The Nugget:
1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. (KJV)
1Co 13:9 For, in part, are we gaining knowledge, and, in part, are we prophesying, (EB, Emphasized Bible by Rotherham)
1Co 13:9 Now we know in part, and we prophesy in part. (EMTV, English Majority Text Version)
1Co 13:9 For our knowledge is incomplete, and our preaching is incomplete, (TCNT, Twentieth Century NT)
1Co 13:9 For what we know is incomplete and what we prophesy is incomplete. (Williams NT)
1Co 13:9 For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only partial; (GNB, Good News Bible)
1Co 13:9 These will all end because this knowledge and these prophecies we have are not complete. (ERV, Easy to Read Version)
1Co 13:9 For our knowledge is only in part, and the prophet’s word gives only a part of what is true: (BBE, Bible in Basic English)
1Co 13:9 We don’t know everything, and our prophecies are not complete. (CEV, Contemporary English Version)
1Co 13:9 Our knowledge is incomplete and our ability to speak what God has revealed is incomplete. (GW, God’s Word translation)
My Comment:
I have presented ten different English translations or versions of 1 Corinthians 13:9. For English readers, comparing several different translations of a passage helps to see what translators see in the underlying original Greek text. Often this clarifies the meaning of the verse or passage.
Another most important method of Bible study is to read the cross references given for the verse or passage being studied. The Bible does not tell all about a subject it mentions in one place. To learn what the whole Bible says about a subject or topic it is necessary to read all the material on that subject found in the Bible. Cross references are the best and easiest way to make a study of what is mentioned elsewhere on the subject.
Even Bible scholars sometimes mistakenly think that cross references are merely “proof-texting,” rather than a legitimate means of studying the Bible. When I read them say this, I immediately know they do not know the difference, and have likely never studied the Bible seriously this way. “Proof texting” is collecting a set of Bible passages, Bible verses, in such a way as to prove a Bible doctrine in a manner that does not take into account other passages which do not support that interpretation.
Elsewhere on this site I have written an article about where cross references come from. Reading that article will help dispel some mistaken notions many otherwise quite knowledgeable students of the Bible sometimes have.
Many Bible readers understand that “Scripture interprets Scripture.”
Dig deeper into 1 Corinthians 13:9 by consulting the cross references I have collected for this verse in this updated edition of The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:
1 Corinthians 13:9
know. Gr. ginōskō (S# G1097), John 8:55 note. 1Co 14:6.
in part. 1Co 13:12, 1Co 2:9; 1Co 8:2, +Job 11:7; Job 11:8; Job 26:14, Psa 40:5; Psa 73:22; Psa 139:6, Pro 30:2, 3, 4, +*Mat 11:27, Mrk 8:24, Joh 13:7, *Rom 11:34, Eph 3:8; Eph 3:18, 19, Php 3:12, 13, *Col 2:2; *Col 2:3, *1Pe 1:10, 11, 12, **1Jn 3:2, Rev 2:17.
prophesy in part. +*1Co 14:1; +*1Co 14:29, *1Ch 17:2, Mat 7:15, 1Th 5:20.