Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 2:4
And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
4. in demonstration of the Spirit and of power ] Not persuasive ( ) arguments, but appeals to the conscience and to the influence of a higher power. It is doubtful whether we should translate ‘the Spirit’ here, as though the Holy Spirit were meant, and more than doubtful whether we should interpret ‘power’ of miracles as generally understood. The Apostle is perhaps rather referring to that conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment (St Joh 16:8), which the Spirit of God produces in the spirit of man, and of the power to produce a change of heart and life which is the leading characteristic of the gospel. This view seems confirmed by the next verse, in which St Paul says that the ground of our faith is not the wisdom of men, but the power of God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
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 ( 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 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 (1Co 1:5-7. Compare 1 Cor. 14), and by the effects of his agency in renewing and sanctifying the heart.
And of power – That is, of the power of God 1Co 2:5; the divine power and efficacy which attended the preaching of the gospel there. Compare 1Th 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 4. And my speech] , My doctrine; the matter of my preaching.
And my preaching] , My proclamation, my manner of recommending the grand but simple truths of the Gospel.
Was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom] , 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] , In the manifestation; or, as two ancient MSS. have it, , 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 , man’s, before , 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.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Either here Pauls speech and preaching signify the same thing, (expressed by two words), or else speech referreth to his more private conferences and discourses with them, and preaching signifieth the more public acts of his ministry; neither of them was
with the persuasive or enticing words of mans wisdom. What these persuasive words of mans wisdom are, will quickly appear to any that considers there are but two human arts that pretend to any thing of persuading; rhetoric, and logic, or the art of reasoning. Rhetoric persuadeth more weakly, working more upon the affections than upon the understanding and judgment. Logic, or the art of reasoning, more strongly, working upon the understanding and judgment, and teaching men to conclude from connate natural principles. Now, saith Paul, my preaching was neither of these ways, I neither studied neat and fine words and phrases, nor did I make it my work to demonstrate gospel propositions to you from principles of natural reason.
Object. Ought not then ministers now to use such words?
Answer. A learned popish writer saith, that “at that time it was the will of God that his ministers should use plain speech; but it is otherwise now; the using of words studiously composed and ordered, being now the ordinary way to persuade others.” But:
1. After this rate any thing of the will of God may be evaded; it is but saying, that it was the will of God indeed then, but not now.
2. The thing is false. It was then, as much as now, the ordinary way of persuading to use rhetorical phrases and rational demonstrations.
3. Although now this be the ordinary method of persuading men of learning and capacities, yet for the generality of people it is not so.
4. The apostles reason holds now as much as ever. It is the way to make Christians faith stand in the wisdom of men, not in the power of God.
Object. Ought then ministers to use no study, but talk whatever comes at their tongues end, and to use no reason to prove what they say?
Answer. By no means.
1. It is one thing to study matter, another thing to study words.
2. Nay, it is one thing to study a decency in words, another to study a gaudery of phrase. It is an old and true saying, Verba sequuntur res: Words will follow matter, if the preacher be but of ordinary parts. In the study of words we have but two things to attend:
(1) That we speak intelligibly, so as all the people may understand.
(2) That we speak gravely and decently. All other study of words and phrases in a divine is but folly and vanity.
3. We ought to use our reason in our preaching; but reason works two ways:
(1) Either making conclusions from natural and philosophical principles;
(2) Or, from Scriptural principles. We ought to study to conclude as strongly as we can what we say from principles of revelation, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but not from all natural and philosophical principles; for so we shall conclude, there is no Trinity in the Unity of the Divine Being, because, according to natural principles, three cannot be one, nor one three; and against the resurrection, because there can be no regress from a privation to a habit, &c.
4. Again, it is one thing to use our natural reason, ex abundanti, as an auxiliary help to illustrate and confirm what is first confirmed by Divine revelation; another thing to use it as a foundation upon which we build a spiritual conclusion, or as the main proof of it. Pauls preaching was in words intelligible to his hearers, and decent enough, and with reason enough, but not concluding upon natural principles, nor making any proofs of that nature the foundation upon which he built his gospel conclusions.
But in demonstration of the Spirit; by which Grotius and some others understand miracles, by which the doctrine of the gospel was at first confirmed; but Vorstius and many others better understand by it the Holy Ghosts powerful and inward persuasion of mens minds, of the truth of what was preached by Paul. All ministers preaching makes propositions of gospel truth appear no more than probable; the Spirit only demonstrates them, working in souls such a persuasion and confirmation of the truth of them, as the soul can no longer deny or dispute, or withstand the conviction of them.
And of power: by this term also some understand the power of working miracles; but it is much better by others interpreted of that authority, which the word of God preached by Paul had, and preached by faithful ministers still hath, upon the souls and consciences of those that hear it. As it is said, Mat 7:29, Christ taught them as one having authority. And it is said of Stephen, Act 6:10, They were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. So the gospel preached by Paul came to people, not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, 1Th 1:5; and was quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, Heb 4:12. And thus every faithful minister, with whose labours God goeth along in the conversion of souls, yet preacheth in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Nor indeed call those miracles, by which Christ and his apostles confirmed the truth of the doctrine of the gospel, though they were a mighty proof, be, in any propriety of speech, called a demonstration; which, properly, is a proof in which the mind fully acquiesceth, so that it no longer denieth or disputeth the thing so proved, but gives a firm and full assent to it: the miracles wrought by Christ himself never had that effect; the Pharisees and the generality of the Jews believed not that Christ was the true Messiah and the Son of God, not withstanding his miracles. Nothing but the inward powerful impression of the Spirit of God, persuading the heart of the truth of gospel principles, can possibly amount to a demonstration, bringing the minds of men, though never so judicious and prepared, to a certainty of the thing revealed, and a rest, so as they can no longer deny, resist, dispute, or contradict it. With this Pauls preaching was attended, not to every individual person to whom he preached, but to many, even as many as should be saved: he delivered the doctrine of the gospel freely, plainly, and boldly, not resting upon the force of his rhetoric and persuasive words, nor yet upon the natural force of his reasoning and argumentation; but leaving the demonstration and evidencing of the truth of what he said to the powerful internal impression and persuasion of the holy and blessed Spirit of God, who worketh powerfully.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. my speechin private.
preachingin public[BENGEL]. ALFORDexplains it, My discourse on doctrines, and my preachingor announcement of facts.
enticingrather,”persuasive.”
man’s wisdomman’sis omitted in the oldest authorities. Still “wisdom” doesrefer to “man’s” wisdom.
in demonstration of . . .Spirit, c.Persuasion is man’s means of moving hisfellow man. God’s means is demonstration, leaving no doubt,and inspiring implicit faith, by the powerful working of the Spirit(then exhibited both outwardly by miracles, and inwardly by workingon the heart, now in the latter and the more important way only,Mat 7:29 Act 6:10;Heb 4:12; compare also Ro15:19). The same simple power accompanies divine truth now,producing certain persuasion and conversion, when the Spiritdemonstrates by it.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Not in persuasive words of wisdom ( ). This looks like a false disclaimer or mock modesty, for surely the preacher desires to be persuasive. This adjective (MSS. ) has not yet been found elsewhere. It seems to be formed directly from , to persuade, as () is from , to spare. The old Greek form is common enough and is used by Josephus (Ant. VIII. 9. 1) of “the plausible words of the lying prophet” in 1Ki 13. The kindred word occurs in Col 2:4 for the specious and plausible Gnostic philosophers. And gullible people are easy marks for these plausible pulpiteers. Corinth put a premium on the veneer of false rhetoric and thin thinking.
But in demonstration (‘ ). In contrast with the
plausibility just mentioned. This word, though an old one from , to show forth, occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.
Spirit () here can be the Holy Spirit or inward spirit as opposed to superficial expression and
power () is moral power rather than intellectual acuteness (cf. 1:18).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
In demonstration [ ] . Only here in the New Testament. Lit., a showing forth.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And my speech and my preaching,” (Kai ho logos mou) “and the speech or language of me” (kai to kerugma mou) “and the proclamation or preaching of me.” Paul speaks of his manner of preaching by which he had appealed to the Corinthians.
2) “Was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom.” (Greek ouk en peithois) “not (was) with enticing or persuasive (logis sophias) “words of (man’s) wisdom.” Though Paul later wrote, “being crafty, I caught you with guile,” “becoming all things to all men that he might by all means save some,” he did not do this without dependence on the Holy Spirit, 2Co 12:16; 1Co 9:22.
3) “But in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (Greek alla en apodeiksei pneumatos) “But in demonstration of Spirit” (nature or kind) -(Greek kai dunameos) “and of power” (of Holy Spirit). Paul simply asserts that his labors and achievements among the Corinthian brethren had been by the “dynamics” of the Holy Spirit, not by his linguistic and polemic powers.
Crispus, chief ruler of the Jewish Synagogue, and Gaius, and the household of Stephanas, and many others had been saved at Corinth through the Spirit empowered preaching of Paul, but not by his human wisdom or language cunning, Act 18:8; 1Co 1:14-16. Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit no speech or labor can be blessed of God, Zec 4:6; Pro 1:23; Joh 4:24; 1Jn 5:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
4. And my preaching was not in the persuasive words. By the persuasive words of man’s wisdom he means that exquisite oratory which aims and strives rather by artifice than by truth, and also an appearance of refinement, that allures the minds of men. It is not without good reason, too, that he ascribes persuasiveness ( τό πιθάνον) (109) to human wisdom. For the word of the Lord constrains us by its majesty, as if by a violent impulse, to yield obedience to it. Human wisdom, on the other hand, has her allurements, by which she insinuates herself (110) and her blandishments, as it were, by which she may conciliate for herself the affections of her hearers. With this he contrasts the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, which most interpreters consider as restricted to miracles; but I take it in a more general sense, as meaning the hand of God powerfully exercised in every way through the instrumentality of the Apostle. Spirit and power he seems to have made use of by hypallage, (111) ( καθ ᾿ ὑπαλλαγὴν,) to denote spiritual power, or at least with the view of showing by signs and effects in what manner the presence of the Spirit had shown itself in his ministry. He appropriately, too, makes use of the term ἀποδείξεως, ( demonstration;) for such is our dullness in contemplating the works of God, that when he makes use of inferior instruments, they serve as so many veils to hide from us his influence, so that we do not clearly perceive it. On the other hand, as in the furtherance given to Paul’s ministry, there was no aid furnished from the flesh or the world, and as the hand of God was as it were made bare, (Isa 52:10,) his influence was assuredly the more apparent.
(109) This passage has largely exercised the ingenuity of critics, from the circumstance that the adjective πειθοῖς, occurring nowhere else in the New Testament, or in any of the writings of classical authors, it is supposed that there has been some corruption of the reading. Some suppose it to be a contraction or corruption of πείθανοις or πίθαςοις, and Chrysostom, in one or two instances, when quoting the passage, uses the adjective πίθανοις, while in other cases he has πειθοῖς It is perhaps in allusion to those instances in which Chrysostom makes use of the adjective πίθαςοις, that Calvin employs the phrase το πίθανον (persuasiveness.) Semler, after adducing various authorities, suggests the following reading: — ἐν πειθοῖ σοφαις taking πειθοῖ; as the dative of ἡ πειθω, (persuasion.) Bloomfield considers πειθοῖ, to be a highly probable reading, but prefers to retain πειθοῖς. — Ed
(110) “ Secrettement et doucement;” — “Secretly and softly.”
(111) A figure of speech by which words change their cases with each other. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) And my speech.The result which necessarily followed from this weakness and trembling was that neither his speech (i.e., the style of his teaching), nor his preaching (i.e., the subject-matter of his teaching) were of such a kind as to appeal to the natural tastes of the Corinthians.
Demonstration of the Spirit.The Apostles demonstration of the truth of the gospel was the result of no human art or skill, but came from the Spirit and power of God, and therefore the Corinthians could glory in no human teacher, but only in the power of God, which was the true source of the success of the gospel amongst them.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Enticing words Not rhetorical or elocutional in style, but the persuasive utterances of a true philosophy.
Demonstration Manifestation.
Of the Spirit From or by the divine Spirit and divine power.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Co 2:4. But in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power There were two sorts of arguments wherewith the Apostle confirmed the Gospel; the one was, the revelations made concerning our Saviour by types and figures, and prophesies of him under the law; the other, the miracles and miraculous gifts accompanying the first preachers of the Gospel, in the publishing and propagating of it. The latter of these St. Paul here calls power, the former he terms the Spirit; and so 1Co 2:12; 1Co 2:14. The things of the Spirit of God, and spiritual things, are things which are revealed by the Spirit of God, and not discoverable by our natural faculties. Locke. The Archbishop of Cambray, instead of enticing words of man’s wisdom, renders the Greek Persuasive discourses of human wisdom.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 1935
APOSTOLIC PREACHING
1Co 2:4-5. My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of mans wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
IN the education of persons for the ministry, it is justly thought that all possible attention should be paid to the attainment of whatever may render them eminent in their profession, and useful in the Church of God. Yet it may well be doubted whether a proper distinction be made between the acquisition of knowledge and the use of it. A man cannot acquire too much; but he may use his knowledge unprofitably, and even injuriously, in the discharge of his holy calling. There is, in the truths which he has to deliver, a dignity, which would be obscured by the artificial ornaments of human oratory. Hence St. Paul, even when at Corinth, where human eloquence was in high request, forbore to comply with the prevailing taste, lest, by yielding to it, he should make the cross of Christ of none effect [Note: 1Co 1:17.]. Nor did he apologize for this departure from their established usages: on the contrary, he vindicates it, and assigns what they could not but acknowledge to be an abundantly sufficient reason for his conduct.
That we may not lose the benefit of his example, I will enter more particularly into the consideration of it; and shew,
I.
How St. Paul conducted himself in his pastoral office
It is evident that he here contrasts his own conduct with that of their most celebrated instructors, whom they were wont to admire. The philosophers, whom they had followed, were fond of displaying the profoundness of their own wisdom, and the extent of their own researches: and they were admired in proportion as they were able to maintain their theories with logical subtlety and plausible argumentation. Their great orators, too, to whom they had been wont to listen with delight, had filled their discourses with all the flowers of rhetoric, that, by pleasing the imagination of their hearers, they might suspend the severer exercises of judgment, and persuade beyond the just impulse of deliberate conviction. But to none of these artifices would the Apostle condescend.
