John Calvin Commentary 1 Corinthians 2:9

"but as it is written, Things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, And [which] entered not into the heart of man, Whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him." — 1 Corinthians 2:9 (ASV)

As it is written, “What eye hath not seen.” All are agreed that this passage is taken from Isaiah 64:4, and as the meaning is at first view plain and easy, interpreters do not give themselves much trouble in explaining it. On looking, however, more narrowly into it, two very great difficulties present themselves. The first is, that the words that are here quoted by Paul do not correspond with the words of the Prophet. The second is, that it seems as though Paul had perverted the Prophet’s declaration to a purpose quite foreign to his design.

First, then, regarding the words; as they may be taken in different senses, interpreters explain them in various ways.

Some render the passage as follows: “From the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived with their ears, and eye hath not seen any god beside Thee, who doth act in such a manner towards him that waiteth for him.”

Others understand the discourse as addressed to God, in this way: “Eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, O God, besides thee, the things which thou dost for those that wait for thee.”

Literally, however, the Prophet’s meaning is: “From the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor have they perceived with the ears, hath not seen a god, (or O God,) besides thee, will do (or will prepare) for him that waiteth for him.” If we understand אלהים (God) to be in the accusative, the relative who must be supplied.

This explanation, too, appears, at first view, to suit better with the Prophet’s context regarding the verb that follows being used in the third person; but it is further removed from Paul’s meaning, on which we ought to place more dependence than on any other consideration. For where shall we find a surer or more faithful interpreter than the Spirit of God of this authoritative declaration, which He Himself dictated to Isaiah—in the explanation which He has furnished by the mouth of Paul?

To prevent, however, the false accusations of the wicked, I observe that the Hebrew idiom allows us to understand the Prophet’s true meaning to be this: “O God, neither hath eye seen, nor hath ear heard: but thou alone knowest the things which thou art wont to do to those that wait for thee.” The sudden change of person forms no objection, as we know that it is so common in the writings of the Prophets that it need not be any hindrance in our way.

If anyone, however, prefers the former interpretation, he will have no reason to accuse either us or the Apostle of departing from the simple meaning of the words, for we supply less than they do, as they are under the necessity of adding a mark of comparison to the verb, rendering it as follows: “who doth act in such a manner.”

Regarding what follows about these things entering into the heart of man, though the expression is not used by the Prophet, it does not differ materially from the clause besides thee. For in ascribing this knowledge to God alone, he excludes from it not merely the bodily senses of men, but also the entire faculty of the understanding. Therefore, while the Prophet mentions only sight and hearing, he includes at the same time by implication all the faculties of the soul. And without doubt, these are the two instruments by which we attain the knowledge of those things that find their way into the understanding.

In using the expression them that love him, he has followed the Greek interpreters. They translated it in this way because they were misled by the resemblance between one letter and another. However, as that did not affect the point in hand, he did not choose to depart from the common reading. Indeed, we frequently have occasion to observe how closely he follows the received version. Though the words, therefore, are not the same, there is no real difference of meaning.

I come now to the subject matter. The Prophet in that passage, when mentioning how signally God had on all occasions befriended His people in their emergencies, exclaims that His acts of kindness to the pious surpass the comprehension of human intellect. “But what has this to do,” someone will say, “with spiritual doctrine, and the promises of eternal life, about which Paul is here arguing?” There are three ways in which this question may be answered.

It would not be inconsistent to affirm that the Prophet, having mentioned earthly blessings, was as a result led on to make a general statement, and even to extol that spiritual blessedness which is laid up in heaven for believers. I prefer, however, to understand him simply as referring to those gifts of God’s grace that are daily conferred upon believers. In these, it is fitting for us always to observe their source, and not to confine our views to their present aspect. Now their source is that unmerited goodness of God, by which He has adopted us into the number of His sons. Therefore, he who would estimate these things correctly will not contemplate them in their naked aspect, but will clothe them with God’s fatherly love, as with a robe, and will thus be led forward from temporal favors to eternal life. It might also be maintained that the argument is from the less to the greater; for if man’s intellect is not competent to measure God’s earthly gifts, how much less will it reach the height of heaven? (John 3:12). I have, however, already intimated which interpretation I prefer.