This loose quotation from Jeremiah 9:24 summarizes Paul"s point. Instead of emphasizing the Lord"s servants and what they have done, we should focus on what the Lord Himself has done in providing wisdom and power in Christ. [source][source][source]
God"s purpose was not to make a superficial splash but to transform lives, something the Corinthians could see in their own experience. [source][source][source]
"The issue of election is particularly strong in1Corinthians. Paul opens the letter by affirming not only his call ("called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God") but also that of the Corinthians ("called to be saints," 1 Corinthians 1:2). This conviction reappears in the final verse of the thanksgiving, functioning there as part of the ultimate ground for Paul"s confidence ( 1 Corinthians 1:9): "God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Song of Solomon , Jesus Christ our Lord." When the issue surfaces again a few verses later with renewed rhetorical emphasis ( 1 Corinthians 1:24; 1 Corinthians 1:26-30), it becomes clear that the concept of election or call no longer merely undergirds Paul"s argument; it has instead become the focus of this argument. The Corinthians, it seems, have not grasped what election means." [1][source]
Context Summary
1 Corinthians 1:26-31 - God's Glory In Men's Weakness
Like the sons of Jesse before Samuel, so do the successive regiments on which the world relies pass before Christ. The wise, the mighty, the noble, the great, the things that are! And the King says, I have not chosen these. The warriors with whom He will win the world to Himself are the nobodies, the ciphers, the people who in the world's estimate do not count. Do not depreciate yourself, but give yourself to Him; He will find a niche for you and make your life worth living. Notice that God has put you into union with Christ Jesus. Everything we need for life and godliness is in Him; only let us make all that we can of our wonderful position and possessions.
Paul came to Corinth from Athens, where he had sought to win his hearers by a studied and philosophical discourse as best adapted to their needs. But as he entered Corinth, he appears to have deliberately determined that his theme would be the crucified Lord, and expressed in the simplest phrases. When we speak the truth as it is in Jesus, the Spirit is ever at hand to enforce our testimony by His demonstration and power. [source]
Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 1
1After his salutation and thanksgiving for the Corinthians, 10Paul exhorts them to unity, 12and reproves their dissensions 18God destroys the wisdom of the wise, 21by the foolishness of preaching; 26and calls not the wise, mighty, and noble, 28but the foolish, weak, and men of no account
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 1:31
That [ινα] Probably ellipse Some explain the imperative καυχαστω kauchasthō as an anacoluthon. The shortened quotation is from Jeremiah 9:24. Deissmann notes the importance of these closing verses concerning the origin of Paul‘s congregations from the lower classes in the large towns as “one of the most important historical witnesses to Primitive Christianity” (New Light on the N.T., p. 7; Light from the Ancient East, pp. 7, 14, 60, 142). [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 1:31
1 Corinthians 3:21Wherefore let no one glory in men [ωστε μηδεις καυχαστω εν αντρωποις] The conclusion The spirit of glorying in party is a species of self-conceit and inconsistent with glorying in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). [source]
1 Corinthians 4:6That in us ye may learn [ινα εν ημιν ματητε] Final clause with ινα hina and the second aorist active subjunctive of μαντανω manthanō to learn. As an object lesson in our cases It is no more true of Paul and Apollos than of other ministers, but the wrangles in Corinth started about them. So Paul boldly puts himself and Apollos to the fore in the discussion of the principles involved. Not to go beyond the things which are written (το Μη υπερ α γεγραπται to Mē huper ha gegraptai). It is difficult to reproduce the Greek idiom in English. The article το to is in the accusative case as the object of the verb ματητε mathēte (learn) and points at the words “Μη υπερ α γεγραπται Mē huper ha gegraptai apparently a proverb or rule, and elliptical in form with no principal verb expressed with μη mē whether “think” (Auth.) or “go” (Revised). There was a constant tendency to smooth out Paul‘s ellipses as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26,1 Corinthians 1:31. Lightfoot thinks that Paul may have in mind O.T. passages quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19,1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:19,1 Corinthians 3:20. That ye be not puffed up Sub-final use of ινα hina (second use in this sentence) with notion of result. It is not certain whether πυσιουστε phusiousthe (late verb form like πυσιαω πυσαω phusiaōινα phusaō to blow up, to inflate, to puff up), used only by Paul in the N.T., is present indicative with ζηλουτε hina like ινα γινωσκομεν zēloute in Galatians 4:17 (cf. Πυσιοω hina ginōskomen in 1 John 5:20) or the present subjunctive by irregular contraction (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 203, 342f.), probably the present indicative. πυσις Phusioō is from πυσαω phusis (nature) and so meant to make natural, but it is used by Paul just like πυσιαω phusaō or πυσα phusiaō (from εις υπερ του ενος κατα του ετερου phusa a pair of bellows), a vivid picture of self-conceit. One for the one against the other (υπερ heis huper tou henos kata tou heterou). This is the precise idea of this idiom of partitive apposition. This is the rule with partisans. They are “for” (κατα huper) the one and “against” (του ετερου kata down on, the genitive case) the other (ετεροδοχ tou heterou not merely another or a second, but the different sort, heterodox). [source]
