Bible Strands
1 Corinthians 1:19
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul writes to the Corinthian believers to explain why the crucified Christ, which the world dismisses as foolishness, functions as God’s actual power and wisdom.
The words — ἀπολῶ (apolō) translates literally as “I will destroy,” and σοφός (sophos) means “wise” or “intelligent.”
The thread — This declaration directly quotes Isaiah 29:14 and parallels the judgment on worldly intellect in 1 Corinthians 3:19.
Why it lands — The text declares God’s active nullification of human wisdom before the reader, requiring an abandonment of intellectual self-sufficiency in favor of submission to divine revelation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
- Jeremiah 8:9 The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what wisdom do they really have?
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- Job 5:12 He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Isaiah 19:11 The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- Isaiah 19:3 Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.