World English Bible · Under Rome
1 Corinthians 2
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When I came to you, brothers, I didn't come with excellence of speech or of , proclaiming to you the of . For I determined not to know anything among you except and him . I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of human , but in demonstration of and of , that your wouldn't stand in the of men, but in the of . We speak , however, among those who are full grown, yet a not of this world nor of the of this world who are coming to nothing. But we speak in a , the that has been hidden, which foreordained before the worlds for our , which none of the of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn't have of . But as , "Things which an eye didn't see, and an ear didn't hear, which didn't enter into of man, these has prepared for those who love him." But to us, them through . For searches all things, yes, the deep things of . For who among men knows the things of a man except of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of except . But we received not of the world, but which is from , that we might know the things that were freely given to us by . We also speak these things, not in words which man's teaches but which teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. Now the natural man doesn't receive the things of , for they are foolishness to him; and he can't know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one. "For who has known of that he should instruct him?" But we have Christ's .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. 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.