1 Corinthians 13:11
What does 1 Corinthians 13:11 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Corinthians 13:11 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 means
Paul compares the present era to childhood and the future completion to adulthood. As a child, he spoke, felt, and thought in childlike ways; adulthood brought a putting away of those patterns. So it will be with certain gifts and modes of understanding: they belong to our current immaturity and need, not to the final state. This does not scorn childhood; it acknowledges stages of growth. The illustration invites humility: stop boasting about toys when maturity is coming. Love, however, is not a toy; it is the mature life of God’s people, suitable now and fitting forever.
1 Corinthians 13:11 in context
1 Corinthians 13 — The More Excellent Way
Set in the middle of Paul's discussion of spiritual gifts, this chapter is the great hymn of love. Eloquence without love is noisy brass. Knowledge, faith, and self-sacrifice without love profit nothing. Love is patient and kind, does not envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Tongues will cease and knowledge pass away, but love never fails.
- Christian love
- Gifts in proportion
- Permanence of love
- Maturity
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.
KJV
King James Version · 1611When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949When I was a child, I made use of a child's language, I had a child's feelings and a child's thoughts: now that I am a man, I have put away the things of a child.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862When I was a babe, as a babe I was speaking, as a babe I was thinking, as a babe I was reasoning, and when I have become a man, I have made useless the things of the babe;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I reasoned as a child; when I became a man, I had done with what belonged to the child.
Context
This analogy extends the argument of verse 10 by giving a relatable picture of partial versus complete. It addresses Corinthian immaturity hinted at earlier in the letter, urging them to grow up in their priorities. Verse 12 will provide a second, complementary image—moving from a dim mirror to face-to-face clarity—that further explains why present gifts are temporary while love endures.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Ecclesiastes 11:10
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
- 1 Corinthians 3:1
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ.
- 1 Corinthians 14:20
Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men.
- Galatians 4:1
But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he differeth nothing from a bondservant though he is lord of all;
Sermon ideas from 1 Corinthians 13:11
Angles a pastor or small-group leader might preach or teach from this passage, drawn from the chapter's main themes.
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 teaches us about christian love
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 teaches us about gifts in proportion
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 teaches us about permanence of love
What 1 Corinthians 13:11 teaches us about maturity
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