1 Corinthians 2:13 is one of those verses where each translation reads a little different. Here is how the verse is translated in the New American Standard Bible:

“which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.”

You may recognize this as a verse that often appears in discussions of verbal inspiration. The differences are not due to the underlying Greek texts used by the various Bible versions. There is only one variation between the Textus Receptus and the Nestle-Aland text: the word “Holy” does not appear in the latter text in connection with “Spirit.” The ambiguity is rather in our understanding of three Greek words within the context of this passage.

The first one (in the order of translation) is συγκρινοντες and only appears in two verses in the Bible. It has been translated as ‘comparing’ in the NKJV, ‘combining’ in the NASB, ‘interpreting’ in the ESV, ‘explaining’ in the HCSB, and ‘expressing’ in the NIV. The two other words that make up the clause do not provide much help due to their uncertain meaning. They are both forms of the Greek word πνευματικος. Bible translators are unsure of the gender of the second; it could be neuter or masculine. The first one is translated as ‘spiritual things’, ‘spiritual thoughts’, or ‘spiritual truths.’ The second becomes ‘spiritual’, ‘spiritual words’, ‘spiritual people’, or ‘spiritual men.’ This is a verse (more specifically, the last clause) where an expositor has to be careful putting too much emphasis on a particular word from his version of the Bible.