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Gary Hampton Commentaries

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The Nature of Love

Love will cause one to endure wrong for a long time as Christ did (1 Peter 2:23). Love is good to all. Love is not jealous over another's good fortune, nor does it seek to impress others with its position and accomplishments. Love is well-mannered toward others. It does not seek to fulfill its own desires. Violent tempers are not the product of loving hearts. Love does not allow grudge holding or keeping record of wrongs committed against oneself.

True love does not feel good because others sin or suffer sin's consequences. It enjoys the truth's successes. It would not cover-up for others' wrongs. It quietly suffers the wrong of others. Love looks for the best in all it sees. It longs for the time the sinful will repent. Love withstands the assaults of evil with patience (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

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See also 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in other biblical comments:

  • A Textual Commentary On The Greek New Testament by Bruce M. Metzger

    1 CORINTHIANS 13:4 @h` avga,ph# (3) {C} On the basis of rhythm and sentence structure, the third instance of h` avga,ph (omitted by B 33 _al_) could be considered to be secondary. 5 On the other hand...

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse 1 Corinthians 13:4. (1.) _CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG_] μακροθυμει, _Has a long_ _mind_; to the end of which neither trials, adversities, persecutions, nor provocations, can reach. The _love of God_...

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG - Paul now proceeds to illustrate the “nature” of love, or to show how it is exemplified. His illustrations are all drawn from its effect in regulating our conduct toward others...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    3. THE NEED AND SUPERIORITY OF LOVE. CHAPTER 13 __ 1. The Preeminence of Love. (1 Corinthians 13:1 .) 2. Love described in its characteristics. (1 Corinthians 13:4 .) 3. Love never faileth; its Pe...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    1 CORINTHIANS 13. ALL GIFTS AND SACRIFICES ARE WORTHLESS WITHOUT LOVE, WHICH IS SUPREME AND INCOMPARABLE. The chapter falls into three divisions: (_a)_ superlative gifts and costliest surrenders are v...

  • Barclay Daily Study Bible (NT)

    THE HYMN OF LOVE (1 Corinthians 13:1-13) 13 I may speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but if I have not love, I am become no better than echoing brass or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gi...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    IS KIND. Greek. _chresteuomai._ Only here. Compare App-184. Note the Figure of speech _Asyndeton_ in these verses: 1 Corinthians 13:13; 1 Corinthians 13:4. ENVIETH. Greek. _zeloo._ See Acts 7

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _Charity suffereth long, and is kind_ The first the passive, the second the active, exercise of love; the one endurance, the other beneficence. _vaunteth not itself_ The word here used is derived from...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    1 Corinthians 12:31 Ch. 1 Corinthians 13:13. The Excellencies of Love _and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way_ Literally, AND FURTHERMORE I SHEW YOU AN EMINENTLY EXCELLENT WAY, i.e. the way of l...

  • Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary

    1 Corinthians 12:31 to 1 Corinthians 13:13. THE EXCELLENCIES OF LOVE ΚΑῚ ἜΤΙ ΚΑΘ' ὙΠΕΡΒΟΛῊΝ ὉΔῸΝ ὙΜΙ͂Ν ΔΕΊΚΝΥΜΙ. AND MOREOVER I SHEW YOU A WAY OF SUPERLATIVE EXCELLENCE. This, St Paul would have us un...

  • Charles Box Commentaries

    _THE DESCRIPTION OF LOVE 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8:_ These verses provide a brief description of love in action. God approaches love from both a negative and a positive point of view. "Love is kind and pat...

  • Charles Rose Commentaries

    ΜΑΚΡΟΘΥΜΕΪ́ _praes. ind. act. от_ ΜΑΚΡΟΘΥΜΈΩ (G3114) быть терпеливым, выносливым. Имеется в виду способность ума долго размышлять, прежде чем предаться действию или страсти, особенно страсти (Trench,...

  • Charles Simeon's Horae Homileticae

    DISCOURSE: 1986 A DESCRIPTION OF CHARITY 1 Corinthians 13:4. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, s...

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG— The Apostle here proceeds to give us sixteen characters of _divine love;_—upon which, if the compass of our work allowed, it would be well worth time to expatiate. 1st, _Love s...

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    BUTLER'S COMMENTS SECTION 2 Giftlessness With Love (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) 4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own wa...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, SUFFERETH LONG - under provocations of evil from others. The negative side of love. IS KIND...

  • Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch

    13 The body of Jesus, or of the Lord, denotes His physical frame. The body of Christ, however, is quite a distinct thought. Christ, or the Anointed, is a title rather than a name. It suggests official...

  • Darby's translation notes (1890)

    13:4 rash, (c-18) Or 'vain-glorious.'...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    _(e) Spiritual Gifts (ii) The most excellent Gift of Charity_ In this chapter we enter into the purest atmosphere and breathe the most fragrant odours. Passing from the previous Chapter s with their t...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    The character and actions of Love. 4. Vaunteth not itself] does not make a display. PUFFED UP] i.e. conceited....

