XIV. (1) FOLLOW AFTER CHARITY. — Better, _Follow after love._ The preceding chapter is parenthetical, and the Apostle here returns to the subject with which he had been immediately occupied before he branched off into that great Psalm of Love. He has spoken enthusiastically in praise of the superio... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE THAT SPEAKETH IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. — Better, _For he that speaketh in a tongue._ The word “unknown” is not in the original, but it has been inserted in connection with the word tongue “all through this chapter, so as to make the various passages seem to be consistent with the theory that the... [ Continue Reading ]
EDIFICATION, AND EXHORTATION, AND COMFORT. — They communed with God by the speaking with tongues; they communed with the brethren by prophecy — building up, stirring up, cheering up, as each required.... [ Continue Reading ]
HE THAT SPEAKETH IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. — Better, _He that speaketh in a tongue._ The introduction of the word “unknown” destroys the whole force of the passage. All tongues — as distinct from languages — were unknown, _i.e.,_ unintelligible. The gift of prophecy is superior in usefulness to that of... [ Continue Reading ]
I WOULD THAT YE ALL SPAKE WITH TONGUES. — To avoid danger of misunderstanding or misrepresentation the Apostle emphatically asserts here that the error which he is combating is the undue exaltation of the gift of tongues to the depreciation of other gifts. The teacher of religious truth to others, w... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW, BRETHREN. — Transferring these things to himself in an image the Apostle reinforces the preceding teaching. Now (_i.e.,_ seeing that these things are so), what profit would I be to come to you speaking in tongues? I have been telling you that you cannot profit others: I ask you, do you think I... [ Continue Reading ]
AND EVEN THINGS WITHOUT LIFE. — The pipe and harp were the best-known instruments, and the principle just laid down of the inutility of sounds unless they be distinctive is illustrated by reference to them. Whether it was a harp or a pipe which was being played you could not know unless each gives a... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF THE TRUMPET GIVE AN UNCERTAIN SOUND. — Not only has each instrument its own sound, but in each instrument there is a distinction of notes. If a trumpet does not clearly sound the advance when it is intended, or the retreat when it is meant, the trumpet is useless, the soldiers not knowing wha... [ Continue Reading ]
SO LIKEWISE YE. — This is not the application of the foregoing, but the introduction of a third illustration, viz., the varieties of human language. The “tongue” here is simply the actual organ of speech, distinguished in the Greek, by the insertion of the article, from “tongues” which flow from the... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE ARE, IT MAY BE, SO MANY KINDS OF VOICES IN THE WORLD. — There are a great many voices or languages in the world, and none of them but has a right meaning when spoken rightly and to the right person. No word in any language can be meaningless, but must correspond to some thought — for the thoug... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE IF I KNOW NOT THE MEANING OF THE VOICE. — Language is useless unless we know what meaning is attached to each word uttered. The hearer is a foreigner (or _barbarian_)_,_ then, in the estimation of the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner in the estimation of the hearer. Thus the truth that... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN SO YE. — Here follows the practical application of the previous teaching and illustration. The “ye” of 1 Corinthians 14:9 was addressed to them as human beings generally; but here the Apostle returns to the immediate subject in hand, viz., the exaltation of particular spiritual gifts in the Cor... [ Continue Reading ]
IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. — Better, _in a tongue._ The gift of interpretation would make the gift of tongues useful for the edifying of the Church. This would be an object of unselfish prayer, which God would indeed answer. In the Greek it is suggested that the gift of interpretation is not only to be t... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR IF I PRAY IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. — Better, _if I pray in a tongue._ 1 Corinthians 14:14 are expressed in the first person (except 1 Corinthians 14:16, which are a parenthesis), as enforcing the Apostle’s own example. A man praying in a tongue needed the gift of interpretation. The emotions of his... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT IS IT THEN? — The Apostle, in answering this question — viz., What, then, is the practical conclusion of the whole matter? — still speaks in the first person, quoting his own conduct and resolution. He will not let his public ministrations as regards prayer and praise evaporate into mere enthus... [ Continue Reading ]
ELSE WHEN THOU SHALT BLESS WITH THE SPIRIT. — In this and the following verse the Apostle speaks in the second person, for they refer, not to his practice, but to that of some in Corinth. Their conduct and its results are introduced parenthetically here, in contrast with what he is laying down as hi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THOU VERILY GIVEST THANKS WELL. — It is here implied that speaking in a tongue was, as regards an individual, an acceptable mode of worship, and it is the public use of it that all throughout this passage the Apostle is dealing with.... [ Continue Reading ]
I THANK MY GOD. — Here the Apostle resumes in the first person, coming back, after the parenthesis, to the continuation of his own desire and example. He does not undervalue that gift the misuse and exaggeration of which he is censuring; he possesses it himself in a remarkable degree; yet in the Chu... [ Continue Reading ]
