1 Corinthians 2 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

Paul's preaching: not lofty rhetoric but the crucified Christ 2:1–5

vv. 1–2 — the resolve: nothing but Christ crucified

And I, on my arrival among you, brothers, cameindependent — Κἀγώ — the theology of 1:18–25 applied to Paul's own practice

not with excellence of speech or of wisdom,phrase modifier — the renounced manner — no sophist's ὑπεροχή

proclaiming to you the mystery of God.participial — manner participle — μυστήριον read with NA28/THGNT (μαρτύριον in some witnesses)

For I decided to know nothing among youcause — the ground — a deliberate ministry policy

except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.conditional — εἰ μή exceptive, elliptical — the one theme; the perfect participle: crucified and still defined by it

vv. 3–5 — weakness, and the Spirit's demonstration

And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,independent — the herald matched the message — fear and trembling (cf. Phil 2:12)

and my speech and my proclamation —independent — verbless — the double subject suspended over its antithesis

not in persuasive words of wisdom,phrase modifier — the negative pole — the wording πειθοῖ[ς] σοφίας [λόγοις] is textually unstable

but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,phrase modifier — the positive pole — ἀπόδειξις, the rhetorician's 'proof' reclaimed for the Spirit

so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of menpurpose — the design of vv. 1–4 — what faith must not rest on

but in the power of God.phrase modifier — the true foundation — ἀνθρώπων / θεοῦ caps the antithesis

A higher wisdom: God's hidden, predestined glory 2:6–9

vv. 6–7 — the two wisdoms

Yet we do speak wisdom among the mature —independent — the pivot — Σοφίαν fronted: Paul is no anti-intellectual

but a wisdom not of this age,phrase modifier — resumptive apposition — the first disclaimer

nor of the rulers of this age,phrase modifier — read as the human authorities behind the cross (see v. 8); the demonic reading flagged, not taken

who are being brought to nothing;participial — present passive — their annulment already under way

But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery,independent — the positive pole — θεοῦ fronted before σοφίαν

the wisdom long hidden,participial — attributive perfect participle — concealed, until the unveiling of v. 10

which God foreordained before the ages for our glory —relative — predestined before time, aimed at our glory

vv. 8–9 — what the rulers never knew

which none of the rulers of this age has known;relative — the second relative on the same hidden wisdom — categorical denial

for if they had known it,conditional — protasis of the contrary-to-fact condition — leans on the apodosis below

they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.cause — apodosis — the crucifixion itself proves their ignorance; ἐσταύρωσαν fits human rulers

But, as it is written:comparative — the citation formula — one word carries the four lines below

'Things that eye has not seencontent — Isa 64:4 — beyond sight

and ear has not heardcontent — Isa 64:4 — beyond hearing

and that have not arisen upon the heart of man —content — the Semitic idiom — never entered the mind (ʿālâ ʿal-lēb)

these God has prepared for those who love him.'content — a conflation — Isa 64:4 fused with Isa 65:16–17; no single OT text matches

Revealed by the Spirit who searches the depths of God 2:10–13

vv. 10–11 — the Spirit who searches God's depths

But to us God revealed them through the Spirit;independent — the hinge of the chapter — ἡμῖν fronted against the rulers and unaided humanity

for the Spirit searches all things,cause — why the Spirit can reveal — his searching is exhaustive

even the depths of God.phrase modifier — ascensive καί — the extreme case in apposition to πάντα (cf. Rom 11:33)

