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Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
1 Corinthians 2:1
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalDevotionals:
- ChipParallel Translations
Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I told you the secret truth of God. But I did not use fancy words or great wisdom.
When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God in lofty words or wisdom.
And I brethren when I came to you came not in gloriousnes of wordes or of wysdome shewynge vnto you the testimony of God.
When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come and tell you about God's secrettestimony">[fn] with rhetorical language or wisdom.1 Corinthians 1:4,6, 13,17; 2 Corinthians 10:10; 11:6;">[xr]
And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come preaching God's secret with fancy words or a show of human wisdom.
And I, brothers, when I came to you, did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellence of speech, or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God.
And as for myself, brethren, when I came to you, it was not with surpassing power of eloquence or earthly wisdom that I came, announcing to you that which God had commanded me to bear witness to.
And Y, britheren, whanne Y cam to you, cam not in the heiynesse of word, ethir of wisdom, tellynge to you the witnessyng of Crist.
And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the mystery of God.
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.
Friends, when I came and told you the mystery that God had shared with us, I didn't use big words or try to sound wise.
And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming to you the testimony of God [concerning salvation through Christ], I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom [no lofty words of eloquence or of philosophy as a Greek orator might do];
And I, brethren, when I came unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
And when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come with wise words of knowledge, putting before you the secret of God.
As for me, brothers, when I arrived among you, it was not with surpassing eloquence or wisdom that I came announcing to you the previously concealed truth about God;
And *I*, when I came to you, brethren, came not in excellency of word, or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God.
And I, my brethren, when I came to you, not with grandeur of speech, nor with wisdom, did I evangelize to you the mystery of Aloha.
And I, my Brethren, when I came to you, did not preach to you the mystery of God in magnificent speech, nor in wisdom.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellencie of speech, or of wisedome, declaring vnto you the testimony of God.
When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn't use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God's secret plan.
Christian brothers, when I came to you, I did not preach the secrets of God with big sounding words or make it sound as if I were so wise.
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellencie of woordes, or of wisedome, shewing vnto you the testimonie of God.
AND I, my brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellency of speech, nor did I preach to you with learning the mystery of God.
I, therefore, brethren, when I came unto you, came, not with excellency of discourse or wisdom, declaring unto you the mystery of God;
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not in loftiness of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of Christ.
And I brethren, when I came to you, came not in gloriousnesse of wordes, or of wisedome, shewing vnto you the testimonie of God.
When I came to you, my friends, to preach God's secret truth, I did not use big words and great learning.
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with excellency of word or wisdom, declaring to you the Testimony of God.
And I, having come unto you, brethren, came -- not in superiority of discourse or wisdom -- declaring to you the testimony of God,
And I brethre, wha I came vnto you came not wt hye wordes or hye wyssdome, to shewe vnto you the preachinge of Christ.
As for me, my brethren, when I appear'd among you, it was not to represent to you the divine mystery in sublime language, and with human literature.
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony [fn] of God.
When I rode into town, I didn't use riddles and fancy speeches to reveal God's secret plan.
And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the witness of God.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
when: Acts 18:1-4
with: 1 Corinthians 2:4, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 1:17, Exodus 4:10, Jeremiah 1:6, Jeremiah 1:7, Romans 16:18, 2 Corinthians 10:10, 2 Corinthians 11:6
the testimony: 1 Corinthians 1:6, Isaiah 8:20, Acts 20:21, Acts 22:18, 2 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Timothy 1:11, 2 Timothy 1:8, 1 John 4:14, 1 John 5:11-13, Revelation 1:2, Revelation 1:9, Revelation 19:10
Reciprocal: Acts 18:24 - an Acts 24:1 - orator 1 Corinthians 2:6 - not 2 Corinthians 6:6 - knowledge 2 Timothy 4:3 - having 2 Peter 1:16 - we have Revelation 7:5 - tribe of Juda Revelation 12:17 - and have
Cross-References
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
Then God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. He put the Man he had just made in it. God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground, trees beautiful to look at and good to eat. The Tree-of-Life was in the middle of the garden, also the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil.
He wrote on, "Blessed be the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, and who gave King David a son so wise, so knowledgeable and shrewd, to build a temple for God and a palace for himself. I've sent you Huram-Abi—he's already on his way—he knows the construction business inside and out. His mother is from Dan and his father from Tyre. He knows how to work in gold, silver, bronze, iron, stone, and wood, in purple, violet, linen, and crimson textiles; he is also an expert engraver and competent to work out designs with your artists and architects, and those of my master David, your father.