He conducted his ministrations with the utmost simplicity
[He was himself a man of great talent: having been educated under the most celebrated teacher, and made a proficiency in knowledge beyond most of his fellow-students; so that, if he had judged it expedient, he could have moved with celebrity in the path which the most distinguished philosophers had trod. But he disdained to seek his own glory in the discharge of his sacred office: he therefore would have nothing to do with the enticing words of mans wisdom. He had received a message, which he was anxious to deliver; and, in delivering it, he used great plainness of speech. He looked not to the powers of language, to impress the minds of his hearers, but to the Spirit of the living God; whose energy needed no artificial aid, and whose power was amply sufficient to carry conviction to the soul. He was taught to expect from God such attestations to his word. He was enabled, indeed, to confirm his word with signs and miracles: but it was to the mighty working of the Spirit of God upon the souls of men that he chiefly looked; and, in dependence upon that, he laboured both in public and in private. His speech, when conversing with individuals, and his preaching before assembled thousands, were both of the same character. To make known the mystery of redemption through our incarnate God was the office committed to him: and he determined to execute it with all simplicity of mind; knowing nothing amongst his people but Jesus Christ, and him crucified.]
In this he had respect to the best interests of mankind
[The very aim of the principal philosophers was to establish dogmas of their own, which were to be received by their followers as characteristic of the sect to which they belonged. But St. Paul would not have the faith of his hearers to stand on the dictates of human wisdom. The word was Gods: the power that alone could make it effectual was Gods: nor could it be of any real service to the souls of men, any further than it was applied with power from on high. However the people might accede to it as a truth, that they were corrupt and helpless creatures, they could not feel it aright, unless they were taught it by God himself. And, however they might be persuaded that Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world, they could not believe in him to the salvation of their own souls, unless that faith should be wrought in them by the Holy Ghost. In like manner, every truth of Christianity must be experimentally received, and divinely communicated: and therefore the Apostle would not run the risk of having any of its efficacy imputed to his statements: he would have the faith of all its adherents to be purely and undeniably the offspring of a divine power; so that God alone might be glorified in every believing soul.]
Such was the character of St. Pauls ministry. Let me now suggest,
II.
The hints which we may derive from it in the relation in which we stand
If St. Paul was an example to us as a Christian, he was not less so as a Minister. Now, from his mode of ministering, some important hints arise,
1.
To those who preach
[We have the very same message to deliver as that which was committed to the Apostle Paul. And, though we cannot hope, like him, to have our word confirmed with miracles, we may hope that it shall be accompanied with power from on high, to the conviction and consolation of those who hear us. On us, therefore, the same obligation lies, to wave the use of all rhetorical ornaments, and of artificial statements that savour of human wisdom; and to look to the influences of the Holy Spirit to render our word effectual for the good of men. The same holy watchfulness should be found in us respecting the honour of God in the work of mans salvation. Were our talents ever so great, we ought to deem the exercise of them, in dispensing the Gospel, a matter of extreme care and jealousy. I mean not that they are to be laid aside; for they may be employed to good purpose: but they are not to be employed for the purpose of display, or to exalt our own wisdom: they must be improved only for the purpose of unfolding more clearly the great mysteries of the Gospel, and of rendering them more intelligible to the meanest capacity. The object which we should ever keep in view should be, to have our word accompanied with a divine unction to the souls of men, and to see faith wrought in their hearts with a divine power.]
2.
To those who hear
[The same simplicity of mind as befits your minister, becomes you also. You should not wish for displays of oratory, or affect that preaching which savours of human wisdom: you should desire only the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. You should be on your guard against adopting the Shibboleth of a party, or the dogmas of any particular sect: beware, too, of becoming followers of Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, as your own carnal prejudices may incline you: you must receive the truth as little children; and embrace it, not as the word of man, but as the word of God. If rightly ministered, the Gospel will be declared to you as the testimony of God respecting his dear Son [Note: ver. 1.]. Now, a testimony is not received on account of the figures with which it is embellished, but on account of its intrinsic importance, and the veracity of him by whom it is borne: and in this precise way must you receive the testimony of God, who says, that He has given us eternal life, and that this life is in his Son; and that he who hath the Son, hath life; and he who hath not the Son of God, hath not life [Note: 1Jn 5:11-12.]. To know this truth, to feel its importance, to taste its sweetness, and to experience its sanctifying and saving efficacy, this must be your end in attending on the ministry; and, in comparison of this, all gratifications resulting from a display of human wisdom ought to be lighter than vanity itself.]
In conclusion, let me recommend to you,
1.
