Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:1

CHAPTER 13

1Co 13:1-13. Charity or Love Superior to All Gifts.

The New Testament psalm of love, as the forty-fifth Psalm (see Psa 45:1, title) and the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament.

1. tongues--from these he ascends to "prophecy" (1Co 13:2); then, to "faith"; then to benevolent and self-sacrificing deeds: a climax. He does not except even himself, and so passes from addressing them ("unto you," 1Co 12:31) to putting the case in his own person, "Though I," &c.

speak with the tongues--with the eloquence which was so much admired at Corinth (for example, Apollos, Ac 18:24; compare 1Co 1:12; 3:21, 22), and with the command of various languages, which some at Corinth abused to purposes of mere ostentation (1Co 14:2, &c.).

of angels--higher than men, and therefore, it is to be supposed, speaking a more exalted language.

charity--the principle of the ordinary and more important gifts of the Spirit, as contrasted with the extraordinary gifts (1Co 12:1-31).

sounding ... tinkling--sound without soul or feeling: such are "tongues" without charity.

cymbal--Two kinds are noticed (Psa 150:5), the loud or clear, and the high-sounding one: hand cymbals and finger cymbals, or castanets. The sound is sharp and piercing.