Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
19. it is written ] In Job 5:13.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the wisdom of this world – That which is esteemed to be wisdom by the people of this world on the subject of religion. It does not mean that true wisdom is foolishness with him. It does not mean that science, and prudence, and law – that the knowledge of his works – that astronomy, and medicine, and chemistry, are regarded by him as folly, and as unworthy the attention of people. God is the friend of truth on all subjects; and he requires us to become acquainted with his works, and commends those who search them, Psa 92:4; Psa 111:2. But the apostle refers here to that which was esteemed to be wisdom among the ancients, and in which they so much prided themselves, their vain, self-confident, and false opinions on the subject of religion; and especially those opinions when they were opposed to the simple but sublime truths of revelation. See the note at 1Co 1:20-21.
Is foolishness with God – Is esteemed by him to be folly. See the note at 1Co 1:20-24.
For it is written … – Job 5:13. The word rendered taketh here denotes to clench with the fist, gripe, grasp. And the sense is:
(1) However crafty, or cunning, or skillful they may be; however self-confident, yet that they cannot deceive or impose upon God. He can thwart their plans, overthrow their schemes, defeat their counsels, and foil them in their enterprises, Job 5:12.
(2) He does it by their own cunning or craftiness. He allows them to involve themselves in difficulties or to entangle each other. He makes use of even their own craft and cunning to defeat their counsels. He allows the plans of one wise man to come in conflict with those of another, and thus to destroy one another. Honesty in religion, as in everything else, is the best policy; and a man who pursues a course of conscientious integrity may expect the protection of God. But he who attempts to carry his purposes by craft and intrigue – who depends on skill and cunning instead of truth and honesty, will often find that he is the prey of his own cunning and duplicity.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 19. The wisdom of this world] Whether it be the pretended deep and occult wisdom of the rabbins, or the wire-drawn speculations of the Grecian philosophers, is foolishness with God; for as folly consists in spending time, strength, and pains to no purpose, so these may be fitly termed fools who acquire no saving knowledge by their speculations. And is not this the case with the major part of all that is called philosophy, even in the present day? Has one soul been made wise unto salvation through it? Are our most eminent philosophers either pious or useful men? Who of them is meek, gentle, and humble! Who of them directs his researches so as to meliorate the moral condition of his fellow creatures? Pride, insolence, self-conceit, and complacency, with a general forgetfulness of God, contempt for his word, and despite for the poor, are their general characteristics.
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.] This is a quotation from Job 5:13, and powerfully shows what the wisdom of this world is: it is a sort of craft, a subtle trade, which they carry on to wrong others and benefit themselves; and they have generally too much cunning to be caught by men; but God often overthrows them with their own devisings. Paganism raised up persecution against the Church of Christ, in order to destroy it: this became the very means of quickly spreading it over the earth, and of destroying the whole pagan system. Thus the wise were taken in their own craftiness.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God; God accounteth that folly which the world calleth wisdom, and indeed it is so (for God cannot err, nor be mistaken in his judgment): the philosophers and wise men of the world propose the happiness of man as their end, which indeed is the true end which all men aim at, and do propound to themselves; true wisdom directeth the best means in order to the best end. Whatsoever directeth not to the best end, or to what is not the best means in order to that end, is not wisdom, but real folly; worldly wisdom neither directeth to the best end, for it looks at no further happiness than that of this life, nor yet to the best means, and therefore is truly, what God accounts it, foolishness.
For it is written: He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and to see the wise and learned men of the world thus err both in their judgment and practice, is no wonder at all; for God is set out of old by Eliphaz, as one that taketh the wise in their own craftiness, Job 5:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
19. with Godin thejudgment of God.
it is writtenin Job5:13. The formula of quoting SCRIPTUREused here, establishes the canonicity of Job.
He taketh . . . wise in . . .own craftinessproving the “foolishness” of theworld’s wisdom, since it is made by God the very snare to catch thosewho think themselves so wise. Literally, “He who taketh . . .the whole of the sentence not being quoted, but only the part whichsuited Paul’s purpose.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,…. The wisdom of the Jewish, or Gentile world. It is had in no account with him; it is despised and neglected by him; he makes it foolish, destroys it, and brings it to nothing; he lays it aside as useless, to make men wise unto salvation, and by the foolishness of preaching saves them that believe; he passes by the wise and prudent, and hides the things of the Gospel from them; so, that, with all their learning and wisdom, they can neither apprehend nor comprehend the mysteries of grace, whilst he reveals them unto babes, and chooses the foolish things of this world to spread the knowledge of himself, his Son, his Gospel, and the truths of it, and whom he makes successful, to the confusion of the wise and learned.
