independentpurposecausecomparativeconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended
Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)
Gifts without love are nothing 13:1–3
v. 1 — tongues without love: noise
1
Ἐὰν ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν ἀνθρώπων λαλῶ καὶ τῶν ἀγγέλων,conditional — protasis — the hyperbole of angelic eloquence; leans on the apodosis below
ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω,conditional — the negative protasis — the refrain of all three conditions, ἀγάπην fronted
γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον.independent — apodosis — the perfect γέγονα: a settled state of mere percussive noise
v. 2 — prophecy, mysteries, mountain-moving faith: nothing
2
καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω προφητείαν καὶ εἰδῶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γνῶσιν,conditional — protasis — the cognitive gifts piled up, πᾶς three times in the verse
καὶ ἐὰν ἔχω πᾶσαν τὴν πίστινconditional — protasis renewed — miracle-working faith (cf. 12:9)
ὥστε ὄρη μεθιστάναι,purpose — ὥστε + infinitive of conceived result — the proverbial maximum (cf. Matt 17:20)
ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω,conditional — the refrain — the negative protasis again
οὐθέν εἰμι.independent — apodosis — two words: the verdict moves from noise to nonentity
v. 3 — goods and body given away: no gain
3
κἂν ψωμίσω πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντά μου,conditional — protasis — κἄν (καὶ ἐάν); ψωμίζω, to dole out morsel by morsel
καὶ ἐὰν παραδῶ τὸ σῶμά μουconditional — protasis renewed — the supreme self-surrender
ἵνα καυχήσωμαι,purpose — purpose — reading καυχήσωμαι with NA28/THGNT against καυθήσομαι ('be burned')
ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω,conditional — the refrain — third and last
οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι.independent — apodosis — the ledger closes: no profit whatsoever
The character of love 13:4–7
v. 4 — two positives, then the negations begin
4
Ἡ ἀγάπη μακροθυμεῖ, χρηστεύεται ἡ ἀγάπη,independent — the two positives — a chiastic frame, ἡ ἀγάπη at both ends
οὐ ζηλοῖ, ἡ ἀγάπη οὐ περπερεύεται, οὐ φυσιοῦται,independent — the negations begin — envy, self-display, inflation (φυσιόω, the Corinthian vice: 4:6; 8:1)
vv. 5–6 — what love refuses; the contrast of joys
5
οὐκ ἀσχημονεῖ, οὐ ζητεῖ τὰ ἑαυτῆς,independent — nothing unseemly, nothing self-seeking (cf. 10:24, 33)
οὐ παροξύνεται, οὐ λογίζεται τὸ κακόν,independent — not irritable; λογίζεται — the ledger metaphor: no record of injury kept
6
οὐ χαίρει ἐπὶ τῇ ἀδικίᾳ,independent — the last negation — no delight where wrong prevails
συγχαίρει δὲ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ·independent — the δέ pivot — truth all but personified as love's companion in joy
v. 7 — the fourfold πάντα: love without limit
7
πάντα στέγει, πάντα πιστεύει,independent — στέγω — covers in silence rather than exposes; trust without cynicism
πάντα ἐλπίζει, πάντα ὑπομένει.independent — the quartet closes on ὑπομένει — steadfast endurance, the climactic note
Gifts will pass; love never falls 13:8–12
vv. 8–10 — the thesis: the partial abolished, love not
8
Ἡ ἀγάπη οὐδέποτε πίπτει·independent — the thesis — the absolute οὐδέποτε against the futures that follow
εἴτε δὲ προφητεῖαι,conditional — εἴτε — verbless topic-protasis, leaning on the verdict below
καταργηθήσονται·independent — καταργέω — rendered inoperative, made obsolete
εἴτε γλῶσσαι,conditional — the second case — the gift of vv. 1 and ch. 14
παύσονται·independent — παύσονται — middle, 'will stop'; the change of verb is likely stylistic variation
εἴτε γνῶσις,conditional — the third case — the prized Corinthian γνῶσις (8:1)
καταργηθήσεται.independent — the same verb as the prophecies — obsolete when the whole arrives
