Chapter 2

1 When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superior eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed the testimony of God. 2 For I decided to be concerned about nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. 4 My conversation and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not be based on human wisdom but on the power of God. 6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. 7 Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.⁠ 9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”⁠ 10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. 13 And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one. 16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Corinthians 2:9 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:8 and 2 Clement 11:7

New Testament · Early Christian

Summary

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul quotes Isaiah's language of unseen and unheard gifts. The author of 1 Clement repeats the promise, and in 2 Clement, the preacher alludes to it but rearranges it, perhaps using a traditional form of the text.

Passages

1 Corinthians 2:9

New Testament

6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing. 7 Instead we speak the wisdom of God, hidden in a mystery, that God determined before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written, “Things that no eye has seen, or ear heard, or mind imagined, are the things God has prepared for those who love him.” 10 God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

55–57 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Corinthians

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:8

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

5 Let our boast and our confidence be in Him: let us submit ourselves to His will; let us note the whole host of His angels, how they stand by and serve His will. 6 For the scripture says, “Ten thousands of ten thousands stood by Him, and thousands of thousands served Him: and they cried aloud, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth; all creation is full of His glory.’” 7 Yes, and let us also, gathered together in harmony and with earnest hearts, cry out to Him earnestly as with one mouth, so that we may share in His great and glorious promises. 8 For He says, “Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man what great things He has prepared for those who patiently wait for Him.”

90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

2 Clement 11:7

Early Christian

3 You fools! Compare yourselves to a tree; take a vine. First it sheds its leaves, then a shoot appears, after this a sour berry, then a fully ripe grape. 4 So likewise My people had turmoil and afflictions, but afterward they shall receive good things. 5 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us not be double-minded but patiently endure in hope, so that we may also obtain our reward. 6 For He who promised is faithful to pay each person the due reward of their works. 7 If therefore we have done what is right in the sight of God, we shall enter His kingdom and shall receive the promises that no ear has heard nor eye seen, nor has it entered into any person’s heart.

130–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Clement

References

“... Paul and the author of 1 Clement both use citation formulae, which imply that they are quoting from Scripture, but the words that they use do not correspond exactly with any otherwise known version of a scriptural text. It is possible that they quote Isa. 64. 3, but in a different form than that in the LXX. However, there is no citation formula in 2 Clement, and the parallels to Isa. 64 are less clear than those found in 1 Corinthians and in 1 Clement. 2 Clem. 11. 7 has ear before eye [...]. Thus it is possible that the author of 2 Clement does not use Isa. 64 at all, or that he uses it in a different form from that used by Paul and by the author of 1 Clement. [...] It is quite likely a commonplace, and the attestation in Ps.-Philo 26. 13 of the first part of the ‘saying’ (i.e., as found in 2 Clem. 11. 7, but not 14. 5) suggests that at least part of this commonplace was known independently of the Christian tradition. ...”

Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett, eds., The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 284–285.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

1 Corinthians16 chapters

Compare 1 Corinthians 2:9 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:8 and 2 Clement 11:7

Summary

Passages

1 Corinthians 2:9

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 34:8

2 Clement 11:7

References

Your feedback

Leave a comment

Glossary

Search the Library