1 Corinthians 14:9

“So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue distinct speech, how shall it be known what is spoken, for ye shall speak into the air?”

Those who, like Hofmann, already find in 1 Corinthians 14:9 an example taken from human language, may punctuate after καὶ ὑμεῖς, in the sense of: so ye also. “As inanimate instruments must give forth distinct sounds if their music is to be understood, so ye also. As men, you ought to speak distinctly, if you wish to be understood by your fellows.” The words διὰ τῆς γλώσσης, by means of the tongue, may be understood in this case either of the material organ, or of the faculty of language (Hofmann). But if this were the apostle's meaning, he would not say: “Likewise ye also.” For the general truth thus expressed would apply no more to the Corinthians than to other men. Paul would be emphasizing more precisely the contrast between inanimate beings and man, as such. We must therefore regard the passage as the application which Paul makes of the foregoing examples to the Corinthians: “And you also, Corinthians, if in your glossolalia you do not speak a distinct language, it will be like an unintelligible voice lost in the air.” The expression: by the tongue, should be taken, as is natural, in the same sense as throughout the chapter: speaking in an ecstatic tongue. The means of rendering this language distinct is interpretation. The apostle confirms this conclusion in 1 Corinthians 14:10-11, by appealing to the intelligible character of all the languages in use among men.