1 Corinthians 13:3 BSB

1 Corinthians 13:3

If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body, but have not love, I gain nothing.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And if I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profiteth me nothing.

KJV

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

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Commentary

6 voices

Tertullian

Against Praxeas (220)

For he was the first to import into Rome from Asia this kind of heretical pravity, a man in other respects of restless disposition, and above all inflated with the pride of confessorship simply and solely because he had to bear for a short time the annoyance of a prison; on which occasion, even "if he had given his body to be burned, it would have profiled him nothing," not having the love of God, whose very gifts he has resisted and destroyed.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

John Gill

1697–1771

Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748)

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,.... Of which the Jews give us instances; they say (n), that R. Ishcab stood, והחליק כל נכסיו לעניים, "and distributed all his goods to the poor"; and a little after they say the same of King Monbaz, that he stood and gave away, or dispersed, "all his goods to the poor"; and elsewhere (o) they say of R.

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)

Give all my goods to feed the poor, yea, though I deliver up my body to be burned - Rather than I would renounce my religion. And have not the love - Hereafter described. It profiteth me nothing - Without this, whatever I speak, whatever I have, whatever I know, whatever I do, whatever I suffer, is nothing.

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

There may be an open and lavish hand, where there is no liberal and charitable heart. The external act of giving alms may proceed from a very ill principle. Vain-glorious ostentation, or a proud conceit of merit, may put a man to large expense this way who has no true love to God nor men.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Albert Barnes

1798–1870

Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)

And though I bestow - The Greek word used here ψωμίσω psōmisō, from ψάω psaō, to break off) meant properly to break off, and distribute in small portions; to feed by morsels; and may be applicable here to distributing one’s property in small portions. Charity or alms to the poor, was usually distributed at one’s gate Luk 16:20, or in some public place. Of course, if property was distributed in this manner, many more would be benefitted than if all were given to one person. There would be many more to be thankful, and to celebrate one’s praises.

Modern Voices1 voice

R. C. Sproul

1939–2017

Love Beyond Performance: Why Virtue Without Love Is Worthless

They're worthless without love because love is the sine qua non of all virtue.

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

20 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
κἂν	kan	Even if	G2532 →G1437 →
ψωμίσω	psōmisō	I shall give away	G5595 →
πάντα	panta	all	G3956 →
τὰ	ta	the	G3588 →
ὑπάρχοντά	huparchonta	possessions	G5225 →
μου,	mou	of mine,	G3165 →
καὶ	kai	And	G2532 →
ἐὰν	ean	if	G1437 →
παραδῶ	paradō	I shall deliver up	G3860 →
τὸ	to	the	G3588 →
σῶμά	sōma	body	G4983 →
μου	mou	of mine	G3165 →
ἵνα	ina	that	G2443 →
καυχήσωμαι,	kauchēsōmai	I may boast,	G2744 →
ἀγάπην	agapēn	love	G26 →
δὲ	de	however	G1161 →
μὴ	mē	not	G3361 →
ἔχω,	echō	may have,	G2192 →
οὐδὲν	ouden	no [thing]	G3762 →
ὠφελοῦμαι.¶	ōpheloumai	I am profited.	G5623 →

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
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
leads to
- John 10:11
  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
- Ephesians 5:2
  and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- Romans 5:6–8
  For at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
- John 10:15
  just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.
- 1 John 4:7–11
  Beloved, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Through
Matthew 23:5
All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
leads to
- John 12:43
  For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
- Matthew 6:1–16
  “Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
- John 5:44
  How can you believe if you accept glory from one another, yet do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?