         
• Key
Chapter 2
- The apostle makes an apology for his manner of
preaching, 1.
- And gives the reason why he adopted that
manner, 2-5.
- He shows that this preaching,
notwithstanding it was not with excellence of human
speech or wisdom, yet was the mysterious wisdom of God,
which the princes of this world did not know, and which
the Spirit of God alone could reveal, 6-10.
- It is the
Spirit of God only that can reveal the things of God, 11.
The apostles of Christ know the things of God by the Spirit
of God, and teach them, not in the words of man's
wisdom, but in the words of that Spirit, 12,13.
- The natural man cannot discern the things of the
Spirit, 14. But the spiritual man can discern and teach
them, because he has the mind of Christ, 15,16.
Notes on Chapter 2
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Verse 1. When I came to
you
Acting suitably to my mission, which
was to preach the Gospel, but not with human eloquence, 1 Corinthians
1:17. I declared to you the testimony, the Gospel,
of God, not with excellency of speech,
not with arts of rhetoric, used by your own philosophers,
where the excellence of the speech recommends the matter, and
compensates for the want of solidity and truth: on the
contrary, the testimony concerning Christ and his salvation is
so supremely excellent, as to dignify any kind of language by
which it may be conveyed. See the Introduction, sect. ii.
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Verse 2. I determined not to know
any thing among you
Satisfied that the
Gospel of God could alone make you wise unto salvation, I
determined to cultivate no other knowledge, and to teach
nothing but Jesus Christ, and him crucified, as the foundation
of all true wisdom, piety, and happiness. No other doctrine
shall I proclaim among you.
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Verse 3. I was with you in
weakness
It is very likely that St. Paul
had not only something in his speech very unfavourable
to a ready and powerful elocution, but also some infirmity of
body that was still more disadvantageous to him. A fine
appearance and a fine voice cover many
weaknesses and defects, and strongly and forcibly recommend
what is spoken, though not remarkable for depth of thought or
solidity of reasoning. Many popular orators have little
besides their persons and their voice to
recommend them. Louis XIV. styled Peter du Bosc le plus
beau parleur de son royaume, the finest speaker in
his kingdom; and among his own people he was styled
l'orateur parfait, the perfect orator. Look at
the works of this French protestant divine, and you find it
difficult to subscribe to the above sayings. The difficulty is
solved by the information that the person of M. du Bosc
was noble and princely, and his voice full, harmonious,
and majestic. Paul had none of these advantages, and yet
idolatry and superstition fell before him. Thus GOD was seen
in the work, and the man was forgotten.
In fear, and in much
trembling.
This was often the state of his
mind; dreading lest he should at any time be unfaithful, and
so grieve the Spirit of God; or that, after having preached to
others, himself should be a castaway. See 1 Corinthians
9:27.
An eminent divine has said that it requires three things to
make a good preacher; study, temptation, and
prayer. The latter, no man that lives near to God can
neglect; the former, no man who endeavours rightly to divide
the word of truth will neglect; and with the second
every man will be more or less exercised whose whole aim is to
save souls. Those of a different cast the devil permits to
pass quietly on in their own indolent and prayerless way.
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Verse 4. And my
speech
οτοις,
, My doctrine; the
matter of my preaching.
And my preaching
(. . . ου), My proclamation, my manner of
recommending the grand but simple truths of the Gospel.
Was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom
(. . . γο), With persuasive doctrines of
human wisdom: in every case I left man out,
that God might become the more evident. I used none of
the means of which great orators avail themselves in order to
become popular, and thereby to gain fame.
But in demonstration of the
Spirit
(. . . ου), In the
manifestation; or, as two ancient MSS. have it,
(. . . ου), in the revelation of the Spirit. The
doctrine that he preached was revealed by the Spirit:
that it was a revelation of the Spirit, the holiness,
purity, and usefulness of the doctrine rendered
manifest: and the overthrow of idolatry, and the
conversion of souls, by the power and energy of the
preaching, were the demonstration that all was Divine.
