1 Corinthians 2

Brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come with fancy speaking or clever arguments as I told you what God has said.

1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

Note"Brethren" translates a Greek word for fellow members of a group; it covers a gathering of both men and women, which is why the rendering says "brothers and sisters." "Excellency of speech" points to trained public speaking. In a city like Corinth, traveling speakers were paid, rated and compared on polish and delivery, much as performers are; Paul is saying he did not compete on those terms. A note on the text itself: where most manuscripts read "testimony of God," some early ones read "mystery of God," and translators have to choose.

2I decided that while I was with you I would focus on one thing only: Jesus Christ, and the fact that he was put to death on a cross.

2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

NoteCrucifixion was a Roman public execution, used on slaves, rebels and non-citizens, and designed to humiliate as much as to kill. To Paul's first readers the phrase carried disgrace, not decoration; "him crucified" named the most shameful thing that could be said about a person.

3When I was with you, I was weak, and I was afraid, and I shook a great deal.

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

4What I said and what I preached did not depend on persuasive words drawn from human wisdom. Instead, the Spirit and God's power showed that it was true.

4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

Note"Demonstration" translates a word borrowed from formal speech and logic, where it meant a proof that compels agreement. Paul is not rejecting proof; he is contrasting two kinds of it, one resting on a speaker's skill and one on what the Spirit and God's power actually did.

5The reason was this: your faith should not rest on human wisdom, but on the power of God.

5That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

6Even so, we do speak a message of wisdom among those who are mature. But it is not the wisdom of this present age, or of the rulers of this age, who are on their way out.

6Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

Note"Perfect" in 1611 English meant complete or full-grown, and the Greek word behind it means mature, an adult rather than a child. It does not mean flawless. "This world" here translates a word meaning age or era, a stretch of time rather than the planet. "Princes" translates a word for those holding authority; Paul's readers could hear it as human officials, as unseen spiritual powers, or as both, and the letter does not settle the question.

7What we speak is God's wisdom, a secret that was hidden until now. God planned it before the world began, for our glory.

7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Note"Mystery" did not mean a puzzle nobody can solve. In ordinary Greek it meant a secret deliberately kept, then disclosed to those let in on it. "Before the world" is literally "before the ages," that is, before time as we count it began.

8None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had, they would not have nailed the Lord of glory to a cross.

8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Note"Lord of glory" is a Hebrew-style way of saying "the glorious Lord," using a noun where English would use an adjective. The "princes" are the same rulers of verse 6, and the ambiguity there carries over here.

9It is as the Scriptures say: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has made ready for those who love him."

9But 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.

Note"As it is written" normally introduces a quotation from the Jewish Scriptures, but these exact words are not found in any text we have. The closest wording is in Isaiah, chapters 64 and 65; Paul may be quoting loosely, combining passages, or drawing on a version now lost. In Hebrew usage the "heart" is the seat of thought and decision, not of feeling, so "entered into the heart" means occurred to the mind.

10But God has shown these things to us through his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Note"Searcheth" translates a verb meaning to explore or fathom something thoroughly. It does not suggest hunting for information one lacks; the picture is of sounding out depths, as the rest of the verse says.

11Think about it: who knows a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit inside him? In the same way, no one knows God's thoughts except the Spirit of God.

11For 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.

12Now we have not received the spirit that belongs to the world. We have received the Spirit who comes from God, so that we can understand what God has freely given us.

12Now 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.

NoteGreek was written without capital letters, so "spirit of the world" and "Spirit which is of God" look identical in kind on the page. Whether the first means a rival spirit, a general outlook or attitude, is a decision the translator makes and the original leaves open.

13These are the things we talk about. We do not use words taught by human wisdom, but words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things in spiritual words.

13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Note"Ghost" simply meant spirit in 1611 English, with none of the modern sense of a haunting. The last phrase is genuinely uncertain: the Greek verb can mean compare, combine or interpret, and its object can be read as "spiritual things" or as "spiritual people." So it may mean explaining spiritual truths in spiritual words, matching spiritual truths with one another, or interpreting spiritual things to people who have the Spirit.

14A person who lives only by natural ability does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. To him they are foolish, and he cannot understand them, because they can only be understood through the Spirit.

14But 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.

Note"Natural" translates an adjective built on the Greek word for the soul or life-force that every living person has. It describes someone operating on ordinary human capacity alone, and Paul sets it against "spiritual," a person in whom God's Spirit is at work. It does not mean unsophisticated or uneducated.

15The person who has the Spirit is able to weigh all things, but no one else is in a position to weigh him.

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

Note"Judgeth" and "judged" here translate a verb meaning to examine, question or weigh up, the word used for a preliminary legal hearing that sifts evidence rather than for handing down a verdict. Paul's point is about who is in a position to assess whom.

16As Scripture asks, "Who has ever known the mind of the Lord well enough to give him advice?" But we have the mind of Christ.

16For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

NoteThis quotes Isaiah chapter 40 in its Greek translation, which reads "mind of the Lord" where the Hebrew has "spirit of the Lord." Paul's readers knew the Scriptures mainly in Greek, and the wording lets him move straight to "the mind of Christ."