1 Corinthians 2:1-5

¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Commentary 

Vs. 1 "And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God."

The Apostle Paul now says of his own ministry that he did not come with excellence of speech (i.e. high sounding or lofty words), or of wisdom when he declared the testimony of God to them. Indeed if the Corinthians were looking for a gifted speaker, or a "philosopher", to either enlighten or entertain them, the Apostle was not obliging them. Indeed when one does those things all they do is put the Gospel out of reach of those whom it is intended to reach. For it's the the simplicity of the message preached and believed that brings salvation to one and to all who believe. 

Vs. 2 "For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

"For I determined", that is the Apostle Paul firmly made up his mind that he was only going to declare to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Having already tried to reason with the Philosophers in Athens at Mars Hill, the Apostle Paul must have come to realize that the Gospel must stand on it's own merits. Philosophy or any other kind of intellectual reasoning is not the means through which God reveals Himself, to those whom He calls to Himself. Thus the Apostle says here that he determined not to know anything among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. For that must be believed in order for salvation to be enacted in one's person and life (John 3:16). 

Vs. 3  "I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling." 

In contrast to the strength of person, or speech, or reasoning that would exemplify the prototypical Greek or Roman; or at least what they admired in a man. The Apostle Paul by his own testimony was none of those things. Both Paul's demeanor and his person did not exemplify those attributes and qualities that would make him appealing to the carnally minded. In fact Paul was the antithesis of the self-confident/"self made" whose confidence is not in God, but in themselves and their abilities and understanding. For Paul says that when he was with the Corinthians, he was there with them in weakness, in fear, and much trembling. That is, he was there amongst them in that state or condition. Thus Paul was not the type of person people would gravitate too if they were looking for a self-confident, self-assured individual to follow. Paul's manner of person amongst the Corinthians was in weakness, in fear, and much trembling. Timidity of person would rightly describe Paul and his demeanor. Now in stating this it must be remembered what the Apostle is stating here of himself is what he was naturally, not what he was when he was empowered by the Holy Spirit who gave him courage, and strength, and power to declare the Gospel of God (consider Acts 4:31). 

Vs. 4-5  ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Again the Apostle Paul did not intellectualize or philosophize the Gospel. He did not come with a Phd and or with the wisdom of men to validate either himself, or the message of the Gospel. Instead Paul presented the Gospel by the empowering and enabling of the Holy Spirit, which alone reaches the souls of mankind with the Gospel. Now this he did so that the Corinthians faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Just as our faith must also be in the power of God, and not in the one who preaches or leads, not in the one who teaches or instructs, but in Christ alone, and thus the Power of God by which Christ rose from the dead, who will also raise us up with Himself (1 Cor 6:14; 2 Cor 4:14). For it is the power of God that not only gives us everlasting life with Christ by the Presence and Power of the Spirit in our lives, but it is the power of God (not the wisdom of men) that is transforming us "from one glory to another" as the Apostle states in 2 Cor 3:18.

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.

Word Studies

Vs. 1 excellence, Str 5247, GK 5667, TDNT 8.523; TDNTA 1230; LN 87.26 
Vs. 3 weakness, Str 769; GK 819; TDNT 1.490; TDNTA 83;  LN 25.269 

Additional Resources Consulted 
MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Edited by Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995.

Vincent, Marvin Richardson. Word Studies in the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887.

Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 317). New York: United Bible Societies.