King James Version
1 Corinthians 2
16 verses with commentary
Proclaiming Christ Crucified
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.</strong> Paul explicitly rejects <em>hyperochē logou</em> (ὑπεροχῇ λόγου, "superiority of speech")—the rhetorical flourishes prized in Greco-Roman oratory. Corinth was steeped in sophistic culture where traveling philosophers competed for followers through eloquenc...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
II.
(1) **And I.**—The Apostle now proceeds to show how he personally, in both the matter and manner of his teaching at Corinth, had acted in accordance with those great principles which he has already explained as God’s method. “The testimony of God” is St. Paul’s testimony concerning God in Christ (1Corinthians 1:6; 2Timothy 1:8).
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**13. given to hospitality--**that is, the entertainment of strangers. In times of persecution, and before the general institution of houses of entertainment, the importance of this precept would be at once felt. In the East, where such houses are still rare, this duty is regarded as of the most sacred character [Hodge].
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The plain manner in which the apostle preached Christ crucified.(1-5)
The wisdom contained in this doctrine.(6-9)
It cannot be duly known but by the Holy Spirit.(10-16)
**Verses 1-5**
Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not ...
Read full commentary →For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.</strong> The verb <em>krinō</em> (κρίνω, "I determined/judged") indicates deliberate, settled resolve—not personality preference. Paul's singular focus on <strong>Jesus Christ, and him crucified</strong> (<em>Iēsoun Christon kai touton estaurōmenon</em>, Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν καὶ τοῦτον ἐσταυρωμένον) was theol...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(2) **I determined not to know.**—Better, *I did not determine to know.* The only subject of teaching concerning which the Apostle had formed a determined resolve in his mind when coming to Corinth was the preaching Christ and Him as being crucified. We have here a statement of what was ever the subject-matter of apostolic teaching. St. Paul did not dwell on the miraculous in the life of Christ, w...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**14. Bless--**that is, Call down by prayer a blessing on.
**them which persecute you, &c.--**This is taken from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 5:44), which, from the allusions made to it, seems to have been the storehouse of Christian morality among the churches.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The plain manner in which the apostle preached Christ crucified.(1-5)
The wisdom contained in this doctrine.(6-9)
It cannot be duly known but by the Holy Spirit.(10-16)
**Verses 1-5**
Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not ...
Read full commentary →And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.</strong> Paul confesses three states: <em>astheneia</em> (ἀσθένεια, "weakness")—possibly physical infirmity or deliberate restraint from rhetorical power; <em>phobos</em> (φόβος, "fear")—not cowardice but sober awareness of gospel stakes; and <em>tromos</em> (τρόμος, "trembling")—visceral anxiety about faithful witness. Th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(3) **And I was with you.**—To show that the real force of his teaching lay in its subject-matter, and not in any power with which he may have proclaimed the gospel, the Apostle now dwells upon his own physical weakness. The “weakness and fear and trembling” of which St. Paul speaks here had in it probably a large element of that self-distrust which so noble and sensitive a nature would feel in th...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**15. Rejoice with them that rejoice; and weep--**the "and" should probably be omitted.
**with them that weep--**What a beautiful spirit of sympathy with the joys and sorrows of others is here inculcated! But it is only one charming phase of the unselfish character which belongs to all living Christianity. What a world will ours be when this shall become its reigning spirit! Of the two, however,...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The plain manner in which the apostle preached Christ crucified.(1-5)
The wisdom contained in this doctrine.(6-9)
It cannot be duly known but by the Holy Spirit.(10-16)
**Verses 1-5**
Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not ...
Read full commentary →And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: enticing: or, persuasible
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.</strong> Paul contrasts <em>peithois sophias logois</em> (πειθοῖς σοφίας λόγοις, "persuasive words of wisdom")—the studied rhetorical techniques of Sophists—with <em>apodeixei pneumatos kai dynameōs</em> (ἀποδείξει πνεύματος καὶ δυνάμεως, "demonstration of Spirit and...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(4) **And my speech.**—The result which necessarily followed from this weakness and trembling was that neither his “speech” (*i.e.,* the style of his teaching), nor his “preaching” (*i.e.,* the subject-matter of his teaching) were of such a kind as to appeal to the natural tastes of the Corinthians.
**Demonstration of the Spirit.**—The Apostle’s demonstration of the truth of the gospel was the res...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**16. Be--**"Being"
**of the same mind one toward another--**The feeling of the common bond which binds all Christians to each other, whatever diversity of station, cultivation, temperament, or gifts may obtain among them, is the thing here enjoined. This is next taken up in detail.
**Mind not--**"not minding"
**high things--**that is, Cherish not ambitious or aspiring purposes and desires. ...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The plain manner in which the apostle preached Christ crucified.(1-5)
The wisdom contained in this doctrine.(6-9)
It cannot be duly known but by the Holy Spirit.(10-16)
**Verses 1-5**
Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not ...
Read full commentary →That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. stand: Gr. be
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.</strong> Paul reveals his methodological purpose: <em>pistis</em> (πίστις, "faith") must rest (<em>ē</em>, ᾖ, "might be/stand") on divine rather than human foundation. The term <em>sophia anthrōpōn</em> (σοφία ἀνθρώπων, "wisdom of men") encompasses all human intellectual systems, philosophical traditions, and r...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**17. Recompense--**"Recompensing," &c.--(See on Ro 12:14).
**Provide--**"Providing"
**things honest--**"honorable"
**in the sight of all men--**The idea (which is from Pr 3:4) is the care which Christians should take so to demean themselves as to command the respect of all men.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Chapter 2
Chapter Outline
The plain manner in which the apostle preached Christ crucified.(1-5)
The wisdom contained in this doctrine.(6-9)
It cannot be duly known but by the Holy Spirit.(10-16)
**Verses 1-5**
Christ, in his person, and offices, and sufferings, is the sum and substance of the gospel, and ought to be the great subject of a gospel minister's preaching, but not ...
Read full commentary →The Wisdom of the Spirit
Howbeit 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:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Howbeit 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.</strong> Paul paradoxically affirms Christian wisdom after denouncing worldly wisdom. He speaks <em>sophia</em> (σοφία, "wisdom") to the <em>teleioi</em> (τέλειοι, "mature/perfect")—not esoteric knowledge for spiritual elites, but gospel truth for th...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(6) **Howbeit we speak wisdom.**—Nevertheless, there is a wisdom in the gospel. The assertion is in the Greek a more striking contrast to 1Corinthians 2:4 than appears in the English. In the original (1Corinthians 2:4) the word is “wisdom,” and not “*man’s* wisdom,” as in the English. Thus the statement here is a verbal contradiction of that in 1Corinthians 2:4. In using the plural “we,” St. Paul ...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**18. If it be possible--**that is, If others will let you.
**as much as lieth in you--**or, "dependeth on you."
**live peaceably--**or, "be at peace."
**with all men--**The impossibility of this in some cases is hinted at, to keep up the hearts of those who, having done their best unsuccessfully to live in peace, might be tempted to think the failure was necessarily owing to themselves. But...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Those who receive the doctrine of Christ as Divine, and, having been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, have looked well into it, see not only the plain history of Christ, and him crucified, but the deep and admirable designs of Divine wisdom therein. It is the mystery made manifest to the saints, Col 1:26, though formerly hid from the heathen world; it was only shown in dark types...
Read full commentary →But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory.</strong> Christian wisdom is <em>sophia theou en mystēriō</em> (σοφία θεοῦ ἐν μυστηρίῳ, "wisdom of God in mystery")—not secretive, but previously concealed and now revealed. The term <em>mystērion</em> (μυστήριον) in Paul always means divine secrets disclosed through apo...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(7) **In a mystery.**—The writer explains in these words the plan on which his speaking of God’s wisdom proceeded, that he dealt with it as the ancient mysteries were dealt with, explaining certain truths only to the initiated, and not to all (1Corinthians 4:1; Colossians 1:26).
**Hidden.**—Heretofore unrevealed, but now made manifest in Christ and by His teachers (Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:10). A...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. avenge not, &c.--**(See on Ro 12:14).
**but rather give place unto wrath--**This is usually taken to mean, "but give room or space for wrath to spend itself." But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, "wrath" here seems to mean, not the offense, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2Ch 24:18), which we are enjoined to aw...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Those who receive the doctrine of Christ as Divine, and, having been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, have looked well into it, see not only the plain history of Christ, and him crucified, but the deep and admirable designs of Divine wisdom therein. It is the mystery made manifest to the saints, Col 1:26, though formerly hid from the heathen world; it was only shown in dark types...
