This verse, together with the first part of verse 10, has some serious problems of grammar, punctuation and text. However, the general meaning remains clear.

The best way of understanding the structure of this passage is to think of the entire quotation, together with the introductory words as it is written, as being in parentheses (see Table 1|fig:Table_1CO2-5.jpg). The main line of thought, then, would be like this: “None of the rulers of this age understood this… But … God has revealed it to us.” Within this main contrast there is a second contrast between the first two lines and the last line of the quotation itself. Good News Bible‘s “But” of verse 10 thus repeats the stronger But at the beginning of the present verse, which Good News Bible translates “However.” This interpretation is based on the UBS Greek text, which is discussed in the first comment on verse 10.

The quotation from the Old Testament in this verse is not a complete sentence, as Revised Standard Version shows. There is nothing in the text that corresponds to Good News Bible‘s “is the very thing.” Another way of understanding the quotation would be “This is what scripture means when it speaks about what no one ever saw or heard…,” or “This is the meaning of the passage of scripture about the thing that no one ever saw or heard….” The third line can be expanded to make a complete sentence, and to smooth over the change of subject from no eye or “no one” (Good News Bible) to God. One could say, for example, “This is what God prepared for those who love him.” Revised Standard Version chooses another possibility: it links the quotation with the first part of verse 10; but this is a slightly less natural way of rendering the Greek. Revised Standard Version also removes emphasis from the last line of the quotation. Such a rendering goes against the general structure and movement of the passage that we have outlined above.

The words that Revised Standard Version translates eye, ear, and heart refer to different aspects or functions of the human personality. Good News Bible shows this quite clearly, and since these words refer to things that people do, Good News Bible is correct to translate them by verbs. In biblical thought, the heart has more to do with the mind than the emotions; hence Good News Bible‘s translation, “what no one ever thought could happen.” Good News Bible adds “ever” to show that the quotation is quite general in its application; it does not refer to a particular situation. Translators in some languages will find it more natural to keep these references to eye, ear, and heart.

The two instances of the word what in the quotation may be translated as “the thing that no one … heard, or that no one….”

In certain languages it will be necessary to add a word for “which” between “thing” and “God” (Good News Bible) in the last sentence, and say, for example, “is the very thing which God…” or “happened to be the very thing which God….”

Those in the last sentence should in many languages be identified as “people”; for example, “for those people who love him.”

So far we have spoken about “the quotation,” but in fact there is considerable doubt about where it comes from, and indeed whether it is one quotation or more than one. The introductory words strongly suggest that Paul intends to quote from the Old Testament, but if so, the quotation is very inaccurate, especially toward the end. Sources suggested for various parts of the quotation include Isa 64.4 for lines 1 and 2, and the Septuagint of Isa 65.16 for line 3.

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2nd edition. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1985/1994. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .