but when I became a man, I put away childish things, Now that I am become a man, I have brought to an end the ways of a child, "they shall be done away, they shall cease", This verse illustrates the partial disappearing as the perfect comes. And remember the ancients, having no glass, had only metal, and therefore indistinct mirrors. i., p. 336. The Apostle Paul wrote “The Love Chapter” (1 Corinthians 13) in his letter to the Corinthians. Look, as one, when he is a child, knoweth things imperfectly, and discourseth of them in the style and according to the knowledge of a child; but when he is grown up, he discourseth of them at another rate, according to the degree of knowledge which he hath acquired by instruction of others, or his own experience and observation: so it is with all of us; in this life we, like children, have a poor, low, imperfect knowledge of spiritual things, and accordingly discourse of them; but when we come to heaven, we shall know them and discourse of them in a more perfect manner. The words ( צסןםו ́ ש and כןדי ́ זןלבי) however, are so comprehensive that the two clauses may be rendered, ‘I had the opinions of a child and I reasoned as a child.' I. I thought, argued, reasoned in a weak and inconclusive manner. I fixed my attention on objects which I now see to be of little value. iii., p. 158; Preacher's Monthly, vol. The Apostle Paul spent 18 months there on his Second Missionary Journey and established a church there. Whether Paul intended a three point comparison or not, he was looking forward to the time when spiritual gifts would be replaced by spiritual adulthood (the completed New Testament). Likewise the Corinthians took great interest in the things that would pass away soon, namely, knowledge, tongues, and prophecy. 1 Corinthians 13:11. When I became a man, or having become a man, I have put away childish things, i.e. Subjectively ( Romans 4:9; Romans 5:1), it refers to the trust in God one has in his heart (Thayer, p512). The Liberty Commentary (p418) noted how Paul illustrated "his point by likening it to the maturation of a person from infancy to manhood. | What the Bible Says about Love - Duration: 46:36. I put away childish things - Of my own accord, willingly, without trouble. II. Was—Whately says the emphasis should be placed in reading on was, to imply that the playthings of childhood are suitable and right for childhood. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. 'When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. The word “for” is a term of explanation, indicating that the analogies in this verse are explaining and reinforcing the analogy in verse 11. now I do not say lasting pleasures, but still, while they are present, really pleasures. “When I was an infant, I thought as an infant, I spoke as an infant, I reasoned as infant; when I became a man, I put away the things of the infant.” Here we have an example of Pauline hyperbole perhaps unsurpassed. to the gnosis (Oecumenius, Theophylact, Bengel, Valckenaer, Heydenreich, Olshausen, D. Schulz, Ewald; Osiander undecided), is all the less warranted an assumption, seeing that ἐφρ. my former childish mode of speaking, feeling and thinking. I understood as a child, I thought as a child. Happy Birthday to me! "Spoke as a child" has been compared to tongue speaking, "feeling as a child" (ASV) or "understanding as a child" (KJV) has been likened to the miraculous gift of prophecy, and "thinking as a child" has been equated to the gift of knowledge. 13:11, a child vs. an adult; 1 Cor. We will in that day recognise that we have seen things as though we were still children. This letter is either lost or it may be in 2 Corinthians6:14–7:1. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 (1 Corinthians 13:1) If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 1 Cor. The man has given up the practices of the child. 11. —The specialties will all be superseded by eternal things, as childhood joys are superseded by manhood. are no specific correlates of the prophecy and gnosis respectively. God made the world, and has sanctioned the general form of human society, and has given us abundant pleasures in it. International Bible Lesson Commentary . A child-a man; as the conceptions and speech of a lisping infant differ from those of an educated and full-grown man, so do our highest attainments in this life differ from what they will be in the life to come. 1 Corinthians 13:11-12. Paul’s declaration of love unifies. It is characteristic of children to preoccupy themselves with things of very temporary value. II, p71). My thoughts, and plans, and argumentations were puerile, and such as I now see to be short-sighted and erroneous. It was said by Lord Brougham that the human being learns more during his ten first years than in all his life afterwards. The contrast he seeks to make clear is between two states of life. 13:12, a Corinthian mirror vs. face to face and know in part vs. fully known; These seem to reflect a present reality versus a future reality, therefore, the Second Coming, which consummates the New Age, is the focus. For example, education is necessary for childhood; it does not comport with mature age. International Bible Lesson. As it is with pride that the young man shakes off the puerilities of childhood, so it is with profound satisfaction that the mature man substitutes the manly activity of the profession which he has embraced for the passionate dreams of childhood and youth. For now we know nothing. Understood - `I was minded,' or 'had the sentiments of:' alluding to "prophecy. Burton, Christian Life and Truth, p. 94; Church of England Pulpit, vol. now that I am become a man, I have done away with childish things. International Bible Lesson Forum. Greek (8th ed., 1877). (799) So long as we live in this world, we require, in some sense, education. It has been suggested that the three words here used refer back respectively to the gifts previously mentioned. The present state is a state of childhood, the future that of manhood. I was thrown into a transport of joy or grief on the slightest occasions, which manly reason taught me to despise" - Doddridge. Analogical illustration of 1 Corinthians 13:10. νήπιος and τέλειος are used in contrast ch. (13:11), "I have put away"-once and for all. They are neither irrational nor false, but inadequate. I wasaffected as a child;thrown into transports of joy or grief upon trifling occasions, which manly reason soon taught me to despise. 