HOWBEIT IN MALICE BE YE CHILDREN. — Better, _however in evil be ye infants._ There are three grades spoken of here in the original — infants, children, full-grown men. Their conduct in exalting these “tongues,” against which he has been warning them, is a proof that they are yet children in knowledg... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LAW IT IS WRITTEN. — The preceding teaching is illustrated and enforced by an appeal to Jewish history. The Old Testament as a whole was not infrequently thus designated “the Law.” (See John 10:34; John 12:34; John 15:25.) The words are scarcely a quotation, but rather an illustration taken f... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE TONGUES ARE FOR A SIGN, NOT TO THEM THAT BELIEVE. — This is not an interpretation of the prophecy alluded to in the previous verse, but St. Paul now returns to the gift of “tongues” as existing in the Church, and introduces a thought regarding this gift suggested by the fact mentioned, viz... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THEREFORE. — Intended, as tongues were, for a “sign,” they cease to be thus useful if not properly employed. The report of the strange utterances which take place in the assembled Church may lead some unbeliever to come there: but if there be tongues alone, and they uninterpreted, the stranger wi... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF ALL PROPHESY. — There is no danger of exaggeration regarding this gift. Each one uttering prophecy, telling forth the gospel truth, and revealing the mind of God, will have a message that will be useful to the unbeliever. As one after another they utter the words of divine truth, they each se... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THUS ARE THE SECRETS OF HIS HEART MADE MANIFEST. — Better, _and the secrets of his heart are made manifest_ — such being the reading of the best MSS. It is the third result of the prophetic utterances explained in previous Note. His complete conversion is evidenced by his worshipping God and rec... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW IS IT THEN, BRETHREN? — From a discussion as to the relative value of the gift of tongue and that of prophecy, the Apostle now turns to practical instructions as to the method of their employment in public church assemblies. He first gives directions regarding the tongues (1 Corinthians 14:27),... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN SPEAK IN AN UNKNOWN TONGUE. — Better, _If any man speak in a tongue._ Here is the practical application of the general rule just laid down to the exercise of the gift of tongues. Those who had that gift were not all to speak together, and so cause confusion; only two, or at the most three... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF THERE BE NO INTERPRETER. — But if there be no one with the gift of interpreting, then the speaker with tongues was not to exercise his gift publicly at all; he may only exercise his gift in private with himself and God.... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THE PROPHETS SPEAK. — Here follows the application, to those who had the gift of prophecy, of the general principle, Let all be done to edification. Only two or three prophets are to speak in each assembly on each occasion; the others (not “other,” as in English version) who had the gift are to... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR YE MAY ALL PROPHESY ONE BY ONE. — Better, _For it is in your power all to prophesy one by one._ How it is in their power is explained by the following verse. This orderly prophesying will accomplish the instruction and comforting of all; words of instruction will be interspersed with words of co... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SPIRITS OF THE PROPHETS... — They might have said it was impossible to carry out St. Paul’s instructions; that the rushing Spirit of God overcame them — shook them, so that they could not control themselves. To this St. Paul replies (1 Corinthians 14:31; see above) that it is not so; that they _... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR GOD IS NOT THE AUTHOR OF CONFUSION. — Better, _For God is the God, not of confusion, but of peace._ The Church is the Church of God, and should bear on it the moral image of its King: there should be order, therefore, not confusion, in their assemblies. AS IN ALL CHURCHES OF THE SAINTS. — It is... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY ARE COMMANDED TO BE UNDER OBEDIENCE. — Better (as in some of the best MSS.), _but let them be under obedience._ The original precept laid down in Genesis 3:16 teaches this. “The law” stands for the Old Testament generally.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THEY WILL LEARN ANY THING. — Better, _if they are desirous to learn anything._ They are not even to ask questions in public assemblies. They are to ask their husbands at home on every point on which they desire special instruction. (See 1 Corinthians 8.)... [ Continue Reading ]
WHAT? — The church at Corinth had on some of these points acted at variance with the practice of the other churches, and in a manner which assumed an independence of St. Paul’s apostolic authority. He therefore asks them, with something of sarcastic indignation, whether they are the source from when... [ Continue Reading ]
IF ANY MAN THINK HIMSELF... — The best evidence of the possession of these gifts would be that their conduct was the very opposite of what they seemed to think the possession of these gifts should make it. The Apostle asserts positively that what he is now writing to them are the commandments of the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF ANY MAN BE IGNORANT. — There are here two readings in the Greek, for each of which there is strong evidence. The passage may run, either, as in the English, _if any man does not know this, let him not know it:_ then the words would mean that a person who could not recognise such an evident an... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE, BRETHREN. — The practical summing up of the whole matter. Seek earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. The phraseology intimates the relative importance of the two gifts in the estimation of the Apostle, which was inverted by those to whom he wrote at Corinth. This ou... [ Continue Reading ]
LET ALL THINGS BE DONE DECENTLY. — The former verse reiterates in a condensed sentence the principles laid down regarding the gifts in the first part of the chapter (1 Corinthians 14:1). This verse similarly deals with the general principle laid down in the latter part of the chapter regarding the s... [ Continue Reading ]