1 Corinthians 12:2
in 1 Corinthians 12You know that when you were pagans, you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
KJV
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
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This verse in 1 Corinthians 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseYe know that ye were Gentiles,.... That is, by religion; hence the Syriac version renders it חנפא, "profane" persons, given up to wickedness, bigotry, and superstition; for by nation they were Gentiles still; and which must be understood of one part of this church only; for some of them were Jews, as is clear from many passages in the epistle to this church, and practices referred to.
This site's exposition
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant
on 1 Corinthians 12:1-3
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant: the fourth of the letter's peri de sections turns from public worship to the pneumatika, the gifts of the Spirit, because reports from Chloe's house evidently included jealousy and disorder around them. Paul begins by recalling their pagan past, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led, since ecstatic speech and frenzied utterance were common at Corinth's own shrines and needed a test the Corinthians had never had. That test is given in verse 3, no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no man can say that Jesus is Lord, kyrios Iesous, but by the Holy Ghost, so the content of a confession, not its intensity, proves the Spirit behind it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Now that he is about to give them spiritual teaching, Paul recalls their former way of life. His intention is that, just as they have been worshipers of idols in the shape of statues and used to be led about by the will of demons, …
This whole place is very obscure: but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity hath produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more? This however let us defer to another time, but for the present let us state what things were occurring then. Well: what did happen then? Whoever was baptized he straightway spake with tongues and not with tongues only, but many also prophesied, and some also performed many other wonderful works. For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy. And one straightway spake in the Persian, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other such tongue: and this made manifest to them that were without that it is the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore also he so calls it, saying, "But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal;" calling the gifts "a manifestation of the Spirit." For as the Apostles themselves had received this sign first, so also the faithful went on receiving it, I mean, the gift of tongues; yet not this only but also many others: inasmuch as many used even to raise the dead and to cast out devils and to perform many other such wonders: and they had gifts too, some less, and some more. […]
A commentator
Severian of GabalaPAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH · Written before 425.
proposed
Paul shows that there is a very big difference between Christian prophecy and pagan soothsaying. Pagans do not address the unclean spirit but are possessed by it and say things which they do not understand. The soothsayer's soul is darkened, and he does not know …
The Medieval Church2 voices
He gives a sign of a soothsayer for distinguishing a prophet, and says: whoever prophesies through idols, under the inspiration of an unclean spirit, is as if led by someone, dragged along bound by the spirit, knowing nothing of what he utters, but being in …
Secondly, when he says, You know that when you were heathen, he follows out his intention: first, he shows the need for spiritual graces; secondly, he presents the distribution of graces (v. 4). Now the need for a thing is best known from its absence. …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Such Gentiles were the body of the Corinthians, before their conversion to Christianity. Christian Corinthians were once Gentiles. Note, It is of great use to the Christian, and a proper consideration to stir him up both to duty and thankfulness, to think what once he was: You were Gentiles.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Ye were Gentiles - Previously to your conversion to the Christian faith; ye were heathens, carried away, not guided by reason or truth, but hurried by your passions into a senseless worship, the chief part of which was calculated only to excite and gratify animal propensities. Dumb idols - Though often supplicated, could never return an answer; so that not only the image could not speak, but the god or demon pretended to be represented by it could not speak: a full proof that an idol was nothing in the world.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
This gives the reason why the Corinthians needed instruction as to spiritual gifts, namely, their past heathen state, wherein they had no experience of intelligent spiritual powers. When blind, ye went to the dumb. as ye were led--The Greek is, rather, "as ye might (happen to) be led," namely, on different occasions.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ye know ... - This verse is regarded by many as a parenthesis. But it is not necessary to suppose that it is so, or that it does not cohere with that which follows. The design seems to be to remind them of their former miserable condition as idolaters, in order to make them more sensible of their advantages as Christians, and that they might be led more highly to appreciate their present condition. Paul often refers Christians to their former condition, to excite in them gratitude for the mercies that God has conferred on them in the gospel; see the note at 1Co 6:11, compare Rom 6:17; Eph 2:11-12; Tit 3:3. That ye were Gentiles - Heathen; worshippers of idols. The idea is, that they were pagans; that they had no knowledge of the true God, but were sunk in miserable superstition and idolatry. Carried away - Led along; that is, deluded by your passions, deluded by your priests, deluded by your vain and splendid rites of worship. The whole system made an appeal to the senses, and “bore along” its votaries as if by a foreign and irresistible impulse. The word which is used ἀπαγόμενοι apagomenoi conveys properly the idea of being carried into bondage, or being led to punishment, and refers here doubtless to the strong means which had been used by crafty politicians and priests in their former state to delude and deceive them. Unto these dumb idols - These idols which could not speak - an attribute which is often given to them, to show the folly of worshipping them; Psa 115:5; Psa 135:15; Hab 2:18-19. The ancient priests and politicians deluded the people with the notion that oracles were uttered by the idols whom they worshipped, and thus they maintained the belief in their divinity. […]
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἴδατε | oidate | You know | ||
| ὅτι | hoti | that | G3754 → | 1292 times |
| ὅτε | hote | when | G3753 → | 103 times |
| ἔθνη | ethne | pagans | G1484 → | 161 times |
| ἦτε | ete | you were | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| τὰ | ta | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| εἴδωλα | eidola | idols | G1497 → | 11 times |
| τὰ | ta | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἄφωνα | aphona | mute | G880 → | |
| ὡς | hos | even as | G5613 → | 500 times |
| ἂν | an | maybe | G302 → | 165 times |
| ἤγεσθε | egesthe | you were led | G71 → | |
| ἀπαγόμενοι. | apagomenoi | being carried away. | G520 → |
οἴδατεYou know
oidate
ὅτιthat
hotiG3754 →1292 times
ὅτεwhen
hoteG3753 →103 times
ἔθνηpagans
ethneG1484 →161 times
ἦτεyou were
eteG1510 →2333 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
τὰ<the>
taG3588 →19766 times
εἴδωλαidols
eidolaG1497 →11 times
τὰ<the>
taG3588 →19766 times
ἄφωναmute
aphonaG880 →
ὡςeven as
hosG5613 →500 times
ἂνmaybe
anG302 →165 times
ἤγεσθεyou were led
egestheG71 →
ἀπαγόμενοι.being carried away.
apagomenoiG520 →
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 Peter 4:3For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
it leads to
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5
not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Corinthians 6:11
And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
- Ephesians 5:18
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:5
Through
1 Thessalonians 1:9For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
it leads to
- 1 Timothy 4:10
To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe.
- 1 Timothy 4:10
Through
Galatians 4:8Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- Ephesians 2:11–12
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)—
- 1 Thessalonians 1:9
For they themselves report what kind of welcome you gave us, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
- 1 Corinthians 8:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Corinthians
This page draws on 11 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); Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES; Charles Hodge, An Exposition of the First Epistle to the Corinthians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 29; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on 1 Corinthians and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on 1 Corinthians.