The greater part of the best MSS., versions, and
fathers, leave out the adjective ανθρωπινης,
man's, before σοφιας, wisdom: it is possible
that the word may be a gloss, but it is necessarily
implied in the clause. Not with the persuasive
discourses, or doctrines of wisdom; i.e. of
human philosophy.
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Verse 5. That your faith should not
stand
That the illumination of your souls
and your conversion to God might appear to have nothing
human in it: your belief, therefore, of the truths
which have been proposed to you is founded, not in human
wisdom, but in Divine power: human wisdom
was not employed; and human power, if it had been
employed, could not have produced the change.
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Verse 6. We speak wisdom among them
that are perfect
By the οτοις,
,
among those that are perfect, we are to understand
Christians of the highest knowledge and attainments-
those who were fully instructed in the knowledge of God
through Christ Jesus. Nothing, in the judgment of St. Paul,
deserved the name of wisdom but this. And though he
apologizes for his not coming to them with excellency of
speech or wisdom, yet he means what was reputed wisdom among
the Greeks, and which, in the sight of God, was mere
folly when compared with that wisdom that came from
above. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that the apostle mentions a
fourfold wisdom. 1. Heathen wisdom, or that of
the Gentile philosophers, 1 Corinthians
1:22, which was termed by the Jews chokmah
yevanith, Grecian wisdom; and which was so undervalued by
them, that they joined these two under the same curse:
Cursed is he that breeds hogs; and cursed is he who
teaches his son Grecian wisdom. Bava Kama, fol. 82.
2. Jewish wisdom; that of the scribes and Pharisees,
who crucified our Lord, 1 Corinthians
2:8.
3. The Gospel, which is called the wisdom of God
in a mystery, 1 Corinthians
2:7.
4. The wisdom, οτοις,
, of this
world; that system of knowledge which the Jews made up out
of the writings of their scribes and doctors. This state is
called haolam hazzeh, this or the present world;
to distinguish it from haolam habba the world to come;
i.e. the days of the Messiah. Whether we understand the term,
this world, as relating to the state of the Gentiles,
cultivated to the uttermost in philosophical learning, or the
then state of the Jews, who had made the word of God of no
effect by their traditions, which contained a sort of learning
of which they were very fond and very proud, yet, by this
Grecian and Jewish wisdom, no soul ever could have arrived at
any such knowledge or wisdom as that communicated by the
revelation of Christ. This was perfect wisdom; and they
who were thoroughly instructed in it, and had received the
grace of the Gospel, were termed(. . . ου), the perfect.
This, says the apostle, is not the wisdom of this
world, for that has not the manifested Messiah in
it; nor the wisdom of the rulers of this
world-the chief men, whether philosophers
among the Greeks, or rabbins among the
Jews (for those we are to understand as implied in the
term rulers, used here by the apostle) these rulers
came to nought; for they, their wisdom, and their
government, were shortly afterwards overturned in the
destruction of Jerusalem. This declaration of the apostle is
prophetic. The ruin of the Grecian superstition soon
followed.
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Verse 7. The wisdom of God in a
mystery
The GOSPEL of Jesus Christ, which
had been comparatively hidden from the foundation
of the world, (the settling of the Jewish economy,
as this phrase often means,) though appointed from the
beginning to be revealed in the fulness of time. For,
though this Gospel was, in a certain sense, announced by the
prophets, and prefigured by the law, yet it is certain that
even the most intelligent of the Jewish rulers, their
doctors, scribes, and Pharisees, had no adequate
knowledge of it; therefore it was still a mystery to them and
others, till it was so gloriously revealed by the preaching of
the apostles.
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Verse 8. Which none of the princes
of this world knew
Here it is evident that
this world refers to the Jewish state, and to the
degree of knowledge in that state: and the rulers, the
priests, rabbins, crucifixion of our Lord.
The Lord of glory.
Or the glorious Lord, infinitely transcending all
the rulers of the universe; whose is eternal
glory; who gave that glorious Gospel in which
his followers may glory, as it affords them such cause of
triumph as the heathens had not, who gloried in their
philosophers. Here is a teacher who is come from God;
who has taught the most glorious truths which it is
possible for the soul of man to conceive; and has promised to
lead all the followers of his crucified Master to that state
of glory which is ineffable and eternal.
