📖WEB · 1 Corinthians 3:20
What does 1 Corinthians 3:20 mean?
"And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”"
— 1 Corinthians 3:20 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, which you are.
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He has taken the wise in their craftiness.”
And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”
Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,
whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours,
and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Explanation
1 Corinthians 3:20 finds Paul quoting from Psalm 94:11, adapting it slightly to make his point. In plain language, the verse says that God sees through human cleverness and recognizes that even the most sophisticated reasoning of "the wise" ultimately amounts to nothing when set against divine truth. It's a statement about the limits of human intellect when it operates independently of, or in opposition to, God.
The context here is crucial. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, a congregation that had become fractured by allegiance to different teachers—some followed Paul, others Apollos, others Cephas—each group apparently prizing their preferred leader's rhetorical skill or philosophical sophistication. Corinth was a city that highly valued eloquence, rhetoric, and worldly wisdom, and this cultural value had infiltrated the church, causing believers to evaluate their teachers and their faith through the lens of impressive speech and clever argumentation rather than through the substance of the gospel. Paul had already argued earlier in the letter (chapters 1-2) that the message of the cross appears foolish to those who prize worldly wisdom, yet it is actually the power and wisdom of God. Here in chapter 3, he continues dismantling their misplaced pride in human wisdom, reminding them that boasting in teachers or in intellectual sophistication is misguided.
Theologically, this verse reinforces a consistent biblical theme: human wisdom, when it sets itself up as the ultimate standard or replaces reliance on God,
Compare translations
Go deeper with ScriptureCompanion AI
Ask questions about any verse, follow reading plans, write personal prayers, and track your daily habit — all grounded in verified scripture text.