1 Corinthians 13:2 BSB

1 Corinthians 13:2

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

KJV

And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

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Commentary

2 voices

Irenaeus

Against Heresies Book IV (202)

And Paul in like manner declares, "Love is the fulfilling of the law:" and [he declares] that when all other things have been destroyed, there shall remain "faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of all is love;" and that apart from the love of God, neither knowledge avails anything, nor the understanding of mysteries, nor faith, nor prophecy, but that without love all are hollow and vain; moreover, that love makes man perfect; and that he who loves God is perfect, both in this world and in that which is to come.

The record, by era

The Reformation1 voice

John Calvin

1509–1564

Commentaries (1554)

It is what Chrysostom calls the "faith of miracles," and what we term a "special faith," because it does not apprehend a whole Christ, but simply his power in working miracles; and hence it may sometimes exist in a man without the Spirit of sanctification, as it did in Judas.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

28 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἐὰν	ean	if	G1437 →
ἔχω	echō	I shall have	G2192 →
προφητείαν	prophēteian	prophecy	G4394 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
εἰδῶ	eidō	understand
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
μυστήρια	mustēria	mysteries	G3466 →
πάντα	panta	all	G3956 →
καὶ	kai	and	G2532 →
πᾶσαν	pasan	all	G3956 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
γνῶσιν,	gnōsin	knowledge,	G1108 →
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἐὰν	ean	if	G1437 →
ἔχω	echō	I shall have	G2192 →
πᾶσαν	pasan	all	G3956 →
τὴν	tēn	the	G3588 →
πίστιν	pistin	faith	G4102 →
ὥστε	hōste	so as	G5620 →
ὄρη	orē	mountains	G3735 →
μεθιστάναι,	methistanai	to remove,	G3179 →
ἀγάπην	agapēn	love	G26 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
ἔχω,	echō	may have,	G2192 →
οὐθέν	outhen	no [thing]	G3762 →
εἰμι.	eimi	I am.	G1510 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Matthew 17:20
“Because you have so little faith,” He answered. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’…
leads to
- Luke 17:6
  And the Lord answered, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
- Mark 11:23
  “Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will…
- Luke 1:37
  For no word from God will ever fail.”
- Luke 18:27
  But Jesus said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
- Matthew 21:21
  “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain,…
Through
1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
leads to
- 1 John 4:16
  And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
- 1 John 4:7
  Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
- Psalms 86:15
  But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.