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1 Cor 2 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16
OET (OET-LV) but as it_has_been_written:
What eye not saw, and ear not heard, and in the_heart of_a_person not went_up, which prepared the god for_the ones loving him.
OET (OET-RV) but as scripture says:
⇔ ‘No eye has seen and no ear has heard,
⇔ and it’s never entered any person’s mind,
⇔ all the things that God has prepared for those who love him.’
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 wrote about God’s wisdom, that is, his wise plan to send Christ to save people. Those who follow or depend on human thinking/wisdom do not want to hear or accept God’s message. It is only God’s Spirit who can cause people to know and accept God’s thoughts/plans as wise. The Spirit makes God’s thoughts known only to people/believers who are under the Spirit’s control. These believers try to obey the Spirit in following God’s ways.
Rather, as it is written:
But, as the Scriptures tell us(incl),
It is as was written in the Scriptures,
Rather: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as Rather here probably indicates a contrast with 2:8a. The rulers of the world did not understand God’s plan, but God revealed it to those who love him (2:10a). The quotation that immediately follows is thus parenthetical. If it is unnatural in your language to have a contrasting conjunction before this parenthetical quotation, you may leave it untranslated. For example,
It is just as the Scriptures say…
as it is written: The phrase as it is written generally introduces a quotation from the Old Testament Scriptures. Here, however, it does not introduce a direct quote from any single OT passage. Paul probably put together these thoughts from several verses, such as the Greek translation of Isaiah 64:4 and 65:17.See Thiselton pp. 250–52 for a discussion of this issue. Since this is not a specific quotation from one passage, it may be best not to use quotation marks. However, you need to indicate that Paul was referring to some written passages of Scripture. For example:
Scripture speaks of ‘things beyond our seeing…’ (REB)
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
“No one has ever seen or heard about it.
“Nobody has ever seen or heard about it.
No eye has seen: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as No eye has seen is a figure of speech that means “No person has ever seen.” The object of the verb is given in 2:9c. In some languages it may be more natural to use a general object here. For example:
No one has ever seen this (NCV)
no ear has heard: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as no ear has heard means “no person has ever heard.” It refers to hearing news or information about something. In some languages it may be more natural to use an object here. For example:
and no one has ever heard about it (NCV)
no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
No one has ever imagined/thought of all of the things that God has prepared for the people who love him.
Nobody has even dreamed of/imagined the wonderful things that God has planned to do for us(incl), the people who love him.
no heart has imagined: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as no heart has imagined is more literally “it has not come upon the heart of man.” In Paul’s time people thought that the heart was the center of their inner life. They considered the heart to be the source of thinking and feeling. Therefore this phrase means that nobody had ever thought about God’s wise plan before God revealed it to people. You should translate this phrase in a way that is natural in your own language. For example:
No one has ever imagined… (NCV)
what no one ever thought could happen… (GNT)
what God has prepared for those who love Him: This phrase tells what no one had ever seen, heard, or thought before. It is implied that the things God has prepared are wonderful and too good to imagine. In some languages it may be more natural to make this explicit. For example:
the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love him
the very good things God has made ready for those who love him
In some languages it may be more natural to change the order of 2:9b-c. For example:
9cWhat God has planned for those who love him is better than 9banyone has ever seen or heard or imagined.
9cWhat God has planned for people who love him is more than 9beyes have seen or ears have heard. It has never even entered our minds! (CEV)
Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast
ἀλλὰ
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
Here, But introduces a contrast with the hypothetical statement in [2:8](../02/08.md) about how the rulers would not have crucified the Lord if they had understood God’s wisdom. The But reminds the reader that this hypothetical statement is not true, and Paul wishes to introduce further statements about how people do not understand God’s wisdom. If it would be helpful in your language, you could leave But untranslated or use a word or phrase that would signal that Paul is no longer speaking hypothetically. Alternate translation: [But instead,]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
ἀλλὰ καθὼς γέγραπται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
Here Paul has omitted some words that may be necessary in your language to form a complete thought. If necessary, you could supply a summary from [2:8](../02/08.md) of what the rulers did not understand and how they acted. Alternate translation: [But the rulers did not understand, just as it is written] or [But the rulers did do these things, just as it is written]
Note 3 topic: writing-quotations
καθὼς γέγραπται
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
In Paul’s culture, just as it is written is a normal way to introduce a quotation from an important text, in this case, the Old Testament book written by Isaiah the prophet (See: [Isaiah 64:4](../isa/64/04.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this form with a comparable phrase that indicates that Paul is quoting from an important text. Alternate translation: [as it can be read in the Old Testament] or [according to Isaiah the prophet]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
γέγραπται
˱it˲_˓has_been˒_written
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 written rather than the person doing the “writing.” If you must state who does the action, you can express it so that: (1) the scripture author writes or speaks the words. Alternate translation: [Isaiah has written] (2) God speaks the words. Alternate translation: [God has said]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / infostructure
ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
In this quotation, What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not arisen in the heart of man are the things God has prepared. If your language would naturally put What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not arisen in the heart of man after God has prepared, you could reverse the order. Alternate translation: [God has prepared for those who love him what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and has not arisen in the heart of man]
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche
ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν, καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν, καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
Here, the words eye, ear, and heart refer to the parts of the person that see, hear, and think. In each case, the word means that the whole person sees, hears, and thinks. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this way of speaking with a word that refers to a person as a whole instead of just a part of that person. Alternate translation: [What a person has not seen, and a person has not heard, and has not arisen when a person thinks]
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀλλά καθώς γέγραπται Ἅ ὀφθαλμός οὐκ εἶδεν καί οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καί ἐπί καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη ἅ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ Θεός τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν)
The phrase heart of man refers to the place where humans think. If something “arises” there, that means that a human has thought about that thing. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning of arisen in the heart of man with a comparable phrase or express the idea plainly. Alternate translation: [man has not thought about] or [man has not imagined]
Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / possession
καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου
˓the˒_heart ˱of˲_˓a˒_person
Here Paul uses the possessive form to describe a heart that belongs to a man. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this form by translating man with an adjective such as “human.” Alternate translation: [the human heart]
Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / gendernotations
ἀνθρώπου
˱of˲_˓a˒_person
Although man is masculine, Paul is using it to refer to anyone, whether man or woman. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express man with a non gendered word or refer to both genders. Alternate translation: [of people]
Note 10 topic: grammar-collectivenouns
ἀνθρώπου
˱of˲_˓a˒_person
Here, even though man is written in singular form, it refers to anyone who would be considered a man, that is, any human. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make man plural. Alternate translation: [of men] or [of humans]
OET (OET-LV) but as it_has_been_written:
What eye not saw, and ear not heard, and in the_heart of_a_person not went_up, which prepared the god for_the ones loving him.
OET (OET-RV) but as scripture says:
⇔ ‘No eye has seen and no ear has heard,
⇔ and it’s never entered any person’s mind,
⇔ all the things that God has prepared for those who love him.’
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.