1 Corinthians 1:25

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

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

Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Because	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
foolishness	μωρὸν mōron	G3474	dull or stupid (as if shut up) · adjective — nominative singular neuter
God	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
wiser	σοφώτερον sophōteron	G4680	wise (in a most general application) · adjective — nominative singular neuter, comparative
men	ἀνθρώπων anthrōpōn	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — genitive plural masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
weakness	ἀσθενὲς asthenes	G772	strengthless (in various applications · adjective — nominative singular neuter
God	θεοῦ theou	G2316	figuratively · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
is	ἐστί estí	G2076	he (she or it) is
stronger	ἰσχυρότερον ischuroteron	G2478	forcible (literally or figuratively) · adjective — nominative singular neuter, comparative
men	ἀνθρώπων anthrōpōn	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — 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

Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Zechariah 4:6-7 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spir…
2 Corinthians 13:4 For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by…
Judges 7:2-8 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt…
Zechariah 12:7-8 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not…
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the t…
Exodus 14:2-4 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon: befor…

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 1:25

foolishness of God--that is, God's plan of salvation which men deem "foolishness." weakness of God--Christ "crucified through weakness" (Co2 13:4, the great stumbling-block of the Jews), yet "living by the power of God." So He perfects strength out of the weakness of His servants (Co1 2:3; Co2 12:9).

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:25

The foolishness of God is wiser, etc. - The meaning of these strong expressions is, that the things of God's appointment, which seem to men foolishness, are infinitely beyond the highest degree of human wisdom; and those works of God, which appear to superficial observers weak and contemptible, surpass all the efforts of human power. The means which God has appointed for the salvation of men are so wisely imagined and so energetically powerful, that all who properly use them shall be infallibly brought to the end - final blessedness, which he has promised to them who believe and obey.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:25

Because the foolishness of God,.... Not that there is any such thing as "foolishness" in God, nor the least degree of weakness in him; but the apostle means that which the men of the world esteem so, and therefore, by an ironical concession, calls it by those names; by which is intended either Christ, who, as crucified, is counted foolishness; yet he "is wiser than men": yea, even than Solomon, who was wiser than all men besides; Christ is greater than he in wisdom, having all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in him; yea, in redemption by the blood of his cross, which is accounted such an egregious instance of folly, there is such a display of wisdom as surpasses all the wisdom of men a…

The Church Fathers

There is no way that this gospel truth could have been made acceptable to some philosophers and debaters. They follow a way of life that does not stand in the truth but is only an imitation of it. They deceived themselves and others.
— Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 120, TO CONSENTIUS

The Apostle Paul considered Him as one "of no reputation", and the crucifiers considered Him to lack understanding, and His enemies accounted Him to be without knowledge and intelligence, and concerning Jesus Paul spake against them, "The foolishness of God is wiser than the children of men."
— Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 5 -- Second Discourse on Simplicity

Moreover, having the spirit of the world, and "in the wisdom of God by wisdom knowing not God," they seem to themselves to be wiser than God; because, as the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God, so also the wisdom of God is folly in the world's esteem. We, however, know that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Accordingly, God is then especially great, when He is small to man; then especially good, when not good in man's judgment; then especially unique, when He seems to man to be two or more.
— Tertullian, Against Marcion Book II

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.…
Boasting · SPIRITUAL — SPIRITUAL
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 1:25

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:25

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:25

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 1:25

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 1:17–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 1:25

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 1:25

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 1:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 1:21-25

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 1:25