English · KJV

1 Corinthians 1

Listen to this chapter
0:00 0:00

Salutation and Authorship 1–3

1
Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, ​
2
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: ​
3
Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving for Spiritual Gifts 4–9

4
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; ​
5
That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; ​
6
Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
7
So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: ​
8
Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. ​

Plea for Unity and Against Divisions 10–17

10
Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ​
11
For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. ​
12
Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. ​
13
Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? ​
14
I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; ​
15
Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.
16
And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
17
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. ​

The Cross: God's Power, Human Foolishness 18–25

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. ​
19
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ​
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? ​
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. ​
22
For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: ​
23
But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; ​
24
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. ​
25
Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

God Chooses the Weak and Lowly 26–31

26
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: ​
27
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 things which are mighty; ​
28
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29
That no flesh should glory in his presence. ​
30
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: ​
31
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Corinthians 1

Verse 1

called to be an apostle… through the will of God — Kletos, called, and apostolos, one sent; the call is 'through the will' (thelema) of God, not Paul's own choice, as in 2 Cor 1:1, 'an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God'. The co-sender 'Sosthenes our brother' is named as 'Timothy our brother' is in 2 Cor 1:1.

Verse 2

sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints — Hagiazo, made holy, and hagios, holy: Paul names the Corinthians holy before he rebukes them, 'And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified' (6:11). 'Call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord' gives the Lord the invocation of Joel 2:32, 'whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD' (Rom 10:13).

Verse 4

the grace of God which is given you — Eucharisteo, to give thanks. Charis, grace, has its related word in charisma, 'gift', in v.7: the grace given by Jesus Christ shows itself in gifts. The thanksgiving of vv.4–9 stands first, before the reproof of v.10. Compare 'First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all' (Rom 1:8).

Verse 5

enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge — Ploutizo, to make rich. 'Utterance' is logos, speech, and 'knowledge' is gnosis; Paul names the same pair at 2 Cor 8:7, 'faith, and utterance, and knowledge'. They return among the gifts ('the word of wisdom… the word of knowledge', 12:8), and 'Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth' (8:1).

Verse 7

come behind in no gift — Hustereo, to lack, the verb of Rom 3:23, 'come short'. 'Gift' is charisma (see v.4). 'Waiting for' is apekdechomai, to wait eagerly (also Rom 8:19; Phil 3:20; Heb 9:28), and 'the coming' is literally apokalypsis, the unveiling, of 'our Lord Jesus Christ'.

Verse 9

God is faithful — Pistos, trustworthy. The faithfulness stands behind the call: 'Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it' (1 Thess 5:24), and 'God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able' (10:13). 'Fellowship' (koinonia) is joint share in the Son; compare 1 John 1:3.

Verse 10

perfectly joined together — Katartizo, to mend or restore to fitness, the verb for 'mending their nets' (Matt 4:21). 'Divisions' is schisma, a tear, the word of 'no schism in the body' (12:25). The appeal is made 'by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ', the name they call upon (v.2).

Verse 11

the house of Chloe — Paul names his informants, the household of Chloe, who is mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament. 'Declared' (deloo) is made plain. 'Contentions' is eris, strife; it recurs in 3:3, 'there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions'. The report of v.12 is the specific charge.

Verse 12

I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ — Apollos, 'an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures' (Acts 18:24), had been at Corinth (Acts 19:1). Cephas is Peter, whose name Christ gave: 'Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone' (John 1:42). Paul returns to the parties in 3:4–6, 21.

Verse 13

Is Christ divided? — Merizo, to part or share out: Christ cannot be portioned among parties. Baptism was 'in the name' of the Lord, as in 'baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost' (Matt 28:19; Acts 19:5). 'Was Paul crucified for you?' keeps the cross for Christ alone; 'One Lord, one faith, one baptism' (Eph 4:5).

Verse 14

Crispus and Gaius — 'Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house' (Acts 18:8). The reason for Paul's thanks follows in v.15, 'Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name', and v.16 adds the household of Stephanas.

