1 Corinthians 2:7

Contextual Overview

⁶We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁶But don't get me wrong, when I'm with top hands I can give them wisdom that can even make them better hands. But this knowledge isn't one you can hear from blowhards and braggarts. ⁶ Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; ⁶Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are being abolished. ⁶ But still we have wisdom for those who are complete in knowledge, though not the wisdom of this world, and not of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing: ⁶ But we speak wisdom among the perfect; but wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who come to nought. ⁶ However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁶ We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing. ⁶ Yet we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: but not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery,

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

even: Psalms 78:2, Isaiah 48:6, Isaiah 48:7, Matthew 11:25, Matthew 13:35, Romans 16:25, Romans 16:26, Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 3:4-9, Colossians 1:26, Colossians 1:27, 2 Timothy 1:9, 1 Peter 1:11, Revelation 13:8

unto: 1 Peter 5:1, 1 Peter 5:10, 2 Peter 1:3

Reciprocal: Joshua 6:17 - accursed Job 28:21 - hid Job 32:9 - Great Proverbs 2:7 - layeth Proverbs 8:6 - for Jeremiah 33:3 - mighty Matthew 13:11 - mysteries Luke 8:10 - Unto Luke 10:21 - revealed John 3:12 - heavenly 1 Corinthians 4:1 - mysteries 1 Corinthians 14:2 - howbeit 1 Corinthians 15:51 - I show Ephesians 1:8 - in Ephesians 3:9 - beginning Ephesians 3:10 - manifold Ephesians 6:19 - the mystery 1 Timothy 3:16 - the mystery Hebrews 2:10 - glory James 3:15 - but James 3:17 - the wisdom

Cross-References

Genesis 2:14
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
And the name of the third river is Tigris; it is the one that went east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
The name of ye thirde ryuer is Hidekel, & it goeth toward the east side of Assiria: & the fourth ryuer is Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
The name of the third river was Tigris. This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
And the name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
forsothe the name of the thridde ryuer is Tigris, thilke goith ayens Assiriens; sotheli the fourthe ryuer is thilke Eufrates.

Genesis 2:14
And the name of the third riuer is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the East of Assyria: and the fourth riuer is Euphrates.

Genesis 2:14
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But we speak the wisdom of God,.... Not of men, not of the wise politicians, the learned philosophers and Rabbins; that which human wisdom has no hand in forming, nor in revealing, nor in propagating, and which is disliked and disapproved of by it: the Gospel is the sole produce of divine wisdom, and in which there is a glorious display of it; even in those doctrines which are the most charged with folly, as salvation by a crucified Christ, justification by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, satisfaction by his sacrifice, c.

in a mystery it is mysterious wisdom. The Gospel is full of mysteries; there is the mystery of God, of a trinity of persons in the divine essence; the mystery of Christ, of his person, as God manifest in the flesh, of his divine sonship, and incarnation in the womb of a virgin; the mystery of the Spirit's grace in regeneration, of the saints' union to Christ, and communion with him, the resurrection of the same body, the change of living saints at Christ's coming, with many others:

even the hidden wisdom; the Gospel lay hid in God, in the thoughts of his heart, in the deep things of his mind, the counsels of his will, and purposes of his grace; it was hid in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; it was hid under the types and shadows of the ceremonial law; and is hid in the Scriptures, which must be diligently searched for it, as for hidden treasures. It was hid from angels, and from Adam, until revealed; it was in some measure hid from the Jews under the former dispensation, to whom it was made known; and in some sense from believers, under the present dispensation, who as yet know it but in part; and is entirely hid from natural men, even from the most wise and prudent among them. This epithet expresses the preciousness, secrecy, and also security of the Gospel; hidden things being commonly of value, and being kept secret, are also safe; hidden and secret wisdom has been always esteemed, both by Greeks and Jews: hence that saying u of the latter,

"he that would be rich in learning of the law, שהיא צפונה

והחכמה "and that wisdom which is hidden", in a hidden and secret place, should hide and secrete himself from the children of men.''

The apostle adds,

which God ordained before the world. The Egyptians and Grecians boasted much of the "earliness" of their wisdom, but neither of them are to be mentioned with the Gospel for the antiquity of it; it is the birth of God's counsels of old, the produce of his purposes, which he purposed in Christ before the world was; a scheme of things he drew in his eternal mind; it is a transcript of the council of peace and covenant of grace, which were from everlasting; what the Jews w say of the law, is much more true of the Gospel,

"that it was treasured up with God (they say two thousand years, and sometimes nine hundred and seventy four ages), before the world was created;''

and often speak of it as one of the seven things created before the world was x. Moreover, this was to our glory; under the present dispensation, which by reason of the Gospel has a glory in it surpassing the former; it is to the glory both of the ministers of it, whose honour it is to be employed in preaching it, and in being by it the instruments of converting such who will be their glory another day, and to the glory of all believers who are by it called to the obtaining of the glory of Christ Jesus.

u Caphtor, fol. 81. w T. Bab. Zebacbim, fol. 116. 1. Zohar. in Exod. fol. 20. 4. & 35. 1, 2. & 66. 3. & in Numb. fol. 66. 3. x T. Bab. Pesachim. fol. 54. 1. Nedarim, fol. 39. 2. Zohar. in Lev. fol. 14. 4. Targum Jon. ben Uzziel in Gen. iii. 24.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

But we speak - We who have preached the gospel.