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Verse 9. But, as it is
written
The quotation is taken from Isaiah
64:4. The sense is continued here from verse seven, and
(. . . ου), we speak, is understood-We do not
speak or preach the wisdom of this world; but that
mysterious wisdom of God, of which the prophet said: Eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into
the heart of man the things which God has prepared for
them that love him. These words have been applied to the
state of glory in a future world; but they certainly
belong to the present state, and express merely the wondrous
light, life, and liberty which the Gospel communicates to them
that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in that way which the
Gospel itself requires. To this the prophet himself refers;
and it is evident, from the following verse, that the apostle
also refers to the same thing. Such a scheme of salvation, in
which God's glory and man's felicity should be equally
secured, had never been seen, never heard of, nor could any
mind but that of God have conceived the idea of so vast a
project; nor could any power but his own have brought it to
effect.
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Verse 10. But God hath revealed them
unto us
A manifest proof that the apostle
speaks here of the glories of the Gospel, and not of
the glories of the future world.
For the Spirit searcheth all
things
This is the Spirit of God, which
spoke by the prophets, and has now given to the apostles the
fulness of that heavenly truth, of which He gave to the
former only the outlines.
Yea, the deep things of
God.
It is only the Spirit of God which can
reveal the counsels of God: these are the purposes which have
existed in His infinite wisdom and goodness from eternity; and
particularly what refers to creation, providence, redemption,
and eternal glory, as far as men and angels are concerned in
these purposes. The apostles were so fully convinced that the
scheme of redemption proclaimed by the Gospel was Divine, that
they boldly asserted that these things infinitely surpassed
the wisdom and comprehension of man. God was now in a certain
way become manifest; many attributes of his, which to
the heathen world would have for ever lain in obscurity, (for
the world by wisdom knew not God,) were now not only brought
to light as existing in him, but illustrated by the gracious
displays which He had made of himself. It was the Spirit of
God alone that could reveal these things; and it was the
energy of that Spirit alone that could bring them all into
effect-stamp and seal them as attributes and works of God for
ever. The apostles were as truly conscious of their own
inspiration as they were that they had consciousness at
all; and what they spoke, they spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Ghost.
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Verse 11. For what man knoweth the
things of a man
The word οτοις,
in the
first clause is omitted by the Codex
Alexandrinus, and one other; and by Athanasius,
Cyril, and Vigil of Tapsus. Bishop Pearce
contends strongly against the authenticity of the word, and
reads the passage thus: "For what is there that knoweth the
things of a man, except the spirit of a man that is in him?"
"I leave out," says the learned bishop, (. . . ου), with the
Alexandrian MS., and read (. . . ου); because I
conceive that the common reading is wide of St. Paul's
meaning; for to say, What man except the spirit of a
man, is (I think) to speak improperly, and to suppose
that the spirit of a man is a man; but it is very proper to
say, What except the spirit of a man: τις is
feminine as well as masculine, and therefore may be supplied
with ουσια, or some such word, as well as with (. . . ου)"
Though the authority for omitting this word is comparatively
slender, yet it must be owned that its omission renders the
text much more intelligible. But even one MS. may
preserve the true reading.
The spirit of a man knows the things of a man: that is, a
man is conscious of all the schemes, plans, and purposes, that
pass in his own mind; and no man can know these things but
himself. So, the Spirit of God, He whom we call the Third
Person of the glorious TRINITY, knows all the counsels and
determinations of the Supreme Being. As the Spirit is here
represented to live in God as the soul lives in the body of a
man, and as this Spirit knows all the things of God, and had
revealed those to the apostles which concern the salvation of
the world, therefore what they spoke and preached was true,
and men may implicitly depend upon it. The miracles which they
did, in the name of Christ, were the proof that they had that
Spirit, and spoke the truth of God.
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Verse 12. Now we have received, not
the spirit of the world
We, who are the
genuine apostles of Christ, have received this Spirit of God,
by which we know the deep things of God; and, through the
teaching of that Spirit, we preach Christ crucified. We have
not therefore received the spirit of the world-of the
Jewish teachers, who are all looking for a worldly
kingdom and a worldly Messiah, and interpret all
the scriptures of the Old Testament which relate to Him in a
carnal and worldly sense.
