that too a very remarkable one, in Isa 33:22, where the glorying of the saints in the Lord is represented. But this is what the apostle means to say: The wise men of the world not only do not approve and promote the Gospel, but they oppose it, and that too in vain.—τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου) of this world, which is quite beyond the sphere of the “preaching of the cross” [ὁ λόγος ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ, 1Co 1:18].—ἐμώρανεν, made foolish) so that the world cannot understand the ground of the Divine counsel and good pleasure [εὐδόκησεν], 1Co 1:21.—τὴν σοφίαν, the wisdom) The wisdom of this world [1Co 1:20], and in the wisdom of God [1Co 1:21], are antithetic.—κόσμου[7]) of the world, in which are the Jews and the Greeks.

[7] The margin of both editions defends the pronoun τούτου as the reading in this verse, although it is omitted in the Germ. Ver.—E. B.

ABC corrected later, and D corr. later, Orig. 3, 175e, omit τούτου. But Ggf Vulg. Orig. 3, 318e; Cypr. 324: Hilary 811, 822, have τούτου.—ED.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_1:20. What this passage of Scripture promises, has occurred: Where is a wise man, etc. The force of these triumphant questions (comp 1Co_15:55, and see on Rom_3:27) is: clean gone are all sages, scribes, and disputers of this world-period (they can no more hold their ground, no longer assert themselves, have, as it were, vanished); God has made the worlds wisdom to be manifest folly! As the passages, Isa_19:12; Isa_33:18, were perhaps before the apostles mind, the form of expression used rests probably on them. Comp Rom_3:27, where ἐξεκλείσθη is the answer to the ποῦ; according to classical usage, Valckenaer, a[229] Eur. Phoen. 1662. Ewald holds 1Co_1:20 to be a citation from a lost book; but we are not necessarily shut up to this conclusion by the γραμματεύς, although the term does not occur elsewhere in Pauls writings, for this exclamation might easily have been suggested to him by the γραμματικοί, of Isa_33:18. The three substantives cannot well be taken as alluding to the synagogal phrases חכם ספר and דרשן (Lightfoot, Vitringa), since Paul was not writing to a purely Jewish-Christian community. Attempts to explain the distinction between them have been made in a variety of ways. But it is to be noted that in what immediately follows τὴν σοφίαν represents all the three ideas put together; that γραμματεύς, again, is always (excepting Act_19:35) used in the N. T. (even in Mat_13:52; Mat_23:34, where the idea is only raised to the Christian sphere) of scribes in the Jewish sense; that the συζητήτης) (Ignat. ad Eph. 18), which is not found in the Greek writers or in the LXX., is most surely interpreted disputant, in accordance with the use of συζητέω (Mar_8:11; Mar_9:14; Luk_24:15; Act_6:9; Act_9:29, al[230]) and ΣΥΖΉΤΗΣΙς (Act_15:2; Act_15:7; Act_28:29); and further, that disputing was especially in vogue among the Sophists (ΟἹ ΟἸΌΜΕΝΟΙ ΠΆΝΤʼ ΕἸΔΈΝΑΙ, Xen. Mem. i. 4. 1). And on these grounds we conclude that σοφός is to be taken of human wisdom in general, as then pursued on the Jewish side by the scribes, and on the Hellenic side by the sophistical disputers, so that, in this view, γραμμ. and ΣΥΖΗΤ. are subordinated to the general ΣΟΦΌς in respect to matters of Jewish and Hellenic pursuit. Many exegetes (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, and others, including Storr, Rosenmüller, Flatt, Billroth) depart from the view now stated in this respect, that they would limit ΣΟΦΌς to the heathen philosophers,[231] which, however, is precluded by the σοφίαν embracing all the three elements (comp also 1Co_1:21). This holds at the same time against Rückert, who finds here only the three most outstanding features in the intellectual character of the Hellenes: cleverness, erudition, and argumentativeness. But 1Co_1:22 shows that Paul is not shutting out the Jewish element; just as his Jewish-Christian readers could see in γραμμ. nothing else than a name for the σοφοί of their people. Schrader, with older expositors (see below), understands by συζητ. an inquirer, and in a perfectly arbitrary way makes it refer partly to the pupils of the great training-schools of Alexandria, Athens, Jerusalem, etc.; partly to the disciples of the apostles and of Jesus Himself. But συζητ. could only denote a fellow-inquirer (comp συζητεῖν in Plat. Men. p. 90 B, Crat. p. 384 C; Diog. L. ii. 22), which would be without pertinence here; while, on the other hand, according to our view, the σύν finds its reference in the notion of disputare.

