1 Corinthians 13:3

Bible in Basic English (1941)

And if I give all my goods to the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it is of no profit to me.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Καὶ ἐὰν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου, καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου ἵνα καυθήσωμαι, ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω, οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι.

Transliteration

And if I psōmisō all the hyparchonta of me, and if I paradō the sōma of me so that I may be kauthēsōmai, agapēn but not echō, nothing I am ōpheloumai.

Grammar Details

• *Kai*: conjunction - and/also
• *ean*: conditional particle - if
• *psōmisō*: aorist, active, subjunctive, 1st person singular - I feed/dole out food
• *panta*: accusative, neuter, plural - all
• *hyparchonta*: accusative, neuter, plural, participle - belongings/possessions/goods
• *mou*: genitive, 1st person singular pronoun - of me/my
• *paradō*: aorist, active, subjunctive, 1st person singular - I deliver up/hand over
• *sōma*: accusative, neuter, singular - body
• *hina*: conjunction - so that/in order that
• *kauthēsōmai*: future, passive, subjunctive, 1st person singular - I may be burned
• *agapēn*: accusative, feminine, singular - love
• *de*: postpositive conjunction - but/and
• *mē*: negative particle - not
• *echō*: present, active, subjunctive, 1st person singular - I have/possess
• *ouden*: accusative, neuter, singular - nothing
• *ōpheloumai*: present, passive, indicative, 1st person singular - I am profited/benefited

Word Meanings

• *psōmisō*: feed/give food to/distribute food
• *hyparchonta*: possessions/goods/property/belongings
• *paradō*: deliver up/hand over/surrender
• *sōma*: body/physical form
• *kauthēsōmai*: I may be burned/consumed by fire
• *ōpheloumai*: I am profited/benefited/advantaged

Referenced Verses

• Jas 2:14-17 : 14 What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? 15 If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, 16 And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? 17 Even so faith without works is dead.
• Heb 13:9 : 9 Do not be turned away by different strange teachings, because it is good for your hearts to be made strong by grace, and not by meats, which were of no profit to those who took so much trouble over them.
• Jer 7:8 : 8 See, you put your faith in false words which are of no profit.
• Dan 3:16-28 : 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answering Nebuchadnezzar the king, said, There is no need for us to give you an answer to this question. 17 If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe. 18 But if not, be certain, O King, that we will not be the servants of your gods, or give worship to the image of gold which you have put up. 19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of wrath, and the form of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: and he gave orders that the fire was to be heated up seven times more than it was generally heated. 20 And he gave orders to certain strong men in his army to put cords on Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and put them into the burning and flaming fire. 21 Then these men had cords put round them as they were, in their coats, their trousers, their hats, and their clothing, and were dropped into the burning and flaming fire. 22 And because the king's order was not to be put on one side, and the heat of the fire was so great, the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were burned to death by the flame of the fire. 23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, with the cords about them, went down into the burning and flaming fire. 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar, full of fear and wonder, got up quickly, and said to his wise men, Did we not put three men in cords into the fire? and they made answer and said to the king, True, O King. 25 He made answer and said, Look! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are not damaged; and the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods. 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near the door of the burning and flaming fire: he made answer and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, you servants of the Most High God, come out and come here. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego came out of the fire. 27 And the captains, the chiefs, and the rulers, and the king's wise men who had come together, saw these men, over whose bodies the fire had no power, and not a hair of their heads was burned, and their coats were not changed, and there was no smell of fire about them. 28 Nebuchadnezzar made answer and said, Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel and kept his servants safe who had faith in him, and who put the king's word on one side and gave up their bodies to the fire, so that they might not be servants or worshippers of any other god but their God.
• Matt 6:1-4 : 1 Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward. 3 But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does: 4 So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.
• Matt 7:22-23 : 22 A great number will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, were we not prophets in your name, and did we not by your name send out evil spirits, and by your name do works of power? 23 And then will I say to them, I never had knowledge of you: go from me, you workers of evil.
• Matt 23:5 : 5 But all their works they do so as to be seen by men: for they make wide their phylacteries, and the edges of their robes,
• Luke 18:22 : 22 And Jesus, hearing it, said to him, One thing you still have need of; get money for your goods, and give it away to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; and come after me.
• Luke 18:28 : 28 And Peter said, See, we have given up what is ours to come after you.
• Luke 19:8 : 8 And Zacchaeus, waiting before him, said to the Lord, See, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from anyone wrongly, I give him back four times as much.
• Luke 21:3-4 : 3 And he said, Truly I say to you, This poor widow has given more than all of them: 4 For they gave out of their wealth, having more than enough for themselves: but she, even out of her need, has put in all her living.
• John 6:63 : 63 The spirit is the life giver; the flesh is of no value: the words which I have said to you are spirit and they are life.
• John 12:43 : 43 For the praise of men was dearer to them than the approval of God.
• John 13:37 : 37 Peter said to him, Why may I not come with you even now? I will give up my life for you.
• John 15:13 : 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends.
• Acts 21:13 : 13 Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
• Gal 5:26 : 26 Let us not be full of self-glory, making one another angry, having envy of one another.
• Phil 1:15-18 : 15 Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart: 16 These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news: 17 But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison. 18 What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.
• Phil 1:20-21 : 20 In the measure of my strong hope and belief that in nothing will I be put to shame, but that without fear, as at all times, so now will Christ have glory in my body, by life or by death. 21 For to me life is Christ and death is profit.
• Phil 2:3 : 3 Doing nothing through envy or through pride, but with low thoughts of self let everyone take others to be better than himself;
• 1 Tim 4:8 : 8 For the training of the body is of profit for a little, but religion is of profit in every way, giving hope for the life which now is, and for that which is to come.
• Isa 57:12 : 12 I will make clear what your righteousness is like and your works; you will have no profit in them.