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1 Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 1

1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, 2 to the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,⁠ their Lord and ours. 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ! 4 I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. 5 For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge— 6 just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you— 7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.⁠ 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 10 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to agree together, to end your divisions, and to be united by the same mind and purpose. 11 For members of Chloe’s household have made it clear to me, my brothers and sisters, that there are quarrels among you. 12 Now I mean this, that each of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” or “I am with Apollos,” or “I am with Cephas,”⁠ or “I am with Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Paul wasn’t crucified for you, was he? Or were you in fact baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one can say that you were baptized in my name! 16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanus. Otherwise, I do not remember whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—and not with clever speech, so that the cross of Christ would not become useless. 18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will thwart the cleverness of the intelligent.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the expert in the Mosaic law? Where is the debater of this age?⁠ Has God not made the wisdom of the world foolish?⁠ 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world by its wisdom did not know God, God was pleased to save those who believe by the foolishness of preaching.⁠ 22 For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom, 23 but we preach about a crucified Christ, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. 24 But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 26 Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Jeremiah 9:22 and 1 Corinthians 1:31 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 13:1

Septuagint · New Testament · Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author quotes the instruction not to boast from Jeremiah 9, but ends it with the shorter version Paul uses in 1 Corinthians, likely because Clement knew the passage from the letter Paul sent to the same church in Corinth.

Passages

LXX Jeremiah 9:22

Septuagint
21 And the carcasses of the men shall be for an example on the face of the field of your land, like grass after the mower, and there shall be none to gather them. 22 Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his wealth; 23 but let him that boasts boast in this, the understanding and knowing that I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and righteousness, upon the earth; for in these things is my pleasure, says the Lord. 24 Look, the days come, says the Lord, when I will visit upon all the circumcised their uncircumcision;
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Jeremiah

1 Corinthians 1:31

New Testament
26 Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were born to a privileged position. 27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 13:1

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
1 Let us therefore be humble, brothers and sisters, laying aside all arrogance and conceit and foolishness and anger, and let us do what is written. For the Holy Spirit says, “Let the wise man not boast in his wisdom, nor the strong in his strength, nor the rich in his riches; but let the one who boasts boast in the Lord, so that he may seek Him out and do justice and righteousness most of all remembering the words of the Lord Jesus which He spoke, teaching forbearance and patience.”
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

References

“... Of the apostolic fathers 1 Clement offers the fullest doctrine of Scripture. The sacred and authoritative character of the OT books is affirmed both by introductory formulas (“The Holy Spirit says,” 1 Clem. 13.1, quoting Jer 9:23–24; 1 Clem. 16.2, quoting Is 53:1–12) and by descriptions (“the holy word,” 1 Clem. 13.3, introducing Is 66:2, and 1 Clem. 56.3, introducing Ps 117:18 LXX; and “sacred Scriptures . . . and oracles of God,” 1 Clem. 53.1). ...”
Ralph P. Martin and Peter H. Davids, eds., Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1997), 1197.
“... Pauline-Clement parallels include the following: 1 Clem. 13.1 and 1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17 1 Clem. 24.1 and 1 Cor 15:20 1 Clem. 24.5 and 1 Cor 15:36–41 1 Clem. 32.2 and Rom 9:3 1 Clem. 33.1 and Rom 6:1 1 Clem. 34.8 and 1 Cor 2:9 1 Clem. 35.5 and Rom 1:29–32 1 Clem. 35.7 and Rom 1:32 1 Clem. 37.5 and 1 Cor 12:21 1 Clem. 46.6–7 and Eph 4:4–6 1 Clem. 47.1–2 and 1 Cor 1:10–17 1 Clem. 48.5 and 1 Cor 12:8–9 1 Clem. 49.5 and 1 Cor 13:4–7 ...”
Lee Martin McDonald, The Biblical Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2007), 850.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Jeremiah 9:22 and 1 Corinthians 1:31 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 13:1

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