And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom(A) as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.(B) I came to you(C) in weakness(D) with great fear and trembling.(E) My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words,(F) but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,(G) so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.(H)

God’s Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature,(I) but not the wisdom of this age(J) or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.(K) No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery(L) that has been hidden(M) and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age(N) understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.(O) However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”[b]
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—(P)

10 these are the things God has revealed(Q) to us by his Spirit.(R)

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts(S) except their own spirit(T) within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit(U) of the world,(V) but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom(W) but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.[c] 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God(X) but considers them foolishness,(Y) and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit(Z) makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?”[d](AA)

But we have the mind of Christ.(AB)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 Some manuscripts proclaimed to you God’s mystery
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:4
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:13 Or Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual
  4. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13

When I came to you, Achim b’Moshiach, I did not come preaching and announcing to you the sod Hashem (mystery of G-d) as a ba’al melitzot (rhetorician, fine talker) or in the excellence of chochmah.

For I made the decision not to have da’as of anything among you except Moshiach and nivlato al haEtz (his body –gufa, kerper—on the Tree Boim (Yiddish for tree), DEVARIM 21:23).

And I came to you (Ac 18:1) in weakness (1:25,27) and in yir’at Shomayim and in fear and in much trembling I was with you,

And my speech and my hachrazah (proclamation, kyrygma, preaching) to you of the Besuras HaGeulah of Hashem was not in persuasive words but in the demonstration of the Ruach Hakodesh and the gevurat Hashem (power of G-d—1:17),

That the [orthodox Jewish] emunah (faith) of you may not be in the [Olam Hazeh] "chochmah" of Bnei Adam, but in the gevurat Hashem [1:17].

But we do speak chochmah (wisdom) to the man who is mevugar (mature, grown up), to those with mature ruchaniyut (spirituality in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach), yet, it is a chochmah (wisdom) not of the Olam Hazeh, neither of the rulers of the Olam Hazeh (Ro 13:3), the ones being brought to naught (1:28). [TEHILLIM 146:4]

But we speak the chochmah of Hashem in a hidden sod (mystery 2:1), which was nigzar merosh (determined from the beginning, preordained, predestined, decided beforehand) by Hashem lifnei yemei haOlam (before the days of eternity) for our kavod (glory, Ro 8:29-30);

A chochmah which not one of the rulers of the Olam Hazeh has known, for, if they had had da’as, they would not have made talui al HaEtz HaKelalat Hashem (being hanged on the Tree of the Curse of G-d- Dt 21:23) the [Moshiach] Adon HaKavod. [Ps 24:7]

But even as it has been written, “Things which no eye has seen and LO SHAMU (“they had not heard”) nor did it come up into the heart of Bnei Adam, the things G-d prepared for the ones who have ahavah for him.” Isa 64:3[4] TARGUM HASHIVIM; Isa 52:15

10 But Hashem has made the hitgalut haSod (the revelation of the mystery) to us of these things through the Ruach Hakodesh; for the Ruach Hakodesh searches all things, even the deep things of G-d.

11 For who of Bnei Adam has da’as of the things of Bnei Adam except the ruach of a man in him? So also the things of G-d no one has known except the Ruach Hashem. [Jer 17:9; Prov 20:27]

12 Now we have not received the ruach of the Olam Hazeh but the Ruach Hakodesh from Hashem, that we may have da’as of the things having been freely given to us by Hashem,

13 Which things also we speak, not in dvarim (words) taught by chochmah haBnei Adam, but in dvarim taught by the Ruach Hakodesh, making midrash [exposition, interpretation] of the things of the Ruach Hakodesh [2:12] by means of the words of the Ruach Hakodesh.

14 But a natural person does not receive the things of the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem, for they are narrishkait (foolishness 1:21-24) to him, and he is not able to have personal saving da’as of them, because they are discerned in the Ruach Hakodesh.

