EasyEnglish Bible 2018
1 Corinthians 2:4
4When I spoke to you and when I taught you God's message, I did not use clever words. I did not want you to believe me because you thought I was wise. Instead, it was the power of God's Holy Spirit that showed you that my message was true.
1 Corinthians 2:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
- New International Version (NIV)My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
- English Standard Version (ESV)and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
- New King James Version (NKJV)And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
Context of 1 Corinthians 2:4
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. 3I lived among you as someone who felt weak. I was very afraid. When I spoke to you and when I taught you God's message, I did not use clever words. I did not want you to believe me because you thought I was wise. Instead, it was the power of God's Holy Spirit that showed you that my message was true. 5As a result, you now believe because of God's power. You do not believe because of human ideas. 6But we do speak about wise thoughts to those of you who know Christ very well. But those wise thoughts do not belong to this world. They are not the ideas that the rulers of this world think are important. Those rulers will not be powerful for long.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 21 Corinthians 2:4 word by word
καὶ ὁ λόγος μου καὶ τὸ κήρυγμά μου οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως,Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Andκαίkai · andG2532
- myἐγώegō · I/weG1473
- speechὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- speechλόγοςlogos · wordG3056
- preachingκήρυγμαkērugma · preachingG2782
- notοὐou · noG3756
- withἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
- enticingπειθόςpeithos · persuasiveG3981
- of man’sἀνθρώπινοςanthrōpinos · humanG442
- wisdomσοφίαsophia · wisdomG4678
- butἀλλάalla · butG235
- demonstrationἀπόδειξιςapodeixis · demonstrationG585
- of the Spiritπνεῦμαpneuma · spirit/breath: spiritG4151
- of powerδύναμιςdunamis · powerG1411
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 2:4
- Acts 20:27I have told you everything that God wants you to know.
- 1 Corinthians 2:1Christian friends, I came to tell you God's true message. I did not use clever words when I spoke to you. I did not try to make you think that I was very wise.
- 1 Corinthians 1:17Christ 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.
- Judges 14:15On the fourth day they said to Samson's wife, ‘Find a way to make your husband tell you the answer. If you do not, we will use fire to destroy your father's house, with you inside it! Did you ask us to come to your marriage party to make us poor?’
- Judges 16:5The rulers of the Philistines went to visit Delilah. They said to her, ‘Do something clever to discover what makes Samson so strong. We want to find a way to take hold of him and tie him up. If you do that, we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.’
- 2 Samuel 14:17Now I can say, “I know that the promise of my lord the king will keep me safe. The king can judge things like an angel of God. He knows what is right and what is wrong.” I pray that the Lord your God will be with you!’
- 2 Samuel 15:2Every day, he got up early in the morning. Then he went to stand at the side of the road near the city's gate. He called out to anyone who was bringing a problem for the king to judge. He would ask them, ‘Which town have you come from?’ Then the man would tell Absalom which tribe of Israel he belonged to.
- 1 Kings 22:13The man who had gone to fetch Micaiah said to him, ‘All the other prophets are saying the same thing. They say that the king will win the fight. So you must agree with what they are saying. Promise that something good will happen.’
- 2 Chronicles 18:19The Lord asked, “Who will go and deceive King Ahab of Israel so that he attacks Ramoth Gilead and he dies there?” Many of the angels suggested different things.
- Proverbs 7:21With those sweet words she deceived the young man. She made him want to be with her.
- Proverbs 20:19Keep away from people who talk too much. They will tell everybody about your secrets.
- Jeremiah 20:10I hear what people are saying against me. They say, ‘Terror is all around him! We should tell the officers what he is saying.’ All my friends want me to make a mistake so that they can accuse me. They say, ‘Perhaps we can cause him to say something wrong. Then we will have power over him. We will pay him back for the trouble he has given us.’
- Ezekiel 13:6The visions that these prophets see are false. They tell lies about what will happen. They say, ‘The Lord says this,’ when I have not sent them with any message. But they still think that what they say will really happen.
- Romans 16:18People who are like that are not servants of our Lord Christ. Instead, they are doing the things which please themselves. They speak words that seem very nice, but they deceive people who easily accept a false message.
- Colossians 2:4I am telling you these things so that false teachers will not deceive you. They may teach ideas that seem good, but do not listen to them.
- 2 Peter 1:16We told you that our Lord Jesus Christ is powerful. We also told you that he will return to earth again. We were not telling you false stories that came from people's clever ideas. Instead, we were telling you what we ourselves had seen. We ourselves saw that the Lord Jesus is very great.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 2:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4And 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…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4And 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 ̓́ apodeixeior in the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3-4Human weakness does not stop God's work (2 Corinthians 12:7–10). The true power is not in charismatic preaching, presentation skills, or logical arguments (compare 2 Corinthians 10:10). It is in the message itself, focused on Christ and his death for our sins. It is also in the power of the Holy Spirit, who touches the human heart.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. my speech--in private. preaching--in public [Bengel]. Alford explains it, My discourse on doctrines, and my preaching or announcement of facts. enticing--rather, "persuasive." man's wisdom--man's is omitted in the oldest authorities. Still "wisdom" does refer to "man's" wisdom. in demonstration of ... Spirit, &c.--Persuasion is man's means of moving his fellow man. God's means is demonstration, leaving no doubt, and inspiring implicit faith, by the…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 2:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 2
- 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
- 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
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