Heart (xapdiav). See on Rom. i. 21.
10. Searcheth (€pevva). See on John y. 39. Not, searcheth in order to discover; but of the ever active, accurate, careful sounding of the depths of God by the Spirit.
11. Spirit (rvedua). See on Rom. vii. 4. The things of God can be recognized only by the highest element of the human personality. They have not entered into the heart (capdia, see on Rom. i. 21), but into the spirit, which is the highest and principal point of contact with the Spirit of God.
12. The spirit of the world (76 wvedua tod Kocpov). For this use of 7vetwa, see on Rom. viii. 4, under 7. Koopos world, ig used with the ethical sense. See on John i. 9, under 4, e. The phrase means the principle of evil which animates the un- regenerate world; not the personal spirit of evil or Satan, since Paul does not use tvedua spirit, elsewhere in the personal sense of an evil spirit. See note on Eph. ii. 2.
Of God (é« rod Oecod). Lit., from God: proceeding forth from Him. “God in us reveals God in our nature” (Edwards).
Cu. II.] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 197
13. 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 speech of God with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual; all other wisdom, such as that of arts and handicrafts, is mean and vulgar” (‘‘ Sympos- ium,” 208).
Which the Spirit teacheth (€v dudaxrois tvevparos). Lit., in the taught (words) of the Spirit. Taught; not mechanically uttered, but communicated by a living Spirit.
Comparing spiritual things with spiritual (avevpartcxois mvevpatixa cuyKpivovtes). Notice the paronomasia. See on Rom. i. 29, 31. The dispute on this verse arises over the meanings of cuvyxpivovtes, A. V., comparing, and mvevpartixois spiritual. As 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 princi- pal interpretations are: adapting spiritual words to spiritual things ; adapting spiritual things to spiritual men ; interpret- ing spiritual things to spiritual men; interpreting spiritual things by spiritual words. Xuyxpivovres occurs only here and 2 Cor. x. 12, where the meaning is clearly compare. In classic- al Greek the original meaning is to compound, and later, to compare, as in Aristotle and Plutarch, and to interpret, used of dreams, and mainly in Septuagint. See Gen. xl. 8. The most satisfactory interpretation is combining spiritual things with spiritual words. After speaking of spiritual thangs (vv. 11, 12, 13), Paul now speaks of the forms in which they are con- veyed—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 rev- elations of the Spirit in the speech of human wisdom.*
14. The natural man (uyixos dvIpwros). See on Rom. xi. 4, on the distinction between Wvyy soul, life, and mvedpa
*So Ellicott, Brown, Meyer, Thayer, De Wette, Alford, and American Rey. Edwards holds by the A. V. Godet, ‘‘ adapting spiritual teachings to spiritual men.”
198 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Ce IL
spirit. The contrast is between a man governed by the divine Spirit and one from whom that Spirit is absent. But ypuxexos natural, is not equivalent to capkcxds fleshly. Paul is speaking of natural as contrasted with spiritual cognition applied to spiritual truth, and therefore of the ~uyn soul, as the organ of human cognition, contrasted with the wvedpua spordt, as the organ of spiritual cognition. The man, therefore, whose cognition of truth depends solely upon his natural insight is yuyseos nat- ural, as contrasted with the spiritual man (avevpatixos) to whom divine insight is imparted. In other words, the organ employed in the apprehension of spiritual truth characterizes the man. Paul therefore “characterizes the man who is not yet capable of understanding divine wisdom as wuyeKos, 2.¢., as one who possesses in his :uy7 soul, simply the organ of purely human cognition, but has not yet the organ of religious cogni- tion in the wvedya spirit” (Dickson).* It is perhaps impossible to find an English word which will accurately render yuyexos. Psychic is simply the Greek transcribed. We can do no better than hold by the A. V. natural.t