Why did the King James Version of the Bible use the word "charity" in 1 Corinthians 13?

The original word in Greek is "Agape". Every where else in the Bible, this is translated as "Love" in KJV. But the translators specifically used the word "Charity" in 1 Corinthians 13. Why did they use that word in that case?|||This is an example of the translators translating in context which is what they are supposed to do.





The Greek language has 3 words which usually get translated "love" in our English Bibles.





Agape, which means one way love, which gives without expecting anything in return.





Phileo, which means mutual love and respect, the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia was named after this Greek word.





Eros, which is the erotic or sexual kind of love, from which we get the English Word, Erotic.





The King James translators wanted to make sure we knew that the Greek word here was Agape or the kind of love that expects nothing in return, so they used the word "Charity".





I think they made a good choice.|||The word charity used to mean roughly the same thing as self-giving love. Over the years the word grew to mean a particular action related to self-giving love -- giving charity, receiving charity, or being charitable. [At the time the KJV was written the word "charity" had the correct meaning.]|||The translators always used their best judgment. Agape is a special kind of love that involves benevolence or giving. It appears in scripture 116 times. Here is a breakdown of its use:





love - 86 times





charity - 27 times





dear - 1 time





charity feast - 1 time








Here is the original Greek and its meaning:





Lexicon Results Strong's G26 - agapē ἀγάπη


Transliteration


agapē


Pronunciation





ä-gä'-pā (Key)








Part of Speech


feminine noun





Root Word (Etymology)





From ἀγαπάω (G25)





TDNT Reference


1:21,5


Vines


View Entry





Outline of Biblical Usage





1) affection, good will, love, benevolence, brotherly love





2) love feasts|||that is because Charity is godly love or Agape Love...they are both the same...Charity is not ordinary love...greek and hebrew words have many meanings to their english translations....Agape Love is Godly love, which is also known as charity...there are like 3 types of Love in greek translated into english, each one meaning something totally different degree or love...like in some areas maybe pertaining to a wordly love, some to another kind of love and then charity which is Godly love...|||Because one definition of 'charity' is love, in the sense of agape. As for why they used that particular synonym - no idea. The committees that translated it for King James are long dead and gone. Chances are, the man who translated that bit simply wanted to use a bit of different language.|||You know, I really hadn't given that any thought before. You are correct. Of course, all of the modern versions use the word "love."





On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 13 is one of the passages in the Bible that loses a little something in the modernization process|||The translators wanted to differentiate because agape is Godly love. The meaning of the word charity has changed over the centuries since 1611.





Today charity includes government handouts, not contained in the original word.|||Literally it can mean "charitable love", meaning, "love for all". It's difficult in english and can have either meaning.|||Because they existed almost three centuries before the Charity vs. Love flapperdoodle broke out.|||Charity means love in action|||What a dumb question.





Here i'll go ask him for you...