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the usage of gender 'τα μωρα' in 1 Corinthians 1:27

Posted: July 4th, 2016, 7:11 am
by camille
1 Corinthians 1: 27 ἀλλὰ τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς, καὶ τὰ ἀσθενῆ τοῦ κόσμου έξελέξατο ὁ θεός, ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τὰ ἰσχυρά,

τοὺς σοφούς , refers to men, 'the wisdom men', but 'τα μωρα, τα ασθενη, τα ισχυρα' , refers to neuter plural, 'the foolish things, the weak things, the strong things', why?

Are there any special implications in this usage of the different gender?

Re: the usage of gender 'τα μωρα' in 1 Corinthians 1:27

Posted: July 4th, 2016, 6:17 pm
by Stirling Bartholomew
I would suggest that the neuters are more inclusive than the masculine. The masculine probably refers to persons. The neuters not only include persons but ideas and teachings, practices like the communal breaking of bread and drinking wine.

The parallelism is broken by using the masculine only once.