τοῦ αἰῶν. τούτου] attaches to all the three subjects: who belong to the pre-Messianic period of the world (quod totum est extra sphaeram verbi crucis, Bengel), and are not, like the Christians, set apart by God from the υἱοὶ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου to be members of the Messianic kingdom, in virtue whereof they already, ideally considered, belong to the coming αἰών. Comp 1Co_1:27; Gal_1:4; Col_1:13; Php_3:20; Rom_12:2. Luther and many others take τοῦ αἰῶν. τ. as referring simply to συζητ.; but wrongly, for it gives an essential characteristic of the first two subjects as well. Of those who think thus, some keep the true meaning of αἰὼν οὗτος (as Rückert and Billroth); others render: indagator rerum naturae, physical philosopher (Erasmus, Beza, Drusius, Cornelius a Lapide, Justiniani, Grotius, Clericus, and Valckenaer), which is quite contrary to the invariable sense of αἰὼν οὗτ.

ἐμώρανεν] emphatically put first: made foolish, i.e. from the context, not: He has made it into incapacity of knowledge (Hofmann), which would come in the end to the notion of callousness, but: He has shown it practically to be folly, insaniens sapientia (Hor. Od. i. 34. 2), σοφία ἄσοφος (Clem. Protr. V. p. 56 A), by bringing about, namely, the salvation of believers just through that which to the wise men of this world seemed foolishness, the preaching of the cross. See 1Co_1:21. The more foolish, therefore, this preaching is in their eyes and according to their judgment, the more they themselves are exhibited as fools (as μωρόσοφοι, Lucian, Alex. 40), and put to shame (1Co_1:27), since the κήρυγμα, held by them to be foolish, is that which brings salvation, not indeed to them, but to those who believe; ποία γὰρ σοφία, ὅταν τὸ κεφάλαιον τῶν ἀγαθῶν μὴ εὑρίσκῃ; Chrysostom. Comp Isa_44:25, where μωραίνων is to be taken in precisely the same way as here.

τοῦ κόσμου] i.e. of profane non-Christian humanity, the two halves of which are the Jews and the heathen 1Co_1:22-24.

[229] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.

[230] l. and others; and other passages; and other editions.

[231] In consequence of this, συζητητής has been regarded as comprising the Jewish and heathen dialecticians. See especially Theodoret.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co 1:20 . τοῦ σοφός ; ποῦ γραμματεύς ; and (possibly) ἐμώρανεν … τήν σοφίαν , are also Isaianic allusions to Isa 19:11 f. (mocking the vain wisdom of Pharaoh’s counsellors), and Isa 33:18 (predicting the disappearance of Sennacherib’s revenue clerks and army scouts, as a sign of his defeat). The LXX γραμματικὸς becomes γραμματεύς , in consistence with the sophçr of the latter passage; συνζητητής ( cf. ζητοῦσιν , 1Co 1:22 ), in the third question, is Paul’s addition. γραμματεὺς unmistakably points, in the application, to the Jewish Scribe ( cf. our Lord’s denunciation in Mat 23 ); of the parl [205] terms, σοφὸς is supposed by most moderns to be general , comprehending Jewish and Gr [206] wise men together, συνζητητὴς to be specific to the Gr [207] philosopher a distinction better reversed, as by Lt [208] after the Gr [209] Ff [210] συνζητέω , with its cognates, is employed in the N.T. of Jewish discussions (Act 6:9 ; Act 28:29 , etc.), and the adjunct τ . αἰῶνος τούτου gives to the term its widest scope, whereas σοφός , esp. at Cor [211] , marks the Gr [212] intellectual pride; καλεῖ σοφὸν τὸν τῇ Ἑλληνικῇ στωμυλίᾳ κοσμούμενον (Thd [213] ; cf. Rom 1:23 ). ποῦ σοφός (not ὁ σοφός ); κ . τ . λ .: “Where is a wise man? where a scribe? where a disputer of this age?” These orders of men are swept from the field; all such pretensions disappear ( cf. 1Co 1:29 ) “Did not God make foolish the wisdom of the world?” The world and God are at issue; each counts the other’s wisdom folly ( cf. 1Co 1:18 ; 1Co 1:25 ; 1Co 1:30 ). But God actually turned to foolishness ( infatuavit , Bz [214] : cf. Rom 1:21 f., for μωραίνω ; also Isa 44:25 ) the world’s imagined wisdom: how , 1Co 1:21-25 proceed to show. On αἰὼν see parls., and Ed [215] ’s note; also Trench’s Synon. , lix., and Gm [216] , for the distinction between αἰὼν and κόσμος ; “ αἰών , like sæculum , refers to the prevailing ideas and feelings of the present life, κόσμος to its gross, material character” (Lt [217] ).

[205] parallel.

[206] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[207] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[208] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).

[209] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[210] Fathers.

[211] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.

[212] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.

[213] Theodoret, Greek Commentator.

[214] Beza’s Nov. Testamentum: Interpretatio et Annotationes (Cantab., 1642).

[215] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2

[216] Grimm-Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the N.T.

[217] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Co_1:20

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?

This is a challenge to the wise of every class and of every nation to disprove what he had said. It was too plain to be denied that God had made foolish the wisdom of this world, i.e. he had showed it to be foolish, and dealt with it as such. Among the Jews there were three classes of learned men, distinguished by terms corresponding to those which the apostle here uses. It is not probable, however, that Paul refers to that classification, because he is not speaking specially of the Jews. The first term (σοφός), wise man, is probably to be taken in a general sense including that of the two following words. Where is the wise, whether Jewish scribe or Grecian sophist? The word scribe is the common designation of the learned class among the Jews. It was originally applied to the secretaries whose business it was to prepare and issue decrees in the name of the king (2Sa_8:17; 2Sa_20:25; 2Ki_12:10; 2Ki_19:2). Afterwards, and especially in the New Testament, it was used as the designation of those learned in the law, who were charged not only with its transcription, but also with its exposition, and at times with its administration. The same title was given in many of the Asiatic states to the magistrate who presided over the senate, took charge of the laws, and who read them when necessary to the peoples Act_19:35.

Where is the disputer? (συζητητής) inquirer, questioner, sophist: the appropriate designation of the Grecian philosopher. Of this world, or age. This qualification belongs to all the preceding terms. Where is the wise of this world, whether scribe or sophist?

Charles Hodge — Commentary on Romans (1835), First Corinthians (1857), and Ephesians (1856) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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. Text via Bolls.life.

Where--nowhere; for God "brings them to naught" (Co1 1:19).

the wise--generally.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

20. Where—An exclamation of assumed triumph, as if all these competitors of the cross were nowhere.

The wise—The sophos, the philosoph.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

20. ποῦ σοφός; ποῦ γραμματεύς; ποῦ συνζητητής; i.e. ‘the wise generally, the Jewish scribe, the Greek disputer.’—Dean Alford.

τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. These words, according to De Wette, apply, not to the last of the three substantives, but to all of them. αἰών is rather age than, with A.V., world.

οὐχὶ ἐμώρανεν. Hath not God made foolish? μωραίνω, like περισσεύω and other verbs, is used transitively in N. T., to make up for the absence in Greek of the causative voice, so common in the Hebrew.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20.] See ref. The question implies disappearance and exclusion.

σοφός, the wise, generally: γραμμ., the Jewish scribe [interpreter of the law],—συνζητ., the Greek disputer [arguer] (reff.).

τοῦ αἰῶν. τ. is best taken with the whole three,—of this present (ungodly) world.

ἐμώρανεν] μωρὰν ἔδειξεν οὖσαν πρὸς τὴν τῆς πίστεως κατάληψιν, Chrys.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. ποῦ σοφός; A very free citation from the general sense of Isa 33:18 (cf. 19:12): St Paul adapts the wording to his immediate purpose. The original passage refers to the time following on the disappearance of the Assyrian conqueror, with his staff of clerks, accountants, and takers of inventories, who registered the details of the spoil of a captured city. On the tablet of Shalmaneser in the Assyrian Gallery of the British Museum there is a surprisingly exact picture of the scene described by Isaiah. The marvellous disappearance of the invading host was to Isaiah a signal vindication of Jehovah’s power and care, and also a refutation, not so much of the conqueror’s ‘scribes,’ as of the worldly counsellors at Jerusalem, who had first thought to meet the invader by an alliance with Egypt, or other methods of statecraft, and had then relapsed into demoralized despair. St Paul’s use of the passage, therefore, although very free, is not alien to its historical setting. See further on 2:9 respecting examples of free quotation. For ποῦ; see 15:55; Rom 3:27. The question is asked in a triumphant tone.†

The ‘wise’ is a category more suitable to the Gentile (v. 22), the ‘scribe’ to the Jew, while the ‘disputer’ no doubt suits Greeks, but suits Jews equally well (Act 6:9, Act 9:29, Act 28:29). This allotment of the terms is adopted by Clement of Alexandria and by Theodoret, and is more probable than that of Meyer and Ellicott, which makes σοφός generic, while γραμματεύς is applied to the Jew, and σύζητητής to the Greek. But it is unlikely that St Paul is here making an exact classification, or means any one of the terms to be applied to Jew or Gentile exclusively.

συνζητητής. A ἅπαξ λεγόμενον, excepting Ign. Eph. 18, from this passage.

τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. This is certainly applicable to Jews (see on 2:8), but not to them exclusively (Gal 1:4; Rom 12:2). The phrase is rabbinical, denoting the time before the Messianic age or ‘age to come’ (Luk 18:30, Luk 20:35). This αἰών, the state of things now present, including the ethical and social conditions which are as yet unchanged by the coming of Christ, is fleeting (7:31), and is saturated with low motives and irreligion (2:6; 2Co 4:4; Eph 2:2). As αἰών, “by metonymy of the container for the contained,” denotes the things existing in time, in short the world, ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος may be rendered ‘this world’; hujus saeculi quod totum est extra sphaeram verbi crucis (Beng.). See Grimm-Thayer s.v. αἰών, and the references at the end of the article; also Trench, Syn. § lix. The genitive belongs to all three nouns.

οὐχὶ ἐμώρανεν; Nonne stultam fecit (Vulg.), infatuavit (Tertull. and Beza). Cf. Rom 1:22, Rom 1:23, and Isa 19:11, 44:25, 33. The passage in Romans is an expansion of the thought here. God not only showed the futility of the world’s wisdom, but frustrated it by leaving it to work out its own results, and still more by the power of the Cross, effecting what human wisdom could not do,—not even under the Law (Rom 8:3).

τοῦ κόσμου. Practically synonymous with τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου (2:12, 3:18, 19): but we do not find ὁ κόσμος ὁ μέλλων, for κόσμος is simply the existing universe, and is not always referred to with censure (5:10; Joh 3:16).*

After κόσμου, א3 C3 E F G L, Vulg. Syrr. Copt. add τούτου. א* A B C* D* P 17, Orig. omit. It is doubtless an insertion from the previous clause.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Scribe [γραμματευς] . Always in the New Testament in the Jewish sense, an interpreter of the law, except Act 19:35, the town - clerk.