Then on the twenty-fourth day of this month, the People of Israel gathered for a fast, wearing burlap and faces smudged with dirt as signs of repentance. The Israelites broke off all relations with foreigners, stood up, and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their parents. While they stood there in their places, they read from the Book of The Revelation of God , their God, for a quarter of the day. For another quarter of the day they confessed and worshiped their God . A group of Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Kenani—stood on the platform and cried out to God , their God, in a loud voice. The Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, "On your feet! Bless God , your God, for ever and ever!" Blessed be your glorious name, exalted above all blessing and praise! You're the one, God , you alone; You made the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it, the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive; heaven's angels worship you!
The skies were made by God 's command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
God 's Message, the God who created the cosmos, stretched out the skies, laid out the earth and all that grows from it, Who breathes life into earth's people, makes them alive with his own life: "I am God . I have called you to live right and well. I have taken responsibility for you, kept you safe. I have set you among my people to bind them to me, and provided you as a lighthouse to the nations, To make a start at bringing people into the open, into light: opening blind eyes, releasing prisoners from dungeons, emptying the dark prisons. I am God . That's my name. I don't franchise my glory, don't endorse the no-god idols. Take note: The earlier predictions of judgment have been fulfilled. I'm announcing the new salvation work. Before it bursts on the scene, I'm telling you all about it."
God , Creator of the heavens— he is, remember, G od. Maker of earth— he put it on its foundations, built it from scratch. He didn't go to all that trouble to just leave it empty, nothing in it. He made it to be lived in. This God says: "I am God , the one and only. I don't just talk to myself or mumble under my breath. I never told Jacob, ‘Seek me in emptiness, in dark nothingness.' I am God . I work out in the open, saying what's right, setting things right. So gather around, come on in, all you refugees and castoffs. They don't seem to know much, do they— those who carry around their no-god blocks of wood, praying for help to a dead stick? So tell me what you think. Look at the evidence. Put your heads together. Make your case. Who told you, and a long time ago, what's going on here? Who made sense of things for you? Wasn't I the one? God ? It had to be me. I'm the only God there is— The only God who does things right and knows how to help. So turn to me and be helped—saved!— everyone, whoever and wherever you are. I am God , the only God there is, the one and only. I promise in my own name: Every word out of my mouth does what it says. I never take back what I say. Everyone is going to end up kneeling before me. Everyone is going to end up saying of me, ‘Yes! Salvation and strength are in God !'" All who have raged against him will be brought before him, disgraced by their unbelief. And all who are connected with Israel will have a robust, praising, good life in God !
"Pay close attention now: I'm creating new heavens and a new earth. All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain are things of the past, to be forgotten. Look ahead with joy. Anticipate what I'm creating: I'll create Jerusalem as sheer joy, create my people as pure delight. I'll take joy in Jerusalem, take delight in my people: No more sounds of weeping in the city, no cries of anguish; No more babies dying in the cradle, or old people who don't enjoy a full lifetime; One-hundredth birthdays will be considered normal— anything less will seem like a cheat. They'll build houses and move in. They'll plant fields and eat what they grow. No more building a house that some outsider takes over, No more planting fields that some enemy confiscates, For my people will be as long-lived as trees, my chosen ones will have satisfaction in their work. They won't work and have nothing come of it, they won't have children snatched out from under them. For they themselves are plantings blessed by God , with their children and grandchildren likewise God -blessed. Before they call out, I'll answer. Before they've finished speaking, I'll have heard. Wolf and lamb will graze the same meadow, lion and ox eat straw from the same trough, but snakes—they'll get a diet of dirt! Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill anywhere on my Holy Mountain," says God .
But the Portion-of-Jacob is the real thing. He put the whole universe together And pays special attention to Israel. His name? God -of-the-Angel-Armies!
