English Standard Version
1 Corinthians 1:22
22For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1 Corinthians 1:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
- New International Version (NIV)Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
- New King James Version (NKJV)For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
- New Living Translation (NLT)It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.
Context of 1 Corinthians 1:22
20Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 11 Corinthians 1:22 word by word
ἐπειδὴ καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι σημεῖα αἰτοῦσιν καὶ Ἕλληνες σοφίαν ζητοῦσιν,Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 1:22
- Matthew 12:38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."
- Matthew 16:1And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven.
- Mark 8:11The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.
- Luke 11:16while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
- John 2:18So the Jews said to him, "What sign do you show us for doing these things?"
- John 4:28So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
- Acts 17:18Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, "What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 1:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22For the Jews require a sign - Instead of , a sign, ABCDEFG, several others, both the Syriac, Coptic, Vulgate, and Itala, with many of the fathers, have , signs; which reading, as undoubtedly genuine, Griesbach has admitted into the text. There never was a people in the universe more difficult to be persuaded of the truth than the Jews: and had not their religion been incontestably proved by the most striking and indubitable miracles, they never would have…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22For the Jews require a sign - A miracle, a prodigy, an evidence of divine interposition. This was the characteristic of the Jewish people. God had manifested himself to them by miracles and wonders in a remarkable manner in past times, and they greatly prided themselves on that fact, and always demanded it when any new messenger came to them, professing to be sent from God. This propensity they often evinced in their contact with the Lord Jesus; Matthew…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. 22Jews who did not believe wanted to see miracles to confirm the message (see Matthew 12:38–39; 16:1–4; John 2:18, 23; 4:48). Greeks, famous for their philosophy schools, were interested only in human wisdom, meaning philosophical reasoning.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. For--literally, "Since," seeing that. This verse illustrates how the "preaching" of Christ crucified came to be deemed "foolishness" (1Co 1:21). a sign--The oldest manuscripts read "signs." The singular was a later correction from Mt 12:38; 16:1; Joh 2:18. The signs the Jews craved for were not mere miracles, but direct tokens from heaven that Jesus was Messiah (Lu 11:16). Greeks seek ... wisdom--namely, a philosophic demonstration of Christianity…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Corinthians 1:22
In the dictionaries
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries