the men of the world. Kor of the princes of this world. This designation includes all who take the first rank among men ; men of influence, whether for their wisdom, birth, or power. He does not refer exclusively to magistrates, or princes, in the restricted sense of that term. This seems plain from the con- nection, and from what follows in v. 8. Who come to nought^ i. e. whom it is God's purpose to confound, as taught above, 1, 28.
7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, (even) the hidden (wisdom), which God ordained before the world unto our glory.
Having in v. 6 stated what this wisdom is not, he here states what it is. It is, first, the wisdom of God ; secondly, it is mysterious, or hidden ; thirdly, it is a system of truth which God from eternity had determined to reveal for the salvation of his people. In other words, it is the revelation of the coun sels of eternity in reference to the redemption of man.
The wisdom of God^ i. e. the wisdom derived from God ; which he has revealed, as distinguished from any form of knowledge of human origin. In a mystery. The word mys- tery always means something into which men must be initi- ated ; something undiscoverable by human reason. Whether its being undiscoverable arises from its lying in the future, or because hid in the unrevealed purposes of God, or from its own nature as beyond our comprehension, is not determined by the signification of the word, but is to be learned from the context. The most natural connection of the words here is with what precedes, " wisdom in a mystery," for mysterious, or hidden wisdom, as is immediately explained by what fol- lows. As there is no connecting article (between ao<f>Lav and Ixva-rrjpLio) in the original, some prefer connecting this clause with the verb. ' We speak in a mystery,' i. e. as declaring a mystery or matter of revelation.
Which God before the world (tt/do tcuv ataji/wv), before the ages., i. e. before time, or from eternity, preordained to our glory — predetermined in reference to our glory. The word glory is often used for all the benefits of salvation. It includes all the excellence and blessedness which Christ has secured for his people, Rom. 5, 2. The idea that the scheme of re- demption, which the apostle here calls the wisdom of God, was from eternity formed in the divine mind, iar out of the