Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
wisdom of God—emphatically contrasted with the wisdom of men and of this world (I Corinthians 2:5-6).
in a mystery—connected in construction with "we speak": We speak as dealing with a mystery; that is not something to be kept hidden, but what heretofore was so, but is now revealed. Whereas the pagan mysteries were revealed only to a chosen few, the Gospel mysteries were made known to all who would obey the truth. "If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" (II Corinthians 4:3), "whom the God of this world hath blinded." Ordinarily we use "mystery" in reference to those from whom the knowledge is withheld; the apostles, in reference to those to whom it is revealed [WHATELY]. It is hidden before it is brought forward, and when it is brought forward it still remains hidden to those that are imperfect [BENGEL].
ordained—literally, "foreordained" (compare I Corinthians 2:9), "prepared for them that love Him."
before the world—rather, "before the ages" (of time), that is, from eternity. This infinitely antedates worldly wisdom in antiquity. It was before not only the wisdom of the world, but eternally before the world itself and its ages.
to our glory—ours both now and hereafter, from "the Lord of glory" (I Corinthians 2:8), who brings to naught "the princes of this world."
Yet the Gospel preaching, so far from being at variance with true "wisdom," is a wisdom infinitely higher than that of the wise of the world.
we speak—resuming "we" (preachers, I, Apollos, etc.) from "we preach" (I Corinthians 1:28), only that here, "we speak" refers to something less public (compare I Corinthians 2:7, I Corinthians 2:13, "mystery . . . hidden") than "we preach," which is public. For "wisdom" here denotes not the whole of Christian doctrine, but its sublimer and deeper principles.
perfect—Those matured in Christian experience and knowledge alone can understand the true superiority of the Christian wisdom which Paul preached. Distinguished not only from worldly and natural men, but also from babes, who though "in Christ" retain much that is "carnal" (I Corinthians 3:1-2), and cannot therefore understand the deeper truths of Christianity (I Corinthians 14:20; Philippians 3:15; Hebrews 5:14). Paul does not mean by the "mystery" or "hidden wisdom" (I Corinthians 2:7) some hidden tradition distinct from the Gospel (like the Church of Rome's disciplina arcani and doctrine of reserve), but the unfolding of the treasures of knowledge, once hidden in God's counsels, but now announced to all, which would be intelligently comprehended in proportion as the hearer's inner life became perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. Compare instances of such "mysteries," that is, deeper Christian truths, not preached at Paul's first coming to Corinth, when he confined himself to the fundamental elements (I Corinthians 2:2), but now spoken to the "perfect" (I Corinthians 15:51; Romans 11:25; Ephesians 3:5-6). "Perfect" is used not of absolute perfection, but relatively to "babes," or those less ripe in Christian growth (compare Philippians 3:12, Philippians 3:15, with I John 2:12-14). "God" (I Corinthians 2:7) is opposed to the world, the apostles to "the princes [great and learned men] of this world" (I Corinthians 2:8; compare I Corinthians 1:20) [BENGEL].
come to naught—nothingness (I Corinthians 1:28). They are transient, not immortal. Therefore, their wisdom is not real [BENGEL]. Rather, translate with ALFORD, "Which are being brought to naught," namely, by God's choosing the "things which are not (the weak and despised things of the Gospel), to bring to naught (the same verb as here) things that are" (I Corinthians 1:28).
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing 1 Corinthians 2:7:
Isaiah 29:12
Matthew 13:11
John 1:14
Romans 11:25
1 Corinthians 2:6-7
1 Corinthians 2:13
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
2 Corinthians 6:6
Ephesians 3:9
Colossians 1:28
Colossians 2:3
2 Thessalonians 2:13
1 Timothy 3:9
1 Timothy 3:16
2 Timothy 1:9
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