1 Corinthians 1:21

Easy-to-Read Version

This is what God in his wisdom decided: Since the world did not find him through its own wisdom, he used the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe it.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached.

King James Version (1611)
For after that, in the wisedom of God, the world by wisedome knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preaching, to saue them that beleeue.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

New American Standard Bible
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

New Century Version
In the wisdom of God the world did not know God through its own wisdom. So God chose to use the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe.

Amplified Bible
For 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].

New American Standard Bible (1995)
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

Legacy Standard Bible
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

Berean Standard Bible
For since in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know Him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

Contemporary English Version
God was wise and decided not to let the people of this world use their wisdom to learn about him. Instead, God chose to save only those who believe the foolish message we preach.

Complete Jewish Bible
For God's wisdom ordained that the world, using its own wisdom, would not come to know him. Therefore God decided to use the "nonsense" of what we proclaim as his means of saving those who come to trust in it.

Darby Translation
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom has not known God, God has been pleased by the foolishness of the preaching to save those that believe.

Geneva Bible (1587)
For seeing the worlde by wisedome knewe not God in the wisedome of GOD, it pleased God by the foolishnesse of preaching to saue them that beleeue:

George Lamsa Translation
Because all the wisdom which God had given was not sufficient for the world to know God, it pleased God to save those who believe by the simple gospel.

Good News Translation
For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called "foolish" message we preach, God decided to save those who believe.

Lexham English Bible
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.

Literal Translation
For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save the ones believing.

American Standard Version
For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

Bible in Basic English
For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him.

Hebrew Names Version
For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

International Standard Version
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God decided through the nonsense of our preaching to save those who believe.Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21; Romans 1:20-21,28;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
For inasmuch as in the wisdom of Aloha, the world by wisdom hath not known Aloha, it hath pleased Aloha, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them who believe.

Murdock Translation
For in the wisdom of God, because the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching, to quicken them who believe.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For after that the world through wisedome knewe not God, in the wisedome of God: it pleased God through foolishnesse of preachyng to saue them that beleue.

English Revised Version
For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.

World English Bible
For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For since, 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.

Weymouth's New Testament
For after the world by its wisdom--as God in His wisdom had ordained--had failed to gain the knowledge of God, God was pleased, by the apparent foolishness of the Message which we preach, to save those who accepted it.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For the world in wisdom of God knewe not God bi wisdom, it pleside to God, bi foli of prechyng, `to maken hem saaf that bileueden.

Update Bible Version
For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those that believe.

Webster's Bible Translation
For when 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.

New English Translation
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.

New King James Version
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

New Living Translation
Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.

New Life Bible
In His wisdom, He did not allow man to come to know Him through the wisdom of this world. It pleased God to save men from the punishment of their sins through preaching the Good News. This preaching sounds foolish.

New Revised Standard
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, seeing that, in the wisdom of God, the world, through its wisdom, did not get to knew God, God was well-pleased - through the foolishness of the thing proclaimed, to save them that believe.

Douay-Rheims Bible
For, seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God, it pleased God, by the foolishness of our preaching, to save them that believe.

Revised Standard Version
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Hath not God made the wysdome of this worlde folisshnes? For when the worlde thorow wysdome knew not God in ye wysdome of God: it pleased God thorow folisshnes of preachinge to save them yt beleve.

Young's Literal Translation
for, seeing in the wisdom of God the world through the wisdom knew not God, it did please God through the foolishness of the preaching to save those believing.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Hath not God made the wyssdome of this worlde foolishnesse? For in so moch as the worlde by the wyssdome therof knewe not God in his wyssdome, it pleased God thorow foolish preachinge to saue them yt beleue.

Mace New Testament (1729)
for whereas the world, with all their learning, did not distinguish the characters of his divine wisdom, in his works, it pleased God to save those who believe, by preaching, which they counted folly.

Simplified Cowboy Version
God made sure he couldn't be found with the scientific method or fancy philosophy. In his wisdom, he has used simple cowboy preaching, the type the "wise" have scoffed at, to save those people who choose to believe.

Contextual Overview

¹⁷ Christ did not give me the work of baptizing people. He gave me the work of telling the Good News. But he sent me to tell the Good News without using clever speech, which would take away the power that is in the cross of Christ. ¹⁸ The teaching about the cross seems foolish to those who are lost. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ As the Scriptures say, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will confuse the understanding of the intelligent." ²⁰ So what does this say about the philosopher, the law expert, or anyone in this world who is skilled in making clever arguments? God has made the wisdom of the world look foolish. ²¹ This is what God in his wisdom decided: Since the world did not find him through its own wisdom, he used the message that sounds foolish to save those who believe it. ²² The Jews ask for miraculous signs, and the Greeks want wisdom. ²³ But this is the message we tell everyone: Christ was killed on a cross. This message is a problem for Jews, and to other people it is nonsense. ²⁴ But Christ is God's power and wisdom to the people God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks. ²⁵ Even the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom. Even the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. ²⁶ 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.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in: 1 Corinthians 1:24, Daniel 2:20, Romans 11:33, Ephesians 3:10

