1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
Study Note
Study Note
Paul's quotation of Job 5:13 — 'He taketh the wise in their own craftiness' — in support of the claim that 'the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God' bridges Old Testament wisdom literature and the Corinthian situation. The irony of Job's text is particularly apt: Eliphaz, the one speaking, is himself an example of the wise man whose counsel God ultimately rejects (Job 42:7), making Paul's appropriation doubly pointed. The Greek 'sophia tou kosmou' (wisdom of the world) encompasses both Greek philosophical rhetoric and any human system that displaces divine revelation as the ultimate criterion. Augustine's 'confutatio' of Platonic wisdom in the Confessions and City of God is perhaps the most sustained theological elaboration of this principle.
Other Translations
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He that taketh the wise in their craftiness:
for the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it hath been written, `Who is taking the wise in their craftiness;'
For the wisdom of this world is foolish before God. As it is said in the holy Writings, He who takes the wise in their secret designs:
Cross References
That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge …
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of …
Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: …
The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every …
Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say …
Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes …
Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish …
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of …
He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.