ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Corinthians 1.30

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

There are ads on our codex that pay for hosting and keep the codex free. If you can, please consider whitelisting ris3n.com or allowing scripts to support the work.

Sponsored

Brands, events, influencers advertise here

ASV

28. and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, yea and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29. that no flesh should glory before God.

30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

  1. that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:28-31, ASV)
WEB

28. and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are: 29. that no flesh should boast before God.

30. Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:

  1. that, according as it is written, “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:28-31, WEB)
KJV

28. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29. That no flesh should glory in his presence.

30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

  1. That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:28-31, KJV)
YLT

28. and the base things of the world, and the things despised did God choose, and the things that are not, that the things that are He may make useless 29. that no flesh may glory before Him;

30. and of Him ye, ye are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, righteousness also, and sanctification, and redemption,

  1. that, according as it hath been written, 'He who is glorying, in the Lord let him glory.' (1 Corinthians 1:28-31, YLT)

See this page's graph and discover linked topics

Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender
  • Audience: the church at Corinth, a divided congregation in a wealthy Roman colony
  • Location: written from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
  • Time period: c. AD 53-55

Theological reading

Christ Jesus became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

The verse closes Paul's argument against boasting, and its structure is the argument: four things Christians have are named, and all four are located in Christ rather than in the believer.

The list is worth taking slowly. Wisdom answers the Corinthian obsession with rhetorical sophistication that occupies chapter 1. Righteousness is the forensic standing argued at length in Romans. Sanctification is the ongoing transformation. Redemption is the purchase language of release.

The theological weight falls on the preposition. These are not qualities produced in the believer and then credited; they are had by being in him, which is why the conclusion drawn in the next verse is that the one who boasts should boast in the Lord.

The verse is a standard text for union with Christ, and it is notable that justification and sanctification appear in one list without being confused, which is the distinction later dogmatics is careful to keep.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.