Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Ver. 7. Beareth all things] στεγει, tegit. Covereth faults with her large mantle, dissembleth injuries, swalloweth down whole many pills that would prove very bitter in the chewing. The Greek word is metaphora a tignis, say some, and signifies, that charity "beareth all things," as the cross main beam in a house supporteth the whole building. (Pareus a Lapide.)
Believeth all things] Is candid and ingenuous, yet not blind and blockish. No man may ravish me out of my wits, saith one; to conclude as Walter Mapes did of his Church of Rome, after he had related the gross simony a of the pope, Sit tamen Domina materque nostra Roma baculus in aqua fractus, et absit credere quae vidimus. If a Papist see one of their priests kissing a woman, he is by their canon law bid to believe that the priest is giving her counsel only. Their rule to their novices is, Tu et Asinus unum estote. You and an ass shall be one.
Endureth all things] Love, as it is a passion, so it is tried rather by passions than actions.
a The act or practice of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, or emoluments; traffic in sacred things. ŒD