Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Corinthians 13

Though I speak . . .—The more excellent way is “Love.” Without it, all moral and intellectual gifts are valueless. If there is love—the love of God and the love of our fellow believers—in our hearts, all will be well. This hymn of praise in honour of love is remarkable: first, for coming from St. Paul and not from St. John, from whom we might naturally have expected it; and second, for occurring here in an atmosphere of controversy, preceded and succeeded as it is by close logical argument.

On the first point, we may observe what a striking illustration this is of the completeness of St. Paul’s character. The clear, vigorous intellect and the masculine energy of the great Apostle are united to a heart full of tenderness.

We can almost feel its pulsations, we can almost hear its mighty throbbings, in every line of this poem.

That this passage is found in the middle of a protracted argument suggests that we have here the result of a sudden and direct inspiration. The Apostle had always been conscious of a mighty power working in him, mastering him, and bringing him into captivity to Christ. Suddenly, the realization of what that power is flashed upon him, and he could not but at once give utterance, in language of surpassing loftiness and glowing with emotion, to the new and profound conviction that had set his whole soul aflame.

This chapter is the Baptismal Service of Love; here it receives its new Christian name. The word (agapè) used here for love is peculiar to the New Testament (and a few passages in the LXX (the Septuagint)). It is not found in any pagan writer.

The word “charity,” which can signify either tolerance or almsgiving, is an insufficient rendering of the original. It destroys the force of the passage, especially in 1 Corinthians 13:3, where “almsgiving” without love is pronounced worthless.

The Latin caritas was used as the rendering of agape, probably because the ordinary Latin word amor (love) was considered too indicative of a merely earthly or fleshly affection. Hence, the word “charity” was used in the English version.

Perhaps it was hoped that the word “charity,” when planted in such a soil and with such surroundings, would have grown to have the larger significance to which the original gives expression.

If so, the experiment has not succeeded; the word has not become acclimatised to this chapter.

The word “love” should be restored here. The rare purity of its surrounding atmosphere will completely deprive it of any earthly or sensual taint.

This chapter, occupied with the one main thought, divides itself into three parts—

1. 1 Corinthians 13:1–3: The greatest gifts are valueless without LOVE.
2. 1 Corinthians 13:4–7: The pre-eminent characteristics of LOVE.
3. 1 Corinthians 13:8–13: Gifts are transient; virtues are eternal, and chief of them is LOVE.

Tongues of men and of angels.—The gift of tongues (see Notes on 1 Corinthians 14) is placed first as that most overestimated at Corinth. It is useless without love.

It would be impossible to define love, just as it is impossible to define life. However, the best conception of what St. Paul means by love can be found in the description he subsequently gave.

Stanley, contrasting the meaning of the word used by St. Paul with the various words for love in other literature, remarks: “While the ‘love’ of the New Testament retains all the fervour of the Hebrew ‘aspiration’ and ‘desire,’ and of the ‘personal affection’ of the Greek, it ranges through as wide a sphere as the comprehensive ‘benevolence’ of Alexandria. Whilst it retains the religious element that raised the affections of the Hebrew Psalmist to the presence of God, it agrees with the classical and Alexandrian feelings in making its chief object the welfare of man. It is not religion evaporated into benevolence, but benevolence taken up into religion. It is the practical exemplification of the two great characteristics of Christianity, the union of God with man, the union of religion with morality; love to man for the sake of love to God, love to God showing itself in love to man.”

As sounding brass.—Not a brass trumpet or instrument of any kind, but simply a piece of metal that, when struck, will merely produce noise.

A tinkling cymbal.—Better, a clanging cymbal. This instrument can by itself produce no intelligible tune .

Prophecy.—The Apostle valued the gift of prophecy—that is, preaching—more highly than the gift of tongues, which stood first in Corinthian estimation. He therefore naturally selects it as subject to the same condemnation if unaccompanied by love.

All the secrets of God’s providence and complete knowledge (see 1 Corinthians 12:8), even such a transcendent faith as Christ spoke of as capable of moving mountains (Matthew 17:20), may belong to a man, and without love he is nothing.

We must not take these words as implying that the Apostle personally possessed this vast knowledge and faith. The whole argument is put hypothetically—it supposes a man possessing these qualities.

Bestow all my goods.—The Greek word literally means to feed others by giving them morsels of food, and so we have the thought of a charity extensive in its diffusion, as well as complete in its self-sacrifice. The whole of the bestower’s property given in charity, and so divided as to reach the largest number.

I give my body to be burned.—A still greater proof of devotion to some person or cause is the sacrifice of life; yet even that may be without love. A strange reading has crept into some manuscripts—“that I may boast”—which would make the passage mean that a man gave his body to some torture from a wrong motive, namely, vainglory. But this would weaken the force of the passage. What renders the self-sacrifice valueless is not a wrong cause, but the absence of love as the motive power. Although burning was not a form of martyrdom at this time, yet such histories as that of the three children in Daniel 3:19 would make the expression intelligible and forcible.

These words are historically interesting to the English Church. They formed the text from which Dr. Smith preached at the martyrdom of Latimer and Ridley!

Charity suffereth long—better, Love is long-suffering. Here follows a description of love. Descriptions of positive characteristics and negations of evil qualities are now employed by the Apostle in what he presents as his impossible task of adequately describing true love.

Thinketh no evil.—That is, does not dwell upon the evil done to her.