That we might know the
things
We receive this teaching that we may
know what those supereminently excellent things are which God
has purposed freely to give to mankind. It is
evident that, as the apostle means by princes of the
world the rulers of the Jews, 1 Corinthians
2:6-8, so by spirit of the world he here means
Jewish wisdom, or their carnal mode of interpreting the sacred
oracles, and their carnal expectation of a worldly kingdom
under the Messiah.
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Verse 13. Which things also we
speak
We dare no more use the
language of the Jews and the Gentiles in speaking of
those glorious things, than we can indulge their
spirit. The Greek orators affected a high and florid
language, full of tropes and figures, which dazzled more than
it enlightened. The rabbins affected obscurity, and
were studious to find out cabalistical meanings, which
had no tendency to make the people wise unto salvation. The
apostles could not follow any of these; they spoke the
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 easily comprehend an
apostle's preaching.
Comparing spiritual things with
spiritual.
This is commonly understood to
mean, comparing the spiritual things under the Old Testament
with the spiritual things under the New: but this does not
appear to be the apostle's meaning. The word οτοις,
,
which we translate comparing, rather signifies
conferring, discussing, or explaining;
and the word (. . . ου) should be rendered to spiritual
men, and not be referred to spiritual
things. The passage therefore should be thus
translated: Explaining spiritual things to spiritual
persons. And this sense the following verse absolutely
requires.
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Verse 14. But the natural
man
οτοις,
, The animal man-the man
who is in a mere state of nature, and lives under the
influence of his animal passions; for the word ψυχη, which we
often translate soul, means the lower and sensitive
part of man, in opposition to νους, the understanding
or rational part. The Latins use anima to
signify these lower passions; and animus to signify the
higher. The person in question is not only one who either has
had no spiritual teaching, or has not profited by it; but one
who lives for the present world, having no respect to
spiritual or eternal things. This (. . . ου), or animal
man, is opposed to the (. . . ου), or spiritual
man: and, as this latter is one who is under the influence
of the Spirit of God, so the former is one who is without that
influence.
The apostle did speak of those high and sublime spiritual
things to these animal men; but he explained
them to those which were spiritual. He uses this word in this
sense, 1 Corinthians
3:1;; 9:11;
and particularly in verse 15 of the present chapter: He
that is spiritual judgeth all things. 1 Corinthians
2:15
But the natural man-The apostle appears to give this-as a
reason why he explained those deep spiritual things to
spiritual men; because the animal man-the man who is in
a state of nature, without the regenerating grace of the
Spirit of God, receiveth not the things of the
Spirit-neither apprehends nor comprehends them: he has no
relish for them; he considers it the highest wisdom to
live for this world. Therefore these spiritual things
are foolishness to him; for while he is in his
animal state he cannot see their excellency, because
they are spiritually discerned, and he has no spiritual
mind.
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Verse 15. But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things
He who has the mind of
Christ discerns and judges of all things spiritual: yet he
himself is not discerned by the mere animal man. Some suppose
that the word οτοις,
should be understood thus: He
examines, scrutinizes, convinces, reproves, which it
appears to mean in 1 Corinthians
14:24; and they read the verse thus: The spiritual
man-the well-taught Christian, convinces, i.e. can easily
convict, all men, (. . . ου), accusing,) every animal man, of
error and vice; yet he himself is convicted of no man; his
mind is enlightened, and his life is holy; and therefore the
animal man cannot convict him of sin. This is a good sense,
but the first appears the most natural. See Pearce and
Rosenmuller.
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Verse 16. For who hath known the
mind of the Lord
Who that is still an
animal man can know the mind of God? so as to instruct him,
viz. the spiritual man, the same that is spoken of, 1 Corinthians
2:15. But the words may be better understood thus: How can
the animal man know the mind of the Lord? and how can any man
communicate that knowledge which he has never acquired, and
which is foolishness to him, because it is spiritual, and he
is animal? This quotation is made from Isaiah
40:13.
But we have the mind of
Christ.
