How to read this page

An Intertextuality Pair — one connection between two passages, shown as linked verse cards: the Later text and the Earlier text it quotes, alludes to or echoes. The Significance essay explains why the link matters and where it points in Christ.

Reference Type— how explicit the link is: Quotation, Allusion, or Echo
Connection Method(s)— how it carries meaning: e.g. Typology, Promise-Fulfillment, Analogy, Longitudinal Theme
Found via— where the connection was identified, e.g. the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or an Anchor-Text Network

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Intertextuality Pair

1 Corinthians 3:20 → Psalm 94:11

Quotation

Later text

1 Corinthians 3:20BSB

And again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”

Earlier text

Psalm 94:11BSB

The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.

Walk the Square · a single-voice walk of this pair around the Clowney square7:35

Significance

Psalm 94:11 appears in a context where the psalmist appeals to God as judge against the wicked who oppress the righteous. The original declares that God knows the thoughts of humans are "mere breath" (futile). Paul applies this to expose the emptiness of the Corinthians' philosophical pretensions. While they boast in sophisticated wisdom and eloquent leaders, God sees through to the futility of all human reasoning divorced from Christ. This quotation combines with Job 5:13 to show both God's active judgment and His comprehensive knowledge - He catches the wise in craftiness (Job) because He sees the futility of their thoughts (Psalm 94). Together, these texts demolish any ground for boasting in human wisdom.

Found via: John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1763)
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Contrast