1 Corinthians 1:26

Amplified Bible

Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
Brothers and sisters, God chose you to be his. Think about that! Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence, and not many of you came from important families.

Revised Standard Version
For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Brethren loke on youre callinge how that not many wyse men after the flesshe not many myghty not many of hye degre are called:

Hebrew Names Version
For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;

International Standard Version
Brothers, think about your own calling. Not many of you were wise by human standards,according to the flesh">[fn] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.John 7:48;">[xr]

New American Standard Bible
For consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

New Century Version
Brothers and sisters, look at what you were when God called you. Not many of you were wise in the way the world judges wisdom. Not many of you had great influence. Not many of you came from important families.

Update Bible Version
For look at your calling, brothers, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]:

Webster's Bible Translation
For ye see your calling, brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble [are called]:

English Standard Version
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

World English Bible
For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Behold your calling brethren: that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called:

Weymouth's New Testament
For consider, brethren, God's call to you. Not many who are wise with merely human wisdom, not many of position and influence, not many of noble birth have been called.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But, britheren, se ye youre clepyng; for not many wise men aftir the fleisch, not many myyti, not many noble.

English Revised Version
For behold your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called]:

Berean Standard Bible
Brothers, consider the time of your calling: Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were powerful; not many were of noble birth.

Contemporary English Version
My dear friends, remember what you were when God chose you. The people of this world didn't think that many of you were wise. Only a few of you were in places of power, and not many of you came from important families.

American Standard Version
For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Bible in Basic English
For you see God's design for you, my brothers, that he has not taken a great number of the wise after the flesh, not the strong, not the noble:

Complete Jewish Bible
Just look at yourselves, brothers — look at those whom God has called! Not many of you are wise by the world's standards, not many wield power or boast noble birth.

Darby Translation
For consider your calling, brethren, that [there are] not many wise according to flesh, not many powerful, not many high-born.

Etheridge Translation
26 For you see also your calling, my brethren, that not many among you are wise after the flesh, and not many among you are powerful, and not many among you are of noble birth; [fn]

Murdock Translation
For look also at your calling, my Brethren; that not many among you are wise, according to the flesh; and not many among you are mighty, and not many among you are of high birth.

King James Version (1611)
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

New Living Translation
Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you.

New Life Bible
Christian brothers, think who you were when the Lord called you. Not many of you were wise or powerful or born into the family of leaders of a country.

New Revised Standard
Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For brethren, you see your calling, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

George Lamsa Translation
For consider also your own calling, my brethren, not many among you are wise in terms of worldly things, and not many among you are mighty, and not many among you belong to the nobility.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For be looking at the calling of you, brethren, - that there were not many wise, according to flesh. Not many powerful, not many high-born:

Douay-Rheims Bible
For see your vocation, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Brethren, ye see your callyng, howe that not many wise men after the fleshe, not many myghtie, not many noble [are called.]

Good News Translation
Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing.

Christian Standard Bible®
Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth.

King James Version
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

Lexham English Bible
For consider your calling, brothers, that not many were wise according to human standards, not many were powerful, not many were well born.

Literal Translation
For you see your calling, brothers, that there are not many wise according to flesh, nor many powerful, not many wellborn.

Young's Literal Translation
for see your calling, brethren, that not many [are] wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Brethren loke on youre callinge, how that not many wyseme after the flesh, not many mightie, not many of hye degre are called:

Mace New Testament (1729)
for consider, brethren, that not many worldly wise, not many men of power, not many men of birth are among you that are called.

THE MESSAGE
Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God."

New English Translation
Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position.

New King James Version
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Don't forget cowboys, there were very few of you who were considered wise by worldly standards or thought to be rich and powerful. But then God got ahold of you.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

Legacy Standard Bible
For consider your calling, brothers, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be made ineffective [deprived of its saving power]. ¹⁸For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God's grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written and forever remains written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE [the philosophy of the philosophers], AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER [who do not know Me] I WILL NULLIFY." ²⁰Where is the wise man (philosopher)? Where is the scribe (scholar)? Where is the debater (logician, orator) of this age? Has God not exposed the foolishness of this world's wisdom? ²¹For since the world through all its [earthly] wisdom failed to recognize God, God in His wisdom was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached [regarding salvation] to save those who believe [in Christ and welcome Him as Savior]. ²²For Jews demand signs (attesting miracles), and Greeks pursue [worldly] wisdom and philosophy, ²³but we preach Christ crucified, [a message which is] to Jews a stumbling block [that provokes their opposition], and to Gentiles foolishness [just utter nonsense], ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles), Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵[This is] because the foolishness of God [is not foolishness at all and] is wiser than men [far beyond human comprehension], and the weakness of God is stronger than men [far beyond the limits of human effort]. ²⁶Just look at your own calling, believers; not many [of you were considered] wise according to human standards, not many powerful or influential, not many of high and noble birth.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

that: 1 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Corinthians 2:3-6, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 3:18-20, Zephaniah 3:12, Matthew 11:25, Matthew 11:26, Luke 10:21, John 7:47-49, James 3:13-17

not many mighty: Luke 1:3,*Gr: Luke 18:24, Luke 18:25, John 4:46-53, John 19:38, John 19:39, Acts 13:7, Acts 13:12, Acts 17:34, Philippians 4:22, James 1:9-11, James 2:5, 2 John 1:1

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 5:4 - and told his lord Nehemiah 3:5 - their nobles Job 32:9 - Great Job 37:24 - he Ecclesiastes 9:16 - the poor Isaiah 23:9 - bring Isaiah 26:6 - General Isaiah 29:19 - the poor Isaiah 41:9 - called Jeremiah 8:9 - The wise men are Zechariah 12:7 - save Matthew 19:23 - That Mark 10:23 - How Luke 1:48 - regarded Luke 1:53 - and Luke 6:20 - Blessed Acts 5:38 - for Acts 13:50 - honourable Acts 17:12 - honourable Romans 9:16 - General 1 Corinthians 2:8 - none 1 Corinthians 4:10 - are fools

Cross-References

Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:4
God saw that the light was good (pleasing, useful) and He affirmed and sustained it; and God separated the light [distinguishing it] from the darkness.

Genesis 1:6
And God said, "Let there be an expanse [of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters [below the expanse] from the waters [above the expanse]."

Genesis 1:8
God called the expanse [of sky] heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Genesis 1:9
Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place [of standing, pooling together], and let the dry land appear"; and it was so.

Genesis 1:20
Then God said, "Let the waters swarm and abundantly produce living creatures, and let birds soar above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

Genesis 1:24
Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to (limited to, consistent with) their kind: livestock, crawling things, and wild animals of the earth according to their kinds"; and it was so [because He had spoken them into creation].

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them [granting them certain authority] and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subjugate it [putting it under your power]; and rule over (dominate) the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every living thing that moves upon the earth."

Genesis 1:29
So God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

Genesis 3:22
And the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever"—

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For ye see your calling, brethren,.... That is, those that were called by the grace of God among them; for as circumcision and uncircumcision stand for circumcised and uncircumcised persons, and election for elect persons, and righteousness for righteous persons, Romans 3:30 so here "calling" designs men called by grace; the manner of whose calling, and what sort of persons they were, the apostle signifies, they did or might, or ought, to see, observe, and consider; for respect is here had, not, as some have thought, to the first preachers of the Gospel, who were mechanics, fishermen, illiterate persons, very mean and despicable; but to the members of the church at Corinth, whether public preachers, or private members. The city of Corinth had in it many noble families, of high birth and quality, abounded with learned philosophers and rich merchants; and yet it was easy to be seen,

