John Trapp on 1 Corinthians 14:1

CHAP. XIV. Verſe 1. Follow after charity]

FOllow it hot-foot, as they ſay: purſue and practice it. It is more then to deſire or to be zealous of a thing, as it follows in the next words, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. be zealous of ſpirituall gifts. Follow charity cloſe, as the Hunter doth his prey, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. or as the perſecutour doth the Martyr, that will hide or eſcape if he can. Charity may be fitly compared to the precious ſtone Pantarbe ſpoken of by Philoſtratus. A ſtone of great beauty and of ſtrange property.Philoſtr. in vit. Apollony lib 3. cap. [illegible: 1 letter]4 So bright it is and radiant, that it gives light in the darkeſt midnight. And that light is of that admirable vertue, that it brings together the ſtones that it reacheth into heaps, as if they were ſo many hives of Bees. But nature, leſt ſo precious a gift ſhould be undervalued, hath not only hid this ſtone in the ſecret bowels of the earth, but hath alſo put into it a property of ſlipping out of the hands of thoſe that hold it, Niſi providâ ratione teneatur, unleſſe they hold it faſt indeed.