1 Corinthians 13:8

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

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Word by word — the Greek

Word	Greek	Strong’s	Meaning
Charity	ἀγάπη agapē	G26	love · noun — nominative singular feminine
never	οὐδέποτε oudepote	G3763	not even at any time · adverb — negative
faileth	ἐκπίπτω ekpíptō	G1601	to drop away
but	δὲ de	G1161	but · conjunction
whether	Εἴτε Eite	G1535	if too · conditional particle
prophecies	προφητεῖαι, prophēteiai	G4394	prediction (scriptural or other) · noun — nominative plural feminine
fail	καταργηθήσονται· katargēthēsontai	G2673	to be (render) entirely idle (useless) · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person plural
whether	εἴτε eite	G1535	if too · conditional particle
tongues	γλῶσσαι, glōssai	G1100	the tongue · noun — nominative plural feminine
cease	παύσονται· pausontai	G3973	to stop (transitively or intransitively) · verb — future middle deponent indicative, 3rd person plural
whether	εἴτε eite	G1535	if too · conditional particle
knowledge	γνῶσις, gnōsis	G1108	knowing (the act) · noun — nominative singular feminine
away	καταργηθήσεται. katargēthēsetai	G2673	to be (render) entirely idle (useless) · verb — future passive indicative, 3rd person singular

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 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2 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.
Galatians 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
1 Corinthians 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
Hebrews 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
1 Corinthians 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another th…

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 13:8

never faileth--never is to be out of use; it always holds its place. shall fail . . . vanish away--The same Greek verb is used for both; and that different from the Greek verb for "faileth." Translate, "Shall be done away with," that is, shall be dispensed with at the Lord's coming, being superseded by their more perfect heavenly analogues; for instance, knowledge by intuition. Of "tongues," which are still more temporary, the verb is "shall cease." A primary fulfilment of Paul's statement took place when the Church attained its maturity; then "tongues" entirely "ceased," and "prophesyings" and "knowledge," so far as they were supernatural gifts of the Spirit, were superseded as no longer…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:8

(16.) Charity never faileth - Ἡ αγαπη ουδεποτε εκπιπτει· This love never falleth off, because it bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things; and while it does so it cannot fail; it is the means of preserving all other graces; indeed, properly speaking, it includes them all; and all receive their perfection from it. Love to God and man can never be dispensed with. It is essential to social and religious life; without it no communion can be kept up with God; nor can any man have a preparation for eternal glory whose heart and soul are not deeply imbued with it. Without it there never was true religion, nor ever can be; and it not only is necessary through life, but will exist throughout e…

The Church Fathers

Love always remains firm and stable, unchanged and unchanging.
— Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 254

Love never fails, which means that it never falls into sin.
— Severian of Gabala, PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

"Tongues will cease" when I express what I want to say with my mind.
— Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 4.52

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…
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
Graces · (Christian) — (Christian)
Language · Power of speaking different: Ceased when the written Bible completed — Power of speaking different: Ceased when the written Bible completed
Love To Man · Is an abiding principle — Is an abiding principle
Miraculous Gifts Of The Holy Spirit · Temporary nature of — Temporary nature of
Religion · TRUE — TRUE
Righteousness · FRUITS OF — FRUITS OF
Sanctification · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Tongues (The Gift) · The miraculous gift granted to — The miraculous gift granted to

1 Corinthians 13:8

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 13:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

1 Corinthians 13:8

Word by word — the Greek

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Corinthians 13:8–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:8

Adam Clarke on 1 Corinthians 13:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Gill on 1 Corinthians 13:8

John Calvin on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Corinthians 13:8-13