Verse 17

the cross of Christ should be made of none effect — 'Sent' is apostello, the root of 'apostle' in v.1. Kenoo, 'made of none effect', is to empty, the verb of Rom 4:14, 'faith is made void', and of Christ who 'made himself of no reputation' (Phil 2:7). Eloquence could empty the cross; Paul says the same in 2:1, 4.

Verse 18

the preaching of the cross — Logos, the word of the cross. 'Perish' (apollymi) is the verb of v.19, 'I will destroy', and 'foolishness' (moria) is the word of v.23. To 'us which are saved' it is 'the power of God' (dunamis), as in 'the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth' (Rom 1:16).

Verse 19

I will destroy the wisdom of the wise — Quoted from Isa 29:14: 'the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.' The verb 'destroy' is the one rendered 'perish' in v.18. 'Bring to nothing' is atheteo, to set aside as of no account.

Verse 20

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? — The questions echo Isa 33:18, 'Where is the scribe? where is the receiver?' 'Disputer' (syzetetes) occurs only here. 'World' is aion, the age, as in 'this present evil world' (Gal 1:4). 'Made foolish' (moraino) shares its root with 'foolishness' in vv.18, 21, 23.

Verse 21

the world by wisdom knew not God — The world had the witness of creation, 'the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen' (Rom 1:20), yet 'Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools' (1:22). 'The foolishness of preaching' is the thing preached, the kerygma; God was pleased to save 'them that believe'. See Matt 11:25.

Verse 22

the Jews require a sign — Semeion. 'Require' is aiteo, to ask for. The scribes and Pharisees asked, 'we would see a sign from thee' (Matt 12:38), and the Pharisees with the Sadducees 'desired him that he would shew them a sign' (16:1). 'The Greeks seek after wisdom' is borne out at Athens, where philosophers 'encountered him' (Acts 17:18–21). Both asks are answered in v.24.

Verse 23

Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock — Skandalon, the trap-stick of a snare. 'Crucified' is a perfect participle: Christ as the crucified one, the fact remaining. 'He that is hanged is accursed of God' (Deut 21:23; Gal 3:13) was the Jewish offence, and Isaiah's 'stone of stumbling and… rock of offence' (Isa 8:14; 1 Pet 2:8) foretold it.

Verse 24

them which are called — Kletos, the word of vv.1–2: the called, 'both Jews and Greeks'. The called receive what each group was asking for: the sign of v.22 as 'the power of God' (dunamis) and the wisdom of v.22 as 'the wisdom of God'. 'Whom he called, them he also justified' (Rom 8:30).

Verse 26

not many wise men after the flesh — Paul says 'not many', not 'none'. Klesis, 'calling', is of one root with kletos, 'called', in vv.1–2. 'After the flesh' is kata sarka, by human measure. God's choice runs the other way: 'Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?' (Jas 2:5).

Verse 27

God hath chosen the foolish things of the world — Eklegomai, to choose out, twice in the verse. 'Foolish things' (moros) and 'weak things' (asthenes) are the very terms of the world's judgment. 'Confound' is kataischyno, to put to shame. Matt 11:25 gives the same pattern: the Father 'hid these things from the wise and prudent'.

Verse 29

no flesh should glory in his presence — 'Glory' is kauchaomai, the verb behind the 'boasting' (kauchesis) that 'is excluded' in Rom 3:27, and 'flesh' is the word of 'no flesh be justified' (Rom 3:20). 'In his presence' (enopion) is before God. Compare 'Not of works, lest any man should boast' (Eph 2:9).

Verse 30

wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption — Four things 'of God' are 'made unto us' in Christ, and wisdom heads the list, answering vv.18–25. Sanctification (hagiasmos) is the holiness of v.2; redemption (apolytrosis) is 'the redemption that is in Christ Jesus' (Rom 3:24); righteousness is dikaiosyne, as in Rom 3:21–22.

Verse 31

He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord — The citation is Jer 9:23–24: 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might… But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD.' Paul repeats it at 2 Cor 10:17. 'Glorieth' is the verb of v.29.