1 Corinthians 1:18

1 Corinthians 1:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
• New International Version (NIV)For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Context of 1 Corinthians 1:18

16(Now I remember that I also baptized Stephanas and his family. I cannot remember that I baptized anyone else.) 17Christ did not send me to baptize people. But he did send me to tell God's good news to people. When I speak his message, I do not use clever words. It is Christ's death on the cross that has power to save people. I do not want to spoil that power with clever words. Some people think that the message about Christ's death on the cross is silly. Those people are destroying themselves. But it is different for us, the people that God is saving. The message about the cross shows us God's power to save us. 19It says in the Bible: ‘I, God, will destroy all the clever thoughts of wise people. I will show that their clever ideas are useless.’ 20So the wise people in this world are not really important. The clever teachers of God's Law are not really important. People who know how to argue well are not really important. God has shown that the wise ideas that belong to this world have no value.

1 Corinthians 1:18 word by word

Ὁ λόγος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ σταυροῦ τοῖς μὲν ἀπολλυμένοις μωρία ἐστίν, τοῖς δὲ σῳζομένοις ἡμῖν δύναμις θεοῦ ἐστιν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Forγάρgar · forG1063
• the preachingλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
• of the crossσταυρόςstauros · crossG4716
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• that perishἀπολλύωapollumi · to destroyG622
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• foolishnessμωρίαmōria · foolishnessG3472
• butδέde · thenG1161
• unto usἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• which are savedσῴζωsōzō · to saveG4982
• the powerδύναμιςdunamis · powerG1411
• of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 1:18

• 1 Corinthians 1:23But as for us, we tell people about how Christ died on a cross. That is a message that Jewish people refuse to accept as true. Gentile people think that it is a silly message.
• 1 Corinthians 2:2While I was with you, I decided to teach you only about Jesus Christ. I taught you about his death on a cross. I wanted to forget everything else.
• Galatians 6:12Do not agree with those people who want to make you obey the Jewish rules. They say that you must let someone circumcise you. They want other people to think that they are important. They do not want to receive any trouble from others. They are afraid to teach that Christ's death on the cross is enough to save us.
• Acts 13:41“Listen to me, you people who laugh at God! You will be surprised at the great things that I do. And then you will die. I am working now, while you are still alive. But still you will not believe what is true. Even if someone explains everything to you, you will never believe.” ’
• 2 Corinthians 2:15When we tell people about Christ, we are like a lovely smell that rises up to God. We are like that among the people that God is saving. We are also like that among the people who are dying because they are far from God.
• 2 Corinthians 4:3Some people may not understand the good news that we speak. They are only the people who are losing their lives with God.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:10He will do all kinds of bad things that deceive people. The people that he deceives are people that God will destroy. Those people believe false things because they have refused to accept God's true message. If they had loved that true message, God would have saved them.
• 1 Corinthians 1:21God himself is wise. He has decided that people cannot know him just because they are wise in their own way. Instead, God uses the message about Jesus to save people. That message may seem to be silly to some people. But when we tell it to people, God saves them if they believe it.
• 1 Corinthians 2:14If someone does not believe in God, they cannot accept the message that comes from God's Spirit. They think that God's message is silly. They cannot even understand those things. Only God's Spirit can explain them to people.
• 1 Corinthians 3:19People in this world think that some people are wise. But God thinks that those wise people are fools. It says in the Bible: ‘God causes the clever thoughts of wise people to confuse them.’
• Acts 17:18There were some teachers there who liked to talk about the things that people should believe. Some of them were called Epicureans and some were called Stoics. After they talked to Paul, some of them said to each other, ‘Who is this silly man? He knows nothing and he talks too much!’ But some of these teachers said, ‘We think that he is talking about strange gods.’ They said this because Paul was telling people the good news about Jesus. He was also talking about the time when God will cause dead people to live again.
• 1 Corinthians 1:24But it is different for us whom God has called to come to him. Some of us are Jews, and some of us are Gentiles. For us, Christ shows God's great power. He shows how wise God is.
• 1 Corinthians 15:2Because of the message that I spoke to you, God will save you. He will save you if you continue to trust that same good news. If you do not, you have believed it for nothing.
• Psalms 110:2The Lord will give you great authority, as you rule from Zion. You will rule over all your enemies that are round you.
• Romans 1:16I am not ashamed to tell people the good news. God uses that good news to show his great power. He uses it to save all people who believe in Jesus Christ. First, God saves all Jews who are believers. And he also saves all Gentiles who are believers.
• 2 Corinthians 10:4It is like we are fighting in a war, but we do not use human weapons. Instead we use God's weapons. Those weapons are powerful enough to destroy the enemy's strong places. We use those weapons to destroy people's wrong ideas.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 1:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18For the preaching of the cross - ̔ ̔ , The doctrine of the cross; or the doctrine that is of or concerning the cross; that is, the doctrine that proclaims salvation to a lost world through the crucifixion of Christ. Is to them that perish foolishness - There are, properly speaking, but two classes of men known where the Gospel is preached: , the unbelievers and gainsayers, who are perishing; and , the obedient believers, who are in a state of salvation…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18For the preaching of the cross - Greek, “the word ( ̔ ́ ho logos) of the cross;” that is, the doctrine of the cross; or the doctrine which proclaims salvation only through the atonement which the Lord Jesus Christ made on the cross, This cannot mean that the statement that Christ died “as a martyr” on a cross, appears to be foolishness to people; because, if that was all, there would be nothing that would appear contemptible, or that would excite their…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-25Verses 17-25 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18To unbelievers, the idea that God saves the world through a condemned criminal seems foolish because they cannot see the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4). For believers, whom God has enlightened, the message of the cross feels true, and they recognize its power to touch the human heart (see 1 Corinthians 1:23–24; Romans 1:16). Unbelievers, still in their sins, are heading towards destruction and ultimate condemnation. Believers, whose sins are forgiven, are…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. preaching, &c.--literally, "the word," or speech as to the cross; in contrast to the "wisdom of words" (so called), 1Co 1:17. them that perish--rather, "them that are perishing," namely, by preferring human "wisdom of words" to the doctrine of the "cross of Christ." It is not the final state that is referred to; but, "them that are in the way of perishing." So also in 2Co 2:15, 16. us which are saved--In the Greek the collocation is more modest, "to…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 1:18

• Atonement
• Blindness
• Boasting
• Cross
• Gospel
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Power
• Preaching
• Reasoning
• Salvation
• Suffering
• Unbelief
• Wisdom
• Word of God

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Confirm
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Cross
• Disputer
• Foolishness
• Household
• Join
• Preach

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 1

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings