1 Corinthians 1:27
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
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Paul reminds the Corinthians of their own humble makeup as a congregation, showing that God's saving calling overturns worldly measures of importance.
What Does 1 Corinthians 1:27 Mean?
Paul tells the Corinthians to look at themselves: God deliberately chose people the world considered foolish and weak. This was not an accident of recruitment but a pattern of divine intention. By calling the unimpressive and overlooked, God overturns the world's scale of value and silences human boasting. The mighty cannot claim that their strength earned God's favor when He so often passes them by for the humble.
The word "confound" means to shame or put to silence. God's choice of the lowly exposes the emptiness of relying on status, intellect, or power to stand before Him. The Corinthian believers were largely ordinary people -- not many influential, not many noble -- yet God set His love on them. This is good news for anyone who feels unqualified. The kingdom of God does not run on credentials the world admires. It advances through people who know they bring nothing to boast about, so that any glory clearly belongs to God. Paul's point lands as both comfort and warning: comfort to the humble who are welcomed, and warning to the proud who imagine their advantages entitle them to anything before God.
In the Original Language
The Greek verb "exelexato" (he chose) is emphatic and repeated, stressing God's deliberate selection. "Kataischynē" carries the sense of shaming or putting to silence.
Cross References
“Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?”
- James 2:5
“That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:31
“Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”
- Matthew 11:25
Application
If you feel unqualified or overlooked, take heart: God delights to use the humble, so that the credit clearly belongs to Him and not to human advantage.