1 Corinthians 2:4

Contextual Overview

¹When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ¹ And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ¹ When I rode into town, I didn't use riddles and fancy speeches to reveal God's secret plan. ¹ 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. ¹And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the witness of God. ¹ And when I came to you, my brothers, I did not come with wise words of knowledge, putting before you the secret of God. ¹ And *I*, when I came to you, brethren, came not in excellency of word, or wisdom, announcing to you the testimony of God. ¹ When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. ¹ When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. ¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

my speech: Acts 20:27

not: 1 Corinthians 2:1, 1 Corinthians 2:13, 1 Corinthians 1:17, Judges 14:15, Judges 16:5, 2 Samuel 14:17-20, 2 Samuel 15:2-6, 1 Kings 22:13, 1 Kings 22:14, 2 Chronicles 18:19-21, Proverbs 7:21, Proverbs 20:19, Jeremiah 20:10, Ezekiel 13:6, Ezekiel 13:10, Ezekiel 13:11, Romans 16:18, Colossians 2:4, 2 Peter 1:16, 2 Peter 2:18

enticing: or, persuasible, Acts 26:28, Galatians 1:10

but: 1 Corinthians 4:20, John 16:8-15, Romans 15:19, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, 1 Peter 1:12

Reciprocal: Judges 7:2 - too many Micah 3:8 - I am Zechariah 4:6 - Not Mark 16:20 - the Lord Luke 4:32 - General John 4:41 - because Acts 6:10 - the spirit Acts 24:1 - orator Romans 1:16 - for it is 2 Corinthians 1:12 - not 2 Corinthians 6:6 - by the 2 Corinthians 6:7 - the power 2 Corinthians 10:10 - but Colossians 4:4 - as 1 Thessalonians 2:4 - not 2 Timothy 1:7 - but 2 Timothy 4:3 - having

Cross-References

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginnyng GOD created ye heauen and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
God created the sky and the earth. At first,

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the bigynnyng God made of nouyt heuene and erthe.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the Heauen, and the Earth.

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And my speech, and my preaching,.... As he determined, so he acted. As the subject matter of his ministry was not any of the liberal arts and sciences, or the philosophy and dry morality of the Gentiles, but salvation by a crucified Christ; so his style, his diction, his language used in preaching,

was not with enticing words of man's wisdom; with technical words, words of art, contrived by human wisdom to captivate the affections; and with bare probable arguments only, a show of reason to persuade the mind to an assent, when nothing solid and substantial is advanced, only a run of words artfully put together, without any strength of argument in them; a method used by the false teachers, and which the apostle here strikes at, and tacitly condemns:

but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; partly by making use of solid proofs out of the writings of the Old Testament, indited by the Spirit of God, and which amounted to a demonstration of the truths he delivered; and partly by signs, and wonders, and miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, those extraordinary instances of divine power, which greatly confirmed the doctrines he preached: and besides all these, the Spirit of God wonderfully assisted him in his work, both as to words and matter; directing him, what to say, and in what form, in words, not which human wisdom taught, but which the Holy Ghost taught; and accompanying his ministry with his power, to the conversion, comfort, edification, and salvation of many.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And my speech - The word “speech” here - if it is to be distinguished from “preaching” - refers, perhaps, to his more private reasonings; his preaching to his public discourses.

Not with enticing words - Not with the persuasive reasonings (πειθοῖς λόγοις peithois logois) of the wisdom of men. Not with that kind of oratory that was adapted to captivate and charm; and which the Greeks so much esteemed.

But in demonstration - In the showing ἀποδείξει apodeixei; or in the testimony or evidence which the Spirit produced. The meaning is, that the Spirit furnished the evidence of the divine origin of the religion which he preached, and that it did not depend for its proof on his own reasonings or eloquence. The proof, the demonstration which the Spirit furnished was, undoubtedly, the miracles which were performed; the gift of tongues; and the remarkable conversions which attended the gospel - The word “Spirit” here refers, doubtless, to the Holy Spirit; and Paul says that this Spirit had furnished demonstration of the divine origin and nature of the gospel. This had been by the gift of tongues (1 Corinthians 1:5-7. Compare 1 Corinthians 14:0), and by the effects of his agency in renewing and sanctifying the heart.

And of power - That is, of the power of God 1 Corinthians 2:5; the divine power and efficacy which attended the preaching of the gospel there. Compare 1 Thessalonians 1:5 - The effect of the gospel is the evidence to which the apostle appeals for its truth. That effect was seen:

(1) In the conversion of sinners to God of all classes, ages, and conditions, when all human means of reforming them was vain.

(2) In its giving them peace, joy, and happiness; and in its transforming their lives.

(3) In making them different people - in making the drunkard sober; the thief honest; the licentious pure; the profane reverent; the indolent industrious; the harsh and unkind, gentle and kind; and the wretched happy.

(4) In its diffusing a mild and pure influence over the laws and customs of society; and in promoting human happiness everywhere - And in regard to this evidence to which the apostle appeals, we may observe:

(1) That is a kind of evidence which anyone may examine, and which no one can deny. It does not need labored, abstruse argumentation, but it is everywhere in society. Every man has witnessed the effects of the gospel in reforming the vicious, and no one can deny that it has this power.

(2) It is a mighty display of the power of God. There is no more striking exhibition of his power over mind than in a revival of religion. There is no where more manifest demonstration of his presence than when, in such a revival, the proud are humbled, the profane are awed, the blasphemer is silenced, and the profligate, the abandoned, and the moral are converted unto God, and are led as lost sinners to the same cross, and find the same peace.

(3) The gospel has thus evidenced from age to age that it is from God. Every converted sinner furnishes such a demonstration; and every instance where it produces peace, hope, joy, shows that it is from heaven.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 2:4. And my speech — ο λογος μου, My doctrine; the matter of my preaching.

And my preaching — το κηρυγμα μου, My proclamation, my manner of recommending the grand but simple truths of the Gospel.

Was not with enticing words of man's wisdom — ενπειθοις ανθρωπινης σοφιας λογοις, With persuasive doctrines of human wisdom: in every case I left man out, that God might become the more evident. I used none of the means of which great orators avail themselves in order to become popular, and thereby to gain fame.

But in demonstration of the Spirit — αποδειξει, In the manifestation; or, as two ancient MSS. have it, αποκαλυψει, in the revelation of the Spirit. The doctrine that he preached was revealed by the Spirit: that it was a revelation of the Spirit, the holiness, purity, and usefulness of the doctrine rendered manifest: and the overthrow of idolatry, and the conversion of souls, by the power and energy of the preaching, were the demonstration that all was Divine. The greater part of the best MSS., versions, and fathers, leave out the adjective ανθρωπινης, man's, before σοφιας, wisdom: it is possible that the word may be a gloss, but it is necessarily implied in the clause. Not with the persuasive discourses, or doctrines of wisdom; i.e. of human philosophy.