1 Corinthians 13:2

Prophecy in its widest range, and faith at its utmost stretch in those lacking love, both amount to “nothing!” (ἐὰν) εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα κ. τ. λ., “If I know all the mysteries (of revelation) and all the knowledge (relating thereto),” explains καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν by stating the source, or resources, from which “prophecy” is drawn: πᾶσαν τ. γνῶσιν (attached somewhat awkwardly to εἰδῶ), combined with τ. μυστ., posits a mental grasp of the contents of revelation added to the supernatural insight which discovers them (see notes on λόγος γνώσεως and προφητεία, 1 Corinthians 12:8 ff.), as e.g. in the case of Isaiah. Hn [1967] supplies ἔχω, instead of the nearer εἰδῶ, before τ. γνῶσιν (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 8:10), reading “if I have all knowledge” as a second, distinct assumption following on “if I know all mysteries,” on account of the incongruity of Prophecy and Knowledge; but the point of P.'s extreme supposition lies in this unusual combination the intellect of a philosopher joined to the inspiration of a seer. For μυστήρια, see note on 1 Corinthians 2:1. πίστιν (see note on 1 Corinthians 12:9) ὥστε μεθιστάνειν ὄρη an allusion to the hyperbolical sayings of Jesus ad rem (Matthew 17:20; Matthew 21:21; see notes in vol. i.); in the pr [1968] (continuous) inf [1969] “to remove mountain after mountain” (Ed [1970]). Whatever God may be pleased to accomplish through such a man (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9), he is personally worthless. On the form οὐθέν, see Wr [1971], p. 48; for the thought, cf. 1 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 12:11; Galatians 6:3.

[1967] C. F. G. Heinrici's Erklärung der Korintherbriefe (1880), or 1 Korinther in Meyer's krit.-exegetisches Kommentar (1896).

[1968] present tense.

[1969] infinitive mood.

[1970] T. C. Edwards' Commentary on the First Ep. to the Corinthians. 2

[1971] Winer-Moulton's Grammar of N.T. Greek (8th ed., 1877).