how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. The apostle does not say that there were none of the wise, the mighty, and noble called; for there were Crispus, and Sosthenes, rulers of the synagogue, and Gains a rich hospitable man, and Erastus the chamberlain of the city, and it may be some others of a like or better figure in life; but there were not many of them; instances of this kind are but few recorded in the Scripture; as Joseph of Arimathea a rich counsellor, Paulus Sergius a Roman deputy, Dionysius the Areopagite, and some in Caesar's palace; which show that nobility, riches, and learning, as they do not at all contribute towards a man's salvation, so neither can they hinder it where grace takes place; but, generally speaking, God has thought fit, for wise reasons, to choose and call persons of different characters.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For ye see your calling - You know the general character and condition of those who are Christians among you, that they have not been generally taken from the wise, the rich, and the learned, but from humble life. The design of the apostle here is, to show that the gospel did not depend for its success on human wisdom. His argument is, that “in fact” those who were blessed by it had not been of the elevated ranks of life mainly, but that God had shown his power by choosing those who were ignorant, and vicious, and abandoned, and by reforming and purifying their lives. The verb “ye see” βλέπετε blepete, is ambiguous, and may be either in the indicative mood, as our translators have rendered it, “ye do see; you are well apprised of it, and know it,” or it may be in the imperative, “see; contemplate your condition;” but the sense is substantially the same. “Your calling” (τὴν κλῆσιν tēn klēsin) means “those who are called” 1 Corinthians 1:9; as “the circumcision” means those who are circumcised. Romans 3:30. The sense is, “took upon the condition of those who are Christians.”

Not many wise men - Not many who are regarded as wise; or who are ranked with philosophers. This supposes that there were some of that description, though the mass of Christians were then, as now, from more humble ranks of life. That there were some of high rank and wealth at Corinth who became Christians, is well known. Crispus and Sosthenes, rulers of the synagogue there (Acts 28:8, Acts 28:17; Compare 1 Corinthians 1:1); Gaius, a rich, hospitable man Romans 16:23; and Erastus the chancellor of the city of Corinth Romans 16:23, had been converted and were members of the church. Some have supposed (“Macknight”) that this should be rendered “not many mighty, wise, etc. ‘call you;’ that is, God has not employed the wise and the learned ‘to call’ you into his kingdom.” But the sense in our translation is evidently the correct interpretation. It is the obvious sense; and it agrees with the design of the apostle, which was to show that God had not consulted the wisdom, and power, and wealth of men in the establishment of his church. So the Syriac and the Vulgate render it.

According to the flesh - According to the maxims and principles of a sensual and worldly policy; according to the views of people when under the influence of those principles; that is, who are unrenewed. The flesh here stands opposed to the spirit; the views of the people of this world in contradistinction from the wisdom that is from above.

Not many mighty - Not many people of power; or men sustaining important “offices” in the state. Comp, Revelation 6:15. The word may refer to those who wield power of any kind, whether derived from office, from rank, from wealth, etc.

Not many noble - Not many of illustrious birth, or descended from illustrious families - εὐγενεῖς eugeneis, “well-born.” In respect to each of these classes, the apostle does not say that there were no men of wealth, and power, and birth, but that the mass or body of Christians was not composed of such. They were made up of those who were in humble life. There were a few, indeed, of rank and property, as there are now; but then, as now, the great mass was composed of those who were from the lower conditions of society. The reason why God had chosen his people from that rank is stated in 1 Corinthians 1:29. The character of many of those who composed the church at Corinth before the conversion, is stated in 1 Corinthians 6:10-11, which see.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 26. Ye see your calling — την κλησιν. The state of grace and blessedness to which ye are invited. I think, βλεπετε την κλησιν, c., should be read in the imperative: Take heed to, or consider your calling, brethren that (οτι) not many of you are wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble: men is not in the original, and Paul seems to allude to the Corinthian believers in particular. This seems to have been said in opposition to the high and worldly notions of the Jews, who assert that the Divine Spirit never rests upon any man, unless he be wise, powerful, and rich. Now this Divine Spirit did rest upon the Christians at Corinth, and yet these were, in the sense of the world, neither wise, rich, nor noble. We spoil, if not corrupt the apostle's meaning, by adding are called, as if God did not send his Gospel to the wise, the powerful, and the noble, or did not will their salvation. The truth is, the Gospel has an equal call to all classes of men; but the wise, the mighty, and the noble, are too busy, or too sensual, to pay any attention to an invitation so spiritual and so Divine; and therefore there are few of these in the Church of Christ in general.