even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written,

Eye hath not seen, nor ear

heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them

that love him.

κρυμμενην, ἣν προώρισεν 8 ɛos προ των αιώνων εις δοξαν ἡμων

8 Ἡν ουδεις των αρχόντων του αιώνος τούτου εγνωκεν ει γαρ εγνωσαν, ουκ αν τον Κυριον της δόξης εςαυρωσαν.

9 Αλλα καθως γεγραπται Α οφθαλμος ουκ ειδε, και ους ουκ ηκουσε, και επι καρδιαν ανθρώπου ουκ ανεβη, ἃ ήτοιμασεν ὁ Θεος τοις αγαπωó

σιν αυτον

Ver. 7.-1. Which was hidden in a mystery. The doctrines of the gospel, called the wisdom of God, lay long hidden in the types and figures of the law of Moses, and in the Old Testament prophecies. These, therefore, consti. tuted the mystery, of which the apostle speaks; and in which he says, the wisdom of God was kept hidden during the Mosaic dispensation.-To recommend the gospel to the Greeks, and to wean them from those vain mysteries of which they were so passionately fond, the apostle here, and in various other passages, (see Ephes. i. 9. note.) dignified the gospel with the appellation of a mystery, not only because it had hitherto been kept secret, Rom, xvi. 25. Ephes. iii. 9. Col. i. 26. but because the discoveries which it contains, (see ver. 6. note 1.) were unspeakably more important than the discoveries made in any of the heathen mysteries, and were far more certain, being wisdom from the true God. See Pref. to the Ephes. sect. iii.

2. To our glory; that is, according to Whitby, to be the means of the future glory and happiness of the saints. But I prefer the interpretation in the commentary, because St. Paul's design is to shew, that none but the apostles enjoyed the glory of revealing the doctrines of the gospel in an infallible manner; and that the false teacher, and all others who set themselves in opposition to the apostles, were imposters not to be gloried in.

Ver. 8.-1. None of the rulers of this world knew. Locke observes, that in the writings of the New Testament, ay r, this world, commonly signifies the state of mankind before the publication of the gospel, as contradistinguished to the evangelical state or constitution, which is commonly called, av nav, the world to come.-By taking notice that none of the rulers of this world, and particularly none of the Jewish chief priests and elders, knew the gospel to be from God, the apostle shewed the Corin thians, what little reason they had to value the false teacher, on account of the knowledge he derived from his Jewish instructers.

ed by the wisdom of the true God, which was long hidden in a mystery, but which God predetermined before the Mosaic dispensation began, should be explained by us apostles, to our great honour.

8 Which wisdom neither Pilate, nor Herod, nor Caiaphas, nor the elders of the Jews, knew to be the wisdom of God: For if they had known it to be his, they would not have crucified Jesus, the Author of all the glorious things displayed in the gospel mystery.

9 The ignorance of the rulers, was occasioned by the things contained in the mystery of God's wisdom, being above human comprehension, (see ver. 6. note 1.) For as it is written, Those blessings, eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and into the heart of man have not entercd, which God hath prepared for them who love him.

2. Would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The divine person who appeared to the patriarchs, was called by the Jews, the God of glory, and the King of glory, because when he appeared he was commonly surrounded with fire or light. Psal. xxiv. 10. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the king of glory.-Acts vii. 2. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham.-The apostle gave the appellation of the Lord of glory, to Jesus, for the important reason mentioned in the commentary, and because the glory in which he appeared during his incarnation, was the glory of the only begotten of the Father; the glory of a character absolutely perfect.

Ver. 9.-1. A opdaru, Those things eye hath not seen. As the relative (a) is found twice in this sentence, I think the first stands for the demonstrative pronoun ταυτά. See Ess. iv. 67. and I have so translated it. Clem. Alex. Strom. 5. hath here Axa xnpvoooμst, But we preach; which I take to be an explication rather than a various reading.—The meaning of the prophet's words, as applied by the apostle, is, that those blessings which God hath prepared for them who love him, and which in the gospel he hath s covered and promised to bestow on them, are so great, that nothing le them have ever been beheld by men, or reported to them. Nay, the tend of man, by its own powers, is not able to form the most distant idea of the.n.

Ver. 10. 1. The Spirit, έρευνα, searcbeth. Le Clerc, thinking it improper to speak of the Spirit's searching, supposes that searching, the cause, is put for knowing, the effect of searching. And therefore, he would have the clause translated, knoweth the depths; in which sense the word searcheth seems to be used, Rev. ii. 23. I am he, i egeuvov, who searcheth; that is, who fully knoweth the reins and beart.

2. The depths of God. These are the various parts of that grand plan, which the wisdom of God hath formed for the salvation of mankind, their relation to, and dependence on each other, their operation and effect upon the system of the universe, the dignity of the person by whom that plan hath been executed, and the final issue thereof in the salvation of believers ; with many other particulars, which we shall not know, till the light of the other world break in upon us.

Ver. 12.-1. The spirit of the world, is that diabolical inspiration by which the heathen priests and priestesses delivered oracles, and which is here called the spirit of the world, because by these false oracles, the devil ruled the heathens, termed in scripture the world, and this world.

10 But, although no faculty in man could discover these things, God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit; for the Spirit knoweth all things, even the deep counsels of God respecting the salvation of men.

11 This ye may know, by reflecting on yourselves: for who among men knoweth the depths, the concealed thoughts and designs of a man, but the spirit of man which is in him ; so also, the deep concealed designs of God, no one knoweth, except the Spirit of God who is conscious of the whole.

12 Now, we have received, not the inspiration of that evil spirit who agitates the heathen priests and priestesses, but the inspiration which cometh from God, that we might know fully the blessings, (ver. 9.) which are gifted to us and to all who believe, not by any idol, but by the true God.

13 Which blessings also we declare to the world, not in the flowery language prescribed by the Greek rhetoricians, but in the unadorned language suggested to us by the Holy Spirit ; explaining spiritual things in words dictated by the Spirit, because they are best adapted to express them.

Ver. 13.—1. Words taught by the Holy Spirit. From this we learn, that as often as the apostles declared the doctrines of the gospel, the Spirit presented these doctrines to their minds clothed in their own language; which indeed is the only way in which the doctrines of the gospel could be presented to their minds. For men are so accustomed to connect ideas with words, that they always think in words. Wherefore, though the language in which the apostles delivered the doctrines of the gospel, was really suggested to them by the Spirit, it was properly their own style of language. This language in which the doctrines of the gospel was revealed to the apostles, and in which they delivered these doctrines to the world, is what St. Paul calls the form of sound words, which Timothy had heard from him, and was to hold fast, 2 Tim. i. 13. Every one therefore ought to beware of

altering or wresting the inspired language of scripture, in their expositions of the articles of the Christian faith.-Taylor, in the sixth chapter of his Key, at the end, explains the verse under consideration thus: Which things we speak, not in philosophical terms of human invention, but which the Spirit teacheth in the writings of the Old Testament: and contends, that the apostle's meaning is, that he expressed the Christian privileges in the very same words and phrases, by which the Spirit expressed the privileges of the Jewish church in the writings of the Old Testament. But if the Spirit suggested these words and phrases to the Jewish prophets, why might he not suggest to the apostles, the words and phrases in which they communicated the gospel revelation to the world? Especially as there are many discoveries in the gospel which could not be expressed clearly, if at all, in the words by which the prophets expressed the privileges of the Jewish church. Besides, it is evident, that when the apostles introduce into their writings the words and phrases of the Jewish prophets, they explain them in other words and phrases, which no doubt were suggested to them by the Spirit. See 2 Tim. iii. 16. note 4.

2. Explaining spiritual things. The original word sugugiovres, is rightly translated interpreting or explaining; being used by the LXX. to denote the interpretation of dreams, Gen. xl. 16. 22. xli. 12, 13. 15. Dan. ii. 4. v. 7. 12. 3. In spiritual words So I translate varies. But Dr. Pearce transslates the clause, explaining spiritual things to spiritual men. This sense I acknowledge the original will bear, only it does not agree so well with the first part of the verse, where words taught by the Holy Spirit are mentioned. Ver. 14-1. Now an animal man. An animal man is one, who makes the faculties of his animal nature, that is, his senses, his passions, and his natural reason darkened by prejudices, the measure of truth, and the rule of his conduct, without paying any regard to the discoveries of revelation. Of this character were the heathen philosophers, to whom the doctrines of the gospel were foolishness, chap. i. 23. Also the Jewish scribes, and those