Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 2:4

[ἀνθρωπίνης] before σοφίας is found in AC, but not in אBDEFG. The authorized edition of the Vulgate retains it, but it is absent from the Vetus Lat. and from some older copies of the Vulgate. The Peshito omits it. It is obviously introduced from 1 Corinthians 2:13. The text is in considerable confusion here.

4. πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις. Not enticing, as A.V., but with R.V., persuasive. The marginal gloss ἀνθρωπίνης (see Critical Note) is not wanted to make the meaning clear. See 1 Corinthians 1:17. πειθοῖς, for the more usual classical πιθανοῖς, must share the responsibility with ἀνθρωπίνης for the confusion of the text here.

ἐν�. The precise meaning of these words is either (1) in proof that I possessed both the Spirit and power, or (2) in the proof given by the Spirit and power I possessed that I was preaching the truth. The ‘Spirit’ which St Paul ministered to others was capable of stirring up their spirits. The ‘power’ of which he speaks was not so much that of working miracles in the ordinary sense of the word, as of touching the heart. He is referring to that conviction of sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:8), which the Spirit of God produces in the spirit of man, and of the power to produce a change of heart and life which is the leading characteristic of the Gospel. This view seems confirmed by the next verse, in which St Paul says that the ground of our faith is not the wisdom of men, but the power of God.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 2:4

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