King James Version · Under Rome
1 Corinthians 2
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And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of , declaring unto you the of . For I determined not to know any thing among you, , and him . And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s , but in demonstration of and of : That your should not stand in the of men, but in the of . Howbeit we speak among them that are perfect: yet not the of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the of in a , even the hidden , which ordained before the world unto our : Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have of . But as , Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into of man, the things which hath prepared for them that love him. But hath them unto us by his : for searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of . For what man knoweth the things of a man, of man which is in him? even so the things of knoweth no man, but of . Now we have received, not of the world, but which is of ; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of . Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s teacheth, but which the Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of of : for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known of , that he may instruct him? But we have of Christ.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.