the wisdom: Dr. Lightfoot well observes, "that ףןציב [Strong's G4678], פןץ [Strong's G5120], וןץ [Strong's G2316], the wisdom of God, is not to be understood of that wisdom which had God for its author, but of that wisdom which had God for its object. There was, among the heathen, ףןציב [Strong's G4678], פחע צץףושע, wisdom about natural things, that is philosophy; and ףןציב [Strong's G4678], פןץ [Strong's G5120], וןץ [Strong's G2316], wisdom about God, that is, divinity. But the world, in its divinity, could not, by wisdom, know God." The wisest of the heathen had no just and correct views of the Divine nature; of which the works of Cicero and Lucretius are incontestable proofs.

the world: Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, Romans 1:20-22, Romans 1:28

the foolishness: 1 Corinthians 1:18

Reciprocal: Joshua 6:3 - ye shall 1 Kings 10:1 - concerning 2 Kings 5:11 - Behold 2 Kings 5:13 - how much rather Psalms 94:11 - General Proverbs 23:9 - he Isaiah 31:2 - he also Jeremiah 4:22 - they have Zechariah 9:13 - against Luke 7:23 - General John 1:10 - knew John 7:49 - General John 17:25 - the world Acts 17:18 - philosophers Acts 17:23 - To 1 Corinthians 15:2 - ye are 2 Corinthians 10:10 - and his 2 Corinthians 11:1 - in 2 Corinthians 11:6 - rude Galatians 4:8 - when Ephesians 1:5 - according Ephesians 4:18 - the understanding 1 Thessalonians 4:5 - know 1 Peter 1:25 - this

Cross-References

Genesis 1:18
He put them in the sky to rule over the day and over the night. They separated the light from the darkness. And God saw that this was good.

Genesis 1:24
Then God said, "Let the earth produce many kinds of living things. Let there be many different kinds of animals. Let there be large animals and small crawling animals of every kind. And let all these animals produce more animals." And all these things happened.

Genesis 1:25
So God made every kind of animal. He made the wild animals, the tame animals, and all the small crawling things. And God saw that this was good.

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Now let's make humans who will be like us. They will rule over all the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. They will rule over all the large animals and all the little things that crawl on the earth."

Genesis 1:31
God looked at everything he had made. And he saw that everything was very good. There was evening, and then there was morning. This was the sixth day.

Genesis 6:20
Two of every kind of bird, animal, and creeping thing will come to you so that you might keep them alive.

Genesis 7:14
They and every kind of animal on the earth were in the boat. Every kind of cattle, every kind of animal that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird were in the boat.

Genesis 8:17
Bring every living animal out of the boat with you—all the birds, animals, and everything that crawls on the earth. These animals will make many more animals, and they will fill the earth again."

Genesis 8:19
All the animals, everything that crawls, and every bird left the boat. All the animals came out of the boat in family groups.

Genesis 9:7
"Have many children and fill the earth with your people."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For after that in the wisdom of God,.... These words contain a reason proving the infatuation of men, with respect to "the wisdom of God"; by which may be meant either Christ, who is the wisdom of God, was in the world, and yet the world of the Jews, and their chief Rabbins among them, with all their wisdom, neither knew him, nor God his Father; or the Gospel, which is also so called, and though this was come, both into the Jewish and Gentile world, yet neither of them, by their natural wisdom, knew the God of grace, so manifestly revealed in it; or rather the works of creation, in which there is such a visible display of the wisdom of God: yet "the world by wisdom knew not God"; the author of them: the Gentiles knew him not in any spiritual and saving manner, as in Christ, or the God of all grace; yea, they knew him not as the God of nature to be the one, only, true God; they knew him not so as to glorify him as God, or to worship him in a right way and manner: wherefore,

it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe; it was his purpose and decree within himself; it was his sovereign good will and pleasure; it was what he, without any motion from, or merit in the creature, resolved of himself from all eternity that he would "save", not the wise man, the Scribe, the disputer of this world, the rationalist, the talker, nor the worker, but "them that believe" in his Son; that look unto him, venture on him, and commit the care and keeping of their souls to him, however weak, mean, and despicable they may otherwise be; or whether they believe with a weak, or a strong faith, so be it, it is but true: the Ethiopic version reads, "that believe in this foolish doctrine"; and this he determined to do, and did, "by the foolishness of preaching"; or by that sort of preaching, which both for the matter of it, Christ, that itself, and the manner of it, the world reckons foolishness; and which are the things of the Father's grace in election, of the Son's grace in redemption, and the Spirit's in regeneration: so the wise men of the world, with all their wisdom, are left ignorant of God, and perish in their sins, whilst the Gospel they despise is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe in Christ; this, through efficacious grace, becomes the means of regenerating and quickening men, showing them their need of salvation, and where it is, and of working faith in them to look to Christ for it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For after that - ἐπειδὴ epeidē. Since, or seeing that it is true that the world by wisdom knew not God. After all the experience of the world it was ascertained that human beings would never by their own wisdom come to the true knowledge of God, and it pleased him to devise another plan for salvation.

