Love never stops being. But prophecies will end, tongues will cease, and knowledge will end.
13:8 — Love never fails — The simple observation that love never fails, while the gifts were to pass away, proves that love is superior to the gifts. The Corinthians caused a lot of trouble in the local church over something that was not going to last long, and at the same time what is permanent did not attract their due attention. Here the Greek verb to say “to cease to be” is pipto, whose root meaning is “to fall” (Romans 11:11; Rev 17:10). As for virtues, the verb means to cease, disappear, or come to an end. — but prophecies will end, and tongues will cease, and science will end — These three spiritual gifts, the gift of prophecy (12:10), the gift of tongues (12:10), and the gift of science, or knowledge (12:8), being representatives of all the miraculous gifts, were to cease or end. (Verse 10 tells us when this was to happen.) It was not necessary for Paul to give the entire list of miraculous gifts. Just by mentioning three of them, he already established his point of emphasis. See again the comments at 12:31 on “a more excellent way.” The way of love surpasses that of miraculous gifts. Here in this verse Paul presents one of the proofs of this claim. Christ had said before his ascension to heaven that “these signs will follow those who believe” (Tue 16:17. To see. 20 speaks of the purpose of such miraculous gifts). As Christ had said, so it happened (Hebrews 2:3-4), and during the time Paul wrote to the Corinthians the gifts were in effect. But his purpose was to be fulfilled at the appointed time. When their purpose was fulfilled, they ended or ceased to exist. In this sentence that we are now commenting on, two different verbs are used, katargeo and pauo. The first applies to prophecy and science; the second, to tongues. The first means to fall into disuse, become inoperable or distorted, and appears in 1:28 (undo); 2:6 (perish; see comments there); 13:10 (it will end); 13:11 (I left); 15:24 (deleted). Here in 13:8 it means to abolish or cause to cease, as in 6:13 (will destroy); Romans 3:31 (we invalidate); Eph 2:15 (abolishing). The second of these two Greek verbs means to stop acting, as in Luke 8:24 (the wind and waves “ceased”). Love survives all miraculous gifts. It is eternal.
Source: Commentary on the New Testament by Partain
never stops being. 1Co 13:10, 1Co 13:13; Luke 22:32; Gal 5:6.
tongues will cease. 1Co 13:1; 1Co 12:10, 1Co 12:28-30; 1Co 14:39; Acts 2:4; Acts 19:6.
science will end. Jer 49:7; Hebrews 8:13.
Source: The Treasury of Biblical Knowledge
This third section of the chapter 1Co 13:1-13 it passes from the nature of love to its permanence.
Love never stops being: This statement contrasts with the gifts of grace, which are transitory. One day all gifts will no longer be needed, but love will continue forever.
the prophecies…the tongues…the science: Paul focuses on three of the six gifts to show how temporary they are.
The prophecies will end: The word that is translated as “will finish” (katageo) is in the passive voice. Literally the translation is “the prophecies will be stopped”.
tongues will cease… science will end: Prophecy and knowledge (which are among the twelve gifts of the body for edification) are partly (gr. ek merous). They, along with all the gifts of the chapter 1Co 12:1-31, they serve the Body of Christ only for now. Us we know in partus we prophesy in part. These gifts “in part” (ek merous) will continue until come the perfect (gr. teleioscomplete, v. 1Co 13:10). Perfection here is interpreted subtly differently:
(1) The end of the apostolic age, through which the doctrines of the church were revealed and taught;
(2) the completion of the canon of Scripture, which ensures the inspired and authoritative source of all truth of Christian doctrine; Y
(3) the Second Coming of Christ, the point at which the role and relationship of all believers and the church will be transformed. This time of completion (whatever viewpoint is taken) will supersede all “just for now” or “in part” gifts. Unlike them, love will last forever.
Source: New Illustrated Caribbean Bible Commentary
THE TONGUES SHALL CEASE. Spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and science will cease with the end of the world. That time is described as “when the perfect comes” (v. 1Co 13:10), that is, at the end of history, when the believer’s knowledge and character are perfected in eternity after the second coming of Christ (v. 1Co 13:12; 1Co 13:7). Until then there will be a need for the Holy Spirit and his gifts in the churches. There is no sign here or anywhere else in the Bible that the manifestation of the Spirit through his gifts would cease at the end of the apostolic age.
