What Does 1 Corinthians 1:20 Mean?

(20) To the second quotation, which was originally a song of triumph over the enemies of Israel, the Apostle gives a general application. **The wise.**—The general reference in this word is to those who would exalt human knowledge, while “the scribe” indicates the Jew, and the “disputer” the Greek, who discussed philosophy (Acts 6:9; Acts 9:29). **Of this world.**—These words qualify all three mentioned, and not exclusively the disputer.” “World” (more literally, *age*) does not here mean the physical world, but, in an ethical sense, “this age,” in contrast to that which is “to come” (Matthew 12:32; Mark 10:30). It is employed afterwards (last word of 1Corinthians 1:20, and in 1Corinthians 1:21) to designate all who are outside the Christian communion, as in the next verse it is contrasted with “them that believe.”