Jamieson, Fausset and Brown on 1 Corinthians 13:3
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1 Corinthians13:3
3. bestow ... goods ... poor--literally, "dole out in food" all my goods; one of the highest functions of the "helps" (1Co 12:28).
give ... body to be burned--literally, "to such a degree as that I should be burned." As the three youths did (Da 3:28), "yielded their bodies" (compare 2Co 12:15). These are most noble exemplifications of love in giving and in suffering. Yet they may be without love; in which case the "goods" and "body" are given, but not the soul, which is the sphere of love. Without the soul God rejects all else, and so rejects the man, who is therefore "profited" nothing (Mt 16:26; Lu 9:23-25). Men will fight for Christianity, and die for Christianity, but not live in its spirit, which is love.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:3. Public domain.
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