New International Version
1 Corinthians 1:23
23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,
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;
- 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,
- New Living Translation (NLT)So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.
Context of 1 Corinthians 1:23
21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
Read all of 1 Corinthians 11 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 1:18For 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.
- 1 Corinthians 2:2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
- Luke 24:46He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
- Acts 7:32‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
- Acts 10:39“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross,
- 2 Corinthians 4:5For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
- Galatians 3:1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.
- Galatians 6:14May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
- Ephesians 3:8Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ,
- Isaiah 8:14He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
- Matthew 11:6Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”
- Matthew 13:57And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.”
- Luke 2:34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
- John 6:53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
- Romans 9:32Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
- Galatians 5:11Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished.
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
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
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