“For it is written”, , an usual form of citing Scriptures with the Jews; it is in Job 5:13 he taketh the wise in their own craftiness, or by it. What Eliphaz says of the wise politicians of the world, who are often disappointed of their crafty devices, and cannot perform the enterprises they have took in hand, but their schemes are broken, and the snares they laid for others they are taken in themselves, is applied by the apostle to the Jewish doctors, or the Gentile philosophers, or rather to the false teachers among the Christians; whose schemes they have formed to corrupt the churches, and demolish the Gospel, prove their own destruction; nor will they, with all their cunning, be able to get out of the hand of God, and escape his awful vengeance. The allusion is either to the taking of wild beasts and birds in snares and nets, or to the taking of men in flight, laying hold of them with the hand, and grasping them hard, that they cannot get loose. The Targum interprets the words of the wise men of Pharaoh, and of the Egyptian astrologers, schemes they have formed to corrupt the churches, and demolish the Gospel, prove their own destruction; nor will they, with all their cunning, be able to get out of the hand of God, and escape his awful vengeance. The allusion is either to the taking of wild beasts and birds in snares and nets, or to the taking of men in flight, laying hold of them with the hand, and grasping them hard, that they cannot get loose. The Targum interprets the words of the wise men of Pharaoh, and of the Egyptian astrologers.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Foolishness with God ( ). Whose standard does a church (temple) of God wish, that of this world or of God? The two standards are not the same. It is a pertinent inquiry with us all whose idea rules in our church. Paul quotes Job 5:13.
That taketh ( ). Old verb , to grasp with the hand, is used here for the less vivid word in the LXX . It occurs nowhere else in the N.T., but appears in the papyri to lay hands on. Job is quoted in the N.T. only here and in Ro 11:35 and both times with variations from the LXX. This word occurs in Ecclesiasticus 26:7; 34:2. In Ps 2:12 the LXX has , lay hold on instruction.
Craftiness (). The man is ready for any or all work (if bad enough). So it means versatile cleverness (Robertson and Plummer), astutia (Vulgate).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
He taketh [ ] . Cited from Job 5:13, but not following the Septuagint verbally. The verb occurs only here, meaning to grasp with the hand. Rev., more accurately, gives the force of the participle with the article, he that taketh. This is the only allusion to the book of Job in the New Testament, except Jas 5:11.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “For the wisdom of this world.” (he gar sophia tou kosmou toutou) “For this world-order of wisdom” – wisdom of men of the world, who know not God and have not His Spirit, the natural man’s wisdom, 1Co 2:14; 1Co 1:20-25.
2) “Is foolishness with God” (Greek moria para to theo estin) “Is folly or moronic in nature in comparison with or alongside the wisdom of God,” Rom 1:21-28.
3) “For it is written.” (gegraptai gar) “For it has been written” Job had written of the worldly wise, those who presumed and assumed for themselves wisdom excelling that of God, Job 5:13.
4) “He taketh the wise.” (Greek ho drassomenos tous sophous) “He grasps or takes hold of the wise ones,” those who flout His Word, ways, and wisdom, as Pharaoh did, as Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar did, and as Jonah did (Exo 14:19-28).
5) “In their own craftiness.” (en te penourgia) “in the subtlety of their own presumptuous wisdom.” He took Ananias and Sapphira this way, Acts 5 th Chapter.
LET MY WORDS BE FEW
Fools, hypocrites, and heathen may be identified by their multitude of words.
“God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few.” Ecc 5:2.
Sensible men show their sense by saying much in a few words. Noble actions are the substance of life, not a multitude of platitudes.
A fool’s voice is known by a multitude of words. (Ecc 5:2-3) In Mat 6:1-34 Jesus asserted that hypocrites make display-prayers to be seen of men; heathen use vain repetitions for they think they shall be heard for their much speaking. Let us so act that we may not be classed with fools, hypocrites and heathen.
– 365 Sunrays of Help
CAUSE FOR STUPIDITY
A facetious Irish minister remarked upon one of his stupid brethren, “Head! he has no head; what you call a head is only a top-knot that his maker put there to keep him from raveling out.”
– 6000 Windows
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
19. For the wisdom of this world This is an argument taken from things opposite. To maintain the one is to overturn the other. As, therefore, the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, it follows that we cannot be wise in the sight of God, unless we are fools in the view of the world. We have already explained (1Co 1:20) what he means by the wisdom of this world; for natural perspicacity is a gift of God, and the liberal arts, and all the sciences by which wisdom is acquired, are gifts of God. They are confined, however, within their own limits; for into God’s heavenly kingdom they cannot penetrate. Hence they must occupy the place of handmaid, not of mistress: nay more, they must be looked upon as empty and worthless, until they have become entirely subject to the word and Spirit of God. If, on the other hand, they set themselves in opposition to Christ, they must be looked upon as dangerous pests, and, if they strive to accomplish anything of themselves, as the worst of all hindrances. (198) Hence the wisdom of the world, in Paul’s acceptation, is that which assumes to itself authority, and does not allow itself to be regulated by the word of God, or to be subdued, so as to yield itself up in entire subjection to him. Until, therefore, matters have come to this, that the individual acknowledges that he knows nothing but what he has learned from God, and, giving up his own understanding; resigns himself unreservedly to Christ’s guidance, he is wise in the world’s account, but he is foolish in the estimation of God.
For it is written, He taketh the wise He confirms this from two Scripture proofs, the first of which is taken from Job 5:13, where the wisdom of God is extolled on this ground, that no wisdom of the world can stand before it.
Now it is certain, that the Prophet speaks there of those that are cunning and crafty; but as the wisdom of man is invariably such without God, (199) it is with good reason that Paul applies it in this sense, — that whatever wisdom men have of themselves is reckoned of no account in the sight of God. The second is from Psa 94:11, where David, after claiming for God alone the office and authority of the Instructor of all, adds, that He knows the thoughts of all to be vain. Hence, in whatever estimation they are held by us, they are, in the judgment of God, vain Here we have an admirable passage for bringing down the confidence of the flesh, while God from on high declares that everything that the mind of man conceives and contrives is mere vanity (200)
(198) “ Ce sont de grans empeschemens, et bien a craindre;” — “They are great hindrances, and much to be dreaded.”
(199) “ Quand la sagesse de Dieu n’y est point;” — “When the wisdom of God is not in it.”
(200) “The humbling tendency ef the statement referred to is well brought out by Fuller of Kettering. ( Fuller ’ s Works, volume 4, p. 89.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(19) With God.Better, in the sight of God (Rom. 2:13).
For it is written.By two passages, one from Job, and the other from the Psalms, St. Paul proves the truth of his previous assertion regarding Gods estimate of mere worldly wisdom. It may be noticed that with the exception of the reference in Jas. 5:11 to the proverbial patience of Job, of which the writer says ye have heard (not read), this is the only allusion to the book of Job or to Job in the New Testament.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
19. Wisdom foolishness Parallel with 1Co 1:25, where see notes. Own craftiness So that this world’s wisdom is the destruction of its possessor and professor.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘For it is written.’ Paul now establishes his position from Scripture. This is not just an afterthought. He has been leading up to this. What he has been saying is in fact what the Scripture, God’s revealed word to man, itself says, and that is that man’s wisdom can only get him into trouble when he is thinking and talking about God.
Compare the commencement of this whole argument in 1Co 1:18-25. There too he began with ‘it is written’ (1Co 1:19) and referred to this age and this world. There the wisdom of this age and of this world were to be destroyed. Now having considered all it is to bring them low and be their downfall and to pass away as a breath.
For those who think themselves wise, but are not wise in Christ, have a bleak future to look forward to. God’s views on earthly wisdom are clearly given in the Scriptures. The thoughts and aims of the ‘wise’ are vain, for they finally get them nowhere and accomplish nothing. They are trapped in their own crafty inventions, their own clever reasonings. And they end with nothing, receiving the only end possible for those who have rejected God’s wisdom.
‘It is written’ signifies reference to the divinely inspired Scriptures. The first Scripture is cited from Job 5:13. Note how this brings out that the Book of Job is in his mind. There we read, ‘He takes the wise in their own craftiness.’ The thought is that the wise go racing on with their foolish ideas about God and build them up with great astuteness, only to be brought crashing down. That God interferes to prevent the crafty from achieving their ends, even utilising their own cleverness against them. In the end they are trapped by their own cleverness.
