Holy spirit taught words

HOLY SPIRIT TAUGHT WORDS
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 Corinthians2:13 13This is what we speak, not in
words taught us by human wisdom but in words
taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritualrealitieswith
Spirit-taughtwords.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
SpeechIn The PowerOf The Spirit
1 Corinthians 2:12-14
R. Tuck
The personalreferences in St. Paul's Epistles are suitable to the epistolary
style of correspondence,and necessaryas the vindication of a man who was
seriouslyattackedand slandered. Generally his allusions arc more or less
directed to his claim as an apostle. Becausethis did not take preciselythe
same grounds as the claims of the earlier apostles, it was easyfor his enemies
to question and even deny his rights. St. Paul's chief argument is that the
"signs of an apostle were wrought by him," and here, in our text, he urges
that his teaching was manifestly inspired and sealedby the Holy Spirit, and
that his apostolic claim was fully recognizedby all "spiritual men." Wickliffe

skilfully renders the last clause of ver. 13, "Makena liknesse ofspyritual
things to goostlimen."
I. THE DIVINE PREPARATION FOR APOSTOLIC TEACHING.
1. The apostle must have receivedthe Spirit of God. Personalexperience of
regeneration, and personalopenness to the Divine incoming, are absolute
essentials to all Christian service as teachers, in older days and now, in the
lesserspheres as wellas the greater. Judas can teachnobody; only as
"converted" canSt. Peter"strengthenthe brethren" or "feedthe lambs."
2. He must know the things of God through the Spirit's teaching. Here the
adequacyof the Spirit to be the renewedman's Teachermay be shown.
(1) He knows God.
(2) He knows man.
(3) He has accessto man's mind and heart, and an adaptationto each
individual canbe assured.
The operations of the Divine Spirit as the renewedman's Teacheralso require
consideration. Generallyit may be said that he unfolds the redemption
mystery in its practicaldetails and applications. Our Lord's division of his
work is that he teaches
(1) of sin;
(2) of righteousness;
(3) of judgment.
The true preparation for teaching is an inner spiritual life, a Divine indwelling
and endowment, and these finding expressionthrough the natural powers and
relations. There is a full sense in which the true Christian teacherhas still an
inspired and sanctifiedspeech, and therefore all the authority which the
Divine Spirit can give.
II. THE MINISTRYOF APOSTLESHIP IN HUMAN LANGUAGE. "Which
things we speak." Speechis almost our best force for the communication of

truth and for the impression of duty. It works by persuasion, not force. It has
no physical, but wholly moral power. Yet history declares, in repeated
instances, how human words can swayemotion and arouse to action; e.g. the
Crusades. But man's words may be mere words, incapable of producing more
than limited effects upon passion, sentiment, etc. They may have a Divine life
in them, and so be mighty to break stubborn hearts, bow the wickedto
penitence, draw men to God, and change the whole characterof the life.
Words which the Holy Ghostteachethare mighty to pull down strongholds.
By the "foolishness ofpreaching" men are savedand blessed. But the sphere
of apostolic speechis clearly defined. Such a teacherspeaks spiritual things;
and it is indicated that he will speak in vain, save as men are receptive,
spiritually toned, having the spiritual sensibility quickened. The merely
natural man cannotreceive God inspired teachings. So there is at once a
preparation of the teacher, and a preparation of those to whom his words are
addressed. The practicalduty of culturing Christian life and feeling, in order
to gain the best blessing from our pastors and teachers, maybe made the
subject of an earnestand effective conclusion. - R.T.

Biblical Illustrator
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth.
1 Corinthians 2:13-14
The true evangelicalpreacherspeaks
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1. He has receivedthe Spirit.
2. Is instructed by the Spirit.
3. Speaks withthe demonstration of the Spirit.
II. AFTER CAREFUL STUDY OF GOD'S WORD. Comparing, selecting,
with much humility and prayer.
III. HE CANNOT, THEREFORE, ACCOMMODATEHIMSELF TO THE
WISDOM OF THIS WORLD —
1. Either by modifying his doctrine to please worldly men —
2. Or adopting a worldly method of address.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
The illumination of the Holy Spirit
L. O. Thompson.
To teach, to enlighten, and to illuminate, have equivalent meanings.
I. ITS NEED. The natural condition of the mind is spiritual darkness:hence
illumination is necessaryto the apprehensionof spiritual things (Luke 11:36;
1 Corinthians 2:9-14; Ephesians 1:18).
II. ITS AUTHOR. It is ascribedto eachpersonof the Trinity.

1. God (2 Corinthians 4:6).
2. The Son (John 1:9; 1 Corinthians 4:5).
3. The Holy Spirit (John 14:26).
III. ITS INSTRUMENT.The revealedWord of God (Psalm 119:105).
IV. ITS AGENCY. The ministry of reconciliation. Preaching may awake men
to their need of spiritual illumination (Ephesians 3:9).
V. HOW OBTAINED.
1. By the carefulreading of the Word.
2. By prayer (Psalm119:18).
(L. O. Thompson.)
The dispensationof spiritual truth
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. HOW SPIRITUAL THINGS ARE TO BE DISPENSED.
1. Notaccording to human rules.
2. But under the teaching of the Spirit.
3. In conformity with the Word of God.
II. BY WHOM THEY ARE TO BE DISPENSED.
1. Notby unconverted men, for they cannot understand them.
2. But by those who are spiritual, who are indifferent to the judgment of man,
and have the mind of Christ.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)

Comparing spiritual things with spiritual
Principal Edwards.
Various meanings have been attached to this expression.
I. ADAPTING SPIRITUAL WORDS TO SPIRITUAL THINGS, and not
language incongruous, as we should be doing if we spoke the things of God in
words taught by human wisdom. But the apostle has already said this in
effect, and according to this view there is a play on the word "spiritual" which
is not in his manner; for "spiritual words" canonly mean words taught by the
Spirit (Ephesians 5:19), but "spiritual things" must mean things that reveal
God.
II. ADAPTING SPIRITUAL THINGS TO SPIRITUAL MEN. But this is the
direct opposite of what Paul declares, thatspiritual men understand spiritual
things, so that no adaptationof them to their capacityis needed.
III. INTERPRETINGSPIRITUALTHINGS TO SPIRITUAL MEN. But it is
only in reference to dreams and visions that the word συγκρίνω means "to
interpret," and that with few exceptions in the LXX. In no passage are the
things of God representedas dreams to be interpreted, or allegories ofwhich
the apostles have the key.
IV. INTERPRETINGSPIRITUALTHINGS BY SPIRITUAL WORDS is
open to the same objection.
V. PROVING THE TRUTH OF SPIRITUAL THINGS (whether Old
Testamenttypes or the teaching of the Spirit) BY THE DEMONSTRATION
OF THE SPIRIT. But the word does not elsewhere signify"to prove."
VI. COMPARING SPIRITUALTHINGS WITH SPIRITUAL is satisfactory.
Christianity is a Divine wisdom. But this means from the side of teacherand
of learner that revealedtruths are combined so as to form a consistentand
well-proportioned systemof truth in their correlation. The higher Christian
training resembles Plato's criterionof dialecticalpower, the faculty to see the
relation of the sciencesto one anotherand to true being.
(Principal Edwards.)

The Spirit's work
A. Whyte, D. D.
The Holy Spirit is the source and standard of all spiritual things. Wherever
found, in heaven or in earth, in time or eternity, they all come first from the
Spirit of Life. In the New Testamentsense, spiritual things are just the things
of God; does that convey any thought to you? These are altogetherdifferent
things from those we have been born into, live in, and take to so naturally.
This is our misery, that we are antagonistic to the things of the spiritual
world. No one had so much of God's Spirit as our Lord; and there is nothing
so suited to receive the Spirit as the soul of man. No spirit was more receptive
than Christ's. His heart was full of the Holy Ghost;and His words and works
were less from Him than from the Spirit. The next best example of the Holy
Ghost's workmanship is the Bible. All parts are not equally full of Him; Job is
not so full as John, nor Ruth as Romans;but he who is most spiritual will
dwell most in those parts which reveal most of the mind of the Spirit of God.
The Old Testamentis penetrated with the Spirit even in its most secularand
legalparts; and the spiritual mind can find spiritual meaning even in its laws,
ordinances and ceremonies.But as Christ was mostspirit-filled, so the New
Testamentis richer, and those hooks are most to be prized which hold most to
New Testamentdoctrines. A preachershould be much in the New Testament,
and if he is led into the Old he should always take the New back with him. His
people have not a thousand years to spend in discovering its meaning, and it is
not fair to keepthem always in the elements, to the retarding of spiritual
growth. Could you tell why you are a member of your Church, or are you
ashamedto tell the reason? Didspiritual reasons take you there, and are
spiritual results coming from the change? There is nothing we do on earth so
spiritual and which demands so much spirituality as prayer.
(A. Whyte, D. D.)

But the natural man receivethnot the things of the Spirit of God,... because
they are spiritually discerned.
St. Paul's trichotomy
Canon Evans.
This may be roughly compared to a cathedral: the body corresponds to the
nave, the spirit to the chancel, the soul, which divides and unites the body and
the spirit, to the transept, which divides and unites the nave and the chancel.
The cathedralis one consecratedbuilding with three main compartments, and
man is one personin three natures, all consecratedin baptism to the Triune
God. Furthermore, the human spirit is the highest and noblest of the three
natures, and akin to the Divine, and therefore that which is immediately
controlled by the Holy Spirit, who through it acts upon the soul, and through
the soulupon the body. In like manner the chancelis the highest and holiest
compartment of the cathedral, in which also is the altar or table of the Divine
Presence.This illustration must not be pressed, but it may serve to smooth the
way for some apprehension of the difficult question of man's trichotomy. A
psychicalman, the mere soul-man — animalis (Vulgate) from anima, not
animosus "full of spirit from animus — is one in whom the psyche, or lower
principle of life dominates. He moves not in the sphere of Divine light and
truth, but in the world of sense. If he is intellectual, he delights in a mental
activity purely human, and exertedon objects merely mundane, and is
attractedby worldly philosophies that fail utterly to lead the mind up to the
high truth of God. The mental side of the psychic man comes to view in this
text; the intellectualrather than the ethical, not to the exclusionhoweverof
the latter, for betweenthe moral and the mental there is a mutual relation and
interaction. In this homo animalis the higher principle of life, the human spirit
illuminated and quickenedintellectually and morally, does not dominate, has
no activity, is dormant. He is one, as St. Jude says, "not having [in his own
consciousness]spirit." Such a one does not receive, indeed cannot admit into
— that which he has not — a prepared spirit anything that is of the Spirit of
God. He is psychic, not pneumatic: how can he entertain truths that are
purely pneumatic? They are an absurdity to him. His habits of mind, modes
and centres of thought, aims in life, lust of fame, pride of intellect, are all soul-

like and sensuous, allof the cosmos andto the cosmos. Thus he is simply
incompetent to apprehend what is extra mundane and supernal; indeed, he is
not in a position to do so, for there must always be a correlationand mutual
congruity betweenthat which perceives and that which is perceived.
Wherefore spiritual truths are "foolishnessunto him," because they are
spiritually estimated, i.e., are tested and sifted by a process spiritual in the
court of the human spirit, enlightened by the Divine, and there subjectedto an
anacrisis, orpreliminary scrutiny ere they are admitted.
(Canon Evans.)
The natural man
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. HIS CHARACTER DESCRIBED. Assumes three phases:
1. The prejudiced, who oppose the truth.
2. The indifferent, who do not trouble about it.
3. The unenlightened, who cannotunderstand it.
II. HIS SAD CONDITION.Naturally without —
1. Knowledge.
2. Concern.
3. Hope.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
The natural man
J. Burton.
I. HERE ARE TWO OBJECTS SET BEFOREUS.

1. The natural man in contrast with the spiritual man. Note Paul's
classification.(1)The carnalman "lives after the flesh." His whole nature is
the servantof sin.(2) In the natural man the ethicalelement may be
predominant. He may be a man of culture, sympathy, and a believer in the
objective facts and formal sanctities ofreligion; and yet so long as he is only
all that, he "cannotdiscern the things of the spirit."(3) The spiritual man is
such by virtue of a new creation. He has "put off the old man and his deeds."
2. "The things of the spirit."(1) They are spiritual things. Religion deals with
supernatural objects — God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, &c. These are spiritually
discerned. There are windows in the soul of the spiritual man through which
he looks into the mystery of invisible worlds. "The Spirit searched," &c. "God
hath revealedthem unto us by His Spirit."(2) They are revealed to faith. They
occupy a sphere and deal with realities which "eye hath not seen," &c. They
are emphasisedas "the things of God," they are the product and expressionof
His thought. We have no faculties by which to apprehend a Being whose
attributes are infinity and eternity. But what cannot be discernedmay be
revealed. That is what has takenplace, and the verifying power of this
revelation is a spiritual discernment, a faculty of faith, inwrought by the Spirit
in the soul; and "the eyes of the understanding being enlightened," we "know
what is," &c.(3)They become real in the consciousness ofthe believing man,
who is translated into a new order of being, is born again. God and the soul
touch.
II. SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE APOSTLE'S TEACHING.
1. There is a class ofoutward things which we can only know by the senses.
There is no rainbow to the blind man, no music to the deaf. So it is with the
things of the spirit.
2. The senses bring in their report of things, but they know nothing of the
science orphilosophy of things. This is the work of trained intellect.(1)To the
ordinary man nature looks like a jumble of accidents;to the scientific there is
a place for everything and everything is in its place, from the atom to the sun.
To ninety men out of a hundred the pebble, or bit of coalor chalk, is merely a
thing for use; to the trained eye it is a revelationof cycles ofduration, in

which now vanished dynasties of animated beings sported. Nature is a book of
hieroglyphics which only science caninterpret — it is scientifically
discerned.(2)Look at the Bible, at the seeminglydiscordant but really
concatenateddepartments of revealedtruth. But the Bible as a harmonious
whole only yields itself up to the discipline and culture of the student.
3. Another class ofrealities we can know only as they come through
experience. They are, in the strictestsense, "spiritualthings(ver. 11).(1)The
things of a man — his joys, hopes, fears, griefs, &c. — what man can know
these, save the spirit of a man that is in him? Language is a systemof signs for
the expressionof"unknown things"; but there are things of which it can be
neither the sign nor the expressionThoughts lie deeperthan speech, feelings
than thoughts: consciousnessthe deepestof all, is the only witness of what
passes in the mysterious world of mind. Sin, remorse, &c., have no sign and
can never be interpreted but by the reality which calls them forth.(2) So the
things of God canbe knownonly by the consciousnesscreatedby the Spirit of
God. Coleridge speaksofa philosophicalconsciousnesslying behind the
ordinary consciousnessbefore he canbe a philosopher. To know what the
reality of life is, we must live, not dissectit. To feel the bitterness of sin we
must repent, not speculate about it. To taste the sweetnessand powerof
Christ's forgiveness we must believe in Christ, not just catalogue orcanonise
His virtues. These things belong to the "new name written, which no man
knoweth," &c.(3)Hence the reasonwhy so many unspiritual though gifted
minds miss the entrance to the kingdom of God. They are "natural men" and
"cannotdiscern," &c. They are as blind men groping in the dark. Let us be
consistent. I, as a non-scientific Christian, am warned off the ground of
scientific induction as a territory on which I have no factor of investigation.
My religion is not the organof physical discovery. Very well: the scientistis
warned off the ground of spiritual consciousnessas a territory on which he is
equally at fault. Conclusion:Note —
1. The limit which these considerations setto the possibilities of mental
culture, and the rebuke which they administer to the audacity and irreverence
of the unsanctified intellect.
2. The need of regeneration.

3. "If any man will do God's will he shall know of the doctrine.(J. Burton.)
The natural man
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. HIS CHARACTER.
1. Earthly.
2. Sensual.
3. Devilish.
II. HIS SPIRITUAL OBLIQUITY.
1. Moral. "He receivethnot."
2. Intellectual. "He cannot know."
III. HIS HOPELESS CONDITIONWITHOUT DIVINE HELP. The things of
God —
1. Are foolishness to him.
2. Must be spiritually discerned.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
A natural man's ignorance of spiritual things
Wm. Jones.
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE UNRENEWED MAN.
1. He follows the dictates of his own appetites.
2. He is under the control of his passions.

3. Being chiefly occupiedabout the perishing things of this world, he is dead to
a future state.
4. Though man too much resembles the animal in many things, yet in this he
differs widely from every other creature — he will be responsible for his
conduct at the judgment-seat of Christ. Whateverbe the sinner's moral
inability, his natural powers qualify him to serve God; and it is sin only that
prevents him from using those natural powers in a manner in which he would
please God. While the natural powers remain, though the inclination be
absent, his accountability is continued. "We say, God actually treats the want
of disposition, not as an excuse, but as a sin; and we take it for granted that
what God does is right, whether we can comprehend it or not. Howbeit, in this
case, it happens that with the testimonies of God accordthose of conscience
and common sense. Everyman's conscience 'finds fault' with him for the evils
which he commits willingly, or of choice;and, instead of making any
allowance forany previous aversion, nothing more is necessaryto rivet the
charge. And with respectto the common sense ofmankind in their treatment
of one another, what judge, or what jury, evertook into considerationthe
previous aversionof a traitor or a murderer, with a view to the diminishing of
his guilt?"
II. THE DISPOSITIONS OF THE SINNER'S MIND TOWARDS GOD. He
does not receive the things of the Spirit.
1. What the Spirit reveals. These things are found in the Holy Scriptures,
which are the "lively oracles ofGod." If the Spirit had made known a plan of
salvationwhich had flattered the pride of the human heart, his testimony
would have been cheerfully received.
2. What the Spirit imparts. Man, as a fallen creature, requires something done
in him as well as for him. How much soevermen may boastof their reason,
their intellect, and their discernment, they must be Divinely illuminated
before they can rightly understand the things which the Spirit either reveals
or imparts. The natural man does not believe this. If you were to examine the
opinions of a very large majority of those who are called Christians, they are
either careless aboutthe renovation of their own hearts, or they reject the

doctrine altogetheras a useless, unmeaning dogma. They fancy themselves
virtuous and good, and that they are capable of making some amends for their
disobedience of the law of God; they think that they will at some future time
do some goodthing that they may inherit eternal life, though their conscience
often reproves them, after their best efforts, till they are ready to believe
themselves but unprofitable servants.
3. What the Spirit requires. He requires of all men "to turn from darkness to
light, from the power of sin and Satan unto God." The animal man may love
his sin and persistin committing it, but this he cannot do with impunity, for
God will bring him into judgment! There is a method by which that sin canbe
forgiven, its dominion destroyed, and its love eradicatedfrom the soul; and
that is by the atonement of Christ. If he refuse this means of repentance and
sanctificationhe must die in his sins; there remains no other sacrifice for sins.
The Spirit requires that men should receive Christ. All the information which
He imparts to the mind concerning the purity, spirituality, and extent of the
holy law of God; every conceptionwhich He enables the mind to form of the
holiness of God, exhibited in that law; and all the humbling convictions which
He produces upon the soulin a state of penitence, are intended by the Holy
Spirit to prepare the sinner for the receptionof Christ as a suitable and all-
sufficient Saviour. The natural man does not receive these "things of the
Spirit of God." He does not believe them. He calls them the words of God; but
it is the language ofthe lip, not of the heart.
III. THE REASON WHICH THE APOSTLE ASSIGNS. "Theyare
foolishness unto him." What dreadful havoc sin has made of the human soul l
What haughty conduct towards God! How proud, how ignorant, and how
unfeeling is the heart of man! This revelationwas given to him for his
instruction, to correcthis errors and to remove his ignorance. After the
divinity of this revelationhad been fully and rationally ascertained, it was the
duty of this rational being to submit to its teaching and decisions, without
hesitation, thankful that God would condescendto instruct the undeserving
and the sinner. The Spirit has revealedthe infinite perfections of the Deity, so
far as that revelationwas connectedwith man's duty and happiness, in a
manner likely to excite him to fear, venerate, love, and worship Him as the
ever-blessedGod. What the Spirit has revealedmust limit his inquiries and

check his presumption. Let him regard what the Spirit of the Lord declares in
His Word, and seek an experimental knowledge ofthose "heavenly blessings"
which are provided in the new covenantfor the penitent and believing. He
does not understand them because they are "spiritually discerned." But the
Spirit can and will restore the spiritual faculty if he will ask Him. Let him not
call them "foolishness";for the preparation of them was the highest
manifestation of the wisdom and love of God. His not perceiving them is not to
be consideredas a reasonwhy they are not goodin themselves and suited to
relieve his misery. This is to be tracedto his want of spiritual vision, "for sin
has blinded his mind!(Wm. Jones.)
The natural man blind to the things of the Spirit of God
J. Burton.
Set a man down on one of the jutting crags of the Andes, and with the
shadows ofmidnight or the scarfof a morning mist hanging around him he
sees nothing of the shaggyfantastic grandeur with which he is environed. He
stands on one of the "altar thrones" of creation, with the sweepof the
firmament above him, and the jewelledearth beneath him; but until the
sunshine sifts its radiance on his sightless eyeballs, darkness confusedand
confusing shuts him in on every side. So with the spirit world in its relation to
the natural man. That world envelopes him like an atmosphere or sea of life,
touching him at every avenue of soul and sense with its glory; but the
perceptive faculty is wanting and he cannotbehold it. The flashing skies are
dark to his closedeyes. Neithercanthe dark mind see God.
(J. Burton.)
The ignorance of the natural man
J. Lyth, D. D.
I. EXPLAIN THE TRUTH AFFIRMED.

1. Who is the natural man?
2. What are the things he cannot receive nor know?
3. Whence his incapacity?
II. CONFIRM IT.
1. It was so in our Lord's day.
2. In the times of the apostles.
3. Is so now.
III. IMPROVE IT. Learn —
1. To appreciate Divine knowledge.
2. How to seek it.
3. How to employ it.
(J. Lyth, D. D.)
Natural or spiritual
C. H. Spurgeon.
The apostle knows ofonly two classesofmen — natural and spiritual. Under
"natural," he includes all who are not partakers of the Spirit of God, no
matter how excellent they may be. On the other hand, all into whom the Spirit
of God has come he calls spiritual men.
I. THE NATURAL MAN RECEIVES NOT THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT
OF GOD, BUT COUNTS THEM FOOLISH.
1. Some oppose them violently, and do their best to put down such folly.
2. A greaterproportion secretlydespise and condemn. They dare saythat
religion is a goodthing for old women, &c., but utterly repudiate it as a thing
worthy the attention of wise men.

3. The great mass are indifferent. "Forforms of faith let gracelesszealots
fight, he can't be wrong whose life is in the right."
II. THERE IS NOTHING WHATEVER IN THE THINGS THEMSELVES
TO JUSTIFYSUCH AN ESTIMATION. You do not know what you say
when you declare that the gospelof Christ is absurd. It is generallypretty safe
to ask a man who rails at the Bible, "Did you ever read it?" These learned
gentlemen are like those critics who, when they meet with a new volume, take
the knife and cut the first page, smell it, and then condemn or praise. The
mightiest intellects confess thatthe truths of this book are above their highest
flights. Even Newtonsaid there were depths here which no mortal could
fathom. As these things of the Spirit of God are wise and profound, so they are
most important, and if not received, it is not because they are uncongenial
with our necessities.There are some speculations which a man need not enter
upon, but the doctrines of God teachyou your relationship to your Maker;
your condition before Him; how He can be just to man, and yet be gracious;
how you canapproach Him, and become His child; how you may be
conformed to His image, and made a partakerof His glory.
III. THE REASON FOR THE REJECTION OF THE GOSPEL.
1. Want of taste. You have sometimes seenan artist standing before a splendid
picture. "What a fine conception!" says he, "I could stand a week and admire
that." Some bumpkin, however, says, "It looks to me to be an old decayed
piece of canvas that wants cleaning." Thenleaving the gallery, he notices on
the walloutside a picture of an elephant standing on his head, and a clown
performing in some circus, and he says, "That's more to my taste." Justso is
it with the natural man. Give him some work of fiction — a daub upon the
wall — and he is satisfied. But he has no taste for the things of God.
2. Want of organs. Justas a blind man cannotappreciate a landscape nor a
deaf man music; so the natural man lacking the eye and earof faith cannot
appreciate the beauties and music of the gospel.
3. Want of nature. The brute cannot appreciate the studies of the astronomer
because he lacks an intellectual nature; and so the mere man of intellect
cannot appreciate the things of the Spirit because he lacks a spiritual nature.

IV. THE PRACTICAL TRUTHS WHICH FLOW FROM THIS GREAT
THOUGH SORROWFULFACT.
1. The absolute necessityfor regeneration, or the work of the Spirit. You may
educate a nature up to its highest point, but you cannot educate an old nature
into a new one. You may educate a horse, but you cannot educate it into a
man. You may by your own efforts make yourselves the best of natural men,
but still at your very bestthere is a division wide as eternity betweenyou and
the regenerate man. And no man can help us out of such a nature into a state
of grace. "Excepta man be born again, he cannotsee the kingdom of God."
2. If any of us have receivedthe things of the Spirit, we ought to look upon
that as comfortable evidence that we have been born again.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Man's mortal inability to understand the things of the Spirit
EssexCongregationalRemembrancer.
Note —
I. SOME OF THOSE SUBLIME AND INTERESTING TRUTHS WHICH
THE NATURAL MAN DOES NOT RECEIVE.
1. The equity and goodnessofthe law of God, and the evil and desert of every
transgressionof it.
2. The suitableness and excellencyof the method of redemption by Jesus
Christ.
3. The necessityof union to Christ by faith as the source of holiness and
strength.
4. The necessityof reconciliationto God and conformity to the Divine image
to all true happiness both here and hereafter.

II. THE ALARMING EXTENT TO WHICH THIS WANT OF SPIRITUAL
DISCERNMENTPREVAILS, AND THE INADEQUACY OF THE
HIGHEST ADVANTAGES TO COMMUNICATE IT.
1. We see some men endowedwith greatstrength of mind, and their natural
powers much improved by a liberal education, but they do not receive the
things of the Spirit of God.
2. We observe other men who have greatdiscernment and assiduity in the
concerns ofthis life, and who discovera particular tactin the management of
business, and considerable ability in improving the advantages affordedthem
of amassing wealth, but they receive not the things of the Spirit of God.
3. We see other persons favoured with the advantages ofa religious education,
but they have not receivedthe things of the Spirit of God.
4. Some men have an undoubted conviction of the truth of the gospel, and
their passions are occasionallymovedwith its important discoveries. Still,
excepta Divine change takes place in the heart, they do not receive the things
of the Spirit of God.
III. THE IMPORTANT REFLECTION WHICHTHE SUBJECT
SUGGESTS.
1. That the disaffectionof man to God is not accidental, or the result of some
circumstances in which he is placed, but is an evil principle, natural to the
whole species, andthe consequence ofthe fall.
2. The great gratitude we owe to God for the gospelof His Son, as a discovery
of enlightening and renewing grace, as wellas of pardoning mercy.
3. The indispensable necessityof Divine influence in general, and in respectto
our own personalexperience in particular.
4. The importance of accompanying the means of grace with humble and
earnestprayer.
(EssexCongregationalRemembrancer.)

Spiritual discernment
New York Sun.
Not only have excellentphotographs of the heavenly bodies been obtained,
and an absolutely accurate picture of the skies obtained for permanent
examination, but it has been found that the camera reveals stars invisible even
with the aid of the most powerful telescope in existence. This is due to the fact
that the camera is able by continued exposure to obtain an image of an object
which may be so faint that a shorter exposure would give no image. This, of
course, is a power the eye does not possess.It is equivalent to being able to see
plainly by long gazing what cannotbe seenat all by a brief inspection. A
notable instance of this poweris seenin photographs of the Pleiades, the
group of stars mentioned in Job36:31. Here a nebula is shown in the
photograph which the eye cannotperceive in the sky, but which undoubtedly
exists. Astronomers believe in the revelations of the camera, though they are
not confirmed by actualobservation. Their example may be commended to
men who rejectthe inspired revelationof the Bible, and refuse to exercise
faith when they are askedto acceptspiritual truth not perceptible to the
senses.
(New York Sun.)
Spiritual discernment
J. Parker, D. D.
I. THERE IS NOTHING HERE WHICH IS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED AND
INSISTED ON IN EVERY-DAY LIFE. There are things that are only
instrumentally discerned.
1. Here is a large brilliant diamond, and you pronounce it to be without fault;
but the lapidary gives you a magnifying glass ofgreat power, and bids you
look at the centre of the stone;and there sure enough you see a black spot.
The lapidary says the naked eye can neither receive it nor know it because it is
microscopicallydiscerned. And nobody arises to say, "Sir, you have

introduced a painful mystery into human thought and inquiry." People are
rather glad that a medium has been supplied by which the hidden truth may
be brought to light.
2. Yonder are two shining surfaces, andyou saythere must be a greatfire
there. The scientistwho overhears you, however, says, "One of those surfaces
has no light at all." "But can't I believe my own eyes?" "No," he says, "just
look through this instrument— the polariscope — and now you see that the
one surface was primary light and the other but reflected. The nakedeye can
neither receive nor know it because it is polariscopicallydiscerned. And you
thank him for the information.
3. Yonder are two men who have undertaken a mineral survey. One is a
mineralogist, the other a man who believes that if he cannotfind things out
with his naked eyes and fingers that nothing can or shall be found out. The
former walks slowlyoverthe ground holding in his hand a little crystalbox,
watching the instrument within. Presentlythe needle dips, and he says,
"There is iron here." Can you see it, touch it? No. But the scientific man digs
for iron and finds it, and then turns round to hear what the other has to say,
and remarks, "The sensescannotreceive or know it, for it is magnetically
discerned," and then receives the confidence he deserves.
4. Look at this ruddy-faced boy. You cannot walk out with him, but he
challenges youto leapa five-barred gate; and you say, "What a vigorous lad!
There will be a long life and a happy one." A physician, however, drops in on
your return, and hearing your verdict, applies an instrument to the regionof
the boy's heart, and then, taking you aside, says, "He will never see five-and-
twenty. He has had rheumatic fever and contractedvalvular affection of the
heart." The untrained earcan neither receive it nor know it because it is
stethoscopicallydiscerned. Now in all these things we confess ourneed of
instruments. Suppose that everything were taken awaythat cannotbe
discoveredor read by the nakedeye! Shut up the heavens, for astronomy
must go; coverup the fields, for botany tells little to the nakedeye. All science
indeed would be impoverished and degraded. Yet the man who cannotread
his ownmother's letter without an eyeglassinsists upon reading the infinite
and eternalGod by his unassistedpowers.