1 Corinthians 13:11. It is like seeing the object in a mirror. Consider our love of the pleasures of life. Love transcends our self-imposed caste systems and personal biases. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. They are just as, far as they go, they are only inadequate. [The childish is needed, because it involves growth.]. I thought as a child - Margin, "Reasoned." People become an adult and stay an adult-the state of infancy is past. [The childish is needed, because it involves growth.]. From its longer continuance. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” Explanation and Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:11 This verse comes within the great love passage. 2. I, like you, formerly judged of the goodness and excellency of these spiritual gifts by the advantages the procured; but after the Almighty had bestowed upon me his particular light, my opinion was far otherwise. These three points of diff, can hardly be identified with the , , and respectively; though “spake as a babe” may allude to the childish fondness of the Cor[1994] for (cf1 Corinthians 14:18 ff. Begin, as soon as you can, to deal with that world as the substance and with this world as the shadow. “I spoke” corresponds to the “tongues,” “understood” to the “prophecy,” and “I reasoned” to the “knowledge.” Without intending any such very definite correspondence of these three expressions, the Apostle probably naturally made the points of analogy correspond in number with what they were intended to illustrate. See on 1 Corinthians 3:1, and see on 1 Corinthians 2:6. but now that I have become a man I have given up the ways of, but then shall I know even as also I am known, when I became a man, I put away childish things, since I have become a man, I have brought to an end, when I put away childish things, I became a man. I knew little. The ‘previous’ letter. These changes were the end of spiritual gifts and the complete revelation of Scripture. Considering the way the New Testament uses telos in other passages, it certainly seems to speak about the coming of Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:8, 15:24, James 5:11, Revelation 20:5, 20:7, 21:6, and 22:13). But a time would come when they would be inappropriate. References: 1 Corinthians 13:11.—J. This point is so important that, as noted in the preceding chart, it is also discussed in Ephesians 4:7-15. This bold Pauline symbolism sweeps us away into the illimitable possibilities of eternally involving and unfolding developments, contemporaneously with the cycles of celestial ages. τὰ, the Abstract. It is natural that the young should look with hope to the prospect before them. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 The Greatest of These Is Love That view cannot be correct in light of Ephesians 4:3 which urged the brethren to keep or maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Romans 8:5. Paul compared our present phase of maturity to childhood and that of our later phase, when we are with the Lord, to adulthood. Inthat letter, I told you to have nothing to do with men with bad character’ (1Corinthians 5:9). I understood as a child, I thought as a child; I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child. Anyone who now or in the future claims to have one or more supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit is either lying or is deceived (compare 2 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:11). I put away childish things - Of my own accord, willingly, without trouble. Rev. 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. On the later-Gr. Alluding to "prophecy. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. I spake as a child. Illustration of what was said in 1 Corinthians 13:10 by an analogy taken from each man’s own personal experience in life, inasmuch, namely, as our present condition, when compared with our condition in the αἰὼν μέλλων, is like that of the child in comparison with that of the man. Again Paul was stressing the difference between the present and the future. Studies in 1 Corinthians Commentary. Love is a matter of the- heart, and if the heart be not right with God, external acts, though they are very similar to … His infantile and puerile sports are but experiments of things by which he gains his first amount of knowledge. ", Allen also (p167) correctly noted how the word faith "is used in at least two ways in the New Testament. Sermon Bible Commentary. I had narrow and imperfect views of things. 11. Childish things; the imperfect conceptions and reasonings of a child. Kittel's definition for this word in this verse is "to destroy." When I was a child, I spake as a child—prattling; I felt as a child, I thought (or ‘reasoned’) as a child. nēpios) denotes properly a baby, an infant, though without any definable limitation of age. He remembers what it was like when he was a child. It has been suggested that the three words here used refer back respectively to the gifts previously mentioned. ii., p. 31; Ibid., vol. But love is so valuable, so important, that apart from it, every other good thing is useless. 1 Corinthians 13:1 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. For there are many things that are suitable to children, which are afterwards done away on arriving at maturity. 1Co 13:11 When I was a child. The humanity is not taken away, but manhood is assumed. I thought as a child. Tongues are good. Whether Paul intended it or not, one cannot walk away from this illustration, without thinking that God was telling the Corinthians that the spiritual gifts belonged to a "childhood" stage in the church. 