1 Corinthians 1:19

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
For	γάρ· gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
written	γέγραπται gegraptai	G1125	to "grave" · verb — perfect passive indicative, 3rd person singular
destroy	ἀπολῶ apolō	G622	to destroy fully (reflexively · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
wisdom	σοφίαν sophian	G4678	wisdom (higher or lower · noun — accusative singular feminine
wise	σοφῶν, sophōn	G4680	wise (in a most general application) · adjective — genitive plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
nothing	ἀθετήσω. athetēsō	G114	to set aside · verb — future active indicative, 1st person singular
understanding	σύνεσιν sunesin	G4907	a mental putting together · noun — accusative singular feminine
prudent	συνετῶν sunetōn	G4908	mentally put (or putting) together · adjective — genitive plural masculine

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 29:14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wi…
Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Job 5:12-13 He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
Isaiah 19:11 Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the so…
Isaiah 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to th…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:17–end

We have here, I. The manner in which Paul preached the gospel, and the cross of Christ: Not with the wisdom of words (Co1 1:17), the enticing words of man's wisdom (Co1 2:4), the flourish of oratory, or the accuracies of philosophical language, upon which the Greeks so much prided themselves, and which seem to have been the peculiar recommendations of some of the heads of the faction in this church that most opposed this apostle. He did not preach the gospel in this manner, lest the cross of Christ should be of no effect, lest the success should be ascribed to the force of art, and not of truth; not to the plain doctrine of a crucified Jesus, but to the powerful oratory of those who spread i…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:19

I will destroy--slightly altered from the Septuagint, Isa 29:14. The Hebrew is, "The wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." Paul by inspiration gives the sense of the Spirit, by making GOD the cause of their wisdom perishing, &c., "I will destroy," &c. understanding of the prudent--literally, "of the understanding ones."

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:19

For it is written - The place referred to is Isa 29:14. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise - Των σοφων, Of wise men - of the philosophers who in their investigations seek nothing less than God, and whose highest discoveries amount to nothing in comparison of the grand truths relative to God, the invisible world, and the true end of man, which the Gospel has brought to light. Let me add, that the very discoveries which are really useful have been made by men who feared God, and conscientiously credited Divine revelation: witness Newton, Boyle, Pascal, and many others. But all the skeptics and deists, by their schemes of natural religion and morality, have not been able to save one soul! No…

Read the whole note in the console

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:19

The Church Fathers

"For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent will I reject." Nothing from himself which might give offence, does he advance up to this point; but first he comes to the testimony of the Scripture, and then furnished with boldness from thence, adopts more vehement words.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 4

Paul speaks about the wisdom of this world and not merely the eloquence, for God has given it also. It was God who divided the languages and gave each one its own character. It was he who gave the Greek language its splendor. But those who abuse these gifts have prepared food for deception and have preached false tales. What Paul objects to is not their eloquence as such but the false teaching which lies behind it.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 170-71

And of such it is said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise: I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." The apostle accordingly adds, "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?" setting in contradistinction to the scribes, the disputers of this world, the philosophers of the Gentiles. "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" which is equivalent to, showed it to be foolish, and not true, as they thought.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Corinthians, First Epistle to the — Was written from Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:8) about the time of the Passover in the third year of the apostle’s sojourn there (Acts 19:10; 20:31), and when he had formed the purpose to visit Macedonia, and…
Revelation of Christ — The second advent of Christ. Three different Greek words are used by the apostles to express this, (1) apokalupsis (1 Cor. 1;7; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7, 13); (2) parousia (Matt. 24:3, 27; 1 Thess.…
Wise, wisdom — A moral rather than an intellectual quality. To be “foolish” is to be godless (Ps. 14:1; comp. Judg. 19:23; 2 Sam. 13:13). True wisdom is a gift from God to those who ask it (Job 28:12-28; Prov.…
Boasting · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
Philosophy · Employment of, was not Paul’s method of preaching the gospel — Employment of, was not Paul’s method of preaching the gospel
Prudence · Of the wicked: Defeated by God — Of the wicked: Defeated by God
Reasoning · The gospel — The gospel

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 1:19

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:19

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:19

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 1:19

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:19

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:19

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:19

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 1:14-20

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 1:19