5. The same principle holds goodin spheres where instruments are not
required.(1) Here are two men listening to the same piece of music. The one is
inspired, enraptured, and says, "I would this might go on for ever." The other
says, "I wonder when they will be done." The best earcannot receive these
things or know them, for they are musically discerned. The one man would be
tormented if one note were the thousandth part of a shade wrong; but all the
notes might be wrong so far as the other man knew.(2)Here are two men
looking at the same picture. The one is chained to the spot; the other, with a
thick shilling catalogue,does not see much in that, and hastens on to
something that has superficies, no matter what the superficies may be: only let
it be extensive enough. Paint for such men with a broom,
II. THE APPLICATION OF THESE THINGS IS TO THE THINGS OF
GOD AS ACCESSIBLE TO THE SPIRIT OF MAN. There are blind minds
as well as blind eyes. "Excepta man be born again he cannot see."
1. As ministers, therefore, we are not to be discouragedbecause some people
cannot understand us. There will always be men to whom the best preaching
will be foolishness, becausetheyhave not the spiritual faculty.
2. Do we wish for this discernment? "If ye being evil," &c. "If any man lack
wisdom," &c.
(J. Parker, D. D.)
Spiritual insight in possible to unspiritual men
E. B. Fairfield, D. D.
1. No painter was ever yet so unwise as to submit his work to the criticism of a
committee of blind men, howeverlearned such men might have been in
history, logic, or law. Igor has any company of blind men assumedto sit in
judgment upon Murillo, Raphael, or Titian; still less that they have fallen to
raving because their censorshipin art had not been acceptedas final. The men
in the PatentOffice in Washington, who examine the thousand models that
yearly come to them, are men who have an eye for machinery. Men who did

not know a wheelbarrow from a spinning-wheel could scarcely getan
appointment to such a place. In generalit matters not how much a man may
know nor how keenhis power of discernment in some other line of human
thought or knowledge, men give little heed to his talk unless he has capacity
and culture in the very things of which he assumes to be a critic and a judge.
2. The elements of our complex nature are many; and a man may be strong in
some things and weak in others. Lord Macaulaywas almosta blockheadin
mathematics. Sir Isaac Newtonhadhardly patience enough to read the
"Paradise Lost" and only askedcontemptuously, "Whatdoes it prove?"
Milton might very likely have askedthe same of the "Principia." Many a
greatscientisthas never been able to distinguish betweenthe higheststrains of
music and any mere jargon of discordant sounds. Eminent lawyers and judges
have been utterly blind to the beauties of the most perfectmachinery, and
many an inventive genius would have been utterly swampedin the
commentaries of Blackstone.
3. Why, then, should it be thought any argument againstthe reality of
spiritual things that here and there a man — with large genius for invention;
for oratory; for science;for philosophy; for music; for art — has no
appreciationfor things unseen and eternal? It weighs less than a feather to
him who revels in the demonstrations of geometry to know that hundreds of
college students have never fully comprehended a single demonstration I
"Poorfellows!" is all he can say, "I pity their obtuseness!" In like manner it
weighs less than a milligramme to any Christian believer, whose soulhas been
illuminated from on high, that Darwin lived and died blind as a bat to all the
glories of the spiritual universe. But unlike many another blind man, Darwin
did, in a measure, realise his condition. He recognisedthe fact that his
spiritual nature had died out! He calls it "atrophy." In his boyhood he had a
consciouslyreligious nature; in later years it was starved to death! He tells us,
also, that in early life he had a poeticalnature. That, too, had been famished.
His soul had died — "atthe top!" Alas! how many another soul has died in
the same way! Shall the Christian believer find his faith disturbed because of
these greatmen whose souls have been lopped off? No! He still knows in
whom he has believed. A blind man may tell me that he sees nothing in the
glory of the evening sunset, or in Raphael's Transfiguration. "Poorman!" I

say, with deepestpity; that's all. I do not forthwith put out my owneyes,
because he has put his out; or, peradventure, may have been born blind. God
forbid! I only cherishmy eyesightwith the more thankfulness and care. When
even Humboldt, Darwin, Ingersoll, and Renan tell me that they see nothing of
the spiritual and Divine in this revelation of the Divine life and glory of the
Christ of God among the sons of men — Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Daniel,
Paul, John, and Luther, Knox, Wesley, Bunyan, and the unnumbered hosts of
the Lord Almighty, will still continue to enjoy the seraphic vision and know
whom they have believed.
4. A legislatormay wiselystudy the Bible to help him in making laws. The
historian may ponder its incomparable histories. The sociologistmay turn
over its leaves to find the profoundest teachings knownto the world in his
department. The lover of sublime and beautiful poetry may discoverhere
some of the rarestgems that can be gatheredfrom all the seas and from all the
lands. But only the spiritual man can discern within these lids their choicest
treasures of spiritual truth, and it would be passing strange if it were
otherwise. Whatwould your five-year-old boy think of conic sections,oryour
ten-months-old baby of a treatise on optics? "I wonderwhat grandfather can
find in that old book! — it's a very dull book to me." So said a young man just
entering college many years ago. But when the Spirit of Godhad opened his
eyes, the young man marvelled no more at the absorption of his grandsire in
the study of the old book, and himself lived to revel in its pages more than in
all things else. Had sin never come, our vision had been clear. Oh, that every
soul might cry out as Bartimeus, "Lord, that I may receive my sight!"
5. "Whatis the Bible?" Only Christian experience can fit any personto
answerthat question. I see a cherub of three short years over the way, and I
ask, "Whatis that child?" The analytic chemistwill tell me how much oxygen,
and hydrogen, and nitrogen, and phosphorus enter into the forty pounds of
avoirdupois of that beautiful form. The. anatomistwill tell me the number of
bones and muscles and the names of them all that enter into her perfect body.
But you are the child's mother. And I ask you to tell me what she is. While I
speak the angelof death has come, and she lies by your side a corpse. Her
sweetface has a heavenly smile upon it, for she has had a vision of the Son of
God, who has takenher into His arms. "What is that child?" You need the

gift of tongues to tell me. The lips cannot utter it; your tears even can scarcely
suggestit. The love of father and mother alone canconceive the answer.
"What is the Bible?" Only he who has learned to love the Christ that shines
through it can answerthat question. And then his answerwill grow as he
grows, through all his years. He will find more in it as his experience deepens.
The only proper test of the gospelof Christ is the trial of it. No soul was ever
yet made worse by believing it. No Christian ever yet, as he came near to
death, regrettedhis faith or recantedhis trust in Christ.
(E. B. Fairfield, D. D.)
Unsanctified men cannot read the Bible to profit
H. W. Beecher.
If you bring me a basketfull of minerals from California, and I take them and
look at them, I shall know that this specimenhas gold in it, because Isee there
little points of yellow gold, but I shall not know what the white and the dark
points are that I see. But let a metallurgist look at it, and he will see that it
contains not only gold, but silver, and lead, and iron, and he will single them
out. To me it is a mere stone, with only here and there a hint of gold, but to
him it is a combination of various metals. Now take the Word of God, that is
filled with precious stones and metals, and let one instructed in spiritual
insight go through it, and he will discoverall these treasures;while, if you let a
man uninstructed in spiritual insight go through it, he will discover those
things that are outside and apparent, but those things that make God and
man friends, and that have to do with the immortality of the soul in heaven,
escape his notice. No man canknow these things unless the Spirit of God has
taught him to discernthem.
(H. W. Beecher.)
The ignorance of the natural man

"Suppose," says anold divine, "a geometricianshould be drawing outlines
and figures, and there should come in a silly, ignorant fellow, who, seeing him
thus employed, should laugh at him; would the artist, think you, leave off his
employment because ofhis derision? Surely not; for he knows that his
laughter is hut the fruit of his ignorance, as not knowing his art, and the
ground upon which it goes:and therefore he holds on drawing, though the
fellow should hold on laughing."
The natural man's view
J. W. Earnshaw.
One may be a diligent student of science andhave a large acquaintance with
the facts and forces, processesand laws of the physical universe, and yet be
insensible to all by which its higher meanings are revealed. The man of this
spirit may cultivate his fields with judicious husbandry, but all the harvest
goes into the barn, or to market;none is for the soul He may note the season's
circling course, but finds no meaning in their storiedsuccession, save calls to a
varied round of toil and use;no pulsings of a life Divine, no ebb and flow of
supernal tides, bearing outward the flow of a Divine energy, and then with
refluent flood coursing backwardto the infinite deeps. He may view the stars,
perhaps know their names, orders, distances, andseasons,but catches no
glimpse of the Hand that moves them, nor hears the resonances oftheir silent
song. He may climb the mountains, but it is only as tourist, or engineer, not as
worshipper, or to find the uplands of God.
(J. W. Earnshaw.)
Spiritual discernment impaired
Darwin gives an accountof two blind men with whom he was in the habit of
conversing for some years. They both told him that "they never remembered
having dreamed of visible objects afterthey became totally blind." So, when
men give themselves to lowerand meaner things, the higher and nobler

faculties of the soul come in to trouble them less and less. Byand by the
spiritual and the unseen is to them as though it were not.
The natural versus the spiritual man
J. W. Earnshaw.
Different persons shall stand before that Nature's wonder of wonders, the
mighty cataractofNiagara, andhow differently they will regardit and be
affectedby it! To one it will be simply an immense volume of waterrushing
down swift rapids and leaping a tremendous precipice, with stunning effectto
the observantsenses, but with no glory in its gliding, gleaming, plunging mass,
and no music or meaning in its rhythmic roar. Another will be mainly
impressed with the probable energy of the descending mass, and occupied
with the problem of its utilisation. He will measure it according to the
principles of hydro-dynamic science, andestimate what engines it would
move, what machinery impel, and what work perform, if properly yoked, or
what cities it would illumine, if convertedinto electricity, but find in it no
powerto draw the soul to God. Another, bringing to it a more aesthetic
sensibility, will be impressed with its beauty and grandeur; but the beauty will
be soulless, the grandeur only that of physical magnificence. But another shall
bring to it a true spiritual sensibility, and to him it will open all its meaning,
and become a wondrous revelation of the mighty power, grand designs, and
sovereignlaws of the infinite Creator, an apocalypse, throughNature
transfigured in her own process, ofHim who is Nature's God and soul; and
awedinto silence, or thrilled with adoring wonder, he will stand as before the
Holy of holies of Nature's vast and solemntemple. The difference of
impression and effectappears not only in relationto Nature's more majestic
scenes,but to all, from the greatestandrarest to the lowliestand most
common. Dull sensibility passes unheeding, but to a Cowper, a Wordsworth, a
Bryant, or a Ruskin, the very heath hath a voice, and the desertshrub
becomes aflame with God. And so, too, with those works of art in which God
speaks to us as it were by an interpreter. Different persons shall view some
masterpiece ofpainting. To one it will be but a representationof sensible

forms, beautiful or unbeautiful as the case may be, and with pleasantor
gruesome effectaccording to the subject. Another shall note its fidelity to
nature or history, and feel the charm, life, and dramatic movement of the
piece. But anothershall catch the very meaning and spirit of the work, and see
what the artist has not painted yet could not but represent; could not treat his
subject faithfully and not bring into view the greatwhite throne. And so with
a poem, a piece of music, or a sermon. One shall catchbut the thunder of the
sound and sensuous effect. To another it shall have a certain articulate
coherence, as it were the voice of an angel, sweetperhaps, perhaps sublime,
but its meaning unresolved. While to yet another it shall penetrate the soul as
a voice from the unseen, holy, touching responsive chords of spiritual
sensibility, and quickening, uplifting, and purifying the very inmost life of the
soul.
(J. W. Earnshaw.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Which things also we speak - We dare no more use the language ofthe Jews
and the Gentiles in speaking ofthose glorious things, than we can indulge
their spirit. The Greek orators affecteda high and florid language, full of
tropes and figures, which dazzled more than it enlightened. The rabbins
affectedobscurity, and were studious to find out cabalisticalmeanings, which
had no tendency to make the people wise unto salvation. The apostles could
not follow any of these;they spoke the things of God in the words of God;
every thing was plain and intelligible; every word well placed, clear, and
nervous. He who has a spiritual mind will easilycomprehend an apostle's
preaching.

