1 Corinthians 2:10-16

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:11

For what man knoweth the things of a man - The word ανθρωπων in the first clause is omitted by the Codex Alexandrinus, and one other; and by Athanasius, Cyril, and Vigil of Tapsus. Bishop Pearce contends strongly against the authenticity of the word, and reads the passage thus: "For what is there that knoweth the things of a man, except the spirit of a man that is in him?" "I leave out," says the learned bishop, " ανθρωπων , with the Alexandrian MS., and read τις γαρ οιδεν τα του... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world - We, who are the genuine apostles of Christ, have received this Spirit of God, by which we know the deep things of God; and, through the teaching of that Spirit, we preach Christ crucified. We have not therefore received the spirit of the world - of the Jewish teachers, who are all looking for a worldly kingdom and a worldly Messiah, and interpret all the scriptures of the Old Testament which relate to Him in a carnal and worldly sense. ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:13

Which things also we speak - We dare no more use the language of the Jews and the Gentiles in speaking of those glorious things, than we can indulge their spirit. The Greek orators affected a high and florid language, full of tropes and figures, which dazzled more than it enlightened. The rabbins affected obscurity, and were studious to find out cabalistical meanings, which had no tendency to make the people wise unto salvation. The apostles could not follow any of these; they spoke the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:14

But the natural man - Ψυχικος , The animal man - the man who is in a mere state of nature, and lives under the influence of his animal passions; for the word ψυχη , which we often translate soul, means the lower and sensitive part of man, in opposition to νους , the understanding or rational part. The Latins use anima to signify these lower passions; and animus to signify the higher. The person in question is not only one who either has had no spiritual teaching, or has not... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:15

But he that is spiritual judgeth all things - He who has the mind of Christ discerns and judges of all things spiritual: yet he himself is not discerned by the mere animal man. Some suppose that the word ανακρινεται should be understood thus: He examines, scrutinizes, convinces, reproves, which it appears to mean in 1 Corinthians 14:24 ; and they read the verse thus: The spiritual man - the well-taught Christian, convinces, i.e. can easily convict, all men, ( παντα , accusing), every... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:16

For who hath known the mind of the Lord - Who that is still an animal man can know the mind of God? so as to instruct him, viz. the spiritual man, the same that is spoken of, 1 Corinthians 2:15 . But the words may be better understood thus: How can the animal man know the mind of the Lord? and how can any man communicate that knowledge which he has never acquired, and which is foolishness to him, because it is spiritual, and he is animal? This quotation is made from Isaiah 40:13 . But... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:10

Verse 10 10.But God hath revealed them to us. Having shut up all mankind in blindness, and having taken away from the human intellect the power of attaining to a knowledge of God by its own resources, he now shows in what way believers are exempted from this blindness, — by the Lord’s honoring them with a special illumination of the Spirit. Hence the greater the bluntness of the human intellect for understanding the mysteries of God, and the greater the uncertainty under which it labors, so... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:11

Verse 11 11.For what man knoweth? Two different things he intends to teach here: first, that the doctrine of the Gospel cannot be understood otherwise than by the testimony of the Holy Spirit; and secondly, that those who have a testimony of this nature from the Holy Spirit, have an assurance as firm and solid, as if they felt with their hands what they believe, for the Spirit is a faithful and indubitable witness. This he proves by a similitude drawn from our own spirit: for every one is... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:12

Verse 12 12.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world He heightens by contrast the certainty of which he had made mention. “The Spirit of revelation,” says he, “which we have received, is not of the world, so as to be merely creeping upon the ground, so as to be subject to vanity, or be in suspense, or vary or fluctuate, or hold us in doubt and perplexity. On the contrary, it is from God, and hence it is above all heavens, of solid and unvarying truth, and placed above all risk of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - 1 Corinthians 2:13

Verse 13 13.Which things also we speak, not in the learned words, etc. He speaks of himself, for he is still employed in commending his ministry. Now it is a high commendation that he pronounces upon his preaching, when he says of it that it contains a secret revelation of the most important matters — the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the sum of our salvation, and the inestimable treasures of Christ, that the Corinthians may know how highly it ought to be prized. In the meantime he returns to... read more

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