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1 Corinthians 13:10 – When Does "The Perfect" Actually Come?


1. Question – Greek Grammar, the Subjunctive and ὅταν:

  • In 1 Corinthians 13:10 – Will “The Perfect” actually come to everyone – all at the same time?

  • Or, does the underlying Greek indicate a subjective experience? Could it be a subjective experience, (like dying and going to heaven, or Spiritual Maturity)?


2. Basis of the Question: ὅταν = ὅτε + ἄν

Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, ὅταν – as long as, whenever; From hote and an; whenever (implying hypothesis or more or less uncertainty); also causatively (conjunctionally) inasmuch as — as long (soon) as, that, + till, when(-soever), while.


3. The Text

1 Corinthians 13:10 – and whenever | ὅταν the perfect might come | ἔλθῃ – Subjunctive, the partial will fall away.

1 Corinthians 13:12 – “… presently, I know partially, and then I will intimately know, just fully just as I also have been fully known.”

Closely Related:

1 Corinthians 13:10 – What does Paul mean by “Completeness”?

1 Corinthians 13:10 – What does “The Perfect” Refer to?

1 Corinthians 13:10 – What Will Cease when “The Perfect” Comes?

1 Corinthians 13:8 – What is the Significance of the Intransitive verb “παύσονται”?

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 – What Does “ἐκ μέρους” Mean?

1 Corinthians 13:9 – What does “Out From” Mean?

Is there any reason to think that Mark 7:19 has a later addition?

This is Mark 7:19 from the NIV:

For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

Every time I see a parenthetical note in an ancient text, I feel like it was a later addition from a scribe.

Does our oldest manuscripts contain that part of the verse? Even it does, is there any reason to believe that it was a later addition?

Why is Cain’s line shown to be so inventive?

In Genesis 4:19-22, we read a short account of some of Cain’s decendents:

Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

It’s noticeable right away that this line is very inventive. They’re seemingly credited for:

  • Nomadic herding
  • Stringed instruments and pipes
  • Bronze and iron working

Possibly also the line is the first to build a city (Cain v. 17) and take two wives (Lamech, v. 19).

Given that the line starts with Cain who murdered his brother and who lives under a curse, and ends in this section with Lamech who is also a murderer, what is the author’s purpose in noting the inventions that came from Cain and his decendents? Is the author trying to somehow ameliorate their reputation? Or perhaps tarnish the their inventions by linking them to their character? Simply recording the history of a few items? Or something else?

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What is a "covenant of salt"?

In Numbers 18:19, God says the holy contributions made by the people of Israel belong to Aaron and his descendants forever, as a “covenant of salt”. I’ve never seen this term before. What does it mean?