Lessons #53 and 54
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Paul’s preaching involved revealed secret wisdom (1 Cor 2:6-12)
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
Paul’s preaching involved revealed secret wisdom (1 Cor 2:6-12)
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
Our last study was concerned with the sub assertion of the third major assertion of the passage before us. The third major assertion of the apostle regarding wisdom associated with his preaching/teaching the word of God, if you recall, is that it involves the Holy Spirit. This assertion, he expounded with two sub assertions. We started our consideration of the first sub assertion which is that the wisdom associated with the apostle’s preaching/teaching is revealed through the Holy Spirit. Consequently, we considered the reason the Holy Spirit is the agent of this revelation which is because He is God. The apostle did not directly state this truth, but he described the actions of the Holy Spirit that conveys He is God. The first is that He examines or searches out the secrets of God, that is, He examines all the plans or purposes of God. So, we proceed to the second reason.
A second reason that proves Holy Spirit is God is His knowledge of things of God. It is this reason the apostle gave in 1 Corinthians 2:11. He did not immediately state this reason; instead, he laid the ground work for this reason through an explanation given in the form of a question in first part of the verse For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him?
It seems the apostle’s mind was racing fast when he asked the question of our verse. We say this because it appears the apostle’s thought went back to what he stated in verse 10 while he was also thinking of what he was about to state that supports the fact Holy Spirit is God. We say this because the word for that begins verse 11. It is translated from a Greek conjunction (gar) with several usages. It could be used a marker of reason or cause with the translation “for, because.” It could be used as a marker of explanation with the meaning “you see, for.” It may be used as a marker of transition to another point in which case it is not translated. However, in some situations the conjunction may be used to perform double duty of providing reason and explanation. A typical example of this is where the apostle used the conjunction along with a Greek interrogative pronoun (tis), used in our passage, in Philippians 1:18:
But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
The translation but what does it matter? of the NIV is literally for what? The use of the Greek conjunction translated “for” in our literal translation is used in Philippians 1:18 both to summarize what the apostle wrote in Philippians 1:15-17 and as a transition to what comes after. Thus, the conjunction may in some cases be used to perform double duty. This is the case in its use in 1 Corinthians 2:11. The apostle not only gives the reason the Holy Spirit searches out the secrets or plans of God but also gives an explanation that lays the groundwork for what he stated, following the question.
The apostle’s explanation that lays the groundwork for what he stated, following the rhetorical question of verse 11 concerns limitation of human knowledge. It is this limitation that is given in the question of 1 Corinthians 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? The apostle’s question is rhetorical since he was not expecting the recipients to answer it. In fact, the question may be understood as a negative declaration in which he makes a universal statement about limited knowledge that applies to all human beings as indicated in the phrase among men. This kind of phrase causes problem today because people do not understand the Bible’s use of the word “man” as applicable to man or woman in many contexts. See, for example, Genesis 5:2:
He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them “man.”
It is because of this misunderstanding that it is necessary to examine such a simple word as “man.”
The word “men” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (anthrōpos) that may mean “a human being” without regard to gender, as Apostle Paul used it to describe the fate of evil doers in Romans 2:9:
There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile;
The phrase for every human being is literally for every soul of man. The word may mean a male person, that is, “a man” as Apostle Paul used it in his quotation from the second chapter of Genesis in Ephesians 5:31:
“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
The word may mean “a person, someone, one” although some English versions may use the word “man” in their translation as Apostle Paul used it in referencing justification by faith in Galatians 2:16:
know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.
Justification is for both men and women so that the phrase a man is to be understood as “a person” hence the NRSV simply used the phrase a person. The word in some contexts is used in idioms with several meanings. For example, it may mean “self” when it is used with a Greek adjective (palaios) that means “old” in describing a pattern of behavior as Apostle Paul used it to instruct believers to behave differently than they did as unbelievers in Ephesians 4:22:
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
The phrase your old self is literally the old man. Likewise, it may be used to describe the inner being of a person so may mean “being” as the apostle used it in Ephesians 3:16:
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
The phrase inner being is literally inner man. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:11, the Greek word is used in the sense of a human being so that the apostle did not limit his point that is conveyed in form of a question to only males, but it is applicable to all humans.
It is our assertion that the question of the apostle is concerned with limitation of knowledge in the question who among men knows the thoughts of a man...? This is because the word “knows” although appearing twice in 1 Corinthians 2:11 is translated from two different Greek words. The first “knows” in the question we are considering, is translated from a Greek word (oida) that may mean “to know” in the sense of having information about someone or something. It is in the sense of to know about something that Apostle Paul used it in describing how the law makes one conscious of sin in Romans 7:7:
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
It is in the sense of to know about someone that the apostle used it to describe the state of the Galatians regarding the true God prior to their salvation in Galatians 4:8:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
The word may mean “to know” in the sense of being intimately acquainted with or stand in a close relation to someone. Thus, it is used “to know God” not only to know theoretically of His existence, but to have a positive relationship with Him. This positive relationship reflects in one’s conduct. If a person’s conduct does not reflect that relationship, then the person’s claim is empty. This is the way Apostle Paul used our Greek word in Titus 1:16:
They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
The Greek word may mean to grasp the meaning of something hence, “to understand, recognize, come to know” as Apostle Paul used it to describe how useless speaking in tongue will be to a congregation if what is said is not interpreted so that others may comprehend and join in the worship situation in 1 Corinthians 14:16:
If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?
The word may mean “to respect” as it is used in the instruction requiring believers to respect their spiritual leadership in 1 Thessalonians 5:12:
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:11, the meaning of the Greek word is either to know about someone or something normally as acquired through reflection or thinking with the implication of understanding or grasping the meaning of something.
In any event, the limitation of knowledge the apostle is concerned with are things relating to a person although the translators of the NIV are specific by specifying what the things are as “thoughts” since we have the phrase the thoughts of a man. Literally, the Greek reads the things of the man. The Greek syntax suggests there is a definite relationship between “things” and “man” given with the word “of” in the English. Hence, the phrase may be interpreted in several ways. It could be understood as the things from the man or the things that characterize the man or things that belong to the man. Each of these interpretations makes sense and they are reflected in our English Versions. For example, it seems that it is the interpretation that concerns what characterizes a man that is reflected in the rendering of the NJB of the phrase the qualities of anyone. It is probably the second interpretation that is reflected in the GW in the translation of everything about a person. Many of our English versions seem to reflect the third interpretation of what belongs to man. Thus, it is difficult to be certain of the interpretation the apostle intended. Nonetheless, what the apostle meant is to be determined by the phrase the things.
So, what does the apostle mean in the phrase the things? It is the context that enables us to understand what he meant. We say this because, we have similar phrase used when the Lord rebuked Peter for being upset with Him when He predicted His death. Peter did not want the Lord to say such a thing, so the Lord rebuked him, according to Matthew 16:23:
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
The phrase the things of men like the literal phrase the things of the man in 1 Corinthians 2:11 is contrasted with the things of God. In the context of Matthew 16:23, the things of men refer to way of thinking of humans who think of comfort and security as well as honor and glory. We do not normally think anything bad should ever happen to the righteous or a person we admire. In short, we think in ways that indicate we often do not understand God’s actions on this planet. It is the will of God that Jesus should die on the cross for us so that our sins should be forgiven. Peter did not understand this, and so the things of men he had in mind refer to those things we treasure above suffering. This implies he thought that Christ should be our Savior without the cross. Thus, the things of men in this context of Matthew 16:23 refer to a way of thinking that puts comfort, security, honor above God’s will and righteousness. Another passage that conveys the idea of thought regarding something about humans that is not explicitly stated is what was said of the Lord Jesus that reveals His omniscience in John 2:25:
He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
The expression what was in a man here means the thoughts of people or what was in their minds. Based on these two passages, there are two possible but related interpretations of the phrase the things of 1 Corinthians 2:11. It could refer to thoughts or secrets, that is, plans or purposes. The concept of “secrets” is one that has been introduced in 1 Corinthians 2:7 in the phrase secret wisdom of the NIV. Of course, we have indicated that the word “secret” could refer to God’s plan or purpose. This will mean that in verse 11 the things of the man could refer to plans or purposes of men. However, a plan or purpose is concerned with what a person thinks, or thoughts generated in the mind. Thus, it is difficult to separate “thoughts” from “plans” or “purposes.” Hence, the interpretation of the NIV and many of our English versions of the thoughts of a man instead of the literal phrase the things of the man is a good one but it limits what the apostle probably had in mind. Anyway, if the translation “thoughts” is used, we should understand that the apostle probably had in mind the plans or purposes of a man that are results of thoughts. This implies that the proper interpretation of the relationship between “things” and “man” is to take things as belonging to man or the things a person possesses that consists of plans or thoughts.
Be that as it may, the apostle intends to convey that a person’s thought or plan or purpose is only known by the individual as in the phrase of 1 Corinthian 2:11 except the man’s spirit within him. Again, the word “man” here is used not in the sense of gender but in the sense of a person regardless of gender. That aside, we should explore the word “spirit” to understand what the apostle conveyed in our phrase.
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
The word may mean “spirit” as that which after death lives as independent being in heaven, according to Hebrews 12:23:
to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect,
It may mean “spirit” as part of human personality with various nuances. For example, it may refer to the immaterial part of a person in contrast to the material body, as Apostle Paul used it in his statement in Colossians 2:5:
For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Under this meaning of the immaterial part of a person, it could refer to the source and seat of insight, feeling, and will, generally as the representative part of human inner life so that it may mean “mind”, as the word is rendered in Apostle Paul’s description of his state when he could not find Titus, as we read in 2 Corinthians 2:13:
I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said good-by to them and went on to Macedonia.
The phrase peace of mind is literally rest in my spirit. Still in this meaning, it could refer to “spiritual state, state of mind, disposition”, as it is used to describe the disposition that a wife should have to be considered beautiful in 1 Peter 3:4:
Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
As suggested in the standard Greek English lexicon of BDAG, the phrase quiet spirit may be translated quiet disposition. The word may mean “spirit” as an independent noncorporeal being, in contrast to a being that can be perceived by the physical senses. Consequently, it is used for created spirit-beings whether their function is good or bad. Apostle Paul used it to describe harmful spirits that will attempt to deceive people, as he presented in 1 Timothy 4:1:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
The word may mean God’s being as controlling influence, with focus on association with humans hence means “Spirit.” Accordingly, Apostle Paul used it to describe God the Holy Spirit using different phrases. For example, he described the Holy Spirt as the Spirit of God in Philippians 3:3:
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
He described the Holy Spirit as “Spirit of Jesus Christ” in Philippians 1:19:
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:11, the word may mean “spirit” as part of human personality or the Holy Spirit. Hence, in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 2:11 except the man’s spirit within him “spirit” refers to “spirit” as part of human personality, that is, the source and seat of insight, feeling, and will, all that is the representative part of man’s inner life.
In any case, based on the meaning of the word “spirit” and what we have so far explained regarding the literal phrase things of a man, the rhetorical question who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? is to be understood in a general way, which is that no one knows your personality as you do. Again, by a person’s personality we mean thoughts, feeling, and will that help to define an individual as unique from others. For example, being “strong willed” is part of a person’s personality. By the way, when we include feelings as part of what is involved in a person’s personality, we recognize that feelings are part of what only the soul of a person experiences in a given situation. Thus, the Scripture tells us that we truly cannot feel a person’s joy or sadness, as implied in Proverbs 14:10:
Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.
“Heart” here is not a reference to the physical pumping organ of the body. Furthermore, the word heart is generally used in the Scripture as the center of human personality. Here it refers to the whole person, that is, the knowledge, feelings, and awareness that a person has. You cannot truly experience a person’s misery or joy, but you may sympathize with a person, which is not the same as experiencing what another individual experiences. Anyway, we use personality to include thoughts, feeling, and will of a person that help to define the individual as unique from others. Of course, the focus in our context is on the plans or purposes of an individual that are results of the person’s thought.
We should observe the carefulness of the apostle as he wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit in the question who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? What carefulness you may ask? It is in the phrase among men. Its inclusion reveals carefulness on the part of the apostle for if he wrote who knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? that would have caused problem of possibly including God and created spiritual beings; that would be false. God knows our plans or purposes or thoughts, as stated in Psalm 139:2:
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
It is because God knows our plans or thoughts that He abhors the thoughts of the wicked, as stated in Proverbs 15:26:
The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but those of the pure are pleasing to him.
The thoughts of the wicked here refer to the evil plans or intentions of the wicked. It is because God knows when we start to harsh a plan or have intentions that it could be said He detests those of the wicked. The point is that God knows our thoughts but that is not necessarily the case with angels both elect and fallen. I am saying that ordinarily an angel or demons will not know our thoughts because for them to know our thoughts would place them on equal capacity as God. Only God is omniscient or knows everything. Having said this, we should be aware that demons or Satan could know our thoughts only if these thoughts come from them since they can feed us with thoughts. There is not direct passage of the Scripture that use the words I have used but the Scripture implies that Satan feeds us thoughts as Peter stated regarding Ananias in Acts 5:3:
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?
The word heart here has the sense of mind, implying that Satan fed a thought to the mind of Ananias regarding the proceeds of sale of his property that he bought resulting in lying to the Holy Spirit. So, if Satan can feed a thought to a person then he will know a person’s thought when the individual accepts it, but he would not know the thought fed by the Holy Spirit to an individual if the person does not open his mouth so that Satan will hear what is in the person’s mind. In any event, the apostle wrote his question in such a way that reflects his concern is with humans not God or created spiritual beings.
Your thoughts or plans would not be known by anyone until you reveal them to others. Of course, it is possible that someone with great insight by talking to you will come to know your thoughts or plans even if you do not fully reveal your thoughts. This reality is recognized in what is stated in Proverbs 20:5:
The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.
Here purposes may mean thoughts or intentions of a person which are difficult to know but a person with insight can discover your thoughts probably as the individual converses with you. The point is that although our thoughts or intentions are only known to us but someone with great insight might discover what they are through what we say. If we keep our mouth shut, there is no way any human being would know what we think. Thus, humans are limited in their knowledge concerning the thoughts or intentions of another. I am not denying that a person could guess correctly what another person is thinking based on what is going on between two or more persons but without a person speaking to you so as to give you a window to the individual’s thought, you will not know what a person thinks.
Be that as it may, we asserted that the question of 1 Corinthian 2:11 who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? is used to provide an explanation that lays the ground work for what the apostle states in the verse that provides the reason the Holy Spirit searches out the secrets or plans of God. This interpretation is supported by the first phrase of the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:11 In the same way.
The expression “in the same way” is translated from a Greek adverb (houtōs) that is used in different ways. It may be used to refer to what precedes with various meanings. It could be used as a correlative word with the meaning “in this manner, just as, as” as the word is used to instruct believers regarding forgiveness of others that have wronged them in Colossians 3:13:
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
The translators of NIV used the meaning “as” in their translation of our Greek word but many English versions used the meaning “just as.” The word may be used to summarize a thought expressed in what precedes in which case it may be translated “so.” It is in this sense Apostle Paul used it to summarize all he stated about the Lord coming down from heaven, His command, and the resurrection of those who died in Christ so that eventually all believers will be together, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:17:
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
Our Greek word is translated “so” in the clause And so we will be with the Lord forever to summarize what has gone before the clause although some interpret it as indicating result. The Greek word may be used to draw inference and so may be translated “so, hence, thus.” It is in this inferential sense that Apostle Paul used it in Romans 6:11:
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Our English versions are divided in how our Greek word is to be translated here. Some translate it like the NIV as “in the same way”, implying that the apostle is making comparison between Christ’s dying and living and Christians’ attitude about themselves. Others, such as the NET, translate it “so”, implying the apostle is drawing the conclusion from what is stated in Romans 6:1–10, that because believers have died with Christ to sin and have experienced the power of His resurrection, they should live as though they are dead to sin and alive to God. It is probably this second interpretation the apostle meant. Our Greek word may be used to pertain to what follows in a discourse material with various usages. It may be used correlatively with the meaning “in this way” as an angel used it to announce to the disciples the return of Jesus Christ in Acts 1:11:
“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
The Greek word may be used as a marker of a relatively high degree of something with the meaning “so.” It is in this sense the word is used in Apostle Paul’s surprise regarding some Galatians who were drifting away from the gospel message, as we read in Galatians 1:6:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:11, the Greek word is used correlatively to refer to what preceded the last sentence of the verse. In other words, the declaration of the apostle in the last sentence of the verse is taken to correspond to what he states next. He has indicated that only a person could know his thoughts or will or feelings thus in the same manner he asserts what is true of the Holy Spirit.
