1 Corinthians 13:1-3
Summary for 1Cor 13:1-13: 13:1-13 a Paul interrupts his discussion of spiritual gifts (resumed in ch 14 b) to emphasize that love is more important than any spiritual gift (cp. 8:1-3 c). The most important thing for Christians is to become deeply and consistently loving people.Summary for 1Cor 13:1-3: 13:1-3 d Spiritual gifts in themselves do not define our worth to God or to the church. In fact, apart from the expression of love, spiritual gifts are of no value. 13:1 e all the languages of earth (literally the tongues of men) and of angels: Tongues was the spiritual gift most highly prized by the Corinthians (see also 12:10 f, 28 g; 14:1-25 h, 27 i). Some may have thought tongues to be the language of angels; in Acts, Luke uses the same term to refer to natural human languages (see Acts 2:4-13 j).
13:2 k If I ... possessed all knowledge possibly refers to the gift of “special knowledge” (12:8 l).
13:3 m sacrificed my body, I could boast about it: Some manuscripts read sacrificed my body to be burned; it would have been easy for a copyist to change the text accidentally, because in Greek the two readings differ only by one letter. It is unclear which reading is to be preferred; however, the manuscripts supporting the reading I could boast are generally better.
• I would have gained nothing: Even the most impressive sacrificial acts mean nothing if not motivated by love.
Copyright information for
TNotes