1 Corinthians 1:23

1 Corinthians 1:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
• New International Version (NIV)but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
• English Standard Version (ESV)but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
• New King James Version (NKJV)but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,

Context of 1 Corinthians 1:23

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. 22Jewish people want to see God do a miracle. Then they will listen. Gentile people want to listen to a message that has clever ideas. But 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. 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. 25Christ's death on a cross may seem a silly thing for God to do. But really it shows that God is very wise. He is wiser than people with their clever ideas. Christ's death on a cross may seem to show that God is weak. But really he is stronger than any human power.

1 Corinthians 1:23 word by word

ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύσσομεν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον, Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον ἔθνεσιν δὲ μωρίανRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Butδέde · thenG1161
• weἐγώegō · I/weG1473
• preachκηρύσσωkērussō · to preachG2784
• ChristΧριστόςChristos · ChristG5547
• crucifiedσταυρόωstauroō · to crucifyG4717
• unto the JewsἸουδαῖοςIoudaios · JewG2453
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• a stumblingblockσκάνδαλονskandalon · stumbling blockG4625
• unto the GreeksἝλλην=ἝλληνHellēn · Greek, GentileG1672
• foolishnessμωρίαmōria · foolishnessG3472

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 1:23

• 1 Corinthians 1:18Some 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.
• 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.
• Luke 24:46He told them, ‘This is what it says there: The Messiah had to die. Then, after three days, he had to rise up and become alive again.
• Acts 7:32God said, “I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” Moses was very frightened. He was too afraid to look at the bush any more.
• Acts 10:39We saw everything that Jesus did in Jerusalem and in all Judea. The leaders in Jerusalem fixed Jesus to a cross and they killed him.
• 2 Corinthians 4:5We do not speak a message about ourselves. We tell people that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Because we belong to Jesus, we have become your servants, not your masters.
• Galatians 3:1You Christians in Galatia are like fools! Someone has taught you to believe crazy ideas! I taught you clearly that Jesus Christ died on the cross as a sacrifice on our behalf. You understood that.
• Galatians 6:14But I do not want to say any great things about myself. The only thing that makes me great is our Lord Jesus Christ's death on the cross. Because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is like I have also died. The things that belong to this world have become dead to me, and I have become dead to them.
• Ephesians 3:8I am the least important of all God's people. But God has given this special work to me because he is so kind. He has sent me to tell his good news to the Gentiles. Then they know about the many valuable things that Christ has prepared for us.
• Isaiah 8:14He will be a safe place for you. But for both nations in Israel he will become like a stone that causes people to fall to the ground. He will be like a rock that makes them fall down. He will take hold of the people who live in Jerusalem, like a trap that catches a bird.
• Matthew 11:6If anyone believes in me and does not turn away, he will be really happy.’
• Matthew 13:57So the people there did not accept Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘If a man is a prophet from God, people everywhere will say good things about him. But the people in his own town will not accept him. Even the people of his own house will not say good things about him.’
• Luke 2:34Then Simeon asked God to be good and kind to Mary and to Joseph. After that, he spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus. He said to her, ‘God has chosen this baby. Many people in Israel will become worse because of him. And many of them will become better again because of him. He will be like a sign that points to God. But many people will speak against him.
• John 6:53Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: You must eat the body of the Son of Man and you must drink his blood. Unless you do those things, you do not have true life.
• Romans 9:32They failed because they refused to believe in Christ. Instead, they were trying to do certain things so that God would accept them. Because of that they fell to the ground. Their feet hit the stone which causes people to fall.
• Galatians 5:11My Christian friends, do you think that I still teach that someone must circumcise believers? If I really taught that, then I would not still receive trouble from people. What I teach about Christ's death on the cross would not cause anyone to become angry.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 1:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23But we - Apostles, differing widely from these Gentile philosophers: - Preach Christ crucified - Call on men, both Jews and Gentiles, to believe in Christ, as having purchased their salvation by shedding his blood for them. Unto the Jews a stumbling block - Because Jesus came meek, lowly, and impoverished; not seeking worldly glory, nor affecting worldly pomp; whereas they expected the Messiah to come as a mighty prince and conqueror; because Christ did…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23But we - We who are Christian preachers make Christ crucified the grand subject of our instructions and our aims in contradistinction from the Jew and the Greek. They seek, the one miracles, the other wisdom, we glory only in the cross. Christ crucified - The word Christ, the anointed, is the same as the Hebrew name Messiah. The emphasis in this expression is on the word “crucified.” The Jews would make the Messiah whom they expected no less an object of…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. 23Paul insisted on sharing only the simple message of the cross, despite what unbelieving Jews and Gentiles wanted. Many Jews found the idea of a crucified Messiah contradictory. They believed crucifixion showed God's curse, not His power and blessing (see Galatians 3:13; compare Deuteronomy 21:23).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. we--Paul and Apollos. Christ crucified--The Greek expresses not the mere fact of His crucifixion, but the permanent character acquired by the transaction, whereby He is now a Saviour (Ga 3:1) crucified was the stone on which the Jews stumbled (Mt 21:44). The opposition of Jew and Gentile alike shows that a religion so seemingly contemptible in its origin could not have succeeded if it had not been divine. unto the Greeks--the oldest manuscripts read…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 1:23

• Atonement
• Boasting
• Cross
• Greece
• Greek
• Jesus Continued
• Jesus, the Christ
• Minister, Christian
• Preaching
• Reasoning
• Salvation
• Stumbling
• Suffering
• Unbelief
• Wisdom
• Word of God
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• Christ
• Christ, Messiah
• 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