1 Corinthians 1:23

King James Version (KJV)

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

But we - Apostles, differing widely from these Gentile philosophers: -

Preach Christ crucified - Call on men, both Jews and Gentiles, to believe in Christ, as having purchased their salvation by shedding his blood for them.

Unto the Jews a stumbling block - Because Jesus came meek, lowly, and impoverished; not seeking worldly glory, nor affecting worldly pomp; whereas they expected the Messiah to come as a mighty prince and conqueror; because Christ did not come so, they were offended at him. Out of their own mouths, we may condemn the gainsaying Jews. In Sohar Chadash, fol. 26, the following saying is attributed to Moses, relative to the brazen serpent: "Moses said, This serpent is a stumbling block to the world. The holy blessed God answered: Not at all, it shall be for punishment to sinners, and life to upright men." This is a proper illustration of the apostle's words.

Unto the Greeks foolishness - Because they could not believe that proclaiming supreme happiness through a man that was crucified at Judea as a malefactor could ever comport with reason and common sense; for both the matter and manner of the preaching were opposite to every notion they had formed of what was dignified and philosophic. In Justin Martyr's dialogue with Trypho the Jew we have these remarkable words, which serve to throw light on the above. "Your Jesus," says Trypho, "having fallen under the extreme curse of God, we cannot sufficiently admire how you can expect any good from God, who place your hopes επ 'ανθρωπον σταυρωθεντα, upon a man that was Crucified." The same writer adds: "They count us mad, that after the eternal God, the Father of all things, we give the second place, ανθρωπῳ σταυρωθεντι, to a man that was crucified." "Where is your understanding," said the Gentiles, "who worship for a god him who was crucified?" Thus Christ crucified was to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. See Whitby on this verse.

Was this helpful?

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

But we - We who are Christian preachers make Christ crucified the grand subject of our instructions and our aims in contradistinction from the Jew and the Greek. They seek, the one miracles, the other wisdom, we glory only in the cross.

Christ crucified - The word Christ, the anointed, is the same as the Hebrew name Messiah. The emphasis in this expression is on the word “crucified.” The Jews would make the Messiah whom they expected no less an object of glorifying than the apostles, but they spurned the doctrine that he was to be crucified. Yet in that the apostles boasted; proclaiming him crucified, or “having been crucified” as the only hope of man. This must mean more than that Christ was distinguished for moral worth, more than that he died as a martyr; because if that were all, no reason could be given why the cross should be made so prominent an object. It must mean that Christ was crucified for the sins of people, as an atoning sacrifice in the place of sinners. “We proclaim a crucified. Messiah as the only redeemer of lost people.”

To the Jews a stumbling-block - The word “stumbling-block” ( σκάνδαλον skandalon) means properly anything in the way over which one may fall; then anything that gives offence, or that causes one to fall into sin. Here it means that to the Jews, the doctrine that the Messiah was to be crucified gave great offence; excited, irritated, and exasperated them; that they could not endure the doctrine, and treated it with scorn. Compare the Romans 9:33 note; 1 Peter 2:8 note. It is well known that to the Jews no doctrine was more offensive than this, that the Messiah was to be put to death, and that there was to be salvation in no other way. It was so in the times of the apostles, and it has been so since. They have, therefore, usually called the Lord Jesus, by way of derision, “תלוי Tolwiythe man that was hanged,” that is, on a cross; and Christians they have usually denominated, for the same reason, צבדי תלוי 'Abday Tolwiyservants of the man that was hanged.” The reasons of this feeling are obvious:

(1) They had looked for a magnificent temporal prince; but the doctrine that their Messiah was crucified, dashed all their expectations. And they regarded it with contempt and scorn, just in proportion as their hopes had been elevated, and these high expectations cherished.

(2) they had the common feelings of all people, the native feelings of pride, and self-righteousness, by which they rejected the doctrine that we are dependent for salvation on one who was crucified.

