For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knows no man, but the Spirit of God.
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Ambrosiaster
AD 400
The Spirit of God has taught us what he knows by nature, not what he has been taught himself. Furthermore, he has taught us about the mystery of Christ, because he is not just the Spirit of God but the Spirit of Christ as well. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
What man knoweth the things of a man? Those in the inner recesses if his being, which are buried in his heart and mind, as, e.g, his thoughts, resolutions, and intentions, and the foundation of the character itself.
Even so the things of God knoweth no Prayer of Manasseh , but the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit knows them as well as Himself. For the Holy Spirit is internal to God, just as the spirit of a man is internal to him; and as the spirit of a man is a sharer of his humanity, so the Spirit of God is a partaker of Godhead, and of the Divine omni-science and power. "The things of God" are those which are hidden in the mind of God—the thoughts, counsels and determinations of the Divine Will.
After "knoweth no Prayer of Manasseh , but the Spirit" must be understood, "and He to whom the Spirit has willed to reveal them, as to me and the other Apostles," as was said in ver10.
"No Prayer of Manasseh , but the Spirit" foes not exclude the Son. For since He is he Word, he knows the de...
For what man? As the secrets of man's heart are known only to himself, so the mysteries of the divinity are known only to the Spirit, who is God, and who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. (Theophylactus)
God and the Holy Spirit are two persons, whereas a man and the spirit in him are not two persons but one man. What Paul means is that just as in the man there is a cohesion in knowing, so the knowledge of the Father and the Spirit is one. What the Spirit searches is therefore already known to him. .
For no spirit given by God requires to be asked; but such a spirit having the power of Divinity speaks all things of itself, for it proceeds from above from the power of the Divine Spirit. But the spirit which is asked and speaks according to the desires of men is earthly,
And He ought rather to have been that; as if any one knew what is in God, except the Spirit of God. This alone, indeed, knew the mind of the Lord. For "who knoweth the things of God, and the things in God, but the Spirit, which is in Him?", which He had known most intimately, even from the beginning. "For what man knoweth the things which be in God, but the Spirit which is in Him? "