In the wisdom of God - This phrase is susceptible of two interpretations:

(1) The first makes it refer to “the wisdom of God” evinced in the works of creation - the demonstration of his existence and attributes found there, and, according to that, the apostle means to say, that the world by a survey of the works of God did not know him; or were, notwithstanding those works, in deep darkness. This interpretation is adopted by most commentators - by Lightfoot, Rosenmuller, Grotius, Calvin, etc. According to this interpretation, the word ἐν en (in) is to be translated “by” or “through.”

(2) A second interpretation makes it refer to the wise arrangement or government of God, by which this was permitted. “For when, by the wise arrangement or government of God; after a full and fair trial of the native, unaided powers of man, it was ascertained that the true knowledge of God would not be arrived at by man, it pleased him,” etc. This appears to be the correct interpretation, because it is the most obvious one, and because it suits the connection best. It is, according to this, a reason why God introduced a new method of saving people. This may be said to have been accomplished by a plan of God, which was wise, because:

(1) It was desirable that the powers of man should be fully tried before the new plan was introduced, in order to show that it was not dependent on human wisdom, that it was not originated by man, and that there was really need of such an interposition.

(2) Because sufficient time had been furnished to make the experiment. An opportunity had been given for four thousand years, and still it had failed.

(3) Because the experiment had been made in the most favorable circumstances. The human faculties had had time to ripen and expand; one generation had had an opportunity of profiting by the observation of its predecessor; and the most mighty minds had been brought to boar on the subject. If the sages of the east, and the profound philosophers of the west, had not been able to come to the true knowledge of God, it was in vain to hope that more profound minds could be brought to bear on it, or that more careful investigation would be bestowed on it. The experiment had been fairly made, and the result was before the world; see the notes at Romans 1:0.

The world - The people of the world; particularly the philosophers of the world.

By wisdom - By their own wisdom, or by the united investigations of the works of nature.

Knew not God - Obtained not a true knowledge of him. Some denied his existence; some represented him under the false and abominable forms of idol worship; some ascribed to him horrid attributes; all showed that they had no true acquaintance with a God of purity, with a God who could pardon sin, or whose worship conduced to holiness of life; see the notes at Romans 1:0.

It pleased God - God was disposed, or well pleased. The plan of salvation originated in his good pleasure, and was such as his wisdom approved. God chose this plan, so unlike all the plans of human beings.

By the foolishness of preaching - Not “by foolish preaching,” but by the preaching of the cross, which was regarded as foolish and absurd by the people of the world. The plan is wise, but it has been esteemed by the mass of people, and was particularly so esteemed by the Greek philosophers, to be egregiously foolish and ridiculous; see the note at 1 Corinthians 1:18.

To save them that believe - That believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; see the note at Mark 16:16. This was the speciality and essence of the plan of God, and this has appeared to the mass of people to be a plan devoid of wisdom and unworthy of God. The preaching of the cross which is thus esteemed foolishness, is made the means of saving them, because it sets forth God’s only plan of mercy, and states the way in which lost sinners may become reconciled to God.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 21. For after that in the wisdom of God — Dr. Lightfoot observes, "That σοφια του θεου, the wisdom of God, is not to be understood of that wisdom which had God for its author, but that wisdom which had God for its object. There was, among the heathen, σοφια της φυσεως, wisdom about natural things, that is, philosophy; and σοφια του θεου, wisdom about God; that is, divinity. But the world in its divinity could not, by wisdom, know God." The plain meaning of this verse is, that the wise men of the world, especially the Greek philosophers, who possessed every advantage that human nature could have, independently of a Divine revelation, and who had cultivated their minds to the uttermost, could never, by their learning, wisdom, and industry, find out God; nor had the most refined philosophers among them just and correct views of the Divine nature, nor of that in which human happiness consists. The work of LUCRETIUS, De Natura Rerum, and the work of CICERO, De Natura Deorum, are incontestable proofs of this. Even the writings of Plato and Aristotle have contributed little to remove the veil which clouded the understanding of men. No wisdom but that which came from God could ever penetrate and illuminate the human mind.

By the foolishness of preaching — By the preaching of Christ crucified, which the Gentiles termed μωρια, foolishness, in opposition to their own doctrines, which they termed σοφια, wisdom. It was not by the foolishness of preaching, literally, nor by the foolish preaching, that God saved the world; but by that Gospel which they called μωρια, foolishness; which was, in fact, the wisdom of God, and also the power of God to the salvation of them that believed.