ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

1 Corinthians 2.10-11

Book: 1 Corinthians · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

8. which none of the rulers of this world hath known: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory: 9. but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And which entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him.

10. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11. For who among men knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of the man, which is in him? even so the things of God none knoweth, save the Spirit of God.

  1. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God; that we might know the things that were freely given to us of God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:8-13, ASV)
WEB

8. which none of the rulers of this world has known. For had they known it, they wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. 9. But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”

10. But to us, God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except God’s Spirit.

  1. But we received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might know the things that were freely given to us by God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. (1 Corinthians 2:8-13, WEB)
KJV

8. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

10. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

  1. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:8-13, KJV)
YLT

8. which no one of the rulers of this age did know, for if they had known, the Lord of the glory they would not have crucified; 9. but, according as it hath been written, 'What eye did not see, and ear did not hear, and upon the heart of man came not up, what God did prepare for those loving Him, '

10. but to us did God reveal [them] through His Spirit, for the Spirit all things doth search, even the depths of God, 11. for who of men hath known the things of the man, except the spirit of the man that [is] in him? so also the things of God no one hath known, except the Spirit of God.

  1. And we the spirit of the world did not receive, but the Spirit that [is] of God, that we may know the things conferred by God on us, 13. which things also we speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Holy Spirit, with spiritual things spiritual things comparing, (1 Corinthians 2:8-13, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul the Apostle, with Sosthenes named as co-sender
  • Audience: the church at Corinth, a divided congregation in a wealthy Roman colony
  • Location: written from Ephesus during the third missionary journey
  • Time period: c. AD 53-55

Theological reading

The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

The analogy is the argument. As a person's own spirit has access to that person's inner thoughts, so the Spirit of God has access to God's, which places the Spirit inside the divine knowing rather than outside it observing.

The verse is therefore one of the load-bearing texts for the Spirit's deity: a creature could report God's acts, and only God can search God's depths. It is also a personhood text, since searching and knowing are activities of a someone. See Pneumatology.

The context is Paul's contrast between the wisdom of this age and the wisdom of God, and the epistemological point is that revelation is necessary because the subject matter is inaccessible in principle, not merely difficult.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Lexicon:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

  • ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
  • WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
  • KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
  • YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.