On Nov 5, 2017 2:05 PM, "Stephen Williamson" wrote:
Subject: Chatting about Love
Hi ...
Here’s that Wedding passage (and non-wedding) passage below about Love, written to an early Jewish-Greek church in Corinth by Paul, nearly 2000 years ago, and at the time under Roman occupation. Those hyperlinks actually bring up the Greek and English verses with links to each original Greek word, with the ancient word auto-linking to all other Greek verses where that word was used, thus providing a modern day approximation of translation via context. Of course, Greeks also are able to tell you what it meant
It’s a little bit intellectual, but I find it really helpful when I do have queries re past context, because I can then come forward through historic records up to today.
There’s just 5000-10000 ancient Greek words in there in total, (and also about the same number of Hebrew words).
It was of course a time when written and spoken words were so much simpler (and more powerful) compared to day.
As I mentioned, fossil and written records show perhaps 50 million humans alive in 1000BC, 200 million perhaps when Paul was born. And yes, my understanding is that there would have been a world-wide destructive flood a little over 4000 years ago with only the ancient pyramids and the Sphinx, and Sumerian tablets left to show us written records prior to that. And with just 8 people surviving, speaking of course the one language, however it sounded. But that then seems to bring up a huge can of “right-wrong” arguments and discussions about land-bridges and continent shifts and stuff, probably best not to get into that too much
But, dear old Hebrew scribes, they then steadfastly copied their original records through the years, no one else was so disciplined, as well as Hebrew children being required to learn to speak and read and write by heart, thus keeping any discrepancies to a minimum, and also keeping the language, at a certain level, “alive” today.
| 1Co 13:1 | If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. |
| 1Co 13:2 | If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith (confidence) that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. |
| 1Co 13:3 | If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. |
| 1Co 13:4 | Love is patient (in longterm compassionate fire) and is kind (helpful). Love is not jealous or boastful (a show-off) or proud (puffed-up) |
| 1Co 13:5 | or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no records of being wronged. |
| 1Co 13:6 | It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth (uncovered information) wins out. |
| 1Co 13:7 | Love never gives up, never loses faith (single-eyed confidence), is always hopeful (expecting good outcomes), and endures through every circumstance. |
| 1Co 13:8 | Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! |
| 1Co 13:9 | Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy (seeing God’s foreknown invisible future) reveals only part of the whole picture! |
| 1Co 13:10 | But when the time of perfection (completeness) comes, these partial things will become useless. |
| 1Co 13:11 | When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. |
| 1Co 13:12 | Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect (complete) clarity All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. |
| 1Co 13:13 | Three things will last forever—faith (present tense), hope (future tense), and love—and the greatest of these is love. |
All the best Steve
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