The wisdom of God - We teach or proclaim the wise plan of God for the salvation of people; we make known the divine wisdom in regard to the scheme of human redemption. This plan was of God, in opposition to other plans which were of human beings.

In a mystery, even the hidden wisdom - ἐν μυστηρίῳ τὴν ἀποκεκρυμμένην en mustēriō tēn apokekrummenēn. The words “even” and “wisdom” in this translation have been supplied by our translators; and the sense would be more perspicuous if they were omitted, and the translation should be literally made, “We proclaim the divine wisdom hidden in a mystery.” The apostle does not say that their preaching was mysterious, nor that their doctrine was unintelligible, but he refers to the fact that this wisdom had been “hidden in a mystery” from people until that time, but was then revealed by the gospel. In other words, he does not say that what they then declared was hidden in a mystery, but that they made known the divine wisdom which had been concealed from the minds of people. The word “mystery” with us is commonly used in the sense of that which is beyond comprehension; and it is often applied to such doctrines as exhibit difficulties which we are not able to explain.

But this is not the sense in which it is commonly used in the Scriptures; see the note at Matthew 13:11; compare Campbell on the Gospels, Dissertation 9; part 1. The word properly denotes that which is “concealed” or “hidden;” that which has not yet been made known; and is applied to those truths which until the revelation of Jesus Christ were concealed from people, which were either hidden under obscure types and shadows or prophecies, or which had been altogether unrevealed, and unknown to the world. The word stands opposed to that which is revealed, not to that which is in itself plain. The doctrines to which the word relates may be in themselves clear and simple, but they are hidden in mystery until they are revealed. From this radical idea in the word “mystery,” however, it came also to be applied not only to those doctrines which had not been made known, but to those also which were in themselves deep and difficult to that which is enigmatical and obscure; 1 Corinthians 14:2; 1 Timothy 3:16.

It is applied also to the secret designs and purposes of God; Revelation 10:7. The word is most commonly applied by Paul to the secret and long concealed design of God to make known his gospel to the Gentiles; to break down the wall between them and the Jews; and to spread the blessings of the true religion everywhere; Romans 11:25; Romans 16:25; Ephesians 1:9; Ephesians 3:9; Ephesians 6:19. Here, it evidently means the beauty and excellency of the person and plans of Jesus Christ, but which were in fact unknown to the princes of this world. It does not imply, of necessity, that they could not have understood them, nor that they were unintelligible, but that, in fact, whatever was the cause, they were concealed from them. Paul says 1 Corinthians 2:8, that had they known his wisdom, they would not have crucified him - which implies at least that it was not in itself unintelligible; and he further says, that this mystery had been revealed to Christians by the Spirit of God, which proves that he does not here refer to that which is in itself unintelligible; 1 Corinthians 2:10. “The apostle has here especially in view the all-wise counsel of God for the salvation of people by Jesus Christ, in the writings of the Old Testament only obscurely signified, and to the generality of people utterly unknown” - Bloomfield.

Which God ordained - Which plan, so full of wisdom, God appointed in his own purpose before the foundation of the world; that is, it was a plan which from eternity he determined to execute. It was not a new device; it had not been got up to serve an occasion; but it was a plan laid deep in the eternal counsel of God, and on which he had his eye forever fixed. This passage proves, that God had a plan, and that this plan was eternal. This is all that is involved in the doctrine of eternal decrees or purposes. And if God had a plan about this, there is the same reason to think that he had a plan in regard to all things.

Unto our glory - In order that we might be honored or glorified. This may refer either to the honor which was put upon Christians in this life, in being admitted to the privileges of the sons of God; or more probably to that “eternal weight of glory” which remains for them in heaven; 2 Corinthians 4:17. One design of that plan was to raise the redeemed to “glory, and honor, and immortality.” It should greatly increase our gratitude to God, that it was a subject of eternal design; that he always has cherished this purpose; and that he has loved us with such love, and sought our happiness and salvation with such intensity, that in order to accomplish it, he was willing to give his own Son to die on a cross.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Corinthians 2:7. The wisdom of God in a mystery — The GOSPEL of Jesus Christ, which had been comparatively hidden from the foundation of the world, (the settling of the Jewish economy, as this phrase often means,) though appointed from the beginning to be revealed in the fulness of time. For, though this Gospel was, in a certain sense, announced by the prophets, and prefigured by the law, yet it is certain that even the most intelligent of the Jewish rulers, their doctors, scribes, and Pharisees, had no adequate knowledge of it; therefore it was still a mystery to them and others, till it was so gloriously revealed by the preaching of the apostles.