Source: Full Life Study Bible
never stops being. This refers to the durability or permanence of love as a divine quality. Love lasts longer than all failures (cp. 1Pe 4:8; 1Jn 4:16). Paul strengthens his teaching on the permanence of love by comparing it to the spiritual gifts that the Corinthians held dear: prophecy, knowledge, and tongues, all of which will come to an end. There may be a distinction in the way prophecy and knowledge will cease and the gift of tongues will cease. This is indicated by the verb forms used. In the case of prophecy and knowledge, both are said to “cease” (in both cases the verb indicates that something will put an end to both functions). The vv. 1Co 13:9-10 they indicate that what will abolish knowledge and prophecy is “the perfect.” As soon as this takes place, both gifts will cease to operate. “The perfect” does not correspond to the completion of the Scriptures because they continue to operate today and will continue to do so in the future kingdom (cf. joe 2:28; Ac 2:17; Rev 11:3). The Scriptures do not allow us to see “face to face” or have perfect knowledge like God (v. 1Co 13:12). “The perfect” is not the rapture of the church or the second coming of Christ, because the kingdom that comes after these events will have an abundance of preachers and teachers (cf. Isaiah 29:18; Isaiah 32:3-4; joe 2:28; Rev 11:3). “The perfect” must correspond to the eternal state, because there in glory we will see God face to face (Rev 22:4) and we will have full knowledge in eternity of the new heavens and the new earth. Just as a child grows to full understanding, believers will attain eternal knowledge and those gifts will no longer be needed.
On the other hand, Paul uses a different word for the cessation of the gift of tongues, indicating that it will cease “of its own accord,” as it did at the end of the apostolic age. It will not end with the arrival of “the perfect”, because it will have already ceased then. The unique character of the gift of tongues and its interpretation was, like all signs, its function to authenticate the message and the messengers of the gospel before the NT was finished (Hebrews 2:3-4). The gift of “tongues” was also limited to being a summary sign of Israel’s God’s judgment (see note on 1Co 14:21; zip Isaiah 28:11-12). The “tongues” were also not a sign for believers, but for unbelievers (see note on 1Co 14:22), specifically the Jews who did not want to believe. Tongues also ceased because there was no need to verify God’s true messages as the Scriptures were completed. They became the parameter of truth for all things. In a sense, “tongues” were an inferior means of edification to preaching and teaching (see notes on 1Co 14:5 ; 1Co 14:12 ; 1Co 14:27-28). In fact, the chapter 1Co 14:1-40 It was meant to show the Corinthians, who were so obsessed with tongues, that it was a poor means of communication (vv. 1Co 14:1-12), disadvantageous for praise (vv. 1Co 14:13-19), and unsuitable for evangelism (vv. 1Co 14:20-25). The prophecy was and has not ceased to be greatly superior (vv. 1Co 14:1; 1Co 14:3-6; 1Co 14:24; 1Co 14:29; 1Co 14:31; 1Co 14:39). The fact that tongues have ceased should be made abundantly clear by their absence from all other NT books except. Tongues ceased to be a matter of record or practice in the early church as the Word of God was recorded in the NT. It is also clear that tongues have ceased to exist in the course of ecclesiastical history since the first century, and because they have only resurfaced sporadically in some questionable groups. A more detailed discussion is found in the chapter notes. 1Co 14:1-40.
Source: MacArthur Study Bible
13:8 — Love never fails – The simple observation that love never fails, while the gifts were to pass away, proves that love is superior to gifts. The Corinthians caused a lot of trouble in the local church over something that was not going to last long, and at the same time what is permanent did not attract their due attention.
Here the Greek verb to say “cease to be” is pipto, whose root meaning is “to fall” (Rom 11:11; Rev 17:10). As for virtues, the verb means to cease, disappear, or come to an end.
— but prophecies will end, and tongues will cease, and knowledge will end – These three spiritual gifts, the gift of prophecy (12:10), the gift of tongues (12:10), and the gift of science, or knowledge (12:8), being representatives of all the miraculous gifts, were to cease or end. (Verse 10 tells us when this was to happen.)
It was not necessary for Paul to give the entire list of miraculous gifts. Just by mentioning three of them, he already established his point of emphasis.
See again the comments at 12:31 on “a more excellent way.” The way of love surpasses that of miraculous gifts. Here in this verse Paul presents one of the proofs of this claim.
Christ had said before his ascension to heaven that “these signs will follow those who believe” (Mar 16:17. Ver. 20 speaks of the purpose of such miraculous gifts). As Christ had said, so it happened (Heb 2:3-4), and at the time Paul wrote to the Corinthians the gifts were in force.
But his purpose was to be fulfilled at the appointed time. When their purpose was fulfilled, they ended or ceased to exist.
In this sentence that we are now commenting on, two different verbs are used, katargeo and pauo. The first applies to prophecy and science; the second, to tongues. The first means to fall into disuse, become inoperable or distorted, and appears in 1:28 (undo); 2:6 (perish; see comments there); 13:10 (it will end); 13:11 (I left); 15:24 (deleted). Here in 13:8 it means to abolish or cause to cease, as in 6:13 (will destroy); Rom 3:31 (we invalidate); Eph 2:15 (abolishing). The second of these two Greek verbs means to stop acting, as in Luke 8:24 (the wind and the waves…