Comparing spiritual things with spiritual - This is commonly understood to
mean, comparing the spiritual things under the Old Testamentwith the
spiritual things under the New:but this does not appearto be the apostle's
meaning. The word συγκρινοντες, which we translate comparing, rather
signifies conferring, discussing, or explaining; and the word πνευματικοις
should be rendered to spiritual men, and not be referred to spiritual things.
The passagetherefore should be thus translated: Explaining spiritual things
to spiritual persons. And this sense the following verse absolutelyrequires.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "The Adam Clarke
Commentary". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/1-
corinthians-2.html. 1832.
return to 'Jump List'
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Which things we speak - Which great, and glorious, and certain truths, we,
the apostles, preachand explain.
Not in the words which man‘s wisdom teacheth - Notsuch as human
philosophy or eloquence would dictate. They do not have their origin in the
devices of human wisdom, and they are not expressedin such words of
dazzling and attractive rhetoric as would be employed by those who pride
themselves on the wisdom of this world.
But which the Holy Ghostteacheth - That is, in the words which the Holy
Spirit imparts to us. Locke understands this as referring to the fact that the
apostles used“the language and expressions” whichthe Holy Spirit had
taught in the revelations of the Scriptures. But this is evidently giving a
narrow view of the subject. The apostle is speaking ofthe whole course of

instruction by which the deep things of God were made known to the
Christian church; and all this was not made knownin the very words which
were already containedin the Old Testament. He evidently refers to the fact
that the apostles were themselves under the direction of the Holy Spirit, in the
words and doctrines which they imparted; and this passageis a full proof that
they laid claim to divine inspiration. It is further observable that he says, that
this was done in such “words” as the Holy Spirit taught, referring not to the
doctrines or subjects merely, but to the manner of expressing them. It is
evident here that he lays claim to an inspiration in regardto the words which
he used, or to the manner of his stating the doctrines of revelation. Words are
the signs of thoughts; and if God designedthat his truth should be accurately
expressedin human language, there must have been a supervision over the
words used, that such should be employed, and such only, as should
accuratelyexpress the sense which he intended to convey.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual - πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ
συγκρίνοντες pneumatikois pneumatika sugkrinontesThis expressionhas been
very variously interpreted; and is very difficult of explanation. LeClerc
renders it “speaking spiritual things to spiritual men.” Mostof the fathers
rendered it: “comparing the things which were written by the Spirit of the
Old Testamentwith what is now revealedto us by the same Spirit, and
confirming our doctrine by them.” Calvin renders the word “comparing” by
“fitting,” or adapting (“aptare”), and says that it means “that he adapted
spiritual things to spiritual people, while he accommodatedwords to the
thing; that is he tempered that celestialwisdomof the Spirit with simple
language, and which conveyedby itself the native energyof the Spirit.” Thus,
says he, he reproved the vanity of those who attempted to secure human
applause by a turgid and subtle mode of argument.
Grotius accords with the fathers, and renders it, “explaining those things
which the prophets spake by the Spirit of God, by those things which Christ
has made known to us by his Spirit.” Macknightrenders it: “explaining
spiritual things in words taught by the Spirit.” So Doddridge - The word
rendered “comparing” συγκρίνοντες sugkrinontesmeansproperly “to collect,
join, mingle, unite together”;then “to separate ordistinguish parts of things
and unite them into one”;then “to judge of the qualities of objects by

carefully separating or distinguishing”; then “to compare for the purpose of
judging,” etc. Since it means to compare one thing with another for the
purpose of explaining its nature, it comes to signify to “interpret,” to
“explain;” and in this sense it is often used by the Septuagint as a translation
of the Hebrew word ‫רתפ‬ phathar“to open, unfold, explain.” (See Genesis 40:8,
Genesis 40:16, Genesis40:22;Genesis 41:12, Genesis41:15);also of ‫רפפ‬
paarash“to explain”;and of the Chaldee pesharDaniel 5:13, Daniel5:17. See
also Daniel2:4-7, Daniel 2:9, Daniel2:16, Daniel 2:24, Daniel 2:26, Daniel
2:30, Daniel2:36, Daniel2:45; Daniel 4:3-4, Daniel4:6, Daniel 4:16-17;Daniel
5:7-8, Daniel5:13, Daniel5:16, Daniel 5:18, Daniel 5:20; Daniel7:16, in all
which places the noun σύγκρισις sugkrisisis usedin the same sense. In this
sense the word is, doubtless, used here, and is to be interpreted in the sense of
“explaining, unfolding.” There is no reason, either in the word used here, or in
the argument of the apostle, why the sense ofcomparing should be retained.
Spiritual things - πνευματικὰ pneumatikaThings, doctrines, subjects that
pertain to the teaching of the Spirit. It does not mean things “spiritual” in
opposition to “fleshly;” or “intellectual” in opposition to things pertaining to
“matter;” but spiritual as the things referred to were such as were performed,
and revealedby the Holy Spirit - his doctrines on the subject of religion under
the new dispensation, and his influence on the heart.
With spiritual - πνευματικοῖς pneumatikoisThis is an adjective; and may be
either masculine or neuter. It is evident, that some noun is understood. That
may be either:
(1) ανθρωποις anthrōpois“men” - and then it will mean “to spiritual men” -
that is, to people who are enlightened or taught by the Spirit and thus many
commentators understand it; or,
(2)It may be λόγοις logois“words”- and then it may mean, either that the
“spiritual things” were explained by “words” and illustrations drawn from
the writings of the Old Testament, inspired by the Spirit - as most of the
fathers, and many moderns understand it; or that the “things spiritual” were
explained by-words which the Holy Spirit then communicated, and which
were adapted to the subject - simple, pure, elevated; not gross, not turgid, not

distinguished for rhetoric, and not such as the Greeks sought, but such as
became the Spirit of God communicating great, sublime, yet simple truths to
people.
It will then mean “explaining doctrines that pertain to the Spirit‘s teaching
and influence in words that are taught; by the same Spirit, and that are suited
to convey in the most intelligible manner those doctrines to men.” Here the
idea of the Holy Spirit‘s presentagencyis kept up throughout; the idea that
he communicates the doctrine, and the mode of stating it to man - The
supposition that λόγοις logoiswords, is the word understood here, is favored
by the fact that it occurs in the previous part of this verse. And if this be the
sense, it means that the words which were used by the apostles were pure,
simple, unostentatious, and undistinguished by display - such as became
doctrines taught by the Holy Spirit, when communicated in words suggested
by the same Spirit.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Barnes, Albert. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Barnes'Notes onthe
New Testament". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/1-
corinthians-2.html. 1870.
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
Which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but
which the Spirit teacheth; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.
This writer agrees with James Macknightthat the declarationhere refers to
the Holy Spirit's giving "words" ofwisdom to the apostles, notleaving them
free to clothe ideas and impressions in their own words merely, but in words

which "the Spirit teacheth."[33]Some deny that anything of this kind is
meant; but when they deny it, they are left with no explanation whateverof
what Paul meant.
Combining spiritual things with spiritual words ... is a disputed rendition.
Grosheide translatedit, "comparing spiritual things with spiritual";[34]
Macknightrendered it, "explaining spiritual things with spiritual words,"[35]
holding that Paul had in view here what Paul called"the form of sound
words" (2 Timothy 1:13). The theory that God gave people the ideas without
imposing any vocabulary upon them breaks down when it is asked, "How may
any idea be conveyedwithout the use of words?" Clearly, the "combining" in
this verse pertains to what the Spirit of God did, not to what Pauldid; and the
fact of the Spirit's combining spiritual things (ideas)with spiritual words
would leave the choice of words to the Spirit, not to people. How otherwise
can the writings of the New Testamentbe understood?
[33] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 41.
[34] F. W. Grosheide op. cit., p. 72.
[35] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 41.
Copyright Statement
James Burton Coffman Commentaries reproduced by permission of Abilene
Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. All other rights reserved.
Bibliography
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Coffman
Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bcc/1-corinthians-2.html.
Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Which things also we speak,....Namely, the things which have not been seen
by the eye, heard by the ear, or understood by the heart of man; the things
God has prepared for his people; the deep things of God; the things of God
which are only known to the Spirit; the things that are freely given to them of
God, and made knownto them by the Spirit of God: these things are spoken
out, preached, and declaredto the sons of men,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth;which are learned in the
schools ofthe philosophers, put togetherby human art, and "in the taught
words of human wisdom", as the clause may be rendered; such as are taught
and acquired by human learning, so artificially formed in their order and
structure as to work upon the affections ofmen, captivate the mind, and
persuade to an assent.
But which the Holy Ghostteacheth;or "in the taught" words "of the Holy
Ghost";in the language ofthe Scriptures, edited by the Spirit of God; or such
as the Holy Spirit taught them, suggestedto them, directed them to the use of;
for he not only supplied them with matter, but furnished them with words,
with proper and spiritual oratory:
comparing spiritual things with spiritual; the things of the Spirit of God, the
doctrines of the Gospel, with the spiritual writings of the Old Testament,
whereby their truth and harmony are demonstrated; speaking as the oracles
of God, and prophesying or preaching according to the analogyof faith; and
adapting spiritual words to spiritual truths, clothing them with a language
suitable and convenientto them, not foreign and flourishing, but pure, simple,
and native; or accommodating and communicating spiritual things, as to
matter and form, to spiritual men; which sense the Arabic version favours
and confirms, such being only capable of them; and with these there is no
need to use the eloquence, oratory, wisdom, and words of men.
Copyright Statement

The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible Modernisedand adapted
for the computer by Larry Pierce of Online Bible. All Rightes Reserved,
Larry Pierce, Winterbourne, Ontario.
A printed copy of this work can be ordered from: The Baptist Standard
Bearer, 1 Iron Oaks Dr, Paris, AR, 72855
Bibliography
Gill, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "The New John Gill
Exposition of the Entire Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/geb/1-corinthians-2.html.
1999.
Geneva Study Bible
12 Which things also we speak, notin the words which man's wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;o comparing spiritual things
with spiritual.
(12) Now he returns to his purpose, and concludes the argument which he
beganin verse six (1 Corinthians 2:6), and it is this: the words must be applied
to the matter, and the matter must be set forth with words which are proper
and appropriate for it: now this wisdom is spiritual and not from man, and
therefore it must be delivered by a spiritual type of teaching, and not by
enticing words of man's eloquence, so that the simple, and yet wonderful
majesty of the Holy Spirit may appear in it.
(o) Applying the words to the matter, that is, that as we teachspiritual things,
so must our type of teaching be spiritual.
Copyright Statement

