Here Paul quotes from Isaiah 29:14. Isaiah 29:1–24 is a prophecy about God’s judgment over Jerusalem. This prophesy was fulfilled when the Babylonians destroyed the city and its temple. Suddenly, the wise
plans of the Judeans (see Isaiah 30:1–17) were destroyed and proven to be foolish.
Jesus applied the same prophecy (specifically 1 Corinthians 1:13) to the Pharisees, claiming that Isaiah had been speaking about them (Matthew 15:8–9; Mark 7:6–7). Just as Jesus prophesied (Luke 21:20), the temple was again destroyed in AD 70.
Paul, writing about fifteen years before the destruction of the temple, gives another, broader application of Isaiah’s prophecy. God is able to destroy the wisdom of all who consider themselves wise.
And he does this through the power of the gospel.
From 1 Corinthians 1:20 to 1 Corinthians 2:5, Paul will give three arguments in support of his application of Isaiah 29:14.
19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”