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    SERVANTS OF CHRIST 1 CORINTHIANS _HILDA BRIGHT_ CHAPTER 13 LOVE 13:1-13 1. THE ABSENCE OF LOVE 13:1-3 V1 Suppose that I speak in the languages of people and *angels. If I have no love, I am onl...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG. — Better, _Love is long-suffering._ Here follows a description of love. Descriptions of positive characteristics and negations of evil qualities are now employed by the Apostle...

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CHAPTER 19 NO GIFT LIKE LOVE THIS is one of the passages of Scripture which an expositor scruples to touch. Some of the bloom and delicacy of surface passes from the flower in the very handling whic...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul's utterance began to rise with the elevation of his theme into the Hebraic rhythm (observe the recurrent ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, and the repeated οὐδέν) which marks his more imp...

  • Expositor's Greek Testament (Nicoll)

    § 43. THE QUALITIES OF CHRISTIAN LOVE. The previous vv. have justified the καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν of 1 Corinthians 12:31. The loftiest human faculties of man are seen to be frustrate without love; by its aid...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    THE ONE ESSENTIAL FOR ALL 1 Corinthians 13:1 With what wonder his amanuensis must have looked up, as the Apostle broke into this exquisite sonnet on love! His radiant spirit had caught a glimpse of t...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The apostle dealt with love, its values (verses 1Co 13:1-3), its virtues (verses 1Co 13:4-7), and its victory (verses 1Co 13:8-13). The values of love are discovered in the fact that, apart from it, a...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (2) Charity (d) suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, (2) He describes the force and nature of charity, partly by a comparison of opposite...

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _Charity....dealeth not perversely. [1] The Greek word here seems taken from the Latin. St. John Chrysostom expounds it, is not rash, but acteth prudently and considerately. Others, it is not light or...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    II. THE WAY PAR EXCELLENCE. CHAP. 13. This chapter has been called a hymn. In tone indeed it is truly lyrical, especially in the first verses. Charity is poetically personified. In this respect the pa...

  • Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians

    The following picture is not drawn at random, and, so to speak, at the good pleasure of the author. It is as closely connected with the state of his readers as the foregoing passage. It is a mirror in...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    (4) Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, (5) Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    As usual, the introductory words (1 Corinthians 1:1-3) of the epistle give us no little intimation of that which is to follow. The apostle speaks of himself as such "called [to be] an apostle of Jesus...

  • James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary

    _CHRISTIAN LOVE_ ‘Charity suffereth long … endureth all things.’ 1 Corinthians 13:4 It is indeed the occasion of astonishment that in the face of this chapter theology should ever have imagined tha...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    4._Love is patient. _He now commends _love _from its effects or fruits, though at the same time these eulogiums are not intended merely for its commendation, but to make the Corinthians understand wha...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    Nevertheless there was something more excellent than all gifts. They were the manifestations of the power of God and of the mysteries of His wisdom; love, that of His nature itself. They might speak w...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG,.... The apostle, in this and some following verses, enumerates the several properties and characters of the grace of love; and all along represents it as if it was a person, an...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Charity suffereth long, _and_ is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Ver. 4. _And is kind_] χρηστευεται, or, is easy to be made use of, ready to any good office....

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Love suffereth long_ Here the apostle attributes to love the qualities and actions of a person, in order to render his account of that divine grace the more lively and affecting. The love of God, and...

  • Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851)

    SUFFERETH LONG; with patience, under injuries. IS KIND; not to friends only, but to foes. ENVIETH NOT; is not uneasy at the prosperity of others. VAUNTETH NOT; does not boast of its own excellence....

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    A description of true love:...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    CHARITY SUFFERETH LONG AND IS KIND; CHARITY ENVIES NOT; CHARITY VAUNTS NOT ITSELF, IS NOT PUFFED UP,...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    Verses 1 Timothy 3 of this chapter show the necessity of love; verses 4 to 7 the characteristics of love; and verses 8 to 13 its permanence. And in the first section, verse I deals with what I speak;...

  • Marginal Notes in the King James Version (1611)

    VAUNTETH NOT: Or, is not rash...

  • Mark Dunagan Commentaries

    LOVE SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND; LOVE ENVIETH NOT; LOVE VAUNTETH NOT ITSELF, IS NOT PUFFED UP, 'suffereth long' -'is patient' (NASV) Lit., 'long-tempered'. Comments: 1. 'Chrysostom said that it i...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    4-7 Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it. This love is a clear proof of regeneration, and i...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    Lest the Corinthians should say to the apostle: What is this love you discourse of? Or how shall we know if we have it? The apostle here gives thirteen notes of a charitable person. CHARITY SUFFERETH...

  • McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries

    Love suffereth long, and is kind [In this catalogue the first and last negative qualities are coupled with their corresponding positives, suggesting a like coupling throughout. Love suffers evil and c...

  • NT Verse References in the Ante-Nicene Fathers

    1 Clement Love beareth all things, is long-suffering in all things.[221] Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book III "And love," according to the apostle, "suffers long, and is kind; envieth not;...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    1 Corinthians 13:4 Love G26 long G3114 (G5719) kind G5541 (G5736) love G26 not G3756 envy G2206 ...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    LOVE MUST LIE AT THE ROOT OF ALL WE DO ESPECIALLY OUR MINISTRY TO THE CHURCH (13:1-13). Paul now deals with what must lie behind the use of spiritual gifts, if they are to be truly spiritual. And in s...

  • Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

    HOW TRUE LOVE IS REVEALED (13:4-8A). This definition of love covers all angles. Because it portrays the essentials of love looking from our point of view, it gives us a totally rounded view of what tr...

  • Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols)

    1 Corinthians 13:4. LOVE SUFFERETH LONG. This long-suffering is the protracted endurance of wrong, such as is fitted to provoke resentment. It is that command over natural impulse which keeps just dis...

  • Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament

    Verses 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 picture the character or conduct of love in marvellous rhapsody.SUFFERETH LONG (μακροθυμε). Late _Koine_ word (Plutarch) from μακρος, long, θυμος, passion, ardour. Cf. Ja...

  • Scofield's Bible Commentary

    CHARITY That is, love; and so in (1 Corinthians 13:2); (1 Corinthians 13:3); (1 Corinthians 13:4); ...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 13:4 "Love Suffereth Long, and is Kind.". I. We have here brought before us the two sides, the passive and the active sides, of a loving disposition. "Love suffereth long." It is perhap...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 13:4 I. "Love envieth not." Envy is the shadow of jealousy, apes its form and mimics its movements, but is constructed out of more airy material and clothed in darker garb. The jealous m...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    1 Corinthians 13:1. _Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal._ If there be no love to God, and no love to man,...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Love, the supreme gift of the Spirit, and its governing power over other gifts. CHARACTERS: Paul. CONCLUSION: Love alone can give value to any service rendered in Christ's name, and it is...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    The apostle having spoken of the adornings of the church, which is the body of Christ, proceeds now to treat of her internal glory; and that glory is charity, for without this, all other endowments ar...

  • The Bible Study New Testament

    LOVE IS PATIENT AND KIND. Love is the _grace_ which makes men most like (similar to) God. Love best prepares men to live with God in Eternity. _Milton_ writes: "[love is] The golden key which opes [op...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Charity suffereth long, and is kind._ CHRISTIAN LOVE I. Suffers long. The Greek denotes having the power “to hold the mind long,” _i.e.,_ it is the opposite to rash anger. There are persons who, whe...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal._ CHARITY Each of the apostles had a predominant feature of character....

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    CHAPTER 13 SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. He points out that of all gifts and graces, charity is the first, and that without charity no gift or virtue is of any use. II. He enumerates (ver. 4) the sixt...

  • The Great Commentary of Cornelius à Lapide

    _Charity suffereth long and is kind._ Ambrose reads: "Charity is high-souled" (so also S. Cyprian and Tertullian, _de Patientiâi_, c. 12, read), "and is pleasing." Note, charity is long-suffering, not...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _CRITICAL NOTES_ 1. THESE NEED BE VERY FEW; the language of the chapter is of the simplest, the thought inexhaustibly full. 2. Note, Paul, not John, writes this chapter on LOVE. 3. The “I” is not s...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1 _The supremely excellent way of Christian love. _This chapter has been in all ages the object of the special admiration of the Church. Would that it had received in all...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Let's turn to the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians. The thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians actually begins with chapter 12. Paul was talking in chapter 12 about the various gifts of the Holy Spiri...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    1 Corinthians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 4:18; 1 Corinthians 4:6; 1 Corinthians 5:2;...

  • Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set)

    Suffereth long [μ α κ ρ ο θ υ μ ε ι]. See on James 5:7. Is kind [χ ρ η σ τ ε υ ε τ α ι]. Only here in the New Testament. See on crhstov, A. V., easy, Matthew 11:30, and crhstothv good, Romans 3:12. "T...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY 1 Corinthians 13:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS 1. The love of God. The great love of God verse is John 3:16. Another great love verse is Romans 5:8. The whole Bible is, however, one st...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    The love of God, and of our neighbour for God's sake, is patient toward, all men. It, suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, and infirmities of the children of God; all the malice and wickedness...

  • William Burkitt's Expository Notes

    Here the apostle enters upon the description and commendation of the grace and duty of charity, and declares several excellent effects and properties of it; namely, IT SUFFERETH LONG, AND IS KIND; tha...

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