2 Corinthians 12:4

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
that	ὅτι hoti	G3754	demonstrative · conjunction
up	ἡρπάγη hērpagē	G726	to seize (in various applications) · verb — second aorist passive indicative, 3rd person singular
into	εἰς eis	G1519	to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) · preposition
paradise	παράδεισον paradeison	G3857	a park · noun — accusative singular masculine
and	καὶ kai	G2532	and · conjunction
heard	ἤκουσεν ēkousen	G191	to hear (in various senses) · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
unspeakable	ἄρρητα arrēta	G731	unsaid · adjective — accusative plural neuter
words	ῥήματα rhēmata	G4487	an utterance (individually · noun — accusative plural neuter
which	ἃ ha	G3739	the relatively (sometimes demonstrative) pronoun · relative pronoun — accusative plural neuter
is	ἐξὸν exon	G1832	so also neuter present participle of the same (with or… · verb — present active participle, nominative singular neuter
not	οὐκ ouk	G3756	the absolute negative (compare G3361 (μή)) adverb · particle — negative
lawful	ἔξεστι éxesti	G1832	so also neuter present participle of the same (with or…
man	ἀνθρώπῳ anthrōpō	G444	from G3700 (ὀπτάνομαι)) · noun — dative singular masculine
utter	λαλῆσαι. lalēsai	G2980	to talk · verb — aorist active infinitive

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Ezekiel 31:9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him.
Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, wh…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Here we may observe, I. The narrative the apostle gives of the favours God had shown him, and the honour he had done him; for doubtless he himself is the man in Christ of whom he speaks. Concerning this we may take notice, 1. Of the honour itself which was done to the apostle: he was caught up into the third heaven, Co2 12:2. When this was we cannot say, whether it was during those three days that he lay without sight at his conversion or at some other time afterwards, much less can we pretend to say how this was, whether by a separation of his soul from his body or by an extraordinary transport in the depth of contemplation. It would be presumption for us to determine, if not also to enquir…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 12:4

unspeakable--not in themselves, otherwise Paul could not have heard them; but as the explanation states, "which it is not lawful . . . to utter" [ALFORD]. They were designed for Paul's own consolation, and not for communication to others. Some heavenly words are communicable (Exo 34:6; Isa 6:3). These were not so. Paul had not the power adequately to utter; nor if he had, would he have been permitted; nor would earthly men comprehend them (Joh 3:12; Co1 2:9). A man may hear and know more than he can speak.

Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 12:4

Caught up into paradise - The Jewish writers have no less than four paradises, as they have seven heavens; but it is needless to wade through their fables. On the word paradise see the note on Gen 2:8. The Mohammedans call it jennet alferdoos, the garden of paradise, and say that God created it out of light, and that it is the habitation of the prophets and wise men. Among Christian writers it generally means the place of the blessed, or the state of separate spirits. Whether the third heaven and paradise be the same place we cannot absolutely say; they probably are not; and it is likely that St. Paul, at the time referred to, had at least two of these raptures. Which it is not lawful for a…

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The Church Fathers

So much for those who write false revelations!
— Oecumenius, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

This means that they cannot be expressed in a human language.
— Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.7.4

He saw the beautiful appearance of paradise, the dances of the saints in it and the harmonious sound of its hymnody.
— Theodore of Mopsuestia, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Heaven — (1.) Definitions. The phrase “heaven and earth” is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen. 1:1; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament,…
Paradise — A Persian word (pardes), properly meaning a “pleasure-ground” or “park” or “king’s garden.” (See EDEN.) It came in course of time to be used as a name for the world of happiness and rest hereafter…
Trance — (Gr. ekstasis, from which the word “ecstasy” is derived) denotes the state of one who is “out of himself.” Such were the trances of Peter and Paul, Acts 10:10; 11:5; 22:17, ecstasies, “a…
Hades · 2. The realm (state) of the — 2. The realm (state) of the
Heaven · .PARADISE — .PARADISE
Paradise · The place of glorified spirits — The place of glorified spirits
Paradox · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Words · Unspeakable, heard by Paul in Paradise — Unspeakable, heard by Paul in Paradise

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

2 Corinthians 12:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 12:4

Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 12:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

2 Corinthians 12:4

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Corinthians 12:4

Adam Clarke on 2 Corinthians 12:4

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 2 Corinthians 12:4

John Calvin on 2 Corinthians 12:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 2 Corinthians 12:3-4