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And I, brethren, when I came to you,.... This account the apostle gives of himself is occasioned, either by what he had said in the latter part of the preceding chapter, concerning the choice God has made of the foolish, weak, base, and despicable things of the world, and of his calling them by his grace both to fellowship with the saints in common, and therefore he accommodated his ministry unto them, and in particular to the ministry of the word, of which he himself was a like instance and an example; or else by what he had declared in 1 Corinthians 1:17 of the same chapter, that he was sent to preach the Gospel,
not with wisdom of words; which he here reassumes, and affirms agreeably, that when he first came to Corinth, he
came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom; for though he was not only versed in Jewish learning, being brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; but had also a good share of Grecian literature, and was capable, upon proper occasions, to cite the Greek poets, as he does Aratus, Acts 17:28 and Menander, Titus 1:12 and so could, had he thought fit, have adorned his discourses with pompous language, with the flowers of rhetoric, and the eloquence of the Grecians; yet he chose not such a high and florid style, and which savoured so much of human wisdom and art; for the subject he treated of required no such dress, nor any great swelling words of vanity, or a bombast style to set it off, and gain the applause and assent of men: for what he delivered were plain matters of fact, attested by God himself,
declaring unto you the testimony of God; that is, the Gospel, which bears a testimony to the love, grace, and mercy of God, his kindness and good will to the sons of men, in giving and sending his only begotten Son to be the Saviour and Redeemer of them; and in which God bears a testimony of his Son, of his sonship, deity, mediation, incarnation, obedience, sufferings, and death, of his resurrection, ascension to heaven, session at his right hand, intercession for his people, and his second coming to judgment, and of eternal life and salvation by him. All which being matter of fact, and depending upon the witness of God, which is greater than that of men, needed no art nor oratory of men to recommend it: it was enough in plain words, and easy language, to declare it, with the evidence by which it was supported. The Alexandrian copy, and some others, read, "the mystery" of God: and so the Syriac version
רזא דאלהא, "the mystery of God" one of Stephens's copies reads, "the mystery of Christ"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the testimony of Christ".
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And I, brethren - Keeping up the tender and affectionate style of address.
When I came unto you - When I came at first to preach the gospel at Corinth. Acts 18:1 ff.
Came not with excellency of speech - Came not with graceful and attractive eloquence. The apostle here evidently alludes to that nice ant studied choice of language; to those gracefully formed sentences, and to that skill of arrangement in discourse and argument which was so much an object of regard with the Greek rhetoricians. It is probable that Paul was never much distinguished for these (compare 2 Corinthians 10:10), and it is certain he never made them an object of intense study and solicitude. Compare 1Co 2:4, 1 Corinthians 2:13.
Or of wisdom - Of the wisdom of this world; of that kind of wisdom which was sought and cultivated in Greece.
The testimony of God - The testimony or the witnessing which God has borne to the gospel of Christ by miracles, and by attending it everywhere with his presence and blessing. In 1 Corinthians 2:6, the gospel is called “the testimony of Christ;” and here it may either mean the witness which the gospel bears to the true character and plans of God; or the witnessing which God had borne to the gospel by miracles, etc. The gospel contains the testimony of God in regard to his own character and plans; especially in regard to the great plan of redemption through Jesus Christ. Several mss. instead of “testimony of God,” here read “the mystery of God.” This would accord well with the scope of the argument; but the present reading is probably the correct one. See Mill. The Syriac version has also “mystery.”
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER II.
The apostle makes an apology for his manner of preaching, 1.
And gives the reason why he adopted that manner, 2-5.
He shows that this preaching, notwithstanding it was not with
excellence of human speech or wisdom, yet was the mysterious
wisdom of God, which the princes of this world did not know,
and which the Spirit of God alone could reveal, 6-10.
It is the Spirit of God only that can reveal the things of God,
11.
The apostles of Christ know the things of God by the Spirit of
God, and teach them, not in the words of man's wisdom, but in
the words of that Spirit, 12, 13.
The natural man cannot discern the things of the Spirit, 14.
But the spiritual man can discern and teach them, because he
has the mind of Christ, 15, 16.
NOTES ON CHAP. II.
Verse 1 Corinthians 2:1. When I came to you — Acting suitably to my mission, which was to preach the Gospel, but not with human eloquence, 1 Corinthians 1:17. I declared to you the testimony, the Gospel, of God, not with excellency of speech, not with arts of rhetoric, used by your own philosophers, where the excellence of the speech recommends the matter, and compensates for the want of solidity and truth: on the contrary, the testimony concerning Christ and his salvation is so supremely excellent, as to dignify any kind of language by which it may be conveyed. See the Introduction, sect. ii.
