Charity suffereth long, and is kind

    • Michael_cycle said:
    Charity suffereth long, and is kind.


    What is the meaning of this sentence?

    Could anyone explain it?
    Click to expand...

    I think to get a full picture of this phrase, we'll need to have more context to work with...do you have more to give?

    Otherwise, it might imply that people who show charity may not see the fruits of their endeavours (no one will notice them) and this makes them kind people.
     
    1 Corinthians 13:4

    Let's try a more modern translation.

    "Love is patient, love is kind."

    For some reason, they translated "love" as "charity." Interesting.
     
    Michael_cycle said:
    Charity suffereth long, and is kind.


    What is the meaning of this sentence?

    Could anyone explain it?
    Click to expand...

    It might do you well to pull it into this century first.

    Charity suffers long, and is kind.

    If it's a proverb without context, I can only guess at its meaning:

    Charity (exhibiting good will toward others) is not an easy thing to do, but doing it is good.

    That's being really liberal in interpretation, though. If you have context, it would be useful.
     
    A little more information about it, specifically the phrase "suffereth long." The word "longsuffering" is an incredibly archaic way of saying "patience," so that would explain the "suffereth long" phrase.
     
    bellerophon said:
    I think to get a full picture of this phrase, we'll need to have more context to work with...do you have more to give?

    Otherwise, it might imply that people who show charity may not see the fruits of their endeavours (no one will notice them) and this makes them kind people.
    Click to expand...
    Thank you.

    I don't have context.

    I got this sentence from my question paper.
     
    Hockey13 said:
    What is a question paper? Do you mean like a study sheet or a test? If so, you might want to take it back to your teacher or tutor and ask them to explain it in context.
    Click to expand...
    Sorry,
    Question Paper is a book in which many grammar questions are there.
    The sentence which I gave here isto identify figure of speech on the book..

    There are some more sentences in that book without context which I couldn't understand. Can I ask that question in this forum?
     
    Michael_cycle said:
    Sorry,
    Question Paper is a book in which many grammar questions are there.
    The sentence which I gave here isto identify figure of speech on the book..

    There are some more sentences in that book without context which I couldn't understand. Can I ask that question in this forum?
    Click to expand...

    Hmm. Naturally you can ask whatever you like but we can only help you so far. Context in this sense could be what the subject is in the grammar book where the example comes up. Are you discussing verbs, nouns, etc.? Questions about other things would naturally need their own threads, but ask away! :D
     
    The context is obvious (see post #3: it is from the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4).

    It means exactly what is stated in post #3:
    "Love is patient, love is kind."

    For some reason, they translated "love" as "charity." Interesting.
    Click to expand...

    The reason that "charity" is translated as "love" in most modern versions of the Bible is that the NT was written in Greek and translated into Latin. I don't know Greek, but I do know that caritas in Latin has a closer meaning to "love" in modern English.
     
    Joelline said:
    The context is obvious (see post #3: it is from the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4).

    It means exactly what is stated in post #3:


    The reason that "charity" is translated as "love" in most modern versions of the Bible is that the NT was written in Greek and translated into Latin. I don't know Greek, but I do know that caritas in Latin has a closer meaning to "love" in modern English.
    Click to expand...
    Ahh, I didn't know that. Thanks!

    Michael_cycle, does that help?
     
    Joelline said:
    The context is obvious (see post #3: it is from the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4).

    It means exactly what is stated in post #3:


    The reason that "charity" is translated as "love" in most modern versions of the Bible is that the NT was written in Greek and translated into Latin. I don't know Greek, but I do know that caritas in Latin has a closer meaning to "love" in modern English.
    Click to expand...

    :eek:

    It seems I never saw that post as it was posted at the same time as mine. Thanks!
     
    Forgive an extremely exasperated pleugghh!!!

    Why, I wonder, is a phrase using the English of 400 years ago appearing in an ESL question paper!!
    Charity and suffer do not have their current meaning and suffereth is an archaic form of the verb.
    More cruel and unusual punishment.
     
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