1. Love Suffers Long

"Love suffers long." When I saw these few words on the screen, I could not help smiling and thinking to myself, "Did the pastoress simply translate the Chinese verse 愛是恆久忍耐 back into English?"

Knowing how knowledgeable and diligent she was, I immediately dismissed the thought. However, my bible clearly has it printed simply as "Love is patient." Where do the differences come from?

Soon, the pastoress pointed out that the differences came from different English translations of bible： While the New International Version has this verse as "Love is patient", New King James Version has it as "Love suffers long." There were some discussions on the choice of the word "love" and its Greek counterpart "agape" as well.

Still, this three-word sentence shocked me - "Love suffers long." While I knew that there is suffering in love just as in anything else, this verse goes much further and declares the suffering in love "long". What does this mean? What shall I do? This simple but powerful sentence forces me to ponder and reflect.

S.D.
2014.3.26

 

PS: Here are different translations of "1 Corinthians 13:4-8"

[和合本] 4?愛是恆久忍耐，又有恩慈，愛是不嫉妒，愛是不自誇，不張狂， 5?不做害羞的事，不求自己的益處，不輕易發怒，不計算人的惡， 6?不喜歡不義，隻喜歡真理； 7?凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。 8?愛是永不止息。

[New King James Version] 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;  5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;  6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;  7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Love never fails. ...

[New International Version] 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. ...