Texts in Conversation
Paul in 1 Corinthians describes love as enduring beyond all other gifts, language also found in Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei Avot, which distinguishes between love that lasts and love that fades when based on self-interest.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Corinthians 13:8
New Testament
4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. 6 It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth. 7 It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends. But if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be set aside. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, 10 but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.
Pirkei Avot 5:16
Mishnah
Rabbinic
15 There are four types among those who sit before the sages: a sponge, a funnel, a strainer, and a sieve. A sponge soaks up everything. A funnel takes in at one end and lets out at the other. A strainer lets out the wine and retains the sediment. A sieve lets out the coarse meal and retains the choice flour. 16 All love that depends on something, when the thing ceases, the love ceases; and all love that does not depend on anything will never cease. What is an example of love that depended on something? Such was the love of Amnon for Tamar. And what is an example of love that did not depend on anything? Such was the love of David and Jonathan.
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Notes and References
"... Love: Here in the Greco-Roman sense of agape. Compare with 1 Corinthians 13. When the thing is lost, the love is lost: If love is based upon some instrumental purpose, other than the well-being of the beloved, it will evaporate with the loss of the ulterior motive ..."
Cohen, Shaye J. D.
The Oxford Annotated Mishnah: A New Translation of the Mishnah with Introductions and Notes
(p. 747) Oxford University Press, 2022
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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