1 Corinthians 4:6Not to go beyond the things which are written [το Μη υπερ α γεγραπται] It is difficult to reproduce the Greek idiom in English. The article το to is in the accusative case as the object of the verb ματητε mathēte (learn) and points at the words “Μη υπερ α γεγραπται Mē huper ha gegraptai apparently a proverb or rule, and elliptical in form with no principal verb expressed with μη mē whether “think” (Auth.) or “go” (Revised). There was a constant tendency to smooth out Paul‘s ellipses as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26,1 Corinthians 1:31. Lightfoot thinks that Paul may have in mind O.T. passages quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19,1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:19,1 Corinthians 3:20. [source]
Galatians 6:13That they may glory in your flesh [ἵνα ἐν τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ σαρκὶ καυχήσωνται] May boast, not of your fulfilling the law, but in your ceremonial conformity; your becoming legal zealots like themselves. They desire only that you, like them, should make a fair show in the flesh. For the formula καυχᾶσθαι ἐν toglory in, see Romans 2:17; Romans 5:3; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:15. [source]
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 1:31
Probably ellipse Some explain the imperative καυχαστω kauchasthō as an anacoluthon. The shortened quotation is from Jeremiah 9:24. Deissmann notes the importance of these closing verses concerning the origin of Paul‘s congregations from the lower classes in the large towns as “one of the most important historical witnesses to Primitive Christianity” (New Light on the N.T., p. 7; Light from the Ancient East, pp. 7, 14, 60, 142). [source]
From Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, abridged after the Septuagint. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 1:31
The conclusion The spirit of glorying in party is a species of self-conceit and inconsistent with glorying in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). [source]
Final clause with ινα hina and the second aorist active subjunctive of μαντανω manthanō to learn. As an object lesson in our cases It is no more true of Paul and Apollos than of other ministers, but the wrangles in Corinth started about them. So Paul boldly puts himself and Apollos to the fore in the discussion of the principles involved. Not to go beyond the things which are written (το Μη υπερ α γεγραπται to Mē huper ha gegraptai). It is difficult to reproduce the Greek idiom in English. The article το to is in the accusative case as the object of the verb ματητε mathēte (learn) and points at the words “Μη υπερ α γεγραπται Mē huper ha gegraptai apparently a proverb or rule, and elliptical in form with no principal verb expressed with μη mē whether “think” (Auth.) or “go” (Revised). There was a constant tendency to smooth out Paul‘s ellipses as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26, 1 Corinthians 1:31. Lightfoot thinks that Paul may have in mind O.T. passages quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19, 1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:19, 1 Corinthians 3:20. That ye be not puffed up Sub-final use of ινα hina (second use in this sentence) with notion of result. It is not certain whether πυσιουστε phusiousthe (late verb form like πυσιαω πυσαω phusiaōινα phusaō to blow up, to inflate, to puff up), used only by Paul in the N.T., is present indicative with ζηλουτε hina like ινα γινωσκομεν zēloute in Galatians 4:17 (cf. Πυσιοω hina ginōskomen in 1 John 5:20) or the present subjunctive by irregular contraction (Robertson, Grammar, pp. 203, 342f.), probably the present indicative. πυσις Phusioō is from πυσαω phusis (nature) and so meant to make natural, but it is used by Paul just like πυσιαω phusaō or πυσα phusiaō (from εις υπερ του ενος κατα του ετερου phusa a pair of bellows), a vivid picture of self-conceit. One for the one against the other (υπερ heis huper tou henos kata tou heterou). This is the precise idea of this idiom of partitive apposition. This is the rule with partisans. They are “for” (κατα huper) the one and “against” (του ετερου kata down on, the genitive case) the other (ετεροδοχ tou heterou not merely another or a second, but the different sort, heterodox). [source]
It is difficult to reproduce the Greek idiom in English. The article το to is in the accusative case as the object of the verb ματητε mathēte (learn) and points at the words “Μη υπερ α γεγραπται Mē huper ha gegraptai apparently a proverb or rule, and elliptical in form with no principal verb expressed with μη mē whether “think” (Auth.) or “go” (Revised). There was a constant tendency to smooth out Paul‘s ellipses as in 2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Corinthians 1:26, 1 Corinthians 1:31. Lightfoot thinks that Paul may have in mind O.T. passages quoted in 1 Corinthians 1:19, 1 Corinthians 1:31; 1 Corinthians 3:19, 1 Corinthians 3:20. [source]
May boast, not of your fulfilling the law, but in your ceremonial conformity; your becoming legal zealots like themselves. They desire only that you, like them, should make a fair show in the flesh. For the formula καυχᾶσθαι ἐν toglory in, see Romans 2:17; Romans 5:3; 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:15. [source]
Rev., better, glory. Compare Jeremiah 9:23, Jeremiah 9:24, and 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17. [source]