1 Corinthians 1:18-21

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.” ¹  1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? ²  Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish? 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.

1 Corinthians 4:10

4:10 We are fools for Christ, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, we are dishonored!

1 Corinthians 8:1-2

Food Sacrificed to Idols

8:1 With regard to food sacrificed to idols, we know that “we all have knowledge.” ³  Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 8:2 If someone thinks he knows something, he does not yet know to the degree that he needs to know.

Proverbs 3:5

3:5 Trust ⁴  in the Lord with all your heart, ⁵ 

and do not rely ⁶  on your own understanding. ⁷ 

Proverbs 3:7

3:7 Do not be wise in your own estimation; ⁸ 

fear the Lord and turn away from evil. ⁹ 

Proverbs 26:12

26:12 Do you see ¹⁰  a man wise in his own eyes? ¹¹ 

There is more hope for a fool ¹²  than for him.

Isaiah 5:21

5:21 Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, ¹³ 

those who think they possess understanding. ¹⁴ 

Jeremiah 8:8

8:8 How can you say, “We are wise!

We have the law of the Lord”?

The truth is, ¹⁵  those who teach it ¹⁶  have used their writings

to make it say what it does not really mean. ¹⁷ 

Romans 11:25

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ¹⁸  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ¹⁹  until the full number ²⁰  of the Gentiles has come in.

Romans 12:16

12:16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. ²¹  Do not be conceited. ²² 

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

[1:20]  ² 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.

[8:1]  ³ sn “We all have knowledge.” Here and in v. 4 Paul cites certain slogans the Corinthians apparently used to justify their behavior (cf. 6:12-13; 7:1; 10:23). Paul agrees with the slogans in part, but corrects them to show how the Corinthians have misused these ideas.

[3:5]  ⁴ sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

[3:5]  ⁵ sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

[3:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

[3:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “in your own eyes” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.”

[3:7]  ⁹ sn The second colon clarifies the first. If one fears the Lord and turns away from evil, then he is depending on the Lord and not wise in his own eyes. There is a higher source of wisdom than human insight.

[26:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verse simply uses a perfect tense. The meaning of the verse would be the same if this were interpreted as an affirmation rather than as an interrogative. The first line calls such a person to one’s attention.

[26:12]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in his own eyes” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[26:12]  ¹² sn Previous passages in the book of Proverbs all but deny the possibility of hope for the fool. So this proverb is saying there is absolutely no hope for the self-conceited person, and there might be a slight hope for the fool – he may yet figure out that he really is a fool.

[5:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “Woe [to] the wise in their own eyes.” See the note at v. 8.

[5:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[who] before their faces are understanding.”

[8:8]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Surely, behold!”

[8:8]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the scribes.”

[8:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “The lying pen of the scribes have made [it] into a lie.” The translation is an attempt to make the most common interpretation of this passage understandable for the average reader. This is, however, a difficult passage whose interpretation is greatly debated and whose syntax is capable of other interpretations. The interpretation of the NJPS, “Assuredly, for naught has the pen labored, for naught the scribes,” surely deserves consideration within the context; i.e. it hasn’t done any good for the scribes to produce a reliable copy of the law, which the people have refused to follow. That interpretation has the advantage of explaining the absence of an object for the verb “make” or “labored” but creates a very unbalanced poetic couplet.

[11:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ²⁰ tn Grk “fullness.”

[12:16]  ²¹ tn Or “but give yourselves to menial tasks.” The translation depends on whether one takes the adjective “lowly” as masculine or neuter.

[12:16]  ²² tn Grk “Do not be wise in your thinking.”