In any case, the apostle having provided an explanation that lays the ground work for what he gave as the reason the Holy Spirit searches out the secrets or plans of God, states that it is because of His knowledge. It is this that he gave in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:11 In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
The word “knows” in the sentence we are considering is translated from a different Greek word than that used in the question of 1 Corinthians 2:11. The word “knows” this second time is translated from a Greek word (ginōskō) that although has several meanings but for the most part is concerned with familiarity acquired through experience or association with a person or a thing. The word may mean to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something, hence means “to, know, know about, make acquaintance of.” It is in the sense of “to make acquaintance of something” that Apostle Paul used it to describe his affection for the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 2:4:
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
The word may mean “to learn, ascertain, find out”, that is, to acquire information through some means. It is in this sense that Apostle Paul used it to describe one of the reasons for sending Timothy to the Thessalonians, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 3:5:
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
The word may mean “to understand, comprehend,” that is, to grasp the significance or meaning of something. It is this meaning that is intended in Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians, as recorded in Ephesians 3:19:
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
It is true that our English versions used the meaning “to know” in translating the apostolic prayer but the apostle meant that his petition to the Father is for the Ephesians to comprehend or understand God’s love for them. The Greek word may mean to be aware of something hence “to perceive, notice, realize.” Thus, the word is used to describe Jesus perceiving or being aware that some of His disciples were angry with the woman who anointed Him with an expensive perfume in Matthew 26:10:
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
The Greek word may mean “to have personal experience with something” as that is the sense in which Apostle Paul used it to describe Jesus Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The clause who had no sin is literally who knew no sin that should be understood to mean “to have no personal experience with sin.” So, in this passage, our Greek word has the sense of “to have personal experience with something.” The word may mean “to acknowledge, recognize” as it is used to describe the rejection of Jesus Christ by those, He came to save in John 1:10:
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
The sentence the world did not recognize him is more literally the world did not know Him. It is in the sense of both having information about something and comprehending its significance that the word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 2:11.
The thing that no one possess information as well as comprehending the significance of the information is described in the words of the NIV as the thoughts of God. Literally, the Greek reads the things of God. Like the literal phrase the things of the man, the Greek syntax suggests that in the literal phrase the things of God there is a definite relationship between “things” and “God” given with the word “of” in the English. Hence, the phrase may be interpreted in several ways. It could be understood as the things from God or the things that characterize God or things that belong to God. Each of these interpretations makes sense and they are reflected in our English Versions. For example, it seems that it is the interpretation that concerns what characterizes God that is reflected in the rendering of the NJB of the phrase the qualities of God. It is probably the second interpretation that is reflected in the GW in the translation of everything about God. Many of our English versions seem to reflect the third interpretation of what belongs to God. Thus, it is difficult to be certain of the interpretation the apostle intended. Nonetheless, his intended interpretation is to be determined by the phrase the things.
The phrase the things has been interpreted by most commentators to mean “thoughts.” Such an interpretation although makes sense but it is limiting. For example, there are much that belong to God or characterize Him that are unknowable by humans or even angelic creatures. You may be surprise that I included angelic creatures. Yes, they do not know many things of God until God revealed them. For example, they did not know the details of our salvation as indicated by their desire to know what God promised regarding the elect, as recorded in 1 Peter 1:12:
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
If angels knew of the things of God without Him revealing them to them, then the clause Even angels long to look into these things will not make sense. That aside, we still maintain that there are much that belong to God or characterize Him that are unknowable by humans or even angelic creatures. For example, His wisdom, His judgments and operations remain unknown until He revealed them. It is for this reason that as Apostle Paul contemplated the doctrine of election, he had the response recorded for us in Romans 11:33:
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
Besides, it is not only God’s thoughts that are known by the Holy Spirit but also His will, as we may gather from Romans 8:26–27:
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Because of these reasons, we contend that it is limiting to interpret the things of God as only a reference to His thoughts. Thus, it will be better to translate the Greek in a more literal form of the things of God to enable a broader understanding of what the apostle had in mind. If we do this, then the things of God include His thoughts, plans, will, His judgments or His operations. Only God the Holy Spirit knows these things as stated in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 2:11 no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God here refers to the Holy Spirit as we have previously stated. The Holy Spirit alone knows all there is to know about God because He is God. In any event, the second reason that proves Holy Spirit is God is His knowledge of things of God.
06/29/18