Verse 3 – If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Here then, is a fourth in a series of conditional clauses running through verses 1-3 (κἂν is a contraction from καί + ἐάν). Like those in verses 1 and 2, this condition deals in hypotheticals rather than actualities. This strategy allows Paul to push the imagined possibilities to the farthest extreme imaginable. To spiritual experiences (v.1) and spiritual insight (v.2) is added imagined extremities of spiritual sacrifice (v.3). Two levels of sacrifice are imagined.

The first is “I give away all I have” (ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου). The verb (ψωμίσω, “I give away”) is used elsewhere in the NT only in Romans 12:20 where Paul commands to “feed” (ψώμιζε) a hungry enemy. It is the verbal form of the noun ψωμός (“morsel”).[1] Strictly, it means “feed by morsels.”[2] Thus it pictures feeding, much like a mother bird would feed her young “by putting little bits into the mouth.”[3] This one is pictured doing with all “I have” (τὰ ὑπάρχοντά). The verb means “to really be there” and thus to exist, to be present, to be at one’s disposal.[4] The present tense of the participial form emphasizes what one holds in possession at this moment. The definite article (τὰ) makes it specific, the personal pronoun (μου, “I”) makes it personal, and the adjective (πάντα, “all”) makes it total. This is, then, much more than writing a check or selling off one’s possessions at a garage sale and donating the proceeds to charity. It involves taking “all I have” (πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου; lit., “all the possessions of me”) and applying it to the real needs of others through personal acts of giving. There may be here a reflection of Jesus’ counsel to the rich young ruler (Matt. 19:21; Luke 18:22).

Paul added (καὶ ἐὰν, “and if”) to this all-encompassing benevolence, the possibility that “I deliver up my body to be burned” (παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μου ἵνα καυχήσωμαι). The verb rendered “I deliver up” (παραδῶ) is a compound made up of παρά (“from”) and δίδωμι (“to give”). It pictures the giving over of something valuable. Paul’s use already in this letter illustrates the weightiness of the action envisioned here. He uses the verb to speak of handing a man over to Satan for judgment (5:5), of handing down sacred teachings and practices from one generation to another (11:2), of the transmission (by Jesus to Paul, and by him to the believers) of the truths and observances of the Lord’s Supper (11:23). Here the verb is in the aorist tense, depicting the event of such surrender. That which is precious here is “my body” (τὸ σῶμά μου). In light of Paul’s use of the verb to describe the transmission of truth about the Lord’s Supper, it is interesting to note this precise phrase (τὸ σῶμά μου) is used of Jesus’ sharing the bread of the Lord’s Supper (Matt. 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19). The only other use of the phrase is by Jesus when He commends an unnamed woman for having “anointed my body [τὸ σῶμά μου] beforehand for burial” (Mark 14:8). Thus, in every occasion in the NT outside of this present one, the phrase refers to the body of Jesus offered up for us. Now Paul pictures laying down one’s life for the One who laid down His life for us.

What precise picture should we perceive in what Paul is drawing out for us? The traditional view is Paul refers to martyrdom, for the body is handed over “to be burned” (κανθήσωμαι). Most of the older translations have followed this (KJV, NKJV, NASB, RSV) and some newer translations have retained it (NASU, ESV). But the oldest manuscripts have a different verb (καυχήσωμαι) which means to boast. Thus, some more recent translations have followed this: “even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it” (NLT), “give over my body to hardship that I may boast” (NIV), “I hand over my body so that I may boast” (NRSV). It seems the evidence resides on the side of the latter. Following this reading means Paul has in view not the mode of offering one’s body (martyrdom), but the motive for doing so (boasting). If one’s motive is in view, the handing over could still picture martyrdom, or it might refer to slavery. But given the use of the phrase “my body” (τὸ σῶμά μου) throughout the rest of the NT martyrdom seems more likely here. The notion of boasting in martyrdom is not farfetched. In time of Emperor Diocletian some believers sought martyrdom. There are those who endure torture “so that they might obtain a better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35b, NASU).

To giving all one possesses, even one’s life, is possible without love. For here again the contrast (δὲ, “but”) enters: “have not love” (ἀγάπην . . . μὴ ἔχω). This again is the precise wording with which Paul concluded the previous hypothetical scenarios (vv.1, 2; see our comments above). If this is the case, despite the highest levels of spiritual sacrifice, “I gain nothing” (οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι). The passive voice of the verb pictures the lovelessly sacrificial one being passed over in the distribution of blessing and benefit. Having given everything (except love!), he now gains nothing.

Note, then, the sad sum of loveless excellence: I produce nothing (v.1), I am nothing (v.2), I gain nothing (v.3)!

[1] BDAG, 8051.

[2] Friberg, 29008.

[3] Fee, 633.

[4] BDAG, 7525.1.