9
ἐκ μέρους γὰρ γινώσκομεν καὶ ἐκ μέρους προφητεύομεν·cause — γάρ — the ground of the whole triad: present knowing and prophesying are ἐκ μέρους
10
ὅταν δὲ ἔλθῃ τὸ τέλειον,conditional — ὅταν + subjunctive — indefinite temporal protasis, leaning forward; τὸ τέλειον, the consummation
τὸ ἐκ μέρους καταργηθήσεται.independent — apodosis — the partial superseded, not falsified
v. 11 — the child outgrown
11
ὅτε ἤμην νήπιος,conditional — temporal ὅτε — protasis-like, leaning on the triple below
ἐλάλουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐφρόνουν ὡς νήπιος, ἐλογιζόμην ὡς νήπιος·independent — the imperfect triple — speech, mind, reasoning, each ὡς νήπιος
ὅτε γέγονα ἀνήρ,conditional — temporal ὅτε — the perfect γέγονα: adulthood attained and abiding
κατήργηκα τὰ τοῦ νηπίου.independent — κατήργηκα — the gifts' own verb (vv. 8, 10) turned on childish things
v. 12 — mirror now, face to face then
12
βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι δι' ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι,independent — γάρ — the second analogy; Corinthian bronze mirrors, Num 12:8 (ἐν αἰνίγματι) behind
τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον·phrase modifier — elliptical antithesis — supply 'we shall see'; the Hebraic idiom (Gen 32:30)
ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους,independent — ἄρτι again — now singular: Paul himself the example
τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαιindependent — ἐπιγινώσκω — the intensive compound answering plain γινώσκω
καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην.comparative — the divine passive — my future knowing matched to God's present knowing of me
The abiding triad 13:13
13
Νυνὶ δὲ μένει πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη, τὰ τρία ταῦτα·independent — Νυνὶ δέ — logical 'as it is'; the singular μένει binds the triad as one
μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη.independent — verbless close — comparative for superlative; the hymn's last word is ἀγάπη
Analysis. 1 Corinthians 13 draws three shapes in sequence, and the layout shows them. Verses 1–3 are three olive protasis-stacks — each verse a column of forward-leaning ἐάν-lines (the gift granted, then the refrain ἀγάπην δὲ μὴ ἔχω) resolving onto an ever-shorter flush-left apodosis: γέγονα χαλκὸς ἠχῶν ἢ κύμβαλον ἀλαλάζον, then οὐθέν εἰμι, then οὐδὲν ὠφελοῦμαι — the verdicts contract even as the hypothetical gifts escalate from speech to knowledge to deeds. Verses 4–7 abandon subordination altogether: love's character is a plain flush-left succession of gnomic presents — two positives in a chiastic frame, seven negations, the antithesis of joys, and the fourfold πάντα quartet — no clause hangs beneath another, because love here simply acts. Verses 8–13 return to the protasis shape but turn it eschatological: the εἴτε-triad of verbless topic-protases each leans on its one-word verdict (καταργηθήσονται, παύσονται, καταργηθήσεται), the ὅταν and ὅτε lines lean forward in the same way, and the ἄρτι/τότε antitheses of v. 12 sit as matched flush-left pairs before the νυνὶ δέ close crowns the abiding triad. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: at v. 3 the text follows the data's (and NA28/THGNT's) καυχήσωμαι ('that I may boast') against the familiar καυθήσομαι ('that I may be burned') — a one-letter variant that changes the sacrifice's motive, not the argument; τὸ τέλειον (v. 10) is read as the eschatological consummation anticipated by the face-to-face seeing of v. 12, not the completed canon or the church's maturity; στέγει (v. 7) is taken as 'covers, bears in silence' rather than merely 'endures'; and the middle παύσονται (v. 8) is treated as stylistic variation on καταργέω, not a distinct doctrine of tongues' earlier cessation.