God’s Word Translation
1 Corinthians 1:22
22Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for 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,
- English Standard Version (ESV)For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
- New King James Version (NKJV)For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;
Context of 1 Corinthians 1:22
20Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn’t God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense? 21The world with its wisdom was unable to recognize God in terms of his own wisdom. So God decided to use the nonsense of the Good News we speak to save those who believe. Jews ask for miraculous signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but our message is that Christ was crucified. This offends Jewish people and makes no sense to people who are not Jewish. 24But to those Jews and Greeks who are called, he is Christ, God’s power and God’s wisdom.
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 experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign.”
- Matthew 16:1The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. So they asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven.
- Mark 8:11The Pharisees went to Jesus and began to argue with him. They tested him by demanding that he perform a miraculous sign from heaven.
- Luke 11:16Others wanted to test Jesus and demanded that he show them some miraculous sign from heaven.
- John 2:18The Jews reacted by asking Jesus, “What miracle can you show us to justify what you’re doing?”
- John 4:28Then the woman left her water jar and went back into the city. She told the people,
- Acts 17:18Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers had discussions with him. Some asked, “What is this babbling fool trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be speaking about foreign gods.” The philosophers said these things because Paul was telling the Good News about Jesus and saying that people would come back to life.
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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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