The Verb “Love”

In modern English translations, the famed love passage in 1 Corinthians 13 is often translated with adjectives. I thought it interesting that in the original language, where the words that tell us about love are translated as adjectives, those words are actually verbs. While I have no special attachment to the King James Version, I think the KJV retains this nuance better than some other English translations:

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

As the saying the saying and song goes: love is a verb.

4 comments

  1. Pingback: Personal Church Fathers? « Near Emmaus

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