Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Corinthians 13:7

"beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." — 1 Corinthians 13:7 (ASV)

Beareth all things. See Barnes on 1 Corinthians 9:12.

Doddridge renders this, "covers all things." The word used here (stegei) properly means to cover (from stegh, a covering, roof; Matthew 8:8; Luke 7:6), and then to hide, conceal, not to make known. If this is the sense here, then it means that love is disposed to hide or conceal the faults and imperfections of others, not to promulgate or publicize them widely, or to give any undue publicity to them.

Benevolence to the individual or to the public would require that these faults and errors should be concealed. If this is the sense, then it accords nearly with what is said in the previous verse. The word may also mean to forbear, bear with, endure. Thus it is used in 1 Thessalonians 3:1, 5.

And so our translators understand it here, as meaning that love is patient, long-suffering, not soon angry, not disposed to revenge. If this is the sense, it accords with the expression in 1 Corinthians 13:4, Love suffers long. The more usual classic meaning is the former; the usage in the New Testament seems to demand the latter.

Rosenmuller renders it, "bears all things;" Bloomfield prefers the other interpretation. Locke and Macknight render it, "cover." The real sense of the passage is not materially varied, whichever interpretation is adopted. It means that in regard to the errors and faults of others, there is a disposition not to notice or to revenge them. There is a willingness to conceal or to bear with them patiently.

All things. This is evidently to be taken in a popular sense and to be interpreted in accordance with the connection. All universal expressions of this kind demand to be thus limited. The meaning must be, "As far as it can consistently or lawfully be done." There are offenses which it is not proper or right for a man to conceal or to allow to pass unnoticed. Such are those where the laws of the land are violated, and a man is called on to testify, etc. But the phrase here refers to private matters and indicates a disposition not to make public or to avenge the faults committed by others.

Believeth all things. The whole scope of the connection and the argument here requires us to understand this concerning the conduct of others. It cannot mean that the man who is under the influence of love is a man of universal credulity, that he makes no discrimination regarding things to be believed, and is as prone to believe a falsehood as the truth, or that he takes no pains to inquire what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong.

But it must mean that, regarding the conduct of others, there is a disposition to put the best construction on it; to believe that they may be motivated by good motives and that they intend no injury; and that there is a willingness to suppose, as far as possible, that what is done is done consistently with friendship, good feeling, and virtue. Love produces this because it rejoices in the happiness and virtue of others and will not believe the contrary except on irrefutable evidence.

Hopeth all things. Hopes that all will turn out well. This must also refer to the conduct of others; and it means that however dark appearances may be, however much there may be to produce the fear that others are motivated by improper motives or are bad men, yet there is a hope that matters may be explained and made clear, that the difficulties may be made to vanish, and that the conduct of others may be made to appear to be fair and pure.

Love will hold on to this hope until all possibility of such a result has vanished, and it is compelled to believe that the conduct is not susceptible of a fair explanation. This hope will extend to all things—to words, actions, and plans; to public and private intercourse; to what is said and done in our own presence, and to what is said and done in our absence. Love will do this because it delights in the virtue and happiness of others and will not believe anything to the contrary unless compelled to do so.

Endureth all things. Bears up under, sustains, and does not murmur. Bears up under all persecutions at the hands of man; all efforts to injure the person, property, or reputation; and bears all that may be laid upon us by providence and by the direct agency of God. . The connection requires us to understand it principally of our treatment at the hands of our fellow-men.

• "Beareth," "covereth"
• "All things" (Romans 15:1)
• "Believeth" (Psalms 119:65)
• "Hopeth" (Romans 8:24)
• "Endureth" (Job 13:15)