1 Corinthians 2:9

9 However, as the scripture says, ¹ "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him."

1 Corinthians 2:9 Meaning and Commentary

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written
Not in an apocryphal book, called the Apocalypse of Elijah the prophet, as some have thought, but in ( Isaiah 64:4 ) with some variation; and is brought to prove that the Gospel is mysterious and hidden wisdom, unknown to the princes of this world, and ordained before the world was, for the glory of the saints: for the following words are not to be understood of the glories and happiness of the future state; though they are indeed invisible, unheard of, and inconceivable as to the excellency and fulness of them, and are what God has prepared from all eternity, for all those on whom he bestows his grace here; but of the doctrines of grace, and mysteries of the Gospel, as the context and the reason of their citation abundantly show; and are what

eye hath not seen, nor ear heard:
which could never have been seen to be read by the eye of man, nor the sound thereof ever heard by the ear of man, had not God been pleased to make a revelation of them; and though they are to be seen and read in the sacred writings, and to be heard either read or expounded, with the outward hearing of the ear; yet are neither to be seen nor heard intellectually, spiritually, and savingly, unless, God gives eyes to see, and ears to hear; the exterior senses of seeing and hearing are not sufficient to come at and discover the sense of them; flesh and blood, human nature cannot search them out, nor reveal them, no nor the internal senses, the intellectual capacity of men:

neither have entered into the heart of man;
this clause is not in the original text; but is a phrase often used by the Jews, for that which never came into a man's mind, was never thought of by him, or he ever had any conceptions, or the least notion and idea of; so the elders of the city, at the beheading of the heifer, are represented not only as saying, "our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it"; but also neither (wnybl le htle) , "hath it entered into our hearts", that the sanhedrim hath shed blood ^F25; and elsewhere ^F26 it is said, this matter is like to a king, (wblb hlev) , "into whose heart it entered", to plant in his garden, &c.

The things which God hath prepared for them that love him;
in the original text it is, "for him that waiteth for him"; the sense is the same, for such as hope in the Lord and wait for him, are lovers of him; and the meaning is, that God has prepared and laid up in his own breast, in his counsels and covenant, in the types, shadows, and sacrifices of the old law, in the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament, such doctrines and mysteries of grace as were not so seen, heard, known, and understood by the Old Testament prophets and saints; and has reserved for his people under the Gospel dispensation, the times of the Messiah, a more clear discovery of them: so the Jews themselves own that these words belong to the world to come ^F1, which with them commonly signifies the days of the Messiah; though here they think fit to distinguish them, and interpret the phrase, "eye hath not seen", of the eye of the prophets: their words are these ^F2;

``all prophesied not, but of the days of the Messiah; but as to the world to come, eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee.''

The gloss on it is,

``the eye of the prophets hath not been able to see it.''

Indeed, the mysteries of the Gospel are more clearly discerned now, than by the prophets formerly.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F25 T. Bab. Sota, fol. 46. 2.
F26 Sepher Bahir in Zohar in Gen. fol. 31. 1.
F1 Zohar in Exod. fol. 64. 4. & 67. 2.
F2 T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 34. 2. Sabbat, fol, 63. 1. Sanhedrin, fol. 99. 1. Maimon. in Misn. Sanhed. c. 11. sect. 1. & Hilch. Teshuva, c. 8. sect. 7. & Jarchi in Isa. lxiv. 4.

1 Corinthians 2:9 In-Context

7 The wisdom I proclaim is God's secret wisdom, which is hidden from human beings, but which he had already chosen for our glory even before the world was made.

8 None of the rulers of this world knew this wisdom. If they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 However, as the scripture says, "What no one ever saw or heard, what no one ever thought could happen, is the very thing God prepared for those who love him."

10 But it was to us that God made known his secret by means of his Spirit. The Spirit searches everything, even the hidden depths of God's purposes.

11 It is only our own spirit within us that knows all about us; in the same way, only God's Spirit knows all about God.

Cross References

• 1. 2.9Isaiah 64.4+2Ben Sira 1.9, 10.