Text Courtesyof BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliography
Beza, Theodore. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 2:13". "The 1599 Geneva
Study Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsb/1-
corinthians-2.html. 1599-1645.
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
also — We not only know by the Holy Ghost, but we also speak the “things
freely given to us of God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).
which the Holy Ghostteacheth — The old manuscripts read “the Spirit”
simply, without “Holy.”
comparing spiritual things with spiritual — expounding the Spirit-inspired
Old TestamentScripture, by comparisonwith the Gospelwhich Jesus by the
same Spirit revealed [Grotius]; and converselyillustrating the Gospel
mysteries by comparing them with the Old Testamenttypes [Chrysostom]. So
the Greek wordis translated, “comparing” (2 Corinthians 10:12). Wahl (Key
of the New Testament)translates, “explaining (as the Greek is translated,
Genesis 40:8, the Septuagint) to spiritual (that is, Spirit-taught) men, spiritual
things (the things which we ourselves are taught by the Spirit).” Spirit-taught
men alone can comprehend spiritual truths. This accords with 1 Corinthians
2:6, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 1 Corinthians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 1 Corinthians
2:15; 1 Corinthians 3:1. Alford translates, “Putting together(combining)
spirituals with spirituals”; that is, attaching spiritual words to spiritual things,
which we should not do, if we were to use words of worldly wisdom to
expound spiritual things (so 1 Corinthians 2:1, 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1 Peter
4:11). Perhaps the generality of the neuters is designedto comprehend these
severalnotions by implication. Comparing, or combining, spirituals with
spirituals; implying both that spiritual things are only suited to spiritual
persons (so “things” comprehendedpersons, 1 Corinthians 1:27), and also

that spiritual truths can only be combined with spiritual (not worldly-wise)
words; and lastly, spirituals of the Old and New Testaments canonly be
understood by mutual comparisonor combination, not by combination with
worldly “wisdom,” ornatural perceptions (1 Corinthians 1:21, 1 Corinthians
1:22; 1 Corinthians 2:1, 1 Corinthians 2:4-9; compare Psalm 119:18).
Copyright Statement
These files are a derivative of an electronic edition prepared from text
scannedby Woodside Bible Fellowship.
This expanded edition of the Jameison-Faussett-BrownCommentary is in the
public domain and may be freely used and distributed.
Bibliography
Jamieson, Robert, D.D.;Fausset,A. R.; Brown, David. "Commentary on 1
Corinthians 2:13". "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole
Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jfb/1-corinthians-
2.html. 1871-8.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Which things also we speak (α και λαλουμεν — ha kai laloumen). This
onomatopoetic verb λαλεω — laleō (from λαλα — lȧla), to utter sounds. In the
papyri the word calls more attention to the form of utterance while λεγω —
legō refers more to the substance. But λαλεω — laleō in the N.T. as here is
used of the highest and holiest speech. Undoubtedly Paul employs the word
purposely for the utterance of the revelationwhich he has understood. That is
to say, there is revelation(1 Corinthians 2:10), illumination (1 Corinthians
2:12), and inspiration (1 Corinthians 2:13). Paul claims therefore the help of
the Holy Spirit for the receptionof the revelation, for the understanding of it,

for the expressionof it. Paul claimed this authority for his preaching (1
Thessalonians 4:2) and for his epistles (2 Thessalonians3:14).
Not in words which man‘s wisdom teacheth(ουκ εν διδακτοις αντρωπινης
σοπιας λογοις — ouk en didaktois anthrōpinēs sophias logois). Literally, “not
in words taught by human wisdom.” The verbal adjective διδακτοις —
didaktois (from διδασκω — didaskō to teach)is here passive in idea and is
followedby the ablative case oforigin or source as in John 6:45, εσονται
παντες διδακτοι τεου — esontaipantes didaktoi theou (from Isaiah 54:13),
“Theyshall all be taught by God.” The ablative in Greek, as is wellknown,
has the same form as the genitive, though quite different in idea (Robertson,
Grammar, p. 516). So then Paul claims the help of the Holy Spirit in the
utterance (λαλουμεν — laloumen) of the words, “which the Spirit teacheth (εν
διδακτοις πνευματος — en didaktois pneumatos), “in words taught by the
Spirit” (ablative πνευματος — pneumatos as above). Clearly Paul means that
the help of the Holy Spirit in the utterance of the revelationextends to the
words. No theory of inspiration is here stated, but it is not mere human
wisdom. Paul‘s own Epistles bear eloquent witness to the lofty claim here
made. They remain today after nearly nineteen centuries throbbing with the
powerof the Spirit of God, dynamic with life for the problems of today as
when Paul wrote them for the needs of the believers in his time, the greatest
epistles of all time, surchargedwith the energy of God.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual (πνευματικοις πνευματικα
συνκρινοντες — pneumatikois pneumatika sunkrinontes). Eachof these words
is in dispute. The verb συνκρινω — sunkrinō originally meant to combine, to
join togetherfitly. In the lxx it means to interpret dreams (Genesis 40:8, 22;
41:12)possibly by comparison. In the later Greek it may mean to compare as
in 2 Corinthians 10:12. In the papyri Moulton and Milligan (Vocabulary) give
it only for “decide,” probably after comparing. But “comparing,” in spite of
the translations, does not suit wellhere. So it is bestto follow the original
meaning to combine as do Lightfoot and Ellicott. But what genderis
πνευματικοις — pneumatikois Is it masculine or neuter like πνευματικα —
pneumatika If masculine, the idea would be “interpreting (like lxx) spiritual

truths to spiritual persons” or“matching spiritual truths with spiritual
persons.” This is a possible rendering and makes goodsense in harmony with
1 Corinthians 2:14. If πνευματικοις — pneumatikois be takenas neuter plural
(associative instrumental case afterσυν — sun in συνκρινοντες —
sunkrinontes), the idea most naturally would be, “combining spiritual ideas
(πνευματικα — pneumatika) with spiritual words” (πνευματικοις —
pneumatikois). This again makes goodsense in harmony with the first part of
1 Corinthians 2:13. On the whole this is the most natural wayto take it,
though various other possibilities exist.
Copyright Statement
The Robertson's WordPictures of the New Testament. Copyright �
Broadman Press 1932,33,Renewal1960. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman Press (Southern BaptistSunday SchoolBoard)
Bibliography
Robertson, A.T. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Robertson'sWord
Pictures of the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/rwp/1-corinthians-2.html.
Broadman Press 1932,33.Renewal1960.
Vincent's Word Studies
Not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth
Lit., not in the taught words of human wisdom. Compare Plato: “Through
love all the intercourse and speechof God with man, whether awake orasleep,
is carried on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual; all other
wisdom, such as that of arts and handicrafts, is mean and vulgar”
(“Symposium,” 203).
Which the Spirit teacheth ( ἐν διδακτοῖς πνεύματος )

Lit., in the taught (words ) of the Spirit. Taught; not mechanically uttered, but
communicated by a living Spirit.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual ( πνευματικοῖς πνευματικὰ
συγκρίνοντες )
Notice the paronomasia. See onRomans 1:29, Romans 1:31. The dispute on
this verse arises overthe meanings of συγκρίνοντες , A.V., comparing, and
πνευματικοῖς spiritualAs to the latter, whether the reference is to spiritual
men, things, or words; as to the former, whether the meaning is adapting,
interpreting, proving, or comparing. The principal interpretations are:
adapting spiritual words to spiritual things; adapting spiritual things to
spiritual men; interpreting spiritual things to spiritual men; interpreting
spiritual things by spiritual words. Συγκρίνοντες occurs only here and 2
Corinthians 10:12, where the meaning is clearly compare. In classicalGreek
the originalmeaning is to compound, and later, to compare, as in Aristotle
and Plutarch, and to interpret, used of dreams, and mainly in Septuagint. See
Genesis 40:8. The most satisfactoryinterpretation is combining spiritual
things with spiritual words. After speaking ofspiritual things (1 Corinthians
2:11, 1 Corinthians 2:12, 1 Corinthians 2:13), Paul now speaks ofthe forms in
which they are conveyed- spiritual forms or words answering to spiritual
matters, and says, we combine spiritual things with spiritual forms of
expression. This would not be the case if we uttered the revelations of the
Spirit in the speechof human wisdom.
Copyright Statement
The text of this work is public domain.
Bibliography
Vincent, Marvin R. DD. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Vincent's
Word Studies in the New Testament".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/vnt/1-corinthians-2.html.
Charles Schribner's Sons. New York, USA. 1887.

Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghostteacheth;comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Which also we speak — As well as know.
In words taught by the Holy Spirit — Such are all the words of scripture.
How high a regard ought we, then, to retain for them! Explaining spiritual
things by spiritual words; or, adapting spiritual words to spiritual things -
Being taught of the Spirit to express the things of the Spirit.
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that
is available on the Christian ClassicsEtherealLibrary Website.
Bibliography
Wesley, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "JohnWesley's
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/wen/1-corinthians-2.html.
1765.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
13.Whichthings also we speak, notin 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 secretrevelationof 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 the concessionthat he had made before — that his

preaching had not been adorned with any glitter of words, and had no luster
of elegance,but was contentedwith the simple doctrine of the Holy Spirit. By
the learnedwords of human wisdom (122)he means those that savorof
human learning, and are polished according to the rules of the rhetoricians, or
blown up with philosophicalloftiness, with a view to excite the admiration of
the hearers. The words taught by the Spirit, on the other hand, are such as are
adapted to a pure and simple style, corresponding to the dignity of the Spirit,
rather than to an empty ostentation. Forin order that eloquence may not be
wanting, we must always take care that the wisdom of God be not polluted
with any borrowedand profane luster. Paul’s manner of teaching was of such
a kind, that the power of the Spirit shone forth in it single and unattired,
without any foreignaid.
Spiritual things with spiritual Συγκρινεσθαι is used here, I have no doubt, in
the sense ofadapt This is sometimes the meaning of the word, (123) (as
Budaeus shows by a quotation from Aristotle,)and hence συγκριμα is used to
mean what is knit togetheror glued together, and certainly it suits much
better with Paul’s context than compare or liken, as others have rendered it.
He says then that he adapts spiritual things to spiritual, in accommodating the
words to the subject; (124)that is, he tempers that heavenly wisdom of the
Spirit with a simple style of speech, and of such a nature as carries in its front
the native energy of the Spirit. In the meantime he reproves others, who, by
an affectedelegance ofexpressionand show of refinement, endeavorto obtain
the applause of men, as persons who are either devoid of solid truth, or, by
unbecoming ornaments, corrupt the spiritual doctrine of God.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Calvin, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Calvin's Commentary
on the Bible". https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/cal/1-

