The Meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:8 Explained

1 Corinthians 13:8

KJV: Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

YLT: The love doth never fail; and whether there be prophecies, they shall become useless; whether tongues, they shall cease; whether knowledge, it shall become useless;

Darby: Love never fails; but whether prophecies, they shall be done away; or tongues, they shall cease; or knowledge, it shall be done away.

ASV: Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Charity  never  faileth:  but  whether  [there be] prophecies,  they shall fail;  whether  [there be] tongues,  they shall cease;  whether  [there be] knowledge,  it shall vanish away. 

What does 1 Corinthians 13:8 Mean?

Study Notes

charity
i.e. love; and so in 1 Corinthians 13:2 ; 1 Corinthians 13:3 ; 1 Corinthians 13:4 ; 1 Corinthians 13:8 ; 1 Corinthians 13:13 .

Verse Meaning

Love never fails in the sense of falling away when the physical and temporal things on which affection rests pass away; it outlasts temporal things. Gifts of the Spirit will pass away because they are temporary provisions, but the fruit of the Spirit will abide.
Prophecies are messages from God, but when we stand before Him and hear His voice there will be no more need for prophets to relay His words to us. Likewise when we stand before God there will be no need to speak in other languages since we will all understand God when He speaks. The knowledge that is so important to us now will be irrelevant then because when we are in God"s presence we will know perfectly ( 1 Corinthians 13:12; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:5; 1 Corinthians 8:1; 1 Corinthians 12:8). The knowledge in view seems to be knowledge of God"s ways in the present age. As will become clearer in chapter14 , Paul"s preference regarding the gifts was prophecy, but the Corinthians favored tongues and knowledge.
The verb Paul used to describe what will happen to prophecy and knowledge is in the passive voice in Greek and means "shall be terminated" (from katargeo; cf. 1 Corinthians 2:6). The verb he used to describe what will happen to tongues is in the middle voice and means "automatically cease of themselves" (from pauo). [1] The passive voice points to God terminating prophecy and knowledge when we see Him. The middle voice suggests that tongues will peter out before we see God. [2] Church history testifies that this is what happened to the gift of tongues shortly after the apostolic age. [3] Paul dropped tongues from his discussion at this point, which supports the fact that the gift of tongues would not last as long as knowledge and prophecy. He continued to speak of knowledge and prophecy in the next verses.

Context Summary

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 - The One Essential For All
With what wonder his amanuensis must have looked up, as the Apostle broke into this exquisite sonnet on love! His radiant spirit had caught a glimpse of the living Savior. Jesus sits for His portrait in these glowing sentences, and of Him every clause is true. Substitute His name for love throughout the chapter, and say whether it is not an exact likeness. With Paul love stands for that strong, sustained, and holy subordination of self for others, which begins in will and act and is afterward suffused by emotion, as a cloud lying in the pathway of the rising sun. But if you want the divine love, you must get it after the manner of the bay which opens its bosom to the incoming tide. God is love, and if you would love, you must abide in Him and He in you. Love is better than miracles, gifts, or philanthropy, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3. Love is the parent of all that is most delightful in the moral sphere, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. Love is the best of all, because it is eternal. All else will perish. Our highest attainments will be as the babblings and playthings of childhood. But when we are in touch with the reality of things, love will be all in all. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 13

1  All gifts,
3  however excellent, are of no worth without love
4  The praises thereof,
13  as love is greatest before hope and faith

Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never faileth [η αγαπη ουδεποτε πιπτει]
New turn for the perpetuity of love. Πιπτει — Piptei correct text, not εκπιπτει — ekpiptei as in Luke 16:17. Love survives everything. [source]
They shall be done away [καταργητησονται]
First future passive of καταργεω — katargeō Rare in old Greek, to make idle Future middle indicative of παυω — pauō to make cease. They shall make themselves cease or automatically cease of themselves. [source]
They shall cease [παυσονται]
Future middle indicative of παυω — pauō to make cease. They shall make themselves cease or automatically cease of themselves. [source]
Faileth [ἐκπίπει]
Falls off ( ἐκ ) like a leaf or flower, as James 1:11; 1 Peter 1:24. In classical Greek it was used of an actor who was hissed off the stage. But the correct reading is πίπτει fallsin a little more general sense, as Luke 16:17. Love holds its place. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 13:8