1 Corinthians 13:11. by Grant Richison | Jan 3, 2003 | 1 Corinthians | 2 comments. "I spake..I felt..I thought"-the behavior of a child is appropriate to childhood. It is from this point that we can perfectly understand the delicate allusion, 1 Corinthians 1:7. 13:11 In our present state we are mere infants in point of knowledge, compared to what we shall be hereafter. 1. to the prophesying, and ἐλογ. Paul's use of spake...understood...thought seem to correspond respectively to ‘tongues,' ‘prophecy,' and ‘knowledge' above. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. . ἐφρόνουν refers to the interest and efforts (device and endeavour), ἐλογ. Read 1 Corinthians 13 commentary using Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete). We see reflections, not realities, and those reflections through the medium in which we look at them, confused, or, as it is in the original, riddled. The kindred noun φρένες occurs only once in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 14:20, where also it is associated with children in the sense of reflection or discrimination. As a child conceives, thinks, and speaks, of things suitable to his childish state; but when he comes to manly perfection, and to the full use and exercise of his reason, he then puts away childish conceptions and things: thus it is with the best of us in this life; like children we conceive and think, we discourse and speak, of spiritual things, in a confused and imperfect manner; but when we arrive at our state of manly perfection in heaven, we shall have knowledge and all other graces perfected. And many have taken Paul’s words of wisdom as an exhortation for spiritual maturity — as Paul does elsewhere (cf. It refers to the first periods of existence; before the period which we denominate boyhood, or youth. For it is not the oneness of knowledge, but the integrity of charity, which is to hold together the Church. ", I thought - Greek [ elogizomeen (Greek #3049)], 'reasoned:' alluding to "knowledge.". Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:8–14:5. When Paul was in Ephesus, he received newsabout troubles in the church at Corinth. ), and “to reason” is the distinction of . So are we now also but children, and so it will be that when we 'grow up' and are spiritually transformed at the resurrection, all will be seen differently. II. The verb translated "put away" (katargeo) is important. 11.When I was a child He illustrates what he had said, by a similitude. Consider our love of the pleasures of life. Lit., have brought them to nought. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." When Will Prophecy Cease? ", when I became … I put away—rather, "now that I am become a man, I have done away with the things of the child.". Acts 18 gives us Prophecy, and the gifts of languages are certainly very estimable gifts, yet charity is much more excellent. "The idea of a long extended period during which the spiritual gifts were absent followed by a renewal of them is prohibited by this illustration." The natural man does not willingly remember his childhood because he is proud; but the soul, pining away under adversity, confesses the early passages of its early growth, Job 10:10.— ἐλάλουν, I spoke) There is a reference to tongues.— ἐφρόνουν, I understood [I had the sentiments]) The reference is to prophecy; for it is something more simple.— ἐλογιζόμην, I reasoned as a child) The reference is to knowledge; for it is more complex.— ὅτε δὲ, but when) He does not say, when I put away childish things, I became a man. Now, such dreams can hardly be called sinful in themselves and without reference to the particular case; for the gifts of wealth, power, and influence, and much more of domestic comfort come from God, and may be religiously improved. As Pope says. Paul admonishes us—by instructing us "to put away childish things" (verse 11), as well as his reference to a mirror (verse 12)—that love is something we grow in. When I became a man, I put away - rather, 'now that I am become a man, I have done away with (the same, Greek as in 1 Corinthians 13:8; see note) the things of the child.'. Based on what Paul said, the gifts used by the Corinthians and other first century Christians were not "lost" as people sometimes claim. When I was a child; not an infant, but as opposed to one of mature age, a child. There can hardly be an allusion, as Theophyl., Œc(60), Bengel, Olsh., al., think, to the three gifts, of tongues ( ἐλάλ. I am willing to allow that there is an innocent love of the world, innocent in itself. 1 Corinthians 13:11 illustrates the abolition of the partial by the perfect through the transition from the child to the man—in speech ( ), in disposition and aim ( ), and in mental activity ( ). When I was a child, &c. — The difference between our present and future conceptions of spiritual things may be illustrated by the knowledge of a child compared to that of a man. Some have understood this as a reference to the unity of all believers in Christ. The apostle compareth the state of believers in this life, compared with their state in another life, to the state of a child, compared to that of a man. 1 Cor 3:1-3, 14:20). d. When I was a child— "The future shall indeed be like a state of adult age, when compared with that of feeble infancy; just as when I was a child, I spake as a child would naturally do, a few imperfect words, hardly at first articulate and intelligible, and often in themselves unmeaning. As a child, his thinking, feelings, and speech were all childishly imperfect. To make ἐλαλ., however, point back to the glossolalia, ἐφρ. : When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a Prayer of Manasseh, I have put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 2:6 to 1 Corinthians 3:1; 1 Corinthians 14:20. ἐλάλουν, ἐφρόνουν, ἐλογιζόμην—I spoke, I [thought] (felt, was minded), I [reasoned (or] judged).