A Consideration of 1 Corinthians 13

The Blue Letter Bible is a seminary-level Bible study tool publicly available for free. One of its features lists the cross references for every verse in the Bible.

Cross references are verses connected by similar words, phrases, and images. This feature of the Bible, gathered by scholars throughout the ages, is a tremendous proof of the continuity of the Bible, a book which was written by dozens of people over centuries.

I used these to study 1 Corinthians 13, verse by verse and phrase by phrase. By looking at all of its cross references, I got a picture of how the whole Bible uses the language Paul used in this famous chapter on love.

To state what I hope is a given, I am not  proposing an authoritative translation of this chapter. I am not qualified for that sort of task. Below is only a contribution of thought to an incredible section of scripture and a demonstration of Bible study readers may not have tried out before.

Let’s go.

ESV	Paraphrase
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.	If I speak in tongues so impressively and it seems very spiritual but I do it to puff myself up rather than to benefit others, I might as well be a loud, obnoxious gong or a shrill, clashing cymbal which will make people want to cover their ears instead of listen.
And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.	If have the gift of prophecy, like an apostle or like Daniel who were able to understand what is otherwise a mystery; if I have all the knowledge and all the faith to move or even remove a mountain from its very foundation, this would be quite impressive, don’t you think? But if I don’t do this from agape*, instead to impress, all of it—all of me, is nothing.
If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.	If I give away everything I have, even my life by the worst imaginable death, like burning as a sacrifice or martyr, because I think I will gain something from my sacrifice, I am not doing this from agape and I will not gain anything.
Love is patient and kind;	Agape, the love that God is (and because God is agape we should we express it), is patient and kind. That is, it suffers long without wanting to avenge. It is gentle, mild, and soft in correcting.
love does not envy or boast;	Agape does not envy. That is, it does not get jealous for what others have and does not simmer and boil with rage at the success of others. These cause great strife. The opposite is agape: to be glad for others and to live in harmony. Agape does not boast. That is, it does not tell tall tales about itself or get too big for its britches. In contrast, God has a right to boast about himself. He can boast and still be agape because his boasts are true and he can back them up. Human boasting is quick to speak and refute and avenge and get angry. These are not acts of agape.
It is not arrogant or rude.	Agape (again, the very character of God) is not arrogance. It does not think of itself as more important than others. It is actually the opposite. Godly agape is not rude or pushy or dismissive.
It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;	It does not seek its own way—the opposite, in fact. It uplifts others for their soul’s sake. It is not quick-tempered or irritable, nor does it hold a grudge or assume the worst in others.
it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.	Agape does not rejoice or celebrate unfaithful living. It does rejoice in faithful living.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.	Agape puts up with all things, not in a grin-and-bear-it way but in loving sincerity. It commits to and believes in the person they love, always. Agape puts its hope in the confidence that loving well will pay off in the end. So, it endures all things and remains steadfast, despite ill treatment.
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.	Agape will never lose its power; it will always persist. Prophecies will come to an end. Tongues will stop. Knowledge will vanish.
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.	Right now, knowledge and prophecy are what we have, and these only partially reveal the fullness of God and what is to come. But when the perfect comes, on the day when God is our light and by him we will see everything clearly, the things we see partially, (again, prophecies, tongues, and knowledge) will be done away with.
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.	Take as an example of knowing in part then fully the natural progress of life. When I was a child, I thought and talked and made sense of the world like a kid does. When I became a man, I stopped these, having gotten a greater understanding of the things in life.
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.	It (the passing of knowledge and tongues and prophecy) will also be like this: It is as if we are looking into an obscuring, dark mirror compared to looking at someone face to face, as Moses did God. Today, we know only a fraction of the whole but later we will know fully and understand, because we are known fully by God.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.	Rather than things like prophecy, tongues, and knowledge the following three things never pass away: our shared faith, our hope of salvation, and agape. And the thing at the heart of these, as we think of the two greatest commandments being at the very heart of the law, is…agape.

*I use the Greek agape to specify the type of love described. “Love” is too broad a term to specify what Paul is getting at and the KJV’s “charity” is too archaic to help us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDSVRNph_ceq8&v=SVRNph_ceq8

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