The Holy Spirit · The Gifts
Words of Knowledge & Wisdom
Two gifts stand first in Paul’s Corinth list, and Scripture never defines either one. “The word of wisdom… the word of knowledge” appear in a single verse, without explanation, and never again. An honest page begins there: what the church has made of the two phrases are readings, and this page labels them as readings, shows the narrative exhibits each appeals to, and draws the one line the texts do draw plainly, between the gift given to some, and the wisdom promised to everyone who asks.
One Verse, Two Gifts, No Definition
1 Corinthians 12:8: the honest starting point
THE ENTIRE TEXTUAL BASE OF BOTH GIFTS
“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit” · 1 Cor 12:8 →one verse · no definition attached · neither phrase appears again in Scripture
THE TEACHING READING
- WORD OF WISDOM
- Spirit-given mastery of God's revealed wisdom (the gospel scheme) and the power to explain it
- WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
- Spirit-given grasp of revealed truth, for Wesley, “perhaps” the types and prophecies of the Old Testament
- WHO READS IT THIS WAY
- Wesley, Clarke, Gill, and most of the classical commentators; Augustine's divine/human distinction sits here
THE REVELATORY READING
- WORD OF WISDOM
- a Spirit-given word of direction for a specific situation, God's wisdom for this moment, not general brilliance
- WORD OF KNOWLEDGE
- a Spirit-given fragment of fact the speaker could not naturally know, as Peter knew Ananias's secret
- WHO READS IT THIS WAY
- the Pentecostal stream, Hagin (I Believe in Visions), Prince, and the charismatic mainstream since Azusa
To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,The word of wisdom - A power of understanding and explaining the manifold wisdom of God in the grand scheme of gospel salvation. The word of knowledge - Perhaps an extraordinary ability to understand and explain the Old Testament types and prophecies.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), on 1 Cor 12:8
Word of wisdom - In all these places I consider that the proper translation of λογος is doctrine, as in many other places of the New Testament. It is very difficult to say what is intended here by the different kinds of gifts mentioned by the apostle: they were probably all supernatural, and were necessary at that time only for the benefit of the Church. On the 8th, 9th, and 10th verses (1Co 12:8-10), much may be seen in Lightfoot, Whitby, Pearce, and others.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), on 1 Cor 12:8
In disputing, then, about wisdom, they have defined it thus: Wisdom is the knowledge of things human and divine. And hence, in the last book, I have not withheld the admission, that the cognizance of both subjects, whether divine or human, may be called both knowledge and wisdom. But according to the distinction made in the apostle's words, "To one is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge," this definition is to be divided, so that the knowledge of things divine shall be called wisdom, and that of things human appropriate to itself the name of knowledge.
Augustine of Hippo· On the Trinity 14 (430), on 1 Cor 12:8
The utterance of wisdom means understanding what God has said through the prophets and evangelists and communicating this to those who are listening. The utterance of knowledge is the revelation of things which have been forgotten, which someone learns for the first time and then …
Severian of Gabala· Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church (c. 425), on 1 Cor 12:8
Notice the commentators’ own humility: Wesley says “perhaps”; Clarke says plainly that it is “very difficult to say what is intended.” Where the quarry’s best men hedge, this page will not pretend to certainty they did not have.
The Exhibits
what the narratives actually show: each named for the stream that appeals to it
Scripture may not define the phrases, but it is full of moments where God gives someone knowledge they could not naturally have, or wisdom no training explains. The revelatory reading points to Jesus at the well , “thou hast had five husbands”, and the woman’s own verdict: “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.” It points to Peter, who was not at the property sale and knew the price anyway; Gregory of Nyssa’s comment below is as close as the fathers come to describing a word of knowledge in operation. And behind both stands Elisha’s question to Gehazi: “Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?” The teaching reading points to James at the Jerusalem council, one sentence of Scripture-soaked judgment that settled the church’s first great dispute.
“I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband. In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet.the revelatory stream's chief exhibit: knowledge that opened a heart, not a wound.
Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land? Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!”For Ananias became a thief of his own goods, secretly, as he thought, from all men, and concealing his sin: but the Holy Spirit at the same moment was in Peter, and detected his intent, dragged down as it was to avarice, and gave to Peter from Himself the power of seeing the secret, while it is clear that He could not have done this had He not been able to behold hidden things.
Gregory of Nyssa· On 'Not Three Gods' (395), on Acts 5:3
But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?'went not mine heart with thee?': Elisha and Gehazi, the Old Testament's own exhibit.
When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me! Simon has told us how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people to be His own. The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:the teaching stream's exhibit: James's wisdom joining the testimony to the prophets.
One caution the exhibits themselves teach: in every biblical case, the knowledge served love, it restored, protected, or settled. Kenneth Hagin’s I Believe in Visions, the modern revelatory stream’s best-known testimony, carries the same insistence in its own idiom: the gift operates as the Spirit wills, for people’s good, and is never a talent to be performed. A “word” that exposes without healing, or flatters without truth, has already failed the exhibits it claims.
The Gift, and the Promise to Everyone
James 1:5: the line the texts do draw plainly
Whatever the gift is, Scripture is perfectly clear about something larger: wisdom itself is promised to everybeliever who asks , “liberally, and upbraideth not.” No Christian is waiting on a rare endowment to know what to do next; James describes the wisdom from above by its character, not its delivery mechanism, pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy. And Paul locates the treasury itself: in Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” The gifts, whatever their exact shape, are drawn from that vault and point back to its owner.
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.the vault the gifts draw from: ALL the treasures, hid in Christ.
Where the readings agree, and where they honestly differthe summary, without a verdict
Agreed by all:both gifts are supernatural in source (“by the Spirit”), distributed at his will (12:11), given for the common good (12:7), and subject to the same weighing as every utterance (1 Thess 5:21). Neither is book-learning; neither is a private possession.
Honestly different:whether the “word” is a settled teaching capacity (the classical commentators) or a momentary revelatory fragment (the Pentecostal stream), and Scripture, which defines neither phrase, does not referee. The narratives show God doing both kinds of thing; the verse assigns neither kind a name with certainty. This page leaves the question exactly as open as the text does.
Closing
One verse, two phrases, and a church that has spent twenty centuries watching God give people what they could not know and what they could not have thought of. Hold the definitions loosely, weigh every claim, ask boldly for the wisdom promised to all, and remember where the whole treasury is hid.