1 Corinthians 2:8-9

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

The apparent foolishness is the only wisdom. read more

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

True wisdom. I. IS FOUND IN CHRISTIANITY . Paul has been speaking slightingly of" wisdom." Might lead some to suppose that Christianity was unwise, or at all events a one-sided system; that it was a religion for the heart only, and unfriendly to the intellect. The apostle guards against this damaging supposition by claiming true wisdom for Christianity. What he has been decrying is the ineffective wisdom of the world. Christianity is for the whole man. When a man is in a right... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:8

Had they known it; literally, had they recognized; had they got to know it. The apostles often dwell on this ignorance as being in part a palliation for the sin of rejecting Christ (see especially Acts 3:17 ; Acts 13:27 ; comp. Isaiah 2:1 ). Jews and Romans, emperors, procurators: high priests, Pharisees, had in their ignorance conspired in vain to prevent what God had foreordained. The Lord of glory. This is not a mere equivalent of "the glorious Lord," in Psalms 24:10 . It is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:8

"The Lord of glory." When the Jews and the Roman governor united in effecting the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, neither party to the proceeding can be said to have understood and realized what was being done. The enemies and murderers of the Prophet of Nazareth saw neither the glory of his character and person more than very dimly, nor the glory of his redemption in any measure at all. Jesus himself had declared, "They know not what they do;" and Paul here says that, had they known the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:8

What would have prevented Christ's crucifixion? Attention is directed to the second clause of the verse: "For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." From the point of view of merely worldly policy, the crucifixion of Christ was a profound mistake. Martyrdom never effects the objects sought by the persecutors. It tends rather to glorify, in the popular sentiment, the cause for which the martyrs died. "Not a single calculation of those who compassed the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:8-9

Spiritual ignorance the cause of immense evil and the occasion, of immense good. "Which none of the princes of this world," etc. The words lead us to look on spiritual ignorance— i.e. , ignorance of God and our obligations to him—in two very opposite aspects. I. AS THE CAUSE OF IMMENSE EVIL . These "princes of the world," through ignorance, "crucified the Lord of glory." A greater crime was never perpetrated. It involved: 1. Because it is in itself an evil, and like... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written. The whole sentence in the Greek is unfinished. The thought seems to be, "But God has revealed to us things which eye hath not seen, etc., though the princes of this world were ignorant of them." Scriptural quotations are often thus introduced, apart from the general grammar of the sentence, as in the Greek of 1 Corinthians 1:31 . Eye hath not seen, etc. The Revised Version is here more literal and accurate. The quotation as it stands is not found in the Old... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:9

The surprising freshness of the new dispensation. The precise words, as quoted by the apostle, are not found in the Old Testament. They are probably Isaiah 64:4 , given from memory and modified by the thought of phrases found in other parts of Isaiah. Only an unreasonable sentiment concerning verbal inspiration would make difficulty about the inexactness of quotations given from memory. The sense of a passage may be precisely indicated when the words are set in a different order and... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

The revelation of things unseen and unheard. It may perhaps have been complained, though unreasonably enough, that Paul's compositions were lacking in logic, and his language in eloquence. There was in the substance of his teaching enough to compensate any deficiencies of such kinds. No sage communicated such wisdom, no poet such wonders, as he. Deep things, drawn by the Spirit from the ocean of God's unfathomable nature, were brought up, and were by him presented to the Church of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

The true wisdom. Often in the Epistles there is a single word on which the whole discussion turns. In the letter to the Romans, it is "righteousness;" to the Colossians, it is "fulness;" to the Hebrews, it is "perfection." In the letter to the Corinthians, it is "wisdom." Those Greeks sought after wisdom. It was nothing to them that the gospel might relieve a troubled conscience or reform an unworthy life, if it did not correspond with their ideas of philosophy. But St. Paul had an answer... read more

Group of Brands