Vv. 13. "Which things also we speak, notin the words which man"s wisdom
teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth, appropriating spiritual things to
spiritual men."
Here is the resuming of the λαλοῦμεν, we speak, of 1 Corinthians 2:6; it has
been prepared for by 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 : "This hidden wisdom God has
revealedto us by His Spirit, and we speak it with words formed in us by this
same Spirit. He gives us the form, after having given us the matter." καί, also,
prominently brings out precisely this relation betweenthe two operations of
the Spirit, revelationand inspiration. As Paul has contrastedwisdom with
wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6-9), revelation with revelation(1 Corinthians 2:10-
12), he now contrasts Divine inspiration with earthly inspiration. By
revelation Godcommunicates Himself to man; inspiration bears on the
relation of man to man. — The genitives, σοφίας and πνεύματος, wisdomand
Spirit, may, according to Greek usage, depend, not on the subst. λόγοις,
words, but on the verbal notion expressedby the adjective διδακτοῖς (John
6:45): "Words taught, not by wisdom, but by the Spirit," and this connection
is also that which agrees bestwith the context. To teachthings which the
Spirit has revealed, terms are not made use of which man"s own
understanding and ability have discovered. The same Divine breath which
lifted the veil to reveal, takes possessionalso of the mouth of its interpreter
when it is to speak. Inspiration is, as it were, the language ofrevelation. Such
is the secretofthe peculiar and unique style of the Scriptures.
Meyer justly remarks that the term διδακτός, taught, while it positively
includes the idea of inspiration, nevertheless excludes all mechanical
representationof the fact, and implies in the person inspired a living
assimilationof the truth expressed.
Very various meanings have been given to the last clause of this verse,
according to the different senses in which the word συγκρίνειν may be taken,
and according to the two genders, masculine or neuter, which may be ascribed
to the adj. πνευματικοῖς, spiritual. The rarely used verb συγκρίνειν strictly

denotes the act of bringing two things together to compare them and fix their
relative value. This is certainly its meaning in the only other passage in the
New Testamentwhere it occurs, 2 Corinthians 10:12. But in the LXX. this
verb frequently takes the meaning of interpreting, especiallyin speaking of
dreams (Genesis 40:8;Genesis 40:16;Genesis 40:22;Daniel5:15-17), because
the interpretation of a dream consists in comparing the image with the idea
discoveredin it. Severalcommentators have proceededon this second
meaning;
Chrysostom:explaining Christian doctrines by comparing them with the
types of the Old Testament( πνευματικοῖς, neuter); Grotius, on the contrary:
explaining the prophecies of the Old Testamentby comparing them with the
doctrines of Christ; Bengel, Rückert, Hofmann: explaining the things of the
Spirit to spiritual men ( πνευματικοῖς, masculine). This third explanation
would in the context be the only admissible one. But this meaning of
interpreting given to συγκρίνεινis at once foreignto the New Testamentand
to classicalGreek.
Erasmus, Calvin, de Wette, Meyer, Osianderseek to come nearer to the real
sense ofthe verb by explaining thus: joining, adapting spiritual words to
spiritual things ( πνευματικοῖς, neuter). It is on this view the justification of
the procedure which the apostle has just described in the first part of the
verse. To a spiritual body (the wisdom revealed by the Spirit) no other is
suitable than a spiritual dress (a language taught by the Spirit). The meaning
is excellent;but the lastclause would really add nothing to the contents of the
previous proposition, and neither in this way is the meaning of the verb
συγκρίνειν exactly reproduced. Should not these words form the transition to
the development of the third word of the theme (6a), among the perfect, which
will form the subject of the following verses? We must, if it is so, take
πνενματικοῖς as a masculine and see in it the equivalent of τέλειοι, the perfect;
comp. 1 Corinthians 2:15 and 1 Corinthians 3:1. The word συγκρίνειν has
exactly in that case the meaning given it by Passowin his dictionary, a
meaning which differs only by a slight shade from the first which we have
indicated: mit Auswahl verbinden, to adapt two things to one another with
discernment; which leads us to this explanation: "adapting, applying,
appropriating with discernment spiritual teachings to spiritual men." This is

preciselythe idea which is developed in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16, and which will
be applied in the final passage1 Corinthians 3:1-4.
This passagehas a peculiar importance. It shows that what in Paul"s view was
the objectof the revelationof which he speaks atthis point, was not the
historicalfacts from which salvationflows, nor the simple meaning in which
they are presented by the preaching used in evangelization;but that it was the
Divine plan which is realized through them, their relation to the history of
humanity and of the universe, all that we find expounded in the passages
quoted above (Eph. and Col., Romans 9-11 , 1 Corinthians 15). There we find
unveiled the plan of God in all its dimensions (its length, breadth, depth,
height); all that system of Divine thoughts eternally conceivedwith a view to
our glory, of which 1 Corinthians 2:7 spoke;the cross, as the centre from
which there rays forth in all the directions of time and space the splendour of
Divine love. This Christian speculationwe have not to make or to seek. It is
given: God is its author; His Spirit, the revealer;St. Paul and eachof the
apostles, in his measure, the inspired interpreter. But this wisdom, revealedto
those who are to be its organs, is to be spokenby them only to those who are
fit to receive it (1 Corinthians 2:14-16).
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Godet, Frédéric Louis. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Frédéric
Louis Godet - Commentary on SelectedBooks".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/gsc/1-corinthians-2.html.
Scofield's ReferenceNotes
words

(1) The writers of Scripture invariably affirm, where the subject is mentioned
by them at all, that the words of their writings are divinely taught. This, of
necessity, refers to the original documents, not to translations and versions;
but the labours of competent scholars have brought our English versions to a
degree of perfectionso remarkable that we may confidently restupon them as
authoritative.
(2) 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 gives the process by which a truth passes from the
mind of God to the minds of His people.
(a) The unseen things of God are undiscoverable by the natural man (1
Corinthians 2:9). (b) These unseenthings God has revealedto chosenmen (1
Corinthians 2:10-12). (c) The revealedthings are communicated in Spirit-
taught words (1 Corinthians 2:13). This implies neither mechanicaldictation
nor the effacementof the writer's personality, but only that the Spirit
infallibly guides in the choice ofwords from the writer's own vocabulary (1
Corinthians 2:13). (d) These Spirit-taught words, in which the revelationhas
been expressed, are discerned, as to their true spiritual content, only by the
spiritual among believers;1 Corinthians 2:15; 1 Corinthians 2:16; (See
Scofield"Revelation22:19").
Copyright Statement
These files are consideredpublic domain and are a derivative of an electronic
edition that is available in the Online Bible Software Library.
Bibliography
Scofield, C. I. "ScofieldReferenceNoteson 1 Corinthians 2:13". "Scofield
Reference Notes(1917Edition)".
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/srn/1-corinthians-2.html.
1917.

John Trapp Complete Commentary
13 Which things also we speak, notin the words which man’s wisdom
teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;comparing spiritual things with
spiritual.
Ver. 13. But which the Holy Ghost teacheth]So that not the matter only, but
words also of Holy Scripture are dictatedby the Spirit, and are therefore to be
had in higher estimation, 2 Peter1:21.
Comparing] Or co-apting ( συγκρινοντες), fitting spiritual words to spiritual
matters, that all may savourof the Spirit.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Trapp, John. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". John Trapp Complete
Commentary. https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jtc/1-
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible

1 Corinthians 2:13. Comparing spiritual things, &c.— Explaining, &c. Wall,
Elsner. "Comparing one part of revelation with another." It is plain, says Mr.
Locke, that the spiritual things which he here speaks of, are uncharitable
counsels ofGod, revealedby his Holy Spirit in the sacredScriptures. This
expressionmay serve to convince us of the greatregard which weought always
to maintain for the words of Scripture; and may especiallyteachministers,
how attentively they should study its beauties, and how careful they should be
to make it the support of their discourses. See Wetstein.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Coke, Thomas. "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 2:13". Thomas Coke
Commentary on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/tcc/1-corinthians-2.html.
1801-1803.
Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
13.]καί, also;τὰ χαρισθ. ἡμῖν, we not only know by the teaching of the Holy
Ghost, but also speak them, not in words (arguments, rhetoricalforms, &c.)
taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit. The genitives are
governedby διδακτοῖς in eachcase:see ref., and cf. Pind. Olymp. ix. 153:τὸ
δὲ φυᾷ κράτιστονἅπαν. πολλοὶ δὲ διδακταῖς ἀνθρώπωνἀρεταῖς κλέος
ὥρουσανἑλέσθαι· ἄνευ δὲ θεοῦ κ. τ. λ.
πνευμ … πν. συγκρ.]interpreting spiritual things to the spiritual. So
Theophyl. altern., πνευματικοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὰ πνευματικὰ συγκρίνοντες καὶ
διαλύοντες· οὗτοι γὰρμόνοι δύνανται χωρεῖν ταῦτα. And very nearly so as
regards συγκρίνοντες Chrysostomand Grotius; only they take πνευματικοῖς

not masc. but neuter, ‘by spiritual things:’ ὅτανπνευματικὸνκαὶ ἄπορονᾖ,
ἀπὸ τῶν πνευμακῶντὰς μαρτυρίας ἄγομεν. οἷον λέγω, ὅτι ἀνέστη ὁ χριστός,
ὅτι ἀπὸ παρθένου ἐγεννήθη. παράγω μαρτυρίας κ. τύπους κ. ἀποδείξεις, τοῦ
ἰωνᾶ, κ. τ. λ. Chrys. Hom. vii. p. 55. ‘Exponentes ea quæ Prophetæ Spiritu Dei
acti dixere, per ea quæ Christus suo Spiritu nobis aperuit.’ Grot. Meyer
denies that συγκρίνω ever means to interpret: but evidently the LXX do so use
it in Genesis 40:8, ἐνύπνιον εἴδομεν, καὶ ὁ συγκρίνων οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτό. See also
Genesis 40:16;Gen_40:22, and Daniel5:12, Theodotion(where the LXX have
συγκρίματα ἀπέδειξε). Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, De Wette, and Meyerrender it,
‘fitting, or attaching, spiritual words to spiritual things.’ And so I gave and
defended it in my earlier editions. It seems to me now more natural to take
πνευματικοῖς as masculine, and as leading to the introduction of the two men,
the ψυχικός, andthe πνευματικός, immediately after.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Alford, Henry. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". Greek Testament
Critical ExegeticalCommentary.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hac/1-corinthians-2.html.
1863-1878.
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and ExegeticalCommentaryon the New Testament
1 Corinthians 2:13. Having thus in 1 Corinthians 2:10-12 given the proof of
that ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπεκάλ. κ. τ. λ(401), the apostle goes onnow to the manner in
which the things revealed were proclaimed, passing, therefore, from the
εἰδέναι τὰ χαρ. to the λαλεῖν of them. The manner, negative and positive, of
this λαλεῖν (comp 1 Corinthians 2:4) he links to what has gone before simply
by the relative: which (namely, τὰ … χαρισθ. ἡμ.) we also (in accordancewith

the factof our having receivedthe Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:12) utter not in
words learned of human wisdom (dialectics, rhetoric, etc.), but in those
learned of the Spirit. The genitives: ἀνθρωπ. σοφ. and πνεύματος, are
dependent on διδακτοῖς (John6:45). See Winer, pp. 182, 178 [E. T. 242, 236].
Pflugk, a(403)Eur. Hec. 1135. CompPindar, Ol. ix. 153:πολλοὶ δὲ διδακταῖς
ἀνθρώπων ἀρεταῖς κλέος ὤρουσαν ἑλέσθαι· ἄνευ δὲ θεοῦ κ. τ. λ(405), comp
Nem. iii. 71. Sophocles, El. 1Co 336:τἀμὰ νουθετήματα κείνης διδακτά. Itis
true that the genitives might also be dependent upon λόγοις (Fritzsche, Diss.
II. in 2 Cor. p. 27); but the context, having διδακτοῖς πνεύματος,is against
this. To take διδακτοῖς (with Ewald) as meaning, according to the common
classicalusage,learnable, quae doceri possunt(see especiallyDemosth. 1413.
24; Plato, Prot. p. 319 B: οὐ διδακτὸνεἶναι μηδʼ ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων
παρασκευαστὸνἀνθρώποις), does notagree so well with 1 Corinthians 2:4; 1
Corinthians 2:15.
The suggestioverborum, here asserted, is reduced to its right measure by
διδακτοῖς;for that word excludes all idea of anything mechanical, and implies
the living self-appropriation of that mode of expressionwhich was specifically
suitable both to the divine inspiration and to its contents (“verba rem
sequuntur,” Wetstein),—anappropriation capable of being connectedin very
different forms with different given individualities (Peter, Paul, Apollos,
James, etc.), and of presenting itself in eachcase with a corresponding variety.
πνευ΄ατικοῖς πνευ΄ατικὰ συγκρίνοντες]connecting(407)spiritual things with
spiritual, not uniting things unlike in nature, which would be the case, were
we to give forth what was revealedby the Holy Spirit in the speechof human
wisdom, in philosophic discourse, but joining to the matters revealedby the
Spirit ( πνευματικοῖς)the speechalso taught by the Spirit ( πνευματικά),—
things consequently of like nature, “spiritualibus spiritualia componentes”
(Castalio). So in substance also Erasmus, Beza, Calvin, Balduin, Wolf,
Baumgarten, Kling in the Stud. und Krit. 1839, p. 437, de Wette, Osiander,
Maier, etc., and rightly, since this sense suits the connectionsingularly well,
and does not in any degree clashwith the classicaluse ofσυγκρίνειν
(Valckenaer, p. 134 f.; Porson, a(408)Med. 136). Plato has it frequently in this
meaning, and in contrastto διακρίνειν. See Ast, Lex. Plat. III. p. 290 f. Other
commentators, while also taking πνευματ. as neuter, make συγκρίνειν,

explicare, namely, either: explaining the N. T. doctrine from the types of the
O. T. (Chrysostomand his successors(409)), or:“exponentes ea, quae
prophetae Spiritu Dei acti dixere, per ea, quae Christus suo Spiritu nobis
aperuit” (Grotius, Krebs), or: “spiritualibus verbis spiritualia interpretantes”
(Elsner, Mosheim, Bolten, Neander). But the first two of these renderings are
againstthe context, and all the three are againstthe usus loquendi; for
συγκρίνειν is never absolutely interpretari, either in profane Greek (in which,
among later writers, as also in 2 Corinthians 10:12, Wisdom of Solomon7:29;
Wisdom of Solomon 15:18, 1 Maccabees 10:71,it very often means to
compare;comp Vulgate: comparantes, and see Lobeck, a(411)Phryn. p. 278)
or in the LXX. With the latter it is indeed the common word for the
interpretation of dreams ( ‫,פתר‬ see Genesis 40:8 ; Genesis 40:16;Genesis
40:22;Genesis 41:12;Genesis 41:15;Daniel 5:12); but in such cases(comp the
passagesfrom Philo, where διακρίνειν occurs, in Loesner, p. 273)we have to
trace it back to the literal signification of judging,(413)namely, as to what was
to be indicated by the vision in the dream (comp κρίνειν τὸ σημαινόμενοντῶν
ὀνειράτωνin Josephus, Antt. ii. 2. 2, also the ὀνειροκριτικά ofArtemidorus).
The meaning, to judge, however, although instances ofit may be establishedin
Greek writers also (Anthol. vii. 132;Polybius, xiv. 3, 7, xii. 10. 1; Lucian.
Soloec.5), would be unsuitable here, for this reason, that the phrase
πνευματικοῖς πνευματικά, bothbeing takenas neuter, manifestly, according to
the context, expresses the relation of matter and form, not the judging of the
one πνευματικόνby the other (Ewald), notwithstanding that Luther, too,
adopts a similar interpretation: “and judge spiritual things spiritually.”
Lastly, it is incorrect to take πνευματικοῖς as masculine, and render:
explaining things revealedby the Spirit to those who are led by the Spirit (the
same as τελείοις in 1 Corinthians 2:6; comp Galatians 6:1). This is the view of
Pelagius, Sedulius, Theophylact(suggestedonly), Thomas, Estius, Clericus,
Bengel, Rosenmüller, Pott, Heydenreich, Flatt, Billroth, Rückert. To the same
class belongs the exposition of Hofmann, according to whom what is meant is
the solution of the problem as to how the world beyond and hereafter reveals
and foreshows itselfin what God’s grace has already bestowedupon us (1
Corinthians 2:12) in a predictive sign as it were,—a solutionwhich has
spiritual things for its object, and takes place for those who are spiritual. But
the text does not contain either a contrastbetweenthe world here and that

hereafter, or a problematic relation of the one to the other; the contrastis
introduced into τὰ χαρισθέντα in 1 Corinthians 2:12, and the problem and its
predictive signare imported into συγκρίνοντες.(416)Again, it is by no means
required by the connectionwith 1 Corinthians 2:14 ff. that we should take
πνευματικοῖς as masculine;for 1 Corinthians 2:14 begins a new part of the
discourse, so that ψυχικὸς ἄνθρωπος only finds its personalcontrastin ὁ δὲ
πνευματικός in 1 Corinthians 2:15. Tittmann’s explanation (Synon. p. 290 f.,
and comp Baur) comes back to the sense:conveying (conferentes)spiritual
things to spiritual persons, without linguistic precedentfor it.
Note the weightycollocation:πνεύματος, πνευματικοῖς, πνευματικά.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Meyer, Heinrich. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". Heinrich Meyer's
Critical and ExegeticalCommentary on the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/hmc/1-corinthians-2.html.
1832.
Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
1 Corinthians 2:13. καὶ, also)Thus the phrases, we might know and we speak
are joined.— διδακτοῖς, taught)consisting of doctrine and instruction. The
word σοφίας with λόγοις is not to be resolvedinto an epithet; wisdom is the
gushing fountain of words.— ἀλλʼ ἐν, but in) an immediate antithesis;nor can
it be said, that the apostles comparedmerely the natural powerof speech, as
distinguished on the one hand from art, and on the other, from the Spirit.—
διδακτοῖς)διδαχῇ(22)by the teaching, which the Holy Spirit(23) furnishes
through us seems to be a better reading. That doctrine comprehends both

wisdom and words.— πνευματικοῖςπνευματικὰ,spiritual things to [with;
Engl. Vers. and Vulg.] spiritual) We interpret [But Engl. Vers. and Vulg.
comparing) spiritual things and spiritual words in a manner suitable to
spiritual men, 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:15, so that they may be
willing and able to receive them; συγκρίνω, σύγκρι΄α, σύγκρισις, are
frequently used by the LXX. for example, in respectto the interpretation of
dreams, Genesis 40, 41;Dan. 2 4 5 7.
διδακτοῖς is the reading of ABCD( λ)G Orig. (B, according to Bartolocci,
reads διδακτῷ). But fg, Vulg. Syr. read διδαχῇ. ἁγίου is placedbefore or after
πνενματος in the later Syr. and Rec. Text. But ABCD correctedlater, G,
Origen 1, 197b, Vulg. omit ἀγίον(Vulg. correctedby Victor has Sancti).—ED.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Bengel, JohannAlbrecht. "Commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:13". Johann
Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/jab/1-corinthians-2.html.
1897.
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Reasonand all practice directeth men to speak and write of subjects in a style
and phrase fitted to the matter about which they write or discourse. Our
subjects, saith the apostle, were sublime, spiritual subjects; therefore I did not
discourse them like an orator, with an excellencyof speechor of wisdom, ,{as
1 Corinthians 2:1} or with the enticing or persuasive words of man’s wisdom,
( as he had said, 1 Corinthians 2:4), nor with words which man’s wisdom
teacheth, ( which is his phrase here), but with words which the Holy Ghost

hath taught us, either in holy writ, or by its impressions upon our minds,
where they are first formed.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual; fitting spiritual things to spiritual
persons who are able to understand them, or fitting spiritual language to
spiritual matter, speaking the oracles ofGod as the oracles ofGod, 1 Peter
4:11; not declaiming like an orator, nor arguing philosophically like an
Athenian philosopher, but using a familiar, plain, spiritual style, giving you
the nakedtruths of God without any paint or gaudery of phrase.
Copyright Statement
Bibliography
Poole, Matthew, "Commentaryon 1 Corinthians 2:13". Matthew Poole's
English Annotations on the Holy Bible.
https:https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/mpc/1-corinthians-2.html.
1685.
Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament
In the words-whichthe Holy Ghostteacheth; the Spirit taught them not only
what was to be communicated, but how to communicate it-not in preaching
only, but in writing. As the Holy Ghosttaught the writers of the Bible what
truths to communicate and in what words to communicate them, it may safely
be relied on as an exactexpressionof the will of God, and a perfectrule of
faith and practice.
Copyright Statement

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