Thomas Aquinas Commentary 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

"Love suffereth long, [and] is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." — 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (ASV)

After showing that charity is so necessary that without it no spiritual gifts are sufficient for salvation, the Apostle now shows that it is so useful and of such efficacious strength that through it all virtuous works are completed. First, he makes two quasi-general statements; secondly, he mentions in particular the virtuous works that are completed by charity (verse 4b).

Regarding the first, he does two things. For every virtue consists in this: that in acting, one is well-disposed for enduring evil things or for accomplishing good things. Therefore, regarding enduring evil, he says that charity is patient, meaning it makes one endure evils patiently. For when a man loves someone, on account of the beloved’s love he endures all difficulties with ease; similarly, a person who loves God patiently endures any adversity for love of Him. Hence it says in Song of Solomon 8:7, “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it”; and in James 1:4, “Patience has a perfect work.”

But as for performing good works, he adds that love is kind. Benignity is described as a good fire, so that just as fire melts metal and makes it flow, so charity inclines a person not to keep the good things he has but to make them flow to others. For it says in Proverbs 5:16, “Let your springs be scattered abroad, and streams of water in the streets,” and this is what charity does. Hence, it says in 1 John 3:17, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees a brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” Therefore, Ephesians 4:32 also says, “Be kind and merciful to one another,” and Wisdom 1:6 says, “Wisdom is a kindly spirit.”

Then, when he says, Love is not jealous, he mentions in particular the virtuous works that charity produces. Because two things pertain to a virtue—namely, to refrain from evil and to do good, as it says in Psalm 34:14, “Depart from evil and do good,” and in Isaiah 1:16, “Cease to do evil, learn to do good”—he first shows how charity avoids all evil, and secondly, how it accomplishes good (verse 4c). But man cannot do evil effectively to God, but only to himself and to his neighbor, as it says in Job 35:6, “If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him?” and later (verse 8), “Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself.” Therefore, he first shows how charity avoids evils against one’s neighbor, and secondly, how it avoids the evils by which someone is disordered within himself.

Evil against one’s neighbor can exist in the will or emotions, as well as externally. It exists in the will and emotions especially when a person, through envy, grieves over his neighbor’s good. This is directly contrary to charity, which inclines a person to love his neighbor as himself, as it says in Leviticus 19:18. Therefore, it pertains to charity that just as a person rejoices in his own goods, so he should rejoice in the goods of his neighbor. It follows from this that charity excludes envy. And this is what he says: Love is not jealous. Hence it says in Psalm 37:1, “Be not envious of wrongdoers”; and in Proverbs 23:17, “Let not your heart envy sinners.” As for the outward effect, he adds that it does not act wrongly, that is, perversely, against anyone. For no one acts unjustly against one he loves. “Cease to do evil” (Isaiah 1:16).

Then, when he says, is not arrogant, he shows that charity makes one avoid the evils by which one is disordered within himself: first, regarding the passions, and secondly, regarding choice (verse 5b).

First, indeed, regarding pride, which is a disordered desire for one’s own excellence. One seeks his own excellence in a disordered manner when he is not satisfied to remain in the station that has been established for him by God. Therefore it says in Sirach 10:12, “The beginning of man’s pride is to depart from the Lord.” This happens when a man does not wish to remain under the rule of God’s arrangement. This is opposed to charity, by which one loves God above all things. “Puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head” (Colossians 2:18–19). It is right to compare pride to arrogance. For that which is puffed up does not have solidity but only its appearance; so the proud seem to themselves to be great, while they really lack true greatness, which cannot exist without the divine order. “He will dash them speechless to the ground” .

The chief daughter of pride is ambition, through which one seeks to be foremost. Charity also excludes this, seeking rather to serve, as it says in Galatians 5:13, “Through love be servants of one another.” Therefore, he adds that love is not ambitious, meaning it makes a man avoid ambition. “Do not seek from the Lord the highest office, nor the seat of honor from the king” .

Secondly, he shows how charity excludes the disorder of cupidity when he says, Love does not seek its own. This is understood precisely: it does not neglect the good of others. For one who loves others as himself seeks the good of others just as he seeks his own. Hence the Apostle said above, “Not seeking my own advantage, but that of many” (1 Corinthians 10:33). Against this, it is said of some, “They all look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 2:21). It is also possible to understand that love does not seek its own in another way: that it does not seek the return of what has been taken from it, namely, in a court case that would cause scandal. This is because it loves the salvation of a neighbor more than money, as it says in Philippians 4:17, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.”

Thirdly, he shows how charity excludes the disorder of anger, saying, It is not irritable, meaning it is not provoked to anger. For anger is an inordinate desire for revenge. But it pertains to charity to forgive offenses rather than to seek revenge excessively. “Forbearing one another, if one has a complaint against another” (Colossians 3:13); “The anger of man does not work the righteousness of God” (James 1:20).

Then, when he says, is not resentful (thinks no evil), he shows how charity excludes disordered choosing. Now choice is, as it says in Ethics III, the desire for what has already been thought about and weighed. Therefore, a man sins from choice and not from passion when, by a plan of his reason, his affections are stirred to evil. Therefore, charity first of all excludes perverse counsel. He says, Charity thinks no evil, meaning it does not permit one to devise how to accomplish something evil. “Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds!” (Micah 2:1); “Remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes” (Isaiah 1:16). Alternatively, charity thinks no evil because it does not permit one to think evil of his neighbor through various suspicions and rash judgments. “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:4).

Secondly, charity excludes an inordinate love for evil; hence he says, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing. For one who sins from passion commits sin with some remorse and sorrow, but one who sins from choice rejoices in the fact that he commits sin, as it says in Proverbs 2:14, “You rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil.” But charity prevents this, inasmuch as it is the love of the supreme good, to whom all sin is offensive. Or he says that charity does not rejoice over evil committed by a neighbor; in fact, it laments over it, inasmuch as it is opposed to our neighbor’s salvation, which it desires. “I fear that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I may have to mourn over many of those who sinned before” (2 Corinthians 12:21).

Then, when he says, but rejoices, he shows how charity makes one do good: first, regarding one’s neighbor, and secondly, regarding God (verse 7b).

Regarding his neighbor, a person does good in two ways. First, by rejoicing in his neighbor's good. Regarding this, he says, it rejoices in the truth—namely, the truth of a neighbor, of life, of doctrine, or of justice—inasmuch as it loves its neighbor as itself. “I rejoice greatly to find some of your children following the truth” (2 John 1:4). Secondly, by enduring the evils of his neighbor to the extent that it is fitting. Regarding this, he says, love bears all things, meaning that without anxiety it tolerates all the shortcomings of a neighbor or any adversity whatsoever. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak” (Romans 15:1); “Carry one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ”—namely, charity (Galatians 6:2).

Then, when he says, believes all things, he shows how charity makes one do good in relation to God. This is done especially through the theological virtues, which have God as their object. In addition to charity, the other two, as will be said below, are faith and hope. Therefore, regarding faith, he says it believes all things, namely, all things that are divinely revealed. “Abraham believed God and it was reputed to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). But to believe all things said by men is light-headedness, as it says in Sirach 19:4, “One who trusts others too quickly is light-minded.” Regarding hope, he says it hopes all things, namely, all things that are promised by God. “You who fear the Lord, hope for good things” . And so that hope is not discouraged by the delay, he adds that it endures all things, meaning it patiently awaits what God has promised, in spite of any delay, as it says in Habakkuk 2:3, “If it seems slow, wait for it”; and in Psalm 27:14, “Let your heart take courage and wait for the Lord.”