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OET (OET-LV) But the_soulish person, not is_receiving the things of_the spirit of_ the _god, because/for foolishness to_him it_is, and not he_is_able to_know them, because spiritually it_is_being_examined.
OET (OET-RV) Secular people don’t accept things about God’s spirit because they seem foolish to them, and they can’t understand them because it requires spiritual awareness,
In this section Paul wrote about a serious problem in the Corinthian church. The Corinthian believers were dividing up into competing groups. They were following whichever human leader they admired the most. Paul tried to solve this problem by reminding the Corinthians of the message of the cross. He wanted them to stop following human wisdom and to follow God’s wisdom.
In this paragraph Paul contrasted two types of people. They are the people who have the Spirit of God, and those people who do not have the Spirit of God. People who do not have the Spirit of God cannot understand or accept spiritual things (2:14). People who have God’s Spirit can understand spiritual things, because they are able to think like Christ Jesus (2:15–16).
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God.
¶ A person who does not have the Holy Spirit does not want to hear about the things that God’s Spirit reveals
¶ But people who do not have God’s Spirit refuse to accept/believe the things that the Spirit teaches.
The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God: The Greek word that the BSB translates as natural describes people who do not accept the things that come from the Holy Spirit. They do not welcome them or want to believe them.
The natural man: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as The natural man is hard to translate into English. It refers to someone who has physical, emotional, and mental life but lives without the Holy Spirit. It can also be translated as “the man without the Spirit” (NIV). It refers to any unbeliever, man or woman. In some languages it may be more natural to translate it as a plural word. For example:
natural men
people without the Spirit
the things that come from the Spirit of God: The phrase the things that come from the Spirit of God here refers to the truths that the Holy Spirit reveals to believers. These truths are the message/plan from God that Paul talked about in 2:6–8. For example:
the truths that come from the Spirit of God (NCV)
For they are foolishness to him,
because those things make no sense to him/her.
They say/think that these things are the talk of foolish people.
For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as For here introduces a further explanation of the previous verse part. Some English versions do not use a conjunction. For example;
He thinks they’re nonsense. (GW)
You should connect this verse part to the previous verse part in a way that is natural in your language.
they are foolishness to him: This clause indicates that a person who does not have the Spirit of God thinks that spiritual truths are foolish. He thinks that God’s wise plans are foolish. For example:
they seem to be nonsense… (GNT)
and he cannot understand them,
An unbeliever is not able to understand/know those things
Furthermore, such people are not able to understand these things that the Spirit teaches us(incl).
he cannot understand them: An unbeliever can read the truths in the Bible and hear the facts of the gospel. However, he can never really understand them unless the Holy Spirit helps him. Unless the Holy Spirit helps him, he cannot know that these things are true and he cannot personally believe them.
It may be more natural in your language to reorder 2:14b-c. For example:
Such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense (GNT)
because they are spiritually discerned.
because a person can only understand and accept/believe these things when the Holy Spirit helps/enables him.
This is because the Holy Spirit is the only one who can help/enable people understand/examine the things of God.
because: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as because here introduces the reason why people without the Holy Spirit cannot understand or accept spiritual truths.
they are spiritually discerned: The pronoun they refers to the things from the Spirit of God. This clause means that only the Spirit of God can enable someone to understand the true things that come from God and his wise plans. Some other ways to translate this are:
their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis (GNT)
their value can be assessed only in the Spirit (NJB)
a person must be spiritual to evaluate them (GW)
discerned: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as discerned refers to studying something thoroughly in order to learn all about it. It can also be translated as “judged,” “examined,” or “investigated.” A person without God’s Spirit cannot understand the value of God’s plan or understand how wise it is.
In some languages it may be natural to place 2:14d earlier in the verse. For example:
14aThe person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. 14dThose truths can only be spiritually discerned, 14band so they are nonsense to him. 14cHe cannot understand them.
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
δὲ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ψυχικός Δέ ἄνθρωπος οὒ δέχεται τά τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ μωρία γάρ αὐτῷ ἐστίν καί οὒ δύναται γνῶναι ὅτι πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται)
Here, But introduces a new part of Paul’s argument, and it also introduces a contrast with how Paul and those with him speak by the power of the Spirit in [2:13](../02/13.md). Unlike Paul and those with him, the natural person does not have the Spirit and does not use spiritual words. If it would be helpful in your language, you could leave But untranslated or use a word that introduces a contrast. Alternate translation: [However,]
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
ψυχικὸς & ἄνθρωπος
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ψυχικός Δέ ἄνθρωπος οὒ δέχεται τά τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ μωρία γάρ αὐτῷ ἐστίν καί οὒ δύναται γνῶναι ὅτι πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται)
The phrase the natural person describes a person who does not have God’s Spirit. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind the meaning of this phrase by using a word or phrase that describes someone who has not received God’s Spirit. Alternate translation: [the person without the Spirit]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
ψυχικὸς & ἄνθρωπος, οὐ δέχεται & αὐτῷ & οὐ δύναται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ψυχικός Δέ ἄνθρωπος οὒ δέχεται τά τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ μωρία γάρ αὐτῷ ἐστίν καί οὒ δύναται γνῶναι ὅτι πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται)
Paul uses the words person, him, and he to speak of people in general, not one specific man. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning of these words with a form that indicates people in general in your language. Alternate translation: [any natural person does not receive … to him or her … he or she is not able] or [natural people do not receive … to them … they are not able]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
αὐτῷ & οὐ δύναται
˱to˲_him & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ψυχικός Δέ ἄνθρωπος οὒ δέχεται τά τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ Θεοῦ μωρία γάρ αὐτῷ ἐστίν καί οὒ δύναται γνῶναι ὅτι πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται)
Here, the words translated him and he are written in masculine form, but they refer to anyone, no matter what their gender might be. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the idea behind he and himby using a word that does not have gender, or you could use both genders. Alternate translation: [to that person … that person is not able] or [to him or her … he or she is not able]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
μωρία & αὐτῷ ἐστίν
foolishness & ˱to˲_him ˱it˲_is
If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the structure and make him the subject of a verb such as “think” or “consider.” Alternate translation: [for he thinks that they are foolishness]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται
spiritually ˱it˲_˓is_being˒_examined
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you can express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Paul uses the passive form here to focus on what is discerned rather than focusing on the person doing the “discerning.” If you must state who does the action, you can use a vague or indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [people can only discern them spiritually]
πνευματικῶς ἀνακρίνεται
spiritually ˱it˲_˓is_being˒_examined
Alternate translation: [they are discerned by the power of the Spirit] or [they are discerned by people who are indwelt by the Spirit]
2:14 people who aren’t spiritual: Unbelievers, whose minds are blinded to the Spirit, function in the natural world and see life only through physical eyes (see 2 Cor 4:4). They cannot appreciate the significance of the Good News, for it is essentially a spiritual message.
OET (OET-LV) But the_soulish person, not is_receiving the things of_the spirit of_ the _god, because/for foolishness to_him it_is, and not he_is_able to_know them, because spiritually it_is_being_examined.
OET (OET-RV) Secular people don’t accept things about God’s spirit because they seem foolish to them, and they can’t understand them because it requires spiritual awareness,
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.