1 Corinthians 14:24,25

“But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or a novice, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; 25. the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.”

We have just seen the effect of tongues without prophecy; now, on the contrary, we have what prophecy will do without tongues.

The novice and the unbeliever enter, as in 1 Corinthians 14:23, during the meeting. Paul here uses the singular instead of the plural (1 Corinthians 14:23); no doubt because the fact he is about to describe will have a purely individual character. It may be thought with Hofmann, that if ἄπιστος is here placed first, the effect is: the unbeliever, and à fortiori, the novice. The latter, indeed, was already better prepared to feel the power of prophetic speech, while at 1 Corinthians 14:23 it was the reverse: the novice, and à fortiori, the unbeliever. Three effects are ascribed to prophecy: conviction, ἔλεγχος; examination, ἀνάκρισις; manifestation, φανέρωσις. The word ἐλέγχειν signifies to convince of error or sin. Every utterance of a prophet is like a flash, lighting up the heart of the hearer and discovering to him in a general way his guilt and defilement.

The word ἀνακρίνεσθαι is not fully rendered by the translation ; is judged; the Greek term rather denotes the detailed inquiry than the sentence pronounced. His whole inner man is searched, so to speak, by the words of the prophets.