(3) they regarded Jesus as one given over by God for an enormous attempt at imposition, as having been justly put to death; and the object of the curse of the Almighty. Isaiah 53:4, “we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God.” They endeavored to convince themselves that he was the object of the divine dereliction and abhorrence; and they, therefore, rejected the doctrine of the cross with the deepest feelings of detestation.

To the Greeks - To the Gentiles in general. So the Syriac, the Vulgate, the Arabic, and the Aethiopic versions all read it. The term “Greek” denotes all who were not Jews; thus the phrase, “the Jews and the Greeks” comprehended the whole human family, 1 Corinthians 1:22.

Foolishness - See the note at 1 Corinthians 1:18. They regarded it as folly:

(1)Because they esteemed the whole account a fable, and an imposition;

(2)It did not accord with their own views of the way of elevating the condition of man;

(3)They saw no efficacy in the doctrine, no tendency in the statement that a man of humble birth was put to death in an ignominious manner in Judea, to make people better, or to receive pardon.

(4)they had the common feelings of unrenewed human nature; blind to the beauty of the character of Christ, and blind to the design of his death; and they therefore regarded the whole statement as folly.

We may remark here, that the feelings of the Jews and of the Greeks on this subject, are the common feelings of people. Everywhere sinners have the same views of the cross; and everywhere the human heart, if left to itself, rejects it, as either a stumbling-block or as folly. But the doctrine should be preached, though it is an offence, and though it appears to be folly. It is the only hope of man; and by the preaching of the cross alone can sinners be saved.

Was this helpful?

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

Paul had been bred up in Jewish learning; but the plain preaching of a crucified Jesus, was more powerful than all the oratory and philosophy of the heathen world. This is the sum and substance of the gospel. Christ crucified is the foundation of all our hopes, the fountain of all our joys. And by his death we live. The preaching of salvation for lost sinners by the sufferings and death of the Son of God, if explained and faithfully applied, appears foolishness to those in the way to destruction. The sensual, the covetous, the proud, and ambitious, alike see that the gospel opposes their favourite pursuits. But those who receive the gospel, and are enlightened by the Spirit of God, see more of God's wisdom and power in the doctrine of Christ crucified, than in all his other works. God left a great part of the world to follow the dictates of man's boasted reason, and the event has shown that human wisdom is folly, and is unable to find or retain the knowledge of God as the Creator. It pleased him, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. By the foolishness of preaching; not by what could justly be called foolish preaching. But the thing preached was foolishness to wordly-wise men. The gospel ever was, and ever will be, foolishness to all in the road to destruction. The message of Christ, plainly delivered, ever has been a sure touchstone by which men may learn what road they are travelling. But the despised doctrine of salvation by faith in a crucified Saviour, God in human nature, purchasing the church with his own blood, to save multitudes, even all that believe, from ignorance, delusion, and vice, has been blessed in every age. And the weakest instruments God uses, are stronger in their effects, than the strongest men can use. Not that there is foolishness or weakness in God, but what men consider as such, overcomes all their admired wisdom and strength.

Was this helpful?

SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

23. Christ crucified. See on ch. 2:2.

Stumblingblock. Gr. skandalon, “the trigger of a trap,” or “the baited stick on a trap,” placed in such a way that when an animal stepped on it the trap was sprung and the animal was caught. Metaphorically, skandalon means that which causes sin, error, or offense. To the nation of Israel according to the flesh, who clung to the expectation of a Messiah who would rule as an earthly king and make them the supreme kingdom in the world, the message of the crucified Saviour gave offense. The gospel was directly contrary to their conception of the Messiah, and was therefore rejected by them, to their ruin. Compare Gal. 5:11, where skandalon is translated “offence.” The attitude of the Jews toward the idea that someone crucified might be the Messiah is illustrated in Justin Martyr’s Dialogue With Trypho, in which Trypho says, “But this so-called Christ of yours was dishonourable and inglorious, so much so that the last curse contained in the law of God fell on him, for he was crucified” (32; ANF, Vol. 1, p. 210).

