“Love is our lord—supplying kindness and banishing un- kindness; giving friendship and forgiving enmity; the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods; desired by those who have no part in him, and precious to those who have the better partin him. . . . In every word, work, wish, fear—pilot (ckuBepyjrns, compare governments, xii. 28), comrade, helper, savior; glory of gods and men, leader best and brightest ; in whose footsteps let every man follow, sweetly singing in his honor that sweet strain with which love charms the souls of gods and men” (Plato, “Symposium,” 197). “He interprets between gods and men, conveying to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men, and to men the commands and replies of the gods: he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them, and in him all is bound together. : Through love all the intercourse and speech of God with man, whether awake or asleep, is carried on. The wisdom which understands this is spiritual ” (Id., 202-8).
Trench cites the following Italian proverbs: “He who has love in his heart has spurs in his sides.” ‘“ Love rules without
262 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XUL
law.” “Love rules his kingdom without a sword.” “Love is the master of all arts.” See, also, Stanley’s essay on “The Apostolic Doctrine of Love ;” Commentary, p. 237.
1. Tongues. Mentioned first because of the exaggerated importance which the Corinthians attached to this gift.
Angels. Referring to the ecstatic utterances of those who spoke with tongues.
Charity (aydrnv). Rev., love. The word does not occur in the classics, though the kindred verbs dyardaw and ayatralw to love, are common. It first appears in the Septuagint, where, however, in all but two of the passages, it refers to the love of the sexes. Eleven of the passages are in Canticles. See, also, 9 Sam. xiii. 15, Sept. The change in the Rev. from charity to love, is a good and thoroughly defensible one. Charity fol- lows the carttas of the Vulgate, and is not used consistently in the A. V. On the contrary, in the gospels, yarn is always rendered Jove, and mostly elsewhere, except in this epistle, where the word occurs but twice. Charity, in modern usage, has acquired the senses of tolerance and beneficence, which ex- press only single phases of love. There is no more reason for saying “charity envieth not,” than for saying “God is charity; Ke “the charity of Christ constraineth us;” “the charity of God is shed abroad in our hearts.” The real objection to the change on the part of unscholarly partisans of the A. V. is the break- ing of the familiar rhythm of the verses.
Sounding brass (yadxos xa). The metal is not properly brass, the alloy of copper and zine, but copper, or bronze, the alloy of copper and tin, of which the Homeric weapons were made. Being the metal in common use, it came to be employed as a term for metal in general. Afterward it was distinguished ; common copper being called black or red copper, and the cele- brated Corinthian bronze being known as mzwed copper. The word here does not mean @ brazen instrument, but a piece of unwrought metal, which emitted a sound on being struck. In the. streets of Seville one may see pedlers striking together two pieces of brass instead of blowing a horn or ringing a bell.
Cu. XIIL] THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. 263
Tinkling cymbal («kvpBarov adrardfov). The verb rendered tinkling, alalazo, originally meant to repeat the cry alala, as in battle. It is used by Mark (vi. 38) of the wailings of hired mourners. Hence, generally, to ring or clang. Rev., clanging. KipBarov cymbal, is derived from xipBos a hollow or a cup. The cymbal consisted of two half-globes of metal, which were struck together. In middle-age Latin, cymbalum was the term for a church- or convent-bell. Ducange defines: “a bell by which the monks are called to meals, and which is hung in the cloister.” The comparison is between the unmeaning clash of metal, and music; between ecstatic utterances which are jargon, and utterances inspired by love, which, though unintelligible to the hearers, may carry a meaning to the speaker himself and to God, 1 Cor. xiv. 4, 7.