1 Corinthians 13:9
in 1 Corinthians 13For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
KJV
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 13
Commentary
15 notes on this verseBut as for us, we still dwell upon the earth, and have not yet sat down upon His throne. For although the Spirit of the Saviour that is in Him "searcheth all things, even the deep things of God," yet as to us "there are diversities of gifts, differences of administrations, and diversities of operations;" and we, while upon the earth, as Paul also declares, "know in part, and prophesy in part."
This site's exposition
Love never fails
on 1 Corinthians 13:8-10
Love never fails, while prophecy, tongues and knowledge belong to the time when we know in part. Verse 12 places the perfect, to teleion, at full sight in the Lord's presence, so the gifts serve the church until that day (1:7).
This site's exposition
we know in part and we prophesy in part
In part translates ek merous, a piece taken from a whole. Knowledge and prophecy, the gifts Corinth prized, give true pieces of God's truth, and the whole waits for a later day. Hodge takes the verse to describe the limits of every believer's present knowledge.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
Our knowledge in this life remains imperfect, but it is reliable within its limits. Believers trust the witness of their senses, which are subservient to their intelligence. They may occasionally be deceived, but even so they are still better off than those who maintain that the senses can never be trusted.
But if any lover of strife contradict what I have said, and also what the apostle affirms, that "we know in part, and prophesy in part," and imagine that he has acquired not a partial, but a universal, knowledge of all that exists,-being such an one as Valentinus, or Ptolemaeus, or Basilides, or any other of those who maintain that they have searched out the deep things of God,-let him not (arraying himself in vainglory) boast that he has acquired greater knowledge than others with respect to those things which are invisible, or cannot be placed under our observation; but let him, by making diligent inquiry, and obtaining information from the Father, tell us the reasons (which we know not) of those things which are in this world,-as, for instance, the number of hairs on his own head, and the sparrows which are captured day by day, and such other points with which we are not previously acquainted,-so that we may credit him also with respect to more important points. But if those who are perfect do not yet understand the very things in their hands, and at their feet, and before their eyes, and on the earth, and especially the rule followed with respect to the hairs of their head, how can we believe them regarding things spiritual, and super-celestial, and those which, with a vain confidence, they assert to be above God?
"It is sown an animal body, it rises a spiritual body." He has taught, beyond all doubt, that such language was not used by him, either with reference to the soul or to the spirit, but to bodies that have become corpses. For these are animal bodies, that is, [bodies] which partake of life, which when they have lost, they succumb to death; then, rising through the Spirit's instrumentality, they become spiritual bodies, so that by the Spirit they possess a perpetual life. "For now," he says, "we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but then face to face." And this it is which has been said also by Peter: "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom now also, not seeing, ye believe; and believing, ye shall rejoice with joy unspeakable." For our face shall see the face of the Lord and shall rejoice with joy unspeakable,-that is to say, when it shall behold its own Delight.
For we know in part and prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away; for we shall then know perfectly, as we ought to know, when we have all risen from the …
"We know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." It is not therefore knowledge that is done away, but the circumstance that our knowledge is in part. For we shall not only know as much but even a great deal more. But that I may also make it plain by example; now we know that God is every where, but how, we know not. That He made out of things that are not the things that are we know; but of the manner we are ignorant. That He was born of a virgin, we know; but how, we know not yet. But then shall we know somewhat more and clearer concerning these things.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
Then when he says: for our knowledge is imperfect, he proves what he had said: first, he presents a proof; secondly, he clarifies things contained in the proof (v. 11). To prove the proposition he presents this proof: When the perfect comes, the imperfect ceases; …
If knowledge will be abolished: will we then live in ignorance? By no means! But he says that knowledge "in part" will be abolished when perfect knowledge comes, that is, the knowledge proper to the future life. For then we will know not merely as …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And even the prophecies which men deliver from God are far from taking in the whole of future events, or of that wisdom and knowledge of God which is treasured up in the scripture Revelation.
Our best knowledge and our greatest abilities are at present like our condition, narrow and temporary. Even the knowledge they had by inspiration was but in part. How little a portion of God, and the unseen world, was heard even by apostles and inspired men!
For we know in part,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For we know in part - Compare the note on 1Co 12:27. This expression means “only in part;” that is, “imperfectly.” Our knowledge here is imperfect and obscure. It may, therefore, all vanish in the eternal world amidst its superior brightness; and we should not regard that as of such vast value which is imperfect and obscure; compare the note at 1Co 8:
For we know in part - We have here but little knowledge even of earthly, and much less of heavenly, things. He that knows most knows little in comparison of what is known by angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. And as we know so very little, how deficient must we be if we have not much love! Angels may wonder at the imperfection of our knowledge; and separate spirits may wonder at the perfection of their own, having obtained so much more in consequence of being separated from the body, than they could conceive to be possible while in that body. When Sir Isaac Newton had made such astonishing discoveries in the laws of nature, far surpassing any thing that had been done by all his predecessors in science from the days of Solomon; one of our poets, considering the scantiness of human knowledge when compared with that which is possessed by the inhabitants of heaven, reduced his meditations on the subject to the following nervous and expressive epigram: - Superior beings, when of late they saw A mortal man explain all nature’s law, Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape, And show’d our Newton as we show an ape. These fine lines are a paraphrase from a saying of Plato, from whom our poet borrows without acknowledging the debt. The words are these: ανθρωπον ὁ σοφωτατος προς θεον πιθηκος φανειται· “The wisest of mortals will appear but an ape in the estimation of God.” Vid. Hipp. Maj. vol. xi. p. 21. Edit. Bipont. We prophesy in part - Even the sublimest prophets have been able to say but little of the heavenly state; and the best preachers have left the Spirit of God very much to supply. And had we no more religious knowledge than we can derive from men and books, and had we no farther instruction in the knowledge of God and ourselves than we derive from preaching, our religious experience would be low indeed. […]
The words behind it
8 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐκ | ek | In | G1537 → | 911 times |
| μέρους | merous | part | G3313 → | 42 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| γινώσκομεν | ginoskomen | we know | G1097 → | 221 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐκ | ek | in | G1537 → | 911 times |
| μέρους | merous | part | G3313 → | 42 times |
| προφητεύομεν· | propheteuomen | we prophesy; | G4395 → | 28 times |
ἐκIn
ekG1537 →911 times
μέρουςpart
merousG3313 →42 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
γινώσκομενwe know
ginoskomenG1097 →221 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐκin
ekG1537 →911 times
μέρουςpart
merousG3313 →42 times
προφητεύομεν·we prophesy;
propheteuomenG4395 →28 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 2:9Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 64:4
From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
- Psalms 31:19
How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have bestowed before the sons of men on those who take refuge in You!
- James 1:12
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.
- Romans 8:28
And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Isaiah 65:17
For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.
- Isaiah 64:4
Through
Psalms 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
it leads to
- Romans 11:33
O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
- Romans 11:33
Through
1 Corinthians 8:2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18
Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies11
On this verse
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 19.18; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 7; Frederic Godet, Commentary on First Corinthians; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book II; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book V; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 34; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.