Isaiah 40:13
The Mind of the Lord
Wording onlyQuoted by the apostles in Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16, in the older Greek wording
Isaiah asked who could direct the Spirit of Yahuah. Paul quoted it twice as His mind.
Side by Side
The Older Text
Septuagint, translated before Messiah
Who has known the mind of the Lord? and who has been his counsellor, to instruct him?
The Later Text
Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross
Who hath directed the Spirit of Yahuah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Quoted in Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:16
Paul’s Old Testament, twice
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? … For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Messiah.
Your KJV reads: the Hebrew “directed the Spirit” in Isaiah, and the Greek “known the mind” in Romans and 1 Corinthians.
See what changed and why ↓What Your Bible Says
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Messiah.
1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV
Paul quotes Isaiah here and again in Romans 11:34. Both times he says “the mind of the Lord.”
What Isaiah Says
Who hath directed the Spirit of Yahuah, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Isaiah 40:13 KJV
Isaiah does not say mind. He says the Spirit of Yahuah.
What Changed
The Greek translators put the Hebrew ruach, spirit or breath, as “mind.” They put “directed” as “known.” Paul quoted the Greek both times.
The translators, and Paul after them, understood the Spirit of Yahuah to be Yahuah’s own mind.
His Own Mind
This is one of the plainest answers in Scripture to the idea that the Spirit is a third person. Paul explains it a few verses earlier: “what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11). A man’s spirit is not a second man inside him. It is his own mind. So it is with Yahuah.
Then Paul says, “we have the mind of Messiah.” A mind can be given and shared. A third person cannot.
Purpose of the Change
No motive evident: wording variation only. It matters because Paul quoted the Greek wording, which is why your KJV says “the Spirit of Yahuah” in Isaiah and “the mind of the Lord” in Paul.
The Bottom Line
Isaiah said Spirit, the Greek said mind, and Paul quoted the mind. No one counsels Yahuah, and His Spirit is His own.
No one taught Him how to make the world: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things” (Revelation 4:11).
Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it
Directed or Known?
The Hebrew word for “directed” means to measure or weigh. Isaiah uses it one verse earlier: Yahuah “meted out heaven with the span” (Isaiah 40:12). No one measured His Spirit the way He measured the sky. The Greek made the point simpler: no one has known His mind.
An Honest Note
This is a translation choice, not a change to the Hebrew letters. Ruach most often means spirit, breath, or wind. The Greek translators chose “mind” here, and Paul was content to quote it. That choice suggests how Jews before Messiah, and the apostle after them, understood the Spirit of Yahuah.