1 Corinthians 1:1-3

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹  called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus ²  by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, 1:2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, ³  to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. ⁴  1:3 Grace and peace to you ⁵  from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians 1:18-20

The Message of the Cross

1:18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1:19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” ⁶  1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? ⁷  Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?

1 Corinthians 1:26-28

1:26 Think about the circumstances of your call, ⁸  brothers and sisters. ⁹  Not many were wise by human standards, ¹⁰  not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. ¹¹  1:27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 1:28 God chose ¹²  what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something,

[1:1]  ¹ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “From” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ² tc Many important mss, as well as several others (א A Ψ 1739 1881 Ï sy), have a reversed order of these words and read “Jesus Christ” rather than “Christ Jesus” (Ì⁴⁶ B D F G 33 it). The meaning is not affected in either case, but the reading “Christ Jesus” is preferred both because it has somewhat better attestation and because it is slightly more difficult and thus more likely the original (a scribe who found it would be prone to change it to the more common expression). At the same time, Paul is fond of the order “Christ Jesus.” As well, the later Pauline letters almost uniformly use this order in the salutations. Thus, on both external and internal grounds, “Christ Jesus” is the preferred reading here.

[1:2]  ³ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[1:2]  ⁴ tn Grk “theirs and ours.”

[1:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:19]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 29:14.

[1:20]  ⁷ tn Grk “the scribe.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the Mosaic law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[1:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “Think about your calling.” “Calling” in Paul’s writings usually refers to God’s work of drawing people to faith in Christ. The following verses show that “calling” here stands by metonymy for their circumstances when they became Christians, leading to the translation “the circumstances of your call.”

[1:26]  ⁹ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.

[1:26]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “according to the flesh.”

[1:26]  ¹¹ tn The Greek word ευγενής (eugenh") refers to the status of being born into nobility, wealth, or power with an emphasis on the privileges and benefits that come with that position.

[1:28]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.