1 Corinthians 1:22 (WEB)

Passage

For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,

Nearby Context

1 Corinthians 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1 Corinthians 1:21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.

1 Corinthians 1:22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,

1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,

1 Corinthians 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jews", "signs", "greeks", "seek", "after", and "wisdom". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jews" and "signs", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 21's "For seeing that in the wisdom of..." into verse 23's "but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling...", so "jews" and "signs" belong inside that flow. In 1 Corinthians context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jews" and "signs" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.