1 Corinthians 1:26

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: YE SEE - rather, from the prominence of the verb in the Greek, "see" (imperative) (Vulgate). YOUR CALLING - God's way in calling you; or your external condition (). NOT MANY WISE ... ARE CALLED. Anselm supplies, 'were your callers.' What Paul is dwelling on (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:27) is the weakness of the instrumentality employed to convert the world. The English version accords with . 'The whole history of the Church is a progressive victory of the ignorant over the learned, the lowly over the lofty, unt...

26._Behold your calling. _As the mood of the Greek verb ( βλέπετε) is doubtful, and the indicative suits the context equally as well as the imperative, I leave it to the reader’s choice which of them he may prefer. The meaning is manifestly the same in either case, for supposing it to be the indicative (_ye see_,) he would in that case summon them as witnesses — as of a thing that is manifest, and call them forward as it were to a thing that is present. On the other hand, understanding it in the imperative, he stirs them up, as it were, from their drowsiness to a consideration of the matter itself. The term _calling _may be taken in a collective sense to mean the multitude of those that are called — in this sense: “Ye see what description of persons they are among you that the Lord has called.” I am, however, rather inclined to think, that he points out the manner of their calling, and i...

26-31 God did not choose philosophers, nor orators, nor statesmen, nor men of wealth, and power, and interest in the world, to publish the gospel of grace and peace. He best judges what men and what measures serve the purposes of his glory. Though not many noble are usually called by Divine grace, there have been some such in every age, who have not been ashamed of the gospel of Christ; and persons of every rank stand in need of pardoning grace. Often, a humble Christian, though poor as to this world, has more true knowledge of the gospel, than those who have made the letter of Scripture the study of their lives, but who have studied it rather as the witness of men, than as the word of God. And even young children have gained such knowledge of Divine truth as to silence infidels. The reason is, they are taught of God; the design is, that no flesh should glory in his presence. That disti...

Verse 26. _YE SEE YOUR CALLING_] την κλησιν. The _state_ of grace and blessedness to which ye are _invited_. I think, βλεπετε την κλησιν, c., should be read in the imperative: _Take heed to_, or _consider your calling, brethren that_ (οτι) _not many_ of you _are wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble: men_ is not in the original, and Paul seems to allude to the Corinthian believers in particular. This seems to have been said in opposition to the high and worldly notions of the Jews, who assert that the Divine Spirit never rests upon any man, unless he be _wise, powerful_, and _rich_. Now this Divine Spirit did rest upon the Christians at Corinth, and yet these were, in the sense of the _world_, neither _wise, rich_, nor _noble_. We spoil, if not corrupt the apostle's meaning, by adding _are called_, as if God did not send his Gospel to the _wise_, the _powerful_, and the...

FOR YE SEE YOUR CALLING - You know the general character and condition of those who are Christians among you, that they have not been generally taken from the wise, the rich, and the learned, but from humble life. The design of the apostle here is, to show that the gospel did not depend for its success on human wisdom. His argument is, that “in fact” those who were blessed by it had not been of the elevated ranks of life mainly, but that God had shown his power by choosing those who were ignorant, and vicious, and abandoned, and by reforming and purifying their lives. The verb “ye see” βλέπετε blepete, is ambiguous, and may be either in the indicative mood, as our translators have rendered it, “ye do see; you are well apprised of it, and know it,” or it may be in the imperative, “see; contemplate your condition;” but the sense is substantially the same. “Your calling” ...

EXPOSITION The oldest superscription was probably, "To the Corinthians, the first (Πρὸς Κορινθίους πρώτη)." This is found in א, A, B, C, D. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1 _The_ _greeting. _An opening salutation is found in all the Epistles of St. Paul, and in every Epistle of the New Testament except the Epistle to the Hebrews and the first Epistle of St. John, both of which were more in the nature of treatises than letters. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:1 Paul. After the beginning of the first missionary journey (A.D. 45) he seems to have finally abandoned his Hebrew name of Saul. Called. The word "called" is absent from A, D, E, and other manuscripts, but may have been omitted as superfluous. It occurs in the greeting of...

FOR YE SEE YOUR CALLING, BRETHREN,.... That is, those that were called by the grace of God among them; for as circumcision and uncircumcision stand for circumcised and uncircumcised persons, and election for elect persons, and righteousness for righteous persons, Romans 3:30 so here "calling" designs men called by grace; the manner of whose calling, and what sort of persons they were, the apostle signifies, they did or might, or ought, to see, observe, and consider; for respect is here had, not, as some have thought, to the first preachers of the Gospel, who were mechanics, fishermen, illiterate persons, very mean and despicable; but to the members of the church at Corinth, whether public preachers, or private members. The city of Corinth had in it many noble families, of high birth and quality, abounded with learned philosophers and rich merchants; and yet it was easy to be seen,...

I am going to speak about the testimony of the apostle Peter concerning his Lord, but we will first read together part of the writings of his «beloved brother Paul,» that we may see how these eminent servants of Christ agreed in their witness-bearing. 1-3. _Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ._ So this is a message to us also who «call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.» 4-9. I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in...

2. CONTRASTS. CHAPTER 1:10-4). CHAPTER 1:10-31. _ 1. Divisions rebuked. (1 Corinthians 1:10)._ 2. The Cross of Christ, the Power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:17). The section which begins, after the introductory words, with the tenth verse and ends with the fourth chapter, shows a number of contrasts. There is the contrast of the fact that they were called into the one fellowship. The fact of being called into the fellowship of God's Son, as members of the one body is contrasted with their divisions. There is the contrast of the preaching of the cross, which is foolishness to them that perish, but the power of God to those who are saved. The wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world are likewise contrasted. Jews and Gentiles, what they require and seek ar

1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 TO 1 CORINTHIANS 2:5. THE CROSS, FOLLY TO THE WORLD, IS THE POWER AND WISDOM OF GOD. Paul now explains and justifies 1 Corinthians 1:17_ b_, which to Greek readers must have sounded strange, almost a defiant paradox. The story of the Cross is folly to those who are in the way of ruin, but it attests itself in our experience to us, who are in the way of salvation, as the power of God. And this is in harmony with Scripture. For God's wise purpose ordained that the world's wisdom should be unable to know Him. There is an effective contrast between Divine and human wisdom. The world seeks through its wisdom to know God, but God's wisdom checkmates the world's wisdom and thw