Romans 3:3 Make without effect [καταργήσει]
See on Luke 13:7. The word occurs twenty-five times in Paul, and is variously rendered in A.V. make void, destroy, loose, bring to nought, fail, vanish away, put away, put down, abolish, cease. The radical meaning is to make inert or idle. Dr. Morison acutely observes that it negatives the idea of agency or operation, rather than of result or effect. It is rather to make inefficient than to make without effect. So in Luke 13:7, why should the tree be allowed to make the ground idle? 1 Corinthians 13:8, prophecies shall fail, or have no more work to do. 2 Timothy 1:10Christ abolished death. There is no more work for it. Romans 6:6, the body of sin is rendered inactive. Romans 3:31, Do we deprive the law of its work - render it a dead letter? [source]
1 Corinthians 13:11 I spake [ελαλουν]
Imperfect active, I used to talk. I felt (επρονουν — ephronoun). Imperfect active, I used to think. Better, I used to understand. I thought Imperfect middle, I used to reason or calculate. Now that I am become (οτε γεγονα — hote gegona). Perfect active indicative γεγονα — gegona I have become a man (ανηρ — anēr) and remain so (Ephesians 4:14). I have put away Perfect active indicative. I have made inoperative (1 Corinthians 13:8) for good. [source]
1 Corinthians 13:11 I thought [ελογιζομην]
Imperfect middle, I used to reason or calculate. Now that I am become (οτε γεγονα — hote gegona). Perfect active indicative γεγονα — gegona I have become a man (ανηρ — anēr) and remain so (Ephesians 4:14). I have put away Perfect active indicative. I have made inoperative (1 Corinthians 13:8) for good. [source]
1 Corinthians 13:11 I have put away [κατηργηκα]
Perfect active indicative. I have made inoperative (1 Corinthians 13:8) for good. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:24 To God, even the Father [τωι τεωι και πατρι]
Better, “to the God and Father” or to “His God and Father.” The Kingdom belongs to the Father. When he shall have abolished (οταν καταργησηι — hotan katargēsēi). First aorist active subjunctive with οταν — hotan indefinite future time. Simply, “whenever he shall abolish,” no use in making it future perfect, merely aorist subjunctive. On καταργεω — katargeō see note on 1 Corinthians 6:13; note on 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 13:10; noteon 1 Corinthians 13:11.Rule All forms of power opposing the will of God. Constative aorist tense covering the whole period of conflict with final victory as climax. [source]
1 Corinthians 15:24 When he shall have abolished [οταν καταργησηι]
First aorist active subjunctive with οταν — hotan indefinite future time. Simply, “whenever he shall abolish,” no use in making it future perfect, merely aorist subjunctive. On καταργεω — katargeō see note on 1 Corinthians 6:13; note on 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 13:10; noteon 1 Corinthians 13:11. [source]
1 Timothy 1:18 According to the prophecies which went before on thee [κατὰ τὰς προαγούσας ἐπὶ σὲ προφητείας]
Const, according to with I commit: which went before is to be taken absolutely, and not with on thee: const. prophecies with on these. On thee means concerning thee. The sense of the whole passage is: “I commit this charge unto thee in accordance with prophetic intimations which I formerly received concerning thee.” Prophecy is ranked among the foremost of the special spiritual endowments enumerated by Paul. See Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10; 1 Corinthians 13:2, 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 Corinthians 14:6, 1 Corinthians 14:22. In 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11, prophets come next after apostles in the list of those whom God has appointed in the church. In Ephesians 2:20, believers, Jew and Gentile, are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. According to 1 Timothy 4:14, prophecy has previously designated Timothy as the recipient of a special spiritual gift; and the prophecies in our passage are the single expressions or detailed contents of the prophecy mentioned there. Προαγεῖν togo before is not used by Paul. In the Pastorals and Hebrews it appears only as an intransitive verb, and so in the only instance in Luke, Luke 18:39. In Acts always transitive, to bring forth. See Acts 12:6; Acts 16:30; Acts 17:5; Acts 25:26. [source]

What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 13:8 mean?

- Love never fails if however [there are] prophesies they will be done away tongues they will be ceased knowledge it will pass away
ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι καταργηθήσονται γλῶσσαι παύσονται γνῶσις καταργηθήσεται

  - 
Parse: Article, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
ἀγάπη  Love 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: ἀγάπη  
Sense: brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence.
οὐδέποτε  never 
Parse: Adverb
Root: οὐδέποτε  
Sense: never.
πίπτει  fails 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: πίπτω 
Sense: to descend from a higher place to a lower.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
προφητεῖαι  [there  are]  prophesies 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Plural
Root: προφητεία  
Sense: prophecy.
καταργηθήσονται  they  will  be  done  away 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Plural
Root: καταργέω  
Sense: to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative.
γλῶσσαι  tongues 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Plural
Root: γλῶσσα  
Sense: the tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech. 2 a tongue.
παύσονται  they  will  be  ceased 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 3rd Person Plural
Root: παύω  
Sense: to make to cease or desist.
γνῶσις  knowledge 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γνῶσις  
Sense: knowledge signifies in general intelligence, understanding.
καταργηθήσεται  it  will  pass  away 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Passive, 3rd Person Singular
Root: καταργέω  
Sense: to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative.