Commentary on the Epistles and Revelation of John, Commentary 2 · Chapter 13
CHAP. XIII. Verſe 1. Though I ſpeak with the tongues]
THe Corinthians gloried much in this gift of tongues: But this a man may have, and yet periſh, as Mithridates, foreign, &c. Plut.who is ſaid to have ſpoken two and twenty languages. And Cleopatra was a great linguiſt, ſhe could give anſwers to Ethiopian, Hebrew, Arabick, Syrian, Median and Parthian Embaſſadours, ſaith Plutarch: yea ſhe could turn and tune her tongues as an inſtrument of many ſtrings, to what dialect ſhe pleaſed.
And of Angels] Not that angels have tongues; as neither have they wings, though they are ſaid to flie, and even unto wearineſſe of flight, Dan 9 21. A certain Frier undertook to ſhew to the people a feather of the Angel Gabriels wing, and ſo verified the old proverb, A Frier a lier. Carltons thank. Remem. p. 174.But the Apoſtle here uſeth an high kinde of expreſſion, ſuch as is uſed, Act. 6.15. Pſal 78.25. Unleſſe perhaps, ſaith Chryſostome here, the angels have. ſuo modo, ſua co…oquia. The Schoolmen have great diſputes about it, and tell us, that when an angel hath a conceit in his minde of any thing, with a deſire that another ſhould underſtand it, it is enough, it is done immediately. But are not theſe they that intrude into thoſe things that they have not ſeen, Coloſ. 2.18. underſtanding neither what they ſay, nor whereof they affirm, 1 Tim. 1.7. Like unto theſe are our new Millenaries, that upon a miſtake of ſome high expreſſions in Scripture, which deſcribe the judgements poured out upon Gods enemies in making a way to the Jews converſion by the patern of the laſt judgement, think that Jeſus Chriſt ſhall come from heaven again, and raign here upon earth a thouſand years.See M. Co…tons ſixth viol, p. 26
Verſe 2. And have no charity] If I knew and did all for oſtentation, not for edification: As Stephen Gardiner,Act. and Mon. fol. 1020. who blew up his gifts to the view of others, as Butchers blow up their fleſh.
Verſe 4. Though I beſtow all my goods] Unleſſe I draw out my ſoul as well as my ſheaf to the hungry, Iſa. 58.10. Many ſhrink up charity to an handbreth to giving of alms.
And though I give my body, &c.] As Servetus the heretike did at Geneva, anno 1555.Calv. opuſc. So Manzius the Anabaptiſt gave his body to be drowned at Tigure, anno 1527.Scultet. Annal. Fiſher Biſhop of Rochester to be beheaded, for holding the Popes ſupremacy. Frier Forreſt to be hanged,Act. and Mon. fol. 1005. for the ſame cauſe. And how many of our Popiſh Martyrs (malefactours or traitours, I ſhould ſay) have worne the Tiburn-tippet, as Father Latimer phraſeth it? And more of them muſt; for they be ſome of them knaves all, as the L. Audley Chancellour of England once ſaid to the 13. Callice priſoners for religion,Act. and Mon. fol. 1117. whom he diſcharged: and like bels they will never be well tuned, till well hanged.
Verſe 4.foreign. And is kinde] Or, is eaſie to be made uſe of, ready to any good office. Charity is no churl.
Vaunteth not it ſelf] With the ſcorn of others. Arrianus ſaith,In Epictet. lib. 3. that he is foreign, that blameth others, and is reſtleſſe in himſelf. Such an one was Timon of old, and Laurentius Valla alate.
Is not puffed up] Hence charity is pourtraied as a naked childe with a merry countenance, covered in a cloud, with a bloudy heart in the right hand, giving honey to a Bee without wings.
Verſe 5.foreign Behave it ſelf unſeemly] Or, doth not diſgrace any one.
Is not eaſily provoked] Fals not into any ſharp fit (as they did,foreign. Act. 15.39.) ſo as that her teeth are ſet on edge, or that ſhe ſhould ſhew her anger by the trembling of the body.
Thinketh no evil] Is not ſuſpicious, or doth not meditate revenge.
Verſe 6.D. Sclatter. Rejoyceth with the truth] Nulla est igitur inter malos charitas, ſed conjuratio potiùs, ſaith a grave Expoſitour. It is not charity, but conſpiracy that is found in wicked men.
Verſe 7. Beareth all things] Covereth faults with her large mantle,foreign. diſſembleth injuries, ſwalloweth down whole many pils, that would prove very bitter in the chewing.
Beleeveth all things] Is candid and ingenuous, yet not blinde 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 groſſe ſimony of the Pope; Sit tamen Domina mater que noſtra Roma baculus in aqua fractus, & 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 & Aſinus unum eſtote.
Endureth all things] Love, as it is a paſſion, ſo it is tried rather by paſſions then actions.
Verſe 8. Prophecies, they ſhall fail] The Arch-prophet ſhall teach us immediately, as he had done Moſes and Elias, who appearing to Chriſt in the transfiguration, knew, and could ſay far more to our Saviour for his comfort and confirmation againſt the bitternes of his death, then ever they could, whiles here living upon earth, Luk. 9.31.
Whether there be knowledge] Got by ſtudy and communicated to others. For Lilmod lelammed, ſay the Rabbins, we therefore learn that we may teach.
Verſe 9. We prophecy in part] We therefore know but imperfectly, becauſe we are taught but imperfectly. My greateſt knowledge,Melch. Adam. ſaid Chytraeus, is to know that I know nothing. And not only in moſt other things am I ignorant, ſaid Auſtin, Aug epiſt. 119. cap. 21.but even in the Scriptures (my chief ſtudy and trade of life) Multò plura neſcio quam ſcio. The Rabbins in their Comments upon Scripture, when they meet with hard knots that they cannot explicate, they ſolve all with this, Elius cum venerit, ſolvet omnia.
Verſe 10. Then that which is in part] As the old ſlough fals off, when the new skinne comes on. As a man returns no more to the free ſchool, that hath proceeded in the Univerſity.
Verſe 11. When I was a childe] Adrian 6. before he became Pope, taxed the Church of Rome for many errours: but afterwards, being deſired to reform them, he wickedly abuſed theſe words for an anſwer, When I was a childe, I ſpake as a childe, &c. but now being a man, &c.
Verſe 12. In a glaſſe, &c.] See Numb. 12.8.
Even as I am known] We ſhall know the creatures by knowing God: as God now knows all his works, by knowing himſelf.
Verſe 13. The greatest of theſe] Becauſe longeſt laſting. Gifts that ſuppoſe imperfection in us, as faith and hope, or miſery in others, as pity, &c. ſhall be put away.