For who among men knows the things of a mancause — the analogy question — expecting 'no one'

except the spirit of the man that is in him?conditional — εἰ μή exceptive, elliptical — only one's own inner spirit

so also no one has known the things of Godcomparative — οὕτως καί — the analogy applied to God

except the Spirit of God.conditional — the sole exception — God's own Spirit, God's self-knowledge

vv. 12–13 — received, known, spoken

Now we did not receive the spirit of the worldindependent — the inference drawn — ἡμεῖς emphatic

but the Spirit who is from God,phrase modifier — the positive object — the Spirit whose origin is God

so that we might know the things freely given to us by God —purpose — the purpose of the gift — χαρισθέντα: sheer grace

which things we also speak,relative — not only known but spoken — the λαλοῦμεν of vv. 6–7 returns

not in words taught by human wisdom,phrase modifier — the medium disclaimed — trained eloquence

but in words taught by the Spirit,phrase modifier — the medium claimed — Spirit-taught words ('words' supplied)

interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people.participial — συγκρίνοντες — 'interpreting to spiritual people' (πνευματικοῖς masc.); 'matching with spiritual words' and 'comparing spiritual with spiritual' remain live

The natural and the spiritual person 2:14–16

vv. 14–15 — ψυχικός and πνευματικός

But the natural person does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,independent — ψυχικός — the merely natural person, without the Spirit

for they are folly to him,cause — the ground — the cross-shaped wisdom reads as nonsense (cf. 1:18, 23)

and he cannot understand them,independent — coordinate verdict — the incapacity is constitutional

because they are spiritually discerned.cause — ὅτι-causal — ἀνακρίνω, the judicial term that runs to v. 16

But the spiritual person discerns all things,independent — the counterpart — Spirit-enabled appraisal of everything

while he himself is discerned by no one.independent — the reversal — beyond the natural person's competent judgment

v. 16 — the mind of Christ

'For who has known the mind of the Lord,content — Isa 40:13 LXX — unmarked citation grounding v. 15 (γάρ); νοῦς for Heb. 'spirit'

so as to instruct him?'relative — consecutive relative on τίς — no creature can counsel the Lord

But we have the mind of Christ.independent — the climax — νοῦν κυρίου answered by νοῦν Χριστοῦ: Christ identified with Isaiah's Lord

Analysis. 1 Corinthians 2 reads in two visual halves that mirror its argument. Verses 1–5 are short flush-left purple sentences with their qualifiers tucked one step in: Paul came, resolved, was present — the main verbs each trailing a negative-positive pair of modifier lines (οὐκ ἐν πειθοῖ … ἀλλ' ἐν ἀποδείξει), until the ἵνα line of v. 5 names the design: faith resting on God's power, not human wisdom. From v. 6 the shape deepens: Σοφίαν δὲ λαλοῦμεν opens a column in which the true wisdom is qualified (not of this age), described (hidden), traced to eternity (ἣν προώρισεν), denied to the rulers — with the εἰ γὰρ ἔγνωσαν counterfactual leaning forward on its apodosis — and finally attested by an unreferenced Isaiah conflation hung line by line under the single word γέγραπται. Verses 10–13 pivot on ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπεκάλυψεν: the γάρ chain beneath it (the Spirit searches all things; who knows a man but the spirit within; so only God's Spirit knows God's things) grounds revelation in the Spirit's unique interiority, and the ἵνα of v. 12 flows into the relative ἃ καὶ λαλοῦμεν with its own taught-words antithesis. The close (vv. 14–16) returns to flush-left antithesis — ψυχικός against πνευματικός — sealed by the unmarked Isa 40:13 citation and the climactic ἡμεῖς δὲ νοῦν Χριστοῦ ἔχομεν. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: the ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου (vv. 6, 8) are read as the human authorities who actually crucified Jesus (Pilate and the Jerusalem leadership) — the demonic-powers reading has strong advocates and is not silly, but ἄρχων elsewhere in the NT regularly means human rulers, and v. 8's ἐσταύρωσαν fits them; τῶν καταργουμένων lets both resonances stand. συγκρίνοντες (v. 13) is rendered 'interpreting spiritual things to spiritual people', taking πνευματικοῖς as masculine (recipients) rather than neuter ('matching spiritual truths with spiritual words' or 'comparing spiritual with spiritual') — a genuinely open choice, flagged in the tag. At v. 1 μυστήριον (NA28/THGNT) is read rather than μαρτύριον; and the τίς questions of vv. 11 and 16 are laid out as grounds within the argument rather than fresh starts, keeping the Spirit-chain connected.