The Foolishness of God

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1 Corinthians 1:23-25

But we proclaim Messiah crucified – a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles – but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Messiah the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

נבלה (ne’valah) = “foolishness”

נבלה (ne’veilah) “carcass / corpse”

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpseshall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is a curse of God. You shall not defile your land that Adonai your God is giving you for an inheritance.”

“foolishness” = נבלה = “corpse”

 1 Corinthians 1:23-25

But we proclaim Messiah crucified … For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Galatians 3:13

Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Torah by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”.

κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi)

 Matthew 22:37-40

And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Torah and the Prophets.”

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

REFERENCES:

1Samuel 25:25  “Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Naval (נבל), for as his name is, so is he. Naval (נבל) is his name, and folly (נבלה) is with him…”

Genesis 34:7  The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men were indignant and very angry, because [Shechem] had done a foolish thing (נבלה, ne’valah) in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, for such a thing must not be done. (1st app.)

Isaiah 9:17  … and every mouth speaks folly (נבלה, ne’valah).

Leviticus 17:15  And every person who eats a carcass (נבלה, ne’veilah) or what is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean.