13:2
Next Paul names prophecy. Paul clearly is using hyperbole, for later he will say that we prophesy in part and know in part. But even if we could “fathom all mysteries” and had “all knowledge”, without love this is all nothing. Paul will expand on how prophecy should be used in the next chapter. Then he talks about faith that moves mountains. Elsewhere Jesus spoke about faith moving mountains (Matt 17:20), but there Jesus’ purpose was to emphasise that even a little faith can be very effective. Here Paul is saying that even if you have faith that achieves amazing results, without love it is actually nothing at all.
13:3
Just in case anyone thinks that Paul is somehow denigrating spiritual gifts, he now gives examples that can be understood as more “normal”. Someone can give all his possessions to the poor, or suffer greatly, without love that person gains nothing. 13:3 can be translated as “give over my body to hardship that I may boast” (NIV and others) or “if I deliver up my body to be burned” (ESV and others). Again, within the context of Paul’s argument it matters little. People can do all sorts of things that look really good, but if the underlying motive is not love, then the actions do not benefit the person at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment