1 Corinthians 13:8 - Exposition

Never faileth. The word "faileth" ( ἐκπίπτει ) has two technical meanings between which it is not easy to decide.

1. It means, technically, " is never hissed off the stage like a bad actor," i.e. it has its part to play even on the stage of eternity. This is its meaning in classic Greek.

2. it means "falls away" like the petals of a withered flower (as in James 1:11 ; comp. Isaiah 28:4 ). Here, perhaps, the meaning is not technical, but general, as in Romans 9:6 and in the LXX . ( Job 21:1-34 :43). But the reading may be simply πίπτει (falleth), as in א , A,B,C. They shall fail . This is not the same word as the one on which we have been commenting; it means "shall be annulled" or "done away;" and is the same verb as that rendered in the next clauses by "vanish away," "be done away" ( Romans 9:10 ), and "put away" ( Romans 9:11 ). Thus in two verses we have the same word rendered by four different phrases. No doubt the effect of the change sounds beautifully to ears accustomed to the "old familiar strain;" but it is the obvious duty of translators to represent, not to improve upon, the language of their author. In the Revised Version the stone word is rightly kept for the four recurrences of the verb. Tongues. Special charisms are enumerated to show the transcendence of love. Knowledge . This shall be only annulled in the sense of earthly knowledge, which shall be a star disappearing in the light of that heavenly knowledge which shall gradually broaden into the perfect day.