He has endowed us with the same
disposition, being born again by his Spirit; therefore we are
capable of knowing his mind and receiving the teachings of his
Spirit. These teachings we do receive, and therefore are well
qualified to convey them to others.
The words, that he may instruct him,
οτοις,
, should be translated that he may
teach IT: that is, the mind of God; not instruct God, but
teach his mind to others. And this interpretation the Hebrew
will also bear.
Bishop Pearce observes: "The principal questions here are,,
what (. . . ου) signifies, and what (. . . ου) is relative to. The
Hebrew word which the Septuagint translate by these two is
yodiennu: now, since yodia signifies as well to
make known as to know, (and indeed this is the
most frequent sense of it in the Old Testament,) the suffix
(postfix) nu, may relate to a thing, as well as
to a person; and therefore it may be rendered not by
him, but by it, i.e. the mind of the
Lord. And in this sense the apostle seems to have used the
words of the Seventy; for, if we understand αυτον here to be
the relative to (. . . ου), Lord, this verse contains no
reason for what went before; whereas, if it be a relative to
νουν, mind, it affords a reason for what had been said
before, 1 Corinthians
2:14." The true translation of the passage, as used by the
apostle, appears to be this: For who hath known the
mind of the Lord, that he should TEACH IT? And this
translation agrees with every part of the context, and
particularly with what follows.
1. THIS chapter might be considered a good model for a
Christian minister to regulate his conduct by, or his public
ministry; because it points out the mode of preaching used by
St. Paul and the apostles in general. This great apostle came
not to the people with excellency of speech and of wisdom,
when he declared unto them the counsel of God. They
know little, either of the spirit of St. Paul or the design of
the Gospel, who make the chief excellence of their preaching
to consist in the eloquence of language, or depth of human
reasoning. That may be their testimony, but it is not
God's. The enticing words of man's wisdom are
seldom accompanied by the demonstration and power of
the Holy Spirit.
2. One justly remarks, that "the foolishness of preaching
has its wisdom, loftiness, and eloquence; but this consists in
the sublimity of its truths, the depth of its mysteries, and
the ardour of the Spirit of God." In this respect Paul may be
said to have preached wisdom among those which were
perfect. The wisest and most learned men in the world, who
have seriously read the Bible, have acknowledged that there is
a depth and height of wisdom and knowledge in that book of God
which are sought in vain any where else: and indeed it would
not be a revelation from God were it not so. The men who can
despise and ridicule this sacred book are those who are too
blind to discover the objects presented to them by this
brilliant light, and are too sensual to feel and relish
spiritual things. They, above all others, are incapable of
judging, and should be no more regarded when employed in
talking against the sacred writings than an ignorant peasant
should be, who, not knowing his alphabet, pretends to decry
mathematical learning.
3. A new mode of preaching has been diligently
recommended,- "Scriptural phraseology should be generally
avoided where it is antiquated, or conveys ideas inconsistent
with modern delicacy." St. Paul did not preach in the words
which man's wisdom teacheth- such words are too mean and too
low for a religion so Divine. That which the Holy Spirit alone
can discover, he alone can explain. Let no man dare to speak
of God in any other way than he speaks of himself in his word.
Let us take care not to profane his truths and mysteries,
either by such low and abject ideas as are
merely human, or by new and worldly
expressions altogether unworthy of the Spirit of God.
4. It is the glory of God, and ought to be ours, not to be
acceptable to carnal men. The natural man always finds
some pretence to excuse himself from believing, by looking on
the mysteries of religion as being either too much above man
or too much below God; the spiritual man judges them to be so
much the more credible, the less credible they are to the
natural man.
The opposition, contempt, and blindness of the world, with
regard to the things of God, render all its judgments
concerning them liable to exception: this blindness in
spiritual things is the just punishment of a carnal life. The
principal part of the above is extracted from the reflections
of the pious Quesnel.
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Copyright Statement
The Adam Clarke Commentary is a derivative of an
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Bibliography
Information
Clarke, Adam. "Commentary
on 1 Corinthians 2". "The Adam Clarke Commentary".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=1co&chapter=002>.
1832.
|