That you form a right judgment respecting spirtual edification
[There is scarcely any subject on which the Christian world are more in error than this. If persons are pleased with the talents of a preacher, they are ready to suppose that they are edified: but real edification consists in our being more humbled, more quickened, more strengthened in the service of our God: and whatever produces not these effects, however it may please us, is only as a musical exhibition, which leaves us as carnal and corrupt as we were before [Note: Eze 33:31-32.].]
2.
That you seek edification in the way in which alone it can be obtained
[God alone can work it in the soul: Though Paul should plant, or Apollos water, it is God alone that can give the increase [Note: 1Co 3:5-7.]. You must cry to God for the gift of his Holy Spirit; and beg that the word may come to you, not in word only, but in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance [Note: 1Th 1:5.]. To Him you must look in prayer, before you come up hither; and whilst you are hearing the word; and when you go hence: then may you hope that the word shall be clothed with energy, and prove The power of God to the salvation of your souls.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
Ver. 4. With enticing words ] Religion is not a matter of parts, words, or wit. The devil cares not for the sons of Sceva’s adjurations. Abana and Pharphar may cleanse, but Jordan only can cure. God’s holy things must be handled, Sancte magis quam scite, with fear and reverence, rather than with wit and dalliance. Let ministers set out the work of God as skilfully and adornedly as they can, but still aim at the winning of souls. Let not the window be so painted as to keep out the light. (The Saint’s Everlast. Rest.) Some frothy discourses are like children’s babies, that when you have taken away the dressing, you have taken away all; or like beautiful pictures, which have much cost bestowed on them to make them comely and desirable to the eye; but life, heat, and motion there is none. O pulchrum caput! sed sensus non inest, Oh beautiful head but no feeling there, said the ape in the fable. Prudentibus viris non placent phalerata, sed fortia, said Bishop Jewel, who ever loved a manlike eloquence, but not that which is effeminate. No more did Reverend Mr Samuel Crook, but ever shunned those more gay and lighter flourishes of a luxuriant wit, wherewith the emptiest cells affect to be most fraught, as they who for lack of wares in their shops set up painted blocks to fill up vacant shelves. (Clark’s Lives; Life of Master Crook, by W. G.)
In demonstration of the spirit ] With demonstrations fetched out of the very marrow of the Scriptures. It must be an elaborate speech that shall work upon the conscience. A man must enlighten with his own other men’s understandings, and heat by his own other men’s affections. Si vis me flere, &c. (Horat.) Bonaventure’s words in preaching were non inflantia sed inflammantia, not high-swelling, but inflaming his hearers. (Mr Clark’s Life of Bonav.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
4. ] And (not adversative, as Olsh., but following naturally on the weakness, &c., just mentioned ‘as corresponding to it’) my discourse and my preaching ( of the course of argument and inculcation of doctrine , of the announcement of facts . This (De W.) is better than with Olsh. to understand . as his private , . his public discourse: see Luk 4:32 , and . , ch. 1Co 1:18 ) was not in (did not consist of, was not set forth in, see ref.) persuasive ( = , , in Greek. The var. readings have been endeavours to avoid the unusual word, which however is analogically formed from , as from , as Meyer) words of wisdom ( , a gloss, but a correct one. “Corinthia verba, pro exquisitis et magnopere elaboratis, et ad ostentationem nitidis,” Wetst.), but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power : i.e. either, taking the genitives as objective, demonstration having for its object, demonstrating, the presence or working of the Spirit and Power of God (so Estius, Billroth, al., and the gloss ): or, taking them subjectively, demonstration (of the truth) springing from the Spirit and Power of God (so most Commentators. I prefer the latter. It can hardly be understood of the miracles done by the Spirit through him , which accompanied his preaching (Chrys, al., Olsh.), for he is here simply speaking of the preaching itself .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 2:4 . “And my word and my message:” recalls 1Co 1:18 ; , 1Co 1:21 ; 1Co 1:23 (see notes). The former includes all that Paul says in proclaiming the Gospel, the latter the specific announcement of God’s will and call therein.
, “not in persuasive words of wisdom”: the adj [308] (= , see txtl. note), from , analogous to from . “Words of wisdom,” substantially = “wisdom of word” (1Co 1:17 ); that expression accentuating the matter , this the manner of teaching “exquisita eloquutio, qu artificio magis quam veritate nitatur et pugnet” (Cv [309] ). For the unfavourable nuance of , see Col 2:4 ( ), also Gal 1:10 , Mat 28:14 . Eusebius excellently paraphrases ( Praep. Ev [310] , i., 3), . ). “With a contemptuous touch of irony that reminds one of Socrates in the Gorgias and Apology [ cf. Ev [311] , as previously cited, on , he disclaims all skill in rhetoric, the spurious art of persuading without instructing, held nevertheless in high repute in Cor [312] But when the Ap. speaks of the demonstration of the Spirit , he soars into a region of which Socrates knew nothing. Socr. sets against ; the Ap. regards both as being on well-nigh a common level, from the higher altitude of the Spirit” (Ed [313] ); since the time of Socrates, however, Philosophy had sunk into a . , “the technical term for a proof drawn from facts or documents, as opposed to theoretical reasoning; in common use with the Stoics in this sense” (Hn [314] ); see Plato, Thet. , 162 E, and Arist., Eth. Nic. , i., 1; ii., 4, for the like antithesis (Ed [315] ).
[308] adjective.
[309] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .
[310] T. S. Evans in Speaker’s Commentary .
[311] T. S. Evans in Speaker’s Commentary .
[312] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[313] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
[314] C. F. G. Heinrici’s Erklrung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer’s krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).
[315] T. C. Edwards’ Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians . 2
. gathers up the force of the of 1Co 1:24 , and f1 . . . of 1Co 1:30 (see notes); the proof of the Gospel at Cor [316] was experimental and ethical, found in the new consciousness and changed lives that attended its proclamation: cf. 1Co 6:11 , 1Co 9:1 , 2Co 3:1 ff., 1Th 2:13 ( , . . ). are not objective gen [317] ( in ostendendo Spiritum , etc.), but subjective: the Spirit, with His power, gives the demonstration (similarly in 1Co 12:7 , see note); cf. 1Co 2:10 ; 1Co 2:12 , 2Co 3:3-18 , Rom 8:16 ; Rom 15:19 , for Paul’s thoughts on the testimonium Spiritus sancti; also Joh 15:26 , 1Jn 5:6 f. , specially associated with after Luk 24:49 (see reff. for P.), is certainly the spiritual power that operates as implied in 1Co 1:30 , 1Co 6:11 , but not to the exclusion of the supernatural physical “powers” which accompanied Apostolic preaching (see note on , 1Co 1:6 ; also 1Co 12:1 ; 1Co 12:7-11 , And the combination of Rom 15:17 ff.): “latius accipio, nempe pro manu Dei potente omnibus modis per apostolum se exserente” (Cv [318] ). The art [319] is wanting with , though personal, after the anarthrous , according to “the law of correlation” (Wr [320] , p. 175: contrast this with 1Co 12:7 , also the double art [321] of 1 with the anarthrous phrase of 1Co 1:18 ). The prpl [322] clause affirms not the agency by which, but the sphere of action in which, Paul’s word operated.
[316] Corinth, Corinthian or Corinthians.
[317] genitive case.
[318] Calvin’s In Nov. Testamentum Commentarii .
[319] grammatical article.
[320] Winer-Moulton’s Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).
[321] grammatical article.
[322]rpl. prepositional.
Supply to this verse from the of 1Co 2:3 .
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
preaching. Greek. kerugma, as in 1Co 1:21.
with = in. App-104.
enticing = persuasive. Greek. peithos. Only here. Compare App-150.
words. Greek. logos, as in 1Co 2:1.
man’s = human. Greek. anthropinos. See Rom 6:19. But the texts omit “man’s”.
demonstration. Greek. apodeixis. Only here. Compare 1Co 4:9.
of the . . . power. Here spirit = spiritual gift, in this case Divine wisdom. By Figure of speech Hendiadys(App-6) = “the powerful gift”.
power. App-172.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
4.] And (not adversative, as Olsh., but following naturally on the weakness, &c., just mentioned-as corresponding to it) my discourse and my preaching ( of the course of argument and inculcation of doctrine, of the announcement of facts. This (De W.) is better than with Olsh. to understand . as his private, . his public discourse: see Luk 4:32, and . , ch. 1Co 1:18) was not in (did not consist of, was not set forth in, see ref.) persuasive ( = , , in Greek. The var. readings have been endeavours to avoid the unusual word, which however is analogically formed from , as from , as Meyer) words of wisdom (, a gloss, but a correct one. Corinthia verba, pro exquisitis et magnopere elaboratis, et ad ostentationem nitidis, Wetst.), but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: i.e. either, taking the genitives as objective, demonstration having for its object, demonstrating, the presence or working of the Spirit and Power of God (so Estius, Billroth, al., and the gloss ):-or, taking them subjectively, demonstration (of the truth) springing from the Spirit and Power of God (so most Commentators. I prefer the latter. It can hardly be understood of the miracles done by the Spirit through him, which accompanied his preaching (Chrys, al., Olsh.), for he is here simply speaking of the preaching itself.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
1Co 2:4. , speech) in private.-, preaching) in public.-) enticing, a very appropriate term, to which the antithesis is in demonstration. Didymus quotes this passage, Lib. 2 de Spir. S. Jerome translates , with persuasions,[18] so that there should be an apposition, [ being regarded as a noun]. It comes in this view from , to which is a kindred form. Hesychius has , , .-, of wisdom) He explains in the following verses, what the wisdom is, of which the speeches and arguments are to be set aside.
