The correct reading is ἐβαπτίσθητε ye were baptized. So Rev. Paul's commission contains no mention of baptism. Compare Acts 9:15, with Matthew 28:15. From his peculiar position as the inaugurator of a second epoch of Christianity, many would be tempted to regard him as the real founder of the Church, and to boast of having been baptized into his name. "No outward initiation of converts entered into his ministry" (Edwards).

Another exceptional case occurs to him which he conscientiously adds. The δὲ and has a slightly corrective force.

Lit., emptied. Rev., made void. Compare is made void, Romans 4:14, and the kindred adjective κενὸν, κενὴ vain, 1 Corinthians 15:14. The nucleus of the apostolic preaching was a fact - Christ crucified. To preach it as a philosophic system would be to empty it of its saving power, a truth which finds abundant and lamentable illustration in the history of the Church.

Lit., the word, that, namely, of the cross. The second article is definitive and emphatic. The word of which the substance and purport is the cross.

To them that perish (τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις)

Lit., that are perishing. So Rev. The present participle denotes process: they who are on the way to destruction. Compare 2 Corinthians 2:15.

Foolishness (μωρία)

Only in this epistle. See on have lost his savor, Matthew 5:13.

Which are saved (τοῖς σωζομένοις)

Rev., being saved: in process of salvation.

Cited literally from the Septuagint, Isaiah 29:14, except that the Septuagint has κρύψω I will conceal, instead of I will reject. The Hebrew reads: "The wisdom of its (Judah's) wise men shall perish, and the sagacity of its sagacious men shall hide itself."

Wisdom - prudence (σοφίαν - σύνεσιν)

The two words are often found together, as Exodus 31:3; Deuteronomy 4:6; Colossians 1:9. Compare σοφοὶ καὶ συνετοί wise and prudent, Matthew 11:25. For the distinction, see, as to σοφία wisdom, on Romans 11:33; as to σύνεσις prudence, on Mark 12:33; Luke 2:47. Wisdom is the more general; mental excellence in its highest and fullest sense. Prudence is the special application of wisdom; its critical adjustment to particular cases.

Will bring to nothing (ἀθετήσω)

See on Luke 7:30. Originally, to make disestablished (ἄθετον) something which is established or prescribed (θετόν) Hence to nullify, make void, frustrate, and, in a milder sense, to despise or reject, as Galatians 2:21. The stronger sense is better here, so that Rev., reject is not an improvement on the A.V. The American revisers render: And the discernment of the discerning will I bring to nought.

Always in the New Testament in the Jewish sense, an interpreter of the law, except Acts 19:35, the town-clerk.

Disputer (συζητητὴς)

Only here. Compare the kindred verb συζητέω to question with, Mark 1:27; Luke 22:23; Acts 6:9; and συζήτησις disputation, Acts 15:2, Acts 15:7. Referring to Grecian sophistical reasoners, while scribe refers to rabbinical hair-splitters.

World (αἰῶνος)

See on John 1:9. More correctly, age or period.

Made foolish (ἐμώρανεν)

Proved it to be practical folly; stupefied it. Compare Romans 1:22. Possibly with a latent suggestion of the judicial power of God to make it foolish.

Rev., correctly, seeing that.

By wisdom (διὰ τῆς σοφίας)

Better, as Rev., giving the force of the article, "through its wisdom."

Preaching (κηρύγματος)

Not the act, but the substance of preaching. Compare 1 Corinthians 1:23.

To save (σῶσαι)

The word was technically used in the Old Testament of deliverance at the Messiah's coming; of salvation from the penalties of the messianic judgment, or from the evils which obstruct the messianic deliverance. See Joel 2:32; Matthew 1:21; compare Acts 2:40. Paul uses it in the ethical sense, to make one a partaker of the salvation which is through Christ. Edwards calls attention to the foregleam of this christian conception of the word in the closing paragraph of Plato's "Republic:" "And thus, Glaucon, the tale has been saved, and has not perished, and will save (σώσειεν) us if we are obedient to the word spoken, and we shall pass safely over the river of forgetfulness and our soul will not be defiled."

Omit the article. Among the Jews many had become Christians.

Require (αἰτοῦσιν)

Rev., ask. But it is questionable whether the A.V. is not preferable. The word sometimes takes the sense of demand, as Luke 12:48; 1 Peter 3:15; and this sense accords well with the haughty attitude of the Jews, demanding of all apostolic religions their proofs and credentials. See Matthew 12:38; Matthew 16:1; John 6:30.

Greeks

See on Acts 6:1.

Seek after (ζητοῦσιν)

Appropriate to the Greeks in contrast with the Jews. The Jews claimed to possess the truth: the Greeks were seekers, speculators (compare Acts 17:23) after what they called by the general name of wisdom.

Christ crucified (Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον)

Not the crucified Christ, but Christ as crucified, not a sign-shower nor a philosopher; and consequently a scandal to the Jew and folly to the Gentile.

Unto the Greeks (Ἕλλησι)

The correct reading is ἔθνεσιν to the Gentiles. So Rev. Though Ἕλληνες Greeks, is equivalent to Gentiles in the New Testament when used in antithesis to Jews, yet in this passage Paul seems to have in mind the Greeks as representing gentile wisdom and culture.

Lit., the foolish thing. More specific than the abstract μωρία foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18, 1 Corinthians 1:21), and pointing to the fact of Christ crucified.

Not condition of life, but your calling by God; not depending on wisdom, power, or lineage.

Noble (εὐγενεῖς)

Of high birth. So originally, though as Greece became democratic, it came to signify merely the better sort of freemen. Plato applies it to the children of native Athenians ("Menexenus," 237). Aeschylus makes Clytaemnestra say to the captive Cassandra that if slavery must befall one there is an advantage in having masters of ancient family property instead of those who have become unexpectedly rich ("Agamemnon," 1010).

The threefold repetition of the word emphasizes the deliberate and free action of God's gracious will.

Of no family. The reverse of εὐγενεῖς noble.

Despised (ἐξουθενημένα)

Lit., set at nought. Not merely despised, but expressly branded with contempt. See Luke 23:11.

The last three terms illustrate and exemplify the first - wisdom. The wisdom impersonated in Christ manifests itself as righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. For δικαιοσύνη righteousness, see on Romans 1:17. For ἁγιασμός sanctification, see on Romans 6:19. For ἀπολύτρωσις redemption, see on Romans 3:24.

From Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, abridged after the Septuagint.

Lit., according to elevation or superiority. The noun occurs only here and 1 Timothy 2:2, where it is rendered authority. The phrase expresses the mode of his preaching. For similar adverbial phrases, see καθ ὑπερβολήν exceedingly or according to excess, Romans 8:13; κατὰ κράτος mightily or according to might, Acts 19:20. Construe with declaring.

Declaring (καταγγέλλων)

Rev., proclaiming. See on 1 John 1:5; see on Acts 17:23. Authoritative proclamation is implied. The word is found only in the Acts and in Paul.

Testimony (μαρτύριον)

Some of the best texts read μυστήριον mystery. So Rev. See on Romans 11:25.

Emphatic. That which would be the main stumbling-block to the Corinthians he would emphasize.

I was is rather I became. I fell into a state of weakness, etc., after I had come among you. With you, i.e., in intercourse with. See on with God, John 1:1. The implication is that his condition grew out of the circumstances in which he found himself in Corinth.