Romans 11:34

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
For	γὰρ gar	G1063	properly · conjunction
who	τίς tis	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
known	ἔγνω egnō	G1097	to "know" (absolutely) in a great variety of applicatio… · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
mind	νοῦν noun	G3563	the intellect · noun — accusative singular masculine
Lord	κυρίου; kuriou	G2962	supreme in authority · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
or	ἢ ē	G2228	disjunctive · conjunction
who	τίς tis	G5101	an interrogative pronoun · interrogative pronoun — nominative singular masculine
been	ἐγένετο; egeneto	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second aorist middle deponent indicative, 3rd person singular
his	αὐτοῦ autou	G846	the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular masculine
counsellor	σύμβουλος sumboulos	G4825	a consultor · noun — nominative singular masculine

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

Isaiah 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
1 Corinthians 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Job 15:8 Hast thou heard the secret of God? and dost thou restrain wisdom to thyself?
Job 36:22 Behold, God exalteth by his power: who teacheth like him?
Jeremiah 23:18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 11:33–end

The apostle having insisted so largely, through the greatest part of this chapter, upon reconciling the rejection of the Jews with the divine goodness, he concludes here with the acknowledgment and admiration of the divine wisdom and sovereignty in all this. Here the apostle does with great affection and awe adore, I. The secrecy of the divine counsels: O the depth! in these proceedings towards the Jews and Gentiles; or, in general, the whole mystery of the gospel, which we cannot fully comprehend. - The riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, the abundant instances of his wisdom and knowledge in contriving and carrying on the work of our redemption by Christ, a depth which the angels pry…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 11:34

For who hath known the mind of the Lord?--See Job 15:8; Jer 23:18. or who hath been his counsellor--See Isa 40:13-14.

Adam Clarke on Romans 11:34

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? - Who can pretend to penetrate the counsels of God, or fathom the reasons of his conduct? His designs and his counsels are like himself, infinite; and, consequently, inscrutable. It is strange that, with such a scripture as this before their eyes, men should sit down and coolly and positively write about counsels and decrees of God formed from all eternity, of which they speak with as much confidence and decision as if they had formed a part of the council of the Most High, and had been with him in the beginning of his ways! A certain writer, (Mr. Perkins), after having entered into all these counsels, and drawn out his black-lined scheme of absolute…

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John Gill on Romans 11:34

For who hath known the mind of the Lord,.... The intentions of his mind, the thoughts of his heart, and the counsels of his will: these could never have been known, if he had not revealed them; nor can the doctrines relating to them, though externally revealed, be known by the natural man, or by the mere dint of nature, but only by the light of the Spirit of God; who searches them, and makes them known in a spiritual manner to spiritual men, who have a spiritual discerning of them; and yet even by these they are not known perfectly, only in part, and are seen through a glass darkly: or who hath been his counsellor? or was of his council, when all things were fixed according to his sovereign…

The Church Fathers

Previously nobody knew it, but at the time of writing Paul certainly knew it, as he indicated to others when he said: "We have the mind of the Lord."
— Pelagius, PELAGIUS'S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS

It is clear that only God knows everything and it is only he who lacks nothing, because everything comes from him. No one can understand or measure this knowledge, because the inferior cannot comprehend what is superior to it. Jewish believers could not understand that the salvation of the Gentiles could be God's plan and will. Likewise, it seemed unlikely and incredible to the Gentiles that the Jews, who had not believed, could be converted or accepted as believers.
— Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES

If, now, it is in this sense that He stretches out the heavens alone, how is it that these heretics assume their position so perversely, as to render inadmissible the singleness of that Wisdom which says, "When He prepared the heaven, I was present with Him? " -even though the apostle asks, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? " meaning, of course, to except that wisdom which was present with Him.
— Tertullian, Against Praxeas

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

Goodness of God — A perfection of his character which he exercises towards his creatures according to their various circumstances and relations (Ps. 145:8, 9; 103:8; 1 John 4:8). Viewed generally, it is benevolence;…
Sea of glass — A figurative expression used in Rev. 4:6 and 15:2. According to the interpretation of some, “this calm, glass-like sea, which is never in storm, but only interfused with flame, represents the…
Holy Spirit · 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22; — 1:9,32,33;3:5,6,34;4:14;6:45,63;7:38,39;14:16,17,26;15:26;16:7-14;20:22;
Holy Spirit, The Personality Of · He searches all things — He searches all things

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).

Romans 11:34

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 11:33–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 11:34

Adam Clarke on Romans 11:34

John Gill on Romans 11:34

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Romans 11:34

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Romans 11:33–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Romans 11:34

Adam Clarke on Romans 11:34

John Gill on Romans 11:34

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Romans 11:33–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Romans 11:32