[18] Cod. Amiat. of Vulg. reads persuasione verbi. Other old MSS. persuasibilibus verbis.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
my speech: Act 20:27
not: 1Co 2:1, 1Co 2:13, 1Co 1:17, Jdg 14:15, Jdg 16:5, 2Sa 14:17-20, 2Sa 15:2-6, 1Ki 22:13, 1Ki 22:14, 2Ch 18:19-21, Pro 7:21, Pro 20:19, Jer 20:10, Eze 13:6, Eze 13:10, Eze 13:11, Rom 16:18, Col 2:4, 2Pe 1:16, 2Pe 2:18
enticing: or, persuasible, Act 26:28, Gal 1:10
but: 1Co 4:20, Joh 16:8-15, Rom 15:19, 1Th 1:5, 1Pe 1:12
Reciprocal: Jdg 7:2 – too many Mic 3:8 – I am Zec 4:6 – Not Mar 16:20 – the Lord Luk 4:32 – General Joh 4:41 – because Act 6:10 – the spirit Act 24:1 – orator Rom 1:16 – for it is 2Co 1:12 – not 2Co 6:6 – by the 2Co 6:7 – the power 2Co 10:10 – but Col 4:4 – as 1Th 2:4 – not 2Ti 1:7 – but 2Ti 4:3 – having
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Co 2:4. Speech means the language to be used, and preaching denotes the public proclamation of that language. Paul asserts that neither of these items of communication was counted on to persuade the hearer because of its wisdom from man. Instead, he depended on the power imparted to him by the Holy Spirit to be so efficient that its true worth would be demonstrated or made to become manifest.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
1Co 2:4. And my speech and my preaching,the message itself as well as its clothing,were not in persuasive words of wisdom,[1] but in the power of God. It was not that he could not have wielded the weapon of mans wisdom to excellent effect, as may be seen in various passages of these very Epistles to the Corinthians, whose eloquence is confessedly surpassing; but that for the reason given, he studiously avoided it. Of course, however, there is nothing here disparaging to the right use of human culture in the Christian ministry.
[1] Not (as in the received text) in persuasive words of mans wisdom.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Here our apostle goes on, declaring after what manner he did, and did not, preach the gospel of Christ to the Corinthians.
Note, 1. How he did not preach unto them: he tells us, that his preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom; that is, his preaching was not garnished with human eloquence, did not consist in rhetorical tropes, was not accompanied with the witty insinuations of artificial learning, which pleases the ear, but affects not the heart: therefore the apostles did not, like rhetoricians and orators, polish their discourses with an affected curiosity and exactness of language: but although they came in plainness, yet not in rudeness of speech; our apostle’s preaching at Corinth was great and serious, pious and ardent, plain and profitable. With what brevity, without darkness; with what gravity, without affectation; with what natural eloquence, without meretricious ornament, were St. Paul’s discourses! A minister’s words ought not to be instantia, but inflammantia; not high-swelling, but heart-in-flaming words.
Note, 2. How the apostle did preach unto the Corinthians; namely, in the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; that is, the doctrine he preached was accompanied with, and confirmed by, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, to convince them that Jesus was risen from the dead, and was made Lord of all, whom therefore they ought to believe and obey; he did not go about to bewitch men with eloquence, nor to entangle their minds by subtle reasonings, but he offered to men a sensible proof and demonstration of the truth of what he delivered, in those strange and miraculous operations to which he was enabled by the Holy Ghost.
This demonstration of the Spirit accompanying the preaching of the word, we are not now to expect; but the ministry of the word is still attended with a divine power of the Spirit, enlightening the understanding, and persuading the conscience; which may be called a demonstration of the Spirit, because the evidence of truth is no longer disputed or contradicted, but the ministry of the word is still attended with a divine power of the Spirit, enlightening the understanding, and persuading the conscience; which may be called a demonstration of the Spirit, because the evidence of truth is no longer desputed or contradicted, but the understanding assents to the word as true, and the will embraces it as good.
Note, 3. The reason assigned by the apostle why he preached the gospel in and after this plain and in artificial manner, namely, That their faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God; that is, that your faith or belief of the gospel should not seem to be obtained by human wisdom and eloquence, but be ascribed to a divine power, influencing such weak means as my plain preaching was amongst you; it is the praise of omnipotency to work by improbabilities: God delights to do great things by weak and unlikely means, knowing that the weakness of the instrument redounds to the greater honour of himself, the principal agent.
Human faith is an assent to any thing credible, as credible upon the infallible testimony of God, and is grounded on, and resolved into, the evidence of divine revelation. Upon this foot stood the Corinthians’ faith, not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Vv. 4, 5. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; 5. that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The apostle returns from his person to his preaching. , speech, and , preaching, have been distinguished in many ways: My discourses in general, and especially my preaching (Meyer); or, My private conversations and my public discourses (Neander, Rckert, etc.). I rather think that applies to the matter, and to the form; the is the gospel itself; the is the testimony the apostle renders to it. Neither the one nor the other has been corrupted in his work by the infiltration of human elements or by self – seeking. The adj. is not known in classic Greek, in which the word is used for persuasive. But it is nevertheless regularly formed from the verb ; comp. , from ; and it is possible that in the apostle’s day belonged only to the spoken language. Some documents have substituted for this adjective the dative of the substantive , persuasion (Itala: in persuasione sapientiae verbi). Heinrici adopts this reading, though it is almost entirely destitute of authorities, because of the fine contrast between this word and the following term, . But in that case we should have to read or , which are only found in very few authorities, and which are evidently corrections. The adj. , human, found in the received text, is insufficiently supported.
Instead of endeavouring to satisfy the understanding by means of a system (wisdom) ably presented (persuasive discourses), the apostle has sought his strength in action of a wholly different nature, in what he calls the demonstration of Spirit and of power. The word indicates a clearness which is produced in the hearer’s mind, as by the sudden lifting of a veil; a conviction mastering him with the sovereign force of moral evidence; comp. 1Co 14:24-25.
The gen. , of Spirit, is the complement of cause; it is the Divine Spirit alone who thus reveals the truth of salvation; comp. Eph 1:17-18. We have to represent this Spirit to ourselves acting at once in him who speaks and in him who hears, in such a way as to make the light pass, through the intervention of the spoken word, from the mind of the one into the mind of the other. The second gen. , of power, is the complement of quality: it denotes the mode of the Spirit’s action; it is, so to speak, a taking possession of the human soul, of its understanding and will, by the inward ascendency of the truth. Chrysostom, and in our day, Beet, apply these expressions to the outward miracles which St. Paul sometimes wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit (2Co 11:12; Rom 15:19). Such an interpretation, allowable in the infancy of exegesis, should now be no longer possible. The apostle has just been stigmatizing the going after miracles on the part of the Jews, and we are to suppose him saying here that he sought to render the faith of the Corinthians immovable by the evidence of miracles!
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And my speech [discourse on doctrine] and my preaching [announcement of facts] were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power [1Co 1:5 . He relied upon the divine aid, rather than upon the aid of human learning]:
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
4. My speech and my preaching were not in enticing words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and dynamite. Dynamite is the greatest explosive and the most potent mechanical power in the material world. Judiciously did its discoverers, failing to find an adequately significant cognomen in the boundless vocabulary of the English language, go to the New Testament, and in the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, through His servant Paul, find the very word they needed to signify to the world this inconceivable physical miracle. As dynamite blows out everything with which it comes in contact in the material world, so the dynamite of the Holy Ghost blows all sin and all devils out of the human spirit, consummating in entire sanctification and culminating in the resurrection of soul, mind and body world without end. Paul went for the demonstration and dynamite of the Holy Ghost. Well are these words coupled together, vividly signifying the Pauline ministry, as dynamite is the most demonstrative thing in the universe, roaring like a volcano, pealing like the most terrific thunder-claps, throwing stones in all directions, and clearing everything before it. Whenever the gospel ceases to be demonstrative you may suspect a leakage in the vessel.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 4
In demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; that is, with power and energy imparted by the influences of the Holy Spirit.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:4 And my speech and my preaching [was] not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, {2} but in {d} demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
(2) He turns now to the commendation of his ministry, which he had granted to his adversaries: for his strength and power, which they knew well enough, was so much the more excellent because it had no worldly help behind it.
(d) By “demonstration” he means such a proof as is made by reasons both certain and necessary.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Paul did not design his content ("message," logos) and or his delivery ("preaching," kerygma) to impress his hearers with his eloquence or wisdom. Rather he emphasized the simple message he announced. His preaching was a demonstration, not a performance. Conviction came as a result of the Holy Spirit’s power, not the "wisdom" of the preacher. We should not interpret this verse as deprecating persuasion but as a warning that conviction does not come as a result of persuasive arguments. It comes as the Holy Spirit opens blind eyes when we herald the gospel. The warning is against self-reliance in the preacher.
"Those who minister the Word must prepare and use every gift God has given them-but they must not put their confidence in themselves." [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1:573.]
"Mere human sophia may dazzle and overwhelm and seem to be unanswerable, but . . . it does not penetrate to those depths of the soul which are the seat of the decisions of a lifetime." [Note: Robertson and Plummer, p. 33.]
"It is possible for arguments to be logically irrefutable, yet totally unconvincing." [Note: Leon Morris, The First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, p. 52.]