Verse Lens · Context pointer
2 Corinthians 12:3 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 3. 3And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
This verse repeats that only God knows whether the experience was bodily or out of body.
Read It With
- 2 Corinthians 12:1–10
Read 2 Corinthians 12:3 with 12:1–10. This verse repeats that only God knows whether the experience was bodily or out of body. The complete unit establishes this movement: Paul reports an extraordinary ascent with explicit uncertainty about bodily mode and no disclosed secret message, then centers not revelation but an unidentified thorn, unanswered removal prayer, and Christ's word that sufficient grace perfects power in weakness.
Why It Needs Context
Read this line with 2 Corinthians 12:1–10. The surrounding verses supply the complete movement summarized here: Paul reports an extraordinary ascent with explicit uncertainty about bodily mode and no disclosed secret message, then centers not revelation but an unidentified thorn, unanswered removal prayer, and Christ's word that sufficient grace perfects power in weakness.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 2 Corinthians 12:1–10 — Visions Yield to the Thorn and Christ's Sufficient GraceSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact reader-facing Scripture wording, paragraph markers, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 2 Corinthians 12:1–10, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording, clause relationships, repeated terms, and original-language discussion.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text file 2Co.txt, 12:1–10
Open the 2 Corinthians Greek text file ↗