Disputer [συζητητης] . Only here. Compare the kindred verb suzhtew to question with, Mr 1:27; Luk 22:23; Act 6:9; and suzhthsiv disputation, Act 14:2, 7. Referring to Grecian sophistical reasoners, while scribe refers to rabbinical hair - splitters.

World [αιωνος] . See on Joh 1:9. More correctly, age or period.

Made foolish [εμωρανεν] . Proved it to be practical folly; stupefied it. Compare Rom 1:22. Possibly with a latent suggestion of the judicial power of God to make it foolish.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vv. 20. “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” — This exclamatory form has the same triumphant tone as in the words of Isaiah of which our passage seems to be an imitation (Isa 19:12; Isa 33:18); comp. in Paul himself 1Co 15:55, and Rom 3:27. At the Divine breath the enemy has disappeared from the scene; he is sought for in vain.

Rückert thinks that we should not seek rigorously to distinguish the meaning of the three substantives, that there is here rather a simple rhetorical accumulation. He refers all three to Greek wisdom, with a slight shade of difference in meaning. The emotional tone of the passage might justify this view in any other writer than Paul. But in this apostle every word is always the presentation of a precise idea. The ancient Greek commentators apply the first term, σοφός, wise, to Gentile philosophers; the second, γραμματεύς, scribe, to Jewish doctors; the third, συνζητητής, disputer, to Greek sophists; but, in this sense, the last would be already embraced in the first term. It would therefore be better, with Meyer, to give to the word σοφός a general meaning: the representatives of human wisdom, and to the two last, the more particular sense of Jewish scribe and Greek philosopher. But the term wisdom, applying throughout this whole passage to human wisdom represented by the Greeks (1Co 1:22), I think it more in keeping with the apostle’s thought to apply the first term to Greek philosophers, the second to Jewish scribes,—its ordinary meaning in the New Testament; for that of secretary, Act 19:35, belongs to an altogether special case,—then to unite these two classes in the third term: “those in general who love to dispute,” who seek truth in the way of intellectual discussion, by means either of Greek dialectic or Scripture erudition. — The complement, of this world, refers undoubtedly to the three substantives, and not only to the last.

The word αἰών, age, derived either from ἄω, to breathe, or from ἄει, always, denotes a period. The Jews divided history into a period anterior to the Messiah—this was what they called ὁ αἰὼν οὗτος, this present age—and the period of the Messianic kingdom, which they named ὁ αἰὼν μέλλων, the age to come. But, from the Christian point of view, these two periods are not merely successive; they are partly simultaneous. For the present age still lasts even when the Messiah has appeared, His coming only transforming the actual state of things slowly and gradually. Hence it follows that for believers the two periods are superimposed, as it were, the one above the other, till at length, in consequence of the second and glorious advent of the Messiah, the old gives place entirely to the new.

The second question explains the first. How have the wise of the world thus disappeared? By the way of salvation which God gives to be preached and which has the effect of bringing human wisdom to despair.

The verb ἐμώρανεν is usually taken in a declarative sense: “By putting wisdom aside in the most important affair of human life, God has ipso facto declared it foolish.” But this verb has a more active sense, Rom 1:22; it would require, therefore, at the least to be explained thus: “He has treated it as foolish, by taking no account of its demands.” But should there not be given to it a more effective meaning still? “He has, as it were, befooled wisdom. By presenting to it a wholly irrational salvation, He has put it into the condition of revolting against the means chosen by Him, and by declaring them absurd, becoming itself foolish.” The complement, of the world, is not absolutely synonymous with the preceding term, of this age: the latter referred rather to the time,—the wisdom of the epoch anterior to the Messiah; the term world bears rather on the nature of this wisdom,—that which proceeds from humanity apart from God.

But it is asked why God chose to treat human wisdom so rudely. Did He wish to extinguish the torch of reason which He had Himself lighted? 1Co 1:21 answers this question; it explains the ground of the judgment which God visits on human reason, by the irrational nature of the gospel; to wit, that in the period anterior to the coming of Christ, reason had been unfaithful to its mission.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.