15 Now the man of the Ruach Hakodesh discerns all things, but, by no one is he discerned.

16 For, "Who has known the mind of Hashem so as to instruct Him" [Isa 40:13 TARGUM HASHIVIM]? But we have the mind of Moshiach. [YESHAYAH 40:13]

As for me, brothers, when I arrived among you, it was not with surpassing eloquence or wisdom that I came announcing to you the previously concealed truth about God; for I had decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Yeshua the Messiah, and even him only as someone who had been executed on a stake as a criminal. Also I myself was with you as somebody weak, nervous and shaking all over from fear; and neither the delivery nor the content of my message relied on compelling words of “wisdom” but on a demonstration of the power of the Spirit, so that your trust might not rest on human wisdom but on God’s power.

Yet there is a wisdom that we are speaking to those who are mature enough for it. But it is not the wisdom of this world or of this world’s leaders, who are in the process of passing away. On the contrary, we are communicating a secret wisdom from God which has been hidden until now but which, before history began, God had decreed would bring us glory. Not one of this world’s leaders has understood it; because if they had, they would not have executed the Lord from whom this glory flows. But, as the Tanakh says,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard
and no one’s heart has imagined
all the things that God has prepared
for those who love him.”[a]

10 It is to us, however, that God has revealed these things. How? Through the Spirit. For the Spirit probes all things, even the profoundest depths of God. 11 For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him? So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us. 13 These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. 14 Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit. 15 But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him.

16 For who has known the mind of Adonai?
Who will counsel him?[b]

But we have the mind of the Messiah!

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Isaiah 64:3(4), 52:15
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Isaiah 40:13

When I came[a] to you, brothers and sisters,[b] I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony[c] of God. For I decided to be concerned about nothing[d] among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the power of God.

Wisdom from God

Now we do speak wisdom among the mature,[e] but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined,[f] are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”[g] 10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. 13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.[h] 14 The unbeliever[i] does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The one who is spiritual discerns[j] all things, yet he himself is understood[k] by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him?[l] But we have the mind of Christ.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Corinthians 2:1 tn Grk “and I, when I came.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, κἀγώ (kagō) has not been translated here.
  2. 1 Corinthians 2:1 tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:10.
  3. 1 Corinthians 2:1 tc ‡ A few significant mss (P46vid א* A C as well as some versions and fathers) read μυστήριον (mustērion, “mystery”) instead of μαρτύριον (marturion, “testimony”). But the latter has wider ms support (א2 B D F G Ψ 33 1739 1881 M and some versions), though not quite as impressive. μαρτύριον may have been changed by scribes in anticipation of Paul’s words in 2:7, or conversely, μυστήριον may have been changed to conform to 1:6. Transcriptionally, since “the mystery of God/Christ” is a well-worn expression in the corpus Paulinum (1 Cor 2:7; 4:1; Eph 3:4; Col 2:2; 4:3), while “testimony of Christ” occurs in Paul only once (1 Cor 1:6, though “testimony of the Lord” appears in 2 Tim 1:8), and “testimony of God” never, it is likely that scribes changed the text to the more usual expression. A decision is difficult in this instance, but a slight preference should be given to μαρτύριον.
  4. 1 Corinthians 2:2 tn Grk “to know nothing.”
  5. 1 Corinthians 2:6 tn In extrabiblical literature this word was applied to an initiate of a mystery religion (BDAG 995 s.v. τέλειος 3, gives numerous examples and states this was a technical term of the mystery religions). It could here refer to those who believed Paul’s message, the mystery of God (v. 1), and so be translated as “those who believe God’s message.”
  6. 1 Corinthians 2:9 tn Grk “entered the heart,” an OT expression, in which the heart functions like the mind.
  7. 1 Corinthians 2:9 sn A quotation from Isa 64:4.
  8. 1 Corinthians 2:13 tn Or “combining spiritual things with spiritual words” (i.e., words the Spirit gives, as just described).
  9. 1 Corinthians 2:14 tn Grk “natural person.” Cf. BDAG 1100 s.v. ψυχικός a, “an unspiritual pers., one who merely functions bodily, without being touched by the Spirit of God.”
  10. 1 Corinthians 2:15 tn Or “evaluates.”
  11. 1 Corinthians 2:15 tn Or “is evaluated” (i.e., “is subject to evaluation”); Grk “he himself is discerned,” that is, the person without the Spirit does not understand the person with the Spirit, particularly in relation to the life of faith.
  12. 1 Corinthians 2:16 sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.