1 Coríntios 2

ARC · Chapter 2/16

1E eu, irmãos, quando fui ter comvosco, annunciando-vos o testemunho de Deus, não fui com sublimidade de palavras ou de sabedoria.

2Porque não me propuz saber coisa alguma entre vós, senão a Jesus Christo, e este crucificado.

3E eu estive comvosco em fraqueza, e em temor, e em grande tremor.

4A minha palavra, e a minha prégação, não consistiu em palavras persuasivas de sabedoria humana, mas em demonstração de Espirito e de poder

5Para que a vossa fé não fosse em sabedoria dos homens, mas no poder de Deus.

6Todavia fallamos sabedoria entre os perfeitos; não porém a sabedoria d'este mundo, nem dos principes d'este mundo, que se aniquilam;

7Mas fallamos a sabedoria de Deus, occulta em mysterio, a qual Deus ordenou antes dos seculos para nossa gloria;

8A qual nenhum dos principes d'este mundo conheceu; porque, se a conhecessem, nunca crucificariam ao Senhor da gloria.

9Mas, como está escripto: As coisas que o olho não viu, e o ouvido não ouviu, e não subiram ao coração do homem, são as que Deus preparou para os que o amam

10Porém Deus nol-as revelou pelo seu Espirito; porque o Espirito penetra todas as coisas, ainda as profundezas de Deus.

11Porque, qual dos homens sabe as coisas do homem, senão o espirito do homem, que n'elle está? assim tambem ninguem sabe as coisas de Deus, senão o Espirito de Deus.

12Porém nós não recebemos o espirito do mundo, mas o Espirito que provém de Deus; para que saibamos as coisas que nos são dadas por Deus

13As quaes tambem fallamos, não com palavras que a sabedoria humana ensina, mas com as que o Espirito Sancto ensina, comparando as coisas espirituaes com as espirituaes,

14Mas o homem natural não comprehende as coisas do Espirito de Deus, porque lhe parecem loucura; e não pode entendel-as, porquanto se discernem espiritualmente.

15Porém o espiritual discerne bem todas as coisas, mas elle de ninguem é discernido.

16Porque, quem conheceu a mente do Senhor, para que possa instruil-o? Mas nós temos a mente de Christo.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul recalls that when he arrived in Corinth, he preached with simplicity, without sophisticated speeches, relying on the power of the Spirit. He explains that God's true wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit, and cannot be understood by human reason alone.

Explanation

In this chapter Paul continues the contrast from the previous one, now speaking of his own experience as a preacher. He deliberately avoided the sophisticated rhetoric so highly valued in Corinth, choosing instead to proclaim 'Christ, and him crucified' with simplicity. The central idea is that spiritual understanding doesn't come from the intellect alone, but from the action of God's Spirit revealing what human eyes cannot see. This doesn't dismiss reasoning, but teaches that Christian faith is born of revelation, not merely of convincing arguments. In practice, this invites us to seek God with humility, trusting that He himself enlightens the understanding of those who sincerely seek him.

Fun facts

  • The phrase 'we have the mind of Christ' (v.16) echoes Isaiah 40:13, which Paul quotes directly, showing how the New Testament constantly leans on the Old to ground its arguments.
  • The Greek term Paul uses for 'mystery' doesn't mean something enigmatic, but a plan of God once hidden and now revealed — a recurring concept also found in Ephesians and Colossians, letters by the same author.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Coríntios 2:1Paul recalls how he arrived in Corinth: without elaborate speech or philosophical argument, the style the city’s Greeks admired — deliberately, so as not to compete with the professional orators the city loved.
  2. 1 Coríntios 2:2He sums up his strategy in one sentence: he decided to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ crucified, setting aside any display of learning — the opposite of what Corinth’s traveling teachers did to impress people.
  3. 1 Coríntios 2:3Paul confesses that he arrived in Corinth in weakness, fear, and much trembling, not as a confident speaker — a human detail that contrasts with the image of a super-apostle they may have expected from him.
  4. 1 Coríntios 2:4He reinforces the point: his preaching did not convince through well-built rhetoric, but through a visible demonstration of the Spirit and of power — so that their faith would not depend on human talent.
  5. 1 Coríntios 2:5He explains the reason behind the strategy of the previous verses: if faith were born from a good speech, it would be held hostage to human wisdom; born from the power of God, it stands on a foundation that cannot collapse.
  6. 1 Coríntios 2:6“Wisdom among them that are perfect” does not mean people without sin, but people mature in faith, able to grasp deeper teaching. It is the same group that the “carnal” believers of chapter 3 still cannot keep up with.
  7. 1 Coríntios 2:7There is indeed a “wisdom” in Paul’s preaching, but it is God’s: a plan that was hidden and that He prepared before the world for the glory of believers — not the wisdom the Greeks were looking for.
  8. 1 Coríntios 2:8The “princes of this world” are the human authorities — Roman and Jewish — who had Jesus crucified without realizing who He was. Paul uses this to show that all the political and religious wisdom of the day failed at exactly the decisive moment.
  9. 1 Coríntios 2:9The quotation “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard” (echoing Isaiah) describes what God has prepared for those who love Him — something human curiosity alone would never have discovered. It was only revealed by the Spirit, as the next verse says.
  10. 1 Coríntios 2:10This hidden wisdom could only be known because God revealed it by His Spirit, who searches even the deepest things of God — something human reason alone would never discover.
  11. 1 Coríntios 2:11A simple comparison: only a person truly knows their own inner thoughts; in the same way, only the Spirit of God knows what is in God — which is why the Spirit is needed to understand these things.
  12. 1 Coríntios 2:12Believers received that same Spirit of God, not “the spirit of the world” (the common mindset), precisely so they could understand the gifts and truths God gave freely.
  13. 1 Coríntios 2:13Paul explains his teaching method: he uses words taught by the Holy Spirit, not by human wisdom, joining spiritual truth with spiritual language — reinforcing the contrast with Greek rhetoric.
  14. 1 Coríntios 2:14The “natural man” is the person who lives only by reason and the senses, with no openness to the Spirit. To that person, teachings like the cross of Christ simply make no sense, not because they are complicated, but because they call for a different kind of perception.
  15. 1 Coríntios 2:15“He that is spiritual judgeth all things” closes the chapter’s contrast: whoever has the Spirit can correctly assess spiritual matters and even human standards of wisdom, but no outsider can judge him the same way.
  16. 1 Coríntios 2:16“We have the mind of Christ” closes the chapter’s argument: since no one can offer God advice, yet believers received the Spirit of God, Paul says the church has access to Christ’s own way of thinking. It is a way of saying that the real teacher is the Holy Spirit, not Greek wisdom.

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