There is clear warning here. Beware of operating away from God’s word. Go running off on your own in order to establish how wise you are, and you will finish up falling over yourself. That is in fact what philosophy today has indeed accomplished. It has brought itself to a standstill. God is no longer at the centre of its programme. They disdain the idea that God can be known. Thus , Paul is saying, the truly wise will be those who are not such as to deserve the opprobrium of God by being caught up in their own cleverness.
The second is taken from Psa 94:11 where we read, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are a breath (that is, temporary and passing).’ Paul speaks of ‘the wise’ instead of ‘man’ because he is directly connecting the verse with his argument. The substitution, however, simply brings out the idea of ‘the thinking man of the world’ (the thoughts of man) which is inherent in the Psalm. Both agree that the thoughts of such men are vain. Thus the word of God, says Paul, confirms that men’s thoughts in contrast to God’s thoughts are nothing but a passing breath.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
1Co 3:19 . Giving the ground of the demanded in order to the .
] i.e. such as is peculiar to the pre-Messianic world (humanity), like the Hellenic sophistry, rhetoric, etc.; comp 1Co 1:21 , 1Co 2:6 .
. ] judice Deo ; Rom 2:13 ; Winer, p. 369 [E. T. 493]. How truly that wisdom was its own very opposite, and how utterly to be given up!
. ] Job 5:13 , not according to the LXX., but expressing the sense of the Hebrew with quite as great fidelity. The passage, however, serves as proof, not for the warning and admonition in 1Co 3:18 (Hofmann), to take it thus would be arbitrarily to reach back over what immediately precedes the , but, as 1Co 3:20 also confirms, for the statement just made, . . [559] If, namely, God did not count that wisdom to be folly, then He could not be spoken of as He who taketh the wise in their craftiness, i.e. who brings it to pass that the wise, while they cunningly pursue their designs, do not attain them, but rather their craftiness turns to their own destruction. Thus the hand of God comes in upon their doings and takes them in their craftiness, whereby He just practically proclaims His judgment regarding their wisdom, that it is foolishness . As respects , comp the Hellenic distinction between it and the true wisdom in Plato, Menex. p. 247 A: , , .
. is not “ex Hebr. pro finito ” (Pott, following Beza), but the quotation, being taken out of its connection, does not form a complete sentence. Comp Heb 1:8 ; Winer, p. 330 [E. T. 443]; Buttmann, neut. Gr. p. 250 [E. T. 291].
On with the accusative (commonly with the genitive ), comp Herod. iii. 13, LXX. Lev 5:12 , Num 5:26 .
[559] . . . .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Ver. 19. He taketh the wise ] , those natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed,2Pe 2:122Pe 2:12 ; God takes them and makes fools of them.
In their own craftiness ] When they have eviscerated themselves like spiders, tried all conclusions, beaten their brains, searched the devil’s skull for new devices, done all that may be done (as the word imports) to effect their designs. Versutia veteratoria. God lets them carry the ball on the foot till they are almost at the goal, go to the utmost of their tether, and then pulls them back with shame enough to their task. Thus he dealt by Sennacherib, Haman, Herod, others.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
19. ] Reason why this must be : shewn from Scripture.
., in the judgment of God , reff.
.] The sense of the Heb. is equally expressed by the Apostle and the LXX. The words are taken out of the context as they stand, which accounts for the participle, see Heb 1:7 . The sense is, ‘If God uses the craft of the wise as a net to catch them in, such wisdom is in His sight folly, since He turns it to their confusion.’ “ (possibly a provincialism) is substituted for , as a stronger and livelier expression for ‘grasping,’ or ‘catching with the hand.’ ” Stanley. Cf. Jdt 13:7 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
1Co 3:19 a gives the reason why the philosophy of the times must be renounced by the aspirant to Christian wisdom: “For the wisdom of the world is folly with God” (= 1Co 1:20 ); and since it is folly with God , it must be counted folly, and not wisdom, amongst you (1Co 3:18 ). God’s judgment is decisive for His Church. , apud Deum, judice Deo (see parls.).
1Co 3:19-20 . That the above is God’s judgment appears from two sayings of Scripture, bearing on the two classes of worldly wise the men of affairs (such as the of 1Co 2:6 ) and the philosophers (1Co 1:20 ), distinguished respectively by and . In the first text (the only N.T. quotation from Job: Phi 1:19 , perhaps an allusion), Paul improves on the LXX, possibly from another version, substituting the vivid ( He that grips: cf. , Theocritus, xxiv. 28) for , and for , both nearer to the Heb. (LXX reads in 1Co 3:12 ). The words (from Eliphaz) are “appropriated because of their inherent truth” (Lt [615] ); they reassert the anticipation expressed in 1Co 2:6 . For , see parls.; note its deterioration of meaning, as in Eng. craft . When the world’s schemers think themselves cleverest, Providence catches them in their own toils. The second text P. adapts by turning into : what is true of the vanity of human thoughts generally ( machsh ’both ’dm ) he applies par excellence to “the reasonings of the wise ”. , signifying in Plutarch’s later Gr [616] debates, arguings (see parls.), recalls 1Co 1:19 f. above, echoing the quotation of that passage. On , futile , see note to 1Co 15:14 ( ).
[615] J. B. Lightfoot’s (posthumous) Notes on Epp. of St. Paul (1895).
[616] Greek, or Grotius’ Annotationes in N.T.
world. Greek. kosmos. App-129.
foolishness. Greek. moria. See 1Co 1:18.
with. App-104.
is = has been.
taketh. Greek. drassomai. Only here. Found in the Septuagint, but not in Job 5:13, from which this is quoted.
craftiness. Greek. punourgia. See Luk 20:23. This is the only time Job is quoted in the NT.
19.] Reason why this must be:-shewn from Scripture.
., in the judgment of God, reff.
.] The sense of the Heb. is equally expressed by the Apostle and the LXX. The words are taken out of the context as they stand, which accounts for the participle, see Heb 1:7. The sense is, If God uses the craft of the wise as a net to catch them in, such wisdom is in His sight folly, since He turns it to their confusion. (possibly a provincialism) is substituted for , as a stronger and livelier expression for grasping, or catching with the hand. Stanley. Cf. Jdt 13:7.
1Co 3:19. ) Eliphaz in Job 5:13, in the LXX., says, . The apostles seem to have kept very much by the words of the LXX. Interpreters in passages very well known to the Hellenists [the Greek-speaking Jews], for example in the Parschijoth[29] and Haphtaroth, and likewise in the Psalms; but they have recourse to the Hebrew, in passages less generally used, such as this passage of Job. Paul has also in another place referred to Job. See Php 1:19, note.-, in) not only whilst they think that they are acting wisely, but in such a way, that their very wisdom is a snare to them.
[29] Parschijoth, sections of the Pentateuch; Haphtaroth, sections of the Prophets, read publicly.-T.
1Co 3:19
1Co 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.-He here applies the truths presented in the conclusion of the first chapter. To be wise after the world is to be a fool before God. To be wise with God is to be a fool with the world. God has ordained that every institution and organization by man shall be engulfed in the destroying vortex of ruin. The disposition to introduce things into the service of God based on human opinions or judgments has been the besetting sin of man from the beginning. It has been the fatal rock on which he has made shipwreck of his faith and on which he has forfeited the favor of God, and the same thing is true even to this day.
Men become infidels by introducing their own opinions into the service and worship of God. It is done first with a view to adding interest and efficiency to the service. This trains men to rely more and more upon their opinions and judgment, less and less upon the institutions of God until they erect their own judgment and opinions into the standard of right, and whatever in the word of God does not agree with this standard of their own, they reject. Whenever men reject the word of God, or any part of it, because it does not agree with their own conceptions of what is right, they are in essential elements infidels. When a man tests the Bible and its truth, or any part of it, by his own judgment and opinions of what is right or wrong, he has rejected the word of God as the rule of faith for man. God has ordained that those who thus walk shall come to ruin. He shall fall into the pit he has digged.
For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness: -God so overrules as to destroy men with that by which they had devised to save themselves.
