1 Corinthians 13:7

Beareth all things,.... The burdens of fellow Christians, and so fulfils the law of Christ, which is the law of love; the infirmities of weak believers, and the reproaches and persecutions of the

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Beareth all things. The same Greek as in 1 Corinthians 9:12. It endures without divulging to the world its distress.

The charitable man beareth all injuries with patience; he believeth all things that are good of his brother, so far is he from being credulous to his prejudice; endureth all things that a good man ought to endure, that is, any evils done to himself. In the same sense Solomon saith, : Love covereth all sins.

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Ver. 7. Beareth all things] στεγει, tegit. Covereth faults with her large mantle, dissembleth injuries, swalloweth down whole many pills that would prove very bitter in the chewing. The Greek word is metaphora a tignis, say some, and signifies, that charity "beareth all things," as the cross main beam in a house supporteth the whole building. (Pareus a Lapide.) Believeth all things] Is candid and ingenuous, yet not blind and blockish. No man may ravish me out of my wits, saith one; to conclude as Walter Mapes did of his Church of Rome, after he had related the gross simony of the pope, Sit tamen Domina materque nostra Roma baculus in aqua fractus, et absit credere quae vidimus. If a Papist see one of their priests kissing a woman, he is by their canon law bid to believe that the priest is giving her counsel only. Their rule to their novices is, Tu et Asinus unum estote. You and an ass shall be one. Endureth all things] Love, as it is a passion, so it is tried rather by passions than actions. The act or practice of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, or emoluments; traffic in sacred things. �D

(7) Beareth all things.—The full thought of the original here is that love silently endures whatever it has to suffer.

Verse 7. (12.) Beareth all things] πανταστεγει, This word is also variously interpreted: to endure, bear, sustain, cover, conceal, contain. Bishop Pearce contends that it should be translated covereth all things, and produces several plausible reasons for this translation; the most forcible of which is, that the common translation confounds it with endureth all things, in the same verse. We well know that it is a grand and distinguishing property of love to cover and conceal the fault of another; and it is certainly better to consider the passage in this light than in that which our common version holds out; and this perfectly agrees with what St. Peter says of charity, 1 Peter 4:8: It shall cover the multitude of sins; but there is not sufficient evidence that the original will fully bear this sense; and perhaps it would be better to take it in the sense of contain, keep in, as a vessel does liquor; thus Plato compared the souls of foolish men to a sieve, and not able, στεγεινδιααπιστιαντεκαιληθην, to contain any thing through unfaithfulness and forgetfulness. See Parkhurst and Wetstein. Some of the versions have στεργει, loveth, or is warmly affectioned to all things or persons. But the true import must be found either in cover or contain. Love conceals every thing that should be concealed; betrays no secret; retains the grace given; and goes on to continual increase. A person under the influence of this love never makes the sins, follies, faults, or imperfections of any man, the subject either of censure or conversation. He covers them as far as he can; and if alone privy to them, he retains the knowledge of them in his own bosom as far as he ought. (13.) Believeth all things] πανταπιστευει. Is ever ready to believe the best of every person, and will credit no evil of any but on the most positive evidence; gladly receives whatever may tend to the advantage of any person whose character may have suffered from obloquy and detraction; or even justly, because of his misconduct. (14.) Hopeth all things.] πανταελπιζει. When there is no place left for believing good of a person, then love comes in with its hope, where it could not work by its faith; and begins immediately to make allowances and excuses, as far as a good conscience can permit; and farther, anticipates the repentance of the transgressor, and his restoration to the good opinion of society and his place in the Church of God, from which he had fallen. (15.) Endureth all things.] πανταυπομενει. Bears up under all persecutions and mal-treatment from open enemies and professed friends; bears adversities with an even mind, as it submits with perfect resignation to every dispensation of the providence of God; and never says of any trial, affliction, or insult, this cannot be endured.

7. beareth all things] Suffers, Vulgate, and so Wiclif and Tyndale. See note on ch. 1 Corinthians 9:12, where the same word is used. Here it means to endure patiently indignities and affronts, save of course where the well-being of others requires that they should be repelled.believeth all things] “Not that a Christian should knowingly and willingly suffer himself to be imposed upon; not that he should deprive himself of prudence and judgment, so that he may be the more easily deceived; but that he should esteem it better to be deceived by his kindness and gentleness of heart, than to injure his brother by needless suspicion.” Calvin. “It is always ready to think the best; to put the most favourable construction on anything; is glad to make all the allowance for human weakness which can be done without betraying the truth of God.” Dr Coke. Similarly Erasmus and Wesley.hopeth all things] (1) Of man, of whom love will ever hope the best, and deem reformation possible in the most hardened offenders; and (2) of God, that He will bring good out of evil, and that all the evils of this life will issue ultimately in the triumph of good.endureth all things] Sustains to the end, with unshaken confidence in the goodness of God, all the persecutions and afflictions of this life.

Beareth all things - Compare the note at 1 Corinthians 9:12. Doddridge renders this, “covers all things.” The word used here (στέγει stegei) properly means to “cover” (from στέγη stegē, a

7. In rendering the clauses of this verse we must, with the apostle, keep the loved object in view; as, for instance, his dear Corinthian Church.