Read full commentary →Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.</strong> The ignorance of <em>archontes tou aiōnos toutou</em> (ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου, "rulers of this age") was culpable, not excusable—they rejected available evidence (Luke 23:34; Acts 3:17). Yet their ignorance served God's purpose: <strong>had they known it, they ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(8) **They would not have crucified.**—The conduct of the princes and rulers of this world, alike Jewish and Gentile, illustrates and proves the previous assertion (John 8:19; John 19:9).
**Lord of glory.**—In striking contrast to the ignominy of the crucifixion.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. avenge not, &c.--**(See on Ro 12:14).
**but rather give place unto wrath--**This is usually taken to mean, "but give room or space for wrath to spend itself." But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, "wrath" here seems to mean, not the offense, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2Ch 24:18), which we are enjoined to aw...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Those who receive the doctrine of Christ as Divine, and, having been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, have looked well into it, see not only the plain history of Christ, and him crucified, but the deep and admirable designs of Divine wisdom therein. It is the mystery made manifest to the saints, Col 1:26, though formerly hid from the heathen world; it was only shown in dark types...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> Paul loosely quotes Isaiah 64:4, applying it to present revelation rather than solely future hope. The comprehensive negation—<em>ophthalmos ouk eiden</em> (ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν, "eye has not seen"), <em>ous ouk ēkousen</em> (...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(9) **As it is written.**—Where do the words which follow occur? They are not to be found as here given anywhere in the Old Testament. It has therefore been suggested (Origen) that they are from some apocryphal book, or some book which has been lost, as is supposed many have been. Chrysostom also suggests that it may be a reference, not to a writing, but to historical facts, as in Matthew 2:23. No...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**19-21. avenge not, &c.--**(See on Ro 12:14).
**but rather give place unto wrath--**This is usually taken to mean, "but give room or space for wrath to spend itself." But as the context shows that the injunction is to leave vengeance to God, "wrath" here seems to mean, not the offense, which we are tempted to avenge, but the avenging wrath of God (see 2Ch 24:18), which we are enjoined to aw...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 6-9**
Those who receive the doctrine of Christ as Divine, and, having been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, have looked well into it, see not only the plain history of Christ, and him crucified, but the deep and admirable designs of Divine wisdom therein. It is the mystery made manifest to the saints, Col 1:26, though formerly hid from the heathen world; it was only shown in dark types...
Read full commentary →But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.</strong> The adversative <em>de</em> (δέ, "but") pivots from human incapacity (v. 9) to divine disclosure. <em>Apekalypsen</em> (ἀπεκάλυψεν, "revealed") is aorist—definite historical action, likely referring to apostolic revelation recorded in Scripture. <em>Dia tou pneumatos...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(10) **But God hath revealed them unto us.**—Here the emphatic word is “us.” The latter part of 1Corinthians 2:8-9 are parenthetical, and the sense goes back to the beginning of 1Corinthians 2:8. “None of the princes of this age know these things, but God hath revealed them unto *us* His apostles and teachers” (Matthew 13:11; Matthew 16:17; 2Corinthians 12:1). This revelation of spiritual truth is...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> Paul employs an argument from analogy: human self-knowledge parallels divine self-knowledge. <em>Tis oiden</em> (τίς οἶδεν, "who knows") emphasizes exclusive knowledge. <em>To pneuma tou anthrōpou to en autō</em> (τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(11) **What man . . .**—Better, *Who of men knoweth the things of a man? but the spirit of the man which is in him knoweth them.*
**The things of God knoweth no man.**—These words cannot be taken as an assertion that man cannot have any knowledge of the things of God; but the Apostle urges that man, as man, cannot know the things of God, but that his knowledge of these things is in virtue of his h...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 13 Ro 13:1-14. Same Subject Continued--Political and Social Relations--Motives.
**1-2. Let every soul--**every man of you
**be subject unto the higher powers--**or, "submit himself to the authorities that are above him."
**For there is no power--**"no authority"
**but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God--**"have been ordained of God."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> Believers (<em>hēmeis</em>, ἡμεῖς, "we") have received (<em>elabomen</em>, ἐλάβομεν, aorist—definite reception) <em>to pneuma to ek tou theou</em> (τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ, "the Spirit from God"), not <em>to pneuma tou kosmou</em> (τ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(12) **We.**—This must not be confined to the Apostles exclusively. Though referring primarily to them, it includes all the members of the Christian Church as one with its teachers and rulers. The “things freely given us of God” mean all spiritual things.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 13 Ro 13:1-14. Same Subject Continued--Political and Social Relations--Motives.
**1-2. Let every soul--**every man of you
**be subject unto the higher powers--**or, "submit himself to the authorities that are above him."
**For there is no power--**"no authority"
**but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God--**"have been ordained of God."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> Paul describes apostolic communication method: <em>lalōmen</em> (λαλοῦμεν, "we speak") indicates ongoing proclamation. The negative contrast—<strong>not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth</strong> (<em>ouk en didaktois anthrō...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(13) **Not in the words.**—Not only the gospel truths themselves, but the very form and manner in which those truths are taught is the result of spiritual insight.
**Comparing spiritual things with spiritual.**—Better, *explaining spiritual things in spiritual language;* really only another more pointed form of stating what he has just said. The word translated here “comparing” in our Authorised v...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-4. For rulers are not a terror to good works--**"to the good work," as the true reading appears to be
but to the evil.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →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.
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>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.</strong> The <em>psychikos anthrōpos</em> (ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος, "natural/soulish man")—unregenerate humanity operating on purely natural faculties—<em>ou dechetai</em> (οὐ δέχεται, "does not receive/welcome") Spirit-truth. This...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(14) **But the natural man.**—To understand this and other passages in which St. Paul speaks of “natural” and “spiritual” men, it is important to recollect that our ordinary manner of speaking of man as consisting of “soul and body”—unless “soul” be taken in an un-technical sense to denote the whole immaterial portion—is altogether inaccurate. True psychology regards man as a trinity of natures. (...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**3-4. For rulers are not a terror to good works--**"to the good work," as the true reading appears to be
but to the evil.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. judgeth: or, discerneth judged: or, discerned
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.</strong> The <em>pneumatikos</em> (πνευματικός, "spiritual person")—Spirit-indwelt believer—<em>anakrinei panta</em> (ἀνακρίνει πάντα, "examines/judges all things"). <em>Anakrinō</em> (ἀνακρίνω) means "investigate, discern, assess"—the same term used of legal examination (Acts 4:9, 12:19). Spirit-illumination ...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(15) **He that is spiritual.**—The spiritual man judges all spiritual truth, but he himself is judged by none who are not spiritual. (See 1Corinthians 14:29; 1John 4:1.)
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath--**for fear of the magistrate's vengeance.
**but also for conscience' sake--**from reverence for God's authority. It is of Magistracy in general, considered as a divine ordinance, that this is spoken: and the statement applies equally to all forms of government, from an unchecked despotism--such as flourished when this was written, unde...
Read full commentary →Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. may: Gr. shall
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KJV Study Commentary
<strong>For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.</strong> Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 rhetorically: <em>tis egnō noun kyriou</em> (τίς ἔγνω νοῦν κυρίου, "who has known the mind of the Lord"). Expected answer: no one. The question emphasizes divine incomprehensibility and human incapacity to advise God—highlighting the absurdity of critiquing d...
Read full commentary →Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
(16) **For.**—This is the proof that the enlightened spiritual man cannot be judged by any one who is not thus enlightened. “Who (thus uninstructed) can know the mind of the Lord Jesus, that he may instruct Him?”
**But we.**—That is, spiritual men, including the Apostles. The Apostle here identifies Christ with the Spirit, whom he has previously spoken of as the Teacher of spiritual things. He doe...
Read full commentary →Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
**6-7. For, for this cause pay ye--**rather, "ye pay"
**tribute also--**that is, "This is the reason why ye pay the contributions requisite for maintaining the civil government."
**for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing--**"to this very thing."
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
**Verses 10-16**
God has revealed true wisdom to us by his Spirit. Here is a proof of the Divine authority of the Holy Scriptures, 2Pe 1:21. In proof of the Divinity of the Holy Ghost, observe, that he knows all things, and he searches all things, even the deep things of God. No one can know the things of God, but his Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father and the Son, and who makes known Div...
Read full commentary →