1 Corinthians 12:2

1 Corinthians 12:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
• New International Version (NIV)You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led.

Context of 1 Corinthians 12:2

1Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all.

1 Corinthians 12:2 word by word

οἴδατε ὅτι ὅτε ἔθνη ἦτε πρὸς τὰ εἴδωλα τὰ ἄφωνα ὡς ἂν ἤγεσθε ἀπαγόμενοι.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye knowεἴδωeidō · to perceive: understandG1492
• thatὅτιhoti · that/since: thatG3754
• ye wereεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• Gentilesἔθνοςethnos · GentilesG1484
• carried awayἄγωagō · to bringG71
• untoπρόςpros · to/withG4314
• theseὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• dumbἄφωνοςaphōnos · muteG880
• idolsεἴδωλονeidōlon · idolG1497
• even asὡςhōs · as/whenG5613
• ·ἄνan · ifG302
• ye were ledἀπάγωapagō · to lead awayG520

Cross-references for 1 Corinthians 12:2

• 1 Corinthians 6:11Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
• Galatians 4:8Before you Gentiles knew God, you were slaves to so-called gods that do not even exist.
• Ephesians 2:11Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
• Ephesians 4:17With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.
• 1 Thessalonians 1:9for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God.
• 1 Peter 4:3You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
• Psalms 115:5They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.
• Psalms 135:16They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.
• Habakkuk 2:18“What good is an idol carved by man, or a cast image that deceives you? How foolish to trust in your own creation— a god that can’t even talk!
• Matthew 15:14so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
• 1 Peter 1:18For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value.

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 12:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Ye 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2Ye 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…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2pagans: Non-Jewish people who do not follow a major religion.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 22. (Ep 2:11). that ye were--The best manuscripts read, "That WHEN ye were"; thus "ye were" must be supplied before "carried away"--Ye were blindly transported hither and thither at the will of your false guides. these dumb idols--Greek, "the idols which are dumb"; contrasted with the living God who "speaks" in the believer by His Spirit (1Co 12:3, &c.). This gives the reason why the Corinthians needed instruction as to spiritual gifts, namely, their past…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Corinthians 12:2

• Gentiles
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Administration
• Bond
• Covet
• Temper
• Apollos
• Church Government
• Communion; (fellowship)
• Corinth
• Corinthians, First Epistle to the
• Dumb

Commentaries on 1 Corinthians 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings