Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 2:6

σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν. Is there, then, no wisdom possible for a Christian? no sphere for the exercise of those faculties of the intellect which we received from God? the hearer may say. Certainly, says the Apostle (for to say otherwise would be to contradict the Jewish Scriptures, especially Proverbs 1-9), but such wisdom must take as its starting-point the truths revealed by Christ, and it will be proportionate, not to the secular knowledge or intellectual power of the inquirer, but to his moral and spiritual attainments, that is, to his proficiency in the doctrine of Christ. See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 12:8. δέ here must be rendered yet.

ἐν τοῖς τελείοις. Perfect, i.e. full-grown, that which has reached its end. The great majority of the Corinthians were at present babes in Christ (ch. 1 Corinthians 3:1). Their notion of wisdom was earthly—argument, disputation, ‘free inquiry.’

σοφίαν δέ, but it is a wisdom.

αἰῶνος. See note on 1 Corinthians 1:20. So also in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8.

καταργουμένων. The Apostle seems here to believe that the Gospel he is preaching will be fatal to arbitrary power, such as existed in his day. Princes henceforth, instead of ruling, must be ruled by the principles of justice. Their ‘wisdom’ must not be self-interest, but equity. Slowly, yet surely, the state of things he contemplated has come to pass. The ancient statecraft is replaced by the desire for the welfare of all. For καταργέω see ch. 1 Corinthians 1:28.

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

1 Corinthians 2:6

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