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1 Corinthians 13:4–7: Edit history

Revision #8870

1 Corinthians 13:4–7

English baseline before localization

Status: approved

Changes from the previous English revision

+ ## Context
+ First Corinthians 12–14 deals with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Corinthian believers were boasting and quarreling with one another over gifts such as tongues and prophecy. After comparing the church to the many members of one body in chapter 12, Paul presents love in chapter 13 as the greater gift and "a more excellent way" (12:31). Verses 1–3 declare that tongues and prophecy, faith, and giving to the poor are nothing without love, and verses 4–7 portray what love looks like. Chapter 14 then returns to the orderly use of prophecy and tongues.
+
+ ## Interpretation
+ - **As a word to the church community**: The traits listed—not envying, not vaunting itself, not being puffed up, not seeking its own—correspond to the actual problems of the Corinthian church. For this reason, the passage is read as a remedy for a church quarreling over its gifts.
+ - **As a portrait of Christ**: Because the description of love (Greek *agape*) here is seen as matching the life of Christ exactly, a widely known devotional practice is to read the passage with "Christ" in place of "love."
+ - **Love expressed in verbs**: In the original text, love is described not with adjectives but with verbs, and many interpreters take this to mean that the passage presents love as action and disposition rather than emotion.
+
+ ## Questions of Application
+ Its use at weddings as instruction on marital love is a natural application, but some urge that its original setting in the church community be explained as well. In addition, those in pastoral counseling caution that the phrase "beareth all things" in verse 7 must not be used to tell people to endure abuse or violence. In support, they cite the statement that love "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth" (v. 6).
+
+ ## In the Korean Church
+ It is the passage most often used for Scripture readings at wedding services, in officiants' wedding sermons, and on wedding invitations, and a number of praise songs and gospel songs take this text as their lyrics.
+
+ ## Related Passages
+ - 1 Corinthians 12:31
+ - 1 John 4:7–8
+ - Romans 12:9–10
+ - Colossians 3:14


A passage that begins "Charity suffereth long, and is kind" and uses fifteen verbs to describe what love does and does not do. It is the passage most frequently read at weddings, yet it is often pointed out that it was originally addressed to a church quarreling over spiritual gifts.

Full revision

A passage that begins "Charity suffereth long, and is kind" and uses fifteen verbs to describe what love does and does not do. It is the passage most frequently read at weddings, yet it is often pointed out that it was originally addressed to a church quarreling over spiritual gifts.

Context

First Corinthians 12–14 deals with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Corinthian believers were boasting and quarreling with one another over gifts such as tongues and prophecy. After comparing the church to the many members of one body in chapter 12, Paul presents love in chapter 13 as the greater gift and "a more excellent way" (12:31). Verses 1–3 declare that tongues and prophecy, faith, and giving to the poor are nothing without love, and verses 4–7 portray what love looks like. Chapter 14 then returns to the orderly use of prophecy and tongues.

Interpretation

  • As a word to the church community: The traits listed—not envying, not vaunting itself, not being puffed up, not seeking its own—correspond to the actual problems of the Corinthian church. For this reason, the passage is read as a remedy for a church quarreling over its gifts.
  • As a portrait of Christ: Because the description of love (Greek agape) here is seen as matching the life of Christ exactly, a widely known devotional practice is to read the passage with "Christ" in place of "love."
  • Love expressed in verbs: In the original text, love is described not with adjectives but with verbs, and many interpreters take this to mean that the passage presents love as action and disposition rather than emotion.

Questions of Application

Its use at weddings as instruction on marital love is a natural application, but some urge that its original setting in the church community be explained as well. In addition, those in pastoral counseling caution that the phrase "beareth all things" in verse 7 must not be used to tell people to endure abuse or violence. In support, they cite the statement that love "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth" (v. 6).

In the Korean Church

It is the passage most often used for Scripture readings at wedding services, in officiants' wedding sermons, and on wedding invitations, and a number of praise songs and gospel songs take this text as their lyrics.

Related Passages

  • 1 Corinthians 12:31
  • 1 John 4:7–8
  • Romans 12:9–10
  • Colossians 3:14
RevisionTime (UTC)ContributorSummaryStatus
#88712026-11-05 01:48:32AI localizationLocalized for English-speaking readersapproved
#88702026-11-05 01:48:32AI localizationEnglish baseline before localizationapproved