1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
When	ὅτε hote	G3753	at which (thing) too · conjunction
was	ἤμην ḗmēn	G2252	I was
child	νήπιος, nēpios	G3516	not speaking · adjective — nominative singular masculine
spake	ἐλάλουν elaloun	G2980	to talk · verb — imperfect active indicative, 1st person singular
as	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
child	νήπιος, nēpios	G3516	not speaking · adjective — nominative singular masculine
understood	ἐφρόνουν ephronoun	G5426	to exercise the mind · verb — imperfect active indicative, 1st person singular
as	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
child	νήπιος, nēpios	G3516	not speaking · adjective — nominative singular masculine
thought	ἐλογιζόμην elogizomēn	G3049	to take an inventory · verb — imperfect middle or passive deponent indicative, 1st person singular
as	ὡς hōs	G5613	which how · particle
child	νήπιος· nēpios	G3516	not speaking · adjective — nominative singular masculine
but	δέ dé	G1161	but
when	ὅτε hote	G3753	at which (thing) too · conjunction
became	γέγονα gegona	G1096	to cause to be ("gen"-erate) · verb — second perfect active indicative, 1st person singular
man	ἀνήρ, anēr	G435	a man (properly as an individual male) · noun — nominative singular masculine
away	κατήργηκα katērgēka	G2673	to be (render) entirely idle (useless) · verb — perfect active indicative, 1st person singular
childish	νηπίου. nēpiou	G3516	not speaking · adjective — genitive singular masculine
things	τὰ ta	G3588	the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative plural neuter

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
1 Corinthians 3:1-2 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
Ecclesiastes 11:10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 13:8–end

Here the apostle goes on to commend charity, and show how much it is preferable to the gifts on which the Corinthians were so apt to pride themselves, to the utter neglect, and almost extinction, of charity. This he makes out, I. From its longer continuance and duration: Charity never faileth. It is a permanent and perpetual grace, lasting as eternity; whereas the extraordinary gifts on which the Corinthians valued themselves were of short continuance. They were only to edify the church on earth, and that but for a time, not during its whole continuance in this world; but in heaven would be all superseded, which yet is the very seat and element of love. Prophecy must fail, that is, either th…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:11

When . . . a child-- (Co1 3:1; Co1 14:20). I spake--alluding to "tongues." understood--or, "had the sentiments of." Alluding to "prophecy." I thought--Greek "reasoned" or "judged"; alluding to "knowledge." when I became . . . I put away--rather, "now that I am become a man, I have done away with the things of the child."

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child - This future state of blessedness is as far beyond the utmost perfection that can be attained in this world, as our adult state of Christianity is above our state of natural infancy, in which we understand only as children understand; speak only a few broken articulate words, and reason only as children reason; having few ideas, little knowledge but what may be called mere instinct, and that much less perfect than the instinct of the brute creation; and having no experience. But when we became men-adults, having gained much knowledge of men and things, we spoke and reasoned more correctly, having left off all the manners and habits of our childhood.

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 13:11

When I was a child I spake as a child,.... That cannot speak plain, aims at words rather than expresses them, delivers them in a lisping or stammering manner: hereby the apostle illustrates the then present gift of speaking with divers tongues, which was an extraordinary gift of the Spirit, was peculiar to some persons, and what many were very fond of; and yet this, in its highest degree and exercise, was but like the lisping of a child, in comparison of what will be known and expressed by saints, when they come to be perfect men in heaven: I understood as a child; and so does he that understands all mysteries, in comparison of the enlightened and enlarged understandings of glorified saints…

The Church Fathers

In this life we are children, compared with what we shall become in the next life. For everything in this life is imperfect, including knowledge.
— Ambrosiaster, COMMENTARY ON PAUL'S EPISTLES

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child; but now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things." Next he points out also how great is the distance between the two, and that our deficiency is no small one.
— John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians 34

And the expression, "When I was a child, I thought as a child, I spoke as a child," points out his mode of life according to the law, according to which, thinking childish things, he persecuted, and speaking childish things he blasphemed the Word, not as having yet attained to the simplicity of childhood, but as being in its folly.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Charity — (1 Cor. 13), the rendering in the Authorized Version of the word which properly denotes love, and is frequently so rendered (always so in the Revised Version). It is spoken of as the greatest of the…
Child — This word has considerable latitude of meaning in Scripture. Thus Joseph is called a child at the time when he was probably about sixteen years of age (Gen. 37:3); and Benjamin is so called when he…
Love — This word seems to require explanation only in the case of its use by our Lord in his interview with “Simon, the son of Jonas,” after his resurrection (John 21:16, 17). When our Lord says, “Lovest…
Charitableness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Conduct, Christian · Loving one another — Loving one another
Knowledge · “Now we know in part” — “Now we know in part”
Man · Intellect of, matured by age — Intellect of, matured by age
Religion · TRUE — TRUE
Righteousness · FRUITS OF — FRUITS OF
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

1 Corinthians 13:11

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 13:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:11

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:11

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 13:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 13:11

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 13:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:11

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:11

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 13:11

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 13:9–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 13:9