1 COR 2:15 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) but spiritual people can discern all these things, even though others can’t correctly discern about them.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT But the spiritual one discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one.

UST On the other hand, people who have God’s Spirit can judge rightly about everything. However, no other person can judge rightly about them.

BSB The spiritual [man] judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

MSB The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

BLB But he who is spiritual judges all things, but he himself is judged by no one.

AICNT But the spiritual person judges all things, yet he himself is judged by no one.

OEB But the person with spiritual insight is able to understand everything, although they themselves are understood by no one.

WEBBE But he who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is to be judged by no one.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one.

LSV and he who is spiritual, indeed discerns all things, and he himself is discerned by no one;

FBV People who are spiritual investigate everything, but are not placed under investigation themselves.[fn]

2:15 “Investigate/investigation”—the same word is used in the original, and can also mean to examine or to judge. It is also related to the word translated “examined” in verse 14. English does not capture the subtlety of the original.

TCNT But he who is spiritual makes judgments about all things, and yet he himself is not subject to any man's judgment.

T4T We who have God’s Spirit can judge correctly the value of all truths that the Spirit reveals, but unbelievers cannot evaluate us correctly.

LEB Now the spiritual person discerns all things, but he himself is judged by no one.

BBE But he who has the Spirit, though judging all things, is himself judged by no one.

Moff The spiritual man, again, can read the meaning of everything; and yet no one can read what he is.

Wymth But the spiritual man judges of everything, although he is himself judged by no one.

ASV But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.

DRA But the spiritual man judgeth all things; and he himself is judged of no man.

YLT and he who is spiritual, doth discern indeed all things, and he himself is by no one discerned;

Drby but the spiritual discerns all things, and he is discerned of no one.

RV But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, and he himself is judged of no man.

SLT And the spiritual truly examines all things, and he is examined by no one.

Wbstr But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged by no man.

KJB-1769 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

KJB-1611 But he that is spirituall, [fn]iudgeth all things, yet he himselfe is [fn]iudged of no man.
(But he that is spirituall, judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.)

2:15 Or, discerneth.

2:15 Or, discerned.

Bshps But he that is spirituall, discerneth all thynges, yet he hym selfe is iudged of no man.
(But he that is spirituall, discerneth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.)

Gnva But hee that is spirituall, discerneth all things: yet he himselfe is iudged of no man.
(But he that is spirituall, discerneth all things: yet he himself is judged of no man. )

Cvdl But he that is spirituall, discusseth all thinges, and he is iudged of no man.
(But he that is spirituall, discusseth all things, and he is judged of no man.)

TNT But he that is spretuall discusseth all thinges: yet he him selfe is iudged of no man.
(But he that is spretuall discusseth all things: yet he himself is judged of no man. )

Wycl But a spiritual man demeth alle thingis, and he is demed of no man.
(But a spiritual man judgeth/judges all things, and he is judged of no man.)

Luth Der Geistliche aber richtet alles und wird von niemand gerichtet.
(The spiritliche but directed all/everything and becomes from no_one directed.)

ClVg Spiritualis autem judicat omnia: et ipse a nemine judicatur.[fn]
(By_Spiritalis however judges everything: and exactly_that/himself from nemine is_judged. )

2.15 Spiritualis autem homo. Est vel vita vel scientia: spiritualis est vita, qui spiritum Domini habens rectorem, animam regit; scientia vero spiritualis est qui, etsi ex parte et per speculum videt, tamen de eo secundum imagines corporum, vel legis litteram, vel humanam philosophiam non sapit, sed spiritui. Dei subjectus certissime ac fideliter judicat. Omnia. Non quidem universa quæ continet divina scientia, sed quæ ad justitiam et vitam sufficiunt, id est, omnia judicanda.

2.15 By_Spiritalis however human. It_is or life or knowledge/skill: spiritual it_is life, who/which spirit Master having straightrem, the_soul rules; knowledge/skill indeed/however spiritual it_is who, even_though from in_part/partly and through speculum he_sees, nevertheless from/about by_him after/second imagines of_bodies, or law literally, or human philosophersam not/no sapit, but spiritui. of_God subject certissime and faithfully judges. Alla. Not/No indeed universe which contains divine knowledge/skill, but which to justice and life sufficiunt, that it_is, everything judgenda.

UGNT ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει τὰ πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπ’ οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται.
(ho de pneumatikos anakrinei ta panta, autos de hup’ oudenos anakrinetai.)

SBL-GNT ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει ⸀τὰ πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται.
(ho de pneumatikos anakrinei ⸀ta panta, autos de hupʼ oudenos anakrinetai.)

RP-GNT Ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει μὲν πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπ' οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται.
(Ho de pneumatikos anakrinei men panta, autos de hup' oudenos anakrinetai.)

TC-GNT Ὁ δὲ πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει [fn]μὲν πάντα, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπ᾽ οὐδενὸς ἀνακρίνεται.
(Ho de pneumatikos anakrinei men panta, autos de hup oudenos anakrinetai. )

2:15 μεν ¦ τα NA SBL

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 1:10–2:16: Believers should not divide up into competing factions. They should be united by true wisdom, the message of the cross.

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.

Paragraph 2:14–16

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).

2:15a

The spiritual man judges all things,

A person who has the Spirit is able to judge/examine/evaluate everything.
On the other hand, people who have received the Holy Spirit can understand/examine everything.

In the Greek text this verse part includes a conjunction that indicates a contrast. The contrast is between the person without the Spirit and the man who has the spirit. For example:

But he who is spiritual appraises all things, (NASB)

Whoever has the Spirit, however, is able… (GNT)

If it is natural in your language, you may wish to indicate this contrast as in the examples above.

The spiritual man judges all things: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as judges is a form of the same verb that is translated as “discerned” in 2:14d. The man in whom God’s Spirit lives is able to evaluate and learn all about God’s plan of salvation. Other ways to translate this are:

Whoever has the Spirit…is able to judge the value of everything (GNT)

Spiritual people evaluate everything (GW)

all things: Paul did not explain what he meant by all things. Some scholars suggest that he was referring to all things that are from the Holy Spirit. Others suggest that he meant all sorts of things in general. It is recommended that you translate this literally, as do most English versions.

2:15b

but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

But people who do not have the Spirit cannot judge/evaluate the people who do have the Spirit.
And yet the ways/thoughts of a person who has the Holy Spirit cannot be judged or evaluated by anyone else.
And yet no unbeliever can judge the ways/thoughts of a person who has the Holy Spirit and decide whether what he/she is doing or thinking is right or wrong.

he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment: The Greek verb that the BSB translates as subject to…judgment is a passive. It is a form of the same verb that is used in 2:15a and 2:14d. Paul was saying that a person without the Spirit is not able to examine and evaluate a person in whom the Spirit lives.Paul does not mean that a man in whom God’s Spirit lives does not need discipline and advice from his spiritual leaders and that he does not need to obey God’s moral laws. But he does mean that the person who is trusting his own clever thoughts is not able to examine and make judgments about the person who listens to and obeys the Spirit. A person who listens to God’s Spirit does not need to fear criticism from unbelievers or immature believers who do not listen to God’s Spirit (compare 3:3). Evidently some believers among the Corinthians were acting like unbelievers and were finding fault with Paul and did not want to follow his teachings. He will not evaluate such a person correctly, nor be able to appreciate his spiritual value. Other ways to translate this clause are:

no one can judge him (NCV)

they cannot be judged by others (CEV)

Spiritual people…are subject to no one’s evaluation. (GW)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: translate-unknown

ὁ & πνευματικὸς

the & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ πνευματικός ἀνακρίνει τά παντᾶ αὐτός δέ ὑπʼ οὐδενός ἀνακρίνεται)

Here Paul uses the spiritual one as the opposite of “the natural person” in [2:14](../02/14.md). The phrase the spiritual one describes a person who does 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 received God’s Spirit. Alternate translation: [the person with the Spirit]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun

ὁ & πνευματικὸς ἀνακρίνει & αὐτὸς & ἀνακρίνεται

the & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ὁ Δέ πνευματικός ἀνακρίνει τά παντᾶ αὐτός δέ ὑπʼ οὐδενός ἀνακρίνεται)

Paul uses the words spiritual one and he himself 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. Alternate translation: [any spiritual person discerns … he himself or she herself] or [spiritual people discern … they themselves are discerned]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

τὰ πάντα