1st Corinthians Chapter 12 verse 2 Holy Bible
Ye know that when ye were Gentiles `ye were' led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might led.
read chapter 12 in ASV
You are conscious that when you were Gentiles, in whatever way you were guided, you went after images without voice or power.
read chapter 12 in BBE
Ye know that when ye were [of the] nations [ye were] led away to dumb idols, in whatever way ye might be led.
read chapter 12 in DARBY
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
read chapter 12 in KJV
read chapter 12 in WBT
You know that when you were heathen{or Gentiles}, you were led away to those mute idols, however you might be led.
read chapter 12 in WEB
ye have known that ye were nations, unto the dumb idols -- as ye were led -- being carried away;
read chapter 12 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - That ye were Gentiles. The undoubted reading is, that when ye were Gentiles. The sentence is then in form an anacoluthon; in other words, it is not grammatically finished. The ancients were much less particular about these small matters of precision and symmetry than the moderns; and writers who are deeply moved by their subject, and hurried along by the strength of their feelings, often fall into these unfinished constructions (see Romans 2:17-21; Romans 15:25-27; Galatians 2:6; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, etc., in the Greek). Dumb idols. This characteristic of idols (Habakkuk 2:18; Psalm 115:5; Psalm 135:16) is fixed upon to show that their "oracles" were mere falsity and pretence. We find an illustration of the epithet in the statue of Isis at Pompeii, where the ruined temple shows the secret stair by which the priest mounted to the back of the statue; and the head of the statue (preserved in the Museo Borbonico) shows the tube which went from the back of the head to the parted lips. Through this tube the priest concealed behind the statue spoke the answers of Isis. Even as ye were led; rather, howsoever ye might be led, as in the Revised Version. The Greek phrase shows that, under the oracular guidance of dumb idols, the Gentiles had been, as it were, drifted hither and thither "as the winds listed."
Ellicott's Commentary
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) Ye know that ye were Gentiles.--Better (according to the weight of MSS. evidence), Ye know that when ye were Gentiles ye were, &c. In this and the following verse the Apostle reminds his readers that so far from regarding the marvellous manifestations of the Spirit, such as speaking with tongues and prophesying, as the most wonderful miracles, the greatest miracle of all was their conversion. That blind followers of dumb idols should be transformed into intelligent believers in the living Word was the most striking work of the Spirit. They were now no longer led hither and thither by diverse teachings and diverse gods; they had an unchanging principle of life, and an unerring guide of conduct. The contrast of the present state of Christians with their former state as heathens is a topic of frequent occurrence in St. Paul's writings (Romans 11:30; Colossians 1:21; Colossians 3:7, &c.).
