---
title: 1 Corinthians 3:20
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-3-20/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/1-corinthians-3-20.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: 1 Corinthians 3:20
testament: NT
section: Letters
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# 1 Corinthians 3:20

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

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

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "And again: "Jehovah knows that the reasonings of the wise men are futile.""

## JW Usage

Cited for the limits of human wisdom against Jehovah's — a theme the Watchtower applies to worldly philosophy and to Christendom's theologians. Because the NWT prints "Jehovah" here, the verse reads as straightforwardly about the Father.

## Protestant Usage

The context is worth more than the verse in isolation. Paul is addressing a congregation that had split into factions behind rival teachers — I belong to Paul, I to Apollos, I to Cephas — and this quotation is part of his demolition of that whole way of thinking. His conclusion a few verses later is that no one should boast in men, because all things are yours and you belong to Christ. That is a useful passage to sit in with someone whose spiritual confidence rests on an institution's authority. Paul's answer to factional loyalty is not a better faction; it is that the believer belongs directly to Christ. It pairs naturally with 1 Corinthians 1:13 — were you baptised in the name of Paul? — which is the same argument in question form. Compare 1 Corinthians 1:13, Galatians 2:5.

## NWT Issue

The NWT prints "Jehovah knows that the reasonings of the wise men are futile," where the Greek of 1 Corinthians has kyrios. Paul is quoting Psalm 94:11, where the Hebrew does carry the divine name, so the substitution has a reasonable basis here. It is worth being aware of the practice generally: across the New Testament the NWT prints "Jehovah" in places where the Greek reads "Lord," and the English gives the reader no way to tell which verses those are.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [Paul's Greeting Puts Jesus Beside the Father](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/pauline-greeting-formula.md) — Galatians 1:1-3 — Co-Source of Grace and Peace [Deity of Christ]