For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
Parallel translations
- WEB For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
- KJV For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
- NKJV For we know in part and we prophesy in part.
- NASB For we know in part and prophesy in part;
- NLT Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Our knowledge and prophecy are partial. The gifts give only a limited grasp of God's truth.
Overview
Paul explains why the gifts are temporary: they convey knowledge only in part. Even the best spiritual insight in this age is incomplete and fragmentary. This humbles the Corinthians' boast in knowledge and prepares for the promise that the partial will give way to fullness when Christ's purposes are complete.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Col 2:2–3that they may be encouraged in heart, knit together in love, and filled with the full riches of complete understanding, so that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ,
- Eph 3:18–19will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
- Ps 139:6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- 1 Cor 2:9Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
- 1 Cor 13:12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
- 1 Cor 8:2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
- Job 11:7–8Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
- Matt 11:27All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
- Rom 11:34“Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?”
- Ps 40:5Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders You have done, and the plans You have for us—none can compare to You—if I proclaim and declare them, they are more than I can count.
- Prov 30:4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
- Eph 3:8Though I am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- 1 Pet 1:10–12Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
- Job 26:14Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 13:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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