4 The love is long-suffering, it is kind, the love doth not envy, the love doth not vaunt itself, is not puffed up,
and, before all things, to one another having the earnest love, because the love shall cover a multitude of sins;
Put on, therefore, as choice ones of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humble-mindedness, meekness, long-suffering,
Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;
and we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the infirm, be patient unto all;
in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned,
Whoso is covering transgression is seeking love, And whoso is repeating a matter Is separating a familiar friend.
yea, they refuse to hearken, and have not remembered Thy wonders that Thou hast done with them, and harden their neck and appoint a head, to turn back to their service, in their rebellion; and Thou `art' a God of pardons, gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and hast not forsaken them.
And these things, brethren, I did transfer to myself and to Apollos because of you, that in us ye may learn not to think above that which hath been written, that ye may not be puffed up one for one against the other,
And finally, being all of one mind, having fellow-feeling, loving as brethren, compassionate, courteous,
envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revellings, and such like, of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that those doing such things the reign of God shall not inherit. And the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith,
let us not become vain-glorious -- one another provoking, one another envying!
Certain, indeed, even through envy and contention, and certain also through good-will, do preach the Christ;
in all might being made mighty according to the power of His glory, to all endurance and long-suffering with joy.
he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and word-striving, out of which doth come envy, strife, evil-speakings, evil-surmisings,
in meekness instructing those opposing -- if perhaps God may give to them repentance to an acknowledging of the truth,
preach the word; be earnest in season, out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort, in all long-suffering and teaching,
for we were once -- also we -- thoughtless, disobedient, led astray, serving desires and pleasures manifold, in malice and envy living, odious -- hating one another;
and if bitter zeal ye have, and rivalry in your heart, glory not, nor lie against the truth; this wisdom is not descending from above, but earthly, physical, demon-like, for where zeal and rivalry `are', there is insurrection and every evil matter; and the wisdom from above, first, indeed, is pure, then peaceable, gentle, easily entreated, full of kindness and good fruits, uncontentious, and unhypocritical: --
Do ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the spirit that did dwell in us,'
and in the piety the brotherly kindness, and in the brotherly kindness the love;
in this we have known the love, because he for us his life did lay down, and we ought for the brethren the lives to lay down; and whoever may have the goods of the world, and may view his brother having need, and may shut up his bowels from him -- how doth the love of God remain in him? My little children, may we not love in word nor in tongue, but in word and in truth!
and ye are having been puffed up, and did not rather mourn, that he may be removed out of the midst of you who did this work,
And Rachel seeth that she hath not borne to Jacob, and Rachel is envious of her sister, and saith unto Jacob, `Give me sons, and if there is none -- I die.'
And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this `one' hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good; thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning -- of those sitting on the wall.'
and blessed `is' thy discretion, and blessed `art' thou in that thou hast restrained me this day from coming in with blood, and to restrain my hand to myself. And yet, Jehovah liveth, God of Israel, who hath kept me back from doing evil with thee, for unless thou hadst hasted, and dost come to meet me, surely there had not been left to Nabal till the light of the morning, of those sitting on the wall.'
And Ben-Hadad sendeth unto him, and saith, `Thus do the gods to me, and thus do they add, if the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all the people who `are' at my feet.' And the king of Israel answereth and saith, `Speak ye: let not him who is girding on boast himself as him who is loosing `his armour'.'
Pain do his ways at all times, On high `are' Thy judgments before him, All his adversaries -- he puffeth at them.
A vain man through pride causeth debate, And with the counselled `is' wisdom.
The desirableness of a man `is' his kindness, And better `is' the poor than a liar.
Go not forth to strive, haste, turn, What dost thou in its latter end, When thy neighbour causeth thee to blush? Thy cause plead with thy neighbour, And the secret counsel of another reveal not, Lest the hearer put thee to shame, And thine evil report turn not back.
Her mouth she hath opened in wisdom, And the law of kindness `is' on her tongue.
Better `is' the latter end of a thing than its beginning, Better `is' the patient of spirit, than the haughty of spirit. Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, For anger in the bosom of fools resteth.
Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury, and the expression of his face hath been changed concerning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; he answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which it is seen to be heated; and to certain mighty men who `are' in his force he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men have been bound in their coats, their tunics, and their turbans, and their clothing, and have been cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because that the word of the king is urgent, and the furnace heated exceedingly, those men who have taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- killed them hath the spark of the fire.
for he had known that because of envy they had delivered him up.
and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,
for yet ye are fleshly, for where `there is' among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not fleshly, and in the manner of men do walk?
for I fear lest, having come, not such as I wish I may find you, and I -- I may be found by you such as ye do not wish, lest there be strifes, envyings, wraths, revelries, evil-speakings, whisperings, puffings up, insurrections,
Having put aside, then, all evil, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speakings,
If, then, any exhortation `is' in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye may mind the same thing -- having the same love -- of one soul -- minding the one thing, nothing in rivalry or vain-glory, but in humility of mind one another counting more excellent than yourselves -- each not to your own look ye, but each also to the things of others. For, let this mind be in you that `is' also in Christ Jesus,
as in day-time, let us walk becomingly; not in revellings and drunkennesses, not in chamberings and lasciviousnesses, not in strife and emulation;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
In this chapter the apostle goes on to show more particularly what that more excellent way was of which he had just before been speaking. He recommends it,
1Cr 13:1-3
Here the apostle shows what more excellent way he meant, or had in view, in the close of the former chapter, namely, charity, or, as it is commonly elsewhere rendered, love-agapeµ: not what is meant by charity in our common use of the word, which most men understand of alms-giving, but love in its fullest and most extensive meaning, true love to God and man, a benevolent disposition of mind towards our fellow-christians, growing out of sincere and fervent devotion to God. This living principle of all duty and obedience is the more excellent way of which the apostle speaks, preferable to all gifts. Nay, without this the most glorious gifts are nothing, of no account to us, of no esteem in the sight of God. He specifies,
1Cr 13:4-7
The apostle gives us in these verses some of the properties and effects of charity, both to describe and commend it, that we may know whether we have this grace and that if we have not we may fall in love with what is so exceedingly amiable, and not rest till we have obtained it. It is an excellent grace, and has a world of good properties belonging to it. As,
1Cr 13:8-13
Here the apostle goes on to commend charity, and show how much it is preferable to the gifts on which the Corinthians were so apt to pride themselves, to the utter neglect, and almost extinction, of charity. This he makes out,