Passage

1 Corinthians 2.15

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

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

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. 14. Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.

15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16, ASV)

WEB

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. 14. Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15. But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is judged by no one.

“For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him?” But we have Christ’s mind. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16, WEB)

KJV

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. 14. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. ^{judgeth: or, discerneth} ^{judged: or, discerned}

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. ^{may: Gr. shall} (1 Corinthians 2:13-16, KJV)

YLT

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, 14. and the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know [them], because spiritually they are discerned;

15. and he who is spiritual, doth discern indeed all things, and he himself is by no one discerned;

for who did know the mind of the Lord that he shall instruct Him? and we, we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:13-16, 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 spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.

The verse has been abused in both directions and needs its context. Anakrino is the verb, used of examining or sifting rather than of passing sentence, and Paul has just contrasted the natural person who does not receive the things of the Spirit with the one who does.

The claim is about competence to assess, not about immunity from correction. The same letter has Paul correcting the Corinthians throughout, submitting his own ministry to examination in chapter 4, and telling them in chapter 14 that the others should weigh what prophets say. A reading on which mature believers are beyond critique contradicts the letter it appears in.

The next verse supplies the ground: we have the mind of Christ. The capacity being described is derivative and corporate, "we," not a personal immunity.

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.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

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.