the wisdom: 1Co 1:19, 1Co 1:20, 1Co 2:6, Isa 19:11-14, Isa 29:14-16, Isa 44:25, Rom 1:21, Rom 1:22
For: Job 5:13
He: Exo 1:10, Exo 18:11, 2Sa 15:31, 2Sa 16:23, 2Sa 17:14, 2Sa 17:23, Est 7:10, Psa 7:14, Psa 7:15, Psa 9:15, Psa 9:16, Psa 141:10
Reciprocal: Deu 32:28 – General 2Sa 13:3 – Shimeah Neh 4:15 – God Job 18:7 – his own Job 37:24 – he Psa 5:10 – let Psa 49:13 – folly Psa 146:9 – the way Pro 2:7 – layeth Pro 14:6 – scorner Pro 26:12 – a man Pro 28:11 – rich Isa 19:3 – and I Isa 47:10 – Thy wisdom Eze 28:12 – full Oba 1:8 – even Mat 2:8 – go Mat 2:12 – they departed Mat 6:23 – If Luk 20:23 – he Joh 11:49 – Ye Act 5:38 – for Act 23:16 – when Rom 12:2 – be not 1Co 1:18 – foolishness 2Co 10:5 – down Col 2:8 – philosophy 1Ti 6:20 – oppositions Jam 3:15 – but
Verse 19. The quotation is in Job 5:13, and is the statement of one of Job’s friends. It is an uninspired re mark but is the truth, hence Paul gives it approval.
1Co 3:19. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (see on ch. 1Co 1:20).
For it is written (Job 5:13), He that taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Vv. 19, 20. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness. 20. And again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.
The first passage declares the power-lessness of the wisdom of the world to reach the ends at which it aims, consequently its vanity from the standpoint of utility. It is taken from Job 5:13. The devices of the wise themselves become the net in which God takes them, so that they are forced in the end to confess that the more subtle, the more foolish they have been. The verb , to close the fist upon (from , the fist), is much more expressive than the word used by the LXX. to render the Hebrew term. The apostle likewise improves the translation of the LXX. by substituting for , prudence, the word , from and , the capacity for doing everything, not in good, but in evil, to attain the end in view.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written [Job 5:13], He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:
Verse 19
It is written; Job 5:13.
1Co 3:19-20. Proof that we can become wise only by first becoming foolish, viz. because, in the sight of God who judges rightly, that which this world (see under 1Co 5:10) calls wisdom is foolishness. This has been proved in 1Co 1:20 ff, of which these words sum up the results and apply them to the matter under discussion. 1Co 3:19 b, 20 support 1Co 3:19 a by quoting Job 5:13; Psa 94:11.
The wise men: those who know things not generally known, and are therefore better able to choose their ends and means.
Craftiness: a disposition to do anything, right or wrong, to attain one’s ends. Into this, worldly wisdom often degenerates.
Lays hold of: while pursuing their own ends in their own way, the hand of God falls upon them and stops them. That the wisdom of the world is prevented by the hand of God from attaining its ends, proves it to be foolishness in the presence of God. For the world leaves the hand of God out of account.
The wise men: not in Psa 94:11, but evidently implied.
Vain: Rom 1:21 : barren of good results. Wise men cannot by their own reasonings attain any good result. To know this, is the first step in real knowledge. Therefore, to become truly wise, we must first be shorn of our own wisdom.
The abrupt transition of 1Co 3:18, like that if 1Co 1:17, seems to imply that an overestimate of their own wisdom was a chief source of the injury done by the men warned in 1Co 3:17, who were no doubt those who fomented the church-parties.
The above quotation from the Book of Job presents a difficulty, in that it gives, apparently as Scripture, the reported words of Eliphaz; although no writer is responsible for sentiments he reports, and God Himself declares (Job 42:7) that the friends did not speak rightly. Some would charge the Apostle with a moment’s forgetfulness. But the complete harmony of these words with the whole book of Job and with the entire Old Testament, shows plainly that the writer here puts his own sentiments into the lips of Eliphaz. We cannot dispute the truth of the quoted words without disputing the whole moral teaching of the great Poem. Indeed the friends erred not so much in the moral principles they assert as in their application of them to Job.
3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He {g} taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
(g) Be they ever so crafty, yet the Lord will take them when he will discover their treachery.
Again Paul used Old Testament quotations to give added authority to his statements (cf. 1Co 1:19; 1Co 1:31; 1Co 2:9; 1Co 2:16). Here he referred to Job 5:13 and Psa 94:11. The best wisdom the natural man can produce is foolishness compared with the wisdom God has revealed in His Word. Unbelieving humanity cannot avoid God’s judgment through its own rationalizing. The reasoning of the wise of this world is useless regarding the most important issues of life. In 1Co 1:18-25 Paul had said that the wisdom of God, namely, Christ crucified, is foolishness to the world. Here he made the same point in reverse: the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight. Thus these statements form bookends for this section of text (an inclusio).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Beet’s Commentary on Selected Books of the New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)