Unto the Greeks. To those who relied on philosophy, logic, science, and intellectual discoveries, the idea that one who was put to death by the most humiliating form of punishment used by the Romans?crucifixion?could save them, was sheer nonsense (see AA 245). The difficulty the philosophical mind experiences in accepting a crucified man as the Son of God is reflected in the following passage from Justin Martyr: “For with what reason should we believe of a crucified man that He is the first-born of the unbegotten God, and Himself will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him published before He came and was born as man, and unless we saw that things had happened accordingly” (The First Apology 53; ANF, vol. 1, p. 180). In ch. 13 the apologist declares, “For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God” (ibid., p. 167).

Was this helpful?

SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

23. Christ crucified. See on ch. 2:2.

Unto the Greeks. To those who relied on philosophy, logic, science, and intellectual discoveries, the idea that one who was put to death by the most humiliating form of punishment used by the RomansÃ¢â‚¬â€crucifixionÃ¢â‚¬â€could save them, was sheer nonsense (see AA 245). The difficulty the philosophical mind experiences in accepting a crucified man as the Son of God is reflected in the following passage from Justin Martyr: “For with what reason should we believe of a crucified man that He is the first-born of the unbegotten God, and Himself will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him published before He came and was born as man, and unless we saw that things had happened accordingly” (The First Apology 53; ANF, vol. 1, p. 180). In ch. 13 the apologist declares, “For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God” (ibid., p. 167).

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Fundamentals of Christian Education, 332-3

With such a leader—an angel expelled from heaven—these supposedly wise men of earth may fabricate bewitching theories with which to infatuate the minds of men. Paul said to the Galatians, “Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth?” Satan has a masterly mind, and he has his chosen agents by which he works to exalt men, and clothe them with honor above God. But God is clothed with power; He is able to take those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and by the operation of the Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead, transform the human character, bringing back to the soul the lost image of God. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are changed from being rebels against the law of God into obedient servants and subjects of His kingdom. They are born again, regenerated, sanctified through the truth. This power of God the skeptic will not admit, and he refuses all evidence until it is brought under the domain of his finite faculties. He even dares to set aside the law of God, and prescribe the limit of Jehovah's power. But God has said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 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. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness: but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God,”—Instructorul tineretului, 7 februarie, 1895. FE 332.1

I have been much perplexed for several nights. I am troubled so that I am unable to sleep well. Things are being urged upon my attention which I must present before you. FE 334.1

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 167

There is at the present time great need of caution. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” James 1:19. Let us heed the warning: “I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, ...and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” Romans 16:17-19. 8T 167.1

“I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10. This is the will of God concerning us. Shall we obey it? “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? ...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. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” Verses 18-24. 8T 167.2

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

Ellen G. White
Counsels to Writers and Editors, 118-9

Not to Exalt Men's Ideas—Man's ideas of education are not to be exalted. Greater heights than these are to be kept before God's people. The Lord is waiting to bestow His Holy Spirit upon all who will hunger and thirst after righteousness. The inclination that is manifested by those who claim to be educators, to exalt and extol learned men, is foolishness in the sight of God. Paul declares, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 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. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence.” CW 118.1

Again the Lord says, “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight....” CW 119.1

Dishonoring the Creator—Why does the Lord speak so plainly on this matter? It is because so many of the men who are exalted before the people are disloyal to Him, and therefore those who are exalting them are dishonoring their Creator. The men who use their time and talents in this work, while they claim to be working for the word and cause of God, show that they need to learn of the great Teacher, for as educators they must have the spirit of the Master of education. They are making no difference between the circumcised and the uncircumcised, but are placing all upon the same level. If their perceptive faculties are not sanctified and quickened, that they may distinguish between the sacred and the common, they will go on placing man where God should be. Failing to distinguish between obedience and disobedience, they will give the trumpet an uncertain sound, and men will be unprepared for the battle of the great day of God. CW 119.2

Read in context »

Was this helpful?

More Comments

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered