The Scripture behind the Scripture
Who Hath Known the Mind of the Lord
Isaiah 40:13 asks who has known the mind of the Lord or been his counselor. Paul quotes it in Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:16, drawing two different conclusions.
“Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?”Isaiah 40:13
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?”Romans 11:34
“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”1 Corinthians 2:16
In its own place
In its own place. Isaiah 40 opens the great section of comfort to Israel in and beyond the Babylonian exile, proclaiming the incomparable greatness of God who is about to deliver his people. Amid soaring descriptions of God's power and majesty, the prophet asks, Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge? In its original setting these rhetorical questions exalt the wisdom and self sufficiency of God. Unlike the idols and unlike human rulers, the Lord needs no advisor, no one to teach or counsel him. He measures the waters in the hollow of his hand and weighs the mountains, and his understanding is beyond searching. The point is to comfort a discouraged people by magnifying the God who is about to act for them, assuring them that his purposes are wise and unfailing, formed by his own perfect knowledge without any need of human help. The nations are as nothing before him, and no one has ever informed or corrected the Almighty. The passage humbles human pride and lifts the eyes of the weary to the God whose wisdom and might are beyond all comparison.
Where the New Testament takes it up
This is a direct quotation, and Paul draws two complementary conclusions from it. In Romans 11:34, at the climax of his long meditation on God's mysterious dealings with Israel and the nations, Paul breaks into worship, O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out, then quotes Isaiah, For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Here Paul uses the verse to humble human reasoning before the unfathomable wisdom of God, whose saving plan surpasses all human understanding. Yet in 1 Corinthians 2:16 Paul quotes the same words to a startling different end. Having argued that the Spirit reveals the deep things of God to believers, he says, For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. Paul follows the Greek. The two uses are not contradictory but wonderfully paired. No one can search out God's mind by human wisdom, Isaiah is right, yet through Christ and the Spirit, God has made his mind known to his people, so that believers, who could never counsel God, have been given the mind of Christ. The same verse both silences human pride and celebrates the revelation given in Christ.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. Isaiah's question, who has known the mind of the Lord, receives a breathtaking answer in the gospel. By nature no one can fathom God's mind or advise him, for his wisdom is unsearchable. Yet God has revealed himself in his Son and poured out his Spirit, so that those who belong to Christ have the mind of Christ. The God who needs no counselor has graciously made his purposes known through Jesus, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Paul's double use captures the wonder, that the same infinite wisdom which humbles all human pride has been opened to us in Christ. We cannot climb up to know God on our own, but God has come down in his Son to make himself known. The unsearchable mind of the Lord is revealed, not exhausted, in Jesus, so that worship and revelation meet, and the humbled heart receives what no human counsel could attain.
Questions people ask
Why does Paul use the same verse two ways?
In Romans 11:34 he uses it to humble human reasoning before God's unsearchable wisdom, and in 1 Corinthians 2:16 to marvel that, through the Spirit, believers have been given the mind of Christ. The two uses are paired, not contradictory, both silencing pride and celebrating revelation.
What did the verse mean in Isaiah?
It exalts God's incomparable wisdom, asking rhetorically who has ever counseled or instructed the Lord. The answer is no one, for God needs no advisor. It comforts the exiles by assuring them that the God about to deliver them acts from perfect, unaided wisdom.